Dear Reader,

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

We, however, have a request.



As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.



Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.



Digital EditorTheres about to be enough sugar piled up in warehouses to make three chocolate cakes for every person in the world, and that's got the market spooked. Supplies are booming thanks to the outlook for record harvests in India and Thailand, the world's No. 2 exporter.

The glut has already sent futures in New York to the lowest since September 2015, and hedge funds are gearing up for more losses. The investors are holding the biggest net-short position, or bets on declining prices, in six weeks. Citigroup Inc. expects a global surplus of 11.1 million tonnes this season, Aakash ...As many as 107 companies and seven limited liability partnerships (LLPs) are under the scanner following the billion dollar scam unearthed by Punjab National Bank (PNB). Furthermore, investigation of the select companies, as per the provisions of Section 212(1)(c) of the Companies Act, 2013 and Section 43(3)(c)(i) of Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008, will be carried out by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), Minister of State (MoS) for Corporate and Law and Justice, P.

Dear Reader,

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

We, however, have a request.



As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.



Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.



Digital EditorPresident Donald Trumps decision to impose tariffs on imported steel and aluminum has prompted a stampede by foreign countries and companies and their American partners pressing for exemptions and exclusions that could be worth billions of dollars in trade. Corporations and foreign leaders are leaning on personal relationships in vying for meetings with White House officials, hiring lawyers and lobbyists to defend them, and drafting messages to persuade the public of the importance of free trade. On Thursday afternoon, top oil and gas executives left an American Petroleum Institute ...He supplies coffee to Starbucks. He owns much of Ethiopia. And he is known as Sheikh Mo in the Clintons circle. But the gilded life of Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi took a sharp turn in November. Sheikh Amoudi, the gregarious 71-year-old son of a Yemeni businessman and his Ethiopian wife, was swept up with hundreds of billionaires, princes and other well-connected figures in what the Saudi government says is an anti-corruption campaign that has seized more than $100 billion in assets. Many other detainees, who were initially kept at a Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh, ...Pakistan's former president General (retired) is likely to return home in April to face trial in a special court on a host of charges.

However, according to an Express Tribune report, he will consider returning to Pakistan only after getting an assurance of foolproof security by the federal government.

Musharraf, who is currently the chief of the All Pakistan Muslim League (APML), is reportedly consulting close aides about making Karachi the centre of his political activities on returning to Pakistan.

His decision to return to Pakistan after several years of self-exile came after a special court gave permission to the government to suspend Musharraf's passport and CNIC after hearing a case of high treason against him this week. The court had earlier directed the interior ministry to approach Interpol for arrest of former president.

The Express Tribune quoted sources in the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led government, as saying that they were reviewing Musharraf's application for security and added that a decision is expected soon. The sources, however, added that Musharraf may also decide to postpone his return if a better option surfaces.

In the wake of recent orders by the special court and the forthcoming elections, the APML leaders have reportedly advised Musharraf to return to Pakistan at the earliest. A decision is expected to be taken in the coming week in Dubai, the daily has reported.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal has said that if Musharraf assures that he is returning to Pakistan, state institutions will be asked not to take action, but if he chooses not to return that the legal orders will be acted upon.The Trump administration is looking for ways to work with India in terms of providing for the needs of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and also to put pressure on Myanmar to create conditions for their safe and voluntary return, a senior US official has said.

Nearly 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar's northern Rakhine state to Bangladesh since August last year when security forces launched a crackdown on insurgents.

Bangladesh and Myanmar agreed in November to start repatriating Rohingya refugees who volunteered to return to Rakhine state, but the process has not yet begun.

The senior US administration official, on the condition of anonymity, said that there is interest in trying to work more closely with India.

"We think India also has an interest in seeing this situation resolved," he said yesterday.

The Trump administration is looking for ways to try to work with India in terms of providing for the needs of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and also ways to work together to put pressure on Myanmar to create the conditions for their safe and voluntary return, the official said.

"India is a like-minded partner. There are ways we can explore coordinating diplomatic approaches to the Burmese in building on that common interest that we have in supporting Bangladesh and making sure that this doesn't become a situation which complicates their own socio-economic situation or socio-political situation and the radicalism; avoiding that problem of exacerbating a radicalism in Bangladesh," he said.

While the US and India have a lot of joint interests, the official said that there has been no helpful response from China on this.

"What I heard from the Bangladeshis was frustration with China's unhelpful role in this crisis. And they certainly were noticing the stark contrast between China's actions and the generous US humanitarian response," the official from the White House told a group of reporters.

He said that Lisa Curtis, who is Deputy Assistant to US President and Senior Director for South and Central Asia at the National Security Council, visited Bangladesh and held a wide range of consultations with its top officials.

"President Trump is very concerned about the Rohingya situation," the official said, adding that the president wants to help resolve the situation.

During the trip, Curtis discussed with top Bangladeshi officials various aspects of the relationship.

While counter-terrorism is very important for Bangladesh, Rohingya refugee crisis is the most pressing issue right now, the official said.

"We owe a debt of gratitude to Bangladesh for opening its arms to the Rohingya refugees," the official said.

"However, there is concerned with the coming monsoon rains, posing a real challenge, given the risk of flooding and mudslides," the official said, adding that the organisations estimate that more than 100,000 refugees face imminent danger.

The Bangladeshi government seeks to put pressure on Myanmar to create conditions for the peaceful and voluntary return of these refugees, he said.

While currently there is no evidence of extremist groups penetrating these refugees camp, the Bangladeshi government is concerned about this, he said.

"We didn't see any evidence, but it's something they're watching for, they are monitoring for. It is a threat because the kinds of atrocities that these people have witnessed and you already have terrorist groups operating in Bangladesh. So there is concern that the camps could become a recruitment ground," the official added.As many as 11 accused were arrested on Saturday in the billion dollar scam unearthed by Punjab Bank (PNB).

All the accused have been sent to judicial custody by a Special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court till March 28 including PNB official Gokulanath Shetty and Gitanjali group's vice president for banking operations Vipul Chitalia.

Earlier in the day, around 107 companies and seven limited liability partnerships (LLPs) are taken under the scanner following the PNB scam.

Furthermore, investigation of the select companies, as per the provisions of Section 212(1)(c) of the Companies Act, 2013 and Section 43(3)(c)(i) of Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008, will be carried out by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), Minister of State (MoS) for Corporate and Law and Justice, P.P. Chaudhary, said in Lok Sabha on Friday.

The minister further noted that investigation of these companies belonging to billionaire businessman Nirav Modi (Firestar Diamond group) and Mehul Choksi (Gitanjali Group) is underway.

Meanwhile, farmers in Ahmednagar's Khandala village staged a protest 'as a symbol to show their ownership' of the land which was allegedly acquired from them by businessman and main accused in the PNB scam, Nirav Modi at less than normal rates.

"Nirav Modi had acquired land of the farmers by conning them. We did this (protest) as a symbol to show our ownership of the land. Nirav Modi was given crores by the bank but farmers are not given more than Rs 10,000. We have started a 'Bhoomi Aandolan' against this", a farmer told ANI.

For the unversed, PNB had in February detected a USD 1.77 billion fraud, wherein noted jewellery designer Nirav Modi had acquired multiple letters of undertaking to avail overseas credit from a number of.

The billionaire businessman, who owns Firestarter Diamond International Private Limited, and his uncle and Gitanjali Gems owner Mehul Choksi have been accused in the case.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)At least four militants belonging to the terrorist organisation Islamic State (IS) have been killed in the latest airstrike conducted by the United States in the eastern Kunar province of Afghanistan.

Khaama Press quoted the 201st Silab Corps of the Afghan Military in the East as saying that the US military carried out an airstrike on ISIS hideout in the past 24 hours using the unmanned aerial vehicle.

One insurgent was also injured in the airstrike, the Afghan Military said.

IS has not commented on the airstrike so far.

Last week, at least 15 militants of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan were killed in a similar airstrike in the eastern Kunar province.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)As many as 47 security personnel have been killed in Chhattisgarh's Naxal-affected Bastar region since 2005.

According to statistics, nearly 10 anti-landmine vehicles were attacked and blown up in major and minor incidents in Bastar that claimed lives of 47 security men and 42 injured since 2005.

According to experts, the Naxalites know that an anti-landmine vehicle can withstand 20 kg of Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) and hence they are using about 50 kg to target convoy of vehicles respectively.

The Chhattisgarh government had considered the anti-landmine vehicle 'safe' to tackle the insurgents. However, considering the figures, it has proved to be a failure.

Another challenge that the experts warned is, Bastar, which is rich in minerals and has a large abundance of iron-ore, gave the Naxalites a huge advantage as they have advanced to stuffing explosives in plastic containers instead of tins, which are not easily detected by mine-detection equipment.

Among the major incidents in which the insurgents targeted the anti-mine vehicles include- killing of 22 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans and injuring three others in September 2005 at Bijapur district, when the Naxalites had reportedly used 200 kg of IED to blow up the vehicle.

Ten security personnel were killed in a blast on June 10, 2011, at Katekalyan in Dantewada district, while five others were killed and eight injured in another blast in Kirandul region of Dantewada district on April 13, 2015.

This comes after nine CRPF personnel were killed on Tuesday and two were severely injured in an IED blast in Sukma.

The jawans were conducting an operation in a forest in the district when the blast took place, ripping apart their Mine-Protected Vehicle (MPV).

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Thirty-three militants were killed in military airstrikes in the last 24 hours, according to Afghanistan's defense ministry on Saturday.

TOlOnews reported that in the first airstike carried out in Nad Ali and Marja districts of Helmand province, killed 13 militants where weapons, ammunition and hideouts were destroyed.

The second airstrike in Chora district of Uruzgan province killed 20 more and also destroyed three motorcycles, weapons and bases.

Three others were injured, further reported TOlONews.

Earlier today, at Kabul's PD9 area three were killed after a suicide car bomber detonated his explosives near a compound housing foreign contractors at around 9 a.m.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)At least 61 civilians were killed and 100 others were injured when Syrian regime and Russian warplanes struck a crowded market in Eastern Ghouta.

According to Anadolu Agency, the White Helmets civil-defence agency confirmed the death toll and said the attack occurred in the town of Kafr Batna.

Meanwhile, hundreds of civilians in northwestern Syria, Afrin, where Turkey's Operation Olive Branch is ongoing, are trying to flee the district centre despite the blockades by the terrorists.

As the Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) forces are getting closer to the district centre, the civilians in Afrin began to flee the town.

Since February 19, escalating hostilities have resulted in 500 deaths and some 1,500 injuries in Eastern Ghouta, with 24 health facilities impacted by shelling and airstrikes, according to UN officials.

Eastern Ghouta, which houses around 400,000 residents, has remained under a crippling regime siege for the last five years with humanitarian access being completely cut off.

In May last year, Russia, Iran and Turkey signed an agreement to set up de-escalation zones, in order to prevent airstrike-related incidents in some parts of Syria.

The de-escalation zones include - Idlib province, some parts of Latakia province, Hama and Aleppo provinces, Homs, Eastern Ghouta, Daraa and al-Quneitra provinces in southern Syria.

Syria has been embroiled in a civil war since 2011. Protesters have been long demanding the resignation of President Assad over his autocratic rule.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A conference on state-sponsored terrorism and political mainstreaming of terrorist groups in Pakistan was held at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) here on Friday.

The purpose of the conference was to draw attention of the international community to the serious trend in Pakistan of the military establishment attempting to re-model proscribed terror groups as political entities.

The conference was moderated by Brian Toll, former Policy Coordinator for Asia at the European Commission, who in his opening remarks stated that Pakistan had gained a reputation in the international community as one nation that was in the forefront of sponsoring terrorism.

He added, the most concerning issue was that the Pakistani State and its institutions had lately been a mute spectator to a UN designated terror group, the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, not only floating a political party, named the Milli Muslim League, but even contesting elections to a few parliamentary seats.

Brian Toll further stated that it was well known that the Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jamaat -ud-Dawa were involved in terror activities including the Mumbai attacks, where a number of Europeans had been killed, and any forward movement on these groups taking over political power in Pakistan would have severe security repercussions internationally.

Speaking at the conference, Member of European Parliament Fulvio Martusciello charged Pakistan of a lack of commitment to tackling home-grown militants, and stated that in spite of international pressure, the situation has shown no improvement.

He informed the audience that for years Pakistan had been living in denial while allowing Islamic extremist groups to freely carry out their activities and raise funding in the country apart from radicalising the masses.

Martusciello said that now things had come a full circle with a designated terrorist joining

It was high time that the European Union and the UN took stringent action against Pakistan, according to Martusciello.

Tarek Fatah, exiled Pakistani author of 'Tragic Illusion of Islam', speaking at the event stated that Pakistan, from its very inception, has been committed to promoting terrorism.

He elaborated that from sheltering Osama bin Laden, to having a connection with many of the terror attacks around the globe including explosions in Kabul, Pakistani intelligence agency's links to terror has come to the fore again and again.

Tarek Fateh also mentioned that "the doctrine of Pakistan is that if you don't adhere to their religion, you do not have the right to exist".

Henri Louis Malousse, 30th President of the European Economic and Social Committee, in his speech, stated that over the years Pakistan had received massive aid from the international community for its "War on Terror".

However, it was now obvious that Pakistan's efforts at fighting terror had been an eyewash and the country had continued to patronise terror groups for its strategic goals.

Malousse argued, if Pakistan had shown even some degree of seriousness to fight terror, designated terrorists like Hafiz Saeed would not roam freely on the streets of Pakistan.

He called on the international community to hold Pakistan responsible for using terror groups as proxies to further its own interests.

All speakers agreed that this dangerous trend of terror groups being gradually brought into the political mainstream at the behest of the Pakistani military establishment had to be nipped in the bud to prevent legitimizing of terror.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Rahul Gandhi on Saturday, while addressing the first Plenary Session as the party president, asserted that it is the Congress party, who can "show the way and take the nation forward".

"The symbol of the hand is the symbol of the Congress party. Congress party can unite the nation and take it forward. Only the Congress party can show the way and take the nation," he said.

Further expressing his gratitude towards the senior leaders, Rahul Gandhi sought their guidance to take the party forward.

"The representatives of our party have fought hard to keep our ideology alive. The senior leaders of the Congress will guide the party youth and take us forward.The tradition of the Congress party is to embrace change without forgetting our past and legacy," he said.

The Congress scion further took a potshot at the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and said, "The difference between our party and the incumbent ruling party is that they follow the ideology of hatred, while we follow the ideology of love and fraternity."

"The country is tired of what is happening under the current Government," he added.

The event was attended by Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and other prominent leaders of the party.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Indian Ambassador to Nepal Manjeev Singh Puri said that talks with Pakistan were only possible, only if Islamabad takes a tough stance on terrorism and solving other issues, which has long plagued the bilateral ties between the two countries.

Commenting on the diplomacy tussle, Puri said, "Dialogue is only possible only if they take a tough stance on terrorism. If a country knows what to do and what not to do, then it should take action on those issues, which will help in ensuring security and safety between the two countries. Terrorism has to be stopped completely. This is absolutely necessary. If they can take action, then we can hold talks on other issues as well. More things will come into the limelight soon."

Last week, the Pakistan High Commission complained that its diplomats were being subjected to 'different kinds of harassment' in New Delhi. It had called back its envoy to India Sohail Mahmood back to Islamabad for 'consultation'.

India too has alleged that several Indian mission staffers in Islamabad have been severely 'harassed and intimidated'.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said on Thursday that the issue of alleged harassment of Indian diplomats has been raised and taken up with the authorities in Islamabad.

On the question of how India was going to engage with the new government of Nepal, the ambassador underscored that the two countries were looking forward to enhancing their bilateral ties and were taking ahead major projects initiated by the two sides.

"For example, we have a 900-megawatt hydroelectric plant project which will be the largest project, perhaps in Nepal. We are looking so many other important projects and taking it forward including rail links and road links. Connectivity and the ease of doing business is a very serious endeavour of us and one of the major objectives of India-Nepal partnership."

Puri expressed happiness that the bilateral trade was reaching new heights and was increasing rapidly over the years.

He further said that both the countries' economy would see an impressive growth and the citizens of both countries would benefit largely.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Experts and a Member of European Parliament (MEP) have shown concern over the growing extremism and terrorism in Pakistan, which are hurting not only the country but also the Western nations.

Speaking on the sidelines of the 37th Session of Human Rights Council in Geneva, Fulvio Martusciello, an Italian politician and member of European Parliament said, "Europeans are not ready to fight against terrorists. And, we are soft with Pakistan".

He also raised concern over the oppression of Baloch, Pashtun and minority communities.

"Pakistan is not really a democracy. So, Europe has to look at the money it gives to this country and understand what is happening in this country (Pakistan)," Fulvio added.

Recently, the Financial Action Taken Force (FATF) put Pakistan on its greylist.

Islamabad has entered into a phase, where it has to not only submit an action plan against controlling terror fund at the body's next plenary in Paris end-June but also give a political undertaking that it would implement the steps.

However, experts believe tough sanctions are required to break Islamic hardliners and military alliance in Pakistan.

Tarek Fatah, a Pakistan-born Canadian writer, said, "There is hardly any pressure at all (on Pakistan). This is only on paper. Pakistanis know, they can lobby themselves out of any place. They have former American ambassadors, who are the lobbyist for Pakistan. So, this is not how it works. If the West or European Union want to put pressure on Pakistan, they should come out openly and support the independence of Balochistan and then only Pakistan will act".

He added, "As far as Pakistan continues to exist, it will be a nightmare for the rest of the Pakistan's existence has to be worked out in such a way that it disintegrates and that should be a long-term strategic goal. It's not a country, its an acronym".

Tarek, who speaks often against Pakistan's oppressive rule and state-sponsored terrorism, said, "Chief justices of Pakistan's Supreme Court are acting if they are the police constables. It's a wicked society, governed by very devious and corrupt people, which is called the Mullah-military alliance. If you have to break that alliance, break that country."

European experts have also shown concern over Pakistan's double standard in dealing with the issue of terrorism.

Henri Malosse, an Honorary member at Brussels based European Academy of the Regions, said, "I think more and more experts are visiting Pakistan to check the situation, it's not improving despite all the speeches, maybe the laws are not implemented properly. So, there is a growing concern about the situation in Pakistan. Of course, we are cautious because of the geopolitical situation."

He added, "Pakistan has been in the past one of the closest ally and friend of the U.S. So, it has always an image of the pro-Western country despite the entire situation we know. If you compare with a country like Iran, where you cannot find any Iranian terrorist for the last 40 years, but you can find a lot of Pakistanis, but look at different consideration as of how Western look at Iran and how they look at Pakistan."

Malosse further said that the situation has changed a little bit but that is not enough.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The US Justice department dismissed the former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe on the grounds of lying to the investigators, reviewing the probe of former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's email server case.

"Pursuant to Department Order 1202, and based on the report of the Inspector General, the findings of the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), and the recommendation of the Department's senior career official, I have terminated the employment of Andrew McCabe effective immediately," Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement as quoted by the Fox News.

Sessions further said, after conducting an extensive investigation and following the procedures of the Department of Justice, the Office of the Inspector General, headed by Michael Horowitz, have filed its report. The report filed allegations of misconduct by McCabe to the FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility.

In 2009 when Hillary Clinton served as the Secretary of State, she allegedly used her personal email address to send work-related documents, which also included certain classified information in connection with the White, House thus breaching the security and the laws governing the US president house.

The FBI's OPR reviewed the report and additional documents while issuing a disciplinary proposal that recommended the dismissal of McCabe.

"All FBI employees know that lacking candor under oath results in dismissal and that our integrity is our brand", Fox quotes the FBI proposal.

It was concluded that McCabe made an unauthorised disclosure to the news media and lacked condor while being under oath on multiple occasions.

The reportn said that McCabe was "removed" from his post as deputy to FBI Director Christopher Wray in January, setting in motion a plan to leave the bureau after months of conflict-of-interest complaints from Republicans, including President Donald Trump.

McCabe was fired just days before he would have been eligible for a lifetime pension.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director James Comey has hit back at United States President Donald Trump, saying that Americans can judge for themselves who is honorable in the government.

Hours after FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe was sacked, Comey tweeted, "Mr. President, the American people will hear my story very soon. And they can judge for themselves who is honorable and who is not," Comey tweeted on Saturday."

Comey, who was fired last year by President Trump, has a hush-hush memoir coming out on April 17 - 'A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership'. It is expected that Comey will use his book to refute President Trump's attack on the FBI.

Earlier on Saturday, the US Justice Department dismissed McCabe on the grounds of lying to the investigators, reviewing the probe of former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's email server case.

The US President hailed the decision of firing the FBI deputy director, calling it a "great day for democracy". He also blamed Comey and McCabe for the laxity in the FBI investigation regarding Clintons' mail server.

"Andrew McCabe FIRED, a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI - A great day for Democracy. Sanctimonious James Comey was his boss and made McCabe look like a choirboy. He knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI!" Trump tweeted.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani on Saturday invited Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to visit Afghanistan, in what was seen as an effort by Kabul to normalise its icy relations with Islamabad.

President Ghani took to Twitter and wrote, "Today, I received Pakistani NSA at Dilkusha palace. As a follow up to Kabul Process, I have extended an official invitation to Pakistani Prime Minister to visit Afghanistan. This is to initiate state to state comprehensive dialogue."

This comes as Pakistan National Security Advisor (NSA) Nasser Khan Janjua is on a day-long visit to Kabul, TOLOnews reported.

According to a statement released by Ghani's Presidential Palace, "the two sides also discussed the importance of connection and regional cooperation between the two countries in a campaign against crime and activities of terrorist networks. They also discussed ways to stop these activities from happening."

Relations between Kabul and Islamabad have remained frosty due to the terrorist activities of the Taliban and Haqqani Network carried out in the former's land. Afghanistan contests that the two groups are supported by Pakistan and it does very little to stop them.

Pakistan has urged Afghanistan to stop the blame game and asked for its co-operation in combating terrorism.

Last month, the Afghan President had made a peace offer to the Taliban group in the Kabul Process Conference, which also included the recognition of the militant group as a political entity.

However, the group is yet to respond to President Ghani's offer.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Jagtar Singh Tara does not regret killing former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, his lawyer Simarjeet Singh said on Saturday.

Simarjeet told ANI, "Tara told the court that he does not regret killing Beant Singh and also said that he has been fighting the battle of Sikhs' freedom against the Punjab government and will continue to do so."

The lawyer added Tara defended himself by saying, "If by killing a cruel person I can save thousands of innocent people then it is not wrong."

Amidst this, pro-Khalistan slogans were raised by Tara's supporters.

A court here on Friday held Tara guilty of assassinating Singh in a bomb explosion that left 17 persons dead.

The court has fixed Saturday to pronounce the quantum of sentence in the case. The verdict is scheduled to be announced after 2 p.m.

Tara had earlier confessed to the court three times that he had not regret killing the former Punjab Chief Minister.

In his confession, he has also said that Shaheed Udham Singh, who assassinated Lieutenant Governor of Punjab Michael O'Dwyer in 1919, was his inspiration to kill the Congress leader.

On August 31, 1995, Singh was killed in an explosion outside the Punjab and Haryana Secretariat. Punjab Police official Dilawar Singh acted as a human bomb in that attack.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Ahead of the State Assembly Polls in Karnataka, senior Congress Party leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday exhorted confidence in the party's victory in the state.

"Instead of examining the situation in Uttar Pradesh, the chief minister (Yogi Adityanath) was busy giving speeches in Karnataka, and as a result, lost in the bypolls. We are confident that with your (party members and workers) blessings and cooperation, we will come back to power in Karnataka. However, a lot is to be done, and we need your help. The way Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) workers go door-to-door, we need the same from you also in Karnataka. I would like to appeal to all of you to keep all your differences aside for interest," Kharge said at the Congress' Plenary Session here.

The senior Congress leader further lambasted the Centre and the BJP for failing to keep their promise intact on improving the plight of farmers in the country.

"There are thousands of farmers committing suicide every day in the country. A lot of promises were made by the government and Narendra Modiji, but when it came to Budget allocation, nothing was done. When we (UPA) were in power, it was mandatory that if a farmer is in distress, we will bring them out of it," he said.

With regards to the withdrawal of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) from the Democratic Alliance (NDA), Kharge reiterated that Andhra Pradesh must be given a 'special status'.

Earlier in the day, Congress President Rahul Gandhi in his first plenary session after taking over the party asserted that it is the Congress party, who can "show the way and take the nation forward".

"The symbol of the hand is the symbol of the Congress party. Congress party can unite the nation and take it forward. Only the Congress party can show the way and take the nation forward," he said.

Further expressing his gratitude towards the senior leaders, Rahul Gandhi sought their guidance to take the party forward.

Among others attending the event are Sonia Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other prominent leaders of the party.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday said that agriculture is at the core of India's progress and development.

Speaking at a media event in New Delhi, Chouhan said, "India is an agricultural country and agriculture is at the core of India's progress and development. The state of Madhya Pradesh is moving rapidly in developing its agriculture sector."

He added that "I along with my ministers am determined to turn agriculture into a profitable venture for our farmers. My goal is to bring happiness, prosperity and joy in the lives of our farmers."

He also highlighted that the unprecedented growth in the agriculture sector in Madhya Pradesh has largely been due to the hard work of farmers and agriculture ministry.

"Therefore I would like to thank all those people who have assisted and helped us along the way in helping us achieve our agricultural goals," he said.

"Today it's a very happy and proud moment for me. Today Madhya Pradesh has been awarded the 'Agriculture Workers' Award' for the fifth time in a row," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Delhi court will on Saturday continue the hearing in the Herald case, involving Congress' frontrunners Sonia Gandhi and son Rahul Gandhi among others.

In the last hearing, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy had produced an income tax order in court against the company.

On January 20, the court of metropolitan magistrate Ambika Singh had ordered the documents submitted by the petitioner in the case, Swamy, to be kept in a sealed cover till next hearing.

Swamy, in his plea, alleged that the Congress party granted an interest-free loan of Rs. 90.25 crore to Associated Journals Limited (AJL), owner of the Herald newspaper.

In November last year, the two Congress leaders filed their response to the application filed by Swamy.

In the response, they stated that the application filed by Swamy was not bonafide and filled with the sole object of "delaying the proceedings in a lifeless case".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)In the ongoing 'Call Data Case' that saw actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui being accused of spying on his ex-wife, the Thane Police officials, on Saturday, confirmed that the 'Gangs of Wasseypur' star had no direct role in the case.

"Nawazuddin Siddiqui has no direct role in the Call Data Record (CDR) case. He was summoned as a witness and has assured cooperation," said Parambir Singh, Police Commissioner, Thane.

Earlier, it was reported that Siddiqui and his wife were summoned by Thane's crime branch in connection to the Call Data Records (CDR) racket that was unearthed in January.

The duo had been summoned after some of the arrested accused had told the police that the actor's advocate Rizwan Siddiqui had obtained the CDR of the actor's wife from private detectives.

Rizwan was held by the Thane Crime Branch and will be produced before the Thane court today.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi held an unscheduled meeting with US Vice-President Michael Pence regarding the Afghanistan conflict in Washington on Friday.

A half an hour one-on-one meeting took place at the residence of Pence situated at US Naval Observatory close to the Pakistan embassy in Washington, as reported by the Dawn.

They discussed regarding the on-going peace process between the Afghanistan ruling political party led by Ashraf Ghani and the militant group Taliban that has been active in the country since 1994.

During the meeting, Abbas assured Pence of Pakistan's "sincere commitment" to the efforts initiated to facilitate the peace process in Afghanistan while highlighting the successful efforts undertaken by Pakistan to combat terror within its own territory.

On the other hand, Pence assured the US leader that no other state wants peace in Afghanistan more than Pakistan does as it shall directly benefit the latter.

Diplomatic observers in Washington have viewed the Pence-Abbasi meeting as a continuation of their talks on the sidelines of the session of UN General Assembly in New York held on September 20, 2017, which helped to move forward their bilateral relations.

During the September meeting, the two allies had resolved to remain engaged and carry forward the relationship that had been on a downward trajectory since the announcement of the US policy for Afghanistan and South Asia in August 2017.

US officials have appreciated the efforts of Pakistan to take some positive steps for restoring peace to Afghanistan. Further, the officials noted that such an attitude showcased by Pakistan would encourage Taliban militant group to participate in the reconciliation process.

Abbasi also held a brief meeting with senior US lawmakers where they discussed regarding the close proximity being shared by Pakistan and China.

He further assured the US lawmakers that "Pakistan's close relations with China should not be a cause of concern for the US" as Islamabad "wants close friendly ties with both China and the United States."

While discussing bilateral relations, the lawmakers conveyed their concern about blasphemy cases against Christians in Pakistan, the sources added.

Further, they also focused on the current situation in Afghanistan but they expressed "their concern about China's growing influence in Pakistan" as well, sources told Dawn.

Earlier on Friday, United Nations Security Council urged Taliban group to participate in the peace process initiated by the Afghan government to enable Taliban to be converted into a political group without any preconditions or resorting to violent threats.

On February 28, Afghan president Ashraf Ghani dwelled on a plan to conduct peace process with Taliban which might include the latter to be declared as a political organisation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Recently, Priyanka Chopra posted a picture on Instagram where the 'Bajirao Mastani' actress was seen posing with former Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard.

The picture was clicked in Dubai, where Chopra is currently at, to commence a discussion at the Global Education & Skills Forum (GESF), after the wrap of shooting schedule for Season 3 of 'Quantico' in Ireland.

Chopra wrote, "So wonderful to see you again @juliagillard...and proud to stand alongside you as a champion for global education. I'm looking forward to continuing our discussion from #UNGA. Big thank you to the @varkeyfdn for brining us all together. #GESF @gesforum".

Recently, PeeCee had also revealed on an Instagram live that a Bollywood project might just happen soon.

The 35-year-old actress will soon be heading to India.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday lauded the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Government for the developments in the city, adding that the state faced injustice during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) rule.

Goyal, earlier in the day, announced a train service titled as Mahakal Express between Varanasi and Indore and said that an analysis done by his department found that 100-plus new trains could be run on shorter routes by cutting layover time.

The Mahakal Express running between Varanasi and Indore would connect two of the major 'jyotirlingas' of the country.

"In between 2009-2014, Rs. 3,200 crore, which means an average of Rs. 632 crore per annum, has been spent for development of Railways in Madhya Pradesh," Goyal told media here.

"After Modi Government came to power, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan told Prime Minister Narendra Modi how the city Indore and the state faced injustice in UPA rule," Goyal added.

Further pointing to the development of railways in 2014-2019, the Railway Minister said that an average of Rs. 4,206 crore per annum was spent.

"As a result of the conversation, in between 2014-2019 of our governance, around Rs 21,000 crore, an average of Rs 4,206 crore per annum, was spent for the development of Railways in Madhya Pradesh," Goyal noted.

"In 2018-19 alone, around Rs 6,300 crore will be spent on railways," Goyal stated.

Goyal, along with Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, launched a project to convert the tracks between Fatehabad and Ujjain to broad gauge.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Queen issued a letter of consent for the marriage of Meghan Markle with Price Harry, which is to take place this year in May.

But shortly after the consent letter emerged, some questions were raised by several media organisations and individuals, speculating that the wordings of the consent letter showed that the Queen likes Kate Middleton more than the soon-to-be-royal American actor.

The comparisons were made on the basis of wordings from the Queen's letter of consent written for Kate in 2011 which referred to Kate as "our trusty and well-beloved Catherine Elizabeth Middleton," whereas Meghan is simply referred to as "Rachel Meghan Markle", according to The Independent.

While the wordings might seem like a snub, but it turned out that the letters were for two different occasions.

The experts then compared Kate's 'Charter of Declaration' letter to Meghan's - and it was found that the wordings were similar - referring to the Duchess of Cambridge as "Catherine Elizabeth Middleton".

A Twitter handle named, Gert's Royals, tweeted the comparison pictures and wrote, "No, the Queen did not slight Meghan Markle by not refering to has "Our Trusty & Well-beloved" like she did Kate in the formal Consent with offical seal released the day of wedding. If you look at the 2 online consents from Privy Council records for Will & Harry, same wording".

No, the Queen did not slight Meghan Markle by not refering to has "Our Trusty & Well-beloved" like she did Kate in the formal Consent with offical seal released the day of wedding.



If you look at the 2 online consents from Privy Council records for Will & Harry, same wording. pic.twitter.com/8fkTcwY4nh  Gert's Royals (@Gertsroyals) March 15, 2018

Kate's consent letter was actually from the Instrument of Consent, which occurs closer to the wedding day, and not from the Charter of Declaration like Meghan's was, reported The Independent.

As fifth and soon to be sixth in line to the British throne, Harry is among a handful of senior royals who must seek the monarch's permission to marry under the Succession to the Crown Act, People Magazine reported.

The British monarch issued a declaration consenting "to a Contract of Matrimony between My Most Dearly Beloved Grandson Prince Henry Charles Albert David of Wales and Rachel Meghan Markle" on Thursday.

Alongside the declaration, the queen signed an Instrument of Consent, a formal notice of approval, transcribed in calligraphy and issued it under the Great Seal of the Realm.

The royal wedding will take place on Saturday, May 19, 2018, at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday asserted that the party was ready to do more than just give special status to Andhra Pradesh.

The BJP's statement comes a day after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu pulled out Telugu Desam Party (TDP) from the NDA alliance.

"We will explain to the people of Andhra Pradesh the things that we have done for them in last four years and things we will do. We are ready to do more than the special status," BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav told reporters.

"We will pass a resolution in which we will explain to the people of Andhra Pradesh our stand on the issue raised by Andhra chief minister. We are as much committed to the people as him. We have done so much in the last four years," Madhav added.

On being questioned if TDP would come back to the NDA, Madhav stated that "You will have to ask that to the Telugu Desam Party."

Madhav was speaking to media here after the meeting of Andhra leaders with BJP president Amit Shah.

The meeting was held a day after TDP quit the alliance and initiated a motion of no-confidence against the NDA-led government in the Parliament.

The tensions between the two parties have been brewing over non-issuance of the special category status to the state.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley yesterday said the Centre was committed on giving Andhra Pradesh a special package equivalent to a special category state and that it had been endlessly waiting for the state government to revert on a mechanism of receiving it.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Centre has told the Supreme Court that Rohingya refugees cannot be equated with Sri Lankan Tamil refugees.

The Union Home Ministry said this in an affidavit filed in the Writ Petition [Civil] No.793 of 2017 in the matter of Mohammad Samilullah versus Union of India on Thursday.

A petitioner has demanded the Supreme Court to direct the Centre to provide same facilities to the Rohingya refugees that are being provided to the Sri Lankan Tamil refugees.

The Centre told the apex court that that comparison with Sri Lankan Tamil refugees based upon which prayer is sought to be made is ill founded and misconceived.

"Grant of certain relief facilities to the Sri Lankan Tamil Refugees has its genesis in the Indo-Ceylon Agreement of 1964. Declared objective of the agreement was that all persons of Indian origin in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) who have not been recognized either as citizens of Ceylon or as a citizen of India should become citizens either of Ceylon or of India," the Centre informed the apex court.

The Centre also said that another agreement was signed between India and Sri Lanka in January 1974 and the assistance was being provided to the Sri Lankan refuges under these agreements.

"Under the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreements of 1964 and 1974, the Government of India had agreed to repatriate and grant Indian citizenship to six lakh persons of Indian origin together with their natural increase by 1981-82. Rehabilitation assistance was given to such persons of Indian origin (Sri Lankan Tamil refugees) as per a bilateral agreement between the two nations," the affidavit said.

The Centre also informed the Supreme Court that according to another accord between India and Sri Lanka in January 1986, Sri Lanka had agreed to grant Sri Lankan citizenship to 94,000 persons out of 6 lakhs persons originally to be granted Indian citizenship as per 1964 and 1974 agreements.

Therefore, the Centre, said there is no comparable parity between the two cases as the case of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees stands on different footing.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Red Pen announced that it has been appointed to provide in-house university counselling services for The British School Caracas (TBSC) in Venezuela.

Yasir Patel, head of The British School Caracas was referred to The Red Pen by former colleagues at an international school in Mumbai, where the company has been contracted to provide university counselling.

"We want to provide robust counselling services to our community and this partnership has excited all involved," he said.

"We will now have a dedicated expert and access to specialists who can advise students on admissions to US colleges and other global institutions".

Leveraging technology, The Red Pen will provide remote support to streamline the university application process, drive the development of a world-class school profile, manage students' applications and provide guidance on other resources for enrichment and college prep.

Beyond application-related activities, The Red Pen will bring the college admission perspective to curriculum development, suggest resources for continuous learning and networking, help the school engage with admissions representatives from international universities and represent TBSC at relevant conferences.

"We understand The British School Caracas's commitment to providing students an outstanding international and look forward to helping them achieve their mission of enabling students to reach their potential," said CEO and co-founder, The Red Pen, Kavita Mehta.

"We aim to build a counselling department that is flexible, student-centered and cognizant of the global landscape".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Outgoing United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was reportedly sitting on the toilet when the White House chief of staff called him to inform about his dismissal.

During his Africa trip, Tillerson was suffering from a stomach bug when Chief of Staff John Kelly informed him to return to Washington and be on the lookout for a presidential tweet.

During the call, the chief of staff told Tillerson to cut short his diplomatic trip and added, "You may get a tweet," The New York Times reported.

Earlier on Tuesday, United States President Donald Trump revealed that he fired Tillerson because the two disagreed on issues such as dealing with North Korea and Iran Nuclear deal.

The President's decision comes as he prepares for talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

While leaving for California, Trump told reporters that Tillerson "had a different mindset. I think Rex is much happier now".

The President, taking a dig at the dismissed Secretary of State, said Tillerson's replacement Mike Pompeo and he have always been "on the same wavelength".

The President earlier in the day tweeted: "Mike Pompeo will become our new Secretary of State. He will do fantastic job! Thank you to Rex Tillerson for his service!"

He also said: "Gina Haspel would be the new Director of the CIA, and the first woman so chosen. Congratulations to all!"

The President in a statement also urged Pompeo's "swift confirmation" and said his experience in US military, Congress, and the CIA have prepared him well for his new role.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Pune-based transgender was allegedly barred from entering Phoenix Marketcity here on Thursday evening.

Speaking to ANI, the victim, identified as Sonali Dalvi, alleged that security guards at the entrance refused to proceed with her security check and claimed that the mall's policy did not allow transgenders to enter the premises.

Describing the incident, she said, "I had gone for shopping to the mall around 8:00 p.m. on Thursday evening. As I proceeded to the ladies section for security check, the lady guard, who was visibly awkward, refused to check my belongings and proceeded to call other lady guards. One of them came up to me and said transgenders are not allowed in the mall as per the company policy, and subsequently asked me to leave."

"Later, a crowd gathered at the spot and asked the guards to let me go. However, one of them present there said I could enter, but have to refrain from going to the second and third floors. They kept me waiting for half an hour and kept giving me excuses. I have never been discriminated against in any public place so far. I will definitely file a case against the owners so that nobody from my community or any other faces this in the future," Sonali added.

However, an official statement from Phoenix Marketcity refuted Sonali's claims, and clarified that the concerned person was allowed to enter the mall premises within no time.

"We would like to state that based on the detailed report given by the security agency, the person in question was asked for verification by the security guards and directed to the desired destination in less than five minutes. We regret any inconvenience caused to the customer but security precautions are part of the process. We would also like to clearly state that we neither had nor have any intentions of hurting sentiments or discriminating anyone on the basis of their caste or gender. In fact we strongly believe in an inclusive society," the statement read.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)US President Donald Trump has reaffirmed his plan to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un by the end of May during a call with South Korea's president Moon Jae-in on Friday.

Trump and Moon discussed preparations for their upcoming engagements with North Korea and agreed that "concrete actions" were the key to achieving denuclearisation of North Korea, the White House said in a statement.

The two leaders further expressed cautious optimism over the recent developments regarding the talks with North Korea to persuade the latter to adopt the process to abandon nuclear weapons.

South Korea said on Friday it was seeking high-level talks this month with North Korea to prepare for a meeting regarding the denuclearization.

It further said that South Korean President Moon Jae-in may meet Donald Trump before the US president's planned meeting with the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Earlier, Moon's chief of staff, Im Jong-Seok, said proposed North-South talks in late March would cover key agenda topics and other details of the pending summit between Moon and Kim.

Earlier on March 13, Japan emphasized the need for North Korea to take 'concrete actions' in regard to denuclearization.

Further Moon Jae-in on various occasions had called for re-approachment of six-nation denuclearisation, including South and North Korea, China, Japan, US, and Russia.

The call for denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula has also been supported by China and France who have stated it to help in achieving 'peace and stability'.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Ugadi - the Telugu and Kannada New Year ceremony - is the festival of the beginning of everything, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday.

Addressing a programme to mark Ugadi in Srisailam, Andhra Pradesh via video conferencing said, "Ugadi means the beginning of an era. Ugadi is the festival of the beginning of human life. It is the festival of the starting of creation of the world.

"This is the festival of new hopes and aspirations. This is the festival of nature and environment. This is the festival of new initiation in life," Prime Minister Modi added.

Talking about the importance of Srisailam, he further said, "Maharshi Ved Vyas said people who visit here get rid of all kinds of bondage."

He also praised saints by saying that they kept India going despite numerous attempts were made to destroy country's culture and traditions.

"There were numerous attempts to hurt our prestigious culture and traditions when India was chained to slavery. It tolerated everything and kept going ahead. What was it that kept it going? Saints like you," the Prime Minister said.

Prime Minister Modi also exhorted saints to sensitise people about racism, black money and corruption.

"The country is passing through a very important period today. Not only racism, black money and corruption are harming the country. Your contribution in awakening people towards them is very important," Prime Minister Modi said.

He also sought saints' support in building the nation.

"There is a need to make people aware of the efforts being made to divide the society. The central government is doing its best to build the nation but your blessings in this regard will increase our energy," the Prime Minister said.

He also outlined the government's initiatives like Ayushman Bharat and 'Sabka Saath-Sabka Vikas' (all together, development for all) for the benefit of common man.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A wanted criminal, carrying a bounty of Rs 25,000 on him, sustained bullet injuries during an exchange of fire with the police force in Uttar Pradesh's Mathura.

The criminal, who has been identified as Radha Charan, was wanted for killing a relative of Uttar Pradesh Minister Lakshmi Narayan.

A motorcycle and a pistol were also recovered from his possession.

During the encounter, a policeman also sustained injuries. He was admitted to the hospital for treatment.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Verka the flagship brand of MILKFED, Punjab State Cooperative Milk Producers Federation is exhibiting its product range at the three-day annual Krishi Unnati Mela which commenced on Friday at Pusa campus here.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the Mela which is aimed at creating awareness about the latest technological developments in the agriculture sector among farmers; Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh was also present along with other distinguished guests. Prime Minister Modi also launched the 'Jaivik Kheti' portal and laid foundation stones of 25 Krishi Vigyan Kendra.

Currently, MILKFED Punjab has around 7000 village milk producers' cooperative societies with over 4, 00,000 members. These village level cooperatives work under 11 district milk produces union with 10 milk plants having a consolidated milk handling capacity of around 19,75,000 liters per day.

"Verka has come a long way since inception and we are aiming to touch the pinnacle of success in coming years. From giving the best quality products to the consumers and the best remunerations to our dairy farmers we believe in striking a balance between all are patrons. Krishi Unnati Mela gives us a wonderful opportunity to expand our customer base and to showcase our products." said HS Grewal, AMD MILKFED.

Verka is the most loved and leading dairy brand in the region. Changing with the times and public needs, Verka has undergone a total makeover, expanding its product line from basic products milk and ghee to as many as 15 items now to match the palate of consumers. It is not only the need of times but the processing of fast perishable milk into products with larger shelf life such as curd, lassi, pasteurised tetra packed milk, table butter, skimmed milk powder, whole milk powder, cheese, paneer, ice creams, kheer, sweets, flavored milk, shakes and many other products to match the needs as well as match the peer strengths.

Recent product launches include jeera raita, shahi dahi, jal jeera, and nimbu paani to satiate the taste buds of consumers.

Verka stall is exhibiting all the new products.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Embattled liquor baron Vijay Mallya was produced before London's Westminster Magistrates Court for hearing in connection with extradition case against him, on Friday.

Mallya is facing a trail in a UK Court, to rule if he can be extradited to India to face charges for financial irregularities involving a total amount of Rs 9,000 crores, as well as money laundering cases.

Earlier in January, the Court extended the bail of liquor baron Vijay Mallya to April 2 in connection with the case.

In April last year, Mallya was arrested by Scotland Yard on an extradition warrant. He is out on bail on a bond worth 650,000 pounds.

Apart from this case, the High Court of London on February 12 ordered Mallya to pay an estimated USD 90 million to a Singapore-based aircraft leasing company in claims.

The case involves a number of aircraft leased by Vijay Mallya's now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines from BOC Aviation in 2014.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Russians on Sunday began voting in the presidential election, in which President Vladimir Putin is seeking a fourth term.

According to the CNN, polls have opened in the Far East, and 109 million voters are eligible to cast ballots across the 11 time zones of the world's biggest country.

As per the CNN report, this is going to be a one-sided election as widely expected to cement President Vladimir Putin's power for another six years.

Despite a lacklustre campaign period, Putin is the clear front-runner as Putin's fiercest political opponent, Alexei Navalny, has been barred from competing

It is expected that this election is going to be a repeat of the 2012 election with Putin-dominating.

This election is riding high on anti-West sentiments in the country as Russia is dealing with the diplomatic crisis with the United States and the United Kingdom.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders has said that Russia needs to determine "whether or not they want to be a good actor or a bad actor."

According to CNN, Sanders dodged the question when she was asked directly if the Russian President was "a friend or a foe."

"I think that's something that Russia's going to have to make that determination," Sanders said.

"I think you can see from the actions that we've taken up until this point, we're going to be tough on Russia until they decide to change their behaviour," she added.

The White House remarks came on the same day when United States President Donald Trump administration announces new sanctions on Russian individuals for meddling in the 2016 US election.

Earlier on Wednesday, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley Russia over the poison attack that left a former Russian double agent and his daughter comatose on a park bench last week.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)At least 35 Islamic State militants were killed in airstrikes on their hideouts in Afghanistan's northern Jawzjan province, an Army spokesperson said.

"In deadly airstrikes against IS outfit which were conducted in Qush Tepa and Darzab districts at 4.45 a.m., 35 insurgents, including seven foreign fighters, were killed and 13 more militants sustained injuries," spokesperson Mohammad Hanif Rezai told Xinhua news agency.

The militant group has not made any comment on the report.

--IANS

soni/sar

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A small plane crash-landed on a house shortly after it took off from Plaridel airstrip in Bulacan province of Manila on Saturday, killing seven, authorities said.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said all six people, including the two pilots aboard the six-seater twin-engined Piper PA-23 Apache plane, were killed.

Police said the plane landed on a house and erupted in flames. A resident of the house was also killed, Xinhua reported.

CAAP spokesman Eric Apolonio said the plane, operated by Lite Express, crashed in a residential area a few minutes after it took off at 11.21 a.m. It was reportedly bound for Laoag City in Ilocos Norter province.

--IANS

soni/sac

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)An around 1000-year-old blackstone sculpture of Hindu warrior goddess Durga will be on sale at Christie's in New York next week.

In the 131 cm black schist sculpture, Durga or Devi or Shakti -- an omnipotent, fearsome deity who combats evil forces -- is seen in the precise moment of spearing Mahishasura.

"It's quite a dramatic image that captures the decisive moment in the narrative (of the slaying of evil by good)," said Isabel McWilliams, specialist in the Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Art department in New York.

This stone figure is from eastern India. It is one of the most popular examples of a female deity who is harnessing a much wider range of cosmic powers, McWilliams said.

It belongs to the later Pala period - between 8th and 12th centuries, when Bihar and Bengal were under the Pala dynasty. It reflects an eclectic mix of Buddhist and Hindu iconography.

The sculpture is one of the art works featured at Christie's sales during its Asian Art Week here from March 16-23.

--IANS

in/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Cairo, March 17 (IANS/WAM) Arab Parliament President Meshal Al-Selmi has called for an immediate halt to the continued bombing in rebel-held Eastern Ghouta on the outskirts of Damascus and in the rest of Syria.

In an urgent cable sent to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday, Al-Selmi said that the bombing of the city led to the killing and wounding of hundreds of civilians, mostly women and children.

He said that the siege led to the worsening of conditions, leading to more victims due to the lack of food and medicine available to residents.

Al-Selmi said that the daily bombing of civilian populated areas was a "heinous" crime against humanity and ran counter to the rules of the international humanitarian laws and conventions.

He went on to say that the shelling was "unjustified" and amounted to war crimes, calling on the international community to immediately intervene to stop these crimes from continuing.

The Arab Parliament President urged the international community to shoulder its responsibilities and to take "urgent, effective and serious steps" on the ground for the protection of Syrian civilians from the daily bombardment, explosives and poisonous gases.

He renewed his call to the UN Security Council to implement an immediate ceasefire across Syrian territories and the withdrawal of armed forces of all countries interfering in Syrian domestic affairs.

--IANS/WAM

soni/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Indonesian authorities have ordered the closure of Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport on Saturday for the Day of Silence which marks the Balinese Hindu New Year.

Transport Ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan told Xinhua news agency that the closure began at 5 a.m., on Saturday and will end at 5 a.m., on Sunday.

However, the international airport in nearby Lombok was operating normally, said Bambang.

Residents of the Hindu-dominated island are celebrating the Day of Silence or Nyepi, a public holiday which includes fasting and meditation.

Bali has shut down internet service, but security, aviation, hospitals and disaster agencies remain operating, according to government officials.

Bali is the centre of Indonesian tourism industry with over 400,000 foreign holiday-makers visiting the island every month, according to data from the national statistics bureau.

--IANS

ksk

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) has adopted divide and rule policy by following the ideology of hatred.

Addressing the party leaders and workers at Congress' 84th Plenary Session here, he said the BJP was spreading hatred and dividing the society.

"The country is being divided and people are made to fight each other," he said, asking his party men and women that the Congress "works to bring people together and not to divide them on the basis of caste, religion or region".

Referring to the Congress' party symbol of hand, Gandhi said, "This is the symbol that holds the country together, shows us the way, and will take India forward.

"The difference between our party and the ruling party is that they follow the ideology of hatred while we follow the ideology of love, fraternity and brotherhood."

Taking a potshot at the Narendra Modi government over unemployment and condition of farmers in the country, he said crores of youth in distress cannot find a way out.

"They don't understand from where they will get jobs. When will the farmers of the country get the right price for their produce?"

--IANS

sid-ps-aks/sar/in

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Raking up the Punjab National Bank fraud and the Rafale deal with France, the Congress on Saturday attacked the BJP on the issue of corruption saying the country has seen scams, scandals and questionable transactions under the watch of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Centre and BJP-ruled States and .

It also accused the ruling party of maintaining double standards on corruption saying that it lacks "sincerity" in fighting graft to ensure transparency and accountability.

The political resolution adopted at the party's two-day Plenary alleged that the defence acquisition process has been manipulated and country's defence preparedness has been compromised.

"The Rafale jet deal to purchase 36 fighter jets at hugely inflated prices has raised serious questions," it said.

"The decision was arbitrary and announced by the Prime Minister, without the prior approval of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS). Surprisingly the decision was taken when the process to acquire 126 fighter jets through a global tender at one third price was near conclusion.

"There is adequate evidence now in public domain, justifying the demand of an impartial and independent probe."

Accusing the BJP of having double standards on corruption, it said, "The government has refused to take action on serious allegations of corruption against its chief ministers and ministers. It has shielded the corrupt and prevented the investigating and enforcement agencies, from acting as is professionally required even when there is prima-facie evidence. On the contrary, clean chits are sought to be manipulated."

"The BJP government lacks sincerity in fighting corruption, to ensure transparency and accountability. This is underscored by its non appointment of Lokpal," it alleged.

The Congress also alleged that there was a nexus between the BJP and those, who have amassed wealth through corruption and generation of black money.

"This is evident from the BJP's access to unprecedented resources and money, which is brazenly on display in every election and rallies of the party," it said.

Slamming the government over the Rs 13,540 crore PNB fraud case involving diamond jeweller Nirav Modi and his unclke Mehul Choksi of Gitanjali Group, it said, "The country has recently seen the biggest bank scam in its history during this government's tenure."

"Public Banks have been defrauded of thousands of crores and the accused persons allowed to flee the country. The government agencies, failed to act in time despite alerts against the well connected and high profile perpetrators of fraud," it said.

The party also said that there is an apprehension in people's minds over the safety of their money in bank deposits.

The Congress also described terrorism, insurgency and left-wing extremism as grave threats to internal security and slammed the government over the increase in terror attacks along the Line of Control and the International Border.

"Terrorism, violence and attacks along the LOC and IB are grave threats. The alarming increase in incidents of terror attacks are a painful reminder that the infrastructure of the terror syndicates operating from across the border remains largely intact despite claims to the contrary and poses a serious threat to the peace and security," it said.

It further said that the party deplores the attempt of the government and the BJP to whip up hysteria and create a division in the polity on the issue of counter terrorism on which the whole nation stood united. This is most unfortunate and counterproductive.

"The Congress places on record its appreciation for the sacrifices of our brave soldiers in securing our frontiers and safeguarding India's territorial integrity. We call upon the government to take the initiative to find a credible and pragmatic solution for restoration of normalcy," it said.

Targetting the government over the judicial system, the party said: "The judicial system needed urgent reforms for effective and timely dispensation of justice."

It also said that the huge pendency of cases and providing affordable justice remained a big challenge that needs to be addressed.

The Congress' political resolution said that under the BJP regime, the people of the country, be it farmers, labourers, unorganised sector workers, self-employed, Dalits, traders, minorities and the poor have been "betrayed".

"Minorities in the BJP rule have a general fear of insecurity. In a country where the Constitution guarantees freedom, it is unacceptable for the people to be told what to eat and what to wear. The Congress remains committed to ensure the safety of all minorities as equal citizens and to protect their fundamental rights," it said.

While reaffirming its support to reservation of seats in Parliament and legislatures, the party demanded that the government bring the women's reservation bill in parliament for passage and implementation before the 2019 general election.

The resolution also accused the BJP government of betraying the youth of India by not fulfilling the promised two crore jobs every year.

"The government not only failed to create jobs but through its decisions, India lost millions of jobs in MSME and informal sector," it said.

The resolution accused the NDA government of belittling the contributions made by former Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi.

--IANS

aks/vsc

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Congress on Saturday said that the very basis of the polity is threatened by the ideology of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) and their affiliates which have created an environment of distrust, fear and intimidation threatening to tear apart the country's social unity and harmony.

It also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP government of being of being "intolerant" of any criticism and remaining in "arrogant denial".

"In pursuit of its insidious and divisive agenda, they have inflamed communal passions and hyper nationalism," said the political resolution adopted at the party's two-day Plenary here.

"The RSS-BJP is misrepresenting, distorting and misusing religion to exploit the sentiments of the people and capture political power," it said adding, "The toxic mix of religion and politics, poses a challenge to our pluralistic society and inclusive democracy."

Slamming the RSS, it said, "RSS, which claims to be a social and cultural organisation, masquerades as sole representative of the Hindus."

The resolution also claimed that the Indian tradition and the essence of Hinduism has been all encompassing, upholder of humane values and our composite culture. "It is distinct and must not be confused with Hindutva, which is essentially a political ideology."

Attacking the BJP and the RSS for not participating in the national freedom struggle, the resolution said "The RSS and BJP, claim to be custodians of nationalism and patriotism. It is ironical since they are ideological descendants of the non participants of the freedom struggle," it said.

"Congress - a Party, which led the freedom struggle with its leaders and workers making great sacrifices, therefore, needs no lessons from the RSS-BJP on nationalism and patriotism," it said.

The Congress also called upon the people of the country to defend and uphold the spirit of 'Sarva Dharma Sambhav' and India's ancient wisdom as encapsulated in 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbkam'.

The Congress resolution emphasised that forces of communalism and violence have no place in a civilized society.

"No cause can justify terror and violence against innocent civilians and no religion gives that sanction. Congress condemns communalism and terrorism in all its manifestations and reaffirms its resolve to fight such forces," it said.

The Congress Plenary, unequivocally commits to defend the fabric of social unity, secularism and constitutional democracy.

The party accused BJP and RSS of misrepresenting and misusing religion to exploit the sentiments of the people and capture political power and said that it needs no lessons from them on "nationalism and patriotism".

The political resolution expressed concern over the assault on foundation principles of the Constitution.

"India is confronted today by a systematic assault on the foundational principles of our Constitution and the values of Indian republic, by the outfits and organisations affiliated to the ruling RSS-BJP combine," the resolution said.

It also said that the lifeline of Indian democracy is "inclusion and secularism".

The Congress also charged the government with undermining established norms of governance and subversion of educational, cultural and historical institutions, facilitating their capture by BJP's ideological affiliates.

"RSS infiltration of every Institution, administration and the universities, poses a threat to pluralism and Indian Democracy. The centralisation of authority, arbitrary and partisan decision making, has cast a dark shadow on Parliamentary democracy," it said.

Accusing BJP of misusing the constitutional offices to acquire power, it said, "The BJP government, has brazenly misused the constitutional office of Governors and resorted to unethical means to destabilise elected Governments, hijack popular mandates and foisting governments by manufacturing majority.

"The BJP government is insensitive and disrespectful of the above. This calls for strong condemnation," it said.

The Congress also condemned the BJP for brazen abuse of power and misuse of Central government agencies for targeted political vendetta to harass, humiliate and persecute its political opponents.

"The BJP governments in the states have unleashed persecution and atrocities against the Congress workers.

"The Congress Party warns the BJP and its government, that its undemocratic methods and acts to curtail liberty, freedom of expression and violation of fundamental rights of the citizens as enshrined in the Constitution will be strongly resisted," it added.

--IANS

aks-vsc/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Congress on Saturday expressed its willingness to ally "with all like-minded parties" with a "pragmatic approach" to defeat the Narendra Modi government in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The political resolution, adopted at the party's plenary here, talked of evolving a common workable programme to defeat the Bharatiya Janta Party-Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in the next general elections.

The Congress spelled out its stance amid renewed efforts for opposition unity following the BJP's defeat in crucial Uttar Pradesh and Bihar Lok Sabha by-elections.

"Congress will adopt a pragmatic approach for cooperation with all like-minded parties and evolve a common workable programme to defeat the BJP-RSS in the 2019 elections," the resolution said.

The Bahujan Samaj Party had supported arch-rival Samajwadi Party candidates in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur and Phulpur seats. The SP-BSP front trounced the BJP in a shocking outcome amidst suggestions that opposition parties should put up joint candidates against the BJP-led NDA in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

The resolution, however, remained silent on the leadership of the grouping of like-minded parties but emphasised on the role of "a resurgent Congress" in winning back the idea of India.

"The 84th Plenary of the Congress gives a clarion call to its rank and file to rise to the occasion to defend the foundational values of our republic and constitutional democracy.

"A resurgent Congress alone shall win back the idea of India as envisioned by the founding fathers of our nation."

The Congress had stitched an alliance to oust the first National Democratic Alliance government-led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2004.

The resolution said all sections have been "betrayed" by the BJP-led government and core constitutional values were under attack.

"Under the BJP regime, the people of India - farmers, khet mazdoors, workers in the unorganised sector, self-employed, manual labourers, Dalits, minorities, traders, unemployed youth and the poor have been betrayed.

"Today, our core constitutional values are under attack. Our freedoms are in jeopardy. Our Institutions are under stress and their independence compromised. Our Republic must be protected at all costs," it said.

The resolution said the Congress was prepared to make whatever sacrifices required to defend the ethos of the Constitution.

"We will purge the polity of the aberrations witnessed during the BJP regime, which has failed to honour its commitments to the people of India."

It said the Congress was proud of its illustrious history, legacy and remains the party that truly represents India - multi-cultural, multilingual and multi-religious.

"Congress Party is committed to serve people of India at a time when the country stands at a crossroad as it faces the threat posed by authoritarian, divisive and disruptive forces," it said.

--IANS

ps-sid/in/sar/vsc

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The formal construction of a multi-modal terminal at Haldia in West Bengal is expected to commence next week with Union Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari likely to be present at the foundation stone laying ceremony, an official said on Saturday.

"Some works before commencing of the construction have already been started. The minister is expected to lay foundation stone for the multi-modal terminal at Haldia along with the new navigational lock gate and River Information System (RIS) at Farraka," said a senior official of the Inland Waterways Authority of India.

Gadkari is also likely to flag-off the RoRo service between Kolkata and Howrah on National Waterway 1 (NW-1), he said.

The authority's Vice Chairman Pravir Pandey said the terminal and NW-1 is scheduled to be ready by end of 2019 and the modern RIS would be equivalent to Air Traffic Control to monitor the waterway on a real time basis.

The IWAI is developing the NW-1 from Varanasi to Haldia under the Jal Marg Vikas Project, with assistance from the World Bank. The estimated project cost has been revised upward to Rs 5,369 crore from the initial estimation of Rs 4,200 crore.

Shipping Secretary Gopal Krishna on Saturday flagged off a new high power twin-propeller tug-barge flotilla for use in the National Waterways-1 to augment the navigation capacity of the country's waterways.

The barge has been procured at a cost of Rs 16.24 crore and will help in transporting fly-ash to Bangladesh.

--IANS

bdc/nks/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said the country, feeling tired under the Modi government, was seeking change in the 2019 general election and only his party can show the path forward.

In his presidental remarks at the party's 84th Plenary here, Gandhi said the meeting was aimed at setting the future direction not only of the Congress but of the entire country.

Gandhi targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his governmnent, which will complete four years in office in May. He said the country was looking for a change in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

He accused the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) of dividing the society and said that only Congress can heal the divisions.

"Today anger is being spread in the country, the country is being divided and people are being made to fight each other. But our work is to bring people together."

He said various sections, including youth and farmers, were feeling disenchanted under the BJP government.

"The crores of youth, who are feeling tired today, when they look towards Modi, they are unable to see a way forward.

"They do not know from where will they get employment, when will farmers get proper price for their crops. The country is in a way tired, is seeking a way out.

"And I say from my heart that only the Congress can show the path to the country," Gandhi said to cheers from the gathering.

"The aim of plenary is to show the path forward to the Congress and the country. It is talking of the future, it is talking of change."

The Congress President recalled contributions of leaders including his mother Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, Kartanataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram "in fighting the battle of the Congress" and "protecting its symbol".

The Congress chief talked of the need for a balance between youth and experience in the party.

"In our tradition, there is change but we do not forget the past. There is talk of youth but I want to say from this stage that youth will take the Congress forward but cannot move ahead without the experienced leaders. My task is to connect the youth and the seniors," he said.

Gandhi said his task was to show a new direction to the party.

"What is the difference between the Congress and our opposition. There is one big difference. They use anger. We use love, brotherhood. The country belongs to us all, is of every religion, every community and every citizen.

"And whatever the Congress does, it will do for every individual of the country and not leave any one behind," he said.

Referring to the Congress' symbol of hand, Gandhi said, "This is the symbol that can bring the country together, take it forward. And the power of this symbol is within you. The work of forging the unity will have to be done together by all of us and people of the country."

The plenary, being held after eight years, has definitive stamp of Gandhi. Unlike the past, leaders are not seated on the dias. Workers and young leaders have been given more opportunity to speak on the resolutions.

The meeting is being attended by AICC members from all over the country besides office-bearers.A .

Elaborate arrangements have been made for the plenary which will conclude on Sunday

--IANS

ps-sid/sar/vsc

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)EgyptAir, the flag carrier of Egypt, has announced it will resume direct flights to Russian capital Moscow as of April 12 after more than a two-year halt.

Flights will operate three days a week -- on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday, Chairman and CEO of EgyptAir Holding Company, Safwat Musallam, said in a statement on Friday, Xinhua news agency reported.

The announcement came days after Russian Aeroflot airliner announced it will resume regular flights from Moscow to Cairo as of April 11.

Flights between the two countries were suspended after an Airbus A321 plane crashed over the Sinai Peninsula on October 31, 2015, en route from Egypt's Sharm al-Sheikh city to St. Petersburg in Russia.

All 224 people on board were killed in the crash.

At the time, Moscow said that the airliner crashed due to a terrorist bomb attack. During his visit to Egypt in December, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that his country is ready to resume direct flights between Cairo and Moscow, pointing out the Russian Federal Security Agency reported that the Russian side can resume air traffic.

--IANS

pgh/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)US Attorney General Jeff Sessions has fired former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, less than two days before his retirement, ending the career of an official who had risen to serve as second-in-command at the bureau, the media reported.

McCabe had more recently been regularly taunted by President Donald Trump and besieged by accusations that he had misled internal investigators at the Justice Department, reports CNN.

In a blistering statement after the announcement late Friday night, McCabe said his firing is part of a larger effort to discredit the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

"This attack on my credibility is one part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally, but to taint the FBI, law enforcement, and intelligence professionals more generally.

"It is part of this administration's ongoing war on the FBI and the efforts of the Special Counsel investigation, which continue to this day. Their persistence in this campaign only highlights the importance of the Special Counsel's work," McCabe said in the statement.

He was expected to retire on Sunday, on his 50th birthday, when he would have become eligible to receive early retirement benefits.

But Friday's termination could place a portion of his anticipated pension, earned after more than two decades of service, in significant jeopardy, CNN reported.

In response to the firing, President Donald Trump tweeted: "Andrew McCabe fired, a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI - A great day for Democracy.

"Sanctimonious James Comey was his boss and made McCabe look like a choirboy. He knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI!"

McCabe, accompanied by his lawyer, tried making a last-ditch effort on Thursday to avoid the firing, meeting with officials at the deputy attorney general's office at the Justice Department for several hours while Sessions was travelling, but to no avail.

The origin of MCabe's dramatic fall stems from an internal review conducted by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz, reports CNN.

The report, details of which have not been publicly released, is said to conclude that McCabe misled investigators about his role in directing other officials at the FBI to speak to The Wall Street Journal about his involvement in a public corruption investigation into the Clinton Foundation.

Horowitz's office is continuing to investigate how the Justice Department and the FBI handled sensitive investigations leading up to the 2016 presidential election, including the probe into Hillary Clinton's private email server, and a more global report is expected this year.

McCabe's firing comes after Trump on Tuesday sacked Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, ending his short but tumultuous tenure as the nations chief diplomat. CIA Director Mike Pompeo will take over the top position.

On Wednesday, Trump named conservative TV analyst Larry Kudlow to replace his top economic adviser, Gary Cohn, who quit over trade disagreements, The Washington Post reported.

On Thursday, it was revealed that Trump had decided to remove H.R. McMaster as his National Security Adviser and was actively discussing potential replacements, according to The Washington Post.

--IANS

ksk

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A think tank here -- Imani Ghana -- has described the deportation of the Indian businessman, Ashok Sivaram Kumar as "harsh" adding that the process had not been properly handled.

The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) on March 11 repatriated Kumar.

The businessman was sent back to India on the grounds that his his work and residence permits had expired, following a Supreme Court decision which reversed an earlier High Court order that had quashed a deportation order served on Kumar by the minister of the interior.

The order was contained in a 'Notice to Leave' order dated March 9, 2018, signed by the deputy controller of the GIS, Laud Afrifah. Kumar was informed that his permit to reside in Ghana had expired and he was asked to leave the country "within 48 hours".

Imani said, "the man must be a very important businessman to attract the attention of the minister in the way he did," adding that such acts may affect the country's attempt to attract foreign investment into the country.

The workers of his company have also given the government a week's notice to return Kumar to Ghana or they would demonstrate at the Immigration Service's premises. They showed copies of Kumar's passport and work permits to newspersons which, they said, had not expired.

Kumar has spent almost a year to fight his deportation until the Supreme Court's ruling last week after which he was whisked out of the country by the GIS. The unanimous Supreme Court's decision said the High Court had no legal standing to quash the order because Kumar had failed to exhaust all administrative processes, including petitioning the minister of the interior within seven days after his residence and work permits were revoked, before going to court as stipulated by Section 46 of the Immigration Act (200), (Act 573).

The GIS has in a statement justified its action on Kumar because it believes his "continuous stay in the country was inimical to the security of the country".

Kumar was accused by the GIS of using a fake marriage certificate to support his application for permanent residence permit and this had led to his repatriation in June last year following an order issued by the Minister of the Interior in May 2017.

On Wednesday, one of the workers who refused to speak on record told IANS: "As a nation, we are crying for investors to come and create businesses, but if this is how we will treat them, where will the jobs come from."

--IANS

Francis/hs

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said the loss in Uttar Pradesh by-polls made the the BJP realise that "even this can happen" but "it will not happen again".

The minister's statement came days after the Bharatiya Janata Party suffered a double jolt as it was trounced in the Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha by-polls for the Gorakhpur and Phulpur and in Bihar's Araria.

"Ho gaya, aage nahin hoga. Humein pata chala ki aisa bhi ho sakta hain (It happened, will not happen again. We realised even this can also happen)," the minister said, addressing the CNN News18 Rising India Summit.

Gorakhpur was held by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for five consecutive terms, while Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya was Phulpur's elected Lok Sabha representative.

Commenting on Congress President Rahul Gandhi's statement that the country was rising against the BJP, Rajnath Singh said: "He is our opposition leader and will keep saying things but only time will tell against whom the country is rising."

On being asked if he harboured the dream of being Prime Minister one day, he said he was not "over ambitious".

"I'm not over ambitious. But yes, if one is given the opportunity, they must fulfil it. Our Prime Minister is doing a very good job."

Asked whether the interference by Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in the Ram Janmabhoomi issue was right, Rajnath Singh said: "We cannot stop him from mediating in the issue. As far as the government is concerned, the matter is sub-judice."

Replying to a question if the Jawaharlal Nehru University was creating problem in the internal security, the Minister said he didn't think so.

"If anyone is misusing the JNU for political gains, it should be checked. If any party is doing by politicising any university, it should not be done."India is the world's biggest importer of weapons, accounting for 12 per cent of global purchases during the past five years because it is not able to produce enough arms to meet its requirements, according to the authoritative Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

India's imports rose 24 per cent during the past five calendar years, 2013-17, compared to the previous five-year period, 2008-12, according to a SIPRI study released this week.

"The tensions between India, on the one side, and Pakistan and China, on the other, are fueling India's growing demand for major weapons, which it remains unable to produce itself," SIPRI Senior Researcher Siemon Wezeman wrote.

"China, by contrast, is becoming increasingly capable of producing its own weapons," Wezeman pointed out.

SIPRI, which tracks the global arms trade, uses its own accounting system called Trend-Indicator Value (TIV) to measure the arms transactions in order to arrive at a uniform valuation given the differences in currencies and accounting methods by various countries and inadequate monetary data.

According SIPRI data using this method, India's total TIV rose from 14,608 during 2008-12 to 18,048 in 2013-17.

However, India's arms purchases have come down during the last three full years of BJP government compared to the last three full years of the Congress-led UPA rule.

During 2011-13 when Manmohan Singh was Prime Minister, India imported arms worth 13,319 TIV but only 9,499 TIV in 2015-17 under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. When both leaders held power at different times during 2014, the imports were 3,227 TIV.

In 2013, India's imports were 5,322 TIV, up from 1,845 in 2008.

In contrast to India, Pakistan's arms imports declined significantly during the last five years, when imports from the US dropped dramatically compared to the previous five years while supplies from China increased.

"Despite its continuing tensions with India and ongoing internal conflicts, Pakistan's arms imports decreased by 36 per cent between 2008-12 and 2013-17," the report said. "Pakistan accounted for 2.8 per cent of global arms imports in 2013-17."

Pakistan's arms imports from the US dropped by 76 per cent in the latest five-year period compared with the previous five, the study said.

China was Pakistan's main source of arms in 2013-17, and there was a large increase in Chinese arms exports to Bangladesh in that period, SIPRI said.

As New Delhi diversifies its arms purchases, the US is rapidly increasing its arms sales to India, emerging over the last five years as its second biggest supplier, according SIPRI.

The share of India's imports from the US increased from 2.7 per cent of its total during 2008-12 to 15 per cent in the latest five-year period - recording a 557 per cent increase - as it leapfrogged over Uzbekistan, Britain and Israel.

Israel has moved up to the third spot accounting for 11 per cent of India's imports during the 2013-17, compared to 3.7 percent in 2008-12 showing a 285 per cent increase, according to the study.

Although Russia remained by far India's biggest arms seller, its share of total imports has fallen.

Russia had a 62 per cent share of India's arms imports during the past five years, down from 79 percent in 2008-12, according to SIPRI.

Uzbekistan, which was India's second biggest import source accounting for 4.3 of its purchases abroad during 2008-12 did not sell any after 2011, according to the data.

Weapons imports from Britain fell to 3.2 per cent of the total during the last five years, while it was 5.2 per cent in 2008-12, a drop of 23 per cent during that period that moved it down from the third spot to the fifth.

France has moved up to the fourth spot accounting for 4.6 per cent of India's imports during the last five years, an increase of 572 per cent compared to just 0.8 per cent.

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in)

--IANS

al/vdFacebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly deployed "secret police" to catch and punish information leakers at his company and the team is led by an Indian American senior employee Sonya Ahuja.

According to a report in The Guardian, an unnamed employee was called to a meeting in 2017 under the guise of a promotion. However, he found himself face to face with the secretive "rat-catching" team led by Ahuja, the company's head of investigations.

The team had records of screenshots he had taken, links he had clicked or hovered over.

The "secret police" also accessed chats between him and a journalist dating back to before he joined the company.

"It's horrifying how much they know. You go into Facebook and it has this warm, fuzzy feeling of 'we're changing the world' and 'we care about things'.

"But you get on their bad side and all of a sudden you are face to face with [Facebook CEO] Mark Zuckerberg's secret police," the employee told The Guardian.

According to the report, Zuckerberg hosts weekly meetings where he shares details of unreleased new products and strategies in front of thousands of employees.

"When you first get to Facebook you are shocked at the level of transparency. You are trusted with a lot of stuff you don't need access to," the employee was quoted as saying.

During one of Zuckerberg's weekly meetings in 2015, said the report, he had warned employees: "We're going to find the leaker, and we're going to fire them."

According to a Facebook spokesperson "companies routinely use business records in workplace investigations, and we are no exception".

Not just Facebook, James Damore, the software engineer who was fired from Google after writing a controversial anti-diversity memo, "suspects he was being monitored by the company during his final days".

James Damore stopped using his personal Gmail account after being fired, said the report.

--IANS

na/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)In a telling blow to the Pinarayi Vijayan government, the Kerala church on Saturday slammed the state's liquor policy, threatening it would work against the ruling Left's candidate in the upcoming Chengannur by-poll.

A senior bishop of the powerful Syro Malabar Catholic Church said this after the state government on Friday notified a Supreme Court order allowing licenses to every local body to open new liquor vends in the areas where population is above 10,000 .

The Syro church is a key member of the Kerala Catholic Bishops Conference that has a very strong anti-liquor front.

Speaking to the media, Bishop Mar Remigiose Inchananiyil, of the Thamarassery Diocese near here, said they were challenging the Vijayan government to set the ball rolling for a referendum on the new liquor policy.

"They had come with a detailed manifesto on what their liquor policy would be and they used film stars to propagate that their liquor policy would be one of abstinence.

"Just see now what has happened. All the bars that were closed are going to be reopened. Whom are they (the Left) cheating? We will be in the forefront at the Chengannur by-election asking the electorate to vote against the manipulative tactics of the Left government," said an angry Inchananiyil.

In 2016, when the Oommen Chandy-led Congress government demitted office, there were two dozen bars that operated in five star hotels. Around 700 bars in the three- and four-star hotels were shut down.

Chandy's policy envisaged prohibition in Kerala by 2023.

After Vijayan took over, the government reduced distances between liquor vends and religious and educational institutions from 200 metres to 50 metres.

--IANS

sg/in/sar/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)At least 21 more leopards lost their lives in the first half of March, taking the toll to 127 this year, according to the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI).

The WPSI said the leopard deaths between March 1 and 15 reported from different parts of the country included a total 12 cases of "seizure and poaching". Nine other cases were classified as "mortality".

Mortality is a category when a leopard or tiger is found dead due to diseases or unknown causes, shot by forest department or police, killed by villagers, killed in road or train accident, killed in rescue operation or during treatment, infighting, accidental electrocution.

Earlier, IANS reported that as many as 106 leopards died in the first two months of 2018 in forests across the country -- a number that conservationists and officials said was "alarmingly high".

"The last cases were reported in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. Two leopard skins were seized from smugglers by Special Task Forces on March 15," Tito Jopseph, programme manager at WPSI, told IANS.

According to official records, a total of 431 leopards died in 2017. These included 159 incidents of poaching. Some 450 big cats died in 2016 and 127 of them were found poached.

Union Minister Harsh Vardhan had on March 9 informed the Parliament that his ministry was aware of the deaths and that the matter was being dealt with, with the concerned states.

Leopards have been targeted by poachers for their expensive hides and other body parts. However, habitat loss, especially due to farming, has posed a new threat to them.

According to experts involved in tracking illegal wildlife trade, an animal skin changes a lot of hands before it reaches a possible market in China where it can fetch around Rs 50 lakh -- sometimes even higher than that.

According to the Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India, there are at least 9,000 leopards across 17 states.

However, the actual leopard population is unknown as no assessment is done in states like Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir where incidents of leopard sighting are random.

The Indian leopard is listed as "vulnerable" on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List. It is protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

--IANS

kd/sar/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)LGBT members and activists have slammed the actions of a school here, terming it "human rights violation and desensitisation of societal institutions", after the all-girl institute allegedly forced 10 of its students to write confessional statements about their "lesbian acts" in its premises.

The activists also denounced the comments of West Bengal Minister Partha Chatterjee who dubbed lesbianism as "against the cultural ethos of Bengal" and said the ideas of exploring sexuality should not be inculcated at the school level.

Terming the incident "shameful", Varta Trust that promotes dialogue and understanding on gender and sexuality, demanded action against the acting Headmistress of Kamala Girls School and called for age-specific gender and sexuality in schools and colleges.

"The entire incident is a reflection of the desensitisation of societal institutions and administration at a time when civil society organisations in Kolkata and Bengal have been scrupulously working to spread awareness on gender, sex and sexuality and make it part of free expression and exercise of basic human rights through a range of activities," said Pawan Dhall, settlor of the organisation's trustee board, in a social media petition.

"Undertake a massive drive to sensitise the heads, faculty and administrative staff in schools and colleges as well as parents/families of students on gender, sex, sexuality and mental health," he added.

Meenakshi Sanyal of 'Sappho For Equality', an activist forum for LGBT rights, said the school teachers accused the girls of homosexuality without noticing any traits of lesbianism in their behaviour.

"When we talked to the school authorities, we asked them what sort of traits did they see in those girls to tag them as homosexuals or lesbians. They said some incidents were seen by the girls' classmates and later reported to the headmistress. You see, holding hands or getting close does not imply lesbianism," she said.

"These girls can have homoerotic traits in them but that does not make them homosexuals. The way the teachers approached the issue was shocking as it would have severe impact on the mind of those little girls. We are indeed living in a turbulent time," she pointed out.

Questioning Chatterjee's statements, the activist said: "We will issue a open letter to the state Minister for his statements and would circulate it across the country. We do not know which culture was he referring to?"

Sanyal also claimed the teachers in schools and colleges should be sensitised about the differences between sex and sexuality to avoid such misunderstandings and misconceptions in future.

The incident surfaced on March 12 after authorities of the south Kolkata school levelled allegations of lesbianism against 10 of its Class 9 students, following complaints by some of their classmates and allegedly obtained written admissions of such act from them.

Peeved over the school's stand, angry guardians stormed the acting Headmistress' Office and engaged in a verbal duel with her.

(Milinda Ghosh Roy can be contacted at milinda.r@ians.in)

--IANS

mgr/ssp/in

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Saturday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying his slogans of development for all and won't tolerate corruption were gimmicks to grab power.

"In 2014, when the Modi government came, they talked of 'sabka saath, sabka vikas, 'na khaoonga, na khane doonga' all dramebaazi to get votes," she said, addressing the Congress' plenary session at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium here.

She said the Modi government even attempted to destroy the Congress as well as "weakening and ignoring" the schemes implemented during the UPA rule.

"Today, I am saddened to see that the Modi government is weakening and ignoring the schemes and programmes (implemented during the UPA rule)," Sonia Gandhi said.

"In the last four years, this arrogant government has left no stone unturned to destroy the Congress, but the party has never cowered down and it will never cower down."

During the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government under Manmohan Singh, the country registered the strongest economy and GDP, she said.

She said wherever there is a non-Congress government, "our friends are taking a stand against anarchy and violence and continuing with their work".

"It is Congress Party which takes stand against injustice and raises its voice against it. We need to make an India free of corruption and vendetta, under (Congress) President Rahul Gandhi. Let us pledge that we will make all efforts to do this."

Calling it the beginning of a new chapter, the UPA Chairperson said "today only one thing matters, how to strengthen the great party with which we have relations that go back in time".

She asked party men and women to unite and work together beyond personal issues.

"The challenges we are facing are not usual ones. All of us should unite and work together. This is not the time to look at our personal issues. A party win will be a win for all of us.

"You all know how, due to circumstances, I entered the public sphere but when I realized that the party is weakening, keeping in mind sentiments of Congressmen, I entered the political arena. The party's victory will be the nation's victory, it will be the victory for each one of us."

--IANS

rak/sar/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Tata Sons on Thursday said Mukund Rajan has stepped down as the Chief Ethics Officer of the company with effect from March 31.

"Mukund Rajan, 49, Chief Ethics Officer, has conveyed personal reasons for his decision to leave Tata Sons and has indicated he will be evaluating certain entrepreneurial pursuits in the coming months," the company said in a statement. (An earlier IANS story had wrong named the company as Tata Motors).

Over a period of 23 years, Rajan, a Tata Administrative Service (TAS) Officer, had served the company in various leadership roles including in the telecommunication sector, private equity space and branding strategy, it added.

--IANS

ppg/ag/hs

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A new artificial intelligence (AI)-based lunar mapping technology has accurately mapped over 6,000 new craters on Earth's moon in just hours, the media reported.

The moon is dotted with a vast number of craters, some billions of years old.

Using the new lunar mapping technique, the technology successfully counted new pockmarks on the moon -- some 6,000 of them -- through available datasets from previous lunar observation information, Tech Times reported.

"Basically, we need to manually look at an image, locate and count the craters and then calculate how large they are based on the size of the image," Mohamad Ali-Dib, from the Centre for Planetary Sciences at University of Toronto Scarborough, Canada, was quoted as saying.

For the study, published in the journal Icarus, the team first trained the convolutional neural network on a dataset covering two-thirds of the moon. They then tested the neural network on the remaining third of the moon.

The results yield 92 per cent of craters from human-generated test sets and almost twice of the total number of crater detections.

They were able to spot about 6,000 previously unidentified craters on the moon's surface.

Out of the new craters discovered, 15 per cent are smaller in diameter than the minimum crater size in the ground-truth dataset.

The errors compared to the human-generated datasets are only 11 per cent or less, making the deep-learning tool useful in automatically extracting crater information on various solar system bodies.

The same network also successfully detected craters on Mercury, which has a completely distinct surface compared to the moon, the report said.

--IANS

rt/nks/sac

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Scientists have developed a highly efficient and durable bacteria-and virus-killing material which may be integrated into personal protective equipment (PPE) in the near future to prevent the outbreak of emerging infectious diseases.

The novel material can recharge its store of pathogen-killing chemicals under daylight like solar-powered batteries, while maintaining relatively fast biocidal abilities in dim or dark conditions, Xinhua reported.

"The material is made of electrospinning nano-fibres. Its 200-nanometre small pores can effectively block pathogens and also increase their contact with the photo-catalytic antibacterial component on the nano-fibres," said Si Yang lead author, a postdoctoral student at the University of California-Davis.

In the study, published in the journal Science Advances, the team engineered rechargeable patchworks of nano-fibrous membranes (RNMs) that quickly produce biocidal reactive oxygen species in response to daylight.

The RNMs killed bacteria (Escherichia coli and Listeria innocua) at over 99 per cent efficiency under 30-and 60-minute daylight irradiation and killed viruses (T7 phage) just as efficiently at a faster rate, in only about five minutes under daylight.

Moreover, because of its rechargeable feature, the RNM continued to kill the pathogens in the dark, disrupting bacteria within 120 minutes and viruses within 30 minutes.

Current light-responsive biocidal materials, on the other hand, typically need around five to 10 hours to reach the level of bacteria-killing efficiency.

The sustainable RNMs also show potential for use in applications like tissue engineering, medical therapy equipment and smart wearable devices, Yang said.

--IANS

rt/nks/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)After cancelling events in the national capital, the Tibetan government-in-exile will now start the pan-India programmes to mark the beginning of the 60th year of the Dalai Lama stepping on Indian soil, from its headquarters here, organisers said on Saturday.

"The CTA (Central Tibetan Administration) will be organising a public event at the Tsuglagkhang temple (in Dharamsala) on March 31 to thank India," a government-in-exile spokesperson told IANS.

He said the Dalai Lama has agreed to attend the event that will see dignitaries and guests, and celebrate Tibetan culture and spirit that thrives on the Indian soil.

The Dalai Lama escaped from Tibet to India in March 1959. The government-in-exile is about to complete 60 years in the country.

Amidst the recent tensions with China, the Indian government 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.

CTA President Lobsang Sangay said Tibet is inextricably linked to India through geography, history, culture and spiritually.

"His Holiness the Dalai Lama calls India the 'guru' and Tibet its 'chela' and refers to himself the 'son of India' and a true follower of Mahatma Gandhi. He continues to advocate the revival of India's ancient wisdom based on the Nalanda tradition," he said in a statement.

Sangay said the Tibetan struggle is "Made in India" and said that "the success of the Tibetan struggle will be India's success story".

Chair of the organising committee of the planned events, Sonam Norbu Dagpo, said India has not only been a second home for Tibetan people but have provided profound support to the Tibetan struggle.

"Therefore, with the blessings of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and under the leadership of the CTA, Tibetan people across the globe are observing 2018 as a 'Thank You India Year'.

"A series of pan-India events spanning 12 months -- both in the physical and virtual space -- will publicly express gratitude to the government and people of India," he added.

The Dalai Lama, in an interview to CNN News18, said he "doesn't care about how Chinese pressure forced the cancellation of the events of the Tibetan government-in-exile in Delhi to mark 60 years of its exile in India".

He said it was more about "how you feel for Tibetans and how Tibetans feel for India".

--IANS

vg/ksk/sac

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The makers of Varun Dhawan-starrer "October" have decided to release the theme song of the film on public demand.

Co-produced by Ronnie Lahiri and Sheel Kumar, "October" is directed by Shoojit Sircar. The film celebrates love, nature and the autumn season.

Varun plays a housekeeper at a hotel, in love with the idea of love. The girl whom he follows into the ICU of a hospital barely acknowledges him at their workplace. Yet he clings to the idea of love.

The melody is called "The Theme Of October", takes one through all the ups and downs that goes on in the lives of lead pair Dan and Shiuli.

"Yes, many fans specially reached out to us via social media as well as to Varun, appreciating the background score and asking for the end melody to be released, so we thought why not share the music with them as soon as we could! Hence the idea of just releasing the tune for fans came to us," Lahiri said in a statement.

The theme will be launched digitally on Monday.

The film also stars Banita Sandhu, and is slated to release on April 13.

--IANS

sug/pgh/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)-by Reese Erlich





Progressives arent supposed to say this. But none of the major gun control proposals now being debated in Washington would actually stop mass shootings. I know that sounds heretical, or even worse, like an echo of the National Rifle Association line. But its true.

An AR-15 assault rifle

Lets take a look:





Ban sales of AR-15 and other assault rifles. Assault rifles are deadly. But other semi-automatic weapons, which would not be banned, are just as dangerous. And even if all semi-automatic rifles were banned, Americans still have access to plenty of deadly ordinance. In 1966 a shooter at the University of Texas used a Assault rifles are deadly. But other semi-automatic weapons, which would not be banned, are just as dangerous. And even if all semi-automatic rifles were banned, Americans still have access to plenty of deadly ordinance. In 1966 a shooter at the University of Texas used a bolt action and pump action rifles to murder 14 and wound 31





Better background checks will stop the shooters. Such checks might stop a random shooter or two, but almost all the recent mass killers would have passed background checks. Proposed stricter background checks would not stop gun sales to the severely mentally ill.





Require gun purchasers to be 21. Ask any teens who have had an adult buy them bottles of alcohol how well that works. In a number of recent shootings, young teens stole guns from their parents gun cabinets.





Theres a fundamental flaw in gun reform laws currently under consideration. America is flooded with firearms. Potential mass murderers have access to tens of millions of legal and illegal guns. The spousal abuser or the psychopath can find a very deadly weapon with relative ease. So even the most positive, partial reforms wont solve the problem.





Dont get me wrong. I support significant reform measures-- but for political reasons-- not because they will have much immediate impact. The NRAs stranglehold on US politics must be broken. Oregon took a good step recently by prohibiting domestic abusers and those subject to restraining orders from owning guns. Banning assault rifles and high capacity magazines would definitely weaken the gun lobbys power.





And I think its time Americans seriously consider gun reform that would actually stop mass killings. Australians did it and so can we.





The US and Australia share some common history. The British sent settlers to occupy colonial land, although the Australians had to get out of prison first. Both countries encouraged gun ownership by white settlers, Rebecca Peters, a representative of Australias International Action Network on Small Arms, told me. Early settlers depended on killing animals and the indigenous people who lived there before.





And in modern times both countries had strong gun lobbies paid for by firearm manufacturers. The Australian gun lobby had blocked effective gun control at both the federal and state levels.





For Australians, everything changed on April 28, 1996. That day a young curly haired, blond man brought an AR-15 and another semiautomatic rifle to the popular tourist town of Pt. Arthur in southeastern Tasmania. He fired randomly, killing 35 people and wounding 18. The massacre of men, women and children shocked Australians much like the Parkland, Florida impacted Americans.





But the Aussies did something about it.





Just 12 days after the shooting, conservative Prime Minister John Howard brought together legislators to pass comprehensive, national gun control laws. But what appeared to be a legislative miracle was actually the culmination of years of grass-roots efforts.





Local activists and public health professionals had been educating the public since the late 1980s, said Peters. They found a sympathetic audience among trade unionists and some Labor Party politicians. We built a solid grassroots movement, she said. We didnt just leap into tragedy mode after a shooting.





Activists called for universal gun registration, and it was just as controversial in Australia as in the US. The gun lobby argued that the government would confiscate everyones guns.





Simon Chapman, emeritus professor in public health at the University of Sydney, remembers the most effective argument gun reform campaigners made on that topic.





We register cars, he would say. We register boats. We even register dogs. So whats the problem in registering guns?





So in the spring of 1996, the federal parliament passed a comprehensive measures that included:

All semi-automatic rifles and pump action shotguns were banned, as were high capacity magazines.



The government purchased existing firearms that had been banned, paying retail plus 10 percent.



All firearms were registered and new buyers were required to prove a genuine reason for gun ownership such as hunting or target practice at a shooters club.



New gun owners must wait 28 days to take delivery, be subject to a comprehensive background check, and take a gun safety course.

The results were striking. There have been no mass shootings. Gun murders and suicides have dropped precipitously . There are 200 fewer deaths every year as a result of gun control, according to Peters.





And, oh yes, hunters continue to hunt, and target shooters continue to plink. No armies of jack booted police have stormed private residences to seize weapons.





Australias stringent gun control laws arent likely to be adopted in the U.S. anytime soon. But we can learn something from their political organizing.





Today, the NRA stops even the smallest gun reforms from passing the U.S Congress. But other, seemingly undefeatable lobbies nave been weakened. Look at Big Tobacco and the right-wing Cuba Lobby. The NRA could be next.





Today the NRA faces a formidable enemy. The Parkland high school students have sparked grass-roots efforts among other students and their parents. Theyve sat in at the Florida state house and in the U.S. Senate.





Peters said grass roots organizing defeated the gun lobby in Australia and it can be done in the US as well. The NRA uses power of intimidation, she said. And they often win the public relations war. But they can be defeated.







A number of ministers and prominent MPs will hit the streets of the national capital on Sunday in their cars to promote road safety and responsible driving as part of the popular JK Tyre-Constitution Club of India Rally 2018.

CCI secretary Rajiv Pratap Rudy announced this here on Saturday, revealing that Anurag Thakur, Sachin Pilot, Dinesh Trivedi and Sanjay Jaiswal among others have already confirmed their participation.

"My co-parliamentarians take great pride in participating in this rally which encourages every citizen to adhere to the road rules and regulations for their own safety," Rudy, who will be one of the star competitors, said in a statement.

"I thank all of them for their support and encouragement and hope that we are able to convey our message effectively," he added.

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan will flag off the rally from the club premises at 10 a.m.

The 40-km event will traverse through some of the most iconic streets of the city, including Sansad Marg, North Avenue, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Marg, South Avenue, Teen Murti Marg, Kautilya Marg, Shanti Path and Sardar Patel Marg before returning to culminate at the Constitution Club on Rafi Marg.

Apart from the top politicians, bureaucrats, army personnel and renowned personalities of the city will participate in the event along with their families that will test their navigational skills as well as their traffic compliance.

The event is organised by the Constitution Club of India in association with JK Tyre and Industries and is blessed by the parent body of motorsport in India, the FMSCI.

It will be held in compliance with the 2018 International Code of the FIA, following the Time, Speed, Distance (TSD) format.

Commenting on the race, JK Tyre Motorsports head Sanjay Sharma said: "This is an event that we are particularly proud to be part of. It endorses our philosophy of road safety and safe driving which can save many lives."

The winners will be felicitated at a grand prize distribution ceremony on Monday, attended by Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of road transport, shipping and water resources, river development & Ganga rejuvenation.

--IANS

tri/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Saturday tore into the "arrogant", "power-drunk", "dictatorial" BJP government, accusing it of using all means to destroy the opposition.

In a hard-hitting 15-minute speech at the Congress plenary, Sonia Gandhi accused the Modi government of working to finish the Congress in the nearly four years of its rule.

"In the last four years, to destroy the Congress, the arrogant and drunk-with-power Modi government has left no stone unturned. There is open play of allurement, money, repression and division (saam, daam, dand, bhed) but the Congress has never bowed to arrogance of power and will never bow in the future," she said.

"Rather, the Congress is putting up a struggle to expose the dictatorial ways of the Modi government, its neglect of Constitution, disrespect of Parliament, false cases against the opposition and its harassment of the media."

She said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 2014 slogans of 'development for all' and 'no tolerance for graft' were gimmicks to grab power.

Sonia Gandhi asked party workers to stoutly face the challenges for its victory in the upcoming electoral battles and again make the Congress a party that sets the fundamental agenda of the country.

Extending her good wishes to her son Rahul Gandhi, who took over as party chief in December, Sonia Gandhi said party workers will have to work unitedly and collectively under him for success in the face of "difficult struggles" facing the party.

She accused Modi of indulging in "dramabaazi" (gimmicks)" to earn votes.

"We are exposing the false claims, fraud and corruption of the Prime Minister and his associates with proofs. People have understood that the promises of 2014 of sabka saath, sabka vikas', na khaunga, na khanedunga were only gimmicks to earn votes and come to power," Gandhi said.

With the Congress facing a tough battle in 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Gandhi referred to the party changing its political approach in tune with the times which had reaped electoral success.

She said the party had decided against forming alliances at its Panchmarhi Chitin Shivir in 1998 but decided to work with like-minded parties at the Shimla Chintin Shivir in 2003. "Due to this, we achieved a feat, which people thought was impossible."

Sonia Gandhi also referred to victory of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in by-election in 1978 to Chikamagalur Lok Sabha seat in Karnataka and said it had overturned the country's and the Congress reemerged as a powerful party.

"I have full faith that in the Karnataka assembly polls, our party will again perform so well that it gives new direction to the of the country."

Referring to the challenges, she said it was not the time to think of personal egos and ambitions but to see "what all of us, each one of us, what we can do for the party.

"The victory of party will be the victory of the country, it will be victory of all of us."

The Congress leader said party workers in states not ruled by the party were struggling hard to expose the failures of these governments despite facing atrocities.

"It is the Congress that stays connected to people, stands with them. It is the Congress which raises voice against oppression."

Gandhi said the party was faced with difficult struggle when a new chapter is being added to the glorious history of the party.

"The challenges before the Congress President and all of us are not ordinary. We have to face them with determination.

"We have to struggle to make an India which is free of fear, free of abuse of power. An India where each person has dignity of life, an India free of partiality, an India free of feeling of revenge, an India free of repression. For this every Congressman has to be prepared for every sacrifice."

She said Congress should become a party that once again represents the aspirations and expectations of all the communities and Ais the anchor of the political and social dialogue of the country."

Referring to the party's performance in Gujarat and in by-polls in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, she said people who wanted to finish the Congress had no idea about the depth of affection among people for it.

She referred to the programmes of UPA and said it pains her that Modi govenrment was "diluting" them.

--IANS

ps-sid-sar-vsc/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday advised the lawyers of the nation to be a voice for the voiceless and bring justice to the most deprived.

"It would be a travesty of our republican ethic if a poor person did not get the same access to the law as a rich person. Unfortunately, in practice this is happening," said the President while delivering the Foundation Day Lecture of the National Law University in Cuttack in Odisha.

He said the legal system of the country has a reputation of being expensive and being prone to delays.

"Use and abuse of instrument of adjournments are often done by advocates who see adjournment as a tactic to slow down proceedings, rather than a response to a genuine emergency," he added.

"The judicial system has its responsibilities and so does the lawyer community. An advocate is a law officer of the court. He or she has a responsibility to the client, and also a duty to assist the court in the delivery of justice," said the President.

Kovind said that these are issues for the emerging generation of lawyers to ponder over and to rectify.

"The opportunities and rewards of this profession -- both intellectual and financial -- are enormous. And this is welcome. But a good legal professional is not just somebody with a mind - he or she is also somebody with a heart," he said.

He said for all its advances, at its root the legal profession has a simple aspiration - for the lawyer to be a voice for the voiceless and to bring justice to the deprived.

The Foundation Day Lecture of the National Law University was attended by Chief Justice of India Dipak Mishra, Governor S.C. Jamir, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

--IANS

cd/and/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Did Ranveer Singh feel let down by the way the government handled the row over his historical drama "Padmaavat"? The Bollywood star dodged the question repeatedly here on Saturday, but said he was enraged by the protests which he felt bordered on fascism.

"It's bizarre when I watch it," he said of the scale of protests against the movie, when asked if people have become cynical about affairs in the country.

"I can't believe that it's 2018. It is so blatant that it's bizarre. It borders on fascism. I found it appalling, I was in shock which then turned into rage."

Ranveer was at the News18 Rising India Summit where he spoke his heart out about how he felt "helpless" in the "frustrating" incidents that preceded the release of the Sanjay Leela Bhansali directorial in January.

When asked if he felt let down by the government or whether the government was not doing enough to ensure a smooth journey for "Padmaavat", Ranveer said: "You could say that Mr Prasoon Joshi (censor board chief) did a lot for the film, which eventually saw a release.

"I prefer to see the positives, and it is that the film got made, got released, with police deployed at exhibition centres, getting the appreciation it got, the perpetrators got taken to the cleaners after the release... And the film has gone on to make Rs 300 crore.

"There's a silver lining, and there's a sense of victory for Mr Bhansali, who fought tooth and nail to get it mounted, to get it made, and it eventually turned to a success."

So, he was okay with the way the government handled the situation?

Ranveer maintained: "I don't want to rake up what has already transpired."

"Honestly... I have moved on to another film. And it's going really well. I hope you come and see it. It's called 'Gully Boy'... It's a film very close to my heart, and it is embedded with a social message."

But coming back to "Padmaavat", he said: "The thing is... I have to move forward. I can't keep things in my system. I don't keep things in my system for too long. When I look back at 'Padmaavat', there are fond memories. The film eventually released and is not just a massive commercial success, but it seems to me that it will be remembered."

Later, another audience member pointed out "how beautifully" Ranveer had evaded the question on the government's take on "Padmaavat'.

He was then asked if he felt the course of the row would have been different had the reigns of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) not changed from Pahlaj Nihalani to Prasoon Joshi?

"I really don't know," pat came the reply.

"I don't know that many details to know what would have happened. All I know is Prasoon Joshi supported the film and it released, and it is there where it is today."

"Padmaavat", a historical drama, went through a tumultous journey from the beginning of its shoot till its release and beyond over conjectures that it distorted historical facts.

Rajput organisation Shree Rajput Karni Sena was up in arms against the makers, and not just vandalised its sets twice and assaulted Bhansali, but also held major protests across the country opposing the film's release.

Ranveer said it was "hugely infuriating" and left him "full of rage".

"But I was asked not to do anything," he said, adding that if he was to get involved, "things would get worse and it could have been perceived as retaliation".

So, he put all the frustration in his performance as Alauddin Khilji -- an act that has won him appreciation all the way.

--IANS

rb/nv/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said he wanted to build a strong and vibrant party with the help of all delegates as he opened the two day plenary session here.

This is the 84th plenary session of the grand old party that the 47-year-old Gandhi took over as chief in December 2017.

"Welcome delegates and distinguished guests to the Congress Plenary. Over the next two days, I look forward to interacting with you and to sharing experiences and perspectives that will together help us build a stronger, more vibrant Congress party," Gandhi said in a tweet.

Senior leaders, including UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, Ghulam Nabi Azad were among those present.

The plenary session is being held after eight years. It will ratify Rahul Gandhi's election as the party President and outline the party's strategies to oust the Narendra Modi government in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

The plenary will have his definitive stamp.

--IANS

ps-aks/in

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)South African political parties, former presidents and civil society have welcomed the reinstatement of corruption charges against former President Jacob Zuma.

The country's National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) on Friday announced that Zuma will be charged for corruption, racketeering and money laundering which were dropped in 2009, Xinhua news agency reported.

Former President Frederik de Klerk welcomed the reinstatement of the charges against Zuma.

De Klerk said there is a lot of public interest in the case and called for NPA to prosecute without fear or favour.

"While the successful prosecution of highly-connected political figures will go some way towards assuaging the angst-ridden South African public, it is still not enough to fully restore confidence in this vital institution," said the FW de Klerk Foundation in a statement.

"More than that, the NPA needs to make good on its word concerning the investigations into State Capture. Perhaps that will be the catalyst for the NPA towards reclaiming their constitutionally-appointed role as an institution that upholds justice and the Rule of Law," the statement said.

The Opposition political party, Democratic Alliance (DA) applied to the courts for the charges against Zuma to be reinstated.

The DA welcomed the charges against Zuma and said he should quickly be brought before the courts.

DA leader Mmusi Maimane said: "This is a victory for all who have fought for years for Jacob Zuma to face accountability for his crimes. That accountability starts now. Now there must be no further delay in starting the trial. The witnesses are ready, the evidence is strong, and Jacob Zuma must finally have his day in court."

Maimane said they will instruct their lawyers to oppose any attempt by Zuma to delay the trial. DA also wants Zuma to foot the legal bills.

In the past nine years Zuma spent over $1.3 million in legal costs trying to block the reinstatement of the charges.

Another political party, Economic Freedom Party (EFF) also welcomed the charges against Zuma. EFF said prosecuting Zuma will send a strong warning that all are equal before the law.

Quintin Ndlozi, EFF spokesperson, said: "It is important to state that no one, even former presidents, is above the law. The principle of equality before the law means we must all be equally held accountable for the deeds deemed illegal regardless of our social and political standing."

"The prosecution of Zuma will send a strong message to all kleptomaniacs within and outside the government that they can never loot the state and not meet the consequences thereof."

The local affiliate of French arms company, Thales will also be prosecuted. Thales won a $217 million tender to supply South Africa with combat systems for four frigates procured by the navy.

--IANS

pgh/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Romanian court has ruled that a 63-year-old man is dead despite the man himself appearing alive and well, a media report said.

Constantin Reliu asked the court in Barlad town to overturn a death certificate obtained by his wife after he had spent more than a decade in Turkey, during which time he was out of contact with his family, the Guardian reported.

The court told him he was too late, and would have to remain officially deceased.

"I am officially dead, although I'm alive," Reliu told local media outlets. "I have no income and because I am listed dead, I can't do anything."

Reliu left Romania for Turkey in 1992, apparently to seek employment. He last returned to the country in 1999, and appears to have cut off all contact with his family.

After years of silence from her estranged husband, Reliu's wife obtained a back-dated death certificate for him.

Romanian daily Adevarul said Reliu's wife had argued in court that having heard nothing from her husband since 1999, she had assumed he had died in an earthquake while in Turkey.

The daily said Reliu believes she sought the death certificate in order to annul the marriage and allow her to remarry, the Guardian reported.

Reliu may never have found out about his death in his homeland had he not been apprehended by Turkish authorities earlier this year and deported back to Romania because of expired documents.

He had planned to renew his passport in Romania and return to Turkey, but on arrival, he was detained by immigration officers who informed him he had died in 2003.

--IANS

ksk/sac

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Securities market regulator Sebi has fined organisation NDTV, and four individuals for lapses in mandatory disclosure.

According to a Sebi order dated March 16, NDTV has been fined Rs 10 lakh.

Besides the firm, the regulator has fined -- Prannoy Roy, Radhika Roy, Vikramaditya Chandra and Anoop Singh Juneja -- Rs 3 lakh each.

"These people constitute the management of the company who are responsible for the day-to-day and overall operations of the company. Further, it is an admitted fact that the decision not to disclose the tax demand was a conscious decision taken by the management of NDTV," the order read.

The order comes after Sebi conducted an investigation based on a complaint received from Quantum Securities (QSL), a shareholder of NDTV, that the firm did not disclose the order of "Dispute Resolution Panel-II (DRP-II) of the Income Tax Department, within 2 days of receipt of information, to the stock exchanges".

--IANS

rv/pgh/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly deployed "secret police" to catch and punish information leakers at his company.

According to a report in The Guardian, an unnamed employee was called to a meeting in 2017 under the guise of a promotion. However, he found himself face to face with the secretive "rat-catching" team led by Sonya Ahuja, the company's head of investigations.

The team had records of screenshots he had taken, links he had clicked or hovered over.

The "secret police" also accessed chats between him and a journalist dating back to before he joined the company.

"It's horrifying how much they know. You go into Facebook and it has this warm, fuzzy feeling of 'we're changing the world' and 'we care about things'.

"But you get on their bad side and all of a sudden you are face to face with [Facebook CEO] Mark Zuckerberg's secret police," the employee told The Guardian.

According to the report, Zuckerberg hosts weekly meetings where he shares details of unreleased new products and strategies in front of thousands of employees.

"When you first get to Facebook you are shocked at the level of transparency. You are trusted with a lot of stuff you don't need access to," the employee was quoted as saying.

During one of Zuckerberg's weekly meetings in 2015, said the report, he had warned employees: "We're going to find the leaker, and we're going to fire them."

According to a Facebook spokesperson "companies routinely use business records in workplace investigations, and we are no exception".

Not just Facebook, James Damore, the software engineer who was fired from Google after writing a controversial anti-diversity memo, "suspects he was being monitored by the company during his final days".

James Damore stopped using his personal Gmail account after being fired, said the report.Russia on Saturday announced expulsion of 23 British diplomats amid tensions over the nerve agent attack on an ex-spy and his daughter in the UK.

The move by the Russian Foreign Ministry came in response to Britain's decision to expel 23 Russian diplomats.

It said 23 diplomatic staff at the UK Embassy in Moscow would be "declared persona non-grata" and expelled within a week, Sputnik news agency reported.

They were ordered to leave over the incident in Salisbury which the UK government blamed on Russia.

Russian Foreign Ministry summoned UK Ambassador to the country Laurie Bristow to inform him about Moscow's retaliation over Britain's decision to expel Russian diplomats.

Former Russian spy who became a double agent for Britain, Sergei V. Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, remain critically ill in hospital, after they were found unconscious on a bench in the Wiltshire city on March 4.

Skripal, who is a retired Russian military intelligence officer, was jailed for 13 years by Russia in 2006 for spying for Britain.

The UK government said they were poisoned with a nerve agent of a type developed by Russia called Novichok and Prime Minister Theresa May said she believed Moscow was "culpable".

--IANS

soni/sar

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Progressive candidates are starting to rollout impressive environmental platforms. Two of the greatest hopes for a stronger progressive future in Congress are Kaniela Ing in Hawaii and Rand Bryce in Wisconsin. Both have impressive plans that will make up for Trumpanzee's decision to pull the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Accords-- and then some. Let's start with Kaniela's 7-point plan, which he calls the most aggressive/progressive plan for climate action in the nation:

It's worth noting that as a state legislator he already holds one of the strongest environmental records in Hawaii's State House and has a proven record of defending his state's air, land, and water. Watch:

He's the only candidate in his race who does not accept fossil fuel money or any corporate money. Hawaii Gas is a big donor there. He also holds an unrelenting record of standing up to corporate polluters and anti-solar electricity monopolies, and championing positive climate solutions on the state level like community solar and the nation's first statewide 100% renewable energy goal. One conservative Dem running against him, Donna Kim, and many in the corporate wing of the party, "supported the takeover of Hawaii's utility by an anti-solar mega-corporation, opposed the Obama-proposed expansion of papahanaumokuakea, and supported bringing in fracked natural gas from the mainland. I stood on the right side of all of these battles, and we won. That's the kind of leadership you can expect form me in Congress."

Fund a Green New Deal. As a Congressman, Randy would support a massive investment in green infrastructure that would generate tens of thousands of new jobs and transform Wisconsin communities into energy manufacturers. One model for this Green New Deal is the 100 by 50 Act, which provides a framework to move the nation towards 100 percent renewable energy by 2050. Another is the Climate Change Adapt America Fund Act of 2017, which would create a fund administered by the Department of Commerce for green infrastructure and to adapt existing infrastructure for climate change. That bill would also provide Americans who want to take on climate change the opportunity to buy up to $200 million in Climate Change Bonds. As an ironworker, Randy got to see firsthand how labor could lead the way on solar technology and other renewable energy sources. Watch this clip tp see why he thinks labor can lead in the way in creating good, family-sustaining green energy jobs.













End Subsidies to Fossil Fuel Companies. Each year, Washington hands billions of dollars in subsidies to oil and gas CEOs. These taxpayer handouts to one of the richest industries on earth are part of a dirty energy money cycle that must end. In return for their subsidies, the fossil fuel industry spends hundreds of millions per year in campaign contributions and lobbying expenses. Over his career, Paul Ryan has received nearly $2 million in contributions from this industry. Randy Bryce has pledged not to accept any contributions from fossil fuel companies and, as a Congressman, he would lobby to end corporate welfare for this billion dollar industry.





It makes little sense to prop up oil companies and create a competitive disadvantage for clean energy companies. In our region, weve seen GE do everything in its power to disincentivize community efforts to transition to clean and renewable energy sources. This utility company, like many fossil fuel companies, has not been a good actor in Wisconsin and we must not let them continue to stand in the way of progress.





Hold Greif/ Mid-America Fully Accountable. This company, which operates industrial barrel refurbishing plants in Oak Creek, St. Francis and Milwaukee, has committed more than 70 environmental and safety violations, according to several different government agencies. These violations include serious worker safety violations, some of which led to injury, chronic health conditions, and even death. Mid-America was also cited for dumping mercury into the wastewater and for spewing extraordinarily high levels of toxic emissions into the air of the surrounding communities. Randy is calling on Mid-America to voluntarily establish a fund to pay for medical testing and treatment of workers and community members whose health may have been impacted, so that the victims and the taxpayers are not held accountable for these costs. As a Congressman, Randy will also push to aggressively enforce existing laws to protect workers and communities from environmental hazards, and he will also push to strengthen penalties and criminal enforcement for corporate violators of environmental law.





Prosecute Exxon for Lying to the Public. Records show that ExxonMobil knew about the negative effects of fossil fuels on the health of the public in both the short and long term, and intentionally lied to the public to increase their profits. As Congressman, Randy would support federal efforts to prosecute Exxon for restitution to those communities which have been most negatively affected. Often, those people most negatively impacted by pipelines, pollution and climate change have limited means.





Oppose Further Fossil Fuel Pipelines. It is a false choice to say we can have either good, family-sustaining jobs or a healthy environment. This myth is perpetuated by fossil fuel corporations to justify the disruptions and risks their pipelines bring to our families and communities. We must make real investments in clean infrastructure, so that we can transform communities currently disrupted by pipelines bringing in fossil fuels from out of state or out of the country into clean energy manufacturers. As a Congressman, Randy would oppose further pipeline expansion, including all tar sands pipelines, and support major investments into clean energy job creation. Bryce would also oppose a proposal to replace the Enbridge Line 5 with a new pipeline through Wisconsin. (As an ironworker, Randy had the chance to work on a pipeline and he turned it down - here's why:













Lobby for Additional Air Testing Around Oak Creek Coal Facility. For too many years, We Energies has been responsible for coal dust contaminating the homes of its workers and surrounding community members. The coal dust is often visible on cars, schools and sidewalks. Despite demands from the community for years, only recently has We Energies considered increasing its air quality monitoring. As a Congressman, Randy would be a vocal advocate demanding that We Energies pay for additional air testing and regular independent monitoring to ensure the health of the community. Bryce also opposes Governor Walkers request that the Trump Administration exempt Foxconn from laws limiting the amount of smog they can produce. Southeastern Wisconsin residents have committed billions in taxpayer funding for that company. They should not have to sacrifice their health as well.





Protect the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The Trump Administration has proposed reducing this fund, which has helped preserve the Ice Age Trail and numerous Wisconsin state and community parks. As a Congressman, Randy would fight to protect these lands, which in addition to being key to a healthy environment, are also essential to the health of Wisconsins economy. Our state has a nearly $18 billion outdoor recreation industry. Additionally, conserving these lands is important to protecting Wisconsins proud hunting, fishing and recreational traditions. Randy fishes frequently with his 11-year-old son, and he wants his future grandkids to be able to share in those experiences. For these same reasons, Randy would also oppose all efforts to expand drilling on public lands.





Rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement. By participating in this agreement, the U.S. would commit to reducing its carbon footprint as part of the global effort to mitigate climate change. The impact of climate change is already being felt in Wisconsin with increased algae production, drought, flooding, and erosion, all of which can be devastating to the states agriculture industry. These changes also hurt homeowners, business owners and taxpayers who have had to pay the damage caused by flooding to basements, roads, bridges, sewer systems and other utilities. The states fishing and recreation industries have also been hurt by declining fish populations and decreasing snowfall. Wisconsins economy loses approximately $179 million during low-snow years. Its time to secure our states economy and our communitys health and structural safety, and rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement.





Protect Federal Wetlands. Wisconsin Republicans recently passed a bill that will negatively impact an untold number of isolated and non-federal wetlands, in order to increase profits for wealthy developers. The destruction of wetlands hurts Wisconsins proud tradition of hunting, fishing, and recreation, and the jobs associated with it, for the benefit of a very wealthy few. As a Congressman, Randy would support expanding protections for wetlands and small streams under the Clean Water Act. The Obama administration had moved to expand the number and types of wetlands protected by the federal government, but the Trump Administration is currently in court fighting to reverse that progress. Randy would support returning to the Clean Water Act standards set by the Obama administration.





Protect Funding for Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. In 2010, the federal government launched an effort to repair, protect and preserve the Great Lakes and the communities and industries they support. When Donald Trump came into office, his EPA proposed eliminating the funding for this initiative, which has cleaned up toxic waste, stopped the spread of invasive species, and made other improvements benefiting communities on the Lakes shore. As a Congressman, Randy would lobby to protect this essential investment in our Great Lakes. Randy would also oppose other efforts to disrupt the health of our Great Lakes, such as FoxConns current plan to pump nearly 7 million gallons of water a day from the Lake.At least 30 civilians were killed and dozens injured in bombings carried out by Syrian military aircraft against rebel-held Eastern Ghouta on the outskirts of Damascus, a British war monitor group said on Saturday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that the regime bombings targeted civilians fleeing their homes in the region of Zamalka towards the town of Hazza in Eastern Ghouta, which is controlled by al-Rahman Corps Islamist rebel group fighting against government forces, Efe news reported.

The SOHR said the bombings also targeted Kafr Batna, where 64 people were killed by Russia on Friday.

Since an escalation of violence in Eastern Ghouta on February 18, a total of 1,394 civilians, including 271 minors and 173 women, have been killed, according to the monitor.

The Syrian Army, which is carrying out a ground offensive in the region, claimed on Friday that it had captured 70 per cent of the rebel enclave.

Despite that advance, violent clashes were still ongoing between the forces loyal to the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the al-Rahman Corps group, according to SOHR.

The monitor said some 10,000 civilians, including hundreds of women and children, fled on Saturday morning from areas controlled by the al-Rahman Corps to regions taken by the Syrian regime through the corridor opened by the government authorities in Hamouriyah.

With such figures, the number of displaced people increased to 40,000 people who have left their homes since Friday night in Eastern Ghouta, the SOHR said.

--IANS

soni/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A suicide car bombing claimed by the Taliban in Kabul on Saturday left at least three people dead and four injured.

The attack, which caused panic among Kabul residents, came amid increased government forces' crackdowns on anti-government militants elsewhere in the country especially in the countryside where armed insurgents are active, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi, all the victims of the suicide attack were "innocent civilians".

However, Zabihullah Majahid who claims to speak for the Taliban outfit, in contact with media outlets said that the suicide bombing targeted a convoy of foreign forces, killing "several invaders".

Afghan security forces backed by the US-led coalition troops have intensified military pressure on militants since August last year when US President Donald Trump announced Washington's new strategy on Afghanistan and South Asia.

The deadly attacks organised by the Taliban and the IS group have reportedly claimed the lives of more than 200 people, mostly civilians, in the capital city since the beginning of this year.

Taliban insurgents and like-minded groups would continue to harm people by conducting suicide bombings in Kabul to divert the attention of the security forces from the countryside to the big cities to reduce military pressure on militants, political analyst Khan Mohammad Daneshjo said.

--IANS

soni/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Over 32,850 Mizoram tribals staying in refugee camps in Tripura for the past 21 years are averse to return to their homes unless their demands for allotment of land for cultivation and security are met, officials said here on Saturday.

A meeting between senior officials of the Union Home Ministry, Tripura and Mizoram governments, and leaders of the refugees was held here on Friday evening to evolve ways and means to repatriate the tribal refugees to their home in neighbouring Mizoram.

"The refugee leaders told the meeting that they would not return to their homes unless their demands for allotment of land for cultivation, security, cash assistance of Rs 10 lakh per family among others were met by the government," an official of Tripura's revenue department said.

The official said the Home Ministry's Joint Secretary (North-East) Satyendra Garg informed the meeting that the package which was earlier announced by the MHA was the maximum possible on the part of the Central government.

"The refugees' demands submitted to the Central government and the Supreme Court for allotment of five hectare of land is absolutely impossible. Relief camps are not villages, the government had already taken the decision to close down these camps in the near future," the official quoted the home ministry official as saying.

The MHA official also said that the government would file an application in the Supreme Court for closing the refugee camps in northern Tripura and dismissing the writ petition filed by the Mizoram Bru Displaced People's Forum (MBDPF).

MHA Special Secretary (Internal Security) Rina Mitra told the meeting that the Reang tribals did not deserve Central Security Forces for their protection. She said that the Central government may be compelled to take drastic steps which could have dire consequences if the displaced tribals did not accept the government package and return to Mizoram.

The Mizoram government's Additional Secretary (Home) Lalbiakzama said that his government had extended the maximum facilities and logistical support to the repatriated refugees earlier.

Lalbiakzama said that the 1,600 families that had been repatriated earlier were living peacefully. He also warned the refugee representatives not to voice any complaint against the Mizoram government.

About 32,857 Reang tribals comprising 5,413 families -- known as 'Bru' -- have been living in the makeshift camps in north Tripura's Kanchanpur and Panisagar sub-divisions, adjoining Mizoram, since October 1997 after they fled their homes in western Mizoram following ethnic trouble in that state.

The Tripura government's Principal Secretary (Revenue) Manoj Kumar said that Tripura can no longer keep the displaced tribals as the state government was facing difficulties with the relief camps.

MBDPF General Secretary Bruno Msha and President A. Sawibunga, who led the delegation of refugee leaders at Friday's meeting, told IANS that the Central and Mizoram government officials have totally ruled out all the legitimate demands raised by the MBDPF.

The demands of the MBDPF include allotment of five hectare of land to each family for cultivation, formation of a cluster of villages comprising not less than 500 families with basic amenities like education, healthcare, drinking water facilities, road communication, electricity.

They also demand collective security for themselves by the central para-military forces, cash assistance amounting to Rs 10 lakh to each family as compensation and Rs 5 lakh for construction of houses.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and other officials have visited the refugee camps in north Tripura and Mizoram many times and urged both the Mizoram government and the refugees to end the stalemate.

The Supreme Court had earlier directed the Home Ministry and the Mizoram and Tripura governments to jointly work for the return of these tribal refugees to their home state.

"We are ready to return to our homes, but the Mizoram government is reluctant to meet our basic demands, like allotment of land for cultivation," refugee leader Bruno Msha told IANS.

Earlier, Mizoram Home Minister R. Lalzirliana said that the state government will not concede the MBDPF's pre-conditions for the refugees' repatriation.

"It will be impossible for the Mizoram government to allot five hectares of land to each tribal family. The repatriated families will have to wait for allocation of land for construction of houses and for farming in accordance with the guidelines of their respective village councils," the Minister told the media.

--IANS

sc/qd/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Criticising US President Donald Trump for his protectionist policies, Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman on Saturday accused him of not taking his job seriously and warned these measures lead to "risks of a disruptive trade war".

"He (Trump) does not take the job seriously. He doesn't say to himself that I am the most important official in the world, I have better do my homework for understanding the issue...

"He just goes that these are my gut feelings and hires people who make him feel good...that is a frightening prospect," Krugman said at the News18 Rising India Summit here in response to a query on his perception of Trump.

On economic issues Trump's gut feelings are "protectionist" and his views of America were "50 years out of date", said the prominent economist.

"He wants America a heavy industrial country in the way it was when he was a young man. That is not just going to happen but he attempts to make it happen, which is extremely disruptive to America and to the global as a whole," he added.

Krugman said he was till recently optimistic that Trump's protectionist policies would not see the light of the day.

"Until about two weeks ago, I was quite optimistic that it would not happen. The reason was not because the President would get good economic advice but because the US businesses are invested in a globalised economy. All the investments the businesses have made is based upon the assumptions that the open trading system would continue.

"There is an enormous amount of fiscal capital and a large number of jobs are dependent on these value chains," he said

Krugman said he had "assumed the influence of these business communities would be sufficient... that it would not happen".

"I am less optimistic now...we have seen reasonably sensible Economic Council Head was fired, completely irrational tariff (was) imposed on steel and aluminium."

According to him, the immediate issue is going to be a confrontation not with China, but with Europe as the "steel tariffs" will hit the continent. He said there are possible risks of a "disruptive global trade war".

He explained the European countries act collectively as the European Union on trade and there could widespread retaliation against US products.

Also the possibility of falling relations on trade between the US and Asian countries including China becomes large, he said.

On the Chinese economy he said: "China is a financial crisis waiting to happen. China is an unbalanced economy...the country is sustaining itself with a credit bubble that is waiting to burst...There is a significant risk of a Chinese bubble burst."

He also criticised the "strongman rule" in China.

Responding to query on reverse trend of localisation from globalisation, he said the possibility of this transformation is real and it had happened earlier but did not work out well.

Elaborating on the environmental footprint, he said shipping of goods is not a major source of greenhouse gases but coal-fired power plants are the major contributors, followed by private transportation.

--IANS

bdc/vd

(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.)United Nations agencies and NGO partners have released a 2018 Joint Response Plan for the Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis, with a $951 million appeal to meet the urgent needs of nearly 900,000 Rohingya refugees.

Announcing the appeal before the media at the UN in Geneva on Friday, the agencies said it also applies to more than 330,000 vulnerable Bangladeshis in the communities hosting the refugees from Myanmar, Xinhua news agency reported.

The 2018 appeal for the Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis was launched by UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, IOM Director General William Swing and the UN resident coordinator in Bangladesh Mia Seppo.

"We are talking about truly critical needs here both on the part of the Bangladeshi communities who have so generously opened their doors, and of a stateless and refugee population that even prior to this crisis was among the world's most marginalised and at risk," said Grandi.

"The solutions to this crisis lie inside Myanmar, and conditions must be established that will allow refugees to return home. But today we are appealing for help with the immediate needs, and these needs are vast."

The UN officials said the appeal aims to support environmentally sustainable solutions, confidence-building and resilience of affected populations until the end of 2018 and includes contingency planning for 80,000 more Rohingya refugees in the coming months.

Over 16 million liters of safe water are needed every day for the Rohingya refugee population, said the UN agencies, adding that some 12,200 metric tons of food are required every month and at least 180,000 refugee families need cooking fuel.

Around 50,000 latrines also need to be constructed and maintained, and at least 30 sewage management facilities are required.

--IANS

pgh/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)United Airlines has said that a flight was diverted after it realised that a pet had been loaded onto it in error, the third animal-related mistake in a week, the media reported.

Flight 3996 was diverted to Akron, Ohio, on Thursday, airline spokeswoman Maggie Schmerin told CNN on Friday night.

It was carrying 33 passengers from Newark, New Jersey, to St. Louis, but the pet was due to fly from New Jersey to Akron.

United told CNN the unidentified animal was "safely delivered to its owner".

The airlines said it offered compensation to all passengers as a result of the diversion.

The US carrier is facing widespread scrutiny over a dog dying in an overhead bin and another dog being accidentally sent to Japan, both incidents that took place earlier this week.

On Monday, a French bulldog died on a Houston-to-New York flight after a United flight attendant told its owners to put the dog, in its carrier, in an overhead bin.

On Tuesday, a 10-year-old German shepherd named Irgo was flown to Japan when he was supposed to end up in Kansas.

In Irgo's place was a Great Dane that was supposed to be en route to Japan. Irgo was reunited with his family on Thursday. United issued an apology after the discovery of the switched dogs.

--IANS

ksk/sac

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The judgment in a fodder scam case involving former Bihar Chief Minister and RJD chief Lalu Prasad was again deferred on Saturday and is now likely to be delivered on Monday.

The special CBI court of Shivpal Singh was scheduled to pronounce the verdict on Thusday (March 15) but then shifted it for Saturday before again postponing it to Monday as 42 judges from across the state are participating in a two-day training programme being conducted at the judicial academy here.

According a lawyer, the court has fixed March 19 for delivering the verdict.

The hearing in the fodder case, relating to fraudulent withdrawals of Rs 3.13 crore from the Dumka treasury between December 1995 and January 1996, was completed on March 5.

Besides Lalu Prasad, another former Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra and 30 others are accused in this case.

Lalu Prasad was convicted in the first fodder scam case in 2013 and awarded five years in jail.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal chief was subsequently convicted by a special CBI court in the second case on December 23, 2017, and awarded three-and-half years' imprisonment on January 6.

He was convicted in the third case on January 24, related to fraudulent withdrawals from the Chaibasa treasury, and awarded a five-year jail term.

He now faces two other cases -- one in Ranchi and one in Patna.

The multi-million-rupee fodder scam surfaced in the 1990s when Lalu Prasad was Chief Minister of undivided Bihar. The probe was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation on Patna High Court's order.

The bulk of the cases were transferred to Ranchi after Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar in 2000.

--IANS

ns/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said no power in the world can take Kashmir away from India and if need be forces can cross border to protect the country's territorial integrity.

"Kashmir is, was and will be ours always. No one can take it from us," Rajnath Singh said, addressing the CNN News18 Rising India Summit.

He praised the Indian Army for its valour to secure the country and warned Pakistan, saying "we not only secure India within but can also cross the border to protect the country, if needed. No one should take it otherwise."

He said India wanted good ties with Pakistan, provided it stopped aiding terrorists.

"Now the US is condemning Pakistan. I don't know what happened to Pakistan. We want good relations with Pakistan but it has refused to accept our offer of friendship.

"Pakistan is giving legitimacy to UN-designated terrorist Hafiz Saeed who is establishing a political party there and wants to contest in elections."

The Minister said the government was keen on finding a permanent solution to the Kashmir problem and was open to speak to anyone.

To resolve the Kashmir issue, Rajnath Singh said, the government-appointed interlocutor Dineshwar Sharma, a former Intelligence Bureau chief, is moving forward and has invited people from all sections for talks.

He said Kashmir's children were like his own and would not allow anyone brainwash them into radicalisation.

"I want to tell those who are trying to teach jihad to innocent Kashmiri youths that they should first learn the real concept of jihad in Islam."

The Minister said he had personally asked Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to ignore cases filed against the first-time stone-pelters.

Earlier in 2018, the Jammu and Kashmir government withdrew cases registered against 9,730 people involved in stone-pelting incidents, including first-time offenders.

"We have forgiven first-time stone-pelters. They might have been influenced by others. They are young. We need to give them a second chance," he said.

The Home Minister said the government never differentiated between the children in Kashmir and those in the other parts of the country.

On the issue of terrorism, he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has succeeded in getting global consensus and managed to bring the international community on board.

Rajnath Singh also highlighted the government's efforts in dealing with Maoists.

"The battle against Naxals can't be won through bullets. We are taking several developmental initiatives in this direction. We are trying to reach those areas which have remained unreachable since independence.

"Naxalism was a huge problem for India but in the last four years we have now achieved major success in that space."

--IANS

rak/sar/in

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)China's largely ceremonial Parliament on Saturday re-elected Xi Jinping as the country's President and appointed his aide and once feared anti-graft body's chief Wang Qishan as Vice President.

The 64-year-old Xi's re-election was a mere formality as the National People's Congress (NPC) -- China's top legislature -- on March 11 abolished from the Constitution the two-term limit for President and Vice President.

Even if the cap was not removed, Xi would have continued as this would have been his second term.

Xi, who became China's President in 2013, was also re-elected as the Chairman of China's Central Military Commission that controls the world's largest standing army.

In an unprecedented move, Xi took the oath of allegiance to the Constitution, which has been amended five times since its enactment in 1954.

Like Xi's re-election, Wang's appointment was no surprise as he enjoys the President's patronage.

Wang, 69, said to be Xi's most trusted aide, spearheaded an anti-graft campaign which made him China's most feared man.

The association between Xi and Wang goes back to Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution when both were sent to a village in Shanxi province for hard labour.

While all 2,970 lawmakers voted in favour of Xi, only one voted against Wang's election.

Like the President, the post of the Vice President is largely ceremonial but Wang's election is his return to power

Xi is more powerful as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China than as the President of the world's most populous country.

Last year, Wang exited from the Communist Party's seven-member Standing Committee as 68 is the retirement age in the body which rules the country.

Despite being in a ceremonial post and not being in any of the powerful bodies of the ruling party, Wang will remain powerful.

Wang may well be called Xi's deputy and may get to handle China's turbulent ties with the US after Donald Trump's election as President.

Besides, the lawmakers also elected Li Zhanshu as the Chairman of the NPC.

Li is the member of Standing Committee and has served as Xi's chief of staff. He is believed to have helped Xi cement his power and get him "core" status in the Communist Party.

The Parliament, which is currently in its annual session, also adopted the plan of Cabinet restructuring for better work performance.

Earlier, it held a discussion on setting up eight new bodies including the State International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDCA), which would streamline Xi's dream Belt and Road project.

In the government reshuffle, China's Foreign Minister might be promoted as State Councillor, country's top diplomat.

If he is elevated, he will step into Yang Jiechi's role of China's key negotiator with India on border talks.

Yang, China's one of the four State Councillor, is Beijing's Special Representative on boundary talks with New Delhi. Yang, country's most senior diplomat, was last year elected to the powerful 25-member Politburo, a sign of his bigger role.

--IANS

gsh/soni/hs

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Our diplomat friend, a high commissioner in Colombo, was visiting New Delhi, a city he had served in earlier as an envoy, as had his wife. They had come to attend a wedding in Udaipur and were in the capital for a few days. Could we meet? My wife immediately summoned them home for dinner.

A date and time were set and other friends invited. It was time for nostalgia, reminisces and catching up, and we looked forward to it. On previous occasions, they had come visiting in their official transport of embassy cars and drivers. The ambassadors wife, who had taken a career break a few ...The deft footwork behind Wednesdays meeting between Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav confirmed that protocol is as powerful in Indias democratic politics as it was in the film Anna and the King of Siam where no head could be higher than His Siamese Majestys. North Korean diplomats pulled out higher and higher stools at the Panmunjom peace talks for a similar reason.

Perhaps Indians are more meticulous than others about protocol. Perhaps it isnt protocol at all but power before which we abase ourselves. When the Shah Commission asked Narayan Datt Tiwari if he had ...My name suggests, correctly, that I am from Tamil Nadu. But the reality is that I am from Delhi, the city in which I have lived since 1958.

Not just Delhi: I have lived mostly at the south western edge of Delhi that borders Haryana. That is as north Indian as can be.

My Hindi and Punjabi are better than my Tamil, which I can neither read nor write. I can only speak an antiquated version of it. And I cannot understand the DD Tamil news at all. It is like a foreign language to me.

Until a few years ago I used to try and explain to people who asked me about southern politics that I knew only what they did. But then I stopped doing that. It seemed easier to just try and understand the political south.

This is important because the people who live in the north, that is the mainly Hindi speaking states, must pay serious attention to the resentment in the south against them. Truth to tell, most people in the south think that the northerners sponge off the south and west.

I will not go into the boring statistics which you can check for yourself from the Economic Survey. Give or take a few percentages, it is true that without the tax revenues from the southern and western states, the Hindi states would be far worse off, because there are too many unproductive people there compared not just to the southern states but all of the rest of India.

Troubling portents



This did not matter till now. But in the last few two weeks the chief minister of Karnataka, the head of the DMK in Tamil Nadu ond one MLA from Andhra have said that the southern states should re-examine their relationship with the north. Forest fires start with just such little sparks and this is a fire waiting to be lit. Once it catches there is no knowing where it will stop.

That is why it is absolutely necessary that the politicians of Hindi speaking states do not conduct themselves as if only they matter for India. This has happened because these states have such large populations and, therefore, nearly three times the number of seats in the Lok Sabha.

The northern arrogance that stems from the fact that Hindi is the national language is also a major factor in southern resentment, as is the inability of the people of the North to speak any other Indian language and English, which is the official language.

For this and a variety of other reasons such as economic and social indicators, the new generation is strongly inclined to reject the people of the North as being useless drones. UP and Bihar, in particular, are regarded as being the major culprits.

Structural flaw



A part of this perception is owing to the structural flaw in our constitution which has created a complete disconnect between the economic and political arrangements of our Union. The state and concurrent lists make the states quasi-sovereign but the financial articles make them virtual vassals of the central government which, thanks to the huge populations of the Northern states, has become their servant.

As the 21st century progresses and the stresses and strains on the governing arrangements increase, it is absolutely necessary to have a debate on how the constitution needs to be tweaked to overcome the economic inequities of the Gadgil formula which does not penalise states with large and economically backward populations. Instead it rewards them.

India is founded on absolutely the right principles that firstly that it is not a confederation but a union of states and secondly, therefore, a strong centre is necessary. But this should not have to come to mean that resources are allocated in the manner that they are at present.

The key message the chief minister of Karnataka, the head of the DMK in Tamil Nadu and the MLA from Andhra are conveying is that the equity aspect of the Gadgil formula can no longer be restricted to the northern states alone. Northern politicians pay heed.

Of course this is largely about electoral politics and elections. But remember: we are a democracy where bad ideas sell much faster than good ones. That is why it is best to be warned.Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has busted an illegal pharma drugs trafficking racket with the arrest of four persons and seized over 55,000 tablets of Zolpidem, abused as drugs, from their possession, the agency said today.

Zolpidem, a sedative medicine, is used to treat sleep disorders and its abuse as narcotic drugs can lead to hallucinations and other side effects.

The central anti-narcotics agency said the alleged racket, where medicines are abused as drugs, was being run using courier services and it brought to the fore "a new modus operandi for trafficking of pharmaceutical drugs through call centres."



The agency, in a statement, said that four accused P Rana, P Bisht, R C Singh and K K Tiwary "acted as drug traffickers and obtained contact numbers of illegal buyers/sellers of phrama drugs from a legal platform available on the internet."



Once the contact numbers are received, it said, they form a closed internet group and then all the dealings were done mostly through Skype messenger or other voice over internet protocol (VoIP) calling apps (applications).

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) said it has seized a total of 55,875 Zolpidem tablets as part of an intelligence-based operation spanning from Ghaziabad, Lucknow and Roorkee to foreign shores including the US.

"Further interrogations of the four accused revealed that the said consignment was being sent to Varanasi for further dispatch to foreign destinations where there is a huge demand of such pharmaceutical drugs," the agency said.

The four have been arrested under provisions of theNarcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A five-year-old girl from Bhandup in Mumbai was allegedly kidnapped and raped by an unidentified man in Thane, police said today.

The incident took place yesterday afternoon, they said.

"The accused kidnapped the girl from her residence in Bhandup yesterday and brought her to a dilapidated structure at Khanna Compound of Azad Nagar in Thane, where he raped her," Thane police spokesperson Sukhada Narkar said.

"After the sexual assault, the accused left her at the spot. A man, who heard the girl's cries, rescued her and took her to a police station," she added.

A medical test conducted on the girl confirmed that she had been raped, police said.

Inspector V G Darekar of the Kapurbawdi police station said the girl has been admitted to a hospital, where she is undergoing treatment.

When asked, the girl told the police that she lived in Bhandup, police said adding that efforts were on to trace her parents.

Police have booked the unidentified accused under IPC sections 376 (rape), 366 (kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman to compel her marriage, etc) and 366 A (procuration of minor girl) and others.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)As many as 70 students of a state-aided school here were hospitalised after they complained of eye-irritation reportedly due to exposure to glaring lights at the annual day function, police said today.

Thirty-five adults, including parents and teachers, were also admitted to a nearby hospital, they said.

Bright lights were put up on the stage during the annual event of the Erwadi Elementary School yesterday, police said.

Some of them were too bright for the children to bear, they said.

The lights were switched off after the students complained of irritation and swelling of eyes, they said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Anti-Corruption Bureau sleuths today unearthed assets worth Rs 3.57 crore allegedly belonging to a judicial officer (district judge cadre) here after conducting simultaneous searches at his house here and other places in Andhra Pradesh.

The searches were conducted at his residence and at the residences of his relatives in Hyderabad city and in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, an ACB release said.

A case of disproportionate assets to the known sources of income was lodged against M Gandhi, Presiding Officer (Judicial Officer), Labour Courtin Metropolitan Criminal Courts complex at Nampally here, the release said.

It was registered on the orders of the High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad for the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

The searches were conducted as part of investigations into the case.

The release said, it was found that Gandhi acquired 18.22 acres of land in West Godavari district, two flats and one three-storied building in Hyderabad besides three cars.

The ACB officials also found one kg gold along with four kg of silver at his house. They also recovered gold jewellery weighing about 1.5 kg from his bank locker, it said.

During the searches, the ACB officials also found bank balance of Rs 9 lakh, household articles, Rs 89,000 in cash and chit amount of Rs 33 lakh, the release said.

The document value of these assets,which he allegedly acquired during the period from 1994 to February 2018, is approximately Rs 3.57 crore, it said.

The case is under investigation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A 35-year-old African national has been arrested in connection with a murder of one Nigerian last week in south Delhi's Mehrauli, police said today.

A Nigerian national, Hillary alias Harry (30), was stabbed to death after a brawl between the two groups of Africans on the night of March 9.

According to the police, the accused, identified as Osaretin was arrested from Kishanganj district of Bihar.

Osaretin told police that earlier on March 9, the opposite group had beaten one of his group member in the fight.

"There after he (Osaretin) along with other accused persons went out in search of their group people and they found Hillary near Chattarpur and they had beaten him and injured him by knife and ran away," DCP (south) Romil Baaniya said in a statement.

After the murder, Osaretin had gone to Bihar to escape the arrest.

"Osaretin had hired a cab from Punjab and left for Bihar/Assam side. The swift coordination between Bihar Police and Delhi Police resulted in the apprehension of alleged accused person at Kishanganj," the statement stated.

Police said that Osaretin had come to India in 2010 and is a permanent resident of Nigeria.

He ran a garment business from his house, mostly dealing in online sale and purchase, police said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Air strikes on Eastern Ghouta killed at least 30 civilians today, a monitor said, almost a month into a blistering Russia-backed regime assault on the Syrian rebel enclave outside Damascus.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights could not say who carried out the strikes on the town of Zamalka in a southern pocket of the enclave.

Regime forces have retaken 70 per cent of the last rebel bastion on the outskirts of the capital since February 18, carving it up into three shrinking pockets held by different rebels.

"Warplanes targeted civilians in Zamalka as they prepared to flee" the southern area of the enclave held by the Faylaq al-Rahman rebel group, Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.

The regime assault has killed more than 1,390 civilians in the enclave, according to the Observatory, which relies on a network of sources on the ground.

The offensive has pushed thousands more to flee their homes into government-controlled areas.

Today morning, "around 10,000 civilians streamed out of the rebel enclave into regime-held areas", Abdel Rahman said.

More than 40,000 civilians have poured out of the enclave since Thursday morning, fleeing bombardment and advancing troops.

Syria's war has killed more than 350,000 people and displaced millions since it broke out in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)AirAsia pilot, Capt Maher Sayegh, a Syrian national, died here on Friday following cardiac arrest, a senior police officer told PTI today.

Maher had arrived in the city in the morning and had checked into a city hotel. He collapsed in his car in VIP road on way to the airport.

The pilot was 60, the police officer said.

The driver on finding him unconscious drew the attention of the police, who helped to take the pilot to a nearby hospital where doctors declared him 'brought dead'.

The attending doctors said the reason of his death was cardiac arrest, the police officer said.

The body was later sent to Maher's homeland after post mortem, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Ankita Raina won her first singles title in more than three years when she fought past second seed Amandine Hesse in straight sets in the final of the USD 25,000 ITF women's event, here today.

The fourth seed Indian, who has been in tremendous form in the last few months, beat the Frenchwoman 6-2 7-5 in the title clash which lasted one hour and 25 minutes.

The last time Ankita won a singles title was way back in December 2014, when she had triumphed in the Pune ITF event.

It was overall sixth singles career title for Ankita, who has lost nine other finals in the last six years. In the doubles, the 25-year-old has won 12 titles.

Ankita said she has matured not only as a player but also as a person and it was helping her in tough matches.

"Getting mentally strong and becoming mature as a player and as a person, it has come together. It helps. You can handle situations well. You don't get emotional. Situations are not going to be favourable always. I can think now during the matches. The maturity, required to pull off matches, is there," Ankita told PTI.

Asked to comment on her long title drought, the gritty player, who remained unbeaten in singles in India's campaign at the recent Fed Cup, said it has more to do with improved level of competition on the circuit.

"I have been asked this before also why I have not won title or why the ranking has not improved. The level has gone up. Even the players, who are ranked 600 play very good. It all depends on how you play on that particular day and the conditions."



Asked if she was relived to end the barre run, Ankita quipped,"Why I would be relieved. I am happy about it."



Ankita will next travel to Japan to compete on the circuit.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Prime Minister Narendra Modi today asked the agriculture ministry to assess if the annual agri-science fair (Krishi Unnati Mela) is benefitting the farming community or not.

He also said such agri-fairs should be organised in remote rural places for better dissemination of farm technologies and government programmes.

Addressing the three-day mela held in the Pusa complex here, Modi said: "There should be an analysis of the impact of such melas. What has been the impact on farmers and if they have learned from mela -- such analysis will be of help."



The study on impact of this mela will help in future, he added.

The Prime Minister appealed to the visiting farmers to spend more time at the fair and learn about new farming technologies. "Take back home what you learnt from here and share it with fellow farmers in your village."



He asked farmers to visit the pavilion on bee-keeping and learn more about the value-added products and its price being quoted in the international market.

"It is not just honey, many other products are made. You should go and see," he said.

Similarly on Farmers Producers Organisation (FPOs), he asked farmers to visit the pavilion and learn how to set up such organisations and its benefits.

Modi had addressed the fair last time in 2016.

Thousands of farmers from across India visited the second day of the Krishi Unnati Mela today.

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma as also Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh and Ministers of State for Agriculture -- Parshottam Rupala, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Krishna Raj -- were present at the event.

More than 600 stalls have been put up to showcase the latest farm technologies and also government programmes to boost farm output and farmers' income.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The state and national unit of the party should function in an autonomous manner, Punjab AAP MLA Kanwar Sandhu said today, adding that he had written a letter to the leadership in this regard in December last year.

The remark comes a day after MP Sangrur Bhagwant Mann resigned as the party's Punjab chief after AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal apologised for accusing SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia for being involved in the drugs trade.

Kejriwal's move landed the state leadership yesterday in a crisis and it had contemplated breaking away and forming a separate unit.

The legislator also said he had been seeking autonomy for the Punjab unit for the past three months and that he had shared the letter with the state's leaders, including Mann.

"In real the sense, an autonomy should be full autonomy which means that the state unit should have its own constitution, own membership, structure, funding and manifestoes. We will also have our own president and own working committee," Sandhu said.

The MLA had written to Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia in December.

The central point of this letter is that the national unit of the party and state units function in an autonomous manner, he said.

The advantage of the distinct nature of national and state entities of the party would be that while their fortunes are not linked, they would gain from each other but not suffer on each other's account, Sandhu had written.

Notably, senior AAP leader H S Phoolka today asked state legislators to seek "autonomy" rather than going for a separate party "in the best interest of Punjab".

"In best interest of Pb, my suggestion to Pb AAP MLAs- demand autonomy, not a separate party. AAP Punjab should function as a regional party with a alliance with national AAP. In Punjab matters, total independence and on national issues, go by National leadership (sic)," Phoolka today tweeted.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)An 18-year-old Bangladeshi woman, who came to India for treatment, has been missing for a fortnight, police said today.

The woman came to Duttafulia, close to India-Bangladesh border in Nadia district, on February 18 with her father and had gone missing on March 2.

A missing complaint was lodged with Dhantala police station on March 15.

Police said investigation has started into the case.

The missing woman and her father were staying at their relative's place in Duttafulia and she was undergoing treatment for her neurological problem.

After she had gone missing, her father Pintu Shikdar searched for her in all probable places without success and returned to their Magura district home in Bangladesh, thinking that she might have gone back there, police said.

However, Shikdar came back to Nadia after a few days as she had not returned home, and lodged a missing diary with the police.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The ruling Biju Janata Dal is yet to take a decision on whether to support the no-confidence motion moved by TDP against the Narendra Modi-led Central government, a party leader said today.

"The party has not yet decided on the matter (no- confidence motion). Now, President Ram Nath Kovind is on a tour to the state. The chief minister (Naveen Patnaik) will take a decision once the president ends his tour," BJD spokesman and Rajya Sabha MP, P K Deb told reporters here.

The BJD has 20 members in the Lok Sabha and eight MPs in the Rajya Sabha.

"The regional parties will play key role in the no-confidence motion against the Modi government," BJD's Puri MP Pinaki Mishra said.

Meanwhile, Union minister Jual Oram expressed confidence that there was no threat to the Central government in wake of the motion issued by the TDP.

"Our government will remain unaffected. As the concept of Third Front has failed, the no-confidence motion will have no impact on the NDA government," Oram said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Canada will send peacekeepers backed by helicopters to the troubled west African nation of Mali before autumn, a government source said today.

Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan is to provide details of the number of troops on Monday, said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity about what will be Canada's first mission to Africa since Rwanda in 1994.

Jihadists have ramped up their activities in central Mali in recent months, targeting domestic and foreign forces in violence once confined to the country's north.

Four UN peacekeepers were killed and four were wounded in late February when a mine exploded under their vehicle in central Mali.

Islamic extremists linked to Al-Qaeda took control of Mali's desert north in early 2012, but were largely driven out in a French-led military operation launched in January 2013.

In June 2015, Mali's government signed a peace agreement with some armed groups, but the jihadists remain active, and large tracts of the country are lawless.

In November, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada would boost its support for UN peacekeeping missions by mobilising a rapid response force of 200 soldiers,



The Canadian "quick reaction force" would include 200 troops backed by tactical helicopters and Hercules transport aircraft.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The decision of the CPI(M) led LDF government in Kerala to reopen closed liquor outlets, including beer and wine parlours along the state and national highways, came in for severe criticism today from the Catholic Church, which has dubbed it as 'anti people'.

On the basis of a recent Supreme Court order, the government last night issued the order allowing reopening of liquor outlets, bars, beer and wine parlours in panchayats with a population of 10,000 from April 2.

The order also allowed reopening of the liquor outlets in tourism zones.

Excise minister T P Ramakrishnan today clarified that only closed liquor outlets would be reopened and no new ones would be allowed.

"New liquor outlets will not be opened in Kerala...only those closed earlier will be opened as per the Supreme Court verdict," he told reporters at Kozhikode.

However, the Catholic Church has come out against the government move, saying the LDF would receive a setback following its latest decision and it would be reflected in the coming Chengannur bypoll.

Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Thamarassery, Mar Remigiose Inchananiyil, told television channels in Kozhikode that the government decision was another 'Ockhi disaster' in the making.

Cyclone Ockhi had claimed the lives of several fishermen along the southern Kerala coast in November-December last year.

"The Chengannur bypoll will be a referendum of the LDF government's decision on the new liquor policy," he said.

Inchananiyil said the government's move was a violation of the poll promises during the Assembly polls in 2016.

"The government cheated the people by giving hollow promises of liquor abstinence," he said.

The LDF should show sincerity towards its poll manifesto of 2016, he added.

Chenganassery Archbishop Joseph Perumthottam said that the church would not accept the liquor policy.

While Congress leader and former KPCC President V M Sudheeran said the decision would deal a 'big blow' to the government, BJP leader P S Sreedharan Pillai, the party candidate in the Chengannur bypoll, said the government's stand was 'unfortunate'.

CPI(M) leader Anathalavattom Ananthan said the Marxist party was prepared to take on the 'challenge' of the church on the issue.

Former Syro Malabar Church spokesperson Father Paul Thelekat said the liquor policy was 'anti people'.

He recalled that in the run up to the Assembly polls, CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury had assured that no closed bars would be opened.

"But what we will see now is that not only will closed bars be opened, but many new outlets also will be opened. The policy will only help those in the liquor business," he said.

The government's decision will see re-opening of about 500 toddy shops, 142 beer and wine only restaurants and two bars that were shut after the Supreme Court banned liquor within 500 metre radius of the state and national highways last year.

The Kerala government, on June 8 2017, unveiled its new liquor policy by deciding to open closed bar outlets in three star and above classified hotels, besides allowing serving of toddy in these hotels from July 1 that year.

It was also decided to raise the minimum age limit for consumption of liquor from the present 21 to 23.

The previous Oommen Chandy government had closed 712 bars below the five-star category as part of its aim to ensure total prohibition in 10 years time.

A majority of these closed bars were later converted to beer and wine parlours.

The LDF government had made it clear that it had clarified in its election manifesto itself that it was not for total prohibition, but for abstinence.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Mumbai-based lawyer, arrested by the Crime Branch of the Thane police in connection with illegal procurement of Call Details Records (CDRs), was today remanded in police custody till March 23 by a court here.

Advocate Rizwan Siddiqui, arrested last night after he allegedly did not turn up before the Thane police despite a summons, has represented many celebrities, including Bollywood actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui.

The Thane police have also summoned Nawazuddin Siddiqui and his wife for recording their statement in the case, which came to light in January with the arrest of some private detectives.

It is alleged that a racket of private detectives was selling illegally obtained CDRs to lawyers and others.

The Thane police have so far arrested 12 persons in the case.

Rizwan Siddiqui was produced before Judicial Magistrare P L Gupta, who, after hearing the submissions of investigating officer Nitin Thackeray and the accused's lawyer, remanded him in police custody till March 23.

His lawyer claimed that advocate Siddiqui had no role to play in the CDR racket and was cooperating with the probe.

However, senior inspector Thackeray contended that the accused was not cooperating with police.

Meanwhile, speaking to a channel, Thane police commissioner Param Bir Singh said that Nawazuddin Siddiqui had no direct role in the CDR case.

He has been summoned as a witness, and he has assured police of cooperation, the commissioner said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Abhishek Trimukhi had earlier said that some of the accused told police that Nawazuddin's lawyer had obtained CDRs of Nawazuddin's wife from private detectives.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The election of Chinese President Xi Jinping's trusted lieutenant Wang Qishan as vice president with life-long tenure could be problematic for the ruling Communist Party as he could transform a largely ceremonial position into a real seat of power, experts said.

Wang, who retired as the member of the ruling Communist Party of China's (CPC) powerful seven-member Standing Committee in October, is the first official to continue in power despite crossing the retirement age.

His election marks a formal return of the 69-year-old to the centre stage of Chinese "He will become Xi's wingman and transform a largely ceremonial position into a real seat of power," political experts were quoted as saying by Hong Kong based South China Morning Post.

The vice-president position has been a largely symbolic role in past decades, but that will not satisfy Wang, who is widely respected for his decisiveness and efficiency, the daily said.

"He will not simply be playing a ceremonial role as some of his predecessors did, and will thus be able to play an important role on issues Xi decides to involve him in, said Dali Yang, a political scientist with the University of Chicago.

His name evokes fear across China as he headed Xi's anti-corruption drive which led to the punishment of over 1.5 million officials, including over 100 ministers and top Generals of military.

Speculation was rife about his future since he was not assigned any role by the once-in-a-five-year congress of the CPC which endorsed a second term for Xi and elected a new Standing Committee in October last year.

Moreover, all top CPC officials including top leaders of the party followed an unwritten rule of 68 years and two terms as the retirement age as part of the collective leadership principle followed by the one-party sate to avert a dictatorial rule emerging from ranks.

However, Xi broke number of conventions followed by the party and leaders since he took over. One such convention he disregarded was to not to prosecute retired leaders.

During Xi's first five-year tenure, Wang focussed his anti-corruption campaign against former security czar Zhou Yongkong, a powerful standing committee member under previous Hu Jintao regime and his family and supporters.

Zhou is currently serving life sentence after admitting charges against him.

Wang's elevation today is regarded as yet another step to change the rules followed by CPC as now he would continue in power despite crossing the retirement age.

Like Xi, Wang will also not have any tenure as China's rubber-stamp parliament National People's Congress (NPC) on March 11 amended the constitution removing the two-term limit for the president and vice President.

"Having Wang, as vice-president without a senior party position, functioning as No 8 in the leadership and in charge of a major portfolio is problematic for a Leninist system, as the centrepiece of a Leninist system is the party, said Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute.

"An ordinary party member outranking Politburo members will cause huge concern and discomfort among Politburo members, as well as the wider party establishment," he was quoted as saying by the Post.

But if Wang was asked by Xi to take on a particular portfolio, Tsang said it would be hard to see how the party's top leadership could block the move.

"The 'fear factor' will ensure that Xi will have his way and Wang will be grudgingly accepted for whatever role or roles Xi may assign to him, he said.

Wang's anti-graft campaign may also comeback to bite Xi later, he said.

"Wang's crackdown is unlikely to be forgotten within the party establishment. It may come back to bite Xi at a later stage in the event that he should make a major policy mistake and the rest of the establishment should sense a serious weakness on his part, Tsang said.

Much as Wang is genuinely one of the most able among China's top-level leaders, assigning him a senior portfolio against party rules and constitutional convention carries such a high implicit political price that it is very doubtful if this would be worth his while, he said.

"If Xi indeed ignores this, it shows how he is already putting himself in a Leninist strongman mode in how he exercises his leadership from this point onwards, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Congress today decided that it would forge workable alliances with like-minded parties as part of efforts to get battle-ready for 2019 general election, with its chief Rahul Gandhi asserting that the country was "fatigued" and only his party could show the way forward.

The party, at its 84th plenary session that began today, adopted a political resolution that said it will take a "pragmatic approach" while striking electoral pacts.

The indication of a pre-poll tie-up comes in the wake of efforts by the Congress to evolve a consensus among various opposition parties to unitedly take on the BJP.

The Congress has been seeking to unite all opposition parties under one common platform to defeat the BJP in the next elections.

Some leaders at the conclave said no one can stop Rahul Gandhi from becoming the prime minister in 2019 and a beginning of a new era has been made.

Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi gave a fiery speech at the plenary session.

She launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying his government was power-drunk and the pre-poll promises of combating corruption and ensuring inclusive development were mere "dramebaazi".

Sonia Gandhi exhorted Congress workers to support party chief Rahul Gandhi and be ready for any kind of sacrifice to strengthen the organisation. She asked the workers to free the country of "discrimination, vendetta and arrogance".

We are exposing Prime Minister Modi and his colleagues' false claims, frauds and corruption with proof.

"People have now understood that the 2014 promises of 'sab ka saath, sab ka vikas' and 'na khaoonga, na khaane doonga' and his Mann ki Baat' on radio are only 'dramebaazi' (theatrics) and a trick to grab votes and electoral power," she said, referring to Modi's promises of inclusive development and corruption-free governance.

In the last four years, this arrogant and power-drunk government has left no stone unturned to destroy the Congress. They have used every trick in the trade, but Congress has neither succumbed before this arrogance of power nor will it succumb in future, she said.

In his brief inaugural address, Rahul Gandhi said the country is in a way "fatigued" under the Modi dispensation and is looking for a way out. He asserted that his party alone can show the path forward.

In a scathing attack on the NDA government, he accused it of spreading hatred and anger, and failing to create jobs and address farm distress.

The Congress party alone can unite the country and show the path forward, he said.

The difference between the ruling dispensation and his party was that while they spread anger and hatred, we spread love and brotherhood", the Congress chief said.

He also said the Congress under him would take the seniors and the youth together as the tradition of the party was to embrace change without forgetting its past and legacy.

"If the youth will take the Congress party forward, the party will not move forward without the experienced leaders. So, my task is to unite the seniors and the youth, to give a new direction," he said.

The country is in a way fatigued, is looking for a way out. And I am saying this from the bottom of my heart, that only the Congress can show the path forward," he said.

Rahul Gandhi said the party's work was to unite people and the Congress's 'hand' symbol was the only symbol that can do so.

"A resurgent Congress alone shall win back the idea of India as envisioned by the founding fathers of our nation, the resolution, moved by senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge and adopted at the session, said.

"No one has the power to defeat the Congress and only the Congress can defeat the Congress," he said.

The party said it was prepared to make sacrifices required to defend the ethos of the Constitution.

We will purge the polity of the aberrations witnessed during the BJP regime, which has failed to honour its commitments to the people of India," the Congress said.

In another resolution, the party said if voted to power it would come out with a loan-waiver scheme for small and marginal farmers similar to that announced by the UPA government in 2009.

Adopting a resolution on Agriculture, Employment and Poverty Alleviation at the plenary session, the party hit out at the Modi government for its flawed and anti-farmer policies that caused an "agrarian crisis" in the country.

The resolution charged the government of "failing" to deliver on its lofty promises and accused it of duping farmers by making empty noises of doubling farm incomes by 2022.

"The country's Constitution, democracy, unity, civilisation, secularism, judiciary, internal security, its farmers, minorities, small industries are under threat. So, in all, the entire country is under threat," said party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad.

The plenary session that seeks to show the party the path forward and give vision and direction to it, was attended by top party leaders from across the country.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today exuded confidence that the Congress will retain power in the state, even as he asserted that "none can stop" party chief Rahul Gandhi from becoming the next prime minister of the country.

Addressing the Congress' plenary session here, he said the upcoming state polls will work as a "big boost" and a "stepping stone" for the party ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

"No one can stop Rahul Gandhi (Congress president) from becoming the country's prime minister after the next general polls," Siddaramaiah said.

"It is going to be a secularism versus communalism contest (in Karnataka). The Congress is confident that under Rahul ji's leadership, we will come back to power with a thumping majority in the southern state, he said.

The greater part of Siddaramaiah's speech was on the welfare programmes undertaken in Karnataka.

Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, who also hails from the state, also exuded confidence in the party's electoral prospects.

Referring to the UPA's decision to waive farmers' loan, Kharge asked how much debt of peasants was written off by BJP-led governments.

He said the people have answered this question in Gorakhpur, where the ruling BJP in Uttar Pradesh lost to SP recently. Gorakhpur is Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's home turf.

And he (Adityanath) comes for campaigning in Karnataka, Kharge said while taking a dig at the priest-turned-politician.

The high-octane campaign for the Karnataka polls is underway with the heavyweights of both Congress and BJP canvassing in the state. The H D Deve Gowda-led JD(S) is the other major party in the fray.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Former minister and Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia today claimed that the findings of purported STF report shared by Cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu were fabricated.

Sidhu yesterday had sought arrest of Majithia, accusing him of having links with drug peddlers while claiming that he had findings of a Special Task Force's report.

Majithia today said, "the content of the STF report shared by Sidhu are fabricated and false."



The Akali leader accused Sidhu of committing the contempt of court by sharing contents of the purported report which was submitted to the high court in a sealed cover.

They (Sidhu and his wife) had committed the gravest contempt of court. They have obstructed the course of judicial delivery.

This was done deliberately to dilute the effect of the apology rendered to him by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Majithia said.

Sidhu had yesterday claimed, "STF has made it clear that there is a substantial evidence of the role of Bikram Majithia in drug peddling which needs to be probed. Punjab government cannot ignore these facts.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Aurangabad in Maharashtra was in last week when police allegedly lathi-charged protesters opposing dumping of municipal garbage at a village on the city's outskirts.

This morning, however, the city witnessed another police operation: a team led by in-charge police commissioner Milind Bharambe collecting garbage from various locations.

As the city administration is grappling with the issue of garbage disposal for want of alternative site, Bharambe and his team did a round of the city and collected the waste.

Tension prevailed at Mitmita village on the outskirts of the city last week when villagers tried to stop municipal trucks from dumping garbage at a site in the area.

It was alleged that police dealt with the protesters in a high-handed manner, which led to police commissioner Yashaswi Yadav being sent on compulsory leave.

The city has been facing a crisis-like situation ever since the villagers of Naregaon, where the municipal garbage was being dumped for the last three decades, said they would no longer allow it.

Bharambe, alongwith divisional commissioner Purushottam Bahpkar, district magistrate Naval Kishor Ram, DCP Dipali Ghadge, Mayor Nandkumar Ghodele and more than four hundred police personnel started collecting garbage from Bibi ka Makbara and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University area this morning.

Speaking to PTI, Bharambe said, "It was our contribution to finding solution to the problem. We appeal to the citizens to segregate the waste. It must start from every house and every person should contribute."



Bharambe decided to undertake the initiative after holding a meeting with police officials yesterday.

Inspector Rajashree Aade of Begumpura police station said, "Initially, we hesitated, thinking how can we collect garbage while in uniform. But when the commissioner himself started doing it, it inspired everybody.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Top realtors and senior bureaucrats are expected to take part in the annual 'World Realtors Day' scheduled to be held here next week, which will also see participation of over 400 property developers.

The Chennai Real Estate Agent Association (CREAA) would conduct the event on March 21, to be presided over by Housing and Urban Development, Principal Secretary, S Krishnan, a press release said.

"The event will be attended by members of 45 different realtors associations across India. It is a fact that more than 80 per cent of real estate transactions happen through the involvement of real estate agents" CREAA Chennai, President, Azeem Ahmed said.

Senior officials of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India, Ajit Chordia and Suresh Krishn are also expected to take part in the event, he said.

The real estate agents provide pre and after sales service and explain the complex procedures of real estate regulations to build customer loyalty, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama arrived here today to attend the first convocation of Central University Jammu slated to be held tomorrow.

Minister for Cooperatives and Ladakh Affairs Chering Dorjay along with Advisor to the Chief Minister Amitabh Mattoo accorded a warm welcome to the tibetan spiritual leader.

In a message to the people of the state, the Dalai Lama said, "I want to express special greetings and prayers for people of the state. We should always keep peace of mind and should not let anger overtake us."



"Anger always brings disaster and prevents us from using our intelligence effectively therefore preventing us from finding solutions to difficult situations," he said.

Mentally, physically, emotionally, human beings are same everywhere. Everybody wants happiness, joyfulness. The foundation to this happiness is peace of mind, the Dalai Lama said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A 60-year-old man was today beaten to death allegedly over filling water from a tank in northwest Delhi's Wazirpur, police today.

Police claimed that they have arrested three people and apprehended a juvenile in the case.

The deceased was identified as Lal Bahadur who lived with his family in SS Nagar in Wazirpur Industrial area.

The incident was reported around 3.30 PM today when a water tanker had arrived in the colony and all the residents reached there for filling water. Lal Bahadur' s son Rohit and the accused were also at the spot, Deputy Commissioner of Police (norhwest) Aslam Khan said.

Soon an argument started between Rohit and the accused over filling the water first which soon turned into a scuffle, Khan said.

The victim, after hearing the shouts, reached the spot and tried to stop the fight between his son and the accused.

He wanted to pacify the fight but the accused attacked him with fist and thrashed mercilessly. He soon became unconscious. He was rushed to the hospital where he was declared brought dead," the police said.

The two accused were nabbed from the spot and during raid a police team were able to catch the remaining two.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.), Mar 17 PTI) An elderly couple were murdered at their home at Gudivada town of Krishna district and cash and other valuables stolen, police said.

The deceased have been identified as B Sai Chowdary (72) and his wife B Nagamani (67) and were staying alone in the house, they said.

Police said that the robbers gained entry into their house last night, killed them and decamped with the cash and valuables in the couple's car.

The murders came to light this morning when neigbours found them lying in a pool of blood and informed police.

Police said they are ascertaining the exact amount of cash and valuables stolen.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru's statue with its face blackened, was found in Katwa town of West Bengal today, the police said.

The Congress has blamed the BJP for the incident, but the saffron party denied any involvement in it.

The statue at Telephone Maidan at Katwa town in East Burdwan district with its face blackened was found this morning by the locals, who then informed the police about it.

Following this, Congress workers held a demonstration in front of the police station demanding immediate arrest of those responsible for the act.

A complaint was lodged by them, the police said, adding investigation into the incident was underway.

Chairman of the Trinamool Congress-run Katwa municipality Rabindranath Chattopadhyay condemned the blackening of Nehru's statue and said it was cleaned by the civic body later in the day.

Katwa Town Congress secretary Subhashish Samanta has alleged that BJP workers were behind the incident, while the saffron party's rural district secretary Sandip Nandy has said the party had no role in it.

A bust of Jan Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee was vandalised on March 7 in Kolkata by seven persons, including a woman.

Statues of communist leader Vladimir Lenin, social reformer Ramasamy Periyar and that of Bhimrao Ambedkar were vandalised in Tripura, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh respectively in recent days.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)CEO Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly deployed "secret police" led by Indian-American Sonya Ahuja to catch and punish those leaking information about the social media giant in press, a media report has said.

Zuckerberg hosts weekly meetings where he shares details of unreleased new products and strategies in front of thousands of employees, The Guardian reported.

During one of his weekly meetings in 2015, the usually affable CEO warned employees: "We're going to find the leaker, and we're going to fire them".

A week later, Zuckerberg revealed the culprit had been caught and fired.

The media report, citing an unnamed former employee at Facebook, said that he was called into a meeting last year under the guise of a promotion where the investigative team interrogated him.

The interrogation by the "rat-catching" team, led by the company's head of investigations Ahuja, was a technicality; they already knew he was guilty of leaking some innocuous information to the press, the report said.

They had records of a screenshot he'd taken, links he had clicked or hovered over, and they strongly indicated they had accessed chats between him and the journalist, dating back to before he joined the company, it said.

"It's horrifying how much they know. You go into and it has this warm, fuzzy feeling of 'we're changing the world' and 'we care about things'. But you get on their bad side and all of a sudden you are face to face with Mark Zuckerberg's secret police," he told The Guardian.

When asked about the report, a spokeswoman Bertie Thomson said: " routinely use business records in workplace investigations, and we are no exception".Facebook says it has suspended the account of Cambridge Analytica, the data analysis firm hired by Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, after reports it harvested the profile information of millions of US voters without their permission.

According to the New York Times and Britain's Observer, the company stole information from 50 million Facebook users' profiles in the tech giant's biggest-ever data breach, to help them design software to predict and influence voters' choices at the ballot box.

Also suspended were the accounts of its parent organisation, Strategic Communication Laboratories, as well as those of University of Cambridge psychologist Aleksandr Kogan and Christopher Wylie, who runs a firm called Eunoia Technologies.

was bankrolled to the tune of $15 million by US hedge fund billionaire Robert Mercer, a major Republican donor. The Observer said it was headed at the time by Steve Bannon, a top Trump adviser until he was fired last summer.

"In 2015, we learned that ... Kogan lied to us and violated our Platform Policies by passing data from an app that was using Facebook Login to SCL/Cambridge Analytica, a firm that does political, government and military work around the globe," Facebook said in a posting late Friday by its vice president and deputy general counsel Paul Grewal.

Kogan also improperly shared the data with Wylie, it said.

Kogan's app, thisisyourdigitallife, offered a personality prediction test, describing itself on Facebook as "a research app used by psychologists."



Some 270,000 people downloaded the app, allowing Kogan to access information such as the city listed on their profile, or content they had liked.

"However, the app also collected the information of the test-takers' Facebook friends, leading to the accumulation of a data pool tens of millions-strong," the Observer reported.

Wylie, who later became a whistleblower, told the newspaper: "We exploited Facebook to harvest millions of people's profiles. And built models to exploit what we knew about them and target their inner demons. That was the basis that the entire company was built on."



Kogan legitimately obtained the information but "violated platform policies" by passing information to SCL/ and Wylie, Facebook said.

Facebook, which did not say how the data was used or misused, said it removed the app in 2015 when it learned of the violation, and was told by Kogan and everyone who received the data that it had since been destroyed.

"Several days ago, we received reports that, contrary to the certifications we were given, not all data was deleted," Grewal wrote.

"We are moving aggressively to determine the accuracy of these claims. If true, this is another unacceptable violation of trust and the commitments they made.

"We are suspending SCL/Cambridge Analytica, Wylie and Kogan from Facebook, pending further information.Blasting Pakistan for giving political legitimacy to terror mastermind Hafiz Saeed, Home Minister Rajnath Singh today said security forces can cross over the Line of Control, if needed, to protect country's territorial integrity.

Making it clear that Jammu and Kashmir will remain an integral part of India, Singh said the Narendra Modi government wants a permanent solution to the Kashmir issue and the interlocutor appointed by it was ready to talk to anyone who is willing to have a dialogue.

"We not only secure India internally but can also cross border, if needed, to protect the country," he said at the News18 Rising India summit.

In September 2016, the Indian Army had carried out surgical strikes at the terror launch pads across the LoC and inflected significant casualties to avenge the terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir.

The home minister said India wants to maintain friendly relations with Pakistan but that country was not keen for it, rather giving "political legitimacy" to LeT founder and 26/11 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed.

"Pakistan is now providing political legitimacy to a UN designated terrorist. Hafiz Saeed is now allowed to form a political party, he will contest elections and go to Parliament. Haqqani Network, which is responsible for killings of scores of people are being abeted and given protection. It is shocking," he said.

Singh, however, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has achieved huge success in taking the fight against terrorism on international forum. Earlier nobody talked against Pakistan's terrorism, now the US has also condemned Pakistan, he said.

Referring to the appointment of the interlocutor, former Intelligence Bureau chief Dineshwar Sharma, on the Kashmir issue, the home minister said the interlocutor would talk to everyone who was keen for dialogue.

He said despite Pakistan's best efforts, Kashmir would never be separated from India. "Kashmir was with India, Kashmir is with India and Kashmir will remain with India forever," he said.

Singh said Kashmir's children were like his own and would not allow anyone to radicalise them.

"I want to tell those who are trying to teach jihad to innocent Kashmiri youths that they should first learn the real concept of jihad in Islam," he said.

The minister said he had personally asked Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to ignore cases filed against the first-time stone-pelters.

Following Singh's request, the Jammu and Kashmir government had withdrawn cases registered against 9,730 people involved in stone-pelting incidents, including first-time offenders.

"We have forgiven first-time stone-pelters. They might have been influenced by others. They are young. We need to give them a second chance," he said.

Singh also highlighted the government's efforts in dealing with Maoists and the inurgents in the Northeast.

He said the battle against Naxals can't be won through bullets and hence several developmental initiatives were taken in this direction.

"We are trying to reach those areas which have remained unreachable since independence. Naxalismwas a huge problem for India but in the last four years we have achieved major success in that space," he said.

Singh said violence in the Northeast has come down by 75 per cent in last few years.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Actor politician Kamal Haasan today said the recent forest fire in Kurangani Hills in Theni district, which killed 16 persons, was an eye opener to those taking up trekking that they should ensure their safety.

"The fire had been raging for a week. Maybe officials could have informed them (trekkers) in advance. Now one can talk many things after the incident. But it has sent a message to those going for trekking to ensure their safety," he said.

The Makkal Neethi Maiam founder was speaking to reporters after meeting the families of Anu Vidhya and Nisha Tamizholi, who perished in the blaze, and offering them his condolences.

Soon after the March 10 incident, Haasan had tweeted, "Kurangani forest fire and its victims is heart rending. Those with burn injuries should heal fast. I wish them all the best for recovery and rehabilitation. To those bereaved families, my deepest sympathy".

Sixteen people, part of a 36 member team, lost their lives in the devastating fire at Kurangani forests in the Theni district, some 500 kms away from Chennai.

Of the 16 killed in the blaze , 12 were women.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)An explosion in an underground coal mine of Central Coalfields Limited (CCL) in Jharkhand's Ramgarh district has injured four miners, a company official said today.

The four men were drilling inside the mine while on duty last night when the drill machine came in contact with an explosive stored in the mine in Narka-Sayal area which led to the blast, CCL project officer P Nayar said.

All the four were identified. They were rushed to CCLs Bhurkunda hospital, which referred them to the companys main hospital in Gandhi Nagar, Ranchi, the sources said.

Officials of Directorate General of Mine Safety along with senior CCL officials visited the mine to review its safety measures, Nayar added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Four members of a family from West Bengal were found dead at their house in Secunderabad here, police said today.

Police suspect the family to have committed suicide due to financial issues.

The deceased identified as Swaroop G Das (37), a goldsmith, his wife and their two children including a five-month-old baby boy were found dead last night, they said adding they hailed from Howrah.

"They are suspected to have consumed cyanide and died.. the exact reason for taking the extreme step is still not clear. It may be due to some financial problems. the matter is under investigation," Mahankali Police Station Inspector B Ramesh said.

The matter came to light only after a local businessman lodged a complaint with the police that Swaroop was not responding to his calls.

The police reached Swaroop's house and broke open the door only to find him and his family members lying dead, police said adding a case has been registered.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Four people were feared dead today after an avalanche hit the Swiss ski area of Vallon d'Arbi, with one body already recovered and rescue workers searching for three others.

Police in Valais canton said that search operations continued until 3:30 AM today, then resumed after a break at 9:00 AM.

"During the night, one body was recovered. The formal identification process is ongoing," the police statement said.

Those still missing were identified as a Swiss citizen and two French nationals.

Vallon d'Arbi is a route best suited to skilled skiers, which is sporadically closed for safety reasons. Tourism sites recommend visitors ski with a guide.

Police said the route was open at the time of Friday's avalanche.

The accident is the latest in a series of fatal incidents affecting skiers in Switzerland this season, with a series of avalanches killing three in the Swiss Alps last month.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Police in Pakistan today arrested four suspected militants who allegedly facilitated a suicide attack on a police check-post near the residence of ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif in Lahore.

The death toll in the attack by a teenaged Taliban suicide bomber on March 14 today rose to 11 as another victim succumbed to injuries in a hospital.

"We have taken four suspects believed to be facilitators in a raid carried out in the Badami Bagh area of central Lahore. The suspects include the bomber's uncle, Syed Ghazi Shah, and his son, a police official said.

The teenaged suicide bomber blew himself up at a police post check post, a few kilometres from the palatial residence of the Sharif family, and next to the congregation of the Tableeghi Jamaat centre.

Police said the suicide attacker carried two hand grenades which he wanted to use before blowing himself up, but police managed to deter him from doing so.

"The post-blast investigation and the statements of the injured policemen revealed that there was a fierce scuffle between the policemen and the suicide bomber. If the attacker had thrown the hand grenades in the gathering of the cops or in the main venue of a religious congregation, it would have been more devastating, a senior police official said.

Shortly after the suicide bomber blew himself up, the police experts had seized the hand grenades, defused them and sent them for forensic analysis.

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has constituted a joint investigation team to probe the blast.

The Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed responsibility for the blast. The suicide attack has taken place a week before the play-off (semi-finals) of the Pakistan Super League in Lahore.

Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said the blast could be aimed at stopping the foreign players from coming to Lahore for PSL semi-finals.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Union minister Nitin Gadkari is expected to kick-off the construction work of Inland Waterways Authority of India's multi-modal terminal at Haldia in West Bengal on March 23.

"Gadkari (Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Shipping and Water Resources) is expected to lay foundation stone for the multi-modal terminal at Haldia, and the new navigational lock gate and River Information System (RIS) at Farraka," a senior official of IWAI told PTI.

The minister will also flag-off RoRo service between Kolkata and Howrah on NW-1, the official said.

The modern RIS will work similar to an air traffic control, for monitoring the waterways on real-time basis, officials said.

The entire infrastructure for National Waterways-1 will be ready by the end of 2019 as scheduled, IWAI vice-chairman Paravir Pandey said.

The IWAI is implementing the Jal Marg Vikas Project for augmenting the navigation capacity of NW-1 from Haldia to Varanasi at a cost of Rs 5,369 crore, with technical and financial support of the World Bank.

Meanwhile, Shipping Secretary Gopal Krishna today flagged off two tug-barge flotilla for NW-1, in line with the Centre's efforts to augment navigation capacity of the country's waterways.

The high-power tug has twin propeller, 14-ton bollard pull and two dumb barges of 1,000 ton capacity each.

The barge has been procured at a cost of Rs 16.24 crore, and will help in meeting fly-ash from NTPC's Kahelgoan plant to Bangladesh, the officials said.

Krishna later met West Bengal Chief Secretary Moloy De, and during discussions, a river bank protection plan was mooted jointly by IWAI, Kolkata Port Trust and the state government, they said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has called for giving more autonomy to the northeastern people and not adopting a one-size-fits-all approach as different areas of the region have different problems.

Speaking at the launch of Avalok Langer's book on the Northeast, 'In Pursuit of Conflict', at Oxford Bookstore here last evening, Tharoor also voiced support for amending the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act as, according to him, it does more harm than good.

"I have a clearly point of view for as much autonomy as possible for the local people (of the northeastern states)," Tharoor said, calling for much attention to the needs and sensitivities of each area in the region.

Rather than an umbrella look, the Congress leader said it would be better to have at least half-a-dozen different perspectives of the area as the problems are not the same, even within the states.

There is a general miasma of ignorance, but beyond that ignorance, the specific area need to be dealt with specifically, he added.

"Increasingly, we're gonna have to have a decentralised democracy. More areas that are distant from Delhi -- to the north, northeast or south -- are going to feel that it's not possible for them to have every decision having being taken in Delhi.

"I think it becomes rather important that we start defining the contours of autonomy and giving the details a substantive meaning," the Thiruvananthapuram MP said.

The former Union minister clarified that he was against self-determination as the northeastern states cannot function independently, broadly due to their small geo-economics.

Describing the language of the provisions in AFSPA as "offensive" to the sensibilities of any democrat, he said, "I think a significant section of the political establishment, certainly speaking for my party, would be in favour of amending (the) AFSPA."



The provision for arrest without warrant are far too blanket. But, the revocation of the Act may be a step that would be politically difficult, the 62-year-old MP said.

"My understanding is that attempts that were made at a very high political level were essentially thwarted by the vehement opposition of the army," he said.

Batting for systematic dialogue with the army regarding the Act, Tharoor said, "In any democratic country, to have a law that is seen by the public as conferring impunity for human rights violations, is always going to do more harm than good."



Talking about insurgency, he saidthat in a democratic state, anything can be discussed, provided it is not done at the point of a gun.

But, if the aggrieved parties come forward in a democratic manner and participate, then there would be more voices in favour of substantial autonomy, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Holding up posters of some of the youths who perished in the ensuing violence, the protesters called for an end to the Saudi occupation of their country.



(AhlulBayt News Agency) - Bahraini activists gathered outside the Saudi embassy in Berlin on Friday, marking seven years since the start of the Saudi-led military intervention in Bahrain.



Holding up posters of some of the youths who perished in the ensuing violence, the protesters called for an end to the Saudi occupation of their country.



Those who took part in the peaceful gathering also condemned what they termed as the international communitys silence concerning Manamas rights violations.



More than 1,000 Saudi troops poured into Bahrain on March 14, 2011 to assist the Manama regime in its clampdown on pro-democracy protesters.



The suppression of the demonstrations would eventually become one of the bloodiest chapters in Bahrains history with over 100 killed.





/257The Governor of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana E S L Narasimhan todaygreetedthe people of the two Telugu speaking states on the eve of Ugadi, the Telugu new year day.

"On this happy and auspicious occasion of Ugadi, the Telugu New Year Day, I extend my warmestgreetings to the people of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and to the Telugu people across the World", the Governor in an official release from the Raj Bhavan.

"Ugadi is a festival of joy and hope and the New Year shall bring with it new cheer and a bright future.

"I am confident that 'Sri Vilambi Nama Samvatsaram' will usher in peace, prosperity, harmony and happiness to all people and sections of the society," Narasimhansaid.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The primary department of the Gondia Zilla Parishad in Maharashtra has planned a school enrollment drive for children on the occasion of Gudi Padwa tomorrow.

"The drive, initiated by the then Gondia district collector Dr Vijay Suryawanshi in 2015, has been a success, helping attract students to Zilla Parishad schools," Gondia ZP officer Ulhas Narad said.

The enrollment in the first standard in 2014-15 was 3,700 but it jumped almost three-fold to 10,120 during the academic year 2015-16 when the drive was launched, the official informed.

In 2016-17, a total of 11,952 students were admitted in the Gudi Padwa enrollment drive and around 13,000 during the academic year 2017-18, Narad said.

The department has planned to make the awareness-cum-enrollment drive a success, he said.

Explaining the rationale behind launching the drive on Gudi Padwa, Suryawanshi, now district collector of Raigad near Mumbai, said "Gudi Padwa marks the beginning of the Marathi New Year and is a good day to start such an initiative."



Suryawanshi launched this initiative in 2014 when he was the Chief Executive Officer of Kolhapur Zilla Parishad.

"All block development officers (BDOs) were instructed about the initiative and it was promoted under the slogan of 'Gudi Padwa: Shala Pravesh Vadhva' (increase enrollment in schools)," the IAS officer said.

"We had asked every ZP school in Kolhapur district, and later in Gondia district, to prepare a pamphlet, which would act as an advertisement. It would make parents aware of the features of schools in their vicinity," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)As the AAP-led Delhi government continues to oppose the ongoing sealing drive in the national capital, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri has said "hard decisions" need to be taken to make the city a livable place even though the measure may attract brickbats from some quarters.

Reacting to the demand of an ordinance by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to stop the drive, Puri said there was a tendency to "highlight victimhood" as part of "populist politics" in a democracy.

The Union minister said the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) had "every right" to amend the Master Plan 2021 to solve the problems of Delhi, even as he held the previous governments at the Centre and state responsible for such a situation in the national capital.

"Sealing or rectification of violation of master plan would not be necessary if the concerned authorities had been doing their job...We have every right to frame policies and we have every right to revise the master plan," he told PTI in an interview.

The housing and urban affairs minister said the master plan had already been amended around 248 times.

"We have analysed the problems which have arisen as a result of sealing as well as its causes. Now we have substantive proposals to rectify the situation. At the end of the day, everyone's objective is to make Delhi a livable city," he said stressing on the need for amendments in the master plan.

The former bureaucrat said the master plan, formulated in 2007, "did not anticipate" the demographic and infrastructure pressure the city would be subjected to, leading to violation of the plan and encroachments on government land.

"How do you rectify this? One is you go and demolish- which is not the intention. After hearing all the interested parties, traders, RWAs, we have framed a proposal which is designed to make Delhi a more livable place," he said.

The HUA ministry has suggested amendments in the Master Plan 2021 to address the sealing drive, which is marked with violence and bandh called by traders.

The ruling AAP in the city has demanded an ordinance to stop the drive, while the Congress has accused the Centre and the state government for "inappropriate" handling of the situation.

In any democracy, Puri said there was a "tendency to play victim and highlight victimhood".

"This is part of populist politics. So you will have lot of people saying that you have been wrong. I keep encouraging people, I say if you think your property has been wrongly sealed, you should bring that to the attention of the sealing committee," he said, adding the "initiative is being done under the behest of the apex court".

On reduction of conversion charges from Rs 89,000 to Rs 22,000, the Union minister said there was no takers for such a high conversion charge and only two parties came forward to avail it since 2012. He said traders' bodies had submitted representations to him demanding a reduction in conversion charges.

Puri said he would meet the chief minister on Monday to discuss the issues related to the national capital, specially the sealing drive and the DMRC Phase IV project.

On Kejriwal's assertion that he would sit on a hunger strike if there was no solution to the sealing issue till March 31, the Union minister said, "I do not think he would sit on dharna...We have found the solution, then what is the need for sitting on dharna?"



Puri alleged that the work on regularisation of unauthorised colonies could not progress as the Delhi government had submitted an affidavit in the high court last year, asking for more time for compiling the data related to unauthorised colonies.

Stressing that Delhi has been facing many problems like congestion, pollution, unauthorised colonies and encroachment on government land, he said his ministry was committed to provide solutions to all the problems within the jurisdiction of law.

"Ultimately, you see Mumbai and Shanghai--one went up (with skyscrapers) and other (gave rise to) slums. We need to take hard decisions. There could be some condemnation also....Delhi has become unlivable city in terms of pollution, parking, congestion. I do not think anybody committed to Delhi will allow this to happen," the minister added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Orissa High Court has granted bail to the former head of the department of clinical hematology in the SCB Medical College here who was arrested by state vigilance sleuths in December last year on corruption charges.

Justice Sangam K Sahoo granted bail to the senior doctor, Rabindra Kumar Jena, yesterday on a bail bond of Rs 50,000 each by two sureties.

The high court has also asked the doctor to take prior permission of the trial court before visiting any destination outside the state. The vigilance sleuths have already impounded his passport.

The state vigilance directorate booked the doctor after detecting properties worth over Rs 3.23 crore in his possession which was disproportionate to his known sources of income. He was also booked for alleged misappropriation of Odisha State Treatment Fund (OSTF) which he headed.

He was accused of criminal conspiracy, misuse of official position and showing undue favour to different pharmaceutical companies.

Although the case was registered against him in November 2017, he remained underground for several days before his arrest.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Captain Shakib Al Hasan has vowed to keep his emotions under control after heated altercations and ugly scenes marred Bangladesh's dramatic win over Sri Lanka in a must-win game of the Nidahas Twenty20 Tri-Series here.

In the virtual semi-final last night, Bangladesh defeated hosts Sri Lanka by two wickets to set-up a clash against India in tomorrow's final.

But the thrilling game was marred by ugly scenes after the on-field umpires had refused to award a no-ball when Isuru Udana delivered a second short-pitched delivery with Sri Lanka needing 12 runs of the final over at the R Premadasa Stadium.

Furious at the decision, an agitated Shakib came down to the boundary and waved at his batsmen to return to the pavilion before relenting as Bangladesh registered a momentous win.

"I wasn't calling them back. I was telling them to play. You can describe it both ways. It depends on how you see it," Shakib told reporters at the post-match press conference.

"Many things happened that shouldn't have happened. I need to remain calm. I was overjoyed. Excitement was there. I must know how to react next time. I will be careful," he added.

Shakib said it was a one-off incident where emotions got the better of both the teams.

"What happens in the field should never spill over off the field. To be honest, we are all good friends. We see each other in the Bangladesh Premier League and Dhaka Premier League," he said.

"The two boards have great relations. We help each other a lot. Just like I would want my team to win at all cost, they would have the same feeling. I am sure that both teams will never let it go off the field."



Bangladesh players were later accused of unruly celebrations after a glass door was found broken in their dressing room.

Bangladesh team management did not respond to the allegations but it is understood that they have offered to pay for the damages.

The ICC is yet to comment on the matter even as match referee Chris Broad has asked for video footage of the incident.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Actor Kangana Ranaut today said that she is a nationalist and felt that her own progress as an individual is linked to the country's growth.

The "Simran" actor said she does not believe in religion and has come to the conclusion that her only identity is that she is an Indian.

"As a youth, I want to see growth in my life. I have come to this conclusion that if India does not grow then I won't grow. I am an Indian and born an Indian. I have no other identity," Kangana said.

Kangana was speaking at a session at the News18 Rising India Summit.

"I said in some interview that I am a nationalist. People said 'oh you are that type of a person'. I was like 'what do you mean by that kind?' I personally feel that there is a confusion between these words.

"Before all of this, I hadn't even heard of the term nationalism. The good thing is that at least the word has got out. That there is a word like nationalism. You can have a choice whether you want to believe in it or not," Kangana said.

The actor confessed that she is a "fan" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that woman in the country need to have right role models.

"I am a big Modi fan because of his success story. As a young woman I do believe that we need to have right role models. I mean the graph and the ambition of an ordinary man and whenever we have a PM who is a chaiwala, then I always say that it is not his victory but it is the victory of our democracy. I feel he is the right role model," he said.

Kangana also weighed on about the controversy surrounding the Pakistani artists working in India, and said artistic world is different from physical world.

"Artistic realm is different from physical realm. When you are talking about physical boundaries and you are talking about borders, why be esoteric. You should know about a place where people are losing lives.

"At the time of ban on Pakistani artists, the country is vulnerable where people are struggling and trying to cope with emotions. The common sentiment is 'Humko kya Lena dena, hum toh artist hai'. This is not going to work. Above everything, you are Indians as well, and when you are talking about boundaries, you can't go into esoteric world and say 'I am an artist'," Kangana said.

She also wondered why people have a problem with standing up for national anthem and cited the example of Americans.

"The Americans stand for their national anthem. Why do feel ashamed of standing? If you want to learn something from Americans, then learn good things from them," she said.

Asked if a person does not agree with her opinion, Kangana said, "I don't mind. But I am going to stand for my national anthem.Whenever there is something for my country, then I am going to side with my country, my soldiers, my army and I am a cool youngster if 21st century."



She was also critical of the people who whine about lack of infrastructure and cleanliness in the country and said they should take an initiative to clean the country.

"I meet people and it has become a cool thing to say bad things about your country...I hear the youths always complaining and whining that 'the country does not have infrastructure and it is so dirty'... This attitude is not okay. If the country is dirty, then are you the guests? Why don't you clean it.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A official has said that, trade is one aspect of India-US relationship that has the most friction, even as he said that the Trump Administration is looking for a free, fair and reciprocal trade with India.

The comment from came, days after President Donald Trump publicly raised the issue of high import duty by India on motorcycles at least three times in a month and threatened a reciprocal duty on Indian imports.

"The commitment to the relationship is very strong on both sides. If you had to point to a part of the relationship where you have the most friction, it certainly would be the trade side," a senior administration official told a group of reporters.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to give a clarity on the various aspects of American ties in South Asia, including India.

Insisting that the Trump Administration has been clear for a free, fair and reciprocal trade, the official said that there has been concerns raised about the trade deficit with India.

But he quickly pointed that this trade deficit has actually come down slightly more recently, based largely on India's imports of US energy.

"This administration is looking for a free, fair and reciprocal trade with India. And so is seeking to see some of those tariffs such as on a Harley Davidson motorcycles that are there. US is determined to find the opportunities to increase trade investment with India and does expect that there will be some sort of reciprocal dealings on the trade issues," the official said.

The senior administration official noted that Indian motorcycles that are imported into the US don't have any tariffs on them.

"And so the president has been clear that he's looking for a fairly reciprocal trade with India," the official said.

Responding to a series of question, the official said that the Trump Administration has been on constant talks with India on trade issues.

Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale, who was in Washington DC this week met the US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

At the same time the official indicated that trade issues is unlikely to be part of the soon to be held two plus two dialogue between the two countries involving their respective foreign and defense ministers.

In the absence of the Secretary of State, the two-plus-two dialogue has now been delayed and is likely to be held later this year after Mike Pompeo is confirmed by the Senate.

"I think, it's an ongoing discussion that we're having on the trade issues. The two plus two is focused a great deal on a defense security cooperation, diplomatic political cooperation just by virtue of the Defense Minister and Defense Secretary and the External Affairs Minister and Secretary of State. The trade issues are more of an ongoing dialogue that we're having with India," the official said.Observing that the Indo-Pacific strategy is a priority for the Trump Administration, a US official has said that one key aspect of the strategy is to give an alternative to Chinese developmental model to the countries of the region.

"The Indo-Pacific strategy, which was discussed within the national security strategy that was released in December of last year, is a priority strategy for this administration. And when we talk about the Indo-Pacific strategy, we're of course talking about India having a very important role in that strategy," a senior administration official said.

"This is part of the India-US growing defence and security partnership. But this is also about giving countries in an alternative and ensuring that other countries in the Indo-Pacific region maintain their sovereignty, independence. We encourage countries do have independency, sovereignty," the official said.

"When we invest in countries what we pay attention to is building up the country's economy so that they become more self-sufficient, self-reliant, the official said reiterating that the US sees a different role for China.

The US and its partners, the official said, is monitoring carefully what's happening in the Indian Ocean region.

"It's very important region and we work with like-minded states. The Indo Pacific strategy is about asserting values and norms like freedom of navigation, rule of law, transparent infrastructure financing these kinds of issues. It's more about asserting those values more than anything," the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

A day earlier Admiral Harry Harris, Commander of US Pacific Command told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee that the US has a lasting national interest in the Indo-Pacific.

"I believe America's security and economic prosperity are indelibly linked to this critical region, which remains at a precarious crossroad where tangible opportunity meets significant challenge," he said.

"To be blunt, the stability of the Indo-Pacific matters to America. And the region needs a strong America, just as America needs a vibrant, thriving Indo-Pacific that remains both politically and economically free," the admiral said.

It is not just history that necessitates US continued presence in the Indo-Pacific region; it is the future as well, Harris said. The US must maintain credible combat power across the region in order to defend against revisionist powers that seek to subvert democracy and undermine a free and open international order, he said.

"It is to our long-term benefit to remain the region's security partner of choice by working closely with our allies and partners who share our commitment to uphold peace, economic prosperity, and security. We must not cede ground in this endeavor," the top Pentagon Commander said.

A key aspect of the National Defense Strategy, is the capabilities necessary to preserve a free and open Indo-Pacific, Harris said.

"China's ongoing military modernisation is a core element of China's stated strategy to supplant the US as the security partner of choice for countries in the Indo-Pacific," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Iran's semi-official ILNA agency is reporting that authorities have detained a close ally of former hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The report today says the office of Tehran prosecutor's said police detained Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei for "investigations." It did not elaborate.

On Thursday, Mashaei, in front of the British embassy in Tehran, burnt a copy of a court verdict sentencing Hamid Baghaei, another Ahmadinejad ally who was sentenced to 15 years for the misuse of public funds when he was a vice-president under Ahmadinejad.

Baghaei began serving his term earlier this week. Several of Ahmdainejad's allies are in jail over the misappropriation of public funds.

During Baghaei's trial, Ahmadinejad repeatedly appeared outside the court criticizing many officials, including the head of the judiciary, Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A four-day IT festival will begin here tomorrow which will be attended by thousands of youths from all over the country.

The event -- Digifest --will be held from March 18-21 at Rajasthan college, Commerce college and Jawahar Kala Kendra, an official said.

Thousands of IT experts, youths, company representatives and agencies which fund startups will attend the festival.

Principal Secretary of IT Department Akhil Arora said that it will be the country's biggest IT festival for which thousands of youths from all over the country have registered.

IT companies will also hold job fair during the festival and over 50,000 youths have enrolled for the fair, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)On Saturday, Ali Shamkhani met and talked with Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, who arrived in Tehran on Friday night for a two-day visit.



(AhlulBayt News Agency) - Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani says Iran will appropriately respond to US repeated violations of the nuclear deal and will not accept any changes to it.



On Saturday, Ali Shamkhani met and talked with Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, who arrived in Tehran on Friday night for a two-day visit.



During the meeting, the Iranian and Omani high-ranking officials exchanged their views on the recent developments in the region and expansion of ties between the two countries in political, economic, and cultural fields.



Referring to the deep, stable, and developing relations between the two countries of Iran and Oman, Ali Shamkhani emphasized constructive and all-out relations with neighboring countries as one of the most important priorities of Irans foreign policy.



Explaining the economic dimension of developing bilateral cooperation in the fields of energy and transit, Irans SNSC secretary said Joint investments in order to create monetary, financial, naval and transportation infrastructure can diversify trade business capacities in the region and facilitates secure and cheap access to target markets.



Shamkhani criticized some countries destructive policies in the region and killing many innocent people, stressing Iran has always sought cooperation and good relations with its neighbors.



Irans SNSC secretary also referred to the killing of the innocent Yemeni people in Saudi and UAE aerial bombardments, criticizing those countries for their hasty and unwise behavior.



Shamkhani also praised Iran and Oman for their shared views on the crisis in Yemen, calling for a ceasefire and a political solution to the crisis.



Elsewhere in his remarks, Irans Shamkhani referred to the US illegal actions in violation of its obligations under the nuclear deal, warning the US of appropriately responding to its violations of the nuclear pact.



Irans SNSC secretary added that the Islamic Republic of Iran will not accept any changes to the nuclear deal which can put restrictions on it.



Shamkhani also warned the Europeans not to play in the United States and Zionists field, adding that Irans missile program is for defensive purposes and it is one of the countrys national security requirements, adding that Irans missile defense will not be affected by their psychological warfare.



Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, in turn, said "we have always believed that the Islamic Republic of Iran is a friend, partner and reliable neighbor, and we praise its role in creating stability and security in the region."



Referring to Iran and Oman's geographical location and technical, industrial, financial potentials, bin Alawi highlighted that the two countries will have brighter future economic cooperation saying "Oman is ready for joint action to fill the unjustifiable gap between the political and economic relations.



The Omani top diplomat went on to add that using military tools to impose political will on others is an unacceptable approach, concluding the recent experiences that have been accompanied by the loss of human and financial capital of the countries of the region show that engagement and dialogue must replace violence and militarism.







/257The late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa worked towards removal of poverty in the state through for which enough funds were allocated, Minister K A Sengottaiyan said today.

With this in mind, the present AIADMK government allotted Rs 27,932 crore for in the Budget for next fiscal, the Minister said.

He was inaugurating six classrooms in the Government Girls Higher Secondary School here.

The facilities, including toilets, were built at a cost Rs 84 lakh.

The sum was allocated from the MLA Constituency Development Fund, he added.

The Minister said 100 middle schools and as many high schools would be upgraded as high schools and higher secondary schools, respectively.

He said Rs 2.16 crore through NABARD would be utilised to renovate the old building units in the school.

The Minister said the school uniforms would be changed from the coming academic year.

The syllabus too would be revised to equip students for competitive examinations such as NEET, he said.

K C Karuppannan, Environment Minister, and K V Ramalingam, MLA, Selvakumara Chinniyan, MP, and S Prabakar, district Collector, also spoke.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A four-year-old girl, who was allegedly kidnapped from here three days back, was rescued from Ahmedabad and reunited with her family, police said today.

The minor, who was kidnapped on Wednesday, was rescued yesterday and the accused identified as Harish alias Harito Vanzara (30), a resident of Anand, was arrested today, police said.

"The accused had allegedly kidnapped the girl while she was asleep on a footpath on March 14," said S G Solanki, Inspector, Fatehgunj police station.

Following a complaint by her kin, a probe was launched and police stations in Ahmedabad, Anand, Kaira and other towns were alerted, Solanki said.

According to the officer, Vadodara police received information that the girl was spotted in an area that falls under Ranip police station in Ahmedabad.

"We formed a team under Deputy Commissioner of Police Gautam Parmar, which went to Ahmedabad," Solanki said.

The team yesterday traced the accused and the girl with the help of local police, after which the victim was rescued and reunited with her family, the officer said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A 'Library conference' will be organised by the Marathi Grantha Sangrahalaya here on June 1, where problems faced by libraries across Maharashtra would be discussed, it was announced today.

"We have invited office-bearers of 90 libraries, which have completed over 100 years, for the conference to held in Thane on June 1," said Vidhyadhar Walavalkar, Executive President of Marathi Grantha Sangrahalaya.

"We will discuss the issues faced by the libraries and ways on how it can be solved," said Walavalkar.

City-based Marathi Grantha Sangrahalaya is organising the conference as part of its quasquicentennial celebrations.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A "technical" glitch today forced German carrier Lufthansa to delay its Frankfurt-bound flight from here by almost 23 hours, causing a lot of inconvenience to over 360 passengers.

The flight, LH 757, which was scheduled to depart for Frankfurt from the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport here at 2.55 am today, will now leave at 1.30 am tomorrow, the airline said.

All 368 passengers have been provided hotel accommodation near the airport, Lufthansa said in a statement, adding, "the technical problem has been fixed."



As a result of delayed departure of the March 17 service, there will be two Lufthansa flights departing from Mumbai to Frankfurt on March 18, the statement added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Farmers in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra today claimed that fugitive jeweller Nirav Modi, prime accused in the alleged Rs 11,400 crore Punjab National Bank fraud, had acquired their lands at less than prevailing rates.

A group of over 200 farmers, who arrived in bullock carts at the tract of land at Khandala in Karjat tehsil, ploughed a part of it using a tractor as a symbolic reclaiming of possession.

They will start cultivation on the full 125 acres of the acquired land soon, farmers said.

Today's protest was meant to show that farmers have reclaimed their land, which was acquired on behalf of Nirav Modi's Firestar company some years ago, they said.

The land is among the properties attached by the Enforcement Directorate as a part of its probe against Modi who has fled the country, said a farmer activist.

Protesting farmers also carried the tricolour and portraits of King Shivaji and Dr B R Ambedkar. They carried the banner of 'Kaali Aai Mukti Sangram', a local farmers' organisation.

"The land was acquired from farmers at around Rs 15,000 per acre, whereas the government rate for land compensation in the area is around Rs 20 lakh per acre now," lawyer and activist Karbhari Gawli, who was part of today's protest, told PTI over phone from Ahmednagar.

A police official from the Karjat police station said no "untoward incident" was reported from Khandala village today.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Maldivian authorities arrested more than 140 activists who defied a ban on rallies and demonstrated against a state of emergency imposed by President Abdulla Yameen, the opposition said today.

Thousands of supporters poured into the streets of the capital island Male last night and continued their protest rally till early today, the joint opposition said in a statement issued in Colombo.

"Ignoring President Yameen's edicts banning protests, and braving police and army pepper spray and tear gas, the protests swelled to thousands strong by the early hours of today morning," the statement said.

It said 141 pro-democracy supporters were arrested following what it called the biggest anti-Yameen protest to rock the Maldives since May Day 2015 when similar mass arrests were carried out.

Maldivian police confirmed the latest arrests and said 139 people, including 26 women, remained in custody today morning. Two people had been released overnight.

Police also confirmed that they used pepper spray and teargas to disperse the crowds who marched through the streets despite the state of emergency imposed by Yameen last month.

The opposition said three members of parliament were among those arrested yesterday.

Yameen is facing increasing opposition both within and outside his tiny Indian Ocean archipelago since coming to power in November 2013 following a controversial run off election against former president Mohamed Nasheed.

Last month, Yameen extended a draconian state of emergency by another month, ignoring a growing chorus of concern and calls for democracy to be restored in the honeymoon islands.

Yameen declared the emergency earlier in February, curtailing the powers of the judiciary and the legislature, after the country's Supreme Court ruled to quash criminal convictions against high profile opposition politicians.

The Maldives' highest court has since revoked its order after two top judges were arrested, seemingly giving Yameen the upper hand in a bitter power struggle.

UN human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein has described the state of emergency as "an all-out assault on democracy" and urged Yameen to return the country to democracy and rule of law.

The ongoing unrest has dented the Maldives' image as a popular holiday destination.Ahead of Union minister Nitin Gadkari's visit to Goa next week, the BJP today convened a meeting of its legislators and office-bearers here to discuss the way out of the mining crisis.

BJP national general secretary (organisations) B L Santhosh chaired the meeting that was attended by the party legislators and office-bearers at its office in Panaji.

Gadkari is scheduled to visit Goa on March 20 to hold talks with the state government and the stakeholders over the mining crisis.

According to party sources, a detailed discussion was held on the issue during today's meeting.

The five-decade-old mining industry in Goa came to a standstill from yesterday with the Supreme Court ordering a ban on iron ore extraction. The apex court had quashed 88 mining leases in the state, stopping the fresh extraction of ore.

"We are trying to work a way out of the current mining crisis, which has affected lakhs of people in the state. All possible efforts would be made to ensure that the people dependent on the mining industry are not left in the lurch," Assembly Speaker and BJP legislator Pramod Sawant told reporters after the meeting.

Sawant, who represents Sankhalim constituency, which is iron ore mining belt, said the state and the central governments are leaving no stone unturned to make sure that the mining activities resume soon.

State Panchayat Minister and BJP legislator Mauvin Godinho said all the stakeholders of the mining industry would be heard and only after that the governments will decide the future action.

"We will work out a roadmap," he added.

Godinho said everybody in Goa was aware of the impact of the closure of mining.

"So, every effort is being made by the governments. We want the Centre to intervene and take necessary steps so that mining resumes," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Three persons have been arrested in connection with beheading of the father of a BJP worker in Darbhanga, even as police asserted that the killing was the fall-out of a land dispute and "not in any way related to naming of a square after Prime Minister Narendra Modi".

Ramchandra Yadav (65), was hacked to death inside his residence at Bhadava village in Sadar police station area of the north Bihar district late Thursday night by unidentified persons, said to be over 20 in number, who also attacked and wounded his son Kamlesh - a BJP worker.

Kamlesh had yesterday alleged before reporters at a hospital in Darbhanga that the attack took place a couple of hours after he had a tiff with local RJD activists who tried to remove a plaque from a square carrying PM Modi's name and replace it with another one carrying the name of Lalu Prasad.

"We have arrested three persons in connection with Ramchandra Yadav's murder. All of them are relatives of the deceased and the two have been involved in a land dispute for long. The arrested persons are suspected of having hired criminals to get Yadav eliminated", Darbhanga Superintendent of Police Satyaveer Singh told PTI over phone.

He, however, added "there appears to be not an iota of truth in the claim made by the son of the deceased. The plaque has been erected on his private property and not on a public square. Moreover, it is also intact. Claims of a dispute over naming a square after the Prime Minister appear to be a publicity stunt".

"We are interrogating the arrested persons and the attackers would soon be identified and caught. Investigations, so far, have however given no hint of any political angle behind the ghastly killing", the SP said.

Meanwhile, in a tweet, senior BJP leader and Bihar Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi also said "totally false that murder in Darbhanga because of naming Modi Chowk....case of land dispute, board was put long back. Murder has nothing to do with board".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Alleged gangster Neeraj Bawana today threatened to go on a hunger strike if better facilities of food and medicines were not provided to Tihar jail inmates.

In a letter to a Delhi court, Bawana, arrested in connection with several cases, talked about the poor condition of the inmates lodged in high-risk ward of the country's largest prison.

In the application moved before Additional Sessions Judge Tarun Sherawat, the gangster said if his demands were not met by March 19, he would go on hunger strike along with other prisoners of the high-risk ward.

The application, moved through advocate M S Khan, has also been sent to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court and the Director General, Prisons.

Bawana had also in October last moved a city court, seeking directions to the Tihar Jail authorities to provide better hygienic conditions to the inmates.

The gangster has been charge sheeted in various cases including the offences under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Scientists have developed a new technique based on artificial intelligence (AI) to count craters on the moon.

"When it comes to counting craters on the moon, it's a pretty archaic method," said Mohamad Ali-Dib from the University of Toronto, Scarborough in Canada.

"Basically we need to manually look at an image, locate and count the craters and then calculate how large they are based off the size of the image. Here we've developed a technique from artificial intelligence that can automate this entire process that saves significant time and effort," Ali-Dib said.

Researchers have tried in the past to develop algorithms that could identify and count lunar craters but when they were used on new, previously unseen patches of craters they tended to perform poorly.

By comparison, the technique developed by Ali-Dib and his colleagues can generalise very well to unseen lunar patches, and even other cratered bodies like Mercury.

"It's the first time we have an algorithm that can detect craters really well for not only parts of the moon, but also areas of Mercury," said Ali-Dib.

In order to determine its accuracy, the researchers first trained the neural network on a large data set covering two thirds of the moon, and then tested their trained network on the remaining third of the moon.

It worked so well that it was able to identify twice as many craters as traditional manual counting. In fact, it was able to identify about 6,000 previously unidentified craters on the moon.

According to a research published in the journal Icarus, the technique itself relies on a convolutional neural network, a class of machine learning algorithms that has been successfully used for computer vision to power robots and even self-driving cars.

The data used by the algorithms was taken from elevation maps gathered from orbiting satellites.

"Tens of thousands of unidentified small craters are on the moon, and it's unrealistic for humans to efficiently characterise them all by eye," said Ari Silburt from the University of Toronto, Scarborough.

"There's real potential for machines to help identify these small craters and reveal undiscovered clues about the formation of our solar system," Silburt said.

Knowing the size and location of craters on bodies like the moon is important because it offers a window into the history of our solar system.

By studying impact craters of all shapes, sizes and ages, researchers can better understand the distribution of material and the physics that occurred in the early stages of our solar system, Ali-Dib said.

Since the moon lacks an atmosphere, plate tectonics and water, there is little erosion and as a result some impact craters as old as four billion years are visible.

The ages of large craters can also be determined by counting how many small craters are found inside it.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Syrias Permanent Representative at the UN Dr. Bashar al-Jaafari said on Friday that the Syrian government cares about the lives of its citizens and is continuing to take measures to protect them, while the terrorist organizations continue to use them as human shields in Ghouta.



(AhlulBayt News Agency) - Syrias Permanent Representative at the UN Dr. Bashar al-Jaafari said on Friday that the Syrian government cares about the lives of its citizens and is continuing to take measures to protect them, while the terrorist organizations continue to use them as human shields in Ghouta.



During a session of the UN Security Council on the situation in Syria, al-Jaafari said I conveyed to the UNSC members on March 12th a presentation of the measures taken by the Syrian government to alleviate the suffering of Syrian civilians on the Syrian territory as a result of the practices of the armed terrorist groups. I reiterate here that the Syrian government cares about the lives of its citizens and it continues to take all measures to ensure their security and safety.



Al-Jaafari said that the Syrian government has opened three safe corridors in Ghouta (Hamoryia, Jisreen and al-Wafideen) in order to help bring out civilians who were taken by terrorist groups as human shields, adding that more than 40,000 civilians exited Eastern Ghouta on Thursday, and they were received by the Syrian Arab Army and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) who transported them safely to well-equipped makeshift housing centers.



He added that an aid convoy presented by the UN, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC), and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and loaded with 340 tons of food and medical supplies has entered Eastern Ghouta, adding that the Syrian state will continue to facilitate the dispatch of these convoys whenever security conditions prevail.



In contrast to these measures taken by the Syrian government to protect its citizens, the armed terrorist groups, backed by well-known countries, continue to use civilians in Eastern Ghouta as human shields and prevent them from exiting the area through the corridors by targeting them with gunfire and shells.



Surprisingly, in view of this heavy burden on the Syrian government in implementing the UNSC resolution no.2401 to meet the needs of civilians exiting from the hell of terrorism in Eastern Ghouta, the UN agencies operating in Damascus, including the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), did not make any material or moral contribution to alleviate the suffering of tens of thousands of civilians who fled from terrorists. Around one hundred thousand civilians from Afrin were displaced in and a similar number of people exited Eastern Ghouta, yet we saw no one extending a helping hand to those civilians, al-Jaafari stated.



He warned that giving the opportunity for terrorist groups, including the so-called White Helmets which are affiliated to Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organization, to use the Security Council as a podium constitutes a flagrant violation of UNSC resolutions, particularly those related to combating terrorism, adding the biggest scandal is that a UN agency operating in Damascus demanded the evacuation of 76 members of White Helmets from Eastern Ghouta, while paying no attention to the lives of thousands of civilians.



Al-Jaafari called on the UNSC to invite civilians from Raqqa, al-Fouaa, Kefraya, Afrin, and Eastern Ghouta and to listen to their accounts about that horrible acts committed by US-led coalition, Turkish regime, and terrorist organizations against civilians and infrastructure in their areas in blatant violation of all norms of international law.



Syrias Representative said that if the Western states at the Council that falsely claim to care about Syrians had done one thousandth of what Russia has done in terms of respecting international law, the UN Charter, and UNSC resolutions on counter-terrorism, terrorism would not have appear in Syria and other countries in the first place.



Al-Jaafari reaffirmed the Syrian governments firm stance which is that resolving the crisis in Syria is done via a political solution based on intra-Syrian dialogue led by Syria without foreign interference and without preconditions.



He stressed that the success of the political process and the improvement of the humanitarian situation in a concrete way will depend on the existence of a climate of international and regional commitment to fighting terrorism in Syria seriously and away from politicization.







/257A Kerala legislator's son today lodged a complaint with police against Nisha Jose, wife of Kerala Congress (M) MP Jose K Mani, who alleged in her recent book that a senior politician's son misbehaved with her during a train journey.

Although Nisha did not reveal the man's identity and the date of her journey in the book, Shone George, son of P C George, MLA, alleged that through her writing she sought to paint him as the man who allegedly harassed her.

In his complaint to the DGP, Shone said a propaganda was being carried out through social media targetting him following her allegation and termed it a politically motivated move to defame him and his father among the public.

Shone said he has never travelled with Nisha or humiliated her and demanded an independent probe into the incident mentioned in the book and find out the truth.

In her recently published book 'The Other Side of This Life', Nisha, daughter-in-law of former state minister K M Mani, says while waiting at the railway station a man introduced himself to her. Later, he sat next to her during the train journey and started talking.

Nisha says in the book that she dropped polite hints that she was very sleepy but he paid no heed to her hints and "went on and on."



"I discreetly went to the TTR (ticket examiner) and expressed my plight, requesting him to help me out by getting this 'gentleman' to leave my seat."



The official said "If this 'gentleman' is anything like his father I dare not intervene," Nisha states in the book released on Thursday.

She said she sat crouched on her seat as far back as she could.

"Occasionally his hand would accidentally brush past my toes as he shifted his position. And every time he did so accidentally, I was uncomfortable and felt violated."



"I firmly asked him to leave. However, my decency made me explain that I had to get off the train in just two hours or so, considerately making no mention of his impropriety," she says in the book.

Shone demanded legal action against those who humiliated him through the social media.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The White House is not planning any "immediate personnel changes" and is focused on work, chief of staff John Kelly has assured President Donald Trump's senior staff, amid a flurry of recent departures of top officials that have jolted the Trump administration.

Kelly met with the administration staff yesterday, reassuring them that their jobs were safe and they "shouldn't be concerned".

"The Chief of Staff actually spoke to a number of staff this morning, reassuring them that there were no immediate personnel changes at this time. And that people shouldn't be concerned," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters at her daily conference yesterday.

"We should do exactly what we do every day, and that's come to work and then do the very best job that we can. And that's exactly what we're doing. That's exactly what we're focused on. And many of us have relayed that to other staffers that weren't part of that meeting," she said.

In a major story on Friday, The Washington Post reported that Trump was "now comfortable" with ousting national security adviser H R McMaster with whom he never personally gelled, but is willing to take time executing the move because he wants to ensure both that the three-star Army general is not humiliated and that there is a strong successor lined up.

"We are going to continue to focus on having record success in the second year as we had in our first year, and we fully expect to do that and we expect to do that as a staff and as a team," Sanders said in response to a question on the reports that Trump was planning a series of changes inside the White House including to replace McMaster.

The White House, however, dispelled the reports and said that there were no changes at the National Security Council.

"I spoke directly to the President last night. He asked me to pass that message along to General McMaster. I know the two of them have been in meetings today.

"Whether or not that came up, I don't know. But again, our focus is not on a lot of the stories that you guys would like us to be focused on, but we're actually focused on what the American people want us to do, and that's to come here and do our jobs, Sanders said.

General McMaster is a dedicated public servant, and he is here not focused on the news stories that many of you are writing, but on some really big issues: things like North Korea; things like Russia; things like Iran. That's what he's doing, and that's what we're going to continue to be focused on every single day that we show up for work, she said.

McMaster told a ABC news that everybody has got to leave the White House at some point. "I'm doing my job," he said.

Reports of McMaster's removal from the NSC have been gaining ground especially after Trump rebuked him last month on his statement that Moscow's interference in the 2016 election was "incontrovertible".

Trump recently used Twitter to fire Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and moved to install his close ally CIA Director Mike Pompeo in the job.

On Wednesday, he named conservative TV analyst Larry Kudlow to replace his top economic adviser Gary Cohn, who quit over trade disagreements.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)India on Saturday said its Vice Chairman and Managing Director Jawed Zia has decided to step down from the post.

"Jawed Zia, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, India Limited has informed the Board of Directors of his decision to step down from the office of Vice Chairman and Managing Director at the close of business hours on May 31, 2018," the company said in a BSE filing.

The board, the filing said, has requested the nomination and remuneration committee to identify and recommend a suitable successor for the role of Vice Chairman and Managing Director of the company.

In India, the pharmaceutical business of India Ltd is focused on bone and pain, calcium portfolio, gynaecology and neuroscience and the generic business is focused on gynaecology, anti-TB and anti-infectives.

(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 traditional fish market is shifting to digital space with online order of fish and doorstep delivery slowly becoming the norm in the city.

Besides the West Bengal government's 'Smartfish' app for online shopping of fish, six engineering students from different premier institutions have launched an online retail shop where one can get fresh fish and meat along with groceries and some other food stuff.

"We can provide you 75-80 types of fish and different varieties of chicken and mutton. The only thing you need to do is to place your order by 9 PM the day before and your order will be delivered the next day within two hours of procurement from the market," founder of 'Delybazar' Abhirup Basak said.

'Delybazar' has around 22,000 registered customers with an annual turnover close to Rs 40 million. It can be availed through website and app both.

"Even as there are some other online grocery stores, the utmost USP of 'Delybazar' is you get fresh, unprocessed and unpreserved fish and meat from here like nowhere else," Basu claimed.

The West Bengal government's 'Smartfish' app to book fish online was launched earlier this year by the State Fisheries Development Corporation.

Using the app, one can get fish delivered at doorstep in any form fillet, dressed, dry or pickle.

SFDC Director Soumyajit Das had said after the app was launched in January, that 22 varieties of fish, seven categories of dried fish and fish pickle would be sold through this app.

"This is the first time a government organisation has launched a fish app to sell varieties of fish. The fish will be delivered directly once the consumer makes the choice," he said.

In a trial run of the app, SFDC sold fish in several parts of north eastern part of Kolkata including pockets of satellite township Salt Lake.Pakistan saw a sharp increase in terror attacks on workers associated with religious parties in 2017 while there was a 50 per cent reduction in attacks on workers of political parties, a new report has said.

The figures were part of a report by the Centre For Research And Security Study.

34 workers of religious parties died in 2017 in different incidents whereas 12 had died in 2016.

In 2016, 52 workers of political parties were killed while the figure for 2017 was 28.

The report further revealed that 80 percent politicians and local leaders were martyred in target killings and suicide attacks.

Overall, 2,057 people died in suicide attacks, bomb blasts, personal clashes and other criminal offences in 2017 in Pakistan, which mostly included security forces personnel, and 779 civilians, including 28 politicians.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Pakistan has decided to stay away from the World Trade Organisation meet in New Delhi next week in protest against alleged harassment of its diplomats in India.

India last month invited Pakistan Commerce Minister Pervez Malik to participate in the informal WTO ministerial meeting scheduled to be held in New Delhi on March 19-20 and Islamabad had initially accepted the invitation.

Sources in the foreign ministry said the situation has changed after "repeated harassment of families of diplomats" and it was decided to skip the invitation.

"We cannot send our commerce minister to India in the current situation and India has been informed about it," according to a source.

He said India should also stop the alleged violations of the ceasefire on the Line of Control that led to the death of civilians and also stop "atrocities" in Kashmir.

Trade ministers of over 50 nations including the US, China and Pakistan were invited by India to discuss issues related to agriculture and services.

The decision to stay away from WTO meeting in India coincided with the recalling of Pakistan's High Commissioner to India Sohail Mehmood.

Mahmood arrived last evening for consultations after Pakistan alleged repeated harassment of its diplomats in New Delhi.

Meanwhile, Pakistan is weighing options to deal with the situation in the wake of calling back of its High Commissioner Sohail Mahmood from New Delhi due to alleged harassment of diplomats in India.

Mahmood arrived a day after the Foreign Office spokesman said that he was being summoned for consultation "due to non-stop harassment of families of the diplomats".

Official sources in the foreign ministry said Mahmood will brief top officials about the situation.

"A decision to how address the situation will be made after the consultations," sources said.

They said that options were on the table including declaring New Delhi as a non-family station and not sending back Mahmood for an indefinite period.

Officials rejected allegations that Indian diplomatic staff were also facing hurdles and harassment in Pakistan.

"Our high commissioner will not return to India anytime soon," the Express Tribune quoted a senior foreign office official as saying.

It reported that initially it was thought he would return to New Delhi after consultations with authorities.

However, the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that the high commissioner would stay back for an indefinite period or "until Indian agencies stop intimidating the staff and families of their diplomatic mission" in New Delhi.

"In other words, Pakistan recalled its envoy to New Delhi as a protest till the situation improves," it reported.

The official justified the move, insisting that under current circumstances it was not possible for the high commissioner to operate out of New Delhi.

"Children have never been harassed even when two countries have had the worst of relationship," he said.

When asked whether Pakistan was contemplating withdrawing the families of its diplomatic staff, the official said it might have to if the current slide in the relationship was not arrested.A parliamentary panel has asked the ministry to take steps to ensure that tiger conservation areas in the country meet global standards and poaching of tigers is effectively checked.

The recommendation from the panel comes after a recent survey of current management methodologies at 112 sites located in 11 tiger-range countries, including India, found that only 13 per cent of the tiger conservation areas met the global standards of the accreditation system -- the 'Conservation Assured|Tiger Standards (CA|TS)'.

The department-related parliamentary standing committee on science and technology and and forest has made the recommendation in its 313th report of Demands for Grants (2018-19) of the ministry.

The report said the surveyed area is home to approximately 70 per cent of the world's wild tigers and at least one-third of these areas are at risk of losing their tigers and most of these sites are in southeast Asia.

It also stated that basic needs such as encroachment against poaching, engaging local communities and managing conflict between people and wildlife remained weak in all the surveyed areas.

"The Committee feels that the concerns raised...are applicable to the tiger conservation areas in India too," the report said.

The panel recommends that the ministry should take all necessary measures to ensure that tiger conservation areas in the country meet global standards and poaching of tigers is effectively checked, the committee chaired by Congress leader Anand Sharma said.

The survey is the first and largest rapid assessment of site-based tiger conservation across Asia and has been driven by 11 conservation organisations and tiger-range governments that are part of the CA|TS coalition



Under the accreditation system of CA|TS, tiger conservation areas provide evidence under seven pillars and 17 elements of critical management activity to demonstrate that they meet a range of criteria for effective conservation management.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar today alleged that the previous governments in the state indulged in the business of illegally acquiring lands with ulterior motive.

After laying the foundation stone for elevated railway tracks at Patel Nagar in Rohtak, he said the priority of the BJP government in the state is to provide maximum facilities to the people by implementing projects involving vertical expansion and less use of land.

The chief minister said residents of nearby villages were against acquisition of land for this bypass railway tracks.

Keeping this in mind, no new land was acquired and the project would be developed on the land already in use, Khattar said.

"The previous governments indulged in the business of illegally acquiring lands with ulterior motives and with the intent of having their own cut," he alleged.

"Their illegal and corrupt ways of land acquisition are now coming to recoil on them and are adding to their woes," Khattar was quoted as saying in an official release.

Notably, Rohtak was considered as the bastion of former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

Exemplary works are being done in the field of water conservation and environment, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Odisha Chief Minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik has reappointed Raghunath Mohanty, a former minister who was arrested in connection with a torture for dowry case, as the party's vice-president, a BJD release sad.

Mohanty was also appointed the party observer for Dhenakanal district yesterday, the release said.

He had been arrested in 2013 after his daughter-in-law, Barsha Swony Choudhury filed complaints with the police alleging she was tortured for dowry by him. Mohanty and his wife Pritilata were arrested from Kolkata by crime branch of Odisha Police and later walked out of jail on bail.

His family got embroiled in a bitter battle in the court which ended when Mohanty's son and his daughter-in-law ended their dispute and accepted each other though a compromise deal.

Mohanty had to resign from the ministry following his arrest and he was suspended from the primary membership of the BJD. he was denied the party ticket in the 2014 assembly polls though he had represented Basta assembly seat for five consecutive terms since 1990.

His suspension from the party was revoked in June last year and Mohanty had spoken of returning to the BJD fold after meeting Patnaik.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Congress president Rahul Gandhi will kickstart the third leg of his election campaign in poll bound Karnataka from March 20.

Gandhi, who visited northern parts of the state in the earlier two rounds, will be touring the south coastal and Malnad regions during his two-day visit.

Udupi, Dakshina Kannada, Chikkamagaluru that has strong BJP presence, and Hassan, the home district of former Prime Minister and Janata Dal Secular supremo H D Deve Gowda will be part of the Congress president's visit this time.

Continuing with his visit to religious places, as done in the last two rounds, Gandhi will visit Gokarnatheswara temple, Rosario church, Ullal dargah, Sringeri Sharadamba temple and also Sringeri mutt.

He will also be meeting Jagadguru Shankaracharya, Sri Bharati Tirtha Swamiji of the Sringeri mutt.

According to the schedule released to the media, Gandhi will be addressing several corner and public meetings during his visit.

Meetings with senior state party leadership, local leaders and interaction with students of Rajiv Gandhi Sanskrit University, Sringeri, are part of his itinerary.

The Congress president is once again expected to tour thestate, in old Mysuru region on March 24 and 25.

He is scheduled to tour Mysuru, Mandya and Chamarajanagara districts, and is expected to address a mega rally at Maharaja ground in Mysuru on March 25 evening, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had said recently.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The UN chief said in a statement that he is "deeply concerned by the desperation shown by the people fleeing in a massive exodus from Eastern Ghouta and Afrin."



(AhlulBayt News Agency) - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Friday that he "profoundly regrets that resolution 2401, concerning the cessation of hostilities throughout Syria, has not been implemented."



The UN chief said in a statement that he is "deeply concerned by the desperation shown by the people fleeing in a massive exodus from Eastern Ghouta and Afrin."



"I urge all parties to the conflict to fully respect international humanitarian and human rights law and guarantee the protection of civilians," he said, noting that "any evacuation of civilians must be safe, voluntary, and in strict accordance with protection standards under international humanitarian and human rights law."



"It is also imperative that all those displaced are allowed to return voluntarily, in safety and in dignity, to their homes as soon as the situation allows it. I call on the Security Council to stand united and take concrete steps to urgently end this tragedy," he added.



The United Nations and its partners are fully mobilized to bring immediate life-saving relief to all those in need, the secretary-general said. "I call on all parties to ensure safe and unimpeded humanitarian access in all areas."



"The reality on the ground across Syria demands swift action to protect civilians, alleviate suffering, prevent further instability, address the root causes of the conflict and forge, at long last, a durable political solution in line with resolution 2254," said the UN chief.



The UN Security Council on Feb. 24 unanimously adopted resolution 2401 demanding a cease-fire of at least 30 days across Syria that would allow humanitarian access and urgent medical evacuations.







/257Former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa-backed Joint Opposition has moved a no confidence motion against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe who was recently replaced as law and order minister after clashes erupted in the central Kandy district.

Joint Opposition (JO) parliamentarian Ranjith Soysa said the motion of no confidence against the 68-year-old Wickremesinghe will be handed over to Speaker of parliament next week when the House resumes.

Rajapaksa told reporters yesterday that they were close to topple the government.

"He (Wickremesinghe) will have to go soon," Rajapaksa said.

The JO said the motion against Wickremesinghe will contain charges of economic mismanagement by him during the last 3 years.

It said that even some members of Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP) would sign the motion.

Among the top most charges against Wickremesinghe would be the alleged scandal in the Central Bank bond issues in 2015 and 2016, Sonysa said.

Wickremesinghe is accused of appointing Singapore national Arjuna Mahendran as the bank's governor whose son in law Arjun Aloysius was running a primary dealer firm.

He is also charged of failing to tackle the anti-Muslim riots in the central district of Kandy when he was the Law and Order Minister.

Since the February 10 landslide victory by Rajapaksa's new party Sri Lanka People's Party (SLPP), Wickremesinghe has faced calls for resignation.

The UNP, however, doubted Rajapaksa's ability to topple Wickremesinghe.

Both Rajapaksa loyalists and President Maithripala Sirisena's Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) are short of numbers to win the motion unless large scale defections from the UNP, which seems very unlikely.

The SLFP ministers who are in the Wickremesinghe's unity government cabinet said they will wait and watch.

They had called for Wickremesinghe's removal after the local election defeat to Rajapaksa but failed in their attempt to topple Wickremesinghe for the lack of numbers.

Sirisena replaced Wickremesinghe as the law and order minister on March 8 after fresh violence had erupted between majority Sinhala Buddhists and minority Muslims in the Kandy district, despite imposition of nationwide emergency.

Sinhalese Buddhists make up about 75 per cent of the population in Kandy.

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.)A Myanmar official in Rakhine state said today that Rohingya refugees who return will not be held in newly-built camps "forever," as concerns mount over a vexed repatriation process and efforts to reshape communities in the crisis-hit state.

Ye Htut, the administrator of Maungdaw district, was speaking to reporters on a government-chaperoned trip to northern Rakhine, the site of a military crackdown last August that has emptied the region of some 700,000 Rohingya Muslims.

Myanmar has been trumpeting its readiness to take back refugees, who are massed across the border in Bangladesh, and built reception centres and transit camps for returnees.

But not a single Rohingya has crossed the border, with the United Nations sounding the alarm that Myanmar must do far more to ensure the safety of a minority that was targeted in an army-led campaign the UN branded "ethnic cleansing".

Rights groups have also raised concerns about how Buddhist-majority Myanmar is reconstructing Rakhine in the Rohingyas' absence, with authorities bulldozing over their burned villages and building new settlements and security posts.

An AFP reporter witnessed a flurry of construction in the region on Saturday, with work crews erecting prefabricated houses along a road leading to Maungdaw town.

Speaking to reporters from his office, Ye Htut insisted that any Rohingya returnees would eventually be resettled close to their original villages after staying in transit camps.

"I can't ask them to live (at the camps) forever...We don't have any vision or intention to keep them long," he said.

The government "will return them back to their native villages or close by," he added.

But a visit to one of the resettlement sites intended for Rohingya, whom a government official referred to only as Muslims, showed slow progress.

Only three squat houses with concrete and brick foundations had been built in a field covered in churned up dirt and tread marks from heavy machinery.

The site, which lies two hours north of Maungdaw town by car, was chosen for its proximity to the original village, which lay in charred ruins within view.

Myint Khaing, Maungdaw township administrator, said about 100 families were supposed to live in the new site and that it would be completed in two months.

Asked why its construction was not as far along as a settlement 30 minutes away intended for an internally displaced ethnic minority called the Mro, he suggested priority was given to communities that had not fled to Bangladesh.

"They didn't run away," he said.

Myanmar has vehemently denied accusations that is trying to erase the Rohingya's ties to Rakhine, insisting the army crackdown was a targeted assault on Muslim militants.

But the UN and rights groups have pointed to the country's long history of marginalising and persecuting the Muslim minority, who are denied citizenship and loathed by the Buddhist majority.

More than 100,000 are still languishing in a squalid refugee camp in southern Rakhine state after being displaced by communal violence in 2012.

Yesterday the head of the UN's refugee agency, Filippo Grandi, said the conditions for the Rohingyas' safe return were not yet in place and that discussions with Myanmar on repatriation "have been pretty basic, not very frequent (and) not very advanced".

Myanmar and Bangladesh signed a deal that was supposed to see repatriation begin in January.

But Myanmar has so far agreed to accept only 374 of 8,000 refugees whose names have been put forward by Dhaka for the initial batch of returnees.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Russia said today it would expel 23 British diplomats and close a British consulate following London's "provocative" measures over the poisoning of a double agent that has triggered a fierce diplomatic row.

Moscow also said it would halt the activities of the British Council in Russia in a tough series of retaliatory measures announced after it summoned British ambassador Laurie Bristow.

Prime Minister Theresa May responded defiantly to the tit-for-tat move, which followed Britain's expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats and the suspension of high-level contacts earlier this week.

Amid escalating tensions with Moscow over the nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the English city of Salisbury on March 4 , May warned she would "never tolerate a threat to the life of British citizens and others on British soil from the Russian government," to strong applause from party members.

"Russian aggression is the very antithesis of the liberal and democratic values that define the United Kingdom," she said.

She also repeated accusations made by Britain to the United Nations that the poisoning was a "flagrant breach of international law and the Chemical Weapons Convention."



The Russian response was announced on the eve of a presidential election which is expected to hand Vladimir Putin a fourth term in the Kremlin, but which comes as the country appears increasingly isolated.

The crisis erupted after the Skripals were exposed to a Soviet-designed military grade nerve agent, leaving them in critical condition.

London and its allies have blamed Moscow for the attack and on Friday, Britain directly implicated Putin himself, unleashing the Kremlin's fury.

"Twenty three diplomatic staff at the British embassy in Moscow are declared persona non grata and to be expelled within a week," a foreign ministry statement said.

It said this was a response to Britain's "provocative actions" and "baseless accusations over the Salisbury incident.

Russia also said it was closing Britain's consulate in the city of Saint Petersburg, citing a "disparity" in the number of diplomatic missions held by the two countries.

And it said it had halted the activities of the British Council, Britain's international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities.

The organisation said it was "profoundly disappointed" at the move.

The Russian ministry also warned Britain that it "retains the right to take other answering measures" in response to any "further unfriendly actions."



"The measures are more harsh, but the British deserved them. And I don't rule out that something else could follow," first deputy head of the Russian Senate's foreign affairs committee Vladimir Dzhabarov told Interfax agency.

In a similar move, Russia closed the British Council's regional offices in 2008 after relations nosedived over the poisoning of former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko.

The Russian dissident died of Polonium radiation poisoning in London in 2006 in an attack that Britain also blamed on Russia.

Russia insists it had no motive to target Skripal with what Britain says was a highly-potent nerve agent called Novichok, in the first such attack in Europe since World War II.

On Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said statements by British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson tying Putin to the attack were "shocking and unforgivable".

Western leaders have strongly backed Britain's response.

EU leaders are to discuss the incident at a Brussels summit next week and it is also on the agenda for talks on Monday between Johnson, his EU counterparts and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

Following the Salisbury incident, the British government has also pledged to re-examine 14 deaths on UK soil following a report that they could have been carried out by Moscow or the Russian mafia.

On Friday, police said they were treating the March 12 death of exiled businessman Nikolai Glushkov as murder after a post-mortem found he died from "compression to the neck".

Glushkov was an associate of the late Kremlin opponent Boris Berezovsky, a one-time Putin supporter who then turned against him.

Berezovsky was found hanged in a bathroom at his home outside London in 2013.

Main Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, meanwhile, on Saturday demanded justice for assassinated Putin critic Boris Nemtsov.

He said he wanted "those who organised his murder to be held responsible", speaking in front of the building where he lived.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Prominent business leaders from the SAARC countries gathered here and discussed the role private sector can play in early and effective regional economic integration.

Addressing the inaugural session of the 6th SAARC Business Leaders' Conclave here yesterday, SAARC Secretary General Amjad Hussain Sial lauded the role being played by the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry in promoting economic relations among the member states.

In conclave, inaugurated by Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, Sial highlighted the importance of regional economic integration.

He said the concept of SAARC Energy Ring is high on the agenda of SAARC.

In order to develop a SAARC market for electricity, the SAARC Framework Agreement for Energy Cooperation has been signed and its ratification process is underway, said the Secretary General.

"The meeting brings together prominent business leaders to discuss the role the private sector can play for early and effective regional economic integration," he said.

SAARC comprises of eight member states: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Capital watchdog has imposed a penalty of Rs 1 million on media firm NDTV and of Rs 300,000 each on four individuals, including promoters Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy, for certain disclosure lapses.

The order follows a probe by (Securities and Exchange Board of India) into alleged delay in disclosure about Rs 450 crore income tax demand -- subsequently challenged by NDTV, which has been in cross hairs of various agencies -- and about sale of some shares by a top company executive over four years ago.

In its 23-page order dated March 16, imposed penalty of Rs 1 million on NDTV and Rs 3,00,000 each on Prannoy Roy, Radhika Roy, Vikramaditya Chandra (group CEO at that time) and Anoop Singh Juneja (compliance officer).

Sebi said it had also issued notices to the company's erstwhile executive vice chairman K V L Narayan Rao, but proceedings against him abated due to his death late last year.

The regulator said the persons in charge of a company or the principal officer are liable for the compliance of clause 36 of the listing agreement, which deals with disclosure by a listed company of any share price sensitive information.

Sebi noted that Prannoy and Radhika Roy were the Executive Co-Chairpersons and Chandra was the Group CEO and Executive Director constituting the top management of the company, while Juneha was the Company Secretary and Compliance Officer.

"These people constitute the management of the company who are responsible for the day-to-day and overall operations of the company. Further, it is an admitted fact that the decision not to disclose the tax demand was a conscious decision taken by the management of NDTV," the Sebi order said, while finding the four persons to have violated the listing agreement and therefore liable to a penalty.

Sebi said it has taken note of NDTV having been already penalised of Rs 20 million through a different proceeding with respect to non-disclosure of the said income tax demand of Rs 4.50 billion.

"For the purpose of imposing penalty, I have taken cognisance of the fact that for the same violation, Noticee no-1 (NDTV) was already penalised and therefore I am inclined to take a lenient view and impose a penalty of Rs 3 lakh on each Noticee nos 3 to 5 (Prannoy Roy, Radhika Roy and Chandra) for violation of Clause 36 of the Listing Agreement...," the adjudicating officer said in the order.

Besides, Juneja was fined Rs 3 lakh for violations of Clause 36 of the Listing Agreement and of another clause relating to Code of Corporate Disclosure Practices under Sebi's insider trading regulations.

Sebi said it conducted investigation based on a complaint received from Quantum Securities, a shareholder of NDTV, that NDTV did not disclose the order of Dispute Resolution Panel-II of the Income Tax Department, within 2 days of receipt of information, to the stock exchanges.

There was also allegation that Vice Chairperson of NDTV had engaged in insider trading by selling his shares based on the information about DRP-II order and did not make the required disclosures to the stock exchanges regarding the sale of his shares as required under Sebi (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, the order said about the case.

The first adjudicating officer for the case was appointed in August 2015, while show-cause notices were also issued in the same month.

The allegations included about Rao having made delayed disclosure to the stock exchanges about share sale transactions worth Rs 5 lakh, and NDTV having made delayed disclosure regarding the tax demand of Rs 450 crore raised against the company by the Income Tax Department.

NDTV was also accused of making delayed disclosures about Rao's disclosures, while it was alleged that Roys, Chandra and Juneja were also liable for these infractions being the executives in-charge of the firm.

In their submissions, Rao and others denied any lapses on their part and had said they had made all the required disclosures in a timely manner and it had found the tax demand "devoid of any merit in law".Attorney General Jeff Sessions has said that he had fired former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, a regular target of President Donald Trump's anger and criticism, just two days before his scheduled retirement date.

The career law enforcement official immediately decried the move and suggested it was part of the Trump administration's "war on the FBI."



The dismissal was made on the recommendation of FBI disciplinary officials and comes ahead of an inspector general report expected to conclude that McCabe had authorised the release of information to the media and had not been forthcoming with the watchdog office as it examined the bureau's handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation.

"The FBI expects every employee to adhere to the highest standards of honesty, integrity, and accountability," Sessions said in a last night statement.

In an extraordinary rebuttal released immediately after the attorney general's announcement, McCabe said his credibility had been attacked as "part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally, but to taint the FBI, law enforcement, and intelligence professionals more generally."



"It is part of this administration's ongoing war on the FBI and the efforts of the special counsel investigation, which continue to this day," he added, referring to Robert Mueller's ongoing probe into potential coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign.

"Their persistence in this campaign only highlights the importance of the special counsel's work."



Though McCabe had spent more than 20 years as a career FBI official, and had played key roles in some of the bureau's most recent significant investigations, Trump repeatedly condemned him over the last year as emblematic of an FBI leadership he contends is biased against his administration.

The White House had said the firing decision was up to the Justice Department but seemed to signal this week that it would welcome the move.

The termination is symbolic to an extent since McCabe had been on leave from the FBI since January, when he abruptly left the deputy director position.

But it comes just ahead of his planned retirement, on Sunday, and likely jeopardizes his ability to collect his full pension benefits upon his departure.

It could also add to the tumult that has enveloped the law enforcement agency in the last year amid the firing of former director James Comey in May and an ongoing probe of the Trump campaign that the White House has dismissed as a hoax.

The firing arises from a wide-ranging inspector general review, initiated last year, into how the FBI handled the Clinton email investigation. That review focused not only on specific decisions made by FBI leadership during the probe, but also on leaks to the media.

McCabe came under particular scrutiny over an October 2016 report that revealed differing approaches within the FBI and Justice Department over how aggressively the Clinton Foundation should be investigated.

The watchdog office had concluded that McCabe had authorized FBI officials to speak to a Wall Street Journal reporter for that story and that he had not been forthcoming with investigators about it, which McCabe strenuously denied.

In his statement, McCabe said he had the authority to share information with journalists through his public affairs office, a practice he said was common and continued under current Director Christopher Wray.

He said he had honestly answered questions about whom he had spoken to and when, and that when he thought his answers were misunderstood, contacted investigators again to correct them.

The media outreach followed reports that McCabe's wife, in a run for political office, had received campaign contributions from a close Clinton ally. And McCabe suggested in his statement that he was trying to "set the record straight" about the FBI's work at a time when he faced accusations of being a political partisan.

Despite his defense, officials at the FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility had recommended the firing, leaving Justice Department leaders in a difficult situation.

Sessions, whose job status has for months appeared shaky under blistering criticism from Trump, risked inflaming the White House if McCabe were to not be fired. But a decision to dismiss McCabe two days before his firing nonetheless carries the risk of angering his rank-and-file supporters at the FBI.

Though Sessions said McCabe had shown a lack of candor, McCabe suggested a separate reason for his dismissal, saying, "I am being singled out and treated this way because of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of James Comey."



He said the inspector general's investigation was accelerated after he told congressional investigators that he could corroborate the account of Comey, who was fired as FBI director last May.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The JNU Students Union (JNUSU) today approached the Delhi Commission for Women seeking its intervention in the case of alleged sexual harassment of a group of women students by a professor of the university's School of Life Sciences (SLS).

According to the police, an FIR was registered against the professor at the Vasant Kunj police station in southwest Delhi.

He had yesterday resigned from two administrative posts in JNU -- the director of the Human Resources Development Centre (HRDC) and the director of the Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) -- on "moral grounds", but claimed that the allegation against him was a "motivated move" by students with vested interests.

JNUSU President Geeta Kumari today said, "It is more than 36 hours since the FIR was filed, but still no action has been taken against him. He continues to enjoy his privileges in the JNU campus. The JNU administration has not even suspended him from his academic duties."



"As of now, nine students have come forward to report the harassment and many former students have been calling us to share their experiences of sexual harassment while working under him," Kumari claimed.

Hitting out at the university administration, the students body alleged, "By promising to take up investigation through Internal Complaints Committee (ICC), the JNU administration has clearly shown its intention to provide safe passage to the professor."



The students also accused the Delhi Police of delaying action in the case.

"The Delhi Police has done only token follow up of the FIR that was filed by the complainants. The delay in recording statements is a clear sign of nexus between the police and administration," Kumari alleged.

Meanwhile, the All India Democratic Women's Association, wrote to the vice chancellor of the university demanding immediate suspension of the professor and, a free and fair inquiry.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi today launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying his government was power-drunk and the pre-poll promises of combating corruption and ensuring inclusive development were mere "dramebaazi".

In her address at the 84th Congress Plenary Session, she accused the Modi government of using all tricks in the trade to wipe out the Congress and asserted that the party would never bow down.

She exhorted Congress workers to support new party chief Rahul Gandhi and be ready for any kind of sacrifice to strengthen the organisation.

Sonia Gandhi also asked the workers to free the country of "discrimination, vendetta and arrogance".

We are exposing Prime Minister Modi and his colleagues' false claims, frauds and corruption with proof.

"People have now understood that the 2014 promises of 'sab ka saath, sab ka vikas' and 'na khaoonga, na khaane doonga' and his Mann ki Baat' on radio are only 'dramebaazi' (theatrics) and a trick to grab votes and electoral power," she said, referring to Modi's promises of inclusive development and corruption-free governance.

She claimed that the Congress was fighting a "tyrannical" government and the people have begun to realise that the promises made by the BJP in 2014 were hollow



In the last four years, this arrogant and power-drunk government has left no stone unturned to destroy the Congress. They have used every trick in the trade, but Congress has neither succumbed before this arrogance of power nor will it succumb in future, she said.

The UPA chairperson said the party is waging a struggle against the Modi government's "dictatorial" ways, "disregard" for the Constitution, "denigration" of Parliament and their "divisive ideology", besides "political vendatta and conspiracies like intimidating the media".

She recalled how the Congress had changed its plan of going alone as per the 'Panchmarhi Declaration' in 1998 to aligning with like-minded parties at the Shimla Declaration in 2003 and then successfully formed governments in various states and at the Centre in 2004 and 2009.

Sonia Gandhi said the governments under Manmohan Singh formulated many schemes for the welfare of the people and the economy grew fastest during that time.

"Under the leadership of former PM Manmohan Singh, the economy of this country flourished. Our government formed policies which lifted millions of people from poverty. And today, the Modi government is weakening these policies," she said.

The Congress leader claimed that the party was "exposing the frauds of the Modi government".

The party, she said, was making efforts to win back the trust of the people and would work with like-minded parties to oust the BJP.

Reflecting on the party's recent impressive show in Assembly polls in Gujarat, and bypolls in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, she said that those who want to throw the very identity of the Congress out of the political arena of the country do not know how much love and affection the people have towards it.

"There is only one priority today and that is how to make Congress party stronger. Congress is not just a political party, but an ideology," she said, adding that there is a need to bring the Congress back on centre-stage of the political and public discourse.

She called upon party workers to put aside egos and aspirations and work for strengthening the Congress.

"The time has come when each of us should see what we can do for the party," she said.

Sonia Gandhi said the aim would be to strengthen the party with which all have an age-old attachment.

The party's win will be nation's win and the party's victory will be our victory, she said, adding that the most important thing was to see how the Congress sets the new agenda of the country under the new leadership.

She also recalled the Chikmanglur bypoll victory of Indira Gandhi 40 years ago and asked party workers to emerge victorious like the former prime minister.

Under the leadership of new party chief, the Congress should once again become the party that frames the basic agenda and should represent the diversity in society and should come up to the expectations and aspirations of the people, she said.

She also urged the party workers to extend all support her son Rahul Gandhi who took over the reigns of the Congress in "such difficult times".

Sonia Gandhi's fiery speech in Hindi drew loud applause from the party workers.

The Congress is seeking to ally with like-minded parties to stop the BJP from coming back to power in 2019 general elections.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A sorcerer has been arrested for allegedly raping a married woman here on the pretext of helping her get rid of evil power, police said today.

"A 25-year-old mentally unstable woman approached sorcerer Dayaram yesterday. The accused reportedly raped her. The woman later narrated the incident to her husband," Shiv Prasad, police station in-charge of Pailani, said.

The angry villagers trashed the sorcerer and handed him over to the police, he said.

The victim has been sent for medical examination, the officer added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Sweden's foreign minister concluded three days of talks today with her North Korean counterpart, saying they discussed the "opportunities and challenges for continued diplomatic efforts to reach a peaceful solution" to the Koreas' security dispute.

Minister Margot Wallstrom stopped short of saying whether North Korean Ri Yong Ho's trip to Sweden had led to any further developments concerning a possible meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

"The main focus for the talks was the security situation on the Korean Peninsula," Wallstrom said. The pair met Saturday at the Foreign Ministry in Stockholm as scores of reporters waited outside in sub-zero temperatures.

"In addition, the humanitarian situation in North Korea was discussed, sanctions and regional cooperation and security issues for, for example, South Korea, Japan, Russia, China and the United States," she added, without elaborating.

Ri, who has not made any public comments in Sweden, also briefly met with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven on Friday.

Sweden has had diplomatic relations with North Korea since 1973 and is one of few Western countries with an embassy in Pyongyang. It provides consular services for the United States in North Korea.

The Scandinavian country has been rumored as a possible site for the US-North Korea summit, though a truce village on the South Korean side of the Demilitarized Zone between the Koreas is seen as more likely.

Trump has agreed to meet Kim by May. So far, North Korea has yet to comment publicly on what it hopes to gain from the talks.

Senior South Korean officials who traveled to the North Korean capital of Pyongyang this month and met with Kim say he is willing to discuss the North's nuclear weapons program.

That could suggest a potential breakthrough, or a fallback to the North's longstanding position that it's willing to get rid of its nuclear weapons if the US guarantees its safety.

In the past, that has meant Washington would have to withdraw all of its troops from South Korea, a condition no US president has been willing to consider.

On Friday, Ri also visited the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute for an off-the-record meeting on the situation in the Korean Peninsula and northeast Asia.

The independent agency listed North Korea as having 10 to 20 warheads including "operational warheads held in storage and retired warheads awaiting dismantlement." Finland's STT agency said North Korean representatives will be conducting negotiations tomorrow at the Japanese Embassy in Helsinki, adding no American officials would be involved in the low-level meeting.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Top-level congressional talks on a USD 1.3 trillion catchall spending bill are reaching a critical stage as negotiators confront immigration, abortion-related issues and a battle over a massive rail project that pits President Donald Trump against his most powerful Democratic adversary.

The bipartisan measure is loaded with political and policy victories for both sides. Republicans and Trump are winning a long-sought budget increase for the Pentagon while Democrats obtain funding for infrastructure, the opioid crisis and a wide swath of domestic programs.

The bill would implement last month's big budget agreement, providing 10 percent increases for both the Pentagon and domestic agencies when compared with current levels.

Coupled with last year's tax cut measure, it heralds the return of trillion-dollar budget deficits as soon as the budget year starting in October.

While most of the funding issues in the enormous measure have been sorted out, fights involving a number of policy "riders", so named because they catch a ride on a difficult-to-stop spending bill, continued into the weekend.

Among them are GOP-led efforts to add a plan to revive federal subsidies to help the poor cover out-of-pocket costs under President Barack Obama's health law and to fix a glitch in the recent tax bill that subsidizes grain sales to cooperatives at the expense of for-profit grain companies.

Trump has privately threatened to veto the whole package if a USD 900 million payment is made on the Hudson River Gateway Project, a priority of top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer of New York.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A special court here today awarded life imprisonment to Jagtar Singh Tara in connection with assassination of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh.

The court of Additional District and Session Judge J S Sidhu pronounced the sentence in the high security Burail jail here where Tara is currently lodged, Tara's counsel Simranjit Singh said.

A fine of Rs 35,000 was also imposed on Tara by the court, he said.

The lawyer said his client would not challenge the order in the higher court.

He said the CBI counsel had pressed for capital punishment for Tara.

Tara (43) had been booked under various sections of IPC, including section 302 (murder), section 307 (attempt to murder) and section 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and other relevant sections of the Explosive Act.

He had confessed to his involvement in the assassination of Beant Singh in 1995, in a confession letter which he had submitted to the court in January this year.

On August 31, 1995, then chief minister Beant Singh was killed in an explosion outside the Civil Secretariat in Chandigarh. Sixteen others also lost their lives in the incident. Punjab police employee Dilawar Singh had acted as a human bomb in the incident.

Tara was arrested in September, 1995 in Delhi. However, he and two other accused escaped from Burail jail during the trial of the case in 2004.

He was later arrested from Thailand in 2015.

Meanwhile, tight security arrangements were made by Chandigarh police outside Burail jail in the wake of Tara's sentencing. Several supporters of Tara, including SAD (Amritsar) chief Simranjit Singh Mann, were present outside the jail.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, who is rallying support for establishment of a non-BJP and non-Congress alternative, will meet his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee at Kolkata on March 19.

Rao, popularly known as KCR, had recently said a non-Congress and non-BJP front should be formed in the country, as he called for a qualitative change in and had also announced that he was ready to take on the mantle of leading a political front.

"In the backdrop of Telangana Chief Minister calling for a qualitative change in politics, he will meet and hold discussions with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on March 19," sources in the Telangana Chief Minister's office (CMO) told PTI tonight.

The chief minister would meet Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata at around 4 pm, they said.

On March 4, Mamata Banerjee spoke to Rao over phone and conveyed her complete support on his statement that he was keen to participate in national to bring about "qualitative changes" in governance.

"Ham aap se ek mat hain. Aap ke saath rahenge" (I am in agreement with you.I will work with you)," Banerjee had told Rao.

Alleging that successive governments ruled by both the Congress and BJP at the Centre have miserably failed to ensure development of the country, Rao had earlier said he will talk with all like-minded parties and leaders for creating an agenda for the country's growth.

The CMO had also earlier said KCR is chalking out a programme to hold series of meetings at the all India level with various organisations, associations and individuals shortly.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Following are the top foreign stories at 1830 hours:



FGN10 PAK-WTO-DIPLOMATS



Islamabad: Pakistan decides to stay away from the World Trade Organisation meet in New Delhi next week in protest against alleged harassment of its diplomats in India. (By Sajjad Hussain)FGN7 CHINA-2NDLD XIBeijing: Xi Jinping re-elected as president for a second five-year tenure by China's rubber-stamp parliament, days after it scrapped the two-term rule for the presidency and allowed him to have a life-long tenure. (By K J M Varma)FGN23 US-INDIA-LD TRADEWashington: The US shares very strong ties with India and is in favour of free, fair and reciprocal trade with it, a senior White House official says even as he asserted that the bilateral trade remained one aspect of the relationship where "the most friction" is experienced. (By Lalit K Jha)FGN12 US-MCCABE-2NDLD FIREDWashington: The Trump administration fires the number two official at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) accusing him of making an unauthorised disclosure to the media. (By Lalit K Jha)FGN24 PAK-ATTACK-ARRESTLahore: Police in Pakistan arrest four suspected militants who allegedly facilitated a suicide attack on a police check-post near the residence of ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif in Lahore. (By M Zulqernain)FGN20 RUSSIA-UK-2NDLD ENVOYMoscow: Russia expels 23 British diplomats and threatened further measures in retaliation in a growing diplomatic dispute over a nerve agent attack on a former spy in Britain. (AP)FGN21 US-INDIA-ROHINGYAWashington: The Trump administration is looking for ways to work with India in terms of providing for the needs of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and also to put pressure on Myanmar to create conditions for their safe and voluntary return, a senior US official says. (By Lalit K Jha)FGN19 AFGHAN-2NDLD ATTACKKabul: A car bomb explosion claimed by the Taliban in Kabul today killed at least two civilians, as the militants maintain pressure on the capital amid growing calls for peace talks.

FGN13 LANKA-PM-RAJAPAKSA



Colombo: Former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa-backed Joint Opposition moves a no confidence motion against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe who was recently replaced as law and order minister after clashes erupted in the central Kandy district.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Various trade bodies today sought a defence procurement centre to play a key role in the proposed defence manufacturing corridor here.

In a press release here, the trade bodies including the Confederation of Indian Industry(CII)-Tiruchirappalli, Tiny and Small-Scale Industries Association, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd and Small and Medium Industries Association urged the Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to allot land for a centre of excellence too to share technologies related to defence equipment.

The centre could encourage the industries to use expertise in engineering in fabrication work, etc.

CII-Tiruchirappalli chairman A S Ananthakrishnan said he had studied the strength of MSMEs in the district to contribute to indigenisation in the defence sector.

Meanwhile, District Collector K Rajamani met with the Sitharaman and requested her to allot land owned by the Defence Ministry for the completion of the road-over-bridge near the Tiruchirappalli railway junction.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi soon to seek a special package to tide over financial crisis in the state, a minister said today.

Deb will also meet Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley with the same proposal, Transport Minister Pranajit Singha Roy told reporters here.

"The state's financial condition was reviewed in a meeting of the council of ministers yesterday. The state is reeling under deep financial crisis. The budget deficit in the current financial year is Rs 1,588.19 crore," he said.

Finance department officials have been asked to put forward a comprehensive report on the state's fiscal condition in the next three days and after getting the report, the chief minister will leave for Delhi, he said.

The state's revenue generation is poor while fiscal deficit is on the rise. The state's own revenue is currently able to manage only 12.94 per cent of its expenditure, he said.

To a question, Singha Roy said agriculture, tourism and many other sectors needed immediate financial attention.

He said the cabinet meeting also laid importance on austerity measures and the state's own revenue generation. The government would implement all its poll pledges including 7th Pay Commission benefits, higher wages for labourers, social welfare benefits for distressed people and free smart phones to the youth.

The chief minister will visit Delhi with his proposal before the Assembly session begins on March 23.

Deb took oath as the first BJP chief minister of Tripura on March 9, ending the 25-year rule of the Left Front.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Turkish air strike killed 11 civilians trying to flee Afrin in northern Syria today, a monitor said, as Turkey-led forces pressed an assault on the outskirts of the Kurdish-majority city.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said more than 280 civilians have been killed since the Turkey-led offensive against a Kurdish militia in the Afrin region began on January 20.

Ankara has repeatedly said it takes the "utmost care" to avoid civilian casualties.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Two persons have been arrested for allegedly running an inter-state drug racket and narcotics including 1 kg heroin worth Rs 4 crore in international market was seized from their possession in northwest Delhi's Rohini, police said today.

The accused were identified as Manohar Singh (31) and Fakruddin Rangrej (61), both residents of district Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh, police said, adding two kg alprazolam, worth about Rs 1.6 crore, was also seized from them.

Police received a tip-off on March 15 about the accused arriving in the city to supply a big consignment of heroin and alprazolam to some Delhi and UP based drug dealers, a senior police officer said.

Police laid a trap and arrested them.

Singh, during his interrogation revealed that he has studied up to BCom IInd year and started working as helper in a private hospital near his village. Thereafter, he himself started working as a quack doctor.

About five years back, he came in contact with some drug suppliers and to earn quick money got involved in the trade.

Rangrej revealed that he was going through a financial crunch in his cloth business and thus got involved in the drug trade for easy money, police said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Bollywood filmmakers have lately been exploring social taboos like menstruation, vasectomy, erectile dysfunction, but Yami Gautam said this trend of narrating stories in a quirky way started with her debut film "Vicky Donor" and felt happy that it was gaining momentum.

After bringing up on screen the issue of improving sanitation and eradication of open defecation in "Toilet: Ek Prem Katha", director Shree Narayan Singh's next film "Batti Gul Meter Chalu" revolves around a common man's fight against power distribution companies in India.

Shahid Kapoor will portray the role of a lawyer, who raises his voice against these organisations.

"The trend of realistic issue based films in a quirky, entertaining style started with 'Vicky Donor' and it is absolutely fantastic to see more movies coming up in this space."



"It shows how progressive our society has become as such films are being watched a lot by the audience. The credit for such films should go to the makers for not making them preachy," Yami told PTI.

In order to create awareness about any burning topic affecting society, Yami said it was essential to make a film with a social issue as the backdrop in an entertaining way so as to reach out to a wider audience.

"As an actor, it is a great opportunity for us to create awareness through films. Cinema is a powerful tool and there is more connectivity with people through them," she said.

"We often talk about social issues in general but films help us pass on the message or remind people about certain things which are not good for society and must be worked upon," she added.

Yami, who also plays the role of a lawyer in the film, said she does not have many cinematic references to fall back on except Rani Mukherji's role in "Veer Zaara".

"Sometimes you do need reference points as it helps you in some way or the other. I did not have any cinematic references for this part. I have something new for the audience and it is going to be refreshing. So the next time someone plays a lawyer, they have references to draw," she added.

The 29-year-old actor was pursuing a degree in law honours before she left it for acting.

"There is some personal connection to this role, I did reminisce about the time gone by. Even if I am able to inspire one girl to pursue legal studies, it will be great. Women empowerment can happen through education and awareness, and what better than legal studies," she said.

For the role, Yami will undergo some prep work, including workshops, but at the same time, she said she will make sure she does not over rehearse.

The first schedule of the film has already wrapped up and Yami will join the cast by March end.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)CBFC chief Prasoon Joshi today said he was "disappointed" by the fake of the censor board clearing Sanjay Leela Bhansali's controversial film "Padmaavat" with 400 cuts.

Joshi, who replaced Pahlaj Nihalani as the chief of Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) last year, agreed that there are always chances of "politicisation", but as a constitutional body, the censor board needs to consider the concerns of any section of the society.

"I feel there could be politicisation of things. I do not deny as I could see that. We need to decipher. We need to see if there is a concern for any community. We have been hearing metaphors like 'Rajput pride'. A subconscious of the society is respected and out of the subconscious, if certain concerns rise we need to look at them.

"In case of 'Padmaavat', we looked at the film and understood it as humanly possible. And as I always say, an artiste do not create anything to hurt anyone. Artistes are very sensitive. There aim is to go to people and understand them. And we took a call considering that," he said.

Prasoon was speaking at a session at the News18 Rising India Summit, where he was joined by Information and Broadcasting minister Smriti Irani.

"Padmaavat", featuring Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh, was cleared by CBFC in January this year. The board gave a U/A certificate to the film, without any cuts but suggested five modifications.

The board was criticised for removing "i" from the original title "Padmavati" and changing it to "Padmaavat", but Prasoon said the decision was taken in agreement with the makers of the film, which is based on Malik Muhammad Jayasi's poem of the same name.

"People said 'i' was removed. There was a thought behind it. Everybody agreed that it was a fictional film. It was based on Jayasi's 'Padmaavat'. So to stay true to the poem it is based on, the name was changed. The filmmaker has come out and said he has released the film he thought of. The debate should end there," he said.

Initially there were reports that the CBFC has passed the film with 300 cuts, which was denied both by the censor board as well as the makers of the movie. The poet-lyricist said the way media presented the board in the negative light disturbed him.

"I was very disappointed with the fake Some media people said 400 cuts. These things insult us, our work and sensitivity. Media also should come out and explain why they put that in the headline. Some introspection needs to be done by the media as well," he said.

Irani agreed with Joshi, saying the fake was the "biggest injustice with the creative person, who left his normal creative life and decided to serve the Constitution".

"CBFC protected the constitution and it never made headlines.... Fake news of 400 cuts was all over the place. But Bhansali's message, that he released the film the way he wanted to, must have been heard by many today for the first time when Prasoon has said it.

"When we don't celebrate the protection of constitution then we in a way are making those people more popular, who think they can be in limelight by creating ruckus," she added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The West Bengal government would draw up detailed plans to enhance the brand value of Darjeeling tea for higher realisation of exports, a top official said today.

"We are planning for enhancement of the brand value of Darjeeling tea along the lines of champagne, which has acquired iconic proportions across the globe," MD of West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation Vandana Yadav told reporters on the sidelines of a CII event here.

WBIDC would work out the details and make the necessary investment towards this end.

Yadav said that the matter came up for discussion at the business summit held in Darjeeling recently.

She said that at present, the Darjeeling tea, which had already got the GI tag and a special logo, was being sent to the export markets in bulk form.

"We want to package it into a very premium format to get highly discerning realisation in the export markets of UK, US, Europe and Japan," she said.

The state government would also facilitate B2B meetings between exporters and buyers, Yadav added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A 28-year-old woman allegedly committed suicide in Madhya Pradesh's Raisen district last night, with her family claiming that she was married to a Madhya Pradesh minister's son who was planning to marry a second time.

While the police offered no comment on whether the woman, Preeti Raghuvanshi, was indeed married to state PWD minister Rampal Singh's son Girjesh Pratap Singh, the opposition Congress demanded that Girjesh be booked for abetment of suicide.

The minister could not be contacted for his comment despite several attempts.

Raisen district Superintendent of Police Jagat Singh Rajput said, "The woman hanged herself at her (parents') house (in Udaipura) late last night. Investigation is on."



He refused to comment when asked whether minister Rampal Singh's son had anything to do with the incident.

State Congress chief spokesperson K K Mishra said in Bhopal, "The woman allegedly took the extreme step as Girjesh Pratap Singh, who married her at an Arya Samaj temple on June 20, 2017, was going to marry again.

"Girjesh was pressurising her to return the marriage papers," Mishra alleged, demanding that a case of abetment of suicide be registered against him, and his father should resign.

The police said that Raghuvanshi was 28-years old, while, according to the purported marriage certificate from the Arya Samaj shared with the media by her family, she was 30-years old.

Her family -- her father, brother and uncle -- also shared the contents of her "suicide note" with reporters, and alleged that the minister was responsible for her death as he was marrying off his son to another woman.

The family members also said they would not accept her body after autopsy, as the minister's family should take its possession.

In the "suicide note", Raghuvanshi asked her parents to forgive her and not to fight over the issue (of her husband remarrying), saying they had already suffered a lot because of her.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Xi Jinping was today re-elected as president for a second five-year tenure by China's rubber-stamp parliament, days after it scrapped the two-term rule for the presidency and allowed him to have a life-long tenure.

The NPC has also elected 64-year-old Xi as the head of the Central Military Commission (CMC), the overall high command of the two million strong Chinese military, the world's largest.

Xi has already been elected as general secretary of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) at its once-in-five-year congress in October last year.

Significantly, Xi's loyalist and close confidant Wang Qishan, 69, has been elected as vice president, who like Xi is set for a lifelong tenure.

Today's election comes after the National People's Congress (NPC) on March 11 ratified the constitutional amendment for removing the two-term limit for president and vice president proposed by the CPC. The election will ensure Xi heads the CPC, the military and the presidency, perhaps for life. He is the first Chinese leader to have that privilege after party founder Chairman Mao Zedong who ruled China from 1949 till his death in 1976.

Technically the election marks Xi's second-term which would last till 2023. But after the constitutional amendments removed the term limit he is expected to have a limitless tenure.

Xi was elected unanimously as president and head of CMC by 2,970 deputies of NPC which has the reputation of being a rubber-stamp parliament for routinely ratifying CPC proposals.

Wang, however got 2,969, one vote less in the carefully choreographed poll. Observers say the one vote dissent was officially sanctioned to show diversity in China's political system.

After the results were announced in the nationally televised show of the NPC proceedings, Xi bowed and shook hands with colleagues.

For the first time, he along with other officials took oath on the newly-amended Constitution swearing to be faithful to the charter of the People's Republic of China, defend its authority, be loyal to the country and the people.

The oath also stipulates that they will be committed and honest while performing duties, accept people's supervision and work hard to help build a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious and beautiful.

Another of Xi's close aides Li Zhanshu who was chief of staff was elected chairman of NPC. The parliament also ratified a new plan to revamp the government.

Wang is the most feared official in China as he carried out the dreaded anti-corruption campaign for the past five years initiated by Xi in which over 1.5 million officials including over 100 ministers and top generals were punished in the biggest such crackdown in China's recent history. Originally Xi was set to retire by 2023 as head of the CPC, the military and presidency following a two-term limit followed by his predecessors. He first became president in 2013.

The two-term limit was adopted by the party after Mao's death to ensure collective leadership to avert mistakes like the brutal Cultural Revolution that killed millions. Critics point out that the election of Wang too was in violation of the unwritten rule of retirement at age 68 followed by all top CPC leaders so far. He has been elected to the powerful post even though he is 69. Wang is expected to be given a portfolio covering China's ambitious global affairs agenda, including handling rocky relations with the US, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.

With a trade war looming between the US and China, Wang who has dealt with successive American administrations will have to draw on his experience as a problem solver for the job, the report said.

Later the NPC expected to elect the new premier, ministers and other top officials.

Except Premier Li Keqiang, all top posts including the entire Cabinet besides the governor of the central bank will be held by a new set of officials.

From India's perspective on the new line-up of officials, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi was widely expected to be elevated to state councillor which makes him the top diplomat of the country.

The elevation will entail him to become China's special representative for India-China boundary talks. The post is currently held by Yang Jiechi who has been elevated to the politburo, the top policy body of the CPC.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)By Rajesh Kumar SinghCHICAGO (Reuters) - Caterpillar Inc will close two facilities in Texas and Panama and is also considering shutting its engine manufacturing plant in Illinois as part of a strategy to boost profitability and better handle business cycles, but the move could cut 880 jobs. The plant closures, which were announced internally over the past two months, were confirmed to Reuters by a company spokeswoman on Friday. She said the move will affect its work tools facility in Waco, Texas, and its demonstration centre in Panama.The world's largest heavy-duty equipment maker ...Commercial real estate company Brookfield Property Partners LP said on Monday it would acquire the 66 percent of GGP Inc that it does not already own in a cash-and-stock deal that values GGP, one of the largest owners and operators of U.S. shopping centers, at about $15.3 billion. The deal comes as many malls struggle to retain tenants amid the brick-and-mortar retail sector's downturn. The acquisition will strengthen Brookfield Property's negotiating power with retailers and allow it to repurpose some GGP properties. "Having Brookfieldas ...By Brendan PiersonNEW YORK (Reuters) - Federal prosecutors on Friday brought charges against five New York doctors accused of taking kickbacks from Insys Therapeutics Inc in exchange for prescribing the company's potent fentanyl-based cancer pain medication.An indictment filed in Manhattan federal court said Gordon Freedman, Jeffrey Goldstein, Todd Schlifstein, Dialecti Voudouris and Alexandru Burducea received fees from Insys to participate as speakers in sham educational events. Prosecutors also said that two former Insys employees who were first charged in 2016 in connection with the ...By Greg Roumeliotis(Reuters) - Qualcomm Inc on Friday said former executive chairman Paul Jacobs would not be renominated for the U.S. semiconductor company's board after Jacobs disclosed his intention to pursue a long-shot acquisition of the firm. Jacobs, the former chief executive of the world's largest mobile chipmaker and the son of its co-founder, said in a separate statement that it was "unfortunate and disappointing" that his fellow board members were "attempting to remove me from the board at this time."The board decision comes just days after U.S. President Donald Trump blocked a ...(Reuters) - Activist investor Carl Icahn on Friday disclosed a 6.86 percent stake in Sharpie pens maker Newell Brands Inc , and said he could seek a board seat at the company, which is already battling another top shareholder over board representation.In a regulatory filing, the billionaire investor said he would talk to Newell's management about ways to boost shareholder value including asset sales and possible board representation.Starboard Value LP, which owns about 4 percent of Newell, has been pushing to replace Newell's entire board, arguing that the company has underperformed since it ...(Reuters) - Nike Inc Vice President Jayme Martin will leave the company, the shoe maker said on Friday, a day after announcing the departure of the president of its namesake brand.Martin, the general manager of global categories for Nike, was forced out of the company, the Wall Street Journal reported https://www.wsj.com/articles/second-nike-executive-leaves-in-wake-of-workplace-complaints-1521220142 earlier on Friday. Nike had received complaints pertaining to Martin, the report said.A Nike spokeswoman declined to provide more details on Martin's exit.Trevor Edwards, president of the Nike ...BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany is trying to stimulate domestic demand to offset strong exports, but wants a keen appetite for German products to continue, Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a video podcast on Saturday.Merkel said Germany's trade surpluses, attacked by U.S. President Donald Trump, were narrowing due to rising domestic demand, and the government would continue to try to support that trend.But she noted certain factors that affect trade balances, such as oil prices and currency fluctuations, were outside Germany's control. "And of course, the trade surpluses show that our products are ...WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Saturday it is opening an investigation to determine why some air bags failed to deploy in crashes after four deaths were reported in Hyundai Motor Co and Kia Motors Corp vehicles.The agency said it was reviewing 425,000 2012-2013 Kia Forte cars and 2011 Hyundai Sonata cars and will determine if any other manufacturers used similar air bag control units. Hyundai issued a recall last month for 154,753 U.S. Sonatas after non-deployment reports were linked to electrical overstress in the airbag control unit ...DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  Student survivors of the worst high school shooting in U.S. history took their message abroad for the first time on Saturday, calling for greater gun safety measures and sharing with educational professionals from around the world their frightening experience.

The Feb. 14 attack in Florida killed 17 people, 14 of them students, becoming one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history. The attack was carried out by a former student wielding an assault-style rifle who strode into one of the school buildings and opened fire.

Its so important to be educated, and to be educated in a productive sense is to feel safe at school, Suzanna Barna, 17, said. No child should ever have to go through what we did.

Barna and her classmates Kevin Trejos and Lewis Mizen, all seniors at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., each wore a red ribbon representing the color of their school in honor of the victims as they talked about their experience and their push for stricter gun safety measures. They spoke in Dubai at the Global Education and Skills Forum that coincides with the $1 million Global Teacher Prize, awarded to one outstanding teacher from around the world each year.

Trejos, 18, described the ordeal as scary and said students were crying and trying to comfort one another as they hid inside a closet in a classroom for nearly two hours.

We didnt know where the shooter was. We didnt know if he was coming to our classroom next, Trejos said.

We need to improve school safety, he added, saying that the students are not trying to ban guns because we understand its practically impossible to do, but are working to limit the accessibility of guns to criminals or potential criminals.

Like other school shootings before it, the attack has renewed the national debate on gun control. On Wednesday, tens of thousands of students across the U.S. walked out of their classrooms to demand action from lawmakers on gun violence and school safety.

President Donald Trump and some gun supporters say the solution is to put more guns in the hands of trained school staff  including teachers. The student survivors speaking in Dubai strongly disagree, saying more guns is not the answer.

Mizen, 17, said protocols shouldnt be preparing schools for when shootings happen, but should be stopping them before they happen.

Teachers are there to educate their students. They shouldnt have to serve as the first line of defense between them and a rampant gunman on campus, Mizen said, eliciting applause from the audience packed with educators.

Mizen said that addressing the global forum in Dubai was as a chance to talk to world education leaders and stress the importance of safety in schools.

If we can get the international body on our side then that will make it so much easier to make change back at home, he told The Associated Press.

Barna said that despite the sharp political divide over gun control in the United States, all can agree that schools and children should be safe. She is calling for laws that would limit access to high-capacity magazine firearms, like the AR-15 assault-style rifle used by the shooter in Florida.

Students are next planning a March for Our Lives rally in Washington Mar. 24. Since the shooting, they have taken trips to the U.S. capital and the Florida capital of Tallahassee to confront lawmakers. In response, some major U.S. retailers have put curbs on the sale of assault-style rifles and will no longer sell firearms to people younger than 21.

The Florida shooting was the latest in an era of school massacres that began with a shooting in 1999 at Columbine High School in Colorado that killed 13 people. The countrys deadliest school shooting killed 20 children in first grade and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in 2012.

Weve had to grow up a lot, Barna told the AP. Emotionally its been tough to deal with the loss we have to see every day, but were also in the process of getting back to normal. It will happen eventually, but its going to take time.



Follow Aya Batrawy on Twitter at <a target=blank href=https://twitter.com/ayaelb>https://twitter.com/ayaelb</a>SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP)  Vice President Mike Pence strolled Saturday in the Souths largest St. Patricks Day parade, where a few lucky fans behind sidewalk barricades got hugs or selfies and a small band of protesters followed nearby waving signs and rainbow flags.

Pence swooped into Savannah on its busiest day of the year. The historic city has been celebrating St. Patricks Day since 1824, and the March 17 holiday has grown into one of the Souths biggest street parties after Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Organizers of Savannahs parade estimated crowds would swell to 500,000 or more.

Wearing a striped green tie with a navy blazer, the vice president overall spent about an hour among the festivities. Flanked by his wife, Karen, and his mother, Nancy Pence-Fritsch, he stood on a second-floor balcony of City Hall with Mayor Eddie DeLoach to watch part of the procession of marching bagpipe bands, classic convertibles and floats pulled by pickup trucks.

Then, Pence and his entourage hit the street for nearly 30 minutes, walking past gaudy green revelers cheering and chanting U-S-A! behind security barriers lining the streets and two of Savannahs oak-shaded squares. He ignored a group with rainbow flags and signs reading Mike Pence Is A Homophobe and The Devil Went Down to Georgia, then stopped to hug a woman next to them with a banner saying Team Trump Rebuild America.

A few blocks later, Shannon Lennon of Orlando, Florida, and her friends in shamrock glasses and leprechaun hats were stunned when Pence grabbed Lennons cellphone and snapped a selfie with the group.

He said, This is a great picture, give me that,' said an ecstatic Lennon, who admitted some of her friends werent quite as thrilled. Theres two out of six of us who are fans of his. But we all respect each other.

Elsewhere in the U.S., Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar joined in the St. Patricks Day parade in New York on Saturday, while Chicago continued its 56-year-old tradition of dying the Chicago River bright green.

In Savannah, about a dozen sign-toting protesters on the sidewalk managed to keep pace with Pence, who walked roughly 0.3 miles (0.48 kilometers) of the parades 2.25-mile (3.6-kilometer) route. City officials had said signs would be prohibited in the parade area secured for Pence, but backed off Friday after the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit in federal court.

Savannah Kite brought a sign reading Black Lives Matter, Protect Dreamers and wore a T-shirt with the words Gay, Irish and Proud. She and other demonstrators chanted This is what Savannah looks like a few feet from where Pence shook a final round of hands before being whisked away by his motorcade.

Im a married lesbian, Im 30 years old, and Id like to adopt children, Kite said. I think his policies have hurt queer people, and that bothers me.

Protesters and others had ample room to maneuver because crowds in the 12 square blocks secured for Pence were notably lean in spots. People stood four deep behind barricades on one side of the street, while big gaps between spectators could be seen directly across the street.

Many parade-goers simply chose to celebrate elsewhere. Spectators wanting to see Pence had to pass through metal detectors. Party tents, coolers and folding chairs were off limits. So was any outside food or drink other than bottled water.

Ray Landin of Savannah and his brother stuck to their usual parade-watching spot a block outside the secure zone. Before dawn they arranged chairs on the sidewalk and a party tent draped with an Irish flag. Their food and drinks were divided between at least six coolers.

Well welcome him and well show him a good time, Landin said of Pence. But it does seem a little restrictive.

Thinner crowds inside the secure zone before Pence arrived meant fewer customers at Rise, a biscuit and doughnut shop on the parade route. Owner Shane Johnson said his workers made 2,000 doughnuts anticipating hungry hordes, but only six people stood in line about an hour before the parade.

It looks like its going to kill our business, Johnson said. We should be slammed wall-to-wall right now.

As an evangelical Christian, Pence may seem like an atypical guest considering Savannahs reputation for boozy excess on St. Patricks Day. However, organizers of Savannahs parade have long stressed the holidays religious roots and celebration of Irish heritage. Pence has proudly noted in speeches that his maternal grandfather, Richard Michael Cawley, came to the U.S. from Ireland in 1923.

Kathy Richey of Savannah didnt mind that many St. Patricks Day revelers steered clear of Pences leg of the parade. Wearing her red Make America Great Again cap, she got a prime curbside spot on Johnson Square to get an up-close look at the vice president, even though she showed up more than hour after the security checkpoints opened.

I can see why people arent here, Richey said. For a lot of people its a big deal with the tables and the whole setup. Usually when I come to the parade, I just walk around. Getting to see Mike Pence is an added bonus.LA QUINTA, Calif. (AP)  Disgraced former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn campaigned for a Republican congressional candidate in California Friday in his first public appearance since pleading guilty to lying to the FBI.

Fridays event to endorse Republican Omar Navarro in his challenge of 14-term Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters is the latest signal that Flynn is re-entering political life while still awaiting sentencing and cooperating with special counsel Robert Muellers investigation into Russian election interference and possible coordination with President Donald Trumps associates.

Mueller is also investigating possible obstruction of justice by the president. In recent weeks, the special counsels prosecutors have signaled they want to interview Trump about his firing of Flynn and his conversations with former FBI Director James Comey about the FBIs investigation into Flynn.

Flynn said that he wasnt at the event in La Quinta to complain about who has done me wrong or how unfair Ive been treated or how unfair the entire process has been.

Flynn is a retired Army lieutenant general who frequently campaigned for Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign and led the Republican National Convention crowd in anti-Hillary Clinton lock her up chants. He explained his decision to join the Trump campaign Friday, saying that his passion and destiny changed when I saw our country taking a fundamentally different direction and that he decided to do something about it in a different capacity.

If Im paying the price for that decision, so be it and God can and will judge me at some point, Flynn said.

He said that the greatness of Americans is our innate ability to get knocked down, to get right back up, shake it off and get right back into the fight.

Navarro, a conservative Republican activist who lost to Waters by more than 50 percentage points in 2016 in the strongly Democratic district, slammed her in his remarks to the crowd. He called for Trump to endorse him and repeated a line from Trump that Waters has a low IQ.

Once November comes, youre going to lose, youre going to lose big, Navarro said. Like the president said, your low IQ isnt going to get you past 2017.

Waters slammed Navarro and Flynn in a series of tweets, including noting that Navarro was on probation after being convicted of attaching a tracking device to his wifes car.

Desperate, unstable, and convicted criminal Omar Navarro stoops low in soliciting help from another indicted criminal in a campaign against #MaxineWaters  what a campaign! Waters <a target=blank href=https://twitter.com/MaxineWaters/status/974778424052076546>tweeted</a> .

Apparently, the two will spend a lot of time together discussing their crimes, Waters said in another <a target=blank href=https://twitter.com/MaxineWaters/status/974777229782724608>tweet</a> .Heres your look at highlights from the weekly AP photo report, a gallery featuring a mix of front-page photography, the odd image you might have missed and lasting moments our editors think you should see.

This weeks images include boats lying stranded in a dried-out lake in Switzerland; students in Pittsburgh taking part in a nationwide school walkout to protest gun violence; and Syrian civilians fleeing fighting in a Damascus suburb.



This gallery contains photos from the week of March 10-16, 2018.

See the latest AP photo galleries: https://apimagesblog.com



Follow AP photographers on Twitter: http://twitter.com/AP/lists/ap-photographers

Follow AP Images on Twitter: http://twitter.com/APImages

Visit AP Images online: http://www.apimages.com http://www.apimages.com/



This gallery was produced by Patrick Sison in New York.SOUTH HAVEN, Mich. (AP)  Michigan shipwreck hunters have found the remains of a schooner that sank in Lake Michigan in 1873 during a storm.

The Lizzie Throop was found in 280 feet (85 meters) of water along western Michigans coastline some 15 miles (25 kilometers) northwest of the city of South Haven, the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association announced this past week.

The vessel set sail from Muskegon, Michigan, on Oct. 16, 1873, on a lumber run to Chicago, but sank after it began leaking during a squall, Valerie van Heest, the shipwreck associations director, told MLive.com. Two of its six crewmen died when the two-masted, 86-foot-long (26-meter-long) schooner went down.

We realize now that the deck and the masts floated ashore with the survivors, while the hull went to the bottom, van Heest told WZZM-TV.

Side scan sonar images show the sunken vessel on the lake bottom and other footage obtained by divers reveal the devastation the ship suffered when its deck separated from its hull, she said.

The Lizzie Throop was built in 1849 from wood milled at one of the Grand Haven areas earliest sawmills and was owned by prominent city resident Nathan Throop. It was named after Caroline Elizabeth Throop, who died in 1869.

The ruins are the 10th shipwreck the association has found during its ongoing search for a passenger plane that crashed into Lake Michigan nearly 68 years ago. Northwest Orient Flight 2501 crashed on June 23, 1950, killing all 58 aboard the DC-4 propliner.

The association partnered 14 years ago with author Clive Cussler and his National Underwater Marine Agency to search for the aircraft. That search will resume this spring with the help of oceanographer Gregory Busch, who will bring to the quest the latest sonar equipment and a unique search methodology, van Heest said.

We feel more confident than ever that the discovery of Flight 2501 could happen in 2018, she said.NORTH HIGHLANDS, Calif. (AP)  Two California officers are being investigated on allegations of stealing money from a 75-year-old woman with dementia, listing her home for sale and putting her on a plane to the Philippines, where she had family.

Neighbors and friends on Friday described Rosalie Santallan Achiu as a frail military wife who loved to play cards and was fluent in several languages but seemed lost and afraid since her husband died more than a year ago.

Then she disappeared.

The last time I seen her she was in the back of a cop car, neighbor Daniel Wootton said.

The Sacramento County Sheriffs Department said this week that it began investigating the deputies in late January after someone raised concerns about the welfare of Achiu, who had not been seen in days.

Federal and sheriffs investigators found her in the Philippines, where she was staying with relatives, the department said. They also found many unusual activities by both deputies, both on and off duty.

Stephanie Angel, a 14-year agency veteran, and an unidentified male deputy were placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the criminal and administrative investigations, the department said.

Angels attorney, Richard Chan, said she was acting in Achius best interest and did everything at Achius request.

There wasnt any financial, elder abuse that occurred, Chan said. She was assisting this lady and following this ladys wishes, theres been absolutely no financial benefit to Deputy Angel whatsoever.

Achiu met the deputies in mid-January during a call for service, according to court documents first obtained by <a target=blank href=http://fox40.com/2018/03/15/documents-reveal-new-claims-of-elder-abuse-against-sacramento-county-deputies/?utm%E2%80%94campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm%E2%80%94content=5aabc0ff04d3015531a1b4a2&utm%E2%80%94medium=trueAnthem&utm%E2%80%94source=twitter>Sacramento news station KTXL-TV</a> .

Shortly afterward, she was moved into Angels home, Michael Abrate, an attorney for Achius family, said in a petition asking a judge to authorize a nephew to care for Achiu.

Over the following weeks, Achius house was listed for sale, several withdrawals were made from her bank accounts and one deputy opened a joint bank account with Achiu, the attorney said.

The deputies also accompanied Achiu to her bank and had it drill out the locks of her safe deposit box. They then applied for a passport for Achiu on a website called RushMyPassport.com, Abrate said.

Achiu, who has no children or other relatives living in California, suffers from dementia and lacks the capacity to resist fraud or provide informed consent, he said.

Neighbor Nyairee Fitzpatrick described her friend as independent but something of a forgetful hoarder. She and others said Achiu had talked of sending some belongings to relatives in the Philippines but wanted to live with a brother in Washington state.

The cop came  and like emptied out her whole house, she recalled, standing outside Achius vacant home with discarded furniture stacked in the driveway.

The deputies were granted power of attorney and named agents on her living will on Jan. 30. Days later, one of them bought a one-way plane ticket to the Philippines for Achiu, who arrived Feb. 3, Abrate said.

Investigators found her there on Feb. 14, and she told them she wanted to return to the U.S. She has been at a hospital since Feb. 21, when she returned to California, her familys attorney said.

Achiu and her husband, who met while he served in the military overseas, frequented casinos and restaurants where everyone seemed to know them, longtime neighbors Jo and Randy Osborn said.

She struggled after he died but had a series of housemates keeping her company before she called deputies because of problems with one of them, Randy Osborn said.

They just took her, Jo Osborn said of the deputies. That was crazy, and to find out she was sent to the Philippines, thats really crazy.

Chan, Angels attorney, said his client took Achiu to doctors who believed she didnt have dementia and was fine to travel. Angel took power of attorney because Achiu had not been caring for herself  living in a filthy house and sleeping in a chair, he said.

Chan provided a department letter of recognition that he said Angel received in January for helping Achiu.

He also accused Sheriff Scott Jones of engaging in a slander campaign because Angel recently alleged sexual harassment within the department. She sued Jones, then a captain, and three other employees in 2007 over similar claims, which were settled.

A spokesman for Jones and the department, Sgt. Zach Hatch, declined to comment, citing the investigation.

Angel never talked to Achius family before sending her to the Philippines but spoke to them after she arrived, Chan said. Before putting her on the plane, Angel gave Achiu copies of her medical records and contact information in case anything went wrong.

Chan did not provide a clear explanation for why Angel felt comfortable sending Achiu overseas alone.

All I can tell you is she did what Rosalie wanted her to do, the attorney said.



Associated Press writer Kathleen Ronayne contributed to this report.KIGALI, Rwanda (AP)  Rwandas Revenue Authority said Friday it will auction off assets belonging to the family of a jailed critic of President Paul Kagames government to pay a tax debt  a move that family members call politically motivated.

Assets of the cigarette maker Premier Tobacco Company, which belongs to the family of Diane Rwigara, will be sold at auction on March 28 to recover $6 million in back taxes, the Revenue Authority said.

Vedaste Habimana, a court bailiff, told The Associated Press on Friday he has been instructed by tax authorities to carry out the auction. Those interested in buying Rwigaras properties can visit the company premises in Gikondo, Kigali, on Tuesday.

In an interview in Kigali, Anne Rwigara, the familys business representative, said the decision by the revenue body would be appealed before the auction.

Rwigaras family has rejected the tax evasion charges, describing them as politically motivated and aimed at sending the family into bankruptcy for opposing the government.

Their family says the trouble started last year after Rwigara announced she would challenge Kagame in the Aug. 4 presidential election. Two days after declaring her candidacy, nude photographs allegedly of her were leaked on social media. It was not clear who was behind the leak. She was then disqualified from running over allegations that she forged some of the signatures on her nomination papers. She denied that allegation

Police arrested her in September along with her mother. Both women have been charged with inciting insurrection against the state and Rwigara also has been charged with forgery.

Earlier this year, the Rwigara family filed a case in the Commercial Court in Kigali, accusing the tax body of illegally seizing the companys bank accounts and assets. The family told the court that the tobacco plants computers, account books and warehouses had been seized, making it difficult for the business to operate.

The court ruled in the favor of Rwandas Revenue Authority, saying the seizure was done legally.

Kagame is praised by some U.S. and British leaders, who cite how he has transformed an impoverished, war-ravaged nation into an efficient technology hub with some of the highest rates for literacy and health in Africa. That has come at the cost of a dictatorship that critics say ruthlessly suppresses opposition and often jails, disappears or kills opponents.YEKATERINBURG, Russia (AP)  Vladimir Putins victory in Russias presidential election Sunday isnt in doubt. The only real question is whether voters will turn out in big enough numbers to hand him a convincing mandate for his fourth term  and many Russian workers are facing intense pressure to do so.

Polls opened at 8 a.m. Sunday in Russias Far East regions of Chukotka and Kamchatka. Voting will conclude at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT; 2 p.m. EDT) in Kaliningrad, the Baltic exclave that is Russias westernmost region.

Putin is so certain of winning that authorities are investing instead in massive get-out-the-vote efforts to produce a turnout that would embolden the Russian leader both domestically and internationally.

Yevgeny Roizman, the mayor of Russias fourth-largest city Yekaterinburg, says local officials and state employees have all received orders from higher up to make sure the presidential vote turnout is over 60 percent.

They are using everything: schools, kindergartens, hospitals  the battle for the turnout is unprecedented, said Roizman, one of the rare opposition politicians to hold a significant elected office.

A doctor at one of the citys hospitals told The Associated Press how one kind of voting pressure works.

The doctor, who gave her name only as Yekaterina because of fears about repercussions, said she and her co-workers were told to fill out forms detailing not only where they would cast their ballots, but giving the names and details of two allies whom they promise to persuade to go vote.

Its not something you can argue about, she said at a cafe Saturday. People were indignant at first, said Theyre violating our rights  but what can you do?

Yekaterina said she isnt sure what shell do with her ballot, musing that maybe Ill just write Putin is a moron.' But she clearly understands that not showing up at the polling place Sunday will not only endanger her job but will reflect badly on her boss, whom she likes.

The Russian doctor said she wouldnt go to vote if she wasnt forced to.

Whats the point? We already know the outcome. This is just a circus show, she said.

The eight presidential candidates were barred from campaigning Saturday, but the message to voters was clear from billboards celebrating Russian greatness  a big theme of Putins leadership  and Kremlin-friendly media coverage.

Putin urged Russians on Friday to use their right to choose the future for the great Russia that we all love.

While Putin has seven challengers, none is a real threat. The last time he faced voters in 2012, he faced a serious opposition movement, but since then he has boosted his popularity thanks to Russian actions in Ukraine and Syria.

More than 1,500 international observers are joining thousands of Russian observers to watch the vote. The government wants to ensure that this election is clean after ballot stuffing and fraud marred the last Russian presidential election in 2012.

A Russian election monitoring group said Saturday it has registered an alarming rise in recent days in complaints that employers are forcing or pressuring workers to vote.

Grigory Melkonyants, co-chair of the independent Golos center, told the AP on Saturday the group has also recorded smaller complaints, such as gimmicks like discounted potatoes for people who vote, or schools holding special performances on Election Day to lure parents to an onsite voting station.

He said his own group has come under increasing pressure as the election approached, and warned that independent observers may be targeted by some kind of attack on voting day. He didnt elaborate.

As U.S. authorities investigate alleged Russian interference in President Donald Trumps 2016 election, Moscow has warned of possible meddling in the Russian vote.

Turnout-boosting efforts have been the most visible feature of the campaign  and all come from taxpayers pockets. In Moscow alone, authorities are spending 50 million rubles ($870,000) on balloons and festive decorations at polling stations.

In Moscow, first-time voters will be given free tickets for pop concerts featuring some of Russias most popular artists who have campaigned for Putin. For older voters, Moscow health authorities will be offering free cancer screenings at selected polling stations.

In the southern city of Tambov, the state-sponsored Youth Parliament has backed an Instagram competition. Voters who take selfies at polling stations and post them under the designated hashtag will be able to enter a raffle for high-end electronics, including an iPhoneX.

Election observers and local media have reported threats and coercion of voters to re-register at their place of work and report later that they have voted.

Ella Pamfilova, chairwoman of the Central Election Commission who was appointed to clean up Russias electoral system, vowed to respond to complaints about being coerced to vote.

No manager has the right to tell them where to vote, she said recently

Voters in Russias Perm region said they were coming under pressure from their employers to vote Sunday  and to prove it. Messages were sent Friday to regional employees, warning that information about their voting habits would be submitted to management.

Putin has traveled across Russia, pledging to raise wages, pour more funds into the countrys crumbling health care and education and to modernize dilapidated infrastructure.

The presidential vote is set on the anniversary of Russias 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. Polls show that most Russians continue to see the takeover of that Black Sea peninsula as a major achievement despite subsequent Western sanctions.

Among Putins challengers is Ksenia Sobchak, a 36-year-old TV host who has campaigned on a liberal platform and criticized Putins policies. Some see Sobchak, the daughter of Putins one-time patron, as a Kremlin project intended to add a democratic veneer to the vote and help split the ranks of Kremlin critics.

Putins main foe, opposition leader Alexei Navalny, was barred from the race because of a criminal conviction widely seen as politically motivated. Navalny has called for a boycott of the vote.



Charlton reported from Moscow.



See complete Associated Press coverage of the Russian election: <a target=blank href=https://www.apnews.com/tag/RussiaElection>https://www.apnews.com/tag/RussiaElection</a>BEIRUT (AP)  Syrian troops captured a major rebel stronghold east of the capital Damascus Saturday and took large parts of another, squeezing insurgents and forcing thousands to flee to regions controlled by the government.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Oways al-Shami of the Syrian Civil Defense said troops have taken Kafr Batna and large parts of nearby Saqba.

The capture of Kafr Batna and parts of nearby Saqba is another blow to opposition fighters who have lost more than 70 percent of the area known as eastern Ghouta since the President Bashar Assads forces began a crushing offensive under the cover of airstrikes on Feb. 18. The violence left nearly 1,400 people dead, more than 5,000 wounded and forced tens of thousands to seek shelter in areas under government control.

The intensity of the shelling and airstrikes have made it almost impossible for ambulances to move and wounded people cannot reach clinics, said Hamza Hassan, a surgeon working at one of the hospitals in eastern Ghouta.

Syrian state news agency SANA said the army stepped up military operations in eastern Ghouta and inflicted heavy losses on terrorist groups in personnel and military hardware. It said troops reached the center of Kafr Batna and Saqba.

With the capture of Kafr Batna and parts of Saqba, rebels still control the towns of Arbeen, Zamalka, Ein Tarma and Jobar on the southern edge of eastern Ghouta. Eastern Ghouta has been split to three parts  the largest rebel-held town of Douma to the north has been cut off from nearby Harasta, and both have been split off from the rest of the area.

The Observatory said 30 people were killed in a Saturday morning airstrike on Zamalka that hit a group of people trying to flee into government-controlled areas.

The oppositions Syrian Civil Defense said the airstrike killed dozens and wounded scores, adding that paramedics are trying to help survivors.

The world has betrayed us, said Ahmad Khanshour, a resident of eastern Ghouta, referring to the international community that could not do much to stop the offensive. The world betrayed itself and the human values we all once shared.

He added that some 300,000 people are still besieged in eastern Ghouta, left to choose between dying under fire or surrendering and go to Assads jails and slaughterhouses.

Speaking about the capture of Kafr Batna, al-Shami of the Syrian Civil Defense said people fled in the streets not knowing in which direction to go. He added that large numbers of people have now been squeezed into the small areas held by rebels in eastern Ghouta.

The violence came as thousands of people left eastern Ghouta and entered government-held parts of the region on Saturday, bringing to 47,000 the number of people who left the area over the past three days, according to Russias Defense Ministry.

The government-controlled Syrian Central Military Media said the army has declared a 24-hour cease-fire in Harasta starting Saturday afternoon in order to allow civilians to leave the area.

Thousands of people left eastern Ghouta on Saturday alone as government forces stepped up an offensive on the rebel enclave, according to Syrian and Russian officials.

Syrian state-run al-Ikhbariyah TV aired live footage showing hundreds of men, women and children carrying their belongings and marching into the town of Hamouria that was recently captured by Syrian troops.

The station also showed a Syrian soldier meeting his mother and siblings for the first time in five years after they came out of eastern Ghouta. The soldier was seen kissing his mother who was weeping.

Al-Ikhbariyah quoted an unnamed military official as saying 30,000 people left eastern Ghouta on Saturday alone.

Russias Maj. Gen. Vladimir Zolotukhin was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying that some 3,000 people have been leaving every hour Saturday through a government-run humanitarian corridor monitored by the Russian military.

Zolotukhin is spokesman for the Russian center for reconciliation of the warring parties in Syria.

In other parts of the country, Turkeys military rejected allegations it bombed a hospital in Afrin in northwestern Syria, where its engaged in an offensive against Syrian Kurdish fighters.

The military tweeted aerial footage and photographs of the towns general hospital it said were from Saturday morning, showing it was intact. The army said in a statement that the Syrian Kurdish Peoples Protection Units, or YPG, were trying to create a negative perception of the Turkish military.

On Friday, YPG official Redur Khalil and the Observatory reported an airstrike on the hospital. The Observatory said 16 people were killed in the hospital including two pregnant women.

Turkey launched an offensive against the YPG on Jan. 20 to clear Afrin. The country considers the YPG a terror group and a wing of a Kurdish insurgency operating within its own border. The agency added that Turkish troops and allied Syrian opposition forces have captured 224 villages and 44 critical points since the operation began.

Turkeys state-run Anadolu agency said Turkish troops heading from east to west and troops heading west to east have linked up in northern Afrin.

The Observatory said that nearly 200,000 people have fled the region of Afrin over the past days and entered government-controlled areas nearby, adding that 11 people were killed Saturday when a shell hit a truck carrying fleeing people.

Ebrahim Ebrahim, a Europe-based spokesman for the largest Kurdish group in Syria, the Democratic Union Party, or PYD, blasted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as a terrorists killing children.

Afrin is being exterminated and destroyed. Human beings in Afrin are being killed, he said.



Bilginsoy reported from Istanbul. Associated Press writer Jim Heintz in Moscow contributed to this report.BALI, Indonesia (AP)  Indonesias normally bustling Bali has shut down social media, closed the airport and shuttered all shops for a Day of Silence that marks New Year on the predominantly Hindu resort island.

Nyepi began at 6 a.m. Saturday, emptying streets and beaches for 24 hours except for special patrols to ensure silence is observed. This year, phone companies agreed for the first time to turn off the mobile internet on the island, home to more than 4 million people.

Aside from no Facebook, Instagram or instant messaging apps, television and radio broadcasts have ceased and Balinese are staying indoors, covering the windows and not even turning on lights, for the day of reflection that is the most sacred in Balinese Hinduism.

Nyepi is the time for us to wash our hearts and minds of bad thoughts and deeds, plead with God to purify ourselves, human beings and the universe, said Kadek Chantini, a Bali tour guide.

Not everyone was happy with the decision to disrupt internet access, saying it was going too far and an inconvenience for tourists and non-Hindu residents of Bali, but others welcomed it.

It will certainly provide a quieter atmosphere so we can focus and concentrate on perfecting our meditation and prayers, said Komang Suda, a resident of Denpasar, the Bali provincial capital.

The decision also really helps us in disciplining our teenagers, who sometimes sneak off to play with their gadgets during Nyepi, he said.

The night before Nyepi is marked by noisy ogoh-ogoh processions of giant scary figures representing evil spirits.MOSCOW (AP)  The Latest on the poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal in Britain (all times local):

9:55 p.m.

The Czech Republic, Slovakia and Sweden are all rejecting a suggestion by a Russian spokeswoman that the nerve agent which poisoned a former Russian double agent and his daughter might have originated in their countries.

The claim was made Saturday by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, who told Russia-24 television that the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Britain or Sweden were likely sources of the nerve agent.

Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom tweeted that she forcefully rejects (the) unacceptable and unfounded allegation adding that Russia should answer UK questions instead.

Czech Foreign Minister Martin Stropnicky called it an absurd accusation.

Britain blames Russia for the nerve-agent attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter, who were found unconscious March 4 in the English city of Salisbury and remain in critical condition.



7 p.m.

A Russian lawmaker is blaming Britain for the escalating tensions between London and Moscow over the nerve agent poisoning of a former Russian double agent and his daughter.

Hours after Russia on Saturday announced that 23 British diplomats would be expelled, Konstantin Kosachev told The Associated Press this is not our choice, definitely. We have not raised any tensions in our relations, it was the decision by the British side without evidence.

Kosachev is the head of the foreign affairs committee in the upper house of the Russian parliament.

Britain blames Russia for the nerve-agent attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter, who were found unconscious in the British city of Salisbury on March 4 and remain in critical condition.

Britain this week ordered 23 Russian diplomats to leave but Russia claims Britain has presented no evidence to back its allegations.

Kosachev says I believe sooner or later we will learn the truth and this truth will be definitely very unpleasant for the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and others who he says have absolutely blindly supported this theory of Russian involvement.



4:40 p.m.

Russias Foreign Ministry says the Wests angry reaction to a nerve agent attack in Britain is connected to the war in Syria.

Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Saturday reiterated Russian denials of involvement in the poisoning attack on ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter. She denied the existence of the nerve agent Novichok that Britain said was used against them.

Speaking on Russia-24 television, Zakharova said Britain is taking a tough line against Russia because of frustration at recent advances of Russian-backed Syrian government forces against Western-backed rebels.

Zakharova said the West is trying to distract attention from what they did in Syria and Iraq and that Britain needs to somehow show the world that Russia is not in fact a peacekeeper but is playing its own game.

Britain has expelled 23 Russian diplomats over the poisoning, and Russia expelled British diplomats in response.



3:40 p.m.

Prime Minister Theresa May says Britain will consider our next steps in the coming days alongside our allies and partners in a dispute with Russia over the nerve agent poisoning of a former spy on British soil.

May says the March 4 attack on Sergei Skripal is a flagrant breach of international law and the chemical weapons convention.

May spoke after Moscow announced the expulsion of 23 British diplomats, in response to the U.K.s decision to boot out the same number of Russian embassy staff.

May told a Conservative Party meeting in London Saturday that Britain had expected the Russian move.

May has said the Russian state is responsible for the attack on Skripal and his daughter Yulia. Russia denies responsibility.



2:15 p.m.

British police are trying to reconstruct the movements of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the crucial hours before they were found unconscious from nerve agent poisoning.

Detectives are appealing for witnesses who may have seen Sergei Skripals burgundy BMW on the morning of March 4.

They want to know where the car was between 9:15 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., when it was spotted driving toward the center of Salisbury, 90 miles (145 kms) southwest of London.

Police say the Skripals went to a pub and an Italian restaurant in the city before being discovered collapsed on a bench at 4:15 p.m.

Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu says 250 counterterrorism officers are working around the clock on the case. It says 400 witnesses have already given statements.

Britain blames Russia for the attack, which has left the Skripals in critical condition and a police officer seriously ill in a Salisbury hospital.



2 p.m.

The British government has confirmed the expulsion of 23 of its diplomats from Russia, and says the U.K. National Security Council will meet early next week to consider the next steps in its dispute with Moscow over the poisoning of a former spy.

The Foreign Office said in a statement that it had expected the Russian retaliation, which includes closing the British consulate in St. Petersburg and barring cultural organization the British Council.

Britain has already expelled 23 Russian diplomats in response to the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia with a Soviet-developed nerve agent.

The Foreign Office says Russias response doesnt change the facts of the matter  the attempted assassination of two people on British soil, for which there is no alternative conclusion other than that the Russian State was culpable.

It says the onus remains on the Russian state to account for their actions and to comply with their international obligations



12:55 p.m.

A Russian lawmaker is warning Britain against escalating the crisis over the poisoning of a former Russian spy. Moscow and London have both ordered diplomats expelled in the deepening dispute.

Vladimir Dzhabarov, deputy chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the upper house of the Russian parliament, spoke Saturday after Russia ordered 23 British diplomats leave the country and that the British Council in Russia be closed.

Britain this week ordered 23 Russian diplomats to leave the country, saying that Russia was not cooperating in the case of Sergei Skripal and his daughter, both found March 4 poisoned by a nerve agent that British officials say was developed in Russia.

It is possible that (Britain) will continue to respond; we are ready for this. But London must understand that this will not do anything, it is useless to talk with Russia with such methods, Dzhabarov was quoted as saying by the state news agency RIA Novosti.



12:25 p.m.

Britains ambassador to Russia says the nerve agent poisoning of a former Russian double agent and his daughter in Britain was an attack on international values.

Ambassador Laurie Bristow spoke Saturday after being called to the Russian Foreign Ministry to be informed that Russia will expel 23 diplomats, a tit-for-tat retaliation to Britains announcement this week that 23 Russians would be expelled.

We will always do what is necessary to defend ourselves, our allies and our values against an attack of this sort, which is an attack not only on the United Kingdom, but upon the international rules-based system on which all countries, including Russia, depend for their safety and security, Bristow told reporters.

This crisis has arisen as a result of an appalling attack in the United Kingdom, the attempted murder of two people, using a chemical weapon developed in Russia and not declared by Russia at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, as Russia was and is obliged to do under the Chemical Weapons Convention, he said.

Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia remain in critical condition after the March 4 attack.



11:30 a.m.

Russias government is expelling 23 British diplomats and threatened further measures in retaliation in a growing diplomatic dispute over a nerve agent attack on a former spy in Britain.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it is also ordering the closure of the British Council in Russia and ending an agreement to reopen the British consulate in St. Petersburg.

It ordered the diplomats to leave within a week.

The statement said the government could take further measures if Britain takes any more unfriendly moves toward Russia.

British Prime Minister Theresa May this week expelled 23 Russian diplomats and severed high-level contacts over the poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. They remain in critical condition in hospital.



10:20 a.m.

Russias Foreign Ministry has summoned the British ambassador to Russia for talks in a heightening dispute over a nerve agent attack on a former spy in Britain.

Russia is expected to announce the expulsion of some British diplomats in a retaliatory measure. British Prime Minister Theresa May this week ordered 23 Russian diplomats expelled as part of measures to punish Russia over the March 4 poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the city of Salisbury.

British Ambassador Laurie Bristow is expected at the Russian Foreign Ministry late Saturday morning.

Britains foreign secretary accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of personally ordering the poisoning. Putins spokesman denounced the claim.SYDNEY (AP)  Australias prime minister said Southeast Asian leaders were using their meeting Sunday to discuss the deadly threat posed by North Koreas nuclear weapons program.

Australia is hosting a two-day summit in Sydney of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, and Sundays agenda had the leaders discussing economic and security issues.

Well discuss some of the regions most pressing security challenges, including how to respond strongly and effectively to the deadly threat posed by North Korea, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said in opening remarks.

Tensions between the U.S. and North Korea have eased recently amid plans for a summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, but Asian nations are still wary of any potential conflict in the region.

The leaders on Saturday signed an agreement on regional cooperation against violent extremism aimed at boosting counterterrorism capability throughout Southeast Asia. The issue is of particular concern as the region braces for the return of local militants who had gone to fight with the Islamic State group in the Middle East and are now fleeing losses there.

Other items likely to be raised are the plight of Myanmars Muslim Rohingya and Chinas overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea with several ASEAN nations. Both are thorny issues for the bloc, which operates on a policy of non-interference in members domestic affairs and can only issue statements approved by all.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak told the summit on Saturday that refugee crisis in Myanmar and Bangladesh was no longer solely a domestic issue for Myanmar, as fleeing Rohingya could be prime targets for terrorist radicalization.

Because of the suffering of Rohingya people and that of displacement around the region, the situation in Rakhine state and Myanmar can no longer be considered to be a purely domestic matter, Najib said as Myanmars leader Aung San Suu Kyi looked on.

Turnbull is under pressure to raise the Rohingya crisis when he holds a bilateral meeting with Suu Kyi on Monday.

The leaders are not expected to issue a closing communique at this summit, but past meetings have seen the nations butt heads over language on the South China Sea, which China claims in almost its entirety. China is the regional blocs largest trading partner, but its growing assertiveness in the disputed waters worries some ASEAN members.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, whose nation is not an ASEAN member, told reporters outside the meeting that the regions leaders were clear-eyed about their own interests, particularly in relation to China as a crucial trading partner and source of infrastructure funding. However, progress had also been made recently on negotiating a code of conduct on the South China Sea, she said.

We are not a claimant, but we reject any unilateral action that would create tensions, and we want to ensure that freedom of overflight and freedom of navigation, in accordance with international law, is maintained, and the ASEANs all back that same position, she said.

On economic matters, Turnbull urged ASEAN leaders to support the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership deal, which is under negotiation between interests including Australia, the ASEAN bloc, China and India.

Singapores Prime Minister Lee Hsien Long, the current chair of ASEAN, said there was hope the deal could be finalized this year.

This is a historic opportunity to establish the worlds largest trade bloc, he told the leaders meeting on Sunday morning, adding that it would cover 45 percent of the worlds population.

In addition to Singapore, the other ASEAN nations are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.Friday, March 16, 2018 at 8:46PM

There's been a long lull in Android Wear news, specially since smartphone companies left the platform in droves while traditional consumer watchmakers adopted the format bringing down the price and expanding the variety of connected timepieces available. No one seemed to notice.

The biggest issue with Android Wear is that it is stuck in circa 2014 hardware from Qualcomm, heavily limiting modern software features. Now rebranded as 'Wear OS by Google,' it looks like they are hoping to kickstart interest in the wearable platform. This isn't a great time for Google to mount an offensive. The Apple Watch is already the dominant smart watch (even as it is limited to iPhone use) and Fitbit has proven to be the master of fitness trackers now stepping up into the smartwatch space with more modest pricing.

'Wear OS by Google,' divorces the OS from Android and gives Google the option of catering to iOS and Android smartphone users. A smart move but one that might be too late, specially if there's no compelling new hardware out there.news, latest-news

When Alan* lost his temper and assaulted his wife and his eldest son, it was the lowest point of his life. In more than 20 years of marriage, Alan and his wife had never fought. Their first fight, on their daughter's birthday, ended in the domestic abuse and Alan's arrest. He was charged with two counts of assault, and is currently on a good behaviour bond. There is a domestic violence order in place which prevents him visiting the family home. At first, Alan blamed the people around him. "I didn't want to take responsibility," he said. "I was an angry man. I kept saying it was her fault, that she pushed me too far." After six months of counselling through EveryMan's domestic violence perpetrator program Working With the Man, Alan's attitude has shifted. "It was mainly my fault," he said. "I was holding things in, not letting people know the pressure I was under. Society makes you think you're tougher than what you are." EveryMan violence prevention services co-ordinator Simon Port has been running the one-on-one program for five years. The voluntary program is targeted at men who put their hand up to make a genuine change. The organisation is funded through the ACT government to provide services to seven men annually. With philanthropic support, they reach on average 25 men each year. But Mr Port said that number is a drop in the ocean for those who need the service in Canberra. "For some men it's the first time they've really acknowledged their behaviour is unacceptable and for most of them it's the first time they've put their hand up and asked for support," he said. "We strongly believe that men putting their hand up for help is a rare opportunity. It's something that firstly we need to cherish, and we need to work as quickly as possible with these men whilst they're in that mindframe, which means despite having limited capacity, getting to these men as quickly as they put their hands up." Through their link with ACT Policing, EveryMan is able to see how many of their clients return to court on domestic violence charges. They have a recidivism rate of less than 7 per cent, Mr Port said. EveryMan did not receive funding as part of the ACT government's recent domestic violence grants. It's one of just a small number of perpetrator programs in the ACT that aim to rehabilitate domestic violence perpetrators on a voluntary basis, alongside services like the Domestic Violence Crisis Service which runs a residential program, Room For Change. Room For Change, which opened its doors in 2017, gives men the option to live in one of the DVCS therapeutic properties while undertaking intensive behaviour change group work. Alan was recommended to EveryMan's program by his lawyer, and was keen to take it up. "I personally decided to change and say I'll take full responsibility for my actions and accept that," he said. Within three weeks of the assault, Alan had started counselling with Mr Port. "It was great. They accepted me with open arms and let me in really quickly and they're still helping me now," Alan said. Alan said his wife and son lost trust in him that night. He said the assault took less than a minute to take place, and he's regretted it every day since. "This will never happen again. I've learnt my lesson and I realise what I've done is wrong," he said. While Alan still hopes for his family to reunite, EveryMan has taught him to take one day at a time. "I don't want to end up coming home and my wife can't trust me. I did do this the wrong way and now I'm just trying to make it the best I can for everybody." *name has been changed.

/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/66958edd-a4ba-4746-af84-112f1ccff6a0/r0_42_2000_1172_w1200_h678_fmax.jpgThe Coast Guard has suspended the search for a missing 63-year-old man in the Gulf of Mexico after a fishing boat sank 70 miles south west of Fort Myers Beach.

The search for Dennis Grim, 63, was suspended at 1:30 p.m. Friday after the Coast Guard and partner agencies conducted 19 searches covering approximately 2,582 square miles over 39 hours.

Anytime we have to suspend a search, especially when we couldnt bring everyone home safe, it is the most difficult decision I have to make, said Cmdr. Randall Brown, Sector St. Petersburgs deputy commander in a prepared statement. Our thoughts go out to all those that knew Mr. Grim.

The search began after the Coast Guard rescued three of Grims crewmembers following a Thursday distress call.

Sector St. Petersburg watchstanders received the distress call at 3:59 a.m. via VHF-FM marine band radio channel 16 from James Beeman, captain aboard the 37-foot commercial fishing boat, J.U.M.A., out of Seminole. Beeman reported the boat was taking on water and he needed emergency assistance. At the same time, Coast Guard Seventh District watchstanders received an emergency position-indicating radio beacon alert correlating to the J.U.M.A.s position.

An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Clearwater was launched, arrived on scene and rescued Beeman, Anthony Bertolino, and Darren Whalen clinging to life jackets and debris. The boaters reported Grim missing. The helicopter crew transported the three boaters to Lee Memorial Hospital in Fort Myers for symptoms of hypothermia.

Crews involved in the search included:

An HC-144 Casa fixed-wing aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Miami

Coast Guard Cutter Diamondback, homeported in Fort Myers Beach

Coast Guard Station Fort Myers Beach 45-foot Response Boat-Medium boatcrew

MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew and HC-130 Hercules fixed-wing aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission aircrew

Source: U.S. Coast Guard 7th District PA Detachment Tampa Bay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.Photo: Josh Winquist

What makes a youthful city?

A 'Youth Friendly Vernon' event was held at the Schubert Centre where the question was posed to local politcians, community stakeholders and, of course, youth in Vernon.

Participants at the event were asked to provide feedback on several draft recomendations from the city that looked at childcare, art, trasportation, health; overall, a broad spectrum of ideas.

"We don't just want motherhood statements," said Juliette Cunningham, councillor with the city of Vernon. "We need to put tangible actions and entrench that in policy so that in the future, regardless of who you're staff are or your politicians are, and that is just how you do business in your community.

"Studies have shown that when you make your communities good for children and their families, you make your community better for everyone," Cunningham added.

Karsinn Armitage has been along every step of the way as the City's youth representitive.

He was responsible for the large youth turnout at the event.

"We are here because we really need the input of everybody of multiple ages and groups and cultures," said Armitage. "I think we need to hear the voices of these people, but to actually be here and have all these people is just very important.

"We are looking at a lot of things for art and culture and more music venues, better transportation, more affordable programs for people our age."

Armitage has been vocal about the need for youth to connect with the greater community. Armitage and his friend, Mason Marquardt, created a school project aimed at building better relationships with seniors throughout the community.

"It is super important for people our age to get out there and express their voice because it is one thing to think it and talk about it with your friends, but it is another thing completely to actually get out there, express your opinion and actually make a change, because it is possible although it doesn't seem like it," Armitage said. "I think from this, we are actually going to get something done."

While working on his youth project for school, Armitage met North Okanagan-Shuswap MP Mel Arnold, who was impressed with the young man.

"I think Karsinn is doing a great job. He's willing to get out and speak with people whether it is in his own age group, the youth in the community, or the adults in the community," says Arnold. "Really it is the dialogue and the conversations that we can have that are going to make a difference in the future."

The event at the Schubert Centre was attended by about 70 people.

"These are some of our future community leaders," says Arnold. "And, I think we will be in good hands."Photo: Google Street View

The Baron Insurance Broker Group has new owners.

Westland Insurance Group, which has more than 80 offices throughout BC and Alberta, have purchased the Vernon-based company.

We felt the time was right for Baron Insurance to evolve into a larger organization. In today's environment, there is a lot of pressure to keep on top of all the changes occurring within the insurance industry and the need for a larger organization is critical to doing this successfully, said Barry Amies, Executive Leader Baron Insurance Broker Group. We are thankful for all the support the community of Vernon has provided us over the years and look forward to continue servicing them even better in the future.

Barry Amies, Nicole Amies and Ian Laidlaw along with all of their staff will be staying on with Westland Insurance.

We have wanted to grow our presence in the North Okanagan area and feel that having such an established brokerage as Baron Insurance join our team instantly gives us a lot of what we have been looking for, said Jason Wubs, president and Co-CEO of Westland Insurance.

Baron Insurance was formed in 1968 and grew to 53 employees when they sold to Valley First Credit Union in 1994.

In 1999, Landing Insurance was formed by prior Baron Insurance employees and in 2001 they discovered the Baron Insurance name was available to which they rebranded Landing Insurance to Baron Insurance Broker Group.

Currently, Baron Insurance has 37 employees between the two locations in Vernon.Photo: Contributed Ina Forrest will be bringing home a bronze medal.

Ina Forrest will not be bringing home another gold medal.

However, the Armstrong-based wheelchair curler will be bringing home a bronze medal after defeating South Korea at the 2018 Paralympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea.

Forrest and the rest of team Canada were on their way to a third straight gold-medal run, but a 4-3 loss to China in the semi-finals derailed the defending Canucks.

remaining of

Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading.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We have to learn from this for the games coming up against Crotone and Benevento, because they are fighting for Serie A survival and we therefore need to face them with a different attitude, Allegri said.Illinois legislators also are moving forward with a bump stock ban. While a previous measure stalled in October over concerns it was too broad, the Illinois Senate approved an amended House bill Wednesday that would ban the sale or possession of bump stocks and trigger crank devices, which attach to guns and allow them to be fired more rapidly by turning a crank, within the state. The measure now goes back to the House, which is in recess until April.The airline declined to say how much it spent on Irgo's charter flight. "We chose the fastest option to reunite the dog with his family," said United spokesman Jonathan Guerin.I was a young student when I met a black journalist at my hometown paper. Meeting her affirmed for me that there was a place in newsrooms where Id fit. As I pursued writing as a career, I never doubted I could get the job done or felt uncomfortable, because I had so many examples to lean on. The first was Jacquelyn Brown.Youre going to have to talk to my campaign about it, said candidate J.B. Pritzker, walking away from Tribune reporters. I know you guys are writing something and youve been talking to the campaign, and I really dont have the details with me.They also used to sing that "you don't have to be Irish to be welcome in an Irishman's home," but, of course, that warm-hearted expression of universal brotherhood only went so far, since you had to be heterosexual to march in a Boston or New York City Irishman's parade up until 2015-16.The shooting happened about a mile northeast of the University of Chicago in the South Sides East Hyde Park neighborhood. It was on a block that is home to a mix of students and other members of the community, and steps from restaurants and shops on 55th Street.At the scene of the crash, a dark sedan was on the sidewalk with its airbags deployed. A police SUV was on the street near the car with its front end smashed. A large van rested behind the police vehicle with its doors swung open.In late February, Madigan released brief descriptions of nine sexual harassment, harassment, discrimination or retaliation complaints his office has handled in the past five years. A spokesman for the speaker would not comment this week on whether the Wallace allegation was among them, saying there were no plans to give more than the scant detail in Madigans list.Campaign contributions to all four candidates this election cycle come to nearly $1.4 million, even though its not unheard of to win a County Board seat for $100,000 or less. And political action committees have poured another $442,000 in independent expenditures into the race. Most of the money comes from public employee unions that opposed the repeal of the pop tax and business interests that successfully fought to eliminate it.Rival Chris Kennedy did some quick math and said the large sum "means hes spending, I guess, $2 million a day to try to buy this election. And we have to decide whether we want to send a message from Illinois to the rest of the country, the rest of the world, that a democracy can be bought.But a freshly appointed legislative inspector general concluded that even if Rotheimer was internally cringing at the messages Silverstein sent her and did not welcome them, she gave no outward sign of that at all, and no one  including Silverstein  would have had any way of knowing that she was not a fully willing participant in the discussions. Rotheimer blasted the investigation as rigged.LOS ANGELES  Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's personal attorney, claims he has the right to seek at least $20 million in damages from porn star Stormy Daniels for allegedly violating a nondisclosure agreement 20 times.



A lawyer for Cohen's limited liability corporation, Essential Consultants, made the claim in papers filed in federal court Friday.



Cohen also intends to force the dispute with Daniels, who alleges she was secretly paid to keep quiet about her affair with the president, out of the public eye and back into private arbitration, according to the court filing.



In a separate document also filed Friday, a lawyer representing Trump said he agrees with the push to return the proceedings to arbitration, in which all proceedings are confidential.



Michael Avenatti, a lawyer for Daniels, said the threat by Cohen and Trump to pursue millions of dollars in damages, and their efforts to take the matter behind closed doors, amounted to bullying of his client.



"To put it simply - they want to hide the truth from the American people. We will oppose this effort at every turn," Avenatti wrote in an email. "The fact that a sitting president is pursuing over $20 million in bogus 'damages' against a private citizen, who is only trying to tell the public what really happened, is truly remarkable. Likely unprecedented in our history. We are not going away and we will not be intimated by these threats."



Avenatti, told The Associated Press earlier Friday that his client had been "physically threatened," but he didn't provide details. He would not comment on whether the threats came from anyone tied to the president, the Trump campaign or the Trump Organization.



Cohen referred all questions to his attorney in the matter, Brent Blakely, who didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. The office of the attorney representing Trump, Charles Harder, said there would be no public statement beyond the material filed in court.



Daniels has said in her own legal filings that she slept with Trump in 2006, and in 2016 - just days before the presidential election - signed an agreement to stay silent about the affair in exchange for a payment of $130,000. The hush agreement required any disputes to be settled confidentially.



In late February, after Daniels embarked on a "Make America Horny Again" tour and her allegations became the subject of intense media interest, Cohen succeeded in persuading an arbitrator to issue a restraining order that prevented Daniels from speaking out.



But the porn star and her lawyer, Avenatti, pushed the secret deal into the open on March 6, when they appended it to a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court. In that lawsuit, Avenatti contends that the nondisclosure agreement is invalid because Trump failed to sign it.



The decision to surface the secret deal in public court filings carries financial risks for Daniels. If a judge determines the hush agreement is valid, she faces a penalty of $1 million for each violation of the agremeent's terms.



Cohen and Trump allege that she has already violated the agreement at least 20 times. And she may be poised to violate it again on March 25, when CBS's "60 Minutes" tentatively plans to broadcast an interview with Daniels.



In the court documents filed Friday, lawyers for Cohen and Trump exercised their ability to move the lawsuit from state court to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. They say they intend to file a petition with the federal court to force the matter back into private arbitration as quickly as possible.



The $130,000 payment to Daniels has become a matter of keen interest for government watchdog groups. At least two complaints to the Federal Election Commission allege the money was meant to influence the presidential election and therefore amounted to an illegal in-kind contribution to the Trump campaign.



Cohen has acknowledged making the payment to Daniels, but he has never explained what it was for. And he has insisted that he was not reimbursed for the payment by the Trump Organization or the Trump campaign.



White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has rejected the notion that Trump approved the payment to Daniels.



The Washington Post's Rosalind S. Helderman and the Associated Press contributed to this report.His reaction to the poisoning of a former Russian spy in Britain, which Prime Minister Theresa May furiously blamed on the Kremlin, was to waffle. He initially declined to blame the Russians until we get the facts straight, if we agree. On Thursday, agreeing to impose sanctions, he offered the limpest possible rebuke: A very sad situation. It certainly looks like the Russians were behind it.He would also advise conservatives not to be deterred if their opponents on the left unfairly called them racists  something he rightly believed happened all the time. Indeed, one of the things that got him out of bed in the morning was fighting the media/Democratic narrative that conservatives are all a bunch of racists.First, we want to grab the attention of voters in the 4th Congressional District  a C-shaped gerrymander that runs from the Northwest Side of Chicago out to the western suburbs and then back to the citys Southwest Side. Incumbent Democratic Rep. Luis Gutierrez decided to retire and threw his support to Cook County Board Commissioner Jesus Chuy Garcia. This election feels like a done deal, and thats wrong. Our pick in this race is Sol Flores. She is executive director of La Casa Norte, a nonprofit in Humboldt Park that helps homeless families and victims of domestic abuse. Send change to Congress. Send Flores.Townships are also the only unit of government in the state charged with the prevention of juvenile delinquency. Service agencies funded by the state are cutting back programs and are in danger of closing. As we have seen since the Blagojevich administration, the state cannot be trusted to consistently fund these services. At Hanover Township, there has been a consistent demand for family therapy and a wait list is often in place because of the high demand.Anthony Bills, 40, of the 700 block of Fifth Avenue, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated kidnapping, a charge prosecutors added for the agreement, and one count of mob action. The remaining seven charges in his eight-count indictment were dropped, including five counts of first-degree murder and two counts of kidnapping. Bills had previously pleaded not guilty, and was scheduled for jury trial in April."It's exciting for our kids to participate in the first parade. We moved to Yorkville two years ago and want to take in everything the community has to offer," Ellinger said.District 86 officials would not comment on the range of disciplines imposed, except to say the least punitive would be marking a student's record with an unexcused absence, the same as when parents notify the staff that their student will miss school because they are on vacation."I used to live in the state of California and feel like I want to learn more about this state's history," Gonzales said. "As far as my daughter goes, she loves anything related to history and wanted to come here because she thinks all of the buildings are haunted."Hlado said she thinks the district was still in possession of the credit card and that it had not been reported stolen, but that it had been in the possession of different people on the two days when the fraudulent purchases were made.One of the lieutenants admitted in his deposition that he had seen others watch porn and also had viewed it himself privately while in his office. He said he didn't believe there were grounds to discipline an employee for watching porn while on duty.Howard said there hasnt been an incident of this nature at the business previously. He said police still are investigating how the shooter was able to sneak the gun in.The first phase of the three-phase project will include construction of three of the eight buildings, one of which will be a restaurant. Construction is expected to begin in the spring and be completed this year, according to the village.Domestic violence is real, said Robys cousin Cynthia Faulkner at the vigil. This couldve been me 30 years ago. She did the best she could. Women dont have a voice when someone is beating you.  Its not easy to get away from that. She tried.While he had cousins who were firefighters, he hadn't thought about the work as a profession until he ran into Elgin firefighter Mike Oine, whose own father was the South Elgin chief, he said. Oine told Wascher he should apply, and by the time he got back to his summer job at his family's appliance store, there was a message from the chief waiting on his desk, he said.3849 Provenance Way, Northbrook: $850,000 | Listed: July 21, 2021



This three-bedroom home has two full bathrooms, two half baths and three levels of living space including a finished walkout lower level with a wet bar. The kitchen is equipped with granite countertops, travertine backsplashes, a farmhouse sink, under- and over-cabinet lighting and an island and peninsula for seating. The kitchen, laundry room, foyer and bathrooms all have porcelain tile floors. The great room has natural finished oak flooring and offers access to a deck. A second-level loft overlooks the great room. The primary bedroom suite has a walk-in closet and a bath with double sinks and a shower. A lower-level storage area and a paver patio complete this home, which is located in a subdivision with park and playground areas.



Agent: Carol Gruner and Anita Scheindel, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, 847-790-8436, 847-373-6901



*Some listing photos are virtually staged, meaning they have been digitally altered to represent different furnishing or decorating options.



To feature your luxury listing of $800,000 or more in Chicago Tribunes Dream Homes, send listing information and high-res photos to ctc-realestate@chicagotribune.com.



Join our Chicago Dream Homes Facebook group for more luxury listings and real estate news.The release said that the day before, sheriffs deputies were called to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville on a report that someone had sexually assaulted a child. Police said the girl, who is 5, told her mother that Aboytes had inappropriate sexual contact with her.Weppler said only two roads get traffic to Libertyvilles far eastern side and both of them are only one lane in each direction. Weppler said Rockland Road typically handles 5,000 cars per day and the detour is causing undo strain on residents.Among the groups participating are the victim service units and Children Advocacy Centers of both DuPage and Will counties, Department of Homeland Security and the Illinois Attorney General's Office, a news release on the event said. Attendees will also be able to get resources from agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission, the IRS and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, among others.That early-teen low self-esteem carried on into college, along with the pressures of making the grade many students experience. "We all go through hard things," the difference is how a person comes through at the other end, she said."We must continue to keep the property tax levy flat," he said. "We will continue to push for greater efficiency across the county and continue to collaborate with our other local governments to eliminate duplication wherever it is found. As the former chairman of the strategic planning committee and current chairman of the technology committee, I believe there is still enormous opportunity to improve our service and efficiency by focusing on our people, processes and technology."Do you have an event you would like included in Five Things to Do? Email your item, including time, date, place and a contact number to wweber@tronc.com at least two weeks before the event."The reason why we're doing the crowdfunding is the cost of doing the rail cars is a little bit more than the $200,000" from the park bond, Gadzala said. The final cost of the work isn't yet known, Gadzala said."He was always respectful, and we always stuck by each other," Savannah told the 30 people who marched from 5th Avenue and Broadway down to 21st Century Charter School on Washington Street, where Kemonte was a student. The march ended at City Hall, where BLM-Gary organizer Kim McGee read a statement on behalf of the family demanding that authorities release any reports, audio and video connected to the shooting; that the officer who shot Kemonte give a public account of what happened, and that the City of Gary conduct an independent investigation of the incident."Too many times we as law enforcement as whole are forced to make difficult decisions. Sometimes they are split-second and sometimes we can analyze and weigh the options before we make a decision, and (in) this situation we had time to analyze our options," Hobart police spokesman Lt. James Gonzales said in an email.And for the first time in my career, most of the feedback was positive, not negative, with no one again calling me a "left-wing, anti-gun, liberal-media nut-job," as I was called earlier this year by a gun owner. These readers couldn't seem to find me in their sights after reading that I fired an AR-556 assault-style rifle at an indoor gun range.

"New ideas are always great, but we need solutions and problem solving that is great too," Hernandez said over the phone. "I know he comes across as a new generation, a new era of leader [and] that sounds wonderful. I admire new people, new young minds, but I feel like you cannot dismiss that it should really take all generations to come together to fix the issues that we are facing," she added.



Her district priorities include: passing the Access Bill and the VOICES Act, which will provide the opportunity for undocumented youth to continue their higher education, support the Paseo Trail in Little Village to unite the neighborhood, and fight for funds for social agency services, according to the Sun-Times board of directors.



"Win or not win, our goal is to raise awareness that we need a change in Springfield, we cannot go back down the same road and sending the same people and expect a different result," Reyes said. "We want to create a new generation of leaders to be elected to office in the future, but also a multigenerational, multi-ethnic and interreligious coalition of new leaders."Pueblo South pitcher dominates in the circle, leads Colts softball

Pueblo South High School softball pitcher Emily Abraham lets her performance to her talking as Colts are on track to get to state tournamentBeijing Customs and Tianjin Customs have formulated an action plan to further optimize the clearance process of cross-border trade in the region.





Beijing and Tianjin implemented the reform to integrate regional customs clearance in July 2014. In 2017, more than 70 percent of the imported and exported goods that were declared at Beijing Customs first landed in Tianjin.







According to the new action plan, businesses will now go through the process of customs declaration, examination, check, taxation, and release on their own, which will reduce the cost and time of customs clearance.







In the past, for imported goods to clear customs, foreign companies must wait for authorization from customs between each of the next steps in the process. Now, import declarations will go directly to the Risk Control Center of the General Administration of Customs, which can quickly analyze and verify the name of the goods, weight, whether they belong in any prohibition categories, and all other necessary information. After the inspections, the company can pay the taxes or release the goods with a guarantee. If on-site verification is required prior to release, customs can collect a sample and then release the goods.







After release, the tax collection and management center will analyze and verify the classification of the goods, the prices and the origins, and complete tax collection after the release of the goods through batch verification and inspection.







A customs official said that this process allows safety risks to be mainly handled at the customs clearance site of the port, while leaving tax to be processed after the goods are released, which greatly reduce the on-site customs clearance time.







In addition, companies can declare for customs and go through tax procedures electronically prior to goods arriving at the port.







By optimizing this process, goods can be declared and released within one day in Beijing. To ensure an open and transparent process and avoid improper inspection, the inspectors and the inspected will be chosen by computer randomly, and the inspection information and relevant policies will be disclosed.







Tax collection after release is another innovation from the region's customs authorities. It allows enterprises to pick up the imported goods first in the customs clearance with a letter of guarantee issued by a commercial bank, and then make one single payment electronically for taxes accumulated throughout the month, an official at the Beijing Customs said. For companies with good records, their goods could be immediately released after they are declared, the official added.







There are more than 4,000 company headquarters in Beijing, and their volume of imports and exports accounts for 66.9 percent of the total foreign trade in Beijing. These companies will benefit from the new policies, the official said.Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi [Photo/Xinhua]





On March 8, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a news conference on the sidelines of the ongoing annual session of the National People's Congress, the country's top legislature, to explain China's diplomatic agenda for 2018 to the outside world. The presentation came at a very important juncture, as China emerges as a leader of the new world order.





Although the press conference was dominated by questions on the U.S.-China relationship, the Korean Peninsula, the Belt and Road Initiative and some major domestic events to be held this year, Wang also spoke about the importance of building a constructive relationship with India. He offered a fresh blueprint to clear the air on Sino-Indian bilateral relations after last summer's prolonged border standoff in the Doklam area.





The foreign minister exhibited both hope and confidence on relations between Asia's two biggest countries. "No mountain is high enough to stop China and India having a strong relationship, as long as both sides strive to build trust instead of fighting one another," Wang said. The candid tone of his remarks emphasized that China values its friendship with India and will work to manage its differences with its neighbor. In terms of their growing power and economic influence, Sino-Indian ties may indeed be the most important relationship of the 21st century.





Despite several difficulties in the recent past, the China-India relationship has continued to grow. Presumably referring to the 73-day-long Doklam episode, the foreign minister insisted that, "The Chinese 'dragon' and the Indian 'elephant' must not fight each other, but dance with each other," invoking a note of hope that if China and India are united, "one plus one will equal not only two, but also eleven."





During their meeting at the BRICS summit in Xiamen last September, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed that the development of sound relations between the two nations is a force of stability amidst today's global uncertainties, and that the two countries should not allow their differences to become disputes.





Since then, both sides have maintained regular exchange, most notably with a series of top-level visits. Foreign Minister Wang and Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi traveled to India last December, and India's second female Defense Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, will visit China in April. Her visit is expected to enhance friendly exchange between the two sides' militaries, which came to a halt last year during the Doklam incident. Prime Minister Modi is also planning to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's summit in Qingdao this June.





According to the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi, bilateral trade last year reached USD$88 billion, an increase of 20 percent compared with the year before. A Chinese ballet ensemble and a folk arts troupe performed in Kolkata and New Delhi in February as part of the Spring Festival celebrations. The Bollywood movies "Secret Superstar" and "Bajrangi Bhaijaan" have been well received by Chinese audiences recently. And the Global Times reported that yoga has entered the public school system in some cities across China.





Despite these successes of political and cultural exchange, China must still address longstanding issues of concern for India, such as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group and the fight against terrorism. As such, it's encouraging to hear that Wang called for both sides to shed their "confrontationist stance on issues of differences" in order to make the two nations strong and prosperous.





Though India and China have their disagreements, cooperation is better than confrontation. Leadership of both countries should put aside their disputes and instead focus on creating a better future for the 2.5 billion people residing on either side of the Himalayas.





Rabi Sankar Bosu, Secretary of New Horizon Radio Listeners' Club, West Bengal, India





Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors only, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.



 Flash

Iran and the United States may hold talks on 2015 Iranian nuclear agreement, or the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in the Austrian capital of Vienna on Friday, Tehran Times daily reported.





The Iranian diplomatic team visiting Vienna for regular talks on the implementation of Iran's nuclear deal would meet with other participating sides including the U.S. officials, a source close to the Iranian negotiators said on condition of anonymity.





The two sides would talk about the removal of sanctions on Iran as well as the examples of violations of the deal by Washington.





Representatives of Iran and other parties, including the U.S., Britain, Germany, France, China and Russia, launched the latest round of the JCPOA Joint Commission in Vienna on Friday.





Under the JCPOA, Iran must limit its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions.





On Jan. 12, U.S. President Donald Trump waived nuclear sanctions against Iran, but warned that he would not do it again unless the deal is fixed.





Tehran, however, has repeatedly said it will not renegotiate the nuclear deal.



 Flash

Germany and France are seeking to reach a basic agreement on reform of the eurozone and on the EU asylum policy by June, the German Chancellery said Friday in a statement on German Chancellor Angela Merkel's first overseas trip since here re-election.





"A common approach is more necessary than ever, because Europe must act in a geopolitical situation in which multilateralism is under pressure," Merkel said at a meeting with Macron in Paris on Friday afternoon, according to the statement.





Merkel assured Macron that they are willing to cooperate closely, saying that "now we want to find common ground, and this has always been successful in the history between Germany and France."





The two leaders also exchanged views on the European Council set for next week. Among other things, the budget for the legislative period after the Brexit and the elections of the European Parliament in 2019 were also discussed.





Merkel traditionally chooses Paris as her first destination after her re-election. The meeting with Macron is an expression of the close ties between both countries, according to the statement.





German Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Olaf Scholz accompanied Merkel in the visit to Paris and exchanged views with his French counterpart Bruno Le Maire at the same time.





Macron called for ambitious reforms of EU institutions in September, but he was waiting for the response from Germany.





The Germany new government, which was sworn in on Wednesday, strongly advocated the EU's role in the world through the closer cooperation with France.





On the very same day of the formal formation of the new German government, German foreign minister Heiko Maas travelled to Paris to meet with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian.



 Flash

More than one hundred thousand Slovaks, according to organizers, launched protests in several cities on Friday, demanded an early election.







A protest co-organizer said the current changes in the government aren't a major reconstruction that was previously discussed and the only way out would be a snap election.





Representatives of journalists, teachers and students made speeches, expressing mistrust against the government and the system and stressing the need for changes, including an early election. They also called for resignation of Police Corps President Tibor Gaspar and Special Prosecutor Dusan Kovacik.





The organisers said they intended to continue in the protests until major changes happen.



You are here: World

 Flash

Ten people were killed after a six-seater light plane crashed into a house in northern Philippines on Saturday, authorities said.

Police said the five people aboard the six-seater twin-engined Piper PA-23 Apache plane were all killed. Five other people, including three minors inside the house, were also killed.

The police said they had so far retrieved 10 bodies from the wreckage.

Witnesses told the police that they saw one of the plane's wings hit a 40-foot-tall power post before crashing into the house and exploded moments later.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said the plane was chartered to fly to Laoag in Ilocos Norte, a province in the northern Philippine main Luzon island, when the accident happened after 11 a.m. local time.

The CAAP said the plane was operated by Lite Air Express and all aircraft operated by Lite Air Express had been ordered grounded pending results of its crash investigation.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The number of nurses in China has grown rapidly in recent years and is expected to reach 4.45 million by 2020. However, the number of nurses per 1,000 people in the country is still far below that of developed countries. China's aging population requires more nurses. Meanwhile, the training of nurses should be tailored to people's needs, with more training needed to care for the elderly, expectant mothers and young children.

Li Xiuhua, former Chinese Nurse Association president and CPPCC National Committee member

More young people have become fans of documentary films in recent years. On popular video websites, documentary films have garnered more hits. Chinese documentaries are also winning the hearts of foreign audiences. There should be more financial support for documentary film directors.Conference will seek to boost China-Japan ties, mark 40 years of friendship document

A conference on friendly exchanges between China and Japan is being planned this year to mark the 40th anniversary of the signing of the China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship, according to a senior official for public diplomacy.

Song Jingwu, a member of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and vice-president of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, said the conference is planned to be held in Japan.Duterte takes aim at detractors as Philippines quits ICC

China Daily | Updated: 2018-03-17 07:03

MANILA - The Philippines has officially informed the United Nations of its decision to withdraw from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the country's Department of Foreign Affairs said on Friday.

In a statement released by the DFA, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said the withdrawal was formally conveyed in a verbal note handed over to Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, the chef de cabinet of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, on Thursday.

In his statement explaining Manila's decision, Cayetano pointed to what he described as the well-orchestrated campaign to mislead the international community, to crucify President Rodrigo Duterte and the Philippines by distorting the human rights situation in the country.

"Our decision to pull out of the Court is a principled stand against those who politicize and weaponize human rights," Cayetano said in the statement.

Duterte announced the decision to the ICC on Wednesday after the body launched an investigation into alleged extrajudicial killings related to Duterte's drug war.

International jurist groups and activists have criticized Duterte for what they say is an attempt to evade justice.

However, Duterte said the ICC accusations were "baseless, unprecedented and outrageous attacks".

"There appears to be a concerted effort on the part of the UN special rapporteurs to paint me as a ruthless and heartless violator of human rights who allegedly caused thousands of extrajudicial killings," Duterte said.

Cayetano said: "We are, however, confident that there is no crime or liability to speak of in the first place since our campaign against methamphetamines and other narcotics is a legitimate law enforcement operation designed to protect all Filipinos and uphold the rule of law."

Notwithstanding its withdrawal from the Rome Statute, the Philippine government affirmed its commitment to fight against impunity for atrocity crimes and said it "remains resolute in effecting its principal responsibility to ensure the long-term safety of the nation in order to promote inclusive national development and secure a decent and dignified life for all".

The Rome Statute, adopted at a diplomatic conference in Rome in 1998, is the treaty that established The Hague-headquartered ICC.

The Philippines signed the Rome Statute on Dec 28, 2000, and ratified and endorsed it in August 2011.

Xinhua

(China Daily 03/17/2018 page11)Shanxi targets manufacturing center of central and W China ( chinadaily.com.cn ) Updated: 2018-03-16

Shanxi has recently released a plan to develop itself into a manufacturing center for central and west China by the end of 2020 through transforming its local manufacturing industry into an intelligent, green and service-oriented industry.

According to the plan by Shanxi Provincial Commission of Economy and Information Technology, Shanxi set four goals for upgrading its manufacturing industry, involving innovation, quality and benefits, digitization and environmental protection.

By 2020, R&D expenditure for manufacturing companies above designated size will account for 1.3 percent of their revenues. The number of effective invention patents per 100 million yuan ($15.83 million) of main business revenues in the manufacturing industry above designated size is expected to reach 0.8.

The added value of the manufacturing industry will extend to 38 percent of industrial value above designated size, with labor productivity increasing 6.5 percent annually on average.

As for digitization, digital R&D tools will account for 68 percent of all tools and the digitization rate of key processes in manufacturing will reach 48 percent.

When it comes to green manufacturing, energy consumption per 10,000 yuan of the added value of industrial companies above designated size in 2020 will decrease 18 percent compared with that of 2015. The comprehensive utilization ratio of industrial solid waste in bulk will be 70 percent.

Shanxi will focus on boosting advanced equipment manufacturing industries, such as rail transit equipment, new energy vehicles, and coal chemical equipment, as well as furthering integration of the new generation IT industry and manufacturing industry, so as to turn itself into a vital national equipment manufacturing base.The magic returns; the strains of our music will once more ring forth. Consortium Aurora Borealis is back in action after the silence imposed on so many arts organizations by COVID-19.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.Eolane Tallinn to Open New Manufacturing Site Published: 16 March 2018 by Chelsey Drysdale by Chelsey Drysdale

TALLINN, ESTONIA  Eolanes Estonia operations is moving into a new building here, where approximately 300 new jobs are expected to be created during the next few years, according to published reports.

The new plant will increase floor space of the companys manufacturing to 11,000 sq. m. in three stages, with the first stage of 6,700 sq. m. to be commissioned in the fall.

Operations and the companys 500 Estonia staff plan to move to the new location by the end of the year.

The new site will manufacture communications equipment, LED lights for the automotive industry, and other electronics.

"The new electronics plant was born out of the practical need to keep up with the pace of orders from the auto and telecom industries," Eolane Tallinn manager Antoine Yon said. "During the past three years, our revenue more than doubled. We need a bigger plant and more people to be able to grow.

Eolane Tallinns revenue was 68 million last year, accounting for one-fifth of total group revenue.

No financial terms of the move were disclosed.Hope Jones

BEACHWOOD, Ohio -- The city is looking for a new law director as Hope Jones, who has held the position for nearly two years, has resigned to take the same position in the city of Kent.

"It's only about five minutes from where she lives," Mayor Martin Horwitz said of the main reason Jones is changing jobs. Horwitz announced Jones' decision at the March 5 City Council meeting.

At a special City Council meeting held March 12, Walter Haverfield lawyer William Hanna was approved as interim law director.

Former Beachwood law director Brian Reali brought Jones to the city as assistant law director in July 2016.

Reali resigned in June 2016 (effective in November of that year), just two weeks after the city unexpectedly put him on administrative leave. The cause of the leave was never divulged.

Jones settled in and re-shaped the city's law department after becoming interim law director upon Reali's resignation. She was named law director in December 2017.

Prior to Reali -- the city's first in-house law director -- the position was held by Margaret Cannon, with whom the city contracted through her firm, Walter Haverfield.

"There were a whole lot of complex litigation cases Hope handled for us," Horwitz said. "The biggest thing she's handled was (the formation of) our (current) Charter Review Commission.

"She re-organized our law department into a two-person department and, in doing so, reduced our law department budget by about 50 percent," he said. "She did our contract work, our union negotiations.

"She came to us from Cuyahoga Falls with a lot of experience. We're going to miss her."

Jones worked 24 years in Cuyahoga Falls as prosecutor, assistant law director and deputy law director.

"I have enjoyed my time in Beachwood," said Jones, a Franklin Township resident. "It is a wonderful community and the employees at the city are the best.

"I think my biggest accomplishment has been to bring the prosecution duties in house on a full-time basis. For many years, the city hired outside counsel to perform the prosecuting duties.

"The number of cases handled by the Beachwood Police Department have increased a great deal over the years. Having a full-time attorney (Nathalie Naso) on staff to assist the police department, respond to defense attorneys, and act as the Police Legal Advisor is invaluable," Jones said.

Horwitz said the city plans to act quickly in hiring Jones' successor.

Looking out for housing

The city's new Residential Housing Committee held its first-ever meeting March 12.

Council President Brian Linick, a member of the committee, said it was formed to respond to residents' concerns.

"We hear complaints that the housing stock is aging as the community gets older," said the six-year council member. "Homes are still expensive, but how can we help young families who have spent a lot to buy a house, but now need money to fix them? Or, how do we allow seniors to age in place?

"The committee was formed to address the needs of residents in single-family homes and to make sure our housing stock remains solid," he said.

"This is new. This committee never existed before," Linick said. "It's a standing committee, meaning it's perpetual. It's not like the Master Plan Committee that doesn't exist after its work is done."

New Councilwoman June Taylor is chairing the Residential Housing Committee. Also serving on the committee are Councilmen Justin Berns and James Pasch. Council selected one resident to serve on the committee, Karen Tindel.

"(The committee) will look at how the city can support residents in trying to improve their properties, and to better communicate with residents," Horwitz said. "One of the things we can do is bring neighbors together.

"We've done things for our residents at our community center, but the city hasn't been involved in things like block parties. It can help us celebrate the diversity of our neighborhoods. Beachwood is really a melting pot of different ethnicities and races."

Linick said the committee plans to meet on an as-needed basis.BROOK PARK, Ohio -- A Little Free Pantry could be coming to Brook Park. City Council heard details about the publicly accessed food kiosk project during its March 13 caucus.

"If a resident needs something, he or she can take what they need and leave the rest," said Councilman Richard Scott about the pole-mounted, 24-inch by 24-inch by 36-inch enclosed food cupboard.

"If there is something that would help them feed their family, it's there at no charge. It's available to anybody at any time," Scott said.

Two weatherproof Little Free Pantry units have been installed in Berea with excellent results, according to project coordinator and builder Matt Brockman. The program began five years ago, he said. Costs have ranged from $175 to $300, depending on the size and style requested.

"We started this as a project out of our back yards," Brockman explained, noting that baby food, diapers and women's toiletries are among the most sought-after items.

"We were the first in the state of Ohio to do this. After only one month, both pantries were self-sufficient," he said. "We make sure the pantries stay stocked. Our motto is, 'Give what you can, take what you need.'"

He added that no vandalism or thefts have occurred at the Berea pantries. One is installed near Berea City Hall and the other at a North Rocky River Drive church.

Scott mentioned the possibility of placing one near the Brook Park Police Department due to the presence of security cameras.

Council members, as well as Mayor Mike Gammella, offered positive comments about the project.

"I'd be ecstatic to be able to build one for the city of Brook Park and as many as you would like," Brockman said.

Council members later passed a motion that the subject was discussed.

For more information, go to Facebook page "Little Free Pantry Cleveland."CHAGRIN FALLS, Ohio -- Earth Day will arrive early this year, with a "Mother Earth" multimedia exhibition of art, music and poetry event from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, March 23, at Valley Art Center, 155 Bell St.

Featuring Chilean and American artists and musicians, the program is described as a "rare and wonderful opportunity to experience an international, multi-sensory presentation," by Mary Ann Breisch, VAC director.

A watercolor painting by Elby Huerta will be displayed in the "Mother Earth" exhibit..

The impetus of the project is the poetry of Antonio Skarmeta and Pablo Neruda, of Chile, which was set to music by composer Pamela Illanes-Tatsukota. Recordings of these compositions for chamber instruments and voice then inspired new works of visual art by Chilean artists Nina Castro de Illanes and Elby Huerta and Northeast Ohio artists Brian Jacobs, Amelia Joynes and George Kozmon.

The Friday opening is free. A sneak peek of the exhibit will be held Thursday, March 22, with Sergei Castellanos and Sarah Dixon performing live music on piano, cello and voice. A limited number of tickets are available to the preview for $15 through chagrinarts.org or 440-247-9700.

Also on display at VAC are two smaller exhibits. Pam Spremulli's graphic art depicts a variety of songbirds that correspond to the letters in "Mother Earth." Her depictions of animals, people and architecture are created using colorful, hard-edged shapes that form the various portraits.

The second display includes Mark and Kathy Simone's photos and oil paintings of South African scenes, inspired by their travels and missionary work there. Since 1998, they have created art to share their compelling experiences.

The "Mother Earth" exhibit is on display through May 2 and is free and open to the public. It is a joint project with ChagrinArts. Sponsors include the Chagrin Valley Chamber of Commerce, Council of International Programs USA, Steve and Debi Thomas, Glenn R. and Jenny G. Brown and Sherwin Williams.

Cimperman to receive Tikkun Ha'Olam Award: Joe Cimperman will be honored with Temple Emanu El's annual Max and Frieda Davis Tikkun Ha'Olam award at 6:15 p.m. Friday, April 13, during the Shabbat service. The evening begins with a 5:45 p.m. wine and cheese reception.

According to a press release from the organization, Tikkun Olam translates to "repair the world," and the Davis family and award committee choose an honoree who works to make their world a better place. It said Cimperman was chosen for his public service in the Cleveland area, his work in helping immigrants and his father's union leadership. He is currently serving as president of Global Cleveland.

Temple Emanu El is a Reform Jewish congregation. It is located at 4545 Brainard Road in Orange. Contact Andrea Rubin at 216-454-1210.

Holocaust Remembrance Day Event: An event at 7 p.m. Monday, April 9, will commemorate Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Rememberance Day, at Temple Emanu El, 4545 Brainard Road in Orange. Deborah Hurwitz, the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor and Kol Israel Foundation member, will tell her grandfather's story of courage and resilience. A dessert reception will follow the presentation. Contact Marla Wolf at mwolf@teecleve.org or 216-454-1300.

Design a poster for Blossom Time: Entries for the first commemorative Blossom Time event poster are due March 30. The public is invited to participate. The winning design will receive $250 and will be reproduced on limited edition posters and other products on sale before and during the celebration. Second place will receive $100 and third place will win $50.

Artists are encouraged to reflect the general sense of the annual event or this year's theme, "Once Upon a Time Fairy Tales." The design will be reproduced for an 11" x 14" vertical poster. Entries should not include text or lettering in their submissions.

The contest is sponsored by Chagrin Valley Jaycees, Give! Chagrin Valley Women's League, Valley Art Center and Lyndall Insurance.

To enter, upload a digital photograph of your full color design to valleyartcenter.org/poster-contest. The non-refundable entry fee is $10. For more information, contact VAC at 440-247-7507 or valleyartcenter.org.

To post your news and events, contact Rusek at jcooperrusek@gmail.com.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- In a rare moment of candor and truth telling, President David Dennison (aka Donald J. Trump) boasted to a fundraising crowd that he lied to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and didn't know what he was talking about.

For Republican donors in Missouri, President Dennison recalled a conversation he had with Trudeau about trade.

"Nice guy, good-looking guy, comes in -'Donald, we have no trade deficit.' He's very proud because everybody else, you know, were getting killed. I said 'You're wrong.' You know why? Because we're so stupid... And I thought they where smart. I said, 'You're wrong. Justin.' He said,'Nope, we have no trade deficit.' I said, "Well, in that case, I feel differently,' I said, but I don't believe it.' I sent one of our guys out, his guy,my guy, they went out, I said, Check, because I can't believe it." 'Well sir, you're actually right. We have no deficit, but that doesn't included energy and timber. ... And when you do, we lose $17 billion a year.' It's incredible."

What's incredible is that we have a president who talks about renegotiating NAFTA when he doesn't even know our trade status with Canada.

The U.S. has a trade surplus with Canada, not a trade deficit, according to the Office of the United States Trade Representative. It reported that in 2016 the U.S, exported $12.5 billion in more in trade than it imported from Canada. And NAFTA is credited for contributing to that U.S. trade surplus.

Since Trump truth doesn't allow for trade office facts getting in the way of alternative facts, Trump doubled down on his fib in a follow up tweet.

"We do have a Trade Deficit with Canada, as we do with almost all countries ( some of them massive). P.M. Justin Trudeau of Canada, a very good guy, doesn't like saying that Canada has a Surplus vs. the U.S. (negotiating), but they do... they almost all do... and that's how I know!"

There some question about whether the conversation between Trump and Trudeau even took place, or is a lie itself. In response to Trump's story, Canada wondered what meeting he was talking about, or if it had been a phone conversation. The entire conversation could have been a figment of President Dennison's imagination.

During her Congressional testimony, Hope Hicks acknowledged she sometimes told 'white lies.' Working for Dennison-Trump, it's understandable why 'white lies' were just part of the job.

The only reason Liar Liar Trump's pants aren't on fire all the time is because they're clearly flame retardant.

If only we could get Canada to trade Trudeau for Trump.Update: D'Quai Hemchak was found safe by authorities just before 8:45 p.m. His mother, Jennifer Ann Hemchack, has been arrested, multiple reports say.

SANDUSKY, Ohio -- The Erie County Sheriff's Office AMBER Alert was issued for a 4-year-old boy who was abducted by his mother Friday afternoon, reports say.

D'Quai Hemchak was "forcibly removed" just before 5 p.m. from a vehicle at 1516 Prospect Street in Sandusky by Jennifer Ann Hemchack, News 5 reported. Jennifer is D'Quai's noncustodial mother, the television said.

The boy is considered to be in "imminent danger," WKYC reported.

Calls and messages left for the Erie County Sheriff's Office were not immediately returned.

Authorities described D'Quai as being a 3-feet tall, black male who weighs between 30 and 35 pounds with black hair and brown eyes, Fox 8 reported. D'Quai wears earrings in both ears along and as one band aid on each leg. He was last seen wearing blue Nike sweat pants and a gray T-shirt with an emoji face on it, multiple reports say.

Jennifer was last seen wearing a dark colored jacket. She may be driving a white 2015 Hyundai Sonata with Florida license plate IWUM23.

Anyone having any information should call the Erie County Sheriffs Office at 419-625-7951.

To comment on this story, please visit our crime and courts comments page.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Defense attorneys for five Cleveland police supervisors charged in connection with the fatal shootings of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams say East Cleveland offered to drop their charges if they each paid $5,000, Fox 8 reports.

The supervisors could still go on trial on dereliction of duty charges, but Law Director Willa Hemmons made the offer to drop the charges if they paid that, the TV reports. Lawyer Henry Hilow told FOX 8 the offer was made to him twice.

"And there's no basis for it in law, no basis for a practicing attorney. In fact, to a lay person, this would be extortion," he told the station.

East Cleveland Mayor Brandon King told the station he was aware of it, but waited to comment until the law director was with him.

A letter from Hemmons says she intends to prosecute, but the city also looked to "mitigate charges," the station reports.

Hemmons responded to Fox 8 a day later and said, "I mean, if that's the way you want to characterize it, you can, but I think it's been grossly distorted."

The maximum fine, if the supervisors are convicted, is $1,000, the station reports, but the city is asking for $5,000. Fox 8 obtained letters sent by the attorneys which state, "forget it."

Cleveland State University Law Professor Jonathan Witmer-Rich told the station that it's common for prosecutors to work out restitution payments if someone is going through a first offenders program. But, he added this situation is "much more unusual," the station reports.

The Nov. 29, 2012 chase started near the Justice Center and ended in a middle school parking lot in East Cleveland.

The chase started when an officer thought he heard a gunshot near the Justice Center. Prosecutors said during former police officer Michael Brelo's trial that the car backfired.

The chase ended at Heritage Middle School. Officers followed the car into the school parking lot and blocked the exit. The car almost hit an officer who was standing outside his cruiser and shots were fired, according to police.

Thirteen officers fired a total of 137 shots at a Chevrolet Malibu and killed Russell and Williams.

Michael Brelo is the only officer brought to trial to date. He was acquitted in May 2015 of two counts of involuntary manslaughter.

The city handed down discipline to supervisors and officers involved in the case. Brelo was fired.

The supervisors were terminated but got their jobs reinstated through arbitration and other disciplinary actions against supervisors were lessened or rescinded.

If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Saturday's crime and courts comments section.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- One person is injured after a shooting outside Beachwood Place, police say.

The shooting happened about 3 p.m. near Saks Fifth Avenue at Cedar and Richmond roads, Beachwood police Chief Gary Haba said.

One person is in custody and preliminary indications show that the shooter and the victim knew each other. Police say as far as they know there is one victim.

There may have been a secondary incident that happened, but police are still investigating what happened.

Multiple agencies remain on scene as of 6 p.m. The situation is under control and police are going store to store to make sure everything is OK, according to Haba.

The mall is currently shutdown and police are not sure if it will open back up for the rest of the day. Everyone that police knew were in the mall have been accounted for.

Beachwood Place spokeswoman Marissa Ellenby replied in an email that the event today is "an ongoing investigation and all queries should be directed to the Beachwood PD."

Lakewood resident Laura Cowan had finished up shopping with her daughter and was walking through Saks Fifth Avenue to get to their car when an associate ran towards them yelling, "shooter, shooter, shooter."

Cowan and her daughter ran back into the mall area ducked into LUSH Cosmetics. An employee pulled down the security gate and they all hunkered down in the storage room, Cowan said.

Police arrived about 20 to 25 minutes later to let them know it was safe to go.

"My heart was pounding," she said in a phone interview with cleveland.com. "My reaction was to run. It was so scary. It was terrible. We knew something was happening, but didn't know what."

Beachwood police Chief Gary Haba gives update on Beachwood Place lockdown Posted by cleveland.com on Saturday, March 17, 2018

If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Saturday's crime and courts comments section.A gigantic pop-art hammock belongs on the Statehouse's lawn - to commemorate the General Assembly's relaxed attitude toward protecting Ohioans' rights and wallets.

A year ago, on March 28, Rep. Nickie Antonio, a Lakewood Democrat, introduced House Bill 160, to ban discrimination based on gender and sexual identity in employment, housing and public accommodation. (In 2011, Republican Gov. John Kasich, by executive order, banned discrimination in state employment based on sexual orientation, though not on the basis of gender identity.)

The U.S. Supreme Court's 2015 Obergefell decision protected a person's right to enter into a same-sex marriage. But it was silent on other sexual- or gender-identity-based discrimination.

Since 1975, however, when Minneapolis became the first place to enact one, a score of states (but not Ohio) have passed laws prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, according to the testimony that Sarah Warbelow, legal director of the Human Rights Campaign, provided Jan. 30 to the Ohio House's Government Oversight and Accountability Committee.

So have Cleveland, Columbus and Dayton, among other Ohio cities and villages, according to committee testimony by the Ohio Chamber of Commerce's Don Boyd. The chamber supports HB 160.

So do the Greater Cleveland Partnership and the Columbus Chamber of Commerce, among the vast number of employers and groups that back Antonio's bill. "The business community is saying it's long past time for this legislation to pass," Antonio said Friday.

During its 2009-2010 session, the Ohio House (then 53-46 Democratic) passed Amended Substitute House Bill 176, a similar anti-discrimination bill, sponsored by then-Reps. Dan Stewart, a Columbus Democrat, and Ross McGregor, a Springfield Republican. The bill died in the GOP-led Senate.

It took the Stewart-McGregor bill four months to reach the House floor. It's been almost 12 months since Antonio introduced hers. Antonio said that, given feedback from fellow legislators and the business community, she's optimistic about HB 160's eventual passage.

Also pending is House Bill 123, introduced a year ago by Reps. Kyle Koehler, a Springfield Republican, and Michael Ashford, a Toledo Democrat, to rein in Ohio's insatiable payday lenders. (The House's No. 2 Republican, Rep. Kirk Schuring, of suburban Canton, said he's working to fashion a compromise payday bill, which Schuring said could surface soon.)

Ohio payday loans have a typical APR of 591 percent, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts.

HB 123 would reduce payday lenders' profit margins from "grotesque" to "still very ample" - that is, payday lenders, bellyaching aside, could still profitably lend to last-resort Ohio borrowers.

In 1995, legislators first agreed to let lenders make payday loans in Ohio. That bill passed in nine weeks. The Senate OK'd it 32-0. Among those voting "yes" was then-state Sen. Dennis Kucinich, a Cleveland Democrat now running for governor. When the House passed 1995's bill 92-7, among those voting "yes" was then-state Rep. Betty Sutton, a suburban Akron Democrat, today the running mate of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Richard Cordray.

Maybe Schuring can pull a rabbit out of his hat to help pass payday loan reform. Meanwhile, though, ignore Statehouse pieties about "process." Lenders, who can be campaign donors, surely like the status quo. And the last thing House GOP insiders may want before May 8's primary - which could help determine who'll become House speaker in 2019 - is a House vote on Antonio's pro-fairness bill, which someone might demagogue as pro-gay.

Still, whether before or after an election, if the House's speaker - Democrat Vern Riffe (1975-1994); Republican Jo Ann Davidson (1995-2000); and now Republican Clifford Rosenberger - wants a bill to reach the House floor, it will. So, as to Antonio's anti-discrimination bill, and Koehler's payday lending bill: Your move, Mr. Speaker.

Thomas Suddes, a member of the editorial board, writes from Athens.

To reach Thomas Suddes: tsuddes@cleveland.com, 216-999-4689

Have something to say about this topic? Use the comments to share your thoughts. Then, stay informed when readers reply to your comments by using the "Follow" option at the top of the comments, and look for updates via the small blue bell in the lower right as you look at more stories on cleveland.com.Westlake police are seeking a suspect in a theft from the Aldi's grocery store.

WESTLAKE, Ohio - Theft, Detroit Road: A manager from Aldi's grocery contacted police March 11 to report a theft.

The manager said a man entered the store and bought a 12-pack of soda. As the cashier opened her drawer to make change, the man grabbed cash out of the drawer and took off on foot.

Police said the suspect was about 28 years old and 6-foot-1. He wore a tan jacket and dark hoodie. He was last seen on foot heading toward Bradley Road. No vehicle was observed.

Police ask anyone recognizing the man in the surveillance photo to contact the Westlake Police Department at 440-871-3311.

Impaired driving, Schwartz Road: Westlake police received a report about 4:40 p.m. March 9 about a vehicle stopped at a traffic signal at Schwartz and Center Ridge roads.

The car had not moved through several cycles of the light, and the driver appeared to be passed out behind the wheel. The driver woke up, but was disoriented and showed signs of intoxication.

Officers gave the 24-year-old Seven Hills man a field sobriety test and then arrested him for operating a vehicle while impaired. He later submitted to a breath test, and officers found his blood alcohol level was more than 1.5 times the legal limit.

Marijuana possession, Clemens Road: Police officers on March 10 went to check on a suspicious vehicle in the parking lot of a Clemens Road motel.

Police found three people inside the car, and it smelled of marijuana. Officers discovered one of the three occupants, a 32-year-old from Massachusetts, had marijuana. Police charged him with possession.

Police checked two hotel rooms associated with the men in the car. They recovered $50,000 cash from one of the rooms. Officers are continuing to investigate.

Marijuana and paraphernalia possession, West Melrose Drive: A resident called police about 5 p.m. March 13 regarding a suspicious occupied vehicle parked on the street. Two young people occupied the car, which smelled of marijuana.

The 19-year-old driver, from Rocky River, admitted sole ownership of the suspected marijuana and drug paraphernalia found in the car. The paraphernalia was an apple fashioned with holes to smoke marijuana.

Police arrested the man and booked him into the Westlake jail. During booking, officers found a fictitious West Virginia identification card. The fake ID indicated that the man was 21 years old. This brought an additional charge for certain license acts prohibited.

False information, Clague Park: An officer found a car parked in an isolated area of Clague Park about 12:40 a.m. March 16.

Two young adults were in the car. The man gave the officer a name and date of birth in 1998. As these identifiers could not be confirmed through normal police database checks, the officer did a bit more digging. The suspect finally admitted his true identity and officers confirmed that he was from North Olmsted and was born in 1996. He also had an active warrant out of Westlake for misidentification as well as a warrant out of Orrville for assault.

Police arrested him on a new charge of providing false information, as well as on the warrants. Police warned both parties against being in the park after the posted hours.

If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Saturday's crime and courts comments section.Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili.

New York-based designer Jason Wu on what its like to dress Meghan Markle

MEGHAN Markle is fast becoming a modern style icon, with every fashion choice she makes scrutinised around the world.

Everything she wears instantly sells out and she is able to catapult smaller labels, unheard of in some parts of the globe, into international success stories.

Thats exactly what happened to New York-based designer Jason Wu when Ms Markle wore one of his designs during the first annual Royal Foundation Forum in London last month.

The $2375 belted satin wrap dress sold out on Net-A-Porter and his brand made headlines around the world.

When somebody like Meghan wears something of mine, the brand is instantly exposed to every corner of the globe and all eyes are on her. Its really incredible, Mr Wu told news.com.au during a visit to Sydney to promote his new fragrance.

Mr Wu frequently dresses high profile women. He designed several gowns for former US First Lady Michelle Obama, including the dress she wore with husband Barack Obama at the 2009 Inauguration Ball.

The iconic white gown is now housed at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.

Read more at:vintage bridesmaid dresses uk | grey bridesmaid dresses ukWendy Craig (pictured), 83, has lived in her Berkshire cottage for ten years

1 LIGHT OF MY LIFE

Ive lived in this cottage for ten years, after selling our family home nearby. My husband Jack Bentley, pictured as a young man, had this trombone made into a standard lamp. We were married for nearly 40 years until he died in 1994 aged 81. Losing him was devastating.

He was trained in the Army as a musician and when I met him he was a professional trombonist playing with Ted Heaths band. He later worked as a journalist and script-writer. He passed on his musical talent to our son Alaster, who is a professional oboeist with The Royal Ballet Sinfonia.

2 FUNNY FRIEND

Timmy Mallett gave me this painting for my birthday about six years ago and I love it. Hes known as a comical childrens TV presenter but, like most comedians hes serious and thoughtful, and hes a wonderful painter too.

He and his Australian wife Lynda live in our village and were great friends. He painted this image from The Railway Children, a film I really love, because he was touched by it too. He got all the main cast to sign it, including Bernard Cribbins and Jenny Agutter.

3 PAWTRAIT

This is a portrait of my first English setter, called Tallis after the 16th-century composer Thomas Tallis. I had him for 15 years and I loved him to bits. About a year after he died a car arrived at home, and in the back was a pup Jack had bought for me  another English setter.

We named him Tallis 2 and he was just as lovely, though sadly he passed on too after about 15 years. They were the most glorious companions  silky coated, sweet-natured, cuddly and rather silly.

Wendy treasures this picture of her husband Jack Bentley (pictured as a young man)

4 MUM'S BEST FRIEND

My mother, Anne, who died in 1995, loved to go to auctions. She bought this pottery dog at one, and called him Bonzo.

When she was on her own, after my father died, she used to put Bonzo at the bottom of the stairs as she thought he might frighten burglars away. I grew up with him, and used to sit on his back and ride him like a horse. I inherited him and he reminds me of wonderful parents and a happy childhood.

5 WOOLLY JUMPER

I have a very loyal fan base. This bunny was a gift from an American fan who Ive been corresponding with for a long time. Love Is Like A Butterfly  the theme song from my BBC2 comedy series Butterflies, which ran from 1978-83  is embroidered on the bunnys jumper.

When they first showed Butterflies in the US this fan loved it so much he came all the way to the UK to meet me. Im so grateful to my fans and think of them as friends.

6 WE ARE FAMILY

This family photo was taken on my 75th birthday. My sons Alaster and Ross live within easy distance, and I have six grandchildren and four greatgrandchildren in total. The cottage is a wonderful place to have my family around. Every Wednesday we take it in turns to meet for lunch at one of our houses. Its an open day. Whoever is free  big ones and little ones  can join us. I look forward to Wednesdays every week.

As told to Yvonne Swann. Wendy stars in the second series of CBBCs hit drama series The Worst Witch on Mondays at 5pm.Amanda Redman always feels fit as a fiddle while filming The Good Karma Hospital in Sri Lanka. And she's sure it's all thanks to one particular daily habit  eating like the locals.

'We have both Western catering and Sri Lankan catering on set,' explains Amanda, 60. 'Everybody who eats the Western food has tummy troubles, and those of us who stick with the Sri Lankan stuff don't. The red rice and dhal they serve are just so delicious and spicy.'

As we chat, Amanda is practising what she preaches. We're having lunch al fresco near the drama's hospital set in Unawatuna, a coastal town in the country's south, at tables arranged under a flimsy tarpaulin that does little to shield us from the scorching sun and oppressive humidity.

Surrounded by Sri Lankan crew members eating with their hands, Amanda is the only cast member here, and is enthusiastically ingesting forkfuls of eye-wateringly spicy curry. She hasn't gone the whole hog of eating without cutlery, she says, for fear her fellow actors won't appreciate the aroma lingering on her hands.

The Good Karma Hospital (cast pictured) is set to return to screens this week. Amanda Redman who stars as Dr Lydia Fonseca revealed the direction of the new series

ITV's Sunday-night feel-good medical drama, which returns for a second series tomorrow, was a big hit last winter. An average of nearly seven million viewers were drawn to its weekly tales of medical derring-do at a dilapidated cottage hospital in the fictional town of Barco in Kerala, India. The show couldn't actually be filmed in India because of the timing of the monsoon season, but Sri Lanka offered the same alluring sun-soaked vistas, beautiful palm-fringed beaches and lush vegetation.

At the heart of the hospital is Amanda's character, the formidable Dr Lydia Fonseca, a no-nonsense British surgeon who emigrated to Kerala decades ago and never left. The hospital is her passion, although she reserves some for her boyfriend, Greg McConnell, an expat beach bar owner played by Men Behaving Badly's Neil Morrissey.

Amanda turned down all other acting offers between series one and two of Good Karma, refusing 'to play somebody's wife in an inferior drama', as she says. But she is in raptures about Lydia, a character written with her in mind by creator Dan Sefton, a real-life A&E doctor who also writes Sky One's relationship drama Delicious and Trust Me, last year's BBC1 thriller starring Jodie Whittaker.

'I knew a Lydia-type during my doctor's training at Guy's Hospital,' says Dan. 'She was an obstetrician, and when mothers were still treated with kid gloves and asked about their birth plans, she'd be like, 'No, no, no, we're doing this instead.' And people loved it! They felt relaxed because they were being told what to do.'

Amanda says no real acting is required to play Lydia. 'I love her lust for life. She's warm but she has no filter, and I can be a bit like that. And she's comfortable in her own skin. There's no nodding to her age  she behaves like, 'Yeah, I still have sex. Yeah, I still have the hots for my boyfriend.' It's not something we see a lot of.'

Shortly after she returned to Sri Lanka to film the second series, it was Amanda's 60th birthday. Did the cast and crew throw a surprise party when she arrived on set that morning, with a loud rendition of Happy Birthday? 'They didn't dare!' she says with a laugh.

'I told them they were not even to refer to it. But at the end of the day they did bring in a cake and sing in the foyer of the hospital. The good thing about that birthday was that my husband was visiting.' Amanda's husband, Damian Schnabel, a businessman, helped her celebrate with dinner out at a hilltop hotel and a gift of diamond earrings.

Dr Ruby (pictured left in the new series) continues to receive advice from Lydia in the new series after she receives contact from a family member she's never known

She also had a visit on set from her daughter Emily, from her marriage to Hustle's Robert Glenister, and Emily's boyfriend Harry Carnegie ended up being given a role as a tourist who's been injured by a ceiling fan.

That little medical emergency takes place in episode one of the new series, and is one of many crises Lydia and her colleagues must tackle, including treating patients injured when a building collapses. But the backbone of the show remains the surrogate mother/daughter relationship between Lydia and young Anglo-Indian doctor Ruby Walker (Amrita Acharia), who left the UK after her relationship broke down and took a job in India, where she was a fish out of water.

In the first series Lydia helped the vulnerable Ruby find her feet and her confidence in her medical skills at the understaffed and underfunded hospital. This time around, Lydia's still offering advice, as Ruby faces personal turmoil when a member of the Indian side of her family  who she's never known  gets in touch.

I love Lydia's lust for life. She has no filter. Like me

'She's made the decision that this is where she belongs, but why she belongs here is what this series is about,' explains Amrita, who previously played the Dothraki handmaiden Irri in Game Of Thrones.

'She's more comfortable now. She's living in a flat in town and hops on her motorbike to work. But she was brought up by a British mother and has very little knowledge of her Indian father and why he left. Now Ruby's heritage is catching up with her.'

There's also the simmering sexual tension between handsome Indian surgeon Gabriel Varma (James Krishna Floyd) and Ruby. Their relationship has a smouldering will-they-won't-they chemistry that provides the show's romantic element, alongside the fiery relationship of Lydia and Greg.

So will either of these couples be taking their relationship further this season? It's known that someone's getting married, as costume designer Eleanor Baker, whose job it is to clothe the principles as well as up to 300 extras a day, travelled to Mumbai to source sarees for a big Indian wedding  but no one's telling which characters are involved.

Lydia's boyfriend Greg (pictured) shows another side in the new series by offering philosophy

Good Karma lost a major character last series when Phyllis Logan's Maggie Smart died in the final episode, but it was decided not to replace her so that the regulars could get more airtime. Neil Morrissey's jaunty bar man Greg McConnell, in particular, proves he can do more than pull pints by providing a shoulder to cry on for Maggie's widower, Paul Smart (Phillip Jackson).

'Normally Greg's the bar philosopher, but we're tapping into Greg the grief counsellor,' says Neil, 55. 'This is a different role for him and it affects him. It's exciting and challenging for me to peel away new layers of the onion as it were.'

He was grateful for any scenes at Greg's idyllic bar  a set built on Unawatuna's bustling tourist beach  because it is cooled by sea breezes off the Indian Ocean. The hospital set, a teacher training college taken over during filming, is a few hundred metres inland, where temperatures soar to 40C in the un-air-conditioned 'wards' when they're full of hot lights and swarming with actors, extras and cameramen.

The charming, if rundown, building is stifling inside. 'We barely wear any make-up because it would just run off us,' says Amanda. 'I've learned that the best way to keep cool is to remain as still as I possibly can in between scenes. After they yell 'Cut!' I usually just sit quietly in Lydia's office with a fan on me.'

The fan also helps shoo away the mosquitoes that Amanda says eat her alive. 'But don't feel sorry for any of us,' she laughs. 'Don't forget that on our days off, we're learning our lines sitting on the beach!'

The Good Karma Hospital returns tomorrow at 9pm on ITV.A little over a week ago, a gorgeous bundle of white fluff emerged for its first photo opportunity, in front of an adoring nation. The cub  it is unclear what sex it is yet  is the first polar bear born in Britain for 25 years and, as a new Channel 4 documentary shows, it has been quite a tortuous journey.

Polar bear pregnancy is a tricky affair, but zoos are determined to learn more  as the polar ice caps melt and food grows scarce, the number of wild bears is decreasing.

Their environment is disappearing under their feet, says Douglas Richardson of the Highland Wildlife Park in Kincraig, Scotland, where the cub was born. And its likely to see them vanishing in some regions.

Victoria (pictured) gave birth to her cub last December. A new documentary reveals how the story of the first poplar bear born in Britain in 25 years

Victoria, the 22-year-old mother, was brought to the park to mate after having successfully given birth at a Denmark zoo. The first pregnancy attempt in Scotland started in the spring of 2016 with the introduction of Arktos, a now nine-year-old male. He was immediately taken by Victoria, making strange noises  the polar equivalent of, Well, youre pretty, while Victoria wafted her scent in his direction. All went swimmingly when, after four days of flirting, they were allowed into the same enclosure. And they mated a lot.

In the Arctic wilderness pairings last just a few days, so after a brief encounter the pair were separated. The signs of success were good. Victorias appetite increased and within a few months she had piled on 200kg (440lb).

Polar bear mums must gain enough weight during autumn for their pregnancy to succeed  the fertilised eggs dont develop for a few months and only implant in the womb if the mother has enough fat to nourish her cub after birth around four months later, while she fasts.

There was no way to know for sure if Victoria was pregnant newborn polar bears are the size of guinea pigs so there is no bump  but she certainly looked bigger.

In the wild, female bears build complex dens under the snow to keep their cubs warm. The zoo created a wooden den only for Victoria to reject it. Once they made it a little larger, though, she was happy and spent most of her time in there, sleeping.

The cameras were waiting. The zookeepers expected to hear the newborns cry. And the clock ticked as the normal time for a polar bear to give birth rapidly disappeared. Nothing happened; something the keepers are still struggling to understand. But next spring they introduced the pair again and hoped for the best.

Arktos (pictured) is the father of the new cub born at Highland Wildlife Park in Kincraig, Scotland

There were fewer signs of pregnancy after this second meeting but the cameras were still set up in preparation. Unfortunately, Victoria kicked over the one in her den and vision was lost. Then last year, on 18 December, Victorias zookeeper Vickie Larkin heard the noise she was waiting for.

I couldnt see her and that was a bit unusual, because shes normally out waiting for us when we arrive, she recalls. I didnt think any more about it but I went closer and I heard what sounded like a human baby. I know what polar bear cubs sound like because Ive listened and listened to them in the hope of hearing one for real, and I managed to get a recording. I cant tell you how much I didnt think it was going to happen so it was one of the most exciting moments of my zookeeping career.

Just under three months later, the little cub the zoo had worked so hard to produce made its debut appearance. It will never know how much it was anticipated but it was certainly worth the wait.

Britains Polar Bear Cub is on tomorrow at 7pm on Channel 4.To celebrate 55 years of marriage, a loving couple has recreated the night they first met at Steak 'n Shake in 1962 as part of a stunning shoot orchestrated by their granddaughter.

Courtney Stepp, a photographer from O'Fallon, Missouri, paid tribute to her grandparents Fran and Elmer's eternal love with a series of photos inspired by the first meeting, explaining on her blog that they are proof that 'true love can last.'

'I thought to myself, what do they like? Where do they love to travel to? What is there favorite thing to do together? Than it dawned on me,' she writes in the post, 'let's recreate a date where they first met.'

Too cute: Fran and Elmer celebrated nearly 55 years of marriage by recreating their first meeting in 1962

Looking back: The couple met at a Steak 'n Shake when they were in high school

Throwback: Elmer actually ended up asking Fran's friend out on a date, but when she declined, he called her and asked her out

Courtney, who lovingly refers to her grandparents as 'mama and papa,' had her grandmother write down everything she could remember about their first meeting, which took place more than 50 years ago.

She was stunned when her grandmother gave her a detailed description of their first encounter, including the exact month it took place.

'I first met my husband Elmer on a chilly rainy day in March of 1962. We met at the Rock Road Steak 'n Shake which is no longer there. Steak 'n Shake was a place where teenagers would meet, hang out and have fun,' Fran writes.

She recalls how she and a friend were sitting in a car, waiting to meet other people, when Elmer tried to get her attention by telling her that her windshield wipers were squeaking.

Brilliant idea: The heartwarming photo shoot was orchestrated by their granddaughter Courtney Stepp

Cheers: Fran and Elmer were all smiles as they shared burgers together

Now that's love: Fran was photographed feeding her husband of five decades french fries

Adorable: The loving couple even cuddled up for a sweet kiss during the shoot

'No kidding,' Fran replied before rolling up her windows. However, Elmer ended up knowing one of her friends from high school and hopped in the car with them.

He later asked Fran's friend out on a date, but after she turned him down, he called her and asked her out.

'I was annoyed and was unsure about this Elmer guy, but I gave him a chance and said, "Okay why not,"' she recalls.

For their first date, the went to a downtown movie theater, and Fran admits that Elmer actually slept through the entire film.

Still got it: Fran and Elmer both had smiles on their faces as they shared a milkshake

Good decision: Fran admits that she was annoyed that Elmer asked her friend out first, but she decided to give him a chance

Look at them now: On their first date, Elmer took Fran to see a movie, but he ended up falling asleep in the theater

Something their: The two kept dating, and they continued to hang out at the Rock Road Steak 'n Shake, which has since closed

Smitten: Elmer had a bright smile on his face while holding hands with his wife

Memories: Fran's emerald-cut diamond engagement ring was on full display

The two kept dating, and they would hang out at a drag strip known as the Alton drags, and, of course, go to the Steak 'n Shake.

Fran and Elmer surprised their parents and friends by getting getting after three months of dating.

'A year later, on a beautiful windy summer day in June, we were married,' Fran explains. 'June 22, [2018] will mark 55 years of marriage, hard to believe that it is 55 years!

'We are lucky to have two wonderful children and four terrific grandchildren' she adds.

Looking back: Fran and Elmer are pictured enjoying their first few dates at the The Fox theater in Saint Louis in 1962

Eternal love: The two got engaged after just three months of dating, and they said 'I do' on June 22, 1963

Growing together: Fray says the key to everlasting love is sticking together through the hard times and respecting one another

Fran goes on to note that the key to making love last this long is sticking together through the hard times, respecting one another, and remembering that 'tomorrow will be another day.'

In one heartwarming image from the shoot, the couple is posing in front of a Steak 'n Shake while Fran is holding a bouquet of flowers in her hand.

Inside shots show them eat burgers, sharing a strawberry milkshake, and sharing a sweet kiss.

At the end of her post, Courtney included photos of her grandparents on their first few dates at The Fox theater in Saint Louis.Prince Harry always has been something of a romantic, publicly lamenting his difficulties in finding lasting love

Prince Harry always has been something of a romantic, publicly lamenting his difficulties in finding lasting love.

Now hes engaged to Meghan Markle, the 33-year-old has made the most dramatic sign of his devotion: I hear that Harry has rejected signing a prenuptial agreement to safeguard his estimated 30 million fortune.

There was never any question in Harrys mind that he would sign a prenup, one of his friends tells me. Hes determined that his marriage will be a lasting one, so theres no need for him to sign anything.

The disclosure follows persistent rumours that courtiers wanted Harry to safeguard his chunk of the Windsor millions. Meghan divorced her first husband, American film producer Trevor Engelson, after two years.

Last week, well-connected broadsheet columnist Sophia Money-Coutts reported whispers that a prenup was being drawn up. Both Harry and Meghan have assets to protect, the barons daughter remarked. Given divorce rates, its worth couples having a frank discussion about what each is bringing to the party before signing that marriage register.

Prenups are not legally enforceable in the UK, but are increasingly taken into account during divorce cases.

Harry was handed 10 million of the inheritance from his mother, Princess Diana, when he turned 30. He is said to have another 20 million of assets. Meghan, 36, has amassed an estimated 4 million fortune from her successful acting career.

Now hes engaged to Meghan Markle, the 33-year-old has made the most dramatic sign of his devotion: I hear that Harry has rejected signing a prenuptial agreement to safeguard his estimated 30 million fortune

Harry would be following the example of his brother, Prince William, who rejected a prenup before tying the knot with Kate Middleton.

Their mother, who also didnt have such an agreement, had to fight hard to win a divorce settlement of 17 million from Prince Charles in 1996, as well as 400,000 per year.

The Duchess of York fared worse, claiming she received only 15,000 a year from her 1996 settlement with Prince Andrew. However, officials later insisted she had been given a 3 million lump sum.

A Kensington Palace spokesman declined to comment on the private matter.

Anne and the 50 Shades hunk

Despite her slightly severe public image, Princess Anne has a racy streak in private. So no doubt it was her idea to spice up the Cheltenham Festival yesterday by inviting Fifty Shades Of Grey star Jamie Dornan to join her hospitality box.

Dornan cut a dash in a grey suit while his actress wife, Amelia Warner, sported a 525 AlexaChung blazer.

Adding further piquancy was Annes former boyfriend Andrew Parker Bowles. The pair enjoyed a red-hot romance in the Seventies until he called it off by announcing he was going to marry a girl called Camilla. Annes daughter, Zara Tindall, and her son and daughter-in-law, Peter and Autumn Phillips, completed the unlikely line-up.

Despite her slightly severe public image, Princess Anne has a racy streak in private. So no doubt it was her idea to spice up the Cheltenham Festival yesterday by inviting Fifty Shades Of Grey star Jamie Dornan to join her hospitality box

Autumn Phillips and Amelia Warner attend the third day of The Cheltenham Festival 2018

Why BBCs John Simpson could be at royal wedding

Could the BBCs world affairs editor John Simpson be an unlikely royal wedding guest? I ask only because his sister-in-law, Gina Kruger, used to be Meghan Markles agent.

Gina has shared this picture of herself sipping cocktails on a beach holiday with the American former actress. If Simpson, 73, who is married to Ginas sister Dee, 54, is not invited to St Georges Chapel, Windsor, perhaps he should sneak in? After all, one of his claims to fame is that he entered Taliban-controlled Afghanistan before the U.S.-led attack in 2001, disguised in a burka.Marc Jacobs and his boyfriend have just returned from a busy few weeks of Fashion Month fun in Paris and London - but if the happy couple is suffering from any jet lag as a result of their trip, they certainly didn't show it as they stepped out at a glittering fragrance event in New York on Thursday.

Designer Marc, 54, and candlemaker Char Defrancesco looked every inch the fashion power couple as they stepped out at the Diptyque fragrance boutique pop-up launch in Soho, with men modeling very stylish winter ensembles.

Marc wrapped up against the chilly March weather in a bright blue puffer coat with a large collar, which he wore over a pair of simple black trousers and a matching shirt.

Night out! Marc Jacobs and his candlemaker boyfriend Char Defrancesco attended the launch of Diptyque's new fragrance boutique pop-up in New York City on Thursday night

Cozy! The 54-year-old designer and his beau looked comfortable and colorful in their brightly-colored winter ensembles

Relax: Marc was pictured holding a gold vape pen throughout the evening as he mingled with his fellow guests

Smile! The star-studded event was held in celebration of the brand's 50th anniversary, which it is honoring with its first ever personal fragrance-focused store

Char, meanwhile, wore a pale pink bomber jacket over a bright yellow shirt and faded black jeans, accessorizing with a Balenciaga scarf.

The men both finished off their looks with white sneakers; Marc opted for a pair of low-key Adidas Stan Smiths, while his beau went for a slightly higher-end design in the form of the Balenciaga Triple S style.

Marc was also pictured carrying around a gold vape pen in one hand throughout the evening as he mingled with his fellow guests, who included the likes of Gossip Girl star Kelly Rutherford, 49, actor Aaron Yoo, director Florence Kosky, and photographer and musician Eric Christian.

Actress Kelly looked chic in a low-key ensemble of jeans, black over-the-knee Stuart Weitzman boots, and a black coat; she also wore a black Hermes handbag across her body.

Opting for a pared-down makeup look, Kelly wore her blonde hair in a natural style around her shoulders.

The start-studded crowd spent the evening celebrating the 50th anniversary of fragrance brand Diptyque at the company's first personal fragrance-focused pop-up boutique, which honors its heritage and evolution through a series of interactive sensory shopping experiences.

Jet setters: Marc and Char just returned from a trip to Paris and London, where they enjoyed a series of Fashion Month events, as well as taking the chance to see some of the sights

Fashion fans: The designer shared his excitement about the trip on his Instagram account, gushing about how much fun he had while traveling with Char

High fliers: Marc and Char regularly travel together, ringing in the New Year in St Barts (left)

Guests were invited to wander through a fragrance maze and discover the brand's newest scents - Tempo and Fleur de Peau - and were also given the chance to get to know Diptyque's entire family of fragrances at an interactive bar which detailed each one's raw materials.

Marc and Char's attendance at the sensory event comes jut a few days after their return from Europe, where they spent a few weeks soaking up a series of Fashion Month events.

Both men documented their travels extensively on Instagram, sharing candid snaps during their private jet trips, while in airports, and at events.

And before returning back to New York, Marc took to his account to share a heartfelt post about his getaway, along with an image of himself and Char apparently waiting to board their flight home.

'Time to go home!' Marc captioned the snap, which shows him sleeping inside his blue puffer jacket.

'We had a great time in Paris and London.... Actually, the trip to Paris was for work (believe it or not). I went for the #soshameless launch and press day for @marcbeauty and a few work meetings @LVMH.

A-list attendees: Gossip Girl star Kelly Rutherford also stepped out at the event, looking chic in a laid-back ensemble

Keeping it cool: The 49-year-old actress wore an Hermes handbag over her black coat

Testing, testing: Kelly was pictured testing scents at the interactive bar, where guests were able to break down each fragrance and experience each of its raw ingredients

Night on the town: The event was also attended by a host of influencers and artists, including fashion blogger Julia Friedman (left) and photographer and musician Eric Christian (center)

Colorful: Diptyque's pop-up features a bright and bold exterior

'The most wonderful thing about my work is that I LOVE IT!! [Through], and, with all the ups and downs, twists and turns, I am grateful to get to do what I do and work with so many truly wonderful and talented people.'

He went on to praise his traveling buddies - Char, Marc's assistant Nick Newbold, who has accompanied the couple on a number of their trips in the past, including a New Year's trip to St Barts.

'Fashion is part of the art of living and celebrating and living that art is a gift that myself, @chardefrancesco and @1.800.newbold enjoyed to the fullest on this trip.

'I use my IG page to share with anyone and everyone interested; the fun, fashion, and the folly I am so lucky and grateful to experience. For those who enjoy and appreciate my adventures in life- great! And, for those of you who dont- please unfollow. Its that simple.'

The couple have been dating for a while now, and currently live together in the West Village, and Char recently launched his own eponymous candle collection, while also working as a model and actor.Whether you're Irish or not, St Patrick's Day is a celebration enjoyed the world over and provides the perfect excuse for a pint of Guinness or an Irish whiskey.

But if you're indulging in a tipple, you might want to be aware of the common mistakes people make when it comes to beverages such as Irish coffee of the perfect pint of the black stuff.

Here drinks experts reveal the common mistakes drinkers make such serving whiskey with water and sipping the head on a Guinness.

Experts have revealed the common mistakes drinkers make with Irish tipples such as Guinness (stock image)

WHISKEY

Myth: You should add water

'It really depends on the strength of the whiskey you are drinking, but an easy way to think of it is that it acts like a firework,' said Jameson Irish whiskey brand ambassador Ronan Collins.

'For the following 15 seconds or so after you've added the water, the flavours and aromas will explode and blossom but then they will disappear, and you may be left with an expensive watered down whiskey.'

For maximum enjoyment, Ronan recommends a ginger ale mixer and a squeeze of lime or pairing your dram with a beer.

'If you have a dark stout or fresh IPA on SPD, pair it with a great Irish whiskey, the flavours from both will dance and play alongside each other and really turn into something fun and different,' he explained.

How to drink beer with a whiskey chaser Kevin Pigott, Tullamore D.E.W. Brand Ambassador reveals how to drinks whiskey and beer together Step 1: Take a sip of a tasty beer and savour. Step 2 take a sip of whiskey and see how the residual flavours of the beer play with the whiskey. Repeat step one and two Advertisement

Myth: Serve your whiskey in a rocks glass

Dave Worthington brand ambassador for That Boutique-y Whisky Company which produces a 13-Year-Old Irish single malt said the glass you use is key.

'A simple tulip-shaped wine glass works wonders, but a special nosing and tasting glass will help you get the most out of your dram,' he said.

'The tapered lip of a tasting glass guides aromas to your nose and you can use its wide bowl to swirl the liquid, allowing it to release the distilled compounds.

Myth: Serve whiskey on the rocks

Ice can be refreshing, certainly in the warmer months, but it can stop some of the aromas developing, Dave added. its easier to nose a whiskey at room temperature. But hey, its your whisky, and if you prefer it with ice in it, theres no hard and fast rule!

Myth: Never drink whiskey after beer

Kevin Pigott, Tullamore D.E.W. Brand Ambassador said: 'The biggest whiskey myth is that Whiskey before beer you are in the clear, beer before whiskey is far too risky.

'Funnily enough the Irish have been drinking beer and whiskey side by side for hundreds of years.

It gained prevalence in the 1800s where the boilermaker, a pairing of a beer and a whiskey chaser evolved.

The best approach is kicking off with a beer, charging the palate, getting into that social grove and then following it up with a smooth flavoursome whiskey.

My favourites include a nice creamy Stout with a whiskey. This brings out the spice in the blend and they just work wonders together.

Contrary to common belief, there's no need to avoid whiskey if you've been drinking beer. They actually make a perfect pairing

POITIN

Myth: Never drink it!

Mike Hardman of Alliance Online catering equipment providers advises drinkers not to fear the famously strong beverage, which was only legalised in Ireland two decades ago.

Baileys should be served from the fridge with ice for optimum taste (stock image)

'To experience the full kick of poitin, you'll want to shoot it neat. Use a shot glass so you don't inadvertently pour yourself too much, and to make it easier to kick back,' he said.

'Enjoy as a boilermaker by following up with a beer if you want to take the edge off; it works particularly well if you carry the malt flavour through by choosing a red or amber ale.

'Poitin and coke is popular in Ireland, but the spirit mixes well in all kinds of concoctions. Use as a vodka substitute in a Ginger Mule or Apple Martini to really bring out the flavours, making sure to use proper measures.'

BAILEYS

Myth: Serve at room temperature

According to mixologist and drinks consultant Missy Flynn, Baileys is best served cold so keep it in the fridge.

'For the perfect chill factor, put your glasses in the freezer before serving your Baileys,' she said.

'Some people think that pouring over ice will dilute the liquid but actually, using the perfect amount of ice - three large cubes - cools the serve and doesn't melt.

GUINNESS

Myth: Guinness will fill you up

Guinness Open Gate Brewery Manager, Padraig Fox told Femail: 'Guinness Draught is actually a very accessible stout as it uses nitrogen gas which is what gives it that smooth creamy texture.

What foods should you pair your Guinness and whiskey with? Spencer Large, bar manager at Nuala, London's Irish fire pit restaurant and cocktail bar, recommends the best food pairings for your drinks. For Guinness, oysters is a classic pairing, adding salt to the savoury yet slightly sweet flavour profile for a more rounded experience, but I find smoked fish works best. Smoke is a common flavour found in stouts, but in Guinness its presence is softer than most so its addition really enhances those roasted, burnt flavours in the liquid. Any aged spirits lend themselves more to after dinner, mainly due to the flavours wood add and enhance, such as vanilla, but absolutely there are foods which work wonders with whiskey! Spicier whiskeys will work great with spicy foods, just to double up on the burn. The high ABV obviously helps the burning sensation too, so I'd always have a pilsner on the side to refresh yourself when things heat up too much. Spicy ribs and a whiskey is something I'd never turn down. Any peated whiskeys will work incredibly with blue cheese, and they also stand up really well to dark, fatty meats, such as lamb, by adding a smoky element. A white chocolate panna cotta is another pairing that I absolutely love with peated whiskey -- silky, creamy sweetness just tames it so well. Any sweeter, richer styles of whiskey can work beautifully with barbecued foods, but I'd usually stick to desserts with these ones. Freshly baked gingerbread paired with the richer, 'christmas cake' whiskeys, or dark chocolate for a guaranteed win with almost anything. Advertisement

Many people assume Guinness is a very strong heavy beer due to its colour, but in fact it is 4.2% ABV and only 198 calories per pint.'

Myth: Savour the head

'When it comes to tasting the pint, dont sip the head of the beer  this is where the most bitter flavours are,' Padraig explained.

'Instead, as you raise your glass, keep your eyes fixed on the horizon and drink right through the head of the beer, and this will deliver the beautiful creamy texture that Guinness fans all love.'

GIN

Myth: Serve in a tall glass with a slice of lemon

Elliot Hughes, partner at The Dingle Distillery, an independent Irish artisan spirits distillery located on the West coast of Ireland, said that the traditional method of serving is outdated.

'Switch up the stereotypical 'tall with wedge of lime' G&T and use a 'Copa de Balon' glass, with slice of orange garnish.

'Taste is 80 per cent smell, and the balloon shape of the glass traps the aromas to really bring out the botanicals and enhance the overall flavour of the spirit.

'The orange garnish because it brings out the citrus notes and adds another subtle dimension.'

Myth: Mix with tonic

'This may be controversial, but personally, I think a good gin should be able to stand the test of being enjoyed neat,' Elliot said.

'I would suggest serving with nothing but ice in order to really appreciate the more subtle, floral flavours, in our case, the fuchsia, hawthorn and heather.

'By letting the spirit sit just long enough for the ice to begin to melt, the gin can be enjoyed to its full potential without diluting the flavour profile.'

IRISH COFFEE

Myth: Coffee will overpower the whiskey

David Jamerson, an award-winning coffee mixologist who is hosting a workshop at The London Coffee Festival this April said a brew is a must.

'A lot of people forget that when you add whiskey, sugar and cream to your coffee, you are diluting the essential elements that make that coffee special.

'I always brew for Irish Coffee at double strength  about 40g coffee to 400ml water should make enough brewed coffee for two drinks.

Myth: Hold back on the sugar

Again you might think you should go easy on the sugar so as not to drown out the taste of the alcohol, but ultimately you will miss out.

'Too little sugar and your cream will not float, your coffee will taste flat and you will not get the full body you want. I usually aim for about 12g per drink,' David said.To make it easier to track all the lifestyle changes youll need to make, Id like you to fill in the Sleep Tracker that you will find with this copy of The Mail on Sunday

I used to be one of those lucky people who could sleep any time or place they wanted. I was such a good sleeper that I would nod off on trains and planes.

On one occasion, I slept overnight in a telephone box.

I had missed the last train home, didnt have enough money for a hotel and the police wouldnt let me sleep on the train platform.

But then I had kids and my sleep became more erratic and broken.

I found it harder to drift off and would often find myself awake at 3am, fretting.

I would start every day tired and irritable and dread bedtime.

And I know Im not alone. According to a 2013 study by the Sleep Council, the average Briton gets six-and-a-half hours sleep at night, and most of us, rightly, dont feel thats enough.

Sleeping-pill prescriptions are in the millions, and rising  and from my own research I have discovered that lack of sleep not only makes you feel awful but also puts you at risk of weight gain and a host of illnesses from heart disease to dementia.

Starting today, only in The Mail on Sunday, you can read my Life Plan  with the help of the latest scientific research, Ill be revealing how you can get into the best shape of your life, both physically and mentally.

Over the coming months in my weekly column and in one-off specials, well look at sure-fire ways to slim down, stay stress-free and tackle a range of health problems from joint pain to heart disease.

And, here in the first Life Plan instalment, we will focus on sleep: whether, as I was, you are plagued by insomnia, simply feel tired all the time, or just want to sleep better, this four-week programme is for you.

My tips will set you on the way to the best night's sleep of your life

Over these pages youll find a range of small tweaks, mental  and physical  exercises, and tips that you can do this week, which I hope will help set you on the way to the best nights sleep of your life.

Since food plays such a big part in our mental and physical health, over the page there are recipes packed with ingredients that have been shown to help improve sleep quality.

And in the coming three weeks, in my column I will be revealing more of the Plan: methods that will help to break down the vicious cycle of insomnia and poor health and improve not just your sleep but other aspects of your life too.

According to a 2013 study by the Sleep Council, the average Briton gets six-and-a-half hours sleep at night, and most of us, rightly, dont feel thats enough

To make it easier to track all the lifestyle changes youll need to make, Id like you to fill in the Sleep Tracker that you will find with this copy of The Mail on Sunday. I also want you to write to me and tell me how you are getting on.

You see, I believe there are four main elements to a healthy life: keeping to a reasonable weight, being active, reducing stress and getting decent amounts of sleep.

And they all interact. After a bad night, you will find your blood sugar levels soar, which in turn will make you hungry and stressed.

You react by eating more comfort food, which will make you fatter and more stressed. This, in turn, will affect your sleep.

With all this in mind, lets get started with the Plan

Why can't I just take some sleeping pills? These can be helpful in the short term for treating acute anxiety or distress of the sort that follows a bereavement or job loss Each year, more than 12 million NHS prescriptions are written for sleeping pills. And this number is matched by sales of over-the-counter remedies. Im not a fan but nor am I totally against them: when I travel a lot, particularly if it involves crossing time zones, I take a sleeping pill called Zopiclone to help me get over the first couple of nights of jet-lag. The only side effect Ive noticed so far is that they leave a slightly metallic taste in the mouth, but I would never take them long term. I asked my GP wife, Dr Clare Bailey, to answer some common questions about these medications. Heres what she said Q: Is it ever a good idea to take sleeping pills? A: By sleeping pills, most people mean benzodiazepines, such as Temazepam and the Z drugs, such as Zopiclone. These can be helpful in the short term for treating acute anxiety or distress of the sort that follows a bereavement or job loss. And they can help with jet-lag. Like all medications, there are potential side effects and they become less effective over time. Q: If I start taking them, will I become addicted? A: Modern sleeping pills are less addictive than the old-fashioned barbiturates, but they can become habit-forming. That is why we rarely give repeat prescriptions, saving them for short-term use. If a patient is going through a more prolonged period of stress, affecting their sleep, I might suggest they take a low dose of amitriptyline  a drug at higher doses used for anxiety and depression. It leaves some people feel a bit dopy or hung over first thing in the morning and it can have irritating side effects such as a dry mouth. It can also interact with other medications. Q: Ive heard about a medicine called melatonin  is this worth getting hold of? A: Melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone that tells your brain that its time to switch off and go to sleep. In the UK it is a prescription-only drug available to people who are over 55, and there are people who shouldnt take it, such as those with high blood pressure. Although it cant be bought over the counter here, it is readily available in the US as a supplement. Q: What about over- the-counter remedies? Do they work? A: Nytol, a sedative antihistamine, seems to be reasonably effective, though it may cause daytime sleepiness as well as having side effects such as dizziness, palpitations or allergic reactions. Tryptophan can be taken in moderate doses as a supplement to improve sleep, but it has been found in some cases to interact with other medicines such as anti-depressants. It can also cause side effects such as sweating, anxiety, nausea and vomiting. Advertisement

Time to get the plan started...

By reading this article, youll find everything I want you to try in week one of the Plan.

Next week, and in the subsequent weeks, Ill be giving new techniques, tips, exercises and bits of advice in my weekly column.

Some of my suggestions should lead to improvements within days, others will take longer. But I do believe that after four weeks, you will see significant improvements.

My sleep plan is based on making simple but radical changes to your lifestyle. Remember to fill in your Sleep Tracker  the free 24-page diary inside this weeks Mail on Sunday.

Doing so will help you identify strange patterns in your sleep, along with the things you are doing that are causing sleep problems.

It will also help identify which of my suggestions are most helpful.

Keeping a sleep diary is something all the sleep experts I have spoken to strongly recommend.

My sleep plan is based on making simple but radical changes to your lifestyle. Remember to fill in your Sleep Tracker  the free 24-page diary inside this weeks Mail on Sunday

Week One

Set a waking time

One of the most challenging things I want you to do is set a time that you are going to get up for the next four weeks.

Im afraid this is going to be the same time whether it is the weekend or a weekday, whether you have been out socialising or decided to have an early night.

The reason for doing this is that it anchors your day in a way that, say, trying to go to bed at the same time each night will not.

Should I take any naps? As I mentioned, one of the most challenging things in the plan is getting up at the same time each morning. This helps reset your internal clock, but may also reduce the amount you sleep, building up a sleep debt. In the short term, you may find yourself feeling tired during the day and tempted to nap. Do try to resist. Napping during the day will simply make it harder for you to get to sleep at night and to stay asleep. If you find you simply must have a nap, then keep it short, preferably less than 45 minutes. Advertisement

If you are to conquer insomnia, you have to get your body and brain into a regular sleep routine.

We all have an internal body clock which tells us when we are tired, as well as helping co-ordinate and synchronise the release of hundreds of different hormones.

When we travel abroad, we often get our body clock out of sync with the local time. This is known as jet-lag.

Although we are well aware of how bad jet-lag feels, few of us realise that we often experience what is called social jet-lag.

We use stimulants, such as coffee, to wake up in the morning, when our internal clock is screaming Stay in bed!

Then, at the weekend we have a long lie-in, which may feel good but which contributes to an even more confused internal body clock. So, at least for the next four weeks, no more lie-ins.

... Use the bedroom for sleep (and sex) only ...

To ensure a good nights sleep, your bedroom needs to be somewhere you associate with sleep and sex, nothing more

IT may seem blindingly obvious, but even as we slowly sink deeper into sleep, our brains remain active and alert, so any unexpected noises will bring us back to full wakefulness.

Bright lights, social media and TV will also stimulate our brains  in a bad way.

To ensure a good nights sleep, your bedroom needs to be somewhere you associate with sleep and sex, nothing more.

That means no TV or computers in the bedroom.

Mobile phones need to be turned off or placed in airplane mode. I have a personal rule that I avoid social media in any form for at least an hour before I plan to go to sleep.

Your bedroom should be cool and quiet, ideally about 16C. Some people find, particularly in summer, it is useful having a fan.

This not only cools you down but produces a form of white noise that will drown out other background sounds.

There is decent evidence that doing these things will help. There are lots of other things you can do, such as change your mattress, ban clocks or limit liquids before bedtime, but there is little evidence that they are effective.

Are you sleep deprived? Try the spoon test The version Im about to describe was developed by a famous sleep researcher, Professor Kleitman, from the University of Chicago Most people know when they are not getting enough sleep. They feel tired and woozy, hungry and fretful. But to get a more objective measure of how sleep-deprived you really are, I recommend trying the Sleep Onset Latency Test. The version Im about to describe was developed by a famous sleep researcher, Professor Kleitman, from the University of Chicago. You lie in a quiet, darkened room in the early afternoon, clutching a spoon, which you hold over the edge of the bed. You place a metal tray on the floor by your bed, check the time, then close your eyes. The idea is that if you fall asleep, the spoon drops from your fingers and hits the tray with a loud clang, waking you up. You then check your watch to see how much time has passed. According to Prof Kleitman, if you fall asleep within five minutes of closing your eyes, it means you are severely sleep-deprived. If youre awake for anything over 15 minutes, youre fine. A simpler version of this test is to go to bed in the afternoon, set an alarm for 15 minutes, and see if you drop off before the alarm goes off. Advertisement

... Do this simple bedtime exercise

Expressing gratitude has been shown to reduce stress, one of the main causes of insomnia

As part of that ritual, I also want you to write down, every evening before bed, Three Good Things that happened to you that day. It can be anything from a colleague making you a coffee to getting a promotion.

Expressing gratitude has been shown to reduce stress, one of the main causes of insomnia.

A study done by Professor Martin Seligman, known as the father of positive psychology, found that writing about Three Good Things on a regular basis made people happier immediately, and the effect was still there six months later.

Thinking of and then (importantly) writing down Three Good Things shifts your thoughts and attentions towards the pleasant things that happened to you during the day and away from the bad things.

This helps counter our natural tendency at night to ruminate and worry  and it is these ruminations that frequently keep us awake.

...And reset your body clock

Exercise in almost any form is likely to improve sleep quality

Your internal body clock is responsible for controlling a whole host of hormones and a lot of health problems occur when it is out of sync with the time of day.

One of the best ways to reset your internal body clock is to get more exposure to early-morning light.

We spend a lot of our lives indoors, where we get a fraction of the light our ancestors would have experienced. I recommend that you aim to get in a brisk ten- minute walk first thing in the morning on most days.

In fact, exercise in almost any form is likely to improve sleep quality.

Studies suggest, however, that improvements will be gradual and it may not be until the end of the four weeks that the benefits really start to show.

The time of day you exercise seems to be important  exercising closer to bedtime is more likely to disrupt sleep than improve it.

What to eat to help you sleep

By now you should be sticking to a regular waking time, sorting out your bedroom and resetting your body clock with daily, brisk morning walks.

Youll also be thinking more positively thanks to the Three Good Things exercise  recorded in your Sleep Tracker.

So, now its time to look at what you are eating and drinking, as this can strongly influence sleep. For example, eating a heavy meal near bedtime keeps our guts busy when they should be slowing down. Try to finish eating at least a couple of hours before bedtime.

More surprisingly, what we eat during the day influences the mix of microbes that live in our guts  the microbiome  and they in turn produce chemicals that can help or hinder a good nights sleep.

Here are some excellent recipes for meals that will nourish your body and help prepare it for a proper rest. And on the right, youll find my top five foods to eat more of to sleep better, and five to avoid.

Spinach dhal

This wonderful, filling dhal can be eaten on its own or as a side dish

Serves 4 as main (6-8 as a side dish), 570 calories

This wonderful, filling dhal can be eaten on its own or as a side dish. Legumes such as lentils are rich in fibre  and studies have suggested those who eat them get to sleep more quickly and are less likely to wake in the night.

Heat 3 tbsp olive oil or coconut oil in a medium-sized pan or casserole with a lid, and saute 1 medium onion, chopped for 5 minutes.

Stir in 2 garlic cloves, chopped and cook for 1 more minute before adding 1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped or  tsp chilli flakes, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp ground coriander, 1 tsp ground turmeric and 2cm root ginger, diced.

After 2 more minutes, stir in juice of  lemon, 400ml can coconut milk, 400g can green lentils, drained.

Bring to the boil, then put lid on and allow to simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding more water if needed.

Add 100g spinach leaves or kale, stalks removed and cook for 3-5 minutes, then stir in 1 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped, and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle 200g paneer, chopped into 2cm cubes (optional) on top.

You can serve this dhal with a tbsp of Greek yogurt (adds 75 cals).

Crab spaghetti with seaweed

Crab is a great source of protein  including tryptophan, which can boost levels of sleep-inducing brain chemicals melatonin and serotonin

Serves 2, 800 calories

Crab is a great source of protein  including tryptophan, which can boost levels of sleep-inducing brain chemicals melatonin and serotonin.

The wholemeal spaghetti adds extra fibre for your friendly gut microbiome to chew on and process those rest-inducing hormones.

Its slightly sweet taste is enhanced here by the umami flavours of the seaweed, which brings with it high-quality marine-sourced omega 3, also found to improve sleep.

Cook 300g wholemeal spaghetti or gluten-free alternative and drain when al dente, rinse in cold water and keep 2 tbsp of cooking water.

Heat 3 tbsp olive oil in a large frying pan and gently fry 2-3 garlic cloves finely chopped, 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped or  tsp chilli flakes, 10 plum or cherry tomatoes and 1 courgette, halved and sliced, for 2-3 minutes.

Stir in 200g crab meat  fresh, canned or frozen  heat through then add juice of  large lemon.

Add the cooked pasta along with the reserved cooking water, large handful of fresh parsley, roughly chopped and 1 nori seaweed sheet, chopped. Stir well to ensure it gets an even coating of the sauce.

Season and serve with a dark green-leaf salad.

Roasted Mediterranean vegetables, pearl barley and eggs

Slow to release its starches, pear barley provides a steady source of fibre

Serves 2, 520 calories

If you havent eaten pearl barley, heres a chance to try it.

Slow to release its starches, this delicious wholegrain provides a steady source of fibre.

A Columbia University study recently suggested a high intake of fibre could increase the amount of deep sleep we have.

Preheat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas mark 6. Place 1 small aubergine, diced; 1 large courgette, sliced; 1 red pepper, deseeded and sliced; 125g butternut squash, deseeded and cubed in a roasting tin and toss them in 3 tbsp olive oil and some seasoning.

Bake vegetables for 30-40 minutes or until theyre tender and browned at the edges, turning them once or twice.

Meanwhile, cook 100g pearl barley according to packet instructions. Remove vegetables from oven and stir in pearl barley.

Transfer everything to a serving dish, lightly stir in 2 eggs, hard boiled and cut into quarters and scatter 75g goats cheese (or non-dairy cheese), crumbled, handful of fresh parsley or coriander, chopped on top. Season to taste with Maldon sea salt, pepper and juice of  lemon.

Cauliflower baked with lemon and almonds

A scrumptious alternative to starchy potatoes, and one that your gut bacteria will love  and this recipe includes almonds, which are rich in sleep-assisting magnesium

Serves 4, 220 calories

A scrumptious alternative to starchy potatoes, and one that your gut bacteria will love  and this recipe includes almonds, which are rich in sleep-assisting magnesium.

Preheat the oven to 180C/ 160C fan/gas mark 4. Spread 1 large cauliflower cut into florets in a large roasting tin.

Drizzle generously with 4 tbsp virgin olive oil, season well with sea salt and ground pepper.

Place in oven and cook for 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and mix in 1 tbsp diced preserved lemon or zest of 1 lemon, and  tsp chilli flakes.

Scatter over 1 tsp mustard seeds and 50g flaked almonds. Cook for a further 10-12 minutes until the cauliflower is tender and browning in places.

Transfer to a serving dish and drizzle with the juice of one lemon.

Tip: For added flavour, you can whip up a tahini drizzle, with 2 tbsp tahini, 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice and 1 tbsp warm water, seasoned with salt and pepper (add 60 cals).

And for a bit more crunch and colour, you might scatter with pomegranate seeds before serving.

Coconut porridge with pecans and pear

Compounds found in porridge and nuts may help to boost natural sleep-inducing chemicals as well as increase serotonin levels

Serves 2, 370 calories

What you eat in the day  even for breakfast  impacts how well you sleep.

Compounds found in porridge and nuts may help to boost natural sleep-inducing chemicals as well as increase serotonin levels, responsible for improving mood and cognitive function.

Place 50g rolled or gluten-free oats, 200ml coconut milk,  tsp cinnamon,  tsp nutmeg, pinch of salt and 20g pecans, roughly chopped in a small pan and bring it to a simmer.

Cook gently for 10-12 minutes, stirring frequently, until the mixture is thick and creamy.

Pour it into a bowl, scatter  diced pear on to it and dig in. A teaspoonful of honey wont harm you, but its just as good without.A Radical new treatment that equips the immune system to launch a search and destroy mission for tumours in the body is set to transform how cancer is tackled, say scientists.

The technique, which uses conventional radiotherapy but with the power turned down, enables cells in the immune system to recognise the genetic fingerprint of cancer cells and seek them out.

In one patient whose lungs, liver and bones were riddled with cancer, the treatment reversed the disease so spectacularly that his tumours disappeared altogether within six months.

Five years later, there are still no tumours visible on his scans, according to radiologist Dr Silvia Formenti of the Weill Cornell School of Medicine in New York.

The technique, which uses conventional radiotherapy but with the power turned down, enables cells in the immune system to recognise the genetic fingerprint of cancer cells and seek them out. File photo

Normally, doctors would expect such a patient to be dead in months.

The technique has also proved remarkably successful at halting the spread of a notoriously aggressive form of breast cancer which tends to affect younger women, called triple negative breast cancer (TNBC).

Dr Formenti said she believed the treatment holds the potential to eradicate entire disease in people with several different types of cancer  including those of the breast, liver and lung.

Dr Formenti said: Everyone thought the only benefit from radiotherapy was shrinking the tumour.

The technique has also proved remarkably successful at halting the spread of a notoriously aggressive form of breast cancer which tends to affect younger women, called triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). File photo

But targeting a tumour with a lower dose can alter the tumour cells, jump-starting the immune system.

Her view was backed by leading London breast cancer surgeon Professor Kefah Mokbel, who thought it could work in all types of solid tumour cancer.

Explaining the process, Prof Mokbel, of the London Breast Institute, said: The radiation kills cancer cells and as it does so, cancer DNA is released.

'That stimulates immune cells to respond to what they see as a foreign body.

Recognising the cancer DNA as foreign, the immune cells, called T-cells, then become programmed to search and destroy cells bearing that genetic fingerprint elsewhere in the body  in the blood and in fully fledged tumours.

The challenge is getting the dose of radiation right: too high and the cancer DNA is destroyed, too low and the cancer cells remain intact.

This novel type of radiotherapy is combined with immune-system boosting drugs called checkpoint inhibitors, helping the immune system to recognise, disarm and finally destroy cancer cells.

Prof Formenti described the approach as turning a tumour into an in-situ vaccine, as the therapy helped the immune system recognise and respond to a threat, as a jab does.

The challenge is getting the dose of radiation right: too high and the cancer DNA is destroyed, too low and the cancer cells remain intact. File photo

Most exciting, she added, was that not only did tumours targeted with radiotherapy shrink and disappear, but the ones that receive no radiation disappear too.

In a trial of 36 women with locally advanced TNBC  meaning tumours had started to spread within the breast, but not to other organs  34 remained free of tumours elsewhere in the body four years later.

Results were presented in December at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in Texas.

Prof Mokbel cautioned it was very early days and that the success of the method could not be proven by a study in just a few dozen patients.

But he said the results so far were very, very promising.Pregnant women could soon be offered a vaccine that will protect their unborn child from a common, yet potentially lethal virus.

Hundreds of expectant mothers are currently testing the jab designed to prevent respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)  an infection responsible for one in six infant hospital admissions every year.

It affects nearly all children by the age of two. Most are able to fight it but a small proportion are unable to recover if the virus reaches the lungs.

It often leads to bronchiolitis, an infection of the airways in the lungs, and pneumonia, with 30 children killed every year as a result.

Claire Norris, from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, was shocked when her four-month-old son Sebastian was struck down with a case of RSV-related bronchiolitis

Although RSV, which is transmitted through close contact, can affect people of all ages, only mild, cold-like symptoms present in older children and younger adults.

Babies, older adults and those with long-term illness are most likely to suffer breathing complications that result from inflamed airways and increased production of mucus.

Now researchers believe they have discovered a revolutionary vaccine that, when given during pregnancy, provides immunity from birth.

Experts are comparing its impact to the introduction of the pneumococcal vaccine in 2006, which dramatically slashed incidence of meningitis, septicaemia and pneumonia in children under two.

Researchers believe they have discovered a revolutionary vaccine that, when given during pregnancy, provides immunity from birth

The RSV vaccine is designed to generate immune system proteins in the mothers blood  known as antibodies  which can pass to babies in the womb.

Once the child is born, the antibodies protect him or her from contracting the virus for a minimum of three months, when they are at the highest risk of infection.

Immunisation in pregnancy is already used to protect against diseases such as whooping cough, tetanus and influenza.

RSV is the leading cause of hospitalisation in young children, with millions of children around the world affected every year, said Dr Chrissie Jones, a consultant in paediatric infectious diseases at the University of Southampton.

An effective vaccine could prevent thousands of babies every year from having to be admitted to hospital in the UK.

Up to 40 per cent of the 16-bed Paediatric Intensive Care Unit at Southampton Childrens Hospital is taken up with children infected with RSV at any one time.

Babies, older adults and those with long-term illness are most likely to suffer breathing complications that result from inflamed airways and increased production of mucus

The hospital was one of several involved in the trial funded by biotechnology company Novavax Inc and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

In the trial, 8,600 healthy pregnant women, aged 18 to 40 and 28 to 32 weeks into pregnancy, were given a jab containing either RSV antibodies or a placebo vaccine.

This is the point in pregnancy when the most antibodies are travelling across the placenta to the baby.

Although the British trial is ongoing, early data from trials in the US shows great promise: a 90 per cent increase in the number of virus-fighting antibodies in a childs body, and a 52 per cent decrease in RSV infections.

Claire Norris, from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, was shocked when her four-month-old son Sebastian was struck down with a case of RSV-related bronchiolitis.

The 29-year-old mother-of-two said: Sebastian was admitted to a childrens ward and, six hours later, was transferred to childrens intensive care at Oxfords Radcliffe Infirmary, where he remained for three days on breathing support.

Thankfully, Sebastian made a full recovery.

Claire, a childminder, said: You never think something as simple as a respiratory infection can be so damaging.Celebrity Ghost Hunt

Tuesday, 5 Star

Rating:

Being Blacker

Monday, BBC2

Rating:

This weeks Celebrity Ghost Hunt, presented by Rylan Clark-Neal, came from Fort Horsted, a disused military facility in Kent. His fellow hunters included Alex Gibbs, a psychic, along with someone from TOWIE, someone from TOWIE, someone from TOWIE, someone from Ex On The Beach and someone from TOWIE. Or it could have been Love Island. It was one or the other, definitely.

They entered the facility and immediately Alex was totally on it. I feel the strong spirit of a female and also a male, she said, as if that covered the bases, and transgender ghosts arent a thing. I know Im psychic cos I know when things aint right, said someone who may have been Charlotte, who may be from TOWIE, unless its Ex On The Beach or Love Island. If there is a spirit in the room can you touch one of us? We promise we are not here to hurt you, said someone who was possibly Amber from Dispatches on Channel 4. (Im joshing you. Amber was from Love Island or Ex On The Beach. Or maybe TOWIE.) Amber did not then specify how you might hurt a ghost, which has to be tricky as a ghost has no physical body. It isnt as if you can even give a ghost a Chinese burn. Interesting. Perhaps she will offer a tutorial on ghost hurting at a later date, should her Dispatches schedule allow.

Rylan Clark-Neal in Celebrity Ghost Hunt. The courageous group headed down a dark, scary tunnel with only a full camera crew waiting for them at the other end

But back to the action. Alex was now getting a name and the name was Martha. Martha? she asked, Are you there? The one who may be Charlotte said, Im red hot. Im boiling. Sometimes, explained Alex, a spirit attaches itself to someone. Charlotte is boiling, confirmed Rylan. Feel me, said Charlotte. But Charlotte, youre wearing a huge fluffy coat, no one added.

The courageous group headed down a dark, scary tunnel with only a full camera crew waiting for them at the other end. Alex ditched Martha  poor Martha  and perhaps, on remembering the history of the building, now identified a corporal. Then someone from whichever show it was, and who may have been Bobby, said: I cant draw breath. Its like I have an elephant on my chest. He leaned against a wall. They heard footsteps. No, its a whispered conversation. No, its a scream. Their REM-POD (169, Amazon; detects energy disturbances) flashed. Theres something here, theres something here, I can feel it, cried Bobby, who had to exit. I saw someone go through here, said Alex but, infuriatingly, by the time the others and the camera crew caught up there was no sign. Brave Bobby returned but said, Something just touched my neck! so had to exit again. Look up there, says someone or other from some show or other, noting scrapes on the ceiling. Thats from someones fingers trying to escape, it was concluded. But the escapee would have to be at least 10ft tall, no one added. Ultimately, they decided to call it a day because, as Rylan explained, Bobby is so distressed. The energy, said Bobby, was very homophobic. Homophobic ghosts. They are everywhere. Apart from on camera.

Being Blacker was a documentary by Molly Dineen (Home From The Hill, The Ark, The Lie Of The Land) that was tender and loving and sharp and engrossing and somehow unpicked not just a life but also what its like to be black in Britain today without ever getting in your face.

Steve Blacker Dread Martin used to run a reggae record label and a Brixton record shop (now an estate agency, natch) and had known Dineen from when they were both students. They stayed friends and when he asked her to film his mothers funeral she did so, but then just kept shooting for the next three years.

Loved by the Brixton community, with dreadlocks that reach the floor   You can look but you cant feel, Molly!  he remembers coming to London from Jamaica as a young boy (it was so cold) and not recognising his own mother, who had arrived here some years before. Thats not my mummy, he had insisted. Gently probed by Dineen, the reality of being black in this country slowly emerged. For instance, he mentioned, almost in passing, that when he passed the 11-plus as a boy he had to take the exam a second time because no one in authority believed a black boy could be smart. Meanwhile, his youngest son, JJ, was on the verge of being excluded from mainstream education here, so was sent to live in Jamaica, where he is now a straight A student. What does that tell me as a father? asked Blacker. He was not angry, just resigned.

This feature-length film explored identity, migration and separation via a wonderful character who, when it was revealed he was facing his first prison stretch  Ive allowed things to happen in my life that I should not have  only made you feel as disappointed as he was. Terrific, and also no ghosts. Im still worried about Martha. Martha, are you there?Two Sisters: Into The Syrian Jihad

Asne Seierstad

Virago 18.99

Rating:

It starts like a thriller. A mother and father are surprised when their daughter, Leila, who has just turned 16, fails to return from school. After a few missed calls, they manage to get in touch with her 19-year-old sister, Ayan. Dont worry, she says, Leila is with me.

But neither girl comes home for dinner. Their father calls them, and eventually gets through. Calm down, Dad, says Ayan. Weve sent you an email. Read it. And then she hangs up.

The email reveals that the two of them have decided to go to Syria, and help out down there as best we can. It goes on: Please do not be cross with us, it was sooo hard for us to leave without saying goodbye this decision will help us all on the day of judgement Praise be to Allah.

Ayan, above left, and Leila, above right. Both girls ran away to Syria after being seduced by Islamic extremism

Thirteen years before, the Juma family had arrived in Norway as refugees from war-torn Somalia. The girls had integrated cheerfully into life in Oslo. Tons of cute boys here Theres a guy Im sooo into, reads one of Ayans teenage texts. He tried to kiss me four times last night, but we kept getting interrupted, I almost died!!!!

The girls appeared to be moderate Muslims, like their parents; Ayan even sometimes complained about the Islamic tendency to subjugate women. It was their brother Ismael  less conscientious at school, and obsessed with computer games  whom their parents were worried about.

So on hearing that the girls had gone to Syria, their first reaction was that they must have been kidnapped. But within hours another email arrived from Ayan, telling them to read an attachment, adding we have planned and thought this through for almost an ENTIRE year, we would never do something like this on impulse.

Attached was a document by a Dr Abdullah Azzam, an associate of Osama Bin Laden. The child shall march forward without the permission of its parents, was part of it.

The sisters had in fact been converting to Islamic extremism over the course of the previous two years. Worrying that her daughters were becoming too lax and Westernised, their mother had pressed them to attend lessons given by a tutor, who, unknown to her, proceeded to teach them that women must stay indoors, that the spread of terror was the only way that Islam could triumph, and that martyrdom was beautiful. At the same time, Ayan joined a group called Islam Net, which argued for the execution of non-Muslims.

At school, the girls had grown increasingly withdrawn. Both wore niqabs which completely covered their faces, and spoke of how much they hated Norway. Six months before they stole away to Syria, the school principal gently informed Ayan that she would no longer be permitted to cover her face within the school premises. I can understand if you are disappointed, but we have to abide by the decisions made by our politicians. That applies to you and me both.

Ayans reply was immediate and uncompromising. This pathetic show of friendliness wont do you any good at all, it began.

Her younger sister was equally resolute. When one of her friends asked her Isnt it hot underneath all that? she had simply replied: Its hotter in hell.

Perhaps the Juma parents should have seen the signs of an impending crash in their teenagers; but how many loving parents ever do? Hope and trust are the great parental virtues, only to be replaced by suspicion and despair when all else fails.

Sadiq, the girls father, who fled to Turkey, determined to get them back

The most interesting part of this book centres on the lure of religious fanaticism, which is not unlike the lure of drugs. The girls coupled this with the teenage impulse to escape into a different world, a world filled with certainty. As a child, I bought a book called All About The French Foreign Legion. I spent the next few weeks dreaming of running away from home and disappearing into the desert with a new identity. The harsher and more uncomfortable the regime sounded, the more I liked it. This fad of mine soon disappeared, in others it simply deepens.

Within 24 hours of their disappearance, Sadiq, the girls father, had flown to Turkey, determined to get them back. At the border, he was introduced to a ramshackle gang of people smugglers. They told him that the girls had already crossed over the border: it would cost him $6,000 to get them out, with bodyguards and a car included, plus an extra $20 a day for the hire of a Kalashnikov.

One of the most bizarre elements throughout the whole story is that the two sisters were intermittently sending jaunty and boastful texts and emails to their brother and their parents, all the time knowing that their father had been risking his life to get them back.

Before long, Sadiq was taken captive and tortured, then locked in a pit without food or drink for three days. This is death row, explained a fellow prisoner. Other prisoners disappeared, never to be seen again. According to him, at one point he was taken out, condemned as a spy, and told that he was about to die. Look around. This is the last place youre ever going to see.

Sadiq says he told them that he did not want to die with his hands bound behind his back. One of the executioners said to the other: Give him his final request. His handcuffs were removed.

Three words flashed inside my mind: Save your life! says Sadiq. I raised my arm. In one swift movement I hit the Libyan right in the face with the handcuffs. Reeling, he lost his balance, but kept hold of me and we both fell to the ground. The fat one, standing about ten or 15 yards away, opened fire. A couple of bullets ricocheted on the gravel right next to us, and the Libyan let out a howl I snatched the rifle lying on the ground and made off. Once outside, I zigzagged across the ground. I ran, I just ran.

All very exciting. But is it actually true? This may seem a mean question to ask about someone who has suffered so much, but to me it sounds too much like a scene from a Jeffrey Archer novel. The author, Asne Seierstad, probably best known for her international bestseller The Bookseller Of Kabul, is a conscientious reporter, but she also apes the style of the thriller, with short, sharp sentences.

In the absence of other witnesses, she has chosen to believe Sadiq. It certainly makes a gripping story. But, later in the book, she acknowledges that he was happy to tell cock-and-bull stories to keep a Norwegian documentary crew on board. Might he have also fibbed to Seierstad?

The truth is stranger than fiction, we are often told. If so, the story of Sadiqs daredevil escape has all the hallmarks of fiction, or at least cheap fiction. The rest of the book  most of it verifiable  is much more raggedy than fiction would allow. In a popular novel like The Kite Runner, the fundamentalist kidnappers come to a sticky end, and the innocent child is saved. But Two Sisters offers no such pat resolution: instead, it ends with Ayan and Leila  now both mothers  still in Syria, the Russian bombs continuing to fall, and their parents still fretting.

Though the girls innocence may be destroyed, their smugness goes on. I generally subscribe to the belief of St Augustine that to know all is to forgive all. But the more one knows of Ayan and Leila, the less the impulse to forgive them. When last heard of, they were still posting self-satisfied, cold-hearted messages on social media, full of smiley emojis. Dad risked his life for the two of you and you accused him of being a spy and tried to have him killed, wrote their brother, who had declared himself  understandably, given the circumstances  an atheist.

Well, if he is a spy he should be punished, replied Leila, once the victim, now the aggressor.Samsung Galaxy S9+

It's probably advancing middle age, but I no longer look at phones with shimmering all-glass fronts and think: What a bold, glamorous design.

Instead, I find myself thinking: That looks really breakable.

I used to get genuinely excited about smartphone launches (dont judge me, please, its an occupational hazard). But its becoming increasingly hard to get steamed up, as phone companies have locked step in a Soviet-style insistence that all devices must look like a featureless slab of volcanic glass. Samsung wrote the book on all-glass displays, but the look has now been slavishly copied by everyone from Apple to Google, so the sell with its new 6.2in Android S9+ is that its reinventing the camera.

Samsung wrote the book on all-glass displays, but the look has now been slavishly copied by everyone

The phone is fizzing with software to boost the image, and has a dual aperture lens, which is great for low-light photography (something most phones are still terrible at). But its up against stiff competition these days in the form of Googles excellent Pixel phones and Apples dazzling iPhone X. The S9+ is great, but its not in a different league: it occasionally turns out breathtaking shots, but its a touch fiddly and unpredictable. I think the Pixel 2 is still the best out there.

Its also lumbered with a voice assistant  Bixby  that lacks the robotic charm of OK Google and Siri. Yes, I am a sad man who likes talking to my phone.

The screen is, of course, superb  its what Samsung does best  but these days, slim, shimmering and glamorous just isnt enough.

vodafone.co.ukWhen it comes to boozing like one of the people, most politicians gingerly pull an awkward pint or grimace over a glass of something theyd rather feed to a pot plant. Not so with Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. As well as founding the Turkish Republic, the story goes that he started the countrys first commercial winery in 1925. While the wines may not be as famous as the sticky treats you find drying out in Duty Free, as far as wine goes, it turns out there are some real Turkish delights.

In Turkey, since theres a Day for pretty much everything else, how about October 29 for Turkish Wine Day, which is also Republic Day?

Or how about National Sovereignty Day, April 23, giving us just over a month to get to know the headline local grapes?

For whites, Narince means delicately in Turkish and the wine is gently scented and peachy  if youre a fan of Spanish Albarino youll go nuts for Narince, whose leaves are also prized for dolma and sarma parcels and wraps.

Emir from Cappadocia is another white grape, producing vibrant light whites that are spot on for shellfish this summer. For reds, Kalecik Karasi means black from the small castle, with scrumptious cherry-like poise to appeal to fans of lighter silky reds such as Pinot Noir but with its own uniquely crunchy texture.

At the other end of the spectrum, Bogazkere has an even more colourful name  throat-burner, enough to put anyone off, but its rich black cherry power is tantalising thanks to the thick skins on its small berries.

Somewhere in the middle of these two, Okuzgozu gets its name because its large, dark berries resemble a bulls-eye, and with its cherry-raspberry fruitiness makes for an excellent blending partner with richer Bogazkere. These wines, including my Yakut pick this week from Kavaklidere, pair brilliantly with warming casseroles.

For an alternative, try Kayra Buzbag Klasik Okuzgozu-Bogazkere 2015 (12.5%), 9.99, from strictly wine.co.uk. With its long history of grape-growing, Turkey pretty much has a different wine for every day, let alone Turkish Wine Day.You need a strong stomach to invest in Russia at the best of times. Reports of widespread corruption and state-meddling in companies mean it can be a rollercoaster ride.

But the risk to British savers has heightened amid claims it had a hand in the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury.

It may mean that you want to move your money out of Russia altogether  if not as a protest, but just as a pragmatic move to protect it.

The risk to British savers invested in Russia has heightened amid claims it had a hand in the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury

The threat of economic sanctions from the West has provoked promises of a strong reaction from Russia. The US has already slapped economic sanctions on Russia and, if other countries follow with punitive responses, it would be damaging to its economy and currency, experts say.

While nobody can predict how President Vladimir Putin will react, fears are growing that it will have a negative impact on British investors with money in Russia.

But you may not even realise you have cash invested there.

British savers have more than 11.2billion tied up in Russia firms spread out over more than 320 investment funds, according to data firm FE Trustnet. And some popular UK funds have big stakes in the country.

The 1billion Schroder Emerging Europe fund, for example, invests more than half of its cash in Russia, according to FE Trustnet, Blackrocks 919million Emerging Europe fund invests nearly 490million, while 279million of the 8billion Vanguard Emerging Markets fund is invested there.

While nobody can predict how President Vladimir Putin will react in the midst of economic sanctions from the west, fears are growing that it will have a negative impact on British investors with money in Russia

James Sullivan, manager of Coram Global Balanced fund, says: The Russian stock market is quite cheap, and the reason it is cheap is because you have the threat of economic uncertainty and confiscation of assets. And what we have seen over the past few days shows exactly why it is so cheap.

If this issue with the UK escalates and we enter into Cold War 2, then there is a risk that the Russian government may start confiscating assets, which nobody wants.

'And any economic sanctions imposed on Russia would have a negative impact on the rouble, which would be a big blow for British investors.

Over the past year, the Moscow Exchange has performed relatively well, rising 6.2 per cent. In the past five years it has risen 112 per cent. But experts believe there could be an exodus among foreign investors if tensions increase further.

British savers have more than 11.2billion tied up in Russia firms spread out over more than 320 investment funds, according to data firm FE Trustnet. And some popular UK funds have big stakes in the country

Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at broker Hargreaves Lansdown, says that despite recent tensions, its unlikely we will see a global wave of withdrawals from the Russian equity market, unless international leaders start to impose measures which damage Russia economically.

The way most savers get exposure to the Russian economy is through a fund that invests globally or in emerging markets, but many may be invested there without knowing.

Funds will typically show you the ten countries in which they invest the most, but few provide information about the rest, so it could include Russia.

For example, the 1.5billion Invesco Perpetual Global Equity fund invests 0.95 per cent, or 14.6million, of its cash in Russia, according to FE Trustnet.

But because its stake is so small, it doesnt appear in its list of top ten countries. On top of that, none of the funds top ten stock picks are Russian either.

Another example is the 2billion Newton Global Dynamic Bond fund: it invests 21.1million in Russia, according to FE Trustnet.

If you feel strongly against investing in Russia and want to be sure that you are not, contact your fund manager. But while there are clear concerns, experts say you shouldnt make any rash moves.

David Janes, manager of Miton Cautious Multi Asset fund, says: I am sure we will attempt to make things difficult for Russia.

And while aggressive sanctions will be bad for the Russian economy, I do not think we will go overboard. Because if we do, then Russia will just turn around and tell us it will turn off the gas taps, so we wont let it go that far.Housebuilder Persimmon last night came under fire from a major rival over its boss's 100 million pay package.

Stephen Stone, chief executive of Crest Nicholson, said: 'This is clearly a negative [for the sector]. It's mentioned more times than I'm sure my peer group would like.

'The Persimmon remuneration is massively ahead of what all of the other public companies, particularly in housing, would have been delivering in an executive role.'

Persimmon's chief executive Jeff Fairburn was in line for more than 100 million under his company's share scheme. After fierce criticism, he chose to forgo 25 million worth of shares and will donate an unspecified amount to charity

Persimmon's chief executive Jeff Fairburn was in line for more than 100 million under his company's share scheme.

After fierce criticism, he chose to forgo 25 million worth of shares and will donate an unspecified amount to charity.

Crest Nicholson holds its annual meeting on Thursday, when Stone will be replaced by chief operating officer Patrick Bergin and become executive chairman.

The company suffered a major revolt on its pay report last year, with 58 per cent of votes against the scheme. It faces another row this week.

Crest Nicholson wants Stone  whose total pay for the last year was 2.2 million, down from 2.3 million  to become executive chairman for a year and then non-executive chairman for up to two years, against governance guidelines.

Shareholder advisory groups Pirc and ISS have urged investors to reject this move.

Shareholder Royal London Asset Management plans to vote against, saying a three-year term would be 'too long'.

But Stone said: 'In the main, I would say there has been very active shareholder support.'Australia is set for a freezing winter with snow in parts of Queensland where it has never fallen before, according to a veteran weatherman who claims this is just the start of a 'mini ice age'.

Dave Taylor, a Queensland-based weather expert, is also warning every winter from now until 2025 'will be colder than the last'.

He said a reduction in sun spots is the cause of the cold snap, and predicts the freezing winters will end with a severe weather event  likely widespread flooding - that will be 'worse than Australia has ever experienced'.

Australia is set for a 'very cold winter' with snow in places where it has never been recorded before, according to weatherman Dave Taylor - who thinks snow will fall in the towns above

A weather map showing a burst of cold air (blue) running up from the Southern Ocean

Taylor, 47, has been studying the weather since he was 10 years old  after a severe storm almost destroyed the caravan he was living in with his family.

'I was there alone when the storm hit, and I thought I was going to die.'

He now runs two weather pages on social media, and has accurately predicted extreme weather conditions over the past decade, including the recent flooding in Far North Queensland.

A reduction in sun spots is the cause of the frigid weather, according to Taylor, who says the period of freezing winters will end with a severe weather event

'It will be like the floods you see in America or India,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 'The flooding will be so bad that towns will be swallowed up as he water pours through the streets.'

'It will be like the floods you see in America or India,' he told Daily Mail Australia. '

The flooding will be so bad that towns will be swallowed up as water pours through the streets.

'The longer the sun spot activity is down the worse the weather event when it picks back up.'

'The longer the sun spot activity is down the worse the weather event when it picks back up.'

'Sunspot activity is falling and we have seen the affect it has happened on winter in the northern hemisphere,' he said

Taylor thinks there will be snow in places across Australia where it has never been recorded  including as far north as Eungella  west of Mackay, Queensland

'Sunspot activity is falling and we have seen the impact on this winter in the northern hemisphere,' he said.

'It snowed in places it never has in the USA, and snowed in places it hasn't for in a long time.

'There have been freezing deaths in Europe, Scotland struggled and waves turned to sluggish ice in Russia.

'England was so cold they were running out of gas which is the main source of heating and there were even reports of snow in the Sahara Desert.'

Taylor thinks there will be snow in places across Australia where it has never been recorded  including as far north as Eungella  west of Mackay, Queensland.

Map show the lowest July temperatures ever recorded for major cities, according to the Bureau of Meteorology, Taylor believes it could be up to three degrees colder this year

Taylor thinks it will be a good snow season in NSW and Victoria  with the coldest weather likely to fall in June and July

The weatherman says the hot and humid summer experienced across the country is another indicator of the cold winter to come.

'I think Brisbane will experience a winter like Sydney, Sydney will feel like Melbourne and Melbourne will feel like Tasmania,' he said.

And he thinks the minimum temperatures in each major city will be 3C colder than they have in recent years.

'We will have a lot more big Antarctic blows reaching toward Australia  they will be a lot more powerful than in recent years,' he said.

He thinks it will be a good snow season in NSW and Victoria  with the coldest weather likely to fall in June and July.

He says the period of freezing winters will end with a severe weather event  likely severe and widespread flooding  'worse than Australia has ever experienced'

Taylor believes it will snow in Tasmania over the weekend - despite his expectations of a longer summer

'Sun spots activity is linked to our El Nino and La Nina Seasons,' he said.

'For example the lower number of sun spots then more than likely we fall into a La Nino, the more active than when we look at El Nino.'

Taylor believes it will snow in Tasmania over the weekend - despite his expectations of a longer summer.

The Bureau of Meteorology will release its 'outlook for winter in late May'.

'Science shows further ahead we forecast the less accurate those forecasts are,' a BOM spokesperson said.

Taylor runs the Brisbane Weather and East Coast Weather Facebook pages.The Vatican is being hit by a new scandal known as 'Lettergate' which has followed on from the damage caused 'Vatileaks'.

For the past week, it has been enmeshed in a controversy that conservatives say bears all the hallmarks of a cover-up but others say is probably the result of botched communications.

On Monday, the head of the Vatican communications department, Monsignor Dario Vigano, moderated a presentation of an 11-booklet series of musings by 11 commentators on 'The Theology of Pope Francis'.

Conservative critics of Francis (left) saw the blurring and the selective press release as part of a plot to censor the thoughts of the former Pope Benedict (right), who resigned in 2013

No explanation has been provided by the Vatican as to why part of the letter by Pope emeritus Benedict XVI was blurred

The ex-head of the Catholic Church Pope Benedict (pictured) is battling a disease of his nervous system and apologised for not having had the time to read all 11 volumes

Although Pope Benedict has been characterised as assuming a more hardline, doctrinaire approach than his predecessor Francis, the two men have often spoken warmly of each other

Vigano read out a five-paragraph letter from retired Pope Benedict in which Francis' predecessor, now 90, rejected the 'stupid prejudice' of those who say the current Argentinian Pope is destroying the Church with liberal theology.

Benedict also disputed suggestions by conservatives that Francis' academic qualities were lacking, praising his successor as a 'man of deep philosophical and theological formation' and finding an 'interior continuity between the two pontificates'.

But a press release handed out to journalists at the event omitted the fourth paragraph of the letter, in which Benedict apologised for not having had the time to read all 11 volumes - written by high profile theologians - and thus declining a request to write a 'dense theological' introduction for the series.

Pope Francis speaks to the faithful during his pastoral visit to Pietrelcina with a picture of St Pio in the background. The saint was revered during his lifetime (1887-1968) and his popularity has grown since his death, particularly in Italy, where mini-statues and pictures of the mystical Capuchin friar are ubiquitous

Pope Francis greets two workers dressed up as clowns to cheer up children as he visits the oncology department in the hospital that St Pio founded in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy, during his pastoral visit to the places of St Padre Pio on Saturday

Pope Francis cheered up young patients at a hospital in San Giovanni Rotondo on Saturday

The latest scandal came as Pope Francis travelled by helicopter to Pietrelcina, southern Italy, on Saturday

The Pope made his journey as the row over the blurred papers raged in Rome

And in a publicity photo sent to media, showing the first page of Benedict's letter lying on a table, the start of the paragraph is illegible, apparently intentionally blurred to emphasise the rest of the letter, which is in focus.

Professional standards of photojournalism prohibit any kind of doctoring of photographs, especially when their meaning is altered. Media outlets covering the Pope often use and rely on handout images from the Vatican.

Conservative critics of Francis saw the blurring and the selective press release as part of a plot to censor the thoughts of the former Pope, who resigned in 2013.

Pope Francis travelled to San Giovanni Rotondo on Saturday during his pastoral visit in Pietrelcina for the 50th anniversary of the death of St Pio (Padre Pio)

Pope Francis met Pietrelcina's mayor Domenico Masone as he greeted the faithful in Pietrelcina and San Giovanni Rotondo on Saturday

Pope Francis did not allow the 'Lettergate' scandal to stop him from praying in St Francis' chapel in Pietrelcina

Many conservative Catholics still look up to Benedict as a bulwark against liberals, and have lambasted Francis for being too lenient on divorced Catholics and homosexuals.

'Increasing numbers of faithful Catholics are becoming alarmed by what they see as a continual stream of deceptions, manipulations and scandals coming from the Vatican under Pope Francis,' Edward Pentin, a conservative author who writes about the Vatican for the U.S. newspaper National Catholic Register.

In an email to Reuters, he dubbed the whole episode the Vatican's 'Lettergate'.

However, a video of the event confirms that Vigano did read out the entire letter, including the paragraph omitted in the press release.

'Speaking of a plot makes no sense,' said Angela Ambrogetti, head of the Catholic news agency Acistampa and a conservative herself. 'The whole letter was read and the last paragraph in no way changes the significance of Benedict's previous comments.'

Vigano had no comment.

The episode evoked the 'Vatileaks' scandal of 2012, when Pope Benedict's personal butler stole some of the pontiff's personal letters and leaked them to the media.

The controversy comes on the heels of the publication of Pope Francis' World Communications Day message, which criticised the phenomenon of 'fake news,' defining the phrase as 'false information based on nonexistent or distorted data meant to deceive and manipulate the reader.'

'The entire incident is a reminder that in a media-sophisticated age, with a media-omnipresent Pope, the Vatican communications apparatus must be committed both to transparency and to best journalistic practices, a Catholic Herald commentary said.

'Anything less is a disservice to the Church.'Has $55million worth of lost gold from the Civil War era been found in central Pennsylvania?

That's what locals seem to believe after FBI agents, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and treasure hunters Dennis and Kem Parada were seen digging around a remote area in Benezette Township, called Dents Run.

Dennis and his son Kem, the owners of the treasure hunting organization Finders Keepers, have claimed for years that 52 gold bars were buried under a fire pit at Dents Run more than 150 years ago during the Battle of Gettysburg.

Two treasure hunters, FBI agents and representatives of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources set up site on March 13 at Dents Run, a site where treasure hunters say Civil War-era gold is buried

Dennis Parada ( far left) and his son Kem (second from left) have said for years they tracked the lost gold to Dents Run. Dennis and Kem Parada are pictured with other Finders Keepers members Ryan Trymbiski (center), James Trymbiski (second from right) and Patrick Whelan (far right)

The gold is said to be buried in a remote area in Benezette Township, called Dents Run

The gold bars are believed to be worth an estimated $55million.

According to WJAC, the father and son, along with dozens of government and state officials were set up off Route 55 in Benezette Township on Tuesday.

A spokesperson for the FBI said they could not discuss why agents were at Dents Run, revealing only that it was conducting court-authorized law enforcement activity.

The FBI also ordered Dennis and Kem not to discuss what was going on at the site.

The father and son duo, another treasure seekers, believe the bars were hidden during the Battle of Gettysburg when Abraham Lincoln ordered a gold shipment to pay union soldiers.

According to the tale, a Union wagon train left Wheeling, West Virginia with 52 bars of gold each weighing 50 pounds. Some accounts claim the wagon was carrying 26 gold bars.

According to the tale, the gold disappeared during the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863

The wagon train was to travel from Wheeling to Ridgway, Pennsylvania to Harrisburg, but never made it to its destination. The wagon got to St Marys and that was the last time it was seen.

The wagons and dead soldiers were later found - but the not the rumored gold.

Dennis and Kem said in an older post on their site they had tracked the gold to Dents Run using high-powered medal detectors. They said the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources would not allow them to dig up the supposed gold.

A department spokesman said Friday that the treasure hunters previously asked to excavate the site but elected not to pay a required $15,000 bond. The spokesman referred comment on Tuesday's activity to the FBI.The job of Footy Show's Brendan Fevola may be in strife after he told the audience an embarrassing anecdote from co-host Sam Newman's past.

While Married at First Sight stars Dean, Tracey, Telv and Sarah were watching on from the audience, Fevola launched into a story about the unconventional way Newman, 72, met his first wife.

When asked by a fan if he would consider joining the Channel Nine dating show, Fevola jumped at the chance to tell the tale - despite heavy protestation from Newman and co-host Eddie Maguire.

The story was met with roaring laughter from the audience, while Fevola joked he was going to 'get the sack' from the show.

Scroll down for video

Footy Show host Brendan Fevola is no stranger to controversy, and his latest stunt has left even his co-hosts questioning if he has gone too far

Sam Newman, 72, has been married three times, and was asked by a fan if he thought about being on the hit Channel Nine show Married at First Sight

'I don't know if I would be, I've had a few goes at being married but it hasn't been at first sight. Maybe that's the panacea to everything, just have a crack at it first up without having seen anyone,' Newman said.

Fevola couldn't resist the chance to reveal a bombshell detail from Newman's history, before joking his cheeky anecdote could land him the sack.

'Do you want to tell the story of when you met your first wife?' he asked, as Newman squirmed on the panel next to him.

'I told someone that in confidence. I'm not telling that story at all,' Newman shot back.

Host Eddie McGuire also seemed reluctant for Fevola to share the slice of gossip.

The audience were eager for Fevola to tell the story however and cheered loudly when he began to spill about Newman

'You're not going to tell this are you? Hang on, mate, you shouldn't,' McGuire said.

The audience were eager for Fevola to tell the story however and cheered loudly when he began to spill about Newman.

'Well, I'll tell the story. Back in 1932 he went to an engagement party...'

Newman then got out of his seat and walked off stage, before McGuire interjected.

'You're not going to tell this are you? You shouldn't.'

Married at First Sight stars Dean, Tracey, Telv and Sarah were in the audience during Thursday night's show in Melbourne

Newman got out of his seat and walked off stage, before McGuire interjected

Fevola continued anyway, revealing that Newman 'picked up the bride to be and married her'.

Fevola was fired from The Footy Show in 2009 after an infamous drunken performance at that year's Brownlow Medal ceremony.Five New York City doctors were arrested Friday on charges that they accepted bribes and kickbacks from an Arizona-based pharmaceutical company to prescribe large volumes of a highly addictive painkiller.

The doctors allegedly were paid more than $800,000 by Insys Therapeutics Inc., according to a 75-page indictment handed up in Manhattan federal court on Friday.

They pleaded not guilty for all charges including conspiracy to overprescribe the spray version of fentanyl, a highly addictive opioid.

Prosecutors say the doctors, four men and a woman, collected tens of thousands of dollars working for the company's 'Speakers Bureau' over a four-year stretch beginning in August 2012.

Drs Gordon Freedman (left) and Todd Schlifstein were charged on Friday for conspiracy to overprescribe a highly addictive opioid to patients. They, and three other doctors, were allegedly paid more than $800,000 and bribed with other incentives

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said the doctors reneged on their oath as doctors to put the care of their patients above all else.

He said they accepted bribes in the form of speaking fees in exchange for prescribing millions of dollars' worth of a potent fentanyl-based spray that is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine and used their patients as an 'instrument for profit.'

Dr Jeffrey Goldstein is another doctor charged with conspiracy to overprescribe an addictive opioid. All the doctors are expected to be released after each paying a bond of $200,000

William F. Sweeney Jr., head of New York's FBI office, said the doctors 'were convinced to push aside their ethical obligations and prescribe a drug for profit to patients who turned to them for help.'

He said doctors and medical professionals everywhere should be reminded 'that the health and safety of their patients is not for sale.'

The doctors were identified as Gordon Freedman, 57, of Mount Kisco, Jeffrey Goldstein, 48, of New Rochelle, Todd Schlifstein, 49, of Manhattan, Dialecti Voudouris, 47, of Long Island City and Alexandru Burducea, 41, of Little Neck.

All of the doctors practiced in Manhattan, prosecutors said.

Nicholas Kaizer, a lawyer for Burducea, said he looks 'forward to the resolution of the charges in his favor.'

Other defense lawyers declined comment after the arraignment.

Prosecutors said the 'Speakers Bureau' was created with the purported intent to educate other practitioners about the fentanyl spray, but it was used instead to induce doctors to prescribe large volumes of the spray by paying them speaker program fees.

Jonathan Roper (second left), a former Insys Therapeutics Inc. sales manager, and Fernando Serrano (middle), a former sales representative at the company, walked out of federal court on Friday. They pleaded not guilty to a scheme where the company would pay doctors to overprescribe a highly addictive opioid

They said that although speakers were supposed to conduct slide presentations, the events often became mostly social affairs with no educational presentation about the spray.

Instead, these social gatherings were often just parties held at a pricey restaurant.

One benefit for Dr Gordon Freedman and Dr Todd Schlifstein included a strip club event where a senior pharmaceutical executive with Insys Therapuetics Inc. spent $4,100 on liquor and lap dances, the New York Daily News reports.

Schlifsten allegedly was so drunk at one of the events that he slurred his words, and Dr Jeffrey Goldstein smoked pot and snorted cocaine before his appearances, the indictment alleged.

The government said attendance sign-in sheets at the programs were frequently forged by the addition of names of health care practitioners who had not actually been present.

The company, Insys Therapeutics Inc., hasn't commented on the indictment.

The doctors are expected to be released after posting a $200,000 bond.A horrified mother has slammed a swimwear company after her teenage daughter received a Brazilian-style bikini as a prize and was encouraged to post photos of herself online.

Tania Swan wrote a scathing letter to Australian company Makana Swim after finding a package meant for her 16-year-old daughter which contained the skimpy costume.

She later found out the schoolgirl had won an Instagram competition and was sent the revealing two-piece free of charge.

Tania Swan wrote a scathing letter to Australian company Makana Swim after finding a package meant for her 16-year-old daughter which contained the skimpy costume (pictured)

A small note (pictured)attached to the package encouraged the schoolgirl to shared photos of herself in the bikini online

However, according to Ms Swan, the worst part was a small note enclosed in the package which asked her daughter to post pictures online wearing the g-string bikini.

'I told her that she wasnt going to wear that. She insisted that she could sunbake with it in our backyard. This is not appropriate as at times, people can see into our backyard,' Ms Swan wrote in a post on Collective Hub.

'Who are these people I began to wonder? Why would they give my daughter free skimpy swimwear? I then asked, "Have they asked you to take any photos in the bikini? She reassured me that they hadn't.'

An unconvinced Ms Swan noticed the card which came with the bikini read: 'Make sure you tag us in any photos you post in your newest swim piece so that we can feature you on our social media accounts!'

In a now-deleted post, Makana Swim asked Instagram users to comment on their post to win a prize

She was sickened to learn her daughter had been encouraged by the company to share 'half-naked' photographs online.

'She was now being instructed to tag this company in photographs of herself in her what they deem (in their own advertising) "cheeky" swimwear so that they feature my daughters half-naked body in advertising their product,' Ms Swan added.

'My daughter, perhaps more naive to my concerns seemed somewhat sympathetic to this newly fledged company that was only trying to get more people/followers.'

The mother then expressed fears that other underage girls had been coerced into sharing sexualised photographs of themselves on social media.

'Alarm bells are ringing. It makes me wonder who else has "won a prize"? Who else has tagged this company with images unbeknownst to their loved ones?' Ms Swan said.

A number of people slammed the concerned mother for being an inattentive parent and unfairly targeting the start-up swimwear company (Bikini pictured on model)

'How old are these girls being targeted? Do they even care? Sexual exploitation? Economic exploitation? Im not sure but my gut feeling is that something is not sitting quite right.'

Ms Swan's story attracted a divided opinion on social media when Collective Shout shared the letter to its Facebook page.

A number of people slammed the concerned mother for being an inattentive parent and unfairly targeting the start-up swimwear company.

'What a vile hateful woman. Why has she taken no accountability for herself as a parent? If she doesnt want her daughter to wear it take it from her - simple!' one woman said.

'Good grief... if this mother was so concerned over this maybe she should be more aware of what her daughter is doing rather then blaming some small business,' another wrote.

Some defended Ms Swan and pointed out Makana Swim had a responsibility to verify the age of the competition participants and not send thong-style pieces to 16-year-old girls.

'Maybe the company has a responsibility to do some "due diligence" before running such a competition,' one man wrote.

'Thanks for this - this is so inappropriate and predatory for this company to target teenage girls in this way. It's a good thing her mother was switched on!' another woman said.

Daily Mail Australia attempted to contact Makana Swim however the company appears to have shut down their Instagram, Facebook page and website following the backlash.

Collective Shout has also confirmed terms and conditions were previously shared on the company's website which clearly state 'You must be 18 years or older or have adult consent to enter the competition'.A married paralegal who groomed a 14-year-old girl online says he has no recollection of the conversation because he was drunk on vodka.

Jeremy Lysaght, 43, was sentenced on Friday after he contacted the child in the Philippines in 2015 through messaging service Viber, asking if she was a virgin and whether her mother would let her sleep in the same bed as him.

The recovering alcoholic pleaded guilty last year to grooming the child, claiming he isn't sexually interested in children but drinking had lowered his inhibitions, Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Jeremy Lysaght (pictured), 43, was sentenced on Friday after he groomed a 14-year-old girl in the Philippines online in 2015

The recovering alcoholic pleaded guilty last year to grooming the child, claiming he isn't sexually interested in children but drinking had lowered his inhibitions (stock image)

The father-of-one was sentenced to 18 months to be served at home under the strict supervision of community corrections, and received a $500 good behaviour bond.

The court heard Lysaght spent Christmas Day in 2014 drinking vodka when he first started speaking with the child.

Last year he told court that he engaged in conversation with the girl because he felt 'neglected' by his wife - who stood by his side during sentencing on Friday.

During conversations, he received a picture of the teenager and asked if she was 'really 14', before asking about her virginity.

Australian Federal Police became aware of the conversation and arrested Lysaght at his Sydney home in 2016.

On Friday, Lysaght told the Downing Centre District Court that he didn't recall grooming the child and that he had 'no explanation' for his actions.

Last year he told court that he engaged in conversation with the girl because he felt 'neglected' by his wife - who stood by his side during sentencing at Downing Centre District Court (pictured) on Friday

Court previously heard that he began speaking to the girl after talking to women on dating site Filipino Cupid.

He admitted that alcohol lowered his inhibitions to a point where he was 'interested in sex' while speaking with the child.

His wife and employer Joanne Liang also revealed that her husband 'could easily drink 10 to 12 beers at a time' in the years leading up to and during 2015.

She also explained she grew apart from Lysaght following the 2014 birth of her son, who was hospitalised for five months with only a 50 per cent chance of survival.

'I was literally 100 per cent committed to my son ... I was only concentrating on my son,' she told the court, while acknowledging Lysaght remained supportive.

Judge Peter Maiden described Lysaght's grooming as being 'at the bottom range of offending'.

'I am of the view the offender has expressed his remorse and understanding of the offending behaviour,' he said.

Lysaght said he accepted alcohol was his 'master' and has been sober since December, attending Alcoholics Anonymous sessions two to three times a week.

Investigators have failed in locating his 14-year-old victim, who is believed to be one of three children living with her mother in the Philippines, Sydney Morning Herald reported.With its slick graphics, jacked-up music, endless human interest videos and an alternative world view that revels in conspiracy, the Kremlin-funded TV and internet news and current affairs broadcaster, RT, has energy and appeal, especially to the young.

In the world of RT  otherwise known as Russia Today  an Anglo-American plot lurks around almost every corner, while Russia is the victim of a fake news offensive that seeks to portray it as the bogeyman on the world stage.

Based in Millbank Tower overlooking the Thames, the UK bureau is Vladimir Putins mouthpiece here  part of a 200 million global information campaign (RT broadcasts on TV and the web in some 100 countries and claims an audience of 70 million) which, its critics say, seeks to undermine Western values and interests to the Russian presidents benefit.

Scroll down for video

RTs editor-in-chief, Margarita Simonyan, right, pictured walking beside Russian president Vladimir Putin, centre, has compared the station's mission to a military enterprise

The controversial TV station is funded by the Kremlin and is viewed as a propaganda operation

To this end, video clips of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn this weekwho cautioned against rushing to blame Putin for the Salisbury nerve agent attack  promoted his statesmanlike qualities. Theresa May, on the other hand, was edited to appear defensive and shifty after announcing sanctions against Russia.

Staffed in London mainly by Western journalists, a cursory viewing of RT might suggest a respectable international broadcaster in the mould of the BBC, Sky and CNN.

It broadcasts daily, a mix of news bulletins, talk shows  on which many peers and MPs, including Mr Corbyn, have appeared  and documentaries.

Its viewing figures in the UK are minuscule (560,000 people tune into RT at some time during the week, compared with 6.1 million for Sky and 10.4 million for BBC News), but its output is amplified by YouTube channels and social media feeds which cater for an audience of metrosexuals and bums, according to one rival Russian channel.

And while it is true that many stories are delivered impartially, this selective impartiality appears to be a strategic ploy. According to Ben Nimmo of the Atlantic Council, an American international affairs think-tank: [RTs] job in quiet times is to build up an audience, so it can propagandise to them in crises. You must not confuse RT with bona fide journalism: not all its output is propaganda, but its purpose is.

Whenever Russia interests are at stake  as in Ukraine, Crimea and Syria  it pumps out programmes, videos and tweets that almost invariably toe the Moscow line.

In 2015, for example, it accused the BBC of staging a chemical weapons attack in Syria for a news report, and digitally altering the words spoken by an interviewee. (UK TV regulator Ofcom found RT to be in breach of its code.)

Russia Today used video of Jeremy Corbyn questioning Theresa May in the Commons

RTs editor-in-chief, Margarita Simonyan, a Russian journalist who once covered the Kremlin, has compared RTs mission to a military enterprise, saying that, in the media age, the broadcaster has to be ready to push the Moscow line at critical moments.

The attempted assassination of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia is one such moment.

Allegations of Russian involvement have been dismissed by RT as the product of paranoia and hysteria in Britain.

Or, as one of its online columnists put it, the ravings of a baying mob which has uncritically accepted its governments assertion that the toxin used in the attempted murders (Novichok) could only have come from a Russian laboratory.

On Thursday night, on BBC 1s Question Time, former BBC journalist-turned-RT presenter Afshin Rattansi went so far as to accuse Ms Skripal of also being a spy. Mr Rattansi, who presents the RT programme Going Underground, said: Obviously, everyone condemns this attack  its terrible for the police officer and these two spies.

It was an allegation for which he produced no evidence whatsoever.

Many British politicians have been interviewed on Russia today such as MEP Nigel Farage

In the resulting Twitter storm, his accusation against 33-year-old Yulia, who cannot defend herself because she is likely still in a coma, was branded disgusting.

It is, however, a suggestion that will now linger on the internet.

Mr Rattansi, born in Cambridge to a family who moved here from Kenya and who previously worked on Radio 4s flagship Today programme before decamping to Irans Press TV channel, has been RTs frontman in recent days.

Asked if he believed the Russian state was behind the attack in Salisbury, he replied: I really dont know. We cannot believe our governments any more  the way we used to just because a prime minister stands up and says, the security services have told us. Those days are over.

When Mr Rattansi  who has previously tweeted about how accusations of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party are part of a Zionist onslaught smear campaign against Jeremy Corbyn  was announced as a member of the panel this week, Tory MP Sarah Wollaston tweeted: Why is Question Time giving a platform to RT, a mouthpiece for Putin? Hope other panellists walk out in disgust.

Ms Wollaston was echoing the views of several MPs who are calling for RTs UK operation to be closed-down as part of Government sanctions against Russian interests in the UK.

Former SNP leader Alex Salmond, who hosts a programme on the channel insisted earlier this week that RT was not 'a propaganda station'

Former Labour minister Chris Bryant asked in the Commons: Can we just stop Russia Today broadcasting its propaganda in this country?

Fellow Labour MP Stephen Doughty urged the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport to look at reviewing Russia Todays broadcasting licence.

On Question Time, Mr Rattansi said such views were an affront to free speech.

His RT colleague and fellow talk-show host, Alex Salmond  the former SNP leader and First Minister of Scotland  was also in defensive mode this week, insisting that RT wasnt a propaganda station. One of his guests on Thursday was former MI5 officer Annie Machon, ex-girlfriend of the rogue MI5 officer David Shayler who was prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act in 2000.

She muddied the waters about responsibility for the Salisbury attack by telling RT: It is usually the State-level actors who have the capability of producing this sort of agent.

However, in terms of who might have used it, that is a different question. To say that if it is a State-made agent it must be a state attack is disingenuous, at best.

In other words, the nerve agent might have originated in Russia but that doesnt mean Russia is to blame.

Ms Machon is something of a conspiracy theorist herself, who has previously linked British intelligence services to the death of Princess Diana, and claimed that on 9/11 the Pentagon was hit by a U.S. missile, not a plane.

Anticipating criticism, Mr Salmond  who has been dubbed a useful idot for his involvement with RT  said: I hold no brief from the Kremlin, nor am I required to. No one has tried to influence the content of this show in any way, shape or form whatsoever.

By definition RT has not been a propaganda station because it is regulated under a UK licence by Ofcom. Yes, it has had breaches of the Ofcom code, but so have Sky, ITV and BBC.

Fifteen breaches for RT, in fact  including that report wrongly accusing the BBC of doctoring Syrian footage.

Ofcom has previously warned RT that it risks having its UK operating licence revoked because of its dependence on the Putin regime.

And in a letter sent to RTs parent company, ANO TV-Novosti, on Tuesday, the regulator said it would review RTs status as a fit and proper broadcaster if investigating authorities determine that there has been an unlawful use of force by the Russian state in the UK.

During an interview on the BBCs Today programme on Wednesday, Mr Rattansi said that conflation of the Salisbury attack with an Ofcom review was a threat to Press freedom.

He warned that if RT in London was closed, the BBC would, presumably, instantly be kicked out of Russia, while countries allied to Moscow, like China, might also hit out against Nato-government journalists.

Indeed, in response to calls for RTs closure in the UK, the Russian foreign ministry has warned that if such action is taken not a single British media outlet will work in our country.

As MPs, peers and others who have appeared on RT  some for money  run for cover, the Labour leadership is divided.

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell has said he will no longer appear on the channel and is advising Labour MPs to follow his example. But Mr Corbyn has promised only to review his partys involvement with the broadcaster.

One MP who thinks that RT should be allowed to continue broadcasting is former Tory minister Andrew Mitchell, who has appeared a number of times (unpaid).

I would not be in favour of closing down RT in London, although I understand why it is an issue, he says. The reason is, I tend to denounce what Russia is doing when appearing on RT.

So, for example, when the Russians were bombing Aleppo in Syria and killing innocent people . . . RT carried my comments and they were broadcast in Russia.

I have always thought there is some benefit in getting my views across on the Continent and in Moscow  and we must also consider the risk of retaliation against the BBC.

In the meantime, RT carries on regardless. Its motto is Question more.

Though not, it seems, when it comes to the motives and actions of one Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin.President Trump has hired Hulk Hogan's former attorney Charles Harder for his $20 million suit against porn star Stormy Daniels.

Harder, who famously won a huge payout for the former wrestler that resulted in the bankruptcy of Gawker, joined Trump's legal team alongside his personal attorney Michael Cohen.

Michael Avenatti, a lawyer for Daniels, said the addition of Harder was a 'bullying tactic' aimed at 'hiding the truth from the public,' the New York Post reports.

Daniels has said in court papers that she slept with Trump and signed an agreement just days before the 2016 election to stay silent about the affair in exchange for $130,000

President Trump has hired Hulk Hogan's former attorney Charles Harder (pictured with Hogan in October outside court) for his $20 million suit against porn star Stormy Daniels

Trump's longtime personal attorney says porn star Stormy Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, violated her and Trump's NDA with her 20 times, and claims the right to seek $20million in damages in federal court

Cohen has said he wants Trump and Daniels' dispute to go into private arbitration.

Harder hasn't yet commented on the case. He is a seasoned entertainment lawyer who helped win a $140 million verdict against Gawker Media for wrestler Hulk Hogan, whose real name is Bollea, after publication of portions a sex tape.

The publication ultimately folded.

He also represented Melania Trump and was hired in October by Jared Kushner, who was being interviewed by congressional investigators over alleged ties with Russia.

Meanwhile, the president's personal lawyer has accused the porn star of violating nondisclosure agreement 20 times, and claimed the right to seek $20million in damages.

Cohen, Trump's longtime personal attorney made the claim in papers filed in federal court Friday, according to the Washington Post. He says each time she violated the agreement she is liable for $1million in damages, and Cohen is claiming she violated it 20 times.

Cohen had formed a limited liability corporation to strike the nondisclosure agreement with Daniels in 2016, just days before the presidential election, over her alleged affair with Trump.

Cohen, through his limited liability company Essential Consultants, says he wants the dispute with Daniels to be moved out of court, and out of the public eye, and back into private arbitration.

In a separate filing, Charles Harder, another attorney for Trump, said he agrees with Cohen's push to return the proceedings to private arbitration.

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

Michael Cohen, a personal attorney for President Trump, says Daniels violated the NDA she signed just days before the presidential election 20 times, and claims the right to seek damages

Hulk Hogan, whose given name is Terry Bollea, with lawyer Harder, left, who helped him win a $140 million verdict against Gawker Media for publication of portions a sex tape

Cohen, through his company Essential Consultants, on Friday filed a removal to federal court. The filing, which is posted below, states that the agreement contains an arbitration provision and EC had initiated arbitration proceedings prior to Clifford's lawsuit. In arbitration, EC is seeking compensatory damages, liquidated damages and injunctive relief.

Clifford's attorney Michael Avenatti has been making the rounds with national press, and she taped an interview with 60 Minutes that's set to air on March 25.

Depending on the contents of that interview, and notwithstanding it is unclear if the 20 times she supposedly violated the NDA includes the 60 Minutes interview, Cohen could end up tacking on additional damages.

Friday's federal filing by Cohen reads: 'Clifford expressly agreed in the Settlement Agreement to liquidated damages in the amount of 'One-Million Dollars ($1,000,000)' for 'each breach' of the confidentiality provisions of the Settlement Agreement.'

'Therefore, EC and/or Defendant Trump have the right to seek liquidated damages against Clifford for her numerous breaches in an amount to be proven with certainty at the Pending Arbitration Proceeding, but which is approximated to already be in excess of twenty million dollars.'

Cohen paid Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, $130,000 through an LLC he set up in exchange for an agreement not to discuss her alleged relationship with Trump or share any texts or images she may have.

Daniels is suing Trump in a California court to try to undue or declare void her NDA.

Earlier on Friday, Daniels' attorney, Michael Avenatti, claimed his client had been threatened with physical harm.

He spoke to both CNN's New Day and the Associated Press about the allegations but stopped short of providing more details.

He said she had been 'physically threatened,' but would not comment on whether the threats came from anyone tied to the president, the Trump campaign or the Trump Organization.

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, has been seeking to invalidate a nondisclosure agreement she signed days before the 2016 presidential election in order to discuss their relationship, which she said began in 2006 and continued for about a year.

Daniels will discuss the threats during her segment on CBS' '60 Minutes.'

Avenatti said he was confident that people would believe her after watching her interview.

'There's the act and there's the cover-up, and the American people are going to learn about both in the interview and beyond,' the lawyer said during yet another interview with MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' on Friday.

TICK TOCK: Stormy Daniels' lawyer, Michael Avenatti, tweeted out an image of his client flanked by himself and Anderson Cooper, who interviewed her for '60 Minutes'

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters Friday that she had no knowledge of the situation and hadn't spoken with the president about it.

But, she said, 'obviously we take the safety and security of any person seriously' and 'certainly would condemn anyone threatening any individual.'

In the lawsuit Daniels filed in Los Angeles last week, in which she she is seeking to invalidate the agreement so she could 'set the record straight,' she has also offered to return the $130,000 she was paid for agreeing not to discuss the relationship.

Daniels' lawsuit claimed the 'hush agreement' she signed in October 2016 is legally invalid because it was only signed by herself and Cohen, Trump's attorney, but was not signed by Trump himself.

The lawsuit refers to her beginning an 'intimate relationship' with Trump in 2006 that continued 'well into the year 2007.'

She said the relationship included encounters in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, and Beverly Hills, California.

Trump married his current wife, Melania Trump, in 2005, and their son, Barron, was born in 2006.

According to Daniels' timeline, the alleged affair would have begun just months after Melania gave birth to Barron.

Sanders said last week that Trump has 'made very well clear that none of these allegations are true.'

In addition to Daniels, six women have contacted Avenatti with similar stories, he said. Two of the women appear to have signed nondisclosure agreements, Avenatti said.

Daniels also has previously denied through a lawyer that she and Trump had an affair, but Avenatti has said that was to meet the terms of the nondisclosure agreement.

Cohen has denied there was ever an affair and said he paid the $130,000 out of his own pocket.

He has said neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Daniels and he was not reimbursed for the payment.Lord Edward, 43, may lack a stately home, but I can reveal he has acquired a beautiful fiancee (pictured together)

While the man destined to be Duke of Marlborough, Jamie Blandford, was battling addictions to heroin and cocaine and enduring three spells in prison, there was ill-founded speculation that his younger half-brother, Lord Edward Spencer-Churchill, could be handed Blenheim Palace instead of him.

Happily, Jamie has since conquered his demons and duly inherited the 11,500-acre family estate in Oxfordshire where Sir Winston Churchill was born.

Venture capitalist Lord Edward, 43, may lack a stately home, but I can reveal he has acquired a beautiful fiancee. Speggy, as the Old Etonian is known to his chums, is engaged to German-born photographer Kimi Hammerstroem, who has an unconventional streak.

Her tattoos include a butterfly inked when she was 16 and the title of a song by The Smiths, There Is A Light That Never Goes Out, around her wrist.

Yes, hes engaged, confirms his interior designer aunt, Jane Churchill, at the JC Home launch party at George Club in Mayfair.

It should be the summers liveliest wedding: Speggy is a pal of American rapper P. Diddy and his exes include Jonathan Aitkens love-child, Petrina Khashoggi, and Nat Rothschilds former wife, Annabelle Neilson.

Blenheim Palace is monumental stately home situated in Woodstock, Oxfordshire

The smart sets talking about . . .Mary Fellowes

During her post-engagement television interview, Meghan Markle told the BBCs Mishal Husain that she didnt know much about Prince Harry before they met on a blind date.

Now, however, one of Harrys cousins has set tongues wagging by revealing that Meghan befriended her in 2015.

Fashionista Mary Fellowes, 39, whose aunt, Lady Jane, was Princess Dianas sister, tells me: I styled Meghan three years ago for a magazine photoshoot and I interviewed her, too.

Fashionista Mary Fellowes, 39, whose aunt, Lady Jane, was Princess Dianas sister

The Suits star, 36, was introduced to Harry by an unnamed mutual pal the following year.

Mary (pictured) explains: We arranged the shoot after I met her through mutual friends in London.

We became friends and then I just thought she was so incredible I had to interview her.

The stylist, whose uncle, Sir Robert Fellowes, was the Queens private secretary, gushes of Meghan: She was incredibly impressive because she described how her activism and social conscience had started at a very young age.

She had a lot of conviction and cared about those causes.

Mary, who has worked for Vogue and dressed U.S. actresses Liv Tyler, Claire Danes and Amy Adams, is not only a useful friend to Meghan. She is also helpful to Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, who reportedly turned to her for style tips after they were pilloried for their fashion gaffes.

(Very) Modern Manners

If you live next door to a Hollywood starlet, is it acceptable to do a spot of curtain twitching?

Labour peer Stewart Wood, 49, is lucky enough to have former Downton Abbey actress Lily James and her boyfriend, The Crown star Matt Smith, as neighbours in North London. And the nosy parker cant resist sneaking a peak at the 28-year-old while shes carrying out the most unglamorous of household tasks.

I havent called round for a cup of sugar, but some mornings Ive seen Lily taking out her rubbish in her nightdress, he tells me. Now she knows shes being watched, Lily refuses to alter her domestic routine by getting dressed. Who changes to take out the rubbish? she asks. Someones got to do it.The girlfriend of fired Border Force Commissioner Roman Quaedvlieg's had her letter of resignation accepted on Thursday, more than two months after sending it.

Quaedvlieg, 53, was found to have secured Sarah Rogers, believed to be in her 20s, a job in December 2016 just months after they started a relationship.

Ms Rogers worked as a passport scanner for the Australian Border Force at Sydney Airport and was understood to have pre-empted her own dismissal.

She submitted her resignation after receiving a letter requesting she defend why she should be allowed to keep her job, Weekend Australian reported.

The girlfriend of sacked Border Force boss Roman Quaedvlieg had he letter of resignation accepted more than two months after submitting it

Quaedvlieg was dismissed following a 10-month investigation by the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity and the secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Martin Parkinson, on Thursday.

The investigation found him guilty of misleading Immigration Minister Peter Dutton about the status of his relationship with Ms Rogers and changing internal ABF policies to secure her a position.

The 53-year-old denied the allegations and said his relationship with the much younger woman only started after she got the job in December 2016.

He also hit back at accusations he used a work phone to send 14,000 texts across the span of a year, denying all allegations of misconduct.

Quaedvlieg claimed salacious texts he sent her had been taken out of context.

Quaedvlieg was dismissed following a 10-month investigation for getting his girlfriend a job

In May, the father-of three went on personal leave from his $619,905 job on full pay after allegations emerged he got Ms Rogers a job stamping passports at Sydney Airport.

In February, The Daily Telegraph reported Quaedvlieg had sent intimate and salacious texts back and forth with the woman, who is now his girlfriend.

A Statement of Grounds of Termination of Appointment states Quaedvlieg 'acted at particular times to modify policies relevant to recruitment processes so as to advantage... a particular candidate for ABF employment'.

The statement further stated Quaedvlieg failed to disclose 'a significant change within his personal life' and made a 'willfully or recklessly false statement to the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection in relation to the status of his personal relationships'.

Quaedvlieg 'failed to disclose his relationship with a person who was seeking employment in the ABF in circumstances where Mr Quaedvlieg had an interest in that person securing employment and was in a position to influence the relevant recruitment processes'.

In a statement released today, Quaedvlieg maintained his 'strong denial' and appeared to be considering fighting the dismissal.

Attorney-General Christian Porter (pictured) is understood to have found Mr Quaedvlieg guilty of breaching the Code of Conduct and recommended his sacking

'I was given a short opportunity to resign prior to my termination however I chose not to do that as it is tantamount to a concession of culpability, which I strenuously deny,' he said.

'I also have previously made a number of observations in relation to the inquiry processes and I intend to pursue these more formally in the relevant forums.

'I will now take some time to fully consider my options.'

Pictured: Roman Quaedvlieg's statement regarding his termination after a 10 month investigation on Thursday

The sacking comes after an investigation spanning 10 months, for which Quaedvlieg was reportedly paid more than $500,000.

It was completed by Prime Minister and Cabinet Secretary Martin Parkinson and handed to Attorney-General Christian Porter who recommended the Governor General, Peter Cosgrove, dismiss Quaedvlieg.

On Wednesday the decision was signed off on by Federal Executive Council.

Quaedvlieg is a former Queensland police officer. He famously arrested the notorious bank robber 'Postcard Bandit' in 1995 while wearing thongs, board shorts and a singlet.

He was previously the chief police officer of ACT Policing, and had been the Commissioner of the Australian Border Force since its creation in 2015.Wang Yang, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), presides over the first meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th CPPCC National Committee in Beijing, capital of China, March 16, 2018. The meeting concluded in Beijing on Friday. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

2

1

[ Editor: Zhang Zhou ]Jamie Oliver has hit out at 'nasty' claims his brother-in-law and CEO of his business is a 'bully' who is destroying his empire.

Members of the TV chef's staff are reportedly 'desperate to leave' after a series of tough cost-cutting measures were introduced by Paul Hunt, Oliver's brother-in-law.

Morale at the company is said to have become disastrously low after Mr Hunt, 54, was chosen to head up the culinary enterprise, sources told The Times.

But Oliver, 42, has hit out at the 'untrue' claims, saying they are 'nonsense' and Hunt is in fact 'a loyal brother-in-law, loving father and strong, capable CEO'.

Paul Hunt, 54 (pictured), has been accused of being a 'bully' and of having a 'problem with strong women'

He posted on his Facebook and Twitter profile: 'There has been some negative press coverage with so-called friends of mine saying nasty, untrue things about Paul Hunt, who is the CEO of my business.

'First, let me say that the story is nonsense and I absolutely refute the picture they paint of Paul and my business.

'I've known Paul for years both as a loyal brother-in-law and loving father as well as a strong and capable CEO who I charged with re-shaping the business.

'He has radically transformed our business for the better it's now more successful, vibrant and creative than ever and now we able to focus on doing the same in our UK restaurant business.

'I'm incredibly grateful for what's been achieved in a fairly short time.'

But Oliver, 42, has hit out at the 'untrue' claims, saying they are 'nonsense' and Hunt is in fact 'a loyal brother-in-law, loving father and strong, capable CEO'

Mr Hunt, who is married to Oliver's sister Anna-Marie, was appointed to run Jamie Oliver Ltd in 2014.

He became a director of the Jamie's Italian chain the same year.

The restaurant chain has since closed almost half its outlets in recent months, while bullying claims swirl.

'Paul Hunt is an arrogant, incompetent failure,' a source close to the TV chef told the newspaper.

'He knows virtually nothing about restaurants and even less about publishing...the day he resigns the staff should have a big party.'

The source said the celebrity chef remains popular among staff, but that Hunt's presence had left some workers looking for alternative employment.

They also accused Hunt of having a 'problem' working with strong women.

A female executive who recently left the company described Hunt as 'a City boy from central casting'.

Friends of Jamie Oliver (pictured) reportedly suggest he is aware of the problem but is reluctant to confront it

She said that Hunt always sat with his legs wide open, was extremely suntanned and very competitive and sporty.

She added she thought he looked pleased when she handed in her resignation. Another source described him as useless.

'He has been given pay rises despite his tenure being plagued by failure.'

A former employee added: 'He's always been more focused on cost cutting than quality. He's not tried to re-brand or do anything different.'

Hunt's profession history has been somewhat chequered.

Hunt worked for LIFFE futures and options exchange, and was fined 60,000 in 1999 after being found guilty of insider trading while working as lead trader at Refco Overseas - the London arm of a US futures broker. Hunt was banned from trading for a year.

Jamie Oliver said at the time: 'For the last 14 years, Paul has been deemed as fit and proper to be the sole director of a Financial Conduct Authority-licensed company, before becoming CEO of Jamie Oliver Group in July last year.'

At the end of 2015 Jamie's Italian had some of the worst ratings on Google Review of any comparable chain.

In January the Jamie's Italian chain announced it was closing 12 of its 37 UK branches

Friends of Oliver have suggested he is aware of the problem but is reluctant to confront it.

'What you have to remember about Jamie is that he may be an amazing, lovely, fantastic man but he does not like confrontation,' said one source.

Jamie Oliver Ltd has never received a complaint about Mr Hunt, who has hired and promoted several women.

Under his leadership maternity rights have been extended and programme have been introduced with the aim of helping female staff.

Oliver has denied the allegation saying he doesn't recognize them and praised Hunts policies on women.

Oliver said: 'We've investigated these matters, and I don't recognise the allegations. We've had to make some tough decisions in the last few years to turn around a business that was in trouble. I'm grateful to Paul for steering us through. He is helping me to create a healthy and creative place to work.'The frontrunner to become Labours next general secretary employed a woman who was suspended from the Labour party for saying Jews had big noses.

Jennie Formby  a senior figure in Unite, Britains largest trade union  gave a contract to Vicki Kirby last year.

Miss Kirby was suspended in 2014 over a series of anti-Semitic Twitter posts in which she called Adolf Hitler a Zionist God.

But Miss Formby, an ally of Jeremy Corbyn, gave her a job with the union after she was re-admitted to the party.

The revelation will raise more questions about Labours apparent tolerance of anti-Semitism within its ranks. It will also put extra pressure on Miss Formby ahead of next weeks meeting of Labours ruling executive to appoint the general secretary.

Jennie Formby (pictured), a senior figure in Unite, Britains largest trade union, and the frontrunner to become Labours next general secretary employed a woman who was suspended from the Labour party for saying Jews had big noses

Yesterday, a Labour MP said that she should be quizzed over the decision during her interview for the job, the most senior bureaucratic role in the party.

John Mann, who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group Against Anti-semitism, said the decision to employ Miss Kirby was hugely inappropriate.

He said: An appointment like that breaks all the true traditions of the trade unions. We need to see more due diligence. Such a person would be hugely inappropriate either in a trade union or employed by the Labour Party.

Miss Kirby was suspended by Labour after making anti-Semitic comments online between 2011 and 2014.

In one, she said: We invented Israel when saving them from Hitler, who now seems to be their teacher. Another said: What do you know about Jews? Theyve got big noses and support Spurs lol.

One tweet said: Point about Jews is that they OCCUPY Palestine. Used to live together, now slaughter the oppressed.

Another message said: Who is the Zionist God? I am starting to think it may be Hitler. #FreePalestine.

Miss Kirby was re-admitted to the Labour Party between 2014 and 2016 after being issued with a warning and forced to resign as a parliamentary candidate.

Vicki Kirby (pictured) was suspended in 2014 over a series of anti-Semitic Twitter posts in which she called Adolf Hitler a Zionist God

She was suspended again in March 2016 after an outcry from MPs at the fact she had been re-admitted and was acting as vice-chair of Woking Labour Party.

The Independent, which revealed the story, said that, according to Unite sources, Miss Formby would have had to approve Miss Kirbys appointment.

They also said that she would almost certainly have directly recruited Miss Kirby for the job, though Unite inists the role was allocated after a joint decision by a number of officials.

Miss Formby is the regional secretary in Unites south-east office in Slough, Berkshire. Miss Kirby worked as a regional officer in the same office. She worked as a stand-down regional officer for Unite  a temporary appointment used to fill a gap when an employee retires or is off work ill.

Unite documents shown to the website state that regional officers report directly to the regional secretary.

A Unite source told the site: Nobody gets appointed as a stand-down officer without the regional secretary approving it. The idea she knew nothing about it is nonsense.

A Unite spokesman said Miss Kirby had repeatedly apologised for her remarks and had been appointed by the union following a procedure involving lay members and other officials.

He said: Vicki Kirby made appalling anti-Semitic remarks on Twitter for which she was rightly sanctioned by the Labour Party. Miss Kirby has never been an employee of Unite, although she did two months temporary organising work for the union after she had been reinstated into the Labour Party.

Miss Formby is widely seen as frontrunner for the general secretary role. The general secretary is responsible for overseeing the enforcement of rules and responding to allegations of wrongdoing, including anti-Semitism, by members. Miss Formbys main rival, Momentum founder and chairman Jon Lansman dropped out of the race last weekend.A number of English council have expressed fears that high-rise flats covered in Grenfell-style cladding could be targeted by terrorists and arsonists.

There are concerns at least 288 towers across England which home thousands and have failed combustibility tests after Grenfell Tower disaster could be targeted.

Freedom of information requests were sent to 36 councils across England known to have failed towers. One council tower block in Slough, Berkshire has already been attacked by arsonists several times, the local authority confirmed, while another private block has firefighters on guard around the clock.

The council refused to release details about which buildings had been affected, citing the government's 'concerns that vulnerable buildings could become a target for terrorist activity'.

Freedom of information requests were sent to 36 councils across England known to have failed towers

In Islington, London, 44 buildings are under investigation and seven have been confirmed as having flammable cladding - but the council refused to disclose their location to The Guardian as 'in the wrong hands the information could be used by arsonists/terrorists'.

Wandsworth Council in south London said it was not disclosing information about the flammable cladded properties for fear that building owners may be located and hunted down.

Only seven of the 158 social housing block in England which were found to have flammable cladding have been re-fitted with non-flammable cladding so far, ministers confirmed. The combustible cladding on private sector homes is believed to be even slower.

It comes after the Government has been criticised for the speed at which Grenfell residents have been rehoused, after housing minister Dominic Raab admitted only a quarter of the affected households had been permanently rehoused.

Student halls in Nottingham and Leicester were still entirely clad with flammable panels this week, and 29 blocks in Salford, Greater Manchester, were also wrapped in cladding after work to remove the cladding stopped in autumn last year.

High-rise flats covered in Grenfell-style cladding may be targeted by terrorists and arsonists, shocking new reports have claimed

Greenwich, in London, refused to disclose which blocks were affected, but confirmed there were 12 buildings home to 3,000 people.

In Oldham, Greater Manchester, the council cited 'public safety risks' and 'distress to residents' among some of its reasons for not disclosing which blocks are still in flammable cladding.

Five of the 10 councils which replied with information regarding privately owned tower blocks revealed none had their combustible cladding had been removed, meaning that 1,220 homes were affected - although the true number is likely to be much higher.

The National Housing Federation (NHF), which represents social housing landlords, told The Guardian: 'Government must lead on identifying and unblocking delays at every stage. Right now, this means making sure BRE prioritises tests for materials being used on these buildings.'Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has said he wants to change the law to allow coroners to investigate stillbirths.

Britain has one of the highest stillbirth rates in the developed world at more than 3,000 a year.

But campaigners fear lessons are not being learned because hospitals are failing to uncover their own mistakes.

It comes after a coroner yesterday gave a conclusion of neglect for a babys death.

Laura Monks and Peter Winrows son Rueben was recorded as stillborn at Royal Albert Edward Infirmary in Wigan in November 2011, meaning no inquest was required.

But the couple hired solicitors and NHS bosses later admitted responsibility over the botched birth.

Coroner John Pollard yesterday said the baby died following significant failings and could have survived if he had been delivered more quickly.

The hospital said services had improved since then.ABC journalists need to focus more on stories which affects 'average Australian families' and cover viral content including homegrown 'villain' Salim Mehajer, an internal audit has revealed.

The taxpayer-funded network closely reviewed an eight-week block of its televised bulletins after it was accused of having an 'elite' and 'left-wing' bias.

The ABC compared itself against Channel Seven, Nine and Ten broadcasts and found it was covering a limited range of news and failed to include major stories which received extensive coverage on other stations.

The taxpayer-funded network closely reviewed an eight-week block of its televised bulletins after it was accused of having an 'elite' and 'left-wing' bias (ABC broadcast pictured)

ABC journalists need to focus more on stories which affects 'average Australian families' and cover viral content including homegrown 'villain' Salim Mehajer, (pictured) an internal audit has revealed

It came to the conclusion that their lack of news diversity - which included selecting 'substantially different' content than their news rivals - was stopping the ABC from attracting the 'widest possible audience'.

A comparative breakdown of stories covered by the ABC and rival networks found the government network had zero crime stories on the same day a baby was attacked with meat cleaver by a grandmother, a boy was shot in the face and a German backpacker had his teeth smashed in.

'To characterise it crudely, an ABC bulletin might leave an anxious viewer sleepless over global instability, while Channel 7 will leave them more worried about crime or violence at the end of their own street,' the review noted.

One particular topic the ABC was curiously silent about was the notorious narrative of disgraced former deputy mayor Salim Mehajer.

Incidents such as Mehajer's car crash and failure to appear in court were hurriedly covered by almost all Australian news outlets, except the ABC.

The taxpayer-funded network (Sydney office pictured) closely reviewed an eight-week block of its televised bulletins after it was accused of having an 'elite' and 'left-wing' bias

One particular topic the ABC (Broadcast pictured) was curiously silent about was the notorious narrative of disgraced former deputy mayor Salim Mehajer

Poll Do you think the ABC is too boring? Yes No I don't watch it Do you think the ABC is too boring? Yes 80 votes

No 33 votes

I don't watch it 50 votes Now share your opinion





'Silence again from the ABC despite demonstrable local interest in a home-grown Sydney villain,' the audit read.

Reviewers pointed out the ABC tended to cover items without colour or editorialising, while commercial reporters provided their own commentary, sometimes through sarcasm,

The ABC's glaring omissions were called into question in the audit and investigators suggested the broadcaster focus on more 'hip-pocket' issues which affect everyday Australians.

'There are some thoughtful, unique ways we could add more local, human interest and hip pocket stories to our coverage,' it said.

'We should also be more consistently concerned with effects on average citizens and spend more time speaking to ordinary Australians about their daily challenges.'

It came to the conclusion that their lack of news diversity - which included selecting 'substantially different' content than their news rivals - was stopping the ABC from attracting the 'widest possible audience'

The ABC's glaring omissions were called into question in the audit and investigators suggested the broadcaster focus on more 'hip-pocket' issues which affect everyday Australians

The ABC compared itself against other networks (Channel Seven pictured) and found it covered far less crime and human interest stories

The top three most covered topics on ABC broadcasts were found to be Federal politics, sport and social policy issues.

Crime and 'general interest' stories were the preferred items on the agenda of Channel Seven, Nine and Ten.

The report also found ABC Radio ignored several important local stories in favour of covering political or economic content.

The review did not find any 'noticeable issues' of impartiality with the standards of ABC reporting and noted often the broadcaster would play a story with an 'impeccable straight bat'.Advertisement

Rabbi Mordechai Hager died on Friday in Manhattan aged 95

Rabbi Mordechai Hager, the leader of one of the largest Hasidic sects in the county, died on Friday in a Manhattan hospital of liver failure following an undetermined infection. He was 95.

Hager, who was believed to be the oldest Hasidic rabbi in the world, was survived by 14 children, hundreds of grandchildren, and reportedly thousands of great-grandchildren. His seven surviving sons all lead synagogues around the world and his eight daughters all married prominent rabbis.

He was the leader of the Viznitz Hasidic sect, overseeing some tens of thousands of followers worldwide from the ultra-Orthodox enclave of Kaser, New York, a village he founded to escape the worldliness of city life in Brooklyn.

Venerated for his encyclopedic knowledge of Talmud, which he studied for up to 18 hours a day, Hager was reticent to appear in public and was almost never photographed.

Mourners bear the casket of Rabbi Mordechai Hager on Friday in the ultra-Orthodox enclave of Kaser, New York

Mourners filled the streets as Hager's body was buried on the same day he died in accordance with Jewish tradition

The grand rabbi and spiritual leader of the Viznitz Hasidim died at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan at 95 years old

It is reported that the rabbi had 14 children consisting of eight sons (the oldest of whom has died) and six daughters

The exterior of Hager's funeral service is seen. Tens of thousands of Hasidim rushed to the service from around the world

Tens of thousands filled the streets on Friday, as Hager's body was rushed to the upstate hamlet from Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan for burial before the Jewish Sabbath began at sundown.

Video shows a crush of mourners outside the main shul in Kaser after memorial services.

'Don't push, come on hold on!' a man was heard shouting as the casket was loaded into a Toyota minivan as state troopers held the crowd back.

Young men in traditional garb with long sidelocks clambered up on fences and light poles along the funeral route for a glimpse of the procession.

The body was conveyed to Viznitz Cemetery for burial, with the graveside service restricted to men only per ultra-Orthodox tradition.

The Rockland County Fire Department warned residents to expect major traffic delays due to the funeral gathering

Hager was venerated by his followers for his encyclopedic knowledge of Talmud, which he studied for up to 18 hours a day

Hager immigrated to the US in 1948, and became the head of the Viznitz synagogue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

A mounted sheriff's deputy works crowd control as mourners fill the streets for the funeral of Rabbi Mordechai Hager

Hager was born on July 20, 1922 in Oradea, Romania. His father was the fourth grand rabbi of Vyzhnytsia, Ukraine, the village that was the seat of the Hasidic sect since the mid-19th century, according to the New York Times.

Russian soldiers decimated the Jewish population of Oradea during World War I, forcing the clan to flee to Grosswardein, near the border with Hungary.

In World War II, the Germans occupied the region, forcing the family to flee again to Bucharest, where Hager married Feige Malka Twersky.

She died of an infection a few months later, and Hager married her sister Sima Mirel, who died in 2005 at the age of 76.

Hager immigrated to the US in 1948, and became the head of the Viznitz synagogue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

He was famously modest and is said to have taken his glasses off while walking down the street to avoid prurient temptations.

Mourners gather near Viznitz Cemetery on Friday for the funeral of Rabbi Mordechai Hager, who died earlier in the day

Jews crowded into the cemetery to pay tribute to the revered rabbi, who founded the upstate enclave of Kaser

Hager's followers gather for his burial service at Viznitz Cemetery, where only men were allowed per Jewish tradition

Hager had hundreds of grandchildren and is said to have thousands of great-grandchildren all around the world

Hager was famously modest and is said to have taken his glasses off while walking down the street to avoid lewd sights

In the 1960s, concerned about loosening social standards, Hager decamped from the city and up the Hudson River to the town of Ramapo in Rockland County, eventually carving out the hamlet of Kaser.

Like most Hasidim, he believed Israel should not have been founded until the arrival of the Messiah, though he acknowledge the practical reality of the state.

Though he stayed out of the limelight, he often clashed with the Satmar Hasidim, the largest ultra-Orthodox sect in the US, opposing the public school district that was created for disabled students in the upstate Satmar village of Kiryas Joel.

Hager also opposed the takeover in recent years of the East Ramapo school district by ultra-Orthodox Jews who do not send their children to public schools, calling the move overly provocative.

A succession plan was arranged in advance of his death, with Hagers sons set to take over at various Viznitz courts, including Kaser, Brooklyn and London, among other locations.An Oxfam manager responded to further claims a senior aid worker was using prostitutes in Haiti by asking 'Can he turn off his libido I wonder?' and insisting he could 'contain' the problem, according to an internal report.

Multiple sexual harassment claims were brought against Raphael Mutiku, who was responsible for installing water supplies on the Caribbean island after the earthquake.

But, according to the internal report, his manager at the time Andy Bastable allegedly said Mr Mutiku, a Kenyan, in his 40s, responded by saying 'he wouldn't judge him' for it. He was allowed to stay in Haiti for another year.

The senior Oxfam UK public health engineer wrote in an email about the accusations: 'I'm not judging Raph, he has a desire that seemingly needs to be filled  can he turn off his libido I wonder?

'There is no law within Oxfam that prohibits using prostitutes, however it seems he is not being discreet.' Mr Mutiku fiercely denies the use of sex workers.

Oxfam Haiti director Roland van Hauwermeiren (pictured) reportedly said that aid worker Raphael Mutiku was 'completely free of charge'

According to the report, Mr Mutiku was given a final warning about his conduct in June 2010 but he was later accused of paying young women for sex at his Oxfam accommodation just six months later.

He was eventually dismissed by the charity in 2011.

The final written warning was given to Mr Mutiku after female colleagues made sexual harassment claims against him.

However, he is then reported to have paid young women for sex in Haiti.

Andy Bastable, head of water and sanitation for Oxfam's Global Humanitarian Team, also appeared to defend Mr Mutiku and defend the aid worker's actions

The document, which was revealed by The Times, also suggests that the charity appeared to have sanctioned prostitution.

The charity also confirmed that the decision not to dismiss Mr Mutiku was made by Roland van Hauwermeiren, the director for Oxfam in Haiti.

He reportedly described Mr Mutiku as 'totally free of charge'.

Mr van Hauwermeiren has been at the heart of the recent aid worker sex scandal.

He was one of three Oxfam staff members to resign in 2011 after an internal investigation found troubling evidence of his behaviour.

Mr Mutiku was also dismissed in 2011 following the same investigation.

In 2011, when interviewed by investigators, Mr Mutiku denied paying for sex, but accepted his previous behaviour towards female staff was 'appalling'.

He was one of the seven male employees forced to leave.

But the decision to allow him to remain in his job after 2010 'placed female Oxfam GB staff members at risk of further sexual harassment and sexual assault', according to the report by three investigators.

The aid agency was not able to prove prostitutes were used, but said paying for sex would be 'a serious abuse of power  to exploit women who have been forced into prostitution due to the extreme desperation that can be found all over Haiti'.

A latrine project led and financed by Oxfam in Port-au-Prince, Haiti from January 2011

It said the Mutiku report had been disclosed to the inquiry.

Last night Oxfam, which received 32million of Dfid money in 2016-17, said Mr Bastable had 'apologised for the unacceptable tone of his email, which was totally inappropriate'.

An Oxfam spokesman said: 'The behaviour of some former Oxfam staff working in Haiti following the 2010 earthquake was completely unacceptable, contrary to our values and the high standards we expect of our staff.

'We are very sorry for what happened and from 2011 we introduced stronger measures to prevent and stamp out harassment and abuse.

'The decision not to sack Raphael Mutiku in 2010 was wrong.

'It was taken by Roland van Hauwermeiren, the then country director, who as recent reports have detailed was himself guilty of sexual misconduct.

'His decision making was therefore compromised.

'Mutiku was dismissed in 2011 following an internal investigation.

'Amongst the measures we introduced after our investigation in 2011 was a confidential whistleblowing hotline to help staff raise concerns without alerting colleagues or their managers - something we believe would have helped us uncover what was happening in Haiti sooner.

'This week we announced details of our comprehensive plan to further strengthen our safeguarding measures, including new standards to improve referencing, additional staff and resources for safeguarding, and the appointment of the co-chairs of the independent commission to review our culture and practices.

'We are committed to continue to do all we can to help the millions of people every year affected by humanitarian disasters and to improve the lives of those living in poverty.'Some millennials are ditching engagement rings in favor of embedding gems in their fingers.

'We notice lately a lot of people coming looking for that,' Sam Abbas, owner of NYC Ink Studio in West Village, explained to CBS New York.

But with any piercing, Abbas explains that it is imperative to clean the piercing at least twice a day and have it done by a seasoned professional.

Some millennials are ditching the luxurious flair of engagement rings and embedding actual gems into their fingers

'We notice lately a lot of people coming looking for that,' Sam Abbas, owner of NYC Ink Studio in West Village

'You're dealing with the blood, so you got to be very, very safe,' he said. 'What we do, we sterilize everything.'

People participating in the trend have their fingers marked with a pen and then cleaned with alcohol.

The person piercing will then remove a piece of skin and insert a titanium or gold anchor in for the gem.

NYC Ink, located in West Village, is a shop that willingly does the piercing

People participating in the trend have their fingers marked with a pen and then cleaned with alcohol

Taking approximately 10 minutes, the cost of the procedure comes out to around $100 but the diamond is sold separately.

And Abbas was quick to point out that like most piercings, there will be some sort of pain.

'You're going to feel it. You're getting pierced. It is a little bit painful. But people did it, and I have a lot of people who say, "Oh nice, it's nothing, I expect more,"' said Abbas.

The person piercing will then remove a piece of skin and insert a titanium or gold anchor in for the gem

Taking approximately 10 minutes, the cost of the procedure comes out to around $100 but the diamond is sold separately

But Dermatologist, Dr. Monica Halem, raised other concerns when getting the piercing done.

'First of all, these procedures are not being done by a doctor, and it is a surgical procedure,' she said. 'There are a lot of important structures that sit right under the skin there that can easily be damaged, like tendons.'

Her most obvious concern: if the diamond were to snag.

'I think it looks nice, but if you really think what its doing to the body  and you can have scarring  its so many complications that can happen from it,' Cynthia Rivas, a millenial, said

'Thats sitting right above the skin, thats easily caught on something and can do a lot of damage,' she added.

To get the diamond removed could potentially be even more painful than the initial piercing.

And healing is expected to take up to 20 weeks , a concern that seems daunting to Cynthia Rivas, a millennial.

'I think it looks nice, but if you really think what its doing to the body  and you can have scarring  its so many complications that can happen from it,' Rivas said.Labor's western Sydney MP Hugh McDermott has vowed to clear his name after a former staffer accused him of sexual and verbal abuse.

Nicole Scott, a former staffer who was fired from the MP's Prospect electorate office before Christmas, has filed a complaint to the Public Service Association of NSW, it was revealed on Saturday.

Dr McDermott has 'categorically denied' allegations he deliberately brushed against her breast multiple times and pressed his groin against her back while she was seated at her desk.

Ms Scott has also alleged Dr McDermott answered the door at his home during a mutually agreed meeting without a shirt on and with his pants undone.

'I welcome the opportunity to clear my name,' NSW Labor MP Hugh McDermott said

Nicole Scott has has filed a complaint to the Public Service Association of NSW

NSW Opposition Leader Luke Foley told reporters the party would begin an investigation alongside a separate probe by the NSW parliament.

'There's no place in the party I lead for the harassment of women,' he said.

He admitted he was surprised to learn of the allegations, when told about them on Friday evening.

Ms Scott would receive all due care and support, he added.

'I feel a duty of care to her as a former Labor staffer,' Mr Foley said.

'No-one will be judged here until the investigations take their course.'

'I am deeply concerned to hear of the allegations, which I categorically deny,' Hugh McDermott said

Dr McDermott said he was 'deeply concerned' about the allegations which he could 'categorically deny'.

'Any allegation of harassment is a very serious matter,' he said in a Facebook post late Friday.

'At no time has any member of my staff spoken with me about such allegations, nor have they lodged a formal complaint through any of the channels available to them which would trigger a proper investigation and consideration of any such matter.'

Ms Scott's employment was terminated due to 'operational requirements', he added.

Dr McDermott on Saturday voluntarily stood aside from his role as chair of the Wastewatch Committee until the investigation was complete.

'I welcome the opportunity to clear my name,' he said.Donald Trump Jr has posted a photo of himself on 'date night' with his ten-year-old daughter Kai after he and his wife Vanessa Trump revealed they were getting a divorce.

The president's son was in Mar-a-Lago for the Republican Party of Palm Beach County's Lincoln Day Dinner in Palm Beach, Florida, on Friday.

But before he went to mingle with the crowd, Trump Jr, posted a selfie of himself with his daughter Kai.

He captioned it: 'Date night with Kai. Great father daughter time. #weekend #fatherdaughter #daughter #datenight.'

Kai, donaldjtrumpjrDate night with Kai. Great father daughter time. #weekend #fatherdaughter #daughter #datenight

Trump Jr., the president's oldest child, has been spending a lot of time with his five children since he and his estranged with Vanessa announced they were planning to divorce.

The father-of-five recently took his kids skiing to what appears to be an upstate New York resort, posting a photo of his children on the slopes with the caption: 'Great weekend with the little ones. Now its time to get back at it. #familytime #snow #outdoor #kids #snowmobile.'

On Friday, he and his wife were both photographed without their wedding rings.

Don Jr was seen holding a folder full of papers and cigars as he ducked out of work early, leaving Trump Tower in Manhattan shortly after noon, sans band.

The mother-of-five, 40, was also sans ring as she was spotted heading off on the school run with her two youngest children Chloe and Spencer.

Donald Trump Jr. takes photos with guests before the start of the Republican Party of Palm Beach County's Lincoln Day Dinner at Mar-a-Lago

Trump Jr., who is divorcing from his wife Vanessa, posed for photos with guests before the start of the Republican Party of Palm Beach County's Lincoln Day Dinner

Trump, Jr. waves to guests before the start of the dinner at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach Friday

Guests gather around the pool before start of the Republican Party of Palm Beach County's Lincoln Day Dinner at Mar-a-Lago

Sarah Palin was among the attendees at the Republican party on Friday

Vanessa and the kids attempted to sneak out the back entrance of their Manhattan apartment building around 8am on Friday, with three Secret Service agents closely flanking the family members.

The group put on a very colorful display, with Vanessa wearing a green pastel hat, Chloe outfitted in a bright blue jacket and Spencer prepared for any possible inclement weather in a yellow-and-blue raincoat.

Meanwhile, court papers reveal that Vanessa has hired herself a criminal defense lawyer to handle her split from Don Jr.

David Feureisen of the firm Bartels & Feureisen will be handling the split for Vanessa, who opted for a lawyer based in White Plains, which is close to the family's residence upstate.

There is little else in the filing at this time, and the lawyer for Don Jr is not revealed in the one document that has been submitted thus far that can be viewed on the court docket.

Feureisen has been involved in a number of high-profile cases in Westchester and butted heads with Trump family friend Jeanine Pirro many a time when she was the acting district attorney for the area.

In 2007, he managed to get a murder charge overturned after arguing that Pirro's office had purposely withheld information that would have pointed to another suspect in the case.

Don Jr acknowledged his split from wife Vanessa for the first time on Thursday evening in an Instagram post.

Trump Jr.has been pictured spending time with his other kids, including a bedtime photo with daughter Chloe, left, and hugging his son Tristan, right

Down from his tower: Donald Trump Jr was seen for the first time since his wife Vanessa files for divorce (above on Friday in NYC)

Band of gold: Don Jr was not wearing his wedding ring just 24 hours after his wife file papers in their uncontested divorce

Over and out: Vanessa Trump, 40, did not wear her wedding ring as she headed out in new York City on Friday (above with daughter Chloe and son Spencer)

Weight lifted: Vanessa ditched her wedding ring one day after filing for divorce following 13 years of marriage )(Vanessa's hand above)

'No matter what is going on bedtime cuddling with the smurf puts a Yuge smile on my face. #bedtime#daddysgirl #cuddle,' wrote Don Jr.

He included that remark alongside a photo of himself lying in bed with his daughter Chloe, the youngest of his five children.

Just a few hours earlier, a source told DailyMail.com that Vanessa had filed divorce papers in Manhattan Supreme Court after 12 years of marriage.

That source added that Vanessa listed the divorce as uncontested, meaning that she is not asking for full custody of the children at this time and that Donald Jr does not object to the filing.

'After 12 years of marriage, we have decided to go our separate ways,' the pair said in a joint statement.

'We will always have tremendous respect for each other and our families. We have five beautiful children together and they remain our top priority. We ask for your privacy during this time.'

Page Six reported shortly before the pair filed for divorce that Don Jr's behavior on social media had caused problems in his relationship with Vanessa.

Recently, Don Jr like tweets which made controversial and false statements about the victims of the Parkland shooting, including one that suggested there was a link between anti-depressants and the murderers responsible for mass casualty attacks.

He also like a tweet that said 17-year-old David Hogg, one of the young students who is leading the call for gun reform, was just 'running cover' for his father, a former FBI agent.

Vanessa responded to that report by liking a number of tweets posted by her estranged husband and other members of his family.

Moving on: Vanessa Trump is seen outside her Manhattan apartment building on Thursday before filing divorce papers in a Manhattan court

N9othing to say: Vanessa (above) hurried into her building while someone unloaded the car

Vanessa was photographed outside her Manhattan apartment building on Thursday morning shortly before her divorce papers were filed in court.

She was joined by Secret Service on Thursday, who unloaded her car outside the building.

The men began taking in empty suitcases, suggesting that the children may soon be heading off on a trip over school vacation.

It is unclear if the five children will all head off with together or if the couple will split up their brood.

This will be the first time that a child of the president has entered into divorce proceedings while their father held office.

Some are also now wondering if Vanessa could be called to testify against her estranged husband should he be indicted in the Russia probe.

'In theory, Vanessa could talk about what Donald Trump Jr. knew about the Russia investigation if spousal privilege doesnt apply, but that would take the divorce into a dark place,' said Joshua Forman, a celebrity divorce attorney at Partner at Chemtob, Moss & Forman.

'However, she may have signed a prenuptial agreement with a confidentiality clause and would thus be precluded from speaking during or after marriage.'

He went on to explain: 'If there isnt a confidentiality clause and there isnt a prenup in place, then once the divorce is complete, she could if allowable by the law in the jurisdiction she is called to testify in be compelled to testify.'

Page Six reported on Wednesday that sources close to the pair had said that the two were leading separate lives, and had been for some time.

'The problems have been there for a long time, the couple had hoped to stay together during the presidents time in office, but it is getting harder to resolve their issues,' said one source.

'Hes never there.'

The two have been spotted together less and less in recent months, and spent almost no time with one another over the holidays at Mar-a-Lago.

Torn apart: This will be the first time that a child of the president has entered into divorce proceedings while their father held office

Don Jr posted a number of videos to social media during the two weeks that the pair were in Palm Beach which showed him with the couple's children but never Vanessa.

Vanessa was also absent from one of the family dinners and did not attend the annual New Year's Eve gala, with Don Jr. instead taking his son Donnie.

It was also his birthday that night.

Then, in February, it was revealed that Vanessa was at an apartment a few blocks away from the family's residence in Manhattan when she opened a letter addressed to her husband containing a mystery white powder.

In the wake of those reports, the two were seen together on February 13 doing the school run with their two youngest children, Chloe and Spencer.

A week later, the entire family traveled down to Mar-a-Lago for Donnie's birthday.

Don Jr posted a photo of that to Instagram which showed everyone smiling for the camera, writing: 'Happy birthday Donnie. Some birthday cake for my 9 year old little man yesterday. Somehow I hit send then but it didnt go through.'

Just before that trip however, Don Jr spent Valentine's Day with another lady - his daughter Kai.

'Valentines Day selfie with one of my favorite Valentines. Early dinner with my girl Kai,' wrote Don Jr on Instagram.

Vanessa meanwhile was spotted out to eat with her sons Donnie and Tristan.

Cake by the ocean: The family was last seen together in February when they all celebrated Don III birthday in Palm Beach (above)

Donald Trump Jr has yet to comment on the news of his split, but did post a photo of his daughter Chloe sleeping in his bedroom on Wednesday (above)

The couple had been introduced multiple times before going on their first date, with President Trump responsible for two of those introductions.

Vanessa said in a 2006 interview that he twice introduced her to his son at a fashion show in 2003, and she finally agreed to a date when they met a third time at a mutual friend's party.

Vanessa said that she referred to Donald Jr as 'the one with retarded dad' sat the time.

Don Jr proposed to Vanessa, who was a model and actress at the time, with a $100,000 engagement ring back in 2004.

The proposal was captured by the multiple photographers alerted to the fact that Don Jr would be proposing in front of the same jewelry store from which he obtained the ring for a heavily discounted price.

They were married at Mar-a-Lago in November 2005, though those plans were almost derailed due to Hurricane Wilma, which forced the couple to move the wedding from the club's lawn to a more sheltered space by the pool due to the damage done by high winds.

Those nuptials took a backseat in the press however to the fact that the wedding marked one of the rare occasions when Donald and his new wife Melania came face-to-face with his ex Ivana.

Separate lives: Don Jr and Vanessa attend the second day of the Republican National Convention

Happier times: The pair were all smiles on a family vacation to Aspen last March, but left early when their son Tristan broke his leg (Don Jr, Ivanka and Vanessa in Aspen)

Prior to marrying Don Jr, Vanessa had been linked to Leonardo DiCaprio and had a small role in the film Something's Gotta Give.

Vanessa was very much in the spotlight prior to the couple's wedding, but once the couple began to have children shifted her focus to raising their sons and daughters.

She gave birth to all five of the couple's children in a span of just seven years.

In the wake of her father-in-law's announcement that he would be running for president, Vanessa did step out on the campaign trail a bit, and occasionally post on social media.

Vanessa also may have provided the first clue that she and Don Jr were leading separate lives back in November when she posted a photo of her Christmas tree of Twitter and wrote: I just finished decorating our tree with my kiddies ! We are in the holiday spirit! Christmas will be here soon!'

There was no mention of her husband at all in the tweet.

She last posted a tweet that showed her with Don Jr back in June for President Trump's birthday.

News of the divorce follows a difficult few days for Don Jr, who was campaigning for Rick Saccone in Pennsylvania.

Saccone has not lost that race at this time but is behind Democrat Conor Lamb.Russian hackers are accused of penetrating the US aviation system as part of a broad assault by the country on Americans infrastructure.

The Aviation Information Sharing and Analysis Center said in a report Friday that the cyber attack happened in early 2017 but had limited impact, Bloomberg reports.

The aviation industry has, however, taken steps to prevent it from happening again.

It hit a part of our very broad membership, executive director Jeff Troy said in a statement, without elaborating on the nature of the breach.

Troy said the attack wasnt something that would directly harm US airlines or airplanes, but said he 'did see that this impacted some companies that are in the aviation sector.

Russia has been accused of hacking the US aviation system. Officials said the attack had limited impact, but steps have been taken to prevent it from happening again (stock image)

Rick Perry, energy secretary, said during a hearing Thursday that cyber attacks happen hundreds of thousands of times a day

He also said the attack had been detected in its early stages.

On Thursday, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security also confirmed in an alert that there had been a cyber attack aimed at multiple US infrastructure sectors, including aviation.

The alert said Russian government cyber actors have been targeting these systems since 2016.

Government officials said the attacks have also affected multiple organizations in the energy, nuclear, water, construction and critical manufacturing sectors.

Energy secretary Rick Perry told lawmakers during a hearing Thursday that cyber attacks are literally happening hundreds of thousands of times a day.

The warfare that goes on in the cyberspace is real, its serious, and we must lead the world,' he said.

Eric Chein, security technology director at Symantec, a digital security firm, told the New York Times that the hackers never went as far as to sabotage anything.

According to the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, aviation is not the only sector hackers have targeted. Other sectors include energy, nuclear water and construction

We now have evidence theyre sitting on the machines, connected to industrial control infrastructure, that allow them to effectively turn the power off or effect sabotage, he said. From what we can see, they were there. They have the ability to shut the power off. All thats missing is some political motivation.

The alert from the government came the same day the Trump administration imposed sanctions against Russian individuals and organizations it accused of meddling in the 2016 presidential election and malicious cyber attacks.A man who crashed into a power pole in the early hours of the morning became so violent he had to be sedated and forced onto the ground by paramedics.

The 32-year-old driver had been travelling along Perouse Road in Randwick, Sydney at 3.15am when he veered his Subaru onto the wrong side and hit a pole.

Paramedics who arrived on the scene were forced to then restrain the man and sedate him after he became aggressive and refused help, Nine News reports.

The 32-year-old driver had been travelling along Perouse Road in Randwick, Sydney at 3.15am when he veered his Subaru onto the wrong side and hit a pole

Paramedics who arrived on the scene were forced to then restrain the man and sedate him after he became aggressive and refused help

Shocking footage of the incident shows the uncooperative driver being restrained by six police officers who carried him into the paddy wagon.

'Ambulance paramedics sedated the man when he was removed from the caged truck, and he was conveyed to St Vincent's Hospital for observation and blood tests,' NSW Police said in a statement.

Witness Sassoon Benjamin told the publication the driver became 'aggressive' after being pulled from his car.

'They got him out of the car and he just started pushing his hands and got really aggressive,' he said.

The man caused significant damage to the front of his vehicle and the power pole was almost completely uprooted from the ground.

Following the incident, a NSW union has called for extra paramedics and body-worn cameras to greater protect emergency authorities.

The Health Services Union NSW on Saturday said its members were sick of being treated like punching bags.

Shocking footage of the incident shows the uncooperative driver being restrained by six police officers who carried him into the paddy wagon

Following the incident, a NSW union has called for extra paramedics and body-worn cameras to greater protect emergency authorities

'This incident is further evidence of the urgent need for more paramedics,' secretary Gerard Hayes said in a statement.

'Thankfully in this case there was safety in numbers, but all too often, paramedics have been isolated in dangerous situations.'

The HSU called on the NSW government to boost paramedic numbers in the lead-up to the state budget, saying at least another 1200 officers were needed.

Mr Hayes said the union was also willing to consider the introduction of paramedic-activated cameras, despite traditionally being ambivalent about the devices.

'Provided they are self activated and introduced alongside a serious boost to staff levels, we are prepared to support such an initiative,' he said.

Officers from Eastern Beaches Police Area Command continue with their investigation into the crash.A young man has been found dead on a residential property on the Gold Coast, with authorities deeming it 'suspicious'.

The 21-year-old's body was found in the yard of a home in Soma Court, Mudgeeraba, on Saturday morning just before 10am, Seven News reported.

The 21-year-old's body was found in the yard of a home in Soma Court, Mudgeeraba, (pictured) on Saturday morning just before 10am

Police have declared the area a crime scene and are currently investigating, but initial reports suggest the death is suspect

Police have declared the area a crime scene and are currently investigating, but initial reports suggest the death is suspect.

More to come.Dame Olivia de Havilland is claiming she never publicly referred to sister, Joan Fontaine, as a b***h and that studios have a 'legal and moral responsibility' to chronicle people's lives with 'integrity.'

The British-born actress, 101, is suing Ryan Murphy and FX's Feud: Bette and Joan for unfairly portraying her as a foul-mouthed gossip throughout the series.

'The creators of Feud used my identity without my consent and put false words in my mouth, including having me publicly calling my sister, Joan Fontaine, a 'b***h,' the Gone With the Wind actress said in an email to the Guardian.

Dame Olivia de Havilland is asserting that studios have 'legal and moral responsibility' to chronicle people's lives with 'integrity.' This comes after she brought forth a lawsuit claiming that she never publicly referred to sister, Joan Fontaine, as a b***h

The British-born actress, 101, is suing Ryan Murphy and FX's Feud: Bette and Joan for unfairly portraying her as a foul-mouthed gossip throughout the series. She was played by Catherine Zeta Jones (pictured)

While the show primarily focuses on the life-long feud between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, Dame Olivia claims that the characterization of her by Catherine Zeta-Jones misses the mark and paints her as a gossip.

Feuds producers note in court papers that Dame Olivia dubbed her sister Dragon Lady but they considered b***h would be better understood by a modern audience.

Murphy insists he portrayed Dame Olivia positively  as a wise, respectful friend and counselor to Bette Davis and a Hollywood icon.

But Dame Olivia feels the portrayal comes across very differently.

While the show (pictured) primarily focuses on the life-long feud between Bette Davis (Sarandon) and Joan Crawford, Dame Olivia claims that the characterization of her by Catherine Zeta-Jones misses the mark and paints her as a gossip. Feuds producers note in court papers that Dame Olivia dubbed her sister Dragon Lady but they considered bitch would be better understood by a modern audience

Murphy insists he portrayed Dame Olivia positively  as a wise, respectful friend and counsellor to Bette Davis and a Hollywood icon. Davis and Dame Olivia in a film still for 'In This Our Life'

'The show was designed to make it look as if I said these things and acted this way. I feel strongly about it because when one person's rights can be trampled on this way, the rights of others who are more vulnerable can be abused as well,' she added.

The two time Oscar winner had her own very public sibling rivalry with sister, Joan Fontaine. Fontaine was also a legendary actress who was younger than her sister and was often pitted against Dame Olivia by their mother.

The two time Oscar winner had her own very public sibling rivalry with sister, Joan Fontaine

Dame Olivia was the catalyst for the so-called De Havilland Law, a landmark 1944 ruling that ended the tight grip studios had on contract actors and was widely seen as the beginning of the end for the old Hollywood studio system.

It came after Dame Olivia sued Warner Brothers in 1943 when the studio extended her seven-year contract, to account for time she had spent on suspension for rejecting roles that executives wanted her to play.

For her suit almost eight decades later, the California Court of Appeals is scheduled to rule on if the lawsuit will proceed, later this month.

But critics fear it could create a dangerous precedent, stopping film and TV producers from depicting living people without their consent.

Stories based on true events could be in jeopardy as they would require permission, creating 'a fundamental threat to public discourse, history, art, and even to democracy as public figures could censor disagreeable portraits,' claims Jennifer Rothman, a professor at Loyola University.

Fontaine was also a legendary actress who was younger than her sister and was often pitted against Dame Olivia by their mother

But the 'queen of radiant calm' feels differently, adding that the sentiment 'mischaracterises her case' and takes away from the responsibility of the studios that put forth these projects.

'I have spent a good portion of my life defending the film industry,' she said.

'However, studios, which choose to chronicle the lives of real people, have a legal and moral responsibility to do so with integrity. They have a duty not to steal the value of an actor's identity for profit.

'I am fortunate to be able to be the standard bearer for other celebrities, who may not be in a position to speak out for themselves under similar circumstances.'Advertisement

Guinness, shamrocks and rolling green pastures usually come to mind when you think of Ireland.

And there is no other day that celebrates everything the clover country has to offer than St Patrick's Day on March 17, which this year fell on a Saturday.

Australians and New Zealanders, not to be bested by their Irish counterparts, where quick to descend on the closest pubs this weekend, dressing in a number of bright green outfits to commemorate the patron saint.

And there is no other day that celebrates everything the clover country has to offer than St Patrick's Day on March 17, which this year fell on a Saturday

Australians and New Zealanders, not to be bested by their Irish counterparts, where quick to descend on the closest pubs this weekend, dressing in a number of bright green outfits to commemorate the patron saint

Outfits on the day ranged from green tutus and gold shamrock hot pants to fake coloured moustaches and trilby hats

Outfits on the day ranged from green tutus and gold shamrock hot pants to fake coloured moustaches and trilby hats.

There were also a number of long striped socks, perhaps in homage to the leprechaun, being sported around towns from Auckland to Byron Bay.

But not everyone was up early to avoid lines to the bar - some city dwellers rose at sunrise to fit in an early morning workout before festivities began.

F45 Training at Randwick posted a photo of two Irish members, wishing them a happy 'St Paddies Day'.

Football jerseys and fake green beards were a popular choice on the festive day (pictured)

A number of punters in Auckland made their way to Western Park for a parade that promised to 'paint the town green'

From 11am to 6pm the park played host to the bustling Irish Music & Dance Festival - with rides and traditional alcoholic beverages on the agenda

A number of punters in Auckland made their way to Western Park for a parade that promised to 'paint the town green'

A number of punters in Auckland made their way to Western Park for a parade that promised to 'paint the town green.'

From 11am to 6pm the park played host to the bustling Irish Music & Dance Festival - with rides and traditional alcoholic beverages on the agenda.

Even the youngest generations where getting into the spirit, dressing in tiny onesies fit for the smallest of fairies in Irish folklore.

Raise your glass! Big smiles radiated from the bars as most revellers chose a tasty guinness to wash the day down (pictured)

Guinness, shamrocks and rolling green pastures usually come to mind when you think of Ireland

And there is no other day that celebrates everything the clover country has to offer than St Patrick's Day on March 17, which this year fell on a SaturdayVandals have used rocks and paint to smash a window at Immigration Minister's Peter Dutton's electorate office in Queensland.

A police spokeswoman said a man and a woman threw the objects through the window of the controversial minister's office at Strathpine, north of Brisbane about 9.45pm on Friday.

A Queensland Police spokesman told Daily Mail Australia that the man threw the rock and that the woman threw the glass.

Vandals have used rocks and paint to smash a window at Immigration Minister's Peter Dutton's electorate office in Queensland

A police spokeswoman said a man and a woman threw the objects through the window of the controversial minister's office at Strathpine, north of Brisbane at around 9.45pm on Friday

Three people were in the office at the time but none were injured.

'Police have commenced inquiries, which a continuing,' the spokesman said.

Mr Dutton is currently in Sydney for a counter-terrorism conference as part of the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit.

He told the summit on Saturday that Australia and Southeast Asia faces an increasing threat from terrorists using the dark web and encrypted messages.

'The use of encrypted messaging apps by terrorists and criminals is potentially the most significant degradation of intelligence capability in modern times,' he said.

'They use new generation technology to attempt to divide all of us by exploiting platforms designed to bring us together.'

Mr Dutton's comments come ahead of an expected announcement by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull later today about a proposed Australia-ASEAN memorandum of understanding on cooperation to counter international terrorism.

Mr Dutton's comments come ahead of an expected announcement by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull later today about a proposed Australia-ASEAN memorandum of understanding on cooperation to counter international terrorism

The MOU includes a package of joint initiatives and programs to enhance regional security and build counter-terrorism capability in Southeast Asia.

Mr Dutton said while the collapse of Islamic State in the Middle East was welcome, Australia and the 10 ASEAN member countries faced an ongoing challenge from foreign fighters returning to the region from the conflict zones.

About 220 Australians have travelled to Syria and Iraq to join the conflicts there since 2012.

Australian authorities have so far obtained 21 arrest warrants for people believed to have been in those conflict zones and who attempted to return to Australia, while 230 Australian passports have been cancelled to stop others from travelling to Iraq and Syria.

The MOU includes a package of joint initiatives and programs to enhance regional security and build counter-terrorism capability in Southeast Asia

'Countering that threat requires a united and cohesive regional effort, involving coordination between our respective national security and law enforcement agencies,' Mr Dutton said.

'We must recognise that national security cannot be achieved in isolation from regional security - they are complimentary imperatives.

'A nation cannot be assured of its own safety while there are threats at its doorstep.'Three airmen who saved innocent Vietnamese civilians while stopping the My Lai massacre have all since died, and the one man who served time for his part in the slayings, is still alive.

On March 16, 1968, American soldiers from Charlie Company, angry about the casualties they suffered, went on a killing rampage, slaughtering around 500 unarmed women, children, and the elderly in the My Lai Massacre.

Capt. Ernest Medina allowed his Company to rape and murder civilians for hours, undeterred. Half the soldiers participated, including Lt. William Calley, who was slaughtering with a vengeance. He would later serve time for personally murdering 22 civilians.

The other half of the soldiers stood aside refusing to participate, but didn't intervene, in a report by Reason.

Three helicopter airmen, Hugh Thompson, 25, Lawrence Coburn, 18, and Glenn Andreotta, 20, saw bodies piling up from the air, and were confused that the people were unarmed, or not of solider age.

Lt. Hugh C. Thompson (pictured, at court martial of Lt. William L. Calley in 1970). Pilot Thompson intervened in the My Lai Massacre, and saved a dozen Vietnamese civilians

Thompson's crew chief Glenn Andreotta (pictured) helped Thompson stop the slaughter

Thompson's gunner, Lawrence Colburn, was part of the trio that saved Vietnamese civilians

In this March 19, 1971, file photo, Lt. William L. Calley, Jr. ponders a thought as he waits for the verdict of a six-officer court martial deliberating his case in Fort Benning, Ga. for his personal murder of 22 innocent Vietnamese women, children and the elderly

Captain Ernest Medina (right), commander of the infantry company involved in the alleged massacre, said he didn't order the mass killings that lasted several hours and ended in 500 civilian casualties

They landed twice to marked injured civilians for aid, and returned to find them dead.

Thompson, the pilot, along with his gunner Colburn and crew chief Andreotta knew something horrifically sinister was happening.

Thompson said 'We started seeing a lot of bodiesit didn't add up, you know, how many people were getting killed and wounded, and we weren't receiving any fire.' Thompson radioed back to base there there was 'a whole lot of unnecessary killing going on,' he recalled during a 1989 British documentary Four Hours in My Lai.

When Thomspson landed he confronted Lt. Calley, who was in the midst of slaughtering civilians.

Calley told Thompson to mind his business. Meanwhile Sgt. David Mitchell was occupied with making sure no one was alive in the ditch used as a grave for 70 innocent civilians.

Thompson yelled: 'You ain't heard the last of this!'

Thompson later likened what he had was witnessed to the the Jewish genocide by the Nazis.

The airmen then saw several Vietnamese being chased toward a bunker.

Thompson jumped into action, knowing he could face a court martial.

He landed his chopper right between the soldiers and the civilians, and told his men to shoot if the masses fired on Thompson or on the Vietnamese. Andreotta and Corburn agreed to the tactical plan.

From there, Thompson was able to urge the civilians out of the bunker, demanded help over the radio, and successfully convinced two other pilots to come to assist.

The used a nearby gunship- typically used against the Vietnamese in combat, to gather the dozen that were out of harms way of Charlie Company, and they took off to see if they could find others who survived.

Andreotta, who would die the following month, went into a ditch with the dead and came out with a child.

In this Saturday, March 15, 2008 file photo, My Lai Massacre survivor Do Ba, 48, left, of Ho Chi Minh city, places incense at his family's grave site during the 40 year anniversary of the incident in My Lai, Quang Ngai Province, Vietnam, accompanied by former U.S. Army officer Lawrence Colburn

President Nixon had ultimately paroled Calley, he served just a few years for 22 murders

They brought the survivors to a hospital.

After a failed cover-up the Army began looking to prosecute the perpetrators.

Thompson was a star witness for a year for the prosecution, despite being bullied by powerful men, including President Richard Nixon who tried to 'discredit one witness.'

It appeared Nixon was going after Thompson personally.

At the end of the investigation, Calley after being found guilty of personally murdering 22 civilians, was sentenced to life imprisonment.

His sentence however was reduced to 20 years by the Court of Military Appeals, it was again reduced to 10 years by the Secretary of the Army, before Nixon ultimately paroled him and he served just a third of his sentence.

Calley is still alive in Florida, Medina is also still alive.

The helicopter gunner, Colburn died in 2016, while Thompson died in 2006.Robert Crosland, a science teacher at Preston Junior High School, reportedly fed a dog to a turtle last Wednesday after classes

Idaho officials have euthanized a snapping turtle at the center of an investigation over whether a long time biology teacher gave it a sick puppy to eat in front of students.

Robert Crosland, of Preston Junior High School, reportedly fed a sick puppy to a turtle last Wednesday after classes ended for the day, Superintendent Marc Gee said in a news release.

The Idaho State Department of Agriculture in a statement Friday says snapping turtles are an invasive species in Idaho requiring a permit. Officials seized the turtle Tuesday and euthanized it Wednesday.

Meanwhile, law enforcement officials say they stepped up security for three schools in the Preston School District in eastern Idaho this week following vague threats connected to an allegation that the puppy was fed to the turtle March 7 at the junior high school.

The school superintendent said administrators had been informed of the 'regrettable circumstance involving some of the biological specimens' afterward.

He said the incident took place 'well after students had been dismissed'.

Crosland has not been dismissed or reprimanded for his strange actions - which students claim have been going on for years.

At least three of Crosland's unidentified students told the East Idaho News the science teacher also previously demonstrated himself feeding 'guinea pigs to snakes'.

The young students also added that Mr. Crosland has been 'popular' at Preston Junior High.

Crosland has not been dismissed or reprimanded from school administrators for his actions

Students told the East Idaho News the science teacher, who fed a dog to a turtle, also previously demonstrated himself feeding 'guinea pigs to snakes' (file photo of turtle)

Superintendent Marc Gee (pictured above on Facebook) said in a news release administrators were informed of the 'regrettable circumstance involving some of the biological specimens' last week

'He is a cool teacher who really brought science to life... I loved his class because he had turtles and snakes and other cool things,' one kid told the local news outlet.

It's currently unclear what motivated Crosland to act out the incident or if the puppy was alive.

Gee added in the news release school officials are working to make sure another incident of this kind does not occur in the future.

'A part of any investigation includes determining the best course of action once the facts of the matter have been ascertained,' Gee wrote.

'This is not a situation that is easy, nor do we feel it is a measure that can be taken lightly.'While her brother may be in the midst of a divorce, First Daughter Ivanka Trump seems to be enjoying some alone time in New York.

The 36-year-old was seen making her way out of her apartment in Manhattan in a somber black ensemble on Friday.

Clad in a coal-colored trench coat, the First Daughter sauntered to her vehicle wearing black trousers with white outlined squares.

The 36-year-old was seen making her way out of her apartment in Manhattan in a somber black ensemble

Ivanka accessorized with some high pumps, black shades, an oily-sheen purse and simple earrings.

Strutting her stuff, Ivanka cracked a smile as a greeter opened the door for her.

The President's daughter may have needed some time to herself after the shocking news that her brother, Donald Trump Jr, and sister-in-law Vanessa were getting a divorce.

The president's son was in Mar-a-Lago for the Republican Party of Palm Beach County's Lincoln Day Dinner in Palm Beach, Florida, on Friday.

Clad in a coal-colored trench coat, the First Daughter makes her way to her vehicle wearing black trousers with white outlined squares

But before he went to mingle with the crowd, Trump Jr, posted a selfie of himself with his daughter Kai.

He captioned it: 'Date night with Kai. Great father daughter time. #weekend #fatherdaughter #daughter #datenight.'

Meanwhile, court papers reveal that Vanessa has hired herself a criminal defense lawyer to handle her split from Don Jr.

David Feureisen of the firm Bartels & Feureisen will be handling the split for Vanessa, who opted for a lawyer based in White Plains, which is close to the family's residence upstate.

'Date night with Kai. Great father daughter time. #weekend #fatherdaughter #daughter #datenight,' he posted

There is little else in the filing at this time, and the lawyer for Don Jr is not revealed in the one document that has been submitted thus far that can be viewed on the court docket.

Her father, on--the-other-hand, is in the midst of his own battle as he has hired attorney Charles Harder to handle his suit against porn star Stormy Daniels.

Harder, who famously won a huge payout for the former wrestler that resulted in the bankruptcy of Gawker, joined Trump's legal team alongside his personal attorney Michael Cohen.

Michael Avenatti, a lawyer for Daniels, said the addition of Harder was a 'bullying tactic' aimed at 'hiding the truth from the public,

Jared Kushner - her husband - has not been as prominent in family dealings ever since he got his security clearance downgraded at the end of February.The NYPD reportedly once stashed a model accusing Harvey Weinstein of sex assault away from his lawyers and cronies at the Manhattan DA, according to a report.

Italian model Ambra Battilana accused the disgraced producer, once one of the most powerful executives in Hollywood, of groping her in his Manhattan office in 2015.

By all accounts, the investigators had Weinstein in their sights,New York Magazine reports. There was just one snag; the producer had close ties to the Manhattan District Attorney's office.

Italian model Ambra Battilana (pictured) accused the disgraced producer, once one of the most powerful executives in Hollywood, of groping her in his Manhattan office in 2015

Weinstein (pictured) has since been accused of assaulting and harassing dozens of women

Weinstein's legal team included attorneys Elkan Abramowitz and Linda Fairstein - a former head of the DA's Sex Crimes Unit. Meanwhile, Abramowitz was a close friend of the current head of the DA's Sex Crimes, Martha Bashford.

'We decided we're going to hide the victim, from the DA', retired Sgt. Michael Bock of NYPD's Special Victims Division said.

Special Victims Division commander Michael Osgood was so concerned about the case that he booked Battilana into several different Manhattan hotels under different aliases.

Bock said that the model did eventually meet with Bashford who went on an 'aggressive and accusatory' line of questioning.

However, Manhattan DA Cy Vance Jr.'s office declined to prosecute Weinstein - despite the fact he would have only faced a misdemeanor for the charge - in a decision that still angers investigators who worked on the case.

A representative for Vance denies the questioning was aggressive, saying it was standard protocol to cross examine a complainant.

'They prosecute people for misdemeanors with far less probable cause than this. We gave them beyond reasonable doubt,' said Bock.

Battilana, a model who once accused Harvey Weinstein of groping her in his office, says her career suffered for years after she made the allegations

Special Victims Division commander Michael Osgood was so concerned about the case that he booked Battilana into several different Manhattan hotels under different aliases

'We obviously know who this man is. We obviously know we have a different burden of proof. So to go above and beyond as we did, he should have been arrested. He should've been arrested.'

The Special Victims unit is reportedly investigating Weinstein for sex assault but would not comment on whether any charges were ready to be brought against him.

Meanwhile, Battilana, 24, who says her career suffered after she called out the disgraced producer for allegedly sexually assaulting her in 2015, is getting back to work after her name was cleared when dozens of women came forward to accuse Weinstein of harassment and sexual assault, following the New York Times expose last September.

Gutierrez is now firmly back on the modelling scene and was snapped on Miami Beach, Florida, on Monday, doing a bikini shoot.

Gutierrez, who appeared at her first catwalk in years last month, says she is just glad to be able to work again without Weinstein's black mark hanging over her.

'I'm very happy because it was two, maybe three years where I wasn't working with big designers because my reputation was so bad,' Gutierrez told New York Daily News.

'People don't realize what (Weinstein) did to me and his other victims,' she said. 'He was very powerful.'

Gutierrez first went to the authorities about Weinstein in March 2015.

Weinstein reportedly first met the former Miss Italy contestant the night before at his New York Spring Spectacular show in Radio City Music Hall.

Police were concerned that Weinstein had so much potential influence over the DA

The model posted a picture on her Instagram account, from Radio City Music Hall, with the hashtags: '#NewYork #Spring #Spectacular #Rockettes #RadioCity. #tonight #fresh #popcorn.'

The pair exchanged emails and arranged for her to come in to the offices for an audition and to 'talk business'.

At the meeting, Weinstein, who produced hit movies Pulp Fiction, The King's Speech and Gangs Of New York, allegedly asked the Italian model if her breasts were 'real', Page Six reported.

Weinstein then allegedly grabbed the woman's breasts, prompting her to say 'no' to try to make him stop.

She left the film center and filed a complaint at the 1st Police Precinct in Tribeca.

After she made the claims, she says she ended up in the tabloids branded 'Grope Gal' and she was dropped by designers and shows.

'I had castings with Armani and Cavalli and Dsquared2  these are the ones that really build your portfolio,' she said. 'After that it was so difficult to even get normal brands to work with  it was a disaster.'

Gutierrez, who also went by Battilana, previously told Italian authorities about witnessing a so-called 'bunga-bunga' orgy involving former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi at his Milan mansion in 2010.

She claimed she had seen young models performing stripteases and baring their breasts to be kissed by the Italian leader during a raunchy dinner party.

Gutierrez formerly competed for the Miss Italia crown in 2010 and represented the region of Piedmont.

She describes herself as an Italian model of Philippines, Spanish, Italian and Greek descent on social media and is originally from Turin.

Her mother is Filipino and came to Italy as a classical dancer where she met her father in Verona. He was originally from Lucca in Tuscany but living in Turin at the time.

Gutierrez went to the Guarini Institute in Turin where she studied to become a chartered surveyor.

After becoming famous through the Miss Italia pageant, she began modeling professionally in 2011, according to social media. She works internationally in Milan, London, Paris and New York.

She also shot an editorial campaign for Bambi magazine in Agent Provocateur lingerie and has been used as a model by a number of different photographers including Marcello Cassano and Kat Irlin.

Gutierrez had also accused her wealthy then-70-year-old former lover of rape in Italy in 2010.

She told police she was 'forced against my will' into having sex with the 'businessman of substantial means' for money when she was under 18.

Prosecutors in Italy asked for the rape allegation to be dismissed in 2012 but it was not reported whether the judge granted the dismissal although it is likely it would have been carried out.BEIJING, March 17 (Xinhua) -- The 13th National People's Congress holds the fifth plenary meeting of its first session Saturday morning.

Lawmakers will vote on an institutional restructuring plan of the State Council and a draft election method, and elect leaders of the state, military and legislature.

[ Editor: Zhang Zhou ]Advertisement

Thousands of racegoers enjoyed a day of sunshine in the scorching 30C heat to celebrate St Patrick's Day in Sydney.

Ladies Day at Rosehill Racecourse was ripe with women donning colourful frocks while some decided to embrace the traditional Celtic festivities in green suits.

Many revellers were seen letting their hair down as they embraced the spirit of the Irish.

While St Patrick's Day is generally celebrated in hues of green, some revellers chose to wear other bright frocks making them stand out from the crowd.

Thousands of race goers enjoyed a day of sunshine to celebrate St Patrick's Day in Sydney at the Rosehill Races (pictured)

Some were seen wearing colourful dresses while others opted for a more monochrome option while they enjoyed the day

The day of madness continued as thousands of race goers got a taste for the traditional Irish celebrations (pictured)

One reveller had to be held to her feet by three police officers at Rosehill Racecourse on Saturday afternoon (pictured)

A racegoer appeared to have a wardrobe malfunction as what seems to be a dress, got caught in the glittery handbag

Some people did not seem to tire as they day wore on, with many laughs being had between friends (pictured)

Many revellers were seen letting their hair down as the day turned into madness in Sydney's western suburbs (pictured)

The western suburb came to life on Saturday March 17 as thousands continued to spend the day sharing a laugh with friends.

Whether they were wearing vibrant flower crowns or elegant gold head pieces, many made sure they caught the moment on camera.

The men got in on the fun too, many wearing simple white shirts topped with groovy white fedoras and bright sunglasses.

Champagne flutes were in hand while hundreds celebrated the day basking in the autumn sunshine.

These women stunned in lacey white frocks with simple flat sandals perhaps to ensure their feet would last all day (pictured)

One racegoer wore a white lace dress with a plunging neck line complete with a large pink rose and crystal head band

Some women were seen putting their feet up as they enjoyed the race day on Saturday, March 17 (pictured)

Getting into the race day spirit, some women were seen donning extravagant flower crowns with champagne flutes in hand

One woman got into the Irish spirit by wearing vibrant green tassel earrings and a matching green felt hat (pictured)

A group of punters put their feet up for a rest towards the end of race day celebrations as the sun began to set (pictured)

While the horses had run their race, festivities continued well into the afternoon while beverages were enjoyed sitting down

While many race goers opted to attend without any head pieces, one person chose a more suave look with simple black hat

While the horses had run their race, festivities continued well into the afternoon.

Some people enjoyed champagne through the day at Chandon S Ladies Day while others got a glance at the country's best fillies and mares competing for $600,000 at the prestigious Rosehill Gardens.

Racegoers tested whether the luck of the Irish was on their side today placing bets on the winning horses as others may have received some unfortunate losses.

Not many people appeared to look fatigued as they managed to remain in high spirits through the day and into the evening.

Huge crowds of people gathered at the Rosehill Gardens to enjoy a flute of rose coloured bubbles or drinks in blue cups

One woman looked classy in shades of pink with an elegant blush coloured head piece and flute of bubbles in one hand

The men got in on the fun too, many wearing simple white shirts topped with groovy white fedoras and bright sunglasses

One gentleman got into the race day spirit with a bright coloured tie and matching shirt paired with an eye patch (pictured)

While St Patrick's Day is generally celebrated in hues of green, some revellers chose to wear other bright frocks (pictured)The young man who was found dead in a residential property on the Gold Coast is believed to have been involved in an altercation at a pub the night before he was discovered.

The 21-year-old's body was found on the back patio in the yard of a home in Mudgeeraba on just before 10am on Saturday morning.

Police told a press conference that it looks as if the man was involved in a fight at the Wallaby Hotel in Mudgeeraba.

The 21-year-old's body was found in the yard of a home in Soma Court, Mudgeeraba, (pictured) on Saturday morning just before 10am

The 21-year-old was believed to have been involved in a fight with seven other men at the Wallaby Hotel (pictured) the night before his death (stock image)

Police believe that the other group of males involved in the fight could be up to seven.

Investigators are hoping to find these men to assist them with their inquiries.

Detective Inspector Marc Hogan, according to the Gold Coast Bulletin, said: 'The victim has obvious injuries consistent with assault.'

The 21-year-old then returned to the hotel and later went home where he 'consumed alcohol'.

Police have declared the area a crime scene and are currently investigating, but initial reports suggest the death is suspicious.

Anyone with information are urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or through their online reporting system here.Darwin has been battered by 130km/h winds as Tropical Cyclone Marcus sent trees flying through the streets and brought down powerlines, prompting the rescue of people from a sinking boat near the city.

The eye of the category two storm has now moved past the city but emergency services say it's still not safe to go outside.

Marcus is now headed towards the Timor Sea and is expected to hit Western Australia's Kimberley Coast on Sunday, bringing wind gusts of up to 150km/h.

Darwin was ripped apart after Tropical Cyclone Marcus tore through earlier today (pictured)

The Northern Territory capital was battered by 130km/h winds and brought down powerlines

The eye of the category two storm has now moved past the city but emergency services say it's still not safe to go outside

Marcus is now headed towards the Timor Sea and is expected to hit Western Australia's Kimberley Coast on Sunday, bringing wind gusts of up to 150km/h (Darwin damage pictured)

Shattered glass windows and water filled the inside of houses and motels (pictured)

The storm brought down hundreds of powerlines and trees and damaged property across Darwin and also affected the city's drinking supply.

Residents have been told to boil drinking water as a precaution until further notice.

Meanwhile, water police were called out to rescue two people from two boats that collided after one of them slipped its moorings in Sangove Creek as the storm struck.

Officers rescued an elderly couple from one of the boats and two people from the other vessel, which was taking on water, however a third person refused to leave.

Residents have been told to stay inside and emergency services are only responsible for critical incidents until the category two storm passes.

However, some residents did not mind the cyclone and decided to enjoy a beer in a swimming pool for a friend's birthday.

A warning zone is currently in place from Cape Hotham to Mitchell Plateau, including Darwin and southern parts of the Tiwi Islands.

A tin roof was ripped off by the cyclone and even tipped one tin shed upside down (pictured)

Residents have been told to stay inside and emergency services are only responsible for critical incidents until the category two storm passes

Despite warnings to stay out of the storm, a group of people were seen enjoying a beer

One local took to social media to say they hadn't seen one street without a tree down

Flights in and out of Darwin have been cancelled and businesses have been told to close

Despite the heavy rain, some businesses opened early on Saturday to let customers purchase supplies

Flights in and out of Darwin have been cancelled and businesses have been told to close their doors, though some had opened early on Saturday to let customers purchase supplies.

Northern Territory locals shared the trail of destruction left by Tropical Cyclone Marcus which include roofs being ripped off and sheds being blown upside down.

Walking paths and roads have become unusable with huge tree trunks and branches littering the thru ways with one local saying they hadn't seen a street without a tree down.

Street signs were torn from the ground while an iconic McDonald's sign was also destroyed.

Marcus' presence was felt with entire root systems of decade old trees were pulled out of round-a-bout centres and fans were left bent.

Caravan park residents were reportedly told to evacuate Saturday afternoon after a tree fell onto a gas cylinder at a local service station.

Despite warnings to remain inside, one local reported seeing a line of cars stretching down the street from a bottle shop ten minutes after it re-opened.

Northern Territory locals shared the trail of destruction left by Tropical Cyclone Marcus

Streets signs were pulled from the ground during the cyclone which is now heading down the coastTheresa May says Britain will 'consider its next steps' after Russia vowed to expel 23 British diplomats (above: speaking at the Conservative Party Spring Forum in London)

Theresa May says Britain will 'consider its next steps' after Russia vowed to expel 23 British diplomats.

Speaking at the Conservative Party Spring Forum, the Prime Minster said 'we will never tolerate a threat to the life of British citizens and others on British soil from the Russian government'.

She added that 'Russian aggression is the very antithesis of the liberal and democratic values that define the United Kingdom'.

Her comments are likely to deepen diplomatic tensions between Britain and Russia which have intensified during the Salisbury spy poisoning stand-off.

Russia's decision to expel diplomats came after the Prime Minister expelled 23 Russian diplomats from the UK who she said were 'undeclared intelligence officers' earlier this week.

Moscow had failed to respond to a deadline set by May to explain how the nerve agent that poisoned former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia found its way into Britain.

The pair were found unconscious on a bench outside a shopping centre in Salisbury on March 4.

They were poisoned by a deadly nerve agent called Novichok and remain critically ill in hospital.

Moscow has said the British diplomats must leave within a week - the same deadline given to Russian diplomats by Theresa May.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it is ordering the closure of the British Council in Russia, which promotes British culture.

It will also be ending an agreement to reopen the British Consulate in St Petersburg.

If Britain makes any more 'unfriendly' moves the government could take further measures, the statement said.

The Prime Minster said 'we will never tolerate a threat to the life of British citizens and others on British soil from the Russian government'

She added that 'Russian aggression is the very antithesis of the liberal and democratic values that define the United Kingdom'

Britain's Foreign Office has said the Government 'anticipated a response of this kind and the National Security Council will meet early next week to consider next steps'.

British ambassador to Russia Laurie Bristow was summoned for a meeting with the Russian Foreign Ministry early on Saturday.

Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced it had ordered the diplomats to leave moments after Mr Bristow left the ministry in Moscow.

'Russia's response doesn't change the facts of the matter - the attempted assassination of two people on British soil for which there is no alternative conclusion other than that the Russian state was culpable' she said

She added: 'It is Russia that is in flagrant breach of international law and Chemical Weapons Convention'

Addressing the audience at the Conservative Party Spring Forum, Theresa May said: 'Today our ambassador in Moscow was informed by the Russian government of the action they are taking in response.

'In light of their previous behaviour we anticipated a response of this kind and we will consider our next steps in the coming days alongside our allies and partners.

'But Russia's response doesn't change the facts of the matter - the attempted assassination of two people on British soil for which there is no alternative conclusion other than that the Russian state was culpable.

'It is Russia that is in flagrant breach of international law and Chemical Weapons Convention.

'I repeat today that we have no disagreement with the Russian people. Many Russians have made this country their home and those who abide our laws and make a contribution to our society will always be welcome.

'But we will never tolerate a threat to the life of British citizens and others on British soil from the Russian government.'

British ambassador to Russia Laurie Bristow was summoned for a meeting with the Russian Foreign Ministry early on Saturday morning (above: leaving the Russian Foreign Ministry)

He was told that Russia will expel 23 British diplomats as tensions escalate during the spy poisoning stand-off (above: leaving the Russian Foreign Ministry)

Mr Bristow said the UK would 'always do what is necessary to defend ourselves, our allies and our values against an attack of this sort' (above: leaving the Russian Foreign Ministry)

She continued: 'We can be reassured by the strong support we have received from our friends and allies around the world.

'From the United States, Nato and the European Union. From our UN and Commonwealth partners. I'm grateful too for the strong support I've received from the first minsters of Scotland and Wales.

'And in the House of Commons this week we saw a consensus as member after member across all parties stood up to condemn Russia's actions and to support the position of Her Majesty's Government.

'Because this act of Russian aggression is the very antithesis of the liberal and democratic values that define the United Kingdom - the rule of law, freedom of speech, the toleration of dissenting and minority views, a free press, fair and democratic elections, a thriving civil society.

'These are the foundation stones of human freedom. They don't come about by accident and they're certainly not the default setting for any society.

'They take years of patient work to build up, they face constant threats and they must always be defined. They are the values which unite us as a country.'

Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, were found unconscious on a bench outside a shopping centre in Salisbury on March 4

They had dined together in a Zizzi restaurant (pictured cordoned off above) before collapsing

After leaving the Foreign Ministry in Moscow today, Mr Bristow said: 'Russia today has informed me of steps that Russia will be taking.'

He said the UK would 'always do what is necessary to defend ourselves, our allies and our values against an attack of this sort'.

British Foreign Office statement 'Our ambassador in Moscow has just been informed by the Russian government that they will expel 23 diplomats, close the British Consulate-General in St Petersburg and close the British Council in Moscow. 'This follows the action we have taken, alongside other measures, to dismantle the Russian espionage network operating in the UK as a consequence of the attempted assassination of two people here in Britain using a nerve agent. 'In light of Russia's previous behaviour, we anticipated a response of this kind and the National Security Council will meet early next week to consider next steps. Our priority today is looking after our staff in Russia and assisting those that will return to the UK. 'Russia's response doesn't change the facts of the matter - the attempted assassination of two people on British soil, for which there is no alternative conclusion other than that the Russian State was culpable. It is Russia that is in flagrant breach of international law and the Chemical Weapons Convention. 'We have no disagreement with the people of Russia and we continue to believe it is not in our national interest to break off all dialogue between our countries but the onus remains on the Russian state to account for their actions and to comply with their international obligations.' Advertisement

Mr Bristow met with Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov earlier this week and confirmed the poisoning of Skripal and his daughter was discussed.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said on Friday it was 'overwhelmingly likely' that Russian President Vladimir Putin directed the use of the nerve agent.

Speaking during a visit to the Battle of Britain Bunker museum in Uxbridge alongside the Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz, Mr Johnson said: 'Our quarrel is with Putin's Kremlin, and with his decision - and we think it overwhelmingly likely that it was his decision - to direct the use of a nerve agent on the streets of the UK, on the streets of Europe, for the first time since the Second World War.'

Echoing Mr Johnson's remarks, Mr Czaputowicz said: 'We are sure that it is the Russian state which is involved in this attempt. It is certain.'

In a tit-for-tat war of words, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called Mr Johnson's claims 'shocking and unforgivable'.

The Foreign Secretary's comments were also rebuked by Mr Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

He said: 'Any reference or mentioning of our president is nothing else but shocking and unpardonable diplomatic misconduct.'

Russia's ambassador to London, Alexander Yakovenko, suggested the Government was using the incident to divert attention from Brexit.

Mr Yakovenko said that Britain had put its weight behind an 'anti-Russian campaign' as it tried to establish a new place for itself within Western society after EU withdrawal.

Speaking to the Russian state-funded RT television network, the ambassador denounced Britain's decision to expel 23 diplomats as 'unacceptable and unjustified'.

Former UK ambassador to Russia Sir Roderic Lyne told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I don't think it would be sensible to get dragged down into a mud-wrestling battle with a gorilla.

'We shouldn't put ourselves on the same level as the aggressor.

'We shouldn't allow Russia to turn this into a bilateral battle and have the Kremlin play it into the narrative of a hostile West, a hostile Britain out to attack Russia.'

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said on Friday it was 'overwhelmingly likely' that Russian President Vladimir Putin (above) directed the use of the nerve agent

Statement from Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs 'On March 17, Ambassador of Great Britain to Russia Laurie Bristow was summoned to the Foreign Ministry, where he was handed a note stating that in response to the provocative actions of the British side and groundless accusations against the Russian Federation with regard to the incident in Salisbury, UK on March 4, 2018, the Russian side has taken the following decisions in response. 'Twenty-three diplomatic staff of the UK Embassy in Moscow are declared persona non grata and are to be expelled from Russia within a week. 'Taking into account the disparity in the number of the two countries' consular missions, the Russian Federation recalls its agreement on the opening and operation of the Consulate General of the United Kingdom in St Petersburg. 'Respective procedures will be followed in accordance with international legal practice. 'Due to the unregulated status of the British Council in the Russian Federation, its activities are terminated. 'The British side is warned that in case of further unfriendly actions against Russia, the Russian side reserves the right to take further retaliatory measures.' Advertisement

Russia has opened its own criminal investigation into the attempted murder of Yulia, a Russian citizen, and also Nikolai Glushkov, a Russian exile Scotland Yard said died from 'compression to the neck' at his home in New Malden, south-west London.

British police are not linking his case with the Salisbury attack.

Counter-terrorism police have renewed their appeal for sightings of Mr Skripal's burgundy BMW 320D saloon car, registration HD09 WAO, in Salisbury on the morning of March 4.

Statement from British Council 'We can now confirm the reports today that the British Council in Russia has been told to cease operations. 'We are profoundly disappointed at this development. 'It is our view that when political or diplomatic relations become difficult, cultural relations and educational opportunities are vital to maintain on-going dialogue between people and institutions. 'We remain committed to the development of long-term people-to-people links with Russia as we do in over 100 other countries.' Advertisement

Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said: 'We are learning more about Sergei and Yulia's movements but we need to be clearer around their exact movements on the morning of the incident.'

NHS England said Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, the police officer exposed to the substance while helping the Skripals, is no longer in a critical condition.

On Saturday the Russian Foreign Ministry tweeted an RT interview with Alexander Shulgin, Russia's permanent representative to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), in which he suggested British authorities were 'afraid'.

He said: 'My guess is actually our British friends and partners are afraid - they are afraid that our experts may analyse these samples and they may see some dirty tricks there or something.

'Our British partners don't want that to happen.

'If they don't produce any evidence we will regard that as they have nothing to show and they will be held accountable for slander.'

Mr Shulgin added: 'For sure they will not be able to tell where the substance came from - this will require dialogue between Russia and the UK.'

Moscow has also claimed Theresa May is too scared to ban Vladimir Putin's propaganda channel RT.

The Russian ambassador in London Alexander Yakovenko said: 'British officialdom apparently doesn't like the contents of what RT says.

'If memory serves me right, RT occupies the second position in popularity rankings after the BBC.

'Quite naturally, this is an irritating factor, as the channel presents a different viewpoint.'

British ambassador to Moscow collected marching orders in 11 MINUTES Laurie Bristow had barely crossed the threshold of Russia's Foreign Ministry on Saturday when he was given his marching orders by Moscow (above: making his exit) It took Russia just 11 minutes to inform the British ambassador they would match Theresa's May's expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats. Laurie Bristow had barely crossed the threshold of Russia's Foreign Ministry on Saturday when he was given his marching orders by Moscow. Frosty relations between the two countries turned to ice as the British Council in the Russian capital, which promotes British culture, was shut down. It was also confirmed the British Consulate in Vladimir Putin's hometown of St Petersburg would not be reopened. Russia's decision to expel diplomats came after the Prime Minister expelled 23 Russian diplomats from the UK who she said were 'undeclared intelligence officers' earlier this week. Moscow had failed to respond to a deadline set by May to explain how the nerve agent that poisoned former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia found its way into Britain. The pair were found unconscious on a bench outside a shopping centre in Salisbury on March 4. They were poisoned by a deadly nerve agent called Novichok and remain critically ill in hospital. Moscow has said the British diplomats must leave within a week - the same deadline given to Russian diplomats by Theresa May. Advertisement

Conservative Tom Tugendhat, who chairs the Commons Foreign Affairs select committee, said there should be a crackdown on corrupt Russian money in London, including assessment of political donations.

'That does mean following it through and, yes, that does even mean to political parties,' he told Today.

'I think we should be absolutely clear that there are honest and decent and law-abiding Russian business people who have become British citizens who are in the UK and who have a right to play a part in British political life as every other British citizen does.

'But then there are others and those others have no right to play a part in British political life and they have no right to use proxies to funnel money through to political parties.'

Mr Tugendhat said UK organisations offering financial and legal services to Russian oligarchs should think 'very hard about the moral decisions they are making and the money they are taking'.

He said they should 'look very hard' at whether they were enabling money laundering 'and very often murder as well'.



Russia's ambassador to the UK has thanked staff who have been expelled from the UK in a reception at his residence.

An Embassy statement said: 'On 16 March 2018 Ambassador Alexander Yakovenko hosted a reception in honour of the diplomats forced to leave the UK by the hostile decision of the British Government, attended by Embassy's staff, family members and their friends.

'Ambassador expressed gratitude to his colleagues for their contribution to the work of the Embassy and noted that for those who are returning to Russia one period in their career is ending and another one is starting. It is now up to them to choose the way forward and future preferences.

'The world is much bigger than the United Kingdom. Your knowledge and experience gained at the Embassy will always be valued in the Russian diplomatic service.'Police were today seen removing a vehicle from the driveway of the Russian tycoon murdered in London amid claims he was strung up by his killer to make it look like suicide.

Nikolai Glushkov, 68, was found dead by his daughter, Natalia, at his suburban home in New Malden, south of the capital on Monday night - just eight days after the nerve agent attack on spy Sergei Skripal.

Mr Glushkov was one of the last surviving members of an ill-fated circle of Russian exiles - led by Putin's enemy Boris Berezovsky - who was also found dead five years ago.

A murder investigation was launched on Friday after a post mortem examination revealed he died of compression to the neck.

Investigators are believed to be looking into the idea it was a staged suicide. They were today pictured removing a vehicle from Mr Glushkov's home.

Crime scene: Police are today pictured removing a vehicle from Nikolai Glushkov's home

A vehicle recovery truck is pictured backing into the home of Mr Glushkov in New Malden

The results of his post mortem examination show he died before he was strung up, suggesting someone wanted to make it look like suicide, reports The Sun.

A senior source close to the probe told the newspaper: 'There was clearly an attempt to hide that fact.'

Nikolai Glushkov, 68, was found dead by his daughter, Natalia, at his suburban home in New Malden, south London on Monday night

The announcement of the murder investigation comes amid mounting tensions between the Whitehall and the Kremlin over the shocking chemical weapons attack in Salisbury.

Russia is set to expel British diplomats from Moscow in a tit-for-tat response to the UK's expulsion of 23 staff from Moscow's mission to London, as tensions worsen between the two nations.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said yesterday: 'A murder investigation has been launched following the results of a post mortem into the death of 68-year-old Russian businessman Nikolay Glushkov. Mr Glushkov's family has been informed.'

The spokesman added: 'The Met Police's Counter Terrorism Command, which has led the investigation from the outset, is now treating Mr Glushkov's death as murder.

'As a precaution, the command is retaining primacy for the investigation because of the associations Mr Glushkov is believed to have had.'

Mr Glushkov's friend Boris Berezovsky was found dead in his Berkshire home in 2013 and the death of another of their circle, Badri Patarkatsishvili, is also unexplained

Masked officers were today working to remove a vehicle from the south London property

Vehicle recovery workers are pictured removing a vehicle from the house where Mr Glushkov was found dead on Monday

An officer is pictured guarding the police cordon in New Malden, south London after Nikolai Glushkov was found dead there on Monday

A masked officer is pictured removing a slab from the property of Nikolai Glushkov today after police launched a murder investigation into his death

Mr Glushkov was jailed in Russia in 2000 and held at the notorious Lefortovo Prison for five years until being cleared of fraud and money laundering and freed.

He claimed political asylum in Britain and lived out of the limelight in suburban south London. However, at the time of his death he was preparing for a 90million High Court showdown with his former employer Aeroflot.

Mr Glushkov was being sued by the airline, which is 51 per cent state-owned, for the return of 90 million which it alleges he embezzled along with Boris Berezovsky, the anti-Putin oligarch who is thought to have committed suicide in 2013.

The Met Police said yes: 'Mr Glushkov, a retired financial director, was a Russian national who had lived at that address for two years.

Mr Glushkov was found by his daughter, Russian businesswoman Natalia Glushkova

Investigators are pictured outside the house of Nikolai Glushkov in New Malden, south London on Friday as police launch a murder investigation into his death

Police officers stand on duty outside the home of Nikolai Glushkov in New Malden, on Friday

Mr Glushkov was one of the last surviving members of an ill-fated circle of Russian exiles - led by Putin's enemy Boris Berezovsky - who have died in suspicious circumstances (images from Friday)

'At this stage there is nothing to suggest any link to the attempted murders in Salisbury, nor any evidence that he was poisoned.'

It comes as police and health officials have identified 131 people who could have been exposed to the nerve agent that has left Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in a critical condition.

Intelligence agencies are working on the theory that was hidden in Yulia Skripal's luggage inside cosmetics or a gift and then opened in her father's house in Salisbury around March 4.

While, last year, Mr Glushkov was handed a second eight-year sentence by a Russian court in his absence over the alleged theft from Aeroflot, where he was previously finance director.

Russia has not commented on the Met probe, but announced on Friday that Moscow has launched its own investigation into his murder and the attempted murder of Yulia Skripal.

The usually quiet street in New Malden, south London has been flooded with Scotland Yard counter-terrorism officers this week as a huge probe was launched into Glushkov's death

Mr Glushkov's former bodyguard this week revealed the extent of his worries over his safety and the measures they took to preserve his safety.

The minder told the Telegraph how Mr Glushkov had hatched an escape plan which included a hideaway should his life be put in danger.

He told the paper: 'When we were informed things were a little tense, we were told to prepare a getaway for Glushkov.'

The bodyguard had also worked with Glushkov's friend and former business partner Boris Berezovsky and said the exiles saw poison as 'always a threat'.

The security guard said: 'Boris [Berezovsky] spoke openly that the orders came directly from Putin to eliminate him and his friends.'

Forensics officers outside a house in New Malden which has been sealed off after the Russian businessman, a close friend of Putin critic Boris Berezovsky, was found dead

A police forensics tent has been set up outside his home in the London suburb of New Malden

Police are mounting a thorough investigation amid fevered talk of political assassinations

The blue-forensics tent is visible in the otherwise peaceful suburban streets of New Malden

Boris Berezovsky was said to have taken his own life after he was found strangled at his Surrey mansion in 2013, although Mr Glushkov was always among those who refused to accept that his billionaire oligarch friend killed himself.

Another of his close acquaintances, Georgian billionaire Badri Patarkatsishvili, 52, also died in mysterious circumstances five years earlier.

In that case, police investigated claims he was the target of an assassination plot but a coroner was told he probably suffered a heart attack.

Glushkov said shortly after close friend Berezovsky's death in 2013: 'You have the deaths of Boris and Badri over a short period of time.

'Too many bodies are happening. I'd say this is a little bit too much. I don't see anyone left apart from me.'

The Home Secretary has already ordered a fresh official inquiry into a number of other deaths in Britain that could be connected to Russia.

The murder probe comes amid a war of words between Russia and the UK after Theresa May announced she is expelling 23 of Putin's spies

Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia are both critically ill in hospital after a nerve agent attack

The Russian Embassy announced yesterday that authorities in Moscow have launched their own investigation into both Mr Glushkov's murder and Ms Skripal's attempted murder

Officers are examining Mr Glushkov's movements, telephone contacts and circle of friends, amid claims he remained worried by legal manoeuvres by the Russian authorities.

The investigation comes amid a breakdown in Anglo-Russian relationships after Theresa May announced Vladimir Putin's state was behind a Novichok nerve agent attack on former double agent Sergei Skripal.

Mr Skripal, his daughter Yulia and a Wiltshire police sergeant, Nick Bailey, all remain in hospital following the attack.

Boris Johnson yesterday gave the clearest statement yet that the UK believes Mr Putin himself authorised the use of Novichok against the Skripals.

'Our quarrel is with Putin's Kremlin, and with his decision - and we think it overwhelmingly likely that it was his decision - to direct the use of a nerve agent on the streets of the UK, on the streets of Europe for the first time since the Second World War.'

But within minutes Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov hit back branding the remark 'nothing but shocking and unforgiveable behaviour from the point of view of diplomacy'. He added: 'Russia has nothing to do with this story.'

The huge clear-up operation in Salisbury continued on Friday as part of the Skripal investigation

The Army are handling contaminated evidence as the probe spreads into surrounding counties

Moscow has said it will retaliate imminently to Theresa May's decision to kick out 23 Russian diplomats, and will expel UK officials.

Extraordinarily, the Russian ambassador to London claimed yesterday that the British authorities could have faked the poisoning of the Skripals.

Speaking to the Russian state-funded RT television, Alexander Yakovenko said it was 'suspicious' that information about the case, including photographs of the victims, had not yet been released.

Who was Nikolai Glushkov? Nikolai Glushkov spent five years in jail in Russia before he was freed and claimed asylum in Britain By David Wilkes for The Daily Mail From a high-flying role at Russia's state airline, to jail, and then being forced into exile in Britain, the trajectory of Nikolai Glushkov's life all too chillingly reflects the perils of falling out of favour with Vladimir Putin. Back in the 1990s, the debonair businessman Mr Glushkov worked for Aeroflot, where he held the title deputy director in charge of finance, and also for the oligarch Boris Berezovsky's car manufacturing company LogoVAZ. But after falling out with Putin, Mr Glushkov was jailed for five years on charges of money laundering and fraud. Claims have since emerged that Mr Glushkov had discovered that the airline worked as a 'cash cow' to support international spying operations. Crucially, too, he was also a close friend of Mr Berezovsky, who, of course, had helped Putin to power in 2000, but later turned on him, accusing him of running a gangster state. In his book The Putin Corporation, author Yuri Felshtinsky relates a claim that - 'on Putin's instructions' - if he wanted to obtain Mr Glushkov's release, Mr Berezovsky was told he would have to renounce all political activity and sell all his media holdings, 'everything, including the newspapers'. Glushkov (right in recent years and, left, during his time in Russia) was jailed in absentia in Russia last year over allegations of financial irregularities After serving his sentence and being released in 2004, Mr Glushkov was later handed another sentence for fraud, this time two years suspended, but then fled to Britain. He remained in the UK after being granted political asylum seven years ago. For the last couple of years he made his home in New Malden, South-West London, in a suburban street where the average house price is 698,000. There, he is believed to have lived alone and was regarded by neighbours as 'a nice man'. One said the Russian used to give presents to their children at Christmas. But while he lived quietly at home, Mr Glushkov increasingly became an outspoken critic of Putin in his forays into public life. In 2011, Mr Glushkov gave evidence in a multi-billion pound High Court case brought by Mr Berezovsky against his former business partner and fellow oligarch Roman Abramovich, who has maintained a good relationship with Putin. He said that he was told he would be killed shortly before he was jailed for financial crimes in Russia in 2000. He fled to England on his release and claimed political asylum Many observers remarked that the case sometimes seemed as much an attempt to embarrass the Russian president as to hold Mr Abramovich to account. Mr Berezvosky's claim was rejected by the court and he withdrew from public life. Then, in March 2013, Mr Berezovsky, 67, was found hanged at his home in Ascot, Berkshire. Suicide was suspected and police found no signs of a struggle, but a coroner recorded an open verdict into Mr Berezvosky's death. Mr Glushkov was close to Putin critic Boris Berezovsky, pictured Mr Glushkov was among friends and fellow Russian exiles who were sceptical he had had committed suicide, saying in an interview that he was 'definite Boris was killed.' He also referred to the murder of former Russian spy and Putin critic Alexander Litvinenko, who was killed in 2006 when Russian assassins poisoned him with polonium, a highly radioactive metal. 'Too many deaths [of Russian exiles] have been happening,' Mr Glushkov said. All the while, he himself was still being pursued by the Kremlin. Only last year he was convicted in absentia by a Russian court and prosecutors demanded an eight-year prison sentence for Mr Glushkov, claiming he had embezzled $122.5 million (88 million) from Aeroflot. They alleged he had conspired with Mr Berezvosky to carry out financial restructuring of the company and that the loans for this were then embezzled. Friends of Mr Glushkov always saw him as a victim of politically motivated accusations. Now, in a tragic final twist, his life has abruptly ended at the age of 68. AdvertisementA woman who went on an exchange trip to Indonesia aged 16 has claimed she was drugged and raped of her virginity by a perverted English couple and is now sharing her story in a bid to track them down.

Melinda, a high school student from country Victoria, went to the country as part of a Lions Club exchange in the 1980s to live with a local host family.

The trip was one she will remember for the rest of her life but for all the wrong reasons.

It is a nightmare which has haunted her ever since her teenage years - one she kept secret for more than 20 years before seeing a psychiatrist about her horrific ordeal, the Herald Sun reports.

Melinda claims an English couple drugged and raped her when she was just 16 on an exchange trip in Indonesia (stock image)

After almost another 10 years - when she was married, in her 40s and with children of her own - she finally opened up to police in 2015.

Now 47, she claims the Lions Club, who she told three years ago about her experience - at the same time as police - had not been able to reassure her what happened was a one off.

It was the summer of 1987-88 when Melinda, originally from the Macedon Ranges in central Victoria, joined the Lions Club international exchange scheme.

A high school student and the youngest daughter in a large family, Melinda was selected.

The trip organised by the Lions Club started in Jakarta (pictured now) before spending time with a host familyin a neywn

She is hoping that by sharing her story she will also be able to track down the boy she went to Indonesia with, known only as Tony - a tall country boy also from Victoria.

Melinda recalls she and Tony were part of a small group which flew to Indonesia and spent three days in Jakarta and a week in Yogyakarta.

They ended up in a small town nearby for the rest of the six-week trip.

Melinda and Tony were meant to swap families mid-way through the trip.

But Melinda says her host family, who ran a fabric shop in the town, convinced her to stay with them for the whole month.

It was at this point, Melinda says, that they told her some friends, an English couple, wanted to meet her.

The Lions Club Australia chief executive Rob Oerlemans confirmed they had been contacted in 2015 and would work to help Melinda in her search, he said

The couple were aged approximately in their 40s and said their names were Richard and Rosemary and ran a furniture factory, Melinda recalls.

She described Richard as a solid-built man with brown hair but was going grey and balding. His wife, Rosemary, had blonde, wavy, shoulder-length hair.

Melinda says she was first raped at the couple's home - when she was a virgin - and another two times at a hotel and then at a tourist lodge while on a sightseeing trip and then given the morning after pill to stop her getting pregnant.

She now suspects the couple were colluding with the host family and spoke up after historic sex abuse claims engulfed the Catholic Church.

Melinda is now planning to head to England in a bid to find Richard and Rosemary and understands they were from the north of the country.

If she is unsuccessful, she then plans to head to Indonesia to find them and has the backing of her family to hunt down her alleged abusers.



Lions Club Australia chief executive Rob Oerlemans confirmed to the Herald Sun they were contacted by Melinda in 2015. But flood damage had caused many of its records to be destroyed but he insisted the group will assist her search.The body of a man believed to the pilot of a helicopter that crashed off the north coast of Western Australia on Wednesday night has been found and recovered.

The discovery was made the day after helicopter debris, including a rotor blade were found in the search area, two days after he went missing.

Sonar equipment detected the wreckage of the helicopter shortly after noon on Saturday after it went missing 30 kilometres off the Port Hedland coast.

Scroll down for video

A body has been found in the search for pilot Brett Gallard, 44, (pictured) who went missing after the helicopter he was travelling in crashed off the coast of northern Western Australia on Wednesday night

The discovery came after an extensive search including a jet, helicopters and seven vessels, including four tug boats covered over 1000 square kilometres of ocean

Police divers attended the scene soon after and located a body believed to be that of 44-year-old missing pilot Brett Gallard.

The discovery came after a search involving an Australian Maritime Safety Authority jet, helicopters and seven vessels, including four tug boats, had searched over 1000 square kilometres of ocean.

The helicopter had two pilots on board and was on its way to pick up a marine pilot from a ship and bring them back to the harbour when it plummeted into ocean after midnight on Wednesday.

Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) spokeswoman Lauren Smith said the waiting pilot saw the crash and quickly alerted authorities.

'The marine pilot on board the ship at the time witnessed the helicopter ditch into the water and immediately notified harbour control,' she said.

Four flares were also seen in the area soon after the helicopter went down.

The second pilot on board at the time, believed to be aged 64, was rescued from a life raft and taken to hospital in a stable condition shortly after the crash while Mr Gallard (pictured) remained missing

The crash happened 30km off the coast of Port Hedland in northern Western Australia

The second pilot, believed to be aged 64, was rescued from a life raft and taken to hospital in a stable condition shortly after the crash.

He has since been discharged and is assisting police with their investigation.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority had been co-ordinating the rescue effort before it was taken over by Western Australia police on Saturday, shortly before the body was found.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority had been co-ordinating the rescue effort before it was taken over by Western Australia police on Saturday, shortly before the body was found



Comedian Rhys Nicholson has revealed how he was hurled with homophobic death threats and called a f***** on a train in Melbourne.

The 27-year-old, from Newcastle in New South Wales, was on a busy train on Thursday night on his way to a gig with his headphones in when he claims a man said he wanted 'bash him to death'.

Nicholson said a group of four men got on the train before one man launched into a vicious tirade of abuse against him.

Rhys Nicholson says he was hurled with homophobic abuse on a train in Melbourne on his way to a gig

He was not the only person targeted and at one point during the 10 minute episode, a woman with glasses on a chain told the group to 'shut up', Nicholson said.

The group included three 'well-dressed' men, who appeared to be in their 20s, and an older man, Nicholson posted on Facebook on Friday.

One of the younger men had a neck tattoo of a rose and Nicholson said the man started pacing up and down the carriage after he spotted him.

'Let a thousand blossoms bloom I guess,' Nicholson wrote. 'When ol' rose neck saw me he loudly said 'you can always spot a f***** on Melbourne hey'.

The group included three 'well-dressed' men, who appeared to be in their 20s, and an older man, Nicholson said

Nicholson, who is due to perform in the city again later this month, said he looked up and rolled his eyes before looking back down

'I looked up and rolled my eyes. He continued ''it's looking at me. If it keeps looking at me, something's going to happen it''.

'I looked down. He seemed a little more serious than they usually are.

'He paced up and down the carriage for a few minutes and said directly at me ''if there was no one here I'd bash you. Bash you to death''.'

The critically acclaimed and award winning performer is due to perform again in the city later this month in the Melbourne International Comedy Festival - where he made headlines in 2016.

Nicholson and fellow comic Zoe Coombs Marr made headlines in 2016 at the International Comedy Festival in Melbourne

The pair of comics were in the 'first same-sex marriage in Melbourne' during a set at the festival

He told followers the older man shouted out as he left the train: 'The yes vote was allowing schools to teach young boys how to have sex with men.'

He directed his anger towards Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull who he blamed for letting 'these people think opinions like this are ok'.

'I don't blame Malcolm Turnbull for these people existing,' Nicholson said.

'I blame he and his government for giving them a voice. Thank you Malcolm for leading these horses to water.'

Nicholson, who was a loud voice during the equal marriage campaign, took to Twitter and Facebook to air his view

It is not the first time the comedian has laid into the prime minister. In July 2017, he took a swipe at Mr Turnbull during an episode of The Project.

But Nicholson also pointed out one of the worst things was that he felt 'fine' about what happened.

'That's the problem,' he said. This s*** is still so common that it barely phased me. It should phase me.'

Nicholson was a loud voice and stood up to protest for marriage equality during the campaign at the International Comedy Festival in Melbourne two years ago.

Nicholson said one man paced up and down the carriage on the Melbourne train during the incident

Zoe Coombs Marr and Rhys Nicholson wedded during the show before the groom turned around and declined to kiss the bride.

Best friends Coombs Marr and Nicholson then turned to their same-sex partners in the audience and kissed on stage.

The two comedians got engaged to their respective partners in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 2015 in protest against it being illegal in Australia at the time.Mystery surrounds the death of the former husband of Russian spy Anna Chapman after he died from a multiple drug overdose, MailOnline can reveal.

Family members had insisted the death of Alex Chapman at the premature age of 36 was due to natural causes.

But his death certificate lists his cause of death as a multiple drug overdose with a coroner ruling his death as drug related.

Chapman was divorced from the woman dubbed 'Russia's most glamorous spy' when he was found dead at a house in Southampton in May 2015.

His ex-wife had been part of a one of the biggest Soviet spy rings ever uncovered while living in New York.

She was sent back to Moscow in 2010 as part of a spy exchange that saw double agent Sergei Skripal jailed for spying for MI5 and relocated to the UK.

Family members insisted the death of Alex Chapman (pictured on his wedding day to wife Anna) at the premature age of 36 was due to natural causes. But his death certificate says the Brit died as a multiple drug overdose with a coroner ruling his death as drug related

Alex Chapman (pictured left) was divorced from his wife Anna (pictured right) dubbed 'Russia's most glamorous spy' when he was found dead at a house in Southampton in May 2015

The 66-year-old is now in a critical condition in a Salisbury hospital after being deliberately poisoned by Russian agents acting on the orders of the Kremlin.

Members of Chapman's family had insisted to MailOnline that there was nothing 'suspicious' about his death two years ago.

A family member said: 'It was very distressing at the time, but he died from natural causes.

'There was nothing suspicious about his death. His father dealt with everything and it was very sad but I don't want to go into any further details.'

While his father Kevin confirmed his son's death he refused to divulge any further details.

It is thought family members did not want to reveal the drug overdose for fear his death could be linked to many other suspicious deaths of those who have spoken out against Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Chapman caused his ex-wife huge embarrassment after revealing details of their sex life following her arrest.

The former spy, who has forged a new career as a TV presenter and entrepreneur, is said to be a favourite of Putin and visited him at his country home.

In multiple interviews Anna made no mention of drugs playing any part in their four year marriage.

An inquest into Chapman's death was held on September 14th by the Coroner for Southampton and the New Forest.

Anna Chapman (pictured with ex-husband Alex) was sent back to Moscow in 2010 as part of a spy exchange that saw double agent Sergei Skripal jailed for spying for MI5 and relocated to the UK

The cause of death is listed as 'Multiple Drug Overdose' with the Coroner's conclusion that his death was drug related.

Chapman was found dead at a house near Southampton University although according to public records he was not listed as living at the property.

His last known address was in Bournemouth where he shared a house with three other people.

A former flat mate contacted by MailOnline refused to comment.

Former public schoolboy found himself at the centre of biggest spy scandal for decades when it was revealed his flame haired ex-wife had been tasked with seducing power brokers in the US capital Washington DC.

Alex told how during the first few months of their whirlwind romance, he saw Anna in both London and Moscow.

He told how he joined the mile high club with her during a BA flight back to Moscow in January 2002.

Sergei and Yulia Skripal (pictured) are still fighting for their lives after being attacked with a nerve agent in Salisbury, Wiltshire this month

Crime scene: Forensic investigators are still scouring Salisbury from top to bottom in search of the key to what happened to the Skripals

He said: 'When we were on the plane we came up with a plan to join the mile high club.

'I went to the toilet first and told her to follow later and knock. 'Anya was wearing a denim dress so I hitched it up and we just went for it.

'It was fantastic because of the thrill of doing it on a plane. We were in the toilet for about 15 minutes and then one of the cabin crew knocked on the door.

'I said Anya had been sick and I was helping her.'

Alex then produced a picture of Anna wielding a whip and another toy and wearing nipple clamps.

'I found her Russian accent such a turn-on, he said. 'She was the most beautiful person I had ever met, with an extraordinary body, and I was infatuated with her.'

The couple had met in 2001 at a rave in London while Anna was still a student and Alex described her as the most beautiful woman he had ever met.

They were married in Moscow in 2002 after a whirlwind romance and Alex discovered her father Vasily Kushchenko was a former senior KGB agent.

Chapman's ex-wife Anna (pictured) had been part of a one of the biggest Soviet spy rings ever uncovered while living in New York

Chapman caused his ex-wife (pictured) huge embarrassment after revealing details of their sex life following her arrest

Alex wore an ill fitting dinner suit, all he could rent in Moscow.

There were no rings as they couldn't afford them, nor any guests.

A lonely witness confirmed the nuptials. Despite the bizarre circumstances, the marriage was a success for several passionate years.

In 2010, Chapman was part of a Cold War-style swap with Skripal Alex said his wife changed during their four-year marriage and began to mix in different circles with wealthy Russians.

'She fell in with a group of people who had a lot of influence. She would go to film premieres and became arrogant and obnoxious, always going on about powerful people,' he said in a 2010 interview with The Daily Telegraph.

Of her marriage to Alex, Anna said in 2011: 'My marriage to Alex was based purely on mutual love, and I still remember the days we spent together with real tenderness and nostalgia.

'I ask you not to look for ~secret motives~ where there aren't any.

'My love story with Alex was one of them. It was love at first sight, which only grew stronger every day.

Pictured: Anna Chapman, who was sent back to Moscow in exchange for former double agent Sergei Skripal

'We married secretly in Moscow, and it was very romantic.

'Our parents knew nothing about our relationship and plans, and most likely they would not have approved the marriage, though later I was close to Alex's mother and father.

'I had on my school graduation dress - I only wore it three times, my big day at school, the day I met Alex, and when we married.'

Anna went on: 'Alex is very sensitive, he felt music like no-one I met before, he could draw any picture as if he had studied art all his life.

'He somehow sensed people on a different level to other men.

'He put his soul into every action. He found strength when things went really wrong, when everything around him totally fell apart, he began his life from scratch again and again.

'Alex is an incredible, talented person, who still hasn't yet found himself in this life but I have faith things will become better and he will find his happiness because he does know how to love and care for a woman.

Russia's most glamorous spy: Anna Chapman is pictured on a beach photo shoot

'He had such a tenderness in his touch, his looks, his words. When you truly love someone, you become one. This was how we were. We could not make decisions without each other.'

With a smile enveloping her face, she added: 'Everything linked to Alex was soaked with true English culture, it's unbelievable.

'It was so natural and beautiful to fall in love with someone representing something I was so curious about. It took me precisely one minute to fall madly in love with him.

'Every time he opened his mouth, I enjoyed his beautiful manner of speaking, I was captivated by his accent.

'Whenever he rolled his tobacco in his loose-hanging jeans with his Clark's shoe and Liam Gallagher - style hair, it took my breath away.

'His manly beauty, I would even say his aristocratic beauty, seemed simply ideal to me.

'I had neither the strength, nor desire to fight this beautiful feeling, which opened up whole new fairy tale world for me.

'Yet if everything was so good why did the marriage fall apart after qualifying for a UK passport? '

Alas, everything beautiful comes to an end at some point, and there is always a new stage and better road to start walking on,' she said, also declining to answer any questions of her alleged spying either in the US or Britain.

'My time in Britain has made me better in so many ways that it's hard to tell what I would be if it wasn't for London.

'It was certainly my honour to be part of this nation, even though for a short while.'

She is, however, furious over her nude pictures taken by Chapman and also by an earlier British lover Marcus Read being made public.

Explicit pictures taken by one-time disc-jockey Read, 38, recently appeared in Playboy.

'I don't know whether he was forced by someone to do this, or was paid for it,' she said.

'I don't want to blame anyone before I know that. Frankly speaking, I don't think I want to go into finding out.

'But it's clear whoever organised this has definitely achieved his goal.

'It made me so miserable, it actually made me cry for the first time in a very long period. So, congratulations, you have done it.'

Pictured: Former wife of Alex Chapman, Anna, poses with a gun

She was 'shocked and horrified' when told by her New York lawyer that shots taken by Mr Chapman had been published while she was scared and traumatised inside a US prison, she said.

'Don't you think it's enough for one person to be embarrassed so much?,' she asks, shaking her head.

'After everything I have been through in recent months, the pictures in Playboy were like the final blow that really hit me badly. It made me really down and miserable.

'It keeps on damaging my reputation in such a bad way.'

After they split Anna relocated to New York where with the aid of a $1m cash injection from the Russian Government set up an internet property business.

But according to the FBI the business was a front for her spying activities and she was part of a group known as the Illegal's Programme.

As a 'sleeper agent' it was her job to infiltrate power circles in the US capital Washington DC and report back to her Kremlin paymasters.

Dubbed Russia's 'most glamorous secret agent', she (pictured) was one of ten Russian spies exchanged for Skripal in July 2010 in Vienna

The ex-spy now runs an antique shop in a trendy district of Moscow and works as a TV host Anna was arrested in 2010 along with nine other agents who had settled into seemingly ordinary lives in America.

She pleaded guilty to charge of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government.

Dubbed Russia's 'most glamorous secret agent', she was one of ten Russian spies exchanged for Skripal in July 2010 in Vienna.

While she capitalized on her fame - posing in stockings and suspenders for Maxim magazine - Skirpal began a new life in the market town of Salisbury, Wiltshire.

Her ex-husband said he had lost contact with his wife, but being exposed as a female James Bond did not come as any surprise.

He said: 'Whether or not she's a spy, who can say, but when I read about her being arrested it wasn't that much of a surprise to be honest.

'It made sense because of all her erratic behaviour, all these high society people she was going on about. When I told my mother she said 'I knew it!'.'

Mr Chapman added in 2010: 'I don't think she was working as a spy here but I suspect she had been conditioned towards that end.'Lesley Smith, 51 was jailed for 21 months for stealing 56,00 from her dementia-suffering mother

A daughter who stole 56,000 from her 81-year-old dementia-suffering mother leaving her in a squalid home to fund her gambling habit has been jailed.

Lesley Smith, who is bound to a wheelchair, had control of her mother's finances after driving other members of the family away.

Her mother, Kathleen, was found by authorities with poor hygiene and matted hair living in a maggot and fly infested home.

She regularly asked her mother Kathleen to withdraw 300 from cash machines to use on online betting websites as part of a four-year campaign.

Smith, 51 is thought to have stolen 90,000 but money was deducted from that total for living expenses, Maidstone Crown Court heard.

The defendant was the main caregiver for 'vulnerable' Kathleen and despite withdrawing so much of her money her mother was found living in 'squalid' conditions.

Smith, from Kent, was described by her daughter, who became estranged from her following her parents divorce, as having a controlling personality.

Although Smith's sister tried to visit their mother she complained that the defendant was rude and aggressive during these visits.

Authorities became suspicious when money was regularly being taken out of Kathleen's account.

When she was arrested Smith admitted to frequently withdrawing money and claimed she intended to pay it back.

She said she borrowed 7,000 as she was saving up to buy a house for her and her son.

Maidstone Crown Court heard Smith admitted committing fraud over a four-year period between March 2011 and December 2015.

Judge Philip Statman described the situation as 'a family at war' when he jailed her just under two years.

Smith was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court in Kent after authorities became suspicious that money was regularly been withdrawn from her mother's bank account

Abigail White prosecuting said: 'This was an elderly lady with dementia who had no reason to withdraw those amounts.

'Her sister-in-law said the defendant was trying to drive away other family members so that she could take complete control of the financial situation.

'She gained unfettered control over her bank accounts. There was concern about the way she was being cared for.

'She was barely six stone when the police became involved.

'The house was in a squalid condition.

'There were maggots and flies in the properly. It was dirty. The lady suffered poor hygiene. Her hair was completely matted and she was malnourished.

'Social services became involved and family members then helped clean and tidy the house.

'She was particularly vulnerable. According to a probation officer, there is little or no remorse.'

The defendant developed septicaemia from a tear to the throat and had to have both legs amputated to save her life.

Judge Statman said the fact Smith had prosthetic legs and was confined to a wheelchair would make her time in prison difficult, but added he could not suspend the sentence.

He added the victim would have been able to live a comfortable life from money in her various accounts had it not been stolen by Smith.

Sentencing Smith to 21 months, Judge Statman said: 'The elderly must be looked after. They must be cared for.

'They must be protected. It is what they deserve and must receive.

'It became clear that far from conducting your mother's financial affairs in such a way that she could be cared for within her home, you were using her money in order to support, primarily, your addiction to gambling.

'Care of an older person within the community suffering from dementia is something which places a very great burden upon a carer, but that cannot in any way excuse what I have heard about your conduct and your behaviour.

'You had yourself been in poor health and I am told with the additional responsibility of looking after your mother you sought solace and distraction by gambling.

'That provides an explanation but I regret to say it provides no mitigation whatsoever, because you made a choice and you put yourself and your gambling before the interests of your elderly mother, who was suffering from dementia.'

Kathleen was diagnosed with dementia in July 2010 and is now living in a car home.The estimate of reconstruction of the Kontraktova Square in Podil will cost approximately UAH 160-170 million of Kyiv budget funds, coordinator of the Nova Kontraktova project Yevhen Petroschuk said, when presenting the project at the National Art Museum.

"Since the work will be carried out for municipal money, the contractor for reconstruction work will be determined at a tender ... The further procedure provides for an examination, a tender for work and then construction. If to take time standards, then this project can be implemented for a year or a year and a half," the expert explained.

According to him, the customer of work in the territory of the Kontraktova Square is municipal company Blahoustriy, the agent of reconstruction will be determined at a tender.

According to the project, a pedestrian zone with tactile paths for people with visual impairments and entry into the metro for people in wheelchairs will be created on the Kontraktova Square. The project does not foresee placing small architectural forms on the square, except for one glass building. The architects of the project noted that the city can refuse this object as well if food establishments open in Hostyny Dvir in the center of the square.

According to the coordinator of the Nova Kontraktova project, it does not include the reconstruction of the Hostyny Dvir building, since the court has recently returned this object to state ownership.A convicted drug trafficker who smoked ice while she was pregnant has made an application to have her one-year-old daughter by her side in prison.

Georgia Tanya Herrmann, from Cairns, was sentenced to five years' jail for her role in an drug trafficking syndicate in 2016.

The 22-year-old now wants her daughter, who can't be named for legal reasons, to serve the part of sentence with her, according to the Cairns Post.

Georgia Tanya Herrmann, 22, was given a five-year sentence for her role in trafficking ice in 2016 and she now wants her daughter in prison with her

Barrister James Sheridan reportedly told the court that Herrmann had a troubled upbringing, and that the child's father was also behind bars.

She left home at 13, tried ice for the first time at 16, and had recently returned home to her mother before her arrest.

She also consumed methamphetamine while pregnant, the court heard.

'Your child is now in a position where both parents will be in jail,' Chief Justice Catherine Holmes said, according to the paper.

'You really need to do your best to set yourself on a reasonable path for when youre released so you dont go back to this kind of life if that child is to have any hope.'

Three of Queensland's female prisons have units that accommodate women with young children or babies with them in prison, according to Library of Congress.

Approval is based on the fact it is in the best interest of the child

One can accommodate eight inmates and their kids, another regularly has 'up to six children, sometimes ten, placed with their mothers' and a third has a unit that can house eight with additional places for mothers and babies in a double unit.

In applying, the inmate is asked to acknowledge that they understand the child must be below primary school age, and if they aren't the child can only stay during holidays and weekends.

Herrmann's daughter will turn two in May.

The child also must be immunised and it must be determined whether there is a court order preventing the child from living with his or her mother.

Three female prisons in Queensland are equipped to house mothers and their children

If the child is in care the child protection chief executive must consent to the living arrangements and above all it must be in the child's best interests.

The application process also includes an interview by the Correctional Counsellor.

It also details situations where the child can be taken away, such as; it is in the best interests of the child or facility, the child can start primary school or the parent herself requests it.

Then there is liaison with Department of Child Safety and the Family Court, which checks to see if there are any court orders stopping the child from being with the mother.

Ms Herrmann can apply for parole in September 2019.It's been a ruff week for United Airlines.

After being blamed for the death of a bulldog puppy which suffocated in the overhead bin on Monday on one flight then accidentally sending one passenger's pet to Japan in place of another animal, the scandal-hit airline found itself in another canine-related snafu on Thursday.

During a flight from Newark, New Jersey, to St Louis, Missouri, flight attendants suddenly became aware of a dog in the hold which should not have been there.

The animal was mistakenly boarded onto the plane instead of a flight to Akron, Ohio.

To rectify their mistake, the pilot diverted the entire flight to Ohio to drop the animal off safely.

It is not clear how far into the three-hour flight they made the decision to stop and drop the animal off.

United Airlines diverted a flight from New Jersey to St Louis to drop off a dog at Akron Airport in Ohio (above) which had been accidentally boarded

United has reimbursed every passenger on board as compensation for the inconvenience.

In a statement, the airline said the dog had been reunited with its owner. They are yet to come forward to identify themself.

'United Express flight 3996 from Newark to St. Louis diverted to Akron to drop off a pet that had been loaded onto this flight mistakenly.

'The pet has been safely delivered to its owner. We provided compensation to all customers on board for the diversion,' a spokesman told DailyMail.com.

It is the third dog-related incident in a week for the airline which has struggled to regain its reputation after a doctor was filmed being dragged off a plane bloodied and beaten last year.

On Monday, Kokito the Bulldog puppy suffocated in the overhead bin after being placed there by his owner who claims she was forced by United Airlines flight attendants to stow him away.

Despite her protestations, the woman said the United flight attendant told her she must put the dog in the overhead bin.

United immediately apologized, describing the incident as a 'tragic accident'. The flight attendant was 'distraught' and said did not know the dog was there despite being told.

The airline then issued a statement to say although the passenger did tell her that the puppy was inside, she did not 'hear or understand her'.

On Monday, Kokito the Bulldog puppy suffocated in his owner's bag in the overhead bin. The owner claims a United flight attendant forced her to put him there

On Tuesday, Irgo the German Shepherd (left) and Lincoln the Great Dane (right) were mixed up by staff. Irgo was accidentally sent to Japan and had to be flown home on a corporate jet and Lincoln ended up in Wichita, Kansas

On Tuesday, two other dogs belonging to other passengers ended up on the wrong side of the world in a colossal mix-up.

Irgo the German Shepherd was meant to fly with his owners to Wichita, Kansas, from Portland, Oregon, stopping off at Denver on the way.

Instead, he was sent by mistake to Naruto, Japan.

When his owners in Wichita went to collect him, they were greeted instead by Lincoln, a Great Dane whose family live in Japan and were on their way there without him.

United rushed to fix the mistake and flew Irgo, who has an ear infection, back to the US on board its corporate jet.

Lincoln was forced to slum it in the hold of an ordinary flight.

Irgo's owner Kara Swindle told DailyMail.com on Friday she would pursue legal action against the airline.

Anna Beck, Lincoln's Texan owner who lives in Japan with her military husband, said she had not yet decided what to do.Russian exiles in Britain may have their security beefed up after a series of suspicious deaths and the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal.

Police are contacting Russians given asylum in the UK about their security as they investigate the death of businessman Nikolai Glushkov.

The former Aeroflot deputy director was found hanged in his flat on Monday and police on Friday opened a murder investigation.

Yulia, 33, and Sergei Skripal, 66, are both fighting for their lives following the poison plot and it has sparked panic among wealthy Russians in Britain

Mr Glushkov claimed in 2013 that he was a target of Russian President Vladimir Putin's regime after his friend Boris Berezovsky mysteriously died.

The murder investigation was being handled by counter-terrorism officers 'because of the associations he is believed to have had'.

Post-mortem results indicated the 68-year-old critic of President Putin died from 'compression to the neck'.

Police have started contacting Russian exiles about their security after reassessing theirs and MI5's view that they were low risk, according to the BBC.

Wealthy Russian exiles didn't wait that long, already bumping up security by demanding round the clock bodyguards and people to test their food and water.

One millionaire living in London's exclusive One Hyde Park development - the worlds most expensive apartment block - even wanted to install an air filtration system usually found in a nuclear bunkers.

Nikolai Glushkov, 68, was discovered by his family late on Monday night at his suburban home in New Malden, Boris Berezovsky was found dead in England in 2013 and the death of Badri Patarkatsishvili is unexplained

The attack on Mr Skripal and his daughter Yulia followed by the unexplained death of Mr Glushkov, 68, in New Malden, sparked panic among the Russian diaspora.

Experts claimed clients were asking for bodyguards and doctors to mind them around the clock in case they were attacked.

Nikolai Glushkov arriving at the High Court annex on October 18, 2011, wearing a pink dickie bow

Others were having any food brought in checked for poison and were refusing to drink tap water.

Becky Fatemi, MD of Rokstone, a central London luxury estate agency said: 'I've already had half a dozen of our Russian clients on the telephone to our Rokstone Concierge Service asking for information on bodyguards, extra security for their houses and dialling in for takeaway food.

'One of my clients is also getting a special filter system connected to their air-conditioning system for their apartment in One Hyde Park.

'They are stopping their usual food deliveries and getting random take-out food orders for safety, and are only drinking bottled water'.

Other experts said Russians living in London have been forced to protect themselves for years.

Peter Wetherell, chief executive of Wetherell, an exclusive estate agent in the capital says most wealthy Russians 'already have meticulous security arrangements'.

A Russian resident at One Hyde Park has reportedly asked for a nuclear bunker-style air filtration system

He said: 'Their homes are alarmed, with CCTV links to police stations, infra-red beams to corridors, eye-retina and finger print entry security. Some homes have steel and concrete reinforced panic rooms.

'At the ultra prime level of the market this is all quite standard - just 'basics' for the super rich like the Russians.

'At the end of the day the Russians, like all the global super rich, love living in London and a drama like this won't put them off the British capital - but it has made them even more security conscious.'.

Mark Pollack, founding director at London estate agents Aston Chase, added: 'Security has always been a serious concern for our clientele. However, in light of recent events in Salisbury, this concern has undoubtedly grown for our Russian buyers.

'All of our ultra-high net worth clients, especially the Russians living full time in London, require high levels of confidence that their properties are secure and private, with some choosing to install state-of-the-art technology and to employ 24-hour security. In light of events all of this gets reviewed.'Advertisement

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge braved ferocious winds and chilly conditions to celebrate St Patrick's Day today by attending a parade of the Irish Guards.

Prince William, who is Colonel of the Irish Guards, and heavily pregnant Kate paid a visit to the 1st Battalion at their base in Hounslow, west London.

They watched 350 soldiers arrive on the Parade Square before presenting traditional shamrocks to officers and guardsmen.

Kate sipped a sparkling water while the Duke of Cambridge clutched a pint of Guinness in a nod to St Patrick.

A Guinness for me and a water for you! Prince William enjoys a traditional Irish pint while heavily pregnant Kate sticks to water during their St Patrick's Day celebrations visiting the Colonel of the Irish Guards in Hounslow, west London

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge braved chilly conditions to celebrate St Patrick's Day today by attending a parade of the Irish Guards (right). Afterwards Prince William was seen enjoying a pint of Guinness, while pregnant Kate stuck to water

Kate Middleton grins as she talks to members of the Irish Guards in west London today for St Patrick's Day celebrations

Prince William, who is Colonel of the Irish Guards, (left in black uniform) and heavily pregnant Kate are seen visiting the 1st Battalion at their base in Hounslow, west London

Kate, who is due to give birth by the end of April (left with her baby bump), watched the Irish Guards march before presenting them with the traditional gifts (right)

The royal couple watched 350 soldiers arrive on the Parade Square before joining in on the festivities

The longest-serving guardsman of the battalion, Stephen Williams, declared a toast to the Duke and Duchess for a second year in a row at the mess hall and thanked the Duchess for the shamrocks.

The 30-year-old revealed the Royal couple 'felt sorry' for him and his colleagues out in the elements.

He said: 'I thought it went well, I was very proud to do it on behalf on the battalion. They said they recognised me from last year which is a good thing.

'I've been here for 10 years so the most senior person does it every year. It's the first time we've had snow on the parade, usually it's a warm day - what was it, -3C outside?

'They said they felt the cold and felt sorry for us.'

The Duke was dressed in his black and gold uniform, with his wife opting for the same Catherine Walker coat she wore on a recent trip to Scandinavia, teaming it with a Gina Foster hat.

William (pictured left), in his black Colonel uniform, takes the salute after watching the 350-man regiment march by him, while Kate wears a green Catherine Walker coat and Gina Foster Hat. She wore the same coat on a visit to Scandinavia (right)

The Duchess is pictured stepping out with her husband Prince William as they arrive for St Patrick's Day celebrations today

The festivities are being held in testing conditions with temperatures plummeting towards zero. There is a good chance of snowfall before the day is out

Betraying no awareness of the biting temperature, Kate smiled and chatted to each of the military men in turn

William holds an arm around Kate, who is due to give birth by the end of April, as they watched the parade

The Duchess (pictured left) fastened a shamrock to the collar of battalion mascot Irish wolfhound Domhnall. Domhnall's handler, Drummer Aidan Cathcart (pictured right with him), said: 'Domhnall's role is very monumental - he is the first guy on the parade. He is the main guy on the march, it's a pretty important day for him'

Betraying no awareness of the biting temperature, the Duchess smiled and chatted to each of the military men in turn, finally fastening a shamrock to the collar of Domhnall the wolfound - the regiment's longest serving mascot.

The festivities were held in testing conditions, as temperatures plummeted towards zero and snowfall made a surprise return.

The Irish Guards were prepared Siberian chills, having recently conducted the Changing of the Guard in the heavy snow during Storm Emma.

Kate wore a green Catherine Walker coat and a Gina Foster hat as she presented the shamrock to officers and warrant officers

The Irish Guards were well prepared for the Siberian winds, having recently conducted the Changing of the Guard in the heavy snow during Storm Emma

Drinks ordered were placed in advance, with Kate, who is expecting their third child next month, requesting her sparkling water with ice and lemon.

The royals then milled around and chatted to the troops, some of whom gleefully took selfies with the couple in the background.

Earlier, Domhnall's handler, Drummer Aidan Cathcart, jokingly expressed reservations that his charge would behave.

He said: 'Domhnall's role is very monumental - he is the first guy on the parade. He is the main guy on the march, it's a pretty important day for him.'

Despite harsh winds and chilly temperatures, heavily pregnant Kate smiled throughout the celebrations and chatted to guardsmen. Prince William is pictured right with a mark from where his hat had been all day

Wolfhound Domhnall - the regiment's longest serving mascot since 1985 - had been doing test runs all week to prepare for his moment in front of the royals

Asked if he was confident Domhnall would perform as planned, he replied, bluntly: 'No.'

The wolfhound - the regiment's longest serving mascot since 1985 - has been doing test runs all week to prepare for his moment in front of the royals.

It is the fifth time he has received the shamrock and the second time he has been handled by Drummer Cathcart.

Also among the guests on Saturday was the Irish Defence Force's most senior military officer, chief of staff Mark Mellett.

The Duke and Duchess are pictured in Hounslow, west London with the Irish Guards for St Patrick's Day todayA one-page job application filled out by Apple founder Steve Jobs submitted more than 40 years ago has sold for 125,000 at a U.S. auction.

The sale, more than three times the pre-sale estimate, was made along with other Apple memorabilia including an Apple Mac OS X technical manual signed by Jobs in 2001 that sold for about 30,000.

Also sold was a rare signed newspaper clipping from 2008 featuring an image of Jobs speaking at the Apple Developers Conference that sold for 20,000. Many of the items sold for more than double their estimates.

Steve Jobs (left) and Steve Wozniak, co-founders of Apple Computer Inc, at the first West Coast Computer Fair, where the Apple II computer was debuted, in Brooks Hall, San Francisco, California, April 16th or 17th, 1977

The pinnacle piece from the auction was an employment application filled out by Jobs at the age of 18, revealing his early aspiration to work in the tech industry that he would one day revolutionise

A newspaper clipping from 2008, three years before his death, featuring an image of Jobs speaking at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference for the introduction of the iPhone 3G sold for 20,000

Steve Jobs was renowned for his reluctance to sign products which is why this Mac OS X Technical Manual in 2001 was so valuable

But the pinnacle piece was an employment application filled out by Jobs at the age of 18, revealing his early aspiration to work in the tech industry that he would one day revolutionise. It was sold to an unnamed London internet bidder.

The 1973 application, complete with spelling and punctuation errors, lists his name as 'Steven jobs' and address as 'reed college,' the Portland, Oregon, college he attended briefly. Next to 'Phone:' he wrote 'none', Cnbc.com reported.

Under a section titled 'Special Abilities,' Jobs wrote 'tech or design engineer. digital.from Bay near Hewitt-Packard,' a reference to pioneering California technology company Hewlett-Packard and the San Francisco Bay area.

The document does not state what position or company the application was intended for. Jobs and friend Steve Wozniak founded Apple about three years later.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs appears at Apple's special media event to introduce the second generation iPad at Moscone Center in San Francisco on March 2, 2011 in California

Jobs (seen here in 2010) resigned as CEO of Apple in August 2011 and died from pancreatic cancer in the following October

Apple CEO Steve Jobs demonstrates the new iPhone 4 as he delivers the opening keynote address at the Apple World Wide Developers conference June 7, 2010 in San Francisco, California

RR Auction said the high price reflected the continuing influence of Jobs, who died of cancer in 2011 at the age of 56.

'There are many collectors who have earned disposable income over the last few decades using Apple technology, and we expect similarly strong results on related material in the future,' Bobby Livingston, executive vice president at RR Auction, said in a statement.

He said that Jobs was notorious for not allowing his signature to be used for products he co-produced and that 'his autograph is incredibly scarce among contemporary figures'.

The signed Mac OS X Administration technical manual was only obtained because the seller relentlessly cajoled Jobs into providing his signature.

Also included in the sale was the newspaper clipping from 2008, three years before his death, featuring an image of Jobs speaking at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference for the introduction of the iPhone 3G.

The headline, which was signed by Jobs, reads 'New, faster iPhone will sell for $199' and featured an image of Jobs speaking at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference.

The Pop Culture auction from RR Auction began on March 8 and concluded on March 15.

More details can be found online at www.rrauction.com.Police investigating the poisoning of a Russian spy have revealed it 'could take months' to solve, as they probe whether his car was laced with the deadly nerve agent that nearly killed him.

Scotland Yard have today launched a fresh appeal to anyone who saw Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, driving in his maroon BMW hours before they were found unconscious in Salisbury.

But after 13 days of bizarre theories into how the former double agent was attacked, the Met Police say the 'painstaking' investigation is 'likely to be going on for weeks, if not months'.

They are also probing whether Ms Skripal's suitcase was infected with deadly Novichok when she arrived from Moscow.

Met Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said today investigators have trawled through 4,000 hours of CCTV and examined 762 bits of evidence.

Scotland Yard have today launched a fresh appeal to anyone who saw Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, driving in his maroon BMW before they were found unconscious in Salisbury

The five-door 3-series is seen travelling along a residential street towards the city centre on the afternoon of March 4 where it is believed the pair parked in the Sainsbury car park before heading for a drink at The Mill pub

He added: 'This is an extremely challenging and complex investigation and we currently have around 250 exceptionally experienced and dedicated specialist officers from the counter terrorism network working around the clock on this case.

'They are being supported by hundreds more officers from across the police family, as well as the military and other emergency services.

'To date, detectives have recovered 762 exhibits and are trawling through around 4,000 hours of CCTV. They are making good progress in what is a painstaking investigation that is likely to be ongoing for weeks, if not months.'

Heavily protected officers were today seen loading the BMW into a shipping container as it was taken away to be tested.

Footage shows his contaminated car being maneuvered and bolted into a shipping crate, before it was hoisted on to a large military loader.

It was spotted by sales assistant Gary Scriven, 44, who works near the recovery centre where the car was kept since the attack.

The Daily Mail this week discovered more video showing the former Russian spy's BMW 320D saloon car - registration HD09 WAO - driving away from his home in a quiet Salisbury cul-de-sac at 1.33pm just hours before he was found collapsed on a bench in the city centre.

The five-door 3-series is seen travelling along a residential street towards the city centre where it is believed the pair parked in the Sainsbury car park before heading for a drink at The Mill pub.

After 13 days of bizarre theories into how the former double agent and his daughter (pictured together) was attacked, the Met Police say the 'painstaking' investigation is 'likely to be going on for weeks, if not months'

It has become the focus of the huge investigation into the nerve agent attack and was taken away for further examination last night.

Investigators are now trying to get a clearer picture of the car's movements on the morning of the attempted murder - having previously focused on the afternoon.

Counter-terrorism police believe Mr Skripal's car may have been seen in the areas of London Road, Churchill Way North and Wilton Road at around 9.15am.

Salisbury cemetery and crematorium, where Mr Skripal's wife's grave and a memorial to his son are located, is situated on London Road and has been cordoned off by police who were seen removing items earlier this week.

The car was then later seen being driven down Devizes Road, towards the town centre, at around 1.30pm.

Assistant Commissioner Basu added: 'We are learning more about Sergei and Yulia's movements but we need to be clearer around their exact movements on the morning of the incident.

Investigators in Salisbury are also probing whether Ms Skripal's suitcase was infected with deadly Novichok when she arrived from Moscow. Pictured: A tent covers the bench where she was found unconscious in the city centre today

Crime scene: Police officers are today pictured guarding the police cordon in Salisbury

Met Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said today investigators have trawled through 4,000 hours of CCTV and examined 762 bits of evidence. An officer is pictured on Saturday in snowy Salisbury

'We need to establish Sergei and Yulia's movements during the morning, before they headed to the town centre. Did you see this car, or what you believe was this car, on the day of the incident?

'We are particularly keen to hear from you if you saw the car before 1.30pm. If you have information, please call the police on 101.'

He urged anyone with pictures or video footage that could help the investigation to upload them via the Met's website.

The latest images from India Avenue, which is less than a minute away from Skripal's property, suggest they did not leave home until after 1.30pm.

The time stamp on the clip reads 14:55, and is ahead of the actual time.

The eight theories leaked from the Salisbury investigation Day 1: Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were directly sprayed with the poison on the bench where they were found slumped. Day 5: Investigators move away from the initial theory, suggesting they were poisoned by food or drink. This threw Zizzi and The Mill pub as possible locations for the attack. Day 6: A new theory emerges - the poison was posted through Sergei Skripal's letterbox. Day 7: Officers dug up Skripal's wife's grave as they scoured the city for clues. During this exercise, it was thought a bouquet of flowers were laced with the toxin, causing the former spy to be rendered unconscious. Day 10: Sergei Skripal's maroon BMW is thrust into the heart of the probe as it is suggested the poison was introduced to the car's ventilation system. Hours later, a leak suggests the vehicles door handles were smeared with the deadly Novichok nerve agent. Day 13: The latest theory to be banded around by sources is that Yulia Skripal's luggage was contaminated. Advertisement

It is hoped the new CCTV will help piece together the crucial missing 40 minutes in the father and daughter's whereabouts.

The Daily Mail has asked the source of the footage to hand over their home CCTV to the police.

Earlier this week the Mail obtained footage showing the car with the registration HD09 WAO at 1.35pm travelling further along the route to the centre past the Devizes Inn pub.

Detectives seized the CCTV from the pub on Devizes Road on Tuesday night, however Scotland Yard has yet to release any images to the public.

The BMW was recovered from the car park by Ashley Wood recovery firm and taken to its yard.

Teams in hazmat suits later descended on the firm to undertake forensic examination of the vehicle.

Several vehicles from the company have since been removed for decontamination while drivers have been asked to hand over the clothes they were wearing at the time.

It is believed that cars parked near to the BMW on the top floor of the Sainsbury's on March 4 are also being checked by hazmat teams.

Scotland Yard know that the Skripals arrived at the Sainsbury's car park in the city at 1.40pm before having a drink at the Bishop's Mill pub followed by lunch at Zizzi restaurant leaving at 3.35pm.

They were then treated by emergency services on a bench in the Maltings shopping precinct at 4.15pm after a member of the pubic raised the alarm.

Meanwhile in Salisbury officers still appear no closer to getting to the bottom of the 'trail of poison' left by the Skripals attempted murderer.

Locals are pictured battling snowy weather in the Wiltshire city as their home continues to be subject of the international investigation

Theories banded around in the past fortnight include food poisoning, a bouquet of flowers laced with the deadly substance Novichok and the lethal toxin being smeared on the former agent's car door handle.

Now, it is understood investigators have turned their attentions to Yulia's suitcase in a bid to find out exactly how she and her father ended up fighting for their lives after falling unconscious on March 4.

But Scotland Yard's top officers are still keeping the public in the dark and a series of conflicting leaks from the investigation suggests they are no nearer the truth.

Senior sources in the intelligence agencies told The Telegraph they 'convinced' the poison was hidden in the luggage.

Police are now said to be working on the theory the Novichok was concealed in an item of clothing, a gift or cosmetics.

It means, according to the paper, that the 33-year-old was a deliberate target in order to get at her father.A man has been left with life-changing injuries after a 'chilling' machete attack at a bar in Manchester.

Police were called to reports of an assault at a bar on Catalan Square at around 10.10pm on Friday night, Greater Manchester Police said.

A man in his 30s had been at Barca Club with his friends when another man walked past him and shouted abuse at a group of people in the bar.

A man in his 30s had been at Barca Club with his friends when another man walked past him and shouted abuse at a group of people in the bar

Police said when the victim asked him to calm down, the offender turned to his friend and asked for the machete.

His friend brought over a backpack, which the offender pulled the machete out of, before turning and striking the victim's hand with it.

The man was taken to hospital where he is still being treated for life-changing injuries.

Police said the three offenders fled from the scene on foot and with a push bike.

Detective Inspector Mark Davis, of GMP's City of Manchester Division, said: 'This man should be enjoying the rest of a well-earned weekend, instead he's in hospital being treated for injuries that will change his life.

'The way the offender pulled the machete out and brutally struck this innocent man without hesitation is chilling, and we will do everything we can to find the person responsible.

'If you were around Castlefield last night and saw either the assault, or know something that could help with our enquiries, please contact police and share this with us.'

Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101 or through Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.A young mother who smothered her 14-month-old baby to death before disposing of the body in a creek has avoided deportation.

Sofina Nikat was charged with murdering Sanaya in April 2016 but will continue to walk free in Australia after the federal government rejected the call to deport the mother back to Fiji.

The 24-year-old was sentenced to a 12-month community correction order by the Victorian Supreme Court after being convicted of infanticide.

A young mother who smothered her 14-month-old baby (pictured together) to death before disposing of the small body in a creek has avoided deportation

Sofina Nikat (pictured) was charged with murdering Sanaya in April 2016 but will continue to walk free in Australia after the federal government rejected the call to deport her back to Fiji

The 24-year-old was sentenced to a 12-month community correction order by the Victorian Supreme Court after being convicted of infanticide

Nikat, who spent 529 days in custody on remand, will remain in the country after not qualifying to have her visa automatically cancelled, The Herald Sun reported.

The mother has a lack of criminal history and suffered from post-natal depression where she believed her tiny daughter was 'possessed' by evil spirits.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton did not decide to keep Nikat in Australia but was satisfied by the departmental delegate's settlement, according to the publication.

Sameer Sahib married his now ex-wife through an arranged marriage and said he wants Nikat exported so there can be 'justice for (his) daughter'.

The 24-year-old took her daughter for a walk to a park in the pram before suffocating the infant and dumping the limp body into Darebin Creek, north of Melbourne.

Nikat then returned home and told family and police an African man - who smelled heavily of alcohol - snatched her baby.

The mother has a lack of criminal history and suffered from post-natal depression where she believed her tiny daughter was 'possessed' by evil spirits

Nikat (pictured in September 2017), who spent 529 days in custody on remand, will remain in the country after not qualifying to have her visa automatically cancelled

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton (pictured) did not decide to keep Nikat in Australia but was satisfied by the departmental delegate's settlement, according to The Herald Sun

The 24-year-old took her daughter for a walk to a park in the pram (pictured) before suffocating the infant and dumping the limp body into Darebin Creek, north of Melbourne

A week later, the mother admitted the story was made up 'because she was scared'.

The prosecutor said a psychologist found Nikat suffered from a depressive illness as a result of giving birth to Sanaya in January 2015.

For infanticide to be accepted as a crime, the offender has to prove depression where a maximum jail sentence in Victoria is five years and 25 years in NSW.

One of the little girl's aunts, Zaharaa Sahib, wrote on Facebook at the time that the 'stupid law disappointed us again'.

'She is gonna live her life while we all still have remorse for the rest of our lives. Lost all hope in our Australian law. But I guess it's over, just praying this never happens to anyone,' she wrote.

A department spokesman said the government takes the 'responsibility to protect the community from the risk of harm posed by non-citizens who engage in criminal conduct ... very seriously'.A small passenger plane carrying five people crashed into a house shortly after takeoff north of the Philippines capital Manila on Saturday, killing all those on board and five people on the ground, officials said.

The Piper-23 Apache plane took off from the airport in Plaridel town in Bulacan province then crash-landed and smashed into the house, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines spokesman Eric Apolonio and police said.

All five Filipinos on board the six-seat plane were killed, and the crash killed five people on the ground, Plaridel police chief Supt. Julio Lizardo told the Associated Press news agency.

A rescuer looks at the body of a plane crash victim following a crash of a Piper PA-23 Apache six-seater twin-engine light aircraft on Saturday at a residential area in Plaridel township, Bulacan province north of Manila, in the Philippines

Rescuers sifted through the debris following the crash - the Philippines Civil Aviation Authority confirmed that the plane was operated by Lite Air Express and came down soon soon after take off

The crash set fire to a house that was hit by the aircraft, he said. Two other people on the ground were injured by burning debris, Lizardo said.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known. Witnesses said the plane hit a tree and electric post before slamming into the house, which was the home of an 80-year-old woman.

She was inside at the time, police spokesman Chief Superintendent John Bulalacao said.

Rescuers were confronted with a terrible scene when they arrived at the site of the crash

The cause of the crash was not immediately known - witnesses said the plane hit a tree and electric post before slamming into the house

'The house was burned while the aircraft was totally wrecked,' he said.

TV footage showed parts of the plane wreckage and the shattered walls of the house at the still-smouldering crash site.

Apolonio said the aircraft, which was operated by Lite Air Express, was bound for northern Laoag city.

All the aircraft operated by the transport and courier company were grounded while investigators tried to determine the cause of the crash, he said.Internet rap star and social media personality Danielle Bregoli is no longer on probation.

Bregoli, who is known by her stage name Bhad Bhabie, posted a video to her Instagram account on Friday celebrating the fact that she was off probation biches!!!

The creator of the viral meme and catchphrase cash me outside, how bout dat? was sentenced in August to five years probation after pleading guilty to multiple charges, including grand theft and filing a false police report.

Bregoli hired Doug Duncan, a lawyer who once represented Tiger Woods, worked out a deal with the courts in Palm Beach County, Florida to expedite her sentence, according to TMZ.

Duncan represented the golfer last year in court after he was arrested for allegedly driving under the influence.

Woods eventually pleaded guilty to reckless driving and entered a program for first-time offenders.

Internet rap star and social media personality Danielle Bregoli is no longer on probation

Bregoli, who is known by her stage name Bhad Bhabie, posted a video to her Instagram account on Friday celebrating the fact that she was off probation biches!!!

The creator of the viral meme and catchphrase cash me outside, how bout dat? was sentenced in August to five years probation after pleading guilty to multiple charges, including grand theft and filing a false police report

Bregoli hired Doug Duncan, a lawyer who once represented Tiger Woods (seen left with Duncan in a Palm Beach County court in October 2017). Duncan represented the golfer last year in court after he was arrested for allegedly driving under the influence

She was reportedly spared serving the rest of her probation after lawyers convinced the courts that she had stayed out of trouble and finished the 100 hours of community service.

Bregoli did her service with #HashtagLunchbag and also helped in the relief efforts for those affected by Hurricane Harvey.

She first gained public attention a year ago with an appearance on the Dr. Phil show.

The topic of the show was unruly kids. At one point during the taping, she challenged the booing audience to a fight.

She said: 'Cash me ousside, how bow dah?' which was translated as, 'Catch me outside, how about that?'

Her mom appeared on the show with her and complained she got her accent 'from the streets'.

Her popularity is showing no signs of waning as the video for her Hi Bich remix last month managed to clock up more than one million views in just one day

Since the appearance on Dr. Phil, Bregoli has been laughing all the way to the bank.

Her popularity is showing no signs of waning as the video for her Hi Bich remix last month managed to clock up more than one million views in just one day.

Bregoli collaborated with rappers Rich the Kid and YBN Namir for the hit, though switched out YBN Namir for MadeinTYO for the video, who raps the first verse.

Commenting on the switch on Twitter, she said: 'I had to kick a bich off of hi bich replaced him wit a better bich now its all good bich [sic].'

Asian Doll also appears in the video.

Worldstar Hip Hop were the first to release the remix, which at the time of publishing had clocked up 1.2 milion views on YouTube and just over one million on their site.

She first gained public attention a year ago with an appearance on the Dr. Phil show. The topic of the show was unruly kids. At one point during the taping, she challenged the booing audience to a fight

The video, which was directed by John Rawlins, shows the viral star cruising around in a white Mercedes-Benz G Class wearing her signature white tank top and jeans.

The track was originally penned as a diss to rapper Iggy Azalea and contains the lyrics: 'Bich dont compare me to Iggy/That old h* is washed up and Im lit.

'Wouldnt pay her to wash up my whip/Bye, broke bich, bye h*.'

The 14-year-old took to Instagram to announce the news writing: 'Hoe I do a million views on a slow day,' possibly taking aim at Iggy.

Last week Iggy's ex-fiancee Nick Young, uploaded a video to his Snapchat singing along to the diss track with the caption, 'Hi B Lit', as a nod of approval towards the blossoming rapper.

Azalea and Young started dating in 2014 and ended their romance in 2016 after the latter was caught on video admitting to cheating on her.Defense Minister of Ukraine Stepan Poltorak has filed an electronic declaration on property and income for 2017, in which he declared UAH 951,200 of revenues.

In 2017, the minister received UAH 645,280 in wage and UAH 192,000 of fees or other payments on civil transactions from Kharkiv City Council, and UAH 113,919 interest on the deposit in Oschadbank.

His wife, Inna Poltorak, declared income from the sale of real estate in the amount of UAH 825,000, and UAH 67,361 interest on bank deposits.

The minister also has cash in the amount of UAH 306,000, $62,000, bank deposits in Oschadbank in the amount of UAH 697,212 and $20,950, in Ukreximbank for UAH 63,047.

The minister's wife owns cash in the amount of UAH 520,000, $93,000 and deposits UAH 598,362 and EUR 20,151 in banks.

The minister does not own real estate, but rents a room with an area of 41.65 square meters in the hotel complex near the center for providing the official activities of Ministry of Defense and the General Staff of Ukraine, while his wife owns an apartment of 66.7 square meters in Kharkiv acquired in 2016.

According to the e-declaration, neither the defense ministry nor his family members have securities or other intangible assets.Advertisement

Officials say three bodies have been pulled from two cars which have been removed from under the rubble of a collapsed pedestrian walkway at Florida International University in Miami.

Rescue workers started to free the vehicles that were trapped under the collapsed concrete bridge early Saturday morning.

Shortly before dawn two crushed vehicles were removed by using massive inflatable straps just before 7 a.m.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Chief Arthur Holmes Jr. says crews won't leave until all the vehicles that were trapped under the bridge are retrieved.

The first vehicle, a crushed Jeep Grand Cherokee, was pulled out just after 6am.

Almost an hour later a second vehicle was pulled out as crews used spotlights to help them with the operation.

There are still at least four other vehicles underneath the carnage which have yet to be retrieved.

The remains of one of eight cars was pulled out from the bridge's twisted concrete and steel

The remains of this car are barely reconcilable with just the wheels and chassis remaining

About an hour later, under the glare of spotlights from above, a second vehicle emerged, almost entirely flattened having been crushed by the 950-ton bridge.

A crane then lowered the flattened vehicles onto a tow truck for a slow, respectful ride to the county medical examiner's office, according to the Miami Herald.

The vehicles  a white Chevy pickup truck and gold Jeep Cherokee  were covered in black tarps and transported to the medical examiner's office with the bodies inside.

The body of the cars were no longer recognizable with just the wheels about the only thing familiar with the vehicle.

The cars are just two of possibly eight vehicles that were crushed beneath it the concrete bridge as it fell to the ground.

Authorities were carefully trying to get to remaining victims. At least six people were killed when the structure fell onto a busy highway Thursday.

'Right now we're just chipping away,' said Miami-Dade Police Director Juan Perez.

Perez says DNA, fingerprints and family photos may be needed to confirm some victims' identities, along with fingerprints and family photographs. He said the process of recovering the remaining cars was arduous.

Recovery operations continue at the site of the collapsed pedestrian bridge

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Chief Arthur Holmes Jr. says crews won't leave until all the vehicles that were trapped under the bridge are retrieved

First responders started pulling cars and bodies from the rubble of the Florida International University pedestrian bridge collapse early Saturday morning

First responders held a moment of silence for each body when it was removed from the remains of the bridge, after which the bodies were taken to the medical examiner's office

Crews hope to have every body removed by the end of the day Saturday

The retrieval of the vehicles was done very respectfully under spotlights in the early hours

The crushed Chevy van seen above belongs to Structural Technologies, a national company that offers engineering services

The collapse caught everyone by surprise as this was the very latest construction in the area

Rescue workers have spent two days trying to break down and remove the concrete to get to the vehicles in order to positively identify the victims and finalize the death count.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that an engineer left a voicemail two days before the catastrophic bridge failure to say some cracking had been found at one end of the concrete span, but the voicemail wasn't picked up until after the collapse.

The voicemail left on a landline wasn't heard by a state DOT employee until Friday because the employee was out of the office on an assignment.

In a transcript released Friday night, Denney Pate with FIGG Bridge Group says the cracking would need repairs 'but from a safety perspective we don't see that there's any issue there so we're not concerned about it from that perspective.'

On Saturday, FIU released a statement saying representatives from the university and DOT met with a FIGG engineer for two hours Thursday morning to discuss the cracking and determined there wasn't a safety issue. The bridge fell soon afterward.

'The FIGG engineer of record delivered a technical presentation regarding the crack and concluded that there were no safety concerns and the crack did not compromise the structural integrity of the bridge,' FIU said.

Crushed cars are shown under a section of a collapsed pedestrian bridge near Florida International University in the Miami area

Workers use a front loader to clear debris from a section of a collapsed pedestrian bridge

At a news conference Friday night, officials from the National Transportation Safety Board said they have just begun their investigation, and cannot yet say whether any cracking contributed to the collapse.

They also said workers were trying to strengthen a diagonal member on the pedestrian bridge at Florida International University when it collapsed.

Robert Accetta, the investigator-in-charge for the NTSB, said crews were applying post-tensioning force, but investigators aren't sure if that's what caused the bridge to fall.

In a news release late Friday, FIGG Bridge Engineers said it 'continues to work diligently' to determine the cause of the collapse, and is examining the steps its team has taken.

It added, 'The evaluation was based on the best available information at that time and indicated that there were no safety issues.' It also asked for time to accurately determine what led to the accident.

Named: Alexa Duran, an 18-year-old FIU freshman (right), and bridge worker Navaro Brown, 37, (left) are among the six victims of Thursday's fatal pedestrian bridge collapse

FIU's pedestrian bridge was on schedule to open to foot traffic in 2019. It was installed last Saturday even though it had no central support tower or stay cables in place

A college student who narrowly escaped from a car that got smashed in the collapse said he watched helplessly as the structure tumbled down atop the vehicle and killed his friend Alexa Duran, who was sitting next to him in the driver's seat.

Richie Humble, who studies at FIU, was riding in a car under the pedestrian bridge when he heard a long creaking noise coming from the structure that spanned a busy Miami-area highway. It sounded different from anything he had ever heard before.

'I looked up, and in an instant, the bridge was collapsing on us completely. It was too quick to do anything about it,' Humble said Friday in a phone interview with The Associated Press.

Once Humble realized he was alive, he also realized that he could not get to Duran. He called to her but got no response. A group of men outside the car started yelling at him to try crawling through the rear window.

The bridge was under construction and collapsed onto a Miami highway on Thursday crushing vehicles beneath massive slabs of concrete and steel, killing and injuring several people

Crushed cars are shown under a section of a collapsed pedestrian bridge, Friday, March 16, 2018 near Florida International University in the Miami area. The new pedestrian bridge that was under construction collapsed onto a busy Miami highway Thursday afternoon, crushing vehicles beneath massive slabs of concrete and steel, killing and injuring several people, authorities said. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

He couldn't squeeze through because the window was crushed. The men outside grabbed a wooden plank and pried open the rear door to pull him free, he said.

'I was trying to get people to realize my friend was still in there,' he said.

He suffered cuts to his leg from glass and a slight fracture to a vertebra, but he was able to walk away from the scene.

While families waited for word on their loved ones, investigators sought to understand why the 950-ton bridge gave way during construction. The cables supporting the span were being tightened following a 'stress test' when it collapsed, authorities said.

The Florida DOT said in its Friday release that it had not been notified of any stress test.

Detectives declared the rubble a homicide scene.

Scheduled to open in 2019, the bridge would have provided safe passage over a canal and six lanes of traffic and created a showpiece architectural feature connecting the campus of FIU with the community of Sweetwater, where many students live.

The $14.2 million project was supposed to take advantage of a faster, cheaper and safer method of bridge-building promoted by the university.

Authorities have not confirmed the victims' names. Duran's family has said she died. The fatalities included a student at FIU. One person died at a hospital. Miami-Dade Police Director Juan Perez said five bodies were located with the help of cameras but had not yet been retrieved.

Workers stand by a section of a collapsed pedestrian bridge as they work out what to do next

A worker uses a saw next to a crushed car as the twisted wreckage of rubble and steel is removed

In a Facebook post, Chelsea Brownfield said she was awaiting any information about her husband, Brandon. According to a Go Fund Me page set up for the family, Brandon Brownfield was driving home from work when the collapse happened.

'The outpouring of love we have received is incredible,' Chelsea Brownfield wrote. The post ended with the hashtag 'praying for a miracle.'

Brownfield declined to comment in a message to The Associated Press.

Jorge and Carol Fraga feared their relative's car was trapped beneath the bridge. Jorge's 60-year-old uncle, Rolando Fraga, lives in the area and frequently takes the nearby turnpike to work, but no one has heard from him since midday Thursday.

'The waiting is so ... I don't have words for that,' Carol Fraga said through tears.

The bridge was put in place March 10, five days before the collapse.

When finished, the span would have been supported from above, with a tall, off-center tower and cables attached to the walkway. That tower had not yet been installed, and it was unclear what builders were using as temporary supports.



Theresa May recycled a pair of black suede flats with metal steel caps during a tough speech on the NHS at the Conversative Party's Spring Forum today.

The 215 Russell & Bromley shoes made a second outing during the speech in which the Prime Minister said she relies on the NHS every day because of her diabetes as she defended her record on public services.

Mrs May previously wore the no-nonsense flats during her first speech at the Tory party conference in 2016 where she made it clear that Brussels won't be kicking Britain around after Article 50 was triggered.

The statement shoe was an apt choice as the PM was quizzed on Russian retaliation over the ongoing spy row involving Sergei Skripal.

Today she admitted some people questioned the Conservative Party's 'motives' on health and schools but insisted they cared 'deeply' about them.

Ms May said 'when Brexit is done' she wanted the Conservatives to lead the country 'into the next decade and beyond'.

The PM made an unusually personal speech that reflected on her school years as well as her reliance on the health service.

Theresa May says she relies on the NHS every day because of her diabetes as she defended her record on public services

Critics of the government regularly accused her of squeezing public services to breaking point and Labour claimed Mrs May could not be trusted.

But she told the Conservative Party Spring Forum it 'must mount a determined effort' to 'win and keep' the public's trust in its management of public services.

'Some people question our motives. They wonder whether we care enough about our NHS and schools, whether we truly respect the people who work in them and understand that people rely on them,' she said.

'Now, I know what our answer would be. Everyone in this Party cares deeply about our public services. We use them. We rely on them. Many of us work in them.'

Mrs May said the Conservative Party created the modern police force, county councils, and universal schooling.

Conservative health minister Henry Willink published the first blueprint for a universal, free, health service, she told the forum.

'It fell to Labour to create the NHS 70 years ago this summer, and it is rightly their proudest achievement,' she said.

She told the Conservative Party Spring Forum it 'must mount a determined effort' to 'win and keep' the public's trust in its management of public services

'But Conservatives backed its key principles then, and have supported them ever since.'

Mrs May had a varied education that crossed the state and private school sectors. The grammar school she won a place at was turned into a comprehensive while she was still a pupil.

The PM went on to read geography at St Hugh's College, Oxford University.

Public doubts about the party's commitment to public services were 'unfair' but they were a political fact 'which we must face up to', she said.

Mrs May revealed she had Type 1 diabetes while she was home secretary, and keeping it under control meant injecting herself with insulin up to five times a day.

'When I was diagnosed with diabetes, the NHS was there for me,' she said.

'Skilled and compassionate, helping me every step of the way to manage my condition and live a normal life.

'I rely on the NHS every day and I am eternally grateful to them.'A 39-year-old man has been warned he faces a lengthy jail sentence after he was accused of putting his wife and children through shocking alleged instances of domestic violence.

Ramze Zayat allegedly walked up to his wife of 17 years at a barbecue for domestic violence victims at Banksia Community Centre in Broadmeadows, Victoria, according to the Herald Sun.

He allegedly grabbed his wife by the throat and then dragged her by the hair and repeatedly punched her in the face.

Ramze Zayat is said to have grabbed his wife by the throat and then dragged her by the hair and repeatedly punched her in the face (stock image)

Onlookers attempted to intervene in the alleged abuse, which is not believed to have stopped there.

Later that night it is alleged Zayat kicked his wife's door down and police from Broadmeadows Police Station were called to the home.

At Melbourne Magistrates Court when applying for bail Mr Zayat told Magistrate John Doherty: 'The way I acted that day was very stupid  I overreacted with my wife.'

He has been charged with ten offences, which includes recklessly causing injury and making threats to kill.

Zayat was remanded in custody and is due to reappear before the court on Monday for a filing hearing.Bill Harvey, 58, of Salinas, California was arrested March 9 for sexually assaulting special needs children that rode his bus route over the past decade

A California bus driver has been charged with sexually assaulting special needs children that rode his bus route over the past 10 years.

Bill Harvey, 58, worked for the Salinas Union High School district and faces five charges relating to alleged rapes of special needs children.

His abuses took place over a decade.

He was arrested on March 9 according to Salinas police after authorities received a call on February 22 about a man harassing a female.

An investigation led to Harvey's arrest and unearthed an ugly history of inappropriate relationships with at least two of the students on his bus route.

The victims were both physically and developmentally disabled.

He brought gifts to the students he had relations with and met with at least one of them multiple times outside of the job.

The victims described the incidents to police, revealing they were inappropriately touched and forced to commit sexual acts against their will.

The first sexual act took place eight years ago with a 13-year-old. The sexual acts continued as recent as last year, according to police.

Harvey was booked into Monterey County Jail on charges of rape of a person unable to give consent, rape by force or fear, lewd acts upon a child, kidnapping and stalking.

The Salinas Union High School District released a statement KION News.

Upon his arrest he was placed on administrative leave by the Salinas Union High School District and police continue their investigation. Harvey is now in Monterey County Jail

The bus driver brought gifts to his victims and met with at least one outside of the work environment. One victim was as young as 13-years-old at the time of the abuse

'We are shocked to learn about the recent arrest of an employee related to multiple charges of sexual misconduct with a minor. This is a disturbing set of allegations and we are taking it seriously. We are cooperating with law enforcement as they continue their investigation. The safety and security of our students are a priority and we are working with the victims families and school community. We placed this employee on administrative leave, and as a result, he will have no contact with any Salinas Union High School District student,' the statement said.

'We are still learning about the details related to these allegations. We must respect the rights to privacy and due process of everyone involved, and the district cannot comment on personnel matters or student information. As law enforcement moves forward we will take the appropriate disciplinary actions. We appreciate the community's understanding and support as we work through this unfortunate situation,' the statement continued.

Due to the seriousness of his crimes and for his safety, he is being held separate from other inmates.

The investigation is ongoing as police try to determine if there are other victims.A 15-year-old girl who went missing for 48 hours while her parents were on vacation has been found in another state.

Leah Jo Scanlon from Cadillac, Michigan, was last seen on Thursday morning while her parents were away in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Luke and Heidi Scanlon raised alarms about their missing daughter with police and FBI after they were unable to contact her.

The mother posted on Facebook early Saturday morning to confirm Leah has been found and is in police custody in another state.

Leah Jo Scanlon, 15, from Cadillac, Michigan, went missing on Thursday while her parents were on a vacation in South Carolina

Her mother, Heidi Scanlon, posted on Facebook that her daughter was found in another state after being missing for almost 48 hours

Heidi said on Facebook: 'Amen! She has been found! Police have her in custody in another state and we will be travelling to bring her back safe!'

She went on to thank the Wexford County Sheriff's Office, the Michigan State Police, the City of Cadillac Police and the FBI for working quickly to help find her daughter.

The parents flew back from their vacation on Friday morning, just 24 hours after the last time their daughter was seen.

The initial investigation by police did not indicate that there was foul play involved in the missing person case, but they did treat Leah as if she could be in danger.

It is unclear what state Leah was found in and why she ended up outside of Michigan while her parents were away.

Leah, who is in homeschool, was left at home while her parents went on vacation.

The 15-year-old left behind her purse and her car keys when she went missing, but her coat and shoes were gone.

The parents are reportedly flying out to pick up their daughter from the state where she is being held.Twelve new victims of child sex abuse have come forward in Telford after it emerged over 1,000 young girls could have been targeted there since the 1980s.

West Mercia Police confirmed a 'small number of victims' have come forward after wide scale reports of child sexual exploitation in the Shropshire town.

One of them was picked up off the street and passed around so many men, when she fell pregnant at 13, she didn't know who the father was, reports The Mirror.

It comes after the force claimed the scale of child sex crimes there had been 'sensationalised', despite Prime Minister Theresa May insisting on a full inquiry into the scandal.

Conservative MP for the area Lucy Allan has also said she has been 'inundated' with emails from other victims.

Several new victims of child sex abuse have come forward in Telford after it emerged over 1,000 young girls could have been targeted there since the 1980s. File image used

Assistant Chief Constable Martin Evans confirmed 56 people have been arrested in Telford since 2016 in relation to 29 child sex charges.

Victims who came forward this week have reported non-recent crimes, he added.

One of the 12 victims told the Mirror she had a hard home life and was raped by a Pakistani man who was 'charming at first'.

She told the newspaper: 'I tried to fight him off but not long afterwards he passed me to his friends. By 13, I was pregnant and the father could have been any one of 20 men.

'The abuse didn't stop when I gave birth, in fact it got worse.

'Being abused by gangs of men just seemed part of teenage life in Telford.'

He said yesterday: 'Following the recent media coverage in relation to child sexual exploitation (CSE) in Telford, a small number of victims have contacted West Mercia Police.

'We are pleased they have had the confidence to come forward and we are ensuring their reports are thoroughly investigated and the appropriate support is in place for them.

New victim testimonies come after Conservative MP for Telford Lucy Allan (pictured) demanded a comprehensive Government inquiry into child sex abuse in her constituency

'In Telford alone, the dedicated Child Sexual Exploitation Team based in the town, have since 2016, arrested 56 people, resulting in 29 charges, with a number of these investigations still ongoing.

'We invest a significant amount of resource in trying to identify offenders and bring them to justice for the crimes they commit.'

'The CSE reports we have received this week relate to non-recent child sexual exploitation offences and we will be reviewing them alongside any other available information, ensuring those reporting abuse are fully supported.'

New victim testimonies come after Conservative MP for Telford Lucy Allan demanded a comprehensive Government inquiry into child sex abuse in her constituency.

She brought the issue up at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday and said she had been 'inundated' with emails from potential victims saying it had happened to them.

Speaking yesterday, she claimed all political parties were agreed on a public inquiry.

She said: 'All parties are now agreed that an inquiry is necessary and this can now go ahead.

This week West Merica Police's Superintendent Tom Harding (pictured) this week claimed the scale of child sex crimes in Telford has been 'sensationalised'

'While it would be expected that such an inquiry will take the form of a 'Rotherham style' inquiry, as this is a tried and tested model, there may well be alternative models that would work just as well.

'What really matters is that an independent inquiry is going to take place. This is vital for the victims, their families and our community. It will enable us to find out why this happened.'

The Home Office has said its overall inquiry into child sexual abuse will look at Telford, but it is down to local council and police whether a further review on the town itself is necessary.

Ms Allan is pushing Telford and Wrekin Council to commission a separate report, but the local authority wants it approved by the Government first.

One victim, who was conceived when her mother was just 14 and her father 26, this week called for him to be banned from Telford when he gets out of prison.

Azhar Ali Mehmood was jailed for murdering the mother of his child, Lucy Lowe, her mother Eileen and sister Sarah by setting fire to their house in 1997.

One girl, who was conceived when her mother Lucy Lowe (pictured) was just 14 and her father 26, this week called for him to be banned from Telford when he gets out of prison

Azhar Ali Mehmood (pictured) was jailed for murdering the mother of his child, Lucy Lowe, her mother Eileen and sister Sarah by setting fire to their house in 1997

Mubarek Ali, 34, (left) and his brother Ahdel Ali, 27, (right) from Telford were also both jailed after sexually abusing young girls in a child sex abuse ring

Mehmood and Lowe's daughter Tasnim was born the product of illegal underage sex.

But he was never arrested or charged with any sex abuse crimes over his involvement with Lucy.

The killer could be released as early as 2019 but his daughter, who has visited him in jail, wants police to investigate him as part of its child grooming inquiry in Telford.

Speaking for the first time Tasnim, 18, told Good Morning Britain this week: 'She [my mother] didn't have a voice.

'All these girls that have happened currently, they can speak. Lucy never got to speak.

'The least I can do, is to speak for her and to get the point across about the grooming and Telford currently'Advertisement

The U.S. turned green on Saturday as thousands across the country celebrated St Patrick's Day.

Thousands of people gathered around the Chicago River on Saturday to watch it turn bright green in honor of the holiday.

The river was dyed between Columbus Drive and State Street. Around 40 pounds of dye was used in the quarter-mile stretch of the river. It is an annual tradition dating back to the 1960's.

Scroll down for video

Boats move through the water as the Chicago River is dyed green for St. Patrick's Day on Saturday

Pictured here is a boat in the Chicago River, which has been dyed green in honor of St. Patrick's Day

People were pictured celebrating outside of McSorley's Old Ale House in New York City for St. Patrick's Day on Saturday

Can't rain on their parade: Revelers watch the St Patrick's Day parade in New York City on Saturday

President Trump marked the holiday with a tweet showing the White House fountain dyed emerald green, a tradition begun by the Obama administration in 2009

The parade started from Balbo Drive, north on Columbus Drive and ended at Monroe Street.

President Trump marked the holiday with a tweet showing the White House fountain dyed emerald green, a tradition begun by the Obama administration in 2009.

St. Patrick's Day began as a religious holiday to honor the saint who, in the fifth century, introduced Christianity to Ireland.

The fountain on the South Lawn of the White House is dyed green in honor of St. Patrick's Day

People are pictured here during the 257th St. Patrick's Day parade on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue in New York City

The river was dyed at about 9 am between Columbus Drive and State Street. Around 40 pounds of dye was used in the quarter-mile stretch of the river

The parade in Chicago started at noon from Balbo Drive, north on Columbus Drive to Monroe Street and ends about 2 pm

Thousands of people gathered around the Chicago River on Saturday to watch it turn bright green in honor of the holiday

New York City marked the event with its 257th St. Patrick's Day parade along Manhattan's Fifth Avenue which is the largest in the world and was filled with marching bands and a carnival atmosphere for six hours.

Several bagpipe bands led a parade made up of over 100 marching bands after Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, spoke briefly as the festivities began, calling it a 'day of inclusion' and saying: 'We're all immigrants.'

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, joined by Gov. Cuomo and followed by another 150,000 marchers, led the way Saturday in New York for the St. Patricks Day Parade.

The governor introduced a bit of politics to the annual day of Irish pride, noting that Varadkar was an openly gay man at an event where gay and lesbian groups were once banned.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, joined by Gov. Cuomo and followed by another 150,000 marchers, led the way Saturday in New York for the St. Patricks Day Parade

New York City marked the event with its 257th St. Patrick's Day parade along Manhattan's Fifth Avenue which was filled with marching bands and a carnival atmosphere for six hours

People participate on the sidelines of the annual St. Patrick's Day parade along 5th Ave. on March 17, 2018 in New York City. New York's Saint Patrick's Day parade is the largest in the world

New York's Saint Patrick's Day parade is the largest in the world. Dancers take to the streets above

People at the parade in New York is seen above. Several bagpipe bands led a parade made up of over 100 marching bands after Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, spoke briefly as the festivities began, calling it a 'day of inclusion' and saying: 'We're all immigrants.'

Men in uniform: Members of the FDNY celebrate in the Swift Hibernian Lounge in New York City

A bulldog dressed in a green cape and a classic green hat in Times Square, New York City

Kelsey Goran of Kennesaw, Ga., left, kisses a sailor from the USS Alaska as he marches in the 194-year-old Savannah St. Patrick's Day parade despite organizers asking for people to stop smooching

An estimated 150,000 marchers walked the 1.4-mile trek past Central Park, St. Patricks Cathedral and Trump Tower.

In Savannah, roughly 200 soldiers from nearby Fort Stewart took part in the March 17 parade alongside Vice President Mike Pence.

Flanked by his wife, Karen, and his mother, Nancy Pence-Fritsch, he stood on a second-floor balcony of City Hall with Mayor Eddie DeLoach to watch part of the procession of marching bagpipe bands, classic convertibles and floats pulled by pickup trucks.

Savannah's Irish immigrants and their descendants have marched on St. Patrick's Day since 1824. The sprawling celebration is now one of the South's largest street parties after Mardi Gras.

As the parade winds around Savannah's oak-shaded squares, women in the crowd traditionally slather on red lipstick as they wait for the uniformed troops to approach in formation among kilt-wearing pipe bands and floats pulled by shamrock-decorated pickup trucks. Then they dart into the street to plant messy kisses on the soldiers' faces.

However Fort Stewart commanders and organizers of the Savannah parade want the soldier smooching to stop. Parade adjutants posted along the route are being asked to help turn back any would-be kissing bandits.

Two clowns walk in the St. Patrick's Day parade in Kalamazoo, Michigan on Saturday

Vice President Mike Pence, center and his wife Karen Pence, right, are joined by Savannah Mayor Eddie DeLoach, second from the left, and his wife Cynthia DeLoach, left, as they wave from a balcony of City Hall during the St. Patrick's Day parade in Savannah, Georgia

Pence and his mother Nancy Pence Fritsch, right, wave while walking in the St. Patrick's Day parade on Saturday

Irish immigrants to Savannah and their descendants have been celebrating St. Patrick's Day with a parade since 1824

'They need to look like soldiers when they march, they need to look professional,' Fort Stewart spokesman Kevin Larson said Thursday. 'It's hard to look professional as a soldier with red lipstick on your cheeks. Red lipstick is not part of the uniform.'

Kissing the troops, Irish or not, has been a St. Patrick's Day pastime in Savannah for at least 40 years.

Brian Counihan, chairman of the Savannah parade's organizing committee, said he recalled seeing it when he marched in the parade in the 1970s as a teenage cadet from Benedictine Military School.

'It was sporadic, a few of your girlfriends and your moms would run out,' Counihan said. 'In the last six or eight years, it's come to a point where the military's almost halted. It's a fun thing, but it's gotten out of hand.'An Uber driver was shot seven times in the early hours of Saturday morning by a passenger who pulled his gun on him at the end of their trip.

The unnamed 26-year-old driver picked the passenger up in Williamsbridge in New York's the Bronx at 12.45am.

They drove just under 5 miles to Soundview where the passenger got out.

The driver was shot after coming to a stop near this junction in Soundview in the Bronx at 12.45am on Saturday by a passenger who demanded all his cash

He pulled his weapon on the driver and demanded all of his cash. The victim had just $23 on him at the time and gave it to his attacker.

The assailant then fired seven shots and fled. Police are still searching for him.

The driver is in hospital in a serious but stable condition. It is not clear where on his body he was shot.

NYPD detectives returned to the scene on Saturday morning to canvass the area for information about the suspect. His name has not yet been released.She also struck up an unlikely friendship with the First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt

Her grisly tally saw her meet US President Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin

After the war she appeared on postage stamps and a feature film was made

For two days in January 1942, the Russians concealed themselves in a freezing trench, waiting for the Nazi sniper to reveal himself.

Just as dawn was breaking on the third morning, their binoculars revealed a German cautiously picking his way across a ruined railway bridge overlooking the besieged city of Sebastopol.

It was undoubtedly the sniper who, in the previous 48 hours, had slaughtered five members of the Red Army, including a battalion commander, but he quickly disappeared from view.

The only way to establish exactly where he had hidden was to wait for a tell-tale muzzle flash from his rifle.

Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko had married on the battlefield just a few weeks before. Aged 25, she was also a mother with a young child from a previous relationship

It came soon enough, when the German fired at a man-sized mannequin that the Russians own crackshot, Senior Sergeant Pavlichenko, had ordered to be placed as bait in no-mans land. Finally Ive got you, you Nazi b*****d, Pavlichenko thought, and squeezed the trigger.

The bullet hit the luckless German between the eyes and his body plummeted to the ground.

Pavlichenko scrambled down the gorge to where the dead man lay to remove paperwork from his tunic. Back at headquarters, the Russian colonel scrutinised the documents.

He has a tally of 215, the colonel announced. How many do you have?

227, replied his sharpshooter.

So you were well matched?

Pavlichenko nodded. There had indeed been little difference between the two ace snipers.

Except for one thing  Pavlichenko was a woman.

During the war  and indeed after it  her prowess with a rifle became legendary. Pavlichenko is now credited as being the most successful female sniper ever, with an astonishing 309 confirmed kills

Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko had married on the battlefield just a few weeks before. Aged 25, she was also a mother with a young child from a previous relationship.

During the war  and indeed after it  her prowess with a rifle became legendary. Pavlichenko is now credited as being the most successful female sniper ever, with an astonishing 309 confirmed kills.

That grisly achievement saw her not only being taken from the front line to meet all three Allied leaders  Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin  but also to receive her countrys highest award, the Hero of the Soviet Union.

After the war, she would appear on postage stamps, while a feature film was made about her in 2015. Now, finally, her autobiography is being published in English for the first time.

Pavlichenkos life story makes for remarkable reading, especially today, when the British Armed Forces are only now finally accepting that women make redoubtable front line combat troops.

Through her own ability, bravery and single-mindedness, she was able to overcome social, military and cultural barriers, and showed the men that she was far more capable than they were.

An unlikely friendship: Lyudmila, centre, with Eleanor Roosevelt and Justice Robert Jackson

Pavlichenko was born in Ukraine in July 1916. Her father was a member of the NKVD  the Soviet police and security service that was a forerunner to the notorious KGB.

Pavlichenko was raised to have an unflinching loyalty to the communist regime.

The young Lyudmila was bright and a tomboy, and she even led a gang of teenage boys.

However, such halcyon days came abruptly to an end when she fell pregnant aged just 15.

Looking back, I can compare it with the end of the world, she recalled. A voluntary blindness, a loss of reason. Such was my first, schoolgirl, love.

The father of her child was a young man called Alexei Pavlichenko, and although the couple married, the union was not to last.

To support herself and her son, Lyudmila worked in a factory, and spent some spare time attending the Young Communist League, where she first handled a rifle.

The snipe excelled not just at shooting, but also at all the fieldcraft associated with sniping

I found the coldish, chilly metal of the barrel and the receiver pleasant, she later wrote.

After briefly becoming acquainted with the weapon, she took her first four shots at a paper target.

The instructor was impressed by the tight grouping of her immensely accurate shots. For a beginner, that is amazing, he said. Its clear you have ability.

The instructor was right, and for most of the 1930s, and throughout her time as a history student at Kiev National University, Lyudmila honed her skills as a sharpshooter, and even went to an elite sniper school.

There, she excelled not just at shooting, but also at all the fieldcraft associated with sniping.

Despite her valuable talents, when war came it was assumed that, as a woman, she would become a medic.

Even when an officer did agree that her skills should be harnessed in combat, there was a further problem  her unit had a crippling shortage of rifles, and most soldiers were armed only with a single hand grenade.

Her unit was based near Odessa, and her targets were two Romanian officers who were stationed in a nearby house

In fact, Lyudmila would only be properly armed when a severely wounded comrade gave her his weapon.

It would not be until August 8, 1941  seven weeks after Germany and the other Axis powers had invaded the Soviet Union  that Pavlichenko finally made her debut as a sniper.

Her unit was based near Odessa, and her targets were two Romanian officers who were stationed in a nearby house.

Hiding in a destroyed cottage, Pavlichenko found it was impossible to shoot from a lying position, so she had to take the shots on one knee.

With her targets more than 400 yards away, and with her captain squatting next to her, it was the first time she had fired at human beings.

I hit the first target with the third shot and the second one on my fourth attempt, she would later write.

It was a less than perfect debut, and her captain admonished her for using too much ammunition.

Nevertheless, with each subsequent kill she grew in confidence, and in a letter back home she stated her desire to kill 1,000 of the enemy.

As her autobiography makes clear, it was not a wildly unrealistic ambition. In one encounter alone, she killed 16 Romanians with just 17 shots.

The following day she returned to the same spot and killed ten more.

Nevertheless, with each subsequent kill she grew in confidence, and in a letter back home she stated her desire to kill 1,000 of the enemy

If Pavlichenko had any misgivings about killing so many, they were assuaged by what the Germans were doing to her people.

The few inhabitants that remained in the villages destroyed by the Nazis told the same tales of plunder and rape, and it was the latter that fuelled Pavlichenkos lust for vengeance.

I did not think civilised Europe would also bring this barbarous custom to our land, she observed bitterly.

As the months passed, that thirst for vengeance made her dazzlingly effective.

On one occasion, she shinned up a tree to shoot a pair of Romanian machine-gunners at a range of 220 yards.

However, just as she was about to shoot her first target, an officer in the uniform of an adjutant came into view.

Wryly reflecting that he looked most interesting, Pavlichenko killed him instead.

The adjutant did not even cry out as he keeled over, she recalled.

They began to fuss around him  quite pointlessly, as the bullet had hit him between the eyes.

Then, quite calmly, Pavlichenko dispatched the two machine-gunners, and with her fourth shot, destroyed the breech of the machine-gun with an armour-piercing bullet, before clambering down the tree under a hail of mortar and rifle fire.

Sniping does not just require an iron nerve, but also an ability to solve complex mathematical problems  and to do so swiftly.

In December 1941, Pavlichenko was targeting some Germans firing a machine-gun from a half-track travelling at an estimated 15mph.

Sniping does not just require an iron nerve, but also an ability to solve complex mathematical problems  and to do so swiftly

I had a minute to solve the ballistics problem, she later wrote. Knowing her bullet would travel the 220 yards to the target in 0.25 seconds, she established that the vehicle would travel just over four yards in the same amount of time.

Using the concept of milliradians in my calculations, she recollected, I turned the windage drum on the metal tube of the sight several units, then softly pressed the trigger with my index finger.

The machine-gunners never knew what hit them.

As Pavlichenkos tally grew, she was promoted and, as a result, took command of men.

The expression of surprise never left their faces, she recalled of one unit of naval infantrymen under her command.

In December 1941, Pavlichenko was targeting some Germans firing a machine-gun from a half-track travelling at an estimated 15mph

But in among the death and suffering, Lyudmila found love.

It came in the form of an officer called Alexei Kitsenko, and they were soon married and sharing a dug-out on the front line.

The couple spent the first few days of their marriage hunting Germans.

The honeymoon had a positive effect on my shooting, Pavlichenko wrote.

The bullets fired well  only along the set trajectory  and seemed to find the target of their own accord.

But the marriage would not last long. In March 1942 in Sebastopol, Alexei was wounded by a shell.

Although Pavlichenko had been wounded herself at least three times, she knew her husbands injuries were serious.

Despite medical attention, he died in his wifes arms.

The effect on Pavlichenko was profound, and she was diagnosed with what would today be called post-traumatic stress disorder.

She was wounded by shell splinters in June 1942 and would spend a month in hospital. She would never return to the front line.

Instead, she spent the rest of the war as a propaganda tool for the Red Army, even visiting the United States and Britain to drum up support for the Russian campaign against the Nazis.

In America, she met not only President Roosevelt but also his wife Eleanor, with whom she struck up an unlikely friendship.

At one point during a long car journey, she awoke, mortified, to discover she had nodded off on Mrs Roosevelts shoulder. Mrs Roosevelt is pictured left and right in London in 1959

She recalled: To tell the truth, at the start of the US trip I was prejudiced against Eleanor: aristocrat, millionairess, member of the exploiting class, I thought.

'It never occurred to me I could be of interest to this remarkable woman.

At one point during a long car journey, she awoke, mortified, to discover she had nodded off on Mrs Roosevelts shoulder.

Eleanor smiled as if nothing was the matter, Pavlichenko recalled.

The Russian found America not to her liking, with inane questioning about the colour of her underwear, and even a marriage proposal from a plutocrat she had barely met.

Bizarrely, the First Lady encouraged her to take up the offer, telling her: You would be marrying a gentleman of means who is madly in love with you and would guarantee you a happy life to the end of your days.

The Russian found America not to her liking, with inane questioning about the colour of her underwear, and even a marriage proposal from a plutocrat she had barely met

'You would remain here and we would be able to meet.

Pavlichenko demurred but, before she left America, her suitor passed to her, via Mrs Roosevelt, diamond items set in gold, quite luxurious things: a necklace, two bracelets, a brooch and a ring.

'Appended was a docket for $8,000 from a jewellery shop.

She found Britain more congenial, and she was even granted an audience with Winston Churchill, who asked if the British fog was getting her down.

No, the sniper replied.

Fog is good camouflage. There is probably less trouble from enemy aircraft.

After the war, Pavlichenko, who had risen to the rank of major, worked as a research assistant for the Soviet navy.

However, she also battled alcoholism, and would die, aged just 58, in 1974.

She never expressed remorse for those she had killed, although she objected to hunting animals for sport.

Forest creatures seem to be defenceless and unfortunate in the face of humans armed with rapid-fire rifles, she stated.

I did not approve of hunting animals and still dont.President Donald Trump is likely responsible for the nonstop speculation about which top White House aide is next to be fired, his chief of staff has admitted.

John Kelly told reporters in an off-the-record session at the White House on Friday that his boss is talking to informal advisors outside of the administration.

Kelly said that those advisers are then talking to journalists about their conversations with the president.

Kellys remarks were reported by the news site Axios, which cited three sources familiar with the meeting.

President Donald Trump (seen center above with First Lady Melania Trump and Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar) is likely responsible for the nonstop speculation about which top White House aide is next to be fired, his chief of staff has admitted

This was the same meeting in which Kelly said that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was on the toilet when he told him he was about to be fired.

Sources at the off-the-record meeting, say that Kelly told the crowd that Tillerson had been suffering from a stomach bug during a diplomatic trip to Africa and had been using the bathroom when he got the call from Kelly.

Kelly then broke the news that Trump was planned to fire him, the Daily Beast reports.

Days later, Tillerson was fired in a tweet by the president.

John Kelly told reporters in an off-the-record session at the White House on Friday that his boss is talking to informal advisors outside of the administration

Sources say Trump and Tillerson never got on. Tillerson officially leaves the State Department at the end of the month.

Mike Pompeo, the CIA director, will take over for Tillerson. Pompeo will be replaced by Gina Haspel. All new appointments are pending confirmation by the Senate.

The toilet-based anecdote is an unusually candid admission for the chief of staff, who has previously tried to cover for Tillerson and reportedly tried to keep him in his post.

He was reportedly furious when Trump decided to oust Tillerson in a tweet.

Tillerson's chief spokesman Steven Goldstein said the secretary was blindsided and had yet to hear from the president personally.

Trump fired Goldstein, too.

The chief of staff reportedly told the journalists involved in the meeting that he doesnt hear many of Trumps conversations so he doesnt know which specific rumors the president is spreading.

Two top officials rumored to be on the way out - National Security Adviser HR McMaster (left) and HUD Secretary Ben Carson (right) - are safe for now, Kelly told reporters

Kelly told the meeting on Friday that reports of HR McMasters imminent departure were incorrect.

He said the national security advisor will remain in his post, though he didnt say for how long.

Kelly also reportedly left the meetings participants with the impression that Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson is not in danger of losing his job.

Trump is said to be angry with Carson after it was learned earlier this week that he and his wife Candy personally selected a $31,000 furniture set to be used in his work dining room.

Kelly defended Carson on Friday, saying that the furniture in the White House and other government buildings in Washington is expensive.

The chief of staff also praised Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who has been a frequent target of Trumps barbs on Twitter.

Kelly told reporters that outgoing Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (left) was on the toilet when he was informed he would be fired. Kelly also stunned reporters when he talked about Larry Kudlow's past cocaine addiction. Kudlow (right) was named an economic adviser by Trump

Trump is said to be considering replacing Sessions over the attorney generals decision to recuse himself from the ongoing Russia investigation being headed up by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

After Sessions recusal, that investigation is now being headed up by his No. 2 at the Justice Department, Rod Rosenstein.

Kelly said on Friday that both Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray are doing good jobs.

Later that same day, however, Sessions fired Wrays former deputy, Andrew McCabe, just two days before the FBI veterans pension was expected to kick in.

At the meeting, Kelly made another risque joke about incoming chief economic adviser Larry Kudlows former cocaine habit.

The conservative TV analyst Kudlow was named as economic adviser on Wednesday, after Gary Cohn quit over trade disagreements.

Kudlow has been very open about his past battles with drugs and has been sober for more than two decades.

Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin is another cabinet official who is rumored to be exiting the administration soon.

Shulkin is under fire after it was revealed he used taxpayer money for a vacation to Europe for him and his wife.Foreign Minister of Canada Chrystia Freeland has stated Canada would issue $4.6 million to Ukraine for military exercises and provision of special equipment for the Ukrainian army, the website of the Canadian government reports.

Freeland said Canada continues to unreservedly provide its support to the people of Ukraine and would continue to exert pressure, including through economic sanctions, until Russia fulfills its obligations under international law and observes the sovereignty of Ukraine.

It is noted that funding from Canada will be used for equipment for first aid and training military.

Canada will continue to work closely with Crimean Tatar organizations to raise awareness about the situation in Crimea, the report said.

As reported, the governments of Canada and Sweden, within the trust fund of many partners, issued $2 million to restore Donbas.Advertisement

Talk about grabbing a bite to eat With perfect timing and an agility that belies its fearsome power, a Siberian tiger makes a mighty leap to grasp a guinea fowl in mid-air.

In a brief moment of freedom, the bird somehow manages to flutter away from the big cats claws. But its escape is only momentary  for there was only ever likely to be one winner in this deadly encounter.

These incredible images were captured at a Siberian tiger reserve in northern China by Russian wildlife photographer Andrey Gudkov.

He said: These tigers were catching guinea fowl for their lunch. Siberian tigers are incredibly fast and have fantastic reflexes, which makes them exceptional predators. It was amazing to watch them plucking the birds out of the air.

Talk about grabbing a bite to eat With perfect timing and an agility that belies its fearsome power, a Siberian tiger makes a mighty leap to grasp a guinea fowl in mid-air

In a brief moment of freedom, the bird somehow manages to flutter away from the big cats impressive claws

But the terrified bird's escape is only momentary  for there was only ever likely to be one winner in this deadly encounter

These incredible images were captured at a Siberian tiger reserve in northern China by Russian wildlife photographer Andrey Gudkov

He said: These tigers were catching guinea fowl for their lunch. Siberian tigers are incredibly fast and have fantastic reflexes, which makes them exceptional predators'Russia is set to be the leading recipient of a vast new foreign aid department being launched by China  a country to which Britain gives tens of millions of pounds of taxpayers cash.

The creation of the department was approved in a vote yesterday by the National Peoples Congress.

The communist superstate has already doled out a staggering 215 billion over the past five years in aid and loans.

About 26 billion of that has gone to Russia in loans, grants and other agreements to secure oil supplies to China.

Under President Xi Jinpings Belt and Road programme of vast infrastructure projects, China will hand out a further 700 billion in the next decade, making the country the worlds biggest aid donor.

Under President Xi Jinpings Belt and Road programme of vast infrastructure projects, China will hand out a further 700 billion in the next decade, making the country the worlds biggest aid donor

Extraordinarily, despite sending so much money out of the country, China still takes in 45 million a year from the UK in aid.

Critics of the UKs aid programme and the Governments pledge to spend 0.7 per cent of GDP  more than 12 billion  on foreign aid are now questioning why the money should go to a state that already has its own vast project.

Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said: Many people will ask why on earth were sending any money to China at all, especially when theyve set up their own ministry which will no doubt be spending money to secure their own strategic foreign policy objectives.

Among the projects the Government has funded in China is a study to help migrant workers in factories in Guangzhou quit smoking.

A 133,584 grant for the project was handed over by the publicly funded Medical Research Council in 2015-16 to scientists at Sun Yat-Sen University for a study into smoking habits. It included 400 workers being given intensive tobacco-related education.

Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said: Many people will ask why on earth were sending any money to China at all

China gave Russia 26 billion in aid between 2000 and 2014, according to US-based research group AidData. The biggest chunk of that sum, given in loans, grants, and other agreements, was an 18 billion loan to Russian oil company Rosneft and pipeline builder Transneft, followed by a 4 billion loan-for-coal programme.

Russia has extensive oil and coal reserves that fuel the Chinese economy.

The rest of the money to Russia during that period was sent between banks in the two countries.

The aid to Russia was almost exclusively in the form of loans at near-market rates.

China also gave 195 million to North Korea during the same period, according to a 2017 AidData report called Aid: China and Growth.

China is intensely secretive about where it sends its foreign aid. It takes two forms: development assistance, in the form of grants to mostly poorer countries, and commercial loans in much bigger amounts to countries such as Russia and Pakistan.

According to the 2016-17 annual report of the UKs Department for International Development, 59 per cent of the money invested in China by Britain came from the Foreign Office, and 41 per cent from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: The UK ended its traditional bilateral aid programmes with China in March 2011.

Instead, UK relationships now focus on trade and investment, providing expertise to support economic growth and development, and working on global issues in a mutually beneficial way.

A Business Department spokesperson said: The UK ended financial aid to the Chinese government in 2011.

'BEIS provides grants and other investments to trusted, independent delivery partners who fund programmes and research to tackle global development challenges.Harry was employed as a forward air controller and his task was to study what the troops knew as Taliban TV

The bleak villages and arid landscape of war-torn Helmand province might seem like a strange kind of normal, but for Prince Harry, the desert skies offered the greatest freedom he has ever known.

Deployed to southern Afghanistan with the Household Cavalry in late 2007, he found for the first time in his life that he could be almost completely anonymous, unrecognised in a world still without television.

The Prince could sit down to drink chai with village elders in the certain knowledge that they had no idea at all who he might be.

Its very nice to be out of touch from everything. That is probably the nicest bit about this place, he said at the time.

OK, youre walking around in two inches of sand, but youre miles away from everybody, miles away from everything. Its very nice to be a normal person for once.

Yet his presence in Afghanistan brought terrible risks.

Home for Harry was an isolated forward operating base in the perilous Garmsir area, close to the Pakistani border which was, according to his commanding officer Major Mark Millford, about as dangerous as it can get  as the Prince would soon discover for himself.

Harry was employed as a forward air controller and his task was to study what the troops knew as Taliban TV.

This was a live video feed from high-resolution cameras mounted on aircraft and unmanned drones.

Studying the images beamed to his laptop, Harry would hunt for troop movements or even signs of body heat that could betray the position of the Taliban.

The task was a delicate one, and Harry spent endless hours consulting detailed pattern of life studies to identify places such as schools, mosques and marketplaces with innocent civilian traffic to ensure they were not targeted.

Studying the images beamed to his laptop, Harry would hunt for troop movements or even signs of body heat that could betray the position of the Taliban

His first taste of action came as New Years Eve approached. Harry had stayed at his post in the operations room  a prefabricated hut lined with detailed maps  until well after midnight to make sure that his co-ordinates were accurate and that his intended targets were legitimate military objectives.

When a camera on a Desert Hawk drone picked out the shape of Taliban fighters moving between bunkers, he was watching.

Just before 10am, an enemy force attacked a group of Gurkhas at a small British observation post.

The first response came from three Royal Artillery guns at another British base seven miles away.

When a camera on a Desert Hawk drone picked out the shape of Taliban fighters moving between bunkers, he was watching

Prince Harry (fifth right) standing with other soldiers in his battle group as they pose for a photograph in the desert in Helmand province in Southern Afghanistan

This helped force the Taliban back. From his operations room, Harry plotted their retreat and scrambled two American F-15 fighters, ordering them to a holding position six miles away.

There, downwind and out of sight and earshot, the planes were a hidden death sentence for the Taliban fighters who by now had fled to a base codenamed Purple.

A period of deceptive calm followed, and a group of some 15 Taliban cautiously emerged in the false belief they were safe and undetected.

But the F-15s were waiting. And that was when Harry knew his moment had come.

Double-checking the co-ordinates, he called in the jets. The pilots signalled that they were in position with the words In Hot.

'After further checks, Harry delivered the command to attack, with the words Cleared Hot.

The jets screamed towards their target and dropped a single 500 lb bomb with devastating consequences.

The Taliban bunker  one Harry had been watching for days  simply disappeared amid the debris and dust of a ground-shuddering explosion.

The Princes first mission had been a success. For Harry, however, the risks would only increase. Shortly afterwards he was moved to an even more isolated position at Forward Operating Base Edinburgh, close to the Taliban stronghold of Musa Qala

Just weeks before, fundamentalist forces had been driven out of the town following a fierce three-day battle

Then there was a pause. To be sure, Harry called the jets back just minutes later with a second bomb. He could see no sign of life on Taliban TV.

The Princes first mission had been a success.

For Harry, however, the risks would only increase. Shortly afterwards he was moved to an even more isolated position at Forward Operating Base Edinburgh, close to the Taliban stronghold of Musa Qala.

Just weeks before, fundamentalist forces had been driven out of the town following a fierce three-day battle.

The mission for Harrys C Squadron was to carry out reconnaissance on Taliban villages in Scimitar armoured cars and Spartan armoured personnel carriers.

Prince Harry, as he sits atop a military vehicle in the Helmand province, Southern Afghanistan in 2008

Out on reconnaissance, Harry and his comrades were frequently shot at in their Spartan

They were also responsible for making routes safe for British and Nato troops in an area heavily mined with crude but devastatingly effective improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

These were a clear and ever-present danger. This time, his contact with the enemy was rather more direct.

Out on reconnaissance, Harry and his comrades were frequently shot at in their Spartan.

Indeed, on just the second day of his posting with C Squadron, they found they were sitting ducks.

We were approaching a tiny bridge over a dry wadi [water channel] and we immediately slowed down, recalled Captain Dickon Leigh-Wood, who had known Harry since their days at Ludgrove prep school and who had trained with him at Combermere Barracks, near Windsor.

Whenever you approach something like a bridge, youre on high alert because youre expecting an ambush or an explosion.

Revved up: Harry riding an abandoned motorbike in Helman

The guys in the back of the Spartans dismounted with their metal detectors and went forward and cleared the route.

On that occasion we were lucky: the kit worked and no one got hurt.

We were shot at pretty much every day and we got in a proper scrap once a week, but he dealt with it all and I think thats what made him such a good officer.

Photographer John Stillwell, who was in Harrys tank for the Press Association, recalls an even more terrifying moment when he, the Prince and his unit found themselves blocked by a crude landmine.

We were in a riverbed waiting for help. There were houses on either side of us and I must admit, I was quite nervous  it was pretty dangerous, said Stillwell.

A sniper could easily have taken him out, but Harry didnt seem to be worried at all.

He was just sitting up in the turret looking, watching, scanning both sides.

Leigh-Wood continued: He often went into the villages with the interpreter to chat to locals, just to find out what was going on, drink some chai, and experience their life

As a forward air controller, it was Harry who called in a helicopter with a specialist Gurkha bomb disposal team on board.

The Prince later recalled the episode: It proves the system does work, and the guys on the ground are pretty hot s***.

The disposal team blew up the IED and the tanks were able to advance to safety.

It was group bravery rather than individual bravery, but I never saw Harry look frightened and the IED was about ten yards away from him, recalled Leigh-Wood.

We were all expecting the worst. Hes a ballsy character. He never backed out of doing anything.

I never once heard him complain, recalled Capt Leigh-Wood. Far from it, it seemed that the Prince was actually revelling in his freedom

Just a few days later came Harrys closest brush with death.

Leigh-Wood was blunt: We almost drove over an IED  it was a much closer shave than the first time.

One of the vehicles in the column suddenly noticed something flick underneath the tank in front and everyone was ordered to stop.

'You automatically think, This is gonna go off. This is it.

The previous vehicles, including Harrys, had missed the pressure plate of an IED by about six inches. If any of us had gone over it, it would have been game over.

Life in this unforgiving landscape was harsh. Harry and his colleagues slept in trenches known as shell scrapes that they had dug out and then surrounded with sandbags.

Each trench slept up to four people, huddled together in their sleeping bags for warmth, with no more than a tarpaulin pulled over the top for protection.

The temperature often dropped to -26C at night. It was bone-achingly cold, but Harry just got on with it.

I never once heard him complain, recalled Capt Leigh-Wood. Far from it, it seemed that the Prince was actually revelling in his freedom.

Leigh-Wood continued: He often went into the villages with the interpreter to chat to locals, just to find out what was going on, drink some chai, and experience their life.

Prince Harry does a pre-flight check of his Apache Helicopter after starting his 12 hour VHR (very high ready-ness)

He was never recognised and I think he really cherished that. These people had no TV.

'I dont think theyd have recognised the Queen if shed have been there. He was also brilliant at keeping everyones spirits up.

'We had a lot of Fijians in our troop.

'They love playing touch rugby and Harrys obsessed with it, so he would often instigate a game right there in the middle of the desert with a ball he kept in the tank.

Prince Harry relaxes with after scoring a goal during computer football game with his fellow Apache Helicopter Pilot Capt Simon Beattie (left), during their 12 hour VHR (very high ready-ness) shift at the British controlled flight-line in Camp Bastion southern Afghanistan

There was one episode in particular that stays with Capt Leigh-Wood: Harry, a keen motorcyclist, had been shocked when an American soldier with a Special Forces unit opened fire without warning and hit a man on a motorbike in the leg.

The victim, a shepherd, was taken away for interrogation, even though he appeared to be an innocent civilian.

Harry came up to me and suggested, We should go and get that motorbike,  Leigh-Wood said.

I asked him why and he said, We need to give it back to that guy when he recovers and make sure someone else doesnt steal it.

Harry managed to clean it up and kick-start it. We gave it to the village elder and said it belonged to the wounded shepherd. They were very grateful.

It summed up Harry.

A brief encounter on Valentine's Day When Harry left for Afghanistan, he had only just patched things up with his then girlfriend Chelsy Davy after a row, but they were determined to make the relationship work. Harry carried a picture of Chelsy with him and told his fellow soldiers about his girlfriend. On Valentines Day he received a pair of knickers, which caused his fellow officers to tease him mercilessly. Harry thought the purple-and-yellow briefs were a joke present from Chelsy, and he tied them to the grill of his Spartan for a laugh. In fact, the underwear belonged to a stripper and was a parting gift from fellow soldier Captain Dickon Leigh-Wood, who was heading home for a short respite from the front line. He said: I drove to the base to be picked up by helicopter and as I was waiting I got my mail, which was a Valentines card with a pair of knickers inside that a friend of mine bought for an extortionate amount of money from a stripper in London. 'As I was coming home, I redirected the mail to Harry with a made-up name.' Advertisement

Tara PT's rooftop clinch with a 'loveable rotter'

The late Tara Palmer-Tomkinson had long been friends with William and Harry and was well used to their high jinks.

Speaking to me before her death from a perforated ulcer in

February 2017, the socialite recalled an episode from the years before Harry met and fell in love with American actress Meghan Markle.

I dont think he wanted to be tied down at all at that stage  he still had his wild oats to sow, she said.

His friend Melissa Percy lives next door to me, and one night Harry was over and they were having a party.

Our roof terraces link and suddenly I heard a crash. Harry jumped over the flowerpots and was on my terrace knocking on my patio door. I was a little surprised to see him, but I let him in.

The next thing I knew he was kissing me, a proper French kiss! He traced a star on my forehead with his finger and said Close your eyes, beautiful girl, tickle, tickle, kiss, kiss, and the next thing he was gone.

I was rather taken aback to say the least, but that was typical of Harry  he is a lovable rotter.

That kiss was rather nice and he was so sweet about the whole thing  and I have to say rather sexy.Cambridge Analytica CEO Alexander Nix is pictured. The company was banned from Facebook on Friday over its handling of user data

Facebook has suspended Cambridge Analytica, the shadowy firm which worked with the Trump campaign and has been linked to Brexit, claiming it violated its policies by using the information of 270,000 users to inform their tactics.

In 2015, the social network discovered that Cambridge professor Dr. Aleksandr Kogan had given the information to the company after obtaining it legitimately through an app of his own.

The app was called This Is Your Digital Life and was downloaded by Facebook users once they had already logged in.

They willingly submitted their information to This Is Your Digital Life but were unaware what Kogan would do with it next, the site claims.

When Facebook learned that he had shared it with the Cambridge Analytica, they asked both to destroy it.

All assured that they had erased it and they continued using the site.

However several days ago, Facebook claims it received reports that not all of the information was erased.

'We are moving aggressively to determine the accuracy of these claims. If true, this is another unacceptable violation of trust and the commitments they made.

'We are suspending SCL/Cambridge Analytica, Wylie and Kogan from Facebook, pending further information,' Facebook VP and Deputy General Counsel, Paul Grewal, said in a statement.

Cambridge Analytica denies the allegation and insisted on Friday that none of the information it received from Kogan was used in the Trump campaign.

In 2014, the company hired Cambridge professor Dr. Aleksandr Kogan. He obtained information legally from 270,000 Facebook users but then shared it with Cambridge Analytica which was against the rules

'Cambridge Analytica deleted all data received from GSR,' the company said in a statement. GSR stands for Global Science Research, Kogan's company.

'We worked with Facebook over this period to ensure that they were satisfied that we had not knowingly breached any of Facebooks terms of service and also provided a signed statement to confirm that all Facebook data and their derivatives had been deleted.

'No data from GSR was used by Cambridge Analytica as part of the services it provided to the Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign,' its spokesman added.

Cambridge Analytica was has strong ties to Steve Bannon, Trump's alt-right former campaign chairman.

He was hired at the behest of Robert and Rebekah Mercer, the father-daughter Republican duo who were among Trump and Bannon's most deep pocketed and reliable donors during the campaign.

Rebekah Mercer is the co-owner of Cambridge Analytica.

Cambridge Analytica worked closely with the Trump campaign and has been credited by Brad Parscale, Trump's 'Facebook guru' with solidifying their victory.

Parscale, who handled social media for the last campaign, has already been named as the president's 2020 campaign manager.

Trump's campaign hired Cambridge Analytica. The company insists that none of the information it got from Kogan was used for the president's 2016 campaign and that it deleted i tall but Facebook claims otherwise

Nix has also been accused of offering one of the Brexit Leave campaigns illegal endorsements from America. He denies the accusation, that was made by Leave.eu co-founder Arron Banks, last month

The Conservative mega-donor father-daughter duo Robert and Rebekah Mercer created Cambridge Analytica and also touted Steve Bannon for Trump's campaign

Last month, Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller requested Cambridge Analytica turn over documents for his probe into potential Russian interference in the election.

The data firm has also been tied to Leave.eu, one of the the Brexit campaigns but not the designated Vote Leave campaign.

That campaign's chairman, Arron Banks, claimed Nix offered him illegal investment from American donors when they discussed if he would do business with them.

According to banks, Nix said he wanted an initial 1m to start work and 'then said they would raise 6m in the states'.

Raising money from foreign supporters is illegal under UK electoral law.

Nix insisted last month during a grilling from MPs that he made no such offer to the Leave.eu campaign and that their involvement never went beyond 'a few dinners'.

'We didnt get hitched. We dated each other. We had a couple of dinners but we didnt get married,' he said.

He is named in Mr. Banks' book, The Bad Boys of Brexit.His execution came despite DNA tests proving that the 67-year-old was innocent

He supposedly murdered seven women and raped another in Columbus, Georgia

Carlton Gary, 67, known as the 'Stocking strangler' was executed on Thursday

At about 10pm last Thursday, Carlton Gary, the prisoner condemned as the Stocking Strangler, a man who supposedly murdered seven women and raped another in Columbus, Georgia, was hustled into a white breeze block building at the state prison in Jackson  the death house.

Tim Chitwood, a reporter designated as the lead media witness, was allowed to watch.

Six officers bundled him in, mobbing him like a rugby scrum, he said. They pushed him on to the gurney and tied him down with straps around his ankles, knees, waist and chest.

They strapped his arms to boards sticking out diagonally. A nurse found a vein inside his right elbow, and another on his left hand.

Gary, who had been on death row since his trial in 1986, had known since February 23 that his execution was imminent

'The prison warden asked if he had anything to say, but Carlton said nothing. His eyes were shut. Finally the warden read the death warrant.

Gary, who had been on death row since his trial in 1986, had known since February 23 that his execution was imminent.

Despite a final appeal being rejected last year, Garys lawyers  Michael McIntyre and Jack Martin  fought on, filing motions for a stay of execution in state and federal courts.

At 9.30pm last Thursday their hopes died. A US Supreme Court clerk called McIntyre to say their motion had been denied  despite DNA tests showing Gary, 67, could not have been the man who raped and strangled the victims.

I phoned Carlton, McIntyre said. I had to tell him we had lost, that they were about to kill him.

Despite a final appeal being rejected last year, Garys lawyers  Michael McIntyre and Jack Martin  fought on, filing motions for a stay of execution in state and federal courts

'He handled it with courage and dignity. We spoke for four minutes, then they took him away.

As the final scenes of this drama played out and the hours ticked down, my horror was growing.

I have worked on Garys case since 1998, writing a book and numerous articles on it for this newspaper, and I have been his lawyers investigator since 2000.

There is no doubt in my mind that Gary was innocent.

In 2014, I testified at one of a series of hearings in Judge Frank Jordans court that made up Garys extraordinary motion for a new trial  a last-ditch resort for prisoners with fresh evidence.

To shrieks of outrage from the prosecution, who claimed I was not qualified, I stated on oath that I had borrowed a gauge from a shoe store during the courts lunch break to measure Garys feet  and had found them to be unusually large, a size 14.

This was crucial, for the killer had climbed on to a dusty air-conditioning unit while breaking into a victims home, and left clear shoeprints behind  revealing his feet were a size 9.

Police distributed photocopies to every officer working on the case  yet the existence of these was hidden from Garys 1986 trial.

That was by no means all.

My interest in the case began in 1997, when I received a letter from Wendy Murphy, a dental hygienist from Norfolk.

Six officers bundled him in, mobbing him like a rugby scrum, he said. They pushed him on to the gurney and tied him down with straps around his ankles, knees, waist and chest

Having started as Garys pen friend, she had visited him numerous times.

She sent me some legal documents and I quickly came to the conclusion that the case stank. I arranged to meet Gary the following year.

Superficially, the evidence against him seemed strong.

The stocking stranglings, perpetrated over an eight-month reign of terror between 1977 and 1978 against elderly women who lived alone, triggered a massive investigation.

Gary had a record for robbery, and according to police, became a suspect because he had sold a gun stolen in a 1977 burglary in the same neighbourhood as the stranglings.

(In fact, it turned out that there was no obvious link between this theft and the stranglings at all.)

Arrested for the murders, he supposedly confessed.

His fingerprints were found at three of the victims homes.

The first victim, Gertrude Miller, who was raped and throttled but survived, testified in the trials most dramatic moment that she was sure it was Gary who attacked her.

On closer scrutiny, the evidence did not stack up.

Ms Miller, I discovered, had initially told officers that it had been so dark she could not say whether her attacker was black or white, much less identify him.

Gary had always disputed his unsigned confession  which was neither recorded nor noted contemporaneously, but written down from memory by detectives.

The 'Stocking Strangler's' victims: From left, Ferne Jackson, Jean Deminstein and Florence Scheible

The 'Stocking Strangler's' victims: From left, Martha Thurmond, Kathleen Woodruff and Janet Cofer

As for the prints at the crime scenes, the former head of the Columbus fingerprint unit told me that in the 1970s police always took photos of dusted prints before lifting them on to cards with sticky tape to prove that they were genuine.

There were no photos of Carltons prints in situ.

Meanwhile, running through Columbus, a prosperous city of 200,000 south of Atlanta, was a dark history of racism and lynchings, some perpetrated by the Ku Klux Klan.

The city had sent more black men to death row than anywhere else in Georgia, and when Gary went on trial, his defence was refused any public funding.

As I started to investigate, there were some extraordinary moments.

In 2002, in the most bizarre episode of my career, I visited Gary on death row and smuggled out in an envelope a tissue on which he had deposited his semen.

A second envelope contained hairs he had plucked from his head in front of me.

The reason? Garys lawyers had just discovered documents, also hidden from his trial, detailing that lab tests on the killers semen using 1970s technology showed he was a non-secretor  a genetic condition which meant he didnt secrete his blood group marker chemical into other bodily fluids.

Yet his saliva had been tested on his arrest in 1984, indicating that he was, like 80 per cent of the population but unlike the real killer, a secretor.

At that time, Gary was fighting a federal court appeal.

The prosecution was claiming that even if he did secrete the chemical into his saliva, that didnt mean he did in his semen  and so was not excluded.

To our intense frustration, the court refused to order a test that would settle this.

Hence my unorthodox solution. I had a lab DNA match the smuggled semen with the hair roots, to prove it came from Carlton, and then find out whether he secreted his blood group marker in his semen.

The test proved he did, at a very high level, which meant he could not possibly have been the source of the semen from the murders.

Then there was a tooth cast  also long hidden from his trial  made from a bite wound found on one of the victims. It did not match Carltons teeth.

But most convincing of all was a DNA test on semen found on Ms Millers nightdress.

Lead prosecutor William Smith told the jury it was certain that the man who had raped her had also raped and murdered the other victims; Carltons face was burned into her memory and the man had attacked his victims in an identical manner.

As to the justice, I will go to my own grave convinced that, last Thursday, evil triumphed

In fact, the test proved she was raped by someone else entirely.

The defence had been trying to get hold of crime-scene semen samples since 1994, when DNA testing was beginning to be used.

But the prosecution claimed they had been destroyed because they were seen as a biohazard.

This was untrue. In fact, as Martin and I discovered in 2009, they were sitting in a box at Columbus police headquarters.

A further DNA test, on semen on slides swabbed from the body of victim Martha Thurmond, should have ended the case.

But astonishingly, it emerged in the 2014 hearings that just as the slides were about to be tested at the Georgia state crime lab, an unknown person had rendered them useless by smearing his own semen all over lab equipment, swamping the DNA from the killer.

The five crucial pieces of evidence - and our man's testimony - that judges ignored Appeal: The Mail on Sunday's David Rose giving evidence at the 2014 hearing Various appeal courts refused to examine evidence of Carlton Garys innocence, which included: The DNA test: The first victim, Gertrude Miller, identified Gary as her attacker in the most dramatic point of his trial. But DNA testing on semen on her nightdress and sheets proves she was raped by someone else. The crime lab sabotage: A semen sample from another victim, locked away for years, was rendered useless after someone at the Georgia state crime lab smeared their own semen over the precious slide. The bite mould: Also hidden for years was a mould of the killers teeth, made from a bite wound on another victim. It did not match Garys teeth. The shoe print: The killer left shoeprints on an air-conditioning unit at one of the crime scenes. They were size 9, but Gary has size 14 feet  as MoS reporter David Rose testified at a 2014 appeal hearing. The hidden lab papers: Documents unearthed 14 years after the 1986 trial show that the killer was a non-secretor  a condition that means a person does not secrete his blood group marker into other bodily fluids. Gary is a secretor  as David Rose proved when he smuggled a sample of Garys semen out of prison after visiting him on death row. Advertisement

The prosecutors claimed this was an error. To me, it looked like sabotage.

It took years for the legal wheels to turn in Judge Jordans court.

All that time, I was hopeful. But last September, he ruled that none of the new evidence made it probable that the jury would have reached a different verdict if they had known about it.

Thus, Gary must die.

First the state appeals court, then the federal courts refused to reverse his decision. Successive judges showed themselves unwilling to look at the case with open minds  despite the Miller DNA test.

Slowly, my disbelief turned to fearful outrage. Powerful people were determined to kill Carlton Gary, and no obstacle seemed strong enough to stand in their way.

Mail on Sunday journalist David Rose who was allowed to bring a shoe mould into the court that he purchased from Peachtree Mall on Monday. That mould was used to demonstrate Gary's actual shoe size before the court

I felt thankful that whatever the faults of the British system, we do not have the death penalty, with its cruel, pseudo-medical rituals.

Shortly before he died, Gary was able to phone his wife, Debra. She arranged to have a local journalist present, who recorded his final words.

The truth. I want people to know you got me wrong, he said, repeating the claim his confession was fabricated and he absolutely did not commit the crimes.

As for Miller identifying him in court: They did that poor woman wrong... they made that woman lie.

Hours later, he lay trussed on the gurney as the executioner prepared to pump a fatal dose of pentobarbital into his veins. The process began at about 10.17pm.

Reporter Tim Chitwood said: After a few minutes, his chest rose and fell and his lips fluttered. His mouth opened as if he was yawning.

'I thought that was his last breath, but another ten minutes went by. There was total silence.

'Finally two doctors came in, removed the chest straps and listened with stethoscopes.

'One of them shone a flashlight into his eye. The warden pronounced him dead at 10.33pm.

Many officials prospered thanks to solving the Stocking Strangler case, including Ricky Boren, who as a young detective, arrested and interrogated Gary.

Now the chief of the Columbus Police Department, he watched the execution, and afterwards, addressed the TV cameras, speaking with satisfaction.

The only thing I wanted to see was lethal justice, he said in his Deep South drawl, and thats what I saw tonight.

He was right about the lethality. As to the justice, I will go to my own grave convinced that, last Thursday, evil triumphed.Advertisement

Plunging temperatures left much of Britain colder than the Arctic yesterday  and the freezing weather is set to last at least into Monday.

Vast swathes of the country were blasted by snow, ice and fierce winds as a cold snap dubbed the mini Beast from the East brought travel chaos.

In a brutal delay of the start of spring, blizzards whipped up by gusts of up to 70mph hit London, Yorkshire, the South of England and the Midlands yesterday with the South West and Wales expected to be worst affected today.

Forecasters said temperatures could fall to as low as -9C on high land, with many places colder than the -3C forecast for Tromso in Norway, inside the Arctic Circle. The Met Office issued amber and yellow weather warnings for yesterday and today spanning most of the country, and warned that higher ground in the South West could see as much as 10in of snow today.

Young Alex Kingston, 12, didn't let huge snowfall in County Durham stop him from spending his Saturday outside playing

Oliver the dog was snapped with his black fur glazed in snow in Clacton-on-Sea in Essex

Someone in Flintshire, Wales, seemed delighted that the snow had returned and wrote 'its back!' in the snow on a car windshield

Wrapped up! Scarfs were essential in today's weather as football fans in the West Midlands made their way to watch their teams play (left, a Wolverhampton fan). Commuters in London were forced to cover up as they made their way around the city in the snow (right)

A model village under a blanket of snow near Nenthead, Cumbria today as the return of the Beast from the East brings heavy snow to Northern England where roads were covered in drifting snow and blizzard conditions brought white out conditions

More than 70 flights to and from Heathrow were cancelled yesterday, while Luton, London City and Leeds Bradford airports also suffered delays. British Airways was telling customers to expect more cancellations today and passengers were urged to check official websites.Drivers were advised to avoid the roads if at all possible.

The Met Office said it was exceptionally cold for the time of year.

A spokesman said: Roads are going to become difficult and public transport is likely to be affected in places. It could be quite bad in a lot of places, with some rural areas being cut off.

Factors like the strong winds we saw a couple of weeks ago and massive drifts could be the issue rather than the amount of lying snow.

Snowfall is expected to remain 'light' until later in the afternoon. Pictured: A spring flurry in Kent (left) and snowflakes landing on a daffodil in Epping (right)

Sheep in a Leeds had a layer of snow on their fleece as they wandered around a frosty field earlier todayElizabeth Hurley has revealed her nephew 'remains in great pain' with a 'shocking wound' after he was chased down by a gang and stabbed.

Miles Hurley, 21, was taken to his aunt's home in Herefordshire after being released from hospital following the vicious road rage attack in Wandsworth, South West London.

Ms Hurley updated fans on her model nephew's condition this evening, writing: 'Thank you to all who sent such kind messages following the news that my nephew was viciously stabbed last week.'

Elizabeth Hurley said her nephew Miles (pictured together) was set upon by four 'animals'

'His wound is shocking, he remains in great pain and he can hardly move, but he is slowly recovering.'

Mr Hurley and a friend were both knifed last Thursday after they had overtaken a car minutes earlier, according to a source close to the police investigation.

She added: 'My sister is an amazing mother and is looking after him and his friend- who was also stabbed. I have just reached India but am receiving updates throughout the day.

'We need to make our streets safer and I want to be part of the movement to achieve that. I hope you will join me.'

Liz Hurley took to Instagram where she updated well-wishers on her nephew's condition

Mr Hurley (pictured with his aunt) has now been released from hospital following the attack

Mr Hurley and his friend fled and hid behind a van at the scene (pictured) while waiting for the emergency services to arrive in Wandsworth, South West London

Miss Hurley said her nephew, who was treated at St George's Hospital in Tooting, lost more than four pints of blood, and a blade very nearly severed his spine.

A gang of at least four men chased Mr Hurley, a model for Dolce & Gabbana, and his friend in their car until they pulled over.

When the pair got out of their vehicle, they were set upon by the men, who repeatedly stabbed them.

Over the weekend Miss Hurley, 52, spoke about the 'brutal attack' and said it had been an 'appalling time' for their family. Mr Hurley is now recovering at her home, reported The Sun.

Mr Hurley and his friend fled and hid behind a van while waiting for the emergency services to arrive after the horrific incident on Thursday at 9pm.

Miss Hurley is said to be close to Miles, the son of her sister Kate Curran, 54. The actress rushed back from a promotional tour in the US to be by his bedside.

Mr Hurley's mother is Miss Hurley's older sister, Kate Curran, 54, and the aunt is close to him

Miss Hurley was pictured on Friday morning at about 9am arriving at London Heathrow Airport

Last night she wrote on Twitter: 'My 21-year-old nephew was repeatedly stabbed in a brutal attack in London. The police and hospital are being fantastic. Thank you for all your messages. It is an appalling time for him and our family.'

She added: 'He 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.'

The actress also 'liked' a tweet calling on London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Home Secretary Amber Rudd to do more to tackle knife crime.

In the past two months there have been 16 fatal knife attacks in London, many of them believed to be connected to gangs.

Eighty people were stabbed to death in the capital last year and knife crime is up 23 per cent since 2012.

Mr Hurley (right) is pictured with his cousin Damian, the son of Miss Hurley

Miss Hurley appealed on Twitter for help in catching the thug who stabbed her nephew

It has been rising as the use of stop-and-search has been declining. More than 80,000 people were stopped and searched in London ten years ago, but that figure fell to fewer than 20,000 in 2016-17.

A source close to the investigation said: 'We believe the two groups of men did not know each other before this incident. It was a road rage incident, and nothing to do with drugs or gangs.'

The victims have given police information about their attackers, but have so far not given formal statements.

Another source said: 'Miles's family feared the worst. Fortunately, it seems the knife missed his vital organs.'

A 70-year-old resident, who did not want to be named, said: 'We saw one man being taken away on a stretcher into an ambulance.

'I saw another man, who had his shirt off, and a white bandage around his waist. Then I saw them putting a gas mask on him and he was taken into an ambulance as well.'

Mr Hurley at the Dolce & Gabbana Unexpected Show at Milan Men's Fashion Week in January

Mr Hurley began modelling at the age of 13 when a scout spotted him working on a stall in London's Camden Market and signed him to Next Model Management.

The model took Miss Hurley's surname after launching his career. On the day of the attack he had paid tribute to her in a post celebrating International Women's Day, writing: 'Love and appreciation for all the strong, happy and independent women around me.'

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: 'Officers attended with the London Ambulance Service. A 21-year-old man was discovered with stab wounds to his back.

'Another man, also believed to be aged 21, was also found suffering from stab wounds.

'They are believed to have been attacked by a group of males who got out of a vehicle and assaulted them before fleeing the scene.

'A crime scene was put in place. There have been no arrests.'Family and friends have turned out to mourn the loss of a murdered nursing student at her wake.

Haley Anderson, 22, was remembered by her loved ones at Donohue Cecere Funeral home in Westbury, Long Island on Saturday. Her funeral will be held there on Sunday.

Anderson a student at Binghamton University in New York, was found dead in jilted former lover and classmate Orlando Tercero's bed on March 9.

After her death he fled the country to Nicaragua where he has dual citizenship, and was arrested by Nicaraguan authorities Tuesday.

However, a police report filed on September 16, six months before her death, reveals Anderson was suspicious of Tercero's violent nature.

According to the report obtained by WBNG, Anderson believed Tercero, 22, was behind the slashing of all four of her car tires after the two got into a spat the day prior at a party at his home.

Haley Anderson's (pictured) death was ruled a homicide after her body was found at Orlando Tercero's off-campus apartment near Binghamton University

Mourners turn out to attend the wake of murdered nursing student Haley Anderson

The wake was held at Donohue Cecere Funeral home in Westbury, Long Island. Her funeral will be held there on Sunday

Family is asking for donations to be made to Binghamton Universitys Decker School of Nursing in her memory

Anderson was student at Binghamton University in New York and was found dead in jilted former lover and classmate Orlando Tercero's bed on March 9. Pictured: Mourners at her wake

After her death, he fled the country to Nicaragua where he has dual citizenship, and was arrested by Nicaraguan authorities Tuesday. Pictured: Friends and family at Donohue Cecere Funeral home

A man carries a pink wreath in the shape of a heart outside Donohue Cecere Funeral home in Westbury, Long Island

At the party Tercero, with whom she had a previous relationship, got mad at her. He angrily confronted her and shouted at her, supposedly angry at her for dating her on-and-off boyfriend.

He then tried to make amends by pouring shots for Anderson and her friends.

He drank too much and became sick. Anderson reportedly helped him get into bed.

The next morning she found her tires flat.

'Haley stated that she believed but wasn't sure, that a male named Orlando Tercero, may have been involved with the damage of her vehicle,' the police report sates.

'Haley stated that she and Orlando dated for a short time, and that she had gone to a party at his house, 23 Oak St, on 09/15/17. She stated that Orlando had confronted her about dating his friend, her now boyfriend, and that he got very upset and was shouting at her,' the report said.

Tercero has been charged in Anderson's murder, and was detained by Nicaragua police on Tuesday. He is pictured sporting a head wound and a fat lip

Tercero was photographed surrounded by armed police in balaclavas, bleeding from the lip with a bandage across his left eye

A police report from six months prior to her death reveals that she was suspicious of Tercero's actions

Orlando Tercero, 22, has been charged with second-degree murder

'While I (the investigator) deposed Haley, she advised that she believed that Orlando may have slashed her tires but that she wasn't sure, and that she did not wish to pursue charges for the damage to her vehicle at this time,' the report added.

Anderson posted a video of the slashed tires on Snapchat, to which Tercero replied saying his rear tires were also slashed.

He then sent her a screenshot of text messages he sent to his roommates asking if they had slashed his tires.

When she said she was going to file a police report, he said it wasnt a good idea.

He himself never reported the incident to police.

She told police she would sort out the matter between Tercero and herself.

Scene of crime: This is the home where friends found Anderson's body in Tercero's bed

Anderson, left, and Tercero, right, had dated. In September he got mad at her for dating her boyfriend and yelled at her at a party. The next day he allegedly slashed her tires

She reported to police that she suspected Tercero was behind the slashing of her car tires and posted a video of it on Snapchat, to which he replied his tires were also slashed

Tercero was arrested on Tuesday by Nicaragua National Police in connection to Andersons death, according to ABC News.

A photo of his arrest shows Tercero with a bandage across his left eye and a busted lip surrounded by Nicaraguan police wearing balaclavas.

Before he fled to Central America he reportedly told his sister that he had done 'something bad' and was a 'disgrace to the family'.

'Orlando is being detained by Nicaraguan authorities while matters are being further investigated,' his attorney, Michael Bachner, told the New York Post.

Police are seeking to extradite Tercero. He was charged with second-degree murder in Andersons death on Saturday.

Anderson's relatives are asking that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Binghamton Universitys Decker School of Nursing in her memory.He is the nerdish genius who likes to think big and spend big a visionary billionaire who will not rest until he has changed the world.

Elon Musks Tesla electric cars are already the leaders in the field. He is working on a vertical take-off electric supersonic aircraft and a hyperloop transport system taking just 45 minutes to cross the American continent.

And he intends to revolutionise space travel with a master plan to create habitable colonies on distant planets.

Musk has started no fewer than four billion-dollar companies, so there is no doubting his talent or drive - and hes happy to enjoy the fruits of his success, with three adjoining Bel Air properties, the obligatory private jet - and relationships with famously beautiful women, including actresses Talulah Riley and Amber Heard.

Yet there is one thing that even a 20 billion fortune cannot buy, and that is family harmony  in particular a warm relationship with his father Errol. Rarely shy of generating headlines, 46-year-old Musk has left the world in no doubt of where he stands, choosing to portray Errol in quite sensational terms.

Errol Musk last week at his home in South Africa. Elon needs to grow up, he says now. He needs to get over himself. Im not going to hit back. Im going to wait until he comes to his senses'

Elon Musk is pictured with his mother Maye Musk at the 2017 Vanity Fair Oscar Party

He was such a terrible human being, you have no idea, he told an interviewer for the American magazine Rolling Stone with tears running down his face.

My dad will have a carefully thought-out plan of evil. He will plan evil. Almost every crime you can possibly think of, he has done. Almost every evil thing you could possibly think of, he has done. Its so terrible, you cant believe it.

It is hardly surprising, then, that the two men havent spoken for the past 18 months  not even ten months ago when 72-year-old Errol surprised his grown-up children by fathering a boy with his much younger new wife.

Throughout this turbulence, and despite his sons international fame, Errol has maintained a dignified silence. Until now. For when he invited The Mail on Sunday into his elegant home overlooking a wide sweep of the rocky coast in South Africas Western Cape, he had some choice words about their incendiary feud  and made a shocking revelation of his own: he was once charged with manslaughter for shooting dead three men who broke into his home.

He was subsequently acquitted, after pleading self-defence. But it is an episode he speculates may be the reason for Elons cruel words.

Elon needs to grow up, he says now. He needs to get over himself. Im not going to hit back. Im going to wait until he comes to his senses. Hes having a tantrum, like a spoilt child. He cant have what he wants and now I am apparently an evil monster.

A craggily good-looking man with a 1,000-watt smile and an easy humour, Errol still flies his own plane up the spectacular West Coast and has a fishing boat parked in the garage next to his silver Bentley Continental.

Errol Musk is pictured standing in front of a Tesla Model S in Colorado in 2014

A collection of family portraits is spread out on the handsome mahogany dining table: Elon with his brother Kimbal and sister Tosca, and their stepsisters Alexandra and Rose.

It is the very image of a happy family and, indeed, perhaps Errol and Elon have more in common than they would like to admit. Certainly, as Errol freely admits, the Musk family contains two huge egos, which clashed frequently during Elons privileged childhood.

Errol, a successful consulting engineer, and his first wife, former fashion model Maye, brought up their three children Elon, Kimbal and Tosca in luxury. Musk senior was a millionaire before the age of 30.

I drove them to school in a convertible Rolls-Royce Corniche, they had thoroughbred horses to ride and motorbikes at the age of 14. They were spoilt, I suppose. Maybe thats why Elon is acting like a spoilt child now, he says.

Elon has described this childhood as painful and isolated, overshadowed by an absentee father who derided his eldest sons budding scientific brilliance. Not so, counters Errol. Elon has repeatedly told a story of me telling him computers were a waste of time. Thats untrue. Recounting early signs of his sons intellect with genuine pride, he continues: Elon has been generous enough to admit that he inherited his scientific genius from me.

When he was 11, he pestered me to pay a huge sum to let him attend a computer course where the first IBM PC, with mouse and keyboard, was to be presented for the first time. Groundbreaking stuff.

I told him to be quiet and well-behaved, to give his seat up to someone if necessary and sit on a step at the side of the stage.

When I came back after two hours to collect him, I found most people had left but a group had gathered at the foot of the stage. In the centre was my small son, his sleeves rolled up, talking earnestly. A professor listening to him turned to me and said, This boy needs to get one of these computers. 

Elon Musk is pictured with ex-girlfriend Amber Heard. Errol said: I think Elon was emotionally fragile when he attacked me. His girlfriend Amber Heard had dropped him and I believe he was crying for himself over the heartbreak'

Elon Musk with actress Talulah Riley

By the age of 15, in the mid-1980s, Elon was spending hours in his bedroom at a huge desk. I came in one day and saw a grey box with a red light going on and off. Elon told me, Dad, thats a modem. I can connect my computer to a computer in Oxford, England. One day everybody will have one of these and they will all connect, all over the world. 

While Elon has complained his father subjected him to hours of lectures as a child, Errol claims these chats were to pass on wisdom. South Africa has never been an easy place to live. In the 70s, it was a battlefield to grow a successful business.

Even my own mother called me ruthless in those days. We were all at each others throats looking for business. I also spent years in the military and that was hard in South Africa, where the world was frowning at everything we were doing.

But Errol admits he was to blame for the divorce which split the family after 16 years of marriage.

I had a very pretty wife, but there were always prettier, younger girls. I really loved Maye but I screwed up.

As the years went by, Errol watched from afar with pride as his son went from strength to strength, eventually attaining what his father describes as the most remarkable job in the world. By 2002, Elon had already made his first billion dollars from creating the PayPal internet payment system, and this was when he suggested that Errol and new wife Heidi come to live near them in Los Angeles.

The move was not a success. Heidi, who is Afrikaans, was unhappy to be so far away from her family in South Africa and, two years later, the couple moved back home. And that, Errol says, was the first so-called terrible thing I did. He believes his son took this as a personal insult.

Elon is upset with me, he says. He is furious that he cant force me to love America the way he does. I refuse to live there. I tried it, and came back home.

Elon Musk stands beside a rocket on March 19, 2004 in El Segundo, Los Angeles

Elon Musk poses for a portrait at in Los Angeles, California on July 25, 2008

Elon Musk is pictured with Peter Thiel in October 2000. By 2002, Elon had already made his first billion dollars from creating the PayPal internet payment system

He thought he knew better. America had made a successful inventor and scientist out of him and he believed it was the right place for all of us. Elon and his brother Kimbal were furious, like spoilt children with a total lack of human understanding about my situation.

They said they were finished with us. But Elon had done all the documentation for our new lives  and we couldnt get our passports.

Errol recalls feeling like a prisoner as he and Heidi plotted their escape, making secret appointments with the South African embassy to secure temporary passports. I left everything behind. Elon disowned me, he said he wanted nothing more to do with me.

Errol describes this episode as his sons Tantrum Number One. But in time his attitude softened and, 18 months ago, Elon flew to Cape Town in one of his jets to throw a surprise birthday party for his father.

Then came Tantrum Number Two. I got my 30-year-old girlfriend Jana pregnant and we had a baby son, who is now ten months old, he explains. Of course, I love him dearly, even though it wasnt planned. In my own cautious way I insisted on a DNA test to ensure he was mine. I told my daughter Ali about him because I thought she would be supportive and understanding. She said I was insane, mentally ill. She told the others and they went berserk. They think Im getting senile and should go into an old age home, not have a life full of fun and a tiny baby.

This, he believes, is what prompted the now-infamous outpouring of ire in Rolling Stone magazine. I think Elon was emotionally fragile when he attacked me, Errol says.

Elon Musks SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket takes off last month at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida

His girlfriend Amber Heard had dropped him and I believe he was crying for himself over the heartbreak. He describes me as terrible. But there are many things he doesnt know  the work I did to lessen the effects of apartheid for so many years. Id rather be in my home country, South Africa, with all its violent crime than live in the budgie cage of America, he continues, even though he has witnessed the violence at terrifyingly close quarters.

On one occasion he shot and killed three men in a group of burglars who smashed a window to get into his upmarket home in Johannesburg. I was at home with my daughter Rosie, and the breaking of glass woke us up. I did what I had to do and we somehow escaped unhurt.

He was acquitted of manslaughter on the grounds of self-defence. Thats the only so-called terrible thing Ive ever had to do, he says. Maybe thats what Elon is referring to.

Im not an evil person, he continues. I have nothing to regret. Im just a father who loves his son  and all his children  and is happy to know they are safe and healthy and secure.

Today he has a beautiful young woman at home, and a baby boy whom he cuddles and clearly adores. Is it this same unquestioning affection that Errol craves from his eldest son, many miles away in America?

Or is there another, more troubling secret as Elon seems to hint  one which, for reasons of their own, neither father nor son can yet bring themselves to name?Russia went into overdrive tonight accusing the West over the poisoning ofSergei Skripal and his daughter.

It fielded experts to claim that deadly Novichok could not have been transported in Yulia Skripal's bag from Moscow as the deadly nerve agent would have left 'hundreds of corpses' in its wake.

The Russians even alleged that Skripal, a double agent who fed secrets to Britain while working for Russia's GRU military intelligence, may have been involved in chemical weapons smuggling.

Igor Nikulin, a former chemical weapons advisor to the UN secretary general, said: 'The version with Yulia Skripal's suitcase is absolutely invented out of thin air.

The Russians even alleged that Skripal, a double agent who fed secrets to Britain while working for Russia's GRU military intelligence, may have been involved in chemical weapons smuggling

'If someone tried to crank up such an operation, it would be the largest terrorist attack in history - hundreds of corpses.

'It would have touched everyone who was near - passengers on the plane, airport visitors.'

Nikulin said nerve agent Novichok had 'a sharp and unpleasant odour' and that 'this substance cannot be applied without being noticed'.

It has a 'specific smell' and a 'yellowish colour', said the former member of the UN Biological and Chemical Weapons Commission claimed.

'Whoever did it, this was unskilled work, putting at risk a large number of uninvolved people,' he said.

'These are not the actions of any special services.'

He claimed America has been involved in dismantling an ex-Soviet facility in Uzbekistan where the Novichok was produced.

He claimed the agent had never been produced in Russia, as reported.

'The Americans took equipment for producing the gas to U.S. territory,' he said.

Sergei and Yulia Skripal photographed having a meal in the UK

Police in protective suits at The Maltings shopping centre, where former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found critically ill

He added: 'This means that today one can draw the conclusion that the US, and perhaps the UK, are the sole possessors of this military toxic agent.

'We know from open sources that the formula was developed in Russia but it was never produced and tested.'

The poisoning happened a few miles from the government's research laboratory at Porton Down, he said.

'Seventeen years ago in the same small town of Salisbury, where Skripal was poisoned, under mysterious circumstances, another Russian defector, biologist Vladimir Pasechnik was killed,' he said.

'The deaths of local, British scientists are taking place there with a frightening frequency.'

He did not give examples but tarred Skripal with smuggling chemical weapons.

'Perhaps he needed money, and given his past in the secret services, he somehow participated in the smuggling of chemical weapons?

'This version cannot be excluded. At the very least, it explains why traces of the warfare agent were found not only in the restaurant, but also at Skripal's house, on his things.'

Pro-Kremlin newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda claimed that Britain's refusal to handover nerve agent samples to the Kremlin 'only strengthens experts in their suspicions'.

Police officers in protective suits and masks work near the scene where former double-agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia were discovered after being attacked with a nerve-agent

The newspaper added: 'After all, there is no logic if the deadly gas, indeed, was produced in Russia.

'But it is quite another matter if we are talking about the latest development of Porton Down, which should not fall into the hands of a strategic adversary.

'The whole story about Novichok in this case is nothing more than a screen.'

Chemical weapons expert Anton Utkin, a former UN inspector in Iraq, said: 'Transportation of substances of this hazard class is an extremely risky exercise.

'Nobody knows what can happen with luggage on a plane, at a tremendous height.

'And then, even if traces of this substance were found in the suitcase of Yulia Skripal, then what does it say?

'Why is there no check if the poison got into the suitcase on arrival in London - or even after the poisoning?'President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko during a phone conversation expressed his gratitude to his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan for supporting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and also urged not to recognize the results of presidential elections in Crimea, the press service of the Ukrainian leader has said.

"Crimea is Ukraine. And we count on traditional support from Turkey," the head of state said.

Poroshenko noted that the conversation was taking place on the eve of the presidential elections in Russia, which it intended to hold in the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea.

The parties agreed on a timetable of subsequent contacts at the highest level, including for the purpose of holding the seventh meeting of the high-level Strategic Council between Ukraine and Turkey.

The sides also called for the finalization of negotiations on the free trade area agreement between the two countries as soon as possible.Western security experts believe deadly Russian chemical weapons similar to the Novichok nerve agent used against Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia will be offered for sale on the black market.

Criminals with links to Russian intelligence have tried to sell nuclear material to terrorists such as Islamic State four times in recent years, but have been thwarted by the FBI and other agencies.

The plots to buy radioactive material for the construction of a dirty bomb all centred on Moldova, a murky former Soviet republic.

In four plots to sell radioactive material for a dirty bomb to Islamic extremists have been foiled by investigators working with the FBI since 2010. The most recent case in Chisinau, Moldova, in 2015, smuggler Valentin Grossu (pictured: Grossu's arrest in 2015) offered a huge cache of deadly Caesium and specifically sought a buyer from IS

When arrested, he was in possession of a vial of lower-grade Caesium-135 (pictured)  not suitable for a dirty bomb

Lax security and endemic corruption in countries such as Moldova raises the chilling spectre of Islamic extremists getting hold of nerve agents or other weapons of mass destruction. Dr Vil Mirzayanov, a Russian former chemist who worked on the Novichok programme before defecting to the US, warned in a report for an influential Washington think-tank: Many American homes have more sophisticated security than was observed at some Russian chemical weapons storage sites.

Sooner or later, someone will make the soldiers at these sites a better offer than Moscow does.

The shadowy online realm of the so-called dark web, where trades are conducted anonymously in untraceable cyber-currencies, could be the marketplace for such material, experts believe.

British officers told: Don't tell troops their gas masks are useless The British Army knew Novichok nerve agents could penetrate military protective clothing 30 years ago but withheld the devastating information from soldiers, it was claimed last night. While senior officers were informed that the Soviet Union had developed deadly nerve agents, rank and file troops were kept in the dark, according to military sources. The shock intelligence emerged during a training lesson for officers in Warminster, Wiltshire, in 1989, a former Grenadier Guards officer told The Mail on Sunday. NBC instructors told officers the nerve agents could penetrate the rubber of the Armed Forces S10 respirator  the gas mask issued to all military personnel. The officer said they were told not to tell their soldiers amid fears it would have a damning impact on morale. Last night the MoD said: All military personnel supporting the emergency services activity in Salisbury have appropriate protection. Advertisement

Already, four plots to sell radioactive material for a dirty bomb to Islamic extremists have been foiled by investigators working with the FBI since 2010, all in Moldova, where investigators believe gangs with links to the Russian secret police (FSB) run a nuclear black market. The most serious case was in 2011, led by Alexandr Agheenco, known as The Colonel, and believed to be a serving or former officer with the FSB.

A middle-man was recorded arranging the sale of bomb-grade Uranium-235 and blueprints for a dirty bomb to an Islamic extremist from Sudan. Investigating Moldovan detective Constantin Malic recalled: He told our informant, I want an Islamic buyer because they will bomb the Americans. 

Arrests were made but The Colonel is still believed to be at large.

Dirty bombs combine radioactive material with conventional explosives and would cause mass casualties and an economic meltdown if detonated in a major city. Tests show the kinds of nuclear material being offered to terrorists would make affected areas unsafe for at least a year.

The threat of chemical weapons or nerve agents also looms large.

Sources close to the FBI say they have been deeply concerned about the sale of weapons from Russias chemical stockpile since they received Dr Mirzayanovs expert analysis in the mid-1990s. He concluded: Russian chemical weapon storage facilities unquestionably appear to be vulnerable to attack from outside and theft from within.

The weak link, he said, was Ivan  the poorly paid and unmotivated individual soldier. Theft appears to be possible if Ivan is so inclined; if a colleague and Ivan conspire; or if an outsider co-opts or disables Ivan. His final warning was ominous: Failure to improve the security at Russian chemical weapons storage facilities increases the odds that a chemical agent will find its way into an ethnic conflict, subway system or building somewhere.

In the most recent case in Chisinau, Moldova, in 2015, smuggler Valentin Grossu offered a huge cache of deadly Caesium and specifically sought a buyer from IS. When arrested, he was in possession of a vial of lower-grade Caesium-135  not suitable for a dirty bomb. Investigator Mr Malic added: As long as the smugglers think they can make big money without getting caught, they will keep doing it.

From the first known Moldovan case in 2010 to the most recent one in February 2015, the pattern was identical: suspects were arrested in the early stages of a deal, giving the ringleaders a chance to escape with their nuclear contraband  an indication that the threat from the nuclear black market in the Balkans is far from under control.A horrified couple saved a naked woman from being kidnapped after she was drugged and raped in an alleyway.

Nour Issa, 35, and her fiance Zaki Ameer saw two naked women 'jumping excitedly' before becoming 'really scared' as four men tried to bundle them into a car in Byron Bay.

The Sydney couple intervened and took one woman back to their hotel while the other ran off into the night.

A woman was found naked in an alleyway after being drugged and violently raped on a night out in Byron Bay (stock image)

Saviours: At 10.30pm, Nour Issa, 35, and her fiance Zaki Ameer (pictured together), from Sydney, saw the completely naked woman running out of a back door into a car park and kindly took her home

Ms Issa said she saw the woman burst into the alleyway from the back door of a venue at 10.30pm on 19 January.

'She came out of one of the doors, I have never seen anything like it. She and another girl were jumping up and down naked, laughing and then really scared, mixed emotions. Then there were four guys trying to get her in a car,' Ms Issa told The Daily Telegraph.

'I wanted to save her. So we put her in the car and took her to where we were staying. The other girl ran off.

'She fell asleep on my shoulder and I could not wake her so I knew she was drugged. She would not wake up, the sleep was so deep.'

The woman woke the next day with no possessions or memory of what happened.

Days later she went to the doctor with vomiting, stomach cramps and bruising on her inner thighs and vagina.

Doctors told her she had a ruptured ovarian cyst due to violent sexual intercourse.

She said she was furious at the 'horrible violation' and described Byron Bay as 'an evil place after dark.'

The woman reported the incident to police but, without forensic evidence or CCTV footage, detectives have made little progress.

The woman's night started with 'a tiny dab' of powdered MDMA after watching the sunset on Main Beach with friends.

Nour Issa, 35, and her fiance Zaki Ameer, from Sydney, saw two naked women 'jumping excitedly' before becoming 'really scared' as four men tried to bundle them into a car in Byron Bay

The woman's night started with 'a tiny dab' of powdered MDMA after watching the sunset on Main Beach with friends. The group then went to Rails pub then Northern Hotel (stock image)

The group then went to Rails pub then Northern Hotel where at 9pm she told friends she was going to leave early.

At 10.30pm, the couple saw the completely naked woman running out of a back door into a car park.

They took her home in their car, put her to bed and gave her fresh clothes in the morning.

It comes amid fears a potentially deadly batch of methamphetamine is being sold in the town after a spate of violent - and often bizarre - crimes.

Community activist Sue Arnold said the town was 'being absolutely destroyed' by meth.

'As a veteran of the hippie culture, we used to think having a joint was fun... I have never seen the kind of incidents caused now by ice, being caused by cannabis,' she said.

Statistics released last year show one in 70 Australians had used ice, and 20 per cent of those people used the drug weekly or daily.

Any witnesses can call Byron Bay detectives on 02 6665 9499 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.Britain is threatening to go it alone and hit tax-dodging web giants with a multi-billion-pound levy  even without an agreement from other countries.

The Governments warning that it will press ahead with plans to tax multinational tech companies, including Amazon and Google, comes ahead of a meeting of G20 finance ministers in Buenos Aires tomorrow.

The UK wants a co-ordinated response, but observers fear that may not be forthcoming. An OECD report warned of a number of areas where there are clear differences of view.

Google and Facebook have annexed more than a quarter of Britains 22 billion advertising market but paid just 37 million in corporation tax in 2016.

Google and Facebook have annexed more than a quarter of Britains 22 billion advertising market but paid just 37 million in corporation tax in 2016

A Treasury spokeswoman said: The Chancellor wants to make sure that as the economy changes the tax system remains fair.

Its true that multinationals are paying the tax they owe under the current system, but there is a much wider question around whether the current system itself is fair.

Brussels is also due to announce a co-ordinated response strategy as early as this week that will target company turnover with a tax of up to three per cent, according to reports.

The Treasury spokeswoman added: Were doing a lot of work on this issue internationally and with the OECD. What we said in the Spring Statement is that we want to continue working multilaterally to find a solution. But if we dont make progress, we will look at taking action unilaterally to address this imbalance.

Campaigners complain that complex company structures allow the web giants to legally shift profits into tax havens, significantly reducing their UK tax bills. Rival businesses say such structures give the firms an unfair advantage.

The Mail on Sunday has learned that Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss met business leaders in York this week where the issue was discussed.

Retailers complain about paying tax on property that firms including Amazon and eBay largely escape because they have no shops

She is understood to have said, in response to concerns over business rates, that a revenue-based turnover tax or a digital levy were being discussed at Cabinet level as part of a Treasury consultation launched in November.

The Treasury spokeswoman said a straightforward turnover tax would be a blunt instrument and the proposals would likely be more nuanced.

Retailers complain about paying tax on property that firms including Amazon and eBay largely escape because they have no shops.

The sector has been hit by the emergence of the online giants and a string of firms have gone to the wall this year, including Toys R Us and Maplin Electronics.

Alex Probyn, a property tax expert at business adviser Altus, said: The high street is crucial to a stable community. Internet retailing is convenient, but will lead to the substantial extinction of the high street if left unchecked.Gerry Adams, the former leader of Sinn Fein, was honored at a St. Patrick's Day breakfast hosted by New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio on Saturday.

De Blasio commended him for his efforts to working towards peace in Northern Ireland and named March 17, 2018 as Gerry Adams Day.

'He did not accept injustice, and he fought against it,' the mayor said during the breakfast celebration, according to The Journal.ie.

Sinn Fein's former leader Gerry Adams (Pictured left) was honored at a St Patrick's Day breakfast event hosted by the mayor of New York Bill De Blasio (Right) on Saturday

Also honored at the St. Patrick's Day breakfast was Ireland's Prime Minister Leo Eric Varadkar (Pictured left of De Blasio), the country's first openly gay head of state

'He understood there was no place in this world anymore for colonialism and he fought against it great ideas never die,' he said.

De Blasio added: 'I want to honor him for pursuit of a goal that makes so much sense  a goal for a United Ireland.'

Former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams delivers a speech at a Party conference in Dublin, Ireland on November 18, 2017

Also honored at the St. Patrick's Day breakfast was Ireland's Prime Minister Leo Eric Varadkar, the country's first openly gay head of state.

When asked if the controversial politician would be getting the same honor back home, Varadkar demurred from the consideration, telling reporters that the practice would be unusual in Ireland.

'Well, it's not our tradition to name days after any particular individual in Ireland,' Varadkar said, adding that he was happy to 'extend my congratulations to Gerry on the honor being bestowed on him by the city of New York.'

Sinn Fein is a political party that is active in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

While under Adam's leadership, Sinn Fein contributed to establishing negotiations with the British government, which eventually led to the Good Friday Agreement on April 10, 1998.

While under Adam's leadership, Sinn Fein contributed to establishing negotiations with the British government

The agreement ushered in a new era of peace in Northern Ireland, leading to the Irish Republican Army (IRA), which had links to Sinn Fein, to disarm

The agreement ushered in a new era of peace in Northern Ireland, leading to the Irish Republican Army (IRA), which had links to Sinn Fein, to disarm.

The IRA is a paramilitary group that used political violence as a means to achieve the goal of Irish independence from the British government, culminating in an era of bloodshed known as The Troubles.

Individuals on social media took to Twitter to express a wide range of opinions on the honor bestowed upon Adams, expressing a strong ambivalence towards the former politician.

Ann Travers, whose sister was killed in an IRA attack in 1984, condemned De Blasio for honoring Adams on Saturday, saying the former Irish politician 'still justifies today IRA terrorism.'

Supporters of Adams, however, noted the 69-year-old's work as a peacemaker and praised New York for recognizing his efforts.

De Blasio also praised the people of Ireland during the ceremony for voting in favor of marriage equality and for electing Vardkar as Taoiseach (prime minister, chief executive and head of government of Ireland).Police chiefs are spending millions on a drive to make victims go online to report crimes, prompting fears that more stations will close.

Under the controversial plan, the public will use a national website to give details of any crime, including serious offences such as burglary or sexual assault.

But critics say the move gives cash-strapped forces an excuse to close stations and cut call handlers  making police even more remote from the public.

Leciestershire Police has claimed it costs 120 to send a squad car out to each crime scene

The Mail On Sunday reported last September that one police force would prefer if officers corresponded with crime victims over email instead of being sent out to their homes

Their fears were fuelled by a tweet from Leicestershire Chief Constable Simon Cole contrasting the low cost of running a website with 120 to send a squad car to an incident, 30 to deal with each visitor to a police station, and 10 to handle a call to a control room.

The drive to go online comes as Labour revealed statistics that show the intense pressures police are under after years of cuts.

There is a nationwide shortage of 2,671 detectives, while 2.1 million investigations were closed last year without a suspect being identified. Last night, Shadow Policing Minister Louise Haigh said: These shocking figures should be a call to action for the Government. This crisis has been created by their neglect and thanks to their brutal cuts. Now we are seeing the consequences with soaring levels of unsolved crime.

As The Mail on Sunday has revealed, almost half of police stations have been closed over the past decade. Meanwhile forces struggled to cope last summer with a record number of 999 calls.

Chief constables hope that digital front-counters will help them cope with the growing demand and make crime reports easier for people already used to shopping and banking online.

Leicestershire Police Chief Constable Simon Cole, pictured, said it costs 120 to deploy a squad car to a crime scene

The Home Office has given 4.5 million towards the digital revolution. Eventually it is hoped that a national website  likely to be police.uk  will take reports of any offence and direct it to the appropriate local force.

Victims will follow the progress of the investigation using a track my crime function. In many cases they will never see or speak to an officer.

In presentations to forces across the country, the online service is described as the preferred way for the public to report and transact in future, with digital updates from contact to resolution.

Britains biggest force, the Metropolitan Police, was the first to start using the service, and in six months received 51,000 crime reports online, including dozens of sexual assault allegations as well as less serious traffic accidents.

Thames Valley and Hampshire are also up and running and it is estimated that within a year, half the 43 forces in England and Wales will be using the system.

Police chiefs were given a briefing on the project last week, and Sara Thornton, chairwoman of the National Police Chiefs Council, claimed going digital was much more convenient for the public and more efficient for police forces.

Online services already provided by South Yorkshire allow NHS staff to report missing patients and for petrol stations to give details of drivers who make off without paying. West Yorkshires website allows the reporting of everything from drink-drivers to concerns about terrorist activity.

Mr Cole said: The world has gone digital and the public  some of the public, not all  want to report things online as when they transact with a bank or book a holiday.

But some of it is also about being as efficient and effective as we can be, at a time when our budgets are under pressure.

He added: The reality is that some police stations are not well used and this offers another option.British graffiti artist Banksy is drawing crowds to his New York City mural but for an unfortunate reason.

Somebody has added signature tags to his artful protest of the imprisonment of a Turkish artist and journalist.

Plenty of pedestrians were taking a look at the graffiti, which is scrawled in red across the bottom half of his 70ft-long mural.

The mural bearing the slogan Free Zehra Dogan was recently installed on the Houston Bowery Wall, made famous by Keith Haring in the 1970s.

Bansky's mural which appeared on Thursday has since been vandalized by red graffiti tags in New York

A 70ft-long mural painted by British street artist Banksy appeared in lower Manhattan overnight. It is dedicated to Turkish artist and journalist Zehra Dogan who was jailed for almost three years for painting a picture

The mural features prison tally marks depicting the time she has already spent in jail, featuring a portrait of the artist looking as if she is behind bars, with one of the marks turned into a pencil

Banksy's work features a projection of Dogan's original painting above a white wall covered in tally marks depicting the time she has already spent in jail.

Dogan's portrait appears behind four of the tally marks like prison bars, although one of the marks has been turned into a pencil, representing her artistic defiance. In the bottom right corner is the slogan 'Free Zehra Dogan'.

The New York Times reported that the mural was 70ft long, made in collaboration with graffiti artist Borf and was unveiled on Thursday.

'I really feel for her. I've painted things much more worthy of a custodial sentence,' Banksy said in a statement to the paper.

The anonymous artist wrote about the 'injustice' on Instagram, using the hashtag 'FREEzehradogan'.

'Sentenced to nearly three years in jail for painting a single picture,' he added.

Dogan, who is of mixed Turkish and Kurdish descent, was jailed in March last year for a painting she made depicting the damage done by Turkish armed forces to the predominantly-Kurdish city of Nusaybin.

She was charged with being connected to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which Turkey considers a terrorist group, and sentenced to a total of two years, nine months and 22 days in jail.

Explaining the reasons behind his work, Banksy said he feels for the plight of Dogan, adding: 'I've painted things much more worthy of a custodial sentence'

The artwork also features a projection of Dogan's original painting (top left) which depicts destruction caused by Turkish armed forces in the predominantly-Kurdish city of Nusaybin

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been battling against the Kurds and recently launched an offensive against positions in Afrin province, located in Syria.

Ethnic Kurds have long been calling for the establishment of an independent state encompassing parts of Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran, or greater autonomy and rights within Turkey itself.

Separatist groups have used terror attacks inside Turkey to exert political pressure, while Turkey has often used ground incursions and artillery bombardments in retaliation.

The situation has been complicated because Kurdish forces formed the backbone of the Syrian Democratic forces, the US-backed rebels who were instrumental to defeating ISIS.

American support for the Kurds has enraged the Turkish leadership which has been forming closer ties with Russia in recent months, though in January the White House signaled that its backing for the groups was waning.Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe released the following statement following his firing on March 16, 2017 for alleged 'lack of candor' under oath:

I have been an FBI Special Agent for over 21 years. I spent half of that time investigating Russian Organized Crime as a street agent and Supervisor in New York City. I have spent the second half of my career focusing on national security issues and protecting this country from terrorism. I served in some of the most challenging, demanding investigative and leadership roles in the FBI. And I was privileged to serve as Deputy Director during a particularly tough time.

For the last year and a half, my family and I have been the targets of an unrelenting assault on our reputation and my service to this country. Articles too numerous to count have leveled every sort of false, defamatory and degrading allegation against us. The presidents tweets have amplified and exacerbated it all. He called for my firing. He called for me to be stripped of my pension after more than 20 years of service. And all along we have said nothing, never wanting to distract from the mission of the FBI by addressing the lies told and repeated about it.

No more.

The investigation by the Justice Departments Office of Inspector General (OIG) has to be understood in the context of the attacks on my credibility. The investigation flows from my attempt to explain the FBIs involvement and my supervision of investigations involving Hillary Clinton. I was being portrayed in the media over and over as a political partisan, accused of closing down investigations under political pressure. The FBI was portrayed as caving under that pressure, and making decisions for political rather than law enforcement purposes. Nothing was further from the truth. In fact, this entire investigation stems from my efforts, fully authorized under FBI rules, to set the record straight on behalf of the Bureau and to make it clear that we were continuing an investigation that people in DOJ opposed.

The OIG investigation has focused on information I chose to share with a reporter through my public affairs officer and a legal counselor. As Deputy Director, I was one of only a few people who had the authority to do that. It was not a secret, it took place over several days, and others, including the Director, were aware of the interaction with the reporter. It was the same type of exchange with the media that the Deputy Director oversees several times per week. In fact it was the same type of work that I continued to do under Director Wray, at his request. The investigation subsequently focused on who I talked to, when I talked to them, and so forth. During these inquiries, I answered questions truthfully and as accurately as I could amidst the chaos that surrounded me. And when I thought my answers were misunderstood, I contacted investigators to correct them.

But looking at that in isolation completely misses the big picture. The big picture is a tale of what can happen when law enforcement is politicized, public servants are attacked, and people who are supposed to cherish and protect our institutions become instruments for damaging those institutions and people.

Here is the reality: I am being singled out and treated this way because of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of James Comey. The release of this report was accelerated only after my testimony to the House Intelligence Committee revealed that I would corroborate former Director Comeys accounts of his discussions with the President. The OIGs focus on me and this report became a part of an unprecedented effort by the Administration, driven by the President himself, to remove me from my position, destroy my reputation, and possibly strip me of a pension that I worked 21 years to earn. The accelerated release of the report, and the punitive actions taken in response, make sense only when viewed through this lens. Thursdays comments from the White House are just the latest example of this.

This attack on my credibility is one part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally, but to taint the FBI, law enforcement, and intelligence professionals more generally. It is part of this Administrations ongoing war on the FBI and the efforts of the Special Counsel investigation, which continue to this day. Their persistence in this campaign only highlights the importance of the Special Counsels work.

I have always prided myself on serving my country with distinction and integrity, and I have always encouraged those around me to do the same. Just ask them. To have my career end in this way, and to be accused of lacking candor when at worst I was distracted in the midst of chaotic events, is incredibly disappointing and unfair. But it will not erase the important work I was prevailed to be a part of, the results of which will in the end be revealed for the country to see.

I have unfailing faith in the men and women of the FBI and I am confident that their efforts to seek justice will not be deterred.Continuing our series featuring the holiday memories of famous people, this week TV presenter Penny Smith, 59, recalls her life of adventures

First holiday memories: Getting on a little yellow plane at Southampton airport for our annual trip to Alderney was always such a joy for me. Wed then rush to our rented house, gobble a sandwich and race to the sea for a swim.

It was heaven on Earth. We would play-fight in the derelict bunkers, skip down perilous steps to Telegraph Bay and commune with Guernsey cows. And it was always sunny.

Caribbean queen: TV presenter Penny Smith pictured in the Turks and Caicos in 2001

First trip abroad: We went to France in a caravanette  six of us in a glorified ice-cream van. There were arguments over who sat where and who made the worst smells, but we also sang, giggled and made friends with random local children on our way to the South of France.

But just when we thought all our dreams had come true  blue skies, turquoise sea, good food  Dad declared it was too bloody expensive, so off we went back to Britain.

First school trip: We went to Ironbridge to look at the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. It was only surpassed by the trip to Teesside during my economics A-level to witness economies of scale at first hand. We never went on school trips abroad  too bloody expensive.

Penny said getting on a little plane at Southampton airport for her annual trip to Alderney was always 'such a joy' for her. Above, pictured with her family on Alderney in 1963

My best holiday: One of the most extraordinary was to Uganda where I went trekking with gorillas and chimpanzees and stayed near a volcano crater as monkeys thundered over the thatched roof.

Penny pictured when she was five

And worst: I went with a friend to Morocco. We were miserable because wed become single and our beds were made out of conkers.

The holiday Ive always wanted to take: Id love to go to Antarctica. Penguins. Thats it.

My favourite place: Barbados, because I can stay with some of my best friends who make me laugh and who dont care that from sundown I am encased in voluminous cloth to try to beat the mosquitoes.

My perfect holiday companion: Someone who isnt picky about food and fancies a walk.

The first thing I pack: My bag of tricks with everything from a safety pin to a plastic hat.Jam session: Anna Melville-James gets in tune with island life

Landing in Tenerife, just over four hours away from a grey UK, is like arriving in the Technicolor Land of Oz. Even in January it hovers at about 20C, winter sun glittering on seas that circle banana-terraced volcanic scenery with splashes of hot pink, orange and yellow tropical flowers.

For the jaded, wintery Brit, its a reassuring reminder that somewhere in the world its always summer  and at the Hard Rock Hotel, on the islands south-west Adeje coast, it comes with a soundtrack too.

Here Comes The Sun says a sign above the check-in desk, in reference to the famous George Harrison-penned Beatles hit, and visitors collect their room keys from a desk beside an Elton John stage costume.

I could see the island of La Gomera from my balcony in one of the hotels two towers: the Oasis tower, for families, and the adults-only Nirvana.

The hotel manages to pull off a feat in being both family-friendly  with an excellent childrens area and teen hangout  but offering plenty of spaces for adults to relax, with swim-up bars for the local Macaronesian gin.

Each towers corridor has stardust on every floor: in Oasis, head past one of Tina Turners dresses, down in the lift to the basement and turn left at an Elvis tracksuit to reach the spa.

Continue down the corridor and you arrive at speciality restaurants  serving steak, and Mediterranean and Japanese cuisine. Back in my room, a vision of black lacquer and wood, I swore I could hear low-level music, although nothing was on.

Certainly, you cant escape it here whether its a club classic pumping out in the foyer or a guitarist riffing on the terrace beside the breakfast buffet.

Hot spot: Volcano Mount Teide and the terraced landscape looking out over the Atlantic ocean

You can even get a guitar delivered to your room for you to enjoy your own Jimi Hendrix moment.

A different set of stars were out at Teide National Park, a volcanic landscape used as a backdrop in the films One Million Years BC and Clash Of The Titans.

A cable car takes you to the highest point on the active Mount Teide volcano  the best ascent being just before night fall, on the Sunset and Stars tour.

Its not for the faint-hearted. The eight-minute cable car ride rises to 9,840ft, at which thin air forces you to breathe deeply as you scramble along the summit path through pumice canyons pockmarked by geothermal steam from fumaroles.

Our guide pointed out distant islands rising out of the sea below and, as the light dropped, the orange sunset blazed across the sky for ten spectacular minutes.

Back at the bottom of the cable-car ride, we recharged with cava, snacks prepared by local Michelin-starred chef Erlantz Gorostiza and glimpses of faraway worlds through huge telescopes.

Away from the hotel, Anna took a catamaran out to see pilot whales

The Hard Rocks rooftop bar isnt quite on a par, but its another way to enjoy being outside at 11pm in winter, drink in hand.

During the day, swap that for sunbathing below at the hotels three pools  the largest, The Beach Club, has balmy waters, beanbags and a monthly Children Of The 1980s event.

Away from the hotel, take a catamaran out to see pilot whales, although you need sea legs as the water can be choppy.

Landlubbers will prefer Siam Park, a Thai-style water-slide heaven.

Its worth splashing out on a ticket that includes the Fast Pass to avoid the queues but for full superstar treatment, hire the private villa with hot tub that Hollywood actor Matt Damon once used.

From here, hidden in the greenery, you can venture out to rides that include the 90ft freefall of the Tower of Power and a wave pool so powerful you can surf on it.

Or just bob along in the lazy river. As the water sparkles around you, enjoy the fact that sleet and leaden skies feel a million miles away  rather than just 1,800.It was a big birthday - a very big one - and it required a very big treat. Mrs Milton had reached a significant age and I was under pressure to produce a significant present.

A short break abroad would tick all the right boxes, but where to go?

Alexandra loves Provence, but wed spent several holidays exploring the villages of the Luberon. I wanted to surprise her with somewhere original.

Cheers! Giles Milton and his wife Alexandra sample a local wine while holidaying in Provence

What about the Vaucluse area of Provence? suggested a friend. It has a wild landscape, stunning villages and great gastronomy. And its almost completely undiscovered.

It was all I needed to know. Wed take the Eurostar to Avignon (glugging champagne en route), then rent a car and head off into this little-known area.

Three weeks later we were checking into Le Posterlon in the village of Caumont-sur-Durance, a delightful little hotel run by a local couple, Pascal and Patricia, and their son Valentin.

The place could have dropped straight out of World Of Interiors magazine  an elegant house built out of stone the colour of ripe cheese.

It was the epitome of shabby-chic, with whitewashed walls and huge fireplaces. Better still, it had a pool shaded by the medieval ramparts of the village. Now this was a birthday present.

Patricia provided us with a list of places to visit, starting with the villages of Vaison-Ventoux, 19 little gems situated in the shadow of the 6,000ft Mount Ventoux.

History lesson: Vaison-la-Romaine in known for its Roman landmarks

The landscape here is full of surprises. Adjacent to the brooding hulk of the mountain itself is the famous Dentelles de Montmirail, a vertical backbone of shattered rock that looks like the bottom half of a dragons jaw.

Our first stop was at Seguret, a village thats stacked into the rock like an overgrown medieval monastery.

Its so achingly picturesque you have to pause and check you havent entered a historical theme park.

This area of France was once highly coveted by the Romans  they settled here in large numbers.

They left their mark too, most notably in the town of Orange, where the perfectly preserved theatre is still used for concerts and plays.

Le Posterlon, in the village of Caumont-sur-Durance, is a delightful little hotel run by a local couple, Pascal and Patricia, and their son Valentin

But for my money, the place to visit is Vaison-la-Romaine. Here, scattered between the modern-day homes, shops and restaurants, are the remains of Vasio, a 2,000-year-old Roman settlement.

Vasio has it all: mansions, artisan shops and a theatre.

We spent several days pottering through the villages of the Vaison-Ventoux region, each one seemingly more picturesque than the last.

Many are famous for their wines: Gigondas, Vacqueyras and Beaume-de-Venise are three of the biggest hitters.

Some of the best are on designated wine-trails, with the owners offering tours of the cellars and vineyards and tastings to follow.

As birthday presents go, our long weekend in Provence has been the biggest one to date. And thats just as it should be.

After all, youre only 40 once. Or is she 50?President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko will pay a state visit to Kuwait on March 18-19 and Qatar on March 19-20, the presidential press service has reported.

The program of visit to Kuwait envisages Poroshenko's negotiations with Kuwait Amir Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jabir al-Sabah, Prime Minister of Kuwait Jabir al-Mubarak al-Hamad al-Sabah, Speaker of the National Assembly of Kuwait Marzouq Ali al-Ghanim, as well as Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister Sabah al-Khalid al-Hamad al-Sabah.

In addition, the president will meet with the leadership of the leading investment funds in Kuwait.

"Within the framework of the visit, it is planned to discuss a wide range of issues of Ukrainian-Kuwaiti cooperation in trade and economic, military and technical, investment and humanitarian spheres. A number of bilateral documents are to be signed," the press service said.

On March 19-20 Poroshenko will pay an official visit to Qatar, where he will hold negotiations with Amir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Prime Minister and Interior Minister Abdallah bin Nasir bin Khalifa Al Thani.

The president is also expected to attend the opening of the international agricultural exhibition Qatar International Agricultural Exhibition 2018.

Within the framework of the visit, it is planned to discuss a wide range of issues of Ukrainian-Qatari cooperation in trade and economic, investment, energy, agriculture and other spheres.

A number of bilateral documents are to be signed.The Steven Spielberg film is set to be released on March 29th.

And now new stills for Ready Player One have been released, which feature lead Tye Sheridan along with a star studded supporting cast.

Tye, 21, who has been named by Variety as one of their 10 Actors to Watch, plays Wade Watts in the big budget action extravaganza.

Scroll down for video

New hero! New stills for Ready Player One have been released, which feature lead Tye Sheridan along with a star studded supporting cast

According to a press release, 'the film is set in 2045, with the real world on the brink of chaos and collapse. But people have found salvation in the OASIS, an immersive virtual universe where you can go anywhere, do anything, be anyone.'

The creator of OASIS, James Halliday, dies, leaving behind his fortune and a contest to find keys that will lead to the winner taking control of the virtual world.

Wade manages to find the first key, but immediately becomes a target for nefarious forces bent on claiming OASIS and Halliday's immense fortune for themselves.

The unlikely young hero then joins forces with a group of friends who call themselves the High Five to save OASIS and defeat the forces of evil threatening it.

The prize! The creator of OASIS, James Halliday, dies, leaving behind his fortune and a contest to find keys that will lead to the winner taking control of the virtual world

The future? In the exciting still images released on Friday, Tye takes center stage as he is pictured in a virtual reality helmet and gloves

Plan coming together? His nemesis, Nolan Sorrento, played by Ben Mendelsohn, appears looking quite pensive as he peers into a screen

In charge! Later Nolan has apparently suited up to take on Tye himself

The High Five is composed of Sheridan, along with characters played by Olivia Cooke, Lena Waithe, Philip Zhao and Win Morisaki.

In the exciting still images released on Friday, Tye takes center stage as he is pictured in a virtual reality helmet and gloves.

His nemesis, Nolan Sorrento, played by Ben Mendelsohn, appears looking quite pensive as he peers into a screen, and later as he has apparently suited up to take on Tye.

All together! The unlikely young hero then joins forces with a group of friends who call themselves the High Five to save OASIS and defeat the forces of evil threatening it

Protected! U.K. native Olivia Cooke, 24, also looks ready for battle in a chunky helmet paired with a jumpsuit

Enigmatic: Hannah John-Kamen, 28, who also hails from Britain, appears as a stoic-looking F'Nale Zandor

Hectic! Several images reveal that apparently many battle scenes take place in the blockbuster, which spans both the real and virtual world

Fantastical! It looks as though the story will combine fantasy, sci fi and classic action genres

U.K. native Olivia Cooke, 24, also looks ready for battle in a chunky helmet paired with a jumpsuit.

Hannah John-Kamen, 28, who also hails from Britain, appears as a stoic-looking F'Nale Zandor.

Several images reveal that apparently many battle scenes take place in the blockbuster, which spans both the real and virtual world.

Ready Player One is based off the fantastically popular novel of the same name by Ernest Cline, and was written by Cline and Zak Penn.She's a loving mother of two.

But actress Mila Kunis needed a grown up girls' day out.

So she left daughter Wyatt, three, and one-year-old son Dimitri at home with husband Ashton Kutcher and headed to a nail salon in North Hollywood with a gal pal on Friday.

Grown up girls' day out: Mila Kunis was spotted going to a nail salon in North Hollywood with a gal pal on Friday

The 34-year-old was casually dressed in a long, cream knitted cardigan that reached to her ankles.

She teamed it with a green blouse decorated with a sequin heart and star, black leggings and black ankle boots with a double buckle detail.

The beautiful brunette smoothed her tresses back from her face into a low ponytail.

Pamper time: The 34-year-old's friend evidently had a pedicure as she shuffled along in flip flops while the actress showed off her silver manicure

Her blonde friend was equally casual in a black sweater, distressed skinny jeans and black, square-heeled booties.

They left together a little while later with Mila sporting silver nail varnish while her pal shuffled along in flip-flops to protect her pedicure.

They both giggled as they made their way back to their cars.

Having a laugh: The two women giggled as they made their way back to their cars

Meanwhile, Mila and Ashton, 40, have been married for nearly three years after tying the knot in July 2015 in Oak Glen, California.

The couple first met when they both starred in That '70s Show from 1998 to 2006.

But romance didn't bloom until after the actor split from his wife of six years, actress Demi Moore, 55, in 2011. Their divorce was finalized in 2013.She is best known as Prince Harry's ex-girlfriend, but has been making a name for herself as an actress in recent years.

And Cressida Bonas flashed a smile as she left the Jermyn Street Theatre in London on Friday, following another successful performance in The Dog Beneath The Skin.

The 29-year-old, who plays a dog in the show, looked effortlessly stylish in a blue floral top and black shearling jacket as she strolled through the capital.

Beaming: Cressida Bonas flashed a smile as she left the Jermyn Street Theatre in London on Friday, following her performance in The Dog Beneath The Skin

She showed off her leggy frame in black skin-tight jeans, which she paired with suede military boots and cosy grey socks.

Cressida toted a royal blue handbag and complemented her chic ensemble with small gold hoop earrings.

The Hampshire beauty styled her blonde tresses in soft waves and accentuated her glowing complexion with deftly touches of make-up.

Chic: The 29-year-old looked effortlessly stylish in a blue floral top and black shearling jacket as she strolled through the capital

Lithe limbs: She showed off her leggy frame in black skin-tight jeans, which she paired with suede military boots and cosy grey socks

Stylish: Cressida toted a royal blue handbag and complemented her chic ensemble with small gold hoop earrings

High spirits: Cressida flashed a small smile as she left the theatre

The actress has remained tight-lipped about her two-year relationship with Prince Harry as well as his upcoming nuptials with Meghan Markle, previously telling The Times, 'I would rather not go into it'.

Her silence comes amid mounting speculation that she had been invited to the Royal Wedding in May, where Harry and Meghan will tie the knot in a Windsor ceremony.

Cressida was more candid about her parents thoughts about her career choice, revealing that although supportive, they would prefer that she did something other than acting.

She said: 'Especially my dad, as he is an academic; he was a history don at Oxford, at Oriel, but not any more.

Good response: The Dog Beneath The Skin - a highly abstract play - opened to positive reviews last week

Dazzling performance: The blonde beauty seemed in high spirits as she left the venue with a pal

Blonde ambition: Cressida's copper blonde tresses fell onto her shoulders as she bundled up in against the chilly evening

'He always wanted me to be a teacher and if I wasnt acting thats what I would be doing. And my mum would rather I was doing something more secure and stable.'

She also disassociated herself from the so-called 'It Girl' set - saying she's 'very different' to what people think'.

Since splitting from Prince Harry, Cressida has since started a relationship with Harry Wentworth-Stanley, which she said was going 'very well' - adding that she wasn't thinking about starting a family yet, but 'definitely one day'.

She and her beau - who dated for four years at university - are believed to have reunited in 2016, following Cressida's split from Prince Harry in 2014.

Treading the boards: Cressida is best known as Prince Harry's ex-girlfriend, but has been making a name for herself as an actress in recent years

No worse: Cressida recently remained coy about her two-year romance with Prince Harry, amid rumours she will be invited to his wedding to Meghan MarkleHe's the down-to-earth dad who deals with the rough and tumble of life as a FIFO machinery technician.

But since shooting to fame on Married At First Sight, it appears Telv Williams is now paying closer attention to his looks.

In a video taken by the staff from Manology Medical Spa the 33-year-old can be seen receiving a Botox injection in his forehead.

Ready for his close up! Married At First Sight star Telv Williams, 33, was seen having a Botox injection administered at a Melbourne medical spa last month

The caption for the post read 'Todays client Telvern @telv11 of Married at First Sight came in for his very first #brotox treatment. We think its safe to say he is now converted! @sarahjaneroza'.

It's unclear why 'wife' Sarah was tagged, but she may have accompanied him to the clinic to film his first brush with Botox.

In page's sixty-second video, Telv is seen reclining on a chair as a female cosmetologist prepares to administer a shot of the face-freezing drug.

Taut Telv! The fan favourite is seen reclining on a chair as a female cosmetologist prepares to administer a shot of the face-freezing drug

Beauty is pain! The Married At First Sight star is noticeably nervous, sporting a worried look upon his face as he breathes deeply

The Married At First Sight star is noticeably nervous, sporting a worried look upon his face as he breathes deeply.

However, the father-of-two still manages to retain his sense of humour, joking: 'I was born ready'.

Ever the professional, the woman states: 'We're just relaxing those muscles and stopping those lines from getting deep. It will feel a bit sting-y, that's absolutely normal.'

A wrinkle in time! A fresh-faced Telv recently cuddled up for a photo with stunning 'wife' Sarah

The video cuts off before Telv's reaction, but Daily Mail Australia has reached out to the star to find out whether he is indeed 'converted' to regular doses of the Botox.

The FIFO woker is known for his laid-back lifestyle in Western Australia and expressed apprehension about his 'wife' Sarah's glamorous and cosmopolitan life in Melbourne.

But if his recent trip to the medical spa is anything to go by, it appears Telv is taking quite a liking to his luxe new lifestyle.Advertisement

They have busy putting on an incredibly loved-up display during their sun-soaked holiday to Barbados.

And Olivia Buckland and fiance Alex Bowen flaunt their love once again as they continued their envy-inducing getaway on a catamaran on Friday.

The Love Island beauty, 25, looked absolutely incredible as she slipped her sensational figure into another skimpy bikini as she cosied up her fellow reality TV star beau.

Hot couple: Olivia Buckland and fiance Alex Bowen flaunted their love once again as they continued their envy-inducing Barbados getaway on a catamaran on Friday

Babe: The Love Island beauty, 25, looked absolutely incredible as she slipped her sensational figure into another skimpy bikini

A clear gym bunny, Olivia flaunted the fruits of her labour as she enjoyed yet another sun-kissed day with her other half, her lookalike mother Sarah and pal Nadia Essex.

Her busty assets, toned stomach and lean legs were on full display in the bronze-coloured bikini which boasted tie detailing.

Olivia looked to be in her element as she paraded her inked figure across the shore and on-board the luxury vessel.

A clear gym bunny: Olivia flaunted the fruits of her labour as she enjoyed yet another sun-kissed day with her lookalike mother Sarah and pal Nadia Essex

Sensational: Her busty assets, toned stomach and lean legs were on full display in the bronze-coloured bikini which boasted tie detailing

Bombshell: Olivia looked to be in her element as she paraded her inked figure across the shore

The bombshell's blonde locks were slicked into a casual updo and she opted for just a simple slick of make-up to enhance her pretty features.

While she clearly didn't need a cover up, Olivia draped a white shirt over one shoulder as she topped up her tan.

Alex also looked every inch the hunk as he donned a funky blue printed shirt, which was unbuttoned to expose his toned torso, along with a pair of beige swimshorts.

Beauty: The bombshell's blonde locks were slicked into a casual updo and she opted for just a simple slick of make-up to enhance her pretty features

Summer chic: While she clearly didn't need a cover up, Olivia draped a white shirt over one shoulder as she topped up her tan

Handsome: Alex also looked every inch the hunk as he donned a funky blue printed shirt, which was unbuttoned to expose his toned torso, along with a pair of beige swimshorts

Once on-board, Alex stripped off his shirt as his stunning girlfriend Olivia slapped on some sun-cream on him to protect him from the rays.

The pair were also joined by Olivia's stunning lookalike mother Sarah who cut a stunning figure in a classic black swimsuit.

Olivia and Alex's romance has gone from strength to strength since they left the villa in 2016, with their wedding only six months away.

They met on Love Island in June 2016 and embarked on a whirlwind romance, which saw them get engaged in New York City just before Christmas that year.

The couple readily admit that making their relationship work after the ITV2 show was 'hard work'- but credit their long-lasting romance to the fact they put in the effort to see each other every day after their stint in the villa.

Once on-board: Alex stripped off his shirt as his stunning girlfriend Olivia slapped on some sun-cream on him to protect him from the rays

Like mother, like daughter: The pair were also joined by Olivia's stunning lookalike mother Sarah who cut a stunning figure in a classic black swimsuit

Alex said last year: 'If Olivia has a job I'll go with her, if I have a job she'll come with me. I had a lot of PAs when I first came out.

'But I would spend every night in my own bed. It was such hard work but we made it work, and we're really happy together.

Meanwhile Olivia has been using her Barbados break to give some photo tips to her 1.4million Instagram followers - after they praised her for looking so slim and toned in her sizzling bikini post.

Posting on her Stories on Wednesday, the reality star gave her fans a lesson in angles, captioning a video of herself in another tiny bikini: 'there's no magic tricks. I ain't a magician.

'Angles hunnys, angles. Ok so guys trick for you - tiny waist, big ass sitting down. Thighs do the squishy thing. Get and and you're normal shape.'

Smitten: Olivia and Alex's romance has gone from strength to strength since they left the villa in 2016, with their wedding only six months away

Love story: They met on Love Island in June 2016 and embarked on a whirlwind romance, which saw them get engaged in New York City just before Christmas that year

Helping hand: Olivia struggled with her balance on the vessel

Meanwhile Olivia has been using her Barbados break to give some photo tips to her 1.4million Instagram followers - after they praised her for looking so slim and toned in her sizzling bikini post

Fans originally thought the pair would be the first Love Island couple to tie the knot, but they were pipped to the post by Jess Shears and Dom Lever, who tied the knot in a Valentine's Day ceremony live on Good Morning Britain.

After Jess and Dom's wedding, Olivia appeared to mock their TV nuptials by 'liking' a tweet posted by a fan that read: 'Jess in a bikini & Dom topless getting married on GMB this morning has gotta be the most tragic thing of 2018. Imagine doing whats meant to be the most amazing day of our life dirty like that'

Alex and Olivia have also spoken recently about plans to start a family, after their Love Island co-stars Cara De La Hoyde and Nathan welcomed their first child together.

In an exclusive interview with MailOnline in November Alex joked: 'I want to get her pregnant on our wedding night!'

The couple also revealed plans to film their wedding, so fans would get the chance to see their relationship come full circle after first meeting in the Love Island villa.

She said: 'Were in talks about having our wedding filmed as it would be nice to look back on. People saw us get get together on Love Island so it will complete our love story.'His divorce from socialite Petra Ecclestone has been nothing short of tumultuous.

But it appears as though James Stunt has tied the knot again, as he sported what looked like a wedding ring while enjoying the company of a Petra lookalike at trendy eatery Nobu in Mayfair on Friday night.

The 35-year-old billionaire gold dealer was also seen continuing his bizarre behaviour as he gave out wads of cash to beggars before making calls on a satellite phone.

Has he married? It appears as though James Stunt has tied the knot again, as he sported what looked like a wedding ring while enjoying the company of a Petra Ecclestone lookalike at Nobu in Mayfair on Friday

Finances: The 35-year-old billionaire gold dealer was also seen continuing his bizarre behaviour as he gave out wads of cash to beggars

Living up to his party animal status, James looked to be having the time of his life during the night out.

James proved to be in fantastic company with a mystery blonde who bore a remarkable resemblance to his ex-wife Petra.

The pair were seen puffing away on a cigarette, while enjoying a hearty chatter as he flashed the ring on his wedding finger - fuelling speculation he has tied the knot yet again.

The blonde looked every inch the bombshell as she sported an immaculate blowdry and a glamorous coat of make-up, while dressing her slender figure in an all-black rocker inspired look.

Chatting: James was also seen exiting the property making calls on a satellite phone while holding another one in his hand

In his element: Living up to his party animal status, James looked to be having the time of his life during the night out

Uncanny: James also proved to be in fantastic company with a mystery blonde who bore a remarkable resemblance to his ex-wife Petra

Tied the knot? The pair were seen puffing away on a cigarette, while enjoying a hearty chatter as he flashed the ring on his wedding finger

Stunner: The blonde looked every inch the bombshell as she sported an immaculate blowdry and a glamorous coat of make-up, while dressing her slender figure in an all-black rocker inspired look

This isn't the first time James has been seen with the blonde as he was pictured partying with her in January.

James was then seen accosted by a group of around ten beggars who aggressively begged for money.

Clearly in the mood to do his good deed for the day, he happily handed over a wad of 20 notes while his security team kept a watchful eye over the situation.

Money: James was seen clutching onto wads of 20 notes as he puffed on a cigarette

Making it rain: James was seen accosted by a group of around ten beggars who aggressively begged for money

Helping out: Clearly in the mood to do his good deed for the day, he happily handed over a wad of 20 notes while his security team kept a watchful eye over the situation

Silver lining: The beggars couldn't believe their luck as they followed James down the street

Chatting: He was also seen clutching two sat phones and used one to make a call

James was also seen accosted by a group of around ten beggars who aggressively begged for money.

Clearly in the mood to do his good deed for the day, he happily handed over a wad of 20 notes while his security team kept a watchful eye over the situation.

He was also seen clutching two sat phones and used one to make a call.

These phones in particular connect to satellites and allows users to make phone calls from anywhere in the world. They are mostly untraceable.

Sat phones: These phones in particular connect to satellites and allows users to make phone calls from anywhere in the world. They are mostly untraceable

Casual: James was dressed for comfort during the evening in a blue knit and dark wash jeans

Colourful: He teamed the look with a pair of stylish power blue shoes as he continued the night out

James was dressed for comfort during the evening in a blue knit and dark wash jeans.

Stunt's divorce to ex-wife Petra proved to be incredibly bitter and he also went as far as labelling her billionaire father Bernie Ecclestone an 'evil dwarf' and a 'C-list celebrity'.

Having wed in a lavish, 12 million Italian ceremony in 2011, the couple enjoyed an extraordinarily extravagant life together, splashing out on a 100 million Chelsea mansion and a 123-room, 158 million home in LA.

Bitter: Stunt's divorce to ex-wife Petra proved to be incredibly bitter and he also went as far as labelling her billionaire father Bernie Ecclestone an 'evil dwarf' and a 'C-list celebrity' (pictured together in 2014)

Tumultuous: During a bad-tempered hearing, details of their marriage were laid bare, including hotly disputed allegations that Mr Stunt was abusive, violent and took overdoses

But their marriage hit the rocks, sparking a bitter divorce battle last summer.

During a bad-tempered hearing, details of their marriage were laid bare, including hotly disputed allegations that Mr Stunt was abusive, violent and took overdoses.

The divorce proceedings were not short of controversy and Mr Stunt was even accused of making a 'gun gesture' to Petra's father Bernie Ecclestone at one point.

While no details of the settlement were released, it was reported that James signed a 16 million prenuptial agreement, with Petra also awarded sole custody of the couple's three children in January.

Turning nasty: The divorce proceedings were not short of controversy and Mr Stunt was even accused of making a 'gun gesture' to Petra's father Bernie Ecclestone at one pointShe's the former Bachelorette star who recently revealed a wedding is on the cards for her and beau, Lee Elliott.

And on Saturday, Georgia Love got in some practice for the big day when she attended her sister, Katie Love's nuptials.

The 29-year-old maid of honour took to Instagram to share an adorable childhood snap of the Love sister's in white, floor-length gowns.

Scroll down for video

Bridal dress rehearsal?! Former Bachelorette Georgia Love attends her sister's wedding...after she revealed a wedding is on the cards for her and beau, Lee Elliott

In the snap, the Channel Ten reporter and her sister are seen on the edge of a jetty in lavish white matching dresses.

In the throwback photograph, Georgia and Katie's curly tresses are pulled back with dainty flower combs, as they each hold bouquets, embellished with ribbon.

The reality TV star joked the Love sister's have been rehearsing for their weddings 'for a while'.

'We've been practicing for today for a while,' the Bachelorette beauty wrote in the caption.

We've been practicing for today for a while': The reality TV star joked the Love sister's have been rehearsing for their weddings 'for a while' in the Instagram post

In the latter part of the post, Georgia gushed about her iconic sister's wedding.

'Cannot wait to see you marry your best friend today Kak. May today be everything you (OK, we!) have dreamed of your whole life,' Georgia wrote in the post.

Earlier this week Georgia revealed that a wedding is definitely on the cards for her and dapper Bachelorette star Lee.

She told The Sunday Telegraph's Wellness,'We can see ourselves getting married to each other'.

Going strong! The Bachelorette's Georgia Love, 29, revealed in The Sunday Telegraph's Wellness, that marriage is on the cards with Lee Elliott, 36

'At our ages and stages of life, to have been together for 18 months and to say marriage isn't on the cards is silly,' Georgia said of her romance with Lee, 36.

However, the brunette beauty stated that the couple are in no rush to walk down the aisle.

'We can see ourselves getting married to each other, but it's not something that we're thinking about right now.'

It's a given: 'At our ages and stages of life, to have been together for 18 months and to say marriage isn't on the cards is silly,' Georgia said of her romance with Lee

Georgia also divulged on how much she's grown as a person, since appearing on the dating reality series, saying: 'I've learnt what I can cope with and my strength and resilience.'

The comments come after Lee told NW magazine that he's already starting to prepare for a proposal.

Lee told the publication last year: 'I've already started saving for the ring.'

In no rush: However the Channel Ten reporter stated that the couple are in no rush to walk down the aisle: 'We can see ourselves getting married to each other, but it's not something that we're thinking about right now'

The hunky tradie went on to admit that having been invited to numerous weddings that same year, there's definitely some competition.

'The worst thing is we have so many weddings this year, and all the brides have ridiculous rocks as well, so I'm like 'Oh my gosh!' Lee said at the time.

Georgia chose Lee over Matthew 'Matty J' Johnson on the grand finale episode of 2016's The Bachelorette.

Since then they've become red carpet regulars, often seen packing on the PDA.Lisa Wilkinson has slammed an online advertisement which claims she left Today to start her own skincare company as a 'mixed-race person'.

'This is complete BS! It is a scam. DO NOT hit link & DO NOT give them credit card details,' she tweeted on Saturday.

The journalist left Today for The Project last year after failing to achieve pay parity with her co-host Karl Stefanovic.

'It is a scam!' Lisa Wikinson slams 'BS' online advertisement which claimed she left Today to start her own skincare company as a 'mixed-race person'

Taking to Twitter, Lisa urged her followers to retweet and let others know she was not involved with a skincare company.

'But the dumb-ass quote supposedly from me is priceless: 'If you have a face and your face has skin, [this company] will work for you...As a mixed-race person that is the first thing I made sure of,' she tweeted.

Lisa's Twitter warning comes as ratings for The Project continue to dwindle since her debut in January.

Fake news! Taking to Twitter, Lisa urged her followers to retweet and let others know she was not involved with a skincare company

Struggling: Lisa's Twitter comes as ratings for The Project continue to dwindle since her debut in January

Last week The Sunday Project began with just 227,000 five-city metropolitan viewers.

This contrasts with the 481,000 strong audience which tuned in to watch her first hour on the Channel 10 show in January.

Dwindling: Last week The Sunday Project began with just 227,000 five-city metropolitan viewers

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, Mediaweek editor James Manning said the blame lay with the show's format.

'There does seem to be a reluctance for people to embrace a current affair-style show on Sunday nights, preferring the magazine shows like 60 Minutes and Sunday Night,' he said.

Lisa had previously hosted the Today show for more than 10 years before abruptly quitting in October.They've long been the subject of engagement rumours.

And marriage was on the minds of Bindi Irwin and beau Chandler Powell as they arrived at a wedding in Orlando, Florida last week.

The longtime lovers looked closer than ever as they watched Chandler's brother Cameron tie the knot with his partner Kristin Russell.

Marriage on their minds! Bindi Irwin and her boyfriend Chandler Powell looked closer than ever as they arrived at Chandler's brother Cameron's wedding in Orlando, Florida last week

Bindi beamed as she walked arm-in-arm with her American-born boyfriend, whom she has been dating for three years.

The 19-year-old looked longingly into his eyes as they strolled along outside the ceremony's swanky venue, the Orlando Museum of Art.

Switching out of her trademark khaki uniform, the wildlife warrior stunned in a stylish black frock.

Wedding bells: Bindi beamed as she walked arm-in-arm with her American-born boyfriend, whom she has been dating for more than three years

Will they be next to walk down the aisle? At one point, Bindi was seen tenderly touching Chandler's arm as they strolled in the sunshine

The conservative garment was cut to the knee and featured both long sleeves and floral patterning.

Bindi completed her outfit with a pair of black pumps and a small black handbag.

At one point, she was seen tenderly touching Chandler's arm as they strolled along in the sunshine.

Dapper dude! Chandler appeared to be a member of the groom's party, looking suitably dapper in a black tuxedo

Bindi's beau appeared to be a member of the groom's party, looking suitably dapper in a black tuxedo.

The 21-year-old Florida native, who now primarily lives in Australia, teamed the tux with a blue tie, and wore a flower on the lapel of his jacket.

Meanwhile, it seems Bindi shares a close bond with her boyfriend's parents - Chris and Shannan Powell.

What a stunner! Bindi completed her outfit with a pair of black pumps and a small black handbag

Future father-in-law? Bindi shares a close bond with her boyfriend's parents- Chris and Shannan Powell

The daughter of the late Steve Irwin was seen strolling along on the wedding day with a man thought to be her boyfriend's father.

Bindi appeared deep in conversation with the gent, who may one day become her father-in-law.

Pictures from the day also show a bridesmaid stunning in a simple white dress, while clutching a bouquet of flowers.

Tasteful: Pictures from the day also show a bridesmaid stunning in a simple white dress, while clutching a bouquet of flowers

Chandler was seen getting into the spirit of the day, strolling ahead of the blonde bridesmaid looking happy and confident.

His brother's wedding may have given him some inspiration to pop the question to his famous girlfriend.

Feeling inspired? His brother's wedding may have given Chandler some inspiration to pop the question to his famous girlfriend

The two sparked wedding rumours after Bindi shared a snap to Instagram on Friday that advertised a 'wife-carrying competition' to be held at Australia Zoo.

In the picture, she was seen bring carried on Chandler's shoulders as she sported a big grin across her face.

High-profile romance: The pair have been the subject of engagement rumours in recent monthsBlac Chyna may be forced to give a deposition in the 2015 car crash case involving her vehicle.

Jon Teller, the lawyer for the plaintiffs whose car was struck by the reality star's white BMW three years ago, requested the judge step in to make her talk, TMZ reported.

According to him, Chyna has been dodging the deposition for nine months, and has cancelled or failed to appear at court on at least four occasions.

Court: Blac Chyna may be forced to give a deposition in the 2015 car crash case involving her vehicle (pictured Thursday)

Teller claims they have been trying to work with her reasonably but have been 'stymied' at every stage, and have no lost patience.

Court documents show they are seeking $4,560 for the delays alone.

One of the victims claim that Chyna was in the car at the time of the crash and behind the wheel, which she adamantly denies, according to TMZ.

The 29-year-old still hasn't shared evidence that she was not in the car and at home at the time of the incident, the victim's lawyer Jon Teller told the website.

Knows something: Jon Teller, the lawyer for the plaintiffs whose car was struck by the reality star's white BMW three years ago, requested the judge step in to make her talk

Teller wants to 'poke holes' through Chyna's story at the deposition, set for this week.

Blac Chyna's white BMW was loaned to her friend Paige Addison, star of the show Boss Nails.

Paige was allegedly driving over the speed limit in 2015 in San Fernando Valley when she ran through as stop sign, hitting an SUV.

She reportedly injured to passengers in the SUV she collided with, TMZ reports.

Close: Chyna's white BMW was loaned to her friend Paige Addison, star of the show Boss Nails; (seen with Addison June 2016)

Passengers of the car claim that they 'saw two African American women in mini skirts leaving the BMW at the time of the accident and jumping into another car.'

Paige, who was charged with a felony hit-and-run, later told police that she was driving and Chyna wasn't in the car.

She was hit with the lawsuit in 2016, which named Chyna as well.

Teller told TMZ that his client 'is no longer active' since the accident and may require invasive back surgery.

Her lifestyle has been 'severely curtailed,' TMZ reports.

Teller says due to pain and suffering, the case could be in the million dollar range; his client wants hundreds of thousands for her medical expenses, the website notes.People's deputy Anton Gerashchenko (the People's Front faction) has explained that Kyiv's decision not to allow Russian citizens, except for diplomats, to the territory of Russian diplomatic institutions to participate in the Russian presidential elections on March 18 is dictated by the struggle for Ukraine's Crimea.

"Our position regarding the election of the Russian president in the annexed Crimea is as follows: these elections are illegal, unfair and we will not assist Russia in holding elections in our territory. Therefore it was decided ... that only Russian diplomats will be allowed to the consular diplomatic missions of the Russia Federation in the territory of Ukraine," he said on the air of the 112.ua TV Channel.

The deputy explained that other persons who wish to vote on March 18 can leave for the Russian Federation on the day of voting and vote there.

Gerashchenko stressed that in such a way Ukraine demonstrates its position regarding the non-recognition of the Russian presidential elections in the territory of the occupied Ukrainian Crimea.They started dating back in November of 2017.

And it seems Ariel Winter and Levi Meaden are still going strong, as the couple clung closely to one another during an outing in Los Angeles on Friday.

The 20-year-old Modern Family actress kept her outfit quite simple for the jaunt.

Two of a kind! It seems Ariel Winter and Levi Meaden are still going strong, as the couple clung closely to one another during an outing in Los Angeles on Friday

On top Ariel opted for a plain black long-sleeve shirt with a short zipper down the front.

She paired that with some black leggings which revealed her curvaceous gams.

Black trainers completed her laid-back look.

While she carried an icy beverage and her phone in her right hand, she kept the rest of her belongings in a slim black leather purse with gold chain strap.

Flattering! She paired that with some black leggings which revealed her curvaceous gams

Organized! While she carried an icy beverage and her phone in her right hand, she kept the rest of her belongings in a slim black leather purse with gold chain strap

Her raven locks were parted in the middle, and the 5ft1in star seemed to be mostly make-up free save for a dash of pale rose lipstick.

Boyfriend Levi, 30, kept things just as low-key in terms of his own wardrobe.

The Pacific Rim Uprising actor decided on a denim button up shirt, distressed jeans and some leather high top sneakers with white soles.

Natural beauty! Her raven locks were parted in the middle, and the 5ft1in star seemed to be mostly make-up free save for a dash of pale rose lipstick

Coordinating: The Pacific Rim Uprising actor decided on a denim button up shirt, distressed jeans and some leather high top sneakers with white soles

He also protected his eye with some classic aviator shades, and carried a bottle of water and another object in his left hand.

The couple seemed to be enjoying their time together, with Ariel hanging off her beau's arm at one point.

Ariel and Levi have been inseparable since they started dating in 2016 and things seem to be getting pretty serious for the pair who moved in together back in May.He puts his youthful appearance down to a daily 45 minute moisturising regime.

And Nasser Sultan also knows how to treat himself, enjoying a haircut and a shave following his stint on Married At First Sight.

Nasser's hairdresser Anthony Papaluca shared photos of him giving the 50-year-old a shave and haircut on Friday.

Breakover! Married At First Sight's Nasser Sultan, 50, gets pampered at a hair salon after detailing his 45 minute moisturising regime

The photos showed Nasser kicking back and relaxing as he got a shave and had his hair trimmed.

The Sydney-based personal trainer looked pleased as punch as he showed off the result of their pampering session.

Nasser makes no secret of the lengths he goes to look good, previously revealing he has an extensive skincare regime.

Needed some me time? The photos showed Nasser kicking back and relaxing as he got a shave

Pamper session: Nasser's hairdresser Anthony Papaluca shared photos of him giving the 50-year-old a shave and haircut on Friday

'Day and night [I moisturise],' Nasser told Daily Mail Australia last month. 'Night is the deep one because your face is relaxed. Works better, trust me.'

Despite fan speculation his smooth visage could be down to anti-wrinkle injections, Nasser denied ever getting cosmetic work.

'I swear I have never ever ever had any Botox,' he said. 'I am lucky my mother was so beautiful and my sister was a model.'

Looking good! The Sydney-based personal trainer looked pleased as punch as he showed off his haircut

Split: Matched on Married At First Sight with single mother and model Gabrielle Bartlett, the pair left the show last week after failing to connect on a romantic leve

Matched on Married At First Sight with single mother and model Gabrielle Bartlett, the pair left the show last week after failing to connect on a romantic level.

Gabrielle held a sobbing Nasser in her arms as they made the joint decision to leave the experiment.

'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.Kate Bosworth opted for seventies flair in a Frame jumpsuit to accept the Pioneer Award during day three of the Sun Valley Film Festival in Idaho on Friday.

The 35-year-old actress paired her black belted onesie with a white bell-sleeved blouse and black heels.

Make-up artist Beau Nelson made sure the Long Road Home star had a copper glow and hairstylist Bridget Brager coiffed her wavy ginger locks.

Scroll down for video

Champ: Kate Bosworth opted for seventies flair in a Frame jumpsuit to accept the Pioneer Award during day three of the Sun Valley Film Festival in Idaho on Friday

Kate (born Catherine) had a glass of Stella Artois in front of her as she reflected on her career during the National Geographic-sponsored Salon Series.

Bosworth was specifically being honored her work producing and starring as a detective in her husband Michael Polish's sex-trafficking drama Nona.

'This film means so much to us,' Kate gushed to her 781K social media followers. 'And nothing makes us happier than sharing it with you.'

The 47-year-old Independent Spirit Award-winning director's latest effort marks their sixth film collaboration together.

Groovy: The 35-year-old actress paired her black belted onesie with a white bell-sleeved blouse and black heels

Heterochromia: Make-up artist Beau Nelson made sure the Long Road Home star had a copper glow and hairstylist Bridget Brager coiffed her wavy ginger locks

Q&A: Kate (born Catherine) had a glass of Stella Artois in front of her as she reflected on her career during the National Geographic-sponsored Salon Series

'This film means so much to us': Bosworth was specifically being honored her work producing and starring as a detective in her husband Michael Polish's sex- trafficking drama Nona

'My husband and I heard a story on NPR that spoke to the number of known sex houses in the Los Angeles area,' the Blue Crush alum told Boise Weekly on February 28 of the inspiration.

'It was shocking because some were not so far from our house...It's one of the world's biggest epidemics. For Michael and me, it was important to make a movie that is first and foremost about humanity.'

The Cali-born, Montana-based couple have been inseparable since meeting in 2011.

Aside from Kate's glam squad, the showbiz couple of four years were also joined at the festival by her co-stars Sulem Calderon, Jesy McKinney, and Giancarlo Ruiz.

'Nothing makes us happier than sharing it with you': The 47-year-old Independent Spirit Award-winning director's latest effort marks their sixth film collaboration together

12-year age gap: The Cali-born, Montana-based couple have been inseparable since meeting in 2011

Peace! Aside from Kate's glam squad, the showbiz couple of four years were also joined at the festival by her co-stars Jesy McKinney (L), Giancarlo Ruiz (3-L), and Sulem Calderon (3-R)

Divorced in 2004: Missing Friday was Michael's 19-year-old daughter Jasper (R) - who portrays Marty in Nona - from his five-year marriage to first wife, make-up artist Jo Strettell (L)

Missing Friday was Michael's 19-year-old daughter Jasper - who portrays Marty in Nona - from his five-year marriage to first wife, make-up artist Jo Strettell.

Bosworth later changed into a red caped turtleneck, matching shiny pleated pants, and black pumps for the after-party.

The Time's Up activist sported a sleek bun to better bring attention to her dramatic eye shadow for the film festivities.

The Glamour Mexico cover girl's sighting came nine days after announcing she'll next play Sharon Tate in Polish's fully-authorized biopic, Tate.

'Dancing into the night!' Bosworth later changed into a red caped turtleneck, matching shiny pleated pants, and black pumps for the after-party

Gives good face: The Time's Up activist sported a sleek bun to better bring attention to her dramatic eye shadow for the film festivities

'We will not violate her or exploit her death': The Glamour Mexico cover girl's sighting came nine days after announcing she'll next play Sharon Tate in Polish's fully-authorized biopic, Tate

'Debra is now family': Sharon's younger sister Debra - who was 16 at the time - will co-produce Tate, but she's blasted similar films starring Margot Robbie and Hilary Duff for the 50th anniversary

It centers on the last day of the heavily pregnant 26-year-old who - along with her unborn son (with husband Roman Polanski) - was stabbed 16 times by members of the Manson Family in 1969.

Sharon's younger sister Debra - who was 16 at the time - will co-produce Tate, but she's blasted similar films starring Margot Robbie and Hilary Duff for the 50th anniversary.

Also attending the Sun Valley Film Festival were Jeanne Tripplehorn and Demi Moore, who've both played leading ladies for Michael Douglas (Basic Instinct and Disclosure).She's the Australian model who is known for documenting her life on social media.

And on Saturday Bambi Northwood-Blyth put the spotlight on one of her perky assets.

Taking to Instagram the 27-year-old model shared a photo of her bare breast masked by a strategically placed palm.

Scroll down for video

Peek-a-boob! Bambi Northwood-Blyth pops her breast in a fun-loving Instagram photo... following split from husband Dan Single

'FRIDAY NIGHTS IN!' the lithe beauty captioned her post.

In the snap, the international model beamed as she revealed one of her breasts, by slipping down the thick strap of her party frock, all the while holding a glass of champagne in her left hand.

But brunette beauty barely gave fans a glimpse of her perky assets, maintaining her modesty by placing her hand over her chest.

Such is life: Bambi's peek-a-boob snap comes after her split from the former party-boy Dan Single following four years of marriage

The starlet donned a black Fame and Partners layered tulle dress as she sat with her legs splayed out on an unmade bed.

In the latter half of the Instagram post Bambi revealed her frock has an ethical undercurrent.

'Fame and Partners donates $5 of every sale to Women's Empowerment charities with UN Women' she wrote to her 260,000 Instagram followers.

Bambi's peek-a-boob snap comes after her split from the former party-boy Dan Single, 37, following four years of marriage.

Just yesterday, Bambi put her estranged husband out of her mind when she headed out for a run around Runyon Canyon Park in Los Angeles.

Snapped on the move, the model displayed her incredibly slender waistline in a Nike crop top and skintight leggings to match.

On the heartbreak diet? Bambi Northwood-Blyth showed off her very slender waist in a crop top and leggings on Friday, following Dan Single four-year marriage split

Thanks to her form-fitting leggings, all eyes were on Bambi's slim waistline and slender limbs.

The starlet showed off her natural beauty when she went make-up free and swept her brunette tresses back into a ponytail.

Former flames: The stunning model, 27, has split from Dan Single, 37, following four years of marriage (pictured together)

Jane Magnus, who married Bambi and Dan, confirmed their separation to Daily Mail Australia in January.

The Byron Bay-based event planner told Daily Mail Australia: 'They have split, Dan's in town.'

Daily Mail Australia previously reached out to Bambi and Dan's representatives for comment.

The former high-profile couple were married in a romantic ceremony in 2014 at Coorabella, the same lavish estate Margot Robbie tied the knot with Tom Ackerley in 2016.

'They have split': Jane Magnus (pictured), who married Bambi and Dan, confirmed their separation to Daily Mail Australia in January

The young model became the stepmother to Dan's 10-year-old son Justice from his former flame Pip Edwards.

They jetted off together to London, Miami, California, Colorado, Marrakech, St Tropez, Marseille, Byron Bay and the Gold Coast.

However, the couple faced trying times when Dan fell from the window of the $478-a-night Grand Hotel Armour in Paris in March 2017.

Happier times: Bambi and Dan were married in a romantic ceremony in 2014 at Coorabella (pictured), the same lavish estate Margot Robbie tied the knot with Tom Ackerley in 2016

Dan, who was once estimated to be worth $21 million, set up the page to crowd source $250,000 to 'help fund the hospital bill, rehab bill, early flights home, being unable to make bread and work over the next months and all the incedentals [sic] the family is covering at the moment'.

The page was met with backlash from the public, who labelled it 'disgusting' and 'pathetic' before it was deleted.

Since then, the former flames were not pictured together and in recent months Bambi was seen flying solo without her wedding ring.

In recent days, Dan broke his silence since their split when he hailed Bambi as being an 'inspiration'. He said: 'You inspire someone by being by their side, which she was and why she inspires me to this day.'Hancock is also a fashion model, having walked at New York Fashion Week in 2015

The reality TV star is being held without bail in a Virginia Beach jail

Virginia police allege she was driving the wrong way down a one way street

On November 4 Hancock collided head-on with a male driver who later died

Melissa Hancock, 25, is a regular guest on Little Women: Atlanta

A former reality TV star charged with killing a U.S. Coast Guard technician in a drunken wrong-way collision on a Virginia highway has pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors.

The Virginian-Pilot reports 25-year-old Melissa Hancock on Friday entered pleas of no contest to driving the wrong way and failing to obey a highway sign in connection with the November 4 crash that killed 29-year-old Petty Officer 2nd Class Daniel Dill.

She was fined $150 and given a trial date of May 23 for a felony aggravated DUI manslaughter charge.

Mugshot: Melissa Hancock, a regular guest on Little Women: Atlanta, has pleaded guilty to two counts in fatal DUI wreck

At the time of the crash, Dill was on his way to pick up his wife and friends, who were celebrating her birthday.

Hancock appeared on Lifetime's Little Women: Atlanta, a reality show about women of short stature. She remains jailed without bond.

The reality TV series star collided head-on with Dill while she was driving the wrong way down a one way street in Virginia, according toTMZ.

Virginia state police say the model was arrested and charged with DUI/maiming and driving the wrong way.

Police were called to the crash just after 2am. The driver of the other vehicle, 29-year-old Petty Officer 2nd Class Daniel Dill, was taken to Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital where he later died, according to Wavy.com.

Hancock isn't a main cast member of the Lifetime series which revolves around the lives of several short-stature women in Atlanta and is itself a spinoff of Little Women: LA.

Little women: Hancock is a regular guest of the Lifetime series which revolves around the lives of several short-stature women in Atlanta

Charges filed: TMZ said Hancock is being held without bail in a Virginia Beach jail

Hancock is also a fashion model, having strolled the catwalk at New York Fashion Week in 2015.

That year marked the first time the show featured short stature models.

'Curvy women, six-foot-tall women, four-feet-tall women, we should all have the same opportunity to show what we got,' Hancock told ET in her backstage interview at the show.

Catwalker: Hancock is also a fashion model, having strolled the catwalk at New York Fashion Week in 2015She is both a successful actress and a loving mom.

And on Friday, Amy Adams enjoyed some alone time with husband Darren Le Gallo, as the two headed to Craig's in West Hollywood.

The two coordinated in matching dark looks, with Amy choosing to wear head-to-toe black.

Date night! Amy Adams, 43, enjoyed some alone time with husband Darren Le Gallo, also 43, as the two headed to Craig's in West Hollywood

Amy kept warm in an off-the-shoulder top, layered over a sleeveless tank.

The 43-year-old added a pair of sleek slacks, strappy heels and a chain bag to her look.

Husband Darren, also 43, coordinated with his wife in a dark button-up, blazer, skinny jeans and lace up boots.

Just the right amount of coverage! Amy kept warm in an off-the-shoulder top, layered over a sleeveless tank

Amy and Darren have been together since 2002, after meeting in an acting class the year prior.

In 2008 they got engaged, and welcomed daughter Aviana in May 2010.

In 2015, she and Darren tied the knot in Santa Barbara, California.

Matching: Husband Darren, coordinated with his wife in a dark button-up, blazer, skinny jeans and lace up boots

Currently, Amy has three projects she's focusing on at the moment.

She will star in the HBO TV series, Sharp Objects and the film, Backseat.

She'll also reprise her roles as Giselle in the fantasy comedy, Disenchanted.He's the 'alpha male' groom whose time on Married At First Sight has been mired in scandal-after-scandal.

And now, with the show in its final week, groom Dean Wells appears to have launched himself into more controversy, after a racy night with a number of scantily clad women on Friday.

Speaking exclusively to Daily Mail Australia, an insider who was at the Melbourne nightspot said the reality star was asking girls if they had 'boyfriends,' and 'if they could take him home.'

'He was asking girls if they could take him home': Married At First Sight groom Dean Wells (far left) has been accused of acting sleazy while being a guest at a Melbourne nightclub on Friday night

'Dean was asking staff and girls in the venue if they had boyfriends,' the source alleged, before continuing, 'And if they could take him home.'

During a visit to Empire Night Club in Melbourne, which was aptly named a 'playboy party', the reality star appeared to be surrounded by a bevvy of beauties who wore very skimpy outfits.

Appearing wide-eyed and holding a drink, the creative director looked to be enjoying himself as he hung out with his former love rival Ryan Gallagher, who he was previously at loggerheads with.

Another boys night? An insider who was at the Empire Night Club said the TV groom was asking girls if they had 'boyfriends' and if they would 'take him home'

On the night, both Dean and Ryan appeared to thoroughly enjoy the attention that comes with being a VIP guest at Empire.

The reality stars had a seemingly endless stream of young ladies who were asking for photos with Dean and the tradie, with one eager MAFS fan even planting a kiss on Ryan's cheek.

At the event, Dean also indulged his artistic side during the R'n'B-themed soiree, as he was invited to the main stage to assist the master of ceremonies, with the groom going by the rap name 'Visionz.'

Hey, that's not your wife! The groom, 40, who is a self-professed "feminist" appeared to be having lots of fun while enjoying his night out

It comes after the groom has been under fire from co-stars and fans of Married At First Sight for his treatment of women on the show, particularly his TV wife Tracey Jewel.

Controversially, he started at scandalous love affair with Brisbane bikini model Davina Rankin, only to get cold feet and make a lovingly plan for wife Tracey at the commitment ceremony.

In the latest teaser for the show, Dean and Tracey appear to have a showdown with Dean shown making shocking remarks about his wife's looks.

Enjoying the single life! Former MAFS rivals Dean Wells and Ryan Gallagher got surrounded by young female fans during a boozy nightclub appearance... and 'DJ Visionz' , Dean's alter ego, even hits the decks!

However, it also shows Dean making a tearful bid for his wife, appearing to sob, he says, 'I'm taking this very seriously."

The alpha male continues: 'I now know, that I love you,' as tears stream down his face...'And that I want to grow our future together.'

Tracey can also be seen wiping tears from her eyes, indicating that she's been moved by Dean's grand gesture.

Married At First Sight continues Sunday at 7pm on Channel NineThey are the long-reigning queens of the America's Got Talent judges' panel.

And on Friday, Heidi Klum and Mel B took to Instagram to showcase their talented performance skills.

The two women, who have proven to maintain a close friendship on the show, were seen dancing and singing along to the popular's girl's anthem.

Scroll down for video

Girls just wanna have fun! On Friday, Heidi Klum, 44, and Mel B, 43, took to Instagram to showcase their talented performance skills

Heidi's model height was front and center in a figure-flattering, sparkle silver dress.

The mother-of-four, 44, wore her hair up in a tight, half up-do. The German stunner accessorized with large statement earrings.

Mel, 42, wore a studded, white and silver mini dress. The British beauty wore here curly locks down, and added a shade of bright pink lipstick to her lips.

Living in the moment! The two women, who have proven to maintain a close friendship on the show, were seen dancing and singing along to the popular's girl's anthem

Coordinating: Heidi's model height was front and center in a figure-flattering, sparkle silver dress. Mel wore a studded, white and silver mini dress

Since 2006, the women have both been apart of the America's Got Talent judges table.

Heidi and Mel currently critique alongside Howie Mandel and Simon Cowell. Tyra Banks acts as host, taking over the spot previously held by Nick Cannon.

The show is going into its thirteenth season, with the first episode airing on May 29.

On her way to work! Mel was seen heading to the AGT venue on Friday

On Friday, Mel was seen heading to the AGT venue in Hollywood.

The former Spice Girl appeared to be in good spirits.

This is despite being in the midst of a court battle with her former nanny, Lorraine Gilles.She's the controversial Married At First Sight star who is not afraid to show off her enviable physique.

And Davina Rankin took to her Instagram on Saturday, flaunting a rather angelic look for her upcoming birthday celebrations.

The 26-year-old was seen looking out onto the canals of her hometown in the Gold Coast.

Scroll down for video

Love on the brain? Davina Rankin took to her Instagram on Saturday to flaunt a rather angelic look

Davina showcased her trim and taut figure in a white mini romper that drew attention to her stunning stems.

The stunner wore her luscious locks down and accessorised with a pair of dark round sunglasses.

Davina also added a trendy circular bag, watch and white leopard print slides.

She's back! Davina's pre-birthday snap comes ahead of her triumphant return to Married At First Sight for the show's final cocktail party

The busty bikini model captioned the snap: 'How lucky are we.

'Perfect weather for my extra long - pre birthday weekend/week/month.'

Fans of Davina had nothing but praise, including one who wrote: 'Gorgeous baby.'

Davina's pre-birthday snap comes ahead of her triumphant return to Married At First Sight for the show's final cocktail party.

Trailers of the upcoming explosive episodes promise to be the most dramatic in the show's five seasons.

Shocking revelations: A preview for MAFS' finale week sees Davina's 'affair' with Dean Wells being dug up again

True love? The shocking reveal comes after Dean and Tracey are seen pledging their love for each other

A preview for MAFS' finale week sees Davina's 'affair' with Dean Wells being dug up again.

The whole group are seen reacting in shock, including Dean's 'TV wife' Tracey Jewel who gasps.

Married At First Sight returns to screens on Sunday 18th MarchThe Married At First Sight star bid farewell to his on-screen ex-wife Gabrielle Bartlett last week.

And Nasser Sultan has been frolicking about Sydney's hot spots like a schoolboy on spring break, ever since the duo split ways.

Taking to Instagram to stir the drama pot once more, the reality face shared a snap while holding hands with an unknown 21-year-old woman.

Who now? Married At First Sight's Nasser Sultan has been frolicking about Sydney's hot spots like a schoolboy on spring break

Leading the way and wearing a cheeky grin on his face, the 50-year-old was seen with unknown face Katia Oversby.

The less-than-half-his-age beauty was seen looking equally self-satisfied in the snap, wearing a denim skirt, white top, red hair scarf and chic sunnies to match.

Captioning the post, Nasser wrote: 'Still partying with @katiajulia.'

'Running away with Nasser': Katia too uploaded the snap to her Instagram story, captioning the post in as equally a cryptic way: 'Running away with nasser_mafs'

He added the hash-tags: 'bondibeach', 'lookingood', 'marriedatfirstsight' and 'mafs'.

Most strategically, the fame hog completed the post by also adding the brash hash-tags 'busted' and 'oops'.

While all bets were placed on the two being related either by blood or within a friendship circle, Nasser kept their undisclosed relationship masked, provoking interest when replying vaguely to eager-to-know fans.

Katia too uploaded the snap to her Instagram story, captioning the post in as equally a cryptic way: 'Running away with nasser_mafs'.

From married to mingling! Most strategically, the fame hog completed the post by adding the brash hash-tags 'busted' and 'oops'. Pictured with 'ex-wife' Gabrielle Bartlett

One fan commented: 'Who is this girl?' to which the reality star responded: 'mmm'.

Another commenter wrote: 'It's his daughter'.

To which another replied: 'You would hope so.'

However Nasser told Daily Mail Australia on Saturday: '[She's] someone I met last night at a function and been partying with since.'

A while later, he backtracked on his words, adding: 'To be honest, we just met today. That's all, nothing in it.'The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) has completed an investigation into embezzlement of funds when purchasing engines for Lviv Armor Plant, the press service of the bureau has reported.

According to the NABU, the matter concerns five suspects: the director of Lviv Armor Plant and his deputy, the head of the central armored corps of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the chief of the department of the said administration, as well as the founder of Bullet Line LLC. They are suspected of embezzlement of public funds, while the plant officials are also suspected of forgery.

The report says during the investigation the amount of embezzled funds was clarified: it exceeds UAH 14.15 million.

As reported, in July 2017 the NABU together with the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office detained the persons mentioned. According to the NABU, Lviv Armor Plant under the agreement with the central armored corps of the Ukrainian Armed Forces supplied 40 new V-46-6 tank engines. But during the investigation it was discovered that the engines actually came from a third party and without proper documents. It also turned out that the contract with the company was false, while the engines were used in the past. According to the documents, these engines were sold to enterprises as the surplus property of the Defense Ministry in 2008-2009.She said 'yes' to Tyson Mullane after he proposed to her on bended knee last year.

And it looks like Pia Miller is living it up with her gal pals at a hens night on Saturday.

The 34-year-old, who is preparing to walk down the aisle soon, turned heads in a slinky black slip dress for her friend's bachelorette luxurious cruise on Sydney Harbour.

The sexiest lil hen!' Pia Miller is living it up with her gal pals at a hens night on Saturday. The brunette beauty took to Instagram to share a snap of herself posing up a storm in her saucy ensemble alongside her friend and the bride-to-be (pictured left)

The brunette beauty took to Instagram to share a snap of herself posing up a storm in her saucy ensemble alongside her friend and the bride-to-be.

'The sexiest lil hen @simonemoraitis,' the mother-of-two wrote in the caption and added 'Yea, youre a lucky man @trentg101.'

Fans of the Chilean-born stunner loved her chic Bachelorette party look, including one who simply wrote: 'Looking gorgeous.'

'So stunning. Will miss seeing you on home and away x,' another follower said.

Check out those pins: Pia appeared to be having the time of her life, even taking to her Instagram Story to share a snap of herself showcasing her gorgeous gams in her black swimsuit with a sarong around her waist and a cocktail in hand

Loved up! She said 'yes' to Tyson Mullane after he proposed to her last November

Meanwhile several of her devotees confused her with a brunette version of acclaimed American actress Blake Lively, including one who commented: 'I legit thought that was Blake Lively and she dyed her hair dark.'

Pia appeared to be having the time of her life, even taking to her Instagram Story to share a snap of herself showcasing her gorgeous gams in her black swimsuit with a sarong around her waist and a cocktail in hand.

Tagging another girlfriend in the post she jokingly wrote in the caption: 'Having a horrible time.'

Family: Her night out with friends comes four months after she announced her engagement to filmmaker and macadamia milk entrepreneur Tyson Mullane (pictured right, alongside her sons Isaiah Loyola, centre, and Lennox Miller, left) via Instagram

Her night out with friends comes four months after she announced her engagement to filmmaker and macadamia milk entrepreneur Tyson Mullane via Instagram.

'In a hundred lifetimes, In a hundred worlds, In any version of reality - I'd find you & I'd choose you. Yes today Yes always,' she wrote in the caption of their engagement photo.

Aside from making wedding plans, the former Home And Away star has a big year ahead of her with a role in the Channel Nine crime drama Bite Club with Deborah Mailman, Ash Ricardo and Darcie Irwin-Simpson.He recently defended his controversial 'roasting' of celebrities during his Golden Globes hosting stints.

And Ricky Gervais appeared in good spirits as he took a casual stroll around New York with long-time love Jane Fallon on Friday.

The 56-year-old British funnyman wrapped up against the wintry climes in a leather jacket as he enjoyed his shopping trip around the Big Apple.

Day off: Casual-clad Ricky Gervais enjoyed a stroll in New York with long-term love Jane Fallon....after defending 'roasting' Hollywood's A-list during his Golden Globes hosting duties

Ricky kept it casual, donning a pair of monochrome Adidas joggers and a well-worn sporty trainers.

The Office star rocked a pair of classic black shades against the grey day, with simple black gloves keeping his digits warm.

Kicking some serious scruff, Ricky left his dark locks in their slicked back style as he walked close to Jane.

The 57-year-old author - who has been dating the comedian since 1982 - followed suit for her relaxed ensemble, rocking a navy blue jacket over grey flared joggers.

Relaxed style: Ricky kept it casual, donning a pair of monochrome Adidas joggers and a well-worn sporty trainers

Injecting a pop of colour with her violet trainers, Jane swept her blonde locks up into a high-pony tail leaving no hair out of place.

Their outing comes after Ricky reflected on why some of Hollywoods A-list didn't get his jokes when he hosted the Golden Globes.

Ricky - who appeared on Tuesday's edition of Lorraine - hosted the 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2016 Awards and took the opportunity to critique some of the great and good of tinsel town, but believed that the Hollywood crowd weren't used to his blunt, British sense of humour.

Controversial: Ricky reflected why some of Hollywood's A-list didn't get his jokes, admitting that they weren't used to his blunt, British sense of humour

The Derek star insisted there was no harm in teasing the 'richest, most beautiful people in the world' and said they shouldn't be off limits.

Ricky explained: 'People are always going to be offended. I think they were taken aback by it in America, they're not used to the type of roasting we do here!'

'If you can't tease the richest, most beautiful people in the world, who can you tease? By the end they sort of got it and lightened up a little bit.'

Ricky insisted that he's the first to poke fun of himself, saying, 'I'm often the butt of the joke'. The comedian insisted that he's the first to poke fun of himself, saying, 'I'm often the butt of the joke'.

Host with a difference: The star's stint hosting the Golden Globes was met with a mixed reaction in 2010 and again in 2016

Not bothered: Appearing on Tuesday's edition of Lorraine, Ricky explained: 'People are always going to be offended'

In the hot seat: The Office star chatted to presenter Lorraine Kelly on the show

'You should be able to make jokes about anything, but it depends what the joke is, he said.'

'I talk about my wife Jane and my family in [my one man] show as well.'

Discussing fan favourite character David Brent from The Office, Ricky didn't rule out the idea of returning as the hapless manager one more time.

Tongue-in-cheek: Ricky insisted that he's the first to poke fun of himself, saying, 'I'm often the butt of the joke'

Roasting: The comedian insisted there was no harm in teasing the 'richest, most beautiful people in the world' and said they shouldn't be off limits

He insisted: 'If you can't tease the richest, most beautiful people in the world, who can you tease? By the end they sort of got it and lightened up a little bit.'

'I don't think I can do anything that big again, a series or a big film,' the star said.

'But I did really enjoy doing the gigs, what I might do is record one of the concerts David plays, just to put it all to bed. We're all like David Brent, we all want to be loved and make a fool of ourselves!'

Ricky hit international headlines in 2010 for his controversial gags surrounding members of the Hollywood elite when hosting the Golden Globes, and again when he hosted in 2016.

Sipping on a beer at the podium, the comedian said in 2010: 'I like a drink as much as the next man unless the next man is Mel Gibson,' making reference to Mel's drink driving conviction in 2006.

Back for another round? Reflecting upon fan favourite character David Brent from The Office, Ricky didn't rule out the idea of returning as the hapless manager one more time

He said: 'I did really enjoy doing the gigs, what i might do is record one of the concerts David plays, just to put it all to bed'

Then in 2016, the pair shared the stage and traded barbs, with Mel visibly annoyed.

As Mel took to the podium to present an award, Ricky interrupted and said: 'What the f*** does sugart**s even mean?'

After being pulled over by a female police officer at the time of his DUI, the Braveheart actor had reportedly quipped: 'What do you think you're looking at, sugart**ts?'

When Ricky signed off at the end of the show - in reference to Mel's offensive anti-Semitic comments in the past - he said: 'From myself and Mel Gibson, Shalom.

Mel later told the Sydney Morning Herald: 'I remember after the last experience with Ricky, I wanted to strangle him'.

Onstage clash: Mel Gibson said of Ricky's jokes at his expense, 'I remember after the last experience with Ricky, I wanted to strangle him'



They tied the knot with a private wedding in October last year.

And Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender put on a loving display as they enjoyed a casual lunch at private members' club Soho House in West Hollywood on Friday afternoon.

The Tomb Raider actress, 29, cut a conventionally chic figure in a monochrome blazer as she enjoyed an intimate stroll with her dapper husband, 40.

Low-key: Alicia Vikander put on a loving display with her husband and actor Michael Fassbender as they enjoyed a casual lunch at the Soho House in West Hollywood on Friday afternoon

The Swedish star teamed her statement outerwear with a plain white top, ankle-grazing bottoms and a pair of pointed suede shoes.

Injecting a hint of glamour into her look, the Oscar-award winning actress framed her face with leopard-print sunglasses and carried a beige handbag.

The screen starlet wore her brunette tresses in an effortless updo as she walked beside her partner Michael.

Trendy: The Tomb Raider actress, 29, cut a conventionally chic figure in a monochromatic blazer as she enjoyed an intimate stroll with her dapper husband, 40

The 300 star was decked out in navy attire, as he donned a sharp blazer, form-fitting trousers, and a pair of matching suede brogues.

Looking every inch the hunk, the actor wore square-framed sunglasses and sported a slightly fuzzy beard.

This rare display comes after the beauty discussed her autumn nuptials in an interview with Marie Claire, where she confessed her friends hilariously kidnapped her before her bachelorette party.

Alicia said: 'I was there [Paris Fashion Week] for the Louis Vuitton show and suddenly got a text that says: "Go out. We need you right now." They kidnapped me for 24 hours!'

After dating for three years, Alicia and Michael married in Spain in October last year and then honeymooned in Italy.

Her latest movie Tomb Raider sees her taking over the role from Angelina Jolie in the role of Lara Croft, the fiercely independent daughter of a missing adventurer.

Fierce: Her latest movie Tomb Raider sees her taking over the role from Angelina Jolie (right) in the role of Lara Croft, the independent daughter of a missing adventurer

In the action-packed flick, she must push herself beyond her limits when she finds herself on the island where her father disappeared.

Speaking about the lack of leading female actresses, she admitted in the recent interview with the publication: 'I think it's an interesting time now, because, sadly even if there are some stories being highlighted with female leads, it's still  you know, I did five films in a row where I was the lead, and I didn't have another woman to work with.'

'It was still just men in it, even though they had a female lead. So being an actress wanting to work with women? It's an exciting time now, because I think the awareness will bring a change.'Shooting is well underway in Yorkshire for gripping political drama Official Secrets.

And star of the movie Keira Knightley was seen filming new scenes on Friday, make-up free, portraying the real-life British whistle-blower Katharine Gun.

Shooting what appeared to be wedding scenes, Keira slipped her tiny frame into a white corset top and skirt and wore a pale blue pashmina to keep away the March chill.

Get me to the church on time: Make-up free Keira Knightley flashes her lean shoulders and cuddles up to co-star Adam Bakri as they shoot wedding scenes outside a church on the set of Official Secrets in Yorkshire

She cuddled up to her co-star Adam Bakri, who wore a matching coloured suit and a flower at his lapel. The handsome actor was seen planting a loving kiss onto Keria as she grinned girlishly.

In other candid snaps, things seemed to be a lot more serious as she was seen exiting a quaint village cottage, her long brunette locks falling around her make-up free features.

The star has been given an understated makeover for her role in the project, which also features Ralph Fiennes, Matthew Goode and Matt Smith.

Warming up: Shooting what appeared to be wedding scenes, Keira slipped her tiny frame into a white corset top and skirt and wore a pale blue pashmina to keep away the March chill

On set: The handsome actor was seen planting a loving kiss onto Keira as she grinned girlishly

She wore a thick polo-neck jumper and a coat as she stepped cross the road to meet Adam who was also dressed down for the scene.

The pair looked sombre for this sequence, perhaps a little more in keeping with the theme of the film.

Katherine Gun leaked information to the press about an illegal NSA spy operation designed to push the UN Security Council into sanctioning the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Stepping out: The Hollywood star cut a low profile in a navy wool coat and jeans

Understated: The star was given an understated makeover for her role in the project, which also features Ralph Fiennes, Matthew Goode and Matt Smith

True story: Official Secrets tells the true story of a British whistleblower who leaked information to the press

Gun was a former Mandarin-language translator at the British intelligence agency GCHQ in Cheltenham.

When The Observer broke the story, Gun was arrested and charged under the Official Secrets Act, causing public backlash.

Her trial took place in early 2004, but authorities soon dropped the case.

Whistleblower: Keira plays Katharine Gun, a former Mandarin-language translator at the British intelligence agency GCHQ in Cheltenham

Public furore: Gun was arrested and charged under the Official Secrets Act, causing public backlash

Case closed: Her trial took place in early 2004, but authorities soon dropped the case

She was famously backed by famous faces including actor Sean Penn.

Directed by Gavin Hood, the fill is based on the book The Spy Who Tried to Stop a War: Katharine Gun and the Secret Plot to Sanction the Iraq Invasion.

Fiennes is portraying Gun's barrister Ben Emmerson and Goode is set to plat Peter Beaumont, one of the journalists who broke the story.She's currently vacationing with Love Island success story Olivia Buckland and Alex Bowen in Barbados.

But what is meant to be a tropical, relaxing getaway with pals seems to be turning sour for Lady Nadia Essex, who had to step away from the cocktails and sun loungers to take an extremely fraught phone call on Friday.

The blonde love guru - famed for her role on E4 series Celebs Go Dating - flaunted her curvaceous frame in a two-piece bikini as she ranted on the phone in what seemed like an extremely terse argument.

Celebs Go Ranting! Lady Nadia Essex took time away from flaunting her curves on her idyllic Barbados holiday to make a FURIOUS phone call on the beach on Friday

Clearly giving someone a piece of her mind, Nadia, 36, was seen turning the air blue as she had a stern word with the mystery caller.

It's likely that the TV personality was having a conversation about the situation back home regarding Celebs Go Dating co-host Eden Blackman.

The state of the reality matchmaking show is in limbo at the moment, after scandalous claims came out surrounding Eden, leading to an alleged feud between the pair.

Sources had previously hinted to MailOnline that Nadia is 'fuming' over the situation. MailOnline have contacted the star for comment.

Perfect curves: The blonde love guru - famed for her role on E4 series Celebs Go Dating - flaunted her curvaceous frame in a two-piece bikini

Fuming: Clearly giving someone a piece of her mind, Nadia, 36, was seen turning the air blue as she had a stern word with the mystery caller

The fourth season of Celebs Go Dating - which featured the likes of Ollie Locke, Gemma Collins and Mike Thalassitis - proved a hit with fans of the show. But the apparent rumblings behind-the-scenes between Nadia and Eden have thrown a spanner in the works.

Eden was accused last month of cheating on his girlfriend of a year and a half, supposedly found out to have been secretly seeing Kim Kardashian lookalike Chanelle Sadie Paul, who he met when she starred as a contestant on the show in a previous season.

She told The Sun: 'I'm absolutely gutted, I'm so angry. People need to know he's a bullsh***er, why would you go and be a dating agent and then lie like this?'

In the dog house? It's likely that the TV personality was having a conversation regarding the situation back home regarding Celebs Go Dating co-host Eden Blackman

Drama: The fourth season of Celebs Go Dating proved a hit with fans of the show. But the apparent rumblings behind-the-scenes between Nadia and Eden have thrown a spanner in the works

Cancelled? The state of the reality matchmaking show is in limbo at the moment, after scandalous claims came out surrounding Eden, leading to an alleged feud between the pair

It also transpired that Eden had allegedly 'tried it on' with others on the show.

In wake of the drama, which has apparently caused a personal and professional fall out between Eden and Nadia, he was said to have body shamed his co-star in a cruel Instagram post.

Remarking on the Celebs Go Dating season finale, he wrote: 'Its very easy to totally get a finale outfit wrong, try too hard, mix up your fashions and end up looking utterly ridiculous.

'I think the celebs have done a great job of knowing their shape and what looks good on themI hope Ive done the same.'

Many took this to mean he was digging at Nadia, choosing instead to reference 'the celebs' and not his co-star.

Shade? In wake of the drama, which has apparently caused a personal and professional fall out between Eden and Nadia, he was said to have body shamed his co-star in a cruel Instagram post

Girls, interrupted: Getaway: She's currently vacationing with Love Island success story Olivia Buckland and Alex Bowen in Barbados

An insider told The Sun: 'Nadia and Edens feud is getting worse and it was so awkward by the end of the finale. Everyone was so happy for a break.

'Bosses are worried the show wont be commissioned for a fifth series because of everything thats gone on between them  and because of the negativity thats been surrounding Eden.

'Nadia and Eden need to make up and sort it out to keep bosses happy.'

Judging by Nadia's phone exchange, this might not happen any time soon.He never disappoints when it comes to putting on a rock star performance with his band, Thirty Seconds To Mars.

And Jared Leto went the extra mile at their Rome show on Friday night, when he pulled a fan onto the stage and gave her a hug.

Dressed in a gold and black striped suit, the former My So Called Life actor was seen hugging a delirious pink-haired Italian reveler, before continuing on with the set.

When in Rome! Jared Leto welcomed a female fan on stage and gave her a hug as he put on a typically energetic performance with Thirty Seconds To Mars in Italy on Friday

Black and gold: The former My So Called Life actor was seen hugging a delirious pink-haired Italian reveler, before continuing on with the set

The long-haired star, 46, belted out his band's hits in the eye-catching get-up, which also featured a baggy rocker tee and over-sized aviator shades .

He was joined on stage, as always, by his brother on drums, Shannon, and their guitarist Tomo Milicevic.

The band's current tour has been christened The Monolith Tour, with the group currently doing the rounds of Europe.

The next few weeks will see them visit Germany, the UK, Portugal, Spain and Finland, amongst other countries. The group will release their fifth studio album next month on April 6.

New material: The group will release their fifth studio album next month on April 6

The whole package: He was joined on stage, as always, by his brother on drums, Shannon, and their guitarist Tomo Milicevic

It's their first since 2013's Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams and it's name has yet to be revealed by the group.

The record's artwork has been unveiled, however, and it's available for pre-order. Fans know that it will include tracks Dangerous Night and Walk on Water, which have already been released.

The track-listing is said to feature 12 new songs and the group launch the official album tour in North America over the summer.

Jared previously told Sky News: 'I would expect to be surprised, the album is very different. I thought it was a really important time to tell the story of who we are, what kind of country we live in, who do we want to be, so I think it's going to be a fascinating look at what's going on in America right now.'

Stand out star: The long-haired star, 46, belted out his band's hits in the eye-catching get-up, which also featured a baggy rocker tee and over-sized aviator shades

Busy boy: This month saw his new movie, The Outsider, released on Netflix. Jared acted as a producer on the project, as well as the star of it

Jared, who juggles his music career with his acting one, was last seen in Blade Runner 2049, last year.

This month also saw his new movie, The Outsider, released on Netflix.

Jared acted as a producer on the project, as well as the star of it, and appeared alongside the likes of Rory Cochrane, Shiori Kutsuna, Emile Hirsch, and Kippei Shiina.

The movie follows an American who becomes a member of the Japanese yakuza, but was the victim of generally unfavorable reviews from critics (albeit more positive responses from audiences).He jetted off to Dublin ahead of the global celebration of St Patrick's Day earlier this week.

So it's no wonder Mark Hamill was filled with joy as he watched a parade for the annual festivities with his wife of 40 years, Marilou York in the capital of Ireland on Saturday afternoon.

Shortly before his exuberant display, the Star Wars icon, 66, looks worlds away from typically sharp appearance as he was spotted as he was spotted leaving RTE's St Patrick's Late Late Show on Friday evening.

Beaming: Mark Hamill was filled with joy as he watched a St Patrick's Day parade with his wife Marilou York in the capital of Ireland on Saturday afternoon

Clearly in high spirits, the screen star cut a dapper figure in a camel coat, teamed with a blue checked scarf and a flat cap.

His glamorous partner, 63, wrapped up against the winter chill in a sophisticated black coat, adorned with fluffy collars.

The pair both wore shamrock broaches in celebration of the special occasion.

The sweet couple have been married since 1978, and share three children together, Nathan, 39, Griffin, 34, and Chelsea, 29.

The night before! The Star Wars icon, 66, looks worlds away from typically sharp appearance as he was spotted as he was spotted leaving RTE's St Patrick's Late Late Show on Friday evening

Giddy: Clearly in high spirits, the screen star cut a dapper figure in a camel coat, teamed with a blue checked scarf and a flat cap

Rubbing shoulders: Mark met President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins during the parade

Proud: Mark proudly showed off his shamrock broach while enjoying the parade

Just the night before, the voice actor looked a tad bit unkempt as he left RTE's St Patrick's Late Late Show.

Clad in a khaki jumper and black blazer, the award-winning star appeared to be in a hurry following the live show.

Joining presenter Ryan Tubridy in the studio, Mark was also in the company of Irish actor Liam Cunningham and the editor of Glamour magazine Samantha Barry.

Friendly: The chirpy star looked happy as he posed with a child dressed in St Patrick's Day gear

Funny: The star worked the crowd with his animated poses

Off he goes! Just the night before, the voice actor looked a tad bit unkempt as he left RTE's St Patrick's Late Late Show

Animated: Clad in a khaki jumper and black blazer, the award-winning star appeared to be in a hurry following the live show

Mark recently surprised fans at the SXSW Film Festival when he turned up alongside Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson on Monday.

The actor, who plays iconic character Luke Skywalker, appeared at the Paramount Theatre in Austin, Texas, much to his fans' delight.

The Hollywood Reporter shared that they are both set to appear in a new documentary about the film, which is to be directed by Anthony Wonke.

Nice to meet you! Mark was spotted shaking hands with Ireland's President Michael D. Higgins and his wife SabinaShe's previously been vocal about her opposition to gun violence.

And Charlize Theron continued to talk candidly about her feelings towards the sensitive issue as she addressed an audience at the Global Education and Skills Forum held in Dubai on Saturday.

The 42-year-old South African actress wore a demure scarlet ensemble for the conference, with an elegant navy-accented necktie.

'It's so outrageous to me': Charlize Theron put on a demure display in a sophisticated crimson ensemble as she addressed U.S school gun violence during a conference in Dubai on Saturday

The geometric pleated skirt draped down to the floor, giving a glimpse of her tan leather toe-capped boots underneath.

The Oscar winner teamed her smart sartorial choices with hints of metallic gold from her chandelier earrings and rings.

Matching her outfit to her lipstick perfectly, Charlize styled her signature blonde locks with a pin straight do with a sophisticated middle parting to ensure no hair was out of place.

Charlize commanded attention in the forum as she openly discussed why gun violence is such an important issue to her.

Command attention: The Oscar winner teamed her smart sartorial choices with hints of metallic gold from her chandelier earrings and rings

Talking about the recent U.S school shootings, Charlize said the idea of arming teachers or 'adding more guns' to the situation is 'so outrageous.'

She said: 'I just don't understand when people try to make the conversation, the argument that the fix is more guns. It is so outrageous to me.'

Charlize pleased that people should 'listen to our kids' to solve the problem, speaking just after three students talked about the February 14 Florida school shooting that killed 17 people.

In charge: Matching her outfit to her lipstick perfectly, Charlize styled her signature blonde locks with a pin straight do with a middle parting to ensure no hair was out of place

The Mad Max: Fury Road actress has had personal experience with gun violence within her own family, telling the audience about her traumatic experience with her father's death.

In 1991, Charlize - then 17 - was home from boarding school when her mother Gerda was forced to shoot her husband Charles in self defense after he abused and threatened the pair, drunkenly wielding a gun as he came after them.

The South African authorities did not charge Gerda with any offence and the mother and daughter remain very close.

It's not the first time Charlize has address the issue with those close to her, as she reportedly convinced former fiance Sean Penn, 57, to melt down the 65 firearms he owned back in 2014.Coronation Street legend Bill Roache has been seen for the first time since his daughter Vanya died tragically earlier this month, aged only 50, from liver failure.

The soap stalwart, 85, was seen at a post office in Alderley Edge, Cheshire on Saturday, as he naturally seemed downcast and stoic following his heartache.

Despite being told to 'take as much time as he needs' away from work, Bill has already resumed filming his role of Ken Barlow. He was granted compassionate leave following the death of his eldest daughter, which left him 'utterly heartbroken'.

Throwing himself back into routine: Despite being told to take 'as much time as he needs' away from work, after his daughter's death, Bill Roache has already resumed filming his role of Ken Barlow on Coronation Street

Keeping things low-key, the octogenarian appeared to be holding himself together after his earth-shattering news.

Bill has starred in the soap since it premiered on British screens in 1960. He was in the very first episode of what was only meant to be an 11-week series.

ITV told him not to rush back, but a mere 10 days later and he has thrown himself straight back into things.

On-set sources told The Sun that his first scenes, since his return, have featured Ken 'meeting' his new baby granddaughter.

Distraction: Despite being told to take 'as much time as he needs' away from work, Bill has already resumed filming his role of Ken Barlow on Coronation Street

A sad loss: Vanya, who was 50 when she died, is pictured with the late Anne Kirkbride, who played Deirdre Barlow in Coronation Street

'Bill made it clear he wanted to be back at work, hes a total professional even after nearly 60 years on the show,' the insider said.

'But everyone was keen to make sure he is well looked after, and give him all the support they can to help with his transition back.

'The executives have told him to take a break whenever, but it was a lovely first day back on set because the story-line was really heart-warming with the new baby on set. He seems okay, and loved working with his new on-screen granddaughter.'

Taken too soon: Bill, pictured with Vanya (centre), is said to be 'heartbroken' and is understood to have been told to take 'as long as required' away from work

This is the third major loss to hit Bill in his life. His second wife Sara Mottram, 58, died suddenly in 2009. The couple had been hit by tragedy in 1983 when their daughter Edwina died from bronchial pneumonia, aged just 18 months.

Vanya, who was his eldest daughter and from his first marriage to Anna Cropper, passed away on March 2. She was know as Varn to friends, and leaves behind her fiance Toby, who she lived with in Chichester, West Sussex.

Toby confirmed her death and said that it 'happened very quickly'. He said: 'We are very private people, all the family are and so we don't really want to speak about it. Vanya was a nice person, a lovely person.

'It was a liver failure that she died of, it happened very quickly. But I don't really want to talk about it, we're very private people.'

Tragic: Vanya, who was know as Varn to friends, leaves behind her fiance Toby, who she lived with in Chichester, West Sussex. She is pictured with father Bill and brother Linus in 1970

In August 2017 Vanya made reference on social media to spending a short spell in hospital due to low potassium levels and low blood pressure - and so it's thought she had been living with a condition for some time.

Bill and his daughter previously fell out when his marriage to her mother broke down because of his infidelity.

In 1999, Bill was declared bankrupt and Vanya, then 32, was interviewed by the Sunday Mirror about her father's financial woes, which arose from a libel case against The Sun.

Vanya explained that she hadn't spoken to her father for 20 years after he'd 'walked out on the family'.

Feud: Vanya explained that she hadn't spoken to her father for 20 years after he'd 'walked out on the family' Bill is pictured as Coronation Street's Ken Barlow in 1961

She said: 'I don't feel sorry for him at all about this bankruptcy business after he walked out on us. I'm sure as ever he'll manage to land on his feet again and be OK.

'I've lost count of the years since we last spoke. I'm not bothered what happens to him. We have nothing to do with each other after what went on in the past.'

Opening up about their rift, Bill explained: 'She has drifted off in another direction. I would rather not talk about unhappiness because I have such a happy family now

'She is there, but unapproachable. I never wanted to be a bad husband or a bad father but sometimes things go wrong.'

THE DRAMATIC LIFE OF BILL ROACHE Ster leaving the Army aged 26 Bill decided to give acting a go, the desire to become an actor 'burning away in me', he said December 9 1960 - Young actor William Patrick Roache stars in the first episode of a new TV show, Coronation Street, scheduled for an 11-week run. February 1964 - First child, son Linus, is born with actress wife Anna Cropper - but the marriage begins to falter. 1969 - First marriage at an end, Roache later admits having a series of relationships with other women. 1970 - He meets second wife, Sara Mottram, they marry eight years later and Roache says he remained 'absolutely faithful' to her. 1981 - The couple have a daughter, Verity. 1984 - Second daughter, Edwina, dies aged 18 months of bronchial pneumonia, son James born a year later. 2001 - Roache given MBE after completing 40 years on Coronation Street. 2009 - Second wife Sara dies suddenly, aged 58, from a heart condition. 2010 - Roache becomes the world's longest-serving television actor in a continuous role. 2012 - Celebrity child sex scandals break in the wake of the deaths of Sir Jimmy Savile and Sir Cyril Smith. March 2013 - Roache's alleged rape victim becomes the first woman to contact police after discussing the Savile and Smith scandals with her son. May 1 2013 - Police swoop on Roache's house to arrest him on the rape allegations. The news prompts four more women to make allegations. June 2013 - Roache is re-arrested and interviewed over the new accusations. January 14 2014 - Roache goes on trial charged with two counts of rape and five counts of indecent assault. February 6 2014 - After 5 hours and 59 minutes of deliberation a jury at Preston Crown Court finds Roache not guilty of all charges. Advertisement

Family: He had married Anna Cropper while both were acting in Nottingham and they shared time between a flat in Primrose Hill, London, where most acting jobs came up, and a bungalow in Lancashire near his Manchester workplace. Pictured: Bill, his first wife Anna with son Linus and daughter Vanya

In love: He met his second wife Sara Mottram in 1971 and from then on was 'totally and absolutely faithful' he said, the couple marrying in 1978. They are pictured left in 1980 and right in 2003

The same newspaper article described Vanya as a 'vivacious and outgoing' person who enjoyed 'nights out on the town' with her then-boyfriend, a builder called Robbo.

At the time she worked as a part-time waitress and lived in a small three-bedroom house in East Wittering, near Chichester.

Father and daughter were eventually reconciled and Vanya supported the star when he was tried for rape and sex abuse charges in 2014.

'My beautiful family, wonderful father and a very happy and truthful day,' she wrote on Facebook after his acquittal.

Troubles: Another low came in 1990 when he sued The Sun for libel over claims he was hated by his fellow cast members and was as 'boring and smug' as Ken Barlow

Happier times: In May 2001 he was awarded the Member of the British Empire for services to TV dramaParis Hilton has a way of turning every holiday into an opportunity to flaunt her incredible figure.

And St Patrick's Day was no exception.

The 37-year-old DJ posted two very amusing photos to Instagram where she was clad in come-hither attire while playing up the SPD theme.

We're green with envy: Paris Hilton has a way of turning every holiday into an opportunity to flaunt her incredible figure. And St Patrick's Day was no exception

In one image she had on a green bikini top with Juicy sweatpants.

There was a rainbow in front of her with butterflies fluttering about.

In another image the Simple Life star has on a white shirt with a green miniskirt and go-go boots as she carries a pot of gold.

The fiancee of Chris Zylka wrote in her caption, 'Wishing you all a very #HappyStPatricksDay.'

Golden girl: In another image the Simple Life star has on a white shirt with a green miniskirt and go-go boots as she carries a pot of gold

St Patrick's Day is one of Hollywood's favorite holidays because it gives stars a good excuse to pull out that old green outfit and make an Instagram post.

On Saturday it was Big Little Lies star Reese Witherspoon who was first to his social media with her little message.

The Wild actress put on a green Draper James dress to wish her fans good cheer.

Cute look: Reese Witherspoon wore green on St Patrick's Day on Saturday, but it looks like her dog stole the photo

Lucky gal: Naomi Campbell went the sex kitten route as she shared a racy photo where she had on only green lace lingerie

'Green drink, green dress. Its only right. Cheers to #StPatricksDay!' wrote the Oscar winning actress.

She looked lovely in her dress, which she designed herself. She also held up a glass of green liquid.

The siren is currently in the movie Wrinkle In Time with Oprah and Mindy Kaling.

Her little ones: Jessica Simpson went another route by sharing a photo of her two children Ace Knute and Maxwell Drew

Kooky: Downey also had some fun on the annual holiday. The Iron Man actor wore a green bodysuit with white three leaf clovers all over it as he hugged a tree in a massive back yard

Naomi Campbell went the sex kitten route as she shared a racy photo where she had on only green lace lingerie.

Mean Girls vet Lindsay Lohan added a Patty's Day filter on her photo,

And new mom Kylie Jenner showed off the meal she had cooked for friends; it appeared to be breakfast with donuts.

Jessica Simpson went another route by sharing a photo of her two children Ace Knute and Maxwell Drew.

Staying busy: Mean Girls vet Lindsay Lohan added a Patty's Day filter on her photo; on the right Kylie Jenner showed off the meal she had cooked for friends

Downey also had some fun on the annual holiday.

The Iron Man actor wore a green bodysuit with white three leaf clovers all over it as he hugged a tree in a massive back yard.

White high tops finished off the zany look.

In the mood for green: Kourtney Kardashian shared this image of green balloons as she wished her brother a happy 31st birthday

Bette Midler sent out a cute tweet that said: 'Top o' the mornin' to ya!'

And Kourtney Kardashian shared an image of green balloons as she wished her brother a happy 31st birthday.

Tori Spelling, who seems to be having some personal problems lately, posed in her kitchen.

She added, 'Happy #stpatricksday You know we love to celebrate holidays in our house. When my kiddos woke up I made them a #gogreen, breakfast! Green scrambled eggs w/ veggie white cheddar cheese ( best melting one) and green gluten free French toast coated in #lucky charms of course! ( just place in a bag and then smash them up with a tenderizer or rolling pin), sliced kiwi, and a green smoothie ( all fruit and veggies ( dont tell them) with some vanilla almond milk, and  as a natural thickener). Yum yum yum!'

Chef, 90210: Tori Spelling, who seems to be having some personal problems lately, posed in her kitchen

Good stuff: She added, 'Happy #stpatricksday You know we love to celebrate holidays in our house. When my kiddos woke up I made them a #gogreen, breakfast! Green scrambled eggs w/ veggie white cheddar cheese ( best melting one)'

Ryan Seacrest, who has been accused of sexual abuse, also sent out a note on social media.

Jessica Biel shared a clip where she was dancing on SPD.

Saint Patrick's Day is also called the Feast of Saint Patrick or the Day of the Festival of Patrick.

According to wikipedia, it is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (c. AD 385461), the foremost patron saint of Ireland.

Goofy gal: Jessica Biel shared a clip where she was dancing on SPD

'The day commemorates Saint Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland, and celebrates the heritage and culture of the Irish in general,' it was added by the site.

It was also explained: 'Historically the Lenten restrictions on eating and drinking alcohol were lifted for the day, which has encouraged and propagated the holiday's tradition of alcohol consumption.'

Saint Patrick's Day is a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador (for provincial government employees), and the British Overseas Territory of Montserrat.

Still having fun: Ryan Seacrest, who has been accused of sexual abuse, also sent out a note on social media

A little cartoon: Ellen DeGeneres shared this photo with three white catsShe was left reeling following the news of her cousin Kat Slater's death.

And EastEnders' Stacey Fowler's grief will bring her closer to her estranged husband Martin, as they share a passionate kiss in scenes set to air next week.

Stacey (Lacey Turner) will struggle to cope after Mo Harris (Laila Morse) returned to Albert Square to reveal Kat's (Jessie Wallace) death, though fans are aware that this is actually a ruse leading up to the character's explosive return.

Reunited: EastEnders' Stacey Fowler will share a shock kiss with estranged husband Martin next week as she struggles to cope with news of Kat Slater's death

Stacey will be comforted by Martin (James Bye) next week as she prepares for Kat's funeral, after weeks of the couple being at odds.

Martin broke off their marriage following the news that Stacey had slept with her former flame Max Branning before Christmas, with the couple since embroiled in a bitter custody battle over their daughter Hope.

But it seems Stacey's grief leads her and Martin back together as she apologises after angrily throwing him out, and as he offers his moral support the estranged couple share a passionate kiss.

Struggling: Stacey and Martin share the moment after she lashes out at him in her grief around Kat's death, but after apologising the estranged couple share their romantic moment

Fans will have to wait and see whether this puts the fan favourite pair on a path to a reunion, as the Walford residents bind together next week to pay for Kat's funeral.

Stacey is left reeling when her family reveal they do not have the money to bury Kat, after Mo returned on Friday to break the news of her death in Ireland.

Martin then suggests a fundraising evening in Kat's honour, with the stars donning leopard print in reference to the vivacious character's outrageous dress sense.

But Stacey begins to smell a rat when Mo remains sketchy about how Kat died, claiming she is overwhelmed by grief to go into more detail.

Stunned: Stacey was left reeling on Friday when Mo Harris returned to Albert Square to reveal that Kat had died, unaware that this is actually a ruse leading to the character's return

Upset: Leading to Kat's return, Stacey will smell a rat when Mo is sketchy about details surrounding her death

Fuelling the suspicion Stacey's mum Jean also make a shocking return to Walford to drop a shock bombshell, with Stacey question Mo's story even more.

Regardless the residents of Albert Square come together to raise money for Kat's burial, and even managed to earn enough funds for a tribute in local newspaper.

However they are unaware that Kat is actually alive, and will make a sensational return to the Square in scenes set to air on Friday.

It will be matter of waiting for fans to see how and why Kat faked her death, and why she has decided to return home from Ireland without husband Alfie.

EastEnders continues on Monday 19th March at 8pm on BBC One.Alessandra Ambrosio has split from her fiance of 10 years, Jamie Mazur, it was claimed on Friday.

And the next day the Victoria's Secret Angel was seen heading to the gym in the Brentwood neighborhood of Long Angeles with a box of water and a yoga mat

Oddly, the catwalk princess still had a ring on her wedding finger.

Ring ON: Alessandra Ambrosio was seen with a ring on her wedding finger on Saturday as she headed to the gym in LA

Interesting: The model has split with her fiance of 10 years, according to UsWeekly

The looker wore leggings and a tank top with stars and fireworks on them. A beige ripped sweater was worn over the outfit.

The Vogue model added beige sneakers and brown sunglasses.

And then there was that ring. The Versace model wore a gold band around her ring finger. It is not known if this was a promise ring or her old engagement ring.

Attire details: The looker wore leggings and a tank top with stars and fireworks on them. A beige ripped sweater was worn over the outfit

More on this subject: The Vogue model added beige sneakers and brown sunglasses

No tears here: The leggy model's mood seemed upbeat as she smiled while walking alone

The split news came as a shock on Friday even though the beauty has yet to confirm it.

'They [have] been trying to keep their split on the down low,' an insider told Us Weekly.

'But Alessandra has been out and about ready to mingle and hasn't been taking Jamie to anything.'

FInal Christmas kiss: Ambrosio has reportedly split from her fiance Jamie Mazur following a decade-long engagement

The Brazilian bombshell and the Re/Done denim founder - both 36 - are parents of daughter Anja Louise, 9; and son Noah Phoenix, 5.

'If I have been engaged to him for eight years, then it's not my priority,' Alessandra admitted to Cosmopolitan UK in 2016.

'I have a lot of things going on, and I haven't got married because I'm so busy. I'll think about that when I have time off.'

Back when Extra host Mario Lopez confronted Ambrosio in 2015 about the engagement, she replied: 'When I do the wedding it's going to be very special, so I want to take time for that.'

An insider told Us Weekly: 'They [have] been trying to keep their split on the down low, but Alessandra has been out and about ready to mingle and hasn't been taking Jamie to anything'

Last pictured in Brazil: The Brazilian bombshell and the Re/Done denim founder - both 36 - are parents of daughter Anja Louise, 9; and son Noah Phoenix, 5.

And while Jamie is currently in Manhattan, the Daddy's Home 2 actress was last seen Thursday relaxing in her Los Angeles home with a pet cat while their son got piano lessons.

The ale by Alessandra designer - who boasts 16.3M social media followers - noted on Insta-stories: 'Not a bad way to spend the afternoon.'

That same evening, Ambrosio glammed up in blue-sequin track pants for a Lorraine Schwartz launch party at West Hollywood hotspot, Delilah.

The Fyre Festival spokesmodel - who relies on stylist Elizabeth Sulcer - was certainly on the prowl in her black crop top, matching motorcycle jacket, and red pout.

'Mastering the art:' And while Jamie is currently in Manhattan, the Daddy's Home 2 actress was last seen Thursday relaxing in her LA home with a pet cat while their son got piano lessons

Single and ready to mingle! That same evening, Ambrosio glammed up in blue-sequin track pants for a Lorraine Schwartz launch party at West Hollywood hotspot, DelilahAdvertisement

Her previous visit to Mexico saw her embroiled in a scandal which caused filming on Bachelor in Paradise to temporarily halt.

But bikini-clad Corinne Olympios was back and enjoying fun in the sun with a mystery man on Friday.

The 25-year old reality television star put on a very public display of affection with a mystery male in Tulum, Mexico.

Beach babe! Bikini-clad Corinne Olympios was back and enjoying fun in the sun with a mystery man on Friday

Lift-off! The 25-year old reality television star put on a very public display of affection with a mystery male in Tulum, Mexico

The pretty blonde flaunted her figure in a nude halter neck bikini.

Her companion could barely keep his hands to himself, as he carried the Miami-native into the cobalt waters.

Corinne also took the opportunity to mount the follicly-challenged gentleman for a piggy-back in the waves.

Splashing fun: Corinne also took the opportunity to mount the follicly-challenged gentleman for a piggy-back in the waves

Look at me! The pretty blonde flaunted her figure in a nude halter neck bikini

Corinne - who was on season 21 of The Bachelor as well as on the most recent season of Bachelor In Paradise - was recently linked to Kim Kardashian's BFF Jonathan Cheban after they were spotted dining together.

However, she let slip last December that she had a new man in her life but didn't disclose his identity.

'I've been dating this guy who I've been talking about sporadically over different podcasts and he's really cool,' she said her podcast So Random with Corinne.

Life's a beach: The pair were pictured in the sunshine together

One way to stay dry! Her companion could barely keep his hands to himself, as he carried the Miami-native into the cobalt waters

Hot day! Corinne added a baseball cap to shade her face from the sunshine

Ready to tan: The reality star's companion carried his flip-flops and beach bag

Speaking with co-host Meagan Grainger, she added: 'Things are still going well, knock on wood.'

She told People that the man is question is 'caring'.

'It was a set up from a friend. A reality TV friend,' she told the publication, revealing that he is 'so caring and so supportive of me'.

'Hes also hilarious, which I need,' she added, 'I need someone funny. My past relationships they didnt laugh at funny things.'

Looking good: He checked his phone while she showcased her figure

Bachelor in Paradise USA abruptly ceased filming after an alleged sexual misconduct incident involving misuse of alcohol during last year's season in Mexico, with producers releasing an official statement explaining the decision at the time.

'We have become aware of allegations of misconduct on the set of Bachelor in Paradise in Mexico,' the statement read.

Producers supposedly witnessed contestants Corinne Olympios and DeMario Jackson 'getting extremely sexual in the swimming pool'.

It was later alleged that Corinne was drunk while naked in the island's hot tub.

'They could have seen that she was drinking too much and that (DeMario) was taking advantage,' a contestant of the show reportedly said.

Olympios and Jackson have apparently moved past what happened over the summer, forming a friendship and happily hanging out on occasion.She is worth an estimated 232million.

So it's no surprise that Tamara Ecclestone and her other half Jay Rutland took their precious daughter to upscale eatery Benihana in Chelsea on Saturday to celebrate her fourth birthday.

The daughter of 33-year-old F1 heiress Tamara and her husband Jay Rutland, 36, looked every inch the doting parents as they spared no expense for the youngster's big day.

Birthday party! Tamara Ecclestone, 33, and her other half Jay Rutland, 36, took their precious daughter to upscale eatery Benihana in Chelsea on Saturday to celebrate her fourth birthday

Apple of her eye: Sophia's mum Tamara is worth an estimated 232million so it's no wonder that she got treated for the finest cuisine for her big day

Despite the snowy London climes, Tamara still managed to put on a sartorially savvy display as she stepped out in an opulent faux fur blush pink coat.

The socialite teamed the statement outerwear with a chunky knit, ripped skinny jeans and a pair of towering leopard print ankle boots which boosted her height.

Like usual she was primped and preened to perfection for the birthday celebrations, sporting an immaculate wavy blow dry in her brunette tresses.

Her striking features were enhanced with a glamorous coat of make-up.

Chic: Despite the snowy London climes, Tamara still managed to put on a sartorially savvy display as she stepped out in an opulent faux fur blush pink coat

Fashionista: The socialite teamed the statement outerwear with a chunky knit, ripped skinny jeans and a pair of towering leopard print ankle boots which boosted her height

Mane attraction: Like usual she was primped and preened to perfection for the birthday celebrations, sporting an immaculate wavy blow dry in her brunette tresses

Beauty: Her striking features were enhanced with a glamorous coat of make-up

Sophia looked absolutely adorable in her matching pink coat and bright shoes as she prepared for her big day.

The youngster couldn't contain her joy as she stepped out of the vehicle and was ushered into the restaurant by her doting parents.

Jay looked absolutely thrilled as he snapped pictures of his daughter and a huge bag of presents were also seen being carried into the venue to surprise Sophia with.

Cute: Sophia looked absolutely adorable in her matching pink coat and bright shoes as she prepared for her big day

Helping hand: The youngster couldn't contain her joy as she stepped out of the vehicle and was ushered into the restaurant by her doting parents

In November Tamara remained defiant in the face of the backlash she faced for her expensive lifestyle.

Along with admitting Sophia has 'never flown economy', Tamara also spoke candidly of her relationship with husband, Jay Rutland confessing that she wasn't even 'that into' him ahead of their blind date.

Speaking to Heat about their privileged life, Tamara - who lives in a 70million 57-room home in Kensington with her husband of four years - appeared unfazed by some of the backlash she has found herself subject to recently.

Of her daughter, she admitted: 'No she hasn't ever travelled economy. Her favourite way to travel is by private jet with a Happy Meal. It really is a beautiful life.'

Surprise! A huge bag of presents were also seen being carried into the venue to surprise Sophia with

Wow: The huge bag of presents required the assistance of two men

Defiant: In November Tamara remained defiant in the face of the backlash she faced for her expensive lifestyle

Candid: Along with admitting Sophia has 'never flown economy', Tamara also spoke candidly of her relationship with husband, Jay Rutland confessing that she wasn't even 'that into' him ahead of their blind date

Having found her happily ever after, Tamara, who was at the centre of a blackmail plot in 2013 when her ex Derek Rose tried to extort her of 200, 000, revealed: 'I met Jay, but there were tons of bad relationships before that'.

Speaking about her first meeting with Jay, who she married in 2013 before they welcomed daughter Sophia in 2014, Tamara admitted that she wasn't 'that into' her beau at first.

'I'd seen a picture and I wasn't that into him. I was like "No, no, no!" But then we met and he was so much more handsome in real life, and so funny and he was really charming,' she gushed.

'He takes the p*** out of me all the time. We have a really fun relationship and he isn't scared to tell me what he thinks. He also makes sure I don't spoil Fifi too much, but it's hard!'South Australian Opposition Leader Steven Marshall says he wouldn't change a single thing about the Liberals' campaign for the state election.

Mr Marshall is feeling relaxed and confident and believes there will be a result by the close of counting on Saturday.

"I'm feeling good actually. It's been a great campaign," he told reporters at a polling booth in his own seat of Dunstan.

"I've enjoyed every second of this campaign, and overall I think the people of South Australia will make a solid decision."

Mr Marshall described the entrance of Nick Xenophon into the election as "interference", but welcomed anyone standing for parliament.

"The more people that run the better," he said.

The party leader said he was more than happy with the message the Liberals had put to the people, and wouldn't change a thing.

"I've loved it. I've absolutely loved the campaign that we've run," he said.

"I love our policy agenda that we've put forward. It's positive. It's not a crazy spending spree that Labor have put out."

Mr Marshall's comments came as a late opinion poll pointed to a Liberal victory, with support for Mr Xenophon's SA-BEST party continuing to slide.

The Newspoll showed the Liberals leading the primary vote with 34 per cent support compared to 31 per cent for Labor and just 17 per cent for SA-BEST.

The opposition leader said the outcome was still in the balance, but he was confident voters would know the outcome on Saturday.

"I've got a feeling that we will," he said.Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has backed the federal government's strong condemnation of Russia over a nerve agent attack in Britain.

"It would certainly appear that Russia has interfered and broken laws in England," Mr Shorten told reporters in Melbourne on Saturday.

"The government has got a position of supporting the UK in terms of their outrage at what's happened, and I'm supportive of the government's position."

Russia's ambassador to Australia wants to meet with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to discuss the fallout of the attack.

"I guess it's a good idea for diplomats to meet with diplomats," Mr Shorten said.

Former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter are fighting for their lives in hospital after being poisoned by a military grade nerve agent in Salisbury, England.

Britain and its western allies are blaming Russia for the attack.

Foreign Minister Julia Bishop has argued Russia had "no plausible excuse" for the attempted assassination.

Ms Bishop says Russia was either behind a nerve gas attack on a former spy in the UK, or the country has lost control of its chemical weapons supply.

Ms Bishop said Australia would work closely with the UK in the short-term, backing Britain's decision to expel 23 Russian diplomats and cut off high-level contacts with Moscow.

Australia will continue ongoing sanctions, including targeted financial sanctions introduced after threats to the Ukraine in 2014, and trade sanctions and travel bans introduced in 2015.

But Australia has no plans to introduce a Magnitsky Act, like those in the UK, United States and Canada, which allow sanctions against Russians connected to human rights violations.Attorney General Christian Porter has shot down a bid by Australian lawyers to prosecute Aung San Suu Kyi on crimes against humanity.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is hosting Myanmar's de facto leader in Sydney along with leaders from other Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries for a special summit.

An estimated 700,000 Rohingya people from Myanmar's troubled Rakhine state have poured across the border into Bangladesh refugee camps since last August following a military crackdown.

The atrocities included villages being burned, women being raped and babies murdered.

The Rohingya people are effectively stateless and are denied citizenship in Myanmar.

Ron Merkel QC and a group of international and human rights lawyers needed Mr Porter to give permission for private prosecution but that won't be forthcoming.

"Aung San Suu Kyi has complete immunity, including from being served with court documents because under customary international law, heads of state, heads of government and ministers of foreign affairs are immune from foreign criminal proceedings and are inviolable," a spokesman for Mr Porter told AAP.

"They cannot be arrested, detained or be served with court proceedings."

The legal team lodged an application in the Victorian Magistrates Court on Friday and were seeking to prosecute her using universal jurisdiction provisions in Australia's federal criminal code.

They alleged Ms Suu Kyi has failed to use her position of authority and power to prevent Myanmar security forces from deporting and forcibly removing Rohingyas from their homes.

Mr Turnbull is due to sit down with Ms Suu Kyi for bilateral talks on Monday.

He's vowed to raise the situation in Rakhine state but did not use the term Rohingya during a press statement on Friday.

Mr Turnbull dismissed a journalist's description of human rights abuses as "sweeping generalisations".It's not just hipsters behind the "tofu curtain" who'll decided the fate of Batman, the Greens say.

Working families and migrants will also have a say in the crucial Melbourne by-election.

With the Liberal Party not fielding a candidate, the federal by-election stands as a test of whether the Greens can continue their march into inner-metropolitan areas, or if Labor can appeal to a younger "hipster" demographic.

But Greens Leader Richard Di Natale, speaking at a polling booth alongside Greens candidate Alex Bhathal, said people "young and old" were seeking change in Batman.

"There is a lot of talk about the tofu curtain and all sorts of other names that I could rattle off," he said on Saturday morning.

"But the truth is many of the people that we have been speaking to are people like my family - migrant communities, people from right around the world, Italians, Greeks, Vietnamese.

"(They) are saying, you know what, we have been here a long time, the Labor Party has taken us for granted, you are giving us an option and you are making sure that our concerns are listened to."

Saturday's vote comes after Batman was vacated by David Feeney over his dual citizenship, and the Greens believe they can take the marginal Melbourne seat.

"I am optimistic about our chances and about the fact that people in this community want to see a strong, progressive voice on the floor of the lower house," Senator Di Natale said.

"They want to stop the mines and make the transition to the jobs and investment that comes with clean, green, renewable energy technologies."

Senator Di Natale said a win would put the Greens in a powerful position in Canberra, doubling their lower house seats from one to two.

"People in this community can send a very, very strong message to the Labor and Liberal parties today," he said.

In her sixth run for the Batman seat, Greens contender Ms Bhathal said she would bring the local community's progressive values to Canberra.

Labor are hoping former union boss Ged Kearney can retain the seat, which has been held by the party for more than 80 years.He went largely unnoticed, but Victorian Opposition Leader Matthew Guy has dipped a toe into the South Australian election campaign by handing out how-to-vote cards for the Liberals on polling day.

Dressed in a T-shirt supporting SA Liberal leader Steven Marshall in his marginal seat of Dunstan, Mr Guy looked like any other volunteer outside the Norwood Primary School on Saturday.

Mr Marshall's seat is considered marginal, however it would be a huge upset if it fell to either Labor's Matt Loader or SA-BEST candidate Jack Noonan.

The pair caught up briefly, Mr Marshall shaking hands with Mr Guy, who wished his SA counterpart all the best.

Mr Marshall thanked Mr Guay, and said he would return the favour at the next Victorian election.

"I have a funny feeling I'm going to be doing exactly the same for you come November," he said.South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill says he is feeling "completely philosophical" about the state election he hopes will deliver a record fifth term for Labor.

Mr Weatherill said he wasn't nervous after casting his vote at the Alberton Primary School - in his electorate of Cheltenham - on Saturday.

"When you do everything you can, you put your best foot forward, you tell your story, especially a story you're proud of, I'm just very philosophical about the result," he told reporters.

There was little fanfare as the premier cast his ballot in the school gym after a brief wait in line, nor a sausage sizzle outside to reward him for fulfilling his democratic duty.

But unlike Opposition Leader Steven Marshall, Mr Weatherill was not confident of a result by Saturday night, saying he didn't want to presume anything.

Whatever the outcome, he had no regrets about the campaign his party had run.

"We've put forward a very positive program and vision for the future," he said.

"It's now down to the people. I've done everything I can."

Mr Weatherill's comments came as a late opinion poll pointed to a Liberal victory with support for Nick Xenophon's SA-BEST party continuing to slide.

The Newspoll showed the Liberals leading the primary vote with 34 per cent support, compared to 31 per cent for Labor and just 17 per cent for SA-BEST.Speaking at the Vietnam-Australia Business Forum, which opened in Sydney on Friday afternoon, PM Phuc said that this week witnessed many events related to tightening the Vietnam-Australia relations, especially the establishment of the Strategic Partnership between the two and the recently signed Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership that opens new horizons for bilateral relations.

The senior Vietnamese leader, who is on an official visit to Australia from February 14-18, stressed that Australia is among the leading trade partners of Vietnam, with the turnover in 2017 reaching US$6.5 billion, up 22% over 2016, and increasing rapidly over time.

Last year, 400,000 Australians came to Vietnam and several new flight routes opened between the two countries. Meanwhile, Vietnam is the fourth biggest source country for international students in Australia, with 30,000 following study programmes in the country and 60,000 graduates.

Vietnam is a trusted destination for Australian businesses to invest in, but it is important to facilitate investment promotion activities to provide information to local businesses, he said.

According to him, many of the Top 500 companies in Australia have not come to Vietnam yet and this fact is not commensurate with the potential and aspiration to develop in the promising Vietnamese market.

The Vietnam-Australia Business Forum, which opened in Sydney on March 16, attracted over 500 representatives from the business communities of both sides. (Photo: VGP)



Informing the Australian business community at the forum, PM Phuc said that Vietnam is among a group of countries with the highest growth rate in the world, with the growth rate in 2017 at 6.81% and the first quarter in 2018 recording an increase of over 7.41%. The countrys stock market recorded the world's highest growth in 2017.

The size of Vietnam's population brings great purchasing power. The young population structure also increases the appeal to manufacturing and consumer companies, with a rapid increase in the middle class and the rich. GDP per capita is at US$2,000 but purchasing power is equivalent to US$6,000.

Particularly, the business environment in Vietnam has been improving positively and rapidly, reflected in the surge of FDI inflows into the country, with 25,000 projects at a total registered capital of US$320 billion, accounting for 145% of the GDP. FDI in Vietnam reached nearly US$36 billion last year, the highest level in ten years. In addition, improved internet infrastructure with more than 52 million internet users and high mobile connection create even more opportunities for investors.

The PM affirmed his commitment to protecting start-ups, saying that his government operates in a transparent manner in its actions to serve businesses and people. The Government directs economic restructuring at all levels, while adopting preferential tariffs and facilitating hi-tech industries, as well as supporting hi-tech agriculture and businesses investing in rural areas.

Vietnam also facilitates State-owned equitisation to encourage private investment, even in sensitive sectors. This is an opportunity for both sides to win together for mutual benefits, PM Phuc affirmed, adding that the Government is committed to maintaining a stable macroeconomic policy, supporting the economy, and reforming institutions in order to accelerate rapid and sustainable development.

At the forum, PM Phuc witnessed the signing of 18 cooperation agreements between enterprises and agencies of both sides in many fields such as energy, investment promotion, supporting businesses, aviation, maritime transport, agriculture, education, and port services.

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc and delegates at the Vietnam-Australia Business Forum witness the signing of 18 cooperation and business agreements between enterprises and agencies of both countries. (Photo: VGP)UFC middleweight champion Rob Whittaker says his first title defence and rematch with Cuban star Yoel Romero will be an "absolute nightmare".

Whittaker outpointed Romero to win the interim title on a five-round unanimous points decision in Las Vegas last July despite getting injured early in the fight.

Subsequent injuries and illness have delayed the 27-year-old Sydneysider's initial title defence but his bout with Romero will headline UFC 225 in Chicago in June.

Whittaker, who was upgraded to undisputed champion after Georges St-Pierre vacated the full title, was originally scheduled to make his first title defence against American Luke Rockhold in Perth in February.

Health issues forced him out of that bout and replacement Romero scored a spectacular stoppage win over Rockhold.

No.1 contender Romero won an wrestling silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and at 40 years old remains a formidable foe, as evidenced by his brutal victory over Rockhold and his close fight against Whittaker.

"Romero is a hard fight. It was a war the first time," Whittaker told AAP.

"It's definitely up there as one of my hardest fights to date, one of the hardest fights mentally due to getting injured in the first round and having to get through it all.

"He's such a tough competitor, he's such a good athlete and such a good fighter.

"I'm under no illusion. I think this fight is going to be an an absolute nightmare so I'm going to make sure I'm training my absolute hardest and be the best Robert Whittaker to date."

Whittaker has won his last eight UFC bouts since his last loss in February 2014.

His sole focus is on Romero after he gave up a berth on Australia's Commonwealth Games wrestling team.

Whittaker had a very good reason for not attending the Romero-Rockhold fight.

"Everything happens for a reason, I believe. The week of the fight my little daughter was born," Whittaker said.

"I was home for that but if I was fighting I would have had to have been there and would have missed that."A man has grabbed a child and assaulted a teacher on a Melbourne tram after yelling abuse at a group of young students.

The man, aged in his 60s, began speaking aggressively to a group of grade six students as they travelled on a city tram with their teacher about 4pm on Wednesday, grabbing one child before the teacher intervened.

When the tram stopped outside the Royal Children's Hospital the man got up and assaulted the teacher while yelling abuse at her, and forced his way off the tram by pushing the students aside, police said on Saturday.Total fire bans have been issued for more than half the state by the NSW Rural Fire Service, with hot and windy conditions set to create dangerous conditions.

Eleven regions out of 21 will have severe fire conditions on Sunday, RFS spokesman Greg Allan told AAP on Saturday.

"It's going to be very hot and windy," Mr Allan said.

"It's been so hot for so long that the recent rain hasn't really soaked the ground," he said.

The entire southeast corner of the state is in total fire ban, taking in the Greater Hunter down to the Far South Coast as far west as Lower Central West Plains and Eastern Riverina.

The North Western region that borders with Queensland has also been declared to be under a total fire ban.

Temperatures in the mid to high 30s combined with winds between 30-60km/h will keep emergency workers on standby.

"Also being a weekend means people may be out and about and need to remain alert to the dangers of bushfires," Mr Allan said.

He reminded NSW residents that the official bushfire danger period is not over yet.

While it may be autumn the bushfire season doesn't end until March 31.

"We need people to remain vigilant," he said.

"Call Triple-zero as soon as you see smoke."

A cool change is not expected until Sunday night, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.Malcolm Turnbull has raised human rights concerns with the Philippines despite the country's President Rodrigo Duterte's decision to skip a special summit of Southeast Asian nations in Sydney.

The prime minister is hosting nine of the ten Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Mr Duterte opted to stay home to attend a military graduation ceremony.

Some analysts say it was a calculated move to avoid scrutiny and protests over his war on drugs which has killed 12,000 people.

Mr Turnbull had a bilateral meeting with the Philippines foreign secretary Alan Peter Cayetano.

It's understood the pair had a frank and open discussion on human rights.

They also talked about Australian assistance to help quash a five-month-long Islamic State insurgency in Marawi, Philipppines.

Australia has helped train Filipino troops in urban combat and provided surveillance aircraft.The Liberals will claim victory at the South Australian election, an exit poll has predicted, less than an hour before polls close.

The Channel 9 Galaxy poll says the Liberals are ahead on a two-party preferred basis with 50.5 per cent of the vote, compared to Labor's 49.5 per cent, giving them 24 or 25 seats in the 47-seat parliament.

Nick Xenophon's SA-BEST has slipped to just 15 per cent of the primary vote, the poll says, compared to 36 per cent for the Liberals, 31 per cent for Labor and eight per cent for the Greens.South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill's unmissable campaign bus is parked outside the footy club where Labor's faithful will await the state election result, but the man himself is tipped to be some time away from joining the action.

So far about a dozen supporters have trickled into the West Adelaide Footy Club, where a projected screen surrounded by Labor signage will be their gateway to the polling numbers.

Toby Priest of Goodwood, one of the first to arrive at the centre with his two young sons, says he doesn't expect a firm result on Saturday night.

"It will be a long wait, for a couple of weeks. It's a very interesting election, being a three-way contest," he said.

Amid that uncertainty, Mr Preist described the mood among the party faithful as hopeful and optimistic.

"I suspect Labor's going to hold on for a consecutive fifth term," he said.

Less than an hour before voting closed, a Channel 9 Galaxy exit poll predicted the Liberals will claim victory, with the party winning 24 or 25 seats in the 47-seat parliament.

However internal Labor polling reported by Sky News tipped a hung parliament, with each of the major parties winning 21 seats.Hundreds of locals will gather at a Newcastle beach to protest against seismic blasting, set to begin off the coast this week, which they say will kill marine life and harm migrating whales.

The seismic survey site, off Newcastle, stretches across about 12.25 square kilometres and involves the firing of a sonic gun every 6.25 metres over 208km of lines on the coastline which becomes a playground for migrating whales every year from June.

Federal regulator, the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority approved energy company Asset Energy to complete the petrol and oil testing between March 15 and May 31.

"There's been worldwide scientific and community opposition to seismic testing and successful moratoriums implemented," said Stop Seismic Testing Newcastle founder and long-term local resident Natasha Deen in a statement.

She said it's "incredibly destructive" on the whole ecosystem.

"If a human diver was directly under the survey ship there would be a high risk of serious injury or death," she said.

Locals, along with Green's MLC Jeremy Buckingham, Newcastle councillor John Mackenzie and Greenpeace members, will gather at Nobbys Beach at 1pm on Sunday to protest over the testing.

"The federal government has imposed this blasting on our community without proper community consultation despite protests from NSW Resources Minister Don Harwin, despite unanimous objection from our council, and despite growing evidence of the dangers of seismic testing," said Ms Deen.

In the exploration for oil or gas, seismic testing involves blasts of air being fired every few seconds 24 hours a day for three to four days during that period.

The area is home to 22 threatened species, 23 migratory species and 32 whale species, according to the seismic survey environment plan.

While the annual whale migration officially begins on June 1, whales can be seen off the coast as early as the second week of May, Greenpeace Australia Pacific senior campaigner Nathaniel Pelle previously told AAP.

"Whale sightings off the coast of Sydney are an almost daily occurrence from the second week of May meaning there's a high likelihood that seismic testing could impact these much-loved creatures if it goes ahead at the end of the approved window," Mr Pelle said in a statement.

"Whales and other endangered species do not adhere to the Gregorian calendar and do not know the difference between May 31 and June 1."Total fire bans have been issued for more than half of NSW, including the Greater Sydney region, with hot and windy conditions set to create dangerous conditions.

Eleven of the state's 21 regions have severe fire conditions on Sunday, said Rural Fire Service spokesman Greg Allan.

Residents in Sydney's west will swelter, with Penrith set to reach 41 degrees Celsius, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

NSW residents have been reminded the official bushfire danger period doesn't end until March 31.

"It's going to be very hot and windy," Mr Allan told AAP.

"We need people to remain vigilant on Sunday," he said.

"Call Triple-zero immediately if you see smoke."

The entire southeast corner of the state has been declared total fire ban, from the Greater Hunter down to the Far South Coast.

The mercury is set to reach 40C in most of the Hunter region.

In the west, the Lower Central West Plains and Eastern Riverina have total fire bans with temperatures in the high 30s.

While the North Western region that borders Queensland is also under a total fire ban.

Temperatures across the state in the mid to high 30s combined with winds between 30-60km/h will keep emergency workers on standby.Malcolm Turnbull is set to wrap up his pow wow with southeast Asian leaders focused on the twin issues of trade and terrorism.

The three-day special summit of leaders from the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Australia winds up in Sydney on Sunday with the prime minister hosting his counterparts at a high level meeting and retreat.

Now that the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade pact is signed, Mr Turnbull is expected to urge leaders to get behind a "high quality" Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership deal.

Australia, the full ASEAN bloc as well as China and India are among countries still negotiating that deal.

The TPP 11 includes Australia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore and Brunei and Mr Turnbull has been keen to entice Indonesia to the fold.

The leaders will consider recommendations from chief executives who participated in a business forum on Saturday.

Strategic issues, such as the South China Sea maritime tensions and applying pressure on North Korea to rein in its nuclear weapons testing program, will be on the agenda at the leaders' talks.

They'll also continue discussions on regional security after signing off on plans to bolster counter-terrorism cooperation following Saturday's counter terrorism conference.

The package includes assistance to crackdown on terrorism financing, ensuring anti-terror laws are best practice and programs to help police use electronic evidence to prosecute suspects.

With the so-called Islamic State caliphate mostly crushed in Iraq and Syria, Australia and southeast Asian countries are making sure they are ready to keep returned foreign fighters at bay.

There are hopes that boosting cooperation will ensure there is no repeat of last year's five month Islamic State insurgency flare up in Marawi, the Philippines.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak told the summit on Saturday the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar and Bangladesh could explode into a serious security threat for the region.

He fears Islamic State militants could use the atrocities against the Rohingya people as a breeding ground for radicalisation.

More than 700,000 Rohingya have already fled Myanmar's troubled Rakhine state for refugee camps in neighbouring Bangladesh since last August following a military crackdown in which villages were burned, women raped and babies murdered.

The United Nations has described the atrocities as a text book case of ethnic cleansing.

ASEAN has long been criticised for staying silent over the Rohingya crisis, which made Mr Najib's bluntness so extraordinary.

"Because of the suffering of Rohingya people and that of displacement around the region, the situation in Rakhine state and Myanmar can no longer be considered to be a purely domestic matter," Mr Najib said as Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi watched on stoney faced.

Mr Turnbull is under pressure to raise the Rohingya crisis when he has a bilateral meeting with Ms Suu Kyi on Monday.

He's been criticised by humanitarian groups for being too cautious in his language and not condemning the violence.A number of out-of-control grass and bush fires are threatening lives and homes in Victoria's southwest.

Emergency warnings were issued for the blazes at Terang, Gnotuk, Ayrford, Gravoc, all near Warrnambool, early on Sunday morning, with residents urged to flee if it was safe to do so.

People at Hawkesdale were also told to evacuate after another fire broke out.

The fires were being stoked by strengthening north-to-northwesterly winds, which were expected to pick up throughout Sunday morning.

Total fire bans have been declared for the Central and South West districts following unseasonably warm overnight temperatures.

"In some parts, the hottest part of the day will be at breakfast time," Emergency Management Commissioner Craig Lapsley told reporters on Saturday afternoon.

Strong winds were expected to pass through Melbourne by mid-Sunday morning, reaching the state's far east by the early afternoon, the Bureau of Meteorology said.

"From from that point onwards we will basically see temperatures drop quite a bit as well," senior forecaster Chris Godfred said.

"We'll see temperatures in southern Victoria drop to around 20C or maybe lower if you're right down on the west coast."

The damaging gusts were expected to ease into the late afternoon and evening.In a meeting with Australias leading enterprises in the finance, banking, agriculture and construction sectors in Sydney on March 17, during his official visit to Australia, PM Phuc expressed his hope that more Australian investors would be interested in Vietnamese seafood imports, as Vietnam holds huge potential in this sector.

Representatives from the Australian groups lauded Vietnams efforts in improving its business climate and investment promotion, as well as promoting connections between enterprises from the two countries in order to bolster their bilateral collaboration.

The same day, PM Phuc hosted a reception for Rohan Garnett, Executive Manager at Qantas Airways - the national flag carrier of Australia, in which he congratulated Qantas Airway on its success in regional and international markets, including Vietnam.

He highlighted that the establishment of the strategic partnership will serve as a boost to enhance the cooperation between the two countries. To that end, he asked Qantas Airways to further its collaboration with Vietnamese airlines in improving flight safety and reducing costs.Australian 400m hurdles star Lauren Wells is still hoping Commonwealth Games officials can perform a scheduling miracle so she can also contest the long jump.

Wells' versatility has left her in a pickle three weeks out from the Gold Coast Games, for which she has been selected in both her pet event and the long jump.

The only problem is that the two events are scheduled on the same night and the 11-time national champion would have just five minutes to dash between the two.

"Realistically, if this was Commonwealth Games right now, I'd probably have to be down there on the runway with the other girls," Wells said straight after winning the 400m hurdles at the Sydney Grand Prix on Saturday night.

"It's only a five-minute gap, which is not very much."

Wells said she had made a formal request to Games organisers to try and buy a bit more time so she isn't forced to drop one event.

"I hope that's the case," she said.

"Because I love both the events and if I could make the final in both I'd be so stoked."

Wells, who is also part of the Gold Coast 4x400m relay team, skipped the long jump in Sydney to focus on the one-lap hurdles.

The 29-year-old Canberran eased to victory in 56.71 seconds ahead of Sarah Carli (57.71) and Jess Gulli-Nance (58.00), but was far from satisfied.

"I'm always hoping to go faster than the race before ... so it's hard to please myself," she said.

"I didn't quite get the stride pattern I really wanted. It was solid but there's plenty to improve on."Tiger Woods is fighting to stay in the mix while Henrik Stenson and Bryson DeChambeau continue to move clear atop the leaderboard during the third round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Stenson opened with a birdie to move to 12-under-par and was joined in the lead by final group playing partner DeChambeau on the next hole.

The duo are running away from the field at Florida's famed Bay Hill course in Orlando, with the nearest challengers being Chris Kirk and Byeong Hun An in a share of third at eight under.

Justin Rose is a shot back at seven under the card after nine holes, having bagged three front nine birdies.

Rose's playing partner Woods mixed three birdies with two bogeys to move to five under.

Meanwhile, Curtis Luck is the leading Australian at six under having picked up a shot in his first eight holes on Saturday.

The Perth native, playing on a sponsor's invitation, currently shares 10th alongside Rickie Fowler and Rory McIlroy and Talor Gooch.

Australian world No.10 Jason Day, the 2016 champion at Bay Hill, brought himself back into the tournament with a 67 to move to five under.

Defending Palmer champion Marc Leishman is next best of the Australians two shots back at three under, while countryman Adam Scott is one under midway through the back nine.The rosy-cheeked toddler's parents named him after the billionaire US President in the hope of replicating his success

Donald Trump flops over his pink and white baby walker and rolls it around his family's modest home in Kabul, blissfully unaware of the turmoil his "infidel" name is causing in the deeply conservative Muslim country.

The rosy-cheeked toddler's parents named him after the billionaire US President in the hope of replicating his success. But now he is at the centre of a social media firestorm in Afghanistan after a photo of his ID papers was posted on Facebook.

A self-confessed fan of the American tycoon turned leader of the free world, Sayed Assadullah Pooya said he and his wife have been inundated with "vulgar and insulting" comments attacking their choice of name for their third child.

Some Facebook users have gone as far as threatening to kill Sayed for giving his son an "infidel name", while others have accused him of endangering the boy's life.

There are even suggestions Sayed is using the moniker to wangle asylum in the United States -- a charge the 28-year-old teacher vehemently denies.

"I didn't know at the beginning that Afghan people would be so sensitive about a name," Sayed told AFP, as Donald played with a music app on his father's Samsung smartphone in their carpeted room.

Sayed says someone posted the picture online, sparking the controversy that forced him to close his Facebook account.

Even Sayed's neighbours in the heavily Shiite area of Kabul where they live have threatened the family and told them to leave.

"When I go out of the house I feel intimidated," he said.

- Inspired by Trump -

Donald was born in the central province of Daikundi, a few months before the 2016 US presidential election, on the farm where Sayed's parents and grandparents grew almonds, wheat and corn.

Sayed was inspired to call his son Donald Trump after reading the Persian language versions of the businessman's books

Sayed was inspired to call his son Donald Trump after reading the Persian language versions of the businessman's books, including "How to get rich", which he borrowed from the local library.

"I did a lot of research about him and that motivated me to choose his name for my son," he explained.

He hopes his son will "be as successful", adding that photos of the older Trump already make his younger namesake "happy".

But bemusement turned to anger when Sayed's parents realised the couple were serious about the name. As relations broke down the young family moved to Kabul, and they are now estranged from their relatives.

Their life could not be more different from the one enjoyed by their son's namesake, who divides his time between the White House and his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

The family of five is squeezed into a spartan room overlooking a small courtyard and outdoor bathroom, which they rent for 2,000 Afghanis ($30) a month.

Beyond their metal front gate is a warren of dirt lanes barely wide enough for a car, mud-brick houses and putrid open drains.

A few blocks from their house several drug addicts loll on a grassy strip in the middle of a busy road injecting themselves or sleeping off a hit.

During the interview, Sayed's wife Jamila washed the family's dirty clothes in a small machine outside while keeping an eye on the couple's daughter Fatima, nine, and eldest son Karim, eight.

Despite the controversy Donald's parents have not broken the law by giving their son an un-Islamic name, according to Rohullah Ahmadzai, a senior advisor at the Population Registration Office in Kabul.

He said they have the legal right "to name their children whatever they want" -- even after American presidents.

While Sayed is worried about his family's safety, particularly Donald's, he remains stubbornly unrepentant.

"It's likely... that he will be harassed or beaten by his classmates," he said matter of factly.

"I won't reconsider (his name). To hell with the other people."Argentina's President Mauricio Macri delivers a speech during the launching ceremony for his country's presidency of the G20

Tariffs, tech and taxes will strain finance ministers from G20 countries at a meeting in Argentina next week overshadowed by the gathering clouds of a trade war.

The two-day meeting in Buenos Aires, which starts Monday, comes at a particularly tense moment just two days before the United States is set to begin imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.

US President Donald Trump has pledged to impose 25 percent duties on imported steel and 10 percent on aluminum. Only neighbors Canada and Mexico were exempted.

"Up to now, finance ministers were reticent to tackle the subject of trade, considering that it was not their area of competence," a source close to the negotiations said.

"But the situation is such today that they will not be able to not speak about it. The question is how far we can go."

Meanwhile, the US treasury wants to use the meeting to win consensus on how to combat China's trade practices, particularly its cheap steel exports.

Except that Trump, far from being reserved when it comes to Beijing, also regularly attacks Europe.

"It's a funny strategy which consists of targeting China by threatening US allies," said a European source.

The meeting in Buenos Aires, which also involve G20 central bank chiefs, will be a test of European cohesion ahead of a meeting next week between the US and EU officials on steel and aluminum taxes.

"The important thing is that the European position is coordinated and united," France's finance ministry said in the run-up to the talks, arguing that Europe "should be exempted" from US tariffs.

The G20 discussed the question of Chinese overcapacity during its 2016 meeting and asked the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to monitor efforts to curb supply, but to little avail.

- No progress on GAFA -

The OECD, which often serves as the operational arm of the G20, is struggling on another thorny issue -- the taxation of the world's tech giants, the so-called GAFA.

The acronym refers to the four behemoths of the digital industry: Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple, whose tax optimization practices are regularly a source of friction between the US and its allies.

The United States said Friday it "firmly opposes" any new tax on big tech, and the Paris-based OECD warned there were "divergent views about how the issue should be approached."

Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain -- the EU's five G20 members -- are pushing first for a European solution that can set an example for the rest of the world.

The European Union wants "big tech" to be taxed on overall revenue in the EU and not just on profits, somewhere between two percent and five percent according to a draft proposal obtained by AFP.

In Buenos Aires, ministers and central bank chiefs will also discuss the question of imposing greater oversight on cryptocurrencies.

The draft of the final communique mentions the usual pledge on devaluations and exchange rates: "We will refrain from competitive devaluations, and will not target our exchange rates for competitive purposes."

But the word protectionism is conspicuous by its absence from the text, replaced by a warning to countries not to "retreat to inward looking policies".Andrew McCabe stepped down as deputy FBI director after months of criticism by President Donald Trump for alleged anti-Republican bias

Former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, who has endured a year of withering attacks from President Donald Trump, was fired by the Justice Department Friday just days before he was to retire.

McCabe pushed back hard at the decision, saying he was the victim of a "war" by the Trump administration against both the FBI, and the special counsel probing allegations of Russian election meddling.

Announcing McCabe's ouster, the Justice Department said an internal investigation found that he had made unauthorized disclosures to the media, and had not been fully honest "on multiple occasions" with the department's inspector general.

"The FBI expects every employee to adhere to the highest standards of honesty, integrity and accountability," Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement.

The decision was taken "after an extensive and fair investigation," Sessions said.

Details of the inspector general's probe were not made public, but it involved the handling of the FBI's 2016 investigation into Trump's election rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Trump has repeatedly accused McCabe and former FBI chief James Comey of having protected Clinton from prosecution over her misuse of a private email server while she was secretary of state, and over the actions of the private Clinton Foundation set up by her husband, former president Bill Clinton.

Trump was also publicly upset about McCabe's defense of Comey -- whom the president fired in May 2017 in frustration at the ongoing FBI probe into alleged collusion between his election campaign and Russia.

McCabe hit out following his sacking in a blistering statement.

"I am being singled out and treated this way because of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of James Comey," McCabe said.

McCabe said the inspector general's probe "became part of an unprecedented effort by the administration, driven by the president himself, to remove me from my position, destroy my reputation, and possibly strip me of a pension that I worked 21 years to earn."

The firing came as the White House shows increasing frustration with the ongoing probe of alleged Trump campaign collusion with Russia by Special Counsel Robert Mueller -- himself a former FBI director.

Mueller is notably examining whether Trump obstructed the investigation with his sacking of Comey, an episode that McCabe would be a crucial witness for.

- 'War with the FBI' -

Trump had repeatedly criticized McCabe as biased, pressing Sessions to take action against him.

Under pressure, on January 30 McCabe announced he would retire at the end of March, when he became eligible for full pension benefits. Meanwhile he halted work and went on leave.

"This attack on my credibility is one part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally, but to taint the FBI, law enforcement, and intelligence professionals more generally," McCabe said.

"It is part of this administration's ongoing war with the FBI and the efforts of the special counsel investigation."

McCabe denied any impropriety in speaking with the media about the Clinton probe, and denied that he handled the probe with any bias.

He also denied having deliberately lied to the inspector general.

The firing means the Justice Department can deny him his pension. McCabe said he would appeal Sessions' decision.The pedestrian bridge that collapsed in Miami had only been installed over the weekend

The chief engineer of a Florida bridge project warned authorities of cracking in the structure days before it collapsed, killing at least six people, the US state's department of transportation said Friday.

Denney Pate left a voicemail on a Florida Department of Transportation employee's landline on March 13, two days before it came crashing down on the major road beneath, the department said in a statement.

The voicemail -- which was not heard until Friday because the employee it was left for was out of the office -- mentioned a problem, but did not warn that structural failure was imminent.

There was "some cracking that's been observed on the north end of the span," Pate said, according to a transcript of the call.

"Obviously some repairs or whatever will have to be done but from a safety perspective we don't see that there's any issue there," Pate said.

The walkway, which connects Florida International University to a student housing area, went up less than a week ago but was not yet operational when it collapsed.

At least eight cars were trapped when the 950-ton (tonne) bridge suddenly gave way on Thursday, according to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Division Chief Paul Estopinan.

Alvaro Zabaleta, police spokesman for Miami-Dade county, told reporters. that the operation has now shifted from rescue to body recovery, with engineers fearing the support structures at either end of the bridge could also come down.Thousands demonstrated in Sydney on the sidelines of an Australia-ASEAN special summit, with some holding images of one-time rights icon Aung San Suu Kyi with a Hitler moustache

Provocative images of one-time human rights icon Aung San Suu Kyi with a Hitler moustache and banners demanding Cambodia's Hun Sen step down were held by protesters in Sydney Saturday in a rally against Southeast Asian leaders.

Thousands demonstrated in the city against a raft of grievances on the sidelines of an Australia-ASEAN special summit, where Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has vowed to tackle human rights issues.

They came together to urge the release of political prisoners in Vietnam, an end to strongman Hun Sen's regime in Cambodia and a halt to the military crackdown on Rohingya in Myanmar.

"We are here to protest issues that are happening in Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, the Rohingya -- you name it, we are here to send a clear voice to these governments that you do not mistreat human rights," Vietnamese-Australian protestor Davy Nguyen told AFP.

Leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations including Hun Sen, Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Vietnam's Nguyen Xuan Phuc, are in Sydney for talks. The Philippines' Rodrigo Duterte opted not to attend.

All have been accused of oppression.

"The summit is here, and the (Australian) government needs to do something -- they need to put human rights before economics, before money," Nguyen added.

Among banners was one portraying Aung San Suu Kyi with a Adolf Hitler moustache, calling on her to "Return the Nobel Prize".

The Nobel laureate is accused of failing to do enough to halt the persecution of the Muslim-minority Rohingya community who have been brutally forced out of Rakhine state by the Myanmar military.

Others urged Hun Sen, who is accused of overseeing widespread human rights violations, to quit. The protest followed a rally by several hundred Cambodian-Australians against him on Friday.

"We are here today in solidarity among the communities from Southeast Asia who are facing dictatorship and genocide, of course particularly in the Rohingya community," Shawfikul Islam from the Australian Burmese Rohingya Organisation said.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, with Australia a dialogue partner since 1974.The Taliban and its smaller rival Islamic State group have been dialing up the pressure on Kabul, launching a series of devastating attacks in recent months

A Taliban suicide attacker blew up a bomb-laden car in Kabul during rush hour on Saturday, killing at least two civilians, as militants dial up pressure in the capital amid calls for peace talks.

Several others were wounded in the blast claimed by the Taliban that the Afghan interior ministry said had targeted global security company G4S.

It was the fourth suicide attack in Kabul in three weeks and comes days after the top US general in Afghanistan said protecting the city was "our main effort".

It also comes as the Taliban faces growing pressure to take up Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's offer of peace talks to end the 16-year war. So far it has given only a muted response.

"Around 9:10 am this morning a suicide car bomb exploded in Police District Nine of Kabul," interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish told AFP.

Two civilians were killed and three others were wounded in the attack, Danish said. The blast happened at a time when many people would have been driving to their offices on the first day of the working week.

Health ministry spokesman Wahid Majrooh told AFP at least four people had been wounded.

Deputy interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said the bomber was heading towards G4S but "detonated himself before reaching the target".

In a WhatsApp message sent to journalists Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the bomber had targeted a convoy of "foreign troops".

"All occupiers were killed," Mujahid said.

The attack comes weeks before the start of the spring fighting season which is expected to be more intense this year as militants respond to intensifying US-led air strikes.

- Kabul a priority -

Saturday's suicide assault comes days after General John Nicholson, who leads US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, said protecting the city was a priority for foreign forces.

"Kabul is our main effort right now, to harden Kabul, to protect the people of Kabul and the international community that are here because of the strategic impact that has and the importance to the campaign," Nicholson told reporters on Wednesday.

Taliban and Islamic State militants have been ramping up attacks in Kabul in recent months, increasing pressure on the Afghan government, which is frequently lambasted for its inability to protect civilians.

The most recent was on March 9 when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a Shiite area of the city, killing at least nine people. IS claimed responsibility.

Despite calls for the Taliban to sit down with the Afghan government, it appears to have few reasons to negotiate.

The group has been resurgent since the withdrawal of US-led NATO combat troops at the end of 2014, taking back territory and devastating Afghanistan's beleaguered security forces.

In October, insurgents controlled or influenced nearly half of Afghanistan's districts -- double the percentage in 2015, the US government's office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction said in January.

Over the same period, the watchdog said, the number of districts under Afghan government control or influence fell to its lowest level since December 2015.Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak (R with Aung San Suu Kyi) raised fears that the displaced Rohingya who fled Myanmar could fall prey to extremist groups

Malaysia's prime minister Saturday warned his Southeast Asian neighbours that the Rohingya refugee crisis in Myanmar could become a serious security threat for the region.

Hundreds of thousands of the Muslim-minority Rohingya have fled Myanmar's troubled Rakhine state after authorities launched a brutal crackdown on insurgents six months ago that the UN has called "ethnic cleansing".

Myanmar has vehemently denied the allegations, insisting it was responding to attacks by Rohingya militants in late August.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak raised fears that so many desperate and displaced people could fall prey to extremist groups like Islamic State.

With Myanmar's de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi sitting just metres away at a special Australia-ASEAN summit in Sydney, Najib said it was no longer a domestic issue.

"Because of the suffering of Rohingya people and that of displacement around the region, the situation in Rakhine state and Myanmar can no longer be considered to be a purely domestic matter," he said.

"In addition, the problem should not be looked at through the humanitarian prism only because it has the potential of developing into a serious security threat to the region.

"Rakhine with thousands of despairing ... people who see no hope in the future will be a fertile ground for radicalisation and recruitment by Daesh and affiliated groups."

Daesh is an alternative name given to Islamic State.

The United Nations on Friday launched an appeal for nearly US$1 billion to care for Rohingya refugees, who have mostly fled to Bangladesh.

Najib said Malaysia was ready to assist in finding "a just and durable solution", while urging Southeast Asian nations to work closely to deter any extremist threats.

"We must be vigilant and increase our collaboration, because the collapse of Daesh territories in Iraq and Syria has forced it to go underground and re-emerge elsewhere, especially in crisis zones where it can grow and operate."

He pointed to pro-Islamic State militants seizing the southern Philippine city of Marawi last year as a warning of what can happen.

"We must draw lessons from Marawi and be extremely concerned that at least 10 militant groups in the Mindanao region (of the Philippines) have declared their affiliation to Daesh," he said.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, with Australia a dialogue partner since 1974.

All leaders are attending the summit in Sydney except the Philippines' Rodrigo Duterte, who cited more pressing developments at home.Civilians pour out of the Syrian city of Afrin taking to the mountains by vehicle or on foot as they flee an intensifying Turkish-led military offensive against a Kurdish militia on March 16, 2018

More than 200,000 civilians have fled the city of Afrin in northern Syria in less than three days to escape a Turkish-led military offensive against a Kurdish militia, a war monitor said Saturday.

"There was fierce fighting throughout the night on the northern outskirts of the city as the Turkish forces and their Syrian allies tried to break into the city," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The exodus continued on Saturday with at least 50,000 civilians fleeing the city since the early hours of the morning, according to the Britain-based monitoring group, which relies on sources inside Syria for its information.

"The situation is terrifying," said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.

Turkey and its Syrian Arab rebel allies have waged a nearly two-month offensive on the Afrin enclave, which is held by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).

Earlier this week, they largely surrounded the enclave's sole city, which was home to some 350,000 people, including people displaced from other parts of the enclave already overrun.

A single escape route remains open to the south to territory still held by the YPG or controlled by the Damascus government.

"Civilians are fleeing through the southern corridor," Abdel Rahman said.

The YPG has been a vital partner for a US-backed coalition against the Islamic State jihadist group.

But it is seen by Ankara as a "terrorist" offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been waging an insurgency inside Turkey since 1984.

Afrin has come under heavy air and artillery bombardment by the Turkish army.

On Friday evening, a Turkish bombing raid struck the city's main hospital, killing 16 civilians, a monitor said.

Turkey's military denied hitting the hospital, saying that its operation in Afrin "is carried out in such a way as to not cause any harm to civilians".

Hospital director Jiwan Mohammed told state news agency SANA that the strikes had severely damaged the facility and put it out of service.

Serwan Bery, co-chair of the Kurdish Red Crescent, said earlier it had been the city's only functioning hospital.Deputy PM Binh showed his deep sorrow of the passing of Archbishop Paul Bui Van Doc, who he described as an outstanding dignitary with important role in building and developing the Church.

The same day, President Tran Dai Quang, former PM Nguyen Tan Dung, and leaders of ministries, sectors, localities and domestic and foreign organisations also sent wreaths in tribute of the Archbishop.

Earlier, a delegation from the Party Committee, Peoples Council, Peoples Committee and Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, led by Secretary of the municipal Party Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan, also paid tribute to Archbishop Paul Bui Van Doc.

Writing on the funeral book, Nhan declared that the passing of Archbishop Paul Bui Van Doc is a great loss of the Catholic Church of Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City.

Also on the same day, Politburo member, Secretary of the Party Central Committee (PCC) and head of the PCCs Commission for Mass Mobilisation Truong Thi Mai, President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee Tran Thanh Man, Minister of Home Affairs Le Vinh Tan, and head of the Government Committee for Religious Affairs Vu Chien Thang, and many delegations from central agencies and localities also came to see Archbishop Paul Bui Van Doc for the last time.

Venerable Thich Tri Quang, head of the Executive Committee of the Vietnam Buddhist Sanghas HCM City chapter, and representatives from many religious organisations, parishes of Ho Chi Minh City Archdiocese and neighbouring localities also paid tribute to the dignitary.

Archbishop Paul Bui Van Docs funeral will take place on March 17.Israeli forensics experts inspect the wreckage of a car which ploughed into a group of soldiers in the occupied West Bank on March 16, 2018 killing two of them

Israeli forces have arrested a brother and an uncle of a Palestinian man accused of killing two soldiers in a West Bank car ramming late on Friday, the army said.

The alleged driver of the vehicle -- identified as Alaa Kabha, born in 1991 -- was already in custody having been detained injured at the scene and taken to hospital under guard.

Friday's car ramming, close to the Jewish settlement of Mevo Dotan near Jenin in the north of the occupied West Bank, also wounded two soldiers, one of them seriously.

Tensions were high after Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas called for a day of rage on Friday to commemorate 100 days since US President Donald Trump's controversial recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Palestinians too see the city as their capital and Trump's recognition broke with decades of US policy that the its status would be negotiated between the parties.

At least 31 Palestinians and four Israelis have been killed since Trump's announcement, which set off major protests.

Hamas praised the attack but did not claim responsibility for it.

According to Israel's Shin Bet domestic security agency, Kabha had previously been interned for security reasons but was released in April last year.

Israeli soldiers inspected his family home following Friday's attack in readiness to demolish it.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a statement on Saturday, said Israel will take tough action against Kabha.

"We will work to demolish the home of the terrorist and will deal with him to the fullest extent of the law," he said.

Israel routinely demolishes the homes of Palestinians who carry out attacks

Authorities also rescinded the permits of 67 of members of his extended family to work in Israel and those of 26 to do business with it.

Human rights groups condemn such measures as collective punishment but Netanyahu's right-wing government says they are a deterrent to attacks on Israelis.

Car rammings are a tactic that has been used repeatedly in a wave of lone wolf attacks that has hit Israel and the Palestinian territories since October 2015.

The frequency of such attacks had abated but has picked up again since Trump's Jerusalem announcement.Syrian civilians flee from the town of Jisreen in the Eastern Ghouta enclave on the way to areas under government control on March 17, 2018

Thousands of terrified Syrian civilians fled for their lives on Saturday, as they sought to escape two raging offensives in a rebel bastion outside Damascus and a northwestern Kurdish enclave.

Syria's civil war this week entered its eighth year with world powers unable to stem a complex conflict that has killed more than 350,000 people and displaced at least half the country's population.

Tens of thousands have taken to the roads with their belongings, as Russia-backed regime fighters push deeper into rebel Eastern Ghouta outside the capital and Turkey-led forces press an assault in the Kurdish enclave of Afrin.

Civilians trudged out of Eastern Ghouta's Jisreen on Saturday after regime forces seized control of the town, many with small children walking by their sides.

One man held up a Syrian flag as regime tanks rolled by.

A Syrian boy carries sacks past government soldiers as civilians flee the Eastern Ghouta rebel enclave on March 17, 2018

An AFP reporter in the nearby town of Arbin heard intense bombardment, as the month-long assault that has claimed over 1,400 civilian lives ground on.

Air strikes killed 37 civilians across the shrinking rebel territory, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor reported, most of them in the town of Zamalka as they prepared to flee.

Throughout Saturday some 20,000 people did manage to stream out of the last rebel stronghold near Damascus, taking the total number to escape the carnage over the past three days to an estimated 50,000, the monitor said.

The Russian military said over 30,000 people fled over the past day.

Regime forces have retaken some 80 percent of Eastern Ghouta since launching a brutal air and ground offensive on February 18, carving it up into three ever-smaller pockets held by different rebel groups.

In their latest advances Saturday pro-government forces took control of the two towns of Kafr Batna and Sabqa in the southern pocket held by the Faylaq al-Rahman rebel group, the monitor said.

- Clutching blankets -

Members of the Syrian government forces ride in a tank in Eastern Ghouta on March 17, 2018

Syrian state television showed dozens of civilians -- men, women, children and the elderly -- plodding along a road leading into regime-held territory.

Several dragged suitcases while others carried children, kicking up dust from the road as they marched. Those fleeing clutched blankets or wore thick winter coats.

Some civilians who have arrived in government-controlled territory have complained of having nowhere to sleep.

"Women and children are on the floor," Abu Khaled, 35, who used to run a clothing shop in Ghouta told AFP.

Since 2013, Eastern Ghouta's estimated 400,000 residents lived under government siege, facing severe food and medecine shortages in the enclave.

Sixty patients were evacuated from the main town of Douma on Saturday, a medical source told AFP, on the fifth day straight of such evacuations.

An AFP reporter there said shelling hit the town during the operation.

Syrians arrive at a checkpoint on March 17, 2018 as civilians flee the city of Afrin

On Saturday, rebel artillery fire killed one person in the capital, the Observatory said.

In northwestern Syria meanwhile, more than 200,000 civilians have fled the Kurdish-majority city of Afrin in less than three days, according to the monitor.

On Saturday, a Turkish air strike killed 11 civilians in the city as they tried to leave, it said.

"There was fierce fighting throughout the night... as the Turkish forces and their Syrian allies tried to break into the city," the Observatory said.

The monitor says more than 280 civilians have been killed since Turkey's Afrin campaign began, but Ankara has denied the reports and repeatedly said it takes the "utmost care" to avoid civilian casualties.

- Sleeping rough -

Turkey and its Syrian Arab rebel allies have waged a nearly two-month offensive on the Afrin enclave, which is held by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).

Earlier this week, they largely surrounded the enclave's sole city, which was home to some 350,000 people, including people displaced from other parts of the enclave already overrun.

A single escape route remains open to the south to territory still held by the YPG or controlled by the Damascus government.

Syrians arrive at a checkpoint in the country's north on March 17, 2018 as civilians flee the city of Afrin

In a regime-held area just outside Afrin, Syrians who had fled their homes were sleeping in mosques and schools -- some even in shops, a displaced person there said.

"Some sleep in cars or on the roadside," said the person, asking not to be named, adding that rent prices in the area had soared.

Late Friday, a Turkish bombing raid struck the city's main hospital, killing 16 civilians, the Observatory said.

Turkey's military denied hitting the hospital, saying that its operation in Afrin "is carried out in such a way as to not cause any harm to civilians".

Hospital director Jiwan Mohammed told state news agency SANA the strikes had put the hospital -- until then, the city's only functioning medical facility -- out of service.

Turkey says the YPG is a "terrorist" offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

But the Kurdish militia has also formed the backbone of a US-backed alliance that has successfully expelled the Islamic State jihadist group from large parts of Syria.Wounded Syrians rest at a makeshift clinic in the Eastern Ghouta rebel enclave on March 17, 2018

The head of Syria's main opposition group on Saturday accused the United Nations of failing to prevent violence raging in the war-wracked country, including the assault on the Eastern Ghouta rebel enclave.

"We hold the United Nations, the Security Council and the international community ... directly responsible for their silence around these crimes and for failing to take action to prevent these crimes," Nasr al-Hariri, president of the Syrian Negotiation Commission (SNC), told reporters in Riyadh.

"But let us not forget that the party that holds direct responsibility for the crimes are the Syrian regime and the countries that continue to stand by it".

Russian-backed Syrian regime forces have waged a blistering assault on Eastern Ghouta that has retaken 70 percent of the enclave near Damascus since February 18.

The offensive has killed around 1,400 civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor which relies on a network of sources on the ground.

The assault has sparked an exodus with more than 40,000 civilians pouring into surrounding government-held areas over the past 48 hours.

More than 350,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since the Syria war broke out in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.Ameenah Gurib-Fakim said she had 'inadvertently' used the credit card to make personal purchases

Mauritius President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, who has been embroiled in a financial scandal, resigned on Saturday, her lawyer said, just days after she refused to stand down.

Gurib-Fakim, Africa's only female head of state, submitted her resignation in the "national interest," her lawyer Yousouf Mohamed told reporters, adding that it would take effect on March 23.

She has vowed to fight the accusations -- that she used a bank card provided by an NGO to make personal purchases, including jewellery and luxury goods worth at least 25,000 euros, according to local newspaper l'Express.

Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth announced earlier this month that Gurib-Fakim had agreed to resign, with a date set for her departure after last Monday's ceremony celebrating the Indian Ocean archipelago nation's 50 years of independence.

But on Wednesday, a statement from the presidency lashed out at "weeks of attacks and false allegations" and said Gurib-Fakim planned to clear her name and would not resign.

Gurib-Fakim, whose role is mostly ceremonial, is a scientist and biologist of international renown, and in 2015 joined the London-based Planet Earth Institute (PEI) to try to develop scientific capacity in Africa.

The presidency said that in May 2016, she received a credit card to pay for travel and logistical expenses linked to her role but inadvertently used it for unrelated expenses.

Gurib-Fakim said she immediately informed the PEI and paid back the amount, as well as all expenses paid by the PEI for her missions.Ameenah Gurib-Fakim said she had 'inadvertently' used the credit card to make personal purchases

Mauritius President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim resigned on Saturday after being embroiled in a scandal over her use of a credit card to buy luxury personal items, in an abrupt change of heart after vowing she would not stand down.

Gurib-Fakim, Africa's only female head of state, submitted her resignation in the "national interest," her lawyer Yousouf Mohamed told reporters.

He said her resignation would take effect on March 23, a move that will bring down the curtain on a saga that has gripped the Indian Ocean archipelago for weeks.

Gurib-Fakim had vowed to fight the accusations that first appeared in local newspaper L'Express -- that she used a bank card provided by an NGO to make personal purchases, including jewellery and luxury goods worth at least 25,000 euros.

Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth announced a week ago that Gurib-Fakim had agreed to resign, with a date set for her departure after last Monday's ceremony celebrating the Indian Ocean archipelago's 50 years of independence.

But on Wednesday, a statement from the presidency lashed out at "weeks of attacks and false allegations" and said Gurib-Fakim planned to clear her name and would not go.

It is not clear what prompted her about-turn, but her lawyer said Saturday she was "relieved" she had made the decision to resign after enduring a "difficult" time in recent weeks.

- Links to Angolan billionaire -

Gurib-Fakim, whose role is mostly ceremonial, is a scientist and biologist of international renown, and in 2015 joined the London-based Planet Earth Institute (PEI) to try to develop scientific capacity in Africa.

The presidency said that in May 2016, she received a credit card from PEI to pay for travel and logistical expenses linked to her role but inadvertently used it for unrelated personal expenses.

Gurib-Fakim said she immediately informed the PEI and paid back the amount, as well as all expenses paid by the PEI for her missions.

This was confirmed by the PEI, which said in a statement earlier this week that Gurib-Fakim "thus never received gifts, favours, wages or expenses from the PEI, nor undue benefits or advantage".

An investigation by L'Express detailed the purchase of a laptop in September 2016, clothes, shoes and jewellery in October, more jewellery in November and luxury clothing in December.

However it was not just the expenditure that provoked anger in Mauritius, but the president's association with Angolan billionaire Alvaro Sobrinho who helped found the PEI and is himself being investigated in Switzerland and Portugal for suspected fraud.

In 2017 he received permission to open an investment bank in Mauritius, prompting allegations of favouritism on his behalf.

Gurib-Fakim, under pressure from the opposition, resigned shortly afterwards from her role at the PEI.This file photo from July shows former FBI deputy Andrew McCabe, right, with Attorney General Jeff Sessions

Donald Trump slammed the FBI as he hailed the firing of a veteran Bureau agent as a "great day for democracy," a move his attorney said he hoped would bring an end to a probe into alleged collusion between the president's campaign and Russia.

Critics described the axing of Andrew McCabe -- the deputy of former FBI director James Comey -- as a "dangerous" ploy to discredit the top US law enforcement agency as well as the work of Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating Russian influence in the 2016 election.

McCabe is a potential key witness in the Russia probe.

Trump on Saturday via Twitter blasted the alleged "tremendous leaking, lying and corruption at the highest levels of the FBI, Justice & State."

He also reiterated long-running criticism of the Mueller investigation, terming it a "witch hunt" and saying that it "should never have been started in that there was no collusion and there was no crime."

- McCabe job offer -

Earlier, Trump's personal attorney, John Dowd, told the Daily Beast that he hoped Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein would follow the lead of the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility and "bring an end to alleged Russia Collusion investigation manufactured by McCabe's boss James Comey based upon a fraudulent and corrupt Dossier."

Dowd told the Daily Beast he was speaking for the president. But in a subsequent statement he said he had been "speaking for myself, not the president."

McCabe, who has endured a year of withering attacks from Trump, was fired by the Justice Department late Friday, just two days before he was to retire after 21 years with the FBI.

Critics say the firing is a step in Trump's plan to engineer Mueller's dismissal, potentially sparking a constitutional crisis.

Mueller is also examining whether Trump might have obstructed justice, including by firing Comey last May.

One Democratic lawmaker, Mark Pocan of Wisconsin, announced Saturday that he offered McCabe a job in his office so he can complete the time necessary to retire with full federal benefits.

"My offer of employment to Mr. McCabe is a legitimate offer to work on election security," Pocan said in a statement.

McCabe spokeswoman Melissa Schwartz was non-committal. "We are considering all options," she told the Washington Post.

- 'War' on the FBI -

"Andrew McCabe FIRED, a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI - A great day for Democracy," Trump tweeted soon after the firing.

McCabe denied any impropriety and said he was the victim of a Trump administration "war" against the FBI and the special counsel.

McCabe kept memos of his interactions with Trump, US media reported Saturday, adding that the documents could bolster his version of events.

Comey pushed back as well. "Mr President, the American people will hear my story very soon. And they can judge for themselves who is honorable and who is not," he tweeted.

The Justice Department said an internal investigation had found that McCabe made unauthorized disclosures to the media, and had not been fully honest "on multiple occasions" with the department's inspector general.

"The FBI expects every employee to adhere to the highest standards of honesty, integrity and accountability," Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement.

Lack of candor under oath is a firing offense at the FBI, but the politically-charged context of the move raised questions among McCabe's backers.

Former CIA chief John Brennan lost his patience with Trump. "When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history," he tweeted.

- 'Not political appointees' -

Trump, in an early afternoon tweet, belittled the media for its coverage of the story, saying: "The Fake News is beside themselves that McCabe was caught, called out and fired..."

In a second tweet he again denied any collusion with Russia.

Details of the inspector general's probe were not made public, but it involved the FBI's handling of the 2016 investigation into Trump's election rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Trump has repeatedly accused McCabe and Comey of protecting Clinton from prosecution, including over her misuse of a private email server while she was secretary of state.

The inspector general's probe was "part of an unprecedented effort by the administration, driven by the president himself, to remove me from my position, destroy my reputation, and possibly strip me of a pension that I worked 21 years to earn," McCabe said in a statement.

"It is part of this administration's ongoing war with the FBI and the efforts of the special counsel investigation."

But one law professor defended the Justice Department's investigators.

"These are not political appointees," Jonathan Turley of George Washington University told CNN.

"They clearly concluded that McCabe misled them -- and that he misled them on one of the core issues they were investigating."

The White House has shown mounting frustration with the collusion probe, as it focuses ever more closely on the president's inner circle.Palestinian orime minister Rami Hamdallah is escorted by his bodyguards, is greeted by police forces of the Islamist Hamas movement upon his arrival in Gaza City on March 13, 2018

Hamas on Saturday closed the Gaza offices of a major telecommunications firm, accusing it of failing to cooperate in a probe into the apparent assassination attempt against the Palestinian premier.

Rami Hamdallah, the Palestinian prime minister based in the occupied West Bank, was unharmed on Tuesday when a roadside bomb blew up near his convoy during a rare visit to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

Six of his bodyguards were lightly wounded and a second bomb failed to explode, according to officials.

The Hamas-run police in Gaza said they were closing the offices of the Palestinian company Wataniya Mobile in the Palestinian enclave, based on a decision by the state prosecutor.

A statement said the prosecutor accused the mobile service provider of "refusing to cooperate with the investigation of the Beit Hanoun bombing", referring to the area where the bomb exploded.

It did not provide further details and there was no immediate response from the company.

Wataniya's mobile telephone service was not cut off.

There has been no claim of responsibility for Tuesday's bomb attack.

Hamas has launched an investigation and made several arrests.

Hamdallah runs the government in the occupied West Bank while the Islamist movement Hamas heads a rival administration in Gaza.

The apparent assassination attempt further complicated an already faltering reconciliation agreement between Hamas and president Mahmud Abbas's secular Fatah party.

After the attack, Abbas said he held Hamas responsible since it is in charge of security in Gaza, but stopped short of accusing the group of directly carrying out the bombing.

Hamas in turn blamed Israel, which has assassinated several Palestinian leaders over the years.

Other possible suspects include smaller, more radical Islamist groups that operate in Gaza but are opposed to Hamas.Zimbabwe's first Miss Albino Sithembiso Mutukura said she entered the pageant to raise awareness of the condition

Oozing charm and confidence, 22-year-old Sithembiso Mutukura beat 12 other contestants in Zimbabwe's first Miss Albinism beauty contest aimed at reducing stigma and increasing awareness about the condition.

Friday's "Beauty Beyond the Skin" pageant was held in a Harare nightclub, making Zimbabwe the second African country after Kenya to host such an event.

Many African countries have a dark relationship with albinism -- a genetic disorder inherited from parents who both carry a faulty gene that prevents the skin from making melanin properly and thereby giving it colour.

They are hunted down in some African countries by witch doctors for their body parts which are used in potions to bring good luck or riches. Some are even kidnapped and sold by relatives out to make a fast buck.

Mutukura said she entered the pageant to raise awareness.

"The people with disabilities are always looked down upon even in schools. I have gone through a lot but I want people living with albinism to be brave and persevere in life," the social work student at the University of Zimbabwe told AFP after winning the crown.

Zimbabwe's first Miss Albino Sithembiso Mutukura (R) beat 12 other contestants

"We must continue to advocate for our rights and I hope my win will empower the girl child. People with disabilities must not look down upon themselves."

The contestants sashayed down the catwalk in gowns and traditional African robes and were asked an array of questions to decide the winner.

Mutukura won a food hamper and $85 (70 euros) -- a fair bit of money in Zimbabwe.

Pageant organiser Brenda Mudzimu said she was happy to finally host the event as it was postponed last year due to a lack of funds.

- Global pageant -

"The pageant aims to instil confidence in girls living with albinism in Zimbabwe as well as reduce the stigma," Mudzimu said.

Pageant organiser Brenda Mudzimu said she was happy to finally host the event as it was postponed last year due to a lack of funds

"People living with albinism are talented, beautiful and intelligent just like any other normal human being. My experience living with albinism was not easy.I learnt that in life living with albinism you have to persevere and survive in life."

Mudzimu said she hoped to organise a global contest.

"This will be an annual event which will later be advanced to Miss Albinism Africa and Miss Albinism World because we want to reach all corners of the world," she said.

The southern African country has about 39,000 people living with albinism, she said.

Tapuwa Muchemwa, a government representative who was the guest of honour, said Zimbabwean authorities were committed to uphold the rights of albinos.

"We as government strongly advocate that people with albinism deserve their right to life and security and to be protected as well as the right not to be subjected to torture and ill treatment," Muchemwa said.

Albinism groups say more than 90 percent of people with the condition in Africa die before they reach the age of 40. The rate of albinism in Africa is much higher than in other parts of the world.Members of the Syrian government forces ride in a tank in the town of Jisreen in the southern Eastern Ghouta, on the eastern outskirts of the capital Damascus, on March 17, 2018

Syria's regime retook two more towns in Eastern Ghouta on Saturday, a war monitor said, pressing an offensive to capture the rebel enclave on the doorstep of Damascus.

Government forces seized Kafr Batna and Sabqa in the south of the enclave, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, as thousands of civilians fled into regime-held territory.

Russia-backed regime forces have retaken more than 80 percent of the last opposition bastion outside the capital since launching a blistering air and ground offensive on February 18, the Observatory says.

The assault has split opposition-held areas into three shrinking pockets each held by different rebels.

The southern pocket is held by the Faylaq al-Rahman rebel group, which the Observatory says counts some 8,000 fighters in its ranks.

After Saturday's advance, the group now controls just a handful of areas, the monitor says: Arbin -- the largest -- as well as Zamalka, Hazeh, Ain Tarma and parts of the Damascus neighbourhood of Jobar.

Thousands of civilians streaming out of the enclave into regime-held areas on Saturday came mostly from this southern sector, it said.

On Friday, the enclave's main rebel groups -- Faylaq al-Rahman, Jaish al-Islam and Ahrar al-Sham -- said they would be willing to hold direct UN-sponsored talks with regime backer Russia on a ceasefire.

More than 1,400 civilians have been killed since the regime offensive began, the Observatory says, while tens of thousands more have fled.

Jaish al-Islam controls an area around the main town of Douma in the north of the former enclave, while Ahrar al-Sham holds influence in the area of the town of Harasta to the west.Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (R) and Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie (L) face reporters after Mashaie registered his candidacy for the 2013 presidential election from which Meshaie was eventually disqualified

A former Iranian vice president and chief-of-staff of hardline ex-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was arrested on Saturday, the website of the Tehran prosecutor said.

Esfandiar "Rahim Mashaie was arrested and is in detention," it said, without specifying the reason why he was held.

It simply said he was arrested by the police who were acting on the orders of the judiciary.

Mashaie served as first vice president in 2009 at the start of Ahmadinejad's contested second term in office.

But his tenure was cut short and he was he was forced to step down by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after saying that Iran was a friend of the US and Israeli people.

His detention comes after video uploaded on social media showed Mashaie demonstrating Thursday outside the British embassy to protest against the incarceration of another of Ahmadinejad's vice presidents.

Hamid Baghaie was arrested on Tuesday to begin serving a 15-year jail sentence that was issued against him in December when a court found him guilty of embezzlement and illegal business transactions.

ISNA news agency quoted Mashaie's lawyer, Mehran Abdollapour, as saying his client was arrested in the evening as he was leaving Baghaie's house.

"My client was probably arrested for having recently burnt (a copy) of Mr. Baghaie's verdict outside the British embassy," the lawyer said.

Ahmadinejad and Baghaie both hoped to stand in the May 2017 presidential election, but the conservative-dominated Guardians Council rejected their candidacy.

Meshaie, who was the chief-of-staff of Iran's former hardline two-term president, was barred from standing in the 2013 presidential election as well by the Guardians Council.

Ahmadinejad on Saturday defended his long-time ally, calling Mashaie "pure, courageous and revolutionary."

"His arrest is clearly a violation of the constitution... that confirms the need for fundamental reforms within the judiciary," the former president said in a statement.The Vietnamese PM said in early February, both sides successfully held the 40th meeting of the Vietnam - Lao Inter-Governmental Committee, during which they agreed to direct the two countries' ministries, agencies and localities to successfully embark on the Vietnam - Laos Cooperation Plan 2018, focusing on port, transport connectivity trade, energy, electricity purchase for the effective and practical development of traditional friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive partnership between the two nations.



PM Phuc suggested Laos speed up the simplification of procedures; reduce fees for work permit, visas and residence cards for Vietnamese workers in Laos; and provide continued support for Vietnamese nationals and the establishment of overseas Vietnamese associations in Laos.



Sisoulith, for his part, promised to direct Lao ministries, agencies and localities to work closely with Vietnamese partners to promptly launch the Vietnam - Laos Cooperation Plan 2018.



He said he will attend the sixth Greater Mekong Sub-region Summit and the 10th Cambodia - Laos - Myanmar - Vietnam Cooperation Summit to be held in Hanoi from March 29-31, as well as closely partner with Vietnam and GMS countries to build and effectively realise economic cooperation programmes in the region.



On March 16 afternoon (local time), Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh held a working session with Minister for Trade and Industry of New South Wales state Niall Blair. Both sides discussed in detail cooperation opportunities in air transport between Vietjet and airports in New Castle and Brisbane cities.Sierra Leone's electoral commission sounded the alarm on Saturday over a wave of violence between rival groups ahead of a run-off presidential vote later this month.

Opposition leader Julius Maada Bio, from the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), took 43.3 percent of votes in the first round on March 7, while Samura Kamara of the incumbent All Peoples Congress (APC) took 42.7 percent.

Sierra Leone's people party presidential candidate Julius Mada Bio holds his daughter while casting his ballot for the general elections, on March 7, 2018 at a polling station in Freetown

Violence was reported between SLPP and APC supporters in the southern city of Bo, as well as several other cities where some lodgings were burned.

Staff of the National Electoral Commission were attacked and injured in Bo, the commission said.

In a joint statement from diplomatic missions including the United States, European Union and former colonial power Britain, diplomats urged calm ahead of the March 27 vote.

"We appeal to all Sierra Leoneans to remain peaceful and respectful during the democratic process," according to the text.

"We also entreat all political supporters to keep political activities and exchanges civil to maintain an atmosphere of tolerance and respect."

The SLPP and the APC dominate Sierra Leone's politics and have ruled alternatively since independence from Britain in 1961.

The export-dependent economy of the mineral-rich but impoverished West African country is in a dire state following the 2014-16 Ebola crisis, while a commodity price slump has driven away foreign investors.The White House said Vice President Mike Pence repeated President Donald Trump's request that Pakistan increase its efforts to address the Taliban's presence

US Vice President Mike Pence told Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi that his country "must do more" against the Taliban and other militants, the White House said on Saturday.

"Vice President Pence reiterated President (Donald) Trump's request that the Government of Pakistan must do more to address the continued presence of the Taliban, Haqqani Network, and other terrorist groups operating in their country," the White House said in a statement on the Friday call.

"Pakistan could and should work closer with the United States," Pence said.

According to Washington, there is little sign that Islamabad has made a decision to end its support for the Taliban, which the country's powerful security services see as safeguarding its interests and as a bulwark against Indian influence in Kabul.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani last month proposed peace talks with the Taliban, which could eventually be recognized as a political party if it observes a ceasefire and officially recognizes the Afghan government and constitution.

The Taliban has stopped short of rejecting the proposal, but its response has been muted.LA QUINTA, Calif. (AP) - Disgraced former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn campaigned for a Republican congressional candidate in California Friday in his first public appearance since pleading guilty to lying to the FBI.

Friday's event to endorse Republican Omar Navarro in his challenge of 14-term Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters is the latest signal that Flynn is re-entering political life while still awaiting sentencing and cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian election interference and possible coordination with President Donald Trump's associates.

Mueller is also investigating possible obstruction of justice by the president. In recent weeks, the special counsel's prosecutors have signaled they want to interview Trump about his firing of Flynn and his conversations with former FBI Director James Comey about the FBI's investigation into Flynn.

FILE - In this Dec. 1, 2017, file photo, former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn leaves federal court in Washington. Disgraced former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn is campaigning for a Republican congressional candidate in California. He endorsed Republican Omar Navarro in his challenge of 14-term Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters at a campaign event in La Quinta, Friday, March 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Flynn said that he wasn't at the event in La Quinta "to complain about who has done me wrong or how unfair I've been treated or how unfair the entire process has been."

Flynn is a retired Army lieutenant general who frequently campaigned for Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign and led the Republican National Convention crowd in anti-Hillary Clinton "lock her up" chants. He explained his decision to join the Trump campaign Friday, saying that his passion and destiny "changed when I saw our country taking a fundamentally different direction" and that he decided "to do something about it in a different capacity."

"If I'm paying the price for that decision, so be it and God can and will judge me at some point," Flynn said.

He said that the greatness of Americans is "our innate ability to get knocked down, to get right back up, shake it off and get right back into the fight."

Navarro, a conservative Republican activist who lost to Waters by more than 50 percentage points in 2016 in the strongly Democratic district, slammed her in his remarks to the crowd. He called for Trump to endorse him and repeated a line from Trump that Waters has a "low IQ."

"Once November comes, you're going to lose, you're going to lose big," Navarro said. "Like the president said, your low IQ isn't going to get you past 2017."

Waters slammed Navarro and Flynn in a series of tweets, including noting that Navarro was on probation after being convicted of attaching a tracking device to his wife's car.

"Desperate, unstable, and convicted criminal Omar Navarro stoops low in soliciting help from another indicted criminal in a campaign against #MaxineWaters - what a campaign!" Waters tweeted .

"Apparently, the two will spend a lot of time together discussing their crimes," Waters said in another tweet .Former FBI Deputy Director McCabe booted from agency

WASHINGTON (AP) - Attorney General Jeff Sessions says he has fired former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, a regular target of President Donald Trump's anger and criticism, just two days before his scheduled retirement date. McCabe immediately decried the move and suggested it was part of the Trump administration's "war on the FBI."

The Friday dismissal was made on the recommendation of FBI disciplinary officials and comes ahead of an inspector general report expected to conclude that McCabe had authorized the release of information to the news media and had not been forthcoming with the watchdog office as it examined the bureau's handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation.

"The FBI expects every employee to adhere to the highest standards of honesty, integrity, and accountability," Sessions said in a Friday night statement.

In an extraordinary rebuttal released immediately after the attorney general's announcement, McCabe said his credibility had been attacked as "part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally" but also the FBI and law enforcement.

"It is part of this administration's ongoing war on the FBI and the efforts of the special counsel investigation, which continue to this day," he added, referring to Robert Mueller's ongoing probe into potential coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign. "Their persistence in this campaign only highlights the importance of the special counsel's work."

___

State: Voicemail about cracking in bridge wasn't picked up

MIAMI (AP) - An engineer left a voicemail two days before a catastrophic bridge failure in Miami to say some cracking had been found at one end of the concrete span, but the voicemail wasn't picked up until after the collapse, Florida Department of Transportation officials said Friday.

The voicemail left on a landline wasn't heard by a state DOT employee until Friday because the employee was out of the office on an assignment, the agency said in an email.

In a transcript released Friday night, Denney Pate with FIGG Bridge Group says the cracking would need repairs "but from a safety perspective we don't see that there's any issue there so we're not concerned about it from that perspective."

The bridge collapsed Thursday, killing at least six people. Authorities are slowly removing the debris, looking for more victims.

At a news conference Friday night, officials from the National Transportation Safety Board said they have just begun their investigation, and cannot yet say whether any cracking contributed to the collapse. They also said workers were trying to strengthen a diagonal member on the pedestrian bridge at Florida International University when it collapsed.

___

Trump's possible China tariffs send opponents scrambling

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump is considering sweeping tariffs on imports from China, with an announcement possible as early as next week. And that has industry groups and some lawmakers scrambling to prevent the next front in a potential trade war that could reverberate across the U.S. economy.

Early indications from the White House have officials braced for tariffs across a wide variety of consumer goods, from apparel to electronics, and even on imported parts for products made in the U.S. The size and scope remain under debate, but the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is warning that annual tariffs of as much as $60 billion on Chinese goods would be "devastating."

Trump's focus on China could be even more consequential, both at home and abroad, than the recently announced penalty tariffs on steel and aluminum. And amid the staff turmoil at the White House, it's being read as a sign of rising influence for the administration's populist economic aides, led by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and adviser Peter Navarro.

Even Larry Kudlow - an avowed free trader tapped to replace Gary Cohn as director of the White House National Economic Council - has said that China deserves a "tough response" from the United States and its friends. He told CNBC this week, "The United States could lead a coalition of large trading partners and allies against China."

But with these tariffs, the Trump administration appears so far to be content to go it alone.

___

Bye-bye box seats? Tax law may curb corporate cash at games

WASHINGTON (AP) - Could the crackdown on tax loopholes clamp down on corporate schmoozing?

The new tax law ends a benefit prized by business for impressing customers or courting new ones. And the impact could be felt in the pricey boxes at sports stadiums, or even at Double-A baseball games in small towns with loyal company backers. In Washington, lobbyists who helped craft the Republican tax legislation could now be pinched by it.

U.S. companies spend hundreds of millions annually on entertaining customers and clients at sporting events, tournaments and arts venues, an expense that until this year they could partially deduct from their tax bill. But a provision in the new law eliminates the long-standing 50 percent deduction in an effort to curb the overall price tag of the legislation and streamline the tax code.

"Congress didn't feel the government should subsidize it anymore. Firms are going to take a hard look at their entertainment budgets," said Ryan Losi, a certified public accountant based in Glen Allen, Virginia.

The provision is one of the many under-the-radar consequences slowly emerging from the new tax legislation, the most sweeping rewrite of the tax code in three decades. Also embedded in the law are little-noticed provisions with the potential to bring major changes to mundane parts of American life - including home-buying, saving for school and divorce.

___

Survivors of school shooting take gun control message abroad

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - Student survivors of the worst high school shooting in U.S. history took their message abroad for the first time on Saturday, calling for greater gun safety measures and sharing with educational professionals from around the world their frightening experience.

The Feb. 14 attack in Florida killed 17 people, 14 of them students, becoming one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history. The attack was carried out by a former student wielding an assault-style rifle who strode into one of the school buildings and opened fire.

"It's so important to be educated, and to be educated in a productive sense is to feel safe at school," Suzanna Barna, 17, said. "No child should ever have to go through what we did."

Barna and her classmates Kevin Trejos and Lewis Mizen, all seniors at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., each wore a red ribbon representing the color of their school in honor of the victims as they talked about their experience and their push for stricter gun safety measures. They spoke in Dubai at the Global Education and Skills Forum that coincides with the $1 million Global Teacher Prize, awarded to one outstanding teacher from around the world each year.

Trejos, 18, described the ordeal as "scary" and said students were crying and trying to comfort one another as they hid inside a closet in a classroom for nearly two hours.

___

Senators want CIA to lift veil on nominee's black site past

WASHINGTON (AP) - Gina Haspel's long spy career is so shrouded in mystery that senators want documents declassified so they can decide if her role at a CIA black site should prevent her from directing the agency.

It's a deep dive into Haspel's past that reflects key questions about her future: Would she support President Donald Trump if he tried to reinstate waterboarding and, in his words, "a lot worse"? Is Haspel the right person to lead the CIA at a time of escalating Russian aggression and ongoing extremist threats?

Haspel's upcoming confirmation hearing will be laser-focused on the time she spent supervising a secret prison in Thailand. The CIA won't say when in 2002 Haspel was there, but at various times that year interrogators at the site sought to make terror suspects talk by slamming them against walls, keeping them from sleeping, holding them in coffin-sized boxes and forcing water down their throats - a technique called waterboarding.

Haspel also is accused of drafting a memo calling for the destruction of 92 videotapes of interrogation sessions. Their destruction in 2005 prompted a lengthy Justice Department investigation that ended without charges.

"We should not be asked to confirm a nominee whose background cannot be publicly discussed and who cannot then be held accountable for her actions," said Sen. Martin Heinrich, who joined other Democrats on the Senate intelligence committee in asking the CIA to declassify more details about Haspel. "The American public deserves to know who its leaders are."

___

No. 16 UMBC etches name in sports lore, routs No. 1 Virginia

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Jairus Lyles couldn't suppress a smile, knowing that a school known more for chess than hoops had finally made it happen - a 16 ousting a 1 in March Madness.

The University of Maryland-Baltimore County stunned the sports world by pulling off the most surprising upset in college basketball history, trouncing Virginia 74-54 on Friday night to become the first No. 16 seed ever to beat a No. 1 seed in the men's NCAA Tournament.

The Retrievers secured their underdog legacy in sports lore, alongside Buster Douglas, the 1980 United States Olympic hockey team and Joe Namath's Jets.

Virginia entered the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 overall seed after going 31-2 in the regular season, including 20-1 in ACC competition.

Frankly, the question wasn't whether the Cavaliers would win this game, but if they'd get to the Final Four and win it all.

___

Russia expels 23 British diplomats in spy-poisoning response

MOSCOW (AP) - Russia on Saturday announced it is expelling 23 British diplomats and threatened further measures in retaliation in a growing diplomatic dispute over a nerve agent attack on a former spy in Britain.

The Russian Foreign Ministry also said in a statement that it is ordering the closure of the British Council, a government organization for cultural and scientific cooperation, and that it is ending an agreement to reopen the British consulate in St. Petersburg.

It ordered the diplomats to leave within a week.

The statement said the government could take further measures if Britain takes any more "unfriendly" moves toward Russia. British Ambassador Laurie Bristow was called to the Foreign Ministry Saturday morning to be informed of the moves.

British Prime Minister Theresa May this week expelled 23 Russian diplomats and severed high-level bilateral contacts over the March 4 poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. They remain in critical condition in hospital.

___

Lawyer: Porn star who alleges Trump affair has faced threats

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A porn actress who said she had sex with Donald Trump before he became president has been threatened with physical harm, her attorney said Friday.

Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, has been seeking to invalidate a nondisclosure agreement she signed days before the 2016 presidential election in order to discuss their relationship, which she said began in 2006 and continued for about a year.

Lawyers for Trump, in a filing late Friday, claimed Clifford could owe more than $20 million in damages for violating the agreement.

Clifford's attorney, Michael Avenatti, told The Associated Press his client had been "physically threatened," but he didn't provide details. He would not comment on whether the threats came from anyone tied to the president, the Trump campaign or the Trump Organization.

Clifford will discuss the threats during a segment on CBS' "60 Minutes," which is scheduled to air later this month. Avenatti said he was confident that people would believe her after watching her interview.

___

Report: Abortion is safe but barriers reduce quality of care

WASHINGTON (AP) - Abortions in the U.S. are very safe but getting one without facing delays and false medical information depends on where women live, says a broad examination of the nation's abortion services.

Friday's report from the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine shows abortion increasingly is performed early in pregnancy, when it's safest. The risk of maternal death is higher from tonsillectomies, colonoscopies and childbirth, according to the independent panel, which advises the government on scientific issues.

While state restrictions may be intended to reduce overall abortions, the panel said those barriers can reduce the quality of care for women who undergo the procedure by preventing them from receiving the type of abortion that best meets their needs in a timely, equitable, science-based manner.

Among the examples cited in the report: Missouri and four other states require waiting 72 hours after mandated abortion counseling. Large studies show abortion doesn't lead to breast cancer, contrary to patient information provided by five states including Kansas. Fourteen states require a medically unnecessary pre-abortion ultrasound, and 17 require that all methods, even the abortion pill mifepristone, be offered in clinics that meet hospital-like standards.

"Clearly some of the regulations are having a real impact on quality," said panel co-chair Dr. Helene Gayle, a public health specialist and president of Chicago Community Trust.MANILA, Philippines (AP) - A small passenger plane carrying five people crashed into a house shortly after takeoff north of Manila on Saturday, killing all those onboard and five people on the ground, officials said.

The Piper-23 Apache plane took off from the airport in Plaridel town in Bulacan province then crash-landed and smashed into the house, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines spokesman Eric Apolonio and police said.

All five Filipinos on board the six-seat plane were killed, and the crash killed five people on the ground, Plaridel police chief Supt. Julio Lizardo said by phone. The crash ignited a fire in a house that was hit by the aircraft, he said.

A rescuer looks a plane crash victim following a crash of a Piper PA-23 Apache six-seater twin-engine light aircraft Saturday, March 17, 2018, on a residential area in Plaridel township, Bulacan province north of Manila, Philippines. The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) confirmed that the plane, operated by Lite Air Express, crash-landed on take off, killing six people on board and three more on the ground. (AP Photo)

Two other people on the ground were injured by burning debris, Lizardo said.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known.

Witnesses said the plane hit a tree and electric post before slamming into the house.

TV footage showed parts of the plane wreckage and the shattered walls of the house at the still-smoldering crash site.

Apolonio said the aircraft, which was operated by Lite Air Express, was bound for northern Laoag city. All the aircraft operated by the transport and courier company were grounded while investigators tried to determine the cause of the crash, he said.Here's your look at highlights from the weekly AP photo report, a gallery featuring a mix of front-page photography, the odd image you might have missed and lasting moments our editors think you should see.

This week's images include boats lying stranded in a dried-out lake in Switzerland; students in Pittsburgh taking part in a nationwide school walkout to protest gun violence; and Syrian civilians fleeing fighting in a Damascus suburb.

___

Stranded boats lie on the surface of the dried-out shores of the Lake of Gruyere in La Roche near Bulle, Switzerland, Wednesday, March 14, 2018. The level of the artificial impounding reservoir is progressively being reduced by 15 to 20 meters, in anticipation of meltwater from heavy snowfall accumulated on the surrounding mountains. (Valentin Flauraud/Keystone via AP)

This gallery contains photos from the week of March 10-16, 2018.

See the latest AP photo galleries: https://apimagesblog.com

___

Follow AP photographers on Twitter: http://twitter.com/AP/lists/ap-photographers

Follow AP Images on Twitter: http://twitter.com/AP_Images

Visit AP Images online: http://www.apimages.com http://www.apimages.com/

___

This gallery was produced by Patrick Sison in New York.

A masked protester confronts riot police outside the University of Thessaloniki campus in Thessaloniki, Greece on Saturday, March 10, 2018. Anarchists have clashed with riot police in Greece after some 2,000 demonstrators from across the Balkans marched in the northern Greek city to protest nationalism in the region. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)

Lydia McGeehan, center, 16, joins fellow Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts School students to form a chain around their school in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, March 14, 2018, to mark the one month anniversary of the deadly shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. The students stood in silence for 17 minutes to mark the 17 students and faculty killed in the massacre. (Stephanie Strasburg/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP)

In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, civilians carry their belongings as they flee from fighting between Syrian government forces and rebels in Hamouria in eastern Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus, Syria, on Thursday, March. 15, 2018. Thousands streamed out of Syria's besieged, opposition-held enclave of eastern Ghouta on Thursday, crossing on foot and in pick-up trucks and tractors to government-held territory near the capital, Damascus, according to footage on state-run Syrian television. (SANA via AP)

Kashmiri villagers walk on a temporary bridge made by lining up boats forming pathway across the river to attend the funeral of Shabir Ahmad, a suspected rebel, in Awantipora, 30 kilometrers (18 miles) south of Srinagar, Indian-controlled Kashmir, on Friday, March 16, 2018. Rebels have been fighting Indian rule since 1989, demanding Kashmir be made part of Pakistan or become an independent country. India accuses Pakistan of arming and training the rebels, a charge Pakistan denies. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Crushed cars lie under a section of a collapsed pedestrian bridge near Florida International University in the Miami area on Friday, March 16, 2018. The bridge that was under construction collapsed onto a busy highway Thursday afternoon, crushing vehicles beneath massive slabs of concrete and steel, killing and injuring several people, authorities said. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

President Donald Trump holds a photo of the border area as he reviews border wall prototypes, Tuesday, March 13, 2018, in San Diego. Rodney Scott, the Border Patrol's San Diego sector chief, helps to hold the print. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Delegates applaud as President Xi Jinping arrives for a plenary session of China's National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Tuesday, March 13, 2018. On Sunday, China's legislature scrapped a two-term limit on the presidency, paving the way for Xi to rule for as long as he wants. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)ISTANBUL (AP) - A prominent journalist accused of supporting Turkey's failed coup was released from prison Saturday after a court ruling, according to the country's official news agency on Saturday.

Sahin Alpay, a 74-year-old journalist who wrote for the now-defunct Zaman newspaper, was released from a prison on the outskirts of Istanbul early Saturday. Anadolu news agency said he has been banned from leaving his house and the country.

Alpay was arrested soon after the July 2016 failed coup, accused of terror group membership and attempting to overthrow the government.

Turkey blames the coup attempt on U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen. Gulen denies all accusations. Turkey shuttered Zaman and other Gulen-linked media before the coup.

In January, Turkey's constitutional court ruled that Alpay's rights had been violated by his imprisonment and ruled for his release, but a penal court initially refused to carry out the order.

Alpay told journalists outside the prison that his 20 months inside were difficult. "I am very happy to be reunited with my family but I cannot say I am free," Alpay said.

More than 38,000 people remain imprisoned in a massive crackdown on alleged Gulen supporters. Some 114,000 people have been sacked from public service through government decrees. At least 140 media organizations were closed.

"I leave behind thousands of people who have nothing to do with terrorism or the coup. I think Turkey will not be free as long as they are not free," Alpay said.

The Reporters Without Borders group has ranked Turkey at 155th out of 180 countries on its 2017 press freedom index.LONDON (AP) - Key developments in the nerve-agent poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia:

2010 - Sergei Skripal, a former Russian military intelligence officer jailed for spying for Britain, is released and flown to the U.K. as part of a swap with Russian agents caught in the United States. He settles in Salisbury, 90 miles (145 kilometers) southwest of London.

March 3, 2018 - Yulia Skripal arrives at Heathrow Airport from Russia to visit her father in England.

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May stands outside The Mill pub, as she views the area where former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter were found critically ill, in Salisbury, England, Thursday, March 15, 2018. May on Wednesday expelled 23 Russian diplomats, severed high-level contacts and vowed both open and covert action following the incident. (Toby Melville/Pool Photo via AP)

March 4, 9:15 a.m. - Sergei Skripal's burgundy BMW is seen in suburban Salisbury, near a cemetery, where his wife and son are commemorated.

March 4, 1:30 p.m. - The BMW is seen driving toward central Salisbury.

March 4, 1:40 p.m. - The BMW is parked at a lot in central Salisbury.

March 4, afternoon - Sergei and Yulia Skripal visit the Bishops Mill pub.

March 4, 2:20 p.m.-3:35 p.m. - Sergei and Yulia Skripal have lunch at the Zizzi restaurant.

March 4, 4:15 p.m. - Emergency services are called by a passer-by concerned about a man and a woman in Salisbury city center. Officers find the Skripals unconscious on a bench. They are taken to Salisbury District Hospital, where they remain in critical condition.

March 5 - Police say two people in Salisbury are being treated for suspected exposure to an unknown substance. The force does not identify them but the BBC reports the man is Sergei Skripal.

March 6 - Counterterrorism detectives take charge of the investigation. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson tells lawmakers it is too early to say who was responsible but calls Russia "a malign and disruptive force."

March 7 - Police announce that the Skripals were likely poisoned with a nerve agent in a targeted murder attempt. They disclose that a police officer who responded to the incident is in serious condition in a hospital.

March 9 - About 180 troops trained in chemical warfare and decontamination are deployed to Salisbury to help with the police investigation. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says Moscow might be willing to assist with the investigation but expresses resentment at suggestions the Kremlin was behind the attack.

March 11 - Public health officials tell people who visited the Zizzi restaurant or Bishops Mill pub in Salisbury on the day of the attack or the next day to wash their clothes as a precaution.

March 12 - Prime Minister Theresa May tells the House of Commons that the Skripals were poisoned with Novichok, a military-grade nerve agent developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. She says it's highly likely it came from Russia, and gives Moscow until midnight March 13 to provide an explanation or face "extensive" retaliatory measures.

March 13 - Russia says it won't respond to Britain's deadline unless it is given samples of the nerve agent. Lavrov says allegations of Russian involvement are "nonsense."

March 14 - May announces in the House of Commons that Russia is "culpable" of the Skripals' attempted murder. She says Britain will expel 23 Russian diplomats, suspend high-level contacts with Moscow and take new measures against "hostile state activity."

March 17 - Russia announces it is expelling 23 British diplomats, shutting the British consulate in St. Petersburg and closing cultural organization the British Council.

People walk passed the British Consulate General, in St.Petersburg, Russia, Saturday, March 17, 2018. Russia on Saturday announced it is expelling 23 British diplomats and threatened further measures in retaliation in a growing diplomatic dispute over a nerve agent attack on a former spy in Britain. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) - Vice President Mike Pence strolled Saturday in the South's largest St. Patrick's Day parade, where a few lucky fans behind sidewalk barricades got hugs or selfies and a small band of protesters followed nearby waving signs and rainbow flags.

Pence swooped into Savannah on its busiest day of the year. The historic city has been celebrating St. Patrick's Day since 1824, and the March 17 holiday has grown into one of the South's biggest street parties after Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Organizers of Savannah's parade estimated crowds would swell to 500,000 or more.

Wearing a striped green tie with a navy blazer, the vice president overall spent about an hour among the festivities. Flanked by his wife, Karen, and his mother, Nancy Pence-Fritsch, he stood on a second-floor balcony of City Hall with Mayor Eddie DeLoach to watch part of the procession of marching bagpipe bands, classic convertibles and floats pulled by pickup trucks.

Vice President Mike Pence and his mother Nancy Pence Fritsch, right, wave while walking in the St. Patrick's Day parade Saturday, March 17, 2018, in Savannah, Ga. Crowds behind barricades across the street cheered and chanted "U-S-A" as Pence waved and gave a thumbs up sign. There were also a few protesters who followed Pence throughout the parade. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

Then, Pence and his entourage hit the street for nearly 30 minutes, walking past gaudy green revelers cheering and chanting "U-S-A!" behind security barriers lining the streets and two of Savannah's oak-shaded squares. He ignored a group with rainbow flags and signs reading "Mike Pence Is A Homophobe" and "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," then stopped to hug a woman next to them with a banner saying "Team Trump Rebuild America."

A few blocks later, Shannon Lennon of Orlando, Florida, and her friends in shamrock glasses and leprechaun hats were stunned when Pence grabbed Lennon's cellphone and snapped a selfie with the group.

"He said, 'This is a great picture, give me that,'" said an ecstatic Lennon, who admitted some of her friends weren't quite as thrilled. "There's two out of six of us who are fans of his. But we all respect each other."

Elsewhere in the U.S., Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar joined in the St. Patrick's Day parade in New York on Saturday, while Chicago continued its 56-year-old tradition of dying the Chicago River bright green.

In Savannah, about a dozen sign-toting protesters on the sidewalk managed to keep pace with Pence, who walked roughly 0.3 miles (0.48 kilometers) of the parade's 2.25-mile (3.6-kilometer) route. City officials had said signs would be prohibited in the parade area secured for Pence, but backed off Friday after the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit in federal court.

Savannah Kite brought a sign reading "Black Lives Matter, Protect Dreamers" and wore a T-shirt with the words "Gay, Irish and Proud." She and other demonstrators chanted "This is what Savannah looks like" a few feet from where Pence shook a final round of hands before being whisked away by his motorcade.

"I'm a married lesbian, I'm 30 years old, and I'd like to adopt children," Kite said. "I think his policies have hurt queer people, and that bothers me."

Protesters and others had ample room to maneuver because crowds in the 12 square blocks secured for Pence were notably lean in spots. People stood four deep behind barricades on one side of the street, while big gaps between spectators could be seen directly across the street.

Many parade-goers simply chose to celebrate elsewhere. Spectators wanting to see Pence had to pass through metal detectors. Party tents, coolers and folding chairs were off limits. So was any outside food or drink other than bottled water.

Ray Landin of Savannah and his brother stuck to their usual parade-watching spot a block outside the secure zone. Before dawn they arranged chairs on the sidewalk and a party tent draped with an Irish flag. Their food and drinks were divided between at least six coolers.

"We'll welcome him and we'll show him a good time," Landin said of Pence. "But it does seem a little restrictive."

Thinner crowds inside the secure zone before Pence arrived meant fewer customers at Rise, a biscuit and doughnut shop on the parade route. Owner Shane Johnson said his workers made 2,000 doughnuts anticipating hungry hordes, but only six people stood in line about an hour before the parade.

"It looks like it's going to kill our business," Johnson said. "We should be slammed wall-to-wall right now."

As an evangelical Christian, Pence may seem like an atypical guest considering Savannah's reputation for boozy excess on St. Patricks' Day. However, organizers of Savannah's parade have long stressed the holiday's religious roots and celebration of Irish heritage. Pence has proudly noted in speeches that his maternal grandfather, Richard Michael Cawley, came to the U.S. from Ireland in 1923.

Kathy Richey of Savannah didn't mind that many St. Patrick's Day revelers steered clear of Pence's leg of the parade. Wearing her red "Make America Great Again" cap, she got a prime curbside spot on Johnson Square to get an up-close look at the vice president, even though she showed up more than hour after the security checkpoints opened.

"I can see why people aren't here," Richey said. "For a lot of people it's a big deal with the tables and the whole setup. Usually when I come to the parade, I just walk around. Getting to see Mike Pence is an added bonus."

Vice President Mike Pence, center, his wife Karen Pence, left, and his mother Nancy Pence Fritch, right, march in the St. Patrick's Day parade Saturday, March 17, 2018, in Savannah, Ga. Irish immigrants to Savannah and their descendants have been celebrating St. Patrick's Day with a parade since 1824. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

Vice President Mike Pence, center and his wife Karen Pence, right, are joined by Savannah Mayor Eddie DeLoach, second from the left, and his wife Cynthia DeLoach, left, as they wave from a balcony of City Hall, Saturday, March 17, 2018, during the St. Patrick's Day parade in Savannah, Ga. Security measures for Pence's visit resulted in crowds that are more sparse than normal on St. Patrick's Day. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

Seven-month-old Lily Kangetter of Savannah sits with her grandfather Pat Sullivan before the start of the St. Patrick's Day parade, Saturday, March 17, 2018, in Savannah, Ga. Irish immigrants to Savannah and their descendants have been celebrating St. Patrick's Day with a parade since 1824. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)YPRES, Belgium (AP) - A special remembrance installation of 600,000 crouching clay figures is opening to the public soon in Ypres, Belgium, seeking to help visitors from around the world reflect on what happened during World War I a century ago.

Belgium will honor its civilian and military dead with the figures, each about the size of a large fist. The figures have already begun to fill a no-man's-land between what was once a German and British trench.

Since 2014, students, tourists, and others have been creating the pieces in mobile workshops around the world and in the city of Ypres, the site of much carnage during the war. Each individual piece comes complete with a dog tag which includes the name of the casualty and the name of the artist who created the piece. In a sense, it connects the past with the present.

A volunteer places clay figures in a field that was once a no man's land between the German and British lines of the First World War in Ypres, Belgium on Monday, Feb. 12, 2018. 600,000 clay figures, each one representing a civilian or military death in the First World War, will fill the field for an exhibition of remembrance beginning in the Spring. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

"Making these pieces is a good way to remember the soldiers who fought in the war. It wasn't very pleasant for them," said 12-year-old Bethany Kibutu, a student at the clay workshop in Ypres who lives in Sheffield, England. "I know it had to happen, but if we can learn from our mistakes the world could maybe be a better place."

The installation opens on March 30. Belgian rain and mud will weather the figures for eight months before they are finally removed in November and given away.

The last two surviving World War I soldiers who knew the horror first hand - Frank Buckles from the United States and Claude Choules from the UK - both died in 2011

The last year of the Centenary commemorations is wrapping up in November. When that's over, current and future generations have to find a way to try to keep remembering beyond the Nov. 11 Armistice day.

"Just the creation of these pieces has already brought people together," said Lotte Moeyaert, co-director of the project. "We've had individuals, families, teambuilding groups and students all coming in to create the figures in the workshop."

"Getting their hands in the clay has made many of them believe they are part of a bigger thing," she said.

___

Raf Casert contributed.

A volunteer places clay figures in a field that was once a no-man's-land between the German and British lines of the First World War in Ypres, Belgium on Monday, Feb. 12, 2018. 600,000 clay figures, each one representing a civilian or military death in the First World War, will fill the field for an exhibition of remembrance beginning in the Spring. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Volunteers pull carts full of clay figures in a field that was once a no-man's-land between the German and British lines of the First World War in Ypres, Belgium on Monday, Feb. 12, 2018. 600,000 clay figures, each one representing a civilian or military death in the First World War, will fill the field for an exhibition of remembrance beginning in the Spring. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

A British schoolchild makes the finishing touches on a piece of clay at the Coming World Remember Me workshop in Ypres, Belgium on Monday, Feb. 12, 2018. Clay figures in the shape of a crouching person and molded in the workshop will form part of an exhibition which will be placed in a World War I no-man's-land in the early spring. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

British student, Surayya Mushtaq, right, from Bradford, receives help in molding a clay soldier at the Coming World Remember Me workshop in Ypres, Belgium on Monday, Feb. 12, 2018. Clay figures in the shape of a crouching person and molded in the workshop will form part of an exhibition which will be placed in a World War I no-man's-land in the early spring. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Moulded clay figures, shaped like a crouching person, are placed in a field that was once a no-man's -land between the German and British lines of the First World War in Ypres, Belgium on Monday, Feb. 12, 2018. 600,000 clay figures, each one representing a civilian or military death in the First World War, will fill the field for an exhibition of remembrance beginning in the Spring. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

A British schoolchild stamps a logo into a piece of clay at the Coming World Remember Me workshop in Ypres, Belgium on Monday, Feb. 12, 2018. Clay figures in the shape of a crouching person and molded in the workshop will form part of an exhibition which will be placed in a World War I no-man's-land in the early spring. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Dog tags lay on a table at the Coming World Remember Me workshop in Ypres, Belgium on Monday, Feb. 12, 2018. The dog tags will be placed on clay figures, in the shape of a crouching person, which will form an exhibition in a World War I no-man's-land in the early spring. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Clay figurines dry in boxes at the Coming World Remember Me workshop in Ypres, Belgium on Monday, Feb. 12, 2018. Clay figures in the shape of a crouching person and molded in the workshop will form part of an exhibition which will be placed in a World War I no-man's-land in the early spring. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Moulded clay figures, shaped like a crouching person, are placed in a field that was once a no-man's-land between the German and British lines of the First World War in Ypres, Belgium on Monday, Feb. 12, 2018. 600,000 clay figures, each one representing a civilian or military death in the First World War, will fill the field for an exhibition of remembrance beginning in the Spring. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)The Russian official hosted a working session with the Vietnamese Ambassador to Russia Ngo Duc Manh in the port city on March 16.

Poltavchenko informed his guest that, in 2018, Saint Petersburg will celebrate the 95th anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh's first visit to Russia. The local authorities are actively preparing for the event with a range of activities, such as painting exhibitions and documentary film sessions about Nguyen Ai Quoc.

According to him, local businesses in the fields of industry (tractors, excavators, water supply, and water filtration manufacturers), healthcare, education and tourism are seeking opportunities to cooperate with Vietnamese businesses.

Poltavchenko affirmed that tourism is one of the key areas of cooperation between Saint Petersburg and Vietnamese businesses, adding that Vietnamese businesses would be interested in working with companies and medical centres in the city, as this is one of the areas showing the most growth in the locality.

He stressed that Saint Petersburg wishes to develop good relations with localities in Vietnam, and with Ho Chi Minh City, its sister city, in particular. On this occasion, Poltavchenko invited Ambassador Manh to attend the International Economic and Cultural Forums to be held in Saint Peterburg in May and November, respectively.

Ambassador Manh stressed that his main task is promoting the comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and Russia for the benefit of the people of both countries.

The diplomat affirmed that Saint Petersburg has opportunities and potential in cooperation not only with each locality in Vietnam but also with the whole country. Thanks to economic development, more and more Vietnamese people want to travel to Saint Petersburg and also more and more Russians have come to Vietnam.

Regarding educational cooperation, the ambassador said that he has strengthened his efforts to facilitate the cooperation between Saint Petersburg University and the leading institutions in Vietnam and will send Vietnamese students to study at this university. He also expressed his hope that Vietnam would send medical specialists to Saint Petersburg in order to cooperate in the treatment of serious diseases and cancer.

* Earlier the same day, Ambassador Manh had a working session with the Saint Petersburg University (SPbU). SPbU Rector Nikolay Kropachev said that his university can establish disciplines to satisfy the appropriate requirements from the Vietnamese side. The school and the Vietnamese Embassy in Russia will further discuss the issue in detail.

Ambassador Ngo Duc Manh (C) at the working session with Saint Petersburg University.CHICAGO (AP) - A Congolese mother has been reunited with her 7-year-old daughter months after they crossed the California-Mexico border seeking asylum and were separated by the U.S. government, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer said Saturday.

The daughter had been placed in a Chicago facility while the mother was held in San Diego, about 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) away, after they entered the U.S. in November and turned themselves in to U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents. The mother was released from detention earlier this month.

Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project, said the woman was allowed to travel to Chicago from San Diego on Tuesday, after a DNA test requested by the government confirmed she was the girl's mother. He says the daughter was released late Friday and brought to a Chicago shelter where she and her mother will be staying.

"They were hugging each other and sobbing," Gelernt said. "It was just incredibly emotional."

The woman is at the center of an ACLU lawsuit accusing the government of unlawfully separating immigrant families. Gerlent says the ACLU continues to pursue the lawsuit on behalf of other parents, many of whom are "facing the same trauma" as the Congolese mother and daughter.

A hearing in the case is scheduled is scheduled next month in San Diego.

The ACLU says President Donald Trump's administration is targeting families seeking asylum under U.S. law. While no formal policy has been announced to hold adult asylum seekers separately from their children, top administration officials have said the system is overwhelmed by people making false asylum claims.

A 1997 settlement in a long-running lawsuit over treatment of immigrant children requires the U.S. government to release the children from custody when possible or otherwise hold them in the "least restrictive setting" available.

The Trump administration has called for ending the settlement as part of changes it's seeking to immigration laws.

The woman reunited with her daughter Friday is from a village in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and speaks little English. According to the ACLU lawsuit, she passed the initial screening to determine whether she had a "credible fear" of returning to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The ACLU has withheld the identities of the woman and child citing potential danger if they are denied asylum and returned to Congo.SAN ANTONIO (AP) - Authorities in Texas have arrested at least a dozen people for animal cruelty after interrupting what they believe was ritual sacrifice.

The San Antonio Express-News reports that Bexar County sheriff's deputies found dead and dismembered animals in a San Antonio-area home Friday night after receiving calls that animals were being sacrificed.

Sgt. Elizabeth Gonzalez says that deputies saw more than a dozen people inside a garage where a woman was cutting up animal parts while another person was draining the blood of a chicken into a container.

Gonzalez says, "It appears that they were having some sort of unknown ritual."

Deputies found additional mutilated animals in the residence, including goat heads and more chickens.

Gonzalez says between 12 and 14 people were arrested and will face misdemeanor charges of cruelty to non-livestock animals.RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) - Authorities in Brazil say a one-year-old boy and two adults in Rio de Janeiro were killed by stray bullets during a confrontation between police and gunmen in the Alemao slum complex. Four people were wounded.

Rio state police say the incident occurred Friday night when four heavily armed men drove up to a police station and opened fire. The victims were hit during a shootout as police chased the suspects.

The violence comes just two days after city councilwoman Marielle Franco and her driver were shot dead on a downtown street in Brazil's second largest city.

In February, the government put the military in charge of Rio's local police, but there are no indications that security has improved.VERSHIRE, Vt. (AP) - There's yet another account of city dwellers fleeing for a simpler existence in, where else, Vermont.

"Meet the Frugalwoods: Achieving Financial Independence Through Simple Living" describes a young couple's decision to adopt "extreme frugality" so they can leave their jobs in Boston to live on a homestead in the woods.

Some readers have noted it strains credulity. And it's merely the latest in a long string of books about people living the simpler life in Vermont.

In this July 7, 2016 photograph, Nate and Elizabeth Willard Thames pose with their daughter Stella at their home in Vershire, Vt. The couple, also known as "The Frugalwoods", have managed to save a majority of their income, while redefining the meaning of thrift and gaining a national following along the way. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Elizabeth and Nate Thames (TEMS) originally described themselves as retired in their early 30s but have since backed off that claim.

They have investments and get rental income from a home they still own in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Elizabeth wrote the book. And Nate now works online from home in the same software job he had in Massachusetts.

In this July 7, 2016 photograph, Elizabeth Willard Thames, left, walks back to her home, with her husband Nate, after working on their property in Vershire, Vermont. The couple, also known as "The Frugalwoods", have managed to save a majority of their income, while redefining the meaning of thrift and gaining a national following along the way. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

In this July 7, 2016 photograph, Elizabeth Willard Thames works in the garden of her family's home in Vershire, Vt. Her family, also known as "The Frugalwoods", have managed to save a majority of their income, while redefining the meaning of thrift and gaining a national following along the way. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

In this July 7, 2016 photograph, Nate Thames chops firewood at his family's home in Vershire, Vermont. His family, also known as "The Frugalwoods", have managed to save a majority of their income, while redefining the meaning of thrift and gaining a national following along the way. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

In this July 7, 2016 photograph, Nate Thames, right, slices freshly baked bread while preparing lunch with his wife Elizbeth, rear, left, after working during the morning on their property in Vershire, Vt. The couple, also known as "The Frugalwoods", have managed to save a majority of their income, while redefining the meaning of thrift and gaining a national following along the way. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

In this July 7, 2016 photograph, Nate Thames, center, sits with his wife Elizabeth and feeds lunch to their daughter Stella, before working remotely on their computers during the afternoon at their home in Vershire, Vt. The couple, also known as "The Frugalwoods", have managed to save a majority of their income, while redefining the meaning of thrift and gaining a national following along the way. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - Good news for fans of scallops. They are already one of the most readily available higher-priced seafood items to consumers, and prices could fall this year.

American scallop harvests have grown and are poised to go up again in 2018 due to potential increase in the amount fishermen are allowed to catch. Meanwhile, the country has been importing even more scallops from countries such as China, Japan and Canada.

Some seafood industry members say it could mean the shellfish price will fall to consumers. Fishermen have received slightly less money for scallops at the docks in recent years. Consumers could start to see it in restaurants and grocery stores this year.

FILE - In this Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011, file photo, scallop meat is shucked at sea off Harpswell, Maine. Scallop prices could plunge in 2018 because fishermen are on track to harvest a high number and imports are up. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)

State scallop fisheries have been strong. Maine fishermen had their largest haul in 20 years in 2017.SANAA, Yemen (AP) - Yemen's president has appointed the half brother of the country's slain ex-president to head a military force.

Saturday's decision by President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi assigns Ali Saleh al-Ahmar, the half brother of ex-President Ali Abdullah Saleh, as commander of the country's reserve force.

Al-Ahmar fled the rebel-held capital, Sanaa, to Saudi Arabia following Saleh's death in December at the hands of Shiite Houthi rebels, Saleh's onetime allies.

The Houthis and Saleh's forces joined ranks in 2014, sweeping the capital and forcing Hadi's internationally recognized government to flee. Months later, a Saudi-led coalition backed Hadi's government and waged an all-out campaign against the Houthis and Saleh's forces.

Saleh was killed after he expressed readiness to negotiate with the coalition, a move the Houthis saw as betrayal.WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on the dismissal of Andrew McCabe, a former FBI deputy director (all times local):

5:30 p.m.

The Associated Press has learned that the recently fired FBI deputy director kept personal memos detailing interactions with President Donald Trump. And they have been provided to the special counsel's office.

The memos kept by former FBI official Andrew McCabe are similar to the notes compiled by dismissed FBI chief James Comey. They could factor into the special counsel's investigation into Trump campaign ties to Russia.

The AP learned of McCabe's notes from a person with direct knowledge of the situation who wasn't authorized to discuss the notes publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Earlier Saturday, Trump called McCabe's firing by Attorney General Jeff Sessions "a great day for Democracy."

In response, former CIA Director John Brennan accused Trump of "venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption."

___

4:20 p.m.

The onetime FBI deputy director long scorned by President Donald Trump and just fired by the attorney general kept personal memos describing interactions with the president that are similar to the notes compiled by dismissed FBI chief James Comey.

The Associated Press learned of the notes by Andrew McCabe from a person with direct knowledge of the situation who wasn't authorized to discuss the notes publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Earlier Saturday, Trump called McCabe's firing by Attorney General Jeff Sessions "a great day for Democracy" and asserted without elaboration that McCabe knew "all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels off the FBI!"

In response, former CIA Director John Brennan lambasted Trump on Twitter, accusing the president of "venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption."

___

3 p.m.

Former CIA Director John Brennan is accusing President Donald Trump of "venality, moral turpitude and political corruption" for rejoicing over the firing of the FBI's deputy director.

Brennan responded Saturday to a tweet Trump sent hours after Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that he had fired Andrew McCabe. Trump has repeatedly accused McCabe of dishonesty.

Brennan tweeted to Trump: "When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history. You may scapegoat Andy McCabe, but you will not destroy America...America will triumph over you."

Brennan was CIA director during President Barack Obama's second term.

Trump called McCabe's firing a "great day" for FBI rank and file and democracy.

___

2:20 p.m.

Fired FBI Director James Comey is telling President Donald Trump that the American people will soon get to decide who is honorable and who is not.

Comey tweets Saturday: "Mr. President, the American people will hear my story very soon. And they can judge for themselves who is honorable and who is not."

Comey has a book scheduled for release in April called "A Higher Loyalty."

Trump fired Comey last May, citing the FBI investigation into possible collusion between Trump's presidential campaign and Russia. Comey then revealed his unease over a series of conversations he had with Trump before his dismissal.

Comey's No. 2, Andrew McCabe, was fired late Friday by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Trump has repeatedly accused Comey and McCabe of dishonesty.

___

2:10 p.m.

President Donald Trump says "the Fake News is beside themselves that McCabe was caught, called out and fired."

Trump is referring to Andrew McCabe, the FBI deputy director fired by Attorney General Jeff Sessions late Friday.

The president tweets Saturday: "How many hundreds of thousands of dollars was given to wife's campaign by Crooked H friend, Terry M, who was also under investigation? How many lies? How many leaks? Comey knew it all, and much more!"

As a candidate for state office, McCabe's wife accepted a campaign contribution from the political action committee of then-Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat. McAuliffe is a longtime friend of Democrat Hillary Clinton, whom Trump defeated in 2016.

Trump fired James Comey as FBI director last May, citing the Russia investigation.

McCabe says Sessions fired him as part of the Trump administration's "war on the FBI."

___

1:55 p.m.

President Donald Trump says many people are finding out about "tremendous leaking, lying and corruption at the highest levels" of the FBI and the Justice and State Departments.

He provided no details in his tweet Saturday.

But his tweet comes a day after Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that he had fired FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe following a recommendation from FBI disciplinary officials.

McCabe has long been a target of Trump's anger. His dismissal precedes the release of an inspector general report that's expected to conclude that McCabe was not forthcoming about matters related to the FBI investigation of Hillary Clinton's emails.

In Saturday's tweet, Trump also repeated that there had been no collusion between his 2016 presidential campaign and Russia. That matter is under investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller.

___

12:55 p.m.

Andrew McCabe - the former FBI deputy director just fired by the attorney general - kept personal memos regarding President Donald Trump.

That's according to a person with direct knowledge of the situation who wasn't authorized to discuss the memos publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

This person says the memos are similar to the ones maintained by former FBI Director James Comey, who Trump fired last May.

Comey's series of notes detailed interactions with Trump that Comey said unnerved him.

The person with knowledge of McCabe's situation says McCabe's memos include details of interactions with the president, among other topics.

It's not immediately clear whether any of the McCabe memos have been turned over to special counsel Robert Mueller or requested by Mueller.

___

1:25 a.m.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions says he has fired former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, a regular target of President Donald Trump's anger and criticism, just two days before his scheduled retirement date.

McCabe immediately decried the move and suggested it was part of the Trump administration's "war on the FBI."

The Friday dismissal was made on the recommendation of FBI disciplinary officials and comes ahead of an inspector general report expected to conclude that McCabe had authorized the release of information to the news media and had not been forthcoming with the watchdog office as it examined the bureau's handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation.WASHINGTON (AP) - In a series of blistering tweets Saturday, President Donald Trump falsely asserted that the House Intelligence Committee has concluded there was no collusion between his presidential campaign and Russia.

Trump in his tweets lashed out at his perceived foes tied to the Russia investigation and exulted in the firing of FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, once a leader of the bureau's investigation into Hillary Clinton's email practices. The FBI's decision not to pursue criminal charges against Clinton infuriated Trump at the time, and still does.

TRUMP: "As the House Intelligence Committee has concluded, there was no collusion between Russia and the Trump Campaign. As many are now finding out, however, there was tremendous leaking, lying and corruption at the highest levels of the FBI, Justice & State." - tweet.

FILE - In this June 7, 2017 file photo, acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe appears before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing about the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act on Capitol Hill in Washington. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Friday, March 16, 2018, that he has fired former FBI Deputy Director McCabe, a longtime and frequent target of President Donald Trump's anger, just two days before his scheduled retirement date. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

THE FACTS: He's wrong. That conclusion came from Republicans on the committee; it was not a committee finding. Democrats on the committee sharply dispute the Republican conclusions and will issue their own.

Whatever the findings of the committee, special counsel Robert Mueller is leading the key investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and Russian contacts with the Trump campaign. The probe has produced a number of charges and convictions, none to date alleging criminal collusion. But Mueller continues to explore whether collusion occurred and whether Trump or others may have obstructed justice.

Trump did not specify what he meant in accusing the agencies of corruption. McCabe was fired in advance of an inspector general's report that's expected to conclude he was not forthcoming about matters related to the FBI investigation of Clinton's emails.

___

TRUMP: "The Fake News is beside themselves that McCabe was caught, called out and fired. How many hundreds of thousands of dollars was given to wife's campaign by Crooked H friend, Terry M, who was also under investigation? How many lies? How many leaks? Comey knew it all, and much more!" - tweet.

THE FACTS: Some context is missing here. This is true: McCabe's wife, Jill McCabe, ran as a Democrat for the Virginia state Senate in 2015, and the political action committee of Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe gave her campaign $500,000 during her race. McAuliffe is a longtime associate of Hillary Clinton, branded "Crooked H" by Trump. Jill McCabe lost the race.

Trump's complaint, as he spelled it out in the past, is that Clinton-linked money went to "the wife of the FBI agent who was in charge of her investigation." But that timeline is wrong. Andrew McCabe was elevated to deputy FBI director and didn't become involved in the Clinton email probe until after his wife's bid for office was over. The FBI said McCabe's promotion and supervisory position in the email investigation happened three months after the campaign.

The bureau also said in a statement at the time that McCabe sought guidance from agency ethics officers and recused himself from "all FBI investigative matters involving Virginia politics" throughout his wife's campaign.

___

Find AP Fact Checks at http://apne.ws/2kbx8bd

Follow @APFactCheck on Twitter: https://twitter.com/APFactCheckGRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) - U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, who is facing a tough re-election fight as the only Democratic statewide officeholder in North Dakota, expressed optimism Saturday for the future of her party in conservative-leaning states such as her own.

Those who "have written the obits for the Democratic Party in the middle of the country - they are wrong," Heitkamp told cheering convention delegates, who endorsed her Saturday to run for the Senate this fall against Republican Rep. Kevin Cramer. It's expected to be one of the toughest Senate races in the U.S., with Democrats hoping to hold onto the seat and pick up others to reverse Republicans' razor-thin majority.

Democrats such as Heitkamp are hopeful after strong performances by Democratic moderates in races in Republican territory in Pennsylvania and Alabama.

U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp arrives for the state Democratic party convention in Grand Forks, N.D., on Saturday, March 17, 2018. Heitkamp is North Dakota's only Democratic statewide officeholder and is facing a tough re-election fight from GOP Rep. Kevin Cramer in a conservative-leaning state. (AP Photo/James MacPherson)

"In the reddest of red places there are people who want something different than what we have now," Heitkamp told the crowd.

Heitkamp's charm and perceived political independence have made her popular in North Dakota. Even many who disagree with her politically like her personally. At the Democratic convention, children came up to hug her and she was welcomed with chants of "We love you, Heidi."

During her speech, Heitkamp outlined broad successes and goals, including improving economic development and better access to health care.

Heitkamp also focused on health care in an interview with The Associated Press, saying her opponent's vote in the House to repeal the federal health care law with no plan to replace it was among the best examples of him being out of touch with the electorate. The attempt by Republicans failed.

"The health care vote is not a vote that represents North Dakotans," she said.

Heitkamp has sought to present herself as independent of both Republicans and Democrats. But she said Cramer, an ardent supporter of President Donald Trump, would be a "rubber stamp for an administration that does not include everyone in this country."

Neither Cramer nor his staff immediately returned messages on Saturday. While Heitkamp has sometimes voted with Republicans, the GOP has criticized her for voting against the new tax law and for other instances where she lined up with her party.

Former Vice President Joe Biden also spoke at the convention, and Heitkamp said she he was likely to continue to campaign for her in the state. She said Biden's working-class roots appeal to North Dakota residents.

"He has a lot of credibility," she said. "I expect he will be doing what he can to help folks from my part of the country."

Heitkamp, 62, grew up in Mantador, a rural community of fewer than 100 people in southeastern North Dakota. While in high school, college and law school Heitkamp worked as everything as a waitress to a construction worker. The first elected office she held was as the state's tax commissioner. She went on to serve as attorney general before running unsuccessfully for governor in 2000. During that campaign, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent successful treatment. She didn't run for office again until 2012, when she narrowly beat freshman U.S. Rep. Rick Berg by about 3,000 votes to win her Senate seat.

Heitkamp told the AP that the race against Cramer will be just as tough, if not tougher, than the campaign against Berg.

Cramer has a long political history in North Dakota, is "a known commodity" and a "very experienced" candidate, she said.

Still, Heitkamp believes she has almost 100 percent name recognition in North Dakota.

"I think it's because of the red hair," she joked.CROWN POINT, Ind. (AP) - A judge has given the FBI more time to pull data from cellphones collected during its probe of a Gary man accused of killing seven women.

Darren Vann's attorneys had argued in a motion filed last month that authorities were being slow in providing them with data collected from three cellphones collected in the FBI's investigation into Vann, The (Northwest Indiana) Times reported .

Defense attorney Gojko Kasich told Lake Criminal Judge Samuel Cappas on Friday that he and other attorneys for Vann, 46, had subsequently been provided data from two of the cell phones, but that the FBI was still collecting data from a third cell phone.

Kasich asked Cappas if he would not exclude that evidence at trial, whether he would set a reasonable date for when the information should be provided to defense attorneys. The judge said he didn't want to second-guess the FBI's methods, but agreed to issue an order for the federal agency to provide a report on the investigation's status by April 20.

Vann is scheduled to stand trial Oct. 22 in the strangulation deaths of 19-year-old Afrika Hardy and 35-year-old Anith Jones.

Hardy's body was found in a Hammond motel room in October 2014. After Vann was arrested in her death, he allegedly admitted to killing six other women, including Jones, whose body was found in an abandoned Gary house.

Trials in the five other slayings haven't been scheduled.

Vann defense attorney Matthew Fech had argued in a motion last month that prosecutors' subpoenas for records from the Lake County Jail, the U.S. Marines and the Ohio high school that Vann attended were "overly broad."

But Cappas ruled Friday that prosecutors can use broad language in subpoenas for records from those three entities.

Vann was discharged from the Marines after serving from 1991 to 1993. He attended Lima Senior High School in Lima, Ohio, before enlisting.

___

Information from: The Times, http://www.nwitimes.comSpeaking at the event, VOV Director General Nguyen The Ky, said that the establishment of VOVs 11th foreign office in the country comes from the fact that Australia plays a strong role in the relationship with Vietnam, ASEAN and within the Indo-Pacific region.

The country currently hosts more than 300,000 Vietnamese people, he added.

Stating that Australia has had a good tradition of friendship with Vietnam over the past four decades and is now an important partner in Vietnam's comprehensive foreign policy and international integration, Ky expressed his hope that the VOV correspondents operations in Australia would contribute to spreading VOV channels, along with other press agencies, to create a synergy in promoting information about the relationship between Vietnam and Australia, Vietnam and New Zealand, as well as about the Vietnamese community in the two nations.

The inauguration took place at a critical juncture as PM Phuc and his high-level delegation are paying a visit to Australia to attend the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit from March 16-18.

It is also an important occasion as Vietnam and Australia are celebrating the 45th anniversary of diplomatic ties this year (February 26, 1973) and announced the establishment of the Strategic Partnership.

VOV is one of Vietnam's leading State-run media agencies, producing news in all four types of media, broadcasting on eight radio channels, 17 television channels, and one printed and two online newspapers.

It has set up six domestic resident offices and 11 in foreign countries. Its radio programmes are broadcast in 12 ethnic minority and 12 foreign languages besides Vietnamese for the overseas audience.Major retailers have not been spelling out consumers returns rights clearly enough on their websites, an investigation by Which? suggests.

The consumer group said it had assessed the information provided about online returns and faulty goods rights on the websites of 46 popular retailers and supermarkets, finding that 45 did not offer information that was completely accurate and clear.

It said that as a result of its investigation, several retailers have since updated their information to clarify the unwanted and faulty goods returns information it highlighted to them, including M&S and Tesco Direct.

Which? has found a lack of clear information about consumers returns rights on websites (Adam Peck/PA)

When buying online, shoppers have stronger rights to send back items they do not want under the Consumer Contracts Regulations. A Which? guide explains online shopping returns and refund rights at which.co.uk/returnsonline.

Which? said it is concerned that some policies are contributing to widespread confusion on returns rights, faulty goods rights and warranties, leaving many consumers out of pocket.

It said that in the case of Iceland, an online returns policy for unwanted goods that Which? looked at incorrectly stated it would not accept returns on items bought in error or if a customer had changed their mind.

Iceland said it was grateful to Which? for drawing this issue to its attention.

An Iceland spokesman said: We immediately expanded the frequently asked questions on our returns policy on our website when the lack of detail was drawn to our attention by Which?

We do not believe that our customers were disadvantaged by this previous lack of detail as our customer contact centre was fully and correctly briefed on our returns policy at all times.

Which? also said that Morrisons had incorrect information on its returns and refunds FAQs (frequently asked questions).

A Morrisons spokesman said: We give customers really clear advice in our terms and conditions on how to cancel goods they no longer want.

But he said the frequently asked questions section of its website did have an error and well be correcting this.

Which? has help with returning faulty goods at which.co.uk/faulty.

Alex Neill, Which? managing director of home products and services, said: We will continue to challenge those that carry on confusing their customers.Counter-terror officials continue to investigate the alleged murder of a prominent Kremlin critic found dead at his London home a week after the poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter.

Russian exile Nikolay Glushkov died from compression to the neck, a special post-mortem investigation found.

The 68-year-old was discovered dead at his home in Clarence Avenue, New Malden, south-west London, on Monday.

Nikolay Glushkov Metropolitan Police/PA)

Police initially treated the death as unexplained, but launched a murder probe after the results of the post-mortem investigation, which began on Thursday.

It comes amid heightened tensions between Russia and the UK following the attempted poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury on March 4.

The pair remain in hospital after being exposed to the nerve agent Novichok.

The Metropolitan Police said it was not linking the two incidents, saying there was no evidence Mr Glushkov was poisoned, and reassured neighbours there were no wider public health concerns in relation to the investigation.

The Mets counter-terrorism command will continue to head up the probe because of the associations Mr Glushkov is believed to have had, it said.

Neighbours spoke of their shock following the news his death was being treated as murder.

Kate Fitzsimmons, who lives opposite Mr Glushkov, said she had never spoken with him but he would wave at her from across the road.

Asked if he seemed friendly, the 87-year-old said: I thought so. I thought he was just an ordinary friendly Englishman really. I didnt know he was Russian.

She said it was very sad that a murder investigation had been launched, adding: Well theres nothing one can do about it is there, really?

Ms Fitzsimmons said it was a great big shock when she returned to her home early on Tuesday morning to all the police activity.

She said: Im a nurse, I dont get shocked easily, but it did sort of shock me, and I was at a meeting at the church until half past ten two nights ago and they walked me home, which was kind of them.

On Friday three police officers stood in front of blue and purple tents erected on the front drive of Mr Glushkovs home.

The property remains sealed off behind a police cordoned, as do several adjoining homes on either side.

The Investigative Committee of Russia @sledcom_rf opens criminal cases over attempted murder of Yulia Skripal and murder of Nikolai Glushkov pic.twitter.com/a5nhK1qjB2  Russian Embassy, UK (@RussianEmbassy) March 16, 2018

Hours before the Met announced the murder probe, the Investigative Committee of Russia said it had opened criminal cases over the attempted murder of Yulia Skripal and the murder of Mr Glushkov.

The committee said it would investigate in accordance with the requirements of Russian law and international law.

Mr Glushkov was a retired financial director who had lived at his address for two years, Scotland Yard said on Friday.

Neighbour Patricia Egan described him as a lovely fellow who was intelligent, very well-mannered, very generous and friendly.

He was outspoken after the death of his close friend Boris Berezovsky  another enemy of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Mr Berezovsky was a friend of murdered spy Alexander Litvinenko and a thorn in the side of the Russian regime.

He was found hanged in the bathroom of his Berkshire home in 2013. An inquest recorded an open verdict.

Mr Glushkov told the Guardian in 2013 he would never believe he took his own life.

Police and MI5 are to look into allegations that a string of deaths on UK soil may be linked to Russia, including the Berezovsky case.Juan Martin del Potro has reached his third semi-final at Indian Wells with a victory over Philipp Kohlschreiber.

The number six seed toppled his German opponent 3-6 6-3 6-4 after two hours and seven minutes on court at the BNP Paribas Open.

Kohlschreiber got off to a dominant start, winning two break points in the first set, and looked to be on course to repeat his previous victory against the Argentinian at the Stuttgart Open in 2016.

Juan Martin del Potro has reached the semi-final at Indian Wells (Mark J Terrill/AP)

But a determined del Potro improved on his serve in the second set, winning 82% of points on his first serve, and broke his opponent to serve for the set at 5-3 and force a decider.

Delpo Digs Deep



World No. 8 del Potro battles his way into his 3rd Indian Wells semifinal, 1st since 2013, with 3-6 6-3 6-4 win over Kohlschreiber.



He'll meet Raonic next. #BNPPO18 pic.twitter.com/gJsKz2kfaM  BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) March 16, 2018

Del Potros form continued into the third as he claimed the first break and saw out the set 6-4, crushing Kohlschreibers hopes of reaching his first Masters 1000 semi-final in 83 appearances.

Speaking on court after the match, del Potro said of his opponent: Hes a very smart guy, his game is so good, he made me run a lot, so my legs are completely tired.

But at the end of the match, I played well, and in the important moments. I am so happy to be in the semi-final.

Del Potro will next face Milos Raonic at Indian Wells after the Canadian defeated Sam Querrey 7-5 2-6 6-3.

The American was looking to advance to his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final  but the 32nd seed reeled off four straight games to take the first set 7-5.

Querrey fought back in the second to take the match to a deciding set, but Raonic held his nerve to save two break points at 5-3, eventually seeing out the match with a total of 17 aces in one hour and 50 minutes.

Yesterday, Roger Federer stormed his way into his 11th semi-final at the tournament, with a 7-5 6-1 win over Hyeon Chung.

The Swiss will go head-to-head in the final four with Borna Coric, who beat South Africas Kevin Anderson 2-6 6-4 7-6 (7/3).Russias government is expelling 23 British diplomats and threatened further measures in retaliation in a growing diplomatic dispute over a nerve agent attack on a former spy in Britain.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it is also ordering the closure of the British Council in Russia and ending an agreement to reopen the British consulate in St Petersburg.

Latest news and information on the UK government's response to the Salisbury attack.



https://t.co/jvaEjf8Eg1 pic.twitter.com/Oz5Wapw1Qd  Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (@FCDOGovUK) March 16, 2018

It ordered the diplomats to leave within a week.

Laurie Bristow, the UKs ambassador to Russia (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

The statement said the government could take further measures if Britain takes any more unfriendly moves toward Russia.

British Prime Minister Theresa May this week expelled 23 Russian diplomats and severed high-level contacts over the poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

They remain in critical condition in hospital.Russia will expel 23 British diplomats in a tit-for-tat reaction to Theresa Mays response to the nerve agent attack on Sergei and Yulia Skripal.

The countrys Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced it had ordered the diplomats to leave within a week, moments after Britains ambassador to Russia Laurie Bristow left the ministry in Moscow.

Other measures included closing the British Council and scrapping an agreement to reopen the British consulate in St Petersburg, while the country indicated it could take further action should there be what it called more unfriendly moves.

Mr Bristow, speaking to reporters after being summoned, said the UK would always do what is necessary to defend ourselves, our allies and our values against an attack of this sort.

It comes after NHS England said Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, the police officer exposed to the Novichok agent in Salisbury, is no longer in a critical condition.

But Mr Skripal, 66, the Russian ex-spy who was the target of the attack, and his daughter Yulia, 33, remain critical but stable in hospital.

Russia has opened its own criminal investigation into the attempted murder of Yulia, a Russian citizen, and also Nikolai Glushkov, a Russian exile Scotland Yard said died from compression to the neck at his home in New Malden, south-west London.

British police are not linking his case with the Salisbury attack.

Speaking to the Russian state-funded RT television network, the ambassador denounced Britains decision to expel 23 diplomats as unacceptable and unjustified.

Sunday is set to mark two weeks since the incident.Russia will expel 23 British diplomats in a tit-for-tat reaction to Theresa Mays response to the nerve agent attack on Sergei and Yulia Skripal.

The countrys Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced it had ordered the diplomats to leave within a week, moments after Britains ambassador to Russia Laurie Bristow left the ministry in Moscow.

Other measures included closing the British Council and shutting down the British consulate in St Petersburg, while the country indicated it could take further action should there be what it called more unfriendly moves.

Mr Bristow, speaking to reporters after being summoned, said the UK would always do what is necessary to defend ourselves, our allies and our values against an attack of this sort.

The Foreign Office said the Government had anticipated a similar response to Theresa Mays action to expel 23 Russian diplomats from London.

A spokesman said: Russias response doesnt change the facts of the matter  the attempted assassination of two people on British soil, for which there is no alternative conclusion other than that the Russian State was culpable.

It is Russia that is in flagrant breach of international law and the Chemical Weapons Convention.

The national security council will meet early next week to consider the next steps.

Counter-terrorism police have also renewed their appeal for sightings of Mr Skripals burgundy BMW 320D saloon car, registration HD09 WAO, in Salisbury on the morning of March 4.

Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said: We are learning more about Sergei and Yulias movements but we need to be clearer around their exact movements on the morning of the incident.

It comes after NHS England said Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, the police officer exposed to the Novichok agent in Salisbury, is no longer in a critical condition.

Speaking to the Russian state-funded RT television network, the ambassador denounced Britains decision to expel 23 diplomats as unacceptable and unjustified.

Sunday is set to mark two weeks since the incident.The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are celebrating St Patricks Day by attending a parade of the Irish Guards.

The Duchess of Cambridge presents shamrock to officers (Jonathan Brady/PA)

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (Andrew Parsons/Sunday Times/PA)

The Duke, Duchess and Domhnall sit for an official photo pic.twitter.com/9dYe8vJBlT  Jack Hardy (@JackHardy9) March 17, 2018

William, who is Colonel of the Irish Guards, and heavily pregnant Kate are visiting the 1st Battalion at their base in Hounslow, west London.

The Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke of Cambridge attend the Irish Guards St Patricks Day parade (Jonathan Brady/PA)

(Andrew Parsons/Sunday Times/PA)

Irish Guards during the regiments St Patricks Day parade at Cavalry Barracks in Hounslow (Jonathan Brady/PA)

They watched on as 350 soldiers arrived on the Parade Square, where the expectant royal presented the shamrock to officers and warrant officers.

(Jonathan Brady/PA)

Domhnall the Irish Wolfhound, steely in the face of ice-cold winds, marches up to meet the Duchess of Cambridge pic.twitter.com/hsHlh6ALZe  Jack Hardy (@JackHardy9) March 17, 2018

The Duchess of Cambridge presents a shamrock to Irish Guards mascot, Irish Wolfhound Domhnall (Jonathan Brady/PA)

Irish Guards during the regiments St Patricks Day parade at Cavalry Barracks in Hounslow (Jonathan Brady/PA)

The Duchess of Cambridge, in a green Catherine Walker outfit, hands out the traditional shamrocks pic.twitter.com/Abdp24fGvn  Jack Hardy (@JackHardy9) March 17, 2018

The Duchess of Cambridge (Jonathan Brady/PA)Scottish Greens co-convener Patrick Harvie has urged party members to campaign to rejoin the EU if Brexit goes ahead.

Speaking at the party conference in Greenock, he said the future of Scotland and the UK is European.

In a wide-ranging speech he said the Conservatives were treating the Scottish Parliament with contempt, stressed the devolved powers row is an assault on devolution and urged reform of local taxation, saying the outdated and unfair council tax must go.

Scottish Green Party co-convener Patrick Harvie urged members to campaign to rejoin Europe if Brexit occurs (John Linton/PA)

On devolved Brexit powers @patrickharvie tells #SGPconf Theresa Mays govt cant be trusted with these powers and we wont hand them over. pic.twitter.com/ykWOti1IYq  Laura Paterson (@LauraPatersonPA) March 17, 2018

He told the around 150 party members at the conference in the Beacon Arts Centre: We know that our future, Scotlands, and the future of the other nations in these islands, are as European countries and that our future remains part of the European family.

Over the course of today, were asking you to join us in committing, not just to opposing the Brexit crisis now, not just to opposing the assault on devolution, but if this thing is done to us, if we are taken out of the European Union, lets commit now to campaigning to get back in because our future is European and we will be part of that project.

He said the reasons to oppose Brexit now were stronger than during the 2016 EU referendum, and include the Irish border issue, evidence of economic harm and threats to the devolution from the row around powers returning to the devolved administrations.

He said: Theresa Mays government cannot be trusted with these powers and we will not hand them over.

We can have any Brexit we want as long is it the hardest of possible Brexits in the fever dreams of the empire 2.0 Brexit extremists, he added.

We have the threat to our social, environmental and workplace standards from these same Brexit ultras who have been campaigning for years for a bonfire of the regulations.

Mr Harvie continued: We dont just need to challenge the fundamental approach that the UK Government is taking to the Brexit process, we need to challenge the whole Brexit project itself.

https://t.co/erdwcN0ir7 With further attacks on Scotlands budget from the UK Government in the years to come, we cannot keep pushing the pressure down to councils and communities, @patrickharvie tells #sgpconf. pic.twitter.com/U3WNLOPUe5  Scottish Greens (@scottishgreens) March 17, 2018

Addressing council tax, he said: With further attacks on Scotlands budget expected to come from the UK over coming years, we cannot simply allow the pressure to be pushed down the chain to local community level year after year.

The reality of this is that council tax, finally, has to go. How many elections did the SNP fight saying that? Its about time to deliver.

We need new local fiscal freedoms and new opportunity for councils to make choices that are right for their circumstances.

Mr Harvie said the party would also push for a proper ban on fox hunting, campaign for net zero carbon emissions by 2020 and lead opposition to the SNPs unwanted and unnecessary education reforms.

Leader of the Northern Ireland Greens, Steven Agnew MLA, also spoke, saying remaining in the single market and customs union is the only solution to the Irish border issue.

He warned any physical border would lead to increase the likelihood of violence and compared a mythical technical solution to a unicorn.Theresa May signalled Britain and its allies will regroup to consider their next move after Russia expelled 23 diplomats in the row over the ex-spy poisoning.

Speaking at the Conservative Spring Forum, Mrs May said the Government had anticipated a similar response to her action earlier this week to expel 23 Russian diplomats from London.

She said: In light of their previous behaviour we anticipated a response of this kind and we will consider our next steps in the coming days alongside our allies and partners.

But Russias response doesnt change the facts of the matter  the attempted assassination of two people on British soil for which there is no alternative conclusion other than that the Russian state was culpable.

It is Russia that is in flagrant breach of international law and the Chemical Weapons Convention.

The national security council will meet early next week to consider the next steps.

Mr Bristow, speaking to reporters after being summoned, said the UK would always do what is necessary to defend ourselves, our allies and our values against an attack of this sort.

Counter-terrorism police have also renewed their appeal for sightings of Mr Skripals burgundy BMW 320D saloon car, registration HD09 WAO, in Salisbury on the morning of March 4.

Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said: We are learning more about Sergei and Yulias movements but we need to be clearer around their exact movements on the morning of the incident.

It comes after NHS England said Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, the police officer exposed to the Novichok agent in Salisbury, is no longer in a critical condition.

The Foreign Secretarys comments were rebuked by Mr Putins spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who said: Any reference or mentioning of our president is nothing else but shocking and unpardonable diplomatic misconduct.

Sunday is set to mark two weeks since the incident.A man in his 20s has died after being found stabbed and shot down a street in north London.

A murder investigation has been launched by police after the man was found with stab and wounds and a suspected gunshot wound in South Street, Enfield.

Emergency services were called to the scene following reports of gunshots at 12.40am today. Just over half an hour later, the man passed away at the scene.

Police at the scene in Enfield (Jonathan Brady/PA)

The victim's next of kin have been informed and a post-mortem examination is due to take place.

Another man, also in his 20s, was found with a stab wound and was taken to an east London hospital where he remains in a serious but stable condition.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: 'Detectives from the Homicide and Major Crime Command are investigating.

'There have been no arrests and enquiries continue.'

Police confirmed that the next of kin had been informed and that they are still at the scene.

Police have been searching the area following the incident, which took place in the early hours of this morning

Police and forensic officers at the scene in South Street, Enfield, London where a murder investigation has been launched>>> Xi Jinping unanimously elected Chinese president

President and Chairman of the National Defence and Security Council Tran Dai Quang cabled a message of congratulations to Xi Jinping, who was elected as President of and Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China.

National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan sent a congratulatory message to Li Zhanshu, who was elected as Chairman of Standing Committee of the Chinese National People's Congress.

Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh extended a congratulatory message to Wang Qishan on his election as the new Vice President of China.Tottenham strolled into the semi-finals of the FA Cup with a Christian Eriksen-inspired 3-0 victory over Swansea.

Eriksen capped a masterful midfield performance by scoring twice to take his personally tally against Swansea to an astonishing eight goals in 10 games, while Erik Lamela was also on target.

There was no Harry Kane or Dele Alli in Spurs XI  the former injured and the latter on the bench  as Mauricio Pochettino made seven changes from the side which had won at Bournemouth last weekend.

FULL-TIME: A professional performance sees us safely into the @EmiratesFACup semi-finals! pic.twitter.com/6FRNGaeuY7  Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) March 17, 2018

But, on this evidence, Spurs have a real shot at winning the first trophy of Pochettinos four-year reign and their first since the 2008 League Cup.

Tweet of the match

Eriksennnnnn, Wembley here we come........oops we play there anyway COYSSSSSSSS  Micky Hazard (@1MickyHazard) March 17, 2018

Star man  Christian Eriksen

Blistering start from this man  pic.twitter.com/YHGeyRZHOy  Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) March 17, 2018

The midfielder has excelled playing deeper this season and the Denmark international pulled the strings for Spurs throughout the last-eight tie. He popped up all over the pitch to receive the ball and he picked out passes which set up numerous chances for the visitors. Eriksen broke the deadlock with a lovely finish in the first half before doubling his tally after 63 minutes to cap off an exceptional performance.

Stat of the match

Kristoffer Nordfeldt can not keep out Christian Eriksens opener (Nick Potts/PA)

The hosts were playing in their first FA Cup quarter-final since 1964 when the club was known as Swansea Town, while victory meant Tottenham reached the semi-finals of the competition for the fourth time in nine seasons  but they are still searching for their first final appearance since 1991. Spurs have also never lost in any of their eight trips to the Liberty Stadium, extending their record to six wins and two draws.

Moment of the match

Eriksen continued his fine form with a brilliant opener after 11 minutes. Picking the ball up just inside the Swansea half, the 26-year-old drove at the home defence, who continued to back off, before curling a wonderful left-footed effort into the corner of the net from 20 yards, leaving Kristoffer Nordfeldt with no chance.

Player ratings

Swansea: Kristoffer Nordfeldt 8, Kyle Naughton 5, Mike van der Hoorn 5, Kyle Bartley 4, Alfie Mawson 5, Martin Olsson 6, Nathan Dyer 5, Ki Sung-yueng 6, Tom Carroll 5, Sam Clucas 5, Tammy Abraham 5. Subs: Luciano Narsingh (for Naughton, 45) 6, Connor Roberts (for Van der Hoorn, 81) 6, Wayne Routledge (for Dyer, 86) 5.

Tottenham: Michel Vorm 7, Kieran Trippier 6, Davinson Sanchez 5, Jan Vertonghen 6, Ben Davies 6, Christian Eriksen 9, Eric Dier 7, Moussa Sissoko 7, Erik Lamela 8, Son Hueng-min 8, Lucas Moura 7. Subs: Fernando Llorente (for Moura, 73) 6, Dele Alli (for Lamela, 81) 6.

Whos up next?

Manchester United v Swansea (Premier League, March 31)

Chelsea v Tottenham (Premier League, April 1)A publicist for Matt Damon is batting away reports that the actor is moving to Australia because of anger towards US President Donald Trump.

The Daily Telegraph newspaper in Sydney had reported that Damon was buying a home in Byron Bay near actor Chris Hemsworth. The two recently appeared in Thor: Ragnarok together.

Damon spokeswoman Jennifer Allen said Damon has been to Australia a lot recently. But Damon has not bought a home there nor is he relocating there, she said.

Donald Trump (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The New York Posts Page Six gossip site, citing an unnamed source, said the Good Will Hunting and Jason Bourne star told friends and colleagues he wanted to leave the country because he disagrees with Mr Trumps policies.

Ms Allen said: Hes not moving out of the US.

Damon has publicly supported Democrats, including Mr Trumps rival in the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton.Director Terry Gilliam is facing a wave of criticism after he compared the MeToo movement to mob rule.

The Monty Python member suggested the anti-sexual harassment campaign had led to a world of victims in an interview with news agency AFP.

He labelled disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein a monster before adding: Harvey opened the door for a few people, a night with Harvey  thats the price you pay.

Terry Gilliam (Matt Crossick/PA)

I read it. Terry Gilliams comments about Harvey Weinstein are idiotic and dangerous. He wasnt in those rooms. He doesnt know how aggressive and violent and terrifying he was. Who is he to say it was some sort of offered deal? He should be ashamed of himself. https://t.co/pLj3V46gwu  Judd Apatow (@JuddApatow) March 17, 2018

I think some people did very well out of meeting with Harvey and others didnt. The ones who did, knew what they were doing. These are adults; we are talking about adults with a lot of ambition, Gilliam told AFP.

Director Judd Apatow labelled his comments idiotic and dangerous as a number of stars hit out at the veteran filmmaker.

He wasnt in those rooms. He doesnt know how aggressive and violent and terrifying he (Weinstein) was. Who is he to say it was some sort of offered deal? He should be ashamed of himself, Apatow wrote on Twitter.

I didnt say you were in any camp. I think Terry Gilliam is spewing nonsense. These were not transactions. He violently attacked people. He threatened people. His comments about that aspect of this are shameful. https://t.co/mM4hzschzJ  Judd Apatow (@JuddApatow) March 17, 2018

I think Terry Gilliam is spewing nonsense. These were not transactions.

His comments about that aspect of this are shameful, Apatow added.

Terry Gilliam, you talk too much. #MeToo  Ellen Barkin (@EllenBarkin) March 17, 2018

Terry Gilliam may wanna turn those feelings of fear & uncertainty hes getting from #metoo/#timesup and realize Ohh this is how life has been for THEM til now... huh. Wow. Damn. See? Now its empathy.  Sarah Silverman (@SarahKSilverman) March 17, 2018

Comedian Sarah Silverman and actors Kim Sherrell and Ellen Barkin also criticised Gilliam with the former calling for him to understand empathy.

Terry Gilliam may wanna turn those feelings of fear & uncertainty hes getting from #metoo/#timesup and realize Ohh this is how life has been for THEM til now huh. Wow. Damn. See? Now its empathy, Silverman wrote on Twitter.

Sherrell labelled Gilliam insensitive and accused him of ruining Monty Python forever while Barkin tweeted: Terry Gilliam, you talk too much.The force was with revellers in Dublin as Star Wars actor Mark Hamill became international guest of honour at St Patricks Day celebrations in the city.

The Luke Skywalker actor, whose great-grandmother was born in Kilkenny, spent time in Co Kerry filming the latest instalment of the sci-fi series, The Last Jedi.

He joined President Michael D Higgins and a host of other dignitaries as a colourful parade got under way in the Irish capital.

Mark Hamill is guest of honour at this years celebrations (Brian Lawless/PA)

Spectators sit on the OConnell monument to watch the parade (Brian Lawless/PA)

Game Of Thrones actor Liam Cunningham led the celebrations (Brian Lawless/PA)

Hamill meets Irish President Michael D Higgins (Brian Lawless/PA)

Thousands of people lined OConnell Street as the parade got under way (Brian Lawless/PA)

(Brian Lawless/PA)

(Brian Lawless/PA)

St Patrick himself - or is it? - poses for a picture (Brian Lawless/PA)

Colourful floats on OConnell Street in Dublin (Brian Lawless/PA)

Wherever you are in the world, Irish eyes are smiling on March 17 (Brian Lawless/PA)

Meanwhile, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar took part in the equivalent parade in New York City

Leo Varadkar in New York (Niall Carson/PA)The president of the Indian Ocean nation of Mauritius, Africas only female head of state, has resigned amid a financial scandal.

Ameenah Gurib-Fakim submitted her resignation in the national interest, her lawyer Yousouf Mohamed told reporters.

Her resignation is effective on March 23.

Ameenah Gurib-Fakim (Zoltan Mathe/MTI via AP)

It has been alleged that Ms Gurib-Fakim made personal purchases with a credit card provided by an NGO, whose Angolan founder has sought to do business in Mauritius and is under investigation for alleged fraud in Portugal.

Ms Gurib-Fakim said earlier this week that she inadvertently used the credit card from the London-based Planet Earth Institute for out-of-pocket expenses of about 27,000 dollars (19,360) and that she had refunded the money.

The 58-year-old, whose role is mostly ceremonial, had earlier said she was the victim of a smear campaign and said she would not resign.

But by Saturday she had changed her mind.

Ms Gurib-Fakim was appointed president in 2015 and was previously a chemistry professor and science faculty dean at the University of Mauritius.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, another female African head of state, stepped down as president of Liberia in January, handing power to President George Weah after an election.Former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe kept personal memos describing interactions with President Donald Trump that are similar to the notes compiled by dismissed FBI chief James Comey, the Associated Press (AP) has learned.

Mr McCabe was long scorned by Mr Trump and was fired by attorney general Jeff Sessions on Friday.

It was not immediately clear whether any of Mr McCabes memos have been turned over to or been requested by special counsel Robert Mueller, whose criminal investigation is examining Trump campaign ties to Russia and possible obstruction of justice.

Andrew McCabe has been fired (Alex Brandon/AP)

Mr McCabes memos include details of interactions with the president, among other topics, according to a source.

Though the precise contents are unknown, the memos could possibly help substantiate Mr McCabes assertion that he was unfairly maligned by a White House he says had declared war on the FBI and Mr Muellers investigation.

They almost certainly contain, as Mr Comeys memos did, previously undisclosed details about encounters between the Trump administration and FBI.

The disclosure on Saturday came hours after Mr Trump called Mr McCabes firing by attorney general Jeff Sessions a great day for democracy and asserted without elaboration that Mr McCabe knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI!

That sent former CIA director John Brennan, an outspoken Trump critic, into a Twitter tirade.

When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history. You may scapegoat Andy McCabe, but you will not destroy America...America will triumph over you. https://t.co/uKppoDbduj  John O. Brennan (@JohnBrennan) March 17, 2018

When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history. You may scapegoat Andy McCabe, but you will not destroy AmericaAmerica will triumph over you, he tweeted.

Mr Sessions said he acted on the recommendation of FBI disciplinary officials who said Mr McCabe had not been candid with a watchdog office investigation.

Mr McCabe was fired two days before his retirement date.

An upcoming inspector generals report is expected to conclude that Mr McCabe had authorised the release of information to the media and was not forthcoming with the watchdog office as it examined the bureaus handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation.

Mr McCabe denied the allegations and said his credibility had been attacked as part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally but also the FBI and law enforcement.

It is part of this administrations ongoing war on the FBI and the efforts of the special counsel investigation, which continue to this day, he added.

Their persistence in this campaign only highlights the importance of the special counsels work.

The firing set off duelling tweets between Mr Trump, who called the termination a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI, and Mr Comey, the director he fired 10 months ago.

Mr Trump called Mr Comey sanctimonious and said he made Mr McCabe look like a choirboy.

Mr Comey, whose highly anticipated book comes out next month, responded with his own tweet: Mr. President, the American people will hear my story very soon. And they can judge for themselves who is honorable and who is not.

Mr. President, the American people will hear my story very soon. And they can judge for themselves who is honorable and who is not.  James Comey (@Comey) March 17, 2018

Mr Trumps personal lawyer John Dowd cited the brilliant and courageous example of Mr Sessions and the FBIs Office of Professional Responsibility, and said deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein should bring an end to the Russia investigation manufactured by Mr Comey.

Mr Dowd told the AP that he was neither calling on Mr Rosenstein, who oversees Mr Muellers inquiry, to fire the special counsel immediately nor had discussed with Mr Rosenstein the idea of dismissing Mr Mueller or ending the probe.

Mr Mueller is investigating whether Mr Trumps actions, including Mr Comeys dismissal, constitute obstruction of justice.

Mr McCabe could be an important witness, and his memos could be used by investigators as they look into whether Mr Trump sought to thwart the FBI probe.

Mr Comeys own memos have been turned over to Mr Mueller and are part of his investigation.

Mr McCabe, in a statement defending himself, asserted he was singled out by the administration because of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of Mr Comeys firing last May.

Mr McCabe became acting director after that and assumed direct oversight of the FBIs investigation into the Trump campaign.

He said the release of the findings against him was accelerated after he told congressional officials that he could corroborate Mr Comeys accounts of Mr Comeys conversations with the president.

Mr McCabe had been on leave from the FBI since January, when he abruptly left the deputy director position.

He had planned to retire on Sunday and the dismissal probably jeopardises his ability to collect his full pension benefits.

His removal could add to the turmoil that has enveloped the FBI since Mr Comeys dismissal and as the bureau moves ahead with an investigation the White House has dismissed as a hoax.

Mr McCabe spent more than 20 years as a career FBI official and played key roles in some of the most recent significant investigations.

But Mr Trump repeatedly condemned him over the past year as emblematic of an FBI leadership he contends is biased against his administration.

The firing arises from an inspector general review into how the FBI handled the Clinton email investigation.

That inquiry focused not only on specific decisions made by FBI leadership but also on news media leaks.

Mr McCabe came under scrutiny over an October 2016 news report that revealed differing approaches within the FBI and Justice Department over how aggressively the Clinton Foundation should be investigated.

The watchdog office has concluded that Mr McCabe authorised FBI officials to speak to a Wall Street Journal reporter for that story and that Mr McCabe had not been forthcoming with investigators.

Mr McCabe denies it.

Mr McCabe became entangled in presidential politics in 2016 when it was revealed that his wife, during her unsuccessful run for state senate in Virginia, received campaign contributions from the political action committee of then-governor Terry McAuliffe, a longtime Clinton friend.

The FBI has said Mr McCabe received the necessary ethics approval about his wifes candidacy and was not supervising the Clinton investigation at the time.Jurgen Klopp claimed Mohamed Salah would not like the comparison  but the Liverpool manager agrees the Egyptian bears similarities to Lionel Messi.

Liverpool forward Salah was likened to the Barcelona star as he struck four goals in 5-0 thrashing on Watford on Saturday.

Salah also created another goal for Roberto Firmino in a devastating display amid snow flurries and freezing conditions at Anfield.

Liverpools Mohamed Salah celebrates scoring a hat-trick during the Premier League match at Anfield, Liverpool.

Asked in his post-match press conference if Salah could be mentioned in the same sentence as five-time world player of the year Messi, Reds boss Klopp said: I think Mo is on the way.

I dont think Mo or anybody else wants to be compared with Lionel Messi  he is the one who has been doing what hes been doing for what feels like 20 years or so. The last player I know who had the same influence on a team performance was Diego Maradona.

But Mo is in a fantastic way, thats for sure. As it always is in life, if you have to have the skills you have to show that constantly and consistently, and he is very good. He helps us a lot.

The boys love playing together with him, he loves playing with them so its good.

He gave us a good four goals. I think thats quite exceptional and another good performance.

We had to cope and deal with difficult conditions tonight. It was slippery. Everybody suffered but not Mo in that situation. That is really special.

Watford offered little aside from a dipping free-kick from Roberto Pereyra when they were already 3-0 down. The result never seemed in doubt after Salah opened the scoring in the fourth minute.

Klopp said: Im really happy about the result and the performance in very difficult circumstances.

Watford manager Javi Gracia, whose side lost 3-0 at Arsenal last weekend, admitted his side had been outplayed.

Gracia said: We knew we had a tough game. We conceded an early goal and then it was very difficult.

We know we were playing against one of the best teams in Europe at this moment and they were much better than us.

We tried to play like a team, we tried to find the best option but we need to compete with the best level we can and it was not the best performance for us today.

Gracia felt his team maybe lacked spirit.

He said: Before the match I felt it but after conceding five goals, after the match, Im not sure. We need to improve and now we have time  two weeks  to prepare for our next match.

Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana was not included in the matchday squad but Klopp said he would be 100 per cent fit to link up with England.New York City mayor Bill de Blasio proclaimed this years St Patricks Day as Gerry Adams Day.

He made a proclamation honouring the former Sinn Fein leader at a special event ahead of the Fifth Avenue parade.

It read: I, Bill de Blasio, Mayor of the City of New York, do hereby proclaim March 17 2018 in the city of New York as Gerry Adams Day.

Mr de Blasio said Mr Adams did not accept injustice, he did not tolerate it and he fought against it.

In every way he has been an activist, he said.

Gerry Adams appears alongside Taoiseach Leo Varadkar (Niall Carson/PA)

I think of no prouder a title that someone can hold.

He understood theres no place in the world anymore for colonialism and he fought against that with all that he had.

Remember that great ideas never die, they may be set back sometimes, but they never die. And I honour Gerry Adams for his lifelong pursuit of a goal that makes that makes so much sense, the goal of a united Ireland.

Gerry has in all he has done, accepted that a life of fighting for change came with peril, came with the threat of violence and the experience of being attacked. It came with condemnation, it came with arrest and times in jail.

Mayor Bill de Blasio designates `Gerry Adams Day (Niall Carson/PA)

Mr Adams said he was honoured to receive this proclamation.

I have to say that Happy Gerry Adams Day doesnt have the same ring as Happy St Patricks Day, he said.

Mr Adams hailed New York as a great city: I would often reflect to myself: If you can all live here in relative harmony, if you can all live here together, surely in our small island we can create the conditions where our people can live in harmony and prosperity and peace and equality together?

Mr Adams was hailed as for his courage and activism by the New York mayor (Niall Carson/PA)

During the event at Gracie Mansion, Mr Adams called for a united Ireland.

We still have a lot to do, we need rights, we need equality, we need a referendum on Irish unity so the people can decide for themselves, Mr Adams said.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said it was not helpful to call for a united Ireland and that the priority was to get the Stormont executive back up and running.

Mr Varadkar said: Its not our tradition to name days after any particular individual in Ireland. It is a tradition here and obviously I extend my congratulations to Gerry on that honour being bestowed on him by the city of New York.Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in India stood on a different footing from the Rohingyas who seek shelter from persecution in native Myanmar and any comparison between the two is misconceived, the Indian Government has told the Supreme Court.

According to the Hindu, the Government was responding to comparisons made by the Rohingya in the Supreme Court between their plight and the relief facilities given to the Sri Lankan Tamil refugees.

The Rohingya have sought the same aid and the benevolence India had shown the Sri Lankan Tamils.

But a six-page government affidavit filed in the Supreme Court on Friday said there was no comparable parity between the Sri Lankan Tamil refugees and Rohingya.

It explained that India reached out to the Sri Lankan Tamils on the basis of two Indo-Sri Lankan Agreements signed in 1964 and 1979.

India had agreed to repatriate and grant Indian citizenship to 600,000 persons of Indian origin together with their natural increase by 1981-82.

The government denied the charge that the Rohingya were met with stun grenades and chilli powder at the Indian border. It said the Border Security Force performed its duties in challenging circumstances.

The Supreme Court cannot direct the government to ensure that foreigners enter the territory of India, it said.Some of the Tamil members of the United National Party (UNP) in the Colombo District have expressed their dissatisfaction on the partys decision to name Mohamed Iqbal as the Deputy Mayor of Colombo.

Mr. Iqbals name was announced at a meeting of UNP elected members of the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) last morning.

Member of the Western Provincial Council and one of the UNP organizers in the Colombo District C. Y. P. Ram said it is sad that a Tamil is not named for the post. The party named a Muslim as the Mayor and a Sinhalese as the deputy in 2011 while this time a Sinhalese has been named the Mayor and a Muslim as the Deputy. Even the Muslims members of the party are not happy with Mr. Iqbals appointment, Mr. Ram said.

He said John Ram who had become second in 2011 and who fought a hard battle to win the Kotahena East ward would have been a better choice. Mr. Ram said he had already written a letter to the party leader asking him to appoint Mr. Ram to the post.

However a senior UNPer in the Colombo MC, who did not wish to be quoted, said Mr. Iqbal has been serving the CMC for more than 20 years. Besides, this member said it was the party leader who had decided on the appointment. (Yohan Perera)The interview took place before his Vietnam visit on March 19-20, to be made at the invitation of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh.

Lavrov said the leaders of the two countries at various levels have always maintained communication.

During the visit, he said he will discuss the preparations for the Year of Russia in Vietnam and the Year of Vietnam in Russia with the Vietnamese officials, which are scheduled for 2019 on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of a treaty on the basic principles for bilateral friendship.

Education, cultural exchanges and humanitarian cooperation are traditional cooperation fields, he said.

In regards to their bilateral cooperation potential, Lavrov said that two-way trade surpassed 35%, to over US$5.3 billion in 2017  a record since 1991, partly thanks to the signing of a free trade agreement between Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union in 2015, which took effect in 2016.

In order to further lift the bilateral economic-trade ties, he suggested encouraging regular contact between industrialists and businesses to explore win-win opportunities or hold round-table seminars, exhibitions and fairs.

Apart from the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, he introduced the Eastern Economic Forum, which is held annually in Vladivostok since 2015, where Vietnamese firms could seek partnership opportunities.

He said that Vietnam and Russia established a high-level working group, which is tasked with monitoring specific investment projects and expanding economic ties among firms working in mining, petroleum processing, energy, materials, transport, infrastructure, and information -communications.

When asked what Russia will do to further promote its position and role in the Asia-Pacific region, Lavrov said that Russia, together with Vietnam , the ASEAN member states and their partners will step up an agenda to ensure sustainable and stable security architecture and development cooperation.

Russia highly values ASEANs central role in facilitating the annual ASEAN forum on ensuring regional security, the ASEAN defence ministers meeting with the counterparts of their partner countries, a series of meetings between ASEAN and their dialogue partners, including Russia, and particularly the East Asia Summit (EAS) with key partners such as Russia, China, the US, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Australia.

Within the EAS framework, Russia has so far underscored the need to launch an open security and cooperation system in Asia-Pacific based on the principles of equality and undivided security among the member countries, ensuring that not any one country attempts to ensure its security at the expense of other nations, he said.Senior Counsel Romesh de Silva PC yesterday (16) making the submission on the proposed Judicature Act (Amendment) Bill that this Bill will lead to unequal treatment to equals.

Seven Petitions came up for Special Determination of the Supreme Court before the Bench comprising Chief Justice Priyasath Dep, Justices Buwaneka Aluvihara and Nalin Perera.

Counsel Romesh de Silva PC with Sugath Caldera and Niran Anketel appearing for the President of Bar Association of Sri Lanka submitted that proposed Bill imposes permanent High Court of Trial at Bar whereas there is no such Court.

He submitted that the new Bill gives powers to the Minister to specify the location of the Permanent High Court of Trial at Bar and the Executives such as Attorney General and the Director General of Bribery Commission to institute criminal proceedings.

He said the new Bill if enacted would erode the judicial system and this Permanent High Court of Bar does not come under the existing High Court of Province.

He said there is apprehension that the Attorney General or the Director General of Bribery Commission can choose a particular person and target him whereas, in the normal law, one has to be charged under normal Act.

He added here the Minister specify the Court and Attorney General or Director General of Bribery Commission institute the proceedings. He underlined that indictment can be filed in the correct Court but not in the Court specified by the Minister.

In the normal law of the land, the Chief Justice has to nominate the three judges of the High Court but in the proposed Bill, the Attorney General of the Director General of Bribery Commission can choose a victim and locate the place of trial.

He said there is a deliberate machination which is ultra vires and violation of the rights of accused.

He pointed out under the proposed Bill, the proceedings cannot be postponed for any reason.

Gamini Marapana PC with Navin Marapana appearing for Professor G.L.Pieris submitted that there is no Court such as Permanent High Court of Trial at Bar. He described that this is a cart before the Bull as such.

He argued that Attorney General or the Director General of the Bribery Commission should not supervise the judicial system. He said under the said Bill, the Attorney General and the Director General of the Bribery Commission take powers to transfer the case from one court to another. He contended that it is interference in the judiciary.

He submitted that the Clause 2 amends the Judicature Act to make provision for the Permanent High Court at Bar to try, hear and determine the trials of the offences specified in the Sixth Schedule to the principal enactment and any other offence committed in the course of the same transaction of any such offence

He said that it specifies the composition of the Permanent High Court at Bar

He added it enable the Minister to specify the location or locations of the Permanent High Court at Bar

He further submitted that it enable the Attorney-General and the Director-General for the Prevention of Bribery and Corruption to institute criminal proceedings in the Permanent High Court at Bar ;

He submitted that Clause 3 amends section 63 of the principal enactment by the insertion of the definition of the expression Director General for the Prevention of Bribery and Corruption.

He contended the said Bill is inconsistent with the provisions of Articles 10, 12, 13 and 14 of the Constitution, the doctrine of separation of and Article 27, and cannot become law unless passed by the special majority of two thirds of the whole number of Members of Parliament (including those not present) and being approved by the People at a Referendum, as provided for under Article 83 of the Constitution, in as much as inter alia

He pointed out the said Bill confers on the Attorney-General and the Director-General for the Prevention of Bribery and Corruption, the sole discretion of selectively referring, by Indictment, to the High Courts at Bar such cases.

The said Bill confers upon administrative/executive officers of the State, the power to transfer any case currently before a Magistrate or a Judge of the High Court to be tried in the permanent High Court at Bar which amounts to an interference with the Judiciary

He argued that it confers on officers who constitute part of the Executive, a discretion which was hitherto vested with the Chief Justice [in nominating a Trial at Bar], thereby eroding into and undermining the doctrine of separation of powers.

He submitted that it confers on the very prosecutors, the opposing party [of the Accused/Defence], thereby depriving the Accused of a significant and inalienable element of his right to a fair trial.

He said the criterion of nature and circumstances of the commission of such offence renders an invitation for subjectivity and discrimination based on extraneous and subjective considerations by the said prosecutors.

He said the bill-

Confers on prosecuting officers the power to select arbitrarily cases in which selected persons are accused and referring such cases to the said permanent Trial at Bar, thus discriminating between persons accused of such an offence, he alleged.

The said Bill provides for the expeditious conclusion of trials before the High Courts at Bar whereas Capital offences such as Murder, Rape and Gang Rape are not included in the proposed new sixth Schedule, and is therefore discriminatory, arbitrary, capricious and violative of Article 12 of the Constitution," he said.

There are a large number of pending cases before the High Courts, in respect of capital offences, without any special procedure being implemented for their expeditious disposal he submitted.

He said that the said Bill provides for the Permanent High Courts at Bar, each consisting of three Judges from among the Judges of the High Court, sitting together, thereby taking away a number of Judges of the High Court from the High Courts, and thereby adding severely to the already tremendous backlog of cases in such High Courts, he said and contended that therefore the said Bill is discriminatory, arbitrary, capricious and violative of Article 12 of the Constitution.

Sanjeeva Jayawardane PC appeared for Prof. Mallika Sudath Jayasumana. Manohara de Silva PC appeared for Dinesh Gunawardane. Kushan de Alwis PC appeared for Prof. Liyanage. Shavindra Fernando PC appeared for another Petitioner. (S.S.Selvanayagam)At a press brief to announce the success of the operation, in Hanoi on March 16 morning, the hospital stated that, using the organs donated by a brain-dead donor, the Hanoi-based medical facility has also implemented trans-national organ transplants.

The heart and kidney were used as transplants for patients at Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, who suffered from end-stage heart and renal failure. Another patient underwent a cornea transplant at Hanois National Hospital of Ophthalmology.

At the Military Hospital 108, doctors performed a transplantation of two lungs on a patient, a kidney transplant for the other and also a cornea transplant.

Regarding the first lung transplant, the surgery was directed by the hospitals Director, Prof., Dr. Mai Hong Bang. Two foreign experts from France and Belgium, along with 60 medical staff from the hospital, directly performed the eight-hour surgery.

The transplant took place over eight hours. (Photo courtesy to the Military Hospital 108)



Dr. Ngo Vi Hai, a member of the operating team, said that the lung recipient is 1964 born patient, Tran Ngoc H. He was diagnosed with respiratory distress due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. H. underwent the lung transplant on February 26 and recovered well after the surgery with good respiratory function. He is currently being treated with anti-rejection drugs and rehabilitation. In the other organ transplants, the patients conditions are also stable.

Prof., Dr. Bang revealed that a lung transplant is one of the hardest transplants in the world. "This success is the result of very thorough preparation in the past two years, including the facilities, the consultation with international experts, and the timely maintenance of organs within the golden period for transplantation, he said, adding that the hospital carried out four parallel surgeries to take organs and coordinate transplants, as well as performing the first lung transplantation.

The patient is recovering well after 16 days since the transplantation. (Photo courtesy to the Military Hospital 108)



Since the establishment of its Transplant Centre, the hospital has sent its staff to the leading organ transplant centres in the country and around the world in order to improve their profession. It has also actively encouraged patients in Hanoi and neighbouring provinces to donate organs.

To date, the hospital has performed 18 organ transplants, including one liver transplant from a live donor. Since 2004, it has also carried out 27 marrow and 14 corneal transplants and the hospital is also preparing all of its resources and facilities for the implementation of complex organ transplantation techniques, such as cardiac, cardiopulmonary, pancreatic, uterus, limb and intestinal transplantations.

The patient gives an online interview with reporters at a press conference in Hanoi, March 16. (Photo: nld.com.vn)BEIJING, March 16 (Xinhua) -- The general office of China's Central Military Commission (CMC) on Friday made public a guideline on an educational campaign in the military.

The campaign focuses on inheriting the legacy of the Chinese military, and highlights the responsibilities of officers and soldiers of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in their bid to build a strong military, according to the guideline.

The campaign should closely relate to the current situation, missions and requirements, underline the fundamental and comprehensive issues in the PLA's tasks, and carry out education on the major theories and realistic problems that concern officers and soldiers the most.

The guideline asks for a higher standard of education among the members of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and officials of higher levels in the military, and calls for stronger action against problems in their thought, organization, and conduct.

It also asks for the crackdown on formalism and bureaucratism, and the elimination of the pernicious influence of Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou, former CMC vice chairmen.

Moreover, the guideline suggests CPC members educate and guide the Communist Youth League members in the military into realizing their dreams, and taking on the responsibilities of building a strong military.Yunnan province will speed up construction of the Trans-Asian Railway within the province and aims to complete a railway network connecting China with Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar.

"Our goal is to build a modern railway network that could connect the provincial capital, Kunming, with the bordering nations in five hours and neighboring provinces within eight hours," said Wang Gengjie, general manager of China Railway Kunming Group Co.

Yunnan, in Southwest China, is the center of the Trans-Asian Railway, which is a project to create an integrated freight railway network across Europe and Asia.

As a deputy to the 13th National People's Congress, Wang revealed during the two sessions that all the construction work connecting China with Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar is speeding up and expected to be finished by 2021.

Under the current plan, the cross-border railway network will mainly serve freight trains for commercial trade, according to Wang.

The Kunming-Hekou Line connecting Yunnan's capital to the border with Vietnam now has two types of train tracks with different gauges.

The one-meter-wide single track, which matches the track size in Vietnam, has been used for decades and now serves freight trains.

In 2014, the bureau adopted new technology to successfully transform the track size into a wider one, and the one-meter-wide old track still can be used.

The wider track increased the train speed and cut the traveling time from Kunming to Hekou from 18 hours to only six.

"The cargo capacity improved from about 270 metric tons to nearly 4,000 tons with the technology. It has boosted economic development both at home and abroad," Wang said.

Construction of the China-Laos Line, the 414-kilometer railway linking Kunming and Vientiane, the capital of Laos, is underway and the line will begin operation by 2021, according to Wang.

Wang said the other two linesthe Dali-Lincang Railway and the Dali-Ruili Railwayaiming to connect with Myanmar and other Southeast Asian countries are also under construction.

In addition, construction of the two lines' shared partthe 200-kilometer-per-hour Guangtong-Dali railwayis expected to be completed in July this year, Wang said.

According to Wang, the designed operating speed of railways linking those three countries varies from 120 to 200 km/h.

Contact the writer at [email protected]BEIJING, March 17 (Xinhua) -- China's national legislature on Saturday adopted a massive cabinet restructuring plan to make the government better-structured, more efficient, and service-oriented.

Approved at a plenary meeting of the ongoing first session of the 13th National People's Congress, the plan will create an immigration administration, an agency to coordinate foreign aid, a combined banking and insurance regulator, ministries of veterans affairs, emergency management, natural resources, among others.

Briefing lawmakers earlier this week, State Councilor Wang Yong said the restructuring would strengthen the government's roles in economic management, market supervision, social management, public service, ecological and environmental protection.

According to Wang, the cabinet will have fewer entities at ministerial or vice-ministerial levels.

"It focuses on the needs of development and meets the people's expectations," he said.

The move is seen as a continuation of the previous seven rounds of cabinet restructuring since the early 1980s.

The latest restructuring is considered as part of a broader plan of the Communist Party of China to deepen the reform of the Party and state institutions.

"The reform comes at a crucial time," Chen Xi, a senior Party official, said in an article recently published in the People's Daily.

It will support the efforts in the next three years in building a moderately prosperous society and lay a foundation for building a great modern socialist country by the middle of the century, Chen said.The Congress high command has decided to treat as a closed matter the controversy over a tweet by senior leader M Veerappa Moily, suggesting money plays a role in his party deciding who gets the ticket for upcoming Assembly elections in Karnataka.



A day after the tweet, the party high command on Friday launched a swift enquiry into the matter and seems to have absolved Moily of any wrongdoing.

"I have enquired into the matter. He (Moily) has said he did not do it. We treat the matter closed," AICC general secretary in-charge Karnataka, K C Venugopal told DH.

As the tweet went viral, Moily disowned it and said internal issues should not be discussed in public.

Speaking to reporters here, Moily said "That Twitter (handle) is not in my control. It's not (an) appropriate (tweet). I'm withdrawing (it)."

Neither me nor my son has any role in it , the former chief minister said.

"It was a mistake committed by somebody else and I will ensure it will not repeat in future," he stated.

Asked whether his twitter account was hacked, he said he is yet to check on it. When asked whether he will file a complaint with cyber crime police, he just said: "Forget the matter."

Meanwhile, Karnataka Pradesh Congress president G Parameshwara said it must be handiwork of the BJP to discredit the Congress when it was holding plenary session.

One person can't hijack the ticket selection and it is a lengthy process, he added.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said "since Moily himself has clarified that he has not tweeted, now matter is closed and there is nothing to react."Latching on to a media report claiming that an FIR was filed against RJD chief Lalu Prasad despite CBI's legal wing saying there was no proof, the Congress today accused the BJP of engaging in a political vendetta against its opponents to hide its "epic failures".



The Congress also warned that the BJP should "count its days" as it will be in power at the Centre only for a few months and should "be ready to face people's wrath".

Leading the Congress' charge, party president Rahul Gandhi accused the ruling BJP of "using" the CBI to "harass" key opposition politicians and asked who will be Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "next target".

Dubbing the CBI as the "Captive Bureau of Investigation" in the hands of the Modi government, the Congress said political opponents should not be "hounded" by misusing state machinery.

It accused the Modi government of "leaving no stone unturned" to file a series of cases against its political opponents and said the direct consequence of these actions is that the credibility of institutions built with decades of hard work gets denigrated.

"The BJP Govt uses the CBI to target key opposition politicians to intimidate and harass them.

"Now, a news report reveals how the CBI was pressured to file a case against @laluprasadrjd, ignoring the advice of its own legal team. Who will Modi Ji target next?#VendettaPolitics," Rahul Gandhi said on Twitter.

Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala, in a statement, alleged that the BJP has "absolutely no contribution" in establishing institutions like CBI.

He said the ruling party will "never realise" the price that the nation has to pay for its "politically motivated, sinister and ill-driven actions".

"The faith of the people in these institutions is fast eroding and the BJP is to be squarely blamed for it," Surjewala said.

Accusing the BJP of engaging in malicious propaganda through false cases against its political opponents, the Congress said eventually all such attempts "fall flat".

The Congress also named some of its key leaders including P Chidambaram, Ashok Gehlot, former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh, and also Patidar leader Hardik Patel as the ones against whom the BJP "unleashed state machinery".

"The Modi government is trying to hide its epic failures by unleashing vendetta politics The Congress unequivocally condemns any act of political vendetta, indulged by the Modi government. Now that the BJP has only a few months left in power, it should count its days and be ready to face the people's wrath," Surjewala said.

According to a media report, the CBI's Economic Offences Division had in June 2017 pressed for an FIR against Lalu Prasad saying that as Railway Minister in 2006, he allegedly facilitated the transfer of two railway hotels to a private firm in exchange for prime land in Patna.

But the probe agency's legal wing opposed it, saying there was no evidence to show that Prasad influenced officials or that the land transfer was a quid pro quo, the new report claims.Congress president Rahul Gandhi today accused the Narendra Modi government of spreading hatred and anger and said the Congress was the only party that would take the country forward by fostering an environment of amity and love.



In his brief inaugural address at the 84th Congress Plenary session, Gandhi said the Congress's hand (election symbol) is the only one that would unite India and take it forward and reminded partymen that it followed the ideology of love.

The difference between the BJP and the Congress was that while they spread anger and hatred, "we spread love and brotherhood", he said.

He also said that the Congress party under him would take the seniors and the youths together as the tradition of the Congress party was to embrace change without forgetting its past and legacy.

"If the youths have to take the Congress forward, it cannot be done without the experience the party veterans. My task is to take them together," he said.

Representatives of the party have fought hard to keep the Congress ideology alive. Senior leaders of the Congress will guide the youths and take the party forward, he added.

Taking a jibe at the present dispensation, Gandhi said that crores of youths in the country, looking up to Modi, are not finding any anything as there were no jobs.

"The country is tired of what is happening under the current government. Only the Congress party can show the way and heal divisions in the nation," he said.

"Come what may, this country belongs to everyone, every religion, every caste and every person and the Congress party is for everyone and we will not leave anyone behind," he added.

The two-day plenary session is being attended by senior Congress leaders including former party president Sonia Gandhi and former prime minister Manmohan Singh.BEIJING, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese aviation industry has made significant leaps over the past five years, according to the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), the country's aviation giant.

China has seen a more complete aviation product pedigree with upgraded capacities in developing new models and batch delivery, especially in the past five years, said the AVIC in a recent press release.

FROM 3RD TO 4TH GENERATION

China's latest J-20 stealth fighters have been commissioned into air force combat service, representing an important step in comprehensive combat capabilities.

The J-20 is China's fourth-generation medium and long-range fighter jet. It made its maiden flight in 2011 and was first shown to the public at the 11th Airshow China in Zhuhai in Guangdong Province in November 2016.

The Y-20, China's largest homegrown transport aircraft, joined the air force in July 2016. The 200-tonne-level freighters play a critical role in China toward developing its long-range delivery capabilities.

Moreover, the newly-commissioned H-6K bomber and new generation of KJ-500 early warning aircraft contribute to the country's combat capacity in precise strike and information warfare.

FROM MANNED TO UNMANNED

In the unmanned aircraft system (UAS) sector, the Wing Loong UAS family have gained a reputation in the international military market with "big orders" in hand, according to the AVIC.

Wing Loong represents the country's achievements in developing high-end reconnaissance-strike UAS, with their general performances matching similar products worldwide.

The Wing Loong family is a high-end reconnaissance-strike drone series independently developed by China.

The Wing Long I conducted its maiden flight in 2007, while the Wing Loong II successfully completed its maiden flight on Feb. 27 last year, showing that China was capable of developing large-scale reconnaissance-strike UAS according to international standards.

The enhanced comprehensive combat capacity of China's unmanned aerial vehicles have lifted the long-time surveillance and combat capabilities of the military.

FROM AIR TO AIR-SEA-LAND

China's home-developed helicopter series Z10, Z-19 and Z8 are available to the military, enhancing combat capabilities in air-ground integration, long-distance maneuvering and special operations.

The J-15 carrier-based aircraft strongly supports the "Liaoning," China's first aircraft carrier, in developing blue sea operation power, the AVIC claimed.

Besides, the newly-delivered carrier-based rotor aviation equipment has greatly supported the naval air force.

In the international military market, China's aviation products are becoming more competitive with a more complete pedigree alongside the country's independent development in the industry, according to the AVIC.

Last year, China saw multiple new models of its export-oriented aviation products, such as with the the maiden flights of the Wing-Loong II UAS, the JF-17B dual-seat fighter and Z-19E armed helicopter.In a bid to motivate party workers after a loss in Gorakhpur and Phulpur by-polls in Uttar Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is planning a major rally in Mumbai on April 6 to celebrate the 38th foundation day of the party at the MMRDA Ground at the Bandra Kurla Complex.

The party president Amit Shah will address the rally. BJP's Maharashtra unit President Raosaheb Patil Danve on Friday said that the rally will be a part of the party's organisational activity and it should not be linked with its poll preparations.

Incidentally, the venue of the rally is just a kilometre away from Matoshree, the bungalow of Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray.

The rally is significant as by-elections of two Lok Sabha seats - Bhandara Gondiya and Palghar are to be held. The Election Commission, however, is yet to announce the poll schedule.



The Bhandara Gondiya seat felt vacant after BJP MP Nana Patole resigned and joined Congress, while Palghar seat fell vacant after the death of sitting MP Chintaman Vanga.



After the loss of two Lok Sabha seats in UP, for the BJP it is a matter of prestige to retain both seats in Maharashtra.



While Shiv Sena has already decided to contest any future polls on its own strength and there are chances that the Congress and NCP would come together and contest on one seat each.The second and third of the six Scorpene-class submarines, part of Project-75 of the Indian Navy, are undergoing sea trials while the rest are under construction, a senior naval officer said.



Interacting with reporters during an event at Kota House here, Commandant of National Defence College Vice Admiral Srikant also said the air-independent propulsion (AIP) indigenous system for submarines, on which the DRDO is working, will go for marine testing.

He was speaking at the launch of a teaser of 'Breaking Point: Indian Submariners', a four-part series which will air on the Discovery Channel on March 19.

"The second and third of the six Scorpene-class submarines are undergoing sea trials while the fourth, fifth and the sixth are under construction. We want to focus on first getting all these submarines commissioned, before going in for more submarines," Vice Admiral Srikant said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on December 14 commissioned INS Kalvari, the first Scorpene-class submarine into the Navy in Mumbai, and described it as an excellent example of 'Make in India' that will boost the Navy's might.

INS Kalvari is a diesel-electric attack submarine that has been built for the Indian Navy by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd.

Kalvari is named after the dreaded tiger shark, a deadly deep sea predator of the Indian Ocean. The submarine had undergone around 120 days of extensive sea trials and tests of various equipment.

The six submarines, designed by French naval defence and energy company DCNS, are being built by Mazagon Dock Ltd in Mumbai as part of Project-75 of the Indian Navy.

The first Kalvari, commissioned on December 8, 1967, was also the first submarine of the Indian Navy. It was decommissioned on May 31, 1996, after nearly three decades of service.

To a question on the accident suffered by INS Chakra, Indian Navy's only nuclear-powered submarine, he said, "85 percent of the reports on it was incorrect."

INS Chakra is a nuclear-powered submarine which was taken by India on lease from Russia in 2012 for a period of 10 years.Launching a frontal attack on the BJP, Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said that the country is tired of the Modi government and only the Congress can show a way out.



In his brief welcome address at the AICC Plenary, his first after taking over as Congress President, Gandhi targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing him of dividing the nation and spreading anger amongst the people.



"The country is tired and searching for a way out. Only Congress can show the path," Gandhi said urging the Congress workers to unite. Gandhi also allayed apprehension of senior leaders that they would be left out as a new Congress takes shape under his leadership.



"The Plenary talks about the future and change. The tradition of the Congress party is to embrace change without forgetting our past and legacy," Gandhi said adding that he would rely heavily on the experience of the seniors and the energy of the youth.



"My job is to be a link between the seniors and the youth," Gandhi said to a packed audience of Congress workers and leaders gathered at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium here. A number of leaders including Mallikarjun Kharge, Sachin Pilot urged party workers to shun the sense of despondency and gear up to fight the Modi government. "Half the battle is lost, if you do not believe in yourself," Kharge said.



"Revolution will not come by sitting silently. We will have to sweat it out by working night and day," Pilot said. Unlike the past AICC Plenaries, a striking change under Gandhi was the seating arrangement at the venue. All the leaders were seated in the audience and while the stage had a solitary lectern from where a speaker addressed the gathering.



Gandhi had wanted the 84th AICC Plenary to be a 'Workers' Plenary' with the focus away from the Congress President as had been the past tradition.



Earlier, Gandhi hoisted the party tricolour in the precincts of the venue in the presence of senior leaders including UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, senior leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Motilal Vora, P Chidambaram, Chief Ministers Siddaramaiah, Amarinder Singh, Lalthanhawla and V Narayanasamy.



The Plenary began by adopting a condolence resolution remembering the departed leaders of the party including former Karnataka chief ministers S Bangarappa and Dharam Singh, senior leaders Priyaranjan Dasmunshi, Murli Deora, Makahan Lal Fotedar among others.An organisation for backward classes has urged the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) to include nomadic, beggars, wandering caste, depending castes, services castes, nomadic tribes, semi-nomadic tribes, denotified tribes in the 'A group' of the sub-classification of OBCs.



In October last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had set up a commission to divide the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) into sub-groups, a move that would help the most backward communities to reap reservation benefits.

Backward Classes (BC) Welfare Association President R Krishnaiah has written a letter to the NCBC demanding that nomadic, beggars, wandering caste, depending castes, services castes, nomadic tribes, semi-nomadic tribes, denotified tribes should be included in the 'A group' of the sub-classification.

Those who are practising handicrafts, caste, occupational groups and who have less than 50 percent representation in education and employment sectors in population ratio should be included in group B, the letter said.

The castes, handicrafts class, occupations groups and representing more than 50 percent representation in population ratio should be included in Group C, it added.

People associated with agriculture and other castes should be classified into Group D. Harijans, Christians and some Muslim castes are to be included in Group E, he said in the letter.

"After fixing the groups depending on the population of the castes added on their respective groups, the percentage of reservation should be decided," the letter said.The police chief of militancy infested, Shopian district, in south Kashmir had a narrow escape on Saturday after militants attacked the bullet-proof vehicle he was travelling in.



Reports said militants opened fire on the vehicle of Superintendent of Police (SP) A S Dinkar near Hajipora on Kulgam-Shopian road as he was heading towards neighbouring Kulgam district to attend an army function.

His guards retaliated, resulting in a brief exchange of fire. However, the militants fled from the spot. There was no report of any casualties.

Reports said immediately after the attack security forces launched a search operation in the area to nab the assailants. The districts of Shopian, Kulgam and Pulwama in south Kashmir have emerged as the hub of militancy in the last two years and have witnessed a spate of terror-related incidents.

The area has become the hub of tech-savvy militants as nearly 80 local boys joined militant ranks from these three districts in 2017 while nearly 50 were stopped from becoming ultras.

"The Pulwama-Shopian-Kulgam axis has become a hotbed of homegrown militants and a challenge for security forces. It is in this region where militants train new recruits. Since last year several videos have surfaced on social media showing militants carrying out patrolling in the forest areas," a senior police officer told Deccan Herald.

"Today's attack on district police chief demonstrates how emboldened militants in the area feel. The areas have seen the highest number of encounters and attacks since 2016. The topography of Shopian, with its vast orchards and fields ringed by dense forests, also provide a perfect shelter and operating cover to militants," he said.In his first comments on the recent setbacks for BJP in bypolls, Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said the BJP now realises that there is no such thing like invincibility in elections and they will ensure that such defeats are not repeated.



Singh's comments at a media event came days after the BJP lost sitting seats Gorakhpur and Phulpur in Uttar Pradesh. Gorakhpur was represented by UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Phulpur by Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Chandra Maurya.

"Ho gaya, aage nahin hoga. (It happened. Now, we will ensure it won't be repeated," Singh initially said when asked about his reaction to the results. He added, "humein pata chala ki aisa bhi ho sakta hain (We know that this result is also a possibility)."

Till now, no senior central leader has commented on the election results though party chief Amit Shah has called a meeting for analysing where the BJP went wrong. The defeat in Gorakhpur has come as more dearly as it was considered a BJP stronghold with Adityanath representing the seat since 1998.

Adityanath had cited overconfidence and failure to realise the importance of the pre-poll understanding between Samajwadi Party and BSP as the reasons for the defeat.



Asked about Congress president Rahul Gandhi's criticism against the government, Singh said as opposition leader he would keep saying this and added, "time will tell against whom India was rising." Reacting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks that "India is rising", Gandhi had retorted, "India is rising against you."



He was asked whether what would be the one thing he would like to do. if he becomes the Prime Minister. "I am not over-ambitious. There is a role for everyone. One's status would not rise just because one gets a particular position. But yes, if one is given the opportunity, they must fulfil it. Our Prime Minister is doing a very good job," he said.Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday said the state Assembly elections will see a "secularism versus communalism" contest and the Congress will emerge victorious.



He also said the poll results will work as a "stepping stone" for the 2019 general elections.

The chief minister was speaking at the Congress' plenary session here ahead of the Karnataka polls, the dates for which are yet to be announced.

"No one can stop Rahul Gandhi (Congress president) from becoming the country's prime minister after the next general polls," Siddaramaiah said.

"It is going to be a secularism versus communalism contest (in Karnataka). The Congress is confident that under Rahulji's leadership, we will come back to power with a thumping majority in Karnataka.

"It will be a big boost and work as a stepping stone for the coming Parliamentary elections," he said.

The greater part of Siddaramaiah's speech was on the welfare programmes undertaken in Karnataka.

Campaign for the upcoming Karnataka election is already underway with national leaders of the Congress and BJP canvassing in the state.

The H D Deve Gowda-led JD(S) is the other major party contesting the elections.Commenting on a Taiwan-related bill, the Chinese Embassy in the United States on Friday expressed China's strong dissatisfaction with and firm opposition to it, saying the bill violates the one-China principle.

"The relevant clauses of the 'Taiwan Travel Act' severely violate the one-China principle, the political foundation of the China-U.S. relationship, and the three joint communiques between China and the U.S.," a spokesperson for the embassy said.

Earlier on Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump signed the bill that encourages visit exchanges between the United States and China's Taiwan at all levels.

The embassy spokesperson added that China is strongly dissatisfied with the legislation and firmly opposes it.

"We urge the U.S. side to adhere to the one-China policy and honor the commitments it made in the three joint communiques, stop pursuing any official ties with Taiwan or improving its current relations with Taiwan in any substantive way," the spokesperson said.

On March 1, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said China has lodged solemn representations with the United States over the bill.

"China is strongly dissatisfied and firmly against the act and has lodged solemn representations with the U.S. side," said Hua.Fearing misuse of electronic voting machines, the Congress on Saturday urged the Election Commission to revert to the old practice of paper ballot to uphold the credibility of the electoral process.



The political resolution, adopted at the 84th AICC Plenary here, also dubbed the BJP's strong push for simultaneous elections to Parliament and state legislatures as "impractical" and incompatible with the Constitution.



The resolution, moved for discussion by senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, said both the voting and counting process must remain transparent to retain people's faith in the integrity of the electoral system.



"There are apprehensions among the political parties and the people over the misuse of EVMs to manipulate the outcome contrary to popular verdict," it said.



"To ensure the credibility of the electoral process, the Election Commission should revert to the old practice of paper ballot, as most major democracies have done," read the political resolution that was adopted by raising of hands after a three-hour discussion.



Soon after BJP's landslide victory in Uttar Pradesh assembly elections last year, BSP chief Mayawati had levelled allegations of rigging of the EVMs. The Congress also joined the BSP and even moved the Supreme Court with a plea to verify the election outcome by tallying it with paper audit trail in at least 25% of polling booths.



Debar defectors



With several of its MLAs defecting on election eve to join the BJP, the Congress also mooted internal reforms by seeking to debar defectors from contesting elections for six years.



"The provisions of the Tenth Schedule (anti-defection law) of the Constitution have not achieved the objectives against defections. Speakers of legislatures often misuse their authority as Tribunals by selectively proceeding against legislators in the Opposition and protecting those belonging to their own party," the resolution noted with concern.



It added that the Congress will consider introducing legislative disincentives to put an end to this practice and to debar defectors from contesting any elections for six years to check the brazen misuse of money power to create political instability.Setting the tone for the Lok Sabha elections next year, the AICC Plenary on Saturday gave a clarion call to all like-minded parties to evolve a "common workable programme" to oust the BJP from power.

Addressing the 84th All India Congress Committee (AICC) Plenary here, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing him of being "drunk on power" and using every trick of the trade to destroy the Congress party.

"But the Congress has never and will never bow down to the arrogance of power," Sonia said, asking party workers to set aside differences and personal ambitions to unite under the leadership of the new president Rahul Gandhi.

She accused the prime minister of indulging in "dramebazi" to grab votes and power and said that the Congress party was at the forefront in exposing with evidence the false promises and claims, fraud and corruption of Modi and his associates.

In his brief opening remarks, Rahul Gandhi said crores of youth of the country were tired and find no way out when they look towards Modi.

"They do not understand where they will get employment. When will the farmers get the right price? The country is tired and searching for a way out. And I can say from my heart, only the Congress party can show the way," 47-year-old Rahul said amid cries of "Rahul Gandhi Zindabad".

The political resolution, moved by senior leader Mallikarjun Kharge and seconded by Rajeev Satav, said the Congress will adopt a "pragmatic approach" for cooperation with all like-minded parties and evolve a common workable programme to defeat the BJP-RSS in the 2019 elections.The humiliating defeat in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and subsequent electoral reverses had dampened the spirits of the Congress workers and several leaders urged them to shun the despondency and gear up to fight the Modi government.

"Half the battle is lost if you do not believe in yourself," Kharge said.

"Revolution will not come if we sit silently. For that, we will have to sweat it out day and night," Sachin Pilot, the Rajasthan Congress president, said speaking on the political resolution.

However, Sonia expressed confidence that a good performance in the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections would mark the revival of the Congress.The landing is surreal. One minute we are amidst the fluffy clouds and Himalayan peaks, next, we seem to be heading for a collision with the tiny settlements along the slopes. Finally, with a steep descent, we get on the narrow runway at Paro Airport. As I register the anxiety and relief of my co-passengers, I can fathom why this sole international airport in the landlocked mountain Kingdom of Bhutan is regarded as one of the most challenging places for take-offs and landings in the aviation world.



The minute we step out of the aircraft, sleek smartphones and fancy cameras jostle for space, to capture the rugged beauty of the terrain. The selfie smiles are infectious. After all, we are in the happiest place on earth - a country that considers Gross National Happiness more significant than Gross Domestic Product!

Love actually

This is my maiden trip to Bhutan, and that too on work, on a tight schedule. Touristy pleasures are out of the question. Yet, I'm hooked. Perhaps, it has something to do with the crisp air of Paro, or the dancing raindrops at Thimphu. Even before I reach my destination, I'm in love. Truly, madly, deeply.

The drive from Paro airport to Punakha is a good four hours. So, we stop at Thimphu, the capital city, for lunch. After the scorching summer experience in India, the weather in this Eastern Himalayan neighbourhood is pure bliss. And it only gets better as we drive up the slopes through dense rhododendron forests to reach the Dochula Pass - located at an altitude of over 3,000 metres above sea level. Even on a heavily overcast, foggy day, the view from the top is absolutely awe-inspiring!

What makes Bhutan such a happy place? I ask Dechen Wangmo, a public health consultant, as she drives us to Punakha. Buddhist teachings are deeply ingrained in the cultural psyche of Bhutan, says Dechen. More than happiness, it's a sense of contentment that defines the ethos. However, with the advent of the internet and access to social media, she adds, things are changing.

Despite that, Bhutan has the distinction of being the only remaining Buddhist Kingdom in the world. Fluttering prayer flags and prayer wheels dot the small, but beautiful land. You sense an innate goodness in people, not yet corrupted by the ways of modern living.

When was the last time a bellboy lugged your bags with a smile and song on his lips, without expecting a tip? Well, it happens in Punakha. In my case, it is not a bellboy, but a girl. Given that it's fairly expensive to build an elevator in mountain properties, most hotels in Bhutan don't have that luxury. So, this petite girl, in a kira (the traditional ankle-length dress of Bhutanese women), helps me with my luggage, as I huff and puff behind her, struggling on those oh-so-steep stairs.

Nonetheless, the aches and pains vanish as soon as I open the balcony in my room to witness the most gorgeous sight I've ever seen! The Punakha Dzong (fortress) in all its glory, surrounded by misty mountains and every possible shade of green. With a hot cup of tea for company, I make myself comfortable for a happy rendezvous with nature. For once, flaky Wi-Fi network is a blessing.

A thing of beauty

Located in a lower valley, Punakha is warmer than the rest of Bhutan. It was the capital of the kingdom until the 1960s, and now serves as the winter capital of the Je Khenpo (Chief Abbot of the Central Monastic Body of Bhutan). At the confluence of the Pho Chhu (male) and Mo Chhu (female) rivers stands one of the most remarkable landmarks of the country - the Punakha Dzong, also known as the Palace of Great Happiness.

Located on an island, the ancient fortress serves as the religious and administrative centre of the region. It has been the venue for the coronation of Bhutan's kings as well as the royal wedding (of His Majesty Jigme Khesar Namgyeal Wangchuck with commoner Ashi Jetsun Pema) in 2011 that garnered much world-media attention.

You don't have to be a history buff to appreciate this dzong's significance in Bhutan's regal past. As Dawa Penjor, a young Bhutanese man who has travelled the world, regales me with fascinating tales of the revered eighth-century sage of Vajrayana Buddhism, Padmasambhava (or Guru Rinpoche), I'm transported to another world. There's something about the imposing architecture, intricate woodwork, and art treasures housed here that simply uplift your spirit.

For those who seek adventure, river rafting is worth a try. If you are an amateur, go downstream the gentle River Mo Chhu; seasoned rafters will enjoy the thrills of River Pho Chu. Not too far from the dzong, there's a well-known suspension bridge that offers mind-blowing views of the fertile valley. There we bump into a group of photography enthusiasts from India, armed with tripods and DSLRs, ready to capture the perfect sunset. Though, I doubt any camera will be able to do justice to that view.

There's so much to see and a whole new world to experience in Bhutan - the legendary Taktsang Monastery (or Tiger's Nest) hike in Paro, Tshechu - a religious event famed for its mask dances, red rice cultivation in Limbukha, the local brewery in Bumthang, renowned handwoven fabrics, traditional hot stone bath ritual...

I'm definitely coming back. It'll be fun to learn some more words in Dzongkha, the national language of Bhutan. For now, in my vocabulary, I have tashi delek (Tibetan greeting), ema datshi (chilli & cheese), kewa datsi (potato and cheese), and shamu datsi (mushroom and cheese). Yes, the Bhutanese love cheese; Italians have some tough competition. I also need to find out what the Bhutanese have for dessert. During my four-day stay, all I got was watermelon and bananas. More than anything else, I'll be back in Bhutan for that elusive butterfly. Because, as Nathaniel Hawthorne puts it, 'Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.'

FACT FILE

Getting there

Paro International Airport is the sole airport that connects Bhutan to destinations such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bagdogra, Guwahati, Bodh Gaya, Dhaka, Kathmandu and Singapore.

Best time to visit

March-May (spring) & September-December (autumn).

Travel bookings

Government regulations need travellers to book through a Bhutanese tour operator or international partner.

Indian passport holders are eligible for visa on arrival.Russia announced on Saturday the expulsion of 23 British diplomats in a tit-for-tat move following London's response to a nerve agent attack against a Russian former double agent in England.



They are the latest sanctions by London and Moscow in spying affairs:

In September 1971 Britain expelled a record number of 105 Soviet diplomats and officials after Moscow refused to clarify the activities of 440 of its citizens in Britain.

Moscow, in turn, expelled 18 Britons.

In September 1985 Moscow and London engaged in a furious six-day exchange of spy expulsions, declaring a draw after 31 on each side had been sent packing. This followed the defection to Britain of the KGB's London station chief, Oleg Gordievsky.

In May 1989, 11 Soviet diplomats and journalists were thrown out for spying. Meanwhile, 11 Britons were sent home from Moscow in a tit-for-tat move.

In May 1996 Britain ordered the expulsion of four Russians working at the London embassy, in response to the kicking out of four British diplomats from Russia.

According to Moscow, the Britons were in contact with a Russian working for British intelligence.

In January 2006 Moscow said it had uncovered four British spies who enjoyed the diplomatic status and engaged in the alleged illegal funding of pro-democracy and human rights groups.

Russia's intelligence service accused British diplomats of involvement in a spy ring in which agents allegedly passed secrets through a high-tech communications system hidden in a fake rock in a Moscow park.

Russian President Vladimir Putin then cracked down on non-governmental organisations, forcing several of them to close down.

In January 2012 a former top aide to the then British prime minister Tony Blair admitted that Britain had a spy plot involving a fake rock.

July 2007: Britain expelled four Russian diplomats and hit Moscow with visa restrictions after Moscow refused to extradite Andrei Lugovoi, the main suspect in the murder of ex-Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko.

Litvinenko was poisoned in London in 2006 with the radioactive substance polonium-210, in the most notorious of a rash of suspicious deaths of high-profile Russian exiles in Britain.

Moscow responded with the expulsion of four British diplomats, suspended counter-terrorism cooperation with London and also stopped issuing visas to British officials.

In 2008 two branches of the British Council cultural organisation in St Petersburg and Yekaterinburg were then closed following pressure from Russian authorities for alleged tax irregularities.

In January 2016, after a British probe found that Moscow was responsible for the Litvinenko affair, the British government summoned Russia's ambassador and froze the assets of Lugovoi and a second suspect, Dmitry Kovtun.Self-styled godman Swamy Nithyananda has approached the Supreme Court, challenging a Madras High Court order that restrained him from acting as the pontiff of Madurai Adheenam Mutt and barred his entry into the oldest Saivite mutt, established about 2000 years ago, near Meenakshi Amman Temple in Madurai.



He challenged the interim order passed on October 11, last by the Madurai bench, contending that it has affected his fundamental right to worship and religion guaranteed under the Constitution.

Though he carried out as junior pontiff of the 'Adheenam', the High Court entertained a writ petition and passed interim orders, disregarding the fact that similar plea was rejected in 2012, his plea stated.

The special leave petition filed by advocate Sanjay M Nuli on behalf of Swamy is coming up for consideration before the top court on Monday.

40-year-old, Nithyananda, who established an ashram at Bengaluru, and various other places all over the world, including at Toronto and Los Angles, claimed he belonged to 'Thondaimandala Saiva Velalar community' which is one of the communities from which pontiffs were appointed to the Mutt.

On April 27, 2012, 'Sri-La-Sri Arunagirinatha Sri Gnansambanda Desika Parmacharya Swamigal', 292nd Madathipathi, has declared that the appointment of the petitioner as 293rd junior pontiff was permanent and irrevocable, he said.

"The HC ought to have appreciated that if a person is appointed as junior pontiff by performing ceremonies then he cannot be removed by any authority since the appointment/nomination is the prerogative of the head of the mutt and he can do so only to one person in his lifetime. Even the head of the mutt has no power or authority to remove the appointment," his petition stated.

Nithyananda further contended M Jagathalapradapan, who filed the writ petition against his nomination before the High Court, is one of those who were set up to tarnish his image.

"The HC ought to have appreciated that, after the morphed video was released, a series of cases were filed by a host of persons, who were neither devotees nor public interested people. They were instigated by vested interests, who wanted to extort money from him," he contended.NITI Aayog along with three states -- Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha -- will kick-start a system-wide transformation of school education, the government think tank said today.



"Three participating States of #SATH-E's programme -Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh & Odisha - with #NITI will kickstart a system-wide transformation of school education #TransformingIndia," NITI Aayog said in a tweet.

The government had yesterday said that NITI Aayog will release comprehensive roadmap and detailed timeline for its initiative Sustainable Action for Transforming Human Capital in Education (SATH-E)' project today.

This roadmap, which operates between 2018 to 2020, lay out detailed interventions which will be taken by the three participating states- Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha aiming to become 'Role Model States' in school education.

These roadmaps present the customised, action-oriented programmes, outlining interventions at the individual, district and State level.

"The SATH-E Roadmaps for Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh & Odisha released by NITI CEO @amitabhk87, Chief Secretary Jharkhand, Principal Secretaries of all three states & programme partners," the tweet said.

To increase learning outcomes in schools across the country, NITI Aayog's project SATH-E is promoting vocational education, skill development, teacher training and introducing technology in classrooms. Besides, the project will promote data-driven analysis to strengthen academic monitoring across schools in the country, the think tank said.

The project also aims at ensuring access, equity and quality in education, with a specialised focus on out-of-school children and dropouts, to enable a system-wide governance transformation in school education.The UIDAI on Saturday asked people to take "due precautions" while sharing their personal information such as Aadhaar on the internet for availing any service.



Playing down reports of Aadhaar pdf being allegedly available through Google search query of Mera Aadhaar, Meri Pehchan, UIDAI claimed that the issue had "nothing to do with the security of Aadhaar and its database".

"People share their personal information, including Aadhaar on the internet, to some or other service provider or vendor to get the services and when they put their details on the internet they should take due precautions as required in any digital activities," Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) said in a statement.

Asserting the robustness of the Aadhaar identity system, the nodal body, which issues the 12 digit biometric identifier, said that "publication or posting of Aadhaar cards by some unscrupulous people have absolutely no bearing on UIDAI and not the least on Aadhaar security".

"These (reports) are far from the reality and have got nothing to do with the security of Aadhaar and its database. As none of the Aadhaar cards shown are taken from UIDAI database," the statement said.

Emphasising that just like any other identity document, Aadhaar too is not a confidential document, UIDAI argued that mere knowledge about someone's Aadhaar card is not sufficient to impersonate that person as biometric authentication is needed to establish one's identity.

While Aadhaar has to be shared with others, being a personal information like mobile number, bank account number, PAN card, passport, family details, etc, Aadhaar too should be protected to ensure the privacy of a person, UIDAI said.

"If anybody unauthorisedly publishes someone's personal information such as Aadhaar card, mobile number, bank account, photograph, etc., he can be sued for civil damages by the person whose privacy right is infringed," UIDAI statement noted.

However, it said, such publication does not threaten or impact the security of Aadhaar and its database which remains "safe and secure".

The statement by UIDAI come in the backdrop of reports claiming that information about Aadhaar may be available from third-party websites and that a Google search may lead to Aadhaar details of several people.A special court on Saturday awarded life imprisonment to Jagtar Singh Tara in connection with the assassination of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh.



The court of Additional District and Session Judge J S Sidhu pronounced the sentence in the high-security Burail jail here where Tara is currently lodged, Tara's counsel Simranjit Singh said.

A fine of Rs 35,000 was also imposed on Tara by the court, he said.

The lawyer said his client would not challenge the order in the higher court.

He said the CBI counsel had pressed for capital punishment for Tara.

Tara (43) had been booked under various sections of IPC, including section 302 (murder), section 307 (attempt to murder) and section 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and other relevant sections of the Explosive Act.

He had confessed to his involvement in the assassination of Beant Singh in 1995, in a confession letter which he had submitted to the court in January this year.

On August 31, 1995, then chief minister Beant Singh was killed in an explosion outside the Civil Secretariat in Chandigarh. Sixteen others also lost their lives in the incident. Punjab police employee Dilawar Singh had acted as a human bomb in the incident.

Tara was arrested in September 1995 in Delhi. However, he and two other accused escaped from Burail jail during the trial of the case in 2004. He was later arrested from Thailand in 2015.

Meanwhile, tight security arrangements were made by Chandigarh police outside Burail jail in the wake of Tara's sentencing. Several supporters of Tara, including SAD (Amritsar) chief Simranjit Singh Mann, were present outside the jail.SAO LUIS, Brazil, March 16 (Xinhua) -- A consortium led by China Communications Construction Company on Friday laid the foundation stone for the construction of a port here that aims to boost regional development and strengthen economic ties between China and Brazil.

Li Jinzhang (left), China's ambassador to Brazil attends the ceremony.

The Port of Sao Luis project is being undertaken in collaboration with Brazilian companies WPR and Lyon Capital, and the Chinese company holds a 51 percent stake in it. Construction of the port will take four years and cost some 800 million reais (243.8 million U.S. dollars), while generating some 4,000 jobs.

Chinese Ambassador to Brazil Li Jinzhang said while attending the launching ceremony of the construction that the port is expected to drive regional development and attract more companies, including Chinese ones, to Brazil's northeast, an area already conducive to business.

The port will have an estimated annual handling capacity of 10 million tons of cargoes, of which 7 million will be grains -- especially soybean and corn. Some 1.5 million fertilizers and 1.5 million general cargoes will make up the rest.

In addition, the port is expected to be able to accommodate 1.8 million cubic meters of oil products.

Flavio Dino, governor of the Brazilian state of Maranhao -- of which Sao Luis is the capital city -- was also present at the ceremony. He wished the joint venture success.

The project is part of the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by China in 2013 to boost the development of infrastructure such as railways, roads, ports, pipelines and power grids. China has said the initiative is open to all nations wishing to join.

Highways and railways connecting the port with inland areas will also be built so that the transport of agricultural products produced in Maranhao to other states will be improved.

"Once the port is completed, it will integrate the logistics corridor of Brazil's northeast region ... solve some of the bottleneck issues Brazil faces in logistics," Chen Zhong, a representative of China Communications Construction Company, said at the ceremony.A special court here on Saturday awarded life imprisonment to Jagtar Singh Tara in connection with the assassination of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh.



The court of Additional District and Sessions Judge J S Sidhu pronounced the sentence in the high-security Burail jail here where Tara is currently lodged, Tara's counsel Simranjit Singh said.

A fine of Rs 35,000 was also imposed on Tara by the court, he said.

The lawyer said his client would not challenge the order in the higher court.

He said the CBI counsel had pressed for capital punishment for Tara.

Tara (43) had been booked under various sections of the IPC, including section 302 (murder), section 307 (attempt to murder) and section 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and other relevant sections of the Explosive Act.

He had confessed to his involvement in the assassination of Beant Singh in 1995, in a letter which he submitted to the court in January this year.

On August 31, 1995, then chief minister Beant Singh was killed in an explosion outside the civil secretariat in Chandigarh.

Sixteen others also lost their lives in the incident. Punjab police employee Dilawar Singh had acted as a human bomb in the incident.

Tara was arrested in September, 1995 in Delhi. However, he and two other accused escaped from Burail jail during the trial of the case in 2004.

He was later arrested from Thailand in 2015.

Meanwhile, tight security arrangements were made by the Chandigarh police outside Burail jail in the wake of Tara's sentencing. Several supporters of Tara, including SAD (Amritsar) chief Simranjit Singh Mann, were present outside the jail.Aurangabad in Maharashtra was in news last week when police allegedly lathi-charged protesters opposing the dumping of municipal garbage at a village on the city's outskirts.



On Saturday morning, however, the city witnessed another police operation: a team led by in-charge Police Commissioner Milind Bharambe collecting garbage from various locations.

As the city administration is grappling with the issue of garbage disposal for want of an alternative site, Bharambe and his team did a round of the city and collected waste.

Tension prevailed at Mitmita village on the outskirts of the city last week when villagers tried to stop municipal trucks from dumping garbage at a site in the area.

It was alleged that the police dealt with the protesters in a high-handed manner, which led to Police Commissioner Yashaswi Yadav being sent on compulsory leave.

The city has been facing a crisis ever since the villagers of Naregaon, where the municipal garbage was being dumped for the last three decades, said they would no longer allow it.

Bharambe, along with Divisional Commissioner Purushottam Bahpkar, District Magistrate Naval Kishor Ram, Mayor Nandkumar Ghodele and more than four hundred police personnel started collecting garbage from Bibi ka Makbara and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University area this morning.

"It was our contribution to finding a solution to the problem. We appeal to the citizens to segregate the waste. It must start from every house and every person should contribute," Bharambe said.

Bharambe decided to undertake the initiative after holding a meeting with police officials on Friday.

Inspector Rajashree Aade of Begumpura police station said, "Initially we hesitated thinking how can we collect garbage while in uniform? But when the commissioner himself started doing it, it inspired everybody."FinTech startup Lendingkart Technologies aims to be a profitable digital lending platform by the end of next fiscal year.



The company, which has raised over Rs 1,129 crore of funding from 2014 to till now, provides easy access to credit for SMEs. It has disbursed over 22,000 loans so far.

Lendingkart, which recently raised over Rs 565 crore of equity funding in its Series C round, led by Singapore's Fullerton Financial Holdings Pte Ltd, along with participation from existing investors, will use the money towards building loan book, and a portion of it will be used for strengthening its technology, analytics and infrastructure.

Harshvardhan Lunia, co-founder and CEO of Lendingkart Technologies said that they will continue to focus only on MSMEs. "In the MSME sector, we provide loans to micro enterprises and the average ticket size of loans is Rs 4 lakh to Rs 5 lakh. We will become profitable by FY19," Lunia said, adding that they are focusing on growing loan book.

A typical borrower is a small manufacturer or a kirana store owner or a small mobile store owner. The company's interest charges range between 16% and 24% and the maximum tenure of the loan is between 18 months and 24 months.

According to a study, 'Fintech India- The Changing Landscape of SME Lending', by MAPE, a leading Indian investment bank, even 5% of the unmet SME lending requirements in India could be a $15 billion opportunity by 2020. It says that in India, barely 10% of small organisations have access to formal credit.

Lendingkart will never deviate from its core lending business. "We would stick to our lending and try to look how to make life more easy through our lending products. We will be experimenting with size and length of the loan along with focus on increasing the number of borrowers who reach out to us. We would not be interested in going for consumer loan.," Lunia added.

With offices in three cities- Bengaluru, Ahmedabad and Mumbai, the company has provided loan to over 14,000 SMEs till now.An eleven-year-old girl, who was allegedly raped by six persons, today gave birth to a baby girl at the government hospital here.



While four of the accused were arrested earlier, remaining two were arrested today, police said.

Nanji Javiya (67) and Arvind Kubawat (60) were arrested in the case on March 13 on the basis of the complaint lodged by victim's mother at Bhaktinagar police station.

Their questioning revealed that a total of six persons had raped the girl on separate occasions, police said.

Vijanand Ahir, who is visually impaired, and a 17-year-old boy were arrested two days ago, while Vipul Chavda (40) and Govind Sakariya (61) were arrested today, police said.

The girl, who was eight months pregnant, gave birth to a baby girl.

"The victim's condition is stable. The newborn baby had some health problems and has been admitted to a government-run children's hospital," a police official said.Taiwan-based Century Development Corporation (CDC), which develops industrial parks, has finalised plans to develop industrial park in Bengaluru.



The company has acquired 70 acres land from Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) near Aerospace park at Devanahalli, where it will be accommodating 100 companies from Taiwan.

The CDC will be investing around Rs 740 crore to develop infrastructure, including electronic waste processing centre and common amenities, sources said.

A team of CDC officials, including President Jack Hu, Vice President Patrick Wu and two other directors held a series of meetings with higher officials of Karnataka government during their five-day visit to the state.

"CDC is set to start the work in October this year. A Taiwan government-led delegation with the representation of couple of ministers and industry veterans will visit Bengaluru in July," the sources said.

100 companies to enter

The Taiwanese infrastructure company will bring around 100 companies as part of their own ecosystem in the manufacturing space.

"The second phase of the project will take the land up to 200 acres and bring a total investment Rs 3,000 crore to Bengaluru," the sources said.

CDC is established by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (Taiwan) and private companies including the TECO Group, the Shinkong Group, the Taishin Group, BES, RSEA, the Fubon Group, and Ascendas (Singapore).

Besides its Nangang Software Park project in Taipei City, the company is known for the Subic Bay Gateway Park in Subic Bay, Philippines. CDC was founded in 1993 and based in Taipei.Thrice a week, five young girls take a back-breaking one and half hours of journey from Imphal to Loktak, Northeast India's biggest freshwater lake, located 54 km from Manipur's capital.



They run a floating laboratory on the nearly 300 sq km lake - twice the size of the city of Mysore - which has begun to throw up its first signs of degradation.

In some parts of the lake, the water turns acidic and in other parts, an increased volume of floating biomass islets begin to choke the gigantic water body.

Unless these problems are not nipped in the bud, the degeneration could spell an ecological disaster not only for the Northeast but for the famed Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot as well.

"The lake has not gone to the ICU so far, but it is somewhere near," Dinabandhu Sahoo, director of the Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development, who leads the research effort on Loktak told DH sitting inside the floating laboratory on the lake.

The institute last month launched a unique experimental station - a motorboat that was converted into a data collection centre- to keep an eye on the lake's health.

IBSD researchers Sabeela Beevi, Kikku Kunui, Yambamree Nata, Rijeeba Haoba and Rajkumari Supriya collect data at 15 specific points.

Those spots were surveyed in 2001 and a fresh data set will illustrate the deterioration of the lake in the last two decades.

"Some of the parameters like temperature, electrical conductivity, dissolved oxygen and turbidity are analysed on the spot. For others like BOD (biological oxygen demand), COD (chemical oxygen demand), Fluoride, Phosphate and Nitrogen we take the samples to the IBSD," said Kikku, an IBSD senior research fellow.

The laboratory will function for at least one year to complete the data collection, on the basis of which an intervention can be designed.

Loktak is a unique ecosystem because of hundreds of floating islands of biomass - locally called phumdi - that dots the picturesque lake.

With eutrophication, the biomass is growing rapidly beyond the carrying capacity of the lake and shrinking the water body.

"It happens because untreated sewage from Imphal and surrounding areas is discharged directly. The huge inflow of nitrogen and phosphorus triggers a dense growth of plants (eutrophication) as the water becomes rich with nutrients favourable for plant growth," said Sahoo.

Excess nitrogen in the water adversely affects the indigenous fish species on which the livelihood of locals depends, whereas acidification harms numerous shellfish, mollusc and prawns. But in the absence of monitoring, the discharge continues.

With the floating laboratory in operation, IBSD now plans to set up a permanent station on one of the biomass islands (phumdi) with a data buoy that can automatically collect the data and transmit it throughout the year.Actor Kangana Ranaut today said that she is a nationalist and felt that her own progress as an individual is linked to the country's growth.



The "Simran" actor said she does not believe in religion and has come to the conclusion that her only identity is that she is an Indian.

"As a youth, I want to see growth in my life. I have come to this conclusion that if India does not grow then I won't grow. I am an Indian and born an Indian. I have no other identity," Kangana said.

Kangana was speaking at a session at the News18 Rising India Summit.

"I said in some interview that I am a nationalist. People said 'oh you are that type of a person'. I was like 'what do you mean by that kind?' I personally feel that there is a confusion between these words.

"Before all of this, I hadn't even heard of the term nationalism. The good thing is that at least the word has got out. That there is a word like nationalism. You can have a choice whether you want to believe in it or not," Kangana said.

The actor confessed that she is a "fan" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that woman in the country need to have right role models.

"I am a big Modi fan because of his success story. As a young woman, I do believe that we need to have right role models. I mean the graph and the ambition of an ordinary man and whenever we have a PM who is a chaiwala, then I always say that it is not his victory but it is the victory of our democracy. I feel he is the right role model," he said.

Kangana also weighed on about the controversy surrounding the Pakistani artists working in India and said the artistic world is different from physical world.

"Artistic realm is different from the physical realm. When you are talking about physical boundaries and you are talking about borders, why be esoteric. You should know about a place where people are losing lives.

"At the time of ban on Pakistani artists, the country is vulnerable where people are struggling and trying to cope with emotions. The common sentiment is 'Humko kya Lena dena, hum artist hai'. This is not going to work. Above everything, you are Indians as well, and when you are talking about boundaries, you can't go into the esoteric world and say 'I am an artist'," Kangana said.

She also wondered why people have a problem with standing up for the national anthem and cited the example of Americans.

"The Americans stand for their national anthem. Why do feel ashamed of standing? If you want to learn something from Americans, then learn good things from them," she said.

Asked if a person does not agree with her opinion, Kangana said, "I don't mind. But I am going to stand for my national anthem.Whenever there is something for my country, then I am going to side with my country, my soldiers, my army and I am a cool youngster if 21st century."

She was also critical of the people who whine about lack of infrastructure and cleanliness in the country and said they should take an initiative to clean the country.

"I meet people and it has become a cool thing to say bad things about your country...I hear the youths always complaining and whining that 'the country does not have the infrastructure and it is so dirty'... This attitude is not okay. If the country is dirty, then are you the guests? Why don't you clean it."A resident of Malleswaram constituency, Kalasegowda, finds a leisurely evening stroll along the streets is as tricky as circling around booby-traps.



Disheartened by the footpaths teamed with street vendors, Kalasegowda, in his late 60s, discontinued his strolls nearly two years ago.

"Street vendors occupy the footpath from Vinayaka Circle to Rajesh Hotel. So, senior citizens have to give up their evening walks," he told the 'Janaspandana-Citizens for Change' programme organised by Deccan Herald and Prajavani at Krishnadevaraya Kalamandira in Malleswaram on Saturday.

Indeed, many senior citizens residing in the neighbourhood spoke about vanishing walking space. A resident of East Park Road, B Ravi said high traffic density makes it impossible for walkers to use the edge of the road.

Malleswaram may have finished with its street vendor survey, but it is still to find a 'street vendor's zone' - a common selling area - to put up their shops.

"This is a very tricky issue, especially since it involves the livelihood of street vendors," J Narayan, executive engineer, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, said. "The street vendors have one of the biggest associations, but we need to be fair to them, too."

Narayan also said the Palike has been holding footpath clearance drives each month.

No streetlights

Prof N Ramachandra Swamy, another resident of the area, pointed to the lack of streetlights at the 8th main road. "Women and senior citizens find it harder to walk in this stretch," he said.

Malleswaram area corporator N Jayapala responded to the concern, saying the civic body would soon fix LED lights along the stretch.

The proof of rampant commercialisation is the way pubs and bars encroach the predominantly residential neighbourhood and shatter the peace and quiet.

Deafening music

Citizens complained about the deafening music emanating from these pubs and how they continue late into the night. "There's this particular bar in a street that has a DJ show pumping out earsplitting noise. Children can't study. It's so bad that the glass showcase panel in my neighbour's house literally hums with the loud music," said Giri, a resident of Subramanya Nagar.

Area corporator H Manjunath responded by saying health officers who issue licences for the pubs and bars are conducting inspections and shutting them down. "The issue of commercialisation in residential areas has become rampant in the city," he agreed.

Another resident P G Ramachandran pointed out that the Palike is issuing trade licences to small industries like the printing press. "This turns out to be a big nuisance for nearby houses," he said.

Monkey menace

The area is also grappling with the growing stray menace. "A lot of monkeys enter our school premises," said Chithra V Rao, managing director of Hymamshu Jyothi Kala Peetha School in Malleswaram West.

"We have 2,000 children studying in the school. The monkeys attack the children and snatch away their lunch boxes. We've made several complaints to the BBMP, but our children live in fear. How can I protect them?" she asked.

BBMP veterinary officer Suresh said the civic body is helpless about the monkey menace since it concerns wild animals. "Only the forest department officials can address this issue," he said. Some residents also described their ordeals with the street dogs.

Garbage, bad roads

Many citizens were dismayed about garbage dumping and failure of the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) to re-lay the road after the Unaccounted For Water (UFW) project.

"A foot overbridge near MES Kishore Kendra is in a pathetic condition and it is difficult to pass through," said Sridhar, a resident of ward number 66.

Malleswaram MLA C N Ashwath said UFW is an important project to make all the unaccounted water supply accountable. "However, the roads will be restored soon," he assured.

L S Prasad, a resident, revealed his distress over the malfunctioning BBMP grievance redressal app. "I've given several complaints with pictures, but the issues (with the app) haven't been resolved," he said.

A few citizens left the programme disappointed as they did not get a chance to air their views after the MLA spoke.Egyptian expatriates began voting in the 2018 Egyptian presidential elections on Friday morning in embassies in 118 countries around the world.

All Egyptians living abroad will be able to cast their votes in this year's presidential elections  16, 17, 18 March  regardless of their legal status in host countries.

Deputy Foreign Minister Hamdy Loza has called on Egyptian expatriates to turn out and vote in the presidential elections, in which President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi is running for a second term against Ghad Party chief Moussa Mostafa Moussa.

Expatriate voting in Egypt's presidential elections is being held in 124 countries around the world, with 139 election committees in embassies and consulates, between 16 and 18 March.

Supervising the voting process are 786 members of the Egyptian missions.

Loza highlighted the successful coordination between the Egyptian embassies, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Electoral Authority in Cairo on organizing the voting process.

Expatriates will need a national ID card or valid computerized passport to be eligible to vote.

Polling stations are open from 9am to 9pm on each of the three election days.

Votes will be collated inside embassies and diplomatic missions and the results sent to the National Electoral Authority.

NEA says process smooth

Egypt's National Elections Authority (NEA) said in a press conference on Friday afternoon that thousands of Egyptians have started voting in embassies and consulates in 118 countries around the world at 9am local time to choose the country's next president.

The vote will start in the remaining 6 countries at 9am local time.

In the Arab Gulf countries of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait and Qatar, where large numbers of Egyptians work and live, voters used tablets to cast their ballots, the NEA spokesperson Mahmoud El-Sharif told reporters.

"According to Egyptian law, all Egyptians abroad, regardless of residence status and regardless of type of visa, have the right to vote in the elections," El-Sharif stressed.

The NEA said Egyptian diplomats in Qatar have coordinated with Qatari officials to ensure a smooth voting operation for Egyptians who work in the Gulf country.

"We are monitoring the elections in 16 countries via audio and video conference," El-Sharif added.

"There was heavy voter turnout in countries such as Saudi Arabia, but this is still the first day in the polls, which will last till the 18th."

Saudi Arabia

In Saudi Arabia, where the more Egyptian expatriates reside than anywhere else, a large number of citizens cast their ballots in the Egyptian consulates in Riyadh and Jeddah, lifting banners of "Long Live Egypt."

Nasser Hamdi, Egypt's Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, affirmed a very high turnout in the voting process since the polling stations opened their doors at 9am.

Hamdi said during a phone call with ONTV channel's morning program that lines of voters extending for one kilometre could be seen since 8am.

"People came in groups and from very long distances to cast their votes for the sake of Egypt," the ambassador said, noting that a large number of women were among the voters.

About 3 million Egyptians reside and work in Saudi Arabia, according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS), Egypt's official statistics agency.

Kuwait

In Kuwait, where nearly 600,000 Egyptian reside, thousands of citizens headed to the Egyptian embassy in Kuwait City, casting their votes while singing the famous Egyptian Special Army Forces anthem What Did They Say while waiving the Egyptian flags.

Lines extending for three kilometres were seen in front of Kuwait's polling station.

The Egyptian Ambassador to Kuwait Tarek El-Kouny saluted voters, praising their patriotism and civil behaviour.

Iraq

Egyptian expats have been voting at the Egyptian embassy in Baghdad amid a festive atmosphere, Egyptian ambassador to Iraq Alaa Mousa said in a statement, state news agency MENA reported.

Private Egyptian TV channel CBC Extra news reported on Friday that Egyptians in Iraq were keen on participating in the poll, travelling to Baghdad from several cities despite the unrest in the country.

There were around 22,000 Egyptians in Iraq in late 2016, according state statistics agency CAPMAS.

Lebanon

The deputy head of the Egyptian Community in Lebanon Tawfik Helmy said that there has been a high turnout by Egyptian expats in Lebanon at the Egyptian embassy in Beirut.

In late 2016, Egyptian expats in Lebanon were estimated at 40,000.

Jordan

In Jordan, where 1.5 million Egyptians reside, polling stations in Amman received crowds of voters early on Friday to express their will, carrying Egyptian flags and singing patriotic Egyptian songs.

Egypt's ambassador in Jordan, Tarek Adel, said in a press statement that all technical, logistical and organizational preparations are facilitated to Egyptians in Jordan to cast their votes on Friday and over the upcoming days.

The UAE

In large numbers as well, Egyptian citizens living in the United Arab Emirates headed on Friday morning to the Egyptian Consulate in Dubai to vote in the presidential elections.

The embassy and consulate opened at 9 am UAE time, and voting is scheduled to continue until 9 PM on each of the three days of voting.

Egyptians in the Emirates comprise 12 percent of Egyptians living in Arab countries, numbering 765,000.

Voting in Abu Dhabi and Dubai has been extended due to the high voter turnout, according to the Egyptian ambassador.

Qatar

Meanwhile in Doha, the Head of Egypt's Diplomatic Mission in Qatar, Ahmed Ezzat, said in special statements to Ahram Online that Egyptian citizens turned out in unprecedentedly large numbers to cast their votes since polling stations opened their doors on Friday early morning.

"A large number of citizens came along with their children to express their will," Ezzat added, praising voters' civil behavior and keenness on practicing their democratic right.

Around 300,000 Egyptians reside and work in Qatar, according to statistics compiled by the Egyptian Ministry of Immigration and Expatriate Affairs 2017.Back home in Egypt, the voting will be held between 26 and 28 March.

No voting in Yemen and Libya

Estimated in the hundreds of thousands, Egyptian citizens in Yemen and Libya were not able to cast their votes due to the deteriorated security situations in those countries.

Europe

In Britain, despite the fact that Friday is a working day, private satellite TV channel Al-Ghad reported the presence of dozens of Egyptian expats voting at the embassy in London.

Some 26,500 Egyptian expats live in the UK, according to a 2016 CAPMAS report.

In the Netherlands, the Egyptian ambassador in Amsterdam said that the embassy has been receiving large numbers of voters since morning.

Some 45,000 Egyptians were registered as living in the Netherlands in late 2016.

The Egyptian embassies in Rome, Berlin and Paris were the first Egyptian missions in Europe to open for the polls.

Japan

Egyptian ambassador to Tokyo Ayman Kamel said that Egyptians are participating in the vote despite bad weather, MENA added.

Around 1,840 Egyptians live in Japan.

New Zealand

The Egyptian embassy in New Zealand was the first to open its doors to voters on Friday morning (Thursday 9 PM Cairo local time).

The US and Canada

On Friday afternoon, Egyptian embassies in Washington and Ottawa opened their doors for Egyptian expats to cast their ballots on the first of three days of voting in the 2018 presidential elections.

Egyptian expatriates in the US are estimated at 981,000, while in Canada there are some 600,000 Egyptians.

Run offs

For expatriates, run-off voting, if necessary, is scheduled between 19 and 21 April, and in Egypt between 24 and 26 April. If no run-off is necessary the winner will be announced on 2 April.

In the 2014 presidential election 317,109 Egyptians abroad voted, with more than 90 per cent casting ballots for Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi against his sole contender, leftist figure Hamdeen Sabahi.

CAPMAS announced in 2017 that 9.5 million Egyptians live outside the country.

Around 6.2 million live in Arab countries, while 1.6 million are located in North and South America. 1.2 million are in Europe and 340,000 reside in Australia.

Short link:

Electric Vehicle Use Only sign Jan Wagner

If you are seriously considering the imminent purchase of a fully electric car as your next primary vehicle and you often drive long distances, consider this: for anything other than limited urban use, affordable, fully electric cars are still not as practical as vehicles that can at least be partially fueled by gasoline.

Here in Southern California, people tend to do a lot of freeway driving. I certainly do, and I almost always seem to be in a hurry to get where I am going. Even stopping briefly for gas is an inconvenience. Recharging an EV would be much more so. This was one of the reasons why I recently cancelled my pre-order for a Tesla Model 3  for which I paid a $1,000 (refundable) deposit long ago  likely just before Tesla was about to notify me that my position on the long waiting list was near the top.

EVs may be parked in special, restricted parking spaces. Jan Wagner

I also had another reason for cancelling. I felt that the Tesla's relatively small trunk opening would have made it less convenient for loading and hauling stuff around than is the utility and convenience of the hatchback on my 2012 Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid.

Owning and driving my Prius plug-in hybrid for all these years  with only about 8-miles of actual all-electric driving range (limited to a maximum of 62 mph)  has given me much first-hand experience living with some of the realities of trying to recharge a car while not at home. After the relatively easy initial availability of free-to-use chargers began to dry up (thus reducing access to free electric fuel as an alternative to costly gasoline) and the novelty of plugging in a car wore off, I grew weary of trying to find conveniently located public chargers that are not in use. As more and more EVs are sold, this is becoming more and more of a problem. Added to that, it takes way longer to recharge an EV  especially one with a big battery (which is a pre-requisite for lots of driving range) than it does to refuel a car with gasoline, and not all chargers charge at anywhere near the same rate of speed.

4-hour parking sign Jan Wagner

Unless you know in advance that you can conveniently recharge at your destination, you also need to account for driving around once you get there plus leave enough charge for your return trip. Also, be aware that driving range can decrease dramatically in extremely cold temperatures, with additional losses over time as batteries age.

The main benefit that I have received from driving my plug-in Prius has been the availability and use of its carpool lane stickers, which have allowed me to drive as a single occupant in the carpool lanes. That was a great benefit when other cars having those stickers were a rarity. These days the carpool lanes are so heavily utilized that driving in the regular traffic lanes is often quicker.

In his excellent recent article in Motor Trend (www.MotorTrend.com), titled "2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV Long-Term Update 6: The Realities of Public Charging" (March 10, 2018), Scott Evans discusses EV charging based on his real-world experience. He discusses the various types of chargers, their availability to the public, and the fact that some types charge much more quickly than others  although none of them charge nearly as quickly as refilling a gas tank. Scott also confirmed what I had already begun to suspect  that as more and more Tesla EVs are sold, waits for an available Supercharger are becoming more common (no doubt worse at the most heavily driven times of day).

According to Auto Alliance (www.AutoAlliance.org) in their publication Cars Move America  State of the Auto Industry, while sales of battery electric and plug-in electric vehicles represent a small proportion of total sales, they are growing. All-electric driving ranges are increasing. Just make sure that the vehicle you choose is likely to meet your driving range needs.

Car plugged in and recharging Jan Wagner

In his excellent recent article in Motor Trend (www.MotorTrend.com), titled "2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV Long-Term Update 6: The Realities of Public Charging" (March 10, 2018), Scott Evans discusses EV charging based on his real-world experience. He discusses the various types of chargers, their availability to the public, and the fact that some types charge much more quickly than others  although none of them charge nearly as quickly as refilling a gas tank. Scott also confirmed what I had already begun to suspect  that as more and more Tesla EVs are sold, waits for an available Supercharger are becoming more common (no doubt worse at the most heavily driven times of day).

According to Auto Alliance (www.AutoAlliance.org) in their publication Cars Move America  State of the Auto Industry, while sales of battery electric and plug-in electric vehicles represent a small proportion of total sales, they are growing. All-electric driving ranges are increasing. Just make sure that the vehicle you choose is likely to meet your driving range needs.

A typical public charger Jan Wagner

My informed conclusion now, about what to purchase for my next daily driver, is to look for a plug-in hybrid that meets my various needs, including an easily accessed, large cargo area so that I can haul lots of stuff; with enough all-electric range after a full charge overnight at home to be sufficient for all or most of my likely driving around where I live (San Diego).

Send your comments and suggestions to AutoMatters@gmail.com. To see many more photos go to www.drivetribe.com, search for AutoMatters & More and click on TRIBES.By Will Porter and Kyle Anzalone

7 March 2018

(Consortium News)  In Afghanistan, the worlds most powerful military is threatened by a small, pink flower.Despite an escalation of the Afghan conflict under the Trump administration, a record opium crop, coupled with steady Taliban gains, foretell bitter fighting in the coming months for American forces and the Afghans stationed alongside them.Record-high opium production is but one indication of how badly U.S. efforts have failed and are continuing to fail, said Andrew Bacevich, professor of history and international relations at Boston University and author of Americas War for the Greater Middle East. It is both a major source of Taliban funding and an indication of how little control the Afghan government is able to exert.In November, the UN Office of Drugs and Crime released its annual Afghanistan Opium Survey. According to the report, 2017s opium crop, estimated at 9,000 tons, marks an 87 percent increase from the previous year.The record crop has left the Taliban flush with cash it will use to finance military operations, the wages of fighters, as well as arms purchases.As the area under cultivation in Taliban territory grows, we can conclude that more funds flow to the Taliban, said Gretchen Peters, former ABC News foreign correspondent and an expert on the Afghan opium trade.While many have enjoyed the plants small dark seeds on their bagels, at maturity poppies produce seed pods which contain opium, a sticky sap that is drained from the pods and dried. Opiums alkaloids can be extracted and altered to produce a wide range of opioid narcotics, including morphine and heroin.Over the last decade Afghanistan has been the worlds top producer and exporter of raw opium and heroin, in some years supplying much of the entire global heroin market. []The lions share of last years record opium crop was cultivated in the Helmand and Kandahar provinces in southern Afghanistan, near the Afghan-Pakistan border. This virtually ungoverned tribal territory has furnished the Taliban with a place of refuge since the American invasion in 2001, and serves as a base of operations for the Talibans activities.[The Taliban] receive much of their funding from the narcotics trafficking that occurs out of Helmand, U.S. Army Gen. John Nicholson, commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said in a press briefing last year. Helmand produces a significant amount of the opium globally that turns into heroin and  this provides about 60 percent of the Taliban funding.From its southern stronghold near the Af-Pak border, the Taliban has managed to launch attacks and capture or contest nearly 45 percent of Afghanistan, painting a dismal picture for American military objectives in the country.This years unprecedented poppy harvest only serves to darken that image, particularly for the upcoming Spring Offensive. [more]By Michael Biesecker, Jake Pearson, and Jeff Horwitz

16 March 2018

WASHINGTON (Associated Press)  A new U.S. advisory board created to help rewrite federal rules for importing the heads and hides of African elephants, lions and rhinos is stacked with trophy hunters, including some members with direct ties to President Donald Trump and his family.A review by The Associated Press of the backgrounds and social media posts of the 16 board members appointed by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke indicates they will agree with his position that the best way to protect critically threatened or endangered species is by encouraging wealthy Americans to shoot some of them.One appointee co-owns a private New York hunting preserve with Trumps adult sons. The oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., drew the ire of animal rights activists after a 2011 photo emerged of him holding a bloody knife and the severed tail of an elephant he killed in Zimbabwe.The first meeting of the International Wildlife Conservation Council was Friday. Access to the meeting inside the headquarters building for the Interior Department in Washington was tightly controlled, and an AP reporter was herded into a roped-off area at the back of the room. The room was lined with murals of Native American hunting scenes, including men mounted on horseback shooting bison with bows and arrows. As the meeting started, officials announced that Zinke was unable to attend the inaugural session of the council.Trump has decried big-game hunting as a horror show in tweets. But under Zinke, a former Montana congressman who is an avid hunter, the Fish and Wildlife Service has quietly moved to reverse Obama-era restrictions on bringing trophies from African lions and elephants into the United States.A licensed two-week African hunting safari can cost more than $50,000 per person, not including airfare, according to advertised rates. Advocates say money helps support habitat conservation and anti-poaching efforts in some of the worlds poorest nations, and provides employment for local guides and porters.In a statement last year, Zinke said, This council will provide important insight into the ways that American sportsmen and women benefit international conservation from boosting economies and creating hundreds of jobs to enhancing wildlife conservation.But environmentalists and animal welfare advocates say tourists taking photos generate more economic benefit, and hunters typically target the biggest and strongest animals, weakening already vulnerable populations.Theres little indication dissenting perspectives will be represented on the Trump administrations conservation council. Appointees include celebrity hunting guides, representatives from rifle and bow manufacturers, and wealthy sportspeople who boast of bagging the coveted Big Five  elephant, rhino, lion, leopard, and Cape buffalo.Most are high-profile members of Safari Club International and the National Rifle Association, groups that have sued the Fish and Wildlife Service to expand the list of countries from which trophy kills can be legally imported. []In a letter this week, a coalition of more than 20 environmental and animal welfare groups objected that the one-sided makeup of the council could violate the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which requires government boards to be balanced in terms of points of view and not improperly influenced by special interests. [more]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Romanian court tells 63-yr-old man he's dead; no appeal

In a situation that would appear straight out of a Kafka novel, a Romanian court has ruled that a 63-year-old man is dead despite what should to be clinching evidence to the contrary: the man himself appearing alive and well in court.

The court rejected Constantin Relius claim that he is alive, after he was officially registered as dead. The court rejected Constantin Relius claim that he is alive, after he was officially registered as dead.

Constantin Reliu asked the court in the town of Barlad to overturn a death certificate obtained by his wife after he had spent more than a decade in Turkey, during which time he was out of contact with his family. The court told him he was too late, and would have to remain officially deceased. The ruling is final.

I am officially dead, although Im alive, a bemused Reliu told local media outlets. I have no income and because I am listed dead, I cant do anything.

Reliu left Romania for Turkey in 1992, apparently to seek employment. He last returned to the country in 1999, but appears to have cut off all contact with his family. After years of silence from her estranged husband, Relius wife obtained a backdated death certificate for him in 2016.

Turkish authorities located Reliu this year with expired papers and deported him. When he arrived in Romania, he discovered that he had been declared dead.

The Romanian daily Adevarul said Relius wife had argued in court that having heard nothing from her husband since 1999, she had assumed he had died in an earthquake while in Turkey. The paper said Reliu believes she sought the death certificate in order to annul the marriage and allow her to remarry.

He may never have found out about his death in his homeland had he not been apprehended by Turkish authorities earlier this year and deported. Reliu had planned to renew his passport in Romania and return to Turkey, but on arrival, he was detained by immigration officers who informed him he had died in 2003.

Reliu said he wants to return to Turkey and has set up a small company there, but is now faced with a confusing legal battle to regain his identity and obtain a passport.

He was quoted as saying, I am officially dead, though Im alive, I have no income and because I am listed dead, I cant do anything.

A spokeswoman for the court explained to local news outlets that Reliu had been too late with his appeal against the death certificate and had thus lost the case. The ruling is apparently final and cannot be appealed against, leaving Reliu in legal limbo.New York doctors charged in cash for prescription scheme

Five New York doctors were charged yesterday in a bribery and kickback scheme that prosecutors said sought to increase drug company Insys Therapeutics sales and preyed on unwitting patients.

The doctors pocketed, in some cases over $100,000 annually, in return for prescribing millions of dollars worth of the companys painkiller, according to the indictment. The illicit payments were routed by the company through a bogus speakers bureau, in which the doctors were paid for purportedly giving educational presentations. In many cases the meetings were mere social gatherings at high-end Manhattan restaurants.

The gatherings had little do with any educational presentation, and attendance sign-in sheets were often forged to include the names of health care practitioners who were not actually present, according to the authorities.

According to prosecutors, the lucrative scam enjoyed by the five Upper East Side doctors included six-figure kickbacks and even cocaine, booze, strippers and weed.

The details were spelled out yesterday in a federal indictment for over-prescription of a highly-addictive fentanyl spray by the five doctors.

Drs Gordon Freedman and Todd Schlifstein were also treated to a strip club extravaganza, in October 2013 where a senior pharmaceutical executive spent $4,100 on liquor and lap dances, officials charged.

Dr Freedman, 57, allegedly collected over $300,000 in fake fees from pharmaceutical company Insys .

According to authorities in the last three months of 2014 alone, the Mount Kisco resident wrote $1.1 million of prescriptions for the spray.

These prominent doctors swore a solemn oath to place their patients care above all else, said Manhattan US attorney Geoffrey Berman.

Instead, they engaged in a malignant scheme to prescribe fentanyl ... in exchange for bribes in the form of speakers fees.

All five defendants pleaded not guilty in federal court last afternoon and were released on $200,000 bond.Japan Tobacco to buy Russia's Donskoy Tabak for about $1.6 bn

Japan Tobacco, the worlds third-biggest cigarette maker, yesterday struck a deal to buy Russias Donskoy Tabak for about 90 billion rubles ($1.56 billion) in a bid to strengthen its leading position in the worlds third-largest cigarette market.

Donskoy Tabak, owned by Ivan Savvides, a Russian-Greek businessman based in Greece, is Russias fourth-largest cigarette maker. Donskoy Tabak, owned by Ivan Savvides, a Russian-Greek businessman based in Greece, is Russias fourth-largest cigarette maker.

The sale includes SEKAP, a lossmaking Greek cigarette maker acquired by Savvides in 2013.

This transaction will increase our market share to approximately 40 per cent and contribute to the groups profit immediately with synergies expected in the following years, said Mutso Iwai, head of JTs global tobacco business.

The deal is expected to close by the beginning of the third quarter of fiscal year 2018 pending regulatory clearance.

Throughout 2017 we have restored our market share in Russia, driven by the success of our Global Flagship Brands, Winston and LD. With DTs value brands complementing our existing product portfolio and its strong salesforce expanding our distribution network, we will strengthen our overall competitiveness in the country, said Eddy Pirard, JTIs president and CEO.

Founded in 1897, Donskoy Tabak is the fourth largest tobacco company in Russia with a market share of around 7 per cent.

It has over 120 tobacco product brands and has brands and exports 6.05 billion cigarettes to 31 countries.

It had 2017 net sales of $278 million, operating profit of $61 million, and net income of $33 million

Tokyo-based JT controls about one-third of the cigarette business in Russia, but is facing strong headwinds in the domestic and global markets that have dented its sales and profitability.

The company had earlier said that it expects domestic cigarette sales volume to fall almost 17 per cent in 2018.

Last year, it spent around $2 billion on acquisitions in emerging markets in countries like the Philippines, Indonesia and Ethiopia.

JT has operations in more than 120 countries and employs nearly 60,000 people.

It manufactures and sells some of the worlds best-known brands including Winston, Camel, MEVIUS, LD and Natural American Spirit.

The company currently markets Ploom TECH, a tobacco vapor product, and various e-cigarette products under the Logic brand.

The group is also present in the pharmaceutical and processed food businesses.Egyptian expatriates are rushing worldwide to cast their ballots in the second day of voting in the 2018 Egyptian presidential elections Saturday, one day before the end of the electoral process abroad, being held in 124 countries.

In an official statement Saturday, Egypts Ministry of Immigration and Egyptian Expatriates Affairs said its operation room continues to monitor procedures, supervised by 786 members of embassies and consulates worldwide.

President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and Moussa Mostafa Moussa, the head of the Ghad Party, are the only two candidates on the ballot.

The ministry said that Friday witnessed a high turnout worldwide, with the ministry also receiving a large number of queries related to the process.

The ministry added that among the inquiries were suggestions by Egyptian expats to provide help to ease and organise the electoral procedures in the countries they were residing in.

According to the ministry, heavy turnout was foreseen in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, US, and parts of Europe.

A record turnout of Egyptian expatriate women was also witnessed worldwide, with the ministry adding that women were leading lines to vote in front of embassies, showing a civilised semblance for the Egyptian elections.

Since the beginning of elections abroad on Friday, several videos have emerged from embassies worldwide showing Egyptian men and women celebrating while voting, blasting patriotic songs and wearing clothes resembling the Egyptian flag's red, white and black colours.

Expatriates will need a national ID card or valid computerised passport to be eligible to vote.

Polling stations are open from 9am to 9pm on each of the three election days.

Votes will be collated inside embassies and diplomatic missions and the results sent to the National Elections Authority, which has described the first day as smooth.

There are no official figures on the number of Egyptians abroad who are eligible to vote; however, the total number of eligible voters in the main national voter database is 59 million eligible voters, according to National Elections Authority statistics.

The vote will take place domestically from 26 to 28 March.

Short link:

Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi inspected on Saturday national projects in Eastern Port Said and extended for three months the deadline for the completion of several projects in the area in light of the armys anti-terrorism Operation Sinai 2018.

El-Sisi is inspecting projects including the constructions of a major industrial zone, a sea port and several fish farms, according to Egyptian presidency spokesman Bassam Rady.

The Egyptian president agreed to prolong the deadline for the completion of the projects after listening to a presentation by the armys engineering authority head Kamel El-Wazeer.

El-Sisi said that the projects had been stalled due to a lack of funds, adding that the estimated cost of the projects exceeds EGP 60 billion.

The new Suez Canal project, inaugurated in August 2015, collected EGP 64 billion in 2014 by selling non-tradable certificates with a maturity of five years at 12 percent interest to Egyptian nationals.

El-Sisi said that the funds collected from the certificates were not all spent on digging the new canal, but also on digging more tunnels and setting up new projects, adding that the states capability to carry out projects depends on the availability of funding.

Presidency spokesman Rady said in press statements during the presidents visit that the projects are part of the Suez Canal Area Development Zone project, which covers around 460 square kilometres.

The Suez Canal Area Development is an integrated project that makes use of natural resources in Sinai, deriving maximum benefit from the Suez Canal area as an international logistics centre, not just as a waterway, Rady said.

Saturdays visit comes as part of a nearly weekly routine by the president to visit works completed during his four-year tenure ahead of the upcoming presidential elections, which are set for 26-28 March.

Short link:

Egypt will not abandon justice for an Egyptian student who died Wednesday of injuries sustained in an attack by a group of girls outside a shopping mall in the UK last month, Immigration and Expatriates Minister Nabila Makram said in a statement on Saturday.

Makram said she is following the investigation into the death of Mariam Moustafa, an 18-year-old Egyptian Central College student who was attacked by a group of girls on 20 February outside Nottingham's Intu Victoria Shopping Centre.

'The minister stressed she is following the case closely with Egypts envoy in the UK Nasser Kamal, and has mandated her deputy for Egyptian communities abroad Samir Taha with following up on the incident with the Egyptian Embassy in London.

According to Makram, Taha is currently in London to follow up on the investigation.

The statement added that the Egyptian minister has contacted Mariams father to pursue legal action against the hospital where Mariam had been admitted if medical negligence took place.

Makram called for Mariams killers to be held accountable for their heinous crime, asserting that the country will not abandon justice for the teenager.

The minister said Mariams family has asked that the girls body be sent home, adding that the Egyptian embassy has finalised all procedures related to their request, but is waiting for a British judicial decision to release the body following the completion of investigations.

Makram's statements come one day after footage surfaced online showing the moments before the attack, where one of the alleged attackers can be heard saying "she needs to be beaten up."

I want justice for my daughter, not just for my daughter, but also so this does not happen to another girl or another boy. My daughter was like an angel, Mariams father, Mohamed Moustafa told the British Daily Mail newspaper.

Mariam's 16-year-old sister Malak has said that her sister was attacked by the same group last August because she was staring at them.

Nottinghamshire Police said they were keeping an open mind on whether the attack may have been due to a case of mistaken identity.

Mariam's death has sparked anger at home, with Egyptian MPs denouncing investigations by the British police and alleging medical negligence that led to her death.

On Friday, the British Embassy in Cairo expressed sadness and shock over the incident, adding that Nottingham Police were committed to bringing those responsible to justice through a meticulous enquiry.

Short link:

Why a catsup museum?

If you didnt know yet, Banana Ketchup is originally made in the Philippines by a Filipino food techician Maria Orosa. This is the reason why NutriAsia decided to create the first ever Catsup Museum, to pay homage to an original Filipino condiment.

I was fortunate to be invited to experience this quirky and educational Catsup Museum during its opening at the NutriAsia grounds in Cabuyao, Laguna. The Catsup Museum was curated by Mind Museum so expect interactive, fun and educational installations to tickle your mind.

Being one of the first to be there let me enumerate the things to expect at the first Catsup museum not just in the Philippines but the world.

The museum is divided into four halls:

History of Banana Hall where you will be taken back in time to learn where Banana comes from and hey it is not a tree! What is it? Visit the catsup museum to know more! How? Will tell you at the end of this posts. Maria Orosa Hall to honor Maria Orosa, he food technologist who invented Banana Ketchup! Manufacturing Hall where you get to see in a very interactive and educational manner the step-by-step production of the commercial banana ketsup brands we love. Tasha love this part of the museum! Then finally, the Banaquet Hall where you can find buffet tables with giant food installations, these foods are food we love to use banana ketchup. How many food/dishes can you think ofthat banana ketchup is used? Watch my vlog to see how many, it is more than 10 dishes and food and not just fried dishes or spaghetti or lumpia and fried chicken and eggs!

The Catsup Museum does not only promote education and Philippine history in an entertaining manner, but a means to encourage and advocate the importance of science in food manufacturing.

How to visit the firat Catsup Museum?

At the moment the museum is open by appointment only to schools within the province of Laguna. For those outside the province or anything else you may send your inquiries at thecatsupmuseum@nutriasia.com or find it on social media @thecatsupmuseum.



NutriAsia is the powerhouse behind the most iconic Filipino food brands that includes Silver Swan, Datu Puti, Mang Tomas, UFC, Papa, Jufran and Golden Fiesta.

If given the chance would you viait the museum? Comment below.

Stay gorgeous everyone!

Sharing is caring ! Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

LinkedIn

Telegram

WhatsApp

Skype

Reddit

Tumblr

Print

Email

Marine: 'A welcome home is always heartfelt'

CLOVIS - Dozens of Vietnam veterans and their families gathered at American Legion Post 25 on Friday to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War.

The event stems from a presidential proclamation by Barack Obama in 2012 establishing a 13-year period to honor those who took part in the conflict in southeast Asia from 1955 to 1977 in accordance with its 50th anniversary.

At Friday's ceremony, Vietnam veterans or their family members received commemorative pins and certificates of appreciation thanking them for their service and sacrifice to the country.

Many of the veterans expressed similar sentiments that the recognition was long overdue.

"Finally getting recognized after 50 years, after they spit on us and everything else, treat us like trash you know, it's nice to finally get recognized after so many years," said Joe Gallegos, a member of the U.S. Army who served in Vietnam from 1967 to 1969.

American Legion Post 25 Commander Tom Creehan said he saw the mistreatment of veterans firsthand so he enjoyed the chance to see a wrong become righted.

"Even those of us that did not serve in-country got spat on, got called baby killer or whatever when they went through the airports, so to see them get this recognition, especially some of the older guys who I know they suffered be it mental anguish or whatever," Creehan said.

Creehan also said he was thankful that so many elected officials were in attendance including Clovis Mayor David Lansford, Clovis City Commissioners Helen Casaus, Rube Render and Mayor Pro Tem Juan Garza, Sens. Pat Woods, R-Broadview, and Stuart Ingle, R-Portales, and state Rep. Randal Crowder, R-Clovis.

Render served in the Marines from 1960 to 1980. He saw the commemoration as a way for the veterans to gain some closure.

"I think that a welcome home is always heartfelt and means a lot to people who came back," Render said. "It's better late than never."

Casaus, whose husband was drafted straight out of high school in 1967, appreciated the chance to honor the veterans, along with their family members.

"To me I was very grateful," Casaus said. "I didn't think I was going to get so emotional but it was very emotional I thought because they do suffer; veterans do suffer."

New Mexico Department of Veterans Services Cabinet Secretary Jack Fox said he could see on the faces of the men and women as they picked up their certificates how appreciative they were to have the moment of recognition, even if it came decades later than it should have.

"If you could see the eyes of some of these men, some of these guys it's the first time they've ever been really thanked and they deserve it," Fox said.

When he addressed the crowd Fox relayed some statistics about New Mexico's participation in Vietnam. He said of the 58,200 who died in combat, 398 were from New Mexico and 12 New Mexicans are among the 1,600 soldiers still missing in action.

Fox also wanted to stress that the veterans in attendance at Friday's ceremony were not defeated militarily.

"There's a perception in the media that we lost in Vietnam," Fox said. "We did not lose; you who wore the uniform did not lose, you won. It was the will of the American people who lost."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)The Egyptian and French navies concluded on Saturday a joint military drill that was conducted over several days in the Red Sea as part of the military partnership and cooperation between the two countries, Egypt's army spokesperson Tamer El-Refaie said in a statement.

The drill included exercises involving Egyptian and French Mistral helicopter carriers, marine scouting, anti-terror operations, boosting maritime security and fighting capabilities, as well as ship inspection.

Part of the drill involved exercises on a French Mistral ship, which were attended by Egyptian naval Commander-in-Chief Ahmed Khaled.

"The exercise comes in the framework of boosting military cooperation between Egypt and France, using modern methods of marine combat and maximising the joint benefits for both sides," El-Refaie added.

Last February, the Egyptian and French navies carried out the joint exercise "Cleopatra 2018" in the Red Sea, which involved exercises that coincided with Egypt's counterterrorism Operation Sinai 2018.

Short link:

To build the largest and most complete Amateur Radio community site on the Internet - a "portal" that hams think of as the first place to go for information, to exchange ideas, and be part of whats happening with ham radio on the Internet. eHam.net provides recognition and enjoyment to the people who use, contribute, and build the site. This project involves a management team of volunteers who each take a topic of interest and manage it with passion. The site will stand above all other ham radio sites by employing the latest technology and professional design/programming standards, developed by a team of community programmers who contribute their skills to the effort. The site will be something of which everyone involved can be proud to say they were a part. We welcome your comments. The eHam.net Team, Revision 07/2020.

By Reuters , Mar. 15, 2018





WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration on Thursday blamed the Russian government for a campaign of cyber attacks stretching back at least two years that targeted the U.S. power grid, marking the first time the United States has publicly accused Moscow of hacking into American energy infrastructure.





Beginning in March 2016, or possibly earlier, Russian government hackers sought to penetrate multiple U.S. critical infrastructure sectors, including energy, nuclear, commercial facilities, water, aviation and manufacturing, according to a U.S. security alert published Thursday.

Read More:



Join us - become an Elderado today at: LarryElder.com

Follow Larry Elder on Follow Larry Elder on Twitter

"Like" Larry Elder on Facebook



Egypt's prosecutor-general Nabil Sadek ordered on Saturday his international cooperation department to collect from UK authorities all investigative and medical reports on the case of 18-year-old Egyptian student Mariam Moustafa, who died on Wednesday of injuries sustained in an earlier attack by a group of girls outside a shopping mall in the UK.

Sadek ordered the department to collect all information on the nature of the medical treatment Moustafa received following the attack.

The 18-year-old Egyptian engineering student was attacked by a group of girls on 20 February outside Nottinghams Intu Victoria Shopping Centre.

Earlier this month, Sadek ordered the opening of a judicial investigation into the attack on Mariam, who was still in a coma at the time.

Immigration and Expatriates Minister Nabila Makram said in a statement earlier today that she is following the case closely with Egypts envoy in the UK Nasser Kamal, and has mandated her deputy for Egyptian communities abroad Samir Taha with following up on the incident with the Egyptian Embassy in London.

The ministers statement added that the Egyptian minister has contacted Mariams father to pursue legal action against the hospital where she had been admitted if medical negligence took place.

Makram called for Mariams killers to be held accountable for their heinous crime, asserting that the country will not abandon justice for the teenager.

Mariam's death has sparked anger at home, with Egyptian MPs denouncing investigations by the British police and alleging medical negligence that led to her death.

Short link:

The grand imam of Egypt's Al-Azhar, Sheikh Ahmed El-Tayeb, arrived on Saturday at the Mauritanian capital of Nouakchott in the first visit of its kind, upon an invitation to participate with Mauritanian clerics in an open dialogue on violence and extremism, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported.

The head of Al-Azhar  the world's foremost institutions of Sunni Islamic learning  is also set to meet with top government officials in Mauritania, including the head of state and the prime minister.

El-Tayeb is also expected to sign memorandums of understanding between Al-Azhar University and scientific institutions in the majority-Muslim west African country.

El-Tayeb arrived at Nouakchott from Portugal, where he was attending a ceremony celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Islamic Association in Lisbon.

Short link:

Terror-supporter media agencies lie exposed

Turkish Armed Forces has released footages of hospital in Afrin which was said it was hitten by Turkish forces.

YPG terror organization started a smear campaign against Turkey with fake news, had put a lie about a hospital in Afrin was hitten by Turkish forces.

Fake footages belong to mentioned hospital were leaked to the press by certain non-objective media agencies.

BBC Turkish: Turkey hit a hospital in Afrin, deaths were reported

Footages were refuted by Turkish Armed Forces. Current footages featured by TAF shows that hospital remains copper-bottomed.

Footages rebut YPGs lie about hospital said hitten by TAF WATCHTerror supporters charge Turkey with hitting hospital

Throughout the entire Operation Olive Branch, Turkish military didnt harm a hair on a civilian's head. Turkish soldiers were even martyried by reason of their sensitivity on not to harm civilians.

As the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) encircle the city center of Afrin, a civilian convoy was able to evacuate the northwestern Syrian region through safe corridors that were set up by Turkey.

Turkish troops are waiting for civilians to be evacuated to enter Afrin city center. Terror-supporter European countries started making perception operations and to cry out against Turkey.

But this time they oversteped the mark by writing that Turkish forces hit an hospital in Afrin.

BBC Turkish: Turkey hit a hospital in Afrin, deaths were reported

French AFP AgencyBlake Lively had the time of her life goofing around in Disneyland while spending quality time with her older sister.

The Gossip Girl actress posted pictures of herself and her sister, Robyn Lively, on their trip to Disneyland in Anaheim, California. Ryan Reynolds did not join them on the trip, neither did their daughters James and Ines.

Trip To Disneyland

In one photo Blake shared on Instagram, she posed with Disney princesses - Ariel, Snow White, and Cinderella - and asked Disneyland if she can become the beast.

"Disneyland this is my official submission. Will work for minimum wage. Happy to be the beast. Your move..." dared Blake.

Blake did not pass on the opportunity to become Elsa of Frozen, only this time, she was not wearing a gown. Instead, she challenged Elsa with a braided hair.

Meanwhile, on the roller coaster, the 30-year-old actress posted a photo of her holding Robyn's hands while bracing for a downward swoop. Blake even joked if she can move into Disneyland. She and her female friends went on to Sleeping Beauty's castle for a final selfie.

Princess In Real Life

Blake is known for her fondness for Disney characters, which is evident in the Disney heroines in her fashion design. The actress also chose the theme park to celebrate the holidays with her husband, Ryan. The said event coincided with James' second birthday.

In other news, Blake's fashion sense serves not only as an inspiration to many women but also as a basis for new trends. In an era where flat-ironed and glossy hair is the acceptable norm, Blake flaunted her dry curls at the Lorraine Schwartz Eye Bangles Collection launch in Los Angeles.

Robyn also joined Blake at the said event. Robyn and Blake sported black-and-white tandem dresses accessorized with big hoop earrings. Robyn, 46, modeled a strapless pant-dress exuding comfort and style.

Serena van der Woodsen's alter ego wore a spaghetti-strapped black dress paired with sandal heels. She also accessorized with statement bracelets with stone accents.

Sisters Forever

Despite their busy individual lives, Blake and Robyn took time to be together. Their mother, Elaine, joined them at the Lorraine Schwartz Eye Bangles Collection launch where Blake was seen wearing a black bandage on her right hand.

Robyn told the press that Blake had to wear the bandage due to an injury she sustained while filming a British-American spy thriller. The production team reportedly suspended filming indefinitely.

Robyn, however, assured that Blake's injury was far from serious.US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson cut short his tour of Africa, 6-13 March, the first of its kind since his appointment in Donald Trumps cabinet over one year ago.

The State Department said Tillerson left Nigeria and headed home to deal with the North Korea crisis.

However, on Tuesday Trump announced he had replaced Tillerson with Central Intelligence Agency director Mike Pompeo, and had tapped Gina Haspel to lead the CIA.

The resignation represents the biggest shakeup of the Trump cabinet so far and had been expected since last October when reports surfaced about a falling out between Trump and Tillerson, 65, who left his position as chief executive of Exxon Mobil to join the administration.

Mike Pompeo, Director of the CIA, will become our new Secretary of State. He will do a fantastic job! Thank you to Rex Tillerson for his service! Gina Haspel will become the new Director of the CIA, and the first woman so chosen. Congratulations to all! Trump said on Twitter.

While Tillerson was on tour to salvage Washingtons influence in Africa in the face of Chinas sweeping successes there, and to reassure leaders about the US administrations positions, Trump announced he agreed to hold direct talks with North Koreas leader Kim Jong-un, leaving Tillerson to appear out of the loop.

Tillersons trip, which began last week, included Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, Chad and Nigeria, and came on the heels of bigoted remarks by Trump in which he described Haiti and several African countries as shitholes.

Incredibly, chairman of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki told Tillerson during talks that Trumps statements are in the past, and he has spoken to several African leaders to turn over a new leaf.

Africans accuse Trumps administration of neglecting the continent.

The State Department has not yet named an African affairs officer, and the US has not sent ambassadors to eight countries, including Democratic Congo, South Africa and Somalia.

While Trumps administration has neglected the continent, former US president Barack Obama visited Africa six months within taking office, arriving to Ghana, which some US circles consider a democracy success story.

Obama also supported African programmes to fight AIDS, but the current administration has barely given any assistance to African countries, many of which are facing complex problems.

One of the goals of Tillersons tour was to offset Chinas influence on the continent, so he announced aid worth $533 million to fight famine and a lack of food security in the Horn of Africa and Lake Chad basin, though some see this as meagre.

Tillerson, who boasts knowledge of the continent, especially during his tenure at oil giant Exxon Mobil, said Africa is the future but warned that without jobs and hope for the future, these youth will be a new generation that falls victim to terrorists and undermine stability and democratic governments.

He added: The US wants to encourage sustainable development that sustains institutions, rule of law, and gives African countries self-sufficiency. This is opposite to the Chinese model that encourages dependency through shady deals and loans that entrap countries in debt.

China invests $124 billion in Africa through hundreds of infrastructure projects such as railroads, power and water plants, and renewable energy.

Beijing became the number one partner on the continent several years ago to replace Washington, which dropped to third place after the EU.

A senior State Department official told journalists the trip would be the start of dialogue and we must work with our African partners to reap the fruit.

US aid to Africa was a hot button issue in Trumps administration after proposals to slash assistance.

Some officials warned this would impact US vital interests in Africa and usher in other players to boost their economic and political ties on the continent.

The USs new view of trade with Africa sees the continent as a mega market for US goods and products, since the continent is predicted to represent one quarter of the worlds labour force and consumers by 2030.

US exports to sub-Saharan Africa rose from $17 billion in 2010 to more than $25 billion in 2014, and in 2016 US investments in Africa rose to more than $57 billion.

Tillerson arrived in Ethiopia amid a serious political crisis after the sudden resignation of prime minister Hailemariam Desalegn, but he did not comment on the situation in Addis Ababa.

He met with Faki at the African Union Commissions headquarters there, which was built by China as a gift of Chinese-African relations.

Tillerson then went to Djibouti, which is home to the only US military base in East Africa, but did not mention US investments in this strategic port or even non-European bases there, including Chinas (the largest overseas base), and Saudi Arabia, which is currently building a base.

His third stop was in the Kenyan capital Nairobi that was commemorating the anniversary of the 1998 US embassy bombing.

Tillerson fell ill while in Nairobi and decided to cancel his political meetings, although he commented that talks between Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga was a positive step.

A political crisis erupted after Kenyas presidential elections last summer, and the meeting between Kenyatta and Odinga on Friday was the first since the elections.

Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti are Washingtons allies in the war on terrorism which in the Horn of Africa is perpetrated by the Somali terrorist group Shebab Mujahideen.

Tillerson next headed to the Chadian capital NDjamena, the first visit by a US secretary of state to the former French colony.

The two countries are currently fighting the Nigerian terrorist group Boko Haram, which was ranked the most violent in 2015 and 2016.

Lake Chad basin countries (Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Benin) created a 7,000-strong military force to fight Boko Haram in the region after terrorist attacks reached villages bordering Nigerias northeast.

Tillersons meeting with Chadian President Idriss Deby focused on fighting terrorism and the assistance Washington could provide.

In Abuja, Tillerson met with Nigerias President Mohamed Bukhari who is fighting several battles, including terrorism by Boko Haram and widespread corruption, with negligible assistance from his Western allies even though Nigeria remained a strong ally during the Cold War, according to local press coverage.

Since the last days of the Obama administration, the US procrastinated in supporting its allies against terrorism in Nigeria, which greatly empowered Boko Haram.

But since applying Bukharis new strategy in 2016, the radical group has lost momentum despite last months kidnapping of 111 school girls in the northeast.

The Nigerian army still needs advanced assistance from major powers to obliterate Boko Haram, which Tillerson did not promise.

Tillersons tour may seem significant but it resulted in very little, especially since Trumps administration is swamped with domestic scandals and his obsession with striking a historic deal with North Korea that would be the best deal in the world.

Washington is also grappling with problems in the Middle East after Trumps recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and relocating the US embassy there in May.

*This story was first published in Al-Ahram Weekly

Short link:

Anna Faris cannot contain her butterflies when E! correspondent Zuri Hall asked what it would be like to date her boyfriend, Michael Barrett.

The interview with Hall was in line with Faris and Eugenio Derbez's promotion of Overboard. The host did not pass on the opportunity to ask the Scary Movie actress if she could see herself having a movie night-out with Barrett.

Farris, 41, was quick to halt Hall by saying that she is blushing. Actor Derbez also came to the rescue by diverting the topic and highlighting that she looked beautiful in the film.

Love After Divorce

Friends of Faris are supportive of her newfound love in Barrett after her divorce with ex-husband, Chris Pratt. An insider said in a magazine interview that people who are close to the actress think that Barrett is humble, "stable, and obsessed with Anna."

The 41-year-old cinematographer reportedly has Faris' 5-year-old son's approval.

"Michael is great with him and that's all Anna cares about. They are doing so well," a source close to the couple said.

Rumors of Barrett and Faris developing a relationship started when they were spotted in Italy in November 2017. The couple was again seen scouting for a house in Los Angeles the following month.

Faris' mom appeared happy about her daughter's current relationship. Allison Janney mentioned that she only met Barrett once, but she is happy that her daughter is doing well.

"She's doing really well and I'm so happy for her. I met [Michael] once, he seems really lovely. I don't know him, but I'm happy for her. If she's happy, I'm happy," Janney said in an interview.

Faris separated from Pratt, 38, in July 2017 and the latter had filed for divorce five months later. The actress said that she is considering to co-parent her son, Jack, with the Guardians of the Galaxy actor as long as he is surrounded by love and care of the family.

The ex-couple was married for eight years.

Anna's Parenting Tips

Meanwhile, the House Bunny actress seemed to know how to get goofy with her son. In an interview, Faris said that Jack has come to an age where he does not want his mother to go public with her affection. The actress added that doing so would leave her son embarrassed for the time being.

"Six months ago we would do this little game where I would say, 'I love you to the moon and back' and he would say 'I love you to Jupiter and back' and I would say 'I love you to Uranus and back!" Faris shared.

"Recently he's stopped doing that. I found myself doing that in public to him and I could tell that he was getting embarrassed. He's like, 'Mom, chill!'" she added.Following his case against William Morris Endeavour agent Adam Venit, Terry Crews has not yet received any word from his costars in Expendables, but fans still got his back.

Crews has spoken up back in February on a sexual misconduct citing Venit during Adam Sandler's party in 2016. The actor accused the respondent of groping his private part and making lewd facial expressions that almost resulted in a brawl.

"No words from anybody. Nothing. Believe me, nobody saw that coming. Nobody thought that I was gonna put that out there," Crews said.

To make matters worse, the 49-year-old actor revealed that Expendables producer Avi Lerner has contacted his camp in an attempt to convince him to drop the case against Venit. Apparently, Lerner told Crews that backing out on the charges would help him avoid potential problems on the movie's sequel.

In response, Crews tweeted Lerner's advice and tipped that Venit is connected to a number of staff and actors on the set including Sylvester Stallone.

"I was on the set [of Brooklyn Nine-Nine], shaking," Crews said. "I didn't call my publicist, I didn't call my friends, I didn't call my manager, I didn't call my wife. I just started tweeting."

A Violent Place

Crews referred to Hollywood as a violent place, comparing it to a plantation. A lot of people working in the industry, who were victimized by sexual predators, chose to remain silent than risking their reputation. Others, according to Crews, were not able to work again because they were being axed from their respective shows.

Despite his colleagues at Expendables unable to reach out, Crews get his strength and motivation from the fans who continue to support him. Early this week, the actor posted a photo on Twitter showing a letter sent by his folks at Old Spice and Procter & Gamble. The letter bore the hand-signed signatures of his coworkers.

American actor and director Paul Feig also expressed his respect and gratitude to Crews for coming out with his story even if it was stereotypical for men.

End Of Career

Last week, the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office dismissed Venit's case due to statute limitations. The ruling said that Crew's sexual assault allegations are unfounded because it does not have skin contact and struggle.

If exposing his story would result to the end of his career, Crews said he is fine with that. If he is going to be ousted from doing another Expendables, he said he will gladly take it.Ex-Teen Mom OG star Farrah Abraham isn't concerned with the recent news about the new girlfriend of her former boyfriend Simon Saran.

Days after Saran debuted his new romance on social media, Abraham questioned why anyone would be concerned with the love life of her ex-boyfriend. She then suggested that the real estate agent was in playboy mode due to his supposed celebrity status.

"Is that really a big story? I mean last time he chatted with me, he was sending me messages about like 50 to 100 girls, because he's just so like 'oh my god you got me verified I'm a celebrity all these girls love to talk to me!'" Abraham said during an interview with OK! Magazine on March 15.

Farrah Abraham On Simon's Relationship Status

Abraham went on to say that she was happy to see Saran putting himself out there but noted that it would be great if he was single. She then said that she blocked him because she didn't like his treatment of women.

In closing, Abraham posed the question of whether or not her ex-boyfriend was actually staying loyal to the woman he is with now.

Farrah Abraham Wanted To Marry Simon

During filming on earlier seasons of Teen Mom OG, Abraham expressed interest in tying the knot with Saran. She even went to the jewelry store in hopes of sealing the deal and getting the ball rolling on a future wedding.

Unfortunately, Saran wasn't on board with rushing things. Last year, during an episode of the show, the couple were seen ending their relationship for good.

While Abraham and Saran were seen together on numerous occasions after their breakup, they never rekindled their romance. Earlier this year, Abraham moved on with someone new.

Farrah Abraham's Latest Romance Lasted Just Days

Earlier this month, just days after Abraham went public with boyfriend Aden Stay, she spoke to People magazine and announced they had split. In an interview, Abraham suggested Stay was only with her to gain fame. She also mentioned his past relationship with Rebel Wilson.

I need to watch whom I date as many men target me for my success," she said.

In response to Abraham's allegations against him, Stay spoke to People magazine as well, telling the outlet that Abraham's success had nothing to do with their relationship. He also confirmed they went on just two dates.It's now confirmed! Peter Dinklage will be in Avengers: Infinity War, which just gives life to the rumors that had been milling for the past year.

The Game of Thrones actor has long been rumored of getting a role for Avengers: Infinity War, after news broke out that he was in negotiations last year. Lo and behold! Dinklage is now really going to be a part of Disney's Marvel Cinematic Universe.

However, this wasn't confirmed by the 48-year-old thespian himself. Fans of the actor had been on the lookout for any sign that he would be a part of the upcoming film, and as the Avengers: Infinity War trailer was released, fans sorely missed Dinklage.

A new poster became a silver lining. A small detail actually dropped the bomb for Dinklage. This was his name at the bottom portion, where some of the cast's name are located.

Eagle-eyed fans were quick to notice his name was sandwiched between Idris Elba and Benedict Wong, but one should consider the font size and color that can arguably become a pain to read. With this in mind, many are wondering, what role will Dinklage be playing in Avengers: Infinity War?

Possible Roles

Although there is still no official word from the higher-ups, deductions can be made. First, it is important to note how Dinklage's name was situated in the poster. As mentioned, it is at the lower part, beside Elba who plays Heimdall.

This could mean Dinklage might be playing a minor or supporting role since all other lead stars' names are located up in the poster in bigger fonts. This is in contrast to rumors last year that he would be playing a major character in Avengers: Infinity War.

One of the heavily supported predictions was that Dinklage would be playing Pip the Troll. Fans quickly theorized this after the actor was spotted sporting a red mane, which was spot-on the troll character. If one thinks about it, dyeing hair as bright as red requires a big decision, and anybody would probably do this for a role, especially as big as this one on Avengers: Infinity War.

This was somehow supported by the newly released trailer. At 1:18, a seemingly small creature with red hair can be seen, though it was a blink-and-you-will-miss-it kind of appearance. Then a small green hand holds Thanos's big hand, and in the next frame, it would seem like the small creature and Thanos are walking hand in hand.

Dinklage could also play the King of Dwarves, Eitri, which is actually pretty realistic. Other fans are rooting for him to play MODOK, or Mobile Organism Designed Only for Killing.

It is interesting to note that the film is already star-studded, with Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, and Mark Ruffalo some of the big names. It would be nice to see how Dinklage's character would play out with the other cast.

Whether Dinklage would really be the troll or not, fans may have to wait a few weeks for leaks, or they can just wait till the movie hits theaters on April 27.Glee alum Matthew Morrison expresses his disappointment over the alleged dog abuse on the production of his film Crazy Alien.

Morrison took to Twitter to air his concern over what transpired on the set of Crazy Alien, a Chinese film which he stars on. Apparently, he had just gotten wind of the viral video of the reported abuse and explained he could have done something to stop the animal cruelty had he known of the instance during the time.

"My heart is broken to see any animal treated this way. Had I been on set or known about this, I would have made all efforts to stop this," said the 39-year-old actor, and added he already got in touch with the producers of Crazy Alien to convey his outrage.

Just to give a background on the film, Glee has long aired its final episode, but it became a big hit in China. So, it is totally self-explanatory that Morrison got cast in Crazy Alien, directed by Ning Hao, the third installment of the comedy film.

Public Condemns Cruelty

The public uproar stemmed from a video submitted to the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals or PETA which shows a German shepherd in a cage that was lifted up in the air by a crane. However, the cage twirled violently, possibly because it was pulled, before it gets hauled into the water and then hoisted again.

It was reported that the scene had a few takes, which meant the dog was submerged and spun wildly for a couple of times. According to PETA, the shoot took place in November during a scene when an alien picks up a dog and throws it. To make matters worse, the whistleblower claimed the dog never went on a break.

PETA is now asking Hao to cut that specific scene from the film, which will hit the big screen in February 2019. Furthermore, they wished the cast could shell out their salaries to give to charities dedicated for animal protection in the mammoth country.

"PETA is urging the actors to hold the production accountable and calling for the public to boycott this film," a statement read.

History

It is pretty understandable that the people are dogging the Chinese production team about this matter (no pun intended). After all, dogs should be treated as how one would treat other people.

But of course, it should be noted that China has had issues with how they treat man's best friend, and is constantly receiving beating and condemnation from animal rights group. Several viral videos show just how dogs are made to live in dire conditions, and some show that a festival is actually dedicated to eating them.Chicago West finally got her very first selfie! Just two days after turning two months old, Kim Kardashian shared a new photo of her baby girl.

On Saturday, March 17, the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star posted a photo of Chicago as she gazes up at the camera and wears a cozy pink onesie with a white quilted bib around her neck.

Morning cutie A post shared by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Mar 17, 2018 at 7:15am PDT

"Morning cutie," Kardashian captioned the adorable photo along with a pink heart emoji.

The new shot has already garnered over 1 million likes and received over 13,000 comments from fans gushing over Chi.

Chicago West Makes Her First Debut

Kardashian's fans got their first glimpse of baby Chi in February when the 37-year-old shared a photo of herself and Chicago as they posed with the pink teddy bear Snapchat filter.

Baby Chicago A post shared by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Feb 26, 2018 at 1:55pm PST

"Baby Chicago," the reality star captioned the shot.

Baby Chi

As previously reported, Chicago arrived Jan. 15 via surrogate, weighing in at 7 pounds and 6 ounces. Kardashian took to her official website to reveal the news.

"We are incredibly grateful to our surrogate who made our dreams come true with the greatest gift one could give and to our wonderful for their special care. North and Saint are especially thrilled to welcome their baby sister," the KKW Beauty founder wrote.

Baby Chicago makes the third child for Kardashian and Kanye West as they already share two children, North and Saint West.

In June 2017, Kardashian stated that she and Kanye opted for a surrogate to carry their child as she could not carry on her own. The mother of three explained that doctors told her it would be risky if she were to get pregnant due to her suffering from various complications such as preeclampsia and placenta accreta.

Now that Chicago is here, Kardashian revealed that she wouldn't mind having a fourth child with Kanye and giving her three kids a new sibling. However, a source told Hollywood Life it wouldn't be anytime soon as the makeup mogul wants to focus on helping Kanye rebuild his music empire.

"Kim would consider having another child via surrogate on one condition as long as it isn't anytime soon," the source said.Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott may have welcomed Stormi Webster into the world a month ago, but it seems Kylie is a solo parent.

Where's Travis?

The "Goosebumps" rapper has been seen throughout social media with his fellow performers such as Post Malone and 21 Savage. The trio has been playing video games while creating new tracks in various recording studios.

According to Hollywood Life, Kylie is okay with Travis taking breaks with his friends. She even watches Scott play the video games when they are together. However, there is one type of game that she will not play with the rapper.

"Kylie made it clear to Travis that she doesn't want the mental games and he's either in this with her completely or not, and Travis has been 100% repetitive. Kylie is extremely happy and content where she and Travis are. They play off each other very well, especially when it comes with Stormi," said an insider close to the Kylie and Travis camp to Hollywood Life.

Inquisitr has also added that the Keeping Up with the Kardashians star has been operating her beauty and fashion empire out of her house. The primary purpose for Kylie to do her business operations from her home is so that she could keep an eye on Stormi, while working on expanding her reach in the cosmetics kingdom.

Is That A Shade?

Reports of the Life with Kylie star being unfazed by Scott's lack of parenting comes days after Kylie posted a cryptic Instagram post. The post in question that made some of Kylie's 105 million Instagram followers scratch their heads involved Kylie debuting a pink lipstick shade called "Boy Bye." While it was a shade of lipstick, fans thought it was a jab at Stormi's father.

Mother And Daughter

Kylie has been a very protective mother to Stormi. While she was seen bonding with her fellow newborn cousin, Chicago West, it is rare to see a paparazzi photo of the mother-and-daughter duo in public. Kylie is expected to hang out with her friends, but she would not allow her daughter to be exposed to germs nor let Stormi succumb to an illness while she is tiny.

In fact, Kylie has made sure that anyone who is lucky to come in contact with Stormi must visit her house in Hidden Hills, California. The social media superstar has also made a stringent list of people who are allowed in the house and who are welcome to hang out with the elusive Kardashian-Jenner newcomer.Prasar Bharati is not even a pale imitation of a truly independent public broadcaster.

It is highly unlikely that the Narendra Modi government, or any other previous government, has genuinely wanted an independent and autonomous public broadcaster. Yet, every time there is even a slight difference of opinion between the so-called public broadcaster in India, Prasar Bharati, and the government, the issue of autonomy of the former is raised and discussed. A case in point is the recent stand-off between the Prasar Bharati board and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) over, amongst other matters, professional appointments that the board rejected. By asserting its right to decide on this, the board was merely settling a turf battle. When the ministry apparently held back release of funds for salaries of the employees of Doordarshan (DD) and All India Radio (AIR), the board accused it of taking retaliatory measures. But as expected the matter died down, as it was nothing more than a family quarrel.

The concept of an autonomous public broadcasting corporation was born after the excesses of the Indira Gandhi-led Congress party government during the Emergency of 197577 when DD and AIR were used as blatant vehicles of government propaganda. The Janata Party government that came into power in 1977 constituted a committee under the chairmanship of veteran editor and journalist B G Verghese to work out how this could be done. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was considered a model for the kind of system India should adopt. On the Verghese Committees recommendations, the Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Act was formulated and passed in 1990. It took another seven years before Prasar Bharati was set up.Written by ACM

*Strasbourg/EU Parliament/Angelo Marcopolo/- The New President of EU Parliament's Delegation for the USA, as well as vice-President of its Defence/Security Committee, German MEP from Bayern, (Host of the World-Famous "International Security Conference" annually), a ChristianDemocrat/EPP of the Governing Coalition, Christian Ehrel, speaking to "Eurofora" the Same Day that the Plenary of EU Parliament's Weekly Session in Strasbour, after a Public Debate on Tuesday, was Voting an important New Resolution on Syria, including on the Turkish Military Invasion in the Syrian Kurdish Canton of Afrin, which has Now, notoriously reached a Crucial Point, as its Capital City, reportedly hosting some 600.000 People, including many Refugees, has been surrouned and attacked by Turkey's Army and its Islamist Extremist Jihadist Armed Gangs, clearly found that there is any Interest to "STOP" such a Bloody Turkey's Military Engagement, which also Risks to "Destabilize" the region.



--------------------



- "Eurofora" had Questioned the EU Parliament's USA and and Defence/Security Committees' Leading MEP, about his feelings on such an exceptional and crucial "ConJunction of Human Rights, GeoPolitics, and Security issues", as the Turkish Military Invasion to Syria's Kurdish Afrin canton, which notoriously Affects Both Many Civilian People and the Best Local Ally of the US-led International Coalition against the Deadly Islamist Terrorists of ISIL's Coward Killers Targetting innocent Civilian People throughout Europe, including also Russia, but even in the USA, etc.



-----------------------



- Europe could, "Sure", be more Active on that Topical issue, President Ehrel agreed with "Eurofora" from the outset.



- "The Problem, right now, is that this is Linked with the (Wider) Syrian Conflict, which is, more or less, Influenced by Foreign Powers", told us, in Reply, the Top MEP of the Governing Coalition in Germany.



- In particular, Nowadays, "the Question arises : - "What is Turkey going to do ?", he pointed out.



- "And, I know that a Lot of People are, acturally, Worried", both in Europe, in the USA and elsewhere, , "about the Kurds, etc", (in an Area where more than 360.000 Displaced People also from Various Other Communities had found Refuge in Afrin's Canton, according to International Organisations' data, already Since 2016 : Arabs, Alevi, Yazidi,, Christians, etc).



- "Alhough", YPG might be "a fairly Socialist, or Stalinist Party, we should overlook that, Because, in Fact, it's just the Ombrella Organisation of (all) the (National) Kurdish Interests", in general, he observed realistically.



=> Thus, "in terms of Containment, I think that there is any Interest to get the Turks to STOP that kind of (Military) Engagement", the Leading MEP of EU Parliament's USA and Defence/Security Committees stressed.



- "Because, First of all, it's very likely that it's going to be a Bloody Fight for the Turks", themshelves, he observed, (while London-based NGO "Syrian Observatory on Human Rights", and others, have already, repeatedly Noted Bigger Number of Casualties among Armed Fighters, on Turkey's side, than on the Syrian Kurdish, as far as strictly Military staff is concerned).



- Moreover, "it could DeStablize also Turkey (itself), in a way", "Specifically in the (Turkish) Kurdish Regions", he naturally Warned.



+ "Secondly, I think that, Still, for the Americans, the Problem is that if the Kurds withdraw (in the Fight against ISIL's Deadly Islamist Terrorists : Comp. Supra), the Next Time they (USA) will Have to Intervene themselves".



- "Even for Europe, it's a problem, (also) Because, (inter alia), you have, f.ex., German Tanks from one side, and German Anti-Tank Rockets from the Other Side !", etc., he noted, at the tip of the iceberg...



>>> "So, the Question is if Erdogan is going to (further) engage in a (fully-fledged) War on the Ground, in a(en even) Longer Perspective", or not.



=> - In that case, "then, the Situation is going to Explode, from my point of view !", EU Parliament's USA + Security/Defence Committees' Leading MEP sternly Warned.



- "Or, if he (the Turkish President) Needs that Only Politically, (i.e.) in order to Show some <<Strength>>, Before the (forthcoming) Elections" of 2019 inside Turkey, he speculated.



- In this case, then, "I think that (from Turkey's point of view) Much will be Decided After the Elections" of 2019.



- Also "Because Erdogan is really Worried that they are going in the Wrong Direction", the Exerienced European MEP from German felt.



- "They (Ankara's current Government) had (initially) perceived that it was going to be an Easy Win", he reminded.



>>> - "But, Now, all out of a Sudden, it does No longer seem like that...".



- Particularly, "as Coffins (of Killed Soldiers, Jihadists, etc) are Comming back from the Borders", (Comp. Facts evoked Supra).

- "And, so, in my view, the (overall) Setting (from Ankara's Side) is going to be Decided After the Turkish Elections" of 2019, "because then you can count what will be Ankara's position in all that", he reiterated.



+ "Russia, though it has no (particular) interest to stop that, But, Also, No interest at all to put Oil in there, in this situation", EU's Top MEP added, as far as GeoPolitic realities are concerned.



++ "And, the other thing, is what is the Perception of the New Alliance between the USA and the Saudis etc" Arabs, (UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordany, etc.), he Topically added,



- "It will have a Lot of Influence", particularly "in terms of the (Arab) Sunni Community", the Experienced, Top EU MEP estimated, in this regard. (Timely speaking just after a Crystal-clear and interesting Reaction by UAE's Foreign MInister Gargash Against the Turkish Foreign Military Invasion of Syria's Kurdish Canton of Afrin : See ... ). "



- "But, is it going to Work (further enough) ?", he wondered, particularly after USA's "First Attempts to play there a more Active Role, well Beyond just signing the Pay-Check", (i.e. also Politically), as he noted, expressing EU's Interest to find out.



----------------------



+ In Addition, according to EU Parliament's USA Desk Officer Alexandros Karides, who works for the EU - USA Inter-Parliamentary Committee, (due to Meet in Full on June 2018, in Varna, Bulgaria : the current EU rotating chairholder), the "US Congress is very Upset about (what's going on in) Afrin", and "they (US Congress) put a lot of Pressure" on that Issue.



=> - So that, it seems that "the (USA) State Department and the Presidency (at Don Trump's White House) will Try to Mediate Something". (Inter alia, perhaps, also, f.ex., "in terms of American Troops standing in front of those Villages", so that, probably, "there is no way of going inside" for Turkey's Military and/or its Extremist Islamist Jihadi Armed Gangs' proxies, etc).



- "But, they (USA) have Not Yet gone into Action, because they want to give some Time to the Organizations to Deal with it. So, we (EU) don't know" yet how things might really evolve, from these points of view, those Other EUP Sources estimated. WithOut, however, making it clear whether they meant Both for Afrin and Manbij Cities, located accross the Syrian Kurdish Region, near the Syrian-Turkish Borders, or Only for Manbij, where Turkey has also, notoriously, Claimed to Intervene with its Army asap, particularly during the Latest Visit of USA State Secretary Rex Tillerson (See: ...). Neither saying whether they spoke on the basis of elements which existed Before Tillerson's Withdrawal, this Week, or After his replacement by Pompeo, (See Infra)...



----------------------------

SoS TILLERSON - POMPEO CHANGE COINCIDES WITH CRUCIAL US - TURKEY TALKS ON SYRIAN KURDS' ROLE IN FIGHTING ISLAMIST TERRORISM



------------------------------------





++ Meanwhile, the New USA State Department Secretary, after Tillerson's withdrawal, (Announced Earlier this week by US President Don Trump himself), Mike Pompeo, notoriously comes also from US Congress, where he had served for a Long Time in the Past.



- Today, EU Parliament's USA Delegation Chairman, MEP Christian Ehler, said to "Eurofora" that he "Knew Pompeo, from the NSA", i.e. the North American "National Security Agency", while Pompeo recently had been named by President Trump as CIA's Chief, (where he will be succeeded, Now, by Gina Haspel, an Experienced CIA veteran and, until now, its Deputy Director).



Pompeo, (who needs also an US Congress endorsement procedure, Before he fully assumes his New Task), is, reportedly, due to Visit Brussels, inter alia, for relevant NATO Meetings there.



>>> By an Astonishing "Coincidence", Tillerson's replacement by Pompeo was Announced in Public by a Short and Sharp "Tweet" of US President Don Trump, on Tuesday, 13 of March : I.e. After the Beginning of this Week's EU Parliament's Plenary Session for March in Strasbourg, when it was Officially Confirmed that it would hold a Public Debate and Vote on a New Resolution on Syria, which would Include Afrin, as it became obvious by its President, Antonio Tajani's Public Statements, at the Official Opening of EU Parliament's Session, and by the Draft Resolutions Tabled then by most Political Groups of MEPs, on Monday Afternoon, 12 of March here, Followed by a Public Debate, on Tuesday 13, where EU's High Representative for External Action, Frederica Mogherini, stressed that all this concerned, now, "Afrin FIRST" (See: ..).



- But, Despite Tillerson Spokesman's, Goldstein's Denial, Earlier this week, that the Out-Going USA State Secretary might have known about that Beforehand, nevertheless, according to White House sources, its Chief of Staff, Kelly, had Already Warned Tillerson by Phone that something was "Imminent", as Early as since Last Friday and Saturday, 9 and 10 March.



+ Thus, Tillerson suddenly Cancelled a previously Scheduled Meeting in one among the African States that he was Visiting in a Tour, last Saturday evening (10/3/2018), and, on Sunday, March 11, he "Cut Short" his African Tour, in order to Return immediately to Washington DC.



>>> The Point is that, All these Series of apparently Converging Moves, Started precisely, the Same Day that a 1st USA - Turkey Experts/Diplomats Meeting (of Thursday and Friday : March 8 and 9) had Concluded, in Washington DC, where it was supposed to Deal, inter alia, particularly about Ankara's Claims for Turkish Army and/or Proxies to "Replace" Syrian Kurds (Allies of USA-led International Coalition against ISIS' Deadly Islamist Terrorists) throughout all or most of the Syrian Kurdish Region, accross the Syrian - Turkish Borders, (Starting by Afrin and continuing, eventially, by Manbij, etc).



* On February, Tillerson had Faced Heavy Pressure by Turkey on that, very Controversial Issue, during his Latest Visit to Ankara, where he had met with Turkish President Erdogan, under Exceptionaly Strict Conditions of Secrecy : I.e. even withOut any American Interpreter, Nor Diplomat, but Only the Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglou serving also as .. Interpreter, Contrary to the Established US Practices, as Many had Noticed, then. This had been shortly Followed also by a quite "Hot" Press Conference, Next Morning, by Tillerson and Cavusoglou, where the American side was also Pressured in Public about alleged Past Promises (dating since the Barak Hussein Obama's era) to practically Drop the Kurds, After having Used them for the Fight against ISIS' Islamist Terrorists, (See ..).



Tillerson diplomatically had prefered, then, to Postpone any Public Statement on that Controversial Issue, Pointing, Instead, to a Series of USA - Turkey Experts' Meetings, which were due to Start, in Washington DC, later on March.



=> Then, the Conclusion of the 1st among those "Hot" Meetings behind Closed Doors between Turkish and American Experts/Diplomats, Last Week in Washington DC, on Friday, March 8, practically "Coincided", strangely, with the 1st Known Move by USA's White House which was reportedly Related also with Tillerson's replacement by Pompeo, officially Announced Later-on, (Comp. Supra)...



New US President Don Trump, has notoriously Based his Popular 1st "State of the Union" Speech, Earlier on January 30, in the US Congress, mainly on Economic progress and on the Defeat of ISIS' Deadly Islamist Terrorists, concerning Most Territory that they had previously invaded and occupied in Syria and Iraq.



>>> This Latest Achievement, against a particularly Deadly Islamist Terrorism by ISIS' Cowards, (who used to Target Defenseless Civilian People in several EU Member States, Russia, USA, and various Other Countries also in Africa, Asia, etc), was, notoriously, Obtained also with the Decisive Help of Syrian Kurdish People on the Ground, (and their allies, in the "Syrian Democratic Forces", that they had created and leaded).

Turkish sources were Now Sticking again in what they ambitiously Claimed to be "a Proposal", "Model" or "Road Map", "for the Issue of Manbij", during these Experts' Talks in Wash.DC, seeking to Extend Turkey's Army's role in, somehow, perhaps invading/occupying, mutatis-mutandis, also the Eastern Part of the Syrian Kurdish Region. However, they had already made a similar claim with Tillerson, Last February in Ankara, and he had replied, in public, that such issues would be simply "Discussed".

- "But we doNt know which path the New Staff will follow", Erdogan reportedly said on that now, (Calling "Staff" the New USA Secretary of State, former Congressman, Mike Pompeo, for whom New US President Don Trump has just said that he was "always on the Same Wavelength" with POTUS).



+ At any case, meanwhile, an important Visit that Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu was due to make to the USA on March 19, was, now, "Postponed" sine die.

++ And, EU Parliament, by Adopting Later Today in Strasbourg a Last-Minute Amendment which "Expresses Deep Concern at Turkey's Intervention in Areas of Syria which are controlled by Kurdish forces",

gave a Crystal-clear and Strong Boost for USA to Resist to Ankara's pressure for UnEthical, UnJustified and Dangerous Concessions against the Best Local Allies on the Ground for the US-Led International Coalition to Fight ISIS' Deadly Islamist Terrorists cowardly Targetting Civilian People, which recently became Succesful, on 2017, notoriously thanks, particularly, to the Syrian Kurds-led "Syrian Democratic Forces" (SDF).

i.e. Not Only in Afrin, but Also Elsewhere, f.ex. at Manbij, where Ankara notoriously Pressures the USA to Drop the Syrian Kurds and Replace them by Turkey's Military and/or its "Proxies" Jihadists Armed Gangs... (See: http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes /news/euonturkeyamdafrin.html).

A quite Succesful move of Euro-American Cooperation, on a Rare Topical Issue where, normally, all the Other relevant Global Partners (as Russia and China, even the directly concerned Syrian Government, added naturally to Syrian Kurds themselves) would not have any objection at all to support, (as well as all Freedom, Justice and Efficiency-Loving People in the World)...



(../..)





-----------------------------









The Olive Branch military offensive that Ankara unleashed against northern Syria on 20 January remains shrouded in confusion, contradiction and ambiguity, apart from the certainty that it conflicts with the interests of all regional and international stakeholders and their Syrian proxies.

Observers also agree that Turkish forces and its so-called Free Syrian Army allies have scored some progress.

Yet, as those forces came to within a few kilometres of the predominantly Kurdish city of Afrin, the Turkish president, speaking at one of his many rallies on Saturday, railed against the West, again, this time targeting above all that alliance in which Turkey, itself, is a member: Hey NATO where are you? We came in response to the calls on Afghanistan, Somalia and the Balkans, and now I am making the call, lets go to Syria. Why dont you come?

Some observers read this is an urgent plea for help. In fact, it was a sarcastic quip.

The official line in Ankara is that Turkey is being threatened from the south. Accordingly, NATO should act to defend one of its own, or so Erdogan implies.

Of course, as the Turkish strongman knows, this is not on the cards. The stances of the Western military alliance on the question of Afrin are virtually antithetical to Ankaras.

They more or less reflect a mounting tide of opinion in the West that regards Turkey as the belligerent aggressor and that demands an immediate halt to the Turkish invasion and occupation of Syrian territory.

While Erdogan raises the pitch of his demagoguery, inciting anti-Western passions at home (plus electoral support) with populist rants against the European/American conspiracy to divide and fragment his Islamic nation (under the Turkish constitution is a secular state), European leaders and officials in Washington tread more softly.

In fact, it is believed that they have reached an as of yet unpublicised decision. It is no coincidence that the Pentagon has sharply reduced operations out of Incirlik airbase due to mounting tensions with Ankara and that it has redeployed a fleet of A-10 attack aircraft that had been destined for that base to Afghanistan. It is also reported that Washington is considering other reductions in the Anatolian airbase.

Although Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said that the Afrin operation will conclude in May, his boss appears to have another opinion on the matter.

Once we have purged the terrorists [from Afrin] we will then cleanse them from Manbij, Ain Al-Arab, Tel-Abyad, Ras Al-Ain and Qamishli, Erdogan said. He also indicated that he would carry his cleansing campaign into Iraq, in collaboration with Baghdad.

Is this bravado? According to neutral sources, the predominantly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have suffered considerable attrition and disarray as a result of the Turkish invasion of Afrin, which has diverted a portion of SDFs energies from the battle against the Islamic State group to the east.

Still, to borrow the Arabic proverb, the Turkish sails appear to be encountering contrary winds. These hail from the direction of Tehran where a press as tightly controlled from above as the Turkish one has sounded warning bells and Iranian Foreign Ministry officials have expressed their deep concern over the situation in Afrin and urged Ankara to halt its operation.

[Iran] hopes that the operation would be immediately terminated so as to prevent the deepening of the crisis in northern Syria, a statement posted on the Iranian Foreign Ministry Website said.

The statement cited Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi as saying that, The continuation of the crisis in Afrin may reorganise Takfiri terrorist groups in the northern Syrian regions and fan the flames of war in this country again.

Ironically, the Trump administration shares the same view.

In an escalation of the campaign against Turkeys Afrin operation, the official Iranian news agency Tasnim conducted an interview with Rezan Hedo, a media adviser to the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG).

In the interview, Hedo said that the (pro-Iranian, pro-Syrian regime) Popular Forces had entered Afrin to repel Erdogans aggression and added that all components of Syrian society reject the Turkish occupation of any portion of Syria.

The Lebanese Hizbullah military media unit confirmed that the pro-Damascus Popular Forces had crossed into Afrin through the Ziyara checkpoint north of Nobol.

The report cited Rezan Hedos depiction of Turkey as a foreign occupation power and the Turkish militarys allies in Syria takfiri terrorist groups. The YPG media adviser added that the people in Afrin welcomed the arrival of the pro-regime forces.

Clearly, the Iranian regime regards Turkeys bid to expand its influence in the region as a threat to its own expansionist drive.

Just as Tehran was instrumental in obstructing Turkeys Euphrates Shield operation (August 2016 to March 2017), it appears ready to do the same with the second edition, the so-called Olive Branch operation. This time, moreover, it will have at least tacit support from both the US and Russia.

The question is whether the Erdogan regime will heed the message or persist in its campaign in northern Syria.

*This story was first published in Al-Ahram Weekly

Short link:

CN and CP plan to invest heavily in grain service improvements

By Diego Flammini

News Reporter

Farms.com

Canadas national railways have released their plans to help relieve the grain backlog in Western Canada.

Minister of Transport Marc Garneau and Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Lawrence MacAulay mandated on Mar. 9 that Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific (CP) railways publish their plans online by Wednesday.

Specifically, Garneau and MacAulay wanted immediate actions to relieve the congestion and longer-term steps to maintain fluid service in Western Canada.

In terms of immediate steps, CN promised to spot (meaning precisely position a railroad car for loading or unloading) 5,000 grain cars by the end of month.

The railway has also leased 125 new locomotives as of Mar. 17. Its goal is to lease 130.

Other measures include deploying qualified company officers across Western Canada to run trains and move customer traffic, and offering employees incentives to delay retirement or postpone vacations to help move grain.

Looking ahead, CN plans to spend more than $250 million on infrastructure and yard improvements.

The railway will build five stretches of double track in eastern Alberta and Saskatchewan and a new long section of double track west of Edmonton on the railways mainline corridor to B.C. New yard capacities in Edmonton and Manitoba are also part of the improvement plan.

CN also plans for additional passing sidings between Prince Rupert B.C., and Jasper, Alta.

Part of CPs immediate plan to move more grain includes putting more cars on tracks.

The railway placed 10 per cent more empty rail cars in the country in Week 32 compared to the week prior, a further sign of incremental gains achieved, Keith Creel, CPs president and CEO, wrote in CPs plan.

CP can transport more grain when the Port of Thunder Bay re-opens near the end of March, he added.

In terms of improving service in the future, CP has added 700 new employees and plans to acquire 100 additional locomotives.

CP has also budgeted for improvements.

We have earmarked between $1.35 and $1.5 billion for capital improvements this year, the plan says.Scott Eastwood would love to return for another 'Pacific Rim' film.

Scott Eastwood

The 31-year-old actor starred as Nate Lambert in the new Steven DeKnight movie - which is a sequel to the Guillermo del Toro 2013 sci-fi flick - and although it is his first outing in the franchise, he admitted he would love to be back.

Speaking to BANG Showbiz at the UK premiere of his latest movie at Vue Cinema in London's Leicester Square on Thursday (15.03.18), Eastwood said: "Oh we would love to!

"We would love to make another 'Pacific Rim'."

The first film followed mankind's attempts to stop monstrous creatures known as Kaiju - who entered from breaches in the Pacific Rim - from destroying the planet.

Humans created giant robots called Jaegers - designed to be piloted by two humans locked together in a neural bridge.

However, humanity's hopes relied on a washed-up ex-pilot Raleigh Becket (Charlie Hunnam) and Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba).

The new film - which is set 10 years after the original - follows Jake Pentecost (John Boyega), the son of hero Stacker who sacrificed himself to save the world, who rises up to stand against the evolved alien race Kaiju alongside a rogue Jaeger to prevent humanity's extinction.

Eastwood - whose dad is the iconic actor and filmmaker Clint Eastwood - also said he had a lot of fun shooting the film with the 'Star Wars' actor.

He said: "We had a fun time making the film. [There were] lots of jokes.

"Misery loves company, so when you're getting thrashed around in a suit that weighs 40lbs, you're forced to make light of that."

Charlie Day and Burn Gorman both also reprise their respective roles from the first movie.

Eastwood also revealed that Hunnam - who was set to reprise his role in the sequel but due to scheduling difficulties was unable to - is up for returning as well for a third movie.

The Hollywood hunk said: "Absolutely! Charlie Hunnam and I sat down and talked about this movie.

"We actually wrote an entire script with Raleigh Becket as the main character. I turned it in.

"Everybody loved it and the next day it was announced that he was doing the remake of 'Papillon', which shot at the exact same time we were, and I know it was a passion project for Charlie.

"I love Charlie. I would love to work with him. There is definitely room in the franchise to bring him back."Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release

SubCategory Select Sub-CategoryFrom the outside, the contenders in Iraqs parliamentary elections, now just weeks away, seem obvious.

The ruling Shia political groups that came to power after the fall of former Iraqi president Saddam Husseins Sunni-dominated regime in 2003 look certain to secure the majority in the next parliament.

But in the international and regional diplomatic and intelligence parlours of the Middle East, a different game is playing out.

While Iran is seeking to keep its Shia friends in power in Iraq, the United States and its Sunni Arab allies are looking to see Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar Al-Abadi retain his post and act as a bulwark against Tehrans increasing influence in the country.

However, Iraq seems certain to remain caught in the crossfire between these protagonists. Al-Abadi, meanwhile, is also believed to lack the leadership capability to deliver as much as Washington and its allies might hope.

Though the election campaigns officially start in April, the political campaigning has been in full swing for weeks now, with candidates and faction leaders crisscrossing the country appealing for votes.

No reliable opinion polls have been available, but Iraqs Iran-backed Shia militias are expected to make headway in the voting and look set to be key parts of the coming Shia governing coalition.

With concerns about a possible stalemate after the elections and political turmoil, the pressing question now is who will be Iraqs next prime minister.

Like in many parliamentary systems, there will be no official candidate for premier on the ballot papers.

The newly elected MPs of Iraqs House of Deputies will appoint whomever the largest bloc chooses for the job after the elections, and it is difficult to see anyone other than a Shia politician becoming prime minister.

A further reason for concern is that the elections remain vulnerable to foreign interference, especially by powers which feel they have stakes in Iraq and are ready to try their hands at swaying the elections.

There has already been ample evidence that Al-Abadi is a potential target for regional and international operations aiming to influence the elections.

Al-Abadi announced on 14 January that he would be leading a list called Al-Nasr, or the Victory Alliance, in the elections, describing this as a cross-sectarian list.

The declaration has pitted Al-Abadi against other Shia politicians also eyeing the post of prime minister, particularly the militia leaders who have refused to join his bloc.

The question arises of whether Al-Abadi is really Iraqs best hope for the next four years and whether he can address the aspirations of the nearly 40 million Iraqis who have been living in misery for the past 15 years.

After the elections in 2014, Al-Abadi, then deputy speaker of the parliament, became prime minister. He was chosen to replace incumbent Nouri Al-Maliki as the preferred candidate of the Shia parliamentary coalition after an attempt by Al-Maliki to secure a third term in office was turned down under US pressure.

Al-Abadi took over at a time of deep national crisis, as Islamic State (IS) militants had taken over huge swathes of central and northern Iraq.

Kurds in the northern autonomous region of the country had also embarked on a campaign of self-determination. Both conflicts were blamed on Al-Malikis corruption, incompetence and divisive policies.

After his appointment as prime minister, Al-Abadi promised to change the tone of the government left behind by Al-Maliki and pledged to take the war-torn nation onto a new path of stability and reform.

He presented a six-point programme to the Iraqi parliament to beat back IS and suggested a wide-ranging development plan that included fighting corruption and rebuilding Iraqs ailing public infrastructure.

The US Obama administration, which had ordered the US troop withdrawal from Iraq in 2010 and feared a backlash after the rise of IS, blamed Al-Maliki for the chaos in the country and gave its full backing to Al-Abadi.

Among the lavish descriptions heaped upon Al-Abadi by the US at the time were the epithets moderate, clever, a politician by background, attractive abroad, very engaging, articulate and direct.

He was praised for holding a PhD from the University of Manchester in the UK and for having worked as an industry adviser in the UK.

One of the most-mentioned skills on Al-Abadis resume was that he had been in charge of the company servicing the lifts at the BBCs Bush House in London, at the time the home of the BBC World Service.

The four years of Al-Abadis premiership, however, were marked by the continuous political and sectarian conflicts that had started with the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

However, some good things happened during Al-Abadis period in office, notably regarding IS and the separatism in Iraqi Kurdistan.

The Iraqi security forces succeeded in driving IS terrorists out from the Iraqi cities they had seized in 2014 and had held for more than three years.

They also confronted the Kurdistan Regions attempts to break away from the rest of Iraq and retook control of territory claimed by its government.

However, these remain shaky victories, and they cannot be the only way for Al-Abadi to get enough votes to keep him in office as many supporters might hope.

The absence of far-reaching reforms under his premiership means that Iraq continues in the rut created during 15 years of impotent rule.

Corruption has remained a key problem under Al-Abadis rule, and the countrys oil industry is one of the most corrupt sectors in Iraq. The international NGO Transparency International last month named Iraq once again as one of the most corrupt countries in the world.

Last month, Al-Abadi failed to secure badly needed aid for reconstruction in Iraq and to restore basic services after donors meeting in Kuwait voiced concerns about widespread corruption in his government and about its inefficiency.

Security remains precarious as IS militants continue to carry out attacks on the countrys security forces, and militias and tribesmen take the law into their own hands in many parts of Iraq.

Al-Abadi has also failed to rebuild trust between the Iraqi government and the countrys Kurds after the botched Iraqi Kurdistan referendum on self-determination in September.

Iraqs 2018 budget, which imposes strict austerity measures, was only passed by a divided parliament this month, and it still has not been ratified by the president. It was rejected by the International Monetary Fund, which oversees Iraqs financial performance.

As Al-Abadi completes his term in office in May, he continues to disappoint. Iraqs stability remains shabby, its path to the future unclear, and efforts to rectify these conditions remain too small to matter.

With Iran-backed militias forming one of the biggest blocs competing in the upcoming elections amid expectations that they will win, Al-Abadi will most certainly need the support of the militias to win a second term.

This means that Al-Abadi will be at the mercy of the militias and their Iranian backers in order to govern.

However, US pundits continue to push myopically for Al-Abadis re-election, billing him as Washingtons man in Baghdad and an Iraqi nationalist who can reconcile Iraqs ethnic and religious communities after the victories against IS.

It is no longer a secret that Washingtons main goal in supporting Al-Abadis re-election is that it believes he can work with the United States to counter Irans influence in the country.

However, this is a gross miscalculation, if not an act of pure stupidity. Even with a sizable American troop presence in the country, thousands of contractors and huge political, economic and oil assets, the United States cannot be a match for Iran in Iraq.

Such an eventuality will pit the United States and Iran against each other in a high-stakes game that could evolve into direct conflict between Iranian proxy forces and American troops stationed in Iraq with unpredictable results.

Even Al-Abadi is aware of his vulnerability. In an interview with the US Time magazine last week, he pleaded with Tehran and Washington not to turn his country into a battlefield in any proxy conflict.

Keep your differences away from Iraq, he pleaded.

*This story was first published in Al-Ahram Weekly

Short link:

LONDON (dpa-AFX) - The Russian government has decided to oust 23 British diplomats within a week, after the UK government had blamed Moscow over a nerve agent attack against ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury. Russia has also decided to shut the British Council in Russia and would cancel permission for Britain to open a general consulate in St Petersburg. The announcement came after talks with British ambassador Laurie Bristo on Saturday. Russia's foreign ministry also warned Britain that it would introduce other retaliatory measures if further unfriendly actions are taken towards them. The move came four days after the U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May announced the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats from Britain, as it failed to give explanation for the poisoning attack within the deadline. Russia has continued to deny involvement in the March 4 attack, when Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found collapsed after being poisoned in Salisbury city centre. 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.Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman on Saturday said India has marched even countries like Japan and the progress it has achieved is 30 years is extraordinary.

Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman on Saturday said India has marched ahead of countries like Japan and the progress it has achieved is 30 years is extraordinary. However, the government should not have a 'heavy hand' on economy, Krugman said, implying that the economy should open more in favour of private sector. The Nobel laureate was speaking at the News18 Rising India Summit about "Rising India, the view from afar".

Touching upon government control, Paul Krugman said: India was famous for License Raj, where bureaucratic obstacles were immense. I'm on the centre-left, but I don't think the government should have a heavy hand on economy. India has become a much easier place to do business. The prime minister said India moved from 148 to 100 in the rankings. That's not a badge of distinction, but it's better. The transformation of policy came at a good time. India opened up at the right time. It was witnessing changes on policy elsewhere. And policymakers were aware of opportunities, and that the world was becoming a friendly place for development.

Krugman noted that the nature of India's export boom has been less conspicuous in its disruption, which is good for the country. What's responsible and can it continue-- clearly a dramatic change in inward looking policy. A large share of GDP has moved to becoming an open economy. Tariffs reduced dramatically. Liberalisation within the domestic market," Krugman said.

Making comparison between the economies of China and India, the Nobel Laureate said that people often talk about China, but India is part of this story as well. India is still poor, but not in the same level at all. Indian GDP per capita is 12 percent of the US now, which sounds low but is up from 4 percent. India has the same per capita income that Japan did in the 1960s. And that country made a full transformation, he says. Krugman was hopeful that in a few decades India would be counted among developed countries like Japan. He, however, pointed out to the high income inequality in India.

Krugman made a comparison between the Indian growth story and that of Great Britain, which colonized India for around 200 years. What Great Britain achieved in 150 years, India managed in just 30. The progress is extraordinary. This is a very big country, which people at some level have not fully noticed. It has overtaken Japan and is only behind US and China, and is far ahead of any European country. This is a super power."

Elaborating his concerns on the Indian economy, the economist said there was a widely observed concern of the middle income track. Calling it the limit of successes, Krugman said, "Its not hard to see that India needs institutional progress. India is potentially susceptible to this middle income track," adding that advanced countries are troubled economies and a mess.

He also said that while the US has overcome recession, Europe has not fully recovered. "This open world trading system is now a threat. Populism is on the rise globally, and there is a backlash against the global system," he added.

The Nobel laureate also listed out three reasons why he is optimistic about India's growth. He first mentioned India's large population and their qualifications. "India does have a lot of smart people. There is a clearly a cultural reservoir of creativity and entrepreneurship. The widespread fluency of English is important. It matters a lot how many people of working age you have. Japan couldn't become an economic superpower because of demography. China is starting to look like that. Its working age population has peaked and will go down. It cannot continue to grow at the pace it did," he said, adding that India's working age population is projected to grow substantially and surpass China in a few years. However, he also noted that it is crucial for India to generate enough jobs for the workforce.

The second reason Krugman provided is that India is still quite poor and far behind cutting edge technology. "That's not a good thing, but that gives the opportunity to catch up," he said.

Third, the economist outlined India's distinct role in the global trade. "Up till India's rise, all success stories were based on manufacturing. India does need to do more of that, but showed large-scale export of services," he said while adding that the technology to set up manufacturing have been exploited. He also said that the globalisation of service trade is perhaps the future. "India has the first mover advantage here. We don't know if this can provide employment on the scale India needs, but India has the advantage of those returning from the Silicon Valley to set up business here," Krugman elaborated.

Asked about protectionism in US under President Donald Trump, Krugman said he was less optimistic as there are greater chances for a riskier year. "Until two weeks ago, I was optimistic because US businesses are invested in the global economy. There is an enormous amount of fiscal capital and jobs are dependent on these value chains. I had assumed the influence of these business communities would work. I am less optimistic now. There are more chances now of a riskier year," he said at the summit.

Commenting on China, Krugman said that Xi Jinping's reappointed as president is a huge disappointment for global optimists. "China is moving backwards to strong man rule. It is a financial crisis waiting to happen," he said. He explained that the Chinese economy was "wildly unbalanced" with "sharply diminishing returns to investments and a credit bubble" and that it was all going to crash someday. "China is sustaining itself with a credit bubble that is waiting to burst, however long it takes," he said.

Before the session closed, Krugman shared that he felt Trump as US president didn't take his job seriously. "He doesn't do his homework. He hires people who make him feel good and that's a frightening prospect," he said.

Krugman also added that Trump was trying to make America a heavy industrial economy like it was when he was young, which could have disastrous effects on the US economy. "In doing so now, will prove destructive for the US economy," he said.There is regulatory overkill in the Indian banking sector because private banks will keep lending, but central banks are still holding assets

India has a skewed banking system with public sector banks holding two-third of the total assets which doesnt augur well for an ambitious economy. Stating this at the News18 Rising India summit in New Delhi, Ruchir Sharma, chief global strategist of Morgan Stanley Investment management said: "This is choking the Indian banking sector. There is regulatory overkill in the Indian banking sector because private banks will keep lending, but central banks are still holding assets.

Talking to CNBC TV-18s Shereen Bhan, Sharma said despite crony capitalism, for him personally, India as a country has been forever rising. Elaborating, he said, the highest number of quality companies in the world are in India. Over the last 5 years, at least 70 companies in India with a turnover of over a billion dollars have doubled their value despite crony capitalism, he said. |The biggest cliche in the world is that easy money has already been made. I think there is always money to be made. I see enough opportunity in Indian markets. There are good quality companies, he reiterated.

Sharma voted for decentralisation of power and said that was the best hope India has. There has to be more decentralisation of power. Much more power needs to be given to the states. That's the best hope for India, he said.

However, what was of serious cause and concern for the strategist was the leaving of millionaires from the country, which he said was the highest in the world. He shared some statistics: 23,000 millionaires have left the country since 2014. Last year the number was 7,000 and the year before it was 4,000 millionaires, he said. What Sharma was driving home was that India needed its people to invest here. Else, it affects domestic markets, he said.

Talking about manufacturing, Sharma believed low-end manufacturing would spur growth. We are now in an era of de-globalisation. It is now difficult to export your way to prosperity. Now we need to move to low-end manufacturing with low input costs. We didnt quite miss the bus on manufacturing growth. We have lost time.

He gave a mixed outlook on global growth thought. Nobody in the global economy is growing above 8 percent. We are the fastest growing economy. Thats a great marketing tag. But 8-10 percent growth is difficult because the global climate has changed. Its unlikely for India to get there," he said.

Sharma touched upon the stock markets and said there was urgent need to delink markets from elections. The importance of politics is way exaggerated. I feel we should not draw results about markets from elections. Polls and bypolls dont affect markets. It is fascinating to track politics, but economics has its own story." he said.

He had a word of advice for politicians: "Politicians should put in more thought about why they lose elections. Winning an election has become business. Most political funding is private. So the end result is how one makes maximum returns from the investment", he said.The recent backlash over party convener Arvind Kejriwal's apology to Biram Singh Majithia shows that the damage inflicted to the party could be irreparable in Punjab

The recent backlash from the Punjab unit of Aam Aadmi Party over Arvind Kejriwal's apology letter to Biram Singh Majithia shows that the damage inflicted to the party could be irreparable in Punjab. AAP had managed to win as many as 20 MLAs in the Punjab Assembly elections held in 2017.

A day after Arvind Kejriwal tendered apology over his comment on Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikramjit Singh Majithia, Bhagwant Mann the AAP president in Punjab resigned from his post.

Kejriwal on Thursday had tendered an apology for his statements made against Majithia last year, in an Amritsar court. In his written apology letter Kejriwal maintained, In the recent past I made certain statements and allegations against you regarding your alleged involvement in drug trade. These statements became a political issue. Now, I have learnt that (those) allegations are unfounded. Hence there should be no politics on such issues."

During the Assembly polls held last year, Kejriwal while addressing a public gathering accused Majithia of leading a drug cartel.

The apology letter was reportedly issued on account of a strategy devised by the AAP legal team to get rid of the defamation cases filed against the party and its leaders.

The party is also considering reaching out to Union ministers Arun Jaitley and Nitin Gadkari, who had taken AAP leaders to court for libel, reported NDTV.

Though Mann did not cite the reason behind his resignation, his tweet was loaded with resentment.

I'm resigning as a president of AAP Punjab... but my fight against drug mafia and all kind of corruption in Punjab will continue as an 'Aam Aadmi' of Punjab, he tweeted.

              ..

I m resigning as a president of AAP Punjab ...but my fight against drug mafia and all kind of corruption in Punjab will continue as an Aam Aadmi  of Punjab  Bhagwant Mann (@BhagwantMann) March 16, 2018

Mann is not the only AAP leader in Punjab who is left displeased with Kejriwals apology to their political rivals. Another leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira vented his misgivings in a tweet by saying that the apology was a meek surrender.

He tweeted:

Were appalled n stunned by the apology of @ArvindKejriwal tendered today,we dont hesitate to admit that we havent been consulted on this meek surrender by a leader of his stature-khaira @ZeeNews @CNNnews18 @thetribunechd @HTPunjab @PTC_Network @JagbaniOnline @dailyajitnews  Sukhpal Singh Khaira (@SukhpalKhaira) March 15, 2018

The adverse reactions from AAP leaders in Punjab over Kejriwals U-turn from the allegations that the Delhi chief minister had made against his political rivals, is understandable. In fact, these were the allegations on which AAP relied on to get closer to voters in Punjab in the last election campaign. Kejriwals apology has deprived the party of a major issue to bank on.

On the same light, Kejriwals apology also comes as an embarrassment for the party leaders who, toeing his line, earlier endorsed the same allegations and reaped political mileage out of them. Kejriwals apology is likely to leave them faceless in their respective constituencies.

The recent turn of events has not only proved the allegations against Kejriwal true  that he has been relying his politics on a strategy as frivolous as shoot and scoot  but also proved that his strategy is counter-productive.

Kejriwal has long been accused of delivering irresponsible comments against his opponents. In 2014, Captain GR Gopinath resigned from the party accusing Kejriwal of 'shooting and scooting'.

"It's one thing to gossip about it in private but when one holds a responsible position as the head of a political party, one has to take responsibility and not, as someone described it, indulge in shoot and scoot politics, denigrating people's reputation, however credible the rumours may seem and however tempting the chance to score brownie points or capture media attention and public sympathy as a crusader against corruption," Gopinath said in one of his blog.

The recent row makes these allegations seem true.

The ripples of Kejriwal's apology is likely to have a pan-India impact. For it poses a credibility crisis for Kejriwal, whose words from now onwards will be taken with a pinch of salt by the public.

Kejriwal who rose from an anti-corruption movement had a certain reliability amongst the public. He is now likely to be seen as having misused it. Such distrust will only hamstring the partys future moves.At a recent counter-terrorism conference by a prestigious think tank in India, a dissonance emerged in perceptions on exactly who was the enemy and what had to fought.

A recent counter-terrorism conference by a prestigious think tank brought together experts and officials from nearly 30 countries, including most of our neighbours. Pakistani analysts chose to remain absent, which was expected, since the debate on international terrorism was obviously likely to focus considerably on the machinations of that countrys uniformed elite.

For a country that focuses so much on terrorism in terms of its global outreach and public diplomacy, India has hosted relatively few such events in the past, barring an earlier conference by the same think tank in 2016. To that extent, the focus on the subject was welcome. The fact that the conference proceedings were divided into interesting segments, including how to deal with ideological challenges was equally commendable. While there were many areas of agreement between the participants  including that international cooperation was simply not good enough to defeat a monster that itself had no difficulties in cooperating with a variety of criminal elements  what was also apparent was a dissonance in perceptions on exactly who was the enemy and what had to fought.

For countries from the West, the threat was primarily from the Islamic State, which is understandable, given that the group continues to pose a threat to much of Europe and the United States. Dealing with the threat has also raised tensions between the US and Russia, but thats another story. The threat from the presence of Islamic State elements in Afghanistan formed a major part of their worry, and that was where opinions differed.

To the West, Islamic State has to be pursued to the death, wherever it may be hiding, which is a desirable and necessary objective. For India however, armed with far more data and information, the Islamic State in Afghanistan is more a creature of the Pakistani intelligence forces than a force in itself. There is enough information to point to the fact that the group is the third iteration in the saga of Pakistan-backed terrorists  following the mujahideen in the 1980s and the Taliban thereafter. For one, the Islamic State in Afghanistan has murdered and attacked the Shias and burnt down Sufi shrines in an effort to create and bedrock its identity, forgetting that Afghanistan has hardly ever been known for sectarian violence. In November 2015, for example, one of the largest processions of Hazaras who are overwhelmingly Shia, protested attacks on women and children from their community, a demand which was received sympathetically by ordinary Afghans. Second, the Islamic State has no perceptible leadership, whether from Afghanistan or from outside the country. Third, its claims on attacks are questionable to say the least, even though that could be changing to an extent. The eagerness of western agencies to wipe out Islamic State is exploited by the Pakistanis to the full. Today, foreign intelligence agencies who want precise information on the outfit have to deal with the Taliban, the Pakistanis or both. That kind of crooked logic is difficult for western terrorism experts to understand, notwithstanding the passionate arguments by the Indians and the Afghans.

Also apparent was a severe cultural difference in how countries assess terrorism. An example was the welcoming by a western analyst, of the emergence of the Milli Muslim League  the political front of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa  as an example of Pakistans efforts at counter-terrorism in drawing in major groups. To stable European democracies, entering politics means an acceptance of some democratic norms and rules of behaviour within a Parliament that is almost sacrosanct. That there are no such norms or expectations in Pakistan is something that eludes them. Neither does it seem to occur to them that the entry of an extremist group into Parliament would further hamstring already weak-kneed democratic forces in the country. This is not due to any lack of knowledge. Its just a vast gap in an emotional understanding of the realities of the subcontinent.

Then there is the elephant in the room, which is that of State support for terrorists. There is enough historical evidence to show that successful terrorist groups are those which have received state support at some point. It is also true that terrorists are often able to replicate this support by using organised crime networks. But heres the thing. State intelligence agencies keep a very sharp eye on their own criminal networks and if their activities are sharply anti-national security, they retain the ability to step in. That they dont, is another example of quiet support. Over the years, there has been clear evidence that sections of the Islamic state have received assistance in the form of weapons and money. That is almost never talked about. The same goes for Pakistani state support for terrorists. Indians see it as obvious. Not everyone else does.

The problem of presenting a convincing counter-terrorism argument is made worse by the fact that Indian academics rely on strong language, rather than factual data that can credibly show the Pakistani role in abetting international terror, and not just terror within India. There is no database in any university that is comparable, for instance, to the University of Marylands Global Terrorism Database that includes the details of all major terrorist incidents, including those in central India. Existing efforts by some institutions, while commendable, are far from being able to provide the kind of data that is so vital in influencing a debate. The fact that most Indians will use ready made data based offered by a multiplicity of foreign sources is unfortunate, but true.

Indian think tanks should certainly host more such conferences, where our views on terrorism can be aired effectively. The operative word however is effective, and this requires carefully nurturing expertise in the field, which requires both patience and money. The Rashtriya Swayemsevak Sangh is right in extolling India as one of the great sites of learning in the world during earlier times. The challenge is how to turn back in that direction, instead of receding into a dubious purveyor of uncertain knowledge in a field that is so important to us.

The author, who was formerly in the National Security Council Secretariat, tweets @karthataraA special CBI court has deferred till 19 March the judgment against former Bihar chief ministers Lalu Prasad Yadav and Jagannath Mishra in the fourth fodder scam.

Ranchi: A special CBI court has deferred till 19 March the judgment against former Bihar chief ministers Lalu Prasad Yadav and Jagannath Mishra in the fourth fodder scam case pertaining to alleged withdrawal of Rs 3.13 crore from the Dumka treasury over two decades ago, a lawyer said on Saturday.

This is the second time that the verdict in the case has been postponed, RJD chief Prasad's counsel Prabhat Kumar said.

The court of special judge Shiv Pal Singh had fixed saturday as the date for the pronouncement of the order, he said.

The special CBI judge is on a training programme. The judgement will be pronounced on 19 March, the lawyer said.

The court had postponed the verdict on 15 March till the next day in view of a petition being filed on behalf of Prasad seeking three officials in the office of the accountant general in the 1990s be made a party to the case, according to Kumar.

Besides Prasad and Mishra, 29 others are accused, including former IAS and animal husbandry department officials, in the Dumka treasury case.

The 69-year-old RJD chief has been in Birsa Munda jail at Ranchi since 23 December last year after being convicted in the second fodder scam case pertaining to illegal withdrawal of Rs 89.27 lakh from the Deogarh treasury 21 years ago.

On 6 January this year, the CBI court judge had sentenced Prasad to three-and-a-half years in jail and imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh on him in the Deoghar treasury case.

The CBI court had on 24 January this year sentenced Prasad and Mishra to five years in jail in a fodder scam case in connection with fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 37.62 crore from the Chaibasa treasury.

In 2013, Prasad was convicted in the first fodder scam case involving withdrawal of Rs 37.7 crore from the Chaibasa treasury and sentenced to five years in jail while Mishra was given a prison term of four years.

Prasad has already been convicted in three fodder cases while Mishra was convicted in two cases.

The fifth case relating to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 139 crore from the Doranda treasury in Ranchi is pending with the court.

The over Rs 900-crore fodder scam cases relate to illegal withdrawal of money from government treasuries in different districts of the animal husbandry department in undivided Bihar in 1990s when the RJD was in power in the state and Prasad was the chief minister.The editor-in-chief of The Tribune, Harish Khare, resigned from his post on Thursday, according to media reports.

The editor-in-chief of The Tribune, Harish Khare, resigned from his post on Thursday, according to media reports. His term was to end in May this year.

According to The Print, Khare made the announcement during Thursday's morning meeting with senior members of The Tribune staff. KV Prasad, head of the Delhi bureau of The Tribune, is expected to take over as officiating editor, the report added.

Media adviser to former prime minister Manmohan Singh between 2009 and 2012, Khare had joined The Tribune in 2015. He had earlier worked with Hindustan Times and Times of India and later with The Hindu in Delhi as its national bureau chief.

Though he stated no reasons for his resignation, sources in the newspaper told The Wire that the interventionism of the trustees in the face of growing pressure from the government on the Aadhaar story and other issues had likely prompted his exit.

In January this year, a news report by The Tribune claimed a breach in Aadhaar data. The report claimed that it took just Rs 500 and 10 minutes for the newspaper to get an access through an "agent" to every detail of any individual submitted to the UIDAI, including name, address, postal code (PIN), photo, phone number and email.

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) denied breach or leak of Aadhaar data and registered an FIR against the news daily and journalist Rachna Khaira.

"The Aadhaar data, including biometric information, is fully safe and secure," the UDIAI had said in a statement, calling the report in The Tribune "a case of misreporting".

With inputs from agenciesThe Karnataka BJP, ahead of the Assembly polls, would organise a statewide campaign from 21 March in support of farmers' cause and pledging justice for them if the party comes to power in the state.

Bengaluru: The Karnataka BJP, ahead of the Assembly polls, would organise a statewide campaign from 21 March in support of farmers' cause and pledged justice for them if the party comes to power in the state.

During the 'Mushti Dhanya Sangraha Abhiyana', a door-to-door campaign, party workers will collect a handful of grainsfrom farmers, while assuring them of policy decisions that will ensure their welfare, in return.

"In all villages our workers will go door-to-door and collect a handful of grains, maybe rice, maize or ragi," Union minister and BJP in-charge of Karnataka Prakash Javadekar told reporters.

"In return, we will give a letter to farmers by BS Yeddyurappa (BJP state president) asking them not to commit suicide and assuring them that once the the BJP government comes to power, we will ensure that no farmer dies in the state," he said.

Pointing out that more than 3,500 farmers have committed suicide during the present Congress government in Karnataka, he said,"We will promise to ensure complete justice to farmers."

"During the conclusion of the campaign... 8, 9, or 10 April, depending on convenience, in each Assembly constituency there would be samohik bojan (mass meal) with farmers and non-farmers where a pledge will be taken to create an administration and take policy decisions to ensure welfare and interest of farmers," he said.

The grains collected from farmers would be used during the samohik bojan.

Mushti Dhanya Sangraha Abhina was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Davangere last month.

BJP has already mobilised 6,000 Mushti Dhanya Abhina in-charges for the purpose.

Assembly elections in Karnataka are likely to be held in April or May.

Accusing the Congress of being "completely anti-farmer," Javadekar said they have ruined farmers by following a "deliberate" policy of not paying remunerative prices for their produce.

"Undeclared policy of Congress has always remained not to give farmer his due... Farmers at local and national level have been harassed by the Congress," he said.

On the demand by farmers in Karnataka for waiving off their loans taken from nationalised banks, Javadekar said the Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra governments have paid on behalf of farmers, while the Karnataka government had failed to do so.

Asked whether BJP would waive farmers' loans once it comes to power in Karnataka, he said "our manifesto will tell."Former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav has been brought to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RMS) in Ranchi after complaining of health issues.

Former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav has been brought to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi after complaining of health issues, according to reports.

Jharkhand: Lalu Yadav brought to RIMS Hospital in Ranchi after he complained of health issues. (file pic) pic.twitter.com/9Ty2i2Av4I  ANI (@ANI) March 17, 2018

Meanwhile, the date of verdict in a fourth fodder scam case relating to the alleged withdrawal of Rs 3.13 crore from the Dumka treasury over two decades ago against Lalu Prasad and Jagannath Mishra has been deferred to 19 March, ANI reported. The special CBI court had earlier fixed Saturday as the date of pronouncement of judgement.

The court had postponed the judgement on Thursday as well in view of Lalu Prasad's counsel filing a petition under Section 319 of CrPC seeking that three officials of the Accountant General (in the 1990s) be made a party to the case.

Apart from Prasad and Mishra, 29 others including former IAS officers and animal husbandry officials are accused in the Dumka treasury case.

Prasad had already been convicted in three fodder cases while Mishra was convicted in two fodder cases.

A special CBI court on 24 January sentenced Lalu Prasad and Jagannath Mishra to five years in jail in a fodder scam case related to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 37.62 crore from the Chaibasa treasury.

On 6 January, a special CBI court had sentenced Prasad to three-and-a-half years in jail and fined him Rs 10 lakh in a fodder scam case relating to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 89.27 lakh from the Deoghar treasury 21 years ago.

Prasad has been lodged in the Birsa Munda jail at Ranchi since 23 December last year after being convicted in the second case pertaining to illegal withdrawal of money from the Deoghar treasury.

With inputs from PTIIndia and China's geopolitical rivalry is an inescapable reality. Even so, continued engagement is the best way to manage differences.

On the day he was "elected" as China's president for life, news has emerged of a possible one-to-one between Xi Jinping and Narendra Modi as Asia's rival powers show a willingness to reset bilateral ties beyond the recent frostiness. If and when the meeting does take place, it will be the culmination of a carefully orchestrated pirouette between both sides, though at this stage the outcome of this effort isn't clear. In fact, reset might be too strong a word to be used in this context when all signals point to a little more diplomatic fluidity in ties from current codified positions.

Quoting diplomatic sources, Hindustan Times reports that the meeting could take place in June or even April and is likely to be a "face-to-face discussion" with only interpreters in attendance to build on the "convergences" and address "differences in a way that helps the relationship go forward." The informal format is expected to "help the leaders to exchange their views more freely and frankly."

Though there might appear a certain 'shock value' to the development in the context of recent friction between both sides, that Xi and Modi may meet isn't surprising. A series of events in recent past have led towards such an eventuality. If we are to take a starting point, a coincidental development could be veteran China hand Vijay Gokhale taking over as the foreign secretary. This isn't to say that India has adopted a sudden change in policy, but a greater willingness to re-engage with China is clear.

The first such signal came in February when both countries entered into a quid pro quo arrangement over Pakistan's blacklisting at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) plenary in Paris. Reports of backroom dealing emerged that pointed towards Indian support for China's elevation as the "vice-chair" of the global terror financing watchdog (with a provision for eventually heading the body) in exchange for Beijing's "neutrality" to the motion moved by the US and its allies to put Pakistan back into the terror-financing "grey list".

The motion was moved and Pakistan  to its shock and chagrin at having being let down by "iron brother"  was put into the doghouse. India's reaction left little space for doubt that it was a coordinated effort.

Congratulations to China on its election as Vice President of Financial Action Task Force at the #FATF plenary mtg. on 23 February 2018. We remain hopeful that China would uphold & support the objectives & standards of FATF in a balanced, objective, impartial & holistic way.  Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) February 25, 2018

The second marker came when foreign secretary Gokhale asked government functionaries and senior ruling party leaders to skip the "thank you India" programme in the capital organised by the Tibetan-leadership-in-exile owing to a "very sensitive time in India-China relations".

The twin events (also an inter-faith prayer), to mark the Dalai Lama's 60th year in exile after a failed uprising against China's occupation of Tibet, were eventually shifted from Delhi to Dharamsala. Finally, both events (scheduled to be held on 31 March) were shifted again to a temple in McLeodganj.

From India's side, the sequence was revealing and the signals clear. Almost a year since India had allowed the Dalai Lama to visit the Tawang monastery in Arunachal Pradesh  a development that is speculated to have contributed towards the standoff in Doklam  New Delhi has now impressed upon the Tibetan leadership to tone down events that may be perceived in Beijing as "provocative". While India evidently travelled quite a distance to cater to China's "sensitivities", were its overtures reciprocated?

A reading of the tea leaves suggests that it was. Around this time, China's foreign ministry started suggesting that it would be better for the dragon and elephant to "dance together" instead of positioning themselves for a fight. On 8 March in Beijing during a press briefing, foreign minister Wang Yi said: "Chinese and Indian leaders have developed a strategic vision for the future of our relations. The Chinese dragon and the Indian elephant must not fight each other but dance with each other If China and India are united, one plus one will become not only two but also 11."

The usual references to mountains and depths of relationship followed, given Chinese leadership's penchant for liberal use of rhetoric. "With political trust, not even the Himalayas can stop us from friendly exchanges," said Wang. He went on to claim that "China is willing and ready to inherit and take forward our traditional friendship and be a friend and partner of the Indian people," and ended with a flourish. "Let us replace suspicion with trust, manage differences with dialogue and build a future with cooperation."

By no stretch of imagination should Wang's words be construed as a signal to recast bilateral ties that are irreversibly set within the parameters of fierce competition in diverse areas. Rather, they are an attempt at reengaging with India, so as to not let the relationship fall in a state of permanent disrepair. While the power differential puts China at an advantage vis-a-vis India in context of a conflict, the cost of such friction for Beijing is higher than is generally acknowledged given the size, potential and integration of Indian market with Chinese economy. More than the rhetoric (which is not to be taken seriously) Wang's stress on a dialogue is important.

On cue, Chinese media  which is now more tightly integrated with the party than ever )  started publishing placatory, even flattering pieces on India in a marked departure from its usual aggressive tone.

One such recent piece in the notoriously belligerent Global Times waxed eloquent on how Chinese public are embracing yoga and Bollywood en masse and how Beijing could learn a thing or two from India's "culture export". These steps are not coincidental. Chinese leadership uses state-controlled media as an arm of realpolitik and it is quite clear that quite a lot of choreographed signaling is going on. We have been told that Sushma Swaraj is going to China on 24 April for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) foreign ministers meet (where she may even have a one-on-one with her counterpart Wang) and she might be followed by defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman soon after.

This does not mean that China will wind down its helipads and other martial infrastructure in Doklam, or that both countries will withdraw their naval assets from forward positions in Indo-Pacific but the recalibration of stances, high-level visits that may culminate with a Modi-Xi meet, are designed to build some confidence measures and stay engaged in dialogue.

The moot question is whether we may expect any far or near outcome from this renewed engagement. Such chances are practically nil, given the shortage of political space for any meaningful negotiation in areas of differences. It might seem that Modi, as the elected leader of a democracy, has less room to take politically controversial decisions than the autocratic Xi but in reality, Mao Zedong 2.0 suffers from massive insecurities that are inbuilt in autocracy.

India and China's geopolitical rivalry is an inescapable reality that these engagements won't be able to solve. Even so, continued engagement is the best way to manage differences that won't be in short supply.An explosion Tuesday morning in the Gaza Strip targeted the convoy of Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah. Minutes later, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused the Islamist resistance group Hamas of being responsible for the incident.

President Abbass office said the explosion targeted Mr Hamdallah and the head of intelligence, Majed Faraj  both senior members of Fatah. Hamas called the attack an ugly crime and said it had launched an investigation. Hamdallah was unharmed.

According to witnesses, a passenger on a motorbike threw an explosive device at the last car in the prime ministers convoy shortly after it entered Gaza through the Erez Crossing with Israel.

Meanwhile, the Gaza Strip is suffering unprecedented economic conditions. Unemployment rates soar at 40 per cent among youth and 62 per cent of families live below the poverty line. Both threaten unpredictable repercussions.

Observers and analysts believe stunted conciliation between Fatah and Hamas (which would partially ease hardship) is making the situation worse, especially since the Jerusalem issue is adding pressure to an already very volatile situation after US President Donald Trump announced he will relocate the US embassy to Jerusalem on 14 May, the day marking the 70th anniversary of Israels creation.

The Palestinian street reacted with anger to the announcement, and widespread Palestinian protests are anticipated, the largest being at the wall between Israel and the Gaza Strip.

This could cause a serious security problem for Israel, which is why it is allowing visits by officials from the West Bank to Gaza, to help reach a deal with Gazans, under Egyptian auspices, that defuses the anger and prevents further escalation despite Qatars attempts to fund secession between Gaza and the West Bank.

IMF data shows that the Palestinian economy is on the verge of collapse. Karen Ongley, leader of the IMF mission to the West Bank, said last month that deteriorating economic conditions are due to the stalemate in the peace process and political tensions.

The IMFs report last year noted that the Palestinian economy is close to inertia, and that Gaza is on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe.

Adnan Abu Amer, an expert on Israeli affairs, said that some are counting on Palestinian conciliation to bring in international support and large Arab funding to rebuild the Gaza Strip and revive the economy after the siege is lifted.

Abu Amer continued that this support would save the national economy from collapse and the Gaza Strip from exploding, but cautioned that prospects are bleak since conciliation is moving very slowly.

Azzam Al-Ahmed, leader of Fatahs conciliation and national relations delegation, concurred.

So far, Egyptian efforts have failed to end quarrels between the two sides, despite an urgent visit by an Egyptian security delegation to the Gaza Strip and consecutive trips by Hamas and Fatah members to Egypt.

Hamas still controls Gaza, sanctions by the Palestinian Authority (PA) against Gaza remain in place, and conciliation does not to exist on the ground.

Meanwhile, it is unlikely there will be a breakthrough in the peace process with Israel any time soon, even if Binyamin Netanyahu were to resign as prime minister of Israel and early elections held, since opinion polls show no changes in Israels political map.

No political miracle is on the horizon, neither in Israel where the opposition is rudderless, nor in the international community led by the Trump administration.

Trump has shown his disregard for the rights of the Palestinians, undermining a just settlement and two-state solution.

Economic analyst Nasr Abdel-Karim, professor at the Arab American University in Ramallah, said that revisiting inter-Palestinian conciliation gives a glimmer of hope amid Gazas gloom.

Five months ago, there was talk about an imminent merge, the return of the PA to Gaza, and Hamas dissolving the Administrative Committee.

But steps towards conciliation remain shaky and there is debate about the governments mandate. A portion of the 2018 budget for Gaza hinges on the government taking control in Gaza.

Abdel-Karim warned about the slow pace of conciliation, saying it is harmful because it confuses citizens because of perpetual controversy, tensions, polarisation and increasing negativity, which leads to rejection not only of the government but also the PA.

Some citizens believe the government wants to take advantage of the Gaza Strip more than serve the people.

They cite increasing taxes going to the PA in Ramallah through formal trade with Israel and that taxes are higher than previously agreed, allowing the West Bank to benefit from the Gaza Strip. This claim is surrounded by many rumours.

Abdel-Karim believes if a timeline is reached for applying conciliation mechanisms, even if it takes some time, Gazans will begin to feel they are on the right track.

Even if the timeline extends for several months, he said, that is not a problem as long as we know that in the end it will lead us out of this dark tunnel. He added that the 11-year rift cannot be eliminated in one day.

The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) warned against rising crime rates in Gaza, including homicide.

Suicides have also increased, along with illegal migration. Conditions worsen by the day as Israels unjust siege continues, PA sanctions remain in place, and Hamas collects taxes from Gazans.

We cannot remain silent about the catastrophic and painful conditions in Gaza resulting from high levels of poverty, unemployment, hunger, lack of food security, power disruptions, scarce water, prohibitively high prices and high taxes, stated the DFLP.

Also, there are substandard health services, education problems, scarce construction materials, deplorable economic and social conditions, and limitations and violations of democratic freedoms. This warns of a mass explosion which primarily falls on the shoulders of Israeli occupation, followed by the consensus government which is procrastinating on taking over control in Gaza, and Hamas which is in charge of managing Gaza.

The DFLP added that inter-Palestinian division is a crime against the Palestinian people which has made the Israeli siege of Gaza Strip worse and compounded desperate living conditions there. It also warned that crises are being managed rather than resolved.

The DFLP called on the national consensus government to take over Gaza and end the humanitarian and living crisis by adopting an emergency national plan. It called on the government to shoulder its responsibilities, meet the needs and interests of the people, and end punitive measures.

It should also find solutions for problems facing university graduates, high rates of poverty, unemployment, water problems, sewage problems, electricity cuts and abysmal economic and social conditions.

It is noteworthy that Hamass control of Gaza was a pretext for many countries not become involved in reconstruction projects or reviving the Gazan economy.

Foreign aid and relief for the Gaza Strip declined as Israel maintained a stranglehold through the siege, and amid stiff restrictions on the movement of goods, raw materials, people and trade.

*This story was first published in Al-Ahram Weekly

Short link:

Dealing with China, which has a much bigger economy and military, has always remained a challenge for India from time to time.

From a posturing China to a terror-mongering Pakistan, unless India gets its issues settled in the immediate neighbourhood, the road ahead is going to be a tough one for the country. This was the message that came out of the session titled 'India and the World' at the 'News18 Rising India Summit' in New Delhi on Saturday.

"The challenge for India and China is how to make certain they manage their relationship in a way you don't eliminate all points of contention. Over the last 15 years or so, both India and China have managed to keep their relationship on an even keel," said former foreign secretary Shyam Saran, among the participants in the discussion.

"While India is rising, China is rising too. But the reality is that the gap between the two countries is also rising. The challenge for India is how can it manage and shrink that asymmetry. With respect to the network of relationships we are building around the world, the focus has to be in the neighbourhood," he said.

Dealing with China, which has a much bigger economy and military, has always remained a challenge for India from time to time. "China is an aspiring superpower but whose aspirations are built on an insecurity. Geo-strategy has to built on the basis of demography, geography and political realities," said former foreign secretary Nirupama Rao, another participant.

"We must understand geo-strategy has to be built on geography, political strength, eco-heft, etc. We have to obviously cover the distance; China has grown a great deal and we have to catch up. Deng Xiaoping said you should bide your time and lay low," Rao said.

Rao was of the view that India should not be bogged down, as China would continue to show off on different fronts. "Everything has to begin and end with the neighbourhood. India is a magnet that attracts the best and brightest but we need to open our doors to the neighbourhood. China has much more muscle and visibility in the region now than ever before. We need to study this rising visibility in more detail. With regard to Sri Lanka and Maldives, China can't replace India. India is Sri Lanka's only neighbour. Our linkages of blood and history are so deep, no Chinese can ever replace that," she said.

"India can't be boxed. By virtue of our geographical placement, we are the leading power in the region. I don't believe that a country India's size can be termed as boxed in. There is no comparison with our smaller nations. This is not due to a superiority complex," Rao said.

Saran believed that India should use its economic stature to counter China's growing clout at least in the neighbourhood. "India has to offer a different kind of economic heft than what China does. Can we link Sri Lanka to the Indian supply chain? With GST, we get them to compete with other Indian states," he said.

Shaurya Doval, director of India Foundation, agreed with Saran. "One of the important elements of India's rise is the economic rise. Much of this lies on the back of the Indian entrepreneur. We have increased our leverage among smaller nations in our neighbourhood. While India has to build capabilities, soft power has to transcend into regions," Doval said.

Although India's portfolio is growing globally, there are problems that need to be tackled along with. "India has become a must-visit place for world leaders. It is an emerging power. By virtue of its size and geopolitical placement, it is a place to reckon with. We don't follow up on all these important events. That is lacking in India. Those structural weaknesses we need to focus on. With the network of relationships that we are building, the focus has to be in the neighbourhood. There is a great deal of transition taking place on the global stage. This is a moment for us to seize," Saran said.

Even as much of the discussion lingered on China, the terror machinery emanating from Pakistan also found a mention, as ties with India's western is continuously going on a downward spiral.

"With Pakistan, the price we have to pay is eternal vigilance. We cannot afford to let down our guard as far as terrorism is concerned," Rao said.Union defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman, speaking at the News18 Rising India Summit, vehemently denied allegations of a 'scam' in the procurement of Rafale aircrafts.

Union defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman, speaking at the News18 Rising India Summit on Saturday, vehemently denied allegations of a 'scam' in the procurement of Rafale fighter jets and hit out at the 'convenience-based' arguments on the issue.

"There is no scam. You can search for as long as you want," Sitharaman said.

The Congress party has repeatedly attacked the NDA government on the pricing of the Rafale deal, raising the alleged scam in numerous press conferences and in Parliament.

Elaborating on the issue, the defence minister said, "During the previous government, (former defence minister) Pranab Mukherjee and AK Antony also declined to give details about certain aspects, pointing to the national interest. At the time, the BJP did not make a big issue of it. As of now, the maturity with which important issues need to be dealt with is not there."

Hitting out at the Congress for harping on the price of the Rafale jets, she said, "What is this constant reference to 'our price' and 'your price?' What difference does it make when you didn't end up buying anything?"

The other significant issue on which the defence minister spoke was last year's 72-day standoff with China at Doka La. She said, "I do not think that there will be a Doka La-2. Engagement is going on at various levels. The permanent representative has held 20 meetings on the issue. Meetings at the level of the border personnel and flag officers have also taken place. We cannot afford to be complacent, and we have to be alert."

Referring to the situation on the Pakistan border, Sitharaman said that while incidents on the border have increased, the armed forces are also pushing them back.

Sitharaman was also quizzed about improvement with respect to the country's defence preparedness. To this, she said, "There is no doubt that there are challenges facing us. Do we have enough ammunition if we have 10 days of power? I am proud to say that Vice Chiefs have been given enough power, including monetary power, and buy whatever they want in times of emergency."

She also stated that the budget provisions given for modernisation for the armed forces are distinct from the budget provisions for salaries or for One Rank One Pension (OROP).

The defence minister also spoke about her view on the budget allocation for the sector, which faced criticism from several quarters for being inadequate. "I'm happy with what I've got. I and my predecessors have repeatedly reviewed the situations."

Sitharaman also spoke on the issue of recruitment of women in the armed forces. The defence minister said, "We are not averse to having women in all activities of the Forces. However, the matter is in various courts across India."

Earlier, addressing the gathering, she had said that India can be one of the hubs of the defence manufacturing sector and the ministry aims to reduce the import of equipment for the armed forces.It is claimed that politics and economics are two different realms. However, as India's experience shows, the two can never be completely separated.

In the book The Great Transformations (2001), Austro-Hungarian economic historian Karl Polanyi wrote about the concept of embeddedness. When marketers of the nineteenth and twentieth century tried to disembed the economy from society, what they ended up doing was smashing the element of labour from inside the economy. Critical development scholars, at least in the way they have understood Chinas non-intervention approach, have used a range of depoliticised discourses that focus on quantitative growth or technocratic reform, which conceal ideology with an illusion of neutrality. With incremental economic changes at the beginning of a new term and populist reform to retain power, the political pattern woven around economic changes is predictable in India.

At the News18 Rising India Summit, Ruchir Sharma, head of the Emerging Markets Equity at Morgan Stanley Investment, said that the importance of politics is exaggerated. I feel we should not draw results about markets from elections. Polls and by-polls dont affect markets. It is fascinating to track politics, but economics has its own story, he said, explaining that the state is broken and the few politicians who wanted to work toward development could not because of this brokenness. In India, one has to be in denial to fail to notice that politics has broadly divided people into two ideological camps that result in extremely opposing reactions to economic decisions. An example of this was seen in the case of demonetisation.

All economic decisions, not just the ones that align with a political partys line of thought, require political will. Sharma talked about the budget of February 2015 as a missed opportunity that the current ruling dispensation could have capitalised on by introducing dramatic changes, for instance, cutting the tax rate down to ASEAN levels or taking a call on the outdated Bank Nationalisation Act. On 19 July 1969, by means of an Ordinance, the Indira Gandhi-led Congress government had nationalised 14 commercial banks of the country. Today, the public sector's share in the banking industry is two-thirds, which is way above the average of one-third in the emerging markets. However, a change in that equation wont happen without renewed and bold political will. A prime minister with such great oratory skills could have marketed this idea to a sceptical Indian audience, he said that its time to tune out of politics because its a waste of time from the economys point of view, especially because there is much penetration across sectors and growth will happen independently.

It is not just the voters, but also the Opposition that is sceptical of any economic decision, even before it is given a chance to play out.

The inseparable convergence of politics and economics can be seen in the case of Indias unemployment crisis. Driving political mileage from promises around the issue of jobs is not a new phenomenon in India. In his 2014 campaign before the Lok Sabha elections, Narendra Modi had promised to create 10 million jobs a year, but the 2016-17 Economic Survey, based on data from the labour ministry, stated that Employment growth has been sluggish. Today, the world unemployment is at its lowest in 40 years. There are enough jobs in developed countries, but India has been battling with lack of jobs. The key to success in most developed economies was that they exported their way to prosperity," said Ruchir Sharma, adding that the working-age population is shrinking in 40 countries of the world and that is a major headwind in economic growth.

But in the political set up, the two sides look at the same problem differently. At the All India Congress Committees three-day plenary session also going on in the capital, the party is set to present a proper roadmap, analysing the job situation under the Modi government and how the Congress plans to tackle it. "Under the leadership of former prime minister Manmohan Singh, the economy of this country flourished. Our government formed policies which lifted millions of people from poverty. And today, the Modi government is weakening these policies," Sonia Gandhi said at the ongoing 84th plenary session of the Congress.

When asked about the accusations of the opposition regarding the missing jobs, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, cabinet minister, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, said that this is a stable government that is against red-tapism. Every three to four months, the Prime Minister takes a report on how the department is working towards ease of doing business, said Rajyavardhan Rathore. This image of the governments seriousness towards making India a business hub sends a strong message to the masses in India and economies abroad.

Bullets are fired and bullets are dodged even as the youth remains unemployed through the turn of governments.

Speaking at the News18 Rising India Summit, Union home minister Rajnath Singh tried to depoliticise concerns around unemployment. He said that the crisis of unemployment is widespread and complex and to expect the government to simply hand everybody a job is irrational. He said, however, that the governments focus has been to empower the youth with necessary skills and to ensure that those who put in that effort of equipping themselves with those skills, will be helped. To facilitate this, the NDA-led government has launched missions like Start Up India in 2016, in which Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) intends to undertake an exercise to assess States/UTs on key areas of interventions to foster a healthy Start Up ecosystem and the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, a scheme launched in 2015 for providing loans up to 10 lakh to the non-corporate, non-farm small and micro enterprises.

At least on the question of economic issues that have a direct impact on a large population, the focus should shift to positive and collaborative governance.Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday spoke on a large number of issues at News18's Rising India Summit in New Delhi.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said that the government at the Centre was not only ready to protect India's borders from inside the country but also from "outside the country" making an apparent reference to growing hostilities with Pakistan and the issue of issue of security and international terrorism.

Speaking at News18's Rising India Summit in New Delhi, Singh stressed on the need for a collective effort in 'rising India'.

"It's not that our government is single-handedly responsible for 'Rising India'. Farmers, intellectuals, scientists, etc, are all responsible for India's growth," he said.

Singh also said that the government took pride in the fact that in the last four years under the Narendra Modi government, "not a single minister of our government was charged with corruption".

On BJP's defeat in the Gorakhpur bypolls, Singh gave a vague answer, saying, "Now we have come to know such things also happen. They will not happen again."

He also spoke on banking frauds like the Punjab National Bank scam. "A lot of people have been saying that people who fled the nation after banking fraud were facilitated by the government. But it was this government that exposed these fraudsters," he said.

"This government introduced the Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill so that people cant leave the country by looting our money," he added.

On the issue of relations with Pakistan, the home minister said that the government wanted to ensure that India had good relations with its neighbours. "But Pakistan just doesn't listen. A UN-designated terrorist is being allowed to form a political party in Pakistan," he said.

"We will protect our borders from inside, and if the need arises, we will also protect our borders from outside the country," he said.

The home minister also said that Naxalism, which was a huge problem for India, earlier, was no longer a challenge. "Naxalism had become a huge challenge for security. But we have had huge success against Naxalism today. There are less than 1,000 incidents taking place yearly today," Singh said.

The home minister also said that "there has been a 75 percent reduction in incidents linked to insurgency in the North East under our government. That's why we have come to power there today."

He also spoke on the Kashmir issue. "Kashmir was ours, is ours and will be ours. No power in the world can take Kashmir away from us," he said. "Children of Kashmir are also ours. Hence, I asked the Jammu and Kashmir chief minister to remove all stone-pelting cases against those children. They must have been brainwashed," he added.

Singh also said that even though Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) was not a threat to India's internal security, "no institution should be misused by a political party for political gains".

"No country in the world can deny that India is changing and moving forward. India is the fastest growing economy in the world. India's GDP growth rate is about to reach 7.5 percent," he said. "In the global community, reputed economists also accept that India is the world's fastest growing economy," he added.

"We want to see India among the developed countries in the world," said the home minister.

Singh also said that no country can develop in a day or even a year. "A country takes decades to rise and India is rising rapidly," he added.

The home minister then said that "small changes" made by the government have made life easier for people. "The government has brought about many structural and procedural changes. We brought about GST. I don't say that our government initiated GST. It was initiated in 2002. There were problems with the Planning Commission, so we brought about NITI Aayog," he said.

"This government did away with the need to attest documents by a gazetted officer," he said.

On the issue of unemployment, Singh said, "We need to uplift the last strata of the society. As far as unemployment is considered, no government can say that we can employ all of India. If they have skills, they can provide with employment. Startup India and Skill India are movements towards the same."

"Our government decided that poor people, who are suffering from serious illness, will be given a Rs 5 lakh annual health cover. Our scientists manufactured the Mars satellite at the lowest possible cost," he also said.

"I believe that the time is not far when we will say that India has reached the top five nations, and soon we will be saying that India has become a super economic nation," Singh said.

On Rahul Gandhi's remark that India was rising against BJP, Singh said, "Rahul Gandhi is our Opposition leader. He will keep saying things but time will tell against whom India is rising."

Click here to follow LIVE updates on News18's Rising India SummitAmarinder Singh on Saturday slammed his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal over the recent controversy over his apology to Bikram Majithia.

Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday slammed his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal over the recent controversy over his apology to senior Akali Dal leader Bikram Majithia. Singh said that this is 'not the way a chief minister should behave' and that he has isolated himself.

Kejriwal had earlier accused Majithia of involvement in drug trade. Following Kejriwal's apology, Bhagwant Mann resigned as the president of the Aam Aadmi Party's Punjab unit, saying that he will continue to fight the drug mafia as a common person.

Speaking on the future of the AAP, Singh said, "AAP MLAs are looking for an alternative. They are all very disappointed. They know they can't come back on his ticket so they are safeguarding their own future."

Singh also commented on the outcome of the recent bypolls in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, in which the Congress fared poorly. He said, "The Congress will not remain down forever. You will see a change in 2019."

On party president Rahul Gandhi, the Punjab chief minister replied in the affirmative when asked if he saw him as a prime ministerial candidate in 2019. "I see Rahul Gandhi as the next prime minister of the country. He gets a warm response wherever he goes. People grow with time, and Rahul has done that. He has found his feet, and India is looking forward to him as an alternative."

Singh also touched upon the drug problem in Punjab, saying, "Punjab had become a drug haven and this is being egged on by our neighbours. However, now, 35,000 drug sellers have been put behind bars. The drug prices have shot up which means there is a shortage of drugs in Punjab. This indicates that our policy is working."

The Punjab chief minister was also quizzed about the agrarian crisis in the state. To this, he said, "Last year, there were about 12,000 suicides of farmers. Now, this number has come down, but suicides are still taking place. Some of the reasons for this are that requirements regarding minimum support prices are not being met and agriculture has become unremunerative for farmers."

Singh also said that although a law has been passed to take action against farmers who burn crop stubble, he 'feels ashamed' to take action against them, and said that farmers need to given financial incentives to avoid crop burning.Rajnath Singh said at News18's Rising India Summit that strong decisions and strong legislation need to be taken for the interest of nation-building.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Saturday at News18's Rising India Summit that strong decisions and strong legislation need to be taken for the interest of nation-building.

If Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants this nation to be a New India and a self-reliant India by 2022, such strong decisions need to be taken when it comes to national security.

Former prime minister Manmohan Singh had termed Naxalism as the biggest challenge to Indias internal security.

Will Modi government be able to take strong decisions and bring procedural and infrastructural changes in our system to curb Naxalism, insurgency and terrorism, which have almost become part of our lives?

Bringing a sense of security amongst citizens is must, asserted Home Minister.

But, how? Especially when we get to hear about deaths of our security personnel every month in Maoist-infested states. The recent deaths of nine CRPF personnel at Sukma in Chhattisgarh, who were killed when Naxals blew up a Mine Protection Vehicle (MPV) on 13 March, shook the nation.

Presenting data, Rajnath Singh said in the late 1980s, more than 3,000 incidents of Maoist attacks occurred, which has declined to less than 1,000 at present. But, its still alarming.

Lack of basic amenities in Maoist-infested districts has given opportunity to the Naxals to fan the dissent of the tribals and villagers, and get support from the latter to spread Naxal ideology.

Whats the way out?

Singh came up with a host of steps as part of his prescription  right things to be done to address this Naxal menace.

First off, the home minister said that bullets cannot be the only solution. Development of backward and tribal areas needs to be taken up simultaneously. There were many places without telephone connection. But today, we have mobile towers, hospitals and schools. Government is reaching out to those areas. Our prime minister thinks that if India has to be an economic superpower, the last man in the society  the under-privileged, poor and marginalised section of the society  should be economically empowered, said Singh.

Nobel laureate and American Economist Paul Krugman said in the summit that there has been a dramatic change in Indias policy. The home minister said that the Modi government, through structural and procedural changes in the system, has been trying to minimise corruption, reach out to people who have been deprived of basic amenities and ensure central assistance reaches to Maoist-infested districts.

The home minister said the crisis of credibility amongst politicians is a big challenge. For decades, our politicians have been promising people but had those been fulfilled, India would have become a developed nation. This has given rise to crisis of credibility. Its a big challenge before us and we are working towards getting rid of it, Singh remarked.

Singh also refused to call people who share a different ideology traitors, anti-nationals or Desh-drohi. We shouldnt call anyone with a different ideology as Desh-drohi but if one's actions hurt our nation, the law will punish the person concerned, he emphasised.

What experts feel

Defence expert Maj Gen (retd) Dhruv Katoch is optimistic about governments initiatives in curbing Naxalism and terrorism.

Weve a long way to go, taking 2014 in account when Narendra Modi became our prime minister. National security is stable today as compared to 2014. Naxal problem is 50 years old and we cant expect it to get resolved in a year or two. As far as terrorist and Maoist activities are concerned, the level of violence has come down in comparison to the past. Government has given free hand to the army while dealing with cross-border issues and with Pakistan. Today, the country is stable politically and economically, added Katoch, director, India Foundation and former director, CLAWS.

Prakash Singh, an authority on Left Wing Extremism (LWE) and an author, feels that besides strong measures like eliminating Maoists, the government has to take care of the people in Maoist-infested areas.

Unless the government addresses the basic problems faced by the tribal people, properly implements the Forest Rights Act and rehabilitates displaced Adivasis from their land, the Naxal menace wont end; rather, it will erupt in a gigantic proportion. Maoists are getting powerful. Once the Maoist activities are curbed through cleansing operation, the administration should step in to win heart and mind of the people, said Prakash Singh, former chief of Border Security Force and former DGP, Uttar Pradesh.

Rajnath Singh said most of the right things at Rising India Summit on Saturday, but how about dealing with those yet to be addressed? Maybe the home ministry is working on those areas as well, as promised by the home minister.Smriti Irani, speaking at the News18 Rising India Summit, said that the 2014 Lok Sabha election to Amethi began as a political battle, but turned into a personal journey.

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani, speaking at the News18 Rising India Summit on Saturday, said that the 2014 Lok Sabha election to the Amethi constituency began as a political battle, but turned into a personal journey.

Irani had unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha election against Congress president Rahul Gandhi. She was later elected to the Parliament as a Rajya Sabha MP.

"I was challenging the idea that you can be a political representative and ignore the constituency for years. The issue was, how can I, who was born to parents who barely had Rs 200 in their pockets, become a Cabinet minister and give back to society?" she asked.

Irani also spoke on the recent controversy over the film Padmaavat, and slammed the media for spreading 'fake news' on cuts to the film. Irani said, "The fake news that there were 400 cuts made headlines but the fact that Sanjay Leela Bhansali came out and said that the movie was released uncut never made news."

CBFC chairperson Prasoon Joshi also spoke on changes to films, saying, "About 9,000 films have been passed in the last 8 months. Eighty-two percent of them were passed without any changes. The rest were passed with minor changes in consultation with the filmmakers."

Joshi also responded to criticism on removing the letter 'i' from the title of the film Padmaavat, saying, "We removed the 'i' from Padmaavati because we collectively agreed on the fact that the original poem was called Padmaavat." However, he said, "I do not deny that there has been politics on the issue."

He also said, "Artists do not have an intention to hurt the society. An artist begins his or her work to benefit the society. I truly believe in that."

Follow live updates on the News18 Rising India Summit here.The British judge hearing the extradition case of liquor baron Vijay Mallya on Saturday said that it was blindingly obvious that rules were being broken by Indian banks

London: The British judge hearing the extradition case of liquor baron Vijay Mallya on Saturday said that it was blindingly obvious that rules were being broken by Indian banks which sanctioned some of the loans to the erstwhile Kingfisher Airlines.

Presiding over a hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London, Judge Emma Arbuthnot described the case as a jigsaw puzzle with different pieces of massive evidence to be put together to paint a picture, which she said she was now able to see more clearly than a few months ago.

There are clear signs that the banks seem to have gone against their own guidelines [in sanctioning some of the loans], she said, inviting the Indian authorities to explain the case against some of the bank officials involved because that relates to the conspiracy point against Mallya.

The 62-year-old businessman, who is on trial for the UK court to rule if he can be extradited to India to face charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to around Rs 9,000 crores, watched the proceedings from the dock.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), arguing on behalf of the Indian government, laid out their arguments against the defence calling into question the admissibility of some of evidence submitted by the Indian authorities.

Pointing out that Mallya had chosen not to give evidence in the case, CPS counsel Mark Summers rejected the defence claims on the evidence as nonsense.

The government of India has established by other copious evidence a prima facie case of fraud, he said.

The judge is expected to rule on the admissibility of evidence and set a timeframe for her final verdict. However, the matter could be delayed over further clarifications required on the source of some of the emails submitted as evidence by the Indian authorities.

Mallya's counsel, Clare Montgomery, argued that evidence that was claimed as a blueprint of dishonesty by the CPS was in fact privileged conversation between Mallya and his lawyer about legal advice in clear contemplation of litigation and hence should be inadmissible.

On a separate category of evidence presented by the Indian government, Mallya's team questioned the reliability of investigating officers in the case and pointed to over 150 pages of near identical material purporting to be statement of witnesses taken under Section 161 of the Indian CrPC.

"They do not appear to be in any way an account of things that witnesses would have said but rather seem to be somebody else's analysis put into the mouths of the witnesses, down to the spelling mistakes," Montgomery said, adding that the documents were "identically reproduced" with not only the same words but also the same typing errors.

The judge did not seem to be convinced by this argument and said she had found only two-three cases of mistakes but did not see a problem in the preparation of the statements.

The extradition trial, which opened at the London court on 4 December, is aimed at laying out a prima facie case of fraud against the tycoon, who has been based in the UK since he left India in March 2016. It also seeks to prove that there are no "bars to extradition" and that Mallya is assured a fair trial in India over his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines' alleged default of loans from a consortium of Indian banks.

The CPS, representing the Indian government, has argued that the evidence they have presented confirms dishonesty on the part of the businessman and that there are no bars to him being extradited from the UK to face Indian courts.

Mallya's defence team has deposed a series of expert witnesses to claim he had no fraudulent intentions and that he is unlikely to get a fair trial in India.

Mallya was arrested by Scotland Yard on an extradition warrant in April 2017 and has been out on bail on a bond worth 650,000 pounds. Chief Magistrate Arbuthnot is expected to pronounce her verdict in the case by May this year.As on today, Arvind Kejriwal is fighting more than 20 defamation cases in all parts of the country, from Delhi to Bangalore to Mumbai to Guwahati.

Editor's note: This article was originally published on 17 March. It is being republished in light of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal offering apologies to Nitin Gadkari and Kapil Sibal on Monday.

When The Wire ran a story on how Jay Amit Shah's company had a 16,000 percent increase in turnover, within days they found themselves appearing before a court in Ahmedabad in a 100-crore defamation case. So far this case would have involved many trips to Ahmedabad, endless hours with lawyers, as well as high fees of senior lawyers who would have appeared for them.

So the defamation case would have served three purposes (irrespective of what the final result of what would probably be a long drawn case): Firstly, The Wire would have spent a large sum of money in contesting the case; second, senior journalists and editors would have spent a large percentage of their time in working with their lawyers and lastly, because of the previous two reasons, they might possibly be more reticent in doing stories against powerful and connected individuals.

So for all practical purposes, criminal defamation cases are effectively a judicially permissible form of bullying. Whenever any uncomfortable statements are made against powerful vested interests, a criminal defamation is slapped against their challengers. Often these cases are filed in different parts of the country, to ensure another layer of harassment for the challengers; that of constant travel to the court where the case has been filed. And fighting these criminal defamation  irrespective of the final outcome  is in itself a gruelling process for individual or small organisations, who are far less equipped in terms of finances or connections.

And it is precisely this form of bullying that has been unleashed against Arvind Kejriwal from the day he started speaking out against the powerful nexus of vested interests that have ruled this country. It is an open secret that when Arvind Kejriwal did his press conference against Robert Vadra in 2012, most politicians and journalists in Delhi were in possession of the same information and papers, and had yet never spoken out. When Arvind Kejriwal read out a Swiss bank account number at a press conference in January 2013, claimed that it was the Ambanis criminal defamation cases were filed against all TV channels who ran the press conference. This legal threat is likely to have made media houses reticent to pursue the story further.

As on today, Arvind Kejriwal is fighting more than 20 defamation cases in all parts of the country, from Delhi to Bangalore to Mumbai to Guwahati. The classic example of how defamation cases are used to divert time and attention of anyone who raises uncomfortable questions is the defamation case filed by Assam BJP leader Surya Ronghpar, in a court in Guwahati; this is against Arvind Kejriwal for questioning the veracity of the Prime Minister's degree. Every single appearance in Guwahati would mean 24 hours of the Delhi Chief Minister.

So in tendering an apology to Bikramjit Majithia, and with indications that he would be doing the same in all defamation cases, is Arvind Kejriwal saying that he is no longer a political challenger and is part of status quo? Or is he making a decision not to get trapped into the politics of bullying-by-defamation that will drain his time, money and attention? While every political observer would have to decide this for themselves, Arvind Kejriwal seems to have made up his mind: that he will live to fight another day and to use his political energy to battle vested interests rather than caught into their trap of a draining politics of bullying-by-defamation. The people most upset by this move would be those who thought they could ring-fence him by occupying him in courtroom battles instead of political ones!

The author is a senior leader of Aam Aadmi Party and an adviser to the Government of NCT of Delhi. Views expressed are personal.Crediting her success in politics largely to Narendra Modi, Madhya Pradesh governor Anandiben Patel has said the BJP gained power at the Centre due to his ability to select 'committed' party workers.

Ahmedabad: Crediting her success in politics largely to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Madhya Pradesh governor Anandiben Patel has said the BJP gained power at the Centre due to Modi's ability to select "committed" party workers.

Patel had replaced Modi as the Gujarat chief minister after the latter became the prime minister in May 2014.

She stepped down as Gujarat chief minister in August 2016.

Patel remembered Modi during the launch of her biography Karma Yatri, written by Ameya Latkar, in Ahmedabad on Friday night in the presence of BJP chief Amit Shah and Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, among others.

"When I was a teacher before joining politics (in 1980s), I saved two girls from drowning during a picnic. After reading that news, Modi came to my house and asked me to join politics. That was the first time I met him. This is an example of how he used to find party workers," 76-year-old Patel recalled.

"He was an expert in picking up the right party worker. He used to select those who are committed. He used to select those who never gave up till the assigned work is over. Thanks to this, BJP was able to form its government at the Centre," quipped Patel.

Patel said she had learned almost everything from Modi and his style of running a government.

"Right from taking decisions to holding meetings, I learned many things from him. He even taught us how to face the press. Once he told ministers that instead of giving a direct answer to any question posed by the press, we only need to say what we know," said Patel.

In his address, Shah remembered Patel's journey from being a school teacher to becoming the chief minister and now the governor.

Shah credited this success to her discipline and strong will.Air strikes on Eastern Ghouta killed at least 30 civilians on Saturday, a monitor said, almost a month into a blistering Russia-backed regime assault on the Syrian rebel enclave outside Damascus.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights could not say who carried out the strikes on the town of Zamalka in a southern pocket of the enclave.

Regime forces have retaken 70 percent of the last rebel bastion on the outskirts of the capital since February 18, carving it up into three shrinking pockets held by different rebels.

"Warplanes targeted civilians in Zamalka as they prepared to flee" the southern area of the enclave held by the Faylaq al-Rahman rebel group, Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.

The regime assault has killed more than 1,390 civilians in the enclave, according to the Observatory, which relies on a network of sources on the ground.

The offensive has pushed thousands more to flee their homes into government-controlled areas.

On Saturday morning, "around 10,000 civilians streamed out of the rebel enclave into regime-held areas", Abdel Rahman said.

More than 40,000 civilians have poured out of the enclave since Thursday morning, fleeing bombardment and advancing troops.

Syria's war has killed more than 350,000 people and displaced millions since it broke out in 2011.

Short link:

Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on said the state Assembly elections will see a 'secularism versus communalism' contest and the Congress will emerge victorious.

New Delhi: Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday said the state Assembly elections will see a "secularism versus communalism" contest and the Congress will emerge victorious.

He also said the poll results will work as a "stepping stone" for the 2019 general elections.

The chief minister was speaking at the Congress' plenary session ahead of the Karnataka polls, the dates for which are yet to be announced.

"No one can stop Rahul Gandhi (Congress president) from becoming the country's prime minister after the 2019 general polls," Siddaramaiah said.

"It is going to be a secularism versus communalism contest (in Karnataka). The Congress is confident that under Rahul ji's leadership, we will come back to power with a thumping majority in Karnataka.

"It will be a big boost and work as a stepping stone for the coming Parliamentary elections," he said.

The greater part of Siddaramaiah's speech was on the welfare programmes undertaken in Karnataka.

Campaign for the upcoming Karnataka election is already underway with national leaders of the Congress and BJP canvassing in the state.

The HD Deve Gowda-led JD(S) is the other major party contesting the elections.The Uttar Pradesh chief minister, however, disagreed that his visit to Noida before the bye-elections, which is superstitiously believed to bring ill-luck to politicians, had anything to do with the defeats in the Lok Sabha bypolls.

Blaming the low turnout of voters and overconfidence as reasons for the BJP's loss at the recently concluded bypolls for the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha constituencies, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said "every defeat is a lesson for us." Adityanath was a part of the session The Monk who Took on a New Mantle at the News18 Rising India Summit from Lucknow through video conferencing.

"Victories and losses are not a moment of happiness or sadness for us. Whenever we work with overconfidence and take results for granted, we will end up not working hard enough, so such results will naturally happen. Our workers and voters thought these are the seats of the chief minister and deputy chief minister, and so they took them for granted. Some didn't step out to vote, some didn't go for door-to-door campaign," Yogi said.

Prior to becoming the chief minister, he had won the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat five times consecutively since 1998.

However, the Uttar Pradesh chief minister appeared unfazed by the alliance between the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party.

"We admit mistakes in Gorakhpur. These elections have shown that the SP, BSP and Congress cannot face BJP alone. We have analysed the loss in Gorakhpur and prepared our plan to fight the alliance. We can't reveal our roadmap now," Yogi said.

"During Uttar Pradesh elections, our leader and face was Modi. Today, SP and BSP have created an alliance. They should decide who their leader is  Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav or Mayawati," he said.

The Noida jinx

The Uttar Pradesh chief minister, however, disagreed that his visit to Noida before the by-elections, had anything to do with the defeats in the Lok Sabha bypolls. According to a superstition, visits to Noida bring ill luck to Uttar Pradesh chief ministers.

"I'll keep coming to Noida. In a few days, a programme is going to start there. Defeat does not matter. As a Yogi, it's my job to turn inauspicious into auspicious," Yogi said.

On Congress and Rahul Gandhi

Taking umbrage at the BJP being called dramebaaz by Sonia Gandhi at the Congress' 84th Plenary Session in New Delhi on Saturday, he said, "All these years they have only done drama. And who doesn't know Rahul Gandhi's drama? I can understand the sadness of the Congress. The Congress is unhappy because of losses. For them, everything is a drama. Rahul Gandhi's temple-hopping spree is dramebaazi. The country has touched new heights under Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi. The Congress and Sonia Gandhi can't accept this."

On Ram Janmabhoomi

While hoping that the Supreme Court verdict would be in favour of the Hindus, Yogi maintained that the Ayodhya dispute was not a political one.

"Ayodhya dispute is not a political issue for us. It is a matter of faith. We are hopeful of the verdict being in our favour," the Uttar Pradesh chief minister.

Yogi, however, did not appear to be optimistic about the efforts being made by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on resolving the issue outside the court.

"If there is anyone with a good solution, then that should be considered. This issue has been long debated upon and many have tried to find solutions but there would always be one party that walks out of the discussion. Discussion on any matter isnt bad, but the Ayodhya matter has been discussed numerous times in the past," he said.

On secularism and Muslims

The Uttar Pradesh chief minister was assertive that his government is for all and is not in favour of any particular community.

"All people are safe in Uttar Pradesh and nobody is living in fear in the state. Protect the 22 crore people of Uttar Pradesh is my responsibility and I will do my best to do that. Kasganj violence was not a communal incident," he said, referring to the violence that happened on 26 January this year.

"Nobody is scared in Uttar Pradesh. Holi and Jumma were on the same day this year. On my appeal, Muslim clerics extended the time for Jumma," Yogi said while assuring that Muslims in Uttar Pradesh are not living in fear.

Adityanath also spoke about his interpretation of secularism.

"There is a difference between secular and irreligious. We should make that distinction. The government must be secular, not irreligious. Hinduism is a secular philosophy. Many spread venom under the garb of secularism. If secularism means not taking sides, there is nobody more secular than Hindus. Today's secularists have turned secularism to mean abusing India's traditions," the Uttar Pradesh chief minister said.

On Naresh Agrawal

Speaking about former SP leader Naresh Agarwal's entry into the BJP, Adityanath said, "If people are willing to walk on the party's principles, then there should not be any issue in getting them into the party. I feel if a person is willing to change and do good work, why stop him/her?" Yogi said.

Follow live updates on the News18 Rising India Summit here.On 9 February 2016, a bunch of JNU students allegedly raised anti-national slogans on the campus like Shaheed Afzal Guru, Azaad Kashmir, Tum kitne Afzal maroge, ghar-ghar se Afzal niklenge during an event organised to commemorate the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.

Without mincing any word, Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said that educational institutions and universities should not be politicised and the campuses shouldnt be misused in the name of politics.

Singh, who was speaking at the News18 Rising India Summit in New Delhi, also added that anyone harbouring a different ideology shouldnt be called a desh-drohi or a traitor, or an 'anti-national'.

So, is there a shift in NDA government's line towards dissent voices like the ones at JNU campus and elsewhere after two years of 2016 JNU sloganeering incident?

The answer probably lies in Singh's address.

In reference to the anti-national sloganeering incident on the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus in 2016, the home minister said, "Never politicise educational institutions and universities. They shouldn't be misused."

The sloganeering incident on JNU campus in 2016 rocked the nations political scenario as the opposition parties had accused the Narendra Modi government of gagging liberal voices. The incident also witnessed the rise of former JNU Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar and he became a sought after students' leader overnight.

On 9 February 2016, a bunch of JNU students allegedly raised anti-national slogans on the campus like Shaheed Afzal Guru, Azaad Kashmir, Tum kitne Afzal maroge, ghar-ghar se Afzal niklenge during an event organised to commemorate the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.

Guru was hanged in Tihar Jail on 9 February 2013 during the UPA regime. The students had termed the hanging as judicial killing. They also expressed solidarity with the struggle of Kashmiri migrants and advocated for Azad Kashmir.

As the incident gathered storm, the Delhi Police was quick in arresting JNUSU leaders Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya under sedition charges. Later all three were released on interim bail by the Delhi High Court. The JNU administration even rusticated Khalid and Bhattacharya. The incident became a national debate on news channels for weeks. Students and politicians got divided into nationalistic and anti-national camps.

Refusing to call those as traitors, anti-nationals or Desh-drohi who share a different ideology, Singh further emphasised, "We shouldnt call anyone with a different ideology as Desh-drohi but if one's action hurts our nation, the law will punish the person concerned."

However, the home minister said that students' unions must exist. He indicated towards a healthy unionism on campuses. He said students' unions are breeding ground for future leaders.

"Students unions are not a nuisance. Im a product of students union. Am I a nuisance?" asked Singh with a dollop of humour.

Though the right-wing students union Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has failed to crack JNU so far, the Left bastionbarring in 2000, when ABVP had its one and only JNUSU president Sandeep Mahapatraits gaining grounds in other campuses.

Mahapatra too shared a similar view with that of the home minister.

"The positive aspect of JNU is that it provides an atmosphere of free thinking to a student -- to discuss and debate, unlike in any other university. The student politics in JNU is different from elsewhere as JNU provides a wider worldview to its students on every issue. Here, students of opposite ideologies fight against each other on the basis of debates and intellectual deliberation," Mahapatra told Firstpost.

However, he too feels that like Singh that university campuses shouldnt be misused for political gains.

Citing an example when he was a JNU student, Mahapatra said, "It was very tough at JNU, especially because the majority of the faculty members and heads are Left-affiliated, many are CPI/CPM cardholders and they exercise an immense influence on students who join the campus. Its like either you follow them or be left out. Even in 1996, the CPI-ML affiliated All India Students Association (AISA) had invited Kashmiri secessionist leaders to speak in the campus because they think India is a country of multiple nationalities and Kashmir, Nagaland, etc. should be free from India. This is not correct."

Quoting Modis mission of making a New India, Self-reliant India by 2022, Singh made it clear from the News18 Rising India Summit platform that despite different ideologies one may not be called a traitor, but the person cant get away from law by misusing campuses to gain ulterior motives like giving calls such as Kashmir maange azaadi, ladkar lenge azaadi or Bharat ki barbaadi tak, jung rahegi-jung rahegi.On the face of it, Chandrababu Naidu's decision to quit the NDA was because it was unwilling to accord special category status to Andhra Pradesh.

On the face of it, Chandrababu Naidu's decision to quit the NDA was because it was unwilling to accord special category status to Andhra Pradesh. But while it may seem that Naidu has dumped the BJP, is there more than what meets the eye?

At the heart of the BJP-TDP alliance of mistrust is an uneasy relationship between Narendra Modi and Naidu. To know where it all began, rewind to 2002, soon after the riots in Gujarat when Modi and Naidu were chief ministers. Naidu, despite being a key member of the NDA, publicly took an anti-Modi position.

In April that year, the TDP politburo called for Modi's resignation stating that "the leadership in Gujarat has lost its moral authority to govern". It even held out a veiled threat to the Vajpayee government, pointing out that "secularism is a fundamental principle for the TDP and strict adherence to it is one of the basic conditions for our support to the NDA".

Naidu had perhaps calculated that after Vajpayee's rajdharma snub to Modi, the BJP will show the Gujarat chief minister the door. This would have enabled Naidu to score brownie points with the Muslim community in Andhra Pradesh and also enhance his image as a leader who called a spade a spade. But with the BJP National Executive in Goa backing Modi, Naidu's gameplan came unstuck. Modi, reportedly, was not amused at a non-BJP chief minister interfering with whom BJP should choose as a chief minister.

In 2004, when Naidu lost the elections, instead of blaming his lack of attention on agrarian distress and over emphasis on his personal brand building as the CEO of AP Inc, he faulted the lack of action taken by the BJP after the Gujarat riots. He believed the TDP lost the Muslim vote and the elections because it stayed on in NDA despite the Gujarat riots.

According to those in the know of things in the BJP and the TDP, Modi never forgot the twin snubs.

In 2013, however, after back channel confabulations resulted in a meeting between Naidu and Modi in New Delhi, a decision was taken to fight the elections together in the then united Andhra Pradesh. After a decade in the Opposition, Naidu was desperate to return to power and Modi, whose star was on the ascent, was clearly the side to be on. Actor Pawan Kalyan too was roped in and the 2 percent vote difference helped Naidu edge out Jaganmohan Reddy to the chief minister's chair.

The first two years of the NDA regime were fairly smooth, with the TDP getting representation in the Union cabinet and BJP MLAs getting ministries in Naidu's government. But things started going downhill once the Centre made it clear that no special category status will be given to Andhra Pradesh, despite promises made by BJP leaders during the campaign. Naidu had no option but to agree to a special package and he tried to market it, explaining only the nomenclature was a tad different.

The real twist in the BJP-Naidu relationship came in August 2017 when Venkaiah Naidu moved from being in the government to the vice-president's office. What it did was to remove Venkaiah Naidu from the Andhra Pradesh political theatre. The Naidu-Naidu jugalbandi was one of the reasons why the pact took place for the 2014 polls but the BJP top leadership also felt it was preventing the state unit from growing. Venkaiah Naidu was Chandrababu's go-to man in New Delhi and the Andhra chief minister's clout in the corridors of power dipped after Venkaiah's exit.

Friday's decision makes one suspect things have gone just as the BJP top leadership planned.

There were other irritants too, fuelled mainly by loudmouths in the TDP camp in Delhi. There were frequent references made to how Naidu could have become prime minister in 1996 if he so wished, trying to put him on a pedestal as high as Modi. Naidu himself would brag about how he ensured APJ Abdul Kalam became president in 2002. A few months back, some of the TDP MPs began spreading the word in Delhi that their boss would be kingmaker in 2019. Naidu ticked them off when he heard about it.

Then, there was a serious trust deficit, with some of the taunts even getting personal. If the BJP camp thought someone like Naidu, who had overthrown his own father-in-law, could not be trusted, the TDP hit back by talking hush-hush about how Modi had treated his mentor LK Advani shabbily after becoming prime minister.

The fissures deepened in 2017 as Naidu did not get an appointment with the prime minister for an entire year. The TDP felt Modi rubbed it in by giving time to Jagan in May that year. Finance minister Arun Jaitley's taunt that sentiments cannot decide the quantum of funds irked Naidu. Pawan Kalyan's charges of corruption against Naidu's son Nara Lokesh, that the TDP suspects was scripted by the BJP, proved to be the last straw.

With the exit, things have turned worse. While the TDP accuses Delhi of betrayal, BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao tweeted the Andhra party "is resorting to lies to cover up its inept and inert governance".

The fallout between Naidu and Modi is all the more stark because both are similar in many ways. Both are tech-savvy, tend to get excited about gadgetry, are 24x7 politicians and workaholics.

An old video clip of Modi pulling Naidu by the hand and forcing him to sit on the special chair meant for him on the dais has been doing the rounds on social media for the last one week since Naidu withdrew his two ministers. That feel-good moment was at a public meeting during the election campaign in 2014 and made the audience feel the bitterness of Gujarat was a thing of the past.

Four years later, the chill has returned to the Modi-Naidu relationship.TRS leader in Lok Sabha, Jitender Reddy said that his party is committed to supporting the demands of Andhra Pradesh regarding the implementation of State Reorganisation Act as it would also benefit Telangana.

Despite KCR's talk of forming a non-Congress, non-BJP Third Front, the TRS is caught in a catch-22 situation on the question of supporting the no-confidence motion. TRS parliamentary party leader and secretary general K Keshava Rao is reported to have said that though his party supports the demand for special category status (SCS) for Andhra Pradesh, no trust move is just a political gimmick. "Can they muster 50 percent of the House to win the motion?" the TRS leader asked.

A senior leader of TRS close to KCR told Firstpost that the party would take an appropriate decision at an appropriate time. However, he hoped that the motion would not come before the House as it may not be in order. Admitting that the TRS faces a dilemma, the senior TRS leader said that the party cannot support anything that would give advantage to TDP in national politics at a time when it is contemplating to lead the Third Front. However, the party cannot remain isolated when the entire opposition stand united in opposing the Narendra Modi regime as the TRS also took an anti-BJP stand, he said.

Meanwhile, speaking to Firstpost, K Keshava Rao said that party is yet to take a decision on the issue disputing media reports that quoted him saying that TRS will oppose no-confidence motion.

However, TRS leader in Lok Sabha, Jitender Reddy said that his party is committed to supporting the demands of Andhra Pradesh regarding the implementation of State Reorganisation Act as it would also benefit Telangana.

"We would continue to voice our demands in Parliament and would go to the well of the House to express our concerns," Reddy said.

Political observers feel that this stand of TRS would only benefit NDA as Parliament cannot take up no-confidence motion when the House is not in order. When asked to comment on such interpretation, he said, "We are on our demands. It is up to the Speaker to take a call on the no-confidence motion. We are not concerned with it."

When most of the anti-BJP parties are converging to embarrass Modi government, the TRS fears that keeping itself away from such a mega opposition show of strength gives credence to the criticism that the pink party is a 'non-NDA' ally of the saffron brigade. The state-specific political reasons prompt TRS to be away from the TDP or YSR Congress-sponsored no-confidence motion. But, such duplicity would only expose the fallacy in TRS claims of the Third Front giving Chandrababu Naidu a lead.

The early supporters of KCR's Third Front idea, the Trinamool Congress and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha attended the dinner hosted by Sonia Gandhi indicating the affinity of the non-BJP parties towards Congress. This stems out of the electoral arithmetic as the Congress still remains the main party in the non-BJP political spectrum rather than any special love for the grand old party. This is certainly unpalatable for TRS as the Congress is pitted against it in state politics. KCR cannot in any way favour a Congress-led or Congress associated front before 2019 elections as he has to face the same party in the Assembly polls.

The BJP is not a force to reckon with in Telangana politics. The saffron party is in any way not a threat to KCR. Instead, any surge in BJP vote would only benefit TRS as the anti-incumbency vote splits to the disadvantage of Congress. Thus, KCR cannot accept any anti-BJP political consolidation that favours Congress.

However, he does not wish to be seen as a BJP ally given the fact that Modi's popularity is sliding. The Telangana has 12 percent Muslim population and a sizable Christian vote, especially in Hyderabad. The state is vulnerable to communal polarisation and the minorities are certainly agitated over the aggressive brand of Hindutva politics promoted by Modi-Shah duo led BJP. Besides, voters of Seemandhra origin are in large number in the state capital. Their voting preferences significantly impact the mandate in many constituencies especially in and around Hyderabad. The Seemandhra electorate is deeply hurt by the manner in which Modi government dealt with the demands of the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh. KCR fears the loss of all these votes if the perception that he is closer to saffron party strengthens.

Thus, the TRS chief KCR is in a catch-22 situation. He cannot welcome any Modi political consolidation that has a potential to help Congress which is his principal political adversary. At the same time, he does not wish the TRS to be seen as BJP ally at a time the party has to face elections in a year or so. He cannot also remain away when all most all the anti-BJP forces converge and the no-confidence business is not confined to only Andhra politics.

In fact, the TRS was often seen as a non-NDA ally of BJP. KCR was the votary of Modi governments controversial policy measures like demonetisation, GST etc. Despite occasional anti-KCR statements by a section of state BJP leadership, the TRS supremo always enjoyed cordial relations with central BJP leaders, especially Modi. In fact, the TRS MP and KCR's daughter, K Kavitha earlier said that TRS is not averse to joining Modi ministry if there is an invitation to the party to that effect. On the eve of the elections, KCR certainly wants to shed the pro-BJP image.

Against these reservations towards both the Congress and the BJP, KCR called for a Third Front to bolster his party 's chances in the State rather than making or unmaking national political changes.

Meanwhile, Naidu who left the NDA is now galvanising anti-BJP parties into a common platform against Modi regime. Naidu due to his national political clout could be able to mobilise a large number of the non-BJP parties. At this point in time, any support for no-confidence motion would not serve KCR's purpose of leading the Third Front. In fact, KCR wanted such a front on a common national agenda centred around agriculture, farmers' plight, fiscal federalism etc., reminds a TRS leader.

TRS cannot give Naidu an undue advantage to rally the forces that shall constitute the Third Front.A suicide attacker blew up a bomb-laden vehicle in Kabul on Saturday, killing at least two civilians and wounding several others, an Afghan official said.

Kabul: A suicide attacker blew up a bomb-laden vehicle in Kabul on Saturday, killing at least two civilians and wounding several others, an Afghan official said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack as the group comes under growing pressure to take up the Afghan government's offer of peace talks.

"Around 9:10 am Saturday morning, a suicide car bomb exploded in Police District Nine of Kabul," interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish told AFP.

Two civilians were killed and three others were wounded in the attack, Danish said. The blast happened at a time when many people would have been driving to work.

Health ministry spokesman Wahid Majrooh told AFP at least four people had been wounded.

Deputy interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said the bomber was heading towards global security company G4S but "detonated himself before reaching the target".

The deadly attack  the latest in a series in the war-weary Afghan capital  comes days after the top US general in Afghanistan said protecting the city was a priority for foreign forces.

"Kabul is our main effort right now, to harden Kabul, to protect the people of Kabul and the international community that are here because of the strategic impact that has and the importance to the campaign," General John Nicholson, told reporters on Wednesday.

The Taliban and its smaller rival Islamic State group have been dialing up the pressure on Kabul, launching a series of devastating attacks in recent months.

The most recent was on 9 March when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a Shiite area of the city, killing at least nine people. Islamic State claimed responsibility.

Saturday's assault comes amid growing pressure on the Taliban to accept the Afghan government's offer of peace talks to end the 16-year conflict.

So far the Taliban has given only a muted response to President Ashraf Ghani's proposal last month, which also called for a ceasefire after which the group could become a political party.

Analysts said the Taliban leadership has been debating the merits of engaging with a government that the group has long viewed as illegitimate.

But it appears to have few reasons to negotiate.

The Taliban has been resurgent since the withdrawal of US-led NATO combat troops at the end of 2014, taking back territory and devastating Afghanistan's beleaguered security forces.

In October, insurgents controlled or influenced nearly half of Afghanistan's districts  double the percentage in 2015, the US government's office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction said in January.

Over the same period, the watchdog said, the number of districts under Afghan government control or influence fell to its lowest level since December 2015.British foreign secretary Boris Johnson said that it was overwhelmingly likely that Vladimir Putin himself made the decision to use a military-grade nerve toxin to strike down a former Russian agent on English soil.

London: British foreign secretary Boris Johnson said on Friday that it was overwhelmingly likely that Russian president Vladimir Putin himself made the decision to use a military-grade nerve toxin to strike down a former Russian agent on English soil.

"We have nothing against the Russians themselves. There is to be no Russophobia as a result of what is happening," Johnson told reporters at the Battle of Britain bunker from which World War Two fighter operations were controlled.

"Our quarrel is with Putin's Kremlin, and with his decision  and we think it overwhelmingly likely that it was his decision  to direct the use of a nerve agent on the streets of the UK, on the streets of Europe for the first time since the Second World War," Johnson said.

Prime Minister Theresa May said on Wednesday that the Russian state was culpable for the attempted murder of Sergei Skripal, a former double agent who betrayed dozens of spies of Britains MI6 foreign intelligence service, and his daughter.

May said that it was tragic that Putin, who is likely to coast to a fourth term in a Sunday presidential election, had chosen to act in such a way.

Soon after Johnson's comments were reported, the Kremlin said accusations that President Putin was involved in the nerve agent attack were shocking, TASS news agency reported.

"Any reference or mention of our president in this regard is a shocking and unforgivable breach of diplomatic rules of decent behavior," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to the agency.

Russia has denied any involvement, cast Britain as a post-colonial power unsettled by Brexit, and even suggested London fabricated the attack in an attempt to whip up anti-Russian hysteria.

Relations between Britain and Russia have been strained since the murder of ex-KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko with radioactive polonium-210 in London in 2006, a killing which a British inquiry said was probably approved by Putin.

The Kremlin has repeatedly denied any involvement in the killing.Mauritius President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, who has been embroiled in a financial scandal, resigned on Saturday, her lawyer said

Port Louis, Mauritius: Mauritius President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, who has been embroiled in a financial scandal, resigned on Saturday, her lawyer said, just days after she refused to stand down.

Gurib-Fakim, Africa's only female head of state, submitted her resignation in the "national interest," her lawyer Yousouf Mohamed told reporters, adding that it would take effect on 23 March.

She has vowed to fight the accusations  that she used a bank card provided by an NGO to make personal purchases, including jewellery and luxury goods worth at least  25,000, according to local newspaper l'Express.

Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth announced earlier this month that Gurib-Fakim had agreed to resign, with a date set for her departure after last Monday's ceremony celebrating the Indian Ocean archipelago nation's 50 years of independence.

But on Wednesday, a statement from the presidency lashed out at "weeks of attacks and false allegations" and said Gurib-Fakim planned to clear her name and would not resign.

Gurib-Fakim, whose role is mostly ceremonial, is a scientist and biologist of international renown, and in 2015 joined the London-based Planet Earth Institute (PEI) to try to develop scientific capacity in Africa.

The presidency said that in May 2016, she received a credit card to pay for travel and logistical expenses linked to her role but inadvertently used it for unrelated expenses.

Gurib-Fakim said she immediately informed the PEI and paid back the amount, as well as all expenses paid by the PEI for her missions.The move by the Russian foreign ministry came in response to Britain's decision to expel 23 Russian diplomats.

Moscow: Russia on Saturday announced expulsion of 23 British diplomats amid tensions over the nerve agent attack on an ex-spy and his daughter in the UK.

The move by the Russian foreign ministry came in response to Britain's decision to expel 23 Russian diplomats.

It said 23 diplomatic staff at the UK embassy in Moscow would be "declared persona non-grata" and expelled within a week, Sputnik news agency reported.

They were ordered to leave over the incident in Salisbury which the UK government blamed on Russia.

Russian foreign ministry summoned the UK ambassador to the country Laurie Bristow to inform him about Moscow's retaliation over Britain's decision to expel Russian diplomats.

Former Russian spy who became a double agent for Britain, Sergei V Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, remain critically ill in hospital, after they were found unconscious on a bench in the Wiltshire city on 4 March.

Skripal, who is a retired Russian military intelligence officer, was jailed for 13 years by Russia in 2006 for spying for Britain.

The UK government said they were poisoned with a nerve agent of a type developed by Russia called Novichok and Prime Minister Theresa May said she believed Moscow was "culpable".Russia's military says more than 11,000 people have left Syria's besieged eastern Ghouta outside the capital Damascus in the past few hours

Moscow: Russia's military says more than 11,000 people have left Syria's besieged eastern Ghouta outside the capital Damascus in the past few hours as government forces step up an offensive on the rebel enclave.

Major General Vladimir Zolotukhin was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying that some 3,000 people have been leaving every hour today through a government-run humanitarian corridor monitored by the Russian military.

Zolotukhin is spokesman for the Russian centre for reconciliation of the warring parties in Syria.

Airstrikes in Syria killed more than 100 people yesterday as civilians fled en masse. Under cover of allied Russian air power, Syrian government forces have been on a crushing offencive for three weeks on eastern Ghouta.

The weeks-long violence has left more than 1,300 civilians dead and 5,000 wounded.Syria's regime retook two more towns in Eastern Ghouta on Saturday, a war monitor said, pressing an offensive to capture the rebel enclave on the doorstep of Damascus.

Government forces seized Kafr Batna and Sabqa in the south of the enclave, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, as thousands of civilians fled into regime-held territory.



Short link:

When Asadullah Poya's baby came into the world in August 2016, and he saw that the boy had an unusual shock of blond hair, he named him Donald Trump, hoping it would bring him good fortune.

Kabul: When Asadullah Poya's wife gave birth to their third child in a tiny village in rural Afghanistan, he immediately thought of Donald Trump.

Not Donald Trump the upstart politician, who at that time was in the thick of the 2016 presidential campaign, but Donald Trump the celebrity businessman. He had just recently read a Dari translation of what appears to be Trump: How to Get Rich, published in 2004 by the then-star of The Apprentice, and was transfixed.

"I loved his personality. I thought he is the best at economics and he is great at politics," Poya said. "I thought 'This is a great man.' I liked the way he decides he wants something and then he goes and gets it."

So when his baby came into the world in August 2016, and he saw that the boy had an unusual shock of blond hair, he named him Donald Trump, hoping it would bring him good fortune.

It hasn't.

Poya's own parents were furious that he had given their grandchild a non-Muslim name. The imam of the village mosque devoted an entire Friday sermon to the matter, calling the name an insult. The opposition doesn't have much to do with President Trump's politics, but with the decision to break with tradition and name the boy for a non-Muslim.

"Every day the situation got worse," Poya said. "Every day in the house, when I was calling my son Trump, my father got angrier and angrier, until finally my father couldn't tolerate it anymore."

It was then that Poya decided to pack up his family, leave his teaching job and the family farm, and move to the Kabul.

Poya and his children  Donald Trump, his older sister Fatima and brother Karim  now live in a simple one-story house that they share with their landlord.

But Donald Trump isn't liked in the capital either.

On Thursday, five neighbors approached the landlord and demanded he throw Poya out, calling him an "infidel" for not giving his son a Muslim name.

Others have accused Poya of naming his son Donald Trump in order to improve his chances of gaining asylum in the United States. On the campaign trail, Trump had called for a ban on Muslims entering the US, but what about a Muslim refugee named Donald Trump?

Poya insists he does not want to leave the country, and that he never intended his son's name to be in the news. He says a local government official in the district where he registered his son's name posted the identity card on Facebook.

Donald Trump set social media ablaze.

Poya said he and his wife had to block their Facebook pages after they received a deluge of angry comments and threats. One user said four men were coming to kill him, while others called him an infidel or an atheist, a potentially fatal accusation in a conservative Muslim country.

"But a name is a name," Poya said. If Donald Trump wants to change his name when he is older, his father says he is free to do so. "But now it is my decision, and I have decided it is Trump."

On Thursday afternoon, the chubby, 18-month-old boy was running around the house. His father called for the high-energy toddler to stop, but Donald Trump stubbornly ignored him. Then Donald Trump ran over to a computer and started slapping the keys with his tiny hands  almost as though he wanted to send an angry tweet.

"Trump! Come here," Poya shouted.

He's still a big fan of his son's namesake, and says he would love to meet President Trump someday.

"I would like to see him and talk to him and tell him please bring peace and stability for Afghanistan," said Poya. "He is the president. He can do it."

Undeterred by the controversy his son's famous name has ignited, Poya said that if he has a fourth child and it is a girl he would like to name her after President Trump's daughter, though he had to be reminded of her name.

"Ivanka Trump" is unlikely to be any less divisive..              .                 .      16  21,    16.     ""            (). ...Facebook is said to be planning on launching the Oculus Go VR Headset at F8 Developer Conference on May 1 according to sources of Variety. Facebook declined to comment just as expected. The company first introduced the Go VR Headset back in October 2017.

During the announcement in October, company executives mentioned that the Oculus Go VR headset would be available to consumers in early 2018. Since it powers with the same software as Samsungs Gear VR headset, it will out of the box have support for thousands of VR games and 360-degree video experiences, and other streaming services like Hulu, Netflix, and HBO. The Oculus Go VR Headset comes with an integrated display and all of its computing power directly into the headset, eliminating the need for phone or PC.

Furthermore, the headset will come with a 32 GB of onboard storage for the $199 variant, and 64GB model will sell at a higher price. Unlike the Oculus Rift headset, Oculus Go doesnt have any positional tracking technology. If rumors are to be believed, Facebook said to have given a model of Oculus Go VR Headset that is very much like the final retail product some time last year. At CES 2018 in January, the company announced that it was partnering with Xiaomi and Qualcomm to manufacture the Go.

As for specifications, the Oculus Go VR Headset will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 Mobile VR Platform, 2K (2,560 x 1,440 pixels) fast-switch LCD screen, 3.5mm headphone jack. While the exact reasons for the delay in launch in unknown, but for now it looks like were just a month and a half away from the official Oculus Go VR Headset announcement.

SourceMicrosoft first introduced the Edge Browser beta for Android and iOS back in October 2017 and during the announcement it mentioned that browser for iPads will be made available soon, and now the day has finally arrived. Edge Browser is now finally available for iPads in beta via the Apple TestFlight system.

Just as you would expect, Microsoft has scaled up the interface of the browser to fit the large-screen and features like continue on PC, options to change from a light to a dark theme are accounted for. For now, however, Microsoft didnt include iOS 11 split screen support, which means you cant run any other app while browsing. But since this in beta, theres hope for the feature to make its way in the final release.

Hey Apple users... Microsoft Edge for iPad (beta) is here! Test it out today via the Apple TestFlight app, we want your feedback!  Joe Belfiore (@joebelfiore) March 16, 2018

Like on iPhones, Microsoft still doesnt offer any support for tab syncing between a Windows PC and the iPad or iPhone versions of Edge, but it did mention that it is working on introducing such feature soon. Other familiar features like your Favorites, Reading List, New Tab Page, Reading View, are all present here as well.

If you are a Microsoft Edge tester on iOS, you can download the app right away from TestFlight. For others, Microsoft Edge would be available very soon in the coming weeks.Arie Luyendyk Jr. and fiancee Lauren Burnham werent kidding when they said they planned to leave the country following The Bachelors controversial two-day finale.

On Thursday, Luyendyk, 36, and Burnham, 25, checked into Barcelonas luxurious Iberostar Paseo de Gracia resort, located in the heart of Plaza Cataluna. Were told the pair will be enjoying their Spanish getaway in one of the hotels two-story suites, which boasts scenic 360-degree views.

A source confirmed the estimated cost of the couples stay is $25,000.

After breaking up with Burnham on the March 5 season finale of The Bachelor, Luyendyk instead popped the question to finalist Becca Kufrin. The Arizona-based racer then broke Kufrins heart on-air by reconciling with Burnham. He later proposed to Burnham on the March 6 After the Final Rose special in front of a studio audience.

The best decision was running back to you, Luyendyk told Burnham. You have showed me a love that is patient, a love that is kind. I should have done this a long time ago.

While Minnesota-bred publicist Kufrin, 27, readies for her role as The Bachelorette,Luyendyk and his bride-to-be are busy taking in the Spanish sights  as well as each other. The future newlyweds were also spotted smooching while sipping champagne.

This story originally appeared the New York Post.It was a festive top o the morning for the Duchess of Cambridge, who looked regal as ever in a head-to-toe emerald look at a St. Patricks Day Parade in west London.

Eight months pregnant with her third child, the Duchess visited the 1st Battalion Irish Guards at their base on March 17 alongside her husband, Prince William, who serves as Colonel of the regiment, The Telegraph reports.

Radiating holiday cheer, the Duchess wore a long, dark green coat trimmed with black fur cuffs and collar by Catherine Walker with a matching headpiece atop her signature chignon, paired with black gloves, tights and pumps for the chilly temperatures, Glamour reports.

5 ST. PATRICK'S DAY COCKTAILS THAT DON'T INVOLVE WHISKEY

According to the outlet, the ever relatable royal appeared to rummage in her closet for her St. Patricks Day green. She previously stepped out in the coat in January during her tour of Scandinavia, and first wore the headpiece in 2014.

Handing out sprigs of shamrock to officers and warrant officers amongst the 350 troops, Duchess Kate looked thrilled to meet their mascot, Domnhall the Irish Wolfhound. After the parade, Prince William enjoyed a pint of Guinness, while the Duchess drank a glass of water, Vanity Fair notes.

VICTORIA'S SECRET MODEL BRIDGET MALCOLM SAYS SHE'S DONE DIETING, HAS MADE 'PEACE WITH MY BODY'

Various British outlets surmised that the outing will likely be one of Duchess Kates last official engagements before she welcomes Prince George and Princess Charlottes new baby sibling in April. But if her sartorial track record is any indication, the Duchess is sure to look chic at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's highly anticipated wedding in May.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWSNEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!

After reading a detailed and damning recommendation by the Justice Departments non-partisan inspector general that FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe be immediately fired for integrity reasons, Attorney General Jeff Sessions followed the recommendation Friday night.

McCabes firing was legally and morally appropriate and was necessary.

Sessions said in a statement: "Pursuant to Department Order 1202, and based on the report of the Inspector General, the findings of the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility, and the recommendation of the Departments senior career official, I have terminated the employment of Andrew McCabe effective immediately."

McCabe understandably feels aggrieved  if he had not been fired he would have qualified for full lifetime pension benefits Sunday. Perhaps he is even sorry for his missteps.

Politics aside, here is why that decision was right, why McCabe will not win his full pension back on appeal, and why his indignant, self-serving and political reaction is dead wrong.

McCabe is an attorney who joined the FBI in 1996. At that time, he took an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, vowed to bear true faith and allegiance to the same, and to well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office, ending so help me God.

When he rose to deputy director of the FBI, under then-Director James Comey, McCabe took the oath again. He briefly served as acting director of the bureau after Comey was fired and before Chris Wray became director.

As deputy director and acting director, McCabe failed miserably. According to the inspector general, congressional investigators and Attorney General Sessions, McCabe effectively breached his oath.

McCabe became deputy director of the FBI in February 2016. He seemed destined for greatness, and perhaps inclined toward the Clintons. An Obama appointee, he had promising political ties and nowhere to go but up.

McCabes wife, Jill, was politically disposed, a vocal Democrat who ran unsuccessfully for a Virginia state Senate seat just three months before her husband became FBI deputy director.

She raised $1.6 million for her race  twice her opponents war chest  including $780,000 that came from political sources, some closely tied to the Clintons.

Then came the series of integrity missteps by Andrew McCabe, which would likely have gone undiscovered, or perhaps simply covered up, had Hillary Clinton been elected president in 2016.

First, McCabe did not recuse himself from the investigation of Hillary Clintons email server.

Call that bad judgement, but he may have wanted to guard the process, protecting the likely future president, who might have rewarded him once in the Oval Office.

The obvious conflict of interest, and blatant perception of one, was simply ignored, with McCabe claiming he did not oversee public corruption cases in Virginia nor undertake his role in the investigating the Clinton emails until his wifes campaign was finished.

Then, with McCabe handling the Clinton investigation, a pall of silence fell during the critical 2016 election year over the whole process.

One can, to a degree and with a straight face, claim that standard and ongoing investigations deserve silence. But the Clinton email investigation was not standard, and the internal process that intimately involving McCabe and Comey was also not standard.

Then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch privately and shockingly talked with the investigation targets husband, former President Clinton, and then told Comey not to publicly call this investigation an investigation, but only a matter. McCabe played along.

Then in in September 2016 a bombshell was discovered. On the computer of top Clinton aide Human Abedins husband  disgraced former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner, under investigation for other illegal activity  investigators found hundreds of thousands of emails tied to Hillary Clinton. The emails were voluminous and damning.

What did McCabe do? He did not tell tell his boss, James Comey. This was a hot a potato coming two months before the presidential election, and McCabe dropped it.

In what might make a good opening paragraph for Hillary Clintons next book, What Happened, Version II, McCabe made a fatal mistake, assuming his goal was to protect Hillary Clinton.

Getting the critical information on the Clinton emails in September 2016, McCabe did not reveal it to FBI Director Comey until Oct. 27, forcing Comey on national television to raise questions about Clintons integrity days before the general election.

Ironies are seldom so clean, and violations of duty seldom so clear. In an apparent effort to shield a previous and potentially future political patron, McCabe badly bobbled the ball, actually adding to her peril. But that is not the main point.

The main point is  as the inspector general congressional investigators and others have noted  McCabe shaded the truth repeatedly.

McCabe told congressional investigators that the FBI had sought a warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Court to spy on a Trump campaign adviser, using information they knew was paid for by the Clinton campaign, but never told the FISA Court the informations origins.

McCabe even reportedly noted that, without that Clinton opposition research, the warrant would not have been granted by the FISA Court.

Add this to emails indicating he was party to some insurance gambit, presumably starting the Russia collusion probe, which might be used as a foil if Trump won, which he did.

While all sounding wildly nefarious, the whole business really reeks of adolescent giddiness and amateur political machinations, in a place there should be no politics. It reeks of terrible judgement, at the top of the FBI. That may be the real reason Comey was removed earlier, and why McCabe had to go now.

Likely the final straw, was  as the inspector general detailed and Attorney General Sessions confirmed  that McCabe, who had otherwise risen through a distinguished career, doubled back to protect himself. The cover-up always does it.

Reportedly, McCabe lied to the inspector general, or in euphemistic and delicately modern parlance, he had made an unauthorized disclosure to the news media and lacked candor  including under oath  on multiple occasions.

Although it need not be said, Attorney General Sessions wryly noted: The FBI expects every employee to adhere to the highest standards of honesty, integrity, and accountability. The Office of Professional Responsibility noted: All FBI employees know that lacking candor under oath results in dismissal and that integrity is our brand.

There the story of McCabe ends. What is happening, plain and simple, is that justice  and respect for the non-political oath taken by all men and women at the FBI, Justice Department and in federal service  is being restored. And that is the truth.NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!

No one should rejoice in the firing of FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe by Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Friday. By all accounts, McCabes career over two decades of FBI service was marked with achievements.

The firing, however, was based on the recommendation of a career FBI official under current FBI Director Chris Wray and was justified because the FBI has a zero tolerance for lying under oath. In fact, there are many examples of the rank and file in the FBI losing their jobs and retirement benefits for violating these high standards.

If a different standard is applied at the most senior levels, the FBI is lost. So while this is a sad day, the action taken demonstrates that the dedicated men and women of the FBI will accept no lower standards, regardless of your rank or status.

Make no mistake, this was not a political decision forced by President Trump or any external party. The recommendation to fire McCabe came from the FBI's own Office of Professional Responsibility, led by FBI Assistant Director Candice Will, who has been in her position since her appointment by then-Director Robert Mueller in 2004.

In other words this was the FBI itself recommending to the attorney general that  based on well- established precedent  one of their own should be fired for not meeting the high standards of integrity expected of an FBI employee.

FBI disciplinary actions are based on facts and precedent from hundreds of cases that have been built up over many decades. These precedents are followed carefully in order to ensure consistency in FBI disciplinary actions.

The bottom line is, as Assistant Director Will has stated, "if you lie you are gone." So far from being a political decision, this is the FBI sending a strong and consistent message to its agents and support staff.

It's worth noting that as deputy director of the FBI, McCabe was entrusted with the responsibility to decide the fate of many FBI employees facing a wide variety of disciplinary actions. He had to decide whether to fire FBI employees for "lack of candor. It's only fitting that the same standard he imposed on others should apply to him.

It is a serious mistake to assert that McCabe's firing was the result of some political vendetta. This was a simple case of an FBI executive who failed to set the highest ethical standards in his position as the No. 2 person in the FBI.

Simply put, FBI agents who are entrusted with the life, liberty and property of our citizens through their investigative work cannot mislead, spin, nuance or lie under oath. Their word is the currency of the realm.

Something happened during the tenure of former FBI Director Jim Comey. A small group of executives picked up some bad habits and practices. Leaks became acceptable if the leaker deemed it morally justified.

The perception of impropriety regarding actions that were legal but clearly questionable  such as campaign contributions received by McCabe's wife in her unsuccessful race as a Democratic candidate for a Virginia state Senate seat  were ignored.

Despite the longstanding rules codified in the federal regulations and FBI manuals that FBI ongoing investigations are not discussed publicly for any reason, former Director Comey laid out the Clinton email investigation in an excruciatingly detailed news conference and then proceeded to make a prosecutorial decision that was not his to make. Comeys own leaks are well known.

Leaks are intolerable because they stigmatize people who are presumed to be innocent. And most importantly, leaks of details of investigations are a violation of the law. An FBI agent sworn to uphold the law simply can't break the law  not to set the record straight, not to influence the court of public opinion, and certainly not to satisfy some personal agenda.

Leaking and lying undermine the credibility of the FBI, not just the leaker or liar.

As a 24-year veteran of the FBI, I served under exemplary directors such as William Webster, Louis Freeh and Robert Mueller. These men set an example of integrity, humility and an absolute, unconditional adherence to the rule of law. That culture is set at the top of the house in any entity, whether it's a U.S. corporation or the FBI.

While it's heartbreaking to see a career FBI special agent lose his pension, it is important for the FBI to send a message to every employee in the agency that that all employees are held to the same high standards, especially those on the 7th Floor executive offices.

To call this a political decision is to impose a lower standard on the FBI. That is something that we should not accept from the nation's the premier law enforcement agency.NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!

Toss a pebble in a pond and you get ripples. Toss an inaccurate story into todays news environment and you cause a tidal wave of inaccurate news. Thats exactly what left-wing ProPublica did last year in a story about CIA torture. The result of that screw-up has swamped numerous major news outlets.

The February 2017 story was a hit job on CIA Deputy Director Gina Haspel. It involved the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah, who the CIA says was an Al Qaeda leader. The ProPublica story said Haspel had overseen his waterboarding and other coercive interrogation methods that are widely seen as torture. She allegedly mocked the prisoners suffering, demonizing her even further.

Except it didnt happen. Neither of these assertions is correct and we retract them, ProPublica wrote in a correction published Thursday  more than a year after the original incorrect story was published and, coincidentally, on the Ides of March.

ProPublica did own up to its error, but said in a telling admission: This error was particularly unfortunate because it muddied an important national debate about Haspel and the CIAs recent history.

Thanks for the understatement.

Its not hard to find media outlets that didnt just embrace the ProPublica story, they cited it. Rolling Stones Matt Taibbi ran this: Taibbi: Trump's CIA Pick Took Part in Silencing Torture Suspect. It cited ProPublica reporter Raymond Bonner at the top of the story. NPRs All Things Considered had Bonner on to discuss his article.

Lots more outlets are going to be upset about this. The New Republic cited Bonner in its first paragraph. CNBC reran a piece from left-wing Vox saying: Donald Trump wants feminist cred for putting a veteran torturer in charge of the CIA. It cited the ProPublica story.

ProPublicas mea culpa did blame The New York Times, too. It noted that the Times also reported last year that Haspel oversaw the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah and another detainee.

There will be a ton of recriminations and corrections. MSNBC Anchor Chris Hayes put it mildly: That's a very big error.

Daily Mail U.S. Political Editor David Martosko got to the heart of the problem with his comment. Wow. This error launched hundreds of articles. It is not a small mistake, he tweeted.

ProPublica was founded with $10 million a year from liberal billionaires Herbert and Marion Sandler. Slates Jack Shafer, who now writes for Politico, wrote in 2007 how the couple had funded everything from Democratic politicians to the Center for American Progress and Moveon.org. Left, lefter and leftist. An outlet that does hit jobs seems to be exactly what the Sandlers wanted.

ProPublica is still the darling of the major media. CNN Senior Media Correspondent Brian Stelter called ProPublica one of the country's most respected news organizations in the Reliable Sources newsletter. (He meant by fellow newsies. Most Americans have never heard of it until this week.)

ProPublica has received four Pulitzer Prizes and numerous other awards. Its 46 separate 2017 media partners included The New York Times, USA Today and NPR.

Ironically, ProPublica Illinois just posted a story Tuesday about its commitment to Keep Bias Out of Stories. It included this nugget: We stick with the facts, and several editors read every story.

2. Journalists Play Chiefs of Staff: The Haspel appointment wasnt the only one the media fixated on this week. President Trump was making more moves in his Cabinet and journalists had two consistent views  the people he adds are bad and people he fires are good.

New Secretary of State nominee Mike Pompeo was called a Benghazi bomb-thrower by Washington Post Reporter Erica Werner. The Democracy Dies in Darkness staffer then deleted her tweet. So much for transparency.

The media targeted President Trumps new economic adviser as well. Former CNBC host Larry Kudlow was mocked by The New York Times. It carried a story with the headline: 6 of Larry Kudlows Not-So-on-the-Money Predictions. What the Times likes to forget is that it employs economist Paul Krugman who had to apologize for his post-election prediction. Heres what he wrote election night, 2016: If the question is when markets will recover, a first-pass answer is never.

CNN Political Director David Chalian looked down his nose at Kudlow, calling him a cable TV personality. One wonders if Chalian remembers where he works.

Over at MSNBC, they were baffled by Kudlows religious faith and his comment that however things work out, it will be Gods will. Co-Anchor Stephanie Ruhle acted stunned. Thats an interesting way to talk about being the national economic adviser to the president. Gods will?

Seriously, do media people never encounter anyone with religious faith or are they just reflexively anti-faith?

Then there was the 60 Minutes attack on Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. It referred to her as the most hated member of the Trump Cabinet and reminded viewers twice that shes a devout Christian. Scary.

But when it looks like President Trump is firing someone the media like, it all goes bad. MSNBC Anchor Nicolle Wallace asked if the president is a bleep-hole for considering firing former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe (who was later fired by Attorney General Jeff Sessions).

Or theres Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, also canned this week. When he was chosen, the New York Times wrote: Rex Tillerson, an Aggressive Dealmaker Whose Ties With Russia May Prompt Scrutiny. Now that hes out, we get a column: In Faint Praise of Rex Tillerson. Columnist Thomas Friedman tweeted: Rex Tillerson: The worst Secretary of State ever  and I am really going to miss him.Israel's military targeted a Hamas observation post Saturday after an explosive device detonated near the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel, the military said.

The explosion occurred in the northern Gaza Strip near Israel's border fence, the army said in a statement, with no casualties reported.

"In response, IDF (Israel Defence Forces) tanks targeted a military observation post belonging to the Hamas terror organisation," the army said on Twitter.

According to Palestinian sources, the retaliatory fire slightly injured one person.

Two explosive devices were detonated Thursday along the border, provoking Israeli attacks on Hamas positions.

No group has claimed responsibility for the blasts, but Israel held Hamas responsible as the de facto power in the Palestinian enclave.

Israel, Hamas and its allies are observing a ceasefire since the 2014 war, the third in the enclave in six years.

On February 17, four Israeli soldiers were wounded by an improvised explosive device on the border, sparking intense military retaliation.

Israel warplanes attacked 18 "terror targets belonging to Hamas" in Gaza in response to the blast, which severely wounded two of the soldiers, and a subsequent Palestinian rocket attack on southern Israel.

*This story was edited by Ahram Online.

Short link:

NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!

Voters in Russia will elect a president Sunday  and we know President Vladimir Putin will win another term in office.

With the winner known in advance, critics have dismissed the election as a mere attempt to demonstrate Putins political power. But that is precisely the point.

Non-democratic elections like Russias are important not for choosing a ruler, but for providing a rare public signal that potential rivals can use to gauge the presidents power. Those who might challenge Putins rule will surely be scrutinizing the election results for signs of weakness  even as they know he will win.

Autocrats do lose elections, but rarely. Since 1946, 51 autocratic parties have lost rigged elections. Far more often, rulers in non-democracies like Russia lose power via challengers from within the elite.

More than 60 percent of autocrats have lost power via various forms of coups by formerly loyal elites since 1946. Autocratic rulers also face challenges from the mass public via street protests.

Few topics enrage the Kremlin more than the possibility of a so-called Color Revolution in Russia, like the revolts that overthrew undemocratic governments in the former Soviet republics of Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan and Georgia from 2003 through 2005.

Elections under autocracies always involve a degree of fraud and coercion. But if voters are willing to go to the polls and vote for the incumbent in large numbers without a great deal of coercion or electoral fraud, potential challengers among the elite and mass public will think twice about challenging the leader.

Large and more or less honest margins of victory send a strong signal to potential rivals that their efforts to depose the ruler will be futile.

However, if vote totals are seen as wholly fraudulent, or turnout is obtained via coercion, even an impressive victory may signal to potential challengers among the elite and the mass public that the incumbent is actually not very popular.

Elections under autocracies like Russia face an inherent dilemma. Fraudulent elections make it easier for the autocrat to win, but higher levels of fraud also make it harder for the autocrat to convince potential rivals and opposition leaders that he is actually popular. After all, if he is so beloved, then why does he need so much fraud?

In Sundays election, the Kremlin is seeking a so-called 70/70 solution in which President Putin receives 70 percent of the vote with 70 percent voter turnout. Higher figures may be seen as not credible, while lower figures may signal vulnerability.

A 70 percent vote share for Putin is within sight, because opposition voters will likely split their ballots among the seven other fringe candidates. The most outspoken opposition politician in Russia  the anti-corruption activist Aleksei Navalny  was barred from running for the presidency on a legal technicality that many see as politically motivated.

Hitting the 70 percent turnout target can be complicated, because regional officials have been known to inflate their vote totals for Putin to compete for his affection. Uncoordinated ballot stuffing by regional governors can create a herding effect of too many votes for Putin.

On the other hand, the level of apathy among the public toward this election is high and the regime may struggle to gain 70 percent turnout without significant ballot box stuffing. Voter turnout in elections for the Russian Parliament in September 2016 was just 48 percent. Turnout in Russias municipal elections in September last year was much lower than usual. In Moscows municipal elections last fall, only 12 percent of voters bothered to vote.

Even though President Putin has high approval ratings, faces an opposition in disarray and has no serious political rivals, the Kremlin has undertaken a massive mobilization campaign to support his re-election. From cuddly grandmas rapping in a get-out-the-vote ad, to massive pressure on employers to turn out their workers to vote, to scheduling the election on the anniversary of the annexation of Crimea, the Kremlin is pulling out all the stops for the incumbent.

Putin is in no immediate danger, but given Russias stagnant economy, a good bit of Putin-fatigue after 18 years in power, and increasing restrictions on political activity, the Kremlin is clearly uneasy about Sundays election. And it should be.

Many have hinted that Putins next six-year term will be his last and that he will step down in keeping with the constitutional ban on holding office for three consecutive terms. But Putins ability to impose his will on policy, to choose a successor, or even to stay in power for the full six-year term may be shaped by his ability to demonstrate his power in an election that he is sure to win.

Rather than dismissing these elections as trivial because we know Putin will come out on top, we should be paying attention to how he does it.NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!

If CIA Director Mike Pompeo wins Senate confirmation to become secretary of state, as expected, one of his first challenges will be working to make President Trumps planned meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un a success. That may prove to be mission impossible.

An obvious question arises: Is North Korea responding favorably to the U.S. maximum pressure campaign, or trying to buy time for its nuclear program and wrest concessions from negotiations? The answer is likely both.

Feeling the heat, North Korean leaders hope a show of compromise will weaken Americas commitment to the debilitating economic sanctions and robust military deterrence now putting severe pressure on the Communist nation.

Like his grandfather and father who ruled the North before him, Kim Jong Un hopes to convince the international community to provide aid or release funds by pretending to want peace. Such assistance could actually finance the Norths final drive toward deliverable nuclear weapons.

The Trump administration has expended much effort convincing other nations of the urgency of a maximum pressure approach against North Korea. What better way for the North to upend that effort than to convince the world, and perhaps even President Trump himself, that maximum pressure is no longer necessary?

Sensibly, U.S. officials  including incoming Secretary of State Pompeo  have indicated that maximum pressure will continue for now.

The Trump administration faces a daunting balancing act. It hopes diplomacy will buy the United States more time and another avenue to get North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons. But it must prevent North Korea from gaining anything through diplomacy  time, cover, favorable media coverage, or concessions  unless the North denuclearizes.

The Norths charm campaign began at the Olympics, where a smiling Kim Yo Jong, who is Kim Jong Uns sister, represented the country. Stoking dreams of a unified Korea and playing on desires for peace, she sought to portray North Korea as a responsible and reasonable member of the international community.

Suddenly, North and South were talking  not just about the Olympics, but about denuclearization. And the South was conveying the Norths alleged willingness to discuss surrendering nuclear weapons in exchange for a U.S. security guarantee and the normalization of relations.

The upcoming meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong Un  assuming it takes place  will give North Korea a historic chance to seduce the media, and could easily lend the brutal, bellicose Kim legitimacy and stature. Just being in the same room with the president of the United States, surrounded by journalists from around the world, would be a publicity triumph for Kim.

North Korea has a track record of finessing the United States with the promise of negotiations and the pretense of agreements. Maximum pressure was adopted in the first place because North Koreas nuclear and missile programs had advanced alarmingly while diplomacy and outreach were tried.

Vacillation and incrementalism in the imposition of sanctions and naive faith in negotiations were recurring features of U.S. policy and were especially evident during the Obama years.

No matter how many nuclear and missile tests North Korea carried out, and no matter how many times North Korea backed out of negotiations or violated previously negotiated terms, the Obama/Clinton/Kerry team indicated that compromise and aid were still possible if talks ensued.

The Obama administration was willing to pay a high price for a negotiated solution and began by seeking normalization of relations and promised recognition of the cruel North Korean regimes legitimacy  if only progress was made on the nuclear issue.

And under President Obama, the U.S. preemptively offered no first use of nuclear weapons and refused to fully enforce sanctions against the North that it supposedly endorsed  but was unable to get North Korea to return to six party talks on nuclear disarmament.

In 2012, North Korea did attend bilateral talks that led to a Leap Day agreement in which the United States pledged 240,000 metric tons of food in exchange for a freeze on nuclear and missile tests. But the agreement fell apart as North Korea prepared more nuclear tests, declared its nuclear weapons non-negotiable, threatened America with destruction, and rattled South Korea with cyberattacks and military provocations.

Indeed, there has not been a correlation between engagement efforts and more cooperative North Korean behavior. Nuclear tests and threats by the North have often occurred at the very time of diplomatic outreach.

Although North Korea could conceivably give up its nuclear program in order to save the Kim regime, it is more likely that the North will never give up the nuclear force it has worked so hard to develop, because the force is critical to the survival of the regime and of Kim himself.

Acquiescing to denuclearization would undermine the ideas that North Korea is under constant existential threat from geopolitical enemies, that it has a mission to unify the Korean Peninsula and export its ideology, and that Kim is the savior of his people and the only one who can carry out that mission. North Koreas nuclear program serves its domestic propaganda, and its defensive and offensive aims.

If North Korea nevertheless gets serious about terms required for the verifiable dismantlement of its nuclear weapons and missiles, wed better beware of the terms. And we had better answer the following questions:

Should we accept a peace treaty that requires the U.S. to withdraw troops from South Korea, thereby leaving the region and the United States itself vulnerable?

Should we normalize relations with a regime with human rights violations that are so encompassing and severe that the regime itself could be said to be running a concentration camp, thereby consigning the North Korean people to their awful fate?

Should we give aid to a dictator who will use the assistance to shore up his inner circle?

Should we focus only on North Koreas nuclear and missile programs when it is also a major proliferator of weapons of mass destruction, exchanging chemical weapons technology with Syrian dictator Bashar Assad to help him wage war against his own people?

Unless North Korea earns trust, the United States should not only continue maximum pressure; it should increase penalties on every entity that enables the regime, including major Chinese banks.

With China intent on image-building, we should expose the devastating human toll of its support for North Korea. The best way to maintain the peace is to weaken the North Korean regime to make its nuclear program impossible to sustain, and heighten our military defenses and resolve.President Trump called Andrew McCabe a 'choirboy' as he lauded the former acting FBI Director's firing, suggesting multiple federal reports show corruption at the highest level.

Andrew McCabe FIRED, a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI - A great day for Democracy. Sanctimonious James Comey was his boss and made McCabe look like a choirboy. He knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI! Trump tweeted hours after Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the dismissal.

McCabe was fired just days before he would have been eligible for a lifetime pension after it was determined that he lied to investigators reviewing the bureaus probe of Hillary Clintons email server.

"Pursuant to Department Order 1202, and based on the report of the Inspector General, the findings of the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility, and the recommendation of the Departments senior career official, I have terminated the employment of Andrew McCabe effective immediately," Sessions said in a statement.

He went to say that after reviewing the reports, it was McCabe had made an unauthorized disclosure to the news media and lacked candor  including under oath  on multiple occasions.

"I have terminated the employment of Andrew McCabe effective immediately."  U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions

"The FBI expects every employee to adhere to the highest standards of honesty, integrity, and accountability. As the OPR proposal stated, 'all FBI employees know that lacking candor under oath results in dismissal and that our integrity is our brand,'" Sessions said.

Soon after his firing, McCabe hit back in a fiery response of his own.

"This attack on my credibility is one part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally, but to taint the FBI, law enforcement, and intelligence professionals more generally," McCabe said. "It is part of this Administrations ongoing war on the FBI and the efforts of the Special Counsel investigation, which continue to this day. Their persistence in this campaign only highlights the importance of the Special Counsels work.

"For the last year and a half, my family and I have been the targets of an unrelenting assault on our reputation and my service to this country. ... The Presidents tweets have amplified and exacerbated it all."  Andrew McCabe

McCabe said he and his family have been the targets of unrelenting attacks on their reputation and his service to the U.S.

"Articles too numerous to count have leveled every sort of false, defamatory and degrading allegation against us, he said. The Presidents tweets have amplified and exacerbated it all. He called for my firing. He called for me to be stripped of my pension after more than 20 years of service. And all along we have said nothing, never wanting to distract from the mission of the FBI by addressing the lies told and repeated about us. No more."

McCabe's firing marked a stunning fall for a man who was No. 2 at the bureau for a time under former FBI Director James Comey, ran it and even was reportedly on Trumps short list for the directorship.

But McCabe has also been mired in controversy in recent years.

Sessions decision to fire McCabe came as Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz concluded a bureau oversight investigation, with a report expected to be critical of McCabes handling of the Clinton email probe, his handling of the bureau during the early months of the Russia investigation, and his ties to the Democratic Party.

Horowitz determined that McCabe hadn't been forthcoming in regard to the handling of the FBIs probe into Clintons use of a private email server while she was secretary of state in the Obama administration.

The inspector generals finding sparked an FBI disciplinary process that recommended McCabes firing.

Horowitzs investigation, which landed McCabe in hot water, faults the former deputy director for the way he answered questions about his approval for interactions between an FBI official and a reporter about the bureaus investigation into the nonprofit Clinton Foundation.

McCabe was removed from his post as deputy to FBI Director Christopher Wray in January, setting in motion a plan to leave the bureau after months of conflict-of-interest complaints from Republicans  including President Trump.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Thursday that the decision was entirely up to Sessions, but that McCabe was a "bad actor."

"That's a determination we [left] up to Attorney General Sessions, but we do think that it is well documented that he has had some very troubling behavior and has been a bad actor," Sanders said.

FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is racing the clock to retire with full benefits. 90 days to go?!!! Trump tweeted in December, before McCabes removal.

McCabe became acting director of the FBI after Trump fired Comey on May 9, 2017. McCabe led the bureau, independently, until Aug. 2, 2017  during the early months of the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and potential collusion with Trump campaign associates.

Republicans have also long criticized McCabe for his ties to the Democratic Party  his wife received donations during a failed 2015 Virginia Senate run from a group tied to a Clinton ally, former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe  all while the Clinton email probe was underway.

How can FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, the man in charge, along with leakin James Comey, of the Phony Hillary Clinton investigation (including her 33,000 illegally deleted emails) be given $700,000 for wifes campaign by Clinton Puppets during investigation? the president tweeted in December.

The president was not a part of the decision making process, when McCabe was removed from the bureau in January, press secretary Sanders said.

McCabe returned to the white-hot spotlight when Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee released its memo on Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) abuses in connection with the Russia probe, saying that McCabe signed a FISA warrant targeting former Trump campaign volunteer adviser Carter Page.

McCabe testified before the committee in December 2017 that no surveillance warrant would have been sought from the [FISA court] without the Steele dossier information, the memo read. The Steele dossier was unverified, and financed as opposition research by the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign.

And recently uncovered text messages between FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page revealed a new timeline in the Clinton email probe, apparently showing McCabes knowledge of the investigation.

The text messages suggest that as of Sept. 28, 2016, Strzok, Page and McCabe were aware of new Clinton emails found on the laptop of disgraced former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner, spouse of Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin.

Got called up to Andys earlier  hundreds of thousands of emails turned over by Weiners atty to sdny, includes a ton of material from spouse. Sending team up tomorrow to reviewthis will never end  Strzok wrote in a text message to Page.

But it wasnt until Oct. 27, 2016 that Comey was briefed on the newly discovered emails  meaning McCabe kept the director in the dark for a month.

Horowitz is specifically investigating McCabe and whether he wanted to avoid taking action on the laptop findings until after the presidential election, in which Clinton lost to Trump.

According to testimony obtained by Fox News from an Office of Special Counsel interview with former Comey Chief of Staff James Rybicki, McCabes office did not notify him until the night of Oct. 26, 2016.

The OSC also interviewed FBI Deputy General Counsel Trisha Anderson, who testified that Comey was first briefed on the material found on Weiners laptop on Oct. 27, 2016.

Anderson noted that the directors office decided to urgently address the situation.

Given the significance of the matter, um, uh, that we had to proceed quickly, Anderson told investigators. It was just too, too explosive for us to sit on.

So it wasnt until Oct. 28, 2016, that Comey sent a letter to Congress announcing the recent developments of the discovery of the Clinton and Abedin communications found on the laptop which he had just been briefed on a day before. That letter reopened the Clinton email probe just a week before the election. The inspector general is investigating McCabes involvement in this timeline.

Several Republicans also have pointed with alarm to the Strzok-Page texts and their references to McCabe in relation to an insurance policy to prevent Trump from being elected president, and a secret society within the bureau.Andrew McCabe has long been under fire, specifically by Republicans who have voiced conflict-of-interest complaints over McCabe's ties to the Democratic Party. Now, a bombshell report released by the Justice Department, reveals the former FBI director misled investigators multiple times about his role in a news media leak, though McCabe denies the allegations.

"DOJ just issued the McCabe report - which is a total disaster," Trump said in an April 13 tweet. "He LIED! LIED! LIED! McCabe was totally controlled by Comey - McCabe is Comey!! No collusion, all made up by this den of thieves and lowlifes!"

McCabe says that when he believed his answers to the inspector general were misunderstood, he went back and tried to correct them. His lawyer says the inspector general unfairly tried to conclude its work before McCabe could retire with a full pension.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired McCabe on March 16 -- two days short of his retirement and receiving a full pension. The firing was followed by reports that McCabe kept personal memos detailing interactions with President Trump.

Spent very little time with Andrew McCabe, but he never took notes when he was with me, Trump tweeted on March 18. I dont believe he made memos except to help his own agenda, probably at a later date. Same with lying James Comey. Can we call them Fake Memos?

"[W]e concluded that McCabes decision to confirm the existence of the CF Investigation through an anonymously sourced quote, recounting the content of a phone call with a senior Department official in a manner designed to advance his personal interests at the expense of Department leadership, was clearly not within the public interest exception," the report says.

Here's what you need to know about McCabe's FBI career and the controversies -- including his wife's having received donations for a failed 2015 Senate run from a group tied to former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe -- that have followed.

What should I know about McCabes FBI career?

McCabe started at the FBI in 1996 as a special agent and has held leadership positions in the Counterterrorism Division, the National Security Branch and the Washington Field Office, the FBI said.

In July 2015, a press release announced that then-FBI Director James Comey had appointed McCabe associate deputy director. Comey named McCabe the bureaus deputy director in January 2016.

Andys 19 years of experience, combined with his vision, judgment and ability to communicate, make him a perfect fit for this job, Comey said in a statement at the time.

After Trump fired Comey, McCabe was acting director of the FBI from May 9, 2017, until Aug. 2, 2017. Trumps pick to replace Comey, Christopher Wray, was sworn in the same day.

What about his handling of the Clinton email probe?

The inspector general's office, which for more than a year investigated the FBI's handling of the Clinton email investigation, concluded that McCabe authorized FBI officials to speak with a journalist for an October 2016 story in The Wall Street Journal, according to The New York Times.

Though Trump has called McCabe biased, the story in question suggested that FBI officials wanted to more actively probe the Clinton Foundation but were discouraged from more aggressive steps by the Obama Justice Department.

The DOJ's April report found that McCabe authorized a leak to a Wall Street Journal reporter about the contents of a telephone call in August 2016.

"Among the purposes of the disclosure was to rebut a narrative that had been developing following a story in the WSJ on October 23, 2016, that questioned McCabes impartiality in overseeing FBI investigations involving [Clinton], and claimed that McCabe had ordered the termination of the [FBI's Clinton Foundation investigation] due to Department of Justice pressure," the report says.

In January, The Journal reported that McCabe knew of thousands of emails related to the Clinton investigation for at least a month before Comey told Congress about them.

The day he was fired, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement that "the FBI expects every employee to adhere to the highest standards of honesty, integrity, and accountability."

In response, McCabe said that his firing was a part of the Trump administration's "war on the FBI," adding that he was being singled out because of the "role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of James Comey."

What is the Andy text message?

FBI agent Peter Strzok was dismissed from Muellers Russia probe after being linked to a number of anti-Trump text messages, including those calling Trump a menace and a loathsome human.

An Aug. 15, 2016, text message Strzok sent to FBI lawyer Lisa Page apparently references an insurance policy against Trump winning the 2016 election.

I want to believe the path you threw out for consideration in Andys office - that theres no way he gets elected - but Im afraid we cant take that risk, Strzok said in the text message. Its like an insurance policy in the unlikely event you die before youre 40.

The Andy mentioned in the text was possibly a reference to McCabe.

What about his wifes State Senate campaign?

McCabes wife, Dr. Jill McCabe, ran for a Virginia State Senate seat in 2015. The political action committee for then-Virginia Governor McAuliffe, a Democrat and Clinton ally, donated $467,500 to her campaign, while the Virginia Democratic party gave $207,788, The Journal reported. Andrew McCabe was associate deputy director of the FBI at the time.

McCabe played no role, attended no events, and did not participate in fundraising or support of any kind, the FBI told The Journal in a statement. Months after the completion of her campaign, then-Associate Deputy Director McCabe was promoted to Deputy, where, in that position, he assumed for the first time, an oversight role in the investigation into Secretary Clintons emails.

Trump has been critical of the donations.

Dr. McCabe later lost the race to her Republican opponent, incumbent Dick Black.

Fox News Jake Gibson, Barnini Chakraborty, Madeline Farber, Lukas Mikelionis, Joseph Weber and The Associated Press contributed to this report.Newly fired FBI official Andrew McCabe kept personal memos similar to those compiled by James Comey on interactions with President Donald Trump, who axed Comey as FBI director.

The memo disclosure on Saturday, confirmed to Fox News by a source close to McCabe, comes after the onetime FBI deputy director was fired late Friday by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

McCabe gave a copy of the memos, which also included what Comey told him about his interactions with Trump, to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is leading a federal investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 elections, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Sessions said Friday night that he acted on McCabe's termination after a Justice Department inspector generals report, and on the recommendation of FBI disciplinary officials.

McCabe was fired two days before officially retiring and becoming eligible to receive his full retirement.

Rep. Mark Pocan, a Wisconsin Democrat, on Saturday extended a job offer to McCabe so that he could reach is length of service and get his retirement benefits.

"Andrew McCabes firing makes it clear that President Trump is doing everything he can to discredit the FBI," Pocan said. "My offer of employment to Mr. McCabe is a legitimate offer to work on election security."

McCabe released a statement Friday night suggesting his firing was part of the Trump administration's "war on the FBI."

Trump praised the firing. The president suggested on Twitter that reports show McCabe "knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI!" The president added that he was a choirboy compared with Comey.

A Trump tweet later in the day alleged "tremendous leaking, lying and corruption" among those leading the FBI and the departments of State and Justice.

The inspector general's report is expected to conclude that McCabe, a Comey confidant, authorized the release of information to the media and was not forthcoming with the watchdog office as it examined the bureau's handling of its inquiry into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while she was secretary of state under President Barack Obama.

"The FBI expects every employee to adhere to the highest standards of honesty, integrity and accountability," Sessions said in a statement.

McCabe maintained that his credibility had been attacked as "part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally," but also the FBI and law enforcement.

"It is part of this administration's ongoing war on the FBI and the efforts of the special counsel investigation, which continue to this day," he added, referring to Robert Mueller's look into whether there was coordination between Russia and Trump's 2016 campaign. "Their persistence in this campaign only highlights the importance of the special counsel's work."

Trump's personal lawyer, John Dowd, touting the "brilliant and courageous example" by Sessions and the FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility said in a statement Saturday that the No. 2 Justice Department official, Rod Rosenstein, ought to now "bring an end" to the Russia investigation "manufactured" by Comey.

Dowd told The AP that he was neither calling on Rosenstein, the deputy attorney government overseeing Mueller's inquiry, to fire the special counsel immediately, nor had discussed with Rosenstein the idea of dismissing Mueller or ending the probe.

McCabe, in reacting to his untimely termination, asserted he was singled out because of the "role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath" of Comey's firing last May. McCabe became acting director after that and assumed direct oversight of the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign.

Mueller is investigating whether Trump's actions, including Comey's ouster, constitute obstruction of justice. McCabe could be an important witness.

Trump, in a tweet early Saturday, said McCabe's firing was "a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI -- A great day for Democracy." He said "Sanctimonious James Comey," as McCabe's boss, made McCabe "look like a choirboy."

McCabe said the release of the findings against him was accelerated after he told congressional officials that he could corroborate Comey's accounts of certain conversations with the president.

McCabe spent more than 20 years as a career FBI official and played key roles in some of the bureau's most recent significant investigations.

Even so, Trump has repeatedly condemned him over the past year as emblematic of an FBI leadership he contends is biased against his administration.

McCabe had been on leave from the FBI since January, when he abruptly left the deputy director position. He had planned to retire on Sunday, and the dismissal probably jeopardizes his ability to collect his full pension benefits.

His removal could add to the turmoil that has enveloped the FBI since Comey's firing and as the FBI continues its Trump campaign investigation that the White House has dismissed as a hoax.

The firing arises from an inspector general review into how the FBI handled the Clinton email investigation. That inquiry focused not only on specific decisions made by FBI leadership, but also on news media leaks.

McCabe came under scrutiny over an October 2016 news report that revealed differing approaches within the FBI and Justice Department over how aggressively the nonprofit Clinton Foundation should be investigated.

The watchdog office has concluded that McCabe authorized FBI officials to speak to a Wall Street Journal reporter for that story, and that McCabe had not been forthcoming with investigators. McCabe has issued denials.

In his statement, McCabe said he had the authority to share information with journalists through the public affairs office, a practice he said was common and continued under the current FBI director, Christopher Wray. McCabe said he honestly answered questions about whom he had spoken to and when, and that when he thought his answers were misunderstood, he contacted investigators to correct them.

The media outreach came at a time when McCabe said he was facing public accusations of partisanship and followed reports that his wife, during a run for the State Senate in Virginia, had received campaign contributions from a Clinton ally. McCabe suggested in his statement that he was trying to "set the record straight" about the FBI's independence against the background of those allegations.

With the FBI disciplinarians recommending the firing, Justice Department leaders were in a difficult situation. Sessions, whose job status has for months appeared shaky under his own blistering criticism from Trump, risked inflaming the White House if he decided against firing McCabe.

But a decision to dismiss McCabe days before his retirement nonetheless carried the risk of angering his rank-and-file supporters at the FBI.

McCabe became entangled in presidential politics in 2016 when it was revealed that his wife, during her unsuccessful legislative run, received campaign contributions from the political action committee of then-Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a longtime Clinton friend.

The FBI has said McCabe received the necessary ethics approval about his wife's candidacy and was not supervising the Clinton investigation at the time.

But Trump pounded away on Twitter on Saturday: "How many hundreds of thousands of dollars was given to wife's campaign by Crooked H friend, Terry M ... How many lies? How many leaks? Comey knew it all, and much more!"

The Associated Press contributed to this report.Michael Flynn, the disgraced former national security adviser, campaigned for a Republican congressional candidate in California on Friday, making it his first public appearance since pleading guilty to lying to the FBI last December.

The Daily Beast reported Flynn was coming "out of hiding" to endorse Republican Omar Navarro in his challenge against U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, the 14-term Democrat in Californias 43rd Congressional District.

Flynn reportedly attended a public event in La Quinta, Calif., about 130 miles east of Los Angeles. Navarro lost to Waters by more than 50 percentage points in 2016 in the strongly Democratic district.

Navarro said he and Flynn had been corresponding since meeting at last months Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Maryland, the Washington Examiner reported.

At the Friday event, Navarro slammed Waters, called for the president to endorse him and repeated an insult from Trump that Waters has a low IQ.

Waters hit back at Navarro and Flynn in a series of tweets, including noting that Navarro was on probation for a criminal conviction of installing a tracking device to his wifes car.

Flynns appearance was the latest sign that he is re-entering political life while still awaiting sentencing and cooperating with Special Counsel Robert Muellers investigation into Russian election interference and possible collusion with the Trump campaign.

Mueller is also investigating the presidents possible obstruction of justice. As it relates to Flynn, the special counsels prosecutors have signaled intentions to interview Trump about his firing of Flynn, his conversations with former FBI Director James Comey and the FBIs investigation into Flynn.

In February 2017, Flynn resigned under pressure from his role as national security adviser after it was revealed he misled Vice President Mike Pence about his contacts with Russian officials.

The retired Army lieutenant general frequently campaigned for Trump in the 2016 presidential campaign, leading the Republican National Convention crowd in anti-Hillary Clinton Lock her up! chants.

If Im paying the price for that decision [to join the Trump campaign], so be it and God can and will judge me at some point, Flynn said to the crowd Friday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.Some House Democrats wanted Nancy Pelosi out as their leader after they failed to win a string of 2017 special elections. And now some want the House minority leader out because they appear to have won a special election.

What gives with the paradox? It doesnt make sense, except that some House Democrats are prepared to move on from Pelosi -- and some arent.

The watch is on again on Capitol Hill when it comes to Pelosi, how has been the Houses top Democrat for more than a decade.

Democrat Conor Lamb is on track to vanquish Republican Rick Saccone in a historically GOP district in southwest Pennsylvania that President Trump won by nearly 20 points.

Lamb distanced himself from Pelosi and ran as a moderate Democrat. And now Democrats are eager to replicate Lambs prototype in their quest to capture the House in November.

Republicans contend Pelosi is radioactive, considering how critics have branded her as a West Coast liberal losing touch with the party base. And the plan to use the leader to put other moderate Democratic candidates on the spot this year. In other words, will you support Pelosi for House speaker should Democrats win the House? And its moderate to conservative Democrats who must win -- in districts Trump carried -- if Democrats are going to have a shot at winning the House.

Pelosi faced a firestorm of criticism in November 2016 after Democrats barely dented the Republican House majority. Democrats gained six seats when they needed 30 to control the House. Few expected Democrats to win the House, but lots of political handicappers projected an anti-Trump backlash could help Democrats win at least 15 to 20 seats.

They never got close. Some Democrats tore into Pelosi. She drew a challenge for her leadership post from Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio. Pelosi prevailed in the end, but an eye-popping 63 Democrats cast ballots for Ryan.

Ohio Rep. John Boehner in 2015 was forced out as House speaker, the chambers leader and top Republican, is a similar intra-caucus revolt.

Pelosis weathered the internecine tempest so far. But for how long?

Many political prognosticators suggest a Democratic wave is building this fall. If thats the case, Democrats will swipe seats from Republicans in rural areas in the Midwest and perhaps the south where Pelosi isnt popular. Could Democrats follow Lambs lead and disavow Pelosi?

That could be a sound electoral tactic. But it could cause a problem for Pelosi in her quest to return to the speakers suite.

The question is whether Pelosi could command the votes to again become Speaker.

This could be one of the great political incongruities of all time: Democrats win the House and simultaneously deny Pelosi the right to again clasp the speakers gavel. Theres a reason why Democrats were willing to re-elect Pelosi as minority leader for two years, despite 63 defections: give her another shot to lead Democrats out of the wilderness.

It may seem strange to potentially have Pelosi return to the Speakership after an eight-year exodus in the minority. But its far from unprecedented for house speakers to have broken service.

The first, Frederick Muhlenberg, of Pennsylvania, served as speaker in two different Congresses, interrupted by Speaker Jonathan Trumbull of Connecticut. Same with Henry Clay, of Kentucky, who enjoyed three different turns at speaker.

Speaker Thomas Reed, R-Maine, led the House in the 51st Congress, then again in the 54th and 55th congresses. The best examples of lawmakers returning to the speakership after exile in the minority are Speakers Sam Rayburn, D-Texas, and Joseph Martin, R-Mass. Rayburn became speaker in September 1940.

Martin took the reins in 1947. Rayburn came back in 1949. Martin and the Republicans rallied in 1953. Finally, Rayburn began his last tour as speaker in 1955.

Pelosi keeps close counsel on her future plans. Her confidantes point out its against her DNA to bow to pressure or not go without a fight. By the same token, Pelosi is an exceptional vote counter.

She knows how to gauge her caucus and if she has the votes to prevail, accurately predicting shed get two-thirds of the vote in the Ryan challenge. If Pelosi doesnt, she will likely exit.

It will boil down to simple mathematics.

Chatter is percolating throughout the Capitol that Pelosi may attempt a cunning departure in an attempt to bolster Democrats in their quest for the House and simultaneously hose Republicans.

House Republican leaders continued making their case this week that votes for Democratic candidates could again elevate Pelosi to speaker.

Theres a theory (and its just a theory) that Pelosi could time an exit later this year -- just after Republicans spend millions producing commercials and buying airtime that attempt to link Democratic candidates to her.

Such a scenario could leave Republicans on the hook with lots of outdated ad buys. They will have squandered millions of dollars making a case against someone who is no longer a factor.

Some Republicans may publicly rejoice that that they finally dispatched Pelosi. But sober GOPers know Pelosi taking her leave is bad news for them. It robs Republicans of a foil -- especially if the party is trying to link Democrats to Pelosi.

But these scenarios are just that: scenarios. And few believe Pelosi would bow out early.

Republicans successfully deployed Pelosi against Democrats when they won the House in 2010. Pelosi is certainly radioactive in certain districts. But its unclear if the Pelosi maneuver still works.

This is part of the bankruptcy of the Republican Party, Pelosi said. Theyre devoid of ideas about how theyre going to meet the needs of the American people. So its an ad hominem. They cant win on the issues. So they go after a person.

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Joe Crowley says of the Pelosi attacks: I think they need to get a new game book. The attempts to use Nancy Pelosi, its failing them at this point. And I think, quite frankly, its sexist.

Some quarters on Capitol Hill view Crowley as best situated to succeed Pelosi. Another possibility is her longtime rival, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, the chambers No. 2 Democrat.

Ryan repeatedly says he wont challenge Pelosi again. But he says she must go and that theres merit in Lambs approach.

Every candidates locally got to make that determination as to how in their own heart, how they feel about Democratic leadership in Washington, D.C., fits into their own agenda and their own election and how their people feel locally, Ryan said.

Did Lambs distance from Pelosi make a difference in the race?

I dont think that your opponent should choose your partys leaders, said Pelosi, whos represented San Francisco since 1986. Theyre coming after me because of my city. And theyre against LGBT and theyre against poor children. Thats been my mantra. The poor children of America, Im here to support. Yes. I am a liberal.

Its those liberal credentials that work against Pelosi, even inside her party. Can conservative Democrats support liberal for Speaker again?

Unclear.

Lambs possible win may portend good things for Democrats in November. But they likely need to win about 25 seats to retake the House. The precise number is unclear because there are a number of vacancies.

The Lamb-Saccone race still isnt official, and the district will be redrawn for November. And the death this week of Rep. Louise Slaughter, D.N.Y., has now put that seat in play. So, its unknown if Democrats will win the House and face a dilemma over who to elect as speaker.

But Pelosi watch is on again on Capitol Hill.President Trump escalated his criticism of the FBI and the Russia probe on Saturday, alleging tremendous leaking, lying and corruption from the bureau and other agencies and taking shots at fired former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and ex-Director James Comey.

The result: an equally fiery response from former intelligence officials.

McCabe was fired late Friday after an internal investigation found that he made an unauthorized leak to the media and lacked candor when speaking to investigators under oath. His firing came just days before he would have been eligible for a lifetime pension.



Sources told Fox News that the FBIs Office of Professional Responsibility made the recommendation to fire McCabe. Sessions had the option to either accept the recommendation, or step in to stop the firing process.

President Trump quickly ramped up the the rhetoric over the termination, calling it a great day for Democracy!"

He also skewered both McCabe and Comey, whom he accused of being sanctimonious and knowing all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI!

On Saturday he followed up, saying that McCabe was caught, called out and fired and made reference to the funding of McCabes wifes 2015 senatorial bid by a political action committee of then-Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe -- a close Hillary Clinton ally.

How many lies? How many leaks? Comey knew it all, and much more! the president tweeted.

The FBI has said McCabe received the necessary ethics approval about his wife's candidacy and was not supervising the Clinton investigation at the time.

On another front, Trump's personal lawyer, John Dowd, issued a statement Saturday morning calling on Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who is overseeing FBI Special Counsel Robert Muellers inquiry into possible Russian meddling in the 2016 elections, to shut down the probe. His statement also took a swipe at Comey, who was fired by Trump back in May 2017.

I pray that Acting Attorney General Rosenstein will follow the brilliant and courageous example of the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility and Attorney General Jeff Sessions and bring an end to alleged Russia Collusion investigation manufactured by McCabes boss James Comey based upon a fraudulent and corrupt Dossier, he said in a statement to Fox News.

Just end it on the merits in light of recent revelations, he added.

While Dowd subsequently clarified that he was speaking in his personal capacity and not expressing Trumps views, Trump appeared to give implicit support to the lawyer's thinking when he said that the House Intelligence Committee had concluded there was no collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign (In fact, only Republicans on the committee had reached that conclusion, the top Democrat on the committee, Adam Schiff noted in his own tweet on Saturday.)

As many are now finding out, however, there was tremendous leaking, lying and corruption at the highest levels of the FBI, Justice & State, Trump continued.

Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, told Fox News that Dowd's remarks seem like a new phase in the Trump team's attitude toward the Mueller probe.

"It also seems important that the timing coincides with McCabes firing, so we can probably expect that there will be increasing pressure on [Rosenstein] to end the Mueller inquiry, although McCabes actions were only tangentially related to Muellers work," he said.

FBI officials reacted angrily to the firing. McCabe described the termination as part of an ongoing war against the FBI.

"This attack on my credibility is one part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally, but to taint the FBI, law enforcement, and intelligence professionals more generally," McCabe said.

"It is part of this Administrations ongoing war on the FBI and the efforts of the Special Counsel investigation, which continue to this day. Their persistence in this campaign only highlights the importance of the Special Counsels work," he added.

Adding more intrigue, a source close to McCabe told Fox News Saturday that he kept memos memorializing his interactions with Trump, in a way that was very similar to the method Comey used to keep his own memos.

Comey also weighed in, in a Twitter posting that also hinted at his coming tell-all book: A Higher Loyalty.

Mr. President, the American people will hear my story very soon, he tweeted. And they can judge for themselves who is honorable and who is not.

Former CIA Director John Brennan, known for his outspoken criticisms of Trump, also weighed in -- blasting Trump in dramatic and colorful language and promising that America will triumph over you.

Democrats quickly backed those officials. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, expressed concern about the state of the FBI investigation itself, saying Dowds statement show that the Trump team is looking to undermine [Mueller] at every turn."

"The president, the administration, and his legal team must not take any steps to curtail, interfere with, or end the special counsel's investigation or there will be severe consequences from both Democrats and Republicans," Schumer said in a statement.

Jumping into the fray, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., called for the Senate Judiciary Committee to hold a hearing on "escalating politicized attacks" on the DOJ and FBI.

During my four decades in the Senate, I have never before seen our nations career, apolitical law enforcement officials so personally and publicly maligned by politicians  indeed, by our President," he said in a statement. "And I have never been so concerned that the walls intended to protect the independence of our dedicated law enforcement professionals, including Special Counsel Mueller, are at risk of crumbling."

While the social media exchanges were especially intense earlier in the day on Saturday, Trump weighed in again on the issues associated with McCabe, and with the Mueller investigation, in the evening hours.

Shortly after 8 p.m. ET, he tweeted: "The Mueller probe should never have been started in that there was no collusion and there was no crime. It was based on fraudulent activities and a Fake Dossier paid for by Crooked Hillary and the DNC, and improperly used in FISA COURT for surveillance of my campaign. WITCH HUNT!"

Fox News Jennifer Bowman, Brooke Singman, Jake Gibson, Jason Donner and Chad Pergram contributed to this report.In a surprise development, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with South Korean officials last Monday as part of an effort to bring regional powers into line with US President Donald Trumps decision to accept a face-to-face meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, breaking unprecedented ground in the conflict on the Korean Peninsula.

No sitting US president has ever accepted an invitation from Pyongyang before.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in met with Trump in Washington last week to brief him on a visit by South Korean officials to the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK  North Korea) and to convey Kim Jong-uns eagerness to meet the US president.

Trump wanted to change up his cabinet team before launching high-stakes negotiations with North Korea, a senior US official said Tuesday, after the president announced Mike Pompeo would succeed Rex Tillerson as his top diplomat.

The President wanted to make sure to have his new team in place in advance of the upcoming talks with North Korea, the official said.

Trump described the meeting as a tremendous success, hinting that he would meet the DPRK leader by May in order to try to achieve the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.

Trump said the talks with the North Korean leader could be the greatest deal in the world. Let us see what happens, he said, adding that he would like to see the talks start as soon as possible.

The question now is whether Trumps unorthodox approach can yield results. China also has a vested interest in peace and security on the Korean Peninsula.

No fewer than 300,000 North Koreans live in China, and while most of them are illegal, China largely turns a blind eye.

If they are caught by the Chinese authorities, they are systematically deported to North Korea, even though the vast majority would rather go to the South.

However, the South Korean authorities are often suspicious of such new arrivals, and North Koreans arriving in the South are subjected to stringent interrogation.

They are also subjected to surveillance once they arrive in South Korea, which sometimes lasts for as long as three months.

Thus far, no US president has ever taken such a bold decision on the Korean issue.

But other factors also need to be taken into account. Seouls chief envoy to the North, national security adviser Chung Eui-yong, met with President Xi in Beijing for 35 minutes on Monday, as a parallel delegation headed to Tokyo to brief Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on attempts to open talks with Pyongyang on its nuclear and missile programme.

The exact venue of the proposed meeting between Trump and Kim is still unknown.

Beijing could provide the perfect setting as China was instrumental in breaking the stalemate between the North and the South. While many are taking the proposed meeting with a pinch of salt, at a political rally in Pennsylvania Trump told supporters he believed North Korea wanted to make peace.

However, he said he might leave the talks quickly if it did not look as if progress on nuclear disarmament on the Korean Peninsula could be made.

He also tackled other issues in his speech apart from the prospective peace on the Korean Peninsula, warning of possible US tariffs on European cars and launching his re-election campaign for the 2020 elections in the United States.

Hey, who knows whats going to happen, Trump said on Saturday at a rally for a Republican Party congressional candidate. I may leave fast, or we may sit down and make the greatest deal for the world, he said, referring to the proposed North Korean meeting.

The two leaders welcomed the prospect of dialogue between the United States and North Korea, and committed to maintain pressure and sanctions until North Korea takes tangible steps towards complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation, an official White House statement said.

In the meantime, South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha is scheduled to meet with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to discuss cooperation in the talks between South Korea and the DPRK and between the United States and the DPRK.

In a statement made in Seoul on Monday it was revealed that Kang Kyung-wha will visit Washington from Thursday to Saturday and meet with Tillerson during the three-day stay.

This is not the first time that a US president has been invited to meet a North Korean leader. Former US president Bill Clinton was invited in 2000 to conclude a missile deal with the DPRK late in his presidency.

However, he declined to visit the country, dispatching then US secretary of state Madeleine Albright instead.

Albright visited North Korea on a reconnaissance mission and met its then leader Kim Jong-il.

*This story was first published in Al-Ahram Weekly

Short link:

Facebook Inc. said it suspended Cambridge Analytica, a data firm that helped President Donald Trump with the 2016 election, after learning that it misled the social-media giant and violated its policy for handling user data.

Facebook said late Friday it been given information that Cambridge Analytica, along with two individuals who dont work there, improperly kept Facebook user data for years despite telling the social network that it had destroyed those records. Facebook didnt say how Cambridge Analytica used that data or if it gave the data to the Trump campaign.

Cambridge Analytica didnt immediately respond to requests for comment late Friday.

Facebook, which didnt elaborate on the source of its information, said it is suspending Cambridge Analytica, its parent Strategic Communication Laboratories, and the two individuals from buying ads or administering clients pages while it investigates the reports.

The move once again spotlights Facebooks role during the 2016 presidential election and its shortcomings in policing manipulation and misuse of its platform.

Cambridge Analytica was a top vendor to Mr. Trumps 2016 campaign and has come under scrutiny in special counsel Robert Muellers investigation into whether Trump associates colluded with Russias efforts to interfere in the U.S. election. Mr. Trump has denied any collusion by his campaign with the Russians, and Moscow has denied meddling in the election.

Facebook said it had learned in 2015 that Aleksandr Kogan, a psychology professor at the University of Cambridge, broke its data policies when he shared user data gleaned from his personality-prediction app, thisisyourdigitallife, to third parties including Cambridge Analytica and Christopher Wylie, who runs a company called of Eunoia Technologies Inc.

About 270,000 people downloaded the app, giving Mr. Kogan access to information such as the cities they lived in, the content they had liked, or information about their friends, Facebook Deputy General Counsel Paul Grewal wrote in a blog post.

Mr. Kogans data gathering was permitted at the time, but he violated Facebook policy by sharing the data he compiled with outsiders. Facebook in 2015 removed his app and demanded that he and those he shared the data with certify that the data was destroyed, the company said.

Mr. Kogan didnt immediately respond to requests for comment late Friday. Mr. Wylie couldnt immediately be located.

A Facebook spokesman said the parties, including Cambridge Analytica, entered legal agreements on the deletion, but Facebook couldnt independently verify that it was scrubbed. The company has since changed its data policies so developers cant easily gather as much data about Facebook users, it said.

Facebook said it learned several days ago that not all the data was deleted.

We are moving aggressively to determine the accuracy of these claims, Mr. Grewal wrote Friday. If true, this is another unacceptable violation of trust and the commitments they made.

Facebook said it has previously taken similar action against other advertisers and developers, although a spokesman declined to describe any examples.

The Trump campaign paid Cambridge Analytica close to $9 million for data, polling and research services, according to Federal Election Commission records and a person familiar with additional payments that werent publicly disclosed.

Mr. Mueller in the fall asked Cambridge Analytica to turn over the emails of any of its employees who worked on the Trump campaign, in a sign that the special counsel is probing the campaigns data operation, The Wall Street Journal reported in December.

Cambridge Analytica Chief Executive Alexander Nix has said he contacted WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange through his speakers bureau during the 2016 campaign to offer help organizing the Hillary Clinton -related emails the website planned to publish. WikiLeaks last year published a trove of Clinton-related emails that U.S. intelligence agencies later determined had been stolen by Russian intelligence and given to the website. Mr. Assange said he rejected Mr. Nixs outreach.

Since the 2016 election, Cambridge Analytica largely has departed the American political consulting world. FEC records show it doesnt have any U.S. political clients, as the data firm has grappled with staff upheaval and complaints from clients that it fell short in delivering services it promised. The firm has defended its work, saying political cycles mean its level of business fluctuates.

 Rebecca Ballhaus contributed to this article.This is a rush transcript from "Special Report with Bret Baier," March 15, 2018. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It certainly looks like the Russians were behind it. Something that should never, ever happen, and we are taking it very seriously.

GAVIN WILLIAMSON, BRITISH DEFENSE MINISTER: It is absolutely atrocious and outrageous what Russia did in Salisbury. We have responded to that. Frankly, Russia should go away. It should shut up.

LT. GEN. H.R. MCMASTER, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: It's time to impose serious political and economic consequences on Moscow.

SARAH SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The United States is working together with our allies and partners to ensure that this kind of abhorrent attack does not happen again.

SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: We are ready to return into partnership with the European Union when our European neighbors lose interest in following American Russia-phobic tendencies.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

BRET BAIER, ANCHOR: The Trump administration making big steps today, sanctioning 19 people, five Russian organizations, 13 of them were indicted by Bob Mueller in his investigation just a few weeks ago. What about this and also the Russia investigation latest? Let's bring in our panel: Jonathan Swan, national politics reporter for Axios; Mollie Hemingway, senior editor at The Federalist, and Olivier Knox, Yahoo! News chief Washington correspondent.

Mollie, critics of the administration say because 13 of the 19 who were sanctioned by the administration today were from the Mueller investigation that the administration is essentially saying that the Mueller investigation is A-OK.

MOLLIE HEMINGWAY, THE FEDERALIST: Well, there are parts of the Mueller investigation that I think nobody has a problem with. The whole idea behind the investigation is to look into meddling in the U.S. election. Those 13 indictments had everything to do with meddling in the U.S. election.

I think where people are concerned is when Mueller goes far afield from the election and far afield from the narrow confines that people understand as being a good thing to investigate. But if people meddled, then they should be held accountable, and not just by charging them with a crime that nobody will ever see them take responsibility for, but sanction or something more like that.

BAIER: Yes, and it seems like is this the new administration take on Russia, Jonathan, on stepping up what Nikki Haley said at the U.N., what we are seeing today, and the revelation of the cyberattacks on U.S. infrastructure, including the electrical grid?

JONATHAN SWAN, AXIOS: Trump's instincts have always been strong on Russia, which is that they are key to solving the Middle East problem, a good relationship with Russia. But evidence upon evidence upon evidence has I think now maybe not totally changed his mind but at least moved them away from where he was maybe six months ago. And certainly the team around him are fairly hawkish, particularly Nikki Haley.

BAIER: Here is Sarah Sanders today on friend or foe from Putin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDERS: That is something that Russia is going to have to make that determination. They're going to have to decide whether or not they want to be a good actor or a bad actor. I think you can see from the actions that we've taken up until this point, we are going to be tough on Russia until they decide to change their behavior.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: Olivier?

OLIVIER KNOX, YAHOO! NEWS: So the sanctions being announced today are notable but they're not huge. A lot of the people who were announced today were already under American sanctions, but under Obama and an earlier wave of Trump sanctions. What's really notable is the letter that accompanied the sanctions, that basically lays the election meddling at Vladimir Putin's doorstep. It says that the GRU, the main military intelligence service, was directly involved in the meddling. That's really important.

The decision to reveal this previously undisclosed infrastructure attack, that's going to get a lot of well-deserved headline. It's very worrisome. They apparently had the ability at one point to turn things on and off. That's a significant thing. And then the attribution and punishment for the malware that raced through Europe and did tens of billions of dollars in damage. You're definitely seeing a rhetorical escalation from the administration. We have yet to see really the same escalation in the rhetoric from the president.

BAIER: In the meantime, New York Times has a piece today about the Mueller investigation, saying that Mueller has subpoenaed the Trump Organization demanding documents. In the subpoena delivered in recent weeks Mr. Mueller ordered the Trump Organization to hand over all records related to Russia and other topics he's investigating. Trump Organization has said it never had real estate holdings in Russia, but witnesses recently interviewed by Mr. Mueller have been asked about a possible real estate deal in Moscow.

The Trump Organization, meantime, Mollie, is saying they have been cooperating, and that they have fully been handing over documents. So why a subpoena is that's true?

HEMINGWAY: Cooperation can go along with a subpoena. The investigation might want to be very particular about what they're looking for and make sure they get everything, not just having it be a shared agreement.

But again, there is a political question in play here that we have been spending a lot of time investigating collusion with Russia, whether the Trump Organization colluded with Russia to steal an election. I'm not sure if there is a political appetite to just look for a crime until you find one. That's how you do things in Russia may be. It's not how you do things in America where you decide guilt and then you just keep fishing, fishing, fishing until you can find something to string someone up on.

BAIER: At the same time you heard earlier in the interviews, Senators Grassley and Graham calling for another special counsel.

SWAN: Yes. And I don't know the chances of that happening, but I think the most significant thing about this story is the story itself and how the president of the United States will react to it, because yes, maybe, perhaps this cooperation has been going on quietly, but we know that when the president sees these stories on television, if you were going to write a story to get under his skin, you would write that story, that Mueller is delving into the Trump organization. Trump said on the record to The New York Times that that would be a red line, going into his business dealing. So I think the most interesting thing is the alchemy that creates.

HEMINGWAY: There's also the issue that this investigation began, again, to look into collusion. And what it found pretty quickly is not collusion. We have all these congressional investigations looking into it. What they do find --

SWAN: We don't know that with Mueller.

HEMINGWAY: If anyone has information on collusion, it would great to finally get it out. But what you did find out really pretty quickly was that there were problems at the FBI and Department of Justice. We knew it because there were criminal leaks at the very beginning, but there have been all sorts of other things that came out, FISA abuses and other problems. We cannot expect the FBI and Department of Justice to investigate themselves. And whether or not media people actually care about the scandal of the century or not, the American people need answers for the problems at the FBI and Department of Justice.

So what I would say, unlike what you're saying, that's unlikely there will be a Special Counsel, I don't see how else you restore the credibility of these agencies unless you have someone truly independent who can do the work, investigate, and hold people accountable.

BAIER: I want to turn quickly to what the president said, that there is not going to be, or the stories of a big shake-up in his White House are overwritten, overexaggerated, fake news, whatever you want to call it. Clearly, he is looking at making other moves, we just don't know when and how big.

KNOX: The president flatly denied it, called it fake news when there were reports that he was working on a plan looking to replace Secretary of State Rex Tillerson with CIA Director Mike Pompeo which is exactly what has happened here now. It is true that sometimes the president will reach out to advisors outside the White House and tell them, what do you think of so- and-so? Should I replace so-and-so with this other person, and that translates into a lot of these stories that are the president is considering dumping the following people.

Now, I'm told H.R. McMaster has been looking carefully at the possibility of an exit. But we have had enough chaos to this point that there is no reason to think there's not more coming.

BAIER: Do you buy that?

SWAN: If you, Bret Baier, go to the White House now and say I have reporting that H.R. McMaster is on his way out, you would not get a lot of pushback. They're not going to lean into pushing back on that. That's where we are at now. There is a common acceptance within the White House that at some point probably in the fairly near future, he's gone. But nobody as of two hours ago within the president's inner circle knew when that was going to happen and who is going to replace him.

So I still haven't written the H.R. McMaster story is gone because at this point it's been written every week for eight months. At some point it will be correct. I believe it will be correct probably fairly soon. But as Olivier pointed out, when the president talks like this quite openly come, it doesn't necessarily mean he's going to act imminently.

BAIER: The parlor games of Washington.

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.A transatlantic restroom dalliance aboard a Virgin Atlantic flight ended with the woman involved banned from ever again flying on the airline.

According to reports, the cabin crew aboard a March 13 flight that departed from Gatwick Airport in London en route to Cancun, Mexico were furious to find a man and woman - both in their late twenties  having sex in the economy cabin bathroom.

A flight attendant chastised the pairWould you jeopardize your holiday for" oral sex? she asked during the jam-packed 11-hour flight after finding the man with his pants down and the woman on the toilet, The Sun reported.

According to the outlet, passengers said the very friendly woman was totally sloshed before boarding.

FISTFIGHTS, NUDE MASTURBATION AND DEAD PETS: WHAT'S GOING ON WITH AIRLINE TRAVEL?

She turned up on the plane totally sloshed at 12:30 p.m. She was very friendly and approached me and my pal for a chat, a male passenger told the British tabloid. The woman then struck up a bond with a guy who was traveling on his own and sat across the aisle from her, before they began kissing.

Minutes later she disappeared into the toilet, and he followed her in. It was so obvious. Everyone knew what was happening because she had been so loud and rowdy, he added.

UNITED AIRLINES DISASTER -- WHY DIDN'T ANYONE STAND UP FOR THAT POOR DOG?

After cabin crew caught the pair in the act, the man tried to claim that the woman was sick to justify his presence in the bathroom, which the stewardesses were not having.

Youre not even traveling together. Why were you in there? a flight attendant fumed, with passengers clapping and jeering as the pair were escorted back their separate seats. Minutes later, the rowdy woman got into a spat with her female traveling companion and reportedly threw drinks around the cabin.

Before touching down in Mexico, the Virgin Atlantic pilot radioed law enforcement, and police officers met the woman upon deplaning in Cancun.

A Virgin Atlantic spokesman confirmed to Fox News that the woman was not banned as a result of one incident, but for repeatedly refusing to comply with crew requests, and for disruptive behavior throughout the flight.

Banning a customer from travelling is not a decision we take lightly, and in this instance the individual repeatedly refused to comply with safety and security requests from our crew members, acted in an abusive and threatening manner which severely disrupted the flight and resulted in police assistance, he said. The safety and security of our customers and crew is always our priority, and for these reasons we cannot permit the individual to travel with us in future.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWSAn illegal immigrant in Denver turned himself in to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Friday following a deadly car crash on I-70 earlier this month, a local report said.

Ivan Zamarripa-Castaneda, 26, who was charged with vehicular homicide and one count of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death in the March 3 crash, is currently in the custody of ICE, according to FOX 31.

John Anderson, 57, a semi-truck driver, was killed in the accident that temporarily shut down the interstate.

Zamarripa-Castaneda allegedly fled the scene and was driving drunk. He was arrested the following day.

The agency will reportedly allow him to remain in Denver for his trial before choosing whether to deport him. Zamarripa-Castaneda was allegedly in the U.S. on a temporary visa that had expired three years ago.

ICE reportedly requested a notification if the suspect would be released. But after Zamarripa-Castaneda posted the $25,000 bond, he was allegedly let go, prompting the Denver sheriff to call for an internal probe of the department.

"This is unacceptable and the sheriff has ordered an immediate internal review to determine why established notification processes did not take place before Zamarripa-Castaneda was released," the sheriff's department said in a statement.

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.

Fox News Travis Fedschun contributed to this report.As reports emerged about an engineer's warning of cracks days before Thursday's calamitous collapse of a pedestrian bridge in Florida, a senator wants to find out exactly who was behind the construction that may have led to the structure's fatal failure.

Ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Senator Bill Nelson, D-Fla., is demanding documents related to the oversight of the FIU bridge construction, according to a news release from his office.

In a letter written to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, Nelson said that there should have been adequate and appropriate oversight on the ground. If anyone dropped the ball and it contributed to this tragedy, then they should be held accountable.

Even as the scattered wreckage of the bridge is still being searched, officials from multiple offices are looking for answers about the collapse, which has killed six people and injured at least 10 others.

Floridas Department of Transportation said Friday that an engineer left a voicemail just two days before the bridge failure notifying the department of cracking in the concrete.

FIRST FLORIDA BRIDGE COLLAPSE VICTIM IDENTIFIED AS FIU STUDENT, 18

A transcript released Friday shows Denney Pate with FIGG Bridge Group saying the cracking would need repairs "but from a safety perspective we don't see that there's any issue there so we're not concerned about it from that perspective.

He added that the fact that there were multiple agencies and companies involved, were going to need a clear understanding of who had what role in this horrible tragedy.

In his pursuit of answers about the bridge collapse, Nelson is asking that the Federal Department of Transportation turn over all records related to the engineering, design, construction, safety and inspection of the project.

FIU BRIDGE COLLAPSES; 6 KILLED, 10 INJURED, OFFICALS SAY

Nelson is also asking the federal DOT to provide information regarding a federal grant that was given toward the construction of the bridge, including all relevant documentation  including the grant agreement itself, any memoranda of understanding between DOT and state and local entities concerning the administration and oversight of this project and any letters issued by DOT related to the project, such as letters of concurrence for the selection of contractors and any letters of approval.

Nelson is giving the DOT one week to comply with his request.

The $14.2 million pedestrian bridge was set to open early next year to help connect students from an area where many students lived to the campus across a busy road. Accelerated construction led the bridge to be installed last weekend instead.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.A couple have reached a $2.5 million settlement with a Northern California city and its police department after investigators initially dismissed the womans kidnapping as a "Gone Girl" hoax.

The term refers to a 2012 novel and 2014 film about a woman who fakes her own abduction.

Police in Vallejo initially discounted a report by Denise Huskins and her boyfriend that a masked intruder drugged, kidnapped and sexually assaulted her in 2015.

They realized the couple was telling the truth after a disbarred attorney, Matthew Muller, was implicated in another crime and connected to the abduction. He pleaded guilty to the kidnapping and is serving a 40-year prison term.

Vallejo police apologized after discounting the request for help. The city is about 32 miles northeast of San Francisco.

The conduct plaintiffs allege goes beyond defendants being skeptical, investigating alternate theories, and expressing skepticism, U.S. District Judge Troy Nunley wrote in his 22-page decision, adding that, A reasonable jury could find that defendants engaged in conduct that was extreme and outrageous.

Muller broke into the couples home, tied them up, and drugged them, prosecutors said. He put Huskins in the trunk of his car, and held her for two days in his South Lake Tahoe home. Investigators said they found videos of Muller sexually assaulting Huskins.

During and after the kidnapping, Muller sent messages to a San Francisco reporter claiming that Huskins was abducted by a team of elite criminals. After she was released in Huntington Beach in Southern California, Vallejo police called the kidnapping a hoax, the Mercury News of San Jose reported.

Muller was later arrested in connection with an unrelated attempted robbery in the San Francisco Bay Area. Authorities said they traced a cellphone to Muller and a subsequent search of a car and home turned up evidence connecting him to the Huskins abduction. Huskins sued police, and a judge ruled last year that the lawsuit could proceed.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.Adrian Lamo, the notorious computer hacker who turned in Chelsea Manning to the FBI and was arrested for hacking into The New York Times and Microsoft, has died in Kansas at age 37.

Sedgwick County spokeswoman Kate Flavin said Friday that Lamos body was at the morgue in Wichita. The Wichita Eagle reported Lamo was found dead in his apartment Wednesday.

Charley Davidson, a Wichita police officer told the media outlet there was nothing suspicious about his death. It was not immediately clear how Lamo died.

JUDGE LOCKS SELF IN COURTROOM, CAUSES $3G IN DAMAGE TRYING TO BREAK FREE: REPORT

The computer hacker was living in Wichita for about a year, his friend Lorraine Murphy told the Wichita Eagle. She said she sent Lamo a message in December 2016 asking how he was and he said he was homeless in Wichita.

Adrian was always homeless or on the verge of it, Murphy said. He bounced around a great deal, for no particular reason.

She added: He was a believer in the Geographic Cure. Whatever goes wrong in your life, moving will make it better. And he knew people all over the country.

However, Lamo did not make many friends along the way. Murphy said he often received death threats for his hacking.

Davidson said there is no indication foul play is involved in Lamos death.

RUMORED SITE OF $55M IN CIVIL WAR-ERA GOLD DRAWS FBIS ATTENTION, REPORT SAYS

Manning, who is transgender and went by Bradley at the time of her arrest, was convicted in 2013 of leaking a trove of classified documents. President Barack Obama commuted her sentence and she was released from military prison in May 2017 after serving seven years of a 35-year sentence.

Following her release, Manning announced in January she has filed to run in Maryland for the seat of Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin.

Lamo testified that Manning contacted him because of his notoriety in the hacking community. He said the two met online after Manning read an article about Lamo, The Guardian reported.

He told the British newspaper that he thought about Manning every day.

The decision was not one I decided to make, but was thrust upon me, he said.

Lamos father, Mario, wrote a post on to Facebook mourning the death of his son.

With great sadness and a broken heart I have to let know all of Adrians friends and acquaintances [sic] that he is dead. A bright mind and compassionate soul is gone, he was my beloved son.

He was convicted of computer fraud after he was arrested in 2004 for hacking The New York Times and Microsoft.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.A Virginia judge has acquitted a black man who was brought up on an assault charge after being badly beaten during the violent aftermath last years white supremacist rally in Charlottesville.

DeAndre Harris, 20, was accused of assaulting white nationalist Harold Crews in a parking garage after the Aug. 12 Unite the Right rally.

News photos of Harris being beaten in the garage were widely shared online. He was left with serious injuries.

I dont see that Mr. Harris did anything wrong that day, Charlottesville Judge Robert Downer said Friday, according to the Daily Progress, a local paper.

WARRANT ISSUED FOR BLACK MAN BEATEN DURING CHARLOTTESVILLE RALLY

Harris said he swung a flashlight towards Crews because he believed Crews was attacking a friend with a flagpole.

Crews, a North Carolina lawyer, persuaded a Charlottesville magistrate to issue an arrest warrant against Harris in October. He said the flashlight bruised his face.

Harris supporters in the courtroom erupted in applause when the verdict was announced, the Daily Progress reported. He faced up to a year in jail if convicted of the misdemeanor charge.

Four men have been charged with assaulting Harris.

MAN ARRESTED IN BEATING OF DEANDRE HARRIS IN CHARLOTTESVILLE, POLICE SAY

The rally, planned in part protest the removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, is blamed for the death of a woman who was killed when a car was driven into a crowd of counter-protesters.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.This suspect was cooking up more than sliders.

One person was taken into custody after Indiana State Police reportedly discovered a suspected one pot methamphetamine lab inside a Hobart White Castle Friday morning, according to WGN9 Chicago.

Authorities were called to the restaurant just before 11 a.m. after employees reported a suspicious customer, WGN9 said.

Hobart Police say they believe several people may have been involved, including one customer who was seen sitting in a booth at the restaurant, The Times of Northwest Indiana reported. It is not clear if that is the person who was taken into custody.

State police officers were able to contain and collect the chemicals. Meanwhile, four Hobart police officers were treated for exposure to chemicals, ABC7 Chicago reported.

A spokesperson for White Castle said the restaurant reopened by 6 p.m. Friday following an inspection from the Hobart Board of Health.

White Castle Vice President Jamie Richardson told WGN9 in a statement, We are proud of our White Castle team members who quickly alerted local authorities about a suspicious customer, and thankful for the Hobart Police departments rapid response. We are grateful to be part of a community where everyone looks out for one another, and works together to keep our neighborhoods safe.

Charges have not yet been filed, according to ABC7.Donald Trump has hailed the firing of a veteran FBI agent as a "great day for democracy," a move his attorney said he hoped would bring an end to a probe into alleged collusion between the president's campaign and Russia.

But critics slammed the axing as a "dangerous" ploy to discredit the top law enforcement agency as well as the work of Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating Russian influence in the 2016 election.

McCabe, who was the FBI's deputy under former director James Comey, is a potentially key witness in the Russia probe.

Trump's personal attorney, John Dowd, told the Daily Beast on Saturday that he hoped Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein would follow the lead of the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility and "bring an end to alleged Russia Collusion investigation manufactured by McCabe's boss James Comey based upon a fraudulent and corrupt Dossier."

Dowd told the Daily Beast he was speaking for the president. But in a subsequent statement he said he had been "speaking for myself, not the president."

McCabe, who has endured a year of withering attacks from Trump, was fired by the Justice Department late Friday, just two days before he was to retire after 21 years with the FBI.

The firing threw new fuel on the fire raging over the investigation, with critics saying Trump might be planning to engineer Mueller's dismissal, potentially sparking a constitutional crisis.

Mueller is also examining whether Trump might have obstructed justice, including by firing Comey last May.

"Andrew McCabe FIRED, a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI - A great day for Democracy," Trump tweeted soon after the firing.

McCabe pushed back hard, denying any impropriety and saying he was the victim of a Trump administration "war" against the FBI and the special counsel.

McCabe kept memos of his interactions with Trump, The Washington Post reported Saturday, adding that the memos could bolster his version of events.

Comey pushed back as well, tweeting: "Mr President, the American people will hear my story very soon. And they can judge for themselves who is honorable and who is not."

The firing could add to discontent inside the FBI, where both Comey and McCabe are widely respected.

The Justice Department said an internal investigation had found that McCabe made unauthorized disclosures to the media, and had not been fully honest "on multiple occasions" with the department's inspector general.

"The FBI expects every employee to adhere to the highest standards of honesty, integrity and accountability," Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement.

Lack of candor under oath is a firing offense at the FBI, but the politically charged context of the move raised questions among McCabe's backers.

In a stinging response to the president, former CIA chief John Brennan tweeted Saturday: "When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history."

Trump, in an early afternoon tweet, belittled the media for its coverage of the story, saying: "The Fake news is beside themselves that McCabe was caught, called out and fired..."

And in a second tweet, he again denied any collusion with Russia, adding, "there was tremendous leaking, lying and corruption at the highest levels of the FBI, Justice & State."

Details of the inspector general's probe were not made public, but it involved the FBI's handling of the 2016 investigation into Trump's election rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Trump has repeatedly accused McCabe and Comey of having protected Clinton from prosecution, including over her misuse of a private email server while she was secretary of state.

McCabe hit out following his sacking in a blistering statement.

He said the inspector general's probe "became part of an unprecedented effort by the administration, driven by the president himself, to remove me from my position, destroy my reputation, and possibly strip me of a pension that I worked 21 years to earn."

"It is part of this administration's ongoing war with the FBI and the efforts of the special counsel investigation."

But one law professor defended the Justice Department's investigators.

"These are not political appointees," Jonathan Turley of George Washington University told CNN.

"They clearly concluded that McCabe misled them -- and that he misled them on one of the core issues they were investigating."

The White House has shown mounting frustration with the collusion probe, as it focuses ever more closely on the president's inner circle.

Short link:

A Washington state man has been indicted on charges of attempted murder in connection with a March 6 vehicle attack that resulted in a U.S. military translator from Afghanistan undergoing a partial leg amputation.

Perry George Nicolopoulos, 68, was indicted by a grand jury in Lincoln City, Ore., where he allegedly deliberately rammed his car into Mohammed Fawad Mohammadi in the parking lot of a Walgreens pharmacy, Portland's KOPB-FM reported.

Nicolopoulos was drunk at the time, authorities said, adding that there was no immediate evidence to regard the attack as a hate crime.

"We don't know his mindset. We have no idea what his motivations were, or his mental state, other than that he was under the influence," said Lt. Jerry Palmer of the Lincoln City Police Department.

Mohammadi, an Afghanistan native who served as an interpreter for U.S. military forces, was with his wife and son at the time of the attack.

According to authorities: First, Nicolopoulos' car hit Mohammadi's Toyota Prius. Then Mohammadi and his wife Nelab Sarabi got out to inspect the damage and exchange insurance information, leaving their son inside.

Nicolopoulos then drove into the couples' car again, according to an affidavit. But this time, Mohammadi was pinned by Nicolopoulos' car into a door of his own.

Nicolopoulos reversed his vehicle and then crashed into the Prius again before driving away, authorities said.

Police found Nicolopoulos' license plate embedded in the Prius.

Meanwhile, Mohammadi was flown to a hospital in Portland, where doctors amputated one of his legs about 6 inches below the knee.

Police said they found no evidence that Nicolopoulos, whose last known address was Tacoma, Wash., committed a hate crime.

Nicolopoulos is in the county jail on $1 million bail. He has been assigned a court-appointed attorney.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to raise funds for Mohammadis family. As of Friday, more than half of the $100,000 goal had been raised. Many of the commenters thanked Mohammadi for his service to the United States and wished him a speedy recovery.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.Florida International University said the two firms responsible for the instant bridge that collapsed, killing six people, met hours before the tragedy to discuss a crack that appeared on the structure but determined there were no safety concerns.

In a statement released early Saturday, the university said the Design Build Team of MCM and FIGG Bridge Group met at the site of the bridge Thursday morning for about two hours with representatives from FIU and the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT).

The school said the engineer of record with FIGG gave a technical presentation regarding the crack and concluded that there were no safety concerns and the crack did not compromise the structural integrity of the bridge.

The investigation is ongoing to determine the collapse of the bridge, and FIU is fully cooperating with all authorities to understand what happened, the statement concluded.

COMPANIES BEHIND FLORIDA BRIDGE COLLAPSE HAVE HISTORY OF FINES, FAILURES, LAWSUITS

The universitys statement came hours after reports emerged Friday about an engineers warning of cracks on the structure just days before it collapsed Thursday. The FDOT acknowledged the engineer left the voicemail notifying the department of cracking in the concrete.

A transcript released Friday shows Denney Pate with FIGG Bridge Group saying the cracking would need repairs "but from a safety perspective we don't see that there's any issue there so we're not concerned about it from that perspective.

SENATOR DEMANDS DOCS ABOUT COLLAPSED FLORIDA BRIDGE AS REPORTS OF CRACKS SURFACE

Following the fall Thursday that killed six people and injured at least 10 others, the National Transportation Safety Board announced at a news conference late Friday that it would be launching its own, independent investigation into the bridge failure to try and find out what may have led to the collapse.

Authorities are slowly removing the debris, looking for more victims.

MCM Construction, a Miami-based contractor, and Figg Bridge Design, based in Tallahassee, have come under increased scrutiny as details emerge of past engineering failures and inspection fines  including a recent accusation that one hired unskilled and careless workers.

Scheduled to open in 2019, the bridge would have provided safe passage over a canal and six lanes of traffic, and created a showpiece architectural feature connecting the campus of FIU with the community of Sweetwater, where many students live.

The $14.2 million project was supposed to take advantage of a faster, cheaper and safer method of bridge-building promoted by the university.

The bridge was put in place March 10, five days before the collapse.

An investigation to determine what caused the bridge to collapse is ongoing.

Fox News' Paulina Dedaj and Greg Norman contributed to this report.Four people in Indiana were busted for running fake Wounded Warrior fundraisers to raise money for veterans but instead pocketing more than $125,000 for themselves.

Police charged James D. Linville, 44, and Joanie Watson, 38, of Clarksville, as well as Thomas A. Johnson, 42, and Amy L. Bennett, 40, both of Henryville, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud. If convicted, the four could face up to 20 years in prison, the Courier-Journal reported.

Authorities said the four suspects led others to believe they were donating to various causes like the Wounded Warrior Project, which serves veterans and service members who incurred a physical or mental injury, illness, or wound, co-incident to their military service, according to the website.

However, the donations went to the Wounded Warrior Fund Inc. and the Wounded Warrior Foundation Inc., which were created by one of the four people, U.S. Attorney Josh J. Minkler said Friday.

The fake organizations claimed donations would go toward military families living in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio.

Officials said the four collected more than $125,000 donations from about 1,000 people and businesses who believed they were giving money to the real organization. Instead, the defendants deposited the money into fraudulent checking accounts and used it to go shopping for themselves, the indictment stated.

INDIANA MAN IN POLICE STANDOFF SLIPPED AWAY, WENT SHOPPING

Police said Linville also used the alias Sgt. Bob Davis while Johnson went by Paul Bradley throughout the scheme.

The U.S. Secret Service and the Clark County Sheriffs Department have been investigating the scheme for three years.

"Our American veterans have dutifully served this country through many wars and deserve better than to be deprived of donations from giving donors," Minkler said "The acts of these fraudsters have eroded the trust and goodwill of those who want to contribute to legitimate fundraising organizations, including those that support our veterans."

BATMAN WHO ATE CHIPOTLE FOR 500 DAYS STRAIGHT SAYS HES READY FOR SOMETHING NEW

The Wounded Warrior Project thanked law enforcement for bringing down the scam.

"We are grateful law enforcement will hold those involved accountable for their actions and the harm they have caused our nation's bravest and their families," the Wounded Warrior Project said in a statement. "WWP is committed to ensuring donor intentions are honored and we take this responsibility seriously."An 18-year-old gorilla named Louis hates to get his hands dirty. Thats why he sometimes walks upright like a human -- especially when food is involved.

Louis, a 500-pound, 6-foot tall gorilla that lives at the Philadelphia Zoo, walks upright when hes carrying tomatoes and other snacks, The Associated Press reported.

He also walks upright when the ground is muddy, according to the Philadelphia Zoo, which recently posted a video of Louis walking on two legs.

Its pretty unusual for gorillas to walk around upright, Michael Stern, the curator of primates and small mammals at the zoo, told The Associated Press. Most lean forward and "knuckle-walk."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.Three members of a militia group are set to stand trial on charges alleging they were plotting to bomb a mosque and a southwestern Kansas apartment complex where Somali refugees live.

Gavin Wright, Patrick Stein and Curtis Allen have pleaded not guilty to charges including conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, which carries a possible sentence of life in prison. Their trial is scheduled to start Tuesday in Wichita.

Prosecutors say a fourth militia member tipped off federal authorities after becoming alarmed by the escalating talk of violence and later agreed to wear a wire as a paid informant. The government's case features months of profanity-laced recordings in which militia members discussed plans and referred to the Somalis as "cockroaches."Dozens of FBI agents, Pennsylvania state officials and members of a treasure-hunting group dug in a remote Pennsylvania site earlier this week, on rumors of Civil War-era gold being buried there.

A 155-year-old legend has it that a Civil War-era gold shipment bound for a U.S. Mint in Philadelphia was either lost or hidden northeast of Pittsburgh around the time of the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863.

President Abraham Lincoln reportedly ordered the shipment to help pay Union Army soldiers, Dennis Parada, owner of local treasure-hunting group Finders Keepers, told WJAC-TV.

"Im not going to quit until its dug up," Parada told the Philadelphia Inquirer, "and if I die, my kids going to be around and make sure its going to be dug up.

Theres something in there and Im not giving up.

"Im not going to quit until its dug up, and if I die, my kids going to be around and make sure its going to be dug up. Theres something in there and Im not giving up."  Dennis Parada, owner of Finders Keepers, a treasure-hunting group

Based on different stories, the shipment was composed of either 26 or 52 gold bars, each weighing 50 pounds, meaning it would be worth $27 million to $55 million today.

Local lore that the federal gold might be buried at the Dents Run site in Benezette Township, Pa., about 135 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, caught the FBI's attention.

So earlier this week agents from the bureau and officials from the Pennsylvannia Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) set up a search area off Route 555, the Courier-Express reported.

The site is west of Driftwood, where a crew delivering the gold was attacked in an ambush, lone survivor Sgt. Jim Connors reportedly told his Army superiors at the time, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. But the Army reportedly doubted his story and Connors died in a western outpost, leaving the loot unfound.

This week the FBI wouldn't say why it was at the site, revealing only that it was conducting court-authorized law enforcement activity.

Historians have cast doubt that the shipment of gold was lost on its way to Philadelphia. Finders Keepers also said Pennsylvanias Historical and Museum Commission claims the legend of the lost gold is a myth, the Inquirer reported.

But the lost treasure recovery group has insisted for years that it discovered buried gold in a state forest at Dents Run (within the township) using a high-powered metal detector, but federal law wouldn't allow it to conduct a dig in search of more, the Courier-Express reported.

A spokesman from the Pennsylvania DCNR said that the group previously asked to excavate the site, but elected not to pay a required $15,000 bond.

The spokesman also referred questions on Tuesday's activity to the FBI, and Parada said he was under FBI orders not to discuss the site.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.Seattle police officers were waiting at a fire exit when two shoplifters tried to run out of a Costco with vacuum cleaners and laptops under their arms.

The officers went to the Costco Wednesday in respone to a call of a burglary, the Seattle Police Department said in a statement.

WOMAN FILES COMPLAINT AGAINST UNIVERSAL ORLANDO RESORT SAYING SHE WAS FAT-SHAMED BY STAFF

Loss prevention officers from the store said one of the suspects was familiar. They believed the person may have stolen from the store before. Security personnel told police the suspect had also been seen carrying a knife in the prior incidents.

When officers arrived at the scene, they found a black vehicle with an 18-year-old female inside. Body cameras captured the officers interviewing the teen and blocking the car from leaving and then waiting when a 30-year-old man and a 21-year-old woman burst through the fire exit with the stolen laptops and vacuum cleaners.

RUMORED SITE OF $55M IN CIVIL-WAR ERA GOLD DRAWS FBIS ATTENTION, REPORTS SAY

Police immediately detained the two suspects who appeared to be shocked by the officers presence. Loss prevention staff said the two suspects also stole items from a different Costco earlier that day. The stolen items were worth about $2,200. Officers also found the man in possession of a 7-inch knife.

Cops said the male suspect was booked into the King County Jail "for investigation of robbery, while the two women were booked for investigation of theft.A worker with a company that helped strengthen bridges was the second victim identified in the catastrophic instant bridge collapse that killed six people Thursday in Florida.

Navaro Brown, 37, who worked for Structural Technologies VSL, died in the collapse, a spokesman for the company told the Miami Herald. Two other workers who were employed by the company were hospitalized and are in stable condition.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Browns family and with the other affected employees, Michael Biesiada, a spokesman for the company said. We really appreciate the work of the first responders who immediately offered their help.

FIRST FLORIDA BRIDGE COLLAPSE VICTIM IDENTIFIED AS FIU STUDENT, 18

Biesiada did not immediately say what Brown and the two other employees were doing at the time of the collapse but said the deceased man was working on the project providing installation support for our products.

The Miami Herald reported Structural Technologies VL provides products to strengthen bridges, buildings and other structures. The media outlet reported the company was paid $439,350 for post-tensioning work or a method for reinforcing concrete.

FLORIDA BRIDGE COLLAPSE SEEMED LIKE A BOMB HAD EXPLODED, WITNESS SAYS

On Friday, the first victim identified from the collapse was 18-year-old Florida International University student Alexa Duran. She was driving her Toyota SUV under the structure when it collapsed on her vehicle. Duran reportedly became entrapped in the rubble.

Authorities have not immediately determined what caused the bridge to collapse. The National Transportation Safety Board said it was launching an investigation into the collapse.

Fox News' Matt Richardson contributed to this report.One Southern California town is taking a stand against a state law that limits the cooperation between local police and federal immigration agents and encourages sanctuary cities to exist.

The City of Los Alamitos will vote on an ordinance that would exempt it from the sanctuary city law that council members say conflicts with federal law.

Members say that the state law may be in direct conflict with federal laws and the Constitution, not to mention going against the oath they took in taking office, The Orange County register reports.

The council finds that it is impossible to honor our oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, according to the ordinance.

The proposed legislation comes after U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the Justice Department was filing a lawsuit against California over three pieces of legislation that interfere with the federal immigration policy.

Like Los Alamitos council members, Sessions argued that the laws are not only unconstitutional, but also a plain violation of federal statute and common sense.

Fox News' Adam Shaw and The Associated Press contributed to this report.On Monday 19 March Cairo's Da House will host vocalist Amy Frega and bassist Samer George in an evening filled with soulful music and spontaneous improvisation.

Joined as Voice & Bass, the two musicians rearrange songs from all kinds of genres of music to fit the creative duo.

Their concert at Da House marks Voice & Bass's last appearance in this season's concert series, before summer and Ramadan steps in with its own music assortment.

Launched in 2016, Da House is a meeting place for musicians and a place for concerts and various events. The venue was launched by Ahmed Mohamed Sakran, known as Siko, for musicians hosted in Vibe for Developing Arts, a well-established music studio that has operated since 2011 on the first floor of the same building.

Programme:

Monday 19 March, 8.30pm

Da House, 7 Mosaddak st, 4th floor, Dokki, Cairo

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

Short link:

Authorities in Texas have arrested at least a dozen people for animal cruelty after interrupting what they believe was ritual sacrifice.

The San Antonio Express-News reports that Bexar County sheriff's deputies found dead and dismembered animals in a San Antonio-area home Friday night after receiving calls that animals were being sacrificed.

Sgt. Elizabeth Gonzalez says that deputies saw more than a dozen people inside a garage where a woman was cutting up animal parts while another person was draining the blood of a chicken into a container.

Gonzalez says, "It appears that they were having some sort of unknown ritual."

Deputies found additional mutilated animals in the residence, including goat heads and more chickens.

Gonzalez says between 12 and 14 people were arrested and will face misdemeanor charges of cruelty to non-livestock animals.Iran's semi-official ILNA news agency is reporting that authorities have detained a close ally of former hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The Saturday report says the office of Tehran prosecutor's said police detained Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei for "investigations." It did not elaborate.

On Thursday, Mashaei, in front of the British embassy in Tehran, burnt a copy of a court verdict sentencing Hamid Baghaei, another Ahmadinejad ally who was sentenced to 15 years for the misuse of public funds when he was a vice-president under Ahmadinejad. Baghaei began serving his term earlier this week.

Several of Ahmdainejad's allies are in jail over the misappropriation of public funds.

During Baghaei's trial, Ahmadinejad repeatedly appeared outside the court criticizing many officials, including the head of the judiciary, Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani.next Image 1 of 2

prev Image 2 of 2

German authorities say three people have been arrested in the northern city of Hannover when Kurdish demonstrators protesting Turkish military attacks in northern Syria clashed with police.

The dpa news agency reported that some of the estimated 11,000 protesters threw plastic bottles at police Saturday and threatened them with the flagpoles they were waving.

The demonstrators were also protesting German arms sales to Turkey and chanted slogans like "German tanks out of Kurdistan!" and called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a "terrorist."

No incidents were reported at smaller demonstrations in Cologne and Wuppertal.

Some demonstrators waved flags showing the leader of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party, known as the PKK, and police say they are evaluating videos to see if they can determine their identity.next Image 1 of 2

prev Image 2 of 2

The Latest on developments related to the war in Syria (all times local):

11:45 a.m.

Turkey's military has rejected allegations it bombed a hospital in Afrin in northwestern Syria, where it's engaged in an offensive against Syrian Kurdish fighters.

The military tweeted aerial footage and photographs of the town's general hospital from Saturday morning, showing it was intact. The army said in a statement the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units or YPG were trying to create a "negative perception" of the Turkish military.

On Friday, YPG official Redur Khalil and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported an airstrike on the hospital. The Observatory said 16 people were killed in the hospital including two pregnant women.

Turkey launched an offensive against the YPG on Jan. 20 to clear Afrin. The country considers the YPG a terror group and a wing of a Kurdish insurgency operating within its own border.

___

9:30 a.m.

Russia's military says more than 11,000 people have left Syria's besieged eastern Ghouta outside the capital Damascus in the past few hours as government forces step up an offensive on the rebel enclave.

Maj. Gen. Vladimir Zolotukhin was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying that some 3,000 people have been leaving every hour Saturday through a government-run humanitarian corridor monitored by the Russian military.

Zolotukhin is spokesman for the Russian center for reconciliation of the warring parties in Syria.

Airstrikes in Syria killed more than 100 people on Friday as civilians fled en masse. Under cover of allied Russian air power, Syrian government forces have been on a crushing offensive for three weeks on eastern Ghouta.

The weekslong violence has left more than 1,300 civilians dead and 5,000 wounded.As Sundays presidential election nears, Vladimir Putin is widely expected to be guaranteed a landslide win in his quest for a fourth term. But reports emerged Saturday that local and state officials have still received orders from higher-ups to ensure a strong voter turnout.

The mayor of Yekaterinburg, Russias fourth-largest city, Yevgeny Roizman, said that local officials and state employees were told by higher-up to make sure that presidential voter turnout reaches over 60 percent.

"They are using everything: schools, kindergartens, hospitals  the battle for the turnout is unprecedented," he said.

One doctor who asked to remain anonymous, told The Associated Press that she was forced to fill out a form detailing where she would be casting her ballot and she feared that not showing up at all would endanger her job.

She said if she weren't being pressed to vote, she wouldnt because she already knows Putin will win.

"What's the point? We already know the outcome. This is just a circus show," she said.

While the outcome is seen as assured, the authorities are investing in get-out-the-vote efforts to ensure a decent turnout across the world's biggest country. A strong showing would bolster Putin's assertion of a strong mandate to lead, and would likely further embolden him domestically and internationally.

A Russian election monitoring group said Saturday it has registered an "alarming" rise in recent days in complaints that employers are forcing or pressuring workers to vote.

Some voters are being bribed in a sense  simply being rewarded for casting ballots.

In Moscow, first-time voters will be given free tickets for pop concerts featuring some of Russia's most popular artists who have campaigned for Putin. For older voters, Moscow health authorities will be offering free cancer screenings at selected polling stations.

In the southern city of Tambov, the state-sponsored Youth Parliament has backed an Instagram competition. Voters who take selfies at polling stations and post them under the designated hashtag will be able to enter a raffle for high-end electronics, including an iPhoneX.

Putin faces seven other challengers but none present a real threat. He solidified this, however, by barring them from campaigning on the final day of the election.

The first polls have already opened in Russias Far East regions.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.Free Freightnet Membership

List your company in the Freightnet directory. It's Free, it's Easy and your company can be displayed in front of potential freight buyers within 24 hours.News

Infrastructure, growth are issues in mayoral race

kelseywalling / KELSEY WALLING/The Daily News Kimberley Yancy will be on La Marques ballot this year, running for mayor against incumbent Bobby Hocking. KIM CHRISTENSEN/For The Daily News La Marque Mayor Bobby Hocking will be on La Marques ballot again this year, running against challenger Kimberley Yancy.

LA MARQUE

Enhanced infrastructure is a hot topic in the election for the mayor of La Marque.

Mayor Bobby Hocking, who was first elected to the position in 2011 in a special election, is seeking another three-year term. Kimberley Yancy will run against him in the May 5 election.

Yancy is the president of the Dickinson-Bay Area Unit of the NAACP. Yancy has never run for office before, but has political and public policy experience working for former state Rep. Al Edwards and for the Galveston Housing Authority, she said.

Hocking and Yancy agree on most infrastructure topics and both stress they want to focus on the issues rather than their opponent.

It was very cordial, Hocking said. We shook hands and determined to run a clean campaign.

The campaign issues should remain a focal point in the election, Yancy said.

I dont want to criticize anyone, she said. I think this campaign is going to be great for this city. I really do. I like Bobby and hes a good guy, I just think its time for a change.

La Marque was awarded a $350,000 state grant that will help the city improve its aging distribution system thats losing more than half the water passing through it.

La Marque loses about 56 percent of its water to leaks and breaks in the system, according to a 2014 water loss audit report.

Fixing the citys dilapidated water system continues to be a top objective, Hocking said.

There are always new things to do, he said. I would like to continue improving the infrastructure, primarily the older parts. I want to continue a downtown revitalization project.

City systems need improvement, but that needs to be done in a manner that attracts new residents, Yancy said.

Fix the streets and infrastructure that satisfy the old La Marque and entice the new, she said.

But the two candidates differ on the type of leadership the city needs.

For Hocking, La Marques growth and his stability as mayor speaks for itself, he said.

I have never missed a regular council meeting in seven years, he said. We are running on a surplus and are essentially, in many ways, prospering.

La Marques population increased by 3.79 percent between 2015 and 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureaus 2016 estimates. The city has grown by 13.43 percent since 2010, and added a total of almost 2,000 new residents.

The citys business growth could be better, however, Yancy said.

La Marque is one of the best-kept secrets in the county, she said. Theres no reason why we should not be booming.

La Marques mayor and council members need to understand that the public is ready for new leadership, Yancy said.

You need a new face, a new person and a new investment, she said. La Marque needs to be rebranded, restored and renewed.

Hocking is hoping he can finish out a decade of service to the city, he said.

The bottom line is I grew up here, he said. This city is my passion and I would like the opportunity to serve another three years, which would make a decade of me giving back.Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily!

Your notification has been saved.

There was a problem saving your notification.

{{description}}

Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN! Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2021.Its well known that the current FEMA flood maps need updating, but some new information in a study done by researchers in the U.S. and England paints an even more ominous picture of the risk Americans face from flooding.The study estimated that slightly more than 40 million people in the continental U.S. are at risk for a 100-year flood event and that just 40 percent of the country is mapped. That 40 million is three times more than currently estimated and the amount of property in harms way is twice what the current risk is estimated to be.The study has been in the works for more than a year and involves using faster computers and new data from the EPA. The model looks at risk today and projects future risks based on where people will be moving and developing in the future. The researchers estimated that at the current rate, 60 percent of the population will be in a 100-year floodplain by the year 2050. And that doesnt take into consideration any affects that a warming climate might have on future flooding.Kris Johnson, associate director for science and planning at the Nature Conservancy, and a co-author of the report, said that one of the main differences between this new model and smaller models typically used by FEMA, the Army Corps of Engineers and others is that the smaller models require people going out in boats to survey channels, bridges, depths of rivers, etc. The new, larger-scale modeling uses fewer data points and parameters to show risk over a larger area.If you want to decide how to build a bridge over a particular river, you would want all those data points available, Johnson said. If you want information about how to plan floodplain on a large scale, then the modeling approach were using is quicker and cheaper and really accurate.He said the current modeling offers the ability to look over the entire U.S. and get a picture of who is at risk and where. The current, laborious, costly process of mapping has resulted in a patchwork of inaccurate maps scattered across the country.There have been recent improvements to mapping in some areas, but the progress has been slow and development in floodplains continues.Despite the fact that we have the National Flood Insurance Program and land use regulations, we still see a lot of development happening in floodplains and a lot of development is projected to happen in floodplains, Johnson said.Johnson called lidar (light detection and ranging) hugely beneficial in terms of getting a rich picture of whats happening on the ground without having to go out on a boat, but said, You still have to run a model to simulate how a flood wave is going to propagate itself down a river channel, and thats where this large-scale modeling approach that we used comes into play.FEMA is aware of the modeling, and FEMA Deputy Public Affairs Director Eileen Lainez told the Miami Herald via email that models have to be certified before they can be used. We welcome new models in science, and as the models described in the article mature, we would look forward to reviewing and including the best of this science into our program, she said.(TNS)  WASHINGTON  In practically the blink of an eye, Maggie Irizarry lost about $1,300 to thieves. But the culprits werent robbers who broke into her Miami home. They were hackers who connived their way onto her Lenovo laptop.Because of that, local police balked at getting involved. Irizarrys only recourse was to plead for mercy with her bank and credit card company in hopes of recovering her loss.Hundreds of thousands of Americas are victims of cybercrime every year. Yet only 15 percent of cyber fraud victims ever report the crimes to law enforcement, the FBI says. Many victims  those who have lost hundreds or thousands of dollars  feel they have nowhere to turn.The truth is they often do not. Most local and state law enforcement agencies are not equipped to track down cyber crooks. The FBI is swamped and must prioritize big cases.Its a huge problem, said Nick Selby, a Texas police detective and information security consultant. Its difficult for local law enforcement because we dont have the training.International cyber gangs prey upon U.S. victims by hacking their computers to obtain credit card and Social Security numbers to defraud banks and retail outlets. But other crimes are also on the rise.They are things like, My ex is tracking me with spyware on my phone, or My neighbor has hijacked my wireless and is doing illegal things. Theres nobody to tell about this, said Michael K. Hamilton, founder and president of Critical Informatics, an information security firm that operates out of Bremerton, Washington.Local and state law enforcement agencies often are ill-equipped to investigate digital crimes, which can originate across state lines or outside of the United States. Prosecutors sometimes hesitate to take on complicated cases with low conviction rates. At the national level, a rise in cases inundates the FBI, the lead federal agency on cyberattacks and crimes.This threat is now coming at us from all sides, FBI Director Christopher Wray said March 7 at Boston College. Were worried  at the FBI and with our partners  about a wider range of threat actors, from multinational cyber syndicates and insider threats to hacktivists. And were concerned about a wider gamut of methods.For Irizarry, a chemical engineer who worked at the Environmental Protection Agency before her retirement, the threat came one day when her laptop screen turned bright red.It gave me a message to call Microsoft. Dumb me, I supposedly call Microsoft. It was an 800 number, Irizarry said. I panicked a bit.The call responder said he would fix Irizarrys computer for $300, so she turned over her credit card number and gave the man remote electronic access to her hard drive.Later, her phone rang. The callers said theyd overcharged her credit card by $1,000.They started screaming at me, saying they were going to be fired because they made this huge mistake, she said. Then they asked her to go to a CVS drugstore and get $1,000 in gift cards in $100 denominations, she said. At that point, I figured out that they were not Microsoft.At the urging of a friend, Irizarry called the FBI, and an agent told her to alert her bank and credit card company. Then she went to city police.The guy said, I cannot take your complaint. I said, Why not? Because you dont know who did this, she said. She said the man had an Indian accent, and the officer surmised that the internet scam operated from India.They do this all the time, he said, and we dont have jurisdiction over this. You dont have a name or an address, Irizarry recalled.Luckily, the bank reimbursed her $1,000 loss and so did the credit card company. She held $500 in Apple gift cards that she had bought but not yet turned over to the fraudsters.At the urging of the FBI, Irizarry filed an electronic complaint with the bureaus Internet Crime Complaint Center, a national clearinghouse. The center received 298,728 complaints with total losses in excess of $1.3 billion in 2016, the latest year for which statistics are available.While the FBI sorts through and bundles even the smallest internet crimes, active investigations concentrate only when losses are large.We talked to one of the bigger field offices in the U.S. and they said, We have a million-dollar threshold. Theres just too much cybercrime for them to look at anything below $1 million, James A. Lewis, head of the technology policy program at the Center for Strategic & International Studies, said at a Feb. 21 event.In a follow-up interview last week, Lewis said local police departments often have only one or two cyber specialists, and prosecutors and judges may not have significant expertise.Theres a reluctance, I think, below the federal level to take on what can be very tough cases, Lewis said.Selby, the Texas detective, said local police departments will take a strong interest if a cyber case involves terrorism, human trafficking or child pornography.If you got your identity stolen and youre looking for more than a police report, no, youre out of luck, Selby said, adding that the matter is partly generational. You still have generations of chiefs of police who are in their 60s. They are not really focused on this.Some smaller departments have hired experts with formidable cyber forensics skills.There have been cases where Ive been able to trace activity back to Eastern Europe, said Anthony Kava, a digital forensics examiner and special deputy at the Pottawattamie County Sheriffs Office in western Iowa. But FBI support is hard to obtain.Theres a long queue to get things done because everyone wants their (the FBIs) assistance, Kava said.At the Miami-Dade County Police Department, which is separate from the Miami City Police that declined to handle Irizarrys matter, officers are instructed to take all cyber complaints, said Sgt. Armando Borrego of the Organized Fraud Intelligence Squad. But cybercrimes that originate abroad are problematic.What recourse do we have? Our jurisdiction is Miami-Dade County. How do we put somebody behind the computer? Honestly, we cant, Borrego said.Even the FBI struggles with getting hit by cybercrime.Last month, the FBI alerted citizens to beware of criminals sending emails impersonating its Internet Crime Complaint Center, suggesting to victims that they could receive restitution if they provided more information about themselves. The bogus emails contained an attachment.The text file contained malware which was designed to further victimize the recipient, an FBI release said.The City of Malmo, Sweden is acquiring three 300 kW quickPOINT City Chargers from Poland-based Ekoenergetyka. The OppCharge-based opportunity chargers, equipped with inverted pantograph, will be deployed in the third largest city in Sweden this fall and will charge electric buses from Volvo. The project is part of Malmos drive to become climate neutral by 2020.





The chargers from Ekoenergetyka will be deployed in two neighborhoods of MalmoOn in the southwest will receive one charger and the other two will be deployed in the southern suburb of the city Svagertorp. They will provide quick energy top-ups via top-down pantographs to 13 Volvo buses that will enter into operation at the end of 2018.

This will be our third charger deployment in Sweden, but first in Malmo. We are proud to contribute to Malmos sustainability drive and its target of becoming a 100% green city by 2020 by enabling the city to introduce cleaner and quieter buses. Maciej Wojenski, Vice-President of Ekoenergetyka-Polska

The devices will be connected to an external monitoring system gathering data about charging processes in real time, ensuring smooth operating of the charging process. The chargers will follow international charging protocol ISO 15118 defining communication between the chargers and the buses and use the industry-supported OppCharge system for top down charging.

his project will be the first one in which Ekoenergetyka will charge electric buses from Volvo and it will bring a total of electric bus brands that we have charged to over 10. It shows our chargers are interoperable across the board. Giving our clients full flexibility when it comes to charging interfaces, shapes of chargers and their power is one of our priorities. Our chargers can be integrated with both Combo 2 plugs, bus-mounted pantographs and, as we show with this project, also OppCharge top down pantographs. Maciej Wojenski

On top of charging stations, Ekoenergetyka-Polska is also responsible for the civil works and the maintenance of the devices. Malmo is a third city in Sweden to choose Ekoenergetykas chargers, following in the footsteps of Vasteras and the northern city of Lulea and a confirmation of the companys commitment to the Scandinavian market.

Ekoenergetyka has more than 150 e-bus chargers deployed in cities in Europe, from Barcelona through Berlin to Adana in Turkey and Tampere in Finland. Ekoenergetyka is a member of UITP, OCA and OppCharge Alliance.Government Of Wau Investigating Reports On Sexual Abuse At UNMISS PoC Site

A committee formed last week by the Governor of Wau, Angelo Taban and headed by the State Minister of Law Enforcement and Parliamentary Affairs, Arkengelo Anyar Anyar are conducting investigations into the sexual abuse reported at the UNMISS POC site.

By James Deng Dimo



WAU, 17 March 2018 [Gurtong] Speaking to Gurtong on Thursday, Anyar said the committee will go to the UNMISS to start its task with the UN administration before contacting the vulnerable victims for fact finding.



Last week after a joint meeting between the UN and the State government over the matter, the Governor formed an investigative committee headed by me to go to UNMISS for investigation and now today, we have started our work, Anyar told Gurtong.



Our mandate is to go to the UNMISS, PoC to investigate the issue of sexual abuse which occurred in the site in which the government and entire population of Wau condemned during last weeks procession and they gave their petition to the representative of the UN secretary to South Sudan and they asked for the immediate repatriation of the culprits back to Wau for trial, said the minister.



He said the aim of the committee is to figure out who were the victims of the abuse that took place at the protection of civilian site.



Our aims is to go and investigate who are the victims of this act and also find out how many were subjected to the act as well as to find out if those involved were still in Wau or being evacuated as being circulated, he said.



The minister stated that the committee will speak to the victims about their conditions and how the perpetrator abused them.



Last month, women in Wau backed by women association groups, civil society activists held a peaceful protest against the United Nations Mission in South Sudan.









United Nations Mission In South Sudan Mandate Renewed Till 2019

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has welcomed the decision by the United Nations Security Council to renew its peacekeeping go-ahead until 15 March 2019 with the passing of Resolution 2406.

By James Deng Dimo



WAU, 17 March 2018 [Gurtong] - The new mandate authorizes UNMISS to work towards the implementation of the 2015 peace agreement and current peace processes led by the Transitional Government of National Unity, including through the High Level Revitalization Forum.



The new passed resolution to extend and renew UNMISS mandates in South Sudan until 2019 strengthens the overall force levels of UNMISS, with a ceiling of 17,000 UN troops, including the Regional Protection Force (RPF).



The role of the RPF is extended from its previous focus largely on duties within the capital Juba and surrounding areas to assisting in the improvement of security within communities in other parts of the country as necessary. This decision acknowledges the changed security environment in Juba since the initial Security Council decision approving the deployment of the RPF.



Resolution 2406 also mandates UNMISS to work proactively to provide technical assistance or advice to government institutions and civil society actors on international humanitarian law, investigation and prosecution of sexual and gender- based violence, in compliance with the UN Human Rights Due Diligence Policy, in order to strengthen protection of civilians and promotion of human rights in South Sudan.



Currently, UNMISS has approximately 18,000 personnel serving at 17 locations across the country. More than 15,000 of these personnel are uniformed (about 13,500 troops and 1,500 police officers). More than 2,600 are civilian staff working in diverse areas such as human rights, logistics, child protection, gender, political and civil affairs. The Mission also has the largest number of UN Volunteers, with 387 currently serving in South Sudan.



Resolution 2406 requires UNMISS to continue its work to protect civilians, both internally displaced people who have sought sanctuary within protection sites across the country next to UN bases and civilians more broadly through the proactive deployment of its peacekeeping troops across South Sudan. The Mission will continue to facilitate the safe delivery of humanitarian assistance to those in need and to monitor, investigate and report on human rights.



In a statement released by UNMISS on Thursday, Since the outbreak of civil war in 2013, UNMISS has remained committed to working with the people of South Sudan to end the conflict and build durable peace so that families can return to their homes to live safely and with dignity.





Haiti - DR : Working session of the Bilateral Joint Commission





The Haitian-Dominican Technical Secretariat of the Bilateral Mixed Commission (CMB), led by Frantz Jean-Francois, which ensures the interim since the transfer of Leon Charles Ambassador at the Permanent Mission of Haiti to the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Executive Secretariat of the Joint Dominican-Haitian Commission led by Ambassador Roberto Martinez Villanueva organized a 2-day working session in Port-au-Prince (15-16 March) in the EDF National Authorizing Office.



To the program, the development of an action plan and a joint roadmap for the current year. During these two days, the two Secretariats discussed the themes :



Migration and borders ;



Trade and investments ;



Transport and Energy ;



Agriculture and Environment ;



Health ;



Security.



It should be recalled that the mandate of the Haitian part of the CMB is to conduct jointly with the Dominican part a regular review of the cooperation between the two countries and to recommend to the Governments of the two countries the measures to be adopted and implemented with a view to improve and strengthen bilateral cooperation, particularly in the areas of trade, agriculture, environment, education, culture, health, tourism, migration, sports, public security and human rights.



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-22314-haiti-politics-dr-prepares-a-timetable-of-at-least-43-projects-with-haiti.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20790-haiti-dr-towards-the-restructuring-of-the-bilateral-joint-commission.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20071-haiti-economy-dominican-ambassador-predicts-good-relations-with-president-moise.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-17167-haiti-diplomacy-official-visit-of-the-haitian-chancellor-in-dr.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-16850-haiti-politic-follow-up-meetings-of-three-bilateral-subcommittees.html

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-16007-icihaiti-politic-bilateral-meeting-of-the-coordination-joint-committee.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-15955-haiti-politic-official-launch-of-the-binational-observatory.html



HL/ HaitiLibre

















NFIB Hawaii Small Business Victories

From NFIB-Hawaii, March 14, 2018

Victories

Defeated Mandatory Employer-Paid Sick Leave

NFIB/Hawaii helped to defeat the proposals to require employer paid sick leave for all employees. This would have included part-time employees who made at least $15 per hour.

Defeated Minimum Wage Increases

NFIB/Hawaii helped to defeat a proposal to increase the minimum wage up to $22 per hour.

Challenges

Defeat Employer-Paid Sick Leave

NFIB/Hawaii opposes mandatory employer paid sick leave as not economically or logistically feasible, especially for part-time workers  on the grounds that Hawaiis Prepaid Healthcare Act continues to provide for workers over 20 1/2 hours per week.

Predictive SchedulingSENATE PASSES MEASURES TO STRENGTHEN STATE FINANCIAL PLAN

Senate bills and Council of Revenues projections improve the States Financial Plan

From Senate Democratic Caucus, March 15, 2018

HONOLULU, Hawaii - The State Senate has drafted, discussed, and voted on SB508, SB2415, SB2484, SB2489, SB2699, and SB2821 that are projected to generate approximately $72 million in revenues based on the Department of Taxation estimates. The current State Financial Plan shows the State is over spending by $208 million this fiscal year, $263.2 million in FY2020, $209.7 million in FY2021, and $105.4 million in FY2022.

The additional revenues derived from the Senate bills will be added to the general fund which will allow the State to pay for government services, debts and liabilities, and to reduce financial shortfalls for the next five years. With the Senate voting on the final measures today, combined with the updated January 8th Council of Revenues forecast, the State revenues to the general fund will increase by $114.7M.

Senate Measures

SB508 SD1 promotes tax compliance. It has become difficult and costly for the State to collect unpaid taxes from nonresident sellers of Hawaii real estate. This measure will allow the State to recover taxes from nonresident sellers by increasing the percentage from 5% to 9% that is withheld on the amount realized by nonresidents from the disposition of Hawaii real property. Per the Department of Taxations projections, this measures would generate $14.4 million for the States general fund for Fiscal Year 2019.

SB2415 SD1 raises the conveyance tax rates for residential investment properties with a value of at least $2 million. Per the Department of Taxations projection, this measure would generate $8.6 million for the States general fund for Fiscal Year 2019.

SB2484 SD1 provides the State to capture some of the money that certain residents will no longer be required to pay to the Federal government and redirect that money to the State. The additional estate tax revenues could be used to pay for priorities that the Federal government will no longer be able to support due to the significant reduction of estate tax revenues. Per the Department of Taxations projection, this measure would generate $900,000 for the States general fund for Fiscal Year 2019.

SB2489 SD2 The tax formula on time shares has not been updated since its establishment in 1998. This measure updates the formula for the amount of transient accommodations taxes to be collected from time shares and is projected by the Department of Taxation to generate $20.2 million for the States general fund for Fiscal Year 2019.

SB2699 SD2 Transactions regarding the furnishing of transient accommodations are increasingly conducted over the internet which has resulted in the State not collecting the full amount of transient accommodations taxes. This measure establishes a process for online platforms to pay the transient accommodations tax on accommodations booked through their websites and imposes the transient accommodations tax on resort fees. Per the Department of Taxations projection, this measure would generate $19.4 million for the States general fund for Fiscal Year 2019.

SB2821 SD1 This measure is the annual conformity measure submitted by the Department of Taxation. This measure maintained current State law in numerous key areas. For example, the State's current allowance of individual itemized deductions will be maintained to ensure that individual taxpayers are not burdened with increased income tax obligations. Additionally, per Department of Taxations projection, this measure would generate $9.2 million for the States general fund for Fiscal Year 2019.

Council on Revenues

At its meeting on January 8, 2018, the Council on Revenues raised its forecast from 4.3% to 4.5% for Fiscal Year 2018. This 0.2% increase is projected to add an estimated $12 million in tax revenues to the States general fund.

State Financial Plan

Per the Department of Budget and Finance's General Fund Financial Plan, the State overspent by $134 million in Fiscal Year 2017. This year, the Governor's Supplemental Budget request totals $7.4 billion in general funds, of which $3.6 billion is already dedicated to fixed costs.

In addition, the State Financial Plan will be short an additional $33 million the first year, and $67 each year thereafter since no revenues are expected from SB2963 SD1. This increases the

overspending amount which the legislature will be expected to identify additional revenues or make cuts to cover the additional shortfall.

For Fiscal Years 2018  2022, the financial plan shows a total of $786.3 million in overspending and it is not until Fiscal Year 2023 that the State will show a surplus.

The State continues to tackle it's increasing unfunded liabilities. In the early nineties, the State stopped contributing to the Employees' Retirement System (ERS) and as a result, the State's current portion of the ERS unfunded actuarial accrued liability is $8.94 billion. Similarly, prior to 2014 the State did not pre-fund the Employer-Union Health Benefits Trust Fund (EUTF) and now the EUTF unfunded liability has grown to $9.314 billion.

Possible Revenues

In addition to efforts to decrease spending, the following measures are estimated to generate $72  $136.7 million in additional revenue per year for Fiscal Years 2019  2024. These measures have passed third reading in the Senate and will be sent to the House for further consideration. These measures are not included in the Financial Plan, due to non-voluntary compliance and unresolved Federal legal issues. However, these issues may be resolved in the near future by U.S. Supreme Court.

SB2514 SD1 and SB2890 SD2 Many local brick-and-mortar businesses are at a disadvantage with online merchants. To ensure fair competition among all businesses and fairness, this measure would require any online merchant that sells goods and services to residents of the State to pay the general excise tax. Up to $9 million would be generated for the States general fund for Fiscal Year 2019 per the Department of Taxations projection.

SB2963 SD1 will strengthen country enforcement laws and ordinances relating to vacation rentals. Furthermore, this measure establishes a process for online platforms to collect and remit to the State the transient accommodations tax on vacation rentals. Per the Department of Taxations projections, compliance and participation would generate up to $10 million for the States general fund for Fiscal Year 2019 and up to $20 million annually for the outyears.

Reallocation of the Transient Accommodation Tax

While SB2224 SD2 will not affect the States Financial Plan, the measure will reallocate transient accommodations tax to departments with a mission that supports our visitor industries and economic development, as follows:

$1,000,000 shall be allocated for the operation of a Hawaiian center and the Museum of Hawaiian Music and Dance at the Hawaii Convention Center;

$16,500,000 to the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism to be expended for economic development initiatives and programs;

$3,500,000 to the Department of Education to be used for a grant program for initiatives and programs related to hospitality and tourism industry careers;

$7,891,000 to the University of Hawaii System for academic programs relating to hospitality and tourism industry career pathways;

$3,000,000 to University of Hawaii athletics for student athlete travel;

$9,608,554 to the Department of Land and Natural Resources to be used to support efforts to manage, improve, and protect the State's environment and address the impact of tourism on the State's natural resources;

$8,000,000 to the counties to be expended to ensure the safety of visitors to county parks and beaches; and

$8,000,000 to be expended on grants, pursuant to Chapter 42F, Hawaii Revised Statutes, including but not limited to Hawaiian cultural initiatives, community programs, product development, and tourism related grants, as determined by the legislature.

The State needs to practice more fiscal restraint, pursue public private partnerships, and identify more efficiencies so it can live within its means. We still must provide needed services and invest in economic development and job creation for our community, said Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairman Donovan M. Dela Cruz. We also need to anticipate expenses for a growing aging population, so the Senate is being more proactive in our handling of the State Financial Plan rather than reactive. We cant just keep kicking the can down the road.WARD CALLS ON GOVERNOR FOR RELEASE OF ALL MISSILE ALERT RECORDINGS, NOT A 24-SECOND SOUND BITE

News Release from Rep Gene Ward, R-Hawaii Kai, March 16, 2018

HONOLULU, HAWAII - Representative Gene Ward (RHawaii Kai, Kalama Valley), a member of the House Military Affairs & International Relations Committee, is calling for the release of all recordings pertaining to the January 13 false missile alert at the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency and not just the 24-second, heavily redacted snippet that Hi-EMA released earlier this week.

The people of Hawaii want the truth surrounding the January 13th missile alert fiasco, and that will include all recordings from the Hi-EMA facility from the time the missile alert drill began until well after the all-clear was given," Ward said. "Everyone from Governor Ige on down has been stalling and stonewalling. And now they give us 24 seconds of a false threat alert that panicked an entire island and made Hawaii a national laughingstock. President Nixon's recordings were at least three minutes. This is unacceptable. We need to hear all of the recording so we can learn what went on that day."

Hi-EMA released a recording lasting 24 seconds. "Exercise, exercise, exercise  This is not a drill  Exercise, exercise, exercise." High-pitched tones, of six and 14 seconds, separate the phrases, censoring what might have been said in between.

"That's it, 11 words total," Ward said. "Actually, only six. What Hi-EMA released is an insult to the intelligence of the people of Hawaii."

Ward has written letters to Governor Ige four times since the false missile alert, asking for a forensic tour/walk-through of the Hi-EMA event, directing questions to the governor and Hi-EMA leaders about the events of that day, and requesting release of security tapes from inside and outside the facility.

"If we're ever going to make sure something like this never happens again, we need to see exactly what happened that day, so we can correct any missteps that might have occurred," Ward said. "Governor Ige, I am calling on you for transparency and to be forthright and truthful. The people of Hawaii deserve nothing less."

###

Background: State releases heavily redacted recording of HI-EMA's missile mistake test

HNN: Lawmaker to state: Release full HI-EMA recordings of false missile test

TH: Hawaii lawmaker demands release of full missile test recordingA HENLEY woman has launched two petitions urging the towns supermarkets to use less plastic packaging.

Julia Carey is calling on Tesco in Reading Road and Waitrose in Bell Street to introduce a plastic-free aisle for fresh produce like fruit or vegetables so people can take it away in their own bags or baskets.

The married mother-of-two, who runs her own jewellery business, says it could serve as a trial which the two retailers could roll out across other branches if it is successful.

More than 1,500 people have signed the petitions, which she will present to the companies head offices at the end of the month.

Mrs Carey, of Reading Road, has always had a keen interest in environmental issues and wanted to do something proactive to tackle the issue of plastic pollution.

When she was 18 and living in Dover she would regularly organise clean-ups of the rubbish that washed up on the beach, typically consisting of plastic bags and food packaging.

The global scale of the problem was highlighted last year in the final episode of Sir David Attenboroughs documentary series Blue Planet II, which showed the impact on sea creatures and their habitats.

Mrs Carey, 39, said: Theres a growing international awareness and people want to do something about it so I thought the supermarkets were a good place to start.

I believe wed all do so much more to solve the problem if we could. Nobody really wants to buy a hand of bananas in a plastic bag but were often reliant on the supermarkets.

We lead busy lives, whether its through work, childcare or both, and it just isnt possible for everyone to buy from markets. It would be wonderful to have the opportunity to buy more responsibly.

Some people like plastic packaging because they think its more hygienic but it never used to be the norm and theyll just have to get used to living without it.

Mrs Carey said she was pleased that Blue Planet II had raised awareness of the problem.

She said: When I organised the clean-ups, a part of me worried that I was crazy because it felt like I was much more upset by plastic pollution than anyone else.

I feel vindicated because it has shown just how serious the issue has become and now many more people want to make a difference. Thank God for Sir David  he is an amazing person.

Im thrilled with how many people have signed the petitions as its more than I was expecting. I would hope the supermarkets would take notice because a lot of people support this and it would be good publicity to get behind it.

Earlier this year, Prime Minister Theresa May called for plastic-free aisles and pledged to ban all avoidable plastic waste in the UK by 2042. She described the problem as one of the great environmental scourges of our time.

Tesco says it wants all its packaging to be recyclable or compostable by 2025 and has already taken several steps to this end. Waitrose has outlined the same goal for its own-brand goods.

To sign the petitions, visit www.change.org and search for Henley plastic free.Gen Ith Sarath briefs media yesterday. KT/Chor Sokunthea

The Chinese government is picking up the majority of the tab for the joint military exercise between China and Cambodia from March 17 to 30 in Kampong Speu provinces Samroang Tong district.

General Ith Sarath, deputy commander of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, said yesterday that the joint military exercise would include 307 Cambodian troops and 216 Chinese troops.

A total of 574 people, including other labour forces and translators, will join in the exercise.

Gen Sarath said that Cambodia would be responsible for some of the costs, but would not say how much.

The Chinese Peoples Liberation Army is paying for most of the expenses for the joint military exercise. They are paying for the bulk of it and we are supporting a little, he said.

Gen Sarath said some topics of the exercise included road repairs, mine and UXO clearance, bridge construction, and resettlement of disaster victims.

There would also be machine-gun fire from helicopters onto terrorist camps and the shooting of rockets and heavy artillery.

He said China was bringing three helicopters, eight tanks and other vehicles and weapons to use in the joint military exercise while Cambodia had six helicopters, eight tanks and other vehicles.

Gen Sarath noted that last year Cambodia cancelled joint military exercises with the United States and China because RCAF was busy with a campaign against drugs, and the commune elections.

We are holding this exercise to celebrate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Cambodia and China, he said. There is no other reason.

Gen Sarath added that Cambodia held joint military exercises with other countries such as Thailand and Vietnam.

Defence Minister Tea Banh yesterday said at the National Defence University that the joint military exercise between Cambodia and China was not being held to threaten other countries or individuals, but only to exchange experiences and celebrate the anniversary of diplomatic relations.

We join each other to improve the ability to exchange experiences, he said. It is not organised to threaten anyone.

Gen Sarath said in a statement last week that Cambodia and China would hold a Counter Terrorism and Humanity Work exercise from March 15 to 30.

Please all the people and all local level authorities be informed and dont be surprised to hear the sound of explosions and movement of military vehicles within the district, he said.

To guarantee security during the military exercise, RCAF has asked the secretariat of civil aviation and local authorities to help disseminate information in order to prevent civilians from entering the exercise area and any planes or drones from flying over it.Source: Khmer Times

Armored personnel carriers and other military materials from China arrived in Cambodia for a joint military exercise. Rasmei Kampuchea

Three helicopters, eight armored personnel carriers and other military materials from China arrived in Cambodia yesterday and today a few days ahead of a military exercise between the Cambodian and Chinese military in Kampong Speu province.

General Chhum Sucheat, spokesman for the Defence Ministry, said that three helicopters had arrived in Cambodia on Tuesday while eight armored personnel carriers and other military materials arrived yesterday for the joint military exercise in Samraong Tong district.

All military materials and vehicles from China arrived, Gen Sucheat said, noting that six helicopters and eights armored personnel carriers belonging to the Cambodian military are slated to join the exercise that begins on Saturday.

We will hold the joint military exercise between the Cambodian army and the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army on the morning of March 17, Gen Sucheat said, adding that Defense Minister Tea Banh is scheduled to preside over the closing of the exercise on March 29.

General Ith Sarath, deputy commander of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, declined to comment today but on Monday said that the Chinese military will foot most of the bill for the exercise.

The joint military exercise will include 307 Cambodian troops and 216 Chinese troops, he added.As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content.

When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to.

After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. The page will reload and you will be prompted to enter an account number and a zip code.

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO USE THE NUMBER OFF OF THE MOST RECENT ISSUE OR ANYTHING AFTER JANUARY 28, 2019 TO GAIN ACCESS!

OLD ACCOUNT NUMBERS WILL NOT WORK

The account number and zip code are easily available on your most recent issue of the High Plains Journal or Midwest Ag Journal in the address fields as is shown here. Sometimes the account number has extra zero's in front of it, just ignore those.Subscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print.

Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition.

If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create.

Soldiers from a branch of the border defense forces in Yantai, Shandong Province, see off a demobilized soldier. (TANG KE/FOR CHINA DAILY)

Addressing veteran issues in the build-up of a modernized military is key to building a strong army for achieving China's national rejuvenation.

As part of a government reshuffle, the Ministry of Veterans Affairs is to be formed according to a plan released in Beijing on Tuesday. The move shows that the promise previously made by Chinese President Xi Jinping has been fulfilled.

"We will establish an administration for veterans; we will protect the legitimate rights and interests of military personnel and their families; and we will make military service an occupation that enjoys public respect," said President Xi Jinping while delivering the report at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in October 2017. [Special coverage]

Still contributors to society

The new ministry is to draft policies and regulations related to demobilized military personnel and put them into practice, to publicize to society achievements made by veterans for the Party, the country and its people, to deal with issues regarding training and reemployment, to support veterans' family members, to handle issues on pension and retirement benefits, to take care of military cemeteries, and to organize commemoration activities.

Previously, the tasks were handled by different ministries, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and the Central Military Commission.

"How retired military personnel are treated will have impact on mentality and morale of the servicemen. Veterans are also of great value to the country. If the issue is properly handled, veterans could make great contributions to society," Li Yanping, deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC), told the Paper on Tuesday.

Statistics from the Ministry of Civil Affairs show that the number of retired military personnel has reached 57 million in China.

Internationally, the issue of veteran care is given serious consideration in major powers, and organizations have been set up to address related issues.

Veterans' services seen as priority in the U.S.

Departments dealing with veteran affairs exist in countries such as the U.S., the UK, France and Germany. In the U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs was formed in 1989 and is the second-largest of the Cabinet departments after the Department of Defense.

In President Abraham Lincoln's words, the department is to "care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan." Data released by the Department of Veterans Affairs shows that the number of veterans in the U.S. was about 20.4 million in 2016. A Pew Research Center survey conducted in April 2017 concludes that Americans still view veterans' services as a priority.U.S. Rep. Richard Neal met those involved in the concurrent therapy programs.

Hillcrest Commons Promotes Concurrent Therapy To Neal



Congressman Neal is on the Ways and Means Committee, which oversees Medicaid and Medicare. A bill in Congress now could expand concurrent treatment. PITTSFIELD, Mass.  Hillcrest Commons would like to expand its group and concurrent therapy programs, but a 7-year-old Medicaid and Medicare law prevent it from doing so.

But, now there is legislation that could allow for those sessions to have greater coverage, which advocates say is a benefit to the patient, the health-care organization, and to the government.

"There is pending legislation in Washington that would allow for greater therapy services for people access their Medicare benefit. Instead of one-on-one therapy, it allows for residents to come together to do group or concurrent therapies. They can motivate one another and work together to ultimately return home to the community quicker," Tara Gregorio, president of the Massachusetts Senior Care Association.

Gregorio was one of a half-dozen or so advocates for the issue who showed U.S. Rep. Richard Neal around the program at Hillcrest Commons on Monday so he can see for himself.

There the congressman met the likes of Jody, a 52-year-old man with a degenerative joint disease who recently had his knee replaced. Now he is in the concurrent program and gains support from his peers to get back to the workforce soon. And Orsola, a 93-year-old woman who is working through the program in hopes to return to the apartment attached to her daughter's home.

Those were some of the people who were chosen to use a concurrent therapy model because therapists felt that was the best way they'd succeed.

"There are several studies, evidence-based studies, that tell us that outcomes from group therapy and concurrent therapy are better than the outcomes of individualized therapy," said Novaleigh Dodge-Krupa, vice president of strategic care innovations for Genesis Rehabilitation Services, the vendor who provides the services at Hillcrest.

"It is not just putting people in groups, it is a mode of therapy."

According to Tricia Bragdon, vice president of operations Berkshire Health Care Systems, group therapy is for two to four people with the same ailment to do rehabilitation activities as a group. Concurrent therapy is for patients with different ailments who will do their own programs together but within eyesight of a therapist.

"Concurrent therapy is two patients who are receiving short-term rehabilitation at the home who have different goals and are in the line of sight of a therapist. For example, if you are going to return to your home -- and some of these folks are not only returning to home but to the workplace -- they want to practice in a safe environment but they don't want help, they don't want assistance," Bragdon said.

"They have to build their confidence that they can do this without somebody there. In those particular cases to have two peers together, that peer to peer support, in addition to the safety net of having a therapist there, you are getting the best of both worlds."

Dodge-Krupa said for many it is a better form of treatment because it builds both confidence and strength. She said many react better to encouragement from peers rather than a therapist.

"We are social beings. We do better when we are with other people," she said.

Chris Donnellan, senior director of government relations at American Health Care Associations, said less than 1 percent of therapy in skilled nursing facilities is group or concurrent. That is directly related to the restrictions in Medicaid and Medicare, he said. While four people may have the same knee problem, all four would need one-on-one individualized treatment.

Genesis Regional Vice President of Operations Susan Lin added that by having a broader menu of options to work with specific patients will ultimately serve the patient better, which in turn saves the Medicare and Medicaid programs from further expenses.

"If we are going to prevent a re-hospitalization, we are going to save the government lots of money. That's what this does. This saves a patient from potentially being re-hospitalized," Lin said.

Donnellan said allowing homes to use more of the group therapy options wouldn't cost the government any additional money but would result in savings to the facilities by allowing them to provide care in a more efficient manner.

"The outcomes are the same whether they are in group or in concurrent. That's what we are trying to stress," Donnellan said.

Gregorio said part of the changes proposed in Washington will limit the expansion of such programs to facilities with at least three stars, which in turn creates an incentive for underperforming homes to do better. It will also keep those facilities more financially sound.

"You may know that Massachusetts nursing facilities and this area is not immune to it, are facing immense financial and staffing challenges because of the economy as well as cuts in Medicaid and Medicare," Gregorio said.



Neal said the future of Medicaid and Medicare is even more important given the demographics. Neal, the ranking member on the Ways and Means Committee which oversees Medicaid and Medicare, said the ins and outs of Medicaid and Medicare have an added priority given the aging demographics. He said the focus has to be on finding ways to get people back to work or back to their homes faster.

"Rehabilitation services coupled with long-term care are going to be huge priorities as the American population ages and live longer. The Medicaid dollar now is almost at 70 cents that are devoted to nursing home care," Neal said.

"There is always a continuing battle because the state and the federal government split the cost of Medicaid. There were a number of people at the facility today that are known as dual-eligible, so they receive some Medicare reimbursement and some Medicaid service reimbursement. We want to make sure that is sustained."

Massachusetts is aging and that creates a higher concentration of people using the two health care options. And Neal said the ongoing budget battle is set to put the two in the crosshairs.

"We're going to have this budget battle ongoing. You can't have a $2.3 trillion tax cut and not say down the road your not going to have to pay for it. Speaker Ryan has already said that his priority is to be looking at Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid," Neal said.

And in the end, Neal said he wants to find a way to make sure the formula works and his tour on Monday shed a little more light on the issues he is set to take on back at the capital.



iciHaiti - Petit-Goave : At 125, she would be the oldest woman in Haiti and of world





A delegation from Quisqueya University, led by Mrs. Judith Auguste, visited Mrs. Jamba at the 8th communal section of Petit-Goave.



Mrs. Jamba, almost deaf and blind, who would be 125 years old, was happy to welcome this delegation accompanied by Deputy Mayor Delor Desgranges of the local press, who brought her presents.



Quisqueya University plans to take over Jamba for the rest of her life. A diagnostic report on her situation will be given to Jacky Lumarque, the Rector of Quisqueya University, for the necessary follow-up.



Recall that currently the oldest woman in the world whose age has been officially recognized is Italian and is called Emma Morano (born November 29, 1899) she is 118 years old. If Mrs. Jamba's age is officially recognized, she would then be the oldest of humanity.



IH/ iciHaiti / Guyto Mathieu (Correspondant Petit-Goave)

















Source: South China Morning Post

Seventeen students have been blacklisted by the Chinese authorities for refusing to carry out military service.

A statement from the authorities in the northeastern city of Jilin said the young men had been banned from taking government jobs or enrolling in university. They are also prohibited from taking flights and staying in hotels.

It was not clear exactly why they refused to finish their training but the statement, which included their names and details of their addresses, said: The following 17 people were unwilling to enter military service.

They have applied to leave the force after they were unable to adapt to the military training and lifestyle.

The army, military service organisations and their parents have repeatedly counselled them but to no avail. They were dismissed by the army for refusing to serve.

Military service is compulsory under mainland Chinese law but it is often not enforced due to the large numbers of people who enrol on a voluntarily basis every year.

All citizen aged between 18 and 22 are supposed to take part in one-month training sessions, which are usually held after students finish high school and before they start any university studies.

The group that has been blacklisted will now be banned from leaving the country or using high-speed trains.

They will also face restrictions on taking on loans and insurance as well as buying a house or other expensive assets.

They are also barred from sitting the university entrance examination and will not be allowed to enrol in any secondary institutions or repeat their current school years.

They could also forget about ever getting a job with the government or government-affiliated organisations, the statement said, and could be fined by their local governments.

The penalties fall under the countrys sweeping social credit system that rewards and punishes citizens for a wide range of activities.

Under the system those who fall foul of the authorities can be denied access to a range of services and jobs.

Negative marks will stay on peoples personal social credit scores for at least five years.Imperial Valley News Center

What You Need to Know About Infrastructure Funding

Washington, DC - The Federal Government provides important infrastructure funding but often does so in an inefficient way and with numerous restrictions.

The Federal Government funds around 20 percent of total infrastructure investment, not the 80 percent some critics claim. The level of Federal infrastructure investment varies by sector. For example, Federal funding accounts for 28 percent of highway investment and 4 percent of water infrastructure investment, when you consider capital, operations, and maintenance costs.

Federal revenues depend on taxpayers at the state and local level, yet Federal infrastructure funding is too often directed by Washingtons priorities. When Federal funding does eventually make its way back to the State and local level it comes with numerous strings attached. Federal highway funding alone comes with 99 rules and requirements.

Federal impediments to infrastructure improvements remain despite the fact that State and local governments own the vast majority of all governmental infrastructure.

The Presidents infrastructure proposal maintains the traditional balance of Federal and non-Federal funding, while investing in a way that stretches every dollar and delivers on local needs.

President Trumps proposal for rebuilding infrastructure in America is in line with the traditional balance of Federal, State, and local infrastructure investment. The Presidents proposal will keep existing Federal funding in place, including for the Highway Trust Fund. It will provide new funding that stretches each taxpayer dollar and increases overall investment for a net economic benefit to the Nation.

Half of all Federal funds in the proposal will go to an Incentives Program. The Incentives Program will provide grants to State and local applicants to promote new infrastructure investment. Coupled with divestiture of Federal assets that are more appropriately owned by the State, local, or private entities, this system will keep infrastructure funding decisions out of the D.C. bureaucracy and in State and local hands.

President Trumps proposal will ultimately result in significantly more investments to repair and modernize American infrastructure.Imperial Valley News Center

Syria, Is the Worst Yet to Come?

Washington, DC - Remarks by LTG H.R. McMaster at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Simon-Skjodt Center: Syria, Is the Worst Yet to Come?

Thank you Cameron. It is an honor to be included in todays event, as we mark the Seventh Anniversary of the start of the Syrian Civil Warand, this year, the 25th Anniversary of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

This afternoon, we are privileged to be joined by many Holocaust survivors, including Irene Weiss, who will share her story of courage and resilience later in the program.

Irene, we are all so glad that you are here with us today. Thank you. You are an inspiration to all humanity.

Please join me in giving Irene, and all of the survivors in the audience, a round of applause.

We are gathered together this afternoon on holy ground. This museum bears witness to the most horrific acts of evil and atrocity ever inflicted on humanity.

The documents, recordings, and mementos contained in these walls provide testimony on behalf of millions of Holocaust victims, unjustly taken from us before they could share their stories.

Standing in the beautiful Hall of Remembrance here at the Museum, we can still feel the weight of every human life lost.

Engraved on the wall behind the eternal flame is the well-known passage from Deuteronomy:

Guard yourself and guard your soul carefully, lest you forget the things your eyes saw [] and you shall make them known to your children, and to your childrens children.

The United States Holocaust Museum teaches the importance of remembrance.

This Museum tells the stories of beloved children, like seven-year-old Tommy Pfeffer, who was gassed to death at Auschwitz alongside his ten-year-old brother, Jan-Peter.

It tells the stories of the righteousrescuers who risked their lives to save others, like Raoul Wallenberg and Oskar Schindler.

And it tells the stories of inspiring Jewish resistance fighters, like young Hannah Senesh, who parachuted behind enemy lines with the British Army to aid anti-Nazi partisans and rescue Jews.

As many of you know, Hannah was captured in occupied Hungary, interrogated, and tortured. During her almost five months in prison, Hannah revealed no information about her mission.

Eventually convicted of treason, she was sentenced to death. On November 7, 1944, at just twenty-three years of age, Hannah was taken to a Budapest courtyard, where she refused a blindfold.

A poem found in Hannahs cell after her execution read, in part, I gambled on what mattered most.

It is important to remember what happened to people like Hannah, Tommy, and Irene, because we know that these horrors can happen again.

But remembrance is only the first step: we cannot stop at remembrance alone.

If we are to fulfill our promise, Never Again, we must also act to protect victims and to hold all responsible parties accountable.

Unfortunately, today in Syria, we are confronted once more with some of the worst atrocities known to man.

This war has now raged on for seven years.

The Assad regime has killed indiscriminately, tortured, starved, raped, and used chemical weapons on its own people. It has attacked hospitals and schools, and countless Syrians have been arrested, abducted, or have simply disappeared.

And, ISIS has kidnapped, tortured, murdered, brutally persecuted religious minorities, and committed unspeakable horrors, such as burning victims alive in cages.

The Syria exhibit here at the Holocaust Museum, which I visited in January, details these horrifying crimes through photographs, film, first-person accounts, and other documentary evidence.

It is estimated that nearly 500,000 people have perished since the war began. In February alone, nearly 1,400 civilians have died. The conflict has created over 5 million refugees and over 6 million displaced persons.

Today, I want to tell you how the United States is taking action to protect innocent Syrians, defeat ISIS, and hold the Assad regime, and its sponsors, accountable for their crimes.

First, like so many in the room today, we are documenting atrocities.

The United States is declassifying intelligence that exposes Assads horrific crimes.

In May of last year, President Trump released images that we believe depict a crematorium at one of the regimes prisons, likely installed to hide evidence of mass murder.

Our administration is also helping to fund the International, Impartial, and Independent Mechanism (Triple I-M) created by the United Nations General Assembly.

Triple I-Ms mission is to collect and analyze evidence of international humanitarian law and human rights violations in Syria and prepare this evidence for independent criminal proceedings.

We are also proud to support the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic.

This independent and impartial commission documents serious human rights abuses committed by all parties to the conflict.

Second, we are fighting alongside partners, such as the Syrian Democratic Forces, to defeat terrorist organizations.

The Coalition to Defeat ISIS has now liberated almost 100 percent of territory previously held by these terrorists in Iraq and Syria.

We have made immense progress alongside allies and partners over the past year, but we have more work to do.

The United States will continue to pursue these murderers until ISIS is completely defeated, population centers are stabilized, and refugees can safely return home.

Third, we are providing humanitarian aid to the people who need it the mostthe victims.

The United States has provided over $7.6 billion dollars to assist Syrians both in and outside of Syria.

We are sending our assistance in two directions: to Syrian refugees and to areas liberated from ISIS.

The United States and our partners will not provide reconstruction funding to areas controlled by the Assad regime until there is a political transition away from Assads rule.

Fourth, we are working to protect innocent civilians from chemical attack and to hold Assad accountable for using these heinous weapons.

These past four years have marked another anniversary: the 100th Anniversary of World War One. In the aftermath of that horrible war, nations came together and agreed not to use chemical weapons again.

Assads continued use of these weapons threatens to undo all of the progress we have made since the end of that terrible war.

Following Assads April 4, 2017, sarin attack on innocents, President Trump launched a powerful missile strike on the Syrian air base from which this attack originated, destroying twenty percent of the Syrian Air Force.

Our actions sent an unmistakable message: using these horrific weapons is never acceptable, and we will hold perpetrators accountable.

The United States is supporting the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in their efforts to compel Assad to fully dismantle his chemical weapons program.

Unfortunately, many of these life-saving effortsto resolve the conflict, defeat ISIS, deliver humanitarian aid, and deter chemical weapons attacksare impeded by the Assad regimes sponsors in Tehran and Moscow.

All civilized nations must hold Iran and Russia accountable for their role in enabling atrocities and perpetuating human suffering in Syria.

Across the greater Middle East, Iran is proliferating dangerous weapons, fueling sectarian violence, and supporting terrorist proxies and militias, such as Hizballah.

This regime proudly chants Death to America and Death to Israel. It further offends the conscience of every human being by denying the Holocaust.

In Syria, Irans actions have directly interfered with efforts to de-escalate violence, defeat ISIS, and protect innocent civilians.

Since 2012, Iran has provided over $16 billion dollars to the Assad regime and to other proxies in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen. Tehran is also transporting foreign Shiite militias and weapons from Iran to Syria on illegal flights, including on Iranian civilian airlines.

Irans goal is to secure a permanent military foothold in Syria, which would threaten Israel, undermine U.S. interests, and strengthen the terrorist and proxy forces that Iran uses to weaken Arab states and foment violence.

We cannot let this happen.

All responsible nations must take action to counter Irans destabilizing activities in Syria and across the region.

For example, the United States has taken legislative and law enforcement action against Irans proxy, Hizballah, and we continue to call on all nations to do the same.

Anyone who cares about the plight of Syrians, Israelis, Lebanese, Yemenisand all people in the regionshould also stop doing business with companies affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Iran uses its relationship with these companies to fund and facilitate violence, terror, and bloodshed.

Sadly, Iran is not Assads only sponsor. Russia is also complicit in Assads atrocities.

The Russian government has bombed civilian areas and provided political cover for Assads crimes. Furthermore, Russia has done nothing to encourage Assad to ensure delivery of humanitarian aid, respect ceasefires and de-escalation agreements, or comply with UN Security Council Resolution 2254s call for a UN monitored political process.

From February 24 to February 28, Russia conducted twenty bombing missions every day in the Eastern Ghouta and Damascus areas of Syria.

Russia has also repeatedly thwarted efforts by the OPCW to hold the Assad regime accountable for using chemical weapons.

This morning, the United States, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom condemned the abhorrent nerve-agent attack on Sergei and Yulia Skripal that took place in Salisbury, United Kingdom on March 4.

The statement made clear that we believe that Russia was responsible for this attack, and we call on the Russian government to answer all questions related to this incident and to provide full information to the OPCW.

No nationRussia, Syria, or anyone elseshould be using chemical weapons and nerve agents.

If Iran and Russia do not stop enabling the regimes atrocities and adhere to UN Security Council resolutions, all nations must respond more forcefully than simply issuing strong statements.

It is time to impose serious political and economic consequences on Moscow and Tehran.

Assad should not have impunity for his crimes, and neither should his sponsors.

And if we needed reminding of the importance of acting now, we need not look any further than this Museums powerful exhibits and resources on the Syrian conflict.

Just as this Museum remembers Tommy Pfeffer, Oskar Schindler, and Hannah Senesh, it bears witness for innocent victims, righteous rescuers, and courageous resistors in the Syrian conflict.

This Museum bears witness for Ahmad al-Ahmad, a Syrian child murdered in one of Assads chemical weapons attacks.

This Museum bears witness for the Syrian Civil Defensethe White Helmetsunarmed first responders who voluntarily put themselves in the line of fire to save lives and rescue the wounded.

The co-founder of the White Helmets, Mounir Mustafa, travelled all the way from Syria with his colleague Radi Saad to be with us today. Thank you Mounir and Radi. Please join me in giving Mounir and his courageous colleagues a round of applause.

And this Museum bears witness for Syrians like Mansour Omari, who risked his life to confront Assads atrocities.

Mansour was working to document the Assad regimes abuses when he was arrested and sent to a top-secret underground military prison.

While in prison, Mansour suggested collecting the names of other prisoners. Like brave Hannah Senesh, the prisoners would leave permanent traces of themselves, so that others might remember them and know their stories.

Using their blood and rust from cell bars, they wrote their names on scraps of fabric torn from clothes.

To hide the strips of fabric, a prisoner sewed them into the collar and cuffs of another prisoners shirt.

After nearly a year in captivity, Mansour received news that he would be released.

As he was leaving, other prisoners whispered four heart-wrenching words: Please dont forget us.

He would not. Mansour was wearing the shirt, and the bloodied scraps of fabric containing the names of 82 prisoners are now on display here at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Every visitor who passes through the Syrian exhibit will know their names and remember.

Today, on the Seventh Anniversary of the Syrian Civil War, let us all promise to remember and to act.

We will never forget the victims of the Holocaust, and we will listen to survivors like Irene.

We will never forget the victims of the Syrian Civil War, and we will listen to witnesses like Mansour.

Preventing genocide and mass atrocities falls on all of us. Every nation, and every person, must share this responsibility.

With allies, partners, and like-minded nations, we are acting: we are exposing atrocities, defeating ISIS, providing humanitarian assistance, deterring chemical weapons attacks, and holding Assad and his sponsors accountable for his horrific crimes.

Thank you again for the opportunity to join todays events. It is an honor to be among so many survivors, advocates, and concerned citizens. We appreciate all that you do to bring greater awareness to these and other atrocities. Thank you.TLS vs SSL - Similar intentions, different means

Jacksonville, Florida - When you are researching SSL Certificates, or if you already work with SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) to secure your online business, websites or any communication, you may come across another secure communications protocols: TLS (Transport Layer Security).

The majority of people who are connected with online business know SSL provides a secured, encrypted communication between a client and a server. But you may be wondering what TLS is, and scratching your head about the difference.

Luckily, the truth is simple. TLS is simply a newer version of SSL. TLS was first introduced in 1999 as an upgrade to SSL Version 3.0 and was written by Christopher Allen and Tim Dierks. As stated in their original paper, the differences between this protocol and SSL 3.0 are not dramatic, but they are significant enough to preclude interoperability between TLS 1.0 and SSL 3.0.

So in reality when you are talking about SSL today, you should really be saying TLS instead. However, the majority of people still say SSL instead of TLS and thats why all major brands likes Symantec, Thawte, Comodo, and GeoTrust didnt change the names of their products from SSL Certificates to TLS certificates. Likewise, this is why software that enables SSL on a server, such as OpenSSL, didnt change its name to OpenTLS.

The certificates themselves have been expanded over time to support all the versions of SSL and TLS, so you dont need to worry that you may be buying an incompatible certificate.

Is SSL itself really dead?

No, not completely. However it should be. Lets explain

Overall there are 5 different versions of SSL and TLS. They each made improvements on the version before it. However, not all computers and servers support all 5 versions, so a key part of setting up a secure connection is having the client and server agree on which protocol to use. When the client establishes the connection with the server there is a process called a handshake where the client and server choose the protocol version. In some cases a lack of mutual support will result in them using an older protocol, such as SSL 3.0. This is actually dangerous, too. SSL 3.0 has been proven vulnerable. It should be universally deprecated. Most platforms have already done this, but every now and then in the dark corners of the web youll still find SSL 3.0.

While we still talk about SSL and TLS as if they are the same, there are major technical differences between the newest version of TLS (which is Version 1.3) and the last version of SSL that was released (which was SSL 3.0). Again, this is why using SSL 3.0 today can be dangerous.

Most devices now support TLS, however there is a way to force a connection to use the older and insecure SSL versions known as a downgrade attack. Unfortunately, SSL 3.0 has weaknesses that hackers can exploit, giving them the incentive to try to force servers to downgrade to SSL 3.0

That being said  you shouldnt worry too much. Supporting the most modern, secure versions of SSL is simply a matter of updating your server configuration. All SSL Certificates are capable of using any protocol version of SSL or TLS  so thats not something you need to worry about when shopping for a certificate.

How can old versions of the SSL protocol be used to weaken Internet security?

In 2014, researchers at Google disclosed the POODLE vulnerability, which could allow attackers to decrypt encrypted connections to websites that use the SSL 3.0 protocol using a man in the middle attack  a popular way to intercept data.

This is where the hacker inserts a process in between the client and server through which their communication passes through, allowing the hacker to listen in on a private communication. The hacker may also be able to redirect the client to a web site controlled by the hacker where the hacker will infect the client with malware and/or commit financial fraud.

The Coffee shop attack is the perfect example of a Man in the Middle attack. In this case, a hacker is sitting in the coffee shop, and has set up a laptop to broadcast a WiFi signal that looks the same as the Coffee Shops WiFi. The victim then carelessly connects to the hackers WiFi signal instead of the Coffer Shop WiFi and all of the victims traffic is subsequently available to the attacker to intercept and record. This type of attack would usually be stopped if the connection was encrypted. However, with the POODLE vulnerability, it would be theoretically possible to decrypt some data from sessions that are secured with SSL 3.0.

Fortunately, there is a simple solution: SSL 3.0 can be disabled on a server and/or in the clients browser. If either party does not support the insecure version, there is no way to fall back to SSL or execute the attack.Cabinet Secretaries Testify on the Presidents Proposal for Rebuilding Infrastructure in America

Washington, DC - Five Cabinet Secretaries testified before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation regarding the Presidents proposal for Rebuilding Infrastructure in America.

Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue: The Presidents proposal for Rebuilding Infrastructure in America prioritizes responsible and sustainable investment in all our Nations infrastructure and forges a path toward prosperity with a growth-oriented package of funds and infrastructure reforms. He envisions a lighter Federal touch in funding and permitting for infrastructure, because he entrusts States and communitiesnot Washingtonto make decisions to meet their unique rural needs.

Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross: As President Trump has long made clear, our Nations infrastructure is crumbling, and we desperately need new and upgraded roads, bridges, highways, railways, and waterways across the country. If the United States is to continue creating jobs, developing a 21st century work force, and growing a strong economy, we must build new infrastructure with American heart, American hands, and American grit. First and foremost, the Presidents legislative principles for rebuilding infrastructure, delivered to Congress on February 11, 2018, will involve continued elimination of regulatory barriers, streamlined permitting processes, and establishment of a one agency one decision concept for infrastructure permit applications.

Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta: The Presidents bold plan to strengthen our Nations infrastructureincluding modernizing roads, bridges, tunnels, and airportspresents an important opportunity for Americans to build their career while building a stronger foundation for our Nation. This is a great time to be a job seeker in America. If Congress passes the Presidents plan, jobs will be created in communities across our Nation from Key West, Florida, to Barrow, Alaska. What is so transformative about the Presidents plan is it will help strengthen the economy and create jobs in sectors beyond construction, such as hospitality, food service, and retail as infrastructure projects break ground.

Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao: Our Nations infrastructure is the backbone of our world-class economythe most productive, flexible, and dynamic in the world. It is a key factor in productivity and economic growth. But as you know, too much of our countrys infrastructure is aging and in need of repair. The challenges are everywhere. Transportation is just one component, which is why I am joined here today by 4 fellow Cabinet Secretaries. The initiative includes, but is not limited to, drinking and wastewater, energy, broadband and veterans hospitals as well. The goal of the Presidents proposal is to stimulate at least $1.5 trillion in infrastructure investment, and includes a minimum of $200 billion in direct Federal funding.

Secretary of Energy Rick Perry: The Presidents plan will help ensure that energy is delivered more reliably, affordably, and more efficiently than ever. As we innovate further and create cleaner energy  we will need the infrastructure to move it in order to benefit the environment as well. In other words, adoption of this plan will help ensure that the benefits of our energy strategy will be felt well into the future. Beyond energy, streamlining permitting and modernizing our infrastructure will combine to revive our Nation at a time when it is sorely needed.Statement from the United States, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom on the Attack in Salisbury

Washington, DC - We, the leaders of France, Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom, abhor the attack that took place against Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury, United Kingdom, on March 4, 2018. A British police officer who was also exposed in the attack remains seriously ill, and the lives of many innocent British citizens have been threatened. We express our sympathies to them all, and our admiration for the United Kingdom police and emergency services for their courageous response. This use of a military-grade nerve agent, of a type developed by Russia, constitutes the first offensive use of a nerve agent in Europe since the Second World War.

It is an assault on the United Kingdoms 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 United Kingdom thoroughly briefed its allies that it was highly likely that Russia was responsible for the attack. We share the United Kingdoms assessment that there is no plausible alternative explanation, and note that Russias failure to address the legitimate request by the government of the United Kingdom further underlines Russias responsibility. We call on Russia to address all questions related to the attack in Salisbury. Russia should, in particular, provide full and complete disclosure of the Novichok program to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). Our concerns are also heightened against the background of a pattern of earlier irresponsible Russian behavior. We call on Russia to live up to its responsibilities as a member of the U.N. Security Council to uphold international peace and security.Exposure to lavender and tea tree oils could be causing young boys to develop breasts, as they contain chemicals which can mimic the effect of female hormones, scientists have warned.

American researchers have identified chemicals in essential oils used in soaps, cleaning products and home remedies that could explain why boys have developed a condition called prepubertal gynecomastia.

The condition, where men abnormally grow breasts, is rare before puberty but has become increasingly common.

Doctors are looking closely at common chemicals in the environment dubbed endocrine disruptors, which interrupt the production and action of hormones  the chemical messengers of the body.

Health news in pictures Show all 40 1 /40 Health news in pictures Health news in pictures Coronavirus outbreak The coronavirus Covid-19 has hit the UK leading to the deaths of two people so far and prompting warnings from the Department of Health AFP via Getty Health news in pictures Thousands of emergency patients told to take taxi to hospital Thousands of 999 patients in England are being told to get a taxi to hospital, figures have showed. The number of patients outside London who were refused an ambulance rose by 83 per cent in the past year as demand for services grows Getty Health news in pictures Vape related deaths spike A vaping-related lung disease has claimed the lives of 11 people in the US in recent weeks. The US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has more than 100 officials investigating the cause of the mystery illness, and has warned citizens against smoking e-cigarette products until more is known, particularly if modified or bought off the street Getty Health news in pictures Baldness cure looks to be a step closer Researchers in the US claim to have overcome one of the major hurdles to cultivating human follicles from stem cells. The new system allows cells to grow in a structured tuft and emerge from the skin Sanford Burnham Preybs Health news in pictures Two hours a week spent in nature can improve health A study in the journal Scientific Reports suggests that a dose of nature of just two hours a week is associated with better health and psychological wellbeing Shutterstock Health news in pictures Air pollution linked to fertility issues in women Exposure to air from traffic-clogged streets could leave women with fewer years to have children, a study has found. Italian researchers found women living in the most polluted areas were three times more likely to show signs they were running low on eggs than those who lived in cleaner surroundings, potentially triggering an earlier menopause Getty/iStock Health news in pictures Junk food ads could be banned before watershed Junk food adverts on TV and online could be banned before 9pm as part of Government plans to fight the "epidemic" of childhood obesity. Plans for the new watershed have been put out for public consultation in a bid to combat the growing crisis, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said PA Health news in pictures Breeding with neanderthals helped humans fight diseases On migrating from Africa around 70,000 years ago, humans bumped into the neanderthals of Eurasia. While humans were weak to the diseases of the new lands, breeding with the resident neanderthals made for a better equipped immune system PA Health news in pictures Cancer breath test to be trialled in Britain The breath biopsy device is designed to detect cancer hallmarks in molecules exhaled by patients Getty Health news in pictures Average 10 year old has consumed the recommended amount of sugar for an adult By their 10th birthdy, children have on average already eaten more sugar than the recommended amount for an 18 year old. The average 10 year old consumes the equivalent to 13 sugar cubes a day, 8 more than is recommended PA Health news in pictures Child health experts advise switching off screens an hour before bed While there is not enough evidence of harm to recommend UK-wide limits on screen use, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health have advised that children should avoid screens for an hour before bed time to avoid disrupting their sleep Getty Health news in pictures Daily aspirin is unnecessary for older people in good health, study finds A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has found that many elderly people are taking daily aspirin to little or no avail Getty Health news in pictures Vaping could lead to cancer, US study finds A study by the University of Minnesota's Masonic Cancer Centre has found that the carcinogenic chemicals formaldehyde, acrolein, and methylglyoxal are present in the saliva of E-cigarette users Reuters Health news in pictures More children are obese and diabetic There has been a 41% increase in children with type 2 diabetes since 2014, the National Paediatric Diabetes Audit has found. Obesity is a leading cause Reuters Health news in pictures Most child antidepressants are ineffective and can lead to suicidal thoughts The majority of antidepressants are ineffective and may be unsafe, for children and teenager with major depression, experts have warned. In what is the most comprehensive comparison of 14 commonly prescribed antidepressant drugs to date, researchers found that only one brand was more effective at relieving symptoms of depression than a placebo. Another popular drug, venlafaxine, was shown increase the risk users engaging in suicidal thoughts and attempts at suicide Getty Health news in pictures Gay, lesbian and bisexual adults at higher risk of heart disease, study claims Researchers at the Baptist Health South Florida Clinic in Miami focused on seven areas of controllable heart health and found these minority groups were particularly likely to be smokers and to have poorly controlled blood sugar iStock Health news in pictures Breakfast cereals targeted at children contain 'steadily high' sugar levels since 1992 despite producer claims A major pressure group has issued a fresh warning about perilously high amounts of sugar in breakfast cereals, specifically those designed for children, and has said that levels have barely been cut at all in the last two and a half decades Getty Health news in pictures Potholes are making us fat, NHS watchdog warns New guidance by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the body which determines what treatment the NHS should fund, said lax road repairs and car-dominated streets were contributing to the obesity epidemic by preventing members of the public from keeping active PA Health news in pictures New menopause drugs offer women relief from 'debilitating' hot flushes A new class of treatments for women going through the menopause is able to reduce numbers of debilitating hot flushes by as much as three quarters in a matter of days, a trial has found. The drug used in the trial belongs to a group known as NKB antagonists (blockers), which were developed as a treatment for schizophrenia but have been sitting on a shelf unused, according to Professor Waljit Dhillo, a professor of endocrinology and metabolism REX Health news in pictures Doctors should prescribe more antidepressants for people with mental health problems, study finds Research from Oxford University found that more than one million extra people suffering from mental health problems would benefit from being prescribed drugs and criticised ideological reasons doctors use to avoid doing so. Getty Health news in pictures Student dies of flu after NHS advice to stay at home and avoid A&E The family of a teenager who died from flu has urged people not to delay going to A&E if they are worried about their symptoms. Melissa Whiteley, an 18-year-old engineering student from Hanford in Stoke-on-Trent, fell ill at Christmas and died in hospital a month later. Just Giving Health news in pictures Government to review thousands of harmful vaginal mesh implants The Government has pledged to review tens of thousands of cases where women have been given harmful vaginal mesh implants. Getty Health news in pictures Jeremy Hunt announces 'zero suicides ambition' for the NHS The NHS will be asked to go further to prevent the deaths of patients in its care as part of a zero suicide ambition being launched today Getty Health news in pictures Human trials start with cancer treatment that primes immune system to kill off tumours Human trials have begun with a new cancer therapy that can prime the immune system to eradicate tumours. The treatment, that works similarly to a vaccine, is a combination of two existing drugs, of which tiny amounts are injected into the solid bulk of a tumour. Nephron Health news in pictures Babies' health suffers from being born near fracking sites, finds major study Mothers living within a kilometre of a fracking site were 25 per cent more likely to have a child born at low birth weight, which increase their chances of asthma, ADHD and other issues Getty Health news in pictures NHS reviewing thousands of cervical cancer smear tests after women wrongly given all-clear Thousands of cervical cancer screening results are under review after failings at a laboratory meant some women were incorrectly given the all-clear. A number of women have already been told to contact their doctors following the identification of procedural issues in the service provided by Pathology First Laboratory. Rex Health news in pictures Potential key to halting breast cancer's spread discovered by scientists Most breast cancer patients do not die from their initial tumour, but from secondary malignant growths (metastases), where cancer cells are able to enter the blood and survive to invade new sites. Asparagine, a molecule named after asparagus where it was first identified in high quantities, has now been shown to be an essential ingredient for tumour cells to gain these migratory properties. Getty Health news in pictures NHS nursing vacancies at record high with more than 34,000 roles advertised A record number of nursing and midwifery positions are currently being advertised by the NHS, with more than 34,000 positions currently vacant, according to the latest data. Demand for nurses was 19 per cent higher between July and September 2017 than the same period two years ago. REX Health news in pictures Cannabis extract could provide new class of treatment for psychosis CBD has a broadly opposite effect to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main active component in cannabis and the substance that causes paranoia and anxiety. Getty Health news in pictures Over 75,000 sign petition calling for Richard Branson's Virgin Care to hand settlement money back to NHS Mr Bransons company sued the NHS last year after it lost out on an 82m contract to provide childrens health services across Surrey, citing concerns over serious flaws in the way the contract was awarded PA Health news in pictures More than 700 fewer nurses training in England in first year after NHS bursary scrapped The numbers of people accepted to study nursing in England fell 3 per cent in 2017, while the numbers accepted in Wales and Scotland, where the bursaries were kept, increased 8.4 per cent and 8 per cent respectively Getty Health news in pictures Landmark study links Tory austerity to 120,000 deaths The paper found that there were 45,000 more deaths in the first four years of Tory-led efficiencies than would have been expected if funding had stayed at pre-election levels. On this trajectory that could rise to nearly 200,000 excess deaths by the end of 2020, even with the extra funding that has been earmarked for public sector services this year. Reuters Health news in pictures Long commutes carry health risks Hours of commuting may be mind-numbingly dull, but new research shows that it might also be having an adverse effect on both your health and performance at work. Longer commutes also appear to have a significant impact on mental wellbeing, with those commuting longer 33 per cent more likely to suffer from depression Shutterstock Health news in pictures You cannot be fit and fat It is not possible to be overweight and healthy, a major new study has concluded. The study of 3.5 million Britons found that even metabolically healthy obese people are still at a higher risk of heart disease or a stroke than those with a normal weight range Getty Health news in pictures Sleep deprivation When you feel particularly exhausted, it can definitely feel like you are also lacking in brain capacity. Now, a new study has suggested this could be because chronic sleep deprivation can actually cause the brain to eat itself Shutterstock Health news in pictures Exercise classes offering 45 minute naps launch David Lloyd Gyms have launched a new health and fitness class which is essentially a bunch of people taking a nap for 45 minutes. The fitness group was spurred to launch the napercise class after research revealed 86 per cent of parents said they were fatigued. The class is therefore predominantly aimed at parents but you actually do not have to have children to take part Getty Health news in pictures 'Fundamental right to health' to be axed after Brexit, lawyers warn Tobacco and alcohol companies could win more easily in court cases such as the recent battle over plain cigarette packaging if the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights is abandoned, a barrister and public health professor have said Getty Health news in pictures 'Thousands dying' due to fear over non-existent statin side-effects A major new study into the side effects of the cholesterol-lowering medicine suggests common symptoms such as muscle pain and weakness are not caused by the drugs themselves Getty Health news in pictures Babies born to fathers aged under 25 have higher risk of autism New research has found that babies born to fathers under the age of 25 or over 51 are at higher risk of developing autism and other social disorders. The study, conducted by the Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment at Mount Sinai, found that these children are actually more advanced than their peers as infants, but then fall behind by the time they hit their teenage years Getty Health news in pictures Cycling to work could halve risk of cancer and heart disease Commuters who swap their car or bus pass for a bike could cut their risk of developing heart disease and cancer by almost half, new research suggests  but campaigners have warned there is still an urgent need to improve road conditions for cyclists. Cycling to work is linked to a lower risk of developing cancer by 45 per cent and cardiovascular disease by 46 per cent, according to a study of a quarter of a million people. Walking to work also brought health benefits, the University of Glasgow researchers found, but not to the same degree as cycling. Getty

Our society deems essential oils as safe, said J Tyler Ramsey, research fellow at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and lead author of the study.

However, they possess a diverse amount of chemicals and should be used with caution, because some of these chemicals are potential endocrine disruptors.

Endocrine disruptors have become a growing area of research as they are widely used in products, from cosmetics to drinks bottles and receipts.

The impact they have is poorly understood but has been linked to childhood obesity, fertility issues and increased cancer risk.

There have been particular concerns about bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical that is so widely used scientists worry even minor health effects could have a big impact at population levels.

Doctors had thought there might be similar issues with essential oils, after cases where boys who had regularly used tea tree soaps and skin products started developing breasts.

However the condition went away after they stopped using tea tree products. It is also appears that some people are more susceptible to the hormone-disrupting effect, the authors said.

The team investigated eight key chemicals, including eucalyptol, common in cough medicines and decongestants, from the hundreds of components of tea tree and lavender oils.

All eight had hormone-disrupting effects, either acting similarly to the female sex hormone oestrogen, or acting to block male hormones.

While the chemicals were tested in human cells grown in laboratory, the results were consistent with hormonal conditions that would lead to gynecomastia in humans, the researchers said.

These chemicals are also found in 65 other essential oils, which are common in soaps, lotions, shampoos, hairstyling products, cologne and laundry detergents.

Lavender oil and tea tree oil pose potential environmental health concerns and should be investigated further, Ramsey added.

Professor Ieuan Hughes, member of the UK Society for Endocrinology and Emeritus professor of Paediatrics at the University of Cambridge, said the findings did appear to confirm why an individual using such oils containing these chemicals may develop breast tissue.

It is reassuring that the clinical effect: gynaecomastia, resolves on cessation of exposure and suggests attention should be given to better regulation of these products. Clearly, the longer term effects of such exposure are unknown.

He said it was particularly interesting that the study reported some chemicals blocking male hormones, but that it wasnt possible to comment on how powerful this effect was without the full data from the study.

The findings are due to be published at the ENDO 2018 conference in Chicago and have not yet been published.

But Professor Hughes added that the study, led by Professor Ken Korach (a world expert on these hormone effects), would have been well conducted.In 2001, the Commons Speaker, Michael Martin, summoned me to his ornate office and threatened to throw The Independents entire political team out of Parliament. He was livid about our then Sketch Writer, Simon Carr, who was no fan of Mr Martin and had just described his face as red and throbbing like a haemorrhoid during a fiery intervention in the Commons.

The Speakers officials shuffled uneasily in their seats as he warned that our team would lose our parliamentary access passes unless Mr Carr toned down his attacks. I didnt want a public war with the parliamentary authorities and promised to have a word. As I left, the body language of his clerks told me the Speaker was letting off steam and that the matter would blow over. I did nothing, and it did.

I didnt regard the incident as bullying at the time, just part of the rough and tumble of politics. But it came back to mind as MPs faced new allegations of ill-treating staff employed directly by the House rather than by individual MPs. Known as the clerks, they play a vital behind the scenes role, advising the Speaker and Commons committees and generally oiling Parliaments wheels.

Recommended Bullying is a problem Westminster would rather weaponise than solve

Staff claim that the bullying culture at Westminster goes right to the top. The current Speaker, John Bercow, is among those facing accusations, which he strenuously denies. Frankly, the latest scandal was just waiting to happen: a natural sequel to the sexual harassment controversy which spread like wildfire to Parliament after the Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was exposed last autumn. Even at the time, some staffers said bullying was the real story, and much more prevalent than sexual harassment. Of course, some incidents can include both.

 BBC investigation reveals accusations of MPs bullying and harassing staffers in Westminster

I have worked as a journalist in Parliament for 36 years, the past 20 for The Independent. I dont think the culture has changed much during that time. While the public is less deferential towards their MPs  largely as a result of the 2009 scandal over their expenses  staff working in Parliament are not.

Many MPs want to be treated like God, and so they are, one woman staffer who has worked at Westminster for 40 years told me. It hasnt changed. They know that jobs in Parliament are very sought after; if they lose staff they can fill the jobs instantly. So, for the most part, the staff just put up with it.

Common complaints include shouting at staff about the quality of their work  sometimes in phone calls to their home in the evening after they have already worked a 12-hour day. Those who protest risk further bullying.

Recommended Fifth of Westminster staff say they have been bullied in Parliament

It is not easy to switch jobs and remain in Parliament: MPs informally swap notes when someone applies for a job with a fellow member. So no staffer wants to be branded a trouble-maker.

Although some male officials have been verbally abused and some women MPs have been accused of bullying, many staff believe that misogyny is a factor in the phenomenon. One claimed that 95 per cent of the victims are women. Some MPs are notorious for their high turnover of staff; employees cant stand it and leave, often to work elsewhere.

Staff accept that only a minority of MPs consistently behave badly; but they believe it is a sizeable minority which, as in the expenses scandal, gives the majority a bad name. Even honourable members have turned a blind eye to dishonourable behaviour by others. They have also perpetuated a system where MPs remain largely judge and jury about their own conduct.

Parliament is an unusual place to work. Bad practices long banished in most workplaces are tolerated. The fundamental problem arises from the fact that MPs are elected; as such, the system is loaded against staff. On the rare occasions when formal complaints are made about MPs by a clerk, the outcome is often that the clerk is moved to another role. The victim is punished, according to the trade unions representing staff, while the accused MP gets off scot-free.

Even when they are accused of behaviour that might have resulted in a formal warning or dismissal in another workplace, an MP might merely have to take part in a mediation process or write a private letter of apology to the staff member. The lack of confidence among staff in the Respect policy introduced in 2011 was shown by the fact that it has not been used to raise a single complaint of sexual harassment. No one believes that no such incidents have happened.

Jo Swinson, deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: There is a culture of exceptionalism in which many MPs see themselves as above other members of staff rather than being in a collegiate environment where we work with clerks and members of staff who want to deliver good law-making for the sake of democracy.

Liberal Democrat MP Jo Swinson has spoken of the need for action (Screenshot)

Its so important to change that culture. Even if you have a process, if the MPs have all the power and it is easier to move somebody more junior than to challenge somebody in power, then nothing will change.

Another problem is the tradition that alleged misbehaviour by MPs is best handled by party whips. They have an interest both in preventing revelations that would embarrass their own party, and in keeping damaging information about an MP in their back pocket  to be deployed if the MP is threatening to rebel in a Commons vote.

You cant keep politics out of Westminster.

Yet in the #MeToo era things appear finally to be changing. Staff have a WhatsApp group to warn each other about MPs who behave badly. When Sir Michael Fallon resigned as Defence Secretary last November, the first casualty of the sexual harassment controversy, he said: The culture has changed over the years and what might have been acceptable 10 or 15 years ago is clearly not acceptable now.

Recommended Women say parties not doing enough to end abuse in Westminster

The revelations of sexual harassment have emboldened more staff to speak out about bullying. Last week, BBC2s Newsnight programme spoke to several clerks who claimed to be victims of bullying. Some of the allegations date back several years and have been reported in newspapers. But the decision by some complainants to speak out has put the behaviour of MPs firmly back in the spotlight.

The programme reported that Kate Emms, Mr Bercows former private secretary, suffered post-traumatic stress disorder after working for him, quoting witnesses who claimed he undermined and shouted at her. The Speakers spokesperson insisted he completely and utterly refutes the allegation that he behaved in such a manner, either eight years ago, or at any other time. Mr Bercow has supported a zero tolerance of bullying and harassment in Parliament.

Newsnight also reported claims that Tory MP Mark Pritchard shouted at clerks and told some their careers were over. Mr Pritchard, MP for The Wrekin, said: I understand, over the past several years the House authorities have addressed numerous complaints about MPs, but they have also informed me they have no record of any complaints against me, and if they had, I would have been notified.

Raucous behaviour in the Commons chamber is often the norm at Prime Ministers Questions (PA)

The programme further alleged that Labour MP Paul Farrelly made life impossible for Emily Commander, a highly respected committee clerk who suffered health problems and has now emigrated.

This case raises serious questions about Commons procedures. It was referred to the House of Commons Commission, a group dominated by MPs and chaired by the Speaker, which said alleged incidents before the Respect policys introduction could not be considered.

The commission could not rule on Ms Commanders complaint and voted instead to suspend the Respect policy because investigations were undertaken by a House of Commons official, who might be considered to have an interest; and members had no right of appeal if a complaint was upheld.

Andrew Kennon, a senior clerk who took up Ms Commanders case, appears to have paid a price. Other clerks believe Mr Kennon in effect ended his own career by standing up to MPs. He is now retired.

Paul Farrelly denies allegations of bullying (Parliament) (Chris McAndrew / UK Parliament)

Mr Farrelly, MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme, told the Commons on Monday that Respect was scrapped because it was not fit for purpose. He said the Newsnight report was very one-sided, selective, adding: I was flayed by selective leaking six years ago, and it has happened again now.

Initially, the House authorities dismissed the programmes claims of a culture of fear as a grotesque exaggeration. This provoked a backlash from clerks. David Natzler, the Clerk of the House, admitted in a letter to staff that there was dismay at the initial response, saying: I acknowledge we got it wrong in giving the impression we were in denial. He insisted the revised Respect policy introduced in 2014 improved protection for staff, but acknowledged it needed further improvement.

Following the sexual harassment revelations, a new independent complaints and grievance policy for MPs staff will be introduced by this summer after all-party agreement. MPs elected at the next election will get training about acting as an employer, though it will not be compulsory for current MPs.

The new system was not initially due to cover officials employed directly by the House, like the clerks. That is now being reconsidered because of Newsnights disclosures.

Andrea Leadsom, the Leader of the Commons, will on Monday propose an independent inquiry following the revelations. But it will still report to the Commission, made up of six MPs, two Commons officials, two lay members and the Speaker. Mr Bercow will not chair Mondays session because of the allegations against him.

It is unclear whether the proposed inquiry would investigate specific allegations or stick to generalities. Indeed, it is not certain the investigation will go ahead.

The latest revelations have become entangled with moves by a small number of Tory MPs to force Mr Bercow out of his job. Labour wants to keep him there and so may get cold feet about an inquiry, which it suspects is a device to undermine the Speaker. Again, you cant take the politics out of it.

Some MPs, often those among the younger generation, believe the time has come for a wholly independent complaints system in which an outside body would have the power to sanction MPs, including suspending them from the House. But older MPs oppose that. One Tory grandee told me: We are not having it. There is no way we will put up with another IPSA [The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority set up after the expenses controversy].

Not before time, the culture at Westminster is changing. But the wheels turn very slowly. It is time for the process to be fast-tracked, and for Parliament to become more like the real world it is supposed to represent.Seventeen men who enlisted then quit the army have been sent home and blacklisted on China's social credit system, according to a notice released on Thursday that listed all their names and addresses.

The 17 men found they were unable to handle army life and tried to quit multiple times before being expelled, according to the notice released by the military recruitment office of Jilin city of Northeast China's Jilin Province on Thursday.

The 17 had their rights limited to travel abroad or work as government officials. The notice did not indicate what exactly were those limits.

Blacklisting will affect their ability to buy real estate and their travel rights including booking planes, high-class trains and star-rated hotels.

Three soldiers who refused to continue to serve in the army were also listed in a March 8 notice on the website of Hexian county in Anhui Province.

"Many of these young people are the only child in their family, growing up in gilded cages and unable to bear hardships," Li Daguang, a professor at the National Defense University in Beijing told the Global Times on Thursday. "As military discipline becomes stricter, training has become harder."

Education in national defense among young people should be strengthened, Li said. The army should improve the scientific quality of training and take soldiers' physical condition into consideration.Police are reportedly contacting a number of Russian exiles in the UK to discuss their safety less than a day after the police opened a murder investigation into the death of exiled Russian businessman Nikolai Glushkov.

Mr Glushkov, 68, who was associated with a leading critic of Vladimir Putin, died by "compression to the neck", according to police, who initially treated the death as "unexplained".

Investigators believe Mr Glushkov was strangled with a dog lead, a source told The Independent.

The BBC said it had been told "police and security services have reassessed their view that other exiles (from Russia) are at low risk".

When contacted by The Independent, the Met Police said it did not comment on matters concerning the safety of individuals.

Officials say there is no evidence to suggest that Mr Glushkov's death and the attempted assassination of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury on 4 March are linked, but the launch of the murder probe is likely to further heighten tensions between the UK and Russia.

Russia on Saturday morning announced 23 British diplomats would be expelled from the country in a tit-for-tat response to the UK Government's earlier measures against the Russian state announced on Wednesday.

Britain has blamed Russia for the Salisbury attack, an accusation the state has repeatedly dismissed.

Russia's official Investigations Committee has launched its own criminal investigation into the attempted murder of Yulia Skripal and the death of Mr Glushkov, which it is also treating as murder.

Mr Glushkov was found dead at his home in New Malden, southwest London, on Monday evening.

A post-mortem examination later in the week gave the cause of death as "compression to the neck" and Scotland Yard opened a murder investigation.

The Met Police's Counter Terrorism Command, which led the investigation from the beginning, is "retaining primacy for the investigation because of the associations Mr Glushkov is believed to have had," a spokesperson said.

Mr Glushkov was a close friend of exiled Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky, who was himself a friend of murdered spy Alexander Litvinenko.

Mr Berezovsky was found hanged in the bathroom of his Berkshire home in 2013.

Police said a post-mortem showed no sign of a violent struggle, and an inquest recorded an open verdict after hearing conflicting evidence.

At the time, Mr Glushkov said he believed his friend had been murdered, telling The Guardian: I dont believe Boris died of natural causes. Too many deaths [of Russian exiles] have been happening.

Mr Berezovskys death is among up to 14 being reviewed by police and MI5 in light of the nerve agent attack on Mr Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury.

Mr Glushkov worked for Mr Berezovskys LogoVaz car company in Russia, before becoming the first deputy general director for Russias flag carrier Aeroflot in the late 1990s.

Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Scene of attack Members of the emergency services in hazard suits fix the tent over the bench where Sergei and Yulia Skripal were found unconscious on a park bench in Salisbury in March 2018. Getty Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Victim - Sergei Skripal The retired Russian colonel and former double agent for MI6 was in a critical condition in hospital for more than two months after being exposed to novichok in Salisbury. He was given refuge in the UK after being jailed in Moscow for treason. Mr Skripal came to Britain as part of a high-profile spy swap in 2010 in which four men were exchanged for ten Russian "sleeper agents" in the US. In this image he is speaking to his lawyer from behind bars in Moscow in 2006. AP Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Victim - Yulia Skripal Yulia Skripal was struck down by a novichok poison alongside her father Sergei. Facebook Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Scene of attack A police officer stands guard outside a branch of the Italian chain restaurant Zizzi where the pair dined at before falling ill. It was boarded off whilst investigators worked on the building and later found traces of the chemical weapon within it. AFP/Getty Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Scene of attack Large areas of central Salisbury were cordoned off by police following the discovery of the Skripals. Traces of nerve agent were also found in The Mill pub. PA Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Victim - Nick Bailey Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, rushed to the aid of the Russian ex-spy and his daughter who were targeted with a nerve agent. He was hospitalized after aiding them and didn't leave until three weeks after the attack. Wiltshire Police/Rex Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Police investigation - Skripals home Police believe they were poisoned at home, and detectives found the highest concentration of novichok on the front door of Mr Skripals house. Getty Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Theresa May visits scene of attack Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May spokes with Wiltshire Police's Chief Constable Kier Pritchard near where the Skripal's were found. Britain expelled 23 Russian diplomats over the nerve agent poisoning and suspended high-level contacts, including for the World Cup on March 14. Theresa May told parliament that Russia had failed to respond to her demand for an explanation on how a Soviet-designed chemical, Novichok, was used in Salisbury. AFP/Getty Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Skripal days before attack Sergei Skripal days before he was exposed to Novichok, that has left him fighting for life. ITV News Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Police investigation - military involvement British soldiers were deployed soon after the attack to help a counter-terrorism investigation into the nerve agent attack. One of the places they were asked to help out with was Skripal's home and it's surrounding. They were asked to remove a vehicle connected to the agent attack in Salisbury, from a residential street in Gillingham. AFP/Getty Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Police investigation Personnel in protective coveralls and breathing equipment cover an ambulance with a tarpaulin at the Salisbury District Hospital. AFP/Getty Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Police investigation The investigation extended to the grave of Sergei Skripal's son Alexander in London Road cemetery. Getty Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Police investigation The Counter Terrorism Policing Network requested assistance from the military to remove a number of vehicles and objects from Salisbury. EPA Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Home Secretary visits scene of attack Home Secretary Amber Rudd visited the scene of the nerve agent attack at the Maltings shopping centre on 9 March. Getty Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Yulia Skripal speaks for the first time Yulia Skripal, speaking for the first time, said she felt lucky to have survived the nerve agent attack in Salisbury which left her fighting for life. Ms Skripal said her life had been turned upside down by the assassination attempt. But the Russian national added she hoped to return to her homeland one day, despite the Kremlin being blamed for the attack. Reuters

He served a five-year term for money laundering and fraud in Russia, then fled the country after being handed a two-year suspended sentence for fraud in 2006.

Last year, he was sentenced to eight years imprisonment and a 1 million ruble fine in absentia for allegedly defrauding Aeroflot  a case that continued at the time of his death.

Mr Glushkov, who has two children, was due to attend a commercial court hearing on Monday morning but did not arrive, sparking concerns among friends who later confirmed his death.

His LinkedIn page listed him as a private consultant in financial services since 2011.

Police described Mr Glushkov as a retired financial director and said he had lived in the home in Clarence Avenue for two years.

Police are appealing for any information that could help the investigation into Mr Glushkov's death.

In particular they are appealing for anyone who may have seen or heard anything suspicious at or near his home in Clarence Avenue, New Malden, between Sunday 11 March and Monday 12 March to contact them," a spokesperson said.

Police said there was no evidence poison was involved and there are "no wider health concerns" in relation to the investigation.The Government has for the first time directly accused Vladimir Putin of ordering the poisoning of a former spy in the cathedral city of Salisbury, even as the Kremlin considered what retaliatory measures it would take to the ejecting of 23 Russian diplomats from the UK.

The Russian response may now be delayed until next week as Moscow seeks to avoid drawing attention away from its impending election.

On Friday, Boris Johnson made the incendiary claim that it was overwhelmingly likely Mr Putin personally ordered the assassination attempt on Sergei Skripal using a Soviet-era nerve agent, an attack which left both him and his daughter Yulia in a critical condition in hospital.

The Foreign Secretarys comments, which appeared designed to show that Britain bears no ill will towards ordinary Russians, was denounced by Moscow as an unforgivable breach of diplomatic etiquette.

Mr Johnson had been speaking during a visit to the Battle of Britain Bunker museum in Uxbridge, with his Polish counterpart Jacek Czaputowicz.

Mr Johnson said: Our quarrel is with Putins Kremlin, and with his decision  and we think it overwhelmingly likely that it was his decision  to direct the use of a nerve agent on the streets of the UK, on the streets of Europe, for the first time since the Second World War.

That is why we are at odds with Russia.

Dmitry Peskov, Russian presidential press secretary, told the state-run Tass news agency: We have already said on many levels that Russia has nothing to do with this story whatsoever.

Any reference or mention of our President in this connection is nothing but a shocking and unforgivable violation of the diplomatic rules of propriety.

The UK Government has said it is highly likely that Russia was behind the attack, which used the military grade nerve agent Novichok, but until now has not directly suggested Mr Putin was personally responsible.

Mr Peskov said it had become obvious that there is a lack of any clear proof [of Russian involvement]. Referring to a joint statement of support from Britains allies, he said the whole wave [of such statements] originated from Britain.

Russia has refused to explain how Novichok was used to strike down the Skripals this month. They were found unconscious on a bench and remain critically ill in hospital.

The country has demanded access to the case and opened its own investigation into the attempted murders. It said it would not respond to Ms Mays allegations until it was given samples of the poison used and such samples were handed to the international Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

Downing Street announced on Friday evening that Britain had invited the OPCWs experts to come to the UK and take a sample. A spokesperson said they expected this process to begin imminently.

Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Scene of attack Members of the emergency services in hazard suits fix the tent over the bench where Sergei and Yulia Skripal were found unconscious on a park bench in Salisbury in March 2018. Getty Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Victim - Sergei Skripal The retired Russian colonel and former double agent for MI6 was in a critical condition in hospital for more than two months after being exposed to novichok in Salisbury. He was given refuge in the UK after being jailed in Moscow for treason. Mr Skripal came to Britain as part of a high-profile spy swap in 2010 in which four men were exchanged for ten Russian "sleeper agents" in the US. In this image he is speaking to his lawyer from behind bars in Moscow in 2006. AP Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Victim - Yulia Skripal Yulia Skripal was struck down by a novichok poison alongside her father Sergei. Facebook Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Scene of attack A police officer stands guard outside a branch of the Italian chain restaurant Zizzi where the pair dined at before falling ill. It was boarded off whilst investigators worked on the building and later found traces of the chemical weapon within it. AFP/Getty Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Scene of attack Large areas of central Salisbury were cordoned off by police following the discovery of the Skripals. Traces of nerve agent were also found in The Mill pub. PA Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Victim - Nick Bailey Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, rushed to the aid of the Russian ex-spy and his daughter who were targeted with a nerve agent. He was hospitalized after aiding them and didn't leave until three weeks after the attack. Wiltshire Police/Rex Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Police investigation - Skripals home Police believe they were poisoned at home, and detectives found the highest concentration of novichok on the front door of Mr Skripals house. Getty Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Theresa May visits scene of attack Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May spokes with Wiltshire Police's Chief Constable Kier Pritchard near where the Skripal's were found. Britain expelled 23 Russian diplomats over the nerve agent poisoning and suspended high-level contacts, including for the World Cup on March 14. Theresa May told parliament that Russia had failed to respond to her demand for an explanation on how a Soviet-designed chemical, Novichok, was used in Salisbury. AFP/Getty Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Skripal days before attack Sergei Skripal days before he was exposed to Novichok, that has left him fighting for life. ITV News Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Police investigation - military involvement British soldiers were deployed soon after the attack to help a counter-terrorism investigation into the nerve agent attack. One of the places they were asked to help out with was Skripal's home and it's surrounding. They were asked to remove a vehicle connected to the agent attack in Salisbury, from a residential street in Gillingham. AFP/Getty Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Police investigation Personnel in protective coveralls and breathing equipment cover an ambulance with a tarpaulin at the Salisbury District Hospital. AFP/Getty Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Police investigation The investigation extended to the grave of Sergei Skripal's son Alexander in London Road cemetery. Getty Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Police investigation The Counter Terrorism Policing Network requested assistance from the military to remove a number of vehicles and objects from Salisbury. EPA Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Home Secretary visits scene of attack Home Secretary Amber Rudd visited the scene of the nerve agent attack at the Maltings shopping centre on 9 March. Getty Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Yulia Skripal speaks for the first time Yulia Skripal, speaking for the first time, said she felt lucky to have survived the nerve agent attack in Salisbury which left her fighting for life. Ms Skripal said her life had been turned upside down by the assassination attempt. But the Russian national added she hoped to return to her homeland one day, despite the Kremlin being blamed for the attack. Reuters

Mr Putin himself was focussed on his expected re-election as president, with Friday the last day of campaigning. The issue of the poisoning was not raised during a public appearance at a medical centre in St Petersburg, his home city, and he used a TV address to urge Russians to turn out in high numbers on Sunday.

But in his daily conference call, Kremlin spokesman Mr Peskov called Britains allegations against international law and common sense and said the UK can expect Moscows retaliation to come at any moment.

The Kremlin is taking its time to develop a considered response to British sanctions, Mr Peskov said. The Russian reaction would be made in line with its national interests, he said, and will be announced very soon.

Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, has already signalled that 23 British diplomats will be asked to leave the country, mirroring the British move against Russias London embassy. But there has as yet been no other signal as to how Moscow will deal with the rest of the package announced by Theresa May on Wednesday. This included the promise to step up sanctions, a threat to freeze hostile Russian state assets, and a wider intention to work against suspicious Russian money in the UK.

Mr Peskov said the Kremlin had been surprised by the British Governments actions. We havent seen this type of behaviour on a state level before, he told journalists. Delivering serious accusations against  Russia, on a highly likely basis, is both against international law and common sense.

Mr Johnsons comments came as Russia was only just responding to the assertion from the Foreign Secretarys colleague, the Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson, that Russia should go away... it should shut up".

Sergei Lavrov said the comments suggested Mr Williamson lacked education.

Well hes a nice man, Im told, maybe he wants to claim a place in history by making some bold statements, Mr Lavrov said. Theresa Mays main argument about Russias guilt is highly probable, while for him its Russia should go and shut up. Maybe he lacks education, I dont know. Russias defence ministry said he was an intellectual impotent. Mr Williamson studied social science at the University of Bradford.

A British policeman, Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, was also poisoned as he went to assist the Skripals. He was still described as being in a serious but stable condition on Friday.

And speaking out in Fridays Daily Telegraph, a member of DS Baileys family said he had been very disappointed with Jeremy Corbyns response to the attack.

The Labour leaders suggestion that Ms May had been too quick to blame Russia without waiting for all the evidence was mealy-mouthed, according to DS Baileys father-in-law, William Pomeroy.

Mr Pomeroy added: Hes said almost nothing about this and has come across as very weak on it. He seems to have been a bit mealy-mouthed about Russias involvement. Its disappointing because he should be representing ordinary people like me.The Government is using devolution as an excuse to avoid liberalising abortion laws in Northern Ireland, campaigners claim, saying Theresa May is being held hostage by her alliance with the DUP.

Ministers have been accused of extraordinary inconsistency in their stance, after parliamentary questions revealed that the UK Government might consider imposing same-sex marriage in the province but that it would not intervene on the issue of abortion.

Northern Ireland has some of the strictest laws on abortion in Europe, as women are banned from getting terminations in all but the most extreme circumstances. Rape and incest are not deemed valid reasons for seeking abortions.

More than 130 cross-party MPs and peers have written to Home Secretary Amber Rudd urging her to relax abortion laws in the province after a key UN committee said forcing women in Northern Ireland to travel for terminations was a systematic violation of their human rights.

However, such a move could threaten Ms Mays fragile truce with the DUP, a staunchly anti-abortion party who prop up her Government after she lost her majority in last years election.

Responding to a parliamentary question from Labour, Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley said the Government would allow a free vote on matters of conscience such as equal marriage and insisted Westminsters power to legislate was unaffected, despite the matter being devolved to Belfast.

But when asked the same question about abortion, junior minister Shailesh Vara said it was a devolved matter for locally accountable politicians to consider.

Labour MP Stella Creasy, who led a backbench revolt that forced the Government to allow Northern Irish women to access terminations on the English NHS, said there was cross-party support for the plans but the questions showed the debate was being stifled.

She told The Independent: Using devolution as an excuse not to extend equal access to abortion for women in Northern Ireland doesnt wash when the Government have made it clear they are happy to intervene to extend same sex marriage rights.

The fight for equality has always been about solidarity and I know womens rights campaigners and gay rights campaigners alike will be horrified to see the Government be selective in this way.

The Government may think they can ignore the women of Northern Ireland but its clear many parliamentarians disagree  over 140 peers and MPs have now signed up to support this proposal and the numbers are growing every day, with more and more recognising human rights should be equal on all issues across the UK.

The Womens Equality Party also pointed to the DUP alliance and warned the Prime Minister against being held hostage by calculations about parliamentary arithmetic on vital issues for women.

A spokesperson said: A situation where women face systematic violations of their rights, as the UN committee noted earlier this year, needs urgent remedy and must not be held hostage by calculations about parliamentary arithmetic at Westminster or the inability to reach a power-sharing deal in Stormont.

These parliamentary answers show that the Government, in light of the political impasse at Northern Ireland, acknowledges that Westminster has the power to push forward equality, but denies those powers when it comes to womens reproductive rights.

The Government is putting its fingers in its ears rather than recognising the unnecessary trauma that women in Northern Ireland have to face by travelling to other parts of the UK to access abortions.

Pro-choice campaigners said lives were being put at risk by antiquated, offensive laws in Northern Ireland, which they claim deter women from seeking medical help and see some resorting to buying illegal abortion pills online, which induce them to miscarry.

Clare Murphy, director of external affairs at Bpas, an abortion care charity, said: It seems extraordinary that the Government would think it acceptable to allow a free vote on equal marriage in Northern Ireland if it came before parliament but claim it is out of the question when it comes to womens access to abortion.

In fact, it is becoming increasingly clear that the Government has both a moral and legal duty to act on the continued criminalisation of women in Northern Ireland.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (Cedaw) recently declared that thousands of girls and women were being exposed to horrific situations, either by being forced to carry pregnancies conceived through rape and incest to term or having to travel to procure legal abortions.

It said the UK routinely violates the human rights of Northern Irish women by restricting their access to abortion.

DUP Chief Whip Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said any attempt to change the law would completely undermine the devolution settlement and pointed out that Northern Irelands Assembly had voted against abortion for foetuses with terminal illnesses in 2016.

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

He told The Independent: This is clearly a devolved issue and the Secretary of State was absolutely right. We do not believe it would be appropriate for Parliament to intervene on this matter.

The irony is the law on abortion in Northern Ireland has a fresher mandate than any other abortion law in the UK, having just been voted on by the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2016.

I dont see how either of the main parties has a mandate to change the law in Northern Ireland and it would completely undermine the devolution settlement.

Women from Northern Ireland are now able to access free abortions on the NHS in England after more than 100 MPs forced the Government into a U-turn on the Queens Speech last summer.

The Government declined to comment further, when approached by The Independent.The long-standing mayor of a major London borough has been ousted by a Momentum-backed candidate, paving the way for the Jeremy Corbyn-supporting campaign group to take control of its second council.

Sir Robin Wales, who has led Newham Council for 23 years, will be replaced by Rokhsana Fiaz as Labours candidate for the boroughs leader in elections on 3 May.

Ms Fiaz campaigned on a platform of change and tried to attract support from all Labours internal factions, but her chances were boosted by securing the backing of the influential Momentum group.

She will take over from Sir Robin, who is Britains longest serving mayor, having led Newham Council since 1995 and become the boroughs mayor in 2002.

Recommended Momentum director gains control of key Labour disciplinary committee

Ms Fiaz has promised to build 1,000 new council homes, oppose the academisation of schools and hold a referendum on whether the role of the boroughs directly elected mayor should continue to exist.

After clinching victory by 861 votes to 503, she said said: I want to thank Labour Party members in Newham for putting their trust and hope in me as their candidate for Mayor of Newham.

I cant wait to start working with members and residents to build a Newham that offers homes for our residents and a future for all our young people.

She added: Lets unite and work together for Labours success at the local elections in May. Its time to be truly radical again and show what Labour can achieve for the many here in Newham.

I'd like to thank Robin for his commitment and dedication to Newham as both leader of the Council and directly elected Mayor. I look forward to working with him over the coming months to build on his legacy.

Her victory means Momentum-backed officials are all but certain to take control of two of Labours flagship London councils after Mays elections.

A candidate backed by the group is widely expected to replace Claire Kober, the leader of Haringey Council, when she steps down in May.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures 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 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. PA UK news in pictures 26 July 2021 A woman is helped by Border Force officers as a group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, onboard a Border Force vessel, following a small boat incident in the Channel PA UK news in pictures 25 July 2021 Vehicles drive through deep water on a flooded road in Nine Elms, London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 24 July 2021 Utilities workers inspect a 15x20ft sinkhole on Green Lane, Liverpool, which is suspected to have been caused by ruptured water main PA UK news in pictures 23 July 2021 Children interact with Mega Please Draw Freely by artist Ei Arakawa inside the Turbine Hall at the Tate Modern in London, part of UNIQLO Tate Play the gallery's new free programme of art-inspired activities for families PA UK news in pictures 22 July 2021 Festivalgoers in the campsite at the Latitude festival in Henham Park, Southwold, Suffolk PA

Sir Robin was removed by party members after a reselection ballot was introduced in Newham for the first time, giving members the opportunity to choose their mayoral candidate. All 20 Labour Party branches in Newham voted in favour of an open contest.

He said: I would like to congratulate Rokhsana for her successful campaign. Being a Labour mayor has been a great privilege and I want to thank all of those who have been with me throughout this journey, and all of those that helped on my campaign.

I am so proud of everything that my administration has achieved."

Referring to what was at times an acrimonious campaign between him and Ms Fiaz, Sir Robin admitted the local party has fallen into internal sniping and disputes often based on untruths.

He said: Moving forward we must now focus on uniting the party and delivering for the people of Newham.

Rokhsana has made some ambitious promises that clearly Labour members supported, and I look forward to seeing Rokhsana face the bigger test of putting these ambitious targets to the residents of Newham.Britains National Security Council will meet next week to discuss Vladimir Putins decision to expel 23 UK diplomats from Russia.

The Foreign Office said Britain had anticipated the action after Theresa May announced she would expel Moscows diplomats on Wednesday, in response to the attack in Salisbury involving a Russian-made nerve agent.

A statement from the Foreign Office said that in the first instance the UK would focus on looking after returning diplomats, but that the Kremlins response did not change the fact that an assassination had been attempted on UK soil for which Russia was culpable.

Recommended Russia expels 23 British diplomats as diplomatic spat intensifies

After three days of threats that Russias response was coming, Moscow announced on Saturday that it would expel 23 diplomats, close the British Consulate General in St Petersburg and close the British Council in Moscow.

The Foreign Office said: In light of Russias previous behaviour, we anticipated a response of this kind and the National Security Council will meet early next week to consider next steps.

Our priority today is looking after our staff in Russia and assisting those that will return to the UK.

Russias response doesnt change the facts of the matter  the attempted assassination of two people on British soil, for which there is no alternative conclusion other than that the Russian State was culpable. It is Russia that is in flagrant breach of international law and the Chemical Weapons Convention.

 Boris Johnson says it is 'overwhelmingly clear' nerve agent attack was directed by the Russians

The statement went on to underline that the UK had no disagreement with the people of Russia and still wanted some dialogue, but added the onus remains on the Russian state to account for their actions and to comply with their international obligations.

Ms May also froze assets and called for stronger security powers to detain people at borders suspected of hostile activity in the UK, when she announced expulsions earlier this week.

But insiders indicated that the Government has held back some measures, in order to take further action if Russia responded in kind as its government had promised.

Ex-spy Sergei Skripal, his daughter and a British policeman are still in serious conditions in hospital following the 4 March attack which saw a military-grade Novichok nerve agent released in the Salisbury.

Vladimir Putin's Photo ops  Russia's Man of Steel? Show all 20 1 /20 Vladimir Putin's Photo ops  Russia's Man of Steel? Vladimir Putin's Photo ops  Russia's Man of Steel? Vladimir Putin is pictured with a horse during his vacation outside the town of Kyzyl in Southern Siberia on August 3, 2009. Getty Vladimir Putin's Photo ops  Russia's Man of Steel? Vladimir Putin aims at a whale with an arbalest to take a piece of its skin for analysis on the Olga Bay, some 240 kilometres north-east of Nakhodka on August 25, 2010. Getty Vladimir Putin's Photo ops  Russia's Man of Steel? Vladimir Putin plunges into the icy waters of lake Seliger during the celebration of the Epiphany holiday in Russia's Tver region AFP/Getty Vladimir Putin's Photo ops  Russia's Man of Steel? Vladimir Putin (top) takes part in a judo training session at the "Moscow" sports complex in St. Petersburg, on December 22, 2010. Getty Vladimir Putin's Photo ops  Russia's Man of Steel? Vladimir Putin works out at a gym at the Bocharov Ruchei state residence in Sochi on August 30, 2015. Getty Vladimir Putin's Photo ops  Russia's Man of Steel? Vladimir Putin fishes in the remote Tuva region in southern Siberia. The picture taken between August 1 and 3, 2017. Getty Vladimir Putin's Photo ops  Russia's Man of Steel? Vladimir Putin (L) and the leader of the Night Wolves biker group, Alexander Zaldostanov (R), also known as the Surgeon, ride motorcycles on August 29, 2011 at a bikers' festival in the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, Russia. Putin described leather-clad bikers as brothers and boasted of the "indivisible Russian nation" after roaring into a biking rally on a Harley Davidson. Getty Vladimir Putin's Photo ops  Russia's Man of Steel? Vladimir Putin wears glasses as he visits the Technology Park of the Novosibirsk Academic Town in Novosibirsk on February 17, 2012. Getty Vladimir Putin's Photo ops  Russia's Man of Steel? Vladimir Putin rides a horse during his vacation outside the town of Kyzyl in Southern Siberia on August 3, 2009. Getty Vladimir Putin's Photo ops  Russia's Man of Steel? Vladimir Putin holds a pistol during his visit to a newly-built headquarters of the Russian General Staff's Main Intelligence Department (GRU) in Moscow, 08 November 2006. ?Some countries are seeking to untie their hands in order to take weapons to outer space, including nuclear weapons,? Putin said at the Chief Military Intelligence Department on Wednesday. Getty Vladimir Putin's Photo ops  Russia's Man of Steel? Vladimir Putin sits inside a T-90AM tank during a visit to an arms exhibition in the Urals town of Nizhny Tagil on September 9, 2011 Getty Vladimir Putin's Photo ops  Russia's Man of Steel? Vladimir Putin wears a helmet and the uniform of the Renault Formula One team before driving a F1 race car on a special track in Leningrad region outside St. Petersburg on November 7, 2010. Getty Vladimir Putin's Photo ops  Russia's Man of Steel? Vladimir Putin guides a boat during his vacation in the remote Tuva region in southern Siberia. The picture taken between August 1 and 3, 2017. Getty Vladimir Putin's Photo ops  Russia's Man of Steel? Vladimir Putin hunts fish underwater in the remote Tuva region in southern Siberia. The picture taken between August 1 and 3, 2017. Getty Vladimir Putin's Photo ops  Russia's Man of Steel? Vladimir Putin is seen at the Russian boxing team training club after casting his vote for the Russian Presidential election, 14 March 2004 in Moscow. Putin coasted to a landslide victory with 69.0 percent of the vote in Sunday's election, according to the first exit poll aired on Russian television moments after voting ended across the country's 11 time zones. AFP/Getty Images Vladimir Putin's Photo ops  Russia's Man of Steel? Russian President Vladimir Putin poses for a picture inside the Tupolev-160 strategic bomber jet at the Moscow's Chkalovsky military airport, 16 August 2005. President Vladimir Putin took off from Moscow for a supersonic flight in a cruise-missile carrying Tupolev-160 bomber jet, the latest in the Russian leader's action-packed public appearances. After a health check, Putin donned a flight suit and took the commander's position in the strategic bomber, which was piloted by Major General Anatoly Zhikharev, with a colonel and a lieutenant colonel in charge of navigation, Russian media reported. Getty Vladimir Putin's Photo ops  Russia's Man of Steel? A picture released on March 6, 2010 shows Vladimir Putin look through binoculars in the Karatash area, near the town of Abakan, during his working trip to Khakassia, on February 25, 2010. Getty Vladimir Putin's Photo ops  Russia's Man of Steel? Vladimir Putin measuring a polar bear on the island Alexandra Land, part of the Franz Josef Land archipalego in the Arctic Ocean. Putin, better known in the West for his tough-guy image, expressed concern for the fate of Arctic polar bears threatened by climate change. "The polar bear is under threat. Their population is currently only 25,000 individuals," Putin was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying Getty Vladimir Putin's Photo ops  Russia's Man of Steel? Vladimir Putin carries a hunting rifle during his trip in Ubsunur Hollow Biosphere Reserve in Tuva Republic in this undated picture released on October 30, 2010 by RIA Novosti news agency. Getty Vladimir Putin's Photo ops  Russia's Man of Steel? Russian President Vladimir Putin pilots a motorized hang glider while flying with cranes as he takes part in a scientific experiment as part of the "Flight of Hope", which aims to preserve a rare species of - cranes on September 5, 2012. At the helm of a motorized hang glider that the birds have taken as their leader, Putin made three flights - the first to get familiar with the process, and two others with the birds. AFP/Getty

After Ms May made her announcement she received strong backing from France, Germany, the US, Australia, Canada, the EU and Nato, while the issue is also expected to be discussed at the European Summit next week.

The Kremlins move to expel British diplomats was announced by the Russian Foreign Ministry this morning, in a statement which accused the UK of provocative actions and groundless accusations against Moscow over the attack.

The Ministry said in a statement: The British side is warned that in case of further unfriendly actions against Russia, the Russian side reserves the right to take further retaliatory measures.Adrian Lamo, a computer hacker best known for giving up information that lead to Chelsea Manning's arrest, has died at the age of 37.

Mr Lamo, occasionally known as the homeless hacker because of his penchant for roaming the US on Greyhound buses, died in Sedgwick County, Kansas on Friday, according to multiple reports. His cause of death has not been confirmed.

An account appearing to belong to his father, Mario Lamo, posted a tribute in a Facebook group called 2600 | The Hacker Quarterly.

Recommended Chelsea Manning runs for US Senate seat for Maryland

With great sadness and a broken heart I have to let know all of Adrian's friends and acquittances[sic] that he is dead, he wrote. A bright mind and compassionate soul is gone, he was my beloved son

Mr Lamo gained notoriety in the early 2000s for hacking into high-profile companies like Microsoft, AOL, and Excite@Home. Perhaps his best-known hack was of the New York Times, when he gained access to a newspaper database and accessed personal information for more than 3,000 contributors to the Times' op-ed page, according to the FBI.

Usually, Mr Lamo would not take any money from the companies he hacked, and would instead give them advice on how to improve their security systems.

Gadget and tech news: In pictures Show all 25 1 /25 Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gun-toting humanoid robot sent into space Russia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy. Dmitry Rogozin/Twitter Gadget and tech news: In pictures Google turns 21 Google celebrates its 21st birthday on September 27. The The search engine was founded in September 1998 by two PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in their dormitories at Californias Stanford University. Page and Brin chose the name google as it recalled the mathematic term 'googol', meaning 10 raised to the power of 100 Google Gadget and tech news: In pictures Hexa drone lifts off Chief engineer of LIFT aircraft Balazs Kerulo demonstrates the company's "Hexa" personal drone craft in Lago Vista, Texas on June 3 2019 Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures Project Scarlett to succeed Xbox One Microsoft announced Project Scarlett, the successor to the Xbox One, at E3 2019. The company said that the new console will be 4 times as powerful as the Xbox One and is slated for a release date of Christmas 2020 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures First new iPod in four years Apple has announced the new iPod Touch, the first new iPod in four years. The device will have the option of adding more storage, up to 256GB Apple Gadget and tech news: In pictures Folding phone may flop Samsung will cancel orders of its Galaxy Fold phone at the end of May if the phone is not then ready for sale. The $2000 folding phone has been found to break easily with review copies being recalled after backlash PA Gadget and tech news: In pictures Charging mat non-starter Apple has cancelled its AirPower wireless charging mat, which was slated as a way to charge numerous apple products at once AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures "Super league" India shoots down satellite India has claimed status as part of a "super league" of nations after shooting down a live satellite in a test of new missile technology EPA Gadget and tech news: In pictures 5G incoming 5G wireless internet is expected to launch in 2019, with the potential to reach speeds of 50mb/s Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Uber halts driverless testing after death Uber has halted testing of driverless vehicles after a woman was killed by one of their cars in Tempe, Arizona. March 19 2018 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Getty

His exploits still occasionally got him in trouble with the law, however: He evaded arrest for five days in 2003 while FBI agents staked out his home in California, according to CNET. He eventually turned himself in and was sentenced to six months home detention.

Mr Lamo gained worldwide notoriety in 2010, when he gave military investigators evidence that Ms Manning  then an intelligence analyst for a US Army unit in Iraq  had turned over confidential military information to WikiLeaks.

Ms Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison in 2013. Her sentence was later commuted by President Barack Obama.

Looking back on his decision to turn in Ms Manning in 2017, Mr Lamo told US News and World Report it was not [his] most honorable moment.

But he added that he had learned much from the experience, including that you cant really know a person or their motives unless youve sat where they sat and seen the situation through their eyes, no matter how much you believe you do.

So many people think they know why I did what I did or what I was thinking or why I made my choice, he added. And almost without exception theyre wrong.A law firm representing President Donald Trump and the corporation owned by Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, have claimed porn star Stormy Daniels could owe more than $20m (14.3m) in damages for violating a nondisclosure agreement that prevented her speaking about an alleged affair with the US President.

The court document alleges Ms Daniels  real name Stephanie Clifford  is guilty of at least 20 violations of the agreement's confidentiality clause and could face a $1m (700,000) penalty for each violation.

Ms Daniels, who filed a lawsuit against Mr Trump earlier this month, claims the nondisclosure agreement is void because Mr Trump did not sign it himself. Instead it was signed by a lawyer for the Trump Organisation.

The alleged affair between Ms Daniels and Mr Trump is said to have occurred in 2006, less than four months after first lady Melania Trump gave birth to the couples son, Barron.

But it was only in January this year after rumours of the affair resurfaced that In Touch magazine published an interview with Ms Daniels from 2011, in which she gave a detailed account of the alleged relationship. Mr Trump denies the affair.

Friday's claim against the actress was made in a court filing in California by representatives of the Blakely Law Group.

Michael Avenatti, Ms Daniels lawyer, described the filing as yet another bullying tactic from the president and Mr Cohen, referring to Mr Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, whose company is also represented by the Blakely Law Group.

The fact that a sitting president is pursuing over $20m in bogus 'damages' against a private citizen, who is only trying to tell the public what really happened, is remarkable, Mr Avenatti wrote on Twitter. Likely unprecedented in our history."

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

Mr Cohen has already been involved in multiple legal efforts to silence Ms Daniels.

The lawyer claims he paid the actress $130,000 to keep quiet about the alleged affair in the run-up to the presidential election. He has not said whether Mr Trump was aware of the payment.

Mr Cohen also obtained a restraining order against Ms Daniels last month in a further attempt to prevent her from speaking out.

The court filing also calls for a lawsuit brought by Ms Daniels seeking to invalidate the agreement to be moved from a county to a federal court, which Mr Avenatti describes as a further attempt to hide the truth from the public.

He argues that the move would increase the chances that the case would be decided in private arbitration.

Earlier on Friday in an interview with CNN, Mr Avenatti claimed his client had been physically threatened to stay silent about what she knew about Mr Trump, but did not provide any details of the allegations.

He instead plugged an upcoming interview Ms Daniels has given to CBSs 60 Minutes, saying his client would provide very specific details about what happened here and leave the American people with little to no doubt that this woman is credible.

Agencies contributed to this reportDuring a cabinet meeting at the White House last October, President Donald Trump extolled the virtues of the men and women surrounding him at the table.

A great trust has been placed upon each member of our cabinet, he declared. We have a cabinet that  there are those that are saying its one of the finest group of people ever assembled ... as a cabinet. And I happen to agree with that.

Less than five months later, Mr Trump finds himself presiding over a cabinet in which a number of members stand accused of living large at taxpayer expense  often by aggressively embracing the trappings of their high government posts.

At least a half-dozen current or former Trump cabinet officials have been mired in federal investigations over everything from high-end travel and spending on items such as a soundproof phone booth to the role of family members weighing in on official business. On Wednesday alone, newly disclosed documents revealed fresh details about spending scandals at both the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the department of housing and urban development.

If the government is going to be run efficiently, hes got to clean up a lot of the messes that have gone on at these agencies and to be honest, replace a lot of people, said Shermichael Singleton, a former adviser to Housing and Urban Development (HUD) secretary Ben Carson who left after his criticism of Mr Trump surfaced during the vetting process.

The controversies surrounding members of Mr Trumps cabinet have caused upheaval within the administration, prompting White House officials to scramble in an effort to avert any further political fallout and to summon agency leaders for face-to-face ethics meetings.

Revelations about repeated use of chartered aeroplanes forced the resignation of health and human services secretary Tom Price in September. More recently, veterans affairs secretary David Shulkin has continued to wrestle with the fallout of news that taxpayers covered the expenses for his wife during a 10-day trip to Europe last year  and more recently that his chief of staff doctored an email and made false statements to justify the payments.

Meanwhile, EPA administrator Scott Pruitt has faced public criticism and the scrutiny of government investigators for his own frequent first-class travels and for other expenditures he made using public funding. The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that records showed a soundproof phone booth installed in Mr Pruitts office cost between $43,000 (30,750) and $18,000 more than previously disclosed.

At the interior department, secretary Ryan Zinke has faced inquiries about his travel practices and last fall an official in the agencys inspector general office wrote that Mr Zinke had failed to properly document his trips since taking office. And at HUD, public records released this week detail how Mr Carsons wife was closely involved in the redecorating of his office at the agency, including the purchase of a $31,561 dining set.

Barry Bennett, who served as Mr Carsons presidential campaign manager and then informally advised Mr Trumps 2016 campaign, wrote in an email that, in many instances, cabinet members are unaware of the actual costs stemming from their actions. He said Mr Carson often complained about staying in fancy hotels on the campaign trail because their rooms didnt readily offer an ironing board and iron  which he relied on to press his own clothes.

Still, Mr Bennett added, these are unforced errors that the White House needs to halt.

Staff needs to get better and principals need to get smarter about asking questions like, how much does this cost? he said. All of these folks are all new to Washington power and so are their staffs. At their power level, anything is possible.

Even as new revelations have surfaced, in part through numerous Freedom of Information Act requests, Trumps deputies have pushed back against accusations that they have misspent taxpayer funds.

During a hearing on Tuesday on Capitol Hill, Mr Zinke defended his use of charter planes for various trips, including to Montana, Alaska and the US Virgin Islands. He labelled questions about his travels as innuendos, arguing that his predecessor at the department took similar trips at taxpayer expense.

I resent the fact of your insults. I resent the fact theyre misleading, Mr Zinke told senator Maria Cantwell, who had asked him about a $12,375 flight he chartered from Las Vegas to near his home in Montana. Mr Zinke, a former Navy SEAL, added later, Ive been shot at before, Im very comfortable with it. Do right, fear no man, do the best you can.

Mr Carson has used his personal Twitter account to defend his familys integrity, including after The Washington Post reported that HUD lawyers warned him he risked running afoul of federal ethics rules by allowing his son and daughter-in-law to help organise a listening tour to Baltimore last summer.

Referring to a complaint to HUDs special counsel about redecorating his office, Mr Carson tweeted on 28 February: Se suspect, based on past attempts, that they will continue to probe and make further accusations even without evidence or substantiation. We will continue to ask for Gods guidance to do what is right.

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

Last month, at least four cabinet members  Mr Carson, Mr Pruitt, Mr Shulkin and Mr Zinke  met separately with White House cabinet secretary William McGinley to discuss proper ethics practices, according to multiple administration officials familiar with the sessions, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private meetings.

The meetings, first reported by CNN, included handouts with ethics advice and a discussion about how not to violate federal laws when traveling to campaign for political candidates. The tips included, you are the best guardian of your reputation. Your record-keeping practices must be designed with a purpose to prove innocence at the complaint phase or with the press and, even if legal, does not mean you should do it  always consider optics.

The sessions were not confrontational, were not adversarial, said one White House official.

We are in the process of meeting with all of the cabinet for discussions, the official added, just so they can understand that the level of scrutiny is so high that they need to be aware of perception, in addition to ethical and lawful behaviour.

At times, White House officials have made it clear to outsiders that they are scrutinising cabinet members closely. Two weeks ago, chief of staff John Kelly met with veterans service organisations to discuss the current turmoil at VA. Several representatives told him that Mr Shulkin was being undermined at the department by an insurrection of high-level White House appointees who disagree with many of his policies, according to three people in attendance.

They expected to get sympathy from Mr Kelly. But he told the representatives that from his perspective, their observations made a good case that Mr Shulkin should be fired because the secretary had not been able to keep his troops in line.

Mr Singleton, a conservative political commentator who serves as communications director for Howard Stirk Holdings, said some of the conservatives he spends time with have lowered expectations of Mr Trump given the recent spate of scandals, because the president promised he would not do things the way they had been done in the past.

There is some disappointment, he said. But those people remain particularly loyal to him.

The Washington PostPresident Donald Trump has been branded a disgraced demagogue by former CIA director John Brennan following the sacking of FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, as Mr Trumps feud with the bureau shows few signs of abating.

Mr McCabe said after his dismissal, which came just two days before he was due to retire and claim a number of government pension benefits, that it was the result of him being a crucial witness regarding whether Mr Trump obstructed a federal investigation into possible collusion with Russia by members of his campaign team.

Mr Trump had welcomed the dismissal of Mr McCabe  who he has frequently taunted both publicly and in private  as a great day for democracy, which led to the rebuke by Mr Brennan.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said late on Friday that he felt justified in firing Mr McCabe after the Justice Departments internal watchdog said in a report  the contents of which have not yet been made public  that he leaked information to reporters and misled investigators about his actions.

Mr Sessions said Mr McCabe had made an unauthorised disclosure to the news media and lacked candour  including under oath  on multiple occasions.

The FBI expects every employee to adhere to the highest standards of honesty, integrity and accountability, Mr Sessions added.

Mr McCabe has denied these allegations and called his firing part of a concerted effort by the Trump administration to discredit the FBI. This attack on my credibility is one part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally, but to taint the FBI, law enforcement, and intelligence professionals more generally, McCabe said. It is part of this Administrations ongoing war on the FBI and the efforts of the Special Counsel investigation.

The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Show all 17 1 /17 The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Paul Manafort Mr Manafort is a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign manager. He resigned from that post over questions about his extensive lobbying overseas, including in Ukraine where he represented pro-Russian interests. Mr Manafort turned himself in at FBI headquarters to special counsel Robert Muellers team on Oct 30, 2017, after he was indicted under seal on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Getty The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rick Gates Mr Gates joined the Trump team in spring 2016, and served as a top aide until he left to work at the Republican National Committee after the departure of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Gates' had previously worked on several presidential campaigns, on international political campaigns in Europe and Africa, and had 15 years of political or financial experience with multinational firms, according to his bio. Mr Gates was indicted alongside Mr Manafort by special counsel Robert Mueller's team on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. AP The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation George Papadopoulos George Papadopoulos was a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, having joined around March 2016. Mr Papadopoulos plead guilty to federal charges for lying to the FBI as a part of a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mr Papadopoulos claimed in an interview with the FBI that he had made contacts with Russian sources before joining the Trump campaign, but he actually began working with them after joining the team. Mr Papadopoulos allegedly took a meeting with a professor in London who reportedly told him that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The professor also allegedly introduced Mr Papadopoulos to a Russian who was said to have close ties to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Papadopoulos also allegedly was in contact with a woman whom he incorrectly described in one email to others in the campaign as the "niece" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twitter The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Donald Trump Jr The President's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer - Natalia Veselnitskaya - on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. He said in an initial statement that the meeting was about Russia halting adoptions of its children by US citizens. Then, he said it was regarding the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. In a final statement, Mr Trump Jr released a chain of emails that revealed he took the meeting in hopes of getting information Ms Veselnitskaya had about Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. He and the President called it standard "opposition research" in the course of campaigning and that no information came from the meeting. The meeting was set up by an intermediary, Rob Goldstone. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also at the same meeting. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jared Kushner Mr Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a key adviser to the White House. He met with a Russian banker appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Mr Kushner has said he did so in his role as an adviser to Mr Trump while the bank says he did so as a private developer. Mr Kushner has also volunteered to testify in the Senate about his role helping to arrange meetings between Trump advisers and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rob Goldstone Former tabloid journalist and now music publicist Rob Goldstone is a contact of the Trump family through the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which took place in Moscow. In June 2016, he wrote to Donald Trump Jr offering a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalya Veselnitskaya, who had information about Hillary Clinton. Mr Goldstone was the intermediary for Russian pop star Emin Agalaraov and his father, real estate magnate Aras, who played a role in putting on the 2013 pageant. In an email chain released by Mr Trump Jr, Mr Goldstone seemed to indicate Russian government's support of Donald Trump's campaign. AP images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Aras and Emin Agalarov Aras Agalarov (R) is a wealthy Moscow-based real estate magnate and son Emin (L) is a pop star. Both played a role in putting on the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. They allegedly had information about Hillary Clinton and offered that information to the Trump campaign through a lawyer with whom they had worked with, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and music publicist Rob Goldstone. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Natalia Veselnitskaya Natalia Veselnitskaya is a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. She has worked on real estate issues and reportedly counted the FSB as a client in the past. She has ties to a Trump family connection, real estate magnate Aras Agalarov, who had helped set up the Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant which took place in Moscow. Ms Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort in Trump Tower on 9 June 2016 but denies the allegation that she went there promising information on Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. She contends that the meeting was about the US adoptions of Russian children being stopped by Moscow as a reaction to the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Mike Flynn Mr Flynn was named as Trump's national security adviser but was forced to resign from his post for inappropriate communication with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. He had misrepresented a conversation he had with Mr Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence, telling him wrongly that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sergey Kislyak Mr Kislyak, the former longtime Russian ambassador to the US, is at the centre of the web said to connect President Donald Trump's campaign with Russia. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Roger Stone Mr Stone is a former Trump adviser who worked on the political campaigns of Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Mr Stone claimed repeatedly in the final months of the campaign that he had backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that he knew the group was going to dump damaging documents to the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton - which did happen. Mr Stone also had contacts with the hacker Guccier 2.0 on Twitter, who claimed to have hacked the DNC and is linked to Russian intelligence services. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeff Sessions The US attorney general was forced to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation after it was learned that he had lied about meeting with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Carter Page Mr Page is a former advisor to the Trump campaign and has a background working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Mr Page met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr Page had invested in oil companies connected to Russia and had admitted that US Russia sanctions had hurt his bottom line. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeffrey "JD" Gorden Mr Gordon met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republian National Convention to discuss how the US and Russia could work together to combat Islamist extremism should then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election. The meeting came days before a massive leak of DNC emails that has been connected to Russia. Creative Commons The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation James Comey Mr Comey was fired from his post as head of the FBI by President Donald Trump. The timing of Mr Comey's firing raised questions around whether or not the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign may have played a role in the decision. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Preet Bharara Mr Bahara refused, alongside 46 other US district attorney's across the country, to resign once President Donald Trump took office after previous assurances from Mr Trump that he would keep his job. Mr Bahara had been heading up several investigations including one into one of President Donald Trump's favorite cable television channels Fox News. Several investigations would lead back to that district, too, including those into Mr Trump's campaign ties to Russia, and Mr Trump's assertion that Trump Tower was wiretapped on orders from his predecessor. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sally Yates Ms Yates, a former Deputy Attorney General, was running the Justice Department while President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general awaited confirmation. Ms Yates was later fired by Mr Trump from her temporary post over her refusal to implement Mr Trump's first travel ban. She had also warned the White House about potential ties former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Russia after discovering those ties during the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. Getty Images

The investigation that Mr McCabe referred to is the federal probe being run by Special Counsel Robert Mueller into Russias meddling in the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion between Russia and members of Mr Trumps campaign team. Mr Trump and the White House have denied there was any collusion. The investigation into election meddling was originally led by former FBI Director James Comey before he himself was fired by Mr Trump in May last year.

Mr Comey later testified to a congressional panel that he had had conversations with Mr Trump where the president had asked him to think about dropping an investigation into the conduct of Mr Trumps then-National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. The White House have denied such conversations taking place, although it is believed that Mr Mueller and his team are looking into whether Mr Comeys firing could amount to obstruction of justice. Mr Flynn has since pleaded guilty to one count lying to the FBI, having been indicted by Mr Mueller.

In his statement, Mr McCabe alleged that the report used as the basis for his firing was sped up only after his testimony suggested that he would corroborate Mr Comeys accounts of his conversations with Mr Trump. A source told the Associated Press that Mr McCabe had kept personal memos regarding interactions with the president. They are said to be similar to the ones maintained by Mr Comey.

In his tweet, Mr Trump also used the opportunity to attack Mr Comey as sanctimonious and called Mr McCabes firing a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI. He asserted without elaboration that `Mr McCabe knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI.

Responding to that, Mr Brennan, who led the CIA under President Barack Obama between 2013 and 2017, made his feelings clear about the reasons for Mr McCabes firing by tweeting about Mr Trump: When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history.

You may scapegoat Andy McCabe, but you will not destroy America... America will triumph over you, Mr Brennans tweet continued.

The former CIA director has previously described the President as unstable, inept, inexperienced and unethical.

Mr McCabe briefly served as director of the FBI between the firing of Mr Comey and the swearing-in of current director Christopher Wray. He played a crucial role in the bureaus investigation into of Hillary Clintons use of a personal email server while she was Secretary of State, as well as the Clinton Foundation. That is in addition to playing a key role in the probe into Russias interference in the election.

Mr McCabe had been on leave from the FBI since January, when he abruptly left the deputy director position, with his subsequent dismissal putting his ability to collect his pension following 20 years of service at the bureau at risk. His removal will likely add to the turmoil surrounding the bureaus relationship with the Trump administration.

 Rex Tillerson fired: Trump has 'total confidence' in new Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

Mr McCabe came under scrutiny over an October 2016 news report about clashes between the FBI and the Department of Justice about about how aggressively the Clinton Foundation should be investigated. The watchdog office concluded that McCabe authorised FBI officials to speak to a Wall Street Journal reporter for that story and had kept back information about it.

In his statement, Mr McCabe said he had the authority to share information with journalists through the public affairs office and that he had honestly answered questions about whom he had spoken to and when, and that when he thought his answers were misunderstood, he contacted investigators to correct them.

At the time, Mr McCabe faced questions of partisanship, and both then and since he has been repeatedly been criticised by Mr Trump for being biased in favour of Hillary Clinton and because his wife Jill ran as a Democratic candidate for the Virginia State Senate. Ms McCabe had received campaign contributions from the political action committee of then-Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, a longtime Clinton friend, during her unsuccessful run. The FBI has said Mr McCabe received the necessary ethics approval about his wifes candidacy and was not supervising the Clinton investigation at the time.

Mr McCabe suggested in his statement that he was trying to set the record straight about the FBIs independence against the background of those allegations.

Mr Sessions faced a difficult decision over the firing. He risked inflaming the White House if he decided against dismissing Mr McCabe, but the timing of his forced departure is likely to upset rank-and-file members of the FBI.

The firing comes amid a number of resignations or firings of Trump administration staff in the past few weeks, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Mr Trumps economic adviser Gary Cohn and White House communications director Hope Hicks.

Associated Press contributed to this reportA Republican candidate who called one victim of the Florida school shooting a skinhead lesbian and referred to another as bald-faced liar" has quit the race for the Maine House of Representatives.

Leslie Gibsons comments on Twitter earlier this week sparked widespread outrage in the wake of the tragedy which saw 14 pupils and three members of staff gunned down at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.

Nineteen-year-old Nikolas Cruz has pleaded not guilty to the murders.

Referring to Emma Gonzalez, one of the Florida students leading the charge for national gun law reform, Mr Gibson said there was nothing about this skinhead lesbian that impressed him.

He also attacked David Hogg, another survivor and pro-gun control activist, calling him a bald-faced liar.

Mr Gibson has since deleted his Twitter account, but not before multiple news outlets captured screenshots of the tweets.

Emma Gonzalez speaks at a rally for gun control at the Broward County Federal Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, three days after the Parkland shooting (AFP/Getty Images)

The Republican had been unopposed in the contest, but Democrat Eryn Gilchrist and Republican Thomas Martin Jr joined the race after Mr Gibson made his comments.

Ms Gilchrist said she was horrified at the thought of Mr Gibson representing her.

All I can say is Thank You, wrote Ms Gonzalez on Twitter after she announced her intention to run.

The election will be held on 6 November.

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 is not the first time the school's students have come under attack.

In the days after the shooting, Mr Hogg became the subject of a viral conspiracy theory that claimed he and the other young activists were paid actors, being used by gun control advocates to push for their policies.

He disputed the claims, telling CNN: "I'm not a crisis actor... I'm someone who had to witness this and live through this and I continue to be having to do that."

Agencies contributed to this reportKAMPONG SPEU, Cambodia, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia and China launched the second joint drill on counter-terrorism and humanitarian rescue at a training field in the Maras Prov Mountains here on Saturday.

Some 280 soldiers of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) and 216 soldiers of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) are involved in the drill dubbed "Dragon Gold 2018," which will last till March 31.

RCAF commander-in-chief Gen. Pol Saroeun said the exercise is part of the activities the two countries have organized to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between the two countries.

"The exercise is vital to exchange experience and further strengthen bilateral cooperation on anti-terrorism and humanitarian work," he said in a speech during the opening ceremony.

He said Cambodia highly values the drill with China which will importantly contribute to increasing capacity for the RCAF.

It will increase China-Cambodia readiness and responsiveness to challenges in the fight against terrorism and in the humanitarian tasks, he said.

Zhang Jian, army commander of the Southern Theater Command of the Chinese PLA, said the exercise is designed to bolster cooperation and friendship between the two armies.

The drill plays a very important role in further developing the relations between the two armies, he said in his opening speech.

It will further enhance cooperation between the two countries on terrorism fighting and humanitarian rescue, and contribute to maintaining peace, stability and development in the two countries, the region, and the world, he added.

The participating troops will carry on training of professional subjects such as anti-terror equipment operating, live-fire practice, unarmed wrestle, simulated airborne landing, man hunting, searching and rescuing.

Cambodia and China conducted the first joint drill in December 2016, focusing on humanitarian rescue and disaster relief at the Army Institute in southwestern Kampong Speu province.Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe has been fired less than two days before his expected retirement, putting his pension in jeopardy after more than 20 years at the bureau.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions claimed Mr McCabe had made an unauthorized disclosure to the news media and lacked candour  including under oath  on multiple occasions.

He added that the firing was based on a report by the Justice Department Inspector General, findings from the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility, and the recommendation of the Justice Departments senior career official.

Recommended Deputy FBI director steps down after reports of row with Trump

The Inspector General found earlier this month that Mr McCabe had improperly authorised disclosures to a reporter about FBI investigations into Hillary Clinton, THe Washington Post reported. It was also said that Mr McCabe had misled investigators about the matter.

Mr McCabe has denied misleading anyone.

The former deputy director stepped down from the No 2 position earlier this year, after FBI Director Christopher Wray was briefed on the Inspector General's report. He remained an employee of the bureau.

 McCabe: "You cannot stop the men and women of the FBI from doing the right thing"

The FBIs Office of Professional Responsibility recommended Mr McCabes firing earlier this week, according to the New York Times. He reportedly met Thursday with his attorney and Scott Schools, the highest-ranking career employee of the Justice Department, in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent his firing.

Mr McCabe responded to the firing with a lengthy statement, in which he claimed he had followed FBI rules and always acted in the interest of setting "the record straight on behalf of the Bureau.

He said: I was being portrayed in the media over and over as a political partisan, accused of closing down investigations under political pressure, he said. The FBI was portrayed as caving under that pressure, and making decisions for political rather than law enforcement purposes. Nothing was further from the truth.

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

President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticised Mr McCabe  who has worked with the FBI since 1996  and accused him of being biased in favour of Ms Clinton. He was particularly critical of the fact that Mr McCabes wife, Jill, ran as a Democrat for a state Senate seat in Virginia.

The firing came just days before Mr McCabe was expected to retire, just in time for his 50th birthday. The abrupt dismissal could jeopardise his ability to collect early retirement benefits.

Mr McCabe briefly served as director of the FBI last year, between the firing of former Director James Comey and Mr Wrays swearing in.Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi faces an attempt to privately prosecute her in Australia for crimes against humanity.

Lawyers lodged an application at a court in Melbourne to charge the 72-year-old civil leader of Myanmar with forcing more than 650,000 Rohingya Muslims out of their homes.

The prosecution - which requires the consent of the Attorney General to go ahead - alleges Ms Suu Kui is criminally responsible for the military attacks on the Rohingya since 25 August last year.

Ms Suu Kyi is in Australia to attend a three-day summit of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) which has been marked by protests against the regimes of Myanmar and Cambodia.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has said he will raise the issue of Rohingya persecution with Ms Suu Kyi, who has been widely criticised for failing to address allegations of ethnic cleansing.

The application for a private prosecution was filed in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday by solicitor Daniel Taylor, who represents members of the Rohingya community in Australia.

"Forces under her effective authority and control attacked the Rohingya population, forcing them to flee," according to the charge sheet.

"She failed to take all necessary and reasonable steps within her power to prevent or repress the actions of those forces, or to submit the matter to any competent authority for investigation and prosecution."

The military are said to have burnt villages, gang-raped women and murdered babies in response to attacks on Burmese border posts.

In a statement, the legal team behind the application said: "The Australian Rohingyan community have requested legal advocates to petition the Australian Attorney-General, the Hon. Christian Porter, to bring a prosecution against Daw Aung San Suu Kyi for the crime against humanity of deportation and forcible transfer of population.

"Widespread and credible eyewitness reports tell of extensive and systematic crimes against the Muslim Rohingyan population by the Myanmar security forces, including extra-judicial killings, disappearances, violence, rape, unlawful detention, and destruction of property and whole villages. Ms Kyi has denied these events have occurred.

"Governments from around the world have condemned the Myanmar Government and its security forces, as well as Ms Kyi, for these crimes which have been equated to ethnic cleansing.

"The Rohingya are effectively stateless (despite being indigenous to Myanmar), and have been denied citizenship rights including the right to register births, to hold a passport, to medical treatment, to attend school and own property."

Leading barrister Ron Merkel QC is working on the legal bid with Mr Taylor and Alison Battison, a solicitor from law firm Human Rights for All.

Ms Battison described it as a "text book case of crimes against humanity" based on Australia's universal jurisdiction under the Criminal Code Act 1995.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

A spokesman for the attorney general Christian Porter said Ms Suu Kyi had "complete immunity" from prosecution.

"Under customary international law, heads of state, heads of government and ministers of foreign affairs are immune from foreign criminal proceedings and are inviolable," he said.

"They cannot be arrested, detained or be served with court proceedings."China said it will begin applying its so-called social credit system to flights and trains and stop people who have committed misdeeds from taking such transport for up to a year.

People who would be put on the restricted lists included those found to have committed acts like spreading false information about terrorism and causing trouble on flights, as well as those who used expired tickets or smoked on trains, according to two statements issued on the National Development and Reform Commissions website on Friday.

Those found to have committed financial wrongdoings, such as employers who failed to pay social insurance or people who have failed to pay fines, would also face these restrictions, said the statements which were dated 2 March.

It added that the rules would come into effect on 1 May .

The move is in line with Presidents Xi Jinpings plan to construct a social credit system based on the principle of once untrustworthy, always restricted, said one of the notices which was signed by eight ministries, including the countrys aviation regulator and the Supreme Peoples Court.

China has flagged plans to roll out a system that will allow government bodies to share information on its citizens trustworthiness and issue penalties based on a so-called social credit score.

However, there are signs that the use of social credit scoring on domestic transport could have started years ago. In early 2017, the countrys Supreme Peoples Court said during a press conference that 6.15 million Chinese citizens had been banned from taking flights for social misdeeds.

ReutersA Catalan separatist fugitive living in Scotland after fleeing rebellion charges in Spain has criticised European leaders silence over the imprisonment of the regions pro-independence politicians.

Clara Ponsati, an ex-minister in the Catalan government, claimed her former colleagues were being used as hostages by Madrid to blackmail the movement into surrender.

She escaped into Belgium with former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont and three other ministers in October, days after a failed bid for succession. They all face arrest if they return to Spain.

Recommended Exiled Catalan minister moves to UK after fleeing sedition charge

Catalonia has been without a government and under direct Spanish rule for five months, with key pro-independence leaders either in self-imposed exile or in prison awaiting trials following an independence referendum considered by Madrid to be illegal.

Speaking to The Independent, Ms Ponsati said: I dont see the situation improving if there is not more respect for what Catalans have decided with their vote. As long as we are under the threat of having hostages being used to blackmail political decisions, it is going to be very difficult to move on.

The former education minister arrived in Scotland this month to resume work at the University of St Andrews, where she ran the School of Economics and Finance before leaving for politics in July.

She remains wanted in Spain on rebellion and sedition charges, as does Mr Puidgemont and the other ministers in exile. The former crime alone carries a jail sentence of up to 30 years.

Four other separatist leaders are being held in Spanish prisons on the same charges. They include Jordi Sanchez, pro-independence parties nominated candidate for the Catalan presidency, who judges last week refused to free on bail to attend a regional parliamentary vote on his appointment.

Mr Puidgemont, who has been forced to abandoned an attempt to return as president and instead throw his weight behind Mr Sanchez, has accused the Madrid of criminalising the independence movement. In a submission to the UN human rights committee, the ousted leader's lawyers say his right to a political life and Catalans' right to elect their government have been violated.

Ms Ponsati said: The Spanish government is dictating what candidates are acceptable, judges are deciding whether they can allow people to stand or not; all that is very much a non-sovereign parliament.

There are four persons in prison, in preventive prison with no bail, on crimes that are imaginary, by a court that is not competent. Really it is a very major abuse of the rule of law.

Ms Ponsati said she was disappointed but unsurprised that European governments, including the UK, had remained silent over prosecutions and detentions that Amnesty International has described as excessive.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has previously rejected calls for an intervention, while EU leaders gave a muted response to Spanish authorities brutal crackdown on referendum voters.

The Catalonian referendum is a matter for the Spanish government and people, said Mr Johnson in October. Spain is a close ally and a good friend, whose strength and unity matters to the UK.

Ms Ponsati said: States protect each other and the status quo is always at an advantage.

However, the fact Im not surprised that they prefer to look the other away doesnt mean that I find it decent or acceptable that democratic governments are not being a bit more vocal and more critical of the Spanish authorities abuse.

What they have been doing is totally against the European charter of human rights.

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, Ms Ponsati said had faith Britain would not extradite her despite Spains judicial authorities saying this week they could reissue European arrest warrants, withdrawn in December, for the five Catalan fugitives.

Ms Ponsati said: I dont think there would be grounds for extradition; that would be a politically motivated European order of arrest, and thats not within the rules. I trust an independent judge would not comply with that.

I am confident British justice works, unlike Spain.

Madrid has defended the detention of Catalan leaders and rejected their depiction as political prisoners. The Spanish governments delegate in Catalonia, Enric Millo, said: Nobody is in prison for their opinions. Someone can be in prison for their actions, not for their opinions.

As well as Mr Sanchez, ousted Catalan vice-president Oriol Junqueras, former interior minister Joaquim Forn, and grassroots separatist leader Jordi Cuixart remain behind bars.

Supreme Court judges have refused them bail because they say there is a risk they would reoffend.Russia has announced it will expel 23 British diplomats in a like-for-like retaliation to British measures announced on Wednesday after the UK government blamed Russia for the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury on 4 March.

The Russian Foreign Ministry announced on Saturday morning that the 23 diplomatic representatives of the British Embassy in Moscow should leave Russia within a week.

The UK Foreign Office said in a statement it had "anticipated a response of this kind" and the National Security Council would meet early next week "to consider next steps".

It insisted there was "no alternative conclusion other than that the Russian State was culpable" but said it was not in the UK's national interest "to break off all dialogue between our countries".

"The onus remains on the Russian state to account for their actions and to comply with their international obligations," the statement concluded.

A Russian response to the British measures had been expected for several days and when it came, it went further than expected.

Apart from the expected tit-for-tat expulsions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced it is stopping all British Council activities "due to legal irregularities" and revoking its agreement for Britain to operate a consulate-general in St Petersburg.

The ministry also warned that Russia could take further measures if Britain takes any more "unfriendly actions" against the country.

"We are profoundly disappointed at this development," said a spokesperson for the British Council, adding that cultural relations and educational opportunities are "vital" when "political or diplomatic relations become difficult".

Shortly before the announcement, British ambassador to Russia, Laurie Bristow, was summoned to the foreign ministry for talks, where he learned of the retaliation measures.

As he left the ministry, Mr Bristow said: "This crisis has arisen as a result of an appalling attack in the United Kingdom, the attempted murder of two people using a chemical weapon developed in Russia and not declared by Russia to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) as Russia was and is obliged to do under the Chemical Weapons Act."

"We gave Russia the opportunity to explain how the material got to Salisbury and we asked Russia to declare that material to the OPCW. Russia did neither, therefore we announced certain steps."

Echoing the words of Mr Johnson and Ms May earlier this week, Mr Bristow stressed the UK has no dispute with ordinary Russians but said "we will always do what is necessary to defend ourselves, our allies and our values against an attack of this sort".

Russia has continued to dismiss accusations of Russian culpability for the attack and to deny possessing Novichok, the nerve agent used in the incident.

The retaliation from Russia comes three days after Theresa May announced that 23 Russian diplomats would be expelled from Britain after Russia missed a deadline to provide an explanation for the poisoning of Skripal and his daughter Yulia. Both remain critically ill in hospital.

In her speech on Wednesday, Ms May also said the UK would step up sanctions on Russia and threatened to freeze "hostile" Russian state assets. She also declared an intention to work against "suspicious" Russian money in the UK.

The UK government has received support for its approach from the leaders of France, Germany and the US as well as from Nato and the EU.

Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Scene of attack Members of the emergency services in hazard suits fix the tent over the bench where Sergei and Yulia Skripal were found unconscious on a park bench in Salisbury in March 2018. Getty Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Victim - Sergei Skripal The retired Russian colonel and former double agent for MI6 was in a critical condition in hospital for more than two months after being exposed to novichok in Salisbury. He was given refuge in the UK after being jailed in Moscow for treason. Mr Skripal came to Britain as part of a high-profile spy swap in 2010 in which four men were exchanged for ten Russian "sleeper agents" in the US. In this image he is speaking to his lawyer from behind bars in Moscow in 2006. AP Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Victim - Yulia Skripal Yulia Skripal was struck down by a novichok poison alongside her father Sergei. Facebook Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Scene of attack A police officer stands guard outside a branch of the Italian chain restaurant Zizzi where the pair dined at before falling ill. It was boarded off whilst investigators worked on the building and later found traces of the chemical weapon within it. AFP/Getty Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Scene of attack Large areas of central Salisbury were cordoned off by police following the discovery of the Skripals. Traces of nerve agent were also found in The Mill pub. PA Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Victim - Nick Bailey Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, rushed to the aid of the Russian ex-spy and his daughter who were targeted with a nerve agent. He was hospitalized after aiding them and didn't leave until three weeks after the attack. Wiltshire Police/Rex Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Police investigation - Skripals home Police believe they were poisoned at home, and detectives found the highest concentration of novichok on the front door of Mr Skripals house. Getty Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Theresa May visits scene of attack Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May spokes with Wiltshire Police's Chief Constable Kier Pritchard near where the Skripal's were found. Britain expelled 23 Russian diplomats over the nerve agent poisoning and suspended high-level contacts, including for the World Cup on March 14. Theresa May told parliament that Russia had failed to respond to her demand for an explanation on how a Soviet-designed chemical, Novichok, was used in Salisbury. AFP/Getty Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Skripal days before attack Sergei Skripal days before he was exposed to Novichok, that has left him fighting for life. ITV News Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Police investigation - military involvement British soldiers were deployed soon after the attack to help a counter-terrorism investigation into the nerve agent attack. One of the places they were asked to help out with was Skripal's home and it's surrounding. They were asked to remove a vehicle connected to the agent attack in Salisbury, from a residential street in Gillingham. AFP/Getty Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Police investigation Personnel in protective coveralls and breathing equipment cover an ambulance with a tarpaulin at the Salisbury District Hospital. AFP/Getty Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Police investigation The investigation extended to the grave of Sergei Skripal's son Alexander in London Road cemetery. Getty Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Police investigation The Counter Terrorism Policing Network requested assistance from the military to remove a number of vehicles and objects from Salisbury. EPA Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Home Secretary visits scene of attack Home Secretary Amber Rudd visited the scene of the nerve agent attack at the Maltings shopping centre on 9 March. Getty Skripal attack aftermath  in pictures Yulia Skripal speaks for the first time Yulia Skripal, speaking for the first time, said she felt lucky to have survived the nerve agent attack in Salisbury which left her fighting for life. Ms Skripal said her life had been turned upside down by the assassination attempt. But the Russian national added she hoped to return to her homeland one day, despite the Kremlin being blamed for the attack. Reuters

The move announced on Saturday morning  just one day before Russians go to the polls in a presidential election  returns Russia to familiar terrain, responding to what it sees as aggressive actions by upping stakes in asymmetrical fashion.

Similar moves were seen following the banning of broadcaster Russia Today from covering the United States Congress late last year. Russia responded by banning the entire US press-corps from the Duma parliament.

Likewise, the death of a toddler in American foster care was answered with the infamous Dima Yakovlev law, which banned all adoptions by US citizens.

Russia has also been known to hit at what it sees as Western sensibilities  whether that be adoptive care, or the work of NGOs.

While Moscow has long been suspicious of the operations of the British Council, and has harangued the organisation for the best part of a decade, similar thinking may be at play in this case.

The unexpected demand to revoke the agreement to operate the consulate in St Petersburg raises the possibility that Britain will retaliate by closing the Russian consulate in Edinburgh.

On Friday, UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson directly accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of ordering the poisoning, saying it was "overwhelmingly likely" Mr Putin personally ordered the assassination attempt.

Dmitry Peskov, Russian presidential press secretary, responded to the verbal escalation with a further denial of the state's involvement.

"Any reference or mention of our President in this connection is nothing but a shocking and unforgivable violation of the diplomatic rules of propriety," Mr Peskov said.

He said it had become "obvious that there is a lack of any clear proof" of Russian involvement.

The country has demanded access to the case and opened its own investigation into the attempted murder of Yulia Skripal. It said it would not respond to Ms May's allegations until it was given samples of the poison used and such samples were handed to the international OPCW.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claimed earlier in the week that a request from Russia to access the case materials, including a sample of the poison, had gone unanswered by Britain.

Downing Street announced on Friday evening that Britain had invited OPCW experts to "come to the UK and take a sample". A spokesperson said they expected this process to begin "imminently".

The National Security Council will also meet early next week "to consider next steps," according to the Foreign Office statement released on Saturday.

Agencies contributed to this reportMost Russians intending to vote for Vladimir Putin in Sundays election say stability is at the root of their faith in their candidate  though many young voters believe its time for a change of leader.

Putin, 65, is expected to win a fourth term in office with 69 per cent of the vote, according to the latest survey by a state-run pollster.

Reuters correspondents and photographers who travelled around the country talking to voters ahead of the 18 March election found nothing to contradict expectation of an emphatic Putin victory.

In Crimea, participating in a Russian presidential election for the first time since the territory was annexed from Ukraine in 2014, engineer Andrei Lukinykh says Putin is the only candidate who can provide stability in tough times.

As the saying goes, you dont change your horses mid-stream. Unlike the others, my candidate can provide the stability thats needed, Lukinykh says.

For Muscovite student Yulia Dyuzheva, economic progress during Putins 17 years in office won him her vote.

As a representative of the younger generation, I can say that for us, young Russians, all the doors are open. Everyone is able to grab the opportunities presented and make the most of themselves, in whatever town or region, she says.

But others believe Russia is ready for a change.

Russia goes to vote: a political portrait Show all 15 1 /15 Russia goes to vote: a political portrait Russia goes to vote: a political portrait Things are getting worse and worse, unfortunately... We have to change the constitution, so that power never again finds itself in the hands of a single person  Vitaly Zubenko, 45, lawyer Reuters Russia goes to vote: a political portrait There's something of a shift, but I want real changes, which will improve our lives  student Svyatoslav Lomakin, 19, poses for a picture with Vladimir Zhirinovsky Reuters Russia goes to vote: a political portrait I don't expect Putin to change things, and history proves this to be true  Maxim Gubsky, 21, student Reuters Russia goes to vote: a political portrait The most important thing for me is that our foreign policy stays the same  Alexei Gruk, 45, mechanic Reuters Russia goes to vote: a political portrait I am 26. Eighteen of those years, all of my conscious life, I have lived under a single president  Vitaly Bespalov, 26, journalist Reuters Russia goes to vote: a political portrait This is not a country of the future, its a country stuck in the past. I cant visualise the future right now  Grigory Kulikovskikh, 26, IT specialist Reuters Russia goes to vote: a political portrait I want change, of course. First of all, in how this country is run. I hope that something will change  Anastasia Shevchenko, 38, head of the election campaign team for presidential candidate Ksenia Sobchak Reuters Russia goes to vote: a political portrait I am going to vote, because I want stability  Andrei Lukinykh, 46, engineer and supporter of Putin Reuters Russia goes to vote: a political portrait We, the Arat people, farmers, need to be able to be confident about what tomorrow will look like. We need this in order to expand and develop our farmsteads  Tanzurun Darisyu, 51, head of a private farm and supporter of Putin Reuters Russia goes to vote: a political portrait Its hard to say what the future will look like  Andrei Vorontsov, 42, ataman of a local Cossack society Reuters Russia goes to vote: a political portrait Among the candidates right now, in my opinion no one can compete with our current President  Alexander Reshetnyak, 42, Cossack ataman Reuters Russia goes to vote: a political portrait Id draw your attention to the colossal support of young people for the current government  Yulia Dyuzheva, 22, student and supervisor of the SUPERPUTIN exhibition in Moscow Reuters Russia goes to vote: a political portrait I dont think that this will be Putins final term in office. In fact I see a sort of messianic energy in Putin  Vasily Slonov, 48, artist Reuters Russia goes to vote: a political portrait The idea that things have improved, Im not seeing it. Things have gotten worse. They have started to control what people think even more than during the Communist era  Natalia Dementieva, 44, an accountant who is currently unemployed Reuters Russia goes to vote: a political portrait If I go to the polls, I will vote against everyone and especially against Putin. His policies have not given us anything good over the years  Veronika Baikova, 41, Russian citizen who plans to boycott the election Reuters

Accountant Natalia Dementieva, also from Moscow, says she is casting a vote for TV personality Ksenia Sobchak  one of seven other candidates  because she supported more freedoms.

Speaks the truth, openly, Dementieva explains. She doesnt lie. She raises issues which are taboo under our government.

The next generation to rule this country were born between 1982 and 1987. Theres a lot of them and they dont remember what it was like in the Soviet Union. So theyre less afraid.

Sobchak is expected to garner 2 per cent of the vote, according to a 9 March poll by the state-run Russian Public Opinion Research Centre.

Thats less than the 3 per cent who plan to stay at home, some of whom may be heeding opposition leader Alexei Navalnys call to boycott the vote after he was barred from being on the ballot.

From the Communist Party, wealthy farm boss Pavel Grudinin, 57, is set for a stronger showing, at 7 per cent.

For Alexei Gruk, a mechanic from St Petersburg, voting for the Communist Party sends the signal that things need to change at home, but he wants Russias foreign policy to stay the same.

To hell with the sanctions, Gruk says. So what if they dont bring foreign stuff here anymore? As if that means we have to give in. I dont care.

Nationalist firebrand Vladimir Zhirinovsky, a veteran lawmaker, is expected to garner 5 per cent of votes, according to latest polls, while liberal economist Grigory Yavlinsky should receive 1 per cent.

ReutersWhether you're Irish or not, everyone loves celebrating Saint Patricks Day - a tradition worldwide that sees millions of people coming together to drink, dress in green, eat traditional Irish food and celebrate the country's heritage.

But if you can't, do the next best thing and join The Independent as it spends the day in Dublin's most iconic drinking area, Temple Bar.

Saint Patricks Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick, is a celebration in honour of the patron saint of Ireland, Saint Patrick.

The day of celebration, which marks the day of Saint Patricks death, was originally a religious holiday meant to celebrate the arrival of Christianity in Ireland and made official by the Catholic Church in the early 17th century.

Observed by the Catholic church, the Anglican Communion, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Lutheran Church, the day was typically observed with church services, feasts and alcohol.

Alcohol consumption has always been an integral part of Saint Patricks Day as historically, the day was celebrated with a day-long lift of the Lenten restrictions on eating and drinking alcohol - which has contributed to the present-day drinking.

St Patrick's Day 2016: Celebrations around the world Show all 10 1 /10 St Patrick's Day 2016: Celebrations around the world St Patrick's Day 2016: Celebrations around the world Revellers take part in the St Patrick's Day parade through central London Getty Images St Patrick's Day 2016: Celebrations around the world A kayaker floats on the Chicago River after it is dyed green for the annual St. Patrick's Day celebration Rex St Patrick's Day 2016: Celebrations around the world People take part in the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade in downtown Chicago Rex St Patrick's Day 2016: Celebrations around the world Performers take part in the Mayor of London's St Patrick's Day Parade and Festival in London PA St Patrick's Day 2016: Celebrations around the world A woman dressed in colours of the Irish flag takes part in the St Patrick's Day parade through central London Getty Images St Patrick's Day 2016: Celebrations around the world New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, left, waves at spectators as he marches in the St. Patrick's Day Parade in the Rockaways neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York AP St Patrick's Day 2016: Celebrations around the world People dressed in historical costumes from the 1916 Easter Rising take part in the St Patrick's Day parade through central London Getty Images St Patrick's Day 2016: Celebrations around the world Members of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) holds placards saying 'Go Green-Go Vegan' and wearing green body paint duo urges people to eat green on the eve of St Patrick's Day, during a demonstration outside Lalbagh Botanical Gardens, in Bangalore, India EPA St Patrick's Day 2016: Celebrations around the world People gather in Dublin's city centre for a street party in support of the undocumented migrants in Ireland and the US held by Migrant Rights Centre Ireland PA St Patrick's Day 2016: Celebrations around the world The fountain on the South Lawn of the White House is colored green in Washington Getty Images

Interestingly, Saint Patrick wasnt actually Irish. He is believed to have been born in either Scotland or Wales and sold into slavery in Ireland as a child.

In 1903, Saint Patricks Day became an official public holiday in Ireland.

This year, and every year, it is celebrated on March 17.More than 11,000 people have left Syrias besieged Eastern Ghouta as government forces step up an offensive on the rebel enclave, officials say.

Major genral Vladimir Zolotukhin was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying that some 3,000 people have been leaving every hour through a government-run humanitarian corridor monitored by the Russian military.

Mr Zolotukhin is spokesman for the Russian centre for reconciliation of the warring parties in Syria.

Air strikes pounded a rebel pocket in Eastern Ghouta near the capital Damascus, rescuers and a war monitor said.

In the northern Afrin region, people fled other frontlines closing in on their homes as Turkish troops and allied rebels struck the main town, Syrian Kurdish forces and the monitor said.

More than 150,000 people have left the town in the last few days, according to a senior Kurdish official and the monitor.

The two offensives, one backed by Russia and the other led by Turkey, have shown how Syrian factions and their foreign allies are aggressively reshaping the map after the defeat of Isis's self-proclaimed caliphate last year.

Syrias conflict marked seven years this week, having killed hundreds of thousands and displaced at least 11 million more, including nearly six million who have fled abroad in one of the worst refugee crises of modern times.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said air strikes on the rebel pocket in Eastern Ghouta killed 30 people gathering to leave for government territory on Saturday.

The UK-based war monitoring group said the strikes on Zamalka town also injured dozens. There was no immediate comment from Damascus, which says it only targets armed militants.

The Turkish military denied on Saturday that it had struck a hospital in Afrin, where it has waged an offensive since January against the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia that controls the region.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

The YPG and the observatory said a Turkish air strike on Afrin towns main hospital had killed 16 people the night before.

The weeks-long violence has left more than 1,300 civilians dead and 5,000 wounded.

AP and ReutersThe US decision to allow hunters to import trophies from elephants they kill in Africa means Donald Trump's administration is encouraging poaching, Botswana's president Ian Khama said at the Giants Club Summit.

The move to allow on a case by case basis the import of tusks, skins and other parts of animals killed in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and Zambia had already drawn global criticism.

But the comments from Ian Khama were particularly powerful. Botswana is home to more than a third of the elephants left in Africa and unlike many of its southern African neighbours it has banned trophy hunting.

I want to take this chance to condemn in the strongest possible terms the shocking decision taken by the Trump administration[to] consider issuing permits to import certain elephant trophies from six African countries, President Khama said at the three-day Summit, which continues on Saturday.

I think that this administration is undermining our efforts and also encouraging poaching in the process because they are well aware of our laws that prohibit trophy hunting in Botswana.

President Khama's remarks on the Trump Administration's decision to allow ivory to be imported came just before he added his name to a global petition with close to 1.1 million signatures calling for the European Union to close its ivory trade.

While China, Hong Kong and other key players have already implemented or announced ivory bans, the EU is yet to follow suit.

The petition, organised by citizens' movement Avaaz, calls on EU Environment Commissioner Karmenu Vella and EU heads of government to close Europe's domestic trade in ivory, end all ivory exports, and support efforts to ban the global ivory trade.

President Khama, President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and President Ali Bongo Ondimba of Gabon  all members of the Giants Club  signed the petition. Keriako Tobiko, Kenya's environment minister signed. Together those four countries alone are home to more than half Africa's elephants. Representatives of the African Elephant Coalition also signed  bringing the total number of countries on board to 32.

European officials told us they couldn't ban ivory because African leaders didn't want them to, said Bert Wander, campaigns director at Avaaz. Now we're going back to them with these Presidents' signatures and asking them if they have any other excuses. The truth is there are none - the rest of the world is turning its back on the ivory trade. Why not Europe?

President Khama signs the petition calling for the EU to end domestic ivory trade. David Clift/ Space for Giants

The EU is the world's biggest exporter of legal ivory and presides over significant trade. It exported 1,258 tusks in 2014 and 2015 alone, more than the previous eight years combined.

Weve long argued that all ivory markets should be closed because any ambiguity over can you buy it or can't you buy it drives confusion and criminal networks make billions of dollars a year exploiting that confusion, said Max Graham, CEO of Space for Giants, which is co-hosting the Summit with Botswana's Tlhokomela Trust. It's simple: the EU must follow China and say no ivory is for sale, full stop.

The Giants Club is an initiative of Space for Giants. It aims to effectively protect half of Africas elephants and their landscapes by 2020 by uniting the political will, technical know-how, and financial muscle to achieve that goal.

The Giants Club's members include international philanthropists and financiers, and key influencers including celebrities. Conservation scientists are technical advisors. The Summit gathers members to hear innovative ideas how to protect elephants and their landscapes before negotiating finance and securing political will to expand the reach of those ideas.Gather round, everybody. I bear important news. Anti-Semitism no longer exists! Ring out, ye bells, the longest hatred has ceased to be. Its kaput, kicked the bucket, shuffled off its mortal coil, joined the bleedin choir invisible. Its a stiff, ladies and gentlemen. An EX-PREJUDICE!

I first heard the news in a motion passed by the University and College Union declaring that criticism of Israel can never be anti-Semitic which, if never means never, is a guarantee that Jew-hating is over, because ... Well, because its impossible to believe that an active anti-Semite wouldnt  if only opportunistically  seek out somewhere to nestle in the manifold pleats of Israel-bashing, whether in generally diffuse anti-Zionism, or in more specific Boycott and Divestment Campaigns, Israeli Apartheid Weeks, End the Occupation movements and the like. Of course, you dont have to hate Jews to hate Israel, but tell me that not a single Jew-hater finds the activity congenial, that criticising Israel can never be an expression of Jew-hating, not even when it takes the form of accusing Israeli soldiers of harvesting organs, then it follows that theres no Jew-hating left.

These tidings would seem to be confirmed by Judge Anthony Snelson who, investigating a complaint that the Union was institutionally anti-Semitic, encountered not a trace of any such beast, no suggestion it had lurked or was lurking, not the faintest rustle of its cerements, not so much as a frozen shadow on a wall. Indeed, so squeaky-clean was the union in all its anti-Israel motions and redefinitions of anti-Semitism to suit itself, that Judge Snelson berated the Jewish complainants, a) for wasting his time with evidence, b) for irresponsibly raiding the public purse, and c) for trying to silence debate, which is, of course, the rightful province of the Boycott and Divestment movement.

It was this same Judge Snelson, reader, who ruled in favour of a Muslim woman claiming the cocktail dress she was expected to wear, while working as a cocktail waitress in Mayfair, violated her dignity. Not for him the cheap shot of wondering what in that case she was doing working as a cocktail waitress in a cocktail bar in Mayfair. If she felt she was working in a hostile environment, then she was working in a hostile environment, which is not to be confused with a Jew feeling he is working in a hostile environment since with the abolition of anti-Semitism there is no such thing as an environment thats hostile to a Jew. My point being that Judge Snelsons credentials as a man who knows a bigot from a barmcake are impeccable.

And now, with Stephen Hawking announcing, by means of an Israeli-made device, that he no longer wants to talk to the scientists who invented it, or to Israeli scientists who invented or might invent anything else, or indeed to Israeli historians, critics, biologists, physicists of any complexion, no matter what their relations to Palestinian scholars whom he does want to talk to, we are reminded that the cultural boycott with which he has suddenly decided to throw in his lot is entirely unJew-related, which is more good news. Peace, that is all Professor Hawking seeks, a word that was left out of his statement as reproduced on the Palestine Solidarity Campaign website, presumably on the grounds that everyone already knows that peace is all the PSC has ever wanted too.

To those who ask why Israel alone of all offending countries is to be boycotted, the answer comes back loud and clear from boycotters that because they cannot change the whole world, that is no reason not to try to change some small part of it, in this case the part where they feel they have the most chance of success, which also just happens to be the part thats Jewish. That this is, in fact, a back-handed compliment to Jews, John MacGabhann, general secretary of the pro-boycott Teachers Union of Ireland, made clear when he talked of expecting more of the Israeli government, precisely because we would anticipate that Israeli governments would act in all instances and ways to better uphold the rights of other, which implies that he expects less of other governments, and does not anticipate them to act in all instances and ways better to uphold the rights of others. And why? He can only mean, reader, because those other governments are not Jewish.

Id call this implicit racism if I were a citizen of those circumambient Muslim countries that arent being boycotted  a tacit assumption that nothing can ever be done, say, about the persecution of women, the bombing of minorities, discrimination against Christians, the hanging of adulterers and homosexuals, and so on, because such things are intrinsic to their cultures  but at least now that we have got rid of anti-Semitism, tackling Islamophobia should not be slow to follow.

Its heartening, anyway, after so many years of hearing Israel described as intractable and pitiless, to learn that activists feel its worth pushing at Israels door because there is a good chance of its giving way. Its further proof of our new abrogation of anti-Semitism that we should now see Israel as a soft touch, the one country in the world which, despite its annihilationist ambitions, will feel the pain when actors, musicians, and secretaries of Irish Teachers Unions stop exchanging views with it. All we need to do now is recognise that those who would isolate Israel, silence it and maybe even persuade it to accept its own illegitimacy intend nothing more by it than love.

Can the day be far away when Israel no longer exists, when the remaining rights-upholding, peace-loving countries of the region come together in tolerance and amity, and it wont even be necessary to speak of anti-Semitisms demise because we will have forgotten it ever existed? Thats when Jews will know theyre finally safe. Ring out, ye bells!

Comments have been closed on this article.In the film "Be with You," Son plays a woman who mysteriously appears before her husband and son a year after her death.

Actress Son Ye-jin has developed an impressive following over her years on screen, but with her latest film, she has now returned to the genre through which she first rose to the fame.

"Be With You" is a remake of a 2004 Japanese film directed by Nobuhiro Doi and based on a novel written by Takuji Ichikawa.

Son took time to reflect on her own life at a press event to promote the film in Seoul on Tuesday ahead of its release on Wednesday.

"It seems that it gets harder to meet new people as you age," she said. "When I was in my mid-30s, I thought about getting married, but I don't have that urge anymore. "I'm just waiting for the time until I find my Mr. Right," she added.

Son admitted her envy for those who establish their own families, but that path may not be hers, at least for now. "In fact, you can't have everything you want," she said.It is becoming clearer by the day that the Government is not ready for Brexit. On Friday a report from the Northern Ireland Affairs select committee said there was no evidence that technology would be ready to manage the Irish border after Brexit.

That means that, when the UK leaves the European single market and customs union in December 2020, at the end of the post-Brexit transition period, there will have to be hard border controls.

And on Sunday, another select committee, the one shadowing the work of the Department for Exiting the European Union, is expected to urge the Government to seek a delay in our departure from the EU. A report agreed by a majority of the committee is understood to express doubt that the withdrawal agreement can be negotiated in time for the planned departure date of 29 March next year.

 Jean Claude Juncker calls for more clarity from Theresa May over Brexit

In both cases, the independence of some MPs is striking. The Northern Ireland committee report has been signed by all its members, including Leave-supporting Conservatives and Democratic Unionist Party MPs.

The Brexit committee has been sharply divided, by contrast, with five Conservatives, led by Jacob Rees-Mogg, publishing a dissenting minority report insisting that Britain must leave the EU next March come what may.

Three of their colleagues, however, sided with the majority. Conservative MPs Stephen Crabb, Jeremy Lefroy and Richard Graham are believed to have signed up to the committees demand for flexibility over the Brexit timetable. The majority report is thought to urge keeping open the option of delaying Brexit, and also of extending the transition period from the 21 months likely to be agreed next week.

Both these committees are to be congratulated for holding the Government to account as the Brexit process unfolds. When The Independent demanded rigorous parliamentary scrutiny, these reports, crossing party lines, were the kind of thing we had in mind.

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

These two reports identify two of the weakest links in Theresa Mays Brexit strategy. The sheer complexity of Brexit means that there simply is not enough time to negotiate the terms of our future trading relationship. The Government admitted that by seeking a transition period (Ms May still insists on calling it an implementation period) after Brexit in which little will change.

But even that is unlikely to be enough. The Prime Minister seems to take a typical politicians view: we will leave the EU and then sort out the problems later. The MPs are right to point out the folly of such an approach.

Just as their colleagues on the Northern Ireland committee are right to remind the Government of the insoluble contradiction of its policy on the Irish border. On that, Ms May seems simply to hope that turning a blind eye to small traders and calling a hard border a soft one for big business will muddle her through.

Such irresponsibility risks the collapse of negotiations and a no-deal Brexit. MPs are quite right to put pressure on the Prime Minister to avoid such a disastrous outcome.The North Kingston School Committee showed support for the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Subcommittee and board member Jen Lima amid debate regarding a proposal to recall Lima at their regularly-scheduled meeting Tuesday night. Debate regarding the DEI sub-committee dominated the majority of citizens comments during the meeting as some citizens expressed concern for the work the subcommittee is doing and the agenda proposed by its mission statement. The school committee voiced support for the subcommittees work and for Lima, who has become the focus of those opposing it. Lima is far from the only local or state politician facing backlash from constituents who have called for, or initiated, a recall less than a year after the 2020 election. Also Tuesday, California Governor Gavin Newsom easily defeated a recall effort that cost taxpayers an estimated $300 million or more. Do you believe it should be more difficult for citizens to recall an elected official after an election? Why or why not? Let us know below and cast your vote in this week's poll.

You voted:For full functionality of this site it is necessary to enable JavaScript. Here are the instructions how to enable JavaScript in your web browserWe're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on!

Go to formPediatric hematologist and oncologist at Dana-Farber/Bostons Childrens Cancer and Blood Disorders Center and Harvard Medical School assistant professor Dr. Vijay Sankaran (4th from left) has been awarded the third annual Gale and Ira Drukier Prize in Childrens Health Research. Among his many previous honors, the Indian American physician received the prestigious Young Investigator Award in 2015. (Cornell.edu/Stephanie Diani photo)Sweden's UN ambassador, Olof Skoog, said Friday his country is trying to help de-escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula by hosting North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, a visit some global observers believe could help pave the way for a meeting between the leaders of the U.S. and North Korea.

"The security situation on the peninsula is one of the most pressing issues on the world agenda right now, and if Sweden can play a part in de-escalation there, this is what we're trying to do," Skoog told reporters in New York.

Minister Ri and Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven met briefly in Stockholm Friday but Skoog and Lofven's spokesman would not disclose what the two leaders discussed.

Skoog added, however, the talks in Stockholm would "hopefully" help "create a good environment for such a meeting" and declined to comment when asked if Sweden would host a meeting of the U.S. and North Korean leaders. "We just want to be helpful in pursuing a de-escalation on the peninsula," he said.

The talks in Stockholm are to resume Saturday after they were initially scheduled to end Friday, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is seen with her right hand under a shawl March 15 at the airport as she leaves Jodhpur, Rajasthan. Clinton injured her hand, a doctor said March 16, after reportedly slipping in a bathtub at a palace in India. (AFP/Getty Images)Schoolgirls during a protest march against female feticide in Amritsar, March 23, 2012. Police in New Delhi have arrested a doctor for running a mobile sex determination clinic out of his car. Sex determination tests were made illegal in 1994 as Indias gender balance became increasingly skewed. (Narinder Nanu/AFP/Getty Images)Lies Can Lead To War

By Paul Craig Roberts

March 16, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - Notice that the governments of the US, UK, France, and Germany did not require any evidence to decide that the Russian government used military-grade nerve gas to attack two people on an English park bench and a UK policeman. It makes no sense. There is no Russian motive.

The motive lies in the West. It is the latest orchestration in the ongoing demonization of Russia. The demonization is a huge boost to the power and profit of the military/security complex and prevents President Trump from normalizing relations. The military/securitys budget and power require a major enemy, and Russia is the designated enemy and will not be allowed to escape that assigned role.

Never Miss Another Story Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

The false accusations against Russia are damaging the Western countries that make and support the accusations. There has never any evidence provided for any of the accusations. Consider them: the Malaysian airliner, Crimea, the polonium poisoning of a Russian in the UK, Putins alleged intention to restore the Soviet Empire, Russiagate and the stealing of the US presidential election, other charges of election theft or interference. The current Skripal poisoning. Accusations abound, but never any evidence. Eventually even insouciant Western peoples begin to wonder about the transformation of evidence-free accusations into truth.

What do leaders and peoples of the few independent and sovereign countries think when they see a signed condemnation of Russia for poisoning a long-retired UK double-agent without a scrap of evidence by the political heads of the four major Western countries? What do the Chinese think? The Iranians? The Indians? We know that the Russians are beginning to think that they are being set up by demonization for invasion, as was Saddam Hussein, Gaddafi, Assad, Yemen, and the attempt on Iran. It is finally dawning on Russia that all these accusations are not some kind of mistake that diplomacy can straighten out, but, instead, the setting up of Russia for military attack.

This is a reckless, irresponsible, and dangerous impression for the West to give Russia. Some commentators, who understand the falsity of the Skripal accusation, explain, in my view incorrectly, that UK prime minister May orchestrated the charge in order to divert attention from her Brexit difficulties. Others say, incorrectly, that it is an effort to turn the Russian election against Putin. Some have concluded that Skripal was involved in the fake Steele dossier, and was silenced by Western intelligence, whether UK or US.

Even an astute observer, such as Moon of Alabama, has been confused by these explanations. Nevertheless I recommend his article - which obviously was written prior to the French President, German Chancellor, and President Trumps endorsement of UK prime minister Mays unsupported charges. The article shows that both US and UK experts do not think that the alleged Russian nerve agent used in the alleged poisoning even exists. Perhaps this is why the British government will not agree to any tests and can supply no evidence.

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was columnist for Business Week, Scripps Howard News Service, and Creators Syndicate. He has had many university appointments. His internet columns have attracted a worldwide following. Roberts' latest books are The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the West , How America Was Lost , and The Neoconservative Threat to World Order .March 16, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - President Donald Trump's decision this week to nominate Gina Haspelan intelligence official civil libertarians argue "should be in jail" for her role in the Bush administration's torture regimeas the next CIA chief has illuminated something of a spectrum of torture apologists among America's political elite.

Placing herself firmly on the far-right end of this spectrum on Tuesday was Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wy.), daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, who tweeted a proud defense of the CIA's euphemistically-named torture program at Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who argued the Senate should closely scrutinize Haspel's role in overseeing the torture of detainees at U.S. black sites overseas.

The Enhanced Interrogation Program saved lives, prevented attacks, & produced intel that led to Osama bin Laden. The techniques were the same as those used on our own people in the SERE program. No one should slander the brave men & women who carried out this crucial program. https://t.co/IXQuldr1R6  Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) March 13, 2018

In openly praising the Bush torture regime and the "brave men and women" who carried it out, Cheney differentiated her position from that of many Washington establishment figures who have defended Haspel's role in overseeing the Bush torture program this week, on the grounds that she was merely "following orders."

Never Miss Another Story Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

For instance, former CIA director Michael Hayden wrote in an op-ed for The Hill on Wednesday that Haspel's "role in CIA's counterterrorism program" should not be cause for concern, as she was merely doing "nothing more and nothing less than what the nation and the agency asked her to do."

Highlighting several similar examples in an article for The Intercept on Thursday, Jon Schwartz argues the defense of Haspel offered by Hayden, former Obama officials, and some lawmakers is precisely the defense Nazis used during the Nuremberg trials following the Second World War.

While Nuremberg judges rejected the "Nuremberg defense" as illegitimate, "many members of the Washington, D.C. elite are now stating that it, in fact, is a legitimate defense for American officials who violate international law to claim they were just following orders," Schwartz writes.

In a tweet on Thursday, Trevor Timm, executive director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, summarized the principal narratives of torture apologistsall of which serve to undermine all attempts to hold those who oversee violations of international law accountable for their actions.

The CIA shell game:

If you carried out the torture, you shouldn't be prosecuted b/c you were "following orders"

If you gave the orders, you shouldn't b/c you relied on "legal advice"

If you wrote the legal advice, you shouldn't b/c then lawyers won't give their candid opinion  Trevor Timm (@trevortimm) March 15, 2018

The rush among the intelligence establishment to defend Haspel's past comes as civil liberties groups are ramping up efforts to stop her confirmation. As The Daily Beast's Spencer Ackerman notes, these groups "spent Barack Obama's presidency loudly warning that without prosecutions for torture, it will be a matter of time before torture returns."

Now that the U.S. has a president who campaigned on bringing back torture, the effort to block Haspel is "a fight [rights groups] feel compelled to wage," Ackerman writes.

"Gina Haspel dishonored our country and disgraced herself by participating in the CIA torture program and the destruction of criminal evidence," Wells Dixon of the Center on Constitutional Rights, told The Daily Beast. "We do not believe she should be director of the CIA. Rather, she should be in jail."In Case You Missed it



Map Shows Why Russia Developed New Nuclear Weapons System





Watch



Mike Maloney explains how NATO/USA has eaten away at Russia's defenses.



March 16, 2018 - Originally posted 2016

Never Miss Another Story Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

The views and opinions expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect those of Information Clearing House.

=====

Join the DiscussionThe Implications of Russia's New Weapon Systems By Andrei Martyanov March 16, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - During the August 2008 Russo-Georgian War, the operations of Russias 58th Army were termed as coercion into peace. It is an appropriate term once one recalls what truly was at stake then. Russians did win that war and, indeed, coerced Georgia into a much more peaceful mood. In Clausewitzian terms the Russians achieved the main object of the war by compelling the enemy to do Russias will. Russians, as the events of the last 19 years showed, have no illusions anymore about the possibility of any kind of reasonable civilized conduct from the combined West, least of all from the United States which still continues to reside in her bubble which insulates her from any outside voices of reason and peace. The American global track record of the last few decades does not require any special elaborationsit is a record of military and humanitarian disasters. Never Miss Another Story Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter Vladimir Putins March 1st, 2018 address to Russias Federal Assembly was not about Russias upcoming presidential elections, as many in the election-obsessed West suggest. Putins speech was about coercing Americas elites into, if not peace, at least into some form of sanity, given that they are currently completely detached from the geopolitical, military and economic realities of a newly emerging world. As it was the case with Georgia in 2008, the coercion was based on military power. The Pre-Shoigu Russian Army, for all its real and perceived shortcomings, disposed of the US-trained and partially equipped Georgian force in a matter of five daysthe Russian Armys technology, personnel and operational art was simply better. Obviously such a scenario is not possible between Russia and the United States; that is unless the American myth of technological superiority is blown out of the water. American power elites, the majority of whom have never served a day in uniform nor ever attended serious military academic institutions and whose expertise on serious military-technological and geopolitical issues is limited to couple of seminars on nuclear weapons and, in the best case scenario, the efforts of the Congressional Research Service are simply not qualified to grasp the complexity, the nature and application of military force. They simply have no reference points. Yet, being a product of the American pop-military culture, also known as military porn and propaganda, these peoplethis collection of lawyers, political scientists, sociologists and journalists who dominate the American strategic kitchen which cooks non-stop delusional geopolitical and military doctrines, can understand one thing for surewhen their poor dears get a bulls-eye on their backs, or foreheads. Putins message to the United States was extremely simple: he reminded the US about its condescending refusal to even consider Russias position on the ABM Treaty. As Jeffrey Lewis, in a surprising moment of sobriety for Foreign Policy magazine put it: The real genesis of Russias new generation of bizarre nuclear weapons lies not in the most recent Nuclear Posture Review, but in the George W. Bush administrations decision in 2001 to withdraw from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, and the bipartisan failure by both the Bush and Obama administrations to engage meaningfully with the Russians over their concerns about American missile defenses. Putin said as much in his remarks. During all these years since the unilateral U.S. withdrawal from the ABM Treaty, Putin explained, we have been working intensively on advanced equipment and arms, which allowed us to make a breakthrough in developing new models of strategic weapons. Those technological breakthroughs are now here. Sadly, were never got the diplomatic ones we needed. Putins message was clear: You didnt listen to us then, you will listen to us now. After that he proceeded with what can only be described as a military-technological Pearl-Harbor meets Stalingrad. The strategic ramifications of the latest weapon systems Putin presented are immense. In fact, they are historic in nature. Of course, many American pundits, expectedly, dismissed that as blusterit is expected from the US military expert community. Others were not as dismissive and some were, indeed, deeply shocked. The overall impression today, a day after Putins presentation, can be described in simple terms as such: the missile gap is real and, in fact, it is not a gap but a technological abyss. Paradoxically, this abyss is not where many do admit itsuch as the RS-28 Sarmat ballistic missile, whose existence and approximate characteristics were more or less known for years. It is, undeniably, an impressive technological achievement of having a ballistic missile with not only practically unlimited range but also capable of trajectories which render any kind of Anti-Ballistic Defense useless. In the end, to be attacked from the South Pole, through South America, is not a contingency the US military is capable of facing. Probably not for very many years. Nor is the Russian M=20+ hypersonic glider weapon system called Avangard, which is already in series production, an unexpected developmentthe United States has its own, albeit not successful yet, program for such types of weapons and those ideas were being floated in the US since the mid-2000s under the tutelage of the PGS (Prompt Global Strike). Yes, these are stunning technological achievements by Russia with Jeffrey Lewis term bizarre being a euphemism for we dont have anything comparable, but it wasnt even here where the real shock should be. Several of my articles on this resource have been focused precisely in the area where the United States was more than laggingcruise missiles, all kinds of them. I predicted the American real military decline coming namely by this path many years ago, today it is patently clear that Russia holds an overwhelming military-technological advantage in cruise and aero-ballistic missiles and leads the US by decades in this crucial field. While Western punditry was discussing all those exotic and, no doubt, stunning weapon systems designed for the delivery of nuclear weapons to any point on the globe with very high precision, many true professionals were gasping for the air when the Dagger (Kinzhal) was unveiled. This is a complete game changer geopolitically, strategically, operationally, tactically and psychologically. It was known for some time now that Russian Navy was already deploying a revolutionary M=8 capable 3M22 Zircon anti-shipping missile. As impressive and virtually uninterceptable by any air defenses the Zircon is, the Kinzhal is simply shocking in its capabilities. This, most likely based on the famed Iskander airframe, M=10+ capable, highly maneuverable, aero-ballistic missile with a range of 2000 kilometers, carried by MiG-31BMs, just rewrote the book on naval warfare. It made large surface fleets and combatants obsolete. No, you are not misreading it. No air-defense or anti-missile system in the world today (maybe with the exception of the upcoming S-500 specifically designed for the interception of hyper-sonic targets) is capable of doing anything about it, and, most likely, it will take decades to find the antidote. More specifically, no modern or perspective air-defense system deployed today by any NATO fleet can intercept even a single missile with such characteristics. A salvo of 5-6 such missiles guarantees the destruction of any Carrier Battle Group or any other surface group, for that matterall this without use of nuclear munitions. The usage of such a weapon, especially since we know now that it is deployed already in Russias Southern Military District is very simplethe most likely missile drop spot by MiG-31s will be in the international waters of the Black Sea, thus closing off the whole Eastern Mediterranean to any surface ship or group of ships. Russia can also close off the Persian Gulf completely. It also creates a massive no-go zone in the Pacific, where MiG-31BMs from Yelizovo in Kamchatka or Centralnaya Uglovaya Air Base in Primosrky Krai will be able to patrol vast distances over the ocean. It is, though, remarkable that the current platform for the Kinzhal is the MiG-31arguably the best interceptor in history. Obviously, the MiG-31s ability to reach very high supersonic speeds (well in excess of M=2) is a key factor in the launch. But no matter what the procedures for the launch of this terrifying weapon are, the immediate strategic consequences of Kinzhals operational deployment are as follows: It finally moves aircraft carriers into the niche of pure power projection against weak and defenseless adversaries, and away from the remote sea zone of Russia, be it the Mediterranean, Pacific or North Atlantic. This also means a complete no-go zone for any of the 33 Aegis-equipped US Navy destroyers and cruisers which are crucial for American Ballistic Missile Defense; It makes classic CBGs as a main strike force against a peer or near-peer completely obsolete and useless, it also makes any surface combat ship defenseless regardless of its air-defense or anti-missile capabilities. It completely annuls hundreds of billions of dollars investment into those platforms and weapons, which suddenly become nothing more than fat defenseless targets. The whole concept of Air-Sea Battle, aka Joint Concept for Access and Maneuver in the Global Commons (JAM-GC), which is a cornerstone of American global dominance becomes simply uselessthis is a doctrinal and fiscal catastrophe. Sea Control and Sea Denial change their nature and merge. Those who have such weapons, simply own vast spaces of the sea limited by the ranges of the Kinzhal and its carriers. It also removes completely any crucial surface support for submarines in the area, thus exposing them for Patrol/ASW aviation and surface ships. The effect is multiplicative and it is profound. Russia has many of those carriersthe program of modernization of MiG-31s to BM was in full steam for some years now, with front line Air Force units seeing a considerable inflow of these aircraft. It is clear now why such modernization was undertakenit made MiG-31BMs into launch platforms for the Kinzhal. As Marine Major General James L. Jones went on record in 1991, after the First Gulf War, All it takes to panic a battlegroup is seeing somebody dropping a couple of 50-gallon drums into the water. The Kinzhal effectively removes any non-suicidal surface force thousands of miles away from Russias shores and renders its capabilities irrelevant. In laymans lingo that means only one thingthe US Navys whole surface component becomes a complete hollow force good only for parades and flag demonstration near and in the littorals of weak and underdeveloped nations. This can be done for a tiny fraction of the astronomical costs of US platforms and weapons. It is very difficult at this stage to fully predict the political fallout of Putins speech in the US. What is easy to predict, however, is the use of the beaten to death cliche of asymmetry. The use of this cliche is wrong. What happened on March 1st this year with the announcement and demonstration of new Russian weapons is not asymmetry, it was an acknowledgement of the final arrival of a completely new paradigm in warfare, military technology and, as a consequence in strategy and operational art. Old rules and wisdom have ceased to apply. The United Sates was not and is not prepared for this, despite many real professionals, including in the US itself, warning about the new unfolding military-technological paradigm and a complete American myopia and hubris in anything military related. As Colonel Daniel Davies was forced to admit: However justified that pride might have been at the time, it quickly mutated into distasteful arrogance. Now, it is an outright danger to the nation. Perhaps nothing exemplifies this threat better than the Pentagons dysfunctional acquisition system. It is prudent to predict today, against the background of an American approach to war that there will be no sensible technological American response to Russia in the foreseeable future. The United States simply has no resources, other than turning on the printing presses and completely bankrupting itself in the process, to counter. But here is the point, Russians know this and Putins speech was not about directly threatening the US which, for all intents and purposes, is simply defenseless against the plethora of Russias hyper-sonic weapons. Russia does not pursue the objective of destroying the United States. Russias actions are dictated by only one causeto pull a gun on a drunk, rowdy, knife wielding bully in the bar and get him to pay attention to what others may have to say. In other words, Russia brought the gun to a knife fight and it seems that this is the only way to deal with the United States today. If warnings and the demonstration of Russian military-technological superiority will have an effect, as was the Russian intent from the beginning, some sensible conversation on the new world order may start between key geopolitical players. The world cannot afford any more a pretentious, self-aggrandizing and hollow bully which knows not what it does and threatens the worlds stability and peace. American self-proclaimed hegemony is over where it really matters for any real and perceived hegemonthe military field. It was over for some time now, it just took Putins speech to demonstrate the good old Al Capone truism that one can get much further with a kind word and a gun than with a kind word alone. After all, Russia did try a kind word alone, it didnt work and the United States has only itself to blame. This article was originally published by " Unz Review " - The views and opinions expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect those of Information Clearing House. ===== Join the Discussion It is not necessary for ICH readers to register before placing a comment. We ask that you treat others with respect. Take a moment to read the following - Comment Policy - What Or Who is Information Clearing House and Purpose and Intent of this website: It is unacceptable to slander, smear or engage in personal attacks on authors of articles posted on ICH. Those engaging in that behavior will be banned from the comment section.WMD Lies Strike Again: The Skripal Incident By Tony Cartalucci March 16, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - As the West rallies around recent allegations by the UK against Russia regarding the alleged poisoning of former Russian military intelligence officer-turned British spy  Sergei Skripal  it is crucial to point out the alarming lack of actual evidence involved. It is also important to point out the history of the accusers predicating entire wars on allegations now confirmed to have been intentional lies. The Skripal Incident The alleged poisoning of Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, UK on March 4 led to a lighting-fast escalation with Russia. Not even two weeks after the attack, UK Prime Minister Theresa May declared a deadline for Russia to provide an explanation for the incident the UK had squarely blamed on Moscow. Never Miss Another Story Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter The Kremlins explanation was simple  it had nothing to do with the attack. Russia also offered to aid in the investigation, requesting samples of the poison used in the alleged attack. However, the UK failed to produce any samples of the alleged poison  a Soviet-era nerve agent known as Novichok  either to the Russians to examine or to relevant international organizations as required under the Chemical Weapons Convention. The UK also failed to explain why Russia would have carried out such an attack  or how the UK could have confirmed the use of Novichok agents without first possessing samples of the agents themselves. If the UK possessed Novichok agents to compare samples taken from the attack with, the entire rationale of accusing Russia because it is supposedly the only nation in possession of the agents is revealed as entirely false. US, UK Certainly Have Novichoks The Daily Beast in its article, Soviet Scientist Who Developed Novichok Poison Used on Sergei Skripal: Im Sorry, would admit: For the prime minister to be able to publicly accuse the Russians of using a nerve agent like a novichok, British authorities at least must have had access to novichoks unique chemical signaturewhich it legally could have had despite the Chemical Weapons Convention, due to the clause of countries being able to hold samples for testing in these incidences.



Testing for novichoks, even based on a formula published by Mirzayanov in a memoir based on his work in the 1980s, is a potential sign that the British have potential access to newer variants of the nerve agent. The Guardian too would admit in an article titled, Novichok nerve agents  what are they?, that: The fact that so little is known about the novichoks may explain why Porton Down scientists took several days to identify the compound used in the attack against the Skripals. And while the agents were invented in the Soviet Union, other labs with access to the chemical structures would be able to manufacture them too. The fact that the alleged creator of Novichok agents  Vil Mirzayanov  fled to and currently lives in the United States suggests the West has both knowledge of and the means to create Novichok agents themselves. The UKs presumption that only Russia could have produced the agents when the creator of Novichok lives in the United States  and British labs clearly have access to the poison  is at face value contradictory and dishonest. Since the UK has refused to produce any tangible evidence, including producing samples under its obligations to the Chemical Weapons Convention, all that is left for the international community to consider is the source of these accusations. Consider the Source: The West Has a Sordid History of WMD Lies In the lead up to the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, the Western media sold the global public tales of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). Then US Secretary of State Colin Powell sat before the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) presenting fabricated evidence to the world in an effort to build a case for the upcoming US invasion. Powell would claim (emphasis added): We know that Saddam Hussein is determined to keep his weapons of mass destruction; hes determined to make more. Given Saddam Husseins history of aggression, given what we know of his grandiose plans, given what we know of his terrorist associations and given his determination to exact revenge on those who oppose him, should we take the risk that he will not some day use these weapons at a time and the place and in the manner of his choosing at a time when the world is in a much weaker position to respond? Yet upon the US invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq, none of these supposed weapons of mass destruction were found. Eventually the US and UK incrementally began admitting to fabricating evidence, sexing up dossiers, intentionally citing unreliable sources, and misleading their allies and the world. Former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown would accuse the US of intentionally misleading the UK. In a Guardian article titled, Gordon Brown says Pentagon misled UK over case for Iraq invasion, its admitted that: The US defence department knew that Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction but kept Britain in the dark, according to an explosive new claim from Gordon Brown. In an extraordinary allegation, the former prime minister states that a secret US intelligence report into Iraqs military capabilities was never passed to Britain and could have changed the course of events. The revelation leads Brown to conclude that the war could not be justified as a last resort and invasion cannot now be seen as a proportionate response. Other reports attempted to claim the US itself was duped by unreliable intelligence sources. The UK Independent in an article titled, Curveball: How US was duped by Iraqi fantasist looking to topple Saddam, would claim: As US secretary of state, Colin Powell gathered his notes in front of the United Nations security council, the man watching  Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi, known to the wests intelligence services as Curveball  had more than an inkling of what was to come. He was, after all, Powells main source Everything he had said about the inner workings of Saddam Husseins biological weapons programme was a flight of fantasy  one that, he now claims was aimed at ousting the Iraqi dictator. The Independent  however  stretches credibility by claiming al-Janabi duped the US. The same Independent article would admit that al-Janabi was never even in contact with the US directly despite the US basing its entire UNSC presentation on his claims. The lack of due diligence in confirming al-Janabis admitted lies doesnt suggest a concerted attempt on Washingtons part to ascertain the truth, but a cynical and intentional attempt to conceal it. The US simply found whatever source it could to bolster otherwise baseless accusations to justify an otherwise unjustifiable war it had already long-ago elected to wage. In hindsight, even then US President George Bush admitted there were no weapons of mass destruction. President Bush attempted to blame faulty intelligence, but as the Powell-al-Janabi connection  or rather  disconnection reveals, there was never any intelligence to begin with  simply fabricated lies. Who Will Play Powell, Bush, and Curveball This Time? This brings us back to the Skripal incident. The accusations of the British government already arent adding up. Considering the lack of actual evidence the UK has provided and the British governments verified history of fabricating claims regarding the use of WMDs to advance it and its allies geopolitical agendas  the burden of proof never rested upon Russia. Just as the US and UK did during the lead up to the Iraq War in 2003, an avalanche of propaganda is being produced to stampede the world into backing whatever long-ago elected course of action the West has decided to take against Russia. In the hindsight of whatever course of action the UK and its allies decide to take in the coming days, weeks, and months based on the Skripal incident, who will play the role of Curveball who supposedly duped Theresa May in making her Powell-style accusations before declaring her Bush-style retaliation? And considering the ramifications for the West regarding its lies in the lead up to Iraq and the fallout the West has faced in the aftermath of Iraqs destruction, what do Western policymakers expect to gain from an incident many times more transparently staged and self-serving against a world increasingly skeptical of their claims and actions? Still, the accusations are serious and the prepared responses from the West will assuredly further endanger global peace and stability. That the alleged attack took place on British soil means that  unlike in Syria  there is no UNSC the West must pass through before taking matters into its own hands. This fact alone  following years of frustration in the face of Russias veto power upon the UNSC in regards to Syria  makes the nature of the Skripal incident even more suspicious. The UK appears to have a pretext and a clear path toward escalation before it  how far it and its allies are prepared to go remains to be seen. Tony Cartalucci, Bangkok-based geopolitical researcher and writer, especially for the online magazine New Eastern Outlook. The views and opinions expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect those of Information Clearing House. ===== Join the Discussion It is not necessary for ICH readers to register before placing a comment. We ask that you treat others with respect. Take a moment to read the following - Comment Policy - What Or Who is Information Clearing House and Purpose and Intent of this website: It is unacceptable to slander, smear or engage in personal attacks on authors of articles posted on ICH. Those engaging in that behavior will be banned from the comment section.March 16, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - In 13 years of running my blog I have never been exposed to such a tirade of abuse as I have for refusing to accept without evidence that Russia is the only possible culprit for the Salisbury attack. The abuse has mostly been on twitter, and much of the most venomous stuff has come from corporate and state media journalists. I suppose I am a standing rebuke to them for merely being stenographers to power and never doing any actual research, but that hardly explains the visceral levels of hatred exhibited.

Today they are all terrifically happy and sharing amongst themselves a lengthy twitter thread by a Blairite and chemist called Clyde Davis in which they all say I am owned and my article disproven. There are two remarkable things about this thread.

The first remarkable thing is the remarkably high percentage of those who are sharing it with commendations who are mainstream media journalists. Last I saw was George Monbiot five minutes ago, but there are dozens. I suppose it is important to them as validating their decision to support uncritically the government line without doing any actual journalism.

Never Miss Another Story Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

The second remarkable thing is that the thread they are all sharing misses out almost all my side of the conversation. An objective observer might think that made it hard to say who won the argument. To be fair, that is probably not deliberate but appears to be a result of how twitter does threading. Here I reconstruct by paste the thread with my responses. It may give a better idea of whether Mr Davis completely destroys my article, as the professional journalists are all claiming. And as Mr Davies is critiquing my article, perhaps you might refresh yourself on that first here.

Neither my reply nor Davies rejoinder are included in the thread which the mainstream journalists are circulating. Note that Davies responds to being challenged, with a riposte which is untrue. The OPCW have never changed their position on the physical existence of novichoks from the position I gave and referenced in my article. By contrast, Mr Davies gives no reference for his claim the OPCW has changed its mind. Personally I find it problematic that somebody like Mr Davies who blusters so loud on scientific method, responds to a challenge to his position with an apparent invention.

It is indeed true that Porton Down (which here means the British government), however, have changed their position since 2016 when, as I again demonstrated in my article with references, they said there was no evidence for the physical existence of novichoks. Now apparently they have said not only do they have one, but it is indubitably Russian. If a novichok is indeed in the possession of Porton Down, of course scientists, like diplomats and the others involved, will change their position on the existence of Novichoks. As will I. But that, in any sense, that will prove it is of Russian manufacture is a totally different question.











Then along came the man who really did put me to shame. A Mr Kevin Smyth who completely demolished Davis with a simple polite question:

That part of the exchange is also missing from the thread being circulated so gleefully at the moment.

So what does Davies tell us in this article delivered by twitter which demolishes my article.

1) Davies acknowledges that until recently Porton Down and OPCW doubted the physical existence of novichoks. He says they have now changed their minds. [Porton Down has indeed undergone a remarkable change of mind in the last week , but the OPCW has yet to see the evidence].

2) Davis states that chemists can tell if a compound corresponds to one of the novichoks described by Mirzyanov, but Davis specifically accepts that does not prove Russian manufacture.

3) Davis nevertheless states strongly it is Russia because he believes Russia has form and motive.

Nothing here can remotely be said to be conclusive. The question that puzzles me, is why are so many mainstream media journalists gleefully seizing on this series of tweets as a destruction of the need for sceptical inquiry? A possible answer:

1) Davies by claiming credentials as a chemist conforms to the corporate media urge for an appeal to authority. He validates the government line and he is a chemist. He can throw in the names of chemicals and molecular diagrams. That kind of thing impresses journalists. That he explicitly admits the chemistry cannot prove Russia did it, is apparently irrelevant.

2) Davies thus provides a smokescreen of respectability by which they can continue to advance their careers by cutting and pasting the government line without question.

In fact, all of Davies chemistry in this exchange sets out to prove something which was never disputed  that chemists are able to identify whether or not a substance is one of the novichok compounds described by Mirzyanov. But as he published the formulae two decades ago, and has been living in the USA, and as the US dismantled and studied the Nukus plant, and as Porton Down had never seen any evidence the Russians actually succeeded in synthesising novichoks, this in no way adds up to evidence of Russian manufacture. As Davies, to his credit, finally acknowledged when confronted by an interlocutor for whom he did not have automatic hatred.

I cant say the midgies bother me that much. But they are interesting to study.The European Commission called for industry views on Friday on a list of U.S. products it will subject to import tariffs if the United States taxes European steel and aluminum.

The Commission plans to set duties of 25 percent on a range of U.S. products, from maize to motorbikes, whose annual imports to the European Union are worth some 2.8 billion euros ($3.45 billion).

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an order last week that would subject incoming steel to a tariff of 25 percent and aluminum 10 percent, albeit with exemptions for Canada, Mexico and possibly other countries.

The European Commission, which oversees trade policy for the 28-member European Union, is still unclear how it might secure an exemption. U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom are due to discuss the issue at a meeting next week.

The Novichok Story Is Indeed Another Iraqi WMD Scam By Craig Murray March 16, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - As recently as 2016 Dr Robin Black, Head of the Detection Laboratory at the UKs only chemical weapons facility at Porton Down, a former colleague of Dr David Kelly, published in an extremely prestigious scientific journal that the evidence for the existence of Novichoks was scant and their composition unknown. In recent years, there has been much speculation that a fourth generation of nerve agents, Novichoks (newcomer), was developed in Russia, beginning in the 1970s as part of the Foliant programme, with the aim of finding agents that would compromise defensive countermeasures. Information on these compounds has been sparse in the public domain, mostly originating from a dissident Russian military chemist, Vil Mirzayanov. No independent confirmation of the structures or the properties of such compounds has been published. (Black, 2016) Robin Black. (2016) Development, Historical Use and Properties of Chemical Warfare Agents. Royal Society of Chemistry Never Miss Another Story Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter Yet now, the British Government is claiming to be able instantly to identify a substance which its only biological weapons research centre has never seen before and was unsure of its existence. Worse, it claims to be able not only to identify it, but to pinpoint its origin. Given Dr Blacks publication, it is plain that claim cannot be true. The worlds international chemical weapons experts share Dr Blacks opinion. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is a UN body based in the Hague. In 2013 this was the report of its Scientific Advisory Board, which included US, French, German and Russian government representatives and on which Dr Black was the UK representative: [The SAB] emphasised that the definition of toxic chemicals in the Convention would cover all potential candidate chemicals that might be utilised as chemical weapons. Regarding new toxic chemicals not listed in the Annex on Chemicals but which may nevertheless pose a risk to the Convention, the SAB makes reference to Novichoks. The name Novichok is used in a publication of a former Soviet scientist who reported investigating a new class of nerve agents suitable for use as binary chemical weapons. The SAB states that it has insufficient information to comment on the existence or properties of Novichoks. (OPCW, 2013) OPCW: Report of the Scientific Advisory Board on developments in science and technology for the Third Review Conference 27 March 2013 Indeed the OPCW was so sceptical of the viability of novichoks that it decided  with US and UK agreement  not to add them nor their alleged precursors to its banned list. In short, the scientific community broadly accepts Mirzayanov was working on novichoks but doubts he succeeded. Given that the OPCW has taken the view the evidence for the existence of Novichoks is dubious, if the UK actually has a sample of one it is extremely important the UK presents that sample to the OPCW. Indeed the UK has a binding treaty obligation to present that sample to OPCW. Russa has  unreported by the corporate media  entered a demand at the OPCW that Britain submit a sample of the Salisbury material for international analysis. Yet Britain refuses to submit it to the OPCW. Why? A second part of Mays accusation is that Novichoks could only be made in certain military installations. But that is also demonstrably untrue. If they exist at all, Novichoks were allegedly designed to be able to be made at bench level in any commercial chemical facility  that was a major point of them. The only real evidence for the existence of Novichoks was the testimony of the ex-Soviet scientist Mizayanov. And this is what Mirzayanov actually wrote. One should be mindful that the chemical components or precursors of A-232 or its binary version novichok-5 are ordinary organophosphates that can be made at commercial chemical companies that manufacture such products as fertilizers and pesticides. Vil S. Mirzayanov, Dismantling the Soviet/Russian Chemical Weapons Complex: An Insiders View, in Amy E. Smithson, Dr. Vil S. Mirzayanov, Gen Roland Lajoie, and Michael Krepon, Chemical Weapons Disarmament in Russia: Problems and Prospects, Stimson Report No. 17, October 1995, p. 21. It is a scientific impossibility for Porton Down to have been able to test for Russian novichoks if they have never possessed a Russian sample to compare them to. They can analyse a sample as conforming to a Mirzayanov formula, but as he published those to the world twenty years ago, that is no proof of Russian origin. If Porton Down can synthesise it, so can many others, not just the Russians. And finally  Mirzayanov is an Uzbek name and the novichok programme, assuming it existed, was in the Soviet Union but far away from modern Russia, at Nukus in modern Uzbekistan. I have visited the Nukus chemical weapons site myself. It was dismantled and made safe and all the stocks destroyed and the equipment removed by the American government, as I recall finishing while I was Ambassador there. There has in fact never been any evidence that any novichok ever existed in Russia itself. To summarise: 1) Porton Down has acknowledged in publications it has never seen any Russian novichoks. The UK government has absolutely no fingerprint information such as impurities that can safely attribute this substance to Russia.

2) Until now, neither Porton Down nor the worlds experts at the Organisation for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) were convinced Novichoks even exist.

3) The UK is refusing to provide a sample to the OPCW.

4) Novichoks were specifically designed to be able to be manufactured from common ingredients on any scientific bench. The Americans dismantled and studied the facility that allegedly developed them. It is completely untrue only the Russians could make them, if anybody can.

5) The Novichok programme was in Uzbekistan not in Russia. Its legacy was inherited by the Americans during their alliance with Karimov, not by the Russians. With a great many thanks to sources who cannot be named at this moment. Of A Type Developed By Liars By Craig Murray March 16, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - I have now received confirmation from a well placed FCO source that Porton Down scientists are not able to identify the nerve gas as being of Russian manufacture, and have been resentful of the pressure being placed on them to do so. Porton Down would only sign up to the formulation of a type developed by Russia after a rather difficult meeting where this was agreed as a compromise formulation. The Russians were allegedly researching, in the Novichok programme a generation of nerve agents which could be produced from commercially available precursors such as insecticides and fertilisers. This substance is a novichok in that sense. It is of that type. Just as I am typing on a laptop of a type developed by the United States, though this one was made in China. To anybody with a Whitehall background this has been obvious for several days. The government has never said the nerve agent was made in Russia, or that it can only be made in Russia. The exact formulation of a type developed by Russia was used by Theresa May in parliament, used by the UK at the UN Security Council, used by Boris Johnson on the BBC yesterday and, most tellingly of all, of a type developed by Russia is the precise phrase used in the joint communique issued by the UK, USA, France and Germany yesterday: This use of a military-grade nerve agent, of a type developed by Russia, constitutes the first offensive use of a nerve agent in Europe since the Second World War. When the same extremely careful phrasing is never deviated from, you know it is the result of a very delicate Whitehall compromise. My FCO source, like me, remembers the extreme pressure put on FCO staff and other civil servants to sign off the dirty dossier on Iraqi WMD, some of which pressure I recount in my memoir Murder in Samarkand. She volunteered the comparison to what is happening now, particularly at Porton Down, with no prompting from me. Separately I have written to the media office at OPCW to ask them to confirm that there has never been any physical evidence of the existence of Russian Novichoks, and the programme of inspection and destruction of Russian chemical weapons was completed last year. Did you know these interesting facts? OPCW inspectors have had full access to all known Russian chemical weapons facilities for over a decade  including those identified by the Novichok alleged whistleblower Mirzayanov  and last year OPCW inspectors completed the destruction of the last of 40,000 tonnes of Russian chemical weapons By contrast the programme of destruction of US chemical weapons stocks still has five years to run Israel has extensive stocks of chemical weapons but has always refused to declare any of them to the OPCW. Israel is not a state party to the Chemical Weapons Convention nor a member of the OPCW. Israel signed in 1993 but refused to ratify as this would mean inspection and destruction of its chemical weapons. Israel undoubtedly has as much technical capacity as any state to synthesise Novichoks. Until this week, the near universal belief among chemical weapons experts, and the official position of the OPCW, was that Novichoks were at most a theoretical research programme which the Russians had never succeeded in actually synthesising and manufacturing. That is why they are not on the OPCW list of banned chemical weapons. Porton Down is still not certain it is the Russians who have apparently synthesised a Novichok. Hence Of a type developed by Russia. Note developed, not made, produced or manufactured. It is very carefully worded propaganda. Of a type developed by liars. UPDATE This post prompted another old colleague to get in touch. On the bright side, the FCO have persuaded Boris he has to let the OPCW investigate a sample. But not just yet. The expectation is the inquiry committee will be chaired by a Chinese delegate. The Boris plan is to get the OPCW also to sign up to the as developed by Russia formula, and diplomacy to this end is being undertaken in Beijing right now. I dont suppose there is any sign of the BBC doing any actual journalism on this? Craig Murray is an author, broadcaster and human rights activist. He was British Ambassador to Uzbekistan from August 2002 to October 2004 and Rector of the University of Dundee from 2007 to 2010. https://www.craigmurray.org.uk The views and opinions expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect those of Information Clearing House. ===== - See Also - Russian diplomat insists Moscow has never possessed novichok nerve agent The jingoistic fear of Russia is out of control : The Salisbury poisoning has exposed the hysteria of Britains rulers. Join the Discussion It is not necessary for ICH readers to register before placing a comment. We ask that you treat others with respect. Take a moment to read the following - Comment Policy - What Or Who is Information Clearing House and Purpose and Intent of this website: It is unacceptable to slander, smear or engage in personal attacks on authors of articles posted on ICH. Those engaging in that behavior will be banned from the comment section.This Is Democracy?

Haley: Vote With U.S. at U.N. or Well Cut Your Aid

March 16, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley is proposing a sweeping reassessment of U.S. foreign assistance with a view to punishing dozens of poor countries that vote against U.S. policies at the U.N., according to a confidential internal memo drafted by her staff.

The move to make foreign aid conditional on political support follows a U.S. decision to cut tens of millions of dollars in assistance to Palestinian refugees, a cut made in retaliation for Palestines sponsorship of U.N. resolutions denouncing U.S. President Donald Trumps controversial recognition of Jerusalem as Israels capital. Haley now wants to apply a similar principle to decisions about aid to other needy countries.

It is the opinion of the U.S. mission to the U.N. that all U.S. foreign assistance should be reevaluated to ensure that taxpayers dollars are spent to advance U.S. interests, not to fund foreign legacy programs that provide little or no return on investment, according to the 53-page memo, which was reviewed by Foreign Policy. The Palestinian aid cuts should serve as a fulcrum from which we use our foreign assistance leverage and measure its impact.

The memo, titled America First Foreign Assistance Policy and marked sensitive, echoes Trumps oft-repeated claim that the world takes advantage of U.S. largesse while opposing American goals. The proposal also underscores the dramatic shift in Haleys own stance on foreign assistance; she began her term pledging to preserve humanitarian aid for Palestinian and Syrian civilians and to oppose slash and burn cuts at the United Nations.

Never Miss Another Story Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

The document is part of a broader interagency review of U.S. foreign assistance initiated by Trump, who appealed to Congress during his State of the Union address to pass legislation to help ensure American foreign-assistance dollars always serve American interests and only go to Americas friends.

The memo recognizes that support for U.S. positions at the U.N. is not the only condition for aid, and that in many cases it must be disregarded in favor of US security or economic needs. Some of the largest recipients of U.S. aid, including Iraq, which votes against the U.S. 60 percent of the time, and Egypt, which often has a more antagonistic approach to the United States in the U.N. than Russia, China and Venezuela, would likely be spared, according to the memo.

But the autopilot nature of many U.S. foreign assistance efforts is leaving far too much low-hanging fruit that should be either eliminated or leveraged into greater support at the U.N. and elsewhere.

The paper proposes subjecting to review nearly 40 countries that received a total of $100 million in U.S. assistance in 2016, but that vote against the United States 54 percent of the time. It notes that South Sudan, one of the top 10 recipients of U.S. aid in 2016, votes for U.S. interests at the United Nations a paltry 47.9% of the time.

The document primarily targets development programs, including infrastructure, education, and energy projects, even though those kinds of overseas assistance programs are often explicitly designed to advance U.S. foreign-policy interests. Development and education investments help curb radicalism, while energy and development assistance boosts economic growth and stability, lowering the chance for conflict.

Haleys staff cite three U.S.-funded projects worth reconsidering in view of the recipient countries frequent lack of support for U.S. positions: A $3.1 million job training program in Zimbabwe, a $6.6 million climate change program in Vietnam, and a $4.9 million school construction program in Ghana. The memo tallied $580 million in total U.S. support for those three countries in fiscal year 2016, but saw support for U.S. positions in the U.N. only 54 percent of the time from Ghana, 38 percent of the time from Vietnam, and 19 percent of the time from Zimbabwe.

None voted with us on Jerusalem, even though none have a strong domestic constituency compelling the vote, the memo adds.March 19 marks 15 years since the U.S.-UK invasion of Iraq in 2003, and the American people have no idea of the enormity of the calamity the invasion unleashed. The U.S. military has refused to keep a tally of Iraqi deaths. General Tommy Franks, the man in charge of the initial invasion, bluntly told reporters, We dont do body counts. One survey found that most Americans thought Iraqi deaths were in the tens of thousands. But our calculations, using the best information available, show a catastrophic estimate of 2.4 million Iraqi deaths since the 2003 invasion.

The number of Iraqi casualties is not just a historical dispute because the killing is still going on today. Since several major cities in Iraq and Syria fell to Islamic State in 2014, the U.S. has led the heaviest bombing campaign since the American War in Vietnam, dropping 105,000 bombs and missiles and reducing most of Mosul and other contested Iraqi and Syrian cities to rubble.

An Iraqi Kurdish intelligence report estimated that at least 40,000 civilians were killed in the bombardment of Mosul alone, with many more bodies still buried in the rubble. A recent project to remove rubble and recover bodies in just one neighborhood found 3,353 more bodies, of whom only 20% were identified as ISIS fighters and 80% as civilians. Another 11,000 people in Mosul are still reported missing by their families.

Of the countries where the U.S. and its allies have been waging war since 2001, Iraq is the only one where epidemiologists have actually conducted comprehensive mortality studies based on the best practices that they have developed in war zones such as Angola, Bosnia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guatemala, Kosovo, Rwanda, Sudan and Uganda. In all these countries, as in Iraq, the results of comprehensive epidemiological studies revealed 5 to 20 times more deaths than previously published figures based on passive reporting by journalists, NGOs or governments.

Two such reports on Iraq came out in the prestigious The Lancet medical journal, first in 2004 and then in 2006. The 2006 study estimated that about 600,000 Iraqis were killed in the first 40 months of war and occupation in Iraq, along with 54,000 non-violent but still war-related deaths.

The US and UK governments dismissed the report, saying that the methodology was not credible and that the numbers were hugely exaggerated. In countries where Western military forces have not been involved, however, similar studies have been accepted and widely cited without question or controversy. Based on advice from their scientific advisers, British government officials privately admitted that the 2006 Lancet report was likely to be right, but precisely because of its legal and political implications, the U.S. and British governments led a cynical campaign to discredit it.

A 2015 report by Physicians for Social Responsibility, Body Count: Casualty Figures After 10 Years of the War on Terror, found the 2006 Lancet study more reliable than other mortality studies conducted in Iraq, citing its robust study design, the experience and independence of the research team, the short time elapsed since the deaths it documented and its consistency with other measures of violence in occupied Iraq.

The Lancet study was conducted over 11 years ago, after only 40 months of war and occupation. Tragically, that was nowhere near the end of the deadly consequences of the Iraq invasion.

In June 2007, a British polling firm, Opinion Research Business (ORB), conducted a further study and estimated that 1,033,000 Iraqis had been killed by then.

While the figure of a million people killed was shocking, the Lancet study had documented steadily increasing violence in occupied Iraq between 2003 and 2006, with 328,000 deaths in the final year it covered. ORBs finding that another 430,000 Iraqis were killed in the following year was consistent with other evidence of escalating violence through late 2006 and early 2007.

Just Foreign Policys Iraqi Death Estimator updated the Lancet studys estimate by multiplying passively reported deaths compiled by British NGO Iraq Body Count by the same ratio found in 2006. This project was discontinued in September 2011, with its estimate of Iraqi deaths standing at 1.45 million.

Taking ORBs estimate of 1.033 million killed by June 2007, then applying a variation of Just Foreign Policys methodology from July 2007 to the present using revised figures from Iraq Body Count, we estimate that 2.4 million Iraqis have been killed since 2003 as a result of our countrys illegal invasion, with a minimum of 1.5 million and a maximum of 3.4 million.

These calculations cannot possibly be as accurate or reliable as a rigorous up-to-date mortality study, which is urgently needed in Iraq and in each of the countries afflicted by war since 2001. But in our judgment, it is important to make the most accurate estimate we can.

Numbers are numbing, especially numbers that rise into the millions. Please remember that each person killed represents someones loved one. These are mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, sons, daughters. One death impacts an entire community; collectively, they impact an entire nation.

As we begin the 16th year of the Iraq war, the American public must come to terms with the scale of the violence and chaos we have unleashed in Iraq. Only then may we find the political will to bring this horrific cycle of violence to an end, to replace war with diplomacy and hostility with friendship, as we have begun to do with Iran and as the people of North and South Korea are trying to do to avoid meeting a similar fate to that of Iraq.

Top Photo | Ali Hamza, 8, sits at the graves of his brother, Mohammed, and sister Asinat, who were killed at their school when a suicide car bomb attack near Qabak elementary school in the Shiite Turkomen village of Qabak, Iraq, Oct. 7, 2013. (AP Photo)

Medea Benjamin is cofounder of the peace group CodePink. Her latest book is Kingdom of the Unjust: Behind the U.S.-Saudi Connection (OR Books, September 2016).

Nicolas J. S. Davies is a writer for Consortium News and a researcher with CODEPINK, and the author of Blood On Our Hands: the American Invasion and Destruction of Iraq.

This article was made possible by the readers and supporters of AlterNet, where it first appeared.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 say life is more beautiful now  but only because shes 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.

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.

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 said

Source  CosmopolitanActress Queen Nwokoye has reacted to Nollywoods very own version of Black Panther, the trending movie of the year 2018.

Queen Nwokoye who didnt feature in the original movie, has surprisingly been spotted in a poster of the Nigerian version.

Just as it is in the usual manner of the Nollywood industry, some producers will always craft their own version of any Hollywood Blockbuster and the Black Panther is not an exception.



The actress, in her reaction. took to her Instagram page to reveal in very strong words that she is no part of the controversial viral movie poster.



She shared the poster and wrote:

I am very sure that the jobless fellow who made this rubbish think its funny but its not. These days people can do anything for likes and comments. Pls just leave me out of your childish creations biko.

And for those ones who are running their mouths up and down, do not take the gentle strides of the lion as cowardice.

Nigerians were not in any way disappointed as a lot of film lovers were already expecting the arrival of the indigenous version of the movie.

From her words, it is easily deducible that this was clearly photoshopped. It may have been for the fun of it but it appears the beautiful eastern actress was not having any of it.

Source  AkpraiseSenator Ali Wakili representing Bauchi South senatorial District has died after a heart attack at 58. Mr Wakili according to a family member slumped at his Gwarimpa residence, Abuja on Saturday morning, and was rushed to Viewpoint Hospital, where he was certified dead.

Mr Wakili, until his death was the Chairman Senate Committee on Poverty Alleviation.A Federal High Court has ordered the Nigerian army 6 division to tender an unreserved apology to Nollywood actress, Ebere Ohakwe.

This was after the court found the army guilty of human rights abuse against Ebere Ohakwe, which reportedly occurred on January 30, 2017.

The actress was allegedly brutalised by one Olamilekan Suleiman, who used a stick and an iron to inflict injuries on her.

The trial Judge, Justice Adamu Mohammed, consequently ordered the army to pay the sum of N1m as damages to Ebere Ohakwe.

Mohammed said One, it is, hereby declared that the arrest, harassment, embarrassment, torture and assault meted on the applicant by the first, second and third respondents and other officers of the 6 Division of the Nigerian Army, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on January 13, 2017, is unconstitutional and a violation of the dignity of human life.

Two, the first, second and third respondents are restrained from further threatening, harassing, embarrassing, arrest, torture and inhuman treatment of the applicant, except in circumstances provided by the law.

Three, the sum of N1 million is awarded to the applicant against the respondents. The respondents are ordered to tender an unreserved apology to the applicant.

Justice Mohammed further restrained the army from carrying out any further actions against the victim.

He warned security operatives to act with civility and responsibility, especially on issues relating to fundamental human rights of the citizenry.

Source  GossipMillDavido mocks his girlfriend after she made a grammatical blunder. He also blamed the school as well.

Taking to snapchat the popular singer wrote:

I slepted off-Avril Babcock no do well

Davido is also an alumnus of the school.

His academic journey began as a student of business administration at Oakwood University in the United States.

In 2010, he decided he was wasting his life and would rather be doing something hes passionate about. He tried to leave school and relocate to Nigeria to follow his passion for music, but Baba Olowo himself, his dad, was not feeling that idea.

Davido was sent back to the US to face the drudgery of social science studies, suppressing his soul yearning for artful expression through music. But the heart wants what the heart wants when it knows what it wants. It was only a matter of time before his dad realized that his son was only dancing to the tune of his own destiny.

Leaving school was never an option for his dad and leaving music wasnt an option for him. So the two had to be combined conveniently and Babcocks music department was born.

Davidos father, Deji Adeleke, is a successful businessman who has considerable influence in the university, being a founding member of the university and the chairman of its inaugural Board of Trustees.

He helped access over N200 million in the process of establishing the school years ago, which is the background to the N200 million joke the VC made at the convocation ceremony.

During the presentation, the VC had joked: If you pay N200 million, you can be up here taking pictures with your son.

Davidos mother, late Veronica Adeleke, who passed away in 2003 when he was 11 years old, was also lecturer at the university in the early years of establishment. One of hostels in the school bears his family name.

The music department was promptly established and Davido was enrolled on a part-time basis as the first and only student of the music department in 2012.

Already established is that he wasnt your average student. He carried his work with him wherever he went around the world. He was on off-campus mode but he used to have a rented flat on campus at the staff quarters. He snuck in from time to time to attend lectures and submit assignments, then hed be out before long.

He obviously received special treatment from the school and his lecturers because, well, he was a special student. Its hard but my teachers understand because they know what I do and theyre fans as well, he explained in an interview.A man from Tshabalala in the region of Bulawayo in Zimbabwe cheated death in a double suicide attempt, leaving a knife lodged in his neck in a bid to evade responsibility after his girlfriend told him that she was pregnant.

Roy Masopo (29), who is still hospitalised, unsuccessfully tried to hang himself at the family house in Tshabalala last Sunday at around 10PM. After that he stabbed himself once in the neck with a knife, which was only removed after he was admitted to the United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH).

His grandmother, only identified as Mrs Soko, said her grandson was alone in the room when he attempted to take his own life, but declined to say much about the hanging incident.

Mrs Soko said after the hanging attempt failed, her grandson went and sat outside the house. She said she was called by neighbours only to be told that Masopo had stabbed himself.

Roy was in his room when he attempted to hang himself but failed. He then took a kitchen knife and stabbed himself once in the neck and the knife broke, Mrs Soko said. Masopo was rushed to the UBH by his friends who were called by the family.

Mrs Soko said the knife was successfully removed from his neck and he is still admitted at the hospital.

She said her grandson had been told by his girlfriend that she was pregnant.

Roy said that hes stressed and poor and it was better for him to end his life, said Mrs Soko.

A friend who spoke on condition of anonymity said they rushed him to the hospital after being called by Masopos family members.

We were at Hlanganani cocktail bar when we received the news that Roy had stabbed himself.

We rushed to his place where the family was still waiting for the ambulance to ferry him to hospital but it was taking too long, thats when we rushed him to UBH in a kombi, said one of his friends.President Muhammadu Buhari has a typical modus operandi whenever he visits Northern states governed by an All Progressives Congress Governor. He shows his insecurity by causing to be published in various media, pictures of what his media team have termed mammoth crowds that turn out to receive him.

Never mind that a serious President will be more concerned as to why able-bodied youths who should either be at work or at school on a weekday are loitering about the streets to wave to him for the few Naira they are paid.

The presidency just loves to serenade both the social and traditional media with these choreographed pictures, oblivious of the fact that the pictures are proof of what the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics said  that 10 million Nigerians have lost their jobs under President Buhari.

But I was particularly struck as to why the President and his handlers did not behave true to type of the Presidents visit to Benue on Monday the 12th of March, 2018.

What happened on that day that a usually boastful Nigerian President did not post photographs of the mammoth crowd that came to receive him in Benue as before?

Could it be that it was because instead of a mammoth crowd, the President was welcomed to the food basket of the nation with a mammoth silence?

I actually should send the Presidency a bill because I was responsible for sending pictures of the Presidents convoy driving through ghostly empty Benue streets to the media.

But trust Lie Mohammed. He would soon say that nobody trooped out to welcome Buhari to Benue because the President has provided so many jobs for Benue people that they were all too busy working to come out and welcome him! If satan is the father of lies, then the APC is the mother.

The funniest thing is that President Buhari is the only VIP visitor to Benue State of recent who did not visit the mass graves of the 73 Nigerians killed by Fulani herdsmen or the Benue IDP camps.

Former President Obasanjo visited Benue and paid his respects to those victims of Fulani herdsmen mass murder, as did Governors Nyesom Wike of Rivets State and Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State.

So why did Buhari not visit that solemn venue? Does he feel guilty? Of course, the guilty are always afraid!

But that was not the worst part of the Presidents visit to Benue. The President saved the worst for his town hall meeting with Benue elders and leaders of thought.

The President while responding to questions about his shoddy handling of the security situation in Benue said, I Never Knew the Inspector General of Police Moved To Nasarawa After I Sent Him To Benue.

Dear President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, come and see the person who wants to teach you how to fight corruption in Ghana.

A man who is clueless about happenings in his own government wants to teach Ghana how to govern! President Buhari is so embarrassing that no matter how tired a patriotic Nigerian is, he or she will always summon up the energy to get up and change the channel whenever this embarrassment of a President shows up on the television screen!

In fact, after the Presidents disgraceful outing in Benue, I compiled a list of 20 things the President does not know.

20 Things President Buhari does not know:

The whereabouts of his IGP

The whereabouts of his WAEC certificate

That criticizing government is NOT hate speech

That he should not recommission projects commissioned by other Presidents

That Ghana is less corrupt than Nigeria

That West Germany no longer exists

That his VPs name is not Osinbade

The persons who padded his budgets

Those who reinstated and promoted Maina

That women dont belong to other room

How much his London trips cost Nigeria

That his office belongs to him, not rats

That a leader takes responsibility and does not blame others.

That the C in APC stands for Congress not Confidence

That the N in INEC stands for National not Nigerian.

That Deutschmarks no longer exist and have been replaced by Euros

That the new DG of the National Intelligence Agency didnt pass promotion examinations

What fuel subsidy means (though he pays it)

That Boko Haram have NOT been defeated

The party his wife belongs to.

But seriously though, if President Buhari does not know the whereabouts of his own school certificates, should we be surprised that he does not know the whereabouts of his own Inspector General of Police? A President without knowledge of his appointees is like a tree without roots! That is why Nigeria is drifting under Buhari. Like I have said before, President Buhari belongs in a retirement home, not at the Presidential villa.

And then on Wednesday the 14th of March, President Buhari visited Dapchi in Yobe State and I was embarrassed for Nigeria so much so that I put a picture of Jonathan when he visited Borno at the height of the Boko Haram insurgency with President Buharis picture in Dapchi.

In picture 1, you could see then President Jonathan when he visited Borno at the height of the insurgency in his military fatigues devoid of frills. In picture 2, you saw President Buhari in Dapchi on Monday the 12th of March. What was more important for President Jonathan in Borno was the importance of his troops. What was more important to Buhari was his own self-importance which is why he chose to walk on red carpet at a place of mourning.

The red carpet did not honour you Mr. President. You were walking on the blood of Nigerians killed under your watch!

And the embarrassment continued as the President went to Damaturu and told Yobe State stakeholders that he had ordered the Service Chiefs and the Inspector General of Police to take direct charge of the local operations in Dapchi and brief him daily on efforts to rescue the #DapchiGirls.

My question for the President is this: is the President sure that his officials will obey him? Or will Nigeria hear in two months that the President never knew that his Service Chiefs and the Inspector General of Police never went to Yobe State?

At this stage, I cannot understand why any sane person would continue to support President Buhari in light of his obvious ineptitude and unfitness for the job he now holds.

It is like your child coming home from school with F9 in all subjects and you flog him. You tell him how disappointed you are. Then the child watches you campaign for Buharis second term and thinks in his mind what a hypocrite his father is for supporting a failed President and flogging a failing child!

The two major areas President Buhari campaigned on were a promise to fight corruption and a vow to crush Boko Haram and fight insecurity. Boko Haram have abducted more people under Buhari than at any other time and corruption is worse. Not only has he failed big time in both areas, but 10 million Nigerians lost their jobs under Buhari. So please, if you are such a father, go home and apologise to your son before you can campaign for a failure!Former Special Assistant to President Jonathan on New Media, Reno Omokri, visited former Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala at her home.

According to the US-based pastor, the visit afforded both the opportunity to exchange copies of their books.

Omokri, who posted photos from the visit via his verified Twitter handle, expressed optimism that Nigeria would soon get to a stage where ethnic and gender bias would become a thing of the past, paving the way for a woman like Okonjo-Iweala to become the countrys president.

He described her as probably Nigerias best offering to the global effort to make this world a better place.

We exchanged signed copies of each others books. I look forward to the day when we can forget about tribe, religion and gender to elect a President like NOI (Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala)! he added.

See photos:It's not easy to see things in the middle, rather than looking down on them from above or up at them from below, or from left to right or right to left: try it, you'll see that everything changes.



-- Deleuze and Guattari, A Thousand PlateausMensaje a la nacion del Presidente de la Republica, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski. Foto:ANDINA/Prensa PresidenciaEden Grammar Higher Secondary School Hyderabad Jobs 2018

Latest Eden Grammar School Teaching Posts Hyderabad 2021 Eden Grammar Higher Secondary School Hyderabad, Pakistan required candidates for the posts of Assistant, Receptionist, Aya, Teachers for the subjects of English, Social Studies, Science, Computer.

How to Apply on Eden Grammar School Job Advertisement

Apply as per details in job advertisement. In some cases, you may apply online at vacancies after registering at https://www.jobz.pk online.



Telephone: 022-2652103

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.Pakistan Askari School & College Teachers Jobs

Latest Pakistan Askari School & College Teaching Posts Rawalpindi 2021 Montessori Teachers having Diploma in Montessori with 2 year teaching Experience and Junior Teachers having BA, BSC, MA / MSc with Teaching Experience are required Pakistan Askari School & College in Rawalpindi.

How to Apply on Pakistan Askari School & College Job Advertisement

Apply as per details in job advertisement. In some cases, you may apply online at vacancies after registering at https://www.jobz.pk online.

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.Pakistan Cadet School and College Murree Job

Latest Pakistan Cadet School and College Teaching Posts Islamabad 2021 Male / Female Teachers for the Subject of Urdu, English, Pak Studies, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Maths and Computer Science having MA / MSc Degree in relevant subject with Teaching Experience are required in Pakistan Cadet School and College Murree in Murree.

How to Apply on Pakistan Cadet School and College Job Advertisement

Apply as per details in job advertisement. In some cases, you may apply online at vacancies after registering at https://www.jobz.pk online.

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.JACKSONVILLE, Ore. -- Today the Britt Music and Arts Festival made its second announcement of which shows will be arriving to Jacksonville this season.

While people are getting ready to buy tickets, local businesses are getting ready for the crowds.

"There's just twice as many cars, twice as many people. In the really big shows we have 10 times as many people in town," says Platon Mantheakis, Manager of the Jacksonville Inn.

The Farm Kitchen is gearing up to take on their first Britt Fest. The kitchen has been open for two months, and is introducing the "Britt Basket" this summer. It's a basket filled with healthy foods people can take to the concert.

"They can get this basket, take it to the show. Enjoy the meal, enjoy the show," says Sous Chef Laura Gaudioso.

Jacksonville has a couple months to prepare before people from all over the world come to the festival. Today the Jacksonville Inn told NewsWatch12 they're lucky to have the "Crown Jewel" of Jacksonville so close to their business.

"Music and art brings people together from all over the world and it's doing a really good job of doing that just here in Jacksonville," says Mantheakis.

Britt Fest will make their last performer announcement on April 12th at 6 p.m.FILE- In this Oct. 31, 2017, file photo, Tom Donohue, President and CEO, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, foreground, speaks as Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, left, President Donald Trump, second from left, and Karen Kerrigan, President and CEO, Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, listen during a meeting in Washington. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is warning Trump against slapping big tariffs on Chinese imports. AuSimply put, tariffs are damaging taxes on American consumers,AoAo Donohue said in a statement. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)Passengers wait in a lineup due to a problem with the baggage system in U.S. departures at Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, B.C., on Saturday April 1, 2017. Proposed federal legislation that will lay the groundwork for an airline passenger bill of rights could claw back existing protections for air travellers, an airline passenger rights advocate says. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl DyckEmployment, Workforce Development and Labour Minister Patricia Hajdu speaks with media in the foyer of the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on January 29, 2018. It was Valentine's Day when an Alberta church was told its application for Canada Summer Jobs program funding wasn't complete. The "I attest" box on the application had to be checked and the document signed. Except it was. What happened to the Edmonton-area church is a sign of what critics say is the government's hard line on the conditions placed on funding through the popular program, particularly stipulations that groups respect reproductive rights, such as abortion, even if the applicants expresses concerns about the policy change but still checks the right boxes and signs the forms. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian WyldCanadian rapper Classified has released a new song in support of people who feel powerless, with a focus on women and children who have suffered abuse. Classified, whose real name is Luke Boyd, shoots a video for his song, Oh Canada, from his 2009 album, Self Explanatory, in downtown Halifax on Sunday, Jan. 10, 2010. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew VaughanRCMP officers arrest a woman who tied herself to a gate outside Kinder Morgan in Burnaby, B.C., on Saturday March 17, 2018. Approximately 30 people who blockaded an entrance - defying a court order - were arrested while protesting the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. The pipeline is set to increase the capacity of oil products flowing from Alberta to the B.C. coast to 890,000 barrels from 300,000 barrels. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl DyckThe Conservative defence critic is questioning the Trudeau government's decision to send peacekeeping troops to the troubled West African nation of Mali. A French soldier stands inside a military helicopter during a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron to the troops of Operation Barkhane, France's largest overseas military operation, in Gao, northern Mali, Friday, May 19, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Christophe Petit Tesson, POOLLi Zhanshu, the newly-elected chairman of China's National People's Congress (NPC) takes the oath of office during a plenary session of the NPC in Beijing, Saturday, March 17, 2018. Xi Jinping was reappointed Saturday as China's president with no limit on the number of terms he can serve. The National People's Congress, China's rubber-stamp legislature, also appointed close Xi ally Wang Qishan to the formerly ceremonial post of vice president. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)FILE - In this Feb. 11, 2007, file photo, adult film actress Stormy Daniels arrives for the 49th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. New documents show a top lawyer for the Trump Organization was involved in legal efforts to keep adult film star Daniels from talking about her alleged affair with President Donald Trump. The arbitration documents are signed by Trump Organization lawyer Jill A. Martin and list her address as that of Trump's golf club in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)A coast guard vessel arrives with the bodies of migrants at the port of Pythagorio on the eastern Greek island of Samos, Saturday, March 17, 2018. Greece's coast guard said Saturday the bodies of fourteen people have been recovered from the sea off a Greek island in the eastern Aegean following the sinking of a suspected migrant smuggling boat. (AP Photo/Michael Svarnias)FILE - In this Oct. 22, 2017, file photo, Matt Damon arrives at a movie premier in Los Angeles. A publicist for Damon is batting down reports that the actor is moving to Australia with his family because he disagrees with President Donald Trump's policies. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)FILE - In this June 7, 2017 file photo, acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe appears before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing about the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act on Capitol Hill in Washington. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Friday, March 16, 2018, that he has fired former FBI Deputy Director McCabe, a longtime and frequent target of President Donald Trump's anger, just two days before his scheduled retirement date. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)FILE - In this March 16, 2018 file photo. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, speaks during a joint press conference after a meeting with the Prime Minister of Sweden, Stefan Loefven, in Berlin. German Chancellor Angela MerkelAos defending the countryAos trade surplus in her weekly video podcast Saturday, March 17, 2018, saying the governmentAos working to encourage domestic demand but that not all factors are in its control. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn,file)Law enforcement officers work in The Oaks mall in Thousand Oaks, Calif., about 40 miles (64 kilometers) west of Los Angeles on Saturday, March 17, 2018. Authorities said a gunman shot and killed one person and then turned the gun on himself at the shopping center on Saturday. (Cheri Carlson/The Ventura County Star via AP)Top diplomats of S. Korea, U.S., Japan to hold talks in New York U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will hold trilateral talks with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York this wee...

S. Korea's first lady holds talk session with young Korean Americans South Korea's first lady Kim Jung-sook met with young Korean Americans working in art and culture fields in New York on Tuesday (local time) to discuss the future of Korean popular...PLEASANT HILL, Ore. -- Officials said a woman who fell asleep at the wheel Friday morning crashed into a power pole and caused it to fall on another car.

The crash happened around 8:30 on Jasper Road in Pleasant Hill.

Officials said the woman was headed south when she crossed the center lane and hit the pole on the other side of the road. They said she woke up and regained control of her car, but the pole fell onto a car headed north.

The man driving that car said the pole went across the hood and the transformer crashed right in front of his face and shattered his windshield.

"Well at first I thought she hit ice, my adrenaline was going so hard," Ken Gates, the other driver, said. "I was just pumped up, man. I just got out, got down there and checked her out to make sure she was alright and I was a little shaky for a while. I had to go get a Pepsi."

Officials said the woman was taken to the hospital as a precaution, but no one was hurt.PORTLAND, Ore.  The Oregon Zoo has a special mission this year after last summers Eagle Creek Fire in the Columbia River Gorge.

Staff are hitting the trails in the Cascades to see how the fire impacted the gorges pikas.

Pikas are pint-sized animals related to rabbits that are often found in rugged high-elevation mountain habitats.

The pikas in the gorge are unique because they live at a much lower elevation than others in the United States.

This year, the Forest Service has given them a $24,000 grant to conduct surveys and see how the fire impacted their habitat and their population.

This will be the fourth summer researchers will monitor the animals.CORVALLIS, Ore. -- Police are searching for an Oregon State University student and her boyfriend, after the two were reported missing and possibly suicidal by family.

Oregon State Police said 23-year-old Kiara Wick and 20-year-old Jacob Eveler were last seen around 2:00 a.m. on Friday in Corvallis, on the OSU campus in Tebeau Hall (Wick's Residence).

Police said at around 3:00 p.m., a vehicle Eveler was believed to drive was found at Eveler's parent's home in Philomath.

Police said the couple has been known to a drive a second vehicle described as 4-door dark colored sedan in poor condition. They said their direction of travel is unknown, but said Wick has been known to like the beach and Eveler liked the Burnt Woods area.

Wick is 5'8", 160 pounds with shoulder-length, brown hair and has gray/blue eyes.

Eveler is 6'0", 170 pounds with shoulder-length, brown hair and blue eyes. Eveler was last seen wearing a black "Rockstar" sweatshirt, grey Carhartt beanie, and unknown color of pants.

If anyone has information regarding Wick or Eveler, please contact OSP at (541)731-3010.MASON CITY, Iowa - It is a case that has gone unsolved for nearly 23 years -- the disappearence of former KIMT anchor Jodi Huisentruit on June 27, 1995, - and it is a day Kevin Hook remembers well.

When I was younger, I lived by Harding Elementary School and I would ride my bike to the park a lot, said Hook. My mom, for the longest time, would freak out and said I should never ride my bike near the apartments where she was abducted.

The Mason City Police Department continues to follow up on leads to the case.

KIMT News 3 is learning within the past year, Mason City Police requested a search warrant of two vehicles.

Those vehicles belong to Arthur John Vansice, who goes by John Vansice.

According to Iowa Courts Online, the request made in March 2017 is for GPS data for a 1999 Honda Civic and 2013 GMC 1500, which is giving hope to Hook.

Just being an open case for so long I, think it would be very good to know what happened, what her last hours, days, were like, he said.

Mason City Police Chief Jeff Brinkley says he can't discuss why the two vehicles are important to the case or when or if they already have executed the warrants, but for good reasons.

Theres investigative integrity that we are looking to preserve, Chief Brinkley said. Im not going to talk about the technology that we use to do this kind of stuff.

But he does want the public to know this, they arent done searching.

We are going to continue to use all of the resources at our disposal and the disposal of other agencies that we have been working with since day one, he said. I think at some point, someday, it will pay off and we will clear the case.

Those are words of confidence that Hook is glad to hear.

I think its good that we have a police department that is trying to cover the bases, Hook said. As a citizen, if it were me, or my wife, I would want to know that every action possible is being taken even if it doesnt yield any results, someone was trying to find out what happened.AUSTIN, Minn.  Methamphetamine is sending a Mower County man to prison.

27-year-old Corry Dexter Kranz of Austin was arrested in December 2016 and accused of selling 17 and  grams of meth to a police informant. He was arrested again in June 2017 after a bicycle chase with police the wrong way down Interstate 90. Officers say he was caught that time with  gram of meth.

Kranz pleaded guilty to 2nd degree sale of drugs and 5th degree drug possession. He was sentenced Friday to seven years and four months behind bars, with credit for 144 days already served. He must also pay $1,165 in restitution.CHARLES CITY, Iowa  A not guilty plea has been entered in a case of threats and assaults.

33-year-old Andreas Deshawn Frazier of Waterloo was arrested on February 17 after law enforcement was called to a home in Nora Springs on a report of domestic abuse. A woman accused Frazier of hitting her. Law enforcement says that as Frazier was being taken to jail, he threatened the woman and their children and the police chief of Nora Springs.

Frazier is also accused of attacking a Floyd County sheriffs deputy.

He is pleading not guilty to domestic abuse assault - 2nd offense, 1st degree harassment, assault on persons in certain occupations, and child endangerment. No trial date has been set.ROCHESTER, Minn.

Friday was the reveal of the National Resident Matching Program, often reffered to as "Match Day." On Match Day, fourth-year medical students across the country find out what residency program they will be heading to after graduation from medical school.

At the end of February, students submit lists of their top residency programs, and residency programs make lists of their top students. A computer algorithm then makes matches between students and programs. On Match Day, the matches are revealed. In the medical community, Match Day is viewed as a rite of passage. It also takes them to the hospital where they will not only do their residency, but often where they will begin their medical careers and start families.

Mayo Clinic School of Medicine students waited eagerly, grasping the envelopes holding their fate. At 12 PM Central time, they and every other fourth-year medical student in America ripped open their envelopes to find out where they will spend the next three to seven years.

All 51 Class of 2018 Mayo medical students received a match. Dr. Wolanskyj-Spinner, Senior Associate Dean for Student Affairs, Families, and Friends of Students says this year's 100% match rate is remarkable.

Of these 51 students, 39% found out today that they will stay in Minnesota for their residency and become the next generation of Minnesota health care leaders.

Now that students know where they will be headed after graduation in May, they will begin making plans to move and find housing.MASON CITY, Iowa - Last July, the state of Iowa launched a task force to review IPERS, the state's public employees pension system. While lawmakers on both sides of the aisle told KIMT in January they think IPERS should remain untouched this year, one North Iowa teacher is worried about their pension.

Katie Koehler is a teacher with Mason City Public Schools, and has been paying into IPERS for 33 years. She says the positive ways IPERS was being run was an incentive for her to teach in Iowa. She's worried that if the system gets changed, it could impact the state's ability to recruit and retain new teachers.

"For our young educators to stay in Iowa, this was another positive. As a young teacher, I looked at and said, 'OK, what is available out there? What can keep me in this state?'", Koehler says.

In addition, Koehler says the program is functional being governed by the permanent Public Retirement System Committee, despite what some lawmakers are claiming otherwise.

"I don't understand why this state, and the people down in Des Moines, think they need to change this program. They say it's not viable, it definitely is viable. If you're an economic person, it's a longevity program. It's longevity savings. No, you're not going to get the diversified-type program, but it is a program set up for longevity," Koehler adds.

Koehler also adds that it's important for officials to listen to their constituents.

"I hope they start listening to the people, to their community members. Because I don't know if that's happening," Koehler says.

According to Koehler, 1 out of 10 workers in the state of Iowa, about 350,000 employees, are IPERS members.National Park needs volunteers for Mingus Mill





GATLINBURG, TN -- Great Smoky Mountains National Park is recruiting volunteers to provide informational tours of the historic Mingus Mill. The mill is located one half mile north of the Oconaluftee Visitor Center near Cherokee, North Carolina. Volunteers will help educate visitors about the general role of milling in the Smokies including the unique turbine wheel at Mingus Mill.



Mingus Mill in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Image by Jeaneane Payne



Mingus Mill, built in 1886, offers visitors a unique look into the inner workings of a mill that custom ground everything from corn to wheat or rye. The intricacy of the turbine-driven mill provided local patrons with custom ground cornmeal or flour in a fraction of the time needed by other types of mills.



Volunteers will work alongside Great Smoky Mountains Association employees. Each volunteer is asked to work at least one, four-hour shift per week from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. during the peak visitation season from April through the November. Interested persons will be provided orientation and training before beginning at the mill.



New volunteers are required to attend training on Friday, March 23, 2018 from 9:00 am until 3:00 pm. The training will be held at the Oconaluftee Administration Building near Cherokee, NC. A lunch break will be in the schedule. Please plan to bring a bag lunch.



If interested in this exciting volunteer opportunity please call to reserve a space for training. For questions or to receive more information, please contact Park Resource Education Ranger Florie Takaki by phone at 828-497-1906 or by email at florie_takaki@nps.gov.

By Jung Min-ho







A professor accused of sexual harassment has been found dead in an apparent suicide.





According to Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Saturday, the professor, who was under investigation after three students brought up sexual harassment allegations against him, was found dead at his home in Seoul at around 1 p.m.





There were no signs of an outsider having broken in and it is clear that he committed suicide, police said. A message for his family was found on his mobile phone.





"It appears that he was under overwhelming pressure," the school said in a statement. "We will stop the investigation over the allegations."





Three students, who did not reveal their names, accused the professor of sexual harassment on Facebook Wednesday, claiming he asked them inappropriate questions such as "Have you ever lied in bed naked with your boy friend?"





They also accused him of touching their bodies several times without their consent.





Seoul needs to prepare for sudden State Department shift



U.S. President Donald Trump sacked his first secretary of state, Rex W. Tillerson, on Twitter, Tuesday. As his replacement, Trump named Mike Pompeo, the CIA director who is known as a staunch loyalist of the U.S. leader.



The sudden firing of the top U.S. diplomat, who has had disagreements with his boss, shocked the world, particularly ahead of a historic summit between the leaders of the U.S. and North Korea expected to take place in May to discuss denuclearization.



There is keen attention among Koreans on what kind of impact the new U.S. secretary of state will have on preparations for the third inter-Korean summit scheduled for late April.



In a statement, Trump lauded Pompeo as the right person for the job at this critical juncture. "He will continue our program of restoring America's standing in the world, strengthening our alliances, confronting our adversaries, and seeking the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," Trump said.



A graduate of West Point, Pompeo served in the military and Congress before becoming CIA director in January 2017.



If confirmed, he is expected to be more of a hardliner on North Korea than his predecessor who took a dovish approach with a focus on diplomacy. The former CIA director has underscored the need to press North Korea on President Trump's aim for denuclearization and has advocated regime change and military action over dialogue.



"This administration has its eyes wide open, and the whole time this conversation takes place, the pressure will continue to mount on North Korea," Pompeo said in a CBS interview.



Concerns are rising that the appointment of a hardliner as the chief U.S. diplomat could deter negotiations for the planned meeting between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.



Tillerson's sacking came as Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha was getting ready for a meeting with him in Washington to discuss the forthcoming summits. Kang flew to Washington as planned Thursday for a meeting with Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan.



It is important for Korea and the U.S. to consult closely ahead of the summits that will have a significant impact on the security of the Korean Peninsula.



Kang and the new U.S. secretary of state should communicate actively to ensure the two countries are on the same page as they negotiate with North Korea in the crucial weeks ahead.



By Emanuel Pastreich





Virtually every critical issue facing Korea today is completely omitted from the Korean major media, or reported on in a marginal or superficial manner. The trend has grown stronger over the last ten years, reaching the point where citizens find it impossible to ascertain the true state of affairs from what the media presents them with.

We are, in short, facing a tremendous crisis in Korea  and around the world  wherein the essential system for providing citizens with reliable and relevant news about their neighborhoods, their regions, the nation and the world has completely collapsed. This crisis a security crisis in that, if citizens cannot judge how Korea is being manipulated by foreign nations, international banks, or hidden forces, they are unable to judge how the nation should respond to current threats. The breakdown of journalism also causes the democratic process to collapse. If citizens cannot obtain reliable information about actual policy and are forced to rely on sensationalist reporting about the personalities of politicians and personal scandals, they are incapable of voting in a meaningful manner. Elections are reduced to rituals in which formerly engaged citizens are actively encouraged to be self-indulgent and to follow their whims and impulses, watching dancing shows on street corners in the run up to the elections rather than taking part in meaningful discussion with their neighbors about policy and taking the time to inform themselves about critical issues.

Let us take a look at the most serious issues facing Korea today:

1) The unprecedented concentration of wealth in the hands of a tiny group of the wealthy in Korea, and around the world.

2) The overwhelming threat of runaway climate change, now and over the next twenty years as documented through careful scientific inquiry. The specific immediate implications:

Growing semi-arid conditions in South Korea and even more in North Korea, coupled with extreme water shortages, which will become much worse over the next decade.

Rising sea levels and the devastation of marine life by warming oceans.

Rising temperatures that will bring new diseases, reduce agricultural productivity, and make imported food to Korea vastly more expensive.

The striking rise in illnesses among citizens due to an increasing use of coal power in Korea, and the self-regulation of factories by corporations that leaves the government and the public in the dark as to what kinds of pollution factories produce.

3) The growing militarization of the United States, the drive for war with Russia or China within the American establishment, coupled with the death of American diplomacy and its previous idealistic contributions to international cooperation.



4) The devastating East China Sea oil spill, which is poisoning fish off the coast of Korea and is causing damage in Jeju and most likely elsewhere.

5) The collapse of the local economy in Korea, especially in small towns, and the closing down of family-run businesses, especially groceries and restaurants, around the nation.

6) The impending collapse of the lucrative market for Korean smart phones, automobiles, steel, and ships that have been assumed by state planners to the be the core engine for Korean economic growth for decades (and the lack of any viable replacements).

7) The end of long-term employment with full benefits. Youth now face a risky and uncertain future and they often start out their lives saddled with debt.

You would have to look carefully to find any references to these critical issues in the newspapers or TV broadcasts in Korea. Although occasionally some aspects of these issues, which ought to be on the front page of every newspaper every day, are treated in an anecdotal manner, there is little investigative journalism that explains how the problems began, what is involved now, and what precisely needs to be done to solve the problems. In fact, most journalists are under such pressure to produce superficial and disposable articles for immediate consumption that they are not permitted to engage in journalism.

First and foremost, we must recognize that journalism is not a business and that making money is not the purpose of journalism. Journalism should present accurate information to the public and encourage citizens to increase their intellectual and ethical engagement with society, rather than stupifying the citizenry by appealing to base instincts of appetite for food and sex.

That is to say, journalism and media are not products to be sold, but rather a form of education, with a focus on ethics, artistic and literary expression, and engagement with the critical issues of our age at the local, national, and international levels. How many people consume news reports is beside the point. Whether we can inform citizens about critical issues and encourage them to reach a higher level of mindfulness and social commitment is essential.

We must confront the most obvious problem first: the reliance of media on advertising. Advertising inherently skews journalism because it subjects reporting primarily to the financial interests of its advertisers and not to the search for truth and ethical commitment. The result is a predictable attempt to maintain a facade of a happy society without any serious problems throughout the reporting process, with more serious crises treated as if they were freaks of nature rather than the product of systemic, economic, or structural problems that require one to step back and contemplate carefully historical and cultural factors.

Advertising also has a direct impact on citizens because all news content to which citizens are exposed in newspapers and magazines, and especially on TV, is found interspersed with images of people engaged in indulgent and selfish behavior, consuming and satisfying their desires without any care for society or nation. Although advertising is not journalism, it has the same, or greater, impact on readers because graphics as employed in advertisement is of higher quality than that used in reporting and is designed to grab the attention of the reader.

There is little connection between the images found in advertising and the reality of Korean society today. No mention of the value of sacrifice, of restraint, of modesty, and of commitment to ideals that go beyond the cult of the self. Recently advertising has taken a distinct turn for the worse by portraying almost exclusively images of the rich living in luxurious homes. The underlying assumption of these commercials is that one must be rich, self-indulgent, and superficial to have a life worthy of attention. These advertisements never show the lives of ordinary citizens, let alone the experiences of the poor or the working classes. The underlying assumption is that the tremendous polarization of wealth in Korean society is only the more reason for all Koreans to envy and admire those who drift purposelessly from one expensive coffee shop to another.



What went wrong?

It only deepens our sense of missed opportunity when we reflect that Korea already possesses all that would be required to establish the best standard of journalism in the world. The literacy rate for the country is one of the highest, as is the percentage of citizens with advanced training, including many PhDs. The sophistication of Korean journalists is quite high, including the knowledge of multiple foreign languages by many among them. So also there are many university professors and lecturers at Korean universities who have advanced degrees from elite universities abroad and have the training to engage in meaningful analysis and explanation of important topics for a general audience.

There are cultural traditions in Korea, unfortunately, that have led intellectuals in Korea to see their specialized knowledge as a source of class status, rather than as a moral imperative to help their fellow citizens. That regrettable habit goes far back in history.

But structural issues are even more important. In the case of journalists, thousands of highly educated people working at large national newspapers, and also at local newspapers, spend their days responding to speeches by government officials or corporations and then go back to offices to pound out articles that are virtually identical in content. Rather than being allowed to develop expertise in specific fields and engage in thoughtful investigative journalism over weeks, or even months, that would produce meaningful analysis and concrete proposals for significant policy improvements, highly educated journalists are trapped in a mouse's exercise wheel of rapid transcription.

The situation for professors is not much better and is quickly deteriorating. Writing for the public, lecturing for ordinary citizens, engaging in any activities aimed at ordinary citizens is actively discouraged. The only writing that is recognized as valuable by the university is the academic article for an SSCI (Social Science Citation Index) journal. Most people have never read a SSCI journal article in their lives and if you want to read one you must pay a fee even though the research that supports such publications is funded by your taxes. Writing such academic journals is not option for a scholar, but are demanded without concern for whether the article has any significance or whether the professor writes for a general audience as well.

The situation is particularly bad in rural areas where universities, the only site of intellectual inquiry, are quickly being shut down quickly, and newspapers focused on careful investigative journalism about local issues are virtually nonexistent. The so-called conservative trends among certain voting groups, and especially among older voters, can be traced back to the extremely low quality of the media sources that they rely on, and not so much an inherent bias.

Perhaps the most tragic aspect of the current approach to journalism is the embrace of technology as an imperative and a solution. It is vaguely assumed, without any particular proof, that moving to technologically more advanced formats is something that must be done, and that it will somehow improve the nature of journalism. If you look at magazines from the 1950s and 1960s in Korea you will find far more detailed descriptions of how the world works, the nature of natural phenomena and the actual functioning of government than you will find in current journalism. We have clearly gone downhill since the days of those exclusively printed magazines. Even supposedly critical journals like Sisa-in are increasingly glossy and lacking in critical analysis.

Technology-driven media seeks to grab the attention of the consumer and thus encourages superficial reading. Images are employed to stimulate the brain to release the neurochemical dopamine, thus creating a sensation of meaningfulness in an act which is of marginal importance. Such repeated action can lead to addictive behavior. The situation is made worse by the assumption that the reader is a customer who must be lured through tricks, rather than a citizen to be reasoned with.

So serious is the negative impact of smart phones and social networks that they may ultimately not be the basis for the building up of informed citizens through the Internet, but rather the primary cause of a terrifying wave of anti-intellectualism in Korean society. We should take steps to limit the use of smart phones and of frivolous social media and to make sure that both are used primarily for healthy activities related to understanding contemporary society and working to improve it. We need to make technology part of a larger project for forming positive communities so that citizens use social networks to share valuable information about important issues, rather than post photographs of fat kittens or cafe lattes with slices of cheese cakes.



What we must do next

Creating a viable media is a massive and long-term project which can only be pursued if citizens have a strong understanding of what the problems with the media are and can move beyond the current culture of denial and avoidance of hard issues. As citizens get their information through the media in the first place, the process will not be an easy one in any sense.

The first step towards creating a healthy and useful journalism must begin at the local level. We need to create local newspapers that provide relevant news for citizens and that are coordinated with seminars at the local level, open to all citizens, that address in an analytic manner important economic and social issues at the local, national, and international levels.

Bringing the public into the discussion on current events can make the news relevant again. We must assume that, after a generation of citizens has now become accustomed to a commercial media focused on an "attention economy," it will be necessary to teach citizens how to concentrate and how to engage in effective journalism in their own lives, both through what they write for each other, and how they read, and share, what they find in newspapers.

We need to train our citizens as reporters from elementary school who will write down what they see in an objective manner and make suggestions to the community as to how we can address local problems. This act of identifying and describing one's own neighborhood, and actively suggesting improvements on the part of all citizens, will create a greater journalism community that can support journalism in the future. Schools should encourage young people to learn for themselves about the economic, social, and cultural shifts taking place in their own neighborhoods. Investigative reporting and thoughtful analysis of the world around us should be a part of education and the content of textbooks should be directly related to community and national issues.

The key to good journalism is purposely avoiding sensationalism and excitement and focusing on the employment of a scientific approach in the analysis of our world, and engaging in that analysis in a cooperative manner with fellow students. That must be at the core of the educational system. All middle schools and high schools should have newspapers and writing for the newspaper should be an essential part of one's grades for school.

Above all, a new culture of awareness and activism at the local level must be encouraged that will support the renaissance of journalism. Such a change in habit, however, cannot happen overnight. It will take considerable effort and there will be a transitional period during which there are many poorly attended local seminars for citizens. If we demonstrate long-term commitment and we launch a meaningful movement for citizens' engagement in policy and analysis, it is entirely possible to make such a shift in thinking into a reality.

Currently, such a local community to support citizen journalism is almost non-existent. Most people do not know their neighbors' names and almost never meet up with neighbors to discuss current social, economic, and cultural concerns. They are trapped within a consumer mentality that makes them passive recipients of information produced by third parties who make little effort to engage in analysis and explanation, or rigorous questioning, of what is happening in their communities. But symbolic steps can be taken to encourage experts from local colleges, or journalists, or local businessmen and government officials, to lead the discussions on important issues that give citizens a sense that they are part of an active intellectual community.

Once citizens are involved in the production of journalism, it will become a habit to write, and to look for more information (with a critical eye) elsewhere. Newspapers are dying not only because they compete with free on-line content, but also because they are non-participatory. Citizens will pay for newspapers if they find the content to be valuable to their daily lives and if they see the reporting in them as a vital part of the community they inhabit. A bookshelf that you make yourself is more valuable than one that you buy and the same is true for journalism.



Journalism cooperatives

Korea might first take the step of moving away from a dependency on advertising and for-profit journalism and start to create cooperatives for research and journalistic efforts. Currently we have so-called progressive media which is also addicted to advertising revenue and cannot tackle hard topics head-on. But journalism collectives supported by membership could do so effectively without a need to grab attention.

If citizens pay to become members of cooperatives dedicated to providing accurate information through journalism and attend occasional seminars that address issues of concern to them, they will feel a real incentive to support those cooperatives. Some might argue that such organizations already exist, but based on my experience as a member of three progressive NGOs that supposedly played such a role, it is not a reality. You can pay 10,000 Won a month to be a member of an NGO and receive occasional emails, but you cannot propose topics for seminars to be held, you cannot easily contribute content, and the people running the NGOs do not consult with you about what they are doing or invite you to regular events to discuss issues of concern to you in your neighborhood. This member-as-customer attitude must stop.

We will be facing a period of deep financial difficulties over the years ahead and media sources that do not have deep roots in local cooperatives will find it hard to survive. I anticipate that much of the so-called progressive media will die off at precisely the moment that it is most needed. Why? The problem has to do with the ownership of media sources. It is not sufficient for a newspaper or television program to be privately owned by an an open-minded person. The pressure to respond to market forces will encourage even the most critical and well-meaning journals to turn to a sensationalist and predictable formula in their writing.

Nor is it a good idea to rely on the beneficence of the wealthy to fund alternative media through occasional donations. Such a dependency can lead to a journalism which addresses only issues of interest to progressive-minded elite but of little relevance to ordinary workers  who are increasingly not reading newspapers at all. It is essential to engage all citizens, not just a highly educated minority.

One possible approach is the establishment of a micro-share program for new media. The ownership of the newspaper would be broken up into shares and micro-shares (fractional shares) and citizen reporters, or professional reporters, would be rewarded for the articles they contribute with micro-shares each time they write. Over time, ten or twenty articles, or more, could add up to be a significant stake in the company itself and the value of those shares would increase over time because of the efforts of the journalists. There would not be any outside stock owners for the newspapers to report to. Reporters would not only be paid by the newspaper; they would own it. Such an approach could create effective and independent journalism in Korea, and I am sure many journalists from major newspapers would welcome such an approach.



The role of government

As the renowned journalism expert Robert McChesney has stressed in his writings, ultimately, government has a vital role to play in the development of meaningful journalism. Only with some form of government support can we assure that objective journalism is available for the general public, instead of journalism aimed at creating a mood among the population that is in accord with the needs of the corporations that pay for advertising.

The use of government funding, combined with the contributions of citizens through journalist cooperatives, can provide the funding necessary to underwrite long-term investigative journalism into serious issues that will keep citizens sufficiently informed to make meaningful decisions. Government support can also allow newspapers to specialize in accordance with a rational division of work, thereby ending the spectacle of journalists running to the same press conferences and then writing identical articles for their newspapers. Government funding assures that the reporter has the ability to concentrate on the pursuit of truth in a focused manner.

Many are deeply fearful of government funding and the resulting control of the media in Korea by politicians. The concern is completely understandable because Koreans have experience with authoritarian regimes that manipulated public opinion through tightly-controlled government journalism. We must of course always be extremely cautious about this point.

But we already trust the government to fund public education and research in science and technology. Although neither of those cases are completely successful, the situation is far better than is in the case in the United States where radical privatization of public education has led to high illiteracy rates and non-functional schools for many working-class neighborhoods. The government should invest heavily in the long-term education of its citizens through primary, secondary, and graduate schools so as to assure that they have sufficient understanding of the world. Journalism will provide them with the information that they need to understand short-term and long-term developments in society and in the world after they finish school through carefully produced materials based on scientifically valid investigative journalism.

Neither education nor journalism should be privatized or run primarily for a profit. Rather they should be run as public services primarily for the purpose of informing citizens about issues important to our society in an objective and diverse manner that is accessible to everyone.

It is entirely possible to establish a series of checks and balances that will allow the government to fund journalism dedicated to the common good in a comprehensive and long-term manner. Such an effort will accomplish its primary goal: drawing citizens into a reasoned discussion on contemporary issues. Government could offer to pay the salaries of journalists who conduct investigative journalism through long-term grants. The assignment of grants would be decided, as is the case in the fields of science and technology, by a committee of professional peers, and perhaps also by representatives of citizens groups, on a regular basis.

The funding would be substantial and provided long-term, subject to review. Funding would be provided for salaries, offices, and equipment for citizen journalists who will carry out extended investigations of current issues and provide in-depth reports based on extensive investigations, as well as shorter summaries for the general public.

Such a system is not corruption-proof, but if we can inspire a new culture of investigative journalism among citizens, fortified by investigative journalism by professional journalists, we have a reasonable chance of establishing an effective approach to meaningful journalism.

We must also realize just how dangerous the situation is today. We have no choice but to take comprehensive reforms aimed at changing the very essence of journalism. Or would you rather see Korea dragged into a world war between the China and the United States because citizens were exposed only to unrealistic fantasy stories in the news they relied on?

Lectures for the public, and lectures at elementary schools, high schools, and universities, are as important to the citizen journalist's work as the writing of articles. Introducing complex topics like the economy, culture, technology, and society to ordinary citizens through town hall meetings is extremely important to create a healthy society and helps reporters to understand both their topic and their audience. Providing funds to support such journalists and their newspapers should be a critical part of the function of government.

Although this process of changing the nature of journalism, the nature of writing, will take time, it will not take that long to start a significant transformation because so many citizens are deeply frustrated by the superficiality of current media and their complete inability to participate in it. Even alternative media sources are often completely opaque and inaccessible to most citizens. If we can put forth a few powerful media platforms that supply steady incomes for those who undertake investigative reporting and who provide citizens' education programs on contemporary issues, we can create new seriousness in writing, reading, and debate that will spread throughout our society.

If we look for successful examples of government-funded institutions that produce outstanding journalism, we can find them. The BBC or NHK in the 1970s and 1980s are excellent examples. In the Korean case, the government-run KTV could be a promising opportunity. This station could give grants to journalists, academics, or citizen reporters to produce broadcasts on critical topics for citizens. KTV could be built up into a major news service domestically. At the same time, bringing in committees of experts and citizens to oversee content development at Yonhap and other broadcasters to make sure that it is focused on the real long-term needs of the country could have a positive impact.

Perhaps the most intriguing opportunity is the case of Arirang TV. Korea's primary English language station, Arirang has developed a following, but it does not provide the sort of high-impact investigative reporting that we find at Al Jazeera TV or RT, or even the BBC. With proper funding and with greater independence, Arirang could become a major player in serious investigative journalism, rather than simply introducing the daily news in a light and condensed manner akin to the fluff produced by CNN.

At the same time, Korea will do best in journalism if it effectively returns to its cultural roots and uncovers traditions that can guide it forward. Perhaps the best model for Korean journalism reform can be found in the Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty. This history of the Joseon Dynasty is famous for its remarkable objectiveness and included a series of elaborate safeguards to make sure that the historians (sagwan) involved in recording and editing the records were able to maintain objectivity and receive incomes without a need to constantly demonstrate their worth to the powerful. The Chunchugwan (Hall of History) which managed the editing of the Veritable Records was able to resist, in many cases, efforts of the king or high officials to interfere in the editorial decisions.

The Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty will need to be completely reinterpreted if we want to make them the basis for the journalism ecosystem in Korea. Yet the very act of looking back at Korea's past as a place to find models for the future of a distinctly Korean journalism can be inspiring. For Korean journalists to be aware that there was a tremendous tradition of objective historical writing for the common good in Korea that predates the manipulation of journalism in the 1970s and 1980s will give them a new confidence.Kendallville, IN (46755)

Today

Rain. Potential for heavy rainfall. High 54F. Winds N at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near an inch..

Tonight

Periods of rain. Potential for heavy rainfall. Low 46F. Winds NNW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected.Good morning! Im Carolyn Kellogg, books editor of the L.A. Times, with this weeks newsletter.

THE BIG STORY

Barry Gifford is famous for his tales of outsiders, including Sailor and Lula in Wild at Heart. Jim Ruland sits down with the author in his Berkeley studio to talk about his inspirations, his longtime love of noir and what hes been up to lately.

What Gifford has been doing is writing short fiction: the Roy Stories. Weve got a brand-new one  The Best Part of the Story  its excellent, sharp and unexpected, and will appear in the paperback edition of his collection The Cuban Club, coming this fall.

Advertisement

Author Barry Gifford at his writing studio. (Peter DaSilva / For The Times )

L.A. TIMES FESTIVAL OF BOOKS

Its been many months in the making: We unveiled the Festival of Books schedule on Thursday. More than 400 authors will participate in the festival, including Junot Diaz, Walter Mosley, Gabrielle Union, Patton Oswalt, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Joyce Carol Oates, Jorge Ramos, John Scalzi, Tayari Jones, Lawrence Wright, Rick Riordan, Ngugi Wa Thiongo, Dennis Lehane, Janet Mock, Kate DiCamillo, Reza Aslan, Dave Eggers and Diana Gabaldon. And so many more  plus food trucks and art and readings and performances and booths galore. Its all happening April 21-22 at USC. Here are some high points of the lineup and the entire schedule. And, yes, Ill probably mention it again before we get there.

Collin Hinds with his son Preston at the 2013 L.A. Times Festival of Books. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times )

THE BIG REVIEW

Mexican poet Julian Herbert has made a detour with his new book Tomb Song, (translated by Christina MacSweeney), which isnt poetry at all. Is it fiction? Is it memoir? What are we supposed to think of its endearing, frustrating protagonist? Like American literary favorite Ben Lerner, Herbert plays with readers expectations while enjoying himself tremendously. Herberts ambitious novel is the pleasing work of a high stylist having fun, living life, making a good story, writes Nathan Deuel in our review.

Julian Herbert is author of Tomb Song. (Ignacio Valdez )

BESTSELLERS

Advertisement

Did you hear that Little Fires Everywhere is being co-produced as a limited series by Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington, who are going to costar in it? The series was the subject of a bidding war and will stream on Hulu on a not-yet announced date. For its part, the book by Celeste Ng is No. 1 on the L.A. Times fiction bestseller list.

Debuting at No. 1 on our nonfiction bestseller list is Maria Shrivers Ive Been Thinking ... Reflections Prayers, and Meditations for a Meaningful Life. Fans, plan your calendars: Shriver, the journalist and former first lady of California, will be participating in the L.A. Times Festival of Books.

See all the books on our bestseller lists here.

Honoree Maria Shriver speaks at the Celebrity Fight Night XXIV benefit on March 10, 2018. (Emma McIntyre )

Advertisement

MORE GOOD READS

Dont miss this L.A. Times story of the octogenarian women who have been friends since kindergarten in Boyle Heights.

Pacific Standard has created a virtual road trip through words. To take the temperature of the country, they asked writers and others to provide a kind of snapshot of their state at this particular moment in time. The result: Postcards From America. It reminds me of the terrific 2009 anthology State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America  50 Writers on 50 States, edited by Matt Weiland and Sean Wilsey and which is a hefty 608 pages.

Kate Wilhelm died last week, and Scott Bradfield has this appreciation of the science fiction writer who never quite got her due.

Advertisement

The National Book Critics Circle announced its award winners Thursday night; women swept all six categories. Joan Silber took the fiction prize for her novel Improvement; nonfiction went to Frances FitzGerald for The Evangelicals: The Struggle to Shape America; the autobiography prize went to Xiaolu Guo for her book Nine Continents: A Memoir In and Out of China; biography went to Caroline Fraser for her book Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder; criticism went to Carina Chocano for her essay collection You Play the Girl: On Playboy Bunnies, Stepford Wives, Train Wrecks, & Other Mixed Messages and Layli Long Soldier won the poetry prize for Whereas.

Agatha French visited Ketabsara bookstore and gallery in Westwood and, on the eve of Nowruz, talked to proprietor Masud Valipour about how he came to create his unique calligraphic art of Persian poetry.

Ketabsara Bookstore (Maria Alejandra Cardona / Los Angeles Times )

Thanks for reading!

Advertisement

carolyn.kellogg@latimes.com

@paperhausFacebook Inc. has suspended Cambridge Analytica, a data company that helped Donald Trump win the presidential election, for receiving and failing to delete as many as 50 million Facebook profiles without their owners permission.

Facebook said in a blog post Friday that Cambridge Analytica received the data through an app developer on its social network, violating its policies. In 2015, Facebook said Cambridge Analytica certified that it had destroyed the information.

Several days ago, we received reports that, contrary to the certifications we were given, not all data was deleted, Facebook said in a statement. Cambridge Analytica and parent Strategic Communication Laboratories have been suspended from the social network pending further information, Facebook said.

Cambridge Analytica said in a statement Saturday it did nothing illegal and is in touch with Facebook in order to resolve the matter as quickly as possible.

Advertisement

Originally funded by conservative billionaire Robert Mercer, Cambridge uses data to reach voters with hyper-targeted messaging, including on Facebook and other online services. It was hired to help with voter outreach by the Trump campaign, whose former campaign manager, Stephen K. Bannon, had been on the companys board.

The company harvested private information from the Facebook profiles of more than 50 million users without permission, according to the New York Times, which cites interviews with former Cambridge employees, associates and documents. This allowed Cambridge to exploit the private social media activity of these users in support of the Trump campaign.

They want to fight a culture war in America, Christopher Wylie, who helped found Cambridge and worked there until late 2014, said of the companys leaders, according to the Times. Cambridge Analytica was supposed to be the arsenal of weapons to fight that culture war.

Referring to stories by the Times and the Guardian, Alex Stamos, Facebooks head of security, wrote in a Twitter message that it is incorrect to call this a breach. 

We can condemn this behavior while being accurate in our description of it, he wrote, calling the actions inappropriate in another tweet. Cambridge said that it hired Global Science Research in 2014 for a U.S. project, but that it subsequently became clear that the data from GSR wasnt obtained in line with Facebooks terms of service.

No data from GSR was used by Cambridge Analytica as part of the services it provided to the Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign, it said in the statement.

Facebook wrote in its statement that Aleksandr Kogan, a professor at the University of Cambridge, built an app that used Facebooks login tools to obtain information about Facebook users and their friends, which the companys policies allow. Then, in violation of policies, he subsequently shared that data with Cambridge Analytica. When Facebook found out in 2015, the parties involved told Facebook they destroyed the data. They didnt.

Kogan did not break into any systems, bypass any technical controls, or use a flaw in our software to gather more data than allowed, Stamos tweeted. He did, however, misuse that data after he gathered it.

Advertisement

Facebook in 2015 stopped allowing app developers to gather friend data.

We are committed to vigorously enforcing our policies to protect peoples information, Facebook said in the blog post. We will take legal action if necessary to hold them responsible and accountable for any unlawful behavior.

Frier writes for Bloomberg.By justifying sweeping tariffs on imported metals in the name of national security, President Trump has lobbed what could be a grenade into the global trading order.

For decades that order has been underpinned by the World Trade Organization, whose 164 member-states have agreed to abide by WTO rules for open trade and settling disputes. The United States has been the Switzerland-based groups chief architect in establishing the principles and procedures governing international trade.

Yet the Trump administration has repeatedly upbraided the organization as slow and incapable of resolving problems, like Chinas mercantilist behavior. Moreover, unhappy with the outcome of many WTO decisions, the United States has blocked appointments of judges to fill vacancies, rendering the appellate body largely ineffective.

Now the president is playing the national security card  and some fear that could do serious damage to the multilateral trading system, even blow it up by encouraging other countries to use the same rationale to bypass WTO rules, or give Trump an excuse to back out of the group altogether.

Advertisement

It is putting a lot of pressure on the WTO in a very sort of existential way, said Jennifer Hillman, a Georgetown law professor and former WTO appellate body member.

The Trump administration justified the tariffs  25% on foreign steel and 10% on aluminum  on the basis that imported metals presented a threat to the countrys ability to domestically produce what is needed for the military, invoking a rarely used national security provision of a 1962 U.S. trade law.

Some are skeptical about that threat. Despite a rise in imports, U.S. mills still churn out much more than whats needed for the military. Theres enough [domestic] steel and aluminum for the ships, the armored vehicles, the aircrafts that we build, said Nayantara Hensel, former chief economist for the U.S. Navy.

Whats more, trade statistics show that much of the imported steel and aluminum comes from Canada, Germany and other allies in Europe and Asia that have military agreements with the United States.

That was part of the thinking underlying the Bush administrations finding that steel imports, which in 2001 also were weighing on U.S. producers, did not pose a threat to national security. But the Trump administration took a broad interpretation of national security, arguing that ensuring sufficient domestic supplies of steel and aluminum is critical not just for national defense but also for economic security, which includes U.S. infrastructure like transportation networks, electric power grid and water systems.

You dont have steel, you dont have a country, Trump said in issuing the tariff orders on March 8.

So far, Trump has exempted just Canada and Mexico from the metals tariffs, and only conditionally. Others have begun negotiating with the administration about how they also might avoid the hit, although its still not clear what the criteria are for excluding certain countries or products from the duties. At least some trading partners are likely to contest the tariffs with the WTO. The duties are set to take effect March 23.

The question is, what can, or will, the WTO do about it?

Advertisement

Trade lawyers say the Trump administrations metals tariffs are illegal under the WTO. The United States didnt first negotiate through the Geneva-based organization, as required. And in granting exemptions to some countries, the administration has violated a cardinal rule of giving equal treatment in trade.

But there is an escape clause.

According to one of the WTOs articles adopted from the earlier General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, a member nation can break the rules of trade and take actions that it considers necessary for the protection of its essential security interests. This provision, Article 21, doesnt specify what those interests are, or who determines them. And there is little precedent on the matter. Recently the United Arab Emirates cited Article 21 in defending its sanctions against Qatar, which has protested UAEs actions to the WTO.

What is striking, said Georgetowns Hillman, is that the Trump administration has taken the position that once Article 21 is invoked, that instantly removes the WTOs authority to settle the dispute. In other words, the national security determination under Article 21 is both self-made and final, in the administrations view.

Advertisement

This is the first time youve seen that really strong sort of absolute line in the sand of the moment its invoked  the case stops, Hillman said during a recent conference sponsored by the Atlantic Council. What I dont know yet, and nobody knows yet, is whether the rest of the members of the WTO are willing to go along with that.

If the WTO agrees with the U.S. position, many worry that other countries will raise tariffs or erect trade barriers under the same banner of national security,which could ultimately undercut the foundation of the WTO.

But if the WTO decides to take up a case like the U.S. metal tariffs, speculation is rife that the United States could simply walk away from the WTO. Some even see the Trump administrations reliance on national security as a pretext to withdraw from the multilateral system.

Trump could have chosen a different route to protect steel and aluminum manufacturers, whether giving them grants or turning to the more common trade remedy of levying global safeguard tariffs to stem the tide of imports. That is what Trump did earlier this year on imported solar panels and washing machines. Previous administrations have slapped safeguard tariffs on imported tires, socks, motorcycles, as well as steel, in 2002 under President Bush.

Advertisement

But to apply safeguard tariffs, the independent U.S. International Trade Commission has to find that increased imports caused or threaten to cause serious injury to the domestic industry. And its not clear the commission would have come to that conclusion on steel.

Last year the three largest U.S.-based steel makers were all profitable, helped by a stronger global economy and higher steel prices. The largest, Charlotte, N.C.-based Nucor Corp., reported a profit of $1.4 billion on a 25% jump in sales to $20 billion.

Dean Pinkert, a trade lawyer and former International Trade Commission member, pointed to another reason Trump may have gone with the national security justification: Unlike global safeguard tariffs, which are limited to four years, duties based on national security can last indefinitely.

Trump, in fact, said in first announcing the steel and aluminum measures that they will be for an unlimited period  a long period of time.

Advertisement

The WTOs head, Roberto Azevedo, has raised concerns about the new U.S. tariffs and urged restraint from all parties, worried about tit-for-tat retaliation. The potential for escalation is real, as we have seen from the initial responses of others, he said.

Azevedo later defended the WTO, saying at a forum in Brazil this week that if it werent for the WTO, we would already been in a trade war.

Ricardo Melendez-Ortiz, chief executive of the International Center for Trade and Sustainable Development in Geneva, said the situation is very daunting, but doesnt believe the metals tariffs are the death knell for the WTO.

Rather, he hopes that the American actions will lead to reforms in the WTO and the multilateral system. I dont think personally that the U.S. and all the interests, whether political or on the business side, would be in support for the U.S. to withdraw from the WTO, he said. Because it will basically mean any country can impose barriers to trade on the U.S.  The global economy is integrated in such a way that you would be shooting yourself in the foot.

Advertisement

don.lee@latimes.com

Follow me at @dleelatimes1 / 30

Be an artist, or just live like one. Wide-open loft spaces romaniticize downtown living with a decidedly uptown vibe.

(Berlyn Photography)The play opened with the convict.

Youre gonna have to bear with me, he said, seated on a stool in a darkened room, bathed in a lone shaft of light.

I dont do this too much, he continued. I mean, talk to people. Regular people. You know  free people.

The character, a young Latino male, is doing hard time on a murder conviction, much of it in solitary confinement.

Advertisement

The audience, several dozen students from Hawthorne High School and King/Drew Magnet High School of Medicine and Science, sat in silence as the convict faded into darkness and the light shone on the other character, a middle-aged African American woman.

My name is Anna Jackson, she said.  Jackson is my married name.

I wondered, in the early moments of a nearly two-hour play at the Pico Playhouse, how the two actors were going to pull this off. Teenagers fidget. Their minds wander. They reach for their phones. And the actors didnt have the advantage of a full production. This was just a reading. No set. No props. No costumes. Just two actors taking turns telling parallel stories with no promise of an intersection.

But l soon stopped thinking about whether it would work. Like the students, I was riveted by the performances, as well as the sharp writing and observations in a play called Time Alone, by Alessandro Camon.

Judy Bush had told me this would happen. Shed sent invites and promises, beginning last year, that something powerful and magical happens when students watch a play that speaks to them.

They are the best audiences! wrote Bush.

Since 2001, shes been introducing local high school students to theater with her nonprofit Classic and Contemporary American Plays, which is named for her sister, the late actress Bonnie Franklin. The students read and discuss all or part of a play in school, then get to see a professional performance, followed by a discussion with the actors, writers and directors.

It makes perfect sense in a region teeming with creative professionals, and with public schools that have undergone cuts in arts instruction over the years.

Advertisement

I caught the third performance of Time Alone, in which the two actors were so good, it felt as if the whole city was cheated by not being there. Richard Cabral played inmate Gabriel Wayland, and actress Hattie Winston played Anna Jackson.

Hattie Winston performs Time Alone at the Pico Playhousek. Founded in 2000, Bonnie Franklins Classic and Contemporary Plays fills a void in the English and Humanities curriculum of the L.A. Public school system. (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times )

Gabriel, who grew up in dire circumstances, is doing time for killing a rival gang member as a teenager. Anna is doing her own hard time. First she lost her husband to a heart attack. A bolt from the blue  no warning sign, as she describes it. Then she lost her only son  like his father, a police officer  in a shootout with a gas station stickup man.

Prisons are haunted, says Gabriel, who begins to go mad 10 years into a life sentence. Ghosts of the people you hurt. Their dead eyes staring at you.

Advertisement

I heard it all, Anna says. All the excuses. Hurt people hurt people. Depraved cause he was deprived. The impoverished childhood. The absent father. The early exposure to violence and drugs. To which I say, So what? You dont choose the cards youre dealt. But how you play them  thats on you.

And so it goes, dueling monologues from across the divide by two people filled with anger, regret, loss. But in their haunted isolation, for all their differences, victim and perpetrator both experience time as a tool of torture. And then, in a twist I cant give away, they discover a connection that carries with it a hint of redemption.

In the final scene, the two actors stood.

They walked toward each other.

Advertisement

The room went dark.

The audience rose.

The student next to me, Gabriel Vasquez, had said before the play that he wanted to be a doctor or a cop. When it was over, he said he might want to be a writer.

In the program notes, playwright Camon wrote, When we hear stories about those we dont know, we have a chance to recognize our common humanity.

Advertisement

After the play, he explained to students that hes visited prisons for years, as a writing teacher and someone who sees massive levels of incarceration as a symptom of a fractured and divided society.

Zashaya Taylor, age 18, listen to the a discussion of the play Time Alone at the Pico Playhouse. (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times )

But I didnt just want to write about a guy in prison, Camon said. I needed to have a different perspective  that of people who are hurt.

In the conversation that followed, half of the hands went up when students were asked if they knew someone who had been incarcerated.

Advertisement

You hit me right here, a student named Torie Russell told the cast and crew, hands to his heart.

One student said shes opposed to the death penalty, but watching the play made her think execution would be an act of mercy compared with solitary confinement. Another wanted the actors to explain how they got into character, and that led to two revelations.

Cabral grew up much like Gabriel, the character he played. He was a gang member in Los Angeles, went to prison in a plea deal after a charge of attempted murder, did some rehab in Father Greg Boyles Homeboy Industries, then went on to become an Emmy-nominated actor.

Winston, who played Anna and serves as vice president of Bushs nonprofit, said she grew up in segregated Mississippi, and she recalls blacks-only water fountains and theater sections. She said shed been abused as a child and was removed from her home for a while.

Advertisement

Theres a person here  whos been through a lot, Winston told students, and Im no different from any of you. We just have to keep fighting and realizing our own individual value.

Director of the play, Time Alone, Sal Lopez, speaks to students from South LA at the Pico Playhouse. (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times )

One of the King/Drew teachers who brought students to the play was Yvonne Divans-Hutchinson, who has been involved with Bushs student theater program from the beginning.

Divans-Hutchinson taught at Markham Middle School  which she had attended as a child  for 33 years. Then she taught at King/Drew for 10 years before retiring. A little more than a year ago, she went back, as a substitute teacher, because the English program she gave so much of her heart to needed help after a teacher became an assistant principal.

Advertisement

She is about to turn 75, and said she keeps at it for two reasons.

She loves teaching, and she loves the students.

I checked with her later and she said the day after the play, students were still talking about how moving it was. One student handed her a poem shed written about her father, who was murdered while serving time at the same prison where Gabriel does time in the play.

She and I embraced and cried, said Divans-Hutchinson. In our community  and I grew up in Watts, lived in the projects and had a brother who was taken by violence  these are issues that really touched us. The play was poignant, it was heartbreaking, but in the end, the two characters talked about reconciliation, and that was the most impressive thing.

Advertisement

Get more of Steve Lopezs work and follow him on Twitter @LATstevelopezTwo California sheriffs deputies are being investigated on allegations of stealing money from a 75-year-old woman with dementia, listing her home for sale and putting her on a plane to the Philippines without telling her relatives there she was on her way.

Neighbors and friends on Friday described Rosalie Santallan Achiu of the North Highlands suburb of Sacramento as a frail military wife who loved to play cards and was fluent in several languages but seemed lost and afraid since her husband died more than a year ago.

Then she disappeared.

The last time I [saw] her she was in the back of a cop car, neighbor Daniel Wootton said.

Advertisement

The Sacramento County Sheriffs Department said this week that it began investigating the deputies in late January after an acquaintance raised concerns about the welfare of Achiu, who had not been seen in days.

Federal and sheriffs investigators located her in the Philippines, where she was staying with relatives, the department said. They also found many unusual activities by both deputies, both on and off duty.

Deputy Stephanie Angel, a 14-year agency veteran, and an unidentified male deputy were placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the criminal and administrative investigations, the department said.

Angels attorney, Richard Chan, said she had only performed actions that were in Achius best interest and at her request.

There wasnt any financial, elder abuse that occurred, Chan said. She was assisting this lady and following this ladys wishes, theres been absolutely no financial benefit to Deputy Angel whatsoever.

Achiu met the deputies in mid-January during a call for service, according to court documents first obtained by Sacramento news station KTXL-TV .

Shortly afterward, she was moved into Angels home, Michael Abrate, an attorney for Achius family, said in a petition asking a judge to authorize a nephew to care for Achiu.

Over the following weeks, Achius house was listed for sale, several withdrawals were made from her bank accounts and one deputy opened a joint bank account with Achiu, the attorney said.

Advertisement

The deputies also accompanied Achiu to her bank and had it drill out the locks of her safe deposit box. They then applied for a passport for Achiu on a website called RushMyPassport.com, Abrate said.

Achiu, who has no children or other relatives living in California, suffers from dementia and lacks the capacity to resist fraud or provide informed consent, he said.

Neighbor Nyairee Fitzpatrick described her friend as independent but something of a forgetful hoarder. She and others said Achiu had talked of sending some belongings to relatives in the Philippines but wanted to live with a brother in Washington state.

The cop came ... and like emptied out her whole house, she recalled, standing outside Achius vacant home with discarded furniture stacked in the driveway.

Advertisement

The deputies were granted power of attorney by Achiu and named agents on her living will on Jan. 30. Days later, one of them bought a one-way airplane ticket to the Philippines for Achiu, who arrived Feb. 3, Abrate said.

Investigators found her there on Feb. 14, and she told them she wanted to return to the U.S. She has been at a hospital in California since she returned Feb. 21, her familys attorney said.

Achiu and her husband, who had met while he served in the military overseas, frequented casinos and restaurants where everyone seemed to know them, longtime neighbors Jo and Randy Osborn said.

She struggled after he died but had a series of housemates keeping her company before she called deputies because of problems with one of them, Randy Osborn said.

Advertisement

They just took her, Jo Osborn said of the deputies. That was crazy, and to find out she was sent to the Philippines, thats really crazy.

Chan, Angels attorney, said his client took Achiu to doctors who believed she didnt have dementia and was fine to travel. Angel took power of attorney because Achiu had not been caring for herself  living in a filthy house and sleeping in a chair, he said.

Chan provided a department letter of recognition that he said Angel received in January for helping Achiu.

He also accused Sheriff Scott Jones of engaging in a slander campaign because Angel recently alleged sexual harassment within the department. She sued Jones, then a captain, and three other employees in 2007 over similar claims, which were settled.

Advertisement

A spokesman for Jones and the department, Sgt. Zach Hatch, declined to comment, citing the investigation.

Angel never talked to Achius family before sending her to the Philippines but spoke to them after she arrived, Chan said. Before putting her on the plane, Angel gave Achiu copies of her medical records and contact information in case anything went wrong.

Chan did not provide a clear explanation for why Angel felt comfortable sending Achiu overseas alone.

All I can tell you is she did what Rosalie wanted her to do, the attorney said.After a rare federal court hearing Saturday, Orange County officials agreed to extend motel stays on a case-by-case basis to homeless people removed from camps along the Santa Ana River while working to prevent the mass evictions from worsening the homeless crisis at the Santa Ana Civic Center.

The daylong hearing and negotiations marked the latest chapter of an extraordinary effort by officials, homeless advocates and a federal judge to improve the lot of the growing homeless population in one of Americas most affluent counties.

Andrew Do, chairman of the county Board of Supervisors, announced what he called the big concession at about 5 p.m., after more than five hours of meetings between attorneys for the homeless and county staff. This is not a blanket extension, he warned, adding that starting next week, officials will help transition up to 100 people a day from motels to their next stop.

Do scheduled a special supervisors meeting on Monday to discuss using county land and sites available for shelter.

Advertisement

Officials will share the locations with advocates for the homeless  48 hours before the move  allowing attorneys enough time to challenge those moves if they feel theyre not a good fit for each individual.

We have couples who need to stay together but theyre sent to places that separate couples. We have a few people who may be nearing the end of their lives, someone with Stage 4 cancer, all of these folks have special needs and we want to be sensitive to them, said Carol Sobel, a lawyer who attracted national recognition for her legal advocacy on behalf of the rights of the homeless.

In February, more than 700 homeless people were moved to county motels after officials pushed to clear a massive encampment along the Santa Ana River. Vouchers for the motels expired in 30 days  beginning this past Friday  prompting advocates and county officials to face off trying to figure out how to provide longer-term temporary housing.

Attorney Brooke Weitzman, who represents seven homeless people and filed a civil rights lawsuit against the county in January over the clearing of the river encampment, argued in a court filing that the only shelter options available are the same ones that existed before. Those include the Bridges at Kraemer Place in Anaheim, the Courtyard in Santa Ana and beds at private shelters.

This leaves well more than 500 individuals relocated from the riverbed without shelter and competing with the additional 2,300 unhoused persons in Orange County for the limited resources that exist, Weitzman wrote.

Lawyers for the county struck back, maintaining that there are enough beds for all those who completed a clinical assessment during their motel stays.

These beds include shelter, recuperative care, Full Service Partnership mental health treatment and substance-use disorder treatment beds, county attorneys wrote in a court filing.

To find solutions, U.S. District Judge David O. Carter invited all parties to Saturdays hearing  along with mayors and city managers from all of Orange Countys 34 cities  because homelessness, he said, is a countywide issue.

Advertisement

Without appropriate resources, unsheltered individuals returning to the streets, sidewalks, plazas and parks in the cities of Orange County could be at risk, simply because of their homeless status, of being criminalized under anti-camping and anti-loitering laws, Carter wrote in the hearing invitation.

As soon as the session opened, Carter pushed everyone to cooperate by helping to clean up the other homeless eyesore in Orange County  the controversial encampment at Santa Anas Civic Center that ballooned to more than 500 residents last year and has now decreased to a population of about 200.

Advocates say Carter worries that some people from the motels could end up at the Civic Center if there arent enough beds for them at safer locations.

Do promised that county officials would work with Santa Ana officials to remove the populations at the Plaza of the Flags and around county buildings, including parking structures, the citys library and near the public defenders office. He also pledged to allocate up to $70 million in county funding to end the paralysis and tackle homelessness.

Advertisement

Jeff Levine, who is staying at Bridges, the countys first year-round homeless shelter in Anaheim, said he was satisfied with Saturdays outcome. Its compromise. And I think everyones done a very good job. This is a complicated, huge issue, and its going to take plenty more time to resolve it to everyones liking.

If there are not enough indoor spaces for the homeless, Levine suggests operating outdoor encampments with assigned guards to give residents more freedom and air. That way, its an open and secure area where people could feel comfortable. .

Lili Graham, director of litigation for the Legal Aid Society of Orange County, said she continues to worry for her homeless clients. She has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Peoples Homeless Task Force and seven river trail residents, alleging that the countys sudden eviction of those residents is discriminatory because it denies them access to county benefits because of their disabilities.

The lawsuit maintains that Orange County has nearly $700 million in unspent funds available to end homelessness, including $146 million for housing vouchers, but officials show a lack of willingness to implement long-term solutions. There is so much uncertainty for our clients, Graham said. What happens after eviction  and after the motels? There are no answers.

Advertisement

anh.do@latimes.comThe two young, blond women in figure-flattering ball gowns hoisted whiskey and shotguns.

An auctioneer rattled off bids. Above the stage in the banquet hall hung a green flag for the 51st state of Jefferson, with its pair of Xs called a double-cross representing a sense of rural abandonment.

Hundreds of people packed into the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9650 hall on this chilly Saturday night, ready to crack open wallets to help fund their dream of carving  out of Californias northernmost reaches  a brand new state.

Someone offered $350 for a state of Jefferson belt buckle. Someone else won a lamb, still in its mothers womb, that should be born in time to be butchered for Easter. Outside, vehicles bore bumper stickers supporting President Trump and the 2nd Amendment.

We Okies are fun, arent we? one man quipped.

The scene last month in this small Shasta County city seemed like a perfect were-not-in-California-anymore-moment. That is, if you only knew California as the diverse, liberal bastion whose elected officials have tried to stymie the Trump administrations moves on immigration, legalized marijuana, climate change and so on.

But the so-called Northstate is looking less and less like the rest of the Golden State. The vast, sparsely-populated region is whiter, more rural and poorer than the rest of the state  and residents are more conservative. While California has become the center of the resistance to Trump, a number of Northern Californians are waging a resistance of their own: against California itself.

Larry Miller, left, and Vern Garrett look at auction items, including a handgun, at a fundraiser in support of establishing the state of Jefferson. At right, Norman Oilar looks at a portrait of Thomas Jefferson that was up for bid. Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times

Inside the banquet hall, the man many see as the founder of the modern Jefferson movement told the crowd that their gun rights, property rights, grazing rights and water rights were under siege by politicians who write them off as country bumpkins.

Youre the ones being exterminated by a lack of liberty, said Mark Baird, a Siskiyou County rancher.

The breakaway state of Jefferson is a decades-old idea, but it has been revived in earnest in recent years by residents who say they are fed up with their voices being drowned out in Sacramento, where outspoken urban Democrats hold a vise grip on the state Legislature.

Supporters say overregulation has hobbled rural industries such as timber, mining and fishing and that the states high taxes and cost of living are driving young people away, quickening the decline of small towns. They chafe under Californias strict gun-control policies and are infuriated by its liberal immigration laws.

They cite Californias new gas tax increase of 12 cents per gallon, saying it has an outsize impact on rural people who drive farther for work and basic needs such as hospitals, schools and grocery stores.

How likely is it that a new state will be broken off, like a piece of Kit Kat bar, from California? Not likely at all, experts say.

Eric McGhee, a political scientist at the Public Policy Institute of California, said that while you can never say never, there are too many legal obstacles to overcome.

Its easy to think that because theres this large piece of territory, that its a large share of California in terms of the population," he said. Thats just not the case.  Its an absolutely minuscule portion of the states population.

Supporters of a breakaway state say they are sorely underestimated and point to the number of passionate people who show up to their events. One man put it this way: Were not a bunch of dumb rednecks.

When we first started ... people would say, Whats Jefferson? ... Now, theyre saying, When are you going to get this done? Janet Chandler

Clockwise from top left: Jeri Carstens holds a metal seal for the state of Jefferson. The Jefferson seal is engraved on the stock of a shotgun at a recent auction. Raffle tickets, designed to look like money, are displayed. A handmade belt buckle up for bid is shown. Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times

But some Northern Californians have had enough of talk of breaking away from California. After several county boards began considering Jefferson proposals, Kevin Hendrick, a retired municipal employee from Crescent City, in Del Norte County, formed a political action committee in 2015 called Keep It California to oppose the idea.

Youve got a handful of residents that are grumpy and pining for the good old days, but that shouldnt represent all the good people living in rural counties, he said.

Hendrick said there are rural issues that do need more attention, such as access to affordable healthcare and the internet, but that separating from California would be financially devastating.

People need hope, yes, he said. They dont need false hope.

There has been plenty of talk recently about cleaving California. There was the failed 2014 effort to split the state into six states. Theres a plan to form New California, which includes everything but a sliver of wealthy, urban coastal counties. And theres Calexit, the movement for the state to secede from the Union entirely, an idea that gained steam after Trumps election.

Jefferson, which has included some Oregon counties in various iterations, precedes them. In one of the movements most colorful eras, armed separatists in November 1941 set up roadblocks along Highway 99 in Siskiyou County. But the movement was halted days later when Pearl Harbor was bombed.

Win Carpenter, right, and Terry Rapoza talk during their radio show, "Jefferson State of Mine," at a KCNR-AM 1460 Free Fire Radio studio in Redding on Feb. 18. Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times

The modern Jefferson movement was kicked off in 2013 when boards of supervisors in Siskiyou and Modoc counties passed declarations of support for withdrawing from California.

Win Carpenter, a Jefferson organizer from Redding, said declarations from 21 counties have been filed with state officials. Some are proclamations by county boards of supervisors; others are collections of signatures by residents.

Carpenter, 55, a seventh-generation Shasta County resident, quit his job as an appraiser in the county assessors office in 2015 to devote his time to Jefferson. Days later, he told the Shasta County Board of Supervisors that, although the board had declined to support the breakaway state, advocates had gathered thousands of signatures anyway.

As your employers, we have decided you will not be representing us on this issue, he told the supervisors. Therefore, we are moving ahead without you.

If Jefferson became a state, it would have 1.7 million residents, a population bigger than 13 other states. It would be 73% white. Present-day California has roughly the same number of whites and Latinos, at about 14.8 million each.

Jefferson supporters have their hopes set on a federal lawsuit. Last year, a group called Citizens for Fair Representation  including Carpenter, Baird and other Jefferson proponents along with a Native American tribe, the California Libertarian Party and the city of Fort Jones, Calif.  sued the state, alleging an unconstitutional lack of representation and dilution of vote.

Californias 120 state legislators, the suit states, cannot adequately represent 40 million residents. In Northern California, one senator represents nine counties and parts of two more. The idea, Baird said, is for California to either be forced to add thousands more legislators or that the state would refuse and let Jefferson leave.

Clockwise from top left: Flags for the U.S. and the state of Jefferson fly in Anderson. Visitors take in the view from Burney Mountain Vista Point. Burney Falls in Shasta County is shown, along with the Sundial Bridge in Redding. Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times

Baird had just finished an impassioned speech about Jefferson in Placerville last month when Riley Taresh, 19, stepped up to the microphone, her voice solemn.

How much longer do we have to wait? she asked. I only have a few more years where I can go to school here before I have to leave because I wont be able to afford to stay in California.

Taresh, of Shingle Springs, works part time at Payless ShoeSource while attending Folsom Lake College. She cant afford to move out of her parents home. She wants to work in the medical field and stay in Northern California, but as a working-class poor, it is not possible for me, she said. She believes her chances at getting into a four-year state university were hindered, in part, because she is white.

Im like, excuse me, I have to work my butt off to get anywhere, and youre going to hand illegals  a drivers license, youre going to hand them an education, and I have to work my butt off until Im in tears and begging for help to get anywhere. No.

Mike Murray, 32, of Rocklin, said he hates the perception that it is these old white people that just want to go around and spit their tobacky and shoot their guns.

Murray has been trying to attract younger, more diverse people. He sees Jefferson as a reset button. An uncle of his packed up his business and moved to Texas because of high taxes. His in-laws are frustrated by Californias strict gun laws, which, he said, arent feasible for them since they are rural farmers who would have to wait a half-hour for police if someone broke in.

I just like the whole idea of getting back to the Constitution, getting back to the principles that made this country great in the first place. Sally Rapoza

Sally Rapoza hands out pamphlets a Rotary Club meeting in February. Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times

Just after 7 a.m. on a recent Friday, Terry Rapoza stood before the Sunrise Rotary Club at a Redding Best Western explaining the case for Jefferson while his wife, Sally, handed out pamphlets.

A stout, mustachioed man with a booming belly-laugh, Rapoza said there was no rule of law in the state of California. He recently called a White House hotline to say Gov. Jerry Brown had repeatedly violated the Constitution.

A gregarious couple in their 60s, the Rapozas, of Redding, helped start a local tea party group shortly after President Obama took office. A 2009 tea party protest at Reddings Sundial Bridge drew some 2,000 people, and their son, Clayton, a labor organizer and Civil War reenactor, dressed as a Revolutionary War minuteman and led protesters across the walkway.

I just like the whole idea of getting back to the Constitution, getting back to the principles that made this country great in the first place, Sally Rapoza said of Jefferson.

For the Rapozas, Californias sanctuary policies are emblematic of the unchecked power of the state Democratic party. They were thrilled when the Shasta County Board of Supervisors approved a non-sanctuary resolution last month.

Why are we allowing illegal aliens to come into our country? Sally said. I mean, thats an invasion.  It feels like our rights are being diminished and their rights are being exploited, actually, because the Democrats want votes and the Republicans want cheap workers.

Sally, whose organizing skills earned her the moniker Rally Sally, uses her Facebook page to live-stream events and drum up Jefferson support. The official State of Jefferson website lists her as a social media organizer. She also shares political posts on her page, including Breitbart articles and a meme calling Hillary Clinton the Russian spy who hacked our primaries.

Terry co-hosts a weekly AM radio show, Jefferson State of Mine, with Carpenter. It opens with a country song about Jefferson: Its a wave on a dusty road. Its a loggers heavy load. Its the cattle on the hills. Its the ridge full of thrills.

People cross the street in the Shasta County town of Redding. Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times

In the small mountain town of Burney, Harold and Janet Chandler live on a quiet street among the pine trees. They have a Jefferson sign in their yard and Jefferson coffee mugs in their cupboards.

The couple  she a retired school teacher, he a retired California Highway Patrol officer  moved to Burney in 1991, when it was a bustling logging town with two clothing stores, two shoe stores, two grocery stores, they said. But the timber mills cut back. The families left. Now, shuttered storefronts line Main Street.

Janet, who unsuccessfully ran for county supervisor in 2016 and openly supported Jefferson, said regulations would be eased in the new state, bringing back jobs  and hope. She and Harold are on a committee that recently finished writing a 29-page Jefferson constitution.

When we first started handing out brochures and carrying signs at parades, people would say, Whats Jefferson? Janet said. Then, the phrase became, Oh, its a good idea, but its never going to happen. Now, theyre saying, When are you going to get this done?

hailey.branson@latimes.com

Twitter: @haileybranson

Los Angeles Times staff writer Ryan Menezes contributed to this report.

Dig deeper into the areas demographics in The Times Jefferson censusA 27-year-old man suffered fatal injuries Saturday morning as the result of a punching game inside a bar in the Gas Lamp neighborhood of San Diego, police said.

Authorities were called to Joltn Joes bar in the 300 block of 4th Avenue at 12:58 a.m., according to the San Diego Police Department.

When officers arrived, they found bystanders performing CPR on the man, who was unresponsive, police said. He was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 1:45 a.m.

Detectives said that, according to witnesses, two men at the bar had been engaged in a punching game, in which they struck each other repeatedly, when one collapsed.

Advertisement

As bystanders rendered aid to the fallen man, his opponent remained at the scene. He was being interviewed by homicide detectives after being taken to a hospital for treatment, police said.

The two men were acquaintances, police said. Their identities were not released.As she addressed the crowd during the walkout at her Idaho high school, Kylee Denny faced heckles and name-calling from a group of students carrying American flags, she said. The counterprotesters included many familiar faces, including her boyfriends stepbrother.

To avoid making a difficult situation worse, Kylees boyfriend stayed in class during the rally at Hillcrest High School in Idaho Falls, which was part of Wednesdays national school walkout.

Im dating his stepbrother, which is really incredibly awkward, and its very tense because he was being so hostile about losing respect for me because I was walking out, said Kylee, a 17-year-old junior who helped organize the protest.

The walkouts to protest gun violence that mobilized students across the country also created tensions in hallways and classrooms as a new generation was thrust into the debate over guns. While those calling for new restrictions stood in the spotlight, the surge of youth activism has exposed sharp differences of opinion.

Advertisement

Administrators and student leaders are sorting through the fallout as some schools handed out discipline for those who defied school instructions and participated in the walkouts exactly one month after the massacre of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.

In some cases, personal relationships have been strained.

Ryler Hanosky said he was disappointed that his stepbrother, Kylees boyfriend, did not join the counterprotest.

Hes a hunter just like me. He likes his guns, Ryler said. I told him, You need to come with us, and hes like, No, Im just going to stay out of it. It kind of makes me mad a little bit.

Ahead of the walkout, Ryler and like-minded friends gathered at a high school spirit rock. There were some arguments about guns, he said, but it was peaceful and students respected one anothers views.

The rally Kylee helped organize was supposed to be for school safety, not gun restrictions, she said, but some misunderstood, becoming angry and calling names.

Youre just like, ooh, wow, OK, I have second period with you and I dont want you to think Im trying to destroy your constitutional rights, she said.

In Woodbury, Conn., about 75 students walked out of class Wednesday at the 750-student Nonnewaug High School, meeting in the auditorium before walking outside. They were followed by another group of about a dozen counterdemonstrators, including some who chanted, NRA is the only way!

Advertisement

One student, Jess Dooley, 16, said that the school in rural western Connecticut is small enough for her to know nearly everyone, but that she did not feel comfortable joining the walkout because of comments by gun rights supporters. Tensions already had been high since the Parkland shooting amid constant debate over arming teachers, school shootings and gun control.

Everybody knows how everyone feels about it, she said.

The day after the walkout, Jess said, her civics teacher defused some tension by letting students take turns sharing their opinions on the walkout.

Organizers of the national walkouts called for such measures as tighter background checks on gun purchases and a ban on assault weapons like the one used in the Florida bloodbath. A protest against gun violence also is scheduled in Washington on March 24, and another round of school walkouts is planned for April 20, the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting in Colorado.

Advertisement

In last weeks walkouts, some students tried to steer clear of politics entirely, including Jacob Shoemaker, a senior at Hilliard High School in Ohio, who was suspended a day for not following instructions because he stayed in a classroom instead of joining protests or the alternative, a study hall. School, he said, isnt the place for politics, and he wasnt taking sides.

In Pennsylvania, a superintendent issued detentions to 225 Pennridge High School students who walked out Wednesday instead of attending an assembly honoring the Parkland victims.

Elsewhere, scuffles broke out between walkout participants and students who had other ideas for how to spend the time out of class. At Blythewood High School in South Carolina, students were packed tightly together in a school atrium when some began talking during the moment of silence for the Parkland victims. Shoving broke out as some called for quiet.

These kids, who were probably younger, they werent against the protests, said Andrew Kilgore, an 18-year-old senior who said students would be better organized for the next demonstration. They were just being disruptive. They wanted a reason to get out of class.Asian American lawmakers and organizations denounced as insensitive and culturally tone-deaf a comment by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke during a discussion about the forced internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.

When asked about the importance of preserving internment camp sites, Zinke responded by saying, konnichiwa, Japanese for good afternoon.

The comment came Thursday in Washington during a hearing by the House Committee on Natural Resources as it considered the future of the Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant Program, which funds efforts to preserve sites where Japanese Americans were detained during the war.

Rep. Colleen Hanabusa (D-Hawaii), calling herself the granddaughter of two internees, said both of her grandfathers were among the more than 110,000 Japanese Americans who were interned.

Advertisement

Hanabusa said President Trumps budget proposal included eliminating funding for the grant program. I believe that it is essential that we as a nation recognize our darkest moments so we dont have them repeat again, she said.

After Hanabusa asked whether Zinke would continue funding the program, he replied, Oh, konnichiwa, with a smile and small nod.

One woman in the audience looked stunned, her jaw dropping when she heard Zinkes remark.

I think its still ohayo gozaimasu, but thats OK, Hanabusa responded, correcting Zinke with the Japanese term for good morning.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, Zinke answered that his priorities were to fix facilities under his departments jurisdiction, bridges and pipeline structures first. He then said of the grant program, I will look into it. I agree with you, it is important.

The internment of nearly 120,000 Japanese Americans is no laughing matter, @SecretaryZinke. What you thought was a clever response to @RepHanabusa was flippant & juvenile. pic.twitter.com/8pTkmqBeQb  Senator Mazie Hirono (@maziehirono) March 15, 2018

No better example of why we need continued support for historical sites where the rights of Japanese Americans were violated b/c of race. Zinke's comment betrayed a prejudice that being Asian makes you a perpetual foreigner. Intentional or not, it's offensive. He should apologize https://t.co/oxO7N4qLrx  Judy Chu (@RepJudyChu) March 16, 2018

Criticism and calls for an apology quickly followed Zinkes remark.

Advertisement

Rather than greet her like he would any other Member of Congress, he responded to her as if she did not speak any English, Rep. Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park) wrote in a statement.

Secretary Zinkes addressing Representative Colleen Hanabusa with konnichiwa in a formal congressional hearing reflects his inability to distinguish an American of Japanese ancestry from a citizen of Japan, Mitchell Maki, president of the Go For Broke National Education Center in Los Angeles, said in a statement. He added that while Secretary Zinke may have had no ill intentions with this remark, his lack of awareness is alarming.

This blatantly insensitive remark by @secretaryzinke is uncalled for and is not behavior that a cabinet secretary should exhibit, Rep. Grace Meng (D-New York) wrote on Twitter.

A tweet from Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) was more concise: Nope. Racism is not ok.

Advertisement

As of late Friday, Zinke had not issued a comment on the remark.

My colleague asked Sec. Zinke a serious question about gov't funding and received the response "Konnichiwa". This blatantly insensitive remark by @secretaryzinke is uncalled for and is not behavior that a cabinet secretary should exhibithttps://t.co/4dz9gSgKdR pic.twitter.com/MwPCT0CJdO  Grace Meng (@RepGraceMeng) March 15, 2018

michael.livingston@latimes.com

@Livingston_LATOn Monday, James Levine, the longtime music director of the Metropolitan Opera in New York, was fired after the Met investigated his history of sexual abuse of young men, including teenagers. Levine sued the Met for $5.8 million for breach of contract and defamation.

On Tuesday, a report surfaced that five women had accused the architect Richard Meier of groping, exhibitionism, assault and paying for silence. While our recollections may differ, Meier said in a statement, I sincerely apologize to anyone who was offended by my behavior.

Anyone who was offended.

In the months since the seismic expose of Harvey Weinstein, more than 120 high-profile men have been publicly accused of sexual misconduct, often with serious consequences. When they first get the news, many toss it off  or rage, lawyer up and sue.

Advertisement

One thing they dont do  lately, anyway  is admit to a psychosexual problem. Even those with brutal erotic practices have stopped confessing that theyre sick puppies. Perhaps this is because Weinstein said he was an addict when he flamed out, an admission that did little to win back anyones trust or money. He quit in-patient rehab after a week, and is now said to be on a recovery picaresque, sampling various therapies, including kale drinks and loud calls to his lawyers, as he roams the countryside.

Its a shame the SLAA program has been lumped in with tony rehabs, fake addiction science and tepid apologies as just another refuge of scoundrels.

Maybe its best  for modern optics, anyway  for sex abusers to skip the invocations of personal demons and the Medevac to a secluded clinic. There is no consensus, after all, about what sex addiction is, and many regard the phrase as a way to slip the knot of moral responsibility. Newsweek has called sex addiction a condition that doesnt exist. The New York Times columnist Frank Bruni has identified in some of these men an itch to identify some pathology, render a diagnosis, layer science onto sheer boorishness.

But if the last few months have shown us that victims have no handbook for coping with lechery, assault and extortion, weve also seen that leches, assailants and extorters dont have a handbook either.

Yet one does exist: a program of recovery that is less science than moral reckoning, less luxury clinic and more church cellar. The program uses the word addict, but not in a 2018 sense; no brain science  nor science at all  is integral to the treatment. Instead, its a spiritual program in which perpetrators confront their selfishness and cultivate ruthless honesty. They also create a searching inventory of what might be called sin, and make amends to those they harmed.

This is Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous, which was founded in Boston in 1976 by a recovering alcoholic. He thought that the 12 steps that had helped him overcome alcoholism could also help him stop compulsive philandering. SLAA often serves as a punch line, and its meetings can easily be imagined as a pickup joint for the promiscuous. Theyre anything but that. Recovery in SLAA is not sexy: theres prayer, service to others and chores like floor-mopping that might be just the thing for a vain maestro or arrogant architect.

SLAA sometimes goes by a more dignified and evocative name: the Augustine Fellowship. St. Augustine of Hippo is rarely invoked in the context of #metoo, but maybe he ought to be: He was a man of restless sexual energy who in his famous Confessions copped to harming people for his sexual gratification. The story of Augustines redemption  a dividend of his own moral commitments, as well as Gods grace  is foundational to Protestantism.

Those in the Augustine Fellowship hardly let themselves off the hook for the sexual harms theyve committed. Everything from harassment to infidelity to the wanton consumption of pornography goes on their inventories. Whether or not they believe in God, they commit to the 12 steps not to repair their reputations, but to save their souls.

Advertisement

Several men I respect have stopped compulsive and cruel sexual behavior in the Augustine Fellowship. Their recoveries are both arduous and admirable. For one of them, the strict policing of what the fellowship calls people, places and things  triggers  has continued for years. He avoids all pornography, red-light districts, and even roads with strip clubs along them.

His amends to the women he harmed have all included taking full, un-defensive responsibility for all the suffering he caused. No our recollections may differ here.

Such forthrightness requires humility. The Augustine Fellowship exists for abusers and others who can find humility in their humiliations.

Its a shame the SLAA program has been lumped in with tony rehabs, fake addiction science and tepid apologies as just another refuge of scoundrels. Feminists rightly say that victims dont need to learn self-defense; perpetrators need to learn no raping. The Augustine Fellowship has been teaching no raping for 42 years  and evidently that simple lesson continues to come as news to men who sorely need it.

Advertisement

Twitter: @page88

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or FacebookTo the editor: Jonah Goldberg is surely suffering from selective amnesia if he believes the quote from his fellow conservative Ben Shapiro about his deceased friend: Andrew Breitbart despised racism. (Andrew Breitbart would tell Steve Bannon to stay in Europe, Opinion, March 14)

In a well-documented incident, Breitbart released an edited videotape of then-Agriculture Department official Shirley Sherrod that inaccurately suggested she, an African American, disliked whites. Only after Sherrod had been fired as a result of the misleading tape did it become clear that she was actually calling for racial unity. So egregious was this false charge that Sherrod sued Breitbart for defamation.

It seems to me that if Breitbart were still around, he would probably not tell Steve Bannon to stay in Europe, as Goldberg bizarrely speculates.

James Devitt, Larchmont, N.Y.

Advertisement

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and FacebookTo the editor: I am a retired Los Angeles police officer, a lifetime member of the National Rifle Assn. and the owner of several modern sporting rifles, sometimes called assault rifles. I have a hard time understanding what gun violence crisis or epidemic we are supposedly experiencing in this country. (The biggest outrage about Americas gun violence is Congress failure to do anything about it, editorial, March 13)

The rate of gun violence is almost half of what it was in 1993. This has occurred during a time in which millions of law-abiding citizens have purchased guns  many of them assault rifles  and concealed carry limits have been relaxed all over the country.

Even if you fulfilled every gun grabbers fantasy and went house to house confiscating every assault rifle in America, mass shootings would still occur. The terrorist at Ft. Hood, Texas, killed 13 Americans with a pistol and a revolver. In the largest recent mass murder a gun wasnt even used. A terrorist in France killed 86 people using a truck.

In fact, the citizen who shot the Texas church shooter was himself armed with an AR-15. Gun control is not the answer.

Advertisement

Chris Duke, Simi Valley

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook.Stephen Hawking, the brilliant theoretical physicist and adept explainer of science who died Wednesday, contributed more to humankinds understanding of its universe than all but a small handful of people who ever lived. But as someone who served as a highly visible public figure as much as an accomplished academic, Hawking represented different things to different people.

The letters sent in by Los Angeles Times readers reflect that. To some, Hawking the public intellectual shined as a bright beacon of reason and intelligence in the dark era of Trumpian impulsiveness, and to others his nearly lifelong existence with a paralyzing motor neuron disease served as an inspiration to people with disabilities. For a few, it was his science, his lifes work, that inspired.

Ann Rushton of Sherman Oaks repeats Hawkings warning on climate change:

Your obituary on Stephen Hawkings death described his remarkable intellectual gifts that have advanced our understanding of the universe and its origins. But lets not forget that he did more than explain black holes and the history of everything.

Advertisement

He repeatedly warned us of the dangers we now face related to global warming. He castigated climate change deniers and President Trumps withdrawal from the Paris Accord: Donald Trump ... may just have taken the most serious, and wrong, decision on climate change this world has seen.

Hawking told us that we are at or near the tipping point that will determine whether life on this planet will continue as we know it. He warned that extinction of the human species is a real possibility.

As we recognize his intellectual achievements, we should also heed his warnings and take immediate action to combat global warming.

Studio City resident Russ Woody also makes a political point:

The brilliant Hawking said the universe is infinite with no beginning and no end. I would submit that the obverse is true of human intellect.

It is illustrated beautifully on the front page of your newspaper on Wednesday, where both ends of the spectrum are represented with pictures of Stephen Hawking and Donald Trump.

Kathy Cheer of Santa Cruz notes Hawkings physical disability:

God sends strange messengers  this is a quote I cant remember from whom or where, but it suits such incredible persons as Hawking, painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Christy Brown, author of the book My Left Foot.

Advertisement

All three exhibited physical irregularities, all were brilliant contributors to their respective fields in the arts and sciences, and all rose above their restraints through sheer determination to fulfill the potential of the gifts bestowed on them.

Bob Wieting of Simi Valley recalls being inspired as a young chemistry student:

I vividly recall, like one of those events you remember all your life, when I first read about Hawkings work.

In the late 1970s, Sky & Telescope magazine described how an English theoretician combined two separate realms of physics  quantum mechanics and general relativity  and the results resembled a third independent realm, thermodynamics.

Advertisement

Wow! Even to a chemistry student, this looked deeply profound.

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Watch Live: White House holds surprise news briefing amid government shutdown Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Watch live: Vice President Pence and lawmakers honor George H.W. Bush at the U.S. Capitol before he lies in state Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Watch live: White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders holds a media briefing amid tensions at the border By Los Angeles Times Staff Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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Andrew McCabe, a former top FBI official who fell into the crosshairs of President Trumps angry tweets, has been fired less than two days ahead of his planned retirement Sunday after Justice Department officials concluded he had made misleading statements during an internal investigation.

McCabe was sacked Friday night by Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, who acted on a recommendation from the departments Office of Professional Responsibility, which handles allegations of improper conduct.

The last-minute dismissal is likely to reduce or delay McCabes ability to take his government pension despite nearly 22 years of service at the FBI. He was planning to retire on March 18, when he turns 50, the minimum age to draw the pension.

Sessions said in a statement that McCabe made an unauthorized disclosure to the news media and lacked candor  including under oath  on multiple occasions.

Advertisement

The FBI expects every employee to adhere to the highest standards of honesty, integrity and accountability, he said.

McCabe had stepped down as deputy director, the No. 2 position at the FBI, in January because of the internal inquiry at the Justice Department, but took leave until he could claim his retirement benefits.

His ouster follows an extraordinary series of harsh jabs by Trump, who said that McCabe had a partisan bias against him. The president began attacking McCabe by name on Twitter last summer and exhorted Sessions to get rid of him.

At issue was McCabes role supervising FBI investigations into how Democrat Hillary Clinton handled government emails while she was secretary of State from 2009 to 2013, an issue that dogged her presidential campaign. Trump appeared to blame McCabe for the decision not to charge Clinton with a crime.

Trump and other Republicans also accused McCabe of an ethical conflict because McCabes wife had accepted $700,000 from a political action committee controlled by a close Clinton ally, former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, when she unsuccessfully ran for public office in the state.

That made McCabe a lighting rod in the partisan battles over the special counsels Russia investigation and the politically charged inquiries into Clinton and her family foundation. McCabes supporters said he was a victim of a vindictive president who blamed the Justice Department and FBI for his Russia-related problems.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary who frequently declines to discuss personnel matters, had no such reluctance when it came to McCabe this week.

We do think it is well documented that he has had some very troubling behavior and by most accounts a bad actor and should have some cause for concern, she said Thursday.

Advertisement

Lawyers who specialize in workplace cases for FBI agents and other federal employees say the handling of the McCabe case is highly unusual  starting with the rush to fire him before he could retire. Most disciplinary cases take months or even years to resolve, they said.

Longtime federal employees facing disciplinary action toward the end of their careers typically are allowed to resolve the issue by leaving, said Wynter Allen, an attorney with Alden Law Group in Washington.

Ive never seen that and weve handled all sorts of cases. There have been pretty bad things that happen, she said. Usually if they want you out, they will allow you to retire.

Even with the firing, lawyers said, McCabe probably will not lose his entire pension  but it may be reduced, and he may face years of delay before he can begin collecting the pension payments.

Advertisement

His dismissal came after the Justice Department inspector general reportedly concluded that McCabe had inappropriately allowed two FBI officials to brief a Wall Street Journal reporter on a 2016 investigation into Clintons family foundation, and then misled the inspector generals team about his actions.

That led the Office of Professional Responsibility to recommend McCabe be dismissed. He has denied misleading anyone, and his defenders note that background briefings for reporters are common in the White House and other parts of government.

In a statement after his dismissal, McCabe said that he and his family had been the targets of an unrelenting assault on our reputation and my service to this country. The presidents tweets have amplified and exacerbated it all.

He said his ouster is a tale of what can happen when law enforcement is politicized, public servants are attacked, and people who are supposed to cherish and protect our institutions become instruments for damaging those institutions and people.

Advertisement

He called the attack on his credibility part of a larger effort to taint the FBI, law enforcement and intelligence professionals in what he called the administrations ongoing war on the FBI and the special counsel investigation into Russian meddling in the election.

McCabe said he spent half his FBI career investigating Russian organized crime in New York and the other half focusing on national security and terrorism. I served in some of the most challenging, demanding investigative and leadership roles in the FBI, he said.

Over the last year, the inspector general has been examining how FBI agents and prosecutors handled the Clinton investigation in the heat of the bitter 2016 presidential campaign.

Clinton has blamed her loss in part on the decision by James B. Comey, then-director of the FBI, to announce to Congress that he was restarting the investigation 11 days before the election. Like the earlier inquiry, it closed without finding evidence of wrongdoing.

Advertisement

How can FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, the man in charge, along with leakin James Comey, of the Phony Hillary Clinton investigation (including her 33,000 illegally deleted emails) be given $700,000 for wifes campaign by Clinton Puppets during investigation?  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2017

McCabe started at the FBI as a field agent in New York and rose to the No. 2 job under Comey. He stepped down as deputy director in late December but had planned to stay at the FBI until Sunday to fulfill requirements for his pension.

But Trump was not happy about that either. McCabe is racing the clock to retire with full benefits. 90 days to go?!!! he tweeted at the time.

FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is racing the clock to retire with full benefits. 90 days to go?!!!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2017

Advertisement

After Trump fired Comey last May, McCabe ran the FBI for several months until the Senate confirmed Trumps nominee, Christopher A. Wray, as the new director.

During that time, McCabe publicly pushed back against Trumps claims that Comey had left the FBI in tatters. In a Senate hearing, McCabe said Comey had broad support among rank-and-file agents and staffers.

joseph.tanfani@latimes.com

Twitter: @jtanfani

Advertisement

UPDATES:

7:30 p.m.: The story was updated with statements from Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions and Andrew McCabe.

The story was originally published at 6:45 p.m.President Trump is seeking more than $20 million in damages from the porn actress who is trying to void the deal that requires her to keep quiet about her alleged affair with him, according to court papers filed Friday by his attorneys.

Stormy Daniels has breached her confidentiality agreement at least 20 times, the Trump legal team alleged in filings in federal court in Los Angeles. The pact entitles Trump to at least $1 million in damages each time Daniels breaks her silence about the president.

Essential Consultants LLC, a Delaware company set up by Trumps personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, paid $130,000 to Daniels 11 days before the November 2016 presidential election in return for her promise to never speak publicly about her alleged romp with Trump.

Daniels, 38, sued Trump last week in state Superior Court in Los Angeles in an attempt to get the agreement nullified. One of the reasons she cited is that Trump, who went by the alias David Dennison in the nondisclosure pact, did not sign it.

Advertisement

The new papers submitted by Trumps legal team seek to shut down the state court lawsuit and transfer it to federal court. The filings were first reported by the New York Times.

One of the documents was filed by Beverly Hills lawyer Charles J. Harder, who identified himself as an attorney for Trump.

Mr. Trump intends to pursue his rights to the fullest extent permitted by law, Harder wrote.

Harders statement marked the presidents most direct involvement in the case so far. Trump, whose White House press secretary has denied he had an affair with Daniels, has avoided public comment on the matter.

Harder described Daniels as an adult-film actress and exotic dancer. The president, he wrote, intends to join Essential Consultants in seeking an order compelling Daniels to submit to the secret arbitration proceedings mandated in the confidentiality agreement.

Neither the White House nor Harder responded to messages seeking comment.

The nondisclosure agreement requires Daniels to pay any damages incurred for violating the deal directly to Trump, not to Essential Consultants.

The Trump lawyers did not specify the occasions when Daniels violated the agreement. She appeared in January on Inside Edition and Jimmy Kimmel Live after news broke of the $130,000 payment, but was coy in deflecting questions directly related to Trump.

Advertisement

Her Make America Horny Again tour of strip clubs across the nation is an obvious nod to Trumps campaign slogan, Make America Great Again, and she acknowledged to CNN that the publicity has increased her income. Her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, has said at least twice on national television that Daniels had sex with Trump.

Trumps legal team stated in the federal court papers that the pact, dated Oct. 28, 2016, was between Essential Consultants and Daniels. The hush-money agreement is actually between Essential Consultants and/or David Dennison on one side, and Peggy Peterson on the other. Peterson was the alias used for Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.

Daniels attorney called Trumps court maneuver a bullying tactic to force the dispute into arbitration out of public view.

The fact that a sitting president is pursuing over $20M in bogus damages against a private citizen, who is only trying to tell the public what really happened, is remarkable, Avenatti wrote on Twitter. Likely unprecedented in our history. We are NOT going away and we will NOT be intimidated.

Advertisement

How can President Donald Trump seek $20 million in damages against my client based on an agreement that he and Mr. Cohen claim Mr. Trump never was a party to and knew nothing about? #notwellthoughtout #sloppy #checkmate  Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) March 17, 2018

In a 2011 interview with In Touch magazine, Daniels recalled meeting Trump at a Lake Tahoe golf tournament in 2006 and having sex with him at a resort there. That was a few months after his wife, Melania Trump, gave birth to their son Barron. The affair ended in 2007, she said.

The In Touch interview was not published until January 2018, shortly after the Wall Street Journal revealed the payment to Daniels.

The forecast tonight calls for @StormyDaniels with a 90% chance of angry Donald Trump. #Kimmel pic.twitter.com/OqNEw61PYO  Jimmy Kimmel Live (@JimmyKimmelLive) January 30, 2018

Advertisement

Daniels has raised more than $177,000 for legal fees through a CrowdJustice account, drawing nearly 6,000 donors, according to the website.

I am attempting to speak honestly and openly to the American people about my relationship with now President Donald Trump and the intimidation and tactics used against me, she says on the site.

In a 60 Minutes interview that has not yet aired, Daniels alleges that she has been threatened with physical harm if she talks publicly about the case, according to Avenatti. He has declined to share details before CBS broadcasts the interview.

To read this article in Spanish click here

Advertisement

michael.finnegan@latimes.com

@finneganLAT

UPDATES:

7:50 p.m.: The article was updated with more details from the legal papers and background on Stormy Daniels lawsuit.

Advertisement

6:45 p.m.: The article was updated with comments from Stormy Daniels lawyer.

The article was originally published at 6:10 p.m.After two years of drama surrounding its selection of the mayor and mayor pro tem, the Fountain Valley City Council might change its method.

The council Tuesday will consider four potential mayoral appointment ordinances. The options differ in the amount of discretion afforded the council in picking the mayor and the mayor pro tem, who is typically next in line for the top spot.

City staff did not endorse any one option in a report prepared for the meeting.

According to a Fountain Valley ordinance, council members choose the mayor and mayor pro tem from among themselves, based on seniority, for the one-year, largely ceremonial posts.

However, the council has ultimate discretion, and it invoked that discretion the past two years when it skipped then-Councilman Mark McCurdy when he came up in the rotation.

Instead, it appointed Michael Vo as mayor pro tem in December 2016 and elevated him to mayor  and Steve Nagel to mayor pro tem  this past December, despite objections from McCurdy and some residents.

McCurdy said he was being targeted for his opinions, but his colleagues denied that. Some had frowned on McCurdys absences from meetings about the citys strategic plan and from other city events.

McCurdy resigned from the council in January, saying he needed to find work outside the area.

City manager raise

The council also will consider giving City Manager Rob Houston a nearly $20,000-a-year raise.

The proposed raise is intended for Houston, who was a deputy city manager in Newport Beach before joining Fountain Valley in July, to make a higher annual base salary than the police chief, whom he supervises.

Houston was hired at a salary of $210,000. The raise would bump him to $229,900, or 5% higher than Police Chief Kevin Childes base pay.

Firetruck green-light system

The council will hear a study session presentation on the potential benefits of installing an emergency vehicle preemption system on its firetrucks.

Emergency vehicle preemption is a GPS-based technology that gives vehicles green traffic lights on demand, potentially cutting response times. More than half of Orange County cities have the system for first responders, including all five cities that border Fountain Valley, but Fountain Valley does not.

Tuesdays meeting starts at 5:15 p.m. with the study session, followed by the regular session at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 10200 Slater Ave.

hillary.davis@latimes.com

Twitter: @Daily_PilotHDLaFontaine Kia

continued

That Kia dealership has since been sold to the Michigan "family deal" group. LaFontaine Kia of Ann Arbor employees told us that Fox had not wanted to buy Kia along with the other businesses, possibly since Kia, a subsidiary of the Hyundai Motor Group, is working hard to establish its own identity.



LaFontaine Kia of Ann Arbor, 82 Aprill Dr. (888) 367-0351. Mon. & Thurs. 9 a.m.-9 p.m., Tues., Weds., & Fri. 9 a.m.-6 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Closed Sun. lafontainekiaannarbor.com



[Originally published in March, 2018.]



Its sunset at John Wayne Airport and pilot Robert Lange has his eyes trained on the sky for the birds about to take flight.

The birds hes watching for arent metal, as one might expect at Orange Countys commercial airport. The birds hes focused on have feathers.

On a recent evening, Lange motioned toward a mass of American crows bellowing their raucous caws as they perched on tree branches just outside the airports boundaries.

Theyre getting ready, he said.

Every evening around dusk, hundreds of crows make their way from a cluster of trees on Airway Avenue in Costa Mesa, where they roost across from the JWA runways. Then they fly across the runways and into the path of landing and departing planes.

A robotic radio message is sent to all pilots tuned to the airports channel: Use caution. Bird activity in the vicinity of the airport.

The scene has been repeated for years, much to the chagrin of Lange, who believes the birds pose a safety risk for planes, especially single-engine aircraft like his Cessna 182. He contends the airport isnt doing enough to get rid of the crows.

Theres not any question itll be a matter of time before someone gets hurt, Lange said. Its one of the two or three most dangerous things [at JWA] from a safety standpoint, and its probably the most easily fixed.

Eventually, the band of crows  called a murder  lands at the San Joaquin marshlands in Irvine, where the birds will spend the night. The next morning they will make the trip back across the airport to the trees, according to JWA officials.

Lange, who likens the routine to a choreographed dance, is concerned about a plane flying into the murder and one or more crows getting stuck in an engine.

Commercial aircraft, which usually have multiple engines, arent in as much danger of crashing if a bird is sucked into an engine, he said. But, Lange said, even as an experienced pilot, if a crow were to clog his Cessnas engine, he would expect to crash almost immediately.

A group of crows flies toward John Wayne Airport at sunset March 7. (Scott Smeltzer / Staff Photographer )

Thomas Anthony, director of USCs aviation safety and security program, said it can be difficult for landing or departing aircraft to maneuver quickly enough to avoid large numbers of birds.

Airports are required to be aware of birds onsite and mitigate the issue as much as possible, but Anthony said they cant do anything to remove all birds from the airport environment.

The Federal Aviation Administration, which manages the nations airspace, requires commercial airports like JWA to complete wildlife hazard assessments and, if needed, develop plans to deal with them, said FAA spokesman Ian Gregor.

JWAs assessment indicates that crows make up 79% of all wildlife found at the airport.

It also states the main concern with crows is that the preferred daily migration routes are in the direct flight path of landing aircraft and through the center of the airport.

This has been going on for many years, said Jeff Rountree, JWAs director of airside operations. They have not posed a serious hazard, but our wildlife biologist does pay attention to them and tries to make JWA an uncomfortable place for them.

In October, the airports wildlife service began harassing the crows with a laser, causing more than 1,500 of them to leave the area over 11 days, according to a wildlife service report. Workers also scared away two crows seen in the grassy area on the north end of the airport by firing an air gun, according to the report.

Wildlife services plans to continue harassment  while also exploring new techniques to alter crow behavior and decrease risk to aircraft, the report states.

Lange said officials over the years have tried other techniques to get rid of the birds, including trapping them and using noisemakers to deter them from entering certain areas, but nothing has kept them away long-term.

Crows, which scientists have determined are an intelligent species, return when they realize they arent in harms way, Lange said.

Crows fly in the wake of a jet that had just taken off from John Wayne Airport. (Scott Smeltzer / Staff Photographer )

Bird strikes arent a new issue for aircraft. The number of strikes reported annually to the FAA has increased from 1,847 in 1990 to 13,795 in 2015, according to the most recent data available.

One of the most famous cases was in 2009, when a US Airways flight departing New York City struck a flock of Canada geese, lost all engine power and landed in the Hudson River.

However, John Wayne Airport officials contend bird strikes at JWA are relatively rare. Sixty-seven were reported between 2015 and August 2016, according to the FAAs wildlife strike database. The data did not show any reported strikes in 2017 or so far in 2018.

Some airports have moved toward more aggressive yet controversial measures to keep birds away. Houstons Bush Intercontinental Airport received significant criticism from animal-rights groups after it poisoned hundreds of pigeons in 2014 with a toxic bait called Avitrol. It isnt clear whether JWA has considered that option.

If someone gets hurt, people will come out here and say How could we have let this go on for so long and have done so little? Lange said.

hannah.fry@latimes.com

Twitter: @HannahFryTCNHassan Haghani, who spent more than a decade serving at various planning capacities with the city of Glendale, died unexpectedly this week. He was 58.

According to a city of Glendale biography, Haghani began his municipal career in 1989 with the Los Angeles Planning Department. He then spent seven years with the city of West Hollywood, where he became a senior planner.

In 2003, he was hired by Glendale, where he was named community development director in 2010.

Haghani oversaw a period of rapid growth in the downtown area during his 12-year tenure, tasked with developing multistory, mixed-use projects and directed to grow the San Fernando Road Corridor.

However, he once told the News-Press that by 2014 he saw very little room left to develop in downtown Glendale.

Shortly after announcing his resignation from Glendale to take on the role of executive director of Planning and Building Agency for the city of Santa Ana, Haghani also told the News-Press he was driven to take his experience from City Hall and serve a different community.

I felt that I could stay and look at the slow growth, but there are so many other communities that want to have that kind of well orchestrated program, he said.

Under Haghanis leadership, Glendales Community Development Department won the Urban Design Award of Merit, Award of Excellence and the Transportation Planning Award from the American Planning Assn.

The department itself was named Department of the Year by California Building Officials, a nonprofit organization based in Sacramento, the year prior to Haghanis resignation from City Hall.

At the time of his death, Haghani had left Santa Ana after serving there for two years and was only nine months into his role as Development Agency director with the city of Ontario.

Former Glendale City Manager Scott Ochoa, now serving in the same role in Ontario, met Haghani 6 years ago when Ochoa assumed his Glendale job.

[He] struck me as somebody who was very well grounded and loved the community but also was worldly, eloquent, witty, intelligent and visionary, Ochoa said. Along with all of that, he had a tremendous sense of humor.

Ochoa said that about six months ago, it was Haghani who helped bring him to the top management job in Ontario.

I guess you can say [he] recruited me, when you look at the opportunities [in Ontario], that was something that seemed like a lot of fun and [Haghani], as a visionary planner and facilitator of development, he seemed like he was having a lot of fun and that was more than just a little enticing.

Tuesdays Glendale City Council meeting was adjourned in his memory.

According to a statement issued by the city of Ontario, information on memorial services for Haghani is pending.

jeff.landa@latimes.com

Twitter: @JeffLandaGlendale Community College will open the doors on Thursday to its Sierra Vista building, a roughly $49-million facility designed to streamline student services as well as become the new home for the culinary arts and journalism programs.

At three stories and nearly 95,000 square feet, the building is now the largest on the Verdugo campus. The facility was paid for mostly with state funds, with about 14% coming from the $98-million Measure G bond approved by voters in 2002. Construction began in 2013.

That bond has also helped construct the colleges current parking structure and spend about $22.8 million to upgrade its Garfield campus, which included a new 38,000-square-foot building with classrooms, a career center and administrative offices.

The Sierra Vista building will combine a number of student services, from enrollment to graduation, on the third floor. These include admissions and records, academic counseling, career services, assessment, financial aid, a transfer center, extended opportunity programs and services as well as an international students office.

As a community college, we attract those who may be going to college for the first time or coming back after a hiatus, said Drew Sugars, a spokesman with the college. We want to make sure that process is as fluid and you can get without confusion.

The second floor has a 3,000-square-foot space for the culinary arts program, with two side-by-side kitchens, a place to serve food and an outdoor deck area. Also on the second floor are an anthropology lab and 15 classrooms.

The colleges journalism department, which includes student newspaper El Vaquero, is another academic program moving from its aging and cramped facility to the new Sierra Vista building.

The department moved into its new location on the first floor over winter break, and students are excited about the upgrade, said Rory Cohen, journalism instructor at the college and student newspaper advisor.

[The college] had enough faith in the journalism program to give us the space. Its a phenomenal space that looks and feels like a newsroom, Cohen said. Its night and day from the previous facility, which was state-of-the-art in the 1980s, but the new one is more in keeping with modern journalism.

The first floor also provides a Faculty Innovation Center and an open collaborative area for students known as The Learning Commons. The latter is split into two areas as a type of hybrid student lounge and work space filled with booths, couches as well as a quiet space.

A coffee kiosk is also planned for the 7,500-square-foot student space with a brand name in talks to move in.

The building will remind residents, who just passed another bond for $325 million in Glendale, of our huge commitment, Sugars said. It shows them the money they committed to earlier pays going forward.

jeff.landa@latimes.com

Twitter: @JeffLandaOfficers with the Burbank and Glendale police departments arrested a Tujunga man Wednesday on suspicion of violating his parole after he was allegedly found in possession of several firearms, according to authorities.

The departments joint AB 109 Task Force, dealing with the local impact of Californias criminal realignment law, was sent to Levon Vardanyans home in the 6700 block of Saint Esteban Street after he received a citation in Glendale for not having license plates displayed on his vehicle. Sgt. Dan Suttles, a spokesman for the Glendale Police Department, said the 55-year-old was on probation for fraud and had an extensive criminal record involving 26 felony arrests.

A condition of Vardanyans probation meant he was subject to searches by police, according to Suttles.

Officers searched Levon Vardanyans home after he received a vehicle citation in Glendale, which triggered the probation compliance check. (Courtesy of the Glendale Police Department )

During the probation compliance check, Suttles said the officers found a small cache of weapons at Vardanyans home  four assault rifles, three shotguns, a .45 caliber handgun and over 1,000 rounds of ammunition.

We dont know how he was able to get these guns; none of them were legally purchased, Suttles said.

He was subsequently taken into custody without incident.

andy.nguyen@latimes.com

Twitter: @Andy_TrucIf you're making budgetary decisions, you're making political decisions.

That's the way state Rep. Justin Simmons sees it.

The Republican who represents the Lehigh Valley's 131st Legislative District wants to reverse the longstanding rule allowing school board candidates to cross-file and run as both Democrats and Republicans during primary elections.

Candidates are allowed to cross-file because school board members are seen as nonpartisan. But Simmons disagrees.

"These positions are truly political in nature because of the budget-related decisions school board members make," he said in a statement. "The election process for them should be the same as any other political candidate."

Bethlehem Area School Board President Michael Faccinetto said it's already tough to find candidates willing to run for school board. Forcing them to run in just their own party's primary would further narrow the field.

"The only politics that enters our local budget debates is the effects of partisan bickering in Harrisburg and Washington D.C.," Faccinetto said. "I would think that both parties could agree that nothing is more important than educating our children. It would seem to me that there are bigger problems facing public education that school directors cross-filing."

Simmons said voters are often confused as to how one candidate could win two primary elections for the same seat.

The Pennsylvania School Boards Association agrees with Faccinetto that school board members should continue to be allowed to cross-file.

"Allowing school director candidates to cross-file ensures that voters irrespective of their party representation can vote for the best qualified candidate regardless of the candidate's political party status," said Steve Robinson, senior director of communications for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association.

Simmons represents Coopersburg, Emmaus, Lower Milford Township, Upper Milford Township, Upper Saucon Township and part of Lower Saucon and Salisbury townships.

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook."This place hasn't calmed down," is how Sarah Amberger describes her Nazareth area home Saturday as family and friends paid their respects to her late husband.

Rudy Amberger -- known by Cookie, his childhood nickname that stuck -- was a great-grandfather and a car nut. He owned over 400 cars since age 16, his widow said.

On the morning of March 10, he was in a car crash at South Convent Avenue and Mauch Chunk Street. He died of his injuries Friday at Lehigh Valley Hospital, Salisbury Township. Rudy Amberger was 74.

He was driving his Pontiac Grand Prix, a little more than 10 years old, but one of his pride-and-joy cars, Sarah said. He'd also just bought a Pontiac Trans Am, and they had a newer Cadillac, as well.

"I couldn't believe it when I saw it," his widow said. "She really slammed it."

He'd just washed the Grand Prix on Saturday morning a week ago and stopped in for a cranberry and club soda at the VFW Post 4366 in Nazareth when the crash occurred, Sarah said. The U.S. Navy veteran went to the post every day to hang out with his retired friends, and also belonged to the East Lawn and Jacksonian clubs.

"He was a jokester," Sarah said. "Everybody said, 'Do you have a joke for us today, Rudy?'"

On the day of the accident, there was a big puddle on the street he'd usually take home, and since the Grand Prix was clean, he took the next street over, Sarah said.

"He pulled out on Convent. She was going up Mauch Chunk and she T-boned him," his widow said. "And from there everything just went downhill."

Nazareth police have not responded to a request for information on the crash, including who the other driver was and whether anyone else was injured. The crash remained under investigation, according to the Lehigh County Coroner's Office.

Saturday at the Ambergers' home, the family was going through bins and bins of photos, Sarah said. There was a lot of laughing, as they remembered Rudy. Condolences also came in via Facebook.

Rudy Amberger grew up in Easton but lived most of life on High Street in Nazareth, until he and Sarah built a home in Bushkill Township in 1987.

"Everybody in Nazareth knew Rudy. Everybody loved Rudy," Sarah said. "It fills my heart, how much he was loved."

Amberger retired at age 62 from the former J.T. Baker Chemical Co., now Avantor Performance Materials, in Phillipsburg. He also worked part-time for Nazareth at its yard-waste facility.

Rudy and Sarah were married 38 years. He had a son, Randy, and she had a daughter, Kim, from previous marriages. Between the couple, they had three granddaughters and one great-granddaughter.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.UPDATE: Amy Yu, Kevin Esterly found in Mexico, police say

A Lehigh County man who flew to Mexico with a 16-year-old girl was like a "father figure" to the girl, an attorney is reported to have said.

Amy Yu did not have a father around, and the family had invited the girl into their home, according to WFMZ-TV 69's interview with John Waldron, an attorney representing Kevin Esterly's wife, Stacy Esterly.

The Esterly couple's four girls range in age from 2 to 14, and Kevin Esterly said he could be like a father figure to her, according to the article published on Friday evening.

"Amy's been known to the family for like eight years," Waldron reportedly told the news station. "They've gone on vacations, they've gone to the shore, amusement parks, but the situation with Kevin kind of has gotten more serious over the last eight months."

Police confirmed Friday that Yu, who was reported missing by her family March 5, flew with a one-way ticket willingly to the Gulf of Mexico resort area of Cancun with the 45-year-old man.

Yu's family previously said the two met at church years ago, and the 16-year-old girl is friends with one of Esterly's daughters.

The Morning Call reports Esterly and Yu flew to Mexico with money allegedly stolen from both their families.

Stacey and Kevin Esterly repeatedly fought over Yu, including in front of her and the couple's children, when the wife believed the man's relationship with the teen had become inappropriate, WFMZ reports.

"Kevin indicated that he was attempting to be her dad, a father figure to Amy," Waldron told The Morning Call. "Stacy did not believe it to be merely a father-daughter relationship, and that's why there were fights. They were fighting every day over Amy."

He moved out, rented an apartment near Yu's home, and Stacey Esterly began pursuing a divorce, Waldron reportedly said.

Police, citing "credible information," believe Yu flew to Mexico willingly on March 5, authorities asked the media at a news conference Friday to relay a message to Yu that she is missed.

"Everyone is worried about you, Amy, and everyone wants you to return home safely," Allentown police Capt. Bill Lake said, alongside Detective Sgt. Tom Anderson, who heads up the department's Special Victims Unit; Assistant Chief Gail Struss; and Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin.

"Amy, if you are uncertain how to come home or who to contact for help, you may simply reach out to a law enforcement official, a resort staff member or contact your mom via text message, email or social media, and we will work to reunite you with your family right away," Lake continued.

Allentown police provide an update on Amy Yu, a 16-year-old city resident missing and believed to be with 45-year-old Kevin Esterly. Yu is a student at Lehigh Valley Academy Regional Charter School outside Bethlehem. Posted by lehighvalleylive.com on Friday, March 16, 2018

Mexico authorities, the U.S. Marshals Service and U.S. Homeland Security Investigations are also involved in the effort to get Yu home to her family. Colonial Regional police are assisting because Yu is a student at the Lehigh Valley Academy Regional Charter School in Hanover Township.

She was last seen headed for her bus the morning of March 5 to go to school. Her mother reported her as a runaway about 6:35 p.m. that day, around the time Yu and Kevin Esterly were flying one way to Cancun, according to police. He was reported by his family on March 7 as missing/endangered.

Mexican authorities on Friday issued an Amber Alert in the case.

A family member of Stacey Esterly has started a gofundme.com campaign for her and the four girls.

"Stacey works full time but is unable to make ends meet since she was abandoned by her husband and left with no money," the campaign says, linking to an Allentown police Facebook post on the search for Esterly and Yu. "She needs help with living expenses and to help raise her girls as well as legal expenses."

Allentown police have charged Kevin Esterly with felony interference of custody of children.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.Advertising & Marketing Husband burns pregnant wife alive



17.03.2018 16:09:07 - An exchange of words erupted between the couple, later turn into deadly and in fit of rage Sandel allegedly set his wife Sukanti on fire.



(live-PR.com) - Police have arrested a man from Mancheswar after he allegedly killed his pregnant wife Slum in Mancheswar area of capital city last night.

Accused identified as Bibhisan Sandel a daily wage labourer, was arrested by the today.



An exchange of words erupted between the couple, later turn into deadly and in fit of rage Sandel allegedly set his wife Sukanti on fire.



On - Police have arrested a man from Mancheswar after he allegedly killed his pregnant wife Slum in Mancheswar area of capital city last night.Accused identified as Bibhisan Sandel a daily wage labourer, was arrested by the today.An exchange of words erupted between the couple, later turn into deadly and in fit of rage Sandel allegedly set his wife Sukanti on fire.On being informed, police officials rushed the spot and sent the body for post mortem.

However, investigation is under way in this connection.

Police have arrested a man from Mancheswar after he allegedly killed his pregnant wife Slum in Mancheswar area of capital city last night.

Accused identified as Bibhisan Sandel a daily wage labourer, was arrested by the today.



In a shocking incident, a pregnant woman died after allegedly being set on fire by her husband at Patadei Slum in Mancheswar area of Odisha capital last night.



The accused, identified as Bibhisan Sandel, a daily wage labourer, was arrested by the Mancheswar police today.







He reportedly took the extreme step in an inebriated state after a heated exchange of words with his wife Sukanti.



Police have seized the body and sent it to the Capital Hospital here for post-mortem.



Preliminary investigation reveals that the killing was a fallout of dispute over suspicion regarding illicit relationship. Investigation into the matter is underway and a case has been registered in this connection, a police official said.

Police have arrested a man from Mancheswar after he allegedly killed his pregnant wife Slum in Mancheswar area of capital city last night.

Accused identified as Bibhisan Sandel a daily wage labourer, was arrested by the today.



An exchange of words erupted between the couple, later turn into deadly and in fit of rage Sandel allegedly set his wife Sukanti on fire.



On being informed, police officials rushed the spot and sent the body for post mortem.However, investigation is under way in this connection.Police have arrested a man from Mancheswar after he allegedly killed his pregnant wife Slum in Mancheswar area of capital city last night.Accused identified as Bibhisan Sandel a daily wage labourer, was arrested by the today.In a shocking incident, a pregnant woman died after allegedly being set on fire by her husband at Patadei Slum in Mancheswar area of Odisha capital last night.The accused, identified as Bibhisan Sandel, a daily wage labourer, was arrested by the Mancheswar police today.He reportedly took the extreme step in an inebriated state after a heated exchange of words with his wife Sukanti.Police have seized the body and sent it to the Capital Hospital here for post-mortem.Preliminary investigation reveals that the killing was a fallout of dispute over suspicion regarding illicit relationship. Investigation into the matter is underway and a case has been registered in this connection, a police official said.Police have arrested a man from Mancheswar after he allegedly killed his pregnant wife Slum in Mancheswar area of capital city last night.Accused identified as Bibhisan Sandel a daily wage labourer, was arrested by the today.An exchange of words erupted between the couple, later turn into deadly and in fit of rage Sandel allegedly set his wife Sukanti on fire.On being informed, police officials rushed the spot and sent the body for post mortem.

However, investigation is under way in this connection.

Police have arrested a man from Mancheswar after he allegedly killed his pregnant wife Slum in Mancheswar area of capital city last night.

Accused identified as Bibhisan Sandel a daily wage labourer, was arrested by the today.



In a shocking incident, a pregnant woman died after allegedly being set on fire by her husband at Patadei Slum in Mancheswar area of Odisha capital last night.



The accused, identified as Bibhisan Sandel, a daily wage labourer, was arrested by the Mancheswar police today.







He reportedly took the extreme step in an inebriated state after a heated exchange of words with his wife Sukanti.



Police have seized the body and sent it to the Capital Hospital here for post-mortem.



Preliminary investigation reveals that the killing was a fallout of dispute over suspicion regarding illicit relationship. Investigation into the matter is underway and a case has been registered in this connection, a police official said.

Police have arrested a man from Mancheswar after he allegedly killed his pregnant wife Slum in Mancheswar area of capital city last night.

Accused identified as Bibhisan Sandel a daily wage labourer, was arrested by the today.



An exchange of words erupted between the couple, later turn into deadly and in fit of rage Sandel allegedly set his wife Sukanti on fire.



On being informed, police officials rushed the spot and sent the body for post mortem.However, investigation is under way in this connection.Police have arrested a man from Mancheswar after he allegedly killed his pregnant wife Slum in Mancheswar area of capital city last night.Accused identified as Bibhisan Sandel a daily wage labourer, was arrested by the today.In a shocking incident, a pregnant woman died after allegedly being set on fire by her husband at Patadei Slum in Mancheswar area of Odisha capital last night.The accused, identified as Bibhisan Sandel, a daily wage labourer, was arrested by the Mancheswar police today.He reportedly took the extreme step in an inebriated state after a heated exchange of words with his wife Sukanti.Police have seized the body and sent it to the Capital Hospital here for post-mortem.Preliminary investigation reveals that the killing was a fallout of dispute over suspicion regarding illicit relationship. Investigation into the matter is underway and a case has been registered in this connection, a police official said.Police have arrested a man from Mancheswar after he allegedly killed his pregnant wife Slum in Mancheswar area of capital city last night.Accused identified as Bibhisan Sandel a daily wage labourer, was arrested by the today.An exchange of words erupted between the couple, later turn into deadly and in fit of rage Sandel allegedly set his wife Sukanti on fire.On being informed, police officials rushed the spot and sent the body for post mortem.

However, investigation is under way in this connection.

Police have arrested a man from Mancheswar after he allegedly killed his pregnant wife Slum in Mancheswar area of capital city last night.

Accused identified as Bibhisan Sandel a daily wage labourer, was arrested by the today.



In a shocking incident, a pregnant woman died after allegedly being set on fire by her husband at Patadei Slum in Mancheswar area of Odisha capital last night.



The accused, identified as Bibhisan Sandel, a daily wage labourer, was arrested by the Mancheswar police today.







He reportedly took the extreme step in an inebriated state after a heated exchange of words with his wife Sukanti.



Police have seized the body and sent it to the Capital Hospital here for post-mortem.



Preliminary investigation reveals that the killing was a fallout of dispute over suspicion regarding illicit relationship. Investigation into the matter is underway and a case has been registered in this connection, a police official said.

Police have arrested a man from Mancheswar after he allegedly killed his pregnant wife Slum in Mancheswar area of capital city last night.

Accused identified as Bibhisan Sandel a daily wage labourer, was arrested by the today.



An exchange of words erupted between the couple, later turn into deadly and in fit of rage Sandel allegedly set his wife Sukanti on fire.



On being informed, police officials rushed the spot and sent the body for post mortem.However, investigation is under way in this connection.Police have arrested a man from Mancheswar after he allegedly killed his pregnant wife Slum in Mancheswar area of capital city last night.Accused identified as Bibhisan Sandel a daily wage labourer, was arrested by the today.In a shocking incident, a pregnant woman died after allegedly being set on fire by her husband at Patadei Slum in Mancheswar area of Odisha capital last night.The accused, identified as Bibhisan Sandel, a daily wage labourer, was arrested by the Mancheswar police today.He reportedly took the extreme step in an inebriated state after a heated exchange of words with his wife Sukanti.Police have seized the body and sent it to the Capital Hospital here for post-mortem.Preliminary investigation reveals that the killing was a fallout of dispute over suspicion regarding illicit relationship. Investigation into the matter is underway and a case has been registered in this connection, a police official said.Police have arrested a man from Mancheswar after he allegedly killed his pregnant wife Slum in Mancheswar area of capital city last night.Accused identified as Bibhisan Sandel a daily wage labourer, was arrested by the today.An exchange of words erupted between the couple, later turn into deadly and in fit of rage Sandel allegedly set his wife Sukanti on fire.On being informed, police officials rushed the spot and sent the body for post mortem.

However, investigation is under way in this connection.

Police have arrested a man from Mancheswar after he allegedly killed his pregnant wife Slum in Mancheswar area of capital city last night.

Accused identified as Bibhisan Sandel a daily wage labourer, was arrested by the today.



In a shocking incident, a pregnant woman died after allegedly being set on fire by her husband at Patadei Slum in Mancheswar area of Odisha capital last night.



The accused, identified as Bibhisan Sandel, a daily wage labourer, was arrested by the Mancheswar police today.







He reportedly took the extreme step in an inebriated state after a heated exchange of words with his wife Sukanti.



Police have seized the body and sent it to the Capital Hospital here for post-mortem.



Preliminary investigation reveals that the killing was a fallout of dispute over suspicion regarding illicit relationship. Investigation into the matter is underway and a case has been registered in this connection, a police official said.

being informed, police officials rushed the spot and sent the body for post mortem.However, investigation is under way in this connection.Police have arrested a man from Mancheswar after he allegedly killed his pregnant wife Slum in Mancheswar area of capital city last night.Accused identified as Bibhisan Sandel a daily wage labourer, was arrested by the today.In a shocking incident, a pregnant woman died after allegedly being set on fire by her husband at Patadei Slum in Mancheswar area of Odisha capital last night.The accused, identified as Bibhisan Sandel, a daily wage labourer, was arrested by the Mancheswar police today.He reportedly took the extreme step in an inebriated state after a heated exchange of words with his wife Sukanti.Police have seized the body and sent it to the Capital Hospital here for post-mortem.Preliminary investigation reveals that the killing was a fallout of dispute over suspicion regarding illicit relationship. Investigation into the matter is underway and a case has been registered in this connection, a police official said. Press Information:

Reporters Today



Achariya Vihar, Science Park road Utkal Villa Apartment.

751013 Bhubaneswar, India



Contact Person:

Surjit Dhal

MD

Phone: 099370 28982

eMail: eMail



Web: http://www.reporterstoday.com/





17.03.2018 16:09:07 -

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.          

 ,   ,     " "  



:        .            .                  ,      ,           ,       ,    ,     .      .  !

:    , - !

 :  !

:            ,      ,                 ,           ,       ?

 : ,          ,         ,      ,     .    ,     .     ,    ,  .           ,       .          ,     - ,    .             ,       .

:  ,         -      .         ?  ,  -  .       ?

 :   ,  .          ,  -        ,    .       ,    ,     .             .           .

:           ?      ?            ?     ?

 :    ,      .       ,            ,      ,       ,      ,          -     ,          , , ,    .             ,   ,    -      .       ,        ,      ,        - ,    ,        .

:    , - ,         ,    ,  ,                     ?

 :     .     100%   ,    ,      ,        ,      ,    .       ,     ,     ,    .   ,                 -     . ,    ,        - .            ,       -     ,        ,                .

:        ,       ,          ?     ?

 :      ,          ,       .  ,         ,  ,      , ,   ,       ,            ,              .       10 .     ,          ,          .

:       ?

 :   .        ,  ,       ,    -,          10 .

:  ,  ,        ,   ,           ,          ,           .

 :  ,   ,       .       ,      ,        ,         ,            ,  .             ,     ,         .           ,       .

:        ,   ,    . - ,       ,     ,           ?      ?

 :   ,         .     ,      .   ,    ,         .        ,     ,    -.

:    ?

 :     ,  ,     ,        .    ,      .

:      ,        ,  ,    ,    .       ,       , ,       ,     -,     ?

 :           ,    .        ,        . ,       ,   .   -       -      ,       ,          .        ,           .      ,    ,       -    .            -,     .     ,          .

:     ,     ,    ,           ,       ?

 :       ,        .      ,        -  .     ,      ,   -  .          .        ,     .

:        ,      ,   ?

 : .   .       ,        -   .

: .             ?

 : ,   ,   600  ,  625  ,    1.2    .   ,         .

:  .     ,          .  ,      -   .

:    ,       .        .  ,   .SPRINGFIELD -- A large digital "dynamic" sign that will beckon motorists to the MGM Springfield resort casino triggered some concerns from members of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission this week, but was defended by MGM officials.



Gaming Commission members Gayle Cameron and Lloyd Macdonald said they worried the sign - affixed to a seven-story parking garage and facing Interstate 91 - would distract motorists.



"I think this could be a real safety issue," Cameron said. "It's a very large sign and I really am worried about distracted drivers."



MGM Springfield said its hired consultant, VHB of Watertown, evaluated multiple studies of dynamic signs and driver distraction. VHB concluded that "there is no statistically significant correlation between on-site outdoor electronic signs and driver safety or crashes."



The sign is 28 feet in height and 45 feet in width, and would change images every eight seconds, MGM said. The digital sign and five static signs on the garage are all illuminated. The digital sign is below the MGM Springfield marquee that tops the parking garage.

The signs will face both I-91 and East Columbus Avenue, which serve as major entranceways to the casino. Roughly 100,000 vehicles travel on Interstate 91 through Springfield daily, officials say.

The sign will promote MGM Springfield and its programs along with downtown attractions, MGM officials said. It will not be for third-party commercial advertising.



The garage signs were approved the City Council in 2016.

"We are sensitive to the questions raised by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, and continue to work closely with all concerned," said Saverio Mancini, spokesman for MGM Springfield.

The large electronic sign was conditional upon submission of a report from a transportation professional on safety standards, said Seth Stratton, vice president and legal counsel for MGM Springfield. VHB provided that report.

Once the sign is operational, beginning in June or July, it will be subject to further city review to determine whether additional conditions are needed, Stratton said. It would not be too late to make changes, he said. The size of the sign will not change, he said, but the content could change if needed to address any concerns.

MGM officials said there have not been problems with traffic safety as a result of signs or other major highway-facing features in Nevada.

Macdonald's term on the Gaming Commission expires this month. State Attorney General Maura Healey has appointed Eileen O'Brien of Newton as her designee on the commission.CHICOPEE - The Police Department is notifying residents that a new Level 3 sex offender has moved into the community.

Gamaliel Nazario

Gamaliel Nazario, 37, is living at 217 Broadway, 1-right, apartment 2, Police Sgt. Richard Henry said.

Nazario is described as white, 5 feet, 6 inches tall, weighing about 200 pounds. His hair is black and his eyes are brown.

He was convicted in 2004 of rape.

There are more than 40 Level 3 sex offenders living in the city. The Level 3 offenders are those most likely to re-offend and are required to register with local police every year.

None of the Level 3 offenders are wanted by police. It is also illegal to harass an offender, police said.WESTFIELD -- A young male was injured after being struck by a vehicle on Elm Street Saturday afternoon, city police have reported.

Westfield Police Sgt. Jeffrey Baillargeon said the boy was hit near the intersection of Elm and Bartlett Streets just before 1:30 p.m.

The child was sent to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield for treatment following the crash, Baillargeon said. The boy's age and the extent of his injuries was not clear.

Further details surrounding the incident were not released.

The crash remains under investigation.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated when more information is available.SPRINGFIELD -- A Springfield man will serve nine-and-a-half years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, on firearms possession charges.

Eric Lopez, 36, pleaded guilty in 2016 to three counts of being a felon in possession of firearms. He was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court in Springfield.

Federal prosecutors said Lopez was arrested during a roundup of Latin King gang members in November 2015. The arrests were part of an investigation by federal authorities into firearms and narcotics trafficking in Hampden County.

When he was arrested, Lopez was found to have several firearms in his possession, including an Zastava 7.62-mm rifle, a CZ 7.62-mm carbine, a Marlin .45-caliber rifle, a Sturm Ruger .22-caliber handgun and an Arsenal 5.45-mm rifle. He also had ammunition in a variety of calibers in his possession.

Arrested with Lopez was Francisco Figueroa of Springfield. Figueroa entered guilty pleas to firearms charges in 2016 as well and will be sentenced March 20.WASHINGTON -- Political wrangling over the nation's five-year farm bill ground to a halt Thursday after Democrats on the House Agriculture Committee withdrew from all talks until Republicans share the full text of the proposed legislation.

"None of us have seen one word of any title of the farm bill," U.S. Rep. James McGovern, D-Mass., told The Republican/MassLive. "The idea that you're going to start negotiating when you haven't even seen the text is ludicrous."

Politico reported on the end of negotiations Thursday. McGovern said committee Democrats got together Wednesday and told ranking member Collin Peterson of Minnesota to stop all negotiations.

The move came after Chairman Mike Conaway, R-Texas, suggested that the bill might be marked up in committee on March 20, and following press reports of a GOP plan to cut food benefits to the poor.

"My side is in revolt," Peterson said in a press interview. "There will not be one single vote on the Democratic side in committee if they have what is currently in the bill."

McGovern, ranking Democrat on the Nutrition Subcommittee, said Friday his primary concern is with preserving the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the food stamp program that helps feed some 8 million people.

"The bottom line is that people who need a food benefit would lose it, and I think that would be a cruel thing to do," McGovern said in a telephone interview. "For a long time, Republicans have looked at the SNAP program as an ATM machine to pay for their tax cuts."

He said Democrats learned that Conaway planned to revamp the nation's low-income food assistance program with enhanced work requirements, benefit cut-offs, and other cuts and restrictions.

"We've never even had hearings on any of these suggested changes. We don't know the impact," said McGovern. "This is all being done in secret."

McGovern said most SNAP recipients are children, elderly or disabled.

"Of those who can work, the vast majority work," he said. "They're working, and they earn so little they still qualify for the benefit. So why are we trying to make their lives more miserable?"

McGovern added that mystery remains around other farm bill titles, including conservation, dairy farming, disaster assistance and crop insurance.

Conaway has said charges of secrecy are untrue, and that "not one person would be forced off SNAP due to the work or training requirements we have been discussing. Not one."

"I understand that this is an even-numbered year and that some in the Democratic leadership may not want to allow Congress to get its work done in order to score points in the fall, and they will look for any excuse," the Republican chairman told agricultural journalist Jerry Hagstrom.

Asked if he wants to wait until after the midterms to resume negotiations, McGovern said its depends. "If we could have an open and transparent and legitimate process, I'm ready to start working right now," he said.

The rumored bill has also inflamed anti-welfare conservatives who believe the food benefit cuts won't go far enough, Politico reports.

If the farm bill is not reauthorized, legislative extensions will likely keep most farm programs afloat, McGovern said: "There's no reason why dysfunction in Washington should hurt our nation's farmers."

McGovern in February warned his rural Western Massachusetts constituents that the farm bill was "being written in secret" and that "no farm bill is better than a lousy farm bill."

"There is a bill out there that is supposedly being scored by the Congressional Budget Office, but nobody's seen it," McGovern told farmers, foresters, state lawmakers and local officials gathered at Mohawk Trail Regional High School.

He said he would oppose any bill that slashes food assistance or fails to benefit small New England farmers. The omnibus farm bill, generally reauthorized every five years, expires on Sept. 30.Senator, Governor Demand Loosening Bureaucratic Burdens on Rural Schools

U.S. Senator Jon Tester and Governor Steve Bullock are calling on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to update a program aimed at bringing broadband to rural schools, following a report https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.politico.com%2Fnewsletters%2Fmorning-education%2F2018%2F03%2F07%2Fadvocates-for-school-internet-access-sound-alarm-over-fcc-program-125006&data=02%7C01%7Cmarissa.perry%40mt.gov%7C86e89681903e4f82e1cc08d588f16e3a%7C07a94c98f30f4abbbd7ed63f8720dc02%7C0%7C1%7C636565492874222356&sdata=oBmU4Q8j6d8YdcoratkO6VUFnNj7vjch1NMru%2BEkIK4%3D&reserved=0 that applications are facing long delays and denials.

Tester and Bullock are urging FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to reform the E-Rate Program, an FCC initiative that provides discounts on telecommunications services to schools and libraries, to cut red tape and ensure Montana students have access to high-speed internet.

"To ensure our children are prepared for a globally connected economy and 21st century jobs, it is vital that all classrooms are equipped with high-speed internet," wrote Tester and Bullock. "A quality public education is the foundation of our democracy and our future workforce."

Delays in the E-Rate Program have forced schools like Woodman School in Missoula County wait in limbo for critical broadband resources.

"You must not let burdensome paperwork stand between Montana students and their access to critical educational material," Tester and Bullock continued in their letter to Pai. "We stand ready to work with the FCC to reduce bureaucratic barriers and enhance opportunities for high-speed internet deployment."

As reported in Politico https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.politico.com%2Fnewsletters%2Fmorning-education%2F2018%2F03%2F07%2Fadvocates-for-school-internet-access-sound-alarm-over-fcc-program-125006&data=02%7C01%7Cmarissa.perry%40mt.gov%7C86e89681903e4f82e1cc08d588f16e3a%7C07a94c98f30f4abbbd7ed63f8720dc02%7C0%7C1%7C636565492874222356&sdata=oBmU4Q8j6d8YdcoratkO6VUFnNj7vjch1NMru%2BEkIK4%3D&reserved=0 , Woodman School services K-8 and has eight staff members, including teachers. They currently bus students to other schools for testing and rely on teachers and students to use the internet at their homes for assignments.

"We expected they would be digging trenches this fall, and that we would have broadband fiber by the spring," said Erin Lipkind, Superintendent of Woodman School District 18. "At some point, your shoulders start sagging. Were a tiny little school. We want to focus our energies on education."

Tester has been fighting to bring broadband to rural Montana, he recently secured a major investment to expand wireless 4G LTE https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tester.senate.gov%2F%3Fp%3Dpress_release%26id%3D5956&data=02%7C01%7Cmarissa.perry%40mt.gov%7C86e89681903e4f82e1cc08d588f16e3a%7C07a94c98f30f4abbbd7ed63f8720dc02%7C0%7C1%7C636565492874222356&sdata=6WGwo9647WD79mg79N9rwiXF91aR%2Fr5pgLXKXY%2FWpMc%3D&reserved=0 for up to 50,000 square miles.

Woodman School students and teachers joined Bullock in working with the 2017 legislature to create a state match http://governor.mt.gov/Newsroom/governor-bullock-signs-new-law-funding-k-12-broadband-upgrades to leverage school broadband funds. Since 2015, Bullock has helped school districts make significant broadband upgrades, and now 90 percent of school districts in Montana are meeting minimum connectivity goals.

Tester and Bullocks letter to Chairman Pai is available HERE https://www.tester.senate.gov/files/Letters/2018-03-18%20Tester%20Bullock%20Woodman%20School%20Letter.pdfLaFontaine Kia

The last piece of the Ann Arbor Automotive sale falls into place.

by Sabine Bickford

From the March, 2018 issue

We reported in our October issue that Ann Arbor Automotive had sold its Acura, Nissan, and Hyundai dealerships to Detroit-based Fox Motors. We neglected to mention that Ann Arbor Automotive had also run a Kia dealership and service center off of Jackson Rd., behind the Hyundai and Nissan dealerships.



That Kia dealership has since been sold to the Michigan "family deal" group. LaFontaine Kia of Ann Arbor employees told us that Fox had not wanted to buy Kia along with the other businesses, possibly since Kia, a subsidiary of the Hyundai Motor Group, is working hard to establish its own identity.



LaFontaine Kia of Ann Arbor, 82 Aprill Dr. (888) 367-0351. Mon. & Thurs. 9 a.m.-9 p.m., Tues., Weds., & Fri. 9 a.m.-6 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Closed Sun. lafontainekiaannarbor.com



[Originally published in March, 2018.]







This is one of those stories where you want to hear what the police have to say about the arrest. Of course, charges are up to the Crown.---By Abigail Bimman, Global NewsA CBC Radio-Canada reporter has been arrested after contacting the subject of a story he was working on, accused of criminal harassment.Antoine Trepanier was working on a story about the head of Big Brothers and Big Sisters in Western Quebec. As part of his investigation, he reported Yvonne Dube falsely claimed she was a lawyer between the fall of 2011 and March 2012.According to his boss, Yvan Cloutier, Trepanier contacted Dube three times in the course of his reporting. First, they had a 20-minute phone call, where she agreed to meet for a television interview. Cloutier says she never showed up  hence the second call, where she told Trepanier shed changed her mind. He sent an email the next day to give her another opportunity.We do this every day, says Cloutier of his reporters work. We give a heads up. We call that person, we say, You know what, in the next couple of days, we will run a story about you, would you like to give us your point of view?The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is probing four deaths where the air bags failed to deploy during a crash related to a Hyundai-Kia recall.

The U.S. government agency reports in documents posted to the website that this probe covers 2011 Hyundai Sonata, and 2012 and 2013 Kia Fortes. Less than a month ago, Hyundai announced the recall of nearly 155,000 2011 Hyundai Sonatas due to the risk that a short circuit could prevent the air bag deploying in the event of a crash.

The NHTSA reports it is aware of four deaths, six injuries and six front-end crashes with heavy damage related to the recall in its report. The Associated Press reports that while the NHTSA is probing the Kia Forte, the Korean automaker has not issued a recall for the compact car. Four of the crashes with significant damage occurred in the Sonata with the other two coming in the Forte.

At the time of announcing the Sonata recall, Hyundai said in NHTSA documents it was aware of four incidents related to the recall, and that was still investigating the fourth incident. A Hyundai spokesperson told A.P. that the problem occurred in "rare high-speed head-on collisions offset from the center of the vehicles."

Jim Trainor, Hyundai spokesman, told the news organization that "it's very unusual to have that kind of collision."

"Under the investigation, ODI (Office of Defects Investigation) will evaluate the scope of Hyundai's recall, confirm Kia's use of the same or similar ZFTRW ACU, review the root cause analysis of all involved parties, and review and evaluate pertinent vehicle and/or ACU factors that may be contributing to, or causing EOS failures," the report reads.

"Additionally, ODI will determine if any other vehicle manufacturers used the same or similar ACUs, as supplied by ZF-TRW, and if so, evaluate whether the field experience of these vehicles indicates potentially related crash events."YPSILANTI, MI - Hundreds of students from across the state showed off their knowledge of Japanese language and culture at the Michigan Japanese Quiz Bowl held March 11 at Eastern Michigan University.

Students from Novi High School came out on top, winning four of the competition's five divisions. A team from Troy's Athens High School won Division IV. The divisions are based on ability level, with Division V being the most advanced.

Forty-three teams of Japanese-language learners from secondary schools took part in the quiz bowl competition, which is sponsored by the Japanese Teachers Association of Michigan and dates back to 1994.ANN ARBOR, MI - The Washtenaw County Health Department is launching a new initiative to fight racial inequalities made apparent in a new set of health statistics.

The 2018 County Health Rankings, published online, ranks Washtenaw County No. 1 in health factors like smoking, obesity and the ratio of primary care doctors to the population and No. 4 in outcomes such as premature death, low birthweight and poor physical and mental health days related to unequal access to healthcare.

But Washtenaw ranked 81

st

out of 83 counties when considering economic inequality, said Jessie Kimbrough Marshall, medical director for the Washtenaw County Health Department, a disturbing statistic.

"Washtenaw County has wonderful opportunities for achieving a healthy life, however those opportunities are not available for all who live here," Marshall said.

"Differences in the social, economic, and physical environment across Washtenaw County can help explain the differences in quality of life and health that we see among our residents."

Black babies in Washtenaw County are twice as likely to be born at a low birth weight as white babies, and six times more likely to grow up in poverty, the health department said. Hispanic children are almost three times more likely to grow up in poverty compared to white children.

Additional data also shows further discrepancy between Washtenaw County residents at the end of life: There is a nine-year difference in life expectancy between residents living in Ann Arbor's 48104 ZIP code and Ypsilanti's 48198 ZIP code.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau's American Factfinder website, Ann Arbor's racial make-up in 2016 was 71 percent white and 6 percent black. There was no up-to-date data available for Ypsilanti.

A new initiative, One Community: Advancing Racial Equity in Ann Arbor & Washtenaw County, launched in January as a partnership between Washtenaw County and Ann Arbor to combat these inequalities and high rankings in air pollution and violent crime.

Community leaders from six areas in Washtenaw County will be part of the initiative to help with health assessment and planning processes, the health department said.

"We won't be a truly healthy community until everyone in our county has the opportunity to live their healthiest life, regardless of race, income, or ZIP code," says Jimena Loveluck, deputy health officer at the health department.

The five counties with the highest health outcomes in Michigan include:

#1: Ottawa, which includes Grand Haven

#2: Grand Traverse, which includes Traverse City and Interlochen

#3: Livingston, which includes Howell and Brighton

#4: Washtenaw, which includes Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Chelsea, Dexter and Saline

#5: Clinton, which includes parts of LansingBAY CITY, MI -- A Bay County man who robbed a party store and a customer, wishing them a merry Christmas and happy holidays as he did so, has accepted a plea deal.

Michael J. Sauve, 26, on March 12 appeared before Bay County Circuit Judge Joseph K. Sheeran and pleaded guilty to two counts of armed robbery. The charge is a life offense.

In exchange, the prosecution agreed to dismiss two counts of felony firearm, which comes with a mandatory minimum two-year prison sentence.

The plea deal did not included a sentencing agreement.

Sauve's most recent crimes occurred about 8 p.m. on Dec. 21 at Cass Avenue Party Store, 1500 Cass Ave. in Portsmouth Township. Sauve entered the store wearing a scarf around his face, sunglasses, and a hooded sweatshirt and holding an apparent gun in his right hand. Already in the store was a 51-year-old man playing Keno at the counter and two female employees.

"I'll take that," Sauve said, snatching cash on the counter that belonged to the customer. "Merry Christmas."

He then proceeded to take cash from the register once it was opened by an employee. He said he didn't want to hurt anyone and just wanted money.

"Happy holidays," the man said as he readied to leave. About this point, the customer grappled with the scofflaw, causing him to drop his gun. Sauve then fled outside, pursued a few seconds later by the customer.

Bay County Sheriff's deputies arrived on scene shortly thereafter and interviewed witnesses. They recovered the gun Sauve had dropped, which turned out to be a Daisy .177 BB gun, court records show.

In all, Sauve had stolen $533 from the store and $175 from the customer, court records show.

Police arrested Sauve at a Kawkawlin residence on Jan. 6.

Sauve had only been out of jail for three days when he robbed the store. The Michigan Department of Corrections had discharged him from Circuit Court probation in December and he was released from the Bay County Jail on Dec. 18.

Judge Sheeran is to sentence Sauve at 9 a.m. on April 23.OTTAWA COUNTY, MI -- A man accused of using a nursing home's WiFi to download child porn has been arraigned on three felonies.

Donald J. Oosterbaan, 54, was arraigned Friday, March 16 on charges of possessing child sexually abusive material, distributing child sexually abusive material and using a computer to commit a crime.

Ottawa County sheriff's deputies said a man was arrested Wednesday at a Holland area senior living facility. He was not a resident of the facility.

Police said Oosterbaan was arrested after a lengthy investigation that began in July 2017 after they determined someone was downloading child pornography from a certain IP address.

Officers eventually set up surveillance to catch the person.OTTAWA COUNTY, MI -- A 46-year-old Zeeland man is in the Ottawa County Jail on a $750,000 bond for allegedly breaking into a home in a robbery and leaving a woman bound with some type of restraints.

Kelly Wayne Harmsen was arraigned Friday, March 16, i Holland District Court on charges of assault with intent to rob while armed, first-degree home invasion, unlawful imprisonment and felony firearm.

Ottawa County sheriff's deputies say a home invasion occurred about 4:40 a.m. Wednesday, March 14 in the 16000 block of Riley Street in Park Township.

A man entered the home with a weapon and demanded money from a 54-year-old female resident. She was placed in restraints before the man fled the home.

After he left, she managed to escape from the restraints and call police. She was not injured.

Police later developed leads that led to Harmsen, detectives said, and he was apprehended at his workplace in Holland Township.WEXFORD COUNTY, MI -- A 15-year-old Cadillac area girl who was reported missing Thursday has been found in Macon County, Georgia, police said.

Michigan State Police on Saturday, March 17 issued an advisory about Leah Scanlon's discovery.

The teen was reported missing late Thursday and, according to her mother, was last seen about noon Wednesday in the Leeson Avenue area of Cadillac.

Wexford County sheriff's deputies said the teen was located late Friday on a bus in Georgia.

Wexford County sheriff's Lt. Marty Penney was in contact with multiple law enforcement agencies, including several agencies in Georgia and the FBI, in efforts to find the teen.

"The bus was located and stopped while traveling near Macon, Georgia and Miss Scanlon was retrieved from the bus and taken to a law enforcement agency," police said in a release.

Wexford County Sheriff Trent Taylor credit Penney and Sgt. Kevin Kovach with putting in long hours Friday to track down the teen.

The teen's parents on Saturday were headed to Georgia to pick her up. She was being held by the Macon County Sheriff's Department.

Other details surrounding her disappearance were not immediately released.A new project by MLive and a coalition of national partners is seeking a Michigan high school student to join a small convening of people in Washington, D.C., to talk about gun violence in America this weekend, March 24-25.

The young person selected would also commit to being part of a closed, month-long moderated Facebook conversation on the topic. Potential volunteers need to apply this weekend.

The goal of the "Guns An American Conversation" project is working to overcome the anger and divisiveness driving the national debate over guns and gun violence by convening people across the political and cultural divide in the aftermath of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.

The project is being kicked off in the Newseum in downtown Washington, D.C., with the two-day workshop. The days will not be structured as a debate but rather a chance to listen and understand and participate in conversation under the guidance of professional facilitators, and prepare participants to be a part of the 150-person closed Facebook group taking place in April.

The workshop will take place the same weekend of the planned March 24 marches for and against greater gun control, but will not be connected or involved with them.

For both the in-person and online conversations the project team is bringing together a wide range of people, and a wide variety of viewpoints: teenagers, adults, conservatives and liberals, people affected by gun violence and people who use guns.

Partners include Time, the Newseum and Spaceship Media. While the application has been officially closed and participants selected, MLive is actively seeking one additional participant -- a high school student who could bring a perspective of a young person energized in the aftermath of the Parkland shooting.

The project, "Guns, an American Conversation," is accepting applications for this spot via this brief questionnaire. All applicants will be contacted this weekend on the status of their application. For specific questions about the application call 205-440-7579.

MLive will cover costs for travel and accommodation in Washington. The selected participant will need to commit to full-day and evening attendance on Saturday, March 24, and daytime attendance on Sunday, March 25.

The event will be led by trained facilitators who are experienced listeners and skilled at bringing together people across conflicting points of view. It will be necessary to arrive in Washington, D.C., the evening before, Friday March 23, to allow an 8 a.m. start for the workshop Saturday.

The successful applicant will be notified by Sunday afternoon, March 19.

You can read more about the project here:https://www.google.com/amp/amp.poynter.org/news/new-dialogue-journalism-project-will-immerse-itself-gun-debateSOUTH HAVEN, MI - During her workhorse years, the 86-foot-long Lizzie Throop could be found busily ferrying cargo from port to port. When she sank in a squall in 1873, she was another aging schooner who ended up on the bottom of Lake Michigan.

Fast forward 145 years. Explorers from the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association announced this week they've found the Lizzie Throop's final resting place, sitting in about 280 feet of water some 15 miles northwest of South Haven.

Historians with the MSRA said they knew the ship was quite old when they discovered it. They've explored it several times, making note of details to confirm its identity.

Why were they so tickled to find this one? It's an early piece of West Michigan maritime history. The Lizzie Throop was one of the first ships built in Ottawa County, in 1849, with wood milled at one of the Grand Haven area's earliest sawmills.

It was owned by an early, prominent Grand Haven resident, Nathan Throop.

"While not the object of our search, this wreck captured our interest because features on the vessel suggested it was very old," said MSRA's Valerie van Heest.

The wreck of the Lizzie Throop. Photo courtesy of the MSRA

It's one of nearly a dozen wrecks the MSRA has found, all while searching for a missing plane. For 14 years, the group has partnered with author Clive Cussler and his National Underwater Marine Agency in their persistent search for Northwest Airlines Flight 2501, a passenger plane that crashed in Lake Michigan in 1950, killing all 58 aboard.

So even though the Lizzie Throop wasn't what the divers were after, it's still a good find.

The two-masted schooner set sail from Muskegon on Oct. 16, 1873, on a lumber run to Chicago.

She left around sunset that night. By 11 p.m., she was caught in a squall. A few hours later, she started taking on water, according to an account by the MSRA.

The first mate later reported:

"At 1 p.m., she filled with water up to her decks. At this time, we were away from land about 15 miles. At half past 6 p.m., she rolled over. The men took to the rigging, except the mate, who steered her until she rolled over. Three of the men got into the boat, the Captain and cook having before this washed off and drowned. The three men, including the mate, left the boat and got into the hull. ... The vessel began to break up and the three men were washed off of her. One was drowned, and the other two got ashore on a piece of the wreck."

The survivors made it to shore about nine miles north of South Haven.

But the MSRA team isn't giving up all the Lizzie Throop's secrets quite yet. The story behind the find will be featured prominently at the group's 20th annual film festival, "Mysteries and Histories Beneath the Inland Seas."

It will be held March 24 in Holland at Hope College's Jack H. Miller auditorium.

Other pieces of the program include:

"Ships That Go Bump in the Night" by Dan Fountain

"The Last Whaleback Steamer

"Return to the

The True Story of the Baby Jane by Valerie van Heest

Tickets are $13.50 in advance, $16.00 at the door and free with various membership levels - all available at www.MichiganShipwrecks.orgALBION, MI - A pharmacy in tiny Albion supplied more controlled substances from 2012 to 2016 than the Meijer in Kalamazoo, a chain pharmacy in a city with about 10 times the population of Albion and two major hospitals, a federal document reports.

In 2012, Parks Drug Store, 318 S. Superior St., filled 500 times more prescriptions for 30-milligram doses of oxycodone, a semi-synthetic opioid marketed as Percocet or OxyContin, than the Kalamazoo Meijer and a pharmacy in Marshall, combined.

Data from 2015 and 2016 showed Parks was among the top dispensers of certain highly abused and diverted controlled substances in the state, despite its location in a city of about 8,500 people, reads a forfeiture complaint filed this week in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids.

It seeks to condemn and forfeit to the Internal Revenue Service about $1.3 million from checking accounts assigned to the drug store, open and under new control.

The U.S. Attorney General contends now-suspended pharmacists John C. Shedd, the Parks president, and Director Terry Tooley, repeatedly failed to ensure drugs were dispensed pursuant to prescriptions for legitimate medical purposes. They did not heed readily identifiable red flags, including presentation of prescriptions for massive amounts of widely-abused controlled substances, prescriptions signed by troubled doctors and patients from far-away places or prescriptions written by doctors far outside Albion.

The pharmacy's receipt of illicit drug proceeds, commingled with legitimate drug store proceeds, and the use of both to purchase further drugs to "to dispense them for an illegitimate purpose and outside the usual course of medical practice" continued a cycle of drug trafficking and money laundering, the complaint alleges.

This comes at a time when Michigan, and the United States, is in the midst of an ever-escalating drug epidemic. Opioids plague communities and overdose deaths continue to rise.

About a quarter of the controlled substance prescriptions dispensed by the pharmacy were written by Dr. Horace Davis of Albion, whose medical license was suspended when he was convicted of illegally prescribing drugs and healthcare fraud, and Dr. Martin Holmes of Lansing, whose license was limited in 2016 for improper controlled substance prescribing, according to the complaint.

The Albion pharmacy also continued to accept prescriptions written by Dr. Paul De Weese, who had offices in Lansing and Muskegon, while other pharmacies refused to do so, even when multiple customers came to Parks to collect "drug cocktails" favored by abusers and prescribed by De Weese. The doctor surrendered his license in 2016.

From 2009 to 2016, the drug store filled 788 controlled substance prescriptions for patients who provided out-of-state addresses. More than 260 of them were for hydrocodone, a frequent contributor to prescription drug deaths. From 2010 to 2016, the pharmacy accepted more than 1,000 prescriptions issued by doctors outside Michigan. About 450 of them were for hydrocodone.

On many occasions, Parks filled prescriptions for what is referred to as the "holy trinity"-- at least one opioid, one benzodiazepine, such as Valium or Xanax, and one carisoprodol, a muscle relaxant - because of its rapid euphoric effects, alleges the 40-page complaint.

The document contains graphs that demonstrate Parks dispensed much larger amounts of pain medications Vicodin or Norco and oxycodone and methadone, used to treat narcotic addiction, than similar businesses in the region. With hydrocodone, oxycodone and methadone are among the most common substances involved in prescription drug overdose deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cites the document.

"In some instances, Parks filled 10 times or more times the number of controlled substances than its peers," reads the complaint.

Compared to a similar, family-owned business in Calhoun County, Parks dispensed at least 41 percent and as much as 157 percent more of these drugs from 2010 to 2016.

The pharmacists also are accused of healthcare fraud, of filling phantom or fradulent prescriptions, for medications the business did not even stock. A limited audit revealed Parks had collected $609,538 in insurance payments for prescriptions never distributed, the attorney general alleges.

Neither Shed nor Tooley are presently in practice. The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs took action in November against the pharmacists contending they violated regulations dictated by the state public health code, the complaint states.

From 2014 to 2016, 18 percent of the prescriptions they filled were for controlled substances; the Drug Enforcement Administration considers any percentage higher than 11 is a red flag, according to the federal document.

Both Shedd and Tooley agreed in February to each pay a $25,000 fine and to surrender their licenses for six months and one day.

A representative who answered the phone Saturday at the drug store confirmed the pharmacy is in operation under the same name, but new ownership. Busy with customers, he repeatedly declined to further comment.MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI - A young mother has been jailed after repeatedly ignoring warnings that she needed to send her child to school.

Amanda McEntaffer was given nine chances to avoid jail and eight chances to avoid criminal charges, said Muskegon County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Timothy Maat.

"All she had to do was accept help," Maat said.

McEntaffer, 24, of Whitehall was sentenced to 15 days in jail by Muskegon County District Judge Harold Closz on March 16.

McEntaffer's child had 31 unexcused full-day absences and 27 unexcused tardies, Maat said. Excused absences are not counted, he said.

Muskegon County Prosecutor D.J. Hilson launched his Operation Graduation program several years ago to combat the issue of truancy. The program provides a series of interventions to try to get parents to send their children to school. In the case of older, uncooperative students, they are provided with interventions as well.

Students are flagged for intervention once they accumulate nine days of unexcused absences. If school officials determine their grades are suffering as a result, school officials try their own interventions. When those are not successful, the students' parents are referred to the prosecutor's office.

Parents are sent warning letters and offered multiple opportunities to avoid prosecution. Services are also offered, such as assistance with transportation.

"We are doing everything in our power not to prosecute," Maat said.

In McEntaffer's case, the original complaint regarding her then 6 1/2-year-old child came from Whitehall Elementary School on Oct. 21, 2016, Maat said. The child had 11 unexcused absences since the beginning of that school year, and the school sent a warning letter to McEntaffer the same day, he said.

A second letter was sent a week later and a meeting was set up with the prosecutor's office on Nov. 10, but McEntaffer never showed up, Maat said. A phone conference was held Nov. 14 to work out her issues but the truancy continued, and a letter was sent Dec. 16, 2016, telling her that she could face criminal charges, Maat said.

In February 2017, she signed a contract with the prosecutor's office vowing to send her child to school, but the truancy continued, Maat said. A meeting was scheduled on March 29 with the prosecutor's office to discuss the issue, but she didn't show up, Maat said.

On March 30, 2017, a criminal truancy charge was filed against her.

McEntaffer pleaded guilty on Sept. 11, 2017, with an understanding that the plea would be withdrawn and the charge dropped if her child had no more unexcused absences prior to her March 16, 2018, sentencing, Maat said.

However, the child missed school and the charge and plea stuck. In addition to the 15 days in jail, Closz sentenced her to an additional optional jail term of 25 days, Maat said.

"Our office believes that keeping kids in school is the best way to reduce crime before it occurs," Maat said. "Our truancy diversion program has been very successful keeping kids and parents out of the criminal justice system.

"Ms. McEntaffer's case illustrates that every attempt is made to work with parents to help them meet the educational needs of their children," he said. "Only when a parent repeatedly refuses to reasonably address the problem of truancy does our office file criminal charges."EDEX 2018 Egypt Defence Expo Exhibition Cairo, Egypt





The Held under the patronage of His Excellency, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, President of The Arab Republic of Egypt, The Supreme Commander of The Egyptian Armed Forces, Clarion Events is proud to present EDEX  Egypt Defence Expo 2018. The inaugural EDEX is fully supported by the Egyptian Armed Forces and presents a brand new opportunity for exhibitors to showcase the latest military technology, equipment and systems across land, sea & air.The EDEX 2018 Egypt Defence Expo will be held at Egypt International Exhibition Centre in Cairo from the 3 to 5 December 2018.

The first tri-service defence exhibition to take place in Egypt will be a truly ground-breaking occasion. The event will include many displays of military equipment covering Land, Air, Sea, and Special Forces. The Egypt Defence Expo will include over 300 international and regional exhibitors, a high-level military conference and other exclusive features which will be announced in the lead up to the event. Egyptian industry will also be featured prominently with a large pavilion showcasing Egyptian manufacturing capabilities. A fully-hosted VIP Delegation Programme will offer the opportunity for military bilaterals as well networking prospects for the leading global defence suppliers. Visitors will also include industry representatives, defence procurement specialists and military experts, ensuring attendance from all areas within the sector. All of this will take place in the new state-of-the-art Egypt International Exhibition Centre, a world-class venue built for world-class events. The Egypt Armed Forces, Ministry of Military Production and Government of Egypt look forward to welcoming you during your visit to EDEX in December 2018.



Held under the patronage of His Excellency President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Supreme Commander of the Egyptian Armed Forces, Clarion Events is proud to present EDEX  Egypt Defence Expo 2018.



With over 1.3 million military personnel, as the largest military power in Africa and one of the leading forces worldwide, Egypt is the ideal setting for a large-scale event for the sector. In addition, Egypt has historically maintained continuous investment in the latest weaponry as a defence strategy and has strengthened national production lines across a range of military complexes. The inaugural EDEX is fully supported by Egyptian Armed Forces and presents a brand new opportunity for exhibitors to showcase the latest technology, equipment and systems across land, sea, and air. All of this will take place in the new state-of-the-art Egypt International Exhibition Centre, a world-class venue built for world-class events. The Egypt Armed Forces, Ministry of Military Production and Government of Egypt look forward to welcoming you during your visit to EDEX in December 2018.Held under the patronage of His Excellency President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Supreme Commander of the Egyptian Armed Forces, Clarion Events is proud to present EDEX  Egypt Defence Expo 2018.With over 1.3 million military personnel, as the largest military power in Africa and one of the leading forces worldwide, Egypt is the ideal setting for a large-scale event for the sector. In addition, Egypt has historically maintained continuous investment in the latest weaponry as a defence strategy and has strengthened national production lines across a range of military complexes. The inaugural EDEX is fully supported by Egyptian Armed Forces and presents a brand new opportunity for exhibitors to showcase the latest technology, equipment and systems across land, sea, and air.

EDEX 2018 SHOW INFORMATION Back Top Menu

Egypt will host a major international defence exhibition in 2018, bringing together key defence and security players from the region and across the world. This event will be attended by many national and international press members from all over the world.

Read more information about EDEX 2018 at this link: https://www.egyptdefenceexpo.com/news



a

EDEX 2018 OFFICIAL WEB SITE



Visit official website site about EDEX 2018 to have more information ( Visitors, Exhibitors, etc ...) at this link

EDEX 2018 OFFICIAL ONLINE SHOW DAILY NEWS Back Top Menu



EDEX organizers have appointed Army Recognition Group to provide the Official Online Show Daily News and Web TV of EDEX 2018, published to one of the most popular online Defense and Security magazine Army Recognition, https://www.armyrecognition.com. During the three days of EDEX 2018, Army Recognition Group will also provide the Official EDEX 2018 Web TV with news, report and full coverage about the event.

As the Offiicial Online Show Daily News with editorial and Official Web TV for EDEX 2018, Army Recognition press team will have a significant presence at the show to provide a full coverage about this event. Published online and updated daily, if you cannot attend EDEX 2018, follow all activities of EDEX 2018 with our news, reports, pictures and video.

The Official Online Show Daily News of EDEX 2018 spread all activities of the event and provides all exhibitors with a global online window in parallel with EDEX 2018 exhibition about the latest defence and security technologies and innovations. To increase the visibility of your Company, products and/or services you can book advertisement, advertorial, video add in the Official Online Show Daily News and Web TV EDEX 2018.



For more information and to book your advertisement today The Official Online Show Daily News of EDEX 2018 spread all activities of the event and provides all exhibitors with a global online window in parallel with EDEX 2018 exhibition about the latest defence and security technologies and innovations. To increase the visibility of your Company, products and/or services you can book advertisement, advertorial, video add in the Official Online Show Daily News and Web TV EDEX 2018.For more information and to book your advertisement today contact us now



Army Recognition official media partner of EDEX 2018 will provide the Official Online Show Daily News and Web TV for EDEX 2018 including report, news, pictures and video. Increase the exposure of your Company and its range of products globally with our EDEX 2018 Official Online Show Daily News and Web TV. If you want your company press releases in the online daily news simply send us at this link: * Land Force related press releases * Air Force related press releases * Naval Force related press releases There is no charge to submit product and press releases for EDEX 2018 to our team, but we can not guarantee that all press releases will be published. Do you need some advertising and marketing services to increase your impact and presence before, during and after the exhibition with our Online Show Daily News? See our offer at this link: Army Recognition advertising and marketing services pricing list Or Contact our marketing team now:

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Tel: +32 (0)81 56-73-67 (Office Belgium) or +33 (0)6 62.53.31.20 (Office France)

Mobile: +32 474-79.16.01



During the week of EDEX 2018, Army Recognition Group will also provide the Official Web TV of EDEX 2018 available each day on our Defense and Security Web TV News channel with news, report, interview and full coverage about the event. This new media will provide an Internet television networks and Web TV to promote Defense and Security Industry and products with high-definition, digital-quality video broadcasted on our new Web site http://www.defensewebtv.com,our Army Recognition Defense and Security Web TV News channel and official website and video screen of EDEX 2018. Our offer: - Video Advertorial: A Video advertorial is a blend of advertisement and editorial which feature presentations of products, services, and packages for defense and security industry.

Contact us for pricing. - Video Advertising: A video advertising up to 30 sec. with 3 min. advertorial or interview Price: 4,950  Contact our marketing team now at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ;

or call +32 081 56.73.67 (Belgium) or +33 662 533 120 (France)

EDEX 2018 OFFICIAL PROGRAM OF EVENTS Back Top Menu

Click this link to have more information about the official program of EDEX 2018, including official visit, conferences, ceremony, reception, forum and more

EDEX 2018 PICTURES GALLERY AND WEB TV Back Top Menu



mettre videoMarch 17, 2018

Guardian Rips-Off Goebbels - Fascist Propaganda For Better Anti-Russian Smears

Just recently the Rothschild organ The Economist depicted the Russian president Putin as a dangerous octopus.

The idea was not original at all. Russia has been the favored target of this denigrating comparison for more than a century.

The Guardian, no less anti-Russian than the Economist, now follows suit.

The Steve Bell Guardian cartoon, just like the Economist cover, demonstrates a lack of creativity and originality. The spider cartoon is an obvious rip-off from a anti-Russian Nazi campaign:

The archive description of the poster notes:

In early 1935, the Nazis unleashed an anti-Bolshevik campaign which it initiated with a series of traveling exhibits on the dangers of world Communism. This poster comes from the exhibit in Karlsruhe, the capital city of the German state of Baden. But its imagery is found in almost all of the posters of this exhibit. Here Bolshevism is represented as a huge red spider, whose head is the familiar grinning skull topped with the red star. Sitting in the Soviet Union, the legs of the spider can still reach out to threaten the entire world.

The Guardian rip-off of Josef Goebbels' Nazi propaganda even copied the red star associated with communist ideology. How stupid - Putin and today's Russia are as capitalistic as it gets.

Plagiarizing others to foment anti-Russian sentiment is standard Guardian business. Its most fervent and stupid anti-Russian writer, Luke Harding, had to publicly apologize for stealing whole passages from the Exile, a Russian magazine in English language edited by Mark Ames, Yasha Levine and Matt Taibbi. For a good laugh watch this Real News interview on Harding's book "Collusion" in which Aaron Mate takes Harding apart.

One wonders how much the Economist, the Guardian and other anti-Russian outlets, writers and cartoon artists get from the $160 million fund the Obama administration budgeted to "counter an uptick in Russian propaganda". Taking such money would not be unusual. This 2015 Guardian report on a European Union anti-Russian propaganda fund was, for example, written by the U.S. government's RFE/RL propaganda outlet. A U.S. government propaganda write-up about a EU propaganda fund ends up as content on the Guardian site. Hey - why not? Even original Guardian content rarely ventures off from the official line.

Who by the way might have financed the anti-Russian spy series Strike Back which now replays on live TV as the Skripal Novichok drama?

The enormous amount of money from the dozens of officials and unofficial slush funds surely creates a lot of the anti-Russian noise. But for all the taxpayer money spent on the issue can we please ask for better than a warmed up Nazi campaign?

---

h/t Nina Byzantina

Posted by b on March 17, 2018 at 19:17 UTC | Permalink

Comments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.The last victim of the Florida International University bridge collapse has been recovered, law enforcement said during a Saturday night news conference.

Although the Miami-Dade County Police Departmen expected to find more victims, the death toll stands at 6.

Three people and two vehicles were pulled from the rubble early Saturday. The victims were identified as Rolando Hernandez, Oswald Gonzalez and Alberto Arias. Hernandez was found inside a gold Jeep Grand Cherokee, while Gonzalez and Arias were found inside a white Chevrolet truck.

A fourth victim was identified as Navarro Brown. Brown was taken to Kendall Regional Medical Center, where he died from his injuries.

Officials said they will go back to the site and search once more to make sure no one else is underneath the rubble.

"We're pretty confident that no one's left," said Juan Perez, director of the Miami-Dade Police Department.

The bodies have been taken to the Medical Examiner's Office so they can be turned over to family members.

The newly-installed pedestrian bridge collapsed on Thursday, trapping several people and vehicles underneath.

Several agencies are conducting investigations into the pedestrian bridge collapse.

The Miami-Dade Police Department is conducting a homicide investigation, while the National Transportation Safety Board conducts an independent investigation to determine the cause of the accident and to help prevent it from happening again.

The bridge, which went up last weekend, cost $14.2 million and was supposed to open in 2019 as a safe way for students to cross the busy road. It was the first of its kind to be built using an accelerated bridge construction method.

On Friday, the Florida Department of Transportation released a transcript of a voicemail left by the lead engineer on the FIU pedestrian bridge project noting "cracking" seen on the bridge two days before it collapsed.

The voicemail was left on a landline, according to FDOT, and not received by its intended recipient until Friday, March 16, as the employee was out of the office on assignment.

FDOT said in a release that it was the sole responsibility of the FIU design build team to identify and address life-safety issues and properly communicate them, and that they were not made aware by the FIU design team of any scheduled "stress testing" of the bridge following its installation.

FDOT plans to conduct an internal review in connection with the collapse.Five ducklings were rescued from an Orlando storm drain Saturday, according to Orange County Fire Rescue.

5 ducklings rescued from storm drain

Ducklings were separated from their mother

Firefighters removed ducklings from storm drain

The incident happened in the Waterford Lakes area.

The ducklings were separated from their mother and fell through a metal grate into a storm drain.

Firefighters responded to the scene after a call from a concerned citizen.

Once at the scene, firefighters were able to remove the ducklings from the storm drain. They were eventually reunited with their mother, officials said.Wearing nothing but a speedo, goggles and a swim cap, a Lake Mary High School teacher began the first leg of an 8-day swim up the St. Johns River Saturday morning.

Lake Mary high school teacher to swim up the St. Johns River

Luther Davis to swim from Sanford to Jacksonville--164 miles

Swim to bring awareness to effects of pollution in local waterways

Luther Davis, a Physics and Astronomy teacher, plans to swim from Sanford to Jacksonville -- a 164-mile trek in chilly, murky water. His goal is to bring attention to the effects of pollution in our local waterways. He also wants to show his students the journey a raindrop makes once it falls in Longwood and travels to the Atlantic Ocean.



When I told them how special this resource is for all Floridians they started to understand and believe in me, said Davis.

Davis has been planning the trip for over a year, but when he told his family they had one big question.

Arent there alligators in there?, Luther Davis said.

Truth is, there are gators--many of them. However, the dark waters of the river are so murky you probably couldnt spot one until it was too close for comfort. Luckily, that doesnt concern Davis.

Davis began his journey at his home in Longwood where he hiked 3.6 miles to Lake Jesup. The following day he kayaked 16 miles with a small group to the Sanford Marina where he began his solo-swim Saturday morning.

To complete his journey in eight days he plans to swim between 8-10 hours each day. Only stopping to rest, eat and rehydrate. He will sleep on a houseboat that is staffed with volunteers who will accompany him along the way as a safety precaution.

He took off--rather swam off--Saturday surrounded by family, colleagues, friends and even his students--whom he hopes to inspire with this test of human will.

Supporters are gathering to send off local high school teacher, Luther Davis, on his 8-day swimming adventure through St. Johns River #florida @MyNews13 @BN9 pic.twitter.com/16ZtlSnBiS  Paula Machado (@paulamachadotv) March 17, 2018

My big goal for this entire thing is really to inspire my students. Im hoping one day they might look back and say, you know what, I had that crazy Physics teacher that did this swim and it inspired me. And maybe theyll do something to give back and inspire others, said Davis.

You can track Davis on his journey up the St. Johns River by clicking here.Three men sustained life-threatening injuries after a rollover crash outside Monroe Friday night.

A 2000 Honda Civic was traveling westbound on Melvin Road in Clarno Township at a high rate of speed when it left the roadway, struck a culvert causing the vehicle to overturn several times at 11:20 p.m. according to the Green County Sheriff's Department.

All three males, ages 24 to 26, were believed to be ejected from the vehicle near the 6800 block of Melvin Rd. One of the men then went to a nearby residence and the homeowner called 911.

All three men were transported to Monroe Clinic ER and later to UW hospital. One man was transported to UW hospital by med flight helicopter from the Monroe Clinic Hospital. It is believed that none of the occupants were wearing seat belts. The airbags did deploy in the vehicle. The vehicle sustained severe damage and was towed from the scene.

This crash remains under investigation with the Sheriff's Office and the Wisconsin State patrol. Names of the occupants will be released upon completion of the investigation.By Online Desk

Congress President Rahul Gandhi delivered a short address and inaugurated the second day of the party's plenary session today at the Constitution Club in New Delhi, his first since he took over the reins of the grand old party last December.

Gandhi said that this is the only symbol (Congress party symbol) that can unite the nation and take it forward. He said, "They (BJP) use anger, we use love but one thing that I want to say is that this country belongs to everyone and whatever Congress will do will be for the benefit for all."

The meet is being attended by Congress chief ministers, state Congress presidents and Congress legislature party leaders from all states. Former prime minister Manmohan Singh and former party president Sonia Gandhi are also present.

Yesterday, as Chandrababu Naidus no-confidence motion and Arvind Kejriwals abject apology trended on the news circuits, the Indian National Congress began the pre-plenary session meet, primarily to set the partys agenda for 2019, as also to steer its internal structural reforms.

Gandhi will present the Congress vision document and the political roadmap for the party. The document will act as a "guiding light" to help party workers upstage the BJP from power at the Centre in 2019 and in some key states where elections are slated later this year.

Here are the latest updates:

6:00 pm -

Message on behalf of the President of the State of Palestine to Congress President Rahul Gandhi wishing him and the party well, while appreciating the role of the Congress and past leaders of the Congress for their support of the Palestinian cause. #CongressPlenary #ChangeIsNow pic.twitter.com/l28KeulI1M  Congress (@INCIndia) March 17, 2018

5:30 pm - In a message to UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina recalls the extraordinary support extended to Bangladesh by former PM Indira Gandhi and sent her best wishes for the 84th Plenary Session of the Congress.

5:10 pm -

The Communist Party of China recalls the positive contributions made by the Congress towards the development of China-India relations and has extended its best wishes to Congress President Rahul Gandhi. #CongressPlenary #ChangeIsNow pic.twitter.com/mpjrtrw2F6  Congress (@INCIndia) March 17, 2018

5:05 pm - President of The African National Congress, Cyril Ramaphosa, remembers the shared legacy of India and South Africa and extends his best wishes to the Indian National Congress in a message to the Plenary session.

African National Congress, Cyril Ramaphosa's message. (Twitter | Congress)

5:00 pm - A three-member delegation of the Bangladesh Awami League today met the Congress leadership and discussed a wide range of issues, including the ongoing cooperation between the two countries.

4:30 pm - "I would like to ask Modi government, doesn't the market distort when Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi, Vijay Mallya and Jatin Mehta flee out of the country and does it only distort when farmers ask for Minimum Support Price?"

4:15 pm - "Modi Ji's government scrapped farmers' Swaminathan Committee and replaced it with 'Jumlanathan Committee', says Randeep Surjewala.

4:10 pm - This is necessary as there are misgivings on "misuse" of EVMs to "manipulate the outcome contrary to popular verdict", the party said during its 84th plenary session.

4:00 pm - The Congress today urged that the Election Commission revert to the old practice of paper ballots in future elections instead of electronic voting machines.

3:30 pm -

The strength of the Congress party lies in our inspiring legacy and our promising future. #CongressPlenary #ChangeIsNow pic.twitter.com/e5U3nTRkUD  Congress (@INCIndia) March 17, 2018

3:30 pm - "It is the beginning of a new chapter, the challenges we are facing are not usual ones. We need to make an India free of corruption and vendetta, under President Rahul Gandhi, let us pledge that we will make all efforts to do this."

3:25 pm - "We are exposing the fraud and corruption by PM Modi and the people with him, using proof. In the last four years, this arrogant government has left no stone unturned to destroy the Congress. But, Congress has never cowered down and it will never cower down."

3:20 pm - "Forty years ago, Indira Ji's stunning victory in Chikmagalur turned around Indian politics, once again our party must give a similar performance."

3:15 pm -

Today a new chapter of the Congress party has begun. Every Congress member must dedicate their life to take this nation to great heights: UPA Chairperson Smt. Sonia Gandhi during the address to the #CongressPlenary. #ChangeIsNow 2/2 pic.twitter.com/gvJy3Npv06  Congress (@INCIndia) March 17, 2018

3:15 pm - "Congress' victory will be the nation's victory, it will be the victory for each one of us. Congress is not a political term, it is a movement," says Sonia Gandhi.

3:10 pm - Sonia Gandhi addresses leaders at the Congress plenary session.

12:30 pm - Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot speaks at the plenary.

To those who challenge us, I would say... as of now we have won by-polls under leadership of Rahul Gandhi, soon you'll see us winning states and in 2019 Congress will win the elections: Sachin Pilot at #CongressPlenarySession pic.twitter.com/Mlya50e4ZN  ANI (@ANI) March 17, 2018

12:28 pm - The party's draft political resolution draft is presented. [READ DETAILED REPORT HERE]

There are apprehension among political parties & people over misuse of EVMs to manipulate outcome contrary to popular verdict. To ensure credibility of electoral process EC should revert to old practice of paper ballots like most major democracies: Congress Political Resolution  ANI (@ANI) March 17, 2018

12:25 pm - With your (party members and workers) blessings and cooperation we will once again win in Karnataka, your help is needed, the way BJP and RSS workers go door-to-door, the same way you also help us in Karnataka: Kharge

12:20 pm - Kharge adds, "Congress party led India to independence and helped establish democracy. It was democracy which brought PM Modi to power but, ironically, his government itself has now become a threat to democracy."

12:15 pm - "Congress party belongs to everyone who lives in this nation. With the visionary leadership of Shri Jawaharlal Nehru, Congress set up large-scale industries, irrigation projects and pushed the economy forward."

Mallikarjun Kharge at the Congress plenary | (Twitter Photo@INCIndia)

12:10 pm - Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, the Congress reached out to people across the country, inspired them to rise above all barriers, and mobilized them to form the world's biggest movement for independence: Mallikarjun Kharge

12:00 pm - Veteran Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge delivers the political resolution of the party at the plenary. He says, "Teemir ko roshni kehte huye acha nahi lagta, mujhe gham ko khushi kehte huye acha nahi lagta... lahu insaniyat ko jo din-raat peete hain RSS-BJP ke log unko insaan kehte huye mujhe acha nahi lagta" [I don't like to call darkness light, I don't like to term sadness as joy, I don't want to call those people (RSS-BJP) who draw blood of humanity as human beings]

10:52 am - Rahul Gandhi concludes his brief address. He will next speak at the conclusion of the plenary tomorrow at 4:30 pm.

10:50 am - Only the Congress party can lead the country in that new direction, says Rahul Gandhi.

The symbol of the hand is the symbol of the Congress party. This is the symbol that holds the country together, shows us the way, and will take India forward: Congress President Rahul Gandhi #CongressPlenary #ChangeIsNow pic.twitter.com/z5evCOIPhh  Congress (@INCIndia) March 17, 2018

10:48 am - They (BJP) use anger, we use love but one thing that I want to say is that this country belongs to everyone and whatever Congress will do will be for the benefit for all: Rahul Gandhi

10:47 am - I thank all senior Congress members present here today. They have fought for the ideals of the party to keep our dreams alive: Rahul Gandhi

10:46 am - Says Rahul Gandhi, "Today, the nation is being divided on small issues, our identities are being threatened."

10:46 am - He remarks on the current political climate in the country and says it is time for a new direction, a new vision. He brings up the farmers crisis and the unemployment problem.

The country is tired of what is happening under the current Govt. Only the Congress party can show the way and heal divisions in the nation: Congress President Rahul Gandhi #CongressPlenary #ChangeIsNow  Congress (@INCIndia) March 17, 2018

10:45 am - Rahul Gandhi begins his speech.

Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh at the Congress plenary session ahead of Rahul's address (EPS | Shekhar Yadav)

10:00 am - Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have arrived at the meet. Senior leaders are already present. Sources say former chief Sonia Gandhi is likely to recede into the background. Shell not want to overshadow her son in any way, even though the art of alliance making, which will either make or mar 2019 for the Congress, has been left to her.

9:30 am - The party announced that Rahul Gandhi's official Twitter handle has changed from @OfficeofRG to @RahulGandhi.

The session assumes importance as it will be the first after Gandhi's presidentship and the first to be held with a new leader in two decades.

9:00 am - The session is set to commence soon.

The venue of the Congress party's plenary session ahead of Rahul Gandhi's speech (EPS | Shekhar Yadav)

March 16 - Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia at the first day of the plenary session yesterday in New Delhi. READ FULL REPORT HERE

(PTI Photo)

READ | Senior Congress leaders give final shape to draft resolutions for 2019 Lok Sabha poll

Change is in the air as the 84th Plenary Session of the Congress Party begins today in New Delhi. As this historic occasion unfolds with new ideas thatll shape the future of our country, we promise to bring you all the updates live on this space. Stay tuned. #ChangeIsNow pic.twitter.com/3qnfWRv9GO  Congress (@INCIndia) March 17, 2018

At the three-day brainstorming plenary session (March 16-19), the Congress party will pass four resolutions -- one each on the political and economic fronts, another on foreign policy and the fourth on agriculture and unemployment. Its primary focus will, however, be to devise strategies to tackle the BJP ahead of the 2019 elections and to chalk out a new vision for the grand old party.

(With inputs from Express News Service and agencies)Anand ST Das By

Express News Service

PATNA: Even as police in Bihars Darbhanga district said the murder of an ageing man was the result of an old land dispute, a team of BJP leaders on Saturday visited the village to probe the incident and said the man was killed because he had named a site there after Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Union minister Giriraj Singh, Bihar BJP president and MP Nityanand Rai and MLA Sanjay Sarawgi were among ten senior leaders of the states ruling BJP who visited Bhadwa village under Sadar police station in the northern district.

We got confirmation of what has been widely claimed since the time this extremely unfortunate incident took place here. The murder was perpetrated because the victim and his son refused to change the name of the site to anything other than what it is  Narendra Modi Chowk, said Nityanand Rai to The New Indian Express over phone from the village.

ALSO READ: Naming of square in 'Narendra Modi Chowk' not the cause of Darbhanga killing, says Police

He said the deceased, 70-year-old Ramchandra Yadav, who was brutally hacked to death on Thursday night, was the father of BJPs block president Tej Narayan Yadav. The father-son duo had been receiving constant threats from a number of people from nearby villages ever since they named the site after the PM some three years ago, added Rai.

Some people came to the site on Thursday evening and wanted to uproot the signboard on which Narendra Modi Chowk is written. They faced protests from the locals and ran away. They returned in the night with weapons and killed Ramchandra Yadav, said Rai.

Around 40-50 men came on 25-30 bikes with hockey sticks and

swords . My father went to them to explain the situation, but was

beheaded, they also tried to kill my brother: Son of 70-yr-old man

who was beheaded for naming a chowk as Narendra

Modi chowk. (Photo | ANI)

He also added that local residents told the saffron partys probe team that some of the assailants were led by Mohammad Wariss son. Darbhanga police, however, had denied on Saturday that nobody from a minority community was a part of the attack that killed Ramchandra Yadav.

According to Darbhanga SSP Satyavir Singh, the murder was the result of a long-running dispute between two families over a piece of land in the area. One of the five sons of the deceased was killed in a similar attack following a quarrel over the same plot of land some three years ago.

This was basically an old land dispute between two families, said Bihar ADGP (headquarters) SK Singhal in Patna. A detailed probe is in progress. Policemen have been deployed in the area so as to ward off any further act of violence by any side, he added.Anand ST Das By

Express News Service

PATNA: Even as a special CBI court in Ranchi on Saturday deferred the verdict in another fodder scam case involving jailed RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav to March 19, the jailed leader was shifted to a hospital after his health condition worsened.

Yadav, 69, was brought to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) from Birsa Munda Central Jail at Hotwar near the Jharkhand capital as he complained of acute pain minutes after the CBI court once again put off the date of announcing the verdict in the Dumka treasury case of the Rs 1,000-crore fodder scam case.

Special CBI court judge Shiv Pal Singh, who had earlier convicted the former railway minister and Bihar chief minister in the scams Deoghar treasury case in December last, was to pronounce the verdict in the Dumka case (RC 38A/96) on Saturday. But the date of verdict was put off for the third time.

READ: Fodder scam case | Verdict against Lalu Prasad, Jagannath Mishra deferred till March 19

Since judge Shiv Pal Singh and other trial court judges are attending a two-day training programme at the judicial academy as per Jharkhand High Courts direction, it was officially conveyed that the judgment will be delivered on March 19, said Yadavs lawyer Anant Kumar Vij.

RIMS superintendent Dr SK Chaudhary said Yadav was admitted at the super-specialty cardio unit of the state-run hospital and underwent tests for a number of health complaints. He was put under the care of cardiologist Dr PK Jha and surgeon Dr Mrityunjay Sarawgi. Sources said Yadav is likely to spend the next three days at the hospital.

He (Yadav) faces complications related to diabetes and hypertension. Due to aggravated piles, he was having pain for the past three days. He was provided the remedy for it soon after being admitted here. We have put him under observation, said Dr Mrityunjay Sarawgi.

Yadav has been advised to take only khichri and green vegetables for the next one week, he added.

At the time of Yadavs conviction in the Chaibasa and Deoghar treasury cases of the fodder scam earlier, his lawyers had prayed for minimum sentence for him, citing his diabetic condition and an open heart surgery he had undergone in August 2014.

His elder son Tej Pratap Yadav, former Bihar health minister, flew to Ranchi from Patna and met him at RIMS. RJD national vice-president and former Union minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and Yadavs trusted aide Bhola Singh, an MLC, were beside him at the hospital.

There was undue delay in the jail in providing an escort team and an ambulance when he (Yadav) was to be shifted to the hospital. It is sheer irresponsibility, said Singh. With hundreds of Yadavs supporters reaching RIMS, the hospital administration asked police to beef up security on its premises.By PTI

MUMBAI: At least three Bangladeshi nationals were today arrested from Pune by the state ATS for allegedly providing shelter to suspected terrorists of Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), an Islamic extremist group in Bangladesh, officials said.

The arrested accused, who themselves were illegally staying in India, had provided shelter to the ABT members.

"The three Bangladeshi nationals had been staying illegally, without any authorised travel documents for the past five years in Wanavadi and Akurdi areas," a senior official of the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) said.

The ABT is an al-Qaeda inspired Islamic extremist group in Bangladesh, he said.

"The three accused are aged between 25 and 31 years and hail either from Khulna or Shariyatpur in Bangladesh," he said.

3 #Bangladesh nationals allegdly linked to ansarul Bangla team, a terror outfit of Bangla and #AlQaeda attached outfit arrested by #Maharashtra ATS @NewIndianXpress pic.twitter.com/DwR7TEhC02  Kiran_TNIE (@tniekiran1) March 17, 2018

During their interrogation, they revealed that they had provided shelter and other help to the members of ABT during their stay in Pune, the official added.

Acting on specific inputs, the Pune unit of Maharashtra ATS carried out a search operation in Wanavadi yesterday and apprehended one Bangladeshi national, he said.

"During his interrogation, he provided information about two more Bangladeshi nationals, who were staying illegally in Akurdi, after which the duo was also nabbed," he said.

They were also carrying PAN and Aadhaar cards, which were obtained by using forged documents, another ATS official said.

The officer said one of the arrested accused stayed and worked near a sensitive establishment.

"Investigation has revealed that these accused and their accomplices were helping the active members of ABT, which is supposedly a front organisation of Al-Qaeda, to hide in India and were also helping terrorist activities financially and through various other ways," the officer said.

He said the three accused worked as construction labourers and had procured SIM cards using forged documents.

A case was registered under sections 465 (forgery) and 471 (using as genuine a forged document) of Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, he said, adding the accused would be produced in a court.

According to the officer, the ATS is also probing that if these arrested persons had any links with the six Bangladesh nationals, who were arrested from Panvel three days ago by the newly-formed Navi Mumbai unit of ATS.

The officials, however, did not reveal the names of the arrested accused.By Express News Service

BHUBANESWAR: Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday said, India is always interested for the growth of commerce, improvement in connectivity and culture of the South East Asian countries. Inaugurating the international conference, Purbasa: East meets East, Pradhan said such initiatives will, hopefully, lead to an enhanced dialogue between the people and culture of these countries and India - a dialogue that is yet to achieve its best potential.

The Union Minister said dedication of Anand Bhawan to the nation as a museum on legendary Biju Patnaik, who had played a key role in the independence of Indonesia, by president Ram Nath Kovind is a pleasant co-incidence. He said the Dakota aircraft should also find a place in the museum. Pradhan said people of Odisha have grown up hearing stories of people from across the ocean with whom our ancestors had trade ties. Our mythologies, languages, religions and architecture have seeped into each other in ways that have not yet been fully understood or explored.

Drawing a comparison he said the word for mother in Bahasa Indonesian is bu, which is bou in Odia for us, he said. Chairman of Kalinga International Foundation Lalit Mansingh said the East and North East should be seen as a homogeneous cultural and economic region of India, which is playing a crucial role in Indias Act East Policy.

He said because of the policy, the North-East and Eastern region of India will be in dialogue with the friendly neighbours on Indias east - Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka, with ASEAN partners and beyond with Australia and Japan. Minister for Buddha Sasana, Sustainable Development and Wildlife of Sri Lanka, Gamini Jayawickrama Perera; Minister for Industry and Tourism of Assam, Chandra Mohan Patowary and ambassadors of Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, High Commissioners of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and Economic Minister from Japan were also present on the inaugural event of the three-day international conference. On the occasion, Kalinga Saraswati Samman was conferred on noted scholars, V Suryanarayan for his book Together in struggle: India and Indonesia, 1945-1949 and Sudip Sen for his book Pride and Glory of Bali Yatra.Gaudet bathroom damaged in connection with TikTok challenge

"If the damage continues, we will be looking to schedule bathroom breaks for classes," Principal William Niemeyer said in a message.Champaign, IL (61820)

Today

Rain showers early with overcast skies later in the day. High 63F. Winds N at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Cloudy skies early will become partly cloudy later at night. Low 47F. Winds NNW at 10 to 20 mph.The Danish government (Venstre (the Liberal Party), the Liberal Alliance and the Conservatives) and the Social Democrats, the Danish Peoples Party and the Social-Liberal Party have reached the agreement regarding the Danish Defence for the period 2018-2023. In view of the new security political situation, the Parties agree to increase the annual Danish defence budget by DKK 800 million (108 million) from 2018 with an increased trend to DKK 4.8 billion (644 million) by 2023.



Danish soldier at military training (Picture source Military Images website)

The new Defence Agreement for 2018  2023 represents a substantial investment in Defence to protect and defend Denmark. The substantial increase will bring the Danish Defence annual budget to a level that is 20 percent higher than today. At the same time, significant equipment investments over the agreement period demonstrate that Denmark aims to live up to NATO's guideline of investing 20 percent of the defence budget on new equipment.

The Agreement will strengthen Danish Defence contributions to NATOs collective deterrence, improve capacity to contribute to international operations, enhance Defence contributions to national security and increase cyber defence as well as the national emergency preparedness.

The Agreement demonstrates our resolve and determination to protect and defend a safe and secure Denmark as well as maintaining our position as a core ally to NATO. The strengthening of Defence is necessary in the light of the deteriorated security political situation. Todays Agreement delivers a strengthened Danish Defence  with more troops and better equipment  and an enhanced national preparedness.

The Parties agree on a six year framework agreement that will set the course for the future direction and development of Defence and National Emergency Preparedness.

Based on Army's current operational capabilities, work will be undertaken to build a deployable brigade which can contribute to deter a more equal opponent and take part in collective defence under a NATO framework. The brigade will strengthen the Armed Forces' overall fighting power and mobility and will enhance the ability to operate in a NATO context.

A light infantry battalion will be established (with up to about 500 troops). The battalion can be deployed by air or ship and may be part of collective defence, some international operations or nationally, including in support of the police. The light infantry battalion will consist of HQ staff, HQ Company and three standing light infantry companies equipped with mortars and antitank weapons to counter armoured vehicles.

The Special Operations Command will be reorganised to accommodate for an enhanced operational capacity. In addition, investments in more operators for both the Jaeger Corps and the Frogman Corps will be carried out. In the agreement period 2018 - 2023, the number of special operation patrol units will be increased by more than 50 percent. It is the ambition to further double the number of special operations patrol units compared to todays level in the next Defence Agreement.ZANU-PF had to recall former President Mr Robert Mugabe from power as he was now failing to discharge his duties because of negative influence from his young wife, Grace, the party secretary for administration Dr Obert Mpofu, said yesterday.



Addressing thousands of party supporters at Nabushome Primary School in Hwange District during President Mnangagwas rally, Dr Mpofu, who is also Minister of Home Affairs and Umguza MP, said the intervention by the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF), which ushered in a new political dispensation last November, was timely.



We had to recall former President Mugabe because he was failing to perform his duties. His source of downfall was his young wife (Grace). Thats why I always say danela esalukazini sakho ngoba uzathwala nzima (rather stick to your aged wife and avoid problems), said Dr Mpofu, drawing laughter from the bumper crowd.





Ungagijimisana laboMankhri bazakwenza ube lesiyezi (if you pursue young women, they will be your downfall). It was evident that the former President had become confused and he started persecuting Cde Mnangagwa for nothing.He recalled how President Mnangagwa was humiliated and demonised by the former First Lady during the partys provincial youth interface rallies before being fired unceremoniously from both his posts as Vice President of the country and Zanu-PF second secretary.





But the people, the military and the party resisted that. Even Parliament stood up and reacted with a move to impeach the former President. The Zanu-PF central committee also took action and recalled Mugabe who, seeing he had nowhere to turn, tendered his resignation, said Dr Mpofu.





He said Mr Mugabe demise was sweet news to the generality of Zimbabweans and the world at large.

So, that is why we are in this new dispensation and those who are opposed to it are lost. The ZDF intervention was timely because this country was losing direction. All meetings were now being held to insult people, said Dr Mpofu.





In his address President Mnangagwa jokingly referred to Dr Mpofus remarks saying the era of insults was over as the former First Lady was now confined to her home. The President said he remained calm despite repeated insults by Mrs Mugabe as he realised that she lacked wisdom. ChronicleWhen President Emmerson Mnangagwa made his debut foreign trip as Head of State and Government, his destination was South Africa.



It was explained that this was because South Africa presently chairs the regional bloc, Sadc.



Apart from meeting the then South African President, Cde Jacob Zuma, President Mnangagwa also paid a courtesy call on the then deputy president, Cde Cyril Ramaphosa.

President Ramaphosa had assumed leadership of the ruling African National Congress three days earlier.





President Mnangagwa had just also been sworn-in as Zimbabwes leader. It was reported, during that brief meeting, that President Mnangagwa gave President Ramaphosa an indepth update on political developments in Zimbabwe.





Zimbabwe had just undergone a political transition that witnessed the resignation of long-time leader Mr Robert Mugabe.





President Mnangagwa was just beginning his regional whirlwind tour to explain the circumstances that led to the transition and to assure his counterparts that Zimbabwe was not only stable, but also open to doing business.

In response, President Ramaphosa is reported to have expressed his eagerness to visit Zimbabwe as a guest of Zanu-PF before visiting other sister liberation movements in the region.





As head of the ANC, President Ramaphosa was duty-bound to engage on a similar tour as President Mnangagwas, but as he was yet to assume state leadership, he would focus on meeting liberation movements at first.





Now he is President of South Africa. And yesterday he met President Mnangagwa, the two meeting for the first time as leaders of their respective countries.





A statement from the South African Presidents Office said, President Cyril Ramaphosa will undertake a working visit to the Republic of Mozambique and the Republic of Zimbabwe on 17 March 2018 as the Chair of the Southern African Development Community (Sadc).

The visit forms part of a long-standing tradition in the Sadc region, whereby newly elected Heads of State pay courtesy calls to the neighbouring countries.





During the visit, President Ramaphosa and his counterparts will discuss bilateral co-operation as well as regional, continental and global issues of mutual concern.





It is expected that the Sadc Heads of State will pay a particular focus on the latest political and security developments in the Region including the regional economic integration agenda in the Southern African Development Community.





While Presidents Mnangagwa and Ramaphosa ran into each other on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum Meeting in Davos in January, it was more of informal engagement.

Yesterday they met under more formal circumstances, and the peoples of the two nations will hope these engagements lead to greater development and prosperity. Sunday MailPreparations for the 59th edition of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF), have gathered pace with the organisation having written to President Emmerson Mnangagwa to officially open the international trade showcase in Bulawayo.



Namibian President Hage Geingob, officially opened last years edition of the Zitf.



This comes as more countries that used to exhibit at the trade extravaganza, but had stopped for various reasons, have indicated interest to exhibit this year from the 24th to the 28th of April.

In written responses, the ZITF Company general manager, Nomathemba Ndlovu, said the overwhelming responses from exhibitors saw the company increasing exhibition space from 48 400 square metres last year to 51,400 this year.





This years edition of the ZITF runs under the theme Sustainable Industrial Development  Inclusive, Competitive and Collaborative.





His Excellency, Cde Emmerson D Mnangagwa has been invited to officiate at this years show. The marketing and sales campaign for the show has reached its peak and market response has been quite pleasing. Because of overwhelming demand, we have increased the amount of space being used for exhibition purposes from 48 400 square metres in 2017 to 51 400 this year. Of this, 87 percent has been booked to date.





In terms of exhibitor number, there are 359 direct exhibitors compared to 266 at the same time last year, reflecting a 40 percent increase.





We have also seen an increase in the number of new exhibitors as 18 percent of the 359 direct exhibitors who have confirmed participation will be participating for the first time. This is, to us pleasing because it is indicative of an improved trading environment and commitment to re-engage with the international community, said Ndlovu.

To date 11 foreign countries have booked space including Botswana, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia, while Cyprus and India will be represented by individual companies from the respective countries. The ZITF Company has since last year, been engaged in meetings with diplomats based in Zimbabwe and representing target countries from Sadc, South America, Asia and previously dormant markets such as Europe and North America for them to participate in the trade show.





We anticipate that the outcome of these meetings will see increased representation from these countries in terms of exhibition displays and business delegations. In addition to the confirmed foreign bookings, we have provisional bookings from Angola, Egypt, Ghana and Pakistan. Egypt and Pakistan used to be regular exhibitors in the past whilst Angola has never been represented at Zitf, she said.





Following the new dispensation, where President Mnangagwa has declared Zimbabwe open for investment, there is high prospects of business boom in the country, calling for more accommodation and conferences facilities. HeraldiPhones of the Future

May Keep Tabs on

Your Mental Health(Newser)  A Rhode Island lawmaker who introduced a bill that would ban outhouses in the state says he is withdrawing the legislation, the AP reports. Republican Rep. Justin Price said Wednesday he is pulling the measure ahead of a scheduled State house hearing. Price says the issue should be addressed by local municipalities, not the state.

story continues below

The bill would have required any outhouse existing as of Jan. 1, 2019, to be "abandoned, filled up, and destroyed" within one year. Price previously said the bill was inspired by a dispute between Warwick residents and their former neighbor who lived within sniffing distance of the family's outhouse. Those who refused to comply could have faced up to a $1,000 fine.

(Read more Rhode Island stories.)(Newser)  Missouri is defending a prison sentence for a man who committed robbery and other crimes on a single day when he was 16 and now isn't eligible for parole until he's 112 years old, the AP reports. State Attorney General Josh Hawley says in a US Supreme Court filing that defendant Bobby Bostic's 241-year sentence for 18 crimes does not violate the Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Hawley says a 2010 Supreme Court ruling that outlawed life sentences for people under 18 who didn't kill anyone applies only to a sentence for one crime. The former St. Louis judge who sentenced Bostic disagrees. She now believes the term is unjust and is backing Bostic's high-court appeal. There's no timetable for when the justices will decide whether to hear his case. Now 39, Bostic has been in prison for more than 20 years.

story continues below

State and federal courts around the country have ruled differently about whether young people convicted of crimes can be sentenced to prison for terms that the ACLU, representing Bostic, said "exceed their life expectancy." The retired judge, Evelyn Baker, is among more than 100 current and former judges, prosecutors and law enforcement officers who are calling on the Supreme Court to throw out the sentence as grossly unfair. In December 1995, Bostic and 18-year-old Donald Hutson robbed a group of six people who were delivering Christmas presents for the needy, the ACLU said in its appeal on Bostic's behalf. They fired a gun at two victims, grazing one and missing the other. The robbers then carjacked a woman and Hutson robbed and fondled her before releasing her. Hutson took a plea deal and got 30 years. Bostic went to trial and lost.

(Read more Missouri stories.)(Newser)  London police are investigating the death of a Russian businessman as a murder after a postmortem examination suggested he may have been strangled by hand or ligature, the Guardian reports. Nikolai Glushkov was found dead Monday in his London home after he failed to show up in court to defend himself against claims he stole $123 million from Russia's state airline. The murder investigation is being led by the Metropolitan Police's counter-terrorism command. According to the BBC, police say there is no evidence connecting Glushkov's death with the attempted murder via nerve agent of a former Russian spy and his daughter the previous week. Meanwhile, Russia says it's also investigating Glushkov's death as a murder, the AP reports.

story continues below

The 68-year-old Glushkov was a former deputy director of Russian state airline Aeroflot. He was jailed for five years in 1999 for money laundering and fraud before being granted political asylum in the UK in 2010. Glushkov became an outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin. A close friend tells the BBC he was "concerned" that Russia may consider Glushkov as working against the state. Glushkov was also friends with another Russian businessman who was found hanged in his home in the UK in 2013 after his relationship with Putin soured. London police, who are still guarding Glushkov's home, are looking for anyone who saw or heard something suspicious in the area between Sunday and Monday. (Read more Russia stories.)(Newser)  Julian Assange didn't shy away from speaking ill of the dead on Friday. The BBC reports he called hacker Adrian Lamo, who has died at age 37, a "petty conman and betrayer of basic human decency." The bad blood traces back to Lamo's central role in the downfall of Chelsea Manning, who told Lamo of the military material she had secretly passed on to WikiLeaks. Lamo turned Manning in, leading to a 35-year sentence that then-President Obama later commuted. The Wichita Eagle reports Lamo was found dead in a Wichita, Kansas, apartment Wednesday. Authorities provided no cause of death, but said it did not appear suspicious.

story continues below

The Guardian reports Manning contacted Lamo online in 2010 after reading an article about him, and has this quote from Lamo: "Had I done nothing, I would always have been left wondering whether the hundreds of thousands of documents that had been leaked to unknown third parties would end up costing lives, either directly or indirectly." Wired profiled the hacker in 2002, two years before he was convicted of breaking into the New York Times' computers, describing him as living out of a backpack and under a bridge, all while exposing companies' security holes. (Read more Adrian Lamo stories.)(Newser)  A California woman whose kidnapping and rape were dismissed by police as a hoax akin to Gone Girl has settled with the City of Vallejo and its police department for $2.5 million, her family tells KGO. In 2015, Denise Huskins and boyfriend Aaron Quinn were drugged inside their home by a masked intruder, who kidnapped the then-30-year-old woman. Huskins was released outside her family's home two days later after being sexually assaulted. At the time, their claims were dismissed by police, who accused Huskins of making up the kidnapping. They only came around after the kidnapper, Matthew Muller, a Harvard-trained attorney and former Marine, was implicated in a different crime. He claimed to be part of a gang of "gentlemen criminals."

story continues below

While police eventually apologized to Huskins and Quinn, a federal judge rejected the city's effort to toss the couple's lawsuit. The settlement was reached Thursday, the AP reports. An attorney for Huskins and Quinn says the couple is "grateful." "One can only hope that the message of this settlement will be that victims are to be believed and that the police will accept a womans highly credible report that she was kidnapped and raped," KTVU quotes James Wagstaffe as saying. As part of the settlement, the City of Vallejo admits no wrongdoing. Muller, who pleaded guilty to the kidnapping and even criticized police for not believing Huskins, is serving a 40-year prison sentence. (Read more kidnapping stories.)(Newser)  A woman photographed by police wearing what appeared to be a wedding dress during her arrest on a charge of impaired driving in southern Arizona is disputing police claims that she was taken into custody as she was headed to her wedding. The image of Amber Young being put into a police cruiser late Monday morning while in handcuffs and wearing a white open-back full-length dress made its rounds on social media. The 32-year-old Young was arrested in Marana, 30 miles north of Tucson, after she became involved in a three-vehicle crash in which one person suffered minor injuries. Attorney Michelle Behan said her client was arrested on her way to meet a friend for lunch, not to a wedding. She said Young isn't engaged and insisted she was wearing a sun dress, not a wedding gown.

story continues below

Sgt. Chriswell Scott, a spokesman for Marana police, said body-camera video from the arrest shows Young telling officers that she was on her way to get married and confirming that she was wearing a wedding dress. Scott said Young even gave the time and location of the ceremony. Scott declined to release the video, explaining the case was ongoing. Behan said she believed Marana police posted the photo for laughs. "It was not to warn others about impaired driving but rather, I believe, to ridicule and mock Ms. Young," Behan said, adding that her client now has been given the unfortunate moniker of "DUI Bride." When tweeting the photo, Scott wrote, "Don't drive impaired, till death do we part doesn't need any help." He said his aim was to warn people about the dangers and consequences of impaired driving.

(Read more DUI stories.)(Newser)  On Thursday, the 950-ton pedestrian bridge at Florida International University collapsed in deadly fashion; on Friday, a Florida Department of Transportation employee finally heard the voicemail an engineer left on a landline three days prior, reports the AP. In the message, Denney Pate with FIGG Bridge Group noted cracking had been discovered on the north end of the concrete span, and while it would require repairs, "from a safety perspective we don't see that there's any issue there so we're not concerned about it from that perspective."

story continues below

"Although obviously the cracking is not good and somethings going to have to be, you know, done to repair that," he continued. The New York Times describes Pate as the head engineer of FIGG Bridge Group, which handled the bridge's design. The Times quotes a National Transportation Safety Board official as saying cracks aren't necessarily perilous; the NTSB's investigation into the collapse, which killed at least 6, is ongoing. Indeed, the Miami Herald reports concrete construction often experiences some cracking. As for why the message went unheard for so long, FDOT says the employee was in the field on an assignment and didn't return to the office until Friday. (FIGG was fined in 2012 over a bridge collapse.)(Newser)  Attorney General Jeff Sessions says he has fired former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, a longtime and frequent target of President Trump's anger, just two days before McCabe's scheduled retirement date. The move, which had been expected, was made on the recommendation of FBI disciplinary officials. It comes ahead of an inspector general report's expected to conclude that McCabe was not forthcoming with the watchdog office as it reviewed the bureau's handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation, reports the AP. Though McCabe had spent 21 years as a career FBI official, Trump repeatedly condemned him over the last year as emblematic of an FBI leadership he contends is biased against his administration.

story continues below

McCabe had left his post but was to formally retire Sunday, at which point he would have received his full pension. NBC News explains McCabe turns 50 on Sunday, making him "eligible for certain substantial retirement benefits" that are now in "jeopardy." The New York Times has a statement provided by McCabe's lawyers which reads in part, "I am being singled out and treated this way because of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of James Comey." Sessions, for his part, said "the FBI expects every employee to adhere to the highest standards of honesty, integrity and accountability," and as such, he terminated McCabe's employment.

(Read more Andrew McCabe stories.)(Newser)  A sick puppy reportedly met an unfortunate fate in Idaho, and now a snapping turtle has too. The Idaho State Department of Agriculture on Friday said that the turtle, who was allegedly fed the puppy by a Preston Junior High School science teacher as students watched, was euthanized "humanely," per Fox13. It reports that Idaho classifies snapping turtles as an invasive species, and teacher Robert Crosland had no permit allowing him to possess one. The Statesman reports that in a press release, the ISDA explained that relocating invasive animals is a thorny undertaking due to the stress it inflicts on the animal and the limited number of appropriate release sites. A Fish and Game rep added that the turtles can have long lives and "can be highly predacious on native species."

story continues below

The puppy incident reportedly occurred March 7; the turtle was seized Tuesday and euthanized the next day. The news has sparked outrage and spurred dueling online petitions supporting Crosland and calling for his firing. Fox13 reports the Preston School District reported a violent threat it received to the FBI; uniformed officers have been stationed at all Preston School District Schools. Investigators are looking into whether animal cruelty charges are justified. In a statement, Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney Vic Pearson said calls were pouring in to law enforcement and his office, which is "hindering our ability to complete what needs to be done to reach the end goal of justice in this case." The AP notes the film Napoleon Dynamite was set in Preston, which is home to about 5,200 people. Read about the school's assurances to parents here. (Read more invasive species stories.)(Newser)  Russia on Saturday announced it is expelling 23 British diplomats and threatened further measures in retaliation in a growing diplomatic dispute over a nerve agent attack on a former spy in Britain. The Russian Foreign Ministry also said in a statement that it is ordering the closure of the British Council, a government organization for cultural and scientific cooperation, and that it is ending an agreement to reopen the British consulate in St. Petersburg. It ordered the diplomats to leave within a week. The announcement came on the heels of Britain's order this week for 23 Russian diplomats to leave the UK because Russia was not cooperating in the case of Sergei Skripal and his daughter; they remain in critical condition, reports the AP.

story continues below

The Russian statement said the government could take further measures if Britain takes any more "unfriendly" moves toward Russia. British Ambassador Laurie Bristow was called to the Foreign Ministry Saturday morning to be informed of the moves. "We will always do what is necessary to defend ourselves, our allies and our values against an attack of this sort, which is an attack not only on the United Kingdom, but upon the international rules-based system on which all countries, including Russia, depend for their safety and security," Bristow told reporters after being informed of the expulsions. The tensions threaten to overshadow Vladimir Putin's expected re-election Sunday for another six-year presidential term. (Britain's foreign secretary has accused Putin of personally ordering the poisoning.)(Newser)  The onetime FBI deputy director long scorned by President Trump and just fired by the attorney general kept personal memos describing interactions with the president that are similar to the notes compiled by dismissed FBI chief James Comey. The AP learned of the notes by Andrew McCabe from a person with direct knowledge of the situation who wasn't authorized to discuss the notes publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. Earlier Saturday, Trump called McCabe's firing by Jeff Sessions "a great day for Democracy" and asserted without elaboration that McCabe knew "all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels off the FBI!"

story continues below

In response, former CIA Director John Brennan lambasted Trump on Twitter, accusing the president of "venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption." Brennan tweeted to Trump: "When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history. You may scapegoat Andy McCabe, but you will not destroy America...America will triumph over you." Brennan was CIA director during President Barack Obama's second term. Trump called McCabe's firing a "great day" for FBI rank and file and democracy.

(Read more Andrew McCabe stories.)Sorry!

This content is not available in your regionIcelandic English

Enclosed is information on candidates to the Board of Directors of Eimskipafelag Islands hf. to be elected at the Annual General Meeting 22 March 2018.

Deadline for declaring candidacy has passed. According to the Company's Articles of Association the Annual General Meeting elects five members and two alternate members for the Board of Directors and therefore the candidates will be elected to the Board of Directors without ballot at the meeting.

Eimskipafelag Islands hf.'s Annual General Meeting will be held on Thursday 22 March 2018 at 16:00 (GMT) at the Company's headquarters in Korngardar 2, Reykjavik, Iceland.Police officers stage at the entrance of the facility outside the Fairbanks Correctional Center Thursday afternoon, August 17, 2017. Troopers and city police responded to a call about disturbance in the A-wing of the facility and assisted Department of Corrections officers in securing the scene.Let us know what you're seeing and hearing around the community.

Submit here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.

Community Perspective

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.

Letters to the editor

Send letters to the editor by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707), by fax (907-452-7917) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Writers are limited to one letter every two weeks (14 days.) All letters must contain no more than 350 words and include a full name (no abbreviation), daytime and evening phone numbers and physical address. (If no phone, then provide a mailing address or email address.) The Daily News-Miner reserves the right to edit or reject letters without consulting the writer.New Delhi:

The sudden demise of Sridevi has brought the Kapoor clan together specially, Arjun and his two step-sisters. Arjun, like a doting son, stood thick and thin by Boney Kapoor and supported him during the emotional crisis.

The Mubarakaran actor was present with his father in Dubai to ensure all procedures were completed and they could bring Sridevias mortal remains back to India.

Boney Kapoor on Friday paid a visit to Arjun at his Mumbai residence with his two daughters Janhvi and Khushi Kapoor. The newly married couple Mohit Marwah and Antra Motiwala were also spotted at Arjunas place.

Arjun Kapoor, who was busy shooting for Namaste England,A took a break from his schedule and hosted a mini-together for his family. The Gunday actor has requested Vipul Shah (producer of Namaste England) to give him a break of seven days after Sridevias death, as per a report in BollywoodLife.

aArjun had to take leave for about 7 days to be beside his dad and family. He had to ensure everyone was doing okay. Arjun knew that the entire production crew was waiting in Punjab for him and he had to finish off a weekas backlog as soon as he hits the sets. He spoke to Vipul and informed him that he will be doing 18-hour shifts to make up for lost time!a The actor is now back to acting and is fulfilling his commitments to his films. He is also making sure he spends enough time with his family," a source was quoted as saying to BollywoodLife.

The Kapoor sisters also recently got together to make Janhvias birthday special for her. Sonam Kapoor along with Rhea, Anshula and Khushi shared some light moments in the low-key birthday dinner.

Both Arjun and Janhvi are gearing up for the release of their upcoming films.

Sridevias eldest daughter, who recently turned 21, will make her Bollywood debut with Dhadak. The Shashank Khaitan directorial, which also stars Ishaan Khatter is expected to hit the silver screens on July 20.

Arjun Kapoor has two big films lined up in the form of Namaste England and Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar.

For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

Talking about one of the hottest debates of 2017 in which Kangana Ranaut criticized the film industry for supporting nepotism, Ranaut said, "I am not some activist. For me, it was just an observation. It became a national debate because everyone had it in their sub-conscious mind. I was the catalyst because I said it on a popular talk-show."

Ranaut has been vocal about the secrets and realities of the film business and believes that people who are trying to enter the industry should know about its secrets.

Taking a strong stand on Swara Bhaskars letter on Padmaavat controversy she stated, "Swara Bhasker is a legitimate artist and she has the right to express her opinion." She continued and added that there are numerous women who have stories to tell but are not allowed to be voiced in open.

ALSO READ: Chennaiyin FC defeat Bengaluru FC to win Indian Super League 2018 title

The 'Queen' star Ranaut is an inspiration for a lot of Indian women because of her fearlessness. But she said that her fearlessness has come after a lot of sacrifices, people have started ignoring her and stay a lot careful around her.

Kanganas life was under the media scanner when her controversial relationship with Hrithik Roshan made the rounds. But she said that she has now moved on.

The actress even mentioned that she is a big Modi fan and his victory is a win for democracy of the country. "I am a big Modi fan because of his success story. As a young woman, I do believe that we need to have right role models. I mean the graph and the ambition of an ordinary man and whenever we have a PM who is a chaiwala, then I always say that it is not his victory but it is the victory of our democracy. I feel he is the right role model,"

The Simran actor added that she does not believe in any religion and her only identity is that she is Indian.

Kangana Ranaut finished off by saying that artistic domain should not take over boundaries. India has soldiers at the borders and that thing should not be overlooked.

For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

The Congress party has decided to forge a Grand Alliance with like-minded parties to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

On the opening day of the partys 84th plenary session, Congress adopted a political resolution that recommends pragmatic approach on alliances with compatible parties to take on the BJP.

The Congress has been making all-out efforts to unite the Opposition parties against the BJP in the next elections.

While delivering his maiden plenary session speech, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday accused BJP of spreading hatred and said that only Congresss hand symbol can take the country forward with love and brotherhood.

The nation is fatigued with Modi government and looking for a way out, only Congress can show the way ahead, the Rahul said.

Some leaders at the conclave said no one can stop Rahul Gandhi from becoming the prime minister in 2019 and a beginning of a new era has been made.

Also Read | Hand of love will bring change, take the country forward, says Rahul Gandhi

During the first day of the plenary session, Rahul Gandhis mother and predecessor Sonia Gandhi launched a scathing attack on PM Modi and said his government was drunk on power.

In the last four years, this arrogant and power-drunk government has left no stone unturned to destroy the Congress. They have used every trick in the trade, but Congress has neither succumbed before this arrogance of power nor will it succumb in future, Gandhi said.

Terming PM Modis promises of inclusive development as all drama, Gandhi said, The promises of Sab Ka Saath, Sab Ka Vikas and Na Khaoonga, Na Khaane Doonga were only dramebaazi (theatrics) and a trick to grab votes.

Also Read | Sonia Gandhi attacks PM, says 'autocratic' Modi government drunk on power

In another resolution, the party said if voted to power it would come out with a loan-waiver scheme for small and marginal farmers similar to that announced by the UPA government in 2009.

Adopting a resolution on Agriculture, Employment and Poverty Alleviation at the plenary session, the party hit out at the Modi government for its flawed and anti-farmer policies that caused an agrarian crisis in the country.

The Grand Old Party also advised the Election Commission to scrap the electronic voting machines (EVM) and get the old style of paper ballots in future.

The party said that it is necessary to stop the misuse of EVMs to manipulate the fate of the popular verdict.

In a resolution made in the plenary session, the party said BJPs move of simultaneous elections is misplaced and is incompatible with the Constitution.

Current Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been pressing upon the idea of One Country One Election contending that it will save money and time.

The two-day plenary session that seeks to show the party the path forward and give vision and direction to it, was attended by top party leaders, including former PM Manmohan Singh, Opposition leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, former Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit, and Ghulam Nabi Azad.

(With agency inputs)

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

A special CBI court in Ranchi, which was set to pronounce verdict in the fourth fodder scam case involving former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, deferred the same on Saturday. Now the pronouncement is scheduled to take place on March 19.

The case is related to alleged withdrawal of Rs 3.13 crore from the Dumka treasury over two decades ago against Lalu Prasad and Jagannath Mishra.

"Ranchi's Special CBI Court defers verdict in Dumka treasury case, involving Lalu Yadav, to 19 March. #FodderScam," the news agency ANI tweeted.

Ranchi's Special CBI Court defers verdict in Dumka treasury case, involving Lalu Yadav, to 19 March. #FodderScam  ANI (@ANI) March 17, 2018

The possible reason behind the deferral was Lalu's bad health due to which he was brought to Ranchi's RIMS Hospital later in the day.

Jharkhand: Lalu Yadav brought to RIMS Hospital in Ranchi after he complained of health issues. (file pic) pic.twitter.com/9Ty2i2Av4I  ANI (@ANI) March 17, 2018

The pronouncement was earlier postponed on Thursday in view of the Lalu Prasad's counsel filing a petition under 319 CrPC asking the then three officials of the Accountant General (in the 1990s) be made a party to the case.

Section 319 Cr PC is invoked when there is some strong and cogent evidence against the accused.

Prasad's counsel said he had filed the petition on March 14 and re-submitted it on Thursday after correcting some typographical mistakes.

The special CBI court of Shiv Pal Singh allowed admission of the petition on Friday.

After perusal of records, the court found a prima facie case and the petition filed on 14/3/2018 was allowed, said Anand, another counsel for Prasad.

Also Read | Fodder scam: Special CBI court to deliver judgment in fourth case against Lalu Prasad Yadav

Apart from Prasad and Mishra, 29 others including former IAS officers and animal husbandry officials are accused in the Dumka Treasury case.

Prasad had already been convicted in three fodder cases while Mishra was convicted in two fodder cases.

A special CBI court on January 24 sentenced Lalu Prasad and Jagannath Mishra to five years in jail in a fodder scam case related to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 37.62 crore from the Chaibasa treasury.

On January 6, a special CBI court had sentenced Prasad to three-and-a-half years in jail and fined him Rs 10 lakh in a fodder scam case relating to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 89.27 lakh from the Deoghar Treasury 21 years ago.

In 2013, Prasad was convicted in the first fodder scam case involving the withdrawal of Rs 37.7 crore from the Chaibasa treasury.

Prasad has been lodged in the Birsa Munda jail at Ranchi since December 23 last year after being convicted in the second case pertaining to illegal withdrawal of money from the Deogarh treasury.

Also Read | PMLA case: Lalu's daughter Misa Bharti, husband granted bail

A fifth case relating to alleged fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 139 crore from the Doranda treasury in Ranchi is pending with the court.

The over Rs 9,00-crore fodder scam cases relate to illegal withdrawal of money from government treasury in different districts in the animal husbandry department in undivided Bihar in the 1990s when RJD was in power in the state.

(With agency inputs)

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.

North Korea: Negotiating on Its Own Terms



By Phillip Orchard







At a meeting in Pyongyang on March 5, Kim Jong Un reportedly told South Korean envoys that he is willing to open talks with the U.S. on abandoning the Norths nuclear weapons if its security could be guaranteed  a departure from Pyongyangs stance that its nukes would never be bargained away.



During the meeting, according to Seoul, Kim told the envoys that denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula was his fathers dying wish. Potentially underscoring the Norths sincerity, it also expressed an understanding of South Koreas need to resume joint military exercises with the U.S. once the Paralympic Games conclude later this month  and said that it would refrain from conducting nuclear or ballistic missile tests as long as talks were ongoing. This too would be a marked shift in Pyongyangs position. It previously saw such drills as preparations for an invasion of the North and thus demanded that they be suspended indefinitely in exchange for any freeze in its nuclear or ballistic missile testing (a position supported by both China and Russia).



In April, Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in will hold a rare inter-Korean summit at the Demilitarized Zone to push, in part, for U.S.-North Korean talks. Talk is cheap, of course, and North Korea has never cared much for the credibility of its commitments. The two previous inter-Korean summits, in 2000 and 2007, took place under circumstances similar to today, during periods when the North Korean economy was collapsing and when South Korea was ruled by relatively dovish governments. And the agreements reached at both  mostly modest measures aimed to boost cooperation and economic integration  were hailed by all parties involved as landmark steps toward cementing peace on the peninsula.



Yet, neither summit did much to stall North Koreas long march toward nuclear statehood. The agreement reached in 2000 eventually fell apart and the one reached in 2007 was never really implemented. The main difference this time around is that North Korea is far closer to obtaining a viable long-range nuclear deterrent that it could use to forestall a U.S. attack in perpetuity, drive a wedge between Seoul and Washington and negotiate on regional matters from a position of strength unprecedented in Pyongyang. In 2000, it had yet to conduct a nuclear test. In 2007, it had conducted only one and had demonstrated no major progress on an intercontinental ballistic missile.



So why would it be any more sincere about denuclearizing now? Conventional wisdom says that North Koreas outreach during the Olympics has been merely a tactical move to buy itself time to complete its nuclear deterrent, gauge the Souths willingness to negotiate on the Norths terms and probe for opportunities to weaken the international sanctions regime. And considering the rapid progress of the Norths nuclear and missile development, its pattern of past behavior and the relatively weak hand the U.S. is playing at the moment, odds are that the conventional wisdom will prove accurate once again. For this reason, South Korea is responding with only guarded optimism, promising to ramp up military cooperation with the U.S. in the meantime. Still, for a country seemingly within reach of a nuclear weapon able to strike distant adversaries, Pyongyangs apparent about-face is curious enough that we should at least consider what might compel the North to look for a way out of the standoff.



North Koreas Vulnerabilities



There are three overlapping possibilities that merit close observation, any combination of which is likely to be shaping the Norths strategy.



The first possibility is that the North remains farther from achieving a viable nuclear deterrent than is generally assumed. Despite its progress over the past few years, Pyongyang is still, in most ways, acting out of vulnerability. It is true that the North has demonstrated the ability to fly a ballistic missile far enough to strike the U.S. east coast. But it has yet to demonstrate that it has mastered the technology needed to keep the missile intact and on target as it re-enters the Earths atmosphere  by far the most difficult part of ballistic missile development. Without it, the North doesnt have a deliverable nuclear warhead capable of threatening the U.S. If nothing else, in expressing a willingness to bargain away its nuclear program, North Korea is admitting that it cant yet strike the U.S. with any degree of certainty.



This means the North remains firmly within the most dangerous window of its nuclear development  it has demonstrated a high probability that it will achieve a full nuclear deterrent, but hasnt yet done so. The likelihood of a U.S. military operation to address the Norths nuclear program is highest in this phase. So too is sanctions pressure. Its unclear how long Pyongyang can tolerate the risks of this window. But the steeper the technical hurdles in its missile program become, the more Pyongyang is likely to consider an offramp to the crisis.



This dovetails with the second possibility: that sanctions pressure is getting to Pyongyang.



North Korea is exceedingly adept at getting around sanctions, and its population is well-conditioned to, as Vladimir Putin put it last year, eat grass if needed to support the regimes nuclear aims. Yet, there have been dozens of recent indicators suggesting that the North is feeling the pain. For example, a South Korean intelligence assessment last month purportedly claimed the Norths hard currency reserves will run out by October. An unconfirmed report citing Chinese sources in January said Kim Jong Un had all but drained the slush fund dedicated to nuclear and missile development. By most accounts, China has been complying with its sanctions commitments by pinching off imports of critical North Korean commodities and capping oil exports across the Yalu River. Condemning sanctions has increasingly become a focal point of the Norths rhetoric, while recent leadership changes in Pyongyang point to an effort to reassure North Koreans about the regimes command over the economy.



More often than not, its impossible to verify these reports. Its equally difficult to identify a breaking point for the regime in Pyongyang. Sanctions alone will not compel North Korea to capitulate. But the body of evidence suggests that the sanctions pressure is strong enough to, at minimum, become a factor in Pyongyangs cost-benefit calculations. North Koreas foremost imperative is regime preservation, and outside powers are not the only threat to its survival. An economic crisis that sows discontent with Pyongyangs strategy among North Korean elites, undermines the readiness of North Korean forces and perhaps even deprives the North of the resources needed to push through to nuclear statehood cannot be dismissed as a peripheral concern.



The third possibility is that the North is growing increasingly uncomfortable with the threat of a U.S. attack. South Korea has, for the moment, succeeded in persuading the U.S. against an attack, and talk of a punitive U.S. bloody nose strike following the Norths next test has since been dismissed by the White House. The U.S. realizes it cant unilaterally go to war without putting the South at unacceptable risk and thus likely detonating the alliance over the long run.



Big picture U.S. concerns about China outweigh those regarding North Korea, and the U.S. does not want to substantially weaken its position in Northeast Asia. But the U.S. still has an imperative to prevent North Korea from obtaining weapons that could strike the U.S. mainland, meaning Pyongyang cannot be certain that the U.S. can be held at bay indefinitely.



However bloody and strategically costly a military operation might be for the U.S., it would almost certainly mean the end of the regime in Pyongyang.



This, of course, is an argument in favor of pushing forward with its nuclear and missile programs to eliminate the threat for good. But the longer it takes Pyongyang to reach the promised land, the more it will be at risk of circumstances becoming more favorable for a U.S. strike.



Valuable Bargaining Chip



To whatever extent a combination of these factors is molding Pyongyangs strategy, the North has ample reasons to be actively exploring an alternate means of guaranteeing its security  even if only to give itself options and avoid backing itself into a corner. This could come in a number of forms, ranging from the North putting itself under Chinas nuclear umbrella to something as unexpected as embracing the U.S. The most intriguing possibility is that both Seoul and Pyongyang see an opening to move toward some sort of jointly guided reunification process  an exceedingly complicated scenario with no comparable precedent among modern states, but one that could theoretically allow North and South Korea to end their reliance on and much of their vulnerability to foreign powers altogether.



Each of these options would come with myriad downsides, and the lack of evidence for any scenario makes speculation about their mechanics premature. Moreover, none would outweigh the security provided by a viable nuclear deterrent. But the point is, even if the North is indeed nearing a breaking point, it wont simply hand over its nukes for food aid and sanctions relief.



Its built an extraordinarily valuable bargaining chip in the form of its nuclear program  one that may still prove too valuable to bargain away. And its long history of subjugation to foreign powers is too hardwired for Pyongyang to accept a return to a strategy of merely isolating itself and hoping it gets left alone.



Whether from a position of growing confidence or internal crisis, the North is making its play to negotiate its future on its own terms. Well see the strength of its hand when joint U.S.-South Korean exercises resume in April.New Delhi:

Amidst all the turmoil and hostility between India and Pakistan, Indian officials on Friday said that the Pakistan government had blocked access to all Indian government websites ending with .gov or .in since May 2017.

Officials of the South Block stated that the Indian government had opened only alternating websites since 2017 in Pakistan. The officials added that as many as 5 note verbale (a form of diplomatic communication) were issued to Pakistan so that they do not block the access to Indian government website.

The Indian officials told a leading daily that the first note verbale was issued on May 18, 2017, while the latest vebrale was issued earlier this week.

The impact of the blocking is felt by visa-seekers in Pakistan as they are unable to fill up the form online. Indian officials said that they had taken up the matter with Islamabad at least five times in the last nine months but to no response.

The matter has been taken up again by the Indian government as a fresh row of turmoil has broken out between the countries over allegations of harassment of diplomats and their families in the recent weeks.

Sources added that the elite class in Pakistan are using Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) and proxy servers to ignore the censors and access the Indian government websites.

A top official said, We have been constantly communicating with Pakistani authorities about access to these websites. These (websites) may be useful for students or professionals who want information about India. But this information block has been continuing for the last nine months.

The South Block, which monitors the moves of Islamabad, has been getting calls and emails from Pakistani nationals complaining about the problem and the difficulties they are facing in accessing the Indian government websites. The source said, We have politely told them that it is their own governments doing, and that they should also take it up with their agencies.

Also Read: Pakistan calls back High Commissioner from India over 'harassment incidents'

The Indian High Commission in Islamabad has also complained about its staff facing incidents of harassment over the last few weeks. Reports of cases of intrusive surveillance have been put forward.

A source of the South Block has taken a conscious decision to not release any videos and photographs of alleged harassment of the countrys staff, after the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi released some of them.

The Indian government has asked its diplomats, their families, and diplomatic staff to use vehicles only with diplomatic number-plates and not their private numbers.

India had asked Pakistan on Thursday to ensure the safety and security of the Indian diplomats and families which were living in Islamabad.

The whole case started on the night of February 15, when some Pakistani agency officials entered the under-construction residential complex of High Commission in Islamabad and allegedly harassed the workers there. The Indian side had reacted strongly to this.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

In a move which has sparked row in Parliament, an overwhelming majority of Opposition parties have extended support to the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the YSR Congress, thus backing their no-confidence motion against the Modi government over the non-implementation of the Special Category Status (SCS) to Andhra Pradesh.

Bhartiya Janata Partys (BJP) strongest competition, Indian National Congress (INC) has also extended its support to the TDP and YSR parties and backed their decision of no-confidence motion against the Narendra Modi-led government.

By extending their support to the no-confidence motion, the Opposition parties have ensured that the TDP and YSR Congress are not left short of the required support of a minimum of 50 MPs to get their motion admitted.

The TDP has just 16 MPs in the Lok Sabha, while the YSR Congress has nine.

Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha, said, We have been supporting special category status for AP since the beginning. We want the people of AP to get justice. When no-confidence motion is moved you have to talk (in the House debate) about the governments failures. So, we are contacting a lot of people (to mobilise support for the motion).

CPMs Sitaram Yechury, in support of the no-confidence motion, tweeted, CPM supports the no-confidence motion being brought against the BJP government.

CPI(M) supports the no-confidence motion being brought against the BJP government. Its betrayal of the promise of special status for Andhra Pradesh is inexcuseable. Its all-round failure and evasion of parliamentary accountability needs to be highlighted.  Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) March 16, 2018

Also Read: TDP moves no-confidence motion against Modi government

Tariq Anwar, leader of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) said, The NCP is fully backing the move. The government, if it is confident of answering our questions and taking a vote, must admit the motion.

Odishas Biju Janata Dal also backed the southern parties and extended its support to the no-confidence motion.

Mamata Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress tweeted, I welcome the TDPs decision to leave the NDA. The current situation warrants such action to save the country from disaster.

I welcome the TDP's decision to leave the NDA. The current situation warrants such action to save the country from disaster  Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) March 16, 2018

The no-confidence motion notices were moved by TDPs Thota Narasimham and YSR Congress YV Subba Reddy. However, the Speaker Sumitra Mahajan refused to take up the motion due to unrest in the House, which led to the adjournment of the proceedings for the day and raised loud protests over various issues.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

Pakistan has decided to pull out of the World Trade Organisation meeting which is to be held in New Delhi next week. The move comes as protest post the alleged harassment of its diplomats in India.

The Pakistan Commerce Minister Pervez Malik was invited by Indian delegation to participate in the informal WTO ministerial meeting which is scheduled to be held in New Delhi on March 19 and March 20.

Islamabad had initially accepted the invitation and agreed to be a part of the WTO meeting, but foreign ministry sources said that the situation changed after repeated harassment of families of diplomats and it was decided to skip the meeting.

A source said, We cannot send our commerce minister to India in the current situation and India has been informed about it.

Speaking on the ceasefire violations, the source said that India should stop the alleged violations on the Line of Control (LoC) and also put an end to the atrocities in Kashmir.

The Pakistan governments decision to stay away from the WTO meeting coincides with that of recalling Pakistans High Commissioner to India Sohail Mehmood. Mehmood was recalled to Islamabad after alleged harassment of diplomats in India.

Mehmood arrived in Pakistan a day after the Foreign Office spokesman said that he was being summoned only for consultation due to non-stop harassment of the families of diplomats.

Also Read: India accuses Pakistan of blocking government websites since May 2017

Official sources of the ministry said that Mehmood will brief the top officials about the situation in India. Sources said, A decision to how address the situation will be made after the consultations.

However, the officials said that the decision to send back Mehmood for an indefinite period is yet not confirmed as talks were on the table for declaring New Delhi as a non-family station. Meanwhile, the officials sidelined allegations that Indian diplomats were facing problems and harassment in Pakistan.

Sources were quoted saying, Our high commissioner will not return to India anytime soon. In other words, Pakistan recalled its envoy to New Delhi as a protest till the situation improves.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday called upon farmers and scientists to work together and said that Unnati Melas can play a key role in paving way for New India.

"Krishi Unnati Mela" is aimed at creating awareness about the latest technological developments in the agriculture and allied sectors among farmers," the prime minister said in his address at the annual 'Krishi Unnati Mela' at Indian Agricultural Research Institute in Delhi.

"The theme of the fair is doubling farmer's income by 2022," Modi said.

Also terming farmers and scientists as sentinels of New India, Modi said, "Through the medium of this event I have got the opportunity to simultaneously interact with the 2 most important parts of new India, that is the farmers who provide food and the scientists who come up with the latest technology."

"In this budget, we announced GOBAR-Dhan Yojana which stands for Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources, it will help in managing bio-waste being produced in villages, in a big way," he added.

#WATCH: PM Modi addresses the annual 'Krishi Unnati Mela' at Indian Agricultural Research Institute in Delhi. https://t.co/J7xPZqWt4H  ANI (@ANI) March 17, 2018

Also Read: Darbhanga beheading is case of land dispute, no connection with Narendra Modi chowk, says Sushil Modi

Modi is also set to unveil a portal on organic farming and will lay the foundation stone of 25 Krishi Vigyan Kendras.He will confer the 'Krishi Karman' and 'Deen Dayal Upadhya Krishi Vigyan Protsahan' awards on the occasion.

Theme pavilions on doubling farmers income, live demonstrations on micro-irrigation, wastewater utilisation, animal husbandry and fisheries are among the major attractions of the fair.

Also Read: Delhi's Patiala House Court adjourns National Herald case to 21 April

Pavilions on seeds, fertilisers, and pesticides will also be set up at the fair.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

Congress president Rahul Gandhis official Twitter account was renamed on Saturday morning from Office of RG to Rahul Gandhi with a verified blue tick.

The Congress president, who is well known for his banters on the social media platform, took to the micro-blogging site and announced the change of his Twitter account name.

For those of you who missed it, my Twitter handle has changed from 9 am this morning to @RahulGandhi. The @OfficeOfRG account has been discontinued. I look forward to your feedback and comments and to continuing my dialogue with you via Twitter and other platforms," he tweeted.

For those of you who missed it, my Twitter handle has changed from 9 am this morning to @RahulGandhi



The @OfficeOfRG account has been discontinued.



I look forward to your feedback and comments and to continuing my dialogue with you via Twitter and other platforms.  Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 17, 2018

Gandhi is well known for criticising his opponent party leader and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the micro-blogging site. His famous tweets include one with the alleged failure of PM Modis hugplomacy with US President Donald Trump, which came after the release of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks, from house arrest.

Also Read| LIVE | Congress 84th Plenary Session: We use love to show way to country, opposition uses anger, says Rahul Gandhi

Gandhi tweeted Narendrabhai, Terror mastermind is free. President Trump just delinked Pak military funding from LeT. Hugplomacy fail. More hugs urgently needed (sic).

Narendrabhai, aaa aaaa aaa. Terror mastermind is free. President Trump just delinked Pak military funding from LeT. Hugplomacy fail. More hugs urgently needed.https://t.co/U8Bg2vlZqw  Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) November 25, 2017

Gandhi also took to the micro-blogging site several times to criticise the recent economic forums such as demonetisation, and Goods and Service Tax (GST), which he renamed as Gabbar Singh Tax.

Congress GST= Genuine Simple Tax



Modi ji's GST= Gabbar Singh Tax =''aa aaaa aaaa aa aa"  Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) October 24, 2017

However, reports sometimes suggested that his followers were allegedly fake, after garnering much attention from his tweets.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

A day after Telugu Desam Partys exit from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday said that it was ready to do more than the special status for Andhra Pradesh.

We will explain to the people of Andhra Pradesh the things we have done for them in last 4 years and things we will do. We are ready to do more than the special status, Ram Madhav, BJP National General Secretary said after the meeting of TDP leaders with Amit Shah.

We will pass a resolution in which we will explain to the people of Andhra Pradesh our stand on the issue said by Andhra CM. We're as much committed to the people as him, the BJP leader said.

Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP on Friday pulled out of the NDA after Narendra Modi-led central government refused to grant the special status for Andhra Pradesh.

On being asked whether the TDP will come back to NDA folds, Madhav said, You will have to ask that to the Telugu Desam Party.

TDP is currently ruling Andhra Pradesh and has 16 MPs in the 545-member Lok Sabha. The party is demanding a special status to make up for the loses to the state after its division in 2014.

Earlier on Friday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said that the Centre was willing to give a special package equivalent to a Special Category Status (SCS) to Andhra Pradesh.

"We have been waiting endlessly for a response from Andhra Pradesh to resolve the special package issue," Jaitley said.

Jaitleys remark came hours after TDP moved a no-confidence motion against the Narendra Modi government in the lower house of Parliament.

Jaitley, however, said the Centre cannot give the so-called Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh after implementation of the 14th Finance Commission, which deals with sharing of central governments financial resources with the states.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Saturday launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said the autocratic BJP-led government at Centre is drunk on power.

Modi government is intoxicated with power and it has unleashed hatred. Congress will not bow down, and it will never bow down. Modi Government is autocratic and it's bothering media, Sonia said while addressing the 84th Congress party plenary session in Delhi.

Referring to Modis Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas and "Na Khaunga Na Khane Dunga" slogans, Sonia Gandhi said that PMs promises were nothing but all drama.

"Congress is fighting the tyrannical Modi Govt. People have begun to realise that the promises made by the BJP in 2014 were hollow," she said.

Gandhi also asked Congress workers to stay united as the party was going through testing times.

All of us should unite and work together. This is not the time to look at our personal issues. Party's win will be victory for all of us. Congress is not just a political party, but is a vision, the Congress leader said.

Read More | Congress Plenary Session Highlights: We use love to show way to country, opposition uses anger, says Rahul Gandhi

Gandhi, who headed the Congress for over 19 years, also expressed hope that the party, which is losing election after election will rise after Karnataka Assembly elections.

"Fourty years ago, in Chikmagalur, with Indira Gandhi's victory, the Congress party emerged as a stronger party. With the Karnataka Assembly Election, I believe the party will similarly rise again," Gandhi added.

The 84th Indian National Congress Plenary Session began on Saturday at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi, with the main focus on the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Prominent Congress leaders, including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Opposition leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, former Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit and Randeep Surjewala attended the session.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on Saturday advised people to take proper precautions while sharing their personal information including Aadhaar to any service provider or vendor.A

The UIDAI in a series of tweets confirmed that the personal details of the citizens are safe and secure. The statutory authority asked the people to not get confused with some news on social media platforms.

The clarification comes after social media was flooded with rumours that Aadhaar PDF has been made available on the internet. The rumour had created panic among the people who believed someone could breach their details by searching Mera Aadhaar, Meri Pehchan on Google.

Here are the things which UIDAI mentioned about Aadhaaras security on Twitter.

''People should not get carried away or confused with any news appearing on any social media platform on Aadhaar PDF being available on Google search'', as per the UIDAI statement.

UIDAI has advised people not to get carried away or confused with some news appearing in social and other media on Aadhaar pdf being available on Google search on Mera Aadhaar, Meri Pehchan. 1/8 a Aadhaar (@UIDAI) March 17, 2018

''Such news are planned to spread misinformation on India's robust identity system a Aadhaar. They are intentional and irresponsible acts of some unscrupulous elements'', UIADI mentioned on Twitter.

UIDAI said that such news are intended to spread misinformation on India's robust identity system - Aadhaar and are intentional and irresponsible acts of some unscrupulous elements. 2/8 a Aadhaar (@UIDAI) March 17, 2018

These rumours are far from the reality as none of the Aadhar cards shown are taken from UIDAI database, as per the statement.

These are far from the reality and have got nothing to do with the security of Aadhaar and its database. As none of the Aadhaar cards shown are taken from UIDAI database.

3/8 a Aadhaar (@UIDAI) March 17, 2018

People should take precautions when they put their details on internet in any digital activity.

People share their personal information including Aadhaar on internet to some or other service provider or vendor to get the services and when they put their details on internet they should take due precautions as required in any digital activities.

4/8 a Aadhaar (@UIDAI) March 17, 2018

Publishing or posting the Aadhaar cards will have no bearing on UIDAI or the security of Aadhaar.

Publications or posting of Aadhaar cards by some unscrupulous people have absolutely no bearing on UIDAI and not the least on Aadhaar security. Aadhaar as an identity document by its very nature needs to be shared openly with others as and when required and asked for. 5/8 a Aadhaar (@UIDAI) March 17, 2018

Even if any person knows someoneas Aadhaar, he/she canat impersonate the person. Aadhar alone is not sufficient, as it requires biometrics to authenticate the personas identity.

Aadhaar just like any other id, therefore, is never to be treated as a confidential document. By simply knowing someoneas Aadhaar, no one can impersonate & harm him because Aadhaar alone is not sufficient, it requires biometrics to authenticate oneas Identity. 6/8 a Aadhaar (@UIDAI) March 17, 2018

Even though Aadhaar has to be shared with others, it should be protected so as to ensure privacy of the person, said a UIDAI statement.

Although Aadhaar has to be shared with others, it being personal information like mobile number, bank account number, PAN card, passport, family details, etc, should be ordinarily protected to ensure privacy of the person.

7/8 a Aadhaar (@UIDAI) March 17, 2018

One can sue a person for civil damages if he/she unauthorisedly publishes someoneas Aadhaar card, bank account or mobile number.

If anybody unauthorisedly publishes someoneas personal information such as Aadhaar card, mobile number, bank account, photograph, etc., he can be sued for civil damages by the person whose privacy right is infringed. 7.5/8 a Aadhaar (@UIDAI) March 17, 2018

''Aadhaar is safe and secure and there has been no breach from the biometric database during the last eight years of its existence'', the UIDAI statement read.

However, in no way such publication threatens or impacts security of Aadhaar and its database. Aadhaar remains safe and secure and there has not been a single breach from its biometric database during that last eight years of its existence. 8/8 a Aadhaar (@UIDAI) March 17, 2018

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.Japanese authorities have lowered volcanic alert levels for the 2 peaks of Mount Kusatsu-Shirane in Gunma Prefecture, more than 7 weeks after the volcano erupted.

The mountain started spewing volcanic rocks suddenly on January 23rd, killing a Ground Self-Defense Force member who was training at a nearby ski slope. Seven other GSDF members and 4 civilian skiers were injured.

The Meteorological Agency issued an eruption alert level of 3 on a scale of 1 to 5 for the volcano. Local authorities restricted entry to the mountain.

On Friday, the agency lowered the alert level to 2 for Mount Motoshirane, one of the volcano's 2 peaks.

The agency says volcanic activities for this peak remain higher than before the January eruption. It says similarly powerful eruptions could occur again, and it advises people to watch for volcanic rocks that may fall within a kilometer of craters at the peak's summit.

The town of Kusatsu at the foot of the mountain has scaled back the no-entry zone from roughly 2 kilometers from the craters to 1.

The town office plans to open a scenic mountain route and other trekking paths to tourists from mid-April.

For the other peak, Mount Shirane and Yugama, the agency lowered the alert level to 1, which means people merely need to be aware that it is an active volcano. The agency is warning of the possibility of minor spewing of volcanic ash within about 500 meters of the crater at its summit. - NHKSmartphone users in Japan may soon start enjoying a faster and easier shopping experience. The country's 3 major banks say they're going to join hands to standardize a single payment system using QR code.

The banks are Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Sumitomo Mitsui and Mizuho Bank.

The head of the Japanese Bankers Association says QR code standards currently differ among providers.

That means retailers must install multiple systems.

IT giant Rakuten and social networking service provider LINE have already introduced their own QR payment systems. - NHKThis item is available in full to subscribers.

Attention subscribers

We have recently launched a new and improved website. To continue reading, you will need to either log into your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription.

If you are a digital subscriber with an active subscription, then you already have an account here. Just reset your password if you've not yet logged in to your account on this new site.

If you are a current print subscriber, you can set up a free website account by clicking here.

Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing.Japan Times - Sep 21

Will vaccines against COVID-19 cause infertility in women? Or will a dose make someone sick because the live coronavirus is inside the shot? After all, arent the vaccines unsafe because they were developed too quickly?Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 24-year-old man who is suspected of swindling multiple women by posing as the son of the president of a talent agency, reports Nippon News Network

In December of last year, Akira Baba, of no known occupation, allegedly swindled a female employee at a hostess club in Minato Ward out of 280,000 yen in cash as a fee for engaging in a "mistress contract" with him that would pay her 3 million yen.

The suspect carried out the ruse by showing the woman, aged in her 20s, a high-end brand handbag and claimed to be the son of the president of a talent agency.

According to the Shibuya Police Station, the suspect has swindled more than five women utilizing similar scams.

Baba, who has been accused of fraud, admits to the allegations, telling police that he "wanted to play around with women." - tokyoreporter.comThe government on Friday announced a total ban on technical trainees from abroad carrying out work to decontaminate areas tainted with radioactive material.

The decision came after a Vietnamese trainee was recently found to have taken part in decontamination work in areas affected by the 2011 triple meltdown at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant without being given an adequate explanation by his employer.

Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa told a news conference that decontamination work goes against the purpose of the Technical Intern Training Program, which is meant to give foreign workers opportunities to acquire skills in Japan. - Japan TimesAmerican rocker and songwriter Bob Dylan will perform at the Fuji Rock Festival in July, his first appearance in Japan since receiving the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature, the event's organizer said.

Bob Dylan and his band will be among artists on the lineup for the festival to be held July 27-29, 2018, at the Naeba Ski Resort in Yuzawa, Niigata Prefecture. Other prominent performers include Kendrick Lamar, N.E.R.D, Skrillex, Vampire Weekend and Sakanaction.

It will be Bob Dylan's 101st performance in Japan, 40 years since his first tour in the country, according to the organizer. - KyodoPrices of school uniforms are on the rise in Japan, due to sharply climbing wool prices and changing fashion trends in neighboring China.

When Taimei Elementary School in Tokyo's fashionable Ginza district adopted new uniforms designed by the Italian luxury brand Armani, and the move sparked a nationwide uproar. The new uniforms for boys and girls carry price tags of over 80,000 yen ($754) each, including suggested accessories such as a matching bag.

The parents at the public elementary school were not alone in complaining about spiking prices of school uniforms in Japan.

In a country that has struggled with deflation for many years, prices for school uniforms are rising sharply, though not usually as high as the Ginza school's.

Uniforms in Japan averaged 32,000 yen to 33,000 yen in the fiscal year ended March 2017, a roughly 18% increase from a decade ago, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

One reason for the higher prices is the added fashion element of school uniforms, inspired by the all-girl Nogizaka46 idol group, whose members perform in uniform-like costumes. Schools with cuter uniforms tend to attract more students, which has driven schools to pursue uniforms of a higher caliber. Limited production results in higher bills.

One reason for the higher prices is the added fashion element of school uniforms, inspired by the all-girl Nogizaka46 idol group, whose members perform in uniform-like costumes. Schools with cuter uniforms tend to attract more students, which has driven schools to pursue uniforms of a higher caliber. Limited production results in higher bills.

School uniform prices in Japan rose by about 5,000 yen on average in the nine years between fiscal 2007 and 2016. - NikkeiSYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The former Cornell student arrested with an assault rifle, bomb-making materials and tactical gear in his apartment is "quite ill," his lawyer said Friday.

In federal court on Friday, Maximilien R. Reynolds' lawyer, Raymond Schlather, said his client had been diagnosed with schizoaffective bipolar disorder with paranoid features, according to the Cornell Daily Sun. Schlather said Reynolds has "a huge paranoia of the world beyond him," and is dedicated to "protecting himself from that world," the Daily Sun reported.

"All preliminary indications are that the materials and conduct at issue were defensive in nature and arising out of his medical condition, and that no one was under threat or in jeopardy," Schlather said in a statement to The Post-Standard | Syracuse.com.

Ithaca police previously detained Reynolds in June of 2016 under a New York State Mental Hygiene Law that allows officers to take those who could be a danger to themselves or others into custody, according to a federal criminal complaint.

On March 7, Ithaca police, New York State police and the FBI searched Reynolds' Ithaca apartment and found a Savage MRS-15 Patrol rifle, a mortar firework with shotgun pellets taped to it, a gas mask, knives, flashlights, a bulletproof vest and a military style gas mask, according to a criminal complaint.

Reynolds was voluntarily taken to the Cayuga Medical Center for psychiatric evaluation and had been held there until late Thursday night, when the FBI arrested him, Schlather said.

"Max is quite ill," Schlather said. "The Court quite correctly has directed that his treatment continue -- and that his mental health be evaluated -- before any court proceedings go forward."

As a result, Reynolds and Schlather didn't enter a plea Friday.When Maximilien R. Reynolds wanted to buy an assault rifle, he believed he was prohibited from purchasing one so he looked for someone else to buy it for him, according to federal authorities.

In the fall of 2017, Reynolds paid an Ithaca man $1,200 to buy an AR-15 style rifle - a Savage MSR-15 Patrol rifle, according to a federal criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Syracuse. The man made $200 for buying the rifle, the complaint said.

A tip from a Walmart employee to Ithaca about suspicious purchases by Reynolds started an investigation that lead police last week to discover the assault weapon and bomb-making material in Reynolds' apartment in Ithaca's Collegetown.

Reynolds, 20, a Cornell student on a leave of absence, was charged Friday in federal court in Syracuse with two counts of possession of an unregistered destructive device/silencer, making false statement in acquisition of a firearm and making false statement in required firearm record.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Therese Wiley Dancks ordered that Reynolds undergo evaluation to assess his competency. His lawyer, Ray Schlather, said Reynolds is mentally ill.

How the Ithaca, state police and FBI tracked down Reynolds and his weapons/bomb cache was outlined in the criminal complaint filed in federal court.

An employee at the Wal-Mart called the Ithaca Police Department after Reynolds bought ammunition, camping gear, drill bits, hacksaw blades, miscellaneous tools and more with a gift card, the criminal complaint said.

On March 7, an Ithaca police investigator and two FBI special agents went to Reynolds' apartment at 111 Dryden Road, but only found his girlfriend, the complaint said. She was not identified by her name in court records.

Investigators said the apartment was messy, with piles of clothing, food and lab glassware scattered throughout it, the complaint said.

The three investigators, however, spotted camouflage clothing, knives, flashlights, what appeared to be a military-grade gas mask and a bulletproof vest, the complaint said. Mathematical writings in red ink had been written on a window, according to the complaint.

Reynolds' girlfriend told the investigators she was worried about Reynolds, who she said seemed "manic," was not taking his medications and slept little, the complaint said.

She then told officers he was likely at Tompkins-Cortland Community College taking a Wednesday class, the complaint said.

Though she initially agreed to a search of the apartment, she then declined because it was Reynolds' apartment, the complaint said. She agreed to call an FBI agent when Reynolds returned.

When he came home, Reynolds agreed to speak to officers. He admitted to buying the items at Wal-Mart and having knives in the apartment, but initially denied having a rifle, the complaint said.

Eventually, Reynolds admitted he had a rifle in a bag after being questioned about the ammunition he bought at Wal-Mart earlier in the day, the complaint said.

He also admitted to buying the hacksaw blade to shorten the barrel of his rifle, which he told the three men he had purchased from a federally licensed firearms dealer, the complaint said.

Reynolds allowed them to search his apartment and said he no longer wanted to have the rifle, weapons and items in his apartment, which he allowed an Ithaca police investigator to take, the complaint said.

The men found a Savage MSR-15 Patrol rifle in a bag in Reynolds' apartment, the complaint said. They also found a fuel filter with holes in each end, the complaint said. When asked if he intended it use it as a silencer, he nodded his head, indicating yes, the complaint said.

According to the National Firearm Registration and Transaction Record, no firearms are registered to Reynolds, the complaint said.

In the apartment, Reynolds had more than 300 live rounds of ammunition, much of it in high capacity magazine clips compatible with his MSR-15 Patrol rifle, the complaint said. He also had ballistic body armor, a gas mask, a metal pipe with one endcap and ball barings of various sizes that could be used as shrapnel, the complaint said.

The three men then waited for additional bomb technicians from the New York State Police and FBI because investigators found chemicals often used to make homemade explosives, the complaint said.

Fireworks were thrown in a plastic bin in the apartment, including a mortar firework that appeared to have shotgun shell pellets taped to it with black tape, the complaint said.

Mortar rounds often have a powder lift charge in the bottom, though the mortar round with shells taped to it had the fuse exposed, allowing it to be lit, the complaint said. If the mortar exploded, it would have shot pellets like a bomb, the complaint said.

The bomb technicians and special agents also found unmodified mortar rounds and various sized ball bearings, the complaint said.

After the search, Reynolds voluntarily agreed to be taken to Cayuga Medical Center for admission and a psychiatric evaluation, the complaint said.

Ithaca police and the FBI interviewed the man who bought the file on March 8 about the purchase and eventually asked him to speak at the police department, the complaint said.

It's unclear clear why Reynolds thought he couldn't buy an assault weapon. Court records report the Ithaca police detained him in June 2016 under a state law that allows authorities to hold a person who is a threat to themselves or others.

Initially, the man, identified as A.R., said he had never bought a gun but later admitted that he and Reynolds planned the purchase of the gun in the fall.

One day later, bomb technicians and investigators searched two self-storage units at I-Deal Self Storage, 2127 Slaterville Road, Ithaca that were rented by Reynolds. They found chemicals used to make homemade explosives, suspected smokeless powder, a firework mortar round and pyrotechnic round, the complaint said.

The FBI arrested him late Thursday night while he was being treated at the Cayuga Medical's Behavioral Sciences Unit, said Ray Schlather, Reynolds' lawyer. The court ordered Friday that Reynolds' treatment continue and Schlather said Reynolds has not entered a plea.

In court Friday, Schlather said Reynolds has been diagnosed with schizoaffective bipolar disorder with paranoid features, according to the Cornell Daily Sun. Schlather argued that Reynolds suffers from "a huge paranoia of the world beyond him" and is dedicated to "protecting himself from that world."

"Max is quite ill," Schlather said in an email.An AR-15, bomb-making materials and a homemade silencer were among scores of items seized this month from the apartment of a former Cornell University student from New Jersey, federal authorities said.

State and federal investigators went to Maximilien R. Reynolds' apartment in Ithaca, New York, on March 7 after a Walmart employee reported his purchase of gun ammunition, hacksaw blades and other tools as suspicious, according to an affidavit filed Thursday by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

Reynolds, 19, is on a leave of absence from Cornell and was taking classes at Tompkins-Cortland Community College when the ATF, the FBI and New York State Police went to his apartment to look for possible explosives, investigators said.

His girlfriend was home, let them inside and said she was concerned about Reynolds, according to the affidavit. He seemed "manic," was not taking his medications and was getting little sleep, she told investigators.

The apartment was in "severe disarray," with piles of clothes, food and lab glassware strewn about and mathematical equations scrawled on a window in red ink, authorities said. They said a bullet-resistant vest, military-style clothing and tactical items were also visible in the apartment.

Investigators went back to the apartment later when Reynolds was home, they said, and he consented to having his rifle and other weapons confiscated. He agreed to go to Cayuga Medical Center for a psychiatric evaluation, authorities said.

Authorities said they also found the following items in Reynolds' apartment:

A homemade bomb made out of consumer fireworks and other materials

300 rounds of ammunition in magazine clips compatible with the AR-15

Two sets of ballistic body armor

A gas mask

A pipe

Chemicals typically used to make explosives

Ball bearings that could be used as shrapnel in a bomb

Additional bomb-making materials were found in two storage units being rented by Reynolds, investigators said.

Another Ithaca resident told authorities that last fall, Reynolds gave him $1,000 to buy a firearm and another $200 to complete the transaction. Reynolds told the other man that he had to purchase the gun because Reynolds was prohibited from buying it himself, the affidavit says.

The man falsely certified when he bought the firearm that he was its true owner, investigators said.

Reynolds is charged with two counts of possession of an unregistered destructive device/silencer, one count of false statement in acquisition of a firearm and one count of false statement in required firearm record.

Reynolds' Ithaca-based attorney, Ray Schlather, said his client is ill and was undergoing behavioral health treatment at Cayuga Medical Center when the FBI arrested him late Thursday night. A federal judge has directed that his treatment continue and his mental health be evaluated before court proceedings move forward, so Reynolds has not entered a plea, Schlather said.

"All preliminary indications are that the materials and conduct at issue were defensive in nature, arising out of his medical condition, and that no one was under threat or in jeopardy," Schlather said in an email.

Ithaca police in June 2016 had detained Reynolds under the New York Mental Hygiene Law, the affidavit says.

Reynolds' mother lives in New Jersey, the complaint says, and public records show a Maximilien Reynolds with an address of Rumson in Monmouth County.

A call to the Reynolds family's home Saturday was not immediately returned.

Cornell said in a statement that its campus police department was cooperating with local and federal authorities and believed there was no threat to the school or surrounding areas.

"The arrest was made following a tip from a good Samaritan in the local community," Cornell's vice president for university relations, Joel Malina, said in a statement. "This is a good reminder that we can all help to keep our community safe by immediately reporting suspicious activity."

Marisa Iati may be reached at miati@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @Marisa_Iati or on Facebook here. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tipsAt least $1.5 million was paid to settle a police brutality lawsuit brought by a family that was beaten and pepper-sprayed by Bayonne police, according to a confidential deal released Friday after a year-long court battle by The Jersey Journal.

The family of Brandon Walsh sued the city of Bayonne and the police department in November 2014, 11 months after Walsh was beaten with a flashlight during an arrest at his home. The lawsuit asserted that his mother, Kathy Walsh, was pepper-sprayed by police and the chemical irritant spread to other family members in the house, causing the whole family, including the family's dogs, to "become violently ill."

A redacted settlement agreement was released to The Journal nearly one year after it filed an Open Public Records Act request and subsequently sued the city when the request was denied. The agreement was handed over only after the state Supreme Court rejected the city's motion for a stay of a lower court's ruling that the city must turn over the document, which is a public record.

Under the settlement agreement, which was completed March 17, 2017, Brandon Walsh will receive $600,000 in an annuity to be paid in $2,000-per-month increments over 25 years. The city's insurer, the New Jersey Intergovernmental Insurance Fund, paid $551,000 to an annuity provider to cover the payments, the settlement said.

Another $1 million was placed into a trust fund of the Walsh family's attorney, Joel S. Silberman, although it is not clear in the document how much of that amount is designated for the family members who were part of the lawsuit  Brandon Walsh; Kathy Walsh; her mother, Mary Marshall; her disabled daughter; another son, Aaron Walsh; and two grandchildren.

Under the terms of the deal, the Walsh family agreed that the settlement was not an admission by the city "of any wrongdoing or liability" and "is being entered into solely for the purpose of economic expediency."

"We're thrilled that residents of Bayonne can finally see the cost of the Walsh incident," said David Blomquist, publisher of The Jersey Journal. "This was a long and challenging struggle for our readers' right to know."

Interviewed Friday night, Silberman declined to say if or how the $1 million would be divvied up.

Details of the agreement pertaining to the minor children and the disabled adult were redacted from the settlement.

Under the terms of the settlement, the Walsh family and their attorney were barred from talking about the agreement, or even to acknowledge that the agreement existed. The Walsh family and Silberman also agreed in the settlement that their communication with the media regarding the settlement would consist only of a statement that "the action was settled to my satisfaction."

On Sept. 15, 2015, Police Officer Dominico Lillo, who was identified in the lawsuit as striking Brandon Walsh, pleaded guilty in federal court to use of excessive force. Another officer, Francis Styles, was charged in federal court with covering up the police brutality. His trial late last year ended in a mistrial after the jury could not reach a verdict. The U.S. Attorney's Office has not decided if it will seek to re-try Styles.

By state law, settlements entered into by public entities can only be sealed or shielded from the public under extraordinary circumstances. But the parties asked U.S. Magistrate Judge Cathy Waldor, who heard the case, to seal the agreement.

When The Journal asked to receive a copy of the agreement, the city denied its request. It later argued that Waldor had sealed the agreement and shielded it from public view.

In May, The Jersey Journal filed a complaint in state court, asking the court to force Bayonne to release the agreement. Over the next nine months, state and federal courts soundly rejected claims by Bayonne and the insurance fund that the release of the settlement would put members of the Walsh family in danger.

Ensuing motions by the attorneys for the insurance fund in state appellate court and the state Supreme Court were rejected, leaving the city with only the hope that a federal appeals court would overturn Waldor's decision. But the city abandoned that fight on Friday.

Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis blamed the insurance fund for the long legal battle. "The city wanted to release it," Davis said. "There is nothing to hide. ... No one ever came through my doors. I would have made them release it (earlier)."JERSEY CITY -- Two New Jersey congressmen are calling for a ban on tourist helicopter flights over the New Jersey and New York region in the wake of a deadly crash that left five passengers dead.

In a letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation, Rep. Albio Sires and Rep. Donald M. Payne Jr. called on the agency's acting administrator to ban tourist helicopter flights in the New York metropolitan region.

The request comes in response to a tragic accident early Monday morning, when a tourist helicopter crashed into New York's East River. Five people were killed.

"We have previously and continuously expressed our concerns about the proliferation of these dangerous, and frankly unnecessary, tourist flights in and around our communities in New Jersey. This most recent accident again highlights this point," they said in the letter. "That is why we are asking that you exercise your authority... and ban tourist helicopter flights in the New Jersey and New York regions."

Following the crash, federal regulators on Friday ordered a stop to all "doors-off" helicopter flights, which attach passengers to the cabin with harnesses. They are popular with people hoping to get photos of Manhattan.

But Sires and Payne are arguing for an outright ban on all tourist flights -- particularly near residential areas -- until "such time, if ever, that they have regulations in place to control their flights in a safe manner," Sires said in a statement.

They say the flights "present a serious safety and quality-of-life issue for our constituents."

Sires has been pushing the issue for some time. In 2013, at a symposium on the impact of tourist helicopters, he pressed for action on helicopter traffic with Sen. Bob Menendez.

"The business of having tourist helicopters at our expense is unacceptable," he said at the time.

Corey W. McDonald may be reached at cmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @coreymacc. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.JERSEY CITY -- It's not a very long parade, but it has been a long-standing tradition in the city for some time.

On Friday, the 2018 Detective Marc A. DiNardo Jersey City One Block St. Patrick's Day Parade, an annual ceremony, kicked off at Sixth and Division street and made its way to Healy's Tavern on Newark Avenue.

Considered the shortest parade in the state, it travels just one block.

The parade is named for DiNardo, the police officer who was wounded in a July 2009 shootout on Reed Street and died from his injuries five days later.

Prior to the parade, a ceremony to pay tribute to Jersey City police officers who have died was held in front of the of the fallen police officer statue near City Hall. Police Chief Mike Kelly spoke at the ceremony.

The parade had an esteemed list of honorees: Brendan Gill was the marshal of the One Block Parade; former city councilman Phil Kenny was the Irishman of the Year for the parade; and Barbara McCann was the Irishwoman of the Year for the parade.

Former Gov. Jim McGreevey, outside Healy's bar in Downtown Jersey City, held a ceremonial placing of the ashes of late Gov. Brendan Byrne outside the bar. Byrne had always joked that when he died he wanted to be buried in Hudson County so he could keep voting.

Byrne's widow, Ruthi Byrne, and son, Tom, attended, along with Tom's wife, Barbara. Jerramiah Healy, the former Jersey City mayor was also there.

Scroll through the gallery above to see photos of the parade.SECAUCUS - Rep. Bill Pascrell toured the U.S. headquarters of Italian eyewear manufacturer Safilo on March 9, touting manufacturing in the state's Ninth Congressional District.

The company, which was originally founded in 1878, produces 30,000 styles of glasses, has 12,000 employees in the United States and invented the mass production of eyewear, an executive said during the visit.

The wholesaler, whose U.S. headquarters are located at 300 Lighting Way in Secaucus, manufactures frames for companies like Pierre Cardin, Saks Fifth Avenue, Swatch, Gucci and Tommy Hilfiger. It has manufactured custom glasses for the likes of Elton John and U2's Bono, according to a company executive. It has a showroom on Fifth Avenue in New York City.

During discussions at the headquarters, Pascrell, a democrat who represents a portion of Hudson County, said he advocates government assistance to insure that children who need glasses can get them.

"It shouldn't depend on how deep your pockets are when when need some help," Pascrell said. "People gotta see."

One company official noted that eyewear is the only medical device that has a fashion component. To that, Pascrell replied "Yeah, you don't need a fashionable defibrillator. You just need one that works."

The Safilo Group has seven manufacturing plants including four in Italy, as well as in Slovenia, the U.S. and China. Safilo has 280 sales representatives in the U.S. and global distribution in 40 countries. Its products can be purchased in nearly 100,000 stores around the world, according to the company website.It was a Saturday soon after 17 people were brutally killed in Parkland, Fla., when Jake Bongiovi and Rickey Eng saw plans on Instagram for a national student walkout.

The pair, both sophomores at The Pennington School, felt inspired by the movement that called for students to leave their schools in unison in support of government action to prevent school shootings.

"It's enough. It's happened too many times that we watch it," said Bongiovi, 15, who is the son of rock star and New Jersey native Jon Bon Jovi. "And we cannot let it go away this time."

With the support of the school's administration, Bongiovi and Eng, 16, planned what was meant to be an apolitical event uniting students around a common goal of increasing safety. Although the pair said they want gun laws to change to make students safer, they purposely avoided promoting specific legislation.

On Wednesday, roughly 400 of the school's 500 students with a range of political views ultimately donned donated orange shirts with "#ENOUGH" written on the front, Eng said. The backs of the shirts had the dates of the Parkland and Columbine High School shootings, and read "Classes take a pause until Congress passes laws."

Students gathered at 10 a.m. in the campus gymnasium, where the names of the Parkland victims were read, a supportive video message from Gov. Phil Murphy played and four students called for Congress to act to make schools safer. The students then walked outside for a moment of silence.

"Whenever there's a shooting, you're almost like, 'Imagine if that was at my high school. What would the people here do? How would we react? What is our school doing to keep this from happening?,' Eng said.

"But, it shouldn't come to the point where you're thinking, 'Imagine if that was at my school, because it really shouldn't be happening at any school.'"

The Pennington School was locked down for about 20 minutes five days before the walkout because of a suspicious person at a nearby school, Pennington School spokeswoman Lori Lipsky said. Eng said some students' fears that their lives were in danger drove them to participate in the walkout.

National Walkout Day saw thousands of students in New Jersey walk out, sit in or hold a memorial service for the people killed in Parkland. While many schools supported the demonstrations, others threatened punishments ranging from weekend detentions to two-day suspensions.

Bongiovi said he had been involved with activism before helping to lead his school's walkout, going to Women's Marches and protests with his family. He said his dad's famous philanthropy, mainly through the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation, largely influences his own desire to promote causes he believes in.

In addition to being a famous rocker, Jon Bon Jovi has used his wealth to fund affordable housing, support a homeless shelter in Camden and create pay-what-you-can "JBJ Soul Kitchens."

Bongiovi said his decision to help lead Pennington's student walkout, however, was influenced more by the passion of his peers.

"He's (My dad has) really been some sort of an inspiration to me, as well, but I think it was really special that it was more the students inspiring each other," Bongiovi said. "Our bravery spouts from each other."

Bongiovi and Eng are already organizing a second walkout for April 20, the anniversary of the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School that killed 12 students, one teacher and the two perpetrators. They hope to recruit Murphy or some of New Jersey's congressional representatives to speak.

Marisa Iati may be reached at miati@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @Marisa_Iati or on Facebook here. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tipsThe busiest parking area in New Jersey this weekend could be for a small beach along the Delaware Bay.

But what's drawing visitors to the hard-to-find sandy shore of Higbee Beach?

A rare opportunity to see Cape May's ghost tracks, uncovered by a recent barrage of winter storms that rocked the east coast during the past few weeks.

But they may not be visible for much longer.

In fact, this weekend may be the last chance to see them -- at least until next time a section appears.

What are the ghost tracks?

A set of century-old railroad tracks was unearthed in the Higbee Beach Wildlife Management Area in Lower Township for the first time in nearly 80 years in November 2014.

Since that first appearance, several sections of the tracks have been uncovered, performing disappearing acts here and there, after high winds and rocky waves hit the coast.

Jersey Shore's ghost tracks are back thanks to a series of Nor'easters that revealed the buried rail history. (Caitlyn Stulpin | For NJ.com)

What were they used for?

The tracks served myriad purposes throughout the early-to-mid-1900s, including supporting sand mining and munitions testing during World War I.

Once they fell into disuse, tides buried the tracks in sand.

After decades of being buried, a section appeared on Higbee Beach in Lower Township on March 10. The segment was more intact than ones seen before and resembled the stretch of deteriorating track that caught everyone's attention in November 2014.

"These tracks are amazing," said Dave Callahan, Cape May resident and frequent photographer of the ghost tracks. "The ones visible last year were twisted and torn apart but these ones you can easily tell what they are."

The tracks are north of Sunset Beach, where a sunken concrete ship remains visible off the coast. But coming from Sunset Beach will render visitors stuck and unable to view the tracks.

So how do you get there?

Though waiting for a storm to uncover the rusty steel history may seem like the toughest aspect of tracking down the rails, finding the actual beach can be just as tricky.

Higbee Beach is a small stretch of beach at the tip of Cape Island. It rests along the Delaware Bay.

"You come down to New England Road until it ends," said Callahan. "The dead end drops you at a parking lot which leads to a dirt trail, which will drop you at the bay."

But you still have a ways to go, he added.

"[The tracks are] just about a mile down the beach from the trail," he said. "It's not an easy walk but it's certainly worth it."

Callahan added there is one other way to get there, but it's a local secret they're unwilling to share.

When can you see them?

The short answer is during lowtide, but for how long is uncetain.

Callahan and fellow photographer Werner Tedesco were lucky enough to shoot the tracks twice this time around -- the first time on Sunday, just after they appeared, and again within the past two days.

In this long-exposure image, the "ghost tracks" in Cape May County are revealed. Photographers Werner Tedesco and Dave Callahan used lights to simulate a train engine on the tracks over the weekend. (Photo courtesy of Werner Tedesco)

"Werner actually came back out [Thursday] night and called me to let me know the tracks were pretty well covered," Callahan said. "Between the winds blowing in from the bay and the tides, they're significantly less visible now than they were."

He added that it would be iffy for the weekend. With the weather forcasted to be fairly nice for this time of year, it's dependent on the wind.

"The wind could cover them or the reverse could happen, they could be more visible," he said. "But this weekend is most likely the last chance."

Is it worth the trip this weekend?

"This is a rarity," said Callahan. "They don't stay surfaced for very long so it's one of those things you need to check out while you can."

Many locals and visitors to the area made their way to the beach Friday afternoon. Dozens of people, toting cameras and cell phones, took photos and videos of the trakcs.

"I live just over in Mays Landing and I'd never heard of this before, much less seen it," said Sandra Burns. "My neighbors said they were making the trip and I joined in."

"I have to say, even though it's windy and a little cold, it's been worth it," she added. "How many people can say they touched a piece of history this hidden?"

Caitlyn Stulpin may be reached at cstulpin@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @caitstulpin. Find NJ.com on Facebook.United Airlines had another issue with one of its canine travelers.

In the same week that a French bulldog apparently suffocated on a United flight and the airline wrongly sent a German Shepard to Japan, a flight had to be diverted because a pet was put on the wrong plane.

On Thursday, a United Express flight from Newark to St. Louis landed in Akron, Ohio, to bring a pet to its proper destination, an airline spokeswoman, Natalie Noonan, told NJ Advance Media via email Saturday.

The dog was mistakenly loaded on the plane but was later "safely delivered to its owner," she said.

All the passengers who were delayed were compensated for the detour, according to Noonan, but she would not detail how.

It was the third mishap involving a dog this week.

On Monday, a French bulldog apparently died after a flight attendant forced the family to load their dog into an overhead compartment.

Then, days later, the airline sent a German Shepard that was supposed to go to Kansas was sent to Japan.

The 10-year-old German shepherd named Irgo arrived at a Wichita airport Thursday night after a flight on a private plane that United chartered from Japan.

Kara Swindle and her two children took a United flight Tuesday from Oregon to Kansas City, Missouri, during a move to Wichita, Kansas.

When they went to pick up Irgo, they were shown a Great Dane that was supposed to go to Japan.

United said that the dogs were put on the wrong planes when being moved from connecting flights in Denver.

The family was reconnected with their dog on Saturday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Craig McCarthy may be reached at 732-372-2078 or at CMcCarthy@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @createcraig and on Facebook here. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips* Update: One paragraph, on a polling issue, has been added to this column.

The Elizabethan era banter would have seemed more, well, civilized to us but I'm sure Hamlet's double entendre comments to Ophelia left flushed faces in the Globe's audience.

Ophelia suggested Hamlet seemed "keen," sharp that day on stage. "It would cost you a groaning to take off my edge," the ill-fated prince of Denmark responded, if you grasp his meaning. More than likely some would in Bayonne - in New Jersey, not France.

OK, last week I suggested that readers prepare a nice continental breakfast as they read this column. Now I suggest you refrain from the most important meal of the day until after reading about the issue in the Bayonne mayoral election that can be found in a metaphorical brown paper bag.

IMPROPER EXPRESSIONS

Those who follow the local political shenanigans know about Stacie Percella's lawsuit against Mayor Jimmie Davis and the city charging that the mayor sexted her, and like Hamlet made lewd suggestions. It is claimed she suffered sexual harassment, offensive working conditions and retaliation.

She was fired from her city clerk position in December 2016 for she-said-he-said reasons and the whole story appears sordid. It is now voting season and Davis is running for re-election against former Assemblyman Jason O'Donnell. Naturally, the tawdry allegations are being publicly commented on by the accuser and on display in social media.

Admittedly accusations of this kind during an election cause eyes to roll. Journalists are loathe to touch this stuff but they usually do at least once with a 10-foot pole. For good reason as past history has taught us. Yet, when text messages used as evidence is too salacious to place in a family publication skepticism fills the void.

The past month or so I thought it was a good thing I'm not writing about it anymore except for several fun references in the midst of other topics. Then I received a copy of the court papers and you can't help but read it. We're not talking about teens here but adults in their 50s where one is in a position of authority, originally a police superior and now mayor.

Text messages have been submitted as evidence evoking images that hurt the brain. Those repeated references of how the mayor would "eat" the plaintiff "alive" is as annoying as Jimmy Walker's "Dino-mite!" Like Hamlet, Davis attempted double meanings in his messaging but did a poor job of it, leaving little to the imagination. Yeah, I admit it. I can't write what was texted verbatim because it's gross and stupid, plus I want you to brunch without nausea.

Perhaps in his mind the mayor was hoping to reenact scenes from a French New Wave film like Rohmer's "L'amour, L'Apres-Midi" but the texts doesn't evoke cinema verite and instead I get the worse of "American Pie." You know what scene I'm thinking about. In the end, no matter the language, Davis never managed to entice the plaintiff to meet him at Vic's Tavern, not in Bayonne, or rendezvous at an Atlantic City hotel, according to court papers.

What was interesting in the filed documents is that at one point plaintiff Percella says that while Davis was in Florida, she received a text message from Davis' phone inquiring "Who is this?" She could only guess who was seeking the identity of the sexting recipient.

The public explanation by the mayor's spokes people is that it was all playful banter between long time acquaintances - and that woman wants to use the city as a piggy bank. Well, if the evidence provided stands in litigation, then that piggy bank looks more like it will be a Fort Knox settlement, courtesy of the Peninsula City taxpayers, in my opinion.

Did you expect O'Donnell to benefit from all this? Absolutely. He'd be crazy not to embrace the mayor's pain. The challenger appears not to be a favorite of Percella but with her attacks against Davis, O'Donnell is nevertheless enjoying the histrionics.

Most recently, after state 31st Legislative District Sen. Sandra Cunningham endorsed Davis, Percella went after her on the street video recording and demanding to know how the senator could support Davis and claim she backs equality for women. (I hope the link works.) Cunningham and a pair of friends walk quicker. At one point city Business Administrator Joe DeMarco -- on leave while running the mayor's campaign -- tries to get between Percella and Cunningham. "I'm just walking" DeMarco tells an angry Percella. The incident is on social media.

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

If you listen to the Davis campaign, the incumbent is such an overwhelming favorite that there's nothing that will prevent the coming landslide victory. Proof of this is apparently is a commissioned poll conducted by Democratic Party leaning pollster Global Strategy Group, according to a press release issued by Davis campaign's public relations firm, Vision Media Marketing of Secaucus. A paragraph of the press release is just below.

"Mayor Davis' lead has grown from a 20-point gap recorded in the campaign's previous poll in June 2017 to his current 28-point advantage (47% Davis, 19% O'Donnell). Additionally, the poll shows that Mayor Davis' favorability rating has improved significantly over the last nine months, with 63% of likely voters now reporting favorable opinions of the Mayor compared to only 21% unfavorable. Mayor Davis' net favorability has improved from +31 last June to +42 now, despite a continued barrage of negative, personal attacks from the O'Donnell campaign."

The O'Donnell camp brushes the numbers aside calling it a typical push poll aimed at painting opponents in a negative light prior to asking an opinion. A "push poll" would say something like - knowing a certain candidate cost taxpayers millions of dollars because of his association with failed development policies by a previous administration and while mayor So-and-So provided needed housing and is revitalizing Main Street -- would you vote for the former scum or the present saint?

These weighted polls have been around for an eternity. Is this one? It is Bayonne, you tell me. Of course someone who obviously favors O'Donnell supposedly recorded such an exchange. It's painfully long to listen to but if you're interested just push the recording to the halfway mark to get a flavor of the questions.

* I should note that my sources say O'Donnell's own push poll still favors Davis. Those figures are about 47 to 30 with Dr. Mitchell Brown getting a surprising 10 percent. If I had to guess, an educated one at that, a realistic separation would be more along the lines of a 10 to 12 points with Brown in single digits. Davis is the favorite with the usual default endorsements. As usually happens, the gap will close as Election Day approaches. It ends the way it should; on a clear spring day an apathetic electorate decides who runs the city.

Meanwhile, Davis is apparently busy shooting himself in the foot. Who thought up the idea of getting people to pay for parking in front of their own driveways? Did the mayor believe this would a popular proposal?

An ordinance would let property owners to apply for up to three permits allowing parking in front of private driveways. Blasted on social meeting, this week the City Council decided to rethink the whole thing.

All this stumbling doesn't mean the Davis Team isn't pushing the good news. Vision Media has been busy churning it out. The latest was emphasizing what they call the mayor's "smart development" strategy. It's claimed this plan has generated "$2.5 billion in new real estate investment and $10 million in new annual tax revenue ..." You have to agree that developers are anxious to spend, build and profit. Bayonne has always been fertile ground for investors but somehow administrations of the past have screwed it up.

I guess it's also good news when it was announced on Wednesday that the city Police Benevolent Association Local Union 7 endorsed former fellow cop Davis for re-election. The press release noted that the Peninsula City was the second safest municipality in Hudson County by a home security industry website that provides such a list nationwide.

Meanwhile, Davis announced he wants three debates leading up to the May city election. What was not mentioned is that O'Donnell has been asking for three debates for some time now. Davis also wants the third candidate in the mayoral sweepstakes, Brown, who is a working physician and an attorney, to participate.

Davis also suggested a long list of rules for such a debate, really a forum because they don't question each other. The interesting rule, considering the bad behavior allegations, is number "12. Questions must not include or imply personal attacks on any candidate." They're asking for news media to moderate so why do they presume we would want pandemonium? Well, I never ...

Notice I didn't even get into the mosque controversy.

While some still consider Davis a favorite at least we're finally getting some life in this election. As one colleague asked: who is bringing the popcorn? Oh wait, that was when Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise lost the support of Mayors Brain Stack of Union City and Jersey City's Steve Fulop. We need programs for these Hudson County performances.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Agustin C. Torres' columns appear on the nj.com opinion website on Saturdays and occasionally in the print edition of The Jersey Journal. Submit letters to the editor and guest columns at jjletters@jjournal.com.One of society's primary responsibilities is to protect its youngest and most vulnerable.

We haven't always done that job so well in the United States. Witness the students' despair and desperation last week as hundreds of thousands of them joined hands and marched out of school buildings across the country to demand safer schools.

But at least one attempt to keep children safe shows New Jersey is doing something very right.

A newly enacted measure, signed last July by Gov. Chris Christie and put into effect last month, has tightened laws against the purveyors of child pornography.

It is aimed at putting more predators behind bars by closing gaps in existing laws, as well as allowing law-enforcement officials to track down and charge offenders earlier in their process of collecting their toxic filth.

Under the new guidelines, the definition of child pornography has been expanded to include images portraying children in a sexual manner, not just those portraying nude children.

This classification of "child erotica" means that if a pose or composition of a photo is taken or used in a sexual manner, it will be considered pornography.

Eli Honig, director of the state's Division of Criminal Justice, explained that the law addresses the reality that there are many ways children can be exploited without being fully naked.

Moreover, the new law says someone who runs a child pornography network can be charged with a first-degree crime if the offense involves more than 100,000 child pornography items.

Such an astonishing figure is made possible by technology that enables users to download - and share - files much more easily than ever before, creating what law-enforcement officers term "super-possessors."

These super-creeps face punishments of up to 10 years in prison and $150,000 in fines if they are convicted.

Honig lauded the new policies, noting that they allow prosecutors to charge offenders with a longer list of crimes, and to inflict harsher penalties for convictions.

It's not uncommon, officials say, for people to start out looking at child erotica poses and then move on to harsher, more hands-on crimes.

A nine-month investigation, labeled "Operation Safety Net" and concluded in December, led to the arrests of 79 people, including four alleged child predators in California and Indiana who were charged with trying to have children transported from New Jersey by adult traffickers, as well as four men in New Jersey who allegedly sought to lure children for sex.

Because such atrocities happen behind closed doors, we generally don't see them. And all too often, the victims are too young, too innocent or too scared to report them.

Equipping prosecutors with these new tools is a necessary and welcome antidote, one more way to try to keep our children out of harm's way.

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.WASHINGTON -- You were told the Republican tax bill would cut your taxes.

But in the end, you may not have any more money in your pocket.

That's because higher health care premiums will cancel out the tax cut for those buying insurance on the Affordable Care Act exchanges without government subsidies. As many as 150,000 New Jerseyans could be affected.

The rate hikes will occur because the measure signed by President Donald Trump repeals the requirement that all Americans carry health insurance or pay a penalty.

"For middle-class people buying their own insurance, it could very well be that the premium increases will wipe out any savings they're getting from the tax cuts," said Larry Levitt, senior vice president with the Kaiser Family Foundation, which studies health care.

A study by Covered California, a government agency that oversees that state's health insurance marketplace, projected that premiums for those buying health insurance on the Affordable Care Act exchanges could almost double in the next three years in New Jersey and 16 other states.

Those are states where fewer people are buying insurance and those who do tend to be sicker and require more health care.

In New Jersey, enrollment dropped by 7 percent, almost twice the national average of 4 percent and eighth highest among the states, according to New Jersey Policy Perspective, a progressive research group.

Covered California attributed about half of the projected premium increase to the repeal of the individual mandate. The repeal alone would increase premiums by 7 percent to 15 percent next year.

For someone earning $63,600 and not getting a tax credit, that would mean paying $862 more, according to New Jersey Policy Perspective. That's almost as much as $910 tax savings that same taxpayer would receive under the Republican tax plan.

"The California study is consistent with our own research which shows that the repeal of the individual mandate along with the other efforts by the president and Republicans in Congress would harm New Jerseyans and reverse the major progress that has been made in reducing the number of uninsured," said Raymond Castro, NJPP's director of health policy.

Besides ending the individual mandate, the Trump administration cut last year's enrollment period in half, reduced efforts to help people sign up for insurance, ended payments to insurance companies to cover deductibles and co-payments for low-income policyholders, and took other steps to weaken the law.

"This report shows the devastating impact the Trump administration's sabotage of the Affordable Care Act will have on New Jerseyans unless Congress takes action," said Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-6th Dist., the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

"The administration's sabotage, coupled with the Republican tax scam that repealed the individual mandate, will result in massive health care cost increases."

The New Jersey legislature is considering legislation to require state residents to buy insurance even if the federal mandate disappears. That could help reduce premium hikes for state residents.

Penalties paid to the state by people without insurance would fund efforts to help policyholders with high medical costs, further helping to hold down premiums.

In Washington, Pallone, the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, Richard Neal of Massachusetts, and top Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, Bobby Scott of Virginia, have introduced a bill to roll back some of the Trump administration's actions.

Their measure would expand tax credits for policyholders, provide reinsurance funds for patients with high health care costs, prevent the administration from allowing policies that offer little coverage to their customers and do not include all of the benefits now required, and expand efforts to sign up Americans for insurance.

Despite the administration's efforts, enrollment remained steady and the health insurance markets remained stable, in part because of the federal government's insurance subsidies for lower-income Americans, Levitt said.

"It's hardly a dead program," Levitt said. "The market is sustainable even without the individual mandate because of the premium subsidizes. But it will be a market with fewer people and higher premiums."

Meanwhile, the Suez water company announced that it was lowering water and sewer rates by around 5 percent because the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities ordered utilities to return their corporate tax savings to ratepayers.

Rep. Tom MacArthur, the only New Jersey lawmaker to support the tax bill that also curbed the federal deduction for state and local taxes, said the Suez announcement meant that the legislation was working as planned.

"Working families are seeing lower tax rates, bigger paychecks, and lower utility bills, which directly lowers the cost of living," said MacArthur, R-3rd Dist.

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 13-year-old girl was arrested Friday (March 16) on a charge of terrorizing after she lied to administrators at a Kenner middle school about a school shooting threat, according to the Kenner Police Department.

The girl "intentionally communicated" to Roosevelt Middle School officials that she had received a Snapchat message threatening that a shooting would occur either at Roosevelt Middle or another site, said Kenner police spokesman Lt. Brian McGregor.

An investigation by Kenner police, along with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office and federal officials, showed that the teen never received any such threat, McGregor said.

School officials called parents Friday to notify them that a threat had been reported, the threat was not credible and that the students were safe, Kenner police said.

The teen was taken to the Jefferson Parish juvenile jail, pending a continued custody hearing.

Kenner Police School Resource Officer Larry Cosse is in charge of the investigation.

Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

Reports of school shooting threats, mostly made through social media, have surged nationwide since the Feb. 14 mass shooting that killed 17 students and teachers at Marjory Douglas Stoneman High School in Parkland, Fla.

In Louisiana alone, the FBI and state police have investigated more than 100 threats to schools.

More than 60 people in Louisiana -- ranging in age from 11 to 28, but mostly juveniles -- have been arrested in connection with the 100-plus calls threatening school violence, according to authorities. Most have been charged with terrorizing, which carries penalties of up to 15 years in prison, a $15,000 fine or both.

In the New Orleans metro area, a number of schools have cancelled classes at various points due to school shooting threats.

Authorities have urged students, parents and others to report threats directly to law-enforcement agencies and avoid spreading threats on social media.

Tips can be submitted via the Kenner Police Department's app for smartphones or by calling Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111 or toll-free at 1-877-903-STOP.A photograph of two suspects in a French Quarter robbery was released Saturday (March 17) by the New Orleans Police Department. Police sought the public's help in identifying the robbers.

The victim told police he was talking to a stranger Friday morning in the 300 block of Bourbon Street when a man punched him twice from behind. When he fell to the ground, the assailant stole his wallet then left with the stranger.

The photo came from surveillance video monitored by the New Orleans Real Time Crime Center. Police said the man pictured on the right hit the victim, stole his wallet and handed it to the man pictured at left.

Anyone with information on the crime or the men in the picture was asked by police to call 8th District detectives at 504.658.6080 or Crimestoppers Inc. 504.822.1111 or 877.903.7867.

. . . . . . .

Drew Broach covers Jefferson Parish politics and Louisiana interests in Congress, plus other odds and ends, for NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune. Email: dbroach@nola.com. Facebook: Drew Broach TP. Twitter: drewbroach1. Google+: Drew Broach.New Orleans police arrested Eugene Scarborough, 31, Wednesday (March 14), accusing him of repeatedly attacking his wife, threatening her and another family member, and brandishing weapons at them.

Scarborough was booked with three counts of simple criminal damage to property, two counts of aggravated assault and domestic abuse battery, as well as one count of simple assault and aggravated assault with a firearm, according to court records.

According to Scarborough's arrest documents, the first incident occurred on Sept. 9, 2017, when police responded to a report of domestic battery on Spain Street in the 7th Ward around 8:48 p.m. When they arrived, they found Scarborough's wife was seizing and bleeding from her head and mouth. Scarborough's cousin, who the wife often confided in, told officers that Scarborough had "spazzed out" and "lashed out" at his wife in front of her children, court documents show.

Months later, on Feb. 11, Scarborough's wife took refuge inside the cousin's house on Music Street in St. Roch, where she told the cousin that she was ready to leave Scarborough. Overhearing the exchange, Scarborough burst into the residence, asking, "You done with me?" He then punched her several times in the face and upper body. The cousin's husband pulled Scarborough away and forced him to leave, the arrest documents sworn by NOPD officers say.

The responding officer arrived to find Scarborough's wife bloodied and bruised. She refused medical attention, arrest documents say.

Scarborough returned an hour later, this time brandishing a semi-automatic handgun that he repeatedly tapped on the front window, police said in booking documents. When the cousin and her husband went outside to talk with him, he warned, "Y'all keep saving [my wife]" and "I will shoot this b---- up." After breaking a back window, Scarborough fled the scene, records said.

Two days later, Scarborough threw a rock at his cousin's window, arrest documents say.

Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

Finally, on Feb. 19, the cousin was driving east on North Galvez Street around 4:32 p.m. in St. Roch when Scarborough appeared with a gun. He pointed the weapon at her and stated, "I am going to kill you and your children the police can't save you." As Scarborough walked closer to the car, she sped off, according to his arrest documents.

Police issued a warrant for Scarborough's arrest on multiple counts. He was captured Wednesday morning in the 2500 block of North Galvez Street by members of the NOPD Violent Offenders Warrant Squad and the U.S. Marshals Service, as they executed a search warrant.

Along with the assault and battery charges, he was also booked with a parole violation in connection with a prior conviction for unauthorized use of a vehicle. According to Orleans Parish court records, Scarborough has pleaded guilty twice to unauthorized use of a vehicle, both in 2010 and 2016.

While being interviewed at NOPD's Fifth District Police Station, Scarborough repeatedly hit his head on and rammed his body into the wall, creating a hole, arrest documents showed.

He appeared in court the following day but was removed due to "violent and disruptive" behavior, court records show. His bond was set at $45,000.

Friday afternoon, he remained in the Orleans Justice Center jail, according to jail records.

NOLA.com|The Times-Picayune Staff Writer Laura McKnight contributed to this report.Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office narcotics detectives arrested two Louisiana air travelers accused of trying to smuggle almost 25 pounds of marijuana in their checked baggage.

Germanie Stepter, 22, of Paulina, La., and Jiasia Steib, 21, of Lutcher, La., were booked Tuesday (March 14) with possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute, an arrest report said. They were taken into custody Monday afternoon after their flight landed at Louis Armstrong International Airport in Kenner.

Authorities didn't say where the women were flying from. But detectives had a K-9 officer "free air sniff" the luggage unloaded from their plane after receiving a tip, according to the report.

The dog, Bas, indicated a narcotic odor coming from a purple suitcase bearing Steib's name, the report said. Detectives took Steib into custody after she retrieved the bag from the luggage carousel. Authorities also detained Stepter and her bag.

Investigators obtained a warrant to search the luggage. Inside Steib's purple suitcase, they found 13 vacuum-sealed bags of marijuana that weighed about 12.9 pounds, the report said. Stepter's luggage had about 11.8 pounds of the drug in 11 packages.

Steib told investigators she would be paid $500 to $1,000 for transporting the drugs in her suitcase. Stepter told authorities she was to be paid in marijuana, the report said.

Stepter was released Tuesday on a $25,000 bond. A magistrate set the same bond for Steib. She was released Wednesday.Tony Zheng, who started and used to own Sake Cafe on Magazine Street, will open Mo Mo Ramen + Poke on the corner of Carrollton Avenue and Hampson Street.

The grand opening is scheduled for March 20.

Downstairs, Mo Mo will have bowls of Japanese ramen and meats and seafood cooked on a robata-style grill. The menu will also have appetizers like dumplings, pork buns and baked oysters.

Mo Mo will only have sushi as a special.

Upstairs, Mo Mo will have a poke bar, where customers can pick out ingredients to top bowls of raw fish. Poke is a raw fish dish that began in Hawaii and is trendy now across the mainland.

Food and restaurant news in your inbox Every Thursday we give you the scoop on NOLA dining. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

One thing Mo Mo won't have is momo, a Tibetan dumpling. The name is actually a nod to New York's Momofuku, one of the owner's favorite restaurants.

Mo Mo Ramen + Poke: 632 S Carrollton Ave., New Orleans, 504.218.5248

***

Got a tip? Know some restaurant news? Email Todd A. Price at TPrice@NOLA.com or call 504.826.3445. Follow him on Twitter (@TPrice504) or join the conversation at www.facebook.com/groups/wherenolaeats.Russian nationals will be denied access to Russian diplomatic missions in Ukraine on Sunday, the presidential election day in Russia, Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said on Friday, TASS reports.

March 17, 2018, 10:24 Russian nationals will not be able to cast votes at March 18 presidential polls in Ukraine

STEPANAKERT, MARCh 17, ARTSAKHPRESS:"The Ukrainian Interior Ministry has passed a decision on the impossibility of organizing elections that violate Ukraines laws on the territory of diplomatic mission in Ukraine," he wrote on his Facebook account. "The Ukrainian Interior Ministry informs that security arrangements at Russian diplomatic missions in Ukraine, namely in Kiev, Kharkov, Odessa and Lvov, on Sunday, March 18, will not imply access to these facilities for Russian citizens wanting to cast their votes at the election."

The ministry said that elections "on the sovereign Ukrainian territory" are inadmissible. "Taking into account public protests in Ukrainian society, Russias disregard of the Ukrainian sides legal demands and in a bid to avoid provocations and possible serious consequences, National Police and National Guard will be used to ensure proper securing arrangements at all diplomatic missions and institutions and adjacent territories in line with the Vienna Convention," Avakov stressed.

Russian lawmakers will raise the issue of Ukraines not letting Russian nationals take part in the upcoming presidential elections at international parliamentary organizations, including the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, a senior Russian lawmaker told TASS on Friday.This week on the Coastal News Roundup, reporters discuss an accident during a March 10 "turnaround" maintenance project at the PBF Chalmette Refinery, which created a fireball flaring event that raised concerns of a major explosion.

Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality officials are awaiting a full explanation of what caused a compressor feeding one flare to break down at the 189,000 barrel-per-day refinery, which quickly led to all gases at the plant to be funneled into its second flare, creating a massive column of fire, and of exactly what chemicals were released during the incident.

Mark Schleifstein of NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune discusses the flaring event with WWNO's Travis Lux.

Listen to their discussion below. The coastal roundup airs Fridays on WWNO, 89.9 FM.Shivani Jani, 23, and Simone Fertel, 27 hugged each other, laughing and crying simultaneously, surrounded by dozens of their peers from LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans and their families on Friday (March 16). They each held letters letting them know which hospitals they will be training at for the next three to seven years.

Behind them, graduating medical students walked one by one, across a stage set up in a large banquet room in the Superdome, waiting to receive their own letters determining where they will spend their residencies and round out their medical education. The event, called Match Day, is possibly the most anticipated day of a medical students' career.

For another year in a row, Match Day arrived in Louisiana amid looming uncertainty about the state's ability to provide the funding necessary to operate University Medical Center, one of the largest teaching hospitals in the state and the training ground for approximately 1,000 medical residents annually from both LSU Health New Orleans and Tulane's School of Medicine. The impasse over how to close a $700 million budget gap has even forced LCMC, the operator of UMC, to consider walking away from operating the facility starting on July 1, if the state isn't able to resolve the funding crisis. If this happens, the hospital would revert to state control.

School leaders say that the move would have instant ramifications for their residency programs at UMC and create long-term consequences for Louisiana's healthcare industry.

"Depending on what happens to the hospital it would be extraordinarily difficult for the schools," said Dr. Lee Hamm, the Dean of Tulane's School of Medicine. "We would have to find other training vehicles for residents in the city if it happens. Would it be extremely problematic for the resident? Yes."

At any given time, Tulane has 100 medical residents who train at UMC, their second largest training facility. Tulane Medical Center is their main training facility. Tulane's School of Medicine held their Match Day ceremony at the Hyatt Regency on Friday for 191 fourth-year medical students. Of those participants, 31 matched to training facilities in Louisiana. The majority of the participants were from out of state.

The long-term impact of persistent budget concerns could be even more problematic for the state's healthcare industry overall.

"It might mean we couldn't train as many medical residents and have to send them out of the state. Getting them to come back is difficult after they've established themselves elsewhere," Hamm said. "That's terrible for the future of the health care industry of the state."

Approximately 1,000 medical residents and 2,400 health care residents (including nursing, pharmacy) train at UMC. The facility is staffed with 640 medical faculty, some of which are employed by UMC directly, but most are faculty members from LSU and Tulane.

"For students matching today (March 16) their training is assured. Worst case scenario, schools would have to explore training at other hospitals," said Bill Masterton, the CEO of UMC. "But this rhetoric is unsettling and could impact future residents who don't want to go through this anxiety of whether or not to stay in state."

In the weeks before Match Day, Steve Nelson, the Dean of LSUHSC School of Medicine, said he fielded close to 100 emails from students nervous about the future of certain facilities they want to train in for their residencies in Louisiana. All fourth-year medical students had to decide which hospitals they wanted to match with by Feb. 21.

"Year after year of uncertainty pushes people to consider training in other states," Nelson said. "We are going to lose our students. If they leave, there is a risk they might not come back."

About 46 percent, or 89 of 193, of the LSU Health New Orleans graduating medical students who participated in Match Day this year chose to stay in Louisiana to continue their medical training. The rate of LSU Health New Orleans students completing their medical training in state has been in decline since 2012, when the rate was 64.3 percent.

Both Jani and Fertel will head to Florida on July 1 to complete their studies. Janae Miller, 28, from Baton Rouge, is also headed out of state to her first choice at Morehouse Georgia, where she will specialize in internal medicine. Willie Talbert, 26, from Baton Rouge, is also headed out of state to study internal medicine at the University of Nebraska Omaha. Married couple William and Alli Chastant will remain in New Orleans to continue their training in internal medicine at Tulane Medical Center.

Most said they decided to leave to test out new terrain. All are considering the possibility of returning to Louisiana to start their practices once they've completed their residencies.

"After all, Louisiana is home," Miller said.

However, national studies have found that a high number of physicians set up their permanent practices in areas where they completed their residency programs.

Meanwhile, 81 percent of Louisiana is federally designated as a health professional shortage area for primary care, according to the Department of Health and Hospitals. The shortage is only compounded by state's high rates of obesity, heart disease, diabetes and cancer in the United States.

"Many of our students are from Louisiana. We are fortunate that they are dedicated to their state--but there's a limit to that," Nelson said.

Maria Clark covers healthcare and immigration for NOLA.com | The Times Picayune and NOLA Mundo. Reach her at mclark@nola.com or 504.258.5306. .More than 31,000 medical students across the country found out where they will be spending the next three to seven years completing their medical training on Friday March 16.

Match Day, results are a key indicator to the healthcare workforce, as higher number of physicians end up setting up their practice in states they trained in. The United States is projected to face a shortage of about as many as 94,700 physicians by 2025, according to a study by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).

Janae Miller, 28, was one of 193 fourth-year medical students from LSU Health New Orleans, who found out where she will be completing her medical training. Miller will go to Morehouse Medical Center in Georgia, but intends to come back home to Baton Rouge eventually to start her practice.

"This is home, where my family is. I want to provide care in my home state," she said.

Of the 193 fourth-year medical students from LSU Health New Orleans, 89 will complete their residencies in the state. School officials have reported a substantial decline in the retention rate of medical students since 2012, dropping from 64.3 percent to 46 percent this year.

School officials have attributed the drop off to anxiety students are feeling over proposed and imposed budget cuts to education and healthcare over recent years.

The majority of medical students attending Tulane's School of Medicine are from out of state and only 23 are from Louisiana.

Out of a total 191 participants who matched to programs around the country, 31 students will remain in Louisiana to complete their studies.

The University of Queensland (UQ) - Ochsner Clinical School said that out of their 87 students eligible for Match Day, 37 percent chose to remain in Louisiana for residency training. About 23 percent will be training within the Ochsner Health System.

Graduates matched in specialties including Orthopedic Surgery, General Surgery, Anesthesiology, Emergency Medicine, Family and Internal Medicine, General Surgery, Neurology, OB/GYN, Pediatrics, Pathology, Psychiatry, Diagnostic Radiology, and Interventional Radiology.

They will begin their residencies in July.

Maria Clark covers healthcare and immigration for NOLA.com | The Times Picayune and NOLA Mundo. Reach her at mclark@nola.com or 504.258.5306. .Former New Orleans Saints cornerback Delvin Breaux visited with the New England Patriots, Breaux told 104.5 ESPN host Matt Moscona Friday.

"We were just talking, just visiting ... nothing has come up yet," he said on Moscona's Baton Rouge radio show, referring to the lack of a formal offer from the defending AFC Champions.

Breaux became a free agent Wednesday when the New Orleans Saints declined to offer him a tender.

The 28-year-old New Orleans native also visited the Denver Broncos this week and told Moscona he was "a little bit" surprised the Saints didn't offer him a tender but recognized it was a business.

He said he would be open to returning to the Saints if the opportunity presented itself.

"That's home for me," Breaux told Moscona. "Who wouldn't want to play for their hometown team? If the opportunity comes back, of course I would."

Breaux is coming of two straight seasons in which he suffered a broken fibula after having a breakout 2015 where he snagged three interceptions.Cambridge issued a statement indicating that Dr. Hawking had told the Israelis that he would not be attending based on advice from Palestinian academics that he should respect the boycott, according to The Associated Press.

Earlier, the universitys director of communications, Tim Holt, said by telephone that Dr. Hawking, 71, had withdrawn from the Israel trip for health reasons. The university later said it had been told otherwise by Dr. Hawkings office.

Israel Maimon, the chairman of the conference, strongly criticized the professors decision, saying in a statement, The academic boycott of Israel is in our view outrageous and improper, certainly for someone for whom the spirit of liberty lies at the basis of his human and academic mission.

Mr. Maimon, a lawyer and a former Israeli government cabinet secretary, added: Israel is a democracy in which all individuals are free to express their opinions, whatever they may be. The imposition of a boycott is incompatible with open, democratic dialogue.

There was no immediate comment from Mr. Peress office.

The Guardian newspaper first reported Dr. Hawkings change of mind and cited a statement by the British Committee for the Universities of Palestine, which The Guardian said was published with Dr. Hawkings approval. It described the cancellation as his independent decision to respect the boycott, based upon his knowledge of Palestine, and on the unanimous advice of his own academic contacts there.Kindergartens in Hrazdan, the administrative center of Armenias Kotayk Province, located 45 kilometers northeast of the capital Yerevan, shut down in January and February due to subpar heating.

There are 12 municipal kindergartens in Hrazdan, with an official enrollment of 1,503 children.

Hrazdan Mayor Aram Danielyan says two of the kindergartens, #12 and #13, have been completely renovated, and the other ten - partially renovated. # 12, #13, and #16 kindergartens have local heating systems, while the remaining nine kindergartens are heated with wood stoves and electric heaters.

In those nine kindergartens, all winter activities are concentrated in the same area: children play, eat, and sleep in the same room, which is heated. The corridors are very cold, and the Soviet-era windows let the wind in. As a result, most of the parents do not take their children to the kindergarten.

All Hrazdan kindergartens require a monthly tuition of 4,400 drams. The children of families living near the renovated kindergartens enjoy relatively favorable conditions, while others must make do or move to the renovated ones.

Mayor Danielyan told Hetq that they calculated the repair works of 10 kindergartens to cost around 50-60 million AMD for each. They are now trying to find a loan or a renovation program, since the municipality is unable to cover such expenses.

To cover the cost per one child attending kindergarten and for building maintenance, the municipality allocates 20,000-22,000 drams per month. Danielyan claims that its quite a big expenditure. The official number of children attending kindergartens in Hrazdan is 1,503.

#13 Kindergarten: Officially Totally Renovated but In Reality Partially Renovated

#13 kindergarten of Hrazdan has been open since 1980. The municipality listed it among the fully renovated ones, but when we visited we saw that it was only partly renovated. Kindergarten Director Anahit Sukiasyan said that in 2016 the roof was changed, and the rooms cleaned up. The bathrooms with broken tiles still need to be renovated. There were also wide-open cracks in the walls, which should not be the case if fully renovated.

The director is satisfied with kindergartens old equipment, saying she doesnt want to replace it, since the quality is better.

Kitchen furniture is also old. Make-shift electric hot plates have been used for decades to prepare meals.

The kindergarten has no playground. The director says they need to improve the yards furnishings and get some toys.

Kindergarten #13 is designed for around 280 children, but there are only 185 children in attendance now, according to the municipality's data. The director blames migration. As a result, they have now only nine groups of children, while they used to have eleven.

#15 Kindergarten Conditions

The Hrazdan Municipality told Hetq that #15 kindergarten is partially renovated. Thats an understatement. The installation of a hot water boiler and replaced sinks were the only evidence of anything renovated. The bathrooms were still under repair, and everything else was old and worn out.

This kindergarten has been open since 1982. Director Anahit Melkonyan says it was a good kindergarten, but it has gone downhill over time. She says the school administration isnt to blame.

This kindergarten is among those nine where children spend their time together in one room in winter. The hallways are so cold that the kids dare not walk around.

One of the parents, wishing to stay anonymous, mentioned that they sometimes collected money for the firewood before, but the situation has improved this year.

There are now five groups in the kindergarten - a decrease in numbers resulting from migration. "They migrate a lot. This kindergarten used to have 400 children attending it, and now its only around 110-120 children, the director adds.

The number of children has dropped so much that a part of the kindergarten building has been allocated by the city authorities to the State Committee of the Real Estate Cadastre.

Melkonyan hopes that one day their kindergarten will also be renovated. She says the mayor promised to renovate 1-2 kindergartens per year.

Photos and video: Saro BaghdasaryanKenya Commercial Bank (KCB) Uganda has sent 30 of its Business Club SME members to a 10-day sponsored trip in Germany and Turkey in an effort to support growth of the SME sector in the country.

During the business trip, the customers will network with a wider international market so as to acquire new business linkages to suppliers of goods and services.

Germany Ambassador Dr Albrecht Conze (C) flags off some of KCB Business Club SME members for a 10-day business trip to Germany and Turkey

Speaking during the flag off at Oasis Mall, Joram Kiarie, the managing director KCB Bank Uganda said at KCB Uganda, we are aware that one of the biggest challenges that our local SMEs face is creating valuable linkages to enhance their businesses, this trip is a step towards facilitating our customers to make these linkages, he said.

The business trip will include visits to construction factories with modern cost saving technology in Germany, firms that sell heavy construction machinery in Ulm, modern health facility installations and medical equipment manufacturing companies, the BMW museum as well as have business to business meeting with the Turkish business community to create linkages.



We are keen to empower and nurture the growth of our home-grown businesses, such business trips are platforms to empower our SMEs as they interact with experts from various sectors noted Kiarie.

According to statistics, trade volume between Turkey and Uganda amounted to $27 million during the first 10 months of 2017. Turkeys main export products to Uganda are cereals, electronic equipment and rubber while Ugandas mainly imports machinery and chemical products from Germany.

The Germany ambassador to Uganda Dr Albrecht Conze noted that the trip provides an opportunity will help the new generation of entrepreneurs in Uganda to grow their businesses.



The backbone of German industry is the family businesses, which is the same for Uganda, this is an opportunity for KCB SMEs to learn how to go further, as well as make contacts for opportunities to resell machinery, said Conze.



Charles Ogwel the managing director UMCAT one of the SMEs taking the trip said he is happy for having got the opportunity to travel, Germany is known for quality, I hope to improve the quality of the machines in my business, network and make linkages to strengthen my business, I also hope to learn modern ways of doing business, he said.

The SME sector employs the largest number of people in Uganda, according to Uganda Investment Authority, over 2.5 million people are employed in this sector, where they account for approximately 90 per cent of the entire private sector, generating over 80 per cent of manufactured output.

alfredodcho@gmail.comOregon's new clean air law will give Oregonians an unprecedented wealth of information about the health risks that factories create by releasing toxic air pollution.

Yet many factories won't have to reduce their emissions under the highly touted new law, an analysis by The Oregonian/OregonLive has found.

The results make clear that the law is a far cry from the major overhaul Gov. Kate Brown promised in response to the 2016 crisis about toxic metals in Portland's air.

The analysis shows the law was so weakened after negotiations with industry lobbyists that, even if state regulators discover a factory is increasing neighbors' risk of getting cancer, they may be unable to require new controls.

In other words, Oregon regulators will eventually know a lot about the dangers posed by air polluters in the state, but they often won't be able to do anything about it except to warn the public.

Activists who supported the bill say it isn't as protective as it should be, but is still an important first step.

"People want to know  what's my risk from living next to this source?" said Mary Peveto, president of Neighbors for Clean Air, a Portland advocacy group. "We never had a measurable metric. This changes that completely."



After the 2016 crisis, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality asked more than 1,500 businesses statewide to divulge their annual emissions of 633 toxic chemicals.

Oregon regulators got the information they need to calculate the health risks posed by air polluters last year.

But department officials haven't analyzed the reports. Lawmakers refused to provide money to translate those numbers into health risks until now. And regulators expect the work to take years.

So we started doing the math for them.

The newsroom used the same formula that the Department of Environmental Quality plans to use in its initial screening to identify factories that deserve further study.

The Oregonian/OregonLive chose 25 plants that: are known to emit large volumes of harmful pollutants; have drawn complaints from neighbors; or were vocal in the debate about the clean air law, Senate Bill 1541.

About our analysis

Precise estimates of the risks posed by each facility's pollution rely on the height of its smokestacks, the distance to the nearest neighbor, local meteorological conditions and how much of each pollutant the human body can absorb.

Oregon's Department of Environmental Quality didn't ask companies for that information when it collected data on their emissions. So as a crude first step, regulators will use a formula that pretends every company is emitting chemicals five meters off the ground, with the closest neighbor being 50 meters away. If a facility scores high, the state will require more sophisticated modeling.

The Oregonian/OregonLive calculated the number regulators plan to use for their initial screening. We added nuance by measuring the distance to the nearest home.

At most, seven of the 25 would receive additional scrutiny. The number that would have to install new pollution controls or reduce their use of chemicals is likely even lower. State environmental regulators say the analysis shows a worst-case scenario for each facility, a high estimate of risk that will shrink when more sophisticated analyses are conducted.

Several companies said the analysis was too simplistic to determine their actual risk.

"A screening methodology is no substitute for a true risk assessment," said Ellen Porter, Roseburg Forest Products' environmental affairs director.

None of the 25 facilities scored higher than Owens-Brockway Glass Container, a bottle plant near the Portland International Airport. Its screening result for cancer risk was 2,916 in a million, well above the state law's benchmark of 50-in-a-million.

The figure represents the number of additional cancer cases expected from breathing the air around a pollution source for a lifetime.

In 2016, state records show, the plant emitted more than 400 pounds of lead, a neurotoxin, 22 pounds of arsenic, a carcinogen, and 213 pounds of chromium. Because the company didn't specify whether the chromium was harmless or carcinogenic, the state's screening assumes it was all carcinogenic. Excluding chromium, the risk estimate drops to 890 in a million, still among the highest of the 25 facilities in the newsroom analysis.

Gregory Sotir, a teacher who lives nearby in Cully, said he was surprised the facility scored so high. He said he has worried for years about the brown and black clouds of smoke he sees coming from the plant. But he hasn't been sure what risk the facility posed.

Sotir said Owens-Brockway had been unwilling to negotiate new pollution controls with the community group he directs, the Cully Air Action Team. Under the state's original clean air plan, Sotir said he was confident the company would have to reduce its pollution. Now, under the weaker version that passed, he isn't sure.

If the state won't act, Sotir said, grassroots community groups like his will instead. Knowing the plant's risk will be helpful in trying to convince the company to come to the negotiating table, Sotir said.

"If they are one of the leading polluters of toxic metals and carcinogens, we as a community want to know that," he said.

Janet Galecki, a spokeswoman for Owens-Illinois, which owns the plant, said until the clean air law is signed and the state formally adopts risk assessment procedures, "we are unable to conduct a facility assessment."



The next-highest scoring facility in the analysis of 25 plants was Precision Castparts' main campus on Southeast Harney Drive in Portland, where the screening formula for the company's 2016 emissions yielded a risk estimate of 1,047 in a million for cancer.

The company told the state its emissions will be lower in the future, resulting in a smaller risk score: 210-in-a-million. The plant installed new pollution controls after monitoring in 2016 showed elevated levels of three heavy metals in the air nearby.

Rob Bekuhrs lives in Ardenwald, close enough that he can see Precision from his balcony. He said he has wondered what was in the smoke he's witnessed the plant emitting. Now that he knows what Precision Castparts releases, he said he was troubled that the new state law may not trigger any reductions. If the state won't act, Bekuhrs said, he will.

Told the results of The Oregonian/OregonLive's analysis, Bekuhrs said he will consider breaking the apartment lease renewal he just signed to find somewhere else to live.

"It's distressing living so close," Bekuhrs said. "It doesn't make me want to remain in the area if the facility remains as it is."

David Dugan, a Precision Castparts spokesman, said the results of the state's screening methodology aren't accurate. They don't reflect the company's actual risk because they fail to account for critical information like something called bioavailability, or how much of each substance the human body actually absorbs.

"When bioavailability is taken into account, our alloys are relatively nontoxic," Dugan said.

The state chose not to factor bioavailability into its initial screening.

Even if the pollutants for which that's an issue are ignored, Precision Castparts' release of benzene, 1,3-butadiene, naphthalene and formaldehyde are high enough that the state would require additional scrutiny, our analysis shows.



The results of the newsroom's analysis make clear how little this year's legislative debate about air pollution was informed by real-world data.

Some businesses benefited by pushing for higher allowable levels of cancer risk. Others protested even though they would have been unaffected.

Legislators and the governor, with prodding from industry lobbyists, moved the allowable level of cancer risk higher and higher. Brown's initial plan allowed factories to create a risk of no more than 10 cancer cases per 1 million people. The next version said 25. Lawmakers approved 50, but also will allow many companies to go to 200.

The state's highest target allows one additional cancer diagnosis in every 5,000 people living near a polluter.

Of the 25 facilities the newsroom reviewed, five would have faced closer scrutiny if Brown and other Democrats hadn't agreed to weaken the bill's public health protections.

Those locations are: Precision Castparts' operations in Milwaukie and Clackamas; Roseburg Forest Products' plant in Dillard; and Boise Cascade's veneer plant in Willamina and its plywood manufacturing operation in Medford.

Environmental quality officials say as many as 79 companies could qualify for the higher cancer risk of 200 per million.

By contrast, in California, which began cracking down on toxic air pollution decades ago, state data shows just one company out of more than 30,000 reported a cancer risk above 200 per million in 2015.

Just how many Oregon companies escaped controls when lawmakers watered down the clean air bill is impossible to say. Regulators need to crunch all the numbers they received last year. A state environmental official, Keith Johnson, said the department is first reviewing the data to make sure it is accurate.

"We don't yet know how many companies may fall over the statutory level of 50 in a million, or how many might fall between that level and 25 in a million," said Richard Whitman, director of the Department of Environmental Quality. "It will take years to find that out."

The results could be used to push companies to reduce their pollution even if they don't exceed the state's risk levels. Essentially, the state or the public could shame companies into polluting less.

Whitman said the bill doesn't prevent the state's Environmental Quality Commission from adopting rules to require companies to notify neighbors if they pose elevated risks. He said public notice had been California's most effective tool for reducing risk.



Using the state environmental agency's formula, the other companies that would receive scrutiny because of their estimated cancer or other health risks were: Entek, a Lebanon battery parts manufacturer; Georgia-Pacific's pulp and paper mill in Toledo; the Oil Re-Refining Co. in Portland; and Vigor Industrial, the Portland shipyard.

Alan Sprott, a Vigor vice president, said the shipyard was still revising its emissions data.

"Whether or not everything will drop below the triggers is unknown at this point," Sprott said. "But if a problem emerges, we'll figure out a way to fix it."

Scott Briggs, owner of Oil Re-Refining, said the numbers he submitted to regulators overstate his company's emissions because they were based on burning a type of dirty fuel it no longer uses.

Kirk Hanawalt, an Entek president, said sources "don't know and won't know what their calculated risks are until they hire a consultant to do the modeling and risk assessment work."

Georgia-Pacific declined comment.

The newsroom's analysis showed that at least two companies that protested the clean air rules -- Collins Pine and Allegheny Technologies Incorporated -- would not have been affected, even under the most stringent proposals.

Jess Brown, a Collins Pine environmental official, told lawmakers that the governor's original plan was "a travesty" and an "utter sham," saying his company "may not be able to bear the additional, unreasonable regulatory burdens."

Yet Collins' Klamath Falls particleboard plant scored a 6-in-a-million risk, well under any risk threshold state regulators ever considered.

Collins Pine and Alleghany didn't respond to requests for comment.

The analysis also found several companies that won't be affected, including businesses that many neighbors have complained about for years. They include: AmeriTies, a railroad tie manufacturer in The Dalles; Daimler Trucks' North Portland facility; and ESCO's lone remaining foundry in Northwest Portland.

-- Rob Davis

rdavis@oregonian.com

503.294.7657; @robwdavisIt didn't take long for the lawsuits to come in. Just days after Dick's Sporting Goods, Walmart, Fred Meyer and other retailers announced that they would no longer sell firearms to those under 21 years old, two Oregonians sued the retailers in separate lawsuits claiming age discrimination.

This was, of course, predictable. Even the most minimal restriction is bound to be challenged by those who believe their right to buy and own any firearm imaginable trumps everyone else's interest in promoting public health. Unfortunately, however, the plaintiffs appear to have a compelling legal argument in this case. As Portland attorney Timothy Crawley noted in a March 1 op-ed for The Oregonian/OregonLive, the state forbids places of public accommodation, including businesses like Dick's and Fred Meyer, from discriminating on the basis of age.

Because Oregon state law allows purchases of firearms at age 18, the retailers' refusal to sell those under 21 violates that law, Crawley argued.

So, the clear answer is to fix the law. As The Portland Tribune's Paris Achen reported, both Democratic and Republican legislative leaders said they plan to take up efforts next year to exempt sales of firearms from the age-discrimination protection. That makes sense considering the law already exempts sales of alcohol and marijuana.

While it's disappointing that lawmakers adjourned the legislative session early instead of discussing the conflict as we had urged, the bipartisan interest in fixing it is a positive sign that this gun-related measure might not be as contentious as others have been.It's clear that the tragic killings of 17 students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School - on top of so many other mass shootings - have fueled a passion for change. Oregonians should keep up the pressure to make sure that the momentum and legislators' resolve do not wane.

- The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board

Oregonian editorials

Editorials reflect the collective opinion of The Oregonian/OregonLive editorial board, which operates independently of the newsroom. Members of the editorial board are Laura Gunderson, Helen Jung, Mark Katches and John Maher.

To respond to this editorial, post your comment below, submit an OpEd or a letter to the editor.

If you have questions about the opinion section, email Laura Gunderson, editorial pages editor, or call 503-221-8378.Mr. Tillerson, you and Donald Trump deserve each other. If he treated you badly by dumping you unceremoniously, it's nothing compared to the way you treated the employees of the State Department. Your mistrust of senior diplomats caused mass resignations, your enormous cuts to your own budget and your refusal to activate important programs that had already been funded have left the department a mess.

But your worst transgression is your deception of the American people and the world with the climate change disinformation program you oversaw and supported during the 40 years you served the interests of Exxon Mobil, more than a decade as its CEO. Your misdeeds will affect generations to come. The only way to redeem yourself is to apologize to the nation and the world and to spend the rest of your life working toward the mitigation of climate change.

Alice Hardesty, Northeast PortlandA Clackamas County judge locked inside her courtroom on a weekend earlier this month used a bench to try to break open the courtroom doors, causing damages the county says will cost $3,000 to repair.

The repairs include reinstalling marble on the framing above Judge Susie Norby's courtroom doors and will be paid through the county's general fund, said Tim Heider, a county spokesman. The Oregon City-based courthouse is run by the county, and the general fund is made up of revenue that includes property taxes.

Norby, a county circuit judge since 2007, said she inadvertently locked herself in her courtroom late March 4, away from her key and cellphone. She was trapped in the third-floor courtroom for more than an hour before being let out by a deputy on duty.

But before he arrived, she apparently loosened the marble at the top of the exterior of the door when she repeatedly used a wooden bench from the court gallery as a battering ram in an effort to escape.

She said she didn't realize there were any issues until the next day, when a court staffer pointed out the marble above her door was loose. Facilities maintenance workers removed it as a precaution, the judge said. That's also when she told presiding judge Kathie Steele and maintenance supervisor about getting locked in, she said. Norby said safeguards have since been put into place to make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else.

One of Norby's courtroom doors also has an estimated 2-inch split that needs to be fixed.

"I feel deeply sad to have caused harm to our beautiful and historic building," Norby said. "It is a building I cherish, respect and am proud and grateful to work in."

Steele was unavailable for comment Friday.

Norby said she offered to pay for the damage, but was later told the cost was believed to be negligible and for labor only. She said the repeated ramming didn't crack the marble and the same piece has since been reinstalled above the courtroom doors.

According to Norby, she went to the courthouse around 9 p.m. on March 4 to prepare for the Monday morning docket. The courthouse had been open the day before for a high school mock trial competition. As a security precaution related to that, hard keys, rather than the keycards normally used, were required to open doors from the courtroom to the judge's chambers.

The courtroom doors that lead to the hallway require a hard key to open from either side, she said. Those doors are locked that way whenever the courthouse is closed.

Norby said she went into her chambers, put her key and cell phone on her desk, then walked out into the courtroom to get a book. The door closed behind her, locking her in.

No one else was coming to the courthouse until Monday morning.

She said she hit an alarm button in the courtroom, but no one came. She used the computer at her bench and emailed an "SOS" to several sheriff's deputies but didn't immediately receive a response.

"I did not know for sure whether any were on duty that night, or whether my message would get caught in their junk folders, or whether they would check their messages anytime soon even if they were on duty," Norby said in a statement. "So I looked for another way out."

The judge, who is about 5-foot-7, said the courtroom doors leading to the hallway moved a little when she pushed against them, so she thought she'd be able to pop the deadbolt locking the door if she could move it far enough. She said she wasn't strong enough to shove the locked doors open. So she picked up a short, heavy wooden bench which she described as 5 to 6 feet long, tipped it to one side and repeatedly rammed the top of it into the courtroom doors.

"It seemed as if I was very close to popping [the deadbolt] open, but it was harder than I thought," Norby said.

Norby said she took a break, checked her emails and saw a message from one deputy on duty. He said he didn't have a key to the courthouse, but said he'd find a way to let her out and would be there soon.

The judge rammed the doors again a few more times anyway. No luck.

"Then I sat down, trusting that the deputy sheriff would come to get me soon," she said. "He arrived a short while later and let me out."

Norby said she got out of the courtroom around 10:30 p.m.

-- Everton Bailey Jr.

ebailey@oregonian.com

503-221-8343; @EvertonBaileyOne person was injured in a rollover crash in rural Washington County Saturday morning, miles from the site of a similar accident where a driver and passenger escaped unscathed hours earlier, Banks Fire District officials said Saturday.

A driver and passenger involved in a rollover near Banks just after midnight reported no injuries when officials arrived, spokesman Scott Adams said. Slick roads were a factor in the crash.

And hours later, at 9:45 a.m., one person was injured in a rollover accident in Timber Junction, one mile down the road from the site of a three-car crash that included killed two people and injured four more Friday. Oregon State Police said speed and seatbelt use was a factor in the latter incident.

Law enforcement agencies across the state have stepped up patrols in anticipation of St. Patrick's Day weekend, although agencies investigating Friday and Saturday's crashes have not said alcohol was a factor in any incident.

Another deadly crash in rural Sherman County claimed the lives of a couple visiting from Arizona and injured three others Friday. Officials there said speed and weather was a factor.

--Eder Campuzano | 503.221.4344

ecampuzano@oregonian.comA Gresham woman and an 80-year-old man from Minnesota were pronounced dead at the site of a crash that also injured four people  including two children  Friday afternoon, Oregon State Police said in a release.

Caitlyn Potter, 18, of Portland was driving a 2002 Chevrolet Trailblazer east just northwest of Timber when she reportedly slid sideways into a westbound Toyota Tacoma, then T-boned a GMC Acadia driven by Andrew Bonneville, 47, of Newberg.



Kendra Cornwell, 19, a passenger in the Trailblazer, and Tom Bonneville, a passenger in the Acadia and Andrew Bonneville's father, were pronounced dead at the scene.



Andrew Bonneville's 8- and 12-year-old daughters were taken to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center for minor injuries, and his mother, Julia, 77, was transported to Emanuel with serious injuries.



Potter, the driver of the Trailblazer, was transported to OHSU Hospital with critical injuries. Police said speed and seatbelt use were factors in the crash and severity of injuries.

The driver of the Tacoma and his two passengers were uninjured, police said.

--Eder Campuzano | 503.221.4344

ecampuzano@oregonian.comAt a routine meeting of an Oregon legislative subcommittee, Sen. Betsy Johnson unleashed the ire she's fostered for six years over the State Library's performance.

"We have spent I don't know how many untold hours trying to figure out how to cure a hundred years of tradition unhampered by progress and it hasn't gotten better," she told fellow lawmakers weighing the library's proposed budget.

Less than a year later, Gov. Kate Brown ousted State Librarian MaryKay Dahlgreen, surprising and disappointing Dahlgreen's many supporters among librarians and library supporters.

Brown's office declined to explain the move beyond saying "Dahlgreen fell short of clear and timely expectations from legislators." But the librarian's ouster on Tuesday appears to have been driven by the discontent of one person: Johnson.

Johnson is forthright in her frustration with the state library. But she said the idea that she alone is behind the firing is "absurd."

"Do the math. Even if I voted no, you still don't have the numbers," to defeat Dahlgreen's nomination, Johnson said.

She's right, which points to a curious decision Brown's office has refused to explain.

A new law meant Brown needed to nominate a state librarian for the first time this year. Brown initially submitted Dahlgreen's name for re-appointment.

Democratic Caucus leader Sen. Ginny Burdick said this week that she informed Brown's office earlier this year that a few senators in her party had qualms with Dahlgreen's performance. Burdick declined to explain the qualms or name the lawmakers who didn't support Dahlgreen.

Brown quickly withdrew Dahlgreen's name and decided she had to go. Governor spokeswoman Kate Kondayen said Brown offered Dahlgreen the chance to stay in her position while she and her staff looked for a replacement. But Dahlgreen chose to be fired immediately.

In a chamber with 30 members, it takes 16 votes to confirm a nominee for a state director's job -- a bar Dahlgreen would likely have passed even with a few senators objecting.

Some Democratic lawmakers who called for changes at the State Library soon after Dahlgreen became the head said they would have voted for her.

A spokeswoman for the 12-member Senate Republican Caucus said that no Republican had serious objections to Dahlgreen.

It is highly unusual for one lawmaker to wield veto power over such appointments. Johnson carries outsized powers at the Legislature, in part because she is the Democrat most likely to part ways with fellow Democrats, thus having unusual power to make or break Senate deals.

Johnson said Friday there was "unequivocally no" trade with Brown's office to quash Dahlgreen's re-appointment.

Kondayen said she had no comment when asked how many senators were opposed to Dahlgreen's re-appointment or whether Johnson played a role.

She also refused to elaborate on what expectation Dahlgreen failed to meet, repeatedly pointing to this statement: ""MaryKay Dahlgreen fell short of clear and timely expectations from legislators, and as a result of these performance issues, did not have the Senate support necessary for confirmation."

Until this year, the Oregon State Library board of directors had the power to appoint the State Librarian. However, that changed as part of a wide-ranging bill that revamped how the State Library functions.

Library leaders in the state, including the board of directors and Dahlgreen, supported the change because they said it seemed to give the department equal gravitas as other state agencies.

Some started to regret that decision this week when Dahlgreen was dismissed with little explanation or prior notice.

Dahlgreen was widely respected by the library community in Oregon and had the support of the lead lobbying and industry group, Oregon Library Association.

The State Library performs three main roles: conducts research for other state departments; provides money and expertise to libraries around the state to make sure they are up-to-date; and distributes audiobooks and braille books for people with vision impairment or physical obstacles to holding a print book.

Johnson has complained about the State Library's performance for years, including under previous state librarians.

In the May 2017 hearing, she railed against what she said were long unresolved issues in how staff perform their jobs. One concern in particular: She was frustrated that managers couldn't define one of the key metrics by which the library agreed to have its performance judged.

"When I hear the professional staff talk about a need to define what a "research transaction" is -- we've been talking about this for six years!" Johnson said. "I don't know when that definition comes. I don't know why this is so difficult. I just -- I don't get it."

Dahlgreen assured her that the problem would be solved by the next budget request in 2019.

"2019? that's almost a decade to get this done," Johnson said. "I think this is just shameful."

Rep. Mike Nearman, R-Independence, also voted against the library's budget and proposed key performance measures. But he said he had nothing against Dahlgreen. He voted on ideological grounds that he doesn't see a need for the State Library to exist, he said.

-- Molly Harbarger

mharbarger@oregonian.com

503-294-5923

@MollyHarbargerA woman accused of returning fire on police after officers shot at her in Southwest Portland was struck by bullets during the altercation, her lawyer told The Oregonian/OregonLive.

The woman, identified by police as Sarah Michelle Brown, 26, suffered gunshot wounds to her hand and leg, said public defender DeAnna Horne.

"I can only imagine the bullets were fired by someone shooting at her," Horne said.

Portland Police have previously declined to say whether the woman, a suspected burglar, was struck by gunfire during the reported March 8 shootout in the Goose Hollow neighborhood. She now faces attempted murder charges.

The revelation comes as a grand jury convened Friday to review an investigation of the incident, police and prosecutors said. The shooting is the first time Portland police have fired at a female suspect since Kendra James was fatally wounded by officers in 2003, records show.

The officers involved in last week's shooting, Darrel Shaw and Joseph Webber, are on routine paid administrative leave until the grand jury review is complete.

This is not the first time Shaw, a 24-year veteran of the force, has been involved in an on-duty shooting.

He and another officer in 2000 opened fire on an SUV driven by a man accused of shooting at people outside a bar, records show. Police bullets struck the fleeing car and a city dump truck, but did not hit anyone.

In 2005, Shaw was one of three officers who fatally shot a homeless man in downtown Portland. Police say the man, Vernon Clifford Allen, lunged at the officers with a knife. A grand jury found no criminal wrongdoing by police.

The next year he made headlines after an investigation by The Portland Tribune on the use of force by police found Shaw had sent more people to the hospital during a two-year period than any other Portland officer.

He's also been sued at least twice by people who claimed he used excessive force against them, according to court records and news reports.

A jury sided with the officer in 2011 after Margarita Beutel testified Shaw slammed her head-first into a brick wall and later the trunk of a patrol cruiser when she tried to intervene in a traffic stop.

In 2014, the city agreed to a $110,000 settlement in a federal civil rights case in which Daniel Collins, a college student, accused Shaw and three other officers of beating and zapping him with a Taser until he lost consciousness.

Last week's incident began the night of March 7, when police responded to a report of an unknown person entering a home on the 800 block of Southwest King Avenue about 11 p.m., authorities said.

Officers did not locate a suspect.

Police returned to the same residence hours later, at 3:25 a.m., to investigate a reported burglary in progress, said Sgt. Chris Burley, a Portland police spokesman.

This time, with the help of police dogs, officers found a suspect, Burley said.

At least one officer discharged a weapon, police said. The suspect, a woman, shot back. She then hunkered down beneath a porch, prompting an hourslong standoff, according to authorities.

Police eventually detained the woman and recovered a handgun at the scene, Burley said. The woman spent the next four days in a hospital before being released and arrested.

Police booked the woman Sunday under the name Sarah Michelle Brown and she was arraigned the following afternoon. The woman identified as Brown has four other arrests since January on suspected charges ranging from burglary to theft to trespassing, court records show.

But the woman's legal name is Alexis Elizabeth Wilder and she is 28 years old, according to friends and family who contacted The Oregonian/OregonLive this week, as well as jail and public records searches.

Multnomah County jail mugshots of Wilder, who has two prior theft arrests, and Brown appear to show the same person. Both share the same identification number given to inmates by the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office.

Burley, the police spokesman, said the bureau is in communication with the Multnomah District Attorney's Office and Multnomah County Sheriff's Office about the identity of the suspect.

She remains lodged in the Multnomah County jail on charges of aggravated attempted murder with a firearm, first-degree burglary, unlawful use of a firearm and unlawful entry of a vehicle. Her bail is set at $357,500, court records show.

-- Shane Dixon Kavanaugh

skavanaugh@oregonian.com

503-294-7632 II @shanedkavanaughA study looking at high-speed rail connecting Vancouver, B.C. to Seattle and Portland is getting funding from the government of British Columbia.



Premier John Horgan was joined by Gov. Jay Inslee during Friday's announcement that B.C. will contribute $300,000 toward the study that will build upon an economic analysis released by Washington state last month. That previous report estimated that a high-speed corridor link could create up to 200,000 jobs for B.C. and U.S. workers, and generate billions of dollars in economic benefits.



According to a news release from Inslee's office, the new study will look at factors such as ridership levels, system development, delivery methods and financing.



Up to $1.2 million in funding for the new study has been approved by the Washington Legislature.

-- The Associated PressLINDSAY BOND

BRISBANE  Just a few days ago, an important tweet appeared in my Twitter timeline from Governor Gary Juffa of Oro Province in Papua New Guinea.

"Today completed inspection of ongoing operations at Collingwood, Oro Province, the tweet read. All equipment and logs impounded. Illegal logging operations stopped. Addressed community to inform them of actions taken on their behalf including engagement of lawyer to commence civil proceedings."

These were Governor Juffas words and they were said after his decisive actions. A leader by tradition is one who goes ahead into the fray, giving full measure to being the first and being seen to do that by his followers.

Governor Juffa also tweeted: "It is very worrying that PNG Forest Authority are now so silent and not acting against illegal loggers in Oro. This is totally hypocritical of the govts claim that it is taking stringent steps against illegal logging."This service applies to you if your subscription has not yet expired on our old site. You will have continued access until your subscription expires; then you will need to purchase an ongoing subscription through our new system. Please contact the Parsons Sun office at (620) 421-2000 if you have any questionsEarlier today Patently Apple posted a report titled "iPhone Fans using Google Photos can now try the Preview of Google Lens, a Cool On-Demand Object Recognition Tool. Now Apple customers who use Microsoft's Windows 10 at work and at home using the Edge browser could now download Edge in beta for iPad and iPad Pro here, right now.

There are a few features that won't work in beta, like the iPad's split screen, but that will eventually get ironed out. The Verge notes that "Microsoft still isn't supporting tab syncing between a Windows PC and the iPad or iPhone versions of Edge, but the company did previously promise it's working on such a feature."

Microsoft launched Edge for iPhone late last year and it was covered Windows Central here. For professionals who live in a multi-device multi-platform world, having the edge browser on all your devices may be convenient and a way to sync all your work.

For 95% of Apple customers Safari is the way to go for sure, though having choice is always good and iDevices can now use Firefox and Edge that many enterprises will appreciate.





About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Those using abusive language or negative behavior will result in being blacklisted on Disqus.News and commentary on organized crime, street crime, white collar crime, cyber crime, sex crime, crime fiction, crime prevention, espionage and terrorism.15/15 Preview: Chiseled has no quit in him amidst YETI World Champion Bull race

World No. 2 Chiseled will take on Cody Jesus in the 15/15 Bucking Battle in Deadwood as he tries to catch No. 1 Woopaa.The Ministry of Interior has been petitioned to restore the residence and work permit of an Indian businessman, Mr. Ashok Kumar Sivaram, who was recently shipped out of the under very controversial circumstances.



The Attorney for Ashok Kumar Sivaram has raised concerns over the deportation of their client from Ghana to India, saying the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) didn't serve him a notice.



Last year, an Accra High Court ordered the GIS to restore the permit within 7 days.



The court also ordered the GIS not to harass the businessman or make any attempt to deport him before restoring the permit.



On Thursday, March 8 this year; the Supreme Court quashed the High Court order for the restoration of the residence and work permit of embattled Indian businessman, Ashok Kumar Sivaram.



The High Court, according to Justices of the Supreme Court, erred in granting the order and also exceeded her jurisdiction in making the order.



But in a statement signed by the George Otempong Dankwa, Attorney for the Indian business magnate and sited by Peacefmonline.com, the notice for Mr. Sivaram to exit the country was "never served" on him "to afford him any opportunity to prepare himself to comply with the terms of the letter" dated 9th March, 2018.



"Surprisingly, on 11th March, 2018, officers of the Ghana Immigration Service stormed the residence of Mr. Ashok Kumar Sivaram and with blocks broke into his room and forcibly took him out of the country the same day. Whilst on the flight, Mr. Sivaram was handed over a letter dated 9th March, 2018 to the effect that his permit to remain in Ghana has expired and therefore his presence in Ghana was unlawful.



"In effect, he was according to the said letter, to leave Ghana within forty-eight (48) hours upon receipt of the said letter", the statement disclosed.



The Counsel has appealed to the Minister of Interior, Ambrose Dery to intervene and ensure Mr. Sivaram's residence and work permit is granted him.



Mr. Otempong Dankwa on behalf of his client argued that his client has stayed in Ghana over 18 years and is a law-abiding taxpayer bearing no criminal record.



He further pointed out his client has a "business interest in Ghana employing Ghanaian citizen" and so "it is imperative that the paramount interest of the company and the workers be taken into consideration so as to re-issue Sivaram's Residence/Work Permit. It is very likely that being the only resident director of Jai Mai Communications Limited and having been repatriated to India, the company would be injuriously affected in terms of its operations and the welfare of the over one hundred and sixty (160) workers employed by the Telecom company".





Background



Ashok Kumar Sivaram was deported from Ghana on Thursday, June 1, 2017 under the hand of the Minister of Interior, Ambrose Dery.



A petition was submitted to the Interior Minister's officer by Mr. Sivaram's solicitors on June 9 last year for the restoration of his residence and work permit.



Mr. Sivaram returned to Ghana on Wednesday, August 2, 2017 following the Accra High Court quashing of the Deportation Order on 31 July, 2017.



Following the decision of the Ghana Immigration Service not to restore the permit, an application for Mandamus was filed at the High Court.



The Supreme Court however set aside the High Court ruling making the deportation of Mr. Sivaram valid.

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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 head of the European Union delegation to Ghana has advised Ghanaians to invest in profitable ventures rather than travelling to Europe only to beg in malls.



William Hanna describes as undignifying, the situation where some Ghanaians allow themselves to be duped by human traffickers into Europe only to be left stranded.



Speaking Friday at a lecture on migration at the University of Ghana, themed "interrogating the forces behind migration from Africa to Europe, Mr. Hanna recounts how he has seen some Ghanaian migrants begging in European supermarkets just to make ends meet.



I have a very deep picture in my mind of walking around Romeand I see Ghanaians begging at supermarkets probably to make some money and I dont see much dignity in that, he said.



Suggesting the cure to this menace, the diplomat said the EU needs a much more intimate collaboration with the Ghanaian government and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs).



we are not having the dialogue with the government that we should have. It should be much closer, and we should have a dialogue with civil society also involved, he argued.



He believes all these bodies will help arrest the problem of Ghanaians leaving to find unexisting opportunities across the Sahara.



Meanwhile, some research work by the Centre for Migration Studies at the University of Ghana has revealed that, thousands of Ghanaians who embark on the perilous journey to Europe, do not do so solely because of poverty.



According to Director of the Center who also spoke at the lecture, a number of migrants embark on these journeys for social reasons, like marriage.



Professor Joseph Teye said, it is therefore wrong to assume that all those who move from Africa to Europe go because of poverty.



Some of the amounts of money, these migrants cough up just to make these trips cannot be afforded by poor peoplesome pay up to 5000 euros just to make this trips, he said.



He also noted that the European countries do want Africans to settle in their countries only that this should be done in an orderly manner.



European countries need labour from Africa, if you look at their fertility rate, you will see that some have 1.1and if your fertility rate is less than 2 it means what you have is less than replacement fertility," he said.



Nobody is saying migration in itself is bad but irregular migration is bad, he reiterated.

Source: myjoyonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured VideoA two member delegation of the opposition National Democratic Congress delegation led by the General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah on Friday, 16 March left for the United Kingdom (UK) to launch the Diasporan Reorganisation Programme.



According to the party, the delegation will use the opportunity to educate its members in the UK/Ireland branch on the guidelines and approach to their diasporan registration and reorganisation exercise.



The other member of the delegation is the National Organiser of the party, Mr Kofi Adams.



A Deputy General Secretary, Mr Koku Anyidoho will act in the capacity as Acting General Secretary in the absence of Mr Asiedu Nketia.



The delegation is expected to return to Accra on Monday, 19 March 2018.







Source: Class FM









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D.G. Yuengling & Son is brewing up a new product announcement.

It will be the first non-seasonal release the Pottsville brewery has added to its product portfolio in 17 years. The unveiling is set for 10 a.m., March 19 at the brewery.

So what does Yuengling have up its sleeve? A little sleuthing indicates the new brew will likely be called Yuengling Golden Pilsner. (At least that's what the title on the file of the press advisory reads.)

A quick Google search also reveals the beer is listed by Beer Advocate and My Beer Buzz blog as a German Pilsner. Beer Buzz goes so far as to say the beer will be sold in 12-ounce and 16-ounce cans as well as kegs.

This all comes on the heels of Yuengling being named the top-producing craft brewery by sales volume in the nation by the Brewers Association, a not-for-profit trade association that represents more than 4,000 breweries nationwide.

Stay tuned and we'll have more information come Monday.The floods of 1936 occurred throughout Pennsylvania March 17-20 and became known as the St. Patrick's Day Floods.

The St. Patrick's Day floods affected all areas of Pennsylvania - Easton, Williamsport, Bloomsburg, Sunbury, Johnstown and Pittsburgh. More than 100 people in Pennsylvania died and the damage estimate was $300 million.

According to the book, Great Floods of Pennsylvania by William H. Shank, "The winter of 1935-36 had been one of the most severe that Pennsylvania had seen for years. Huge quantities of snow fell in January and February throughout the state, and prevailing low temperatures preserved it well."

In late February, the cold spell ended, according to the book, "with remarkably warm weather and light rains. This resulted in the rapid melting of two months accumulation of dormant moisture throughout the state, all of which was turned loose on the streams and rivers within a period of about 10 days."

"An early effect of the warm spell was the thawing of the heavy layers of ice, fifteen to twenty (or more) inches thick, formed on the rivers during the intense cold period. As this ice melted, and as the rivers raised, the ice 'gorged' or jammed at various points, forming temporary dams, with resulting high 'back-up' water. The heavy ice cakes, borne in-shore by the high water, resulted in great damage to properties or communities where the jams occurred."

The author said that on March 7 he and a friend viewed an ice jam north of the bridge at Duncannon. The broken ice on the Juniata River, he said, had formed a dam at the bridge and water was pouring across Route 22 at Amity Hall, joining the Susquehanna River.

"Pennsylvania Department of Highway engineers had dynamited the roadway at Amity Hall to provide a temporary channel and prevent under mining of the entire roadway between Amity Hall and the Clarks Ferry Bridge," he wrote.

That evening, 10 miles of river ice above Harrisburg broke loose and gorged at multiple locations, causing an abrupt rise in the water level, and "carrying huge cakes of ice in shore, which did tremendous damage. The town of Dauphin, 8 miles north of Harrisburg, was particularly hard hit. The ice gorge there occurred so suddenly that the townspeople literally ran for their lives to escape the inshore rush of water and ice cakes. Virtually every cottage and home along the river bank was either completely destroyed or badly damaged by the ice."

In the next week, he wrote, the level of the Susquehanna River at Harrisburg rose and fell. The maximum level on March 13 was 21.7 feet, with flooding in south Harrisburg and some West Shore suburbs.

"The big flood, however, started on March 17 when the water began a steady and inexorable rise which continued until about 28 percent of the city was under water - 4 to 15 feet deep in some places. The peak of 30.33 feet was finally reached at 6 p.m. March 19, the highest reading to that date ever recorded on the Walnut Street gage at Harrisburg. The official crest, recorded on the Nagle Street gage downstream, was 29.23 feet," he wrote.

Because the city's pumping station and island water filtering plant were submerged at 27 feet, he said the city was left with only about a week's worth of uncontaminated water in its reservoirs.

The water began to recede on March 21. "Damage was tremendous," he wrote. "Gas mains, water supplies, power lines, highways and bridges in the area were left in pitiable conditions. For weeks whole caravans of tank trucks rushed in drinking water supplies to fill the dwindling reservoirs. Water was rationed and boiling was recommended for what little water still remained in the reservoirs. It became almost a criminal offense to take a bath. Most West Shore citizens got typhoid shots."America's oldest brewery had topped the list of craft breweries once again.

The Brewers Association list of the top 50 craft breweries once again has D. G. Yuengling & Son, Inc at the top spot this year. The Pottsville brewery also took home that honor last year.

The Brewers Association list ranks the craft beer breweries by sales -- and with Yuengling's expansion into Kentucky back in January and Arkansas expansion late last year, it's no surprise that they were a lock on the top spot again this year.

Yuengling's sales have led the company to become the largest American-owned brewing company that also brews in the United States, surpassing the Boston Beer Company in 2012. And the company is also preparing to announce a new beer, which will be unveiled on March 19.

Two other Pennsylvania brewing companies also made the list: Artisanal Brewing Ventures of Downingtown and Lakewood, New York landed at number 14, and Hershey's Troegs Brewing Company came in at 30.

When it came to top brewing companies overall, Yuengling came in sixth place,. Artisanal Brewing Ventures came in at 24 on that list, with Troegs at 40.

Check out the full list on the Brewers Association website.

This story has been updated with the correct numbers from 2017.Alex Lovell nearly lost his fingers, his life and he appears to have lost the woman he loved.

Otherwise, the Camas, Washington, man is feeling pretty good.

"I was just so proud for beating this samurai wannabe crazy lady with hate in her heart," Lovell, 29, told The Oregonian/OregonLive in a Facebook message exchange Wednesday. "I've been preparing my whole life for something like this."

The woman? Emily Javier, 30, his girlfriend of two years. Javier faces attempted murder charges after she told police and a 911 dispatcher she attacked and repeatedly slashed Lovell with a samurai sword during the wee hours of March 3.

The incident has drawn national and international headlines. It's also landed Lovell in the hospital, where he remains recovering from multiple wounds and lacerations.

In an interview with police after the attack, Javier claimed she found a Tinder dating app on Lovell's phone and also fumed over his penchant for playing too many video games.

Lovell admits he may spend a bit too much time in front of a computer screen. But he insists he never cheated.

"I barely had time to hang out with my girlfriend, let alone another girl," he said.

In recent months, Lovell said he had spent 12 to 13 hours a day playing and training for "PlayerUnknown's Battleground," a computer game where players parachute onto an island, gather weapons and blow each other to bits.

The long hours also required him to spend time doing exercises for his hands, wrists and shoulders and also practicing mouse moves and techniques to maximize performance.

"I wasn't a sweaty nerd, more of an Ethlete," Lovell said, describing a person who has an intensive online gaming regimen.

Javier told police she hatched the assault on Lovell after she found evidence he had been unfaithful.

First, there was the Tinder dating app, she said. Then she, she said, saw sexually suggestive scratches on his back. Finally, Javier found red hair in the couple's shower drain, according to the police report.

Her hair, on the other hand, is dyed green.

Lovell said he had Tinder on his phone when he first met Javier but later deleted the dating app.

As for her other allegations? "Basically, she was delusional," he said.

In her interview with police, Javier said she had suspected he had cheated on her before, an accusation she said he always denied. She also mentioned she had grown increasingly incensed by the limited attention he paid her.

Javier told police she grew enraged, went to a shopping mall and purchased a samurai sword.

She spent the next week stewing and plotting her violent revenge, she said.

Her anger peaked the night of March 2 when Lovell returned home and ignored her, Javier said. About 9 p.m., she went into the couple's bedroom, where she had taped the samurai sword and two knives to her side of the bed, the police report shows.

Lovell later joined her and drifted off to sleep. Javier told police she hid her boyfriend's phone so he couldn't call for help.

After the lights went out, Javier said she retrieved he samurai sword - then brought it down on her boyfriend, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Lovell said he woke up to being attacked by Javier. His instincts kicked in, and he drew on a lifetime of Kung Fu films and martial arts training.

"I was able to wing chun my way to survival," Lovell said referring to a traditional form of Chinese martial art that focuses on close-range combat.

Eventually he got her into a bear hug.

"I saw the look in her eyes, and it scared the living poop out of me," he said. "I told her I loved her, and she was killing me. She needed to call police, or I was going to die."

A 911 call obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive reveals a woman who appears to be stricken with grief and horror over the violent outburst.

The distraught woman, who identifies herself as Emily Javier, tells a dispatcher she just stabbed her boyfriend repeatedly with a sword.

She tells the dispatcher she couldn't go into the bedroom because there was too much blood.

"I think he's dead. You need to hurry," the woman tells the dispatcher.

Officers arrived at the couple's Northeast Garfield Street home minutes after the 1:54 a.m. call. Officers entered the bedroom and found the walls splattered with blood and Lovell curled up in ball, the police report shows.



He was rushed to a hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Lovell's index, middle and ring fingers were nearly lopped off at the base though doctors have been able to reattach them, he said.

He has deep lacerations on his feet and legs and may have fractured his right wrist, which is in a cast, Lovell said. There are various other wounds to his torso, neck and left side of his head.

"Obviously, I got some gnarly injuries," he said.

Members of the "PlayerUnknown's Battleground" gaming community have launched a GoFundMe campaign for Lovell. As of Wednesday, it had raised $8,000.

Lovell said he anticipates a long road to recovery. It could be six months until he's walking again, and he will require extensive physical therapy to regain the full use of his hands.

Until then, Lovell is savoring the small victories.

"The feeling I had when I won the fight with my bare hands is just absolutely the best feeling," he said. "I've played all the sports, won big games, landed some decent tricks on my snowboard. This was better."

Asked if he and Javier were still an item, he wrote: "I haven't spoken with her if that's what you mean lol."

"She called the authorities and saved my life, I hope that counts for something," he said. "It's a bit complicated. Regardless, I assume she needs some serious help."

Javier's trial is set for May 7. She remains detained in the Clark County jail. Her bail is set at $350,000.

-- Shane Dixon Kavanaugh | skavanaugh@oregonian.comMIAMI (AP) -- An engineer left a voicemail two days before a catastrophic bridge failure in Miami to say some cracking had been found at one end of the concrete span, but the voicemail wasn't picked up until after the collapse, Florida Department of Transportation officials said Friday.



The voicemail left on a landline wasn't heard by a state DOT employee until Friday because the employee was out of the office on an assignment, the agency said in an email.



In a transcript released Friday night, Denney Pate with FIGG Bridge Group says the cracking would need repairs "but from a safety perspective we don't see that there's any issue there so we're not concerned about it from that perspective."



The bridge collapsed Thursday, killing at least six people. Authorities are slowly removing the debris, looking for more victims.



At a news conference Friday night, officials from the National Transportation Safety Board said they have just begun their investigation, and cannot yet say whether any cracking contributed to the collapse. They also said workers were trying to strengthen a diagonal member on the pedestrian bridge at Florida International University when it collapsed.



Robert Accetta, the investigator-in-charge for the NTSB, said crews were applying post-tensioning force, but investigators aren't sure if that's what caused the bridge to fall.Miami bridge collapse: 'Stress test' preceded accident that killed 6



In a news release late Friday, FIGG Bridge Engineers said it "continues to work diligently" to determine the cause of the collapse, and is examining the steps its team has taken. It added, "The evaluation was based on the best available information at that time and indicated that there were no safety issues." It also asked for time to accurately determine what led to the accident.



A college student who narrowly escaped from a car that got smashed in the collapse said he watched helplessly as the structure tumbled down atop the vehicle and killed his friend Alexa Duran, who was sitting next to him in the driver's seat.



Richie Humble, who studies at FIU, was riding in a car under the pedestrian bridge when he heard a long creaking noise coming from the structure that spanned a busy Miami-area highway. It sounded different from anything he had ever heard before.



"I looked up, and in an instant, the bridge was collapsing on us completely. It was too quick to do anything about it," Humble said Friday in a phone interview with The Associated Press.



Once Humble realized he was alive, he also realized that he could not get to Duran. He called to her but got no response. A group of men outside the car started yelling at him to try crawling through the rear window.



He couldn't squeeze through because the window was crushed. The men outside grabbed a wooden plank and pried open the rear door to pull him free, he said.



"I was trying to get people to realize my friend was still in there," he said.



He suffered cuts to his leg from glass and a slight fracture to a vertebra, but he was able to walk away from the scene.



While families waited for word on their loved ones, investigators sought to understand why the 950-ton bridge gave way during construction. The cables supporting the span were being tightened following a "stress test" when it collapsed, authorities said.





The Florida DOT said in its Friday release that it had not been notified of any stress test.



Detectives declared the rubble a homicide scene.



Scheduled to open in 2019, the bridge would have provided safe passage over a canal and six lanes of traffic and created a showpiece architectural feature connecting the campus of FIU with the community of Sweetwater, where many students live.



The $14.2 million project was supposed to take advantage of a faster, cheaper and safer method of bridge-building promoted by the university.



Authorities have not confirmed the victims' names. Duran's family has said she died. The fatalities included a student at FIU. One person died at a hospital. Miami-Dade Police Director Juan Perez said five bodies were located with the help of cameras but had not yet been retrieved.



In a Facebook post, Chelsea Brownfield said she was awaiting any information about her husband, Brandon. According to a Go Fund Me page set up for the family, Brandon Brownfield was driving home from work when the collapse happened.



"The outpouring of love we have received is incredible," Chelsea Brownfield wrote. The post ended with the hashtag "praying for a miracle."



Brownfield declined to comment in a message to The Associated Press.



Jorge and Carol Fraga feared their relative's car was trapped beneath the bridge. Jorge's 60-year-old uncle, Rolando Fraga, lives in the area and frequently takes the nearby turnpike to work, but no one has heard from him since midday Thursday.



"The waiting is so ... I don't have words for that," Carol Fraga said through tears.



The bridge was put in place March 10, five days before the collapse.



When finished, the span would have been supported from above, with a tall, off-center tower and cables attached to the walkway. That tower had not yet been installed, and it was unclear what builders were using as temporary supports.

By Adriana Gomez Licon and Jennifer Kay, Associated Press. Tim Reynolds, Josh Replogle, Freida Frisaro and Curt Anderson in Miami; Jason Dearen in Gainesville; Tamara Lush in St. Petersburg and Rodrique Ngowi in Boston contributed to this report.PRESTON, Idaho (AP) -- Authorities are investigating reports a teacher fed a sick puppy to a snapping turtle in a rural Idaho town that was the setting for the teenage cult classic film "Napoleon Dynamite."

The uproar has forced police to step up security amid threats at Preston Junior High School and other schools in the district following the incident that reportedly occurred on March 7 in front of several students after school.

Investigators are looking into possible animal cruelty charges. The teacher has not been named by authorities.

Preston Police Chief Mike Peterson said Friday the threats were vague but linked to the allegation that the reportedly ailing puppy was fed to the turtle March 7.

"It was enough of a threat that our parents thought we ought to have a bit of a presence over there," Peterson said.

He said two police officers and four Franklin County sheriff's deputies were stationed at schools on Thursday that are normally patrolled by one sheriff's deputy. The district doesn't hold classes on Fridays, but officers may return to provide added security on Monday.

Peterson said the sheriff's office has submitted its findings of the incident to Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney Vic Pearson. But Pearson said his agency has a conflict of interest and earlier this week forwarded the report to another prosecutor in the region that he didn't name.

He said in a news release that the high volume of calls being received by law enforcement and his office was "hindering our ability to complete what needs to be done to reach the end goal of justice in this case."

Franklin County Sheriff David Fryar didn't immediately return a call from The Associated Press on Friday.

The Preston School District's answering system said its mailbox was full and not accepting messages. But in a previous statement, Superintendent Marc Gee said the district became aware of "a regrettable circumstance involving some of the biological specimens."

The Idaho Humane Society has called for an investigation and has contacted local officials offering its help.

In a statement, it said it shares the concern "of all our constituents who are deeply disturbed by the news from Preston, Idaho, regarding allegations of the mistreatment of a puppy in a classroom setting."

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals in a statement said the teacher is a "bully who should not be allowed near impressionable young people."

The Idaho State Department of Agriculture on Friday said the turtle was euthanized on Wednesday because it's an invasive species. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game helped obtain the turtle.

"Our concern is they are omnivorous, can be highly predacious on native species, can live a long time, and once they reach a certain size, they have few natural predators," said Fish and Game spokesman Roger Phillips.

The 2004 film "Napoleon Dynamite" was set in rural Preston, which has a population of about 5,200. The film portrays a shy and unpopular teenager helping his friend run for high school class president.

Reports of the puppy being fed to the turtle have put the town near the Utah border back in the spotlight, but in a negative way.

"I think people are disappointed, disappointed that the incident happened," said Peterson, the police chief. "We don't want that media attention. This is a small town that runs at its own pace."The firm that designed the pedestrian bridge that collapsed in Florida also engineered bridges that carry traffic across three of Pennsylvania's biggest rivers. That's why Pennsylvania Turnpike bridge engineers have been scrutinizing video footage of the collapse that killed six and injured ten, and anxiously awaiting results of the investigation.

"Their initial thinking is that whatever happened to that bridge in Florida is likely not applicable to our bridges," turnpike commission spokesman Carl DeFebo said on Friday.

There are vast differences between the 174-foot pedestrian bridge that collapsed near Miami on Thursday and the three Pennsylvania bridges, including one high above the Susquehanna River near Harrisburg that spans more than a mile.

which has an office in Exton in Chester County.

Another is that all are built using a "segmental" approach where spans made of poured concrete are cast on the ground and eventually placed atop trusses. The purpose is to minimize disruption of traffic on roads or navigable waters below the bridge.

In the case of the Florida bridge, the spans were built next to the seven-lane highway and hoisted into place only Saturday. According to early reports, cables holding the spans together were being adjusted at the time of the collapse. The bridge, intended to allow Florida International University students to safely cross the highway, wasn't expected to open to foot traffic until next year.

The other Pennsylvania Turnpike bridges designed by FIGG are in western Pennsylvania, with one spanning 2,350 feet of the Allegheny River and the other spanning 3,078 feet of the Monongahela River. Those bridges opened in 2009 and 2012.

In a statement after the Florida collapse, FIGG said it was the first time such a thing happened in the firm's 40 years of existence.

DeFebo noted that FIGG is known for its expertise in segmental bridges and has designed them all over the world. While FIGG designs the bridges, other companies carry out the construction.

DeFebo said Pennsylvania's turnpike bridges are inspected every two years. The turnpike commission is responsible for conducting the inspections, contracting them to an outside engineering firm -- but not FIGG -- and adhering to federal standards.

The turnpike bridge over the Susquehanna just south of Harrisburg actually consists of separate three-lane bridges eight feet apart. DeFebo noted the bridge has been open since 2007 and there have been no problems, nor have there been problems with the others.

"We are confident in the safety and the performance of our bridges right now," DeFebo said.

Still, he said turnpike commission engineers will pay close attention to the Florida investigation. "We're anxious to get word on what specifically did cause this," he said.Lance Blanchard is shown in an Edmonton Police Service handout photo. Blanchard, a 60-year old Edmonton man who has a long criminal history, is expected to find out today whether he will be designated a dangerous offender.THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Edmonton Police Service MANDATORY CREDITNDP Leader Jagmeet Singh speaks at an availability following caucus meetings in Ottawa on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2018. Singh says Canada should declare as a genocide the anti-Sikh violence that took place in India more than three decades ago. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin TangThis photo shows a complete copy of a letter by Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI about Pope Francis that the Vatican released Saturday, March 17, 2018, after coming under blistering criticism for previously selectively citing it in a press release and digitally manipulating a photograph of it. The previously hidden part of the letter, the Vatican blurred the final two lines of the letter's first page, provides the real explanation why Benedict refused to provide commentary on a new Vatican-published compilation of books about Francis' theological and philosophical background that was released to mark his fifth anniversary as pope. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)In this image from video by KDFW, a fire burns at the Tri-Chem Industries plan in Cresson, Texas. Officials said fears of another blast amid the toxic chemicals prevented crews from battling the blaze. (KDFW via AP)Pope Francis kisses the crucifix in the Santa Maria Della Grazie Sanctuary, in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy, during his pastoral visit to the places of St. Padre Pio, Saturday, March 17, 2018. Saint Pio who is widely venerated in Italy and abroad is famous for bearing the stigmata, the wounds of crucified Jesus. (L'Osservatore Romano/Pool Photo via AP)Russian President Vladimir Putin touches his eye during a news conference after meeting with his staff at the campaign headquarters in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, March 18, 2018. Russian President Vladimir Putin has dodged a question about his plans after serving another six-year term he has won. Putin wouldn't be eligible under the constitution to compete in the 2024 election since there is a limit of two consecutive terms. (Sergei Chirikov/Pool photo via AP)Perryville football coach Brent Roth is already trying to erase the game from his memory. It is probably for a good reason, too.Perryville struggled to do anything well as Park Hills Central handed 

The Pirates finally put together what Perryville softball coach Lilly Pecaut called a complete game.Everything came together as Perryville got the offense and pitching to come away with 

The Perryville boys soccer team was able to show its resiliency in multiple ways as it got back into the win column. The Pirates bounced back from a lopsided loss to Notre Dame the week before, to 

St. Vincent makes Valle Catholic play in loss St. Vincent football coach Tim Schumer didnt want his team to look at the scoreboard following the game. The score may have said that the Valle Catholic Warriors won in a lopsided game, but 

Indians take advantage of miscues to claim first victory St. Vincent found itself down two scores midway through the third quarter, and despite the deficit, coach Tim Schumer was calm.The game was not over at that point, you have to play four 

Rushing attack leads Pirates to win over Owls The Perryville football team is quickly turning into a M.A.S.H. unit. With several players already nursing injuries from the previous week, they also threw in other players who were in quarantine. 

Click Here For Our Local Sports PagePolice this week seized items from a residence in Petersburg that are consistent with the manufacture and distribution of methamphetamine, according to a release from the department.

On Thursday and Friday, Petersburg officers served multiple search warrants at a residence on Cornelius Road, and another location, according to the release.

Officers seized glassware, listed chemicals, materials used to package controlled substances for distribution and other suspicious substances, which will be submitted for official identification.

The suspects have been identified and the investigation is ongoing. The department said no further information will be released at this time, but Chief of Police Kelly Swihart said charges are likely to be filed.Opinion



Global Risk Insights: Colombia's fracking dilema

Getty



With officials in Colombia grappling with the reality of dwindling oil reserves, fracking has become central to the energy conversation. A balance needs to be struck between environmental and economic needs as a path to energy self-sufficiency is drawn out. Compared to conventional oil drilling, fracking requires greater investment and brings greater risk. This is exacerbated due to its controversial nature. Environmentalists in Colombia have campaigned heavily against the drilling practice with protests likely to only intensify in 2018. One Yale University forum provides a global platform for multiple perspectives and analyses of the environmental and social impacts of fracking. On the pro-fracking front, many experts champion fracking for job creation and meeting energy demands. On the other side of the fence, many emphasize the negative impacts on the environment. Platforms such as these provide lessons for the motivations behind hydraulic fracturing regulation. In the context of Latin America, and in particular Colombia, which is in the exploratory stage of unconventional drilling, these lessons are extremely pertinent. While some countries, notably Canada, China, the United States, and Argentina, have managed to produce commercial volumes of oil and gas from fracking, the practice in Colombia remains at a crossroads. Politicians have been increasingly debating fracking's economic potential as the country's May presidential election nears. Many are worried that with declines in conventional oil production, Colombia could become extremely reliant on imports of oil and other fuels in the coming years. Politicians and oil executives have been seduced by fracking's potential fix, strongly advocating for fracking with a rhetoric that champions energy self-sufficiency. In 2014, Colombia's Ministry of Mines and Energy gave fracking the green light, pending environmental reviews. At the end of 2017, Colombia hosted the Colombian Petroleum Association and attracted investors and oil companies from all over the world. A major topic of discussion at the convention was the final bypassing of restrictions to definitively pave the way for fracking in the country. Four major oil multinationals , ConocoPhillips, Parex Resources, ExxonMobil, and Drummond, have all won tenders for fracking in Colombia and now await the final blessing from President Juan Manuel Santos. Juan Carlos Echeverry , former head of Colombia's largest and primary oil company Ecopetrol , has insisted that production from fracking is essential. He suggests that Colombia's oil production could rise from 100,000 barrels a day to as much as 400,000. A change in leadership in Ecopetrol has not shifted this outlook. Current CEO Felipe Bayon Pardo emphasizes the fracking potential in Colombia's Magdalena Medio region, from which oil companies could extract between 2-7 billion barrels of unconventional oil. Pardo underscores the argument of self-sustainability, suggesting that the county's reserves will double if only 2 billion barrels of oil are extracted from this region. For Pardo, the company's number one priority is increasing production, and this will only be made possible with fracking. A political question With Colombia's legislative and presidential campaigns well under way, fracking has become a central political question. At the beginning of March, presidential candidates discussed the future of fracking in a debate hosted by the National Business Association of Colombia (ANDI) on the topic of minerals, petrol, and energy. Candidates German Vargas Lleras, Ivan Duque, and Juan Carlos Pinzo all attended. Duque highlighted that oil production had fallen from 1 million barrels a day to 800,000. He emphasized the need to exhaust all possible options regarding conventional oil production, and then look to focus on fracking as an alternative. Lleras was of a similar view, iterating that with adequate regulation, Colombia's Magdalena Medio region could offer very attractive potential. Pinzo, meanwhile, embraced the self-sufficiency argument. How about us depending on Venezuelan or Nicaraguan oil? It is not merely an issue which concerns development and economic opportunity, but there is also a need to evaluate the regional landscape. The views expressed by Lleras, Duque, and Pinzo, while only offering a snapshot of the opinions of the political class, highlight how connected the question of fracking has become to economic prosperity and national development. Fracking as a means to ensure self-sustainability in a fragile geopolitical landscape has become one of the most prominent lines of argument. Voicing concern All the while, environmentalists rally behind a call for restraint. Activists are continuously protesting the environmental impacts caused by fracking. A recently suspected water contamination in the Colombian Department of Cesar led to a plea for an investigation into the culpability by energy multinational ConocoPhillips, following the company's exploratory drilling tests in the region. In the last few years, authorities in several Latin American countries, with Brazil and Argentina leading the charge, have issued ordinances to either prohibit fracking or implement moratoriums on the practice. Many Colombian politicians are championing such policy measures. However, others consider such regulation a gross miscalculation due to its neglect of a potential economic bounty. The debate surrounding fracking in Colombia is moving rapidly, and the result of the presidential elections will most certainly mark a significant turning point in the conversation. Officials must be open to absorbing multiple lines of argument when considering regulation in order to best address the country's trying energy needs, while also respecting very real environmental concerns. By Global Intelligence Report

The Global Intelligence Report was a geopolitical publication focusing on worldwide affairs . Petroleumworld does not necessarily share these views. Editor's Note: This commentary was originally published by Oilprice.com , 03/17/2018. Petroleumworld reprint this article in association with OilPrice.com.



Link to original article. Petroleumworld reprint this article in the interest of our readers and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners. All comments posted and published on Petroleumworld, do not reflect either for or against the opinion expressed in the comment as an endorsement of Petroleumworld. All comments expressed are private comments and do not necessary reflect the view of this website. All comments are posted and published without liability to Petroleumworld. Use Notice:This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of issues of environmental and humanitarian significance. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml.



All works published by Petroleumworld are in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.Petroleumworld has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is Petroleumworld endorsed or sponsored by theoriginator.Petroleumworld encourages persons to reproduce, reprint, or broadcast Petroleumworld articles provided that any such reproduction identify the original source, http://www.petroleumworld.com or else and it is done within the fair use as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.



If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Internet web links to http://www.petroleumworld.com are appreciated. Copyright 1999-2018 Petroleumworld or respective author or news agency. All rights reserved.



We welcome the use of Petroleumworld stories by anyone provided it mentions Petroleumworld.com as the source. Other stories you have to get authorization by its authors.Internet web links to http://www.petroleumworld.com are appreciated. Petroleumworld welcomes your feedback and comments, share your thoughts on this article, your feedback is important to us! Petroleumworld News 03/19/18 We invite all our readers to share with us

their views and comments about this article. Follow us in : twitter / Facebook

Send this story to a friend Write to editor@petroleumworld.com By using this link, you agree to allow PW

to publish your comments on our letters page.



Any question or suggestions,

please write to: editor@petroleumworld.com Best Viewed with IE 5.01+ Windows NT 4.0, '95,

'98,ME,XP, Vista, Windows 7,8 +/ 800x600 pixels

ISSUES....

Inside, confidential and off the record







Pompeo at State



Jacquelyn Martin/AP



With Mike Pompeo at the State Department, are the Uber-Hawks winning?

Mike Pompeo, who is replacing Rex Tillerson as the Secretary of State,

has taken positions identical toand in some instances tougher than

the President's on several pivotal issues.

P resident Trump and his next Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, arefor nowtwo peas in a policy pod. The outgoing Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, who learned that he had been fired only after Trump announced his departure in a tweet, clashed frequently with the President and lasted only fourteen months, although reports of his demise have been circulating for the past five. Pompeo is not Tillersonbut he could be someday, if the President keeps undercutting his Secretary of State, the former Ambassador Richard Boucher, a career diplomat who was the spokesman for three Secretaries of State, both Republican and Democratic, said.

The President and Pompeo, who is currently the director of the C.I.A. and must go through confirmation hearings before taking his new post, have clearly become chummy. Speaking from the White House South Portico, just minutes after Tillerson's abrupt firing, Trump praised Pompeo volubly. I respect his intellect, he said. I respect the process that we've all gone through together. We have a very good relationship, for whatever reason, chemistry, whatever it iswhy do people get along? I've always, right from the beginning, from day one, I've gotten along well with Mike Pompeo.

The relationship developed in the course of intelligence briefings that Pompeo delivered to the White House, which often gave him more access to the President than Tillerson had as Secretary of State. Pompeoa former Tea Party congressman from Kansas, who attended Harvard Law School and West Pointhas been such a fixture at the White House that some intelligence professionals at the C.I.A. have privately complained that they saw too little of him, compared with previous directors. Trump and Pompeo are also in synch in their hawkish views of America's role in the world. Pompeo was a cavalry officer in the Army between 1986 and 1991. During the Cold War, he patrolled the Berlin Wall and served in the 1991 Gulf War to liberate Kuwait after the Iraqi invasion.

I don't know if it's a victory by the uber-hawks, but it reflects a mind-set about how Trump sees the world. He relies on generals, Boucher told me. He's looking for people who see every problem as a threat that needs to be dealt with by military force, rather than an issue that can be countered through diplomacy. There's an over-all failure by this Administration to understand what diplomacy can do for the countryand the world.

In public statements, Pompeo has taken positions identical toand in some instances tougher thanthe President's on four pivotal issues: Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Jerusalem. On each, Tillerson tried to talk Trump down from irrational, impulsive, or controversial moves.

Differences over the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran may have been at the top of the list of disputes Trump had with Tillerson. We disagreed on things, Trump said. When you look at the Iran deal, I think it's terrible. I guess he thought it was O.K. I wanted to either break it or do something, and he felt a little bit differently. So we were not really thinking the same. He added, With Mike Pompeo, we have a very similar thought process. I think it's going to go very well.

While in Congress, Pompeo repeatedly condemned the nuclear deal brokered by the Obama Administration and five other world powers as an unconscionable arrangement that increases the risk to Kansans and all Americans. The Iranian regime is intent on the destruction of our country. Why the President does not understand is unfathomable.

On the first anniversary of the nuclear deal, in 2016, Pompeo went further and called for the end of theocratic rule in Tehran. Congress must act to change Iranian behavior, and, ultimately, the Iranian regime, Pompeo said. After Trump's election, in 2016, Pompeo tweeted that he looked forward to rolling back this disastrous deal. At the C.I.A., Pompeo also called for the release of classified material seized from Osama bin Laden's compound that included material about communication between Iran and the Al Qaeda leader. So far, the Trump Administration has denied in several briefings (in which I've participated) that it wants regime change, insisting that it seeks only a change in Iran's behavior.

On North Korea, Pompeo made headlines last summer, when he implied, in a speech at the Aspen Security Forum, support for regime change in North Korea. The thing that is most dangerous about it is the character who holds control of the country's nuclear weapons, he said. From the Administration's perspective, the most important thing we can do is separate those two. After months of trading verbal threats of annihilation, President Trump accepted an invitation last week to meet with Kim Jong Un. On Sunday, Pompeo said on Fox News that the United States would offer not a single concession in negotiations with Pyongyang. Make no mistake about it, he said.

On Russia's meddling in American elections, which has been confirmed by several U.S. intelligence agencies, Pompeo has echoed the comments of the President. It's true, yeah, of course, he said , of the Russian interference in the 2016 election and in the election before that, and the one before that. They've been at this a hell of a long time. And I don't think they have any intention of backing off.

On Tuesday, the Senate Minority Leader, Chuck Schumer, tweeted that he hopes Pompeo will turn over a new leaf as Secretary of State and start toughening up our policies towards Russia and Putin.

Pompeo has clearly coveted the job as America's top diplomat. At the C.I.A., he was technically restricted from making policy recommendations, but he often came close in public events and interviews. Trump often sought his opinions in private.

But Pompeo's style, like Trump's, is based on confrontation rather than dialogue. In Congress, he was fiercely partisan and was not seen as a figure who could reach across the political aisle. He was a pit bull about the former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's purported culpability in the deaths of Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans at the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012. Instead of acting, Secretary Clinton and the rest of the administration were already spinning while mortar rounds were falling and Americans were dying, Pompeo, a member of the Congressional committee that investigated the attack, said in a statement. The Stevens family publicly said that they did not blame Clinton.

Pompeo comes to the job with greater experience than Tillerson, a former oil executive, had, however. For most of his professional life, he has been involved in various aspects of national security. He is also credited with listening to career professionals at the C.I.A., something Tillerson did not do at the State Department.

There is no way in the world that this is not an improvement over the present situation at the State Department, Robert Kagan, an analyst, author, and former member of the State Department's policy-planning staff, told me. Tillerson was an unmitigated disaster because of the way he and his people dealt with the foreign service and the department in general. Pompeo will do a better job in working with the department rather than trying to destroy it.

The problem, Kagan said, is less with personalities than with a lack of policy. There is no policy. There are impulsive reactions, which are either contained or not contained by his military entourage. That's basically all there is.

The Pompeo appointment faces criticism, however, because it appears to consolidate the hold hawks have on the White House. Trump is methodically destroying the moderate camp in his Administration and moving steadily crazy-hard right, Joseph Cirincione, the president of Ploughshares Fund, an N.G.O. dedicated to containing the spread of nuclear weapons, told me. Today's firing and the crude, insulting way that he did it weakens the traditional conservative camp, the State Department, and American credibility. It's almost as if someone is paying Trump to do it.

In an e-mailed statement, Thomas Countryman, a senior diplomat who resigned last year, said, Tillerson has been a poor advocate for the State Department but he served as a Cabinet-level check on some of President Trump's worst impulses. Countryman, who served as the Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation, added, If the new Secretary of State has a disdain for diplomacy mirroring Trump's, it will be bad for the department and the country.

In Washington, a diplomat from a Western country told me that the dramatic firing and hiring on Tuesday reflected the total dysfunction in the Administrationas viewed by the outside worldand his belief that things won't get any better in the future. He compared the Trump entourage to a royal court in the seventeenth century or a Middle Eastern kingdom today. Jared Kushner, he noted, had said privately, four months ago, that he wanted to get rid of Tillerson. It has the strange atmospherics of a royal court, the diplomat said. It's half comedy, half tragedy.

How long Pompeo will last is already the subject of political scuttlebutt in Washington. Trump's going to end up firing all these guys, Kagan said, referring to the frequent departures from the Administration. Tillerson's dismissal has also deepened speculation about the departure of the national-security adviser, General H. R. McMaster. The former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton, an uber-hawk on foreign policy, visited the White House last week; Republicans in previous Administrations told me that he is an increasingly likely candidate to replace McMaster, whose long-winded lectures Trump has grumbled about.

The President initially surrounded himself with establishment figuresat the State Department, the Pentagon, and the National Security Councilwho often tried to talk Trump back from his most dramatic decisions, a senior official from the Bush Administration told me. Tillerson and Defense Secretary James Mattis urged Trump against the decision to formally recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital and move the U.S. Embassy there, for example. The President went with his gut, and he was right, the former official said. And then there wasn't rioting from Casablanca to Baghdad, so the President may have decided he was rightand wasn't getting good advice.

The President, he added, may have decided, I'm good at this.' And that would suggest a more hawkish policy in the future.

Robin Wright / New Yorker /March 13, 2018











Original article

ISSUES.... 03/ 19/ 2018 - Send Us Your Issues



Inside, confidential and off the record



Is an independent journalist effort from Petroleumworld, on Inside, Confidential and Off The Record Information, the views are not necessarily those of PetroleumworldLagniappe



Agnia Grigas: Commentary: How to derail Russia's energy war

Washington should recall its own efforts during the Cold War era, when it tried to discourage its European allies from dependence on Soviet gas. As another energy conflict is erupting between Russia and Ukraine, Moscow seeks to start construction of the second branch of the Nord Stream pipeline to deliver Russian natural gas directly to Germany. While the European Union countries remain divided, the United States needs to maintain its consistent and principled position to reduce Europe's over-dependence on Russian natural gas. On March 2, Russian state gas company Gazprom announced that it would terminate all gas contracts with Ukraine's energy company Naftogaz after a Stockholm arbitration court ordered Gazprom to pay more than $2.5 billion to Naftogaz for failing to uphold contractual obligations regarding volumes of transit gas through Ukraine. Gazprom's apparent reprisal has increased European fears of a possible gas war in the midst of a cold winter; Ukraine has already closed schools to conserve energy and the EU is worried about its own gas supplies. These fears could play into Gazprom's efforts to push through its Nord Stream 2, which Moscow presents as a simple business project to ensure Europe's gas supply. To buy into this line of thinking, however, is to misunderstand the rationale for this project. Gazprom is not a commercial entity, but the right hand of the Kremlin, and Russia today is no ally of Europe but rather a sanctioned state engaged in war on the continent and bent on destabilizing the EU and NATO. Nord Stream 2 may give the Russian military a freer hand in Ukraine, impede the EU's foreign policy and energy strategy, and increase Moscow's influence over Germany's political and business elites, thus aggravating divisions between Europe and the United States. Initially conceived in Moscow as a means of eliminating uncooperative transit countries from its gas business, the Nord Stream project gained momentum when Kiev started turning toward the West in the years following its 2004 Orange Revolution. The first Nord Stream pipeline was completed in 2011 and, following the annexation of Crimea and the war in eastern Ukraine, Moscow has vowed to limit gas flows through Ukraine by the end of 2019. The Nord Stream 2 infrastructure would enable Gazprom to cut Ukraine out of gas transit traffic, which could cost the country about $2 billion in transit fees (the equivalent of nearly 6 percent of its projected budget for 2018). Revenues aside, as Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki recently stated in Berlin, the real danger lies in the fact that Russia can launch a massive land offensive against Ukraine without fear of damaging Ukraine's pipeline infrastructure and interrupting Gazprom's exports to Western countries. German Chancellor Angela Merkel disagrees with Morawiecki, saying that Nord Stream 2 is an economic project that poses no danger to energy diversification. German business interests see economic benefits if the country becomes a key European gas distribution hub for Russian gas. Likewise, Germany wants to ensure its gas supply as it is phasing out nuclear power. Unfortunately, completing Nord Stream 2 would go counter to the main principles of the EU's energy and foreign policy strategy. It would challenge nearly two decades of Brussels' efforts of trying to boost EU energy security by offering alternatives to Russian gas, such as pursuing the Southern Gas Corridor pipeline to bring Caspian gas to Europe, investing in LNG import terminals and pipeline interconnections, and increasing reliance on renewables, as well as supporting Ukraine and maintaining unity vis-a-vis Moscow. Germany does not seem to have learned any lessons from its history. As I write in my newest book on the geopolitics of gas, when German Chancellor Willy Brandt signed the country's first gas contract with the Soviets in 1969, he considered such gas trade as part of his Ostpolitik: an economic policy toward the East that could reduce Cold War tensions and help reestablish contact with communist East Germany. But it was Washington's military spending and containment policy  not the German marks that went to Moscow  that eventually bankrupted the Soviet Union and brought down the Berlin Wall. Washington should recall its own efforts during the Cold War era, when it tried to discourage its European allies from dependence on Soviet gas. President Ronald Reagan imposed sanctions on the USSR in late 1981 in response to Soviet martial law in Poland and also to block Soviet construction of the Urengoy-Uzhgorod pipeline that would have brought vast quantities of Siberian gas to Germany and Western Europe. In 1982 the administration extended sanctions to American energy equipment so it would not be used for the pipeline's construction. Yet the effort failed to convince Europe and by late 1982 Washington cancelled the sanctions while the pipeline was built. Today, the United States faces a similar predicament. Washington's July 2017 Russia sanctions threatened to target Nord Stream 2 but the most recent sanctions implemented in January 2018 did not do so explicitly. More recently, Poland has called for Nord Stream 2 to be included under U.S. sanctions. There is still time for President Donald Trump to try to achieve what Reagan could not and derail Russian pipeline plans. American sanctions against Nord Stream 2 would not be easy to implement given the resistance from countries like Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, and France. German support for future Russia sanctions is crucial, but getting Merkel to agree to add Nord Stream 2 to these measures seems unlikely. Instead, Washington should push Brussels to take a harder look at Nord Stream 2's compliance with EU energy policy. While Washington today has less sway over its European allies than it did during the height of the Cold War, the United States can now offer Europe an alternative to Russian gas  American liquefied natural gas (LNG). American LNG has been exported to Europe since 2016 and expanded to include countries like Poland and Lithuania last year. The abundance of gas in the global markets due to the booming global LNG trade makes Nord Stream 2 less commercially or strategically necessary for Europeans. Already opinions have shifted in Europe. Denmark initially accepted Nord Stream, but has had a change of heart about its second phase. Danish legislators passed a law this year that could allow the government to ban Russia's Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from going through its waters for security reasons. Based on this new law, the Danish Energy Agency will likely release its decision on Nord Stream's 2 application for permission to pass through Danish waters by the end of March. However as Danish sources told me on a recent visit, Copenhagen wants the EU to take the lead on any pipeline decision. This would prevent Denmark from damaging its relations with Germany and the United States and incurring the wrath of Russia. It would also prevent Russia from developing an alternative route to bypass Danish waters and eliminate the division emerging in the EU as some member states  the Czech Republic, Estonia, Croatia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Romania and Slovakia  oppose the project. Fifty years since the first Soviet pipelines were laid to supply Western European countries with Soviet gas, the EU stands again at a crossroads in its energy policy. While security considerations and economic interests divide the EU countries, Washington should continue to make its opposition clear. Nord Stream 2 has no place in Europe's long-term security and energy strategy.



Margaret Brennan is Nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council , energy policy & security expert; New books: 'The New Geopolitics of Natural Gas,' 'Beyond Crimea'. The opinions expressed here are her own. Petroleumworld does not necessarily share these views. Editor's Note: This commentary was originally published by Reuters , on March 14 , 2018. Petroleumworld reprint this article in the interest of our readers and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Petroleumworld and its owners. Link to the original article All comments posted and published on Petroleumworld, do not reflect either for or against the opinion expressed in the comment as an endorsement of Petroleumworld. All comments expressed are private comments and do not necessary reflect the view of this website. All comments are posted and published without liability to Petroleumworld. Use Notice:This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of issues of environmental and humanitarian significance. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml.



All works published by Petroleumworld are in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.Petroleumworld has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is Petroleumworld endorsed or sponsored by theoriginator.Petroleumworld encourages persons to reproduce, reprint, or broadcast Petroleumworld articles provided that any such reproduction identify the original source, http://www.petroleumworld.com or else and it is done within the fair use as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.



If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Internet web links to http://www.petroleumworld.com are appreciated.Copyright 1999-2017 Petroleumworld or respective author or news agency. All rights reserved.



We welcome the use of Petroleumworld stories by anyone provided it mentions Petroleumworld.com as the source. Other stories you have to get authorization by its authors.Internet web links to http://www.petroleumworld.com are appreciated. Petroleumworld welcomes your feedback and comments, share your thoughts on this article, your feedback is important to us! Petroleumworld News 03/19/2018 We invite all our readers to share with us

their views and comments about this article. Follow us in : twitter / Facebook

Send this story to a friend Write to editor@petroleumworld.com By using this link, you agree to allow PW

to publish your comments on our letters page.



Any question or suggestions,

please write to: editor@petroleumworld.com Best Viewed with IE 5.01+ Windows NT 4.0, '95,

'98,ME,XP, Vista, Windows 7,8 +/ 800x600 pixels

WASHINGTON  Attorney General Jeff Sessions late Friday night fired former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, a little more than 24 hours before McCabe was set to retire.

Sessions announced the decision in a statement just before 10 p.m., noting that both the Justice Department Inspector General and the FBI office that handles discipline had found "that Mr. McCabe had made an unauthorized disclosure to the news media and lacked candor  including under oath  on multiple occasions."

He said based on those findings and the recommendation of the department's senior career official, "I have terminated the employment of Andrew McCabe effective immediately."

McCabe immediately disputed the findings in his own statement, saying the firing was part of a Trump administration "war" on the FBI.

"I am being singled out and treated this way because of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of James Comey," McCabe said, referring to the former FBI director who was fired by Trump in May.

The move will likely cost McCabe a significant portion of his retirement benefits, though it is possible he could bring a legal challenge. McCabe has been fighting vigorously to keep his job, and on Thursday, he spent nearly four hours inside the Justice Department pleading his case.

Michael Bromwich, McCabe's attorney, said in a lengthy statement responding to the allegations that he had "never before seen the type of rush to judgment - and rush to summary punishment - that we have witnessed in this case." He cited in particular President Trump's attacks on McCabe on Twitter and the White House press secretary's comments about him on Thursday - which he said were "quite clearly designed to put inappropriate pressure on the Attorney General to act accordingly."

"This intervention by the White House in the DOJ disciplinary process is unprecedented, deeply unfair, and dangerous," Bromwich said.

McCabe has become a lightning rod in the political battles over the FBI's most high-profile cases, including the Russia investigation and the probe of Hillary Clinton's email practices. He has been a frequent target of criticism from President Trump.

His firing  which was recommended by the FBI office that handles discipline  stems from a Justice Department inspector general investigation that found McCabe authorized the disclosure of sensitive information to the media about a Clinton-related case, then misled investigators about his actions in the matter, people familiar with the matter have said. He stepped down earlier this year from the No. 2 job in the bureau after FBI Director Christopher Wray was briefed on the inspector general's findings, though he technically was still an employee.

McCabe disputes that he misled anyone.

Some in the bureau might view McCabe's termination so close to retirement as an unnecessarily harsh and politically influenced punishment for a man who spent more than 20 years at the FBI. The White House had seemed to support such an outcome, though a spokeswoman said the decision was up to Sessions.

"We do think that it is well documented that he has had some very troubling behavior and by most accounts a bad actor," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Thursday.

Trump and McCabe's relationship has long been fraught. The president has previously suggested that McCabe was biased in favor of Clinton, his political opponent, pointing out that McCabe's wife, who ran as a Democrat for a seat in the Virginia legislature, received hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations from the political action committee of Terry McAuliffe, then the state's governor and a noted Clinton ally. During an Oval Office meeting in May, Trump is said to have asked McCabe whom he voted for in the presidential election and vented about the donations.

Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz put McCabe in his crosshairs during a broad look at alleged improprieties in the handling of the Clinton email case. In the course of that review, Horowitz found that McCabe had authorized two FBI officials to talk to then-Wall Street Journal reporter Devlin Barrett for a story about the case and another investigation into Clinton's family foundation. Barrett now works for the Washington Post.

Background conversations with reporters are commonplace in Washington, though McCabe's authorizing such a talk was viewed as inappropriate because the matter being discussed was an ongoing criminal investigation. The story ultimately presented McCabe as a somewhat complicated figure  one who some FBI officials thought was standing in the way of the Clinton Foundation investigation, but who also seemed to be pushing back against Justice Department officials who did not believe there was a case to be made.

McCabe, who turns 50 on Sunday and would have then been eligible for his full retirement benefits, had quickly ascended through senior roles to the No. 2 leadership post. He briefly served in an interim capacity as the FBI director, in the months between when Trump fired James Comey from the post and Wray was confirmed by the Senate.

McCabe's team on Friday night released a bevy of statements from former national security officials supporting the former deputy director, including from former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper Jr.; former National Security Agency Deputy Director Richard Ledgett Jr.; former U.S. attorney Chuck Rosenberg; former FBI national security official Michael Steinbach; and former Justice Department national security official Mary McCord.

Steinbach said McCabe had "become a convenient scapegoat so that narrow political objectives can be achieved." McCord said she "never doubted his honesty or motivations, and can say without hesitation that he was one of the finest FBI agents with whom I ever worked." Notably absent was a statement from Comey, McCabe's former boss, though Comey did say after McCabe stepped down as deputy director that he "stood tall over the last 8 months, when small people were trying to tear down an institution we all depend on."

Comey is still considered a key subject in Horowitz's probe of how the FBI handled the Clinton email case.

This article contains information from the Associated Press.Destiny Vera (left) and Quinterra Phillips make chicken during the My Daughters Kitchen cooking class at St. Martin of Tours School. Read more

Is it possible to get kids to appreciate a simple, baked drumstick when so many are accustomed to the crunchy, salty, deep-fried, fast-food chicken that is so wildly popular around the globe?

That was my hesitation in even trying to make a healthier version of fried chicken in our after-school My Daughter's Kitchen cooking classes. Yet in the five years that we've been teaching urban schoolchildren to make healthy dinners on a budget, fried chicken has been the most requested dish.

If these young cooks could learn to make a more nutritious version of the chicken they love, would they be more motivated to cook it with their families? That was the hope for this week's recipe for baked corn flake chicken accompanied by braised greens.

I was visiting St. Martin of Tours, a vibrant Catholic school in the Lower Northeast, one of 35 urban schools participating in the program around the region. The class of 10- and 11-year-olds were assembled in the basement kitchen there, eyeing up the ingredients for what they were being told would produce a simpler, cheaper, and healthier version of fried chicken.

Simpler, that is, than deep-frying the chicken at home. Of course, nothing is as easy as picking up a bucket of chicken from KFC. Cheaper, as 12 pieces of KFC chicken cost about $20, and our ingredients for the same amount are about $14.

But the real value is in the nutrition. There are 340 calories, 24 grams of fat, and 780 milligrams of salt in two extra-crispy chicken drumsticks from KFC, according to the company's website. That means those two drumsticks are approaching the amount of salt and fat recommended for an entire day. A single, extra-crispy KFC chicken breast weighs in at 530 calories, 35 grams of fat, and 1,150 milligrams of sodium!

Alternatively, two baked corn flake drumsticks, served with a side of braised greens, contain 263 calories, with 8 grams of fat and 484 milligrams of sodium.

The kids were wide-eyed at the comparison. "Our recipe had so much less fat, salt, and calories. It was crazy!" Destiny Vera, 11, wrote in her journal.

They also were interested in understanding why.

"Is it healthier because we are not using Frosted Flakes?" asked Quinterra Phillips, 11.

"Well, yes," said Chris Hoyler, one of the volunteers teaching the class. But she explained that it was also healthier because it was baked, not fried in oil, and that there was less added salt.

Hoyler, an emergency room nurse at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in North Philadelphia, volunteered because of her experience there. "I just see so many children who are so overweight, I just decided that someone has to do something," she said. "I know it's not solving the problem, but I do see it making a difference. These kids love to cook."

The other volunteer, Nicole Follmer, a second-grade teacher at St. Martin, heard about the program from her sister Genevieve Lynch, the development director at Vetri Community Partnership, the nonprofit that administers My Daughter's Kitchen. When an email went out asking whether any teachers were interested, Follmer raised her hand.

"I love it, and I've gotten some great recipes," she said. "I now have to make that beef stir-fry once a week."

Smashing corn flakes in a resealable bag for the breading was the highlight of this recipe. But no one was more enthusiastic than Dominic Valerio, 10, who banged his fists in the rapid-fire rhythm of a drum roll. He was asked whether he was thinking of anyone when pounding so forcefully.

"I have two sisters at home and I'm the only brother," he replied.

One at a time, the drumsticks were dipped in an egg and milk bath before being put into the zipper bags to be coated with the crumbs.

"Shake, shake, shake," Hoyler said. "Shake, shake, shake  Shake your chicken," she sang to a tune they all knew and soon repeated as they shook. Then onto sheet pans went the chicken and into the oven.

Meanwhile, another team had started on the braised greens, first immersing the kale and broccoli rabe into boiling water, then into ice water to stop the cooking, a technique called blanching.

When the chicken was nearly done, smashed garlic was heated in oil to impart its flavor. The recipe called for it to be cooked until fragrant, so Destiny and Kara Santiago, 11, hovered over the stove, waiting to catch the aroma.

"It smells like the bread sticks that you get from Pizza Hut!" Kara said, nailing the scent.

Once the chicken was done, and the kale and broccoli rabe were sauteed in the garlicky oil, the kids carried the platters of food to the teachers' lounge. After grace, "God bless the cooks," and a few bites, the reviews came in. The greens weren't a big hit. But the chicken was another story.

"It's beautiful!" said Dominic.

"Ten out of ten," said Aryanna Leonardo, 11.

"Eleven out of ten," Destiny said.

"A million out of ten!" Quinterra said.

"Yo," said Hadassah Sohail, 11. "This chicken is good!"

Contact Maureen Fitzgerald at mydaughterskitchen@gmail.com.Now that we're in the umpteenth chapter of Leonard Bernstein's 100th birthday year, the Philadelphia Orchestra plunged into the ultra-literate thickets of Symphony No. 2 ("Age of Anxiety")  a piece that's not quite a piano concerto or symphony or tone poem but deploys all of those elements with great compositional heat.

The Friday night Kimmel Center program also featured Schumann's Symphony No. 4 and Strauss' Don Juan, though the main feature was obviously music director Yannick Nezet-Seguin's continuing Bernstein revisionism, particularly aided by the magnitude of the Philadelphia Orchestra's sound  though piano soloist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, for all of his jazz sympathies, wasn't up to speed on the music's Copland-meets-Thelonious Monk hybrid.

Symphony No. 2 is Bernstein's late-1940s response to W.H. Auden's book-length poem Age of Anxiety, which examined how the exhilaration of World War II victory wasn't a cure for human angst. Indeed, profound loneliness is well conveyed by the opening moments. Later, the music is punctuated by expansive scales that seem to lead you down a manhole into  what? Bernstein gave out mixed messages as to how much his symphony was dependent on its Auden-authored source material. I read Auden years ago, but finding a copy of it now is tough.

So Bernstein's symphony needs to stand on its own. Though thematically knit together, the piece's musical events seem to jump all over the place. If anything, Nezet-Seguin underscored that with his compelling characterization of each episode.

Also curious, the music is riddled with links to Aaron Copland's Symphony No. 3, written a few years earlier but with an expansive, outdoorsy sensibility. In Bernstein, Nezet-Seguin always found stone-in-the-shoe harmonies that create a more complicated emotional response than Copland. The 1949 world-premiere Boston Symphony recording with Bernstein on piano and Serge Koussevitzky conducting gave the piece a big Hollywood ending that Nezet-Seguin tastefully downplayed. Thus, the symphony felt like a dense, restless urban counterpart to Copland. Every turning point in Bernstein's piece is like a city block that promises new adventure. That interpretation, to me, is the symphony's ticket to the future. Visual aids by Edward Hopper would help.

Schumann and Strauss were odd bedfellows with Bernstein, though Nezet-Seguin's Schumann is a known and highly valued commodity, balancing the Philadelphia Orchestra sound with his taste for swift, chamber-orchestra tempos. This time, the lyrical passages in Symphony No. 4 seemed, more than ever, like songs being sung to secret lyrics.

Strauss' Don Juan, usually positioned as a curtain-raiser, came at the end. In such a spirited performance, what could top it? Luckily, Nezet-Seguin's brand of bombast maintains such high-quality sound that it doesn't seem bombastic.Mayor Kenney announces a project to begin this spring to add protected bike lanes to Market Street and JFK Boulevard. His remarks came at Philadelphias Vision Zero 2018 Bike Conference. Read more

The city will reduce the number of traffic lanes in the heart of Center City this spring as part of a nine-month pilot program aimed at improving street safety and better accommodating cyclists and pedestrians after a year of high-profile traffic-related deaths.

Mayor Kenney said Saturday the city will change traffic patterns on Market Street and JFK Boulevard between 15th and 20th Streets by reducing traffic from four lanes to three. That lane reduction will create space for parking-protected bike lanes, a longtime wish-list item for street-safety advocates. Parked cars will act as a barrier between the bike lanes and traffic.

The mayor announced the program at the third annual Vision Zero Conference hosted by the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, a daylong event that brought together cyclists, planners, safety advocates, and public officials. "Vision Zero" refers to the goal of eliminating traffic-related fatalities.

Market Street was a problem street identified in a Vision Zero Action Plan released by the Kenney administration last fall. That blueprint zeroed in on 12 percent of Philadelphia streets that the city says contribute to more than half of all serious crashes. There are about 100 traffic-related deaths in Philadelphia each year.

Kelley Yemen, the city's complete streets director, said the $50,000 bike-lane project will be implemented by spring, though she couldn't put a specific date on when changes would take effect. The protected bike lanes will be situated to accommodate bus stops. On Market Street, the lane will be on the north side; on JFK, the south side.

She said the city's overall traffic models show the change in travel time should be "negligible" for a driver traveling the five-block corridor, as the city is working to implement other changes, such as improved turning lanes. It also will examine traffic signal lengths. Kenney said Comcast officials are on board with the plan, which would presumably affect traffic surrounding its headquarters at 17th and JFK.

The city will also implement changes at the intersection of 16th Street and JFK, where pedestrian Peter Javsicas, a well-known transportation-safety advocate, was killed last summer. Yemen said that intersection near JFK Plaza will be "reinvigorated" to increase pedestrian safety, including adding delineators to reduce the length of crosswalks and enhanced curb bump-outs to allow pedestrians to see traffic from a better vantage point.

Officials will examine data after the pilot program and look to move forward with a permanent solution, which would require Council approval, Yemen said. The new lane protections will be in the district represented by Council President Darrell Clarke, whose office was involved in efforts to get buy-in from affected residents, according to a spokeswoman.

Some of those residents remain unconvinced. Hamadi and Wendy Mosbahi, both 48, have lived at the Penn Center House at 19th and JFK for 20 years. Both said Saturday that they're concerned the traffic changes might negatively affect elderly residents of the building who already face challenges crossing the street.

"I've almost gotten hit by people on bikes," Wendy Mosbahi said. Bike messengers who speed by pedestrians are prevalent in the area, said her husband.

"I want to see some kind of example of this working," Hamadi Mosbahi said. "Knowing the city, I don't think so."

Philadelphia's first protected bike lane  meaning there's an obstacle between vehicle traffic and the bike lane itself  was implemented in 2016 on Ryan Avenue in Mayfair. While there are more than 200 miles of bike lanes on Philadelphia streets, only about 2.5 miles are protected. Among the most high-profile of those is on Chestnut Street in West Philadelphia between 34th and 45th Streets, and those lanes have irked some community members due to the lost traffic lane.

Kenney set a goal of 30 miles of new bike lanes by 2022. After announcing the plan addressing traffic patterns in Center City, he apologized "that we have not been able to keep up with the pace that we would have liked to have seen when we came into office in 2016."

"Change comes slowly," Kenney said. "Too slowly for many of you in this room. But it's a cultural change that we're trying to establish here, and for many years, the car has been king.  I'm sorry for all those here who have lost loved ones because of this kind of cultural contention."

While some of those struggles can be attributed to the politics of reducing car traffic in neighborhoods across the city, other changes, like reimagining dangerous intersections, prove costly. The Streets Department has devoted $1 million to its Vision Zero initiatives, which critics have called insufficient.

The administration's plan also emphasizes education and enforcement. The city is developing a street-safety plan that could put more police officers in Center City for traffic enforcement. Yemen said that in addition to pulling over problem drivers, police will also aim to educate them on street safety during that interaction.Lauren and Andrew Chen play Xiangqi (or Chinese chess) in the living room of their Moorestown home. Their parents, Teresa and Peter, are committed to preserving their Chinese heritage for their American-born children. Read more

Teresa and Peter Chen's home, set on a heavily treed lot on a quiet Moorestown street, has among its charms a sense of serenity and a gentle melding of cultures.

On a recent afternoon, Teresa had just finished creating the kind of dumplings that often appear on Chinese New Year tables.

"I really love cooking traditional holiday recipes," she says.

The Chens' house has a mostly traditional exterior, but the interior gives a nod to the open, modern living concept that allows a flow from one space to another. Tradition blends artfully with the contemporary touches here. Chinese culture abounds.

"One of the challenges was making sure our children, as first-generation Americans, also embrace that heritage," says Teresa, mother of Andrew, 17, and Lauren, 16.

Throughout the first floor are reminders of that heritage, such as a lovely painting of a fish, a symbol of welcome abundance. It was a gift from Teresa's father.

A large watercolor from Taiwan symbolizes coming home to a safe harbor. Deeply touching are the calligraphy brushes created from the fine hair of each of the Chen children's very first haircut.

Along with beautiful bowls and other vessels scattered through the rooms, a traditional bride and groom set of mini-dolls, often given as wedding gifts, coexist with stamp carvings that hark back centuries as symbols of power.

Teresa and Peter met in a calculus class at the University of California-Berkeley. One of Teresa's friends was struggling in the class, and she volunteered to be an emissary to get the clearly gifted Peter to help the friend. That mission went well beyond a favor as the outgoing Teresa and the far more reserved Peter began a romance that led to marriage.

They came to the Philadelphia area for Peter's medical training as an obstetrician/gynecologist. One of Peter's colleagues recommended the Burlington County town as a place to settle.

"It had what was important to us, including excellent schools for our kids, and a community that felt just right," Peter says. "We were lucky enough to find this house, which is close to the schools our children would attend and also to Moorestown's Main Street."

When they moved into the home in 2001, most rooms had plain white walls  safe but not exciting. Peter, credited with an innate color sense, took the lead in several rooms, including the centrally located dining room.

When he announced his choice of bold, deep-red walls, Teresa was panic-stricken. Today she acknowledges the room is a highlight of the house, with the color creating a sense of drama without overwhelming the warmth of the elegant furniture and accessories.

Despite Peter Chen's long hours  along with his practice, he is an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University in Camden  the family manages time together. They've been involved in the Chinese School of South Jersey in Cherry Hill since the children were about 5.

Because of the school, the Chinese language is now more easily preserved in some homes, says Peter, the school's principal. And families with children adopted from China are eager to avail themselves of this social, cultural, and educational resource, he says.

Teresa, a computer-linked manager in her family's condensed-milk business, serves as a substitute teacher and fund-raiser. An immigrant herself, she is eager to both immerse her children in this country so that they can be productive citizens but also to remind them of their roots.

The family also blends past, present, and future with the help of Teresa's California parents, who now have a second home in Moorestown just a short walk from the Chens.

"It's wonderful for both the children and my parents," she says. "Now they can learn about their roots from people they love and people who lived those roots."

"And that," says Teresa, "is a very special gift."Michael Cohen, President Trump's personal attorney, claims he has the right to seek at least $20 million in damages from porn star Stormy Daniels for allegedly violating a nondisclosure agreement 20 times.

A lawyer for Cohen's limited liability corporation, Essential Consultants, made the claim in papers filed in federal court Friday.

Cohen also intends to force the dispute with Daniels, who alleges she was secretly paid to keep quiet about her affair with the president, out of the public eye and back into private arbitration, according to the court filing.

In a separate document also filed Friday, a lawyer representing Trump said he agrees with the push to return the proceedings to arbitration, in which all proceedings are confidential.

Michael Avenatti, a lawyer for Daniels, said the threat by Cohen and Trump to pursue millions of dollars in damages, and their efforts to take the matter behind closed doors, amounted to bullying of his client.

"To put it simply  they want to hide the truth from the American people. We will oppose this effort at every turn," Avenatti wrote in an email. "The fact that a sitting president is pursuing over $20 million in bogus 'damages' against a private citizen, who is only trying to tell the public what really happened, is truly remarkable. Likely unprecedented in our history. We are not going away and we will not be intimated by these threats."

Cohen referred all questions to his attorney in the matter, Brent Blakely, who did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The office of the attorney representing Trump, Charles Harder, said there would be no public statement beyond the material filed in court.

Daniels has said in her own legal filings that she slept with Trump in 2006, and that in 2016  just days before the presidential election  she signed an agreement to stay silent about the affair in exchange for a payment of $130,000. The hush agreement required any disputes to be settled confidentially.

In late February, after Daniels embarked on a "Make America Horny Again" tour and her allegations became the subject of intense media interest, Cohen succeeded in persuading an arbitrator to issue a restraining order that prevented Daniels from speaking out.

But the porn star and her lawyer, Avenatti, pushed the secret deal into the open on March 6, when they appended it to a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court. In that lawsuit, Avenatti contends that the nondisclosure agreement is invalid because Trump failed to sign it.

The decision to surface the secret deal in public court filings carries financial risks for Daniels. If a judge determines the hush agreement is valid, she faces a penalty of $1 million for each violation of the agreement's terms.

Cohen and Trump allege that she has already violated the agreement at least 20 times. And she may be poised to violate it again on March 25, when CBS's 60 Minutes tentatively plans to broadcast an interview with Daniels.

In the court documents filed Friday, lawyers for Cohen and Trump exercised their ability to move the lawsuit from state court to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. They say they intend to file a petition with the federal court to force the matter back into private arbitration as quickly as possible.

The $130,000 payment to Daniels has become a matter of keen interest for government watchdog groups. At least two complaints to the Federal Election Commission allege the money was meant to influence the presidential election and therefore amounted to an illegal in-kind contribution to the Trump campaign.

Cohen has acknowledged making the payment to Daniels, but he has never explained what it was for. And he has insisted that he was not reimbursed for the payment by the Trump Organization or the Trump campaign.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has rejected the notion that Trump approved the payment to Daniels.

The Washington Post's Rosalind S. Helderman contributed to this article.A veteran ice cream vendor in Ventnor, sells frozen treats to a child on the beach. Read more

For decades, they have peddled ice cream on the beaches of Ventnor, selling frozen treats to generations of families and becoming popular fixtures along the sand.

The city's ice cream vendors have long been drawn from the ranks of veterans and retired firefighters, who pay $55 a year for licenses to sell. Earlier this month, the city proposed to change that by ending contracts with its 15 vendors and auctioning off a single, larger license to the highest bidder, a system that brings in $85,000 a year to neighboring Margate.

The backlash was swift. Beachgoers in Ventnor, it seems, are nothing if not loyal.

Hundreds of people flooded social media and called city hall with complaints and suggestions. A petition against the change started by homeowners Maryse and Mark Naman garnered more than 12,000 signatures in less than four days.

"Let's help our Veterans [and] keep it for Veterans only," one Ventnor resident wrote on the town's Facebook page amid a slew of similar comments.

Within days, the idea was tabled.

"People did warn me this isn't something we should touch," said City Commissioner Tim Kriebel, who proposed the idea as a way to bring needed revenue to a town where most residents have seen their taxes rise steadily for a decade.

But after the uproar, he quickly reconsidered. "Because of the pushback we saw, it likely won't be brought up in the near future."

The news was personal for Maryse Naman, who grew up in Linwood going to Ventnor beaches. Her father and grandfather are veterans.

Naman, 44, who now lives in Indiana, bought a summer home in Ventnor nine years ago and lives there from June to mid-August with her husband and six kids. Chatting with her ice cream vendor John McLaughlin is an integral part of her shore experience, she said.

McLaughlin has been serving ice cream to Naman's family for 44 years. At the Washington Avenue beach, Naman's children beg for treats from McLaughlin nearly every day in the summer.

J.J. Mirallegro, who spread news of the potential change online, has been serving ice cream to Ventnor families for 17 years.

Ventnor is not the only town to grapple with how to award ice cream vendor licenses. In the 1950s and 1960s, nearly every Shore town offered licenses exclusively to veterans. But many scrapped that system in favor of a contract with a single vendor. Ventnor, Brigantine, Atlantic City, and North Wildwood are among the holdouts.

In North Wildwood, Mayor Patrick Rosenello says the issue will need to be addressed eventually.

The city recently grandfathered in its 10 veteran vendors, meaning they are the only people who can apply for licenses now. He said the city typically makes between $1,200 and $1,500 per year from selling permits.

Ten miles from Ventnor, in Brigantine, the city council unsuccessfully switched to a higher-cost bidding system in 2013, Councilman Vince Sera said.

The beach was split into three zones with separate contracts. Nobody put out bids the following year, Sera said, resulting in no vendors that summer. Police had to arrest anyone selling ice cream near the sand.

Sera said he campaigned for his seat in 2014 by handing out ice cream on the beach for a day with Mayor Phil Guenther. Eventually, Brigantine returned to its original veterans-only licensing. He said the city isn't changing its ordinance anytime soon.

For now, Ventnor plans to more strictly monitor sellers after a few veterans engaged in turf wars last summer. A handful set up tents, sold water, and got into public squabbles over territory, forcing the police chief to step in and mediate.Newly unsealed court documents show that an adviser to the United Arab Emirates now cooperating with the special counsel's investigation was convicted of transporting child pornography 27 years ago, the latest twist in the ongoing probe into Russia's interference in the 2016 election.

It is unclear if the 1991 felony conviction of Lebanese American businessman George Nader figures into his agreement to assist special counsel Robert Mueller III.

But the case  and other records showing he repeatedly came under scrutiny by law enforcement agencies for similar behavior  raises questions about access Nader had last year to top White House officials, including President Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Court filings unsealed Friday show that Nader was stopped trying to bring child-pornography videos into the United States in 1990. He received a reduced sentence after influential figures argued privately to the court that he was playing an instrumental role at the time, trying to free U.S. hostages in Lebanon.

The new documents deepen the mystery around Nader, a shadowy figure who has served as a middleman to broker deals in the Middle East for three decades. Details in the voluminous case filing show that Nader was able to minimize his legal jeopardy in 1991 by arguing he was a pivotal figure in an ongoing national security crisis.

Sandeep Savla, a lawyer for Nader, called the revelations about his conviction "nothing more than an orchestrated, disgusting scheme by those who are trying to intimidate Mr. Nader into silence."

Nader plans to "continue to answer truthfully questions put to him by the special counsel," he added.

Nader has been cooperating with prosecutors working for Mueller since he was stopped and questioned in January by FBI agents at Dulles International Airport after arriving from overseas, according to people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

Nader could have knowledge of interactions between associates of Trump and Russian officials during the presidential transition. He helped organize a January 2017 meeting in the Seychelles between Erik Prince, the founder of the private security firm Blackwater, and UAE officials, as well as a Russian banker close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Washington Post previously reported.

Prince has said his meeting with Kirill Dmitriev, the head of a Russian government-controlled wealth fund, was an chance encounter that occurred because he happened to be meeting with UAE officials at a luxury hotel in the Indian Ocean nation.

But Nader has told investigators that the meeting was set up in advance, as a back channel between a Trump emissary and a Kremlin official, to allow for informal discussions of future relations between the two countries, people familiar with the investigation have said. Nader's lawyers declined to comment.

Nader also visited the White House several times after the Seychelles encounter, meeting with both senior adviser Stephen Bannon and Kushner, according to people familiar with his visits.

It is unclear if White House officials were aware of his 1991 child-pornography conviction. A White House spokesman referred questions to White House attorney Ty Cobb, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

If Nader were involved in White House policy discussions or other significant matters, officials should have thoroughly inspected his background as well as foreign travel for signs of potential problems, said Joel Brenner, who served as the head of U.S. counterintelligence at the office of the director of national intelligence from 2006 to 2009.

"You've got to check his background in every country he's been in," Brenner said.

Born in Lebanon, Nader came to the United States as a teen and later founded Middle East Insight, a magazine dedicated to coverage of the region and a role that gave him entree to travel frequently, and interview world leaders and top U.S. politicians.

In the 1980s, he developed a reputation as a back-channel negotiator with access to top officials in Israel, Syria and Iran, as well as leaders of the Hezbollah movement, according to people familiar with his work. In the last few years, he worked as an adviser to top officials in the United Arab Emirates.

"He belongs in the category of intriguing personalities whose agendas were never quite clear, and who are used to a certain degree by various administrations, not so much to deliver messages, but to acquire information," said Aaron David Miller, a specialist in the region who worked for Republican and Democratic administrations.

But amid his international work, Nader had repeatedly been investigated by law enforcement officials, the newly unsealed court filings show.

He was indicted by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia in 1985 on two federal counts of mailing and importing child pornography. Court documents show the charges were dismissed before trial after Nader's lawyers successfully argued that authorities had illegally seized evidence in the case. Records show that Nader successfully became a U.S. citizen while awaiting trial in the case.

During two instances in 1988, Nader received sexually explicit material, featuring underage boys, sent to him via a post-office box in Cleveland, according to court filings. He was not charged, although his home was searched and prosecutors say child pornography was found in his toilet.

More recently, the Associated Press has reported that Nader was convicted of 10 cases of sexually abusing minors in Prague in May 2003 and sentenced to one year in prison. His expulsion from the country was also ordered. Nader's lawyers declined to comment on the Prague case.

In the recently unsealed case, Nader was stopped in 1990 at Dulles Airport with two videotapes depicting teenage boys, engaged in sex acts, hidden in his luggage in a candy tin, court filings show.

He pleaded guilty to one count of transporting child pornography and served about six months in federal custody in a local facility on work release, records show.

Nader had powerful supporters who appealed to the court on his behalf, arguing that he was engaged in high-stakes negotiations to assist the U.S. government in freeing hostages in Lebanon.

Court documents include a July 1992 letter written to the prosecutor, urging leniency for Nader, by Guilford Glazer  a real estate developer who described himself in the letter as a friend of President Ronald Reagan and "an advisor and confidante to most of Israel's Prime Ministers."

Glazer, who died in 2014, said Nader had repeatedly met with Israeli intelligence officials and leaders of Hezbollah in the risky hostage-release efforts.

"The Israeli intelligence people have their own sources in Lebanon. They assure me that George's contact with the heads of the Hezbollah is at this moment, the best possible opportunity for an exchange," Glazer wrote, adding that such a deal could also include the release of six American hostages and six European ones.

Likewise, Nader's lawyer argued to the court that top officials, including Reagan, held Nader in high regard. Jean Sutherland, the wife of an American hostage then held in Lebanon, felt so strongly about Nader's work that she was prepared to fly from Beirut to Washington to be present for Nader's sentencing, Nader's lawyer argued. He noted that she wrote a letter to the court maintaining that "no one else at this time can do the work that Mr. Nader is doing in the region."

Before pleading guilty, Nader was allowed to travel  including to Beirut and to Moscow, apparently as part of his work to free U.S. hostages. However, prosecutors in the case played down Nader's role in Middle East diplomacy, arguing that he had been allowed to travel "on the outside chance that his alleged meetings" could help.

Nader was ultimately given consideration in his sentence because of what a federal judge termed his "extraordinary cooperation with the government in certain areas," according to court documents.

In 1998, James Baker, secretary of state under President George H.W. Bush during Nader's prosecution, publicly thanked Nader for his work during the episode in a speech he gave for Nader's organization.

"Early on in the Bush administration, George Nader did some very discreet work for us of a humanitarian nature having to do with the then-ongoing crisis over the taking of hostages, American citizens as hostage. And George worked very closely and very discreetly with us on that," Baker said.

The Washington Post's Josh Dawsey, Karen DeYoung, Tom Hamburger, Shane Harris and Spencer S. Hsu contributed to this article.In the closely watched special election in Pennsylvanias 18th District, Democrat Conor Lamb defeated Republican Rick Saccone by less than 1,000 votes. Read more

HARRISBURG  The Pennsylvania Republican Party has asked the Department of State to investigate what it described as "a number of irregularities" in the 18th District special election.

Attorney Joel Frank, in a letter dated Friday, outlined five areas of concern, ranging from calls about machine errors to confusion about polling places and a dispute over whether a Republican attorney could watch part of the elections process.

"In the interest of transparency and nonpartisanship, we ask that you consider assigning this task to a Commonwealth elections official capable of conducting an impartial investigation in light of the positions you've taken on ongoing redistricting litigation," Frank wrote.

The Department of State is expected to release a statement about the request later Saturday. A spokeswoman said earlier in the week that there were relatively few problems reported with the election, most of which elections workers said they quickly resolved.

Gov. Wolf, who was in Pittsburgh for the St. Patrick's Day Parade on Saturday, said he did not have any concerns about the election. The Department of State is considered part of his administration.

"I think we won," said Wolf, a Democrat.

The election shocked many in the Republican Party and has prompted some of them to rethink their strategies in the coming primary and general elections. The district, which includes parts of Allegheny, Greene, Washington, and Westmoreland Counties, went solidly for President Trump, but Democrat Conor Lamb appears to have inched out a win over Republican Rick Saccone.

In his letter, Frank once again raised concerns that Allegheny County officials delayed attorney Russell Giancola's attempts to watch a part of the vote tabulation.

He called the county's requirements "unprecedented" and accused officials there of violating the Elections Code and the campaign's rights, saying the county refused to acknowledge Giancola's poll-watcher certificate, an email from the campaign, or an email from the chair of the county Republican Committee.

County officials have said Giancola identified himself as being "from the Saccone campaign," but said the Election Code only allows political parties, not candidates, to deputize observers. They said a lawyer provided an email purporting to show such authorization, but they couldn't accept it because "there was no signature." They said they swore in Giancola to observe after they received signed authorization.

In his letter, Frank also accused officials from Allegheny and Washington Counties of failing to provide proper notice about the elections, saying Allegheny's notice did not mention the Uniform Military and Overseas Voters Act, and "Washington appears to have wholly failed to add this notice to its website." At least one section of the Allegheny County elections website does currently reference the act. It has been updated for the May 15 primary.

Larry Spahr, director of Washington County's elections office, said Saturday morning that he had not yet seen the letter but believes the county had at some point updated its website.

"I'd have to see what they might be talking about," he said.

Lamb, who was also at the St. Patrick's Day Parade, declined comment and said, "I'm just celebrating."

Frank also wrote that the party received reports about calibration issues with the machines  in which the machine attempts to check off a different ballot than the one cast.

Wanda Murren, a spokeswoman for the Department of State, said earlier in the week that the counties "received very few calls from voters about calibration issues with voting machines, and the majority of these calls were not from individual voters who personally experienced issues with selecting their candidate of choice."

Frank also said the Republican Party "received numerous complaints about voters not appearing on the voter rolls, and being denied the ability to cast a provisional ballot at their polling place." He said that the department's website "errantly directed voters to polling places matched to their address under the recently imposed Pennsylvania Supreme Court map.  Since election day, we have heard from potential voters in Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District who attempted to vote but were informed that they did not live in the district any longer."

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court in January tossed out the previous congressional map on the grounds that it violated the state constitution because it had been gerrymandered to favor Republicans. The court ordered that this special election should still be conducted using the previous map; Pennsylvania's current congressmen were elected using the prior map. The new map is supposed to take effect in May  unless a court intervenes to block it.

Murren said the polling locator on the department's website doesn't tell people what congressional districts they live in. It only shows their polling place, which remains the same regardless of which congressional map is used, she said.

"We believe some people were confused by the simple fact that, when they used our system to ask about their polling place, the system gave them the location. Then they thought they were eligible to vote Tuesday," Murren said. "But the fact is, on any day of the year, registered voters may check their polling place on our website."

Elections officials said earlier in the week that they received some complaints from people who wanted to vote in the election but couldn't because they did not live inside the district.

The high-profile race also received a lot of media attention. Campaign ads aired beyond the district bounds, and the election drew big names, with visits from Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, a Democrat.The Rev. Theresa Latini, former president of United Lutheran Seminary, which has campuses in Gettysburg and Philadelphia. Latini was fired after revelations of her past leadership of a group that promoted gay conversion surfaced on campus. Read more

At a moment that demanded rapt attention from a packed room at the United Lutheran Seminary, the Rev. Theresa F. Latini sensed that few were listening to her.

It was about a week before she would be fired from her new post as president of the 325-student divinity school. The revelation that she once headed an organization that promoted the idea that gay men and women could change their sexuality had jolted the seminary's dual campuses in Philadelphia and Gettsyburg.

Officials of the LGBT-affirming school sat in meetings at both sites, listening as students, faculty, and staff aired heartbreak and anger. But when Latini's turn came to share what she viewed as her transformational story  how she had long since abandoned the opinions she held 20-some years earlier  she doubted that her defense of herself mattered, or that she'd be given enough time to explain. The atmosphere was too fraught, the divisions too deep. And not just because of past misjudgments that she admittedly regretted.

In her view, the trouble that swept her out after just eight months at the helm was rooted in the difficult merger in July of the two struggling Lutheran campuses. As the newly formed seminary's first president, she was expected to calm the roiling waters, right the ship, and sail ahead. Easier prayed for than achieved.

"My interpretation of what happened to me and my presidency is far less about my past and far more about politics," Latini, 47, said in an interview less than 24 hours after her ouster Wednesday evening. "There were some constituencies that were unhappy with me and used this moment."

In a speech to the school community Thursday, Bishop James Dunlop, the new acting president, said the board had to make difficult decisions that were bad news for some and good news for others. Although mergers are hard, school officials wrote in an email Friday, the seminary had made "significant strides through our faith in God and each other" and was looking forward to continued progress.

They said they would "pray for Dr. Latini during this difficult time."

That time had stretched into weeks, as rumors of Latini's past went from whispers to insistent calls for her ouster.

For five years starting in 1996, Latini was executive director of OneByOne, a New York-based group that called homosexuality a form of "brokenness" that could be healed. She had disclosed that affiliation to a member of the selection committee, the Rev. J. Elise Brown, during the hiring process in early 2017. Consequently, the outrage that finally erupted on the campuses centered not only on Latini but also on school officials who did not publicly address the matter until it had become a full-blown storm. Eight trustees have since stepped down, including Brown.

As the dissension intensified, student Carla Christopher began sharing her personal experiences with what is called conversion therapy, also known as reparative therapy, a discredited form of treatment that purports to turn gay men and women straight. Major mental-health organizations say the treatment is ineffective and can inflict psychological harm. Christopher, 39, who identifies as lesbian, said she was tricked into attending a session about 20 years ago that left her depressed and suicidal.

Latini said publicly that she never supported that "horrific" treatment, and recounted her transformation from director of OnebyOne to a widely recognized advocate for LGBTQIA issues who became an associate dean of diversity and cultural competency at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Mich.

Still, the chasm between Latini and the seminary community would never be closed, said Seth Roseman, 25, of Gettysburg, a second-year student. He described the school as "bleeding."

Latini was raised in the small Hudson Valley town of Port Jervis, N.Y., the oldest of four children born to a school superintendent and a homemaker. She grew up Roman Catholic, but her family switched to a conservative Pentecostal congregation when Latini was a teenager.

At 10, she told her mother she wanted to be a preacher. A family friend, a female minister of the AME Zion Church, took Latini under her wing. She enrolled in Elim Bible Institute and College in Lima, N.Y., and earned a bachelor's degree in psychology and contemporary ministry. During her time there, she began attending a conservative Presbyterian church. And she became director of OneByOne.

"I was young. I've grown past that belief, and I regret that I was a part of that," said Latini, who went on to earn a master's degree and a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary. "The church should be helping people accept and celebrate their diversity."

OneByOne was never a proponent or provider of conversion therapy, said the Rev. Jeff Winter, the group's current president and a native of Cherry Hill. He described Latini as a gifted leader and communicator who has changed her views, and been unfairly maligned.

When Latini started at United Lutheran Seminary, school leadership had to cope with two campuses  formerly Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg and Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadephia  at which faculty members had lost tenure and housing in the merger. Curricula had been revamped, classes canceled, staff let go, and the alumni connection to two individual schools now subsumed under one flagship had been frayed, Latini said.

However, there were complaints that Latini exhibited an "authoritarian management style" with students and had "rebuffed faculty" with a "locked-door policy," according to a statement that Latini read to the board at the March 14 meeting where the group decided to terminate her.

The revelation of her past connections to OneByOne exacerbated the turmoil already in motion at the seminary, Latini said. She has not decided whether she will pursue legal action,

"We are concerned about protecting her rights, are evaluating her next steps and are deeply concerned about the vicious, unwarranted and untrue statements that have been made about her," said Kevin Toth, her lawyer.

To help the school recover, the board has approved funding for improvements in pastoral care and behavioral health services, the hiring of a trauma specialist, and an audit that will focus on "diversity, equity and inclusion" at the seminary. Meanwhile, a search is on for a new president and trustees to fill out the board.

"I feel no joy about President Latini being fired," said Christopher, a student leader of the United Lutheran Seminary Action Group, which formed during the controversy. "I feel like she was a woman in ministry, in a difficult situation. She was dancing a very difficult dance for her entire career. She has her own healing journey she has to go on right now, and she can't heal at the same time that she's helping the seminary to heal."

The Rev. John M. Longworth, an adviser to the action group and a graduate of the former Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, said he is pleased with the proposed changes, and is coping with feelings of relief and grief.

"I know how much rebuilding will have to be done after this change," he said. "And I'm grieving for some of the students who perhaps have had some of the shine and excitement of their entry into ministry taken away."

Latini said she wishes them all well on their healing journey.

For herself, she plans to continue "being an advocate for people who are marginalized," she said. "None of us does it perfectly  including me. But that's what I want to be a part of."

Staff writer Michael Boren contributed to this article.Thomas J. Gibbons Jr., 73, of Somerton, a member of the Philadelphia Police Department's elite highway patrol unit who narrowly escaped with his life after being shot in the line of duty, then recovered and went on to become a distinguished Inquirer crime reporter for more than two decades, has died.

Mr. Gibbons died Friday, March 16, two months after undergoing surgery for brain cancer at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He had greeted the ordeal with customary good humor, his family said.

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross Jr. said: "Tom Gibbons was a selfless and courageous police officer. He was also a compassionate and honorable man. While he will be sorely missed, his legacy will always be cherished by the men and women of the Philadelphia Police Department."

"Tommy deserves enormous credit for helping establish the Inquirer's rich tradition for outstanding police reporting," said Stan Wischnowski, executive editor for Philadelphia Media Network. "He set the bar for excellence, and his legacy is still felt in our newsroom today."

Born in Philadelphia, Mr. Gibbons was the son of Police Commissioner Thomas J. Gibbons Sr. From the get-go, there was little doubt that son would follow father onto the police force.

The defining moment came at age 6, when he watched from the passenger seat as his father screeched to a halt in his city car, locked it, and jumped out with a shotgun to stop what he thought was a robbery in progress.

Though it turned out there was no robbery, the incident impressed Mr. Gibbons. "That's when I got the bug" to be a cop, he would later tell the Irish Edition, a monthly newspaper.

After graduating from La Salle High School in 1962 and spending three years as a copy boy at the Evening Bulletin, Mr. Gibbons became a patrolman assigned to the precinct at Harbison and Levick Streets. He was so green, he didn't know how to answer the police radio.

In the late 1960s, Mr. Gibbons qualified for membership in the exclusive Highway Patrol, fulfilling a dream. The unit handles incidents citywide and has a famous motorcycle drill team.

"We wear boots and britches and helmets," Mr. Gibbons told the Irish Edition in 2008. "There is no better way to clear a corner in a tough neighborhood than the arrival of two highway cops who jump out of an unmarked car with nightsticks."

Mr. Gibbons didn't dwell on the dangers of patrol work, but at 8:25 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 30, 1970, danger found him and partner John Nolen.

Dispatchers had warned patrols to watch for a Cadillac with two men who had beaten police detectives and seized their service revolvers. Mr. Gibbons pulled the car over at 59th Street and Cedar Avenue, he wrote in the July 9, 2016, Inquirer. Protocol did not yet call for protective vests.

"I walked up to the driver still behind the steering wheel. Nolen went to the passenger side. I asked for the driver's license and registration. Suddenly, Nolen yelled to me over the car's roof, 'Look out, Tom, he's got a '"

The passenger fired at Nolen, striking him in the face. As Mr. Gibbons drew his revolver, the driver shot him in the elbow and wrist. A third shot, as Mr. Gibbons sought cover, glanced off his pelvis and deflated a lung.

As he took stock of his injuries, Mr. Gibbons heard gunfire. Nolen had opened fire on the men, who were out of the car. One assailant fled. As the other sped off in the car, Nolen gave police dispatchers the location.

"An officer scooped me up and threw me in the back of his car. I asked him to get me a Catholic priest," Mr. Gibbons wrote.

Nolen was discharged in a week, but Mr. Gibbons underwent multiple surgeries and spent a year recovering. The assailants were convicted and sentenced to prison.

Mr. Gibbons returned to the force as a radio-room supervisor with the rank of corporal. But his wish to be back on patrol wasn't realistic. At age 28, after seven years on the force, he retired on disability in 1972.

In January 1973, Sam Boyle, city editor of the Evening Bulletin, told Mr. Gibbons: "We could use you as a reporter," according to the Irish Edition.

Mr. Gibbons worked nights covering crime He reported to John F. "Jack" Morrison Jr., the Bulletin's night city editor.

"He was an excellent police reporter," Morrison said. "He had this big black car he used to tool around the city in. He had a lot of contacts naturally because of his name. Because he had so many sources, he was able to get stories that others had trouble getting. Besides that, he was such a nice guy."

"I met Tom when I was a freshly minted police officer," said Thomas J. Nestel III, now chief of SEPTA's Transit Police. "He was doing a story on an arrest that I had made, and I was nervous to talk to the media. He put me at ease by saying that all he was trying to do was show people some of the great work done by police officers."

Mr. Gibbons was a street reporter. Once he had the details of a crime, he phoned them in to a Bulletin rewrite person. The writer composed the story.

The next day, the phone rang. "Hey, pal," he told the writer. "Thanks for making me look good."

Mr. Gibbons soon learned to write his own reports. In November 1981, the Inquirer offered him a job covering crime. Though loath to leave, Mr. Gibbons joined the competition. The move was prescient. The Bulletin folded two months later.

"Having worked with Tom as a reporter on the MOVE story and later as an editor, I know based on firsthand experience that he was a stellar reporter," said William K. Marimow, now vice president of strategic development for Philadelphia Media Network. "If there were an Inquirer Hall of Fame, he would be a unanimous choice."

On Nov. 18, 2005, Mr. Gibbons retired. Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson helped plan a sendoff. While officers gathered in Johnson's office, his Highway Patrol friends stood at attention on the sidewalk below, their motorcycles lined up on the walkway with emergency lights flashing.

The commissioner ushered the retiree downstairs. "He was surprised. His face lit up," Johnson said. Then Johnson drove Mr. Gibbons to the Inquirer newsroom. As Mr. Gibbons entered, flanked by Highway Patrol, the newsroom erupted in applause.

In retirement, Mr. Gibbons enjoyed spending time with family at the Jersey Shore.

Mr. Gibbons is survived by his wife, Carol; a daughter, Carey Kelman; two grandchildren, two step-grandchildren and a sister.

Visitations will be held Monday, March 19, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., and Tuesday, March 20, from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at Galzerano Funeral Home, 9304 Old Bustleton Ave., Philadelphia, followed by a funeral Mass at 11:30 a.m. at Maternity BVM Church, 9220 Old Bustleton Ave., Philadelphia. Interment will be private.

Donations, which will go toward the purchase of a motorcycle for the Philadelphia Police highway patrol unit, may be made to the Philadelphia Police Foundation, P.O. Box 4358, Philadelphia, Pa. 19118, or https://phillypolicefoundation.org/ABC/Tim OgierNickelback's Chad Kroeger and Ryan Peake paid tribute to fellow Canadian band The Tragically Hip recently with a backstage, acoustic cover of the song "Ahead By a Century." You can watch the impromptu performance now on YouTube.

"Being on tour can be a game of hurry and wait," Nickelback writes. "Sometimes waiting around to take the stage is just plain torturous. And other times The Tragically Hip pops into your head and you get lost in a moment that makes it all better. This will always be a favorite!"

Beloved in their native Canada, The Tragically Hip is perhaps best known in the U.S. for their single "Courage," which appeared on their 1992 album, Fully Completely. Frontman Gord Downie died last October at age 53 following a nearly two-year battle with brain cancer.

Both Nickelback and Downie are nominated at this year's Juno Awards, the Canadian equivalent of the Grammys. The 2018 ceremony takes place March 25 in Vancouver.

Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}}

"It means additional funds that aren't necessarily in your day-to-day budget," he said. "It is a very big deal ... and we're here to celebrate the amount of giving that's been done by this organization in Cayuga County."

Peter Dunn, the president and CEO of the Central New York Community Foundation, said the Cayuga Community Fund is a key opportunity for charitable people who want their donations to stay in their community. All of the money raised with the fund stays in Cayuga County.

"Community foundations are key in inspiring people who made their money local to keep it local over generations," he said. "While needs may change, that desire to be a part of the community and keep their story here is why community foundations were created."

For Mandel, the Cayuga Community Fund has been instrumental in educating the Southern Cayuga district. So far, he said, the fund has awarded two $1,500 grants to purchase signs directing visitors to the tree site and books for the library. This year, the district is applying for a third grant to purchase security cameras and lighting to protect the tree.Los Picos 6500, first summits climbed in the Andes by Franco Nicolini, Tomas Franchini, Silvestro Franchini

16.03.2018 by by Planetmountain

In the Andes the Italian alpinists Franco Nicolini, Tomas Franchini and Silvestro Franchini have successfully climbed the first three mountains of the Los Picos 6500 project. The aim is to climb the 16 highest peaks above 6500 meters in the South American Andes in circa 60 days and shortly after their arrival they ascended Aconcagua, Tupungato and Mercedario. They will be accompanied by their friend and fellow mountaineer Michele Leonardi.

Aconcagua, Tupungato and Mercedario. These are the first three summits bagged at breakneck speed by the Trentino alpinists Franco Nicolini and the brothers Tomas and Silvestro Franchini. After more than a year of preparation, the three are currently in the Andes attempting their fascinating and complicated project, namely the 16 summits above 6500 meters in this mountain chain.

Reaching the top of just one of these peaks in the chain that runs down the western flank of South America is a dream for many, but Nicolini and the Franchini brothers aim to climb all sixteen of them and, furthermore, they plan to do so in about 60 days Before departing Nicolini told planetmountain.com: "I really like the idea, in many respects its a continuation of the my way of interpreting mountaineering, how Ive taken to the mountains all my time, but this time its applied to the highest peaks of South America."

Bearing this in mind, its worth pointing out two other major projects Nicolini carried out in the past: the enchainment of 106 Dolomite mountains above 3000 meters in 50 days with Mirco Mezzanotte in 2007 and the enchainment of the Alps 82 4000ers in 60 days with Diego Giovannini in 2008.

After arriving in Argentina the three made quick work of Aconcagua, at 6965 meters the highest mountain on the continent. Their debut climb was impressive to say the least. After reaching Plaza de Mulas base camp they did the following: establish ABC at Nido de Condores at 5500 m and return to BC on day 1, ascent to 5500 m on day 2, cumber at 3:30 on day 3 and return to BC. The trio reached the summit with friend and fellow mountaineer Michele Leonardi who will document the project, help out with the logistics and, as Nicolini explained, "maybe climb a couple of peaks.

After this lightning-fast start, the group traveled to Chile to try "the mountain of storms", ie Volcan Tupungato. As expected they had to fight against strong winds and after getting up at 3 am they postponed the climbing until 6:15 am due to the strong gusts of wind. In order to reach the 6570m summit they had to negotiate 7 km of terrain up 2100 meters in altitude gain and the summit was reached first by the Franchini brothers, then at 14.45 by Nicolini and Leonardi. After the ritual photos they descended rapidly and at 18:45 pm all four were safely back in base camp celebrating. On 12 March they ascended Mercedario 6701m, reached after having battling against 80-90 km/hour winds. "We can hardly manage to stay on our feet ..." stated Tomas Franchini "the power of nature is incredible on these giants!"

Currently the Trentino mountaineers are heading towards Mount Bonete 6759m. Talking about his project prior of departure Nicolini had explained "The countries we will visit while climbing these mountains are Chile, Argentina, Bolivia and Peru. The last two mountains await us in Peru and we reckon thats where well encounter the biggest problems since well get there in late winter, early spring ... well see how things unfold."



Links: FB Franco Nicolini, FB Tomas Franchini, FB Silvestro Franchini, FB Michele Leonardi

Share TweetAfter a teenage gunman killed 17 people at a Parkland, Florida, high school last month, schools across the country were hit by a wave of copycat threats.

In Colorado, at least two high school students were arrested based on information sent to the state anonymous tip line and mobile app, known as Safe2Tell. They had a list, they had weapons, they knew exactly what they wanted to do, said Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman, whose office administers the program.

States across the country are responding to high-profile school shootings and rising teen suicide rates by creating tip lines modeled on Colorados. The programs aim to prevent young people from behaving dangerously, whether that means bullying, using drugs or killing someone.

Coffman told PewTrust that Safe2Tell has saved lives in Colorado, and that such a system could have prevented the Parkland shooting. Nikolas Cruz, the expelled student who has admitted to shooting his former classmates at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, had a long record of disturbing behavior."You know when you go up in a plane and you just bloat in the air?" Ekrem Dimbiloglu asked me the other morning. "Your neck and your feet?"

As Delta Air Lines director of uniforms, Dimbiloglu has seen what 30,000 feet can do to a person. (The official term is "jet belly.")

So when Delta hired fashion designer Zac Posen to create new uniforms for its 22,500 flight attendants, he was sure to include an elastic tab in the collar of the dress shirts. Necks could expand all they wanted. Problem solved.

That little detail is one of many that Posen worked into the new uniforms, for which Deltas 3,300 Seattle-based employees started fittings recently in a ballroom at the Airport Marriott.

This I had to see, for it hasnt been very fashionable up there in the air for a very long time. If passengers arent trying to pass hamsters and peacocks off as service animals, theyre dressing like theyre headed to Pilates or back to bed, carrying pillows and stuffed-animal backpacks and grease-stained bags of food.

If Delta employees are looking this good, it might just inspire passengers to pull up their proverbial pants.

Since Delta hasnt had new uniforms in a decade, the company made the days event a party, complete with private dressing tents and a runway down the center, if employees were so inclined to walk it.

Why the fuss?

"Its deeper than a uniform," said Chad Holmes, an aircraft load agent based in Salt Lake City who participated in the design process. "Its something that you feel proud to wear, and if you have an employee that feels good, its going to transfer to the customer service."

Those are fighting words here in the home of Alaska Airlines, which just last month debuted new uniforms designed by Seattle-based designer Luly Yang. She went undercover for six months, quizzing employees about their uniforms, saying only that she was working on a research project.

Posen, too, traveled to get a sense of what Delta employees needed and then engaged 1,000 flight attendants, gate agents, and cargo, ground and ramp employees in a three-month wear test.

Their suggestions resulted in 65 changes: Everything from the rise in the mens pants to the shade of blue, which was made 20 percent darker to hide dirt and stains.

The pen-pocket in the male flight-attendant suit was deepened a half-inch. There are "sweat shields" sewn under the arms of all the blazers.

The radio clip on the female ground employees shirt was moved from the chest area to the shoulder. Ground crew shirts are made of Dri-Fit material with reflective panels built in, eliminating the need for safety vests.

All the fabrics have four-way stretch for better mobility, and all over is the Delta widget, placed everywhere from the snap on the pants to the top of the ground employees gloves to the reflective material on the half-zip pullovers.

"Theyre not there for the customer," Dimbiloglu said. "We want the employees to feel great and prideful about working for Delta."

The uniforms debut on May 29  the day after Memorial Day, and just in time for the summer travel rush.

Seattle-based flight attendant Lawrence Knapp has been with Delta since it merged with Western Airlines in 1987. He loves the darts in the new vest and the fact that the backing isnt silk anymore: "It used to get all pilled up."

In the next fitting area, Rebecca Stratton  who works in safety and compliance on the ramp  did a little dance in her new shorts.

When she first started with the airline six years ago, "I guessed what size I would wear and crossed my fingers."

Not only does her new uniform fit, "These shorts are so soft, I havent even washed them yet and I feel like theyre flexible and breathable."

Most people dont understand what the job entails, she said.

"Its a lot of different movements," she said. "One minute youre lifting bags, next youre climbing a ladder and after that youre under an aircraft. Its a lot of physical work.

"Its important to be comfortable in what you do. If youre not, youre going to be stiff and its going to cause injuries."

Said Holmes: "We have pretty frazzled jobs. Now well feel more put together."

And, hopefully, a little less bloated.LAKE CITY  Missionaries Ian and Sheila Hall will be guests 6 p.m. Sunday at Valley View Assembly of God Church.

The Halls have more than 40 years of pastoral and missionary experience throughout the world.

On April 25, they will travel to Romania for three months of ministry. They will be purchase tables and chairs for classrooms as well as equipment and teaching materials for a new Saturday morning childrens outreach ministry.

Valley View Assembly of God Church is at 305 W. Grant St. in Lake City.

A Time for Women holds craft retreat

A Time for Women will be having a craft retreat 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 24 in the Summit Room of Autumn Ridge Church, 3611 Salem Road SW, Rochester.

Bring a project to work on and your own supplies. There is no set program or demo, just time for you to enjoy getting together with other ladies and time to work on your crafts. Feel free to come and go as your schedule permits. Please bring a treat to share; coffee and water will be provided, and lunch is on your own.

For more information text or call 507-269-7653 and leave a message. Find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/a.time.for.women.When I got the photo sent from a birding friend, he didnt name the animal, giving everyone he sent it to a chance to guess what the furry creature was. I was thinking possibly marten, fisher or maybe even wolverine, as I couldnt tell how big it was from the photo.

The photo came from someone who had gotten the picture on a game-cam near West Concord. Another email from a DNR researcher confirmed it was a fisher, and included pictures of a family of fishers taken last summer near the Mississippi River and Caledonia.

Fishers are mammals in the mustelid family, the largest family of carnivores including weasels, mink, otters, badgers, wolverines, martens and others. Males and females look similar, but males are larger, weighing as much as 13 pounds, compared to a large female at 6 pounds. Their fur is glossier and denser in winter, which I would assume is time of prime value.

I am confident I never have seen a fisher in the wild and, given they dont do well in captivity, doubt I have seen one in a cage or enclosure. But I learned a lot about fishers in a conversation with John Erb, a DNR furbearer/wolf researcher located in Grand Rapids.

John indicated fisher sightings have been on the increase in southeastern Minnesota, with 32 reported south of the Twin Cities since 2005. He sees a trend for increased fisher numbers in the Southeast, especially close to the Mississippi River.

John noted, "Fishers are a pretty diverse predator, both adept on ground and in trees at eating small rodents, squirrels, hares and rabbits." They also are one of the few predators of porcupines, with some stories of trapping and transplanting fishers into forested areas to reduce porcupine numbers, as they feed heavily on tree bark.

An 8-year study John and colleagues did, radio-tagging 125 fishers and closely related martens, gave them valuable insights. They found the smaller females more susceptible to predation, especially by bobcats, as they often compete for the same food while trying to raise their young.

They also found bobcat numbers increasing while fishers are decreasing, in large part because of forestry practices that are favoring young forests. Fishers tend to like old-growth forests in part because they use cavities in large trees for shelter and raising young. John said they work with DNR foresters to try to provide habitat for fishers.

Fisher pelts were highly prized in the early 1900s, with some bringing more than $2,000 in todays dollars. But, similar to others in their family, fishers were all but wiped out in northern forests of the U.S. because of trapping. Fortunately, they have made a recovery in some areas and continue expanding their current range, evidenced in part by the sightings mentioned above.

With state fisher numbers declining since 2000, trapping allowed in northern Minnesota has been reduced in recent years to 16 days and only two fishers per trapper. Unfortunately, of the 32 fishers reported south of the Cities, seven were "incidentally" trapped, a problem inherent with trapping.

Hopefully, fishers will continue to find remaining old-growth forests in Southeast Minnesota to their liking, and once again inhabit our landscape.Originally from Pekin, Ill., Hormel Foods brought Dr. Julia Espe to Austin. From music teacher to educator of gifted and talented students, Espe now serves as the superintendent of the Princeton Public Schools.

To honor her distinguished career in education, last week Espe was awarded the 2018 Kay E. Jacobs Memorial Award, which "recognizes excellent leadership and involvement in the Minnesota Association of School Administrators (MASA) and other educational organizations by an administrator who is a woman."

Espe is passionate about her work and its impact on our youth. "I love the way that educators work together to improve achievement for students," she said. "There is nothing to compare to the passion that teachers have for their students and their success."

In 1988, Espe came from Austin to Rochester, hired by the Rochester Public Schoolsto serve as the K-12 coordinator of gifted and talented. While the district had services for gifted students at the elementary school level at the time, during Espes tenure she expanded the program to serve students at the middle and high school levels. With the support of then-superintendent Dr. Vernon Johnson, she was able to obtain more funding for gifted services and create GATEway, a group specifically for parents.

"I loved being in Rochester, especially the support from IBM and Mayo. They were such great advocates for gifted education," she said. She left Rochester in 1993, working in schools in Lakeville, St. Cloud, and then Princeton.

Espe will retire in June after a long and successful career in education. This former music teacher is looking forward to playing the viola and enjoying time with her family at the lake.

Evan the Eagle

Ten years into Boy Scouts, Evan Maraganore,of Rochester has earned the ultimate rank, Eagle Scout. The Boy Scouts of America organization began in 1910; since its inception only 2 percent of all Scouts have achieved this level.

Evan, a member of Troop 83, joined Cub Scouts in 2008 as a second grader. Highlights of his years in Scouting include camping with friends and high adventure activities. He has also been the troop bugler, responsible for morning reveille and evening taps.

In addition to advancing through the ranks of Scouting, Evan needed to earn 21 merit badges, serve in a leadership capacity, and complete a board review. Plus, he was required to create and fulfill a service project.

Community Food Response ( www.communityfoodresponse.org), a local nonprofit, was the beneficiary of Evans Eagle project. Evan says he and his family have actively volunteered with the organization, "since I could walk."

CFRs mission is twofold: feed the hungry and prevent "needless food waste" in our community. Using leftovers from restaurants and catering services benefits the hungry here in town. CFR offers food at Bethel Lutheran Church and at The Exchange near Gage East.

With Evans knowledge of CFR, he recognized that those utilizing their services would benefit from some comfortable seating. He made three red oak benches "so that the clients of CFR could sit down instead of standing in line for up to hours at a time." Along with 12 volunteers, Evan completed nearly 300 hours of planning and work to create the benches for CFR. Vetsch Hardwoods, Nigon Woodworks, and Struve Paintprovided "significant discounts on their supplies in order to help" with Evans project.

Whether he is learning from mentors or guiding younger Scouts, Evan has found the friendships and leadership opportunities the most rewarding aspects of Scouting.Judge Rudolph Contreras has served as a judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia since 2012. In 2016 Chief Justice Roberts appointed him to serve on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

Judge Contreras was randomly assigned the case brought against former Trump administration National Security Adviser Michael Flynn by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Four Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court judges authorized the original FISA warrant on Carter Page or authorized its renewal. We do not know if Judge Contreras was one of them.

Late last year Judge Contreras presided over the hearing in which Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI. In his plea Flynn admitted that he lied to FBI agents about his interactions with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the transition and lied to the Justice Department about his lobbying dealings related to Turkey. The plea documents are posted online here. Flynn agreed to cooperate with Mueller and has yet to be sentenced.

Following the plea hearing Judge Contreras recused himself from Flynns case. The case has now been reassigned to Judge Emmet Sullivan Judge Sullivan has ordered Muellers team to produce exculpatory evidence to Flynn. The production of such evidence is required before a defendant goes to trial, not after he pleads guilty.

The reason for Judge Sullivans order is a mystery, but its not the only one. Judge Contreras has not revealed the basis of his recusal from Flynns case. I have wondered how Judge Contreras could have undertaken it and presided over the plea hearing if he determined within a matter of days following the plea hearing that he shouldnt or couldnt continue to sit on it. What is going on? We dont yet know.

We have just learned, however, courtesy of previously undisclosed text messages between the FBIs infamous lovers that Judge Contreras is a friend of former senior FBI counterintelligence officer Peter Strzok. Strzok handled both the fake Clinton email investigation and the investigation of the Trump team. Indeed, Strzok was one of the FBI officers who conducted the interview with Flynn leading to the charge brought against him.

The newly disclosed text messages show Strzok and Page arranging to meet socially with Judge Contreras for unspecified purposes related to Strzoks work. Mollie Hemingway has the story here, Chuck Ross here, Sara Carter here.

The circumstances surrounding the disclosure of the text messages have a guilty appearance. The text messages were withheld from Congress by production in a form that concealed them. Mollie Hemingway puts it this way: The text messages that show Page and Strzok conspiring to meet with Contreras were originally hidden from Congress. In records provided by DOJ to Congress, the exchanges referencing Contreras, and plans to meet with him under the guise of a cocktail party, were completely redacted by federal law enforcement officials. The exchanges obtained by The Federalist include information that was never turned over to Congress.

I take it that the messages were turned over to Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz, who discovered the existence of the Strzok-Page text messages in the first place. Sara Carter attributes yesterdays disclosure of the texts bearing on Judge Contreras to House Oversight Committee staff: Investigators working with Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Rep. Mark Meadows, both with the House Oversight Committee, discovered the text messages during their ongoing investigation into the FBIs handling of the alleged Trump-Russia collusion investigation, the Congressional members told this reporter.

Carter explains: Under rules established by DOJ officials, congressional investigators could only review the less-redacted version of the pairs text messages at DOJ headquarters and only the highly redacted version of the texts was allowed to be removed during the ongoing process, they said. All the reports state that Horowitzs investigation has collected 1.2 million documents, of which the House Oversight Committee has only received 3,162 unique documents.

Perhaps there is an innocent explanation for the hiding of the text messages from Congress. They appear to derive from Horowitzs work. Under the circumstances, however, I think it would be a mistake to accord the FBI or the Department of Justice the benefit of the doubt.

UPDATE: A reader urges that we not overlook this important point:

I think there is an important aspect to the most recent text messages that is being overlooked. Here is the critical portion of the text exchange [REDACTED] suggested a social setting with others would probably be better than a one on one meeting, Strzok told Page. Im sorry, Im just going to have to invite you to that cocktail party. Have to come up with some other work people cover for action, Strzok added. Why more? Page responded. Six is a perfectly fine dinner party. This is not just Strzok and Page discussing meeting Contreras socially, REDACTED is also involved. Who is REDACTED? It does not take a rocket scientist to narrow down the likely possibilities. #1 on the list is Andrew McCabe. We already know that Andy is into insurance policies. Other possibilities include Comey, Bill Priestap and Sally Yates.

The reader concludes that an important aspect of there being another person involved in these discussions is the revelation of a systemic issue within the FBI and the Department of Justice. It is an issue that obviously extends beyond a lone rogue cop and his girlfriend.This evening, Attorney Jeff Sessions fired Andrew McCabe. Until recently, McCabe was the deputy director of the FBI. He stepped down from that position, but remained a Justice Department employee pending his retirement, which was set to take place this weekend.

The firing took place 26 hours before the retirement. It means McCabe will lose a significant portion of his pension.

McCabe promptly issued an angry statement. He claimed, among other things, that his dismissal was part of the Trumps administrations ongoing war on the FBI and the efforts of the Special Counsel investigation and was the result of pressure from President Trump.

It seems likely that McCabe will seek legal redress. However, he may end of fighting on two legal fronts  criminal and civil. A prosecution for making false statements might well be in McCabes future.

As to the firing, it was recommended by the FBI office that handles discipline. The recommendation was based on findings by the DOJs inspector general investigation. The IG found that McCabe authorized the disclosure of sensitive information to the media about a Clinton-related case and then misled investigators about having done so.

If these findings are valid, they warrant firing. Unless McCabe can point to high level DOJ employees who were found to have engaged in similar misconduct but were not fired, I doubt he has much of a case (assuming, again, that the findings of misconduct are well-supported). That, at least, is my impression on first blush.

Trumps anti-McCabe tweets, coupled with his public denunciations of Jeff Session, will enable McCabe to argue that Sessions motive was to please the president, and thus that the discharge decision is tainted. Not for the first time, Trumps tweeting may have thrown a lifeline to his adversaries.

But if the discharge decision has a strong factual basis, if (as is the case) it was recommended to Sessions through normal DOJ channels, and if its consistent with past practice, then the decision seems just and proper, whatever Trump has tweeted. In these circumstances, it ought to be upheld.Pressure is mounting for the appointment of a special counsel to investigate how the FBI and the Justice Department handled interactions with the Trump campaign and the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Sens. Charles Grassley and Lindsey Graham say that although the inspector general is doing a good job with his investigation, he faces constraints. Thus, they want a special counsel.

To the extent the inspector general is constrained, however, other precincts of the Justice Department, including prosecutors, could step in. So the argument for a special counsel boils down to the proposition that, as Sen. Grassley puts it, the DOJ cannot be counted on to investigate [itself].

This may be true, although it appears that in this case the DOJ inspector general, at least, is doing a good job of investigation the DOJ. Grassley and Graham so stipulate.

Whats undoubtedly true is that a Justice Department official cannot be counted on to investigate himself. Thats why its puzzling that some of the same commentators and talk show hosts (plus a certain president) who say the DOJ cant investigate itself insist that Jeff Sessions shouldnt have recused himself from the Russia campaign interference investigation.

Sessions was a key member of the campaign team that is under investigation. During the period in which Sessions was a member of that campaign team, he met several times with the Russian ambassador.

A thorough investigation of alleged links between Russia and the Trump campaign would be expected to explore Sessions encounters with the ambassador. Thus, once Sessions was reminded that he had such encounters, he was right to recuse himself from the investigation.

Otherwise, he would have been investigating himself.Last month I was interviewed by a Dutch journalist who was passing through town about what it is like to be an inmate . . . I mean, a professor at a place like Berkeley. The resulting article in Elsevier Weekblad is in Dutch, which I dont read at all, and in any case, most of the article is behind a subscription paywall. The headline, Conservatieve hoogleraar: Ook impopulaire ideeen moeten bespreekbaar zijn, apparently translates: Conservative professor: Unpopular ideas must also be discussed. Apparently the Dutch word for professor is hoogleraar, which I rather like. Im going to put it on my business card from now on.

All that appears before the paywall is part of the first paragraph:

Steven Hayward (59), een van de schaarse conservatieve hoogleraren aan de universiteit van Berkeley, ziet de vrijheid van meningsuiting in gevaar komen. Sprekers weren, dat lost helemaal niets op.

Google translate, which isnt entirely perfect, says this translates as follows:

Steven Hayward (59), one of the few conservative professors at the University of Berkeley, sees freedom of speech at risk. Speaking of speakers, that does not solve anything at all.

That last sentence doesnt really make sense, but Ill roll with it. (I think what I was trying to say is that calls merely for free speech are insufficient, because we need to get at the ideological rot at universities before this problem will change.)

Meanwhile, the comments to the article are not behind a paywall, and the Google translate rendering of some of them are quite interestingthough you need to make due allowance for the imperfections of the translationsand suggest the article was sensible, or at least sympathetic to me:

Good, smart guy. It is all too ridiculous for words, all those long left toes and hurt souls. For decades, they themselves have insulted and cheated on more conservative people, and then suddenly they are ridiculously occupied with alleged racism or are faced with intolerant religions. Many Muslims must have NOs of Christians or dissenters, but do you think there is a critical word from the left? No, theyll join them. Just ridiculous. For years, the Red, Left, Atheist people have had to insult or ridicule ecclesiastical or conservative compatriots, usually behind the backs, and with VARA and VPRO also openly on TV. And then they want to become an advocate of intolerant groups and of people who come here to benefit from the labor of others? How hypocritical can still be left? What a wonderful article! In the Netherlands we work completely and nobody knows how to name a dark or tinted person. You can not be against the theory of evolution or against abortion and certainly not be a housemother who wants to raise her children herself. Enter the conversation, you can learn a lot from that. Freedom of speech is not for frightened people. Unfortunately, the current generation of young people consists mainly of frightened people who do not want to be hurt. I have worked for 40 years at various Dutch universities. For years there has been a rich tradition to make it impossible for scientists to work on ideological grounds. The University of Amsterdam is the worst in that regard. That is where relative non-valeurs are appointed as professors if they are left enough, while decent social scientists take their research time away if their research does not fit into the prevailing multicultural ideology. For a while it was not as bad as during the cultural revolution but it seems to come back to the rise of identity politics.

Sounds like there are some sensible people over in Holland.GOD'S PLAN

Next October ... the Synod of Bishops will meet to discuss the theme of young people and in particular the relationship between young people, faith and vocation. There we will have a chance to consider more deeply how, at the center of our life, is the call to joy that God addresses to us and how this is "God's plan for men and women in every age" (Synod of Bishops, ... Young People, The Faith and Vocational Discernment, Introduction).

NOT VICTIMS OF CHANCE

The ... World Day of Prayer for Vocations ... proclaims this good news to us, and in a decisive manner. We are not victims of chance or swept up in a series of unconnected events; on the contrary, our life and our presence in this world are the fruit of a divine vocation!

GOD IS WITH US

... The mystery of the Incarnation reminds us that God continually comes to encounter us. He is God-with-us, who walks along the often dusty paths of our lives. He knows our anxious longing for love and He calls us to joy.

LISTEN, DISCERN, LIVE

In the diversity and the uniqueness of each and every vocation, personal and ecclesial, there is a need to listen, discern and live this word that calls to us from on high and, while enabling us to develop our talents, makes us instruments of salvation in the world and guides us to full happiness.

THE TIME IS NOW

Vocation is today! The Christian mission is now! Each one of us is called whether to the lay life in marriage, to the priestly life in the ordained ministry, or to a life of special consecration in order to become a witness of the Lord, here and now.

"HAVE NO FEAR!"

If He [Jesus] lets us realize that He is calling us to consecrate ourselves totally to His kingdom, then we should have no fear! It is beautiful and a great grace to be completely and forever consecrated to God and the service of our brothers and sisters.

DON'T WAIT TO BE PERFECT!

We should not wait to be perfect in order to respond with our generous "yes", nor be fearful of our limitations and sins, but instead open our hearts to the voice of the Lord. To listen to that voice, to discern our personal mission in the Church and the world, and at last to live it in the today that God gives us.

MAY MARY ACCOMPANY US

May Mary Most Holy, who as a young women living in obscurity heard, accepted and experienced the Word of God made flesh, protect us and accompany us always on our journey.

(Source: Message for 2018 World Day of Vocations, dated 12/3/2017)Several township committeemen are concerned that the sample ballots sent out by the Cook County GOP contain a note that declares the sample ballot as the only "official" sample ballot for the county, and that any others were to be ignored. Wheeling Township Committeeman Ruth O'Connell said that left down ballot candidates with no endorsements. Wheeling also endorsed Jeanne Ives to be the IL GOP gubernatorial nominee over Bruce Rauner - the "official" Cook County GOP pick.

CHICAGO - A mailer sent out by the Cook County GOP aggravated already growing divisions in the party over "official" endorsements. A sample ballot Republican voters received reflected endorsements made personally by Cook County GOP Chairman Sean Morrison in February and an endorsement session held later.

Chairman Morrison said his ballot focused only on the top six offices, and left local race picks to local committeemen.

"Our Cook County endorsements were at the state level," Morrison said. "Some committeemen endorsed local state rep and senate races in addition. These are the official endorsements of the Cook County Republican Party, as took place at the GOP Cook County Central Committee endorsement session."

Morrison then reiterated the sample ballot he sent out was the only "true" one for Cook County Republicans to consider when voting next week. On behalf of the Cook County GOP organization, Morrison received a $25,000 donation from the IL GOP, whose major funder in 2017 and 2018 is Governor Rauner.

"Any other purported 'Cook County Republican Party' sample ballot[s] are not true and printing and distributing such an assertion would be counter to state law," Morrison said. "The Chicago GOP club can endorse whomever they wish in their club caucus. But it is not the Cook County Republican Central Committee."

The Chicago GOP voted to support Jeanne Ives. Morrison put out a statement after that decision and said the Chicago GOP was a "club," and not to be recognized as an official organization of the party.

Chris Cleveland, the Chicago GOP chairman, pushed back on that statement, saying the Chicago GOP is an official organization of the Illinois Republican Party. Cleveland also serves as Ives' finance chairman.Kathmandu, March 12 : At least 40 people were killed and 23 injured when a plane crash-landed and exploded into a ball of flame at the Tribhuvan International Airport here on Monday, police said.

Nepal Police spokesperson Manoj Neupane said the bodies of 31 passengers have been recovered at the site and nine others succumbed to their injuries in hospitals. The plane, with 71 on board, was flying from Dhaka to Kathmandu.Ranchi, March 15 : The judgment in the fourth fodder scam case involving former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad was deferred on Thursday by a special CBI court here.

Lalu Prasad filed a fresh petition in the court of Shivapal Singh to make the then Auditor General an accused in the case since he did not report the fraudulent withdrawal from the treasury.

THe Rashtriya Janata Dal leader's petition will be heard on Friday.

The court will decide on the new date for pronouncing judgment after hearing Lalu Prasad's plea.

The hearing in the fodder case -- relating to fraudulent withdrawals of Rs 3.13 crore from December 1995 to January 1996 from the Dumka treasury -- was completed on March 5 and the verdict was fixed for March 15.

Besides Lalu Prasad, another former Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra and 30 others are accused in this case.

Lalu Prasad was convicted in the first fodder scam case in 2013 and awarded five years in jail.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal chief was convicted by a special CBI court in the second case on December 23, 2017, and awarded three-and-a-half years' imprisonment on January 6.

He was convicted in the third case on January 24, related to fraudulent withdrawals from the Chaibasa treasury, and awarded a five-year jail term.

He now faces two other cases -- one in Ranchi and one in Patna.

The multi-million rupee fodder scam surfaced in the 1990s when Lalu Yadav was Chief Minister of undivided Bihar. The probe was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation on the Patna High Court's order.

The bulk of the cases were transferred to Ranchi after Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar in 2000.Damascus, March 16 : At least 57 civilians were killed and hundreds injured in airstrikes allegedly carried out by Russian warplanes over Syria's rebel-held region of Eastern Ghouta, a war monitor said on Friday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Russian jets, which are allied to the Syrian regime, killed 46 people in the town of Kafr Batna, which is held by al-Rahman Corps Islamist rebel group fighting against government forces, Efe news reported.

In the attacks, the airplanes allegedly used RBK-500 cluster bomb provided with thermite, a pyrotechnic composition of metal powder, which serves as fuel, and metal oxide which cause burn, according to SOHR.

As many as 50,000 people fled separate offensives against rebel forces in northern and southern Syria in recent days, activists said. Twenty thousand people have left Eastern Ghouta while 30,000 people fled northern town of Afrin, a town populated mainly by ethnic Kurds near the frontier, the BBC reported.

Afrin has been under bombardment from the air and the ground by Turkish forces and their local Syrian allies. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a gathering in Ankara that his country would not stop until its mission to capture Afrin had been completed.

The attacks came amid international efforts to deliver aid to the area.

Another attack launched by unidentified planes took place in the Syrian town of Saqba, also located in Eastern Ghouta and controlled by al-Rahman Corps, killing at least 11 people and wounding dozens on Friday.

Seven years of war have driven nearly 12 million Syrians from their homes. At least 6.1 million were internally displaced while another 5.6 million fled abroad.

Over 400,000 are believed to have been killed or are missing, presumed dead, since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011.

The Foreign Ministers of Turkey, Russia and Iran -- three countries closely involved in the conflict -- met in the Kazakh capital Astana to prepare for a summit on Syria in Istanbul in April.Pretoria, March 17 : South African political parties, former presidents and civil society have welcomed the reinstatement of corruption charges against former President Jacob Zuma.

The country's National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) on Friday announced that Zuma will be charged for corruption, racketeering and money laundering which were dropped in 2009, Xinhua news agency reported.

Former President Frederik de Klerk welcomed the reinstatement of the charges against Zuma.

De Klerk said there is a lot of public interest in the case and called for NPA to prosecute without fear or favour.

"While the successful prosecution of highly-connected political figures will go some way towards assuaging the angst-ridden South African public, it is still not enough to fully restore confidence in this vital institution," said the FW de Klerk Foundation in a statement.

"More than that, the NPA needs to make good on its word concerning the investigations into State Capture. Perhaps that will be the catalyst for the NPA towards reclaiming their constitutionally-appointed role as an institution that upholds justice and the Rule of Law," the statement said.

The Opposition political party, Democratic Alliance (DA) applied to the courts for the charges against Zuma to be reinstated.

The DA welcomed the charges against Zuma and said he should quickly be brought before the courts.

DA leader Mmusi Maimane said: "This is a victory for all who have fought for years for Jacob Zuma to face accountability for his crimes. That accountability starts now. Now there must be no further delay in starting the trial. The witnesses are ready, the evidence is strong, and Jacob Zuma must finally have his day in court."

Maimane said they will instruct their lawyers to oppose any attempt by Zuma to delay the trial. DA also wants Zuma to foot the legal bills.

In the past nine years Zuma spent over $1.3 million in legal costs trying to block the reinstatement of the charges.

Another political party, Economic Freedom Party (EFF) also welcomed the charges against Zuma. EFF said prosecuting Zuma will send a strong warning that all are equal before the law.

Quintin Ndlozi, EFF spokesperson, said: "It is important to state that no one, even former presidents, is above the law. The principle of equality before the law means we must all be equally held accountable for the deeds deemed illegal regardless of our social and political standing."

"The prosecution of Zuma will send a strong message to all kleptomaniacs within and outside the government that they can never loot the state and not meet the consequences thereof."

The local affiliate of French arms company, Thales will also be prosecuted. Thales won a $217 million tender to supply South Africa with combat systems for four frigates procured by the navy.Berlin, March 17 : German Chancellor Angela Merkel has rebuffed comments by her interior minister who said that Islam did not belong to Germany.

Speaking at a joint news conference with visiting Swedish Premier Stefan Lofven on Friday, Merkel said Islam was part of the country's culture and history like Christianity and also Judaism, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Four million Muslims live in Germany, and they are practicing their religion here. They belong to Germany, and also their religion of Islam belongs to Germany," she said.

Merkel's words came after Horst Seehofer, the new interior minister of Germany, told German daily Das Bild on Friday that Islam does not belong to Germany, stressing the country's traditions and cultures.

Germany on Wednesday finally established a new government with a coalition between the Social Democrats and the Merkel-led Conservatives Union, which was comprised of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party Christian Social Union (CSU) that Seehofer comes from.

The CSU is more conservative than CDU.

The increase of the number of Muslims in Germany triggered Islamophobia and the rise of anti-migration populist party Alternative fuer Deutschland (AfD).State Board of Elections records show that 41 county GOP organizations received gifts from the IL GOP from $5000 to $25,000. Never before has the IL GOP had the resources to distribute funds in such a manner.

SPRINGFIELD - In an political strategy unprecedented in the Illinois Republican Party, thousands of dollars were transferred from the Illinois Republican Party to county organizations in the last three months leading up to the March 20th IL GOP primary.

Where did the unprecedented party funding come from? County leaders tell Illinois Review they were asked to fill out applications, and checks were sent their ways - no requests or expectations voiced in the process.

The Illinois Republican Party has been consistently sending out press releases over the past few months promoting Governor Rauner, however. Leading up to the check distribution, only five major donations were made to the IL GOP, including nearly $5 million from Citizens for Rauner, which the Rauners fund personally. Three million of the IL GOP funding went to the House Republican Organization.

The 41 counties that benefitted from the Rauner-funded windfall were:United Nations, March 17 : As New Delhi diversifies its arms purchases, the US is rapidly increasing its arms sales to India, emerging over the last five years as its second biggest supplier by providing 15 per cent of its weapons imports, a study by Sipri said.

Washington increased its sales by more than five times compared to the previous five years, the authoritative Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said in its report released this week.

Israel has moved up to the third spot accounting for 11 per cent of India's imports during the 2013-17 calendar years, Sipri added.

Although Russia remained by far India's biggest arms seller, it share of total imports has fallen.

Russia had a 62 per cent share of India's arms imports during the past five years, down from 79 per cent in 2008-12, according to the report that tracks the global arms trade.

Overall, India is the world's biggest importer of major arms accounting for 12 per cent of the total global imports during the last five years and it increased purchases abroad by 24 per cent compared to the previous five-year period, Sipri said.

"The tensions between India, on the one side, and Pakistan and China, on the other, are fuelling India's growing demand for major weapons, which it remains unable to produce itself, Sipri Senior Researcher Siemon Wezeman wrote.

"China, by contrast, is becoming increasingly capable of producing its own weapons and continues to strengthen its relations with Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar through arms supplies," he wrote.

In contrast to India, Pakistan's arms imports declined significantly during the last five years, when imports from the US dropped dramatically compared to the previous five years while supplies from China increased.

"Despite its continuing tensions with India and ongoing internal conflicts, Pakistan's arms imports decreased by 36 per cent between 2008-12 and 2013-17," the report said.

"Pakistan accounted for 2.8 per cent of global arms imports in 2013-17."

Pakistan's arms imports from the US dropped by 76 per cent in the latest five-year period compared with the previous one, the study said.

China was Pakistan's main source of arms in 2013-17, and there was a large increase in Chinese arms exports to Bangladesh in that period, Sipri said.

According to supplementary arms import data for India provided to IANS by Sipri, the share of India's imports from the US increased from 2.7 per cent of its total during 2008-12 to 15 per cent in the latest five-year period as it overtook Uzbekistan, Britain and Israel.

Uzbekistan, which was India's second biggest import source accounting for 4.3 of its purchases abroad during 2008-12 did not sell any after 2011, according to the data.

Weapons imports from Britain fell to 3.2 per cent of the total during the last five years, while it was 5.2 per cent in 2008-12, a drop of 23 per cent during that period that moved it down from the third spot to the fifth.

France has moved up to the fourth spot accounting for 4.6 per cent of India's imports during the last five years, an increase of 572 per cent compared to just 0.8 per cent.

Sipri does not assign monetary values for the arms trade and uses its own system called Trend-Indicator Value (TVI) because "data available from public sources will give sometimes monetary values, but also often such values are not available, not detailed, not clear or not comparable (between countries who report on different 'weapons' or as the coverage changes over time) enough to be useful," Wezeman explained to IANS.

Under this way calculating, India's total TVI rose from 14,608 during 2008-12 to 18,048 for 2013-17.

According to this valuation system, India's arms purchases have come down during the last full three years of Bharatiya Janata Party government compared to the last three full years of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance rule.

During 2011-13, India's imports were valued at 13,319 TVI by Sipri, but only 9,499 TVI in 2015-17. When both parties held power at different times during 2014, the imports were 3,227 TVI.

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in)Bali, March 17 : Indonesian authorities have ordered the closure of Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport on Saturday for the Day of Silence which marks the Balinese Hindu New Year.

Transport Ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan told Xinhua news agency that the closure began at 5 a.m., on Saturday and will end at 5 a.m., on Sunday.

However, the international airport in nearby Lombok was operating normally, said Bambang.

Residents of the Hindu-dominated island are celebrating the Day of Silence or Nyepi, a public holiday which includes fasting and meditation.

Bali has shut down internet service, but security, aviation, hospitals and disaster agencies remain operating, according to government officials.

Bali is the centre of Indonesian tourism industry with over 400,000 foreign holiday-makers visiting the island every month, according to data from the national statistics bureau.San Francisco, March 17 : Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly deployed "secret police" to catch and punish information leakers at his company.

According to a report in The Guardian, an unnamed employee was called to a meeting in 2017 under the guise of a promotion. However, he found himself face to face with the secretive "rat-catching" team led by Sonya Ahuja, the company's head of investigations.

The team had records of screenshots he had taken, links he had clicked or hovered over.

The "secret police" also accessed chats between him and a journalist dating back to before he joined the company.

"It's horrifying how much they know. You go into Facebook and it has this warm, fuzzy feeling of 'we're changing the world' and 'we care about things'.

"But you get on their bad side and all of a sudden you are face to face with [Facebook CEO] Mark Zuckerberg's secret police," the employee told The Guardian.

According to the report, Zuckerberg hosts weekly meetings where he shares details of unreleased new products and strategies in front of thousands of employees.

"When you first get to Facebook you are shocked at the level of transparency. You are trusted with a lot of stuff you don't need access to," the employee was quoted as saying.

During one of Zuckerberg's weekly meetings in 2015, said the report, he had warned employees: "We're going to find the leaker, and we're going to fire them."

According to a Facebook spokesperson "companies routinely use business records in workplace investigations, and we are no exception".

Not just Facebook, James Damore, the software engineer who was fired from Google after writing a controversial anti-diversity memo, "suspects he was being monitored by the company during his final days".

James Damore stopped using his personal Gmail account after being fired, said the report.Chennai, March 17 : DMK leader M.K. Stalin on Saturday said the AIADMK must support the no-trust motion against the BJP-led government at the Centre, utilising the available opportunity and establishing its right for the Cauvery waters.

In a statement, he said had his party been in the Lok Sabha it would have announced its decision to support the Telugu Desam Party's motion.

Stalin said Chief Minister K. Palaniswami should announce AIADMK's support for the no-trust motion and apply pressure for setting up of the Cauvery Management Board (CMB) and Cauvery Water Regulatory Committee (CWRC).

Out of the total 39 Lok Sabha members from Tamil Nadu in the Lok Sabha, the AIADMK has 37 members while the BJP and PMK have one each.

Stalin said the Supreme Court on February 16 had ordered the Centre to set up the CMB and CWRC within six weeks of its order.

However, the Centre has been delaying that keeping in view the ensuing assembly polls in Karnataka which is not enthusiastic about the Board.

Stalin said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not willing to meet the representatives of all political parties from Tamil Nadu in the Cauvery river water issue.

"The party will take a decision on the issue," a senior AIADMK leader told IANS preferring anonymity on Friday.

The leader said the possibility of the BJP government defeating the no-confidence motion was relatively high with the support from smaller parties.

On Thursday, the Tamil Nadu Assembly passed an unanimous resolution demanding the central government to set up the CMB and CWRC as per the Supreme Court order.Cuttack, March 17 : President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday dedicated the Anand Bhawan Museum and Learning Centre, the ancestral house of late former Chief Minister Biju Patnaik, to the people of Odisha.

Kovind, who is here on a two-day visit, inaugurated the museum in the presence of Governor S.C. Jamir, Biju Patnaik's son and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and other officials.

Remembering the contribution of Biju Patnaik, the President said his legacy was above party politics and not only Odisha but all of India was proud of him.

He said Biju Patnaik was one among the prominent leaders in the country who always advocated for women empowerment and did everything for the honour and people of Kalinga (the erstwhile name and identity of Odisha).

"When Biju Babu was Minister of Steel, he was called the Steel Man in Delhi," Kovind said.

Paying rich tributes to Biju Patnaik, the President said that it was an honour to pay homage to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Biju Patnaik in the historic Cuttack city as both had played a crucial role in the freedom struggle.

Biju Patnaik was born on March 5, 1916, at Anand Bhawan, built by his father Laxmi Narayan Patnaik.

In January 2015, Biju Patnaik's sons Naveen Patnaik and Prem Patnaik donated the property to the state government, following which it was developed into a museum and learning centre.

The museum features various personal belongings of Biju Patnaik, including his childhood photographs and other belongings, and also explains his role in the freedom struggle of India and Indonesia.

"Started my Odisha visit by paying tributes to Netaji Subhas at his birthplace and ancestral home in Cuttack. Netaji is cherished, remembered and missed to this day all over the country," tweeted the President.

Kovind will also deliver the third foundation day lecture at the National Law University, Cuttack, on Saturday.

On Sunday, the President will address the centenary celebrations of the Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan in Puri. On the same day, in Bhubaneswar, he will grace the convocation of IIT Bhubaneswar as well as inaugurate the ICT-IOC (Institute of Chemical Technology -Indian Oil Corporation) Bhubaneswar campus.

He will also lay the foundation stone for the Skill Development Institute of Oil PSUs, before returning to Delhi.

IANS

cd/qd/sacNew Delhi : ACCRA, Ghana (IANS) A think tank here -- Imani Ghana -- has described the deportation of the Indian businessman, Ashok Sivaram Kumar as "harsh" adding that the process had not been properly handled.

The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) on March 11 repatriated Kumar.

The businessman was sent back to India on the grounds that his his work and residence permits had expired, following a Supreme Court decision which reversed an earlier High Court order that had quashed a deportation order served on Kumar by the minister of the interior.

The order was contained in a 'Notice to Leave' order dated March 9, 2018, signed by the deputy controller of the GIS, Laud Afrifah. Kumar was informed that his permit to reside in Ghana had expired and he was asked to leave the country "within 48 hours".

Imani said, "the man must be a very important businessman to attract the attention of the minister in the way he did," adding that such acts may affect the country's attempt to attract foreign investment into the country.

The workers of his company have also given the government a week's notice to return Kumar to Ghana or they would demonstrate at the Immigration Service's premises. They showed copies of Kumar's passport and work permits to newspersons which, they said, had not expired.

Kumar has spent almost a year to fight his deportation until the Supreme Court's ruling last week after which he was whisked out of the country by the GIS. The unanimous Supreme Court's decision said the High Court had no legal standing to quash the order because Kumar had failed to exhaust all administrative processes, including petitioning the minister of the interior within seven days after his residence and work permits were revoked, before going to court as stipulated by Section 46 of the Immigration Act (200), (Act 573).

The GIS has in a statement justified its action on Kumar because it believes his "continuous stay in the country was inimical to the security of the country".

Kumar was accused by the GIS of using a fake marriage certificate to support his application for permanent residence permit and this had led to his repatriation in June last year following an order issued by the Minister of the Interior in May 2017.

On Wednesday, one of the workers who refused to speak on record told IANS: "As a nation, we are crying for investors to come and create businesses, but if this is how we will treat them, where will the jobs come from."Lucknow, March 17 : AAP MP Sanjay Singh on Saturday said he would contest the defamation case filed by former Punjab minister Vikram Singh Majithia against him even as his boss and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has apologised for alleging that the Akali Dal leader was involved in the drug trade.

Refusing to comment on the apology tendered by Kejriwal, Sanjay Singh said: "I stand by whatever I have said in the past and irrespective of whatever is being said here and there. I will not retract from my stated stand."

The AAP MP refused to be drawn into the controversy that has caused a virtual rebellion in the Punjab unit of the party after state chief Bhagwant Mann and another leader resigned from their posts.

"I will not comment on this. I have stated my position as an individual, who along with Arvind (Kejriwal) and Aashish Khaitan are party to the defamation case filed against us," Sanjay Singh told IANS here.

He parried a question whether his dissenting note reflected any unease in the party.

The 45-year-old also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of "subverting democracy" and "undermining parliamentary procedures".

Speaking of his recent entry to the Upper House of parliament and his experience so far, he said there is neither proper debate in the Rajya Sabha nor a spirit in the treasury benches to "hear out and accommodate the views of the opposition members".

"Parliament is for debate, a place where we lawmakers should be allowed to speak for the people, about their problems and raise pertinent issues facing the nation, but sadly that's not happening," he said, pointing out how the Finance Bill was rushed through the Lok Sabha without any debate.

Referring to the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh, his home state, he said within one year the party had lost both the mandate and the goodwill of the people.

Attributing the loss of the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat in the recent by-polls among other things to the death of 67 infants due to lack of oxygen in a government hospital in that town, the AAP leader said people have "pulled out the oxygen of the state BJP government through their votes".

Asked if the AAP will be a part of the BSP-SP combine in the coming days in Uttar Pradesh, Singh did not rule it out, saying the party will take a call when required.

On the pulling out of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) from the NDA and their no-confidence motion against the Modi government, he urged all parties to support it and ensure that the arrogant and anti-people central government faces its nemesis.

"The BJP-led NDA government doesn't want to talk of serious issues like SSC exams, the Cauvery dispute, the farmers plight and their subsequent unrest, distress in the economy and the sealing drive in Delhi... It is just deflecting the attention of the people."

(Mohit Dubey can be contacted at mohit.d@ians.in)Manila, March 17 : Ten people were killed after a small plane crashed into a house in northern Philippines on Saturday, authorities said.

Police said the five people aboard the six-seater twin-engined Piper PA-23 Apache plane were killed along with five other people, including three minors, inside the house.

So far, 10 bodies have been retrieved from the wreckage, police officials were quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.

Witnesses told police that they saw one of the plane's wings hit a 40-feet tall power post before crashing into the house and it exploded moments later.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said the plane was chartered to fly to Laoag in Ilocos Norte, a province in the northern Philippines main Luzon island, when the accident happened at 11.21 a.m.

The CAAP said the plane was operated by Lite Air Express and all aircraft operated by Lite Air Express had been grounded pending the results of its crash investigation.New Delhi, March 17 : Director Sudhir Mishra, who is awaiting the release of his project "Daas Dev", says he doesn't want just bankable faces but wants "actors" in his films.

"I just want actors. They are a bit layered... it is not that stars cannot be actors, there are stars who can be good actors. Like, sometimes actors become stars," Mishra told IANS.

"Now, the problem is, nobody is saying so, and including women in the media are not saying that actress Richa Chadda is a star. But she is. She has just done a Rs 80 crore film! Had any boy done a Rs 80 crore film, they would have called him a star. But yeah, I always try and choose actors," he added.

Mishra, who is known for directing critically acclaimed films like "Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi", "Dharavi" and "Chameli", also cited the example of actress Kareena Kapoor Khan, whose performance in "Chameli" was lauded by film critics.

"Daas Dev" is a romantic political thriller, scheduled to release on March 23. Apart from Richa, it features Aditi Rao Hydari, Richa, Rahul Bhat, Dalip Tahil, Saurabh Shukla and Anurag Kashyap.Varanasi, March 17 : Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha on Saturday took stock of the ongoing railway projects in Varanasi Division of Northern Railways with a team of officials.

The projects include doubling and electrification of the Varanasi-Ballia railway section, DEMU shed in Aunrihar and construction of new broad gauge rail cum road bridge of 51 k.m. from Mau to Tarighat in Ghazipur.

Most of these projects are in the parliamentary constituencies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sinha.

The Minister used the occasion also to engage with the workers of eastern Uttar Pradesh in Varanasi, Ghazipur and Ballia and heard the grievances of the locals.

On the way from Varanasi to Ballia, hundreds of villagers stopped the special train to demand a railway under pass in their village Ekla. Sinha met the agitating villagers and assured them their demand will be fulfilled.

Sinha then reached his home town Gazipur where he inspected the renovation works going on for the development of City station. He also took stock of the construction of rail-cum-road bridge at Ghazipur.

"This project will provide a shorter, convenient and better transport infrastructure in the area separated by river Ganges. It will remove the transport difficulties on one hand and boost the economic development of the area on the other," he said. In addition to it an alternative broad gauge route connecting Northern and East Central Railway system via NE railway will also be available, he added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation stone of this rail cum road project in 2016.

When the special train was passing through his home town of Yusufpur, he asked officials to stop the train for a while so that he could meet his childhood friends, whom he had called to the station.

At Karimuddinpur, some people demanded stoppage for some express train, Sinha said in Bhojpuri, "Kauno gadi Jaye, Wu rukhi ke Chahiye (any train which passes through here must stop)".

Interacting with a group of journalists from Delhi, he became emotional remembering his childhood days.

"See, this road goes to my village. In childhood days we used to watch trains going on the route. Many a time I covered the distance from my village to Yusufpur and from there to village by walking," he said.

The day-long journey ended at Varanasi, the Parliamentary constituency of the Prime Minister. He inspected the ongoing development projects here and asked the officials to get the projects ready before deadline.Back in 2012, the Supreme Court narrowly upheld the constitutionality of Obamacare in a 5-4 decision. Although the five justices in the majority searched the entire Constitution, the deciding voteChief Justice John Robertsfound only one basis for Congress authority to enact the individual mandate: the power to levy taxes.

Is Obamacare now unconstitutional? Twenty states are now arguing that Chief Justice John Robertss opinion in National Federation of Independent Business v Sebelius leads to just that conclusion. Brad Schimel and Ken Paxton, attorneys general of Wisconsin and Texas, respectively, explain:

In his opinion, Roberts said that while Obamacares mandate is best read as an unconstitutional requirement on Americanswhich Congress has no authority to enactits constitutionality could be salvaged as a tax because the mandates associated tax penalties raise at least some revenue. Roberts cited this raising of some revenue as being the essential feature of any tax.

Last year, Congress repealed the individual mandate tax penalty, leaving only the unconstitutional mandate. This change rendered the individual mandate unconstitutional under Roberts reasoning. After all, the mandate no longer raises some revenue.

And without the mandate, the rest of the law falls.

President Barack Obama and the leaders of Congress made it very clear at the time that the individual mandate is the core of Obamacare. Without it, Obamacare cannot function as Congress and the Obama administration intended.

The Obama administration even told the Supreme Court that key parts of Obamacare would be invalid without the mandate. In other words, you cannot constitutionally separate the mandate from Obamacares structure. If the individual mandate is now unconstitutional, the entire law must be struck down.

Texas and Wisconsin, joined by 20 states, filed a lawsuit in federal court earlier this month asking the federal courts to obey what the Supreme Court has already recognized and hold all of Obamacare unconstitutional.

[Brad Schimel and Ken Paxton, Without the Individual Mandates Tax, Obamacare Should Fall Apart in Court, The Daily Signal, March 15]

Congress, of course, could have repealed the whole thing last year. By repealing only the mandate tax, it chose to put the theory that Obamacare cannot work without an enforceable individual mandate to the test.New Delhi, March 17 : UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Saturday tore into the "arrogant", "power-drunk", "dictatorial" BJP government, accusing it of using all means to destroy the opposition.

In a hard-hitting 15-minute speech at the Congress plenary, Sonia Gandhi accused the Modi government of working to finish the Congress in the nearly four years of its rule.

"In the last four years, to destroy the Congress, the arrogant and drunk-with-power Modi government has left no stone unturned. There is open play of allurement, money, repression and division (saam, daam, dand, bhed) but the Congress has never bowed to arrogance of power and will never bow in the future," she said.

"Rather, the Congress is putting up a struggle to expose the dictatorial ways of the Modi government, its neglect of Constitution, disrespect of Parliament, false cases against the opposition and its harassment of the media."

She said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 2014 slogans of 'development for all' and 'no tolerance for graft' were gimmicks to grab power.

Sonia Gandhi asked party workers to stoutly face the challenges for its victory in the upcoming electoral battles and again make the Congress a party that sets the fundamental agenda of the country.

Extending her good wishes to her son Rahul Gandhi, who took over as party chief in December, Sonia Gandhi said party workers will have to work unitedly and collectively under him for success in the face of "difficult struggles" facing the party.

She accused Modi of indulging in "dramabaazi" (gimmicks)" to earn votes.

"We are exposing the false claims, fraud and corruption of the Prime Minister and his associates with proofs. People have understood that the promises of 2014 of sabka saath, sabka vikas', na khaunga, na khanedunga were only gimmicks to earn votes and come to power," Gandhi said.

With the Congress facing a tough battle in 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Gandhi referred to the party changing its political approach in tune with the times which had reaped electoral success.

She said the party had decided against forming alliances at its Panchmarhi Chitin Shivir in 1998 but decided to work with like-minded parties at the Shimla Chintin Shivir in 2003. "Due to this, we achieved a feat, which people thought was impossible."

Sonia Gandhi also referred to victory of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in by-election in 1978 to Chikamagalur Lok Sabha seat in Karnataka and said it had overturned the country's politics and the Congress reemerged as a powerful party.

"I have full faith that in the Karnataka assembly polls, our party will again perform so well that it gives new direction to the politics of the country."

Referring to the challenges, she said it was not the time to think of personal egos and ambitions but to see "what all of us, each one of us, what we can do for the party.

"The victory of party will be the victory of the country, it will be victory of all of us."

The Congress leader said party workers in states not ruled by the party were struggling hard to expose the failures of these governments despite facing atrocities.

"It is the Congress that stays connected to people, stands with them. It is the Congress which raises voice against oppression."

Gandhi said the party was faced with difficult struggle when a new chapter is being added to the glorious history of the party.

"The challenges before the Congress President and all of us are not ordinary. We have to face them with determination.

"We have to struggle to make an India which is free of fear, free of abuse of power. An India where each person has dignity of life, an India free of partiality, an India free of feeling of revenge, an India free of repression. For this every Congressman has to be prepared for every sacrifice."

She said Congress should become a party that once again represents the aspirations and expectations of all the communities and Ais the anchor of the political and social dialogue of the country."

Referring to the party's performance in Gujarat and in by-polls in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, she said people who wanted to finish the Congress had no idea about the depth of affection among people for it.

She referred to the programmes of UPA and said it pains her that Modi govenrment was "diluting" them.London, March 17 : British Prime Minister Theresa May on Saturday once again blamed Russia for its alleged role in a nerve agent attack against a former spy in England, warning that any state-sponsored attack on British soil would be met with consequences.

At the Conservative Party Spring Forum, she said her government had anticipated Russia's decision earlier in the day to order the expulsion of 23 British diplomats as a tit-for-tat reaction to a similar move announced over Russia's alleged hand in the attack with a weaponised nerve agent on ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, Efe reported.

"Russia's response doesn't change the facts of the matter: the attempted assassination of two people on British soil for which there is no alternative conclusion other than that the Russian state was culpable," May told the audience.

"We will never tolerate a threat to the life of British citizens and others on British soil from the Russian government," the Conservative leader added, eliciting applause.

Britian has accused Russia of using a military grade, allegedly Soviet-produced nerve agent belonging to a strain known as Novichok against Sergei and Yulia, both of whom remained in a critical condition.

Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswomen Maria Zakharova on Saturday said the nerve agent had never been developed in the Soviet Union or Russia and said it was most likely from somewhere in western Europe.

Moscow officials have consistently denied having any knowledge of the alleged poisoning of Skripal, a former Russian army colonel who in 2004 was convicted of passing on state secrets to British intelligence, although later provided with asylum in Britain in a prisoner swap.

He and his daughter were found slumped over on a park bench in the southern English city of Salisbury on March 4.What does Saudi Arabia need? Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman knows the answer. If his country is to become an economically dynamic, politically stable nation, it must relieve the kingdoms dependence on energy exports, adapt to a world of accelerating technological change, prepare Saudi citizens to excel in 21st century jobs, and empower many more women to participate (TIME, March 8, 2018). Although there are many hurdles for Saudi women to overcome in the work place, they are some of the most well educated women in MENA. Saudi women are more than intellectually capable of facing the challenges of the 21st century.

Dr. Patty Ann Tublin, is an internationally recognized thought leader and visionary for empowering women to succeed. Dr. Tublin is a recognized emotional intelligence, communication and relationship expert who has traveled and written extensively on the economic importance of empowering women in the workplace. As a professional woman who has communicated with women (and men) throughout the world, its amazing to realize how much women are really very much the same all over the world. We share very similar concerns about our careers and our families, although the cultural lens through which we operate and seek to address these concerns may look very different.

Women in Leadership Economic Forum KSA 2018 will be taking place March 19-20, 2018 at the high-profile Security Forces Officers Club in Riyadh, KSA. This is another fabulous series of events hosted by NASEBA, a signatory of the Womens Empowerment Principles  Equality Means Business, produced and disseminated by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and the United Nations Global Compact.

Dr. Patty Ann Tublin, CEO & Founder of Relationship Toolbox LLC, will be conducting her empowering women Master Class on March 20, 2018 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi Vision 2030 strategy, set by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, aims to increase female participation in the workforce from 22% now to 30% in all sectors in 2030  All sectors are open to Saudi women, provided that they secure them a safe working environment, says Abalkhail. He added that the Ministry of Labor and Social Development runs courses to teach Saudi women soft and hard professional skills to help them find jobs. (CNN.com, February 7, 2018)

About: An internationally recognized emotional intelligence, relationship and communication expert, Dr. Patty Ann is a sought after thought leader and visionary for empowering women to succeed in business and their personal lives. She is a second to none professional speaker, corporate consultant, best selling author and authority to other professionals. She combines her professional expertise and personal experiences to help women create successful careers and healthy relationships for success in business and life. Dr. Patty Ann has been a featured expert in every major business publication including The Wall Street Journal, SUCCESS Magazine, The New York Times, Fortune, Ladies Home Journal, Entrepreneurial Woman Magazine and MONEY 101. She is a frequent guest expert on every major TV station and radio networks throughout the United States. Dr. Patty Ann holds a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (Summa cum Laude), a Master's Degree in Clinical Social Work, a Master's Degree in Nursing. She is a Registered Nurse and a board-certified psychotherapist. Dr. Patty Ann publishes Relationship Toolbox, a business advice newsletter and blog at https://www.relationshiptoolbox.com/blog.American Target Network (ATN) announces the appointment of Aaron Berg to the role of Vice President, Sales, and the opening of its Denver, Colorado office. American Target Network is a proprietary unwired cable advertising network reaching all 210 DMAs comprised of 87 million households. ATN aggregates over 80 of the top National Cable Networks and delivers a Cost Per Thousand significantly below a national equivalent.

In his new position at the network, Aaron will use his expertise to work with advertisers and agencies to efficiently reach their target markets through the top networks, and will employ sophisticated media modeling to achieve various metric and audience delivery goals.

Aarons background in the industry is diverse in that he has performed on both the operations and sales sides, wearing many hats in previously building a startup unwired network. Aaron cut his teeth in advertising sales with DISH Networks original rep firm, The Media Group, before helping to build the startup unwired network/rep firm The Band before its acquisition in 2010. He comes to American Target Network from his most recent role as Senior Account Manager at Continuum Media, where he worked to identify and prospect clients, while managing and enhancing key client relationships.

Aaron is a seasoned advertising executive with an expertise in working with his clients to develop highly efficient media delivery on a national, regional, and local basis meeting specific needs. We are building on our success by adding Aaron to our sales staff at a time when advertisers are looking for ways to receive better media efficiency and an improved return on their investment," said Rick Pike, Senior Vice President, Director of Media and Operations. Opening up a new office will enable us to have greater access to all parts of the country. We are truly excited to add him to the team.

Aaron will be based in Denver, Colorado. For more information, please contact Aaron Berg at 818-455-4479, aberg(at)americantargetnetwork(dot)com

For more information, go to: http://www.americantargetnetwork.com

American Target Network

American Target Network, a Bellatrix Media Company, is an unwired network reaching over 87 million households on over 80 national cable networks. ATN provides unparalleled affordability, efficiency, reach, frequency and scalability. ATN has become one of the foremost leaders in national media delivery through its network and technology. Other Bellatrix media properties include ATN Radio and the American Television Corporation (unwired network of broadcast stations). The Company has offices in New York City, Los Angeles, and Denver.The digital world is something policing really needs to embrace and my goal is to take us to digital criminal justice system and InTime is going to be apart of that.- Inspector CJ Kyle

In the fall of 2016, Metro Vancouver Transit Police found itself looking for a new scheduling & workforce management software. The company that provided and supported their old software disbanded, leaving the Transit Police without a usable scheduling solution. Metro Transit took this as an opportunity to look for a cloud-based software that could handle other requirements including overtime management, training certifications, and subpoena notifications. After a web search, Metro Transit found InTime Solutions. We used to use a different program which was expiring soon and we used an excel spreadsheet, which was horrible. Shifting people from one shift to another, changing time, days off, it was a horrible experience and time consuming, said Operations Support Sergeant Dexter Hubert.

In January 2017, Metro Transit Police began the hands-on implementation process of InTime. We were involved in the implementation process from the ground up, so we had a system that was fully configured for Metro Transit Police, says Inspector CJ Kyle, In the past we used canned software products that did not work for us because they were not configurable

Sergeant Hermann commented, What we have is a custom system that is custom built for us by us. With the guidance of our implementation specialist we were able to make InTime work perfectly and the way we wanted it. Ultimately it helps us make better decisions. The interesting thing with InTime is it has an infinite way of applying the framework to our circumstances, so when our circumstances change we can adapt. The InTime framework seems to be so flexible that we can just about resolve any problem that arises.

Since being implemented for over a year now, Metro Vancouver Transit Police have seen immense benefits from the InTime scheduling platform- We used to spend 2 hours a day building and managing schedules and now it's just under 5 minutes a day, commented Sergeant Hermann. With regards to event and overtime management, Metro Transit Police now have a clear overall picture of where staffing is required and where they are short while ensuring fatigue rules are being met.

Metro Vancouver Transit Police join the ranks of the Victoria Police Department, New Westminster Police Department, and the Port Moody Police Department of BC agencies using InTimes software. Inspector Kyle has high hopes for the future of technology in law enforcement, The digital world is something policing really needs to embrace and my goal is to take us to digital criminal justice system and InTime is going to be apart of that.

About InTime: InTime Solutions creates scheduling and timekeeping software for complex operations. If youre interested in creating a more efficient and streamlined schedule, contact InTime at sales(at)intimesoft(dot)com or visit https://intime.com/.eSchoolView tools increase parent engagement Our tools help educators connect with parents and their communities so they can focus on their number one priority: academic growth.

Clovis Unified School District is embarking on a website redesign with eSchoolView to create an accessible presence more helpful to students, staff and families.

The Fresno-area district signed a five-year contract with the Ohio-based company to complete the work. The launch of the new site is expected before the start of the 2018-19 school year, continuing eSchoolViews expansion in the western U.S.

eSchoolView, based in Columbus, creates tailor-made ADA-compliant websites and develops educational management software. Clovis is the companys newest client in California and serves 42,000 students.

Kelly Avants, Clovis Chief Communications Officer, said district officials were impressed with eSchoolView's client base and capacity to serve a district its size. The firms award-winning, cutting-edge designs coupled with its affordability were other strong factors.

We are excited about the prospect of merging our web presence with a mobile app to improve school to home communication and chose eSchoolView because of their willingness to work with us to customize our users experience, Avants said. Their products are specifically designed for our environment and will allow us to communicate more effectively with everyone from our internal teams to students, parents and the greater community.

Clovis new web presence will be complete with a responsive mobile site, mobile application and an alert notification system, other key selling points. The mobile site  whether accessed from a phone or tablet  will respond to the users device in real time. The website will be scanned regularly to ensure it complies with required federal accessibility standards that enable people with disabilities to use it seamlessly.

The interactive website will be built on a Content Management System (CMS) specifically developed for K-12 schools. Improved navigation will help visitors find what they need more readily and news and events will be displayed front-and-center.

eSchoolView offers personalized training and support as part of all of its competitively priced contracts  an important element not always included by other providers. Key staff will be taught how to use the system who will train others in the district; support thereafter is unlimited and available by phone, email, virtual sessions and video.

Our tools help educators connect with parents and their communities so they can focus on their number one priority: academic growth, eSchoolView Executive Director Rob OLeary said. We do the behind the scenes work so they can better build strong relationships with those they serve.

eSchoolView works with hundreds of districts and educational organizations across the country, from California to the Midwest and New York to Georgia. It has offices in Charlotte and in central Arizona and been named to the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing privately held companies in the U.S for four consecutive years.Recently, Pond Lehockys Resident Nurse and Client Advocate, Maribeth Altiere, introduced the honoree of the 21st Annual Peggy Browning Fund Awards Dinner, honoring distinguished social justice activists who are champions of the labor movement. Established in memory of Margaret A. Browning, a prominent labor attorney, the Peggy Browning Fund has the mission of educating and inspiring the next generation of law students to become advocates for workplace justice. The firm has been a proud sponsor and member of the non-profit organization for four years.

The annual awards reception recognizes leaders in the region for their achievements on behalf of workers. Ms. Altiere had the honor of introducing Michael Barnes, International 1st VP IATSE and Business Manager for Local 8, followed by honorees Esteban Vera, Jr., Business Manager for Laborers' Local 57, and Mariann E. Schick, Esq., Arbitrator and Mediator.

Ms. Altiere grew up around a union family and understands the importance of educating and protecting workers. Her father, uncles, and older sister are in Teamsters Local 107, her husband is a leader of District Council 21, and Ms. Altiere herself was a member of PASNAP, or Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses & Allied Professionals.

This event was not only enjoyable, but important in continuing the fundraising efforts of educating law students on the needs and rights of women and men of labor, Ms. Altiere said. It was my honor to be invited to be the introductory speaker.

The firm strongly supports the mission of the Peggy Browning Fund and is an annual Patron Donor in the Leadership Circle. Managing Partner Sam Pond has served on the Philadelphia Awards Dinner Host Committee since he joined four years ago, and presented to honorees at the 2014 event.Were obviously thrilled Fiona was among the winners at this years MTEC startup showcase. Its validating on so many levels, especially considering the level of competition we were up against. Hopefully, the recognition from MTEC becomes a catalyst for us in 2018.- David Staley, President.

Fiona, the flagship product from Digible, Inc, was among this years winners at the Multifamily Technology and Entrepreneur Conference held in San Francisco. Digible was competing in MTECs perennial startup competition as somewhat of an underdog having to face off with a diverse and mostly mature lineup of multifamily tech startups, including CasparAI, Amenify, Enodo and Fetch. Each of the finalists were given 5 minutes to present their technology to conference attendees and a panel of prominent industry operators. In the end, Fiona, a predictive marketing and budgeting platform designed for property management, was selected as 1 of 3 winners. Digible co-founder and President, David Staley, presented on behalf of Fiona.

Fiona was launched in January to a beta group of 12 management companies spanning over 50 markets and 170 multifamily properties. The platform leverages machine learning and artificial intelligence to provide real-time marketing and budgeting recommendations at the property level. Fiona is being positioned as a front-end tool to industry marketers and operators that have grown increasingly frustrated by unreliable data, vendor saturation and constrained resources.

Digible is a highly progressive digital marketing agency that develops and leverages the most sophisticated ad-technology in the world, and brings them to scale for the multifamily apartment and student housing industry.

If you would like more information about this topic, please contact Digible, Inc at (877) 334-4425 or email at hello(at)digible.com.The Southern Nevada Ford Stores and Veteran Tickets Foundation (Vet Tix) have officially partnered to organize Operation Date Night, which benefits 35 local military affiliated couples. After a welcome reception that includes dinner and drinks, the couples will take in a performance of the Broadway Musical, Love Never Dies at The Smith Center.

Its an honor for the Southern Nevada Ford Stores to partner with Vet Tix and offer a night out at The Smith Center, said Gary Ackerman, Vice Chairman of The Southern Nevada Ford Stores. Rarely do we find a philanthropic partner whose core values so closely match our own. We are excited to do what we can to assist and provide positive experiences to our Las Vegas military community and their families through Vet Tix.

Vet Tix is a national nonprofit that benefits the nations military community of currently serving military members including Guard and Reserves, veterans of all eras, caregivers of VetTixers and immediate family those killed in action. Vet Tix provides free event tickets to attend sporting events, concerts, performing arts and family activities. These types of community events improve morale and strengthens family bonds, while encouraging service members and veterans to stay engaged with local communities.

Vet Tix CEO, Mike Focareto stated, Getting to participate in community events while serving or once they return from service allows veterans an enjoyable, stress-free experience that helps with family bonding and their reintegration into the community. Vet Tix is grateful to the Southern Nevada Ford Stores for supporting those who have served their country. Operation Date Night grants Vet Tix families an opportunity to create memories that will last a lifetime. We thank them for supporting those who gave.

ABOUT VETERAN TICKETS FOUNDATION

Veteran Tickets Foundation (Vet Tix) is a national nonprofit that supports the military community of all branches of currently serving military including the Guard and Reserves, veterans of all eras, immediate family of those killed in action and caretakers of VetTixers. Vet Tix provides free event tickets with a nominal delivery fee to attend sporting events, concerts, performing arts and family activities. Attending these types of community events improves morale and strengthens family bonds, while encouraging service members and veterans to stay engaged with local communities. Since 2008, Vet Tix has provided more than 4 million free event tickets to over 700,000 verified VetTixers. The nonprofit organization is over 95 percent to programs giving back to those who have given so much. Visit VetTix.org to learn more, and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

About Ford Motor Company & Southern Nevada Stores

Ford Motor Company is a global automotive and mobility company based in Dearborn, Michigan. With about 203,000 employees and 67 plants worldwide, the companys core business includes designing, manufacturing, marketing, financing and servicing a full line of Ford cars, trucks, SUVs and electrified vehicles, as well as Lincoln luxury vehicles. Southern Nevada Ford Stores seek to be the leader in customer experience to forge honest, long lasting relationships. Southern Nevada Ford stores provide state of the art facilities with many resources available to their customers such as customer service, sales department, part & service department, expert advisors, finance team and much more. The Southern Nevada Stores strive to assume its full share in promoting welfare and progress for the Las Vegas community. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford & the Southern Nevada Ford Stores, its products worldwide or Ford Motor Credit Company, visit http://www.corporate.ford.com and buyfordnow.com.Welcome Guest! You Are Here:READ MORE: Disappointed robber demands refund of bribe paid to police

At the commencement of the trial on Friday, the imam pleaded guilty to defiling the girl. He said I carried that child, put her on my laps and I just saw my zip opening by itself.

The state prosecutor, Ms Janat Kitimbo, told the court that Imam Mulo sexually tormented the toddler in 2012. Prosecution submitted that on that fateful day, the victim went alone to Mulos home in the neighbourhood.

Mulo grabbed her in his compound and took her into the house where he defiled her and damaged her private parts. The Imam later told her to go back home.

READ MORE: Mother kills baby in attempt to exorcise her

Justice Ms Margaret Mutonyi observed that Mulo is not fit to be an imam or live in society. She described him as a dangerous person who is supposed to be kept away from children.

She then sentenced him to life imprisonment.Kingsley Abiekunogho reportedly made one Jones Seiyefa his Toyota SUV and N20, 000 to him in order to have a spiritual breakthrough.

He has been charged with obtaining the car and the money by false pretence.

Reports have it that during one of his church programmes in September last year, a visiting pastor asked the complainant to donate the said car N20, 000 in order to experience the breakthrough God had for him.

READ MORE: Disappointed robber demands refund of bribe paid to police

Jones Seiyefa was given some special the next day to drink so as to facilitate the breakthrough.

Apparently, it was only after transferring nthe ownership of the car and the money to the pastor that he came back to his real senses.

Instead of the breakthrough, the complainants life reportedly became more miserable.

A relative said she tried fruitlessly to stop the complainant from obeying the so-called prophesy.

She said: By the grace of God, days after he did the change of ownership he came back to his senses and revealed that he did all he did because he was under some kind of influence.He said: I have a very deep picture in my mind of walking around Rome.

"And I see Ghanaians begging at supermarkets probably to make some money and I dont see much dignity in that."

He suggested that this humiliating trend could be reversed if there were proper dialogue between the EU, the Government of Ghana and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs).

READ MORE: 4 in 10 Ghanaians consider emigrating

we are not having the dialogue with the government that we should have. It should be much closer, and we should have a dialogue with civil society also involved, he argued.

According to a 2017 Afrobarometer report, four in 10 Ghanaians have considered emigrating in search of more favourable economic prospects.Nitiwul, who was supervising the inauguration of the Abuakwa North Municipal Assembly, reacted angrily when he was served with a court injunction to stop the exercise.

He said: "You have struggled since 1957, and if the almighty God and the people of Ghana and blessings of the almighty God have blessed you with your son as President, all you can do is to help him succeed and not pull him down.

"We are inaugurating all district assemblies [nationwide] and only in the presidents hometown somebody had decided to take the matter to court. Who do you think you are disgracing? Not the president, you are disgracing yourselves."

The court injunction was over the citing of the assembly capital which has been moved from Akyem Tafo to Kukurantumi.

"The reason why today we will not inaugurate the Assembly is because some people have decided to put an injunction on this inauguration today," Nitiwul said about the court injunction.The President of the ECOWAS Commission, Mr. Jean-Claude Brou and the Ambassador of China to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Mr. Zhou Pingjian signed for both parties in a bilateral meeting held at the ECOWAS Commission headquarters, Abuja, a statement from ECOWAS published on its website said.

The move comes following warning from sack US secretary of state's warning for African countries to be wry of Chinese motives in Africa.

China in 2012 funded the construction of $200million headquarters for the African Union amidst fanfare.

Analysts have described these gifts from China as a symbol of Beijings thrust for influence in Africa, and access to the continents natural resources.

Early this year, French newspaper Le Monde reported, quoting anonymous African Union (AU) sources, that data from computers in the Chinese-built building had been transferred nightly to Chinese servers for five years.

According to Le Monde, after the hack was discovered a year ago, the buildings IT system including servers as changed.An Emirates Airline flight attendant died on Wednesday after falling out of a plane while it was parked at the gate in Entebbe, Uganda before a flight.

The female flight attendant was rushed to a nearby hospital alive with injuries to her face and knees but died soon after, the BBC reported.

The details surrounding the fall are unclear at this point and the Ugandan Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has launched an investigation into the incident.

However, the CAA did say in a statement that it appeared the Emirates flight attendant opened the emergency door before falling out.

The incident occurred on March 14 at Entebbe International Airport as the Emirates crew prepared Flight EK730, a Boeing 777-300ER, for boarding. The Emirates flight to Dubai, United Arab Emirates was delayed for roughly an hour as a result of the fall.Nigerian lawmakers are hoping President Muhammadu Buhari will sign into law the Petroleum Industry Bill by the end of March 2018.

The long-delayed bill to overhaul parts of the countrys oil industry was sent to President Buhari for assent after the Senate and the House of Representatives agreed on the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB).

On Friday, March 16, 2018, Senator Tayo Alasoadura, the chairman of the Senate committee on Petroleum confirmed that the bill has been sent to the president for hopeful assent.

Hopefully, by the end of the month, the National Assembly will transmit it to the president for assent, Alasoadura said.

The Petroleum bill, which has been debated for over a decade, would create four new entities whose powers would include the ability to conduct bid rounds, award exploration licences and make recommendations to the oil minister on upstream licences.

Earlier in January 2018, Nigerias House of Representatives passed a version of the PIGB which was the same as one approved by the Senate last year.

The lawmakers look forward to President Buharis final decision to make the bill a functional law enshrined in the Nigerian constitution.Rumors of President Donald Trump's dissatisfaction with his national security adviser have swirled for months. But if Trump is truly thinking about replacing H.R. McMaster with John Bolton, the former US ambassador to the UN, as recent reports have indicated, Trump will first have to forgive Bolton's prominent mustache.

McMaster, a hawk on military and foreign-policy issues who believes the US needs to demonstrate its strength to deter bad actors, being replaced by Bolton, an extreme hawk who has advocated bombing North Korea and who pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in the 2000s, has huge policy implications.

But there's good evidence that one factor holding Bolton back from the job is his thick, white mustache.

Trump reportedly does not like facial hair. None of Trump's close associates have facial hair, a pattern dating back decades.

"Donald was not going to like that mustache," a Trump associate told The Washington Post around the time of his inauguration. "I can't think of anyone that's really close to Donald that has a beard that he likes."

"Bolton's mustache is a problem," the former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon was quoted as saying in the journalist Michael Wolff's tell-all book about the Trump administration. "Trump doesn't think he looks the part. You know Bolton is an acquired taste."

Trump has repeatedly said he prefers to associate with people who appear to come out of "central casting," or people who look the part in a Hollywood sense.

But academic research actually backs up Trump's apparent distaste for facial hair in his political associates.

In 2015, Rebekah Herrick, a political-science professor at Oklahoma State University, published a paper called "Why Beards and Mustaches are Rare for Modern Politicians" that found voters didn't like facial hair on political figures.

In 2016, amid the first talk of Bolton's appointment to a White House role, Bolton tweeted "I appreciate the grooming advice from the totally unbiased mainstream media, but I will not be shaving my #mustache."

The military-general look versus Boltons look

In contrast, McMaster's look couldn't be any cleaner. McMaster, who remains on active duty, still dons his US Army uniform and hardly has a hair on his head.

Trump has gotten flak from service members for calling his top advisers, including McMaster, Defense Secretary James Mattis, and the White House chief of staff, John Kelly, "my generals," but he seems to have a genuine respect for the uniform and look of military men.

On Thursday, after a torrent of reports that McMaster was headed out the door, the White House denied any impending staff shake-ups. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, dismissed by Trump early this week, had been dogged by rumors of his weak standing in the White House for months before the news became final.The National Vice President of NAPS, Damola Olugbode while speaking with journalists in Abuja on Friday, March 16, said the difference in BSc and HND certificates has caused several industry crises in both public and private sectors.

Olugbode said, we have been grossly marginalised and sidelined by the federal government especially the various ministers of education.

The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) had at various times voiced out and protested about the treatment of HND graduates in all sectors of the Nigerian labour market, yet nothing has been done.

Polytechnic education is now being regarded as vocational studies, as witnessed by several professional bodies that have refused to recognised HND, yet accredit the same courses of study at the Polytechnics.

ALSO READ:

Buhari's administration planned to resolve BSC/HND differences in 2017

In 2017, President Muhammadu Buhari's administration took a step to resolve the distinction between the two degrees.

According to Punch, the Federal Government had a plan to ensure that there is no difference in the salary at entry points between both degree holders in all the Para-military services.Set up as an origin story for what appears to be a future franchise of Lara Croft movies, Alicia Vikander stars as Lara, the young daughter of billionaire businessman, Richard Croft, who went missing seven years before the events of the movie started.

The movie oozes a little different feel from the original Jolie-led movies that featured non-functional stunts, cartoonish superhuman abilities, and the oversexualisation of its lead; this one works at making the character more real, serious and less experienced. The only problem is that the journey to achieving this is heavy-handed and dull.

This younger Croft is plagued by daddy issues that make her opt to work as a bike messenger on the streets of London rather than accept his death, in absentia, after seven years.

She boxes in the gym in her spare time (and gets her ass kicked), casually steals, and participates in a dangerous race for money when billions await her in inheritance if she would just accept what appears to be an inevitable conclusion that her often absent father is gone for good.

When she does decides to listen to reason, she stumbles upon a family secret that sets her on a course that changes her life forever.

Following a series of bread crumbs left by Richard, Lara embarks on an adventurous trip to Japan to investigate her father's final mission before he went missing.

She travels to an uninhabited island where her father had been investigating the legend of Himiko, the Queen of Yamatai, whose reawakening could bring about the end of the world.

Obsessed with the will to discover what really happened to her father, Lara recruits local boat captain, Lu Ren (Daniel Wu) to ride into the belly of the Devil's Triangle to encounter a man who might have been responsible for her father's death, Mathias Vogel (Walton Goggins).

Armed with the superpowers of recklessness and self-determination, Laras introduction to the elements are brutal and physically draining.

She is not an archaeologist before any of this but gets so uncharacteristically good at it that she puts seasoned veterans to shame, and death; and while this could be waved away by pointing at her grit as a survivor, it still feels so dubiously done.

Regardless of its video game origins, as an adventure movie, Tomb Raider ticks almost all of the boxes of the genre's tropes and could be mistaken for an Indiana Jones spin-off if Vikander donned the famous fedora and the movie had anything resembling decent narrative depth.

While the director, Roar Uthaug, does his best to make a decent movie from a historically wretched source, Tomb Raider's video game roots are painfully obvious most especially in the scenes where characters have to speak words to one another - which is, like, all of them.

The movie is lacking in requisite substance to elevate video game plot lines into a compelling two-hour joyride that's a great use of anybody's time.

Lara's relationship with her father, which is the crutch of her motivation for the duration of the movie, fails to convince despite a few flashback scenes that attempt to establish a deep emotional bond.

Even the movie's central mythology that should serve as the big bad terrifying hook sounds so ridiculously daft that hardly anyone believes it, including Lara and Vogel who's been trying to find the Queen for the best part of a decade.

Speaking of Vogel, as far as villains go, Goggins is burdened with a character that's unimaginably terrible that its result is unspeakably sad.

He's a trapped world-weary man with a half-decent motive for taking really evil decisions but he always comes off as a sad, whiny antagonist who hurt animals as a little child and can't help himself but be who he has become.

Regardless of the movie's collection of bad decisions, Tomb Raider still finds time to shine in parts like a nice little twist in Himiko's mythology, the fun bike race scene in London, a nail-biting waterfall scene, and the final act inside the Queen's deadly tomb that provides some exciting moments.

Vikander's Lara is a more emotionally vulnerable Croft when compared to Jolie's superhuman badass. She has to call upon her years of survival on the streets of London to overcome the challenges the island throws her way.

She's a tomb raider in training and every new experience is a gripping exploration of her development as a character which makes it all the more disappointing when Uthaug misses a good opportunity to build on the aftermath of her first kill which Vikander plays off with quite the refined emotional intensity for a brief moment.

Reinventing her into a seasoned killer after only a few minutes later strips Lara's character of the sort of complexity that elevates a good movie into a decent one. Despite the directorial handicap, Vikander plays the character with enough self-assurance to make her a believable badass.

Tomb Raider, very obviously, is a springboard for what the filmmakers behind it hope will be a franchise that'll run for years; maybe this is why this movie terribly feels like a pilot episode of a television show.He's been earning a living as an assassin.

Further reports make pulse.ng understand that the 39-year-old father of three who hails from Ijebu Igbo in Ogun State was arrested by the IGP Intelligence Response Team over the killing of one Ganiyu Ayinla, aka Pinero, the personal assistant to Azeez Adekunle Lawal, the National Union of Road Transport Workers chairman in Idumota, Lagos.

It's also gathered that Williams who to be born-again Assassination has been the source of my livelihood for more than a decade now and I know I have taken many lives that I cant even count but God knows I am a new person now.

If I get a chance to regain my freedom in this life, I will never go back to crime again. I also advise the millions of youths out there that crime does not pay.

I was into crime for over 20 years and despite the risk involved and lack of rest of mind, I have nothing to show for it except the uncompleted three-bedroomed bungalow in Ibadan.

I have nothing on ground to fall back on despite taking the lives of more than 100 Nigerians as an assassin. May God forgive me.

He also disclosed how he stole a watch belonging to the late fuji musician, Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, in 1998, while the musician performed at a show in Lagos Island. The incident eventually landed him in jail.

He stated: A fight broke out when he was about leaving the hall and I found my way to the front where I succeeded in snatching his watch from his wrist. People saw me struggling with his bouncers and the next day, they brought policemen to arrest me in my mothers house.

After his release from jail in 2001, Williams resumed his job as a bus conductor. He then joined that Ajah branch of the NURTW, where he was made a park attendant.

Williams worked for the likes of Musiliu Akinsanya, aka MC Oluomo, and Akanni Olorunwa, who was once a chairman of the union in the state, during his time at the NURTW.

However, he made the decision to murder Kunle Poly because the latter refused to intercede on his behalf, to the state chairman of the union, Tajudeen Agbede. Williams claimed he had been dumped by Agbede, after working hard to help him get elected as chairman.

He stated: I thought about my predicament because my wife was heavily pregnant and the money I was getting from Oluomo wasnt enough and I wasnt ready to use my gun for armed robbery, so I decided to end the life of the man who refused to help me mend my relationship with Agbede.

He also confessed to incriminating other people after he was arrested, because he did not want to go down alone.

In his words: I decided to rope in Olorunwa because he was the one who ruined my life. It was my support for him during his fight with MC Oluomo that made me to lose my position at the union.

After he was removed from office, he had so much money but he was wasting it on women and movie actors and he refused to help me.

If he had given me good money after he left office, for staking my life for him, I wont have been roaming about, looking for who to kill. I was just so bitter, so I framed him.

I made up the story that he paid me N500,000 to kill Kunle Poly and I also lied that I seized his vehicle because he was owing me a balance of N1m.

He stated that he finally decided to come clean and say the truth and give my life to Christ."

He continued: "I also lied earlier that I worked for Prince Kazeem Aletu during the fight between him and Oba Elegushi.

Though I didnt know Prince Kazeem before, I have heard his name very well before and I asked for assistance from him several times through somebody who knows him but he refused to help me, and that was why I mentioned his name too.

But now I am a born-again Christian and I will always say the truth and stand by the truth.In the Nigerian society, divorce cases are plenty but some of them are shocking to say the very least. This divorce story you about to read is probably the most shocking thing you will read.

The Twitter handle Jaruma Magazine, tweeted a divorce story from a woman who identifies herself as Sadiya Lawal on Friday, March 16, 2018.

The lady question narrates how she fell in love with her ex-husband at first sight. Her story started off as fairy tale but quickly descended into a horror story.

ALSO READ: Married pastor mistakenly shares photo of him kissing another man

You can read the shocking divorce story below;

"MY NAME IS SADIYA LAWAL. I AM 29 YEARS OLD. I AM FROM BAUCHI STATE. I WOULD LIKE TO SHARE MY DIVORCE DIARIES WITH YOU.

For me, it was love at first and Hamisu was the one.

I met my husband when I was a Corper. I was serving in Abuja at the time. It was a beautiful time in my life and I quickly fell in love with the tall handsome charming stranger I met at Dunes Centre. His name was Hamisu Mohammed. It was love at first sight.

I was at the restaurant when he walked towards the aisles. Our eyes met for a moment and that was it. It felt like electricity and my heart was almost beating out of my chest when he smiled and started walking towards me.

I tried to look away but his pull was too magnetic and I found myself smiling back at him.

Hello lady, you look like you are having a good time he said and my heart stopped for a minute as all my senses concentrated on listening to him.

I just kept smiling like a fool as he kept smiling back. I dont even remember what my reply was. We ended up sitting down and talking for like 3 hours that day. The rest, as they say, is history.

A year after that fateful meeting we got married. It was a most beautiful day that I will cherish forever. I was so in love with him, he was everything.

As any typical northern girl, I excitedly prepared for my wedding night with a lot of gyaran jiki and Kayan Mata.

The weeks before my wedding were filled with all sorts of skin treatments, consumption of aphrodisiacs and vaginal steaming all in anticipation of the big night. I looked forward to consummating our love on that special night.

On that special night, when all the glitz and glam of the wedding was done, it was just the two of us. I was so nervous and excited but Hamisu did not look interested. We talked for a while and then he fell asleep.

Yes! My husband fell asleep on our first night. I did not know what do, whether to wake him up or to allow him sleep. I couldnt hold myself I had to wake him up.

Honey, I dont think we should be sleeping tonight. It is our first night, it is the Sunnah....

He cut me off with a kiss and we made out for a while; then he told me he couldnt do anything that night because he was so tired from the activities of the wedding. Fair enough... so we slept off.

Two weeks later we were still sleeping together...that is we were only sleeping. At this point, I became fed up. No matter how hard I tried to get him in the mood my husband did not seem interested in making me a woman. He would rather go to sleep.

Three months after my wedding and I was still a virgin. My husband was not interested in that part of our marriage though he was a wonderful husband in other areas.

He was very supportive of my career, he took care of me, he cooked and cleaned up after himself, he made me laugh, he was affectionate but that was the end of it... after a while, I gave up trying.

There were a lot of rumours swirling around our social circles about my husband and his sexual preferences, but every single time he assured me he was working on being a lover I would cherish... eventually he always said.

The months were followed by a year then 2 years then 3 years and still our marriage remained unconsummated. I did not know what to do next. Friends told me to try and get his attention, to be uninhibited to be sexy blah blah blah.

I was sick and tired of hearing it was up to me to get my own husband to fulfil my marital rights. I was reaching my breaking point.

It all became worse with the pressure and questions from our families about why we had not had children yet. How could we have children when we were living like roommates instead of husband and wife?

I confronted him and he told me he had been molested as a boy and he was working on being sexual for me. My heart went out to him and I left it at that, I prayed for him every day, to overcome his experience.

One day I went to work and suddenly my period came so I had to rush back home to clean up; as I lived just fifteen minutes away from my office. I walked into my living room to find my husband being sodomised by another man who was on top of him.

He had sweat beads on his face and his eyes were closed. They did not hear me open the door; neither did they notice me standing directly opposite them. Hamisu opened his eyes. He looked at me and I looked at him.

He pushed the man off him and that is when I recognised who he was. The man that was sodomising my husband was my father.

What the hell was my father doing here? With my husband?

I ran to the kitchen and took my largest knife. The rage inside me was like red hot lava in a volcano and it was threatening to erupt and consume all of us. The betrayal! He would not touch me but he could sleep with my father!

I was confused about my father, No maybe my mind was playing tricks on me... my father was gone by the time I returned from the kitchen.

Hamisu was naked and struggling to wear his trousers when I stabbed him, I missed and a chase ensued. I wanted to send him to hell where he belonged.

Finally, I got his hand; the knife sliced through skin and flesh and came out with blood spraying everywhere staining the white carpet. He groaned in pain: Sadiya!

I raised the knife again; I wanted to stab him in his heart, just like he had done to me. I wanted to damage him with all the rage inside me.

He was begging me and I was charging towards him to finish him off when I tripped and fell; the knife slipped away from my hand and in that moment the powerlessness of my situation hit me.

What could I really do? Who would even believe me? What type of daughter would I be to accuse my father of homosexuality? How could I face my mother with the news that my father and my husband were lovers? Inna Lillahi what could I really do in this situation.

I broke down; I just crouched and broke down in tears, the blood from my period further staining my white carpet... I did not care, let the carpet stain I thought- as I watched it turn a dirty red colour...

He crawled towards me, Sadiya I am sorry was all he kept saying. I had so many things I wanted to say to him but I just could not open my mouth. It was as if the weight in my heart had pulled my mouth shut. I heard him talk.

He said he had always been a bottom (other men did it to him), since his days in secondary school. He said a senior boy had taught him and somehow it had become his habit. He said he preferred that to being with a woman.

I really do love you Sadiya, just not in that way you know! When we met you accepted me, without any questions. I love you but I just could not be a lover to you. And I saw that you liked being married to me. I always assumed you knew...

ALSO READ: Imam offers advice on how to avoid having gay children

This was a mistake, it will never happen again. Your father is the senior boy who first molested me back in secondary school. I had not seen him since secondary school until the day I went to greet him before we got married. We rekindled our relationship and... .

I slapped his dirty mouth. How dare he? Three years in a sex less marriage and he had the audacity to tell me he assumed I knew?

Why would a woman assume her husband was a perverted homosexual pig? Why? Why did he marry me? He just used me to kill the rumours ko? Shege tsinnanne!

He continued to talk but I went to the bathroom and cleaned myself up."

You can continue reading the story from the tweet below

Leading LGBT rights activist Bisi Alimi has reacted to the sad divorce story.

Homophobia in Nigeria

Homophobia is rampant in Nigerian society. On Thursday, August 3, 2017, a magistrate court arraigned 42 suspected homosexuals who were arrested at a hotel located at Owode Onirin.

Among the accused were 12 minors who appeared before the Ebute-Metta Magistrate Court, while the remaining offenders had hearings at the Yaba Magistrate Court.

A court statement confirmed that the group were on July 29, 2017, caught in the act of homosexuality, punishable under the Lagos State criminal law.

On or about 29th July, 2017, at Vintage Hotel, No. 999 Ikorodu Road/Toyin Close, Weigh Bridge, Owode Onirin, Lagos, in the Lagos Magisterial District, did engage in gay activities by permitting male persons to have canal knowledge of themselves against the order of nature and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 261 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.Rocket Internet helped in setting up Jumia in 2012 but the online retail store, which has since spread across 23 African countries, is said to be a loss-making company.

The investor is expected to shortly mandate banks for an initial public offering of Jumia, which describes itself as Africa's leading online shopping destination, the report said.

The sources said a German investment bank, Berenberg, which has a track record of working with Rocket on capital market transactions is in a good position to win a mandate.

A listing of shares, in a volume of under 200 million euros ($245.7 million), could take place in late 2018 or in 2019, either in Frankfurt or in London, one of the sources was quoted as saying.

Rocket Internet was said to have declined to comment on the matter.

ALSO READ: E-Commerce in Africa is a puzzle the world is struggling to crack

The company's Chief Executive,Oliver Samwer, had earlier in 2018 told Reuters that Rocket needs to hold on to its mountain of cash so it can compete with rivals from the United States and China and pounce when investment opportunities arise.

In January, Jumia said that it had 1 billion visits on its pages across Africa in 2017.

It also said it has 50,000 merchants in its ecosystem, where 5 million products, hotels, restaurants, and other services are listed.The medical outreach, according to Dr. Olayinka Ojo, Commanding Officer, 23 Brigade Medical Centre, Yola is part of the efforts by the Nigerian Army to strengthen the civil-military relations in their current operational base in Wukari.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the East Primary School, Wukari, venue of the exercise, was filled up with people who came in as early as 6 a.m.

Ojo told NAN that services covered by the outreach included ultrasound, gynaecological checks, dental treatments and checks on the eyes.

Others included laboratory services, X-ray, deworming, among others.

He said that the turnout was overwhelming, but added that the outreach team was fully equipped with drugs and services that would be enough to meet the needs of all patients.

If we cannot complete attending to them today (Saturday), we can extend the service to Sunday, he said.

Dr. Kamah Humphrey, who represented the Taraba Chapter of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), said that the medical association was very excited and impressed with the medical services of the army in Wukari.

He said that the exercise would touch the lives of the common man and lauded the army for the quality of drugs and medical services.

Humphrey urged other governmental and non-governmental organizations to emulate the army in reaching out to the poor.

Malam Haruna Tanko, 74, who appreciated the service rendered to him, said that he had received drugs that would last more than one month.

Instead of spending about N5,000 to obtain drugs that will not have lasted more than one week, the military outreach has given me drugs that will last for more than one month, he said.

He thanked the soldiers for the services, and urged them to continue to visit rural areas to attend to the health needs of the people.Written by David Pilling, the modernist Emir who still pays homage to certain traditions, spoke on the polygamy, Boko Haram, Fulani Herdsmen, and the missing billions that got him into trouble with the Jonathan Goodluck administration

Here are 5 key things, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi said in the feature article;

1. On being chosen by God to be king

I spent my life as a successful banker. I taught economics at the university. I worked at an investment bank. I was chief risk officer in the two largest banks in the country. I was the CEO of the oldest and largest commercial bank in Nigeria, First Bank. I was the best central bank governor four years out of five. Why would I feel guilty about inheriting privilege? I have earned my stars in every competitive environment. With a CV like that, God could hardly have said no.

2. His daughter wants to be the next Emir of Kano

My daughter wants to be the next Emir of Kano, and shes disappointed Ive not yet appointed a woman to the Kano Emirate Council.

3. His view on Polygamy

If its a religious law, its a religious law. I get a lot of comments from the west on polygamy. But let me give you a different perspective. In Britain today, you can have relationships with any number of women. You can have six partners. If they agree and youre not forcing them, you are not committing any offence. But if you decided to marry them, youd go to jail. I dont understand that. If a society does not criminalise adultery, it has no business criminalising polygamy.

4. Abuse of polygamy

Its a total misconception of Islamic law for people to think that you have the right to marry more than one wife and not be able to maintain them. Its not a blank cheque. You cant just produce children and leave them on the streets begging and out of school.

5. Drug Problem in Northern Nigeria

We have a youth bulge and youth unemployment. We have a drug problem. And its all come from, I think, a collapse of family values.

In February 2018, the Emir of Kano called for the salaries of ministers and legislators to be slashed by hal.

According to him, If the salary of each member of the National Assembly was divided into two, it would go a long way to provide more jobs for 70,400 jobless Nigerians at between N90, 000 and N92,500 monthly salary.

The Emir also called on public office holders to make sacrifices so that Nigeria can come out of the current economic challenges.According to a report by The Guardian, the attack happened on Wednesday, March 14, 2018, with the attackers arriving by boat before opening fire on residents and burning houses.

A source said the attackers numbered "about 500" and burnt down 20 houses while an eyewitness claimed they were dressed in military fatigue and wielded AK-47 assault rifles.

The state's Deputy Commissioner of Police, Monday Bala, confirmed the attack during a press conference on Thursday, March 15, and reported that police officers and other security operatives have been deployed to the area to restore order.

While many residents who fled for their lives remain unaccounted for, Bala declined to release casualty figures from the attack.

A resident believes that the attack might be a reprisal for a 2016 altercation that led to the death of four Fulani herdsmen.

Herdsmen crisis

Nigerians have been dealing with a spate of attacks carried out by suspected cattle herders with well over 200 victims dead since January 2018.

On the same day as the attacks in Kogi, the Nigerian Army confirmed that herdsmen killed two soldiers while responding to reports of a clash between at Rafiki Village in Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State where 23 dead bodies were also found.

Seven suspects have already been arrested in connection with the clash as one AK-47 assault rifle with 26 rounds of 7.62mm special and one locally made single barrel loaded with 15 rounds recovered by troops.Aremu said in a statement issued in Kaduna, and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria, that Nigeria had lost a distinguished patriot with his death.

I received with shock the death of my dear friend and brother Sen. Ali Wakili.

I bear witness that he lived for all that will benefit fellow Nigerians and Africans.

Nigerian workers have truly lost a friend. Shortly after assumption of the 8th National Assembly, Wakili began to call asking for relevant information on how to go about a new minimum wage for Nigerian workers, he said.

Aremu said the best honor for the late compatriot was to deepen his efforts and struggle for a better Nigeria and Africa.

Let us organise and continue from where he left in alleviating our people out of want into prosperity.

My condolences go to his family, the Senate President and distinguished Senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, all members of National Institute, the government and good people of Bauchi State and the entire nation for the irreparable loss.

May Almighty Allah grant him eternal rest in Aljana Firdausi, he said.Wakili was confirmed dead on Saturday, March 17, 2018, at a hospital in Abuja. He was 58 years old.

The state Governor Mohammed Abubakar alongside other government officials on Saturday afternoon paid a condolence visit to the family of the deceased.

This was disclosed in a statement issued on Saturday by Shamsuddeen Abubakar, Special Assistant on Communications to Governor Abubakar.

"We condole with his family, his Bauchi South constituents and the entire people of our dear state. We join all to pray the Almighty Allah grant him paradise", the statement said.

Senate President, Bukola Saraki and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, also visited the bereaved family.

Wakili had slumped on Saturday morning at his Abuja residence and was rushed to the hospital, where he was certified dead.According to Daily Nigerian, Wakili died on Saturday morning - March 17 - after he slumped at his Gwarimpa residence in Abuja, Nigeria's capital.

The lawmaker was reportedly rushed to Viewpoint Hospital, where he was confirmed dead.

He was 58 years old.

ALSO READ: No secrecy in NASS annual budget - Senator Wakili

Wakili, who was described as a vibrant lawmaker, was the Chairman Senate Committee on Poverty Alleviation.

Pulse could not immediately get confirmation from the Senate and Wakili's constituency in Bauchi.

Update:

The Senate on Saturday afternoon confirmed the death of senator Ali Wakili in a Twitter post.Wakili suffered a heart attack earlier today, Saturday, March 17, 2018, after which he was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

He was 58 years old.

The lawmaker, who hails from Bauchi state, was said to have informed his close friends and associates that he would like to be buried anywhere death meets him.

Senate President Bukola Saraki, Bauchi State Governor, Mohammed Abubakar, Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima were among the dignitaries who attended the burial.

Wakili is survived by two wives and 11 children.

Earlier, Governor Abubakar declared a three-day mourning in Bauchi, during which time flags will fly at half mast in honour of Wakili.

Abubakar also suspended all state duties in Abuja and he is expected to return to Bauchi to mourn after Wakili's burial.

The governor also directed that workers in the state should close two hours earlier during the three days mourning period.Wakili, 58, died at about 11 a.m. on Saturday in Abuja.

One of his aides, Malam Lalaye Suleiman, had said that the late lawmaker died after a brief and would be buried in Abuja on Saturday.

A tearful Saraki, according to a statement by his Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Mr Yusuph Olaniyonu, on Saturday in Abuja, described the deceased as vibrant lawmaker, very passionate about his assignment in the Senate.

This is especially so with his chairmanship of the Senate Committee on Poverty Alleviation and other committees where he was a member.

Malam Ali Wakili is one lawmaker you can never be in doubt where he stands on a particular issue. He spoke his mind fearlessly.

His contributions at plenary were always very incisive and rich. I find it difficult to acknowledge that he will not resume plenary with us next Tuesday, he said.

My heart goes out to his family, the 8th Senate and the government and people of Bauchi State over the loss of this conscientious and patriotic Nigerian. He shall be sorely missed, he added.

Saraki prayed Allah to grant Wakili a place among the righteous in Aljannah Firdaus and his family and loved ones the fortitude to bear the loss.

Similarly, Deputy President of the Senate, Sen. Ike Ekweremadu, has expressed shock and sadness over the death of Wakili, describing him as a diligent and courageous lawmaker.

He said: I received with rude shock the news of the passing on of my friend, brother, colleague and ally, Distinguished Sen. Wakil Ali.

Senator Wakilis stint at the National Assembly has no doubt been cut short, but it was long enough to prove himself a forthright, patriotic, diligent, and courageous politician.

He respected his conviction and loved his fatherland. He stood for what he believed was right and worked for the unity of Nigeria.

It is indeed a grave, personal loss to me, the Senate, and the entire nation. He will live on in our hearts.

Ekweremadu prayed God to grant eternal rest to the soul of the late Senator and support his family, people of Bauchi, and the nation with the fortitude to bear the loss.

Born in 1960, Wakili attended Lere Primary School, Bauchi and Government Secondary School, Damaturu, Yobe.Mr Femi Adesina, the Presidents Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, said this in a statement on Saturday in Abuja.

Adesina said that Buhari, praised his Chinese counterpart for his wisdom and vision, in a congratulatory letter, `personally signed by the President.

On behalf of the Government and people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I congratulate you most sincerely on your re-election as the President of the Peoples Republic of China.

Your re-election is an indication of the trust and confidence reposed in you by the people of China on your ability to bring your vision and wisdom to bear in the conduct of national and global affairs, he said.

President Buhari also looked forward to increased cooperation between China and Nigeria on one hand and China and Africa on the other hand.

He said: It is my firm belief that your re-election will also bolster the existing mutually benefiting partnership between the Peoples Republic of China and Nigeria.

I look forward to meeting Your Excellency at the forthcoming Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Beijing Summit in September 2018.The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the election in Ward B (Ogunloko)in Oshodi /Isolo Local Government Area and Ward B (Dopemu) in Agege Local Government Area are to fill vacancies resulting from the death of the councillors representing the wards.

The commissions Director of Public Affairs, Mr Oladapo Olatunde, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), All Progressives Congress(APC) and Accord Party had been cleared for the by-elections.

He said the cleared parties were the only ones that showed interest in the election and obtained forms for participation.

Olatunde said the candidates of the three parties had also been validated.

Yes, three parties: PDP, APC and Accord are participating in the elections.

They are the only parties that obtained forms for participation.

Their respective candidates have been validated, he said.

NAN reports that 12 parties out of the 28 registered in the state, were cleared by the commission for the main election, held on July 22 2017.

This means that nine parties which participated in the main election would not participate in the March 24 by-elections.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the commission, Justice Ayodele Phillips, has restated the commitment of LASIEC to conduct free and fair by-elections in the two wards.

Phillips, in statement on Saturday, said the commission would do its best to make the elections credible.

She enjoined residents of the two wards to show interest in the election and take part in the process.

The commission chairman said it was through participation that they could choose who would represent their interests in their areas.

She urged youths and people in the area to shun violence before, during and after the election, as violence could frustrate the process.His response triggered a race to set a credible agenda for what would be historic talks between the two leaders.

Before a date or a venue for the summit can be set, North Korea will publicly have to confirm that it sent the invitation and intends to honour it, by attending a meeting to discuss giving up its nuclear arsenal.

In Stockholm, the Swedes were seeking to pave the way for talks which could end a threat of nuclear war, using the leverage of their longstanding ties with Pyongyang, where its diplomatic mission opened in 1975, the first Western embassy to be established in the hermit country.

The embassy today represents US, Canadian and Australian diplomatic interests, giving Sweden a key liaison role and facilitating the talks in Stockholm between Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom and counterpart Ri Yong Ho.

Summit 'facilitator'

Ri also met with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, who Friday said Sweden hoped to be a summit "facilitator".

Ri's delegation included Choe Kang Il, deputy director general of the foreign ministry's North America section -- though a senior US administration official told AFP Friday: "No US government staff are meeting with the North Koreans in Sweden," where Ri was stationed as a diplamat for three years in the mid 1980s.

Wallstrom had earlier said the talks extended into Saturday given the "constructive atmosphere" of the first two days.

No concrete announcements emerged Saturday, as the Swedish foreign ministry stated that "the talks focused primarily on the security situation on the Korean peninsula, which is high on the UN Security Council agenda."

Noting Sweden's "consular responsibilities as a protecting power" for the United States, Canada and Australia, the statement indicated the "foreign ministers discussed opportunities and challenges associated with continued diplomatic efforts to reach a peaceful solution to the conflict."

The ministry added that "Sweden underlined the need for North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons and missile programmes in accordance with Security Council resolutions."

It also stated that "other discussions centred on the humanitarian situation in North Korea, sanctions, and regional cooperation and security issues for countries including South Korea, Japan, Russia, China and the United States."

In line with previous sessions of talks, Ri made no comments to the media.The delegation from the ministry of health will remain to follow up on a deal that will see Kenya partner with Cuba to transform healthcare in the country.

The agreement will see accelerated cooperation in health that will cover prevention and treatment of malaria, hypertension, diabetes and hepatitis B.

The cooperation will also cover prevention and treatment of a range of livestock diseases.

The deal will be integral in achieving one of the big 4 agenda set out by the president and which will in a big way form part of his legacy.

Among the items in President Kenyattas agenda in his final term is the provision of quality and affordable healthcare.

Those ordered to remain behind include Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) Dr. Rashid Aman who will be joined by other officials from his ministry over the weekend.

Aman will lead the remaining team will agree and sign a deal on cooperation covering a range of medicines at the stage of clinical trials, vaccines and in-demand pharmaceutical covering a range of diseases common in Kenya.Addressing his supporters in Kondele, Kisumu on Friday evening, the NASA boss disclosed that Miguna Miguna would be guaranteed safe return to Nairobi.

MPs and NASA leaders whose passports were taken will be released back and their security officers reinstated," Odinga declared.

Shortly after Odinga met President Uhuru Kenyatta and declared that they would work together, Miguna hit out at Odinga for betraying the struggle for electoral justice and reforms.

A section of opposition supporters anointed Miguna Miguna as the new Joshua to lad them in the journey to Caaan.

Miguna Miguna was on the frontline during the swearing in of Odinga and administered the oath which saw Odinga adopt the title of Peoples President.

His participation in the government saw security forces raid his house, seize his passport and deport him to Canada.

Odinga disclosed that the case against Miguna Miguna would be withdrawn following the truce.

"We agreed to address nine key points with the Head of State. This will ensure political working arrangements bringing together Luos, Kalenjins and Kikuyu communities who have been at loggerheads for long," added Odinga.Sold Out

This item is no longer available, but theres still much more to discoverkeep shopping to find something new to love!QUIZ: Guess the Road Songs

We can't wait to get back on the road again! Play this quiz and see if how many you can get right!Property details:

NO RESERVENew Roof Done on Oct 2018 with warranty ****** Just the land is worth more than $25000 ****** Our feedback is over 150 on our business account, this is my personal ebay account since ebay requires deed verification to list real estate. I can provide business account name for verification. We have been on ebay for over 20 years. Bid with confidence 100 Year Old 2 Story Historical Brick Building with, Store Front and 3 apartments on the second floor, Huge Backyard. In Downtown Goodland, ...

Price: $ 9,701 Seller State of Residence: Colorado Property Address: 1008 Main St State/Province: Kansas Availability: For Sale Type: Retail Lot Size (acres): 2000 Location: 802**, Denver, Colorado

You will be redirected to eBay



Nearby 2000Property details:

You Are Bidding On the Full Purchase Price for 1.5 Acres in Oregon! Views. Huge Pine Trees. Secluded. Road Access. Parcel: This auction is for legal description: Lot 6, Block 42, Oregon Pines. This is a 1.52 +/- ACRE parcel of land in Klamath County, Oregon. This land is about 9 miles northeast of Sprague River, Oregon. This is one of the nicest lots in this subdivision. The lot is completely forested. The property is located in the Oregon Pines Subdivision on Kleinrock Road. The land stays cool...

Price: $ 7,900 Seller State of Residence: Arizona State/Province: Oregon Zip/Postal Code: 97621 Property Address: Kleinrock Road Zoning: Residential Type: Homesite, Lot City: Beatty Location: 852**, Tempe, Arizona

You will be redirected to eBay



Nearby BeattyProperty details:

Welcome to Sunny Arizona 2.25 ACRES Subdivision Lot No Minimum - No Reserve HIGH BID OWNS LOT The lot for auction is located in Apache County midway between Chambers, Arizona and Holbrook, Arizona. The area is home to the spectacular Petrified Forest National Park as well as the famous Painted Desert which bring millions of visitors a year to the area. To the south of the property is the forested White Mountains and the green pastures which sharply contrast the dry, colorful plateau region to th...

Price: $ 305 Seller State of Residence: Florida Property Address: Petrified Forest Estates State/Province: Arizona Type: Homesite, Lot Zoning: Residential City: Apache County Location: , Big Bear Lake, California

You will be redirected to eBay



Nearby Apache CountyFind a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale

Buy real estate. Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale in US and Canada.

Search Real EstateA Legislature cowed by public safety unions, though, can't hide its complicity in this secrecy. Lawmakers must restore the public's right to know how police wield the extraordinary power they're granted  before this latest case obliterates what little sunlight there is.

 The Albany Times Union

OK, so this is not the worst job-creation idea ever devised by the state: Give solid tax breaks to start-up companies and others willing to make a go of it near education centers.

The SUNY system is an upstate powerhouse, and if all that energy can be leveraged to grow businesses nearby, it could keep more young people in New York  it could stop the so-called "brain drain" that is crushing the Empire State, especially upstate.

But the results have been slow to materialize, and the state has spent eye-popping sums on the effort.

In fact, critics rightly roil over the notion the state has spent tens of millions of dollars promoting economic development in general and the so-called "Start-Up NY" plan, which produced slightly over a 1,000 jobs in the first three years, though businesses in the program have pledged to add a few thousand more within the next two years.Property details:

Begin investing in affordable land!! Ride Your Bike to the Beach The housing market is forecast to accelerate! Get your parcel of land now! they are not making any more of it. All taxes current and paid. No liens. Great Investment Mississippi Gulf-Great Opportunity to own land near the water!!!Lot located in Waveland MS- Mississippi SoundIt is between New Orleans and Gulfport adjacent to St Louis Bay.Lot Size- 4,060 square feet +/-Dimension: 70ft x 58 ft. there are 2 lotsAPN# 161E-0-02-271.00 GP...

Price: $ 1,499 Seller State of Residence: California State/Province: Mississippi City: Waveland Zoning: Residential Zip/Postal Code: 39576 Property Address: 108 Hughes St Type: Homesite, Lot Location: , Waveland, Mississippi

You will be redirected to eBay



Nearby Homesite, LotProperty details:

This is a listing to sale 100 acres. I have 100 acres vacant forest land near Lake George in Chestertown/Olmstedville/North Creek. Beautiful private forest-two homes/dwelling allowed. The closing will be done in attorney's office. This property is 100 acres close to 68 Ted Wells Road, Chestertown(North Creek), NY 12853. There is a deeded right of way from Ted Wells Road. Being lot Number: 34-1-31, Warren County, New York.This property is ideal for recreation/hunting/residence.The NY Forest law a...

Price: $ 150,000 Seller State of Residence: New York Property Address: Off Ted Wells Road State/Province: New York City: Chestertown Type: Homesite/Recreational/ Acreage Zoning: Private Forest (Dwelling allowed every 43 acres) Zip/Postal Code: 12853 Location: 128**, North Creek, New York

You will be redirected to eBay



Nearby 12853,



We're sorry, this article is not currently availableRuPaul Charles was honored Friday with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

ADVERTISEMENT

RuPaul 's husband Georges LeBar and "Grace & Frankie" actress Jane Fonda were on hand for the occasion, which RuPaul described as "absolutely the most important moment in my professional career."

"I am overcome with so much emotion right now," the iconic drag performer told attendees at the event.

According to RuPaul, when he was a little boy, his family would travel from their San Diego home and bring him to Los Angeles "so I could look at all the stars' and I could dream that, one day, I could be one of the stars on Hollywood Boulevard. In fact, it was a dream that I wasn't sure how I would achieve it, but I had so much support from my family and from my faith in a benevolent universe and that is what has brought me here today. I love all of you and I wish for each and every person within the sound of my voice that your dreams can come true as mine have."

The 57-year-old is the host of the reality competition series "RuPaul's Drag Race," which will kick off its 10th season on March 22.

It has already been renewed for Season 11.

RuPaul's acting credits include "Crooklyn," "The Brady Bunch Movie," "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar," "But I'm a Cheerleader," "Hurricane Bianca," "Broad City," and "Girlboss."Governments must encourage micro-irrigation, use of natural manure and pesticides in a big way. Farm income can be doubled by reducing cost as much as by increasing MSP, says Sanjeev Nayyar.

IMAGE: The farmers morcha in Mumbai's Azad maidan on March 12, 2018. Photograph: Sahil Salvi.

Over last weekend thousands of farmers marched to Mumbai to demand a host of relief measures, including an unconditional loan waiver scheme, better payment under welfare schemes, assurance on disbursal of minimum support price etc.

Up north, two interesting developments on agriculture were published by The Tribune recently.

In one, professor of economics Ranjit Singh Ghuman wrote that the so-called high yielding variety seeds of wheat and paddy are giving high yield because of their high degree of responsiveness to water and chemical fertilisers. The emergence of paddy as a major crop led to heavy dependence on subsoil water and a manifold increase in the number of tube wells. However, the area under canal irrigation decreased from 16.60 lakh hectares (43.50 per cent) to 11.60 lakh hectares (28.01 per cent) during 1990-2014. You can read it here.

In the other article, Nirmal Sandhu spoke of the ill-effects of free power. He said "it has (1) hurt Punjabs agriculture, (2) depleted Punjabs water resources by encouraging paddy cultivation, (3) added to farmers production cost by forcing installation of submersible pumps, (4) curtailed industrial activity during the paddy season and (5) consumed resources that could have been used to modernise power plants and enhance generation capacity, and thus save jobs lost in shutting down unviable plants."

Free power has made farmers dependent on freebies. Starved of resources the state government is cutting down expenditure on development and education, for eg, closing down rural schools.

A big reason why farmers grow rice is because returns are assured by virtue of being purchased by the government at MSP. More rice crop results in more groundwater being drawn, electricity consumed and eventually adds to the state's subsidy burden.

In the name of helping farmers successive Punjab governments have, by giving free power, done them a disservice.

It is in this context that I share two recent personal experiences. The first is a visit to Kutch in Gujarat where drip irrigation is used. Two, a doctors son tells how his father did farming in Maharashtra over 30 years ago.

About 20 km from Bhuj is a farmer Amol Bhai (name changed), with a farm of about 100 acres where amrut, anar, mosambi and dates are grown.

Amol introduced drip irrigation about 15 years ago. The cost then, including filtration plant, was app Rs 55-60,000/ per acre. Some 50% of the cost was provided by the government as subsidy (now it is 70%).

How does drip irrigation work? Simply put, plastic tubes are laid out across the farm. Every tube has small holes through which the plant receives water. Groundwater is stored in a water tank from where it flows to designated points in the farm. There is a valve at each point. When opened the plant gets water drop by drop. Water is given for a specified number of hours per day.

IMAGE: Tubes and valve at a farm near Bhuj in Kutch, Gujarat. Photograph: Sanjeev Nayyar.

According to Amol, per acre consumption of water for growing amrut is 21.60 litres annually. This is at least 50% lower than if he did not have drip irrigation.

Since the area has no access to irrigation water, groundwater is used. Twenty years ago groundwater was found at 200 feet as against 900 feet today. Cost of drilling is Rs 450/ per foot so depleting water levels have increased costs.

People in Gujarat speak as if the Narmada water is a solution to every shortage. Its waters have reached Rapar taluka of Kutch but the river flow, as we are seeing this year, is not infinite and dependent on rains in the catchment area.

My question to Amol Bhai was, had he thought of investing in a water harvesting facility? Silence was his reply.

While walking around the farm I saw cow dung which his manager said they used as manure. For an amrut farm, the cow dung cost is Rs 25-30,000/ per acre as against Rs 40,000/ for fertiliser.

According to another farmer Kaivalyabhai, the focus is shifting away from wheat, bajra to horticulture because farmers get a better price.

Yet the discourse on farmer distress is not focused on lowering input costs by reducing consumption of fertilisers and pesticides.

Why are farmers not asking for:

A time bound district wise plan for increase in irrigated area.

Large-scale implementation of micro irrigation schemes.

Scrapping of APMC across markets (Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee).

Growing of crops that are compatible with the soil, for eg, why is water deficient Maharashtra growing water guzzling sugarcane?

Will someone ask the farmers of Punjab why they have not shifted to horticulture and drip irrigation in a big way?

Next, 50-year-old Dr Atul Salunkhe speaks about farming practices followed by his father. He spent the first 20 years in their village and continues to manage the farm today.

Earlier, agriculture and livestock farming were intertwined. The remnants from farms were used to feed cattle and cow dung / household waste was used as fertilizers. Thus, a farmer's income from both ensured that the family had enough to eat. This led to stability and overall development of farmers and their locality.

They never purchased seeds, but reserved last year seeds in muddy pots for next year's cultivations. Use of natural products meant lower production cost, better soil fertility amongst others.

Earlier agricultural land was divided into two parts. Half was used for production for a year. The other was left uncultivated and rejuvenated through natural means, for eg, by adding cow dung.

Since needs were less and animal products available to farmers the surplus was distributed to the more needy sections of society for free including farm labour.

Every farmer had cattle meaning there was adequate supply of manure in the form of cow dung. With dwindling cattle stocks supply of cow dung has fallen drastically.

However, with time and an increase in population things changed.

Farmers started using tractors, chemical based fertilisers and pesticides. This increased output and production cost but reduced soil fertility. Today land is over-used, affecting its fertility adversely. From being self-sufficient the farmer has to now depend on traders for supply of seeds and fertilisers.

Dr Salunkhe compares the increase in salary with price of agricultural produce. He said that around 1977 to 1980 the salary of a government employee was Rs 900 per month, the standard price of staple food grain was Rs 200 per quintal (100 kg), and gold Rs 900 for 10 grams.

Today agricultural labour demands Rs 600 per day as against Rs 15 in 1980. Monthly salaries of government and private sector employees have gone up to lakhs of rupees.

Have agricultural prices gone up by the same ratio, asks Dr Salunkhe. He adds that people have got into the habit of heavy bargaining with farmers and expect low prices for agricultural products.

Today's farmers are caught in a chakravyuh. If there is too much production, prices crash. In normal course their share in the market price varies from 15 and 40%.

Farmers do not know what to do, was Dr Salunkhe's parting sentence.

Today people expect the government to have infinite resources. What is forgotten is the increasing salary and pension cost of government employees leaves fewer resources for public investment in irrigation and other technology. In 2018-19 the expenditure on salary, pension take away 45% of the Maharashtra governments revenue.

It is clear that increasing subsidies and loan writeoffs is not the solution, yet that is what political parties want.

Governments must encourage micro-irrigation, use of natural manure and pesticides in a big way. Farm income can be doubled by reducing cost as much as by increasing MSP.

Since agriculture is a state subject, the primary responsibility lies with the states. Unfortunately, most of them are starved of resources or fritter them away in freebies.

According to a recent editorial in Mint, NITI Aayog has argued for bringing agriculture into the concurrent list so that the Union government can ensure a national market for agricultural products.

But will states cede control?

The author is an independent columnist and does not claim to be an expert on farming. He tweets @sanjeev1927Under the EB-5 visa programme you can become a US citizen provided you invest $500,000 in an approved project and create targeted employment.

But only 700 Indians can do so each year.

Tinesh Bhasin reports.

Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com

With the US visa laws getting stricter, more Indians are opting for the EB-5 visa programme, which allows an individual to become a citizen by investing $500,000 in an approved project.

While the EB-5 programme is an easier route for emigrating to the US, there have been regular frauds in the past, and investors risk losing their money as well as citizenship.

Lawyers and consultants say that the EB-5 visa programme is all about investing in the project that has the surety of getting completed and creating jobs in the areas around it. But choosing such projects can be daunting.

"An investor gives money to an entity called regional centre, which invests money in projects. But the financing of projects by regional centres is done through complex financial structures. Many a time, an investor may not even get all the documents unless he asks for them," says Mark Davies, global chairman, Davies & Associates, an immigration law firm.

An investor has little choice but to rely on lawyers, consultants or advisors when it comes to EB-5 projects who understand state-wise real estate laws and can evaluate the finance structures to recommend whether the investor should go for a project or not.

"Don't rely on Indian partners of the companies abroad. Instead, opt for professionals who are licensed by the US government and have a track record," says Vivek Tandon, founder and CEO, EB-5 BRICS.

The lawyer or advisor should also have experience in handling Indian cases.

When remitting money abroad, the advisor needs to ensure that it complies with the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

The FEMA regulations, for example, don't allow individuals to remit abroad funds that are borrowed from banks.

Best is to ask for referrals of cases that the advisor or lawyer has done in the past.

Talk to those individuals who have already been through the process.

Preferably, avoid advisors or lawyers working with regional centres and receiving a commission from them.

Ask your advisor in writing whether it receives compensation in any form from regional centres, developers or their parties related to them.

A US-licensed fund, lawyer or consultant will need to reveal it.

There also are a few checks that an investor should do independently. Choose a regional centre that has a track record of completed projects.

Many regional centres and developers get their projects evaluated from third party independent sources. Ask for such evaluation reports.

"If the project developer is listed, there will be much more transparency. There is a better likelihood of the project getting completed," says Rogelio Caceres, co-founder and chief commercial officer, LCR Capital Partners.

Immigration lawyers and advisors say that more Indians are looking at the EB-5 programme after the Donald J Trump administration tightened visa laws.

Most applicants include individuals who were already working in the US and are now affected by changes to the visa laws, and also Indian students who are finding it difficult to get a job after graduating from US colleges.

An EB-5 visa programme primer

What is the EB-5 visa programme?

EB-5 visa programme has two options. One, an individual can invest $500,000 in a project in a targeted employment zone through an entity called regional centres.

Two, an investor can start a venture by investing $1 million.

The investments should create more than 10 full-time jobs in the US within two years.

It allows a family with children under the age of 21 to become citizens.

Is there any cap on the number of applications from each country?

A total of 10,000 visas are granted each year with a 7 per cent cap for each country. It means, from India, a maximum of 700 applications can be approved each year. Except for China, no nation has ever breached this cap.

What is a regional centre?

A regional centre is defined by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services as an economic entity, public or private, which is involved with the promotion of economic growth, improved regional productivity, job creation and increased domestic capital investment.

It is an entity that facilitates the pooling of capital from multiple EB-5 investors into various multimillion dollar projects.

What are the other conditions for availing green card and then citizenship?

The investment must be an 'at-risk' investment for the investor to get a Green Card.

To get US citizenship, the investor must have stayed in Creen Card status for about five years and meet certain physical presence requirements (2.5 years out of the five) before s/he can be eligible to apply for citizenship.The big advantage that Jio is able to garner currently is its low cost of operations.

Surajeet Das Gupta reports.



Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com

Reliance Jio's goals are unambiguous.

It wants to grab 50 per cent of the revenue market share in the mobile business, which roughly comes to getting around 400 million customers and achieving a multifold increase in data usage.

But currently with an over 22 per cent of the revenue share and about 162 million customers, that target is still far away.

That is why Jio has unleashed yet another price war starting January.

And this time, its focus is on wooing the over 500 million 2G users who hardly use any data.

Jio recently announced an offering at Rs 49 that includes unlimited calls and 1 GB data for a month on its feature phones.

This tops its announcement on January 18 which cumulatively reduced the effective tariffs across the board by 42 per cent to 50 per cent.

With the subscriber market growing slowly, Jio has no choice but to wrest market share from its competitors.

Sources close to Jio say the rock bottom tariffs that have kicked off a price war are meant to encourage customers who are not using data to sample it for the first time without an additional burden on their monthly upfront spends.

So the low packs are priced well below the Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) that customers are paying.

Idea, for instance, which has the most 2G customers, has a pack for Rs 119 a month.

The company hopes that once customers get hooked to data, they will migrate to higher packages.

Unlike Jio, which only has 4G customers, the incumbents -- Bharti Airtel and Idea-Vodafone combine -- are sitting on over 250 million 2G customers, of which only 20 per cent use data.

But together they have only 150 million 3G and 4G customers, which is not only lower than that of Jio, but their customers use half the amount of data.

Jio is looking at wooing these 2G customers as well from the smaller players.

With Aircel deciding to go for bankruptcy proceedings, its 84 million subscribers will be in the market to be grabbed by incumbent operators.

And the new telecom policy on predatory pricing announced recently clearly benefits Jio, say analysts.

Under the new regime, operators with over 30 per cent subscriber or revenue share in a circle cannot offer tariffs lower than their variable cost.

The move, say experts, will impact Idea-Vodafone combine in as many as 11 circles and Bharti in nine circles.

"What it means is that we cannot match tariffs of Jio in these circles, and if we want to, we have to give up our subscribers so that we are below 30 per cent. It is like offering them new subscribers on a platter," says a senior executive of one of the leading telcos.

To combat Jio and ensure that these customers do not leave but migrate to their own broadband data, incumbents have no choice but to rely on a twin strategy -- to respond to the price war and match the offers.

And that they seem to be doing till now -- like Airtel recently matched the Rs 98 offer from Jio in which it offers 1GB data and unlimited calls for 28 days.

All this will dent their margins and profitability as the bloodbath continues.

Idea Cellular made its highest-ever losses of Rs 1,285 crore (Rs 12.85 billion) in the quarter of December last year, making it its fifth consecutive quarterly loss.

And Bharti saw its net profits fall by 39 per cent due to relentless pricing pressure from Jio and also the loss of interconnect usage charges income.

But analysts say that with a large customer base, Jio will see a dent in its margins even though it has declared profits in the quarter ending December 2017 -- because by pushing tariffs, its ARPUs will drop and so will its margins.

Secondly, incumbents, according to analysts, have to put in over Rs 100,000 crore (Rs 1 trillion) in the next two years to migrate their customers on to 4G LTE, rather than have varying networks (2G and 3G), which increases cost of operations.

An LTE network also helps improve spectrum utilisation by freeing up more airwaves to handle the huge explosion of data.

Bharti has already announced that it will move to 4G completely in the next two years, and Idea-Vodafone executives say it could take two to three years.

The big advantage that Jio is able to garner currently is its low cost of operations.

That is primarily because it is running on a more efficient technology (4G LTE) unlike incumbents, which have 2G, 3G and 4G.

Of course, incumbents have the advantage of having a higher addressable market, but that is what Jio is now attacking, trying to push customers to 4G with rock bottom tariffs and cheaper devices.

According to Kotak Institutional Equities, Jio's network operational expenditure per site per month is much lower than its competitors like Bharti or Idea.

Jio is also going to need continuous investments in infrastructure to keep pace with the explosion of data usage from its customers.

It is already investing Rs 6,000 crore (Rs 60 billion) to Rs 8,000 crore (Rs 80 billion) every quarter on increasing the depth of its coverage by putting in more towers and expanding the fibre backbone.

Jio will need to fork out Rs 21,000 crore (Rs 210 billion) to buy the assets of RCom -- towers, fibre and 4G spectrum -- that will further help them in increasing their coverage.

The question is, where will the incumbents get their money from at a time when their profits are coming down?

They can leverage their companies even further, they are saddled with huge debt. Idea, for instance, has a net debt to EBITDA of 11.40.

A big chunk could come from monetisation of tower assets.

Bharti has a 42 per cent stake in the country's largest tower company, Indus Towers, which could fetch it around $4.2 billion.

Listed company Bharti Infratel, in which Bharti Airtel has around 72 per cent stake, has a market capitalisation of around Rs 62,000 crore (Rs 620 billion).

The company also has decent cash reserves and its net debt is currently at around three times of its EBITDA -- well below the industry average.

Vodafone and Idea, which together hold 53 per cent stake in Indus Towers, could rustle up well over $5.3 billion.

The two companies have recently sold off their captive tower business to the American Tower Corporation for over $1.2 billion.

In fact, Idea has already announced that the promoters would be raising over Rs 65 billion for capital expansion.

However, tower monetisation will depend on whether Bharti and Vodafone-Idea want to get out of the tower business altogether when Jio is set to increase its control on a large part of this key asset by buying Anil Ambani's tower assets.

Either way, incumbent telcos say they are prepared for a battle in the next 12 to 18 months.The Supreme Court of India became 'lions under the throne' when Jawaharlal Nehru brought in the Fourth Amendment in 1955, says T C A Srinivasa Raghavan.

Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com

Judges have been making news for centuries, for good, bad, right and wrong reasons. They wield enormous power because they decide what is ok and what is not in what governments do.

In that sense they are the real bosses of any country.

The first book I read about a judge was in the late 1960s. It was called Courtroom by Quentin Reynolds about an American judge called Samuel Leibowitz. I don't know why I read it. It must have been a long and boring summer.

Since then I have read many books about judges and what they do. One of the best books that I have read is about the US Supreme Court. It is called Nine Scorpions in a Bottle by Max Lerner.

That term was coined by Oliver Wendell Holmes. He was referring to the catfights that went on between the judges. It happens everywhere.

There is another about an English judge called Edward Coke. In the early 17th century he told James I of England who thought he had a 'divine right to rule' to take a walk. He said the king and parliament were subject to the test of 'reason and common right'.

He didn't think, as Francis Bacon did, that judges must be 'lions under the throne' -- growl but not bite when the State misbehaves with the citizens.

He believed the relationship had to be something like the one suggested for the Reserve Bank of India and the government in 1931 -- that of a 'Hindoo wife' who advises but does not interfere.

The tussle between the sovereign and the judiciary has been going on since then. As with all institutions, the sovereign appoints the judges who then defy it.

The Indian Supreme Court became 'lions under the throne' when Jawaharlal Nehru brought in the Fourth Amendment in 1955 to show the judiciary its place as far as ruling on property rights is concerned. (Just imagine what would happen if the Bharatiya Janata Party tried anything like it.)

In 1971, the Supreme Court re-asserted itself. It told Indira Gandhi to be a good girl and not be a nuisance to Indian democracy. She not only refused, but also struck back by appointing loyalist judges.

There was even talk of a 'committed judiciary'. Again imagine what would happen if the BJP tried anything like it.

In 1992, the Court retaliated and asked the government to lay off appointments.

A few years ago, the government again tried, this time via Parliament, to wrest back control over appointments.

The judges simply struck down the new law. That is how powerful they are.

Although the battle between the government and the judiciary has been going on for centuries, in India it is of more recent origin.

The best account of the Indian Supreme Court's early years -- it began in 1937 as the Federal Court -- has just been published.

Believe it or not, it is a PhD thesis of an American scholar called George H Gadbois Jr. He wrote it back in the 1970s and it lay unpublished on his shelf since then.

But his interest in the Indian judiciary and Indian Constitutional law continued. Now Vikram Raghavan and Vasujith Ram have retrieved it, written a superb introduction to it and persuaded Oxford University Press to publish it. For Rs 800, it is a real steal.

Gadbois is not around to see it -- he died last year -- because he had been very tenacious in his quest. At one point, he had even been denied entry into India because the government thought he was a CIA agent!

For anyone interested in the Indian judiciary and the Supreme Court it is a must read. He would have been aghast at the infighting that is going on now.

The book shows just how far Nehru was willing to go in echoing Henry II: 'Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest'?

Basically, says Gadbois, the problem lies with the power of judicial review. The judiciary has invested it to mean absolute judicial supremacy. The government begs to differ.

Gadbois's answer, written in 1962, is below:

'Whereas decisions of the Federal Court which embarrassed the British won the acclaim of the Indian nationalist leaders... decisions of the Supreme Court which have thwarted the government have produced the opposite effect. The ease with which the Constitution may be amended... indicates that while the Court's jurisdiction is extraordinarily wide, its ultimate power is limited... the Constitution means what the Congress party says it means... judicial review has certainly not meant judicial '

Amen.The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh today supported the demand for deportation of illegal migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh, saying their presence in Jammu and Kashmir posed a security threat to the country.

"We do not consider them (Rohingyas and Bangladeshis) as refugees as they are foreigners and have entered in our country illegally," RSS Prant Sanghchalk, Brig (Retd) Suchait Singh told reporters in Jammu.

Singh, who was flanked by Prant Kariwah Parshotam Dadichi, said the state and the central governments should identify the illegally settled foreigners and sent them back.

"Why should we tolerate them when they pose a security threat to the nation as well as the state," he said.

Criticising the previous UPA government at the centre and National Conference-Congress coalition government in the state for allowing them to settle down in Jammu, he said they are totally responsible for the present situation (agitation over the deportation of Rohingyas and Bangladeshis in Jammu).

"What is their motive behind settling them in Jammu is best known to them  We see their presence as a threat and want their early eviction," the former army officer said.

Dadichi said there are about 300 shakhas in the state and "we are waiting for the day when the shakhas are opened in Kashmir valley as well".

"We are waiting for the day when the people in the valley will come forward and reach us to open our units. We are sure that day is not far," he said, adding "we want peace to return to the valley as soon as possible".

Dadichi said RSS does not believe in propaganda of its activities. We are already working in Kashmir with like-minded people but there are no shakhas as yet. Singh said national building work was being carried out through 277 shakhas, mostly in Jammu region.

"We have Shakhas in Ladakh as well and this year so far 666 youths have joined the organisation, he said.

The state in-charge of RSS said 723 activists received training in Sangh Shikhshan vergs (camps). Referring to the three-day Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS) at Nagpur, he said 18 RSS workers from Jammu and Kashmir attended the meet from March 9.

The meet unanimously passed a resolution to highlight the need to protect and promote Indian languages, he said, urging the state government, policy makers, NGOs and individuals to protect and promote local languages.'With this success (of access to water) the women are convinced that their rights go beyond law books -- and the law is indeed powerful.'

'The women are now not afraid to file a police complaint or file a case in court.'

Aditi Phadnis reports.

Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com

At dawn, bus number 969 leaves Sawda Ghevra packed with women.

All day they mop, swab, rinse, wipe, returning in the evening.

At least now, they don't have water on the mind.

"We used to fight for water like animals. Our pots would break, clumps of hair would be torn out, our clothes would rip as we pushed, jostled and hit each other just to get to the mouth of the water pipe of the tanker that would come once a day. I still dream of the day I can open a tap and take a bath under it," said Urmila, the leader of the Ladies of Sawda Ghevra.

When the Commonwealth Games of 2010 were being organised and Delhi was being prettified, slums were uprooted from upscale localities like Khan Market and Karkardooma and relocated close to the Haryana border in a place called Sawda Ghevra.

There was nothing there -- no sewer lines, no school, no community centre, not even any water.

For the first year, families lived under the stars in the middle of mustard fields, protected from the elements only by sheets of plastic and jute.

And there were lots of people -- more than 35,000 of them.

The year 2011 went by as a blur, just clawing to make ends meet.

But as Reshma, one of those who grew up in the slum, said: "You need basic things, right? Water? electricity? Roads?"

The Supreme Court ordered the government that those who had been evicted must be given a place to live. So they were given land pattas -- 12 or 18 square metres per family.

But there was still no water.

Tankers would come once a day -- if they came at all.

Market economies would take over: Men styled themselves as pani pradhan. The tanker would stop in front of the pani pradhan's home first.

It was an exhausting daily struggle.

First, wait for the tanker, then make sure you fill every pot you had because you didn't know when you would get water again.

It was the chance visit of an NGO called the Multiple Action Research Group that spurred action.

MARG, a group of legal activists, suggested to the ladies of Sawda Ghewra that they leverage the Right to Information Act to first find out what their water entitlement was and then petition the government to implement it.

As the women were unlettered, MARG helped them draft RTIs.

For 35,000 families, 80 tankers were supposed to visit every day.

The community kept a log. It was never more than 22 every day.

So they asked the Delhi Jal Board: How many tankers are we entitled to? How many do you dispatch? What time? Which location?

When the tankers did come, they would quiz the driver, gently, un-threateningly, oh so sweetly: "Will you come on Sunday? Why not? We need water on Sundays too, you know."

Gradually, the system got streamlined.

The government began to tell the contractors it needed only GPRS-equipped tankers: "There was just too much pressure from those women of Sawda Ghevra."

So many things happened to the women: They became leaders.

Not only did the tankers begin to come once a day at a given time, but the women also put their foot down on drug abuse (it is less, though still widespread) and community problems such as domestic violence.

Reshma was a child when she moved with her parents to Sawda Ghevra. Now 19, she works as a nurse in a private hospital.

"I filed three RTIs. And now I am going to file RTIs to make sure the government puts in a water line. We know the Constitution. It is our right to get water."

Canny to the last, the population of Sawda Ghevra says they know they are a vote bank.

"We talk to all political parties very politely. We assure them all that they will be our first choice. But we are clear: 'No pipeline, no vote'," says Urmila.

"With this success (of access to water) the women are convinced that their rights go beyond law books -- and the law is indeed powerful. The women are now not afraid to file a police complaint or file a case in court," says Noor Alam, programme manager at MARG.

"They don't cry or see themselves as victims or blame the government, but use the law to claim their rights."

The struggle now is to get a water line.

Shades of Oliver Twist?Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.Official warns against using Yemen as intl conflict field [17/March/2018] br>

SANAA, March 17 (Saba)  An official at Foreign Ministry warned that known international powers are trying to use Yemen as a field for proxy wars to create an international conflict, which is not in interest of the country or the Arab peninsula and Gulf states.



In a statement to Saba, the official said the statement of US Defence Secretary, Jim Mattis, on Thursday comes within this framework.



The official explained that the US military leadership tries to put its problems with Iran in a beforehand designed international framework accuses the Islamic Republic of Iran of using Yemeni territories, waters and borders a theater for testing its ballistic missiles and marine mines as well as financing and stirring up the war tacking place in the Yemeni territories since three years.



He pointed out that the aggressive war on Yemen started with an air attack launched by the coalition powers on March 26, 2015, across Yemeni territories under a weak pretext of reinstating a false legitimacy.



Commenting on Mattis remarks that Iran is testing its weapons in Yemen, the official reminded the US official that before he joined the Trump administration Pentagon and British Defense Ministry had begun testing their international-paned and mass destruction arms in Yemen since the first hours of the aggression, one of which was a massive destruction bomb dropped on Attan area of the capital Sanaa on April 20, 2015.



He said the remarks of Mttis were flagrant and come before the visit of Saudi crown prince, the leader of aggression on Yemen, to pave the way for further arms contracts and after a series of inciting statements by the US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, along with a show for what she alleged remnants of an Iranian missile fired towards Riyadh, in addition to the statement of US central forces commander few days before.



The official confirmed that those statements disagree with what the US administration publicly adopts that the solution in Yemen should not be military and that the peaceful path and negotiations is the right way to bring peace and stability to Yemen.



The official called for the US administration to stop adding fuel to the fire in the Arab Peninsula and Gulf through the statements of its political and military officials, which called for violence and war.



It is better for them to translate their remarks on peace to a reality and to send missions from US Congress and neutral human rights organizations to investigate humanitarian conditions and violations in Yemen, said the official.



He reiterated that the Supreme Political Council and the National Salvation Government will continue to push forward toward the political settlement options and sustained peace through negotiations gathering all concerned parties without preconditions.



The official called on the international community, parliamentary institutions and non-government organizations, including American, to pressure the countries feeding the conflict in Yemen to stop supplying arms and escalating the fight, to end their finance to extremist and terrorist groups, to pursue calming approach and to support peace efforts and settlement so as to maintain security and stability of Yemen, its people and the peoples of the region.



BA



SabaBy SA Commercial Prop News

MAS plc has concluded two major property transactions which will considerably extend its present portfolio of properties in Germany, Switzerland and the UK.

AltX-listed property group MAS plc has concluded two major property transactions which will considerably extend its present portfolio of properties in Germany, Switzerland and the UK.

Both acquisitions are in Scotland, the one in Glasgow, the other in Edinburgh, and both have been funded from the capital raised by MAS plc locally in the second half of the year, the company said on Tuesday.

The property in Glasgow is an A-class retail building located on one of the city's main boulevards in a prime retail area.

Acquired for GBP 5 million, the building produces a strong income stream from its single long-term tenant, HMV UK. Rental is guaranteed by HMV's parent company, EMI plc.

The second acquisition is through a 5.5 million investment in a South African consortium headed by Artisan Real Estate Investors which has acquired a 64 000 m2 site in Edinburgh's historic old town.

Amongst the other members of the consortium, backed by Sanlam, is the Atterbury property group.

A highly ambitious project of 300 million was originally planned for the site, known as Caltongate, but the previous owner, Mountgrange Capital, ran into financial difficulties and was placed under administration in 2009 before the project was able to take off.

In its acquisition of the site the consortium has the full backing of the City of Edinburgh. All previous mixed-use consents granted by the council remain valid.

Lukas Nakos, who heads up both MAS plc and Artisan, said: "The sheer size and scale of the site, lying as it does at the heart of one of the world's most historic city centres, offers us exceptional opportunities for a high-quality development that does justice to its unique and spectacular setting.

"We will be working in close partnership with the City of Edinburgh and local stakeholders to move forward quickly with development plans in 2012.

"Although a high-quality development, it will be less ambitious than originally conceived and will be well-attuned to the present economic climate," Nakos said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi (file photo) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said his government's initiatives aimed at creating awareness about latest technological developments in agriculture will double farm income by 2022. Modi, who will later address an agriculture fair 'Krishi Unnati Mela' at Pusa campus in Delhi, tweeted that its theme is aimed at doubling the farmers' income in the next four years.



He also announced that the "Krishi Karman" and "Deen Dayal Upadhya Krishi Vigyan Protsahan" awards would be conferred during the programme on Saturday.



He would also unveil a portal on organic farming and lay the foundation stone of 25 Krishi Vigyan Kendras.



In February, the Agriculture Ministry had organised a conference here to hold consultations with the stakeholders to find solution and ways for doubling the farm income by 2022.





Congress President Rahul Gandhi Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said the country, feeling tired under the Modi government, was seeking change in the 2019 general election and only his party can show the path forward. In his presidental remarks at the party's 84th Plenary in Delhi, Gandhi said the meeting was aimed at setting the future direction not only of the Congress but of the entire country.



Gandhi targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his governmnent, which will complete four years in office in May. He said the country was looking for a change in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.



He accused the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) of dividing the society and said that only Congress can heal the divisions.



"Today anger is being spread in the country, the country is being divided and people are being made to fight each other. But our work is to bring people together."



He said various sections, including youth and farmers, were feeling disenchanted under the BJP government.



"The crores of youth, who are feeling tired today, when they look towards Modi, they are unable to see a way forward.



"They do not know from where will they get employment, when will farmers get proper price for their crops. The country is in a way tired, is seeking a way out.



"And I say from my heart that only the Congress can show the path to the country," Gandhi said to cheers from the gathering.



"The aim of plenary is to show the path forward to the Congress and the country. It is talking of the future, it is talking of change."



The Congress President recalled contributions of leaders including his mother Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, Kartanataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram "in fighting the battle of the Congress" and "protecting its symbol".



The Congress chief talked of the need for a balance between youth and experience in the party.



"In our tradition, there is change but we do not forget the past. There is talk of youth but I want to say from this stage that youth will take the Congress forward but cannot move ahead without the experienced leaders. My task is to connect the youth and the seniors," he said.



Gandhi said his task was to show a new direction to the party.



"What is the difference between the Congress and our opposition. There is one big difference. They use anger. We use love, brotherhood. The country belongs to us all, is of every religion, every community and every citizen.



"And whatever the Congress does, it will do for every individual of the country and not leave any one behind," he said.



Referring to the Congress' symbol of hand, Gandhi said, "This is the symbol that can bring the country together, take it forward. And the power of this symbol is within you. The work of forging the unity will have to be done together by all of us and people of the country."



The plenary, being held after eight years, has definitive stamp of Gandhi. Unlike the past, leaders are not seated on the dias. Workers and young leaders have been given more opportunity to speak on the resolutions.



The meeting is being attended by AICC members from all over the country besides office-bearers.A .



Elaborate arrangements have been made for the plenary which will conclude on Sunday.







Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh (file photo) Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said no power in the world can take Kashmir away from India and if need be forces can cross border to protect the country's territorial integrity. "Kashmir is, was and will be ours always. No one can take it from us," Rajnath Singh said, addressing the CNN News18 Rising India Summit.



He praised the Indian Army for its valour to secure the country and warned Pakistan, saying "we not only secure India within but can also cross the border to protect the country, if needed. No one should take it otherwise."



He said India wanted good ties with Pakistan, provided it stopped aiding terrorists.



"Now the US is condemning Pakistan. I don't know what happened to Pakistan. We want good relations with Pakistan but it has refused to accept our offer of friendship.



"Pakistan is giving legitimacy to UN-designated terrorist Hafiz Saeed who is establishing a political party there and wants to contest in elections."



The Minister said the government was keen on finding a permanent solution to the Kashmir problem and was open to speak to anyone.



To resolve the Kashmir issue, Rajnath Singh said, the government-appointed interlocutor Dineshwar Sharma, a former Intelligence Bureau chief, is moving forward and has invited people from all sections for talks.



He said Kashmir's children were like his own and would not allow anyone brainwash them into radicalisation.



"I want to tell those who are trying to teach jihad to innocent Kashmiri youths that they should first learn the real concept of jihad in Islam."



The Minister said he had personally asked Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to ignore cases filed against the first-time stone-pelters.



Earlier in 2018, the Jammu and Kashmir government withdrew cases registered against 9,730 people involved in stone-pelting incidents, including first-time offenders.



"We have forgiven first-time stone-pelters. They might have been influenced by others. They are young. We need to give them a second chance," he said.



The Home Minister said the government never differentiated between the children in Kashmir and those in the other parts of the country.



On the issue of terrorism, he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has succeeded in getting global consensus and managed to bring the international community on board.



Rajnath Singh also highlighted the government's efforts in dealing with Maoists.



"The battle against Naxals can't be won through bullets. We are taking several developmental initiatives in this direction. We are trying to reach those areas which have remained unreachable since independence.



"Naxalism was a huge problem for India but in the last four years we have now achieved major success in that space."



The Congress on Saturday expressed its willingness to ally "with all like-minded parties" with a "pragmatic approach" to defeat the Narendra Modi government in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The political resolution, adopted at the party's plenary in Delhi, talked of evolving a common workable programme to defeat the Bharatiya Janta Party-Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in the next general elections.



The Congress spelled out its stance amid renewed efforts for opposition unity following the BJP's defeat in crucial Uttar Pradesh and Bihar Lok Sabha by-elections.



" Congress will adopt a pragmatic approach for cooperation with all like-minded parties and evolve a common workable programme to defeat the BJP-RSS in the 2019 elections," the resolution said.



The Bahujan Samaj Party had supported arch-rival Samajwadi Party candidates in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur and Phulpur seats. The SP-BSP front trounced the BJP in a shocking outcome amidst suggestions that opposition parties should put up joint candidates against the BJP-led NDA in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.



The resolution, however, remained silent on the leadership of the grouping of like-minded parties but emphasised on the role of "a resurgent Congress" in winning back the idea of India.



"The 84th Plenary of the Congress gives a clarion call to its rank and file to rise to the occasion to defend the foundational values of our republic and constitutional democracy.



"A resurgent Congress alone shall win back the idea of India as envisioned by the founding fathers of our nation."



The Congress had stitched an alliance to oust the first National Democratic Alliance government-led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2004.



The resolution said all sections have been "betrayed" by the BJP-led government and core constitutional values were under attack.



"Under the BJP regime, the people of India - farmers, khet mazdoors, workers in the unorganised sector, self-employed, manual labourers, Dalits, minorities, traders, unemployed youth and the poor have been betrayed.



"Today, our core constitutional values are under attack. Our freedoms are in jeopardy. Our Institutions are under stress and their independence compromised. Our Republic must be protected at all costs," it said.



The resolution said the Congress was prepared to make whatever sacrifices required to defend the ethos of the Constitution.



"We will purge the polity of the aberrations witnessed during the BJP regime, which has failed to honour its commitments to the people of India."



It said the Congress was proud of its illustrious history, legacy and remains the party that truly represents India - multi-cultural, multilingual and multi-religious.



" Congress Party is committed to serve people of India at a time when the country stands at a crossroad as it faces the threat posed by authoritarian, divisive and disruptive forces," it said.Senior hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani on Friday again rejected the fresh offer for talks by centre's special representative on sustained dialogue in Kashmir, Dineshwar Sharma.

A statement, issued by G.A. Gulzar, spokesman of the Geelani-led Hurriyat, said: "All Parties Hurriyat Conference chairman, Syed Ali Geelani has rejected talks offer with India by an IB (Intelligence Bureau) official and termed all these attempts as futile, saying it is nothing more than a tactic to buy time by New Delhi".

The spokesman disclosed that on Thursday night an IB official proposed a dialogue between New Delhi and Geelani, but the latter refused to talk, unless and until the Kashmir dispute is addressed in its historical perspective. He had also asked India to acknowledge the disputed status of Kashmir and begin demilitarization to hold a referendum.

Sharma had said on Thursday that his mandate for talks included everyone including the Kashmiri separatist leaders.The Ministry of Women Community and Social Development (M.W.C.S.D.) and the Samoa One UN Youth Employment Programme have teamed up to help Teen Challenge Samoa.

This week, they presented $5,000 worth of assets and resources to the programme. The presentation was held at the Apia Harvest Centre Church compound at Togafuafua where Teen Challenge is based.

The equipment is for enterprise ventures in the food service industry providing youth with basic skills for employment in the hospitality sector or start of their own business.

Teen Challenge is a partner of the Ministry of Women, Community and Social Development working to support youth in Samoa.

Formed in 2017, Teen Challenge has provided Youth Building Peace trainings and workshops for out of school youth and college youth to discuss topics such as school fights, bullying, and the different types of assaults, focusing on ways to help minimise youth having issues with the law.

Unemployment has been identified as a contributing factor to youth being involved in criminal activity and thus is a focus of M.W.C.S.D. and Teen Challenge.

Teen Challenge assists out of school youths in an employment transitional social enterprise to provide and support employment practices in terms of work ethics, customer services and financial literacy as a means of assisting youth transitioning into permanent employment or entrepreneurship.

The project funded and supported by the M.W.C.S.D. and the Samoa One UN Youth Employment Programme aims to decrease unemployment and eventually reduce youths involvement in criminal activities contributing to establishing a safer Samoa.

During the hand over, Assistant Pastor of Apia Harvest Centre Church and Assistant Chairman of the Teen Challenge Board, Faamatuainu Amosa Pouoa pointed out that up to 40 per cent of the 180 youth who attend the programme are unemployed.

The need for employment and proper training to engage these young people will alleviate their situations and some of the underlying causes of issues affecting their morale and characters, Ps. Faamatuainu said.

The initiative has received wide support from the business community and churches in the town area and will be properly acknowledged.

Nanai Sovala Agaiava, A.C.E.O. for Economic Development at the Ministry of Women Community and Social Development said: These assets and resources will serve to provide youth with new skills and opportunities for their future.

Ps. Faamatuainu and Eric Poe, Director of the Samoa Teen Challenge, acknowledged the support by the M.W.C.S.D. and the Samoa One UN Family.Life is good in Samoa for Ashley Richardson.

Ashley was reading a book by the Taumeasina Island Resort poolside and just soaking in the sun when the Dear Tourist met her.

Its her first time in Samoa.

After spending five days in Samoa, and doing two tours around the islands, Ashley promised that she will be back again.

But first she has got to make some money when she returns home today.

She is originally from New Zealand and she travelled to Samoa with a friend.

As a first timer, she has become one of Samoas biggest fans, with tours around Savaii and Upolu leaving her in awe.

Speaking to the Dear Tourist team, she shares that it was a mind blowing experience and they have created many fun memories here in Samoa.

Samoa has left them wanting more. Ashley says they went to Savaii and they loved it.

From swimming with the turtles, the beaches, different historical sites, and the Samoan people, all a relaxing experience for her.

She said the simple way of life portrayed by almost every Samoan she has met is an experience she will take with her home.

Its nothing like New Zealand and I love that, she said.

Ms. Richardson got a slice of heaven with the beauty of Samoa.A delegation from a number of top Australian universities was in Samoa this week. They were here for the first Australia Future Unlimited Education Roadshow held at Taumeasina Island Resort.

The delegation was made up of representatives from Australian National University, Central Queensland University, Victoria University, Deakin University, Griffith College, University of Tasmania, The University of Sydney, University of South Australia and the Australian Institute of Business and Technology.

The Roadshow commenced with open sessions for College students.

There were also one-on-one sessions with post-graduate and mature students where Samoans interested in pursuing further studies in Australia were given the opportunity to speak to each of the university representatives individually.

The representatives also met with members of private sector organisations in a session that was jointly organised by the Australian High Commission and the Samoa Chamber of Commerce.

This was an opportunity to link the universities with the private sector to discuss any opportunities for members to study in Australia.

Following this, they met with Post School Education and Training (P.S.E.T.) providers during a session that was organised by the Samoa Qualifications Authority to discuss opportunities for collaboration and engagement between the providers and tertiary institutions in Australia.Dear Editor,

Re: Samoa Airways need to be innovative

Kono, the errors in managing the new S.A. are so obvious to the public.

We dont need really the Airlines C.E.O. or even the Government to explain much to us, but their secrecy and silence is silly.

Why not operate a 757 for example which can be configured with 220 seats?

The lease rates are much lower than the 737-800 they have now, and the seats can be sold in a low cost carrier style?

Lowering the seat price massively and stimulating the market to/from Samoa?

This business model is working all over the planet except in odd places like Samoa.

Forget Business class, its a waste of time.

Lastly, why cant the C.E.O. of Samoa Airways actually respond to some of our concerns and say something?

Is this forbidden?

Or is there some kind of fear factor at work here?

This is quite abnormal business practice.

John M.D.Adding extra to the ordinary is Theresa Finau, a solo entrepreneur from Malololelei.

Ms. Finau is the owner of TEPA i TUA Samoa, a business she had started in 2014 that makes fashionable necklaces out of the seeds of the lopa tree.

TEPA i TUA Samoa means Looking Back in History, which is in line with the companys slogan Back to the Roots.

With that in mind, she focuses on traditional Samoan arts and crafts from the past and fast tracks it into todays fashion houses, creating elegant and exotic traditional jewelry.

According to Ms. Finau, it is important that Samoans embrace their culture and identity, hence the name of her business.

For Ms. Finau, using lopa seeds to make ulas was already in her bloodline. Her late grandmother, Lise Sapina Finau, used to create ulas using lopa seeds for the Vineula dance group of Apia when Ms. Finau was only three years old.

And now, Ms. Finau is living her grandmothers legacy, with demands for her ulas reaching markets in Alaska and California in the United States, Hawaii, American Samoa, Australia and New Zealand.

About TEPA i TUA Samoa:

It was just an ordinary day in Savaii, when Ms. Finau had noticed children playing and eating the lopa seeds.

Out of curiosity and her desire to make something of the seeds, she had asked one of the ladies if she could buy the four sacks of lopa that she had in her house for $200 tala.

I had brought back the seeds and I thought to myself, maybe I could make the ula out of these seeds, Ms. Finau told Samoa Observer.

It took me six months to try and make the ula out of the four sacks because the seeds were really hard and I did not have the machine to make the holes in the seeds.

It was my first time trying to make something like that. As time went by, I managed to do it and then I started selling the ulas.

It was exhausting but an invaluable trial and error experience learning how to tangle and assemble the lopa seeds into something special.

Its hard work though and it requires a lot of sacrifice. For earrings and just a simple ula, it would take one to two hours, but for very exotic ones, it would take a day or two.

I need to wash the seeds, make them shiny and sort them out according to their sizes before drilling the holes in the seeds and then I look at finishing the product.

My nieces and nephews help me with making the ulas. They normally do everything else before it comes to me for the finishing part of the ula.

Challenges

Ms. Finau over the years has had to deal with copycats.

According to her, along the streets of Apia, people are selling ulas at a very cheap price, but they are not the genuine product.

What I do most of the time is to try and take away these products from the streets by buying them and storing them away, she said.

At first, the problem was trying to get the right equipment and machines to make the ula, but over the years I have learned to make do with what I have.

Ms. Finau nowadays collects lopa seeds from around Upolu and Savaii.

From the $200 tala spent on the four sacks of lopa seeds, her business has grown, with her earnings from the past four years invested in the business.

Ms. Finau also has a Facebook page, TEPA i TUA Samoa, which is popular among her followers.

She is thankful to God for the grace and the talent to make something beautiful out of the lopa seeds.Its been a remarkable week for Prime Minister Tuilaepa Dr. Sailele Malielegaoi. Being the mother hen when it comes to the Governments newest baby called Samoa Airways, the Prime Minister has not held back, letting rip at anything and everything that comes across as a threat.

And what is that threat?

Well, we think its that nagging thing called the truth. It appears that despite the Governments best efforts to conceal it in terms of the airlines performance thus far, the reality about what is going on is leaking like a sieve so that no matter what the Government says, the picture is not flattering at all.

As far as accountability, transparency and good governance goes, there is a simple solution to it all. All Prime Minister Tuilaepa needs to do is tell the country the truth.

Yes nothing but the truth.

The truth will not only set them free, it will also turn anger away. And when people understand, they are able to help.

The fact is no one expects Samoa Airways to be making a profit right away.

Anyone who knows anything about business will tell you that.

But from what is leaking from Tuilaepas administration, the numbers are worrying and this is why we have been demanding that they be transparent about it. Its better to do it now and get it fixed than allowing a sore to fester into a full-blown scab. The history of failed Polynesian Airlines is there to remind us what could happen if the government is not alert.

We dont need to tell you anymore.

Prime Minister Tuilaepa obviously doesnt want any of it. Last week, he referred to people question the airlines operation as stupid.

In fact, he was particularly scathing of the Editor of this newspaper, hurling across some wonderful names.

Tuilaepa reminded that Samoa Airways is still a baby. He said critics who say the airline is already running at a loss are misinformed.

This great airline of Samoa has only started in four months and the Samoa Observer writes a stupid headline based on ignorance, he said, adding that the Airline is going through the same phase the stupid editor went through when he was a baby.

When he was just born, he rolled on his stomach, after sucking his big toes, the same toes that began to grow later, then he walked and then run.

Remarkable, isnt it?

Coming from the leader of this country, such class and taste?

By the way, we dont mind being called stupid. We are used to it.

Besides, weve been called idiots, fools, kids, stinking pigs and all sorts of other unflattering names. Over the years you develop such thick skin you dont really care.

Now youd think after Prime Minister Tuilaepa said all that to ridicule and discredit our work that he would stop there? Nope.

Today on the front page of your newspaper, he is back again. Take another look.

This time, Tuilaepa has claimed that almost all the news in our papers are not real news.

Told during the interview that the Samoa Observer was only doing what it is supposed to do  to disseminate news for the public to know whats going on in any branch of government, Tuilaepa snapped.

That golden rule of freedom of speech you implied has been abused thousand times over by the so-called Free Press in Samoa, he said.

There is no such thing as absolute freedom of speech, and our Courts have already addressed that frequently misunderstood term.

According to the Prime Minister when the press decides to exercise the freedom of speech doctrine, it has to use extreme caution to ensure that the article does not impinge on somebody elses reputation, or else face the consequences.

Hold on a second here. The issue in question is Samoa Airways.

It is a government-owned Airline which means the public are entitled to know what is going on there. This is not about Prime Minister Tuilaepa and anyone else in government for that matter. This is about ringing the alarm bells so that the ugly mistakes of the past are not repeated. Nobody wants that.

Besides, the government doesnt just belong to Tuilaepa and his administration. It belongs to you, me and everyone paying taxes in this country.

Lastly, the Prime Minister went on to say that these days almost all the news in our papers are opinionated. They are not real news.

Funny that because as far as we are concerned, Prime Minister Tuilaepas photo and what he has to say about everything and anything  including the work of the government - are on the pages of this newspaper seven days a week, more than 300 days a year. Is that fake news?

Have a restful Sunday Samoa, God bless!Nurses and midwives are calling on the Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, to maintain the Nursing and Midwifery division under the Ministry of Health (M.O.H.) and National Health Services (N.H.S.) merge structure.

The call is revealed in a petition signed by the nurses of Samoa.

A copy of the petition has been leaked to the Sunday Samoan.

The petition calls for the Division of Nursing and Midwifery to be kept under a nurse appointed at the Deputy Director General level in the proposed structure of the new health care merge.

The petition is dated 6 March 2018.

The Sunday Samoan understands that as of yesterday afternoon, more than 50 signatures are on the petition.

We, the undersigned nurses serving in the national health care system of our country and supporters of the principles, we propose, appeal to you, beseeching and seeking your support as Prime Minister, as well as the support of our Government, for continued recognition and acknowledgement of the leadership function and role of nurses in the national health care system of our country, the petition reads.

We ask that our leadership function and role be maintained by retaining the Division of Nursing and Midwifery led by a nurse appointed at the Deputy Director General level in the proposed structure of the new health care entity that the M.O.H. and N.H.S. are being merged into.

According to the petition, the Interim Committee, tasked with establishing an entity that merges the N.H.S. and the M.O.H. through policy direction and providing health care services for our country, have proposed a management structure that divests any leadership role for nursing and midwifery as well as the Nursing and Midwifery Division.

Nursing and midwifery personnel constitute the largest single group of health care professionals in the health care system and are responsible for delivering the bulk of services required and demanded in the health of our people.

However, we have not been properly consulted and have been given minimal opportunity to contribute to the proposed structure of the merger.

The importance of the function and role of nursing and midwifery in our countrys health care system has been highlighted by the continued existence of a Nursing and Midwifery Division operating nationally and headed, prior to 1969, by the Nursing Superintendent, then by a Director of Nursing from 1981, then by an A.C.E.O. of Nursing and Midwifery Services in 2004 and in 2006 the positions were titled Manager Nursing and Midwifery Services.

The World Health Organisation acknowledges and declares that to strengthen and improve the delivery of national health care requires the development and strengthening of the contribution of nurses, especially their involvement and capacity to lead and influence policy development, planning and strengthening of the health care system.

The petition further says the nursing and midwifery personnel in Samoas national health care system fully supports Governments initiative to reform, improve the effective and efficient delivery of national health care to its entire people.

It further reiterates that in pursuing these objectives, it is vital to obtain the leadership, support and contribution of nursing and midwifery personnel.

Enclosed for your information and consideration to further support our humble petition are:

(a) The position paper by the Nursing and Midwifery personnel serving in our national health care institutions that support the Nursing and Midwifery Division being kept and led by a Nurse under the new entity and management structure;

(b) The structural proposal for the Nursing and Midwifery Division with its Deputy Director Nurse leader encompassed into the structural proposal from the Interim Committee  i) the structural proposal for Nursing in Savaii, ii) the structural proposal for Nursing in Upolu iii) the structural proposal for Nursing at the Tupua Tamasese Meaole Hospital and iv) the structural proposal for Nursing at the Regulation and Policy M.O.H.;

(c) The proposed functional structure and job description for the Management Nursing Positions in the new structure; and

(d) The budgetary proposal for the proposed and vacant positions in the new structure.

Petition explains: The nurses and midwifery believe these proposals will assist the Government, the new entity and all who will operate under it to deliver effective and efficient health care services for our people which are the paramount objective of us nurses, our Government and all health care professionals in this restricting initiative.

Others copied on the petition are Minister of Health, Tuitama Dr. Leao Tuitama, Director General for the Ministry of Health, Leausa Dr. Take Naseri, N.H.S. General Manager, Palanitina Tupuimatagi Toelupe, Attorney General, Lemalu Hermann Retzlaff, Minister of Finance, Sili Epa Tuioti, Minister of Public Enterprises, Lautafi Selafi Purcell and C.E.O's, Lavea Iulai Lavea and Elita Tooala.During an interview with the Savali Newspaper last week, Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, apparently made known his view that the news being published in Samoas newspapers today, are not real news.

A copy of the entire interview says:

Question: PM, the Samoa Observer newspaper highlighted its general views on Samoa Airways (SA) operations which you are reported to have disputed. Can you clarify further the points of contention?

P.M.: To re-fly our own national airline requires farsighted vision and courage to support this major investment by government which will contribute positively to our tourism industry, the biggest foreign exchange earner and contributor to the employment for the youths of Samoa. Tourism will continue to be the mainstay of our economy today and into the future. This Airline therefore needs all the support of every Samoan at heart with action, mind and soul. To ridicule and to nick pick at this early stage of the SA is uncalled for at this particular point of development of the Airline when management and staff need all the encouragement they deserve. The negative and often destructive views expressed do not help to promote the Airline established with the sole goal of serving our people well  people who are 200% Samoans at heart and reflected through their actions and spoken words.

Question: But the Observer is only doing what it is supposed to do  To disseminate News for the public to know whats going on in any branch of government.

P.M.: That golden rule of freedom of speech you implied has been abused thousand times over by the so-called Free Press in Samoa. There is no such thing as absolute freedom of speech, and our Courts have already addressed that frequently misunderstood term. When the press decides to exercise the freedom of speech doctrine, it has to use extreme caution to ensure that the article does not impinge on somebody elses reputation, or else face the consequences. These days almost all the news in our papers are opinionated. They are not real news. I have now directed legal counsel to pursue to the end at whatever cost legal action against the numerous baseless allegations in the Face book from faceless people who are murderous of characters hiding behind false names whose identity are well-known and who are all parties to their murderous intent in the social media.

Question: You spoke in an earlier interview with the media that there is a difference between real and unreal profits and annual reporting of the Samoa Airways. What did you mean exactly?

P.M.: You now sound more like the Editor of the Observer. The exact correct terms I used were Real and Estimated Profits of any organisation like the United Nations, World Bank, etc., or any business, big or small like Air New Zealand or Simis Barbecue (SB) during our Flag Raising Day. The only time that a Real or Actual Profit of any kind of business is known for sure is when it is wound up  that is, the business is closed. Then the owner counts the actual moneys it earns, take away the costs and the resulting profit or loss is real. It is true. It is a fact. If Simi therefore spends $200 for all the purchases made and the cash collected at the end of the day when his business winds up is $300, the actual profit is therefore $100  pure and simple.

But if a business is expected to operate beyond one day like Air New Zealand, the Observer Newspaper, The Savali, The Playboy  or those huge organisations like the UN, ADB, World Bank and all governments of the world, these organisations are therefore assumed to have eternal existence (the continuity Doctrine). But they need to be periodically reviewed to assess where they are heading  downward? or upward? Hence the necessity to fix a universally agreed period of 12 months for regular reviews by the owners, the Directors, etc., for a possible change of direction to improve further and for the governments to get their share of the profit through taxes to pay for public goods and services provided for the use of the public. (This is referred to technically as the Period Convention). And the period now adopted throughout the World is 12 months variously described as the Financial Year of a business or a Fiscal Year for governments.

Question: Excuse me P.M., I am getting very confused. Do you mean this is why 12 months is taken as an artificial period to review the business whether it is making a profit because a business may go on and on for thousands of years before it closes and no one is alive at the time it closes to know the real profit?

P.M.: Now you sound normal again. The 12 months period is universally accepted by all the businesses in any part of the globe. Why? It is now written into Law in all countries to enable governments of the world get their taxes paid for services and goods enjoyed by the people in general  like roads, etc., etc., etc. Of course, many businesses try to evade their responsibilities. Presently in Samoa, a small number of our holy people have tried to use all kinds of very strange arguments to evade their tax contribution ignoring that Jesus, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, who is God Himself honestly paid His taxes without arguing that His only income came from donation (Alofa and Taulaga) from the wealthy Romans and Jews who believed Him  to be the Promised Son of God. He never disputed that His only income came from incomes of the Romans and Jews who had paid taxes on them.

Question: So this is where Real Profits and Imagined Profits of business come in?

P.M.: You are from the Savali Newspaper arent you? Its not imagined, its estimated, reasonably calculated and estimated and not very far out  from actual profit! You see, even some costs incurred by businesses and organisations are also estimated  like the depreciation cost of Fixed Assets  Proof. Some assets like vehicles are written off in the books after many years of use but are still being used when they are supposed to be in the Rubbish Dump  The reason for the write off. So when some editors are running around and publicly tell everyone the SA is kaput, when it is four months old, thats a lot of hog wash. There are still 8 months remaining before its 12 months of operation is completed. Then its accounts for its financial year of 12 months are drawn up and audited to find out the true and fair view of SAs financial state of affairs. But Management Practice requires weekly or monthly reports for its own management purposes.

Question: So the lesson to learn is to wait for 12 months to get proper Audited Accounts of SA to pass any judgment on its performance?

P.M.: That is right and also pray and support this great national Airline which will continue on till Kingdom come.Fero Samoa is diversifying its range of manufacturing capabilities and attracting more business for its Samoan branch.

The wire harness producers, based in Vaitele, are now manufacturing ute-lids for the New Zealand company, Pro-Form.

The company specialises in automotive accessories which are delivered to automotive companies throughout the world.

General Manager for Fero Samoa, Sam Fulton told the Sunday Samoan that their Samoa branch has been on track and they have been able to increase their staff to 75 since they began in November last year.

Were bringing on a lot of new business at the moment. Were picking up lots of different things which are what we planned to do. Having a facility here means that all sorts for opportunities are coming up, he said.

Were getting shipments out to sea freight. We have been spending a lot on airfreight getting things backwards and forwards quickly, but now were getting more into a routine so we are now sending it out on sea freight and getting some big volumes going.

Mr. Fulton said his staff members have received additional skills training to meet the requirements of their new customer.

Weve currently got guys from New Zealand out here who are teaching our team how to do automotive painting, he said.

They are just raving about how enthusiastic the team is and how they want to get into it and learn. Weve got a great team and everyone is showing that Samoan employees are good to have.

The General Manager for Pro-Form, Philip Butler, was in Samoa for a brief visit to see the facilities and the progress of their order.

Mr. Butler spoke with the Sunday Samoa about why they chose Fero to manufacturer their design.

Innovation is a massive thing for Pro-form, its high on our agenda so thats why we ended up with Fero, we designed a new way to do a lid, said Mr. Butler.

We removed a lot of known issues in the current market and it gave a lot of added functionality. Fero partnered with us very well and it was a very good fit because they had all the electrical knowledge and we had all the mechanical and automotive knowledge.

Mr. Butler said he was confident their design would be executed in a world-class facility with highly skilled technicians.

Ive been to a lot of places and the hard part is getting the culture right. A lot of times there is a good process but the culture might not be right. Here its a blank canvas for Fero, but the foundation was there, the culture of lean quality was already a mindset, so all youve got to do is add your processes to that. You can see that in its early stages.

Mr. Fulton said acquiring customers such as Pro-Form is in line with their vision to diversify their business in Samoa and become a one stop shop, which will attract more business from overseas.

Once were established, wed like to be ambassadors to manufacturing in Samoa and bring other New Zealand and potentially Australian businesses and introduce them to the benefits of working up here, said Mr. Fulton.

The first step with that is to bring some of our customers up here and show them what we are going to be doing.

Also what Phils business allows us to do is to diversify a bit too because its not just wire looms that we are doing, its the whole finished product. From start to finish were not just adding a part to it, were making the whole thing.

Fero recently opened an Australian office and employed two former Yazaki workers to build the business in Australia.Over the course of his storied career, Chick Corea has recorded nearly a hundred albums as a band leader and many others as a co-leader and accompanist. The jazz-and-beyond legends musical partners have included such varied artists as Miles Davis, Foo Fighters, Chaka Khan, Spanish flamenco guitar giant Paco de Lucia, Brazilian bossa nova king Antonio Carlos Jobim, Cat Stevens, classical piano star Lang Lang, and more.

But Coreas current national concert trek with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra represents two notable firsts for this 22-time Grammy Award winner. Its this pioneering keyboardists first U.S. concert trek with a big band and his first leading the ensemble in place of JALC trumpeter and founder Wynton Marsalis.

Ill be fronting the band for Wynton. Hes taking some time off and doing some writing. He probably just needs a break  the guys a hard worker. So it should be fun. I enjoy working with the band, said Corea, who performs in San Diego on Saturday, March 24, with the JALC Orchestra as part of the San Diego Symphonys Jazz@The Jacobs concert series.

Fronting for Wynton? Really? How is Coreas trumpet-playing?

Advertisement

Ha, ha! That would be a hoot, he replied, adding: I have no intention of taking Wyntons role. Ill just lead the band, from the piano, in terms of choosing the set list. Theyll play a lot of my tunes that the guys in the band have arranged beautifully. Ill say (to the audience): Hello. This is the band. Here we go! The band doesnt need a leader.

Corea counts such big-band greats as Lionel Hampton and Maynard Ferguson among his past recording partners, although his lone album with Hampton, 1999s Live in Cannes, was with a small group. And some of Coreas classic compositions  including Spain, La Fiesta and 500 Miles High  have long been staples in the repertoires of big bands around the world.

But apart from his one big band album with Ferguson and another with saxophonist Joe Henderson, even devoted jazz fans are hard-pressed to cite examples of Corea recording with a big band, let alone touring with one.

Its pretty unusual, the veteran keyboardist acknowledged.

I havent done a lot of work with big bands. I used to love subbing for Roland Hanna in the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, back in the 1960s in New York. That was a blast! Ive enjoyed watching big bands. I love Duke Ellingtons band  its like a deep well in that music, a lifetime of music. And I used to listen to Count Basies band, growing up.

Chick Coreas tour with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, which includes a March 24 stop in San DIego, is part of his first-ever U.S. tour with a big band. (Photo by Frank Stewart )

From New York to Norway, and back

In fact, Corea did record a big band album in 2000, although its unlikely too many people outside of Norway have heard Chick Corea and The Trondheim Jazz Orchestra  Live In Molde.

Were about to do another recording and Ill play three nights with them later this year in Trondheim and Stavanger, Corea said.

Advertisement

That band is a blast because of the leader, Erlend Skomsvoll, who is a composer and arranger. He didnt just arrange my songs for a big band, he re-imagined them. He made it so they sound like his compositions with my music. Its pretty interesting. But that and JALC are my only big-band things Ive done in this century.

Before launching his groundbreaking fusion band Return To Forever in 1972, Corea had distinguished himself playing with Davis, Mongo Santamaria, Herbie Mann, Sarah Vaughan, Stan Getz and other jazz luminaries.

When he celebrated his 75th birthday in late 2016 at the Blue Note jazz club in New York, Corea did so by doing an eight-week residency that saw him lead no fewer than 15 different bands. His 70th birthday celebration, which also took place over weeks at the Blue Note with an array of different bands, resulted in last years CD box set, Chick Corea: The Musician.

Yet, no matter the stylistic setting, his creative impulse for making music over the decades has remained constant.

Advertisement

Thats something that never changes  and you could more use the word eras more than decades  but that creative impulse never changes, Corea noted.

Everything else changes: record companies, technology, communication systems. So much change occurs, in styles and everything else. But that basic impulse to create never does. And thats the spirit of creation that everyone has.

Thats what I think of when you say impulse, because the impulse is to create  then you sit down and figure it out. Theres another level of creation, where you have to figure out how to get your creation communicated within the current culture, and thats a constantly changing thing.

Chick Corea performs at the 11th annual Producers & Engineers Wing Grammy Awards Week event honoring Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys at New Yorks Rainbow Room on Jan. 25, 2018 (Photo by Mike Pont/Getty Images for NARAS )

Advertisement

Saying more with less in a big band

Coreas prior performances with the JALC Orchestra took place in 2010, 2011 and 2013 in New York. He is delighted to again be performing new arrangements of his music with this first-class big band. The repertoire for this tour draws from nearly two dozen of his compositions, including Tones for Joans Bones, Windows, Crystal Silence, Armandos Rhumba, Wigwam and two pieces from his 1984 album, Childrens Songs, that have been re-arranged and expanded by JALC leader Marsalis.

But Corea also realizes that  as the pianist in a 16-piece ensemble  he can say more with less. Much less.

I have the essential rhythm section up there with me and we play in the groove. There are some physical differences, because of the way the band is set up, so the rhythm section may not be in the same spot on stage that Im used to with my trio. But, musically, everything is the same, Corea noted.

As far as pianists playing in a big band, my two role models are Duke Ellington and Count Basie. The way they used their piano was just beautiful. I mean, Basie didnt play a lot, except when he had a solo. He understood the fact that a piano cannot be heard when the whole brass section is playing.

Advertisement

So you dont play at those times. Why play? Why pound away when the whole band is playing? Basie would hang back. And, when a space opened up and he felt he could add something, he would. Duke was brilliant that way, too.

Coreas music, even for small groups, is rich with melodic and harmonic detail. The rhythmic ingenuity of his music is especially appealing.

His use of arresting time signatures and cross-rhythms can be traced in part to the fact Corea took up the drums at the age of eight, four years after he began playing piano. His highly percussive touch, whether on a grand piano or a high-tech digital keyboard synthesizer, has long been one of his trademarks.

And, like few other jazz artists, Coreas playing on the Fender Rhodes electric piano is so distinctive and quintessential that his name is synonymous with the instrument. He began playing it in the late 1960s, after replacing Herbie Hancock as the pianist in the fabled Miles Davis Quintet. But Corea did not embrace the Rhodes, at least not at first.

Advertisement

The concept of retirement is pretty said in itself, says Chick Corea, who has numerous music projects coming up this year on at least two continents. (Photo courtesy of Concord Records )

Miles beyond

The first time I played electric piano was on Miles 1968 album, Filles de Kilimanjaro, Corea recalled in a 1987 Union-Tribune interview. I still played acoustic piano at concerts we did after that album (came out) until a concert we did at the Jazz Workshop in Boston. I walked on stage, and there was a Fender Rhodes. I thought Miles wanted me to play it just on the two pieces we used it for on the record, but he had me play it all night. I felt really crushed. `What is he trying to do to me?

I actually battled with the instrument every night. It went out of tune very easily. It took me a while to realize that, while it looked just like a piano, it was a completely different instrument. When I realized that, I rolled up my sleeves and tackled the task at hand very positively.

Intriguingly, in a recent Union-Tribune interview, Hancock recounted a very similar experience.

Advertisement

It was almost exactly the same thing for me, Hancock said. I walked in the studio one day and I didnt see an acoustic piano. I asked Miles: What do you want me to play? He pointed to the corner of the room, and said: Play that. Id heard of the Fender Rhodes, but never heard one. And all the musicians I knew said: Oh, theyre cheap toys and are not cool.

But then I played a chord on it  and it sounded pretty! I said: Oh, thats a nice sound and it doesnt threaten the acoustic piano. So, right away, I changed my attitude. And I learned not to come to some conclusion based off somebody elses experience. You find out for yourself.

Corea, who has done multiple recordings and tours with Hancock, laughed when told of his fellow keyboardists first Fender Rhodes encounter.

Thats interesting. Me and Herbie have never talked about that, Corea said. But thats just the way Miles was. He wasnt about to ask his piano players for permission to have them play another instrument. So, boom, there it was! All of the synergies going on in Miles bands during that period were really exciting to me.

Advertisement

Much like Davis, Coreas many bands over the years have nurtured the talents of young musicians who went on to become stars in their own right. Some of those players have continued to collaborate him. His audiences, meanwhile, now span multiple generations.

It seems to be that way, yeah, Corea agreed. There are high school-aged musicians and younger at my concerts. Parents bring their 5- or 8-year-old kids, who play keyboards, to see the show.

It really is nice to see all ages and they all understand music from their own viewpoints. The younger ones may never have heard of Duke or Miles. The older ones dont know who (hip-hop producer) Swizz Beatz is or some of the pop and hip-hop guys. But they are all there for the music.

So is Corea, who on Jan. 19 released his latest album, Chinese Butterfly. Its a collaboration with drum legend Steve Gadd, who was the first drummer in Return To Forever in the early 1970s. Gadd subsequently performed on a number of Coreas albums including 1976s The Leprechaun, 1981s Three Quartets and 2006s Super Trio.

Advertisement

On April 5, hell kick off a three-day series of Corea Plays Monk concerts at Jazz at Lincoln Centers Rose Theater in New York. Joining him for these performances  part of a series of Thelonious Monk tributes  will be Wynton Marsalis and the JALC Orchestra.

After a solo tour of Europe in April and May, Corea will return to Europe in July for a reunion tour with the Chick Corea Akoustic Band, which he formed in the mid-1980s with bassist John Patitucci and drummer Dave Weckl. A new recording and concert film will follow.

From Aug. 31 to Sept. 3, Corea will be the artist-in-residence at the Detroit Jazz Festival, where hell perform with the Akoustic Band, his five-man Elektric Band, a sextet featuring members of his Origin band and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. In the fall, hell write a new version of George Gershwins Rhapsody in Blue, a piece he first performed last fall at Carnegie Hall with Lang Lang and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

I work hard and I love it. Its what life is all about, Corea said. I cant wait to get to the next new thing. The concept of retirement is pretty sad in itself. Because life is about living. Retire? Does that mean to take a long vacation? I dont know what it means.

Advertisement

The San Diego Symphony presents the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Chick Corea

When: 8 p.m. Saturday, March 24

Where: Jacobs Music Centers Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., downtown

Tickets: $30-$75

Phone: (619) 235-0804

Advertisement

Online: sandiegosymphony.org

Advertisement

george.varga@sduniontribune.com

Twitter @georgevargaBaskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery, Ken Ludwigs bonkers comic adaptation of a Sir Arthur Conan Doyle detective classic, premiered at San Diegos Old Globe Theatre in 2015.

Now the piece about the famous sleuths pursuit of a phantom pooch returns to town in a new production at Scripps Ranch Theatre.

Charles Peters directs Robin Thompson, Michael Lundy, Russell Clements, Bob Himlin and Michelle Marie Trester in the zippy, quick-change comedy.

Most of those cast members play multiple characters  and sometimes nearly two at once.

Advertisement

Ludwig is perhaps best-known for Lend Me a Tenor, the farce whose 1989 Broadway production earned nine Tony Award nominations. In all, his works have landed on Broadway six times, counting the 2010 revival of Tenor.

The playwright was back at the Globe just last summer with another comic take on a classic: Robin Hood!

SRTs Baskerville opens next week and runs through April 22.

Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery

When: Opens March 23. 8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays. Through April 22.

Where: Scripps Ranch Theatre at the Legler Benbough Theatre, 9783 Avenue of Nations (on the campus of Alliant International University), Scripps Ranch.

Tickets: $18-$34; discounts available.

Phone: (858) 578-7728

Online: scrippsranchtheatre.org.

Advertisement

Advertisement

jim.hebert@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @jimhebertMarch 17, 1979 The San Diego Union

The San Diego Union-Tribune will mark its 150th anniversary in 2018 by presenting a significant front page from the archives each day throughout the year.

Saturday, March 17, 1970

In 1979 U.S. government plans to replace a portion of what was then a total of 27 miles of fencing along the nearly 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border, met with sharp opposition. Construction of the new fence, dubbed the "tortilla curtain" and "Carter's Curtain" by detractors, began in June, 1979, and was limited in length and lacked the razor wire of early proposals.

Here are the first few paragraphs of the story:

Border Fence Plans Appear Doomed

By Michael D. Lopez, Staff Writer, The San Diego Union

Plans for building a new border fence aimed at stemming the flow of Mexican illegal aliens into San Diego and El Paso, Texas, areas apparently have been scrapped, Rep. Lionel Van Deerlin, D-San Diego, said yesterday.

The proposed 10-foot high metal fence, including a six-mile stretch planned for San Ysidro from the border checkpoint to the sea, and another six-mile length in downtown El Paso, was scheduled for installation by this summer, despite a growing chorus of outrage in both Mexican political circles and among Mexican-Americans.

Van Deerling said yesterday that opposition to the fence has mad it a political liability that the U.S. cannot afford while attempting delicate moves toward reaching a better understanding between the two countries.

"It looks as though the fence will not be built," the congressman said. "Justice (Department) wants it, but the involvement of the State Department and the White House indicates that it will not be built."

Van Deerling said a Justice Department spokesman told him an announcement would be made concerning the fence around April 15. He said the announcement would be made jointly in Washington, and in Mexico City.

"It's most unlikely that Mexico City would be joining in the announcement if we were going ahead with the fence," Van Deerlin said.

In Washington, spokesmen at the State Department and the White House declined to comment, and referred queries to the Justice Department.

At the Justice Department, spokesman John Russell said any comments on plans for the fence had to come from the White House, indicating the decision to build  or comments on plans for the fence had to come from the White House, indicating the decision to build  or scrap  the fence had become a matter for the President.

One White House source said that no final decision actually has been reached, but added that talk among administration insiders is "almost totally opposed to erecting what many feel will only be a symbol of American arrogance toward Mexicans when we obviously have a need to better our relations with them as rapidly as possible."

Construction of the fence was delayed twice since it was announced five months ago.

The first delay, shortly after it was disclosed that the fence would be built, came after engineers for Anchor Post Co., the contractor, said that the fence would be razor sharp to discourage climbers.

Construction was delayed again just days before President Carter left last month for summit meetings with Mexican President Jose Lopez Portillo, who in Mexico City expressed annoyance with American plans to beef up the existing, rundown fences along the border and take a tougher stance against illegal immigration.

Lopez Portillo's dissatisfaction with American immigration policies cast a pall on crucial discussions between the two leaders about American hopes to purchase newly discovered Mexican oil.

View anniversary front pages online at sandiegouniontribune.com/150-years. For more from the Union-Tribune digital archives, go to newslibrary.com/sites/sdub. Searching is free, with registration. A fee is required to view full stories.Neha Chandra, 26, literally held her future in her hands.

Like her 108 peers, the UC San Diego medical student clutched a white envelope holding a single-page note, revealing where she would spend her residency. At precisely 9:15 a.m. Friday, all 109 were instructed to rip open those envelopes.

Most obeyed in a flash. Chandra, though, received other instructions.

Wait! Wait! she heard, as four family members manuevered for cell-phone snaps of the big reveal.

Advertisement

Cheers and tears

This scene played out Friday morning on the La Jolla campus  and at medical schools across the country. Known as Match Day, this has been a nail-biting rite of passage for would-be American doctors since the 1950s.

Everybody who graduates from a medical school in the United States remembers this day. You will, too, said Dr. Maria Savoia, dean of medical education, whose 1976 Match Day sent her from Harvard to UC San Diego. You are now about to get a ticket to the next phase of your life.

At 9:15 a.m., the envelopes were torn open and

Derek Lee, 25, read Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. The San Diego native instantly called his father, Dr. Chia-Chun Lee, a physician in Taiwan.

Michael Heffner, the 31-year-old class president, read Stanford. He was thrilled, but his 8-week-old daughter, Willow, was close to tears.

Shes hungry, explained Rachel Heffner, Mikes delighted wife and Willows attentive mom.

As for Chandra, cell phones flashed as she announced, UCLA! Whoo!

Match Day culminates years of study and months of suspense. Last September, these students applied to residency programs. A month later, invitations to interview started to trickle in. In February, each student submitted a list of favored residencies, in order of preference.

Advertisement

Since 1997, those lists have been weighed and the subsequent matches made by a computer guided by a marvel of statistical beauty. For his work co-creating The Matchs algorithm, Alvin Roth shared the 2012 Nobel prize for economics.

This year, the Washington, D.C.-based National Resident Matching Program processed 37,103 applicants.

1 / 13 UC San Diego Medical School student Lorenzo Gonzalez who will be a family medicine doctor, surrounded by family, finds out that hell be going to the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance to do his residency, during the annual Match Day event where future doctors at medical schools around the country open envelopes at about the same time and find out where they will go. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 2 / 13 Ali Sondossi, left, hugs his girlfriend, Marie Lutz, right, a UC San Diego Medical School student who will be an emergency room doctor, embrace after she found out that she will be going to the University of California San Francisco Fresno Center for Medical Education and Research to do her residency, during the annual Match Day event where future doctors at medical schools around the country open envelopes at about the same time and find out where they will go. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 3 / 13 UC San Diego 3rd year medical medical school student Ali Altar, center, congratulates his friends, Kimmy and Michael during the annual Match Day event where future doctors at medical schools around the country open envelopes at about the same time and find out where they will go to do their residencies. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 4 / 13 UC San Diego Medical School student Abdul Hassan, second from left, who will be a surgeon and going to the UC Davis Medical Center to do his residency, hugs fellow student, Dan Spinosa, second from right, who will be going to Duke to do his in obstetrics and gynecology. They found out their destinations during the annual Match Day when medical school students around the country found out at about the same time where they will go. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 5 / 13 1st year UC San Diego Medical School student Betial Asmerom, right, congratulates 4th year student Nicole Tantoco, left, who will be going to the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center to do her residency. She along with 108 other 4th year medical students opened envelopes during the annual Match Day event. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 6 / 13 UC San Diego Medical School student Jagannath Nayak who will be a psychiatrist, takes a picture of the envelope with the location hell do his residency, before the annual Match Day event began. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 7 / 13 4th year UC San Diego Medical students, family and friends listen to short speeches from faculty before the highlight of Match Day when the students open envelopes and find out where they go to do their residency training. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 8 / 13 Kim Remington, left, and her boyfriend, UC San Diego Medical School student Alex Chang, right, who will be a psychiatrist and going to Boston University Medical Center to do his residency are all smiles during the annual Match Day event where future doctors at medical schools around the country open envelopes at about the same time and find out where they will go. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 9 / 13 4th year UC San Diego Medical School students get ready to open envelopes with their names during the annual Match Day event where future doctors at medical schools around the country all at about the same time find out where they will go to do their residencies. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 10 / 13 109 envelopes, each with the name of a 4th year UC San Diego Medical School student on the front are laid out on a table during the annual Match Day event where the destination each future doctor is tucked inside. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 11 / 13 UC San Diego Medical School student Arvin Wali, who will be a neurosurgeon, surrounded by family, holds the letter letting him know that hell stay in San Diego and go to the UC San Diego Medical Center to complete his residency, during the annual Match Day event where future doctors at medical schools around the country open envelopes at about the same time and find out where they will go. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 12 / 13 UC San Diego Medical School student Jordan Stone who will be a obstetrics and gynecology doctor, places a pin in a map of The United States at the Northwestern University Medical Center where he will do his residency. Each student found out where they will go when they opened envelopes during the annual Match Day event. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 13 / 13 109 envelopes, each with the name of a 4th year UC San Diego Medical School student on the front are laid out on a table during the annual Match Day event where the destination each future doctor is tucked inside. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune)

Human factors

While machines crunch data, the future residents perform their own calculations, weighing human factors like location  raised in Texas by a single mother, 33-year-old Nadine Patton was keen to pursue child neurology in the Lone Star state  and romance.

Advertisement

Before opening her envelope, Susan Seav declined to share her hopes: Dont want to jinx it.

Seav, 28, and her husband of 10 months  Lt. (j.g.) George Hageman, a Navy lawyer stationed in San Diego  knew they could handle the strains of a long-distance marriage. Sweethearts from their undergraduate days at Harvard, they had already been apart five of their seven years as a couple.

If she was matched elsewhere? I would go, Seav said.

Growing up, Seav learned commitment and hard work. When her father died, Seavs mother raised six children while coping with her own health issues. In medical school, Seav was active on campus  she volunteered at a student-run free clinic  and off, traveling to Peru to treat patients who had little access to medical care.

Advertisement

Still, she later admitted, Seav had her heart set on remaining home with her husband, launching a residency at UC San Diego.

And thats exactly where she was matched. Im staying here! she told a friend. It was my top choice and Im staying!

While the 109 graduates were matched to programs in 20 states, from Massachusetts and Georgia to Oregon and Utah, 18 were matched in San Diego County. The majority, 70, will enter residencies in California.

More than hour before receiving their envelopes, students began arriving at a ballroom-sized classroom on the La Jolla campus. Pastries, fruit and coffee were ready for those with jitter-free stomachs. Stuffed animals, coloring books and crayons were set out for the dozen or so toddlers trailing student parents.

Advertisement

What a weird, weird thing, said Rachael Marshall, a management consultant from San Francisco.

Marshall stood in the center of the crowded room with student Will Watkins, his parents and grandmother. Marshall and Watkins were high school sweethearts. Now, she wondered if his next move would require her to hunt for a new job in a new city.

Which Marshall would do. This is such a big opportunity, she said.

Still, she marveled: How that one envelope changes the next several years and those after.

Advertisement

For doctors and their loved ones, Match Day does not determine their final destination. Depending on a doctors specialty, a residency can last three to seven years. That can be followed by research or medical practices in yet another location.

But its a big step, and each unopened envelope holds an answered prayer or a dashed dream. Watkins opened his: Stanford.

Im so excited! he said. Its such a relief!

A prestigious posting, and a convenient one. By landing a residency in Palo Alto, Watkins had ensured that his sweetheart wouldnt have to relocate.

Advertisement

Just what the doctor in training ordered.Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers working out of the San Diego field office arrested 115 unauthorized immigrants over a large, three-day operation that ended Thursday, officials said.

Though the field office covers both San Diego and Imperial counties, all but seven of the arrests were in San Diego County. Though arrests happened in cities across the county, many were concentrated in North County, according to Greg Archambeault, field officer director for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations in San Diego.

Officers from other parts of the country came to San Diego to help locate and arrest a targeted list of people who had criminal convictions or had been arrested on criminal charges, had been ordered deported by an immigration judge or had returned to the U.S. after being deported, Archambeault said.

Operations like this reflect the vital work ERO officers do every day to protect the nation, uphold public safety and protect the integrity of our immigration laws and border controls, Archambeault said. We will continue to conduct similar operations, while seeking to ultimately deport at-large criminal targets and other immigration fugitives who pose a threat to public safety.

Advertisement

Though reports of large-scale arrests have surfaced to much political controversy since President Donald Trump took office, this is the first such operation that the San Diego field office has publicized during his administration.

Weve done it under different administrations, Archambeault explained. Its nothing new doing a large-scale operation, but we havent had one here for some time.

It was coincidental that the operation started on the day of the presidents visit to San Diego, he said.

The majority of those arrested were from Mexico, and other arrests included citizens of Honduras, Guatemala, the Czech Republic, Kazakhstan and Peru.

Forty-three percent of those arrested had criminal convictions.

The agency highlighted several arrests, including a 43-year-old man from Mexico who lived in Oceanside and was a member of Center Street Locos gang. He had four prior deportations and multiple criminal convictions, including grand theft, controlled substance for sale and a DUI, officials said.

Officers also arrested a 55-year-old man from Kazakhstan who was wanted in his home country for alleged tax evasion and embezzlement. Interpol issued a Red Notice for the man in September.

People from Mexico who have already been ordered deported are generally taken quickly to the border after theyre arrested by immigration officials. Officers have to get travel documents for citizens of other countries who have been ordered deported before they can be removed.

Advertisement

Archambeault said officers try to start that process before making a targeted arrest.

People who have not yet been ordered deported will see an immigration judge to determine what happens to them.

Four of those arrested will be prosecuted in federal court on illegal reentry charges.

A lot of these folks, weve been looking for them for a long time, Archambeault said.

Advertisement

Though ICE officers can also arrest green card holders who have been convicted of crimes or otherwise violated their visas, Archambeault said that all of the arrests this week were of unauthorized immigrants.

When officers planned the operation, they made a list of more than 400 targets, Archambeault said. He said finding 115 people over a period of three days is a success.

He emphasized that the operation was part of routine ICE work.

Its just another day in the life of an ICE officer, Archambeault said. Its the job. Its what we do. Its what the mission is.

Advertisement

We dont conduct raids and sweeps, he added.

Local ICE officers will continue to look for those who were not found this week through daily enforcement work, he said.

Not everyone arrested was on the target list, he said. Some of those arrested were collateral arrests, meaning they happened to be at one of the places where officers went looking for a target.

The agency did not have information on the number of collateral arrests.

Advertisement

While the vast majorities of cities in America do cooperate with ICE, state laws in California force ICE to focus additional resources to conduct at-large arrests in the community, putting officers, the general public and aliens at greater risk and increase the incidents of collateral arrests, ICE said in a statement announcing the arrests.

The Trump administration recently sued the state of California over Senate Bill 54, which took effect in January and limits what local law enforcement can communicate to federal immigration officers.

Archambeault said his field office has had and continues to have a good relationship with local law enforcement in San Diego. The new law, he said, has created a challenge for his officers, who no longer know when certain people they want to arrest are being released from county jail because the sheriffs office is not allowed to tell them.

Its going to take more time and ultimately more money to pick someone up, Archambeault said.

Advertisement

Archambeault anticipated that the agency would continue to use large-scale operations from time to time but did not know how far into the future that might be.

Advertisement

Immigration Videos On Now New developments in family separation case 9:53 On Now A San Diego woman volunteered as a medic in Texas helping migrant families 2:35 On Now Immigration policy protests in Carlsbad nearly cancelled after permit issue 1:38 On Now When children are separated from their parents at the border, here is where they go next On Now Prospects of a deal for 'Dreamers' may hinge on separating Trump from hard-liners on his staff On Now What is DACA? On Now Border wall prototype contractors selected On Now Video: Ukrainian boxer wins asylum in U.S. On Now 30 apprehended after Border Patrol agents discover tunnel On Now Video: Kurdish diaspora prepare to vote on independence

Follow me on Facebook for live updates about immigration news

kate.morrissey@sduniontribune.com, @bgirledukate on TwitterA Congolese mother has been reunited with her 7-year-old daughter months after they crossed the California-Mexico border seeking asylum and were separated by the U.S. government, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer said Saturday.

The daughter had been placed in a Chicago facility while the mother was held in San Diego, about 2,000 miles away, after they entered the U.S. in November and turned themselves in to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers. The mother was released from detention earlier this month.

Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU Immigrants Rights Project, said the woman was allowed to travel to Chicago from San Diego on Tuesday, after a DNA test requested by the government confirmed she was the girls mother. He says the daughter was released late Friday and brought to a Chicago shelter where she and her mother will be staying.

They were hugging each other and sobbing, Gelernt said. It was just incredibly emotional.

Advertisement

The woman is at the center of an ACLU lawsuit accusing the government of unlawfully separating immigrant families. Gelernt says the ACLU continues to pursue the lawsuit on behalf of other parents, many of whom are facing the same trauma as the Congolese mother and daughter.

A hearing in the case is scheduled next month in San Diego.

The ACLU says President Donald Trumps administration is targeting families seeking asylum under U.S. law. While no formal policy has been announced to hold adult asylum seekers separately from their children, top administration officials have said the system is overwhelmed by people making false asylum claims.

A 1997 settlement in a long-running lawsuit over treatment of immigrant children requires the U.S. government to release the children from custody when possible or otherwise hold them in the least restrictive setting available.

The Trump administration has called for ending the settlement as part of changes its seeking to immigration laws.

The woman reunited with her daughter Friday is from a village in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and speaks little English. According to the ACLU lawsuit, she passed the initial screening to determine whether she had a credible fear of returning to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The ACLU has withheld the identities of the woman and child citing potential danger if they are denied asylum and returned to Congo.

Advertisement

kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @kristinadavisTwo days before a pedestrian bridge collapsed onto a busy roadway at Florida International University, an engineer working on the project called the Florida Department of Transportation to say he had observed cracking on the span, the department said late Friday. It was not immediately clear whether cracking contributed to the collapse, which killed at least six people and injured nine others.

The call came in to a landline phone at the department and went unanswered because the employee assigned to the phone had been out of the office on assignment, the department said. It released a transcript of a voicemail the engineer had left.

Hey Tom, this is Denney Pate with FIGG bridge engineers, the voicemail said. Calling to, uh, share with you some information about the FIU pedestrian bridge and some cracking thats been observed on the north end of the span, the pylon end of that span we moved this weekend. Um, so, uh, weve taken a look at it and, uh, obviously some repairs or whatever will have to be done but from a safety perspective we dont see that theres any issue there so were not concerned about it from that perspective although obviously the cracking is not good and somethings going to have to be, you know, done to repair that.

At a news conference Friday night, officials from the National Transportation Safety Board said they could not yet say whether cracking contributed to the collapse, the Associated Press reported. They also said workers were trying to strengthen a diagonal member on the bridge when it collapsed.

Advertisement

(Los Angeles Times )

Both the NTSB and the Miami-Dade Police Department have launched investigations into the tragedy.

Right now, we just want to find out what occurred, what caused this collapse to occur, said Miami-Dade Police Department director Juan J. Perez at a news conference earlier Friday. Were gonna have to start from the beginning, from contract, all the way to the end, when the incident happened.

Miami-Dade County Deputy Mayor Maurice Kemp added that no survivors were thought to remain in the rubble, which crushed at least eight vehicles like soda cans, and that emergency efforts had switched to recovering the remaining victims bodies.

We want to ensure that this type of accident doesnt happen again locally or anywhere in this country, Kemp said.

The tragedy focused attention on a relatively new and novel form of bridge construction.

In 2010, a group of bridge engineering experts met at Florida International University in Miami to push an idea: Infrastructure around America was crumbling, and the nation needed new bridges. A lot of them.

But bridges often took a long time to build, leading to clogged traffic, irritated commuters and more workers working in dangerous areas where they could get hit by cars.

Advertisement

So the experts created an academic center to advance a technique called Accelerated Bridge C onstruction, in which bridges are built off-site and, when ready, moved to their final locations in one piece, with disruption lasting days or less.

That seemingly marvelous process unfolded at FIU this month, as officials installed the 174-foot, 950-ton pedestrian bridge over a weekend. On Thursday afternoon, the bridge, which had not yet been opened, collapsed onto passing traffic below.

More than 100 bridges around the U.S. have been installed using the new construction technique, according to FIUs Accelerated Bridge Construction University Transportation Center, which the engineers founded in 2010.

One of the most recent projects to use Accelerated Bridge Construction was the new Sacramento Wash Crossing on historic Route 66, along Arizonas western border, about 270 miles east of Los Angeles.

Advertisement

The road was closed for three and a half days to install the bridge last year. Officials estimated that traditional techniques would have lasted three months.

Saiid Saiidi, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Nevada-Reno, said that there was nothing wrong inherently with bridges built using Accelerated Bridge Construction techniques and that the chances of collapse are no greater compared with traditional methods.

(Los Angeles Times )

The internal connections and the way you put them together are the same, Saiidi said, though he said the new methods can be more challenging. You have to build them right, you have to design them right, so if anything, ABC bridges require a lot more care and the work is more carefully done.

Advertisement

The $14.2 million bridge at FIU was designed by FIGG Bridge Engineers Inc., and built by MCM Construction with help from funding from a U.S. Department of Transportation TIGER grant, or Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant.

This is an unprecedented event, FIGG said in a statement. No other bridge designed by FIGG Bridge Engineers has ever experienced such a collapse.

FIGG was chosen to design the new Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis after the previous bridge, which had been built in the 1970s, collapsed in 2007, killing 13 people.

In a statement, MCM, the contractor, said it was fully cooperating with the NTSBs investigation and that it was just heartbroken for the victims. We have been in business for more than 35 years, and safety has always been our number one priority, the company said.

Advertisement

The FIU-Sweetwater UniversityCity Bridge was initially built alongside Southwest 8th Street, an eight-lane thoroughfare, starting in spring 2017. Then, on March 10  a Saturday  the bridge was lifted from its supports, rotated 90 degrees, and then placed over 8th Street.

University officials initially hailed the process in a statement, saying the method of construction reduces potential risks to workers, commuters and pedestrians and minimizes traffic interruptions.

FIU is about building bridges and student safety. This project accomplishes our mission beautifully, FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg said in a statement. We are filled with pride and satisfaction at seeing this engineering feat come to life and connect our campus to the surrounding community where thousands of our students live.

The bridge was expected to open in early 2019 after further modifications.

Advertisement

After the collapse, Rosenberg filmed a video response promising a thorough investigation into the tragic accident, saying, Its exactly the opposite of what we had intended, and we want to express our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of those who have been affected.

(Los Angeles Times )

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) tweeted that the cables that suspend the #Miami bridge had loosened & the engineering firm ordered that they be tightened. They were being tightened when it collapsed today. Rubio did not offer further details, and neither FIGG nor MCM firms immediately responded to queries about the senators claim.

The director of FIUs Accelerated Bridge Construction University Transportation Center, Atorod Azizinamini, who was quoted in the universitys news release initially praising the bridge, did not response to a request for an interview.

Advertisement

An FIU spokeswoman instead responded and directed The Times to an outside expert, declining to comment further.

matt.pearce@latimes.com

Matt Pearce is a national reporter for The Times. Follow him on Twitter at @mattdpearce.

More national headlines

Advertisement

UPDATES:

7:10 p.m.: This article was updated with a report of a phone call about cracking on the bridge.

This article was originally posted at 4:10 p.m.County supervisor candidate Lori Saldana has received the support of the San Diego Working Families Council, an organization led by labor leader Mickey Kasparian.

The council is a coalition of labor groups including the Amalgamated Transit Union, Teamsters and Kasparians United Food and Commercial Workers union.

Kasparian has been controversial, as he was accused recently by two women of sexual misconduct. The cases settled out of court, with the outcome unknown.

Saldana was an early critic of Kasparian when the allegations surfaced, signing a letter with 45 other liberal activists in January 2017 calling on him to be suspended from his union. She tweeted about Kasparian in January of this year.

Advertisement

I have no plans to accept a contribution, an endorsement or other types of campaign support from UFCW 135 or the Working Families Council while Mickey Kasparian is president, she wrote on Twitter.

Saldana, a former Assemblywoman, is seeking to replace Supervisor Ron Roberts, who cannot seek re-election because of term limits. Also running are attorney Omar Passons, former Deputy Fire Chief Ken Malbrough, former District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis and former Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher.

On Thursday, the San Diego Working Families Council announced that Saldana and other candidates who had courted the group and had received its endorsement.

SDWFC endorses candidates who have demonstrated that the interests of working families are a top priority for them, Dale Kelly Bankhead, the councils secretary-treasurer, said on Facebook. That is certainly the case for Lori Saldana, who, unlike any of her competitors, has a solid record of voting to support working people.

The council did not say what type of support it would provide. Kasparian did not return an email seeking comment.

Saldana said by phone on Friday that, when she wrote her January tweet, she did not believe that the council would be offering endorsements.

I said, literally in a tweet, that I had no plans...I had no plans to ask for it because they had no plans to offer, she said.

She said she was concerned about the allegations against Kasparian and has not changed her position.

Advertisement

Ive been consistent, Ive asked for process, Ive asked for investigations, she said.

Kasparian has been under scrutiny since late 2016 when a woman filed a lawsuit saying she was pressured into an ongoing sexual relationship with Kasparian while he was her boss at Local 135. Another who sued in December 2017 said he pinned her to the couch in his office and said she felt like she was being raped.

Kasparian denied their allegations.

Saldana would not say on Friday whether she believed the women who accused Kasparian of misconduct and then settled their complaints.

Advertisement

Thursdays endorsement prompted Fletcher, one of her opponents, to accuse her of locking arms with someone she once criticized. Fletcher described it as a stunning display of shameless political opportunism.

Passons said he could not accept an endorsement from one of Kasparians organizations while still upholding his own values.

Values matter most when sticking to them comes at a cost, he said by email.

Dumanis campaign did not return a request for comment.

Advertisement

Campaign finance reports show that as of the end of last year Saldana had raised $14,833 in the race, putting her behind all other candidates, including Passons and Malbrough, two Democrats who are running their first campaigns.

Advertisement

Twitter: @jptstewart

joshua.stewart@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1841Law enforcement investigators are seeking the publics help in finding a man who reportedly sexually assaulted a woman in his car this week in Hillcrest.

At about 11 p.m. Wednesday, a woman left a business on University Avenue in the Hillcrest area and approached a car that was waiting in the roadway.

Believing it was the ride she requested, the woman entered the vehicle and it drove away. A short time later, the male driver of the vehicle sexually assaulted the victim.

The victim was released and police were called.

Advertisement

San Diego Police Departments Sex Crimes Unit Division detectives are searching for additional witnesses and evidence.

The victim described the suspect as a Latino man, about 40 with a receding hair line and a mustache. The car was described as a dark four-door sedan.

Anyone with information about the suspect should call SDPDs Sex Crimes Unit, Detective J. Margolis at (619) 531-2939 or the Crime Stoppers anonymous tip line at (888) 580-8477.

Crime Stoppers is offering up to a $1,000 reward to anyone with information that leads to an arrest in this case.

Visit the Crime Stoppers website for more information on how to send anonymous web and mobile app tips.

Advertisement

Homeless Playlist  On Now San Diego hepatitis outbreak continues to grow: 481 cases On Now Homeless entrenched in booming tent city along Santa Ana River On Now San Diego mayor agreed to homeless hub, then delayed, advocates say On Now Homeless outreach in San Diego On Now Video: Street Art: Portraits of San Diego's Homeless #8 On Now In poverty himself, 'Water Man Dave,' is the fearless saint of San Diego's homeless 5:41 On Now Video: Homeless living in cars find safe havens 2:21 On Now Street Art: Portraits of San Diego's Homeless #7 On Now Pitching a tent plan for San Diego's homeless On Now Homeless efforts get $80M boost for various services

gary.warth@sduniontribune.com

Advertisement

Twitter: @GaryWarthUT

760-529-4939A Mesa College student said she was sexually assaulted by a male student on campus Friday afternoon.

According to an alert issued by the San Diego Community College District, college police received a report about the assault at about 1:30 p.m.

The male student reportedly walked with the female student from the SB building to the grassy area outside the Learning Resource Center, then attempted to pin her down and place his hand down her pants and under her shirt.

The female student was able to push the suspect away and leave the area, according to the alert. The male student was last seen walking toward the I-400 building, and an initial search of the area did not locate him.

Advertisement

The male student was described as Latino, about 21 years old, 5 foot 11 inches with short black hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a black pullover sweater, blue jeans and a black backpack.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the San Diego Community College District Police Department at (619) 531-2000 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-TIPS.

Homeless Playlist  On Now San Diego hepatitis outbreak continues to grow: 481 cases On Now Homeless entrenched in booming tent city along Santa Ana River On Now San Diego mayor agreed to homeless hub, then delayed, advocates say On Now Homeless outreach in San Diego On Now Video: Street Art: Portraits of San Diego's Homeless #8 On Now In poverty himself, 'Water Man Dave,' is the fearless saint of San Diego's homeless 5:41 On Now Video: Homeless living in cars find safe havens 2:21 On Now Street Art: Portraits of San Diego's Homeless #7 On Now Pitching a tent plan for San Diego's homeless On Now Homeless efforts get $80M boost for various services

gary.warth@sduniontribune.com

Advertisement

Twitter: @GaryWarthUT

760-529-4939San Diego police arrested a man on suspicion of stabbing another man six times in Pacific Beach on Friday.

According to a police report, a 30-year-old victim had met two men on the trolley in Old Town.

The trio later went into a Pacific Beach alley near Thomas Avenue and Dawes Street for an unknown reason around 3:30 p.m. The victim reportedly was in a carport when he was stabbed six times in the back by one of the men while the third man was in the alley, according to the report.

The two men ran away, and the victim was transported to a hospital with non life-threatening injuries.

Advertisement

Later, police officers who had responded to a report of a fight at Thomas and Mission Boulevard determined one of the men in the fight was a suspect in the stabbing. They arrested the suspect, 18.

Homeless Playlist  On Now San Diego hepatitis outbreak continues to grow: 481 cases On Now Homeless entrenched in booming tent city along Santa Ana River On Now San Diego mayor agreed to homeless hub, then delayed, advocates say On Now Homeless outreach in San Diego On Now Video: Street Art: Portraits of San Diego's Homeless #8 On Now In poverty himself, 'Water Man Dave,' is the fearless saint of San Diego's homeless 5:41 On Now Video: Homeless living in cars find safe havens 2:21 On Now Street Art: Portraits of San Diego's Homeless #7 On Now Pitching a tent plan for San Diego's homeless On Now Homeless efforts get $80M boost for various services

gary.warth@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @GaryWarthUT

Advertisement

760-529-4939Lemon Grove Councilman Matt Mendoza is absolutely right: City officials need to investigate an apparent bloody altercation overnight on July 14 between Councilman David Arambula and San Diego businessman Christopher Williams, who hopes to open at least two marijuana dispensaries in Arambulas city. The details are ugly. Neither man denies that a fight occurred at Arambulas home, and each blames the other for instigating it. A photo provided by Williams makes it look like he suffered a savage beating, and he may target Arambula with a federal civil rights lawsuit. If Williams can prove the men met that night to discuss city business, as he claims, Lemon Grove might be at legal risk. A further complication: Mayor Racquel Vasquez was at Arambulas home for at least part of the night.

If the city wants to protect itself, an investigation is an obvious first step. But whatever that probe establishes, it is inconceivable that Arambula didnt disclose this matter before Williams complaint to the city made it public. If Vasquez knew of the fight but also kept quiet, thats also unacceptable.

Twitter: @sdutIdeas

Facebook: San Diego Union-Tribune Ideas & OpinionCalifornias most consequential public policy problem is a lack of housing. This shortage has driven the cost of shelter so high that homelessness has exploded and middle-income and poor families are forced to live paycheck to paycheck. In many urban areas, its common for well-educated, relatively well-paid young professionals to share housing with several roommates, as if they were still college kids scraping by. The statistic that best indicates the breadth of the problem is the Census Bureau finding that the Golden State  not Mississippi or West Virginia  has the highest effective poverty rate in the United States.

This fact is what makes two recent local stories so troubling. The first  by Phillip Molnar of The San Diego Union-Tribune  cited a 4 percent decline in residential building permits issued by San Diego County and local cities in 2017 compared with 2016, according to the Real Estate Research Council of Southern California . The number of permits for new housing units fell from 9, 972 to 9,580. The 2016 number was itself down slightly from the 9,975 permits issued in 2015.

The second  by Lisa Halverstadt of Voice of San Diego  detailed the hostile reception local leaders gave a state official at a recent meeting of the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) after he detailed expectations for new housing construction included in new state laws. Final estimates are still being crafted, but Voice of San Diego reported the states initial expectation was that the county would have to add more than 170,000 units from 2021 to 2028  more than 21,000 units a year.

Ben Metcalf, director of the states Department of Housing and Community Development Department, got such an earful that Poway Mayor Steve Vaus quipped that rowdy talk show host Jerry Springer should be at the next SANDAG meeting. Santee Mayor John Minto called the housing requirements totalitarian and said the state Legislature was indifferent to what Santee residents want. San Marcos Mayor Jim Desmond knocked any assumption that there were simple answers to the housing shortage and noted that voters werent as fond of new housing as state officials and lawmakers seemed to think. San Diego Councilwoman Lorie Zapf and Carlsbad Mayor Matt Hall said the state should have made the California Environmental Quality Act less onerous before imposing new mandates. And Zapf joined Coronado Mayor Richard Bailey in questioning the Legislature acting to spur affordable housing while requiring projects that seek expedited approvals to pay union-level wages.

Advertisement

Zapf and Bailey in particular make a powerful point. That provision in Senate Bill 35 is intellectually incoherent, as The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board wrote last year, and illustrates why the Legislature inspires such cynicism: Even as they address a pressing state problem, lawmakers include a payoff for construction workers.

Our view is that this is a new era for housing in California. Instead of grousing over state housing requirements, heres what local officials should do: Use the rules to get buy-in for making tough decisions that NIMBYs may no longer be able to block. Politicians who do so may face political blowback, but their critics will have to explain how they would respond to state demands. And if the pols handle their housing obligations with aplomb, then history  if not their constituents  will judge them well.

Twitter: @sdutIdeas

Facebook: San Diego Union-Tribune Ideas & OpinionABC 10News Wednesday scoop about the San Diego Police Department was deeply troubling. It featured an interview with an anonymous police officer who shared an internal email sent by an unnamed sergeant in which officers were told of a point system that would provide rewards for drug arrests in a voluntary program in SDPDs Southern Division, which includes mostly Latino, mostly border communities such as Egger Highlands, Nestor, Otay Mesa, San Ysidro and Tijuana River Valley.

On Thursday, San Diego Police Chief David Nisleit told 10News hed ordered an internal investigation into the email. In a Friday news conference, Nisleit said his department disavowed the email as soon as a senior official became aware of it a day after it was sent. He also said the program was never implemented and that there were no evidence arrests were made by officers influenced by the email.

There is some murkiness here. Its not clear why Nisleit is confident the email didnt affect any officers behavior, given that his internal investigation has just begun. The officer interviewed by 10News said the program plainly had taken effect. San Diego Police Department spokesman Lt. Brent Williams initial response to 10News on Wednesday that stated everything was done correctly in this instance also appears misleading at best.

The investigation should look at these issues and go beyond why the email was sent in the first place. Especially given that a 2016 independent analysis found evidence of racial bias in searches and questioning of blacks and Latinos after San Diego police traffic stops, San Diegans need reassurances that this was the rogue action Nisleit depicted.

Advertisement

Twitter: @sdutIdeas

Facebook: San Diego Union-Tribune Ideas & OpinionWalkout flouted the rules of democracy

Re Dont use students as pawns in gun debate (March 13): While watching the nationwide student walkout, I had the feeling I was watching the disintegration of democracy in America. It seems we are teaching our children that creating chaos is the preferable way to express yourself and that even a minority can effect change if it makes enough noise.

What I have seen over the last couple of years is a disturbing trend where our citizens (and now children) want to act like they are in a Third World country where leaders are chased out of the country and constitutions are rewritten every 10 to 15 years.

What happened to teaching social studies? I learned that if I didnt like the way our leaders were doing things that I could vote or help get someone else elected to do the job. Educators should stop using children to carry their message and stirring up trouble. Teach our children how to properly effect change in a democracy.

Advertisement

Tom Fairfax

Rancho Penasquitos

Kids are the ones leading the movement

I would contend that most reasonable people know that the rash of mass shootings is most often the result of too many guns getting into the wrong hands. You cant shoot someone without a gun and other countries with the same cultures of violence (minus the NRA) and same levels of mental health problems dont have the mass shootings that we have here.

To suggest that the schools are pushing the students to protest is condescending. Those kids in Parkland went through a transformational experience and have been able to express their fears, outrage and frustration in a way that has changed the conversation, turned the heat up and threatens the stranglehold on the extreme policies insisted on by the NRA and its sycophantic government representatives who are recipients of their large donations.

The idea that these students arent open-minded, critical thinkers is ludicrous and disingenuous. Remember, you cant learn the three Rs plus tech if you are shot dead.

Harvey Rempel

Advertisement

Scripps Ranch

Another cause these students might support

I was initially perplexed that teachers sent hordes of students from their classes to march somewhere in support of a movement to control firearms. I changed my thinking, however, when friends informed me that such measures as raising the age limit to own a gun from 18 to 21 would save many lives, notwithstanding the fact that many 18-year-old kids, especially in the center of the country, use them for hunting.

With all that in mind, I would like to suggest another measure that would, like restricting firearms, save many lives.

Advertisement

Lets raise the age for drivers licenses from 18 to 21. Im sure the throngs that left their schools to bray about the well-being of their schoolmates with all those guns around would see the wisdom of such a measure and return again to the streets, leaving their instructors to the luxury of the faculty lounge.

Charles Thompson

La Mesa

The students fight is really just beginning

Advertisement

As a 72-year-old Vietnam War protester from the 1960s, I would like to congratulate and give encouragement to the students who are participating in anti-gun demonstrations. Please dont think this is the end of anything, however. Its important to remember that those in power have much to gain from maintaining the status quo.

Students are up against a very politically powerful gun manufacturers lobby and the politicians they have bought and paid for. Eventually, in the 1960s, we were able to end an illegal war, force two presidents from office and imprison nearly an entire corrupt administration. They have the support of many people, so they should hang in there.

They will have to persevere. It will take time, but their goals are definitely attainable.

James M. Edwards

Advertisement

La Mesa

Letters and commentary policy

The U-T welcomes and encourages community dialogue on important public matters. Please visit this page for more details on our letters and commentaries policy. You can email letters@sduniontribune.com or leave a comment below.

Follow @UTLetters on Twitter and UTOpinion on Facebook.Re San Diego used out-of-town workers to spray sidewalks (March 11): Theres no doubt the citys sanitation efforts were key to stopping the hepatitis A outbreak. While this story focused on an emergency contract, the real lede is buried in the 35th paragraph: The response worked. This effort saved lives. After county public health officials declared an emergency on Sept. 1, the city responded immediately by notifying 144 vendors, including local companies, of this job and had crews cleaning our streets within days.

The firm chosen has expertise in the specific technique county officials recommended for eradicating the virus. With lives on the line, the city couldnt wait for the normal months-long request-for-proposal process and chose to act. Now the emergency is over and the RFP is underway. The irony is the U-T has repeatedly highlighted critics who say the city didnt act quickly enough on this issue, and now highlights critics who say the city acted too quickly.

Stacey LoMedico

City of San Diego

Advertisement

Assistant Chief Operating Officer

Letters and commentary policy

The U-T welcomes and encourages community dialogue on important public matters. Please visit this page for more details on our letters and commentaries policy. You can email letters@sduniontribune.com or leave a comment below.

Follow @UTLetters on Twitter and UTOpinion on Facebook.

Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading.Press Release

March 17, 2018 Sen. Bam: Employment rights for military reserve forces gets full support of Senate The Senate on Monday passed on third and final reading the measure that will provide job security and other benefits for military reservists, according to its principal sponsor and co-author, Sen. Bam Aquino. Via 16-0 vote with no abstention, the Senate approved Senate Bill No. 1698 or the Reservist Employment Rights Act, which promotes the welfare of military reservists in return for their service to the country. "Ito'y pagkilala natin sa malaking tulong ng ating reservist sa militar, lalo na kapag may kalamidad at sa paglaban sa terorismo," said Sen. Bam. Sen. Bam said reservists played a key role in the fight to free Marawi City from the clutches of the Maute Group and in rescue and rehabilitation efforts during calamities. Sen. Bam pushed for the bill's passage after he was informed during dialogues with members and officials of the Army Reserve Command that some reservists are in danger of losing their jobs as they perform their duty to the country. "While they risk their lives for the country, they are at risk of losing their livelihood, which should not be the case," said Sen. Bam, referring to reservists who are entrepreneurs, I.T. professionals, teachers, doctors, lawyers, nurses, sales agents, security guards and employees of different government agencies. If enacted into law, the Reservist Employment Rights Act will ensure proper training and compensation for reservists, on top of protection from discrimination in job hiring, reintegration, promotion, or any benefit of employment. The measure also protects reservists who suffer any injury or disability during their service, ensuring their reintegration to the civilian work force, so long as they can perform the essential function of their original employment. "Our reservists chose to put their lives on the line for our safety and security. We owe it to them to professionalize the Reserve Force and assure them their employment rights," stressed Sen. Bam.Vardhan was in Imphal, addressing the inaugural session of the 105th Indian Science Congress when he made the claim. The annual event is a gathering of top scientists, academicians and students from India and across the world.

Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday claimed that cosmologist Stephen Hawking, who passed away this week, had said the Vedas have a theory that is superior to Albert Einstein's E=mc2 theory of relativity.

Watch:

Here's the full text of his speech:

"We know that scientific temper is part of our Indian heritage and it is one of the guiding principles which have been enshrined in our Constitution, to be promoted. Each and every custom and ritual of Hindus is steeped in science. And, in fact, every modern Indian achievement is a continuation of our ancient India's scientific achievements. We recently lost a renowned scientist -- renowned cosmologist Stephen Hawking. He also, emphatically said on record that our Vedas might have a theory which is superior to Einstein's theory of E = mc2.

"We have to ensure that we are now able to produce more of disruptive technologies, because these are the ones which will actually help us in improving our growth rate of economy, which will help us in industrial production and also thereby creating a lot of jobs. Under the leadership of our Prime Minister, who has immense faith in your capabilities, your leadership and your hard work. He has provided so much in terms of supporting us by improving our budgetary support systems. You will be happy to know that in the last decade, our contribution in research has travelled from 24,000 crores to almost 85,000 crores. A significant portion of it has happened under the leadership of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji."

When the media asked him to cite his source, he said, "You find the source," adding that Hawking had said that the Vedas might have a better formula than the one provided by Einstein. Emphasising the fact that he had spoken in an open forum, he also said that he could be contacted in Delhi if the media failed in their research.

That brings us to the question: Did Hawking actually diss Einstein's theory? This is what a Facebook search throws up:

However, a closer look reveals that the account does not belong to the late cosmologist, after all. The post from 2011 bears the username "hari.scientist"

Interestingly, the website of Institute of Scientific Research on Vedas reproduced the post two years later.

The website even displays the letter sent to Dr Hawking thanking him for recognising the importance of Vedic theories, besides the response received on behalf of Hawking.

The response from Dr Hawking speaks volumes in terms of whether Dr Hawking held Vedic theory above that of Einstein's. However, few people seem interested in delving deeper into urban myths propagated through social media. Those who question false propaganda are, sadly, outnumbered by those who hit the Forward button without batting an eyelid.

For his part, Vardhan went on to reiterate his claim on Twitter. He wrote:

#ISC2018 Each and every custom and ritual of Hinduism is steeped in science; every modern Indian achievement is a continuation of our ancient scientific achievement. Even Stephen Hawking said, our Vedas might have a theory superior to Einsteins law E=MC2. @moefcc @IndiaDST pic.twitter.com/QP9PbLElCd  Dr. Harsh Vardhan (@drharshvardhan) March 16, 2018

Dear Reader, you decide.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. --

Shortly after 17 students and staff at

were the victims of a mass shooting in February, Staten Island activists mobilized and are now gearing up to attend the "

" rally in Washington, DC on March 24.

About 10 buses will leave St. George on Saturday to participate in the student-led march to stop school shootings and end gun violence.

"This is a sign of hope that Staten Island is ready to join the national movement," said Lorie Honor, leader of Staten Island Women Who March, who spearheaded a local contingent to attend the march along with student activist, John Papanier, of Wagner High School, and community organizer, Lindy Crescitelli.

Honor, a public school teacher, was one of a large crowd of Staten Islanders who gathered in front of Congressman Dan Donovan's New Dorp office after the shooting on Feb. 19. The event included a reading of the names of all students and staff killed in school shootings in the United States.

"It was very emotional to read all of those names, and see their ages. The babies from Sandy Hook Elementary, the teens from Columbine and Marjory Stoneman Douglas, the college age kids from Virginia Tech, and so many more," said Honor.

"Pages and Pages of names of kids. When Lindy introduced himself as having a cousin that survived Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting and asked if I wanted to collaborate on getting kids to DC, I was like, 'Sign me up!' And we started that day," she added.

STUDENT ACTIVIST

Since the shooting on Feb. 14, Wagner High School student John Papanier has emerged as a student activist and organizer.

"I really appreciate the support that we have given each other," Papanier said. "This is an issue that shouldn't even be about politics any more. It is about making sure that this is the last school shooting -- ever."

Papanier was a key student organizer of the student walk-out on March 14 in which thousands of Staten Island students participated in commemoration of the one-month anniversary of the Parkland shooting.

GROUPS ATTENDING



Various groups will have a presence at the march, including The Staten Island Democratic Association, (SIDA), CSI CUNY Liberty Partnerships Program, Senator Diane Savino's Office, The Democratic Organization of Richmond County (DORC), New York Center for Interpersonal Development, NorthShore Dems, Max Rose For Congress, Michael DeVito, and more.

The Island contingent has received donations from various groups, including SIDA, DORC and Mid-Island Democrats, "which has allowed us to offer free and discount seats to students and Staten Islanders in need on over five buses," said Crescitelli.

"Donations from Staten Islanders, businesses and even students themselves -- who have made small token donations or $5, $10 and $20 -- helped with the effort," he added.

STILL SEATS AVAILABLE

The March for Our Lives buses will will be departing at 5:30 a.m. from outside Borough Hall in St. George. There are still seats available; tickets can be purchased here.

Several buses sponsored by Assemblyman Matthew Titone (D-North Shore) will be leaving from All Saints Episcopal Church at 2329 Victory Boulevard at 5 a.m. To inquire about available seats, call 718-442-9932.

There are still free donated seats available to students. To apply for them, go to www.MarchForOurLivesNY.com.

There is also a free sign making workshop on Sunday, March 18 from 2 to 5 p.m. at Staten Island Makerspace in Stapleton.





FOLLOW TRACEY PORPORA ON FACEBOOK and TWITTERKevin Libin;

Until now, most pundits have taken the federal Liberals' word that the carbon tax is going to happen, whether provinces sign on to it or not. No one's really questioned the legitimacy of Trudeau's threat to use a "backstop" power that would see Ottawa collecting a price-fixed carbon tax within a particular province if the province itself will not. Even the National Post's estimable Andrew Coyne suggested not long ago that the Ontario PC leadership candidates' "declaration of opposition to a carbon tax is... meaningless": Since Ottawa will levy the tax itself if it has to, "the tax will be collected" whether they liked it or not. In reality, though, a growing number of provinces are girding for battle in what could be a federal-provincial showdown for the ages. Far from being certain of getting its way, the federal government likely lacks the weapons it needs to win.

Federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna's tough talk this week warning the Saskatchewan government she was coming to get their carbon taxes (while revoking their $62-million low-carbon grant) could be a bluff.In a few months, she might be trying the same bluff on Ontario, if polls hold up and the next premier ends up being Ford. He has been fiercely decrying the carbon tax, insisting the "reckless" and "job-killing" tax would "do great damage to Ontario." He promises to "take Justin Trudeau to court" to stop it.

And by next year, Ford could be teaming up in that fight not just with Saskatchewan's Premier Scott Moe, but likely Jason Kenney in Alberta, who is remarkably popular and currently on track for a landslide victory to become the province's first United Conservative Party premier in 2019, with a campaign built almost entirely on a promise to axe Alberta's carbon tax.Qualcomm says former chairman exploring buyout effort



San Francisco, March 17 (AFP) Mar 17, 2018



Qualcomm said Friday that Paul Jacbos, its chairman until a week ago, was considering a buyout effort for the California chipmaking giant just days after it fended off a hostile bid from Singapore rival Broadcom.

Jacobs, who had been chief executive at Qualcomm for nearly a decade and executive chairman until March 9, will not be renominated to its board at its annual meeting next Friday, the company said in a statement.

The board made a decision not to renominate Jacobs "following his notification to the board that he has decided to explore the possibility of making a proposal to acquire Qualcomm."

As a result, the number of board members will be reduced from 11 to 10 as of the holding of the annual meeting.

The statement said that if Jacobs does make a bid, "the board will of course evaluate it consistent with its fiduciary duties to shareholders."

The announcement comes after reports that Jacobs has sought to raise capital for a Qualcomm bid, and had approached Japanese tech giant SoftBank, which is in the midst of a major investment spree in the sector.

Jacobs is the son of Qualcomm co-founder Irwin Jacobs and was CEO at the San Diego firm from 2005 to 2014.

Last week, he was replaced as chairman by Jeffrey Henderson, who will be non-executive chairman at Qualcomm, the leading maker of chips for smartphones.

The news comes days after US President Donald Trump blocked a $117 billion hostile bid from Broadcom, citing national security reasons.

US officials had maintained that Broadcom would have curbed innovation at the US chip giant and opened the door to Chinese firms to dominate the process for 5G, or fifth-generation wireless networks.

Qualcomm's market value is around $90 billion, and is seen as an important player in the 5G race, but it has been hampered by antitrust actions around the world and litigation with Apple over claims that the chipmaker abused its dominance in the sector.

Qualcomm is also in the process of trying to close a takeover of Dutch chip rival NXP.

The board statement said that Qualcomm is now "focused on executing its business plan and maximizing value for shareholders as an independent company."

It added that Jacobs "has been a valued employee and director of Qualcomm since 1990" and that "he has been one of the great innovators in our industry."

jc-rl/wdTop officials scramble to make Trump-Kim summit a reality



Washington, March 16 (AFP) Mar 16, 2018



Senior officials staged a flurry of calls and top-level meetings on Friday as they scrambled to make a proposed nuclear summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong Un a reality.

There was no immediate breakthrough, but North Korea's foreign minister was to remain in Stockholm into Saturday for further talks with Swedish leaders, as the Scandinavian intermediary strives to pave the way for talks that could end a threat of nuclear war.

From Washington, Trump called his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in, whose government last week passed an apparent summit invitation to Trump from Kim. Trump accepted on the spot and triggered a race to set a credible agenda for what could be a historic breakthrough.



- Rampant skepticism -



At the same time, foreign ministers Kang Kyung-wha of South Korea and Taro Kono of Japan were in Washington for talks at an under-staffed US State Department, left in turmoil by Trump's abrupt and brutal Twitter-sacking of former secretary of state Rex Tillerson.

The abrupt decision to accept the summit has triggered much skepticism from Korea observers but, after his call with Moon, Trump's White House remained cautiously optimistic that his strategy of making military threats backed by crippling real-world sanctions had forced Kim's hand.

Trump and Moon "agreed that concrete actions, not words, will be the key to achieving permanent denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, and President Trump reiterated his intention to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un by the end of May," the White House said.

"The two leaders expressed cautious optimism over recent developments and emphasized that a brighter future is available for North Korea, if it chooses the correct path."

Before a date or a venue for the summit can be set, North Korea will have to publicly confirm that it sent the invitation and intends to honor it, by attending a meeting to discuss giving up its nuclear arsenal.

There had been speculation that Pyongyang might do so Friday, when Ri Yong Ho met Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven and Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom, but afterwards Swedish officials said the talks would be extended into Saturday.

Sweden has longstanding ties with North Korea. Its diplomatic mission in Pyongyang, which opened in 1975, was the first Western embassy established in the isolationist country and now represents US, Canadian and Australian diplomatic interests, with Sweden playing a key liaison role.

Ri and Wallstrom dined at the foreign ministry on Thursday evening, then met again on Friday at Villa Bonnier, a lavish building near the US embassy used by the government for official functions.

"It was a good and constructive atmosphere. We'll see what happens next," Wallstrom told reporters after Friday's talks.

Ri made no comment as he left.



- Nuclear standoff -



"If we can use our contacts in the best way, we will do so," Wallstrom said, noting the situation on the Korean peninsula was "of interest to us all."

Ri's delegation included Choe Kang Il, deputy director general of the foreign ministry's North America section.

Some media have reported that Ri, who was stationed at North Korea's embassy in Stockholm from 1985 to 1988, will stay in the Scandinavian country until Sunday, though Swedish officials would not confirm this.

A senior US administration official told AFP: "No US government staff are meeting with the North Koreans in Sweden."



- 'Serve as facilitator' -



International media have speculated that Sweden could either help set up a summit or be a potential location if a tete-a-tete were to be confirmed. The foreign ministry has refused to comment

Speaking in Berlin on Friday, Lofven said that if Sweden "can serve as a facilitator to bring about results, then we will of course do that."

Japanese broadcaster TBS said Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Moon discussed North Korea in a telephone call on Friday.

TBS said Abe told Moon he wanted North Korea to not only suspend nuclear and missile testing, but also accept International Atomic Energy Inspectors on its soil.

He also asked Seoul to raise the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by the North.

Some reports have suggested that Japan is less optimistic than its allies in Seoul and Washington that the talks are a good idea, but US officials said talks with Kono at the State Department had gone well.

"Both sides agreed that the announcement of a meeting between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is an historic opportunity and that the global maximum pressure campaign is working and must remain in effect," spokeswoman Heather Nauert said.Death and exodus as two Syria assaults escalate



Adra, Syria, March 16 (AFP) Mar 16, 2018



Air strikes killed dozens of civilians in Eastern Ghouta on Friday and forced thousands more to flee, as Syrian troops pressed their blistering assault on the last rebel stronghold near Damascus.

The latest deaths brought the toll for the nearly month-old offensive to 1,364, with world powers still unable to stop one of the devastating conflict's worst crises.

Syria's war enters its eighth year with another deadly assault also unfolding in the north, where Turkish-led forces pressed an operation to seize the Kurdish-majority region of Afrin.

The operation has sent thousands onto the roads, with bombing of the city of Afrin on Friday killing 43 civilians, a third of them killed in a deadly strike on a hospital.

On the edge of Ghouta, a sprawling semi-rural area within mortar range of central Damascus, more than 2,400 civilians streamed out of destroyed towns, carrying scant belongings in bags and bundles.

Crowds crammed into a government centre on the edge of Eastern Ghouta on Friday, unsure what the next step would be after walking straight into the arms of the forces that have relentlessly pounded their homes for weeks.



- Exodus -



"We were afraid of leaving -- they had told us the army would arrest us," said 35-year-old Abu Khaled, who used to run a retail clothing shop in Ghouta.

"We reached the army and didn't find that, but now we're basically living in a camp," he told AFP.

Syria's envoy to the UN Bashar al-Jaafari said 40,000 people fled Ghouta on Thursday, and the sudden exodus appeared to have caught the government flat-footed.

Long lines formed outside the public bathrooms, and displaced families complained of a lack of access to water or mattresses.

The Syrian army in a message broadcast on state television urged all residents to use "corridors" it had established to leave the enclave, saying it had recaptured 70 percent of rebel territory.

The ground offensive pressed by Syrian troops and allied militia has splintered Eastern Ghouta into three pockets, each held by a different faction.

Those three Islamist groups said Friday they would be willing to negotiate directly with Russia on a ceasefire for Ghouta, but did not mention talks with the Syrian government.

Their statement came hours after UN special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said talks were ongoing between Russia and one of the groups, Jaish al-Islam.

That negotiations track had already produced six days of calm for Ghouta's largest town of Douma, he said.

Douma has also seen deliveries of food, and hundreds of civilians have been bussed out as part of medical evacuations.



- Hospital bombed -



The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 96 civilians were killed in Russian and regime air strikes on the southwestern Ghouta pocket on Friday.

The Observatory says it determines whose planes carry out raids according to type, location, flight patterns and munitions used, but Russia on Friday denied its jets were taking part in the Ghouta operation.

The heaviest of Friday's raids were on Kafr Batna, where at least 70 civilians died and where the Observatory said incendiary weapons were used.

A reporter in the town contributing to AFP saw eight charred bodies in the streets and said wounded people were left in the roads as rescue centres had been put out of service by bombing.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has in recent months recovered swathes of territory lost at the beginning of the conflict and Ghouta was one of his key remaining targets.

An exodus of similar proportions was under way hundreds of kilometres (miles) to the north in the city of Afrin, where Kurdish forces have been nearly encircled by Turkish troops.

The Observatory said Thursday more than 30,000 people had fled the city in 24 hours, and another 15,000 escaped on Friday, fearing a siege.

The monitor said a Turkish strike on Friday hit Afrin's hospital, killing 16 civilians, including two pregnant women.

"There was bombing on the city during the day that got close to the hospital, but this evening it was directly hit," Serwan Bery, co-chair of the Kurdish Red Crescent, told AFP.

"It was the only functioning hospital in Afrin city," he said.

The deadly strike brought to 43 the number of civilians killed in the town on Friday, the Observatory said.

Turkey's military denied hitting the hospital, saying on Twitter that its operation in Afrin "is carried out in such a way as to not cause any harm to civilians."

The UN said it was worried the forces staying inside were not allowing civilians to flee, as that would leave them more exposed to Turkey's superior firepower.

Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the UN's Rights Office decried "reports that civilians are being prevented from leaving Afrin city by Kurdish forces ... (and) are being held to be used as human shields."Top officials scramble to make Trump-Kim summit a reality



Washington, March 17 (AFP) Mar 17, 2018



Senior officials staged a flurry of calls and top-level meetings on Friday as they scrambled to make a proposed nuclear summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong Un a reality.

There was no immediate breakthrough, but North Korea's foreign minister was to remain in Stockholm into Saturday for further talks with Swedish leaders, as the Scandinavian intermediary strives to pave the way for talks that could end a threat of nuclear war.

From Washington, Trump called his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in, whose government last week passed an apparent summit invitation to Trump from Kim. Trump accepted on the spot and triggered a race to set a credible agenda for what could be a historic breakthrough.



- Rampant skepticism -



At the same time, foreign ministers Kang Kyung-wha of South Korea and Taro Kono of Japan were in Washington for talks at an under-staffed US State Department, left in turmoil by Trump's abrupt and brutal Twitter-sacking of former secretary of state Rex Tillerson.

"I think we're cautiously optimistic that the talks will happen and that this will be a breakthrough for a peaceful resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue," Kang told the PBS NewsHour.

The abrupt decision to accept the summit has triggered much skepticism from Korea observers but, after his call with Moon, Trump's White House remained cautiously optimistic that his strategy of making military threats backed by crippling real-world sanctions had forced Kim's hand.

Trump and Moon "agreed that concrete actions, not words, will be the key to achieving permanent denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, and President Trump reiterated his intention to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un by the end of May," the White House said.

"The two leaders expressed cautious optimism over recent developments and emphasized that a brighter future is available for North Korea, if it chooses the correct path."

Before a date or a venue for the summit can be set, North Korea will have to publicly confirm that it sent the invitation and intends to honor it, by attending a meeting to discuss giving up its nuclear arsenal.

There had been speculation that Pyongyang might do so Friday, when Ri Yong Ho met Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven and Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom, but afterwards Swedish officials said the talks would be extended into Saturday.

Sweden has longstanding ties with North Korea. Its diplomatic mission in Pyongyang, which opened in 1975, was the first Western embassy established in the isolationist country and now represents US, Canadian and Australian diplomatic interests, with Sweden playing a key liaison role.

Ri and Wallstrom dined at the foreign ministry on Thursday evening, then met again on Friday at Villa Bonnier, a lavish building near the US embassy used by the government for official functions.

"It was a good and constructive atmosphere. We'll see what happens next," Wallstrom told reporters after Friday's talks.

Ri made no comment as he left.



- Nuclear standoff -



"If we can use our contacts in the best way, we will do so," Wallstrom said, noting the situation on the Korean peninsula was "of interest to us all."

Ri's delegation included Choe Kang Il, deputy director general of the foreign ministry's North America section.

Some media have reported that Ri, who was stationed at North Korea's embassy in Stockholm from 1985 to 1988, will stay in the Scandinavian country until Sunday, though Swedish officials would not confirm this.

A senior US administration official told AFP: "No US government staff are meeting with the North Koreans in Sweden."



- 'Serve as facilitator' -



International media have speculated that Sweden could either help set up a summit or be a potential location if a tete-a-tete were to be confirmed. The foreign ministry has refused to comment

Speaking in Berlin on Friday, Lofven said that if Sweden "can serve as a facilitator to bring about results, then we will of course do that."

Japanese broadcaster TBS said Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Moon discussed North Korea in a telephone call on Friday.

TBS said Abe told Moon he wanted North Korea to not only suspend nuclear and missile testing, but also accept International Atomic Energy Inspectors on its soil.

Kono asked Vice-President Mike Pence to ensure that the decades-old issue of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea would be raised -- along with the nuclear and missile issue -- in any summit between Trump and Kim, Kyodo news agency reported.

Some reports have suggested that Japan is less optimistic than its allies in Seoul and Washington that the talks are a good idea, but US officials said talks with both Kono and Kang at the State Department had gone well.

"Both sides agreed that the announcement of a meeting between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is an historic opportunity and that the global maximum pressure campaign is working and must remain in effect," spokeswoman Heather Nauert said.Air strikes on Syria's Ghouta kill 30 civilians: monitor



Beirut, March 17 (AFP) Mar 17, 2018



Air strikes on Eastern Ghouta killed at least 30 civilians on Saturday, a monitor said, almost a month into a blistering Russia-backed regime assault on the Syrian rebel enclave outside Damascus.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights could not say who carried out the strikes on the town of Zamalka in a southern pocket of the enclave.

Regime forces have retaken 70 percent of the last rebel bastion on the outskirts of the capital since February 18, carving it up into three shrinking pockets held by different rebels.

"Warplanes targeted civilians in Zamalka as they prepared to flee" the southern area of the enclave held by the Faylaq al-Rahman rebel group, Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.

The regime assault has killed more than 1,390 civilians in the enclave, according to the Observatory, which relies on a network of sources on the ground.

The offensive has pushed thousands more to flee their homes into government-controlled areas.

On Saturday morning, "around 10,000 civilians streamed out of the rebel enclave into regime-held areas", Abdel Rahman said.

More than 40,000 civilians have poured out of the enclave since Thursday morning, fleeing bombardment and advancing troops.

Syria's war has killed more than 350,000 people and displaced millions since it broke out in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.Iran rejects any change to nuclear deal



Tehran, March 17 (AFP) Mar 17, 2018



Iran will not accept any changes to the nuclear deal, a senior official insisted Saturday, after the United States said it was seeking a "supplemental" accord with European powers.

"We will not accept any changes, any interpretation or new measure aimed at limiting" the 2015 deal between Iran and major powers, said Ali Shamkhani in remarks carried by ISNA news agency.

Shamkhani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, also warned European countries "against the temptation of playing at the same game as the Americans".

"The ballistic programme of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which has a defensive nature, will steadfastly continue," said Shamkhani, who is a close ally of supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

On Friday senior US State Department official Brian Hook said that President Donald Trump wanted to reach a "supplemental" deal with the European signatories to the Iran nuclear deal.

This would cover Iran's ballistic missile programme, its regional activities, the expiration of parts of the nuclear deal in the mid-2020s and tighter UN inspections, Hook said.

"We are taking things one week at a time, we are having very good discussions in London, Paris and Berlin," Hook, recently ousted Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's chief of strategy, said.

"There is a lot we agree on and where we disagree we are working to bridge our differences," he said in Vienna.

The 2015 accord between Iran and the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany curtailed Iran's nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.

Iran, which according to the UN atomic watchdog has been abiding by the deal since it came into force in January 2016, has repeatedly ruled out any changes to the agreement.

Trump said in January that the nuclear deal must be "fixed" by May 12 or the United States will walk away.

The European parties to the agreement are desperate to save it and have been scrambling to find ways to persuade Trump not to rip it up.

Shamkhani made the remarks as he met Saturday in Tehran with Yusuf bin Alawi, the minister responsible for foreign affairs in Oman, a key Gulf ally of the US with close ties to Iran.No news on Trump-Kim summit as N.Korea wraps up Sweden talks



Stockholm, March 17 (AFP) Mar 17, 2018



North Korean officials wrapped up a third day of talks Saturday with Swedish counterparts with no indication their efforts had cleared the way for a mooted nuclear summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong Un.

From Washington on Friday, Trump had called his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in, whose government last week passed an apparent summit invitation to Trump from Kim, which the US president accepted.

His response triggered a race to set a credible agenda for what would be historic talks between the two leaders.

Before a date or a venue for the summit can be set, North Korea will publicly have to confirm that it sent the invitation and intends to honour it, by attending a meeting to discuss giving up its nuclear arsenal.

In Stockholm, the Swedes were seeking to pave the way for talks which could end a threat of nuclear war, using the leverage of their longstanding ties with Pyongyang, where its diplomatic mission opened in 1975, the first Western embassy to be established in the hermit country.

The embassy today represents US, Canadian and Australian diplomatic interests, giving Sweden a key liaison role and facilitating the talks in Stockholm between Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom and counterpart Ri Yong Ho.

- Summit 'facilitator' -



Ri also met with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, who Friday said Sweden hoped to be a summit "facilitator".

Ri's delegation included Choe Kang Il, deputy director general of the foreign ministry's North America section -- though a senior US administration official told AFP Friday: "No US government staff are meeting with the North Koreans in Sweden," where Ri was stationed as a diplamat for three years in the mid 1980s.

Wallstrom had earlier said the talks extended into Saturday given the "constructive atmosphere" of the first two days.

No concrete announcements emerged Saturday, as the Swedish foreign ministry stated that "the talks focused primarily on the security situation on the Korean peninsula, which is high on the UN Security Council agenda."

Noting Sweden's "consular responsibilities as a protecting power" for the United States, Canada and Australia, the statement indicated the "foreign ministers discussed opportunities and challenges associated with continued diplomatic efforts to reach a peaceful solution to the conflict."

The ministry added that "Sweden underlined the need for North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons and missile programmes in accordance with Security Council resolutions."

It also stated that "other discussions centred on the humanitarian situation in North Korea, sanctions, and regional cooperation and security issues for countries including South Korea, Japan, Russia, China and the United States."

In line with previous sessions of talks, Ri made no comments to the media.

The Swedes added Ri also visited the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute global security think tank for "off the record" talks with chairman Jan Eliasson and other senior officials on the situation in the Korean peninsula.Our Biggest Global Challenge: Separation or Connectivity?





by Dr. Stephen Long





( March 18, 2018, Los Angeles, California, Sri Lanka Guardian) Even though it is very disturbing, Im not really shocked or even surprised by the current Buddhist/Muslim conflicts in Sri Lanka and Myanmar; weve seen it all before  many times. To be fair, conflicts like these are not only in these two South Asian countries. Everywhere you look around the globe you can find similar clashes  some rooted in race, some in religion, some tribal, some based on ideology. Conflicts are abundant, and the US is no exception; just read our headlines on any given day and youll find plenty of them. So why are there suddenly so many hot-spots on our small planet? It seems that no one feels secure; so many feel threatened and/or marginalized; and no one feels relaxed or comfortable anymore  including my immigrant friends in our peaceful sanctuary city of Los Angeles.





The ubiquitous, hurtful panoply of conflicts are expressions of Separation, the prevailing paradigm and worldview that envelopes the planet today. The world is enshrouded in divisive rhetoric, violence, prejudice, and hatred, and its become a trend, which is picking up momentum with each new national election. Political leaders in several countries (e.g. Trump in America, Duterte in the Philippines, Kurz in Austria, Babis of the Chech Republic, and several others) are getting elected that embrace this view of Separation. Xi Jinping is just about to be dubbed President for Life in China, and no one doubts his designs of conquest, which will put China first and every other country somewhere below it.





Separation is expressed as nationalism, jingoism, wars, economic sanctions, disparity of wealth, trade tariffs, military parades, immigration bans, refugee crises, and the building of Walls and increased border defenses. All of these are bi-products of Separation, which is based on the belief that its a countrys duty and a mark of national pride to look after Us before Them, or think Theres not enough for all of us, or We were here first, or Were the masters that deserve to hoard all the wealth, or This is a Buddhist country. Symptoms of the Separation paradigm are myriad and cross all national, state, and provincial borders and cultural divides.





So if the worldview of Separation is the cause of all of this grief, then how did it become so? What is its source? Is it sourced in religion, politics, ideology, or the so-called culture wars? In the case of Sri Lanka, the Buddhist/Muslim conflict is not borne of the teachings of either religion; fundamentally, both doctrines preach peace and co-existence. On the surface, Sri Lankan politics upholds the lip-serviced notion that all religions are tolerated and protected by the Constitution, and the idea that Sri Lanka is a Buddhist country is not so much an ideology as it is a fundamental element of programming in the fabric of the collective Sinhalese zeitgeist. To my knowledge there is no evidence that countries have religions, and as a matter of fact, the idea that countries even have borders is nothing more than a geopolitical agreement. The notion that America is a Christian country is just as ludicrous, and the jingoists who want to keep Muslims out and build walls to protect us from Mexican gangs and rapists are nothing more than ignorant, racist, self-centered bullies.





As the Buddha taught, all conflicts arise with the idea of Me, I, and Mine. These false identity beliefs start the ball rolling toward Separation, and they prevent people from seeing their inherent connectivity with others. Not just with other people, but with All That Is  including the animals, the Earth, and the Universe. The natural world is exploited and polluted because people dont see that they are fouling an actual part of themselves. Connectivity is something that cannot be refuted; even cutting-edge science informs us that all there is is energy  that all we are is energy. If everyone is made of the same thing, then how can we distrust, persecute, kill, or burn the homes and shops of another? How can we not look after one another, and create societies where all are included and all apparent differences are respected?





Over the years, Connectivity has become the centerpiece of my work. I recently completed a new book entitled The Connectivity Principle: Healing the Wounds of Separation. The Principle in question states:





Everything in the Universe, including all living beings, is energetically related to everything else because of the inherent Connectivity of all things to the same Source. This principle invalidates the notion of separation, and reinforces the universal mandate for human beings to be mindfully tolerant, kind, loving, compassionate, and supportive towards each other, the Earth, and all that is, at all times, with no exceptions.





This message of Connectivity is crucial if we are all to survive on this troubled planet. We have to learn to connect with our fellow man  especially if we are confined within natural borders (like an ocean in the case of Sri Lanka) or man-made borders (like the United States, which mercilessly wiped out its previous inhabitants). Right now none of us really have time to indulge ourselves in ridiculous tribal wars based on religion, ideology, or out of date belief systems.





From my book, To demonstrate how crucial the message of Connectivity is for these strange, transitional times, I will quote Dr. Ervin Laszlo, a gifted futurist, philosopher, and twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize:





We live in a crucial epoch  an epoch of instability and change. The future is open. We could go down in chaos and catastrophe, or pull ourselves up by our bootstraps to a peaceful and sustainable world. The choice between extinction and evolution is real. We need to understand how it came about and what it entails.





The first thing to understand is that the choice of destiny before us is not accidental; the way the world in which we live develops has a logic of its own. This logic is the logic of evolution, in nature as well as in society. Its hallmark is the alteration of periods of relative stability with epochs of increasing, and ultimately critical instability. When instability reaches the critical point, the system either collapses or shifts to a new state of dynamic stability. These critical tipping points constitute Macroshifts, which involve all aspects and segments of society: the rich and the poor, the economic and the political systems, the private as well as the public sector.

We are approaching the threshold not only of a local or national but of a global Macroshift, driven by the cumulative impact of the unreflective use of potent technologies. Shortsighted power-and profit-hunger coupled with powerful technologies has triggered climate change, is producing famine and water scarcity, and is leading to coastal flooding as well as to a host of related and equally threatening process in the ecology. Within the structures of civil society it is producing growing gaps between rich and poor, with attendant frustration, fundamentalism, and terrorism, triggering crime, violence, and war.





The threat of extinction is real, but it is avoidable. At the critical phase of a Macroshift fresh opportunities open, including the opportunity to evolve. In this case the opportunity is not to evolve genetically, for we are not merely a biological species, but to evolve socially and culturally, to a new society and a new culture  to a new civilization. [1]





Dr. Laszlos words are disturbing, and, at the end, they offer a cautious note of optimism. They also contain a clear warning that we had better get it together quickly  or else.





My advice to the people of Sri Lanka, Myanmar, to the people of America, and to people in any other country that will listen is to quickly get it together, broaden your View, understand that Separation is a myth, and embrace the sentiments of The Connectivity Principle as your prevailing Moral Compass. I truly believe that time is of the essence, and none of us have the time to indulge ourselves  either individually or collectively  in the nonsense games of You vs. Me.



The Salisbury attack has sharply boosted Mays fortunes and her standing with voters. Before the incident, she was sinking in the post-Brexit storm and facing a Tory rebellion.

by Eric S. Margolis





( March 17, 2018, Toronto, Sri Lanka Guardian) What damned cheek to murder a Russian defector and his daughter in the sleepy town of Salisbury! Britain, the US, Germany and Canada are all blasting Russia for this dastardly act that was apparently committed using a new nerve agent allegedly made in Russia known to the media as Novichok.





The victims of the attack, Sergei Skripal and his daughter, are now under intensive care in the hospital and said to be in grave condition. Britains embattled Prime Minister, Theresa May, accused Russia of staging an act of war against Britain and vows revenge. Without yet producing any solid proof.





The Salisbury attack has sharply boosted Mays fortunes and her standing with voters. Before the incident, she was sinking in the post-Brexit storm and facing a Tory rebellion.





But moral outrage wont buy you lunch. Serious observers must begin asking the obvious question, if the wicked Vlad Putin ordered this crime, why? A week before Russias national elections? At a time when Russia is being badly hurt by US-imposed trade and financial sanctions?





The toxic substance used - if we are to believe the Brits  was reportedly only made in Russia for military use. Russia, by the way, is in the process of destroying its chemical weapons. Why would Russia use an easily-identified, signature weapon instead of bullets, an untraceable lethal spray (ask the CIA about these) or a seeming accident? Why a deadly toxin when a jab in the neck with a needle would do just as well?





To me, a veteran intelligence watcher and the only journalist shown the KGBs collection of spycraft, I suspect the attack on the Skripals was more likely done by rogue Russian intelligence agents or by an old-boys network of revenge-seeking retired KGB agents. Maybe even to embarrass President Putin on election eve.





Skripal was no innocent lamb. He had secretly worked for British intelligence MI6, betraying fellow Soviet agents, for years across Europe for money. He was given refuge in Britain after the Cold War. There is nothing lower in the intelligence game than an agent who betrays for money  a Judas with his 30 pieces of silver.





Revenge is a dish best served cold, according to the old saying. KGBs predecessors used to field a special unit called Death to Spies, better known as Smersh to liquidate traitors and turncoats. Readers of James Bond books will recognize Smersh. Moscow supposedly disbanded this outfit and its poison laboratories at the end of the Cold War. But my information is that it still exists, either officially or under cover.





Former KGB men are in high positions in Moscow. Its my belief that it was the KGB that overthrew Boris Yeltsin and installed one of its agents, Vladimir Putin, in power. In 1988, I was told this would happen by KGBs two most senior officials at its Lubyanka headquarters in Moscow.





There are also large numbers of retired hard men of the KGB, or siloviki, playing chess and missing the good old Soviet days. I have little doubt that an informal group of them could have acquired toxic agents from the old KGB Moscow poison lab, the notorious Kamera, as may have occurred in the 2006 poisoning in London of Russian defector, FSB intelligence agent Alexander Livinenko. He was also working for British intelligence and a bitter foe of Vladimir Putin.





London has long been a center for foes of Russias government. At KGB HQ I saw possessions belonging to Ace of Spies Sydney Reilly dating from the 1920s when British agent Reilly tried to overthrow the new Soviet government. British intelligence and Russia/Soviet Union were the most bitter of enemies. Moscow called London a nest of spies - which, of course, it is. But no longer a haven of security for Russian defectors.





Britains current moral outrage over the attempted murder should be tempered by its own sinister record of assassinations, extrajudicial killings and skullduggery.





British bombs bought by Saudi Arabia are now blasting Yemen, killing thousands. The full story of Secret Air Service (SAS) lethal operations in Yemen and Oman remain to be told. People who live in glass housesSpying does not have laws, but it may have rules which are fluid and bend according to the circumstances of politics and technology

Does spying have international rules? On the face of it, the question is absurd. How can one regulate an activity that is defined by law-breaking and subterfuge, and whose existence must accordingly be disclaimed? And yet, espionage is not wholly disordered.Silent understandings emerge between rival agencies, indicating what lies beyond the pale. Where spying is parasitic on the architecture of diplomacy, with intelligence officers masquerading as diplomats, this affords another layer of civility. And not all negotiation is tacit. Russias KGB (Committee for State Security) and Americas CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) communicated through the Gavrilov channel, named after an 18th century poet. In later years, Americans used it to acknowledge, obliquely, when a vanished Soviet spy had defected, while the KGB disclosed where it had hidden microphones in the new US embassy. Spying does not have laws, but it may have rulesor at least expectations and norms. These are fluid, because secrecy precludes enforcement. The rules bend according to the circumstances of politics and technology. And today they are bending more than ever.The first example comes from the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in the UK last week. For Russia to hunt down former officials is hardly unusual; the theatrical murder of KGB renegade Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006, using a radioactive substance, is one of many examples. But to target someone like Skripal, who was pardoned and released in an exchange of prisoners, is exceptional, perhaps unprecedented. While it is possible that Skripal did something to forfeit his protected status, it may simply be that President Vladimir Putin decided to send a message. But it comes at a cost, with a norm shattered and the credibility of future swaps in tatters.The value of such espionage etiquette is best understood by observing what happens in its absence. The US and Russia have conducted dozens of spy swaps. India and Pakistan, though routinely exchanging civilian prisoners, have not. If Kulbhushan Jadhav were eventually swapped for the Pakistani military officer who vanished in Nepal, and is alleged to be in Indian hands, then this would be the first such exchange in public record. One reason for this may be that neither side has caught sufficient numbers of the others most valued agentsthe market is not liquid. But it surely also reflects a dearth of trust. In his book, B. Raman observed that India and Pakistan both treated foreign intelligence officers with customary restraint except those of each other. Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence employed electric shocks against detained R&AW (Research and Analysis Wing) officers, while Indias Intelligence Bureau (IB), he conceded, had a similarly brutal manner. Russias aggressive treatment of Americans in Moscow is not yet at this level, but gloves are being removed.A second question is whether certain sorts of spying are more acceptable than others and, if so, whether this line is now blurring. When China pulled off a spectacular cyber-heist of data from the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in 2014, including 18 million copies of security clearance forms for federal employees, this was met not with anger, but awe. Michael Hayden, former CIA and National Security Agency director, remarked that if he had the opportunity to grab equivalent Chinese data, he would not have thought twice. This was honourable espionage work. However, Beijings efforts to steal valuable commercial secrets from private American companies were viewed as an affront to the unspoken rules.To the uninitiated, this inconsistency is puzzling. In both cases, Chinese espionage involved breaking American laws and hurting American interests; why should one be praised, and the other damned? Clearly, America wants to make commercial espionage taboo because it has more technology to lose, whereas in political espionage, it gives as good as it gets. But why would China play by these rules? Norms will not survive if they leave one side at a disadvantage. Although China has now signed up to pacts ruling out commercial espionage, I am sceptical that these will hold in an era when private firms, rather than state laboratories, are becoming the locus for the most important strategic technologies.Third, we may be witnessing a blurring of the defensive and offensive aspects of espionage. Spying is neutral; it can be for any purpose, from reassurance to revolution. But technology adds to the opportunities, and to the confusion. If an adversary has placed implants on your nuclear command and control networks, are they there to receive forewarning of an attack, or to enable sabotage of your deterrent? Offensive or defensive intentions can never be known fully. We now know that the Netherlands was able to warn the US of Russian efforts to intervene in the American elections because Dutch hackers were already inside Russias networks. Cyber-defence requires cyber-attack. On the other hand, when Russia began cultivating political operatives around Donald Trump, few would have anticipated that, far from ordinary political intelligence gathering, this was the groundwork for an audacious campaign to disrupt and tilt the election itself.Technology also permits scale. The covert dissemination of information to sway foreign politics is not in itself new. As Paul McGarr has shown, the UKs information research department, which worked to counter Soviet propaganda, secretly placed material in over 500 Indian newspapers in 1964 alone. But this looks like childs play alongside Russias Internet Research Agency, whose industrial-scale operations on Facebook and Twitter wrenched open American social cleavages. We have only seen the beginning of these complex campaigns, which fuse human intelligence, cyber-espionage and political warfare.Intelligence, as Carl von Clausewitz said of war, has its own grammar, but not its own logic. Countries do put artificial restrictions on their espionage by choice. They swap rather than kill foreign spies, limit operations against close allies, and treat some targets as more acceptable than others. Some of this is unilateral, some learnt after tit-for-tat spirals, and some worked out through dialogue. But controlling intelligence is not like arms control. It is messy and fluid. The rules and norms of intelligence areperhaps alwaysbeing renegotiated, rewritten, and bent.English16/03/2018

EVERYONE TO BE AWARE OF SARAJEVO SERBS EXODUS

SOKOLAC, March 16 /SRNA/ - Head of the Republika Srpska War Veteran Organisation, Milomir Savcic, has said that the public here and the Serbs everywhere in the world should be aware of the exodus of Sarajevo Serbs, and he hopes that the world public will then know to properly assess these events.



He has pointed out that the decision of Sarajevo Serbs to leave their centuries-old homes can also be called a feat, which deserves all respect and has a multiple meaning.



"The first is the act of patriotism and love towards Republika Srpska, while the second is - they expressed absolute distrust to the authorities that came to the areas where they lived for centuries," Savcic told reporters.



He has added that also the significance of this act is that the Sarajevo Serbs with their decision expressed their confidence in Republika Srpska as the only guarantor of their freedom and safe life.



Savcic has also pointed out that the Sarajevo Serbs deserve admiration, the highest possible level of respect for fighting against far more powerful enemy.



"It is often forgotten, and perhaps the general public is not even aware of the fact that the ratio of military forces in Sarajevo was 3.5:1 in favour of Muslim armed formations," said the head of the Republika Srpska War Veteran Organisation.



He has said that regardless of such ratio of military forces, the Sarajevo Serbs did not lose even an inch of their land, defended the territory and the people, and what they did in the end is the top patriotism, love and much more that should be expressed by smarter and more experienced writers and people of science.



Savcic is convinced that if, by any chance, that happened to the other side, it would be discussed extensively, filmed, written about, and the whole world would be aware of it.



"The act of leaving the centuries-old homes and everything the generations of their ancestors created, shows the greatest act of patriotism and love for Republika Srpska, which they were defending together with other parts of it, but unlike many places that failed to defend their land and their own territory, Sarajevo Serbs did it," Savcic has pointed out.



Savcic has pointed out that his idea is to mark this date at the republic level since it deserves to be on the calendar of Republika Srpskas significant dates.



On the occasion of the marking of 22nd anniversary of the exodus of approximately 150,000 Serbs from Sarajevo and surrounding municipalities, wreaths were laid at the central cross in the Veteran memorial cemetery in Sokolac, and memorial service was held in Orthodox churches in Istocno Sarajevo today.



A reception will be held at 17.00 hours in the City Administration of Istocno Sarajevo for Milivoje Ivanisevic, the head of the Institute for Research on Suffering of the Serbs in the 20th century and the author of books on the suffering of the Serb people in the past defensive-patriotic war.



During his reception, Ivanisevic will present his book "Genocide against Serbs - Sarajevo 1992-1995", which contains distressing testimonies of 80 people on how they were interrogated, tortured, raped, witnessing "disappearance" of Serbs in camps, private prisons or on streets.



The reception will be attended by authors of Istocno Sarajevo who wrote books and texts about the suffering of Sarajevo Serbs.



Marking 22 years since the exodus of Sarajevo Serbs will be completed with a ceremony, which will be attended, in addition to Ivanisevic, by Head of the War Veteran Organisation of Republika Srpska, Milomir Savcic, retired Bishop Atanasije of Zahumlje-Herzegovina and the Littoral and many other guests.



The ceremony will be held at the Istocno Novo Sarajevo Cultural Centre at 19.00 hrs. /end/vosNew life possible for Satnam Singh street name as Ogden City Council mulls issue

OGDEN  The Ogden City Council is currently parsing a draft ordinance of guidelines for honorary street names, which could revive an initiative to honor slain grocery store owner Satnam Singh. Jesse Redden, a regular at Super Grocery, petitioned the city to have an honorary designation of Satnam Singh Drive attached to 675 North after the store owner was shot and killed on Feb. 28. On March 8, Redden received an email from Greg Montgomery, planning manager with the Ogden City Landmarks Commission, informing him of the City Councils request that no more petitions be considered until ...SRINAGAR: A poet Ghulam Muhammad Butt lost his home and lifes work of 20 books as the Indian forces destroyed his house with mortal shelling during an anti-rebel operation in Balhama-Khonmoh area of Srinagar on Thursday night.

Bodies of two rebels, Rasiq Nabi Butt and Shabbir Ahmad Dar, were recovered from the debris of the destroyed house.

Now all that is left of the two-storey house built by Ghulam Muhammad Butts father in 1967 are a few standing walls pockmarked with bullet holes and soot, piles of broken bricks and concrete.

Glancing around with an expression of deep hurt and agony, Ghulam Muhammad Butt sobs not for the home he lost but for the poetry he had written over the course of the last three decades and was consumed by the mortar shells.

Houses can be rebuilt. I have lost my lifes treasure, my poetry of past 30 years, he said. With the first light of the day, I was not bothered about the damage to my house, but tried hard to find whether any of my poetic contribution could be saved. But what I found was that all my lifes hard work had turned into ashes, he added.1,000 Rautahat couples receive joint land ownership certificates

One thousand couples have made joint land titles in Rautahat district.13 key NCC bank officers held in Rs1.5 billion scam

The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of the Nepal Police has arrested 13 persons including a board member of Nepal Credit and Commerce (NCC) Bank for their involvement in a Rs1.5 billion scam.Matt Western, MP for Warwick and Leamington, centre, chaired a summit to discuss the rise in rough sleepers.

ROUND-TABLE talks have been held following a sharp increase in the number of rough sleepers in south Warwickshire.

A summit organised by Warwick and Leamington MP Matt Western was attended by 20 support organisations, including national charities Shelter and Crisis, as well as representatives from Warwick District Council and Warwickshire County County.

They discussed finding practical solutions for those suffering from homelessness, with ideas put forward including the need for housing first policies, innovative addiction treatments and the use of modular housing.

Also raised was a sharp decline in funding available.

Mr Western said: "I was pleased to organise and chair the Housing and Homelessness summit which brought together many organisations working hard on the issue of homelessness in our local area.

"Representatives from national homelessness organisations such as Crisis and Shelter travelled all the way from London and other parts of the country specifically to attend the meeting. I am delighted that Warwick District Council and Warwickshire County Council supported the initiative so we are not working in isolation.

"It is important to work together to address the causes and symptoms of homelessness by providing bespoke and holistic treatment services, as well as fulfilling our duty to provide social, council and affordable housing.

"I welcome the new funding being made available by Warwickshire County Council and it is an important step that must be maintained in future.

"Many organisations spoke of the impact of budget cuts on the services they provided, and delivered stark reminders of how rough sleeping has increased by 169 per cent since 2010.

"This demonstrates how vital it is we take concrete and positive action now, and I look forward to working with homelessness charities and local authorities in future to end homelessness and rough sleeping."

Warwickshire County Council recently set aside 300,000 in its budget to tackle homelessness, while Warwick District Council has agreed to take on a key role in establishing a night shelter in Leamington including making a significant contribution towards the conversion and refurbishment costs.

The Stratford-on-Avon District Council-run Link Project is seeking charitable status so it can apply for more external funding to extend its services.

Cllr Peter Phillips, portfolio holder for housing and property services at Warwick District Council, added: "There is an urgent need to tackle the rising problem of homelessness and rough sleeping in our district and to be able to offer practical support to the voluntary sector in the amazing job they do in helping the most vulnerable people in our community.

"I very much hope that the announcement of our plans to secure a permanent home for the LWS Night Shelter and the purchase of a former hostel in Warwick to provide supported accommodation for the homeless will be a first step.

"These schemes and others like it will give more opportunities for this vulnerable group of people to engage with professional agencies and accept support to address the complex issues they are facing.

Cllr Les Cabourn, portfolio holder for health and social care at Warwickshire County Council, added: "The council has recently pledged an investment of 300,000 over two years to support homelessness, in particular, rough sleepers who may also have mental health issues and/or drugs and alcohol dependencies.

"We will be working collaboratively with partners to deliver a programme of work to help address this challenge. Delivering this in partnership is key to finding an effective solution and we look forward to working across health, social care and the third sector in beginning to tackle this important issue."Down to the river

Every Saturday morning, volunteers equipped with gloves, masks, and knee-high gum boots can be seen wading in the murky waters of the Bagmati, fishing out solid waste by the tonne.Farmers receive no subsidy from govt

The farmers involved in spring paddy cultivation in the district have not received any subsidy from the government. Earlier, the Agriculture Ministry used to launch a subsidy programme to help farmers boost the production of spring paddy. But the local government this year scrapped the subsidy programme.Aitken Spence Aviation employee wins award for airport ops View(s):

Aitken Spence Aviation employee, Vasantha Kudaliyanage (Customer Service Manager, Singapore Airlines) won the award for Airport Operations  Individual Winner, at the Singapore Airlines annual awards 2017 held recently. The award was presented to Vasantha by Regional Vice President Joey Seow in Perth, Australia.

The individual winners were selected after a process based on commendable work and a compilation of all compliments received from passengers for the exemplary work done by individuals and teams across the West Asia and Africa (WAA) stations. Sub-continent countries include  India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives. Other individuals and teams that joined Mr. Kudaliyanage in winning the award were from India, South Africa and Dubai, Aitken Spence said in a media release.

Mr. Kudaliyanage excelled in service by demonstrating key attributes such as taking initiative and ownership and offering great customer service that has made him a service champion and a role model figure while been an inspiration to his team. Other instances he assisted many passengers some of which included a UN peacekeeping mission to Timor-Leste for a group of 34 Sri Lankan police officers. Mr. Kudaliyangage went above and beyond a restricted time period to deliver excellent service in liaising with Singapore SATS Police, SilkAir, SQ SSE, the Sri Lankan High Commission and the local Sri Lankan Police Force. Furthermore, he assisted several passengers such as overcoming flight delays and efficiently dealt with lost personal belongings.Business Times wins important ruling against SLBFE View(s):

The Business Times (BT) on Friday won an important ruling by the Right to Information (RTI) Commission against a refusal of the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) to release information on MOUs or bilateral agreements with three countries.

When the matter came on Friday, the Commission was informed that BT Editor (Feizal Samath) had been informed on March 15 by the SLBFE on its willingness to release this information. Based on that, the Commission concluded the appeal hearing. The request for details of MOUs and/or bilateral agreements with the governments of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait pertaining to Sri Lankan migrant workers was first made on July 3, 2107, which was then refused by the SLBFE saying releasing this information would seriously prejudice Sri Lankas relations with any state. The BT appealed to the same agency, as per RTI rules, and again it was refused. The BT, as per rules, filed an appeal with the RTI Commission stating that these are matters of public importance and migrant workers need to know what is in these agreements that are supposedly ensuring their protection. At the appeal hearing on February 6, the SLBFE cited the same reasons (as earlier) for their refusal. However the Commission took the view that these are matters of considerable public interest and concerning the rights of Sri Lankan citizens who work in those countries. As such there is no serious prejudice caused to any parties to the agreements, the Commission said in its order. Thereafter the SLBFE was directed to release the information to the appellant as requested.

However when the matter came up on February 23, the SLBFE took the position that it can release only MOUs that the bureau has signed and not those entered into by the Ministry of Foreign Employment. All three MOUs that were requested had been signed by the Ministry, which meant that no information could be released to the appellant.

But the Commission said: At the previous hearing the PA (public authority) was clearly informed of the fact that the information requested by the appellant related to public documents, therefore there is no third party involved. In these circumstances the Commission directs the PA to provide the requested information to the appellant within two weeks.

On March 15, the BT Editor was informed by letter that the SLBFE is willing to release the information as requested in the appeal.

For decades, the SLBFE has refused to release this information which would have helped the public, workers, the media and migrant worker interest groups to understand what kind of protection mechanism, in consultation with labour-receiving country governments, is provided for departing workers.Hilton, Hyatt sales in limbo due to legal catch By Duruthu Edirimuni Chandrasekera View(s): View(s):

The governments move to sell Hilton and Hyatt Colombo Hotels will likely be postponed till an amendment to a vital piece of legislation is made, according to Attorney Generals (AG) Department sources.

Fifteen local and foreign companies responded to the Ministry of Public Enterprise Developments call for Requests for Proposals (RFP) to act as the transaction advisor (TA) in the scheduled divestment process for the Hilton and Hyatt Colombo Hotels, the Ministry announced last month. They had called for proposals in early January. There is an issue in selling these state assets because the Underperforming Enterprises Or Underutilised Assets Act 43 of 2011 where Hilton and Hyatt comes under doesnt provide for any legal provision to sell these hotels, an AG Department source told the Business Times. He added that Act has to be amended for the RFP to be finalised. He noted that the Ministry of Public Enterprise has requested the AG for a written clarification on this and they are on it now.

With the clarification, the Ministry will report to the Cabinet which will then decide on repealing the Act which is anyway a proposal in the 2018 Budget, the AG Department source added. For the TA, 11 investment banking units and companies and four local investment banking and accounting companies had applied. It was unclear whether they will be notified of this latest legal catch.

The shortlisted entities were to be offered the chance to enter a competitive bid, on a special board of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), to purchase the 51 per cent stake introduced on an all-or-nothing basis. The CSE was reviving the All Or Nothing Board, a mechanism that is used on a buy or sell a (large) parcel in its entirety at an open auction. The balance stake at Hilton was intended to be released to the general public through an Offer for Sale on the CSE after allocating some shares to employees. The Government was to offer 100 per cent of the shares held in the Grand Hyatt owner, Canwill Holdings (Pvt) Ltd which in turn is owned by SLIC, LGL and EPF to a qualified and reputed investor selected through a competitive process.New Mission Director for USAID in Sri Lanka arrives View(s):

Reed J. Aeschliman has assumed duties as the new Mission Director of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for Sri Lanka and Maldives this month.

His arrival, the US Embassy said in a media release, corresponds with the launch of several new initiatives and more than Rs. 4.5 billion in programmes that advance youth employability, rule of law, and reconciliation in Sri Lanka.

We are fortunate to have Mr. Aeschliman join the US Embassy team as we celebrate 70 years of partnership between the US and Sri Lanka, said US Ambassador Atul Keshap. The people of Sri Lanka and Maldives will benefit from his strong experience in managing USAID development assistance. He will also ensure that funds provided by the American taxpayer are spent wisely in support of our shared goals to see Sri Lanka become a reconciled, peaceful and prosperous democracy that contributes to regional security and upholds fundamental human rights and equality for all.

In Maldives, USAID has supported a wide range of initiatives since 2001, including safe and clean water for island residents, management of coastal resources, and strengthening the capacity of government institutions.

Since 1956, the US Government has provided more than $2 billion (approximately Rs. 300 billion) in development and humanitarian assistance that has benefited Sri Lankans across the country. This assistance has made meaningful impact on inclusive economic growth, good governance reforms, and recovery from humanitarian crises.

Mr. Aeschliman has worked at USAID since 2000 and has served in the Philippines and Pacific Islands, Afghanistan, Cambodia, and India. His most recent prior assignment was in Washington where he served as Deputy Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Asia.Over 30% drop in WA arrivals, 100s of cancellations By Sunimalee Dias View(s): View(s):

Sri Lankan hoteliers busy at the ITB Berlin travel fair last week are now facing a new challenge of overcoming the impact of the week-long Kandy crisis that led to over 5000 room nights cancelled and of over 30 per cent of the West Asia traffic.

Tourist Hotels Association President Sanath Ukwatte told the Business Times that at a THASL meeting held on Friday according to reports from about 50 hotels in Kandy there were cancellations of over 5000 room nights during the course of the last week when tensions ran high in the hill capital during communal clashes.

He pointed out that it was possible that there could be an over 30 per cent drop in arrivals particularly from the West Asia. This is the peak season for this market and it was noted that currently there was a slowdown in bookings from travellers from the desert capitals.

THASL members pointed out that the industry needs the marketing campaigns to get underway and believed the digital marketing campaign should be launched within a logical time frame.

The first week of May has been scheduled for the implementation of the digital campaign and subsequently the international media campaign on not only CNN but also CCTV, NDTV and Al Jazeera.

Meanwhile, other hoteliers told the Business Times that though Kandy continues to remain safe now travel agents were trying to create an issue by leaning in on the crisis to get the rates dropped in hotels in the hill capital.

Kandy hoteliers were scheduled to meet on Saturday March 17 on how they could overcome the negative impact created on the region.Some reflections on SriLankan Airlines By Anande Amaraweera View(s): View(s):

Much has been written about the loss-making national carrier for some time in the media and now a Commission has been appointed to investigate and inquire into alleged irregularities committed in connection with the Sri Lankan Airlines, Sri Lankan Catering and Mihin Airline. This is a welcome sign but such an endeavour should not be another waste of taxpayers money at the end. Sri Lankan Airlines board does not seem to have followed the recommendations made by the previous Commission on Air Lanka wittingly or unwittingly. Sri Lankan Airlines faltered because of capricious decisions of politicians as usual and nepotism.

Air Ceylon and Air Lanka

Air Ceylon had at that time the advantage of having top class captains most of whom were trained by foreign carriers to operate the aircraft that kept the national carrier within the safety standards and flying quality. During those days reputed international airlines such as BOAC/ UTA/KLM/QANTAS among others had afforded facilities for training of staff in key spheres of the airline that helped Air Ceylon move ahead.

President J.R. Jayewardenes decision to start Air Lanka at that time with the assistance of the Premier of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew who created the most-prosperous country in Southeast Asia was a wise and strategic move as Singapore Airlines was profit-making and made available to the newly formed national carrier skilled staff and know-how. Thus the advent of Air Lanka in spite of rising costs of operation was another right step in the aviation history of this country. The then President hardly ever interfered with the affairs of the airline until malpractices and irregularities came to light that led to appoint a Presidential Commission of Inquiry. The President appointed Captain Rakhita Wickamanayake as the Chairman and Managing Director. He was a senior Captain when Air Ceylon was wound up to make way for Air Lanka in association with Singapore Airlines but finally he had to leave on the recommendation of the Commission of Inquiry that was appointed subsequently by the same President that conducted an inquiry into the alleged irregularities and maladministration. An Interim Report was submitted to the President after preliminary investigations upon which the board was asked to resign. Malpractices by an experienced Captain as Chairperson/MD could be many if that person lacks knowledge and practical experience in administration, procedures and other rules and practices. The Chairman/MD acted reportedly on his whims and had been authoritarian. However a bit of credit should go to the then Chairman/MD who trained, disciplined and instilled flying qualities of pilots and cabin crew using his flying experience despite his failures in administrative and other vital spheres. As a result of which Customer Services also were commended and the catch phrase: Taste of Paradise was closer though elusive. In this context taking a lesson SriLankan Airlines needs to revive customer services once again. Later the airline lost its footing once again when Emirates was asked to leave.

The Commission of Inquiry of 1986 advised to keep the two positions of Chairperson and MD separately perhaps because it was found that a combined post of that type could be disastrous as the findings revealed as to how authoritarian the former Chairman/MD had been. Theoretical knowledge alone is insufficient for in any field that needs practical and proven experience. Findings of the Commission disclosed how a senior Captain sans administrative knowledge acted contrary to established rules and procedures ignoring good practices in making decisions which were found to be arbitrary and authoritarian.

It was suggested that a Senior Captain could be considered for appointment as Chairperson or CEO. It may be helpful to have an experienced Captain also as a member of the Board but not necessarily as CEO or Chairperson. The reason is that a senior Captain is always available as Head of Operations who could be consulted by the Board when required.

A CEO or Chairperson should be a competent person familiar with relevant areas of the airline business, and procedures. Interested politicians may contradict this position for obvious reasons. The writer remembers how Air Ceylon was pronounced as the Safest Airline in the world of course a national pride although some financial and other issues were reported. It is sad to note that undue interference by relevant politicians in the public service and other similar public institutions caused misery in many fields in this country since the enactment of Constitution of 1972.

National pride

An airline will be a national pride to a country if it is well managed. Losses of SriLankan Airlines as reported amounting to billions certainly could be attributed to many factors. It is clear that so called businessmen have failed so far in this business of running an airline for the simple fact that a successful businessman in any other business may be out of place in the matters of business of an airline especially with political interference. Therefore a competent leader as Chairperson who is knowledgeable of laws and procedures is sine qua non. A Board should be given a free hand to show results without unnecessary interference. Whoever who is appointed to a Board must be familiar with rules and procedures, if not that person must be a person with common sense to consult the relevant authorities and act sensibly.

Despite the free hand given by the relevant Minister to the Board under the present government, the Board still failed to perform and presumably mismanaged the airline without much consideration being given to strategic restructuring/turnaround management, cost cutting exercise at the right time.

Major decisions should be taken with the approval of the Board and such decisions have to be taken in the best interest of the airline. The Board must be able to ensure the right balance of skills, experience and acumen in all matters. Studies with regard to route network, pricing, sales, promotion strategy and forecast, market analysis and strategy and implementation, market fluctuations of fares and rates of cargo should be continuously undertaken.

Lessons for reform

One lesson learnt from the past is to keep the airline free from political interference once a Board with capable and experienced persons is appointed. If the management of the airline is left in the hands of competent persons without undue political interference allowing a right-sizing exercise the airline would show profits gradually by bringing in revenue. To enhance and maintain the prestige of any airline flying qualities of its pilots, cabin staff, quality of engineering in the maintenance of its aircraft, proper maintenance of safety standards and competitive and successful commercial operations with workable extension strategy should be in place. Standards should remain high at all times. Maintaining undisrupted timely services adhering to the time schedules, courteous and friendly passenger services and quality catering services will not only attract passengers but also keep the airline flying with colours of which the country can be proud of.

Cancellations, re-routings and delays due to VIP movements should not be allowed as happened in the past that caused heavy losses thereby losing passengers to other airlines that resulted in loss of revenue.

If politicians are so patriotic then they must concern themselves not only about safety of the country but also about the progress of the country as well to be meaningful patriots. Patronage whether personal or political, in making appointments to the key posts (except for personal staff and a few essential ones) that continues to ignore the capable and qualified professionals will further ravage the country as a whole. Abuse of public funds becomes a major issue when a person without integrity is appointed to be the Chairperson who is especially from a political family. Nepotism is another malady in this country. Sadly this is one of the signs of a failing nation. The Weliamuna Report too is said to have found fault with the former Chairman and some high officials under the previous government who abetted him in taking adverse decisions that made the airline debt ridden and collapse. Reportedly even the newly appointed Board by the yahapalana government under which some of those found fault by the Weliamuna Commission have been promoted without having any inquiry being held.

The necessity of appointing Commissions of Inquiry will not arise if the Board and the senior management follow the financial and administrative procedures with necessary audit checks at the right time. Public funds can be saved in case of any deviation or breach is found and proper action is taken promptly. There are enough laws to deal with such circumstances.

(The writer is an Attorney-at-Law and former Secretary, Department of Law Commission -Ministry of Justice)When Motorola pulled out due to political instability View(s):

In the field of Economics, there is hardly any need to give an introduction to Prof. Premachandra Athukorala, who served as a Professor in Economics at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra. I am also proud to be a student at one time to learn economics from him.

I was astonished by the Story of Motorola  the international brand name in electronic industry, as Prof. Athukorala explained to me during the time I stayed with him at ANU.

In fact, he used to refer to this story and many other similar cases in most of his research writings and conference speeches on the Sri Lankan economy. I knew him as an economist who used to search at the roots of information rather than relying merely on statistics.

Story of Motorola

According to him, Motorola Corporation visited Sri Lanka in 1980 to invest and expand its electronic industry in Sri Lanka with initial job opportunities for over 2,600 people.

The team even visited the Engineering Faculties of Peradeniya and Moratuwa Universities, accompanied by Prof. Mohan Munasinghe, then Senior Energy Advisor to the government and the Chairman of the Presidential Commission on Computer Policy.

After searching at the universities, it was understood that these tiny faculties had no capacity to produce a large number of electronic and computer engineers that Motorola wanted to recruit. With this finding, however, the company was willing to invest in expanding the engineering faculties of the universities as well.

Motorola leaves

At the end, in spite of all the preparations done, Motorola left Sri Lanka. It in fact decided to shift that investment to Penang region in Malaysia where it continues to play a major role even to-date in production and its export expansion in this area of electronic and computer industry.

According to Prof. Munasinghe, even other multinational corporations that had come to Sri Lanka such as Harris and Sinclair also left the country.

At a time that open economies were not common in Asia, liberalisation policy reforms in 1977 had brought Sri Lanka to a unique position in the region. The reforms had made Sri Lanka a new investment centre of the Asian region.

The importance of the arrival of an internationally reputed business company like Motorola was not at all in respect of its own investment in Sri Lanka. Rather it would have triggered many more investors to follow and overflow the Sri Lankan economy. However, the inverse is also true; when such a company left, it also triggered many more to follow suit and backslide.

Political instability

As recorded in a book authored by Prof. Athukorala and Dr. Sarath Rajapatirana, the Vice President of Motorola W.D. Douglas had stated that the number one priority in their list of concerns for investment was the political stability in the host country. When we says, political stability it is not just the absence of civil wars.

As we understand the Motorola story ended even before the eruption of the separatist war in 1983. Although the country looked peaceful by that time, there were evidence to suggest that it was politically unstable: there were many protests and tensions in the country; widespread public sector strikes had brought life to a tragic standstill; there was less unity even within the government as some were looking forward to the opportunity to pull each others legs; sporadic violent incidences and even killings were reported intermittently throughout the country.

These incidences and situations were more than enough for an investor who wished to see the long-term political stability to judge the gloomy future of the just opened economy of Sri Lanka. Finally, the gloomy picture was completed with the eruption of twin wars  one in the North in the Tamil community and the other in the South in the Sinhala community.

Malaysia and Sri Lanka

Malaysia was perceived as a country that would plunge into communal violence; Sri Lanka was perceived as a country that would soon become developed, one of my Malaysian friends once told me in comparing the two countries as they were perceived in the 1950s. What actually happened later in both countries was exactly the opposite.

If you try to find another country in Asia which is similar to Sri Lanka in terms of economic and political spheres, it is Malaysia. Just like Sri Lanka, it had a thriving plantation economy based on rubber and palm plantations introduced by the British. At the time of independence in 1958, the country had been continuing with simmering ethnic conflicts.

Quite similar to the Sri Lankan ethnic composition, there are three main ethnic groups in Malaysia too  Malay  the majority, the Chinese  whose economic status was higher, and the Tamils from India. In Malaysia too the popular slogan Malaysian Malaysia and the Bhumiputra sentiments reflected a glimpse of the countrys ethnic conflict just like in Sri Lanka.

Year of turnaround: 1970

1970 was the year of turnaround for both Malaysia and Sri Lanka to move in two different directions. While Malaysia did not reverse its open economy after independence, the New Economic Policies (NEP) introduced in 1970 laid the foundation for accelerating economic growth and export expansion with foreign capital.

During the 20-year period from 1970-1990, Malaysia was one of the fastest growing economies in the world, though it slowed down thereafter.

Sri Lanka had already moved away from its open economic policies after the mid-1950s, the government made a declaration to march towards a socialist country, as reported in the Budget Speech 1970. During the seven year period from 1970-1977, Sri Lanka recorded its worst historical economic performance and peoples hardship.

There is a major distinction between Malaysia and Sri Lanka: Malaysia could lessen the possibilities of its potential for widespread communal violence primarily through the rapid economic development process of the country. Having failed to achieve a development process in a sustainable manner, Sri Lanka in a deep and prolonged economic stagnancy nurtured its political conflict.

After 1977

Did Sri Lanka do well in its open economy model? The answer depends on where you are standing on. Apparently, Sri Lanka would have sustained around 8-10 per cent annual average rate of growth, but the country had actually maintained only about 5 per cent. This was still higher than the countrys average growth rate for the previous 25 years!

What was lost from our economic growth was the price that we as a nation paid for violence that grew into large scale twin wars in the North and in the South. For the same reason, Sri Lankas reform process discontinued and, in some cases reversed, affecting economic performance.

Nevertheless, many have been impressed by the fact that unlike most of the other war-stricken countries, Sri Lanka has still maintained its moderate growth performance in the midst of civil wars. This is because, Sri Lanka had already established its open economy before the outbreak of civil wars. If the civil wars had erupted prior to the 1977 policy reforms, the Sri Lankan experience could not have been different from that of other conflict-ridden countries.

Vicious cycle, repeated again

Even after all the wars ended and peace returned in 2009, the Sri Lankan economy has been still struggling to become a high-performing economy. It is because investors are not in a hurry to make their long-term investment decisions. Almost all countries in the region are competing today than ever before; Sri Lanka has to show its competitiveness.

In spite of all that, as it was reported last week, there were negative repercussions of the communal violence in many areas of the economy; investors held back on their decision-making and reverted to their wait and see attitude. Tourists cancelled their visits and journeys to Sri Lanka in general and, to Kandy in particular.

Markets slowed down with a decline in financial investments.

The long-term repercussions of the communal violence are much bigger: Nobody could even imagine that how many Motorola-like companies changed their mind after hearing about the communal violence here. Anyone who perceives the sporadic incidences of communal violence as signs of bigger things in the future would think again before deciding.

Prosperity of a nation does not come out of the blues; it is a choice of the nation and a progressive process made possible by the nation.

(The writer is Professor of Economics at Colombo University).A fragile democratic balance and emergency over-reach View(s):

The abnormal has become normal once again as Sri Lanka quietly and almost gently slipped back into a nation-wide State of Emergency, imposed by the Government as a reaction to recent attacks by Sinhalese mobs on Muslim shops and residences in Kandy.

Abnormal realities and perilous implications

The fragile nature of the democratic balance in this troubled country is best illustrated by how Sri Lankans naturally accepted the return of the emergency without demur. In a country where emergency law had virtually replaced the normal law of the land for decades citing ethnic and civil conflict, this reaction may be understandable. Few questioned the wisdom of this move and fewer still interrogated the exact content of the emergency regulations that were issued by President MaithripalaSirisena on Tuesday March 6th 2018.

Notwithstanding the fact that we are used to abnormal realities however, there are perilous implications to this turn of events which we need to be alive to. Harsh preemptive action to prevent further violence was warranted, particularly in the face of substantiated allegations that the police and counter-terror units were initially passive as marauding thugs struck terror into the hearts and minds of ordinary Muslim residents in affected areas.

But the continuation of a nation-wide State of Emergency has grave impact on the state of mind of the Sri Lankan citizenry which needs to be given serious thought to. Moderate and measured reactions on the part of the Government are called for, not dithering and uncertainty in the first instance that is succeeded by the other extreme of emergency over-reach. These are considerations that merit serious attention.

A shift to a discordant counter-terror mentality

Concerns that have arisen thereto are aggravated by disturbing aspects of the emergency regulations that werebrought into force. It is certainly no credit to this yahapalanaya Government that the shift from the old emergency mindset to an even more draconian counter-terror mentality took place on its watch. Its proposed counter-terror law was a perfect illustration of that worrisome shift.

And it is still a question as to who drives this policy change which presents a stark contradiction to the Governments loudly trumpeted commitment to democratic reforms. Indeed, if there are agent provocateurs whose aim is to stealthily undermine the stability of the Government, the one sure way is to move the country towards a national security regime which would then set the stage for even more national tumult. That must be avoided at all costs.

Where this discussion is concerned, the point to be emphasized here is that there are noticeable reflections of that same negative shift in these March regulations that must surely give rise to some disquiet. For example, it was the proposed counter-terror law which unacceptably transferred the onerous burden of issuing detention orders from ministerial responsibility (which was the case earlier) to the shoulders of police officers regardless of the dangers that this posed.

Police being conferred additional powers

Under the proposed law, as we must recall, a Deputy Inspector General of Police was conferred the power to issue Detention Orders valid up to six months on the basis of a subjective satisfaction that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the suspect has committed or has been concerned in the committing of an offence contained in the Act. There was no objective test of necessity imposed to bring the required standard of due process of law into the actions of police officers in this regard. That was however a draft and was vehemently objected to at the time due to this and manifold other flaws that perturbed civil rights practitioners.

But what we have now is the making of emergency regulations which have already become part of the law subject to their possible withdrawal in the coming days. Under these regulations (clause 17(1)) the power to issue Detention Orders for the purpose of investigations is (similar to the proposed counter-terror law) given to a Deputy Inspector General of Police for a period not exceeding fourteen days. This is a distressing precedent which must be reversed.

Giving the power to issue detention orders to police officers is assuredly not a healthy development in any sense of the word. The potential that this poses to possible violations of civil rights and abuse in custody, both of which are well established features of our law enforcement systems must be stressed.

Replication of vague offences

Meanwhile the vagueness of the language used in the counter-terror draft in defining offences is also replicated elsewhere in these regulations. So, we have a prohibition imposed on any person, by word of mouth or by any other means whatsoever including through digital andor social media communicating or spreading any rumour or false statement or any information or image or message which is likely to cause public alarm or public disorder, racial violence or incite the committingof any offence.

While the last three categories of the prohibited actions under clause 15 of the March regulations are clearly defined and therefore permissible, the exact meaning of causing public alarm is quite a different question altogether. Perfectly legitimate action encompassed within the confines of freedom of expression and information may well be caught up in the reach of causing public alarm which is again, concerning. So too is a similar provision in clause 13 that prohibits the causing of disaffection among persons who are public officers or engaged in the service of the Republic or engaged in the performance of essential services. These are clauses that are ripe for abuse.

Imposition of emergency only in exceptional situations

Taken as a whole, it is imperative that the Government gives its collective mind, with the due seriousness that the matter deserves, to the question as to whether a nationwide state of emergency should be continued. It must also take care that emergency regulations are brought into force only in the most exceptional of situations. If such a drastic step is warranted, it must confine itself to making regulations that are narrowly tailored to the situation in hand rather than broadly and vaguely phrased clauses that awaken the possibilities of abuse.

In the alternative, it would be a most profound irony for a Government coming to power on the platform of good governance and the Rule of Law to, (wittingly or unwittingly as the case may be), bring about a situation where the awful weight of emergency law becomes even more burdensome than in the past when conflict raged.

Certainly it must not allow itself to be painted into that indisputably hazardous corner.Mohan Guragain is a desk editor at The Kathmandu Post. He edited a provincial youth-oriented monthly paper for nearly two years before joining The Himalayan Times in 2008. Guragain also writes occasionally on politics and socio-economic issues. He joined the Post in 2010.Cometh the Peace Corps bearing gifts View(s):

Students of Greek mythology and the writings of ancient Greeks such as Homer would well remember the story of the Trojan horse. That was a neat stratagem pulled on the people of Troy by a great Greek general called Odysseus which brought Troy tumbling down.

Fact or fiction, it made great reading. It also threw suspicion on many Greek offerings and gave rise to the oft quoted saying beware of Greeks bearing gifts. But it was not only the Greeks who suffered the ignominy of being so badly mistrusted and treated with more than usual suspicion.

The news earlier this month that the Sri Lanka Government signed an agreement with the United States to bring the Peace Corps back to Sri Lanka after some 20 years was not only treated with grave suspicion but raised the hackles of many well aware of the role played by volunteers in this organisation who have acted as intelligence gatherers and in even more deeply suspicious roles in countries in the global south where they operated.

The question that many have begun to ask is who in the yahapalana government was responsible for bringing the Peace Corps with its dangerously tainted reputation during the many years of it existence, back to Sri Lanka at a time of political instability and ethno-religious tensions in the country.

Those acquainted with the background of this so-called peace organisation know that it is hardly what it seems to be. President John Kennedy whose executive order gave birth to the PC might have been genuine in his intentions. But instead of bringing peace to the countries in which it operated the corps was used by US spy masters to turn it into a tool that often brought political instability to nascent nations by interfering in their internal affairs in a manner that was considered favourable to the United States or detrimental to governments or parties considered inimical to Washingtons interests.

From the news wires it would seem that the decision of the National Unity Government (NUG) to bring in the Peace Corps at a time when Sri Lanka is passing through a phase of political uncertainty and infighting between the two major constituents in the coalition would normally be considered an unwise, and even perilous, move given the history of the roles played by the organisations volunteers.

But what has not been generally known to the public is that negotiations to re-install the PC here began shortly after the yahapalana government emerged as the NUG.

It appears that the Sri Lanka Government invited the US to send the PC back again. The critical question who in the Sri Lanka Government initiated these moves and was discussed and approved by the cabinet. Available Information shows that the negotiations to bring the PC back started in 2016, the raison detre being to help in furthering Sri Lankas development plans.

The finger points at the UNP partner in the coalition. The foreign ministry was actively engaged in rebuilding relations with Washington with the ministry and our Washington mission ever willing to pay pooja to the mighty Americans. It was a UNP article of faith. It was no surprise that J.R. Jayewardene was referred to as Yankee Dickie not only by his detractors but even by some of his friends, though not always in his hearing.

It might be recalled that it was the initial moves by the JR government to provide facilities in the Trincomalee port area and land for the Voice of America to set up a relay station that roused suspicions in India and made Indira Gandhi follow an anti-Sri Lanka foreign policy.

While times have changed and US-India relations have been recalibrated by new leaders, the UNPs policy of worshipping Washington has not ended. Rather it has intensified under its present leaders particularly the governments first foreign minister Mangala Samaraweera whose frequent visits to Washington or receiving middling State Department officials such as Nisha Biswal like a visiting goddess, degraded this country not only among our own people but among several of our Asian neighbours.

Interestingly the PC was to help further our development plans. Development was in the hands of the UNP which had cornered several key economic ministries and set up an economic committee under the prime minister and leader of the UNP. It shows that UNP foreign minister and pro-western lackeys in the upper ranks of the ministry had worked with the UNPs development ministers to get the PC back in place in this country.

At the signing of the agreement between our current foreign minister Tilak Marapana who always looked like a rather bewildered chap groping around in an unfamiliar terrain, and acting Director of the PC Sheila Crowley she said We are grateful to the Government of Sri Lanka and the people of Sri Lanka for their invitation to once again, have Peace Corps volunteers serve side by side with Sri Lankans in their beautiful country.

If there ever was a strange statement, this was it. Perhaps the man who signed the agreement and the UNPs other palanquin bearers who shepherded this along right from the beginning could tell the public when on earth the people of this country invited PC volunteers to turn up here with much enthusiasm and applause.

Was this what the acting director was told by the UNP leaders and Washington-worshippers or did she spot jubilant Sri Lankans lining the streets and waving the stars and stripes as though this was their last opportunity to pray to their favourite deity. In fact did the people of this country even know that our Washington worshippers in the NUG were planning to plant volunteers in their midst, one purpose for their presence being to teach our people English in the name of furthering development.

Good heavens! What kind of English would they be teaching? Here are people who cannot correctly spell labour or colour and pronounce route as rout, which as you know, has an entirely different meaning. Route and rout in the English language mean two different things.

This mix up is so evident even in Sri Lanka. If you step into one of the computer spares shops and inquire about a router (pronounced rooter naturally) you might well be asked  Sir rowter ekak the hoyanney? as has happened to me and some friends.

It is bad enough that we are producing generations so accustomed to transmitting messages by twitter and other abbreviated means such as U for you that the art of constructing meaningful sentences as in the past is fast disappearing. Add to this phenomenon American argot in shorthand and one ends up with a meaningless concoction.

But teaching Americanisms is the least of our worries. At a recent media briefing our former permanent representative to the UN in Geneva and later ambassador to Cuba Tamara Kunanayakam made a tangential reference to the impending presence of the Peace Corps in Sri Lanka and the inherent danger that this poses irrespective of all the plaudits offered for the work it has done in different countries.

Kunanayakam also referred to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sens threat to kick the peace corps out of his country in a tit-for-tat response to Washingtons refusal to issue visas for high-ranking Cambodian diplomats and their families. Hun Sens move was one of several he was toying with as Americas usual strong hand tactics against small and weak states increased in intensity.

It might be remembered that during the Vietnam war the US illegally bombed Cambodia without ever having officially admitted to having done so. Though Cambodia accused some volunteers of interfering in internal politics, there was an interesting case about a decade ago in Bolivia where some peace corps volunteers publicly exposed US embassy officials  obviously CIA or other intelligence officers  of urging them to spy on Venezuelans and Cubans present in Bolivia.

US embassy officials in Bolivia asked PC volunteers and a Fulbright scholar to basically spy on Cubans and Venezuelans in the country, according to PC volunteers and the Fulbright scholar who publicly denounced the embassys attempts to turn them into informers and, more so, into spies.

This exposure resulted in the US diplomat being kicked out of Bolivia and the story making big news in the US, Latin America and in countries that always suspected Washington of running a dirty tricks department as some called it. I was told to provide the names, addresses and activities of any Venezuelan and Cuban doctors or field workers I came across during my time here, the Fulbright scholar John Alexander van Schaick told ABC News in an interview at the time.

His account matched that of PC volunteers and staff who claimed that the previous July an entire team of new volunteers was instructed by the same US embassy official in Bolivia to report on Cuban and Venezuelan nationals in Bolivia. This is only the tip of the iceberg. How many PC volunteers, individually or as teams have been ordered out of countries that accepted them in good faith only to find spies in their midst. Prime Minister Sirima Bandaranaike kicked the PC out after she became prime minister in 1970.

The return of the Peace Corps in 2019 might be more than fortuitous with the presidential and parliamentary elections only months away.

Said US Ambassador in Sri Lanka Atul Keshap about the Peace Corps Our volunteers embody and promote the ideals of equality, shared prosperity and common interests in a peaceful, stable world.

This world knows all about US attempts to create a peaceful and stable world. The quickest way, Washington has found, is to bomb everybody to hell and back -civilians and all  while preaching morality to others. Perhaps they have a trump card ready for use against the small and weak nations  the smaller and weaker the better.Strong undercurrents are once again rocking the shaky relations between the two coalition partners  the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the United National Party (UNP).

This is notwithstanding a deceptive lull and momentary distractions. They were caused first by the ethnic violence in the central hills. Though the violence is now under control, despite solemn pledges to end it in a week, the State of Emergency continues creating confusion in world capitals, spawning in its wake the worst publicity in recent times for Sri Lanka and its rulers.

They are also still limping after shooting themselves in the foot over the ill-advised ban on the social media. The same leaders vowed when in Opposition not to destroy the post office or kill the postman merely because a man commits suicide after receiving a letter from an estranged girlfriend. Yet, the heat from the bad publicity was far too much to bear. Lost on them, is a possible overload of bad information in the weeks and months to come, swallowed either by arrogance of power or the ignorance of good governance.

The other was the absence of President Maithripala Sirisena from Sri Lanka. He was in New Delhi for the first international solar summit and then on a six-day state visit to Japan. There were paradoxes in his sojourn abroad. The political heat generated by the first phase of the ministerial reshuffle of UNP Ministers, as tame as it could be, drew public attention. The focus was on the next phase, the changes in portfolios of those in the SLFP. The deadline of two weeks passed. There was no word on it. In Japan, a highlight of the visit was a forum for investment where at least some of the movers and shakers of that countrys commerce and industry were present.

If those in the Sri Lankan side wished that would simply open the floodgates for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), there is little doubt those on the opposite side also would have had their own wishes. That sure would have included hope that the ethnic violence did not occur in the Kandy District leading to the declaration of a State of Emergency. It did cast doubts on the countrys stability and how badly the law and order machinery worked. It also would have included hopes there was no quarrelling among coalition partners thus creating a conducive climate for investment. Alas, this was not to be. What would remain are memories of the social niceties extended to the Sri Lankan delegation and the colourful parades by the defence forces. Thus, another chapter would end. Sirisena was due in Colombo last night and will no doubt face a string of newer issues.

Last Tuesday, at the Borella residence of Tiran Alles, a former MP and businessman, a group of politicians met. They were representatives of the 'Joint Opposition' and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) which is led by President Sirisena. Among those representing the 'JO' were: Dullas Allahapperuma, Namal Rajapaksa, Mahindananda Aluthgamage and Vasudeva Nanayakkara. Those representing the SLFP included Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, Minister Susil Premjayantha, State Minister Dilan Perera and Lakshman Wasantha Perera.

Moves to oust PM

The subject of discussion was on moving a Vote of No Confidence on Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. It was not lost on those who took part that the move was an uphill task and required a majority vote. That was to clear the first hurdle, in ousting the Premier. If it was the formation of a new Government thereafter, they had to demonstrate the support of 113 MPs in Parliament. In an apparent bid to ensure there was no egg on their face if the motion was defeated in Parliament, those present agreed that the motion should be sponsored jointly by the JO and the SLFP. They also chose to explore whether even two or three UNP parliamentarians could be called upon to sign the motion. Some claimed that a handful had voiced support but their identities were being kept a secret. One of the backers of the motion declared that it was to keep the news away from a Mr Money Bags who was closely watching possible UNP defections. There were fears he may thwart them.

The gathering decided that signatories to the motion both from the JO and the SLFP should first be prominent persons on both sides. Another move agreed upon is for the SLFP parliamentarians including Ministers to sign a letter to be handed over to President Sirisena upon his return. The letter is to convey that they would together support the Vote of No Confidence in Parliament since it was difficult for them to work with Premier Wickremesinghe in a Government. Though the sponsors argued their move would strengthen the hand of Sirisena, some ministers have so far shied away saying they would consult Sirisena first. That included Mahinda Samarasinghe and Sarath Amunugama.

Assuming some significance is the decision by the JO leadership which met on Wednesday to endorse decisions made at the Alles residence. The de facto JO leader Mahinda Rajapaksa, contrary to previous reports that he was not in favour of the motion, was supporting it. He told the Sunday Times we will go ahead with the Vote of No Confidence against the Premier. Though it was originally planned by the Joint Opposition, we will now get the support of Government MPs too. We (SLPP) have only 52 MPs and we will require broad based support. Asked whether any UNPers were among the signatories, Rajapaksa replied, I am not sure. I have heard that there were three but I cannot confirm.

President Rajapaksa said the collection of signatures from MPs had already begun. For the SLFP, the move, one of the sponsors said, was being spearheaded by Ministers S.B. Dissanayake, Susil Premajayantha, Deputy Speaker Thilanga Sumathipala and State Minister Dilan Perera. At least seven SLFP parliamentarians were told this week that their signatures would strengthen the hands of President Sirisena to ask Premier Wickremesinghe to step down.

The collection of signatures notwithstanding, the Vote of No Confidence is an uphill task. At the JO leaders meeting, one source said, minor changes were made to the proposed motion. In a bid to draw support from as many sections as possible, including those who are functioning as independents in Parliament, the catalogue of complaints against Wickremesinghe centres entirely on the Central Bank bond scam except for two issues  mismanagemen ot the economy and inaction over the ethnic violence in the Kandy District. They include:

For removing the Central Bank of Sri Lanka from the Ministry of Finance and bringing it under his purview.

For appointing Arjuna Mahendran, a non-citizen of Sri Lanka with a questionable reputation, as the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

For being openly associated with the bond scam which is the worlds biggest scam.

For making an attempt by appointing a Committee (Pitipana Committee) of political supporters to save wrong doers in the Central Bank bond scam.

For protecting wrong doers in the Central Bank bond scam by suppressing facts and making a misleading statement in Parliament on March 17, 2015.

For initiating moves to urge a member to resign and replacing him with another when the Parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) was probing the Central Bank bond scam.

For bringing pressure on members of the COPE that was probing the Central Bank bond scam.

For recommending to the Cabinet of Ministers the appointment of P. Samarasiri of the Central Bank for a post of advisor in the Ministry of Finance when there were indictments against him by the Commission of Inquiry that probed the bond scam.

For attempting to foist Arjuna Mahendran as the Governor of the Central Bank when the President was trying to appoint another.

For finding Arjuna Mahendran a post of Advisor when he was not re-appointed as Governor of the Central Bank.

For not taking action to prevent Arjuna Mahendran from leaving Sri Lanka and thus becoming a fugitive from justice.

Whats next?

Within the JO itself, the signature campaign notwithstanding, there are reservations in some influential sections. If the motion is defeated, their share of the blame would be deflected since the motion is being projected as a collective effort. In the currently unlikely event of the motion being passed by a majority of just one vote, it raises new questions. No doubt, the passage of the motion would empower Sirisena to remove Premier Wickremesinghe from office on the basis that he no longer commands the confidence of the majority of the House. Who will be in a position to demonstrate that he or she has a majority of 113 in the 225-seat Parliament to form a new Government? Therein lies the rub. None of the key players  the Joint Opposition, the SLFP or for that matter even the UNP  will be in a position to produce 113. Of course, the UNP is the largest party to win the parliamentary elections. The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is likely to back the UNP if push comes to shove.

Moreover, unlike the previously spoken no-faith votes, the new motion does not seek to foist any person in the office of the Premier. Earlier, senior SLFP Vice President Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva was named. Would that pave the way for a fragile minority Government? Those entertaining reservations ask whether their support for a motion would fritter away the victory they achieved at the local polls on February 10, should they lose a vote in Parliament. Protagonists, however, argue they should not miss the opportunity of educating the people on the dire straits the country has been placed in. Continued silence, they argued, would worsen the countrys economy and make people suffer more.

Those entertaining reservations about the Vote of No-Confidence also argue that the move, if it fails, would only strengthen the UNP. They say that if the UNP chooses to sit in the Opposition, a new leader could take over and infuse new blood into the party. They would then have a stronger political foe. One of those who holds such a view is JO Parliamentary leader Dinesh Gunawardena. He feels the UNP could close ranks to counter the motion and consolidate itself. Although the exact rationale behind the reasons to move the motion has not been spelt out, it is abundantly clear that the motion would lead to further instability in the Government as well as the country. Rajapaksa has made clear to Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) followers that the party would contest the upcoming Provincial Council elections under the Pohottuwa or budding flower symbol.

That by itself is a message that it was not willing to be a part of the governing apparatus, yet. Creating the right atmosphere appears to have been the reason for the recent one-on-one between Sirisena and Rajapaksa at the residence of a close relative of the former. Though it did not entail a detailed discourse on political issues, the cordial atmosphere, made clear that degollo athara vairyak nehe or there was no acrimony between the two. That spoke volumes, the source familiar with details of the meeting said, adding that one has to be not naive not to realise their respective political positions.

Beginning this week, Sirisena has a catalogue of unfinished tasks. One is to decide whether he would go ahead with the re-shuffle of his SLFP Ministers. Another is to decide whether or not to allow the Cabinet Committee on Economic Management (CCEM), which is chaired by Premier Wickremesinghe, to continue to function. He has already directed that all decisions of the CCEM be routed through the newly set up National Economic Council (NEC). This matter is expected to come up before the weekly ministerial meeting on Tuesday.

It is in this backdrop that he would have to view the letter from his own SLFP parliamentarians and ministers informing him that they would support the Vote of No-Confidence against Premier Wickremesinghe. Sirisena has made no secret of the fact that he is unable to work with the present Premier. He, in fact, called upon Wickremesinghe to step down only to be reminded that the Premier cannot be removed under the (19th Amendment to the) Constitution except by Parliament.

Senior SLFPers believe that Sirisena was likely to discuss with Wickremesinghe the new developments if he is convinced that a No-Confidence Vote will be carried through in Parliament by majority vote. This is to determine his position and whether he would step down. Otherwise, they say, it was likely that the motion would be put to test in Parliament. Whichever way it plays out, another political crisis is now waiting to happen.

Multimillion dollar MiG deal: Focus on fake contract but real story emerges now Multimillion dollar MiG deal: Focus on fake contract but real story emerges now FCID launches all-out search for Weeratunga, obtains court orders on his properties and accounts On a bitterly chilly wintry morning in the Ukranian capital of Kiev last year, an investigation team from the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) sat down to a conference with officials. Present were the countrys Prosecutor General and top officials of Ukrinmarsh, the state agency that exports military products and related equipment. The FCID team leader, Senior DIG Ravi Waidyalankara, who is the head of the FCID, asked a senior official of Ukrinmarsh about the sale to Sri Lanka of MiG 27 fighter jets and a trainer to the Sri Lanka Air Force. What sale? he asked and exhorted there has been no sale of any MiG-27 aircraft to Sri Lanka from us. There never was. How then did claims arise that there has been a Government-to-Government deal to procure these MiG-27s in 2006? In fact, a voluminous document said, CONTRACT BETWEEN THE SRI LANKA AIR FORCE FOR AND ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF SRI LANKA AND M/S STATE SELF-SUPPORTING FOREIGN TRADE AND INVESTMENT FIRM UKRINMARSH (SUBSIDIARY OF UKRSPECTSEXPORT) UKRAINE The answer  the so called contract of July 26, 2006 is fictitious and was not the real one. So is the reference in the fake contract to a Designated Party  Bellimissa Holdings Ltd., 2nd Floor, 145-157 St. John Street, London. This was just an office with a desk and a table and fund remittances ended up in a secret bank account in British Virgin Islands (BIV). These are the startling findings made during a near three-year long investigation into the reported procurement by the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) of four MiG-27 aircraft (costing US$ 9.848 million), overhauling three more MiG-27s and one 23 UB trainer (costing US$ 4.128 million) plus a transport cost of US$ 700,000. The fake agreement listed the Commander of the Air Force as the buyer and the seller as Ukrinmarsh. Not only did Ukrinmarsh deny selling any MiG 27s to the SLAF at anytime, but the FCID investigations have now revealed that they did so to Bellimissa Holdings Ltd. which ran from a dead letter address in London. Confirming this fact was official documentation forwarded by BVI Financial Investigation Agencys Dirk Walters regarding Bellimissa Holdings (Pvt.) Ltd. Their report to the FCID has also been authenticated by BVI Attorney General Departments, Sarah Potter-Washington. Bellimissa Holdings have been registered at the Offshore Incorporation Centre, Tortola, British Virgin Islands.

The Directors of this company are named as Lee Thian Soo (Singapore National Registration Identity Card No 1180208 G) and NG Lay Kim Soo (NRIC No 1426375). The company secretary has been named as Lymkim Lark (NRIC No 80079880 F). On May 23, 2006 the two directors have moved amendments to the Memorandum of the Company to include sale and repairs of military and security equipment, explosives, firearms, ammunition, aircraft, warships and electronic equipment. Who are these Singaporean nationals involved in the MiG-27 deal? Lee Thian Soo has been the Managing Director of D.S. Alliance, Singapore  the company which had previously supplied MiG-27s under a contract with the SLAF. The FCID has found that the Ukrainian authorities had signed two different agreements with D.S. Alliance (through Bellimissa Holdings) to which the Sri Lanka Air Force has made payments. Bellimissa Holdings had in fact been a front company of D.S. Alliance. An FCID report said, it has been observed that the Director of Ukrinmarsh Dmitry Alexandrovich Perugodov, Sri Lankas Former Ambassador to Russia Udayanga Weeratunga, the Singaporean company D.S. Alliance Pvt Lte Managing Director Lee Thian Soo (T.S. Lee), Bellimissa Holdings Ltd. representative Kykola Kuldyrkaive and Sri Lanka Air Force officers have been involved in the financial misappropriation and conspiracy and aiding and abetting in misappropriation. Investigations have revealed that a total payment of US$ 15,665,437.24 has been paid by the Sri Lanka Air Force under agreement SLAF/2006/07/AIR to Bellimissa Holdings Ltd. The agreements between D.S. Alliance Pvt Lte and Ukrinmarsh (certified copies of which have been obtained by the FCID), has been for US$ 7,833,000. Accordingly, FCID investigations have revealed that Udayanga Weeratunga, together with the others who have been identified by them, have caused a loss to the Sri Lanka Government amounting to US$ 6,831,344.24 due to financial misappropriation. On Friday, the Fort Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne issued an open warrant for the arrest of Udayanga Weeratunga. Whilst trying to travel from Dubai to the United States of America, using Sri Lankan Passport No D 3643585 which has been blacklisted by the Controller of Immigration, he was detained at the Dubai Airport. The passport was taken into custody. Details of this passport were revealed exclusively in the Sunday Times (political commentary) of May 8, 2017 At that time, only an Interpol blue notice had been issued. He had been released on the grounds that he presents himself when required. His fingerprints, address and telephone numbers had been obtained and the passport confiscated. In the meantime on February 12, Weeratunga had been asked to report to the Criminal Investigation Department in Dubai. He had not done so. His phone number had been disconnected and no one had been present at the address given. D.A. Perugudov, who signed the agreement on behalf of Ukrinmarsh had later disappeared from Ukraine. After a worldwide search, Ukranian authorities located him at an address in Paris. He has since been arrested by the Ukranian authorities. The FCID has obtained a string of court orders to prevent Weeratunga from selling or transferring of property in the Gampaha District, an apartment complex in Colombo and is awaiting details of a remittance of over Rs 20 million to a local bank account. Among the countries in which searches for his foreign bank accounts are now under way are the United States, Hong Kong, Singapore and Latvia. The original fake agreement (SLAF/2006/07/Air) has gone missing from Air Force Headquarters. The FCID has already fixed responsibility on an officer who has been identified. The FCID is now in consultation with the Attorney Generals Department on the action that has to be taken with regard to this particular officer. The FCID has, however, obtained another certified copy of the same fictitious agreement which has been filed in court as a production. It was the Sunday Times that exclusively revealed the MiG-27 deal during a series of exposures starting in 2006.Resurgence of communal violence threat to tourism, FDI and balance of payments View(s):

The recent communal violence has raised apprehensions on its repercussions on the economy. Although the violence was restricted to three areas in Ampara, Kandy district and Gintota, and its direct impact on economic activities was minimal, the fears of further communal violence has serious implications for the economy.

The violence has already affected tourism adversely and is likely to deter foreign investment, increase international borrowing costs and could cause a capital outflow. All these would affect the countrys balance of payments adversely at a time when a balance of payments surplus is vital for enabling the massive debt repayment in 2019. This setback has also come about at a time when an improvement in the balance of payments was expected owing to a growth in exports, tourist earnings and other services. This years economic growth could slow down.

Balance of payments

The resurgence of communal disturbances is likely to affect the balance of payments adversely though is by no means confined to it. However, in view of the very large foreign debt repayments in 2019, the reduction of the balance of payments surplus or incurring a deficit would increase the difficulties of debt repayment. Therefore this space focuses on the impact of the communal violence on the balance of payments.

The importance of generating a significant balance of payments surplus to ease the very large foreign debt repayments of about US$4.2 billion in 2019 cannot be over emphasised. It is vital for the countrys balance of payments to achieve a higher surplus than last years US$2 billion to reduce foreign borrowing for debt repayment.

Trade, tourism and IT

The key to improving the balance of payments is an improvement in the trade balance, increased earnings from tourism and enhanced earnings from services, especially information technology (IT). Workers remittances that offset about 70 percent of the trade deficit is not likely to increase.

Trade balance

A reduction of the trade deficit from US$9.6 billion last year to around US$8 to 8.5 billion this year is of critical importance to improve the balance of payments. This is a realistic expectation provided the government maintains fiscal and monetary policies that do not encourage imports. On the other hand, exports are expected to increase to US$13 to 14 billion. The Export Development Board expects exports to exceed this and reach US$15 billion.

The weakness in last years trade balance was in imports that increased to as much as US$21 billion. There were extenuating reasons for this increase. Increased food and fuel imports due to the prolonged drought was one reason. In the case of fuel imports it was also due to higher prices.

Normal harvests are expected this year and consequently rice and wheat imports are likely to be reduced. There is doubt that fuel import costs could be reduced. Although there could be an increase in hydrogenation of electricity, increased demand for electricity would require higher imports of petroleum and coal. Furthermore the option of containing domestic demand for electricity by increased consumer prices is not a realistic option for the government whose popularity has plummeted and requires to be restored by populist measures such as the reduction of the cost of living. Furthermore, there is little prospect of international oil prices falling.

Some other intermediate goods imports too may rise owing to increased production of exports like garments. This is not an unfavourable development as the increase in such imports results in increased exports by a higher amount. Imports that are for non-essential consumption must be restrained. Regrettably some fiscal measures, such as the reduction of duties on electric cars and the granting of duty free permits will increased imports.

If the import bill could be reduced by one billion US dollars to US$20 billion, it could assist the trade balance and the balance of payments. However the better prospect is of an improvement in exports that have been on a rising trend from March 2017. In January 2018 exports reached nearly US$1 billion. If this trend continues then exports could reach around US$12 billion and the trade deficit contained at around US$8 to 8.5 billion. The lower trade deficit would enable a significant current account surplus despite workers remittances and earnings from tourism not increasing.

Tourist earnings

The recent outburst of communal violence is a serious setback to tourism. Unfavourable travel advisories, media coverage of the violence and social media accounts and photos are serious discouragement to choosing Sri Lanka as a holiday destination. There are reports of cancelled hotel bookings and flights. Although tourist earnings were expected to increase significantly this year, from that of last years US$3.6 billion, this is unlikely in the current situation. This setback is serious for the balance of payments.

It is important to restore peaceful conditions and build confidence about the safety of the country for foreigners. And that this must be conveyed globally. Although this is an uphill task for some time, it is important for the longer run interests of the economy.

Workers remittances

Workers remittances have been the most important source of earnings for the balance of payments. They have offset as much as 70 percent or more of the trade deficit. Regrettably, workers remittances have been decreasing in recent months owing to both political conditions and depressed incomes in many Middle Eastern countries. In 2017, this trend continued with remittances declining to US$7.2 billion.

The implication of this is that lesser reliance has to be placed on the contribution of remittances to the balance of payments in the near future, as the factors reducing these remittances are beyond our control. However, if violence against Muslims erupt again, it can endanger employment in Middle Eastern countries. Recurrence of anti-Muslim violence could lead to import embargos from Muslim countries that are substantial importers of our tea.

IT services

Much higher earnings are expected from IT services that have shown an increasing trend and are not affected by the recent violence. In view of the reversal of tourism and reduction in workers remittances, there should be more reliance on increasing exports of IT services. Earnings from IT services are expected to increase to about US$1.5 billion this year from below a billion dollars last year.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

Foreign direct investment that has been low must be increased substantially as such inflows not only provide support for the current balance of payments, but enhances exports in subsequent years. A significant increase in FDI was achieved last year though not in industries that produce tradable goods. The violence, political instability and uncertainty is not conducive for higher FDI inflows.

Concluding reflections

The economy would have a serious setback if peaceful conditions are not restored. Durable communal harmony is vital for Sri Lankas economic development. Other multi-ethnic and multi-religious societies in Asia, such as Malaysia and Singapore, have achieved harmonious conditions that have contributed much to their economic development. Can we emulate them? Or will we take the road to Myanmar.Womens Rights; and the wrongs View(s):

The International Day for Women was marked worldwide last week, but the unfortunate events in Kandy and its environs took the focus away in Sri Lanka.

Much is said on March 8 each year to celebrate the usually underplayed role of women in society as well as their trials and tribulations all over the world. Women in each country have their own issues, and then there are those common to all womankind. Given the fact that Sri Lankan women got the right to vote before many women in other countries, it is ironic that in Sri Lanka there is currently a complicated headache over getting a quota of women representatives into local government councils. That men had to work out the mathematical solution to this may well be the reason.

Receiving Universal Adult Franchise as far back as in 1931, Sri Lanka was way ahead of its time. It was a remarkable achievement in that era, when even Indian women had to wait till the country gained Independence to get their right to vote. Women in economically advanced countries like France, Italy, Switzerland and those like China and Brazil, won that right long afterwards. Some West Asian countries have yet to grant it to women even now in this 21st century.

But it was only after a long and somewhat bitter struggle by suffragettes in Britain and the United States that this right was won not long before it was granted to Sri Lankan women. It was the Donoughmore Commission under British colonial rule that said; though the position of women in the East has not, till recent years, been suitable for the exercise of political power, that position is rapidly changing and the demand for the vote was put before us by a large and representative deputation of Ceylonese ladiesthe procedure we contemplate will establish the principle of sex equality. There is much to be said, moreover, in favour of a procedure which will throw on to the women themselves the responsibility for making efforts to influence public opinion in Ceylon.

The franchise given to Sri Lankan women has been internationally acclaimed for the many progressive achievements, not least the fact of low infant mortality rates, child care and a well-organised midwife system. It was therefore not surprising that women politicians of yesteryear especially from the Left Movement came to the forefront in public affairs and Sri Lanka could eventually boast of having the worlds first female Head of Government.

Yet by and large, national politics was left in the hands of men. The rot that set in, however, cannot be entirely blamed on those men considering the fact that we had a woman Executive President as well.

Women in Sri Lankan society now have multiple issues before them. Gender inequality; conditions for women in employment; promotions in the corporate ladder; equal pay for equal work; sexual harassment and sexual exploitation are no strangers to Sri Lanka as much as they are issues around the world.

It is reported that the worlds sex slave trade made US Dollars one billion in profits annually which is more than the profits of Intel, Google, Nike, Microsoft and Starbucks combined. The refugee crisis in Europe has added to the numbers. In Sri Lanka, a separate night economy is flourishing with spurious spas and health clinics where women are exploited operating with the connivance of the local Police. Yet it is only when women are allowed to buy a bottle of beer that political high-ups move at the speed of summer lightning to stop it.

A fortnight ago, this newspaper published a detailed report by the United Nations Population Fund (formerly the UNFPA) and the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Kelaniya which did the first ever study on unnatural deaths of Sri Lankan women.

The report came out with some startling hitherto unknown facts about a dark part of Sri Lankan society. It said that 36 percent of homicides of women were caused by husbands, lovers and ex-lovers and 21 percent by blood relatives. Eight percent of the victims had reported IPV (Intimate Partner Violence) at least once, and three percent more than thrice.

These statistics point out to most homicides of women being connected to family disputes, robbery and/or previous enmity. Suicides were also related to these issues common in Sri Lanka. Sometimes family disputes extended to matricide and even infanticide.

With this data under their collective arms, all women activist groups must band together to take a holistic view of the situation and pressurise Governments present and in the future to act, faster.

While most of the above issues deal with the women here at home, those often forgotten are the hundreds of thousands of Sri Lankan women working abroad, especially in the harsh somewhat inhospitable West Asian countries. Just last week, newspapers reported the death by shooting of a Sri Lankan housemaid at the hands of a mentally deranged employer in Saudi Arabia.

We have said repeatedly that successive Governments have not done enough for these women who work overseas, for decades. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been a total let-down in not sending the required number of Foreign Service cadres to Sri Lankan missions in West Asia. Recently, when the Government took the correct step of appointing a woman Minister for Foreign Employment, she was removed in the recent reshuffle for no reason other than to give a vociferous young Minister with two important ministries already under his belt, a third, because he kept complaining he couldnt give jobs to anyone from his district.

Foreign employment is not about politicians doling out jobs. It is largely about the welfare of these workers, who send about US dollars seven billion annually in foreign currency back home and without whose labour, the tottering Sri Lankan economy would sink. Last week, our Business Desk referred to the Government missing the woods for the trees by giving awards for job agents rather than looking into the welfare of the workers. Everyone knows this is for the politicians to cosy up to job agents to give employment to their supporters.

Sri Lankas Womens Affairs Minister addressed the UN and the Human Rights Commission marked International Womens Day with the theme a World without Her rolling out statistics that 60 percent of the University students are now women and so is 35 percent of the labour force. The informal sector (garments and estates) is dominated by women. It will be timely if they draw inspiration from those courageous large and representative deputation of Ceylonese ladies of yesteryear, who prevailed on the colonial Donoughmore Commission to win their rights, and pave the way for women to take their rightful place in Sri Lankan society.UGC facilitates WB funded AHEAD project at Sri Jayewardenepura University View(s):

A World Bank ( University Grants Commission (UGC) project, Accelerating Higher Education Expansion & Development (AHEAD) was launched by University of Sri Jayewardenepura (UoSJ) Vice Chancellor (VC) Prof Sampath Amaratunge, at its Faculty of Graduate Studies.

WB Lead Economist Dr Harsha Aturupane, AHEAD Director Prof P.S.M. Gunaratne, Prof Arosha Adikaram, Dr Kumudika Boyagoda and Dr Romola Rassool addressed the Deans and members of theacademic staff present at the meeting, explaining the proceedings of the project, the UoSJ said.

VC Prof Amaratunge said this 5-year project should be the Buzz word of the University for the next five years.

Apart from the 7 Faculties at the University, we have 17 Research Centres which are required to present their Research progress to the Council every year. We have developed our Research fund to Rs 400 million, since its inception the VC said.

He said the Asian Development Bank recently granted US$ 500 million for the development of the Faculty of Engineering.

AHEAD Director Prof Guneratne said the project will work under a funding of US$ 100 million for the next 5 years, while stressing that this is not the first time the WB has visited the University. There had been 2 other programmes conducted in the University, which brought it immense positive results, the University said.

Due to the success of these programmes, the new project has received an increase of more than 50%, from the most recent HTC programme, which was allocated US$ 40 million, he said. Dr Harsha Aturupane in his presentation, stated that the ultimate result of this project is to uplift the Sri Lankan economy. The AHEAD projects Results Area (RA) is threefold:

 Results Area I: Increasing Access to Higher Education (HE) in priority areas for Economic Development

 Results Area II: Improving the quality of HE

 Results Area III: Promoting Research, Development and Innovation.

RA I intends to increase enrollment into Universities, with priority to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEMS), and ultimately increase the number of PhD-qualified university academics.

RA II focuses on improving the quality of HE by strengthening the Quality Assurance and Accreditation System with modern global trends, implementing the Sri Lanka Qualifications Framework, blend academic excellence with the promotion of Socio-emotional skills. RA II is further divided into 3 strategic focus groups:

1. Enable Degree programmes to reflect high standards of academic quality (comparable to UMIC and OECD)

2. Produce graduates with socio-emotional skills to fit into the world of work at various levels

3. Produce graduates who will participate in the labour market (specially focusing on women, as their workforce participation is low)Birthday gift to Father of Lankan cinema Vaishnavee View(s): View(s):

Dr. Lester James Peries latest story made into a film by Sumithra Peries, Vaishnavee (The Goddess) will be released on April 5, coinciding with the birthday of Dr. Peries, the Father of Sri Lanka cinema.

Vaishnavee, is a fantasy set in 1930s Sri Lanka. A puppeteer is arranged to be married to a young girl, but after she elopes with her lover, the grieving man carves a puppet in her likeness that comes to life, setting in motion a fantastical chain of events.

The film stars Yashoda Wimaladharma and Thumindu Dodantenna in the lead supported by Vasanthi Chathurani, Jayalath Manorathne, Veena Jayakodi, Rohana Baddage, Mahendra Perera and Iranganie Serasinghe. Technologically the film is a landmark in Sri Lankan film industry as it is the first film to be shot with the latest Red Epic camera, creating the foundation for next generation digital cinema in the country.

Behind the screen, Donald Karunarathne is the cinematographer, Surangani Wijewickrama is the costume designer and it is the last script written by award winning script writer Tony Ranasinghe.

The film will be released at Regal cinema Colombo and number of other theatres including cinemas of the CEL circuit.Blue Wave Hotel: Introduces luxury living in Arugam Bay By Sanath Weerasuriya View(s): View(s):

For years, Sri Lanka was trying hard to come out of Beach Destination tag for the sake of other attractions. Sri Lanka is the only country in the world blessed with almost every natural attraction in the entire globe compact into 65,000 square kilometres. That is why once, the world renowned scientist/ writer Arthur C. Clarke noted that a lifetime would not be enough to explore the nature, beauty people, history and art of Sri Lanka.

Out of popular beach destinations, what could be a better place than Arugam Bay, one of the worlds top ten surfing destinations to talk about.

Located in the heart of Arugam, Blue Wave hotel offers modern and comfortable accommodation within a ten-minute walk to the famous Arugam Bay surfing area. The resort attracts surfing fans during peak season of June to October and peace lovers during the rest of the year.

Blue Wave is one of the biggest resorts in the destination Arugam Bay.

Blue Wave Hotel, started in November 2015, fills a major void for high end accommodation for the area, which was a great need as up-market tourist accommodation in the area, which is mostly limited to small hotels and guesthouses.

It is a popular resort not only for surf lovers, but adventure high end tourist visiting the deep south of the Eastern Coast looking for different cultures, adventure and wildlife.

The Blue Wave Hotel offers renowned service and comfort with its intimate 31 bedrooms including 30 deluxe rooms and one suite with modern amenities, free wi-fi, 24 hour service, a large swimming pool, a well equipped gym and open air restaurant.

The cuisine at Blue Wave Hotel is always on healthy and up market levels with fulfilling the guests requirements. Dine at open pool front restaurant with delicious seafood and Sri Lankan cuisine is an experience for everybody.

Our cuisine is always supervised by our team of Chefs. Blue Wave Hotel offers a vast range of local and international cuisines, an a la carte menu with signature and fusion dishes, BBQ facilities and we always cater to the guests requirements explained T.H.D. Denzil, the Executive Chef of the Resort.

There is no flexible meal times and we are always ready to accommodate their culinary requirements of the guests. Sea food is very popular, as hotel gets the fresh catch straight from the sea. Our seafood is never refrigerated and the freshness stays until the seafood is cooked Sous Chef Shiran added.

Nature and adventure lovers to the Blue Wave will be faced with a multitude of choices as the national parks  Kumana, Lahugala and Gal Oya are in close proximity.

Popular Buddhist Shrine Muhudu Maha Viharaya in Pottuvil, Komari -the legendary landing place of Queen Viharamaha Devi, Magul Maha Viharaya, Kudumbigala, Panama Village and Okanda are other attractions of the region.

For more details, call 0634929929, 0766929929 or log onto www.arugambayhotels.com

Pix by Ranjith PereraKeeping things simple By Purnima Pilapitiya A venture by three school friends into mens apparel, the 3.5.3 clothing brand takes a new look at the humble t-shirt View(s): View(s):

The formula for success has always been Simple. So, why embrace Complexity  reads the About section of 3.5.3s Facebook page. One of the newest clothing brands around, 3.5.3s philosophy is simple, like its focus- the t shirt. A venture by three school friends turned business partners, they introduced their dreams of becoming entrepreneurs to what we knew best- mens clothing, explains, partner Anish Thadani.

Based on their own experiences with shopping and the often overlooked t shirt, the enterprising trio knew they found their niche while browsing stores for their own apparel needs. Every store we went to had no plain t shirts, they explain. The concept behind a 3.5.3 t shirt was what they themselves as young 20 somethings would want to wear. We wanted to keep it simple but formal. Since their very recent launch the positive feedback has been the reaction to the solid coloured, plain t shirts which at the moment come in colours of white, blue, grey, burgundy, green and black (a limited edition)- with a new set of colours coming in with every new collection,

Their understated t shirt stays true to the laid back, minimalist approach the brand takes. But take a closer look and the detail to fabric, texture and fit is what makes a 3.5.3 t shirt ideal for day to night- casual or formal, but always unassumingly classy. Their secret they divulge goes back to the fabric and design. We are told they wanted it to be the perfect t shirtand so they went through four different blends before coming up with the perfect blend. Their ideal material is durable, wearable and ideal for the Sri Lankan climate. With their local market in mind, the fit was designed to be relaxed and catered toward the average Sri Lankan body type.

With just a week into business 3.5.3 has been off to a good start. The three man team hope to expand into womens wear and their current menswear line in the future, while sticking to their concept of simple over complex which is reflected in the reasonably priced t-shirt which goes at Rs.1300 for 1, Rs. 1100 for 6 and Rs. 1200 for 3.

For more information visit their Facebook page 353clothing, or 353clothing.com

Their office and pick up point is located at

15/2C, 10th lane,Kollupitiya,

Colombo 03.Russian Ballet School opens the floor for Lankan Ballerinas RUSSIAN CLASSICAL BALLET IN COLOMBO View(s): View(s):

As the heat for Russian Classical Ballet in Colombo keeps building up with each passing day, the Russian Centre in Colombo has been busy preparing two days of ravishing experiences for the lucky who will be seated at Nelum Pokuna Performing Arts Theatre on the 30th and 31st of March, 2018.

While it had been quite a challenge to once again welcome a Russian Classical Ballet Troupe to Sri Lanka, the Russian Centre team has been working day and night in ensuring that it will be a night to remember for the audience. The Russian Centre in Colombo is home to a group of local ballerinas that have been born and bred in its classes that teach them the ABCs of Ballet.

The blooming ideas of the team at the Russian School of Ballet was a contributing factor that encouraged Natalia Permyakova Chamber Ballet Troupe to offer two nights of enchantment with their moves. Enriching its society with the finest of art, Russia became home to some of the most notable Ballerinas in the history of theatre. The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Cinderella and the Sleeping Beauty are known to be some of the most momentous Russian Ballets in history.

It is an opportunity to witness the magical moves of these Ballerinas that leave you bewildered created by Russian Chamber Ballet under the direction of Natalia Permyakova.

The ballet school of the Russian Centre, soon catching up with its own title of Russian School of Ballet was initiated in the year 2001 by Galina Pleshakova, who was passionate in sharing her education of ballet with the young students in Sri Lanka. Currently, the students are taught under the guidance of Samantha Samararathne, Niluka Madurawala, Radisha Bodiyabadu, Lasni Subasinghe, along with its founder Galina Pleshakova.

The tickets for the Russian Classical Ballet on Colombo on the 30th and 31st of March, are priced at Rs 15,000/- , 10,000/- and 5,000/-.

The box plan is now available at the Russian Centre in Colombo, 10, Independence Avenue, Colombo 7, daily from 8.00 am. to 7.00 pm.Get those patients out of their pyjamas By John Nash For The Daily Mail View(s): View(s):

Englands chief nurse, Professor Jane Cummings, is leading a new campaign against a threat to the health of patients, particularly older patients, which she has called pyjama paralysis. In essence, this is the idea that wearing pyjamas reinforces the feeling of being unwell and slows down patients recovery.

Professor Cummings wants NHS nurses to get patients up and about and dressed in their own clothes as soon as is possible.

Last week, she issued nurses with a 70-day challenge, setting them a target of cutting bed rest by the equivalent of one million patient days between April 17 and June 26.

Her scheme exhorts nurses to identify patients who are ready to move out of bed and encourage them to change out of their pyjamas and get up and about.To many, this might seem counterintuitive; bed rest has been a staple of nursing care since the days of Florence Nightingale. However, research increasingly suggests that it can have negative effects.

A report by the National Audit Office (NAO) in 2016, for example, found that just ten days spent in bed can effectively age your body by the equivalent of ten years. This is due to a phenomenon called deconditioning, whereby a sustained lack of activity causes a sudden plunge in fitness levels.

Ten days of inactivity withers bed-resting patients leg and muscle strength by at least 10 per cent, says the NAO report. Meanwhile their heart and lung fitness  measured as aerobic capacity  drops by around 12 per cent. Furthermore, wearing pyjamas reinforces feeling unwell and can prevent a speedy recovery, argues Professor Cummings. Making the move to day clothes can shift a patients self-image from Im sick to Im getting better.

Obviously, each patients condition needs to be taken into consideration, she adds, but for many, its a matter of nurses enabling them to get up, get dressed and get moving. The initiative has been pioneered by Ann-Marie Riley, a nurse at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.

Unpublished research by the trust has found multiple benefits, particularly among older patients. We have found that getting patients up and about earlier is linked with a 37 per cent reduction in falls and 86 per cent fewer pressure sores, says Ann-Marie.

(C) Daily Mail, LondonFire destroys Properties worth Rs5m

Properties worth around Rs5 million were destroyed in a fire that spread in a Dalit settlement at Batarahi in Gramthan Rural Municipality, Morang on Friday.Emergency to be lifted Kandy mob attacks: Suspects to be charged and prosecuted under normal laws View(s): View(s):

President Maithripala Sirisena was due to rescind the State of Emergency last night immediately upon his return from Japan by signing the relevant gazette notification, sources from his office told the Sunday Times.

The State of Emergency was imposed on March 6, for the first time since 2011, in the aftermath of mob violence against Muslims in the Kandy district. The Presidents Office announced that it would be valid for seven days. The State of Emergency usually lapses in 14 days unless renewed by Parliament or rescinded.

The lifting of the Emergency takes away the powers granted to the military to make arrests; and the police will no longer have the authority to hold suspects under detention orders for up to 14 days. The police could, however, carry out arrests under provisions of normal law. All suspects held in terms of detention ordersincluding Mahason Balakaya leader Amith Weerasingheare now in remand custody.

The suspects were remanded in terms of the normal law, legal sources said. The allegations against them were in terms of Emergency Regulations offences and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Act, in effect since 2006causing racial hatred. There were also Penal Code offences such as causing mischief and damage and destruction to property.

They could be charged even though the Emergency would lapse, as the wrongdoings were offences when they were committed, the sources said. They would be charged under normal indicting powers of the Attorney Generals Department after investigations were completed.

Meanwhile, troops could be called in to perform police functions under Section 12 of the Public Security Ordinance. However, this was not done as it was not necessary, they said.

The troops were empowered to arrest suspects and hand them over to the nearest police station. No powers of detention or investigation were conferred on the armed forces. They provided security and patrolling while supplementing the work of the police as part of normal military functions. These do not require specific empowering through the law.

Over the last three weeks, despite having authority to do so, the military did not carry out arrests under Emergency regulations. Instead, these tasks were conducted by the police. Police have so far arrested 301 suspects in connection with the violence; 168 of them were arrested under Emergency Regulations. They were remanded till March 29 by two Kandy-based Magistrates.Govt. to curb hate speech on social media View(s):

The Government will introduce regulations to curb hate speech on social media, after seeking legal advice, said Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) of Sri Lanka Chairman Austin Fernando.

We are doing something, he told the Sunday Times yesterday. These gazettes cannot be done offhand, although people want us to act within 24 hours. Due process has to be followed within our system and that includes seeking input from the Attorney Generals Department. But we have to do some regulating and have discussed this also with our friends in Facebook (FB). We have to put it into legal form.

President Maithripala Sirisenas office collaborated directly with FB to draft a statement released by the Presidential Media Unit this week, announcing the lifting of the temporary social media ban, authoritative sources also revealed.

The paragraph that says, anyone propagating hate speech on Facebook, is liable under Sri Lanka Law, and prompt action will be taken as per Facebooks community standards, was drafted by them and approved by the Presidents office, the sources said, pointing out that the social media site accepted that stronger measures will have to be taken to curb hate speech on its platform. The statement was released as President Sirisena ordered the TRC to remove the temporary restriction to access FB and other sites. It said the Government will continue to work together with FB to prevent hate speech and misuse of the platform. It also said both sides will continue to engage extensively to discuss these matters.

The Government restricted access to some social media platforms and messenger services in order to curtail attempts to spread communal violence across the country, misusing the social media in a manner detrimental to national harmony, the statement said. Mr Fernando met representatives from FB this week to discuss the situation in Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, a FB spokesman told the Sunday Times that there was no evidence that the local FB mirror server or network infrastructure may have been interfaced or compromised by Government agencies, including intelligence. Chirantha Amerasinghe, a local network engineer, raised these concerns after being told over the telephone by TRC that it was monitoring and filtering FB traffic.

Mr Amerasinghe speculated that the agencies may be using man-in-the-middle attacks, defined as secretly relaying and possibly altering communication between two parties who believe they are directly communicating with each other.

I checked with my teams and there was nothing we could see to substantiate this claim, the FB spokesman said.Justice Achala Wengappuli appointed to Court of Appeal View(s):

There is no better institution than the Attorney Generals (AG) Dept. for any young lawyer to receive training in the practice of Law, and to instil in them a desire to adhere to Justice and fair play, said Justice Achala Wengappuli.

He was speaking at a ceremonial sitting of the Supreme Court recently, to welcome him as a Judge of the Court of Appeal.

Justice Wengappuli noted that, after joining the AGs Dept in 1993, his entire career there had been spent on the Criminal side, where he was involved in every aspect of Criminal litigation across courts islandwide. The foundation he received at the AGs Dept has stood him in good stead throughout his judicial career, he emphasized. He admitted that his initial reaction was to decline the ceremonial setting, but reconsidered because he was aware that formal occasions such as this, cement the partnership between Bench and Bar, and remind us that our common pursuit is the proper administration of justice.

He made a commitment to discharge the obligations of his office with honour and commitment and that, he would ensure his conduct in both, his official and private capacities, remain irreproachable.

On the Bench, I shall extend a fair hearing and courtesy to the members of the Bar. I am well aware that scrupulous care must be taken to preclude any perception of bias. I shall always bear in mind that judgements are sacred pronouncements determining peoples rights, and should not be delivered except after careful deliberation. I shall also exercise every diligence to ensure that I address the issues in dispute, comprehensively, and ensure that the reasons for my decisions are set out in a clear and cogent manner. I am well aware of the requirement for case management, and I shall take every step to ensure my decisions are timely, Justice Wengappuli further said.

Addressing the gathering, AG Jayantha Jayasuriya P.C., observed that the enthusiasm and keen interest Justice Wengappuli demonstrated in conducting prosecutions during his 14-year career at the AGs Dept, resulted in ensuring that justice was delivered to all parties, efficiently and effectively. As a High Court Judge, the skills and experience the Justice acquired at the AGs Dept also gave him courage to dispense justice equally and fairly to all parties, without fear or favour.

Your Lordships judicial career reflects qualities of a real Judge. A Judge who has commitment, interest and the capacity to dispense justice and enhance the quality of the administration of justice mechanism, Mr Jayasuriya said.

Welcoming Justice Wengappuli on behalf of the Unofficial Bar, Bar Association of Sri Lanka President U.R. De Silva P.C., expressed confidence that Justice Wengappuli would discharge his duties to the betterment of the countrys justice system. He pledged to give their fullest cooperation to the Justice, in this regard. Justice Achala Wengappuli took oaths as an Attorney-at-Law in 1990 and embarked on his judicial career under the guidance of Ranjith Abeysuriya P.C.. He jointed the AGs Dept as a State Counsel in 1993, and led prosecutions in many Criminal cases during his career there. In 2011, he was appointed a High Court Judge, and has also served as a Judge in the court system in Fiji. He is a past pupil of Lalith Athulathmudali Vidyalaya, Mt Lavinia and Royal College, Colombo. Justice Vengappuli holds a Master of Laws from the University of Colombo.MiG fraud: FCID finds startling new details View(s):

A near three-year investigation by the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) into the procurement of MiG-27 fighter jets for the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) has bared some startling details. Firstly, what was touted as a Government-to-Government Agreement between Ukrinmarsh, a military goods export firm in Ukraine, and the Commander of the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF), has turned out to be a fraudulent document.

The FCID has said that the Ukranian Prosecutor General has confirmed that there has been a financial misappropriation in the deal. Funds from the SLAF have gone to Bellimissa Holdings Limited. This company, as periodically revealed by the Sunday Times, only had an office address, with a chair and a table, in London. From there, the funds have been remitted to a secret account in the British Virgin Islands where the company had been incorporated.

In reality, the agreement with Ukrinmarsh has been with the Singapore based D.S. Alliance, which had supplied MiG-27 fighter jets to the SLAF earlier too. D.S. Alliance Managing Director Lee Than Soo (T.S. Lee) has been the main player in Bellimissa Holdings Ltd.

FCID investigations have revealed that Dmitry Alexandrovich Perugudov, then a Director of Ukrinmarsh, had signed on behalf of Ukrinmarsh. He had fled Ukraine thereafter. The Ukrainian authorities tracked him down at a Paris address and arrested him.

Highlights of the FCID findings appear in a box story in the political commentary.Nine CIMA employees allege they were threatened and forced to resign View(s):

The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) Sri Lanka branch is embroiled in controversy over the termination of the services of nine staff members under what these employees claim was severe duress.

The four women and five men have taken their case to the Narahenpita police and the Department of Labour in Sri Lanka. CIMAs US-based top management has also been notified. The organisation has a 50-year presence here and Sri Lanka is now its second largest market outside Britain, earning millions in membership and other fees.

The employees had tenures ranging from two-and-a-half to 26 years. They are aged between 29 and 53 and are managers, executives and non-executives. According to the police complaint, they were held hostage to prevent them from speaking to each other, lawyers or family members until they signed resignation letters drawn up on their behalf by CIMA.

They were also allegedly warned that they would not receive their statutory payments or a service letter unless they immediately complied. The Sunday Times received information related to the February 21 incident from external sources.

The employees have maintained that the resignation was obtained through false representations, intimidation, harassment, manipulation and under severe duress. The Sunday Times contacted Venkkat Ramanan, CIMAs Regional Vice President Asia Pacific, and Zahara Ansary, CIMA Sri Lanka Country Manager, for a response to the allegations. Mr Ramanan did not respond to an email and Ms Ansary neither answered her telephone nor acknowledged a text message.

All CIMA Sri Lanka employees were summoned to a meeting on February 21, according to details already on record. Mr Ramanan, Associate Director Human Resources (Asia and Australasia) Michael Lee and Lead Manager IT Support (Asia and Africa) Rajith Liyanage were present. One group of employees was instructed to go to the auditorium. The other group of nine was told the company had decided to retrench them as part of its global business transformation strategy.

The basis for selection was not given. They were ordered to surrender laptops, credit cards, cupboard and drawer keys and mobile phones provided by the company. They were notified that the process was being carried out in consultation with the Employers Federation of Ceylon (EFC) and that its representatives were present. However, authoritative Federation sources said neither their lawyers nor other staff members were present at the meeting.

The identified employees were then spoken to individually by three persons introduced as EFC representatives. Other workers were barred from the sections where these rooms were. The officials gave the shortlisted group a prepared resignation letter, a receipt of acceptance of resignation letter and a receipt of service letter. They also explained the scheme of compensation.

According to the police complaint, the EFC lawyers instructed each retrenched employee that they had no option but to sign the three letters. They also allegedly said it was the best option available to them; and that, if they did not agree, they would not be entitled to any compensation or service letter.

The employees were denied requests to consult lawyers or family members and were reportedly told they cannot leave the room unless they obeyed. They claim that everything happened so fast and under such intimidation and duress that they were shocked into signing the documents. They also received compensation cheques. They were then escorted to their desks like common criminals, and monitored while we were directed to gather up our belongings.

The process was led by three CIMA members, the employees say, violating ethics and good governance codes they are bound to follow as members.Politicos lawyers object to prosecution bid to present child rape victims statement as evidence View(s):

Lawyers for former Akuressa Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman Saruwa Liyanage Sunil, who has been accused of raping a minor, have strongly objected to a prosecution request to present as evidence before court, a statement made to the Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) by the alleged rape victim.

When the case was taken up before Colombo High Court Judge Sampath Wijeratne, Senior State Counsel Madhawa Tennakoon, leading the prosecution, requested permission to present as evidence, a statement made by the child victim to Assistant JMO K.I. Padmathilaka at the Matara General Hospital.

However, Defence Counsel Anil De Silva P.C., strongly objected to the request, arguing that presenting the statement made to the JMO as evidence, violates the provisions of the Evidence Ordinance. Counsel De Silva pointed out that the statement had been made about a month after the alleged incident and, as the JMO is recognised as an investigating officer in this case, presenting a statement made to him as evidence contravenes the Evidence Ordinance.

With due consideration of the arguments, Judge Wijeratne ordered the parties to present further legal arguments on March 22, stating he would give his ruling thereafter.Private bank bypasses CBSL freeze on PTL, Rs 400m of OD settled By Namini Wijedasa View(s): View(s):

The Attorney Generals (AG) Department has moved the Fort Magistrates court to issue an order on Perpetual Treasuries Ltd (PTL), Arjun Aloysius and Kasun Palisena to tender to court a comprehensive assets declaration in terms of a prepared template which includes references, not only to ownership, but to beneficial interest.

Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne reserved the order after Defence Counsel Jeewantha Jayatilleke objected. The AGs Department request came pursuant to submissions made to court by Additional Solicitor General Yasantha Kodagoda that WM Mendis and Company (WM M & Co) was using an overdraft (OD) facility given on one of its accounts at a leading private bank.

WM M & Co is among 24 Perpetual Group companies whose bank accounts were frozen earlier this year by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL). In total, the operations of around 100 accounts remain suspended. However, the information available to prosecutors led only to the freezing of these accounts.

They were unaware at the time of the existence of fixed deposits. The respective OD account was overdrawn beyond Rs 500mn at the time the CBSLs Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) froze the accounts of the Perpetual Group. Thus, it remained within the total overdraft facility accorded by this private bank to WM M & Co.

The bank then freed up to Rs 400mn from two fixed depositswhich were not frozen and partly resolved the overdraft amount by depositing that money into the OD account. This brought the banks exposure towards WM M & Co down to around Rs 150mn.

Prosecutors have now found they may need to go behind all the assets of the Perpetual Group because of such fluidity in transactions. Previously, only the accounts and assets of Perpetual Treasuries Ltd were frozen. The assets of WM M & Co were not similarly suspended  only their accounts were  as having done so would have been viewed as prosecutorial overreach.

Even now, it is difficult to justify before a court of law moving for the freezing of all assets of all subsidiaries of the Perpetual Group, including WM M & Co, unless a nexus can be shown between those assets and the earnings of PTL through the Treasury bond transactions, a senior legal source said, reiterating the difference between bank accounts and all assets including fixed deposits. This is why the CBSL has been advised to get a comprehensive forensic audit done.

Meanwhile, the private bank used contractual provisions of the OD facility without informing the CBSL. However, it was within its rights to do so and was possibly not obliged to reveal its actions. WM M & Co, judging by its use of the OD facility, appears to have been in financial difficulty before the suspension of accounts, the source said. The companys accounts were frozen because there was found to be a money trail from PTL to these accounts.

Prosecutors, therefore, proceeded on the footing that illegal earnings from the irregular bond transactions had gone from PTL accounts to WM M & Co. The company also allegedly used that track to pay informants and patrols.

Against some of the money that was channeled from PTL to WM M & Co, cash cheques had been drawn by WM M & Co and the money encashed by PTL employees and handed over to PTL CEO Kasun Palisena. That evidence was led by the AGs Department before the Presidential Commission of Inquiry.

Further debits from the OD account were frozen. However, depositing money into the OD account was not stopped. This facilitated the transactions that were taken up in court this week. Separately, two PTL accounts at the Central Bank containing a total of Rs 12.5bnincluding Rs 7.5bn in cash and the rest in securitiesremain frozen. They are likely to go towards confiscation and forfeiture when the prosecution is over and during final settlement of the matter.

Owing to the accounts freeze, 323 employees of WM M & Co, 40 employees of PTL and some others of associated group companies have not received salaries since January. However, the directors of PTL remain without disclosing their assets, including earnings and profit shares, through the controversial bond transactions.

Meanwhile, CBSL sources said a senior PTL official and the CEO of WM M & Co recently wrote to the regulator asking for permission to make third party payments due, including electricity bills. The grand total of Rs 300mn included a schedule of legal fees to be met since October 2017. Four lawyers have sent in invoices amounting to Rs 48mn, Rs 24mn, Rs 25mn and Rs 15mn respectively, they revealed. Some of the legal fees relate to representation before the Presidential Commission of Inquiry, the sources said, adding that CBSL is consulting the AGs Department on the requests.SLAF holds people-friendly 67th anniversary celebrations View(s):

The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) celebrated its 67th Anniversary recently, with a series of events including programmes to reach out to the people and allow them to experience its services.

Emphasis was also given to foster reconciliation and unity and to assist those in need, whose needs the SLAF had the wherewithal to fulfill.

The main event was Air Tattoo 2018, a continuation of the programme started last year at the 66th anniversary, when an Exhibition and Tattoo were held in Ratmalana and again in Vavuniya, with the objective of taking the SLAF to the people.

The SLAF said it was successful in reaching out to the people in Colombo and the Northern Province. It was the intention of SLAF Commander Air Marshal Kapila Jayampathy, that the next outreach would be in the East, to reach out to the people of the Eastern Province, and therefore, Ampara was selected as the venue for Air Tattoo 2018.

The event was declared open by Defence Ministry Secretary Kapila Waidyarathne P.C. Replete with Air Shows, Aerobatic Displays, Parachute Displays, a Display by Regimental Special Forces, an Air Dog Show, Band and Drill Display, Cultural Show and a Musical Extravaganza every day. The Tattoo was held on 3 consecutive days, with over 45,000 visitors each day.

The SLAF also had several Social Service projects including a programme titled Climb the Peak, Protect Nature, to help clear the large amounts of waste left behind by pilgrims. The SLAF Station at Mullaitivu carried out a Cleaning Programme at Mullaitivu Hospital, and also a Blood Donation Campaign.Appreciations View(s):

Her fragrance will remain in our memory

RUKIE EHELIYAGODA

As the curtain finally came down on March 19, last year, Rukie Eheliyagoda, at 90 years of age, stepped off the stage of life. Love that transcended biological ties was snuffed out leaving in her trail a colourful luminescence which the passing of time can hardly diminish.

My mother was content with herself just the way she was and allowed her soul the freedom to love, sing, dance and praise God. An exceptional feature in her character was her calm temperament taking everything with a smile, be it hard times or jubilant times; she was never tremulous or ruffled.

She was richly endowed with Joie de vivre and a radiant smile which glowed from within. Outward beauty and the beauty of the soul were both hers in abundance. She was a raconteur par excellence and together with her great sense of humour set alight a sparkle to her lively conversations. It is no secret that my mother endeared herself to anyone who met her for the first time within a few minutes.

She had an inseparable connection with her family that was deep and symbiotic. It was characterised by an axial relationship. Her family mattered to her the most, evidenced by the abundance of love, care and giving that surrounded her happy home of spouse, five children, four grandchildren and three great grandchildren. During my junior school days, I would constantly fall ill during exam times and each time, I never failed to find my mother armed with a flask of koththamalli and Disprin waiting near the school gate for the morning interval. She gave each of her 5 children her undivided attention, even as 4 out of the 5, came in pairs !

Hers was a life full of selfless care for others. Kindness, compassion and altruistic generosity rained like confetti. She offered a sincere and unbridled friendship especially in the darkest hours. Her heart remained flooded with kindness to the very end.

She possessed an indefatigable zeal for labouring in Gods Kingdom and was equipped with a seemingly inexhaustible supply of energy and enthusiasm.

Gods blessings beyond measure were showered on this gracious and indomitable lady from the beginning to the end of her glorious life.

During our growing up years, our home was filled with prayers as she would gather her family around her daily after dinner. Her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ was so deeply rooted that no storm in life ever succeeded in paralysing her faith. Her conversations hardly ended without her boasting of how great and good, the Lord was.

Her well lived and fulfilled life is our legacy. Her deep and unfathomable love was her gift to us and our endless fond memories of her is the comfort in our hearts that will linger on.

Charmaine Eheliyagoda Madurasinghe

A lady of grace and abundant talent

Dagmar Mendis

The grace of such womanhooda quality too precious to measure

She is a wife, who doth delight her husband; her abilities add strength unto him

Her children surround her and honour her

The beauty of so good a woman in her well- kept home is as the noonday sun shining in the Lords sky(adapted from Sirach Ch.26)

Stanzas of ancient wisdom which epitomize a life of grace and beautyof a woman of nobility. So I picture her in her beautiful home in times pastand more rarely in recent yearsas shades of twilight quietly shadowed her earthly life.

My thoughts must retrace in time to decades past to reminisce how well my mother and her siblings must have loved her. for it was at Westland House, Panadura, her holiday home, that young Dagmar  an only child- came to know long days of joy, bonding and sharing with kin and closest family. She was sister to all the children of Westland housea lifelong bonding which became a treasured bequest to us.

Pictured in memory too is aunty Dagmar in her gracious home at Inner Flower Road. Among those earliest reflections arise pictorial memories of her parents: a gracious lady, immaculately attired in chiffon saree, with countenance as fair as the dawn whom my parents called aunty Jessie whose hospitality was boundless, while her command over her household was amply reflected in her spotless abode embellished with shining crystal and burnished silver; and the aristocratic gentleman, oft seen lounging in his favourite chair amidst the greenery of his patio, lovingly called bappa who did hug us out of breath!Yes, Dagmar was the only child of William Nathaniel and Jessie Hendrina Goonewardene.

Perhaps the most benign presence was Dagmars well beloved husband- whom we came to know and love as uncle Ernest; a gentleman of the noblest qualities: quiet, gentle and truly good. Aunty Dagmar once recalled: he would never allow harsh words within the home not even a helper was to be reprimanded, but be quietly corrected with understanding. Though an advocate by profession, what I do more readily recall is his advent into Local Government politics; the quiet services of E.L.P. Mendis found favour both with his peers and the people he served, for he was bestowed the mantle of Deputy Mayor of the Colombo Municipal Council. His services there were quietly supported by Dagmar in several ways: worthy of mention is her work among basic womens groups, as with her home grown skills of culinary expertise, sewing, embroidery, lace making, she enabled them to acquire vocational- self employment skills; while the innovative talent competitions born of her organizational abilities, saw their gradual empowerment as worthy human beings.

Often accompanied by our father, we would participate at events at his kind invitation. Here within my mind profoundly arises the depth of affection the Goonewardene family had for so good a man for my uncle Roy did campaign so diligently for him- a candidate of the UNP, despite the familys fame for having brought forth distinguished pioneers of the Left Movement. Indeed, this bonding of Ernest Mendis with the Goonewardenes was eternal, for as was his wish, his ashes lie at rest within the family vaults at Panadura.

Yet, most profound was the eternal bonding of Dagmar and Ernest; as their son Prasanna once expressed at one of their many family celebrationstheirs was a love affair a deep companionship which would have gone on for ever if nature of life had not intervened Here comes to mind Dagmars many talents: Her culinary expertise was unmatched, her prowess as master baker and decorator was near legendary.. as it was she who was specially requested to create the celebratory cake for the opening of the new wing of the Colombo General Hospital(as it was then known) by Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike. It is said- though a miniature of the original, it was a detailed, researched, effort, guided by architectural expertise.

A fine anecdote accompanies so fine a creation: as the 50 kg. structure required an ambulance for transportation, its unnaturally slow journeying had given cause for curiosity as to the grave condition of the patient therein!

Another delightful attribute of Dagmar was her talent laced with humour and joy which she poured out in creative verse for happy occasions, good wishesand likewise in thanksgiving specially for those who helped her in times of need, as her children recall: doctors, nurses, attendants, helpers were so uniquely thanked Perhaps crowning all these talents, must have been her innate gift of music, she was a fine pianist with Diploma qualifications from Trinity College London a divine gift which bound Dagmar and Ernest in heavenly harmony. As their daughter Tarini says: I yet recall a fine baritone blend in unison with the beauty of the piano, to the strains of Oh! Danny Boy and Ill walk beside you

A life of grace and abundant talent which touched family, friend and her deep faith alike. On a personal note, I recall how often her home was our home not only on those delightful Christmas visits, but oh so often. Her fondness for my sister- her God daughter was lifelong symbolically expressed at her coming of age with an exquisite gift of a key-shaped cake, just as my sister requested! And to me- her piano was ever available for hours of practice. Surely, these grateful thoughts must find echo in the minds of friends, and the elders group of the Methodist Church Kollupitiya, where she joyously contributed so well.

The greatest delight within that gracious home remained her children; the eldest Prasanna, enshrining much of the quiet dignity of his father; Ianthe and Tarini diversely endowed with their mothers attributes; Ravi the much loved youngest!

Yes, to Dagmar, family was treasure now grown and extended, where each was uniquely valued with pride and joy and so as Sirach says .her children surround her and honour her and so they surely did, caring for her needs with depth of affectionwherein each passing decade of her life was meaningfully celebrated- the core of each celebration being a manifestation of a familys deep faith and thanksgiving unto God.

Mithrani

A tough cookie, but one with a compassionate heart

Mary Susila Elizabeth Devasirvadham

Susila Devasirvadham passed away on March 14, last year. She and I were the only children of Sam and Rose Devasirvadham.We were born in Colombo, when mom and dad were living at the Lock Gate Lane church annexe. I still remember Susilas baptism, the long white baptismal dress she wore, and the following year, in 1953, the train journey that brought us to Peradeniya as the University was started here.

Susila grew up in Kandy, and also for four years in South India while mother was doing her degree. She had several close friends in Girls High School, Kandy, who called themselves the Famous Five and have been close throughout their lives, one of whom came to visit her in the hospital. She joined the English Language Teaching Unit (or ELTU) of the University of Peradeniya, in 1982 and worked there until she retired six years ago. The University was the centre of her professional life. She was innovative and organized several exhibitions of students work, which were applauded by the university. They also gave her students new and challenging ways to express themselves in a language they were learning, and unleash their creativity.

Susila was also a bold teacher. One hot afternoon, when everyone was having a hard time staying awake, she decided to shake things up a bit. Stand up, she said to the class. Everyone struggled to their feet. Sit down, she said and everyone sat down. Stand up, she said again, and then Sit down, again. When the class had settled down she said now that you are wide awake, let us focus on the lesson. She said the whole class started laughing and they never had a problem after that.

She took her job very seriously and did not stand for any nonsense. Her spunk and determination made her a memorable teacher.

But Susila was no mere academic. She had a very compassionate heart and was a prolific writer to the newspapers on a variety of subjects including people she wanted to help. She worked with the Buddhist Society to find or build housing for some poor families. She arranged for a free eye clinic where several people in the village came and had their eyes checked and glasses fitted. She worked with the church to get someone a three-wheeler to make a living. She was involved in and wrote about the disabled, the poor, and many other causes.

When Susila came to the US in September 2016, she danced the baila at her nephews wedding and taught it to her nephew and nieces, and also to cook a wonderful dhal. She was a lover of animals. She petted deer in Idaho. She returned with several vitamins for dogs. She would approach the village dogs fearlessly and give them medicine hidden in food. Her trusted driver was charged with cooking chicken necks and feeding vitamins to all the strays around. In fact, every morning, her house was the target of a parade of dogs. Apparently she fed them all.

I found a lot about Susila through others. Even the workers at home said Madam baninawa,sarai;namuth api ganang gannena. Api dhannawa eyage hithaa adare kiyala. Apata hongak salakanawa. ( Madam scolds, is harsh, but we dont take it to heart. We know her heart is loving. She cares about us very much)

So they stayed with her faithfully to the end, without looking for other positions. Yes, she was a tough cookie; but beneath that tough exterior was a compassionate heart that cared about them and all living beings. So they loved her and were devoted to her.

She left a considerable part of her resources to the church, the elderly, the needy, cancer patient services, animal care, and to her loyal staff.

May Mary Susila Elizabeth Devasirvadham rest in peace with her mom and dad, Sam and Rose, whom she loved very much, and the hosts who came to greet her at her end.

D.M.J. DevasirvathamBon appetit a la French Embassy! By Hiranyada Dewasiri View(s): View(s):

The Gout de France or Good France is a culinary event that unites chefs from all around the globe for a celebration of French cuisine. Following the success of the past three years, the French Embassy of Sri Lanka is bringing this unique culinary celebration to Sri Lanka and Maldives on March 21 in collaboration with five local and one Maldivian restaurant.

On this day, Waters Edge with Chef Buddhika Samarasekera, The 1864 Restaurant and Wine Cellar at the Galle Face Hotel headed by Chef Sugath Vithanage, The Grill at Kingsbury Hotel headed by Chef Kithsiri De Silva, Ceylon Cafe with Chef Mickael Alexis, Brasserie at Movenpick Hotel Colombo headed by Chef Dinesh Perera and Sunset Pool Cafe at Hideaway Beach Maldives will feature special menus designed by the respective chefs in celebration of French gastronomy.

French Ambassador Jean-Martin Schuh announced the event at a recent news conference at the French Residence in Colombo.

More than 3000 restaurants, including 1500 chefs around the world will participate in the event. This years event will also be a tribute to French Chef Paul Bocuse and participating Chefs are invited to include one of Bocuses dishes or a dish inspired by him in their menus.

Frances cuisine is very much a part of the countrys heritage and contributes significantly to its image, with almost a third of foreign tourists visiting France for its gastronomical delights. Since November 2017, restaurants around the world have been invited to offer a menu showcasing Frances culinary traditions. The quality and coherence of the menus are ensured by an international selection committee of chefs supported by the embassies. The College Culinaire de France is an official partner of the event.

For information on the special menus and their prices visit the website of the French Embassy in Sri Lanka via lk.

ambafrance.orgGirl, 17, raped inside microbus in Saptari

A 17-year-old girl has been raped by microbus driver and his helper in Saptari district on pretext of giving her a ride to Kathmandu.Discovering SLMLs treasure trove Kumudini Hettiarachchi finds herself face to face with a veritable world of knowledge as she steps into the Sri Lanka Medical Associations library guest View(s): View(s):

Nestling within a historic building is a rare treasure trove of knowledge coming down the ages. Nestling within a historic building is a rare treasure trove of knowledge coming down the ages.

Ordinary is the door within the home of the Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA), Wijerama House, in Colombo 7 which gives entry to the Sri Lanka Medical Library (SLML). Walk through this door and an enthralling world of books, collected since 1844, opens up, transporting the reader to unimaginable arenas.

Floor-to-ceiling are books and journals, old and new, some leather-bound, some with hard covers, others worn-out, yellowed or dog-eared. Collectors items are aplenty, with many first editions and we blink in disbelief at a heavy tome lying before us.

Published in 1608, it is the oldest medical book in the SLML  Canon Medicinae of Avicennae described as the Father of Early Modern Medicine. A Persian polymath considered a great physician, astronomer, thinker and writer of the Islamic Golden Age, an internet search indicates that of the 450 works he had authored, only around 240 including 150 on philosophy, have survived.

More history flows forth as we are shown this book and that..Mankind considered and examined according to The Light of Nature (1677); The Genuine Work of Hippocrates translated from Greek (1849); Evidence as to Mans Place in Nature by Thomas Henry Huxley (1864) with detailed sketches of skeletons; The collected works of Sir Humphry Davy; The life of Florence Nightingale with a photograph of her with her two daughters believed to be one of a kind with her family; Medicinal Plants of Ceylon and Singhalese Medicines in English by G.W. Gabriel Gunawardana in 1917 which had been sold at Rs. 12; the Lancet Volume 1 (1823); the Ceylon Medical Journal Volume 1 (1887-8); the First Textbook of Clinical Medicine in Sinhala and much more.

Rare books on Sri Lanka include Marshalls Medical Topography of Ceylon, Tennents Christianity in Ceylon and works of Pridham, Cordiner and Baldaeus.

Enthusiastically, the President of the SLML Management Committee, Prof. Neville Perera, Treasurer Dr. Jayantha Jayasuriya, Editor Prof. Laal Jayakody and members Prof. Anoja Fernando and Dr. Lucian Jayasuriya talk of the invaluable books here which have helped in the continuous education of all doctors.

As Prof. Fernando says that a large number of books, among the nearly 5,000 books and 250 Journal titles preserved here may be very rare, due to most books being lost during the Dark Ages around the world, Prof. Jayakody adds that this wealth of material is available for all doctors, government or private, consultant or junior, scattered across the country.

Recalling the time when she was at the helm of the SLMA in 2001, Prof. Fernando harks back to a stop-over in Sri Lanka by the then British Medical Association President Sir Christopher Paine who was on his way to the Triennial Council Meeting of the Commonwealth Medical Association in Penang, Malaysia. When he visited Wijerama House he had also been ushered into the hallowed SLML where he was quite impressed by the collection here.

Indicative of the breadth of knowledge of the doctors of yore and their interests outside clinical practice are books other than those dealing with medicine at the SLML including a set of beautiful Bibles, Plantae  Asiaticae Rariories  Unpublished Indian Plants (1831), books about birds, butterflies (1882) and flowers and also botany books with meticulously coloured sketches.

The dedicated and committed staff, Librarian Sriyani Gomes and Library Assistants L.M.R. Bandara and Nishantha Kathriarachchi, hover around the books like mothers over their children, tenderly looking after them, and are ever-willing to pull out a book or journal without hesitancy, for they know exactly where it is.

Both the SLML and the SLMA have been inextricably linked, with one or the other either playing host or guest to each other over 131 years of association.

The beginnings of the SLML, believed to be one of the oldest medical institutions in the country, were as the Colonial Medical Library with a membership of 14 on June 1, 1844 with the earliest record of the number of books being 424 in 1847  a majority being purchased and others being significant donations from the medical greats of those times.

Having pored over the Ceylon Almanac and the dusty Minutes of the Committee of Management of the SLML back in 1982, it is Chest Physician and Historian Dr. C.G. Uragoda, Family Physician Dr. Dennis J. Aloysius and then Professor of Pharmacology, Colombo Medical Faculty, the late Dr. N.D.W. Lionel who had traced the humble birth of the Colonial Medical Library.

Stumbling across a cyclostyled document in a file in the library, they have attributed it to Dr. E.M. Wijerama who was Honorary Secretary of the SLML, even though the authorship is not recorded, as having put it together for the centenary celebrations in 1944. Dr. Wijerama later donated his own home to the SLMA with a proviso that the SLML should also get a roof over its head here.

Flipping back the pages of time, Dr. Wijerama had stated that even though there was a Military Medical Library, the first batch of local doctors including Dr. P.D. Anthonisz and Dr. J. Loos, who had been trained in Calcutta and returned to man civil hospitals in 1843, may have felt the necessity for a separate library for themselves. While the Patron of the Military Medical Library was the British Governor, the Colonial Medical Library had to make do with the Principal Civil Medical Officer as its Patron.

Over its chequered history of 174 years, the Colonial Medical Library not only had name-changes to the Ceylon Medical Library and finally SLML, but also led a nomadic life, originating at the Pettah Hospital, the forerunner of the Colombo General Hospital, as the largest group of doctors would have been based there.

By 1880, it moved to the Biology Block of the Ceylon Medical College, then the Anatomy Block facing Maradana Road and finally to the Maha Gedera of the medical profession  Wijerama House donated by Dr. Wijerama in April 1964 to the SLMA. Interestingly, the earliest subscription had been two shillings a month and a days pay according to the rank of the member, while in its centenary year it had been Rs. 2 a month whatever the rank of the member.

The SLMA, meanwhile, then known as the Ceylon Branch of the British Medical Association and later the Ceylon Medical Association has had very close links with the SLML. It had held its inaugural meeting in December 1887 in the Colonial Medical Library, after which the association was a guest living within the Colonial Medical Library.

For a brief five years, the couple had parted company when the SLML was located within the Medical Faculty, to bond again in 1965 under the provisions of the will of magnanimous Dr. Wijerama, with the roles being reversed and the SLML now gaining the status of a most welcome guest.

It is secure within Wijerama House that the SLML has been providing yeoman service, where we find doctors turning the pages of time or in keeping with modernity accessing the internet.

Help save the books Down the ages, the Sri Lanka Medical Library has faced many a vicissitude and threat.amalgamations, difficult periods during the two World Wars and threats of extinction.Fearing for the safety of these cherished books, after the Easter Sunday air-raid over Colombo during World War II, 4,729 invaluable volumes had been evacuated for safe-keeping to the Wathupitiwela Hospital.The threats are still not over, points out the honorary Management Committee President Prof. Neville Perera, while member Dr. Lucian Jayasuriya adds that the SLML is in survival mode.The issue of day-to-day sustainability is causing worry-lines for the Management Committee along with sleepless nights as the books show signs of wear and tear and invasions by silver fish. As such, the Management Committee is seeking at least Rs. 10 million from donors who value the printed word to help preserve the SLML for posterity. Then it can be placed in a fixed deposit and the SLML maintained with the interest accruing from it. We get an annual grant from the Health Ministry, but we need to think long-term, says Prof. Perera urging corporates, the medical fraternity and even individuals to help safeguard this national treasure. Please contribute whatever you can, is the plea, with assurances that all accounts are scrupulously audited. Contributions may be sent to Current Account: 003010010419 at the Hatton National Bank, Darley Road, Colombo 10, in the Account Name of Sri Lanka Medical Library. For more details, please contact: Dr. Jayantha Jayasuriya on 0775536502 or email: slmedical.library@gmail.comHSBC Fashion Week: Enter designing with responsibility By Shakya Wickramanayake View(s): View(s):

The 15th instalment of the HSBC Colombo Fashion Week will take place from March 19 to 25 this year. Kicking off Fashion Week on March 19, will be the Responsible Fashion Summit, at Hilton Colombo. A new addition to the usual CFW line up, the summit is the first on sustainable fashion to be held in the country.

The summit will focus on fostering responsibility, accountability and responsiveness in the fashion industry based on its founder, Ajai Vir Singhs vision for Fashion for Good.

Identifying that the global fashion industry is one of the biggest environmental polluters, this years summit will focus on eight areas on which the industry impacts the environment, with the objective of finding solutions in those areas. They are design, craft, communities, fabric, production, logistics, retail, consumption and disposal, thus introducing responsibility from the design process itself. The summit will feature a panel of renowned international practitioners, including Bangladeshi designer Bibi Russell and British writer and sustainability advocate Lynne Franks. The panel also features industry leaders in

Sri Lanka, such as Sarinda Unamboowe, Nikhil Hirdaramani, and Anusha Alles.

The summit wont be focusing just on those already in the industry but is also inviting future generations into the conversations through student involvement. Making the Green Tee challenge is one such way students are involved. A fashion hackathon organised in collaboration with MAS will see four student design teams presenting their own innovative and environmental friendly t-shirt designs at the summit. A body of Future Green Leaders and Thinkers too will be conceptualised during the summit. Their aim is to create a generation of green conscious designers, and they plan to enlist the aid of fashion schools for this purpose.Letters to the Editor View(s):

What is it that Sri Lankans living here really want?

Ever since President Maithripala Sirisena decided to replace Minister Sagala Ratnayake as Minister of Law and Order, conflicting and opposing view-points have been expressed across the board both here at home and abroad. The majority of these people I have been listening to are among those who demanded that action be taken against those of the previous government who committed wrong, corrupt practices or murder. What astounds me is that these very people now say if Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka is appointed as Minister of Law and Order, he will take revenge on the Rajapaksa family.

What is it that Sri Lankans living in Sri Lanka really want? (Lets forget Diaspora Sri Lankans for the moment!) For me, if the Field Marshall takes decisions to investigate, it will be ACTION and not REVENGE.Revenge is what the Rajapaksa family did to Sarath Fonseka, who perhaps is the only person working for the State who served a rigorous imprisonment for no fault of his. That was revenge! People should first understand the difference between ACTION and REVENGE before they start opinionizing on this issue.

In appointing Sarath Fonseka, action will be taken after proper investigation on any citizen who has done wrong to our beloved Sri Lanka  not just one person or family. In deciding on not appointing Field Marshall Sarath Fonseka to the post of Minister of Law and Order we can expect another period of no action! Best of luck to all of us!

Encarta Via email

At the mercy of developers while those in authority look the other way

We the residents of Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia wish to express our views too on development, after reading the problems encountered by the residents of Colombo 5, under the title, Minister allows 14 storey Blue Ocean Project despite legal disputes that appeared in the Sunday Times of March 4. We the residents down Initium Road, Dehiwala have written a letter dated 31.01.2016 to the Minister of Megapolis and Western Development, regarding the callous way the development is taking place in and around the said area. But, to our surprise, no action had been taken since then, so, we were left with no alternative other than to bring it to the notice of the Prime Minister vide letters dated 23.03.2016, 13.09.2016 and 15.11.2016 respectively; which was promptly forwarded to the concerned Ministry and which in turn was directed to the Urban Development Authority, but to no avail upto date.

Further, a resident whose residential building is about to be sandwiched between two condominium buildings has appealed to the Minister of Megapolis and Western Development vide letter dated 23.10.15 and handed over to him on a public day, with an encouraging assurance from the Minister concerned. However, up to date no action has been taken against the developer who continues with the construction, contravening the stipulated Planning and Building Regulations formulated for the Dehiwala-Mt.Lavinia Municipal Council Area (DMMC).

Even though, the developers repeatedly contravene the regulations and engage in condominium developments, the implementing Authority allows these developers to proceed with their improper development activities without being blacklisted. The motto of planning is for people. Also the zoning regulations of the D.M.M.C. area specifically state that the uses permitted do not interfere with the existing facilities and the surrounding environment of the area through loss of privacy or are harmful in any other manner or causing nuisance.

Hence, we the elderly law abiding citizens of this country have a duty to bring it to the attention of the governors of our beloved motherland, for the betterment of our future generation.

Rohini de Silva Via email

Dont paint all as villains of the deepest dye

While Sinhala Buddhists, members of the Sangha, the saffron robe and even the tenets of Buddhism were subjected to indiscriminate vilification by some sections of the print and electronic media as well as many writers and public speakers in reference to the recent communal disturbances, we can report that many Buddhist temples in the Kandy district acted responsibly to help the affected Muslim civilians. The Buddhist temple in Gonigoda, Muruthalawa, Kurugama, Dehigama and Nellogolla initiated an excellent programme to look after the welfare of the needy. Members of the Sangha including Ven Ganegoda Sri Jinalankara, Wartrukumbure Dhammartana Thera played exemplary roles by establishing links with Islamic institutions by opening the doors of compassion. Nayaka Theras of main Buddhist institutions made public appeals for peace and harmony among all.

It has to be accepted that fringe groups of both ethnicities worked extra hard to cause the tensions before and during the troubled times. To generalize and target the Sinhala Buddhists and their value systems by painting them as villains of the deepest dye cannot be justified when considering the religious tolerance etc enjoyed by all Sri Lankans compared to what is prevailing in many countries in the developing world.

Ranjith Soysa Via email

Double hammering

The Harassed Direct Tax Payers (HDTP) are once again at the receiving end of a double hammering. One, the removal of all allowances and the increased tax to 24% (current 16%). Second, wooing yet again the state sector by way of vehicle permits, which will definitely be extended to the politicians. The previous government recognized us HDTPs, and we had the luxury of allowances, a tax slab of 16% maximum and a vehicle permit based on contribution to Inland Revenue.

Should we HDTPs take a stand for redress, in the lost (forgotten) permits and not pay our PAYE taxes at 24% but continue at 16%?

HDTP Via emailStriding the English academia without losing his Sri Lankanness With a new book on poetry and literary criticism just released, Prof. D.C.R. A. Goonetilleke talks to Yomal Senerath-Yapa View(s): View(s):

With his new Guide to Poetry, Emeritus Professor D.C.R. A. Goonetilleke grants to Sri Lankan students of literature a request they have long made of him. It was in the mid 70s that the scholar first wrote three booklets on literary studies which made him a pocket guru; much valued, treasured and then photocopied and cherished long after the works ran out of print. Between those earlier booklets and the new offering, Professor DCRA enjoyed an academic career distinguished for a Sri Lankan. It is as a globally celebrated scholar of twentieth century and post colonial literature, as well as the foremost authority in Sri Lankan English literature, that he has now penned the new guide, and its companion Guide to Literary Criticism (2015). With his new Guide to Poetry, Emeritus Professor D.C.R. A. Goonetilleke grants to Sri Lankan students of literature a request they have long made of him. It was in the mid 70s that the scholar first wrote three booklets on literary studies which made him a pocket guru; much valued, treasured and then photocopied and cherished long after the works ran out of print. Between those earlier booklets and the new offering, Professor DCRA enjoyed an academic career distinguished for a Sri Lankan. It is as a globally celebrated scholar of twentieth century and post colonial literature, as well as the foremost authority in Sri Lankan English literature, that he has now penned the new guide, and its companion Guide to Literary Criticism (2015).

The professor is uniquely placed to write the guide for Sri Lankan students and teachers. He is that rare thing: an English academic with no anglophilic nostalgia making his vision dim. His pronouncement my eastern outlook has made me see the literature of the west differently from the westerners, makes him rarer still. He believes in borrowing the best from both the east and the west, and has been adamant about one thing: being true to himself and his conscience. His simplicity strikes one after having read his brilliantly incisive critiques, for he believes in being normal; not for him those eccentricities or even badges of scholarship: the obstinate goatee, the long hair, flowing beard.

As a student, too, Devapriya Chitra Ranjan Alwis Goonetilleke, was quite ordinary, far from being a Dumbledore-like figure wrapped in dreams of glory. He had a hearty passion for thrillers, though there was also a dark, melancholy tint to that youth: the central factor of his boyhood was finding a cure for his father who had cancer. Yet alongside all this, he found time to faithfully write the synopses of each book he read.

A natural scholar, he won the Governor Generals Prize for Western Classics, the most prestigious award Royal College offered in that still colonial setting where Classical scholarship carried lofty prestige. He was also an ardent student of Latin. In boyish zeal he used to copy his favourite motto Per Ardua Ad Astra, borrowed from the Royal Air Force, onto his books.

As an undergraduate, Prof. Goonetilleke was fortunate to bask in the golden summer of the University of Peradeniya, as Ajith Samaranayake was to call it later. He was in the thick of rich artistic and literary ferment, with Sarachchandra staging Maname and Sinhabahu, and Siri Gunasinghe and Gunadasa Amarasekere transforming Sinhala literature with free verse and more openness in fiction. Peradeniya was to be a firm foundation for his career.

At the Peradeniya English Department he came under the tutelage of Dr. David Craig, currently Professor Emeritus at Lancaster University. He was a student of the great F. R. Leavis, at the time the leading British critic. Dr. Craig was not bothered with the subject as such, Prof Goonetilleke recalls; instead he gave his own point on whatever was on the syllabus. This living approach to literature and his independence of mind captured the undergraduate completely, firing his imagination and opening up new vistas and wonders. Dr. Craig was destined to be the great luminary in Professor Goonetillekes life, later supervising his PhD at Lancaster.

After a short stint as an assistant lecturer, the professor had to leave the sylvan glades and avenues of Peradeniya for Vidyodaya. The new job at the fledgling university did not carry status, but this little bothered Prof. Goonetilleke, who was content with the academic work in which he was soon immersed. This disregard for mere titles and recognition, ironical though it may sound, made him the eminent academic he is. The late Doric de Souzas prediction Ranjan, youre humble; youll be a success pithily sums things up.

Prof. Goonetilleke touched the lives of many students during his long career at the Kelaniya University. And his natural ability for research, noted by David Craig, also helped him to be the critic he is today. His book Developing Countries in British Fiction was the first time when a critic from a developing country studied extensively the British reactions to such countries in the context of the historical, political and personal circumstances from which these reactions emerged  a study acknowledged by international academia as a pioneering step in post-colonial studies. Images of the Raj: South Asia in the Literature of Empire, was the first study of Raj literature from its origins in Elizabethan times to the present.

He was then invited to edit Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness, probably his favourite work of fiction. Adapted as a textbook in USA and Canadian universities, Prof. Goonetillekes edition to-date has sold 40,000 copies. He also wrote Joseph Conrad: Beyond Culture and Background, so far the only full-length study of all Joseph Conrads fiction by a Third-World scholar. Much later Routledge would invite him to write an entire work on Heart of Darkness, confirming him as a Conrad scholar.

John G. Peter in his book Joseph Conrads Critical Reception discusses two of Professor Goonetillekes books Developing Countries in British Fiction and Joseph Conrad: Beyond Culture and Background, and the professor has the pleasure of having gone down in literary history, in his own time.

Salman Rushdie was another writer with a special appeal to Prof. Goonetilleke, who enjoys working on those difficult writers. The challenge proves to be a great stimulus, while it also got him prestigious fellowships and a guest professorship in Germany (Tubingen) and fellowships at Cambridge and London. In 1992 he was elected the world chairman of the Association of Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies; a very rare distinction.

The other aspect of his academic life had been Sri Lankan English literature. Apart from writing the only one-volume complete history of the islands English literature, he had been dutifully publishing carefully curated anthologies; the first of which appeared in 1987 and the last published 2010. He has been careful to select the best Sri Lankan poetry, drama and fiction as samples but, also, importantly, those works that would give the world the best image of Sri Lanka.

In this Prof. Goonetilleke differs greatly from the fashionable kultur who tend to smirk at such sentiments. But the professor has always believed in steering clear of pseudo-westernization, and maintaining touch with mainstream culture- all the while imbibing what is good from the west. Getting alienated from the masses, being cut out from our own traditions; these he views as serious predicaments. If you become pseudo-western, you cant compete with genuine westerners. The only way to compete with genuine westerners is by being genuinely eastern, he asserts.

Prof. Goonetillekes wife and stalwart companion for 56 happy years, Chitranganie, was the mainstay of the whole family. It was a match made in those golden years of Peradeniya, but they had to move to England to marry as caste differences threatened their union. Remarkably, there had been some very uncanny coincidences between the happy lives of DCRA and Chitranganie Goonetilleke, and Joseph and Jessie Conrad. Jessie would type for her husband just as Chitranganie did for DCRA. And also, on a rather sad note, at the end of Heart of Darkness, Marlow utters a lie to Kurtzs Intended, that the last word a dying Kurtz (in Africa) expressed was her name. In actual fact, the last word Chitranganie was to express before lapsing into a completely unconscious state was Prof. Goonetillekes name.

The couple have two sons, Suren and Dillhan, both of whom also have two sons each: Tehan and Lehan, and Dhanura and Yenura. They are a source of joy to their grandfather, whenever they pop in at his house, just as he is a source of pride and inspiration for them. The professor also finds time to go to the theatre, a passion he has maintained from his student days, and to listen to pop music both English and Sinhala. Pop music has a go which appeals maybe to my later years. His laughing voice echoes contentment; the rich contentment of one who had stridden unusually long the silent, austere and monastic corridors of academia, and found it all deeply rewarding.Watch out for these young trendsetters By Tera Jayewardene View(s): View(s):

When Ajai Vir Singh, Founder and President of the HSBC Colombo Fashion Week (CFW) was invited to the Commonwealth Fashion Exchange reception last month in London, he took with him a sleek backpack. The backpack exhibited along with other designs from Commonwealth countries at the 100% Made in the Commonwealth, exhibition has got the greenlight for production and will be promoted in the international market.

The backpack was a creation of young designer Vathsala Gunasekara, one of the 12 emerging designers whose work will be on the ramp on Sunday, March 25 at the Hilton Colombo in the HSBC CFWs Emerging Designer segment. This year 12 emerging designers will be in the spotlight, an encouraging increase from the 6 or 7 in previous years.

Await these talented new designers as they launch their collections at the HSBC Colombo Fashion Week.

Vathsala Gunasekara

A graduate of Fashion and Lifestyle Design from the Department of Integrated Design of the University of Moratuwa and a product of Project 7, Vathsalas collection Bona Fide embodies her belief in ethical and nature friendly fashion. To her fashion is something that needs to add value to a persons lifestyle. Her collection celebrates the indigenous Dumbara textile weaving through fashion design and follows a minimal waste approach in garment construction to create the look of a tropical bohemian girl.

Yathra Jayawardena

Yathras collection sees the evolution of her pioneering grandmother Swanee Jayewardenes explosive batik, the avant-garde fusion of batik and tie and dye. Her inspiration arises from the uniqueness of self and style of every woman and those qualities are reflected in the unrepeatable quality of batik. Her collection fuses Scandinavian folk art work with Sri Lankan handcraft techniques. Yathra finds the balance between lux boho and fitted silhouettes.

Anushika Perera

A graduate of the Department of Integrated Design, University of Moratuwa specializing in Fashion and Lifestyle Design, Anushika is now working on her personal brand and is continuing research on the handloom industry in Sri Lanka. This is her third time at CFW. Her Collection MUGDDHA based on Rothko art and faded skies, has an ethnic feel and sees the use of deep colours combined with a soft palette to deliver a west-meets-east concept.

Dinushi Pamunuwa

Dinushi Pamunuwas brand La Pard specializes in resort-wear, swimwear, nightwear and lingerie. The collection has been inspired by animal cruelty, more specifically by the detail of the nerves and the patterns seen on animals, done to create awareness of animal cruelty.

Poorni Wijesinghe

Poorni Wijesinghe is launching her brand at the Emerging Designers showcase. A product of the Colombo Fashion Weeks Project 7 programme, the Brahmi Script has served as the inspiration of Poornis collection.

Marlon Rae

Marlon Raes chic label Malub is a tropical island clothing brand with a twist of modernity. The concept of the collection is Oxidized world, inspired by industrial process. The collection is comprised of contrasting roughly corroded machinery surfaces with slick metallic treatments, along with hard-wearing denims and worker uniforms. Focused on the functional, this collection has a recycled and repurposed feel.

Himashi Wijeweera

Himashi Wijeweera graduated from the Department of Integrated Design, specializing in Fashion Design, at the University of Moratuwa. Her label Kaya Queen targets high-end resort and occasion-wear clothing with the concept Romantic Modernity presenting traditional beeralu lace to contemporary

fashion.

Maddumage Nilusha

Currently completing her final year in Fashion Design and Product Development at the Open University of

Sri Lanka, Nilushas collection is inspired by various human behaviour, body language, facial expressions etc, and Hindu sadhus. This collection aims to be the voice of women who stand up against religious violence.

Nayani Fernando

This is Nayani Fernandos third time at the Emerging Design showcase. Seeking to portray elegance and finesse in her work collection, she uses silks, satins and crepe fabrics.

Rebecca Silva

A graduate of Northumbria University, Rebecca Silvas label REBECCA, is inspired by saree drapes together with sportswearexpressing femininity with a playful and powerful personality.

Achala Lee Koh

Achala Lee Koh has a vision of creating a trademark that elevates the value of designer wear in the eye of a modern discerning woman. Her collection Luxe botanica interprets the subtle beauty of the most fundamental elements of nature in wearable fashion with evening glamour.

Nadeeshani Ratnayake

Nadeeshani Ratnayaka majored in Creative display for Fashion Retail at the Central St. Martins College of Arts & Design, London.

Her collection is sports-influenced for the active lifestyle of women, who take a wear-anywhere approach to everyday clothing.Max Planck Society, an intellectual hub for high quality research By Dr. Mayuri Napagoda, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ruhuna View(s): View(s):

Germany, the Land of ideas (German: Land der Ideen), is highly reputed for high quality, innovative, and internationally attractive first-class research and has produced more than 100 Nobel laureates since 1900. The research community of Germany is comprised of higher education institutions and non-university research institutes which include internationally renowned research organisations such as the Max Planck Society, the Fraunhofer Society, the Helmholtz Association and the Leibniz Association.

The Max Planck Society (German: Max-Planck-Gesellschaft) is a national and international icon of research and is generally considered a leading basic research organisation in Europe. In 2017, it was ranked third in the Nature index of research institutes in the world, with its research output outranked only by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Harvard University. Its predecessor organisation was established in 1911 as the Kaiser Wilhelm Society. The Max Planck Society was founded in 1948 and named in honour of the world-famous physicist and former president of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society, Max Planck (18581947), who developed the Quantum theory and the mathematical construct named Plancks constant in physics of radiation emitted by a glowing body. The scientific excellence of this organisation is undoubtedly reflected by 18 Nobel Prizes awarded to its scientists who have dominated the fields of chemistry, physics and medicine. Konrad Lorenz (Nobel Prize in Medicine-1973), Georges Kohler (Nobel Prize in Medicine-1984), Christiane Nusslein-Volhard (Nobel Prize in Medicine-1995), Theodor Hansch (Nobel Prize in Physics-2005), Gerhard Ertl (Nobel Prize in Chemistry-2007) and Stefan Hell (Nobel Prize in Chemistry-2014) are, to name a few, renowned scientists who have been honoured with this prestigious award. In addition, Joachim Frank, who shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2017 is also an alumni of the Max Planck Society.

The Max Planck Society is comprised of 84 research institutes and research facilities to conduct basic research of the highest quality at the frontiers of knowledge in natural sciences, life sciences, social sciences and the humanities. Most of these institutes are located in Germany; however, some are located in other European countries (The Netherlands, Luxemburg and Italy) and even in the United States (Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience in Jupiter, FL). The Max Planck Institutes offer an exciting and outstanding work environment for international researchers and young scientists to conduct state-of-the-art research under the guidance of experts. Interestingly, more than one third of the directors, about 55 percent of the PhD students and about 72 percent of the post-doctoral researchers affiliated with the Max Planck Society are bearers of non-German passports, thus creating the true spirit of an international research atmosphere.

The implementation of International Max Planck Research Schools (IMPRS) in 2000 opened the door for exceptionally talented students from Germany and foreign countries to pursue their PhD studies in many innovative and interdisciplinary research areas, for example, molecular biology, neurosciences, molecular biomedicine, chemical ecology, computer sciences, astronomy, social sciences, law and plasma physics. These schools are jointly managed by the Max Planck Institutes and German and some foreign universities and offer a structured three-year study programme which includes lectures, practical courses, outreach activities, and participation in local and international conferences. At present, there are 60 IMPRS; 26 in the chemistry, physics and technology section, 23 in the biology and medicine section, and 11 in the humanities and social sciences section to gear up junior scientists towards their doctorates while receiving excellent scientific support and interdisciplinary education to help mould their future in a positive way. The schools also provide opportunities for foreign doctoral students to familiarise themselves with research facilities in Germany and spur their interest in future cooperative activities with German research institutes. Moreover, the students have the option to attend German language classes to get acquainted with the second most commonly used scientific language in the world, despite the fact that the educational programme in IMPRS is conducted in English. The doctoral students, who have been recruited following a competitive selection process, receive a stipend or an employment contract ensuring sufficient financial support throughout their study period.

Max Planck Institutes frequently build international networks to enhance and promote scientific performance and productivity. Max Planck Society researchers are respected as esteemed research partners worldwide. The establishment of International Max Planck Centres and Partner Groups are some further programmes initiated with the aim of broadening the research horizons of Max Planck Society at an international level. Especially the outstanding junior scientists who had completed a research residency at Max Planck Institutes and returned to their home countries are encouraged to set up Partner Groups to carry out further research on a subject that is also in the interests of their previous host Max Planck institutes. Thus, more than 70 partner groups currently exist across the globe to strengthen the research through international cooperation.

On February 26, 2018, the great research giant celebrated the 70th anniversary of its foundation which was laid in the city of Gottingen. Over the years, it has made a significant service to the people with groundbreaking research findings in a vast array of disciplines, carving and fostering thousands of young scientists and also enhancing the international visibility of Germany as a hub of ideas and innovation of high quality. As an alumna of the IMPRS and the Max Planck Society, it is with great respect and honour, I pay my tribute to the Alma mater, who assisted me to broaden the knowledge, sharpen the skills and unearth the intellectual capacity to enlighten my research career.

Alles Gute zum Geburtstag .

(The author is grateful to Dr. Karin Groten,. Angela Overmeyer and Anna Schroll, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany for their guidance and assistance in preparing this article.)House endorses condolence motion, PM expresses sorrow

Four days after the US-Bangla aircraft crash that killed 49 people, the House of Representatives on Friday endorsed a condolence motion in remembrance of the deceased.In photos: Ghode Jatra celebration

Ghode Jatra, also known as the Horse Racing Day which falls on the Nepali month of Chaitra, was celebrated in the Kathmandu valley on Saturday.SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A car crashed into a telephone pole and flipped over on St. Patrick's Day morning in Syracuse.

Multiple people called 911 at 7:02 a.m. Saturday after a car struck and snapped a pole on James Street near Teall Avenue, according to Onondaga County 911 and police scanner archives.

The car came to a stop on its roof.

The Syracuse Police Department, the Syracuse Fire Department and American Medical Response were called to the crash. A prisoner transport van was also at the scene.

"The cause of the crash is still under investigation," said Lt. David Brown. "There does not appear to be any serious physical injury involved."

There is a small power outage in the area. National Grid is working to fix the downed pole and outage.

James Street will be closed for an "extended period" between Teall and Wilson avenues, dispatchers said.Randy White had just dropped off his friend Dwayne Gordon at Gordon's home on Northumberland Avenue the night of Feb. 27 when a man appeared at the driver's side window of White's SUV and shined a flashlight in his face.

"You got some ID?" the man demanded, White said.

Moments later, the man yelled that White had a gun and a second man dove into White's vehicle and shot him in the leg, White said.

After struggling with the man who shot him inside his vehicle, driving back and forth and repeatedly telling him he wasn't armed, the shooter bailed out.

White was taken into custody, then released without any charges.

It turns out the man who approached White in his SUV and the man who shot him were state parole officers. They were at the Northumberland address to check on Gordon, a parolee.

White, who is recovering from his gunshot wound, wants to know why he was shot.

"These people were trying to kill me," he told The Buffalo News. "I didn't know who they was. I didn't know what was going on. All I know was I was fighting for my life."

The state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision has released little information about the incident except to say in a statement that two parole officers were conducting a "routine residence visit" of a parolee when one of the officer's weapons discharged.

Robert Montesano and Bernard Williams were the parole officers involved in the incident, a Corrections Department spokesman said. Gordon's family identified Montesano as his assigned parole officer.

Buffalo man shot by parole officer: 'These people were trying to kill me' https://t.co/PNX0izjMTX  Maki Becker (@makibecker) March 16, 2018

The Corrections Department referred questions about the incident to the Buffalo Police Department, which is handling the investigation. Buffalo police said they would not release any information until an investigation is completed.

'Hey bro, I need your help'

White, 37, is a married father of four daughters, who lives in South Buffalo. He and his wife own Better Living Management, a property management company. A few years ago, White hurt his back in a car accident and uses a walking stick to steady himself, he said.

White said that on Feb. 27, he was at one of his properties when Gordon called him. White wasn't sure of the time because Buffalo police seized his smartphone and have not returned it.

"Hey, bro. I need your help," White said Gordon said to him. Gordon needed a ride home by his 9 p.m. curfew, White said.

White said he knew Gordon was on parole. Gordon had spent about five years in prison on an attempted robbery charge and was released in November, records show.

As a former parolee himself, White wanted to help Gordon by finding him work on one of his properties. White said he understands the importance of honest work and abiding by the rules of parole. White was 16 when he pleaded guilty to manslaughter and attempted robbery in the death of a store clerk. He said he was accused of being an accessory in the fatal shooting but that he had been "railroaded" and felt he had no choice but to plead guilty in the case.

On the night he was shot, White said he agreed to pick Gordon up at a friend's house, but explained to him that he needed to stop at a liquor store owned by White's family to write a check for a delivery.

Gordon was nervous about getting back to his home, White recalled. "We really gotta go, bro," White said Gordon told him.

They left the liquor store and White drove to Gordon's home on Northumberland, where Gordon lives with his mother and siblings.

White pulled into the driveway in front of the house and Gordon got out, he said.

"As he's getting out, all I see is a man walk up to my vehicle with a flashlight in my eye," White said.

The encounter

Because of the flashlight, White said he could not see the man well. He couldn't tell that the man was a law enforcement officer, White said. The man did not identify himself as a parole officer, White said, but he demanded to see White's ID.

"Yeah, I got some ID but I don't even know who you is," White said he told the man.

"Give me some ID now," the man said. "Turn off your vehicle."

White refused to turn off his engine, explaining he had to get home to his children, he said.

The man seemed to be "fine" with that but continued to demand to see ID.

As White reached into the back left pocket of his pants, he heard the man yell: "He's got a gun!" The second man jumped into his car from the passenger side.

"He jumped in immediately and -- Pow!" White said.

White was shot in the left thigh.

"Then he told me: 'I'm going to shoot you again. I'm going to shoot you in the head,' " White said.

White said neither man ever identified himself as a parole officer. He said his only thought was to save his own life. He locked the doors to his vehicle, White said.

"I said: 'No, you're not,' " and then threw his SUV into reverse.

White said the man who shot him aimed his gun at White's head. "I grabbed his hand and pushed his hand toward my backseat. I took my knee and I pressed him up against my dashboard," White said.

The man punched White several times in the face, White said. At the same time, White said he drove back and forth, and hit something, possibly a tree or a car.

They continued to struggle inside the car as White drove in the driveway and on Northumberland. The man patted him down around his waist and then rolled out of the SUV, White said.

White drove off, his leg bleeding profusely. The bullet had gone through his thigh. He said he headed to the nursing facility near downtown Buffalo where his wife works.

"If I die, I want her to know what happened," White said he was thinking. "I don't want her to get no messed-up story from these people."

'Gun with a wooden handle'

That night, Shaniqua Cunningham was inside her family home on Northumberland with her 4-week-old daughter and three other children when she heard the commotion in the driveway. Cunningham said she wasn't aware of her brother, Gordon, coming home but was alarmed to hear the sound of an engine revving and tires skidding.

She went to the window and saw a man standing on the grass with his gun drawn, pointed at the SUV. She said she heard the man say: "Freeze!"

She went to the front door and saw a blast of fire from the end of the gun, she said.

"I throw my kids underneath the table," Cunningham said. Another relative dove on top of the baby.

Moments later, a parole officer, identified by Cunningham and other family members as Montesano, banged on the front door and came in. "Where's Dwayne?" he yelled over and over.

Gordon came downstairs in his boxers, Cunningham said.

More law enforcement officers arrived and they took Gordon, his brother and Cunningham's fiance into custody. After questioning, Gordon was taken to jail for allegedly violating his parole.

Radio dispatches from that night indicate a frantic scene. At 9:09 p.m., a dispatcher says there's an incident on "Evelyn," then corrects the address to "Umberland."

"They were screaming on the air," the dispatcher said.

At 9:15 p.m. a description of a vehicle goes out: "Blue van, possibly going to Buffalo General."

White said his vehicle is a midnight blue, 2011 Dodge Journey SUV.

At 9:18 p.m. a description of a person is given on the radio: "Blue hat, black hoodie, stocky male. Black. .38 gun with a wooden handle." It's not clear whether the dispatcher meant the suspect was black or the gun was. White said although he looks African-American, he is actually Native American and Irish.

A few minutes later, the dispatcher gives the license plate number, then White's name and address.

White adamantly denies carrying a gun that day.

"I didn't have no kind of weapon whatsoever," White said.

When he arrived at his wife's workplace that night, he asked her to drive him to Mercy Hospital, which is near their home.

As they approached the intersection of Bailey Avenue and Seneca Street, the couple saw a police car turn around toward them. White said he told his wife to take a side street near their home toward North Legion Drive.

Buffalo police cars were there waiting for him. Multiple officers had their guns drawn as one pulled White out of the car.

White asked if he could get his walking stick, which was still in the front passenger seat, he said, but the officer told him not to touch it.

White said police officers handcuffed him to a gurney. They also handcuffed his wife. White was loaded onto an ambulance and taken to Erie County Medical Center.

At ECMC, White said he was given an IV and his wound was bandaged. Then he was brought downtown to Buffalo police headquarters where he was questioned in the homicide unit. He was in excruciating pain and still bleeding badly, he said.

"I'm the victim," White said he told the police officers. "I'm not no criminal."

After about 45 minutes, the police took White back to ECMC where he had his wound redressed.

No charges have been filed against him. Gordon remains at the Erie County Holding Center. His parole violation hearing was set for March 28.

'You tried to take my life'

The day after the shooting, White said he called the Buffalo police and volunteered to come in for further questioning. Detectives have also come to his house twice, including once to take a DNA swab.

White said he doesn't blame the officer who shot him for pulling the trigger. He understands that the man's partner said there was a gun. But he said there was no reason for the situation to escalate to a point where he got shot.

"What I blame them for is not taking the proper precautions," he said. "He could have said: 'Put your hands on the steering wheel.' "

After learning about the radio dispatch about the gun "with a wooden handle," White speculated that it's possible the parole officer mistook his walking stick for a revolver.

In the meantime, White said more than two weeks after the shooting that he's still waiting for the police to return his SUV and other belongings.

White wants the Department of Corrections to reconsider arming parole officers with guns. "Why are you out here with real guns shooting people recklessly?" he questioned. "No one is trying to shoot at parole officers." Parole officers are issued 9 mm Glocks, corrections officials said.

White said he has contacted a lawyer and is considering his options.

"You tried to take my life," White said of the officers.

- By Maki Becker, The Buffalo News, N.Y.Olis first month!

Its been a month since Oli became our Prime Monster for the second time and so far, not much has happened in Baluwatar except meeting his fellow cadres and figuring out how to move forward.A lead engineer responsible for a pedestrian bridge that collapsed near Miami left a voicemail message for a state transportation official two days before the crash warning of "some cracking," state officials said Friday night.

The engineer with the private contractor FIGG did not consider it a safety issue, he said. The message was not retrieved until Friday because the Florida Department of Transportation official to whom the voicemail was directed was out of the office on assignment, the state agency said. The message was left on a land line.

"Hey Tom, this is Denney Pate with FIGG bridge engineers. Calling to, uh, share with you some information about the FIU pedestrian bridge and some cracking that's been observed on the north end of the span, the pylon end of that span we moved this weekend," the engineer said, according to a transcript of the call released by the Florida Department of Transportation.

"Um, so, uh, we've taken a look at it and, uh, obviously some repairs or whatever will have to be done but from a safety perspective we don't see that there's any issue there so we're not concerned about it from that perspective although obviously the cracking is not good and something's going to have to be, ya know, done to repair that."

FIGG Bridge Group designed the bridge. An outside public relations representative for the company, Cheryl Stopnick, said Friday night that FIGG executives are conferring on a response but did not yet have one.

Earlier Friday, authorities made a grim announcement: The death toll in the bridge collapse had climbed to six - and more victims may be buried in the rubble.

"Our first priority is getting to those victims," Juan Perez, director of the Miami-Dade Police Department, said Friday morning. But, he added, it is a slow and painstaking process to break the debris into smaller pieces for removal, and to reach the vehicles that were crushed when the 960-ton span collapsed Thursday afternoon.

The foot bridge was designed to connect the city of Sweetwater with the sprawling campus of Florida International University, and it was still being installed when it came crashing down. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said suspension cables on the bridge "were being tightened when it collapsed."

Sweetwater Mayor Orlando Lopez said Friday that one of the victims in the accident was an FIU student. "We are truly saddened to hear that," Lopez told reporters at a news conference.

An Ecuadorian official, Maria Fernanda Espinosa,announced on social mediaFriday that Alexa Duran, the 18-year-old daughter of an Ecuadorian father, had been killed in the collapse. A friend of Duran'stold the Miami Heraldthat the FIU student was the funniest person she knew, someone who always lit up any room.

Krista Schmidt, the president of the student government association at FIU, announced they would hold a memorial Wednesday.

Perez, the police director, said officials would not speculate about the likely number of fatalities until the recovery process is complete. Authorities want to bring closure to worried family members, he said, but can't confirm identities of who is underneath the rubble. "We're caught in a bad place right now," he said.

Jorge Fraga and his family have been calling hospitals, crying, and asking everyone about his uncle, Rolando Fraga Hernandez.

"We don't know anything," Fraga said. "We think his car is under the bridge."

His uncle, a friendly 60-year-old originally from Cuba who had run an import-export business in Miami for many years, had been missing since 1:30 Thursday afternoon. No one could tell them anything. "We don't know what to think," Fraga said.

"Our primary focus is to remove all of the cars and all of the victims in a dignified manner and not compromise the investigation in the process," Miami-Dade County Deputy Mayor Maurice Kemp said Friday. "The investigation is vital, because we want to ensure that this type of accident doesn't happen again locally, or anywhere in this country."

The National Transportation Safety Board, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Federal Highway Administration are investigating, as well as the county police department's homicide detectives. A team of county prosecutors arrived at the scene Friday, as well.

The foot bridge, which had been hailed for its innovative construction method, collapsed over a busy road west of Miami, crushing numerous vehicles and leaving rescue workers racing to free victims from chunks of concrete and snapped metal. It had just been put in place across Southwest Eighth Street, on Saturday, and had not opened to pedestrians.

Vehicles were stopped at a red light when the bridge crashed down about 1:30 p.m. It had been designed to make it safer for students to cross the frenetic roadway.

"It was going to be a significant project," Rubio said Thursday night. "To see it on the ground and underneath it those who died and who were injured is a tragedy."

The cause of the collapse will be fully investigated, he promised: "The victims and their families deserve to know what went wrong. There will be an extraordinary review into what the errors were and what led to this catastrophic collapse."

Later, Rubio posted on social media: "The cables that suspend the #Miami bridge had loosened & the engineering firm ordered that they be tightened. They were being tightened when it collapsed today."

The NTSB had been told construction workers were on the bridge at the time of the collapse, said Robert Sumwalt, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board.

He said his investigative team got to the area near the bridge about 10 p.m. Thursday and stayed until 2 a.m. before returning later Friday morning. They expect to remain for about a week for a detailed probe. They had not yet been able to get close to the scene because of the recovery efforts, Sumwalt said. "Our entire purpose in being here is to find out what happened so we can keep it from happening again."

By Friday, the rescue operation had become a recovery effort. Miami-Dade Fire Chief Dave Downey said that after listening, visual and canine searches, "we've determined that there's no longer any survivors."

President Donald Trump responded to "the heartbreaking bridge collapse" Thursday eveningwith prayers, plus praise for the first responders.

Alexander Concha, 36, and Ivy Polanco, 23, were about to have lunch Thursday at Panther's Boulevard Cafe, about a block away from the bridge. Suddenly, they heard wailing sirens and helicopters buzzing overhead.

"Our first reaction was, we hope it's not the bridge," Concha said. "On the side where it collapsed, it didn't seem very secure. It seemed very unsafe."

The bridge collapsed during Florida International's spring break.

"It's very lucky that we are on spring break and that this didn't happen during rush hour," said Polanco, an FIU student. "It could have been so much worse."

Florida International University on Saturday had touted the bridge's "first-of-its kind" construction method, and hailed the permanent installation of the bridge's main span. It stretched 174 feet and weighed 960 tons, according to an FIU news release, and was built using "accelerated bridge construction" methods that were being worked on at the university.

"This method of construction reduces potential risks to workers, commuters and pedestrians and minimizes traffic interruptions," the release said.

When the bridge was installed, crews using an automated process lifted the span from its supports, turned it 90 degrees across eight lanes and lowered it in place, the release said. The university said it was the largest pedestrian bridge moved by that method, known as self-propelled modular transportation, in U.S. history.

"This project is an outstanding example of the ABC method," Atorod Azizinamini, chairman of FIU's Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, said at the time. "Building the major element of the bridge - its main span superstructure - outside of the traveled way and away from busy Eighth Street is a milestone."

Last year, the Miami Herald reported that an FIU student was killed while crossing Southwest Eighth Street.

The university, a major state school that has experienced burgeoning enrollment in recent years, had announced Wednesday it would begin issuing fines as part of a pedestrian safety campaign to help protect students walking to campus from Sweetwater and nearby Westchester. The new bridge was scheduled to be completed in early 2019.

"Just last week we were celebrating the expanse being completed - and now we are here dealing with a tragedy," Sweetwater Mayor Orlando Lopez said Thursday.

The main builder of the bridge, Munilla Construction Management (MCM), is a major South Florida construction firm that has been hired to rebuild expressways; update part of Miami International Airport; and construct a new test track for Miami's Metrorail system.

Increasingly, MCM has also successfully bid on federal contracts, winning almost $130 million in work since 2013. The largest contract is for building a school at Guantanamo Bay Naval Station.

MCM is a major contributor to politicians in Miami-Dade County and has been involved in dozens of lawsuits over the last decade, but often for much smaller issues. This month, the firm was sued for damages when a "makeshift bridge" collapsed under the weight of a security worker using it to access a restroom at Miami airport. The man suffered injuries to his elbow, shoulder and wrist, according to court records.

MCM has up-to-date business licenses and no recent code-enforcement violations reported to state authorities. Recent inspection reports for the site of Thursday's collapse were not immediately available.

The company could not immediately be reached for comment.

In a statement on its Facebook page, MCM said: "Our family's thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by this terrible tragedy. The new UniversityCity Bridge, which was under construction, experienced a catastrophic collapse causing injuries and loss of life. MCM is a family business and we are all devastated and doing everything we can to assist. We will conduct a full investigation to determine exactly what went wrong and will cooperate with investigators on scene in every way."

According to the university, FIGG Bridge Engineers, a division of Tallahassee-based FIGG Engineering Group, designed the walkway.

The firm is behind dozens of iconic suspension, arch and beam bridges across the United States, including the Penobscot Narrows Bridge in Maine and the Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay.

FIGG said in a statement Thursday that it was "stunned by today's tragic collapse of a pedestrian bridge that was under construction over Southwest Eighth Street in Miami. Our deepest sympathies are with all those affected by this accident.

"We will fully cooperate with every appropriate authority in reviewing what happened and why. In our 40-year history, nothing like this has ever happened before. Our entire team mourns the loss of life and injuries associated with this devastating tragedy, and our prayers go out to all involved."

Asked if the construction methods might have factored into the collapse, Ron Sachs, a spokesman for FIGG Engineering, said he could not provide any details beyond a statement issued by the company.

"They're in a fact-finding mode," he said of the company. "They're stunned and certainly in mourning."

Sachs said he believed there would be a comprehensive investigation involving authorities, including the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. "We're going to cooperate with any and all of those," he said.

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., had touted the bridge as a "creative solution" for challenges to the area's transportation network in the FIU news release over the weekend. On Thursday, a statement issued through his office reflected the sudden turn of events.

"I am shocked and horrified by the FIU Pedestrian Bridge collapse. I am praying for the victims and families of this tragedy," he said. "As the NTSB has announced they will be conducting an investigation, I will fully review their findings so we can address how this happened and how to prevent it from ever happening again."

Experts say the Accelerated Bridge Construction method involves an integrated system of pieces designed to stand as a complete structure, but that have to be supported during construction.

Amjad Aref, a researcher at the University at Buffalo's Institute of Bridge Engineering, said failures can be catastrophic.

"The loss of stability is a sudden thing, it doesn't give a warning," said Aref, whose work involves designing Accelerated Bridge Construction projects.

Aref said the construction method has become popular over the past decade. He would not speculate about the cause of the collapse. In general he said, the process works this way:

"You bring three pieces, three blocks, each block is really strong and [does] their job but if they are not connected properly, they might not stand," he said. "The idea is in every design you want to take the load from the superstructure, the bridge surface, all the way to the ground safely."

A collapse, he said, would indicate "the system was not completely connected or supported."

Before the structure is finished, Aref said, crews should ensure that each of its components is secured by cabling or other supporting mechanisms.

He said self-propelled modular transportation, the method of installing the bridge section, is common in Europe. The mechanism would typically involve loading the span onto wheeled heavy machinery that places the main span between the supports, turns and hydraulically lifts it into place.

The bridge was funded through a federal TIGER grant, according to the university, a recession-era program created under the Obama administration that pays for road, rail and other projects.

The role of FIU's Accelerated Bridge Construction University Transportation Center in its construction was unclear. The lab says on its website that it received federal funding in September 2013 after the U.S. Department of Transportation recognized a joint funding proposal submitted by FIU, Iowa State University and the University of Nevada at Reno. The funding enabled the schools to "dive further into their mission of" researching Accelerated Bridge construction, the site says. The center received a second round of U.S. DOT funding in December 2016, the side says.

The center lays out its mission on the site: "The mission of the ABC-UTC is to reduce the societal costs of bridge construction by reducing the duration of work zones, focusing special attention on preservation, service life, construction costs, education of the profession, and development of a next-generation workforce fully equipped with ABC knowledge," it says.

Calls to a university number and an email to Azizinamini, director of the bridge center, were not returned Thursday.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.Kuiper Belt Object 2014 MU69 finally has a nickname that rolls easier off the tongue. After gathering public input, NASA and the New Horizons team chose Ultima Thule, a metaphor derived from the name of an ancient Greek island.

During the medieval period, Greek mapmakers believed in the existence of a mythical island found at the northernmost end of the Earth known as Thule.

It was first mentioned in writings between 330 and 20 BC by the explorer Pytheas, who was also the first to discover the moon's effect on the ocean. He claimed that the island was situated past north of Scotland and that it had sunless winters as well as the shortest daytime.

Though modern scientists were able to come up with some calculations pointing to a Norwegian island, there is still no definitive proof of Thule's exact location. Basically, it remains unknown up to this day.

From this tale, the term "Ultima Thule" came to be. It literally means "beyond Thule" and is therefore used to describe strange places lying "beyond the borders of the known world."

Why Kuiper Belt Object 2014 MU69 Is The Next Ultima Thule

The New Horizons spacecraft is traveling billions of miles outside Pluto on Jan. 1, 2019 to reach its next flyby target, MU69, which will become the oldest and the farthest object ever explored in all of aerospace history.

"MU69 is humanity's next Ultima Thule," says New Horizons principal investigator Alan Stern in an official statement, March 13. "Our spacecraft is heading beyond the limits of the known worlds, to what will be this mission's next achievement."

Similar to the ancient island, MU69 is also a huge mystery to NASA astronomers. Little is known about its size, shape, and orbit because it has only been studied through its fleeting shadow during a few occultations.

The KBO was previously thought to either be a cluster comprised of smaller objects or a binary model with two objects orbiting each other. Astronomers favored the second theory, but they later modified it. After another occultation, they concluded that the other object is likely to be a smaller moon.

Other Nicknames Nominated For KBO 2014 MU69

Ultima Thule was not the most popular entry in the nickname campaign hosted by the SETI Institute. It only ranked seventh.

Topping the list Mjolnir, which means "Thor's hammer," followed by Z'ha'dum, which is the name of a fictional planet. On third place is peanut, almond, or cashew, depending on which nut the KBO will best resemble.

Nonetheless, none of these top-voting nominations made it, as the winning entry was chosen for its suitability and not for the number of votes it has.

KBOs commonly get nicknames before they are officially labeled by the International Astronomical Union. MU69's formal name will be proposed after the 2019 New Horizons flyby.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.In addition to emerging markets, Facebook has confirmed that it plans to roll out Facebook Lite to developed countries, including the United States, France, Ireland, Germany, and others so as to attract users with slow internet speeds.

Facebook Lite, a slimmed-down version of its main Facebook app that contains the basics but sheds the extras, is currently available in over 100 countries and caters to developing markets where slow internet connection is commonplace. Launched in 2015, the app itself is also much smaller to its full-fledged counterpart, making it a tad bit more accessible for users who don't have the luxury of extra storage.

"We've seen that even in some developed markets people can have lower connectivity, so we want to make sure everyone has the option to use this app if they want," sad Facebook, as Reuters reports. The app will be available to download beginning Thursday, March 15.

Facebook Lite

The app only weighs at 252 KB and is based on the Snaptu variant of Facebook that runs on feature phones but with added functionalities such as push notifications and camera integration. It is best suited for phones that can't efficiently handle the main Facebook app since at times it can get sluggish and power-hungry, which leads to rapid battery drain. The app is also a perfect alternative to those who are trying to cut down their social media use, as it contains the bare essentials for communicating with a friend, for example.

Messenger Lite

Apart from Facebook Lite, there's also a Messenger Lite, a stripped-down variant of the company's separate chat platform. It's also much smaller than its full-fledged counterpart but eschews features such as the ability to view Facebook Stories. Like Facebook Lite, it is a bare-bones version of the primary app that caters to those who want to cut out bloat they deem unnecessary.

Both apps are primarily targeted at individuals with low-speed internet connections, but they could be great starting points for those who are beginning to get frustrated with social media in general and want to transition out of Facebook and Messenger entirely. By not being able to access extra features, users are limited to basic functions such as messaging, liking, and posting, and eventually, that might lead to them cutting down on their excessive social media presence.

Thoughts about Facebook Lite or Messenger Lite? As always, if you have anything to share, feel free to sound them off in the comments section below!

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.Even though he has recently made headlines because of what space has done to his body, astronaut Scott Kelly is still passionate about space. In a recent interview, the astronaut expressed dismay at the fact that the U.S. may be falling behind China in the current space race.

He is still hopeful that the U.S. will stay ahead and not let China take the top spot.

Scott Kelly Shows Concern

Scott Kelly recently spoke to Business Insider where he revealed concern about the U.S. falling behind China in terms of space programs. Kelly says that if allowed, China will surpass the U.S. in the space business. He leaves room to show that the U.S. hasn't fallen completely behind yet.

Kelly wants the U.S to stay as a leader in space. He adds that it's important to stay ahead of other countries and innovate. He did add that working with other countries is key for space travel. Kelly lauds the International Space Station as a sign that countries could work together to do something great.

NASA is in danger of falling behind at the moment. Even though President Donald Trump wants the U.S. to become the first country to reach Mars and start a new branch of the military to be able to fight in space, his administration asked Congress to cut its budget for the International Space Station.

NASA was also forced to close its space shuttle program in 2011 after 30 years due to budget cuts. It is currently relying on Russian space shuttles to get to the International Space Station. To get back to the moon, NASA is working on the Space Launch System rocket. It will be the most powerful rocket in the world once it is completed.

Chinese Advances

In 2016, China sent just as many rockets into space as the U.S. and more than Russia. It has also placed robotic landers on both the Moon and Mars. China has plans to become the first country to go to the dark side of the moon. One of its more advanced ideas also includes capturing asteroids to be able to mine them for resources.

China was excluded from the International Space Station in 2011 after Congress cited national security concerns. It plans to build a new space station that is set to go into low orbit in 2019, with its final section built by 2022. China's first space station, Tiangong-1, is currently out of control and set to crash back to Earth sometime in late March.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.Google Photos for the iOS has added Google Lens, a feature powered by Google's AI image recognition technology that will make life easier for iPhone owners.

Google Lens was first announced at Google's I/O developer conference last year. While all the features that were promised for the software have not yet been perfected, Google Lens certainly holds promise in changing the way we look at things, now for both Android and iOS device owners.

Google Lens Rolls Out To Google Photos For iOS

Google Lens arrived to Google Assistant for some Pixel and Pixel 2 smartphones in November, and was then made available to all Google Photo users on Android devices last week.

It was then reported that Google Lens will also soon be arriving to the iOS version of Google Photos, but few may have expected for that promise to be fulfilled so soon.

Google, through the official Google Photos account on Twitter, announced that Google Lens has started to gradually roll out through to next week for iOS, with the only requirement being that the app must be updated to the latest version 3.15.

To access the feature on iOS devices, users will simply have to launch the Google Photos app and tap on the new Google Lens icon.

What Can Google Lens Do?

Google Lens allows users to perform visual searches through the cameras of their smartphones, instead of having to type words or use saved pictures in Google's search engine.

For example, looking at landmarks or artwork in a museum through Google Lens will bring up all the information about them, which is great for people visiting another state or tourists traveling to another country. Google Lens will also be able to provide details about stores, including their contact details and their opening hours, as well as information on books, plants, and animals. Users can also have Google Lens create a contact by having the feature look at a business card, or add a calendar event by having it focus on a poster.

However, as with most Google products, it should be noted that Google Lens collects data regarding the user's activity. For users who are not comfortable with that, you may delete your Lens history on your Google account, just like with all the other data that the company collects from users through its apps.

Google I/O Developer Conference 2018

It is unclear if Google Lens will again be present at this year's Google I/O. In January, Google revealed the details about the upcoming conference through an online game, but not the topics that the presentations will focus on.

What we do know, however, is that Google will likely unveil Android P at Google I/O 2018, though questions remain on whether another version is what the mobile operating system needs.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.Despite their often scary reputation, are pythons actually caring parents? A seven-year-long observation of African rock pythons reveals that egg-laying snakes actually take care of their offspring.

Python Reputation

Snakes are not often associated with warmth and care. In fact, recent research found that humanity's fear of snakes and even spiders stems from our ancestors as a result of their coexistence with the feared creatures for millions of years.

Not the least of feared snakes are pythons, as they are some of the largest snakes on Earth. Now, however, researchers have found evidence showing that the African rock python, Africa's largest snake, actually has good parenting skills even to the point of sacrificing itself for its offspring. Though motherly sacrifice for the young is not so new in the animal kingdom, it is the very first evidence of such caring behavior among egg-laying snakes.

7-Year Fieldwork

A newly published paper describes the findings gathered from the seven-year observation of Wits University's Professor Graham Alexander on African rock pythons at the Dinokeng Game Reserve in Pretoria. Evidently, contrary to previously held beliefs regarding African rock python maternal care, or a lack thereof, they not only incubate their eggs but also stay with their offspring even after they have hatched.

For the duration of the intensive fieldwork, Professor Alexander's team observed 37 pythons with the help of radio transmitters and infrared video cameras. Eight of the tracked pythons were found to have laid their brood of eggs in aardvark burrows and their breeding behaviors were observed using the infrared video cameras.

African Rock Python Mothers

Evidently, African rock python mothers are rather protective of their offspring even at great cost to their own health. In fact, apart from basking near the burrow to warm their bodies and in turn, their eggs, these python mothers do not eat at all during the six-month breeding cycle and lose almost half of their weight.

"All of this takes its toll on mother pythons: they take a long time to recover after breeding and so can only produce a clutch every second or third year, depending on how many meals they are able to catch in the months after leaving the nest. Some of them never recover," said Professor Alexander.

Luckily, all of the snakes they recorded survived, although all of them did not breed the year after.

Snake Mothers

The study is actually the very first evidence of egg-laying snakes showing care for their offspring. Further, the results of the study show that there is more to snake behavior and parenting than the current knowledge, and that they, perhaps, are more caring than the current perception of them.

The paper is published in the Journal of Zoology.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.Sitaula faction meets to press for NC reforms

Ahead of the partys Central Working Committee meeting scheduled for next week, the Nepali Congress faction led by Krishna Prasad Sitaula has come down heavily against party President Sher Bahadur Deuba.Microsoft experiments constantly with Windows 10, occasionally adding new features here and there to provide better experiences and functionality. More often than not, these new features make Insiders  Microsoft's dedicated group of beta testers  pretty happy. Not so much now, though.

Links In Mail App Will Only Open In Edge

Microsoft has just revealed that it plans on testing a change within the native Mail app on Windows 10. When a user clicks a link within the app, it will open in Microsoft Edge instead of the user's preferred internet browser. Yes, that means it'll bypass the user's set default browser. Microsoft will simply pretend it doesn't exist and instead open links using Edge.

The Verge calls it a "ridiculous change" and notes that this practice is similar to when the company forced Cortana users to open Bing search results in Edge instead of their preferred browser.

Microsoft justifies the change by claiming that Edge "provides the best, most secure and consistent experience on Windows 10 and across your devices" and that it "enables you to be more productive, organized and creative without sacrificing your battery life or security."

By contrast, clicking links inside Apple's native Mail app still launches the user's browser of choice instead of forcefully opening up Safari.

Microsoft: Please Use Edge

Microsoft has been aggressively trying to encourage Chrome users to switch to Edge, but this one is probably the most aggressive move thus far. In the past, Microsoft has given users a prompt when trying to install Chrome, published videos claiming that Chrome is a battery and performance hog, and even sometimes displayed ads inside Windows 10 as a way to promote Edge. Whether any of these efforts worked is unclear, though. Chrome remains the top browser on desktops.

To be fair, Edge is a pretty good browser, as many reviews claim, but those who like using Edge have probably already set it as their default browsers. The new change will simply force Edge to users who don't want to use Edge, and that's what people will most likely find annoying.

Thankfully, because the change is merely part of the Windows 10 Insider Program, there's a chance Microsoft changes its mind and never implement it widely once a stable Windows 10 update rolls out. In its blog post, Microsoft encourages users to provide them feedback on the new changes. Insiders definitely will provide them lots of feedback on this one. If it gets enough hate, Microsoft will probably cancel the change altogether.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.Tumbahangphe is Deputy Speaker

CPN-UML lawmaker Shivamaya Tumbahangphe, 53, has been elected Deputy Speaker of the federal parliament on Friday.Four skiers feared dead after Swiss avalanche



Geneva, March 17 (AFP) Mar 17, 2018



Four people were feared dead Saturday after an avalanche hit the Swiss ski area of Vallon d'Arbi, with two bodies already recovered buried under six metres (20 feet) of snow.

Police in Valais canton said rescue workers were still searching for two more skiers who are missing after Friday's avalanche, but that the operation had been suspended for the night.

Those found dead are both French nationals aged, 20 and 25, the police statement said.

"The bodies were found underneath some six metres of snow", it added.

A 32-year-old French citizen and a Swiss national, 57, had not yet been found.

Police said rescue teams worked until 3:30 am on Saturday, then paused until 9:00 am before resuming work.

They battled difficult conditions including continuous snow on Saturday before breaking for the night.

A Valais police spokesperson told Swiss public broadcaster RTS that it was unlikely that anyone would still be found alive.

According to RTS, the avalanche happened at an altitude of 2,200 metres.

Vallon d'Arbi is a route best suited to skilled skiers, which is sporadically closed for safety reasons. Tourism sites recommend visitors ski with a guide.

Police said the route was open at the time of Friday's avalanche.

The accident is the latest in a series of fatal incidents affecting skiers in Switzerland this season, with a series of avalanches killing three in the Swiss Alps last month.Under Tilaurakot

At the turn of the fifth century, travelling through South Asia, Chinese monk Faxian had described a flourishing city along what is today the Nepal-India border. Almost two hundred years later, Xuanzang, another Chinese monk and scholar, described seeing a similar flourishing kingdom. Now, an archaeological survey that has been ongoing since 2013 has unearthed evidence suggesting that the sites described by the two ancient travellers match with what has for centuries remained buried underground.Law enforcement officers from around the Baton Rouge region met Friday morning to prepare for the eventual announcement from Attorney General Jeff Landry about whether his office will pursue charges against the police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Alton Sterling in 2016.

It's been nearly a year since prosecutors with the U.S. Department of Justice announced that they would not file federal civil rights charges against the two white officers, who got into an altercation with the 37-year-old black man outside a convenience store in the summer of 2016. The shooting, which was partially captured on cellphone videos that went viral, set off protests in Baton Rouge and began a debate about the Baton Rouge Police Department's relationship with the black community.

The fallout from the DOJ announcement last year was more subdued, though there were still some small protests. Landry's office has been reviewing the evidence for potential violations of state law, but he has yet to make an announcement about whether his office will prosecute the police officers, Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake II. Salamoni is the officer who shot Sterling. Federal prosecutors said last May that they couldn't prove he didn't have a reasonable fear of Sterling  who had a gun in his pocket  when he fired.

Preparations for an announcement about Sterling were among the topics that law enforcement officers discussed at the Friday meeting, according to BRPD spokesman Sgt. L'Jean McKneely. McKneely said the meeting included other topics as well, especially protocol during school shootings and other similar incidents.

They said that theyll give us enough notice so that well be prepared whenever it happens," McKneely said about the conversations between BRPD and the Attorney General's Office. He said the notification has not come yet.

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

+5 Alton Sterling probe: Sources reveal specific, graphic details of fatal encounter With his handgun drawn, Baton Rouge policeman Blane Salamoni first approached Alton Sterling outside the Triple S Food Mart on July 5 and poin

Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome's spokeswoman, Rachel Haney, was also in attendance at the Friday meeting.

"Collaboration among law enforcement agencies is typically protocol when decisions such as the Attorney General's are forthcoming," she said.

Attorney General spokeswoman Ruth Wisher said Friday that the AG's office has "made very clear" that they will not comment on an ongoing investigation. John McLindon, the attorney representing Salamoni, said Friday that he had not received any notice from the Attorney General's Office about when an announcement could come.

Federal investigators have said there is additional surveillance video and body camera audio of the incident that was used in their investigation and turned over to the Attorney General's office. Federal officials last May described parts of the material to Sterling family members and some community activists, who said the officials portrayed aspects of Salamoni's treatment of Sterling during the brief encounter, and seen on the video, as disturbing. Last year, McLindon noted that two use-of-force experts consulted by the federal government said the use of lethal force wasn't unreasonable.Work begins for sending Nepali domestic helps

The local recruiting agencies have started working on demands for Nepali domestic workers from Jordanian clients, marking the official start to the placement of aspirant Nepali workers in the Arab kingdom.GONZALES  A civil service hearing scheduled for Friday to hear the appeal of a former Gonzales police officer who was fired in 2016, has been rescheduled, after the former officer's attorney became ill Friday.

Blanchard Braud, chairman of the Gonzales Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board, said that the attorney Chris Alexander requested a continuance after falling ill.

The new date for the hearing for Moses Black, a 15-year veteran of the Gonzales Police Department, is April 12.

Black's hearing is moving forward after an eight-month legal battle.

The Gonzales Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board in July had denied Black's request for a hearing, saying it had been made with insufficient notice.

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

Black challenged that denial in August 2017 in district court, with the judge ruling that Black be given a hearing. This month, a three-judge panel on the 1st Court of Appeal upheld, by 2-1, the district judge's ruling.

Late last year, Black also filed a federal civil rights and whistleblower lawsuit against Police Chief Sherman Jackson, alleging that Black was fired in retaliation for his attempts to report unethical behavior by officers.

Jackson has denied Black's claim.Chris Lawton was known in Zachary for his good deeds both in and out of uniform  the one he wore as a deputy fire chief, and the other as a reserve police officer.

He was a quiet man who never bragged about the burning buildings he rushed into or the countless people he helped. Those who knew him wanted everyone at his funeral to know that about him.

Lending a hand was not something he did for praise, they said, but because he felt called to serve others. That  along with his deep faith and love for his family  guided everything he did.

The accolades he never sought in life came Saturday as he was laid to rest.

Lawton, 41, died Monday when a suspect he was trying to arrest ran him over with a U-Haul truck outside a Walmart in Baker. Officials have said Lawtons line-of-duty death is the first in Zachary Police Department history.

+5 2 arrested after Zachary police officer killed in hit-and-run outside Baker Walmart Two people were arrested after a Zachary firefighter and part-time, volunteer police officer was run over by a vehicle and killed Monday night

His funeral was held at Zachary United Methodist Church. He was an active member there, and his grandfather once served as the churchs pastor.

Lawtons funeral drew a large crowd that included law enforcement officers, firefighters and paramedics from around Louisiana. A few came from as far away as Boston and Chicago. Many wore black mourning bands on their badges.

American flags lined the grass in front of the church. A Zachary police vehicle was parked outside, and some flower arrangements had been placed on the hood. Black wreaths with blue and red ribbons  symbolizing Lawtons service to both the police and fire departments  sat nearby.

Our Views: Zachary mourns first responder Christopher Lawton was both a firefighter and a policeman for the city of Zachary, so his death this week was a double blow to his community 

After the church service, Lawtons flag-draped casket was brought outside. The flag was removed, folded and presented to his family.

A long procession of first responder vehicles and the hearse carrying Lawton passed under a giant American flag hung from the ladders of two firetrucks parked on Main Street in front of the fire station. People lined both sides of the road, many of them holding flags and taking photos and videos on their cellphones.

Can't see video below? Click here.

The procession continued to a cemetery in the Clinton area, where Lawton was buried in a private ceremony.

During his funeral, Lawton was described as a man who always tried to do the right thing.

He was a leader of men and led his men by example, said Zachary fire chief Danny Kimble. His men respected him and looked up to him. When I would go to Chris and ask him to take care of something, thats just what he did  no hesitation, and I knew it was in good hands and I didnt have to worry about anything else.

Lawton joined the fire service in 1996 as a member of the District Six Fire Department. It was there that Butch Browning, a former District Six chief who is now the state fire marshal, got to know Lawton.

I can remember him in training as a young firefighter, I can remember fighting fires in Glen Oaks with him, and this boy gave his all, Browning said in an interview before the funeral. This boy trained, never had a cross word, never disrespectful. He looked at every citizen that he did not know as his own family.

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

For him to be a professional in the fire department and also pursue a profession in the law enforcement field, it speaks to his character, he added.

+9 'Double hero': Zachary reserve officer killed Monday mourned as leader, 'giver,' dedicated family man A Zachary firefighter and reserve police officer was killed Monday night after he was run over by a man he was trying to arrest, becoming the 

In 1998, Lawton moved to the Zachary Fire Department, which would honor him with several awards during his career, including a medical lifesaver award.

Ten years later in 2008, Lawton decided to join the Zachary police reserves after a long talk with David Courtney, who was the assistant police chief at the time.

Courtney asked Lawton why he wanted to become an officer. He recalled Lawtons answer: I dont like whats going on, and I cant complain if Im not part of the solution.

Lawton could be mischievous and enjoyed pulling practical jokes, Courtney said. But he had a serious side, too, that was strongly shaped by his faith.

If it wasnt right, Chris Lawton didnt want any part of it.  Chris lived every day to be like Jesus, and to give back, Courtney said.

He and others at the funeral told stories of Lawton helping people over the years. On his days off, he would load a lawnmower into the back of his truck and drive around town, checking if anyone needed help cutting grass.

One time while on vacation in Mexico, Lawton saved the life of a man who was having a heart attack. He once drove by an elderly homeless couple sitting on a bench outside, then turned around to buy them plates of red beans, rice and cornbread from a nearby store.

Police chief David McDavid said Lawton logged more than 2,000 hours as a reserve officer.

Thats a lot of hours to give back to your community, to make sure it was a safe place so that each and every one of you can walk safely among these streets, McDavid said.

He thanked Lawtons wife, Shannon, for sharing your husband, who made a difference in this community.

The chief choked up as he spoke to Lawtons son and daughter, Marshall and Claire.

Your dad will be forever remembered for his service, his bravery and his sacrifice, McDavid said.

Chad Felps, a Zachary police officer, was with Lawton on Monday. The two had known each other for about four years.

We had a plan that night to execute, Felps said. I cannot change what happened. Its selfish for any of us to think otherwise. God needed Chris, obviously, more than we did. God let Chris live a life that impacts us all.

Chris, he said, did not die in vain.Louisianans hit by floods in 2016 will want to dust off their old tax returns from that year to tap new deductions and cash in on hundreds of millions of federal tax relief dollars for those who saw homes, cars and other property ruined by rising waters.

Two changes wrapped in Decembers GOP-backed tax cuts will let those hit by that years devastating March and August floods write off far more of their losses on their returns  even if they didnt itemize their deductions  and get refunds on penalties for tapping retirement savings to rebuild.

About $500 million in federal taxes paid by Louisiana flood victims in 2016 is up for grabs and will head back into residents pockets, according to estimates from the Congressional Budget Office. That's only if all eligible Louisianans eligible take the time to file the paperwork and claim their refund checks.

And while this years tax filing deadline looms in less than a month, flood victims actually have until April 15, 2020, to amend their 2016 returns and claim the refunds, according to tax professionals who spoke with The Advocate this week.

They got plenty of time to do it, said Gerard Jerry Schreiber Jr., of Schreiber & Schreiber CPAs in Metairie.

Massive disaster-relief package pending in Congress would reshape federal recovery policy WASHINGTON  A massive disaster-relief package awaiting U.S. senators when they return to work in January would offer states far more flexibil

Because of a change passed by the Louisiana Legislature earlier this year during an otherwise unproductive special session, flood victims taking advantage of the newly available federal disaster tax relief wont have to adjust their state returns or pay any more in state income tax, said Brandon Lagarde, tax director at Postlethwaite & Netterville in Baton Rouge.

Louisiana residents hit by more than $500 in losses during the 2016 floods that werent covered by insurance payouts or government grants can now deduct those expenses from their federally taxable income. Thats a significant change from past tax rules, which imposed much higher limits on the amount of uncompensated losses  known as casualty losses  victims could write off.

Regular federal tax rules also limit casualty loss deductions to those itemizing their returns. But the tweaked federal rules open it up to flood victims who took the standard deduction as well, likely giving a tax break to renters and many lower- and middle-income Louisianans who didnt benefit from the casualty loss deduction when they filed their 2016 return the first time around.

Thats a big deal, said Lagarde.

The easiest way for a homeowner to calculate the size of their casualty losses is to add up how much they ended up paying out-of-pocket to fix their homes and replace what was destroyed, said Schreiber. Flood insurance payouts and government grants count against that figure, Schreiber said, but flood victims shouldnt count the value of loans taken out to rebuild because those funds eventually have to be paid back.

Cost to repair is a good estimate, said Lagarde, who added that those amending and refiling will likely want to have some sort of documentation  construction bills, receipts or estimates  to back up their claims.

For a Baton Rouge family who took on several feet of water and lost cars, televisions and furniture in the flood, the new deductions could mean a sizeable new refund on their 2016 taxes. For example, suppose that family shelled out $125,000 to repair their home and replace their belongings  but flood insurance payouts and grants from the Restore Louisiana program sent them only $90,000, leaving an uncompensated gap of $35,000.

The scoop on state politics in your inbox Get the Louisiana politics insider details once a week from us. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

Previous federal tax rules limited taxpayers to claiming only casualty losses that amounted to more than 10 percent of their income. If this flood-hit family earned $100,000 in 2016, thatd mean they couldnt write off the first $10,000 in losses on their federal taxes and could only claim a $25,000 deduction. But by amending and refiling their 2016 return, that same family can now claim another $10,000 deduction and significantly drop their bill.

For those who suffered major losses and didnt have insurance, the increased deductions could add up to thousands  or even tens of thousands  of dollars back from the federal government, according to staffers in U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidys office.

The IRS will refund the difference between what Louisiana taxpayers paid in 2016 and what they now owe under the revised rules.

The other new provision available for Louisiana flood victims will allow anyone who pulled cash out of retirement accounts early  such as 401(k)s  to rebuild their homes to get back a 10 percent penalty slapped on those withdrawals, said Lagarde.

Normally, pulling cash out of a retirement accounts before hitting the minimum age incurs a 10 percent penalty and that person is forced to pay federal income taxes on the entire withdrawal. For someone taking out $70,000 to fix up a badly damaged home, for example, thatd amount to a $7,000 penalty and a taxable income that would likely knock the taxpayer up several brackets.

By amending and refiling their 2016 returns, that person could now get the entire penalty refunded  and spread out the $70,000 in taxable income over three years, dropping the amount of federal income tax they owe and likely keeping them in a lower-percentage bracket, Lagarde said.

U.S. Rep. Garret Graves, R-Baton Rouge, said hes spoken with many flood victims in his district worn out by the stacks of paperwork and fatigued by the bureaucracy theyve had to wade through since the flood.

But a lot of money is potentially at stake for Louisiana flood victims who take the time to send in amended returns, Graves said.

This is literally hundreds of millions of dollars in federal money thats out there waiting for people to, effectively, apply for it, Graves said. It really is important for people to do this.

Graves, Cassidy and U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, R-Louisiana, hosted a Tuesday night teleconference to answer questions about the tax changes. Cassidy mailed cards to about 100,000 Louisiana residents alerting them to the changes and urging them to refile.

Tax professionals can walk taxpayers through the refiling process, which involves filing an IRS form 1040X. Those who used online filing services like TurboTax can also use those to amend their previous returns.

Similar post-flood tax breaks have been extended for victims of other disasters including 2005s Hurricane Katrina  but require individual congressional approval. Inclusion of federal tax relief for 2016 Louisiana flood victims came after more than a year of furious work by the states senators and congressmen.

When working on the tax cut bill, including this disaster tax relief was my top priority, said Cassidy, who sits on the Senate committee that wrote much of the GOPs tax legislation. The ability to refile 2016 tax returns with the deduction for uncompensated losses can mean thousands of dollars for these recovering families.LSU has the largest applicant pool in its history and the universitys board of supervisors approved three new scholarships to entice those students to enroll for the fall semester.

About 23,000 students have applied for entry at LSU for the new school year that begins in August. Thats up from 17,000 last year, Jose Aviles, the newly installed enrollment chief, reported Friday to the board that oversees policy for the colleges in the LSU System.

More Louisiana students have applied than ever before as well as dramatic increases in African-American applicants and students from other states.

Our applications have never been higher, LSU President F. King Alexander said.

Now comes the task of actually signing them up. LSU hopes about 5,800 will enroll.

Nothing is set until they put the deposit and say Yes, I am attending LSU, Aviles said.

Some of the supervisors voiced concerns throughout the meeting on how the states ongoing fiscal situation would impact enrolling this historically large and diverse pool of applicants.

The meeting started out with complaints from graduate students who teach classes, do research and say they are being impoverished by ever increasing fees. Then there were reports that only 46 percent of LSU medical students chose to do their residencies in Louisiana.

Facing a $700 million shortfall in revenues for the fiscal year that begins July 1, educators fear the Legislature, which is meeting through June 4, will again cut higher education appropriations to help balance the budget.

Out of the roughly 1,100 bills filed for the legislative session, LSU officials are following only about a dozen, Alexander said. But their highest priority is ensuring that university budgets arent reduced and that TOPS is fully funded.

Board member Rolfe McCollister asked the board to draft a resolution saying as much.

In the meantime, Aviles is enrolling students, even as his office is receiving a lot of phone calls about TOPS. The state budget, as it stands now, would cut almost all of the funding for TOPS.

The scoop on state politics in your inbox Get the Louisiana politics insider details once a week from us. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

The popular Taylor Opportunity Program for Students provides grants that cover most college tuition for about 50,000 Louisiana students who scored at least a 20 on the national ACT exam with a maximum score of 36 and a 2.5 grade point average in specific courses.

A decline in population has caused a trend of too many institutions competing for fewer high school graduates, Aviles said. Where once LSU had their pick of Louisiana graduates, universities from other states are now cherry-picking high schoolers with a good academic records.

Financial aid weighs heavily on the decisions of students, most of whom applied to about 10 schools, Aviles said. Thats particularly true of out-of-state students who pay substantially more than Louisiana residents.

The Rundown: Louisiana Legislature starts second week of regular session and more politics news Today in The Rundown: All the news you need as the Legislature begins the second week of regular session.

Applications from high schoolers in other states increased 69 percent from 8,281 in 2017 to 14,026 this year. Theyre coming from the usual locales: Houston and Dallas, Alabama and Mississippi. But this year LSU also received more applications from New York City and Washington, D.C. areas.

A Louisiana student enrolling for 15 hours pays about $5,700 in tuition and fees, according to LSUs table of charges. A nonresident student pays $14,030. Then living costs, books and supplies and other expenses bump the costs up another $15,000 or so for in-state students  double that for those coming in from out of state.

Aviles recalled a mother he spoke with last week during a recruiting reception in Washington, D.C. She voiced disappointment that LSUs initial offer to her son was $3,335. He said that made LSU an outlier when compared to the other two schools in contention: Penn State and Georgetown University.

The board approved Friday three new scholarships that would help put LSU in the same cost ballpark.

The Innovation Award would give Louisiana freshmen up to $3,000, depending on their ACT scores and how much their family could afford to contribute. The idea is to attract bright but low income students. The scholarship would cost $2.7 million next fiscal year but would be about $10.7 million annually when fully implemented in four years.

The Tiger Excellence award for nonresident students would increase to $15,335 for students with ACT scores of 28 or 29 and a minimum 3.0 high school grade point average. It would cost about $536,800 next year and increase to $2.1 million annually after four years.

The Transformation Merit Scholarship would be $500 a year for incoming Louisiana freshmen who scored a 26 or 27 on the ACT. This scholarship was for $3,335 and was only for academically qualified out-of-state students. In addition to the new in-state component, the scholarship will increase to $13,335 per year for nonresident students. It would cost about $2.19 million for the first year and a projected $8.7 million for all four years.

The money would come from LSUs general budget, which primarily comes from tuition and fees. These three scholarships are really critical to enrolling the class, Aviles said.Secretary of State Tom Schedlers sexual harassment scandal has already cost him. Long liked and respected around the Capitol, Schedler's now In daily life, David Peters Montana is a socially conscious thinker and a dapper dresser, usually topped with a hat, clad in leather shoes.

Fans of New Orleans culture know Montana, 65, as a Mardi Gras Indian big chief who started masking at age 9 with his sister, Toki, and now leads his own tribe, Washitaw Nation.

But this Monday -- St. Josephs Night, when Indians move through their neighborhoods in their feathers -- Montana will be wearing street clothes as he plays tambourine with his tribe in the heart of the 7th Ward.

The reason: Rising costs of living in his hometown have forced him, like others who mask Indian, to choose between the costly, time-consuming tradition of sewing a new suit for Mardi Gras and simple necessities of life, like rent and electricity.

Montana comes from a family considered Indian royalty. His famous dad, carpenter Edward Montana, served as second chief in the Yellow Pocahontas tribe and created suits that rivaled those of Tootie Montana, Edwards younger brother.

In 1994, his father, struck with lung cancer, was left unable to speak. Still, he handed down the tradition silently. I read his eyes, Montana said. He said, Dont let my work go in vain. 

But in recent years, Montana has found it much harder to live up to his fathers directive. According to the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center, since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the proportion of renters paying 30 or 50 percent of their income toward rent is higher in New Orleans than in big-ticket cities like New York or San Francisco. Indians, musicians and other cultural leaders in New Orleans have been hit hard, moving farther from the center of New Orleans in search of affordable housing.

Montana's rent, $400 when Hurricane Katrina hit, doubled to $800; utilities rose exponentially. A few years ago, a neighbor created a GoFundMe campaign to help him get caught up and stay in his apartment off Bayou Road in the 7th Ward, but the bills began mounting again.

It came as a relief late last year when his application was accepted for an affordable apartment in the Bell Artspace Campus, a 79-unit complex in the citys 6th Ward made up of three rehabbed school buildings set on grounds that make up nearly two full city blocks. But financial pressures had reached a breaking point. After bills, nothing remained for this year's beads and feathers.

Those who made New Orleans famous for its culture  its Indians, musicians and social-aid-and-pleasure-club members  simply aren't making enough money to cover costs of living. It's "discouraging and heart-wrenching," said bass drummer Ellis Joseph, who leads the Free Agents Brass Band and is a music instructor at a public school, but was saddled with student loans and rent that just rose by another $100.

Joseph will move into an apartment at Bell next month, but a long list of bandmates and musical friends are now on Bell's waiting list, he said. One musician had moved into a sketchy area, because it was affordable, only to dodge bullets when he gets home from gigs, Joseph said. Another was forced out by a landlord turning the rental into an Airbnb, leaving him sleeping on a family couch in eastern New Orleans, far from where his gigs are.

Even as Montana has struggled financially, he still holds the spotlight. Several years ago, he led the legendary Yellow Pocahontas tribe on Fat Tuesday for his cousin Darryl Montana, Tooties son. Then in 2012, he started the Washitaw Nation. Hes lectured about Indian culture at Tulane University.

These days, he and longtime girlfriend Sandra Smith are at home in a sunny, brick-walled Bell apartment. Montana knows the campus well, having attended school there, at the former Andrew J. Bell Junior High, before moving on to Joseph S. Clark High School.

He ended up dropping out of Clark, to the consternation of his mother, who made him accompany her to her job at Boudreauxs Jewelry on Baronne Street. He worked there as a janitor until he brought some of his Indian beadwork to the office, impressing her boss with the intricacy of the work. That was the start of his lifes profession, as he learned how to work with precious metals and make jewelry.

Despite taking this year off, Montana believes that better times are ahead. The move to Bell cut his rent-utility bills by a quarter, maybe even a half. And the stable rent, like the regular health care he receives through the Musicians Clinic, sets his mind at ease. I cant think right when Im stressed, he said. But this calm allows me to sew.John Fortunato has blanketed Jefferson Parish with campaign signs in recent months, going tit-for-tat in an advertising war with Sheriff Joe Lopinto. Some of the placards have even found their way into neighboring New Orleans, reminding commuters of next weekend's special election to fill the unexpired term of former Sheriff Newell Normand.

But questions have emerged about the business printing the bulk of Fortunato's signs  a Texas company owned by Fortunato's son, John Fortunato Jr. It's an arrangement that experts say could violate campaign finance laws, in part because the company does not appear to be registered to do business in Louisiana.

New campaign finance reports show Fortunato has paid the business, WrapStars, of suburban Houston, at least $66,000 for signs since announcing his candidacy last fall. That figure represents roughly one-fourth of the $278,878 Fortunato spent in overall campaign expenditures through March 4.

The amount of money Fortunato has paid his son's company is irrelevant under campaign finance laws. But the transactions appear to fly in the face of rules governing the limited circumstances under which campaign dollars may be paid to a candidate's immediate family members.

One of the requirements is that a family member's business must be registered with the Secretary of State's Office and that the company have a record of "doing business regularly in the state for at least 12 months" before receiving payment from the campaign.

"When you start giving money to a business owned by an immediate family member, you have to be able to demonstrate that you qualify for these narrow exceptions," said Robert Travis Scott, president of the nonpartisan Public Affairs Research Council.

"You have a case here where the candidate may need to demonstrate that he's in compliance with the campaign finance laws," Scott added. "If he can't demonstrate that he's met these narrow exceptions, then that could raise a concern with the enforcement agencies."

Campaign finance laws are enforced by the state Board of Ethics, but Scott noted that criminal violations can be pursued by state or federal authorities.

WrapStars does not appear to be registered with the Louisiana Secretary of State's Office, though records show it registered in Texas in 2002.

The Fortunato campaign released a statement late Friday saying the younger Fortunato accepted the campaign sign orders online. The statement did not dispute that the company is not registered in Louisiana; it said the younger Fortunato "is in the process of creating WrapStars New Orleans with a gentleman named Lonnie Young."

The statement also sought to emphasize that the younger Fortunato has political clients other than his father.

"WrapStars in Texas is currently printing thousands of campaign signs for eight different political campaigns in the Houston area," the statement said. "John Jr. says he applied the same discount that he applies on all political or nonprofit work to his father's campaign."

Fortunato said Friday that he does not know whether his son's business meets the requirements of state law to print signs for the campaign.

Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

"I have no idea if he is (licensed in Louisiana) or not," he wrote in a text message. "But to be fair, I don't care if my opponent is buying signs from his cousin in Mississippi for the same amount of money that I'm paying. What matters to me is the safety and well-being of the citizens of Jefferson Parish."

Lopinto said he found the business relationship "disturbing" but not surprising. "It's part of a definite pattern of mismanagement that is typical of my opponent," the interim sheriff said. "Whether these mistakes are incompetence or abuse, they're really adding up."

Fortunato declined to provide specifics but said his son's company has provided the campaign signs at a rate far lower than local printing companies. He would not comment on the cost of shipping the materials from WrapStars, which is located in Spring, Texas, more than 350 miles from Jefferson Parish.

"It's saved me a lot of money," the elder Fortunato said in a telephone interview, "and I'm not going to talk about it beyond that."

When it comes to campaigns doing business with a candidate's family members, Louisiana law also requires the value of goods or services provided to be "commensurate with the consideration provided." The law further states that payments to family members must be "made through an arm's length transaction," an accounting term that means all parties are acting in their own self-interest.

When those terms are not met, criminal charges can result, although such cases are exceptionally rare.

Walter Reed, the longtime former district attorney in St. Tammany and Washington parishes, was convicted on federal wire fraud charges based on allegations that he used campaign money to overpay his son for services that were either never rendered or that cost far less than Reed paid for them.

There is no allegation that the younger Fortunato has failed to deliver signs: The parish is covered with them.

Recent videos posted to Wrap Stars' Facebook page show the production of other yard signs, and at least one clip shows a stack of Fortunato signs. Wrap Stars' website describes its expertise as "Vehicle Wraps, Logo and Graphic Design, Electric Signs, Marketing, Sales, (and) Fabrication."

It's not clear what rate the elder Fortunato paid per sign because the campaign has not released receipts of the transactions.

Scott, of the Public Affairs Research Council, said the campaign could be required to provide more details if the state ethics board decides to pursue the matter. The intent of the law, he said, is to prevent candidates from "circulating money through relatives in order to enrich themselves or their family members."

"Family members, a lot of times, want to help out with a campaign," Scott said. "The questions start to arise when you're actually spending money in their direction."

Fortunato has spent a significant chunk  roughly 24 percent  of his overall expenditures on campaign signs printed by his son's company.

Lopinto has spent more money on signs  about $95,000  but that sum represents only about 10 percent of his total expenditures and was spread out to five companies, according to his most recent campaign finance reports.if the people of Biafra want Republic of Biafra, it will be a reality during my administration. ----Donald Trump Donald Trump I wi...Many adventures mentioned in this post were provided free of charge. All opinions are my own.

My husband and I are going on eight years of marriage (wow!) and have never taken a real vacation just the two of us! So when he turned 45 this year  I decided to surprise him with a long weekend to Florida  a little sun, a little sand and some relaxation time was just what we needed. And of course  if the Food Hussy is involved  you know theres going to be food and animals. 

Normally if Im on vacation  Ill just Uber around rather than rent a car  but for the plans I had in the Jacksonville area  we really needed a car. Toyota was kind enough to share a new Toyota Rav 4 Hybrid for the weekend for us! It was fantastic! I have a Ford Escape and the two are very similar  the interior of this Rav was slick! We both really enjoyed it  especially the sunroof  perfect for a sunny weekend! And we did everything on one tank of gas  love the Hybrid!

1. Catty Shack Ranch

Our first stop was the Catty Shack Ranch  its a wildlife sanctuary in the Jacksonville area. They do amazing work in rescuing big cats from government seizures (i.e. illegal pets, crap zoos) and give them a forever home.

You can visit the sanctuary for a nominal donation fee  they get no government funding  and all the money goes to the care of the cats. We decided to go to a night feeding and it was AMAZING! These cats are in big enclosures and very well cared for. They have lions, tigers, pumas, panthers and more. Those are mainly what youll see in the night feeding  some of the smaller animals go in for the night.

The puma was so pretty  and it was interesting to find out that cougars, pumas and mountain lions are all really the same animal  it just depends on what part of the country you find them as to what theyre called. This girl was purring so loud  which they told us that these are the biggest cats that purr. Shes a bit older and was pretty mellow  its fascinating to be able to be so close to the cats.

And Ill say  Ive been to a janky wildlife place before and the animals were kept in small concrete enclosures and it was pretty upsetting. Catty Shack is much different  the enclosures are very large and as natural as they can reproduce.



But the star of the show is the night feeding  their caretakers love the cats so much. They have such a fondness as they feed them. Its just amazing to see these animals go to town on that chicken was so cool! They had one enclosure with 5 teenage girls  they were running and playing  until the food came out  then it was all business.

I love the Catty Shack Ranch! Its also a wonderful cause to support  you can adopt a cat and help support them financially. They are also the #1 attraction in Jacksonville on Trip Advisor.

That night on the way back to our resort, we saw a gorgeous sunset and couldnt help but snap some photos. I mean  how amazing is that?!

Saturday morning we headed about an hour and a half south of Jacksonville to Marineland. The drive to St. Augustine along the A1A is beautiful. There are multi-million dollar homes and numerous beach stops where you can pull off and take a walk in the sand!

Marineland is the worlds first oceanarium. They used to be focused more on performances but now focus on connecting people with the animals and educating visitors about how they can help preserve these beautiful animals.

Before I got in the water, the trainers gave me some background about dolphins and we went over the parts of the body and what we can do to help preserve their natural habitat. (Recycle!)

Then I was able to get in the water and meet Coquina and Toiko. They were amazing and beautiful girls! My trainers Kate and April were very helpful in working with me. Im not a swimmer but when youre in the water  theres a ledge that you can walk out onto so youre in the water  but youre still standing and not having to rely on swimming. (I had a lifejacket too as you can see.)

I was provided the Dolphin Immersion experience which gave me nearly an hour in the water with the girls. This allowed me to get up close and personal with these girls. They were amazing and beautiful! The trainers then showed me some of their training techniques. And I got to kiss the girl!

Definitely an adventure that is NOT to be missed!

Sunday morning I woke up early and headed down to the beach to catch the sunrise. We stayed at One Ocean Resort on Atlantic Beach. It was a beautiful hotel with a lot of nice amenities. The beach was right outside the door! Theres also a really nice shopping and dining area right next to the resort so if we had wanted to just stay there with no car  we would have been fine and had plenty to do.

3. Singletons Seafood Shack

Okay  itt not a big adventure  but you cant think Im going to not talk about food! Seafood shacks are all the rage in Jacksonville and I was excited to go to one! There was a nice fancy one near the resort  but I wanted to hit up a more local shack. Sunday we decided to drive up to Amelia Island and on the way we went to Singletons Seafood Shack.

Wheres the animal adventure here? Well  they have kitties! There are quite a few kitties that call the Seafood Shack home. Theyre all spayed and neutered and you can even donate to their care at Singletons. This little girl came out to see us while we had lunch on the water.

You can also try the fresh catch of the day or a plethora of other fish options. I had the fried Triggerfish basket and it was DELICIOUS! Its a nice thick flaky white fish that hit the spot for a fresh lunch on the water. Im also typically a tarter sauce fanatic  but this didnt even need it! I dipped some in but mostly I just enjoyed it on its own!

We loved Singletons! Ill have more in a separate food review coming soon!

The last of our adventures was Sunday night and it was really for the hubby! He watches Swamp People all the time and loves fast boats. I wanted to take Larry on an airboat tour and found Sea Serpent Tours. This was on the inland side of the water about 45 minutes from Jacksonville in St. Augustine.

Captain Mike was great!!! He was super friendly and extremely knowledgeable. We also were worried we might not make it in time but Captain Mike stayed in touch with us and made sure to wait until we got there. The boat was really nice! Captain Mike also told us they also have hydrabikes and kayaks that use for fitness classes.

Captain Mike whipped us around pretty fast on the airboat with some great tunes for a bit  then took us into some more quiet pathways of the river for a leisurely sunset ride. The water was like glass and the reflections were so pretty. It was a beautiful way to end our vacation.

Captain Mike also knew right where to look for the local wildlife. He told us folklore stories, information about the heritage of the area and lots of info on the animals that live in these waters. We got to see a few baby gators resting on logs. These little guys were about 3-4 feet long and were just babies! We could get pretty close  but we definitely were respectful of them and their space.

There were also bigger gators around  but at dusk  theyre pretty much in for the night and you wont see them. All in all  I would HIGHLY recommend the Sea Serpent Tours  Captain Mike was great and you cant help but enjoy the ride!

We were on the Sunset Tour and Captain Mike has a great spot in the river that he pulls up to for sunset photos. Its a great photo to remember our long weekend in Jacksonville!

I would definitely recommend all of our animal adventures as well as Jacksonville. It wasnt quite as warm as we had hoped  but we enjoyed it nonetheless. If you love animals and the beach  Jacksonville is a destination to check out!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Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, March 17, 2018 13:24 1285 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9ca4f98c 1 Interview KUHP,penal-code,interview Free

For the more liberal-leaning Indonesians, the upcoming revision to the Criminal Code (KUHP), currently being finalized by the House of Representatives and the President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo administration, is a threat to freedom. Lawmakers and government officials, however, have played down such concerns, saying the new KUHP was principally meant to create order in society and should by no means be perceived as an attempt to encroach on an individuals privacy.

The Jakarta Post's Ina Parlina, Margareth S. Aritonang and Moses Ompusunggu recently spoke with Enny Nurbaningsih, who heads the government team tasked with formulating the KUHP bill, on the philosophy and aim behind the revision to the 70-year-old law. Following are excerpts from the nearly hour-long interview.

Question: How is the KUHP bill more progressive than the colonial criminal law?

Answer: The KUHP bill consists of two parts: the first book and the second book. The first book explains the guidelines for punishment that are different from the Dutch colonialist KUHP. We changed the guidelines because our focal point is not to punish a perpetrator for their deed, but to correct the perpetrator.

Therefore, a perpetrator we want to correct does not necessarily have to be sentenced to jail. [The correction] could be adequately made through community service or supervision by authorities. We have to pay close attention to the perpetrator.

We expect the guidelines in the first book will be used by law enforcement agencies in our country. Another point is how to apply the death penalty, which is starkly different from the old KUHP.

The old KUHP recognizes the death penalty as capital punishment, which makes it easier for [judges] to hand down a death sentence. This will no longer be easy, because the upcoming revision aims at correcting the perpetrator.

Enny Nurbaningsih (Courtesy of//kemenkumham.co.id)

The restorative justice concept used in the KUHP bill is based on human rights principles, but our judges are still using conventional legal thinking in determining verdicts. Can the concept be implemented?

That's why we need a transition period to disseminate and to prepare the infrastructure and human resources for the implementation of the new KUHP. We will also ready the people who will be in charge of managing the implementation of community service as punishment. We have to be ready for everything.

[Even when all preparations are ready], it will not mean we can relax, as our journey will be arduous. This is the start of a very different thing.

How long will the transition period be?

Three years. The House argued it was too long, but it would be difficult [to shorten the duration] because we have to disseminate [the new KUHP] to our law enforcement authorities, to civil society organizations, to everyone.

We will ask the CSOs for help in the dissemination, because all citizens must be well informed about the penal code. We have to have the same understanding, so that we know what and how to do things when we are in trouble. It's dangerous for the country if its citizens don't understand their penal code system.

Some people ask, "Why is the deliberation of the KUHP bill conducted haphazardly?" In what way? The draft bill was first initiated in 1964, developing over time [to the version] we are using now, the 2015 version.

Moreover, if you monitored the drafting process, you would be able to observe the changes that were made. We have made the changes because we have to be very careful in revising the KUHP, which is applicable to all citizens.

That's why we involved a lot of experts in the process. There is [not a single ounce] of elitism in it. All hearings are open to the public, different from the deliberation on the terrorism bill, which is virtually closed door, because it talks about intelligence data.

We have even conducted roadshows to various universities to explain the bills contents. We have also invited proofreaders to check the contents.

An Illustration of the Indonesian Criminal Code (KUHP). (kompas.com/Palupi Annisa Auliani)

Who are the proofreaders? And what did they actually do?

They corrected the substance. All are criminal law professors.

We did all this because we think this bill should be the constitution for Indonesia's criminal law, which will regulate how punishment should be given, among other [provisions]. We were very prudent in drafting it.

Did lawmakers and government officials make many changes?

There were changes made at every hearing on the bill. I cannot count all the changes because there are many. Our speed in deliberating the bill was normal, because we have to prevent conflict with other regulations of criminal law. We are very careful in that.

But it does not mean we have no target at all. Having a target is very different from doing it haphazardly. Our target is that the revision process would be concluded under the current House session. Failing that, it's possible that the bill would not be deliberated again, because everything depends on the political decision of the next [legislative] session.

It's possible that we could start all over again because our lawmaking system at the House does not allow carryover [legislation]. Just count the losses  financial and energy-wise  if we restarted the deliberation from zero.

On the other hand, creating an original criminal code has been the state's commitment since Independence. It is part of our law reform effort: replacing Dutch colonialist regulations, which number around 400 regulations at present.

A women's rights activist cries with joy after the Constitutional Court (MK) rejected a judicial review petition demanding that articles on adultery in the prevailing Criminal Code be expanded to include pre-marital sex and same-sex relationships in this Dec. 14, 2017, file photo. (JP/Seto Wardhana.)

How do you respond to the criticism over the homosexuality articles in the criminal code bill?

You have to understand that LGBT was regulated in the Dutch criminal code, though it only regulates crimes committed against underage victims.

For the new regulation, we cannot [criminalize] a person [for his or her sexual orientation]. Instead, what we regulate is their [sexual practice], whether it is conducted in private or in public.

We are prohibited from raiding dormitories one by one to see whether or not there are two people in the same room. That is a private matter.

For the Republic of Indonesia, it is not possible for the government to intrude on the private matters of its citizens. But when private matters disrupt public matters, we have to enforce the law. For instance, when a person [engages in LGBT practices] to disrupt public order. We are not a liberal country.

But the morality articles are open to different interpretations.

We cannot measure it subjectively, because it is related to morality. At the end, it is the judges who will assess [each case]. The legal process at this stage must be very strong.

Besides, one can also be charged with a crime of homosexuality if one commits it by spreading pornographic content, especially if the victim is a child; the sentence would be very heavy. We are aware that the distribution of pornographic content has been rampant here.

So the implementation of the new KUHP provisions depends on the capability of individual judges?

Not only the new norms, but all provisions in the criminal code. The judges will also decide whether to sentence a convicted criminal to jail or only to community service.

The implementation of the community service sentence could also address the problem of overcrowded prisons. For instance, when one person is sentenced to one year in prison, it is possible for the sentence to be replaced with community service or supervision by authorities; or even with a mere fine. The community service sentence, however, cannot be applied to serious crimes.

Burned down: A fire razes the Jambi Class II A Penitentiary during a riot in March last year. (Courtesy of Tribunnews.com/File)

Some NGOs said the increasing number of crimes regulated in the criminal code bill would increase the current problem of prison overcrowding.

We have to bear in mind that the biggest contributor to prison overcrowding is drug convicts, at around 80 percent.

The Narcotics Law must be revised. We have drug dealers and users, but should we sentence them all to prison? We have to decide which who is better placed in a rehabilitation center, to be placed in prison, or even to receive the death penalty. Regarding the death penalty, we have decided that it is an alternative punishment.

What do you mean by alternative punishment?

An alternative and special punishment means it is dependent on what we call the probation period. For instance, if a death-row convict behaves well during the period, say 10 years, [a death sentence] could be replaced with a life sentence.

What about the adultery articles?

There is an expansion from the old criminal code that criminalizes only sexual acts outside marriage by married individuals.

We want to accommodate the needs of our heterogeneous society that holds [its own] values. We cannot equate our society with Western societies that have broader freedoms, like Europe. We have our own cultural values.

After we decided that the crime can also be reported by any affected third party, it triggered widespread debate. Komnas Perempuan [National Commission on Violence Against Women] was even concerned that it could prompt the persecution of women.

Afterwards, we decided to limit the third party definition to the parents, a husband or a wife, or a child of the person who commits adultery.

The restriction has been added to the article. Komnas Perempuan was present at the hearing when we changed the article, and said that they agreed on the matter.

What about the articles on insulting the head of state?

We are bound to the basic principle that the right to freedom of expression is protected under the Constitution. We don't want it to be curtailed by the existence of a new KUHP.

What is regulated in the new KUHP is different from the last one [the Constitutional Court abolished it in 2006]. We have provided an exclusion on people who cannot be prosecuted using the article. For instance, the article cannot be applied to a person who expresses an opinion or criticism on a government policy.

What we mean by insult is when a person degrades the dignity of a head of state. For instance, by calling the head of state a dog or anything that is not related to what a president does. We have created a long explanation on this matter, so that law enforcement authorities can differentiate between an insult and criticism. (ahw)A Ghanaian schoolteacher who used chalkboard drawings to teach computer science because his farming village had no laptops found himself the star of a global conference in Singapore.

Richard Appiah Akoto, who drew coloured chalk diagrams to teach impoverished rural pupils how a PC works, rubbed shoulders with Silicon Valley hotshots in the glitzy Asian tech hub.

Akoto, who had never been outside of Ghana before, said he was invited to the Microsoft-sponsored meet after video of his jury-rigged lessons went viral.

Facebook users delighted in his intricately detailed computer screen -- replete with toolbar icons -- and his precisely decorated keyboard and mouse, which he drew for children who had never seen a computer before.

"Then I will just draw the mouse with the cord and I would say this is the mouse, this is the body and this is the tail of the mouse," he said.

As a teacher of information and communication technology (ICT) at a junior high school in the impoverished Sekyedomase farming village in Ghana, Akoto said he had to improvise because the school had no computer and his own laptop had broken down.

Read also: Australia-ASEAN summit: Give education a boost

After pictures of the class were uploaded, the global response was immediate, with pledges of donations pouring in.

"People started calling me... I said what trouble have I created for myself. But it's all good. At the end of the day, something good has come out from it," he said.

One donor from Britain donated a laptop, and a Ghanaian IT firm gave five desktops to the school and another laptop for Akoto.

When the students saw the computers for the first time, they were excited but they already knew the parts from his drawings, Akoto said.

After a three-day conference in Singapore, at which he was given a standing ovation, the 33-year-old said the donations meant he would never have to resort to a chalkboard again.

"I hope to get more computers so that every student will be behind one," he said Friday.

"I also hope that the other surrounding schools who are also lacking like my school, we hope to get more so that we also give them (computers) to help in their teaching of ICT."Eating a nutritious breakfast requires more than just one slice of bread or a glass of milk. There are many necessary steps to starting your day right. Here are some tips you can follow to improve your breakfast routine:

Time

It is recommended to eat breakfast before 9 a.m. because even though your body still has energy from the previous nights dinner or snack, it lasts only about two to three hours after waking up. Therefore, it is best to eat your breakfast before 9 a.m. to avoid feeling lethargic.

First thing in the morning

Are you one of those people who sip a cup of coffee right after waking up? If you suffer from gastritis, you may want to stop the habit.

In the morning, dont drink coffee or anything too sweet. Drink a glass of mineral water, which has a pH of 7, to neutralize and increase the pH in your stomach, said Hardinsyah, president of the Food and Nutrition Society (PERGIZI PANGAN) of Indonesia, during the Ayo Bangun Indonesia event hosted by Nestle on Sunday in the parking area of Sarinah Mall in Central Jakarta. pH is a measure of how acidic/alkaline water is, with 7 being neutral.

When our stomach is ready, we can eat fruit that has a soft texture like papaya. Dont eat hard fruit because it will take time to digest.

Hardinsyah added that it was still best to consult your doctor if you had a certain disorder that influenced your breakfast habits.

Read also: Why breakfast is a must for adolescents

Dont be in a rush

It is not good to eat your breakfast while you are walking or in a rush. If you do not have time to prepare a meal, Hardinsyah suggests waking up early. Research shows that meal preparation generally takes 15  20 minutes, while eating breakfast can take 10 to 15 minutes, he said. If we want to enjoy breakfast with our family, we need to wake up at least two hours before going to work.

As an example, Hardinsyah said that to have a nutritious breakfast without sacrificing your rest time, you do not need to consume all of your carbohydrates, proteins and fiber at one time. You can eat fruit on your way to work or in the office. The same applies for protein and vegetables.

Is my breakfast healthy enough?

Many Indonesians start their day with a rice dish, including nasi uduk (steamed rice cooked in coconut milk with side dishes). Hardiansyah suggests adding more fiber from fruits and protein to make it healthier.

Meanwhile, there are also other people who think a cup of tea or coffee is enough for breakfast. Coffee does not fulfill the nutrition requirements for a healthy breakfast, Hardiansyah said, adding that normally people would feel hungry soon after drinking it.

I dislike eating breakfast in the morning

Those who still believe that breakfast is not their favorite part of the day should think about the consequences. Its possible you will feel weak, have difficulties focusing and find it difficult to remember things, Hardinsyah said, adding that deciding to skip breakfast would also influence your mood for the rest of the day. (wng)There is no known record of the American artist Mary Cassatt giving Edgar Degas a good slap.

But in the half century the two were friends, there must have been times when she was tempted to take a swing at the French painter.

"I don't believe that a woman can draw that well," Degas told her in 1892, taken aback by her painting "Young Women Gathering Fruit".

On another occasion standing before one of her Japanese-style prints, he asked in disbelief, "Did you really do this?"

To top it all, Degas painted a "repulsive" portrait of his young friend -- a picture that left her so furious she painted a riposte.

The sparky relationship between the pair is at the centre of the first major retrospective of Cassatt's work in Paris.

Although Cassatt is something of a national hero and female role model in her homeland, she is little known in France, the country where she spent most of her working life as the only American member of the Impressionist movement.

But the new show at the Musee Jacquemart-Andre in the French capital finally aims to put that right.

Curator Nancy Mowll Mathews said Cassatt and Degas were the oddest of couples -- a feminist and the misogynist who somehow became friends for life.

"Degas could be awful, I mean really awful," she told AFP. "He had no filter.

"Everybody had a falling out with him eventually. He said terrible things. He was a misanthrope, and could be really cruel."

Read also: Raden Saleh painting discovered in France

- Wanting to be Michelangelo -

Yet when the young Mary Cassatt defied her rich Pennsylvanian parents to decamp to France to become a painter, Degas invited her to join him, Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir and the other Impressionists.

Cassatt was fiercely ambitious, Mowll Mathews said. "She wanted to be the female Michelangelo... for her paintings to hang in museums with the great artists of the past."

Such was her confidence that she deliberately chose homely models to grandstand her talent, she added.

While her women were not pretty, they were "tall and very strong and confident -- this was the image that she wanted to project of women," the curator said.

And when men patronised her, Cassatt loved proving them wrong -- producing some of the best prints of the period when others claimed that Japanese woodblock prints could not be matched in the West.

When Degas painted a portrait of her that she found "repugnant and repulsive", she took up her brush.

She rebuked him with a self-portrait that Mowll Mathews said "swiftly corrected him. In his she is stooped over, in hers she is upright and feminine and most important of all, she is painting..."

Read also: Bali's unstoppable rise of street art

- Sexual tension with Degas -

The curator is still unsure what went on between them. "Is hard to say if there was sexual tension. They were both flirts.

"I think they were both quirky and shared a sense of humour, which was a humour of abuse in a way -- particularly Degas because he would say very mean things particularly to and about women."

Luckily, Cassatt -- who became so financially successful from her painting that she was able to buy a chateau near Paris -- was thick-skinned.

"She wasn't that sensitive," Mowll Mathews said. "Their relationship worked because she thought he was funny, he thought he was funny and her family liked him. He was half-American after all and both his brothers married Americans."

After the last Impressionist exhibition in 1886, Cassatt went her own way and made the "mother and child painting her own", said Mowll Mathews.

It was a daring choice for a woman who had turned her back on motherhood.

"People could not resist saying, 'Well she didn't have any children, she never married... tut, tut.'

"So for her to continue when her private life was being dissed like this, she had to have a lot of gumption."

The competition was also fierce from Paul Gauguin, Maurice Denis and many others.

"Most of the other mother and child specialists of the time, and they were many, have no great place in art history now, but she does," Mowll Mathews said.

Beyond her own work, one of Cassatt's greatest legacies was as an evangelist for Impressionism in the US, where the movement had a more lasting impact on the public and collectors thanks to her than in France, said the show's co-curator Pierre Curie.

There she was a celebrity in her own lifetime, organising a show of work by herself, Degas and several Old Masters in New York to raise money for the suffragette movement.

"The message she was sending," said Mowll Mathews, "was that in 1915 men and women were equal and both were the heirs of the great art of the past."A Russian plane loaded with precious metals lost its glittering cargo on take-off Thursday, scattering the runway with gold and silver.

The Antonov plane was taking off after refuelling in an airport at Yakutsk in Siberia when its cargo door flew open -- and out tumbled nearly 200 bars from the Kupol gold mine in the remote Chukotka region, investigators said.

The cargo of bars of concentrated ore used to transport the precious metals weighed 9.3 tonnes.

"As it gathered height, the cargo door became damaged due to the shifting of cargo" and "part of the cargo was scattered on the runway," Russia's Investigative Committee said in a statement on Telegram.

The plane was forced to land back at the airport, and police immediately sealed off the area to prevent locals from rushing to the scene of the rare windfall, Yakutmedia local news site reported.

It posted a video of what looked like large white-ish bricks lying on the runway.

Read also: Russia to start offering spacewalks for tourists

"172 bars have been found weighing around 3.4 tonnes," the local interior ministry told TASS state news agency. "Only part of the gold fell out -- altogether there were around nine tonnes in there."

Kupol mine where the cargo came from is operated by Canada-based mining company Kinross Gold.

And apparently none of the valuable cargo is missing,

A Russian spokesman for the company, Stanislav Borodyuk, told Interfax news agency that "all the cargo has been picked up, there are no losses."

He said the bars were Dore, a semi-pure alloy of silver and gold.

Investigators say the problem on take-off was likely due to the cargo not being properly stabilised.Alibaba Cloud, a subsidiary of Alibaba Group, has opened a data center in Indonesia.

The company said in a press release that the data center was the first global cloud platform available in the country. It offers various products and cloud services for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and startups, including elastic computing, database, networking and security services as well as middleware for data analytics and big data.

In addition to those services, the Alibaba Cloud data center features a MaxCompute big data facility, allowing users to store and process large amounts of data.

Read also: Alibaba launches mobile ads platform in Indonesia

Communications and Information Minister Rudiantara said SMEs and startups had made significant progress in Indonesia in recent years in terms of cloud adaptation and enthusiasm for digital transformation. He added that that trend should be supported with technology and infrastructure to maximize opportunities afforded by the digital economy.

The data center is part of Alibaba Clouds commitment to support the government's initiative in developing 1,000 startups by 2020.

For SMEs and startups, access to scalable cloud hosting at affordable prices is important to expedite growth. (jes/wng)Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin's Broadway adaptation of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird is facing a legal challenge by the late author's estate over claims it dramatically rewrites the main character, Atticus Finch.

Lee, who died in February 2016 aged 89, agreed in 2015 to give producer Scott Rudin the rights to the theatrical production of the novel, one of the most popular works of American fiction.

Published in 1960, the book has sold more than 40 million copies, been translated in more than 40 languages and continues to sell about a million copies a year, according to a legal filing entered Tuesday before an Alabama court and seen by AFP Thursday.

To Kill A Mockingbird was previously adapted for the big screen in 1962, winning three Oscars, and was first produced for the stage by Christopher Sergel in 1970.

Lee's heirs grew worried by interviews given by Sorkin, an acclaimed screenwriter in his own right best known for The West Wing and The Social Network, and sought a draft of the script.

Read also: What to expect from Big Bad Wolf 2018 in March

Their main concern was over the portrayal of the novel's beloved main character, the crusading lawyer Atticus Finch.

Rudin attempted to reassure the estate, according to the court filing, that the production remained faithful to the book.

But after reading another draft in February, Tonja Carter, a lawyer for Lee's estate, said nothing had been done to alleviate their concerns.

After further tense exchanges, a lawyer representing Rudin indicated that his company, Rudinplay, had the final say over the production and that the estate's input was advisory only -- leading to the lawsuit.

The play is due to open on Broadway on December 13 with its first preview on November 1.Japan continued to see more reported cases of stalking and revenge pornography in 2017, with a revised law expanding the definition of offenses and the increased willingness of victims to come forward leading to the rise, police said Thursday.

Police nationwide were consulted in a record-high 23,079 suspected stalking cases in 2017, up 342 from the year before. The number of cases in which police arrested suspects or referred them to prosecutors over breaches of an antistalking law also reached a record high of 926, up 157, according to data released by the National Police Agency.

The data also showed an uptrend in the number of people approaching police with revenge pornography complaints, the figure in 2017 rising 180, or 16.9 percent, from a year before to 1,243. Revenge pornography involves a victim having compromising images of a sexual nature retained, distributed or used as a form of leverage by another person.

Read also: 'Little idols': Japan's dark obsession with young girls

With the number of stalking consultations remaining above 20,000 for the fifth consecutive year, an NPA official said victims "feel more comfortable in coming forward as the police have become more ready to respond."

The rise in stalking-related figures followed the entry into force of an amended antistalking law in January 2017 which outlawed someone making repeated and unwanted contact through social media as well as prohibiting loitering near a targeted persons home or workplace.

Under the new law, police can issue a restraining order without prior warning in cases where it is deemed an emergency.

Reflecting the changes, the number of warnings police issued to suspected stalkers dropped 297 to 3,265, while the number of restraining orders rose 489 to 662.

An overwhelming 88.3 percent of stalking victims were women, and more than 60 percent were in their 20s and 30s. A total of 82.7 percent of suspected stalkers were men, the data showed.

The most common relationship between the victim and the perpetrator was boyfriend-girlfriend, including former partners.

The number of revenge pornography reports has remained above 1,000 since 2015, when the police began maintaining records, with young women the worst affected.

Read also: Japan's isolated older 'hikikomori' shun society for years

A total of 79.6 percent of victims were under 40, with 468 in their 20s, followed by 307 who are 19 or younger. There were 214 people targeted in their 30s while the youngest affected were two 11-year-old girls.

Similar to trends seen in stalking cases, 91.6 percent of the victims were women, while 83.6 percent of the perpetrators were men. The most common relationship between the victim and offender again was boyfriend-girlfriend, including former partners.

A total of 514 cases saw victims being threatened that compromising images would be distributed, followed by 362 cases in which images have been taken or retained, and 255 cases in which they received inappropriate images. In 236 cases, compromising images were publicly distributed without consent.Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Indonesia  Fri, March 16 2018

The Foreign Ministry pledged on Thursday to fight for the rights of Indonesian migrant worker Santi Restauli Simbolon, who was found dead in a locked cupboard in Penang, Malaysia.



We will help to claim the rights of the deceased, including insurance, ministry official Judha Nugraha said when handing her body over to her family at the Kuala Namu International Airport in North Sumatra.



We will also be guarding the legal process to make sure the perpetrators are arrested and punished as harshly as possible.



Santi was allegedly murdered by her boyfriend, a Nepalese citizen, a few days before she was found in a locked cupboard on Tuesday.



The Foreign Ministrys director for overseas citizen protection, Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, said Santi was a 25-year-old legal migrant worker who had a job as a factory machine operator in Penang.



When Penang P...Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Trevor Matheson (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 16 2018

New Zealands relationship with Indonesia is one of our oldest and closest in Southeast Asia, with 2018 marking the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties between our two nations.



Indonesia has always been considered a natural partner for New Zealand, given the largely complimentary economic relationship shared between our countries. However, trade has not been the only area of collaboration in our long-standing relationship, with ties in areas of education and security also being forged almost immediately after independence.



The education partnership between Indonesia and New Zealand dates back to the early days of the Colombo Plan, which Indonesia first joined in 1953.



Under the Colombo Plan, New Zealand implemented a number of technical aid initiatives, such as a technical trade training center and short-term training courses for Indonesian dental nurses and de...Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Sydney  Sat, March 17, 2018 16:01 1284 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9ca57352 1 Business Turnbull,Jokowi,Australia,TPP Free

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has expressed hope that Indonesia will one day join the revamped Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), popularly known as TPP-11.

The TPP was revised and signed by 11 initial founding countries  minus the United States, which withdrew from the deal last year  on Mar 8, in Santiago, Chile. The countries pledged to ratify the TPP-11 this year so it could begin to include new members in 2019.

"We try to keep the train on the track and of course it is now open for others to join. Indonesia perhaps, in the future, Mr. President [Joko Widodo], is there," Turnbull said at the CEO forum during the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit in Sydney on Saturday.

He said that other countries were interested in joining the TPP, including the United Kingdom (UK), even though it was not located in the Pacific region.

"The UK expressed a strong interest in joining the TPP after it exited the European Union," he said.

Jokowi has expressed his intention to join the TPP, but has also made clear that Indonesia was in no hurry to join the trade deal.

"Caution is of the utmost importance in calculating this. Everything must be calculated for the sake of national interests. It is all still in the process," the President said in Palm Springs, the US, in February 2016.

Indonesia has yet to comment on the trade deal after the signing of TPP-11.

The TPP-11 members are Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Without the US, the trade deal covers 13.5 percent of the world's GDP. (ahw)Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, March 17, 2018 11:05 1285 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9ca4bee5 1 City robbery,jakarta,domestic-worker Free

A domestic worker has been accused of making up a robbery scenario at her employers house in Pondok Kelapa, Duren Sawit, East Jakarta.

The worker, identified only as H, 38, allegedly took her employers jewelry and hid it in a storage room at the house, before screaming for help, claiming that there were two people pointing a gun at her.

The employer came, called the police and asked the helper to hide in a room while waiting for help to come.

However, when the police arrived at the scene, they did not find anything suspicious.

After questioning the helper at Duren Sawit district police station, the helper, who has worked at the house for four years, admitted that she was the one who took the jewelry.

It [the robbery] was made up. She has been declared a suspect, East Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Tony Surya Putra said on Friday as quoted by tribunnews.com.Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Paul Handley (Agence France-Presse) Washington  Sat, March 17, 2018 11:57 1285 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9ca4cffe 2 World US,DonaldTrump Free

Former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, who has endured a year of withering attacks from President Donald Trump, was fired by the Justice Department Friday just days before he was to retire.

"Andrew McCabe FIRED, a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI - A great day for Democracy," Trump tweeted soon after the firing.

"Sanctimonious [ex-FBI director] James Comey was his boss and made McCabe look like a choirboy. He knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI!" Trump wrote.

McCabe pushed back hard at the decision, saying he was the victim of a "war" by the Trump administration against both the FBI, and the special counsel probing allegations of Russian election meddling.

Announcing McCabe's ouster, the Justice Department said an internal investigation found that he had made unauthorized disclosures to the media, and had not been fully honest "on multiple occasions" with the department's inspector general.

"The FBI expects every employee to adhere to the highest standards of honesty, integrity and accountability," Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement.

The decision was taken "after an extensive and fair investigation," Sessions said.

Details of the inspector general's probe were not made public, but it involved the FBI's handling of the 2016 investigation into Trump's election rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Trump has repeatedly accused McCabe and Comey of having protected Clinton from prosecution over her misuse of a private email server while she was secretary of state, and over the actions of the private Clinton Foundation set up by her husband, former president Bill Clinton.

Trump was also publicly upset about McCabe's defense of Comey -- whom the president fired in May 2017 in frustration at the ongoing FBI probe into alleged collusion between his election campaign and Russia.

McCabe hit out following his sacking in a blistering statement.

"I am being singled out and treated this way because of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of James Comey," McCabe said.

McCabe said the inspector general's probe "became part of an unprecedented effort by the administration, driven by the president himself, to remove me from my position, destroy my reputation, and possibly strip me of a pension that I worked 21 years to earn."

The firing came as the White House shows increasing frustration with the collusion probe, now in the hands of Special Counsel Robert Mueller -- himself a former FBI director -- and increasingly threatening the president's inner circle.

Mueller is notably examining whether Trump obstructed the investigation with his sacking of Comey, an episode that McCabe would be a crucial witness for.

Trump had repeatedly criticized McCabe as biased, pressing Sessions to take action against him.

Under pressure, on January 30 McCabe announced he would retire at the end of March, when he became eligible for full pension benefits. Meanwhile he halted work and went on leave.

"This attack on my credibility is one part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally, but to taint the FBI, law enforcement, and intelligence professionals more generally," McCabe said.

"It is part of this administration's ongoing war with the FBI and the efforts of the special counsel investigation."

McCabe denied any impropriety in speaking with the media about the Clinton probe, and denied that he handled the probe with any bias.

He also denied having deliberately lied to the inspector general.

The firing means the Justice Department can deny him his pension. McCabe reportedly has said he will appeal Sessions' decision.

Trump took advantage of McCabe's links to the Democrats. His wife ran for state office under the Democratic party banner in Virginia in 2015, receiving $467,000 in campaign funding from a close political ally of Hillary Clinton.

"Why didn't A.G. Sessions replace Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, a Comey friend who was in charge of Clinton investigation," Trump tweeted in July 2017, adding a reference to the donation.

Trump raised the heat in December, taunting McCabe over his looming retirement.

"FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is racing the clock to retire with full benefits. 90 days to go?!!!"

The firing will only stoke the political fires around the Mueller investigation of Trump. It could also fuel discontent inside the FBI, where Comey and McCabe both held the respect of the thousands of agents.

Republican Representative Lee Zeldin labeled the firing "appropriate" and "timely."

"McCabe was a ringleader of rogue actors who were a shameful exception at top; not the norm," he tweeted.

But Democrat Adam Schiff said that the action, coming after Trump urged the Justice department to deny McCabe his pension, "gives the action an odious taint."Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, March 17, 2018 17:22 1284 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9ca5a555 1 Politics Gerindra-Party,Prabowo-Subianto,election Free

The Gerindra Party is seeking a potential candidate to be paired with its chairman Prabowo Subianto in the 2019 presidential race.

Party secretary-general Ahmad Muzani said his party was currently doing an internal survey on the electability of 15 figures, including seven Gerindra cadres. Former Constitutional Court justice Mahfud MD has been mentioned as one of the names on the list.

Prabowo is [] considering whether the figure needs to be a member of a political party or not, Muzani said Thursday. But he has yet to discuss it any further with us [the central executive board].

Prabowo, widely predicted to be President Joko Jokowi Widodos rival in 2019, has yet to publicly announce his intention to run for president again.

Gerindra, however, plans to declare support for Prabowo in April. Prabowo will definitely run. Gerindra is still convincing other parties to support Prabowo. So far, weve already gained support from [a party] that can help us reach the minimum requirement, Muzani said.

He was referring to the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), Gerindras only ally in the opposition coalition. Together, Gerindra and PKS have a total of 113 seats in the House of Representatives, enough to field a candidate, as the Election Law requires a minimum of 112 seats.

PKS central executive board chairman Mardani Ali Sera said that his party had proposed nine figures as potential runningmates for Prabaowo, including party chairman Sohibul Iman, former chairman Anis Matta and West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan.

We [Gerindra and PKS] will discuss the candidates together. If Gerindra proposes Prabowo as a presidential candidate, then [we] will seek the runningmate. Gerindra should not determine the pair alone, Mardani said. (ahw)Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Sydney  Sat, March 17, 2018 09:05 1285 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9ca473ff 1 National Jokowi,Joko-Widodo,Malcolm-Turnbull,Australia,ASEAN,ASEAN-Australia-Special-Summit Free

Shortly after arriving in Australia on Friday evening and receiving a warm welcome at Sydney's Four Seasons Hotel, which included members of the Indonesian diaspora, President Joko Jokowi Widodo headed to Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbulls residence for a dinner.

Jokowi departed at 7:30 p.m. local time for Turnbulls residence at Point Piper, which is only a 15-minute drive from the Four Seasons Hotel.

The dinner at the Australian prime minister's private mansion is a sign of a very close relationship between the two leaders, said Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi during a press conference on Friday at the Four Seasons.

The dinner was not open to journalists.

For his visit during the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit, Jokowi was provided with an Australian-made car. The white Holden Caprice was fitted with a special license plate for the summit with the number 041.

Retno said the summit would begin on Saturday. Jokowi would meet Turnbull again in a bilateral meeting, after which he was scheduled to deliver remarks at a CEO forum along with the Australian prime minister. (ebf)Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, March 17, 2018 09:25 1285 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9ca4a42c 1 National microplastics,drinking-water,health-ministry Free

The Health Ministry plans to follow up on a study by State University of New York and Orb Media Network that found microplastics in bottled drinking water.

Health Ministry secretary-general Untung Suseno Sutarjo said on Friday that the ministry would conduct a thorough study on the subject. Were going to coordinate with the Food and Drug Agency, he said, as quoted by kompas.com. Untung said the study would try to ascertain the source of microplastics, whether it is the water or the bottles.

The ministry would also study the effects of the microplastics on humans amid the absence of comprehensive research on microplastics and humans.

On Thursday, news broke about the study, which took 259 samples of drinking water from 11 local and international brands. It found that samples from all the brands contained microplastics. (evi)Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Koe Tan Kauk (Agence France-Presse) Myanmar  Sat, March 17, 2018 12:15 1285 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9ca4e849 2 World Myanmar,Rohingya,Rakhine Free

Buddhist flags hang limply from bamboo poles at the entrance to Koe Tan Kauk, a "model" village for ethnic Rakhine migrants shuttled north to repopulate an area once dominated by Rohingya Muslims.

The new arrivals are moving to parts of Rakhine state mostly "cleared" of its Rohingya residents, whose villages were bulldozed and reduced to muddy stains on a landscape of lush farmland.

The Rakhine migrants, who come from the poor but relatively stable south, are -- for now -- few in number.

But they carry great expectations as the pioneers of a donor-led "Rakhinisation" plan to upend the demography of the once majority-Muslim area.

"We were really afraid of those Kalars and didn't plan to come here," Chit San Eain, a 28-year-old who has moved with her husband and toddler into a basic hut in Koe Tan Kauk tells AFP, using a pejorative term for Muslims.

"But now that they are no longer here, we have the chance to meet again with our relatives who live up here," she added, the ruins of a Rohingya settlement lying a few kilometres away.

Nearly 700,000 Rohingya have been driven from northern Rakhine into Bangladesh since August 25 last year by a Myanmar army offensive against Muslim militants.

Another 300,000 Rohingya were pushed out from the south and centre of Rakhine by army campaigns stretching back to the late 1970s.

The UN has branded last year's military crackdown ethnic cleansing, with a top official saying it carried all the "hallmarks of genocide."

Myanmar vigorously denies the allegations and says refugees are welcome to return.

But so far it has agreed to allow back only 374 of 8,000 refugees whose names have been put forward for the initial phase of repatriation.

Many traumatised Rohingya in Cox's Bazar camps are also refusing to be repatriated to Rakhine -- where holding camps and hostile neighbours await them.

In their absence a blizzard of development projects, government and army-sponsored or privately funded, are transforming northern Rakhine.

Taking space vacated by fleeing Rohingya is an old game in a state seen as the frontline of a Buddhist nation's fight against encroaching Islam.

"The military has been engineering the social landscape of northern Rakhine State so as to dilute the Rohingya population since the early 1990s," says Francis Wade, author of "Myanmar's Enemy Within: Buddhist Violence and the Making of the Muslim 'Other'".

The Muslim minority are denied citizenship and labelled "Bengalis", outsiders who -- the logic runs -- have successfully been pushed back to their country of origin.

In a pattern with echoes of "the Israeli settler project in the West Bank" Buddhist communities then move in, altering the "facts on the ground" gradually rubbing out Muslim rights to the land, he added.

"I'd expect to see more Buddhists settle there over the coming years. And then we'll forget what the area once was, and that process of erasure will be complete."

Chit San Ean is the beneficiary of the Ancillary Committee for the Reconstruction of Rakhine National Territory in the Western Frontier (CRR), a private scheme established shortly after the refugee crisis began.

In a zone under a strict army lockdown the resettlement plan could not fly without military consent.

Funded by ethnic Rakhine donors, the CRR's ambition is to establish a "Muslim-dry" buffer zone running the nearly 100 kilometres from state capital Sittwe to Maungdaw town, according to Oo Hla Saw, a Rakhine MP who advises the committee.

"All of this area was under the influence of Muslims. After the military operations, they had to flee... so we have to establish this area with the Rakhine population," he told AFP.

The CRR will fund jobs and homes "so this little population can grow and grow," he added.

It's a trickle so far, with around 64 households -- some 250 people -- moved by the CRR, with 200 more families on a waiting list.

They are among the poorest of the poor, mostly daily wage labourers from Thandwe around 600 kilometres to the south or squatters from Sittwe.

Two village tracts, Koe Tan Kuak near Rathedaung and Inn Din near Maungdaw, have been designated for the scheme so far.

The army concedes the second site was the scene of extrajudicial killings of Rohingya captives as violence engulfed the region last August.

Koe Tan Kauk was a similarly mixed settlement of Buddhist and Muslim homes.

The CRR-sponsored hamlet promises a rudimentary existence.

There is little work, no electricity or running water but donors have gifted each family a $450 shack on stilts, made from plywood and metal sheeting.

New residents hope to eventually own land, a prospect previously beyond their reach in Myanmar's second-poorest state.

Rakhine nationalists say the CRR is a bulwark against Islam and a means to ensure their ethnic group has a say in development projects driven by the Burmese-dominated central state, who they distrust deeply.

"Who should be given priority other than Rakhines in Rakhine State?" explained Than Tun, General Secretary of the CRR.

For its part, Myanmar's government has enlisted powerful businessmen to rebuild the infrastructure of the battered state.

The army is running other projects including beefing up its security apparatus -- in what appears to be a multi-pronged effort to keep out the Rohingya.

An Amnesty International report this week detailed how roads, helipads and security installations are being built, often on top of razed Rohingya settlements.

They labelled the activity a massive "land grab" that threatens to erase evidence of alleged atrocities, including at Inn Din.

Across northern Rakhine, abandoned land and rice fields have been commandeered by the army in an area with access tightly controlled to media, investigators and most aid groups.

The Rohingya lost their legal status in 1982, under a junta-era Citizenship Law. Now their ancestral lands are being stripped away.

That makes return impossible, according to lawmaker Oo Hla Saw.

"These people want to be recognised as 'Rohingya' ethnicity... to enjoy citizenship, to resettle in their native grounds," he says. "Their demands are unreasonable."

Despite their dangerous new neighbourhood, the arrivals at Koe Tan Kauk say they are there to stay.

"I will end my life here," said a 69-year-old woman called Osar. "I'm not going anywhere."Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Anna Malpas (Agence France-Presse) Moscow, Russia  Sat, March 17, 2018 23:41 1284 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9ca5db21 2 World Russia,United-Kingdom,UK,Theresa-May,Putin,poison Free

Russia said Saturday it would expel 23 British diplomats and close a British consulate following London's "provocative" measures over the poisoning of a double agent that has triggered a fierce diplomatic row.

Moscow also said it would halt the activities of the British Council in Russia in a tough series of retaliatory measures announced after it summoned British ambassador Laurie Bristow.

Prime Minister Theresa May responded defiantly to the tit-for-tat move, which followed Britain's expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats and the suspension of high-level contacts earlier this week.

She told a forum of her Conservative Party that Britain had "anticipated a response of this kind" and that it "will consider our next steps in the coming days, alongside our allies and partners".

She also repeated accusations made by Britain to the United Nations that the nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the English city of Salisbury on March 4 was a "flagrant breach of international law and the Chemical Weapons Convention."

The Russian response was announced on the eve of a presidential election which is expected to hand Vladimir Putin a fourth term in the Kremlin, but which comes as the country appears increasingly isolated.

The crisis erupted after the Skripals were exposed to a Soviet-designed military grade nerve agent, leaving them in critical condition.

London and its allies have blamed Moscow for the attack and on Friday, Britain directly implicated Putin himself, unleashing the Kremlin's fury.

"Twenty three diplomatic staff at the British embassy in Moscow are declared persona non grata and to be expelled within a week," a foreign ministry statement said.

It said this was a response to Britain's "provocative actions" and "baseless accusations over the Salisbury incident.

'Harsh, but deserved'

Russia also said it was closing Britain's consulate in the city of Saint Petersburg, citing a "disparity" in the number of diplomatic missions held by the two countries.

And it said it had halted the activities of the British Council, Britain's international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities.

The group said it was "profoundly disappointed" at the move.

The Russian ministry also warned Britain that it "retains the right to take other answering measures" in response to any "further unfriendly actions."

"The measures are more harsh, but the British deserved them. And I don't rule out that something else could follow," first deputy head of the Russian Senate's foreign affairs committee Vladimir Dzhabarov told Interfax news agency.

In a similar move, Russia closed the British Council's regional offices in 2008 after relations nosedived over the poisoning of former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko.

The Russian dissident died of Polonium radiation poisoning in London in 2006 in an attack that Britain also blamed on Russia.

First nerve attack since WWII

Skripal had taken his daughter, who was on a visit from Moscow, out for lunch in Salisbury before they both collapsed on a bench.

Russia insists it had no motive to target Skripal with what Britain says was a highly-potent nerve agent called Novichok, in the first such attack in Europe since World War II.

On Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said statements by British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson tying Putin to the attack were "shocking and unforgivable".

Putin himself has yet to make a public comment on the incident aside from one remark to a BBC reporter earlier this week in which he said: "Sort things out from your side and then we will discuss this with you."

Western leaders have strongly backed Britain's response.

EU leaders are to discuss the incident at a Brussels summit next week and it is also on the agenda for talks on Monday between Johnson, his EU counterparts and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

Suspicious deaths

Following the Salisbury incident, the British government has also pledged to re-examine 14 deaths on UK soil following a report that they could have been carried out by Moscow or the Russian mafia.

The BBC on Saturday said the police had made contact with Russians living in Britain to discuss their safety.

On Friday, police said they were treating the March 12 death of exiled businessman Nikolai Glushkov as murder after a post-mortem found he died from "compression to the neck".

The murder is not believed to be linked to the attack on the Skripals.

Russia has also said it is opening a murder probe after Glushkov was found dead at his London home.

Glushkov was an associate of the late Kremlin opponent Boris Berezovsky, a one-time Putin supporter who then turned against him.

Berezovsky was found hanged in a bathroom at his home outside London in 2013.

---

James Phelby contributed from LondonShare this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Ed Davies and Agustinus Beo Da Costa (Reuters) Jakarta  Sat, March 17, 2018 14:46 1284 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9ca5361e 2 Politics Tommy-Soeharto,politics Free

The youngest son of former Indonesian president Soeharto, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, is making a new push to launch a career in politics at the helm of a party that believes it can cash in on his late father's legacy.

Soeharto, who ruled Indonesia with an iron fist for 32 years, was brought down by protests in 1998, amid accusations of vast corruption and nepotism benefiting his family and cronies.

Nonetheless, family members have made repeated attempts to get into politics, often seeking to tap into nostalgia about the unity and security under Soeharto's government, which was backed by a military that crushed any sign of revolt.

"The vision and mission of this party is to prepare an alternative option for the 2019 elections," Badaruddin Andi Picunang, acting sectary general of the Berkarya Party, said in an interview at its Jakarta headquarters.

Many people still yearned for the stability and the robust economic growth and development, at least in the earlier decades, of the Suharto era, said Picunang.

"But now we see killings everywhere, pickpockets and religious leaders attacked," he said.

Hutomo echoed this theme in a news conference after being elected chairman of Berkarya, which means "working" inIndonesian, at a party meeting last weekend in the city of Solo.

"It is impossible for us to return to the New Order, it has become part of the history," said Hutomo, who is widely known as Tommy, referring to his father's government.

"But what we want to develop and continue are the good things that were carried out by the New Order," he said, highlighting Suharto's rolling five-year development plans.

Berkarya has an ambitious target of winning 80 seats, or about 14 percent of the 575 seats in parliament. It is mostly being funded by Tommy and associates, according to Picunang.

Political machine

A former racing driver with a playboy reputation, Tommy, 55, made a fortune under his father's powerful patronage.

His Humpuss Group of companies held the national monopoly on clove distribution, the key ingredient in Indonesias favourite sweet-smelling kretek cigarettes.

He was sentenced in 2002 to 15 years in jail for paying a hitman to gun down and kill a supreme court judge, who had convicted him in a graft case. His term was later reduced on appeal and by remissions and he was released in 2007.

In his speech in Solo, Tommy said those who had been convicted and served their sentence, like himself, had the same rights as anyone else.

Many of the members of Berkarya are former members of Golkar, his father's old political machine and still the second-biggest party in parliament.

Tommy failed in an attempt to win the top job at Golkar and also to get backing from other parties for a bid at the presidency.

His sister, Siti Hediati, popularly known as Titiek, has stuck by Golkar and is a member of parliament.

Tobias Basuki, a political analyst at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, was sceptical about Tommy and other family members getting much traction from a link to the Suharto legacy.

The nationalist Gerindra party, led by a former son-in-law of Suharto, Prabowo Subianto, had been able to successfully target many of the voters who might support them, he said.

"I think this is one of their last attempts. They have been trying to stay in the mainstream but none could take control of Golkar and if they don't move fast they will be irrelevant," said Basuki.Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Sydney  Sat, March 17, 2018 13:26 1285 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9ca4fca9 1 World Jokowi,Turnbull,Australia-Indonesia Free

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has praised President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo for his success in developing a multicultural society in Indonesia, calling him one of the most important role models in the world.

"Standing next to me is one of the most important leaders, role models in the world today," he said at the International Convention Center in Sydney while receiving 33 participants of the Indonesia-Australia Youth Interfaith Dialogue.

The event was held on the sidelines of the ASEAN-Australian Special Summit in Sydney on Saturday.

Turnbull said that under Jokowi's leadership, Indonesia had shown that Islam and democracy could work together.

"The President embodies the leadership of Indonesia [...] Indonesia spurs democracy, Islam and moderation," he said.

The prime minister also described Australia as a multicultural society that was united by political values: freedom, democracy and mutual respect.

Jokowi has struggled to stem the tide of intolerance that has pervaded the country in recent years.

Indonesia was in the spotlight last year amid a highly sectarian gubernatorial election in Jakarta.

One of the election contenders, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, a Christian of Chinese descent, was convicted of blasphemy following a series of rallies demanding his prosecution. (ahw)Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Maizatul Nazlina (The Star/Asia News Network) Petaling Jaya, Malaysia  Sat, March 17, 2018 08:11 1285 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9ca4323c 2 SE Asia maid,migrant-workers,Malaysia Free

Rozita Mohamad Ali, who caused severe injuries to her Indonesian maid, was instead sentenced to a good behavior bond for five years by the Sessions Court here.

Previously, Rozita had been charged with attempted murder of her maid, Suyanti Sutrisno, using a kitchen knife, a steel mop, a clothes hanger and an umbrella.

The alleged offense happened two years ago when the maid was 19-years-old at a house in Mutiara Damansara here.

The charge was under Section 307 of the Penal Code, which had a maximum jail sentence of 20 years, if convicted.

A total of 10 prosecution witnesses were called to give evidence in the trial which began on May 9 last year.

Rozita had allegedly caused multiple injuries to the victim's head, hands, legs and internal organs between 7 a.m. and 12 p.m. on Dec 21, 2016.

The charge was amended to "causing grievous hurt" by dangerous weapons or means under Section 326 of the Penal Code.

After Rozita pleaded guilty to this lesser charge, Judge Mohammed Mokhzani Mokhtar sentenced her to be bound over for five years on a good behavior bond of RM20,000.

Deputy Public Prosecutor V. Suloshani urged the court to mete out a jail sentence to serve as a deterrent against the accused, adding that the incident had gone viral in social media.

However, Rozita's lawyer, Datuk Rosal Azimin Ahmad, applied for the good behaviour bond as his client had suffered from extreme pressure and stress after she was charged in court.

"My client has repented," he said.

Earlier, Judge Mokhzani said the sentence did not mean that she has been freed but she was still bound to the court for the stipulated time frame.

The prosecution filed an appeal against the judgement on Thursday.

Topics :

This article appeared on The Star newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta PostShare this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Bangkok, Thailand  Sat, March 17, 2018 06:03 1285 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9ca42449 2 SE Asia Thailand,Bangkok,mural,animal-conservation Free

Bangkok graffiti artists painted a mural on Friday of panthers seated at a "Last Supper" table, the latest subversive depiction of an animal that has come to symbolise injustice after a tycoon was accused of poaching the wild cat.

Construction magnate Premchai Karnasuta, one of Thailand's wealthiest moguls, was arrested in a wildlife sanctuary in February with guns and animal carcasses, including that of a black leopard.

The brazen violation of park rules unleashed a wave of anguish from environmental and political activists fed-up with the impunity enjoyed by the kingdom's elites.

With public protests still banned under a junta that grabbed power in 2014, the anger has taken the form of sly street art focused around the image of the panther.

But the movement has turned into a cat-and-mouse game with authorities suspected of quickly painting over the panther art cropping up in public spaces around the nation.

An animal rights group recently stepped in to pair street artists with private businesses willing to offer up their walls.

That's how ten graffitists found themselves free to decorate the side of a Bangkok veterinary clinic on Friday.

The group spent the afternoon spraying large black cats seated behind a table in a nod to Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper", which depicts Jesus' final meal with his apostles before his crucifixion.

"There are (panthers) from each artist at the same table having dinner for the last time," explained a 28-year-old graffiti artist who goes by "Panda Dew".

Phureerut Ratanavanich, who co-owns the veterinarian clinic, told AFP he hoped the mural would keep the panther story from falling off the front pages.

"This is our silent statement to the world," he said.

"(The artists) want to show their feelings but they don't have a platform. We have the platform but we don't know how to represent it in such an effective way," he added.

The accused tycoon Premchai, who is CEO of Italian-Thai Development, has been charged with a slew of offences for alleged poaching in the protected Thai forest.

This week he was read additional charges of attempted bribery of an official and illegal possession of ivory and guns found during a search of his home.

He has denied wrongdoing and been granted bail while the case proceeds.While Morotai island in North Maluku has been earmarked for tourism development under the government's 10 New Balis plan, beautiful scenery and fascinating cultures can be found throughout the province.

Tourism Minister Arief Yahya and acting North Maluku Governor Natsir Thaib officially announced three festivals in North Maluku on Tuesday, the Tidore Festival, Jailolo Bay Festival and Kora-Kora Festival.

Tempo.co reported that these festivals were included among the top 100 Wonderful Events of Indonesia. These festivals have been held annually, attracting domestic and foreign tourists alike.

Tidore Festival

Those wanting to learn about the Sultanate of Tidore, the Tidore Festival is the best place to start.

Held from March 23 to April 12 on Tidore Island, the festival aims to educate tourists about the sultanate by showcasing traditional customs such as the Tupa, or Soboka Dorora, procession, which is still practiced to this day.

Read also: Five places to explore in eastern Indonesia

Jailolo Bay Festival

The Jailolo Bay Festival will be held from May 3 to 5 in West Halmahera regency.

The festival is set to showcase contemporary performing art shows under the theme "Sasadu on the Sea", which is adapted from traditional Jailolo traditional dance.

The festival will also feature Sigofi Ngolo, a ritual cleansing the ocean.

Kora Kora Festival

Those planning to visit North Maluku at the end of the year should be sure to include the Kora-Kora Festival in their itineraries.

The festival, held from Dec. 1 to 3, will give travelers the chance to watch a kora-kora (North Malukus traditional wooden boat) competition, staged to highlight the provinces maritime cultural heritage. (jes/wng)Stop the madness! Trader Joes is coming to the new Essex Crossing project. No amount of ridiculous rumormongering will change that.

In recent weeks, theres been all sorts of online speculation  suggestions that the wildly popular market might be backing out of the Essex Crossing project. The other night at the 7th Precinct Community Council meeting, Essex Crossing Community Relations Manager Katie Archer was called on to address the rumors. She assured traumatized locals that everything is on track for a TJs opening later this year.

The public relations office at Trader Joes has contributed to the confusion, telling a local blogger (SPBuzz) that the company is, still interested in the Lower East Side as a potential store location, without acknowledging that its a done deal. [An October 2016 press release from the companys pr office carried the headline, Trader Joes Signs Lease to Open a New Lower East Side Store Scheduled for 2018.] The location, at 145 Clinton St., is not listed on Trader Joes Store Openings web page.

We reached out to TJs PR Director, Kenya Friend-Daniel, yesterday, who said, Our plan is to open a store at that location this year. She said no one should be concerned about the fact that the opening is not listed on the companys website. Trader Joes, she said, likes to have store buildout details worked out before announcing a target opening date. James Yolles, a spokesperson for the developers (Delancey Street Associates), said the buildout is expected to begin in a matter of weeks.

Trader Joes is a notoriously secretive company. In other cities, it has been similarly cagey about opening details. The Commercial Appeal in Memphis spotted work permits for a new store in January but reported, a Trader Joes spokeswoman still would not characterize the permit application as definitive confirmation that the chain is headed to Germantown.

This past September, a work permit was filed with the Department of Buildings for plumbing work at Trader Joes Lower East Sides store. The 30,000 square foot space will be on the lower level of 145 Clinton St., while a smaller Target store will be on the second floor. Target is not quite as shy about trumpeting its LES arrival.ArcTanGent (ATG) is primarily an avant-garde music festival, championing archaic bands and iconic artists, as well as giving the freshest new heroes in music a chance to strut their stuff. Topping the bill for the 2018 edition of ATG are New Yorks pioneers,and minimalist rock trio,. Elsewhere on the lineup, festival goers will have the chance to sink their teeth intoand. Set upon Fernhill Farm, just outside of Bristols thriving city centre, ATG is described as the worlds ultimate Greenfields music festival for connoisseurs of Math-rock, Post-rock, Noise-rock and everything in between. via press release. It is set to take place on August 16-18, meaning the clock is ticking and the time is moving rapidly ever closer to that all-important weekend. The annual celebration of the weird and wonderful genres of rock music will see an exclusive UK festival performance from Glassjaw. Set to spring their innovative sounds onto adoring fans and new adventurers, Glassjaw is a seminal moment for ATG. The quartet, who are adored for their intense live performances and thundering stage presence, are set to slice their way through their colourful discography when they take the stage at ATG. Although set details are yet to be confirmed, we can expect only an utter, unrivalled performance.Headlining alongside Glassjaw is the equally classic trio, Shellac. The band make up the second UK exclusive performance ATG have snagged, as well as the next fantastic band to top the bill. Shellac will play the top slot on Saturday while Glassjaw will close the first night of festivities on Friday 16. Talking about the dynamic and diverse festival announcement James Scarlett, ATGs organiser said Having Glassjaw and Shellac as main stage headliners will be amazing. We put a huge amount of effort into curating a line up that has strength in depth fro the top to the bottom. Rolling with the punches and making it a trio of UK festival exclusives, is ATGs booking of. The four-piece from Illinois are known for their dense track lengths, killer stoner rock riffs and not allowing anybody (critic or fan) to put their entire discography in a music box. Their individual attitude and sound are what makes Pelican so unique and a shiny asset to add to the crown of ATG. Other notable artists currently set to take to the stages of ATG includeand more. So, what are you waiting for? If ATG sounds like your jam then get your teeth stuck in.Prince Harry at King's, everyone on their phones (reminded me of Black Mirror) @KensingtonRoyal @KingsCollegeLon pic.twitter.com/AW8QrvY9Bo  Teuta (@teuutaa_) 16 March 2017

from

Prince Harry spotted leaving King's THROUGH THE BACK DOOR yesterday! Isn't he a sly one.. look at the size of that door and the car was ready for the escape. 1 .. 2 .. 3 (Credit: Husna Bibi) pic.twitter.com/QfQP22DxJ4  Teuta (@teuutaa_) March 16, 2018

He was addressing the Veterans' Mental Health Conference in the Great Hall and managed to leave unnoticed, unlike his previous visit in 2017.A video captured by King's members shows Harry and his driver leavinga small door at the back of Strand, with security staff present. They were undisturbed by students despite his arrival being announced on social media.The Royal who has completed two tours of Afghanistan joined a panel discussion about the effects of mental health on veterans. He spoke about watching people that he served with suffering from mental health problems and struggle to seek the help that they needed. "Some of the stories Meghan and I heard when we visited Colchester Garrison a few weeks ago shocked us to our core," he said. "But despite meeting these people and others who are in the darkest of places, I am continually surrounded and inspired by amazingly positive outcomes."With doggy de-stress sessions on university campus rapidly growing in popularity, the University of British Colombia department of psychology carried out a study to investigate the short-term effects of one single canine therapy session on the well-being of students.In total 246 participants took part in the University of British Colombia's experiment which saw partcipants taking part in a dog therapy session, cuddling and petting a group of pooches. Participants filled out a questionnaire before the therapy session, immediately after it, and 10 hours later. The students who took part in the study recorded significantly increased levels of happiness, energy and life satisfaction in the study's questionnaire minutes after interacting with the furry friends. More surprisingly, the study also found that even ten hours later, students still reported feeling less stressed, compared to students who did not take part in the therapy dog session. The studys lead author, and researcher at UBC department of psychology Emma Ward-Griffin said: "findings suggest that therapy dog sessions have a measurable, positive effect on university students." Despite previous studies suggesting that pet therapy sessions were more effective on females than males, the UBC dogs fetched equally positive reactions from participants regardless of their gender. With student mental health services in higher demand now than ever before, the study informally prescribes pets as a short term remedy for stress related anxieties. Frances Chen, the studys senior author and psychology assistant professor said: we think universities should try to schedule them during particularly stressful times, such as around exam periods." Some British universities already hold pet therapy sessions, including Leeds University Union who organised one for students during mental health week 2017 and The University of Sussex who have held four sessions over the past few months.The writer of "Postal" and "The Wildstorm: Michael Cray" to do a five-issue arc on the series, and what might seem like a prequel to a Outsiders relaunch.

Source: Batman Meets Black Lightning as New Detective Comics Writer Takes Over (Exclusive!)

Some good news today for current fans of Detective Comics, though James Tynion IV is sadly leaving the comic with #981, it appears the team-aspect won't be dropped for the next five issues. Bryan Hill (revealed recently to be writing the Hanna Barbara/DC crossover one-shot comic Black Lightning/Hong Kong Phooey #1, The Wildstorm: Michael Cray mini-series, and the indie comic Postal) will be taking over the series starting with #982 for a five-issue arc that'll guest-star Black Lightning called "On the Outside" (as per the Den of Geek).

Here's the cover to #982 and the June solicitations for it and #983:

DETECTIVE COMICS #982

Written by BRYAN HILL  Art by MIGUEL MENDONCA  Cover by EDDY BARROWS  Variant cover by MARK BROOKS

"On the Outside" part one! Duke Thomas. Cassandra Cain. They and other young heroes don't intend to stand down, no matter what Batman thinks is best. Who can Batman trust to guide them? They need a teacher...and Black Lightning fits the bill!

On sale JUNE 13  32 pg, FC, $2.99 US  RATED T DETECTIVE COMICS #983

Written by BRYAN HILL  Art by MIGUEL MENDONCA  Cover by EDDY BARROWS  Variant cover by MARK BROOKS

"On the Outside" part two! Batman wanted Black Lightning involved in the lives of his protegesbut how involved was the Dark Knight thinking? What kind of missions will Jefferson Pierce take them on? And what, exactly, is he whispering in their ears about Batman himself?

On sale JUNE 27  32 pg, FC, $2.99 US  RATED T

Seems rather Outsiders relaunch prelude doesn't it? Just to note Cassandra Cain was a prior member of the team (it's easy to forget that when the succeeding writer on the comic after the run she was on failed to acknowledge it at all) and of course Black Lightning was a founding member of the team as well.Wednesday of this week was recognized as National Pi Day. Pi Day is celebrated annually on March 14 (3.14) around the world. Pi (Greek letter ?) is the symbol used in mathematics to represent a constant  the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter  which is approximately 3.14159.

My favorite pi, as many of you know, is lemon meringue pie which I enjoy making and writing about; however, todays pi adds up slightly different.

Last fall Lydia entered seventh grade at Eric Ramstad School in Minot and was introduced to a math teacher, Mr. Brian Walz. Her 7th grade advanced math class was Pre-Algebra so she wondered about all the new concepts this class would involve. We reassured her that things would go well and that her education to this point had prepared her for the challenges of this math class.

As a child, math was not my favorite class until I met my freshman math teacher, the (late) Mr. Richard Olson, who motored to Underwood the fall of 1974 in a sharp blue and white Buick, Skylark. His patience, knowledge and effect on me opened new doors for me in math. Mr. Olson had perseverance that could win out a molasses drip on a below zero North Dakota day. By no means am I a math wizard, but Mr. Olson provided me with the math skills I still use every day. He knew that I had a passion for art and creating; his wisdom connected this to math and knowing myself.

Recalling Mr. Olson has brought to mind why some people are true teachers. In my opinion to thoroughly understand a child, an engaged educator recognizes the need to go the extra mile with their student. It goes beyond mere ascertaining of a students intelligence and test scores.

They take the time to identify all of the significant factors which affect the learning process. This important list includes physical factors and most important the students specific state of readiness. It has been amazing to watch how Mr. Walz knows the readiness of his math students and then to push and challenge them in order for them to grow. He had the benefit of coming from a home where his parents, Dwayne and Karen Walz, were long time educators in Minot.

It is only natural that a students cultural background, home and family relationships and views of their world impact how they see and learn. How wonderful it is when teachers take the time to zero in their students concepts of self, purposes, values and goals. It is a two way street as students also take the time to understand the world of the teacher. Realizing that educators continue to have a passion for math, reading, art and life in the process of continual learning.

Teaching is challenging profession for the teachers who develop the courage to inspire a student to learn in the classroom and beyond. Lydia has the advantage of having a mother who is a seasoned and engaged educator. I have heard her say Lydia the important thing to remember is to focus on doing our best-that does not mean it has to be perfect! Jans approach of staying on the course and pressing on is one of the cornerstones of her teaching, and I see that characteristic already in Lydia too.

I often ask Lydia which teachers have provided a spontaneous and hearty laugh during the day. As a lifelong learner I have come to know that laughter provides a needed release from tension and is a form of relaxation. Funny stories connecting to a related topic play an important role in learning curriculum and remembering. Think for a minute how many graduation speeches from high school and college have quoted Dr. Seuss, Oh the Places You Will Go Point proven that surprises and contrast provide the humor that all ages need to learn. On that note, a big thank you to Mr. Walz and all math educators who instill in their students you can steer yourself any direction you choose. In observance of Pi Day, he challenged his students to create something related to pi. It could be in the form of a song, story, poem, artwork, baking, etc. Lydia selected to do an art project using recycled milk jug caps. She also brought some of her mothers wonderfully thin and very tasty rolled sugar cookies decorated with the pi symbol.I was recently invited to be a guest on the Good Talk podcast (an excellent program based out of Minot).

Not surprisingly, given current events, our discussion turned to the issue of gun control.

Ive been fascinated at the way this debate has been formulated.

My default position is we citizens are free people and should be allowed to do whatever we want. From there I understand total freedom is anarchy, and incompatible with the sort of ordered society most of us want to live in.

Therefore, we have a process called politics through which we choose leaders and decide policies that curtail our freedoms to one degree or another, all in the context of the Constitution which guarantees we citizens certain rights which cannot be removed.

At least not without amending the Constitution itself.

But the default is freedom. Its not something we have to justify.

Its something that is. The natural state of affairs.

When we debate a proposed policy which curtails our freedom in some way  like a city ordinance saying you have to mow your grass, or a state law setting a speed limit  the onus is on those supporting the proposal to demonstrate its needed.

They make their case, the rest of us engage in the democratic process to make our views known, and the matter is settled one way or another.

Thats how things should work in a society which values liberty.

Unfortunately, in practice, it often works the opposite way.

Take the debate over guns, for instance. Why does anyone need an AR-15? is a refrain weve heard often of late. The question demands justification from those who own AR-15 rifles.

Its a fundamentally illegitimate question.

Those wanting to ban certain types of guns must demonstrate that doing so would be in the best interest of our society and not contrary to our guaranteed rights.

I shouldnt have to justify my ownership of an AR-15 any more than an auto enthusiast should have explain owning a muscle car capable of traveling at multiples of even the fastest speed limit.

As another example, here in North Dakota we are in the process of debating a proposed ballot initiative which would legalize marijuana for recreational purposes.

Again, in that argument, we hear people ask, Why do we need legal pot?

There are lots of reasons. Some see medicinal value in marijuana. Others enjoy the drugs more recreational properties.

Those answers are irrelevant for the public debate over marijuana policy. The pertinent question is, why should marijuana continue to be illegal? Maybe there are good answers to that question, but they should come from those supporting marijuana prohibition.

You and I may disagree on the regulation of firearms, or the legality of cannabis, but whatever policy were debating the question should be formulated correctly.

Asking citizens to justify the exercise of their freedoms is fundamentally un-American.

Port, founder of SayAnythingBlog.com, a North Dakota political blog, is a Forum Communications commentator. Follow him on Twitter at @RobPortBy Benjamin Jumbe.

President Yoweri Museveni has faulted the people of Rukungiri for voting FDC Members into leadership.

He was addressing a rally in Nyakagyeme Sub-County ,Rujumbura County, in Rukungiri District last evening.

The president said those voted are inexperienced in leadership and only survive on lies and propaganda, leaving the NRM leaders who have a time tested track record in finding solutions to the countrys challenges.

He said it is the Movement which fought Amin, Obote, Kony, ADF and brought about peace asking what opposition has done to deserve leadership.

In a number of stop overs that he made around Rukungiri Municipality, President Museveni advised the people not to be detracted by politicians who come to them to seek their mandate so as to better themselves and never advise them on how to boost their household income, overcome poverty and better their way of life.$20M in sales tax revenue bonds for ice arena approved by city council

The Watertown City Council passes resolution, authorizing the issuance of the $20 million sales tax revenue bonds for the ice arena facility.By Benjamin Jumbe.

Parliament of Uganda is set to host a landmark Fourth Commonwealth Youth Parliament Summit next week.

The conference running from 14 to 19 March, 2018 is expected to attract to attract over 200 delegates from all the common wealth countries.

The Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Jacob Oulanyah, meeting a delegation from the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (Africa Region) said that the Conference will expose the youth to the realities of legislation and governance at regional level.

Demetrus Stephen Mgalami, the Assistant Regional Secretary at the CPA (Africa Region) said that the resolutions from the Youth Conference will inform the agenda of the regional conference to be held in Botswana in August, 2018 ,appealing to governments to ensure that they are implemented.

The Commonwealth Youth Parliament Conference will be held under the theme; Securing a better future for Africa: Role of the youth.You have permission to edit this article.

Edit CloseThe message from a top-ten investor in GKN with a holding in Melrose was irrefutable. Melroses incentive plans, which use a private equity model in a quoted firm, are unacceptable.

If Melrose is successful in the 8billion pursuit of the engineer, the prospect of the bidders leading executives carting off 285million of cash, in addition to the 457million already extracted, would blow up not just in the face of Melrose and its non-executive directors, but the whole financial community.

The Melrose timetable for disposal of assets in two to five years means the toxic political fallout could be felt in the run-up to the next general election.

The message from a top-ten investor in GKN with a holding in Melrose was irrefutable, says Alex Brummer

Theresa May, who has sought to position her government as the exemplars of a better kind of capitalism, is criticised in some quarters for being unsympathetic to the Square Mile.

Labour has shown itself in a great position to make mischief. It rightly has been able to skewer the City over the shambolic failure of Carillion and would like to bring outsourcing contracts in house.

The Opposition also has been handed a fantastic gift by the governance failures of taxpayer-subsidised housebuilder Persimmon.

It took months of pressure and persuasion by investors to get chief executive Jeff Fairburn to give up just 25million of his undeserved bonus worth up to 112million.

The fat cattery at Persimmon is regarded in the investment community as the most outrageous example of recent times of governance going horribly wrong.

Melrose has never made any secret of the high reward model it follows, and UK-based funds including Old Mutual, Threadneedle, Schroders and Aviva Investors (which has thrown its lot in with the hostile bidder) have only been too happy to go along with it.

Blackrock, as the biggest investor in both GKN and Melrose, has a pivotal role to play. In a letter to chief executives dispatched in January, Blackrock boss Larry Fink noted he wanted a new model of shareholder engagement

Jupiter, however, has shown the courage to distance itself from the get-rich-quick Melrose model.

The potential payouts from a successful Melrose bid are off the map. They can only bring opprobrium and anger on big battalion investors.

Backing greed would also be a breach of trust for the millions of savers who have had returns squeezed only to see the bosses of funds in which they have trusted their money carry off booty which should be theirs.

Blackrock, as the biggest investor in both GKN and Melrose, has a pivotal role to play. In a letter to chief executives dispatched in January, Blackrock boss Larry Fink noted he wanted a new model of shareholder engagement in which investors and managers, through continuous dialogue, help companies align their interests with societys rapidly changing needs.

Alex Brummer says Li KA-shing, 89, is Hong Kongs answer to Warren Buffett

As the inheritor (several times removed) of UK fund manager Mercury among others, Blackrock is responsible for a large chunk of British savings.

Fink could demonstrate the muscularity of his stand on stewardship by cutting Melrose off at the pass.

Nex act

Revelation that the Chicago Mercantile Exchange is stalking Michael Spencers electronic broking pioneer Nex could tempt other buyers out of their rabbit holes.

The best outcome for Britain, as it seeks to cement its position as Europes financial centre post Brexit, would be a merger with the London Stock Exchange. But the LSE is rudderless at present, after the searing row which saw chief executive Xavier Rolet out of the door. Perhaps the LSEs wounded chairman Donald Brydon could make this his farewell act.

Spencers timing looks exquisite. The share price has soared on hopes of an auction, bumping up the market value to 3.3billion.

As in every other sphere, disruptive technologies are the new game in share, currency and cash dealing, using artificial intelligence to eliminate the broker.

New York Stock Exchange owner ICE had this in mind when it bought International Data Corporation in 2015. Nex may never be worth as much as it is today.

Made in China

Li KA-shing, 89, is Hong Kongs answer to Warren Buffett.

He is a long-term investor in ports and property who has been prepared to back innovation as an early investor in mobile, including spun-off brand Orange and Three in the UK. His investment and belief in Chinese pharma through Chi-Med also has been fascinating.

Here in the UK, Li has shown himself a good owner of assets, including the nations biggest container port at Felixstowe.

Victor Li, his son and designated successor at CK Hutchison, has big shoes to fill.Investment trusts, like bank branches, are a little old school. Many have been around since the late 19th Century, are steeped in history and have names that once meant something to someone but now appear a little archaic and ridiculous.

Am I being a little Cruella De Vil? No. Think Mid Wynd International. Think Foreign & Colonial (the oldest at 150 years). Brunner, Law Debenture, Scottish Mortgage, Temple Bar and Witan. Que?

But their old age, their fuddy-duddy aroma and strange names should not put you off. Far from it.

Many of these long-established trusts continue to do a fantastic job of creating long-term wealth for shareholders, either by investing globally or exclusively in the UK stock market.

Jeff Prestridge says investment trusts, like bank branches, are a little old school

In addition, a select 21 have extraordinary records of dividend growth going back at least 20 years, in four cases more than 50 (Alliance, Bankers, City of London, Caledonia).

An up-to-date list of these dividend-friendly trusts can be seen here on This is Money, where we reveal all 21 dividend heroes.

More data on them and where they invest is available by visiting the website of the Association of Investment Companies at theaic.co.uk.

They make an ideal bedrock for an Isa portfolio.

One particular feature of investment trusts that stands them apart from the investment madding crowd  and makes them consumer friendly as a result  is their low charges.

These stem in large part from the way trusts are set up, with the investment managers required to report to an independent board.

These boards can fire the managers if they fail to deliver the investment returns expected of them (such firings are now more commonplace).

They also determine the charges that managers can levy for running the trust's assets. Increasingly, good strong boards are demanding lower fees.

The board of Monks (yes, Monks, a global trust) has just announced a revamping of charges that should result in more of the trust's pot ending up in the hands of investors, not the managers.

An up-to-date list of dividend-friendly trusts is available by visiting the website of the Association of Investment Companies at theaic.co.uk

From May, the fees that manager Baillie Gifford collects will drop provided the trust's assets remain above 1.75 billion (they currently stand at 1.78 billion).

At present, Baillie Gifford receives 0.45 per cent on the first 750 million of assets and then 0.33 per cent on any surplus.

From May, the 0.33 per cent fee will apply to all assets between 750 million and 1.75 billion. Any further assets will then attract a lower charge of 0.3 per cent.

On assets of 1.78 billion, the fee change makes little difference  Baillie Gifford's annual cut of Monks' pie falls by less than 10,000 to just under 6.8 million (still a mighty big sum).

But if Baillie Gifford keeps managing the trust effectively, and stock markets do not fall out of bed, Monks's assets should keep growing  resulting in the lower 0.3 per cent fee applying to a bigger slice.

Monks is not alone. From the start of next month, both Fidelity European Values and Henderson Alternative Strategies will also introduce lower charges  more dramatic on the Fidelity trust.

Indeed since 2013, more than a third of investment trusts have reduced charges. All we need now is for the majority two thirds to follow suit.

More Monks please  if you know what I mean.

Pensions pickle

Will pension auto-enrolment become compulsory enrolment? According to a majority of British businesses surveyed by workplace pension provider Now: Pensions, the answer is yes.

Currently, few workers are opting out of a pension offered by their employer under auto-enrolment.

But with employee contribution rates jumping next month from one to three per cent and then to five per cent in April 2019, there is a fear that more workers will decide enough is enough.

This will especially be the case if wage growth remains subdued. Some people will see the hike in contributions more as a tax on pay than an investment in their future retirement finances.

Employers also face an increase in their contribution rates, so they in turn may encourage workers to opt out. After all, auto-enrolment is nothing but another cost for employers to absorb.

Compulsion may well be the only answer.Millions of holidaymakers preparing for a getaway this year are warned to look out for a devilish detail in their travel insurance cover  one that could result in a claim being harshly rejected.

Failing to tell insurers about routine visits to the doctor  even after buying a policy  could mean a claim being denied if a medical issue disrupts a person's travel plans.

This problem mostly affects people who buy annual multi-trip policies and is a stark example of how people with medical conditions are routinely disadvantaged by the insurance industry.

Let down: Pam and Doug Simpson feel badly let down by their travel insurer because a failure to disclose visits to a doctor meant a claim for holiday cancellation costs was rejected

Most know to be upfront about health issues when buying a policy. But few will know, or remember, to contact their insurance provider about medical appointments that seemed trivial.

James Daley is founder of consumer website Fairer Finance. He says: 'People who buy an annual travel policy would probably not think to contact their insurer to update them about their latest doctor's appointment.

'There are so many caveats built into travel insurance. They are justified if they are made really clear to the customer but most insurers breeze through the sales process.'

If customers do update their insurer about ongoing medical issues, the insurer will often respond by charging an additional premium or changing the policy's terms to exclude any emerging condition.

Daley adds: 'Customers should get a price for the year and that is it. Insurers should not have the right to review premiums because someone's medical circumstances change during a policy's term.'

Insurance traps to watch out for DRINKING: Claims linked to holiday overindulgence will be denied. AGE: Some insurers will not cover travellers aged over 75. DANGEROUS ACTIVITIES: Some policies cover banana boat rides but not hydrospeeding; hockey, not lacrosse; and riding an elephant but not an ostrich. COUNTRY: You cannot assume European cover includes all of Europe. The US may also be excluded in some worldwide policies. Double check your destination is approved. SCHEDULED AIRLINE FAILURE: If your airline goes bust the cost of the flight might not be included, though add-on cover can be purchased. TERRORISM: In the unlikely event of being caught up in an act of terror, insurers do not routinely cover medical or repatriation costs. But it is possible to buy cover as a separate add-on.

OUT-OF-POCKET THANKS TO CANCER

Keen travellers Pam and Doug Simpson feel badly let down by their travel insurer because a failure to disclose visits to a doctor meant a claim for holiday cancellation costs was rejected.

The couple, from Witney in Oxfordshire, had two holidays booked last year  including a trip to Thailand on Christmas Day. In late October, 72-year-old Doug learned he had bladder cancer.

Treatment needed to begin soon after so they cancelled the Thailand trip with Emirates Holidays. The company levied a 30 per cent cancellation fee of 2,700.

Hopeful of recovering this lost sum from their insurer, they contacted Staysure to make a claim under their annual multi-trip policy. But it was denied, partly because Doug had not disclosed his visits to the doctor.

Pam, 67, says that when Doug originally visited the doctor they thought it was a straightforward medical issue  not the cancer it was later diagnosed to be.

She says: 'I did not realise we had to contact Staysure every time we visited our doctor.

'We feel badly let down. Doug having cancer is bad enough but we are out of pocket too.

'If we had the slightest inkling my husband had cancer, I would have cancelled the holiday earlier so we only lost our deposit.'

After The Mail on Sunday asked Emirates Holidays to review the Simpsons' case, it waived the cancellation fee.

A spokesman said: 'We are sorry to hear about the Simpsons' situation.

'We encourage all holidaymakers to purchase comprehensive travel insurance when booking a holiday.'

DESTINATIONS DENIED

Pam and Doug were also told their Staysure policy did not cover them for Thailand, which came as a surprise.

Thailand is a popular holiday destination for British holidaymakers and not a typical exclusion on worldwide travel policies. Fairer Finance's Daley says the exclusion is 'bizarre'.

Martyn John, of GoCompare, says those who have suffered from serious illness 'receive a double blow'

A Staysure spokesman says the Simpsons were asked if they planned to visit any high-risk countries, to which they answered no.

The list of excluded countries spelt out in the policy documents include Thailand as well as Bermuda, Canada, Hong Kong and Mexico.

Many rival insurers exclude the United States in worldwide cover because of high medical costs.

Countries where the Foreign & Commonwealth Office advises against all but essential travel are also likely to be excluded from cover.

In relation to Thailand, the Foreign Office currently advises against travel to selected provinces on the Thai-Malaysia border.

Some European travel insurance deals now exclude popular destinations such as Spain, the Canary Islands and Cyprus, because hotels and resorts there automatically send guests to private hospitals when they need treatment.

'Double blow' of illness... and increased premiums Spotlight: Our story on how customers are let down Research by Co-op Insurance shows that one in five people cannot afford travel insurance because they have illnesses such as cancer and diabetes  which drive up premiums to unaffordable levels. As a result, many travel uninsured or lie about their medical history, taking a major risk should they need to claim. Last month, The Mail on Sunday revealed how banks and insurers are routinely letting down vulnerable customers who struggle financially because of serious illness. High premiums that punish cancer sufferers and survivors  as well as those with conditions under control  are another example of how the industry abandons those most in need. Martyn John, of GoCompare, says: 'Those who have suffered from serious illness receive a double blow. 'They go through hell with their condition and then, when it comes to a well-earned holiday, travel insurance is priced against them.' Anyone impacted by ill health and who needs travel cover should seek help from a broker. Visit biba.org.uk or call 0370 950 1790.

HOW TO BUY TRAVEL INSURANCE

James Daley says travellers should take their time in buying insurance because it is easy to miss exclusions that could affect them. He says: 'All the insurer's focus is on a quick sale and before you know it your card details are taken.

'This goes against a greater need to help customers understand what they are buying and what the limitations are.'

Customers who auto-renew their policies every year should also be aware of how changes to their health and age can impact adversely on a claim.

Martyn John, travel spokesman for comparison website GoCompare, says: 'Insurers usually ask customers to update them about changes to health  which can include doctor's appointments.

'But if a customer is auto-renewing they are likely to forget about this requirement.'

You can find travel insurance ratings, based on quality of cover and customer experience, on the Fairer Finance website.

Anyone who believes a claim has been unfairly rejected should take their dispute to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Its impartial service settles fallouts between customers and financial companies.

Latest figures show the Ombudsman upholds two-fifths of travel insurance complaints in favour of customers  higher than for car, home and pet insurance.

Visit financial-ombudsman.org.uk or call 0800 023 4567.Visionary: Simon Edelsten is constantly looking for stocks underpinned by strong global trends

The search for investment themes that will deliver returns irrespective of the state of the global economy is the mission of Simon Edelsten.

Along with colleagues Alex Illingworth and Rosanna Burcheri, he runs 700million of assets for fund management house Artemis.

Portfolios that are all worldwide in their scope, are built with a determination to preserve investors' capital, but provide the opportunity to deliver more than half-decent investment returns.

Although some of the money is run for big institutions, the team looks after two investment funds that retail investors can tap into  Artemis Global Select and investment trust Mid Wynd International.

The two funds are managed in similar fashion although Edelsten can use borrowing facilities available through Mid Wynd if he believes there are outstanding investment opportunities.

At the moment, the trust has no borrowing  reflecting Edelsten's view that share valuations worldwide are on the pricey side.

Mid Wynd is a trust that Artemis took over the management of from rival investment house Baillie Gifford in spring 2014.

It is invested in 65 stocks with only two being UK listed  insurer Prudential and National Grid.

He holds these because of their attractive dividends and, in Pru's case, its business interests in the Far East.

While the trust's portfolio is skewed towards the United States, it is what a number of Japanese companies are doing in the automation space that excites Edelsten the most.

It is this theme and that of tourism  especially in the expanding economies of the Far East  that underpin a big chunk of the trust's stakes.

For example, in July last year he bought shares in Daifuku, a world leader in automated warehouses.

They have since nearly doubled in value on the back of strong earnings growth and he believes there is more growth to come.

Shares in Nabtesco were bought at the same time. Edelsten believes this Japanese manufacturer of reduction gears  used, for example, in trains to slow down the pace at which doors close  will boom as robotics is introduced across swathes of industry.

He adds: 'There are only three companies worldwide that operate in this field of robotics. Nabtesco's technology helps make robots clever and gives them more articulations.

'It enables them to pick up an egg without cracking the shell and it will make inroads into automotive processes in food, textiles and surgery.

'To go out to Japan and see what this company is doing as I did last October is the fun part of my job.'

The team's belief that tourism is a strong global investment theme  but especially in Asia with the emergence of a cash-rich middle- class determined to travel  is reflected in its portfolio.

Key positions include Japan Airport Terminal Company (owner of Haneda Airport in Tokyo), Airports of Thailand and Beijing Capital Airport.

It also has a stake in baggage maker Samsonite, a company that Edelsten says is using cutting-edge technology to design ever lighter and stronger bags.

As for themes yet to establish themselves, he is interested in the science of immunology.

Provided his holdings are generating plenty of cash and are not patently overvalued, he will run with them.

But if they start looking too pricey, he will not hesitate in taking gains and investing in new possible future winners from strong global trends.Essex-born Mark Dixon, 58, had considerable more success setting up Regus

Mark Dixons first business was called Dial-A-Snack, which saw him deliver sandwiches to offices around Chelmsford on a butchers bike.

The precocious 16-year-old was armed with youthful confidence and a Tiggerish energy, but crucially lacking any real business know-how.

He was far too generous with his portions and, before he knew it, the firm was leaking money and the aspiring Del Boy had to pull the plug after just six months.

The experience must have been humbling. His father, a mechanic at Ford, had been dismayed at his academically gifted sons decision to quit school before A-levels, as had his teachers. Still, young Dixon learned a valuable lesson about profit margins.

Since that early disaster, Essex-born Dixon, 58, has had considerably more success setting up Regus  now known as IWG  the serviced office company which has 3,000 centres in more than 900 cities.

His fortune is put at 900million, which is down from previous years thanks to Reguss lagging share price, but a still considerable wedge, which affords him a comfortable home in sunny (not to mention tax-friendly) Monaco.

Not that youd guess Dixon is a near billionaire to look at him. Understated and unassuming with a preference for sober suits, hes almost as nondescript as the office space his 3billion firm provides.

His journey to becoming one of Britains most successful entrepreneurs has, to put it mildly, been eventful. Once the sandwich-making venture folded, he decided to hit the road.

He worked as a barman in Saint-Tropez, serving drinks to gap-toothed sex kitten Brigitte Bardot, before heading to Australia, where he made ends meet by flogging encyclopaedias and working as a logger.

Regus  now known as IWG  is a serviced office company which has 3,000 centres in more than 900 cities

On his return to the UK, Dixon invested 600 in a burger van, which he parked on Londons North Circular and did brisk trade flogging hot dogs to late-night revellers. He bought a further six vans, whereupon he had his first big light-bulb moment.

Realising how difficult it was to get the right type of hot dog bun, he set up his own bakery to supply his own business, as well as his competitors. In 1988, he sold The Bread Roll Company for 800,000.

With that handy bit of capital in his pocket, he moved to Brussels to begin an apartment-renting business. It was there he noticed how travelling businessmen would hold meetings hunched around small tables in coffee shops. Cue light-bulb moment number two.

He set up Regus in 1989, providing office space that was maintained, staffed and could be used on a flexible basis. Within five years, it had spread as far as Latin America. By the time it floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2000, it was worth 1.5billion.

Dixon set up Regus in 1989 and by the time it floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2000, it was worth 1.5billion

The dotcom crash provoked a nasty wobble. The US division was forced into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and Dixon had to sell his majority stake of the UK operation. But by 2006 he was able to buy it back. All of this by the age of 45.

His private life has been almost as much of a rollercoaster. When he founded Regus, he already had three children from various relationships.

He had another two with ex-wife Trudi, a former sub-editor on the Luton News who he had met during his burger van days.

When they divorced after 17 years in 2005, Dixon was forced to hand her a mammoth 28million payout. He admits he could have got the work/life balance thing a bit better during his marriage.

Today, with a 25 per cent stake in IWG, hes still globe-trotting at least two weeks of every month. San Francisco one day. Washington the next.

This week he was in Cannes, speaking at the annual property jamboree, Mipim. Dixon, you suspect, is not a man whos very good at sitting still.

Nor can he afford to. Regus faces stiff competition from We Work, a funky, New York-based start-up whose offices come with more millennial-focused perks such as beer taps and pool tables.

But despite nearing 60, Dixon insists hes not ready to retire. As well as fending off Reguss rivals, he says he still has big plans for his vineyards in Provence and Sussex, which produce award- winning wines. Hes certainly come a long way from those early days of stuffing sandwiches.Housing boss Tony Pidgley found himself in what one analyst described as a Mexican stand-off with ministers yesterday after he insisted his company was in no position to ramp up construction.

The 70-year-old industry veteran, who set up Berkeley Group in 1976 and still has a 185million stake in the firm, listed a string of reasons why he would not be helping Theresa May in her bid to solve the housing crisis.

Chief among his complaints were the Governments own policies  including high levels of stamp duty and a clamp down on buy-to-let landlords as well as the planning system.

Housing boss Tony Pidgley set up the Berkeley Group in 1976 and still has a 185million stake in the firm

Pidgley, who was adopted from Barnardos by travellers when he was four and left home and school at 15, also blamed economic uncertainty and limits on mortgage lending.

The fundamentals of the market in London and the South East remain compelling, but the operating environment and its impact on transaction volumes do not support the step-up in Berkeleys production levels that these markets so badly need, the company said.

That is not what the Prime Minister  or investors  would have wanted to hear.

Pledging to restore the dream of home ownership in Britain earlier this month, May urged builders to step up and do their bit.

The company said it was still on course to hit all its targets, including at least 3.3billion of profits in the five years to April 2021. But shares fell 5.3 per cent, or 210p, to 3713p  costing Pidgley 10.5million alone.

Dominos Pizza outlined plans to buy back 32million of shares before the end of the year, having already bought 18million. Shares fell 1 per cent, or 3.6p, to 320.8p

George Salmon, an analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: Berkeleys results highlight the development of something of a Mexican stand-off between housebuilders and the Government.

'Theresa May is saying builders need to open up their land banks and develop more sites, while Berkeley is unwilling to aggressively ramp up production. Its comments are a clear signal to the Government that it believes the best way to move forward is not to churn through the land on its books, but to remove the red tape around the development process.

STOCK WATCH: Mitie Mities turnaround plan remains on track and it will deliver higher cost savings than previously thought. The outsourcer, which has been under pressure following a string of profit warnings, said that its transformation plan will see it trim costs by 50m a year by 2020. Revenue is expected to grow up to 2.5 per cent to 2.2billion this year, as it pointed to a ten-year contract with the Home Office worth more than half a billion pounds. But its shares fell, closing down 3 per cent, or 4.9p, at 156.3p.

The stock market in London was lit up by the prospect of a bidding war for electronic trading group Nex (up 30 per cent, or 203.5p, to 874p).

The FTSE 100 index was up 0.3 per cent, or 24.38 points, at 7164.14 but the FTSE 250 fell 0.1 per cent, or 23.51 points, to 19,804.90.

Mothercare shares fell another 7 per cent, or 1.28p, to an all-time low of 17.12p  valuing the struggling High Street chain at just 29million.

Former Ukip donor Arron Banks was 744,000 richer last night after shares in AIM-listed Manx Financial Group jumped 17.3 per cent, or 1.95p, to 13.25p. Banks, 51, who gave Ukip 1m ahead of the 2015 General Election and is one of the self-styled Bad Boys of Brexit, has a 29.1 per cent stake in Manx worth 5million.

The company owns Conister Bank, the largest retail bank on the Isle of Man, and reported a 78 per cent rise in profits to 2.5million for 2017.

Executive chairman Jim Mellon, who has a 13.5 per cent stake in Manx worth 2.3million, described it as a very satisfactory outcome.

The 61-year-old, a prominent Brexit supporter, is worth 920million according to the Sunday Times Rich List, having made his fortune in fund management and property.

Dominos Pizza outlined plans to buy back 32million of shares before the end of the year, having already bought 18million. Shares fell 1 per cent, or 3.6p, to 320.8p.

The boss of animal genetics specialist Genus, which breeds and sells pigs and offers top-quality bull sperm to livestock producers, sold shares in his own company worth 834,000. Karim Bitar sold 35,803 shares for 2330p each, leaving him with a holding of 68,213 shares worth 1.6million at last nights close of 2324p, which was down 0.3 per cent, or 6p, on the day.CRYPTO FEARS Lenders that link their finances to bitcoin should expect a crackdown, the Bank of England has warned.

Very few City firms have any involvement in the cryptocurrency market, but the Bank said it would treat exchanges where bitcoin is traded like any other hub if it goes mainstream  meaning they would have to pass strict health checks.

CARE JOB Troubled care home chain Four Seasons has appointed restructuring expert Martin Healy to oversee its handover from Terra Firma to main lender H/2 Capital.

Lenders that link their finances to bitcoin should expect a crackdown, the Bank of England has warned

RIG ROLL Work has begun on oil rig business Lamprells joint venture shipping yard in Saudi Arabia.

TAX BILL Bargain Booze owner Conviviality has said customers and suppliers remain supportive after it revealed it owes the taxman 30million.

BUYOUT PLAN Former chairman of Qualcomm Paul Jacobs has approached investors about a $90billion management buyout of the chipmaker days after rival Broadcoms bid was blocked by President Trump.

TOKYO RAID Japans competition watchdog has raided Amazons offices in Tokyo for the second time in two years over claims the internet giant has used its market clout to pass discounting costs on to suppliers.

SHUT DOWN Law firm Mossack Fonseca, which was at the heart of the Panama Papers tax scandal that allegedly helped some of the worlds richest people avoid paying their fair share of tax, has shut down.

ON BOARD DIY group Kingfisher is replacing Andrew Bonfield on its board with Jeff Carr, chief finance officer of Dutch food retailer Ahold Delhaize.

TOWER PLANS German insurer Munich Re is buying land in the City of London with permission for a 36-storey skyscraper.

TECH LIST Business tech firm Simplybiz will float on AIM for 130million.The business titan and philanthropist behind Superdrug and Felixstowe port is to retire and hand over the reins of his 100billion global empire to his son.

Li Ka-shing, 89, announced he is stepping down as chairman of CK Hutchison, after a business career that saw him rise from humble beginnings to being Asias second-richest man.

Li, who was awarded a knighthood in 2000, heads a sprawling company that includes retail, utilities and telecoms.

Li Ka-shing, 89, announced he is stepping down as chairman of CK Hutchison, after a business career that saw him rise from humble beginnings to being Asias second-richest man

In the UK, his businesses also include mobile network Three and Northumbrian Water.

He will retire on May 10, ahead of his 90th birthday, handing control of CK Hutchison to eldest son Victor Li.

At a press conference yesterday, Li said: Ive been working for a long time, too long.

His investments have included tech start-ups that went on to global success, including Facebook.

Li will retire on May 10, ahead of his 90th birthday, handing control of CK Hutchison to eldest son Victor Li (pictured above)

Lis personal fortune is estimated by Forbes to be more than 25billion, but his is a rags-to-riches story.

His family fled war-torn China for the former British colony in 1940 where he became the breadwinner after his father died from tuberculosis.

He became a factory apprentice aged 13, later opening his own factory at 21 and made his first fortune in plastics.

His empire now spans 50 countries, 95billion of assets and employs more than 320,000 people.The Big Four accountancy firms could be broken up following a wave of scandals at companies they audit that has sparked a crisis of confidence in the industry.

The accountancy watchdog sounded the alarm over the dominance of Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and Pricewaterhousecoopers, which audited all but nine of the UKs largest 350 listed companies last year.

The Financial Reporting Council called on the Competition and Markets Authority to investigate the case for audit only firms in an effort to boost competition and stamp out conflicts of interest.

The accountancy watchdog has sounded an alarm over the dominance of the Big Four accountancy firms, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and Pricewaterhousecoopers

The move would force the Big Four to spin off their audit arms into separate businesses, and follows a string of accounting scandals including at Tesco, Carillion, Halifax-owner HBOS and BT.

KPMG signed off Carillions accounts last year just four months before it issued the first of three profit warnings before eventually going bust.

Stephen Haddrill, chief executive of the FRC, told the FT: There is a loss of confidence in audit and I think that the industry needs to address that urgently.

'There is no more competition. So it seems to me that we ought to have another look at [the audit market].

The CMA said: The authority remains open to looking further at this sector in the future.

Critics of the industry complain that firms are too focused on lucrative areas of the business, such as tax advice and consulting, rather than audit.Aviva boss, Mark Wilson, has joined the board of investment behemoth Blackrock

Avivas boss has joined the board of investment behemoth Blackrock as a non-executive director.

New Zealander Mark Wilson, 51, will work with Blackrock boss Larry Fink overseeing more than 4.5 trillion of savers' cash.

Wilson held senior jobs at insurers Axa and AIA before taking charge of Aviva.

The married father of three has overseen a turnaround at the insurer since he took the reins in 2013.Barbara Judge has put plans to launch a homewares and fashion business on the backburner after quitting the Institute of Directors amid allegations of bullying, racism and sexism.

Lady Judge  known for her pie-crust collar shirts and bespoke tailored skirt suits  had been in the early stages of launching a fashion and soft furnishing company with the possible name of Lady Barbara.

The 71-year-old businesswoman registered Lady Barbara as a trademark for a range of goods including luggage, handbags, cushion covers, bedspreads, shoes, hats and curtains.

On hold: Barbara Judge has put plans to launch a homewares and fashion business on the backburner after quitting the Institute of Directors amid allegations of bullying and sexism

Her planned new business had the backing of two Chinese partners  Hua Xia, based in Beijing, and Tengbo Yang, a director of the UK-China Business Leaders Club.

The partners each own 40 per cent of the business and Lady Judge owns 20 per cent.

Lady Judge resigned as chair of the bosses' organisation, the IoD, earlier this month after law firm Hill Dickinson filed a report accusing her of more than 40 episodes of unreasonable behaviour.

She has since been suspended as a trustee of charity Dementia UK and has stepped down as a fundraiser for Historic Royal Palaces. Lady Judge has also quit the boards of the Royal Academy and tech start-up Hibob.

The University of Oxford's Said Business School, where she is a visiting fellow, has put her position under review.

Lady Judge strongly denies the IoD allegations.One of the Chinese suitors behind a bid for House of Fraser has issued a profit warning a fortnight before the deal is expected to be finalised.

Fullshare, controlled by billionaire Ji Changqun, has issued a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange that it expects profit to be 30 per cent less than previous forecasts.

It said an energy firm it acquired in 2016 has yet to contribute to group profit.

One of the Chinese suitors behind a bid for House of Fraser has issued a profit warning a fortnight before the deal is expected to be finalised

Fullshare owns 45 per cent of Wuji Wenhua, the company trying to buy a majority share in House of Fraser.

There are at least two other Chinese investors in Wuji Wenhua.

Fullshare hit the headlines last year when a US investment firm claimed its stock price was being 'manipulated', an allegation firmly denied by the company.

The troubled House of Fraser recently said it would ask some landlords for rent reductions. Chinese firm Sanpower bought House of Fraser in 2014 for 155 million. It planned 50 stores in China but has opened only two.Space age: Jeff Bezos, with wife MacKenzie, is investing in slowing the ageing process

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, whose hobby is launching rockets into space, is the world's richest man with a 90billion fortune, a Gulfstream jet and a string of mansions dotted across America.

Who could blame him for wanting to live for ever?

The 54-year-old internet tycoon and a handful of Silicon Valley billionaires are investing chunks of their vast wealth in efforts to extend life by slowing the ageing process.

They include PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, Oracle founder Larry Ellison and Google billionaires Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

The excitement about longevity is on a par with the buzz surrounding the internet in 1995, according to Jim Mellon, one of Britain's most successful investors who is leading the anti-ageing race on this side of the Atlantic.

Mellon, who has been dubbed Britain's Warren Buffett, has set up his own company, Juvenescence, to invest in drugs to extend life  also known as biogerontology.

Last year, he was appointed to the Biogerontology Research Foundation's board of trustees.

He predicts that medical breakthroughs in age-related diseases such as cancer, new drugs and healthier lifestyles will drive the average life expectancy up to between 110 and 120 years over the next three decades.

In 20 years' time, the race to extend life will be the biggest business in the world and 'much more important than the trivial uses of the internet like Facebook and Snapchat', he said.

The 61-year-old's biggest financial success to date was setting up uranium miner UraMin with $100,000 capital in 2005.

He sold it two years later to French nuclear power giant Areva for around 1.6billion.

Google has been quietly spending big on anti-ageing drugs through a project called Calico. When it was founded in 2013, Larry Page said it would focus on 'health, well-being, and longevity'

Jim Mellon, one of Britain's most successful investors, is leading the anti-ageing race on this side of the Atlantic

He has also invested heavily in property in Germany and the Isle of Man, where he is based, but has more recently turned his attentions to biotech.

His influence is wide. He reputedly introduced Nigel Farage to Arron Banks, who subsequently became Ukip's biggest donor.

But he sees problems down the road with rising longevity. He claims politicians around the world are not doing enough to plan for the consequences, such as rising pressure on pensions.

Mellon, whose wealth is estimated at 920million, suggests the coming changes will see people working way past the current retirement age.

'The trajectory of life is going to change and no governments are taking account of this,' said Mellon, who yesterday gave a talk on the subject at his Master Investor show in London.

'So many aspects of our lives are going to be up-ended, most importantly pension funds. There will be no one  companies or governments  who will be able to support a retirement age of 65 if people are going to live that long.'

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, whose hobby is launching rockets into space, is also investing chunks of his vast wealth in efforts to extend life by slowing the ageing process

He compares 20th Century Britons who worked most of their lives with subsequent generations that could be 'only working for about a third of their life'.

He warns: 'No one can support that. Someone's got to promulgate this because otherwise there's going to be an economic disaster.'

But he said investment opportunities are about to go mainstream.

'As soon as Silicon Valley and rich people in America start getting involved in this, you'll get companies going public,' he said, referring to firms selling shares on the stock market.

It is still early days for Juvenescence. It hopes to carry out human trials 'in the next two or three years' and has plans for a stock market float.

'It's not in a state to go public yet but it will be by the end of this year,' he said.

In the US, Unity Biotechnology, the company that Bezos has backed through his firm Bezos Expeditions, has a $150million (107million) war chest to develop drugs that 'prevent, halt, or reverse numerous diseases of ageing'.

Unity also counts Thiel, who is a life-extension enthusiast, as an investor. It has further, more traditional, investment from asset management giants Fidelity and Edinburgh-based Baillie Gifford.

Google has also been quietly spending big on anti-ageing drugs through a project called Calico.

When it was founded in 2013, Larry Page said it would focus on 'health, well-being, and longevity'.

Along with its partner AbbVie, the pharmaceutical giant, it plans to invest up to $1.5billion to find cures for diseases like cancer and Alzheimer's, but it has so far kept quiet on its progress.

Closer to home, Mellon is hoping Juvenescence can play a role in prolonging life.

'If we can be a small part of something enormous, that's pretty exciting,' he said.MBABANE  It is not always that when something happens in South Africa, Swaziland gets a wake-up call.



This emanates from the fact that government is not keen to follow suit in the introduction of a Pharmacy Dispensing Unit (PDU) which is like a medicine ATM.



A PDU performs tasks usually executed by the dispensary personnel in clinics and hospitals. It is designed to minimise long queues of patients who visit hospitals to collect their medication.

From Thursday, in South Africa, some patients taking chronic medication, including antiretrovirals (ARVs) for HIV/Aids, started getting their pills ATM-style.



The medicine ATM was heralded as the first of its kind in Africa.

eNCA, a South African News channel, reported that the PDU worked like an ATM for medication, with Skype-like audio-visual interaction between patient and tele-pharmacists, cloud based electronic software and robotic technology used to dispense and label medication.



It was reported that the ATM-typed machine was developed to ensure accurate dispensing and quick collection.

The news agency reported that a clinically stable patient on chronic medication can be given the option to collect chronic prescriptions from the PDU pharmacy.



Meanwhile, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Health Dr Simon Zwane said the country would take its time to monitor whether the PDU delivers for the neighbouring republic.

Zwane said the two countries were operating at different scales therefore, the medicine ATM may not yet be relevant for the local population.



He acknowledged that there were challenges in local hospitals as there were long queues.

However, he noted that the ministry was already formulating means to deal with the issue.MBABANE  Former Mhlatane High School head teacher Simeon Makhubu has made it through the first hurdle.



Yesterday, he paid the first instalment on his E474 000 fine after being sentenced to 19 years and nine months for defrauding government a sum of E1.7 million.



He paid a sum of E79 000 yesterday and the balance is E395 000. He is due to pay the next instalment on April 16, 2018. He will pay amounts of E79 000 for the next five months until the fine is paid in full. Judge Mbutfo Mamba ordered him to pay the last instalment on or before September 9, 2018.



instalments



When he was sentenced last Friday, his lawyer, Noncedo Ndlangamandla applied that the fine should be paid in instalments and the Crown did not object.

Makhubu undertook to pay the first instalment on or before yesterday. If he failed to pay the sum of E79 000 yesterday, he would have been taken to prison.



The Crown wanted clarification on how it would be ascertained if payments were made and suggested that receipts for proof of payment be kept in a file in the custody of the Registrar of the High Court.



The office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) would be furnished with the duplicates. This is to enable the DPP to approach the court in the event that Makhubu defaults on the payment.



Msizeni Dlamini, who speaks on behalf of the family, said the money was strictly contributed by members of public who include his friends, relatives, former students and teachers from different schools, among others.



Dlamini said since Makhubu does not have money, as submitted by his attorney last Friday in court, the family had embarked on a fundraising campaign to pay the fine. When Makhubu was released from custody last week, his family requested members of the family to assist with contributions.MBABANE  Judge Sipho Nkosi was left scratching his head when evidence emerged yesterday that the South African junior warder who came out in Sipho Shongwes defence has allegedly changed tune.



The Barberton Maximum Prison junior warder, Makhaza Obedia Ndlovu, has allegedly jumped to Shongwes defence to quash suspicions that the suspect escaped from prison.



This is if the affidavit he filed on March 8, 2018 is anything to go by.

Before the ink on Ndlovus affidavit, which portrayed Shongwe as an innocent man could even dry up, Judge Nkosi yesterday received yet another affidavit which was filed by the Crown and deposed to allegedly by the same Ndlovu.



In the affidavit dated March 15, 2018, Ndlovu denied that he knew Shongwe and the circumstances of his release.

The Crown and Shongwe have both filed affidavits allegedly from Ndlovu, which tell contradicting stories. In an affidavit filed on behalf of Shongwe, Ndlovu paints a picture that there was nothing wrong with Shongwes release from prison.



On the Crowns affidavit, Ndlovu, this is if he is the same Makhaza Obedia Ndlovu who deposed to both affidavits, tells the court that he did not know Shongwe.



Ndlovu, in the Crowns affidavit alleged that he was approached by a former official of Barberton Maximum Prison named Cyprian (CP) Shongwe who had prepared an affidavit for him to sign.



The Crown informed the court that Cyprian could be related to Shongwe (Sipho).

The affidavit, which had allegedly been prepared by Cyprian was to facilitate Shongwes release from prison purportedly on parole.

On the date when CP Shongwe approached me, I did not personally read the contents of the affidavit that he had already prepared for me to sign. I did not know the offender in person because on my arrival at the maximum prison, the offender was already released from prison. I dont know the circumstances around which the offender (Sipho) was released. That is all, he wrote on the affidavit.[March 16, 2018] British Columbia and Ontario Law Firms Honored by LegalShield for Superior Performance and Service

LegalShield, one of North America's leading providers of affordable legal plans and the IDShield identity theft solution for individuals, families and small businesses, is holding its annual We Are LegalShield Convention this week at the Cox (News - Alert) Convention Center in Oklahoma City. At this year's event, LegalShield's experienced, new and aspiring Independent Sales Associates from all 50 states and Canada have come together to engage with motivating speakers, get specialized professional development training and benefit from rare networking opportunities. LegalShield has a network of dedicated provider law firms that employ over 1,000 attorneys with an average of 22 years experience. In 2017 alone, providers received 1,833,905 requests for services, thus saving or recovering for LegalShield members approximately $33 million. Today, Keri Norris, Senior Vice President of Regulatory Compliance and Chief Legal Officer, and Lori Owens, Senior Director Provider Services, honored law firms and attorneys with awards for superior performance and customer service. LegalShield and its provider law firms have the industry's highest standard of service and satisfaction as the only legal services provider that holds its firms and attorneys directly accountable through member surveys, ratings and feedback. After every interaction with a LegalShield lawyer, members are asked to rate their experienc, which generates a Net Promoter Score (NPS). The average NPS for LegalShield is 56, putting the company on par with brands like Samsung (News - Alert) , TurboTax and Apple iPad/iPhone.



"Dedicated and client-focused law firms are the bedrock to our mission of providing affordable and equal access to legal services for all," said Bell. "With over 1,000 provider attorneys in 50 states and four Canadian provinces, LegalShield is able to provide legal protection to 1,751,456 members, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year when a member's rights, freedoms or liberties are threatened." This year, LegalShield honored two providers from Canada with the Individual Member's Choice, Culmination Indigo. This award honors an individual attorney from the provider law firm who holds the highest NPS score ration to the number of surveys received. The recipients are listed below.

Timothy Perrin, Watson Goepel, LLP (BC)

Alfonso DiMarco, Mills & Mills LLP ( ON (News - Alert) ) About LegalShield A pioneer in the democratization of affordable access to legal protection, LegalShield is one of North America's leading providers of legal safeguards and protection against identity theft for individuals, families and small businesses. The 45-year-old company has more than 1,751,000 members that are covered by its legal and identity theft plans. IDShield provides identity theft protection to one million individuals. LegalShield and IDShield serve more than 141,000 businesses. Both legal and identity theft plans start for less than $25 per month. LegalShield's legal plans provide access to attorneys with an average of 22 years of experience in areas such as family matters, estate planning, financial and business issues, consumer protection, tax, real estate, benefits disputes and auto/driving issues. Unlike other legal plans or do-it-yourself websites, LegalShield has dedicated law firms in 50 states and four provinces in Canada that members can call for help without having to worry about high hourly rates. IDShield provides identity monitoring and restoration services and is the only identity theft protection company armed with a team of licensed private investigators on call to restore a member's identity. For more information, call press and corporate relations at 580-436-1234. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180316005647/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][March 16, 2018] CIVITAS INVESTIGATION INITIATED by Former Louisiana Attorney General: Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC Investigates the Officers and Directors of Civitas Solutions, Inc. - CIVI

Former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., Esq., a partner at the law firm of Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF"), announces that KSF has commenced an investigation into Civitas Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: CIVI). For several years, the Company, operating through its service agency, The MENTOR Network and other related entities, as one of the largest for-profit providers of foster care services, has been at the center of investigations by the news media as well as the U.S. Senate Finance Committee. In a comprehensive October 2017 report, the Senate Committee identified numerous wide-ranging deficiencies by the Company regarding child placement and foster family background screening; that "[s]ome children served by MENTOR were abused, neglected, and denied services"; that "investigations about fatalities were never followed up, autopsy reports which were pending years ago are not part of case files, and the vast majority of children who died were not the subject of an internal investigation" and that the Company had paid significant financial settlements to resolve negligence claims (for example, nine settlements in Illinois totaling 19.5 million), which had also resulted in what the Company described in a 2014 SEC (News - Alert) filing as "less favorable insurance terms" and "greater amounts [expensed] to fund potential claims."



KSF's investigation is focusing on whether Civitas' officers and/or directors breached their fiduciary duties to Civitas shareholders or otherwise violated state or federal laws. If you have information that would assist KSF in its investigation, or have been a long-term holder of Civitas shares and would like to discuss your legal rights, you may, without obligation or cost to you, call toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or email KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn (lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com), or visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nyse-civi/ to learn more.

About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC KSF, whose partners include Former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is a law firm focused on securities, antitrust and consumer class actions, along with merger & acquisition and breach of fiduciary litigation against publicly traded companies on behalf of shareholders. The firm has offices in New York, California and Louisiana. To learn more about KSF, you may visit www.ksfcounsel.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180316005746/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]Jackson County currently houses 800 or more inmates on behalf of the State of Missouri every day," Director of Corrections Diana Turner said in a statement. "Until the state pays on time and pays the actual cost of incarceration, much of the burden will continue to fall on Jackson County taxpayers and thats unfortunate.

Here's local media helping along with renewed effort to shift blame for an ongoing human rights crisis toward Jeff City.Checkit:Money line:Developing . . .Kansas City Anchorman Mark Alford Celebrates 20 Years & Counting

local talk show pundit circuit and his Centre-Right politics are a stark contrast to the deluge of local progressive talking points backed by patrons and donors. This contrast is important because he's not a right-wing paid talking head either and his objectivity as a news dude allows him greater freedom to analyze issues objectively. As the civic conversation moves away from the newspapers, Mr. Alford now has a higher profile on theand hispolitics are a stark contrast to the deluge of local progressive talking points backed by patrons and donors. This contrast is important because he's not a right-wing paid talking head either and his objectivity as a news dude allows him greater freedom to analyze issues objectively.

Kansas City Student Protesters Against Gun Violence Dominated The Local Discourse

Prospero's Immersed In The KC Discourse

Amid harsh times in the local discourse, here's a list of locals whothanks to courage, dedication just a bit of luck.Take a look:Without question and agree or not . . .and made their case to voters along with providing a glimpse at the future of the electorate.This Midtown Kansas City bookstore took a bold stance with a horrible marketing campaign and thenfrom far more progressive/activist customers. In the end, the conversation helped raise the brand identity for the establishment and maybe revealed a few of their patrons & hangers-on who didn't really have the best interests of the local reader community at heart . . . In the midst of more honest objections that didn't want their favorite bookstore to seem callous.As always . . .This list has been compiled according toand it's a weekly comprehensive guide to local powerful people.Man shot, killed inside Firelight Lounge early Saturday morning KANSAS CITY, Kan. - A man was shot and killed inside the Firelight Lounge, in the 1800 block of Parallel Parkway early Saturday morning. Police were called to a shooting about 1:30 a.m. Saturday. Upon arrival officers located a black male in his mid-thirties, dead from an apparent gunshot wound inside the business.

Here's a glimpse of ongoing local violence on the other side of the State Line as well. Read more:Charges have been dismissed against one of four teenagers accused of bringing a loaded weapon to Lee's Summit High School recently. Michael Mansur, spokesman for the Jackson County Prosecutor, confirmed to KCTV5 News that charges have been dismissed against 18-year-old Landon Mikle. "Other charges against others involved in that case remain," Mansur said."Sen. Chappelle-Nadal (District 14) walks through the multiple times she has been sexually harassed and harassed as an elected official. She hopes sexual harassment policies will be adopted by the General Assembly that will leave victims whole instead of further victimized by silence and ineffective policies."

She was nearly booted out of office afterNow she's back and taking aim at her own party . . .Check the description:More reporting:You decide . . ."There are many forms of slavery, and we use the term today often in a general sense, but if were going to compare peoples in the same time period and the same places, like the white Irish with the black Africans, in colonial times, there was no comparison. Being a servant, an indentured one, Irish and white, was far better than being a chattel slave, African and black.





"So by all means, and on this day, remember this horrible dark time in history for the Irish - but do not use that to play down the greater suffering and oppression of Africans and their descendants, nor the racial significance of it."

There's no doubt that not so long agowhich still exists today among the nastiest factions of the extreme right-wing.However, this formerly local artist with a blog that has a great many worthwhile KCMO Irish references offers this important perspective on the culture of victimization now sweeping the planet . . .Money line . . .You decide . . .Qatar Railways Company (Qatar Rail) recently received the first Lusail Tram after it departed Alstom factory in the French city of La Rochelle to Barcelona in Spain, to arrive on schedule after 18 days at Doha.



Once offloaded at Hamad Port, the Citadis train will head towards its final destination at the main depot where it will be assembled and tested as the company gears up toward the operational phase of the project. The tram will undergo a number of technical tests to ensure the highest standards of safety are met.



Abdulla Abdulaziz Al Subaie, Qatar Rails managing director and chief executive officer, stated: The arrival of the Tram marks the beginning of a new phase. Lusail Tram project is well under way; the work is ongoing right now toward the completion of the stations construction as we aim to deliver the project within the assigned timeline, underpinned by our commitment to deliver a modern and sustainable transport network for Lusail city.



Hamad Al Bishri, Qatar Rails deputy chief executive officer, said: "We are pleased to witness this milestone which is paving the way for the next phase of Lusail Trams project. We also would like to recognise the efforts of all our partners whom contributed to the successful delivery of this milestone and the logistic support received to ensure the safe arrival of the tram to its final destination.



The design of the Lusail Tram was inspired by Al Mehmel, which signifies The Dhow  the old traditional Qatari boat used for pearl fishing. The design concept focused on the sea representing dhow pearl fishing and bringing in the calm, cool, elegant and tranquil elements of that medium to the design. All these features will be depicted in the design of the trams. Lusail tram will soon become the main transportation hub for the visionary Lusail City, the largest single sustainable development to be undertaken in the State of Qatar.



Lusail Tram connects to Doha Metro through two interchange stations at Lusail and Legtaifiya. The 35.4-km-long Lusail Tram network will launch in 2020. It includes four lines and 28 stations aboveground and underground. Progress on the Lusail Tram project currently stands at 73 per cent.  TradeArabia News ServiceThe World Bank has approved a $295-million package ushering in the overhaul of Lebanons decaying transport sector and securing employment for thousands of unskilled Lebanese and Syrian workers.



The Greater Beirut Public Transport Project (GBPTP) will jumpstart the countrys first modern public transport system in decades, ease stifling congestions on Lebanese roads, and unlock private finance to a vital infrastructure sector.



GBPTP is the first project to benefit from a newly approved Public-Private Partnership law that aims to attract private investments in infrastructure to ease the financial burdens of a government struggling with high public debt and fiscal imbalances. It is in line with the World Bank Groups own drive for Maximizing Financing for Development (MFD) in member countries, especially those under economic and financial duress.



Lebanon needs to mobilise private investment to stimulate its economy and create jobs while also developing its much-needed infrastructure, Saroj Kumar Jha, World Bank regional director for the Mashreq, commented after the Banks Board of Directors endorsed the project.



Poor transport connectivity exacerbates the already problematic inequitable growth between Beirut and hinterland regions. It hinders access to employment and services for the poor and other vulnerable groups.



The project is expected to create two million labour days in construction jobs for low-income Lebanese and Syrians. The project represents the first phase of an ambitious national public transport program. It is expected to attract about 300,000 passengers per day and halve the commuting time between Beirut and its northern suburbs. GBPTP is likely to be followed by additional phases covering the southern and eastern entrances to Beirut.



GBPTP will have substantial social and environmental benefits. The safe, modern, and reliable transport system will improve the mobility of women, youth and persons with disabilities. The introduction of new and clean buses running on dedicated lanes will attract private vehicle users, significantly reducing congestion and greenhouse gas emissions and improving air quality.



Ziad El-Nakat, Senior Transport Specialist at the Bank, highlighted the large economic costs of traffic congestion in Lebanon which are estimated by various studies as between 5 per cent and 10 per cent of national GDP. In economic terms, the annual cost of traffic congestion is above $2 billion, representing a large impediment to growth and regional connectivity, he said.



El-Nakat, who headed a team of experts that designed the project, said Lebanon is cognizant of the importance of the transport to economic growth. He added that this is why the sector accounts for one third of the overall multi-billion Capital Investment Plan which the government will unveil at an international conference in support of Lebanon, slated for April 6, 2018, in Paris.



Lebanons infrastructure in general had been deteriorating for years due to lack of funds. But the situation worsened with the influx of some 1.5 million Syrian refugees, who now make up roughly 25 per cent of the resident population. This has resulted in an increase in traffic levels in the range of 15 per cent to 25 per cent."



The project envisages the purchase of 120 buses to service 40 kilometres of dedicated Bus Rapid Transit lanes from northern districts to the heart of Beirut. Additionally, 250 feeder buses will operate between the main stations and the hinterland. The project will also mobilize private sector investments, in the range of $50 million and $80 million for the purchase of the BRT buses and their operations. The planned BRT system and its feeder bus network will be operated and maintained by the private sector.



The project will be financed by a $225.2 million loan. The Global Concessional Financing Facility (GCFF) is contributing another $69.8 million on a grant basis. The GCFF provides low- or no-interest financing packages to middle-income countries whose economies are strained by refugee inflows. The loan will be paid over 31.5 years, including an eight-year grace period.



The new financing raises the total value of World Bank commitments to Lebanon to $1.7 billion.  TradeArabia News Serviceeditorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, March 17

The CIA staff of the local police have arrested two persons and confiscated a huge quantity of industrial alcohol. The accused have been identified as Narinder Singh, alias Kaka, of New Kapoor Nagar and Gagandeep Singh of Akali Colony, Tarn Taran road.

In a press release issued here today, the police stated that the accused were arrested at a checkpoint installed near Ryan International School. The liquor was being taken in a Mahindra Bolero, containing two big drums of 200 litres each and 24 plastic cans containing 35 litres each of industrial alcohol.

Investigations revealed that they smuggled the alcohol from Banur in Mohali at the behest of Gurjit Singh, alias Raju, of New Kapoor Nagar. He used to sell the same after mixing it with water in neighbouring areas illegally. He was earlier booked for similar offences at different police stations. Police officials said raids were on to arrest him. The SUV from which the seizure was made belonged to Gurjit Singh, they added. A fresh case has been registered against him.vermaajay1968@gmail.com

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 16

The government has assured the exporting community that it is keen to see that all their eligible refund claims under GST are considered and sanctioned at the earliest.

In a statement, the Finance Ministry said that unverified estimates of pending GST refunds on account of exports floating around are highly speculative and mostly inaccurate. It is a fact that while a number of exporters have not been able to get the export refunds so far, others have been granted refunds, it said. Many of the errors plaguing the claims for refunds are on account of inadequate familiarisation of the exporters with the GST laws and data entry errors in the various GSTRs and forms.

The statement said that so far more than Rs 10,000 crore has already been sanctioned by CBEC and states. A standard operating procedure applicable to both central and state GST has been put in place by virtue of various circulars and clarifications issued with regard to processing of ITC refund.

GST Council, in its last meeting on March 10, has directed states tax authorities to proactively clear refund claims. CBEC has taken an initiative to observe a special drive refund sanction fortnight from March 15-29 on an all-India scale for which additional staff and infrastructure has been mobilised. Special refund cells manned by experienced staff are being put in place in the country. It asked exporting community to get their errors rectified to enable sanction of refunds. The government wants to assure the exporters that it is keen to see that all their eligible refund claims are considered and sanctioned at the earliest, the statement added.ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

Tribune News Service

Panchkula, March 17

The Ruchika molestation case crusader, Aradhna Gupta, lodged a missing complaint of her husband and two kids with the Panchkula Police. But when police checked they traced husband and kids to Australia.

As per complaint submitted by Aradhna Gupta, it was said that her husband Aman Gupta, and three children Arshiya (12), Aarit (8) and Anaisha (3), missing from their Sector 18 residence along with passport and other material.

The complainant had said that a few days ago her husband had had threatened to kill himself and children. However, when police contacted parents of Aman Gupta, they came to know that Aradhans husband had moved to Australia along with children. A senior police official said that it could have been their family matter.ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

Tribune News Service

Mohali, March 17

GoAir airline is adding three domestic flights in the summer schedule to be implemented from March 25 to October 27 at the Chandigarh airport, said airport officials today.

GoAir announced a flight to Ahmedabad, Srinagar and Hyderabad in the schedule in addition to two flights to Mumbai. The flight would arrive from Ahmedabad at 12 noon and depart for Srinagar at 12.30 pm. The return flight would arrive from Srinagar at 3 pm and depart for Ahmedabad at 3.35 pm. The flight to Hyderabad will take off at 10.55 am.

Chandigarh International Airport Limited (CHIAL) released a list of 25 flights with the exception of Air India, who is yet to confirm its schedule. Jet Airways and IndiGo will operate maximum number of flights - eight each, followed by GoAir (5), SpiceJet (2) and one flight by Vistara and Air Asia.

In a statement, CHIAL PRO Deepesh Joshi said:

The schedule of Air India is yet to be finalised and will be announced later.

At present, Air India is operating six domestic flights to Pune, Leh, Delhi, Mumbai, Kullu and two international flights to Bangkok and Sharjah. So, the total number of flights at the airport in the summer is expected to be 33.

An airport official said Air India plans to start flights to certain destinations, including Dharamsala and Jammu. Jet Airways had earlier announced a new direct flight from Chandigarh to Pune.

At present, 29 flights, including three international flights, are operational, with maximum number of flights to Delhi.

Indian Air Force (IAF) had earlier agreed to change watch hours at the airport from 5 am-4 pm to 7.20 am-5.30 pm, from March 25.

For the second phase of runway upgrade, the airport would remain closed for operations from May 12 to May 31.

The flights

GoAir announced a flight to Ahmedabad, Srinagar and Hyderabad in the summer schedule in addition to two flights to Mumbai. The flight would arrive from Ahmedabad at 12 noon and depart for Srinagar at 12.30 pm. The return flight would arrive from Srinagar at 3 pm and depart for Ahmedabad at 3.35 pm. The flight to Hyderabad will take off at 10.55 am.ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

Chandigarh, March 17

A Madhya Pradesh youth was killed in a road accident as a truck rammed into his car in Sector 38 here late on Friday night. Four more persons were injured in the accident. The condition of two of them is stated to be critical.

The deceased has been identified as Manoj (32). He was seated next to the driver.

As per the SHO of the Sector 39 police station, eight persons were travelling in an Eritga car bearing a registration number of Madhya Pradesh. At around 12.30 am, a speeding truck hit the car leaving its occupants Manoj, Ram Swarup, Vinod and Ram Saran along with another person seriously injured. Vikas, who was driving the car, escaped unhurt.

The car occupants were returning from Jwalaji temple in Himachal Pradesh and heading towards Delhi. The truck driver fled the spot. A case has been registered against unknown person. TNSROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

Ishrat S Banwait

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 17

Police personnel were deployed in strength at Burail Jail here as Jagtar Singh Tara, convict in the Beant Singh assassination case, was to be awarded sentence today.

Tara was sentenced to life imprisonment till death for the assassination of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh in 1995. For security purposes, the trial was being held by a special court inside the jail.

The UT police were on their toes and had prepared to avert any untoward action in view of the huge presence of Taras supporters.

Inspector Jaswinder Kaur said around 100 security personnel were deployed at the jail throughout the day. These included personnel of the Chandigarh Police, the CRPF and special units that came with two riot-control vehicles. However, the supporters kept their activities peaceful.

Taras supporters raised slogans in favour of Tara, Khalistan and Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale after the sentence was pronounced. They also raised slogans against the government.

Apart from Taras family members, there were others who were accompanying Simranjeet Singh Mann, president, Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar). They had brought along bananas, food and water, which they offered to everyone present.

While Tara and his family members expressed satisfaction over the sentence and respected the court's decision, Mann did not approve of it. Earlier, the judge had arrived amidst high security with a police vehicle ahead and behind his car. He arrived at 11 am and left at around 3.25 pm.

As per the defence counsel, Simranjit Singh, the judge had initially refused to let Tara's relatives to remain present in the court but allowed them after they protested.

Baljit Khalsa smears Burail Jail signage

Already facing multiple cases of defacement in the city, Baljit Khalsa reached Burail Jail and smeared its signage with a cross just outside its premises. He did it in a full public view after Jagtar Singh Tara was awarded the life sentence till death. He was quickly pushed away by cops. DSP (South) Deepak Yadav said they did not book Khalsa and let him off with a warning.monicakchauhan@gmail.com

Chandigarh, March 17

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Saturday alleged that the previous governments in the state indulged in the business of illegally acquiring lands with ulterior motive.

After laying the foundation stone for elevated railway tracks at Patel Nagar in Rohtak, he said the priority of the BJP government in the state is to provide maximum facilities to the people by implementing projects involving vertical expansion and less use of land.

The chief minister said residents of nearby villages were against acquisition of land for this bypass railway tracks.

Keeping this in mind, no new land was acquired and the project would be developed on the land already in use, Khattar said.

"The previous governments indulged in the business of illegally acquiring lands with ulterior motives and with the intent of having their own cut," he alleged.

"Their illegal and corrupt ways of land acquisition are now coming to recoil on them and are adding to their woes," Khattar was quoted as saying in an official release.

Notably, Rohtak was considered as the bastion of former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

Exemplary works are being done in the field of water conservation and environment, he said. PTIrchopra@tribunemail.com

New Delhi, March 17

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday summoned three Gurugram police officials in connection with the Ryan International School murder case.

The three officials were part of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) that was formed for questioning.

Pradyuman, a student of Ryan International School, was found in a pool of blood, with his throat slit, on the school premises on September 8 last year.

Following his death, the Gurugram police arrested the bus conductor on the charges of murder.

The case was later handed over to the CBI, who gave a clean chit to Ashok and held a class 11 student responsible for the murder.

Last month, a Child Special Court also acquitted bus conductor Ashok Kumar. ANIeditorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, March 17

The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) will organise the Thank You India event at the Tsuglagkhang temple on March 31 and the programme will be presided over by the Dalai Lama.

The CTA gave this information in a press note issued here today.

The programme was scheduled to be held in Delhi and many senior political leaders, including LK Advani, Shanta Kumar and Manmohan Singh, were supposed to attend it.

However, after an advisory from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the programme had to be shifted to Dharamsala.

The CTA had tried to take permission to hold the event at the HPCA stadium in Dharamsala, however, the HPCA did not oblige it. Now, the event will be held at the Tsuglagkhang temple in McLeodganj. The Dalai Lama has given his consent for the event but it is likely to be a low-key affair.

Meanwhile, in an unprecedented move, the programme, organised by the CTA to celebrate March 17 as the day the Dalai Lama fled into exile from China, was cancelled abruptly. Many mediapersons came to know about the cancellation of the event after they reached the venue this morning.

Official sources said the event was cancelled as the Dalai Lama had to leave for Jammu to preside over a function in Central University. However, sources here said the Dalai Lama might be unhappy due to political developments in the CTA with one group protesting against the other.

Supporters of former speaker of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile Penpa Tsering held a protest, seeking the removal of Prime Minister of Tibetan government-in-exile. Both Tsering and Sangay have been at loggerheads since they contested the last election of PM against each other. Dalai Lama had even warned both leaders against resorting to politics.

Protest against Sangay

The event to celebrate the day the Dalai Lama left Tibet was cancelled as the Dalai Lama had to leave for Jammu to preside over a function in Central University. However, it is said the Dalai Lama may be unhappy due to political developments in the CTA. Meanwhile, supporters of former speaker of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile Penpa Tsering held a protest, seeking the removal of Prime Minister of Tibetan government-in-exile.editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Shimla, March 17

The modern integrated township at Jathia Devi near Shimla, which is being set up with the help of the Singapore Government, is an important project of the Himachal Urban Development Authority (HIMUDA) and the state government will extend its full support to the project. This was stated by Housing and Urban Development Minister Sarveen Chaudhary today.

At a meeting with delegates of Singapore Cooperative Enterprises (SCE), the minister said the state government was keen on facilitating such overseas investments.

She said the state government was endeavouring that a world-class modern township be developed near the Shimla airport in a time-bound manner.

Chief Executive, Officer-cum-Secretary, HIMUDA, Umesh Kashyap said the objective of the authority was to develop housing colonies at various places under different schemes.

The operative part of the MoU had already been discussed as HIMUDA would make earnest efforts to ensure that the project was completed on time, he said.

Both HIMUDA and SCE would make the project a success. Director, SCE, Evan Cheah and Dr Naseem from Mienhardt Company gave a detailed overview of the enterprises.editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, March 17

The police have arrested five persons who conspired to kill of a cop guarding Kashmirs most revered Sufi shrine in central Kashmirs Budgam district last month.

The police, however, said the mastermind of the case, Shahid Ahmad, who has joined the Jaish-e-Mohammed after the incident, was still at large.

On February 25, Selection Grade Constable Kultar Singh was fired upon by unidentified gunmen from a close range when he was deployed as a guard outside the shrine of Sheikh Nooruddin Noorani at Chrar-e-Sharief, Budgam, some 35 km from Srinagar. Later, he succumbed to his injuries. The militants also snatched his rifle and fled from the spot.

The police later registered a case at the Chrar-e-Sharif police station and started investigation. During the probe, the police seized the vehicle used by militants for commissioning the offence.

The investigation so far has revealed that one Umar Farooq, a resident of Pulwama, along with five other accomplices  Shahid Ahmad, Shahid Khurshid, Imran Feroz, all residents of Pulwama, and Mudasir Ahmad Wani and Towheed Rather, both residents of Pampore, hatched a criminal conspiracy to snatch the weapon from the policeman deployed at the shrine. They recceed the area and consequently executed the act, a police spokesman said.

All accused persons except Shahid Ahmad have been arrested in the case, he said.editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Jammu, March 17

Tibetan spiritual leader and Noble Laureate the Dalai Lama today said Jammu and Kashmir was a complicated state but its people were historically linked to each other.

In his message to the people of the state, the Tibetan leader said anger always brought disaster and prevented us from using our intelligence effectively.

The Dalai Lama was talking to the reporters after his arrival in the winter capital here to attend the maiden convocation of the Central University of Jammu (CUJ) to be held at the Zorawar Singh Auditorium Complex tomorrow.

Mentally, physically and emotionally, human beings are same everywhere. Everyone wants happiness, joyfulness and the foundation to this happiness is peace of mind. We should always keep peace of mind and should not let anger overtake us. Anger always brings disaster and prevents us from using our intelligence effectively, he told reporters here.

The Dalai Lama said, I want to express special greetings and prayers to the people of the state. Obviously, J&K is a complicated state but the people here, historically, have very close links.

Earlier, Minister for Cooperatives and Ladakh Affairs Chering Dorjay, who belongs to Ladakh region, along with Adviser to the Chief Minister, Prof Amitabh Mattoo, on behalf of the Chief Minister, gave a warm reception to the Tibetan spiritual leader.

The Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof Ashok Aima, Jammu Divisional Commissioner Hemant Kumar Sharma, Deputy Commissioner K Rajeev Ranjan besides students from Ladakh and members of civil society were present on the occasion to accord welcome to the Dalai Lama and seek his blessings.editorial@tribune.com

Dinesh Manhotra

Tribune News Service

Jammu, March 17

After receiving disturbing response about the functioning of party ministers in the coalition, BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav this morning held a series of meetings with representatives of some offshoots of the sangh parivar to get their feedback.

Apart from that, many BJP legislators individually met Madhav to clear some mis-conceptions created due to the one-sided feedback received by the party high command about the controversial decisions taken by the coalition partner PDP.

Highly-placed sources said on the second day of his visit to Jammu, Ram Madhav met some leaders of the sangh parivar to discuss the prevailing situation in the state in general and Jammu province in particular. Before leaving for Delhi, Madhav held discussions with the sangh leadership to know their opinion about contentious issues like the Hiranagar murder, the alleged attempt of the PDP leadership to change demography of Jammu region and the brewing unrest among residents of Nowshera, Kalakote and Sunderbani, a source said, adding, Before winding up his visit, Madhav again met Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh and state president Sat Sharma.

A BJP legislator, who wished not to be quoted, told The Tribune that Madhavs two-day visit was a futile exercise as he came with the mindset to stifle dissenting voices. In the beginning of his meeting with party legislators, Madhav gave a judgmental statement by giving a clean chit to the PDP on all controversial decisions. So, the meeting was just a cosmetic exercise, he said.

Sources said BJP legislators individually met Ram Madhav late Friday evening to present the real picture before him. Some legislators tried to inform Madhav that the feedback he had received from the PDP leadership was one-sided so he had to listen to his own party legislators before arriving at any conclusion on contentious issues, the sources added.

Another party legislator said on the condition of anonymity that the central leadership in Delhi was not aware of the ground situation in Jammu where peoples anger was brewing against the party.editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, March 17

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today said though the present geopolitical situation was not conducive for the opening of the traditional trade routes to Central Asia through J&K, throwing them open would play a big role in the resolution of the Kashmir issue.

Mehbooba said the opening of the Silk Road connecting the region with the world was important as Jammu and Kashmir had been known as the gateway to Central Asia. She said the geostrategic conditions of the region had always been important for developing close connections between this region and Central Asia. The connections, she said, influenced the culture, cuisine, social and economic aspects in the state.

Mehbooba was talking to the media after inaugurating a three-day 7th International Buyer-Seller Meet, organised by the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre here today.

She stressed the importance of opening all such routes to the outside world, pointing out that such a meet was a new beginning. She also referred to the opening of the cross-LoC Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road that was once considered impossible.

Earlier, inaugurating the meet, Mehbooba hoped that J&K would open up to the world as an international trading destination through land routes, realising its geopolitical situation as part of a peaceful region.

She said two dry ports were being set up in Jammu and Srinagar to get the goods from the state to the international market in a hassle-free manner. She said with such an easy mode of transportation, the agricultural and horticultural produce from the state would get a quality international market.

Describing the meet as a milestone in the promotion of the crafts of the state, Mehbooba said she was confident that such events would build trust between the business communities of the state and outside and also mark the beginning of the establishment of J&K as a major international trading centre.rajivbhatia82@gmail.com

Johnson Thomas

Daniel Bruhl and Rosamund Pike play German radicals Wilfried Bose and Brigitte Kuhlmann in Jose Padilha's thriller about the 1976 Israeli rescue of hostages from a hijacked Air France flight, diverted to Entebbe, Uganda. But their star presence fails to drum up enough affect for this largely unremarkable thriller, which gets a little too wayward in its politics.

Their performances are largely caricature and the direction is hopelessly muddled. Probably, the driving purpose of re-dramatising this story is that new information about its climactic raid was declassified recently, but its quite unclear from the film what that new information might be or whether it was justification enough for making this reboot.

The narrative juxtaposes a fringe performer, an Israeli special Ops officer and his personal equation with his partner through a series of dance rehearsals contrasted against the preparatory political and strategic maneuvers for the surreptitious strike on Entebbe.

The celebrated dance piece by Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin performed by Batsheva Dance company members opens as the strike is on and ends as expected in a rousing ovation to freedom from captivity. The subject matter has been done before in several better films across the past decades so there wasnt much point in this revisit other than as an information point for the new generation.

The main problematic aspect of the film though is its effort to focus on the two radical terrorists point of view, which it does with a confused, almost muddled ideological interpretation. The lethargic tempo caused by the largely hackneyed cross-cutting between the dance performance and strategic action scenes, addled with a lame altogether unromantic and indistinctive subplot makes matters worse. Its also quite confusing when the focus is entirely on the two German radicals instead of the Palestinian revolutionaries heading the operation. We never get to know them or allowed to become sympathetic/empathetic to their cause. As a result we never get to experience the historic poignancy of this event full on. This film is largely a lost cause.pardeepdhull@gmail.com

Islamabad, March 17

Pakistan has decided to stay away from the World Trade Organisation meet in New Delhi next week in protest against alleged harassment of its diplomats in India.

India last month invited Pakistan Commerce Minister Pervez Malik to participate in the informal WTO ministerial meeting scheduled to be held in New Delhi on March 19-20 and Islamabad had initially accepted the invitation.

Sources in the Foreign Ministry here said the situation has changed after repeated harassment of families of diplomats and it was decided to skip the invitation.

We cannot send our commerce minister to India in the current situation and India has been informed about it, according to a source.

He said India should also stop the alleged violations of the ceasefire on the Line of Control that led to death of civilians and also stop atrocities in Kashmir.

Trade ministers of over 50 nations, including the US, China and Pakistan, were invited by India to discuss issues related to agriculture and services.

The decision to stay away from WTO meeting in India coincided with the recalling of Pakistans High Commissioner to India Sohail Mehmood.

Mahmood arrived here last evening for consultations after Pakistan alleged repeated harassment of its diplomats in New Delhi.

Meanwhile, Pakistan is weighing options to deal with the situation in the wake of calling back of its High Commissioner Sohail Mahmood from New Delhi due to alleged harassment of diplomats in India.

Mahmood arrived here a day after the Foreign Office spokesman said that he was being summoned for consultation due to non-stop harassment of families of the diplomats.

Official sources in the foreign ministry said Mahmood will brief top officials about the situation.

A decision to how address the situation will be made after the consultations, sources said.

They said that options were on the table including declaring New Delhi as a non-family station and not sending back Mahmood for an indefinite period.

Officials rejected allegations that Indian diplomatic staff were also facing hurdles and harassment in Pakistan.

Our high commissioner will not return to India anytime soon, the Express Tribune quoted a senior foreign office official as saying.

It reported that initially it was thought he would return to New Delhi after consultations with authorities.

However, the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that the High Commissioner would stay back for an indefinite period or until Indian agencies stop intimidating the staff and families of their diplomatic mission in New Delhi.

In other words, Pakistan recalled its envoy to New Delhi as a protest till the situation improves, it reported.

The official justified the move, insisting that under current circumstances it was not possible for the high commissioner to operate out of New Delhi.

Children have never been harassed even when two countries have had the worst of relationship, he said.

When asked whether Pakistan was contemplating withdrawing the families of its diplomatic staff, the official said it might have to if the current slide in the relationship was not arrested. PTIamansharma@tribunemail.com

Shiv Kumar

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, March 17

The anti-terror squad of the Maharashtra police on Saturday claimed to have busted a cell of an extremist organisation based in Bangladesh following the arrest of three nationals from the neighbouring country.

According to the police, the three who have been living illegally in Maharashtra for a while belonged to the Ansarullah Bangla Team or Ansar Bangla (ABT) which have been carrying out attacks on secular bloggers in that country.

Acting on a tip-off, the first suspect was picked up on Friday and his interrogation led to the arrest of two more of his accomplices, police said.

All the three were involved in providing Aadhaar and PAN cards for Bangladeshi nationals. Two of them were from Khulna while the third was from Shariatpur district of Bangladesh, a police official said.

All the three were arrested from areas in and around Pune. They were in the age groups of 25 and 31.

The police havent released their names so far.rchopra@tribunemail.com

Nagapattinam (Tamil Nadu), March 17

Three pilgrims from Kerala were killed and four others injured when the car they were travelling in collided with a van near here on Saturday, police said.

The incident occurred when five members of a family from Palakkad in the neighbouring state were proceeding to Velankanni in the district, in their car in the morning, they said.

When the car approached Velankanni, the driver suddenly noticed a bullock cart in front and swerved to avoid hitting it but collided with a van that came from the opposite direction.

In the impact, three occupants of the car were killed on the spot while two others sustained injuries and were admitted to Nagapattinam government hospital, police said.

The driver of the other vehicle also suffered injuries and has been admitted to the hospital.

A case had been registered and investigation is on, they said. PTIeditorial@tribune.com

Vishav Bharti

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 17

Livid at national convener Arvind Kejriwals apology to former Akali minister Bikram Singh Majithia, a section of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs in Punjab, including Leader of the Opposition Sukhpal Singh Khaira, Kanwar Sandhu and HS Phoolka, has decided to stay away from a meeting called by Punjab affairs incharge Manish Sisodia in Delhi on Sunday. They are considering forming a regional party, if need be.

One of the MLAs, who did not want to be named, said 14 MLAs, led by Khaira and Sandhu, were of the view that the only option before them was to quit AAP and form a political outfit to safeguard Punjabs interests.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

Sources said while Talwandi Sabo MLA Baljinder Kaur, Kotkapura MLA Kultar Singh Sandhwan and Sunam MLA Aman Arora had rejected the idea of a new party, Sarabjit Kaur Manuke, Jagraon MLA, and Amarjeet Singh Sandoa, who represents Ropar, had sought more time to decide. Dirba MLA Harpal Singh Cheema did not attend the MLAs meeting.

A senior leader said for recognition as a separate group in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, they wanted the support of at least 17 MLAs. It is a big step. We want at least 17 MLAs on our side.

Sandhu, the party MLA from Kharar, in a statement, claimed they had in December last year asked the leadership to allow autonomy to state units. The proposal on autonomy, if implemented in toto, can avert a split in the party. Khaira too is on board on this.

It should be full autonomy, which means the state unit should have its own constitution, membership, structure, funding and manifesto. We will have our own president and working committee, he said.

Phoolka, Dakha MLA, urged party legislators to seek autonomy for the state unit rather than setting up a separate outfit. This, he said, would serve the states interests best. In Punjab matters, total independence and on national issues, go by national leadership, he tweeted.

Meanwhile, Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh has described Arvind Kejriwals apology to Bikram Singh Majithia as an antic that not only reflects AAP national conveners political inexperience, but also appears to be a desperate attempt to reduce the burden of defamation cases against him before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. At a function in Delhi, he said: This is no way for a CM to behave, irrespective of his lack of experience.editorial@tribune.com

New Delhi, March 17

Attacking the BJP for causing agrarian distress in the country, the Congress today promised a farm loan waiver on the lines of the one granted during UPA-1 if voted back to power in 2019 General Election.

The resolution on agriculture, jobs and poverty alleviation, moved by Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh at the Congress Plenary today, also made a range of promises to farmers and youth to improve the job situation sectors and remove distress.

The resolution on farming, which saw Kaithan MLA and Congress media head speak passionately later, said: The Congress will bring a loan waiver scheme for small and marginal farmers on the pattern of the programme of the UPA government in 2009, benefiting 3.2 crore farmers. The party will provide interest-free loans to cover input costs to tenant farmers, share croppers and farmers owning and cultivating up to two hectares of land as done by Congress governments in Haryana and Rajasthan.

The party also promised to expand the MSP regime to include other crops and forest produce of tribal community besides saying that it would review the crop insurance scheme to benefit the farmers rather than private insurance firms.

Capt Amarinder said several farmers had to commit suicide due to faulty policies of the BJP government. He referred to the successful implementation of the farm loan waiver in Punjab, saying it was benefitting nearly 10 lakh farmers. The resolution on agriculture was more of an election manifesto with the Congress saying what it would do to solve the current problems.

On the job front, the Congress resolution took note of the BJP governments inability to deliver two crore jobs a year, as promised in the 2014 poll and said it would take steps for job expansion by boosting consumption and putting exports back on the agenda.  TNSeditorial@tribune.com

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 17

The Congress today endorsed pre-poll electoral alliances with like-minded parties to defeat the BJP and the RSS in the 2019 General Election. A resolution, adopted unanimously by a voice vote at the 84th Congress plenary here today, stated that the party would adopt a pragmatic approach for cooperation with all like-minded parties and evolve a common workable programme to defeat the BJP-RSS in the 2019 elections.

At its Panchmarhi session in 1998, the Congress had decided to go it alone. Revising its stand at the 2003 Shimla session, it had opted for poll alliances to keep communal forces at bay.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

In her address today, former AICC chief Sonia Gandhi described the results of the Shimla line as spectacular. Post Shimla, we achieved in 2004 what many thought was impossible, she said.

The resolution also mentioned going back to the ballot paper on account of apprehensions on the integrity of EVMs. It described PM Narendra Modis one nation, one election idea a constitutional impracticality and sought a national consensus on the issue. The resolution was moved by Congress Lok Sabha leader Mallikarjun Kharge and seconded by MP Rajiv Satav.

Terming the anti-defection law insufficient to curb the menace, the party called for legislative measures to disincentivise defections, suggesting that those defecting should be barred from contesting for six years. In the recent state elections, the Congress saw the BJP walking away with many of its leaders, turning the tide in its favour.

The resolution attacked the BJP-RSS for a toxic mix of religion and politics, which, it said, was dividing India. The Congress sought to debunk its soft Hindutva stand by invoking Mahatma Gandhi and underlining its own pluralistic heritage of sarva dharma sambhav.

The resolution condemned the BJP for the attacks on Dalits, minorities and tribesmen and called for immediate passing of the Womens Reservation Bill ,while recalling the partys contribution to women empowerment in politics.

Significantly, the Congress resolution credited former PM PV Narasimha Rao for the 1991 economic reforms, saying he had steered the country out of engulfing crisis. Equally, it condemned the BJP for attempted denigration of the contributions of former PMs Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, besides bracketing communalism with terrorism. It slammed the BJP governments internal security record (reference to Kashmir) and also the external security record.

Moving the resolution, Kharge urged the Congress to come together against the BJP, noting: Only the Congress can defeat the Congress, obviously hinting at party factionalism.

The Priyanka toucheditorial@tribune.com

Shahira Naim

Tribune News Service

Lucknow, March 17

Transferring 37 IAS officers and initiating several pro-farmer measures at the first Cabinet meeting after the defeat in the bypolls, CM Yogi Adityanath is in a damage-control mode. Huddled with senior officers and ministers for a feedback on the reasons for the shock defeat, he has been trying to take corrective action prior to his meeting with PM Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah in New Delhi on Saturday.

In a decision taken late last night, 37 IAS officers, including controversial Gorakhpur District Magistrate (DM) Rajeev Rautela, were shifted. Rautela, who had barred mediapersons and SP observers from the counting station on March 14, was promoted as Divisional Commissioner, Devipatan Division. In all, 17 DMs and five Divisional Commissioners were transferred.

To put the focus back on farmers, CM Yogi approved a number of proposals, including a wheat procurement policy for 2018-19. Is many as 5,500 centres would be set up to procure 40 lakh tonnes of wheat through nine agencies between April 1 and June 15 this year.

The Cabinet approved five hectares of land for setting up International Rice Research Institute South Asia Regional Centre at Varanasi and set in motion the process for recruiting 10,768 assistant teachers online.amansharma@tribunemail.com

Smita Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 17

India Pakistan are upping the ante again with reports suggesting that Pakistani High Commissioner Sohail Mehmood will not be in a hurry to be back in New Delhi any time soon.

Mehmood was called back to Islamabad by the Foreign Ministry for consultations this week with both sides levelling allegations of harassment of its diplomats posted in respective missions.

Pakistani media today reported sources in the Foreign Ministry to say their high commissioner will not return to India anytime soon, pending resolution of the diplomats issues.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar in response to queries had called Mehmood's travel back home as a routine affair.

Meanwhile, today India sent the 12th Note Verbale to the Pak Foreign Ministry to protest harassment and intimidation of Indian diplomats. The latest protest note cites reported incidents on March 15 and 17 of Indian officials and their families in Islamabad being chased by unknown men on motorbikes who hurled abuses at the diplomats.

Pakistan mission in Delhi had earlier circulated several videos as evidence that their diplomatic staff and their families, including children, have been allegedly intimidated and bullied by Indian security agencies from March 7 onwards.

The two neighbours had recalled their respective high commissioners in the wake of the 2001 attacks on the Indian Parliament. However, Pakistan officials have not responded to questions if this is a recall.

Meanwhile, tensions spilled over to issue of pilgrims as well. Nearly 500 Pakistani pilgrims who were to travel on March 18 to attend the annual Urs of Sufi saint Hazrat Khawaja Moinuddin Chisti in Ajmer Sharif are yet to be issued visas.

A senior MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) official confirmed to The Tribune that the issue is stuck, as Pakistan is not giving access to its database for verification of visa applications.The annual Urs is scheduled from March 19 to 29. Earlier in January this year, 192 Pakistani pilgrims could not attend the annual Urs of Khawaja Nizamuddin Aulia after they were denied visas.rchopra@tribunemail.com

Washington, March 17

Trade is one aspect of India-US relationship that has the most friction, a senior White House official has said even as he underlined that the Trump Administration is looking for a free, fair and reciprocal trade with India.

The comment from the White House came after President Donald Trump publicly raised the issue of high import duty levied by India on high-end motorcycles at least three times in a month and threatened a reciprocal duty on Indian exports to the US.

The commitment to the relationship is very strong on both sides. If you had to point to a part of the relationship where you have the most friction, it certainly would be the trade side, a senior administration official said.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to give clarity on the various aspects of the US ties in South Asia, including India.

Insisting that the Trump Administration had been clear for a free, fair and reciprocal trade, the official said there had been concerns raised about the trade deficit with India.

But he quickly pointed that this trade deficit had actually come down slightly more recently, based largely on Indias imports of US energy.

This administration is looking for a free, fair and reciprocal trade with India. And so is seeking to see some of those tariffs such as on a Harley Davidson motorcycles that are there. The US is determined to find the opportunities to increase trade investment with India and does expect that there will be some sort of reciprocal dealings on the trade issues, the official said.

The senior administration official noted that Indian motorcycles that are imported into the US didnt have any tariffs on them.

And so the President has been clear that hes looking for a fairly reciprocal trade with India, the official said.

Responding to a series of question, the official said the Trump Administration had been on constant talks with India on trade issues.

Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale, who was in Washington DC this week, met the US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

At the same time, the official indicated that trade issues is unlikely to be part of the soon-to-be-held two-plus-two dialogue between the two countries involving their respective foreign and defence ministers.

In the absence of the Secretary of State, the two-plus-two dialogue has now been delayed and is likely to be held later this year after Mike Pompeo is confirmed by the Senate.

I think its an ongoing discussion that were having on the trade issues. The two-plus-two is focused a great deal on a defence security cooperation, diplomatic political cooperation just by virtue of the Defence Minister and Defence Secretary and the External Affairs Minister and Secretary of State. The trade issues are more of an ongoing dialogue that were having with India, the official said. PTIeditorial@tribune.com

Keki Daruwalla

HOW mercurial is politics! Somehow Narendra Modis march in the North-East just a few days back reminded me of the battle of Austerlitz, where Napoleon won a thumping victory against the Allies and defeated the Russian emperor as also the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. The Prime Minister of England, William Pitt the Younger, stated after receiving the news, Roll up the map of Europe, it wont be wanted these ten years. (Pitt was prescient, for Napoleon fell in 1815, nine years later.)

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

So I thought that political opponents of Amit Shah and the BJP may also have started thinking of rolling up the electoral map of India. And the liberal lobby could decide to keep quiet, stitch their mouths, and much as the analogy may rile them, wear a contraption on their mouths, resembling the chastity belts, which the wives of crusaders had to wear, as legend goes.

But nothing is ever stable, as poet Lucretius stated some 2,000 years ago:

No single thing abides, but all things flow,

Fragment to fragment clings, the things thus grow

Till we know and name them, by degrees they melt

And are no more the things we know.

After Austerlitz there were peace treaties. Can one envisage them here? Didnt we all see Lenins statue roll in the dust? True enough that the Communist bastion in Tripura has been broken after 24 years. But why do people have to behave like the South African fast bowler Rabada, who shoved Australian captain Smith after getting his wicket? There have been thousands of electoral victories and defeats in the country. But celebrations were never destructive.

The Prime Minister called it a victory of ideas, and ideologies. But on the ground there was mayhem, and workers of the Communist parties were beaten up. Is this what we are teaching our youth? Let us not forget what Tripura Governor said: What a democratically elected government can do, the successor can undo. Isnt all this bizarre, doesnt it speak of hubris?

The comeuppance was not too far in coming. In Gorakhpur, where the Math had ruled the hustings for close to three decades, the bastion fell. It is also good to see that the winners in Phulpur and Gorakhpur have not made any tall claims. The BSP-SP alliance is in its infancy, with at least one leader fairly hot-headed and unpredictable. The leaders and their young supporters have a long way to go. They will have to negotiate many caste tensions, their personal ambitions as also a history of bitter fighting. But it must be said that in asking Mayawatis help, Akhilesh did what his father Mulayam Singh may have been unable to do.

If only the Samajwadi Party under Mulayam had not been soft on hooliganism, and if only Mayawati had not wasted hundreds of crores on building those elephants. Both would have been better placed politically today. Both had gone off the track and Yadav domination was disliked by other Backward Classes. It was too obstreperous.

Hubris was also noticeable in UP CM Adityanath Yogis scornful assertion that police encounters in Uttar Pradesh would continue. An encounter means a mans life. And there can be nothing more despicable than a fake encounter. One would have expected senior officers of the UP Police, the Director Generals and Additional DGs to put up a stand and remonstrate with political bosses. But all over the country the police have started thinking that their duty is to become the handmaiden of the political party in power. The police need to pay more attention to human rights and the dignity of the citizen, no matter how poor the person is. UP saw 15 encounters in 48 hours. At least 40 persons have been killed in encounters after one year of Yogis rule. The sooner Yogi realises that the answer to the lawlessness of the Mulayam regime does not lie in police encounters, the better for the state, and for the people. It would do both the party and its mascot to abjure aggression.

It is good that the Gorakhpur Math has been given a beating. The Church and State should remain apart. The European divide between Caesar and Christ should also operate in India and Pakistan. Incidentally, where is the Congress? An Independent behind bars secured more votes than the Congress. Is the national party rolling over? Will they even win Rae Bareli? There are no signs of movement, no political urgency being shown by party workers in UP or Madhya Pradesh, even Bihar.

A word on Meghalaya. Helped by gubernatorial muscle power, the NDA has taken charge there, and as in Goa, the BJP Governor has denied a chance to the party winning most seats to form a government. Conventions have been cast aside. A little respect for conventions would do the polity a deal of good. And too many politician governors are shooting from the hip.rchopra@tribunemail.com

New Delhi, March 17

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday said the state Assembly elections would see a secularism versus communalism contest and the Congress would emerge victorious.

He said the poll results would work as a stepping stone for the 2019 general elections.

The chief minister was speaking at the Congresss plenary session here ahead of the Karnataka polls, the dates for which are yet to be announced.

No one can stop Rahul Gandhi (Congress president) from becoming the countrys prime minister after the next general polls, Siddaramaiah said.

It is going to be a secularism versus communalism contest (in Karnataka). The Congress is confident that under Rahuljis leadership, we will come back to power with a thumping majority in Karnataka.

It will be a big boost and work as a stepping stone for the coming Parliamentary elections, he said.

The greater part of Siddaramaiahs speech was on the welfare programmes undertaken in Karnataka.

Campaign for the upcoming Karnataka election is already under way with national leaders of the Congress and BJP canvassing in the state.

The HD Deve Gowda-led JD (S) is the other major party contesting the elections. PTIeditorial@tribune.com

RANCHI: RJD chief and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad was admitted to a hospital here on Saturday for treatment after he complained of chest pain. He was admitted to the cardiology department of Rajendra Institute of Medical Science. His condition is said to be stable. Meanwhile, a special CBI court has deferred till March 19 the judgment in the fourth fodder scam case against Lalu pertaining to alleged withdrawal of Rs 3.13 crore from the Dumka treasury over two decades ago. Agencies

3 Bangladeshis held for terror links

Mumbai: The anti-terror squad of the Maharashtra Police on Saturday claimed to have busted a cell of an extremist organisation based in Bangladesh following the arrest of three nationals from the neighbouring country. The police said the three who had been living illegally in Maharashtra for a while belonged to the Ansarullah Bangla Team, which had been carrying out attacks on secular bloggers in that country. They were involved in providing Aadhaar and PAN cards for Bangladeshis. TNS

HAL has order book of Rs 68,500 crore

New Delhi: Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the Ministry of Defence-owned public sector undertaking, has an order book of Rs 68,500 crore with 93 per cent orders being from defence services. Impending fresh acquisitions will raise HALs order book significantly. The supply of helicopters (twin-engine Dhruv) and aircraft (Dornier) for the ambitious UDAN scheme will add to the numbers. HAL will be a major participant at the Defexpo-2018 scheduled in Chennai from April 11-14. TNS

Can cross border to save Kashmir: HM

New Delhi: Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said security forces can cross over the Line of Control, if needed, to protect countrys territorial integrity. We not only secure India internally but can also cross border, if needed, to protect the country, he said. PTI

Jackfruit to be Keralas state fruit

Thiruvananthapuram: After the state animal, bird, flower and fish, Kerala is all set to get its official fruit now  jackfruit, the largest tree-borne fruit known for its distinctive taste and aroma. The state government will make an official declaration on March 21, based on a proposal by the Agriculture Department. The government also plans to promote Kerala Jackfruit as a brand in markets across the country and abroad, highlighting its organic and nutritious qualities. PTI

Gender-neutral toilet on students request

New Delhi: A Noida-based private institute, Indian School of Development Management, has set up a gender-neutral toilet after its sole transgender student, Koushik Hore of West Bengal, highlighted the problem of choosing between mens and womens bathroom. Officials said this was probably the first time an educational institute in India had taken such an initiative. PTIamansharma@tribunemail.com

Mumbai, March 17

Farmers in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra on Saturday claimed that fugitive jeweller Nirav Modi, prime accused in the alleged Rs 11,400 crore Punjab National Bank fraud, had acquired their lands at less than prevailing rates.

A group of over 200 farmers, who arrived in bullock carts at the tract of land at Khandala in Karjat tehsil, ploughed a part of it using a tractor as a symbolic reclaiming of possession.

They will start cultivation on the full 125 acres of the acquired land soon, farmers said.

Today's protest was meant to show that farmers have reclaimed their land, which was acquired on behalf of Nirav Modi's Firestar company some years ago, they said.

The land is among the properties attached by the Enforcement Directorate as a part of its probe against Modi who has fled the country, said a farmer activist.

Protesting farmers also carried the tricolour and portraits of King Shivaji and Dr B R Ambedkar. They carried the banner of 'Kaali Aai Mukti Sangram', a local farmers' organisation.

"The land was acquired from farmers at around Rs 15,000 per acre, whereas the government rate for land compensation in the area is around Rs 20 lakh per acre now," lawyer and activist Karbhari Gawli, who was part of today's protest, told PTI over phone from Ahmednagar.

A police official from the Karjat police station said no "untoward incident" was reported from Khandala village today. - PTIeditorial@tribune.com

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 17

The countrys oldest airbase, Ambala, witnessed another landmark in the history of military aviation when the Air Forces first woman combat pilot, Flying Officer Bhawana Kanth, flew her maiden solo sortie in a fighter aircraft from the base on Friday.

Bhawana took off in a MiG-21 Bison belonging to the IAFs No.3 Squadron, the Cobras, from Ambala, where she has been posted, at 2 pm and the sortie lasted about half an hour.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

She became the second woman combat pilot to fly a fighter solo. Flying Officer Avani Chauturvedi, posted with No. 23 Squadron, the Panthers, became the first to fly solo in a fighter from the Jamnagar airbase on February 22.

An engineer, Bhawana is among the three pioneering women combat pilots in the IAF, the third being Flying Officer Mohana Singh. They were commissioned into the IAF in June, 2016, by the then Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar, at the Air Force Academy in Dundigal near Hyderabad. They underwent training on the Hawk advanced trainer jets for about a year before moving on to fly the supersonic fighters.

The Bisons are the last remaining variants of the venerable MiG-21 fighter that entered the IAF service in the early 1960s.monicakchauhan@gmail.com

Shimla, March 17

In a major relief to veteran Bollywood actor Jeetendra, who is accused of sexually harassing his cousin, the Himachal Pradesh High Court on Saturday stayed the state police investigation into the case.

Hearing the actor's petition, Justice Ajay Mohan Goel passed this order after an initial hearing.

Jeetendra sought quashing of the first information report (FIR) registered by the police on February 15.

Jeetendra was accused of sexually harassing his cousin, who came forward last month to file a police complaint 47 years after the alleged incident.

Jeetendra has dubbed the charges as "baseless", and a "miserable effort by a jealous competitor to disrupt his business activities".

Jeetendra, whose real name is Ravi Kapoor, is the son of the victim's father's sister.

The victim made the allegation in a police complaint filed with the state's Director General of Police.

Rubbishing the charges, Jeetendra's counsel Rizwan Siddiquee in a statement earlier said, "Foremost my client (Jeetendra) specifically and categorically denies any such incident." He claimed that such "baseless, ridiculous and fabricated claims" cannot be entertained by any court of law or the law enforcement agencies after a span of almost 50 years.

"Such efforts are, therefore, in all fairness treated with the contempt it truly deserves," Siddique said.

As per the complaint, the incident took place in January 1971, when the victim was 18 and Jeetendra was 28. It happened when he "arranged" for the victim to join him from New Delhi in Shimla on the set of his movie without the complainant's "awareness".

The victim has claimed that on the night they reached Shimla, Jeetendra returned to the room in an inebriated state, joined the two separate beds and sexually assaulted her.

Jeetendra, now 75, is a well-known name in the Hindi film industry. He is also a film producer, and has daughter Ekta and son Tusshar with wife Shobhaa.

IANSeditorial@tribune.com

Smita Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 17

India and Pakistan are upping the ante again with reports suggesting that Pakistani High Commissioner Sohail Mehmood would not be in a hurry to be back in New Delhi anytime soon.

Mehmood was called back to Islamabad by the Foreign Ministry for consultations this week with both sides levelling allegations of harassment of its diplomats posted in respective missions.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

Pakistani media today reported sources in the Foreign Ministry to say their high commissioner will not return to India anytime soon, pending resolution of the diplomats issues.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar had, in response to queries, called Mehmoods travel back home as a routine affair. India today sent the 12th Note Verbale to the Pakistan Foreign Ministry to protest harassment and intimidation of Indian diplomats. Pakistan mission in Delhi circulated several videos as evidence that their diplomatic staff and their families, including children, had been intimidated and harassed by security agencies from March 7 onwards.

However, Pakistan officials have not responded to questions whether this was a recall. The two neighbours had last recalled their respective High Commissioners in the wake of the 2001 attacks on Indian Parliament.

Tension spills over to Pilgrimage

500 Pak pilgrims, who were to travel on Sunday to attend annual Urs of Sufi saint Hazrat Khawaja Moinuddin Chisti in Ajmer Sharif from March 19-29, are yet to be issued visas

A senior Home Ministry official said the issue was stuck as Pak wasnt giving access to its database to verify visa applications

In January, 192 Pakistani pilgrims could not attend the annual Urs of Khawaja Nizamuddin Aulia after they were denied visas

Pak to skip WTO meet in New Delhipardeepdhull@gmail.com

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 16

Maintaining that securing Indias borders was essentially an executive function, the NDA Government on Friday told the Supreme Court not to direct it to allow foreigners to enter the country illegally.

Securing the borders of any sovereign nation, in accordance with law, is an essentially executive function and this court should not issue a writ directing not only the central government but all state governments having a common border to ensure that foreigners enter the territory of India, the Ministry of Home Affairs said in its latest affidavit on the Rohingya issue.

The affidavit has been filed in response to two Rohingya refugees plea that the Border Security Force be stopped from allegedly using chilli and stun grenades to stop refugees from entering India.

Terming the allegations as false, incorrect and far from truth, the MHA said India had been facing serious problem of infiltration because of its porous borders which was the root cause of spread of terrorism.

It said, All agencies tasked with the function of guarding the borders of our nations are discharging their duties strictly in accordance with law and complying with the human rights in larger national interests.

The Rohingya petitioners wanted permission to enter India, besides education and health care facilities and grant of refugee ID cards by the Foreigner Regional Registration Office. They also demanded to be treated like Sri Lankan Tamil refugees here.

But the Centre opposed it, saying the comparison was ill-founded and misconceived. Certain relief facilities to the Sri Lankan Tamil refugees had its genesis in the Indo-Ceylon agreement of 1964, it said.

Asserting that it was taking diplomatic measures to resolve Rohingya immigrants crisis, the Centre had in January told the top court that there was no need for it to interfere in the matter.

We do not want India to become the refugee capital of the world. People from other countries will flood our country, Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had told a three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Mehta.

Alleging that Rohingyas had connections with ISI and ISIS, the Centre had described them as a security threat to the country. There were organized gangs involved in bringing them to India and helping them settle in various parts of the country, particularly Jammu, it had said.

Maintaining that there was a need to strike a balance between national interest and humanitarian concern, the top court has so far refrained from passing any orders on Rohingya immigrants plea against their deportation after the Centre in October 2017 cautioned it about international ramifications of such an order.uttara@tribuneindia.com

Shiv Kumar

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, March 17

The Shiv Sena appears to be divided over voting in the no-confidence motion in parliament to be moved by the opposition parties.



At a meeting of party leaders in Mumbai on Friday evening, several office-bearers of the Shiv Sena asked party chief Uddhav Thackeray to emulate Telugu Desam Party and quit the National Democratic Alliance ahead of the no-confidence motion.

Thackeray was urged to pull out Anant Geete, the Shiv Senas lone union minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government. The Sena chief had sought suggestions from the partys senior leaders on the course of action to be taken during the trust vote.



However, some ministers in the Devendra Fadnavis government and several MLAs were of the opinion that the Shiv Sena should not risk bringing down the state government and thus abstain from voting, sources said.



The Shiv Sena leadership was told that many of the partys MLAs needed to have the party in power in the state to get projects in their constituencies to be completed.



At the end of the meeting party leaders left the call on voting during the no-trust vote to Thackeray.



Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis who has been tasked by the party leadership to keep Thackeray in good humour told reporters that the Shiv Sena would not support the no-trust vote.

I am confident that all parties which believe in nationalism and Hindutva will stick together, Fadnavis told reporters.editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 17

The district court here today sentenced Jagtar Singh Tara to life imprisonment till natural death for assassinating former Chief Minister Beant Singh in 1995. He has also been directed to pay Rs 25,000 as fine.

Amid tight security and presence of Taras family members and supporters, the sentenced was pronounced inside the Model Jail in Burail, where a special court was set up.

While Tara expressed satisfaction at the sentence, he told the court that he did not regret killing the former Chief Minister, but he did regret that 16 innocent people were also killed in the bomb blast outside the Chandigarh secretariat on October 31, 1995.

Central Bureau of Investigation counsel SK Saxena said they had pleaded for a death sentence for Tara, calling it a rarest of the rare case.

He said: We had also pleaded that in case death sentence is not awarded, life imprisonment without remission should be given. The court, however, refused to consider it as a rarest of the rare case.

A total of eight family members from Taras native village in Ropar district were present when the sentence was pronounced.

They said they were satisfied with the decision of the court and so was Tara.

Tara was arrested on September 13, 1995, from Delhi. However, along with two other accused in the case  Jagtar Singh Hawara and Paramjeet Singh Bheora  he had escaped from the Burail jail by digging a 100-ft tunnel in 2004. In January 2010, Tara was again arrested from Thailand.uttara@tribuneindia.com

Lucknow, March 17

Aam Aadmi Party Member of Parliament Sanjay Singh on Saturday said he would fight criminal defamation charges brought against him by former Punjab minister Vikram Singh Majithia two days after the partys convener Arvind Kejriwal apologised for accusing the Akali Dal leader of being involved in drug trade.

Refusing to comment on the apology tendered by Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal, Sanjay Singh said: "I stand by whatever I have said in the past regardless of whatever is being said here and there. I will not retract from my stated stand".

The AAP Parliamentarian refused to be drawn into the controversy that has caused a rebellion in the Punjab unit of the party after state chief Bhagwant Mann and another leader resigned from their positions.

"I will not comment on this. I have stated my position as an individual, who along with Arvind (Kejriwal) and Aashish Khaitan are party to the defamation case filed against us," Sanjay Singh said.

He parried a question whether his dissenting note reflected any unease in the party.

The 45-year-old MP also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of "subverting democracy" and "undermining parliamentary procedures".

Speaking of his recent entry to the Upper House of parliament and his experience so far, he said there is neither proper debate in the Rajya Sabha nor a spirit in the treasury benches to "hear out and accommodate the views of the opposition members".

"Parliament is for debate, a place where we lawmakers should be allowed to speak for the people, about their problems and raise pertinent issues facing the nation, but sadly that's not happening," he said, pointing out how the Finance Bill was rushed through the Lok Sabha without any debate.

Referring to the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh, his home state, he said within one year the party had lost both the mandate and the goodwill of the people.

Attributing the loss of the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat in the recent by-polls among other things to the death of 67 infants due to lack of oxygen in a government hospital in that town, the AAP leader said people have "pulled out the oxygen of the state BJP government through their votes".

Asked if the AAP will be a part of the BSP-SP combine in the coming days in Uttar Pradesh, Singh did not rule it out, saying the party will take a call when required.

On the pulling out of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) from the NDA and their no-confidence motion against the Modi government, he urged all parties to support it and ensure that the arrogant and anti-people central government faces its nemesis.

"The BJP-led NDA government doesn't want to talk of serious issues like SSC exams, the Cauvery dispute, the farmers plight and their subsequent unrest, distress in the economy and the sealing drive in Delhi... It is just deflecting the attention of the people."  IANSuttara@tribuneindia.com

Chandigarh, March 17

A special court here on Saturday awarded life imprisonment to Jagtar Singh Tara in connection with assassination of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh.

The court of Additional District and Session Judge J S Sidhu pronounced the sentence in the high security Burail jail here where Tara is currently lodged, Tara's counsel Simranjit Singh said.

A fine of Rs 35,000 was also imposed on Tara by the court, he said.

The lawyer said his client would not challenge the order in the higher court.

He said the CBI counsel had pressed for capital punishment for Tara.

Tara (43) had been booked under various sections of IPC, including section 302 (murder), section 307 (attempt to murder) and section 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and other relevant sections of the Explosive Act.

He had confessed to his involvement in the assassination of Beant Singh in 1995, in a confession letter which he had submitted to the court in January this year.

On August 31, 1995, then chief minister Beant Singh was killed in an explosion outside the Civil Secretariat in Chandigarh. Sixteen others also lost their lives in the incident. Punjab police employee Dilawar Singh had acted as a human bomb in the incident.

Tara was arrested in September, 1995 in Delhi. However, he and two other accused escaped from Burail jail during the trial of the case in 2004.

He was later arrested from Thailand in 2015.

Meanwhile, tight security arrangements were made by Chandigarh police outside Burail jail in the wake of Tara's sentencing. Several supporters of Tara, including SAD (Amritsar) chief Simranjit Singh Mann, were present outside the jail. - PTIsinghking99@yahoo.com

New Delhi: The much-awaited vehicle scrap policy was given in-principle approval at a meeting at the PMO to pave way for mandatory disposal of commercial vehicles (CV) that are more than 20 years old from April 1, 2020, an official said. Road, Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari had earlier announced that the Vehicles Scrapping Policy, aimed at curbing vehicular pollution, had been finalised. A source said the matter would now go to the GST Council, which has been urged to reduce the GST rate to 18 per cent from 28 per cent for new commercial vehicles purchased in place of scrapped vehicles. PTIeditorial@tribune.com

Barnala, March 17

The CIA has busted a gang of robbers allegedly involved in looting liquor vends and petrol pumps. It has arrested five members of the gang. It claimed that gang members were planning a robbery in the area.

The SP, Investigations, Sukhdev Singh Virk, said local CIA incharge Baljit Singh received a tip-off on March 13 about the movement of a gang of robbers in the area and he formed two special teams to arrest them.

A CIA team, led by ASI Gurbachan Singh, arrested Jaj Singh and Sehajpreet Singh, from the Bathinda road on March 14 while they were travelling in a car. The second party, led by ASI Randhir Singh, arrested Amarjit Singh, Rajesh Kumar and Yakub Khan, from the Patti road in Barnala city last evening while they were in the area in an Innova.  TNS

Gang members were involved in various cases of looting of liquor shops, petrol pumps, snatchings, NDPS Act and other crimes. We have arrested total five members of the gang and our teams are conducting raids to arrest other members, said the SP.

He said the gang was active in Ludhiana, Amritsar, Majitha, Tarn Taran, Patiala, Sangrur and other districts.

They had been arrested earlier also and were currently out on bail. We got information that one or two of them have also jumped bails. We are conducting further investigations, said the SP.editorial@tribune.com

B.N. Goswamy

During a visit to a craft bazaar in a remote village, I came across a rather exemplary blanket  jet black in colour, woven from wool of the native sheep. The one unusual feature was a white line which traced its path across the length of the black woollen blanket, thin in dimension, stark in contrast and asymmetric in placement.

When the weaver was asked about this most unusual white line (for the black blanket, coarse and woolly, is a common feature of the shepherd community), his reply was: the white line makes the black more black.

 Jayshree Poddar

Come to think of it, the seemingly casual encounter cited above, is so telling in its own way, for it sums up so much of what Jayshree Poddar  born in a Marwari family in distant Calcutta; trained at the Jadavpur University and then at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, with a person like Dashrath Patel as her mentor; currently design director at the famed Himatsingka Seide textile studios in Bangalore  is like: curious, ready to ask questions, quick to absorb lessons, willing to learn from just about everyone, sensitive to the core, eager to share what she knows with others. In her own words, she had this urge to mould things  from an early age, and for 30 years she has been at it: journeying. What she has produced this year is a remarkable book that records her journeys into the world of art and design and textiles. Many Moons is how she has titled it, recalling that objects in the sky are in constant motion, and nothing remains in the same place forever. The phases of the moon, the cycle of growth, fading and rebirth, speak of the life of creativity. An ongoing quest is a constant, and each end is also a beginning. The very first look at the book strikes home, for jet black as the jacket is, it features 15 perfect circles cut out to reveal underneath each of the phases of the moon, from the first to the last, woven with silk and metal threads. Feelingly, Jack Lenor Larsen  that much admired weaver for architects, and developer of the celebrated Long House Reserve, not far from New York  opens his Foreword to Jayshrees book with the words: If this large volume with a cover sprinkled with moon dust is heavy, the writer is light and modest.

Modestly, but in persuasive whispers as it were, Jayshree has filled the book with unexpected riches: great, sensitively taken photographs, freshness and opulence of design, intensive technical details, even actual samples of textiles. The sections unfold gently: from Black & White and Nature, through Wabi-Sabi and Geometry, to Quintessence and Ashram. We see the Buddha, Painted, then Woven; a dried leaf inserted in a pocket made of cloth so sheer that one can see every detail of the network of capillaries; the play of light and shadow in a translucent curtain cloth, inspired by but not imitative of a Warli painting, woven with fine silk and linen; layer upon layer of fine silk cut with a blade in the middle, each example coloured so as to be suggestive of the pancha-mahabhutas, the Five Elements, from prithvi to jala, agni, vayu and then aakaash. The traditions of India, and her rich thought, are never far from the minds of Jayshree and of Dinesh, her brother-in-law who runs the Himatsingka Seide enterprise. And yet every now and then thoughts run in other directions: like those that underlie the aesthetics of Wabi Sabi  a Japanese term that embodies the Zen cosmic view which seeks beauty in imperfection and in impermanence. Abstract designs emerge from a close and intensely engaged viewing of old walls with the grime of years and blackened with soot from tea kettles, doors in hues of bright blues and fading ochres, with huge gleaming metal padlocks; worn-out tables and chairs with the patina of time: sights that one sees every day in the lanes and bylanes of old cities. In contrast, there are designs that emphasise the order and harmony of geometry. There is a search in her work for the quintessence of all things. How does one depict space on the surface of a fabric? she asks herself and then, while answering somewhat hesitantly perhaps, As nothingness, all pervasive, ever present, escaping attention, sets out to design something that captures it.

Woven into all this, somewhere, is a return to ideas that had moved Jayshree in her early twenties: those that emanated from the lives and thoughts of Sri Aurobindo, and the Mother. When she was entrusted, four short years ago, with developing specific fabrics to be used in the dwellings that the two Masters had once occupied in the Ashram, she kept reminding herself of the Mothers saying: Beauty is the shortest route to the divine. This could be translated, or interpreted, she told herself, through the luminosity, lightness and purity of flowers. It is flowers, therefore, that bloomed on the textiles she designed for the Ashram. Apart, of course, for the woven-in-silk supramental bird inspired by Sri Aurobindos writings.

Jayshrees fascination, and reverence, for the figure of Hanumana  most profound; most able, most sagacious, most illustrious of the race of the Vanaras, as the text says  resulted in many images that she kept producing. But it found its most brilliant expression in the form of an installation that she created in the vast expanse, and soaring height, of one of the industrial sheds of the studios: something made up of sheets of black cloth in the form of a cube around which a complex mesh of coloured threads of orange, red, vermilion, pink, gold and black was woven through and around which was revealed the figure of the deity: negotiating the skies, elegant tail brushing the air, carrying in his hand the mountain with the miracle sanjivani herb. All reflected in a square mirror placed on the floor below.

The effect must have been stunning: echoing in some manner all that is there in this book of many moons.editorial@tribune.com

Jaskiran Chopra

The hills are full of ghost stories with many of them rooted in the towns of Uttarakhand. Locals love telling them and tourists indulge in them. It is no surprise then that the tourism department of the Himalayan state is looking at developing its potential in ghost tourism  tourism based on the many supposedly haunted sites here and the spooky stories that have been handed down the generations.

Mussoorie has its good share of ghost stories. There is something about the mist-laden mountains, the crystal clear cold night skies, the shadows of the ancient deodars, the sprawling cemeteries that make it natural for ghosts to be around. Any old timer can tell you his personal bone-chilling encounter with the world of spirits  of the man without a face, or the chowkidar who can be heard (not seen) guarding the old building.

In Mussoorie, it is believed that the ghost of Frederick E Wilson can be seen out on his horse, asking for a light for his cigar. Wilson, better known as Pahadi Wilson because of the many years he spent in Garhwal Himalayas, married a local girl, Gulabi. Their story is part of the folklore here. He was an adventurer who is believed to have deserted the British Army just after 1857. He escaped into Garhwal and landed in Harsil, a remote idyllic valley on the banks of the Bhagirathi. He then made a fortune out of timber. Gulabi and Wilson lived in Wilson Cottage, a huge mansion built by him in the late 1850s. Wilson and his wife lie buried in the Mussoorie cemetery.

But there is hardly a tale that matches that of Lady Garnett-Orme, a spiritualist, who is said to have been found dead under mysterious circumstances at what is now a prestigious hotel, in 1911. Apparently, strychnine had been placed in her medicine bottle, but no one could tell how it got there. The affair literally reached a dead end when the doctor who had been treating the Lady was also found dead from the same poison a few months later. Rudyard Kipling, the famous writer who had visited Mussoorie in 1888, and retained his interest in the affairs of the hill station for long, shared the mysterious facts with writer Arthur Conan Doyle, deeming it a case fit for Sherlock Holmes to investigate. But it was Agatha Christie who took up the challenge and used the circumstance of the crime in her novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920).

Renowned author Ruskin Bond, who has been a resident of Mussoorie since 1963, says with a smile: The Mall is full of ghosts .They are there on misty monsoon nights when the lamplight struggles to penetrate the gloom.

It is the peak of winter in the hills now and one comes across groups of hill folk sitting around bonfires and narrating many an interesting spooky tale. Our neighbour shared one such tale. My cousin Dev Dutt came home to the village after a year from the plains where he was working in a bank. As he got down, he met his old neighbor. They began chatting and walking towards their village and took leave of each other once they reached the village. As Dev Dutt was having his dinner, his mother asked him whether he came home alone from the bus stand. He replied that he had met Bishan Chacha and they had walked home together. Hearing this, the mother dropped the roti she was making and sat down on the floor with a scream. He died two months ago! she cried.

Stories of haunted homes, haunted valleys and meetings with daayans (witches) and daints (demons) are as common here as the little tea shops on the winding mountain roads. Bodies are cremated by the riverside and ashes thrown into the river. People in the hills believe that this causes a lot of spirits to wander about.

Now, while the locals are happy with the idea  with veteran journalist Raj Kanwar, who has been residing in Doon valley since 1947, calling it a thrilling idea  tourism expert Ashutosh Saklani is skeptical. We need to focus on adventure tourism, winter tourism, fruit tourism and other forms of tourism first. These would bring in revenue. Ghost tourism is based merely on tales of haunted sites and this will not pull the crowds. Just a few daring persons may join in. This will do nothing for revenue generation. It may take us into a world of make-believe.editorial@tribune.com

Roopinder Singh

The absence of honking is striking. More so, when you are stuck in an infrequent traffic jam on way to Ubud from the Denpasar International Airport. Cars are similar to the ones in India  mainly Suzuki, Hyundai and Toyota vehicles. Swarms of scooters can be seen on no-lane roads. People drive on the same side of the road as in India, but they stop at intersections, wait courteously for other vehicles to turn before they move, even as traffic policemen are seldom seen.

Who wants to see a traffic policeman when there is so much else to capture your attention  the verdant greens, sculpted flowerpots on roads, intricate statues on roundabouts, tiled red rooftops that stand out against the azure sky and the temples that dot the landscape. Clear warm beaches that are full of tourists, often Australians, who fly a short distance to this sun-soaked land just eight degrees south of the Equator.

Statues are everywhere. You observe that their lower part is covered with saput poleng, the black and white chequered cloth that weaves in the two eternal opposites  the good and the evil  into a harmonious whole. Some representing deities are covered in golden cloth. Also visible are the offerings, on tiny coconut-leaf trays, often small, placed in front of statues of deities, at higher and lower level, with flowers, eatables, and cigarettes sharing the space with incense sticks!

With a relaxed pace of life and well-developed tourist infrastructure, Bali is host to backpackers and well-heeled travellers alike, with much to offer. Same, same but different, is a phrase you hear often, and you can relate to it because there is familiarity and difference, a shared culture that has its unique flavour.

Buildings often have a large free spaces between the roof and the walls, allowing for good ventilation, and public places just have roller blinds (like chiks), instead of walls, which can be pulled down when it rains, or when there is too much sun.

The province that largely depends on tourist-related income, besides traditional agriculture, has many attractions, most of these natural. The beach is what attracted people to Kuta in the first place. And this is where the action is. Nice surf, lounge chair, drinks galore, with the ever-present beers, the local Bintang comfortably rubbing shoulders with its international counterparts. Es Kelapa Muda is iced coconut water with a dash of lime and ice in the fruit.

Young revellers dance away the night at the many nightclubs that attract the party crowd to Kuta and Semniyak. The scene is vibrant, and at times, wild. During the day, as you negotiate your way around to the beach through a narrow streets lined by shacks, you are reminded of such shops near Delhis Indian Oil Building. Horse carriage riders may greet you with Namaste, and the beach boy spout an impromptu rendering of a Bollywood song. Modern shopping malls and hotels line up the beach front, and even though crowded, it is full of friendly locals, all trying to sell something or the other to visitors.

Sunset is arriving, the beach is crowded, and you can well spend time either surfing, or watching the surfers, sipping your drink, thinking about Bebek Goreng, the deep-fried duck that you are planning for dinner. Topped off with Bubuh Injin, the black-rice pudding with coconut milk, a kheer, but different.

Host to the world

Ubud is the cultural centre. Fine performances from the Mahabharata, Balinese style, naturally, echo the Same, same but different style as then, the eternal fight between the forces of good (the Barong) and the bad (the Ragada) is fought on stage. Artists come from far and wide with their paintings, and the area has a good number of workshops that produce intricate carvings in various types of wood and traditional silversmith families whose workshops demonstrate the way in which their creations take shape. Naturally, they try to steer you towards their sales areas. The Batik workshops are interesting, but wares simply too touristy. On the other hand, local lace adorns fabrics that make for attractive garments.

Balinese sculpture was once entirely religion-oriented till tourists descended. Now, the beautiful statues carved out of soft volcanic rock, are to be seen everywhere, even restaurants, and they could depict musicians, dancers or even some bizarre creations for specific tourist interests.

The food in Bali restaurants is a fascinating mix of Indian, Chinese and local cuisines. Much of what you get is pan-Asian, rather than strictly local, and emphasis is on the lunch. Rice is the staple, and you cant go wrong with Nasi Goreng or fried rice.

As expected, there are plenty of options for staying; much depends on your budget and inclination. Many go to Bali to escape the humdrum of everyday life, and for them, there are beautiful resorts away from the town, where you can be one with nature, cut off from the world, yet have all creature comforts available at short notice. For those who love to surf, there are beaches. Culture vultures can explore the myriad forms of expression that the people of Bali use while interacting with the world around them and beyond.editorial@tribune.com

Abha Kohli

Violent actions by students in India are raising alarming concerns about the mental well-being of our young population. The latest incident of shooting of a professor by a college student in Sonepat, coming close on the heels of the killing of a school principal by a Class XII student in Yamunagar, Haryana, last month, is quite perturbing. These mindless murders have brought forth the disturbing issue of increasingly diminishing coping mechanisms among the Indian youth. In both instances, minor or inconsequential events triggered such horrific and violent outbursts. The professor in Sonepat, Rajesh Malik, was allegedly killed by a BA student, as he had scolded the student for harassing a girl in his class. Somewhat similar reasons were cited for shooting of the Yamunanagar principal, Ritu Chhabra. She had scolded the student a few times on disciplinary grounds.

This recent spate of murders  this is the third murder inside an educational institute in Haryana in the last six months  gives rise to a disturbing question, " Are we going the US way?" where such school shootings are a frequent and bloody phenomena. The latest being the killing of 17 persons at a school in Florida last month by a 19-year-old student.

For decades, the West has influenced Indian youth, be it the need to establish ones identity by defying authority, or make a style statement by aping the hip-hop culture. It is not a stretch of imagination to believe that reading about the increased frequency of juvenile violence in the West seems to have become an approval of sorts for the young adults in India. Thus, one sees in the behaviour of our youth a complete disregard for law and apathy towards human life.

The killing of a seven-year-old Class II student, in Gurugram in September last year by his senior, a 16-year-old Class XI student, just to get the examinations postponed shows the increasing desensitisation of our youth towards violence. Shockingly, the murder was pre-planned  the perpetrator had told his classmates that they need not study for the upcoming exams as the school would shut down.

Both the society and academia are aghast, and unsure how to come to terms with these events, not the least because these go against the traditional notions of childhood and education.

At the root of it

Before we can think of solutions to this rapidly evolving menace, it is essential to understand the root causes of these negative behavioural changes in children.

Intense academic pressure to always excel at studies and competitive comparison with peers and siblings are taking a massive toll on the emotional well-being of students. Children are being forced to succeed even before they can comprehend what success means to them and what is needed for their true happiness. This leads to a sense of alienation from their true selves and the tendency to gratify urges instantly intensifies, which, in turn, deprives students of the opportunity to learn how to face the challenges of life more maturely. They cannot comprehend failure, and when they fail to meet the challenges on their own, they resort to drastic measures, including physical harm to others or themselves. Their behaviour is marked by anger, impatience, and increasing intolerance in interpersonal relationships.

It is not surprising then to find that the teenaged Gurugram student who killed a young child in cold blood, was under psychiatric evaluation for anger for a year. This sense of alienation and anger is aggravated by the stress, frustration, and result in depression due to the inability to cope with peer pressure.

Unsupervised in a grown-up world

The deleterious effect of unsupervised access to the grown-up world through media and online gaming content adds fuel to the fire that is raging within the childrens minds. The recent craze of the Blue Whale challenge, which took participants through 50 daresculminating in suicide, is a classic example of gaming content exploiting the mental vulnerabilities of children who are unprepared to face them.

Over-sexualised media content introduces children to many adult concepts at a very impressionable age and stirs their curiosity. The media and gaming content often glamorises violence, often using action-packed content by lead characters to defeat evil. This may indoctrinate children with the idea that acting tough is essential to being a do-gooder. With screen-based gaming replacing physical activities in the backyard or playgrounds as an outlet for pent-up emotions, these games draw children into a restless, sedentary lifestyle early in life. How do parents and teachers react to these realities that surround their children?

Along with the collapse of the joint family system in India, which provided a natural outlet for emotional balancing among kids, is the rise of individualism which threatens traditional notions of adults as guardians and mentors to young children. This makes it all the more essential for parents to take a balanced approach to the control and care of their wards.

Consider the Blue Whale game mania that gripped children  60 per cent of Google searches about this game originated from India! The lesson learnt from the self-harm committed by children, who took part in this game, is that not only does this type of gaming content entrap emotionally vulnerable children, adults should also be aware of these vulnerabilities. They must know how to help children cope up before allowing access to such media. In other words, adults should redefine their own roles in the lives of children under their care to face the realities of the modern world.

Whenever incidents of violent crime by children are reported from schools, fingers are quickly pointed at school authorities. However, forward-looking schools have already developed measures to help parents, students and teachers deal with the new roles that the evolving emotional needs demand. At such schools, regular counselling sessions create a common understanding about the needs of all the stakeholders, and bridge the gaps between them to avoid confusion.

New programmes introduced for the emotional well-being of students include mentoring programmes, peer mentoring, anti-bullying campaigns, and safe-school environment programmes. More importantly, many of these schools now focus as much on developing and enhancing resources for the emotional well-being and support of children, as they do on achieving academic goals.

 The writer is a school counsellor with Shiv Nadar School, New Delhi

Signs and symptoms of aggression

Putting self over all other aspects of human existence.

Desire for instant gratification.

Inability to deal with delay.

Poor self-image.

Lack of emotional stability.

Disturbed and traumatic childhood.

Ways to control violent behaviourAakanksha N Bhardwaj

Aakanksha N Bhardwaj in Hoshiarpur

Mohsin Naqvi would throb in your heart: is dasht me ik shahar tha, vo kya hua awargiye dil, ye pagal dil mera(in this barrenness was a town, what befell it.. in wandering! this heart, this mad heart of mine). Welcome to Patharanwali (a village of stones): Its slide from Jaijon Khas/Jaijon Doaba  a trading hub of the north  has been both historic and heartrending.

In the strange silence of the village of less than 2,000 people, around 80 km from Jalandhar, lies sprawled a deadened bazaar. Here you are: an empty 250-kg galla (a till for keeping cash) with six inbuilt locks is lying in the open; most walls of some of the three-storey shops and havelis have receptacles for keeping lamps to light up the place. These lamps are still there covered in soot, and you can see traces of the black smoke. Almost each shop had a large guest house on the first or second floor for lodging the traders from far-off. That was about a century ago in Jaijon Doaba.

The decaying multi-storey havelis invite you inside, to the upper floors. But watch it! The crusty, weakened floor can collapse, as it did when this reporter stepped in, resulting in injuries. This is where once existed one of the biggest markets of Asia. The village was known as Pathranwali because the land is full of stones. In its heyday, it became Jaijon Khas, and when it lost its market-worth, it rebounded to the time-scarred Patharanwali. Today, villagers avoid calling it Jaijon: it is believed to be inauspicious.

For the record, Jaijon Doaba is located in Mahilpur sub-division, district Hoshiarpur. Jaijon Khas was a municipal committee in 1950, now it has been reduced to a gram panchayat. Its population in 1950 was around 15,000, which has whittled down to 1,257. Sarpanch Kulwinder Kaur, and panchayat member Parveen Kumar Sandhu go back in time, recalling how special guns were placed to sound alarm and warn the traders in case of any attack. In 1917, a rail line reached Jaijon, whose stones were transported to other parts of the country for building rail tracks.

Those stones, and that lost glory get a few residents talking. Rakesh Kumar Jain refers to his ancestors who told him how Jaijon was a bustling, round-the-clock market, whose passages were clogged with customers and camels, horses, ponies carrying goods. For Chaman Lal, the once famous sweets maker, it is hard to begin the Jaijon story. From where should I start? People back then would not have time to count the money they would make in their businesses. Lal offers some postcards, priced three pies in 1909, written in Urdu by customers in Lahore, Amritsar, Palampur and paper merchants of Amritsar to the Jaijon Khas addresses. In the early last century, the place supplies goods to every part of united Punjab, J&K and Delhi. The main supplies came from Peshwar, Kota and Lahore.

Ramesh Kumar (81) sits all alone outside his house in a curfew-like surroundings and stares at his closed three-story shop that once sold cloth. At that time here was not only one, but many markets like the Khanna market, Sood market and Jain market with around 1,000 shops. The place was teeming with customers, coolies, sellers, and commission agents.

Such was the volume of business that one of the bigwigs of that time paid up to get the rail line extended right up to his godown. The Jaijon Doaba line of Northern Railways was laid in 1917 and goods and passenger trains started, giving a big boost to the trade. Today there is no direct bus from and to major cities of Punjab.

After the Partition, Muslim workers, artisans and traders went to Pakistan. Camels, horses ponies, bullock carts gave way to motor vehicles. Main roads leading to other towns abandoned Jaijon. The business started shifting to Phagwara, Nawanshahr, Hoshiarpur, and Ludhiana. In these towns, Jaijon-walia-di-hatti is a common name for shops.

Most youth of this village are bachelors. Who would like to live in an abandoned land? asks a villager.

Vijay Kumar Sampla, MP, Hoshiarpur and Union minister of state for social welfare, says: We are in the process of promoting the village by first connecting it to Hoshiarpur and Rupnagar.

Jaijon awaits that to happen.Mohit Khanna

Mohit Khanna in Nurpur Bedi/Chandigarh

If you want to see how Punjabs healthcare  pegged at Rs 1,358 crore (2017-18) and claimed to be 14.21% higher than the previous year's  crawl, take a close look at buses parked outside PGI Chandigarh: these have patients and their attendants from about 200 villages located around Nangal Dam, Habowal town near Garhshanker and Nurpur Bedi. These people would tell you how a free bus service has become synonymous with 'cancer train' ferrying cancer patients from Bathinda and adjoining districts to Bikaner in Rajasthan.

These patients from the Kandi area have come this far  around 90km  braving rickety roads and government apathy. Their condition is defined by a total lack of health infrastructure and, in many cases, contaminated water that they are forced to drink. Meet Makhan Singh (45), who has a serious heart condition. He is a founder-member of the Guru Ram Das Samaj Sewa Society and has got like-minded people together to get a donation-driven bus service started. All this is because the government has failed to provide quality healthcare at their doorstep. And even if there are certain facilities, the specialist doctors have played truant from posting in rural areas, preferring cities.

The Tribune accompanies these patients on a one-day journey:

3.30pm: Three buses are parked outside Gol Market in PGI waiting for the patients to arrive. Jaswinder Singh, driver of the new 50-seat bus purchased by the society for Rs 18 lakh, says: Fortunately, there are fewer patients. The long weekend around Holi was difficult; there was a sudden rush. Telu Ram (33) is a cancer survivor from Tibba village. He is returning home after his first post-operative chemotherapy. He says many like him don't find specialists in the area. Around two years back, when he lost appetite and had fever, the doctor at the local government hospital in Singhpur started tuberculosis (TB) treatment. The treatment went on for nearly a year, but his condition deteriorated. The PGI diagnosed him with cancer.

Continuing the treatment was tough because I had to change buses to reach Chandigarh: first I would travel all the way to Nurpur Bedi, nearly 20km away from my village. I came to know about the free bus service about a year back. This came as a boon. I board it from my village at 5 am and reach PGI by 7am, says Telu.

4pm: The journey begins. Gurpreet Kuar is detected with breast cancer and is seeking some advice from Telu. Pritam Das (70), a resident of Golni village located near Nangal, has diabetes and hypertension, which has further caused heart and liver issues. He is tightly clutching a bag in which he carries the medical reports.

Karnail Singh (63) is from Bhallari village and is diagnosed with a clot in the head. He is returning home after an operation. He says private doctors take Rs 500 per visit, but at PGI, the best doctors conduct a checkup for Rs 10!

The bus crosses Ropar, the bumpy ride starts to Bains village. Imagine the suffering of a woman in labour as she is rushed to a hospital in the middle of the night, says Gurpreet Singh of Haibowal village.

Mohar Singh (45) from Sekhowal village near Garshanker, rues the day when he visited a private hospital for treatment of his abdominal pain. The medicine led to side-effects. I was told my veins had shrunk. This caused psychiatric problems. I lost all my savings.

The conversation veers to the thriving sand mafia. The rampant scooping of the riverbed has led to approach roads being blocked. It has also caused water table depletion and contamination of potable water. My brother is gastroenteritis patient, says Parampreet.

The Kandi area has many quacks. Joginderpal Singh from Bains village says his mother is a victim. She was suffering from glaucoma and visited an eye check-up camp in Tedewal village where a doctor performed the operation. The operation went wrong, and since then she has a searing pain in the head. We are following a treatment from PGI. The pain has receded; but we have to visit PGI frequently, says Joginderpal.

6pm: As the bus reaches Nurpur Bedi, the passengers are requested to offer any amount as donation. The amount varies between Rs 10 and Rs 100. At Nurpur Bedi the donation box is handed to Makhan Singh, founder-member of the society. He says he and other members of the society visit several villages each day, requesting people to contribute for the cause. The bus service started on Feb 8, 2016. Since then the three buses have ferried over 45,000 patients to the PGI, says Makhan.

He took the idea from the train service that ferries cancer patients from Bathinda to Bikaner. Makhan himself is a cardiac patient. Before he returned to Nurpur Bedi, he ran a bus service in Delhi. He was diagnosed with a rare ailment last year and had to visit PGI frequently. That was when he along with others thought of hiring a bus. The society maintains a register of the patients. People don't have regular bus or train services. Government medical facilities are pathetic as private medical institutes make a killing, says Makhan.

It was after the patients started visiting the PGI that we learnt that many among them were suffering from cancer, heart diseases, renal failure, high blood pressure and diabetes, says Makhan. The society pays Rs 4,500 each day to the bus owner for ferrying the patients.

After maintaining the register of patients, who have sought booking for the next day, it is time for Makhan to switch duty with Lakhwinder Singh (54).

A well-established businessman, Lakhwinder wakes up at 3am, visits the gurdwara of Peer Zinda Shaheed, cleans the premises and gets to work with the ailing patients and their attendants queuing up to board the bus.

Meanwhile, the buses from Nangal and Haibowal also arrive at the gurdwara. He asks everyone to show their identity and OPD cards. After verifying the documents, the bus starts its onward journey.

I believe god has chosen me to work for the people. I feel sad that so many people have to cover a long distance for a check-up. Had Makhan Singh along with others not taken the initiative, many people would have died in the absence of treatment, says Lakhwinder.

No specialists, only politicspardeepdhull@gmail.com

Beirut, March 17

Air strikes on Eastern Ghouta killed at least 30 civilians on Saturday, a monitor said, almost a month into a blistering Russia-backed regime assault on the Syrian rebel enclave outside Damascus.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights could not say who carried out the strikes on the town of Zamalka in a southern pocket of the enclave.

Regime forces have retaken 70 per cent of the last rebel bastion on the outskirts of the capital since February 18, carving it up into three shrinking pockets held by different rebels.

Warplanes targeted civilians in Zamalka as they prepared to flee the southern area of the enclave held by the Faylaq al-Rahman rebel group, Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.

The regime assault has killed more than 1,390 civilians in the enclave, according to the Observatory, which relies on a network of sources on the ground.

The offensive has pushed thousands more to flee their homes into government-controlled areas.

Today morning, around 10,000 civilians streamed out of the rebel enclave into regime-held areas, Abdel Rahman said.

More than 40,000 civilians have poured out of the enclave since Thursday morning, fleeing bombardment and advancing troops.

Syrias war has killed more than 3,50,000 people and displaced millions since it broke out in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.  AFPharinder@tribunemail.com

Port Louis: Mauritius President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim resigned from the ceremonial position on Saturday amid accusations of financial impropriety that triggered a dispute between her and the PM. She decided to resign to prevent a constitutional crisis. She doesnt want the country to suffer, her lawyer said. PTIeditorial@tribune.com

Moscow, March 17

Russia expelled 23 British diplomats on Saturday in a carefully calibrated retaliatory move against London, which has accused the Kremlin of orchestrating a nerve toxin attack on a former Russian double agent and his daughter in southern England.

Escalating a crisis in relations, Russia said it was also shutting down the activities of the British Council, which fosters cultural links between the two countries, and Britains consulate-general in St Petersburg.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said it was giving the expelled diplomats one week to leave the country. The move, which was tougher than expected, followed Britains decision on Wednesday to expel 23 Russian diplomats over the attack in UKs Salisbury which left former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia Skripal, 33, critically ill in hospital.

Moscow announced the measures on the eve of a presidential election which incumbent Vladimir Putin would win comfortably.

The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the British ambassador, Laurie Bristow, to a meeting on Saturday morning in Central Moscow where he was informed of the retaliatory measures.

Bristow told that Britain had only expelled the Russian diplomats after Moscow had failed to explain how the nerve toxin had reached Salisbury.

Russias response doesnt change the facts of the matter that the attempted assassination of two people on British soil, for which there is no alternative conclusion other than that the Russian state was culpable, it said in a statement.  Reuterspardeepdhull@gmail.com

Moscow, March 17

Russia announced on Saturday it will expel 23 British diplomats and halt the activities of the British Council in response to Londons provocative measures over the poisoning of a former Russian double agent and his daughter.

Twenty-three diplomatic staff at the British embassy in Moscow are declared persona non grata and to be expelled within a week, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement after summoning the British ambassador Laurie Bristow.

It said the move was a response to Britains provocative actions and baseless accusations over the incident in Salisbury on March 4, referring to the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal with a nerve agent developed in the Soviet Union, which Britain has blamed on Russia.

Russia also said it was halting the activities of the British Council, Britains international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities, across the country.

Due to the unregulated status of the British Council in Russia, its activity is halted, the foreign ministry said.

And the ministry had also warned Britain that if further unfriendly actions are taken towards Russia, the Russian side retains the right to take other answering measures.  AFPpardeepdhull@gmail.com

Washington, March 17

Saudi, Emirati and Qatari leaders will beat a path to US President Donald Trumps door in the next few weeks for back-to-back visits that are unlikely to solve a long-running dispute among Americas Gulf allies.

Washington is keen to end the standoff between Qatar on one side and several other Arab nations on the other. The rift has divided the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) group of nations and hurt U.S.-led efforts to maintain a strong front against Iran.

The United States was hoping to host a US-GCC summit later this year but the prospects of that happening appear slim given that the rival leaders are still at odds.

They dont see eye to eye. Theyre not ready to solve this crisis, a senior administration official said, referring to the parties embroiled in the Gulf crisis.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut off travel and trade ties with Qatar last June, accusing it of backing their arch-rival Iran and supporting terrorism. Qatar denies the charges and says the boycott is an attempt to impinge on its sovereignty and rein in its support for reform.

Washington has strong alliances with the rival sides. Qatar hosts the largest US air base in the region which has been crucial to its anti-Islamic State military campaign in Syria and Iraq.

At the same time, the Trump administration has forged even closer ties with Qatars rivals, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Washington meetings

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will meet with Trump on Tuesday in Washington and the Qatar dispute is unlikely to be at the forefront of issues the young leader will want to discuss, diplomats say.

Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani then meets Trump on April 10 in the White House.

And, keen to have the last word with Trump, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed has sought to meet Trump after a scheduled meeting with the Qatari emir, the senior administration official said.

Originally, the crown prince, sometimes known in the West as MbZ, was due to meet with Trump on March 27.

MbZ in fact had asked Trump to be last, the senior administration official said. No new dates have yet been set.

The leaders are likely to talk to Trump about countering Iran, combating Islamist extremism, and deepening economic and military partnerships.

There appears to be little to gainand a bit to losein Gulf partners agreeing to another US-GCC Summit of leaders hosted by President Trump at Camp David, said a former senior U.S. official who worked on regional issues.

They have more to gain prosecuting their independent agendas in the bilateral visits to Washington already scheduled, the former official said.

The Arab countries boycott disrupted Qatars imports and triggered the withdrawal of billions of dollars from Qatari banks by depositors from the four states.

Qatar, the worlds top exporter of liquefied natural gas, developed new trade routes and deployed tens of billions of dollars from its massive sovereign wealth fund to protect its banks.

The UAE in particular bristles at alleged Qatari support for Islamists throughout the region.

The Trump administration is worried that the split among Sunni Muslim U.S. allies can benefit Iran in the tussle for influence in the Middle East.

So far, neither Saudi Arabia nor the UAE feel their demands have been met to resolve the dispute. At the start of the crisis, the four countries sent Doha a list of 13 demands, including closing the state-funded Al Jazeera television station and reducing ties to Iran.

While Qatar has increased its lobbying efforts in Washington, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi see the dispute as a minor irritant and not an urgent problem, its one that they can live with for a very long time, that its not affecting US interests, said Rob Malley, head of the International Crisis Group think tank.

They want to treat it as part of the furniture and not as something that requires immediate attention, said Malley, who has met recently with Saudi officials.

An apparently contradictory approach from the White House is also complicating US efforts to mediate in the dispute.

Trump at first swung decisively behind the Saudis and Emiratis, calling Qatar a funder for terrorism. But under pressure from outgoing Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defence Secretary Jim Mattis, he has since moderated his stance, calling for Gulf unity.

Qatar had grown more confident in support from Washington, which recently hosted joint high-level talks.

A senior US official with knowledge of the US mediation effort said there was still some willingness among the Gulf allies to begin a dialogue.

Theyre beginning to realise that this only plays into the hands of the Iranians, Syrians and Russians and its time to figure out how to resolve these issues, the official said.

Intellectually they know this has to be resolved, and it will only get worse and affect things...viscerally they would love to continue it in some way because the feelings are so strong, the official said. Reuterspardeepdhull@gmail.com

Kabul, March 17

A suicide attacker blew up a bomb-laden vehicle in Kabul on Saturday, killing at least two civilians and wounding several others, an Afghan official said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack as the group comes under growing pressure to take up the Afghan governments offer of peace talks.

Around 9:10 am this morning a suicide car bomb exploded in Police District Nine of Kabul, interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish told AFP.

Two civilians were killed and three others were wounded in the attack, Danish said. The blast happened at a time when many people would have been driving to work.

Health ministry spokesman Wahid Majrooh told AFP at least four people had been wounded.

Deputy interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said the bomber was heading towards global security company G4S but detonated himself before reaching the target.

The deadly attack - the latest in a series in the war-weary Afghan capital - comes days after the top US general in Afghanistan said protecting the city was a priority for foreign forces.

Kabul is our main effort right now, to harden Kabul, to protect the people of Kabul and the international community that are here because of the strategic impact that has and the importance to the campaign, General John Nicholson, told reporters on Wednesday.

The Taliban and its smaller rival Islamic State group have been dialing up the pressure on Kabul, launching a series of devastating attacks in recent months.

The most recent was on March 9 when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a Shiite area of the city, killing at least nine people. IS claimed responsibility.

Todays assault comes amid growing pressure on the Taliban to accept the Afghan governments offer of peace talks to end the 16-year conflict.

So far the Taliban has given only a muted response to President Ashraf Ghanis proposal last month, which also called for a ceasefire after which the group could become a political party.

Analysts said the Taliban leadership has been debating the merits of engaging with a government that the group has long viewed as illegitimate.

But it appears to have few reasons to negotiate.

The Taliban has been resurgent since the withdrawal of US-led NATO combat troops at the end of 2014, taking back territory and devastating Afghanistans beleaguered security forces.

In October, insurgents controlled or influenced nearly half of Afghanistans districts - double the percentage in 2015, the US governments office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction said in January.

Over the same period, the watchdog said, the number of districts under Afghan government control or influence fell to its lowest level since December 2015.  AFP(By Seow Choong Liang)

Old and dusty Kathmandu has been busy lately. As described by Jayadeva Ranade, President of the Centre for China Analysis and Strategy in a recent article China rises in Nepal, eyes Lumbini, a flurry of financial and other assistance has been pouring into Nepal.

To understand the significance of this inflection point between China and Nepal, one needs to understand two key things  the under-performing economy of Nepal (its per person Gross Domestic Product is a mere 5% fraction of the world average), and its chronic and dependent trade relations with India (Nepals trade deficit with India hit a record high in 2017 and it imports almost 60% of its needs from India).

Nepal has not been this close to China for a very long time. This changed when conditions on both sides recently became conducive for such a development. For example, 65 years in the making, Nepals new constitution was passed on 16 September 2015, which finally ended the monarchy, made Nepal a republic, and firmly ended the chances of a monarchical revival. Of particular political significance, the new constitution passed despite diplomatic efforts by former King Gyanendra Shah, who visited India just prior to the vote in Parliament.

On 11 October 2015, Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli, more commonly known as K.P. Oli, was elected as Nepals Prime Minister in a parliamentary vote, receiving 338 votes out of 597. He was again elected as the Prime Minister of Nepal for a second time on 15 February 2018. His first term was dominated by the economic blockade imposed by India upon the declaration of the Constitution of Nepal, during which he took a defiant stance against Indias position to amend the constitution. At the same time, he signed trade and transit treaties with China in a bid to counter Indian dependence.

On the other side of the equation is China whose interests in Nepal, as Jayadeva Ranade puts it, are long-term. According to him, China has,

designated Nepal a friend, induced it to join Chinese President Xi Jinpings flagship Belt and Road Initiative and offered it financial and other assistance in addition to holding out the prospect of a security arrangement.

In recent years, China has also been ramping up its involvement in Nepal mainly through economic engagement, much to Indias discomfort in what it considers to be its backyard. China had attempted to invest an estimated US$1-3 billion in Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha Shakyamuni in 2011  which included an airport, railway links, a seminary-cum-monastery and allocation of land to senior Buddhist leaders of various traditions. This proposal has been recently revived.

Chinas telecommunications giant Huawei has set up and expanded mobile phone networks in Kathmandu and other cities and ZTE has upgraded Nepal Telecoms nationwide mobile phone capacity. Earlier this month, Nepal had also agreed to enable the use of Chinas internet infrastructure, a vital link which was previously a monopoly controlled by India.

One of the most radical developments for Nepal is the proposed extension of the Qinghai-Lhasa railway from Zhangmu which is on the border with Nepal, to the Nepali capital Kathmandu and onwards to Lumbini. From there, the proposal includes a connection to Yadong. This line, which is currently expected to carry an estimated 7 million tonnes of cargo a year and augmented by an all-weather road network, will provide important alternate routes to landlocked Nepal, bringing a badly needed boost to business and trade.

As we can see, the good relationship between China and Nepal brings manyfold benefits, from economics to the culture. A good relationship with China, the worlds largest economy, means Nepal will have superior economic growth opportunities to bring it up from its current level.

In addition, Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha and one of the spiritual epicentres for Buddhists will be preserved well with Chinas help. This is also beneficial for China who has a long history with Buddhism and where Buddhist values have had a significant impact on Chinese culture, which is intrinsically inseparable from its national philosophical outlook.

This also complements the fast economic and material growth that China has experienced over the last two decades. The Chinese Communist government has recognised the importance and value of having spiritual pillars which anchor its people in positivity and virtue in the long run. Indeed, this combination of material development and the embracing of spiritual values will bring more stability to the region and will contribute to world peace. We are all happy to see peace; discord will get us nowhere in either sphere.

Moving forward, given recent and strong hints of how India and China are trying to connect with each other and be closer, both countries should take the great opportunity to work together to preserve Buddhism (for example, by making a combined effort to preserve the holy site of Bodhgaya in India) and form a strong connection with Nepal as well. After all, India and China are two of the worlds oldest civilisations and their working in harmony spreading Eastern values hand in hand would be of tremendous benefit to this generation and beyond.

In conclusion, the embracing of China by Nepal and vice versa would not only ensure better material growth for Nepal, but also the preservation and advancement of Buddhist and other related spiritual practices in the country and abroad. Much benefit lies in store for both Nepal and China through this landmark investment into Lumbini. If India were to also join in this noble endeavour, there will be innumerable benefits for the continent and the world.

For more interesting information:



Copyright Disclaimer: Under Section 13 of the Malaysian Copyright Act 1987, allowance is made for fair dealing for purposes such as non-profit research, private study, criticism, review or the reporting of current events. The Operator and author(s) of TsemRinpoche.com, a not-for-profit blog, do not claim ownership on the intellectual property rights of the contents, images and/or videos reproduced in this article. Any subsisting intellectual property rights shall belong to the legal owner of the contents, images and/or videos.The domain turkeytelegraph.com may be for sale. Please click here to inquireSenderwahl Das Erste ZDF RTL SAT.1 ProSieben kabel eins RTL II VOX 3sat ARTE ZDFneo ONE sixx DMAX TELE 5 ServusTV Deutschland ProSieben MAXX NITRO RTLup SAT.1 Gold COMEDY CENTRAL NDR WDR BR SWR/SR HR MDR RBB SPORT1 SPORT1+ Eurosport 1 Eurosport 2 DAZN Sky Sport News Sky Sport HD 1 Sky Sport HD 2 EXTREME SPORTS Sky Sport Austria Bundesliga HD 1 sportdigital Auto Motor Sport Ch. eSports1 ARD-alpha tagesschau24 ZDFinfo PHOENIX WELT N24 Doku n-tv kabel eins Doku DW (Europe) euronews BBC News Bild TV SUPER RTL KiKA Disney Channel nick/MTV+ RiC TOGGO plus Nick Jr. Nicktoons Disney Junior Junior Cartoon Network Fix & Foxi ORF eins ORF 2 ORF III ORF SPORT + PULS 4 ATV ATV II oe24.TV SRF 1 SRF zwei STAR TV PULS acht 3+ tv.berlin Hamburg 1 munchen.tv Leipzig Fernsehen rheinmain tv Rhein-Neckar Fernsehen Al Jazeera BBC World News Bloomberg Europe TV CNBC CNN International France 24 (franz.) France 24 (engl.) NHK WORLD TV CNN Turk Deutsches Musik Ferns. MTV Base MTV Dance MTV Hits MTV MTV Live HD DELUXE MUSIC VH1 Classic Animal Planet ANIXE Bibel TV Discovery HD More than Sports TV Fine Living Network GEO Television Crime + Investigation Health TV K-TV Marco Polo TV Nat Geo HD NAT GEO WILD PLANET SPIEGEL TV WISSEN SPIEGEL Geschichte TLC travelxp 4K UHD1 Welt der Wunder Home & Garden TV VOXup Rocket Beans TV 123.tv Channel21 HSE24 QVC QVC2 sonnenklar.TV Belgien 1 DR1 TV2 TV5 Monde Canal+ Sport BBC Two Canale 5 BBC One Canal+ Canal+Cinema Euro D Euro Star France 4 France 5 Show Turk France 3 BBC four Canal+ Decale Turkmax Gurme France O France 2 Sky Cinema Premieren Sky Cinema Premieren +24 Sky Action Sky 1 Sky Atlantic HD Sky Cinema Fun Sky Family Sky Cinema Best Of Sky Cinema Classics Sky Comedy Sky Select Sky Krimi E! Entertainm. HISTORY HD Heimatkanal 13TH STREET Beate-Uhse.TV FOX kabel eins CLASSICS ProSieben Fun Syfy KinoweltTV TNT Comedy TNT Film TNT Serie Motorvision TV Romance TV Universal Channel HD Blue Movie Blue Movie 2 Blue Movie 3 Sky Crime Sky Cinema Special HD SKY Sport F1 Sky Cinema Thriller HD Sky Documentaries Sky Nature Adult Channel AXN BBC Entertainm. BonGusto Classica Fashion TV GoldStar TV Gute Laune TV Jukebox LUST PUR Mezzo Nautical Channel NOW US Playboy TV RCK TV RTL Passion SAT.1 emotions Silverline Sony Channel RTL Crime Trace TV RTL Living Bergblick 123.tv 13TH STREET 3+ 3sat Adult Channel Al Jazeera Animal Planet ANIXE ARD-alpha ARTE ATV ATV II Auto Motor Sport Ch. AXN BBC Entertainm. BBC four BBC News BBC One BBC Two BBC World News Beate-Uhse.TV Belgien 1 Bergblick Bibel TV Bild TV Bloomberg Europe TV Blue Movie Blue Movie 2 Blue Movie 3 BonGusto BR Bundesliga HD 1 Canal+ Canal+ Decale Canal+ Sport Canal+Cinema Canale 5 Cartoon Network Channel21 Classica CNBC CNN International CNN Turk COMEDY CENTRAL Crime + Investigation Das Erste DAZN DELUXE MUSIC Deutsches Musik Ferns. Discovery HD Disney Channel Disney Junior DMAX DR1 DW (Europe) E! Entertainm. eSports1 Euro D Euro Star euronews Eurosport 1 Eurosport 2 EXTREME SPORTS Fashion TV Fine Living Network Fix & Foxi FOX France 2 France 24 (engl.) France 24 (franz.) France 3 France 4 France 5 France O GEO Television GoldStar TV Gute Laune TV Hamburg 1 Health TV Heimatkanal HISTORY HD Home & Garden TV HR HSE24 Jukebox Junior K-TV kabel eins kabel eins CLASSICS kabel eins Doku KiKA KinoweltTV Leipzig Fernsehen LUST PUR Marco Polo TV MDR Mezzo More than Sports TV Motorvision TV MTV MTV Base MTV Dance MTV Hits MTV Live HD munchen.tv n-tv N24 Doku Nat Geo HD NAT GEO WILD Nautical Channel NDR NHK WORLD TV Nick Jr. nick/MTV+ Nicktoons NITRO NOW US oe24.TV ONE ORF 2 ORF eins ORF III ORF SPORT + PHOENIX PLANET Playboy TV ProSieben ProSieben Fun ProSieben MAXX PULS 4 PULS acht QVC QVC2 RBB RCK TV Rhein-Neckar Fernsehen rheinmain tv RiC Rocket Beans TV Romance TV RTL RTL Crime RTL II RTL Living RTL Passion RTLup SAT.1 SAT.1 emotions SAT.1 Gold ServusTV Deutschland Show Turk Silverline sixx Sky 1 Sky Action Sky Atlantic HD Sky Cinema Best Of Sky Cinema Classics Sky Cinema Fun Sky Cinema Premieren Sky Cinema Premieren +24 Sky Cinema Special HD Sky Cinema Thriller HD Sky Comedy Sky Crime Sky Documentaries Sky Family Sky Krimi Sky Nature Sky Select Sky Sport Austria SKY Sport F1 Sky Sport HD 1 Sky Sport HD 2 Sky Sport News sonnenklar.TV Sony Channel SPIEGEL Geschichte SPIEGEL TV WISSEN SPORT1 SPORT1+ sportdigital SRF 1 SRF zwei STAR TV SUPER RTL SWR/SR Syfy tagesschau24 TELE 5 TLC TNT Comedy TNT Film TNT Serie TOGGO plus Trace TV travelxp 4K Turkmax Gurme tv.berlin TV2 TV5 Monde UHD1 Universal Channel HD VH1 Classic VOX VOXup WDR WELT Welt der Wunder ZDF ZDFinfo ZDFneo| By Betsy Stein

Aiysha Harris calls herself a walking advocate for Workforce Wednesdays at the University of Maryland, Baltimore's (UMB) Community Engagement Center (CEC).

The West Baltimore resident and mother of a UMB CURE Scholar got a job in housekeeping at UMB two years ago thanks to the employment assistance offered by the Universitys Office of Community Engagement (OCE).

Anytime I can speak on behalf of Workforce Wednesday, I am happy to because it had such an impact on my family, Harris said. I had applied here and at the hospital numerous times [in the past], but youve got to crack the Da Vinci Code to get in.

Aiysha Harris, a floor technician, and Shakiara Seals, an office clerk, both landed jobs at UMB thanks to the efforts of the Office of Community Engagement.

Thats where Lisa Rawlings, MBA, director of workforce development and job readiness for UMBs OCE, comes in. Every Wednesday, anyone needing help finding employment can walk in to the CEC or make an appointment between 2 and 5 p.m. Rawlings, a staff member from the Mayors Office of Employment Development, and someone from UMBs Human Resource Services department are on hand to help with online job searches and job training resources and to assist in building a resume.

LinkedIn says that 75 percent or more people get jobs today through people they know. We want to be that person for our community members, Rawlings said. I want the University and the hospital (University of Maryland Medical Center) to know that we have neighbors who have lots of skills who can be real assets to our organizations. Their biggest fault is they dont know anyone here.

UMB President Jay A. Perman, MD, has made community engagement one of the Universitys priorities and opened the CEC in 2015 to be UMBs front door to the community. Workforce development is one of the main focuses and includes the Wednesday sessions along with recruitment open houses, career training programs, and initiatives for youth.

So far, nearly 300 people have taken advantage of Workforce Wednesday. Nearly 40 have found jobs  13 at UMB or the University of Maryland Medical Center. Another two were hired by UMB through Humanim, a Baltimore nonprofit that supports and empowers individuals faced with social or economic challenges.

UMBs OCE, along with other community partners, helped create the rigorous Administrative Assistant Training program offered through Humanim. The University also works to recruit participants and facilitate the hiring of those who complete it.

Shakiara Seals got her job as an office clerk in UMBs Department of Environmental Health and Safety after taking the administrative assistant training course through Humanim.

Seals, who had been working in retail and taking college courses in the summer, wanted an administrative job, but most required four to five years experience, she said. Her mother told her about the 10-week Humanim course, which was just the push she needed. Seals graduated with a PACE certificate (Professional Administrative Certificate of Excellence) and the connections that landed her a part-time job at Towson University and, eventually, the full-time job at UMB.

She credits Humanim for getting her where she is today, not quite a full year later.

In Baltimore City, its hard to branch out in certain work fields. Its easier to find labor jobs than assistant jobs, explained the East Baltimore resident and mother of a 5-year-old. It took a team for me to succeed.

Antoinette Shannon, Seals supervisor, and Ken Brenneman, who works with Seals, said they interviewed six candidates for the office clerk position and the top two were graduates of Humanim.

They really impressed us, Brenneman said. They had the skills to do the job. Humanim prepared them for success.

And they couldnt be happier with Seals performance.

She came in willing to take the lead on projects, Shannon said. And she works so efficiently and effectively.

She goes above and beyond her clerk duties, Brenneman added. She came into an entry-level position and within a year we have her doing professional-level work.

Now that they have steady jobs here at UMB, Harris and Seals hope to finish their degrees  Harris in human services and Seals in business administration. Both say they want to help others the way they were helped. Harris is still thankful to Rawlings for helping her get the position.

It changed my whole mindset, she said. It changed my goals.

Rawlings hopes to help even more community members in the future. Aside from Workforce Wednesday, two information sessions on jobs at UMMC are being held at the CEC this month. A session on food service positions will be held March 21 at 1 p.m. and a session on environmental services such as housekeepers, room attendants, and waste attendants will be held March 28 at 1 p.m. For details, call 410-706-8260 or email workforce@umaryland.edu.Rohingya refugees build a shelter at a settlement in Bangladesh.  UNHCR/Andrew McConnell

United Nations agencies and NGO partners today released the 2018 Joint Response Plan (JRP) for the Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis, a US$951 million appeal to meet the urgent needs of nearly 900,000 Rohingya refugees and more than 330,000 vulnerable Bangladeshis in the communities hosting them.

Over the months since the outset of the Rohingya influx, this has been the worlds fastest growing refugee crisis, with tens of thousands fleeing by land and sea from Myanmar daily at the peak of the emergency. Some 671,000 Rohingya refugees have arrived in Bangladesh since 25th August 2017. The Bangladesh Government and Bangladeshi people have responded with extraordinary generosity and hospitality.

Almost seven months on, refugees from Myanmar continue to arrive. And the situation in Coxs Bazar remains fluid. The Kutupalong-Balukhali site, where some 600,000 refugees are now living, is today the largest and most densely populated refugee settlement in the world. Precarious conditions for the refugees and the ongoing emergency response are about to be further challenged by the approaching monsoon season and rains. More than 150,000 Rohingya refugees are in places at risk of landslides and floods, in what could become a disaster on top of the current emergency.

The 2018 appeal for the Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis  launched today in Geneva by UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, IOM Director General William Swing and UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh Mia Seppo - aims to address these challenges, bringing together the critical efforts of more than 100 UN agencies and national and international NGOs. The international humanitarian response aims to ensure refugees and host communities receive the life-saving assistance, protection and support they desperately need, complementing the continuing efforts of the Bangladeshi authorities.

We are talking about truly critical needs here both on the part of the Bangladeshi communities who have so generously opened their doors, and of a stateless and refugee population that even prior to this crisis was among the worlds most marginalised and at risk, said High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi. The solutions to this crisis lie inside Myanmar, and conditions must be established that will allow refugees to return home. But today we are appealing for help with the immediate needs, and these needs are vast.

The appeal aims to meet the immediate humanitarian needs of refugees and host communities, and support environmentally sustainable solutions, confidence-building and resilience of affected populations until the end of 2018. It also includes contingency planning for 80,000 more Rohingya refugees in the coming months.

"The needs and vulnerabilities of the Rohingya refugee population in Bangladesh are immense, said William Swing, IOM Director General. Many Governments generously supported the last Rohingya crisis appeal. Given the large scale of the emergency and the amount of humanitarian services needed to ensure lives can be protected with dignity, continued and enhanced support is necessary."

The needs are urgent. The funding will help in meeting the life-saving and acute humanitarian needs both of refugees and of affected host communities. More than half the appeal (54 per cent) is to ensure food, water and sanitation, shelter and other basic aid. Food needs alone account for 25 per cent of the total.

Over 16 million litres of safe water are needed every day for the Rohingya refugee population. Some 12,200 metric tons of food are required every month. At least 180,000 refugee families need cooking fuel. Some 50,000 latrines need to be constructed and maintained, and at least 30 sewage management facilities are required.

Forty-three primary health centres and 144 health posts are needed. Another 5,000 classrooms for 614,000 children and youth must be made available for there to be proper access to education. Some 100 nutrition treatment centres and a range of protection programmes for the 144,000 single mothers and their families and the 22,000 children at risk are also an urgent priority. Around 400,000 children in refugee and host communities require trauma care and related support.

Obviously there is great appreciation for the generosity with which the response has been funded. But lets not forget one thing: the biggest donor to this crisis is Bangladesh, said Mia Seppo, UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh.

In terms of being the first responders, in terms of providing land, in terms of keeping its borders open, in terms of providing asylum, in terms of building roads, extending electricity networks, providing food, seconding civil servants, providing police and army to keep order in the camp. The biggest donor to this crisis continues to be the people and the government of Bangladesh.

The humanitarian response in Bangladesh faces immense challenges. Conditions are congested, and hundreds of incidents of gender-based violence are reported weekly. Public health concerns are acute, including measles, diphtheria and diarrhoea.

The Rohingya refugee situation in Coxs Bazar is an acute humanitarian crisis that needs urgent funding to save lives and provide essential aid. So far, the emergency response from September 2017 to February 2018 has received 74 per cent of the funding needed (US$321 million of the US$434 million required).

Your support is urgently needed to assist children, women and men fleeing conflict in Bangladesh. Please give now.

For more information on this topic, please contact:

For UNHCR:

In Geneva, Andrej Mahecic, [email protected] ; +41 79 642 97 09

; +41 79 642 97 09 In Cox's Bazaar, Caroline Gluck, [email protected] , +880 1872 699 849

, +880 1872 699 849 In Cox's Bazaar, Firas Al-Khateeb, [email protected] ,+880 1885 934 309

For IOM:Pope Francis on Saturday travels to San Giovanni Rotondo and Pietrelcina to mark the 50th anniversary of the death of St Padre Pio and the 100th anniversary of his stigmata.

By Lydia O'Kane

Known simply around the world as Padre Pio, this modern day Capuchin Saint is revered because of his great faith and prayerful obedience. But is he also regarded as a minister of Christ who endured tremendous suffering including the pain of stigmata.

According to Irish Capuchin Fr Bryan Shortall, OFM. Cap, the reason he has captured the hearts of so many may have something to do with him being a recent Saint. I think that he is primarily someone people can reach out to because most people either remember him as having lived in the same lifetime



I am just a poor friar who prays



In 1918, while hearing confessions, Padre Pio had his first experience of the stigmata that would continue for the next 50 years. A year after the end of the First World War news of this stigmata began to spread throughout Italy and beyond. But as his fame grew, Fr Shortall points out the Capuchin remained the same simple prayerful man he had always been. He didnt particularly worry about the cult of personality that grew up around him he was asked many times what are you, who are you? And he said, I am just a poor friar who prays, and thats all he ever wanted to be, but the Lord had other plans for him.

Fr Shortall continues, he climbed on the cross of Christ everyday and everyday he felt physical pain and the desolation of what it was like for Christ to be crucified; so his faith was tested and he was certainly someone who suffered greatly in terms of his faith, in terms of his prayer life, but he persevered; he was someone who never gave up



Significance of Papal visit



On Saturday Pope Francis follows in the footsteps of this Franciscan Friar by traveling to Pietrelcina where Padre Pio grew up and San Giovanni Rotondo where he carried out his priestly ministry. Indeed just two years ago during the Extraordinary Year of Mercy, the Pope received the relics of Saint Pio in St Peters Basilica. Both events notes the Dublin based Irish Capuchin are highly significant; the first because Pope Francis wanted to highlight the person of Padre Pio as a minister of Mercy, as a minister of Jesus Christ and as a priest victim who suffered for Christ. He also emphasizes that by going to San Giovanni Rotondo and Pietrelcina the Pope wants to acknowledge this great love.



Legacy



Padre Pio died in 1968 at the age of 81, so fifty years on from his death what can we learn from him?



Fr Shortall says thathis legacy is that suffering is not a waste of time Jesus doesnt ignore people who suffer and who go through a great deal of pain, that God is not blind to suffering, that God feels very acutely peoples suffering and peoples struggles and is in there with them because he suffered himself on the cross. He encourages all of us not to be afraid and to place are trust in Jesus Christ.Australia's Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton told an ASEAN-Australia special summit in Sydney that the use of the "dark web" by extremists and other criminals was a spiralling problem AFP/Rick Rycroft

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton told an ASEAN-Australia special summit in Sydney that the use of the "dark web" by extremists and other criminals was a spiralling problem.

"The use of encrypted messaging apps by terrorists and criminals is potentially the most significant degradation of intelligence capability in modern times," he said.

Dutton added at the meeting of Southeast Asian leaders that the only way to deal with the threat, and the increasing use of the internet by groups like Islamic State to radicalise and recruit new members, was together.

"While our nations are focused on countering the ongoing threat of terrorism domestically, it would be a mistake to approach the problem from a purely national perspective," he said.

"Terrorism and violent extremism transcend national borders.

"Countering the threat requires a united and cohesive regional effort involving coordination between our respective national security and law enforcement agencies."

Canberra is already helping Southeast Asian states choke terrorist financing and counter violent extremism.

The problem has been exacerbated by jihadists now being forced out of Syria and Iraq with the Islamic State caliphate mostly crushed.

The issue was driven home last year when pro-Islamic State militants seized the southern Philippine city of Marawi, with Australia aiding Manila to win it back.

A memorandum of understanding will be issued at the summit later Saturday, reportedly with an agreement to pool cyber intelligence and police resources across the region for the first time.

The Australian newspaper said it would include a regional digital forensics taskforce and uniform criminal legislative frameworks to secure prosecutions.

Australia has suffered six terror attacks in recent years and disrupted 14 more, including a plot to bring down a plane departing Sydney.

In response, Canberra has consolidated key functions like national security, immigration, counter-terrorism, cyber-security, and border protection under a newly-created Home Affairs department, headed by Dutton.

He said that to address the issue of apps which allow extremists to operate clandestinely, Canberra planned to introduce legislation to strengthen agencies' ability to adapt to encryption.

This will include making companies that provide communications services and devices obliged to assist when asked, while also making the use of surveillance devices and computer network exploitation by authorities easier.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, with Australia a dialogue partner since 1974.Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Canada, Mexico, and Chile are six CPTPP billion-dollar partners of Vietnam

Japan captures huge portion of export-import turnover

Japan is Vietnams biggest trade partner out of the ten other member states of the CPTPP, ranking fourth among trade partners over the world (following China, South Korea, and the US). Two-way trade turnover with Japan hit $33.4 billion in 2017, and Vietnams trade surplus reached $250 million.

Other billion-dollar partners of Vietnam are Malaysia (export turnover of $4.2 billion, import turnover of $5.86 billion), Singapore (export $2.961 billion, import $5.3 billion), Australia (export $3.3 billion, import $3.16 billion), Canada (export $2.7 billion, import $0.774 billion), Mexico ($2.34 billion, $0.567 billion), Chile ($1 billion, $0.283 billion).

Total two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and the ten CPTPP members reached over $67.33 billion in 2017, equivalent to 15.84 per cent of the total export and import turnover of the country.

Vietnams average export and import turnover with about 200 countries and territories hit $2 billion, while average with CPTPP members was 3.5 times higher, reaching $6.7 billion. This figure shows the importance of the CPTPP in trade and investment activities of the country.

Notably, Vietnam gains surplus from trade relations with most partners. The country runs deficit only towards three ASEAN partners, including Singapore (trade deficit of over $2.33 billion), Malaysia ($1.65 billion), and Brunei ($13 million).

Vietnam has been promoting exports to go along with tariff incentives and technical barriers, while the CPTPP will bring numerous opportunities for Vietnamese exporters and importers, including domestic, and foreign firms.

Export and import turnover of Vietnam and ten country members of CPTPP

Widening pathways to other markets

According to commitments to open up the CPTPP market, key export items of Vietnam have opportunities to rise in value, especially phones, computers, textiles, footwear, seafood, furniture, vehicles and equipment.

To the biggest CPTPP market, Japan, there were five export item groups reaching a turnover in excess of $1 billion. Textiles produced the highest export turnover with over $3.1 billion, followed by transport vehicles ($2.177 billion), machine equipment ($1.718 billion), seafood ($1.3 billion), and furniture ($1.022 billion).

CPTPP brings opportunities for exporters not only to approach a big market with high standards like Japan, but also to overcome the protectionist measures of the US administration.

There are good signals coming from textile and seafood, which are the key export items to the US and are now shifting to Japan. This opens opportunities for exporters not only to approach a big market with high standards like Japan, but also to overcome the protectionist measures of the US administration.

The key export sectors to Canada, Chile, and Australiatextiles, footwear, and seafoodwill see new opportunities if the CPTPP comes into effect, while Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Mexico, and New Zealand will opened the gates up for Vietnamese export items such as phones and computers.

According to the World Banks report published right after the signing of the CPTPP, multilateral trade agreements such as the CPTPP are expected to further boost Vietnams investment- and export-driven growth model.

In addition, the anticipated increase in foreign direct investment is expected to lead to a further expansion of the services sector and boost productivity growth. It will create opportunities for domestic private firms to integrate into global value chains and promote the development of the small- and medium-sized enterprise sector.

The CPTPP is expected to stimulate reforms in areas such as competition, services (including financial services, telecommunications, and temporary entry of service providers), customs, e-commerce, environment, government procurement, intellectual property, investment, labor standards, legal issues, market access for goods, rules of origin, non-tariff measures, and trade remedies.Toyota Land Cruiser is one of models imported from Japan

One of the important contents of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) signed on March 8 in Chile is the tax exemptions for industrial products, including automobiles. Thereby, these items will no longer be subject to trade tariffs between the 11 countries in general and Vietnam and Japan in particular.

Vietnam would eliminate tariffs for all cars 13 years after the CPTPP takes effect. This will be 10 years only for cars with engine capacity above 3,000cc.

Luong Hoang Thai, director general of the Department of Multilateral Relations at the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), said that Vietnam would eliminate tariffs for all cars 13 years after the CPTPP takes effect. This will be 10 years only for cars with engine capacity above 3,000cc.

The CPTPP has yet to be approved by each member. In Vietnam, it will be submitted to the National Assembly at the end of 2018 and is expected to go into effect in 2019.

Currently, some Japanese models imported to Vietnam include Lexus, Subaru, and Land Cruiser, Prado of Toyota, and Honda Odyssey. Pham Anh Tuan, manager of the strategic plan division of Toyota Vietnam, said that Japan does not issue vehicles type approval (VTA) certificates to export automobiles to Vietnam, so that the company cannot import cars made in Japan, while dealers in Vietnam have sold out.

Earlier, the Vietnamese government issued Decree No.116/2017/ND-CP on requirements for manufacturing, assembly, and import of automobiles and trade in automobile warranty and maintenance, to restrict the inflow of foreign cars following the abolition of tariffs on cars imported from ASEAN countries under the ASEAN Trade In Goods Agreement (ATIGA) at the start of the year.

The decree, which took effect in January, requires various registration and quality control certificates from the country of origin for each imported automobile. It also requires importers to have one car from each batch shipped to Vietnam to go through emissions and safety tests. If imported cars cannot pass these requirements, they are instead left to gather dust in storage.

Thereby, many foreign auto manufacturers have decided to suspend exports to Vietnam following the decree. The Vietnamese MoIT claims the regulation will protect consumers and create fair competition between local auto assemblers and CBU importers.

After a two-month hiatus, earlier in March, Honda managed to complete the required dossier to import the first batch of 2,000 cars to Vietnam.

Vietnam imported only 17 cars with less than nine seats in January this year, compared to the 3,700 units in just a fortnight in January 2017. In total, the country imported 536 completely built units (CBUs) between January and February, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs.Opening ceremony of new Advanced Imaging Training Centre at Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine

The university, which opens its new Advanced Imaging Training Centre today will offer technical and hands-on training with GEs Enterprise Imaging Software such as Centricity TM Universal Viewer and Advanced Visualisation.

Centricity TM Solutions for Enterprise Imaging delivers comprehensive reading across hospitals, reporting and collaboration across care pathways to help improve clinical efficiency and drive enhanced patient outcomes.

The opening of the centre is a milestone for the university and signifies a step up in the future of healthcare in Vietnam.

Pham Ngoc Thach University will be a first-mover in the country, offering education around enterprise imaging solutions in Vietnam, and elevating the current traditional textbook model of teaching to include hands-on digital experience.

In addition, training will be open to qualified clinicians from across the country who are looking to upskill themselves through specialist and master programmes, and Continuing Medical Education (CME) courses.

In the last few decades, the landscape of radiology has changed dramatically. Advances in imaging technology have made medical images increasingly detailed and informative. The traditional concept of practicing radiology with film is gradually becoming outdated," said Professor Ngo Minh Xuan, MD., PhD, rector of Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine. "Qualified radiologists and advanced diagnostic imaging training courses are particularly needed in Vietnam where imaging equipment and facilities are distributed all over the country, from communes to districts, provincial and central locations. Learning how to use technology will ensure better clinical outcomes starting from administering the scan to the diagnosis

Rector of Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine Ngo Minh Xuan, Deputy Minister of Health Pham Le Tuan, director general of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health Nguyen Tan Binh

GE Healthcares Centricity TM Universal Viewer features a single image repository across 2D and 3D studies generated by X-Ray Systems, Computed Tomography, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Ultrasound and more, across all providers in the healthcare system.

Workload management tools and access to images from multiple care areas from a single desktop increases clinical collaboration and productivity. It allows clinicians to fuse MRI images with other scans and improve diagnostic accuracy.

Another powerful benefit is the processing of dynamic or functional scans to show changes caused by a disease over time, providing a complete view of the patients medical history. Radiologists, clinicians and radiographers will be able to learn and practice the processing and interpreting of complex cases.

Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine elevates radiology curriculum with GEs enterpirse imaging solutions

Enterprise imaging is a prime example of how information technology can improve patient outcomes. We are confident that our investment and collaboration with Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine will further promote knowledge sharing in the field of radiology and bring about better utilisation of information technology in medical imaging, thereby benefiting patients across Vietnam, said Marc Foo, senior commercial director for Healthcare Digital, GE Healthcare ASEAN.

Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine is a public medical school in Ho Chi Minh City. It offers graduate and postgraduate education in medicine and healthcare staff training for the southern region of Vietnam. Its new Advanced Imaging Training Centre will be used as part of the curriculum effective immediately.

GE Healthcare on a mission to innovate Vietnams healthcare On the occasion of signing a memorandum of understanding with Vietnams privately-run Vinmec Healthcare System, Terri Bresenham, president and CEO of GE Healthcare in South ...

GE Healthcare becomes strategic partner of Vinmec GE Healthcare, the medical arm of General Electric, yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding with Vinmec Healthcare System, fostering science and technology application, boost the ...

GE Healthcare and partners extend BME training to South Vietnam GE Healthcare, in partnership with the Department of Medical Equipment and Construction under the Ministry of Health and local dealers VietMedical and T.D. Medical, recently ...

GE Healthcare supports anesthesia education and training in Vietnam GE Healthcare, in partnership with the Vietnam Society of Anesthesiologists (VSA), Viet Duc Hospital and Viet Medical, today opened the new VSA Simulation Training Lab ...ProPak Vietnam 2018 makes a timely return to serve burgeoning markets

Propak Vietnam 2018 is the ideal business platform for Vietnamese food, drink, and pharmaceutical manufacturers and suppliers to upgrade technological capabilities, enhance competitiveness in the market, and stay abreast of industry trends.

This is also a prominent gateway for industry leaders to learn from and network with peers from around the world, exchange professional knowledge and know-how, as well as discuss potential business partnerships.

Consistently attracting robust international participation, ProPak Vietnam 2018 will feature more than 420 exhibitors from 29 different countries and regions, and this figure is likely to continue to increase by the show date.

Notable among participating countries are the major manufacturing and exporting hubs, such as Australia, Spain, USA, Germany, France, Italy, China, Korea, and Japan.

A vast array of top-of-the-range equipment, innovative technologies, and solutions will be on full display across the 10,000 square metres of the exhibition space. The four main areas of focus include processing and packaging equipment and machinery, packaging materials and accessories, processing and packaging services, as well as quality control and training.

The exhibition has grown through the years and is a positive reflection of Vietnams strong industry growth which serves both domestic consumption and export markets.

ProPak Vietnam 2018 is the largest edition since its launch in 2005. The exhibition has grown through the years and is a positive reflection of Vietnams strong industry growth which serves both domestic consumption and export markets, said BT Tee, general manager of UBM VES, the organiser of the expo.

He added that, As Vietnams economic performance continues to strengthen, we expect to see a similar growth for ProPak Vietnam in the coming years, further solidifying its position as the event of choice for food, drink, and pharmaceutical processing and packaging technologies.

ProPak Vietnam 2018 will take place alongside Plastics & Rubber Vietnam 2018 in Ho Chi Minh City, the 7th trade event for plastics and rubber manufacturing technologies and materials.

Bosch showcases latest automation technology at Propak Vietnam 2018 Bosch Rexroth, the Drive and Control division of Bosch Vietnam, will showcase its latest technology for connected automation at Propak Vietnam 2018 on March 20-22.

Bosch Rexroth showcases cutting-edge technology at ProPak Vietnam 2017 Bosch Rexroth, the drive and control division of Bosch Vietnam, is showcasing its latest technology and solution at ProPak Vietnam 2017.

Bosch Rexroth introduces cutting-edge technologies, solutions at PROPAK VIETNAM 2016 Bosch Rexroth, the drive and control division of Bosch Vietnam, is introducing its solutions and technologies in drive and control for the packaging industry at ...Police said six people had been arrested, including a minor and a woman. (Photo: AFP/Olmo Calvo)

The protesters gathered in a square in the Lavapies district of the Spanish capital in the early evening, many of them young, dressed in black and wearing bandanas.

Some shouted "kill police", an AFP journalist heard. Marches were also held in Barcelona and Bilbao.

The call for demonstrations after the death of Mame Mbaye Ndiaye, a 35-year-old man from Senegal who suffered cardiac arrest after being reportedly chased by police on Thursday.

Mbaye was one of the many street vendors in Madrid who lay out items like perfume or hats on white sheets, which they can quickly pick up and take away when the police arrives.

While illegal, the trade is often the only way to make a living for migrants struggling to find other employment.

According to city councillor Jose Javier Barbero Gutierrez, Mbaye had been selling his wares on the central Puerta del Sol square, which attracts scores of tourists daily, when police intervened.

Fellow vendors said police chased him through the streets, forcing him to run with his heavy merchandise wrapped in a sheet.

He died of cardiac arrest in a street close to his home in Lavapies some 15 to 20 minutes later, Barbero said. He added that Mbaye did not appear to have been tracked by police for at least the last part of the way home.

When Mbaye suffered the cardiac arrest, he was with a friend who called the police. Several officers arrived and tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate him.

CALL FOR CALM

Protesters then took to the streets on Thursday evening, setting fire to dustbins and motorbikes, and throwing stones at riot police.

Authorities arrested six people during the clashes, in which at least 10 police officers were injured.

The unrest continued on Friday morning, with several dozen migrants clashing with police and throwing chairs at security forces.

"We understand the spontaneous expression of pain that took place in our streets yesterday (Thursday)," Madrid Deputy Mayor Marta Higueras told reporters.

But "we want to call for calm," she said, adding that Mayor Manuela Carmena had cut short a trip in Paris to return to the city.

Also on Friday, Senegal's Foreign Minister Sidiki Kaba said he had sent a "note of protest" to Spain and requested an independent inquiry into the death.

'CHRONIC STRESS'

The city hall announced a full investigation, asking for CCTV footage to try and determine exactly what happened, as the plight of street vendors in Spain suddenly lept to the fore.

Barbero said that Mbaye had been living in Spain for 12 to 15 years without proper ID, "without the possibility of finding a proper job," adding living in these conditions caused "unhealthy chronic stress".

He called for reflection on "the way they experience daily situations of fighting for survival, when you constantly escape from the police, with the constant fear of being arrested."

According to Modou, a 25-year-old vendor from Senegal who refused to give his surname and knew the victim, Mbaye regularly sent money back to his family.

He was one of thousands of migrants who have reached Spain over the years in search of a better life.

Spain is the third busiest gateway for migrants coming to Europe, with more than 28,000 arrivals in 2017 by sea and by land, according to the International Organization for Migration. Hundreds have died along the way.

Anti-racism association SOS Racisme denounced that Mbaye was not able to get a residency permit after more than a decade in Spain.

Human rights groups regularly criticise the way migrants are dealt with in Spain, with detention centres often full, and limited access to asylum demands at the border.

Spain has a population of 46.5 million, among whom 10 per cent are foreign, with some 64,000 from Senegal.A residents filter tank central Quang Nam Provinces ai Minh Commune is full of dirt and smells due to alum contaminated water. - Photo baoquangnam.vn

Even when a water supply centre was built and put into operation, it only supplied a small number of households and provided an unstable water source.

In ai Loc Districts ai Minh Commune, as many as 115 households have been living with seriously aluminum-contaminated water for years.

Le Thi Nam, a resident of Phu My Village, told the online newspaper baoquangnam.vn that wells were their only water source as no water works had been built in their commune.

The wells had a yellowish colour and horrible smell.

Nam said she and other residents purchased clean water for drinking and used the contaminated water for other purposes.

Nguyen Toan, another resident in the village, said he hired two workers to dig a well, but they had not found clean water even after digging more than 40m.

He said many households as well as his family paid VN40-50 million (US$1,760 - $2,200) to dig a well, but the situation had not improved.

His five-square-metre filter tank was full of dirt, yellowish and smelly after a short time in use.

Nguyen inh, a local well driller, said that it took him three to five days to dig a well with the depth of nearly 50m to get water, and even then the water was not clean.

Phan Minh Quang, deputy head of ai Minh Communes Peoples Committees agricultural development unit, said that local residents were very worried about the quality of water from wells, as most were substandard.

The committee reported the situation to the district and provincial authorities, and had invited businesses to invest in water supply works in the commune for the last three years. However, the cost was too high for local residents and there were no funds available for such works from the committee. Thus, local residents had to use contaminated water for their daily use.

Water work failure

Residents in Nui Thanh Districts Tam Quang Commune were luckier. After a long time using dirty water, a clean water supply centre had been built to serve 3,600 households there.

Tam Quang Clean Water Centre, with investment capital of VN9.2 billion, was put into use in 2014, but the water supply was only enough for 700 households.

Local residents complained that the water source was weak during the summer, especially in June and July, seriously affecting their agricultural production and farming.

Hoang Ngoc Phong, head of the water centre, said that each month the centre could supply 3,000 cubic metres of water for households in four villages. The water could not reach those who lived in salt intrusion areas in Trung Toan, Trung Xuan, An Tay and An Hai Tay villages.

Truong Van inh, chairman of Tam Quang Communes Peoples Committee, said that local residents had sent petitions to the provincial authority in the past three years to get the problem solved but received no replies.

inh said many local units, such as Marine Police Zone 2 and border soldiers in Ky Ha Port, faced the same situation.

In response, Le Van Dung, director of the provincial Clean Water and Irrigation Consultancy Centre, said that the centre had received the complaints from residents.

But he was not sure when clean water would be supplied to these communes as the fund for the national programme on clean water and environmental hygiene by 2020 was out of money. Thus, none of projects would be carried out in the upcoming time.President of the Republic of Korea Moon Jae-in. - AFP/VNA Photo

The visit will be made at the invitation of Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang, announced the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The two sides set up diplomatic ties on December 22, 1992 and elevated their relationship to a strategic partnership in 2009.

According to Vietnams General Department of Customs, two-way trade between Vietnam and the RoK hit US$61.5 billion in 2017, a year-on-year increase of 41.3 per cent.

Vietnams exports to the RoK reached $14.8 billion, while its imports from the East Asian country stood at $46.7 billion, up 30 per cent and 45.3 per cent against 2016, respectively.

The two countries have set a target of $100 billion in two-way trade by 2020.

The RoK was the second largest foreign investor in Vietnam last year, behind Japan, with total registered capital of $8.49 billion.

In terms of accumulative investment, the country ranked first among 125 countries and territories investing in Vietnam, with total investment capital of $57.7 billion by the end of 2017.Tea-rrific: A view of Tam Chau Tea Farm which offers relaxing and tranquil moments for visitors. Photo dambri.com.vn

The weather is cool in Bao Loc City all year round. The locality hosts many mountains, hills, lakes, waterfalls and streams. In recent years, tourists have begun to discover its charms, such as the Dambri Waterfalls, farming sites with green tea fields by a romantic lake, Linh Quy Phap An Pagoda and other popular sites for young travelers.

A day at the Tam Chau Tea Planting Farm will be interesting as tourists travel from Bao Loc City to Dambri Ecological Tourism Site. In the middle of the road, tourists can visit the famous tea farm for relaxing and tranquil moments away from the citys bustling atmosphere.

Established in 2001, Tam Chau Tea Planting Farm covers a total area of 90ha with many hills planting famous kinds of tea like Kim Tien, Tu Quy and O Long.

Greeeny: Bao Loc Pass. Photo saostar.vn

Reflective: Bat Nha Monastery is an attraction in Bao Loc City. Photo chuahoanghiem.com

In the past four years, the farm has welcomed tourists free of charge, so they can experience a day as local farmer picking young tea leaves and learning the tea processing stages.

Working in the city with lots of stress, I feel relaxed coming here to enjoy fresh air and green landscapes, said Tran Thi Tra My, from Bao Loc City.

According to Nguyen Huu Chuc, deputy director of Tam Chau Tea Farm, the farm will build homestays around the lake, which measures 10ha wide, to offer overnight accommodation to tourists and an exhibition house to introduce Tam Chau Tea Trademark and tea planting and processing stages.

Tranquil: Monks at a worship ceremony at Linh Quy Phap An Pagoda. Photo news.zing.vn

Spiritual: Monks at Linh Quy Phap An Paggoda. Photo linhquyphapan.vn

After a day at the farm, tourists travel a further 10km to reach ambri Waterfalls, the highest waterfalls in the central highland region with 60m height. According to legend, the waterfalls began when a couple learned they could not stay together. Their tears turned into the waterfall we see today.

At the site, tourists can cycle around the lake to watch immense hills of flowers. The area has modern hotel rooms, conference halls, restaurants and tree houses, which are suitable for young couples and families wanting to stay near wild nature.

In our plan this year, we will invest in upgrading restaurants and hotel as well as healthcare services to meet increasing demands of tourists, said Chu Kim Thac, director of Dambri Tourism Company.

Linh Quy Phap An Pagoda in Bao Lam District has become a new tourism destination in the past two years, though it was built in 2006, thanks to the photos taken by young travelers over the beautiful landscape from a peak on Phap An Son.

From Quan Chieu Duong resting place on the peak, tourists can have an aerial view over mountains and hills below.

The pagoda is located 20km south of Bao Loc City. In order to trek to the top of the mountain, tourists often get up early in the morning so that when they reach the peak, they can receive the very first sunlight.

With an architectural style friendly to nature, a wooden gate at the Quan Chieu Duong has been compared as the Heaven Gate especially when the fog cover rolls in over quiet hills and mountains.

Sunrise spot: Heaven gate at Linh Quy Phap An Pagoda. Photo linhquyphapan.vn

Powerful: Dam Bri Waterfalls with a height of 57m. On sunny days tourists can see rainbow at the site. Photo news.zing.vn

The tranquil beauty and the pagodas solemn atmosphere here make me feel as if I were in a fairy land, said tourist Vu Song Ha, from HCM City.

Bao Loc City has various famed tourism destinations and the cultural features of ethnic minority groups like Co Ho and Chau Ma, said Nghiem Xuan Duc, chairman of Bao Loc Citys Peoples Committee. Especially gong culture is suitable for developing community-based tourism.

He said this year, the city will continue to invest in traffic infrastructure, call for enterprises to invest in infrastructure and create more tourism products to lure tourists.

Last year, Bao Loc City drew some 700,000 tourists.A possible safety threat to students attending Richmond Community Schools was recently averted before it began when a student submitted an anonymous tip to police regarding a social media post.

In a letter sent to parents March 11, Superintendent Brian Walmsley said a student reported a statement and social media post made by another student to police through the states OK2SAY program, which allows students to confidentially report tips on potential harm or criminal activities directed at students, school employees and schools.

Immediately, the administration and the Richmond police investigated the situation, and an immediate course of action was implemented to ensure that the student in question could not act in a manner that could cause any harm, he said in the letter.

Walmsley also addressed the issue at the school boards March 12 meeting.

This is an ongoing investigation, so I cant give details, he said, but we are committed to making sure the kids and the staff here are safe.

The superintendent also encouraged students and parents to report any potential threats to the OK2SAY program.

We have had multiple tips since the programs inception for our district to help students, Walmsley said.

You have to be able to speak up if you know something, he added. We need to be working together and reporting it so we can look into it.

Walmsley thanked the Richmond Police Department for their help addressing the situation.

I want to thank the Richmond police because they were extremely helpful and cooperative, and thats really what this is all about, he said. If there was any indication that I didnt believe our kids were safe, there wouldnt have been school today.

He also assured parents the district will follow the safety protocol currently in place, which includes keeping buildings locked and secure.

It may make peoples lives uncomfortable because they have to go through certain doors, but its for the safety of our kids and our staff, he said.

Tips can be submitted to OK2SAY by calling 855-565-2729, texting 652729 (OK2SAY) and emailing ok2say@mi.gov. Potential threats can also be reported online at michigan.gov/ok2say or through the OK2SAY mobile app.

Students host safety assembly one month after Florida school shooting

At the recent school board meeting, Haley Fortuna, student representative to the board, said students planned to host a school safety assembly instead of participating in the nationwide school walkout on March 14. Students across the country protested gun violence in schools one month after the Valentines Day school shooting in Florida.

We decided to make it something productive and not quite walk out, Fortuna said. (Principal Deborah Michon) and Mr. Walmsley have been very kind and worked with us on this to make it something more educational and just a better experience.

Students gathered in the high school gym at 10 a.m. March 14, the designated time for the walkouts that took place across the country.

Overall, the event focused on school safety and how students can get involved in the legislative process.

There really are chances for students to have their voices heard in a productive way, Fortuna said.

Fortuna said the student government sponsored a table at the event that allowed students to register to vote and paid to have the forms printed and mailed to the election office.

Students also had a chance to speak to administrators if they had questions or concerns about safety in the district.

Mark Ladd, a government teacher at Richmond High School, shared information with students at the assembly about how to get involved in legislation, even if they are not old enough to vote. A sample letter that could be sent to legislators was also available.

The Richmond High School Key Club provided T-shirts stating #ENOUGH to all students at the school and challenged the student body to do 17 acts of kindness throughout the day.

Whether thats smiling at 17 people or sitting with 17 new people at lunch, we are really trying to make this a productive day for us, Fortuna said.

Walmsley and members of the school board complimented Fortuna on her efforts regarding the event.

Im very proud of our students for coordinating this and putting it together and having their voice heard, Walmsley said.

On the morning of the assembly, Richmond High School Key Club President Emily Nichter told fellow students: We must take recent events as an opportunity and an obligation to unite with one another, taking action in the simplest form: by being kind. We, as students, have been granted the power to make an impact. We have the ability to impact the life of others on a day-to-day basis.

Barb Pert Templeton is a freelance reporter. She can be contacted at barbperttempleton.reporter@yahoo.com.The United Arab Emirates has a military base in Somaliland and is exploiting its port at Berbera. It has just undertaken to train Somalilands police force and local army.

Somaliland is not recognized by any State apart from Israel. Only Israel had dealings with it, setting up there its joint staff with Saudi Arabia against Yemen. But Somaliland is in the process of reverting to a colony of the United Kingdom, and is being bought by the United Arab Emirates.

Dubai Ports World has set up a company to manage Berbera Port. On 1 March 2018, a 10% stake in this company was transferred to Ethiopia. Somaliland retained a 30% stake and the Emirates 51 %.

Following this, the Somali Parliament  which considers Somaliland as a separatist, illegitimate Republic  condemned the Emirates presence and is forbidding any of its nationals from having any contact with Abu Dhabi.

At a press conference held on 16 March 2018, the President of Somaliland, Muse Bihi Abdi, categorized the Somali position as a declaration of war. In January, a conflict had almost broken out regarding the border of Puntland  another state that is not recognized.

All the alliances in the Horn of Africa are being re-organized. In one camp are Israel, Egypt and Saudi and in the other, the Qatar and Turkey. As for the United States, France, Japan and China, they have installed military bases in Djibouti.In Indonesia, a radical reform of criminal law has taken place. Now adultery and sexual relations between people of the same sex (photo) are crimes.

At the same time, legislation regulating the internet has also been reformed. Anyone who defames the president or various high officials could face time in jail. The platform Tumblr.com has been censured on account of its pornographic contents.

On 16 March 2018, a law entered into force bringing criticisms directed against Parliamentarians within the ambit of criminal law.

Furthermore, the autonomous region of Aceh is gradually establishing the Shariah. Its authorities have announced that anyone found guilty of a bloodshed crime would be beheaded.

Finally, a law penalizing fake news will probably be adopted prior to the Presidential Elections of 2019 to prevent ethnic conflicts.On 4 March, Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia Skripal were poisoned in Salisbury and remain in a critical condition. Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, a police officer who was also exposed in the attack, remains seriously ill. Specialist military troops have been deployed to assist in the investigation and to secure the sites of contamination. Hundreds of members of the public have been affected by this incident.

The United Kingdom police have conducted a thorough investigation, which has identified that the chemical that was used in Salisbury was a specific nerve agent from a class of chemical warfare agents known as Novichoks. These were originally developed by the Soviet Union, and then inherited by the Russian Federation. Novichoks are highly toxic poisons that prevent the normal functioning of the nervous system. Their fabrication requires production techniques inside a controlled laboratory with experts with experience of handling highly toxic agents safely.

As I stated to the Parliament of the United Kingdom yesterday, the British Government believes that it is highly likely that the Russian Federation was responsible for this attack. No country except Russia has the combined capability in chemical warfare, intent to weaponize this agent, and motive to target the principal victim. This action is consistent with a well-established pattern of Russian State aggression. The Foreign Secretary made clear to the Russian Ambassador in London on 12 March that this leaves only two possible scenarios. Either the Russian State has attempted murder on British soil using a chemical weapon or Russia has lost control of its stockpile of nerve agents.

The Foreign Secretary asked the Russian Ambassador to explain which of the two possibilities was true and to account for how this Russian-produced nerve agent could have been deployed in Salisbury against Mr. Skripal and his daughter. He also stated to the Ambassador that the Russian Federation must immediately provide full and complete disclosure of the Novichok programme to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. He has requested the Russian Governments response by the end of Tuesday, 13 March.

The United Kingdom is determined that those responsible for this crime be brought to account in accordance with the rule of law. This attack on British soil using a banned chemical weapon is not only a crime in its own right, but a clear challenge by a State Member of the United Nations to the rules-based international order. As such, it must be addressed with the support of the international community.Question: You said recently that the Russian Foreign Ministry has not yet received an official request from London on the Sergey Skripal case. Has anything changed during the day? Moscow also drew attention to the need to conduct a joint investigation and presentation of samples of the toxic agent. Is there any progress in this case?

Sergey Lavrov: There is regress. We are not seeing any progress. We have not yet received any official inquiry from London on the poisoning of Skripal and his daughter. In turn, we officially notified the Brits that we will be ready to answer their inquiry if they formulate it on the basis of their own commitments under the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) that requires that an official inquiry is sent in such cases to the competent bodies of the country that is suspected of the crime that has been committed. Such an inquiry has not been sent.

Moreover, a spokesman of the United Kingdom in the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons started asking our representative why we are bringing the Chemical Weapons Convention into this conversation. It was allegedly enough for British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson to have invited the Russian ambassador and told him everything. This is amazing self-conceit that is visible in the steps taken by London not only in this case but also in many other situations. We calmly explained once again that holding consultations in accordance with the CWC is mandatory, not optional. If there are no more experts in London that could advise the heads of the Foreign Office and Downing Street how a law-abiding member of the international community should behave in such cases, this is not our problem. When the official inquiry is made we will definitely respond to it in 10 days in line with our CWC obligations. Our answer will meet the requirements of this international document. However, for the time being instead of making this inquiry the United Kingdom continues playing political games.

Yesterday Theresa May sent an official address to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, which was distributed in New York. It said the chemical was produced in the USSR and later on became Russias property. How does this correspond to the complete destruction of chemical arms by this country, which was registered by the CWC in the presence of observers, including US experts? This question is not answered. It is claimed that nobody but Russia could bring this chemical to Britain and nobody but Russia has motives to target these victims. I will leave this allegation without any comment because yesterday Russian and Western media provided numerous arguments demonstrating that Russia could not have any motives for the crime.

Meanwhile, those who would like to continue this Russophobic campaign in all areas of human activities without exception could have and definitely had motives for it.

In her letter Ms May uses the phrase highly likely about her assertions (I think this is the most interesting point in it). People who are urging respect for international law simultaneously refuse to abide by their CWC commitments. Talking about some partys involvement in certain actions and describing it as highly likely is not really defensible or serious.

Incidentally, such terms as highly likely or with high confidence were frequently used in the report on the notorious incident involving the use of chemical weapons in Khan Shaykhun, Syria, on April 4. This incident was investigated remotely, in part by laboratories located in the UK. The results of the investigation were forwarded to The Hague. When we were told that this organisation will rely on the information of a British laboratory, we asked our British colleagues competently as representatives of any country that want to have precise information to tell us how samples from Khan Shaykhun were received. We were told that this area was controlled by militants and was unsafe. We wanted to know how the analysis was conducted and how samples were delivered to the relevant laboratories.

We were unceremoniously denied any information. London has been repeatedly employed this approach  we know everything, believe us, and we demand that you accept everything.

I even thought that this approach outdoes even Soviet Prosecutor-General Andrey Vyshinsky who used to say that confession is the tsarina of all evidence.

But this is not enough for our British colleagues and those who start supporting them without any proof, without even knowing the results of the investigation that has not yet been completed. For them it is not confession but suspicion that they voice themselves that should be treated by the international community as the tsarina of all evidence. There is no deal on that. We will uphold international law. We do not see our partners putting forward any arguments. Those who make accusations without citing any facts will be taken to task for their crude attempt to mislead the public.On March 14, the UN Security Council convened an emergency meeting in New York to discuss the chemical incident which took place in Salisbury, Great Britain, the so-called Sergey Skripal case. It was the Russian Federation that had asked for the format of the meeting to be changed to an open briefing. The Russian representative provided a tough and well-argued response to the groundless accusations against Russia, as well as Londons insinuations and ultimatums with US Permanent Representative Nikki Haley joining this chorus without delving into any details.

At the same time, the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN Vassily Nebenzya highlighted Russias readiness to cooperate with the British investigation under the Chemical Weapons Convention, especially since a citizen of the Russian Federation, Yuliya Skripal, suffered in this incident. The response to this statement consisted of a series of propaganda statements that are only suitable for ill-informed and unassuming members of the public that can be easily impressed.

To confirm the seriousness of Russias intentions, the Russian delegation proposed to draft immediately, on the same day, a coordinated and depoliticised statement by the Security Council on the incident reflecting the international legal perspective on the matter. In doing so, we also sought to avoid any interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state (in this case, Great Britain) and the investigation by its national authorities. It should be said that it is not uncommon for London and other Western countries to engage in practices of this kind.

The draft statement that we prepared reads as follows:

Reports on the alleged use of a toxic agent in Great Britain is a matter of grave concern for members of the UN Security Council, who call on all interested member states to hold consultations and cooperate on investigating this situation in keeping with their commitments under Par. 2, Article IX of the Chemical Weapons Convention.

Members of the Security Council reiterated their resolute support for the Chemical Weapons Convention and noted the need to create a world free from chemical weapons.

However, the British delegation suggested amendments that distorted the very gist of the document, which led us to stop the drafting process and in fact thwarted its adoption.

In doing so, London continued its provocative and hysterical actions of the recent days, once again showing that it is not really interested or committed to conducting a full and trust-worthy professional investigation into the Salisbury incident. For us this was no surprise.Two men have been arrested in the last 24 hours for raping underage girls in separate Etowah County cases.

John David Coggins, 24, of Gallant, was booked into jail on a count of second-degree rape Thursday evening, according to jail records.

The Etowah County Sheriff's Office said Coggins is accused of raping a 14-year-old girl at a home on Smith Chapel Road in Boaz. A family member reported the incident to authorities, according to the sheriff's office.

In the other case, Clint Evan Causey, 25, also of Gallant, was charged with first-degree and second-degree rape. He's accused of raping a 14-year-old girl several times over the last three years, authorities said. That case also was reported by a family member, they said.

Bond was set at $50,000 for Coggins and $125,000 for Causey. Neither man will be allowed to have any contact with anyone under 18 if they post bond, authorities said.(ABC News) Former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe was fired Friday from the federal government, just two days before he was set to retire, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced in a statement late Friday night.

Nearly 24 hours earlier, McCabe was inside the Justice Department making the case to keep his job until Sunday when he officially qualifies for retirement benefits. His firing means his full pension -- built after nearly 22 years in government -- is in jeopardy.

President Donald Trump ripped McCabe on Twitter around midnight hours after McCabe was fired. Trump twice called it a "great day" and said McCabe was worse than regular Trump target, James Comey, the former FBI director fired by Trump last May.

In his statement Sessions said: "After an extensive and fair investigation and according to Department of Justice procedure, the Departments Office of the Inspector General (OIG) provided its report on allegations of misconduct by Andrew McCabe to the FBIs Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR)."

"The FBIs OPR then reviewed the report and underlying documents and issued a disciplinary proposal recommending the dismissal of Mr. McCabe. Both the OIG and FBI OPR reports concluded that Mr. McCabe had made an unauthorized disclosure to the news media and lacked candor -- including under oath -- on multiple occasions," the statement continued.

"The FBI expects every employee to adhere to the highest standards of honesty, integrity, and accountability. As the OPR proposal stated, all FBI employees know that lacking candor under oath results in dismissal and that our integrity is our brand, Sessions said.

"Pursuant to Department Order 1202, and based on the report of the Inspector General, the findings of the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility, and the recommendation of the Departments senior career official, I have terminated the employment of Andrew McCabe effective immediately," the Sessions statement said.

McCabe issued his own statement saying he would no longer keep silent.

"For the last year and a half, my family and I have been the targets of an unrelenting assault on our reputation and my service to this country. Articles too numerous to count have leveled every sort of false, defamatory and degrading allegation against us. The Presidents tweets have amplified and exacerbated it all. He called for my firing. He called for me to be stripped of my pension after more than 20 years of service. And all along we have said nothing, never wanting to distract from the mission of the FBI by addressing the lies told and repeated about us."

"No more," McCabe said.

Later in his statement, McCabe accused the president of driving an effort to destroy his reputation and hurt special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.

"Here is the reality: I am being singled out and treated this way because of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of James Comey. The release of this report was accelerated only after my testimony to the House Intelligence Committee revealed that I would corroborate former Director Comeys accounts of his discussions with the President," the statement said.

"The OIGs focus on me and this report became a part of an unprecedented effort by the Administration, driven by the President himself, to remove me from my position, destroy my reputation, and possibly strip me of a pension that I worked 21 years to earn. The accelerated release of the report, and the punitive actions taken in response, make sense only when viewed through this lens. Thursdays comments from the White House are just the latest example of this," McCabe said.

"This attack on my credibility is one part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally, but to taint the FBI, law enforcement, and intelligence professionals more generally,' McCabe's statement continued. "It is part of this Administrations ongoing war on the FBI and the efforts of the Special Counsel investigation, which continue to this day. Their persistence in this campaign only highlights the importance of the Special Counsels work."

Friday's move by Sessions comes after FBI officials concluded McCabe should be fired for allegedly misleading internal investigators about his role two years ago in allowing an FBI spokesman and FBI attorney to disclose information about the agency's Clinton Foundationinvestigation to a reporter.

On Thursday, press secretary Sarah Sanders said McCabe's "troubling behavior" was "well-documented," insisting McCabe was "by most accounts a bad actor."

McCabe, however, has denied any wrongdoing.

I have tried at every juncture to be as accurate and of course truthful in all of my encounters with whoever was interested in asking questions, McCabe recently told ABC News. The idea of being condemned or miscast in any way contrary to that is just unbelievably disappointing and really offensive to me.

After McCabe was questioned by investigators, he said he realized he needed to clarify some of his responses, so he proactively reached out to those people to ensure that they clearly understood what my position was." He would not offer any further details.

The FBIs Office of Professional Responsibility recommended that McCabe be fired after an internal report by the Justice Departments inspector general accused the FBI veteran of misleading investigators looking into how FBI and Justice Department officials handled an array of matters connected to the 2016 presidential campaign, a source briefed on the recommendation told ABC News.

Because the inspector generals report has not been released publicly yet, its still unclear exactly why investigators believe McCabe was not forthcoming, or if McCabe is criticized for other actions. ABC News has not reviewed the report.

Over the past year, McCabe has become a frequent target of criticism from Trump and Republican lawmakers, who allege that McCabes time at the top of the FBI was emblematic of political bias in the FBIs law enforcement work.

In 2015, while McCabe was head of the FBI's Washington Field Office, his wife ran for state senate in Virginia as a Democrat. She lost the election in November 2015, and three months later McCabe became deputy director, giving him an oversight role in the investigation of Hillary Clintons use of a private email server as secretary of state.

In October 2016, the Wall Street Journal published at least one article that questioned whether McCabe was hampering the federal probe of the Clinton Foundation.

According to McCabe, he was trying to push the probe forward while the Justice Department tried to slow it.

I had not slowed our efforts, but it was part of the same theme: I was maybe politically motivated, and worse, that the FBI was being subjected to influence, McCabe said. I just thought that was incredibly damaging to the FBI."

Ahead of the storys publication, McCabe authorized an FBI spokesman to speak with the Wall Street Journal about efforts to keep the Clinton Foundation investigation moving forward, McCabe told ABC News. As the number-two at the FBI, McCabe has authority to approve such a disclosure, McCabe said.

After the Wall Street Journal story was published, McCabe recused himself from the Clinton matter.

McCabe first joined the FBI in 1996, investigating organized crime cases in New York. Over the next several years, he shifted his focus to rooting out international terrorists, and in 2012 he became the head of the FBIs counterterrorism division at headquarters in Washington.

In October 2013, McCabe took over the FBIs entire national security branch, and the next year he moved to become the assistant director in charge of the FBIs Washington Field Office.WAAY 31 learned about the heroic efforts of three Huntsville Police Officers.



They ran into a burning apartment building to make sure everyone got out alive.

"I went to the area where the fire was. I started beating on doors. Initially, people weren't coming out. I started banging harder, and people started coming out slowly," said Officer Tanius Scott.

The fire happened at the Brixworth Apartments off Old Madison Pike while more than a dozen people were sleeping inside.

The officers told WAAY 31, they just happened to be at the right place at the right time. They were responding to a domestic disturbance at the complex when they noticed the building was on fire.

"That night it was so windy that when the wind hit it the fire totally engulfed the whole building," said Officer Lenzie Albert.

Scott told us they banged on doors trying to wake up the people inside, but they were especially concerned about people living on the second floor.

"The flames were so intense. They were literally pushing me back. I knew there was no way I was going to make it up there," said Scott.

One man came out of his unit on fire, according to the officers.

"I had to tell him sir, you're on fire. Stop drop and roll. He kinda looked at me real quick. He stop dropped and rolled and put the fire out himself, " Officer David Jones explained.

That image is something Jones can't get out of his mind.

"His hair, I remember his hair in flames and the back of his shirt just burning," he said.

All three told WAAY 31, Huntsville Fire and Rescue responded within minutes, but the officers didn't think their job was done.

"The next responsibility as far as I was concerned was getting a list of residents in apartment 9 to make sure we did get everyone out of the building," said Albert.

The trio are humble about saving lives and risking they're own, and told me they did what anyone would do.

"It was a blessing we were so close to the building to evacuate people and get them out," Albert added.

The officers told us they weren't working alone to evacuate the building. They also had some help from workers in a nearby restaurant.

WAAY 31 checked with Huntsville Fire and Rescue this afternoon, and they told us the cause of the fire is still under investigation.Madison Police Department made an arrest in connection to a bomb threat made at Madison Walmart.

According to Madison Police Detectives, they began an investigation which led to the arrest of a juvenile suspect.

Authorities told WAAY 31, the suspect was charged with Making Terrorist Threats, which is a class C Felony.

Since the suspect is a juvenile no other information will be released, authorities added.

According to authorities a man called the store about a bomb threat inside just before 9:00 a.m. Thursday Mar. 15.

During this time Madison Police also advised people to do the same for nearly three hours, after the call was made.

Police told WAAY 31 they worked with the Huntsville Bomb Squad to check a suspicious item found inside the store.

No bomb was found and the store was reopened around noon Thursday, police added.The 41st annual St. Patrick's Day parade in Huntsville will impact commuters in the area with Huntsville Police shutting down streets starting at 10:30 a.m.

Huntsville Police told WAAY 31 they will also have more officers around the parade for security.

Business owners downtown said they're also beefing up security for this popular drinking holiday.

Brit Crossley is the owner of Keegan's Irish Pub.

He said his bar is one of many downtown that will have onsight HPD officers to deal with any people who get too drunk.

"Everybody is. They have to this time of year. You just have a big influx of people and you got to make sure everything is taken care of," said Brit Crossley.

St. Patrick's Day isn't all about drinking in Huntsville.

There will also be a family friendly parade starting at 11:30 p.m.

Abby Cook will be walking in that parade.

She's excited, but she said there's something else she's looking forward to more.

"Probably getting lunch after," said Cook.

If you're not in the parade Saturday, but you want to see what the route looks like from the perspective of somebody who is, just hop in the car with WAAY 31's Kody Fisher and lets go for a quick ride.

It starts out on Woodson Street NW and you take a quick right onto Holmes Avenue.

From there, take a left on Monroe Street NW.

Once you take that to Jefferson Street N and take a right you're entering the heart of downtown.

After passing the court house take a right onto Williams Avenue SW for a nice view of Big Spring Park.

After going in front of the Von Braun Center and taking a left onto Clinton Avenue you're done.

HPD will be closing off these streets starting at 10:30 Saturday morning.

Andrea Layden and her family are going to the parade Saturday.

Safety at big events is always somewhere in the back of her mind.

"In any big crowd there's going to be one guy who ruins it for everybody, but I think in an area like huntsville there's a greater sense of community and I don't feel as threatened in an area like this as I might in a bigger city," said Layden.

The Huntsville Police Department told WAAY 31, on top of the extra officers out Saturday for safety, they'll also have DUI units patrolling hot spots throughout the area to catch people who are drinking and driving.(CNN) -- Already under scrutiny about a dog dying in an overhead bin and another dog being accidentally sent to Japan, United Airlines on Friday acknowledged its third animal-related mistake in a week.

A flight was diverted to Akron, Ohio, on Thursday after the airline realized a pet had been loaded onto the flight in error, airline spokeswoman Maggie Schmerin told CNN.

Flight 3996 was carrying 33 passengers from Newark, New Jersey, to St. Louis, but the pet was due to fly from New Jersey to Akron. United told CNN the unidentified animal was "safely delivered to its owner."

United said it offered compensation to all passengers as a result of the diversion. The airline declined to provide details about the compensation.

There were two earlier animal-related mistakes made by United Airlines this week.

Tuesday, a 10-year-old German shepherd named Irgo was flown to Japan when he was supposed to end up in Kansas. In Irgo's place was a Great Dane that was supposed to be en route to Japan.

Irgo was reunited with his family Thursday. United issued an apology after the discovery of the switched dogs.

Monday, a French bulldog died on a Houston-to-New York flight after a United flight attendant told its owners to put the dog, in its carrier, in an overhead bin. United spokesman Jonathan Guerin said the passenger told the flight attendant there was a dog in the carrier, but the attendant "did not hear or understand her, and did not knowingly place the dog in the overhead bin."

The incident drew outrage online and prompted a US senator to demand an explanation from United.

"As we stated, we take full responsibility and are deeply sorry for this tragic accident. We remain in contact with the family to express our condolences and offer support," Guerin said. He added that in order to prevent another situation like this, the airline will issue bright-colored bags to customers traveling with in-cabin pets.

"This visual tag will further help our flight attendants identify pets in-cabin," Guerin said.

The-CNN-Wire

 &  2018 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.GADSDEN, Ala. (AP) - Authorities say an Alabama woman is charged with drugging a 5-year-old boy before dropping him off at school.

The Etowah County Sheriff's Department says 41-year-old Margaret Ann Elchin of Boaz was arrested on a felony charge of aggravated child abuse.

Officials say the woman gave the child a pill that caused him to lose consciousness at times and have slurred speech. They say school workers noticed something was wrong and contacted authorities.

The child was treated at a hospital, and Elchin is free on bond.

Court records show Elchin didn't yet have a lawyer to speak on her behalf Friday, and authorities didn't disclose the relationship between the woman and the child.

Officials also didn't say what kind of drug the child allegedly received.

(Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

3/16/2018 11:25:21 AM (GMT -5:00)This website is inclusive of tolerant people of all faiths, without exception. Neither anti-Semitism nor Islamophobia nor homophobia should ever be acceptable to anyone. We must all strive to live in peace and harmony with each other, regardless of religious affiliations, or none. Intolerance is the mother of strife and conflict.   Mark Alexander

We Britons are Europeans!Wir Briten sind Europaer! Nous, les Britanniques, sommes europeens !  Mark AlexanderEmail me at:markalexander.librabunda@gmail.comMalcolm Turnbull is urging business leaders to ride the economic surge from Asias rising middle class amid a dramatic show of support in the region for closer ties with Australia.

The Prime Minister is using a two-day summit with regional leaders to outline a boost to Australian jobs from stronger links as long as business leaders tap into the growing wealth of south-east Asia.

In a speech to business leaders at the summit, Mr Turnbull emphasises the four-fold rise in the middle class to 160 million potential customers among member countries of the Association of South-East Asian Nations.

Malcolm Turnbull with Joko Widodo last year.

Fairfax Media revealed on Friday that Indonesian President Joko Widodo said it was a good idea for Australia to join the ASEAN group of 10 nations, a significant show of support in a relationship that has been strained in decades past.Two elections, two results with national implications.

Labor has pulled a victory out of a tide of Green votes in Batman that many Labor strategists conceded was too strong to resist.

The result is a stunning turnaround for Bill Shorten and his candidate Ged Kearney that will encourage bolder policy positions from the opposition and cause significant repercussions for the Greens.

This is the sixth time Greens candidate Alex Bhathal has run in this seat and fallen short.

In 2016 she came within 1 per cent of defeating David Feeney. Tonight Labor extended its margin by gaining Green booths in the south it had long thought lost.

At 10pm, Kearney was leading 54-46 with nearly 70 per cent of the vote counted.

In South Australia, Nick Xenophon loyalists are refusing to concede their leader has lost his own seat.

Sixty per cent of the vote has gone to his Liberal rival Vincent Tarzia, with 65 per cent of the vote counted.

The state will have a new Liberal government led by premier-elect Steven Marshall after 16 years of Labor rule under Jay Weatherill.

You can continue to follow our coverage with a wrap up of the days events from Adelaide and Melbourne, here and here.

Thanks for joining us and we will see you again when Parliament returns on March 26.So what's Malcolm to do? It's already clear. He has no intention of resigning or opening himself to a spill motion to allow his party room to adjudicate, of course. He's already switched emphasis to another test entirely. When he announced his challenge to Abbott, he cited a second Abbott failure: "Ultimately, the prime minister has not been capable of providing the economic leadership our nation needs." And it's here that Turnbull is already seeking refuge. And he does have a good story to tell. At every opportunity he repeats the mantra: "403,000 jobs last year, over 1100 a day, strongest jobs growth in our nation's history. The economy is powering up, it's powering along." No longer 30 Newspolls but 403,000 jobs. Malcolm Turnbull is feeling the heat. Credit:Nick Moir Fair enough. There is no point to economic growth if it's not providing jobs. Growth is accelerating a little, by all accounts, as Australia enters its 27th year of continuous growth, a record for any developed country. And, as the eminent political economist Ross Garnaut says, "we've had much stronger - and more continuous - employment growth than we've had in any other 27-year period".

Unemployment at 5.5 per cent is still too high after such a long boom, but the trend is in the right direction. Seven out of 10 new jobs last year were full-time. Female participation in the workforce has hit an all-time high of 60 per cent. So when Coorey asked Turnbull why the people should stick with him after 30 lost Newspolls, he replied: "Well, because it's working. 403,000 jobs last year ... That's what it's all about." Except that, unfortunately for Turnbull, it's not. It used to be a rule of Australian politics a federal government could confidently expect re-election if the economy was growing solidly. That rule held true for the entire post-war era. It implied that voters put high priority on prosperity, and that they rewarded governments accordingly. But that rule expired in 2007. The government of John Howard and Peter Costello was thrown out despite the fact that it had presided over a stellar economic performance - unemployment halved, household wealth doubled, federal deficits turned into federal surpluses. By the time of the 2007 election, the Australian economy was already enjoying its longest boom on record, 15 years and counting.

But, tired of John Howard and swooning over Kevin Rudd, Australia decided that a strong economic performance was no longer credential enough for a government's re-election. It turned out that this was not an aberration. The Labor government of Julia Gillard lost its majority at the 2010 election, and was forced into minority government, again in a time of solid economic growth. Kevin Rudd lost the 2013 election in a similarly strong phase of growth. Perhaps most striking was that the Rudd-Gillard government of 2007-2010 had successfully managed the Australian economy through the savage global crisis of 2008. Almost alone among the major developed nations, Australia avoided recession. Decisive Reserve Bank action was also necessary but it was insufficient. Without the Rudd fiscal stimulus, Australia would have felt the pain of recession. Still the people seemed to give economic performance no special priority and elected Tony Abbott. As the boom rolled into its 26th year, Turnbull all but lost his majority last year, holding on by a single seat. What's happened?

"The long period of growth may be leading all of us as a community to somehow think that's just the natural state of affairs, that we don't need to do anything to achieve it," said the former governor of the Reserve Bank Glenn Stevens in his parting remarks in 2016. "That's not really so." ANU political scientist Ian McAllister confirms this suspicion. The survey data show that "there is a growing detachment in people's minds between economic conditions and what the government does  people see much less of a connection between the two." In other words, Australians now think that growth and prosperity is automatic and inevitable. We now give no credit to the governments that preside over conditions that are the envy of the rest of the world. Most Australians have no experience of recession. With a 27-year boom, you need to be at least 45 to have any adult memory of the last recession. The median age of Australians? 38. Of course it was an abject moment in modern democracy when Turnbull said that opinion polls should be the definition of prime ministerial success.

But even when he survives the likely 30th lost Newspoll and sweats his way through an uncomfortable April week and falls back on the economy's strength as his talking point, it's still not enough. Because under the post-2007 rule of Australian politics, an economic boom is necessary yet insufficient grounds for a prime minister to win. The government is hatching personal tax cuts, the time-honoured electoral bribe, to help it win the next election. When it finally declares that it can't get its proposed company tax cuts through the Senate, it will repurpose the remaining $35 billion for personal tax cuts instead. Labor can see the manoeuvre coming. That's why it's making difficult decisions to cut spending. So it can amass a revenue war chest to match and outmatch whatever the government promises. Bill Shorten has copped criticism for his new tax policy. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Of course, all polling in recent decades shows that Australian would prefer better health and education services than tax cuts. People want the government to provide what only governments can provide - these vital public goods - and are prepared to worry about their incomes for themselves. But political parties nonetheless charge ahead with fiscally reckless tax cuts. And, just like an economic boom, tax cuts aren't sufficient for victory either. Turnbull will need more if he hopes to win. Ultimately, at some point before the next election, Turnbull will actually need to win the hearts and minds or at least the attention of the electorate. Tony Abbott isn't the only Liberal who'll be looking to Turnbull's Newspoll performance. Turnbull might think that polling constitutes "no such metric" for measuring his leadership. His Home Affairs Minister and prime ministerial aspirant Peter Dutton has a different view. He agreed with an interviewer last year that 30 lost Newspolls in a row would present a legitimate trigger for leadership challenge: "That's a fair point and Malcolm Turnbull wouldn't step back from that point," Dutton predicted.Darwin has been battered with "destructive wind gusts" of up to 130km/h as category two Tropical Cyclone Marcus made landfall on the city on Saturday morning.

Yet the worst has now passed for Darwin, as the eye of the storm passed over the city on Saturday morning, with conditions expected to ease throughout the afternoon and evening.

The aftermath of Cyclone Marcus after it hit Darwin's CBD on Saturday. Credit:AAP

A warning remains in place on Saturday night from Dundee Beach to Mitchell Plateau, with a "watch zone" alert affecting Mitchell Plateau to Cockatoo Island.

The warning affecting Darwin was lifted on Saturday evening, as the cyclone moved off the coast near Daly River Mouth around 5pm local time.A 15-year-old boy has been charged after he allegedly stabbed a woman five times and stole from her during a random attack outside a Perth train station on Saturday evening.

The woman was walking near Claisebrook train station near the CBD at around 9.20pm when she was allegedly approached by the boy.

Claisebrook train station. Credit:Hannah Barry

She was stabbed five times and had property stolen from her during the attack.

She was rushed to Royal Perth Hospital where she remains in a serious but stable condition.Police divers have located a body believed to be that of a pilot missing for several days after a helicopter crash off Port Hedland on Wednesday.

Police said the crashed helicopter was detected by sonar imaging at around 12:30pm on Saturday afternoon.

The missing pilot is from Aviator Group, a company which specialises in marine pilot transfers. Credit:Aviator Group

Police Divers have since attended the scene and located a body believed to be that of the missing pilot, a 44-year-old man.

A Formal identification process is underway, with police saying next of kin have been "constantly updated and are aware of the recent developments."A monument to Sherlock Holmes, left, and Dr Watson, the fictional private detectives, sits near the Radisson Royal Ukraine Hotel and the British embassy in Moscow, Russia.

In a rapid escalation of a diplomatic crisis between the two countries, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said the UK's problem was not with the Russian people but with the Russian leader.

London: The UK's top diplomat pointed the finger directly at Vladimir Putin, saying it was "overwhelmingly likely" that he personally ordered the nerve-agent attack on British soil that poisoned ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

His intervention came the same day as the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said it was willing to support the UK's investigation into the poisoning of the Russian double agent and his daughter, and London police said that a Russian man found dead this week had been murdered.

"Our quarrel is with Putin's Kremlin and with his decision - and we think it overwhelmingly likely that it was his decision - to direct the use of a nerve agent on the streets of the UK, on the streets of Europe, for the first time since World War II," Johnson said in west London.

Prime Minister Theresa May announced the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats on Wednesday in response to the poisoning case and Britain is waiting on the Kremlin's response, which is expected to include tit-for-tat expulsions.

British PM Theresa May has not personally blamed Russia President Vladimir Putin. Credit:AP

"We have said on different levels and occasions that Russia has nothing to do with this story," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a text message responding to Johnson's claim. "Any reference or mentioning of our President is nothing else but shocking and unpardonable diplomatic misconduct."Miami: Engineers and state and university officials met hours before a newly built pedestrian collapsed, killing six people, but concluded that a crack in the bridge was not a safety concern, Florida International University said on Saturday.

The two-hour meeting on Thursday involved FIGG, which is the private contractor for the overall design of the bridge, the school, Florida Department of Transportation officials and Munilla Construction Management (MCM), which installed the bridge.

A FIGG engineer "concluded there were no safety concerns and the crack did not compromise the structural integrity of the bridge," FIU said in a statement on Saturday.

About three hours after the meeting concluded, the 950-tonne $14.2 million bridge fell down, crushing vehicles stopped at a traffic light on the eight-lane roadway below. At least six people, including three whose bodies were recovered on Saturday, were killed. Police said four vehicles are believed to be still under the collapsed bridge and more bodies may be recovered from the rubble.Brussels: Britain, France and Germany have proposed fresh EU sanctions on Iran over its ballistic missiles and its role in Syria's war, according to a confidential document, in a bid to persuade Washington to preserve the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran.

Iran has been beset by economic problems despite the promises of the 2015 nuclear deal. Credit:AP

The joint paper, seen by Reuters, was sent to European Union capitals on Friday, said two people familiar with the matter, to sound out support. They would need the agreement of all 28 EU member governments.

The proposal is part of an EU strategy to save the accord signed by world powers that curbs Tehran's ability to develop nuclear weapons, namely by showing US President Donald Trump that there are other ways to counter Iranian power abroad.Seahawks silenced as big leads disappear in loss to TitansARTS COUNCIL PLANS "GRAPE ESCAPE" FOR MARCH 30TH

THE COUNCIL'S SECOND ANNUALSPRING FUND RAISER

The Arts Council of Henderson County presents its second annual spring fund raiser, Grape Escape, on Friday, March 30, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m at Crate Wine Market & Project, 100 Daniel Drive in Laurel Park, NC. This event is a drop-in wine and cheese pairing, with music provided by Jack Drost. Tickets are $25/person.

Proceeds will benefit the Arts Councils programs plus a part of the proceeds will be donated to Christine Mariottis medical expenses. Christine is recovering from a serious fall at her home last October. She had served as the Arts Councils Artists-In-Schools Manager until that time. More information is available at the Arts Councils website, www.acofhc.org.

Tickets are limited and available by contacting the Arts Council of Henderson County at 828-693-8504 or from Crate Wine Market & Project at 100 Daniel Drive in Laurel Park, NC. Extra parking will be available at Dixie Diner, 1724 Brevard Rd., Hendersonville.

The Arts Council of Henderson County is a community organization that promotes, advocates for, and nurtures the arts in Henderson County and Western North Carolina. Its office is located at 401 North Main St., Ste. 302, Hendersonville, NC 28792. (Entrance on Fourth Avenue West.)

The Arts Council is supported in part by the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural & Cultural Resources; funds administered by the Community Foundation of Henderson County, Henderson County, Henderson County Tourism Development Authority, and the City of Hendersonville.By Jina Belcher Ground zero for federal efforts to boost communities reeling from the downturn[Read More]Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Former FBI deputy director Andy McCabe was fired Friday from the federal government, just two days before he was set to retire, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced in a statement late Friday night.

Nearly 24 hours earlier, McCabe was inside the Justice Department making the case to keep his job until Sunday when he officially qualifies for retirement benefits. His firing means his full pension -- built after nearly 22 years in government -- is in jeopardy.

President Donald Trump ripped McCabe on Twitter around midnight, hours after McCabe was fired. Trump twice called it a "great day" and said McCabe was worse than regular Trump target, James Comey, the former FBI director fired by Trump last May.

"Andrew McCabe FIRED, a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI - A great day for Democracy," he tweeted. "Sanctimonious James Comey was his boss and made McCabe look like a choirboy. He knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI!"

In his statement Sessions said: "After an extensive and fair investigation and according to Department of Justice procedure, the Departments Office of the Inspector General (OIG) provided its report on allegations of misconduct by Andrew McCabe to the FBIs Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR)."

"The FBIs OPR then reviewed the report and underlying documents and issued a disciplinary proposal recommending the dismissal of Mr. McCabe. Both the OIG and FBI OPR reports concluded that Mr. McCabe had made an unauthorized disclosure to the news media and lacked candor -- including under oath -- on multiple occasions," the statement continued.

"The FBI expects every employee to adhere to the highest standards of honesty, integrity, and accountability. As the OPR proposal stated, all FBI employees know that lacking candor under oath results in dismissal and that our integrity is our brand, Sessions said.

"Pursuant to Department Order 1202, and based on the report of the Inspector General, the findings of the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility, and the recommendation of the Departments senior career official, I have terminated the employment of Andrew McCabe effective immediately," the Sessions statement said.

"For the last year and a half, my family and I have been the targets of an unrelenting assault on our reputation and my service to this country. Articles too numerous to count have leveled every sort of false, defamatory and degrading allegation against us. The Presidents tweets have amplified and exacerbated it all. He called for my firing. He called for me to be stripped of my pension after more than 20 years of service. And all along we have said nothing, never wanting to distract from the mission of the FBI by addressing the lies told and repeated about us."

"No more," McCabe said.

Later in his statement, McCabe accused the president of driving an effort to destroy his reputation and hurt special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.

"Here is the reality: I am being singled out and treated this way because of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of James Comey. The release of this report was accelerated only after my testimony to the House Intelligence Committee revealed that I would corroborate former Director Comeys accounts of his discussions with the President," the statement said.

"The OIGs focus on me and this report became a part of an unprecedented effort by the Administration, driven by the President himself, to remove me from my position, destroy my reputation, and possibly strip me of a pension that I worked 21 years to earn. The accelerated release of the report, and the punitive actions taken in response, make sense only when viewed through this lens. Thursdays comments from the White House are just the latest example of this," McCabe said.

"This attack on my credibility is one part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally, but to taint the FBI, law enforcement, and intelligence professionals more generally,' McCabe's statement continued. "It is part of this Administrations ongoing war on the FBI and the efforts of the Special Counsel investigation, which continue to this day. Their persistence in this campaign only highlights the importance of the Special Counsels work."

Friday's move by Sessions comes after FBI officials concluded McCabe should be fired for allegedly misleading internal investigators about his role two years ago in allowing an FBI spokesman and FBI attorney to disclose information about the agency's Clinton Foundation investigation to a reporter.

On Thursday, press secretary Sarah Sanders said McCabe's "troubling behavior" was "well-documented," insisting McCabe was "by most accounts a bad actor."

McCabe, however, has denied any wrongdoing.

"I have tried at every juncture to be as accurate and of course truthful in all of my encounters with whoever was interested in asking questions, McCabe recently told ABC News. The idea of being condemned or miscast in any way contrary to that is just unbelievably disappointing and really offensive to me.

After McCabe was questioned by investigators, he said he realized he needed to clarify some of his responses, so he proactively reached out to those people to ensure that they clearly understood what my position was." He would not offer any further details.

The FBIs Office of Professional Responsibility recommended that McCabe be fired after an internal report by the Justice Departments inspector general accused the FBI veteran of misleading investigators looking into how FBI and Justice Department officials handled an array of matters connected to the 2016 presidential campaign, a source briefed on the recommendation told ABC News.

Because the inspector generals report has not been released publicly yet, its still unclear exactly why investigators believe McCabe was not forthcoming, or if McCabe is criticized for other actions. ABC News has not reviewed the report.

Over the past year, McCabe has become a frequent target of criticism from Trump and Republican lawmakers, who allege that McCabes time at the top of the FBI was emblematic of political bias in the FBIs law enforcement work.

In 2015, while McCabe was head of the FBI's Washington Field Office, his wife ran for state senate in Virginia as a Democrat. She lost the election in November 2015, and three months later McCabe became deputy director, giving him an oversight role in the investigation of Hillary Clintons use of a private email server as secretary of state.

In October 2016, the Wall Street Journal published at least one article that questioned whether McCabe was hampering the federal probe of the Clinton Foundation.

According to McCabe, he was trying to push the probe forward while the Justice Department tried to slow it.

I had not slowed our efforts, but it was part of the same theme: I was maybe politically motivated, and worse, that the FBI was being subjected to influence, McCabe said. I just thought that was incredibly damaging to the FBI."

Ahead of the storys publication, McCabe authorized an FBI spokesman to speak with the Wall Street Journal about efforts to keep the Clinton Foundation investigation moving forward, McCabe told ABC News. As the number-two at the FBI, McCabe has authority to approve such a disclosure, McCabe said.

After the Wall Street Journal story was published, McCabe recused himself from the Clinton matter.

McCabe first joined the FBI in 1996, investigating organized crime cases in New York. Over the next several years, he shifted his focus to rooting out international terrorists, and in 2012 he became the head of the FBIs counterterrorism division at headquarters in Washington.

In October 2013, McCabe took over the FBIs entire national security branch, and the next year he moved to become the assistant director in charge of the FBIs Washington Field Office.

Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.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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!Firefighters are battling multiple wildfires in Sand Springs on Friday afternoon.

Rock Fire, Sand Springs Fire, Sheriff's Office and police officers are out fighting three wildfires in the area. Law enforcement officials said residents can help by not calling fire departments unless a home or property are in danger.

Officials are looking for two males who were spotted on a red motorbike who they believe started the fires near Shell Creek Road.

The Osage Casino in Sand Springs was evacuated as a precaution due to the fires.

Highway 97 and Wekiawa Road have been shut down.

No injuries have been reported and no structures have been damaged at this time.ROME  A Rome man is facing a felony rape charge following an alleged rape over the weekend, according to the Rome Police Department.

Michael Egelston, 24, was arrested Wednesday, March 14 and charged with felony third-degree rape.

Police say in the early morning hours on Saturday, March 10, Egelston allegedly had unwanted sexual intercourse with a female victim.

Egelston was arraigned in Rome City Court and sent to the Oneida County Jail on $30,000 bail.Username: Password: or Register Thread Rating: 11 Vote(s) - 3.55 Average

1

2

3

4

5

Page: 1 2 3 4 Trump, Ivanka and Jerad are all currently being investigated by the FBI LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-04-2018 03:02 AM











Post: #31 RE: Trump, Ivanka and Jerad are all currently being investigated by the FBI

Advertisement He Man Wrote: (03-03-2018 12:14 AM) They announced the Ivanka investigation yesterday, Jerad and Trump have been being investigated for months now. They are going after all of their business corruptions, money laundering, influence peddling, private business loan seeking while using government travel money, etc. etc. etc. etc.

They are all going down for corruption, and other crimes.



Trumps Panama hotel debacle goes from bad to worse

Lawmakers demand answers about money laundering allegations at Trump's Panama hotel.



"Things seem to be going from bad to worse for President Donald Trumps property in Panama.



In a letter obtained by ThinkProgress, Reps. Norma Torres (D-CA) and Eliot Engel (D-CA) questioned Alan Garten, general counsel at the Trump Organization, regarding what Trump and his associates knew about alleged money and drug trafficking at the property  and when they knew it.



The letter points to a series of previous investigations, including a substantial report from Global Witness, into the building, which was formerly known as Trump Ocean Club. The reports highlighted how many egregious red flags Trump and his team ignored, all of which pointed to Trumps Panamanian property being used to funnel proceeds from Colombian cartels narcotics trafficking  a reality that, as Global Witness points out, transformed Trump into one of the beneficiaries of the massive money laundering.



As Torres and Engel write in the letter, which was first reported by Reuters, Given widely reported allegations of money laundering and drug trafficking in connection with Trump Ocean Club Panama, we believe it is imperative to understand the Trump Organizations knowledge of and role in sales at this property."



https://thinkprogress.org/jump-back-what...2cdbc03e3/

Thinkprogress.org







Might as well post a pic of George Soros''s latest bowel movement. Thinkprogress.orgMight as well post a pic of George Soros''s latest bowel movement. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-04-2018 03:04 AM











Post: #32 RE: Trump, Ivanka and Jerad are all currently being investigated by the FBI

LoP Guest Wrote: (03-03-2018 01:17 AM) And then nothing happened just like the "russian collusion" investigation.

He is obsessed. Let him obsess. It's funny. He is obsessed. Let him obsess. It's funny. Mr Misfit

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-04-2018 04:45 AM











Post: #33 RE: Trump, Ivanka and Jerad are all currently being investigated by the FBI

spo snouou Wrote: (03-03-2018 02:31 AM) He Man Wrote: (03-03-2018 12:44 AM) Wow, I wonder if that will make sending them to prison harder or easier?





Is this alternative fact version of Obama and his wife are really gay lovers with adopted kids?



link to image: https://m.popkey.co/dff5c1/XLXko_s-200x150.gif



it just has to be real ,no possible information could ever convince me they are not the same person now!



I think it is about time everyone told Jarred and Ivanka to go screw themselves..

You're not as cute as you think you are. I can't prove the use of one face playing multiple roles, only point the he way. I expect nobody to believe me and would think you possibly a little off if you did. The one face thing seems impossible and certainly unbelievable.

You must put in a one to three hour effort comparing facial features one at a time from the same angle. By then you will see enough to know I speak truth. After a few months...... You're not as cute as you think you are. I can't prove the use of one face playing multiple roles, only point the he way. I expect nobody to believe me and would think you possibly a little off if you did. The one face thing seems impossible and certainly unbelievable.You must put in a one to three hour effort comparing facial features one at a time from the same angle. By then you will see enough to know I speak truth. After a few months...... spo snouou

Vocem sine nomine audivit!

User ID: 1337

03-04-2018 04:54 AM



Posts: 67,592









Post: #34 RE: Trump, Ivanka and Jerad are all currently being investigated by the FBI

LoP Guest Wrote: (03-04-2018 03:02 AM) He Man Wrote: (03-03-2018 12:14 AM) They announced the Ivanka investigation yesterday, Jerad and Trump have been being investigated for months now. They are going after all of their business corruptions, money laundering, influence peddling, private business loan seeking while using government travel money, etc. etc. etc. etc.

They are all going down for corruption, and other crimes.



Trumps Panama hotel debacle goes from bad to worse

Lawmakers demand answers about money laundering allegations at Trump's Panama hotel.



"Things seem to be going from bad to worse for President Donald Trumps property in Panama.



In a letter obtained by ThinkProgress, Reps. Norma Torres (D-CA) and Eliot Engel (D-CA) questioned Alan Garten, general counsel at the Trump Organization, regarding what Trump and his associates knew about alleged money and drug trafficking at the property  and when they knew it.



The letter points to a series of previous investigations, including a substantial report from Global Witness, into the building, which was formerly known as Trump Ocean Club. The reports highlighted how many egregious red flags Trump and his team ignored, all of which pointed to Trumps Panamanian property being used to funnel proceeds from Colombian cartels narcotics trafficking  a reality that, as Global Witness points out, transformed Trump into one of the beneficiaries of the massive money laundering.



As Torres and Engel write in the letter, which was first reported by Reuters, Given widely reported allegations of money laundering and drug trafficking in connection with Trump Ocean Club Panama, we believe it is imperative to understand the Trump Organizations knowledge of and role in sales at this property."



https://thinkprogress.org/jump-back-what...2cdbc03e3/

Thinkprogress.org







Might as well post a pic of George Soros''s latest bowel movement. or dis-info wars or brietfart.. etc etc



places where dumbfuck brainwashed narcissist clingers go to die.. and obfuscate each other with endless whataboutisms in hell for eternity





forever avoiding to ever actually address and argue any topic ever again





brilliant strategy ftw





or dis-info wars or brietfart.. etc etcplaces where dumbfuck brainwashed narcissist clingers go to die.. and obfuscate each other with endless whataboutisms in hell for eternityforever avoiding to ever actually address and argue any topic ever againbrilliant strategy ftw (This post was last modified: 03-04-2018 04:57 AM by spo snouou .) Isabella

Registered User

User ID: 1337

03-04-2018 07:14 AM



Posts: 26,384









Post: #35 RE: Trump, Ivanka and Jerad are all currently being investigated by the FBI

Mueller's Focus on Adviser to United Arab Emirates Indicates Widening of Inquiry

Source: The New York Times





By MARK MAZZETTI, DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and MAGGIE HABERMANMARCH 3, 2018



"WASHINGTON  George Nader, a Lebanese-American businessman, has hovered on the fringes of international diplomacy for three decades. He was a back-channel negotiator with Syria during the Clinton administration, reinvented himself as an adviser to the de facto ruler of the United Arab Emirates, and last year was a frequent visitor to President Trumps White House.



Mr. Nader is now a focus of the investigation by Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel. In recent weeks, Mr. Muellers investigators have questioned Mr. Nader and have pressed witnesses for information about any possible attempts by the Emiratis to buy political influence by directing money to support Mr. Trump during the presidential campaign, according to people with knowledge of the discussions.



The investigators have also asked about Mr. Naders role in White House policymaking, those people said, suggesting that the special counsel investigation has broadened beyond Russian election meddling to include Emirati influence on the Trump administration. The focus on Mr. Nader could also prompt an examination of how money from multiple countries has flowed through and influenced Washington during the Trump era.



How much this line of inquiry is connected to Mr. Muellers original task of investigating contacts between Mr. Trumps campaign and Russia is unclear. The examination of the U.A.E. comes amid a flurry of recent activity by Mr. Mueller."







Read more: Source: The New York TimesBy MARK MAZZETTI, DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and MAGGIE HABERMANMARCH 3, 2018"WASHINGTON  George Nader, a Lebanese-American businessman, has hovered on the fringes of international diplomacy for three decades. He was a back-channel negotiator with Syria during the Clinton administration, reinvented himself as an adviser to the de facto ruler of the United Arab Emirates, and last year was a frequent visitor to President Trumps White House.Mr. Nader is now a focus of the investigation by Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel. In recent weeks, Mr. Muellers investigators have questioned Mr. Nader and have pressed witnesses for information about any possible attempts by the Emiratis to buy political influence by directing money to support Mr. Trump during the presidential campaign, according to people with knowledge of the discussions.The investigators have also asked about Mr. Naders role in White House policymaking, those people said, suggesting that the special counsel investigation has broadened beyond Russian election meddling to include Emirati influence on the Trump administration. The focus on Mr. Nader could also prompt an examination of how money from multiple countries has flowed through and influenced Washington during the Trump era.How much this line of inquiry is connected to Mr. Muellers original task of investigating contacts between Mr. Trumps campaign and Russia is unclear. The examination of the U.A.E. comes amid a flurry of recent activity by Mr. Mueller."Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/03/us/po...rates.html If you want to influence Trump, you got to be the last guy he talks to."



Steve Bannon LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-17-2018 06:55 PM











Post: #36 RE: Trump, Ivanka and Jerad are all currently being investigated by the FBI

Qatar officials decline to give Kushner info to Mueller probe: report

By Rebecca Savransky - 03/12/18 08:06 AM EDT



"Qatari officials have reportedly chosen not to share information they have gathered regarding White House adviser Jared Kushner to special counsel Robert Mueller.



Officials reportedly have information regarding alleged influence by the United Arab Emirates on Trump associates, including Kushner, NBC News reported. The evidence includes information about secret meetings.



Three sources familiar with the discussions said the Qatari officials don't want to hand over the evidence to Mueller because they don't want to negatively affect the relationship with the Trump administration.



A report earlier this month said Mueller's team of investigators was looking into whether an adviser to the de facto leader of the United Arab Emirates has influenced White House policymaking.



Mueller has been investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and whether there was possible collusion with the Trump campaign.



The report said Mueller's team was looking into a Lebanese-American businessman and adviser to the Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan, the crown prince of the UAE.



That businessman, George Nader, visited the White House frequently last year, according to the report. Investigators are examining Nader's role in the White House's policymaking and asking about efforts by the Emiratis to influence the Trump administration.



According to the report, investigators have been asking witnesses about possible attempts by the Emiratis to buy influence in the White House by supporting President Trump's 2016 campaign.



Mueller's probe has recently filed a superseding indictment against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and secured a guilty plea from Richard Gates, a former Trump campaign aide and associate of Manafort's."



http://thehill.com/homenews/administrati...obe-report By Rebecca Savransky - 03/12/18 08:06 AM EDT"Qatari officials have reportedly chosen not to share information they have gathered regarding White House adviser Jared Kushner to special counsel Robert Mueller.Officials reportedly have information regarding alleged influence by the United Arab Emirates on Trump associates, including Kushner, NBC News reported. The evidence includes information about secret meetings.Three sources familiar with the discussions said the Qatari officials don't want to hand over the evidence to Mueller because they don't want to negatively affect the relationship with the Trump administration.A report earlier this month said Mueller's team of investigators was looking into whether an adviser to the de facto leader of the United Arab Emirates has influenced White House policymaking.Mueller has been investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and whether there was possible collusion with the Trump campaign.The report said Mueller's team was looking into a Lebanese-American businessman and adviser to the Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan, the crown prince of the UAE.That businessman, George Nader, visited the White House frequently last year, according to the report. Investigators are examining Nader's role in the White House's policymaking and asking about efforts by the Emiratis to influence the Trump administration.According to the report, investigators have been asking witnesses about possible attempts by the Emiratis to buy influence in the White House by supporting President Trump's 2016 campaign.Mueller's probe has recently filed a superseding indictment against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and secured a guilty plea from Richard Gates, a former Trump campaign aide and associate of Manafort's." NormalIsSubjective



User ID: 1337

03-17-2018 08:41 PM



Posts: 21,000









Post: #37 RE: Trump, Ivanka and Jerad are all currently being investigated by the FBI

LoP Guest Wrote: (03-17-2018 06:55 PM) Qatar officials decline to give Kushner info to Mueller probe: report

By Rebecca Savransky - 03/12/18 08:06 AM EDT



"Qatari officials have reportedly chosen not to share information they have gathered regarding White House adviser Jared Kushner to special counsel Robert Mueller.



Officials reportedly have information regarding alleged influence by the United Arab Emirates on Trump associates, including Kushner, NBC News reported. The evidence includes information about secret meetings.



Three sources familiar with the discussions said the Qatari officials don't want to hand over the evidence to Mueller because they don't want to negatively affect the relationship with the Trump administration.



A report earlier this month said Mueller's team of investigators was looking into whether an adviser to the de facto leader of the United Arab Emirates has influenced White House policymaking.



Mueller has been investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and whether there was possible collusion with the Trump campaign.



The report said Mueller's team was looking into a Lebanese-American businessman and adviser to the Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan, the crown prince of the UAE.



That businessman, George Nader, visited the White House frequently last year, according to the report. Investigators are examining Nader's role in the White House's policymaking and asking about efforts by the Emiratis to influence the Trump administration.



According to the report, investigators have been asking witnesses about possible attempts by the Emiratis to buy influence in the White House by supporting President Trump's 2016 campaign.



Mueller's probe has recently filed a superseding indictment against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and secured a guilty plea from Richard Gates, a former Trump campaign aide and associate of Manafort's."



http://thehill.com/homenews/administrati...obe-report



"negatively affect the relationship with the Trump administration"?





Are they afraid the bus he threw them under will come back?







Donald Trump tweets support for blockade imposed on Qatar



Presidents claim that Qatar funds terrorism will shock state that sees itself as key US ally, as Gulf neighbours cut off trade and diplomatic links



Patrick Wintour, 6 Jun 2017 "negatively affect the relationship with the Trump administration"?Are they afraid the bus he threw them under will come back?Donald Trump tweets support for blockade imposed on QatarPresidents claim that Qatar funds terrorism will shock state that sees itself as key US ally, as Gulf neighbours cut off trade and diplomatic linksPatrick Wintour, 6 Jun 2017 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/j...i-blockade LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-17-2018 08:52 PM











Post: #38 RE: Trump, Ivanka and Jerad are all currently being investigated by the FBI

Democrats who only seem to care about illegal aliens, transgenders, and globalism. No thank you. NormalIsSubjective



User ID: 1337

03-18-2018 07:26 PM



Posts: 21,000









Post: #39 RE: Trump, Ivanka and Jerad are all currently being investigated by the FBI

LoP Guest Wrote: (03-17-2018 08:52 PM) Democrats who only seem to care about illegal aliens, transgenders, and globalism. No thank you.



As long as it's your flavor of shady bunch ruling the roost, all's well then? As long as it's your flavor of shady bunch ruling the roost, all's well then? LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-18-2018 07:29 PM











Post: #40 RE: Trump, Ivanka and Jerad are all currently being investigated by the FBI

NormalIsSubjective Wrote: (03-18-2018 07:26 PM) LoP Guest Wrote: (03-17-2018 08:52 PM) Democrats who only seem to care about illegal aliens, transgenders, and globalism. No thank you.



As long as it's your flavor of shady bunch ruling the roost, all's well then?

You just death bumped a he man thread. You have lost all respect and credibility. You just death bumped a he man thread. You have lost all respect and credibility. Magnus74

100% Right 48% of the Time

User ID: 1337

03-18-2018 09:01 PM



Posts: 144









Post: #41 RE: Trump, Ivanka and Jerad are all currently being investigated by the FBI

One minute globalist say we should all be one people with a global economy, Trump gets elected and the next they say "How dare you do business with other countries. Do investments influence your policy decisions? Are you colluding with the America's enemies?" The hypocrisy is astounding considering the Clinton Global Fund.

Next if we have a 401K or IRA with emerging markets funds, we will be labled traitors. When you come to behead me be careful not to bruise the face. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-18-2018 09:04 PM











Post: #42 RE: Trump, Ivanka and Jerad are all currently being investigated by the FBI

They did the same thing with Obama and his family





OP hasn't figure out that the American President office is now a fallacy and will forever be one now. Every single President since Kennedy has been investigated and the office turned upside down.



sh*t they carried a shadow over Obama for 8 years and slammed him down too! NormalIsSubjective



User ID: 1337

03-18-2018 10:00 PM



Posts: 21,000









Post: #43 RE: Trump, Ivanka and Jerad are all currently being investigated by the FBI

LoP Guest Wrote: (03-18-2018 07:29 PM) NormalIsSubjective Wrote: (03-18-2018 07:26 PM) As long as it's your flavor of shady bunch ruling the roost, all's well then?

You just death bumped a he man thread. You have lost all respect and credibility.



If you can't address the topic, then you've started out with neither. If you can't address the topic, then you've started out with neither. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-18-2018 10:05 PM











Post: #44 RE: Trump, Ivanka and Jerad are all currently being investigated by the FBI

we are literaly on the doorstep, in syria, of ww3.





you are distracted LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-18-2018 10:54 PM











Post: #45 RE: Trump, Ivanka and Jerad are all currently being investigated by the FBI

So was Elvis and John Lennon Advertisement

















That familiar, white, Greek Revival building on Utica's Varick Street was home to various families from 1840-1959. Later, it joined the Varick Street club scene, as Hollyrock and Blu. Next up for the more than 178-year-old building: possible demolition.

Steve Mancuso bought the building in January.

"I wanted to do a bar modeled after like a hard rock cafe with the records on the walls and guitars and basically be like a music venue," said Mancuso. But while removing some iron fencing from the exterior....a mishap.

"Snapped, busted the chain and broke through the wall of the building. It wasn't actually bad going in, but when you pull it out if you don't know the right way to do it, it caused more damage pulling it out than actually going through it."

The result-a gaping hole in the side of the building. An engineer came to survey the damage.

"Then he inspected the rest of the property and saw the beam that was buckling from the water damage of years and years," said Mancuso. "The insurance company wanted to see what the damage was so they sent their own independent structural engineer and he deemed it unsafe."

The city of Utica condemned the building and Mancuso wants to demolish the unsafe structure and start over, with a new building. But because the building is in the city's scenic and historic district, the Scenic and Historic Preservation Commission must sign of on its demolition.

"Because you fail to maintain a building, whether it's this owner or previous owner or whatever, if you don't maintain a building and it starts to fall apart, that's not grounds for demolition," said Commission Chair, Robert Heins, an architect by trade. "That's not a basis that our board can give approval."

Heins says the Commission's goal is to preserve history while promoting growth in the city.

"The building itself is contributory to the scenic nature of the street and but we'll look at it with an open mind. We are dedicated to seeing Utica grow," said Heins.

Mancuso goes before the Commission Monday afternoon. Whether or not they decide on the demolition Monday depends, in part, on what Mancuso presents in his request.Florida rescue crews worked through the night into Friday, searching through the rubble of whats left of a 950-ton pedestrian bridge that collapsed Thursday, killing at least six people. The pedestrian bridge was set into place just five days ago.

Locally, we experienced a similar tragedy back in 2002 when a pedestrian bridge collapsed in Marcy.

On Oct. 11, 2002, a pedestrian bridge that was under construction across State Route 49 collapsed, killing Scott Couchman of Mohawk and injuring nine others.

Several members of the Maynard Fire Department along with New York State Troopers who were stationed just miles away remember hearing workers call out for help under the twisted metal and concrete. It took roughly 45 minutes to pull them from the wreckage.

Investigators determined the collapse occurred where the concrete deck was being placed. Eyewitnesses said the bridge had been noticeably bouncy when the concrete was placed, and when it reached the middle of the bridge, it began to twist and roll before tipping off the abutments.

The bridge was nearing completion, similar to the south Florida bridge, and was planned to connect a residential area for students to walk across to get to Whitesboro High School.

Lawsuits and investigations quickly got underway, and New York State Was accused of violating labor laws in connection with the incident. It was decided that no criminal charges would be filed as a result of the bridge collapse.

A report from the Oneida County District Attorneys Office says the designer, building and overseer of the project were individually examined.

The investigation found that there was no inferior materials used in the bridges construction.

The collapse is now used as an example to engineering schools around the country of what could go wrong is designs are not thoroughly examined.

NEWSChannel 2 reached out to Dan Crossway, who was the acting fire chief for the Maynard Fire Department at the time, and he was unavailable but he says it was a day hell never forget.BENTON COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI) Auxilius Heavy Industries is offering a training program to students who are interested in the Wind Industry.

The program allows high school seniors and graduates to work on wind turbines and make a career out of it. Training sessions are held inside of the classroom and out in the field to give students the chance to gain hands-on experience of being a certified technician. The training program now has a facility for students and trained technicians to learn more about wind turbines.

Students will get the chance to repair turbines in their training facilities and experience what it is like on the inside of a turbine.

AHI Training Center Manager Martin Blessing said the program gives students the chance to earn money right out of school.

"For a young person coming out and making between $10 and $20 an hour is kind of unheard of coming out so we're going to provide training, make sure you're safe and do it correctly," Blessing said.

Student wind technician at AHI, Johnathan Gosch, has been training at Auxilius Heavy Industries since August. He said he took a different job before this because he was hesitant about the requirements.

"Back where I'm from in Illinois, we have a community college that was offering courses and I passed on it because my fear of heights."

Hugo Flores is a composite trainer at the training center. He said this is real-world experience for students because the majority of repair work they do involves blades from the turbines that have been damaged.

"Most of them are lightning strikes, that's what we do in this area, when we have storms they get damaged. They get structural damage that we have to fix in the air," Flores said.

Another wind turbine technician, Nathaniel Post, spent his day studying for a final exam in one of the courses. Post says the sense of community is what makes this job different.

"We're all put together as a big team, and you kind of grow your own family. You become friends and close friends and you know about each other's lives. It's one big family here," Post said.

The program allows students who are 18 years or older to register. Information on where students can apply can be found here.Username: Password: or Register Thread Rating: 3 Vote(s) - 5 Average

1

2

3

4

5

Page: 1 2 3 Russia expels 23 British diplomats in retaliation Prussian Troll

lop guest

User ID: kaput

03-17-2018 12:04 PM











Post: #1 Russia expels 23 British diplomats in retaliation

Advertisement



The Russian Foreign Ministry announced on Saturday morning that the 23 diplomatic representatives of the British Embassy in Moscow should leave Russia within a week.





http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/...60671.html Russia has announced it will expel 23 British diplomats in a like-for-like retaliation to British measures announced on Wednesday after the UK government blamed Russia for the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury on 4 March.The Russian Foreign Ministry announced on Saturday morning that the 23 diplomatic representatives of the British Embassy in Moscow should leave Russia within a week. Bicnarok

Resistance is futile

User ID: 1337

03-17-2018 12:13 PM



Posts: 3,659









Post: #2 RE: Russia expels 23 British diplomats in retaliation

I wonder what the NWO are diverting attention from Pinguu

Registered User

User ID: 1337

03-17-2018 12:26 PM



Posts: 6,186









Post: #3 RE: Russia expels 23 British diplomats in retaliation

I wonder if they give them time to pack and to arrange getting their children out of the Russian schools and back into a British school.....I wonder if the diplomats already have a house in the UK or if the British government put them up in a hotel until they can organise a rental or buy a new house in England..



So many details, I worry for these poor chaps being knocked pillar to post and all because those naughty Ruskies cant keep their nasty nerve agents to themselves. IF AT FIRST YOU DONT SUCCEED...CLAIM YOU ARE OPPRESSED.. (This post was last modified: 03-17-2018 12:27 PM by Pinguu .) LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-17-2018 12:43 PM











Post: #4 RE: Russia expels 23 British diplomats in retaliation

Pinguu Wrote: (03-17-2018 12:26 PM) I wonder if they give them time to pack and to arrange getting their children out of the Russian schools and back into a British school.....I wonder if the diplomats already have a house in the UK or if the British government put them up in a hotel until they can organise a rental or buy a new house in England..



So many details, I worry for these poor chaps being knocked pillar to post and all because those naughty Ruskies cant keep their nasty nerve agents to themselves.

Yeah, If attacked you, I'd sure use a weapon with my name on it!



Dumb peguin! Yeah, If attacked you, I'd sure use a weapon with my name on it!Dumb peguin! Pinguu

Registered User

User ID: 1337

03-17-2018 01:24 PM



Posts: 6,186









Post: #5 RE: Russia expels 23 British diplomats in retaliation

LoP Guest Wrote: (03-17-2018 12:43 PM) Pinguu Wrote: (03-17-2018 12:26 PM) I wonder if they give them time to pack and to arrange getting their children out of the Russian schools and back into a British school.....I wonder if the diplomats already have a house in the UK or if the British government put them up in a hotel until they can organise a rental or buy a new house in England..



So many details, I worry for these poor chaps being knocked pillar to post and all because those naughty Ruskies cant keep their nasty nerve agents to themselves.

Yeah, If attacked you, I'd sure use a weapon with my name on it!



Dumb peguin!

Look here sonny Jim,



If the BBC, Theresa May, French Prisident Macron, Trumps Government and all the other most bigly trustworthy respectable personage of the world say it was them pesky Russians that did it guvnor...



Then the likes of you should better shape up and fly right....



How dare you question the great OZ. Look here sonny Jim,If the BBC, Theresa May, French Prisident Macron, Trumps Government and all the other most bigly trustworthy respectable personage of the world say it was them pesky Russians that did it guvnor...Then the likes of you should better shape up and fly right....How dare you question the great OZ. IF AT FIRST YOU DONT SUCCEED...CLAIM YOU ARE OPPRESSED.. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-17-2018 01:35 PM











Post: #6 RE: Russia expels 23 British diplomats in retaliation

LoP Guest Wrote: (03-17-2018 12:43 PM) Pinguu Wrote: (03-17-2018 12:26 PM) I wonder if they give them time to pack and to arrange getting their children out of the Russian schools and back into a British school.....I wonder if the diplomats already have a house in the UK or if the British government put them up in a hotel until they can organise a rental or buy a new house in England..



So many details, I worry for these poor chaps being knocked pillar to post and all because those naughty Ruskies cant keep their nasty nerve agents to themselves.

Yeah, If attacked you, I'd sure use a weapon with my name on it!



Dumb peguin!

You would if you wanted to send an unambiguous message. Jeez, why do so many LOPers have trouble with this concept. Putin is sending a message to his own people for tomorrows election, to defectors and dissidents and to Britain. Can I spell out his message for the hard of thinking?



Putin strong, Russia strong, vote Putin.



Traitors will be killed, not safe anywhere. Traitors killed, vote for Putin.



Britain weak, ha ha, Russia strong, vote for Putin. You would if you wanted to send an unambiguous message. Jeez, why do so many LOPers have trouble with this concept. Putin is sending a message to his own people for tomorrows election, to defectors and dissidents and to Britain. Can I spell out his message for the hard of thinking?Putin strong, Russia strong, vote Putin.Traitors will be killed, not safe anywhere. Traitors killed, vote for Putin.Britain weak, ha ha, Russia strong, vote for Putin. Roddy's Creed

Registered User

User ID: 1337

03-17-2018 01:44 PM



Posts: 5,410









Post: #7 RE: Russia expels 23 British diplomats in retaliation

Pinguu Wrote: (03-17-2018 01:24 PM) LoP Guest Wrote: (03-17-2018 12:43 PM) Yeah, If attacked you, I'd sure use a weapon with my name on it!



Dumb peguin!

Look here sonny Jim,



If the BBC, Theresa May, French Prisident Macron, Trumps Government and all the other most bigly trustworthy respectable personage of the world say it was them pesky Russians that did it guvnor...



Then the likes of you should better shape up and fly right....



How dare you question the great OZ.

Damn! You were kiddin'. Almost got me! Damn! You were kiddin'. Almost got me! I do not label myself. What I stand for is based on my own convictions, and I don't care which box - the left one or the right one - they happen to belong. Roddy's Creed

Registered User

User ID: 1337

03-17-2018 01:45 PM



Posts: 5,410









Post: #8 RE: Russia expels 23 British diplomats in retaliation

LoP Guest Wrote: (03-17-2018 01:35 PM) LoP Guest Wrote: (03-17-2018 12:43 PM) Yeah, If attacked you, I'd sure use a weapon with my name on it!



Dumb peguin!

You would if you wanted to send an unambiguous message. Jeez, why do so many LOPers have trouble with this concept. Putin is sending a message to his own people for tomorrows election, to defectors and dissidents and to Britain. Can I spell out his message for the hard of thinking?



Putin strong, Russia strong, vote Putin.



Traitors will be killed, not safe anywhere. Traitors killed, vote for Putin.



Britain weak, ha ha, Russia strong, vote for Putin.





Oh My f*cking GOD! Oh My f*cking GOD! I do not label myself. What I stand for is based on my own convictions, and I don't care which box - the left one or the right one - they happen to belong. USSR

Registered User

User ID: 1337

03-17-2018 01:51 PM



Posts: 1,023









Post: #9 RE: Russia expels 23 British diplomats in retaliation

If the British regime kills own citizens for information war against Russia... It yes... Weak Britain ...



For the anti-Russian action... For information discredit of Russia... The British regime has created mass chemical poisoning of own citizens....



Many in Russia are puzzled ... Why do not the British hang these British government criminals?



These bastards provoke terrorist chemical attacks in Syria... And also after that they accuse the government of Syria of it Behave adequately... if you see the Russian... (This post was last modified: 03-17-2018 02:06 PM by USSR .) Laserz

let there be light

User ID: 1337

03-17-2018 01:55 PM



Posts: 40,821









Post: #10 RE: Russia expels 23 British diplomats in retaliation





Sometimes, I feel sorry for you asshats.



https://espionagehistoryarchive.com/2016...hic-spies/



You cheer on Putin and Trump... because you can't help it. You people are so mindfucked it's not even funny.Sometimes, I feel sorry for you asshats.You cheer on Putin and Trump... because you can't help it. Roddy's Creed

Registered User

User ID: 1337

03-17-2018 01:59 PM



Posts: 5,410









Post: #11 RE: Russia expels 23 British diplomats in retaliation

I do not label myself. What I stand for is based on my own convictions, and I don't care which box - the left one or the right one - they happen to belong. Laserz

let there be light

User ID: 1337

03-17-2018 02:18 PM



Posts: 40,821









Post: #12 RE: Russia expels 23 British diplomats in retaliation

I see the two creeps that live in countries with the highest crime rates are telling everyone else what good leadership is about.



What a crock. Laserz

let there be light

User ID: 1337

03-17-2018 02:20 PM



Posts: 40,821









Post: #13 RE: Russia expels 23 British diplomats in retaliation

Good leadership acknowledges REAL crime and takes appropriate steps toward justice.



If you compare and contrast the countries involved... you will see the truth and good leadership.





Decide for yourself, and I will do the same. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-17-2018 02:22 PM











Post: #14 RE: Russia expels 23 British diplomats in retaliation

link to image: https://cdn3.i-scmp.com/sites/default/fi...k=wdTgy-Y5 Roddy's Creed

Registered User

User ID: 1337

03-17-2018 02:22 PM



Posts: 5,410









Post: #15 RE: Russia expels 23 British diplomats in retaliation

I do not label myself. What I stand for is based on my own convictions, and I don't care which box - the left one or the right one - they happen to belong. Advertisement





















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AFRICOM acknowledged for the first time Wednesday that it kept quiet about a deadly offensive its elite forces conducted late last year with Nigerien soldiers, highlighting the scale of US special operations in West Africa and illustrating clearly the predatory aims that underlay the Pentagons deployment of elite soldiers in the region.

On December 6 last year, Green Berets coordinating a military operation with Nigerien forces, killed 11 militants near the town of Diffa, close to the Nigerian border. The announcement by the Pentagon on Wednesday marks the first time it has acknowledged its role in the December engagement.

AFRICOMs silence regarding the operation was no doubt influenced by the international outcry provoked by the October 4 killing of four Green Berets during an ambush in northwestern Niger, which exposed the vast scale of US military operations across West Africa.

The Pentagons operations in Niger are extensive and far-reachinglast year the US finished construction of a drone base in Agadez, located in central Niger, which AFRICOM stated is equipped with the capability of conducting armed drone flights across the entire Sahel region and into northern Africa to carry out surveillance and assassinations.

Speaking to the New York Times regarding the December 6 offensive, AFRICOM spokesperson Samantha Reho stated that American and Nigerien troops on a mission in the Lake Chad Basin region came under fire from a formation of violent extremists. Reho portrayed the event as an act of defense on the part of US and Nigerien troops after Islamist militants attacked their garrison.

The purpose of the mission was to set the conditions for future partner-led operations against violent extremist organizations in the region, she said. There was no aspect of this mission focused on pursuing enemy militants, and the combined force was postured to respond as necessary in case contact with the enemy occurred, Reho claimed.

Reho added, With that said, our forces do operate in unstable areas and are occasionally exposed to danger from enemy forces. When such a situation occurs, our personnel are authorized to respond to threats and violence appropriately.

Refuting Rehos claims and making clear the predatory character of US military operations in Niger is the October interview of Nigerien Defense Minister Kalla Mountari by Reuters. When asked to describe the mission of US Special Forces deployed to Niger and their relationship to the Nigerien forces, Mountari matter-of-factly stated, The Americans are not just exchanging information with us. They are waging war when necessary. We are working hand in hand. The clear proof is that the Americans and Nigeriens fell on the battlefield for the peace and security of our country.

Further contradicting the account provided by Reho was the statement to the New York Times by an unnamed official familiar with the firefight, which suggested the elite commandos were conducting an offensive operation with the aim of establishing an outpost.

According to the official, US forces were conducting a multi-day operation with Nigerien troops. The official said that the operations aim was to clear the area of hostile forces so that a new outpost could be created, which would be very advantageous to US aims in the region.

The location of the offensive near Diffa, a town in southeastern Niger close to the border with Nigeria, is a region long inflamed with conflict between the joint Nigerien-US forces and the Islamist militia Boko Haram, which has been warring in northern Nigeria, with frequent cross-border skirmishes and raids.

The criminal character of US Special Forces deployed to West Africa was underscored by the arrest of two Navy Seals in Mali for the June 2017 murder of Logan Melgar, a Green Beret stationed at the US embassy in Bamako. US Special Forces troops were deployed to the West African nation to conduct intelligence and training operations against Al Qaeda-affiliated militants waging war against the US/French-backed government.

According to military officials investigating the murder, the two Navy Seals, who were also stationed at the embassy, were allegedly pilfering cash from a slush fund made available by the embassy to pay informants. When Melgar discovered the skimming operation and threatened to alert authorities, the two Seals killed him.

Joshua Geltzer, the senior director of counter-terrorism with the National Security Council under then-president Barack Obama, sought to place the blame for keeping the war in Niger secret entirely within the context of the Trump administration and thereby obscuring the role of the Democratic president who initiated the military intervention in Niger.

Its disappointing to see this administration show disrespect for Congresss effort to obtain public answers to key legal questions of our time, Geltzer told the New York Times.

As the WSWS has reported, Washington has been building and expanding its military forces on the African continent beginning with the Republican George W. Bush administration and continuing through Obama and Trump as part of Americas imperialist strategy for Africa.

The ongoing conflict in Niger and the wider region is the outcome of the 2011 US-backed NATO bombardment of Libya, in which the Obama administration utilized Islamist militias to conduct a regime change operation that culminated with the assassination of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and the killing of thousands of Libyans by NATO bombs. Libyan society was completely destroyed, and the Islamist fighters that Washington armed spilled forth from Libya across the Sahel and into West Africa.

Furthermore, the development of American military outposts across the African continent must be seen within the context of Chinas growing economic influence across the continent. Washington perceives Beijing as an intolerable rival for Africas vast economic resources, which includes substantial reserves of minerals, oil, gas, and precious metals and is using its vast military power in an effort to offset Chinas economic clout.In the latest attack on internet freedom, the US Senate is expected to pass legislation as early as next week that, in the name of combating online sex trafficking, will further increase the powers of the state to censor the internet.

The bill, named Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA), allows for the prosecution of a broad array of websites and other online services if users of their platforms publish illegal content.

The new law would represent a significant shift in the legal framework governing the internet, with far-reaching implications. Currently, under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, passed as the internet was emerging, websites and internet service providers are not, in general, legally responsible for content that users publish on their platforms. This means, for example, that if an individual publishes illegal or defamatory statements on Facebook, only that person, rather than Facebook itself, can be prosecuted. In a similar way, telephone network providers cannot be prosecuted for crimes that individuals coordinate over the phone.

The FOSTA bill modifies the Communications Act to prohibit construing section 230 to limit state criminal charges for conduct that promotes or facilitates prostitution or constitutes child sex trafficking. In particular, an internet service or website can be prosecuted for knowingly assisting, supporting, or facilitating such activities.

As always, the anti-democratic measure is framed in supposedly noble terms to provide it with a benign veneer. Who, after all, would oppose efforts to prevent the sexual exploitation of young children? But the real purpose of the bill is to enable a broad array of internet platforms and services to be targeted, censored and ultimately shut down based on material posted by lone individuals.

Commentators have noted that the law will force websites, discussion forums, online marketplaces, and other services to impose far more onerous censorship of what content they allow users to publish, for fear of being prosecuted.

Civil liberties and internet organizations have published statements opposing the legislation and warning about its anti-democratic implications.

The Wikimedia foundation, which operates WikiLeaks, released a statement by executive director Katherine Maher noting that Wikipedia is written and maintained by hundreds of thousands of volunteer contributors CDA 230 enables the Wikimedia Foundation to host this remarkable user-generated resource. The Wikipedia we know today would not exist without CDA 230.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation released a statement noting that if FOSTA is passed, many online platforms will be forced to place strong restrictions on their users speech.

The bill was passed through the lower house on February 28 with overwhelming bipartisan support by a margin of 388-25. No similar statements of opposition to child exploitation were heard from Democrats or Republicans less than a month earlier, with the release of a report showing that the US military covered up reports of more than 6,000 cases of abuse of young boys in Afghanistan by high-ranking allies of the US occupying forces.

Given that the legislation could be used to target social media and technology companies including Facebook, Twitter, Amazon and Google, it is remarkable that these giant corporations have given their support to the bill.

As late as August 2017, the Internet Association lobby, which represents all four companies, issued a letter opposing the bill, declaring that it would have a devastating impact on legitimate online services, while the threat of vexatious subpoenas and increased liability under the proposed carve-out would likely result in mass removals of legitimate content and result in a chilling effect.

Last November, the Internet Association reversed its position, claiming that it was satisfied with an amended version of the bill which retained its main sweeping and anti-democratic provisions. Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg released a statement on February 26 declaring, Facebook is committed to working with them and with legislators in the House and Senate as the process moves forward to make sure we pass meaningful and strong legislation to stop sex trafficking.

Other corporations supporting the bill include 21st Century Fox, Oracle and IBM. A number of smaller technology companies, which are more financially vulnerable to lawsuits, have opposed it.

While Facebook, Google, and the other technology behemoths would, at an earlier time, have publicly opposed any infringement on their platforms ability to host user-generated content without fear of prosecution, all of them have been integrated into the campaign by the Democratic Party and the military/ intelligence agencies for online censorship and into their operations.

On March 6, Googles parent company, Alphabet, admitted that it provides software to the US military used as part of the latters drone assassination program. Since the start of the year, under the banner of combating fake news, Facebook has introduced a series of changes to its News Feed to reduce the proliferation of news, in favour of users personal moments, and censor alternative news sites in favour of authoritative publications such as the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.Just two weeks after a botched execution that resulted in hours of excruciating pain for an inmate on death row, the state of Alabama on Thursday carried out an execution of a man convicted of murder who suffered from severe mental illness.

Michael Wayne Eggers, 50, was convicted and sentenced to death for killing his boss, Bennie Francis Murray, in 2000. Murray hired Eggers to work at her concessions stand at a traveling carnival. According to prosecutors, Eggers admitted to strangling Murray after a disagreement arose while she drove Eggers to his car one evening in Walker County, Alabama, northwest of Birmingham.

Eggers appealed his conviction but dropped his appeal following a disagreement with his attorneys. In a handwritten court filing, Eggers withdrew his appeal and asked Alabama to carry out his immediate execution in the interests of truth, law and justice.

Attorneys for Eggers asked the US Supreme Court to intervene in the case, arguing that Eggers was not competent when he made the decision. They told the court that Eggers suffered from schizophrenia and delusions and that the dispute arose over Eggers firm belief that he was the subject of a grand government conspiracy. His attorneys wrote that Eggers would rather die than be represented by lawyers who do not support his delusional view of the case.

The Supreme Court ruled at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday that the execution could proceed, and the lethal injection was administered about 80 minutes later.

In an email to ABC News, attorney John Palombi wrote, Tonight the state of Alabama assisted a severely mentally ill man in committing suicide. Michael Eggers was as mentally ill tonight as he was the previous eight times he asked to be executed over the last 15 years.

The execution of Eggers is the first execution carried out by the state of Alabama this year. Last month, the state was forced to halt the execution of Doyle Lee Hamm after failing to find a vein after at least 11 attempts to administer a lethal injection over the course of two and a half hours. Hamms lawyer had warned that lymphoma, hepatitis, and prior drug use had damaged Hamms veins, making lethal injection impossible.

Georgia

Later Thursday evening, the state of Georgia executed Carlton Gary despite significant exonerating evidence that has emerged over the decades since his conviction.

Gary was convicted in 1986 for a series of rapes and murders committed against older women between September 1977 and April 1978. During that period, nine women ranging in age from 59 to 89 years were beaten, raped, and strangled. The attacker came to be known as the Stocking Strangler because some of the women were strangled using their own stockings. Seven of the women died during the attacks and two were badly injured but survived.

Gary was arrested in 1984 after police traced a gun stolen during a 1977 burglary in the same neighborhood back to him. Gary was ultimately convicted of three counts of malice murder, three counts of rape, and three counts of burglary in connection with the attacks.

Prosecutors were adamant during the trial proceedings that all nine of the attacks were committed by the same person, though they claimed to only have sufficient evidence to charge Gary with three of the attacks.

Prosecutors relied heavily on the testimony of one of the surviving victims, who identified Gary as her attacker during the trial. However, according to a police report withheld from Garys attorneys until two decades later, the same woman told police that she was sleeping at the time of the attack and that her room was completely dark, making it impossible to identify her attacker.

Prosecutors also failed to disclose a shoeprint taken at the scene of one of the attacks and a bite mark taken from the body of one of the other victims, neither of which were a match for Gary.

In 2009, the Georgia Supreme Court stayed Garys first execution date to allow testing of DNA evidence found at the scenes of some of the attacks. None of the DNA samples recovered at any of the crime scenes matched Carlton Garys DNA, including semen found on the clothes of the survivor who provided the key testimony. Other DNA evidence was found to be contaminated at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation crime lab. A Georgia appellate court nonetheless ruled that the new evidence was unlikely to have changed the outcome of the trial.

In a clemency application to the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles, Garys lawyers argued that under the prosecutions own theory, the evidence discovered at some of the scenes would clear Gary of guilt in all nine attacks, because all of the attacks were said to have been committed by the same person.

In the hours before his death, Garys attorneys were still seeking a stay of execution to allow for further DNA testing. A lethal injection was administered shortly after 10:00 p.m. local time Thursday night and Gary was pronounced dead at 10:33 p.m.

Oklahoma

Meanwhile, officials in Oklahoma announced Wednesday that the state would begin executing prisoners using nitrogen gas in response to a shortage of lethal injection drugs.

Oklahoma has not executed any inmates since 2015, following a botched 2014 execution that left Clayton Lockett writhing in pain for 20 minutes before his execution was eventually called off. Lockett later died of a heart attack in the execution chamber. In a separate incident, it was discovered in 2015 that Oklahoma had used the wrong drug in the execution of another man.

Nitrogen gas is generally harmless to breathe for humans and animals. However, the gas can be lethal if applied directly to the respiratory system without any oxygen. The lack of oxygen, or hypoxia, causes the subject to suffocate and eventually die.

Death Penalty Information Center executive director Robert Dunham told media that he was unaware of nitrogen gas ever having been used to execute a person anywhere in the world. However, he said that the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) has deemed the use of nitrogen inappropriate for euthanizing animals. According to the AVMA, it would take seven minutes to kill a 70-pound pig using the gas.

Oklahoma is among a number of states that have begun using experimental procedures to carry out executions in the face of drug shortages, while other states have reverted to allowing barbaric practices that have long fallen out of favor in the United States, including the electric chair in Tennessee and firing squads in Utah.

The executions of Carlton Gary and Michael Eggers bring to six the number of inmates executed in the US this year. A total of 1,471 people have been executed since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976.As the strike by 1,400 Frontier Communications workers in West Virginia and Virginia enters its third week, the company has stepped up efforts to provoke and intimidate workers.

Frontier workers are striking to defend their health care, and for the expansion of job security to the entire workforce. Presently, 15 percent of the workers are covered by contracts that allow the company to fire them at any time.

On Friday, Frontier won a restraining order against strikers after filing for an injunction accusing workers of unlawful mass picketing and other strike-related misconduct. Ominously, the company has also hired agents from the notorious Pinkerton consulting firm, as well as Securitas USA, to monitor and intimidate the striking workers.

One Frontier worker told the World Socialist Web Site that at the company's headquarters in Charleston, West Virginia he had seen four Charleston policemen in front of Frontier at all times. Adding, They were paid by Pinkerton. They have now also contracted Securitas at each location, which is the equivalent of a rent-a-cop. It makes me leery of the faces I dont recognize at rallies. We all know that Pinkerton has a bad reputation because of the tactics they use.

The request for an injunction filed by Frontier, which yesterday resulted in a court restraining order against workers, relied upon the testimony of Pinkerton and Securitas agents who allege over 100 cases of abuse by workers against the scabs hired by Frontier.

Jenny, a Frontier worker in Charleston with nine years, told the WSWS, My opinion is that the company is making every effort to criminalize us and decrease public support. They are now attempting to portray us as violent and dangerous. We arent thugs, we are a hard working family oriented workforce. We have been within our legal rights to picket and they expect this to stifle our determination.

"The ironic part, she continued, is that the scabs have made threats and brandished weapons but we have not. And no one talks about how they were not even licensed contractors in West Virginia until yesterday and still dont have proper DOT [Department of Transportation] paperwork as well as no background checks.

On March 6, the third day of the strike, a man from Georgia hired by Frontier as a strikebreaker was charged with a crime after brandishing a nine-millimeter pistol at workers picketing his hotel building and telling them, don't mess with me.

And in a video posted to Facebook, recorded by a striking Frontier worker, two strikebreakers can be seen cursing at workers during a mobile picket. A mobile picket is a legally sanctioned strike tactic wherein workers can follow strikebreakers when they go to perform a job at a customer location. At the 46-second mark of the video, one of the strikebreakers tells a worker he's going to put a cap in your ass (i.e., shoot him with a gun.)

Ashley, another Frontier worker, told the WSWS, The injunction is ridiculous, because so far we, the mobile picketers, have video of scabs threatening to shoot us, a scab arrested for pulling a gun on a picketer, but all the scabs have are affidavits accusing us of harassment. We are mobile picketing, legally, and they want to put a stop to it.

By contrast the Communications Workers of America (CWA) reacted with indifference toward the restraining order. On Friday, the West Virginia Democratic Party posted a Facebook video interview with CWA International Vice President Ed Mooney. Tellingly, Mooney mentioned neither the injunction nor the restraining order. The same day, Mooney mildly characterized the injunction as an overreaction by the company.

A worker told the WSWS that communication from the CWA about the injunction and restraining order has been vague, adding that on Thursday night when I was picketing, our local president stopped by and said as long as we followed those rules in all pickets, as well as only one car with two people per mobile picket, then after 10 days [when the restraining order expires] wed be OK. Thus, in practice, the union is essentially acting as an enforcer for the restraining order.

Frontier's restraining order limits pickets to six workers per location and bans picketing within 15 feet of a workplace entrance. This not only reduces the visibility of their strike, in some locations it forces workers to stand dangerously close to speeding traffic.

There have been a number of tragedies involving striking workers being run over and killed by speeding vehicles. In 1989, NYNEX telecommunication worker Gerry Horgan was killed while picketing when a car, driven by the daughter of an upper-level manager who had been hired as a strikebreaker, struck Horgan and carried him for over 100 feet on the hood of her vehicle (NYNEX was one of the companies that were later merged to form Verizon).

Horgan left behind a wife and two daughters. However, the driver was never charged in connection with Horgan's death, and police never investigated complaints by strikers that the scabs were driving at high speed through the picket line. Police instead claimed Horgan jumped onto the hood of the car and had planned to charge him with criminal mischief if he survived.

Another near fatality occurred during the 2016 strike by 39,000 Verizon workers in New York City. In May of that year, striking worker James Smith was hospitalized after the parked car he was sitting in was struck by a van driven by a New York City police officer as it sped through the picket line as an escort for strikebreakers. The police van continued without stopping.

New York Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio, elected with the blessings of the unions, did nothing to hold the police to account. Indeed, de Blasio dispatched hundreds of police to spy on strikers, escort scabs and pen striking workers behind metal barricades.

At the time, the WSWS called the national and district offices of the CWA inquiring what action it planned regarding the NYPDs violence against workers. The national office would not speak to the WSWS while a spokesperson named Pete at the district office advised WSWS reporters that it would not be a good idea to pursue the matter.

Vague accusations of abuse leveled against workers are a well-worn strike breaking tactic. After a two week strike of Verizon workers in 2011, Dennis Trainor, now CWA Vice President for District 1, signed a back-to-work order that sanctioned the firing of workers for so-called strike misconduct, including mass picketing, blocking vehicles and supposed hate speech towards strikebreakers.

Frontier's restraining order also bans pickets from sheltering near company buildings, forcing workers to expose themselves to the rain, snow and wind. Workers told the WSWS that they were even ordered by the Fire Marshal to remove outdoor propane heaters that they were using to keep warm.

The Frontier workers strike erupted as thousands of West Virginia teachers demonstrated at the state Capitol building in Charleston as part of their strike over crushing health care costs and stagnating wages. But neither the CWA nor the teachers unions did anything to unite the struggles of telecom workers and teachers in West Virginia, even though the capitol building is within eyesight from the picket line at Frontier headquarters in Charleston. On March 6, after nine days, the teachers unions sold out the strike and sent teachers back to work while ignoring their main demand for a fix to their underfunded health care.

The Frontier strike continues as Verizon, which is raking in $3 billion to $4 billion in tax cuts this year due to President Trump's tax cut, is closing six call centers across the countryone-third of its totaland wiping out 3,000 customer service jobs. Yet The CWA has done nothing to broaden the strike to these other telecom workers that it officially represents, let alone appeal to other sections of workers, who are entering into struggle across the country and around the world.

The WSWS will lend every assistance to telecom workers seeking to link their struggles with other sections of the working class. We urge striking Frontier workers to become regular readers of the WSWS and help circulate our articles widely.Despite numerous submissions to a parliamentary committee that provide chilling examples of how its sweeping foreign interference bills will eviscerate freedom of political expression and organisation, the Liberal-National government is trying to ram the legislation through as quickly as possible.

Submissions and government answers to committee questions have revealed that, for instance, political parties could be criminalised for participating in global campaigns within Australia, and protestors could be jailed for up to 20 years for blocking a public road over an international issue, such as uranium mining.

To get the bills through as quickly as possible, Attorney-General Christian Porter last week offered minor amendments to their draconian secrecy clauses. The move was to try to satisfy concerns expressed by the large media corporations, which could be classified as foreign principals under the legislation. Porter unveiled vague public interest exemptions for professional journalists and media staff.

However, with the overwhelming support of the same corporate media establishment, and in-principle backing from the Labor Party, the government remains adamant about the central provisions and thrust of the legislation. The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security is now due to report next month, potentially clearing the way for a bid to push the bills through during parliaments May budget session.

While nominally directed at combating improper influence by any foreign power, the bills are aimed, as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has stressed, against China in particular. The legislation has vast implications for free speech and political dissent. For the first time, criminal offences, carrying up to 20 years imprisonment, would apply to simply undertaking political activity in partnership with any overseas organisation.

In addition, all individuals or organisations engaged in any political activity with a possible international link, including lobbyists, activist groups, media organisations and charities, would have to register under a Foreign Influence Transparency Schemea new form of political intrusion and surveillance.

The bills amount to a fundamental assault on legal and democratic rights, including freedom of association. They could be used to jail government opponents under conditions of mounting war preparations by the US and its closest allies, such as Australia, against China, which the Trump administrations National Defense Strategy has branded a strategic threat to US global pre-eminence.

The five bills add to the barrage of unprecedented police-state laws already passed since 2001 under the banner of the war on terror. These measures are directed at silencing opposition and suppressing unrest as the war danger grows, accompanied by ever-widening social inequality and deepening cuts to social spending.

Among the examples raised in committee hearings:

A Labor MP asked the Attorney-Generals Department to clarify the foreign agents registration scheme. One scenario concerned officials or members of like-minded political parties from the UK and Australia meeting to agree on pursuing common party platforms.

Would that constitute collaboration with a foreign principal? The evasive answer was: Possibly. This will depend on the facts and circumstances.

Another question was: Which of the Australians present would have to registerparliamentarians, party officials, party members? The answer was: It is not possible to provide a more definite answer without a full understanding of all the relevant facts and circumstances.

A further scenario was an environmental organisation, headquartered overseas, but operating through a local branch in a global campaign urging governments to commit to a particular climate target. Again, the departments answer was possibly, depending on the facts and circumstances, the Australian branch would have to register.

Another question was whether an overseas grandmother asking her Australian-based grandson to write to the home affairs minister about the progress of a cousins student visa would require the grandson to register. This answer was unequivocal: As the Bill is currently drafted, the Australian permanent resident would be required to register under the Scheme.

The Chinese Community Council of Australia said the 1.2 million Chinese Australians would be at particular bureaucratic risk under the bills, as would academics who research and teach Chinese economic, cultural and foreign affairs policies, organisations that shed light on the pros and cons of the interplay of Australia, Chinese and US policies and cultural, community and business exchange groups who publish comments and papers about aspects of foreign relationships on social and public media.

GetUp!, a reformist lobby group, said anyone who communicated Australian breaches of international law to a world body, such as the UN or an international news agency, would be liable to life imprisonment, or 25 years imprisonment for merely collecting or possessing such evidence.

However, GetUp!, which is generally aligned with the Labor and Greens parties, did not call for the scrapping of the bills. Instead, it urged redrafting, so that the legislation would only capture bona fide threats to Australian sovereignty. What is in effect the defence of the Australian capitalist nation-state is in keeping with the government and corporate media campaign against alleged Chinese interference in Australia.

Another submission gave a clear indication of the pressure being applied by the US and the Australian military and intelligence apparatus for the rapid passage of the bills. Professor Rory Medcalf, a former senior intelligence officer who heads the National Security College at the Australian National University, told the committee: Foreign interference, specifically from the authoritarian Party-State that is the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) is a real and pressing challenge to Australias democratic institutions and foreign policy independence.

Australia, Medcalf declared, is a strategic bellwether in Beijings quest to attain a military and economic edge over the United States, its allies and partners. Therefore, the Australian response would be globally significant and Australias seriousness of purpose and reliability as a security partner will be judged by other democracies, in part, on how we handle (or ignore) the foreign interference issue.

In effect, Medcalf was outlining the demands of the military and intelligence services, which increasingly have been integrated into the US war plans. He cited repeated recent warnings issued by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) against what he termed Chinas sharp power intrusive influence in Australia.

Medcalf praised as excellent Clive Hamiltons new book, Silent Invasion, Chinas Influence in Australia, which insists that a US-led war against China is the only way to stop Australia from becoming a tribute state of the resurgent Middle Kingdom.

According to Medcalf, the bills reflect the kind of legislation Australia urgently needs to protect its national security from what ASIO has identified as an unprecedented set of threats of foreign interference and influence. His testimony, however, underscores the enormous political influence that Washington, unlike Beijing, exerts in Australian ruling circles, both directly and indirectly.

Medcalfs submission is a further warning that the legislation is part of preparations for a catastrophic, potentially nuclear, military conflict, and seeks to suppress any criticism, opposition or mobilisation against militarism and war, and the ruling class responsible for them.

The author also recommends:

Australian government unveils draconian foreign interference bills

[31 January 2018]

Australian government defies criticism of sweeping foreign interference bills

[3 February 2018]

Australia: Silent invasion book advocates war against China

[8 March 2018]Daniel, a lecturer, was on the picket line at University College London (UCL) spoke to the World Socialist Web Site. He said, We are striking not only to defend pensions of other lecturers who are under better terms and conditions but also, and mainly, because we are fed up with being casualised. We have to go where the jobs are, at universities around the world. Two years ago, I was lecturing in Idaho in the US, then I found a post here. But every year the management renews our contracts and makes us in practice re-apply for our own jobs.

My wife is also a lecturer and found a job this year in Germany. We have a seven months old child. I must commute between London and Germany every week and can only afford to do this because I have two jobs in London, and I live at the house of my mother-in-law. Otherwise I could not do it.

Ellie also lectures at University College London. She said, I have worked here for the past five years and I only get paid nine months out of 12, effectively having no holiday or maternity paid leave.

Moreover, management dominates everything regarding the running of universities, increasing our workload in teaching. There are fewer lecturers per students, and there is the assigning of normal administrative tasks to lecturers. This saves on administration costs and staff. We also have to deal with student performance and our own performance.

We are against the marketisation of education and universities being turned into places of high debt for student youth with casualised lecturers who spent years studying hard for their qualifications.

Most students support us, especially my French students who have a conscious political understanding of (the need for) defending higher education from further privatisation.

Nathalie, a lecturer in the Slavonic and Eastern European Studies at UCL, said, Post-1992, casualisation was introduced to the universities as part of the privatisation of education. There was the introduction of higher fees and loans to students who wanted to gain a degree from studying in higher education.

The consequences of this process today have many aspects. One of them is the fact that most lecturers are only paid for their teaching time, without holiday or maternity/paternity paid leave.

(from left to right) Fin, Nathalie, Daniel and Ellie

Fin, a student in Slavonic and Eastern European Studies in the second year of his degree, was on the picket line alongside the UCL lecturers. He said, I am against the privatisation of education, loans to pay for tuition fees, the casualisation of our lecturers and the attack on pensions. I am standing on the picket line with them to show support.

My parents support me financially and I also took on debt to maintain myself in London and be able to study. But at the end of the degree we all come out worse off financially than when we started. Its not fair, we are the future, the next generation. Our right to education and to a decent job should not have a price put on it.

At a rally of lecturers and students in Glasgows George Square on Friday, reporters spoke to two students, Ryan and Lewis.

Lewis

Asked about striking lecturers unanimously rejecting the attempt by the University and College Union (UCU) to sell out the strike earlier this week, Lewis, a student at the University of Glasgow said,  I think they were completely right to reject it, in many ways it was a joke of an offer. To give up so much, 30 percent, is such a significant amount, especially as people are living to be older. You become so reliant on a pension, its such a lot to give up.

He added, Its a big strike. 300,000 days lost; there are more strike days lost than in the whole of 2015. Its very significant.

Ryan, a social work student at the citys Strathclyde University, said, I think its great that students are supporting this. I was discussing that with a couple of lecturers as well. Its been a long time coming. Over the last 20 years, youve not had students engaged in politics like this with mass action, collective action.

Ryan

I think the student unions have been quite impotent. When the lecturers strike started it was weaker, but now you see students taking part, you see student occupations, people coming out today, pickets. Its all really, really positive.

Asked why he thought lecturers rejected the UCU agreement, Ryan said, I see a great difference between the union leadership and the rank and file. The UCU leadership should be responsive to the rank-and-file membership, that accounts for any union. I am hoping they are responsive to their membership, because if they are not they will not be in the leadership for long.

This is like drawing a line in the sand. If pensions are changed, they are going to come after public sector workers generally. We want to win every battle, but this is hopefully a turning point because the strength of feeling is more than it has been for a long, long time.The Independent Workers Inquiry Committee (IWIC) will hold a meeting at Colombo Public Library auditorium on April 1 at 2 p.m. to release the findings of its investigation into last years garbage disaster at Meethotamulla. The huge garbage dump, which is located on the outskirts of Colombo, collapsed on April 14, killing at least 32 people, partially or completely destroying 146 houses, and affecting more almost 200 poor families.

The IWIC was established last May on the initiative of the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) to investigate the causes of this social crime. The garbage heap in Meethotamulla began about a decade ago when waste, mainly from the Colombo municipal region, began being dumped in the area.

Local residents opposed and protested against the dump from the outset, warning about the health risks and other dangers posed. Successive Sri Lankan governments not only ignored these appeals, but mobilised the police to attack protesting residents.

Following last years tragedy, President Maithripala Sirisena, in an attempt to dissipate widespread popular outrage, appointed a special commission to investigate the disaster. The commission report was presented to Sirisena last month but its findings have not been publicised.

The government is more concerned about covering up its criminal negligence. The media and commission report experts have largely ignored the fundamental social and political reasons for the disaster.

The Meethotamulla tragedy is one of the many social crimes against working people internationally.

Last March a garbage mountain collapsed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, killing 115 people, with another 80 people still missing.

Last June a fire ignited flammable cladding on the outside of Grenfell flats in London killed at least 79 lives. The use of the dangerous cladding was a cost-cutting measure by the local council.

Likewise in Flint, Michigan in the United States, city authorities have compromised the health of tens of thousands of residents by using polluted river water in domestic water supplies.

Cost-cutting and indifference to the fate of working people and the poor produced these tragedies. Protests and appeals to governments will not change this situation.

The IWIC has conducted a thoroughgoing investigation into the Meethotamulla disaster. Its work has included gathering detailed information from survivors of the tragedy; examining reports on garbage in Colombo, as well as other environmental and health issues and related international developments; the responses of successive Sri Lanka governments; and why the ruling class is incapable of solving these basic problems.

The IWICs April 1 meeting will involve a detailed presentation of its investigations and findings. This will be followed by an extended question and answer session. We invite workers, youth, students and all those concerned to attend the meeting and participate in this important discussion.

Venue: Colombo Public Library auditorium

Date: April 1, 2018

Time: 2.00 p.m.Friday was the last of 14 days of strike action by UK lecturers and other academic workers, fighting against the destruction of their pension rights.

The last four weeks of a bitter dispute only continued because on Tuesday thousands of strikers voted overwhelmingly in impromptu meetings against a sell-out deal engineered Monday evening between the University and College Union (UCU) and the employers body, Universities UK (UUK).

The union and management had worked out the precise steps for ending the strike. But as union delegates from 65 higher education institutions met in the London HQ to vote on the agreement, hundreds of angry lecturers surrounded the building. Speaking to the angry strikers outside the HQ, UCU leader Sally Hunt was constantly heckled, with one worker pointing at her stating, You are now objectively on the side of the employers! See video here .

Having been thwarted in its plans, the UCU will use the next weeks to complete its betrayal. It immediately appealed to UUK for urgent talks, to try and find a way to get this dispute resolved. No more strikes are planned until a further 14 days, sometime in May during the exam period.

The UCU is not an organisation that represents its members, butas the striker in London correctly statedone that fights in the interest of the employers. It will continue to plot behind the scenes to finalise a compromise that cleaves as close as possible to the demands of management.

The only action the UCU has sanctioned in the next period is two-day strikes over pay at just 12 further education colleges, out of 319 colleges nationally. Eleven of these colleges are based in London, with a token college being called out in the Midlands. They will not even strike on the same day.

Apart from two days of action by the college staff at the beginning of the lecturers dispute, the UCU ensured that the lecturers and college workers were never on strike at the same timeunder conditions in which a powerful offensive by both, with the enthusiastic support of students, would be able to close down the entire higher education (HE) and further education (FE) sectors.

The UCU has organised an unbroken record of betrayals over the last decade in the face of a government and employers onslaught against jobs, wages, pension and working conditions.

A critical role in this has been played by the UCU Left, which describes itself as a diverse group of socialists and left-wingers in UCU. Our supporters include members of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), the Labour Party, other left groups

In the UCUs first elections after the unions 2006 formation, the UCU Left won 30 of the 68 seats on its national executive committee (NEC). One of their candidates, Sasha Callaghan, won the vice-presidency of the union, later becoming its president. The UCU Left later won a majority on the NEC, although the UCU was still headed by Sally Huntwho was supported by the Independent Broad Left faction organised by Labourites and members of the Stalinist Communist Party.

From the beginning, the UCU Left pledged to work with the right wing within the UCU leadership. SWP member and UCU NEC member Mark Campbell said, as the UCU Left won its 30 seats, We agree with Sally Hunt that this is a time for unity, but that has to be based on fighting to defend our members terms and conditions, which has to come from the centre and move towards the membership.

No such fight from the centre was mounted.

In 2011, the UCU was among the more than 20 unions that organised a rout of the struggle to defend public sector pensions. After 2 million workers supported a strike, in the first major struggle against the incoming Conservative Cameron government, the unions ensured that the movement was called off.

The UCU Left lost its majority in the 2012 UCU elections, while still retaining 30 members on the NEC, while Hunts faction had 39. A February 2012 statement was released by the UCU Left, at a time when Hunt was organising a witch-hunt against what she claimed was a union within a union. It pledged, We should emphasise  that belonging to one or other grouping on the NEC does not prevent NEC members working together where we can reach common ground. UCU Left NEC members and UCU Independent Broad Left members, and others, have worked together on many NEC committees and working groups.

The right wing had nothing to fear, it said, since In the UCU Left, we seek unity  and privilege that unity over the exercise of bloc votes.

SWP member Liz Lawrence held the position of UCU National President from 2014-2016. In the latest elections to the NEC earlier this month, the UCU Left won 15 seats in the HE and FE sections, and its candidate Nita Sanghera won the vice presidents position.

In the current dispute, the UCU Left has played a treacherous role, with SWP member Carlo Morelli sitting on the UCUs USS negotiation committee, involved in the talks with the UUK. After the UCU/UUK agreement was announced, a UCU Left website posting claimed it was not a sell-out: Our negotiators had a gun pointed at their heads. A gun of accept this or get DC [the inferior Defined Contribution pension system]. A compromise was born. It doesnt necessarily mean negotiators are selling out. This compromise is what happens when you work within the projected deficit and face the threat of 100% DC.

UCU members took to social media to denounce the agreement, with a number pledging to leave the union if the sell-out deal was enforced. Many retweeted the hashtag #NoCapitulation.

The following comments expressed the sentiment among lecturers:

Ive never joined a union until now suspicions of the way the people at the top arrange deals that do not benefit the workers. I joined this time. Feel like I was proven right. How do I cancel my membership?  If the strike is called off today I do not want to be associated with the UCU. I can still fight and protest and I will!

Another wrote: Totally sold down the river. If this goes forward, Ill be withdrawing my membership forthwith.

One lecturer described the sell-out deal as Sally Hunts let them eat cake moment, with another adding, If you [the UCU] agree to this deal, expect a huge number of people resigning from the union in protest.

Opposed to this incipient rebellion, and fearful that the struggle over pensions would break free of the stranglehold of the UCU, the UCU Left set out to maintain the unions control at all costs while posing as critics of the deal and friends of UCU members.

The SWP declared that rank and file democracy, participation and militancy is hugely welcome because, It is the way to renew our unions.

Now the union leadership can be pressured to really wage a fight over pensions, it insisted.

In opposition to the UCU Left and all the apologists for the unions, the Socialist Equality Party has fought for the building of independent rank-and-file committees of education workers and students, in opposition to the UCU, the NUS, the TUC, the Labour Party and their political apologists. Such committees will create the framework for mobilizing the entire working class to defend jobs, wages, conditions and the right to a decent pension, as part of the fight for a socialist reorganization of economic life.

The Socialist Equality Party is holding an online and call-in forum for lecturers and education workers on Tuesday, March 27 at 7.30 p.m. It will discuss how to take the struggle out of the hands of the UCU by establishing rank-and-file committees based on a socialist programme and organising a turn to workers throughout the education sector in Britain and internationally who face the same attacks.

To participate in the meeting, click here when the meeting begins, or call +44 330 221 0088 and enter access code 900-111-333. If using your phone from the UK, the number will be billed at the national call rate.On March 14, the new German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (Social Democratic Party, SPD) delivered his inaugural address in the so-called Weltsaal (World Hall) of the Foreign Ministry. He emphasized that the third grand coalition under Chancellor Angela Merkel (Christian Democratic Union, CDU) will accelerate Germanys return to an aggressive foreign and great power policy.

In his speech, Maas stressed the continuity with his two Social Democratic predecessors, Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Sigmar Gabriel, who in the last four years were among the architects of Germanys shift to an aggressive foreign policy. My predecessors have not only described our countrys growing responsibility, but they have above all seized on it, said Maas. He wanted to continue to do so and to recognize and accept joint responsibility, where it beckons us.

He added, Of course, no country in the world needs a German foreign policy that overestimates itself. But what is just as wrong and, possibly even more dangerous in this world situation, is a foreign policy that ducks away.

Maas made clear what he meant by that. Among other things, the plans for upgrading Germanys military capabilities and pursuing the great power aspirations outlined in the coalition agreement between the Christian Democrats and SPD must be implemented swiftly. In building up a capable EU foreign policy and an effective EU security and defence policy ... important steps have been taken just in the last few months and there should be no let-up. In the spring, Germany would apply for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council and must prepare for tough decisions to be taken there.

While Gabriel had sharply criticized US foreign policy during his term of officeand also in his farewell speech on Wednesdayand had called for a lifting of sanctions against Russia, Maas has opted to pursue an aggressive anti-Russian course.

Russias illegal annexation of Crimea and the ongoing aggression against Ukraine cannot be accepted, he pointedly told all those present, along with the diplomats in 230 overseas foreign ministry stations who were watching live. The Ukraine Crisis remains a test of our determination and our unity in the European Union, but also of the American allies.

Maas also backed the aggressive US and UK action against Moscow in the Skripal case. We are extremely worried about the events surrounding the poison attack and take the assessment of the British government very seriously, said Maas. That Russia does not appear to be ready to contribute to the clarification of this incident should not be without consequences. The perpetrators should be held accountable, and he could fully understand that Britain had to respond.

With this, Maas is renewing the confrontation course against Russia, which was already at the centre of German foreign policy four years ago. In February 2014, then Foreign Minister Steinmeier and the US administration supported a right-wing coup in Ukraine to bring to power a pro-Western oligarchic regime in Kiev. Since then, Western politicians, the media and the intelligence agencies have repeatedly whipped up anti-Russian sentiments to advance NATO preparations for war against Russia. Berlin plays a leading role in this. For the first time since Hitlers war of extermination against the Soviet Union, Germany again stationed combat troops in Eastern Europe last year.

Maas and the new government are also joining in the latest propaganda offensive against Russia to suppress growing popular opposition against militarism and war. What we used to regard as internal and external is almost impossible to separate, said the new foreign minister. We need to register, and we need to respond if other powers try to shake our inner ordercyber-attacks, propaganda tricks and various forms of exercising economic and cultural influence play a growing role in international relations. And in the age of globalization and digitization, defending ones interests starts at home.

What is this all about? Under the pretext of the fight against Russian propaganda, cyber-attacks or fake news, left-wing and socialist anti-war websites have been suppressed for some time. For almost a year now, Google has been censoring left-wing and progressive websites, most notably the World Socialist Web Site, in close consultation with German government circles. Maas plays a key role in this. As former justice minister, he initiated the so-called Network Enforcement Act, which is repeatedly used to censor left-wing content, including Twitter messages from the satirical magazine Titanic against the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).

The attempt by Maas to cover up, at least partially, his reactionary foreign and domestic policies with phrases about peace, democracy and human rights, was only surpassed in its cynicism by his assertion that he went into politics because of Auschwitz. In reality, he and the German ruling class have long since begun to build upon the aggressive imperialist foreign policy that led to two world wars and the worst crimes in human history in the 20th century.

As in previous speeches and interviews, Gabriel explicitly referenced Humboldt Professor Herfried Munkler in his farewell speech in order to plead for a German great power offensive. One should not be content with giving normative answers, feeling comfortable in citing ones own values, so to speak, Munkler had said. What is also necessary, was the formulation and enforcement of our interests: politically, socially, economically and, ultimately, also militarily.

Maas may (at least for the moment) have taken a different foreign policy orientation than his predecessor. However, he fully agrees with Gabriels maxim of aggressively enforcing Germanys interests against its international rivals. The future was hardly ever so uncertain and competition for the global order so keen. But I believe just as firmly and confidently, we can surely accept this contest, boasted Maas. To do this, Germany would, for better or worse, have to expend more effort in defining our interests and advocating them.Six people, including one student, have been confirmed dead so far in the collapse of a pedestrian bridge under construction at Florida International University (FIU) in the Miami area Thursday afternoon.

A statement released late Friday evening by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) revealed that the lead engineer on the bridge project had called and left a voice message with FDOT on Tuesday reporting cracks in the north end of the span. W. Denney Pate, an engineer employed by FIGG Bridge Group, noted the cracking was not good and that it would have to be repaired but insisted that it was not a safety issue.

According to the FDOT statement, the call was not heard until Friday as the employee responsible for the line was out of their office but the state agency had not been responsible for checking on the bridge since none of the firms involved in construction of the bridge had ever communicated a life-safety issue.

Meanwhile, as rescue crews continue to dig through the rubble of the 950-ton bridge span that fell on motorists, new information has emerged showing a history of safety violations by the two companies responsible for its construction.

Munilla Construction Management (MCM) is a South Florida-based company with deep political connections in the state. The Miami New Times reports that the company is currently fighting a lawsuit by a TSA employee who was injured while walking across a makeshift bridge built by the company during an expansion project at Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International in October of 2016.

Jose Perez was walking across the platform leading to the bathrooms when it broke under his weight. His lawyer, Tesha Allison, told the Times, They built this makeshift bridge in the area where all the employees work, and it was poorly done. He fell and hurt himself really badlyhe had multiple broken bones and damage to his spine... They did shoddy work.

MCM has been fined over $50,000 since 2013 over the course of eight inspections of its worksites by federal inspectors. According to the Miami Herald, the company was ordered to pay a judgment of $143,000 to one of its subcontractors, Southeastern Engineering Contractors, after the workers walked off of the job due to safety concerns. The project in question, a $13.5 million bridge reconstructing job, was abandoned by the company due to multiple safety concerns including, according to court documents cited by the Herald, arguable collapse due to failure of temporary sheet piles on the south bend of the site.

FIGG Bridge Group, the other major contractor and the designer of the collapsed pedestrian bridge, is a Tallahassee-based company that has been involved in many large construction projects, including the replacement of the Interstate 35 bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota that collapsed in 2007. In 2012, the company was fined $28,000 by the Virginia Department of Labor following a near catastrophic accident during the construction of the Jordan Bridge in South Norfolk, Virginia.

According to court documents, FIGG modified a girder used in the construction of the bridge against the recommendations of the manufacturer. The girder failed, sending a 90-ton piece of concrete falling onto the railroad tracks beneath it. Four workers were said to suffer minor injuries in the accident.

An article in the Virginian-Pilot at the time of the accident quoted one of the citations issued: The citation also says Figg did not do daily, weekly and monthly inspections of the girder, that it did not provide adequate training for the equipment, and it did not have certain safety procedures in place for its maintenance and repair.

Both companies have benefitted from political connections throughout the state of Florida. MCM is owned by five brothers who have collectively donated more than half a million dollars to various politicians in Florida since 2000. According to the Miami Herald, this includes over $60,000 to Florida Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart, a Republican, who is said to have helped secure federal funds for the FIU bridge.

MCM also has close connections with Miami-Dade Countys Republican mayor, Carlos Gimenez. The Herald notes that one of the mayors sons, Julio Gimenez, worked as construction executive for MCM at one time while another, C.J. Gimenez, registered and worked as a lobbyist for MCM.

The company, founded by the father of the current owners, Fernando Munilla, has historic ties to both the Pentagon and the CIA. According to the companys website, prior to the Cuban revolution, Munilla was one of Cubas premier builders and a pioneer in construction methodology. His enterprises included an engineering firm, three of the largest concrete plants, and a construction management company that built a good portion of the nations pre-cast and pre-stressed construction projects.

Munillas company was subsequently seized by the Castro government. The four oldest sons fled to the U.S shortly before the Bay of Pigs invasion while the father stayed, fighting for his countrys freedom, leading covert operations along with the CIA. Since 2000, the family has donated more than $100,000 to the far-right US-Cuba Democracy Political Action Committee.

In 2012 MCM won a $66 million contract to build a new school at the US military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. All told, the company has some $130 million in Department of Defense contracts.

FIGG has also been a prolific contributor, donating more than $99,000 to various candidates in the last twenty years, according to the Herald. The bulk of this sum, $60,000, went to the Republican Party of Florida in the year 2001.

At that time another construction company, Odebrecht-Metric, was under investigation for dumping cement into the Pensacola Bay during construction of the Garcon Point Bridge in Santa Rosa County. FIGG was responsible for overseeing the project and performing inspections. While Odebrecht-Metric was ultimately fined $4 million, Figg was never charged with any violations.

Thursdays bridge collapse is just the latest disaster highlighting the abysmal state of Americas infrastructure. According to the quadrennial report released last year by the American Society of Civil Engineers the average age of bridges in the U.S is 56 years. The 2017 Infrastructure Report Card gave a grade of C+ to the nations bridge infrastructure, citing the fact that 56,007 are deemed to be structurally deficient, or over 9 percent. Since 2000, bridge collapses have occurred in a dozen different states, leading to 163 injuries and 40 deaths, not counting the FIU collapse on Thursday. The report estimated that $123 billion would have to be spent to properly rehabilitate the nations bridges.For the thirteen Maruti Suzuki India workers imprisoned for life on frame-up murder charges, this weekend is a bitter anniversary.

March 18 will mark exactly one year since they were condemned to spend the rest of their lives in the living hell that is an Indian prison. The sentencing was the culmination of five years of legal proceedings that were a travesty of justice from start to finish.

The thirteens only crime is to have rebelled against the sweatshop conditions that prevail in Indias new, globally connected auto industry. They include all twelve members of the Working Committee (or executive) of the Maruti Suzuki Workers Union (MSWU).

Workers at Maruti Suzukis car assembly plant in Manesar, Haryana had established the MSWU in 2011-12 in a militant struggle, punctuated by walkouts and sit-down strikes, against the Japanese-owned transnational and a government-recognized, pro-company union.

The Maruti Suzuki workers challenge to poverty wages, precarious contact jobs and brutal working conditions became a focal point for worker opposition across the giant Manesar-Gurgaon industrial belt, which lies on the outskirts of Indias capital, Delhi.

That is precisely why Maruti Suzuki, Indias business elite, and their police, courts, and political hirelings were determined to stamp out the MSWU and victimize and persecute the Manesar workers.

They seized on a company-provoked plant-floor altercation on July 18, 2012, and a mysterious fire that erupted in the middle of it and resulted in the death by asphyxiation of a company manager, to mount a vendetta against the Maruti Suzuki workers.

Without any proper investigation and illegally colluding with Maruti Suzuki management, as even the court was forced to concede, police targeted hundreds of workers for arrest. Meanwhile, the Congress Party-led state government assisted Maruti Suzuki in purging and replacing 2,400 permanent and temporary workers, virtually the entire Manesar assembly plant workforce.

Ultimately, Indian authorities charged 148 workers with murder, assault and other grave crimes and vindictively ignored Indian legal norms in denying any of them bail for years.

Indian political leaders and state officials made no secret that an example needed to be made of the Maruti Suzuki workers to reassure investors and intimidate workers across India.

Foreign investors are likely not to invest money in India out of fear of labor unrest, said the Haryana High Court in May 2013 in justifying its rejection of the workers initial bail application.

At a March 2017 sentence hearing for the 13 workers, special prosecutor Anurag Hooda argued that they should be given the most extreme punishment of alldeath by hangingdeclaring, Our industrial growth has dipped, FDI [Foreign Direct Investment] has dried up. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is calling for Make in India, but such incidents are a stain on our image.

The International Committee of the Fourth International and World Socialist Web Site responded to the savage life sentences meted out to the Maruti Suzuki workers by immediately initiating a campaign to mobilize the international working class in their defense.

A statement dated March 20, 2017, Free the Maruti Suzuki workers! explained, Their convictions are the outcome of a monstrous frame-up mounted by the Suzuki Corporation, the police and judicial authorities, with the full complicity of Indias principal political partiesthe Congress Party and the Hindu supremacist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) (see: Free the framed-up Maruti Suzuki workers!).

As a crucial element in mobilizing support for the Maruti Suzuki workers worldwide, the WSWS published an exhaustive five-part exposure of the frame-up based on the trial transcript (see: The frame-up of the Maruti Suzuki workersPart 1: A travesty of justice).

The prosecutions case was filled with holes and inconsistencies. Defense lawyers were able to demonstrate that police had failed to carry out the most rudimentary forensic tests on what they claimed were vital pieces of evidence and had fabricated evidence against the accused.

The trial judge, Judge Goyal, was patently biased against the workers. He repeatedly shifted the burden of proof from the prosecution to the workers.

He justified the exclusion of any testimony from Maruti Suzuki workers who were at the plant on July 18, 2012 but not charged, with the claim that they would have invariably given false testimony, either because they were sympathetic to, or intimidated by, the MSWU.

The fire was the crux of the prosecutions murder case. Yet it could not establish where, when, or how it started. The authorities did claim to have found a matchbox, which supposedly escaped detection during the initial investigation of the fire and inexplicably survived unscathed in an area destroyed by the blaze. But nothing tied this matchbox to any of the workers.

The prosecution changed basic elements of its narrative of the case, including what weapons workers supposedly used in an alleged attack on company managers.

Defense lawyers showed police had found false witnesses, in an attempt to cover up the fact that they had illegally arrested 89 workers, and forged bogus Medicolegal Certificates (MLCs) as proof of their claim the workers had attacked them when they intervened in the July 18, 2012 melee.

The polices actions were so patently illegal, Judge Goyal was forced to exonerate the 89 along with 29 other workers that no prosecution witness identified or correctly identified.

But he did so with the aim of saving the most essential part of the frame-upthe murder charges against the MSWU leaders.

In any instance where the defense could not irrefutably prove police illegality, he insisted their evidence be accepted as gospel truth. Thus Judge Goyal argued in his judgment that the fact that the lead inspector in the case had illegally colluded with Maruti Suzuki management and admitted under cross-examination his MLC was fraudulent did not otherwise impinge on his credibility or that of the police investigation as a whole.

There is widespread sympathy and support for the Maruti Suzuki workers in the Manesar-Gurgaon industrial belt and across India. Last March 18, tens of thousands of workers responded to the sentencing of the 13, along with eighteen others to prison terms of up to five years, by downing tools.

But the major trade union federations, including the Stalinist-led CITU and AITUC, and the Stalinist parliamentary parties have systematically isolated the Maruti Suzuki workers, both before and since the frame-up convictions.

For weeks, Peoples Democracy, the English-language weekly of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) failed to even report the convictions and savage sentences imposed on the MSWU leaders. Nor is there any mention of the Maruti Suzuki workers in the more than 50-page political resolution the CPM has prepared for its upcoming party congress; yet it is common knowledge that employers across India routinely point to their fate in seeking to cow worker opposition.

The Stalinists, who have supported the Indian elite in its drive to make India a cheap-labor haven, both fear the militant example of the Maruti Suzuki workers and that any association with them will disrupt their efforts to subordinate the growing working-class opposition to Indias authoritarian, arch-communalist BJP government to the Congress and other rightwing bourgeois parties.

The shunning of the Maruti Suzuki workers by the trade unions and ostensible left parties is emboldening the state. The BJP-led state government in Haryana has served notice that it intends to appeal the acquittal of the 117 workers and petition the High Court to overturn the life-sentences against the 13 and instead order them to be hanged.

Workers in India and around the world must come to the defense of the Maruti Suzuki workers. In challenging sweatshop exploitation, they were striking a blow for workers not just in India, but around the world. Their defense is a vital first step in forging the international unity of the working class that is needed to fight global capital.The campaign by the imperialist powers in Europe and the United States over the poisoning of former Russian spy and British double agent Sergei Skripal stinks to high heaven. The most far-reaching claims are being made, with the most far-reaching consequences, without any substantiation.

The propaganda offensive is not about what may or may not have happened in a park in Salisbury, England on March 4. It is about creating the pretext for a massive escalation of the war drive in Syria, the broader Middle East, and against Russia itself.

When Skripal and his daughter were first discovered on a park bench, the police declared that establishing what had happened would take weeks, if not months. The British government, however, has wrapped up the case far more quickly than any conventional criminal inquiry.

On March 12, Prime Minister Theresa Mays declared that Russia was highly likely to have been responsible for an indiscriminate and reckless act against the United Kingdom. This has been followed by the declaration of UK Foreign Minister Boris Johnson Friday that our quarrel is with Putins Kremlin, and with his decisionand we think it overwhelmingly likely that it was his decisionto direct the use of a nerve agent on the streets of the UK.

The assertions of the British government were endorsed by the US, France and Germany on Thursday, which declared the poisoning the first offensive use of a nerve agent in Europe since the Second World War. "It certainly looks like the Russians were behind it, Trump declared on Thursday, with the administration announcing new sanctions against Russia.

The rapidity with which the major imperialist policies have signed on to the statements of the UK makes clear that a plan was worked out beforehand. It required only the appropriate occasion to unveil it.

The story as told by the UK government is full of contradictions, without a shred of probative evidence. The entire pretext is based on the analysis coming out of Porton Down, the biochemical warfare facility dedicated to developing weapons of mass destruction, which is located only 10 miles from Salisbury. After first asserting that the poison was a nerve gas like Sarin or VX, the agency now claims that the toxic agent is of a type developed by Russia, namely Novichok.

As former UK ambassador and author Craig Murray has noted, the phrase of a type developed by Russia is carefully chosen. He cited a source within the British government as confirming that Porton Down scientists are not able to identify the nerve gas as being of Russian manufacture, and have been resentful of the pressuring being placed on them to do so.

Even if one were to accept the conclusion of the British government about the use of Novichokand it has refused to provide samples to Russia or anyone elsethis does not constitute proof that Russia directed the attack. The chemical was researched during the era of the Soviet Union. There is no evidence that Russia ever produced it, and it could just as easily have been manufactured in London, Langley or one of the states in the former Soviet Union that are now bitterly hostile to Russia.

And if a Russian was in fact involved, this is a far cry from proving the responsibility of the Russian government.

The Russian government has strenuously denied any involvement. Presidential press secretary Dmitri Peskov said on Friday, In international practice we never encountered such behavior at the state level when very serious accusations are being brought up against a countryour country in this casewith such wording as apparently, most likely and so on. Such an approach, he noted, contradicts not only international law, but common sense as a whole.

The Putin regime is deeply reactionary, governing on behalf of a criminal financial oligarchy that grew rich by plundering the assets of the former Soviet Union. But there is no proof that it was involved in the attack on Skripal and many reasons to question why it would want do so, as it provides a ready-made pretext for aggression by the US and Europe.

From the standpoint of who benefits, the most likely guilty parties in the Skripal affair are London and Washington, rather than Moscow. They are furious that the Russian government is obstructing their operations in Syria, aimed at removing the Assad government and setting up a puppet regime.

The events of the past two weeks were preceded by a significant escalation in Syria. On February 7, US warplanes and artillery batteries carried out a massacre in the north-eastern province of Deir Ezzorknowing that the bulk of hundreds of casualties would be Russian mercenaries. On February 25, the Trump administration declared that it no longer needed further approval for a vast expansion of military operations against Syria and its allies, including Iran.

Preparations have also been made for a direct conflict with Russia itself. It was only on January 19 that US Defence Secretary James Mattis announced a new National Defence Strategy that declared, Great power competitionnot terrorismis now the primary focus of US national security.

All the governments involved in the present campaign are warmongering regimes, run by the military-intelligence agencies. They all, moreover, face deep internal crises. The UK is riven by internal conflicts over Brexit. The Trump administration in the US staggers from crisis to crisis and is currently carrying out a purge of top government officials. In Germany, the major parties have finally formed a government, nearly six months after elections in Septemberthe last piece of the political machinery required to secure the US-led anti-Russian alliance now in operation.

In addition to justifying the expansion of war abroad, the campaign against Russia provides a pretext for an escalation of attacks on democratic rights at home. In the United States, the campaign over Russian meddling has already been used by the ruling classled by the Democratic Party and the CIAwith the pretext for censoring the Internet.

March 20 marks the 15th anniversary of the launching of the 2003 Iraq war based on a torrent of lies. As part of a concerted campaign to prove the existence of weapons of mass destruction, the US and UK spent months manufacturing intelligence, producing two dodgy dossiers, and even sending in weapons inspectors to Iraq. After these inspectors found no evidence of a nuclear or chemical weapons programme, on February 5, US Secretary of State Colin Powell appeared before the United Nations to present his infamous and wholly manufactured slide show, purporting to show photographic evidence of Iraq hiding unconventional weapons. On March 18, on this basis, the Labour government of Tony Blair committed the UK to support a US-led war.

The same playbook is being used again, only the case now being made against Russia regarding Skripal is even flimsier than that offered up to justify war against Iraq.

Within the political establishments in all the imperialist powers involved, there is no significant opposition to the present disastrous course. The Labour Party in Britain, like the Democrats in the US, are the most bellicose advocates of anti-Russian measures. In the media, not a single major publication has come out against the filthy campaign waged because the hallowed free press is nothing but a mouthpiece of the financial oligarchy and its drive to seize the markets and resources of the entire world.

The working class can only combat the growing danger of war by its own independent political action, in opposition to all parties of the ruling class. The formation of a new anti-war movement, uniting the great mass of working people and youth in opposition to capitalism and imperialism, is the most urgent political task.Sri Lanka continues to use the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) to torture detainees and extract confessions under President Maithripala Sirisenas administration, according to Locked Up Without Evidence, a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW).

The report, published in late January, is based on interviews with 34 former PTA detainees, the family members of seven current detainees and the lawyers and human rights defenders working on these cases. The detainees are victims of Colombos 26-year war against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which ended in the Sri Lankan militarys victory in 2009, and its aftermath.

The PTA was enacted in 1979, supposedly to curb the LTTE and other militant Tamil groups. Before it unleashed full-scale war against the separatists in 1983, Colombo used the law to repress Tamils, workers and youth.

Police and the security forces have extensive powers under the PTA to arbitrarily arrest people, detain them without charge for up to 18 months and obtain forced confessions. The laws provide immunity for government officials responsible for torture and other acts.

During his 2015 election campaign against incumbent president Mahinda Rajapakse, Sirisena exploited the widespread popular opposition to Rajapakses human rights violations. The PTA, however, remains in effect under Sirisena and, according to the HRW, has been used to arrest and detain people.

In 2016, for example, police claimed to have found a suicide jacket and arrested 11 youth from Chavakachcheri, about 14 kilometres south of Jaffna. They were held without trial for several months before six were released and three others were granted bail. Two youth remain in jail, pending charges and trial.

All the detainees mentioned in the HRW report have been kidnapped and arrested without due process and incarcerated without charge for lengthy periods.

The only option for most of those held is to plead guilty in order to end the indefinite detention. Vivodhani Givoshan, for example, was arrested under the PTA in 2010. He told HRW how his brother, who was also held under the PTA for long period and tortured, was forced to take that decision.

In six out of his eight cases, the ones that actually went to court, we decided that it would be easier for him [my brother] to plead guilty, so there was actually no trial, even we know the prosecution had no evidence, or at least none that my brothers lawyers could see, Givoshan said. His brother is still in custody.

A majority of those incarcerated under the PTA have been tortured. This has included assaulting detainees with poles and sticks, hanging them by their hands, and forcing them to breathe through plastic bags that contain kerosene. Those not subjected to physical brutality were mentally tortured.

Gurupharan Gurudharan, who was arrested in 2008, told HRW he was hung by his hands and beaten by Special Task Force (STF) members until he fainted. Denied drinking water during this torture, he even checked the toilet for water but STF officers had emptied it. He was released in February 2017 but is still under police surveillance.

Locked Up Without Evidence reveals that all those released are still attempting to recover from physical and psychological damage. Gurudharans health, for example, has not fully recuperated. He cannot stay in sunlight and has no strength in his right arm.

Angela Croos, who taught English at a school in Kandy, never recovered her health and died two years after her release. Murali Rajalechchami, a former student who had done well at school, is still traumatised by the treatment he endured in police custody.

The report also reviews the experiences of Sinhala Tigersethnic Sinhalese accused of supporting Tamil separatists.

Sudesh Nandimal, secretary of the railway trade union, was kidnapped by state authorities in April 2007. He was beaten, made to breathe through plastic bags containing kerosene and had a high-pressure water hose put in his mouth. He was incarcerated for 18 months and then released without charge.

Sahan Kirthi, another ethnic Sinhalese, who, according to the HRW, worked for a trade union newspaper, was arrested in February 2007 and beaten until he confessed to being a Sinhala Tiger. Kirthi lost the hearing in his left ear as a result of the beatings. Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) officers told him that his sister would be raped unless he confessed.

Kirthis testimony to HRW reveals how these draconian methods are enforced throughout the entire state apparatus. When I was produced before the magistrate, I started telling my story, he said. She called us into her chambers instead and scolded me for saying that the TID had tortured me. I showed her my wounds and scars and she said, You must have hit yourself.

With the assistance of some lawyers who heard him shouting in the courtroom, Kirthi was brought before a Judicial Medical Officer (JMO). But the JMO didnt listen to me, he said. There is a network between the JMO, magistrate, and the TID, I am certain of that. They protect each other. Kirthi was incarcerated for seven years and then released without charge.

The government is proposing new counter-terrorism laws in an attempt to deflect mounting opposition to the PTA. The legislation could result in various political activities or protests defined as terrorist actions.

The report notes that the term terrorist act vaguely and broadly includes intimidating a population and threatening the unity, territorial integrity, sovereignty of Sri Lanka, or the national security or defense of Sri Lanka.

The HRW warned that the legislation would facilitate human rights violations. In fact, the new laws indicate that the ruling class is preparing for even more ruthless measures.

The HRW report insists that the government has made positive steps. But, as the WSWS has explained, the new act goes far beyond the PTA. It provides the framework for a police-state regime being prepared by the ruling elite as it confronts growing opposition and political struggles by the working class.Amid deepening political turmoil in the small Pacific island kingdom of Tonga, police announced on March 2 the arrest of former prime minister Lord Tuivakano in connection with a passport fraud scandal.

It is the most high-profile arrest by the Passport Taskforce, set up in 2015 to investigate the alleged scams. More than a dozen people, including several politicians, have so far pleaded guilty to various charges.

Tuivakano, prime minister from 2010 to 2014, and a sitting member of parliament appointed by the countrys nobility, is charged with making a false statement for the purpose of obtaining a passport, perjury, acceptance of a bribe, and money laundering.

In a separate case, Internal Affairs Minister Akosita Lavulavu and her husband, former cabinet minister Etuate Lavulavu, were arrested on March 4. The charges include knowingly dealing in forged documents.

An audit of Tongas immigration divisions, completed in 2013, found a Chinese couple, Sien Lee and his wife, had been issued seven diplomatic and 15 ordinary passports since 2003. Local media reported that King George Tupou VI told Tuivakano not to issue diplomatic passports to the couple. However, the Queen Mother ordered that they be given to her friends.

Documents provided to Fairfax Media in New Zealand last year also revealed Tuivakano had signed off on five passports in October 2014, despite concerns about the validity of the applicants. The Chinese nationals claimed they were granted citizenship and issued passports in Tonga during the 1990s.

Tongas police commissioner Steve Caldwell is a New Zealander. His position is funded by the NZ governments aid program, which largely pays for Tongas police and courts. The NZ Serious Fraud Office played a major role in the passport investigation. Possibly in retaliation for the arrests, Police Minister Mateni Tapueluelu has since made a cabinet submission to dismiss Caldwell over the alleged importation of prohibited weapons and large amounts of ammunition by the armed forces and police.

These episodes point to the instability of Tongas autocratic and semi-feudal political system and also highlight the extent of New Zealand imperialisms direct interference in the countrys affairs.

The New Zealand ruling elite has always considered Tonga to be part of its neo-colonial sphere, along with Samoa. The impoverished country is a significant source of cheap labour for the New Zealand and Australian agricultural sector. Both imperialist countries are intervening throughout the Pacific to assert their control and push back against Chinas increasing economic influence, which has been encouraged by the Tongan monarchy.

Last August King Tupou dissolved parliament on the advice of Tuivakano, who was then the speaker. Tuivakano declared that a bill, which sought to give cabinet direct responsibility for appointing positions such as the police commissioner and attorney general was a clear attempt to erode the powers of the king and privy council.

A snap election in November resulted in a decisive win for the Democratic Party of incumbent Prime Minister Akilisi Pohiva, who was reinstated by vote of the parliament.

Conflicts appear to be intensifying between the king and the unelected nobles, who appoint nine of the 26 MPs in parliament, on the one hand, and the pro-democracy faction headed by Pohiva, on the other.

New Zealand-based Tongan academic Malakai Koloamatangi told Radio NZ last year that Pohivas government bent on reform may have pushed too hard. The proposals to take away the constitutional power of the king to deny assent to bills before they become law, would effectively take the king out of the law-making process.

Pohiva became prime minister following the 2014 elections, supported and promoted by Canberra and Wellington. The regional powers remain frustrated, however, at the slow pace of pro-business economic reform in Tonga, and are alarmed at Chinas strengthening ties with the country.

Tonga took out a $US118 million low-interest Chinese loan a decade ago, which the country has since been hoping would be written off as aid. The Chinese government has provided Tonga with a significant amount of aid, but has not written off the loan, for which a strict repayment schedule is expected to begin this year.

During his first official visit to New Zealand in August 2016, Pohiva came under pressure over a Chinese passenger plane operating in Tonga, which did not comply with New Zealands civil aviation laws. After the plane was gifted to Tonga by Beijing in 2013, New Zealand issued travel warnings and suspended $NZ10 million of aid, causing outrage in Beijing.

These political tensions have been building up for more than a decade. Following public sector strikes and anti-monarchy riots in 2006, which profoundly shook the Tongan elite, Australia and New Zealand sent troops to the impoverished country to protect their strategic and economic interests and prevent Tongas political crisis from spiralling out of their control.

Under pressure from Canberra and Wellington, the Tongan government responded with limited measures to democratise the electoral system. Beginning with the 2010 election, the monarchy agreed to increase the number of elected MPs in parliament from 9 to 17, with 9 seats reserved for nobles. Further constitutional changes saw the king relinquish some of his powers. The royal family also divested itself of business assets.

The regional powers have no concern for the social conditions and basic democratic rights of ordinary Tongans, but have pushed for market liberalisation. The royal family implemented some pro-market measures in the past decadeleading to increased social inequality, poverty and unemployment. But as far as Australia, New Zealand, and the International Monetary Fund are concerned, not enough has been done to open up Tongas markets and resources for exploitation.

This month, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern visited Tonga as part of a high-powered Pacific tour. It followed a speech by NZ Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters at the Lowy Institute in Australia on the need for New Zealand to be more assertive in the Pacific against external actors and interests, especially China.

During the visit, Peters announced the appointment of a new high commissioner, Tiffany Babington, who will lead the delivery of $US47 million of investment over three years, focused on the areas of energy, policing, justice and education. Key parts of the state apparatus, in other words, will remain under New Zealands control.

The geo-political rivalry destabilizing Tongas fragile political order is likely to worsen. Significantly, King Tupou and his deputy prime minister were both in Beijing for the duration of Arderns visit. The kings week-long absence also coincided with the arrest of Tuivakano.

Tupou and Chinese President Xi Jinping proclaimed a new strategic partnership between the nations. Chinas foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said China-Tonga relations had entered a new stage of rapid development since 2014 when Xi paid a visit to the Pacific, pledging increased support for economic and infrastructure development.Caterpillar could eliminate nearly 900 jobs in the US and Central America, the company said on Friday.

Job cuts will happen at locations in Texas and Panama as part of a restructuring, a spokeswoman said. Employees were notified earlier this year, she said.

The heavy equipment manufacturer also said it is "contemplating the closure" of an engine factory in La Grange, Illinois, which is part of its subsidiary Progress Rail, a supplier of railroad and transit products. The closure, if it happens, would eliminate 600 full-time jobs in engine manufacturing. The company said it might be "transitioning" its rail manufacturing to facilities in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, as well as "outside suppliers." The company said the employees were informed in January.

Caterpillar is planning to close its work tools facility in Waco, Texas, by the end of 2018, eliminating 200 job and contractor positions there, the company said. The employees were notified last month. The company plans to move the manufacturing to Wamego, Kansas, and also to "external suppliers."

Caterpillar also confirmed that it's closing a facility in Panama, and that 80 jobs will be eliminated. The company said these workers were informed in January.

The cost-cutting measures come even as a growing global economy is boosting demand for its heavy-duty equipment. The company reported in January that quarterly sales grew 18%, its first increase since 2012.

Related: Caterpillar reports sales boom

Sales in North American grew by 46% driven by selling and leasing machinery for home building, infrastructure and for the oil and gas industries. Sales were also boosted by increased spending in China.

The company added 3,000 employees last year to meet demand, bringing its total workforce to 98,000.Russia's efforts to sow chaos in the US elections is now well-documented. As is its ability to foment unrest in Ukraine. And Estonia. And Western Europe. And to harm people who defy it, whether at home or in the United Kingdom.

But what is less discussed is Russia's role as instigator-in-chief in Syria. Sitting at the center of the "Axis of Mistrust" - Syria's Assad regime, Iran, and, on occasion, Turkey -- Russia is playing all sides of the board and then rearranging the pieces - in its own favor. As one writer on the Middle East recently noted, Turkey, Russia and Iran "do not want to allow potential strains among them to work to the United States' advantage, not only in Syria, but in the region as a whole."

If American policymakers are to focus on Russia's efforts to expand its influence, they will have to engage with what Russia is up to in Syria, and the implications in the country and the region. As Turkey attacks the US-backed Kurdish forces in Afrin, the same forces who led the fight against ISIS, Russia is there, viewing the Turkish operation, as one analyst put it, "as a chance to deepen the wedge between the US and Turkey."

In congressional testimony this week, Gen. Joseph Votel, the head of US Central Command, noted that, "Russia does play a role in here; they are trying to instigate tension among partners in the region and then trying to play a role in trying to be an arbiter in that." He added, "I am concerned about this role that Russia plays in northern Syria and how it impacts all our relationships, especially the relationship between US and Turkey."

Russia has been all-in on the side of the Syrian regime from the start of the conflict and its air campaign in Aleppo reshaped facts on the ground. It has blocked close to a dozen UN resolutions condemning the Syrian regime's crimes against civilians, even blocking resolutions that would have allowed humanitarian relief to reach besieged moms and dads trying to pull their children through this hellish conflict. The latest UN effort to stop the bombardment and poisoning of Syrians in Eastern Ghouta ended in a ceasefire that existed only on paper in New York. It failed entirely to take hold on the ground.

As Votel noted of the ceasefire, Russia's "inability to enforce it means either they lack the ability to do that or they are choosing not to do that ... one of the things we do have to do is hold them accountable for the actions they are taking and the humanitarian disaster they are perpetuating."

Indeed, the White House issued an unusual statement this month noting that "between February 24 and 28, Russian military aircraft conducted at least 20 daily bombing missions in Damascus and Eastern Ghouta. ... Pro-regime forces must immediately cease targeting medical infrastructure and civilians as part of the brutal campaign in Eastern Ghouta."

US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley warned only this week that the United States would "act" against any nation that "is determined to impose its will through chemical attacks and inhuman suffering, most especially the outlaw Syrian regime." Russian military leaders threatened to strike the United States in Syria if the United States launched strikes against Damascus.

Right now there is no accountability. And the deaths of Russian mercenaries who launched attacks on US and US-backed forces February 7 remain shrouded in mystery. US military leaders say they remained in contact with Russia during the attack and received assurances that Russia wouldn't engage with coalition forces in the Deir el-Zour area. Nevertheless, the mercenaries attacked a US-backed coalition position.

Russia's actions in Syria present a challenge to America: How do you rein in a power that feels no check is in the offing? The first step is to encourage America's leaders to pay attention to reality on the ground.In the last four years, Russia has annexed Crimea from Ukraine, meddled in a US election and helped turn the tide of the Syrian war in Bashar al-Assad's favor.

Now it's in a major diplomatic row with the UK, which blames Moscow for the poisoning of a former spy, his daughter, and a British policeman in the English countryside. The UK's top defense official said Thursday that Russia was "ripping up the international rulebook."

Such an accusation is likely music to President Vladimir Putin's ears -- his popularity tends to spike when Russia confronts the West, polls show.

He is well on track to retain power in an election this Sunday, but he is showing a growing appetite for power beyond his country's borders, and Russia is beginning to fill the void in parts of the world where the US once wielded influence.

Here are some ways Russia is stepping up around the globe.

Propaganda

Accusations that Russia meddled in the 2016 US election -- the same election that saw Donald Trump's meteoric rise -- have rocked Washington and led to several formal investigations.

US intelligence agencies accuse Russia of hacking into and releasing the emails Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman and other servers belonging to the Democratic Party. This was in an attempt, they say, to influence the outcome of the vote.

European nations have been dealing with Russian cyber-meddling for some time, cybersecurity researchers say, and the UK, France and Germany have all accused Russia of trying to influence votes in their countries.

British Prime Minister Theresa May gave a stern warning to Russia in November last year, accusing it of trying to "weaponize information" to disrupt the world order.

One of the same troll armies that meddled in America's 2016 election, a CNN analysis found, also posted dozens of pro-Brexit messages on the day the UK held a referendum and voted to leave the European Union. The troll army has established ties to the Russian government.

Germany accused Russia of propagating fake news to stir far-right sentiments in the country and in June last year it passed a law to tackle fake news, forcing online platforms to remove false reports within 24 hours or face hefty fines.

Military power

President Putin has boasted about Russia's military might many times, and Syria has felt the force of that power profoundly in recent years.

Russian warplanes have bombed territory, and mercenaries and advisers on the ground have supported offensives to prop up Syrian President Assad. Russia's firepower has helped turn the war around in Assad's favor and has made the country a game-changing player in the complex multi-sided conflict. That role also means a stronger foothold in the Middle East for Russia.

Russia's military power also enabled Moscow to annex the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. It was a move that led to sanctions and condemnation from the West but one that perhaps boosted Russia's image as a major world power. Russia still backs separatists in Ukraine.

Elsewhere, Russia has increased its military influence in Libya, a country still in chaos since the 2011 death of Moammar Gadhafi in the Arab Spring. Moscow is courting Gen. Khalifa Haftar in the country, a rival of the fragile UN-backed coalition government in Tripoli.

Russian forces have also held joint military drills with Egypt on Russian soil, with plans to host the exercises this year in Egypt.

Arms sales

There has been much talk about a global arms race as world powers increase their nuclear stockpiles, but there is also a race between Russia and the US to sell conventional arms.

Russia is the second-biggest exporter of arms behind the US, and it is finding markets in countries that traditionally bought American-made weapons, especially in Asia and the Middle East, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri).

India was the world's largest importer of major arms between 2013 and 2017, Sipri data shows. Russia accounted for 62% of India's arms imports, during that same period.

Military officials in the US, Europe and Afghanistan are concerned that Russia may also be providing supplies to the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Russia is selling arms to countries in Southeast Asia as well, including Indonesia and Myanmar. Russia donated weapons and military equipment to the Philippines last year and signed agreements for arms exports, CNN Philippines reports.

Countering US influence

Last year, Russia's finance ministry came to the aid of crisis-hit Venezuela with a deal to restructure sovereign debt, making Moscow the primary foreign backer of President Nicolas Maduro.

The burgeoning relationship with Venezuela has given Russia an important economic and political foothold in Latin America, just as already soured US-Venezuelan relations declined further.

It's a two-way street: In December, Venezuela awarded licenses to a unit of Rosneft, Russia's state-controlled oil company, to develop offshore gas fields.

Closer to home, Russia has historical and cultural ties in the Balkans and the Kremlin is keen to use these links to counter NATO expansion in the region. In 2017, officials in Montenegro alleged that Russian security services were involved in a plot to overthrow the government, after Montenegro was formally invited to join NATO. Russia denied the allegations.

Russia has tried to boost ties with eastern European nations that are not NATO members, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Macedonia.

Energy supply

Many former Soviet nations in eastern Europe rely heavily on Russian oil and gas to fuel their economies, with Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Hungary and Lithuania among them. Most are trying to diversify their energy sources to reduce their dependence on the Russian state.

Roughly a third of the European Union's natural gas still comes from Russia, which has made it difficult for the union to impose sanctions on the country.

Some parts of Europe are expanding energy ties with Russia. Hungary -- whose leader Viktor Orb-n has been compared to Putin -- is extending its Soviet-era nuclear power station with Russian financing.

Russia in the meantime is looking to grow its energy market elsewhere.

In Iraq, Russian state oil company Rosneft has signed contracts to gain control of the main oil pipeline in the Kurdistan region, boosting Russia's influence there.

It has also teamed up with Saudi Arabia -- another country with an oil-dependent economy -- and agreed to extend oil production cuts to buoy global prices.

Middle East diplomacy

Russia has increased its diplomatic contacts across the Middle East. Iran, a longtime adversary of the US, is allied with Russia on the ground in Syria, and the two countries have also stepped up official visits recently.

But Russia has also boosted relations with Iran's regional rivals. Last year, the Kremlin gave a lavish welcome to Saudi Arabia's King Salman, and earlier this year, Putin hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Russia is working with Israel to agree on certain responses to the Syrian conflict. Israel opposes keeping Assad in power, but in 2015 it agreed with Russia to "deconflict" military operations in the war-torn country to avoid accidental clashes in the skies.

Elsewhere in the region, Russia has expanded contacts with Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Russia has also become closer to Turkey in facing the Syria crisis, and Putin speaks routinely with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Middle Eastern issues. The countries managed to repair ties quickly after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border in 2015.

Russia hasn't had the same kind of rapprochement with the US, despite Putin and Trump repeatedly promising a restoration of relations. And as Russian tensions with other Western countries rise, the next six years could see the world change yet again.The White House and the CIA are preparing to fight a fierce battle over the nomination of President Donald Trump's pick to head the agency, Gina Haspel, who is already facing strong opposition over her participation in Bush-era interrogation programs.

If confirmed, Haspel, a 33-year CIA veteran and current deputy director, would become the first woman to head the agency. She is respected as a "pro's pro," one former CIA official told CNN, and has had some face time with the President in the past.

But more controversial aspects of her record are presenting potential obstacles. These include her time running the CIA's secret "black site" prison in Thailand in 2002 called "Cat's Eye," the first secret detention facility created after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks designed to allow the CIA to interrogate suspects off the grid, and her later role in the CIA's destruction of tapes from interrogation sessions of terrorism detainees.

Haspel's nomination, announced in a tweet from the President on Tuesday morning, came as a surprise to many in the intelligence community and Congress, who are now scrambling to try to get her through the confirmation process unscathed as key senators in both parties have already voiced criticism of Haspel.

Outside Trump's innermost circle, hardly anyone knew beforehand that Haspel would be nominated. The White House did not notify many of Trump's national security advisers and officials, according to sources at various national security agencies. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr said he was not consulted or given a heads-up before Haspel was selected.

"Senate leadership was notified on Monday morning," White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters told CNN in an email.

Haspel was at the White House during a visit from a South Korean delegation last week, but it's unclear whether the President specifically discussed the new job with her then or if he made the decision over the weekend. Haspel has briefed Trump on previous occasions, according to two sources close to the White House.

Walters declined to say whether the President interviewed Haspel for the position before nominating her to the CIA post, but said Trump "got to know" Haspel during her time briefing Trump on intelligence matters.

"We are not going to get into internal deliberations, but what I can tell you is that the President got to know Gina Haspel during her time at the White House delivering the President's intel briefings along with Director Pompeo," Walters said.

Walters also touted Trump's "great relationship" with Haspel and said Trump respects her "distinguished career."

"She has dedicated her life to public service, and the CIA," Walters said. "Gina Haspel has wide bipartisan support by national security professionals."

The scramble to prepare

Efforts to prepare Haspel for the confirmation process are already underway.

Typically, a cadre of CIA experts come together to get the candidate ready, as well as former directors and the White House. The candidate will make courtesy calls to senators who will be voting on her nomination.

George Jameson, a more than 30-year veteran of the CIA who worked on multiple different confirmation processes, told CNN the process to get a nominee cleared through Congress varies, especially depending on the candidate's experience. Haspel, as a career CIA employee, will require less background on the agency.

Prior to the hearing, Haspel will also be subject to written questions, both a general questionnaire and a separate document of specific questions from individual members. Jameson said it's likely that legislative affairs, the general counsel's office, congressional affairs, and different subject matter experts throughout the CIA will draw up briefings and papers and prepare questions for what is known as the "murder board."

According to a former senior intelligence official familiar with the process, the White House will "feed in issues to the team at the agency that is assembling likely questions and contribute to the opening statement. The latter is hugely important in this case, as Gina will need to address clearly and properly the black site/records destruction issues" to "the satisfaction of key committee members."

Meanwhile, the President's national security advisers and intelligence officials have kicked off a flurry of meetings to vet Haspel and prepare her for her confirmation hearing.

At one meeting of professional staff of the National Security Council, who were not informed in advance about the nomination, concern was expressed that Haspel might not survive the confirmation process, two sources with knowledge of the matter told CNN. One source noted that officials were already floating alternative names in case Haspel's past in Thailand wrecked her chances of being confirmed. Caught off guard, they were preparing for the worst, the source said. However, it's unclear how much of a role the NSC will play as the process continues.

The plan to get Haspel through the nomination process -- given the political headwinds -- isn't fully baked within the White House, as they're "feeling it out," another adviser with knowledge of the matter said.

However, one US official familiar with the matter told CNN that "Haspel's qualifications are overwhelming, and anyone who knows the confirmation process knows she is on track to get confirmed, DC men's rooms gossip not withstanding."

Sarah Sanders, Trump's press secretary, told reporters during the White House press briefing on Thursday that "we're very proud of these nominees," referring to current CIA Director Mike Pompeo, who Trump announced would be replacing Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State, and Haspel, "and fully expect them to both be confirmed."

It isn't clear if those in Trump's inner circle are concerned about Haspel's record or gave it a second thought when Trump announced the news.

The scrambling over Haspel's nomination stands in stark contrast with that of Pompeo.

Two sources with knowledge of the matter told CNN that Pompeo had known for at least several weeks that he would be making the move and is already working on foreign policy projects behind the scenes. Advisers close to Pompeo are already taking meetings with foreign leaders to discuss upcoming projects and Pompeo's vision of the department, one source taking such a meeting told CNN.

The mounting opposition

Haspel has already attracted opposition from several senators, including Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon. Lawmakers are anticipating a bruising confirmation fight, as several key Republicans say she must answer for her role in the interrogation program. But Haspel has also garnered praise from some Democrats, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, who led the 2014 report that was harshly critical of the Bush-era programs. Feinstein says she is reserving judgment on Haspel's nomination until after her confirmation hearing.

On Thursday morning, Feinstein demanded that records relating to Haspel's career be declassified "in order to fully and fairly review her record and qualifications" and give the American people the chance "to know the actual role the person nominated to be the director of the CIA played in what I consider to be one of the darkest chapters in American history," she wrote in a letter to Pompeo and Haspel.

Jameson told CNN that the White House and the CIA together are "really going to have to make some decision about what they declassify" about Haspel's record. However, the senators who are voting for her confirmation can get that information in a classified setting. "They don't actually need to declassify," he said. It all depends on if senators will demand open access to information for political gain or transparency for the American public. That debate could prolong the process.

Civil liberties organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have also raised concerns about Haspel's nomination and are planning to fight her nomination aggressively.

"We are deeply concerned that President Trump has nominated a willing participant in this dark and shameful chapter of CIA history to lead the institution at a time when the United States' commitment against torture and to the humane treatment of detainees demands unwavering enforcement," Homer Venters, the director of programs at Physicians for Human Rights, wrote in a press release referring to her role in Thailand.

The CIA declined to comment, and the National Security Council's spokesman, Michael Anton, did not respond to a request for comment.

Haspel's controversial career

After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, national security and intelligence officials caught off guard by the plot were scrambling to provide the White House with options and intelligence to track down and monitor any future danger. One way the CIA did that was by establishing secret prisons around the world to detain and interrogate terrorism suspects. The first suspect, Abu Zubaydah, was captured in Pakistan, and the CIA ultimately decided to create a facility to house him in Thailand called "Cat's Eye."

After Haspel's nomination, ProPublica a published correction to stories about Haspel's role in Thailand overseeing the waterboarding of Abu Zubaydah, concluding that Haspel did not arrive at the base in Thailand until after that interrogation was complete. Zubaydah was not the only suspect subject to such methods at the black site in Thailand once Haspel arrived. There are still questions about her record overseeing other detainees who may have been subjected to enhanced interrogation that are likely to come up in her confirmation hearing.

Haspel, in addition to leading the first "black site" in Thailand, was also involved in the destruction of videotapes that demonstrated the CIA's use of extreme interrogation methods, including waterboarding, though the former head of the CIA's National Clandestine Service Jose Rodriguez has largely taken the blame for that incident in the public record.

Her involvement in the Bush-era interrogation program is technically still classified, despite widespread public reporting. Senators Wyden, Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, and now Feinstein, the champion behind the Senate Intelligence Committee's report on the interrogation program, are demanding that those records be declassified and subject to review prior to accepting her nomination. Haspel has been undercover for most of her career, so there is not much information publicly available about her decades of service.

David Priess, a former CIA briefer who wrote "The President's Book of Secrets," told CNN that Haspel's involvement in the interrogation program was "a very small slice of her career," and that she was following policy and adhering to the law throughout - a position many other former CIA leaders have taken publicly in recent days.

"My sense is that most of the people that have interacted with her" both in Congress and in the rest of the government "have felt generally positive" about her and her record, Priess said.

There's also a sense she's a popular pick within the agency. Former agency officials have swarmed to TV and radio stations in the two days since she was nominated to congratulate her and defend her record. One former CIA official who has spoken with current employees said Pompeo's departure was expected after months of rumors, and that Haspel's nomination was largely welcome, especially as opposed to alternatives like Tom Cotton, the Arkansas Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee who is close to Trump and was rumored to replace Pompeo months ago.Thousands of people gathered in Slovakia's capital city Friday night to protest against the government and pay tribute to murdered Slovakian journalist Jan Kuciak.

Prime Minister Robert Fico resigned Thursday after weeks of public protests over the slaying of the investigative journalist and his fianc-e, Martina Ku-n-rov-, who reported on fraud among the country's elite -- but many Slovaks are not convinced the desired political change will follow from Fico's departure.

Protesters took to the streets of capital Bratislava from late afternoon Friday, rallying under the slogan "For a Decent Slovakia."

Demonstrations were also planned in more than 30 other towns across the country -- and in cities around the world, including London, New York and Sydney.

Protesters held banners calling for early elections and waved signs reading "Government Doesn't Work" and "Enough of Fico," according to Reuters.

Speaking to CNN earlier on Friday, journalist Peter Nagy, who helped coordinate the protests, said Fico's resignation was not the answer to his country's problems.

"Fico's resignation is just a change of figures -- Fico was very clear that he is not going anywhere and that we will continue to see him as an active political figure within the government.

"Fico's resignation ... does not bring change, but further undermines the trust of the people in the state," Nagy said. "The new government will still have the same people within it, and many of these people have connections to corruption and organized crime.

"We believe that the only way for the public to regain trust in the state is to have new elections -- people really feel that something needs to be changed."

'Troubling questions' about safety of journalists

Kuciak, 27, and Ku-n-rov- were found dead in Kuciak's apartment in western Slovakia on February 26 with bullet wounds to the chest and head, respectively, according to the International Press Institute.

Kuciak reported on tax evasion and fraud among Slovak businesses, including people connected to the country's governing party, Smer.

Censorship watchdog Index on Censorship called for a thorough and independent investigation and said the killings raised "troubling questions about the safety of media professionals in the European Union."

On March 1, Slovak police said they had detained seven people in connection with the killings of Kuciak and Ku-n-rov-. The people detained, who are between 26 and 62 years old, are believed to have ties to Italian organized crime, Police Corps President Tibor Gaspar said at a news conference that day, according to TASR.

On February 28, Aktuality.sk published the last unfinished report Kuciak was working on before he was killed.

The report identified people settled in Slovakia who allegedly have connections to the Italian organized-crime group the 'Ndrangheta. It also linked these people to high-profile Slovaks, including some connected to Smer.

The government of Slovakia said it was offering a reward of -1 million ($1.2 million US) for information about the killing.Last summer when Sen. Dean Heller was considering bucking President Donald Trump on health care, the president issued a not-so-subtle threat to the vulnerable Nevada Republican.

"Look, he wants to remain a senator, doesn't he?" Trump said at a meeting at the White House with GOP senators.

Heller laughed off the comment, but GOP senators were alarmed. And the subtle threat may have had an effect.

Over the next several months, Heller aligned himself closely with the President, endorsing his efforts to repeal Obamacare, appearing right behind Trump at a White House event celebrating passage of the tax law, and avoiding direct criticism of Trump despite the seemingly endless string of controversies coming out of the West Wing.

And the White House returned the favor, endorsing Heller in his reelection bid, with plans to dispatch Vice President Mike Pence to Nevada twice by spring. And this week, he delivered perhaps the biggest gift of all: The President helped clear the field by convincing Heller's primary foe, Danny Tarkanian, to run for the House instead.

The President's maneuvering in Nevada underscores this reality about Trump: Despite his polarizing presidency, the special counsel investigation clouding his administration and his historically low approval ratings, he remains the most powerful player in Republican primary politics, with the ability to influence the course of a race with a simple tweet.

Indeed, his tweet endorsing Sen. Roger Wicker undercut a primary foe just as he was preparing a challenge in Mississippi. A tweet praising a challenger to his critic, Jeff Flake, preceded the Arizona Republican's decision to quit a primary race that may have been unwinnable.

And as Sen. Bob Corker was weighing whether to abandon his decision to retire and run again for reelection, Trump would not commit to supporting the Tennessee Republican, making it clear that Corker would have to fight a tough primary challenger to win back his seat. Corker opted to retire instead.

All of this explains why Trump has been able to get his way with Republicans in Congress, who are not eager to go toe-to-toe publicly with Trump no matter how they may privately feel.

Mark Meadows, head of the House Freedom Caucus, told CNN that the base pushes back when an unpopular Congress fights with Trump.

They see certain senators "as part of the problem" and the more they criticize Trump, "the more the base likes him," Meadows said.

Heller's relationship with Trump began improving after the two talked on an Air Force One flight to Las Vegas after the shooting there in October. Since then, Heller has avoided criticizing Trump and Trump has returned the favor by intervening to spare him a primary challenge.

Tarkanian told CNN that Trump 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale called Wednesday night -- less than two days before Nevada's filing deadline -- to say that Trump wanted him out of the Senate race.

"He said it'd be best for party unity, best chance to get his 'America First' agenda passed," Tarkanian said.

Tarkanian said he spoke with his wife and mother, and then campaign staff and volunteers, on Thursday morning. "Every single one of them said, 'You ought to do what the President's asking you to do and get into CD-3,'" he said.

But he still had reservations. His entire campaign had been fueled by the premise that Heller was insufficiently loyal to Trump. So Tarkanian called Parscale back later Thursday and told him he needed a public indication that Trump would have his back if he exited the Senate primary and ran for the 3rd District House seat instead.

"I hadn't talked with the President. How would I know it?" he said. "This was not my idea to do this. This is the President's idea, and I think it was important that people know that. Plus, it was important that I know it."

On Friday, hours before the filing deadline, Trump tweeted: "It would be great for the Republican Party of Nevada, and it's unity if good guy Danny Tarkanian would run for Congress and Dean Heller, who is doing a really good job, could run for Senate unopposed!"

Almost immediately, Tarkanian's wife Amy responded that he would abide by Trump's wishes. And Heller, now in Trump's good graces, has a clear path through the primary.

Republicans who aren't willing to cozy up to Trump, meanwhile, are opting for retirement in 2018 rather than uphill reelection battles in a challenging political environment.

Meadows told CNN Friday that Trump is just as popular in his district as he was in November 2016 when he carried his North Carolina district by roughly 25 points. He said voters repeatedly tell him to tell Trump to "keep up the fight."

Trump has long valued loyalty above almost anything else, according to people close to him. And that has often gotten him in hot water, including when he allegedly asked James Comey for loyalty before he was fired as FBI Director, something Trump has denied.

But senators, too, have tried have tried to influence Trump by praising him and getting on his good side.

"It's not the content of your character" that matters, said Sen. Lindsey Graham, a one-time foe turned friend of Trump's. "It's whether or not you show him respect and like him."Update: Saturday, March 17, 2018 10:16 a.m. -- An Amber Alert has been canceled for 10-month-old Zoe Jordan from Memphis. Police say Zoe Jordan was found safe thirteen hours after she was reported missing on Friday. They say a man stole a vehicle with Zoe inside near southeast Memphis near the Mississippi line on Friday. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation thanks everyone for spreading the word. However, they are still looking for the male suspect. Memphis police announced this morning Raylon Bell, 19, as a person of interest for kidnapping Zoe, who turns 11 months today.

Original Story

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WTVA) - The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has issued an Amber Alert for an infant last seen in a stolen car Friday night in southeast Memphis near the Mississippi line.

Zoe Jordan, 10 months, was in a 2016 dark maroon Honda Civic with the Tennessee license plate X30 00S.

WMC-TV reports that vehicle was last seen near the intersection of Malco Crossing and Riverdale and left heading east on Winchester Boulevard.

The baby was wearing a pink onesie and a black jacket.

The driver of the stolen vehicle may be a black male wearing a red hoodie with a shiny zipper down the front.

If you see the baby or the vehicle, you are asked to call 1-800-TBI-FIND.NEW ORLEANS (AP)  The Trump administration will rewrite rules governing how to choose areas considered critical to endangered species to settle a lawsuit brought by 20 states and four trade groups, according to state attorneys general.

The endangered species director for an environmental nonprofit says that's terrible news. Noah Greenwald of the Center for Biological Diversity says the administration has "shown nothing but hostility toward endangered species."

The attorneys general for Alabama and Louisiana said in news releases Thursday that the administration made the agreement Thursday to settle a lawsuit brought by 20 states and four national trade groups, challenging two changes made in 2016.

According to the lawsuit, the rules are now so vague that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service "could declare desert land as critical habitat for a fish and then prevent the construction of a highway through those desert lands, under the theory that it would prevent the future formation of a stream that might one day support the species."

A spokeswoman for Fish and Wildlife referred a request for comment to the U.S. Justice Department, which did not immediately respond to phoned and emailed queries. A NOAA Fisheries spokeswoman did not immediately respond Thursday.

"We are encouraged that the Trump administration has agreed to revisit these rules, which threaten property owners' rights to use any land that the federal government could dream that an endangered species might ever inhabit," Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said in his news release. "These Obama-era rules were not only wildly unreasonable, but contrary to both the spirit and the letter of the Endangered Species Act."

Greenwald said, "Their case didn't have a leg to stand on."

But, he said, "The Trump administration doesn't want strong and needed protection for endangered species. It's not surprising they would just roll over and agree to rewrite the rules."

He said critical habitat doesn't require landowners to do anything.

"It requires federal agencies to ensure that actions they take don't adversely modify critical habitat," Greenwald said. "So it's only when the federal government is involved in a project  either through funding or through permitting  that there's additional requirements."

Critical habitat is at the center of a separate lawsuit before the U.S. Supreme Court. The high court agreed in January to review district and appeals court rulings that upheld Fish and Wildlife's designation of 1,500 acres (607 hectares) of Louisiana timberland as critical habitat for the dusky gopher frog, an endangered frog found only in Mississippi.

The 3-inch-long frogs once lived in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, but now live only in a few parts of Mississippi with temporary ponds that dry up in the summer, leaving them free of fish that might eat the frogs' eggs. Adults come out of underground burrows in the winter and spring to breed in those ponds.

The Louisiana tract is the only land outside Mississippi that could be made suitable as a breeding ground, experts testified.

Greenwald said he doesn't think new regulations would be approved in time to affect that suit. He says he doesn't know of any other active suits involving critical habitat.TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Florida Gov. Rick Scott is signing a new roughly $89 billion budget into law.

Scott is expected to sign on Friday a new state budget that was approved by legislators just a few days ago. The Republican governor is also expected to announce vetoes of individual spending items at the same time.

Scott's move comes amid an outcry of school superintendents who say that legislators shortchanged schools.

While lawmakers boosted overall school funding, most of the money is tied to a school safety bill signed into law by Scott. That bill includes money for mental health programs and hiring additional school resource officers.

Pasco Superintendent Kurt Browning said it was wrong to increase money for school safety at the expense of educating students.

(Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)LAKELAND, Fla. (AP) - An 18-year-old Florida high school student who says he was bullied is accused of threatening a mass shooting in a Snapchat post.

Lakeland police say the teen was arrested Thursday after students told school resource officers he had posted a video Wednesday saying he would "commit manslaughter" Tuesday.

Lakeland police Sgt. Gary Gross told media the Lakeland High student participated in Wednesday's national school walkout calling for gun control in the wake of the Parkland, Florida, school shooting. In the video, the teen said six students made derogatory and homophobic remarks to him during the demonstration.

Gross says the teen didn't file a complaint.

Detectives didn't find any weapons at his home. The teen told police he didn't intend to execute the threats. He's been charged with transmitting a threat.BARTOW, Fla. (AP) - A sheriff's deputy in Florida is accused of stalking her ex-boyfriend and his current girlfriend.

News outlets cite a release from the Polk County Sheriff's Office saying 26-year-old Silvia Lara was arrested Wednesday and subsequently resigned in lieu of termination.

The sheriff's office says she refused to leave her ex-boyfriend's front porch Tuesday and scratched his arm. She's also accused of harassing the couple at a hospital via telephone Sunday, after finding their cars in the parking lot, and responding to a nonexistent emergency at his house in December.

She's charged with misusing her official position and a state database to view personal information, as well as aggravated stalking and burglary with battery.

She had been a deputy since November 2015. It's unclear whether she has a lawyer.TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL)- Every St. Patrick's Day for the last six years, a Tallahassee family has invited the community to a gathering at Lake Ella in remembrance of their loved ones killed in a tragic accident.

For most families, St. Patrick's day is a day full of fun. That's not the case for Dianne Daniels and her family.

"We want to make sure that our loved one's are not forgotten; that people will remember the fact that St. Patrick's Day is a holiday mainly for drinking and having a good time," said Daniels. "But for us, it's a day of sadness."

Daniels' daughter, son-in-law, grandson, and her grandson's best friend were enjoying the start of spring break March 17, 2012 when tragedy struck.

"They had went out to dinner and they were on their way back from dinner and they were right here at the intersection of Tennessee and Monroe Street just waiting on the light to change," said Daniels. "At that time, a young man on the drug Spice was driving down Monroe Street and he passed through every traffic light. He didn't stop. And he hit my daughter's family's car in the back. He sent them across the street to Monroe Street and they were killed instantly."

Only Daniels' son-in-law survived.

Christopher Generoso, the driver of the car that crashed into the family's jeep, was sentenced to 22 years behind bars and another 10 years of probation.

The family was devastated, but regained strength through honoring the lives lost.

"This year is really special for us because my grandson would've been 16 years old. We're having the banquet on his birthday to celebrate his 16th birthday," said Daniels. "It's kind of ironic, he would've been at the age where he could drive. It's going to be hard for us but it'll be alright. We're going to make it."

And by educating others and partnering with Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

"These are the things that help me to get over it. To feel like I'm doing something positive, because they can't come back," said Daniels. "I'm trying to be the voice for the family to make sure other families don't go through what we've had to go through."

And through it all, Daniels just wants everyone to remember this.

"One decision caused this domino effect. It caused so much hurt and pain," said Daniels. "So my thing is, I want everyone to think before they get behind the wheel of a car because you have no idea the pain that you could cause."

The family will host their annual St. Patrick's Day vigil Saturday.

They invite anyone from the community to meet at Lake Ella at 5:30 p.m., then walk with them to the corner of Tennessee and Monroe, where the accident took place.TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL)- Since it is St. Patrick's Day weekend, be on the look out for any binge drinking.

A report released Friday by the CDC says, 1 in 6, or 37 million adults binge drink about once a week, consuming an average of seven drinks per binge.

We spoke with local physicians about the dangerous effects this can have.

"They're are far reaching effects of binge drinking. So we really don't want that, especially our college students since we are a college town, we want them to be safe," said Tallahassee Memorial Family Medicine Residency, Ericka Mapp M.D. "That you plan having a designated driver is always a good idea making good use of Uber is always a good idea to avoid the car accidents that are so common with binge drinking."

Dr. Mapp says, binge drinking can also lead to death and many medical issues such as heart problems and memory loss.Tallahassee, Fla. (WTXL) - A man was arrested for a series of robberies occurring over the past several days involving the app, 'letgo'.

Lenardo Ellick Jr., 20, was arrested and booked into the Leon County Detention Center on Thursday.

The robberies occurred on Deer Haven Lane on March 10 and 2001 Old St. Augustine Road on March 14.

The victims said they arranged a meeting to sell items using the 'letgo' mobile app and three males arrived at the scene to exchange the items for money.

The victims told officers they were robbed at gunpoint and their items were stolen.

After reviewing evidence and hours of investigative research, TPD gathered information that led to the arrest of Ellick Jr.

Officers conducted a search warrant at Ellick's home on Thursday and found two handguns.

Ellick was charged with two counts of robbery with a firearm, possession of a firearm by a Florida delinquent adult, and resisting officers.

He was transported to the Leon County Detention Facility.

TPD is continuing to follow up with the case and are asking anyone with information about the case and the other two suspects to please contact them at (850) 891-4200 or if they choose to remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at (850) 574-TIPS.

TPD would like to remind citizens to use safety precautions when buying or selling items from online outlets such as 'letgo':TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - A man was arrested on multiple drug related charges, possession of a stolen firearm, and failure to wear a seat-belt.

Christopher Dixon, 25, was booked into the Leon County Detention Facility on March 15 by the Tallahassee Police Department.

On Thursday around 9 p.m., officers were on patrol to prevent criminal activity in the 1500 block of West Tharpe Street.

Officers saw Dixon trying to sell drugs to an unidentified male outside of the Tobacco Outlet.

Dixon asked the man, "Are you straight" and the man responded, "Nah I'm good. I just got some."

Moments later, Dixon left the store. As he drove away officers realized he wasn't wearing his seat-belt and conducted a traffic stop for suspicion of drug activity and a traffic infraction.

As officers walked to Dixon's car they could smell burnt marijuana coming from his car.

When officers approached Dixon, he stated he did not have his ID. Officers then told Dixon to get out of the car and he was put into handcuffs.

Due to the smell of weed, officers searched Dixon and his car.

Officers found multiple empty plastic bags, commonly used in the packaging of drugs, in his jean pockets.

Officers found a tied plastic bag containing the drug "Molly" as well as a weed grinder in Dixon's pockets.

In Dixon's car, officers found a loaded handgun, which had previously been reported stolen on June 30, 2017 during a car theft. The gun was loaded with 15 rounds.

Also inside the vehicle, officers found a zip-lock bag with two individually packaged tied bags of weed.

One bag weighed around 22.8 grams and the second weighed around 23 grams.

An electronic scale was found under the radio area and it still had crumbs of weed on the surface. Officers also found an ashtray with 18 suspected weed roaches.

Dixon had active felony warrants out of Kansas for distributing marijuana and was also listed as an out of state convicted felon.

He was charged with possession of a firearm by a felon, possession of a stolen firearm, possession of "Molly" (Hallucinogen) with intent to sell within 1000 feet of a school , possession of marijuana with intent to sell within 1000 feet of a school, possession of drug paraphernalia, and failure to wear a seat-belt.

Dixon was transported to the Leon County Detention Facility.(RNN) - A student, 18-year-old Alexa Duran, and a bridge worker, Navaro Brown, were identified on Friday as victims who died in the pedestrian bridge collapse at Florida International University.

The Miami Herald's Spanish-language paper, el Nuevo Herald, identified FIU student Duran after speaking to her father, Orlando Duran.

"She died when the bridge collapsed on top of her car," he said.

The paper later identified Brown, who worked at Structural Technologies VSL. The company said it had two other employees in the hospital in stable condition.

A spokesman said he was on the bridge "providing installation support for our products."

Duran was driving a Toyota SUV with her friend Richard Humble in the passenger seat when the bridge collapsed. Humble was able to get out of the car, another friend of the pair told the paper.

The friend, Manny Perez, told the paper Duran was "the funniest person I know" and "an awesome person."

This is going to be the longest and saddest trip of my life. I dont want to return, said her father from London, where he was traveling when he got the news. #FIUbridge https://t.co/k5iNuikX3T  Miami Herald (@MiamiHerald) March 16, 2018

Copyright 2018 Raycom News Network. All rights reserved.TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - A woman used a fake ID and credit card to try and get $250,000 from a Tallahassee bank.

Cathy O'Brien, 58, used a fake ID and credit to try and get money from a bank.

The Tallahassee Police Department responded to an attempted theft Thursday on Apalachee Parkway around 12:36 p.m.

The police report states, a bank worker informed the 911 dispatch caller that O'Brien was posing as a customer and trying to take $250,000.

Other call notes show that the bank already contacted one of the account holders, the victim's spouse, and were able to confirm that the victim was not currently in Florida.

Police documents say O'Brien showed a fake Texas ID card and credit card as she claimed to be the victim.

During an interview with officers, O'Brien identified herself as the victim and provided a social security number. That SSN came back to a man out of Iowa.

O'Brien then provided another SSN. That number came back to a deceased man out of Tennessee.

After requesting for an attorney, O'Brien made the following statements at different points throughout the investigation:

"Someone else told me to do this."

"He told me to sign that."

"I only did this to get enough money to take care of myself."

Based on the evidence, O'Brien was arrested and charged with two counts of fraud, first degree grand theft, possession of a counterfeit credit card, forgery of public records, and bribing a financial institution.

She was transported to Leon County Jail.NAIROBI, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Global scientists on Friday called for international collaboration in funding research in Africa to help create sustainability and lasting impact.

Segenet Kelemu, the Executive Director of the Nairobi-based International Center for Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), said imbalanced research is unacceptable since it is no longer useful for the African continent.

"There is need to work in collaboration with research institutions in the continent to foster new directions in research," Kelemu told a symposium on the power of partnership in strengthening research in higher education in Nairobi.

She observed that due to the high turnover of funding towards Africa, the continent is likely to change the current status of the populations for the better.

Kelemu told universities in the continent to focus their science trainings toward meeting the local demands and not necessarily for academic purposes.

Nelson Torto, the Executive Director of African Academy of Sciences (AAS), said the organization is bridging the gap of government funding since most governments lack funds.

Torto said a number of African students are given grants by the organization to conduct relevant research in the continent.

"We are encouraging local researchers to conduct research that help find solutions to local problems," he added.

He called on African governments to put emphasis on research by allocating additional funds to research institutions.

According to Catherine Kyobutungi, the Executive Director African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC), there is need to attract young scientists given that research is the pathway to change in any society.

Kyobutungi said its now time that research initiatives are tailored to support graduates of the become research leaders.

Peter Salovey, President of Yale University, said global breakthroughs in Ebola and HIV/Aids research have been possible due to international collaboration.

He supported calls to adopt joint international research, adding that Africa's influence is growing globally hence the need to rethink the mode of engagements that focuses on empowering young scientists to take charge of the continent's destiny.

Salovey observed that future funding to research projects in the continent must be relevant to the needs of populations whose lives are threatened by hunger and diseases.

He appealed to researchers to learn to write and communicate their research work to the general public as opposed to focusing mainly at academic journals.

"The research projects are aimed at transforming lives of populations, therefore, their language must be conducive to the consumers," he added.ADDIS ABABA, March 16 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Ethiopia disclosed on Friday it has registered 15,097 new refugees in the first two months of 2018, pushing the number of refugees in Ethiopia to 909,301 by February 28.

UNHCR said most of the registered refugees during the first two months of 2018 were from South Sudan and Eritrea with 10,700 and 3,700 figures respectively.

UNHCR gave the figures as it works to highlight the funding gap it is facing to meet the needs of the refugees currently estimated at 335.8 million U.S. dollars, 11 percent of which has so far been donated to UNHCR.

Most refugees in Ethiopia come from the strife-torn nations of Somalia and South Sudan and Ethiopia's northern neighbor Eritrea.

Smaller groups of refugees fleeing war in Sudan and from across the Red Sea from Yemen are also part of the group the UNHCR has registered as refugees in Ethiopia.

With Ethiopia currently being among the top five refugee hosting nations in the world, it's also one of five African countries participating in a Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF).

CRRF is a vehicle for the implementation of pledges made at UN leaders' summit in September 2016 in New York, where refugees in Ethiopia will be given funds for assisting with education and employment opportunities in Ethiopia.

Western Countries hope that schemes like CRRF will persuade refugees living in Ethiopia and other African nations not to undertake perilous trips to reach their countries and instead stay at their current host countries.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-17 02:16:07|Editor: Liangyu

Video Player Close

People gather to be transferred from a temporary shelter in the Housh Nasri area, east of Damascus, capital of Syria, to better shelters near Damascus, on March 16, 2018. The Syrian army said Friday it had captured 70 percent of rebel-held areas in the Eastern Ghouta countryside of the capital Damascus. A statement said thousands of people have fled Eastern Ghouta through humanitarian corridors set up by the Syrian army in Eastern Ghouta. (Xinhua/Hummam Sheikh Ali)

DAMASCUS, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Ayham Khatib, a soldier serving in the Syrian army, couldn't see his family in the past seven years of war in the country, as his father and brothers remained stuck in the rebel-held areas in Eastern Ghouta countryside of the capital Damascus.

Despite a few kilometers from his family in Eastern Ghouta, Khatib was lonely, as it felt like they were on another planet.

"My family was insulted inside and I was feeling the insult because my family was far from me as, without a family, one could be worthless," he told Xinhua.

The young soldier said it was even difficult for them to communicate by phone, as the rebels in Eastern Ghouta discriminated against his family because of his capacity as a soldier in the government army.

But all these painful years are gone as civilians in Eastern Ghouta have recently been allowed to leave in droves, reaching the government-controlled towns near Damascus for the first time in years.

When hearing the news, Khatib rushed to the gathering points searching for his relatives. Luckily enough, the man found his father and brother, calling the dramatic reunion "indescribable."

"I have been running around searching for them and when I found them it was an indescribable feeling. It's like when a thirsty man in the desert found water," he said.

His father, an old man in his 70s, described the life under the rebel control as hellish, saying he was discriminated and even prevented from getting aid because his son is a soldier.

"I was living in a very bad situation in Eastern Ghouta where I was humiliated and without dignity. The rebels destroyed our lives and I was subject to more humiliation because my son is a soldier," he told Xinhua.

"I was reborn again today when I reunited with my son," the old man said happily.

Khatib is just one of many soldiers who were forced to get separated from their families in Eastern Ghouta.

At the Housh Nasri area in Eastern Ghouta on Friday, hugs and kisses between the family members could be seen everywhere, while the evacuees were sitting on the ground in an old school, waiting for the authorities to transfer them to shelters nearby.

Their faces were covered with soot, and many children were barefooted, after a "hellish" journey in their struggle to flee rebel-held areas.

Saed Doumani, a man in his 30s, told Xinhua that he misses Damascus as he couldn't leave Eastern Ghouta over the past years of war.

"I miss every place in Damascus. It's been almost seven years and I am so excited I would be able to visit Damascus soon," he said.

A man next to him, who only identified himself as Muhammad, said he feels happy that his daughter can pursue her schooling again, as she has been without proper education for more than six years.

Earlier in the day, the Syrian army said in a statement that it had captured 70 percent of rebel-held areas in Eastern Ghouta.

Thousands of people have fled Eastern Ghouta through humanitarian corridors set up by the Syrian army in the region, it added.

The army called on the people to leave the rebel-held areas in Eastern Ghouta, highlighting its resolve to continue fighting till security is restored to entire Syria.

Meanwhile, Bashar al-Jaafari, Syria's permanent representative to the UN, said 40,000 people were evacuated from Eastern Ghouta on Thursday alone.

Eastern Ghouta, a 105-square-km agricultural region consisting of several towns and farmlands, constitutes the last threat to Damascus given its proximity to government-controlled neighborhoods east of the capital and continuing mortar attacks on residential areas there.

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 Eastern Ghouta, where activists said around 1,000 have been killed since a military showdown between rebels and the government late February.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-17 02:21:07|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

UNITED NATIONS, March 16 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council on Friday again called for the implementation of its resolution that demands an immediate cease-fire throughout Syria.

"The members of the Security Council reiterated their call for the full implementation of Resolutions 2254 and 2401," said Dutch Ambassador to the United Nations Karel van Oosterom, who serves as president of the Security Council for March.

The council members reaffirmed that Resolution 2401, which demands an immediate cease-fire, applies throughout the whole of Syria, he told reporters after closed-door consultations of the Security Council on the situation in Syria.

They condemned the penetrators of violence in the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta and in the capital city of Damascus, in violation of Resolution 2401, which was adopted on Feb. 24, said van Oosterom.

The council was briefed by Staffan de Mistura, the UN Special Envoy for Syria, via video teleconference.

The council members reiterated their call for "unconditional, unimpeded and sustained humanitarian access" and urged all parties to the conflict to strictly adhere to their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect civilians.

They reminded parties to the conflict that they are obliged to respect international humanitarian law in attacks during UN-listed terrorist groups, he said.

The council members reiterated their full support for the mandate of de Mistura, the special envoy, to establish "without delay" a constitutional committee, which is to be tasked to write a new constitution for Syria, and called on all parties to work with him, said the ambassador.

They reiterated that the Geneva process remains the key path toward a political solution. They urged Syrian parties to participate in negotiations in good faith and encouraged the special envoy to reconvene the Geneva negotiations as soon as possible, van Oosterom said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-17 03:16:17|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

CAIRO, March 16 (Xinhua) -- EgyptAir, the flag carrier of Egypt, announced on Friday it will resume direct flights to Russia's Moscow as of April 12 after more than a two-year halt.

Flights will operate three times a week on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, Chairman and CEO of EgyptAir Holding Company, Safwat Musallam, said in a brief statement.

The announcement came days after Russian Aeroflot airliner announced it will resume regular flights from Moscow to Cairo as of April 11.

Flights between the two countries were suspended after an Airbus A321 plane crashed over the Sinai Peninsula on October 31, 2015, en route from Egypt's Sharm al-Sheikh city to St. Petersburg city in Russia. All 224 people on board were killed in the crash.

At the time, Moscow said that the airliner crashed due to a terrorist bomb attack. During his visit to Egypt in December, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that his country is ready to resume direct flights between Cairo and Moscow, pointing out the Russian Federal Security Agency reported that the Russian side can resume air traffic.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-17 03:51:23|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

CAIRO, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of Egyptian expatriates in 124 countries started on Friday their voting in Egypt's presidential elections, Egypt's National Elections Authority (NEA) said.

Voters arrived at Egyptian embassies and consulates around the world at 9 a.m. local time of each country to elect the next president, NEA spokesman Mahmoud al-Sharif told reporters in Cairo.

Elections inside Egypt will be held from March 26-28, where incumbent President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi is expected to have an easy win over his rival Moussa Mostafa Moussa, chairman of liberal Ghad Party, after a couple of other possible strong challengers either withdrew or were disqualified.

Gulf countries witnessed a notable turnout on the first day of the three-day overseas voting, al-Sharif said, adding that the authority has not received any complaints of violations in the electoral campaigns.

He pointed out that the results of expatriates ballots will be announced after the vote inside Egypt is over.

Sisi came to the presidency in mid-2014, a year after he, then army chief, led the ouster of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in response to mass protests against Morsi's one-year rule and his currently outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group.

Last December, a pro-Sisi campaign called "So That You Can Build It (Egypt)," launched by some politicians and lawmakers, said it collected over 12 million signatures from Egyptians who support Sisi's re-election for a second term.

In January, the majority of Egyptian parliament members signed a recommendation letter urging Sisi to run for another four-year term, also his last one according to the Egyptian constitution.File Photo: U.S. President Donald Trump answers questions from the press before departing the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, on March 13, 2018. (Xinhua/Ting Shen)

WASHINGTON, March 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated his intention to meet with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s leader Kim Jong Un by the end of May in a phone call with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Friday.

Trump and Moon discussed the ongoing efforts to prepare for their upcoming engagements with the DPRK, the White House said in a statement.

U.S. President Donald Trump (L) and South Korean President Moon Jae-in attend a press conference at the presidential residence in Seoul, South Korea, Nov. 7, 2017. (Xinhua/POOL)

The two leaders expressed "cautious optimism" over recent developments and emphasized that a brighter future is available for Pyongyang "if it chooses the correct path."

Both leaders affirmed the importance of "learning from the mistakes of the past," and pledged to continue close coordination to maintain maximum pressure on the DPRK government.

They also agreed that "concrete actions, not words, will be the key to achieving permanent denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."

Photo provided by Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on June 7, 2017 shows Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea(DPRK), taking part in the 8th Congress of the Korean Children's Union (KCU) in Pyongyang on June 6, 2017. (Xinhua/KCNA)

The DPRK launched several missile and nuclear tests last year, while the United States and South Korea have exerted the "maximum pressure" against the DPRK and held military drills around the Korean Peninsula, further escalating tensions.

Earlier in March, Trump agreed to meet Kim by May at the invitation of the DPRK leader "to achieve permanent denuclearization."BERLIN, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Germany's new Economic Minister Peter Altmaier will visit the United States for trade talks with U.S. officials, a spokesman confirmed to reporters on Friday.

Altmaier, newly assigned to serve in the fourth cabinet of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, will talk with high-level American officials about the future direction of trade policy. Altmaier's visit should last until Tuesday, the spokesman said.

However, it is at the moment not known, with whom from the American side Altmaier is about to talk.

Altmaier had recently expressed his willingness to find a solution through negotiations. He believed that higher tariffs meant that the citizens would have to pay the price in the end.

The German government and European Union (EU) want themselves to be exempt from the U.S. tariff on steel and aluminum imports. On the other hand, the EU has also threatened to take countermeasures if the negotiations fail.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-17 06:16:52|Editor: Chengcheng

Video Player Close

Protestors hold a rally in the old town of Bratislava, Slovakia, on March 16, 2018. More than 100,000 Slovaks on Friday gathered in several cities to demand an early election. (Xinhua/Qu Xi)

BRATISLAVA, March 16 (Xinhua) -- More than one hundred thousand Slovaks, according to organizers, launched protests in several cities on Friday, demanded an early election.

A protest co-organizer said the current changes in the government aren't a major reconstruction that was previously discussed and the only way out would be a snap election.

Representatives of journalists, teachers and students made speeches, expressing mistrust against the government and the system and stressing the need for changes, including an early election. They also called for resignation of Police Corps President Tibor Gaspar and Special Prosecutor Dusan Kovacik.

The organisers said they intended to continue in the protests until major changes happen.PARIS, March 16 (Xinhua) -- French President Emmanuel Macron and visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday pledged to come out with a common ground on eurozone reforms by June this year.

"For many years, Europe has waited for the Franco-German couple to move forward and make proposals. We are ready to do that," Macron told reporters. "We'll propose a clear, ambitious roadmap for this overhaul by June."

French President noted that a European context which has been deeply shaken since the Brexit and Italian election increased pressure on the Europe's two leading powers to realize a joint project involving better economic and monetary integration, common policy to handle migrants flows and cement defense cooperation.

In a joint press meeting, Merkel, who was in her Paris visit since she was re-elected German chancellor, stressed that "it is more necessary than ever to move forward together. Europe must act in a context where the multinational is increasingly threatened."

"Efforts are always successful when we work hand in hand. We may not always share the same opinion. But in history, France and Germany have already done a lot. You have a very strong will, we have too," she added.

Leaders of Europe's main powerhouses have repeatedly pleaded for new start of Europe but they are still working to bridge divergences on how to realized the bloc's renewal.

According to a statement issued by German Chancellery on Friday, the two leaders during their meeting also exchanged views on the European Council set for next week. Among other things, the budget for the legislative period after the Brexit and the elections of the European Parliament in 2019 were also discussed.

Merkel traditionally chooses Paris as her first destination after her re-election. The meeting with Macron is an expression of the close ties between both countries, according to the statement.

German Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Olaf Scholz accompanied Merkel in the visit to Paris and exchanged views with his French counterpart Bruno Le Maire at the same time.

Macron called for ambitious reforms of EU institutions in September last year, and was waiting for the response from Germany.

The Germany new government, which was sworn in on Wednesday, strongly advocated the EU's role in the world through the closer cooperation with France.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-17 07:37:42|Editor: Liangyu

Video Player Close

People stand on a truck after being released from prisons in Bujumbura, capital of Burundi, on March 16, 2018. In his message to the nation on Dec. 31, 2017, President Pierre Nkurunziza pardoned over 2,000 inmates, including pregnant and breastfeeding inmates and those whose jail term is less than five years and those with physical disabilities. Those who had spent half of their jail terms are also among the inmates to be pardoned. (Xinhua/Evrard Ngendakumana)Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-17 08:57:09|Editor: Mengjiao Liu

Video Player Close

By sportswriter Yao Youming

XI'AN, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese chess champion Zhu Xia hopes to teach whoever shows interest in this sport and she decides to start with primary schools and kindergartens kids.

"I'm not teaching for money. I want to make my students braver and smarter when they are met with various adversities in their lives," said the 36-year-old, who is dubbed "queen of chess in north China" in 2015.

Zhu fell in love with the sport when she took a chess class in primary school in 1991. Then she entered the national junior team the next year. She played for the national team from 2001 to 2003, and retired in 2004.

When she studied in Tianjin Foreign Studies University, she began to realize the importance of sportsmanship in her study, and her life.

"Grit and a fighting spirit are characteristics most athletes have, which push us through hard times in study and our lives," she said.

To promote chess, Zhu decided to go back to her hometown, Xi'an City, upon graduation. To start with, Zhu spent great efforts explaining the differences between chess and Chinese chess to local students' parents.

Zhu thinks playing chess can improve children's logical thinking, a conclusion drawn from her comparison experiments on her students.

In the same grade of the same primary school, two classes took Zhu's chess lesson every week, while the other two didn't.

"Compared with other students, my chess students got five more points in average in maths and English exams," Zhu said.

After the experiment, more and more parents realized the magic of the sport and sent their children to Zhu.

One of Zhu's students, Wang Ziyu, was once easily frustrated and cried every time his piece was taken. But seven years of chess training has made him a strong-minded boy.

"The event makes him better, just like what it does for others," Zhu said.

In 2017, Zhu became a chess tutor in a community for free. She runs a chess association in the community to better communicate with chess enthusiasts there. These public services have made the chess star lose money, but she was happy with it.

"When playing chess, I am not bothered by the temporary loss. It applies to my life, too", she said, "We must see the bigger picture to live a better life."Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-17 09:02:09|Editor: Liangyu

Video Player Close

The fifth 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 17, 2018. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei)

BEIJING, March 17 (Xinhua) -- The 13th National People's Congress holds the fifth plenary meeting of its first session Saturday morning.

Lawmakers will vote on an institutional restructuring plan of the State Council and a draft election method, and elect leaders of the state, military and legislature.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-17 09:42:14|Editor: Mengjie

Video Player Close

BEIJING, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Deputies to the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) started to cast ballots to elect state leaders Saturday morning.

Lawmakers will elect the president and vice president of the People's Republic of China (PRC), chairman of the Central Military Commission of the PRC, as well as the 13th NPC Standing Committee chairman, vice chairpersons, and secretary-general.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-17 10:17:18|Editor: Mengjie

Video Player Close

MEXICO CITY, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese automaker JAC Motors is seeking a 20-percent increase in sales in Latin America, as it introduces new models in the region, said a JAC manager.

In 2018, JAC aims to reach the sales target of 30,000 units across Latin America, including Mexico, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela, the company's Deputy General Manager David Zhang told Xinhua in an interview.

Last year, JAC Motors, officially known as Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Co. Ltd., sold 25,000 units of passenger and cargo vehicles in Latin America.

"We have built a very good image in terms of our product offering in the region," said Zhang, as JAC celebrated its first anniversary of operations in Mexico.

Zhang added that in the second half of 2018, JAC will sell its vehicles in Argentina while launching a new SUV and a pick-up in Mexico.

Currently, the automaker sells its Sei 2 and Sei 3 SUVs, and J4 subcompact sedan in Mexico. To meet its new sales target, the automobile manufacturer plans to sell around 5,000 units, more than twice its 2017 sales of 2,200 units.P In March 2017, JAC announced an investment of 4.4 billion pesos (230 million U.S. dollars at the time) to assemble vehicles in central Mexico, in alliance with Giant Motors Latinoamerica and Mexican financial group Inbursa.

"In China, we have a very complete system in our industry. Now, we have our own technology and our own brand, and that is very important," said Zhang.CANBERRA, March 17 (Xinhua) -- A record number of voters have enrolled to have their say in one of the closest election in South Australian history.

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) confirmed on Saturday that more than 1.2 million South Australians were eligible to vote in the election, an increase of approximately 60,000 over the last election.

There are three parties with a chance of forming government with former Federal Senator Nick Xenophon's centrist SA-BEST joining the incumbent center-left Australian Labor Party (ALP) and conservative Opposition Liberal Party in the race.

Despite SA-BEST's poll numbers falling off as the election campaign winded down, Xenophon could still hold the balance of power with a hung parliament, whereby no party manages to secure a governing majority, a live chance.

A Newspoll released on Friday night revealed that SA-BEST's primary vote had fallen four points from 21 percent to 17, trailing the Liberals on 34 percent and the ALP on 31 percent.

Regardless of the result, SA-BEST's campaign will be seen as a landmark moment in Australian political history with Xenophon managing to disrupt the country's two-party system for the first time.

The slight edge in primary vote is to be of little comfort to Liberal leader Steven Marshall who lost the 2014 election on preferences despite his party garnering 44.7 percent of primary votes compared to Labor's 35.8 percent.

If victorious, Premier Jay Weatherill's ALP will form government for a historic fifth consecutive term; taking it past the milestone of 20 consecutive years in power.

Energy prices have been the hot button issue of the campaign with Marshall criticizing the state's increasing dependence on renewable power under Weatherill's leadership, saying it was the main factor in soaring electricity prices.

Weatherill used the final day of the campaign on Friday to announce that British billionaire Sanjeev Gupta was going to build the world's largest lithium ion battery surpassing the Tesla facility also in SA.

"This is the single biggest issue facing South Australians," Weatherill said of the energy crisis.

"We can't turn back now. The momentum is growing."Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-17 11:12:29|Editor: Liangyu

Video Player Close

JAKARTA, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian transport ministry has decided to close the international Ngurah Rai airport in Bali on Saturday for a Day of Silence that marks Balinese Hindu new year.

Spokesman of Indonesian Transport Ministry Bambang Ervan said that the closure began at 05:00 a.m. Jakarta time Saturday (2200 GMT Friday) and will end at 05:00 a.m. Jakarta time Sunday (2200 GMT Saturday).

"Ngurah Rai airport is closed during the day of silence," he told Xinhua by phone.

However, nearby international airport in Lombok keeps operating, said Bambang.

Residents of the Hindu-dominated island are celebrating day of silence. During the sacred day, Bali has shut down internet service, but security, aviation, hospitals and disaster agencies remain operating, according to government officials.

Bali is the center of Indonesian tourism industry with over 400,000 foreign holidaymakers visiting the island every month, according to data from the national statistics bureau.BRUSSELS, March 16 (Xinhua) -- China International Import Expo (CIIE) scheduled for November in Shanghai "is hugely beneficial" to Belgian businesses as it offers opportunities, said a Belgian business leader Friday.

Bernard Dewit, head of the Belgian-Chinese Chamber of Commerce (BCECC), said this during a conference held here to brief on the first such expo hosted by China. More than 200 representatives from European Union (EU) political and business circles attended the conference.

"The Expo is hugely beneficial because it allows for contact between Chinese businesses and local customers and producers and buyers, that is something that will save us a lot of time. And if infrastructure can be improved and with better communication, there will be great opportunities on the horizon, in particular for Belgium's small- and medium-sized companies," he said.

"Ultimately, it will help bring companies closer together," he added.

Addressing the conference, Chinese Ambassador to Belgium Qu Xing said competitive Belgian commodities and service products are welcome to enter the Chinese market.

According to the ambassador, China-Belgium trade totaled 23.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2017, up 7.8 percent year-on-year. Today, China is Belgium's second largest non-EU trade partner.

Ari Epstein, head of the Antwerp Diamond Center, told the conference said he believes the CIIE will provide opportunities for Belgian businesses to increase trade and establish long-term relations with Chinese companies.

The Nov. 5-10 CIIE is expected to bring together enterprises from more than 100 countries and regions. More than 250 companies have sent letters of intent to take part, according to CIIE organizers.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-17 11:32:33|Editor: Liangyu

Video Player Close

CARACAS, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan Vice President Tareck El Aissami said Friday that he would demand an international arrest warrant for the country's former Attorney-General Luisa Ortega Diaz.

During a presentation at the National Constituent Assembly, El Aissami said that the arrest of Ortega Diaz was linked to her "role in the acts of violence in 2017."

El Aissami said that Ortega Diaz had not acted within the law during violent protests organized by the opposition between April and July 2017, sparked by discontent at the country's political and economic crises.

The vice president said the former attorney-general had allied herself with sections of the opposition which sought to spark "a foreign invasion and the toppling of the president, Nicolas Maduro."

In August 2017, when an arrest warrant was issued against her and her husband, Ortega Diaz fled the country to Aruba before moving to Colombia.

On Friday, she published on Twitter that she had broadened the charges she filed against Maduro for violation of human rights to the International Criminal Court.by Matthew Rusling

WASHINGTON, March 16 (Xinhua) -- With U.S. President Donald Trump's recent sacking of several key administration officials, experts are asking whether this will result in a more hawkish U.S. foreign policy.

"We are likely to see an unfiltered Trump going forward," Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West told Xinhua.

"The risk of this approach is his policy likely will become more hawkish and confrontational," West said. "There likely will be an increase in global conflict and fewer calm voices sitting around the table."

Trump has recently sacked a number of top officials, including former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Experts said Trump aims to create an administration where everyone is on the same page.

And with Trump's confrontational stance on issues such as the Korean Peninsula and Iran, analysts say this will lift the shackles off Trump and allow him to behave more "Trump-like."

West said several of the individuals who have been let go tried to keep Trump from being himself and wanted to restrain his deeper impulses. Trump chafed under that approach and is bringing in people who agree with his hardline and confrontational manner. The new staff is not likely to restrain Trump, but rather enable him.

Christopher Galdieri, assistant professor at Saint Anselm College in the U.S. state of New Hampshire, told Xinhua that "from the campaign and his first year in the White House, we know Trump at least likes to talk about using military force. If all of his advisers on foreign policy think the same way, or start talking the same way to stay in Trump's good graces, then, yes, that likely means a hawkish turn for U.S. foreign policy."

Dan Mahaffee, senior vice president and director of policy at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, told Xinhua that the recent decisions to fire top officials come from two factors: first, Trump is feeling more comfortable in managing his own presidency, and second, he wants to pursue policies that are more hardline to satisfy both his own policy priorities and energize the Trump base heading into election season.

This means a greater outlet for hawkish voices on Iran, the DPRK, trade issues, immigration, and other key policy areas, Mahaffee argued.

"On foreign policy specifically, I see a greater emphasis on the Iran deal -- either significant changes or the U.S. walking away from the deal," he said of the controversial Iran nuclear deal.

Other analysts argued that Trump is not particularly well-versed in foreign policy issues.

"Trump is not someone who came to office with a lot of background in foreign affairs and foreign policy except to the extent that it related to his business ventures," Galdieri said. "That means he doesn't have a lot of independent knowledge to use when it comes time to evaluating different options or proposals about international relations."

It's quite possible that Trump's decisions will reflect those of whomever spoke to him most recently on any given issue," Galdieri added.MOSCOW, March 16 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday criticized Ukraine's decision not to allow Russians in the country to vote in the Russian presidential election scheduled for Sunday.

It said in a statement that the move "violates international human rights norms and does not fit in the definition of a civilized state."0 According to Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, the security personnel deployed by Ukraine at Russian diplomatic missions in cities of Kiev, Kharkiv, Odessa and Lviv will not provide ordinary Russian citizens access to voting.

"Only persons with a diplomatic status will be allowed to access these institutions," Avakov said in a post on his Facebook page Friday.

Ukraine said the planned ban came as Russia ignored a February request from the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry demanding that the March 18 election not be held on the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014 and which is viewed by Ukraine as "temporarily occupied territories."

"(Russians) casting votes in Russian diplomatic and consular offices in the territories of Ukraine would be possible only if Russia fulfilled the aforementioned requirement of the Ukrainian side," Avakov said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in its statement that Kiev's decision had contradicted international conventions and agreements, including the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 1950.

"It is an obvious attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of the Russian Federation," it said, adding that it will lead to "the escalation of tensions in the bilateral relations, which are already strained."

Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to Crimea and held an election campaign there Tuesday. As a result of Russia's annexation of Crimea, polls will open on the peninsula Sunday when Russians nationwide cast their votes in the election.

Avakov said in his Facebook post that "as of today, the Russian Federation has not abandoned its unlawful intentions."

Russia and Ukraine have been experiencing hostile relations since Russia seized Crimea in 2014 following a referendum in which local residents voted sweepingly in favor of the peninsula joining Russia as a federal subject.

Prior to that, the peninsula comprised two subdivisions administered by the Ukrainian government, namely, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-17 12:07:39|Editor: Mengjie

Video Player Close

BEIJING, March 17 (Xinhua) -- China's national legislature on Saturday adopted a massive cabinet restructuring plan to make the government better-structured, more efficient, and service-oriented.

Approved at a plenary meeting of the ongoing first session of the 13th National People's Congress, the plan will create an immigration administration, an agency to coordinate foreign aid, a combined banking and insurance regulator, ministries of veterans affairs, emergency management, natural resources, among others.

Briefing lawmakers earlier this week, State Councilor Wang Yong said the restructuring would strengthen the government's roles in economic management, market supervision, social management, public service, ecological and environmental protection.

According to Wang, the cabinet will have fewer entities at ministerial or vice-ministerial levels.

"It focuses on the needs of development and meets the people's expectations," he said.

The move is seen as a continuation of the previous seven rounds of cabinet restructuring since the early 1980s.

The latest restructuring is considered as part of a broader plan of the Communist Party of China to deepen the reform of the Party and state institutions.

"The reform comes at a crucial time," Chen Xi, a senior Party official, said in an article recently published in the People's Daily.

It will support the efforts in the next three years in building a moderately prosperous society and lay a foundation for building a great modern socialist country by the middle of the century, Chen said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-17 12:12:39|Editor: Mengjie

Video Player Close

Xi Jinping is elected Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China at the fifth plenary meeting of the first session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 17, 2018. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

BEIJING, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping was elected Chinese president by a unanimous vote Saturday morning at the ongoing session of the 13th National People's Congress.

Xi, 64, was also elected chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) of the People's Republic of China (PRC) by a unanimous vote.

Right after the election, Xi took a public oath of allegiance to the Constitution in the Great Hall of the People.

This was the first time for a Chinese president to take such an oath upon assuming office.

Last October, he was elected general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and appointed CMC chairman of the CPC at the first plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee.

In 2007, Xi joined the central leadership as a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

He was first elected general secretary of the CPC Central Committee in late 2012, and Chinese president and CMC chairman of the PRC in March 2013.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-17 12:47:46|Editor: Liangyu

Video Player Close

Xi Jinping is elected Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China at the fifth plenary meeting of the first session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 17, 2018. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

BEIJING, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping was elected Chinese president by a unanimous vote Saturday morning at the ongoing session of the 13th National People's Congress.

Xi, 64, was also elected chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) of the People's Republic of China (PRC) by a unanimous vote.

Right after the election, Xi took a public oath of allegiance to the Constitution in the Great Hall of the People.

This was the first time for a Chinese president to take such an oath upon assuming office.

Last October, he was elected general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and appointed CMC chairman of the CPC at the first plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee.

In 2007, Xi joined the central leadership as a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

He was first elected general secretary of the CPC Central Committee in late 2012, and Chinese president and CMC chairman of the PRC in March 2013.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-17 12:47:46|Editor: Mengjie

Video Player Close

WASHINGTON, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Commenting on a Taiwan-related bill, the Chinese Embassy in the United States on Friday expressed China's strong dissatisfaction with and firm opposition to it, saying the bill violates the one-China principle.

"The relevant clauses of the 'Taiwan Travel Act' severely violate the one-China principle, the political foundation of the China-U.S. relationship, and the three joint communiques between China and the U.S.," a spokesperson for the embassy said.

Earlier on Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump signed the bill that encourages visit exchanges between the United States and China's Taiwan at all levels.

The embassy spokesperson added that China is strongly dissatisfied with the legislation and firmly opposes it.

"We urge the U.S. side to adhere to the one-China policy and honor the commitments it made in the three joint communiques, stop pursuing any official ties with Taiwan or improving its current relations with Taiwan in any substantive way," the spokesperson said.

On March 1, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said China has lodged solemn representations with the United States over the bill.

"China is strongly dissatisfied and firmly against the act and has lodged solemn representations with the U.S. side," said Hua.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-17 12:52:47|Editor: Mengjie

Video Player Close

BEIJING, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Wang Qishan was elected vice president of China on Saturday at the annual session of the country's top legislature.

Wang was elected at the fifth plenary meeting of the first session of the 13th National People's Congress by nearly 3,000 lawmakers.

After the announcement of the election result, Wang shook hands with Xi Jinping, China's newly-elected president, amid warm applause in the Great Hall of the People.

He later took an oath of allegiance to the country's Constitution upon assuming office.

Wang, born in July 1948, was a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CPC from 2012 to 2017.

During his time as top graft-buster, Wang pushed China's campaign against corruption and violation of the Party's code of conduct, which has seen the downfall of both high-level officials and grassroots ones.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-17 13:07:49|Editor: Liangyu

Video Player Close

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan (R) meets with visiting Foreign Minister of the Republic of Korea (ROK) Kang Kyung-wha at the U.S. Department of State in Washington D.C., the United States, on March 16, 2018. (Xinhua/Ting Shen)

WASHINGTON, March 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan on Friday met separately with South Korean and Japanese foreign ministers to coordinate stances in preparation for the upcoming Trump-Kim meeting.

The meeting on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula between U.S. President Donald Trump and the top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Kim Jong Un, is expected in May with its site yet unclear.

According to statements by State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert, Friday's bilateral meetings with the two U.S. Asian allies of South Korea and Japan stressed the importance of their bilateral alliances and continuing the maximum pressure campaign against Pyongyang.

Sullivan and South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha agreed in their meeting that the U.S.-South Korea alliance is the "lynchpin" of regional stability and security, particularly in light of the DPRK's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

In his meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono, Sullivan and Kono reaffirmed the importance of the U.S.-Japan alliance, vowing to maintain maximum pressure on Pyongyang.

Regarding the latest U.S. sanctions intended to step up pressure, the DPRK's official Minju Joson daily on Wednesday accused the United States of trying to reverse the existing detente on the Korean Peninsula.

It said in a commentary that the U.S. decision to impose new sanctions illustrates an intention to "bring back the situation to a phase of tension by escalating the sanctions and pressure."

Signs of a thaw on the peninsula emerged earlier this year since working-level talks between the two Koreas were held at the truce village of Panmunjom and the DPRK participated in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. In addition, the two Koreas agreed to hold the third inter-Korean summit in late April.

China has said it welcomes the Trump-Kim meeting, deeming it as a step in the right direction for resolving the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, and that it fully commends and supports the efforts made by the parties concerned to solve the issue through dialogue and consultation.MAIMANA, Afghanistan, March 17 (Xinhua) -- At least five armed militants have been killed and 14 others injured as government forces aircrafts targeted Taliban positions in Dawlatabad district of Afghanistan's northern Farybab province, spokesman for provincial government Ahmad Jawed Bidar said Saturday.

The government warplanes, according to the official, pounded Taliban positions in Joqu area of the troubled Dawlatabad district Friday afternoon killing five insurgents on the spot and injuring 14 others.

A Taliban notorious commander Mullah Musa alias Astana is also among those killed in the raids, the official added.

Government forces would continue to target militants' positions from ground and air elsewhere in Faryab province to stabilize peace and security there, the official asserted.

Taliban militants, according to locals have intensified activities in several districts of Faryab province over the past couple of months to mount pressure on provincial capital Maimana.

Local officials, however, dismissed the threats, saying government forces would soon evict militants from their trenches in the restive province.NEW DELHI, March 17 (Xinhua) -- A special court has convicted as many as 11 Hindu cow vigilantes for lynching a 55-year-old Muslim trader on suspicion that he was carrying beef in his vehicle in India's eastern state of Jharkhand.

The court held the 11 men guilty of murder Friday. The quantum of punishment will be pronounced on March 21, who face a minimum of life in jail and a maximum of death penalty.

"This is the first case related to cow vigilantism in the country in which the accused have been convicted. We will ask for the maximum punishment against the convicts," additional public prosecutor Sushil Kumar Shukla told the media.

These convicts were part of a 100-odd mob which lynched Muslim trader Asgar Ali in Ramgarh town, some 45 kms from state capital Ranchi, barely on suspicion that he was carrying beef. The mob had even set his vehicle on fire.

Cows are revered as sacred animals among India's Hindus, and there are strict laws on their slaughter and beef consumption in several parts of the country, particularly in states governed by India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Since the BJP came to power in 2014, critics have claimed that there have been a number of attacks on Dalits (untouchables) and minority Muslims for whom beef is a staple, especially in the northern states, by fringe Hindu groups who call themselves protectors of cows.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had at least twice condemned the attacks on Dalits and Muslims by cow vigilantes, saying murder in the name of cow protection "is not acceptable," but that has not deterred the attackers.HO CHI MINH CITY, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Former Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai died here Saturday at the age of 85.

He was born on Dec. 25,1933 in Cu Chi district of Ho Chi Minh City.

As one of the high-ranking Party and State leaders in the first phase of the country's Renewal and nation-building cause, Phan Van Khai was active and determined to build the institution under the spirit of renewal to utilize the capacity of all economic sectors, especially the private one, together with opening door to the world and integrating internationally, Vietnam News Agency reported on Saturday.

During nearly two working terms as the prime minister, fundamental laws in the first phase of the Renewal and door-opening process were built.

The government chaired by Khai left its working-term marks by the issuance of the Business Law, the annulment of hundreds of licences, the involvement in many tough talks to negotiate on Vietnam's admission to the World Trade Organization, and more.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-17 14:13:00|Editor: Liangyu

Video Player Close

MEXICO CITY, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Countries in Latin America this week have expressed deep concern about U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports while seeking exemption ahead of the negotiation deadline on March 23.

Trump on March 8 announced his decision to impose a 25-percent tariff on imported steel and a 10-percent tariff on aluminum, triggering the criticism and outrage among its trading partners around the world.

However, the U.S. government declared to exempt Canada and Mexico and offered the possibility of excluding other allies, backtracking from an earlier "no-exceptions" stance.

CRITICISM AGAINST TARIFFS

Brazil is the second-largest steel exporter and the leading supplier of semi-finished steel of the United States. Brazil said Wednesday it was seeking to speak with American authorities to avoid the tariffs.

In 2017, Brazilian industry sold 2.6 billion U.S. dollars worth of steel to the United States, or 4.7 million tons of the metal, according to official figures.

Brazilian President Michel Temer said at the opening of the World Economic Forum for Latin America in Sao Paulo that his country "should address this topic very cautiously."

Temer said that his government is trying to get the decision reversed from two perspectives. First, Brazilian companies will pressure the U.S. Congress to impede the decision. Second, Brazil will make an appeal to the World Trade Organization (WTO) if it doesn't achieve a "friendly" solution through negotiations, together with other countries that face losses.

Brazil's Foreign Affairs Minister Aloysio Nunes said he has already requested a meeting with U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to discuss exemptions for most Brazilian exports.

"Protectionism is a regression. We are going to defend ourselves in keeping with the rules of international trade," said Nunes.

In Argentina, experts told Xinhua the tariffs are about to affect at least 10 countries and Argentina would suffer heavy losses as a rising exporter of steel and aluminum.

Washington's move is bound to lead to a fall in jobs and income, as well as a lower demand for inputs and machinery for the two industries that carry significant weight, said Mariano Feliz, a member of the Critical Economy Society of Argentina and Uruguay.

"All of the world's producers will be looking to unload in other markets what they cannot sell in the United States, pushing prices and profits downward, and invading markets such as Argentina's," Feliz said. "To the loss of Argentine exports to the United States, you have to add the impact of the rise in global competition in these fields."

Argentina's Steel Chamber has expressed its dismay at the U.S. measure and is working with the government to find a way for Argentina to get exemption.

ADVERSE IMPACT

WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo on Monday warned of the potential "domino effect" of the U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum.

"Once you enter the path of reciprocal reprisals, you know when it begins, you know how it begins, but you don't know how or when you will be able to stop the process," Azevedo told reporters in Brazil.

"Unilateral" announcements like those made by Trump tend to spark countermeasures, said Azevedo.

Earlier, the WTO head called on members to avoid triggering an escalation of global trade barriers, urging them to reflect on the matter.

The U.S.-triggered wave of protectionism put countries' "conventional knowledge" of their partners in doubt, said Jose Angel Gurria, secretary-general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Gurria said at the OECD forum in Mexico on Monday that countries become more vulnerable when their trading partners hold different convictions.

"The problem today is that the growing wave of protectionism, populism and nationalism ... put in doubt this conventional knowledge," said the OECD head.

Economists said it is difficult for the United States to listen to other countries, even if the pressure comes from the European Union or the the Group of 20 (G20).

As G20 finance ministers and central bank governors prepare to meet in Buenos Aires next week, Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, urged global policymakers to guard against trade protectionism.

"They should ensure that ... the tariffs do not lead to a wider escalation of protectionist measures," she said, adding that trade wars will hurt global growth and are also "unwinnable."Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-17 14:38:03|Editor: Mengjie

Video Player Close

WASHINGTON, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Potential tariffs on Chinese information and communications technology (ICT) imports could cost the U.S. economy hundreds of billions of U.S. dollars, according to a report released on Friday.

If the Trump administration imposes a 25-percent tariff on those ICT imports from China, it would cost the U.S. economy 332 billion dollars over the next 10 years, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), a U.S. technology policy think tank, said in the report.

If such tariffs were set at 10 percent, the same as those recently announced for aluminum imports, it would cost the U.S. economy 163 billion dollars over the next decade, it said.

As ICT products are critical capital goods that drive productivity growth in most U.S. industries, imposing tariffs on them would "reduce ICT investment, decreasing U.S. innovation, productivity and competitiveness," ITIF Vice President Stephen Ezell, lead author of the report, said in a statement.

The ITIF report came after the Trump administration was reportedly considering tariffs on 30-60 billion dollars of annual Chinese imports, mainly targeting technology and telecommunications sectors, for China's alleged "unfair trade practices."

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Thursday that China hopes to address bilateral trade issues with the United States in a constructive manner and by making a bigger "cake" of cooperation.

"The two sides have properly resolved their trade differences in a constructive manner over the past 40 years. We believe the two countries can still settle their disputes through friendly negotiations, and we are ready to do so," the spokesman said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-17 14:58:07|Editor: Mengjie

Video Player Close

BEIJING, March 17 (Xinhua) -- China's securities regulator approved three new IPO applications Friday, which will raise up to 1.9 billion yuan (300 million U.S. dollars) in the A-share market.

All three companies will be listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, according to the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).

The firms and their underwriters will confirm dates and publish prospectuses following discussions with the exchanges.

The CSRC has introduced rigorous approval procedures for IPOs since a new review committee came into office in October, rejecting or suspending more than half of IPO applications.

China has sought to normalize IPOs to improve financing efficiency and direct more money into the real economy since it suspended IPOs between July and November 2015.

The regulator is seeking a balance between easing the IPO backlog, keeping the market calm and improving the quality of listed companies.BANGKOK, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Three Myanmar migrant workers were killed and nine others injured in a road accident in central Thailand in the wee hour of Saturday, police said.

The three Myanmar migrant workers were killed in a blaze which immediately occurred after the speeding van they were riding rammed into the side of an 18-wheel truck on Asia Highway in Sing Buri province, about 150 kilometers north of Bangkok, at about 02:30 a.m. local time on Saturday.

While those Myanmar workers who sat on the front seats were apparently killed in the fire, the nine others who sat on the back seats were injured and managed to get off from the burning van, the police said. They were rushed to hospital alongside the Thai driver.

The migrant workers had been picked up from Bangkok and were on their way to Chiang Rai province in northern Thailand where they would have their visa extended or cross the border into their home country.

The police were investigating the cause of the fatal accident on the interprovincial highway where many vehicles would usually speed at night.MANILA, March 17 (Xinhua) -- A small plane crash-landed on a house shortly after it took off from Plaridel airstrip in Bulacan province north of Manila shortly before noon on Saturday, killing seven, authorities said.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said all six people, including the two pilots, aboard the six-seater twin engined Piper PA-23 Apache plane were all killed.

Police said the plane landed on a house and erupted in flames. A resident of the house was also killed, it said.

CAAP spokesman Eric Apolonio said the plane operated by Lite Express, crashed on a residential area a few minutes after took off at 11:21 a.m. local time. It was reportedly bound for Laoag City in Ilocos Norter province.

The CAAP said accident investigators and a team from Flight Safety and Inspectorate Service (FSIS) have already been dispatched to the crash site.HAVANA, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Cuba will launch the progressive phase-out of its analogue television services as part of a transition towards digital television (DTV) with Chinese norms, a Cuban specialist said Friday.

This step-by-step process will begin in the southern part of the Isle of Youth, the second-largest Cuban island, as well as in the central part of the country, said Grisel Reyes, president of the state-run Entrepreneurial Group for IT and Communications (GEIC).

"The partial switch-off will be carried out in stages, depending on the production capacity of the national industry and on the economic and financial situation of the country," said Reyes.

GEIC experts have calculated that all of Cuban soil will be covered by digital television services by 2021 while the government has said it will take measures to avoid affecting those who still lack proper receiving devices.

Cuba started the initial testing stage of DTV in June 2013 in Havana. Now the priority is the sale of decoders allowing people to receive hybrid TVs as well as both analogue signals and digital signals.

To implement this new technology, a Chinese norm called the Digital Terrestrial Multimedia Broadcast (DTMB) is being used and the first 57,000 decoder boxes were donated by China.

Since the beginning of the move towards DTV five years ago, Cuba has counted on the support of Chinese companies such as Haier and Huawei.

Challenges Cuban technicians must overcome are the duality of signals, the saturation of the radio spectrum, and public discontent if the signal is not of the desired quality in some regions.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-17 15:13:12|Editor: Zhou Xin

Video Player Close

HAVANA, March 16 (Xinhua) -- China officially handed over aid funds equivalent to 36 million U.S. dollars to Cuba on Friday, to support Cuban development in sectors such as agriculture, water resources, renewable energy and technology.

Six cooperation projects that have already been executed were made official at the ceremony chaired by Chinese Ambassador in Havana Chen Xi and Cuban First Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade Investment Antonio Carricarte.

According to signed documents, China provides equipment worth 6.9 million dollars to help with Cuba's livestock recovery program.

China also provides equipment worth around 7.2 million dollars to modernize Cuban ports and airports, as well as delivers equipment and machineries to strengthen the island's water systems and to support the development of sanitary solutions, among others.

"These six projects total about 36 million dollars and some of them have already been executed. Most of the equipment and machinery has already been delivered and in other cases Chinese and Cuban experts are installing them," Chen told Xinhua.

Among the most important projects is the supply of raw materials for the production of photovoltaic solar panels worth 3 million dollars as this Caribbean nation is aiming to rapidly develop its renewable energy program.

In addition, both sides signed a document on China's donation of 7.7 million dollars of rice to Cuba.

"This demonstrates once again the friendship between China and Cuba. The two countries have good relations not only in the political and diplomatic areas but also in economic and trade cooperation," said the Chinese ambassador.

Carricarte told Xinhua that China is an important source of donations, resources and credits for Cuba.

"Economic and commercial relations with China are present in almost all sectors of the Cuban economy and social life, there are growing links and other projects are being negotiated to increase the participation of Chinese companies in foreign investment," he said.

China became the island's first trading partner in 2016 while the Caribbean nation has maintained in recent years a growing trend in its exports to China.

According to official data, during the first eight months of 2017, the volume of bilateral trade totaled 1.13 billion dollars, of which China exported 830 million dollars of goods to Cuba while the island nation exported 300 million dollars of goods to Beijing.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-17 15:28:14|Editor: Zhou Xin

Video Player Close

TIRANA, March 17 (Xinhua) -- By pushing forward reforms in the new era, China will further promote its economic growth and positive international influence, said an Albanian political veteran.

That is good news for the world economy and global stability, said Dorian Ducka, external adviser to Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama on investments, in a recent interview with Xinhua.

Among the planned major reforms is one on the structure of the State Council, or China's cabinet, aimed at building a better-structured, more efficient and service-oriented government.

Once approved by the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, it would be the Asian country's biggest government restructuring in years, in which the State Council would have 15 fewer entities at ministerial or vice-ministerial levels.

"These reforms in Chinese state structures will give the market a vital role in allocating the right resources for China to continue building a modern economy and maintaining not only high but also quality growth," commented Ducka.

When it comes to policies and regulations, all NPC annual sessions draw global attention, he said, stressing that the ongoing first session of the 13th NPC is particularly so.

The new reforms, he noted, indicate China's resolve to fight corruption, improve business environment and boost the performance of state bodies and market players.

The proposed regulations and policies offer an excellent sign that China will carry out reforms to meet its people's needs and expectations, added Ducka.

Also, amid the current shaky international developments, the world needs to have a stronger China to advance global economic growth and ensure that free and fair trade prevails against protectionist policies, he said.

Meanwhile, Ducka said upholding the absolute leadership of the Communist Party of China is the guarantee for "this revolutionary reform to happen in China."

He added that he believes that enshrining Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era into the Chinese Constitution is a strong recognition that the thought can serve as a guideline for China's reforms, which will not only be inked in paper but also become a reality.

"And such a reality will also benefit the international community," he added.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-17 15:38:15|Editor: Zhou Xin

Video Player Close

KUWAIT CITY, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Kuwait and Philippines have signed a draft deal to regulate the work of domestic helpers, the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) said on Saturday.

Sami Al-Hamad, the Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry Undersecretary for Consulate Affairs, said the deal came as a result of a meeting between a visiting Kuwaiti ministerial delegation and Filipino authorities in Manila.

The deal will ensure the rights of both employers and employees, said Al-Hamad, affirming that the Kuwaiti side requested that the doors for labor recruitment would be re-opened for Kuwaiti agencies, especially the government-backed Al-Durra company.

He said that those interested in employing domestic workers would be able to do so by paying reasonable fees, adding that employers must ensure that their laborers would have the right to retain their passport, as well as the right of refusing transfer of their working visa to another employer.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered a ban of deployment of Filipino workers to Kuwait due to numerous cases of abuses.

The Philippines is one of the primary sources of domestic workers abroad, including in the Middle East like Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said there are about 250,000 Filipinos working in Kuwait, most as domestic helpers.SHIBERGHAN, Afghanistan, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Air attacks against the hideouts of Islamic State (IS) group in Qush Tepa and Darzab districts of Afghanistan's northern Jawzjan province have killed 35 insurgents on Saturday, an army spokesman in the northern region, Mohammad Hanif Rezai said.

"In deadly airstrikes against IS outfit which were conducted in Qush Tepa and Darzab districts at 04:45 a.m. local time today, 35 insurgents including seven foreign fighters were killed and 13 more militants sustained injuries," Rezai told Xinhua.

The official, however, avoided providing more details.

Meantime, an official on the condition of anonymity said that the U.S. forces conducted the deadly sorties against IS militants in Qush Tepa and Darzab districts.

The hardliner IS group has yet to make comment on the report.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-17 16:32:20|Editor: Zhou Xin

Video Player Close

Visitors take photos of exhibits during the Chinese Buddhist Cultural Heritage Photo Exhibition in Mumbai, India, on March, 16, 2018. Seventy photos of Buddhist heritages in China were displayed at the exhibition. (Xinhua)by Raul Menchaca

MATANZAS, Cuba, March 16 (Xinhua) -- When lawmakers urged Cubans to create a national quality toy industry not long ago, Ariel Balmaseda answered the call.

It was just the kind of challenge needed to attract the entrepreneur and his 39 co-workers, which included architects, engineers, psychologists and designers, who comprise a cooperative enterprise known as Decorarte.

Based in Cuba's beach resort of Varadero, about 120 km east of the capital Havana, Decorarte is one of Cuba's fledgling privately-owned ventures, founded five years ago amid economic reforms intended to modernize the Caribbean island state's socialist system and encourage innovation.

The cooperative soon expanded its interior design and graphics businesses to educational toys, and in December opened a small store that quickly came to the attention of the resort's international clientele.

Today, the cooperative's toy brand Gabi & Sofi, named after Balmaseda's seven- and six-year-old children, has already been registered in Europe and the United States.

"We want to show that Cuba has talents, potential, design concepts and high-level professionals that can develop this type of product," said Balmaseda, the cooperative's president.

The toys "are designed for children to learn while playing, with a vision that rejects violence and promotes peace, solidarity and love for the family," said Balmaseda, 51, who has years of experience in photography, music and design, as well as journalism.

All of the toys have a prized hand-crafted quality, and are colorful, entertaining and above all educational.

Decorarte, which generates nearly 40 million pesos (40 million U.S. dollars) annually, has ambitious plans for its new line of toys.

Balmaseda is looking to develop an educational animated television series starring Gabi and Sofi, two tots who inhabit a world much like Varadero, where they interact with the toys that come to life.

As a first step, Decorarte acquired state-of-the-art video making technology from a Chinese company, and is now working on a pilot episode in which the Cuban television has already shown interest.

In the meantime, the toys and some children's products, ranging from clothing to children's furniture, are set to be sold at four more locations, including two zoos in Havana.

Decorarte, the only Cuban cooperative of its kind, also plans to enter the world of e-commerce by making its products available online, opening the door to the international market.NEW DELHI, March 17 (Xinhua) -- The Indian government has turned down the Supreme Court's request to submit the probe report in the country's biggest-ever bank fraud of 1.8 billion U.S. dollars, orchestrated by billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi.

A three-judge bench, led by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Friday asked the central government to submit the probe report in the case in a "sealed cover" to the court in the wake of a plea, prompting the Attorney General K.K. Venugopal to raise an objection.

"Is there any justification for anyone to come to this court by filing a PIL (public interest litigation) and say the court should be informed about the status of investigation? There can't be a parallel inquiry and parallel monitoring by the courts," he told the court.

"Let the investigating agency be allowed to do its job," Venugopal added.

Indian authorities have already sought Interpol's help to track down Modi and and his uncle and business partner Mehul Choksi in connection with the bank fraud. India's External Affairs Ministry has also revoked their passports.

Modi is said to have defrauded Punjab National Bank, India's second largest state-run bank, of 1.8 billion U.S. dollars, though he has said that he owed the bank only 775 million U.S. dollars, in a letter sent to the bank's management.

Indian investigators have so far arrested nearly 20 people, including some senior executives of companies owned by Modi and Choksi as well as high-ranking officials of state-owned Punjab National Bank, in the fraud probe.

However, they have not yet been able to arrest Modi and his uncle yet. The celebrity jeweller is said to have fled the country and was reportedly last seen in New York after his appearance at World Economic Forum in Davos as a member of the Indian delegation.by Xinhua writer Zhang Jiawei

LONDON, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Trish Burgess, a graduate of the University of Cambridge, arrived at the campus to pay tribute to Stephen Hawking, the world-renowned physicist who had passed away on Wednesday.

Burgess felt especially grateful to Hawking since his fight against motor neurone disease had inspired her father, who was suffering from the same disease.

"I wanted to thank him for the inspiration he gave to my dad to keep living and to keep looking up to the stars," Burgess, who lives in Britain's Lincolnshire, told Xinhua.

Hawking died at the age of 76. The world is mourning the passing of a physicist who dedicated his academic career to revealing the depths of the universe.

The flag at Gonville and Caius College in Cambridge, where Hawking served as a fellow since 1965, were flying at half-mast.

Admirers of Hawking brought flowers to the college. People queued in the antechapel at the college to leave their handwritten messages of condolences.

Burgess was among these visitors. Although she had never met Hawking in person, she and her family seemed to have "an affinity" with him.

For most of his adult life, Hawking had to face the ever-worsening symptoms of motor neurone disease, which severely restricted his mobility and even threatened his life.

But he refused to let his disability slow him down and he went on to make stellar achievements in his academic career. He pointed out in an article on his website that the disease "has not prevented me from having a very attractive family and being successful in my work."

Hawking's story inspired many people, including Burgess' father who was diagnosed with the same disease in 1994 and died in 2011.

"I felt that my father traveled the same journey as him with his disease," recalled Burgess. "He also defied the odds and lived longer."

Hawking also brought inspiration to many aspiring students.

Chaowei Xiao is a Ph.D. candidate at Cambridge. When he was a high school student, he had read Hawking's bestselling science book "A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes."

"That book opened up the world of science to me," Xiao told Xinhua. "I think many Chinese students want to study at Cambridge because of their admiration for Hawking's achievement."

Hawking was keen to share his thoughts on various topics including the universe, artificial intelligence and the future of human beings with students at Cambridge.

"He is the well-respected professor who can guide you through complicated topics with his succinct words," said Xiao.

"Hawking is an icon of our time," said Professor Jianjun Mei, director of the Needham Research Institute, "and the story about his life and his unremitting pursuit of the depth of universe will be remembered for many generations."Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-17 16:53:30|Editor: Chengcheng

Video Player Close

SAN FRANCISCO, March 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. top aerospace manufacturer Boeing Company announced Friday the successful test flight of its new 737 MAX 7 airplane, which is put on track for delivery in 2019.

The aircraft is the third and latest member of Boeing's 737 MAX family, with a maximum capacity of 172 passengers and a range of 3,850 nautical miles (about 7,130 km), the longest of the MAX-series planes.

As the shortest jet among Boeing's MAX jetliners, which is only less than 118 feet (36 meters) long, the 737 MAX 7 model boasts a more efficient engine and has split-tip winglets, which help improve the wings' efficiency.

The maiden flight started earlier in the day at Boeing's Renton Plant in Washington state on the U.S. West Coast, and ended successfully after three hours and five minutes when the plane landed at Boeing's Seattle Field, also in Washington state.

"Everything we saw during today's flight shows that the MAX 7 is performing exactly as designed," Keith Leverkuhn, vice president and general manager of the 737 MAX program at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said in a statement.

The newest model is the smallest among Boeing's 50-year-old 737 passenger aircraft, of which the original version made its debut flight in 1967.

The jet will undergo several additional comprehensive tests, which are required for the plane's certification and delivery in 2019.

The 737 MAX planes are the fastest-selling ones in Boeing's history, already receiving more than 4,300 orders from 93 customers worldwide, Boeing said.Photo taken on Oct. 29, 2013 shows the bird's-eye view of the Waigaoqiao container pier of the Shanghai free trade zone (FTZ) as seen from a patrol helicopter, in Shanghai, east China. (Xinhua/Fan Jun)

TIRANA, March 17 (Xinhua) -- By pushing forward reforms in the new era, China will further promote its economic growth and positive international influence, said an Albanian political veteran.

That is good news for the world economy and global stability, said Dorian Ducka, external adviser to Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama on investments, in a recent interview with Xinhua.

Among the planned major reforms is one on the structure of the State Council, or China's cabinet, aimed at building a better-structured, more efficient and service-oriented government.

Once approved by the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, it would be the Asian country's biggest government restructuring in years, in which the State Council would have 15 fewer entities at ministerial or vice-ministerial levels.

"These reforms in Chinese state structures will give the market a vital role in allocating the right resources for China to continue building a modern economy and maintaining not only high but also quality growth," commented Ducka.

Heavy trucks conduct a loading test on the ten-year-old Sutong Bridge linking Nantong and Suzhou cities in east China's Jiangsu Province, Feb. 27, 2018. The 32.4-km-long suspension bridge, which was open to traffic in 2008, is a major project of highway framework across the Yangtze River in Jiangsu Province. (Xinhua/Xu Congjun)

When it comes to policies and regulations, all NPC annual sessions draw global attention, he said, stressing that the ongoing first session of the 13th NPC is particularly so.

The new reforms, he noted, indicate China's resolve to fight corruption, improve business environment and boost the performance of state bodies and market players.

The proposed regulations and policies offer an excellent sign that China will carry out reforms to meet its people's needs and expectations, added Ducka.

Also, amid the current shaky international developments, the world needs to have a stronger China to advance global economic growth and ensure that free and fair trade prevails against protectionist policies, he said.

Meanwhile, Ducka said upholding the absolute leadership of the Communist Party of China is the guarantee for "this revolutionary reform to happen in China."

He added that he believes that enshrining Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era into the Chinese Constitution is a strong recognition that the thought can serve as a guideline for China's reforms, which will not only be inked in paper but also become a reality.LILONGWE, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Malawian residents and analysts on Saturday welcomed a cluster of China-funded projects aimed at helping their disaster-prone areas build resilience and reduce the effects of disasters.

China on Friday handed over the projects to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in a disaster-prone area of central Malawi's Salima district, about 93 km from the capital Lilongwe.

The handover ceremony was attended by UNDP Resident Coordinator Maria Jose Torres, Chinese Ambassador to Malawi Wang Shiting, and Clement Chintu Phiri, secretary to Malawi's vice president and commissioner for Disaster Management Affairs.

Launched in June 2016, the Disaster Risk Reduction Small Grants Scheme was supporting poor and vulnerable communities in 15 identified disaster-prone districts and were trilateral pilot projects being undertaken by the Malawian government, with the technical and financial support of the Chinese government and the UNDP.

Among the projects are four evacuation centers, a dike and two check dams meant to hold water.

Group Village Headman Matuwi, community leader in eastern Malawi's Mangochi district where an evacuation center has been constructed, was elated over the development.

"We are very happy for all the work you have done for us and we welcome this development because it will go a long way in helping us during floods," he said, adding that tackling disasters was expensive and unsustainable without the support of the cooperating partners.

He especially singled out the construction of evacuation centers and said this will stop the tendency of taking people to facilities such as schools when there is no disaster and that the facilities will also be used for other purposes.

He commended the support the Malawian government has continued to receive from China, saying this has contributed to raising people's living standards.

"We decided to have this project because of the challenge of water we were facing during floods. The water used to enter people's houses and so we used to be displaced," said Harrison Katema, chairperson of the Community Based Organization (CBO) in the Monkey Bay area in Mangochi district.

He thanked China and the UNDP for the projects, saying they will go a long way in building resilience in communities against disasters.

Senior Chief Amos Siyabu said the construction of the dams will have multiple positive effects as the dams will also be used for fish farming ventures as well as irrigation purposes during dry seasons.

"We would like to thank China and the UNDP for hearing our cry and we wish they could provide us with more help because we have so many challenges here," he said.

"China has a long history of dealing with disasters as well as the experience and technology, so we need to learn from each other," said Fang Weihua, a professor at the Academy of Disaster Reduction and Emergency Management of Beijing Normal University.

For his part, Chinese Ambassador to Malawi Wang thanked all the partners involved in the projects and promised to continue working with authorities in coming up with projects to benefit the local people.

He said China's collaboration with the UNDP during the projects has been successful, and that the disaster risk reduction projects will help the communities build resilience and reduce the effects of disasters.

China, he said, has always been ready to support Malawi in times of need.

Meanwhile, the UNDP representative said the projects demonstrate the successful partnership between the Chinese and Malawian governments.

Torres also said the projects were pilot projects, and would serve as examples for other countries.

She said many parts of Malawi are prone to disasters, which affect 300-500 people each year and that the projects will support about 23,000 people.Children attend a handover ceremony of disaster risk reduction projects in Kombeza area, a disaster-prone area in central Malawi's Salima district, March 16, 2018. China on Friday handed over projects to disaster-prone regions of Malawi to help them build resilience and reduce effects of the disasters. (Xinhua/Peng Lijun)

SALIMA, Malawi, March 17 (Xinhua) -- China has handed over projects to disaster-prone regions of Malawi to help them build resilience and reduce effects of the disasters.

The handover ceremony held in Kombeza area, a disaster-prone area in central Malawi's Salima district, about 93 kilometers from the capital Lilongwe, was attended by Clement Chintu Phiri, Secretary to the Vice-President and Commissioner for Disaster Management Affairs, Chinese Ambassador to Malawi Wang Shiting as well as United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Resident Coordinator Maria Jose Torres.

Launched in June 2016, the Disaster Risk Reduction Small Grants Scheme was supporting poor and vulnerable communities in 15 identified disaster prone districts and was a trilateral pilot project being undertaken by the Malawian government, with the technical and financial support of the Chinese government and the UNDP.

Among the projects are four evacuation centers, a dyke and two check dams meant to hold water.

In his remarks, the Malawian government official thanked China and the UNDP for the project, saying they will go a long way in building resilience in communities against disasters.

He said tackling disasters was expensive and unsustainable without the support of the cooperating partners.

He especially singled out the construction of evacuation centers as it will stop the tendency of taking people to facilities such as schools when there was no a disaster and that the facilities will also be used for other issues in the communities.

He commended the support the Malawian government has continued to receive from China, saying this has contributed to the uplifting of people's living standards.

On his part, the Chinese envoy thanked all the partners in the project and promised to continue working with authorities in coming up with projects to benefit the local people.

People dance during a handover ceremony of disaster risk reduction projects in Kombeza area, a disaster-prone area in central Malawi's Salima district, March 16, 2018. China on Friday handed over projects to disaster-prone regions of Malawi to help them build resilience and reduce effects of the disasters. (Xinhua/Peng Lijun)

He said China's collaboration with the UNDP in the project has been a successful, adding that the disaster risk reduction project will help the communities build resilience and reduce effects of disasters.

China, he said, has always been ready to support Malawi in times of disasters and that the Chinese government provided 600,000 U.S. dollars after the disaster caused by climate change in 2015 as well as 10,000 tons of rice to tackle hunger caused by food shortages.

He further said Chinese enterprises have also been supporting the government in times of disasters.

The UNDP representative said the project was due to partnership of the governments of China and Malawi as well as the communities and that as a pilot project, other countries will also be looking at the success of the project to replicate it.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-17 17:43:38|Editor: Chengcheng

Video Player Close

SAN FRANCISCO, March 16 (Xinhua) -- The global market for electric vehicle (EV) chargers is expected to rise 37.5 percent at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2017 to hit 1,786 billion U.S. dollars in 2023, an Oregon-based market research firm said Friday.

Allied Market Research (AMR), a market research and business-consulting firm based in Portland, Oregon state on the U.S. West Coast, said the market was valued at 163 billion dollars in 2016, and has been dominated by the Asia-Pacific with North America trailing behind.

China is the top leader in the Asia-Pacific market while Britain leads the overall market in the European region, it said.

The AMR report attributes the robust market growth to government regulations regarding the use of electric vehicles to curb environmental pollution, which drives the demand for electric vehicles.

Based on vehicle type, the market is divided into battery electric vehicles, plug-in electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles.

The market, besides, is also bifurcated into on-board chargers and off-board chargers by charging type.

In 2016, the on-board chargers segment dominated the global EV chargers market by generating the highest revenue, while hybrid electric vehicles led the global market, followed by plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

In addition, the increasing penetration of luxury vehicles across the globe is expected to boost the EV chargers market.

The luxury vehicle segment grew 10.9 percent in 2016 over the previous year. Tesla Motors, a top U.S. EV automaker based in California, is one of the leading companies that manufactures luxury electric vehicles for end users.

However, the high prices of such electric vehicles and the absence of EV chargers at public places may hinder the growth of the overall market, the AMR said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-17 18:03:41|Editor: Xiang Bo

Video Player Close

BEIJING, March 17 (Xinhua) -- China's national legislature adopted a massive cabinet restructuring plan Saturday to make the government better-structured, more efficient and service-oriented.

Approved at a plenary meeting of the ongoing first session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), the plan will create an immigration administration, an agency to coordinate foreign aid, a combined banking and insurance regulator, and ministries of veterans affairs, emergency management and natural resources, among others.

Briefing lawmakers earlier this week, State Councilor Wang Yong said the restructuring would strengthen government roles in economic management, market supervision, social management, public service, and ecological and environmental protection.

According to Wang, the cabinet will have fewer entities at ministerial and vice-ministerial levels.

"It focuses on the needs of development and meets the people's expectations," he said.

The move is seen as a continuation of the previous seven rounds of cabinet restructuring since the early 1980s.

The latest restructuring is considered part of a broader plan of the Communist Party of China to deepen reform of the Party and state institutions.

"The reform comes at a crucial time," Chen Xi, a senior Party official, said in an article recently published in the People's Daily.

It will support the efforts in the next three years in building a moderately prosperous society and lay a foundation for building a great modern socialist country by the middle of the century, Chen said.

According to the cabinet restructuring plan, the country's banking and insurance regulators will be merged into one commission to help prevent and dissolve financial risks, and protect consumers' rights in financial products.

Lian Ping, chief economist of the Bank of Communications, said the new commission would effectively avoid regulatory loopholes and overlapping supervision to firmly safeguard the bottom line to prevent financial risks.

A ministry of natural resources as well as a ministry of ecological environment will also be set up, treating environment and ecology as a whole.

Wang Honghai, an NPC deputy and Party chief of Ninghe District of Tianjin Municipality, said the new ministries would help consolidate responsibilities related to environmental protection. "The government unites efforts to win the battle against pollution."

A ministry of veterans affairs, a state medical insurance administration and a state immigration administration will also be formed, aimed at offering services towards particular groups.

Zhang Hongxing, an NPC deputy and mayor of Fuzhou City, Jiangxi Province, said the reform was people-oriented with targeted management so that more people could enjoy quality and convenient public services.

In a move to boost Chinese culture, the cabinet will merge the Ministry of Culture with the National Tourism Administration while a state radio and television administration will be formed.

Xian Shunnyu, an NPC deputy from northeast China's Jilin Province, said the new entities would be helpful for cultural market development and international communications.

Another highly-watched move is the forming of an international development cooperation agency, which will assume duties related to foreign aid now scattered in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Commerce.

"Fragmented management has increased aid costs and coordination difficulties among different departments, and a consolidated entity will help solve the fragmentation problems related to foreign aid," said Li Xiaoyun, a professor with the China Agricultural University.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-17 18:18:45|Editor: Chengcheng

Video Player Close

DUBAI, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Irish Minister of State praises education cooperation between Ireland and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), state news agency WAM reported Saturday.

Ireland's Minister of State for Higher Education Mary Mitchell O'Connor said that the Dublin-based Royal College of Surgeons CSI, has graduated hundreds of 540 Emirati students since 2006.

The report marks St. Patrick's Day, the Irish cultural and religious holiday.

Mitchell O'Conner said there are an estimated 10,000 Irish citizens living in the UAE, the largest Irish expatriate community in the Middle East.

Around 3,000 in the community are teachers, she said, suggesting cooperation between Ireland's Department of Education and the UAE on teacher training and a visit by a UAE delegation to Ireland.

She also said Ireland's own higher educational institutions have succeeded in attracting Emirati students.

A team from University College Dublin, the country's largest university and also one of Europe's top research-intensive universities, is now examining the possibility of extending its operations to the UAE, Mitchell O'Connor added.

Saturday also marked the start of the annual two-day Global Education and Skills Forum in Dubai, dubbed the "Davos of education."

Education, along with Innovation and Research and Development, will be a key focus of Ireland's participation in Expo 2020 Dubai, the minister said.

The first world expo on Arab soil will take place from October 2020 to April 2021.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-17 18:23:45|Editor: Chengcheng

Video Player Close

Photo taken on March 17, 2018 shows the plane crash site in Bulacan Province, the Philippines. Ten people were killed after a six-seater light plane crashed into a house in northern Philippines on Saturday, authorities said. (Xinhua/Stringer)

MANILA, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Ten people were killed after a six-seater light plane crashed into a house in northern Philippines on Saturday, authorities said.

Police said the five people aboard the six-seater twin-engined Piper PA-23 Apache plane were all killed. Five other people, including three minors inside the house, were also killed.

The police said they had so far retrieved 10 bodies from the wreckage.

Witnesses told the police that they saw one of the plane's wings hit a 40-foot-tall power post before crashing into the house and exploded moments later.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said the plane was chartered to fly to Laoag in Ilocos Norte, a province in the northern Philippine main Luzon island, when the accident happened after 11 a.m. local time.

The CAAP said the plane was operated by Lite Air Express and all aircraft operated by Lite Air Express had been ordered grounded pending results of its crash investigation.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-17 18:28:46|Editor: Chengcheng

Video Player Close

TALUQAN, Afghanistan, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Two security personnel were killed and nine others sustained injuries as clashes erupted between security forces and Taliban militants in Khawja Ghar district of northern Takhar province on Saturday, police spokesman in the province Abdul Khalil Asir said.

The clashes, according to the official, flared up after a group of Taliban militants attacked a security checkpoint in Pul-e-Momin area of Khawja Ghar district early in the morning and security forces returned fire, leaving two security personnel dead and nine others injured.

Taliban militants also suffered casualties in the firefight, the official said, but he couldn't provide a figure.

Meanwhile, Taliban purported spokesman Zabihullah Majahid, in contact with media, claimed that five soldiers lost their lives and a few others were injured in the fighting.MOSCOW, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Russia on Saturday announced a series of retaliatory measures including the expulsion of 23 British diplomats in a week, regarding them as "personae non gratae," according to a statement from the foreign ministry.

Meanwhile, the statement said Russia will revoke its approval of the opening and operation of the British Consulate General in St. Petersburg, and cease the British Council's activities in Russia due to its unregulated status.

"The British side has been warned that if it takes further actions of an unfriendly nature against Russia, the Russian side reserves the right to other retaliatory measures," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

On Saturday, the Russian Foreign Ministry had summoned British Ambassador to Russia Laurie Bristow and notified him of those measures in retaliation for British Prime Minister Theresa May's decision to kick out 23 Russians.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-17 18:53:50|Editor: Chengcheng

Video Player Close

Participants attend a meeting of the Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC) of the African Union (AU) in Kigali, Rwanda, on March 17, 2018. African leaders are expected to sign an agreement that will launch the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) at an extraordinary summit of the African Union (AU) kicked off here on Saturday. The summit started Saturday with a meeting of the Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC) of the AU, a preparatory meeting of the heads of state and government summit. (Xinhua/Lyu Tianran)

KIGALI, March 17 (Xinhua) -- African leaders are expected to sign an agreement that will launch the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) at an extraordinary summit of the African Union (AU) kicked off here on Saturday.

The summit started Saturday with a meeting of the Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC) of the AU, a preparatory meeting of the heads of state and government summit.

According to the summit agenda, the PRC meeting will be followed by the 18th Extraordinary Session of the Executive Council of the AU scheduled on March 19.

Heads of state and government of AU member states will convene for the "historic" signing on March 21, the last day of the summit, read the agenda.

Before the agreement enters into force, AU member states shall ratify the agreement after the signing, according to Rwanda's minister of trade Vincent Munyeshyaka.

The upcoming extraordinary summit of the AU heads of state and government refers to a strong political symbolism -- Africa taking charge of itself, said Quartey Kwesi, deputy chairperson of the AU Commission, at the PRC meeting.

Africa's voice should resonate from a position of strength that is rooted in the effective implementation of projects of continental dimension that contribute to Africa's development, and especially to the consolidation of its integration and unity, said Kwesi on behalf of the AU Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat.

The establishment of the AfCFTA is a critical political priority of the AU leadership, said the chairperson of the PRC Hope Tumukunde at the meeting.

The AfCFTA is a political statement and declaration of the idea of Africa's unity in economic and commercial terms, said Tumukunde, who is also Rwanda's permanent representative of the AU.

Without the AfCFTA and Africa's economic integration, rhetoric about Africa's unity will remain empty, she said.

The AfCFTA is a flagship project of Agenda 2063, the AU's long-term vision for an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa.

The AfCFTA will make Africa the largest free trade area created since the formation of the World Trade Organization, according to the AU.

The pan-African bloc said the AfCFTA could create an African market of over 1.2 billion people with a GDP of 2.5 trillion U.S. dollars.

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa estimated that the AfCFTA has the potential to boost intra-Africa trade by 53 percent by eliminating import duties and non-tariff barriers.MOGADISHU, March 17 (Xinhua) -- The international community has called for dialogue to resolve political tension in Somalia following a dispute between the prime minister and House speaker.

In a joint statement released on Friday night after security forces took over the country's Parliament, the United Nations, the European Union and the African Union and foreign embassies called on Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire and Speaker Mohamed Osman Jawari to give way for dialogue to end the dispute.

"The international community urges leaders in Parliament and the Executive to engage in respectful discussions in the coming days and to use constitutional and peaceful means to resolve political differences," the partners said.

They urged all Somali leaders and politicians to respect the rule of law and the Provisional Federal Constitution in resolving political differences.

"This needs to include preservation of democratic space. Activities that increase tensions leading to possible violence should be avoided at all costs," the international partners said.

The statement came after Jawari told journalists Friday evening that the House expected to continue sittings Saturday will have to decide on a new venue since the government has deployed forces to take control of Parliament.

"I welcome the motion against me but the proceedings will have to take place in a different place because government forces have occupied Parliament," Jawari said.

"The Prime Minister will be responsible for anything that happens," said Jawari who has been the Speaker since 2012.

A motion to remove Jawari from office failed Thursday to garner enough numbers to meet the 92 quorum threshold after 16 lawmakers withdrew their support in the last minute.

The international partners said they are "extremely concerned" by recent political and security developments in Mogadishu that risk derailing hard-earned political, economic, and security achievements and tarnishing the reputation of Somalia.

"The international community commends those groups and individuals who are mediating a peaceful resolution to political differences and stands behind their efforts," they said.

Jawari who was re-elected in 2017 for the second term in office has blamed the prime minister for being behind a motion of no confidence against him and for ordering security forces to occupy Parliament and vowed to face the motion on the floor of the house if the legal requirements are met.ATHENS, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Greek Foreign Affairs Minister Nikos Kotzias has received an envelope containing a bullet and a threatening letter over the ongoing negotiations to settle the name dispute with Macedonia, diplomatic sources said Saturday.

The envelope was sent to the ministry Tuesday, while Kotzias' aides have also received threatening calls, Greek national news agency AMNA reported.

"All those who will sign the sell out of our Macedonia will face the elimination of their entire families," read the letter.

A police investigation was underway to find the perpetrators.

Kotzias had received two similar letters in early February with threats against him and his family.

The long-standing dispute between the two neighbors started when Macedonia declared independence from former Yugoslavia in 1991.

Macedonia has annoyed Greece, which has a northern province bearing the same name. Athens is worried that Macedonia's identical name with its province could lead to territorial disputes.

As talks mediated by the United Nations aimed to resolve the issue have stepped up in recent months, both sides have expressed hope that a positive outcome could come within the first half of 2018.Executive Director of UN Environment (UNEP) Erik Solheim (front) and staff members ride on state-of-the-art bikes donated by China's Mobike at the United Nations Offices in Nairobi, Kenya on March 5, 2018. The United Nations Office at Nairobi on Monday launched a bicycle sharing transport scheme for staff and visitors as part of broader efforts to advance the green agenda. (Xinhua/Jin Zheng)

NAIROBI, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Countries in the Sub-Saharan African region have endorsed a communique to promote cleaner mobility in cities amid quest to curb air pollution and the attendant negative health impacts.

The comprehensive pact that was adopted at the end of Africa Clean Mobility Week that ended in Nairobi proposed a raft of policy, regulatory and fiscal incentives to boost the adoption of low emission transport models in the continent's rapidly growing cities.

Ibrahim Thiaw, the Deputy Executive Director at the UN Environment, said green transportation is an imperative in order to boost sustainable development in Africa.

"A shift to cleaner mobility in Africa will rewrite the continent's narrative by spurring economic growth and job creation," Thiaw said.

"Governments should therefore provide incentives to promote investments in green mobility in Africa amid rapid urbanization and population growth," he added.

Dozens of policymakers, industry leaders, researchers and campaigners attended the five-day Africa clean mobility week organized by UN Environment and partners.

The forum sought to reignite a new conversation on accelerating the transition to greener transportation in a continent grappling with negative impacts of climate change.

Thiaw proposed a radical policy shift, investments in technologies alongside public education to boost uptake of fuel efficient vehicles and cleaner fuels in Africa's transport sector.

"Africa should leapfrog to clean mobility by domesticating best practices from elsewhere and investing in cleaner technologies like electric cars, two and three wheel machines," said Thiaw.

Delegates in their final recommendations supported the enactment of new policy and fiscal incentives to hasten a transition to low carbon transportation in Africa.

Urias Goll, the Deputy Executive Director of Liberia's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), said that Africa required home-grown initiatives to advance the green mobility agenda.

"There is need to support local industries to manufacture hybrid and electric vehicles tailor made for the local market," Goll said, adding that consumer awareness is key to boosting the adoption of non-motorized and cleaner transport models in Africa.

Gerald Banaga-Baingi, a technical advisor at Uganda's ministry of energy and mineral development, said that importation of low emission second hand vehicles could boost green mobility in Africa's big cities.

"We should encourage importation of used vehicles that have strong emission deterrent technologies as part of the green mobility agenda in this continent," Banaga-Baingi said.MOSCOW, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Incumbent Russian President Vladimir Putin is a proven national leader and a favorite in the upcoming presidential election, a local political analyst has said.

Putin has created a political system capable of adjusting itself to tackling challenges, said Alexei Mukhin, director general of the Center for Political Information, a think tank based in Russia's capital Moscow, in an recent interview with Xinhua.

"It is very important that this political system provided support to the authorities, allowing them to feel confident both in foreign and domestic policy," Mukhin said.

According to the expert, under Putin, Russia has "returned to the great geopolitical game, in which it is already a player."

Putin has created a two-tier economy consisting of private and public sectors, allowing the country's institutions to withstand the 2008 financial crisis, make up for the losses and resist a series of financial sanctions introduced by the West since 2014, Mukhin said.

Therefore, Putin has no replacement in Russia from the point of view of political weight and influence, which makes him a likely landslide winner in the upcoming presidential election on Sunday, he said.

Eight candidates have registered for the race, with seven from various political parties and Putin, a self-nominated candidate.

Mukhin said the campaign is taking place on several platforms. The first one, on which Putin is active, is a platform where he has his own consolidated electorate not claimed by the rest of the candidates.

Leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, and Pavel Grudinin, an entrepreneur supported by the Russian Communist Party, said Mukhin, are on the second platform and are trying to grab electors from each other.

The remaining five candidates, who enjoy very little attention from the voters, share the third platform, Mukhin said.

The analyst does not predict any protests following the election in Russia, since the recent attempts to organize mass protests failed due to the absence of real opposition.

"The presidential administration has done a lot by facilitating the process of registration and creation of parties, as well as liberalizing the electoral legislation. It has created conditions for the emergence of the opposition, but it did not emerge," Mukhin said

However, he said protests may be staged deliberately with external interference from the unfriendly parties aiming to weaken the the new Russian leadership and question the legitimacy of the election results.

Mukhin said Russia is ready to deal with such interference by creating a legislative framework that allows to recognize some non-governmental organizations as foreign agents and undesirable bodies and thereby partially neutralize threats they brought.

The electorates have pinned high hopes on Putin, Mukhin said.

"Putin has outlined a number of problems and tasks that will have to be solved in the event of his victory in the election, first of all, the creation of a person-centered social state that will pay more attention not to the development of the political system, but to creating a comfortable environment for the Russian citizens," he said.

Putin served as president for two terms from 2000 to 2008. Then he was succeeded by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev between 2008 and 2012, when the two reversed their posts again.KIEV, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine has sent letters to the United Nations, protesting the Russian presidential election in Crimea scheduled for Sunday and urging the international community to impose sanctions on the poll organizers, local media reported Saturday.

The letters, addressed to the UN secretary general, president of the Security Council and all delegations of the member states, said Kiev sees the election in Crimea as "illegal" and violating the UN Charter, the state-run Ukrinform news agency reported.

On Friday, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said on Facebook that the security personnel deployed by Ukraine at Russian diplomatic missions in the cities of Kiev, Kharkiv, Odessa and Lviv will not allow ordinary Russian citizens access to the voting.

The gesture came after Russia ignored a request from the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry not to hold the March 18 election on the Crimean Peninsula.

The Russian Foreign Ministry retorted to that by saying Kiev's decision contradicted international conventions and agreements, including the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 1950.

Crimea was incorporated into Russia in March 2014 following a local referendum. Ukraine says the peninsula was annexed.Photo taken on March 14, 2018 shows a general view of United Nations Security Council's meeting on the poisoning of a former Russian spy in Britain at the UN headquarters in New York. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

GENEVA, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Russia on Thursday denied the existence of the Novichok programme, a military-grade nerve agent which Britain said was developed by Russia and had been used on its soil on March 4.

The Geneva-based Conference on Disarmament on Thursday afternoon heard an update by Britain on the March 4 incident in Salisbury in which Britain said a military-grade nerve agent Novichok developed by Russia had been used.

"On March 4, a weapon so horrific that it had been banned from the use in war, had been used on the United Kingdom's soil, in a reckless act carried out by people who disregarded the sanctity of human life," a UK representative told the Conference.

"The United Kingdom had concluded that the Russian State was involved, and had taken adequate measures, which were not directed against the people of Russia but were in objection to reckless acts of its Government," the British diplomat said.

Russia, in its right of reply, urged Britain to provide concrete evidence and facts on which it was basing its accusations.

"The investigation was still continuing, and yet the responsibilities had already been established", noted a Russian representative, stressing that it was Russia which was being accused.

Photo taken on March 14, 2018 shows a general view of the exterior of the Russian Embassy in London, Britain. British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday announced a series of measures against Russia over its failure to respond to demands by the British government to explain how a military-grade nerve agent was used in a recent attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter. (Xinhua/Stephen Chung)

Denying the existence of the Novichok programme, the Russian diplomat stressed that this issue should be discussed in a different forum and remarked that its requests to Britain for information sharing remained unanswered.

Objecting to the very public handling of the situation, which was not conducive to international cooperation, Russia reiterated its interest in finding the truth, more than anyone else.

The Russian diplomat also said that Russia is ready to cooperate professionally and insisted that accusations against another state must be supported by bullet-proof facts, which Britain did not provide.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-17 20:39:06|Editor: Chengcheng

Video Player Close

ANKARA, March 17 (Xinhua) -- International ride-sharing service Uber faces hurdles in Turkey as regular taxi drivers launch protests and physically attack Uber drivers in the country.

Tensions have risen between taxi drivers and Uber drivers in recent weeks in Istanbul as tax drivers started a campaign against the transport company complaining that they are losing customers to Uber which eludes costly regulations and requirements for vehicles.

Uber, a transportation service providing a vehicle calling service through smart phone applications, has been operating in Istanbul since 2014 and currently has more nearly 5,000 drivers.

Recently a group of taxi drivers reportedly physically attacked Uber drivers even with the customers in the vehicles.

On March 7, local media reported a group of taxi drivers assaulted Uber drivers after calling them to quiet quarters of the city, pretending to be customers. On March 10, some unidentified individuals shot guns at an Uber vehicle in Istanbul.

On social media, Uber drivers complain that they are being threatened by taxi drivers and released video footages of the assaults.

Following the attacks at its vehicles, Uber released a statement: "Our priority is to stand alongside our Uber driver partners in these difficult times, providing them with the necessary legal help and support."

The United Taxi Drivers Association opened a lawsuit against Uber calling for its ban. There was a hearing last week in Istanbul just after the reported incidents of hostility against the app-based transport company.

The taxi drivers on March 12 held a demonstration against the transport company outside an Istanbul courthouse with protestors holding banners that read "Uber, get out of our country," "We don't want global thief Uber."

"We demand that Uber vehicles be taken out of service. These are labor thieves," Eyup Aksu, head of the Istanbul Taxi Drivers Tradesmen's Association, who organized the protests, said to the crowds.

"In European countries taxi drivers have burned things down during their protests (against Uber). We don't want to conduct such a protest here. But if parliament doesn't work on this issue and the justice system hands down a different ruling (not in favor of the taxi drivers), our patience will have run out. Taxi drivers will do anything necessary for their bread," he said.

"We trust the Turkish Parliament, our president and our prime minister. They always indicate that they stand by taxi drivers." Aksu said.

Regular taxi drivers argue that Uber takes advantages of legal holes and the ride-sharing company drivers do not have to buy a taxi license plate which costs almost a million Turkish liras (260,000 U.S. dollars) each.

A licensed taxi owner usually does not drive himself, but hires a driver with low wages. Uber acts only as an intermediary between drivers and customers and gets commission from each drive, so the ride-sharing drivers have higher income compared to regular ones.

Therefore, even some 1,500, out of the total 17,395 taxi drivers in Istanbul are working for Uber services.

Ismail Cevik K., an Uber driver, who served as a personal chauffeur for 20 years, told Xinhua that he has licenses as a touristic transporter and pays tax for his VIP services.

A report prepared by the Customs and Trade Ministry said legal regulation is needed on the application's use as there are "legal holes" about the operation of the ride-hailing services in Turkey.

The report stressed the necessity to "either completely block these companies or legitimize them within a framework of more stringent conditions."

Since the company is not based in Turkey and does not have an official bureau in the country, Turkish police hunts unlicensed taxis in operation and fine drivers and passengers.

Not only in Turkey, but all across the globe, taxi drivers stage protests against over complaint of unfair competition, already battling challenges in several states and has been forced to quit Denmark and Hungary, and lost its license in London.

"Unlike elsewhere in the world, Uber rides remain more expensive than taxi rides in Istanbul. The competition between the two is based on quality, not price. But yellow taxi drivers have never pointed to any realistic ways to compete in terms of service quality," Kanat Atkaya, daily Hurriyet commentator said.

He recalls complaints about taxi drivers "cheating, abusing, insulting and assaulting their customers."

The Turkish government plans to come together with representatives from Uber and taxi associations in order to ease tension between the two sides.

"We will prepare a detailed action plan in coordination with the Interior Ministry, the Finance Ministry and the Transport Ministry," Customs and Trade Minister Bulent Tufenkci was quoted by local media as saying.ADDIS ABABA, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia will soon start test generation of the 6,450 MW Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) built on the Blue Nile river, an Ethiopian official said on Saturday.

Speaking to Xinhua, Hailu Abraham, Public Relations Head at Office of Ethiopia National Council for the Coordination of Public Participation on the Construction of GERD, said two turbines each with capacity to generate 375 MW have already been installed and are waiting test electricity generation.

He further said Ethiopia is organizing various fundraising and promotional programs to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the start of construction of the dam which is 64 percent complete.

GERD, which will be Africa's largest dam upon completion with a total volume of 74 billion cubic meters, was started in April 2011 with a cost of about 4.7 billion U.S. dollars.

The GERD project, owned and financed by the Ethiopian government, is located some 40 km east of Ethiopia's neighboring country Sudan.

"When complete, more than 50 percent of the dam's generated electricity will be sold to Nile river basin countries and neighboring countries," said Abraham, adding that the Ethiopian government has placed the dam's completion at the center of Ethiopia's economic ambitions.

The Ethiopian government even sees the electricity generated from the dam being sold in the future as far north to Morocco and as far south to Tanzania.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-17 21:29:21|Editor: Shi Yinglun

Video Player Close

Farmers and their yaks attend a spring ploughing ceremony in Kere Village of Bomtoi Township, Lhasa, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, March 17, 2018. Traditional spring ploughing ceremonies took place in Tibet's major cultivation areas on Saturday to pray for a year with good harvests. (Xinhua/Jigme Dorgi)Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-17 21:44:17|Editor: Xiang Bo

Video Player Close

Xi Jinping takes a public oath of allegiance to the Constitution in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 17, 2018. Xi was elected Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China earlier Saturday at the ongoing first session of the 13th National People's Congress, the national legislature. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

BEIJING, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping was elected Chinese president by a unanimous vote Saturday morning at the ongoing session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC).

Thunderous applause reverberated in the Great Hall of the People when the election result was announced.

Xi, 64, stood up and bowed, while the voters responded by standing up and clapping vigorously. Li Keqiang and Zhang Dejiang, who stood beside Xi, shook hands with him and expressed congratulations.

Xi was also elected chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) of the People's Republic of China (PRC) by a unanimous vote.

Right after the election, Xi took a public oath of allegiance to the Constitution.

"I pledge to be allegiant to the Constitution of the PRC, safeguard the Constitution's authority, fulfill my legal obligations, be loyal to the country and the people, be committed and honest in my duty, accept the people's supervision and work for a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful," he said.

This was the first time for a Chinese president to take such an oath upon assuming office.

Last October, Xi was elected general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and appointed CMC chairman of the CPC at the first plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee.

He was first elected general secretary of the CPC Central Committee in late 2012, and Chinese president and CMC chairman of the PRC in March 2013.

In the president's first five-year tenure, China has made historic achievements and undergone historic changes -- Having "stood up" and "grown rich," China is "becoming strong."

Xi told the Party's 19th National Congress in the opening speech that socialism with Chinese characteristics had entered "a new era."

At the Party congress, Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era was written into the CPC Constitution, and into the country's Constitution on March 11, making it the guiding principle of China.

He laid out a two-step approach to future development: working to basically realize socialist modernization from 2020 to 2035; developing China into a great modern socialist country from 2035 to the middle of the century.

"I am so lucky to be part of such a great age led by a great man," said Yu Zhigang, an NPC deputy. "The unanimous vote showed that as our leader Xi has our full support and trust and bears our high expectation."

Gesang Zhoigar, an NPC deputy from Tibet Autonomous Region, was also deeply touched by the election. "Being one of more than 3 million people from Tibet, I have strong trust in Comrade Xi, the whole Party's core, our nation's leader and the army's commander," she said.

Also on Saturday, lawmakers elected Li Zhanshu as chairman of the 13th NPC Standing Committee and Wang Qishan as vice president of China.

A total of 14 vice chairpersons and a secretary-general were also elected for the 13th NPC Standing Committee.

They all took oath of allegiance to the Constitution.

Lawmakers also adopted an institutional restructuring plan of the State Council.

Related:

Xi Jinping -- PRC president, CMC chairmanSource: Xinhua| 2018-03-17 22:04:20|Editor: Xiang Bo

Video Player Close

BEIJING, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping was elected Chinese president by a unanimous vote Saturday morning at the ongoing session of the 13th National People's Congress.

China's national legislature has adopted constitutional amendments, enshrining Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era into the Constitution.

The thought represents the latest achievement in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and encapsulates the practical experience and collective wisdom of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the people.

The CPC announced the formation of the thought for the first time at its 19th National Congress in October 2017 and wrote the thought into the Party's Constitution as a new guide to action upon conclusion of the congress.

The thought makes eight fundamental issues clear at the theoretical level, and presents the 14-point fundamental principles to guide the endeavors:

-- It makes clear that the overarching goal of upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics is to realize socialist modernization and national rejuvenation. On the basis of finishing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, a two-step approach should be taken to build China into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful by the middle of the century.

-- It makes clear that the principal contradiction facing Chinese society in the new era is that between unbalanced and inadequate development and the people's ever-growing needs for a better life. It stresses the people-centered philosophy of development, and well-rounded human development and common prosperity for everyone.

-- It makes clear that the overall plan for building socialism with Chinese characteristics is the five-sphere integrated plan, and the overall strategy is the four-pronged comprehensive strategy. It highlights the importance of fostering stronger confidence in the path, theory, system, and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

-- It makes clear that the overall goal of deepening reform in every field is to improve and develop the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and modernize China's system and capacity for governance.

-- It makes clear that the overall goal of comprehensively advancing law-based governance is to establish a system of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics and build a country of socialist rule of law.

-- It makes clear that the Party's goal of building a strong military in the new era is to build the people's forces into world-class forces that obey the Party's command, can fight and win, and maintain excellent conduct.

-- It makes clear that major country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics aims to foster a new type of international relations and build a community with a shared future for mankind.

-- It makes clear that the CPC leadership is the defining feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics and the greatest strength of the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics; the Party is the highest force for political leadership. The thought sets forth the general requirements for Party building in the new era and underlines the importance of political work in Party building.

The 14-point fundamental principles are as follows:

-- Ensuring Party leadership over all work;

-- Committing to a people-centered approach;

-- Continuing to comprehensively deepen reform;

-- Adopting a new vision for development;

-- Seeing that the people run the country;

-- Ensuring every dimension of governance is law-based;

-- Upholding core socialist values;

-- Ensuring and improving living standards through development;

-- Ensuring harmony between humans and nature;

-- Pursuing a holistic approach to national security;

-- Upholding absolute Party leadership over the people's forces;

-- Upholding the principle of "one country, two systems" and promoting national reunification;

-- Promoting the building of a community with a shared future for humanity;

-- Exercising full and rigorous governance over the Party.MOGADISHU, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Thirty-two Al-Shabaab militants were killed in a fierce fighting with the Somali National Army (SNA) in the past 24 hours, Somali officials said on Saturday.

Ahmed Mohamed Teredisho, Somali Army Commander in Hiiraan region, told reporters that the fighting took place in Hiiraan region after armed Al-Shabaab members tried to impose taxes on villagers around Mahas town.

"We have killed 32 Al-Shabaab militants at an area about 28 km to Mahas town in Hiiraan region after heavy fighting with Al-Shabaab fighters. SNA soldiers were reinforced by locals to help fight the enemy in the region in the past 24 hours," Teredisho said.

He did not disclose the number of soldiers or civilians injured in the latest fighting in central Somalia.

The locals said the government soldiers backed with villagers engaged in more than six hours of battle with the insurgents.

Al-Shabaab militants have not commented on the military victory claimed by the Somali government officials in the region.

A resident told Xinhua by phone that confrontation was first staged between locals and Al-Shabaab fighters and then Somali Army later joined to defeat the militants.

Meanwhile, Somali security officials said a roadside bomb has targeted a pickup vehicle carrying members of the security forces in the outskirts of Mogadishu.

The officials said on Saturday that a remote-controlled landmine struck the vehicle along the road between Mogadishu and Afgoye, injuring two security forces and a civilian.

The Saturday attacks by Al-Shabaab militants was the latest in series of improvised explosive device blasts targeting Somali and Africa Union mission troops on the key road linking Mogadishu to Afgoye district in the recent past.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-17 22:39:27|Editor: Liangyu

Video Player Close

BEIJING, March 17 (Xinhua) -- As a leader who has led China to historic achievements during the past five years, Xi Jinping was elected president again on Saturday amid high expectations.

Both by a unanimous vote, Xi was elected Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) of the People's Republic of China at the ongoing first session of the 13th National People's Congress, the national legislature.

"The result is in line with the will of the people," said Liu Jiaqi, a farmer from the southwestern Chongqing Municipality, and one of the 2,970 national lawmakers who cast their votes at the Great Hall of the People.

He said that Xi's effort in poverty alleviation has transformed his hometown Muhe village from nowhere to a destination for recreational agriculture featuring apple picking and sightseeing.

"The country worked out a detailed poverty relief timetable, and has been pushing ahead with rural industries," he said. "Under the leadership of President Xi, our farmers can expect a better life in the years to come."

During the past five years, Xi has once and again called on the Communist Party of China (CPC) to strive for a "better life" for the people.

Over that period, China has seen its economy expand to more than 82 trillion yuan (13 trillion U.S. dollars) from 54 trillion yuan, with the per capita disposable income growing by 7.3 percent year-on-year in real terms.

More than 68.5 million people had been lifted out of poverty in five years, and the middle-income population has reached 400 million and is still growing.

Jiang Peng, a government worker in Shizhu Tujia Autonomous County of Chongqing, spent his morning sitting in front of the TV on Saturday.

"I was excited to see the election result and President Xi taking an oath to the Constitution," he said. "He is a charismatic leader with a strong sense of responsibility."

Jiang's hometown, once underdeveloped, tucked away in mountains, has seen significant changes. "We have more money in our pockets. Many of my families and friends have cars, which was unimaginable years ago," he said.

The county was connected by high speed rail and had its first cinema and high-end supermarket opened in recent years. "We seldom ate seafood before, but now we can buy seafood fresh from the supermarket any time we want," he said.

Jiang hopes that the leadership will do more to stabilize rising house prices.

Reform has been high on Xi's agenda over the past five years.

The Central Leading Group for Deepening Overall Reform, headed by Xi, introduced more than 1,500 measures, including supply-side structural reform, and cutting government red tape and bureaucracy to encourage middle and small-sized businesses.

"It has been a golden time for businessmen, and I'm glad to see that it continues to be so," said Li Xiang, general manager of Huaxing North Automotive Trading Company located in Tianjin Municipality.

"I can clearly feel President Xi's concern about entrepreneurs," he said. In 2017, the country issued a guideline encouraging entrepreneurship, which touched him deeply.

"During the past five years China has put much emphasis on entrepreneurship, and measures such as streamlining government administration have created a good environment for business," Li said.

Zeng Dexiang, chairman of Guangdong-based optical instrument company Bosma Corp., said that thanks to the country's push in supply-side reform and innovation-driven growth, his company had upgraded its products and opened a joint venture in Silicon Valley in 2015.

"The leadership's toughness in cracking down on corruption has also been a boost for the entrepreneurial environment," he said. "More transparency and less under-the-table deals have greatly improved efficiency."

Over the past five years, Xi's drastic anti-corruption drive has transformed public life. Every corner of the system was examined, leading to the punishment of more than 1.5 million officials in five years.

"The political environment is healthier and ordinary people have more confidence in officials," said Hong Jincheng, a local disciplinary official of Quanzhou City, east China's Fujian Province.

Hong looks forward to more anti-corruption efforts, especially at the grassroots level, with the election of Xi.

Chinese people are finding the air and the water cleaner, too.

"China has come up with drastic measures to improve environment," said Li Chunru, head of a "bird hospital" in the eastern Jiangxi Province.

Li is grateful that the number of migrant birds spending winter at the Poyang Lake grew to 700,000 last year, from less than 500,000 five years ago.

The national legislature adopted an institutional restructuring plan on Saturday, deciding to establish or reorganize ministries, including a new and more powerful ministry of ecological environment.

"The new ministry shows the country's resolution in environmental protection," Li said.

With the conviction that making a prosperous country and a strong military should go hand in hand, Xi has pushed ahead with reforms in national defense.

"There has been upgrading in the system, structure, capacity and working style of the military during the past five years," said Zhan Houshun, air force commander of the Western Theater Command.

"Some core values have been restored and some deep-rooted problems resolved in the people's army," said commander of the 81st group of PLA Ground Force Huang Ming. "Xi Jinping's election as the president and CMC chairman is a blessing for the country, the military and the people."

Besides benefiting its own people, a stronger and more prosperous China has been sharing the proceeds of growth with the rest of the world. China has been working to foster a new type of international relations and build a community with a shared future for humanity.

"President Xi is a practical man and means what he says," said Li Chao, chairman of a Henan-based agricultural company. Li said he looks forward to more policies under the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by Xi in 2013.

The company's overseas program in Tajikistan has witnessed fast development thanks to the initiative. "We introduced some new types of cotton, corn and wheat to Tajikistan, and hired over 300 local farmers who can earn no less than government employees," he said.

"The election has further strengthened our confidence in the continuity of policies related to the Belt and Road, and we are looking forward to sharing more opportunities with countries and people involved," he said.

"China has seen its international status continuously rising over the past five years," said Huang Guanjie, a French-Chinese and reporter with Paris-based Chinese language newspaper Nouvelles d'Europe.

"Proposals such as the Belt and Road Initiative and a global community with shared future reflects the character of a responsible major country and make an ideal way to solve regional conflicts," Huang said. "The election is in line with the interests of the country and the needs of our times."Photo taken on Nov. 10, 2017 shows the cargo train during a launching ceremony of the railway route in Kouvola, Finland. With more than 40 containers on it, the cargo train bound for Chinese inland city of Xi'an departed Kouvola, southeastern Finland, on Friday. It will take 17 days to run 9,000 km to cross the Eurasia continent, passing through countries including Russia and Kazakhstan, before reaching its final destination of the northwest China's Xi'an, one of the oldest cities in China. (Xinhua/Li Jizhi)

BRUSSELS, March 16 (Xinhua) -- China and Europe, each located at one end of the Silk Road, are natural partners in the Belt and Road Initiative, according to Zhang Ming, head of Mission of the People's Republic of China to the European Union.

With joint efforts, the initiative and Europe's development strategies are creating synergy, he added.

CHINESE-EU SYNERGY

In an article published on the Euractiv website on Thursday, Zhang recalled his first Chinese Spring Festival celebration in Brussels last month.

"It was unforgettable to see Chinese lanterns illuminating the Grand Place, the world's most beautiful square as described by French writer Victor Hugo. It was exciting to see the Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert decorated with Chinese red lanterns, bringing a moment of happiness to my European friends. Again, I was fascinated by the perfect fusion of Chinese and European cultures," he said in the article.

More than 700 years ago, The Travels of Marco Polo invoked Europeans' curiosity of the East. Numerous trailblazers made strenuous efforts to connect Europe with Asia, and finally, opened up the ancient Silk Road.

"Today, China and Europe are bound together by faster transportation, closer commercial ties and more diverse cultural exchanges. Despite its long history, the spirit of the ancient Silk Road, namely the respect for diversity and the pursuit of common prosperity, is still alive and relevant," said Zhang.

Containers are loaded onto a China-Europe freight train in Zhengzhou, the capital city of central China's Henan province, Aug. 2, 2017. The Belt and Road Initiative has made the inland province an emerging frontier of international trade. (Xinhua/Li An)

GROWING INITIATIVE

Since it was launched over four years ago, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has received wide support from more than 100 countries and international organizations, more than 80 of which have signed agreements with China. The first Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held last year in Beijing produced fruitful results, and contributed to a global consensus on Belt and Road cooperation.

"Governments of 11 EU member states have signed BRI cooperation documents with the Chinese government," said Zhang, noting that the EU's foreign trade will increase by 6 percent because of the Initiative, according to the Brussels-based economic think tank Bruegel.

"The China-Europe express freight trains are busy traveling across the Eurasian continent. In 2017, a total of 3,673 trips were made, up by 116 percent from 2016 and exceeding the total number combined during the past six years. The train services reach 36 European cities in 13 countries and make the access of European goods to the Chinese market much easier," said Zhang.

"In addition, a great number of projects are well underway, such as infrastructure, logistics, ports, e-commerce and finance. For instance, in Serbia, a Chinese enterprise bought a troubled steel mill and turned it around in less than a year. In Greece, the Port of Piraeus regained its position as one of the largest ports in Europe. In the United Kingdom, China is partnering with France to build a nuclear power plant, a stellar example of tripartite cooperation under the Initiative," said the ambassador.

However, according to Zhang, the potential of the Belt and Road Initiative will be brought to the full only when all players come to realize its importance and take part in it.

BOOSTING INFRASTRUCTURE

To that end, he reasserted three basic facts.

Firstly, the Initiative is definitely not a unilateral strategy or China's "Marshall Plan," as some have called it. On the contrary, it is designed to promote cooperation that is open to all.

"The Initiative aims to promote economic cooperation through infrastructure connectivity, and to bring about common development by leveraging the comparative strengths of all participants. As a global public good, the Initiative follows the golden rule of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits. All parties get involved and gain benefits on an equal footing," said Zhang.

Secondly, the initiative is not a one-way street allowing only China to export its resources, market opportunities, technologies, projects and manpower. Rather, it is based on wide consultation and communication.

"All Belt and Road projects have to go through well-informed feasibility studies conducted by interested parties, and must follow market principles and international rules. All projects must be results-oriented, high-standard and sustainable. Our goal is not only to strengthen the physical connectivity of infrastructure, but also to improve the institutional connectivity of rules and standards," said Zhang.

Thirdly, the BRI aims to establish a regional economic cooperation platform that is inclusive, balanced and beneficial to all. It is not meant to reinvent the wheel, rather, it seeks to complement the existing bilateral and regional cooperation mechanisms.

"Rome wasn't built in a day. The Initiative is such a great undertaking that it has to involve many participants, including those from Europe. While each participant comes from different backgrounds and has different needs, we respect such diversity and value flexibility in our cooperation instead of insisting on uniformity," said Zhang.

"In our world today, protectionism and isolationism are still taking a toll. China, with its 40 years of reform and opening-up, has made its stance clear: openness brings progress, while self-seclusion leaves one behind."

"We remain committed to partnering with our European friends in an open spirit. Let's consult, contribute and share together to make a success of the Belt and Road Initiative," he concluded.

The Belt and Road Initiative aims to build trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient Silk Road routes. It comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-17 23:09:31|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

CAIRO, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian and French naval forces concluded Saturday their joint maritime drills in the Red Sea, the Egyptian military spokesman said in a statement.

The exercise, which started on March 13, included conducting maritime reconnaissance of targets and making several naval formations to ensure accuracy of taking precise positions and efficiency of dealing with hostile targets, said military spokesman Tamer al-Refaay.

He added that the two French-made Mistral warships, which Egypt received from France in June and September 2016 as per a purchase deal, took part in the drill.

Military ties between Cairo and Paris witnessed have development over the past few years.

Egypt has so far received 11 French-made Rafale fighter jets out of total 24 stated in a 2015 contract worth more than 6 billion U.S. dollars.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-17 23:14:33|Editor: Lifang

Video Player Close

BEIJING, March 17 (Xinhua) -- China will launch its first commercial recoverable satellite between 2019 and 2020, an official with the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) has said.

Recoverable satellites are an important part of China's space capabilities and are highly reliable, CAST President Zhang Hongtai, told China Central Television earlier this week.

China has successfully retrieved more than 20 recoverable satellites since 1975. The same technology has helped Chinese astronauts return from space, he said.

"We plan to upgrade this technology in order to satisfy the needs of commercial users," said Zhang, adding recoverable satellites will be able to play an important role in space biology, space medicine and space scientific experiments.

CAST will solicit the needs of potential customers and make customized recoverable satellites for them, according to Zhang. CAST hopes to build an industrial chain to support the service.ADDIS ABABA, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia's Command Post, established to enforce the recently decreed state of emergency, said Saturday that efforts are underway to repatriate Ethiopians who have fled to Kenya from Ethiopia's Moyale district.

Between 7,000 and 8,000 Ethiopians have fled Moyale to neighboring Kenya "fearing for their safety," state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate (FBC) reported on Saturday by quoting Assefa Abyou, Commissioner General of the Ethiopian Federal Police Commission.

"The government of Ethiopia is undertaking various activities to bring them back home," Abyou told local media on Saturday.

The mass exodus occurred after a March 10 incident when an army unit mistakenly opened fire on civilians, killing nine and injuring 12 others. The troops were deployed around Moyale city along Ethiopia's border with Kenya to intercept outlawed Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) fighters.

The command post after the incident launched investigations and disarmed some members of the army force, who were put under arrest pending investigations.

The Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) said Friday that it has received about 9,667 Ethiopian asylum seekers in northern border town of Moyale since the incident.

The KRCS also indicated that the much-needed humanitarian support is being provided.

Moyale city, located in Ethiopia's Oromia regional state along the border with Kenya, has been in a state of unrest since mid 2016.

Similar recent unrest and violence have forced the Ethiopian government to impose a six-month martial law effective as of Feb. 16, saying it was to protect the country's constitution, citizens and their property.File photo shows the site of a suicide attack by Al-Shabaab militants on a hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu, Somalia, Jan. 25, 2017.(Xinhua/Faisal Isse)

MOGADISHU, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Thirty-two Al-Shabaab militants were killed in a fierce fighting with the Somali National Army (SNA) in the past 24 hours, Somali officials said on Saturday.

Ahmed Mohamed Teredisho, Somali Army Commander in Hiiraan region, told reporters that the fighting took place in Hiiraan region after armed Al-Shabaab members tried to impose taxes on villagers around Mahas town.

"We have killed 32 Al-Shabaab militants at an area about 28 km to Mahas town in Hiiraan region after heavy fighting with Al-Shabaab fighters. SNA soldiers were reinforced by locals to help fight the enemy in the region in the past 24 hours," Teredisho said.

He did not disclose the number of soldiers or civilians injured in the latest fighting in central Somalia.

The locals said the government soldiers backed with villagers engaged in more than six hours of battle with the insurgents.

Al-Shabaab militants have not commented on the military victory claimed by the Somali government officials in the region.

A resident told Xinhua by phone that confrontation was first staged between locals and Al-Shabaab fighters and then Somali Army later joined to defeat the militants.

Meanwhile, Somali security officials said a roadside bomb has targeted a pickup vehicle carrying members of the security forces in the outskirts of Mogadishu.

The officials said on Saturday that a remote-controlled landmine struck the vehicle along the road between Mogadishu and Afgoye, injuring two security forces and a civilian.

The Saturday attacks by Al-Shabaab militants was the latest in series of improvised explosive device blasts targeting Somali and Africa Union mission troops on the key road linking Mogadishu to Afgoye district in the recent past.TIRANA, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Albania's State Police informed Saturday they busted seven criminal groups, of which 39 persons were arrested facing charges of illegal trafficking of immigrants.

Albania's Minister of Interior Fatmir Xhafaj considered police raid as a super police action and a clear demonstration of trust in the state police structures.

Xhafaj also thanked the American and European partners assisting in this operating, deeming it an excellent cooperation.

The criminal groups were accused of sending immigrants from Albania to the United States of America, Canada, Britain etc., police said.

Meanwhile, speaking at a press conference, Albania's state police Chief Ardi Veliu told reporters that arrest orders were issued for 51 Albanian citizens, of which 39 were handcuffed while 12 others were declared wanted.

Veliu informed that four persons involved in illegal immigrants trafficking towards the U.S., Canada and Britain were four police officers working at the border crossing points.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-17 23:54:39|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

BEIJING, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping held a phone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday, saying China and Germany should set an example of win-win cooperation.

Xi extended his congratulations to Merkel on her election as German chancellor for the fourth time, and Merkel congratulated Xi on his election as Chinese president by a unanimous vote on Saturday at the ongoing session of the 13th National People's Congress.

Xi said China and Germany should set an example of win-win cooperation, align their strategies, make a plan together for mutually beneficial cooperation in the next stage, push forward cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative and achieve common development.

China and Germany should also lead the development of China-European Union (EU) relations, and play constructive roles in promoting China-EU strategic mutual trust and cooperation, he added.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-18 00:14:42|Editor: Lifang

Video Player Close

WASHINGTON, March 17 (Xinhua) -- A study in mice has shown that chemicals found in a variety of routinely used consumer products may be contributing to the substantial drop in sperm counts and sperm quality among men in recent decades.

The study found the effect of chemicals that disrupt the body's hormones, called endocrine-disrupting chemicals, may extend beyond more than one generation.

The research results will be presented on Monday at ENDO 2018, the 100th annual meeting of the Endocrine Society, in Chicago.

"Sperm counts among men have dropped substantially over the last few decades, but the reason for such an alarming phenomenon is not known," said lead author Radwa Barakat with University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

"These results suggest that when a mother is exposed to an endocrine disruptor during pregnancy, her son and the son's future generations may suffer from decreased fertility or hormone insufficiency," said Barakat.

The researchers studied the effect of the DEHP, the most widely used endocrine-disrupting chemicals that can be found in a wide array of industrial and consumer products, including polyvinyl chloride (PVC) piping and tubing, cosmetics, medical devices and plastic toys.

The study found that male mice exposed to DEHP prenatally had significantly less testosterone in their blood and fewer sperm in their semen. Consequently, they lost fertility at an age when they normally would have been fertile.

"Most surprisingly, the male mice born to male mice that were exposed to DEHP also exhibited similar reproductive abnormalities, indicating prenatal exposure to DEHP can affect the fertility and reproductive capacity of more than one generation of offspring," Barakat said.

"Therefore, DEHP may be a contributing factor to the decreased sperm counts and qualities in modern men compared to previous generations."Some Oregon Coast Areas Under Restrictions Due to Endangered Bird

Published 03/15/2018 at 3:35 PM PDT

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff





(Oregon Coast)  Oregon coast officials are sending out yet another warning to beachgoers to be aware of any beach restrictions that may pop up because of recovery efforts of the western snowy plover. From March through September 15, some beaches will have signs in their nesting areas which not only identify them but list the restrictions, which include dogs (even on a leash), vehicles, kites, drones, camping and fires. (Photo above: tiny plover chicks on the beach, courtesy Adam Kotaich.)

Officials are urging the public to not only be aware of these but to heed them, which may appear as signs and as roped off areas. In this sense, Oregon coast visitors can help in the recovery of this endangered species.

"We're making great strides in reversing the downward slide of this species," said Cindy Burns, Siuslaw National Forest wildlife biologist. "But it takes all of us, so we urge people to do their part to understand nesting season rules and to share the beach this spring and summer."

These federally protected shorebirds nest on open sand along Oregon's beaches. Nests, and especially chicks, are well-camouflaged. During nesting season, human disturbances can flush adult plovers away from their nests as they attempt to defend their young from the perceived predator. Left alone too long, eggs or chicks can die from exposure, predators or people.

Recreation restrictions occur in designated plover management areas, small stretches of beach along the entire coastline where plovers are nesting or could potentially nest. These areas collectively comprise about 40 miles of Oregon's 362 miles of shoreline. Detailed maps can be found on the Oregon State Parks website (http://bit.ly/wsplover) and on the Siuslaw National Forest website (https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/siuslaw/alerts-notices/?cid=fseprd518707#mgmtarea).

On these plover beaches, the dry sand and dunes are closed to all access -- except along official trails and on the wet sand -- to protect eggs and chicks. Visitors may see roped off areas within these plover management areas, which serve to protect the most sensitive habitat; however, all dry sand on both sides of the rope is closed. Wet sand areas on plover beaches remain open to foot and equestrian traffic. All other recreation is off limits, include walking your dog (even on a leash), driving a vehicle, riding a bicycle, camping, fires, and flying kites or drones.

"Visitors will have access to hundreds of miles of beaches without these seasonal restrictions," said Laurel Hillmann, Ocean Shores Specialist for Oregon State Parks. "By planning your trip, you can enjoy the coast and help keep this sensitive bird safe."

Visitors to the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area can review https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/siuslaw/recreation/recarea/?recid=42465&actid=93 to identify unrestricted recreation areas and information on riding motor vehicles on the sand.

Several land managers oversee beach activity for plover protection, particularly the U. S. Forest Service (USFS), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD).

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed western snowy plovers as a threatened species in 1993. Habitat loss from invasive plants -- as well as human disturbances, including litter and discarded food scraps that attract predators -- have contributed to the birds' decline. The Oregon Dunes Restoration Collaborative (https://www.saveoregondunes.org/) is working with land managers to develop and implement a restoration strategy as well as raise public awareness about the need to restore the dunes ecosystem for snowy plover, rare plants and animals, and the unique recreation opportunities offered here. Oregon Coast Hotels in these areas - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours

















More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging.....

More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining.....

Coastal Spotlight



LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles

Back to Oregon Coast

Contact Advertise on BeachConnection.net

All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright BeachConnection.net Unauthorized use or publication is not permittedSource: Xinhua| 2018-03-18 00:19:42|Editor: Mengjie

Video Player Close

Chinese Minister of Environmental Protection Li Ganjie (C) takes questions at a press conference on the battle against pollution on the sidelines of the first session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of China, March 17, 2018. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)

BEIJING, March 17 (Xinhua) -- More than 20,000 Chinese were held accountable for environment-related misconduct over the past two years, Environmental Protection Minister Li Ganjie said Saturday.

Four rounds of central environmental inspections have been launched since 2016, covering all provincial-level regions while achieving satisfactory results, Li told a press conference on the sidelines of the annual session of the national legislature.

Central environmental inspections are seen as the latest weapon in China's fight against soil, air and water pollution, which gave environmental officials more power to hold officials accountable for environmental problems.

Inspectors are dispatched by the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) and also include the Communist Party's anti-graft watchdog and personnel department.

For a single province, inspection usually lasts a month. Inspectors interview provincial and city environmental regulators, carry out field trips and talk to concerned members of the public.

Their reports are shared with the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, which is responsible for assessing senior officials.

Inspectors collect reports on environment problems and send them to local governments, which must correct the problems and submit a report back within 30 days, followed by a progress report six months later.

All provincial-level regions have set up special teams, mostly headed by the governor or chief of the CPC provincial committee, to oversee the problems found in the inspections, Li said.

Li said about 18,000 people were disciplined or punished for environmental problems discovered in the inspections. About 2,100 local officials, including three at provincial level, were found also responsible during the follow-up examinations of those problems.

More than 80,000 environmental cases that caused public grievance have been dealt with over the past two years, he said.

A total of 26 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities have set up provincial inspection teams to scrutinize environment issues in lower-level regions, he said.LAGOS, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Nigeria's northwestern Kebbi state on Saturday married off 100 widows and divorcees in a mass wedding held in Argungu area of the state.

The marriages were arranged by the state to reportedly reduce the number of women, widowed or divorced, who were left to fend for themselves and their children.

State governor Abubakar Bagudu urged parents to respect the marriage institution as it was a way to reduce single women in the society.

The state paid 20,000 naira (55 U.S. dollars) for the brides, with gifts including enamel bowls, blankets and bed sheet that are symbol of their married status.

The state government also donated furniture and kitchen utensils worth about 416 dollars to each couple, and about 83 dollars to the brides to start their businesses.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-18 00:34:44|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

BEIJING, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping held a phone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday, saying China and Germany should set an example of win-win cooperation.

Xi extended his congratulations to Merkel on her election as German chancellor for the fourth time, and Merkel congratulated Xi on his election as Chinese president by a unanimous vote on Saturday at the ongoing session of the 13th National People's Congress.

Xi said China and Germany should set an example of win-win cooperation, align their strategies, make a plan together for mutually beneficial cooperation in the next stage, push forward cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative and achieve common development.

China and Germany should also lead the development of China-European Union (EU) relations, and play constructive roles in promoting China-EU strategic mutual trust and cooperation, he added.

The two countries should become advocates for new-type international relations, and be dedicated to maintaining economic globalization and multilateralism. They should support free trade, oppose trade protectionism and strengthen cooperation within the Group of 20 (G20). Jointly, they should maintain and improve the international order and the economic governance system, Xi said.

China and Germany should become cooperation partners despite ideological differences, Xi said. The two countries are partners, not rivals, he added. One side's development will bring opportunities to the other side, not challenges.

China-Germany relations will steadily proceed far as long as they adhere to equality and mutual respect, understand and care for each other's core interests and major concerns, and properly control and handle their differences, Xi said.

Merkel said Germany's new government is committed to developing closer ties between China and Germany. It will strengthen high-level contacts and institutional dialogue with China and boost cooperation in various fields.

Germany has always supported the Belt and Road Initiative and regarded it as a strategic bridge for Eurasia, she said, adding that Germany will contribute to the joint construction of the initiative through project cooperation.

The German chancellor also said Germany backs deeper EU-China relations, and will step up its cooperation with China within the framework of multilateral forums, such as the G20.

The two leaders also exchanged views on issues of common concern, such as the international trade order.LUANDA, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Angolan President Joao Lourenco on Saturday refuted claims of a division within the ruling party between the supposed "Eduardists" and "Lourencists."

Lourenco, also vice-president of the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) said the idea just aims to divide the party's militants.

He was speaking at the opening of the 2nd National Methodological Meeting on the Organization of the Work of the Party.

"This does not exist in our party, there are only MPLA members, because we defend all MPLA and its causes," said Lourenco.

The ruling party in Angola since 1975 recently strengthened the calls for unity at a time when some circles of the Angolan society, including some MPLA militants, openly criticized an alleged double leaderships between Lourenco and Jose Eduardo dos Santos, leader of the party since 1979.

At the ordinary meeting of the Central Committee held on Friday, dos Santos, who in 2016 had announced that he would leave active political life this year, proposed holding an extraordinary congress for December 2018 or April 2019.ADDIS ABABA, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia's Federal Police Commission on Saturday urged the public to remain vigilant against the increased smuggling of armaments.

Assefa Abyou, Commissioner General of the Ethiopian Federal Police Commission, told local media that hundreds of armaments were intercepted from illegally entering into the country over the past few months.

According to Abyou, the main target of such smugglings is to incite unrest and armed conflict.

Ethiopia has faced incessant protests since 2016, especially in its three most populous Oromia, Amhara and Southern regional states.

The recent protests have led Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn to declare resignation, which was followed by the imposition of a six-month state of emergency.

Abyou asserted that forces who have a hidden agenda to aggravate Ethiopia's security challenges are the major actors behind the smugglings.

The Command Post that was established to enforce the state of emergency was so far "successful in intercepting armaments from interning into the country," according to Abyou.

The Ethiopian government imposed the martial law effective as of Feb. 16, saying it was to protect the country's constitution, citizens and their property.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-18 00:54:48|Editor: ZD

Video Player Close

BEIJING, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Congratulations are pouring in from around the world after Xi Jinping was elected Chinese president by a unanimous vote on Saturday morning at the ongoing session of the 13th National People's Congress.

Xi, 64, was also unanimously elected chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC).

In their congratulatory messages, leaders of foreign countries, political parties and organizations expressed confidence that under Xi's leadership, China will achieve greater prosperity and make more contributions to world peace and development.

The following is an edited version of some of the messages.

Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong Un said he wishes that under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) with Xi at the core, the Chinese people will make greater achievements in the construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era.

He said he believes that DPRK-China relations will develop toward the direction that conforms to the common interests of the two peoples.

Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang said he believes that Xi, as the core of the CPC Central Committee, president of China and chairman of the CMC, will lead the Chinese people to realize the goal of building a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious and beautiful.

He said he also believes that China will make important contributions to the peace, stability and prosperity of the region and the world at large.

The Vietnamese party, state and people attach great importance to the development of good-neighborly friendship and comprehensive cooperation with China, and regard it as the strategic choice and top priority of Vietnam's foreign policy, he added.

Lao President Bounnhang Vorachit said he believes that under the leadership of the CPC with Xi at the core, the construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics will make comprehensive and historic achievements.

Bounnhang said China will definitely realize the goal of building a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious and beautiful.

Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain said Xi's election as Chinese president reflects the Chinese people's full confidence in his leadership.

Hussain said China has made remarkable achievements in the past five years, which has not only enhanced China's international status and image, but also brought great changes in people's lives.

Hussain added that he believes the great Chinese nation will continue to move forward and achieve the goal of national rejuvenation.

Pakistan and China are all-weather strategic partners, and the two countries will continue to commit themselves to comprehensively strengthening bilateral relations and benefiting the two peoples, Hussain added.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said he wishes that under Xi's leadership, China realizes the Chinese dream as soon as possible and makes greater contribution to peace and development in Northeast Asia and the world at large.

With this year marking the 10th anniversary of the establishment of South Korea-China strategic cooperative partnership, Moon said he would like to make efforts with Xi to steer bilateral relations toward maturity and into a new era.

Japanese Emperor Akihito wished Xi good health and China prosperity.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said this year marks the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Japan and the People's Republic of China, as well as the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up policy.

During the past 40 years, China has made remarkable progress, and the two countries have developed extensive cooperation, Abe said.

He hoped to take this year as an opportunity to improve the Japan-China relationship, taking it to a new level of development.

Related:

Highlights of foreign congratulatory messages on Xi's election as Chinese president (2)LONDON, March 17 (Xinhua) -- "We will never tolerate a threat to the life of British citizens and others on British soil from the Russian Government," British Prime Minister Theresa May said after Russia announced to expel 23 British diplomats on Saturday.

She said that the British government "has anticipated a response of this kind" and will consider its next steps in coming days, "alongside our allies and partners".

A spokesperson of British Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: "In light of Russia's previous behaviour, we anticipated a response of this kind and the National Security Council will meet early next week to consider next steps. Our priority today is looking after our staff in Russia and assisting those that will return to the UK."

"Russia's response doesn't change the facts of the matter - the attempted assassination of two people on British soil, for which there is no alternative conclusion other than that the Russian State was culpable. It is Russia that is in flagrant breach of international law and the Chemical Weapons Convention," the spokesperson added.

The Russian Foreign Ministry expelled 23 British diplomats on Saturday in a retaliatory move over British punitive measures against Russia and the former Russian spy attack row.

"A total of 23 diplomatic employees of the British Embassy in Moscow are declared personae non gratae and must leave within a week," said the statement, warning that Moscow retained the right to respond if Britain continues to take unfriendly steps against Russia.

It also said it would close the British Consulate-General in St Petersburg and close the British Council in Moscow.

Sergei Skripal, a former Russian intelligence officer, and his 33-year-old daughter Yulia Skripal were found unconscious on a bench at a shopping center in Salisbury, Wiltshire last week, and remain still in critical condition, according to reports.

The British government said they were poisoned with Novichok, a nerve agent of a type developed by Russia.

The Russian government has denied any involvement in the attack.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-18 01:34:51|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

DAMASCUS, March 17 (Xinhua) -- As many as 50,000 people have left rebel-held areas in the capital Damascus' Eastern Ghouta within the past 72 hours, a monitor group reported on Saturday.

The civilians evacuated from areas under the control of the Failaq al-Rahman rebel group southwest of Eastern Ghouta toward government-controlled areas through the Hamouriyeh area which was captured recently by the army, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The watchdog group said the Syrian forces advanced on Saturday in the towns of Kafar Batna and Saqba in an attempt to capture those areas and tighten the noose on the rebels in Eastern Ghouta.

Earlier in the day, state news agency SANA said 10,000 people evacuated from Eastern Ghouta on Saturday alone, adding that the evacuees are being taken to shelters where they can get medical help.

The Syrian army said recently it had captured 70 percent of Eastern Ghouta, after splitting that area into sections to facilitate the battle against various rebel groups there.

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 in 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.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-18 01:49:53|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

JERUSALEM, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) shelled and destroyed a Hamas outpost in response to an explosion on the Gaza border fence Saturday, said the IDF spokesperson.

An improvised explosive device exploded adjacent to the security fence in the northern Gaza Strip earlier on Saturday, which didn't cause any casualty or material loss to the Israeli forces, according to the IDF spokesperson.

In response, IDF tanks targeted a Hamas military observation post and destroyed it.

Palestinian sources reported that an IDF tank fired three shells at a target east of Gaza City Saturday, injuring one Palestinian lightly.LONDON, March 17 (Xinhua) -- As snow storms and high winds lashed parts of England Saturday families in Norfolk were told to evacuate their cliff-top homes.

A row of houses at Hemsby are said to be periously close to the cliff edge and in danger of plunging into the sea.

Police in Norfolk have gone door-to-door urging residents to prepare to leave, while a village hall was made ready for families to stay overnight,

The warning was issued to the families of seaside chalets after high winds and tides caused erosion overnight. In tidal storms four years ago a number of homes in Hemsby were washed away.

Hemsby Lifeboat warned that an early evening high tide, accompanied by gusts of around 80 km/h could do similar damage.

Daniel Hurd from Hemsby Lifeboat said the coastguard was now being briefed on the situation in preparation for the worse weather to arrive.

He said: "We are taking precautions based on our understanding of our local resilience plan as this morning's high tide is creating a higher than usual risk of damage to property and life.

"We are preparing for this evening's high tide by keeping the residents of The Marrams, Hemsby informed of the current situation."

Norfolk Police and the local council issued a warning to people telling them to stay clear of the beach and sand dunes.LONDON, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Two women have been shot dead at a house in East Sussex, England, and a man was arrested, according to British media reports on Saturday.

Armed officers responded to reports of a shooting at a property shortly before 8 p.m. local time on Friday night.

The local Police said two women, aged 32 and 53, were killed. Two more women were taken to hospital for suffering from shock.

A 35-year-old man was taken into custody on suspicion of murder and a gun was seized.

Police appealed for any witnesses to come forward.MAPUTO, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi on Saturday invited South Africa to explore the country's railway potential.

"We would like to see the use of our railway systems increased, as the multiple advantages they bring in the transport of merchandize are well known," Nyusi said when receiving his South African counterpart in Maputo.

The increaseing use of the railway system by South Africa would not only benefit the country's economy but also other social sectors, as concerns are increasing over the frequent car accidents on the NO.4 National Road that links the two countries.

The new president of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa, on his first work visit to Mozambique, has highlighted the historical and cultural links of the two countries.

The two countries are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding soon in the economic domain, one of the sectors of deep cooperation as South Africa is listed among the major investors in Mozambique.PRAGUE, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Czech Foreign Minister Martin Stropnicky and Defence Ministers Karla Slechtova have rejected on Saturday a Russian claim that the deadly Novichok poison used in the attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Britain may come from the Czech Republic.

The foreign minister said that no weapons similar to Novichok, either of the older or new generations, are in the Czech territory, adding that "we protest against the statements about the origin of Novichok that cannot be proved anyhow."

This is a standard way of manipulating information in public space where a report of a highly speculative character is released without being able to prove it. This piece of information for the first time emerged on the Sputnik disinformation server in the past days, said Stropnicky.

Defense Minister Slechtova called the Russian statement "absurd", saying that the Czech Republic has been a signatory of the International Convention on the Prohibition of Development, Production Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction since the 1990s and it strictly complies with it.

She said Czech army's anti-chemical unit in Liberec, north Bohemia, deals exclusively with the protection against such substances.

Sergei Skripal, a former Russian intelligence officer, and his 33-year-old daughter Yulia Skripal were found unconscious on a bench at a shopping center in Salisbury, Wiltshire,Britain last week, and remain still in critical condition, according to reports.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Saturday that the most probable sources of the lethal substance of Novichok type were the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Britain or Sweden.

She claimed these countries have carried out "an intensive research into the substances from the Novichok project since the end of the 1990s.

On Wednesday British Prime Minister Theresa May announced a series of measures against Russia over its failure to respond to the British government's request to explain how a military-grade nerve agent was used in a recent attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter.

The measures included the expulsion of 23 diplomats in a week and the freezing of Russian state assets in Britain.

On Saturday, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced to expel 23 British diplomats in a retaliatory move over the British punitive measures.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-18 02:34:57|Editor: Lu Hui

Video Player Close

A man carries his mother at a temporary shelter in the Housh Nasri area, east of Damascus, capital of Syria, on March 16, 2018. (Xinhua/Hummam Sheikh Ali)

DAMASCUS, March 17 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian army on Saturday declared a unilateral 24-hour cease-fire in the rebel-held city of Harasta in the capital Damascus' Eastern Ghouta area, the War Media, the media wing of the Syrian army, said in a statement.

The unexpected cease-fire went into effect at 3:00 p.m. local time and will last for 24 hours, said the statement.

It added that the cease-fire aimed at letting civilians evacuate from areas in Eastern Ghouta through a recently-established humanitarian corridor near the Water Resources area in Harasta.

From Harasta alone, 170 civilians left and were taken to temporary shelters near Damascus.

Earlier, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said as many as 50,000 people have left rebel-held areas in Eastern Ghouta within the past 72 hours.

The civilians evacuated from areas under the control of the Failaq al-Rahman rebel group southwest of Eastern Ghouta toward government-controlled areas through the Hamouriyeh area which was captured recently by the army.

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 in 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.LONDON, March 17 (Xinhua) -- A murder investigation has been under way after a man was found shot and stabbed in north London, Metropolitan Police said Saturday.

The victim, in his 20s, was discovered in a street in Enfield just after midnight. He was found with stab wounds and a gunshot wound.

Police also found another seriously injured man, aged 20s as well, with stab wounds. He was taken to an east London hospital where he remains in a serious but stable condition.

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said detectives from the Homicide and Major Crime Command are investigating. There have been no arrests and enquiries continue.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-18 02:39:59|Editor: pengying

Video Player Close

People shout slogans in a rally against racism and fascism in Athens, Greece, on March 17, 2018. Greek citizens, migrants and refugees took to the streets of Athens on Saturday to protest against racism and fascism ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination which is commemorated annually on March 21. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)

by Maria Spiliopoulou, Alexia Vlachou

ATHENS, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Greek citizens, migrants and refugees took to the streets of Athens on Saturday to protest against racism and fascism ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination which is commemorated annually on March 21.

Holding banners with slogans such as "Freedom of movement" and "Unity", demonstrators representing various groups confronting racism shouted for the end of wars, chaotic social inequalities, far-right violence and all forms of discrimination.

"We convey the message that we will not stand idle in front of the fascists who return 70 years after the Holocaust. If we are all united, we can stop them," Petros Konstantinou, director of the local anti-fascist group Keerfa told Xinhua, pointing to the rise of the ultra-right and the dozens racist attacks against migrants in Greece and across Europe in recent years.

"We send the message to the EU that we will not tolerate the images of women and children drowning in the Mediterranean. We demand the re-opening of the borders. Let's wish that the crime at Agathonissi today will be the last one," he added.

16 DIE AS BOAT SINKS OFF ISLAND

Earlier on Saturday the Greek Coast Guard had retrieved the bodies of 16 people, among them four minors, who perished when the wooden boat which carried them from Turkey to Greek sank off the Greek island in the Aegean.

Three people survived and another three were missing in the worst tragedy occurring in the Aegean after several months.

Over million people fleeing warzones and extreme poverty landed on the Greek islands since 2015 seeking safety in Europe.

Following the closure of the borders along the Balkan route to central Europe and the implementation of the European Union-Turkey agreement aimed to stem the influx, the number of new arrivals to Greece has dramatically decreased.

However critics of the deal like Konstantinou dismiss it as "racist."

"WE ARE HERE TO LIVE IN PEACE"

The Athens rally was part of a series of protests held in 70 cities across 15 countries on Saturday to protest the second anniversary of the EU-Turkey deal and the similar EU-Libya agreement, he explained.

"We are here against fascism and racism all over the world. We send the message to the world that we are here to live in peace, because you know the situation, the conditions in our countries," Samir, a Palestinian protester, told Xinhua.

"All refugees as one from Palestine, Syria, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, South Africa, all people and immigrants send the message... stop the bloodshed everywhere in the world," he said.

Javed Aslam, the President of the Pakistani Community in Greece union, asked for more measures to support migrants.

"There should be support to immigrants to live with dignity. Here in Greece they should legalize all workers," he said.

Aslam and other protesters also requested the closure of detention centers for refugees and migrants on the Greek islands.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-18 02:55:00|Editor: Lifang

Video Player Close

A boy waves as he waits to be transferred to a safe shelter from Hamouriyeh area in Eastern Ghouta of Damascus, Syria, on March 17, 2018. As many as 30,000 civilians evacuated from rebel-held areas in the Syrian capital Damascus' Eastern Ghouta area on Saturday, state news agency SANA reported. (Xinhua/Ammar Safarjalani)

DAMASCUS, March 17 (Xinhua) -- As many as 30,000 civilians evacuated from rebel-held areas in the Syrian capital Damascus' Eastern Ghouta area on Saturday, state news agency SANA reported.

The mass evacuation took place through two crossings, one in the Hamouriyeh area and the other near the Water Resources facility in Harasta area in Eastern Ghouta.

The evacuation is ongoing and is the latest in a series of mass evacuation as the people have fled rebel-held areas in Eastern Ghouta in droves since Thursday.

Earlier in the day, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Saturday that 50,000 civilians have evacuated Eastern Ghouta over the past 72 hours.

Such process was possible due to the advance of the Syrian army inside Eastern Ghouta, as people said the rebels have prevented them from leaving before and the progress of the army opened this road for them.

The Syrian army said recently it had captured 70 percent of Eastern Ghouta, after splitting that area into sections to facilitate the battle against various rebel groups there.

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.STOCKHOLM, March 17 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho concluded three-day-visit to Sweden for talks on security situation on the Korean peninsula, the Swedish government said on Saturday.

Swedish government published a press release on Saturday, saying that during the visit, Ri held talks with Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom, focusing "primarily on the security situation on the Korean peninsula."

"The foreign ministers discussed opportunities and challenges associated with continued diplomatic efforts to reach a peaceful solution to the conflict. They also discussed bilateral relations." according to the release.

Talks also concerned Sweden's consular responsibilities in the DPRK "as a protecting power for the United States, Canada and Australia," the release said.

Other discussions centred on the humanitarian situation in the DPRK, sanctions, and regional cooperation and security issues for countries including South Korea, Japan, Russia, China and the United States, the release added.

Sweden underlined the need for the DPRK to abandon its nuclear weapons and missile programs in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions, the release said.by Frank Kanyesigye and Lyu Tianran

KIGALI, March 17 (Xinhua) -- African ambassadors to the African Union (AU) on Saturday stressed importance of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to intra-African trade on the sidelines of an ongoing AU extraordinary summit.

During the the AU's extraordinary summit on the AfCFTA, which kicked off Saturday in Rwanda's Kigali, many of them also said their countries are ready to embrace the AfCFTA.

African leaders are expected to sign an agreement to launch the AfCFTA on March 21, the last day of the summit, according to the AU.

"Africa has a great business potential to offer to millions of its citizens, but the continent has not been able to unlock its business potential due to limited trading opportunities existing among African economies," said Evariste Koffi Yapi, Permanent Representative of Cote d'Ivoire to the AU.

Creating a single continental market for goods and services with free movement of businessmen and investments will thus boost intra-African trade and the prosperity of Africa, Yapi told Xinhua.

He added that the AfCFTA will significantly contribute to sustainable economic growth, poverty reduction, employment generation and better integration of the continent.

"My country was ready to make it possible for the AfCFTA agenda to be successful for the better future of Africa," said Yapi.

According to Gairy M. Saddigh, Permanent Representative of Libya to the AU, the AfCFTA will contribute immensely to opening up trading opportunities among African economies, which will significantly increase exports and imports through intra-regional trade.

"We all know the opportunities trade can offer for development and growth. Creation of a single African market will enhance competitiveness of African local industries and enterprise level through exploiting opportunities for scale production and better reallocation of resources," he told Xinhua.

The AfCFTA will create huge market potential for African goods and services, which would help Africa boost industrial development, promote economic transformation and create prosperity, said Ndumiso Ntshinga, South African Permanent Representative to the AU.

"The South African government is ready to implement the process and utilize opportunities accruing from the African single market," he said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-18 03:30:03|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

CHICAGO, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) grains futures closed mixed over the trade week which ended March 16, with the wheat prices plunging more than 4 percent due to poor export sales and rainfall in the U.S. plains.

The most active corn contract for May delivery fell 7.75 cents weekly, or 1.98 percent, to 3.8275 dollars per bushel. May wheat delivery lost 21.5 cents weekly, or 4.39 percent, to 4.6775 dollars per bushel. May soybeans rose 10.25 cents weekly, or 0.99 percent, to 10.495 dollars per bushel.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its latest weekly export data on Thursday. For the period March 2-8, U.S. exporters reported sales of 162,800 metric tons of wheat for delivery in marketing year 2017/2018. The sales were down 58 percent from the previous week and 47 percent from the prior four-week average.

The poor export performance prompted sharp fall of CBOT wheat prices.

More pressure came on Friday from rainfall in central U.S. plains, which is expected to ease the dryness in the wheat growing areas. Meanwhile, precipitation across Europe, especially the Black Sea region and Russia are building prospects for larger wheat crops, said market analysts.

May corn fell about 2 percent, which is the biggest weekly loss since January. Argentina's drought has been mostly digested, and focus is now shifting to the northern hemisphere, where weather outside of the U.S. southern and western plains has been largely favorable.

Consolidation for corn prices is expected over the next two weeks, with U.S. export demand is accelerating, rather than slowing, said analysts with AgResource company.

CBOT soybeans traded up and down through the week and were higher at Friday's close. Traders were trying hard to assess if the rainfall over Argentina is too late or too little for the crops there.

On Thursday, Buenos Aires Grain Exchange released their estimate that Argentina soybean yield could decrease to 40 million metric tons from the previous 46 million metric tons, though rain started to fall in the drought-hit areas earlier this week, with another round of precipitation this weekend.

Additional support came from upbeat data of U.S. soybean export sales, which underpinned the CBOT soybean futures. USDA reported weekly sales of 1,269,600 metric tons of soybeans for 2017/2018 delivery, 30 percent up from the prior 4-week average.

The U.S. has picked up a significant amount of export business in the last several weeks, and current sales and shipments are now starting to align with the USDA's export forecast.

However, traders are still concerned about the U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs, which they fear may bring retaliation from other countries and in that case, U.S. agricultural commodities can be the target.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-18 03:50:06|Editor: Lifang

Video Player Close

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa (L, Front) welcomes South African President Cyril Ramaphosa (R, Front) in Harare, Zimbabwe, March 17, 2018. Zimbabwe and South Africa on Saturday pledged to deepen cooperation particularly in the economic field. (Xinhua/Wanda)

HARARE, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwe and South Africa on Saturday pledged to deepen cooperation particularly in the economic field.

Visiting South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and his Zimbabwean counterpart Emmerson Mnangagwa said this during a press conference soon after their meeting in Harare.

Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe wants to strengthen infrastructure development cooperation with South Africa, particularly in roads, rail and energy.

"Our economy is down. We also need electricity from SA," the president said.

Ramaphosa said South Africa and Zimbabwe will continue to work together to overcome economic challenges they face.

"This was a great opportunity to confirm that South Africa and Zimbabwe are joined at the hip and are going to continue finding clever ways of growing our respective economies and cooperating on matters of trade and finding various projects that we can work together on," Ramaphosa said.

He said his visit was also to pay respects to Mnangagwa after he became president last month. He visited Mozambique earlier in the day on a similar mission.

On the issue of land, Ramaphosa said South Africa will learn from Zimbabwe and other countries in the world that have carried out land reforms.

The South African government has announced that it will carry out a land reform program to expropriate white-owned land without compensation.

Ramaphosa said the country will carry out extensive debate and dialogue on the issue until it matures to a very firm position which will then be adopted by parliament.

He expressed optimism that the land issue will be resolved in a manner that will unite the nation.RABAT, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Moroccan Prime Minister Saad Eddine El Othmani will lead a delegation to the eighth edition of the World Water Forum, scheduled for March 18-23 in Brasilia, said the Prime Minister's office Saturday.

During the opening ceremony, Othmani is expected to hand over the Hassan II Great World Water Prize to the sixth winner, held under the theme "working for more solidarity and inclusion to ensure water security and climate justice," according to a statement.

The prize was jointly initiated by the World Water Council and Morocco in 2000, in memory of late King Hassan II, and in recognition of his policy of cooperation and solidarity for the preservation and sustainable management of water resources.

The Moroccan delegation participating in this year's forum, organized under the slogan "share water," also includes Secretary of State for Water Charafat Afilal, and several officials and experts, the statement added.

This year's forum will draw more than 35,000 participants representing 170 countries, with 140 ministerial delegations.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-18 04:50:13|Editor: Liangyu

Video Player Close

A chemist works in the lab of China's New Hope Group factory in Beheira province, Egypt, on March 13, 2018. Occupying a vast area of 29,000 square meters in Beheira province north of the Egyptian capital Cairo, the newly-established factory of China's agribusiness giant New Hope Group tells a good story about the growing ties between the two countries. (Xinhua/Zhao Dingzhe)

by Mahmoud Fouly

BEHEIRA, Egypt, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Occupying a vast area of 29,000 square meters in Beheira province north of the Egyptian capital Cairo, the newly-established factory of China's agribusiness giant New Hope Group tells a good story about the growing ties between the two countries.

The sprawling animal feed producing factory, New Hope's third in Egypt, consists of four premises: an administrative building with a residential area, two storehouses for raw materials and final products, and a workshop where animal feed is made.

"Share Success with the Customers. Develop with the Society. Advance with the Society" is a theme painted in large white characters on the blue wall of New Hope's final products storehouse, while "New Hope Brings New Life" is the slogan written under the green-and-red logo of the company.

"We started this branch in August 2016 and reached ideal production rates in October 2017. We invested about 100 million yuan (15.8 million U.S. dollars) in this project," said Wu Qianfeng, general manager of the New Hope Alexandria Co., Ltd in the industrial city of Housh Eissa.

The Sino-Egyptian ties have been elevated to the level of comprehensive strategic partnership with growing economic and cultural cooperation in light of China's Belt and Road Initiative proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013.

"The rapid development of our firm in Egypt is a result of the development of the trade relations and industrial cooperation between Egypt and China," Wu told Xinhua at the new factory, stressing that New Hope's expansion in Egypt is part of its greater expansion in Africa in general.

Beheira Governor Nadia Abdou recently visited the New Hope factory to inspect the work process and its final products.

Abdou, accompanied by a member of the parliament and local council officials, hailed the growing Sino-Egyptian relations, while vowing to ease all procedures for Chinese investment in the industrial zone in Beheira.

Chinese investment projects are present in nearly all major regions in Egypt, especially the Suez Canal industrial zone, Abdou told Xinhua.

"We as Egyptian people feel friendship and understanding with the Chinese people," she said.

"Egypt has become an investment attractive state because our local currency has become very encouraging for investors, the raw materials are mostly available and cheap, and the new investment law has been approved to facilitate business establishment," she added.

New Hope's expansion in Egypt is just one example of China's growing investment in the most populous Arab state.

Other major Chinese investors in Egypt include the TEDA corporation, one of the oldest and largest industrial developers of the Suez Canal Economic Zone in Ismailia, and China's fiberglass giant Jushi, a tenant company of TEDA.

"It's not the first New Hope factory in Egypt, as the firm has been present in the country for five years. This is the third after the first was built in Sadat city in Minufiya province and the second in Beni Sweif province," said Mahmoud Abdel-Nasser, a deputy administrative manager of New Hope Alexandria.

Abdel-Nasser told Xinhua that a new New Hope factory for fish feed will soon be established in Gamasa city in the coastal province of Damietta in addition to New Hope's increased investment in poultry farming in El Alamein city in Matrouh province.

Like many other Chinese businesses operating in Egypt, New Hope has created hundreds of job opportunities to Egyptian youths.

Rana Sherif, a fresh graduate from a Chinese-learning college in Cairo's Ain Sham University, has been working as an Arabic-Chinese interpreter for New Hope for a few months.

Sherif said she learned punctuality, diligence and the spirit of hard-working during her work and communication with Chinese colleagues at New Hope.

"They work so hard all the time and working hours for them are so sacred. For the Chinese, business is business and leisure is leisure," she told Xinhua.Beheira Governor Nadia Abdou (3R) visits the storehouse of New Hope livestock feed factory located in an industrial zone of Beheira province north of the capital Cairo, Egypt on March 13, 2018. (Xinhua/Zhao Dingzhe)

BEHEIRA, Egypt, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Occupying a vast area of 29,000 square meters in Beheira province north of the Egyptian capital Cairo, the newly-established factory of China's agribusiness giant New Hope Group tells a good story about the growing ties between the two countries.

The sprawling animal feed producing factory, New Hope's third in Egypt, consists of four premises: an administrative building with a residential area, two storehouses for raw materials and final products, and a workshop where animal feed is made.

"Share Success with the Customers. Develop with the Society. Advance with the Society" is a theme painted in large white characters on the blue wall of New Hope's final products storehouse, while "New Hope Brings New Life" is the slogan written under the green-and-red logo of the company.

"We started this branch in August 2016 and reached ideal production rates in October 2017. We invested about 100 million yuan (15.8 million U.S. dollars) in this project," said Wu Qianfeng, general manager of the New Hope Alexandria Co., Ltd in the industrial city of Housh Eissa.

The Sino-Egyptian ties have been elevated to the level of comprehensive strategic partnership with growing economic and cultural cooperation in light of China's Belt and Road Initiative proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013.

"The rapid development of our firm in Egypt is a result of the development of the trade relations and industrial cooperation between Egypt and China," Wu told Xinhua at the new factory, stressing that New Hope's expansion in Egypt is part of its greater expansion in Africa in general.

Beheira Governor Nadia Abdou recently visited the New Hope factory to inspect the work process and its final products.

Abdou, accompanied by a member of the parliament and local council officials, hailed the growing Sino-Egyptian relations, while vowing to ease all procedures for Chinese investment in the industrial zone in Beheira.

Chinese investment projects are present in nearly all major regions in Egypt, especially the Suez Canal industrial zone, Abdou told Xinhua.

"We as Egyptian people feel friendship and understanding with the Chinese people," she said.

"Egypt has become an investment attractive state because our local currency has become very encouraging for investors, the raw materials are mostly available and cheap, and the new investment law has been approved to facilitate business establishment," she added.

New Hope's expansion in Egypt is just one example of China's growing investment in the most populous Arab state.

Other major Chinese investors in Egypt include the TEDA corporation, one of the oldest and largest industrial developers of the Suez Canal Economic Zone in Ismailia, and China's fiberglass giant Jushi, a tenant company of TEDA.

"It's not the first New Hope factory in Egypt, as the firm has been present in the country for five years. This is the third after the first was built in Sadat city in Minufiya province and the second in Beni Sweif province," said Mahmoud Abdel-Nasser, a deputy administrative manager of New Hope Alexandria.

Abdel-Nasser told Xinhua that a new New Hope factory for fish feed will soon be established in Gamasa city in the coastal province of Damietta in addition to New Hope's increased investment in poultry farming in El Alamein city in Matrouh province.

Like many other Chinese businesses operating in Egypt, New Hope has created hundreds of job opportunities to Egyptian youths.

Rana Sherif, a fresh graduate from a Chinese-learning college in Cairo's Ain Sham University, has been working as an Arabic-Chinese interpreter for New Hope for a few months.

Sherif said she learned punctuality, diligence and the spirit of hard-working during her work and communication with Chinese colleagues at New Hope.

"They work so hard all the time and working hours for them are so sacred. For the Chinese, business is business and leisure is leisure," she told Xinhua.PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, Russia, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Russian citizens living in the country's easternmost regions of Kamchatka and Chukotka, Russia's Far East, began casting ballots to vote for the next president at 8:00 a.m. local time on Sunday.

There are more than 97,000 domestic polling stations, and more than 400 overseas stations.

The candidates running for the election are incumbent Russian President Vladimir Putin, who participates as an independent candidate, Vladimir Zhirinovsky from the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), and businessman Pavel Grudinin nominated by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF). Other candidates include Grigory Yavlinsky from Yabloko party, leader of the Party of Growth Boris Titov, head of the Russian All-People Union Sergey Baburin, TV host Ksenia Sobchak and head of the Communists of Russia Maxim Suraikin.

Under the constitution of the Russian Federation, the president shall be elected for a six-year term directly by eligible citizens. Any Russian citizen aged 35 years old and above, who has resided in Russia for no less than 10 years and does not hold citizenship or right of residence in another country, can be elected president.BERLIN, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Germen Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that the European Union (EU) is now in a critical phase and Germany wanted to address major European issues quickly together with France.

In a video podcast released on Saturday, Merkel said the European Council set for next week will be the first time to talk about the idea of EU's future relations with Britain after the latter quits the bloc.

"Of course, Britain has to say what it wants," said the Chancellor, "This also means that we continue to work closely together in the scientific field."

According to Merkel, together with the French President Emmanuel Macron, Germany wanted to tackle issues easier to solve at European level than at national level, including issues of economic strength, long-term stabilization of the Euro and protection of the EU external borders as well as fighting the causes of flight.

"I hope that we can achieve results quickly," said Merkel. "France and Germany will work together very closely."

"The European Union is in a critical phase," said Merkel, referring to Brexit and the international situation that commits the EU to action.

In her first trip abroad after being re-elected as German Chancellor for the fourth term, Merkel on Friday visited Paris to hold talks with Macron on EU issues. It is widely expected that the German-French Initiative in European Integration would be revived.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.Arizona News

Fort Huachuca, Arizona - Arizona State Parks and Trails has received $500,000 in capital grant funding from the National Park Services African-American Civil Rights Fund to rehabilitate the Mountain View Officers Club (MVOC) at Fort Huachuca.

The MVOC is located in southeastern Arizona and the State Historic Preservation Office, a division of Arizona State Parks and Trails, has been involved in a long-standing effort to preserve and protect this World War II-era African-American officers club. It is one of only two such documented buildings in the U.S. Army.

This is the only site in Arizona to receive this grant funding, said Governor Doug Ducey. Being able to restore key elements of this state treasure is a vital part of preserving and protecting Arizonas history.

This grant provides the much needed seed funding that will serve as an important catalyst to the rehabilitation of this significant building, said Arizona State Parks and Trails State Historic Preservation Officer Kathryn Leonard.

Without this funding from the National Park Service, none of this would be possible, said Arizona State Parks and Trails Executive Director Sue Black. We will transform the vacant Mountain View Officers Club into a vibrant community events center. This reflects the success of public private partnerships for the preservation of Arizonas heritage and further demonstrates the value of historic buildings as an economic driver in rural communities.

As one of the last-remaining structures of its kind anywhere in the United States, the MVOC is central to understanding the complex history of the segregated African-American military experience and large-scale war mobilization efforts inside the country. During World War II, Fort Huachuca was the largest training facility for African-American soldiers, housing an estimated 25,000 troops at its peak, with more than 1,400 temporary buildings constructed for the cause. The MVOC building, which has been vacant since 1998, is one of only a few buildings that survive from this period.

"Fort Huachuca is committed to continued involvement in planning and carrying out the adaptive reuse of this historic building and feel the proposed project has potential to directly benefit the U.S. Army mission," said Col. Whit Wright, garrison commander, Fort Huachuca, Arizona.

Renewed interest in the Mountain View Officers Club is the result of local preservation efforts, an intensive federal consultation process (Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act) and the creation of a broad-based coalition backing a single, innovative reuse plan. Early actions by Arizona preservation partners and the Southwest Association of Buffalo Soldiers resulted in the exploration of new, compatible uses for the building that would engage the broader Sierra Vista community. Recent efforts spearheaded by the National Trust for Preservation and local partners Arizona Preservation Foundation and Tucson Preservation Foundation have focused on plans to transform, through adaptive reuse, this significant building into a new use as a community and events center for both the Fort and broader Sierra Vista community. The Mountain View Officers Club building was listed as one of Americas 11 Most Endangered Historic Places in 2013 and designated a National Treasure by the National Trust in 2014.

We envision a country where everyone can see themselves, and their heritage, in our collective story and our cultural landscape, said Stephanie K. Meeks, president and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. We applaud todays funding announcement by the U.S. Department of the Interior and the National Park Service to further preserve important places of Civil Rights struggle, conscience and achievement, and we encourage more of this across our nation. This funding will allow for the rehabilitation and reuse of the Mountain View Officers Clubanswering the local need for a new multipurpose facility and keeping alive an important chapter of our military history for future generations.

For information about all 35 Arizona State Parks and Natural Areas, the Trails and Off-Highway Vehicle Programs and State Historic Preservation Office call 1-877-MY-PARKS or visit https://AZStateParks.com .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...VILLANOVA, Pa.The National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE) has recognized Dr. Terry Nance, Associate Vice Provost for Diversity and Inclusion, Chief Diversity Officer and associate professor of Communication at Villanova University, as the recipient of the Frank W. Hale, Jr. Distinguished Service Award. The NADOHR honored Dr. Nance at its annual conference March 9 in Washington, D.C.

The Frank W. Hale, Jr. Award is given to individuals who have distinguished themselves in higher education through a robust record of consistent service for inclusive excellence; exercising innovative and courageous leadership; serving as a visionary in the field; and exemplifying the philosophy, principles, and practices of NADOHE; and contributing substantially to diversity and inclusive excellence in higher education. The award is named in memory of Dr. Frank W. Hale, Jr., former vice provost for minority affairs and professor at The Ohio State University, and former President of Oakwood University, who is remembered as a tireless crusader for diversity in higher education for 54 years.

This award is particularly meaningful to me because it come from my peers who know the incredible risks and rewards of doing the hard work of diversity, equity and inclusion in institutions of higher education, said Dr. Nance. Working with Villanova to make the changes necessary to ensure that we are receptive and welcoming to all is a continuous process. I am lucky to be at a place where I have so many dedicated and loyal allies who have been with me thorough out my Villanova journey.

For 40 years, Dr. Nance has served as a teacher, scholar, leader, activist and support system for students, faculty and staff at Villanova University. She was the first Black tenure-track faculty member in Communication at Villanova, where she established an African-American rhetoric course and created the highly sought after multicultural leadership course. As a researcher, Dr. Nance has investigated the perceptions and stages of interracial relationship development, diversity and inclusion, and intergroup dialogue. She is considered a national expert on intercultural communication, dialogic pedagogy, and diversity and inclusion.

Dr. Nances work during her tenure at Villanova has advanced our University community in countless ways, and her value and contributions to the Villanova cannot be overstated, said the Rev. Peter M. Donohue, OSA, PhD, Villanova University President. As Villanovas first Associate Vice Provost for Diversity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer, Dr. Nance oversees the Universitys efforts to create a welcoming and diverse Villanova community at all levelsstudents, faculty, staff and alumni.

Throughout her career, Dr. Nance has been dedicated to serviceto her students, the University and the community. She founded Villanovas MLK Celebration, which now occurs over several days and includes Freedom Schoolan opportunity for Villanovans to learn from their peers about social justice issuesand later in the week to hear distinguished speakers from the Civil Rights community past and present.

Dr. Nance was named the founding Assistant Vice President for the Center for Multicultural Affairs (CMA). Under her leadership, Villanova became a founding member of NADOHE. In 2015to further elevate the Universitys commitment to diversity and inclusionVillanova created the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) led by Dr. Nance, who was named Associate Vice Provost of Diversity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer. ODI supports Villanovas continuing efforts to create a welcoming and diverse community at all levels, including students, faculty, administrators and staff.

About Villanova University: Since 1842, Villanova Universitys Augustinian Catholic intellectual tradition has been the cornerstone of an academic community in which students learn to think critically, act compassionately and succeed while serving others. There are more than 10,000 undergraduate, graduate and law students in the University's six collegesthe College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Villanova School of Business, the College of Engineering, the M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing, the College of Professional Studies and the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. Ranked among the nations top universities, Villanova supports its students intellectual growth and prepares them to become ethical leaders who create positive change everywhere life takes them. For more, visit www.villanova.edu.A Syrian girl eats bread at a temporary shelter in Housh Nasri area, east of Damascus, capital of Syria, on March 16, 2018. (Xinhua/Hummam Sheikh Ali)

UNITED NATIONS, March 16 (Xinhua) -- The top negotiator of the United Nations on the Syria crisis reported on Friday that a cease-fire, although fragile, has been holding for the past six days in one part of the rebel stronghold of Eastern Ghouta.

Staffan de Mistura, the UN Special Envoy for Syria, told the Security Council that recent meetings in Douma in Eastern Ghouta between Russia and Jaish al-Islam, a coalition of Islamist rebel units involved in Syrian civil war, has led to a "tenuous, fragile cease-fire" between the Syrian government, the Russian military and Jaish al-Islam forces.

Briefing the council on the implementation of Resolution 2401, which demands an immediate cease-fire across Syria, de Mistura emphasized that the cease-fire is held in Douma, one of the three enclaves of Eastern Ghouta, and not replicated in the rest of Eastern Ghouta or elsewhere and it is extremely fragile.

UN efforts to facilitate meaningful contacts between Russia and either of the dominant forces in the two other enclaves of Eastern Ghouta -- Failaq al-Rahman and Ahrar al-Sham -- have not yet produced results, said de Mistura.

"In those two other areas we have not seen any cease-fire to speak of. Rather, we have seen government forces and their allies pursue a concerted escalation against these two enclaves, with rapid ground offensives, accompanied by shelling and airstrikes."

At the same time, there are continuous outgoing shelling from these areas of Eastern Ghouta inside civilian areas of Damascus, he said.

Negotiations in Douma in the last few days, he said, show that there is a way to create the conditions to advance the implementation of Resolution 2401. The UN therefore stands ready to facilitate further engagement of this kind so as to make a concrete contribution to the realization of Resolution 2401 in all areas of Eastern Ghouta, which is close to capital city of Damascus.

Violence has escalated across many other parts of Syria, where there is no cease-fire to speak of, said the UN envoy.

In Afrin on the northern border with Turkey, Turkish government forces and their armed allies continue to take ground rapidly, he said.

"We have also received reports of shelling on besieged Foah and Kefraya, these two villages which have been for a long time besieged by opposition forces. And there have been airstrikes in Idlib, a new armed opposition offensive in Hama, and clashes and airstrikes in Daraa in southern Syria."

He voiced concern over the humanitarian situation in Eastern Ghouta, Afrin and across the country.

While humanitarian access was only limited in one part of Eastern Ghouta, the situation in Afrin is particularly worrying, he said.

Since March 6, people in Afrin city have also reportedly suffered from severe water shortages again as the source of water to Afrin city has reportedly been damaged by fighting, he said.

"We are also highly concerned at the situation for civilians across all of Syria. This means those being displaced as well as the almost 3 million in besieged and hard-to-reach areas and those caught up in escalations in Idlib, Hama, Aleppo and Daraa. Resolution 2401 demands to 'all parties to immediately lift the sieges of populated areas." We have not seen this," he said.WASHINGTON: The United States Administration of President Donald Trump has chided Pakistan for not taking significant steps to clamp down on the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network militant groups despite repeated warnings from the White House.

A senior US administration official said that the White House is now seeking some ''real action'' from Pakistan on various terrorist outfits operating on its soil.

The administration had suspended about USD 2 billion in security assistance to Pakistan in January but Islamabad has failed to take "the kind of decisive and irreversible action" Washington has asked for to help with the war in Afghanistan, the official said.

The administration has been frustrated by what it sees as Pakistan's reluctance to act against the Afghan Taliban and the affiliated Haqqani network.

Washington believes the groups use Pakistan as a safe haven for launching attacks on neighbouring Afghanistan.

Pakistan, however, denies helping the militants.

The United States has been at war in Afghanistan since 2001, making it America's longest military conflict. President Donald Trump agreed in August to a stepped-up military campaign against the Taliban and has since increased pressure on Pakistan to help.

US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis on Tuesday said he has seen some positive signs from Islamabad, including Pakistani military operations along the border - and the senior administration official agreed.

"I think the Pakistanis have wanted to appear responsive to our requests," the senior administration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"What I would say is, they have done the bare minimum to appear responsive to our requests," the official said, saying more proactive steps were needed.

The US officials have told their Pakistani counterparts what types of actions are needed to lift the suspension of aid, the official said, declining to elaborate on the specifics.

"We are prepared to take steps that we think are necessary to safeguard US personnel and interests in the region," the official said, declining comment on what those steps would be, and on deadlines for action.

"

We are continuing to look for real action, not just words, from Pakistan on the Taliban and Haqqani sanctuaries," the official said.

(With Reuters inputs)Hyderabad: BJP national president Amit Shah is likely to review the political situation in Andhra Pradesh after N Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP's exit from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and chalk out a strategy before the Lok Sabha elections and assembly elections here.

According to reports, the BJP president is likely to hold a meeting with the core group of the party's Andhra Pradesh unit later this evening.

The meeting comes as the BJP finds itself in a tight corner in Andhra Pradesh after the TDP and YSR Congress moved notices for a no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha against the Narendra Modi government.

The current political situation in Andhra Pradesh is of utmost concerns to the BJP since the state sends 25 members to the Lok Sabha and assembly elections are due to be held in 2019.

The BJP has already asserted that the TDPs decision to sever ties with it is a timely opportunity for it to grow in Andhra Pradesh.

TDPs decision to quit was inevitable after its mischievous propaganda against Centre. People of Andhra Pradesh have now realised that the TDP is resorting to lies to cover up its inept and inert governance. Far from being a threat, TDPs exit is a timely opportunity for the BJP to grow in Andhra Pradesh, BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao said.

The TDP and the YSR Congress headed by Jagan Mohan Reddy are the two main parties in the state.

While the former has been a part of the NDA since 2014, the YSR Congress too has often supported the government in Parliament on many legislations.

However, both have now been targeting the BJP after the Centre declined to grant special category status to Andhra Pradesh.Darbhanga: In view of tension prevailing over the hacking a 65-year-old man for naming a square after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a large number of policemen have been deployed in Bihar's Darbhanga.

With tension prevailing in the area, top leaders of Bihar's prominent political parties including Union Minister Giriraj Singh and Nityanand Rai, will arrive in Darbhanga to meet the family of the victim.

Meanwhile, a political blame game has also started over the hacking of the old man, with RJD calling it a political murder and attacking the ruling BJP and the Janata Dal-United.

Lalu Yadav-led RJD has said that no one is safe in Bihar under the JD-U-BJP rule.

Meanwhile, state BJP spokesman Rajib Ranjan said, "incidents like these demonstrate RJD's belief in hooliganism and corruption. They have merely retained two seats they had held earlier, but they want to strike terror in the hearts of the people of Bihar".

The reactions came hours after a 65-year-old man was hacked to death allegedly over a tiff over the naming of a square on the outskirts of the city after Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The victim was the father of a BJP worker, Kamlesh Yadav, who also sustained injured in the attack.

Police, however, claimed that murder of 65-year-old Ramchandra Yadav was the fallout of a "personal enmity".

Kamlesh Yadav, who was undergoing treatment at a hospital, told reporters "a chowk (square) at our native village of Bhadavan in Sadar police station area had been named after Narendra Modi two years ago".

"Yesterday, local RJD supporters, who had been opposed to the naming of the square after Modi, tried to remove the plaque bearing the name of the square. When we protested, they said that the RJD's victory in bypolls to one Lok Sabha and an assembly seat marked their party's resurgence and hence they wanted to rename the square after Lalu Prasad", Yadav alleged.

"The RJD supporters went away after we resolutely opposed them. However, in the night, a group of 20-25 persons came to hour house riding on motorcycles, attacked my father with a sword, severing his head", Yadav, whose arm was slashed by a sword carried by the assailants, said.

Additional SP, Darbhanga, Dilnawaz Ahmad, however, said "as per our information, the attackers had some personal enmity with Kamlesh Yadav and his family. We are not aware of any dispute over the naming of the square, though all angles would be investigated".

Local BJP workers in the district also staged a demonstration in protest against the killing, blocking road traffic for close to an hour.

They were pacified by the police who assured them of adequate action against the guilty.

(With Agency inputs)New Delhi: In India, people from across the county have a distinct tradition of celebrating New Years specific to the region they hail from. The people of the state of Maharashtra celebrate their New Year on the first day of the Chaitra month in the Hindu Lunar calendar. This day is called Gudi Padwa. The Konkani community refers to this day as Samwatsara. This year, Gudi Padwa will be celebrated on March 18.

Days before the festival, people start cleaning their homes and courtyards to start preparations for the actual day. On the day of the festival, people decorate their doorsteps with Rangoli. Flowers are used for decorating the house and a toran made of mango leaves is hung across the top of the door.

People take bath and wear new clothes and dress up in traditional style. Women drape the Navari and the men wear Kurta teamed up with Dhoti or Pyjama. People offer their prayers to the Gudi after placing it on the window or door. They offer flowers, perform the aarti and put Akshat on the Gudi.

We bring to you a host of messages which you can send your near and dear ones as simple text messages, Whatsapp reads, Facebook statuses or even as GIFs. Happy Gudi Padwa!

*New day

New morning

New hopes

New plans

New success

New feelings

New joys

Wishing u & Ur family a Happy & wonderful GUDI PADWA

*This Gudi Padwa, May you be blessed with good fortune as long as Ganeshjis trunk, wealth and prosperity as big as his stomach, happiness as sweet as his ladoos and may your trouble be as small as his mouse. Happy Gudi Padwa!

*Lets pray for Peace and Harmony for everyone around us on this auspicious occasion of Gudi Padwa!

*One year has gone, One New Year comes, It happened so And itll always be so But you can make it a better one Happy Ugadi

*On this auspicious occasion of Gudi Padwa. May you be endowed with happiness, prosperity and success. Happy Gudi Padwa!

*Fortunate is the one who has learned to Admire, but not to envy. Good Wishes for a joyous Gudi Padwa and a Happy New Year with a plenty of Peace and Prosperity.

* On this Gudi Padwa, my wish for you would be that all your wishes come true. May god bless with youIkeida leaves the house once every three days to buy food, shuns deliveries to avoid human interaction and has not seen his parents or younger brother for 20 years. The 55-year-old has chosen to shut himself completely away from societysuch a commonplace phenomenon in high-pressure, conformist and workaholic Japan that there is a word to describe it: Hikikomori. Until recently it was thought to be an issue mainly afflicting those in their teens and 20s, but ageing Japan is seeing a growing number of older hikikomori cloistering themselves away for longer periods of time. There are more than half a million hikikomori in Japanaccording to the latest government survey published in 2016defined as people who have stayed home for more than six months without going to school or work and interacting with no one other than family members. However, this underestimates the scale of the issue as it only counts people under the age of 39 and the government has now decided to conduct the countrys first survey of hikikomori aged between 40 and 59. Ikeida (not his real name) told AFP he graduated from a prestigious Tokyo university and received several lucrative job offers from major firms during Japans Hikikomori period in the 1980s. But he quickly realized he could not follow his university colleagues into the massed ranks of Japanese salarymen. I went to a good university my parents wished me to go to and tried hard to conform, he said in a rare interview arranged through a non-profit trying to help those isolated from society and their parents. But I realized I had to conform forever when I got those job offers. I felt hopeless. I couldnt wear a suit. I felt like my heart had broken, he added, speaking on condition on anonymity. Feeling under unbearable pressure, he took the decision to shut himself away in his room, shunning all forms of human contacta pattern that was to continue for the next three decades.What drives people to shut themselves away is not entirely clear, but many featured in the survey said they stopped interacting with society after struggling with relationships at work or school, or failing at job hunting. Some people who suffer from schizophrenia become hikikomori. But its often hard to know as they dont go out to see a doctor, said Kayo Ikeda, a clinical psychologist who heads a non-profit offering advice to elderly parents with hikikomori children. What we know is that they have been hurt. They were bullied or experienced interpersonal trouble at work, she said. Ikeida describes in his blog how his mother would hit him if he did not study hard enough and also subjected him to psychological pressure. Statistics suggest they also find it harder to reintegrate into society after turning away.In the 2016 survey, more than one third of hikikomori said they had withdrawn from society for more than seven years, up from 16.9 percent of such cases in a previous survey in 2009. As the hikikomori age and shut themselves away for longer periods of time, this places more pressure on elderly parents, both financially and emotionally. Maybe its common overseas that grown-up children leave their parents home, but in Japan, parents let them stay, said Ikeda, the clinical psychologist. Rika Ueda, who works for the non-profit that supports parents of hikikomori children, says social stigma can make the situation worse. Families with hikikomori children are very ashamed of themselves.... They hide their situation from their community and become isolated without being able to seek help, Ueda told AFP. I think such circumstances contribute to the problem of prolonged cases, she added.Recognizing the growing problem, the health ministry has requested 2.53 billion yen ($24 million) to support hikikomori people from the next fiscal year starting in April. The government also aims to help such people find employment that suits their condition. Ikeida lives mainly on social benefits but also makes a little money by writing online articles from his room. He desperately wants to recover and has asked his parents several times to accompany him to a psychiatrist but they refused. I want society to understand that we are not crazy people, said Ikeida. He also worries about dying alone, another common fear in ageing Japan. I think about a lonely death. I dont want to die that way. I dont want to be found rotten. So maybe I can ask for more visits by welfare officials, but I dont want that either, he said. Its such a contradictory feeling.New Delhi: Ugadi marks the beginning of the Hindu New Year celebrated by people who hail from the states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka. The date often coincides with Gudi Padwa, the New Year day celebrated in Maharashtra. This year Ugadi will be celebrated on March 18.

The day marks the beginning of the Chaitra month in the Hindu calendar.

Dressed in their best fineries, men, women and children decorate their homes and indulge in grand festivities. Family members, friends and neighbours get together to celebrate by greeting each other and exchanging sweets and prasadam.

The festival is celebrated with much fervour, zeal and lot of happiness.On this auspicious occasion, we have compiled a list of messages which you can send your loved ones and wish them a very Happy Ugadi.

*May this Ugadi bring you joy, health, wealth and good luck throughout the year!

* Let's welcome Ugadi with great hope, eagerness & anticipation.Let us look forward to a plentiful of joy, satisfaction, peace & prosperity.

*May this Ugadi usher cheerfulness, enriching the hearts of people with good health, wealth and joy. Happy Ugadi!

*On this Ugadi, let us look forward to

New Life

New Hope

New Aspirations

New Beginning

Lets make each day a new day

*With a smile and a spirit of giving a sense of humanity a pledge to spread peace and happiness. Happy Ugadi!

*Fortunate is the one who has learned to Admire, but not to envy. Good Wishes for a joyous Ugadi and a Happy New Year with a plenty of Peace and Prosperity. Best wishes for Ugadi 2016 and New Year

*May all your wishes come true on this Ugadi, may you get the best of all worlds.

*Hope the lights of Ugadi bring glow and warmth to your life! Wishing you a very happy New Year! Let the memories of moments shared with your loved ones fill your heart this Ugadi!NEW DELHI: The Delhi Assembly on Friday passed a resolution and urged the Centre to take prompt actions to end the ongoing sealing drive by the civic bodies in the national Capital.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal sought an embargo on the sealing drive to provide relief to the city traders. He once again declared that if the drive did not stop by March 31, he will go on strike with the traders.

The Chief Minister called the drive as a "dangerous attack" on traders and said an all-party delegation, including his Cabinet colleagues, would meet the Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee to resolve the issue.

"While a sealing drive is on, no shop of any politician has been sealed yet. The traders are facing a lot of problems. The immediate solution is that the Centre brings a moratorium on sealing for two years. Meanwhile, the government and other agencies can complete all formalities to amend the existing laws," Kejriwal said.

Moved by AAP MLA Sourabh Bharadwaj, the resolution stated that the "unjustified" sealing is a direct consequence of the "negligence and inefficiency" of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and the municipal corporations.

"The ongoing sealing drive in various markets has wreaked a havoc among traders and has left thousands of workers unemployed... It should be stopped immediately. De-seal the sealed shops," it stated.

It further stated that the Centre should take all possible steps, including bringing a new bill or amending existing laws in the ongoing Budget session of Parliament, to halt sealing with immediate effect.

The Leader of Opposition, Vijender Gupta, however, countered the allegations saying that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government was not introducing a bill to provide relief to traders from sealing. He also accused the AAP government of not appointing prominent lawyers to put up a strong case in the Supreme Court to halt the sealing drive being carried out since December.

Responding to Gupta's accusation, Kejriwal said the Delhi government has appointed prominent lawyers, adding that if the leader of Opposition has anyone else in mind, the government will go ahead with them.

(With inputs from DNA)Sitamarhi: At least 10 people, including two women and as many children, were today killed when a bus skidded off an elevated highway here, police said, reported news agency Press Trust of India.

The accident occurred near Bhanaspatti village here.

The bus was heading towards the adjoining town of Muzaffarpur. It skidded and came crashing down from the top of NH-77 this afternoon, station house officer of Runnisaidpur Police Station Shivnarayan Ram said.

He said that 10 people were killed and many injured in the accident. Efforts were on to pull them out of the mangled bus.

Soon after the accident, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar announced ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh to next kin of the deceased passengers and also expressed his grief over the accident.

The private bus named Chandan Rath had originated from bus stand under Aurai police station and was destined to reach Bairia bus stand under Ahiyapur police station, both in Muzaffarpur district but part of the route falls under the jurisdiction of Sitamarhi district.

Sitamarhi Superintendent Of Police Hari Prasath S said that ten passengers died on the spot while four more died during treatment at the primary health centre (PHC) at Runnisaidpur. Several other passengers were grievously injured, he added.

The roof of the bus had completely collapsed as it landed upside down in the dry canal, which is a tributary of Bagmati, after falling from the bridge.

Meanwhile, Saturdays accident was seventh ghastly accident including three in Muzaffarpur, two in Patna and one in Samastipur in the state within a month in which altogether 57 persons have died.

(With PTI inputs)CHANDIGARH: Convicted for the assassination of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, Jagtar Singh Tara was on Saturday sentenced to life. The order was passed by a court of additional district and session judge J S Sidhu on Saturday. Tara had confessed to his involvement in the assassination of Beant Singh in 1995. Tara's counsel Simranjit Singh had said that he had admitted to his involvement in the assassination of the former chief minister in a confession letter which he had submitted to the court in January this year.

On August 31, 1995, then chief minister Beant Singh was killed in an explosion outside the Civil Secretariat in Chandigarh. Punjab police employee Dilawar Singh had acted as a human bomb in the incident.

Simarjeet had also said that Tara does not regret killing Beant Singh. "Tara told the court that he does not regret killing Beant Singh and also said that he has been fighting the battle of Sikhs' freedom against the Punjab government and will continue to do so," Singh said on Friday.

The lawyer added Tara defended himself by saying, "If by killing a cruel person I can save thousands of innocent people then it is not wrong." Amidst this, pro-Khalistan slogans were raised by Tara's supporters in court.

In his confession, he had also said that Shaheed Udham Singh, who assassinated Lieutenant Governor of Punjab Michael O 'Dwyer in 1919, was his inspiration to kill the Congress leader.

Reacting to the verdict, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee Chief Secretary Roop Singh said: "Jagtar Singh Tara murdered Beant Singh out of emotions and not due to land or property dispute. Murdering someone is bad but he has been given punishment after 22 yrs. It's painful for the Sikh community."New Delhi: Indian Air Force Flying Officer Bhawana Kanth became the second woman pilot to fly solo in a fighter aircraft after she flew in a MiG 21 Bison aircraft from Ambala Air Force Station at around 2 pm on Friday, reported news agency ANI.

The "Bison" has virtually the highest landing and take-off speed in the world  340 kmph.

Bhawana Kanth, who hails from Darbhanga, Bihar, was born and brought up in Refinery Township, Begusarai. Her father is an engineer in IOCL and mother is a homemaker. She did her schooling from Barauni Refinery DAV Public School and completed BE (Medical Electronics) from BMS College of Engineering, Bengaluru.

Kanth, in 2016, said that flying "like a free bird" had been a childhood dream, which inspired her to join the Indian Air Force.

Getting the opportunity to opt for the fighter stream is the "best and biggest" thing that happened to her, she had said, adding that she wants to fight for the nation and make her parents proud.

In February this year, Bhawana's colleague Flying Officer Avani Chaturvedi made history by becoming the first Indian woman to fly a fighter aircraft solo  Russian made MiG-21 Bison. She took off from the Jamnagar Air base in Gujarat and successfully completed her mission.

The fighter stream was opened for women in 2015 and Bhawana Kanth, along with two other women  Avani Chaturvedi and Mohana Singh were inducted into the Indian Air Force fighter squadron in 2016.

Since then, the three women have undergone strenuous training programme to fly fighter jets.The Indian Air Force has already selected the next batch of three women trainee pilots for the fighter stream.

Bhawna Kanth, Avani Chaturvedi, and Mohana Singh graduated from the Air Force Academy in Dundigul near Hyderabad, the premier training centre of the Indian Air Force, in December 2016. They had undergone their basic flying with Pilatus PC-7 aircraft at Dundigal before being sent to Hakimpet.

Breaking the gender barrier, the Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat, too, had in 2017 announced that the process to offer combat roles to women was moving fast. The move will induct women on an experimental basis for five years initially.

In October 2015 Centre took the decision to open the fighter stream for women too. Meanwhile, combat roles in the Army and the Navy still dont allow women, due to a combination of operational concerns and logistical constraints.

It was only in 1992 that the armed forces began recruiting women to streams, other than the Medical stream. Countries like Britain, the United States, Israel, and Pakistan, have allowed women in the role of fighter pilots.NEW DELHI: This was an unprecedented moment on Indian telly. Jammu and Kashmir National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah not only got emotional while speaking at Zee India Conclave to a live audience, he also sang a bhajan or Hindu religious song on Ram and Shyam.

After repeated requests by Zee News anchor Rubika Liyaquat, Abdullah sang a few verses from a bhajan. Despite being a Muslim, I am very attached to Ram, he said. Here's the song:

Towards the end of the interview, Abdullah got emotional while asking people to give up hatred. "Agar desh banana hai to nafrat ko dafan karo (If you want to built a country, bury the hatred)," he said.

Abdullah spoke on a range of issues at the conclave. He once again asserted that India is not going to be able to retrieve Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and that Pakistan is not going to be able to snatch any more territory from India. He said eventually, the Kashmir issue would be settled with the Line of Control (LoC) as the border between the South Asian neighbours.

Later, responding to a question on what is the bigger threat  Pakistan or anti-nationalism  Abdullah said, Both Pakistan and anti-nationalism are threats. But the biggest threat is the internal threat. Doesn't matter which country - America, China and Russia - the internal threat needs to be taken care of.

Responding to another a question on whether he thought the Kashmir issue could ever be resolved. "It will be resolved. It will certainly be resolved. But you have to first acknowledge that a part of Kashmir is with Pakistan. And you have to acknowledge that you are not going to able to take it back. And Pakistan has not acknowledge there is no way they are going to take any more of the land. The path to resolution lies beyond this," he said.NEW DELHI: The Indian High Commission in Islamabad has sent yet another complaint of harassment to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan on Saturday. An Indian officer and his family were followed by bike-borne men on Thursday, March 15, in Islamabad.

This is the 12 Note Verbale submitted this year.

Another Note Verbale was sent today by Indian High Commission in Islamabad to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan protesting against the intimidation and harassment of Indian High Commission officials. This was the 12th Note Verbale this year on the subject, reported news agency ANI, quoting sources.

Incidents of harassment of officials who had gone for shopping to the Blue Area in Islamabad on 17th March and an officer & his family followed by bike-borne men on 15th March were highlighted. We have asked the Pakistan Government to investigate these incidents, it added.

Both the neighbour nations have been trading allegations over harassment of High Commission personnel for sometime now.

Last week, on March 11, Islamabad accused India of harassing diplomats and their families living in the country, reported Pakistan-based publication Dawn, quoting diplomatic sources.

According to the report, Pakistan warned to 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.

With ANI inputsNEW DELHI: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday exuded confidence that Congress President Rahul Gandhi will become the Prime Minister of the country in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. At the ongoing plenary session of the Congress, the party on Saturday resolved to adopt a "pragmatic approach" for cooperation with all like-minded parties and evolve a way to defeat the BJP-RSS in the 2019 general election.

The indication of a pre-poll tie-up comes in the wake of efforts by the Congress to evolve a consensus among various opposition parties to unitedly take on the BJP. "A resurgent Congress alone shall win back the idea of India as envisioned by the founding fathers of our nation," reads the draft resolution moved at the conclave by senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge.

The party said it was prepared for making sacrifices required to defend the ethos of the Constitution and "we will purge the polity of the aberrations witnessed during the BJP regime, which has failed to honour its commitments to the people of India".

During his address at the three-day plenary session, Rahul Gandhi outlined the challenges that the party is facing and goals that it aims to achieve in future. He urged the party leaders and workers to work together to revive its fortunes and halt the BJP's juggernaut led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. ''This is the only symbol (Congress' symbol) that can unite the nation and take it forward,'' Rahul Gandhi said at the Congress Plenary session.

The Congress chief also attacked the Narendra Modi-led BJP government at the Centre over its alleged misrule and cautioned that anger against the ruling party is rising at the moment. ''They (BJP) uses anger, we use love but one thing that I want to say is that this country belongs to everyone and whatever Congress will do will be for the benefit for all,'' Rahul said.NEW DELHI: Wishing people on Ugadi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that the festival marks the beginning of human civilisation.

Ugadi ka arth hota hai 'ek yug ki shuruat' (Ugadi mean 'the beginning of an era). It is the festival of the beginning of human civilisation, it is the festival of the beginning of everything, said PM Modi.

He was addressing a programme to mark Ugadi in Srisailam, Andhra Pradesh via video conferencing.

Mahrishi Ved Vyas had said that those who visit Srisailam rise above all ties, he added.

The Prime Minister went on to say that the country wants to break free of internal weaknesses.

The people of the nation want to see it free of internal weaknesses, not only those based on caste or religion but all those factors which weaken it, he said, adding, There were numerous attempts to hurt our prestigious culture and traditions when India was chained to slavery. It tolerated everything and kept going ahead. What was it that kept it going? Saints like you.

Ugadi marks the beginning of the Hindu New Year celebrated by people who hail from the states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka. The date often coincides with Gudi Padwa, the New Year day celebrated in Maharashtra.

The day marks the beginning of the Chaitra month in the Hindu calendar.New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Saturday address the annual 'Krishi Unnati Mela' at Indian Agricultural Research Institute in the national capital.

The PM will address the farmers and unveil a portal on organic farming and lay the foundation stone of 25 Krishi Vigyan Kendras.

The Prime Minister will also confer the 'Krishi Karman' and 'Deen Dayal Upadhya Krishi Vigyan Protsahan' awards on the occasion.

The theme of the fair is doubling farmer's income by 2022.

'Krishi Unnati Mela" is aimed at creating awareness about the latest technological developments in the agriculture and allied sectors among farmers.

Theme pavilions on doubling farmers income, live demonstrations on micro-irrigation, wastewater utilisation, animal husbandry and fisheries are among the major attractions of the fair.

Pavilions on seeds, fertilisers, and pesticides will also be set up at the fair.

(With ANI inputs)Posted Saturday, March 17, 2018 7:45 am

An overwhelming majority of surveyed farmers are concerned about the proposed Bayer-Monsanto merger and believe it will have a negative impact on independent farmers and farming communities, a poll released recently has found.

According to the poll, of the farmers who responded:

 93.7 percent are concerned about the proposed merger of Bayer and Monsanto (82.8 percent are very concerned/10.9 percent somewhat concerned);

 93.7 percent of farmers are concerned that the proposed Bayer-Monsanto merger will negatively impact independent farmers and farming communities (83.9 percent are very concerned/9.8 percent somewhat concerned);

The farmers top three concerns of the merger are:

 91.9 percent of farmers are concerned that the merged company will use its dominance in one product to push sales of other products (79.6 percent very concerned/12.3 percent somewhat concerned);

 91.7 percent of farmers concerned that Bayer/Monsanto will control data about farm practices (79.5 percent very concerned/12.2 percent somewhat concerned)

 89.0 percent of farmers think the merger will result in increased pressure for chemically dependent farming (77.1 percent very concerned/11.9 percent somewhat concerned).

The poll also found a high level of concern amongst farmers surveyed that the merged company will control data about farm practices, will increase prices, diminish quality, choice and seed varieties including availability of regionally adaptive seed, which farmers identified as critical given increasing climate variability.

The new poll, fielded by a coalition of farm groups, comes as the U.S. Department of Justice is reviewing the merger between chemical giant Bayer and agrochemical giant Monsanto. If the Bayer-Monsanto merger is approved, the new company would be the worlds largest vegetable seed company, worlds largest cottonseed company, worlds largest manufacturer and seller of herbicides, and the worlds largest owner of intellectual property/patents for herbicide tolerant traits.

A white paper, prepared by the Konkurrenz Group, examines why the U.S. Department of Justices Antitrust Division should not accept Bayers proposed divestiture and behavioral remedies. Relying on the survey findings and other evidence, the white paper examines why the likely complex behavioral and structural remedies will not likely restore competition in the seed, trait, and pesticide industries.

"This survey underscores what we've been hearing from our farm family members for decades  that overwhelming consolidation has substantially eliminated competition in the marketplace, said Roger Johnson, president of National Farmers Union. Four or five firms dictate the prices that farmers pay for their inputs. Family farmers deserve fair prices, choices in what they plant, and the type of market competition that incentivizes firms to compete and innovate for their business. A Bayer-Monsanto merger stands to move each of these factors in the wrong direction, and that is away from competitive markets. Our survey makes it pretty clear that farmers want the merger blocked.

The American Dream is built on the core value that family farmers and business men and women should have an opportunity to take their ideas, ingenuity, hard work and resources to the market and have a fair chance at being successful in their endeavors, said Joe Maxwell, executive director of organization for Competitive Markets. If allowed, this merger will deny farmers and businesses the ability to have access to seed traits and chemicals that would allow them to differentiate their products in the market, denying consumers the choices they are demanding."

"The chemical-intensive agriculture these corporations promote has given rise to superweeds and a reliance on even more potent  and potentially dangerous  chemicals," said Farm Aid communications director Jennifer Fahy. "The proposed merger of Monsanto and Bayer further strengthens their ability to threaten the development of a sustainable food system that supports independent family farmers and rural economies, meets the growing demand of concerned eaters, and protects our soil and water. If we care about our food and our planet, the time to enforce antitrust laws is now!"

This merger will further concentrate ownership of our seed supply, inevitably leading to fewer seed variety options in the marketplace, less genetic diversity in our fields, and higher seed prices for farmers, said Kiki Hubbard of Organic Seed Alliance. Seed prices have nearly quadrupled in the past 20 years, even though yield and the prices farmers receive for their crops have not. History shows us that mergers of this magnitude also reduce rather than inspire innovation. Mergers of this magnitude therefore affect all farmers, regardless of how they farm, where they farm, and what they grow.

A merger between Bayer and Monsanto would be a massive threat to food supply and farmers around the world, said Anne Isakowitsch, campaign manager at SumOfUs. Now that Monsanto and Bayer are closer than ever to this potentially disastrous takeover of our global agricultural system, we must all step up our efforts and speak out. The future of farming and food safety depend on it. This deal has the capability to usher in a new era of sterile crops soaked in dangerous pesticides around the world; we cannot not simply allow this to happen.

The evidence is overwhelmingly clear that divestitures or remedies will fail farmers and consumers, said Tiffany Finck-Haynes, senior food futures campaigner, Friends of the Earth. We urge the Department of Justice to listen to farmers and the more than 1 million Americans calling on the department to block the Bayer-Monsanto merger. The only answer to this merger is NO.

The unprecedented poll of farmers opinions was conducted between Jan. 26 and Feb. 12 of this year by a coalition of farm groups who collected 957 responses from farmers in 48 states. Cumulatively, the farmers who responded to the poll cultivate close to 2 million acres, and represent all sectors of farming.New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi has made a blistering attack on the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre for indulging in vendetta politics and accused it of targeting the Opposition leaders for settling political scores.

The Gandhi scion alleged that the Narendra Modi government had misused the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to target RJD chief and former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav in the fodder scam cases.

The central government has been using the CBI to "intimidate and harass the opposition leaders" one by one, he said.

"The BJP government uses the CBI to target key opposition politicians to intimidate and harass them,'' he said.

"Now, a news report reveals how the CBI was pressured to file a case against @laluprasadrjd, ignoring the advice of its own legal team. Who will Modiji (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) target next?" Gandhi said in a tweet adding a hashtag #VendettaPolitics.

The BJP Govt uses the CBI to target key opposition politicians to intimidate and harass them. Now, a news report reveals how the CBI was pressured to file a case against @laluprasadrjd, ignoring the advice of its own legal team. Who will Modi ji target next?#VendettaPolitics https://t.co/cPxzBgcf2K  Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) March 16, 2018

Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala later said that his party unequivocally condemns any act of political vendetta indulged by the Modi government.

"Now that the BJP has only a few months left in power, it should count its days and be ready to face the people's wrath," he said, adding that "denigrating the credibility of institutions by misusing them to target political opponents is the sole agenda of the Modi government".

"Media reports suggest that the Directorate of Prosecution', which is the CBI's legal wing, and the Economic Offences Division of the CBI have different opinions on filing an FIR in a case against former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad.

"This chasm within the CBI has surfaced when the Modi government has left no stone unturned to file series of cases against their political opponents. CBI clearly has become a Captive Bureau of Investigation' in the hands of the Modi government," he added.

He said that BJP has unleashed the state machinery on Congress leaders like Virbhadhra Singh, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, P Chidambaram, Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot.

"All have been prime targets of the BJP in recent times. All these instances indicate a definite pattern to target political opponents," he added.

(With Agency inputs)New Delhi: First time since taking over the reins of his party, Rahul Gandhi addressed the ongoing three-day plenary session of the Congress party on Saturday.

Delivering the inaugural address, Rahul Gandhi outlined the challenges facing the party and goals that it aims to achieve in future. He was formally welcomed by Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken.

Seeking to halt the BJP's juggernaut led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi urged the party leaders and workers to works together to revive its fortunes and regain the party's lost glory.

''This is the only symbol (Congress' symbol) that can unite the nation and take it forward,'' Rahul Gandhi said at the Congress Plenary Session.

The nation is tired and looking for a way out, only Congress can show the way ahead,'' Rahul Gandhi said.

The Congress chief also attacked the Narendra Modi-led BJP government at the Centre over its alleged misrule and cautioned that anger against the ruling party is rising at the moment.

''They (BJP) uses anger, we use love but one thing that I want to say is that this country belongs to everyone and whatever Congress will do will be for the benefit for all,'' Rahul Gandhi said.

He will also later unveil a roadmap for the party in view of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Besides Rahul, UPA chairperson and former party chief Sonia Gandhi will also address the ongoing plenary session which is being held in the national capital.

The three-day plenary session of Congress commenced at the Constitution Club in New Delhi on Friday.

The focus of the conclave is primarily to prepare for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The meet is being attended by Congress chief ministers, state Congress presidents and Congress legislature party leaders from all states.

Former prime minister Manmohan Singh and former party president Sonia Gandhi are also present.

Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi & Manmohan Singh at #Delhi's Indira Gandhi Stadium for Congress' plenary session. pic.twitter.com/0QtEdWENym  ANI (@ANI) March 17, 2018

During the session, the party is also likely to discuss and adopt two resolutions, one political and the other on jobs and poverty alleviation.

Party leaders will also draft resolutions which will be adopted at the conclave.

The Congress Working Committee members will be picked by the party president on the concluding day of the meet.

The session will ratify Rahuls appointment as the Congress president on Sunday.

Congress plenary this weekend comes in the wake of significant political developments, including efforts by regional parties to meet on a common platform and counter the BJP.

(With Agency inputs)NEW DELHI: Congress veteran Sonia Gandhi on Saturday congratulated son Rahul Gandhi for taking over as the party president at such a challenging time. "I congratulate Rahul Gandhi, he took up this responsibility (of party president) at a very challenging time. It is the beginning of a new chapter, the challenges we are facing are not usual ones. We need to make an India free of corruption and vendetta, under President Rahul Gandhi, let us pledge that we will make all efforts to do this, Sonia said at the ongoing three-day plenary session of the Congress.

Recalling old times, she said that the party was weakening at the time when she entered politics. "You all know how due to circumstances I entered the public sphere but when I realised that the party is weakening, keeping in mind sentiments of Congressmen, I entered the political arena," Sonia said.

"40 years back Indiraji's stunning victory in Chikmagalur turned around Indian politics. Once again our party must give a similar performance. The party's victory will be the nation's victory, it will be the victory for each one of us. Congress is not a political term, it is a movement," Sonia told party members.

Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi led government, she said that the Centre is weakening the programs that the United Progressive Alliance government started. "Under Manmohan Singh's governance economic growth was at its highest. Today I am saddened to see that Modi government is weakening and ignoring the schemes and programs implemented during UPA," she said adding that in the last four years, "this arrogant government has left no stone unturned to destroy the Congress."

Earlier in the day, the Congress resolved to adopt a "pragmatic approach" for cooperation with all like-minded parties and evolve a common workable programme to defeat the BJP-RSS in the 2019 general election. This indication of a pre-poll tie-up comes in the wake of efforts by the Congress to evolve a consensus among various opposition parties to unitedly take on the might of the BJP.

In its political resolution moved at the party's 84th Plenary Session, the Congress launched a scathing attack on the BJP-RSS, saying the country's core constitutional values are under attack and freedom of all is in jeopardy, with institutions under stress and their independence compromised.NEW DELHI: Former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi launched a scathing attack on the NDA government, saying its 'arrogant and power hungry' ways would pave the way for the Congress to return to power across the country.

Speaking at the 84th plenary session of her party, Sonia accused the BJP of going out of its way to destroy the Congress Party. She also said the government had sold a gimmick to the people. "In 2014, when the Modi government came to power, they said, 'sabka saath, sabka vikaas' and 'na khaoonga, na khane doonga'. It was all just dramebaazi to win votes," she said, to wide applause from her partymen.

She said the Narendra Modi government's behaviour since 2014 would help bring the Congress back to power. "The Modi government has behaved autocratically, it has shown little respect for Parliament and the Constitution, it has filed fake cases against opposition leaders, and has harassed the media. In fighting all of this, the Congress is at the forefront. We are exposing Modi and his frauds with proof," she thundered to further applause.

She also attacked the Modi government for allegedly weakening programmes and schemes that the previous Congress-led UPA governments had begun. "Under Manmohan Singh's governance, economic growth was at its highest. Today, I am saddened to see that the government is weakening and ignoring the schemes and programs we implemented," she said.

Sonia talk of the Congress's return went hand in hand with a resolution the party adopted earlier in the day, that it should adopt a 'pragmatic approach' and cooperate with other parties to ensure the BJP's defeat in the 2019 election. The resolution comes just days after the results of the bye-elections to two Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, which saw the former arch rivals - SP and BSP - come together in a bid to defeat the BJP. The Congress had not come on board with this alignment.New Delhi: Thousands of aspirants and students, who have been protesting against the alleged leak of Staff Selection Commission (SSC) examination paper, have now given a 15-day ultimatum to the central government for initiating a CBI probe into the matter.

The aspirants have demanded a CBI probe under a Supreme Court-monitored committee in the alleged SSC scam and gave the Centre an ultimatum till March 31 to meet their demands.

The protesters who have been protesting for the last 18 days across the country also met Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Friday outside the Staff Selection Commission headquarters at CGO Complex in south Delhi.

Gandhi had on Thursday attacked the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) for trying to hide the SSC paper leak, further asking to stop playing with the future of the youth.

    2  

         SSC 

     ?       

       ?       

       pic.twitter.com/3fytodRDbd  Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) March 15, 2018

Later, addressing the protesters, Swaraj India leader Anupam, who has been involved in the protests from the beginning, said that students are losing the immense patience that they have exhibited in the last 18 days.

Issuing the ultimatum, he said that the government's response has "exposed" it.

"A government, which so brazenly ignores the genuine and just demands of students, has no moral right to remain in power. Hence, students from all over the country will assemble in Delhi on March 31 against the ongoing corruption and irregularities in recruitment to government jobs and also demand the resignation of Union Minister (of State for Personnel) Jitendra Singh, who has failed in his duty," he said.

Rajat, an SSC aspirant, said that they called for the country's youth to assemble in the national capital for #YuvaHallaBol on March 31, giving a time of 15 days to fulfill their demands of a fair inquiry.

He said that they have also demanded that the SSC must not conduct any other examination till the CBI probe is done.

If our demands aren't met, students from all over the country will assemble in Delhi and gherao the Parliament," he added.MUMBAI: On the occasion of Gudi Padwa, an 18,000 square feet long Rangoli was made in Maharashtra within a duration of 9 hours. As many as 70 artists made the Rangoli by using 900 kgs of rangoli powder at Thane's Gaondevi Maidan.

In India, people from across the length and breadth of the county have a distinct tradition of celebrating New Years specific to the region they hail from. The people of the state of Maharashtra celebrate their New Year on the first day of the Chaitra month in the Hindu Lunar calendar. This day is called Gudi Padwa. The Konkani community refers to this day as Samwatsara. This year, Gudi Padwa will be celebrated on March 18.

What is a Gudi?

A wooden stick is covered with a piece of bright red or yellow coloured cloth. Then a Kalash made of silver, copper or bronze is placed upside down on one end of the stick. A dash of vermillion (kumkum) and turmeric (haldi) are applied on the outer surface of the Kalash. This ensemble is called Gudi and its placed outside the door or the window so that everyone in the vicinity gets to see it. A garland made of sugar candy (saakhar gaathi) and neem leaves are hung along with the Gudi. This ritual signifies the bitter sweet experiences of life.

How do Maharashtrians celebrate Gudi Padwa?

Days before the festival, people start cleaning their homes and courtyards to start preparations for the actual day. On the day of the festival, people decorate their doorsteps with Rangoli. Flowers are used for decorating the house and a toran made of mango leaves is hung across the top of the door.

People take bath and wear new clothes and dress up in traditional style. Women drape the Navari and the men wear Kurta teamed up with Dhoti or Pyjama. People offer their prayers to the Gudi after placing it on the window or door. They offer flowers, perform the aarti and put Akshat on the Gudi.

The family gets together to celebrate their New Year by consuming a preparation made of neem leaves, jaggery to symbolise the diverse aspects of life. Shrikhand and Puran Poli are also prepared on this day.

Spiritual significance of Gudi Padwa

On this day, Lord Ram returned to Ayodhya along with his consort Sita and brother Lakshama after defeating demon King Ravana in Lanka.New Delhi: Congress Party president Rahul Gandhi in his inaugural speech as part of the Congress partys 84th plenary session at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi on Saturday said that only Congress can unite a divided nation.

He was accompanied United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson by Sonia Gandhi, former prime minister Manmohan Gandhi, and other senior Congress leaders.

Here are the top 10 quotes of Sonia Gandhi from Congress plenary session:

1. First of all, I congratulate Rahul Gandhi, he took up this responsibility (of party president) at a very challenging time.

2. The party's victory will be the nation's victory, it will be the victory for each one of us. Congress is not a political term, it is a movement.

3. Today only one things matters, how to strengthen the great party with which we have relations which goes back in time.

3. 40 years back Indira's Ji's stunning victory in Chikmagalur turned around Indian politics, once again our party must give a similar performance.

4. You all know how due to circumstances I entered the public sphere but when I realized that the party is weakening, keeping in mind sentiments of Congressmen, I entered the political arena.

5. Under Manmohan Singh's governance economic growth was at its highest.

6. Today I am saddened to see that Modi govt is weakening & ignoring the schemes & programs (implemented during UPA).

7. In last 4 years, this arrogant govt has left no stone unturned to destroy Congress. But Congress has never cowered down and it will never cower down.

8. The promises of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' and 'Na Khaunga Na Khaane Dunga' by the current govt is nothing but 'drama' and their tactic to get votes.

9. Wherever there is a non-Congress govt, our friends are taking a stand against anarchy & violence there and continuing with their work, braving all of it. It is Congress Party which takes stand against injustice and raises it voice against it.

10. It is the beginning of a new chapter, the challenges we are facing are not usual ones. We need to make an India free of corruption and vendetta, under President Rahul Gandhi, let us pledge that we will make all efforts to to do this.New Delhi: The government think-tank body NITI Aayog on Saturday said that will kick-start a system-wide transformation of school education along with three states  Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Odisha.

"Three participating States of #SATH-E's programme  Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh & Odisha  with #NITI will kickstart a system-wide transformation of school education #TransformingIndia," NITI Aayog said in a tweet.

The government on Friday said that NITI Aayog will release comprehensive roadmap and detailed timeline for its initiative 'Sustainable Action for Transforming Human Capital in Education (SATH-E)' project on Saturday.

These roadmaps, which operate between 2018 to 2020, lay out detailed interventions which will be taken by the three participating states  Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha  aiming to become 'Role Model States' in school education.

These roadmaps present the customised, action-oriented programmes, outlining interventions at the individual, district, and State level.

"The SATH-E Roadmaps for Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh & Odisha released by NITI CEO @amitabhk87, Chief Secretary Jharkhand, Principal Secretaries of all three states & programme partners," the tweet said.

To increase learning outcomes in schools across the country, NITI Aayog's project SATH-E is promoting vocational education, skill development, teacher training and introducing technology in classrooms. Besides, the project will promote data-driven analysis to strengthen academic monitoring across schools in the country, the think tank said.

The project also aims at ensuring access, equity, and quality in education, with a specialised focus on out-of-school children and dropouts, to enable a system-wide governance transformation in school education.

(With PTI inputs)New Delhi: Year 2019 will be not the last innings for the Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP, said party chief Amit Shah, adding that there's a lot more road to be covered.

Shah was in conversation with Zee News' Editor-In-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary at the Zee India Conclave in Delhi on Saturday.

Karnataka will be the 21st state for BJP, said Shah who went on to discuss how Prime Minister Narendra Modi works for 20 hours in a day.

The BJP chief also absolved Yogi Adityanath for losing the recent UP bypoll to Gorakhpur and Phulpur.

After Yogiji's victory, the schemes launched by PM Modi has been able to reach grass root levels including farmers. Yogi Adtiyanath's government has done very well and is one of the best-performing state governments of the county, he said.

Analysis of the recent UP bypoll loss will be taken up by the party high command after two weeks, he informed.

Attacking Congress, Shah said that the party is happy without any rhyme or reason.  This is the party responsible for the division of the country. It lost 11 states, but is celebrating winning 11 seats, he said.

On Opposition parties uniting for 2019 elections, Shah said, Once it was Indira Gandhi versus all, now it's PM Modi vs all parties.

We are not accustomed to winning. We just started winning. We're not drunk on victories. This is new for us. But we will keep working and win 2019 elections, he added.

Speaking on BJP fighting anti-incumbency, Shah said that the party has taken several steps to ensure that electricity reaches every village and crores of women received gas connect. All this hard work won't help? he countered.

On future plans, Shah said, We're left with Odisha, West Bengal...have already won the North east. Now Chandrababu Naidu has also paved the way for us.NEW DELHI: Jammu and Kashmir National Conference patron Farooq Abdullah repeated his assertion that India is not going to be able to retrieve Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and that Pakistan is not going to be able to snatch any more territory from India. He said eventually, the Kashmir issue would be settled with the Line of Control (LoC) as the border between the South Asian neighbours.

Speaking at the Zee India Conclave in New Delhi, Abdullah was responding to a question on whether he thought the Kashmir issue could ever be resolved. "It will be resolved. It will certainly be resolved. But you have to first acknowledge that a part of Kashmir is with Pakistan. And you have to acknowledge that you are not going to able to take it back. And Pakistan has not acknowledged there is no way they are going to take any more of the land. The path to resolution lies beyond this," he said.

Follow LIVE updates from the Zee India Conclave

"And when the resolution comes, it is only realistic that what we today call the Line of Control will eventually become the boundary between India and Pakistan," he added.

Abdullah held his calm despite a number of heated exchanges with members of the audience who interrupted him or shouted questions at him. Addressing one such question on what he thought of Pakistan or anti-nationalism as a bigger threat, the former J&K chief minister said, "Both are threats. We have to address both these threats. But, I think the bigger threat is internal."

Abdullah also argued that it would be incorrect to call Pakistan a rouge state. "Yes, there is rogue army in Pakistan. You have to know that not every Pakistani hates India. There are many Pakistanis who love us," he said.The Security Council has urged warring parties in Yemen to allow humanitarian convoys to safely reach all conflict-affected governorates without hindrance, while also asking that all Yemens ports remain fully open to commercial and relief supply imports.

These calls were made in a Presidential Statement issued Thursday by the 15-member body.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 20.7 million people in Yemen need some kind of humanitarian or protection support, with some 9.8 million in acute need of assistance.

In the Statement, the Council noted with great concern the impact that access restrictions on commercial and aid imports have on the humanitarian situation, and called on the parties to immediately facilitate access for these essential imports into the country and their distribution throughout in order to reach the entire civilian population.

In this regard, the Security Council calls for the full and sustained opening of all Yemens ports, including Hodeida and Saleef ports, and stresses the importance of keeping these functioning and open to all commercial and humanitarian imports, including food, fuel and medical imports, the Statement added.

The Council also called for increased access to Sanas Airport for lifesaving humanitarian supplies and movement of urgent humanitarian cases.

The top United Nations relief official, Mark Lowcock, had last January expressed deep concern about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Yemen, noting that a record 22.2 million people were in need of assistance  3.4 million more than last year.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) had earlier launched the 2018 Yemen Humanitarian Response plan, which requires $2.96 billion to provide life-saving assistance and protection to more than 13 million people across the country this year.

Saudi Arabia pledged nearly $1 billion and the United Arab Emirates vowed to give an additional $500 million in commitment from regional donors.NEW DELHI: Elated by the Samajwadi Party's victory in Gorakhpur and Phulpur bypolls, party chief Akhilesh Yadav is in no mood to let the alliance be broken. "I have always respected her like bua, the relations are much better now. We will visit mandir, masjid and all religious places to maintain our alliance with Mayawati," Yadav said in a video interaction during a session at the Zee India conclave. The SP fought the bypolls in alliance with Mayawati led Bahujan Samaj Party and won the seat which was a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) bastion.

Yadav also said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has done nothing for the development of the state and the people have taught the ruling party a lesson. "The people are asking the BJP today what is it that they have done for them. Be it demonetisation or GST implementation, there is nothing that they have done for the development of the people," he said.

ALSO READ: Zee India Conclave: Muslim vote bank is a myth, Hindu vote bank is truth, says Asaduddin Owaisi

Recalling his defeat in the 2017 state elections, Akhilesh said that the BJP was the reason for their loss. "For me political up and downs are not new. I have seen Netaji's government coming to power and then being removed several times. People of UP helped us, but low-level politics by the BJP was the reason for our defeat.

Questioned on the superstition that will he visit Noida if he comes to power again, he laughed it off saying: "I did a lot of work for Noida when SP was in power in the state. Will visit Noida before the elections to see how those plans have been implemented. Whether or not I will visit after becoming the Chief Minister is something that can be decided later."

There has been a superstition that whichever CM visits Noida, they do not come back to power. Several CMs in the past have believed the superstition and have stayed away from visiting the city. However, UP CM Yogi Adityanath visited Noida in December for the inauguration of the metro line where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was also present.

Is Akhilesh aiming for national politics now? The SP chief denied saying he has no intentions of doing so. "I am happy in Uttar Pradesh, do not send me to Delhi. I do not aim big for myself, I only aim big for development," he said.New Delhi: Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday heaped praise on the Narendra Modi government ruling at the Centre and said that it is reshaping the country's fortune.

Prasad also touched upon various issues ranging from 2G scam verdict, India's rise as global IT giant, changing political scenario, politics of appeasement etc while participating at Zee India Enclave.

Responding to a question on TDP's exit from NDA, Prasad said, ''Chandrababu's party decided to exit the BJP-led alliance after staying together for many years. It was unfortunate. We regret their departure.''

To question that BJP cheated TDP after promising to give special status to Andhra Pradesh, Prasad said, ''There were no issues with PM Modi, with BJP. The dispute was only about the special status. We said that we will give you special assistance for the development of Andhra Pradesh but they decided to severe ties. We will still stick to our promise to give special assistance to Andhra Pradesh.''

Shifting his focus to 2G scam verdict, Prasad said, ''This is my humble submission that the verdict in 2G scam case was totally wrong. It will be challenged in the higher court.''

Claiming that there has been not a single NPA under Modi government, Prasad blamed the previous Congress government for PNB and other banking frauds unearthed recently.

He also promised that India will soon become a global IT giant.

The BJP leader, however, said that his party led by PM Modi will get an absolute majority in 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Earlier participating in the debate, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy said that BJP's estranged ally Shiv Sena will not leave the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) despite several differences over various issues.

''Shiv Sena won't leave BJP, this I can guarantee,'' Swamy said this.

The BJP Rajya Sabha MP said this while participating in the Zee India Conclave which began in the national capital this morning.

Swamy was joined by AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi in the first session of the Zee India Conclave.

Participating in the debate, the AIMIM leader blamed Modi government for using Muslims as vote banks and doing gross injustice to them.

''PM Modi doesnt believe in consensus politics,'' the AIMIM leader said, adding, ''BJP does not wants Muslims to come into the mainstream.''

Rejecting the charge, Swamy said that regional parties and Muslim political parties were to be blamed for the plight of Muslims than any other party.

He also admitted that political parties should bring more Muslim candidates to Parliament.

''BJP will now give tickets to Muslim women since a large number of them have out in the support of Narendra Modi government over the issue of triple talaq,'' Swamy said.

The government has right to interfere in the religious matter, Swamy said adding If Hindus and Muslims unite, India will become strong.

Owaisi also said that the Modi wave is fading in the country which is evident from its defeat in the recent Lok Sabha bypolls in Gorakhpur and Phulpur constituencies.

The two leaders also touched upon various issues including poverty, development and rising unemployment and terrorism.

Top political leaders who will attend the Zee India Conclave are BJP Chief Amit Shah, UP CM Yogi Adityanath, SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav, Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat, Former Jammu and Kashmir CM Farooq Abdullah, Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Congress leaders Randeep Surjewala, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, Nagaland CM Neiphiu Rio, Meghalaya CM Konrad Sangma, BJPs in-charge for Tripura Sunil Deodhar and AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Owaisi.

Users can share their opinion, ask questions on the social media platforms - Facebook and Twitter  using hashtag #ZeeIndiaConclave.RANCHI: Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav was on Saturday taken to the RIMS hospital in Ranchi after he complained of health issues. Lalu is serving his jail term after he was convicted in the fodder scam case.

Meanwhile, a special CBI court in Ranchi which was set to deliver the verdict in the fourth case related to multi-million fodder scam involving former Lalu and several others on Saturday, has reserved the order till Monday.

The court had on Friday postponed the judgement in view of the Lalu's counsel filing a petition under 319 CrPC asking the then three officials of the Accountant General (in the 1990s) be made a party to the case.

Former Bihar Chief Minister and several others are accused in the fourth fodder scam-linked case relating to fraudulent withdrawals of Rs 3.13 crore from December 1995 to January 1996 from the Dumka Treasury.

Besides Lalu, another former CM Jagannath Mishra and 30 others are accused in this case. The multi-million-rupee fodder scam surfaced in the 1990s when Lalu Yadav was Chief Minister of undivided Bihar.

Lalu was convicted in the first fodder scam case in 2013 and awarded five years in jail. He was then convicted in the second case on December 23, 2017, and awarded three-and-half years' imprisonment on January 6.New Delhi: Actress Priyanka Chopra, who recently wrapped up shooting for 'Quantico 3', was in Dubai to commence discussion at the GESF. The 35-year-old actress took to Instagram to share a photo with former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard in Dubai.

She captioned the photo writing, "So wonderful to see you again @juliagillard...and proud to stand alongside you as a champion for global education. Im looking forward to continuing our discussion from #UNGA. Big thank you to the @varkeyfdn for bringing us all together. #GESF @gesforum."

Check out her post:

Recently, the 'Desi girl' announced on her Twitter handle that her next project would be a Bollywood project and that might just happen soon. If reports are to be believed, Priyanka has been signed for a biopic on Kalpana Chawla and she will be returning to India to begin shooting for the film from next month onwards.

As per industry buzz, Priyanka had been reading a lot of scripts to make her comeback in Bollywood. Earlier there were reports that she had been signed in for 'Salute' opposite Aamir Khan. However, the buzz fall flat after Aamir Khan moved out of the project and Shah Rukh Khan took over. Rumours were also there she might star opposite Salman Khan in 'Bharat' but nothing has been confirmed yet.

In the meantime, Priyanka has wrapped up her work in New York and will be heading back to Mumbai next week.Thane: In a big relief to the fans of Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who has been accused of spying his wife, the Crime Branch of Mumbai Police on Saturday said that that actor had no direct role in the Call Data Record case.

"Nawazuddin Siddiqui has no direct role in the Call Data Record (CDR) case. He was summoned as a witness and has assured cooperation," news agency ANI quoted Parambir Singh, Police Commissioner, Thane as saying.

The police official added that the actor has been summoned as a witness and that he has assured the police of cooperation.

Earlier, it was reported that Siddiqui and his wife were summoned by Thane`s crime branch in connection with the Call Data Records (CDR) racket that was unearthed in January. The duo had been summoned after some of the arrested accused had told the police that the actor's advocate Rizwan Siddiqui had obtained the CDR of the actor's wife from private detectives.

It is alleged that a racket of private detectives was selling illegally obtained CDRs to lawyers and others. The Thane police have so far arrested 12 persons in the case.

Early today, Rizwan Siddiqui was produced before Judicial Magistrate, who remanded him in police custody till March 23. It is to be noted that advocate Siddiqui has represented many noted celebrities, including actress Kangana Ranaut.

Earlier, the Nawazuddin dismissed all the allegations against him calling them random and disgusting. Later, his wife also came out in his support stating that her husband is a soft target just because he is a celebrity. She termed all the allegations false and said that the truth will come out soon.New Delhi: Are you an Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) member and have also got registered yourself on the Universal Account Number (UAN) portal? Here is the good news for you. Now you can know your PF (provident fund) balance and some other details just by giving a missed call or sending an SMS alert to the given phone numbers.

The Ministry of Labour and Employment has informed that EPFO subscribers, registered on the UAN portal, may get their PF details available with the Employees Provident Fund Organisation by giving a missed call at 011-22901406 from their mobile number registered with UAN.

UAN is allotted by EPFO to its member and acts as an umbrella for the multiple member IDs which get allotted to a person by different organisations. If the Universal Account Number of the EPFO subscriber is seeded with any bank account number, Aadhaar card and Permanent Account Number (PAN), he/she will get details of the last contribution and the PF balance. To avail this facility, however, the members mobile number is required to be activated with UAN at the Unified Portal.

The Ministry of Labour and Employment informed that if someone gives a missed call from his/her registered mobile number at 011-22901406, that will automatically get disconnected after two rings.

The EPFO member is not required to pay anything for availing this service. Also, one can avail these services from non-smartphones too.

The Ministry of Labour and Employment said that the information for availing these facilities for getting the PF details is now available on the UMANG app too.

Getting PF details by sending SMS

Apart from the mobile number, the members registered on the UAN portal may get their PF details by sending an SMS from their registered mobile numbers. For this, you are required to SMS EPFOHO UAN to 7738299899.

As per the Ministry of Labour and Employment, the facility is available in ten languages, i.e. English (default), Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Punjabi, Kannada, Gujarati, Telugu, Bengali and Malayalam.

If you want to receive the SMS in any language other than English, the first three characters of the desired language need to be added after UAN. For instance, for receiving SMS in Bengali, SMS EPFOHO UAN BEN to 7738299899.

You have to send the SMS from the mobile number which has been registered with UAN. EPFO, in response, will send the last PF contribution and balance details apart from the available Know Your Customer (KYC) information.Our ancestors not only mated with Neanderthals but also another mysterious ancient species of hominins, the Denisovans, on two separate occasions, according to a new study.

In a paper published on Thursday in the journal Cell, scientists at the University of Washington showed that more than 50,000 years ago, the now extinct subspecies of human, Denisovans, lived in Asia and apparently co-existed with modern humans.

The study also said the interbreeding between modern humans and Denisovans happened in two separate instances.

This is a breakthrough paper, David Reich, who studies ancient DNA at Harvard University told the Washington Post. Its a definite third interbreeding event, he said.

Denisovans, who are close cousins of modern humans and Neanderthals, were first described in 2010 after the discovery of a finger bone fragment of a young woman who lived about 41,000 years ago, found in a Siberian cave.

The DNA extracted from the fragments showed it was neither Neanderthals or modern human  it was Denisovan. The genome also suggested that the species lived among and interbred with the ancestors of some modern humans.

Since the discovery, scientists have been seeking DNA and looking for interbreeding evidence between the two species. This is because researchers had already found a lot of evidence saying Homo sapiens interbred with Neanderthals multiple times.

As a result, in 2014 it was found that five percent of the Denisovan genome lives on in parts of some Australian people.

But now the study has identified surprising new details about the interbreeding between Homo sapiens and Denisovan  that different populations of the two hominins interbred multiple times.

To find this, the team of scientists examined more than 5,500 genomes of modern humans from Europe, Asia and Oceania, looking for DNA from the ancient Denisovans. The researchers found that some people in East Asian, such as China and Japan, also carry the Denisovans DNA.

The researchers found that Oceanian people, notably indigenous peoples of New Guinea, had the most Denisovan DNA. East Asians were a distant second, with about 0.2 percent.

But the researchers found the East Asian DNA also held two genetically distinct groups of Denisovan genes living on the continent that were somewhat geographically distant.

Going forward, the team plans on studying more Asian populations and others throughout the world, including in North America and Africa.San Francisco: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly deployed "secret police" to catch and punish information leakers at his company.

According to a report in The Guardian, an unnamed employee was called to a meeting in 2017 under the guise of a promotion. However, he found himself face to face with the secretive "rat-catching" team led by Sonya Ahuja, the company's head of investigations.

The team had records of screenshots he had taken, links he had clicked or hovered over.

The "secret police" also accessed chats between him and a journalist dating back to before he joined the company.

"It's horrifying how much they know. You go into Facebook and it has this warm, fuzzy feeling of 'we're changing the world' and 'we care about things'.

"But you get on their bad side and all of a sudden you are face to face with [Facebook CEO] Mark Zuckerberg's secret police," the employee told The Guardian.

According to the report, Zuckerberg hosts weekly meetings where he shares details of unreleased new products and strategies in front of thousands of employees.

"When you first get to Facebook you are shocked at the level of transparency. You are trusted with a lot of stuff you don't need access to," the employee was quoted as saying.

During one of Zuckerberg's weekly meetings in 2015, said the report, he had warned employees: "We're going to find the leaker, and we're going to fire them."

According to a Facebook spokesperson, "companies routinely use business records in workplace investigations, and we are no exception".

Not just Facebook, James Damore, the software engineer who was fired from Google after writing a controversial anti-diversity memo, "suspects he was being monitored by the company during his final days".

James Damore stopped using his personal Gmail account after being fired, said the report.San Francisco: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly deployed "secret police" to catch and punish information leakers at his company.

According to a report in The Guardian, an unnamed employee was called to a meeting in 2017 under the guise of a promotion. However, he found himself face to face with the secretive "rat-catching" team led by Sonya Ahuja, the company's head of investigations.

The team had records of screenshots he had taken, links he had clicked or hovered over.

The "secret police" also accessed chats between him and a journalist dating back to before he joined the company.

"It's horrifying how much they know. You go into Facebook and it has this warm, fuzzy feeling of `we're changing the world` and `we care about things`.

"But you get on their bad side and all of a sudden you are face to face with [Facebook CEO] Mark Zuckerberg's secret police," the employee told The Guardian.

According to the report, Zuckerberg hosts weekly meetings where he shares details of unreleased new products and strategies in front of thousands of employees.

"When you first get to Facebook you are shocked at the level of transparency. You are trusted with a lot of stuff you don`t need access to," the employee was quoted as saying.

During one of Zuckerberg's weekly meetings in 2015, said the report, he had warned employees: "We`re going to find the leaker, and we`re going to fire them."

According to a Facebook spokesperson, "companies routinely use business records in workplace investigations, and we are no exception".

Not just Facebook, James Damore, the software engineer who was fired from Google after writing a controversial anti-diversity memo, "suspects he was being monitored by the company during his final days".

James Damore stopped using his personal Gmail account after being fired, said the report.NEW DELHI: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday admitted that 'brand Yogi Adityanath' has taken a hit due to the defeat in the recent Gorakhpur and Phulpur bypolls. "The Brand has definitely taken a hit with the recent by-poll loss. But everyone knows these are bypolls which are fought on a small scale. BJP is a democratic party. We have begun analysing the loss and will take whatever steps are needed," he said while speaking at the Zee India Conclave on Saturday.

Yogi was a five-time MP from Gorakhpur and Phulpur also was previously held by Keshav Prasad Maurya before the two leaders were elevated as Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister of the state respectively after the party's victory in state Assembly elections in 2017.

Follow LIVE updates from the Zee India Conclave

However, he said that the loss is not a reflection of the mood of the people for the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. "Bypolls are held on local issues when we campaign for 2019 elections, national issues will be spoken about then," he said.

He also dismissed the alliance of the Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party as a hogwash and denied giving any importance to the plan of a united front defeating BJP. "People will not support this. The plan of a united front was also spoken of in 2014. They did not speak of stopping corruption but only vowed to stop the Modi wave," he said.

Claiming that the BJP is ready to learn a lesson from the bypoll loss, Adityanath said the party will bounce back by winning all 80 seats in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. "There has been a disappointment due to this loss but I am confident that we will win 80 instead of these 2 seats in the upcoming polls because of the schemes that we have taken up. Phulpur and Gorakhpur results are a lesson for us," he said.

He accepted that it was the overconfidence in the party cadre that led to the loss. "Whenever I spoke to anyone in the party during the campaigning, everyone was confident of winning the polls. It was overconfidence that led to the loss. Also, people did not come out to vote for the bypolls," he said.

Yogi Adityanath was speaking at Zee India Conclave. Before him, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh, former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi also spoke at the summit.Turkey on Friday criticized a European Parliament motion urging Turkey to withdraw from Afrin and to stop its ongoing operation in the Syrian district saying the motion is biased

In a written statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said that with the motion, the European Parliament once again showed its one-sided views.

The statement said that it is not possible for Turkey to accept the decision of the EP, which the ministry said is known for its tolerance for terrorist groups.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had also slammed the EPs motion and vowed that Turkish troops will continue the operation until the mission is completed.

Dont get your hopes up. We will only leave Afrin once our work is done, Erdogan said in a speech in Ankara on Thursday (March 15), immediately after the motion was adopted, reported Hurriyet media on its website.

The motion that expressed concern over the escalating situation and rising civilian casualties in Afrin was adopted ahead of a key Turkey-EU Summit scheduled to be held in the Bulgarian city of Varna on March 26

According to the Turkish General Staff, the operation Olive Branch, launched on January 20, aims to clear the Syrian Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) from the area and establish security and stability along Turkeys borders and the region as well as to protect Syrians from terrorist oppression and cruelty.

The military also said only terror targets are being destroyed and that the utmost care is being taken to avoid harming civilians.

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu recently signaled that the operation could be wrapped up in May after the enclave is fully secured for the return of local Syrians, reported HurriyetKOLKATA: In the recent incident of statue defacing and vandalism, a statue of Jawaharlal Nehru - the first prime minister of India - was damaged in Katwa's Telephone Maidan in West Bengal. Black ink was thrown on his sculptor.

Police rushed to the spot immediately after receiving the information. The statue was later cleaned.

Earlier this week, a statue of Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mukherjee was found vandalised in Assam's Kokrajhar. Also, a life-size statue of Michael Madhusudan Dutt, a prominent poet during the 19th century Bengal renaissance, was found defaced in Raniganj of West Bengal's Purba Bardhaman district.

According to police and eye-witnesses, Dutt's face was smudged with red colour by unknown miscreants. The incident triggered condemnation in the political circles as also among the locals.

Several incidents of statue vandalism have been reported from various parts of the country over the last few days.

Earlier in the day, the statue of Dalit icon BR Ambedkar was damaged with its head destroyed completely.

On Friday, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's statue was defaced in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur. The white statue was smeared with red colour.

Earlier, two statues of Vladimir Lenin was demolished in Tripura  one razed by a mob at Sabroom Motor Stand in Agartala and another by a bulldozer at Belonia College Square in a Tripura town.

Following the vandalism of the idols of the Communist icon, a statue of Dravidian ideologue Periyar EV Ramasamy was damaged in Tirupattur in Tamil Nadu. This was followed by defacing statues of Dr BR Ambedkar in Meerut in Uttar Pradesh and Mahatma Gandhi in Taliparamba in Kannur district of Kerala.

Miscreants also targeted Lord Hanuman's statue in Kharuav village in Uttar Pradesh's Balia. A poster was stuck on the idol.Port Louis: Mauritius President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim resigned on Saturday after being embroiled in a scandal over her use of a credit card to buy luxury personal items, in an abrupt change of heart after vowing she would not stand down.

Gurib-Fakim, Africa's only female head of state, submitted her resignation in the "national interest," her lawyer Yousouf Mohamed told reporters.

He said her resignation would take effect on March 23, a move that will bring down the curtain on a saga that has gripped the Indian Ocean archipelago for weeks.

Gurib-Fakim had vowed to fight the accusations that first appeared in local newspaper L'Express  that she used a bank card provided by an NGO to make personal purchases, including jewellery and luxury goods worth at least 25,000 euros.

Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth announced a week ago that Gurib-Fakim had agreed to resign, with a date set for her departure after last Monday's ceremony celebrating the Indian Ocean archipelago's 50 years of independence.

But on Wednesday, a statement from the presidency lashed out at "weeks of attacks and false allegations" and said Gurib-Fakim planned to clear her name and would not go.

It is not clear what prompted her about-turn, but her lawyer said Saturday she was "relieved" she had made the decision to resign after enduring a "difficult" time in recent weeks.

Gurib-Fakim, whose role is mostly ceremonial, is a scientist and biologist of international renown, and in 2015 joined the London-based Planet Earth Institute (PEI) to try to develop scientific capacity in Africa.

The presidency said that in May 2016, she received a credit card from PEI to pay for travel and logistical expenses linked to her role but inadvertently used it for unrelated personal expenses.

Gurib-Fakim said she immediately informed the PEI and paid back the amount, as well as all expenses paid by the PEI for her missions.

This was confirmed by the PEI, which said in a statement earlier this week that Gurib-Fakim "thus never received gifts, favours, wages or expenses from the PEI, nor undue benefits or advantage".

An investigation by L'Express detailed the purchase of a laptop in September 2016, clothes, shoes and jewellery in October, more jewellery in November and luxury clothing in December.

However it was not just the expenditure that provoked anger in Mauritius, but the president's association with Angolan billionaire Alvaro Sobrinho who helped found the PEI and is himself being investigated in Switzerland and Portugal for suspected fraud.

In 2017 he received permission to open an investment bank in Mauritius, prompting allegations of favouritism on his behalf.

Gurib-Fakim, under pressure from the opposition, resigned shortly afterwards from her role at the PEI.MOSCOW: Russia expelled 23 British diplomats on Saturday in a carefully calibrated retaliatory move against London, which has accused the Kremlin of orchestrating a nerve toxin attack on a former Russian double agent and his daughter in southern England.

Escalating a crisis in relations, Russia said it was also shutting down the activities of the British Council, which fosters cultural links between the two countries, and Britain's consulate-general in St. Petersburg.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said it was giving the 23 British diplomats one week to leave the country.

The move, which was tougher than expected, followed Britain's decision on Thursday to expel 23 Russian diplomats over the attack in the English city of Salisbury which left former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia Skripal, 33, critically ill in hospital.

Moscow announced the measures on the eve of a presidential election which incumbent Vladimir Putin should comfortably win. Putin has cast his country as a fortress besieged by hostile Western powers with him as its defender, and state media is likely to portray the anti-British move in that context.

The Foreign Ministry said Moscow's measures were a response to what it called Britain's "provocative actions and groundless accusations". It warned London it stood ready to take further measures in the event of more "unfriendly steps".

Relations between London and Moscow have crashed to a post-Cold War low over the Salisbury attack, the first known offensive use of a nerve agent in Europe since World War Two.

The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the British ambassador, Laurie Bristow, to a meeting on Saturday morning in central Moscow at its Stalin-era headquarters during which he was informed of the measures.

Bristow told reporters afterwards that the crisis had arisen after "the attempted murder of two people using a chemical weapon developed in Russia". Britain had only expelled the Russian diplomats after Moscow had failed to explain how the nerve toxin had got to Britain, he said."We will always do what is necessary to defend ourselves," the ambassador told reporters.

WAR OF WORDS

Russia's response was more robust than expected. The closure of the British Council's Moscow office will sever cultural ties, while that of the consulate-general in St Petersburg will end Britain's diplomatic presence in Russia`s second city.

Russian news agencies cited politicians in Russia's upper house of parliament as welcoming the move to close the British Council, alleging it had been used as a cover by British spies.

British lawmaker Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, said the move to close the organisation's office would hurt the Russian people.

"Its a great shame for the Russian people that theyre closing the British Council which has done an awful lot to educate Russian people in the English language and to help them get jobs and opportunities around the world," he told the BBC.

Amid calls from British politicians across the spectrum to take further action against Russia, the former British ambassador to Russia, Sir Roderic Lyne, told the BBC that Britain should avoid getting dragged into a prolonged showdown with Russia.

"I dont think it would be sensible to get dragged down into a mud wrestling battle with a gorilla," Lyne said.

Russia has complained that Britain has failed to provide any evidence of its involvement in the Salisbury attack and has said it is shocked and bemused by the allegations.



Britain has escalated a war of words with Russia over the incident in recent days. On Friday, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said it was overwhelmingly likely that Russian President Vladimir Putin himself had made the decision to use a military-grade nerve toxin to strike down Skripal.

Britain, the United States, Germany, and France have jointly called on Russia to explain the attack, while U.S. President Donald Trump has said it looks as if the Russians were behind it.

Russia has said is open to cooperation with Britain, but has refused Britain`s demands to explain how Novichok, a nerve agent developed by the Soviet military, was used against the Skripals.

Skripal, a former colonel in the GRU who betrayed dozens of Russian agents to British intelligence, and his daughter have been critically ill since March 4, when they were found unconscious on a bench.

A British policeman was also poisoned when he went to help them and remains in a serious but stable condition.

Russian investigators said on Friday they had opened a criminal investigation into the attempted murder of Yulia Skripal and offered to cooperate with British authorities.

Russia offered some cooperation to British authorities after the 2006 London murder of ex-KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko too.

Britain said the assistance, in that case, was not enough, and in 2016, a judge-led inquiry concluded that Putin had probably approved Litvinenko`s murder, something Moscow denies.Beijing: Xi Jinping was on Saturday re-elected as president for a second five-year tenure by China's rubber-stamp parliament, days after it scrapped the two-term rule for the presidency and allowed him to have a life-long tenure. The NPC has also elected 64-year-old Xi as the head of the Central Military Commission (CMC), the overall high command of the two million strong Chinese military, the world's largest.

Xi has already been elected as general secretary of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) at its once-in-five-year congress in October last year. Significantly, Xi's loyalist and close confidant Wang Qishan, 69, has been elected as vice president, who like Xi is set for a lifelong tenure.

Today's election comes after the National People's Congress (NPC) on March 11 ratified the constitutional amendment for removing the two-term limit for president and vice president proposed by the CPC. The election will ensure Xi heads the CPC, the military and the presidency, perhaps for life. He is the first Chinese leader to have that privilege after party founder Chairman Mao Zedong who ruled China from 1949 till his death in 1976.

Technically the election marks Xi's second-term which would last till 2023. But after the constitutional amendments removed the term limit he is expected to have a limitless tenure. Xi was elected unanimously as president and head of CMC by 2,970 deputies of NPC which has the reputation of being a rubber-stamp parliament for routinely ratifying CPC proposals. Wang, however got 2,969, one vote less in the carefully choreographed poll. Observers say the one vote dissent was officially sanctioned to show diversity in China's political system.

After the results were announced in the nationally televised show of the NPC proceedings, Xi bowed and shook hands with colleagues.

For the first time, he along with other officials took oath on the newly-amended Constitution swearing to be faithful to the charter of the People's Republic of China, defend its authority, be loyal to the country and the people.

The oath also stipulates that they will be committed and honest while performing duties, accept people's supervision and work hard to help build a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious and beautiful.

Another of Xi's close aides Li Zhanshu who was chief of staff was elected chairman of NPC. The parliament also ratified a new plan to revamp the government.

Wang is the most feared official in China as he carried out the dreaded anti-corruption campaign for the past five years initiated by Xi in which over 1.5 million officials including over 100 ministers and top generals were punished in the biggest such crackdown in China's recent history. ????Originally Xi was set to retire by 2023 as head of the CPC, the military and presidency following a two-term limit followed by his predecessors. He first became president in 2013.

The two-term limit was adopted by the party after Mao's death to ensure collective leadership to avert mistakes like the brutal Cultural Revolution that killed millions. Critics point out that the election of Wang too was in violation of the unwritten rule of retirement at age 68 followed by all top CPC leaders so far. He has been elected to the powerful post even though he is 69. Wang is expected to be given a portfolio covering China's ambitious global affairs agenda, including handling rocky relations with the US, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.

With a trade war looming between the US and China, Wang who has dealt with successive American administrations will have to draw on his experience as a problem solver for the job, the report said.

Later the NPC expected to elect the new premier, ministers and other top officials.

Except Premier Li Keqiang, all top posts including the entire Cabinet besides the governor of the central bank will be held by a new set of officials.

From India's perspective on the new line-up of officials, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi was widely expected to be elevated to state councillor which makes him the top diplomat of the country.

The elevation will entail him to become China's special representative for India-China boundary talks. The post is currently held by Yang Jiechi who has been elevated to the politburo, the top policy body of the CPC.Open source

On Saturday, March 17, pro-Russian militants again broke the ceasefire agreement in Donbas conflict zone. Since the beginning of the day, there one shelling of Ukrainian positions in the Donetsk direction has been reported. This is stated by the press center of the headquarters.



In particular, from the grenade launchers, the militants fired at the Ukrainian fortifications near the village of Opytne. As a result of enemy fire, no servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were injured.



There were no gunfire in Luhansk direction. The situation at the entire demarcation line is controlled by our militants.

Yesterday the ceasefire in Donbas conflict zone was not violated.

Related: Poroshenko: Ukraine's accession to EU is matter of years, not decades"One of the main reasons for the resumption of counterintelligence activities which Germany ceased after the end of the Cold War was the growing activity of Russian special services, " the newspaper reported.

Open source

Germany resumed counterintelligence activities in connection with the increased activity of Russian special services. This is reported by Deutsche Welle with reference to Der Spiegel.



"One of the main reasons for the resumption of counterintelligence activities, which Germany ceased after the end of the Cold War, was" the growing activity of Russian special services," the newspaper reported.



The Federal Intelligence Service of Germany has set up a department for surveillance of foreign intelligence services, which at the moment has a small number of employees.



In the future, the staff is planning to be expanded, and the number of employees will exceed 50.



One of the main reasons for the creation of the new department was the "growing activity of Russian special services," in particular the case of poisoning of Sergei Skripal.



Another reason for the appearance of counterintelligence was the intensive activity of Russian and Chinese special services on the territory of Germany, which the security organs of Germany have been monitoring for a long time.



In addition to Russia and China, counterintelligence, according to the publication, also plans to concentrate on Iran and North Korea. The tasks of the new department include not only the suppression and deterrence of spy activities of other countries but also the collection of information about its purposes and methods.

As it was reported earlier, leaders of Great Britain, France, Germany, and USA claimed that poisoning of the former GRU officer Skripal and his daughter endanger their safety. The leaders stressed that they share Britains opinion on Russias involvement in this incident, and they called Moscow for providing the information about Novichok agent (a series of nerve agents developed by the Soviet Union and Russiabetween 19711993, -ed.) to the OPCW (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons).

UN Security Council had an emergency session on March 14, when Great Britain confirmed that Russia used Novichok agent to poison Skripal and his daughter. Britain also stated that Russia was highly likely to be involved in this incident, as the state did not give any explanation concerning this case to the British side within the terms set by London.

Besides, Russia was accused of illegal chemical weapon use, which is a violation of the UN Charter.

Russia denied all the accusations and demanded the British side to provide evidence and threatened to respond to Londons ultimatum.

Earlier, Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned in Salisbury. They were taken to the hospital with symptoms of an unknown substance poisoning. Britain thinks that Andrey Lugovoy, deputy of Russias Duma, former GRU officer, who acted under the order of Russian authority, is involved in this incident.Open source

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko intends to visit Kuwait and Qatar on an official visit on March 18-20. This was reported by the press service of the Presidential Administration.



In Kuwait Poroshenko will meet with the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Kuwaiti Prime Minister Jaber Al-Mubarak Al Hamad Al-Sabah, Chairman of the National Assembly of Kuwait, Marzuk Ali Muhammad Al-Ghanim, Vice Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah, Khalid Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kuwait.



Also, the Ukrainian president will meet with the managers of leading investment funds in Kuwait.



"A wide range of issues of Ukrainian-Kuwaiti cooperation in the trade-economic, military-technical, investment and humanitarian spheres are planned to be discussed within the framework of the visit. A number of bilateral documents are planned to be signed," the press service of the head of state writes.



And on March 19-10 Poroshenko will be in Qatar. It is expected that the meeting of the President of Ukraine with the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Prime Minister, Minister of Internal Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser Al Thani will be held.



"A wide range of issues of Ukrainian-Qatari cooperation in trade, economic, investment, energy, agriculture and other spheres is planned to be discussed within the framework of the visit. A number of bilateral documents are planned to be signed," the presidential administration added.

Related: American senators sign open letter on Nord Stream - 2 dangerUkrainian News

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko believes that Ukraine's accession to the European Union is a matter of years, not decades. He stated this in an interview with German media group Funke, published today by WestdeutscheZeitung.



"In Germany, this may be unpopular, but I am absolutely sure that Ukraine will be admitted to the European Union, and this will be a matter of years, not decades. It's unlikely that any other country will show more enthusiasm for Europe than Ukraine," stressed the president.



Poroshenko is determined to continue the reforms in the country, noting that before joining the EU Ukraine must join NATO.



"I will set the course for Ukraine's accession to NATO and then to the EU. We will resolutely continue the path of reform. All experts confirm that over the past three years, Ukraine has made more progress than in the previous 25 years," the president said.



He also noted that "he himself created a special anti-corruption tribunal", and ministers can be also arrested for participation in corruption cases in the country. In his opinion, the basis for bribery and corruption in the state has been eliminated, the anti-corruption bodies have the support and confidence of international business partners, and expressed confidence that, together with European partners, Ukraine will be able to further reduce corruption in the country.



We recall, according to the poll, Ukrainians trust the European Union more than the United Nations (UN) and the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO).



On September 1, the Agreement on the Ukraine-EU Association came into force. It should be noted that the work on the Agreement on the Association of Ukraine and the EU took 10 years.

Related: Poroshenko to visit Kuwait and Qatar on March 18-20Open source

The Russian embassy in Ukraine expressed indignation with the statement of the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs that on March 18 only individuals with diplomatic status will be allowed to vote in a diplomatic institution of the Russian Federation. This is stated in a message on the embassy's website.



"Outraged by the voiced plans of the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs to block the access of Russian citizens to polling stations in the Russian embassy in Kyiv and general consulates in Odesa, Lviv and Kharkiv on May 18, 2018," the statement said.



"The intentions, under far-fetched pretexts, to deprive the residents of Ukraine of free will are incompatible with the basic norms of international law and Ukraine's obligations under multilateral and bilateral conventions and agreements. All responsibility for violating the rights of Russian citizens will lie on the Ukrainian side, " wrote the department.



"A corresponding note was sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine with a demand to ensure that our diplomatic mission and consulates can carry out their functions on organizing and holding elections without hindrance," the embassy stressed.

Earlier, Ukrainian nationalists promise to block Russian presidential elections in Ukraine on March 18, 2018. This is said in the joint statement of Ukrainian political parties Svoboda, Right Sector and National Corps. Political parties intend to block polling stations and form corridor of shame for voters  Russian citizens.

As we reported earlier, Russian presidential elections will be held on March 18  the fourth anniversary of illegal occupation of Crimea. There are eight candidates, including the current president of the state. Russia intends to hold elections in annexed Crimea. Peninsulas Prosecutors Office, which is located in Kyiv, threatened election organizers with criminal liability.Nova Poshta

The Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine after the searches of the Nova Poshta officials in Kyiv, Dnipro, Odesa, Lviv, Kharkiv, and Poltava did not report a suspicion and did not choose preventive measures. This was reported by the press secretary of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Yuriy Lutsenko Larysa Sargan on her Facebook page.



"Based on the results of the conducted searches, documents on the financial and economic activities of Nova Poshta LLC and the above-mentioned enterprises were found and seized as well as cash not mentioned in the cash register and in accounting documents." The pre-trial investigation continues, the suspicion report was not filled and we did not choose preventive measures," she wrote.



A pre-trial investigation is conducted on the facts of criminal offenses provided for by Part 2 of Article 364 (abuse of power or official position) and Part 3 of Article 212 (evasion from payment of taxes, fees) of the Criminal Code.

Earlier Ukraines Generals Prosecutors Office conducted searches in several offices of Nova Poshta. Volodymyr Popershnyuk, Nova Poshta co-founder, wrote on his Facebook page.

The representatives of Generals Prosecutors Office are carrying out a search in Nova Poshta offices in Kyiv, Poltava, and Kharkiv. My office and myself are being searched for the first time ever. They have taken away my PC, Popershnyuk said.

The General Prosecutors Office confirmed that Nova Poshta is being searched.

The central office of criminal investigations of Ukraines General Prosecutors Office under the criminal proceeding is conducting 15 searches of Nova Poshta storages and offices in Kyiv, Poltava, Kharkiv, and Dnipro. Special Forces unit is not involved in the investigation, which is being performed within the law. We will report on this after the investigative team gives the information. Yet, the fact of searches and relevant investigation is confirmed, Larysa Sagan, Lutsenkos (Ukraines Prosecutor General) spokesperson wrote on Facebook.The European Parliament members have strongly condemned all atrocities, shelling of civilians and widespread violations of human rights and international law committed in Syria during the seven-year conflict, holding the Assad regime, Russia and Iran responsible of all the heinous crimes perpetrated in the country.

The European Parliament Members stress that the Syrian regime and its allies Russia and Iran are responsible under international law for the heinous crimes they continue to commit in Syria and the economic consequences of their military interventions.

MEPs advocated creating a Syrian war crimes tribunal, pending a successful referral to the International Criminal Court.

MEPs who condemned the spiraling violence caused by the Syrian regimes offensive against rebel-held Eastern Ghouta, called on all parties, and in particular Assads regime, Russia and Iran, to implement the 30-day ceasefire set by the UN Security Council on February 24 and allow in humanitarian aid.

The repeated Russian vetoes in the Security Council on Syria and on efforts to renew UN investigations on chemical attacks in Syria are shameful, MEPs said, adding that obstruction of the international investigations is more a sign of guilt than anything else.

Repeated regional and international attempts to end the war that has taken 400,000 Syrian lives, injured thousands more and displaced millions have failed, they deplored.

However, MEPs urge that hope must not be lost and efforts to find a political solution through the UN-led Geneva process must be renewed. They call on EU foreign policy chief Mogherini to step up the EUs role in peace talks, support the no-fly zones, actively back Syrian civil society and commit significant resources to Syrias reconstruction.

MEPs welcome the EU-hosted second Brussels Conference on Syria to be held on 24-25 April.112 Agency

Employees of the Security Service expelled from Ukraine a Russian journalist, an employee of the TV channel "Russia 24" Natalia Goncharova. This is reported by the press service of the SSU.



"Employees of the Security Service of Ukraine blocked the destructive activity of the TV channel" Russia 24 " journalist Natalia Goncharova, who prepared anti-Ukrainian video stories in the interests of the aggressor country," the report said.



As law enforcers established, in early March, the journalist prepared 4 provocative videos, distributed information on the territory of Ukraine in a distorted version, misinformed the world community and damaged the international image of Ukraine.



According to the intelligence service, she planned an information provocation by biased coverage of presidential elections in Russia.



"In order to prevent illegal actions by a foreigner which contradict the interests of Ukraine's national security, Goncharova was forcibly returned to the Russian Federation with a ban on entry to Ukraine for a period of three years," the SSU added.

Related: Poroshenko: Ukraine's accession to EU is matter of years, not decadesUkraine's Ambassador to the EU called the TV channel for not supporting Russian propaganda

Ukraines delegation to the EU turned Euronews administrations attention to the fact, that pieces about Crimea should not be on the air without mentioning that this territory is occupied by Russia.

Mykola Toshytsky, Ukrainian Representative to the EU, wrote a letter to the Chief Editor of Euronews TV channel as a reaction on the piece of news about Putins illegal visit to Crimea on March 14, as Ukrinforms reporter in Brussels informs.

I did not think that I would write to Euronews for the second time within almost two months about pieces on Crimea.

I was really worried while watching a piece about Russias Putin visit to Crimea to conduct election campaign on the annexed territory. And again, they did not mention that Russia occupied the peninsulaHow will you comment on it this time? Ukrainian Ambassador appealed to the TV channel.

He reminded, that Mogherini, High Representative of the EU, said that the European Union do no acknowledge so-called elections, which Russia illegally holds on the sovereign territory of Ukraine.

Regarding the importance of Crimean theme and its understanding by the international community, I call you respectful mass media for covering this topic in an appropriate way and not acting for the benefit of Russian propaganda, broadcasting Putins speech in a real democracy at the face referendum during the annexation, Ukrainian Representative to the EU stated.

Earlier, Ukraines Foreign Ministry was outraged by Euronews publication about Putins visit to Crimea without mentioning annexation and illegal elections on Ukrainian peninsula.

Earlier, Arsen Avakov, Ukraines Internal Minister, said that Russian citizens who live on the territory of Ukraine will not have access to Russian diplomatic agencies located in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa and Lviv to vote for future Russian President on March 18.

Earlier, Ukrainian nationalists promise to block Russian presidential elections in Ukraine on March 18, 2018. This is said in the joint statement of Ukrainian political parties Svoboda, Right Sector and National Corps. Political parties intend to block polling stations and form corridor of shame for voters  Russian citizens.

As we reported earlier, Russian presidential elections will be held on March 18  the fourth anniversary of illegal occupation of Crimea. There are eight candidates, including the current president of the state. Russia intends to hold elections in annexed Crimea. Peninsulas Prosecutors Office, which is located in Kyiv, threatened election organizers with criminal liability.Senators in their appeal to Steven Mnuchin, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, stated that Nord Stream - 2 will have an influence on the Europen allies

39 senators  28 from the Republican Party and 11 from the Democratic  made a stand against pipeline Nord Stream  2. This is stated in the letter, which parliamentarians sent to Steven Mnuchin, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, and to Deputy Secretary Lohn Sullivan. The document was made public on the website of republican John Barrasso.

We have to make sure that our European allies realize out aspirations to support their energy independence and prevent them from a further harmful influence of Nord Stream  2, the letter says.

The senators also noted that Donald Trumps administration has to apply all existing means to prevent the construction of the pipeline.

Nord Stream 2 is a project on building a second transit gas pipeline from Russia to Germany in the Baltic Sea. Barack Obamas administration was against the project. The construction works are to begin in 2018. The project foresees further broadening and modernization of the Nord Stream pipeline. By promoting the Nord Stream II, Russia aims to refuse from the transit of its gas supplies through the Ukrainian territory.

The construction of gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 doesnt imply terminating the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine, but the transit can be preserved only through competitive tariffs and cancelling the Ukrainian law suits against Gazprom.

Earlier, more than ten world-known companies stated that they would like to participate in managing of Ukraines gas pipeline system.SBU warned Ukrainians about criminal liability for voting in this elections

Open source

Crimeas Prosecutors Office opened a criminal proceeding on illegal Russian presidential elections on the territory of annexed peninsula, SBUs press-office reports.

According to the criminal proceeding data, several Ukrainian citizens conspired to organize illegal Russian presidential elections in annexed Crimea. They consciously help Russia to perform subversive activity against Ukraine aimed at damaging of its sovereignty and territorial integrity, press-office reports.

The pre-trial investigation team examines illegal activity of the chairman of a so-called Central Election Commission in Crimea in terms of illegal Russian presidential elections.

It is also reported that lawbreaker was suspected of the organization of illegal referendum in Crimea, illegal elections to legislative agencies in Crimea and Sevastopol and municipal elections aimed at the formation of illegal authority agencies, and elections to Russias Duma.

The pre-trial investigation is determining individuals involved in pseudo-elections organized by the occupational authority. SBU calls all Ukrainian citizens, who temporarily live on the annexed peninsula for refrain from voting.

Earlier, Poroshenko called G7 countries to condemn Russian elections in Crimea.

As is known, the Russian presidential election will be held on March 18, 2018. The Russian Central Election Committee registered eight candidates, including the incumbent leader Vladimir Putin, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party Vladimir Zhirinovsky, head of Yabloko ('Apple') Party Grigoriy Yavlinski and famous blogger Kseniya Sobchak.Poroshenko also called Turkish citizens for abstaining in elections monitoring in the annexed Crimea

Ukraines President Petro Poroshenko had a phone conversation with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the President of Turkey. Poroshenko asked his Turkish colleague not to acknowledge the results of Russian presidential elections, which will be held on March 18. Presidents press-office reports.

Ukraines President called his Turkish colleague for not acknowledging the results of illegal elections and Turkish citizens for abstaining in elections monitoring on the annexed peninsula. Crimea is Ukraine. We expect Turkey to support us as usual, Poroshenko said.

The parties also decided on immediate completion of the negotiations concerning the Agreement on free trade zone within two countries.

Earlier, Arsen Avakov, Ukraines Internal Minister, said that Russian citizens who live on the territory of Ukraine will not have access to Russian diplomatic agencies located in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa and Lviv to vote for future Russian President on March 18.

Earlier, Ukrainian nationalists promise to block Russian presidential elections in Ukraine on March 18, 2018. This is said in the joint statement of Ukrainian political parties Svoboda, Right Sector and National Corps. Political parties intend to block polling stations and form corridor of shame for voters  Russian citizens.

As we reported earlier, Russian presidential elections will be held on March 18  the fourth anniversary of illegal occupation of Crimea. There are eight candidates, including the current president of the state. Russia intends to hold elections in annexed Crimea. Peninsulas Prosecutors Office, which is located in Kyiv, threatened election organizers with criminal liability.Russia expects UN and OSCE to estimate Ukraines actions concerning the denial of access to diplomatic agencies for Russian citizens on Russian presidential elections. Russias Foreign Ministry reports.

We expect that Kyivs actions will get a principled assessment from UN, OSCE and other resprected international organizations, the message says.

Russian Foreign Ministry states that the decision of Ukraines authority is unprecedented and it arouses nothing but indignation.

The measures taken do not comply not only with Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic and Consular Relations, but also international human rights norms, including European Convention on Human Rights of 1950, representatives of Russian Foreign Ministry added.

Earlier, Ukrainian nationalists promise to block Russian presidential elections in Ukraine on March 18, 2018. This is said in the joint statement of Ukrainian political parties Svoboda, Right Sector and National Corps. Political parties intend to block polling stations and form corridor of shame for voters  Russian citizens.

As we reported earlier, Russian presidential elections will be held on March 18  the fourth anniversary of illegal occupation of Crimea. There are eight candidates, including the current president of the state. Russia intends to hold elections in annexed Crimea. Peninsulas Prosecutors Office, which is located in Kyiv, threatened election organizers with criminal liability.Peoples Republic of China believes that this law contradicts with One-China police, which is officially supported by the USA, and will worsen the situation in the region

Trump signed a law which allows visit exchange of official delegations with Taiwan, Reuters reports.

The law provides a plea for strengthening of relations with Taiwan. Peoples Republic of China believes that this law contradicts with One-China police, which is officially supported by the USA, and will worsen the situation in the region.

China expressed protest against Donald Trump in December of 2016 due to the fact, that newly-elected U.S. President had a phone conversation with the leader of Taiwan. Beijing considered this a violation of One-China policy, as Chinese authorities do not acknowledge Taiwans independence. Later, Chine claimed its discontent with military co-operation between Washington and Taipei.

Besides, after a phone talk with Chinese Xi Jinping Trump stated that American-Chinese relations improved. He also supported the One-China policy in the course of the conversation with China. Later, it was reported that USA is preparing missile supply to Taiwan.The letter comprises Ukraines Foreign Ministry claim concerning the decision of the Crimean administration to hold an illegal voting on the peninsula

Ukraine sent official letters to UN Secretary-General, Security Council Chairman and all the delegations of member states, where it states that Russian presidential elections violate UN Charter. Ukrinform reports.

I am honored to pass Verkhovna Radas Resolution by the present letter with Ukraines appeal to the international community regarding illegal Russian presidential elections on the territory of temporarily annexed Crimea and Sevastopol, the letter says. The letter is signed by Volodymyr Elchenko, Permanent Representative to the UN.

The letter comprises Ukraines Foreign Ministry claim concerning the decision of the Crimean administration to hold an illegal voting on the peninsula.

The letter is addressed to Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General, and to Karel van Oosterom, Permanent Representative to the UN from the Netherlands.

Earlier, Arsen Avakov, Ukraines Internal Minister, said that Russian citizens who live on the territory of Ukraine will not have access to Russian diplomatic agencies located in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa and Lviv to vote for future Russian President on March 18.

Earlier, Ukrainian nationalists promise to block Russian presidential elections in Ukraine on March 18, 2018. This is said in the joint statement of Ukrainian political parties Svoboda, Right Sector and National Corps. Political parties intend to block polling stations and form corridor of shame for voters  Russian citizens.

As we reported earlier, Russian presidential elections will be held on March 18  the fourth anniversary of illegal occupation of Crimea. There are eight candidates, including the current president of the state. Russia intends to hold elections in annexed Crimea. Peninsulas Prosecutors Office, which is located in Kyiv, threatened election organizers with criminal liability.A wicked sorcerer tries to trick Aladdin in order to get the Genies lamp, leaving Aladdin trapped in the cave of wonders.

Aladdin and the Magic Lamp

Saturday, March 17, 2018, 6 pm, Popejoy Hall

Sunday, March 18, 2018, 2 pm, Popejoy Hall

The New Mexico Ballet Company returns to Popejoy Hall with your NMPhil for this fully staged beloved tale. A wicked sorcerer tries to trick Aladdin in order to get the Genies lamp, leaving Aladdin trapped in the cave of wonders. The enchanted story comes to life, and Aladdin realizes that true love has its own magic.

David Felberg, conductor

https://www.facebook.com/NMPhilharmonic

https://www.facebook.com/NewMexicoBalletCompany/

FREE Parking & FREE Shuttle when Parking in G LOT.

The Special Event shuttle is fast, easy to use, and free. It's a great option even if you're running late. Buses run continuously beginning 90-120 minutes before the show, drop you off at Popejoy Hall and return you to the shuttle lot up to an hour after the show. Should you have an emergency, buses are available any time during the show to take you back to your car. All of our shuttle buses are wheelchair accessible.

ADA ACCESSIBLE & ASSISTED LISTENING DEVICES

Aladdin and the Magic Lamp

Saturday, March 17, 2018, 6 pm, Popejoy Hall

Sunday, March 18, 2018, 2 pm, Popejoy Hall

The New Mexico Ballet Company returns to Popejoy Hall with your NMPhil for this fully staged beloved tale. A wicked sorcerer tries to trick Aladdin in order to get the Genies lamp, leaving Aladdin trapped in the cave of wonders. The enchanted story comes to life, and Aladdin realizes that true love has its own magic.

David Felberg, conductor

https://www.facebook.com/NMPhilharmonic

https://www.facebook.com/NewMexicoBalletCompany/

FREE Parking & FREE Shuttle when Parking in G LOT.

The Special Event shuttle is fast, easy to use, and free. It's a great option even if you're running late. Buses run continuously beginning 90-120 minutes before the show, drop you off at Popejoy Hall and return you to the shuttle lot up to an hour after the show. Should you have an emergency, buses are available any time during the show to take you back to your car. All of our shuttle buses are wheelchair accessible.

ADA ACCESSIBLE & ASSISTED LISTENING DEVICESPopulations in the Gaza Strip fear for the worst as rivalries between the enclave ruler Hamas and Fatah in the West Bank have resumed, the two sides trading blames following the assassination attempt on Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah last Tuesday in Gaza.

Tension between Hamas and its rival in the West Bank, Fatah, which dominates the Palestinian Authority (PA), has mounted with the fear of blowing up last year reconciliation deal signed with the help of Egypt.

An assassination attempt on Hamdallah in Gaza (March 13) occurred when the leader was visiting the enclave for the inauguration of a plant. The attempt reopened wounds between the two sides.

A roadside bomb exploded striking Hamdallahs convoy. Seven people including six of his guards were wounded.

Hamas condemned the attack arguing it was an attempt to

sabotage reconciliation efforts among Palestinians. The Islamist movement blamed Fatah for using the assassination attempt to launch a media campaign steeped in hatred and exclusion of Hamas, Arab News reports.

As both camps trade blames, Palestinians trapped in the enclave of Gaza are worried that the new development could jeopardize efforts by the rivals to re-unite. They also fear that the situation could spiral beyond current economic hardship.

The reconciliation has been dragging foot with few aspects including security control of Gaza still unsolved. Hamas has refused to disarm as requested by President Mahmoud Abbas who said he would not accept any replicate of Lebanon powerful Shia movement Hezbollah in Palestine.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!)A senior official of the Shia rebel group fighting the internationally recognized Yemeni government has denied recent reports that his group has entered into dialogue with Saudi Arabia to end the war.

Saudi Arabia is leading an international coalition that is trying to reinstate the government of President Abdrabbouh Mansour Hadi.

Two diplomatic sources in addition to two officials from the internationally recognized government recently told Reuters that senior Houthi officials have met with Saudi officials on neutral ground, in Oman.

There are consultations between the Houthis and the Saudis, without a representative of the internationally recognized government, and it is clear that there is a desire of the Houthis and the coalition to go toward a comprehensive agreement, one diplomat told Reuters.

Rebel figure, Saleh al-Samad, head of the Supreme Political Council rejected the claim.

There are those who say that [Houthi spokesman] Mohammed Abdul-Salam wants to blackmail us and we know that Saudi Arabia is not ready for peace and that its decision is not in its own hands. Otherwise we would sit at the negotiating table, he said.

Yemen slid into conflict in 2015 after the rebels backed by Iran took control of capital Sanaa driving out President Mansour Hadi who settled in Saudi Arabia. He last visited his country in February 2017.

The conflict has left around 10,000 people dead and international pressure has been heaping on Saudi Arabia to halt its campaign.

Houthis had balked at talking peace with Riyadh. The Iran-backed rebels killed in early December former President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Saleh was killed for turning his back to the rebels after trying to forge an alliance with Riyadh.

The diplomatic sources said that the Saudi-Houthi dialogue has been ongoing for two months, The New Arab reports, recalling that direct talks between the rebels and the Hadi government have collapsed. Latest talks took place in August last year.Four Stanford Medicine faculty members were elected to the American Society for Clinical Medicine, an honor society of clinician-researchers founded in 1908. They will be inducted in April in Chicago. The society adds fewer than 80 new members each year, and new members must be younger than 50 years old.

The new members from Stanford are:YEREVAN, MARCH 17, ARMENPRESS. Significant activeness is seen in the Armenian-Lebanese relations in the recent period.

Lebanons President Michel Aoun arrived in Armenia on an official visit in February, and Armenias Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan visited Lebanon recently. Ethnic Armenian MP of Lebanon Hagop Pakradouni says this is no coincidence.

In an interview to ARMENPRESS the Member of Parliament of Lebanon mentioned that the friendship between the Armenian and Lebanese people is century-long, and currently the ties are being boosted.

Speaking about the Armenian PMs visit to Lebanon, the MP noted that it was very important for boosting economic relations.

Recently the historic relations of the two peoples are being reaffirmed with the activeness of Lebanese-Armenian relations. Both sides are enthusiastic to cooperate. Discussions are mostly held to carry out additional work in the economic sector. In particular the tourism and IT sectors are pointed out, he said.

Pakradouni mentioned that the Armenian PMs visit focused on issues related to investments and mutually beneficial partnership between Lebanese and Armenian businessmen.

The MP highlighted the agreement on creating an Armenian-Lebanese investment fund, which was voiced during Karapetyans visit.

Of course it is too early to speak about specific actions, but at this phase we can clearly say that the fertile soil is secured. This chance shouldnt be missed and targeted work should be done in all directions, that is to work with specific businessmen and to present in detail the issues related to the business environment and investment projects in Armenia. There is a great number of Lebanese businessmen who are willing to invest in Armenia, but at the same time Lebanon expects Armenian businessmen to make investments here also, Pakradouni said.

The MP says it is important to actively involve Armenian community institutions in this process.

The agenda of the PM was rather busy, unfortunately there was no time to have a meeting with a larger number of representatives of the Armenian community to discuss the existing issues. As you can see the occasion to boost Armenia-Lebanon relations exists, and it will be very important if the Armenian community of Lebanon gets involved in this process, all of us are ready to do this work, he said.

English translator/editor: Stepan KocharyanYEREVAN, MARCH 17, ARMENPRESS. President of Artsakh Bako Sahakyan on March 16 met with the members of the Supreme Council of the Armenian Democratic Liberal Party (Ramgavar) in Washington D.C., the Presidential Office told Armenpress.

During the meeting different issues relating to Artsakhs domestic and foreign policy, Artsakh-Diaspora cooperation, development and deepening of the US-Artsakh ties were discussed.

President Bako Sahakyan attached importance to the role of traditional parties in assisting Artsakh, solving issues of pan-national significance, strengthening the Homeland-Diaspora ties, adding that Artsakh is interested in consistently continuing and deepening this mutual partnership.

English translator/editor: Aneta HarutyunyanYEREVAN, MARCH 17, ARMENPRESS. Armenias healthcare minister Levon Altunyan is in Artsakh on a working trip.

The Armenian healthcare delegation had previously visited Artsakh in yearend 2017 to present the countrys reforms and projects in the sector with the goal of introducing it in Artsakh.

During this visit, the healthcare officials of both countries will discuss the process of implementation of the actions implied under the agreement which was signed earlier, the healthcare ministry said.

On March 17 minister Altunyan will meet his Artsakhi counterpart Karine Atayan and medical personnel.

English translator/editor: Stepan KocharyanYEREVAN, MARCH 17, ARMENPRESS. Already under scrutiny over a dog dying in an overhead bin and another pet being accidentally sent to Japan, the American United Airlines on Friday acknowledged its third animal-related mistake in a week, CNN reports.

A domestic flight was diverted to Akron, Ohio, on Thursday after the airline realized a pet had been loaded onto the flight in error, airline spokeswoman Maggie Schmerin told CNN.

Flight 3996 was carrying 33 passengers from Newark, New Jersey, to St. Louis, but the pet was due to fly from New Jersey to Akron. United told CNN the unidentified animal was "safely delivered to its owner."

United said it offered compensation to all passengers as a result of the diversion. The airline declined to provide details about the compensation.

There were two earlier animal-related mistakes made by United Airlines this week.

English translator/editor: Stepan KocharyanYEREVAN, MARCH 17, ARMENPRESS. Chinas parliament unanimously re-elected Xi Jinping as the countrys president for a five-year term, RIA Novosti reports.

The elections were held by a secret voting at the 5th congress of the parliaments first session on March 17.

All 2790 lawmakers unanimously voted in favor of his candidacy.

Xi Jinping was elected President of China in 2013 during the session of the 12th convocation parliament.

He was also elected as the Chairman of the Central Military Council of China.

Russian President Vladimir Putin already sent a congratulatory letter to Xi Jinping on his re-election.

Reuters reports the Chinese parliament voted to amend the constitution to remove presidential term limits, meaning Xi can stay indefinitely.

English translator/editor: Aneta HarutyunyanYEREVAN, MARCH 17, ARMENPRESS. Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan and Foreign Minister of South Korea Kang Kyung-wha discussed the issue of denuclearization in the Korean Peninsula and agreed to continue exerting pressure on North Korea until it takes concrete steps on this path, US State Departments Spokesperson Heather Nauert said, RIA Novosti reports.

The officials also agreed that the announcement of a meeting between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is an historic opportunity and evidence that the global maximum pressure campaign is working and must remain in effect.

Deputy Secretary Sullivan and Foreign Minister Kang agreed that international pressure on North Korea must be maintained until the regime takes credible, verifiable, and concrete steps toward denuclearization.

English translator/editor: Aneta HarutyunyanYEREVAN, MARCH 17, ARMENPRESS. Two men have been killed in a March 17 gunfight in Valley Glen, a neighborhood in Los Angeles, USA.

Ed Winter, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County coroners office, identified the shooting victims as Hakop Papazian, 47, of Van Nuys, and Vartkes Mesrobian, 57, of Arcadia, Daily News reported.

The identities of the victims suggest they are of Armenian origin.

According to Daily News the shooting can be gang-related.

Mesrobian was pronounced dead at the scene, while Papazian was transported to a local hospital, but died shortly.

No other details have been reported.

English translator/editor: Stepan KocharyanYEREVAN, MARCH 17, ARMENPRESS. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the recent bombing in Kabul, Afganistan, which killed two people, 1 TV reported.

Earlier Afghani authorities said the bombing took place Saturday in Dispichari. Two civilians were killed and three others wounded.

The suicide bomber targeted a private security agencys vehicle.

English translator/editor: Stepan KocharyanYEREVAN, MARCH 17, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan signed bills into law on March 17, the Presidents Office told ARMENPRESS.

The bills, which were earlier adopted by the parliament, include amending the law on countering money laundering and terror funding, amending the criminal code, amending the civil code, amending the law on approval of the internal charter of the military, amending the law on military police, amending the law on national security bodies, amending the aviation law and others.

English translator/editor: Stepan KocharyanYEREVAN, MARCH 17, ARMENPRESS. Armenia has prepared interesting and attractive events for Iranian tourists to celebrate Novruz (Iranian New Year) in the country, reports Armenpress.

Zarmine Zeytuntsyan, president of the State Tourism Committee, told reporters that starting from border checkpoints brochures and information materials about Armenia in Persian will be distributed to the Iranian tourists. She said the world trend moves to individual tourism without assistance of tour-operators, therefore, coordinated information is provided for making the vacation and leisure of tourists organized.

There will be a 24-hour hot line, recently we also met with the healthcare ministry and the police in order to make more secure tourists visit to Armenia especially starting from the border. There will be posters congratulating them on New Year and welcoming to Armenia along the entire route. These are small, but attractive factors by which we show our hospitality. There will be posters especially to Noravank, Jermuk and Tatev ropeway aimed at guiding them to these beautiful sites, Zarmine Zeytuntsyan said.

The Committee also cooperates with the Yerevan City Hall aimed at providing with decorations on Novruz in the Northern Avenue and other places. She said this year as well they expect increase of number of Iranian tourists if there are no force majeure in the Iranian economy. She informed that 220.000 Iranian tourists visited Armenia in 2017 which is more by 16% from the figure of 2016.

The direct flights from Tehran to Yerevan increased this year, therefore, we expect increase if there are no problems in the Iranian banking system as it happened several years ago when due to lack of dollar many Iranians couldnt visit Armenia, Zeytuntsyan said, adding that works are being carried out towards diversification of Iranian tourists. We are cooperating with the Armenian embassy in Iran aimed at holding road-shows for tour-operators in Tabriz, Isfahan and Tehran so that we will be able to attract Iranian tourists on this direction as well.

The Iranian New Year, Novruz, is celebrated on March 21.

English translator/editor: Aneta HarutyunyanYEREVAN, MARCH 17, ARMENPRESS. Russia is modifying its Tigr armored vehicles, CEO of the Military-Industry Company Alexander Krasovitskov told Interfax.

He said that several designs are currently being implemented.

We are talking about command-staff, space contact, radiation and chemical reconnaissance, offensive reconnaissance and other types of vehicles.

The CEO said they have recently produced a Tigr medical utility vehicle.

The company is mulling the production of Tigr vehicles with mounted 30mm heavy machine guns.

English translator/editor: Stepan KocharyanYEREVAN, MARCH 17, ARMENPRESS. Body of Belgian citizen of Armenian origin was found in the bathroom of one of the rooms of the Caucasus hotel complex, Sona Truzyan, advisor to the Chairman of the Investigative Committee, told Armenpress.

The details of the incident are being clarified, she said.

According to media reports, the citizen is identified as Armen G., 62.

No traces of violence were found on the body. A forensic examination has been appointed.

According to preliminary information, the man committed a suicide.

English translator/editor: Aneta HarutyunyanYEREVAN, MARCH 17, ARMENPRESS. 14 migrants have died near the coasts of Greece in an attempt to cross into the country from Turkey on a boat, Interfax reported citing authorities.

4 of the victims are children. 20 people were on board the boat.

English translator/editor: Stepan KocharyanYEREVAN, MARCH 17, ARMENPRESS. Healthcare ministers of Armenia and Artsakh on March 17 signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Stepanakerts Arevik childrens hospital, the Armenian ministry told Armenpress.

Armenias healthcare minister Levon Altunyan introduced the doctors on the process and results of ongoing healthcare programs in Armenia. He touched upon installing electronic healthcare system in Artsakh. Presenting the opportunities of this system the minister said e-health will contribute to the development of healthcare field both in the whole world and in Armenia and Artsakh by ensuring the quality, availability and effectiveness of services.

Levon Altunyan also clarified what steps are necessary for installing the e-health system and answered to questions of the Artsakh doctors.

English translator/editor: Aneta HarutyunyanYEREVAN, MARCH 17, ARMENPRESS. State Minister of Artsakh Arayik Harutyunyan, who is currently on a visit to Australia, visited Melbourne on March 17 to meet with representatives of the Armenian community.

The meeting was organized by the local center of Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural Society with assistance of the ARF Australia Central Committee with the goal to emphasize the need of involving new shareholders in Artsakh Roots Investments projects. Representatives from nearly all Armenian organizations of Australia took part in the meeting.

Artsakh has a sustainable environment for economic development, where the need of involving new investments always exists. In this regard, the Artsakh Roots Investments is a good platform for using the potential, which implies mutually beneficial proposals, rather than donations, the State Minister said.

Harutyunyan presented the social-economic successes of Artsakh in the recent years, the large scale programs for overcoming the consequences of the 2016 April War and other matters.

The State Minister of Artsakh is set to have other meetings in Australia.

English translator/editor: Stepan KocharyanYEREVAN, MARCH 17, ARMENPRESS. During the period from March 11 to 17 the Azerbaijani forces violated the ceasefire regime in the Artsakh-Azerbaijan line of contact over 250 times firing more than 2300 shots from firearms at the Armenian positions, the Artsakh defense ministry told Armenpress.

In addition, the Azerbaijani forces also fired anti-tank grenade launchers (3 grenades) at the eastern and northern directions of the line of contact.

The Defense Army forces fully control the situation in the frontline and continue confidently conducting the military service, the Artsakh defense ministry said in a statement.

English translator/editor: Aneta HarutyunyanYEREVAN, MARCH 17, ARMENPRESS. Armenias Ambassador to Estonia Tigran Mkrtchyan (stationed in Vilnius) had a meeting on March 17 with Jaan Reinhold, director of the Estonian Center of Eastern Partnership during a working visit to Tallinn, the foreign ministry told ARMENPRESS.

The sides were pleased to note the bilateral and multilateral format high level dialogue between Armenia and Estonia.

A wide range of cooperation issues was discussed, including IT, e-governance, emergency situations and other sectors.

The Armenian Ambassador highlighted the need of organizing Armenian-Estonian business forums in terms of further development of commercial ties. In this regard, the Ambassador attached importance to the participation of Estonian business circles in the economic forum as part of the Yerevan La Francophonie summit.

Later on the same day the Armenian Ambassador met with Kristjan Prikk, Undersecretary for Defence Policy (deputy minister of defense) of Estonia. The sides touched upon the Armenia-NATO cooperation as part of the Partnership For Peace program, at the same time attaching importance to Armenias participation in peacekeeping missions.

The Ambassador talked about the possibilities of developing the Armenia-Estonia relations on the sidelines of the Individual Partnership Action Plan and prospects of partnership between the defense ministries of both countries were discussed.

At the request of the deputy minister, the Ambassador presented the efforts of Armenia and OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs aimed at the exclusively peaceful settlement of the NK conflict, and the destructive conduct of Azerbaijan.

English translator/editor: Stepan KocharyanYEREVAN, MARCH 17, ARMENPRESS. Armenia takes steps to gain a tourism benefit from the 17th Francophonie Summit which will be held in Yerevan in October 2018.

Zarmine Zeytuntsyan, president of the State Tourism Committee, in response to ARMENPRESS question said its time for major events not to be held without a result.

Yes, 5000 people are expected to visit Armenia during these five days of the event, but this is not enough, it will again be the situation that we didnt capitalize the Francophonie, like we didnt capitalize the visits of Pope Francis and Kim Kardashian to Armenia. In other words, these events are not followed by further steps. But today we decided to move ahead, we will invite a group of journalists from France to Armenia before the summit, in May-June, we will tour them across Armenia so that they will prepare reports on Armenia and will distribute information about our country before the summit, she said.

But as for the main days of the summit, tours will operate at a daily regime, there will be information packages in French about Armenias attractions, excursions in hotels. In accordance with our policy and strategy we will try to ensure decentralization, will take them to provinces to get acquainted with our culture and history. We will have an online booking system, will work with some of our tour-operators who are ready to take this heavy burden on them, to deal with organizational issues and logistics, Zeytuntsyan said.

She informed that works are already being carried out on developing before, during and after tourism strategy for holding the World Congress on Information Technology -2019 in Armenia.

English translator/editor: Aneta HarutyunyanYEREVAN, MARCH 17, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Ambassador Raisa Vardanyan on March 16 met with members of the Armenia-Vietnam Friendship Association and business representatives in Vietnam, the Armenian foreign ministry told Armenpress.

During the meeting wide range of issues relating to promoting the Armenia-Vietnam relations agenda were discussed. The meeting also touched upon the humanitarian, investment and tourism projects and the steps aimed at promoting the bilateral cooperation at these directions.

The meeting participants exchanged views on a number of regional developments. In this context Ambassador Vardanyan presented the process of transition to a parliamentary system in Armenia, the efforts of Armenia and the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries aimed at peacefully settling the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, as well as Armenias positions on regional issues and their solutions.

English translator/editor: Aneta HarutyunyanYEREVAN, MARCH 17, ARMENPRESS. Lydian Armenia is highlighting prevention of risks and effective management is all phases of operations.

Lydian Armenia told ARMENPRESS the policy refers to not only nature protection management but also labor safety. Prevention of emergency situations and, if necessary, rapid and professional response is reducing the risks and mitigating possible consequences.

For this reason the mining company has its very own emergency situations rapid response team, which underwent 150 hours of special training with experts from the ministry of emergency situations. 5 of the 11 members of the team are residents of communities nearby Amulsar mine, and if needed they can apply their knowledge not only in the mine but also in their communities.

The final phase of the training consisted of a joint exercises which was held on March 16 in Jermuk.

The exercises focused on first aid, evacuation of victims from various scenarios etc.

Colonel Karen Atoyan, head of the medical service of the ministry, highlighted Lydian Armenias responsible approach and professional training.

Back in the summer of 2017 members of the rapid response team of Lydian Armenia joined forces with firefighters to tackle a nearby forest fire.

English translator/editor: Stepan KocharyanFor picture posts from 2010 and earlier, see the Earlier Picture Posts PageYEREVAN, MARCH 17, ARMENPRESS. Defense Minister of Armenia Vigen Sargsyan met with the residents of bordering communities at Aygepat community of Tavush Province on March 16, participated in tree planting and attended a cultural event at the secondary school of Aygepat. As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the Defense Ministry of Armenia, the Minister of accompanied by Tavush Governor Hovik Abovyan, First Deputy Defense Minister Artak Zakaryan, First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia, Major general Onik Gasparyan, as well as other high ranking officials and servicemen.

Greeting the residents of Aygepat, Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan emphasized that bordering communities are of key importance for our country and the armed forces and for that reason the issues of concern of the residents of bordering communities are permanently in the focus of the authorities.

English translator/editor: Tigran SirekanyanYEREVAN, MARCH 17, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan visited the city of Vedi to get familiarized with the results of the activities carried out in Ararat region within the framework of the programs for the development of the regions and communities in 2017 and tasks for 2018.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the Government of Armenia, Ararat Governor Aramayis Grigoryan presented the region's macroeconomic indicators for 2017, as well as the tasks set for the current year.

English translator/editor: Tigran SirekanyanHyundai is gearing up to launch nine new models in the Indian car market in next three years and the South Korean auto manufacturer will invest around Rs. 6,500 crore for the development of these products. Also, in order to increase the market share, Hyundai is planning to increase its domestic production capacity by 50,000 by next year. Increased production capacity will ensure lesser waiting period for Hyundai cars and it will also help the brand to post more sales.

In next decade, Hyundai could roll out a million units every year. Meanwhile, the increased production capacity could also help the brand to make space for its upcoming models. The car manufacturers upcoming model includes an electric powered sedan or an electric SUV. Hyundai will import the charging kits for this model from Korea.

Currently, the second largest automaker in the Indian market, Hyundai is planning to bring the models like Kona, new Santro, Carlino concept-based SUV, Creta facelift etc. So far, the brand is clearly trying to increase its stake in different segments of the Indian car market. Apart from the conventional fuel powered models, Hyundai is also keen to take a strong spot in the Indian EV market. The brand is aiming to launch its first electric car in the country in 2019.

Considering Hyundais EV strategy, we can assume the Kona EV could be launched here next year. Interestingly, Hyundais subsidiary Kia too is all set to enter the Indian market soon. Kia has already showcased a wide range of products at the 2018 Delhi Auto Expo and a large number of them would make their way into the Indian market.CANOGA PARK, Calif.The Free Speech Coalition has issued a "call to action" regarding the SESTA bill which is before the U.S. Senate, and would take away online protections from the adult community and sex workers:

Dear Community,

The urgent fight against SESTA continues on this final weekend before the Senate votes this Monday, March 19th. Our Newsletter will be sent out on Monday with updated information on the outcome of this decision.

Take Action Today! There is still time to lobby your Senators to oppose the passing of this detrimental bill.

Along with dozens of other national organizations, FSC strongly opposes SESTA, the legislation that threatens to eradicate protections for sex workers, while leaving producers of adult content vulnerable to litigation. SESTA does nothing to distinguish the difference between consensual sex work and sex trafficking. Therefore the field is wide open for the censorship of and lawsuits against members of the adult industry.

We at FSC will not let the members of our community fight that battle alone. We stand by our members and are willing to go to court to defend your rights.

From the recent repeal of Net Neutrality, to a number of states declaring porn as a public health crisis, and the block-filter content proposed in HTPA, there are a number of ways the industry is currently under attack.

Our #StopSESTA action page has more information on the actions you can take to help ensure the longevity and existence of our industry as a whole.

#UnitedWeStandIn the middle of a bustling European trade show, Richard Almgren is creating a wonder of modern engineering. He scours his company's booth for a solution to fix the display upon which his entire product demonstration hinges: a minimalistic yet extremely leaky sink, which is threatening to dump gallons of water all over his first pleasure industry venture. Like most native Swedes, there isn't much Almgren can't fix, especially when it's an IKEA portable kitchen set.

It doesn't take long before he realizes the solution is quite literally dangling in front of his face: strung-up Dodil dildos that Almgren's business partner, Peter Gustavsson, has artistically hung around their little slice of boxed-in floor space. He heads back to the kitchenette and pulls a warm, squishy-soft Dodil from the thermos of warm water where it soaks and strategically stuffs it into the open end of the leaking pipe. The Dodil's stress ballesque composition of thermoplastic and silicone begins filling all the gaps until Almgren's temporary kitchen is no longer waterlogged.

Leave it to a Scandinavian to create a sex toy that not only doubles as a pipe fitting, but also improves the structural integrity of IKEA furniture. Although when you consider the rather unsexy origins of this mint-green plastic marvel, it's almost surprising that the Dodil wound up as a sex toy in the first place.

I love inventing stuff, says Richard Almgren, COO and co-founder of The Dodil. I have piles of drawings and have been dreaming of solving problems all my life. And that's just what Almgren, an engineer by trade, was doing when he discovered what would become his biggest brainchild. After developing a science nerd crush on a meltable, moldable form of thermoplasticthe same stuff that currently resides in the Dodil's coreRichard whipped up a prototype for a shape-shifting fishing lure. However, minds were already in the gutter when Almgren debuted his latest creation to a fellow designer.

One day, I brought my prototypean oblong piece of this thermoplasticto a good friend and maker of fishing lures to see if we could brain-storm up something like a DIY-wobbler, recalls Almgren. Somewhat puzzled when presented with this apparition, my friend says, Hey, this looks like a dildo to me. This kindled the flame and the journey began.

The Dodil is innocent enough nestled in its color-coordinated thermos. Add hot water, and this formerly rock-hard, silicone skin dildo turns as soft and pliable as Stretch Armstrong. Bedroom play time turns into arts and crafts as users become impromptu dildo artists, molding and bending the toy with their hands or using the included orange vinyl string to create ripples and texture. Its guts are made of a thermoplastic that can handle a seemingly endless cycle of boiling and cooling, becoming completely stiff again with a splash of cold water.

Almgren enlisted longtime family friend and fellow native Swede Peter Gustavsson to accompany him in this alternative sex toy adventure. Gustavsson, who resides in Germany and fills the role of Dodil's director of communications, arrived at his new vocation with years of experience doing just about everything except slinging dildos. After heading up marketing efforts for Systembolaget, Sweden's government-run alcohol dispensary, Peter jetted off for the exotic landscape of the East. After some sales and marketing jobs, I eventually got to build an accommodation for backpackers in Indonesia, recalls Gustavsson. I had just about relocated to city life in Cologne, Germany, when Richard asked me to join the company.

Gustavsson and Almgren are a truly unique duo in the pleasure industry for reasons only veterans can really understand. They've approached this sensitive and often fickle market with an amount of common sense that's rarely found among new businesses in mainstream industries, much less sex toy start-ups, who often fumble through PR nightmares and potentially offensive copy writing. Although for anyone with a working knowledge of Swedena country whose military marches in the annual LGBTQ Pride paradethe Dodil's success doesn't come as such a surprise.

Richard and I are very Swedish, meaning we strongly believe in equality and diversity, explains Gustavsson. Even though we are newbies, we are confident in a strong and intriguing product. Nevertheless, we aim at staying true to our humble selves and approach the future with a teachable attitude.

Following the company's major launches at the respective Copenhagen and Stockholm Pride festivals last year, prospective users and potential retailers alike all shared a common sentiment of Almgren and Gustavsson. Simply put, they're a pair of genuinely good humans.

We build relations by just treating everybody with respect as individuals and plausible friends, remarks Gustavsson.

The team already holds a claim to fame as some of the most inclusive, sex-positive people to pop up in the pleasure sector. The Dodil brand presents a completely gender-neutral marketing scheme. In fact, you won't find a single photo of a human being anywhere on TheDodil.com. After making the blog rounds with the industry's notorious sex toy reviewers, Team Dodil was one of the few companies to emerged both unscathed and with consecutive thumbs-up across the board.

For Almgren and Gustavsson, a consumer revolutionespecially where masturbation is concernedisn't built on gimmicky technology, flashy social media campaigns, or exaggerated advertising claims. At its core, Scandinavian design is all about clean shapes and simple mechanisms that actually make a better lifeor elusive internal orgasmswithin easy grasp.

As Gustavsson concludes, We are thrilled, proud and yet humbled to, as men, present a product and a brand that adapts to the user and not the other way around.

Eldorado Trading Company has partnered with Swedish-based manufacturer Dodil to distribute the companys unique moldable dildo. Click here for more information.FERNDALE, Mich.Nalpac, one of America's leading adult distributors, has announced the release of its 2018 New Products and Best Sellers Catalog in both print and digital formats.

The Nalpac 2018 New Products and Best Sellers catalog spotlighting a variety of products will be available online and is already in the mail to existing Nalpac customers. This is the first time Nalpac has printed a catalog under their new ownership, with more print catalogs slated for later this year.

We are very excited for this first print catalog to get into the hands of our customers, said Steve Craig, Nalpac CEO. Nalpac remains focused on utilizing technology to assist our customers to become more successful. However, we recognize the benefit of providing customers with a print catalog. Our hand-curated catalog allows retailers to review the newest and best products from many of our manufacturer partners whom we are proud to support.

The Nalpac 2018 New Products and Best Sellers catalog features the latest and most popular new releases from leading adult manufacturers including Blush Novelties, System JO, Nasstoys, Cal Exotics, Hott Products, Doc Johnson, Shots America, Shibari, Femme Fun, and many more. The Nalpac catalog highlights pleasure products for women, men, and couples, as well as lingerie and hosiery, lube, condoms, pasties, fetish gear, and POP displays.

The 84 page catalog is now available online here.

We are thrilled to have this 84 page catalog on its way to our customers. Were featuring the latest and greatest items from over 100 different suppliers. Get a sneak peek on our blog or website. We will also be handing out copies at our booth during the Altitude show next month, said Glenn Leboeuf, Nalpac Director of Operations.

To sign up for the Nalpac email newsletter and take advantage of the savings, special promotions, and sales, visit the newly redesigned Nalpac blog.

For more information on Nalpac, visit the company website Nalpac.com and follow them through social media for daily updates on Twitter @NalpacWholesale, on Facebook and on Instagram @Nalpac.

House Democratic leader Darren Jackson of Wake County led a March 15 press conference defending Gov. Roy Cooper's Atlantic Coast Pipeline discretionary fund. Jackson was flanked by Rep. Garland Pierce, D-Scotland, left, and Rep. Bobbie Richardson, D-Franklin. (CJ photo by Dan Way)

House Minority Leader Darren Jackson, D-Wake, says Gov. Roy Cooper was within his constitutional authority to create a $57.8 million side deal to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline . But he thinks the relevant public records should be released to show precisely how it came about.Jackson, flanked by state Reps. Garland Pierce, D-Scotland, and Bobbie Richardson, D-Franklin, at a news conference Thursday, March 15, blamed Republicans for shattering the governor's plan to create jobs in economically challenged eastern North Carolina.When pressed, he acknowledged,He said he thinks the governor was within his power to create the Mitigation Memorandum of Understanding for taking control of the pipeline money.He echoed Cooper's justification for creating what Republicans have called an unconstitutional method of receiving state funds rather than directing them through the constitutionally prescribed legislative appropriations process.Energy and property rights, threats to clean air and water, the state's Native American heritage, and mitigating environmental damage from the pipeline justify creation of the fund, he said.Cooper wanted the money for environmental cleanup, economic development, and renewable energy projects. Instead, the General Assembly passed House Bill 90 , rerouting the money to school districts in the eight counties through which the natural gas pipeline would pass.State Department of Environmental Quality officials have testified before the Joint Legislative Commission on Energy Policy pipeline partners are paying $6 million for environmental work needed to return the land and water to their natural state after the pipeline construction was figured into the normal permitting process.Jackson blamed election-year politics for creating the pipeline fund controversy. Meanwhile, many communities in eastern North Carolina are still struggling from the effects of the Great Recession a decade ago and from natural disasters, he said.He said the Rocky Mount city utilities director contends the city has missed out on big economic development projects because it can't offer natural gas to business and industry prospects.Richardson questioned who would now pay to tap into the pipeline to spur economic development, noting that neither Rocky Mount nor Nash County governments have the financial means to run secondary lines to the city.She said schools in eastern North Carolina need more spending on education, but the $57.8 million would have better served to create jobs.Jackson said Cooper's deal would have helped sweet potato and tobacco farmers who dry their products for market.Farmers using low-cost natural gas have an advantage over competitors using electric or LP gas equipment. That's vital at a time commodity prices are low, and production costs cut into a thin bottom line, he said.Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, and House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, chided Cooper in a press release directed to school districts in the eight counties that would split the nearly $58 million.the joint statement said. The lawmakers urged the school districts to tell Cooper how important the money is to them, how they would use it, and how educational improvements help economic development and job creation.State Rep. Jimmy Dixon, R-Duplin, is among those who have defended the passage of H.B. 90, and steering the money to education.Dixon said.Moore spokesman Joseph Kyzer issued a news release Thursday morning citing 20 times Cooper said investing in education is the best way to improve the state economy and create jobs."The governor likes to lecture the legislature how to spend taxpayer funds on education to grow the economy, but when it comes to his $57 million pipeline permit fund, he criticizes the legislature for practicing what he preaches," Kyzer said.Jackson hesitated to say he would support a future Republican governor using Cooper's pipeline fund as a precedent to set up a side deal for collecting state money, and assuming authority for how it would be spent, cutting the General Assembly out of the process. He said it was a hypothetical question, and particular details would matter.He said the pipeline fund was initiated by local economic developers and agricultural interests, but he didn't know how it shifted from grass-roots activists to the governor's control.Jackson was asked about the governor's office withholding public records detailing that transition, despite requests from various media organizations, and whether the documents should be disclosed. He said some documents have been made public.he said, referring to the national observance of the public's right to know how its government conducts business.Referring to government agencies that have the records, he said,Jackson said Republicans insist Cooper should cooperate and compromise with them. Yet they started off in a bad relationship when Republican-sponsored bills stripped the governor of some powers after he was elected, but before he took office. Now, the state's GOP chairman and executive director are accusing Cooper of a crime and asking for a federal investigation into his pipeline deal.he said.These are remarkably bad-faith assumptions about libertarian philosophy and autistic people, built upon an equally shaky foundation: MacLean presents no evidence that Buchanan was autistic, aside from that single anecdote in his memoir...MacLean appears to have spun a single story into an entire theory that 'many of the architects' of the libertarian cause are autistic.

James Buchanan was a classical liberal. That is, he believed in small government, free markets, and that people should be generally left alone. MacLean interprets this as evidence of Buchanan being autistic (she doesn't directly say it, but certainly implies it, which is the M.O. in her book, by the way). She accuses us of not feeling solidarity with other people and of not feeling empathy. Naturally, those of us on the spectrum know that we are certainly empathetic, as I have discussed-in some cases and ways, more so than others. I know that I have the ideology I do precisely because of my strong concern for the poor.

MacLean is equally wrong in stereotyping people with autism as libertarians. Like everyone else, we believe in different political ideologies and vote for different political parties. We're humans, not robots. Nor are classical liberals and libertarians emotionless, compassionless people. The vast majority of us believe in helping the needy; we simply think aid is better given in a bottom-up, voluntary way than dispensed by a centralized government. We disagree among ourselves on how to achieve social goals. But it's outrageous to suggest that we don't care.

Last year, Duke University History Professor Nancy MacLean became one of the country's best-known academics for her book Democracy in Chains. That is not, however, to say that her book was so praiseworthy that it made her famous. Quite the opposite-Democracy in Chains was excoriated by academic critics for its blatantly dishonest attack on the thinking and indeed the character of the late James M. Buchanan, the 1986 Nobel Prize winner in economics.MacLean sought to depict Buchanan as a closet racist whose intellectual breakthrough of what is now called "public choice" theory was actually meant to help segregationists ward off the integration of public schools in the South. While her conclusions were embraced by most leftists because they cast such an ugly shadow over the intellectual opponents of big government, scholars who have actually read Buchanan objectively and many who knew him (he died in 2013) blasted the book with salvo after salvo of careful criticism.I noted a few of those attacks in this Forbes article , in which I lamented that the federal government had helped to underwrite MacLean's shoddy "research." Especially telling was this review by a faculty colleague at Duke, Professor Michael Munger, who found it strange that she would write a book on Buchanan without bothering to discuss her thoughts about him with leading public choice scholars who had first-hand knowledge of his life and work.A characteristic of a true scholar is that he or she listens to criticism. True scholars seek truth and when others point out errors, they acknowledge their mistakes. In fact, true scholars are glad when their mistakes are revealed because they do not want to foment erroneous beliefs. As Professor James Otteson wrote in this Martin Center essay , scholars quest for the truth, not for cheap "wins" over their adversaries.Ever since the publication of Democracy in Chains, MacLean has been surrounded by criticism that her impugning of Buchanan's motives, as well as those of everyone who argues in favor of limited government, was far out of bounds. Nevertheless, it is clear that she has paid little or no attention to that criticism. Recently she doubled down on her attack by declaring in front of an audience that people who embrace libertarianism must be lacking in human feelings.In February, MacLean was discussing her book at an event in New York. An audience member asked:Had she been paying any attention to the criticism of her book over the preceding year, MacLean would have had to honestly answer that question by saying,Instead, MacLean thanked the individual for asking a "profound question" and said this about Buchanan and libertarians generally:She continued, saying that Buchanan hadso that he could not enter politics in Tennessee, and thereforeQuite a harsh assessment, but is it true? Writing for Reason , Robby Soave points out:Among many others who found MacLean's assertion of a connection between autism and libertarian thinking offensive was frequent Martin Center contributor Troy Camplin . Camplin, who has Asperger's Syndrome and an autistic son, actually knows what he is talking about. He wrote on his blog Another critic is Mathieu Vaillancourt who wrote an op-ed piece for the Wall Street Journal in which he objected to MacLean's "ignorant, ugly stereotyping" of people who have autism. He wrote:Duke students also entered the fray when Hunter Michielson, president of the Duke chapter of Young Americans for Liberty, posted an online petition calling upon the university's administration to condemn MacLean's "abhorrent" statements. (It has not done so.)MacLean finally decided to respond to the criticism and sent an email to the Duke Chronicle. In its story, MacLean wrote,That admission of error only goes to her misunderstanding of autism. It does not appear to extend to libertarians, whom she still thinks are morally defective for believing that a minimal state is best. The whole point of Democracy in Chains was to claim that public choice analysis and libertarian philosophy, in general, are just covers for greed and racism. She ought to admit that error, but evidently will not.This controversy reminds me of another at Duke last year when Religion Professor Phil Griffiths dared to say that a "diversity training" program would simply be a waste of time to attend. For that, he was brought up on harassment charges by angry faculty colleagues and hounded into retirement. (Rod Dreher wrote about that for the American Conservative.)Note that merely questioning a "progressive" belief such as the benefit of diversity training is enough to unleash an academic mob, while writing a book that smears a Nobel laureate and resorting to nasty stereotyping of people to defend it elicits no disapproval at Duke. That tells us a lot about the double standards now in place throughout our higher education system.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 ideals.ues.Czech experts, judges and politicians: #MeToo is an eccentricity of our times

17. 3. 2018

cas cteni 5 minut





Will the campaign #MeToo have an impact in the Czech Republic and what are its legal aspects? Czech politicians, lawyers and "experts" discussed this at a conference held at Charles University in Prague on Friday 16th March.

Jaroslav Kubera, member of the Upper House of the Czech Parliament for the right-of-centre Civic Democratic Party (ODS) and the Lord Mayor of the North Bohemian city of Teplice said that the #MeToo movement was "an eccentricity of our times". In his view, "time is out of joint".

"I have noticed that feminist activists are complaining that we have not invited enough women to this conference. But it is not about sex. It is about the principle of confidentiality, which is observed by legal experts only". Kubera explained that he has been in a relationship with his wife since he was 14 and that he had won her by harassing her, by touching her, with which she agreed. Rather than attending this conference he would have preferred to go to a graduation ceremony which was taking place in the same building at the same time - because he could ogle young women there, he added.













"People should demonstrate in the streets against the fact that lawyers no longer respect the principle of confidentiality in the cases of harassment," he continued. "#MeToo is a manifestation of hyper-correctness. It is necessary to fight against it with decency and humour." Kubera will not stop flirting with women and will not stop "being gallant towards them".





Roman Fiala, the deputy chairperson of the Czech Supreme Court, said that #MeToo was about humiliation of anyone by anyone, the issue therefore was not really related to the subjugation of women.





Former Czech catholic politician Cyril Svoboda, who works currently as an adviser to Czech PM Andrej Babis, explained that #MeToo was the result of the desire of women to be regarded as fashionable. "I am also attractive, men are also interested in me, I have also experienced harassment," said Svoboda and called on women to be courageous and to reject the #MeToo campaign.





"A certain amount of sexual violence has been part of our history for centuries," explained Czech sexologist Radim Uzel. As a legal expert, he often needs to adjudicate whether violence against women during sex was consensual or not. This is very difficult because even men come to him with many injuries caused to them by their boisterous girlfriends in the shower.





Uzel added that he frequently slaps the bottoms of nurses in the hospital where he works, but he chooses only pretty women to slap. When he knows there would be problems he does not do this. Protesting feminists are so ugly that he would never slap them.





Sexologist Laura Janackova explained that sex was a trade transaction. 84 per cent of women offered sex to men in return for them doing household chores. 10 per cent of women offered sex in return for presents.





"Females always choose their partners according to certain criteria. Women chose men according to the man's resources and according to the man's willingness to share them. The way the man looks is relatively immaterial. In return for sharing their resources, men want attractive, young, healthy and fertile women. They also want virgins."





Sociologist Petr Hampl agreed that sex was a trade transaction. This was due to the principles of evolution: men were expected to disseminate their seed and women were expected to decide to whom they would offer their eggs. During courtship, women must be conquered. The #MeToo campaign was trying to subvert these time-honoured principles, thus worsening the situation, which was already serious due to the ongoing crisis of manhood.





"It should be easy for women to reject unwanted advances," said Hampl, adding that women should simply slap unwanted men rather than joining the #MeToo campaign. In his view, men are not very empathetic and they often do not know that their interest is unwelcome to some women.





Ladislav Hejtmanek, a judge from the Prague Municipal Court, warned that women must not accuse men of bullying or harassment in public, on social networks. A sexual bully should be punished by the state, not by an excited mob.





"The most notorious cases in the #MeToo movement seem to be a part of an exchange of the elites in the USA. Usually, the only motivation for the #MeToo movement is revenge. This leads to public lynching," said Hejtmanek.





Libor Vavra, the chair of the Prague Municipal Court, warned against the aggression of the #MeToo activists. In his view, it is a problem that women have only published their stories of bullying and harassment many years after they happened. "Thus their testimonies will not be particularly reliable," he added. "You were poor, you needed an acting role and you needed money. Why did you not complain about the sexual abuse the moment you became richer?" asked Vavra.





"I am scandalised when I hear about #MeToo. This is because I do not like witch hunts," said Tomas Sokol, well-known Czech lawyer and the president of the Union of the Czech Defence Lawyers.





Students and graduates of several Czech universities demonstrated against the conference outside the university building. They pointed to the fact that while the conference pretended to be impartial, it gave space only to critics of the #MeToo campaign who have often in the past denied the existence of the discrimination of women. The demonstrators also complained that no academics who specialise in gender discrimination, sexual violence and harassment at Czech universities had been invited and that there were very few women amongst the participants of the conference.





MeToo movement. Public discourse in the Czech Republic is often hostile towards campaigners defending the rights of women, as was demonstrated by the public debates of Czech presidential candidates prior to the Czech presidential elections which took place in January 2018. All the Czech presidential candidates criticised the





According to the World Economic Forum's index of gender inequality, Czech Republic is in the 77th place. It is interesting that in the area of education, the Czech Republic is rated as the best country in the world: both men and women have equal access to education. However, once they graduate, Czech women are confronted with a glass ceiling.





Source in Czech HERE





0Irish music lost one of its legends this week, with the passing of Liam O'Flynn.

A player of the Uilleann pipes, O'Flynn, or as he was known by the Gaeilge iteration of his name, Liam Og O Floinn, was born in 1945 to a family of musicians. In his youth, his piping earned him prizes at county and national levels, but it wasn't until he was in his thirties that he really hit his stride. As one of the founding members of Irish trad super group Planxty, O'Flynn helped to breathe new life to traditional Irish music by showing that it could be every bit as exciting and full of life as rock and roll. Without Planxty, there may not have been a Dexy's Midnight Runners; No Waterboys, Pogues, or Dropkick Murphys. We'd all be poorer for it. Plantxy's music left me with the impression, as a kid, that the tunes I played on the instruments I grew up with were cool. I had the privilege of meeting Mr. O'Flynn at a musical festival I was covering for a magazine back in the 1990s. He was pleasant and seemed genuinely pleased to make my acquaintance. The encounter left me feeling giddy for days afterwards.

One of my favorite songs by Planxty, Raggle Taggle Gypsy, has a tune lashed on to the end of it called Tabhair dom do laimh, which roughly translates as Give Me Your Hand. O'Flynn's rendition of the tune has been one of my happy places for decades. The Uilleann pipes are a difficult instrument to play competently. When he's in charge of the bellows, the music that comes out is emotional, and as full of love as the tune's title.

It makes me sad that the world has to go on without him, but I've his music as consolation.Two of the largest parts of a journalist's job are waiting and making phone calls. When you're waiting, it's likely for someone to return a call. When you're making a phone call, it's likely to set up an interview, or interview someone over the phone, Skype or whatever.

Antoine Trepanier is a reporter for Radio-Canada: it's the French language farm of the Canadian Broadcast Corporation. Think PBS, only Beyond the Wall. Recently Trepanier was covering a story about a manager from a high-profile NPO falsely representing herself as a lawyer. Just another day in the dry-as-a-popcorn-fart world of public broadcasting. He called this individual, Yvonne Dube, the executive director of the Big Brothers Big Sisters chapter in Gatineau, Quebec, to see if she'd be interested in sitting for an interview. She was down with the idea, or so it seemed. She cancelled the interview at the last moment. Trepanier emailed her, explaining that Radio Canada was going to run the story on his investigation. He wanted her to have the opportunity to comment on the allegations being leveled against her.

The next day, the Gatineau police dropped by to arrest Trepanier for criminal harassment.

According to the CBC, The Crown (our Queen-loving version of a district attorney) hasn't decided whether the charges will make it into court. The story of Trepanier's arrest touches on the topic of where the right of a journalist to contact a source ends and the rights of a source begin. It's an important issue: How much does the public's right to know about a topic that could effect their lives matter versus an individual's right to privacy? Should the rules for this be different if the individual in question holds no public office? Where are the lines drawn? A great American example of this issue can be found in whether American citizens have the right to see President Trump's tax returns from before he took office.

As a tech journalist, I don't have to worry too often about pissing in someone's cornflakes. More often than not, companies want to talk to me and show me all of their new toys. I've always felt that journalists reporting on hard news do a more important job than I do. That what they uncover matters more than my telling you whether a smartphone sucks or not. It's my feeling that they deserve the highest levels of access possible, where the public trust is concerned.

What's your take on it?

Image: Evan-Amos  Own work, Public Domain, LinkWhen you look at the list of people that Wells Fargo stole from  ordinary depositors, struggling mortgage borrowers, 800,000 car loan borrowers, mom and pop businesses, medium businesses and home owners  a commonality emerges: they're all poor people, or middle-class people, or slightly rich people.



But now it appears that Wells Fargo was also dumb enough to steal from the very rich, through its Wealth Management unit. We don't know exactly what kind of shenanigans they got up to, but the DoJ has started to question employees in the unit, and we can expect to know more shortly.



The report said the FBI has interviewed some employees in the Phoenix area as the Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission expand the scope of an investigation into sales practices beyond Wells Fargo's retail division.



Wells Fargo wealth management employees questioned by federal agents: WSJ [Liz Moyer/CNBC]fiu bridge collapse

Joe Raedle / Getty Images

A bridge at Florida International University's campus collapsed Thursday, trapping people in the rubble and resulting in multiple injuries and deaths.

The 950-ton bridge, which was supposed to be ready for use in 2019, was designed to make it safer for students to travel between FIU's campus and Streetwater, a city where about 4,000 students live.

The bridge was installed in a single day on Saturday using a method that was supposed to increase safety for workers, pedestrians, and drivers.

A bridge on Florida International University's campus collapsed Thursday, trapping people in the rubble and resulting in at least six deaths and nine injuries.

The 950-ton bridge was designed to make it safer for students to travel between FIU's campus and Streetwater, a city in Miami-Dade County where about 4,000 students live. According to The Miami Herald, students and faculty had asked for a bridge that would span the seven-lane road where a student was killed by a motorist in August.

At least one FIU student died in the collapse, Sweetwater Mayor Orlando Lopez said at a press conference Friday.

The bridge was installed in a single day on Saturday after the 174-foot span and support towers were built over several months. The rapid installation method was supposed to increase safety for workers, pedestrians, and drivers.

The bridge was scheduled to be used in 2019 and was part of a $14.2 million project, paid for by the US Department of Transportation, also featuring sidewalks, a plaza, benches, tables, and Wi-Fi.

Before and after the bridge was installed, MCM Construction, which built the bridge with FIGG Bridge Design, retweeted posts on its Twitter account that alluded to how the bridge and its installation were designed with student safety in mind.

"Student # SafetyFirst !!" one tweet said after the bridge was installed.

fiu bridge tweet

Twitter / PaulAcostaMBPD

The company later released a statement about the collapse on Twitter.

Story continues

"Our family's thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by this terrible tragedy," the company wrote. "The new UniversityCity Bridge, which was under construction, experienced a catastrophic collapse causing injuries and loss of life. MCM is a family business and we are all devastated and doing everything we can to assist. We will conduct a full investigation to determine exactly what went wrong and will cooperate with investigators on scene in every way."

The National Transportation Safety Board sent a 15-member "go team" to investigate the collapse. NTSB chairman Robert Sumwalt told reporters on Friday that his team will likely stay five to seven days and determine both how the bridge collapsed and how the incident could have been prevented.

"Our entire purpose for being here is to find out what happened so that we can keep it from happening again," he said.

Michelle Mark contributed reporting.

NOW WATCH: A blockchain without cryptocurrency is just a database innovation  and that's great

See Also:

SEE ALSO: A pedestrian bridge near Florida International University collapsed, trapping people and cars underneath; several deaths reportedThe head psychiatrist at the Shepody Healing Centre for prisoners at Dorchester Penitentiary describes it as small, outdated and jammed with prisoners who have a wide range of mental-health problems.

"We are mixing here patients that are suffering from acute psychotic states, bipolar disorders, schizophrenia, severe personality disorders that are very impulsive, who can be violent at times, " said Dr. Louis Theriault.

"And you can have another patient on the other side of the table who's very, very anxious. They're cramped together."

Theriault was speaking Friday at the federal announcement of plans to either renovate the health centre or replace it entirely.

Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Dorchester would be the perfect place for a state-of-the-art prison psychiatric centre.

A working group will investigate the options for the 53-bed centre, he said.

"One of the advantages of setting up a national centre of excellence here in Dorchester, with a modern renewed psychiatric treatment facility, is we can offer the services bilingually," said the New Brunswick MP, who made the announcement on behalf of Ralph Goodale, the minister of public safety and emergency preparedness.

"We have an indigenous population within Atlantic Canada that requires many of these services. We think we have access to some of the health-care professionals 30 minutes away in Moncton, with two large hospitals that operate there."

Theriault said the centre isn't set up properly because it's so small. It has only one interview room and no adequate common rooms for prisoners.

"They have to share a very tiny common space, and we have two rooms to isolate patients who would be extremely agitated," he said.

"But it's so small that if they're very agitated, it does upset the whole unit, and does not allow other patients to have proper care."

Dorchester Penitentiary, which opened in 1880, is the second oldest federal prison in Canada.

Story continues

Fighting over lone TV

Julie Bedard, Shepody's executive director and a member of the working group, said the centre is showing its age.

"If you are visiting Shepody, our nursing station and our officers' station is all a small space as well, where there's numerous people working all together, trying to respond to different situations," Bedard said.

In the small common area, 20 inmates might have to fight over use of a single television, she said, with the winner usually the one most technically adept.

"It seems like a very small detail, but for inmates suffering and patients suffering from mental health disorder  having different access in the larger centre will contribute to their well-being."

In April 2015, round-the-clock service at Shepody was in danger of being cut.

But on Friday, LeBlanc said staff and services need to be expanded.

"This facility has for many years been inadequate," he said. "As Dr. Theriault said, we have health-care professionals, correctional officers and support personnel working and treating people in circumstances that are far from ideal.

"So every month that that continues is one month too many."

Bedard said the working group will visit other centres as part of its groundwork.

When the group delivers its interim report, the government will consider the suggestions and financing options for the next budget cycle, LeBlanc said.By Eliana Raszewski BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina is preparing to auction 90 megahertz of 4G spectrum to mobile telephone and internet companies in a process that has already attracted interest from Telecom Argentina SA, Telefonica SA and Claro, a government source told Reuters. The plans come as business-friendly President Mauricio Macri seeks to attract investment to the telecoms sector to boost competition and improve connectivity in the South American country. Since taking office in 2015, he has pushed a change to laws allowing companies to offer multiple telecoms services. The auction could bring in $800 million in government revenue, the source said. It is expected to consist of 60 megahertz that telecom company Arlink received but later returned, and 30 megahertz held by state telecoms company Arsat. A spokesman for Argentina's Modernization Ministry told Reuters there would need to be a change to the law to allow the government to auction off the spectrum currently held by Arsat. That could occur around mid-year, either through a law or a presidential decree, the spokesman said. Telecom, which recently merged with Argentina's largest cable television provider Cablevision SA, said in January it would invest $5 billion through 2020 to expand and improve its connectivity infrastructure and communications service. "We view a government spectrum auction as good and necessary, keeping in mind the huge growth in the use of mobile data, with permanent connectivity demand from users," Telecom said in a statement to Reuters. The merged company must return 80 megahertz of spectrum to the state given that it now exceeds the 140 megahertz limit for a single operator. But the government plans to raise that cap, meaning Telecom would be able to participate in the auction. Spain's Telefonica SA, the other major player in Argentina's telecoms market which operates through the mobile phone service brand Movistar, plans to invest close to $2 billion in the country through 2019. Telefonica said in a statement Movistar would be interested in "an eventual auction." Claro, owned by Mexican company America Movil plans to invest some $400 million per year through 2020 to improve service to the 21 million customers it has in Argentina. "Claro has interest in growing and developing the networks that benefit service to its customers, be it through deployment or acquisition of spectrum," the company told Reuters in a statement. (Reporting by Eliana Raszewski; Writing by Luc Cohen; Editing by Susan Thomas)It's not clear yet how many soldiers the Trudeau government is sending to the Mali mission. (AFP/Getty Images)

The Canadian military will deploy helicopters and support troops, including medical teams, to the troubled West African nation of Mali later this year, CBC News has learned.

A senior government official, speaking on background, said a formal announcement will be made Monday.

The deployment is in response to a direct request from the United Nations.

Details on how many choppers and personnel will be involved are still being worked out, but the official said the UN has been served with formal notice of Canada's participation.

The helicopters presumably would replace a German contingent which has been flying transport and medical evacuation missions in Mali.

Trudeau, who is on vacation in Florida, spoke by phone on Friday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Mark Rutte, the prime minister of the Netherlands.

Both countries have been actively pressuring Canada behind the scenes at the UN to make the commitment. Trudeau took the opportunity to brief both leaders on the decision, said the source.

When the deployment takes place, it will be the first major step the Liberal government has taken to fulfil its promise to return the Canadian military to peacekeeping.

Last fall, at a Vancouver ministerial summit, Trudeau reaffirmed an earlier pledge to deliver up to 600 troops and 150 police to UN peace support operations.

He laid out a roadmap that included a five-year commitment of helicopters, transport planes, military trainers and a 200-strong rapid reaction force of troops.

The elements, officials said at the time, were to be deployed piecemeal as the UN requested them, and would eventually add up to the 600 personnel that were promised.

Walter Dorn, a professor of defence studies at the Royal Military College of Canada and one of the leading experts on peacekeeping, said it's about time a decision was made.

"It has taken far too long," he said. "I think the cabinet was dithering and delaying. Having said that, I'm pleased the government is actually committing troops, but we have to see how fast they act on it."

Story continues

Officials speaking on background at last fall's ministerial summit said armed helicopters would be among the aircraft Canada would offer for future missions.

It's likely that the Royal Canadian Air Force would deploy to Mali both its CH-146 Griffons, which have been modified to carry machine guns, and its CH-147-F Chinook battlefield transport helicopters.

The Germans have both armed and transport helicopters in Mali. The Dutch, which provided the contingent before them, also flew both.

A crash involving a Tiger helicopter claimed the lives of two German aircrew in Mali last summer.

A troubled history

Trudeau's commitment in Vancouver was itself a major departure from past policy, which saw Canada send hundreds, even thousands, of troops overseas on peacekeeping operations.

The Mali deployment, which will take place later this year, also marks a return to Africa by the Canadian military, which  in Trudeau's words  has "had a troubled history" of peace missions on the continent.

Canada was last in Africa from 2000 to 2003, when it set up a UN mission to Ethiopia and Eritrea, but it is the scandal-plagued Somalia mission and the tragic Rwandan genocide of the 1990s that Trudeau was referring to.

The UN has repeatedly asked Canada for help in Mali, which holds the distinction of being the deadliest peace support operation on the books.

As of the end of February, 162 peacekeepers had been killed in Mali since the mission was established in 2013.

Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the UN's under-secretary-general for peacekeeping operations, recently warned the Security Council that the human rights and humanitarian situation in Mali, which is plagued by an insurgency and Islamic extremists, is getting worse.

'We shouldn't rule out fatalities'

The new Canadian deployment comes as the UN plans a restructuring of the mission.

"It will be less dangerous  several times less dangerous  than Afghanistan," said Dorn. "But it will be dangerous and we shouldn't rule out fatalities."

The senior official said that the Liberal government has secured a commitment that Canadian aircrew and troops will be rotated out after 12 months.

That's significant, because one of the major concerns of the government and the Canadian military has been that the UN has lacked a defined rotational system for troops.

Countries deployed on peacekeeping missions sometimes get stuck in place because no other country wants to come in and relieve them.

Since promising a major return to peacekeeping, the Liberals have turned down multiple requests from the UN, including command of the Mali mission and separate military and police training plans in the country.You may have heard of goat yoga and cat yoga, but what about guinea pig yoga?

A Kamloops event is inviting people and furry creatures of all kinds to partake in relaxing activities  with an option to adopt a pet afterward.

This weekend, fitness centre Let's Move Studio is partnering with the local SPCA branch to offer animal yoga to Kamloops residents to raise funds for the society.

"Normally yoga is kind of calm and you have the zen feel," said Let's Move Studio owner Shaylen Curle.

"When you have animals, humans aren't calm," she said. 'They're just like 'oh my god.'"

This is the second time the studio and the society have partnered for an event like this. Last time, about six weeks ago, five kittens joined yogis as they stretched and posed.

"Animals certainly provide therapy, so it was great having them in there," Curle said.

A guinea pig, bunny and puppies will all be around for this weekend's event. And, after the day's events, they'll all be available for adoption.

Animal yoga kicks off with Chillin' with Animals at noon on March 17, followed by Puppies for Yoga at 1:30 p.m. Tickets are available by donation.City staff are crafting a plan that would eliminate thousands of free overnight parking spots on streets throughout the downtown core and in East York, according to a new report prepared for city councillors.

Public consultations on the controversial plan are slated to run in north Toronto, East York and at City Hall between April 3 and 10, the report states. Exact times and locations haven't yet been finalized.

City-issued overnight parking permits  which the report says are currently only required on about 60 per cent of streets  would become mandatory wherever parking is allowed in East York and the old City of Toronto.

If passed, the plan would mean thousands of spots on hundreds of downtown streets that are currently used as free overnight parking lots would require payment. Although it's technically illegal to park for more than three hours on these roads, city staff say they're not patrolled and tickets are only issued if a complaint is lodged.

Although the move could raise more than $4 million annually, city staff and councillors acknowledge expanding mandatory permitting will be controversial.

"Anything related to parking, there's always a certain amount of fireworks," Kyp Perikleous, the city's director of transportation services said Thursday. "We want to make sure they understand that this is a fact-finding mission. We're going to present our findings to community council so they can make an informed decision."

Coun. Mary-Margaret McMahon, who represents Ward 32 (Beaches-East York), said extending the program to all streets is only fair, despite the opposition.

"People get very angry and emotional about their parking spots," she said, "but they're city rights-of-way and they're for everyone."

Her ward's streets are the most permitted in the district. Only one per cent require no permit. In neighbouring Ward 31 (Beaches-East York), 70 per cent of street don't require a permit, the report states.

Story continues

"It's an equity issue, to me," McMahon said.

The streets in Ward 21 (St. Paul's) are among the least regulated. Two-thirds of the streets there don't require a permit and Coun. Joe Mihevc, who represents the ward, says he hasn't yet decided whether to back the expanded system.

"I want to hear from residents as to what they think," he told CBC Toronto Wednesday. "There are some advantages to going system-wide, and there are disadvantages. People are used to the existing system so the question is, why are we changing?"

"Tempers can really flare up...Once you've tackled that issue, you're ready to tackle global peace. It's that kind of anger level."

Let each street decide

Coun. Josh Matlow, who represents Ward 22 (St. Paul's), said that while flawed, the current system allows residents of each street to decide whether they want permit parking.

First, 25 per cent of residents must respond to a survey asking for their views on street parking. Of those, 50 per cent plus one must agree to permitting.

That system would disappear under the expanded program.

"What I don't support is uniformly forcing every street in the Toronto and East York Community Council area to just overnight, literally, have permit parking without consulting residents street-by-street," said Matlow, since not everyone can make it to public consultations.

Perikleous said city work crews will begin measuring the streets that don't currently require permits within the next few weeks to determine how many parked cars can be accommodated. That will help the city determine how many more permits it can issue.

Could boost revenue by 36%

Parking permits generate about $11 million annually for the city, he said. Adding the remaining local roads to the overnight permit program would bump those revenues by more than 36 per cent.

Currently, residents must renew their overnight parking permits every six months, at a cost of about $93.

Perikleous said a final staff report will be delivered to the Toronto and East York Community Council in early 2019.

If community council votes to proceed with the plan, it must still be ratified by the full council.Sixties Scoop adoptees who are trying to scuttle a proposed $800-million settlement plan to visit cities across Canada to gather signatures before a May court date.

The group needs 2,000 signatures to scuttle the settlement, which could see payouts of between $25,000 and $50,000 for each claimant.

The national settlement is also expected to put an end to most of the 18 related lawsuits that are currently active.

But the Manitoba Sixties Scoop Survivors Association opposes the settlement, saying there are multiple issues with the settlement, including high lawyer fees, too-small payouts and a lack of consultation.

"Why should lawyers get rich on the backs of our pain and suffering," said Coleen Rajotte, the president of the association. "This is not good enough. Not good enough in any way, shape or form."

Rajotte said on April 2, the association will head to Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatoon, North Battleford and several northern Manitoba communities to get signatures before presenting them in court on May 19.

Rajotte said they want to see a new process with a renegotiated settlement that includes capped lawyers' fees.

"We want a process similar to what residential school survivors got," she said. "This agreement only covers cultural loss and adoptees should be compensated for physical and sexual abuse. We just want to have a say in how this is all done."

The disagreement over whether or not people should sign a petition to scuttle the proposed deal led to the cancellation of a rally on Friday.

Sixties Scoop survivors were scheduled to rally in cities across the country, but Winnipeg's march and rally were cancelled after about 30 people had gathered.

Organizer Connie Calderwood said they cancelled due to disagreements over the settlement, but she hoped the event wouldn't be tied to accepting the settlement or not.

"Today was supposed to be about solidarity. We were wearing our purple ribbons," she said. "They said, 'We don't want to walk. There's no point in walking.' "

Calderwood supports the deal.

"You're looking at possibly another 10 years? We're getting old. It's not about the money to me. I want to start healing in my life," she said. "I want everything to be over with."Ottawa may be best known for its cold weather, bureaucratic institutions and potholes  but it's also a thriving environment for writers and lovers of poetry, according to the organizer of one of Canada's largest poetry festivals.

David Stymeist, president of VerseFest, told CBC Radio's In Town and Outon Saturday that the city is home to some of Canada's most acclaimed poets and dozens of poetry groups..

"We are bringing together poets, performers and audiences to share our common love for language and poetry and expression," Stymeist said.

VerseFest, which gets underway next week, will showcase 70 local, national and international poets, including Ottawa poet laureate Jamaal Jackson Rogers.

For years, Rogers developed poetry shows and collectives across the city that enabled young poets to perform and share their art.

"Ottawa has a rich history of writers, reciters, patrons and lovers [of poetry]," he told In Town and Out host Teri Loretto.

"Poetry events are the most consistently attended events for the last 20 years [and] the most consistently supported out of all the other artistic communities in the city."

Poets to watch

Some poets to watch out for at the festival are Edmonton-based poet Lady Vanessa Cardona and Miles Hodges from New York, Rogers said.

"[She's] representing her home country of Colombia," he said. "[Cardona] brings those elements to her performance, and the stories she tells  the true real life experiences she waves into her poems  [are] incredible."

The festival will also feature American poet Alice Notley, Canada's parliamentary poet laureate Georgette LeBlanc and Innu poet-performer Natasha Kanape Fontaine.

"It's wonderful to be able to bring all these voices from across Canada," Stymeist said. "There are so many different regional experiences, and we in Ottawa need to hear that variety of voices."

Poetry flourishing online

Story continues

On March 24, Rogers will be taking part in a panel at the festival to speak about the craft and social good of poetry.

In today's digital world, poetry has an even better chance of flourishing, Rogers said. Platforms like Twitter and Instagram force people to write within certain frameworks and limits, he added  and also connect them with an audience.

"The thread that joins poets is our desire to tell a story," Rogers said.

"I believe poets are storytellers, and the way we choose to tell the stories is to captivate our audience in the most precise and terse way possible."

The six-day festival will began Tuesday and run until March 25.GTO Dominican Cigars has announced a new extension to its Pain Killer Maduro line. Today the company announced it is adding Pain Killer MoFo  a new 6 x 70 Gordo, the largest ring size the company has released to date.

According to company owner Dr. Oscar Rodriguez, the GTO Pain Killer MoFo is a 100% Dominican long-filler puro containing five-year-aged tobacco. Rodriguez describes the cigar as a full-bodied offering. The cigars are packaged in 25-count boxes. Other sizes in the Pain Killer Maduro line include a Robusto, Gran Toro, and Box Pressed.

GTO Dominican Cigars is owned by Dr. Oscar Rodriguez and is a vertically integrated operation. In addition to having his own farms, Rodriguez has his own factory in the Dominican Republic.DAPHNE ORAM (31 December 1925  5 January 2003) was a British composer and electronic musician. Oram was one of the first British composers to produce electronic sound and was a pioneer of "musique concrete. She was the creator of the Oramics technique for creating electronic sounds, co-founder of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, and a central figure in the evolution of electronic music. Besides being a musical innovator, she was the first woman to direct an electronic music studio, the first woman to set up a personal electronic music studio and the first woman to design and construct an electronic musical instrument. HUGH LE CAINE (May 27, 1914  July 3, 1977) was a Canadian physicist, composer, and instrument builder. Le Caine was brought up in Port Arthur (now Thunder Bay) in northwestern Ontario. At a young age, he began making musical instruments. In youth, he started imagining "beautiful sounds". He attended high school in Port Arthur at Port Arthur Collegiate Institute (P.A.C.I.). After completing his master of science degree from Queen's University in 1939, Le Caine was awarded a National Research Council of Canada (NRC) fellowship to continue his work on atomic physics measuring devices at Queen's. He worked with the NRC in Ottawa from 1940 to 1974. During World War II, he assisted in the development of the first radar systems. On an NRC grant he studied nuclear physics from 1948 to 1952 in England. Le Caine wanted to devise new ways to produce those "beautiful sounds", so he established his own electronic music studio where he began to build new electronic instruments after World War II. At home, he pursued a lifelong interest in electronic music and sound generation. In 1937, Le Caine designed an electronic free reed organ, and in the mid-1940s, he built the Electronic Sackbut, now recognised to be one of the first synthesizers. After the success of public demonstrations of his instruments, he was permitted to move his musical activities to the NRC and to work on them full-time in 1954, where he gained funding in order to open ELMUS, the Canadian Electronic Music Laboratory. Over the next twenty years, he built over twenty-two different new instruments and helped Canadian universities establish their own studios in the new electronic music medium. DELIA ANN DERBYSHIRE (5 May 1937  3 July 2001) was an English musician and composer of electronic music. She is best known for her pioneering work with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop during the 1960s, particularly her popular electronic arrangement of the theme music to the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who. She has been referred to as "the unsung heroine of British electronic music. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments and circuitry-based music technology. In general, a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means (electroacoustic music), and that produced using electronics only.[1] Electromechanical instruments include mechanical elements, such as strings, hammers, and so on, and electric elements, such as magnetic pickups, power amplifiers and loudspeakers. Examples of electromechanical sound producing devices include the telharmonium, Hammond organ, and the electric guitar, which are typically made loud enough for performers and audiences to hear with an instrument amplifier and speaker cabinet. Pure electronic instruments do not have vibrating strings, hammers, or other sound-producing mechanisms. Devices such as the theremin, synthesizer, and computer can produce electronic sounds. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Musique concrete (French pronunciation: [myzik k.kt], meaning "concrete music")[nb 1] is a form of musique experimentale (experimental music (Palombini 1998, 542)[not in citation given]) that exploits acousmatic listening, meaning sound identities can often be intentionally obscured or appear unconnected to their source cause. It can feature sounds derived from recordings of musical instruments, the human voice, and the natural environment as well as those created using synthesizers and computer-based digital signal processing. Compositions in this idiom are not restricted to the normal musical rules of melody, harmony, rhythm, metre, and so on. Originally contrasted with "pure" elektronische Musik (based solely on the production and manipulation of electronically produced sounds rather than recorded sounds), the theoretical basis of musique concrete as a compositional practice was developed by Pierre Schaeffer, beginning in the early 1940s. From the late 1960s onward, and particularly in France, the term acousmatic music (musique acousmatique) started to be used in reference to fixed media compositions that utilized both musique concrete based techniques and live sound spatialisation.

1965 BBC report on DAPHNE ORAM

DAPHNE ORAM - BBC Television Archives - BBC Television Rotolock

DAPHNE ORAM - Oramics LP - Young Americans Bird Of Parallax

DAPHNE ORAM - Oramics LP - Young Americans Tumblewash

DAPHNE ORAM - Oramics LP - Young Americans Lego Builds It

DAPHNE ORAM - Oramics LP - Young Americans Episode Metallic

DAPHNE ORAM - Oramics LP - Young Americans Pompie Ballet

DAPHNE ORAM - Oramics LP - Young Americans Pulse Persephone

DAPHNE ORAM - Oramics LP - Young Americans The 1948 Sackbut

HUGH LE CAINE - Pioneer In Electronic Music Instrument Design: Compositions And Demonstrations 1948-1972 LP - JWD Music - Pioneer In Electronic Music Instrument Design: Compositions And Demonstrations 1948-1972 LP - The Touch Sensitive Organ

HUGH LE CAINE - Pioneer In Electronic Music Instrument Design: Compositions And Demonstrations 1948-1972 LP - JWD Music - Pioneer In Electronic Music Instrument Design: Compositions And Demonstrations 1948-1972 LP - Dripsody

HUGH LE CAINE - Pioneer In Electronic Music Instrument Design: Compositions And Demonstrations 1948-1972 LP - JWD Music - Pioneer In Electronic Music Instrument Design: Compositions And Demonstrations 1948-1972 LP - Ninety-Nine Generators

HUGH LE CAINE - Pioneer In Electronic Music Instrument Design: Compositions And Demonstrations 1948-1972 LP - JWD Music - Pioneer In Electronic Music Instrument Design: Compositions And Demonstrations 1948-1972 LP - This Thing Called Key

HUGH LE CAINE - Pioneer In Electronic Music Instrument Design: Compositions And Demonstrations 1948-1972 LP - JWD Music - Pioneer In Electronic Music Instrument Design: Compositions And Demonstrations 1948-1972 LP - Arcane Presents Lulu

HUGH LE CAINE - Pioneer In Electronic Music Instrument Design: Compositions And Demonstrations 1948-1972 LP - JWD Music - Pioneer In Electronic Music Instrument Design: Compositions And Demonstrations 1948-1972 LP - Invocation

HUGH LE CAINE - Pioneer In Electronic Music Instrument Design: Compositions And Demonstrations 1948-1972 LP - JWD Music - Pioneer In Electronic Music Instrument Design: Compositions And Demonstrations 1948-1972 LP - Study No. 1 For Player Piano And Tape

HUGH LE CAINE - Pioneer In Electronic Music Instrument Design: Compositions And Demonstrations 1948-1972 LP - JWD Music - Pioneer In Electronic Music Instrument Design: Compositions And Demonstrations 1948-1972 LP - The Burning Deck

HUGH LE CAINE - Pioneer In Electronic Music Instrument Design: Compositions And Demonstrations 1948-1972 LP - JWD Music - Pioneer In Electronic Music Instrument Design: Compositions And Demonstrations 1948-1972 LP - A Noisome Pestilence

HUGH LE CAINE - Pioneer In Electronic Music Instrument Design: Compositions And Demonstrations 1948-1972 LP - JWD Music - Pioneer In Electronic Music Instrument Design: Compositions And Demonstrations 1948-1972 LP - Textures

HUGH LE CAINE - Pioneer In Electronic Music Instrument Design: Compositions And Demonstrations 1948-1972 LP - JWD Music - Pioneer In Electronic Music Instrument Design: Compositions And Demonstrations 1948-1972 LP - Nocturne

HUGH LE CAINE - Pioneer In Electronic Music Instrument Design: Compositions And Demonstrations 1948-1972 LP - JWD Music - Pioneer In Electronic Music Instrument Design: Compositions And Demonstrations 1948-1972 LP - Music For Expo

HUGH LE CAINE - Pioneer In Electronic Music Instrument Design: Compositions And Demonstrations 1948-1972 LP - JWD Music - Pioneer In Electronic Music Instrument Design: Compositions And Demonstrations 1948-1972 LP - Mobile

HUGH LE CAINE - Pioneer In Electronic Music Instrument Design: Compositions And Demonstrations 1948-1972 LP - JWD Music - Pioneer In Electronic Music Instrument Design: Compositions And Demonstrations 1948-1972 LP - Paulution

HUGH LE CAINE - Pioneer In Electronic Music Instrument Design: Compositions And Demonstrations 1948-1972 LP - JWD Music - Pioneer In Electronic Music Instrument Design: Compositions And Demonstrations 1948-1972 LP - Pot Au Feu

DELIA DERBYSHIRE - BBC Radiophonic Workshop  BBC Radiophonic Music LP - BBC Records All Tracks from Electrosonic LP

DON HARPER - LI DE LA RUSSE a.k.a DELIA DERBYSHIRE & NIKKI ST. GEORGE - Electrosonic LP - Glo-Spot Dr. Who (Original Soundtrack)

BBC RADIOPHONIC WORKSHOP - Dr. Who / This Can't: 7" Single - Decca Dr. Who (Stereo Version Of BBC TV Theme Music)

BBC RADIOPHONIC WORKSHOP - Dr. Who: 7" Single - BBC Records And Tapes Dr. Who

PETER HOWELL - Doctor Who, Theme From The BBC TV Series: 7" Single - BBC Records And Tapes The Doctor Who Themes: 50th Anniversary

MURRAY GOLD & BEN FOSTER - The Doctor Who Themes: 50th Anniversary Edition CD - BBC TelevisionIRAN HUMAN RIGHTS (MARCH 2018): The 10th annual report on the death penalty in Iran by Iran Human Rights (IHR) shows that in 2017 at least 517 people were executed in the Islamic Republic of Iran.





With an average of more than one execution every day and more than one execution per 167.000 inhabitants in 2017, Iran remained the country with the highest number of executions per capita.





Approximately 79% of all executions included in the 2017 report, i.e. 406 executions, were not announced by the authorities. This is significantly higher than in 2016 when 298 of 533 executions were not announced by official sources.





Some of these executions were carried out secretly, without the family or the lawyer being informed, and some have simply not been announced by the official media.





Only unofficial reports with a sufficient amount of information have been included in this report.





The actual numbers are believed to be much higher. In 2017, IHR received reports of secret or unannounced executions from 31 different locations across the country.





Documentation of unannounced executions





IHRs network inside the country received information about many executions which are not announced by the official media.





Confirming these reports is a challenging task as the media is either directly controlled or under strong scrutiny by the authorities. Reporting human rights violations to human rights organizations is regarded as a crime and the people involved face criminal charges.





Despite this, every year IHR manages to confirm several hundred cases of executions which are not announced by the authorities. In many cases, information about executions is verified by two or more independent sources.





In some cases, IHR receives pictures which can document the execution. In many cases, pictures, along with the names of the prisoners, were sent to IHR. Some of these pictures are shown at the top of this page.



Geographic distribution of announced and unannounced/secret executions





As in previous years, the big prisons in the Karaj/Tehran area were the sites of the highest number of both officially announced and unannounced executions. More details are provided in the following section.





This diagram shows the official (green) and unofficial/unannounced (yellow) executions in the three prisons of Karaj (Alborz province) which house prisoners from the provinces of Tehran and Alborz.





However, there are also prisoners from the rest of the country in these prisons. These include the prisons of Ghezelhesar, Rajaishahr and the Central Prison of Karaj (also called Nedamatgah).





All three prisons are located in Alborz Province. Prisoners at Ghezelhesar prison and Nedamatgah are mainly convicted of drug offences while in Rajaishahr the largest number belongs to those convicted of murder and sentenced to qisas.





Most of the executions carried out in the abovementioned prisons in 2017 were not announced by official sources.

 | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com



Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE!





"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,

but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar WildeIRAN HUMAN RIGHTS (MARCH 2018): The 10th annual report on the death penalty in Iran by Iran Human Rights (IHR) shows that in 2017 at least 517 people were executed in the Islamic Republic of Iran.





With an average of more than one execution every day and more than one execution per 167.000 inhabitants in 2017, Iran remained the country with the highest number of executions per capita.





At least two of the defendants who were executed for murder in 2017 were sentenced to death without any evidence against them but solely based on an oath given by the plaintiff's family members.





In one of the cases, the defendant insisted that he was innocent and that he could prove that he was in another city at the time of the offence. However, 50 members of the plaintiffs family gave an oath that the defendant was guilty. He was sentenced to death and executed in Mashhad on May 23, 2017.





Qassameh is a way to prove a crime (murder or injury) in the Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) which is practiced in Iran. Qassameh, which means "sworn oath", is based on swearing an oath on the Quran by a certain number of people and is performed when the judge decides that there is not enough evidence of guilt to prove the crime but the judge still thinks that the defender is most probably guilty. It must be noted that the people who swear in Qassameh are not usually direct witnesses to the crime.





Issuing an execution verdict without enough evidences, and just because the plaintiffs family thinks the defender is guilty, is not acceptable in any kind of modern legal system and should be considered a violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, especially Article 10.





Mohammad Taghi Fazel, a Shia cleric and a member of the Assembly of Qom Seminary Scholars and Researchers, said to IHR that Qassameh is not an unchangeable and holy order of God.





It was a way to prove a crime in Arab society which existed even before the Prophet Mohammad, he said, Qassameh is not something that Islam directly ordered.





The Shia scholar insisted: It does not mean that we should use Qassameh nowadaysToday, we should follow the science and the professionals view to prove a crime.





Mojtaba Ghiasvand: No confession, no evidence, denied guilt but executed solely based on Qassameh





Mojtaba Ghiasvand, the other prisoner who was hanged for murder charges while there was no hard evidence proving his guilt and his verdict was issued through Qassameh.





According to a source close to IHR, Mojtaba Ghiasvand was executed at Rajai Shahr Prison on Monday, October 30, 2017.





"A person was killed during a tribal dispute in Loshan (Gilan province, northern Iran) in 2008 and the victim's family accused Mojtaba of murder. Mojtaba always claimed that he was in Tehran at the time of the dispute. He was sentenced to death without any hard evidence or even a confession," one of Mojtaba's cellmates told Iran Human rights (IHR).





Mojtaba's brother has also told IHR that there was some kind of tribal dispute and since there was no hard evidence for the guilt of the defendant, dozens of the people from the plaintiffs' tribe swore an oath on the Quran that they knew Mojtaba is the murderer. None of those 50 people were witnesses of the crime.





Saleh Shariati: Juvenile sentenced to death based on Qassameh





Four years ago, Saleh Shariati, then a 16-year-old boy, went to work at a farm along with his father. At the farm, one of the workers fell into a well and lost his life.





Saleh was arrested by the police. His father says that Saleh was under torture to confess and accept that he committed the crime.





His trial was held but there was not enough evidence to convict Saleh, other than a confession under torture. The forensic medical examination did not provide any evidence on the victims body linking Saleh to the murder.





The judges asked the plaintiff to gather more than 50 men from their family to swear an oath to the holy Quran that Saleh was the murderer. They did so and subsequently, Saleh was convicted of murder and sentenced to qisas death penalty.





The Supreme Court vacated the judgment but the Court once again used Qassameh (swearing an oath) and once again issued a death sentence in February 2018.





Saleh, now 20, is being held at the Adel Abad Prison of Shiraz awaiting execution.





"Proving someone's guilt based on oath by a certain number of individuals who even probably haven't been witnesses of the offence," Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, IHR's spokesperson says, "is in conflict with the principles of due process and the rule of law and must be removed from the Iranian legal system."

 | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com



Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE!





"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,

but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar WildeDefense Minister Avigdor Liberman: "There is no such thing as individual terrorism, this terrorism is supported by Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority."





In response to a Friday ramming attack resulting in the deaths of two IDF soldiers, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said he would seek the death penalty for the suspect involved in the attack.





Liberman said the state "will act to ensure that the terrorist will receive the death penalty, demolish his house and punish all those who collaborated with him. There is no such thing as individual terrorism, this terrorism is supported by Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority which provides money to the families of terrorists."





In a joint operation between the IDF and Shin Bet on Friday night, Israeli security forces arrested the brother of the suspected attacker, Atzahm Kabhha in Barta'a.





On Friday afternoon, a 26 year-old Palestinian by the name of Allah Kabhha reportedly rammed his vehicle into a group of IDF soldiers near the West Bank settlement of Mevo Dotan resulting in two deaths and two injured.





An IDF officer and a soldier were killed. Both of their families have been notified of their deaths.





Kabhha was arrested by Israeli security forces and said in his interrogation that it was an accident and that "the wheels [of the car] locked," channel 10 news reported.





Israeli security forces believe that this was a terrorist attack and not an accident.





Israel's UN ambassador Danny Danon said that: "As long as the Palestinian Authority continues to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to terrorists who kill Israelis, we will continue to see such heinous attacks.





The international community must condemn this hateful act of terror and demand that the Palestinian leadership finally put an end to the despicable practice of pay to slay,'" said Danon.





Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) Major General Yoav Mordechai had already canceled the Israeli work permits enjoyed by the family of the terrorist.





The extended Kabhha family received 97 permits to work and trade in Israel.





Likud MK Oren Hazan tweeted that: "Every terrorist should get a bullet to the head" and added that he heard that Kabhha was taken to an ER unit in an Israeli hospital.





"I will show him what treatment is," said MK Hazan.





The attack came after a tense day of clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinian protesters in the West Bank and the Gaza strip. The Palestinians claimed that the protests are meant to mark "100 days of rage' since US President Donald Trump announced he will move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.





According to a Hamas spokesman in Gaza: "The attack today, a hundred days after the Trump Declaration, emphasizes that our people continue with the intifada in Jerusalem, and the revolution against this declaration is an ongoing operation until our people are fully liberated and not just a passing rage. The borders of Jerusalem will be determined by the blood of the Palestinian people and not by Trump."





Fatah's military wing, the al-Aqsa Martyr's Brigades, called the attack "heroic."

According to Major General Yoav Mordechai: "The provocations of Hamas and the other terrorist organizations are likely to lead to an escalation... The explosion yesterday could have damaged a sewage treatment facility serving 300,000 Gazans."





In response to the terrorist attack, Mordechai ordered an immediate freeze on permits for the entire family of the assailant: 67 permits for employment in Israel, 26 trade permits and four employment permits.





 | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com



Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE!





"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,

but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar WildeNew airport may be built in Dnipro

The construction could take up to 18 months.

If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+EnterThe United States stands with its closest ally the United Kingdom and shares its assessment that Russia is responsible for the reckless nerve agent attack on a British citizen and his daughter, the White House declared in a written statement. And we support the UKs decision to expel Russian diplomats as a just response.

Twenty-three Russian diplomats, whom the UK assessed were undeclared intelligence officials, have been told to leave the United Kingdom after British Prime Minister Theresa May concluded that the Russian government was behind the March 4 attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the southern English city of Salisbury. The two remain hospitalized, suffering effects from a military-grade nerve agent, of a type developed by Russia. A policeman who was first on the scene of the attack was also hospitalized, and dozens of civilians and first responders were exposed.

This latest action by Russia fits into a pattern of behavior in which Russia disregards the international rules-based order, undermines the sovereignty and security of countries worldwide, and attempts to subvert and discredit Western democratic institutions and processes, the White House declared.

In an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley called Russias use of a military-grade nerve agent in Great Britain an atrocious crime.

The Russians complained recently that we criticize them too much, said Ambassador Haley. If the Russian government stopped using chemical weapons to assassinate its enemies; and if the Russian government stopped helping its Syrian ally to use chemical weapons to kill Syrian children; and if Russia cooperated with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons by turning over all information related to this nerve agent, we would stop talking about them.

Ambassador Haley challenged Russia to fully cooperate with the UKs investigation and come clean about its own chemical weapons program. She also called on the Security Council to take immediate, concrete measures to address this matter.

This is a defining moment, Ambassador Haley declared. Time and again, Member States say they oppose the use of chemical weapons under any circumstance. Now one member stands accused of using chemical weapons on the sovereign soil of another member. The credibility of this Council will not survive, if we fail to hold Russia accountable.Tehrans Prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi says the Iranian Judiciary has indicted 175 protesters arrested during recent widespread protests.

The Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) quoted Dolatabadi as saying on March 16 that the protests have caused loses and damages in 41 Iranian cities out of the total number of 90 cities where massive protests took place in December and January.

It is not clear if Dolatabdi was speaking only about indictments in Tehran or nationwide. But customarily, officials would not give out important information outside their jurisdictions.

Dolatabadi added Initial verdicts have been issued for 21 of the detainees, 16 have got prison sentences, and three have been acquitted, while some have to pay penalties.

In the Iranian legal system, the prosecutor indicts the suspects and hands them an initial verdict before they are sent to the courts.

Based on official figures, about 5000 people were arrested in the late December and early January protests in Iran, including over 400 in the capital, Tehran.

Officials say the number of those killed during the protests at 25, while one more detainee, Sina Qanbari, died in custody. Prison officials say he committed suicide.

At least five others also died in prisons in other cities, but prison wardens deny their death in custody.

Protests started in late December 2017 in Mashhad and soon spread to over 100 Iranian cities. Protesters chanted slogans against state officials and some demanded the return of monarchy or called for regime change.

But hardline followers of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei try to portray the unrest as just economic protest or the result of conspiracy by foreigners.

Tehrans prosecutor pointed out on March 16 that the protesters had economic demands and did not oppose the entirety of the regime. He said, It was an opportunity for the state officials to learn that they have to face the peoples reaction if they fail to fulfill their responsibilities.

Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his close aides also reiterated that the protests had economic motives, but President Hassan Rouhani has said that protesters had also political and social demands.

Khamenei himself and some other Iranian officials have said that the US, Saudi Arabia, and Israel had organized the protests.

Meanwhile, Hossein Dehqan, a former defense minister who is currently Khameneis adviser, said on March 16 that The enemies had plans to create insecurity and mutiny in Iran in January, February and March, in coordination with some elements in Iran and abroad.

Previously, MP Mahmoud Sadeqi, had quoted intelligence officials as saying that No foreigners were involved in recent unrests.

Over 20 Dervishes Indicted

Tehrans prosecutor also said that over 20 dervishes including the bus driver who recently ran over three policemen during a clash between dervishes and the police have also been indicted.

The driver, Mohammad Salas, said during his trial that he lost control of his behavior after his head was fractured in 17 places during clashes with the police.

Reports from Tehran say that more than 500 dervishes have been arrested during the clashes in February. Some of them are badly beaten and have broken head, jaw and teeth, reports say.

Clashes took place after police and plainclothes agents attacked a gathering by the dervishes to defend the house of their leader Nurali Tabandeh.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Raji, one of the arrested dervishes died in custody. Majzooban, a website that covers the news about dervishes, reported that he was beaten during interrogation. Police refutes the claim and says Raji was killed during the clashes.

The Center to Defend Human Rights in Iran, which is chaired by Noble Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, said in a statement about the clash between the dervishes and the police that The reason for many violent incidents during street protests is the presence and intervention of Baseej militia. Baseej, is an organized vigilante group controlled by hardliners in Iranian government, and maintained by Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).Hopes of freeing Irans Green Movement leaders from house arrest before the Iranian new year beginning March 21 have been dashed, deputy parliament speaker Ali Motahari said on March 16.

Earlier, on February 28, he told reporters, Security officials have promised to end the house arrest of opposition leaders by the end of the current [Iranian] calendar year.

Motahari, who has become a vocal critic of Iran's harsh treatment of opponents, did not name the security officials who made the promise to him, but he insisted he would hold them accountable.

This isnt the first time Motaharis glimmer of hope for the release of Green Movement leaders has vanished.

The leaders of the Green Movement -- former parliament speaker Mehdi Karroubi, Former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi, and his wife, Zahra Rahnavard -- have been under house arrest since February 2011.

Mousavi and Karroubi were the main challengers for incumbent Mahmud Ahmadinejad in the 2009 presidential elections. They protested the official result that declared Ahmadinejad the winner, leading to more than five months of demonstrations that left several dead and hundreds imprisoned.

Later, the pair -- along with Zahra Rahnavard and Karroubis wife, Fatemeh -- were confined to their houses after they called for street demonstrations in solidarity with the Arab Spring pro-democracy movements in Egypt and Tunisia. Fatemeh Karroubi was later freed, but the trio remained under house arrest.

While visiting Paris in September last year, Motahari told French media, I see a glimmer of hope for the leaders of the Green Movement who have been under house arrest for more than six years.

He maintained he was hopeful that the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) would soon vote on lifting the house arrest. He also said he was guessing that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had changed his opinion on the case.

Motahari told the daily Le Monde, Many of the principalists (conservative hard-liners) who had previously supported the house arrests have reached a new conclusion and believe the continuation of the house arrests no longer serves the interests of the country.

Referring to a discussion he had with Khamenei two years ago on the fate of the detainees, who are in their 70s and 80s, Motahari said, The supreme leader was against ending the house arrests, and yet two years later the situation has changed as Mousavi and Karroubi are suffering from health problems.

Now, once again, almost two months after his last comments, Motahari has admitted the detained leaders would be celebrating another new year under house arrest.

But he affirmed he would continue his efforts to follow up on the case.

One of the main promises President Hassan Rouhani had tabled during his election campaigns in 2013 and 2017 was to lift the house arrests. However, the promise, which was always followed by long cheers from audiences, has not yet been fulfilled.

Khamenei and his conservative allies have repeatedly described the Green Movement as sedition and said its leaders deserve harsh punishment.

The Iranian Constitution grants broad powers to the supreme leader, but according to Article 30 no one can be banished from his place of residence, prevented from residing in the place of his choice, or compelled to reside in a specific locality except in cases provided by the law.Irans Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has responded to a report that three European countries are mulling new sanctions on Iran to pacify U.S. demands regarding a tough approach to Iran.

Reuters news agency reported on Friday that Britain, Germany and France have proposed a plan to Washington to institute new sanctions on Iran related to its ballistic missile program and its involvement in Syria.

IRNA quotes Araghchi as saying, If in case some European countries are pursuing actions, such as new non-nuclear sanctions on Iran to appease the U.S. president, they are making a mistake in their calculations and they will see the direct impact on JCPOA and its viability.

Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA is the nuclear agreement Iran reached with world powers in 2015. U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized the deal as too weak and has demanded the agreement to be strengthened; otherwise he might effectively abandon it.

Araghchi has also urged Europeans to continue to persuade the U.S. to honor its commitments under the agreement and continue its implementation with good will in a constructive atmosphere. He added that without the full commitment of the U.S. and all parties, it is not possible to imagine the survival of the agreement.

Reuters reports it has seen a document by the three European countries, which says, "We will...be circulating in the coming days a list of persons and entities that we believe should be targeted in view of their publicly demonstrated roles," specifically citing Irans ballistic-missile tests and its role in supporting Syria's government in the seven-year-old civil war against Western-backed rebels.

According to Reuters, the document added that Britain, France, and Germany were involved in "intensive talks" with the Trump administration to "achieve a clear and lasting reaffirmation of U.S. support for the [nuclear] agreement beyond May 12."

The Reuters report coincided with a meeting in Vienna on March 16 between Araghchi and European European representatives on the implementation of the nuclear deal.Enraged farmers invaded a Friday Prayer ceremony in the city of Isfahan and, as a sign of anger, turned their backs on the prayer leader.

Farmers from eastern parts of Isfahan Province in central Iran have been demonstrating for weeks against the governments failure to address a drought that has plagued the region for more than a decade.

While local media generally avoid reporting on such news, an Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)-run website, Fars news agency, reported the event, saying that farmers in Isfahan had staged large demonstrations.

Images circulated on social media showing a group of farmers at the last Friday Prayers of the Iranian year with their backs turned to the podium in an expression of anger and dissatisfaction.

Video footage also shows the farmers chanting, Turning our backs to the enemy, our faces to the motherland.

Protesting farmers also slammed President Hassan Rouhani and the state-run Radio and TV with a series of vitriolic slogans, citing mismanagement of water resources.

The people of Isfahan have repeatedly accused Iranian authorities of drying up the Zayandeh Rood river by redirecting it to another province, Yazd.

The farmers' protests against drought and water mismanagement have frequently led to violent clashes between demonstrators and security forces.

The state-run news agency Mehr (MNA) cited an MP for Isfahan as blaming the violence on the government.

In a report published on March 11, Mehr quoted Hassan Kamran-Dastjerdi as telling an open session of the parliament that Iran's energy ministry has "plundered" water from Varzaneh's farmers by redirecting it to steel factories and refineries in neighboring areas.

He noted that the farmers, who had been working on the land along Zayandeh Rood for centuries, are frustrated with the governments water mismanagement.

The office of Isfahan Friday Prayers has not covered the news concerning farmers protests on its website, but cited the citys interim Friday Prayer Leader, Mojtaba Mirdamadi as remarking, The farmers rights have been usurped for years through mismanagement and wrong decisions.

The mid-ranking clergy also called upon the farmers to be patient and pray for more rain.

Isfahans farmers have long protested the redirection of Zayandeh Rood to neighboring Yazd Province. In 2012, farmers from eastern parts of Isfahan smashed the pipes transferring water to Yazd, which led to bloody clashes with security forces.

Isfahans Friday Prayers leader expressed sympathy for the farmers plight at the time but insisted that smashing the pipes was against Islamic law.

Last year, farmers blocked Isfahans main points of entry with tractors to highlight their dissatisfaction with the governments water management.

However, the protests have gained momentum in recent weeks. On March 9, farmers from Varzaneh in eastern Isfahan damaged two electricity pylons and temporarily stopped transferring water to Yazd.

Meanwhile, people from other provinces, including oil-rich Khuzestan, have also repeatedly demonstrated against the governments water policy.Baku, Azerbaijan, March 17

Trend:

Over the past 24 hours, Armenias armed forces have 115 times violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said March 17.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.Baku, Azerbaijan, March 17

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

Visit of Bako Sahakyan, who claims to be the president of the illegal regime created in the occupied Azerbaijani territories, to Washington undermines the United States approach (as the OSCE Minsk Groups co-chair) to the peaceful resolution of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and serves as a detriment to friendly relations between the United States and Azerbaijan.

The remarks were made by Dr. Farhad Mammadov, the director of the Center for Strategic Studies under the president of the Republic of Azerbaijan, in his article published in The National Interest.

It is quite well-known that there are groups that speak on behalf of non-U.S.-allied nations, and tend to promote policies that benefit their home nation with little regard for Americas best interests. One clear example is the promotion of this weeks visit by the so-called president of the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Bako Sahakyan to the United States, which was organized by the Armenian diaspora in the United States, said the author.

Mammadov pointed out that this event has already had a negative effect, which is why Azerbaijans Ministry of Foreign Affairs has presented a note of protest to the United States.

He notes that after Donald Trump entered the White House, he signed a decree banning former administration officials from lobbying the United States on behalf of foreign governments.

The activities of the Armenian lobby are a well-known fact, and its influence over US foreign policy has always been tremendous. The Armenian diaspora has been lobbying in hopes to shape US foreign policy toward a pro-Armenian stance on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. One of the Armenian lobbys significant achievements was the adoption and maintenance of Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act, which has frozen US aid to Azerbaijan. Although previous Democratic and Republican administrations alike have understood the negative impact of Section 907 for US national interests, and tried to remove it, the strong Armenian lobby has successfully resisted these efforts, wrote the author.

That the Armenian diasporas lobbying through financial and political means hampers American policy in the South Caucasus has been voiced by officials of previous administrations, said the article.

Mammadov pointed out that the United States has hitherto supported the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan within its internationally recognized borders.

Azerbaijan, as a secular Muslim country, has been always a trustworthy partner for the United States in fighting international terrorism and supporting the US mission in Afghanistan. Azerbaijan has also emerged as a reliable platform for international negotiations, including for dialogue between Russian and American military chiefs. Moreover, Azerbaijans contribution to the energy security of the United States European allies is an undisputed reality, said the article.

The author noted that since the history of the South Caucasus is full of conflicts and territorial claims, undermining international law and establishing double standards might set negative and bloody precedents for the future.Baku, Azerbaijan, March 17

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

The visit of Bako Sahakyan, who claims to be the president of the illegal regime created in the occupied Azerbaijani territories, to the US undermines the strategic standing, said Azerbaijans ambassador to US Elin Suleymanov during the John Batchelor Radio Show.

Those kind of hiccups are unfortunate. Of course, this is nothing more than a symbolic gesture, but that undermines the strategic standing. So what we do hope to see is more coherent, more cohesive approach which is appreciative of the importance in the sense of relationship we have, said the envoy.

In general, speaking about the US-Azerbaijan ties, Suleymanov said that there is need to further develop them.

Very often we do forget the importance of strategic partnership that has developed and need to develop. We have generally very good feeling about our relations with the US. With Trump administration we look forward to develop it further, he added.

Earlier, over Bako Sahakyans visit, the US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Robert Cekuta was summoned to the Foreign Ministry and received a note of protest, sent by the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan to the US State Department.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijans ambassador to the US, Elin Suleymanov, after a meeting in the State Department, presented the protest of Azerbaijan to the American side.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.Baku, Azerbaijan, March 16

Trend:

Azerbaijan`s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov has met with President of the Senate of the Republic of Paraguay Fernando Lugo Mendez who is visiting Baku to attend the 6th Global Baku Forum organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center.

Mendez expressed satisfaction with his visit to Azerbaijan and his participation in the Forum. He also hailed his meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, adding the meeting featured a fruitful exchange of views.

The President of the Senate noted that the Forum is a fundamental platform to get acquainted with Azerbaijan, including the region, as well as to contemplate about the future prospects of the relations between Azerbaijan and Paraguay.

The sides underlined that the two countries have potential for the development of relations. The importance of parliamentary diplomacy, including the reciprocal visits of parliamentary delegations from both countries and holding of bilateral political consultations between the two countries was highlighted.

Minister Elmar Mammadyarov expressed his appreciation to the Chamber of Deputies of the Republic of Paraguay with regard to the adopted statements on Khojaly genocide on September 10, 2015 and on October 25, 2017 and expressed solidarity with the innocent victims of this tragedy.

The sides also exchanged views on the regional and international issues.Baku, Azerbaijan, March 17

By Ali Mustafayev - Trend:

The Global Baku Forum, organized by Azerbaijan and the Nizami Ganjavi International Center this year for the sixth time, is an exceptional event, as it provides a rare opportunity for politicians and experts from around the world to gather and discuss issues that are important practically for all regions of the world, Former Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic told Trend.

"Azerbaijan, by organizing such events, has proved itself as a country that does not stop searching for the best options to solve topical problems of both regional and global scale. Countries participating in this forum discuss and generate ideas that can be used to solve a number of very important problems," Cvetkovic said.

He further voiced support for the economic policy being realized by Azerbaijan.

"We are pleased to see the steps Azerbaijan takes to diversify the economy, and at the same time, implementation of global economic projects, including energy projects that ensure the energy security of Europe," the former prime minister said.

As for the non-energy sector, Cvetkovic said that the work carried out by Azerbaijan to expand construction, implement transport and logistics projects can also be seen in Azerbaijani companies' activities in Serbia.

"These developing industries will allow Azerbaijan to eliminate dependence on the prices for energy raw materials and achieve even more progressive economic goals," said Cvetkovic.

The 6th Global Baku Forum, organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center, kicked off on March 15 with the support of the Azerbaijan State Committee for Work with the Diaspora.

The three-day forum is attended by presidents, prime ministers and foreign ministers of many countries, including President of Albania Ilir Meta, President of Macedonia Gjorge Ivanov, President of Moldova Igor Dodon, President of Mauritius Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Mladen Ivanic, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister Ziad Abu Amr, Deputy Prime Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina Mirko Sarovic, Romanian Vice Prime Minister Ana Birchall and others.

Moreover, about 500 guests, including former presidents and heads of governments, well-known public and political figures, who are the members of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center, are participating in the 6th Global Baku Forum.

The VII International Book Summit will be held within the framework of the Forum on March 18-19.Baku, Azerbaijan, March 17

By Ilhama Isabalayeva  Trend:

The visit of Bako Sahakyan, who claims to be the president of the illegal regime created in the occupied Azerbaijani territories, to the US and creation of conditions at the US Congress for holding of events promoting the illegal regime completely contradicts the norms and principles of international law, the UN Charter, relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council and bilateral documents signed between Azerbaijan and the US, Head of the Office of Ombudsman Aydin Safikhanli told Trend.

He said that this arises doubts about not only the objectivity and impartiality of the United States as a co-chair country of the OSCE Minsk Group established to settle the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, but should also be regarded as activity against the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan.

At a time when the US applies sanctions against other separatist regimes, the invitation of representatives of the illegal regime created as a result of the occupation of the Azerbaijani lands to the United States is a clear example of double standards, according to Safikhanli.

Safikhanli believes that such prejudiced steps by the US can lead not only to the weakening of the international authority of this state, but also to the loss of such a strategic partner as Azerbaijan cooperating with them in the spheres of security, energy and economy.

Earlier, the US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Robert Cekuta was summoned to the Foreign Ministry and received a note of protest, sent by the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan to the US State Department.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijans ambassador to the US, Elin Suleymanov, after a meeting in the State Department, presented the protest of Azerbaijan to the American side.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.Baku, Azerbaijan, March 17

By Elchin Mehdiyev - Trend:

The Global Baku Forum is a very important platform for the world, Albania's former presidents Sali Berisha told Trend on March 17, further voicing satisfaction with participation in the forum.

Berisha stressed that very important proposals and ideas have been voiced here regarding the challenges the world is facing, and effective dialogue is being held.

"Of course, any problem must be first discussed and proposals should be put forward for its solution. The Baku forum is a very effective and important platform from this point of view," he added.

The Baku forum is becoming more recognizable in the world from year to year and its significance is increasing, he said.

"Every year, this forum increases its significance, and this forum is important for the recognition and reputation of Azerbaijan in the world," he added.

The 6th Global Baku Forum, organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center, kicked off on March 15 with the support of the Azerbaijan State Committee for Work with the Diaspora.

The three-day forum is attended by presidents, prime ministers and foreign ministers of many countries, including President of Albania Ilir Meta, President of Macedonia Gjorge Ivanov, President of Moldova Igor Dodon, President of Mauritius Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Mladen Ivanic, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister Ziad Abu Amr, Deputy Prime Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina Mirko Sarovic, Romanian Vice Prime Minister Ana Birchall and others.

Moreover, about 500 guests, including former presidents and heads of governments, well-known public and political figures, who are the members of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center, are participating in the 6th Global Baku Forum.

The VII International Book Summit will be held within the framework of the Forum on March 18-19.Baku, Azerbaijan, March 17

By Elchin Mehdiyev - Trend:

The Global Baku Forum is an important platform that brings together world leaders, leading politicians and experts, Former Croatian President Ivo Josipovic told Trend on March 17.

The former president noted that Azerbaijan, hosting this forum, makes a significant contribution to peace and stability in the world.

"The world's experienced people come together and exchange views on existing problems, show ways to solve them. I hope that this forum will continue to work successfully," he said.

Josipovic noted that such events increase Azerbaijan's influence in the international arena.

"Baku has already become a place where important issues are discussed," he added.

The 6th Global Baku Forum, organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center, kicked off on March 15 with the support of the Azerbaijan State Committee for Work with the Diaspora.

The three-day forum is attended by presidents, prime ministers and foreign ministers of many countries, including President of Albania Ilir Meta, President of Macedonia Gjorge Ivanov, President of Moldova Igor Dodon, President of Mauritius Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Mladen Ivanic, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister Ziad Abu Amr, Deputy Prime Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina Mirko Sarovic, Romanian Vice Prime Minister Ana Birchall and others.

Moreover, about 500 guests, including former presidents and heads of governments, well-known public and political figures, who are the members of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center, are participating in the 6th Global Baku Forum.

The VII International Book Summit will be held within the framework of the Forum on March 18-19.Baku, Azerbaijan, March 17

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

The US must broaden its relations with Azerbaijan, Raoul Lowery Contreras, an American political scientist, said in his article titled US defends critical trade routes  We should add Azerbaijan to the list published in The Hill.

The US government must broaden relations with Azerbaijan not only because Azerbaijan is geopolitically important or because it is a Western-oriented oil/gas exporter, but because it has partnered with the US in the war on terror, because it allows the movement of troops through Azerbaijan air space to Afghanistan; and, because it is the right thing to do, wrote the author.

Contreras also noted that in todays world, it also doesnt hurt to have a moderate Muslim state as a friend.

Further, talking about Azerbaijans geostrategic importance, the author pointed out that Marco Polos ancient Silk Route has been regenerated with new rail connections through Azerbaijan that allow Mainland China to transport by rail material directly to Europe saving days at sea and millions of shipping dollars.

Plus, Europe can transport to Asia and oil-producing Azerbaijan can ship petroleum products by rail car to oil-thirsty, China allowing Azerbaijan to expand markets, he added.

Contreras pointed out that helping a friendly country is an American value and Azerbaijan is a friend.Baku, Azerbaijan, March 17

By Ali Mustafayev - Trend:

Azerbaijan will hold fair and democratic presidential election, once again affirming its commitment to the principles of equality and the rule of law, Fernando Armindo Lugo Mendez, former President of Paraguay, told Trend March 17.

Azerbaijan already is a model for the development of a democratic society, he said. The country has achieved much in this respect, and I have no doubt that the principles of democracy in Azerbaijan will be further strengthened. The upcoming presidential election will prove it.

He noted that Paraguay will also hold election in April 2018, and expressed hope for the successful holding of election in all friendly countries.

Presidential election in Azerbaijan is to be held on April 11, 2018.Baku, Azerbaijan, March 18

By Ali Mustafayev - Trend:

Azerbaijan has passed a unique way in its history, continuing to contribute to the global experience of development and coexistence, Fernando Armindo Lugo Mendez, former President of Paraguay, told Trend March 17.

First of all, I draw attention to the achievements of countries in the priority spheres for the world, he said. Energy always plays a priority role in the global economy, and the development of this sphere will be inevitable in the future. Azerbaijan is a country that has huge energy resources and experience of using these resources by Azerbaijan can serve as an example to other countries.

He added that in addition to energy, Azerbaijan is taking wise steps to implement alternative ways to support and develop its economy.

At the same time, wise, fair society is developing in Azerbaijan, and in this regard, it can also serve as an example to many other countries, the former president said.

Speaking about regional policy, Lugo stressed that Azerbaijan plays an important role in the development of its region, expanding its economic potential and supporting the principles of peace and tolerance, which is very rare nowadays.

The former president also expressed hope for the intensification of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Paraguay in the near future.

Despite the great distance separating our countries, I would like to see the development of cooperation between us, in particular, in the use of experience in the development of innovation technologies and management in the sectors where Azerbaijan has already succeeded, Lugo said.

According to Azerbaijans State Customs Committee, the trade with Paraguay amounted to approximately $657,240 in 2017, and the entire volume accounted for the imports of Paraguayan products.Details added (first version posted on 16:21)

Baku, Azerbaijan, March 17

By Ilhama Isabalayeva - Trend:

Azerbaijan will successfully complete 2018, Azerbaijani Presidents Assistant for Public and Political Affairs Ali Hasanov said.

He was speaking March 17 at the awarding ceremony of winners of the individual journalistic works contest held on the occasion of the Novruz holiday by the Media Development State Support Fund under the President of Azerbaijan.

It is a great honor for me to communicate with journalists, being among the journalists gives me strength, he said. Journalists convey the problems of the state and the people to the necessary circles, through them we establish relations both with our society and the world.

He added that the year 2017 in the development of the Azerbaijani state was successful. Projects on state development, social and other planned projects are being successfully implemented, he noted.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev also said about this at the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers, Ali Hasanov said. Important events await us in 2018. The most important among them is the presidential election to be held on April 11. Pre-election campaign will start March 20 and will last until April 10. Im sure that you are ready for this campaign, which will mainly involve the media. When taking part in the upcoming presidential election as citizens, you will express your opinion regarding the candidates, and you will directly cover the election.

He noted that this year Azerbaijan will hold events in connection with the centennial of the Azerbaijani Democratic Republic.

I believe that the year 2018 will be fruitful, and you will have enough space for your activities, Ali Hasanov said.

He added that the media policy, laid by the national leader Heydar Aliyev, is successfully pursued today by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.Baku, Azerbaijan, March 17

By Ali Mustafayev - Trend:

The 6th Global Baku Forum, which brought political figures and experts from all over the world to Azerbaijan, and gave them an opportunity to discuss global issues, came to an end.

The participants of the forum unanimously expressed gratitude to Nizami Ganjavi International Center, as well as to the government of Azerbaijan for organizing the event at a high level, noting its great importance and relevance.

We have no doubt that the discussions held at the 6th Global Baku Forum will have a positive impact on the resolution of conflicts and other problems that many countries face today, Moldovan President Igor Dodon said at the closing ceremony of the forum.

He stressed that the events like the Global Baku Forum play a tremendous role in drawing the attention of global organizations to the problems of small countries and regions.

We can reduce tension in international relations through dialogue, communication and by proposing ways out of difficult situations, and the Global Baku Forum has given us the opportunity to take a step towards this, Dodon said.

Vice President of the Italian Senate Linda Lancillotta in turn noted that the problems which countries throughout the word face today in most cases are difficult to resolve and that overcoming these problems becomes impossible without dialogue and cooperation.

We got that opportunity here in Baku. I am sure that each of us will return home with new ideas that will help us get out of difficult situations and help us take one more step towards the bright future, she said.

The 6th Global Baku Forum, organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center, kicked off on March 15 with the support of the Azerbaijan State Committee for Work with the Diaspora.

The three-day forum was attended by presidents, prime ministers and foreign ministers of many countries, including President of Albania Ilir Meta, President of Macedonia Gjorge Ivanov, President of Moldova Igor Dodon, President of Mauritius Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Mladen Ivanic, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister Ziad Abu Amr, Deputy Prime Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina Mirko Sarovic, Romanian Vice Prime Minister Ana Birchall and others.

Moreover, about 500 guests, including former presidents and heads of governments, well-known public and political figures, who are the members of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center, participated in the 6th Global Baku Forum.Baku, Azerbaijan, March 17

By Ilkin Shafiev  Trend:

Azerbaijan's Economy Ministry will cooperate with Azerbaijani companies operating abroad to promote the 'Made in Azerbaijan' brand, Deputy Economy Minister Sahil Babayev said at a press conference on the activities of the Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) over the past year.

Babayev said that the stands of the 'Made in Azerbaijan' brand will be installed at gas stations of Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR in Georgia within the pilot project. If positive results are achieved, work in this direction will continue, he said.

Under the presidential decree dated Oct.5, 2016, stipulating the promotion of the 'Made in Azerbaijan' brand in foreign markets, in 2017 Azerbaijan's products were exhibited at the International food, beverage and hospitality exhibition in Dubai (Gulfood 2017), the International Trade Fair Wines and Spirits in Dusseldorf (Prowein 2017), International Food Exhibition ANUGA and Worldfood Moscow 2017 in Moscow.

Furthermore, there were also organized 10 export missions to foreign countries.Baku, Azerbaijan, March 17

By Fikret Dolukhanov  Trend:

Russian Transmashholding (TMH) plans to export more than 1,000 railway train cars to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan during the next 10 years, RIA Novosti reported citing General Director of the company Kirill Lipa.

According to him, the TMH also plans to purchase an enterprise in Kazakhstan.

The company will deliver a test batch of locomotives to Uzbekistan in 2018 and will increase export in case of success.

The contract will be signed in 2018 and implemented during the next 10 years. The export volume is large, more than 1,000 units. We will also purchase the local enterprise Tulpar-Talgo, Lipa told media.

He declined to announce the price of the deal, but noted that the company plans to close it in the first half of 2018.Baku, Azerbaijan, March 17

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

Silk Road is a very important connection between Asia and Europe, said Azerbaijans ambassador to US Elin Suleymanov during the John Batchelor Radio Show.

He pointed out that recently, OSCE just had a big meeting in Baku on the Silk Road Support Group.

Presidents of such countries as Montenegro and others, who are actually outside the traditional perception of the Silk Road, are also discussing the importance and impact of this project outside the region itself, added Suleymanov.

Thats a very important connection between Asia and Europe. It builds on history, it builds on tradition, but most importantly, it builds on strategic cooperation between Azerbaijan, Turkey, Georgia, now Kazakhstan and other nations, he said.

The diplomat noted that those type of cooperative, inclusive integration projects are exactly what need to happen in the region and exactly what the US should support.

If we want to see a prosperous, developed region, we need to work together and put aside our differences. This is very important. That is at the core of the issue what do you see. Do you see ideological struggles, competitions, or we see a future in which differences may exist, but we want to work together to build a better region. That is at the core of all the projects which Azerbaijan champions in the region, he added.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway, which is a part of the Silk Road, is a very important project, said Suleymanov.

It was inaugurated on October 30, 2017. It is now a fully functional railroad, said the envoy.

The official opening ceremony of the BTK railway was held in Baku Oct. 30, 2017. The BTK railway was constructed on the basis a Georgian-Azerbaijani-Turkish intergovernmental agreement.

The railways peak capacity will be 17 million tons of cargo per year. At an initial stage, this figure will be one million passengers and 6.5 million tons of cargo.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_ZeynBaku, Azerbaijan, March 17

By Ilkin Shafiev - Trend:

Azerbaijan's major producer of pipes Azertexnolayn LLC exported products for 3.3 million manats in January-February 2018, Company Director Tofig Mammadov told Trend.

Mammadov said that the total volume of exports of Azertexnolayn LLC amounted to about 73.4 million manats over the past two years [2016-2017].

"The main buyers of our products are companies from Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Georgia," Mammadov added.

Azertexnolayn LLC was founded in 2012 and is the first resident of the Sumgayit Chemical Industrial Park.

Presently, three companies, which are engaged in the production of steel and polyethylene pipes, valves, fire hydrants, manholes and other products operate on the territory of the Sumgayit Chemical Industrial Park.

(1.7 manats = $1 on March 17)Baku, Azerbaijan, March 17

By Huseyn Valiyev - Trend:

Chinese company Lenovo is discussing with Azerbaijan's government agencies the issue of applying its own blockchain technologies, Head of the Lenovo Datacenter Group Channel for Central Asia & Azerbaijan Rasim Bakhshi told Trend.

The matter has to do with possibility of implementing infrastructure projects for using blockchain technology, he said.

"There are a number of state agencies, whom we are currently advising on this issue and for whom we are preparing our technical proposals. The matter is an integrated approach of building the infrastructure of the blockchain technologies. Any blockchain is built on infrastructure, that is, on server equipment. Although we did not deal with infrastructure solutions until 2014, before we bought the server division of IBM, now the issue is one of the key directions and a specialized direction has been formed within the holding in this regard, "Bakhshi said.

As for the specialized equipment for mining, according to Bakhshi, the company does not produce it.

"There is equipment that is tied to graphic cards. We manufacture them indirectly, that is, it's impossible to mine on our equipment. We have the technology to create a blockchain and we are interested in this direction," Bakhshi said.Nar has held a meeting with its sales representatives from all over the country to summarize the results of the last year.

The main purpose of the meeting was to discuss the last years achievements and define main directions of the operators sales strategy for the year of 2018. During the event, it was mentioned that the number of sales points of Nar across the country has been increased and reached 1647.

One of the main priority directions of the sales strategy of Nar was paying a special attention to subscribers residing in the countrys regions and providing them with high-quality services. More than 50 events aimed at promotion of sales have been organized in Baku and the countrys regions by Nar during the last year. As a result, just during the year of 2017 more than 256 k customers have joined the Yerlim tariff especially designed by the operator for the regions.

During the meeting with sales representatives, the CEO of Azerfon LLC Gunnar Pahnke has mentioned the importance of high-quality services and effective sales strategy for the companys operations: Always guided by the wishes and demands of our customers, Nar provides the mobile communications market of Azerbaijan with high-quality products at very affordable prices. We are investing in our network in order to be able to ensure high-quality of services for our customers and this by turn attracts new subscribers to join Nar. We are constantly working on reinforcing our sales channels by means of flexible solutions, in order to provide the best possible customer experience.

In order to meet a growing customer demand on the local communications market by means of new products, expanded network and affordable prices Nar ensures that its sales channels are able to provide uncomplicated service to a larger number of customers.

Visit nar.az website for more detailed information about all the products and services of Nar.

Azerfon LLC (Nar) started its operations on March 21, 2007, and within a short period became one of the leading companies of the telecommunications and mobile communication industry of Azerbaijan. The Nar brand name was selected as a symbol, which resembles the cohesion of the rich cultural and historical heritage of Azerbaijan with the modern life. Being the first operator in the country to introduce the 3G technology, Nar provides the customers with a wide 4G network coverage. Moreover, within the frames of its strategy aimed at continuous improvement of the network quality, the operator has introduced the HD-Voice service, which ensures a significant increase of the quality and flawless transmission of voice. With a large network of over 6500 base stations, covering 93% of the countrys territory, Nar provides more than 2 million subscribers with the highest quality services.Fifteen Kyrgyzstani tour operators participated in Kyrgyzstans exhibition at ITB in Berlin, one of the worlds largest travel and tourism fair from March 7-11, 2018. More than 10,000 companies and organizations from 186 countries and regions exhibited their products to trade visitors and consumers over the five-day event. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) assisted the delegation in organizing Kyrgyzstans exhibition space as part of its efforts to promote tourism in the country, Kabar reports.

As in past exhibitions, the Kyrgyz yurt was the centerpiece of Kyrgyzstans exhibition space, which drew numerous international trade partners and large crowds of potential travelers. The delegation served boorsokandkymyz to visitors as they enjoyed classic melodies from traditional folklore musicians and observed demonstrations of the making of shyrdaks.

"This exhibition provides a good opportunity to establish direct partnership with potential customers. We generally know that tourists want to come to Kyrgyzstan for its diversity, unique nature and authenticity  and that's why our stand with a beautiful yurt has been so effective, thanks to USAID Business Growth Initiative," said Emil Umetaliev, President of Kyrgyz Concept.

Kyrgyz tour operators met with more than 1,000 current and potential partners and identified 114 potential business opportunities to be further negotiated in the coming months.

During a special session, Chris Doyle, Executive Director of the international Adventure Travel and Trade Association (ATTA), made an interactive presentation about his recent visit to Kyrgyzstan, which was facilitated by USAID. The partnership agreement between Travel Land, a young and growing Kyrgyz tour operator, and a tour operator from Netherlands, also resulted from the ATTA visit.

USAID Business Growth Initiative is a $20 million project that builds and strengthens the competitiveness of Kyrgyz economic sectors including tourism, apparel manufacturing and construction materials.First Deputy Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic Dinara Kemelova met with UN Resident Coordinator, UNDP Resident Representative in Kyrgyzstan Ozonnia Ojielo, Kabar with reference to the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic reported.

The state and prospects of development of relations with the representation of the United Nations Development Program in the Kyrgyz Republic were considered during the meeting. In particular, plans were discussed for the development of the textile industry in the country based on the experience of Vietnam, Thailand and Bangladesh, and the integration of the Goals in the field of sustainable development known as the Transformation of Our World: the sustainable development agenda for the period up to 2030, with existing national development programs in Kyrgyzstan.

The sides reaffirmed mutual readiness for further strengthening of the ties in the implementation of the project activities of the UN system in the country.Baku, Azerbaijan, March 17

By Fikret Dolukhanov  Trend:

Uzbekistan and the United Kingdom signed a memorandum on international military cooperation during the meeting between Uzbek Foreign Minister General-Major Abdusalom Azizov and British ambassador in Uzbekistan Christopher Allan, Uzbek media reported on March 17.

The agreement provides for cooperation of the defense ministries in the military education sphere, training of military personnel, English language learning, holding of joint training, participation of Uzbek servicemen as observers in various exercises of the British Army, as well as the experience exchange in military conflicts law.

Christopher Allan noted the tendency of dynamic development between the defense ministries of both countries in the recent years.

The ambassador underlined that and an important part of the interstate relations is implementation of the measures outlined in the Bilateral Military Cooperation Plan between the two countries, signed in 2018.

The cooperation plan includes the measures aimed at experience exchange in certain spheres of military building, education of Uzbek servicemen in higher military education facilities of the UK, attraction of the British Army specialists to holding lectures and seminars in the Academy and other higher education facilities of Uzbekistan etc.Baku, Azerbaijan, March 17

By Gazenfer Hamidov  Trend:

The exports of industry sector products, which have the largest share among Irans non-oil exports, witnessed fall during the current fiscal year, started March 20, 2017.

The country exported $13.8 billion worth of industrial products during the first 10 months of the current fiscal year, according to Parvin Nabati, director of the Chemical and Cellulose Industries Department of the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade.

The figure indicates an 8 percent fall year-on-year, Nabati said, IRNA news agency reported March 14.

Nabati said that the global price fall as well as sanctions-related banking transaction problems has led to the decrease, however, she added that export of some products including bitumen and plastic artifacts have increased.

Nabati said that Irans bitumen exports increased by 13 percent to three million tons, meanwhile the value of exported bitumen decreased by 5 percent to $570 million in the 10-month period.

The official said that the Islamic Republic exported $1 billion worth of plastic products, 24 percent more year-on-year.

Over 74 percent of Irans plastic products exports have gone to the Iraqi market, followed by Afghanistan (13 percent), Turkmenistan, Pakistan and Azerbaijan.

She noted that China, the UAE, India, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Indonesia and Iraq were the top destinations of Irans petrochemical products.

Iran mainly exported bitumen to India, UAE, Pakistan, Qatar, Myanmar, Oman, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Kenya, Nabati said.

She added that the Islamic Republic exported $164 million worth of engine oil and paraffin in the 10-month period to various countries including India, China, Pakistan, Turkey and Afghanistan.

Irans paint, resin and glue exports accounted to $170 million in the period, of that 38 percent was sold in the Iraqi market.

Afghanistan was the next destination of the exports (19 percent), followed by Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan, according to the official.

It should be noted that the officials statement about the industrial exports fall contradicts with the official data, released by Trade Promotion Organization of Iran.

According to the data, the value of the industrial exports in the first 10 months of the current fiscal tear witnessed a rise by 17 percent, year-on-year.

The Islamic Republic exported 33.282 million tons of industrial products, indicating a rise by 18 percent compared to the same period of the preceding year.Baku, Azerbaijan, March 17

By Gazenfer Hamidov  Trend:

Trade turnover between Iran and China stood at $3,849.27 million in January 2018, 16.93 percent more year-on-year.

China's exports to Iran in the 1-month period amounted to $1,749.68 million, 10.3 percent less year-on-year, according to the latest data released by the Chinese Customs Administration.

The country also imported $2,099.59 million worth of goods from Iran in January 2018, 56.4 percent more compared to 2016.

Trade turnover between Iran and China accounted to $37.18 billion in 2017, indicating a 19 percent rise year-on-year.

China's exports to Iran in the 12-month period amounted to $18.599 billion, 13.3 percent more year-on-year.

Meanwhile the countrys imports from Iran increased by 25.3 percent in the 12-month to $18.579 billion.

Trade turnover between the two countries was $51 billion in 2014, 31 percent more compared to the preceding year.



The figure stood at $34 billion in 2015, indicating a 34 percent plunge.

In 2016, trade turnover between Iran and China stood at $31.2 billion, down 7.7 percent from 2015.Baku, Azerbaijan, March 17

By Khalid Kazimov  Trend:

Iranian police have detained a close ally of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

According to The office of Tehran prosecutor's office, police detained Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei for "investigations", local media reported.

Earlier on Thursday, Mashaei, burnt a copy of a court verdict sentencing Hamid Baghaei, another Ahmadinejad ally who was sentenced to 15 years outside the British embassy in Tehran.

Baghaei has been pronounced guilty for the misuse of public funds when he was a vice-president under Ahmadinejad.The North Korean and Swedish foreign ministers ended three days of talks on Saturday on the security situation on the Korean peninsula which may help prepare the way for a planned meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un, Reuters reported.

North Koreas Ri Yong Ho arrived in Stockholm on Thursday for talks with his Swedish counterpart Margot Wallstrom amid a flurry of diplomatic activity concerning the reclusive country and its nuclear ambitions.

Trump reaffirmed on Friday that he was willing to meet Kim after South Korean officials passed on an invitation earlier this month. North Korea has so far not publicly acknowledged the invitation.

The foreign ministers discussed opportunities and challenges for continued diplomatic efforts to reach a peaceful solution to the conflict as well as bilateral relations, the Swedish foreign ministry said in a statement after Ri and Wallstrom wound up their talks.

Sweden underlined the need for North Korea to dismantle its nuclear arms and missiles program in line with several Security Council resolutions.

No U.S. government officials participated in the talks this week in Sweden, a State Department official said.

The Central Intelligence Agency has taken the lead on organizing potential discussions between the U.S. and North Korea, The New York Times reported on Saturday. The head of the CIA, Mike Pompeo, has been named as a successor to run the State Department in the wake of the ouster of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

The talks in Stockholm had initially been scheduled to conclude on Friday but were extended into the weekend.

The dialogue has been constructive, a source with knowledge of the discussions said. It should be seen as a positive sign that the meeting was extended (until Saturday).

The source said that Sweden had been in close touch with the United States and South Korea before the Stockholm meetings and hoped the talks would lead to further progress towards defusing tensions.

Sweden will continue to do what it can, but it is the protagonists themselves who have to drive the process forward, the source said.

In the wake of the Stockholm talks, Wallstrom will meet her South Korean counterpart Kang Kyung-wha, who was in Washington this week for talks on North Korea and trade, in Brussels on Monday, Wallstroms spokesman said.

Sweden is one of a handful of countries considered a possible venue for a meeting between Trump and Kim, who have engaged in bellicose mudslinging over North Korea and its nuclear arms program.The National Peoples Congress (NPC) of China, its parliament, on Saturday reelected incumbent President Xi Jinping for a second term, Sputnik International reports.

The secret ballot was held at the fifth plenary session of the 13th convocation of the Chinese legislature. It is also expected to reappoint Xi as the chair of Chinas Central Military Commission.

The 64-year-old was elected president for five years in March 2013. Earlier this month, the parliament voted to abolish presidential term limits, effectively allowing him to keep power indefinitely.

The Chinese parliament on Saturday also reappointed President Xi Jinping as the chair of the Central Military Commission.German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed overcapacity in world steel markets and agreed on Saturday to work on solutions within the framework of the G20 group of industrialized nations, Merkels spokesman said, Reuters reported.

In a telephone discussion, the two newly reelected leaders emphasized close ties between the two countries, both facing planned U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs, and agreed to deepen their strategic partnership, Steffen Seibert said in a statement.

They also underscored the importance of multilateral cooperation on global trade, a pointed response to an accelerating shift away from multilateral action and institutions by the United States under President Donald Trump.

U.S. officials have said they will seek to work with like-minded countries at the Group of 20 finance leaders meeting early next week in Argentina, to push back against Chinas state subsidies and investment policies.

Merkel and Xi discussed the problem of global overcapacities in the steel market and backed continued efforts to work toward solutions in the framework of the G20 Global Forum (on Steel Excess Capacity), Seibert said, referring to a body initiated at the G20 summit in Hangzhou, China in 2016.

In this regard, they emphasized the importance of close multilateral cooperation on trade, he said.

Trump has criticized both Germany and China for their trade surpluses with the United States since taking office in 2017.

Merkel on Saturday said Germanys trade surpluses were narrowing due to rising domestic demand, and the government would continue to try to support that trend.

German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier will visit Washington this week to press for an exemption from U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs as part of a broad push by the European Union to reverse the U.S. sanctions.

German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz will discuss the issue at a G20 meeting in Argentina with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

Merkel said on Friday the planned U.S. tariffs violated the principles of the World Trade Organization and the dispute should be resolved via talks if possible.

Seibert said Merkel invited the Chinese government to visit Berlin for official government consultations, and Xi also extended an invitation for Merkel to visit China.The Greek energy company has said that it will consider dual listing on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE), Globes reports.

Greek energy company Energean has raised 330 million ($460 million) in an IPO on the London Stock Exchange. The company said that the main use of the proceeds will go toward the development of the Karish and Tanin Israeli offshore gas fields. The money was raised at a company value of 695 million ($968 million) and Energean will trade under the ENOG ticker. Energean has said that it will consider dual listing on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE).

Energean CEO Mathios Rigas said, "The proceeds of this primary raise will be used to deliver production from our flagship development project offshore Israel, Karish and Tanin, bringing competitive gas to the burgeoning Israeli market. With the project financing in place, the EPCIC contract with TechnipFMC agreed, and gas supply contracts for over 4 BCM per year underpinning our cashflow expectations on the project, this equity financing completes another key milestone that allows us to progress with FID. We are confident that our ability to acquire, de-risk and develop projects of significant scale can deliver a flow of new opportunities in the region and attractive returns for our shareholders."

Earlier this month, Energean signed a $1.275 billion financing deal for the development of Israel's Tanin and Karish offshore natural gas fields. The financing was led by Bank Hapoalim (TASE: POLI), which will provide $375 million while Morgan Stanley, Societe Generale, and Natixis will each provide $300 million.

Energean acquired the Karish and Tanin reservoirs after the natural gas plan was approved by the government requiring Tamar and Leviathan partners Delek Drilling LP(TASE: DEDR.L) and Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL) to sell their stakes in the fields. The Greek company has since signed deals to sell gas to Israeli companies at around $4 per Btu (British thermal unit), 33% less than the $6 per Btu that Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) (TASE: ELEC.B22) is paying for gas from Tamar.The decommissioned World War II-era BRP Rajah Humabon (PS-11) will be turned into one of the exhibits at the Philippine Navy (PN) Museum in Sangley Point, Cavite City, Philippine News Agency reported.

Philippine Fleet Spokesperson Lt. Sahirul Taib said in an interview Thursday that turning the ship into an exhibit would happen shortly after it is stripped of its navigational equipment and other usable items.

Taib added that turning it into one of the exhibits was in honor of its 38 years of service and long-tenure as the Navy's flagship.

The retirement of BRP Rajah Humabon is in-line with the Navy's Strategic Sail Plan of "moving to legacy vessels to more and capable and modern vessels," he earlier said.Russias presidential election has begun in the Far East. Residents of the countrys easternmost regions - Kamchatka and Chukotka - are the first to cast their votes, TASS reported.

Eighty-five Russian regions cover eleven time zones. While it is still Saturday night in most Russian regions, it is 08.00 a.m. Sunday in Kamchatka and Chukotka, when polling stations open the doors for voters.

At midnight Moscow time, the Sakhalin and Magadan Regions will begin voting. At 01.00 Moscow time, the Primorsky and Khabarovsk Regions, eastern Yakutia will start casting their ballots. An hour later, the bulk of Yakutia will follow suit.

At 03.00 Moscow time, the presidential election will kick off in the Trans-Baikal and Irkutsk Regions, and an hour later, in the Krasnoyarsk, Kemerovo and Tuva Regions.

The regions of Altai, Omsk, Tomsk and Novosibirsk will open polling stations at 05.00 a.m. Moscow time to be followed by the Urals regions an hour later, at 06.00 Moscow time and by the Volga regions two hours later, at 07.00.

Polling stations will open at 08.00 a.m. in central and northwestern Russia and the North Caucasus. Residents of the westernmost Kaliningrad region will be the last to go to the polls, which will open at 09.00 there and close at 21.00 Moscow time.

Therefore, the first results will be made public across the country only later on.

Russia will hold its presidential election on Sunday, March 18. Eight candidates are running for the highest office in the Russian Federation.

Among them are: incumbent President Vladimir Putin; Pavel Grudinin, director of the Lenin State Farm (nominated by the Communist Party of Russia); TV personality and socialite Ksenia Sobchak (nominated by Civil Initiative); Sergey Baburin, head of the Russian Peoples Union party; Maxim Suraikin, chairman of the Central Committee of the Communists of Russia party; Boris Titov, chairman of the Party of Growth and Russian Presidential Envoy for Entrepreneurs Rights; Grigory Yavlinsky, head of the Yabloko Partys federal political committee; Vladimir Zhirinovsky, leader of the Liberal-Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR).

The candidate to occupy the nations highest post - the Russian presidency - is elected according to direct suffrage, which was introduced based on the results of a referendum on March 17, 1991. Any citizen not younger than 35, and who has been permanently residing in Russia for at least 10 years, is eligible to run for office of President of Russia.

On Sunday, March 18, 2018, a total of 96,000 polling stations will begin to open nationwide at 08:00 local time. The voting will last until 20:00 local time.

According to Ella Pamfilova, the head of the Central Election Commission (CEC), some 1,500 foreign observers from 109 countries will be monitoring the presidential elections.

Some 13,000 journalists representing more than 2,400 Russian media outlets will be covering the elections. In addition, over 1,400 journalists, including 400 foreign reporters, will work at the CEC media center.

Once the voting ends, the district election commissions will open the ballot boxes with the observers watching the process, and count the votes. The returns will then be written down in the district commissions statements of votes (SOV). The 2018 election will see the introduction of a new QR-code technology. Each SOV will bear a unique QR-code to be identified by a special scanner. This will help avoid mistakes in feeding data into the national automated vote-counting system - GAS Vybory.

The chief of each district election commission will take the SOV to the regional election commission, where the data will be uploaded into the GAS Vybory vote-counting system.

The Central Election Commission shall approve of the election returns within 10 days.

In order to clinch a victory in the first round, a candidate has to receive more than half of the votes cast. Should none of the candidates collect enough votes, a runoff election would be called within three weeks time for the frontrunner and the runner-up. A simple majority will determine the winner in that case.Baku, Azerbaijan, March 17

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

Turkey protects Europe from terrorism, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said when commenting on the European Parliament's resolution on Syria's Afrin, Turkish media reported on March 17.

Earlier the European Parliament has adopted a resolution calling for the cessation of hostilities throughout Syria. The document also calls on the Turkish government to withdraw its troops from Afrin.

Yildirim said Europe itself can not and is not able to fight against terrorism.

He noted that Europe should pray for Turkey and thank Ankara for the successful fight against terrorism.

The General Staff of Turkey announced on March 13 about complete encirclement of Afrin by the Turkish Armed Forces and Free Syrian Army.

On Jan. 20, the Turkish Armed Forces, together with the Free Syrian Army, launched the Operation Olive Branch in Afrin, Syria.

Earlier, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim announced that about 8,000-10,000 PYD/YPG terrorists are supposed to be hiding in Afrin.

Turkey began drawing its military to the Syrian border in late June 2017. The forces were being concentrated in Turkish Kilis Province bordering Syrian territory controlled by YPG/PYD.

On Aug. 24, 2016, Turkish Armed Forces, with the support of the Syrian opposition, launched the Euphrates Shield Operation against the IS militants and liberated the city of Jarabulus as well as the city of Al-Bab in northern Syria.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizogluBaku, Azerbaijan, March 17

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

Turkey is sending additional military equipment to the border with Syria, Turkish media reported referring to military sources on March 17.

Reportedly, the military equipment will be directed to the Hatay province, which borders Syria's Afrin.

The General Staff of Turkey announced on March 13 about complete encirclement of Afrin by the Turkish Armed Forces and Free Syrian Army.

On Jan. 20, the Turkish Armed Forces, together with the Free Syrian Army, launched the Operation Olive Branch in Afrin, Syria.

Earlier, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim announced that about 8,000-10,000 PYD/YPG terrorists are supposed to be hiding in Afrin.

Turkey began drawing its military to the Syrian border in late June 2017. The forces were being concentrated in Turkish Kilis Province bordering Syrian territory controlled by YPG/PYD.

On Aug. 24, 2016, Turkish Armed Forces, with the support of the Syrian opposition, launched the Euphrates Shield Operation against the IS militants and liberated the city of Jarabulus as well as the city of Al-Bab in northern Syria.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizogluTurkeys Deputy Prime Minister and Government Spokesperson Bekir Bozdag slammed a motion approved by the European Parliament that calls for a halt to Ankara's Operation Olive Branch in northern Syria's Afrin region Yenisafak reported

With this move, the European Parliament (EP) has shown once again that when it comes to Turkey, it cannot be fair, objective or neutral and that it will always side against Turkey. With this decision, the EP has violated the basic values that raised the EU, and chosen to stand in solidarity with terrorist organizations rather than stand in solidarity with Turkey, Bozdag tweeted on Friday.

Operation Olive Branch was initiated to save locals from the terrorists oppression and cruelty, clear the region of terrorists and establish security and stability. The values the EU stands for have been denied in the decision that goes against its requirement to fight against terror, he added.

The non-binding motion approved on Thursday calls for Turkey to halt its Operation Olive branch as well as urging the country to remove its troops from Afrin, where Ankara is targeting YPG terrorists in an offensive launched nearly two months ago.

Those who see the future of Europe in co-operation with terror groups are causing the greatest damage to the EP and European people. The EPs decision is null and void for Turkey. Turkey will not abandon its counterterrorism efforts because the EP made this decision. Operation Olive Branch will continue until the last terrorist in Afrin is neutralized, and peace, safety and security prevail in the region, Bozdag said.

Turkey considers the YPG a terrorist organization that is a Syrian extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a three-decade against the Turkish state. The PKK is deemed a terrorist organization by the European Union and the United States as well as by Turkey.

Turkish President Erdogan is due to meet senior European Union officials later this month in neighboring Bulgaria, which holds the bloc's rotating presidency, to discuss EU-Turkey relations as well as regional and international issues.Baku, Azerbaijan, March 17

Trend:

Turkish troops that had begun Operation Olive Branch in Syria on opposite sides of Afrin's north have been reunited, the Turkish General Staff said on Saturday, Turkish media reported.

In a statement, the Turkish General Staff said the two groups were heading west to east and vice versa before converging in the northern part of Syria's Afrin.

On Jan. 20, the Turkish Armed Forces, together with the Free Syrian Army, launched the Operation Olive Branch in Afrin, Syria.

Earlier, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim announced that about 8,000-10,000 PYD/YPG terrorists are supposed to be hiding in Afrin.

Turkey began drawing its military to the Syrian border in late June 2017. The forces were being concentrated in Turkish Kilis Province bordering Syrian territory controlled by YPG/PYD.

On Aug. 24, 2016, Turkish Armed Forces, with the support of the Syrian opposition, launched the Euphrates Shield Operation against the IS militants and liberated the city of Jarabulus as well as the city of Al-Bab in northern Syria.President Donald Trump on Friday signed legislation that encourages the United States to send senior officials to Taiwan to meet Taiwanese counterparts and vice versa, angering China, which views Taiwan as a wayward province, Reuters reports.

The bill, which is non-binding, would have gone into effect on Saturday morning, even if Trump had not signed it, said the White House.

The move adds to strains between the two countries over trade, as Trump has enacted tariffs and called for China to reduce its huge trade imbalance with the United States, even while Washington has leaned on Beijing to help resolve tensions with North Korea.

Earlier on Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang reiterated that Beijing was opposed to the legislation and urged the United States to abide by the one China policy and cease official exchanges with Taiwan.

In a statement after Trumps signing of the bill, the Chinese embassy said clauses of the legislation severely violate the one-China principle, the political foundation of the China-U.S. relationship.

China is strongly dissatisfied with that and firmly opposes it, the statement said, adding that the United States should stop pursuing any official ties with Taiwan or improving its current relations with Taiwan in any substantive way.

The United States does not have formal ties with Taiwan but is required by law to help it with self-defense and is the islands primary source of weapons.The contents of the confidential report submitted by the Irinjalakuda police to this effect to the court one-and-a-half-year ago have now come open.Homeland Security

Data on border tech performance a year away, says CBP

Prototypes of President Donald Trump's proposed border wall. (Photo: CBP San Diego)

Two top Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection officials told a congressional panel that they're working on ways to gauge the effectiveness of border security technology.

Integrated towers, sensors, video surveillance systems, aircraft and other technology all play a part in border security operations, CBP Acting Deputy Commissioner Ronald Vitiello said at a March 15 House hearing.

The Border and Maritime Security Subcommittee of the House Homeland Security Committee convened the hearing to get a sense of what could be achieved with the 10-year, $33 billion funding request from the administration to cover the proposed border wall and associated technology.

Vitiello said the latest proposal includes about 1,200 miles of new and replacement walls and secondary fencing, with $1.6 billion for technologies such as integrated fixed towers, remote video surveillance systems and communications systems.

However, Vitiello and DHS Undersecretary for Management Claire Grady told lawmakers their agencies can't provide detailed data on how effective such border security technologies are.

"We need to get better" at using data to show how it specifically contributes to border security, Vitiello said in response to a question from Rep. John Rutherford (R-Fla.). Collecting and analyzing detailed data on how technologies perform and contribute to security processes such as apprehensions at the border will help CBP develop credible, repeatable assessments for costs and placement of future technology, he said.

That analytical capability, Vitiello said, "is about a year or so out."

He said technologies such as remote video surveillance, ground sensors, biometric identification, advanced data reporting systems, non-intrusive X-ray detection systems and integrated fixed towers (IFTs) interlock with physical barriers and increased personnel for the most effective border security capability.

Physical border barriers would be supplemented by underground sensors to detect the seismic activity generated by attempts to tunnel beneath walls and fences, Vitello said.

Rebecca Gambler, director for Homeland Security and Justice at the Government Accountability Office, said DHS "has made progress" in installing and working with border technology in the last few years.

CBP had completed deployments of all planned remote video surveillance systems, mobile surveillance capability systems, as well as ground sensors. It is also well underway installing tower-based systems, with 15 of 53 of the IFT systems working in Arizona.Cybersecurity

Why is no one raising a hand to regulate the internet of things?

The National Institute for Standards in Technology is coordinating a pair of government reports dealing with cybersecurity standards for internet-of-things devices and combatting botnets, but any eventual recommendations will be non-binding, and NIST officials said not to expect a significant federal regulatory role.

Security certification efforts underway in China and Europe as well as a significant uptick this year in the use of botnet amplification attacks has put U.S. agencies and industry in a race to set international baseline security standards for connected devices. But NIST officials on Friday emphasized the voluntary nature of the eventual results and insisted the private sector take the lead when it comes to adoption.

A NIST draft interagency report on IoT cybersecurity standards was put out for public comment on Feb. 15, with comments due April 18. At a public meeting of the Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board (ISPAB) on March 16, NIST officials said the working group coordinating the report wanted to keep the scope narrow, focusing on core aspects of IoT security, defining what constitutes a connected device and identifying gaps in security.

Some industry associations have complained that previous attempts to legislate or regulate connected devices have failed because of overly broad definitions. The draft report defines IoT as having two main characteristics: being connected by a network providing the potential for many-to-many relationships among different components and having sensors and actuators that allow those components to interact with the physical world.

Michael Hogan, the NIST official charged with editing the draft report, said the working group initially shied away from setting parameters around what constituted a connected device, not wanting to spend half its time on the topic. However, members changed course after realizing a common definition was needed within the community. Hogan expressed hope that the standards and definition would serve as a model for industry and other areas of government.

"I'm very interested in seeing if this [definition] gets legs within agencies and elsewhere as a way to discuss IoT," Hogan said.

However, he was lukewarm when it came to the concept of mandatory certification, saying Congress could pass legislation, but that NIST would be "neutral" on the question because it was expensive and the nascent IoT market is in constant flux.

"Maybe it needs to be done, but it's not trivial," Hogan said.

Congress has had its eye on the issue but with little to show for it so far. A bipartisan Senate bill from Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) looks to leverage federal buying power to incentivize industry to move away from risky practices like selling unpatchable devices or shipping products with unchangeable, hard-coded passwords. So far the bill has yet to receive a committee hearing or vote.

A Government Accountability Office official told ISPAB on March 15 that the voluntary nature of the Cybersecurity Framework in the private sector made it difficult to assess how effective it has been in raising standards.

"No one could come out and articulate [what] percentage of entities in our sector are implementing the framework or this percentage of the framework," said GAO's Kush Malhotra. "A lot of what was driving that is  the voluntary nature of it, the fact that they couldn't compel entities to really report that information, so that was an inherent limitation."

Officials from NIST and the National Telecommunications and Information Association also provided an update on another draft report dealing with combatting botnets mandated through President Donald Trump's 2017 cybersecurity executive order. The final version of the report is scheduled for completion in May 2018 and -- like with the IoT cybersecurity report -- NTIA senior policy advisor Megan Doscher stressed that any resulting action or standards enforcement would be "industry led."

ISPAB's chairman, AT&T's Chris Boyer, made a case for government intervention if industry failed to pick up the torch and implement security improvements.

"I think that if the private sector doesn't step up and lead  then I think government does have a unique ability to convene industry and other stakeholders on certain issues," Boyer said.

Doscher said NTIA and NIST are looking for a third-party organization to implement standards, but acknowledged Boyer's point.

"We are hoping that an independent entity agrees to coordinate these things, and if nobody steps up, there may be a role for government there," Doscher said. "We don't want it to just sort of peter out because nobody's driving the action."Procurement

GSA, OMB want Congress to help smooth the path to online buying

Federal procurement officials say they need help from Congress to implement an online buying plan passed in the 2018 defense bill.

Congress mandated that government buyers be able to purchase common, off-the-shelf items from commercial online portals in the most recent National Defense Authorization Act.

The General Services Administration and the Office of Management and Budget, which are charged with putting the buying scheme into practice, asked Congress for new legislation to allow the federal government more leeway as it tries to mesh consumer-focused online buying with the high-regulation environment of government purchasing.

OMB and GSA want Congress to increase the micropurchase threshold to $25,000, allow GSA to modernize competition requirements and authorize GSA to find ways to increase buying power and efficiency.

GSA and OMB also want Congress to come up with a definition of "commercial e-commerce portals" that clarifies and expands on what is in the current legislation, to allow the portal concept to grow and change in line with future business models.

The idea, Jeff Koses, a GSA senior procurement executive explained in a teleconference call with reporters on March 16, is to bring e-commerce buying capabilities for federal customers more into line with how they shop online at home.

"Look at how you buy travel over the net," he said. Consumers can buy from a number of sites, including airlines, aggregators and others. Ticket sellers and travel agencies can package and price their goods appropriately and choose which platforms they sell through.

"The nature of competition has changed," he said. With e-commerce portals, Koses said GSA is trying to bring some of the speed and efficiency of commercial e-commerce to the federal buying process.

The next phase of development is underway, said Laura Stanton, assistant commissioner, Office of Strategy Management, in GSA's Federal Acquisition Service. Phase II, she said, consists of market research and consultation with agencies and stakeholders.

That research and tweaking of the rules might also entail issuing another set of recommendations in March 2019. The agency will also think about how the new competition rules might affect other GSA buying programs, such as the multiple award schedules, Stanton said.

Phase III, which begins in fiscal 2020, will look at the impact the e-commerce portal has had on federal buying, policy, data management, as well as how the program might be scaled up.Here are 4 of Stephen Hawking's biggest predictions from human extinction to aliens

Stephen Hawking was well-known for his work on black holes and the theory of relativity.

He also had theories on topics from artificial intelligence to humans moving to other planets.

Hawking once predicted that the earth would turn into a giant ball of fire by 2600 and humans would need to colonize another planet or face extinction.

The scientist also claimed that the advent of artificial intelligence could be the "worst event in the history of our civilization."

Hawking died at the age of 76 on Wednesday.

Stephen Hawking was well-known for his work on black holes and the theory of relativity. But, the famous physicist, who passed away on Wednesday at the age of 76, also had some predictions about the future, ranging from topics such as aliens to the end of the world.

Here are some of his most famous predictions.

The earth will turn into a ball of fire

Hawking theorized that humans would turn the planet into a giant ball of fire by 2600 due to overcrowding and energy consumption which will make Earth uninhabitable.

As a result, humans will need to go to live on another planet. Hawking said humans will need to colonize another planet within 100 years or face extinction.

"With climate change, overdue asteroid strikes, epidemics and population growth, our own planet is increasingly precarious," he said in a BBC documentary last year.

Hawking is part of the Breakthrough Starshot initiative, which plans to develop ultra-fast light-powered spacecraft that can look for habitable worlds that might be circling the nearby star, Alpha Centauri.

"Such a system could reach Mars in less than an hour, or reach Pluto in days, pass Voyager in under a week and reach Alpha Centauri in just over 20 years," Hawking said at the event.

Hawking's thoughts were similar to SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk . He said last year that there will be an "extinction event" if humans stay on Earth, according to an article in the journal New Space. Musk has made it clear that he believes that Mars could be a good alternative to Earth.

Story continues

Warnings on A.I.

In November last year, Hawking said the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) could be the "worst event in the history of our civilization," unless society finds a way to control its development.

The physicist did say that the technology could help eradicate poverty and disease, but admitted its future is uncertain.

"Success in creating effective AI, could be the biggest event in the history of our civilization. Or the worst. We just don't know. So we cannot know if we will be infinitely helped by AI, or ignored by it and side-lined, or conceivably destroyed by it," Hawking said during the speech.

"Unless we learn how to prepare for, and avoid, the potential risks, AI could be the worst event in the history of our civilization. It brings dangers, like powerful autonomous weapons, or new ways for the few to oppress the many. It could bring great disruption to our economy."

Global warming could reach a 'tipping point'

In an interview with the BBC last July, Hawking warned that global warming could reach a point where it can't be reversed.

"We are close to the tipping point where global warming becomes irreversible. (President Donald) Trump's action could push the Earth over the brink, to become like Venus, with a temperature of two hundred and fifty degrees, and raining sulphuric acid," Hawking said.

The scientist criticized Donald Trump decision last year to pull out of the Paris climate agreement, saying that it would cause "environmental damage to our beautiful planet, endangering the natural world, for us and our children."

There may be aliens out there

Given that Hawking spent most of his life looking at space, it's not surprising that he has pondered whether there are other lifeforms out there.

In 2015, Hawking joined Russian billionaire Yuri Milner to launch a project aimed at using high-powered computers to listen for aliens. The project, known as Breakthrough Initiatives, supports SETI@home, a scientific experiment based at the University of California, Berkeley. It uses computers to scan the skies to look for life.

"Somewhere in the cosmos, perhaps, intelligent life may be watching these lights of ours aware of what they mean," Hawking said. "Or do our lights wander a lifeless cosmos, unseen beacons announcing that here on our rock, the universe discovered its existence?."

CNBC's Robert Ferris contributed to this report.





More From CNBC

Eric Lindblad, Vice President and General Manager of the 777X program, addresses workers involved in Boeing's latest airplane development at the company's recently opened Composite Wing Center in Everett, Washington in this undated handout photo obtained by Reuters March 16, 2018. Boeing/Handout via REUTERS

By Tim Hepher

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Boeing Co (BA.N) has scrambled to reorganize testing of its new 777X to avoid being delayed by engine snags, while robots and mechanics are starting work on the fuselage, the executive who heads efforts to build the world's largest twin-engined jet said in an interview.

Engine supplier General Electric (GE.N) began flight trials of its new GE9X jet engine on Tuesday after a three-month delay caused mainly by a problem in its compressor. But to put the engine development back on track it must build a new component.

During that time, Boeing will place two temporary engines on the first flight-test aircraft that is gradually beginning to take shape, starting with its lightweight carbon wings and now the fuselage, which Boeing says is on schedule.

The engines, identical in every other respect to the ones that will go into service, will be swapped for fresh ones with the new part before the first 777X carries out its maiden flight next year. The temporary engines will not be fired up, but having them in place will allow other tests to go ahead.

"Honestly, when this happened I thought 'this is going to be bad' and we just kept grinding and grinding at it, and we came up with some pretty creative things to test where we could, build where we could," 777X Vice President and General Manager Eric Lindblad told Reuters.

"To put engines on and then take them off - that is all to protect the schedule," Lindblad said.

The hurried rejig reflects the fact that after years of planning, production has begun in earnest - something evident from activity inside Boeing's new high-tech wing center.

"We are at the point where it is time to start scaling up the speed that we build things here," Lindblad said inside the 1.3 million-square-foot (120,800-square-meter) fabrication plant where machines weave and bake major parts of the carbon wings.

The engine swap is also an example of how Boeing is trying to avoid eating into the 'buffer' traditionally built into development schedules. That's because it faces a challenging two years before the latest version of its 777 enters service.

Story continues

"We are now in the thick of it ... There is no more waiting until later to solve problems," Lindblad said. "There are still two years left. You cannot give away your buffer."

The 777X aims to maintain Boeing's grip on the 'mini-jumbo' market by leapfrogging Airbus SE's (AIR.PA) 365-seat A350-1000. Boeing has sold over 300 jets, though activity has slowed.

'MORE OPTIMISTIC'

So far, Boeing says it is on track to meet a 2020 target for delivering the first 406-seat 777-9 model to Emirates Airline.

But although the engine snag marks the first significant public slippage, Boeing has already faced a number of teething problems in building carbon wings and other components.

"Everything is hard at this point where you start building an airplane. When you ask me how wing assembly has been going, it's been hard," Lindblad said.

One of the problems involves fitting the carbon panels to the skeleton of spars and ribs, with the light but strong carbon-fiber material less forgiving than traditional aluminum.

"Assuming we continue to march our way through the plan that we have laid out, I feel pretty optimistic about (the engine) and I think that wing assembly is a matter of incorporating the learnings," Lindblad said.

Six months ago, Lindblad says something else was making him feel "queasy". Integration of aircraft systems in a special demonstration lab was not happening as quickly as planned.

"I am more optimistic today," he said. He added that he would be "cautiously guarded" until the first flight, due in the first quarter of 2019.

Another headache has been producing enough wing stringers: reinforcing strips that go outwards from the fuselage.

"I feel confident we have got a plan for that so we are tracking basically back to schedule."

Now Boeing must marry together the various wing parts and produce the long metallic fuselage.

Fuselage panels arriving from Japan have been loaded into a "Fuselage Automated Upright Build" (FAUB) machine used to fasten them. Boeing had delays when the machine was tried out on existing versions of the 777, but Boeing says the system is now running at full speed of five planes a month.

Drawing on experience of the smaller 737 MAX, which has absorbed production increases on a larger scale, Lindblad said the 777X production system had been set up to handle a targeted speed but would not disclose capacity.

"We are planning for world demand," he said.

The first task is to get flight trials under way so that ambitious fuel-saving goals can be tested.

"Will we get four airplanes in the flight test on schedule? We'll see. I think we have a pretty good shot at it."

(Reporting by Tim Hepher in Seattle; editing by Grant McCool)(Repeats with no changes)

By Nandita Bose and Tom Polansek

NEW YORK/CHICAGO, March 15 (Reuters) - Walmart Inc's patent filings hint that it may see a future where farmers use its drones to not only spot crop problems but selectively apply chemicals or even disperse pollen to bring shoppers the freshest and cheapest food possible.

The world's largest retailer applied for six patents last year on drones that aim to prevent damage to crops, control pest attacks on farms and cross-pollinate plants, according to U.S. Patents and Trademark Office documents that were made public last week and seen by Reuters.

Groceries make up 56 percent of the company's total revenue and Walmart may see drone technology as one way to get food from farms to store shelves faster and more cheaply to compete with Amazon.com Inc, following its purchase of Whole Foods Market last year and the expansion of discount chains like Aldi and Lidl. In one application, Walmart seeks to patent a system that would use drones to identify crop-damaging pests and then dispense insecticides on the critters. Another suggests the use of drones carrying pollen dispensers to successfully pollinate crops.

Using technology to precisely apply pesticides rather than spraying entire fields can benefit the environment and save money for farmers. As part of a sustainability push in recent years, Walmart has also worked with suppliers to reduce the amount of fertilizer used to grow crops because it can pollute the environment.

Walmart spokeswoman Molly Blakeman said the company always looks for new ways to serve shoppers better but had no comment on the filings. The retailer applies for dozens of patents a year and many do not result in commercial products.

Walmart previously applied for a patent involving drones that could monitor crops' growing conditions and send data to stores about when and from where produce might arrive, said Zoe Leavitt, a senior analyst from data intelligence firm CB Insights, which analyzes corporate patent filings. The series of six applications indicates Walmart is looking into farming more seriously, she said.

Story continues

Walmart has so far applied for 46 patents for using drone technology, mostly to facilitate its delivery and logistics operations, or for use within warehouses to do things such as track inventory, according to data from CB Insights.

In U.S. agriculture, drones are most often used to survey farms that can span hundreds of acres. The devices fly above fields and take photos that help growers estimate the size of upcoming harvests or identify problems, such as weed infestations and nutrient deficiencies.

Other industries have also turned to drones, with AT&T Inc using the devices to look at cellphone towers in Texas last year after Hurricane Harvey. Insurers such as Allstate Corp use them to assess property damage.

"The technology is very powerful and using that to control the supply chain as far out as possible will offer Walmart a distinct advantage over rivals," said Bill Bishop, co-founder of retail consultancy Brick Meets Click.

The market for agricultural drones will top $1 billion by 2024, up from about $338 million in 2016, according to research firm Global Market Insights.

However, Walmart's patent applications stand out because they indicate the company sees greater potential to address problems on farms, rather than simply spot them, said David Dvorak, chief executive officer for Field of View, a U.S. company that sells drone camera systems.

"It sounds like Walmart is trying to develop a complete system that can actually do something about it," Dvorak said.

The patent push involving agricultural technology harks back to McDonald Corp's efforts in the 1960s to patent the processing of potatoes into French fries so it could reliably deliver consistent quality fries at the lowest cost in massive volumes.

"Companies like Walmart for a long time have created sustainability initiatives and this is really where the rubber is meeting the road," said Jayson Lusk, head of agricultural economics at Purdue University.

Such environmental-focused initiatives can be attractive to consumers, Lusk said. Eventually Walmart, which is courting more urban, higher income and health conscious shoppers for their online grocery business, could require suppliers to buy food from farmers who use agricultural technology to reduce chemicals to produce crops, he said.

"A way how this might come down is the imposition of standards on their suppliers," Lusk said.

(Reporting by Nandita Bose in New York and Tom Polansek in Chicago; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)By Fergus Jensen SYDNEY (Reuters) - Indonesia has lobbied Southeast Asian countries to carry out maritime patrols in the disputed South China Sea, claimed in most part by China, to improve security, Defence Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu said on Friday. Indonesia says it's a non-claimant state in the South China Sea dispute but has clashed with China over fishing rights around the Natuna Islands and expanded its military presence there, and also renamed the northern reaches of its exclusive economic zone, asserting its own maritime claim. Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Defence Minister Marise Payne held talks with their Indonesian counterparts Retno Marsudi and Ryacudu in Sydney, ahead of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit. Australia is hosting the meeting, despite not being a member of the 10-nation bloc, as it seeks to tighten political and trade ties in the region amid China's rising influence. "For the South China Sea, I went around to friends - ASEAN defense ministers - so that each country that faces the South China Sea patrols up to 200 nautical miles, around 230 kilometers," Ryacudu told reporters at a joint press conference. Indonesia is focusing on three areas, notably the Sulu Sea, the Malacca Strait and the seas around the coast of Thailand, Ryacudu said, referring to existing cooperation with Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines. "If we look at the (borders) from Vietnam down to Indonesia and to the Philippines, we can see we have secured almost half of the South China Sea (in areas) we are already patrolling." China claims most of the South China Sea, an important trade route and which is believed to contain large quantities of oil and natural gas, and has been building artificial islands on reefs, some with ports and air strips, developments that have irked ASEAN members. China has also been rapidly increasingly its military deployment in the South China Sea and its air force said last month that Chinese Su-35 fighter jets took part in a combat patrol over the disputed waterway. Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, all of which are members of ASEAN, and Taiwan also have claims in the sea. China's foreign minister said last week that China's resolve to protect peace and stability in the South China Sea was unshakeable, and that outside forces were attempting to muddy the waters. China has been angered in the past by freedom of navigation patrols in the South China Sea by the United States which it sees as provocative. Australia - which says it takes no sides on South China Sea disputes but has supported U.S.-led freedom of navigation activities - has previously said it had no plans to take part in joint patrols. Officially, the ASEAN summit will focus on fostering closer economic ties among the members of ASEAN and Australia, and countering the threat of Islamist militants returning to the region from the Middle East. Australian Foreign Minister Bishop also said Australia would "very seriously" consider any formal invitation to join the grouping, a move advocated by Indonesian President Joko Widodo. (Reporting by Fergus Jensen; Editing by Nick Macfie)TipRanks

In recent weeks, weve seen markets pull back after a prolonged upward trend. The reasons are varied, and include rising inflation, a weak jobs market, and the spread of the COVID Delta variant. At the same time, despite the increasing number of cases in this COVID wave, were not seeing a jump to lockdown policies  and while cases are up, severe cases are not. As the danger of COVID starts to ebb, economies are starting to rev up again. JPMorgans global equity strategist Dubravko Lakos-BujasOn March 1, a Hartford judge officially dismissed a decades-old murder charge against Alfred Swinton. Swinton, who served 18 years of a 60-year sentence, was released last June after DNA testing exculpated him, and a forensic expert who testified at his trial recanted. But it was not until this month, when the states attorney confirmed that her office would not retry Swinton, that the miscarriage of justice that claimed nearly two decades of a mans life was rectified. Swintons story provides an opportunity for Connecticut to critically examine the ways in which forensic evidence can threaten the integrity of the criminal justice systemand how, in the process, we can look for answers. At Swintons 2001 murder trial, the most damning evidence came from Gus Karazulas, the chief forensic dentist for the Connecticut State Police. Karazulas, who claimed to be an expert in analyzing bite marks, testified that bite marks found on the murder victims body had been made by Swinton. His opinion rejected any possibility of error; Karazulas testified, I believe that with reasonable medical certainty without any reservation that these marks were created by [Swintons] teeth. That sentence was quoted by the Connecticut Supreme Court in upholding Swintons conviction. Bite-mark analysis relies on two premises: first, that human dentition, like DNA, is entirely unique; and second, that human skin can record a dental impression with enough sensitivity to be accurately matched to an individual. The problem is that neither premise has been proved. In the years since Swintons conviction, bite-mark analysis has been almost entirely debunked. In 2009, the National Academy of Sciences published a congressionally commissioned report on the state of forensic science in the courtroom. The report was critical of a wide range of forensic specialties, but it singled out bite-mark analysis as particularly dubious. It found no evidence of an existing scientific basis for identifying an individual to the exclusion of all others. In 2016, a report by the United States Presidents Council of Advisors on Science and Technology affirmed this conclusion and went a step further, declaring that the odds of transforming bite-mark analysis into a scientifically valid method were nil. Acting on these developments, Swintons attorneys asked Karazulas to re-evaluate the state of forensic dentistry and his own opinions. To his credit, Karazulas did so wholeheartedly. He filed an affidavit on Swintons behalf that discredited bite-mark analysis as a valid forensic method and retracted his opinion about Swinton. Approximately 30 other defendants across the country have been exonerated in similar circumstances, but many more remain incarcerated based on bite-mark testimony. The judicial branchs role as gatekeeper when it comes to scientific evidence is inherently limited. It is only as good as the prevailing view in the scientific community at the time. When our Supreme Court affirmed Swintons conviction in 2004, for example, it was able to marshal compelling evidence that bite-mark analysis was methodologically valid and employed in courtrooms nationwide. This raises a difficult but important question: how can courts protect the rights of criminal defendants when the reliability of a forensic method may shift radically over time? One answer may lie in imposing stricter limits in criminal cases on how expert forensic opinions are given. According to the latest research, many forensic methodseven if generally reliablecarry meaningful error rates. And most, with the exception of DNA, are not able to identify a perpetrator to the exclusion of others. Yet across all fields, experts elide these critical limitations, overstating the probative value of their evidence and expressing a confidence level that far exceeds what the relevant science can justify. Opinions rendered with empirically unfounded certainty are not a matter of expertise or professional judgment, they are scientifically invalid. And the consequences are alarming. A three-year study by the Department of Justice and the FBI of 3,000 criminal cases involving microscopic hair analysis revealed that FBI examiners had provided scientifically invalid testimony in more than 95 percent of cases in which testimony was used to convict a defendant. Courts may not be able to foresee how science will change, but they canand shouldlimit forensic experts from overstating the probative value of their opinions. The 2016 report from the Presidents Council provides concrete recommendations in this area, urging courts to preclude forensic experts from using a laundry list of common phrases that are scientifically indefensible. One of those phrases is to a reasonable degree of scientific certainty, almost precisely the language that helped convict Swinton. Turning a critical eye to forensic science and seeking avenues for reform will not atone for what was done to Swinton, but it is an essential first step.(Adds background on tariffs)

WASHINGTON, March 16 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump is negotiating with a number of countries over the possibility of providing exemptions to new U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, the White House said on Friday.

"He's ... working with a number of individual countries and negotiating on areas of national security where we can work together and there's some flexibility there," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters.

"We're continuing to have those conversations and will continue through ... the end of next week," she said.

Sanders did not provide any further details on those discussions.

Trump imposed tariffs of 25 percent on imports of steel and 10 percent for aluminum on March 8, but the tariffs will not go into effect until March 23.

While only Canada and Mexico are currently exempted from the tariffs, the White House has said other countries could also seek exemptions.

The administration has not outlined any specifics on how it will determine which countries will get relief from the trade measures.

Japan and the European Union have urged the United States to grant them exemptions, arguing that their exports were not a threat to U.S. national security.

If the European Union is not exempted, the European Commission has said that it should impose duties of 25 percent on a range of U.S. products.

The commission, which coordinates trade policy for the 28 EU members, asked for industry views on Friday on a 10-page list of products the EU may subject to tariffs including rice, orange juice, make-up and motorcycles. (Reporting by Ayesha Rascoe; Writing by Tim Ahmann Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and James Dalgleish)Afghan officials say at least three people have been killed and two others wounded in a suicide car-bomb attack that apparently targeted a foreign security company in the capital, Kabul.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the blast that hit the Despechari area in eastern Kabul in the morning on March 17.

Deputy Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said the attacker "detonated himself before reaching the target."

The ministry said all those killed and wounded in the attack were civilians, with no casualties among the contractors.

Eyewitnesses confirmed that the victims were passersby and local workers.

All those killed were barbers or shoeshine men. I was horrified when I saw their bodies," eyewitness Mohammad Osman told Reuters. The explosion damaged nearby buildings, he added.

The latest attack comes amid growing pressure on the Taliban to take up the Afghan government's offer of peace talks to end the 16-year conflict.

Kabul has recently seen a spate of militant attacks claimed by the Taliban and Islamic State.

Earlier this week, top U.S. commander in Afghanistan John Nicholson said security in Kabul would be "the main effort" for international powers helping Afghan defense and security forces.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, dpa, APthefibonacci wrote:

Bunuel wrote: Tough and Tricky questions: Distance/Rate .



Edwin is planning to drive from Boston to New Orleans. By what percent would his travel time be reduced if Edwin decides to split the driving time equally with his friend George, instead of making the trip alone?



(1) The driving distance from Boston to New Orleans is 1500 miles.

(2) Georges driving speed is 1.5 times Edwins driving speed. Edwin is planning to drive from Boston to New Orleans. By what percent would his travel time be reduced if Edwin decides to split the driving time equally with his friend George, instead of making the trip alone?(1) The driving distance from Boston to New Orleans is 1500 miles.(2) Georges driving speed is 1.5 times Edwins driving speed.



B.



1) only distance is given, speed/time is not given so insufficient.



2) let edwin's speed be x. --> george's speed becomes 1.5x

so when he travels alone, he must have taken d/x amount of time

now when he splits the driving time equally with george, then lets assume he drove for k miles

=> k/x = (d-k)/1.5x

=> 2.5k = d



earlier he travelled for 2.5k/x hours, now he travels for k/x hours. so time reduction rate can be calculated. hence, sufficient. B.1) only distance is given, speed/time is not given so insufficient.2) let edwin's speed be x. --> george's speed becomes 1.5xso when he travels alone, he must have taken d/x amount of timenow when he splits the driving time equally with george, then lets assume he drove for k miles=> k/x = (d-k)/1.5x=> 2.5k = dearlier he travelled for 2.5k/x hours, now he travels for k/x hours. so time reduction rate can be calculated. hence, sufficient.Emory ($) vs Stern (Parttime/ Evening MBA) [ #permalink

Hello Everyone,



I need to choose between Goizueta Evening (Part time) MBA and Stern Part time MBA. Without considering the following stern is definitely the winner. Kindly go through the following and let me know what you think



Current industry - Tech. I am an analytics professional

Post MBA - Tech consulting or Product management or Senior roles in Analytics/ Marketing analytics. More inclined towards product management . I will stay in tech industry only.

Post MBA location - I could stay in US for 2 more years and will then go back to India. So I also need to consider brand image in India . Going to India is certain.

Tuition Fee - With the $10,000 scholarship, Goizueta fee is $63,600. Stern tuition fee is $129,480. The difference is $65,880

Cost of living/ Quality of living - I think Atlanta beats New York and New Jersey hands down. Weather also favors Atlanta.

Current tech employment situation - Don't need to talk about New York. New York and surrounding areas have plenty of job opportunities in tech. Atlanta is a loser compared to New York, but is not bad either because it also has lots of companies, including big ones like Delta, Coca Cola etc., which fill tech positions. So If I loose my job, I can find one in both comfortably

School Tech reputation - From my research both schools are great for Consulting and Marketing. Stern is also strong in Finance. Both don't place many individuals in tech functions (low percentages). But I will have 9 years in tech by the time I graduate. So don't need additional cushion from schools. I am going to hone leadership, build network and learn marketing knowledge during MBA . These skills with my tech background will help me achieve my POST MBA career goals

Community - Since I am from India, I would like to have some Indian presence to stay connected to my roots. Both places are great in that regards. Both are cosmopolitan cities

Spouse Job Opportunities - She is pursuing Oncology and will graduate in 2019. Seems like it is much easier for her to find a job in New York- New Jersey than in Atlanta. Because everyone tries to go to Atlanta because of the quality of life it offers.

Spouse preference - She prefers Atlanta over New York- New jersey any day

Friends/ Family - Mane friends in and around New York. Fewer friends in Atlanta. But since Atlanta is culturally very friendly, I am not giving it a lot of importance.

Current Debt - $0. Money is not a problem. My spouse will earn big starting July next year. I earn decently too

Personal Choice - Everything favors Goizueta/ Atlanta except brand. Stern is like a dream for me. Will be a big achievement considering what/who I have always been since schooling. Also, I know Stern is well know in India. Not sure about Goizueta. But Goizueta is less of a financial burden and offers better life

My current location - I live in philly. But moving is not a problem. My spouse agreed for 1 year long distance if I am going to emory



I understand this is a long post. Sorry. Some of the info could be irrelevant to you, but included everything possible because I have seen responders of other posts ask similar questions



By considering the above factors, what do you suggest? Kindly let me know



Is Stern worth $65,880, which I save by attending Goizueta?



Thank You,

DJSTORY UPDATED: check for updates below.

Is recreational use of marijuana now legal in Florida? Has pot use been legalized by a new bill? Unfortunately for Florida weed smokers, no.

The rumor originated on a fake news website using the domain name abcnews-us.com which falsely uses the logo of ABCNews (the real website is at abcnews.go.com). The fake site publised an article on March 17th 2018 titled "Florida passes bill legalizing recreational use of marijuana" (archived here) which opened:

Orlando, Fl. - Weed smokers rejoice, The state of Florida can now be added to the growing list of US states that have past bills to legalize the use marijuana. The bill to legalize marijuana for medical and recreational use in the state was first presented at the state capital back in July is expected to be in place by Easter. Lawmakers have finally given the go-ahead citing it will jump-start the economy and create new jobs. "This bill is so much more than legalizing marijuana--it's about legalizing opportunity and prosperity," said Democratic leader Janet Cruz. "The state budget was due two weeks ago, and Florida simply can't afford to wait any longer. We deserve a real plan to create new jobs and stimulate our lagging economy, and that's what this bill is."

The fake story is almost word-for-word the same as an earlier fake legal marijuana story about Wisconsin published by the same site about three months ago. Compare:

MADISON, Wis. - Weed smokers rejoice, The state of Wisconsin can now be added to the growing list of US states that have past bills to legalize the use marijuana. The bill to legalize marijuana for medical and recreational use in the state was first presented at the state capital back in July is expected to be in place by the end of the year. Lawmakers have finally given the go-ahead citing it will jump-start the economy and create new jobs. "This bill is so much more than legalizing marijuana--it's about legalizing opportunity and prosperity," said Democratic Melissa Sargent. "The state budget was due two weeks ago, and Wisconsin simply can't afford to wait any longer. We deserve a real plan to create new jobs and stimulate our lagging economy, and that's what this bill is."

Normally we at Lead Stories despise sites that copy content without giving credit but in this case it is the owner of a fake site "stealing" his own content so we'll let it slide.

The same fake news site was also responsible for the recent Pamela Anderson death hoax and for reviving another hoax about a funeral home employee being accidentally cremated during a nap.

As the High Times, a publication specializing in marijuana-related issues, reported only two weeks ago:

Florida voters legalized medical marijuana by a 71 percent majority in 2016. Subsequently, the state legislature outlawed smokeable forms of cannabis in 2017. Patients would have to rely on vaping, topicals, tinctures, edibles and other non-combustible forms of cannabis. Legislators cited the health risks of smoking as the reason for the ban.

Don't be taken in by this fake news story: it might get you arrested for possession or worse!An initiative taken by kerala's leading womens magazine, Grihalakshmi has a cover of an actress and model Gilu Joseph staring into the camera as she breastfeeds an infant with bold letters written on the caption Moms tell Kerala- dont stare, we want to breastfeed. The magazines campaign is breastfeed freely which released on the occasion of International Women's Day. The magazine portrays that now in the 21st century we need to break the taboo and support women who breastfeed their baby publicly.

The photo triggered the debate in India as some supporters supported the bold move taken by Grihalakshmis magazine to create awareness in the people.

Its a progressive step to break the taboo. Others felt that its an offensive business move that was taken by the Magazine to move its circulation as Kerala is known for its literacy rate and never looked down on the breastfeeding mothers. In other parts of the nation mothers always look for a corner to breastfeed their child and are expected to cover up as, according to the society, its not good that even the slightest portion can be seen. Some people dont know that in 1984, Indian government released a postal stamp that featured a mother breastfeeding a child without covering up.

What 1986 Act says

Where this magazine cover got appreciated was by the worlds leading NGOs including UNICEF India for its awareness campaign.

It is also going through some legal trouble as Vinod Wilson, filed a criminal case against the magazine under section 3 and 4 of the Indecent representation of women (prohibition) Act of 1986. Under this section: Indecent representation of women through advertisement or in publication, writing, paintings, figures or in any other manner or exhibition connected therewith or incidental thereto. The woman and the magazine did not say anything bad but it comes under Indecent representation of women Act.

She'd never been taught that breastfeeding is a sin and something to be covered up and this campaign is for a good purpose.

Debate triggered

On 9th may, 2017 when an Australian member of parliament Larissa Waters breastfed her daughter in the Australian parliament the world did not end. On the other hand, she was appreciated for her motherhood values.

India at present is ranked lowest among the South Asian countries in breastfeeding practices. The opinions were divided into two halves one supported that the issue of the magazine as just encouraging the women to breastfeed their child in public. The common people are aware that if any woman is breastfeeding in public, she should not feel awkward. It is her right to feed her baby; why should anyone stare? The opposition says that this campaign is just a cheap gimmick act done by the magazine owner to increase the magazine's rating.

In India when the government is driving a campaign for Women empowerment this kind of bold move taken by the magazine will be appreciated as we always want to become a developed country like the United States or the United Kingdom but fail to break the wrong mindsets of the people.

No one objected when the postal stamps got published in an era when India was not as modern as it is now.

This is such a serious issue raised by the Grihalakshmi Magazine which has interviews with the women who face the problem of breastfeeding in public. But all the seriousness has been diverted to the breastfeeding issue with the cover of the magazine. No matter how much we talk about the womens right and womens freedom, still we are failing to change the mindsets of the people. Do you think it's necessary for a woman breastfeeding her child to cover-up?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New York, Mar 17 (JEN): In the span of just three days  between 10 and 13 March  more than 4,000 people, mostly terrified women and children, have crossed into Uganda from crisis-gripped eastern provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the United Nations refugee agency said Friday.

Babar Baloch spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) told reporters at the regular news briefing in Geneva that the agency is working with partner organizations in western Uganda to support the influx, many who are exhausted, hunger and deeply traumatized by horrific inter-ethnic violence and sexual abuse they have reportedly endured.

Since the year began, an overwhelming 77.5 per cent of more than 57,000 refugees displaced by the violence in eastern DRC are women and children, according to the ageny.

These numbers are on a larger scale still than in 2017, when some 44,000 fled over the course of the entire year, he continued. UNHCR fears thousands more could arrive in Uganda if the security situation inside the DRC does not immediately improve.

Baloch said that the majority continue to cross into Uganda via Lake Albert in rickety and unsafe boats from Ituri (province), a journey that has already cost the lives of several refugees.

The situation has been even more dangerous in recent days because of bad weather, he noted.

Although the lack of access means it is difficult to offer a detailed picture of the situation, UNHCR has received chilling accounts of violence  rape, murder and separation from family members.

These are linked to the deteriorating security situation, internal conflicts and inter-communal tensions, the spokesperson maintained, saying that armed men are reported to be attacking villages, looting and burning houses, indiscriminately killing civilians and kidnapping young men and boys.

A growing number of reports indicate that the violence is taking on ethnic dimensions as tribal groups engage in retaliatory attacks.

Dozens of refugees have recounted to UNHCR staff in Uganda, stories of the sexual violence and assaults they have endured  the vast majority of whom are women and girls, as well as some men and boys.

These alarming reports have led the UN refugee agency and partners to strengthen the systems in place to identify and support survivors of sexual and gender based violence, stressed Baloch.

UNHCR has deployed significant additional staff and resources to identify victims and strengthen support, including medical screening at Lake Albert landing sites, sexual and gender-based violence screening at the reception centres and making gender segregation spaces available.

Working with partners, we have deployed additional staff specifically trained in psychosocial care to increase support to [sexual and gender based violence] refugee survivors and have conducted further outreach with community leaders and networks to ensure refugees are aware of what services are available to them, he stated.

We are also working with our humanitarian partners to save lives after a Cholera outbreak killed at least 32 refugees, Mr. Baloch said, informing that the number of reported cases have significantly dropped from 668 to 160 since the February outbreak.

He pointed out that the nearly $180 million refugee response funding appeal for Uganda remains poorly funded, severely restricting capacities of humanitarian organizations to deliver vital aid and assistance.

Within that appeal, only three per cent of UNHCRs $118.3 million requirement is funded.

UNHCR/Michele SibiloniNew York, Mar 17 (JEN): To meet the urgent needs of nearly 900,000 Rohingya refugees and more than 330,000 vulnerable Bangladeshis in the communities hosting them, United Nations agencies and their humanitarian partners appealed jointly on Friday for $951 million.

We are talking about truly critical needs here both on the part of the Bangladeshi communities who have so generously opened their doors, and of a Stateless and refugee population that even prior to this crisis was among the worlds most marginalised and at risk, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said in Geneva, launching the 2018 Joint Response Plan (JRP) for the rohingya humanitarian crisis.

Over the months since the most recent Rohingya influx began, it has become the worlds fastest growing refugee crisis  with tens of thousands fleeing by land and sea daily from Myanmars northern Rakhine state at the peak of the emergency.

The Bangladesh Government and people have responded with extraordinary generosity and hospitality to the 671,000 Rohingya refugees who have arrived since 25 August.

Almost seven months in, refugees continue to arrive and the situation in Coxs Bazar remains fluid.

The Kutupalong-Balukhali site, where some 600,000 refugees are living, is now the largest and most densely populated refugee settlement in the world.

Precarious conditions and the ongoing emergency response there are about to be further challenged by the approaching monsoon season, placing more than 150,000 Rohingya refugees at risk of landslides and floods, threatening disaster on top of the current emergency.

The solutions to this crisis lie inside Myanmar, and conditions must be established that will allow refugees to return home, said Mr. Grandi. But today we are appealing for help with the immediate needs, and these needs are vast.

Complementing Bangladeshs continuing efforts, the 2018 appeal aims to bring together more than 100 UN agencies and national and international non-governmental organizations to ensure that refugees and host communities receive the life-saving assistance, protection and the support they desperately need. It also includes contingency planning for 80,000 more refugees in the coming months.

The needs and vulnerabilities of the Rohingya refugee population in Bangladesh are immense, said William Swing, Director General of the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Many Governments generously supported the last Rohingya crisis appeal. Given the large scale of the emergency and the amount of humanitarian services needed to ensure lives can be protected with dignity, continued and enhanced support is necessary, he added.

Fifty-four per cent of the appeal is to ensure food, water and sanitation, shelter and other basic aid, with food alone accounting for 25 per cent of the total.

While acknowledging great appreciation for the generosity with which the response has been funded, Mia Seppo, UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh, lauded the Governments efforts.

In terms of being the first responders, in terms of providing land, in terms of keeping its borders open, in terms of providing asylum, in terms of building roads, extending electricity networks, providing food, seconding civil servants, providing police and army to keep order in the camp. The biggest donor to this crisis continues to be the people and the Government of Bangladesh.

The humanitarian response faces immense challenges, including congested conditions, gender-based violence and critical public health concerns, namely measles, diphtheria and diarrhoea.

So far, the emergency response from September 2017 to February 2018 has received $321 million of the $434 million required.



UNICEF/LeMoyneKabul, Mar 17 (IBNS): At least three people were killed in a suicide car bomb attack in Afghanistan's Kabul city on Saturday, media reports said.

The incident reportedly left four others injured.

Nasrat Rahimi, deputy spokesman for the Ministry of Interior (MoI), told the Pajhwok Afghan News agency of Afghanistan that the blast took place near a foreign base at 9:10am in the limits of the 9th police district.

Wahid Majroh, spokesman for the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), told the news agency at least three bodies and four injured people had been evacuated to hospital.

The deceased people were all civilians, reports said.

The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Image: UN websiteOn March 17, people around the world celebrate the Irish holiday of Saint Patricks Day.

It is a major holiday in Ireland, but the rest of the world has influenced its celebration as much as the Irish themselves.

Calm, religious beginnings

Most Americans think of Saint Patricks Day as a big party centered around drinking alcohol. But its beginnings in Ireland were religious, says Mike Cronin, a professor of Irish history with Boston College of Massachusetts.

Ireland is a mostly Roman Catholic country. Saint Patrick lived in Ireland more than 2,000 years ago. He is widely considered to have established Christianity in the country.

The Church honored him with a holy day in the 17th century. March 17 marks the date of his death.

St. Patrick, a Briton reportedly, is believed to have served in Ireland as a Catholic Bishop. One traditional story says that St. Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland.

The average Irish person honored March 17 quietly. Attending church services was the main activity. In fact, most businesses that served alcohol would close in honor of the day.

In the early 1900s, Irelands government made St. Patricks Day an official holiday. By the 1960s, towns across Ireland started celebrating the holiday with parades and music. In Ireland today,

St. Patricks Day is a four-day public celebration that includes parades, music, food, and games.

Putting the Irish on center stage

For Irish people living outside Ireland, Saint Patricks Day became a chance to celebrate their Irish identity and culture.

Its very much a day by which the Irish put themselves center stage, Cronin said.

Now, countries and cities around the world celebrate March 17 in creative ways.

Many countries hold Saint Patricks Day parades. Famous monuments, including the Great Wall of China, the Colosseum in Rome, the Niagara Falls, and the Gateway of India in Mumbai will all be colored by green light for the day.

The U.S. is especially famous for its Saint Patricks Day celebrations. Many cities with large ethnic Irish communities, like Boston, New York and Chicago, hold parades and parties. Cities will also color local rivers green for the day.

Ireland is known as the Emerald Isle. The country is covered in deep green grass.

Cronin says that the worldwide popularity of Saint Patricks Day has helped the Irish government, which uses the holiday as a form of diplomacy.

So what you have is this quite remarkable day where literally over much of the globe, everybody, whether theyre Irish or not, the one thing they do know is the 17th of March is Saint Patricks Day. And for a small island of 4.5 to 5 million people it's quite remarkable that they have that kind of soft power."

An American holiday

However, Cronin says many modern Saint Patricks Day traditions were invented by the Irish in America.

In the U.S. on Saint Patricks Day, it is common for Americans to drink green beer or eat corned beef and cabbage.

However, Cronin, says, many of these traditions are not really Irish.

You could walk around the streets of Dublin all day and not find any corned beef and cabbage, he said.

Neil OFlaherty, an Irish citizen now living in the U.S., agrees.

Growing up in a small town in Ireland, OFlaherty remembers celebrating Saint Patricks Day much differently than it is now.

"Back then, for Catholic families, it was the day you had to go to church, you were required to go to Mass on that day. It had much more the feeling of a religious holiday than a public holiday."

He also remembers everyone wearing small, three-leaf plant pieces, called shamrocks.

OFlaherty said that he was surprised to see how much Saint Patricks Day in the U.S. has become linked to drinking lots of beer or other alcoholic drinks.

However, there are some Irish connections between drinking and Saint Patricks Day.

One tradition that does come from Ireland is called drowning the shamrock. Cronin explains that this tradition involved taking the shamrock that people wore all day, and placing it in a glass of whiskey or beer before drinking it.

Professor Mike Cronin suggests it is not that important how people celebrate March 17. He calls Saint Patricks Day a day for everyone to be Irish.

I'm Kelly Jean Kelly.

And Im Phil Dierking.

Phil Dierking reported this story for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.

How do people celebrate Saint Patricks Day where you are from? We want to hear from you! Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.

______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

whiskey - n. a strong alcoholic drink made from a grain (such as rye, corn, or barley)

beer - n. an alcoholic drink made from malt and flavored with hops

remarkable - adj. unusual or surprising

literal - adj. involving the ordinary or usual meaning of a word

globe - n. an object that is shaped like a large ball with a map of the world on itNational Geographic magazine admitted this week that racism had influenced its reporting on the world for generations.

The head of National Geographic was critical of its images of bare-breasted women. She rejected descriptions of brown-skinned tribesmen as savage and unintelligent.

"We had to own our story to move beyond it," editor-in-chief Susan Goldberg told the Associated Press. She was speaking about the magazine's April edition, which explores the issue of race.

The National Geographic Society, a not-for-profit organization, first published its magazine in 1888.

John Edwin Mason, a photography historian, investigated National Geographics reporting and choice of photos over the years. He teaches African history and the history of photography at the University of Virginia.

Mason reported his findings to the magazine in late 2017. His study found that until the 1970s, National Geographic largely ignored people of color in the United States unless they were laborers or domestic servants. It often supported the idea that people of color from foreign lands were "exotics, famously and frequently unclothed, happy hunters, noble savagesevery type of cliche," Mason added.

For example, in a 1916 story about Australia, a sentence next to a photo of two Aboriginal people read: "South Australian Blackfellows: These savages rank lowest in intelligence of all human beings."

This examination comes as other media organizations are also considering their past reporting work. The New York Times recently admitted that most of its obituaries described the lives of white men. The newspaper began publishing stories on famous women in an area called "Overlooked." It launched the project on March 8, International Womens Day.

The April edition of National Geographic included a letter from Goldberg. She identified herself as the magazine's first female and first Jewish editor.

Goldberg said in the letter that when the editors decided to examine the subject of race, we thought we should examine our own history before turning our reportorial gaze to others.

She told the AP, "I knew when we looked back there would be some storytelling that we obviously would never do today, that we don't do and we're not proud of. But it seemed to me if we want to credibly talk about race, we better look and see how we talked about race."

Mason said his investigation found repeated examples of racist imagery in the magazine's representation of people of color. For example, they often wore little clothing, he said. People of color were also not usually seen in cities or with technologies such as cars, airplanes, trains or factories, Mason added.

People of color were often pictured as living... as ancestors might have lived several hundreds of years ago and that's in contrast to Westerners who are always fully clothed and often carrying technology."

Boys and men, Mason said, "could count on every issue or two of National Geographic having some brown skin bare breasts for them to look at." He said he believes that the editors knew that was one of the appeals of their magazine.

Women, especially those from Pacific islands, were photographed in ways that were almost glamour shots, Mason said.

Samir Husni heads the Magazine Innovation Center at the University of Mississippi's journalism school. He said many Americans first learned about the rest of the world by reading National Geographic.

Husni said it is important that kind of coverage never happens again. He added that offering jobs in the magazine field to people from all backgrounds is a way to apologize for the past.

Goldberg said she is doing just that. She noted that National Geographic has done a better job of employing women than members of racial and ethnic minority groups.

"We need photographers who are African-American and Native American because they are going to capture a different truth and maybe a more accurate story," Goldberg said.

National Geographic now reaches 30 million people around the world. It was one of the first magazines to publish color photos. The monthly magazine is well known for its coverage of history, science, environmentalism and culture. It can currently be found in 172 countries and in 43 languages.

I'm Ashley Thompson.

And I'm Caty Weaver.

The Associated Press reported this story. George Grow adapted the report for VOA Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor.

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

bare-breasted  adj. without clothing covering ones breast; topless

savage  adj. not under human control; wild or violent

beyond  adv. on the further side; until a later time

edition  n. the form or version of a publication

exotic  adj. very strange, unusual or different

cliche  n. something that has become commonplace

obituary  n. an article in a newspaper about the life of someone who has died recently

gaze  n. a fixed look

credibly  adv. in a way that is reasonable to trust or believe

obviously  adv. in a way that is easy to see, understand, or recognize

contrast  n. something that is different from something else; a difference between two people or things

glamour  n. a very exciting quality

accurate  adj. free from mistake; able to produce resultsImmigrants working at a large, remote farm in the state of Kansas are forced into hard labor to pay back the farms cost of illegally bringing them into the country, an Associated Press report says.

The AP spoke with former workers at the Fullmer Cattle ranch. The company raises cows for dairy companies across four states.

Esteban Cornejo is a Mexican citizen and an undocumented immigrant in the United States. He spent eight months cleaning out calf pens and doing construction work. He left Kansas in November after paying back his loans. He thinks his loans totaled nearly $7,000.

One of Cornejos paychecks shows he worked about 15 hours a day, with Sundays off. He earned $10 an hour. Before taxes, his pay was $1,828.34. But the company took away $1,300 from his pay because of a cash advance repayment. Cornejo said this was to return the loan for smuggling him into the country.

In the end, he received just $207.46 for two weeks of work. He made just over $1 an hour.

Its like slavery

Rachel Tovar also used to work at the ranch. She told the Associated Press, Its like slavery what they do to those poor people.

Former workers say they received no holidays, health insurance or overtime pay. They even had to buy their own safety equipment.

Dean Ryan, the companys lawyer, said in an email that the former workers accusations are simply not true.

There was no smugglers fee and has never been, Ryan wrote. He added that there are plenty of people willing to work in western Kansas without having to import them.

Ryan said company policy is to give pay advances to workers who have no credit history. He said those loans are made so employees can buy vehicles or homes.

President Donald Trumps administration has made an effort to reduce the number of immigrants living in the country illegally. But it has focused less on companies that employ them or possibly smuggle them into the United States.

Bringing outside workers

The case in Kansas brings attention to exploitation that immigrant workers may face.

Under U.S. law, employers do not have to give agricultural workers overtime pay. Erik Nicholson, national vice president for the United Farm Workers union, said it is not unusual for employers to hire immigrant farm workers.

Rachel Tovars husband, Arturo, was a Fullmer manager for 11 years. He was living in the country illegally. He described the companys smuggling process to the AP.

When the company needed workers, Arturo asked employees if they knew someone who wanted to work in the United States. Then, Arturo was told to call the companys smuggler, who lived in Piedras Niegras, Mexico.

The smuggler would then begin to make preparations.

The company would give Arturo Tovar a check, which he would exchange for cash. He would give the smuggler some of the money before he transported the immigrants. The smuggler would get the rest of the money after the immigrants arrived San Antonio or Houston, two cities in Texas. There, the workers would be picked up and taken to the ranch in Kansas.

A history with illegal immigrants

Fullmer Cattles calf-feeding operation is outside of Syracuse, Kansas. It is about 25 kilometers from the Kansas-Colorado border.

The company says it raises thousands of cows for 18 dairies in Texas, Kansas, Colorado and South Dakota. Fullmer Cattle says on its websites it has lower labor costs.

The ranchs owner is Que Fullmer. In 1998, law enforcement officials carried out an immigration raid at his ranch in Chino, California. They found workers living in what a California labor official described as economic slavery.

Fullmer admitted guilt in 1999 to hiding immigrants in the country illegally. He was sentenced to six months of home detention. Court records also show Fullmer was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and perform 500 hours of community service.

The Kansas ranchs lawyer noted that, because of Fullmers past, the company takes extra care not to hire workers who are in the country illegally.

Im Phil Dierking.

This story was originally written by Roxana Hegeman for the Associated Press. Phil Dierking adapted it for VOA Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor.

Do companies in your country hire foreign works illegally? What are their working conditions like? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

calf - n. a very young cow

cash - n. money in the form of coins and bills

dairy - n. a place where milk is kept and butter or cheese is made

exploit - v. to use (someone or something) in a way that helps you unfairly

fee - n. an amount of money that must be paid

focus - v. a subject that is being discussed or studied

hire - v. to give work or a job to (someone) in exchange for wages or a salary

manager - n. someone who is in charge of a business, department, etc.

pen - n. a small enclosed area for farm animals

remote - adj. far away

smuggle - v. to move (someone or something) from one country into another illegally and secretly

trailer - n. a long platform or box with wheels that is pulled behind a truck or car and used to transport thingsChina Mobile Limited provides mobile telecommunications and related services in Mainland China and Hong Kong. The company offers local calls; domestic and international long distance calls and roaming services; and value-added services, such as caller identity display, call waiting, conference calls, and others. It also provides wireless Internet service, as well as digital applications comprising music, video, reading, gaming, and animation; wireline broadband services; and wireline voice services. In addition, it offers dedicated line and IDC services to corporate customers in a range of industry sectors; and basic corporate communication products comprising corporate VPMN and SMS, and tailor made solutions. Further, the company provides international telecommunications services, which includes IDD, roaming, Internet, MNC, and value added business services. Additionally, it offers telecommunications network planning, design, and consulting services; roaming clearance, IT system operation, and technology support services; value-added platform development and maintenance services; mobile data, and system integration and development services; network construction and maintenance, network planning and optimizing, and training services; electronic communication products design and sale of related products; and non-banking financial services. It also provides mobile cloud research and development services; call center services; e-payment, e-commerce, and Internet finance services; and mobile Internet digital content services, as well as operates a network and business coordination center. The company serves 950 million mobile customers and 187 million wireline broadband customers. The company was formerly known as China Mobile (Hong Kong) Limited and changed its name to China Mobile Limited in May 2006. The company was incorporated in 1997 and is based in Central, Hong Kong. China Mobile Limited is a subsidiary of China Mobile Hong Kong (BVI) Limited.

Read More American Consumer News, LLC dba MarketBeat 2010-2021. All rights reserved.

326 E 8th St #105, Sioux Falls, SD 57103 | U.S. Based Support Team at [email protected] | (844) 978-6257

MarketBeat does not provide personalized financial advice and does not issue recommendations or offers to buy stock or sell any security.



Our Accessibility Statement | Terms of Service | Do Not Sell My Information



 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.CVR Refining, LP operates as an independent petroleum refiner and marketer of transportation fuels in the United States. The company owns and operates a complex full coking medium-sour crude oil refinery in Coffeyville, Kansas; and a complex crude oil refinery in Wynnewood, Oklahoma. It also controls and operates logistics assets, including approximately 570 miles of owned and leased pipelines; approximately 130 crude oil transports; a network of crude oil gathering tank farms; and approximately 6.4 million barrels of owned and leased crude oil storage capacity, as well as approximately 4.6 million barrels of combined refined products and feedstocks storage capacity. In addition, the company owns 170,000 barrels per day pipeline system that transports crude oil from Broome Station facility to Coffeyville refinery; approximately 1.5 million barrels of crude oil storage capacity, which supports the gathering system and Coffeyville refinery; approximately 0.9 million barrels of crude oil storage capacity at Wynnewood refinery; and approximately 1.5 million barrels of crude oil storage capacity in Cushing, Oklahoma, as well as leases crude oil storage capacity of approximately 2.3 million barrels in Cushing and approximately 0.2 million barrels in Duncan, Oklahoma. CVR Refining GP, LLC operates as the general partner of CVR Refining, LP. The company was founded in 2012 and is based in Sugar Land, Texas. CVR Refining, LP is a subsidiary of CVR Energy, Inc.

Read MoreSan Jose, CA  Police on Friday announced the arrests of four men in connection with the shooting deaths of two brothers in 2016.

The suspects were identified as 38-year-old Peter Sanchez, 22-year-old Christopher Ruby, 29-year-old Richard Martinez and 41-year-old Carlos Hernandez, all of San Jose.

On Wednesday, the San Jose Police Departments Covert Response Unit arrested Sanchez in San Jose and Ruby in Milpitas. Martinez was arrested the following day in San Jose.

Hernandez was already in custody on other unspecified charges, according to police.

On the night of Aug. 21, 2016, officers responded to a report of shots fired on the 900 block of South 8th St., south of downtown. They found 27-year-old Michael Ramirez and 36-year-old Arturo Ramirez, both of San Jose, suffering from at least one gunshot wound each.

Michael Ramirez was pronounced dead at the scene and Arturo Ramirez died a short time later at a hospital.

Police said the suspects also opened fire on two other men. One suffered a non-life-threatening injury. The other was not hurt.

In addition to identifying and arresting the suspects, detectives determined the homicides were gang-related, according to police.

The Santa Clara County District Attorneys Office has charged each of the suspects with two counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder.

Anyone with information about the case can contact Detective Sgt. Michael Montonye or Detective Elizabeth Ramirez of the San Jose Police Departments Homicide Unit at 408-277-5283.

Those wishing to remain anonymous can leave a tip with Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers at 408-947-STOP (7867) or svcrimestoppers.org. Tipsters may be eligible for a cash reward.IWG plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides workspace solutions in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company offers co working and office space; virtual and membership offices, as well as lounges; private workshop, professional, and flexible and scalable spaces; meeting rooms; and reception services and conference products. It provides its services to property owners and investors, landlords, franchisees, brokers, and various other customers under the Regus, Spaces, No18, HQ, and Signature, as well as Open Office, The Clubhouse, The Office Operators, Stop & Work, BizDojo, and Basepoint brands. In addition, the company operates Meetingo, a digital platform that provides solutions for meeting; Easy Offices, an online broker that helps to find places to work; Rovva, an online toolkit which provides a range of products and services that help the clients to take their businesses further; Worka, an easy-to-use app. to search, compare, and book office space, coworking, and meeting rooms; and managed conventional office solutions that provides customized workspaces. It operates through 3,313 locations in 1,131 towns and cities across 120 countries. The company was formerly known as Regus plc and changed its name to IWG plc in December 2016. IWG plc was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Zug, Switzerland.

Read MoreVermilion Energy Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of petroleum and natural gas in North America, Europe, and Australia. 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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 Toronto-Dominion Bank, together with its subsidiaries, provides various personal and commercial banking products and services in Canada and the United States. It operates through three segments: Canadian Retail, U.S. Retail, and Wholesale Banking. The company offers personal deposits, such as chequing, savings, and investment products; financing, investment, cash management, international trade, and day-to-day banking services to businesses; and financing options to customers at point of sale for automotive and recreational vehicle purchases through auto dealer network. It also provides credit cards; real estate secured lending; auto finance; consumer lending; point-of-sale payment solutions for large and small businesses; wealth and asset management products, private banking, investment advisory, and trust services to retail and institutional clients; and property and casualty insurance, as well as life and health insurance products. The company also provides capital markets, and corporate and investment banking services, including underwriting and distribution of new debt and equity issues; advice on strategic acquisitions and divestitures; and trading, funding, and investment services to companies, governments, and institutions. It offers its products and services under the TD Bank and America's Most Convenient Bank brand names. The company operates through a network of 1,085 branches, 3,440 automated teller machines, and 1,223 stores, as well as offers telephone, digital, and mobile banking services. The Toronto-Dominion Bank was founded in 1855 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

Read MoreBrazil is in the midst of a yellow fever outbreak, with the mosquito-borne virus reaching popular tourist destinations that do not normally see the disease. Since January 2018, 10 cases of yellow fever have been confirmed in international travelers visiting Brazil, including four deaths.

As a result, travelers should plan ahead and get vaccinated against yellow fever at least 10 days before visiting areas affected by the outbreak, including Rio de Janeiro state, Espirito Santo state, Sao Paulo state, and certain cities in Bahia state, according to a new article co-authored by a Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) researcher.

The article is an early-release Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The authors noted that most people who contract yellow fever do not have symptoms, but among the 15 percent of patients who develop severe illness, the fatality rate is between 20 percent and 60 percent.

"Given the potential severity of yellow fever and a substantial risk of dying from the disease, travelers should make sure that they are vaccinated," says lead author Davidson Hamer, professor of global health at BUSPH.

However, the authors wrote that getting the vaccine requires planning ahead for travelers from the United States. The Food and Drug Administration-approved yellow fever vaccine, YF-VAX, is currently unavailable in the US because of manufacturing difficulties, and the alternative yellow fever vaccine, Stamaril, is only available through a limited number of US yellow fever vaccination clinics.

"It may take several weeks to make an appointment, and potentially substantial travel time to reach a clinic in some parts of the country," Hamer says.

Brazil's current yellow fever outbreak began in December 2016. By July 2017, cases in both humans and nonhuman primates were reported from the states of Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro. On January 16, 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO) updated yellow fever vaccination recommendations for Brazil to include anyone traveling to or living in Espirito Santo, Sao Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro states, and certain cities in Bahia state, in addition to areas where vaccination had been recommended before the recent outbreak.

Eight of the ten international travelers with confirmed cases of yellow fever acquired the disease on Ilha Grande, a forested island off the Rio de Janeiro coast. ProMed reported five cases among travelers to Ilha Grande, in two travelers from Argentina and three from Chile. Two of the travelers from Chile died. GeoSentinel reported cases in a Dutch man who traveled to Sao Paulo state; a French woman who traveled to Minas Gerais state; and a Romanian man, a Swiss man, and a German man who all visited Ilha Grande. The men from Switzerland and Germany later died from the disease.

These were the first yellow fever cases reported by GeoSentinel, which was initiated in 1995 by the International Society of Travel Medicine with support from CDC and now consists of 70 specialized travel and tropical medicine clinical sites in 31 countries around the world. Hamer is the principal investigator for GeoSentinel.

In addition to underscoring the importance of vaccination, authors wrote that clinicians should be aware and vigilant of yellow fever signs and symptoms in patients returning from Brazil.

Explore further US warns travelers of deadly yellow fever in Brazil

More information: Davidson H. Hamer et al. Fatal Yellow Fever in Travelers to Brazil, 2018, MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (2018). Journal information: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Davidson H. Hamer et al. Fatal Yellow Fever in Travelers to Brazil, 2018,(2018). DOI: 10.15585/mmwr.mm6711e1Elizabeth Marshall, an environmental and occupational epidemiologist at Rutgers School of Public Health, says that storms and the ensuing long hours performed by tree care workers exacerbate the significant risks posed in what is already one of the most hazardous jobs in the United States. Credit: Nick Romanenko / Rutgers University

As climate change increases the risk to trees from severe storms, insects, diseases, drought and fire, a Rutgers University study highlights the need for improved safety in tree-care operations.

According to findings published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, workers employed by tree care experts and licensed arborists were more likely to receive health and safety training and to use personal protective equipment than those employed by companies that are not part of the professional arboriculture network. The research also shows that Spanish-speaking day laborers often had little training or use of personal protective equipment.

Tree care workers have one of the most dangerous jobs in America, regularly encountering heights, slippery conditions, falling limbs, sharp equipment and electrical wires. The incidence of injuries increases after storms when unqualified "storm-chasers" with chainsaws and landscaping companies offer their services to uninformed homeowners. Some municipalities also struggle to handle tree damage with inadequately trained labor and old equipment. Annually, tree care injuries account for about 80 worker deaths and at least 23,000 chainsaw injuries treated in emergency departments. Many of those injuries result from inadequate training and equipment.

"There is a popular misconception that tree removal is low-skill work, but nothing could be further from the truth," said Michele Ochsner, formerly with Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations. "Handling storm-downed trees without injury to people or property involves an array of technical skills and knowledge of how different species of trees respond in different seasons and weather conditions."

Since Hurricane Sandy in 2012, Ochsner, along with Elizabeth Marshall, an environmental and occupational epidemiologist at Rutgers School of Public Health, and Daniel Lefkowitz at the New Jersey Department of Health, have been analyzing surveillance data after storms to assess injury risks related to tree work. They also conducted interviews with private and municipal tree care experts to understand the Sandy experience and suggest ways to improve safety.

Storms and the ensuing long hours exacerbate the job's significant risks. "Tree care crews handle thousands of downed trees in the wake of a hurricane or even the recent snow storm. It takes knowledge, proper equipment and coordination to do that safely," Marshall said.

Although there is no current Occupational Safety and Health Administration standard for tree trimming, employers are required to comply with all general industry standards set by a network of national, regional and state associations, said Marshall. She noted that New Jersey recently passed a comprehensive licensing law to assist consumers in hiring a tree care company that upholds the state's standards.

"Our interviews with tree care workers revealed a number of recommendations to plan ahead for major storms," said Marshall. "For example, companies and municipalities should ensure equipment is well maintained, employees are properly trained in their native language and provided with personal protective equipment. Consumers should work with a licensed tree care professional to identify damaged or improperly planted trees and remove dead trees and limbs before the next big storm. Then, they will be ready when bad weather arrives and trees come down."

Explore further Downed trees not necessarily a lost cause

More information: Michele Ochsner et al, Trees down, hazards abound: Observations and lessons from Hurricane Sandy, American Journal of Industrial Medicine (2018). Michele Ochsner et al, Trees down, hazards abound: Observations and lessons from Hurricane Sandy,(2018). DOI: 10.1002/ajim.22822NEW YORK METS (5-15-3) vs. WASHINGTON NATIONALS (10-9-2)

Saturday, March 17, 2018  1:05 p.m.

FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches  West Palm Beach, FL

RHP A.J. Griffin (0-0, 18.00) vs. RHP Tanner Roark (0-1, 2.25)

WOR

The Mets will take on the Washington Nationals on Saturday afternoon. A.J. Griffin gets the ball for New York and is opposed by Tanner Roark.

Mets Lineup

Brandon Nimmo (L) CF Jay Bruce (L) RF Adrian Gonzalez (L) 1B Todd Frazier (R) 3B Asdrubal Cabrera (S) 2B Wilmer Flores (R) LF Phillip Evans (R) DH Jose Lobaton (S) C Luis Guillorme (L) SS

Nationals Lineup

Bryce Harper (L) RF Trea Turner (R) SS Adam Eaton (L) LF Matt Adams (L) 1B Michael A. Taylor (R) CF Miguel Montero (L) C Matt Reynolds (R) 3B Tanner Roark (R) P Wilmer Difo (S) 2B

Notes

The Mets and Nationals meet for the fifth time this spring. This will be the last time the Mets visit the Nationals during this Spring Training. After today, the two clubs will meet one final time during Grapefruit League play on March 22 in Port St. Lucie. During the regular season, the Mets will play the Nats for the first time at Nationals Park, April 5-8, and the first series between the two at Citi Field will be on April 16-18.

Michael Conforto took four at-bats in a minor league game yesterday and drew two walks. He is scheduled to hit in a minor league game this afternoon.

Yoenis Cespedes is scheduled to get at-bats in a minor league game today. He has been day-to-day with right wrist soreness.

RHP Anthony Swarzak, RHP Rafael Montero, RHP Corey Taylor, RHP Drew Smith and LHP P.J. Conlon will all pitch after A.J. Griffin today.Netflix has revealed its ISP Speed Index for February, with Cool Ideas retaining top spot.

South Africas ISPs achieved an average speed of 2.64Mbps, improving the countrys rank to 47 out of 59 countries.

The index is a measure of prime-time Netflix performance on particular ISPs, and not a measure of overall performance of the networks.

Netflix said it calculates the average bitrate of Netflix content, in Mbps, streamed by its members per ISP.

We measure the speed via all available end-user devices. For a small number of devices, we cannot calculate the exact bit rates, and streaming via cellular networks is exempted from our measurements, said Netflix.

Netflix recommends a 5Mbps connection for full HD streaming, which may explain why the average speeds are all below the 5Mbps mark.

The top 10 ISPs for prime-time Netflix streaming are listed below.

January 2017 Rank ISP Speed Previous Speed Change 1 Cool Ideas 3.85 Mbps 3.88 Mbps  2 Vox 3.27 Mbps 3.28 Mbps  3 MTN 3.20 Mbps 3.21 Mbps +1 4 Vodacom 3.18 Mbps 3.20 Mbps +1 5 Cell C 3.16 Mbps 3.24 Mbps -2 6 Afrihost 2.64 Mbps 2.59 Mbps  7 Telkom 2.56 Mbps 2.52 Mbps +1 8 Cybersmart 2.51 Mbps 2.55 Mbps -1 9 MWEB 2.26 Mbps 2.22 Mbps  10 Neotel 1.72 Mbps 1.73 Mbps 

Now read: How Netflix saves your mobile data273 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

5 new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh

Blinken, Turkeys Cavusoglu discuss Nagorno-Karabakh

World oil prices on the rise

Driver dies on the spot after accident at Yerevan section of North-South highway under construction

Newspaper: Armenia PM buys wiretapping system for $7m

Newspaper: Azerbaijanis demand taking down Artsakh flag placed on Amaras Monastery

US special services announce country's main external threats

Catholicos of All Armenians visits Yerablur Military Pantheon (PHOTOS)

Russian State Duma chairman congratulates Armenian counterpart on Armenia's Independence Day

Putin appoints Armenia's Mikayel Aghasandyan Russia's Permanent and Plenipotentiary Representative to CSTO

Resident of Karabakh's Karmir Shuka runs over three 14-year-olds, body found hanged from a tree later

Adam Schiff congratulates Armenians on 30th anniversary of Armenia's Independence

Nikol Pashinyan: Grove of Life will symbolize the start of era of peaceful development of Armenia

Armenia premier: History has shown that it's not mandatory and is sometimes unnecessary to defeat others to win

Azerbaijan FM meets with Turkish counterpart in New York

Karabakh President meets with President of Tashir Group Samvel Karapetyan in Yerevan

New Armenian flag placed in Armenia's Tegh village, higher than Azerbaijani flag

UN Secretary General urges to ban weapons that kill without human participation

Russia Federation Council chairwoman congratulates Armenia Parliament Speaker on Independence Day

US may approve Pfizer child vaccine drug soon

Biden calls on UN to protect rights of sex minorities from Chechnya to Cameroon

"Vivid" Independence Day event kicks off at Republic Square in Yerevan

Iranian Deputy FM to arrive in Azerbaijan on a three-day visit

Police inspecting citizens with metal detectors before Independence Day event at Republic Square in Yerevan

Armenia marks Independence Day: Digest on congratulations from int. leaders

Karabakh emergency situations service: Remains of another Armenian serviceman found in Mataghis

Largest flag of Armenia raised in Yeraskh village of Ararat Province (PHOTOS)

Putin, Erdogan to discuss Syria and other regional conflicts

Karabakh President sends condolence message to Russia's Putin

China PM to Armenia counterpart: Cooperation in sidelines of One Belt One Road joint construction steadily develops

Lukashenko to Pashinyan: Belarus, Armenia will be able to fully realize bilateral cooperations potential

Monument to Marshal Baghramyan unveiled in Moscow

Kazakhstan President: Armenia achieved great success, enjoys well-deserved reputation in international arena

Putin to Pashinyan: Trilateral agreements implementation will ensure your countrys peaceful, prosperous development

Mishustin to Pashinyan: Russia-Armenia relations progressively developing in all directions

Guy Parmelin: Switzerland remains reliable partner of reforms in Armenia

France MP: Armenia fighting for survival of itself, its people, against Azerbaijan, Turkey

Wendy Morton: UK will continue to be proud supporter of Armenias democratic, economic development

Russia envoy to Armenia: Any challenge in modern world can be overcome only through joint efforts

Top Iran officials congratulate Armenia, Armenian people

Members of "Armenia" alliance and MPs of homonymous faction visit Yerablur Military Pantheon (PHOTOS)

Karabakh's Arayik Harutyunyan visits Armenia 1st President, latest developments in Artsakh discussed

Armenia health minister's vaccinated mother contracts COVID-19

Pope Francis: May divine blessing be with people of Armenia

Wreath laid on behalf of Armenia ex-President Sargsyan at Yerevan military pantheon (PHOTOS)

Sweden ambassador: My best wishes to all Armenians (VIDEO)

Netherlands envoy to Armenia: This beautiful country, wonderful people have bright future (VIDEO)

Xi Jinping to Armen Sarkissian: Dynamics of development of China-Armenia relations is maintained

Armenia First President: Independence is non-negotiable for me

Putin: Development of Russia-Armenia relations corresponds to fundamental interests of our fraternal peoples

Blinken: US remains committed to helping negotiate long-term political settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

Armenia Security Council chief refuses to speak about possible Pashinyan-Erdogan meeting

Biden: US will continue to advocate for release of all Armenian detainees held in Azerbaijan

Armenia FM to head for New York

Macron to Armenias Sarkissian: We will spare no effort to find lasting solution to conflict

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Defeat, authorities that symbolize it cannot be source of inspiration, creation

494 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia 3rd President Sargsyan: Challenging but honorific struggle awaits us ahead

Karekin II: Main meaning of 30th anniversary of independence is to rebuild progressive, prosperous country

Karabakh President: Strong, developing Armenia has no alternative

Shombi Sharp: UN will continue to stand with Armenia in addressing impact of recent crises, pandemic, conflict

Armenia President: Today it turns out that we did not appreciate what we had

Georgia capital Tbilisi TV tower illuminated in colors of Armenia flag (PHOTOS)

US ambassador: We continue to look with confidence at future for Armenia as sovereign, prosperous state

Police not allowing reporters to cover PM's visit to Yerevan military pantheon

Newspaper: Azerbaijanis get more active after dismissal of commander of Russia peacekeepers in Artsakh

Armenia marks Independence Day 30th anniversary

Senior officials visiting Yerevan military pantheon on Armenia Independence Day 30th anniversary (PHOTOS)

US launches strike at one of al-Qaida leaders in Syria

Biden to declare end of "20-year war" in Afghanistan in speech at UN General Assembly

US Ambassador to Armenia: Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has yet to be settled, Artsakh status will be clarified

Nikol Pashinyan: Russian-Armenians and their businesses stand strong with the Armenian State

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Home | Showtime | Actress Tonto Dikeh gushes about her son King Andre, writes touching letter (photos)

- Nigerian actress Tonto Dikeh pens touching letter to her 2-year-old son on social media

- The actress expressed that her son showed her what unconditional love means

- She welcomed her son, Andre Omodayo Churchill with estranged Oladunni Churchill in 2016

Popular Nigerian actress Tonto Dikeh has taken to social media to gush about her 2-year-old son, Andre Omodayo Churchill popularly known as King Andre. The actress wrote a touching letter to her son on Instagram.

In her post, Dikeh expressed that her son is everything to her and he made her realise the meaning of unconditional love. She noted that he brought love into her heart since the day he was born with everything does.

The caring mother also prayed for the growth of her son. The actress prayed for his blessing and protection.

Read post below:

Dear Son,

When you came into this world, you brought a love into my heart that I had never before experienced. When you spoke your first word, when you walked your first steps, I was your biggest supporter and fan. With every developmental milestone you reached, I reveled in joy and celebration. You taught me the meaning of lovetrue, unconditional love.

Now you are older, and what an amazing person youve become! You have your own personality, your own thoughts and opinions, and your own sense of humor. You have your own interests, your own talents, and your own way of doing things. I celebrate your individuality and uniqueness and am so honored to be part of your life.

As you continue to grow and become an adult, you will live your own life...Life has its ups and downs and is not always fair, but I know your strength and resilience will see you through.

May you always know your worth and how incredibly precious you are! As your mom, it is my privilege to impart these important truths to you.GOD BLESS AND PROTECT YOU SON.

READ ALSO: Actress Tonto Dikeh stuns in beautiful new photos

The 32-year-old actress welcomed her son, Andre Omodayo Churchill with estranged husband Oladunni Churchill in February, 2016. Churchill and Dikeh had tied the knot in 2015.

Dikeh who lost her mother at age 3 was born into the family of seven. She is the 3rd child out of her 5 siblings and two siblings from her step-mother.

PAY ATTENTION: Get all the latest gossips on NAIJ News App

She studied petrochemical engineering in Rivers State University of Science and Technology and began her acting career in 2006.

I will impregnate my house help if my wife doesn't cook for me - Babe De Baba on NAIJ.com TV

[embedded content]

Source: Naija.ng

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: ShowtimeHome | News | Business | Farmers told to pay herdsmen before they can enter their farms in Delta

Festus Ahon, ASABA

DELTA State Governor, Senator Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, yesterday raised alarm that three communities in Uwheru, Ughelli North Local Government Area have been occupied by the ravaging herdsmen, charging security agencies to their curb nefarious activities in the state before it snowballs into crisis. Okowa

Okowa speaking when the Assistant Inspector General, AIG in charge of Zone 5, Mr Rasheed Akintunde paid him a courtesy call, said the Uwheru community situation is a very pathetic.

The President-General of the community spoke on the fact that the farmers are told to pay the herdsmen before they can enter their farms and that is very disturbing because it is strange for indigenes to pay money before they can enter their farms and I believe something has to be done before it evolves into a crisis situation.

This has been going on for several years but it has gotten worse of recent, so, AIG, this situation has to be addressed immediately as security issue.

He restated the concern of his administration about the security of life and property of every Deltan and their communities.

Okowa however lauded the synergy between security agencies in the state which has ensured a peaceful state that has become home for investors.

The Governor said; As a people, we know that the more peaceful we are, the more investors will come into the state and in the course of this year, we will witness a lot of ground breaking ceremony as investors are coming to the state in their large numbers.

We are doing a lot to provide infrastructure, we are doing a lot to engage our youths, the more youths we engage, the less idle minds we will have in the state.

While assuring the AIG that his administration would continue to support security agencies in state, he said Delta State is largely peaceful, we take matters of security serious, there is a lot of collaborations between different security agencies in Delta State and beyond the collaborations.

We take the issue of information gathering serious as we nip security challenges in the bud, we also, have state advisory and peace building council which is made up of experienced men and women of impeccable character, they also, help to maintain peace in the state.

The AIG who spoke earlier, said he was on a familiarisation tour of Police formations in the state, saying your administration has rendered uncountable support to the Police Command in different areas.

The police boss who also addressed officers and men at the State police headquarters, assured that they would continue to protect lives and property of Nigerians.Donatus Dunu, managing director of Maydon Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Lagos, on Friday told an Ikeja high court how he was kept in chains for 88 days by the gang of Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike the billionaire kidnapper better known as Evans.

Led in evidence by Titilayo Shitta-Bey, director of public prosecutions (DPP) in Lagos, Dunu spoke for four hours.

He started by identifying his alleged captors.

I know this one he is Evans, I know the second one he is Uche and I know the fourth one he is Congo, he said as he narrated how he was captured.

At 7.30 p.m. when I closed from work, I was going home along Obokun Street, Ilupeju, Lagos. I suddenly saw an SUV in front of my car, I wanted to reverse but two people came out of the SUV holding long guns.

They pointed the long guns at me and dragged me out of my car and pushed into the booth of the SUV, covering me with a car cover, someone lay on top of me and I was taken to an unknown place.

On our way, they brought out a locally made iron and bound my hands with and when we had reached the unknown place and while face down I was taken to a bungalow.My hands were bound with locally made iron and my legs were bound with shackles used for madmen.

In the parlour of the house, they started asking for my name, my wife and childrens name as well as the name of my hometown. After telling them, their chairman asked them to bring guns, a very long gun and a black and silver pistol was brought, they showed me the guns and Ak47 was written on the long gun. They said now that I have said all these things, it is confirmed that I am the person that they are looking for and I have to pay the bail.

Their chairman said that I should give them their money and that it has to be complete and that nothing must remain.

The chairman is Evans, he is their boss, after they made their demands they put me in a dark room. Their money was the money that they wanted to take from me, they had not mentioned any amount at this point. When I was taken to the dark room, I was asked to remove my clothes and I was given a pair of boxer short to wear and I was blindfolded where I remained till April 10.

That night, they brought a phone that their chairman wanted to speak to me, the chairman told me that I was nobody on earth can bring me out that it is only God that will bring me out.

He said that if I should prove stubborn, he will give me an injection that will make me forget myself in life and that he can also ask his boys to use the pillow to suffocate me that no one will know about it.

A week later, I told the boys that I want to speak to their chairman and the next day they brought a phone to me that their chairman wanted to speak to me. He asked where I have warehouses and he also asked me why I used to go to Alaka Estate in Surulere, I told him I have a friend there but one of my warehouses are in Eriaka Street and I have two other warehouses in Alao Estate, Lagos.

He asked for the addresses and I told him I didnt know the addresses, he told me that he heard that I gave my staff 40 Toyota Corolla cars and he heard I pay my graduate staff N50, 000 per month. I told him yes that the N50, 000 was for their take home but it was like a contract that if they make their target for the sale of goods, they earn a commission.

Dunu said Evans later told him that he would not regain freedom until his family paid a ransom of $1 million.

The pharmacist said some days later Evans changed his mind and requested for one million Euros.

Dunu said when he told his elder brother about the ransom, he started crying, wondering where they were going to get the money.

After about three days, I was told my bill is no longer $1 million but 1 million euros, that he has gotten more information about me. That night he called again and asked for my brothers phone number and I gave him, he said.

They called my brother and were beating me so that he will hear my cry and told me that I should tell him I have agreed to pay 1 million and I told my brother.

My brother told them they have been able to change up to 223,000 and he asked me to tell my brother to make it 250,000 and my brother informed me that it will take additional N11 million to get the remaining 27,000 and that it took them two months to get the 223,000 that its not easy to raise such money.

I was in a very bad condition when we were negotiating the ransom, they removed my mattress and I was made to sleep on the tiled floor.

Anytime they called my brother they will beat me for him to hear my cries, I told my brother to get to know sources where we can borrow money from.

At a point he said they were able to raise N60 million that when I come out, they will get the remaining money from me. He said I and my brother are talking rubbish and that he should change the money into euro as agreed.

There was a time the naira appreciated so much sometime in March last year that he (Evans) asked not to change it to Euros anymore. Later when the naira depreciated, he asked them to go back to Euros, I pleaded with him that Euros was hard to change and his boys later told me to ask for a discount.

He agreed to a 50 percent discount and my bail was reduced from 1 million euros to 500,000 Euros.

He said on Wednesday before 2017 Easter, Evans agreed to reduce his ransom to 250,000 euros.

He said on Easter Monday, he overheard two of his captors plotting to kill him at a canal on the Friday of that week.

Dunu said at 3am on the Thursday preceding his planned murder, he escaped from captivity.

There was a bed sheet on the bed and as a joke, I wrapped it around the leg shackles and the padlocks opened, he said.

At that point, I said to myself I will go, if I stay they will kill me, if they catch me while trying to escape they will still kill me, I might as well go.

The other person who was to guard me was asleep on a settee in the parlour, the fan was on and was so noisy.

The wooden kitchen door was not locked but the burglary proof was locked, I unlocked the upper and lower bolts and when I pushed the burglary proof that locks slid from the hook.

In the compound, there was something like a ladder leaning on the fence and the top portion of the fence where the ladder was did not have bottles.

I jumped over the fence into another compound and knocked on a window and told the man that responded my problem. He said that he did not know me that I should get away from their compound or they will call the police or security and I asked him to call the police.

The man and his wife got up from their bed and brought out their phones to call the police; at that point NEPA took light and they went back to bed.

Something told me to hide and not long after past 6.00 a.m., they started looking for me in their big bike and Toyota Hiace.

The people I jumped into their compound woke up and saw me hiding, I asked the woman to put me in the booth of their Honda Accord car and get me away.

She said No that the only thing they could do for me is to call the chairman of the area.

There are two families living in that compound, a small boy of about 20 to 22 years came out with a plastic pipe and chased me away that I am a thief.

He said he went to a nearby nursery school where he drew the attention of members of the public because of his unkempt appearance.

He said after his ordeal, Evans and his accomplices asked him for forgiveness.

Dunu while being cross-examined by Mr Olukoya Ogungbeje, Evans lawyer, said that he made a mistake by giving conflicting dates of February 14, 2017, and April 14, 2017, as the date of his kidnap in his statement to the police.

He also said that while writing his statement after his release, he was unaware that a ransom had been paid.

Hakeem Oshodi, the judge, adjourned the case till May 10 for a continuation of trial.There was tension in the Ojota area of Lagos state following a violent clash between two groups at Scavengers Land, near New Garage.

Mohammed Ali, the state deputy commissioner of police (operations), confirmed this to NAN, saying 100 persons have been arrested in connection with the incident.

He said the arrested persons had been transferred to the task force office, Oshodi, Lagos.

Ali said the leaders of the two groups were meeting with Imohimi Edgal, state commissioner of police, with a view to resolving their conflict amicably.

Nobody was killed in the clash. The situation has been brought under control, he said.

Our men will be here until total peace is restored.

Two groups of scavengers gathering and selling unserviceable items at a place called Igidanpani clashed on Thursday.

The clash forced shops in the New Garage and some parts of Ojota to close.

We dont really know what caused the crisis. We were surprised to see people scampering. It started on Thursday but the police brought the situation under control. The groups started again today, forcing shops in the area to close, a vulcanizer, who identified himself simply as Adeshina, told NAN in Ojota.

Meanwhile, Akinwunmi Ambode, governor of Lagos, visited the scene on Friday evening for an on-the-spot assessment.

He ordered closure of the New Garage as a measure to end the crisis.

The governor warned against violence of any sort, saying that the government would not tolerate it.Home | News | General | Brig-Gen Boroh sack, an exit foretold

By Emma Amaize,

Regional Editor, South-South

FORMER Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, PAP, and Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, Brigadier-General Paul Boroh, sacked on Tuesday by President Muhammadu Buhari was not unaware that his head was on the cutting block for months running, but spirited attempts in his last days in office to stop the sword of Damocles were botched.

Confident Boroh

Over the weekend, it was as if his critics were wasting their energy, as a poised Boroh, fielding questions from State House correspondents in Abuja, hollered that those who wanted the old system of corruption and embezzlement to continue were behind outcries for his sack.

He asserted: I want to let you know that what is happening in the Amnesty Programme is no more business as usual  that is the bottom line of all that is happening.

The programme actually is a security programme that has to do with critical stakeholders who drive the process. Im only there to supervise what they are doing so that we can achieve the aim for which the programme was established, to ensure youth restiveness is not allowed and ensure peace and stability of the Niger Delta region, he added.

But four days ago, President Buhari in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Chief Femi Adesina, relieved the Bayelsa-state born Boroh of his portfolio and also approved the appointment of Professor Charles Quaker Dokubo as the new Coordinator of the Amnesty Programme.

On several occasions in the last few months, Boroh and his image handlers, punctured rumours that he had been replaced or online for replacement, saying it was a speculation by idle minds and jobbers.

Presidential shocker

Before the hammer fell on Boroh, there had been vociferous calls for his removal by ex-agitators and other stakeholders, who accused him of lack of consultation and derailing the programme, but what came as a surprise, given his position on the issue of corruption was the directive by the President to the National Security Adviser (NSA) to carry out a full investigation into the activities of the Amnesty Programme from 2015 to date.

Brig.Gen. Paul Boroh: removed as Amnesty boss

The NSA was asked to zero specially on allegations of financial impropriety and other acts allegedly detrimental to the objectives of the Presidential Amnesty Programme.

Boroh contacted PANDEF, others

Saturday Vanguard gathered that when it became evident to him that the forces against him were gaining upper hand, the former PAP boss contacted the Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, and some influential Niger Delta leaders, but they were marshaling their strategies when his sack was sealed and delivered.

Our predicament with Boroh- Ex-agitators

Some leaders of Niger Delta ex-agitators, who spoke to our reporters, last month, on the problem with Boroh , complained that the former Coordinator made himself inaccessible, making it difficult for both sides to discuss effective ways of handling the programme and getting good result.

The ex-militant leaders alleged that there were abnormal and irritating activities affecting the smooth implementation of the programme and urged Boroh to convene regular meetings with them to brainstorm on the way forward. The advice was not heeded before his sack during the week

The National Vice President, PAP, Phase 2, Chief Collins Arigo, Chairman, Coalition of Urhobo Ex-militant Leaders and Public Relations Officer, PRO, Phase 2 ex-militants, Mr H. M. Ebirie, and Leader of the defunct Ogidi Militant Camp, Mr Eddy Ojobrise, a.k.a General Ojobrise, all alleged neglect by Boroh.

Arigo said: We do not like certain happenings under Boroh. We, ex-militant leaders, who are core beneficiaries of the programme are not carried along. We find it difficult to meet with Boroh to discuss issues and the way forward, as he refused to call for the regular meetings since inception of office.

It is at such meetings that we discuss various issues, including security and others in the Niger Delta region. Most of our ex-agitators have not been sent for training and those who went for training are not empowered yet. Our yearly housing allowances are not paid since his assumption of office.

Aides defend him

However, Head, PAP, Niger Delta, Mr. Jude Akpobubakaye and Liaison Officer, PAP, Niger Delta, Mr. Piriye Kiyaramo, told Saturday Vanguard that it was not true that the former Amnesty Coordinator was unapproachable, saying that Boroh set up a 24-hour call centre at the PAP office in Abuja to avoid any communication gap.

IYC apparently unworried

Ijaw Youth Council, IYC, in a statement on Wednesday by the spokesperson, Barr Henry Iyalla, seemed not perturbed by Borohs dismissal. It asserted: We are hopeful that with the wealth of experience Prof Dokubo brings to the table he will deal squarely with the true and pressing needs of the Niger Delta to ensure peace that will propel development.

We, therefore, urge him not to play politics with his position, but strive to introduce programs that will drive the development of the region and the fulfillment of the core objectives of the amnesty program, the group added.

We were excluded  Gen Atake

Also, ex-agitators under the aegis of Justice Group paid little attention to his dismissal, as they hailed the appointment of his successor, Prof Dokubo. Leader of the group, self-styled Gen Marshal Atake, said: As we speak, we still have not been integrated into the Amnesty Programme despite the fact that we were among those who embraced the program when it was introduced by the Federal Government in 2011 under the phase three.

We have written series of letters to the Amnesty office and also attended a public hearing at the Senate on 2016 over the matter, but in spite of the directive from the Senate to integrate us into the program, we are still being excluded from the program, he complained.

He said Dokubos appointment was timely, well deserved and aimed at repositioning the Amnesty Programme to achieve the objectives for which it was established.

Group urges Buhari to overturn decision

However, a group of ex-agitators under the auspices of 21st Century Youths of Niger Delta, which launched an 11th hour action to save Boroh disagreed with calls to sack Boroh, urging President Buhari to rescind the decision.

Spokesperson of the group, W O I Izon Ebi, in a statement, asserted: The 21st Century Youth and Agitators with conscience call on President Muhammadu Buhari to ignore the Gen Paul Boro must go protesters.

The group described Boroh as a man that has brought innovation, transparency and accountability into the Amnesty Programme and stood firm to advise the Federal Government on the importance of youth empowerment in the Niger Delta region.

The 21st Century Youth and Agitators applaud and commend Gen Paul Boroh for his uprightness and integrity in piloting the Amnesty program to move the Niger Delta forward. Unlike before, it is no more business as usual because ex agitators are now entrepreneurs and employees of labor.

He should be celebrated not denigrated

These groups of protesters in Abuja and other parts of the Niger Delta are truly perfidious and have no conscience because of their primitive lifestyle. Their perfidious act is the very reason sea piracy and kidnapping are increasing day by day in the Niger Delta region.

We advise these selfish protesters to take a cue from their fellow ex-agitators who have become entrepreneurs and employees of labor rather than protesting to paint the region in a bad light.

Gen Paul Boroh efforts in advising the Federal Government on the importance of the commencement of academic session at the Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko in Gbaramatu Kingdom, Delta State, is to be commended not vilified because the university and the establishment of youth empowerment scheme are measures to end criminality and kidnapping in the Niger Delta region, the group further stated.

Boroh deserved sack- Kpodoh

A former Security Adviser to the Bayelsa State Government, Chief Perekeme Kpodoh, who called for Borohs sack, said it would reduce cases of militancy and improve consultation between the Presidency and youth of the region.

Kpodoh told reporters in Yenagoa:  Though many Niger Delta elders had written petitions and called the attention of the President Muhammadu Buhari to the rot and fraud in the Amnesty Programme under the various leaderships without success, the decision to sack him would be welcomed.

We are calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to investigate the Amnesty office under Brig. Gen. Paul Boroh.

 We are shocked that Brig. Paul Boroh is desperately seeking to retain his office. President Buhari should as a matter of policy, investigate how the last budgetary allocation was spent. How can the last allocation be expended without additional provision for inclusion of new beneficiaries

The presidency should as a matter of urgency invite the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) to investigate petitions against the office. The Amnesty office has become a conduit pipe for the various chairmen. The investigation will end the embarrassing cases of militancy in the region, he said.

Kpodoh also called on the President Muhammadu Buhari to investigate issues of incompetence and misuse of unspent Amnesty fund through hosting of seminars, meetings and lectures not needed, adding: When the issues of renewed militancy started, the incompetence of those in charge was revealed but instead of gathering genuine stakeholders to assist the present administration, they were busy organizing seminars and meetings with little funds.

Buhari appeared to have hearkened to the voice of people like Kpodoh in the swift manner Boroh was fired in spite of his self-confidence after visiting Aso Villa, last weekend.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General

Loading...Home | News | General | Asaba is the home to all Deltans

By Julius Oweh

Chief Clement Tudonemem Ofuani, the director- general of Delta State Capital Territory Development Agency is a household name and a man with intimidating educational and political profile. A graduate of the two most prestigious universities in Nigeria  the University of Nigeria, Nnsukka and the University of Lagos. He contested the last governorship primaries of PDP in the state and lost to the incumbent governor. Before then, he was Commissioner for Economic Planning and worked in the presidency during the tenure of Alhaji Umaru Musa YarAdua. He is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria. He spoke to Saturday Vanguard recently on various issues about developing Asaba and the need for all Deltans to regard the place as a natural home. It was a vintage Ofuani in his elements as he rolled out the Okowa developmental plans for the capital city of the oil bearing state. Happy Reading.

How are you coping as the boss of Delta State Capital Territory Development Agency?

First it was a challenging assignment which requires somebody with a track record and a sense of commitment. Governor Ifeanyi Okowa has 100 per cent confidence in me. Our activities at this agency will speak about the government agenda. The governor was conscious of the fact of making Asaba a befitting state capital and he called me and intimated me with his plan. This is very unusual in our clime where announcements are made on radio and television. The governor consulted me and I agreed to take on the appointment. I was humbled by that consultation of the governor. I also understood the significance of Asaba .During the campaign, the governor promised to transform Asaba into a modern state capital. A bill was sent to the State House of Assembly and majority of the legislators were in agreement with the tenor of that bill. It showed that every section of the state was in agreement to make Asaba, a befitting capital.

There was this insinuation in some quarters that you were not keen on taking the job more so that you also gunned for the position of the governor. Is that true?

It is really out of place for people to cook issues about what one was thinking in his mind. It is very far from reality. Despite the various political positions I held in the past at the state and national levels, I am one prepared to serve my people in any capacity. I presented myself for the PDP faithful as a governorship aspirant and only one person can emerge as the governorship candidate of the party. It was a free and fair primary. Okowa won that governorship primary, square and fair. The twenty-five aspirants accepted the result of the primaries. I called him and congratulated him. There was no time I had doubt about accepting the responsibility of transforming Asaba which the mandate of the agency represents.

You have held bigger positions before . . .

As a true patriot, I can serve in any position to uplift the living standard of my people. No matter how rich you may be, there is limit to the help you can render to your people. Public service offers you a platform to offer greater service to your people. It is really not the title of the job. That cannot define me. By my character, training and exposure, I can accept any government appointment that can add value to my people and the environment.

Was there a takeoff grant for the agency?

Yes it was about 58 million Naira as take off grant.

What is your agency doing about the Asaba massive flood problem?

Ans : I have a firsthand experience of the Asaba annual flood. Some of the causes could be traced to the rapid pace of development and urbanization of the city. Initially there was no adequate plan for the flood infrastructure and rapid urbanization. We needed a scientific answer to why drainage system was not working. The drainage system was not well planned, the size of the drainage and the buildings on the streets and roads. In some cases, there were no discharge points for the drainage. A typical example is the Direct Labour Agency Road, the drains on both sides of the roads were leading to nowhere. Today, however, the situation is different. We at this agency had consultants and engineers and working with the Ministry of Works, a massive drainage construction is going on the Nnebisi Road and the water shall be channelled into the Anwai River and the River Niger and very soon as the work is completed, flooding in Asaba shall become history.

In the beautification of Asaba, it seems that the banks are taking over the functions of your agency?

It is not true. The banks and the agency are working together. In fact, the banks came to us and asked us in which areas they could be of assistance in the beautification of Asaba. The banks are playing complementary roles. At the Interbau Roundabout, we worked together and replaced the former monument which was a bit racist. Today, we have a more befitting Ekumeku which truly represents what we are. Due to the financial constraints, the private sector is helping in the beautification of the city and we continue to appreciate them. There are no conflicts of roles between us and the said banks.

Is your agency also working for the Waste Management Board as many waste bins in Asaba have name of your agency inscribed on them?

The law setting up this agency is all encompassing. It is like a mini government. We are meant to implement every law of the state as it affects the provision of services  health, education, sanitation, transportation, roads construction and so on. We collaborate with other agencies of the government where necessary and same applies to the issues of sanitation in the capital city. We do that bearing in mind to reduce the cost of governance. Sanitation is a very key function of the agency that we cannot ignore. We carry out this important function and avoid friction in the delivery of services with other sister agencies with similar functions. Recently there was a meeting of local council chairmen, Ministry of Environment, Waste Management Board and our agency. And a committee was set up to develop a waste management plan for the state. It goes to show that we complement each other in service delivery to our people.

What can you say is the high point of your agency?

It is not in my place to pick one particular area as success. The people should give us the verdict of our successes or failures. However, let me give you one example. The Fine Home Estate along Summit Road, Asaba used to have problem of flooding. We developed a catch pit and today the flooding in the estate is no more.

What is your relationship with the Ministry of Urban Renewal?

The relationship is very cordial and it is one of collaboration. We are working together to provide the best services for our people. There is no duplication of efforts.

Dont you think that Asaba is singled out for development and special treatment to the detriment of Warri, Sapele, Ughelli , Agbor and other cities in the state?

Such thought process about neglect of other cities is a bit troubling. Asaba belongs to all Deltans. There are Urhobos, Isokos, Itsekiris, Ijaws who have houses in Asaba and even have streets named after them. Our core mandate here is to make Asaba the spiritual home of all Deltans, the way Jerusalem is the home of all Jews. The majority of people in the Asaba capital territory are not the natives of Asaba. Asaba today is a cosmopolitan city and the ethnic diversity of Delta and variety of other Nigerians are represented. The governor has been passionate to take the whole state as his constituency and this is represented by the Pan Deltan agenda of the administration. The other cities in states are not neglected. The governor is very creative in terms of infrastructural development across the length and breadth of the state.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General

Loading...Home | News | General | I wept when I saw people weeping in Benue  Pastor Adeboye

The General Overseer, Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, on Friday expressed displeasure with the mindless killings of people by Fulani herdsmen in Benue State and other parts of the country. Pastor Adeboye revealed, he didnt visit the state before the President did so that politicians would not read meaning into his action.

Adeboye, alongside his wife, Folu, made his feelings known when he visited Benue to condole with Governor Samuel Ortom and pray for the government and people of the state over the killings by suspected herdsmen.

The cleric called for a halt to the killings.

Speaking to the gathering, Pastor Adeboye said he did not visit the state before the President did so that politicians would not read meaning into his action.

He said Benue State was very dear to his heart and that he had felt every pain the people felt, saying he wept when he saw the people weeping.

Of course, no man of God will see a mass burial anywhere and not feel the pains of the people affected.

We want these killings to stop. Happily, we know someone who can stop it.

He is the almighty God, He does not fail or compromise, He is the God of all.

We will continue to call on Him to fight this battle and you can be assured that victory will be certain.

Earlier, Governor Ortom had lamented that the incursions of herdsmen into the state, apart from leading to the deaths of many, had created a huge humanitarian crisis in the state.

He appealed to the church to sustain prayers for the government and people of the state,

Given the enormous challenge the crisis posed to the wellbeing of the people of the state.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General

Loading...Home | News | General | Trafficked Nigerian girl nearly killed by her madam in Malaysia

A trafficked Nigerian girl identified as Blessing , who stopped paying her boss simply identified as Blueberry, after theOba of Benin revoked all curses placed on trafficked victims, nearly got killed over the decision she made.

According to eyewitnesses, the trafficked Nigerian girl who was pushed down from the top floor of Lake view condo in Cyberjaya by her boss, fractured her legs as a result of the fall and she is currently receiving medical attention at a hospital in the area.

Here are photos below;

Few days ago, we reported that Benin Monarch , Oba Ewuare II, assembled sorcerers and top magic-practicing priests of the Kingdom to place curses on native doctors and herbalists and all others who aid human traffickers by administering oaths of secrecy on their victims.

Also cursed were kidnappers, violators of the order banning Community Development Associations and others whose business is to initiate sons and daughters of the kingdom into various cult groups.

Those who carried out the swearing exercise were the Ohen Okhuae, Ohen Ovia, Ohen nOriyekeogba, Ohen Ake, Ohen Niwuo, Native Doctors, Ohen Sango, Odionwere, Iwueki and the Enigies.

It would also be recalled that the Director-General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Dame Julie Okah-Donli, had during a visit to the Benin monarch a few weeks ago, disclosed that the agency found it difficult to prosecute offenders because the victims were not willing to come to court to testify against their traffickers due to the oaths of secrecy administered on them.





Oba Ewuare in his remark during the ceremony, said those aiding and abetting human trafficking through the use of black magic and subjecting them to the oaths of secrecies should desist from it henceforth or face the wrath of the gods.

You native doctors whose business is to subject people to the oath of secrecies and encouraging this evil act on the land, you have to repent, stop doing it. This is not a joking matter and if you do not repent, you have to wait for the repercussion, he said.

We want to use this medium to tell those who are under any oaths of secrecy that they are now free. We revoke the oaths today, he said.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General

Loading...Home | News | General | Violence in Kogi State: Did Ekweremadu call for military coup? What said!

By Henry Umoru

ON Wednesday, March 7, 2018, the Senate opened contributions on the debate on a motion on the violence unleashed on people during Senator Salau Ahmed Ogembes empowerment programme in Kogi Central.

The motion by Senator Ogembe, PDP, Kogi Central was entitled, Increased and Alarming Spate of Political Intimidation and Violence in Kogi Central Senatorial District Of Kogi State

Ekweremadu

Presenting his motion, Senator Ogembe who referred to Order 42 and 52 of the Senate Standing Orders 2015 as Amended said that On Saturday, March 3, 2018, the empowerment programme organised for my Constituents at Afirms Hotel, Ora Street, Lagos Highway, Okene was disrupted by hoodlums and miscreants.

The Senate then resolved to set up an Ad-hoc committee to investigate the circumstances that led to the disruption and violence against the empowerment programme as well as probe the involvement of the Nigerian Police Force in two weeks.

Prior to the position of the Senate, Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu in his contribution to debate, said the following: Some of us passed through this route before. But, today, by the grace of God, we are here and those oppressors are at home. So, it is God that gives power.

Sometimes in life, people think they are God. They play God; they play God because God has given them the opportunity to superintend over the affairs of men. They take it that they became what they are by their special power and assume God. But, ultimately, God intervenes to show them that they are not God.

Between 2011 and 2015, I passed through something worse than what Senator Ogembe was telling us here. The Governor of my state, as he then was- my friend, my brother, a professional colleague, a lawyer for that matter, there was nothing he didnt do to repress me.

Traditional rulers were banned from coming to my house. I bought a car for the association of traditional rulers in my senatorial district and because they accepted that vehicle, the chairman of the association was removed from office and dethroned as a traditional ruler. But, by the grace of God, he is back on his seat, and the man who dethroned him is outside.

I arranged for a medical mission to one of the local governments. In fact, that LG is in the federal constituency of the governor in Ezeagu. Distinguished colleagues, they sent thugs. And this medical mission had to do with the services of eye doctors. We brought old people to help them with their sight and issues like that. They sent thugs, chased those people away, destroyed all the medical equipment and some of the old patients, who could not run because of their sight, had a lot of shock and issues.

We saw worse than that. At a particular time, one community wanted to give me a traditional title and the government decreed that there shall be no conferment of traditional title in the state for one year. The Commissioner of Police came to the place to enforce it. First, he came to my house and said the Governor said he was going to enforce the decree in Enugu State, that there would be no conferment of Chieftaincy title in the next one year. I told the Commissioner of Police to go to the venue of the event and come and tell me if it is something he can stop.

The then commissioner of Police went there, came back and said that it would take the whole of the 82 Division of the Nigerian Army, Enugu to stop it and the chieftaincy title programme took place.

The interesting thing is that today, I am here and the man, who was responsible for all these things is right there in his village because it is only God that gives power. I am sure that other people have similar stories.

I am saying this because you will recall that sometime last year when they wanted to recall Senator Dino, I advised the governor that they were wasting the resources of the state; that it is mission impossible. They said I was talking nonsense and took three pages of adverts, abusing him. But, are we still hearing about the recall today? All those monies have been wasted. The money that would have been used to pay salaries of people in Kogi State was used to mobilise people to recall Senator Dino. The Kogi people have not been paid and Senator Dino is here; he has not been recalled.

Today, I am advising the Governor again that the road he is travelling will not lead him to anywhere. Ultimately, these people he is seeing here, by the grace of God, they will be back here and he will leave the office. If he doesnt stop, there is no way he will come back in Kogi State in 2019. God will show him that He is God of justice and that is exactly the message to all those people, who have caused all kinds of problems in Nigeria at different levels.

The problem in Nigeria now is that our democracy is receding and the international community needs to know this. Who says that the army cannot takeover in Nigeria? It is possible. Yes it is possible; let us not joke with our democracy the way they are going. That is the issue.

Two weeks ago, we were talking about how a Senators (Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi) house was destroyed in Kaduna State; we are now talking about how security people laid siege on Dino; we are talking about how (Senator Rabiu) Kwankwaso was stopped from going to his state, a state he ruled for eight years. He couldnt go to that state. We saw people carrying clubs, waiting for him at the airport. In Kaduna, Senator Shehu Sani cannot organize a meeting and we say we are talking about a democracy and somebody says this democracy will continue this way. It is not going to continue; people are holding meetings everyday on how to continue to deal with each and every one of us here.

The international community needs to know this because they helped us to restore democracy to Nigeria and some gang of people are trying to truncate the entire democracy. I want to appeal that we take this matter seriously. It is not about us; it is about our democracy; it is about our country.

Ghana just had her independence anniversary a few days ago and it was celebrations. Nobody knew who was who and which tribes they come from; they came together as Ghanaians to celebrate their country. The President of Ghana was in America addressing all the governors in America. It was a glorious day for Ghana, for Africa indeed because he was telling them to come and establish in Africa.

Here, Nigeria is losing her position in the comity of nations. We are now a second class nation, not just in Africa, but even in West Africa where we are supposed to be controlling. We are losing in every dimension.

The only institution left to save our democracy; to save our nation is the National Assembly and we will never shy away from that responsibility, no matter the oppression, no matter the intimidation. Men will do whatever they want to do but God will ultimately have the final say.

So, I want to appeal that let us pursue this with the single-mindedness of saving our country and saving our democracy. May God bless Nigeria.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General

Loading...Home | News | General | Why Court said Melayes appeal lacks merit, gave INEC nod to resume recall

By Ikechukwu Nnochiri

THE Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja, on Friday, gave the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the nod to go ahead with process for the recall of Senator Dino Melaye who is representing Kogi West Senatorial District.

The appellate court, in a unanimous judgement by three-man panel of Justices, dismissed as grossly lacking in merit, an appeal Melaye lodged to challenge his planned recall.

Sen. Dino Melaye

Justice Tunde Awotoye who delivered the lead verdict, resolved all the issues Melaye raised in his appeal, in favour of INEC, saying the suit did not disclose any cause of action.

Melaye had gone before the appellate court to set-aside the September 11, 2017, judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which not only declined to stop the recall process, but okayed INEC to verify signatures of 188,588 registered voters from Kogi West that purportedly signed the petition against him.

Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of the high court had in his verdict, held that Melayes legal moves to stop his recall was hasty, premature and presumptuous.

The lower court however ordered INEC to furnish the lawmaker with a copy of the petition against him and other relevant documents involved in the recall process. Nevertheless, frustrated by its inability to reach the lawmaker to serve him the petition, INEC, on September 15, filed an ex-parte motion for leave to dump the documents in front of Melayes office at the National Assembly.

Before the ex-parte could be heard, Melaye, through his lawyer, Mr. Nkem Okoro, notified the court that he has lodged the appeal that was dismissed on Thursday. Consequently, Justice Dimgba handed-off the case, saying he could no longer exercise jurisdiction on the ex-parte motion since his court had already given judgment on the matter.

He asked the parties to take their case before the appellate court.

Meanwhile, in its judgment, the Court of Appeal held that the lower court ought to have struck out Melayes suit in its entirety. The appellate court dismissed the issue of lack of fair hearing that Melaye raised against INEC, stressing that the electoral body was neither a tribunal nor a court of law. The court said there was no limitation to the counting of 90 days for the recall process, noting that the period could be extended since it had not started to run.

Besides, the appellate court held that the power of INEC was a statutory one that was given by the constitution.

It said no court could take away the powers of INEC to conduct a referendum for the purpose of recalling a lawmaker.

According to the appellate court, Statutory bodies like the INEC should be allowed to exercise their statutory powers without interference by the court.

The appellant cannot claim that his right of fair hearing was infringed upon. His right to fair hearing has not been violated since INEC as a statutory body is not a tribunal neither is it a court of law.

The appellant has not disclosed any cause of action and the suit ought to have been struck out by the trial court for not disclosing any cause of action. I agree with the decision of the trial court. Ordinarily, it ought to have struck out the suit for non disclosure of cause of action. This is because where there is no cause of action, the court has no jurisdiction to hear the suit.

Having resolved all the issues in the appeal against the appellant, I hereby struck out the suit and dismiss the appeal.

Meantime, Melaye, through his lawyer, vowed to appeal the judgment at the Supreme Court. It will be recalled that Melaye had shortly after INEC declared its readiness to kick-start his recall, filed legal action to abort the process.

He prayed the court to stop the electoral body from conducting any referendum predicated on fictitious petition that was purportedly submitted to it by his constituents. He insisted that the petition was invalid and of no effect, alleging that it was signed by fictitious, dead and none existing persons in his senatorial district.

Contending that he was not notified or served a copy of the petition before INEC commenced the recall process, Melaye, specifically urged the court to determine whether by provisions of Sections 68 and 69 of the Constitution, he is entitled to a fair hearing before the process of his recall as envisaged by the provisions of Section 69 of the Constitution, could be triggered.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General

Loading...Home | News | General | If we met President Buhari!

Benue people bare their minds on what they would have told him

BY PETER DURU, MAKURDI

There was no fanfare when President Mohammadu Buhari visited Benue State last Monday to commiserate with the people after the bizarre killings in the herdsmen attacks in the state. Benue State Governor and some leaders of the state bared their minds to the President.

Here, we publish the comments of the common people who wished they had the opportunity to also bare their minds to the President

Mr. Ganki Emmanuel is a youth activist and social commentator  He is treating us the way they treat old wives

If I met with President Buhari I would have asked him why it took him very long time to visit Benue state after the killings. I had expected that President Buhari would have, during that visit, called herdsmen who are his kinsmen to order. There was no categorical statement made on the killings in a Benue state.

Those were the key things I expected from him that he failed to do. He more or less spoke in tongues because we did not understand all he said. He refused to speak on the position of Benue people in his APC government. I want to believe that he is treating us as if we are old wives. We are disappointed.

Kennah Kator is a student  Pay attention to Benue killings

If I had the opportunity of meeting the President during his visit to Benue I would have asked him why he failed to meet with the ordinary people of the state.

Recall that the meeting he held with stakeholders was done behind closed doors. We expected he would address the people in an open gathering but it did not happen. I also expected that he would visit some of the areas where the killings happened but he never did.

As the President and Chief custodian of the Constitution he was expected to ensure the safety of all Nigerians but that is not happening.

Since we cannot embark on taking up arms to defend ourselves we expect that he ensures the protection of the lives and property of Nigerians especially the Benue people who have over the years suffered series of attacks from herdsmen. So we are not happy.

If I had an opportunity with I would have told him that he should pay attention to the Benue killings and find a solution to them as soon as possible.

Paul Gaaji  I would have asked him why he wants a second term?

Of course when he came he was supposed to visit the Tor Tiv and the Ochi Idoma in their palaces but he promised that he would come back in the near future for elections. Its strange I must tell you. If I had a one on one with the President I would asked him why, despite this health challenge, he still wants to run for second term?

I also felt maybe he was scared of Benue people that was why he did not go around to see the people.

Oche Ogbu  Why didnt he come earlier than he did?

If I had an opportunity with President President Buhari I would have asked him why he didnt come to Benue earlier.

Perhaps Mr. President was scared of Benue in the first place. Or maybe because he did not know the mood of the people before now. The security situation in the state was tensed so that could have been responsible for his failure to visit the IDPs. But we had expected him to visit at lest one of the IDPs camps to commiserate with the people.

Engr. Ezra Nyiorngo  I knew his coming would not change anything

I was not expecting much from the President as a Benue indigene because comments from his security apparatus who said we needed to build ranches before making the grazing law or that the killings were as a result of communal crisis.

He did not reprimand those who made such comments. More so that he ordered the IGP to relocate to Benue and he failed to comply with the directive. So I was not expecting much from him because from the onset I knew that his coming would not change anything.

Zetugh Jonathan  I wanted him to support the Benues grazing law

What we expected as youths is for him to tackle the security challenges in the state. Since 2012, my local government Logo has been affected by herdsmen attacks.

Despite the coming of the grazing law, the herdsmen are still attacking our people. We expected him to take decisive action to end the killings.

Governor Ortom has been trying his best but without the support of the federal government he might not do much.

If I had an opportunity to speak to the President I would have told him to support our grazing law in Benue.

Abdullahi Hassan, an artisan  I expected him to speak to those behind the killings

My expectation was for him to come and give us hope and joy after he made several promises before the election. Im not disappointed because his coming was also for a reason.

The Herdsmen and farmers crisis was one thing I expected pronouncement on. Many have been killed so I had expected him to to speak to those behind the killings to stop and also to leave the state.

Godwin Abunde  I expected him to address ordinary people

I had expected that on arrival the President would visit the crisis areas and the IDP camps. Unfortunately he did not visit any of the camps. The people suffering in the farmers/crisis are the ordinary people. So we had expected that he would address the ordinary people but he did not. For me it was a big mistake.

Victoria Asher  I was not disappointed

I was not disappointed because I expected him to do what he actually did.

Going by the things that happened in other states he visited I did not expect him to do anything differently. Thank God we have not recorded massive killings since the visit because if you remember in other states, as soon as he left herdsmen would get emboldened and embark on killing spree.

Killings are still going on in Plateau and nothing is being done to check the bloodbath.

Josephine Nyiaakula  We are fed up with activities of herdsmen

I was not expecting anything from the President. We clamoured for him to be President but majority of Nigerians are just fed up with the activities of herdsmen in most states of the federation.

Samuel Akya  Why is it difficult to end the killings?

I had expected him to visit the burial site of those killed on New Years Day and also visit at least one of the IDP camps to see things for himself.

He also failed to address the ordinary people of the state. He rather spoke with highly placed people in government house. If I had an opportunity with him, I would have asked him why he is finding it difficult to end the killings in Benue state.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General

Loading...Home | News | General | Ndakara, Omatseye, Amachree, Ozekhome, others condole with Afrikanwatch editor over his fathers death

It was a sad moment for the Editor-in-Chief, Afrikanwatch Media, Mark Columbus Orgu who lost his father, Late Pa Chukwuma Johnson Orgu at the age of 82.

Pa Orgu died on Saturday ,March 10, 2018 at his home town, Aragba-Orogun in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta.

Meanwhile, the President General of Orogun Kingdom, Olorogun Barr. Benson Ndakara AGNP, a relation to the deceased admonished the children to see their fathers death as an act of God.

In the same vein, a former retired Assistant Director in the Department of State Security service and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Dennis Amachree MON and Chief Dr. Mike Ozekhome OFR, have also expressed shock on the passing of the editors father.

The duo charged the family to take heart and have faith in God. Also condoling the family are, Mr. Sam Omatseye, Chairman, Editorial board of the Nation Newspaper; Rev. Fr. (Prof) Anthony Kanu OSA, Amb. Dr. David E.O Solomon, Sen. Anthony Adefuye, Col. N. Shobo retd, Mr. Nwokolo. Others are Mr. Alfred Omenihu, Publisher, National Impact Magazine; Mr. Ademola Ladipo, Dean, Students Affairs Unit, Yaba College of Technology; Mr. Joe Ejiofor, Chairman, Afrikanwatch Editorial Board. They all prayed for God to grant the family the fortitude to bear the loss. The family would make public the burial arrangement soon.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General

Loading...Home | News | General | Photos: Footbridge collapses over Miami highway, fatalities

Investigators were combing the scene of a footbridge collapse in Miami on Friday to determine how a brand new structure could fail in less than a week, as police said the death toll of six was set to rise.

MIAMI, FL  MARCH 16: A Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department official uses a hose to spray water to keep down the dust at the scene of a pedestrian bridge that collapsed a few days after it was built over southwest 8th street allowing people to bypass the busy street to reach Florida International University on March 16, 2018 in Miami, Florida. Reports indicate that there are six fatalities as a result of the collapse, which crushed a number of vehicles. /AFP

Members of the National Transportation Safety Board investigate the scene where a pedestrian bridge collapsed a few days after it was built over southwest 8th street allowing people to bypass the busy street to reach Florida International University on March 16, 2018 in Miami, Florida. Reports indicate that there are six fatalities as a result of the collapse. /AFP

MIAMI, FL  MARCH 16: A crushed vehicle is seen near a worker as law enforcement and members of the National Transportation Safety Board investigate the scene where a pedestrian bridge collapsed a few days after it was built over southwest 8th street allowing people to bypass the busy street to reach Florida International University on March 16, 2018 in Miami, Florida. Reports indicate that there are six fatalities as a result of the collapse. /AFP

The newly installed pedestrian bridge over a six-lane highway in Miami on a college campus collapsed Thursday, crushing a number of cars below and reportedly leaving several people dead.

The Miami Herald reported that an unknown number of people were trapped underneath the collapsed walkway, which connected Florida International University to a student housing area and was erected less than a week ago.

The Florida Highway Patrol said several people were killed, according to US networks. Emergency vehicles and police cars swarmed the area.

The cars were completely crushed, Isabella Carrasco, who said she arrived on the scene just after the collapse, told CNN.

You could see some of the car and just a lot of debris everywhere.

She said she saw one woman get out of a car that was just nicked and rescue personnel performing CPR on another person in the street.

Other than that, I didnt see anybody else., Carrasco said.

Television imagery from the scene showed a crane being moved into position where the bridge lay in sections across Southwest Eighth Street.

The bridge was not yet in use; it was expected to open next year.

 Whole thing broke 

A shaken Lynnell Collins told CNN he was driving and was about to make a right turn when the whole thing really just came down.

After the whole thing broke, I was freaking out. I got out of my car and me and a few other people were sprinting over there. We started helping people whose cars were at least half crushed and whoever was easily saved.

He said he saw two trucks that were completely crushed and other vehicles on the other side of the bridge that he could not reach.

We are shocked and saddened about the tragic events unfolding at the FIU-Sweetwater pedestrian bridge, Florida International University said in a statement.

At this time we are still involved in rescue efforts and gathering information.

A team of experts from the National Transportation Safety Board was en route to the scene to investigate.

FIU had only recently been celebrating the installation of the bridge, which crossed a dangerous, heavily traveled section of highway that students said had been the scene of accidents.

It had been erected using an accelerated modular building method that enabled it to go up in the space of a day.

At the White House, Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said President Donald Trump was aware of the accident and will offer whatever support is needed.

Bridge collapses in the United States are infrequent despite rising risks associated with aging infrastructure.

The deadliest this century was the 2007 collapse of an eight-lane bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which killed 13 people.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General

Loading...Home | News | General | Kogi killings: Death toll rises as PDP blames Gov Bello for attacks

Villagers desert communities over rumour of another attack

By Boluwaji Obahopo, Lokoja

The death toll in Kogi killings by Fulani herdsmen in five communities in Igalaland has reportedly risen from 32 to 50 as more corpses were picked around the communities especially in Oganenigwu, Dekina local government area of the state.

Gov Yahaya Bello

Also, residents of Abejukolo and Agbenema communities in Omala Council area have deserted their villages over fear of another attack by the herdsmen.

The residents are presently relocating massively to the neighbouring areas of Anyigba, Egume and other areas for their safety.

This is coming as the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP has blamed the sustained killing of over 32 persons in Dekina and Omala LGAs on Governor Yahaya Bello, saying the governors open invitation to the rampaging herdsmen and the setting up of cattle colonies without adequate security measures put in place, led to the killings.

A source said the death toll in Oganenigwu from the sustained invasion by the fulani herdsmen has risen beyond the quoted 32, As at present no body can say the exact number of victims because many families were yet to locate their relatives, the source said.

The source said as a result of the attack, other villages around Oganenigwu community have been deserted because of fear of reprisal attack.

Reacting to the development, the PDP said the governors open invitation to the rampaging herdsmen and the setting up of cattle colonies without adequate security measures put in place, led to the killings.

Kogi PDP Director of Research and Documentation, Achadu Dickson said the governor should explain his role in the killing following his insistent nature for the Fulani to relocate to the state amidst disapproval by the people.

The party also condemned the gruesome murder of innocent citizens by the herders, adding that their action has vindicated the partys position from the onset that establishment of cattle colonies was an invitation to anarchy.

While we commiserate with the families who lost their loved ones, we call for a further arrest of the crisis by the security agencies as it is one death too many in the country as it will do one any good. We called on the governor to renounce his action of setting up colonies in the state, make a public apology of his action, and adequately compensate those who lost lives and properties. The times under Governor Bello is hell on earth for Kogi people. Despite his inability to pay salaries, after inflicting so much hardship on the people, his policy to set up cattle colonies has once again added more pains on the people.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General

Loading...Home | News | General | Stop the killings in Benue, Nigeria  Pastor Adeboye

By Peter Duru, Makurdi

The General Overseer of Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, Paster Enoch Adeboye has called for a halt to the mindless killings in Benue state and other parts of the country.The cleric spoke Friday, in the company of his wife when he visited Benue to console and pray for the government and people of the state over the killings by suspected herdsmen in the state.

Addressing the gathering before going into prayers, Pastor Adeboye explained that he did not visit the state much earlier before the President visited so as not to leave room for suspicion in the minds of politicians.

Pastor Enoch Adeboye, General Overseer, Redeemed Christian Church of God

He said, Benue state is very very close to my heart, I had felt every pain you people felt and I wept when I saw you weeping. But of course no man of God will see a mass burial anywhere and not feel the pains of the people affected.

We want these killings to stop. Happily we know someone who can stop it, He is the Almighty God, He does not fail nor compromise, He is the God of all. We will continue to call on Him to fight this battle and you can be assured that victory will be certain.

Earlier, Governor Samuel Ortom had lamented that the incursions of herdsmen into the state, apart from leading to the deaths of many, had created a huge humanitarian crisis in the state.

He appealed to the church to sustain prayers for the government and people of the state given the enormous challenge the crisis posed to the well-being of the people of the state.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General

Loading...Home | News | General | Good lessons from Edo State

By Emmanuel Aziken

It is certainly not because of his bulky frame that officials of the Edo State government are these days said to dread the media outings of Chief Dan Orbih, chairman of the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

It may also not be because of his famous but now deceased father, Chief MCK Orbih, a key player in the politics of the former Bendel State.

If truth be told, Chief Dan Orbih with his sharp, witty and constructive criticisms of the Edo State government has redefined opposition politics in a way that should positively benefit all democracy stakeholders across the country. Even if he is irritating to those in government, he has positively positioned the PDP in Edo State to keep the All Progressives Congress, APC administration on its toes. With that spirit, the benefit in the long run would accrue to the people of Edo State.

Last Thursdays town hall meeting in Benin on a bill to prohibit open grazing in Edo State was a fitting example of the way the PDP under Orbihs stewardship has done well. The bill which was articulated by the state chapter of the PDP is presently before the Edo State House of Assembly and was the PDPs response to the menace of herdsmen in the state.

Given the apprehension of many people in Edo State on the activities of the herdsmen, it is no surprise that the proposal has been largely welcomed by citizens of the state irrespective of political party affiliation.

However, the proposal has caught the state administration on the wrong side with state officials saying that the proposal is premature.

Governor Godwin Obaseki understandably, would not want to see himself as a champion of the controversial but yet constructive proposal to prohibit grazing, especially given the fact to prohibit open grazing, especially given the fact that senior officials of the APC administration in Abuja have kicked against it.

However, the danger for Obaseki is that should casualties be again traced to herdsmen in the state, he would be hard-pressed to sustain his opposition to the open-grazing prohibition bill as canvassed by the PDP.

The hullaballoo that followed the allegation by Orbih of the diversion of rice and other provisions earmarked by the Federal Government for Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs in the state is another endearing mark for Orbih and his leadership of the PDP in the state.

It is reassuring that Governor Obasekis spokesman, Crusoe Osagie has elaborately acquitted his principal of culpability. The bags of rice Orbih claimed were diverted were apparently not collected by the state government supposedly because they were in bad condition.

Casting aside the PDP state chairmans witty poser as to how government officials got to know that the rice was bad if they did not taste it, Osagies rebuttal of the allegations should stand except otherwise controverted.

Orbihs tackles of the present and preceding APC administration is despite the fact that he and Adams Oshiomhole, the leader of the APC in Edo State, were at one time very close. In their younger days, they reportedly exchanged family visits.

Orbih may not be a perfect man, and many, especially associates of Rotimi Amaechi would not forget in a lifetime, his quiet but brutally effective role in removing Amaechi from the leadership of the Rivers State chapter of the PDP in 2013.

Officials of the Edo State government may from time to time taunt him as a nuisance; but surely a nuisance that has kept the administration upright and careful. After all, it would be foolhardy of Governor Obaseki to allow himself to be caught pants down by Orbih.

The developments in Edo State need to be replicated across the country. Nigeria surely needs more of such robust opposition that would keep every governor, both PDP and APC in check.

Soundbite criticisms of the sort that opposition parties chorus should be consigned to history. Anyone who criticises should also have the courage and capacity to proffer alternatives to the policies and programmes of the administration in power.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General

Loading...Home | News | General | 2019: Ifako-Ijaiye council endorses Ambode for second term

By Olasunkanmi Akoni

In apparent preparation toward the next general elections, All Progressives Congress, APC, Chieftains and members of Ifako-Ijaiye Local Government have unanimously expressed support for the second term in office of the incumbent Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State in 2019 poll.

Chairman of the council., Apostle Oloruntoba Oke, led thousands of party faithful to endorse the candidacy at the Local Government Headquarters, Fagba, Iju, area of Lagos, Thursday.

Akinwunmi Ambode

Oke explained that the councils endorsement was as a result of Ambodes grassroots policies and all inclusive programmes of the government that had impacted positively on residents.

Oke said all the chairmen of the 20 Local Government and 37 Local Council Development Area, LCDAs had simultaneously picked the day for Grass roots endorsement of the Ambode government across the state.

He said: This is premised on the simple fact that Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has demonstrably distinguished himself as bastion of hope and beacon of light for light for good governance, in less than three years in the saddle.

A vote for APC flag bearers in the forthcoming election is a vote wisely cast. A vote for Akinwunmi Ambode is a vote for transparency, integrity, accountability and good governance.

Therefore, to achieve overall success, Oke charged all party chieftains not only to collect their PVC, but come out and vote en masse during election period fir APC candidates and particularly mobilise voters fir Ambode who had recorded unprecedented achievements that traversed all spheres of life.

With a population close to 20 million, we should be able to show our appreciation to this amiable governor by giving him at least five million votes to ensure the continuation of his good works cone 2019.

Oke, who expressed confidence that the council would give over 250,000 votes to the governor in the forthcoming election, added that to make it possible, a powerful campaign team called Ambode Continuity Babes on February 14, had been inaugurated to champion the second term re-election of the governor campaign and make it a reality.

According to him, I challenge you to summon a new spirit of loyalty, patriotism and responsibility where each of UA have resolved to pitch in and work harder to pursue the greater interest of the party.

Earlier Ifako-Ijaiye APC Chairman Mr. Fadayomi praised party chieftains for their zeal and unity especially in the local government.

He appreciated all women, artisans market men and women, youths and traditional institutions for making the emergence of Ambode come true as well as seeing the state marching into a smart city.

We have decided and resolved to give our all to massively support the Ambodes continuity 2019 project, he said.

The event was witnessed by top chieftains of the party at the local government as well as thousands of party chieftains across all the wards of the council.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General

Loading...By Francis Ewherido

Women have been in the news for mainly good reasons in the last few weeks. March 8 was International Womens Day. The theme of this years day is, Time is now: Rural and Urban Activists Transforming Womens Lives, with a campaign theme of #pressforprogress. I am not a womens activist, but I love women; I have quite a handful of them in my life: my wife, mother, daughters, nieces, cousins and other relatives, friends, my home girls and other acquaintances, so their matter is my matter.

But charity, they say, begins at home, so today, I am concentrating on women in my part of the world: Urhoboland. Urhobo parents started educating their daughters much later than many parents from other ethnic groups. This late start in educating the Urhobo girl child stemmed from an ignorant and obnoxious paradigm of omotohwofa.

Literally, it means a girl is another person. But connotatively, it means it is a waste of resources to educate the girl child, because she would get married later, change her maiden name and become a member of her husbands family. So, even though she is your daughter, she is just another person (ohwofa). This has changed and Urhobo parents have been educating their girls just like other parents. But the omotohwofa mentality is still very much on in other variants. For instance, if an Urhobo politician (male or female) wants to contest an election to represent his/her maternal people, there will be uproar. You will hear derogatory remarks like, omo romote ke muekpeti vwetinee (offspring of our daughter cannot represent us). If an appointive position is zoned to the area, they will also not allow an omo romote to represent them no matter how competent.

Another aspect of Urhobo culture that is against women is our attitude to Urhobo women married to non Urhobos. At a recent gathering organized by Urhobo Foundation in Lagos, Mrs. Joyce Onafowokan, daughter of internationally acclaimed Artist, Professor Bruce Onobrakpeya, was very bitter about how the Urhobo Nation treats her daughters who are married to non Urhobos. She said we alienate them and treat them as if they are no longer Urhobo people. A relative, married to a non Urhobo, also complained to me recently about the same kind of treatment.

When will the Urhobo Nation learn valuable lessons and appreciate our daughters and their husbands from other ethnicities? Have we forgotten so soon how the Delta State capital ended up in Asaba in 1991? The omotohwofa attitude and thinking has no place in a world that has become a global village. While many of us want our children to marry within our ethnic group, love works in mysterious fashion and is often not subject to legislation or control. That some Urhobo women marry from outside Urhobo should not make them outcasts or disadvantaged in any way. We must begin to embrace not only our daughters, but our sons-in-law from other ethnicities as our own. That is the way to go in our current times

There has been progress in the areas of inheritance. These days, many Urhobo people simply use their wills to distribute their wealth to their children the way they deem fit. But you still see some male children challenging what parents have put on paper, though this is not peculiar to Urhobo land. Where it is not on paper, it can really get messy; survival of the fittest more like it. In the villages, much work still needs to be done. Many families share family land among the males in the family as if the females do not exist. Some justify it by saying the females will get in their husbands families, so giving them land in their families of origin will amount to double portion. What is wrong with double portion? The arrogant and greedy males in the family, on the other hand, simply tell you that omotohwofa.

Times have changed, so must our culture, which should be evolutionary, not static. We must begin to look at those aspects, which prevent women from attaining their full potentials and do away with them. Inhibited women mean an inhibited society. Let us create an environment which enables women and indeed any deprived group to blossom and achieve their potentials. Where a woman represents our best, let us encourage her. Our best ought to be gender-blind.

Last Sunday, some Christian denominations also celebrated Mothers Day. I am going to ask a similar question I asked previously in another variant. Who is a mother? In Africa, a mother is not just a woman with biological children, but one whose motherly love and good deeds transcend blood relationships. If the only people who see you as mother in Africa are your biological children, there is a question mark on your motherhood.

In the last few weeks we have read reports of a mother, who had under her roof a child whose hand was infested with maggots and rotting away and she did nothing about it. We had two others who poured hot water and used hot iron on other peoples daughters under their roofs. In the last case, even when real mothers, who saw the little girls badly burnt and lacerated body, admonished her to take the girl to hospital for treatment, she refused. They subsequently reported her to the authorities. So these evil women from hell also see themselves as mothers just because their wombs have played host to babies; they are not!

I have advised before that if you feel that little girl you brought from the village to help you in the house is wicked, a witch or has negative aura, return her to her people. You have no right to maltreat her. Many of these guardians are not giving these little girls a fair deal. You do not have to live in the same compound or neighbourhood with them to know. We see them in churches and other public places. Simply treat that little girl like a fellow human being or send her away if you cannot. And let us all continue to be vigilant and report such cases of child abuse because that is what it is.

I wish all mothers a happy Mothers Day and pray for them to become better mothers, role models and home builders by the day.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General

Loading...Home | News | General | Kogi PDP blames Governor Bello as death toll from suspected herdsmen attack reportedly rises from 32 to 50

- The Kogi state chapter of the PDP says the gruesome murder of innocent citizens by herdsmen had vindicated its position from the onset that the establishment of cattle colonies was an invitation to anarchy

- The party calls on the governor to renounce his action of setting up colonies in the state

- Governor Yahaya Bello to meet with security chiefs

The Kogi state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said Governor Yahaya Bellos open invitation to herdsmen and the setting up of cattle colonies without adequate security measures put in place resulted in the recent killings in Dekina and Omala local government areas of the state.

Vanguard reports that the director of research and documentation of the party, Achadu Dickson, said the governors insistent nature for the herdsmen to relocate to the state despite disapproval by the people was the cause of the killings.

READ ALSO: President Buhari mourns Kafanchan Catholic bishop

The party said the gruesome murder of innocent citizens by the herders had vindicated its position from the onset that the establishment of cattle colonies was an invitation to anarchy.

While we commiserate with the families who lost their loved ones, we call for a further arrest of the crisis by the security agencies as it is one death too many in the country as it will do one any good.

We called on the governor to renounce his action of setting up colonies in the state, make a public apology of his action, and adequately compensate those who lost lives and properties.

PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app

The times under Governor Bello is hell on earth for Kogi people. Despite his inability to pay salaries, after inflicting so much hardship on the people, his policy to set up cattle colonies has once again added more pains on the people, the party said.

Vanguard also stated that the death tally from the suspected herdsmen attack in five communities in Igalaland has reportedly risen from 32 to 50.

The newspaper reported that more bodies were picked around the communities especially in Oganenigwu, Dekina local government area of the state.

NAIJ.com learnt that rumours that the herdsmen were planning another attack forced residents of the affected communities to relocate massively to the neighbouring areas for their safety.

Meanwhile, Governor Yahaya Bello is expected to visit Ogane-Nigu and nearby communities in the eastern senatorial zone of Kogi state following an attack carried out by armed bandits suspected to be herdsmen. This was contained in a statement issued on Friday, March 16.

The state government said the attack was brought under control and that peace has been restored in the area. Governor Bello is expected to carry out a security assessment of the situation in the area.

The government urged the people of Kogi state to ignore the conflicting casualty and other figures thrown about by different individuals, organisations and sections of the press, stating that such figures were speculative.

Nigerian herdsmen vs Nigerian farmers on NAIJ.com TV

[embedded content]

Source: Naija.ng

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General

Loading...Home | News | General | 8 years after giving up his pocket money to help a colleague, Nigerian journalist gets rewarded

Indeed, one good turn deserves another.

Doing good and lending a helping hand to another in trying times can go a long way in how you're remembered in the hearts of people. Sometimes your reward may simply be in heaven, sometimes it may come several years after just like this Twitter user.

Identified as Sammy Desh, the young man recently took to the social media platform to reveal how somebody he helped 8 years ago recently rewarded him with 2 plots of land in Ekiti state.

He wrote on Twitter: "As a student in 2010 i gave a guy my pocket money to pay his final year tuition fees, he reached out to me few minutes ago to dash me 2 plots of land in Ado Ekiti. I am speechless"

READ ALSO: Newly employed Kaduna state teacher makes grammatical error as he gives thanks to God for his new job

READ ALSO: Teenage househelp caught feeding 1-year-old baby with liquid soap, says she was tired of the job

While this has served as an inspiration to some people who saw the post, it is important to state that sometimes, it is also good to help without the hope of getting anything in return. Another Nigerian man has shown that sometimes, it's okay to lend a helping hand to even people who may have done you wrong.

He took to Twitter to narrate how his uncle refused to assist him financially in order to bury his father, stating that a man doesnt give his fellow man money. A year later, the same uncle was sick and in need of money to foot the medical bills and despite what the uncle did to him, he eventually helped him.

PAY ATTENTION: Read best news on Nigeria's #1 news app

Should a 'homeless' man move into a house built by his wife? on NAIJ.com TV:

[embedded content]

Source: Naija.ng

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General

Loading...Lere Olayinka, the Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media to Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State, has mocked Kogi Governor Yahaya Bello.

Lamenting the recent killings in the state by suspected herdsmen, Olayinka recalled that Bello, despite warnings, gave the Fulanis hectares of land.

Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State gave Fulani herdsmen 15,000 hectares of land for cattle colony, the herdsmen thanked the governor and paid back with brutal murder of 35 Kogites.

Abeg, what is that Aso Villa Protocol Officer saying now?, he wrote in a post on Facebook.

Dozens were reported killed as suspected Fulani herdsmen stormed Kogi communities a few days ago.

In February, Bello in Abuja, officially handed a letter conveying the donation of 15,000 hectares of land to the Federal Government for the latters cattle colony programme.

The governor said the people and government of the state were ready for the cattle colony programme in the state.

Speaking during a visit to the Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh, Bello said 15,000 hectares of land has been provided; 10,000 in Ajaokuta and 5,000 in Adavi Local Government areas, respectively, both in the central senatorial district of the state.

The governor said the people of the areas had been fully informed and were in agreement with the policy.Home | News | General | S/South governors wife garners international recognition as she wins prestigious UN award

- Mrs Martha Udom-Emmanuel, wife of the Akwa-Ibom governor, has won a UN award for her pet project, Family Empowerment and Youths Reorientation Path-Initiative

- Mrs Udom-Emmanuel said her project was all-encompassing, adding that it has empowered thousands of women, girls, widows, youth and the physically-challenged, among others

- She further stated that through her project, many convictions had been secured against rapists

The wife of the governor of Akwa Ibom, Mrs Martha Udom-Emmanuel, has won an award at the UN for empowering and uplifting the women and the girl-child in the state, NAN reports.

The award was presented to Mrs Udom-Emmanuel at the UN Headquarters, New York, by the International Human Rights Commission.

READ ALSO: I was the best CBN governor - Emir Sanusi

NAIJ.com gathers that she bagged the award based on the impacts of her pet project, Family Empowerment and Youths Reorientation Path-Initiative (FEYRep).

The wife of the Akwa Ibom governor was attending the 62nd Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) at the UN Headquarters where she also held a side-event to showcase her project.

The programme, which opened on March 12 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, is scheduled to close on March 23.

The Commissions high representative at the UN and African Union, Amb. Fouday Mansaray, lauded the activities of FEYRep, saying it is in line with Resolution 1325.

According to him, the project is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) wherein women are given a voice and platform to speak and to participate fully in governance.

Mansaray said: So, what we do is that we try to embody the whole Sustainable Development Goals, not only talk about one issue but look at it from a holistic approach.

We take education as a vehicle to all of this and our goal is to make sure that we see women in high position in governance, because women bring the entire family into consideration in leadership.

We work with about 17 States in Nigeria and we do quite an investigative work. We only give two of these certificates per year.

According to him, the commission has carried out on-the-spot assessment of her projects and those of other governors wives in Nigeria.

We were with 15 governors wives at a programme in September 2017, we are mostly impressed with her down-to-earth in-depth approach for widows, he said.

Mansaray added that the Commission would work with Akwa Ibom because it was taking the extra mile to implement programmes and avenues that would empower women and girls.

Responding, Mrs Udom-Emmanuel said her project was all-encompassing, adding that it has empowered thousands of women, girls, widows, youth and the physically-challenged, among others.

She explained that the project was particularly interested in girls education and empowerment, noting that there is a reduction in the level of crime now in Akwa Ibom, especially, rape.

She said: Before now, girls were not talking about rape cases. Many of them were raped and their mothers would not allow them to talk about it because of stigmatisation or intimidation.

But we have sensitised women, talking about it, telling them to voice out; we go to schools, emphasising our theme, Girl, uphold your dignity.

Through that, when a girl is raped now, she will pick up the phone and call FEYRep. The mother will also call that her daughter has been raped.

She said through her project, many convictions had been secured against rapists, assuring that more rapists will be convicted and rape must come to an end in the state.

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app

Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that Mrs Martha Udom Emmanuel gifted a widow with a fully furnished bungalow.

Mrs Emmanuel and her team of Family Empowerment Youth Re-Orientation Programme commissioned a bungalow given to the widow identified as Madam Arit Abia and her five grandchildren.

The widow and her grandchildren are from Ewang community in Mbo local government area in Akwa Ibom state.

Governor Amosun drives wife in Abeokuta - on NAIJ.com TV:

[embedded content]

Source: Naija.ng

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General

Loading...- Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II refrains from disclosing the identity of one of his daughters who wants to succeed him

- He insists the $20 billion allegations of fraud he made before he was suspended as the governor of the apex bank remains unaccounted for

- Islamic preacher faults wedding of Gandujes daughter to Ajimobis son

The second most ranked Muslim leader in Nigeria, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has disclosed that one of his daughters wants to succeed him as the emir of Kano.

The Cable reports that Sanusi made the disclosure in an interview with Financial Times at his Kano residence.

My daughter wants to be the next emir of Kano, and shes disappointed Ive not yet appointed a woman to the Kano emirate council, Sanusi was reported to have said.

The monarch however did not disclose the identity of the particular daughter who wants to succeed him.

When asked if his daughter could be the emir, he noted that perhaps his granddaughter or great-granddaughter could take the position.

Its got to be incremental, without necessarily turning the society on its headThat is the greatest challenge for us. How are you a custodian of a legacy, of a history, of a culture? And how do you also serve as a guide as that culture navigates its way in a modern world? he asked.

The Emir also insisted that the $20 billion allegations of fraud he made before he was suspended as the governor of the apex bank remains unaccounted for and is never going to be found in one place.

Meanwhile, a prominent Kaduna-based Islamic preacher, Ahmad Gumi, has faulted the glamorous wedding of Fatima Ganduje and Idris Ajimobi, describing it as a disgrace to Islam and parenting in Northern Nigeria.

We noted that Gumi also warned the people of Kano to be cautious of the "wrath of God", citing the example of the crisis in Borno state, Premium Times reports.

According to the cleric, the bride and groom did not conduct themselves with decorum and respect. He blamed their parents for not guiding them to do the right thing.Home | News | General | Child abuse: Police declare war on offenders

Pathetic stories of enslaved children

By Emma Nnadozie Crime Editor

His actions since assumption of duty as the Commissioner of Police in Lagos state have been commendable. Imohimi Edghal seems to have taken the bull by the horn as he embarked on far-reaching operations aimed at sacking criminal elements

Child abuse as agenda

Luckily, topmost in his agenda -thrust is the vexatious and dehumanizing issue of child abuse. In this regard, he seems to have gone all out, fishing out culprits from their hidden enclaves and meting appropriate sanctions without minding whose ox is gored. The command has so far recorded appreciable success in this regard with the active participation and involvement of members of the public who have seemingly been sensitized towards passing to the police relevant and useful information on offenders.

The number of cases so far unearthed and their bizarre and heartrending circumstances are as baffling as they are confounding. Take the case of a 10-year-old boy identified as Chimaobi who was set on fire by the wife of his uncle, 36-year-old nursing mother at their residence in Adenugba Street, Agunfoye, Ikorodu. His offence was simply that he misplaced his trousers and could not produce it when his aunt demanded them and out of anger, she brutalized him, poured kerosene on him and set him ablaze. The young boy who has been taken into protective custody by the Lagos State Government, according to neighbours, was a victim of serial abuse by his aunt, Gift Igwe who maltreated him at the slightest provocation.

It was gathered that the Ishielu, Ebonyi State-born indigene, was arrested after residents of the community reported her to the police when they heard the cries of the victim and managed to put out the fire during which he reportedly passed out.

Chimobi was subsequently rushed to Ikorodu General Hospital, while police from the Igbogbo division were said to have arrested the suspect. A source said that the child was brought to Lagos in 2016 by the uncle to start living with his family but all through his stay, his aunt never saw anything good in him and brutalized him at will. The source said that the matter came to a head when the heartless aunt set the boy on fire on Wednesday, September 6, 2017.

Vigilant neighbours open up

A vigilant neighbour opened up over the pathetic plight of the helpless boy: His father is the younger brother of the man who is a security guard in a firm. He was not enrolled in any school after he was brought from the village. The brother wanted him to be assisting the wife, who had a baby about a year earlier, with house chores and other things. The woman started abusing him. There are marks of past floggings on his body. He also has sores. People in the community could no longer keep quiet when the last incident happened on Wednesday, September 6. She poured kerosene on the boy and lit him with a matchstick.

The victim who also narrated his predicament on his hospital bed said he was in a primary school in their hometown before he was brought to Lagos from Ebonyi state. He explained that his uncle and his wife had refused to enroll him in a school since he started living with them. I misplaced my trousers and mummy poured kerosene on me and used a matchstick to light fire. People came to help me. I have not been going to school since they brought me from the village, he lamented.

The Police said that Igwe had been granted bail because of her child, saying she was mandated to be reporting at the police station daily. We gathered that the boy was accused of misplacing something and because of that, she got kerosene and set him ablaze. Some Good Samaritans put out the fire. The boy is recuperating. When our attention was called to the case, the Commissioner of police, Imohimi Edgal, quickly directed that action should be taken. We ensured the prompt treatment of the boy at the Ikorodu General Hospital. We also involved other government agencies, including a human right group working with the police in that area. The suspect was arrested and interrogated.

She is a nursing mother; she has a child that is less than two years old. She was later charged to court, together with her husband, after police concluded their investigations, police explained.

Another shocking case unveiled

Shortly after the above scenario another shocking case reared its ugly head. A good Samaritan reportedly alerted police and a human rights organisation that a 10-year-old maid with a hand gory with injuries was been confined in their house at Dominic street, Ijegun, Lagos. The good Samaritan saw the bruises on the maids body and her rotting, maggot-infested finger, when she was sent on an errand. The Commissioner of Police personally led a team of policemen to their residence and they succeeded in rescuing the girl after she was tortured and physically assaulted by her guardians, Stella Anyakora and her husband, Valentine. The victim was taken to hospital for medical attention while the arrested guardians were interrogated and charged for assault.

In fact, these startling discoveries made the police to dig deeper into such cases and focus their searchlight on credible information from members of the public. Police gigantic thrust continued to pay off as they, once again, stumbled on another disheartening case of child abuse involving a banker, on Friday, January 5, 2018. the 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 brought to her by a woman she claims was her elder sister. Police alleged that the suspect 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 reads; Nwajagu, from Ajalli in Orumba LGA of Anambra state but residing at No. 12, Baderin street, Mafoluku, Oshodi, reported to the police after she was invited and she was taken to the Human Rights Section of the Lagos State Command, Ikeja. She will be prosecuted at the end of ongoing investigations in the case.

Insertion of broomstick into penis

In the same vein, a mother of four identified simply as Mrs. Bassey was arrested by the Lagos State Police Command for allegedly torturing her nine-year-old nephew, Promise, by inserting a broomstick and dried pepper into his penis.

Mrs. Bassey reportedly committed the heinous act at her residence at Ashaka Street, Ebute-Meta area of the state after accusing the boy of stealing her N2, 000.

It was learned that after forcing the boy to confess to the theft, Bassey went ahead to torture him, inflicting serious injuries on him.

Neighbours who reported the matter to the police at the Iponri Division were tired of the constant maltreatment of the young boy which included starvation, beating and humiliation.

The young victim, who has been rescued by the Lagos State Office of the Public Defender (LSOPD), was said to have been taken to a hospital where the broomstick was removed from his private part and was later taken to a government shelter.

Residents speak

A resident of the area said that Promise came to live with Bassey following the death of his parents when he was five-years-old but that he has been maltreated all along.

Promise is the son of Basseys elder sister. His mother brought him to live with her so she could assist him with his education. The boy was formerly in a private public school, but he was withdrawn immediately his mother died. His father is also late. Since that time, she turned him into an errand boy. I have known the boy for three years now and can categorically say that he is always being maltreated. There was a time the guardian beat him up and tortured him with a needle. She starved the boy for three days. On another occasion, she sent the boy out of the house in the night and left him outside till daybreak.

Another tenant added that despite having four children from different men, Bassey had never maltreated her own kids.

The issue came to a head on Wednesday, January 4, 2017, when Bassey allegedly inserted a stick of broom and dried pepper into Promises penis for allegedly stealing N2, 000.

She said she was looking for N2, 000 and accused the boy of stealing it. She beat him up with a stick and used red pepper to rub his whole body. The boy was screaming, yet she did not stop. After that, she inserted a stick of broom, dipped in Cameroon pepper, into the boys private parts. We could not bear it again and we reported the abuse to the police at the Iponri Division. She was arrested and is still in police custody, the tenant said.

Surprisingly, the tenants revealed, in utter consternation that some relatives of the suspect had been threatening to deal with them for reporting the case to the police.

Perhaps, what has been playing out over the issue of child abuse is the robust relationship the police in Lagos established with people in their respective communities in the state.

Security expert reacts

A security expert, Tony Nwigwe attributed the successes recorded so far to the handiwork of the present police leadership in the state. These blood cuddling and shocking incidents of abuses have been with us for long. What is at play is the robust operational strategies and relationship existing between the police and the people of the Lagos. The fact that a police Commissioner will personally lead an operation to rescue one of those victims go a long way to show the importance he attaches to the unfortunate cases which should be aptly tagged mans inhumanity to man.

Secondly, the response from members of the public is highly commendable and should be encouraged. This is because it is a prelude to getting more credible information about crime in their respective areas and passing it to the police for action. We expect the police to intensify efforts towards fishing out more of such wicked people in our society while I will urge members of the public not to hesitate in exposing anybody involved in such callous and inhuman act against children.

.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General

Loading...Home | News | General | IPOB writes UN, asks FG, President Buhari to obey ACHR decision

By Emeka Mamah

Enugu  The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has notified the United Nations about the ruling of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights, ACHR, against the Nigerian government and asked the international community to prevail on President Muhammadu Buharis administration to obey the court order.

IPOB cartoon

This was contained in a statement yesterday signed by the Media and Publicity Secretary of IPOB, Comrade Emma Powerful.

The statement read, We, the IPOB worldwide, have today (yesterday) formally notified the civilised world about the interim ruling of the ACHR against the Nigerian government and the need for international community to prevail upon the administration of Muhammadu Buhari to abide by the rulings as pronounced.

Buharis administration is infamous for persistent and habitual disobedience of court orders. They have no regard for the rule of law as evidenced by numerous instances where they have declined to obey judicial pronouncements.

In the light of this undemocratic and dictatorial tendency of the present regime in Nigeria, we the IPOB through the office of the Directorate of State have communicated to world bodies, the need to hold Nigeria accountable to its international obligations especially its duty to honour legally binding treaties. Without any rigorous oversight, the Buharis regime will treat the latest pronouncement by ACHR with the same disdain as ordinary court judgements in Nigeria.

We firmly believe that it is the duty of the civilised world to hold brutal regimes in Africa, especially those that assumed power under the cover of democracy, to account for their actions.

The ACHR had through its Decision on Seizure and Provisional Measures, on March 8, 2018, asked the Federal Government to rescind its decision branding IPOB and its members as terrorists as well as the proscription

It also, condemned the arrest and lengthy detention of Nnamdi Kanu (as IPOB leader); and the lethal military attacks against his person (while he was free on bail), his family, and members of IPOB in September 2017; and which attacks led to many deaths, wounding and military arrests and detentions of IPOB members, including the troubling fact that Nnamdi Kanu has not been seen or heard from since the said attacks.

The ACHR, while granting provisional measures, further stated that, the continuing and menacing presence of armed soldiers at several checkpoints in the five states of southeastern Nigeria which has created an atmosphere of fear that many more IPOB members (including Nnamdi Kanu  if he is alive) could be shot at sight pursuant to their having been declared terrorists.

It then asked the government Not to take any further action so as to avoid irreparable damage to the Victim, IPOB and its members, pending the decision of the Commission on this Communication.

Those who were copied the ACHR Decision included President of USA, the British Prime Minister, United Nations Human Rights Council, the National Human Rights Commission of Nigeria, the European Commission for Human Rights Africa Union, the US Congress, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom as well as Office of the Prime Minister of Israel and Parliament of Canada among others

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General

Loading...Home | News | General | Oil magnate Ifeanyi Ubah declares for Senate

- Oil magnate, Ifeanyi Ubah, has declared his intention to contest for a seat at the Nigerian senate in 2019

- Ubah said he would contest to represent Anambra South Senatorial District in 2019 on the platform of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA)

- The oil magnate also said he will put in his best in making quality laws that will benefit both his Senatorial District and Nigerians.

One of Nigeria's oil moguls and the managing director of Capital Oil, Dr. Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah, on Friday, March 16, formally declared his intention to contest the Anambra South Senatorial District Election on the platform of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA).

The founder and chief promoter of Afa Igbo Efuna Movement, who paid a courtesy visit to the partys state chairman, Chief Norbert Obi, assured Ndi-Anambra South, Ndi-Anambra and Nigerians in general that if given the opportunity, he will put in his best in making quality laws that will benefit both his Senatorial District and Nigerians.

He later went to Orton Palace Hotel Ekwulobia, where the formal declaration was held.

READ ALSO: Senator Ali Wakili is dead

Also, while addressing party executives, stakeholders and APGA faithfuls, Dr. Ubah assured Ndi Anambra South of quality, effective representation and more contributions to the state and national development.

The event was well attended by APGA faithfuls, friends of the oil magnate and constituents of the Anambra South Senatorial District.

NAIJ.com earlier reported that Ifeanyi Ubah dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA).

Ubah in a formal declaration also declared his support for the present governor of Anambra state, Willie Obiano, who is the flag bearer of the APGA in the forthcoming Anambra gubernatorial election.

PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app

In a statement released on Saturday, November 4, 2017, Ubah said he dumped the PDP due to betrayals from friends and associates alike within the party.

APC official tells why his party could be voted out in 2019 - on NAIJ.com TV.

[embedded content]

Source: Naija.ng

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General

Loading...Home | News | General | OPINION: Demanding youth inclusion in governance

Editor's note: The program manager of YIAGA Africa, Cynthia Mbamalu, writes on the Not Too Young To Run bill, which seeks to reduce the age for contesting elections in the Nigerian constitution.

Read below:

Today I march because I want to run for elections in 2019 and if the president for any reason does not give his assent to the age reduction bill it means I will have to wait until the next election cycle and I do not have four years to wait,- Benedicta Ndi Kato

This is the current reality of young Nigerians who have worked in different capacities in their communities and beyond but whose aspiration to run for elective offices have been constantly fettered by the constitution of Nigeria. The constitution ordinarily should be the guarantee of the protection for the exercise of democratic rights in a democracy.

As a people, we should be worried that when we go to the polls during elections our options of candidates into the various elective offices from the presidency to the state assemblies are limited to a select few who are not a true reflection of our population.

Nigerian youths are united in their call for inclusion in governance.

READ ALSO: NotTooYoungToRun: How President Buhari can make history by Hamzat Lawal (opinion)

We should be worried that the face of government at the different levels of government do not reflect youth or even women in a country where the youth population is projected to be about 50% of the total population and the population of women projected to be almost half the population of Nigeria.

The NotTooYoungToRun bill which seeks to reduce the age for contesting elections in the constitution is an affirmation of the need for a more inclusive political system and electoral process. It is a bill that is long overdue and youth movement that is much needed in a country where young people are beginning to lose hope in the government and in Nigeria.

So, when we marched on March 14 from the Unity Fountain to the presidential villa in Abuja, we did not march under the scorching heat of the sun because we wanted to participate in a fun activity. We marched because we need the presidential assent for the #NotTooYoungToRun bill to become law; it is long past the time for complacency over the outright injustice in a system that has constantly excluded the youth from government.

Considering that in the 2015 general elections only 11% were youth candidates for the Senate, 10% for the governor, 18% for the House of Representatives, 29% for the House of Assembly election with almost half of that number not qualified to run for the election based on the age criteria in the constitution. We marched because we believe that inclusion is a fundamental principle in a democracy. We marched because each time we see the news and reports highlighting the increase in the rate of youth unemployment and poverty we are shaken and worried about the threat that poses to National development. We marched because Nigeria is ours and we are major stakeholders in development of our democracy and sustainable development in Nigeria. For the movement, we recognise that the process of socio-political transformation begins with the constitution.

The constitution-making process in modern times provides an opportunity for socio-political transformation especially to the extent to which the process incorporates citizens participation. More countries in sub-Saharan Africa for instance, Kenya, Rwanda, Zimbabwe adopted a more participatory process in their constitution making process which have produced more progressive constitutional guarantees, ranging from constitutionalizing more social economic rights, rights of women, youth to the adoption of affirmative action to promote political inclusion for women and youth.

The Kenyan constitution for instance adopts conscious and targeted steps to ensure youth political inclusion by aligning the voting age with eligibility age for contesting election at 18 years with special seats reserved for youth in the National Assembly, Senate and County Assembly. Within the West African region, our close neighbour and sister country Ghana, guarantees the rights of young people in Ghana to run for election into their parliament from 21 years old.

In Gambia, young people can run for the legislative seat from 21 years old and for presidency from 30 years old, in Liberia young people from the age of 25 years can run for election into the House of Representative, at 30 years for the Senate seat and at 35 for the office of the president. This has enabled more younger candidates to emerge as elected officials from the recently concluded elections in the mentioned countries.

Notably, there are challenges to youth candidacy in Nigeria and even Africa beyond age limitation ranging from money politics to lack of internal party democracy. However, we have tested our ability to organize and we have seen the power in our organizing, democratically based ideologies and in our number. The NotTooYoungToRun movement models it all. Convened by YIAGA Africa with a strategy team at the federal level, state coordinators for each of the 36 states and a leadership teams consisting of young people from the local government areas in each state, the movement began with the simple forms of advocacy.

We learnt to leverage on both social media and traditional media, engage our respective communities, writing as many letters as possible with advocacy visits to both federal and state lawmakers, tracking the progression of the bill and constantly sharing information on the bill with the public, making the necessary phone calls and text messaging, engaging political, traditional and religious institutions and calling on the support of international friends.

The bill which was introduced as a private member bill in the House of Representative by Honourable Tony Nwulu and the Senate by Senator Abdulaziz Nyako became a subject of national discourse with young people at the different levels leading the conversation on youth inclusion and why young people must engage the constitution amendment process.

As one of the leading movements emerging from Nigeria and connecting young people in Africa and beyond, NotTooYoungToRun is a prove that we are in the era of the youth where the power for socio-political transformation begins with young people setting the political agenda and influencing political behaviours.

Perhaps we should consider the fact that our constitution making process in Nigeria has over the years remained somewhat closed and elitist with decision-making process driven by the law makers in the National Assembly and state Houses of Assemblies at least since our transition to democracy. There is no doubt that at different points in our democratization journey, issues have been raised questioning the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria as a true representation of the will of the people.

As such almost every assembly has made attempts to amend sections of the constitution with some being successful and others failing like the 2012 constitution making process which failed at the stage of the presidential assent. This time around, both national and international interest in the constitution amendment process in Nigeria was sparked and has been sustained by the enthusiasm of young people leading the #NotTooYoungToRun campaign and engaging the constitutional amendment process. March 14 was the second time we marched for this bill and each time I see hope and a future for our democracy.

The #NotTooYoungToRuun movement presents a model for citizens activism because for the first time in my lifetime and that of so many Nigerians, I see Nigerians uniting across religious, ethnic and political lines driven by one goal; youth political inclusion. That to me is the Nigerian spirit that we all need. The youth as it is have learnt to unite in our demand for accountable leadership and national development. As citizens, we have a responsibility to ensure that we build a Nigeria that works for all citizens and that our democracy does not become the dictatorship of a majority that is not a true representation of our vast population. The only option we have is to engage until we achieve results because as young Nigerians we have a higher stake. #NotTooYoungToRun is history being made.

Greatest Nigerian youth, today we ask for inclusion, today we build the future, today we decide our destiny, today we walk towards inclusion, we have worked, National Assembly has passed the Bill, the state assembly has passed it and now we need the president to assent- Rinsola Abiola

PAY ATTENTION: Read best news on Nigerias #1 news app

Your own opinion articles are welcome at info@naij.com - drop an email telling us what you want to write about and why. More details in Naij.coms step-by-step guide for guest contributors.

Were ready to trade your news for our money: submit news and photo reports from your area using our Citizen Journalism App.

Contact us if you have any feedback, suggestions, complaints or compliments. We are also available on Facebook and Twitter.

How Nigerian youths protest made the National Assembly pass the 'Not Too Young To Run' bill on NAIJ.com TV

[embedded content]

Source: Naija.ng

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General

Loading...Home | News | General | Breaking: Again, meningitis killed 8 in Katsina

By Bashir Bello

KATSINA  Again, not fewer than eight persons were reportedly killed by an outbreak of meningitis in Bugaje ward in Jibia Local government area of Katsina state.



The Information Officer in the area, Saadu Suleiman confirmed this development to Vanguard over the weekend.

Suleiman said the outbreak leading to the death of the Five males and three females was recorded within Monday and Friday.

He said several others were hospitalized at the health centres Bugaje ward.

According to him, we recorded a fresh case of Cerebral Spinal Meningitis, CSM in Bugaje ward that claimed the lives of about eight persons.

The outbreak was recorded within the period of Monday and Friday. Five of them were males and three females, Suleiman said.

When contacted, the Permanent Secretary in Ministry of Health, Dr. Kabir Mustapha was not responding to several calls put across to his phone neither was he responding to SMS sent to his phone.

It could be recalled that early this month similar outbreak was recorded in Jaja village, Gangara ward in Jibia Local government area of the state where seven died and several others hospitalized.

Similarly, about 104 children were affected by outbreak of whooping cough in three villages of Unguwar Kuka, Danbawa and Kaishemu, all in Bugaje ward, of same Local government area.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General

Loading...Home | News | General | Facebook suspends Trump campaign data firm Cambridge Analytica

Facebook says it has suspended the account of Cambridge Analytica, the data analysis firm hired by Donald Trumps 2016 presidential campaign, after reports it harvested the profile information of millions of US voters without their permission. Trump

According to the New York Times and Britains Observer, the company stole information from 50 million Facebook users profiles in the tech giants biggest-ever data breach, to help them design software to predict and influence voters choices at the ballot box.

Also suspended were the accounts of its parent organization, Strategic Communication Laboratories, as well as those of University of Cambridge psychologist Aleksandr Kogan and Christopher Wylie, who runs a firm called Eunoia Technologies.

Cambridge Analytica was bankrolled to the tune of $15 billion by US hedge fund billionaire Robert Mercer, a major Republican donor. The Observer said it was headed at the time by Steve Bannon, a top Trump adviser until he was fired last summer.

In 2015, we learned that  Kogan lied to us and violated our Platform Policies by passing data from an app that was using Facebook Login to SCL/Cambridge Analytica, a firm that does political, government and military work around the globe, Facebook said in a posting late Friday by its vice president and deputy general counsel Paul Grewal.

Kogan also improperly shared the data with Wylie, it said.

Kogans app, thisisyourdigitallife, offered a personality prediction test, describing itself on Facebook as a research app used by psychologists.

Some 270,000 people downloaded the app, allowing Kogan to access information such as the city listed on their profile, or content they had liked.

However, the app also collected the information of the test-takers Facebook friends, leading to the accumulation of a data pool tens of millions-strong, the Observer reported.

 Targeting their inner demons 

Wylie, who later became a whistleblower, told the newspaper: We exploited Facebook to harvest millions of peoples profiles. And built models to exploit what we knew about them and target their inner demons. That was the basis that the entire company was built on.

Kogan legitimately obtained the information but violated platform policies by passing information to SCL/Cambridge Analytica and Wylie, Facebook said.

Facebook, which did not say how the data was used or misused, said it removed the app in 2015 when it learned of the violation, and was told by Kogan and everyone who received the data that it had since been destroyed.

Several days ago, we received reports that, contrary to the certifications we were given, not all data was deleted, Grewal wrote.

We are moving aggressively to determine the accuracy of these claims. If true, this is another unacceptable violation of trust and the commitments they made.

We are suspending SCL/Cambridge Analytica, Wylie and Kogan from Facebook, pending further information.

The New York Times reported that copies of the data harvested for Cambridge Analytica were still online and that its team had viewed some of the raw data.

Cambridge Analytica, the US unit of British behavioral marketing firm SCL, rose to prominence as the firm that the pro-Brexit group Leave.EU hired for data-gathering and audience-targeting.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General

Loading...Home | News | General | N5.1bn Fraud: EFCC closes case against ex- Jonathans aide, Dudafa

By Innocent Anaba

Former Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on Domestic Affairs, Warapamo Dudafa, currently facing trial over alleged N5.1 billion fraud before a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, through his counsel, Mr. Gboyega Oyewole, SAN, has informed the court of his intention to file a no-vase-submission.

Waripamo-Owei Dudafa

Counsel to the the second defendant in the matter, Mr. Ige Asemudara has also informed the court of his intention to file similar application.

At the resumed trial of Dudafa and Iwejuo Joseph Nna, also known as Taiwo Ebenezer and Olugbenga Isaiah, yesterday, the prosecution counsel, Mr Rotimi Oyedepo told the court of his intention to close its case, after the prosecution had tendered a document which was admitted in evidence.

The prosecution also told the court of its intention to file an amended charge.

Trial judge, Justice Mohammed Idris after listening to both parties adjourned further hearing in matter till April 25, 2018, for adoption of written addresses.

In the charge against the defendants, the EFCC alleged that the accused had between June 11, 2013, and June 2015, used different companies to commit the offences.

Some of the companies allegedly used in committing the alleged offences include Seagate Property Development & Investment Limited, Avalon Global Property Development Company Limited and Pluto Property Limited.

Others are Investment Company Limited and Rotate Interlink Services Limited.

The accused were alleged to have concealed proceeds of a crime in the sum of over N5 billion, contrary to the provisions of the money laundering prohibition act, 2012.

The alleged offences are said to be contrary to and punishable under sections 17(a), 18(c), and 27 (3) (c) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act 2004.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General

Loading...Home | News | General | Tension in legislature as Saraki, Dogara bicker over plot to override Buhari on Electoral Act Amendment

- Senate President Bukola Saraki and House Speaker Yakubu Dogara are said to be bickering over the plot to override President Muhammadu Buharis veto of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill

- While Saraki reportedly wants an override, Dogara has allowed the House to revisit the bill and then send it back to the president

- A lawmaker believes that the Senate would be able to get the two-thirds majority to override the president; but does not think the House would be able to do so

A plot by legislators to override President Muhammadu Buhari on the amendment to the 2010 Electoral Act has led to a simmering disagreement between Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker of the House of Representatives Yakubu Dogara, Daily Trust reports.

Sources have reportedly disclosed that Dogaras decision to allow the House resolve to re-visit the bill did not go down well with Saraki, who allegedly wants an override.

READ ALSO: I have assassinated over 100 people - Ade Lawyer

NAIJ.com gathers that while the Senate resolved to write to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, over the ruling by a High Court, restraining the National Assembly from further action on the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, the House has already agreed with the president on two of his three reasons for withholding assent to the bill.

Hon Abdulrazak Namdas, House spokesman, informed newsmen that the bill would be re-introduced and passed for a second and third reading before it would be sent back to the president.

With the decision by the House, it is expected that the Senate may have no other option than to follow suit.

A Senate source reportedly stated: We will allow them (House) to conclude work on it and they will send it to us for concurrence.

According to another lawmaker, both chambers would proceed straight to overriding the president without considering his reasons, if the matter was left to the Senate.

He added: But we felt that the president was right in some aspects, thats why this thing about revisiting the bill came up. As it is, proponents of the bill in the Senate are not happy.

He was then asked if both chambers would be able to pull together the two-thirds majority to override the president if he declines assent to the bill again.

He replied: In the Senate, I think they can get the two-thirds, but in the House, I doubt if that is possible. The truth is that theres an ulterior motive to the amendment. You can see that PDP members are more interested in the whole thing.

When asked if Speaker Dogara supported the bill, he stated: One can say yes and no, regarding his support for the bill. From his body language, he wants to allow members to have their own say.

You know theres this notion that hes romancing with the presidency too much and that hes the only one benefiting. So, he wants to use this opportunity to show that its not true.

In our own case, members want the president to lobby, not necessarily directly or by using money, but by giving us what is due to us such as the constituency projects.

As at today, we dont even know what theyll do about the constituency projects, but by the time they now come suddenly and release it, youll see that members will listen to them.

Another lawmaker was asked if the House would be able to get the two-thirds majority to override the president if he rejects the bill again.

He stated: Lets tell ourselves the truth, whether you like it or not, Buhari is still popular in the North. Anything that has to do with him, one should be very careful not to get into trouble.

You cant just wake up one day and say you want to challenge him and succeed.

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app

Recall that NAIJ.com previously reported that the Senate and the House of Representatives were consulting on whether to override President Muhammadu Buhari's veto to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, which seeks to re-order the sequence of polls in 2019.

The president in a March 8, 2018, letter written to both chambers of the National Assembly said the amendments by the lawmakers were in conflict with existing laws.

President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, and the speaker, Yakubu Dogara, both read the letters to their respective chambers; after which, members of the House and senators began consulting on the next line of action.

Naija lawmakers overreact - on NAIJ.com TV:

[embedded content]

Source: Naija.ng

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General

Loading...Home | News | General | Electoral Act: We wont speak on Presidents refusal of assent  INEC

Commission wont bar Corrupt Suspects from Contesting Elections

By Omeiza Ajayi

ABUJA  Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has said the commission would not discuss the implications of the President Muhammadu Buharis decision to reject the bill since the process has not been concluded.

INEC National Chairman, Mahamood Yakubu addressing pressmen on new release of 2019 Election Time Table and Schedule of Activities for 2019 Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council Elections while at INEC Office Abuja. Photo by Gbemiga Olamikan.

INECs Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Mr. Rotimi Oyekanmi, in a statement Saturday night quoted the chairman as saying that the current dates for the 2019 general elections were fixed in line with provisions of the existing law.

On the implications of the presidents decision, Oyekanmi said; It is within the powers of the National Assembly to make laws. The 1999 constitution has also clearly stated the process through which a bill enacted by the National Assembly can metamorphose into a valid law. Part of the process is the prerogative of the president to either give or withhold assent. While it is true that INEC made recommendations to the National Assembly during the electoral law amendment process, it is not in our place to begin to discuss the implications of a process that is yet to be concluded.

As for the re-ordering of the election sequence, INEC fixed the dates for the 2019 general elections in exercise of the powers conferred on it by Section 30 (1) of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended). Remember that the tenure of the President, Vice President, Governors and Deputy Governors of the states (except Kogi, Bayelsa, Edo, Osun, Ekiti, Ondo and Anambra States) will expire on May 28, 2019, while membership of the National and State Assemblies will stand dissolved on June 8, 2019.

Sections 76 (2), 116 (2), 132 (2) and 178 (2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) and Section 25 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) state that elections into the said offices shall hold not earlier than 150 days and not later than 30 days before the expiration of the term of office of the last holder. It was based on these considerations among others that the commission on January 9 announced the timetable and schedule for the 2019 general elections.

Meanwhile, INEC said its attention has just been drawn to a trending story on social media that the Commission will not issue forms to anyone with a pending case of embezzlement before the security agencies or any court.

In a message posted on the commissions website, the Director in charge of Voter Education and Publicity, Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi said, this story attributed to INEC is false and did not emanate from the Commission or any of its officials and should therefore be ignored. Grounds for disqualification are clearly spelt out in the 1999 Constitution (as amended). INEC will not act outside the Constitutional provisions to disqualify anyone. The public should therefore discountenance the story.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General

Loading...Home | News | General | 3.7m Nigerians are currently faced with food insecurity  Report

.may increase to 5.2 million in August 2018

By Gabriel Ewepu

ABUJA- THE Cadre Harmonise, CH, report for March 2018, conducted in 16 States of the federation and Federal Capital Territory, FCT, has indicated that over 3.7 million Nigerians are currently faced with food insecurity.

This was made known by the food and nutrition insecurity situation analysis conducted by the World Food Programme, WFP, Food and Agricultural Organisation, FAO, United States Aid for International Development, USAID, Mercy Corps, Famine Early Warning System Network, Save the Children, Oxfam, Care, and others, presented Thursday, in Abuja.

The agenda was Stakeholders Meeting for Presentation of the Results of the March 2018 Cadre Harmonise Analysis of Food and Nutrition Insecurity in Nigeria.

It also projected that the number of people caught in the food crisis could increase to 5.2 million people during the lean period of June-August 2018.

The survey was conducted in Bauchi, Benue,Borno, Plateau, Jigawa, Adamawa, Yobe, Kaduna, Kano, Taraba, Sokoto, Kaduna, Kebbi, Zamfara, Niger Gombe States and the FCT.

The report reads in part: A total of 3.5 million people are currently in food crisis in Nigeria, while 999,959 people are in emergency situation in need of urgent assistance.

The Cadre Harmonise, CH, Report, for March 2018 conducted in 16 States of the federation, and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, by the World Food Programme, WFP, Food and Agricultural Organization, FAO, United States Aid for International Development, USAID, Mercy Corps, Famine Early Warning System Network, Save the Children, Oxfam, Care and others shows that the figure may increase to 5.2 million people during the lean period of June-August 2018.

The survey was conducted in 16 States of Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Plateau, Jigawa, Adamawa, Yobe, Kaduna, Kano, Taraba, Sokoto, Kaduna, Kebbi, Zamfara, Niger Gombe, and the FCT.

Borno State has the largest number of people that are facing food crisis with over 1.2 million people, while 186,608 people are in urgent need of assistance.

The report however, expressed worry and called for urgent steps to be taken to ensure food security by relevant authorities if not the number of people facing food crisis may rise to 1.3 million, while those in emergency situation would increase to 203,022.

The CH also revealed that the survey could not be conducted in the rest states due to lack of funds and the inability to reach some areas in the North East region, which was purely as a result of insecurity.

Also speaking was the FAO Country Representative to Nigeria, Sufyan Koroma, who emphasized that the Federal and State governments are to take ownership of the Cadre Harmonise, CH, process, because international donors may withdraw financial support by 2019.

Koroma said for data availability for CH analysis it was necessary for funds to be adequately made available in order to conduct emergency food and nutrition security assessment, particularly at the state and local government levels.

He also called for expansion of the CH coverage to all the states of the federation for global view of food and nutrition insecurity situation in the country.

In his opening address, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Bukar Hassan, said the CH analysis would assist government in decision making in various interventions and programmes initiated to boost food security.

Hassan also acknowledged the need for such data that would help policy makers understand the prevalence of food insecurity across the country, hence the information generated from the CH analysis becomes important at this point.

He assured stakeholders that government would continue to do everything humanly possible to improve on nutrition, household food security and livelihood to promote economic development in the country.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General

Loading...Home | World | Africa | Obert Mpofu urges Zim refugees in Botswana to 'go home'

HOME affairs minister Obert Mpofu has urged Zimbabwean in Botswana to return home as the Gaborone government made it clear that people could not be refugees forever.

According to NewZimbabwe.com, Mpofu met Botswana's Minister of Defence, Justice and Security, Shaw Kgathi and the Minister of Nationality, Immigration and Gender Affairs, Edwin Batshu this Tuesday to discuss cooperation between the two countries, including the issue of Zimbabweans living in the country's western neighbour.

After the meetings, Mpofu travelled to Dukwi Refugee Camp which is home to some 687 Zimbabwean refugees. Some of the refugees have lived at the camp, which is close to the border between the two countries, for more than ten years.

Speaking in interviews with Botswana media, Mpofu said; "We had two hours meeting with them (Botswana ministers) in a cordial atmosphere.

"The engagements were quite open and candid, and I got to understand some of the reasons we have people in Dukwi. Most of them have been here for 10 years."

His appeal to the refugees, he said, was that they should go back home, as there was a new dispensation in Zimbabwe, "the situation has changed, and we will actually ensure that they come back home without any victimisation or retribution".

Mpofu said the government would "certainly do something to facilitate the repatriation of the refugees who choose to go back".

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Africa

Loading...Home | World | Africa | Ramaphosa meets Mnangagwa

The political transitions that took place in Zimbabwe and South Africa were initiated by the peoples of the two countries and they both took place in a smooth and peaceful manner.

This came out of the meeting held by Presidents Emmerson Mnangagwa and Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa when they met in Harare this evening.

The South African leader was on a mission to brief his counterpart on the situation prevailing in his country where he rose into the highest office exactly a month and two days ago.

The two held a closed door one-on-one meeting in the capital and addressed Zimbabwean and South African journalists at the Munhumutapa offices in Harare.

They said they discussed challenges facing their two countries which Mnangagwa said are mainly economic in Zimbabwe.

Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe faces economic challenges related to infrastructure like poor state of roads, railway and energy which the country would like to import from South Africa and President Ramaphosa has been very accommodative.

"I came to pay respects to my counterpart and we discussed issues to do with growing the economies of our two countries and the region and how we can cooperate in trade joint ventures," said Mr Ramaphosa.

The two leaders also spoke about how the two countries have managed to undertake the transition that has just occurred in Zimbabwe and South Africa which they described as smooth and peaceful.

President Ramaphosa whose country is now facing the contentious land issue said he has some lessons to draw from the Zimbabwean experience and that his country is going to engage in a rich dialogue on the matter.

President Mnangagwa was again very clear on the question of the scheduled elections saying a political dialogue will be held soon encompassing all the different political parties.

Zimbabwe and South Africa share excellent and sisterly relations and are both SADC and AU member states.

They both had a chance of guard recently and are on a mission to build their economies.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Africa

Loading...Home | World | Africa | Ramaphosa to endorse Zimbabwe coup

The arrival in Zimbabwe of Sadc chairperson Cyril Ramaphosa today, is recognition of President Emerson Mnangagwa as president, analysts said yesterday, dismissing protests by ousted Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe that he was overthrown by his former deputy through a coup d'etat and his demand for talks to "undo this disgrace."

Ramaphosa, who was elected President of South Africa by Parliament on February 15 after Jacob Zuma resigned, heeding orders of the ruling ANC to bring an end to his nine scandal-plagued years in power, arrives in Harare accompanied by the International Relations and Co-operation minister Lindiwe Sisulu and the State Security minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba for talks with Mnangagwa.

A wealthy businessman, Ramaphosa, who took over from Zuma as head of the 16-nation Sadc body, will pay a courtesy call on Mnangagwa at Munhumutapa  the citadel of State power.

The two will discuss "bilateral co-operation as well as regional, continental and global issues of mutual concern" and also "pay a particular focus on the latest political and security developments in the region, including the regional economic integration agenda in the Sadc," the South Africa Presidency said in a statement yesterday.

Ramaphosa arrives in Harare two days after Mugabe called for a meeting with his successor Mnangagwa, saying that Zimbabwe must return to "constitutionalism", following his ouster in November.

"He is improper where he is. Illegal. And if he is to correct that illegality, he would want me to discuss with him and we must undo this disgrace which we have imposed on ourselves, we don't deserve it, we don't deserve it, please we don't deserve it, Zimbabwe doesn't deserve it. We want to be a constitutional country.

"Yes we may have our shortcoming here and there, but overall we must obey the law, become, constitutional.

"People must be chosen to be in government in the proper way. I will discuss, I am willing to discuss, willing to assist in that process, but I must be invited, properly invited for that discussion.

"Currently, I am isolated and I am glad I have your company," Mugabe said.

Analysts yesterday said by highlighting that he wants to talk ahead of Ramaphosa's visit, Mugabe wants to escalate this issue back to Sadc as a broker.

The press conference was viewed as opportunistic and an attention seeking stunt meant to attract Ramaphosa.

Mugabe seem to be warming up to an initiative by former Foreign Affairs minister Walter Mzembi to broker a deal aimed at having him and Mnangagwa smoke a peace pipe, and the former long ruling veteran brought in from the cold as a ruling party "elder" to back his former deputy's presidential bid in mid-year elections.

Mzembi is pushing Mugabe to accept the proposition of a role similar to Zambian independence leader Kenneth Kaunda.

Mnangagwa said yesterday Mugabe "tendered his resignation in terms of Section 96, Sub-Section 1, of the Constitution of Zimbabwe."

"He is entitled to express himself freely, as is the case for any private citizen," he said.

"The Zimbabwe government continues to honour all its obligations towards the former president's welfare and benefits, as provided for under the Constitution of Zimbabwe.

"The nation has moved on. Our focus at this time shall remain on preparing for free, fair and credible elections in 2018."

Eminent political commentator and civil rights activist Brian Kagoro told the Daily News he wouldn't know why Mugabe has chosen this particular time to break his silence regarding the November coup.

"Is it not already common knowledge that a few weeks ago, a new party called NPF launched following some petition to the African Union?

"Most politicians are astute opportunists; Mugabe for years was in their premier league. I am not sure that AU or Sadc will necessarily bring him joy.

"They lack the will power, desire or instruments to reverse a position they took last year recognising Mnangagwa. If they act otherwise, I will be surprised, in fact shocked.

"Beyond the legal and constitutional questions  and these are compelling  Mugabe maybe negotiating his own safety or selfishly setting the stage for a future GNU in which his acolytes have a role.

"Worse still he could be sending warning shots to the establishment to stay off his family. It is about him, has always been about him and not the rest of us. We don't matter to Uncle Bob.

"He refuses to apologise for all the misery he has caused. What a shame, disgusting in fact," Kagoro said.

A peace and security analyst and also a doctoral researcher, Josphat Munetsi, told the Daily News Mugabe must be advised that he has no political traction and the November popular expression by the people of Zimbabwe remains paramount.

"To even imagine that he can escalate that to Sadc, AU (African Union) or any other inter-governmental body for them to reverse the current status quo is not only a failure to appreciate how this bodies function but merely barking at a moving train'.

"For all we know, Sadc has continuously failed to deal with Lesotho, DRC and Madagascar while the AU has not fared any better either in Burundi, Sudan, DRC, Cameroon and elsewhere. Therefore to even dream that the status quo will change is an exercise in futility," Munetsi said.

Stephen Chan, a professor of world politics at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, said he thinks Mugabe is setting out a carefully crafted programme of criticising Mnangagwa, and doing so in a needling fashion.

"However, neither Ramaphosa nor Sadc has any stomach for a return of Mugabe. There was a lot of silent relief that he went, and that it was done without blood. It is very much in the interests of Sadc that Zimbabwe regains some economic capacity," Chan said.

"Right now, Zimbabwe is contributing nothing to Sadc as an economic unit, and Sadc leaders know that this was because of Mugabe's essential refusal to address economic issues, concentrating instead on party power politics.

"Mugabe should in fact lay out an economic policy if he wanted to demonstrate his credentials as a leader  but it seems from various reports of his wanting his pension in cash that he cannot even use a credit card."

Pedzisai Ruhanya, a post doctoral research fellow with the University of Johannesburg, cited the doctrine or principle of effectiveness that posits that if one takes over power by whatever means and proves that they are in full control of the State machinery and apparatus both coercive and consensual, they are legitimate.

"This is the case with (president) Mnangagwa whether it pleases Mugabe or not. Sadc, AU and the rest of the international community won't listen to those Grace-inspired and instigated rants by Mugabe.

"The coming to Zimbabwe by (president) Ramaphosa is a form of legitimation of Mnangagwa presidency so Mugabe is wasting time.

Instead, he is encouraged to find common ground with the new authorities and secure the economic interests of his young family and stop those delusional outbursts," the media and democracy scholar said.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Africa

Loading...Home | World | Africa | Mnangagwa, allies respond to Mugabe

President Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday counselled his predecessor, saying the country has already moved on since his resignation.

This comes after former president Robert Mugabe, in a recent interview with the media at his Borrowdale house, heavily criticised Mnangagwa as an illegitimate leader, who could not have been in power without the assistance of the army.

Mugabe said his removal was through a coup d'etat, even though both the regional and international community had said the event did not amount to a coup.

Yesterday, Mnangagwa issued a statement to discredit Mugabe, stating he is seized with election preparation and that the country has since moved on.

"President Emmerson D. Mnangagwa has noted recent remarks made to the media by former president Cde Robert Gabriel Mugabe. On 21 November, 2017, former president Mugabe tendered his resignation in terms of Section 96, sub-section 1, of the Constitution of Zimbabwe. He is entitled to express himself freely, as is the case for any private citizen.

"The Zimbabwe government continues to honour all its obligations towards the former president's welfare and benefits, as provided for under the Constitution of Zimbabwe. The nation has moved on. Our focus, at this time, remain on preparing for free, fair and credible elections in 2018. This is a key step in the immense task at hand, which is to lift our people from the effects of years of severe economic regression and international isolation," reads part of the statement.

The Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) also came out guns blazing, dismissing Mugabe's averments as those being made by someone trying to seek relevance.

ZNLWVA secretary-general, Victor Matemadanda, said the High Court has since ruled that Mugabe's removal was legal, challenging the former Zanu PF leader to appeal the ruling.

"If Mugabe has any other legal channels he can follow those. As far as we are concerned, the High Court said it was legal," said Matemadanda.

He said Mugabe's actions showed he continues to look down upon the people of Zimbabwe.

Matemadanda was among ZNLWVA executive members who were expelled from Zanu PF for stating that Mugabe had overstayed in power and was supposed to leave.

"He (Mugabe) is just trying to find relevance. By demanding to meet Mnangagwa, he is trying to appear as the authority apparent, as if he is the one who installs kings in Zimbabwe. Mnangagwa is the legitimate president of Zimbabwe and Mugabe must respect the will of the people," Matemadanda said.

He further said Mnangagwa must refuse to meet with Mugabe, whom he accused of making unnecessary noise, adding that Mugabe risked losing the little respect that has been left of him, with high chances that there might be a withdrawal of the statesmanship honour conferred on him.

Mnangagwa's allies Larry Mavima and Energy Mutodi also came to his defence yesterday, saying Mugabe was behaving as though he alone has the right to rule Zimbabwe.

Deputy Finance minister Terrence Mukupe said: "He needs to rest. He must write books telling us how he made his manoeuvres while president. I respect elders, but vaMugabe vakura, he is old."

Meanwhile, Zapu president Dumiso Dabengwa has reacted angrily to claims by Mugabe that Zapu and Zipra were also to blame for the Gukurahundi massacres.

Dabengwa, who was the Zipra intelligence supremo during the liberation struggle, said the nonagenarian was trying by all means to justify himself on the genocide that claimed over 20 000 lives.

"We remind Mugabe that the arms caches and dissident allegations against Zipra were a deliberate and covet operation by the State secret service under then State Security minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, who himself remarked that they had to create a story and reason to justify the atrocities that followed the discovery," he said.

"Today, he (Mugabe) conveniently forgets his usual song, in a classic example of truth always coming out no matter how one suppresses it. He deliberately forgets that he also created dissidents, with collaboration from South Africa's Apartheid government, in operations that were led by Mnangagwa," explained Dabengwa.

"All this was to create flimsy accusations and charges against Zapu and Zipra so as to justify their heinous crime against humanity in Matabeleland which was politically driven."

In the interview, Mugabe said Zapu and Zipra are also to blame for the atrocities, and disputed that 20 000 people were killed.

"I doubt the number, but well it would be because you get some people with guns behaving recklessly," he said.

Mugabe also blamed Mnangagwa and former intelligence director internal Dan Stannard for leading the massacres while also admitting that they were getting instructions from him.

Dabengwa said the major aim of the operation was to institute a one-party state in Zimbabwe, with his party becoming the obvious target.

"His denial of the 20 000 deaths shows he really is mindful and aware of the magnitude of his madness," he said.

" Mugabe is fully aware that these 20 000 are direct deaths at the hands of the Fifth Brigade, the number does not include curfew-induced deaths of children, the elderly and the sick from malnutrition, hunger and disease and were never accounted for.

"He fully knows that Gukurahundi deaths run into hundreds of thousands, hence his refusal to acknowledge the mere 20 000 that was given by the CCJP, whose incomprehensive survey or investigations only covered Matobo and Tsholotsho districts."

Dabengwa also said: "Mnangagwa should man up and take responsibility for his actions."

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Africa

Loading...Vous etes confrontes a une infestation par la puce, la punaise de lit ? Voici plusieurs actions qui sont a mettre en uvre pour faire []Home | World | Africa | Mnangagwa fooled Mugabe

In his desperation to get his story out, former president Robert Mugabe unwittingly revealed on Thursday how he had long lost control of the army, thus presenting a perfect opportunity for those disenchanted with his rule to nudge him out of power.

In his first interview since his ouster last November, Mugabe did not hide his anger against his successor, Emmerson Mnangagwa, for betraying him.

Tellingly, Mugabe who turned 94 on February 21 revealed he was not even aware of the tankers that invaded the streets of Harare on November 14 as military personnel sought to isolate the teetotaller from his allies in Zanu PF's Generation 40 (G40) faction.

He said: "The police had their armoury completely emptied. Their guns had gone, disappeared. Who had taken them? The army and there in the streets the tanks they rolled".

"What we never thought we had, some tanks. I didn't know we had these tanks. I was told we had ancient ones, 1940 to 1980 tanks. T60 or is it T63 something. There, they were rolling, armoured cars running. And people were not allowed to move from one place to the other unless they got the permission of the army," he went on.

Analysts told the Daily News that the expose` confirmed fears that Mugabe had essentially become a lame duck president  unable to diligently perform his duties due to his advanced age and failing health.

As such, he became hostage to G40, especially his nagging wife, Grace, whose inexperience in statecraft gave those who felt threatened by the G40 cabal ample time to ease him out of power after 37 years of iron-fisted rule.

Political analyst, Maxwell Saungweme, said such revelations showed Mugabe had completely lost touch of events on the ground.

"This is why he was easily manipulated by his wife and G40. He is a vintage politician, but (old) age made him lose touch. These revelations tell you that the coup was not planned in the weeks Mnangagwa was fired in November 2017. No. It was planned long back and was resourced and equipped," said Saungweme.

"You remember there used to be stories that Mugabe wanted to retire (army) generals as they had exhausted their terms, but he never managed to do it as he was no longer in charge. So he lost control long back due to old age and longevity in power.

"We said it many times before that the centre was no longer holding when Mugabe was the centre. He just confirmed that. If military hardware of that level can be brought in without him or the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) that was loyal to him informing him, then he was as good as a mere chair warmer at Munhumutapa," he added.

Before the fallout, Mugabe did not make his dependence on the military a secret.

In April 2016, he publicly thanked the military for helping his Zanu PF party win elections, singling out then Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) commander Constantino Chiwenga for his contribution to the effort.

Former Zanu PF legislator and Zimbabwe Union for Democrats leader Margaret Dongo told the Daily News yesterday that events leading to ZDF's intervention showed Zanu PF was now running two parallel governments.

"Even the ministries were split along the lines of Lacoste and G40. From what, he said even in the CIO there were Mugabe and ED's factions and he confirmed that his faction members were tortured and some of them have disappeared," opined Dongo.

On Thursday, Mugabe also described his ouster as a "coup d'etat", stating he was willing to discuss the country's future with Mnangagwa.

He also spoke about his workers' persecution, saying they were being called one by one to be asked "very silly questions".

Mugabe also revealed how former politburo members Jonathan Moyo, Saviour Kasukuwere and Patrick Zhuwao escaped from the jaws of the military.

Political analysts said Mugabe's recent statements were aimed at de-legitimising Mnangagwa and deal a blow on his chances of winning this year's elections.

They, however, said the statements were of no political effect, as the international community has already accepted and embraced his successor's government.

Political analyst and respected University of Zimbabwe lecturer, Eldred Masunungure, yesterday said the whole thing has evolved into bitterness on the part of Mugabe and his hangers-on.

Masunungure said the ousted former president still wants to demonstrate to the world at large that the administration that emerged post November 24 was an illegal regime.

"He wants to undermine the legitimacy of Mnangagwa and undermine his chances of winning this year's elections. He is saying Mnangagwa cannot be elected because he is in power illegally. He wants to portray Mnangagwa as someone who lacks legitimacy, integrity and probity," said Masunungure.

He told the Daily News that Mugabe's statements were driven by deep-seated bitterness, which will, however, not change anything.

"That's water under the bridge as regional bodies such as the Southern African Development Community, the African Union and the international community have all endorsed the change of government," he said.

Masunungure said whether the process was done legally or illegally, the international community embraced it, as it was labouring on how to get rid of Mugabe.

He said Mugabe had become an international problem, with the community wondering how to get rid of him and many felt relieved by his departure.

"I don't think what Mugabe is saying will have any traction from the international community. He is whistling in the dark," he said, adding that the animosity between him and Zanu PF will deepen.

Another political analyst Rashweat Mukundu said Mugabe was simply seeking to de-legitimise Mnangagwa and derail his campaign trail ahead of the elections expected between July and August this year.

He said Mugabe was throwing spanners into Mnangagwa's election campaign and plans by dividing the Zanu PF support base.

While he retains the right to participate in politics, Mukundu averred that the truth remains that Mugabe was a largely failed leader as his policies from the 1990s led to the ruin of the Zimbabwean society.

"He has a sense of entitlement to power and seeks to remain relevant by dividing Zanu PF and hopefully be venerated by ED and regain influence in Zimbabwe's politics. What is at play is a political ego and inflated sense of importance. Regardless of the legality or otherwise of the events of November 2017, Mugabe seems not to understand that he had become a huge burden to this country," Mukundu said.

Speaking at the just-ended CEOs conference in Victoria Falls, former Finance minister Tendai Biti said: "I think the former president must know that his time is up. If Mnangagwa was here, I could have asked him to create a council of elders, which Mugabe must be part of, to advise the State."

Gideon Chitanga, an analyst at the Johannesburg-based Political Economy Southern Africa think-tank, told AFP that Mugabe's intervention was significant "coming at a time of elections".

Presidential polls are due by the end of August in which Mnangagwa will face his first major electoral test.

"In the back of his mind (Mugabe) still sees himself as part of the problem and part of the solution," said Chitanga.

Mugabe's media appearance was apparently organised by the new National Patriotic Front (NPF) party which hopes to unseat Mnangagwa's government in polls expected by August.

Mugabe sent shockwaves through the Zanu PF party when he recently met with the NPF's leader, retired brigadier general Ambrose Mutinhiri.

In response to a widely-shared image of the two, Zanu PF youth league supporters chanted "down with Mugabe" at a rally, a rare outburst from the normally disciplined party that Mugabe led for nearly four decades.

Despite widespread jubilation following the army's seizure of power, many Zimbabweans are now disenchanted by what they see as a mere changing of the guard at the top of Zimbabwe's authoritarian system.

"It was a coup with a script to turn this into a military state. The people wanted a change of the entire Zanu PF system  not just one individual," businessman Munyaradzi Chihota, 40, told AFP as he travelled home.

"The situation has not changed since they removed Mugabe. If anything, we are worse off. (Mugabe) is 100 percent right that this was a military coup, that this country has been turned into a military state  and that this has to be undone."

The military moved against Mugabe after he sacked his then-deputy and heir-apparent Mnangagwa, seemingly fearing the nonagenarian was grooming Grace to succeed him as president.

The former first lady had cultivated her own factional support base within Zanu PF known as "G40" that was seen as hostile to the security establishment  Mnangagwa in particular.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Africa

Loading...Home | World | Africa | President Ramaphosa arrives in Zimbabwe

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has arrived in the country on an official visit.

He flew in from Mozambique and is expected to hold talks on bilateral cooperation with his counterpart Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa.

Their discussions will also examine SADC regional cooperation and integration issues as Mr Ramaphosa is also the current SADC Chair.

The two presidents will also share views on continental and global issues.

President Ramaphosa is accompanied by the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Lindiwe Sisulu and the Minister of State Security Dipuo Letsatse-Duba.

He was received at the Robert Mugabe International Airport by President Mnangagwa, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, Ministers Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, Mirriam Chikukwa, SB Moyo , Professor Amon Murwira, senior government officials, permanent secretaries and service chiefs as well as the Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Dr Misheck Sibanda.

President Ramaphosa's visit to Zimbabwe is part of the tours he is doing in the region paying courtesy calls on the SADC leaders following his assumption of the reigns of power on the 15th of February this year.

He has already been to Angola, Botswana and he met President Edgar Lungu of Zambia back in South Africa.

President Mnangagwa had also been meeting leaders in the region to brief them on the events leading to his elevation.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Africa

Loading...A new bill filed by a Philippines lawmaker is seeking tougher consequences for citizens involved in cryptocurrency crimes.

According to a new bill proposed by opposition senator Leila M. de Lima to the countrys Senate, the lawmaker is proposing a penalty that is one degree higher than what is currently provided by Philippines penal code, for cryptocurrency-related crimes. Filed as Senate Bill (SB) 1694, the senator specifically pointed to illegal activities involving cryptocurrency such as bribery of public officials in bitcoin, using crypto in payments for child pornography and scammers pedaling fake bitcoins for unsuspecting adopters.

[O]ur penal laws must adapt with the changing times and our criminal justice system must come prepared in the even that this is used in illegal activities, she said, signaling caution in their abuse amid the advent and increasing popularity of cryptocurrencies in society.

The bill also proposes that the gravity of the subsequent sentence should factor in the cryptocurrencys value in Philippine pesos at the time of the crime. Further, De Limas bill also calls for the government to confiscate the cryptocurrency used in the crime, unless it is a property of a separate individual not liable for the illegal act.

Elaborating on the reasons for the bill, she added:

Due to its anonymous or pseudonymous character, law enforcement agencies may encounter difficulty in tracing the user or owner of a virtual currency used in the commission of crimes, thereby necessitating a higher penalty for its use.

The proposed bill, which will need to be passed into law before any stiffer penalties are imposed, comes at a time when Philippine regulators are actively developing guidelines to curb fraud and investor risks in cryptocurrency transactions and initial coin offerings (ICOs). Notably, both Philippines central bank and the countrys securities regulator are collaborating over the effort, first revealed by central ban kgovernor Nestor Espenilla late last year after acknowledging the strong growth potential in the [ICO] space.

Story continues

The Philippines is notably among the earliest countries, globally, to issue regulations for the cryptocurrency sector in early 2017. The move was heralded as a pioneering regulation by the central banks deputy director in a televised appearance last year while stating bitcoin was fast, near real-time and convenient in its usage as a payment and remittance instrument.

Featured image from Shutterstock.



The post Philippines Senator Proposes Harsher Penalties for Cryptocurrency Crimes appeared first on CCN.

Hanoi (AFP) - Former Vietnamese premier Phan Van Khai, who helped strengthen ties with the US and drive market reforms that ignited the communist country's economy, died on Saturday aged 84, the government said.

A Soviet-trained economist from southern Vietnam, Khai held office for nine years starting in 1997, a period of reform that saw Vietnam transform into one of Southeast Asia's fastest growing economies.

Khai also made history as the country's first post-war leader to visit Washington in 2005, a landmark trip that helped cement ties between the former wartime foes.

A government statement announcing the former premier's death in the early hours of Saturday hailed his "spirit of innovation".

He "brought into play the capabilities of the whole economic sector, especially the private sector, in parallel with the opening up and international integration (of the country)," the statement said.

It did not detail the cause of Khai's death, though his health has reportedly been ailing for several weeks.

While the former premier helped open the communist country's economy and launch it onto a world stage, his administration made no departure from Vietnam's repressive one-party rule at home, where independent media is banned and critics are routinely jailed.

His government was also plagued by corruption.

Born on December 25, 1933 in Ho Chi Minh City's suburban Cu Chi district, Khai became a political activist at 14 by joining a children's revolutionary movement against the French colonial regime.

He later joined the communist party at age 25, shortly before being sent to study in Moscow from 1960 to 1965.

He became the mayor of Ho Chi Minh city in 1985, and six years later entered Vietnam's top decision-making body, the politburo.

Before taking office as prime minister, Khai was deputy premier to his patron and mentor Vo Van Kiet from 1991-97.A Hong Kong teenager suspected of murdering his girlfriend while they were on holiday in Taipei may never face charges over the killing because the city has no extradition deal with Taiwan and does not recognise its jurisdiction, a legal expert said on Friday.

Despite previous collaboration between officials in both places  in intelligence-sharing and arresting suspects  problems arise once a case arrives at a Hong Kong court, he said.

Chan Tong-kai, 19, a former associate degree student at Polytechnic Universitys Hong Kong Community College, is suspected of killing 20-year-old Poon Hiu-wing, also from Hong Kong, the islands police said.

The couple went to Taiwan on February 8, but Chan returned to Hong Kong without her on February 17. Officers said the suspect was seen carrying a huge pink suitcase after checking out of a Taipei hotel earlier that day, and that they suspected Poons body was inside it.

Prosecutors in Taiwan said the initial autopsy showed the woman, a former student at the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education, was strangled. But the lack of an extradition agreement between the two places means they may never bring charges against Chan, one judge said.

Without any special arrangements, I can foresee that the suspect could be able to get away from the harsh penalty because of the loophole created by the different judicial systems

Taiwanese judge

Without any special arrangements, I can foresee that the suspect could be able to get away from the harsh penalty because of the loophole created by the different judicial systems as well as Hong Kongs refusal to recognise Taiwans jurisdiction, a serving local judge, who declined to be identified, said.

The judge cited the case of three Colombian nationals who allegedly stole NT$5 million (HK$1.3 million) worth of jewels in Taiwan several years ago, before fleeing to Hong Kong.

Back then, police in the city cooperated with their Taiwanese counterparts to nab the suspects. But a Hong Kong court refused to recognise evidence from authorities in Taiwan  with which the city has no formal relations  and the suspects were released.

Story continues

The judge said the present case was even more complicated.

Before Taiwan is able to place charges against him it needs to question the suspect, he said, adding that he doubted Hong Kong would send the suspect over for questioning for lack of an extradition deal, as well as its claim of jurisdiction over its citizens.

He said if Hong Kong was determined to seek justice for the victim, it could learn from a video hearing between Taiwan and Canada last year, during which Taiwan prosecutors questioned a Canadian witness over a fraud case involving Taiwanese and Canadian nationals.

This way, prosecutors in Taiwan may be able to gather evidence through questioning the suspect, and hand over the final evidence to Hong Kong should they choose not to send him to Taiwan for punishment, he said.

Police discovered the badly decomposed body of Poon on Tuesday, in bushes near Zhuwei MRT station, on Taipeis outskirts.

The same day, Chan was arrested in Hong Kong, where he only faces charges of theft and handling stolen goods. He is accused of stealing Poons bank card, a camera, her phone and NT$20,000, and taking money from her bank account twice in late February, from a Hong Kong cash machine.

He was remanded in custody on Thursday after appearing in court.

On Friday, Hong Kong Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu gave no indication that the suspect would be transferred to Taiwan.

He said: The incident involves two jurisdictions. We are working hard to study how to process the case under the existing legal framework.

At this stage, I think it is most important to investigate and gather evidence, and know clearly what has happened, and what crimes are involved in which jurisdiction.

After evidence has been gathered, Lee said, authorities will decide which court it should go to.

Taiwans Justice Department said on Thursday it would try to get an agreement from the Hong Kong side to ease the investigation and any eventual punishment.

This article Hong Kong-Taiwan loophole means teen accused of killing girlfriend in Taipei may never face charges first appeared on South China Morning Post

For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018.

More from South China Morning Post:After a standoff in the Mediterranean that saw Turkish warships force back an Italian rig, Turkish Cypriot authorities insist no resources can be tapped around the divided island unless they are on-board. The confrontation over gas deposits has seen tensions soar between the Greek-majority Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Cypriot authorities -- just as the two sides are weighing up a return to peace talks that collapsed last year. EU member Republic of Cyprus has been hunting for energy offshore for years -- and has exploration deals with majors including Italy's Eni, France's Total and ExxonMobil in the United States. That quest has long sparked opposition from Ankara and the self-declared Turkish Cypriot state it backs on the north of the island -- culminating in Ankara blocking an Eni exploration vessel last month. Now as ExxonMobil gears up to start its own research in the island's waters ahead of planned exploratory drilling later this year, the Turkish Cypriots insist that they need to be consulted if any resources are to be exploited. "If the will of the Turkish Cypriots is not taken into consideration any economic activity will not be successful and cannot proceed. As you have seen the drilling was not done," Turkish Cypriot foreign minister Kudret Ozersay told AFP. "We will not allow either the Greek Cypriots or the companies to unilaterally act on our behalf." - 'Kind of opportunity' - The spike in tensions over energy comes at a delicate time as the two sides consider whether to restart UN-backed efforts to reunify the island after they broke down in acrimony last July. Cyprus has been split between the internationally recognised republic in the south and the Turkish-backed north ever since Ankara invaded in 1974 in response to a coup inspired by Athens. The Turkish Cypriot authorities are seen by their Greek Cypriot counterparts as pawns of Ankara. While the gas dispute has appeared to push the communities further apart, Ozersay insisted it could help the Turkish Cypriots press the other side on with negotiations -- either to resolve the broader conflict or agree a separate deal on sharing resources. "I see the existing circumstances as a kind of opportunity," he said. "If energy companies or states via energy companies can give the right message to the Greek Cypriot community." Should that fail, Ozersay warned, then the Turkish Cypriot side could look to press on with its own exploration and drilling in the disputed waters. - 'Very dangerous strategy' - The jockeying appears to be a high-risk gamble that could well backfire. Greek Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades pledged ahead of elections that saw him win a new term in February that he wanted to restart peace efforts quickly. Now the rhetoric has hardened and he insists talks can only begin when Turkey starts respecting his country's "sovereign rights" over energy exploration. For those pushing to reunite the east Mediterranean island the increasing tensions over energy are jeopardising any chances of making progress. The UN-backed talks last year were seen as the closest the two sides have ever come to solving the issue but now the fear is that any remaining goodwill is fast evaporating. "This is a very dangerous strategy for both sides," said Turkish Cypriot journalist and peace activist Esra Aygin. "Basically what both sides are saying right now if we get rid of all the details is that they don't want to start negotiations -- and this makes me question the sincerity and honesty and determination."Paul Jacobs, who served as CEO at Qualcomm for nearly a decade and was chairman until a week ago, is seeking to launch a takeover of the world's leading mobile chipmaking company, according to the firm

Qualcomm said Friday that Paul Jacbos, its chairman until a week ago, was considering a buyout effort for the California chipmaking giant just days after it fended off a hostile bid from Singapore rival Broadcom.

Jacobs, who had been chief executive at Qualcomm for nearly a decade and executive chairman until March 9, will not be renominated to its board at its annual meeting next Friday, the company said in a statement.

The board made a decision not to renominate Jacobs "following his notification to the board that he has decided to explore the possibility of making a proposal to acquire Qualcomm."

As a result, the number of board members will be reduced from 11 to 10 as of the holding of the annual meeting.

The statement said that if Jacobs does make a bid, "the board will of course evaluate it consistent with its fiduciary duties to shareholders."

The announcement comes after reports that Jacobs has sought to raise capital for a Qualcomm bid, and had approached Japanese tech giant SoftBank, which is in the midst of a major investment spree in the sector.

Jacobs is the son of Qualcomm co-founder Irwin Jacobs and was CEO at the San Diego firm from 2005 to 2014.

Last week, he was replaced as chairman by Jeffrey Henderson, who will be non-executive chairman at Qualcomm, the leading maker of chips for smartphones.

The news comes days after US President Donald Trump blocked a $117 billion hostile bid from Broadcom, citing national security reasons.

US officials had maintained that Broadcom would have curbed innovation at the US chip giant and opened the door to Chinese firms to dominate the process for 5G, or fifth-generation wireless networks.

Qualcomm's market value is around $90 billion, and is seen as an important player in the 5G race, but it has been hampered by antitrust actions around the world and litigation with Apple over claims that the chipmaker abused its dominance in the sector.

Qualcomm is also in the process of trying to close a takeover of Dutch chip rival NXP.

The board statement said that Qualcomm is now "focused on executing its business plan and maximizing value for shareholders as an independent company."

It added that Jacobs "has been a valued employee and director of Qualcomm since 1990" and that "he has been one of the great innovators in our industry."

 2018 AFPThe following companies are subsidiares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise: 3Com International Inc., 3PAR Inc., Apogee, Aruba Networks Inc., Aruba Networks International Cayman, Aruba Networks International Limited, BlueData Software, Cloud Cruiser, Cloud Technology Partners, Cloud Technology Partners Inc., Compaq Computer (Mauritius), Compaq Trademark B.V., Cray, Cray Inc., EDS World Corporation (Far East) LLC, EYP Mission Critical Facilities Inc., H3C Holdings Limited, HP Enterprise Services Australia Pty Ltd, HP Financial Services (Australia) Pty Limited, HP Financial Services (Chile) Limitada, HP Financial Services (Japan) K.K., HP Financial Services Arrendamento Mercantil S.A., HP Financial Services Company (Korea), HP Financial Services International Holdings Company, HPE Government LLC, HPFS Global Holdings I LLC, HPFS Global Holdings II LLC, HPFS Rental S.R.L., Hangzhou H3C Technologies Co. Ltd, Hewlett Packard Caribe BV LLC, Hewlett Packard Colombia Ltda., Hewlett Packard Enterprise (China) Co. Ltd., Hewlett Packard Enterprise B.V., Hewlett Packard Enterprise B.V. Amstelveen Meyrin Branch, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Canada Co., Hewlett Packard Enterprise Canada Co. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Canada Cie, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Costa Rica Limitada, Hewlett Packard Enterprise GlobalSoft Private Limited, Hewlett Packard Enterprise India Private Limited, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Ireland Limited, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Luxembourg SCA, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Polska sp. z o.o., Hewlett Packard Pathfinder LLC, Hewlett Packard Taiwan Ltd., Hewlett-Packard (Israel) Ltd., Hewlett-Packard (M) Sdn. Bhd., Hewlett-Packard (Nigeria) Limited, Hewlett-Packard (Schweiz) GmbH, Hewlett-Packard (Tanzania) Limited, Hewlett-Packard (Thailand) Limited, Hewlett-Packard ApS, Hewlett-Packard Argentina S.R.L., Hewlett-Packard Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Hewlett-Packard Australia Pty Ltd, Hewlett-Packard Belgium SPRL/BVBA, Hewlett-Packard Bermuda Enterprises LLC, Hewlett-Packard Brasil Ltda., Hewlett-Packard Bulgaria EOOD, Hewlett-Packard Caribe B.V., Hewlett-Packard Caribe Y Andina B.V. LLC, Hewlett-Packard Chile Comercial Limitada, Hewlett-Packard Cyprus Ltd, Hewlett-Packard Ecuador Cia. Ltda., Hewlett-Packard Egypt Ltd., Hewlett-Packard Financial Services (India) Private Limited, Hewlett-Packard Financial Services Canada Company, Hewlett-Packard Financial Services Company, Hewlett-Packard France SAS, Hewlett-Packard G1 SPV (Cayman) Company, Hewlett-Packard Gesellschaft mbH, Hewlett-Packard Ghana Limited, Hewlett-Packard GmbH, Hewlett-Packard Guatemala Limitada, Hewlett-Packard HK SAR Ltd., Hewlett-Packard Hellas EPE, Hewlett-Packard Holdings Ltd., Hewlett-Packard International Bank Designated Activity Company, Hewlett-Packard International Bank Public Limited Company, Hewlett-Packard International Sarl, Hewlett-Packard Italiana S.r.l., Hewlett-Packard Japan Ltd., Hewlett-Packard Korea Ltd., Hewlett-Packard Leasing Limited, Hewlett-Packard Limited, Hewlett-Packard Luxembourg Enterprises LLC, Hewlett-Packard Macau Limited, Hewlett-Packard Manufacturing Ltd, Hewlett-Packard Marigalante Ltd., Hewlett-Packard Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Hewlett-Packard Middle East FZ-LLC, Hewlett-Packard Mocambique Limitada - Sociedada em Liquidacao, Hewlett-Packard Nederland B.V., Hewlett-Packard New Zealand, Hewlett-Packard Norge AS, Hewlett-Packard OY, Hewlett-Packard Operations Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Hewlett-Packard Peru S.R.L., Hewlett-Packard Philippines Corporation, Hewlett-Packard Portugal Lda., Hewlett-Packard SARL, Hewlett-Packard SIA, Hewlett-Packard Servicios Espana S.L., Hewlett-Packard Singapore (Sales) Pte. Ltd., Hewlett-Packard South Africa (Proprietary) Limited, Hewlett-Packard Sverige AB, Hewlett-Packard Technology Center Inc., Hewlett-Packard Teknoloji Cozumleri Limited Sirketi, Hewlett-Packard The Hague B.V., Hewlett-Packard Venezuela S.R.L., Hewlett-Packard Vision Limited, Hewlett-Packard d.o.o., Hewlett-Packard s.r.o., Limited Liability Company Hewlett Packard Enterprise, MapR Technologies, New H3C Technologies Co. Ltd., Niara Inc., Nimble Storage, Nimble Storage Inc., Nimble Storage Israel Ltd, Nimble Storage Japan GK, Nimble Storage UK Limited, Plexxi, RedPixie, SGI (Silicon Graphics), Sapphire Holding Co, Scytale, Shanghai Hewlett-Packard Co. Ltd., Silver Peak, SimpliVity, Sinope Holding B.V., Trilead, UAB ES Hague Lietuva, and Unis Huashan Technologies Co. Limited.Varian Medical Systems, Inc. designs, manufactures, sells, and services medical devices and software products for treating cancer and other medical conditions worldwide. It operates through Oncology Systems and Proton Solutions segments. The Oncology Systems segment offers hardware and software products for treating cancer with radiotherapy, fixed field intensity-modulated radiation therapy, image-guided radiation therapy, volumetric modulated arc therapy, stereotactic radiosurgery, stereotactic body radiotherapy, artificial intelligence based adaptive radiotherapy, and brachytherapy, as well as quality assurance equipment. Its products include linear accelerators, brachytherapy afterloaders, treatment accessories, and quality assurance software; and information management, treatment planning, image processing, clinical knowledge exchange, patient care management, decision-making support, and practice management software. This segment serves university research and community hospitals, private and governmental institutions, healthcare agencies, physicians' offices, medical oncology practices, radiotherapy centers, and cancer care clinics. The Proton Solutions segment designs, develops, manufactures, sells, and services products and systems for delivering proton therapy for the treatment of cancer. The company has a strategic agreement with McKesson Corp. to supply treatment delivery systems and planning, services, and radiotherapy information system solutions to its U.S. Oncology Network and Vantage Oncology affiliated sites of care; and a strategic partnership with Siemens AG to represent Siemens diagnostic imaging products to radiation oncology clinics in the United States and other select markets. Varian Medical Systems, Inc. was formerly known as Varian Associates, Inc. and changed its name to Varian Medical Systems, Inc. in April 1999. The company was founded in 1948 and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California.

Read More8 hours ago

US sues to stop deal between American Airlines and JetBlue

The Justice Department and officials in six states have filed a lawsuit to block a partnership formed by American Airlines and JetBlue, claiming that it will reduce competition and lead to higher fares. The Justice Department said Tuesday that the agreement will eliminate important competition in New York and Boston and reduce JetBlue's incentive to compete against American in other parts of the country.

Read ArticleThe following companies are subsidiares of Cardinal Health: A+ Secure Packaging LLC, Access Closure, Access Closure Inc., Aero-Med Ltd., Alaris Medical Systems, Allegiance Corporation, Allegiance Healthcare, AssuraMed, AssuraMed Inc., Automatic Liquid Packaging, Bergen Brunswig Corp, Bindley Western Industries, Boron LePore & Associates, Borschow Hospital & Medical Supplies, Cardinal Health 100 Inc., Cardinal Health 104 LP, Cardinal Health 105 Inc., Cardinal Health 107 LLC, Cardinal Health 108 LLC, Cardinal Health 110 LLC, Cardinal Health 112 LLC, Cardinal Health 113 LLC, Cardinal Health 114 Inc., Cardinal Health 115 LLC, Cardinal Health 116 LLC, Cardinal Health 118 LLC, Cardinal Health 119 LLC, Cardinal Health 121 LLC, Cardinal Health 122 LLC, Cardinal Health 123 LLC, Cardinal Health 124 LLC, Cardinal Health 126 LLC, Cardinal Health 127 Inc., Cardinal Health 2 LLC, Cardinal Health 200 LLC, Cardinal Health 201 Inc., Cardinal Health 222 (Thailand) Ltd., Cardinal Health 247 Inc., Cardinal Health 249 LLC, Cardinal Health 3 LLC, Cardinal Health 414 LLC, Cardinal Health 5 LLC, Cardinal Health 6 Inc., Cardinal Health 7 LLC, Cardinal Health Australia 503 Pty. Ltd., Cardinal Health Austria 504 GmbH, Cardinal Health Belgium 505 BVBA, Cardinal Health Canada Holdings Cooperative U.A., Cardinal Health Canada Inc., Cardinal Health Chile Limitada, Cardinal Health Colombia S.A.S., Cardinal Health D.R. 203 II Ltd., Cardinal Health Denmark ApS, Cardinal Health Finland Oy, Cardinal Health Foundation, Cardinal Health France 506 SAS, Cardinal Health Funding LLC, Cardinal Health Germany 507 GmbH, Cardinal Health Germany Manufacturing GmbH, Cardinal Health IPS LLC, Cardinal Health International Philippines Inc., Cardinal Health Ireland 419 Designated Activity Company, Cardinal Health Ireland 508 Limited, Cardinal Health Ireland Unlimited Company, Cardinal Health Italy 509 Srl, Cardinal Health Japan G.K., Cardinal Health Korea Limited, Cardinal Health Malaysia 211 Sdn. Bhd., Cardinal Health Malta 212 Limited, Cardinal Health Managed Care Services LLC, Cardinal Health Medical Equipment Consulting (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Cardinal Health Medical Products India Private Limited, Cardinal Health Mexico 244 S. de R.L. de C.V., Cardinal Health Mexico 514 S. de R.L. de C.V., Cardinal Health Middle East FZ-LLC, Cardinal Health Netherlands 502 B.V., Cardinal Health Norway AS, Cardinal Health P.R. 120 Inc., Cardinal Health P.R. 218 Inc., Cardinal Health P.R. 220 LLC, Cardinal Health Pharmaceutical Contracting LLC, Cardinal Health Pharmacy Services LLC, Cardinal Health Poland Spolka z ograniczonaa odpowiedzialnossciaa, Cardinal Health Portugal 513 Unipessoal Lda., Cardinal Health Singapore 225 Pte. Ltd., Cardinal Health Spain 511 S.L., Cardinal Health Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Cardinal Health Sweden 512 A.B., Cardinal Health Switzerland 515 GmbH, Cardinal Health Systems Inc., Cardinal Health Technologies LLC, Cardinal Health Technologies Switzerland GmbH, Cardinal Health U.K. 432 Limited, Cardinal Health do Brasil Ltd., CareFusion, Cirpro de Delicias S.A. de C.V., Convertors de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Cordis, Cordis (Shanghai) Medical Devices Co. Ltd., Cordis Cashel Company Unlimited, Cordis Corporation, Cornerstone Partners G.P.O. L.P., Covidien Manufacturing Solutions S.A., Curaspan Health Group Inc., Denver Biomedical, Dik Drug, EPIC Insurance Company, Emerge Medical, Enturia, Especialidades Medicas Kenmex S.A. de C.V., Futuremed Health Care Products, Gala Biotech, Geodax Technology, Griffin Capital LLC, HLS Freight Services, Healthcare Solutions Holding, Innovative Therapies Inc., Instant Diagnostic Systems Inc., KPR Australia Pty. Ltd., KPR Italia S.r.l., KPR Switzerland Sales Gmbh, KPR U.S. LLC, Kendall Patient Recovery BVBA, Kendall-Gammatron Limited, Kinray, Leader Drugstores Inc., Limited Liability Company "Cardinal Health Russia", Ludlow Technical Products Canada Ltd., MCD, Magellan Laboratories, Marin Apothecaries, MedMined, Medicine Shoppe International Inc., Mediquip Sdn. Bhd., Medtronic - Patient Monitoring & Recovery, Mirixa Corporation, NaviHealth, Nippon Covidien Ltd., One Cloverleaf LLC, Outcomes Incorporated, Owen Healthcare, PCI Pharma Services, ParMed Pharmaceuticals, Pinnacle Intellectual Property Services Inc., Pinnacle Intellectual Property Services-International Inc., Post-Acute Care Center for Research LLC, Pyxis Corporation, Quiroproductos de Cuauhtemoc S. de R.L. de C.V., R Cubed Inc., R.P. Scherer Corporation, RGH Enterprises Inc., RainTree GPO LLC, RainTree Oncology Services, Renal Purchasing Group LLC, Rxealtime Inc., Sonexus Health LLC, Syncor International, TelePharm, TelePharm LLC, The Harvard Drug Group, The Harvard Drug Group L.L.C., Tradex International Inc., Viasys Healthcare, WaveMark Inc., Zuellig Pharma China, mscripts, mscripts LLC, and mscripts Systems India Private Limited.The following companies are subsidiares of CVS Health: @Credentials Inc., ACS ACQCO CORP., ADMINCO Inc., AE Fourteen Incorporated, AHP Holdings Inc., AMC - Tennessee LLC, APS Acquisition LLC, ASCO HealthCare LLC, ASI Wings LLC, AUSHC Holdings Inc., Accendo Insurance Company, Accordant Health Services L.L.C., Active Health Management Inc., Administrative Enterprises Inc., AdvancePCS SpecialtyRx LLC, AdvanceRx.com L.L.C., Advanced Care Scripts Inc., Aetna, Aetna (Beijing) Enterprise Management Services Co. Ltd., Aetna (Shanghai) Enterprise Services Co. Ltd., Aetna ACO Holdings Inc., Aetna Asset Advisors LLC, Aetna Behavioral Health LLC, Aetna Better Health Inc., Aetna Better Health Inc., Aetna Better Health of California Inc., Aetna Better Health of Florida Inc., Aetna Better Health of Kansas Inc., Aetna Better Health of Michigan Inc., Aetna Better Health of Missouri LLC, Aetna Better Health of Nevada Inc., Aetna Better Health of North Carolina Inc., Aetna Better Health of Oklahoma Inc., Aetna Better Health of Texas Inc., Aetna Better Health of Washington Inc., Aetna Capital Management LLC, Aetna Card Solutions LLC, Aetna Corporate Services LLC, Aetna Dental Inc., Aetna Dental of California Inc., Aetna Financial Holdings LLC, Aetna Florida Inc., Aetna Global Benefits (Asia Pacific) Limited, Aetna Global Benefits (Bahamas) Limited, Aetna Global Benefits (Bermuda) Limited, Aetna Global Benefits (Europe) Limited, Aetna Global Benefits (Middle East) LLC, Aetna Global Benefits (Singapore) PTE. LTD., Aetna Global Benefits (UK) Limited, Aetna Global Benefits Limited (DIFC UAE), Aetna Global Holdings Limited, Aetna Health Holdings LLC, Aetna Health Inc., Aetna Health Insurance (Thailand) Public Company Limited, Aetna Health Insurance Company, Aetna Health Insurance Company of Europe DAC, Aetna Health Management LLC, Aetna Health and Life Insurance Company, Aetna Health of California Inc., Aetna Health of Iowa Inc., Aetna Health of Michigan Inc., Aetna Health of Ohio Inc., Aetna Health of Utah Inc., Aetna HealthAssurance Pennsylvania Inc., Aetna Holdco (UK) Limited, Aetna Holdings (Thailand) Limited, Aetna Inc., Aetna Insurance (Hong Kong) Limite, Aetna Insurance (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Aetna Insurance Company Limited, Aetna Integrated Informatics Inc., Aetna International Inc., Aetna Ireland Inc., Aetna Korea Ltd., Aetna Life & Casualty (Bermuda) Ltd., Aetna Life Assignment Company, Aetna Life Insurance Company, Aetna Medicaid Administrators LLC, Aetna Multi-Strategy 1099 Fund LLC, Aetna Network Services LLC, Aetna Partners Diversified Fund LLC, Aetna Pharmacy Management Services LLC, Aetna Resources LLC, Aetna Risk Assurance Company of Connecticut Inc., Aetna Rx Home Delivery LLC, Aetna Services (Thailand) Limited, Aetna Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Aetna Student Health Agency Inc., Aetna Ventures LLC, Aetna Workers Comp Access LLC, Alabama CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Alaska CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Allina Health and Aetna Insurance Company, Allina Health and Aetna Insurance Holding Company LLC, American Continental Insurance Company, American Drug Stores Delaware L.L.C., American Health Holding Inc., Arbor Drugs, Arizona CVS Stores L.L.C., Arkansas CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Badger Acquisition LLC, Badger Acquisition of Kentucky LLC, Badger Acquisition of Minnesota LLC, Badger Acquisition of Ohio LLC, Banner Health and Aetna Health Insurance Company, Banner Health and Aetna Health Insurance Holding Company LLC, Banner Health and Aetna Health Plan Inc., Beauty Holdings L.L.C., Best Care LTC Acquisition Company LLC, Busse CVS L.L.C., CCI Foreign S.a R.L. (R.C.S. Luxembourg), CCRx Holdings LLC, CCRx of North Carolina LLC, CHP Acquisition LLC, CP Acquisition LLC, CVS 2948 Henderson L.L.C., CVS 3268 Gilbert L.L.C., CVS 3745 Peoria L.L.C., CVS AL Distribution L.L.C., CVS AOC Corporation, CVS AOC Services L.L.C., CVS Albany L.L.C., CVS Bellmore Avenue L.L.C., CVS Care Concierge LLC, CVS Caremark Advanced Technology Pharmacy L.L.C., CVS Caremark Indemnity Ltd., CVS Caremark Part D Services L.L.C., CVS Caremark TN SUTA LLC, CVS Foreign Inc., CVS Gilbert 3272 L.L.C., CVS Health Solutions LLC, CVS Indiana L.L.C., CVS International L.L.C., CVS Kidney Care Advanced Technologies LLC, CVS Kidney Care Health Services LLC, CVS Kidney Care Home Dialysis LLC, CVS Kidney Care LLC, CVS Manchester NH L.L.C., CVS Media Exchange LLC, CVS Michigan L.L.C., CVS Orlando FL Distribution L.L.C., CVS PA Distribution L.L.C., CVS PR Center Inc., CVS Pharmacy Inc., CVS RS Arizona L.L.C., CVS Rx Services Inc., CVS SC Distribution L.L.C., CVS State Capital L.L.C., CVS TN Distribution L.L.C., CVS Transportation L.L.C., CVS Vero FL Distribution L.L.C., Campos Medical Pharmacy LLC, Canal Place LLC, Care Pharmaceutical Services LP, CareCenter Pharmacy L.L.C., Carefree Insurance Services Inc., Caremark Arizona Mail Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Arizona Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark California Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Florida Mail Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Florida Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Hawaii Mail Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Hawaii Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark IPA L.L.C., Caremark Illinois Mail Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Illinois Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Irving Resource Center LLC, Caremark Kansas Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark L.L.C., Caremark Logistics LLC, Caremark Louisiana Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Maryland Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Massachusetts Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Michigan Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Minnesota Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark New Jersey Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark North Carolina Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Ohio Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Pennsylvania Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark PhC L.L.C., Caremark Puerto Rico L.L.C., Caremark Puerto Rico Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Redlands Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Repack LLC, Caremark Rx L.L.C., Caremark Tennessee Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Texas Mail Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Texas Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Ulysses Holding Corp., Caremark Washington Specialty Pharmacy LLC, CaremarkPCS Alabama Mail Pharmacy LLC, CaremarkPCS Health L.L.C., CaremarkPCS L.L.C., Central Rx Services LLC, Claims Administration Corp., Cofinity Inc., Compscript LLC, Connecticut CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Continental Life Insurance Company of Brentwood Tennessee, Continuing Care Rx LLC, Coram Alternate Site Services Inc., Coram Clinical Trials Inc., Coram Healthcare Corporation of Alabama, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Florida, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Greater D.C., Coram Healthcare Corporation of Greater New York, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Indiana, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Massachusetts, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Mississippi, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Nevada, Coram Healthcare Corporation of North Texas, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Northern California, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Southern California, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Southern Florida, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Utah, Coram LLC, Coram Rx LLC, Coram Specialty Infusion, Coram Specialty Infusion Services L.L.C., Coventry Consumer Advantage Inc., Coventry Health Care National Accounts Inc., Coventry Health Care National Network Inc., Coventry Health Care Workers Compensation Inc., Coventry Health Care of Illinois Inc., Coventry Health Care of Kansas Inc., Coventry Health Care of Missouri Inc., Coventry Health Care of Nebraska Inc., Coventry Health Care of Virginia Inc., Coventry Health Care of West Virginia Inc., Coventry Health Plan of Florida Inc., Coventry Health and Life Insurance Company, Coventry HealthCare Management Corporation, Coventry Prescription Management Services Inc., Coventry Rehabilitation Services Inc., Coventry Transplant Network Inc., D & R Pharmaceutical Services LLC, D.A.W. LLC, Delaware CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Delaware Physicians Care Incorporated, Digital eHealth LLC, District of Columbia CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., E.T.B. INC., Echo Merger Sub Inc., Eckerd Corporation of Florida Inc., Employee Assistance Services LLC, Enloe Drugs LLC, Enterprise Patient Safety Organization LLC, EntrustRX, Evergreen Pharmaceutical LLC, Evergreen Pharmaceutical of California Inc., Express Pharmacy Services of PA L.L.C., FOCUS HealthCare Management Inc., First Health Group Corp., First Health Life & Health Insurance Company, First Script Network Services Inc., Florida Health Plan Administrators LLC, Garfield Beach CVS L.L.C., Generation Health L.L.C., Geneva Woods Health Services LLC, Geneva Woods LTC Pharmacy LLC, Geneva Woods Management LLC, Geneva Woods Pharmacy Alaska LLC, Geneva Woods Pharmacy LLC, Geneva Woods Pharmacy Washington LLC, Geneva Woods Pharmacy Wyoming LLC, Geneva Woods Retail Pharmacy LLC, Georgia CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., German Dobson CVS L.L.C., Goodhealth Worldwide (Asia) Limited, Goodhealth Worldwide (Global) Limited, Goodyear CVS L.L.C., Grand St. Paul CVS L.L.C., Grandview Pharmacy LLC, Group Dental Service Inc., Group Dental Service of Maryland Inc., Health Care Management Co. Ltd., Health Data & Management Solutions Inc., Health Re Inc., Health and Human Resource Center Inc., HealthAssuance Pennsylvania Inc., Healthagen LLC, Highland Park CVS L.L.C., Holiday CVS L.L.C., Home Care Pharmacy LLC, Home Pharmacy Services LLC, Hook-SupeRx L.L.C., Horizon Behavioral Services LLC, Idaho CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., IlliniCare Health, Indian Health Organisation Private Limited, Innovation Health Holdings LLC, Innovation Health Insurance Company, Innovation Health Plan Inc., Interlock Pharmacy Systems LLC, Iowa CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., JHC Acquisition LLC, Kansas CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Kentucky CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., LCPS Acquisition LLC, Langsam Health Services LLC, Lo-Med Prescription Services LLC, Lobos Acquisition LLC, Longs Drug Stores, Longs Drug Stores California L.L.C., Louisiana CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., MHHP Acquisition Company LLC, MHNet Life and Health Insurance Company, MHNet Specialty Services LLC, MHNet of Florida Inc., Managed Care Coordinators Inc., Managed Healthcare LLC, Martin Health Services LLC, Maryland CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Med World Acquisition Corp., Medical Arts Health Care LLC, Medical Examinations of New York P.C., Melville Realty Company Inc., MemberHealth LLC, Mental Health Associates Inc., Mental Health Network of New York IPA Inc., Meritain Health Inc., Merwin Long Term Care LLC, MetraComp Inc., Minor Health Enterprise Co Ltd., MinuteClinic, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Alabama L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Arizona LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Florida LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Georgia LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Hawaii L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Illinois LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Kentucky L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Louisiana L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Maine L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Maryland LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Massachusetts LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Nebraska L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of New Hampshire L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of New Mexico L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Ohio LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Oklahoma LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Oregon LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Pennsylvania LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Rhode Island LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of South Carolina L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Texas LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Utah L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Virginia LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Washington LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Wisconsin L.L.C., MinuteClinic L.L.C., MinuteClinic Online Diagnostic Services LLC, MinuteClinic Physician Practice of Texas, MinuteClinic Telehealth Services LLC, Mississippi CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Missouri CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Montana CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., NCS Healthcare LLC, NCS Healthcare of Illinois LLC, NCS Healthcare of Iowa LLC, NCS Healthcare of Kansas LLC, NCS Healthcare of Kentucky Inc. (Oh, NCS Healthcare of Montana LLC, NCS Healthcare of New Mexico LLC, NCS Healthcare of Ohio LLC, NCS Healthcare of South Carolina LLC, NCS Healthcare of Tennessee LLC, NCS Healthcare of Wisconsin LLC, NIV Acquisition LLC, Navarro Discount Pharmacy, Nebraska CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., NeighborCare Holdings Inc., NeighborCare Inc., NeighborCare Pharmacy Services Inc., NeighborCare Services Corporation, NeighborCare of Indiana LLC, NeighborCare of Virginia LLC, New Jersey CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Niagara Re Inc., North Carolina CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., North Shore Pharmacy Services LLC, NovoLogix LLC, OCR Services LLC, Ocean Acquisition Sub L.L.C., Ohio CVS Stores L.L.C., Oklahoma CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Omnicare, Omnicare Holding Company, Omnicare Inc., Omnicare Indiana Partnership Holding Company LLC, Omnicare Pharmacies of Pennsylvania East LLC, Omnicare Pharmacies of Pennsylvania West LLC, Omnicare Pharmacies of the Great Plains Holding LLC, Omnicare Pharmacy and Supply Services LLC, Omnicare Pharmacy of Tennessee LLC, Omnicare Pharmacy of the Midwest LLC, Omnicare Property Management LLC, Omnicare of Nebraska LLC, Omnicare of Nevada LLC, Omnicare of New York LLC, Oregon CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., PE Holdings LLC, PHPSNE Parent Corporation, PP Acquisition Company LLC, PRN Pharmaceutical Services LP, PT Aetna Management Consulting, Pamplona Saude e Beleza LTDA, Part D Holding Company L.L.C., PayFlex Holdings Inc., PayFlex Systems USA Inc., Pennsylvania CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Performax Inc., Pharmacy Associates of Glenn Falls LLC, Pharmacy Consultants LLC, Phoenix Data Solutions LLC, Precision Benefit Services Inc., Prime Net Inc., ProCare Pharmacy Direct L.L.C., ProCare Pharmacy L.L.C., Prodigy Health Group Inc., Professional Risk Management Inc., Pt. Aetna Global Benefits Indonesia, Puerto Rico CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Red Oak Sourcing LLC, Resources for Living LLC, Rhode Island CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Roeschens Healthcare LLC, RxAmerica, Schaller Anderson Medical Administrators Incorporated, Scrip World LLC, Sheffield Avenue CVS L.L.C., Shore Pharmaceutical Providers LLC, Silverscript Insurance Company, Soma Intimates, South Carolina CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., South Wabash CVS L.L.C., Specialized Pharmacy Services LLC, Spinnaker Bidco Limited, Spinnaker Topco Limited, Stadtlander Drug Company, Stadtlander Pharmacy, Sterling Healthcare Services LLC, Superior Care Pharmacy LLC, Sutter Health and Aetna Administrative Services LLC, Sutter Health and Aetna Insurance Company, Sutter Health and Aetna Insurance Holding Company LLC, T2 Medical Inc., TCPI Acquisition LLC, TargetPharmacy, Tennessee CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Texas Health + Aetna Health Insurance Company, Texas Health + Aetna Health Insurance Holding Company LLC, Texas Health + Aetna Health Plan Inc., The Vasquez Group Inc., Thomas Phoenix CVS L.L.C., Three Forks Apothecary LLC, U.S Healthcare Holdings LLC, U.S. Healthcare Properties Inc., UAC Holding Inc., UC Acquisition LLC, UNI-Care Health Services of Maine LLC, Universal American - Medicare Part D Business, Utah CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., VAPS Acquisition Company LLC, Value Health Care Services LLC, Vermont CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Virginia CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Virtual Home Healthcare L.L.C., Warm Springs Road CVS L.L.C., Washington CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Washington Lamb CVS L.L.C., Weber Medical Systems LLC, Wellpartner LLC, West Virginia CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Westhaven Services Co LLC, Williamson Drug Company LLC, Wisconsin CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Woodward Detroit CVS L.L.C., Work and Family Benefits Inc., ZS Acquisition Company LLC, Zinc Health Services LLC, Zinc Health Ventures LLC, bSwift LLC, and iTriage LLC.Lee Sung-kyung said she was happy to be back in Malaysia for the second time.

Model-turned-actress Lee Sung-kyung recently dropped by Malaysia to share her beauty secrets with her fans.

Her visit was kicked off with a Meet & Greet with fans at Pavilion Kuala Lumpur on the evening of 7 March, followed by a press conference with the media at The St. Regis Kuala Lumpur on the next day.

With her flawless skin and radiant complexion, it was easy to see why the South Korean sweetheart was picked by Laneige to represent the beauty brand for the launch of its newest generation of cushion, the Layering Cover Cushion, in Malaysia.

"A proper skincare set is really important for a clear skin," said Lee at the press conference, sharing the secret to her glowing look.

Lee Sung-kyung's simple but striking OOTD to complement her flawless skin.

"I spend a lot of time taking care of my skin and I've been using the Laneige water essence and cream all year round to keep my skin radiant. I also use a toner often to keep my skin calm and so that the products I use can be absorbed by my skin better."

Good skin also begins with good health, as evident by the actress' reply when asked what she does on days she is not working on set: "I work out a lot to maintain my health."

This is the second visit to Malaysia for the actress, who said that she was happy to be back.

Known for her K-drama roles such as in "Cheese in the Trap" and "Doctors", the 27-year-old also lent her voice as Poppy to the Korean-dubbed version of "Trolls" and is set to be seen soon in a new drama, "About Time", scheduled for release this year.We live in discordant times marked by a strange but striking fact: despite visible signs of waning American global power and the birth of a strident global China, few people dare openly use the word empire. It is as if things cannot be called by their proper name.

In China, public talk of empire (diguo) remains rare. It is a pejorative term directed at others; the word is almost never applied to China itself. State officials and media platforms instead emphasise past victimhood (the century of humiliation) at the hands of Western imperialism. In a case of unexpected symmetry, in the United States, the word empire also triggers embarrassed silence. Americans regard themselves as a benign global power, as a democratic force for good. Former defence secretary under George W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, said it clearly: We dont seek empires, were not imperialistic. We never have been. His words could just as easily have come from the mouths of contemporary Chinese leaders.

But if by empire we mean a jumbo-sized state that exercises political, economic and symbolic power over millions of people, at great distances from its own heartlands, without much regard or respect for the niceties of sovereignty, then technically both the United States and China are empires. Our planet is falling under the sway of two global empires. Measured in GDP terms, for instance, the American economy currently yields a third of world output. In such fields as telecommunications, pharmaceuticals and aerospace, its global corporations set the pace. McDonald's, Google, Apple and Facebook are globally influential cultural brands. The US is commander-in-chief of the global war on terror. It has military bases and installations in 130 countries. It currently spends more on weapons than the next seven countries combined.

Chinas global reach is meanwhile spreading fast. Unusually, the new Chinese empire is deeply entangled with the US and its partners. Beijing-financed mega-projects are reordering the lives of many millions of people, from South Africa, Nigeria and Sri Lanka to Cambodia, Chile and Hungary. The Communist Party-state economy has outflanked the US as the worlds largest trading nation. It is now Africas biggest trading partner and rivals the US in Latin America, where Chinese investment, extraction of resources and trade jumped tenfold in the first decade of this century.

Story continues

Military expenditure is mushrooming (the PLA has enjoyed two decades of double-digit budget growth) while in recent times China has helped build and now leads more than 20 new multilateral institutions founded on pragmatic consent, not formal treaty alliances.

Its important to grasp just how unique these trends are. Empires with a genuinely global footprint are rare. Whatever their visions of world conquest, the territorial reach of the Mongols, Muslims, Ottomans, Ming dynasty and British and other European empires was geographically limited. For the first time, during the years of bi-polarity (1945  89), two relatively detached global empires vied for world dominance. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US tried to do something no empire had ever done: to exercise hegemony over the whole planet alone. It failed. So now it has to deal with the realities of spreading Chinese power. The upshot is that our planet, for the first time in human history, is shadowed by two globally entangled empires marked by different intentions and practices.

The novelty is perplexing, which is why so many pundits and politicians in the US, or sympathetic to the US, are now peddling warnings of an imminent Chinese takeover of the world. Some are sharpening their swords. They want a new cold war to sort out which empire is in charge. Their first move is to stir up public sentiments against what they call the authoritarianism or totalitarianism of the existing Party-led regime. Beyond the borders of China, they see acts of silent espionage and systematic takeovers of businesses, governments, universities, newspapers, churches and various civil society bodies. They warn of threats to sovereignty and the coming end of liberal democracy.

There is some validity in these warnings. They remind us that empires are never angels on Earth because their mission is always to change the balance of power in their own favour. Just like the US, China has its fellow traveller intellectuals, propaganda media, front organisations, lobbyists and dark money peddlers. The pundits also help to bury the hubristic end of history presumption that the strategy of containment and engagement with China would ultimately ensure that it became just like America: a capitalist liberal democracy.

This new cold war rhetoric nevertheless has definite downsides. It understates the irreversible entanglement and cooperation of the two empires. Its sense of history of empires, and Chinas role in rethinking the whole subject, masterfully analysed in John Darwins After Tamerlane (2007), is feeble. Get-tough-with-China talk attracts racists and Orientalists; in effect, it functions as a cry of pain from within the West and a call to stay on top of the world. The rhetoric relies heavily on stock phrases such as liberal democracy and authoritarianism. Seemingly unaware that it might well reinforce the emperor trends in todays China and the US, the rhetoric is strikingly silent about the current disfiguring of power-sharing democracy within its heartlands. The less palatable side of the American empire (repeated military invasions in the name of democracy, repeated failures) is typically ignored. Worst of all, simplification and wilful ignorance about the daily life and complex and kaleidoscopic political dynamics of China are commonplace.

For all these reasons, the time has come to call things by their correct name, to see that a new era of two entangled global empires requires more honest working precepts. China bashing and American love affairs are both unhelpful. Talk of military aggression and war even more so. There is no Thucydides trap  the idea that conflict is almost inevitable when a rising power challenges the established one, a la Athens and Sparta  except in the heads of the new cold warriors.

The dynamic re-balancing of power between the US and China, especially in the Asia Pacific region, is a priority, along with the need for continuing positive cooperation in such fields as scientific research, higher education and renewable energy.

Dynamic cooperation is bound to have its ups and downs. It requires frank exchanges between Western and Chinese partners in every field. Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was on to something: when it comes to dealing with the US, China and their allies and opponents, he liked to say, truly durable friendships (zheng you) are built on frankness, unflinching advice and awareness of fundamental interests and future visions.

Simple presumptions about the ethical and practical superiority of American-style liberal democracy need to be rethought. Far better to give priority to the daunting and complex political task of cleaning the Augean stables of actually existing democracies, more than a few of which (Brazil, India, Britain, the US) are in a parlous condition. Above all, what is needed badly is an opening of minds, a new willingness among political thinkers, journalists, citizens and politicians to dissect their own ignorance about China, to craft fresh ways of thinking that enable all of us to see that the realities of the new Chinese empire are far more confusing, complicated and contradictory than many of its critics have so far supposed. 

John Keane is Professor of Politics at The University of Sydney, and Kerry Brown is director of the Lau China Institute, Kings College, London

This article One world, two empires: Is China-US conflict inevitable? first appeared on South China Morning Post

For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018.

More from South China Morning Post:Oxfam faced fresh allegations of sexual misconduct by staff in Haiti, with a report on Saturday claiming the charity kept a senior aid worker in the earthquake-hit country for over a year despite harassment claims. The British-based charity attempted to "contain" sexual harassment allegations involving Raphael Mutiku, who led Oxfam's installation of water supplies after the 2010 earthquake, according to an internal report seen by The Times newspaper. The documents claim to show a final written warning was issued to Mutiku, a Kenyan in his 40s, in June 2010, following accusations of sexual harassment from female colleagues. However, six months later when it was alleged that the engineer was paying young women for sex at his Oxfam accommodation, his manager at the aid agency's UK headquarters is reported to have said he hoped the charity could "contain this" and it seemed Mutiku was "not being discreet". Oxfam has confirmed the decision not to dismiss Mutiku was made by Roland van Hauwermeiren -- the then country director who was recently at the heart of the aid worker sex scandal. The Times said Mutiku had "strenuously" denied paying prostitutes. He was sacked in 2011 following an internal investigation. "The behaviour of some former Oxfam staff working in Haiti following the 2010 earthquake was completely unacceptable," an Oxfam spokeswoman said in a statement. "We are very sorry for what happened." The statement said the decision "not to sack Raphael Mutiku in 2010 was wrong," and Van Hauwermeiren "was himself guilty of sexual misconduct. His decision making was therefore compromised". Oxfam said it had since introduced a confidential whistleblowing hotline and had this week announced new standards to improve referencing, and had appointed the co-chairs of an independent commission reviewing its culture and practices. "We are committed to continue to do all we can to help the millions of people every year affected by humanitarian disasters and to improve the lives of those living in poverty," the spokeswoman said. Made public last month, Oxfam's 2011 report into the behaviour of aid workers sent to Haiti following the earthquake revealed that Van Hauwermeiren admitted to paying for sex and that three staff physically threatened a witness. Four staff were fired for gross misconduct and three others, including Van Hauwermeiren, were allowed to quit.Syria's regime retook two more towns in Eastern Ghouta on Saturday, a war monitor said, pressing an offensive to capture the rebel enclave on the doorstep of Damascus. Government forces seized Kafr Batna and Sabqa in the south of the enclave, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, as thousands of civilians fled into regime-held territory. Russia-backed regime forces have retaken more than 80 percent of the last opposition bastion outside the capital since launching a blistering air and ground offensive on February 18, the Observatory says. The assault has split opposition-held areas into three shrinking pockets each held by different rebels. The southern pocket is held by the Faylaq al-Rahman rebel group, which the Observatory says counts some 8,000 fighters in its ranks. After Saturday's advance, the group now controls just a handful of areas, the monitor says: Arbin -- the largest -- as well as Zamalka, Hazeh, Ain Tarma and parts of the Damascus neighbourhood of Jobar. Thousands of civilians streaming out of the enclave into regime-held areas on Saturday came mostly from this southern sector, it said. On Friday, the enclave's main rebel groups -- Faylaq al-Rahman, Jaish al-Islam and Ahrar al-Sham -- said they would be willing to hold direct UN-sponsored talks with regime backer Russia on a ceasefire. More than 1,400 civilians have been killed since the regime offensive began, the Observatory says, while tens of thousands more have fled. Jaish al-Islam controls an area around the main town of Douma in the north of the former enclave, while Ahrar al-Sham holds influence in the area of the town of Harasta to the west.Russia said Saturday it would expel 23 British diplomats and close a British consulate following London's "provocative" measures over the poisoning of a double agent that has triggered a fierce diplomatic row. Moscow also said it would halt the activities of the British Council in Russia in a tough series of retaliatory measures announced after it summoned British ambassador Laurie Bristow. Prime Minister Theresa May responded defiantly to the tit-for-tat move, which followed Britain's expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats and the suspension of high-level contacts earlier this week. Amid escalating tensions with Moscow over the nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the English city of Salisbury on March 4 , May warned she would "never tolerate a threat to the life of British citizens and others on British soil from the Russian government," to strong applause from party members. "Russian aggression is the very antithesis of the liberal and democratic values that define the United Kingdom," she said. She also repeated accusations made by Britain to the United Nations that the poisoning was a "flagrant breach of international law and the Chemical Weapons Convention." The Russian response was announced on the eve of a presidential election which is expected to hand Vladimir Putin a fourth term in the Kremlin, but which comes as the country appears increasingly isolated. The crisis erupted after the Skripals were exposed to a Soviet-designed military grade nerve agent, leaving them in critical condition. London and its allies have blamed Moscow for the attack and on Friday, Britain directly implicated Putin himself, unleashing the Kremlin's fury. "Twenty three diplomatic staff at the British embassy in Moscow are declared persona non grata and to be expelled within a week," a foreign ministry statement said. It said this was a response to Britain's "provocative actions" and "baseless accusations over the Salisbury incident. - 'Harsh, but deserved' - Russia also said it was closing Britain's consulate in the city of Saint Petersburg, citing a "disparity" in the number of diplomatic missions held by the two countries. And it said it had halted the activities of the British Council, Britain's international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. The organisation said it was "profoundly disappointed" at the move. The Russian ministry also warned Britain that it "retains the right to take other answering measures" in response to any "further unfriendly actions." "The measures are more harsh, but the British deserved them. And I don't rule out that something else could follow," first deputy head of the Russian Senate's foreign affairs committee Vladimir Dzhabarov told Interfax news agency. In a similar move, Russia closed the British Council's regional offices in 2008 after relations nosedived over the poisoning of former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko. The Russian dissident died of Polonium radiation poisoning in London in 2006 in an attack that Britain also blamed on Russia. - First nerve attack since WWII - Russia insists it had no motive to target Skripal with what Britain says was a highly-potent nerve agent called Novichok, in the first such attack in Europe since World War II. On Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said statements by British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson tying Putin to the attack were "shocking and unforgivable". Western leaders have strongly backed Britain's response. EU leaders are to discuss the incident at a Brussels summit next week and it is also on the agenda for talks on Monday between Johnson, his EU counterparts and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. - Suspicious deaths - Following the Salisbury incident, the British government has also pledged to re-examine 14 deaths on UK soil following a report that they could have been carried out by Moscow or the Russian mafia. On Friday, police said they were treating the March 12 death of exiled businessman Nikolai Glushkov as murder after a post-mortem found he died from "compression to the neck". Glushkov was an associate of the late Kremlin opponent Boris Berezovsky, a one-time Putin supporter who then turned against him. Berezovsky was found hanged in a bathroom at his home outside London in 2013. Main Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, meanwhile, on Saturday demanded justice for assassinated Putin critic Boris Nemtsov. He said he wanted "those who organised his murder to be held responsible", speaking in front of the building where he lived. The Russian expulsions come after Britain issued a travel warning to people in or planning to travel to Russia. Russia is hosting its first ever football World Cup in June and July. Some Arsenal fans are also planning to travel to the country next month when their team plays CSKA in Moscow for the second leg of their Europe League quarter-final.Sergei Skripal, a former colonel of Russia's GRU military intelligence service, looks on inside the defendants' cage as he attends a hearing at the Moscow military district court, Russia August 9, 2006. Picture taken August 9, 2006. Kommersant/Yuri Senatorov via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVE.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's ambassador to London said he had received a diplomatic note informing him that Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia are in a critical condition, but that Britain was "hiding" further details, RIA news agency reported on Friday.

Alexander Yakovenko told the Russian agency the information was "not enough" for Russia.

"The British keep hiding the medical assessment from us, we do not have access to the patients, we do not have a chance to talk to the doctors," it quoted the ambassador as saying.

"No one has even published the photo (of the Skripals). They may be alive, maybe not, maybe nothing happened at all."

"We are expected to take everything on trust, and that is inadmissible," RIA quoted him as saying.

Relations between the two countries have crashed to a post-Cold War low over an attack on Sergei Skripal, a former Russian spy for the West, and his daughter Yulia in the southern English city of Salisbury on March 4.

Britain says they were poisoned with a nerve agent developed by the Soviet military. The pair have been gravely ill in hospital since.

Britain has pointed the finger at President Vladimir Putin and on Thursday Prime Minister Theresa May gave 23 Russians who she said were spies working under diplomatic cover at Yakovenko's embassy a week to leave.

Russia has denied any involvement in the Skripal case and suggested London fabricated the attack in an attempt to whip up anti-Russian hysteria.

(Reporting and writing by Denis Pinchuk; Editing by Andrew Roche)The leaders of Serbia and Kosovo are set to meet in Brussels next week for the first time in more than a year as part of re-launched EU-sponsored talks on normalising ties. "I am going to resume dialogue with (the Kosovans) to try to work out our problems, even if I don't trust them... we have no choice," Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told reporters in Belgrade. He said will meet his Kosovan counterpart Hashim Thaci on March 23. Brussels insists normalisation of ties between the former foes, who fought each other in a 1990s war, is a key condition they both must meet in order to join the European Union. Serbia has refused to recognise Kosovo's independence, declared unilaterally a decade ago. Serbia and mostly ethnic Albanian Kosovo have had difficult relations ever since the 1998-99 conflict, which claimed some 13,000 lives. It ended after NATO launched a bombing campaign to oust Serbian forces from Kosovo. Today, Kosovo is home to some 120,000 ethnic Serbs, which is an estimate because they refuse to take part in a census.Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets across Slovakia on Friday to call for snap elections, saying the premier's resignation was not enough to fix what they see as a corrupt government. The local Dennik N newspaper said about 50,000 people turned out in the capital Bratislava alone, where protesters carried signs with slogans like "Slovakia is going the wrong way" and "We want elections". Organisers of the "For a decent Slovakia" protest had announced there would be rallies in 34 cities at home and 25 cities abroad. The EU member has been in political crisis since last month's killing of an investigative journalist who had been probing alleged ties between top politicians and Italian mafia. Faced with street protests, threats to quit from a coalition partner and a no-confidence vote tabled by the opposition, Robert Fico resigned as prime minister on Thursday. But analysts believe he will continue to pull the strings from behind the scenes as the chairman of the governing Smer-SD party, whose deputy Peter Pellegrini was tapped to become the new prime minister. The country's three-party government coalition remains in place. It consists of the left-wing populist Smer-SD and two junior partners: the Most-Hid Hungarian minority party and the far-right Slovak National Party. Earlier on Friday, Pellegrini said he believes his government will "calm the situation in our country." "I can assure you that it will be a government that maintains its clear pro-European orientation," he added in a statement. But the leadership change was not enough for activist Filip Vagac in Bratislava. "A resignation no longer suffices. It has to be them (government politicians) leaving public life. Go away. Enough," Vagac said. "November '89 brought enormous changes. I believe that this situation will also start a process that will change Slovakia." He was referring to the 1989 Velvet Revolution that toppled Communism in the former Czechoslovakia and was the country's last anti-government protest of this size. The demonstrations come after journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee, both 27, were found shot dead at their home near Bratislava on February 25. Police said Kuciak's death was "most likely" related to his investigation into alleged ties between top Slovakia politicians and Italy's 'Ndrangheta mafia. The murder and Kuciak's article, which was published posthumously, raised fresh concern about media freedom and sparked anti-government sentiment in the EU member of 5.4 million people.President Donald Trump signed off Friday on new rules allowing top level US officials to travel to Taiwan to meet their Taipei counterparts, a move that will anger Beijing. The White House said Trump had signed the "Taiwan Travel Act," which "encourages visits between officials of the United States and Taiwan at all levels." US representatives can already travel to democratic Taiwan and Taiwanese officials occasionally visit the White House, but meetings are usually low profile to avoid offending China. Washington cut formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 1979 in favor of Beijing. But it maintains trade relations with the island and sells it weapons, angering China. China sees Taiwan as a renegade province and has long stated its desire for reunification. The new law describes Taiwan as "a beacon of democracy" in Asia, and states that "Taiwan's democratic achievements inspire many countries and people in the region." Senator Jim Inhofe welcomed the move, saying high-level meetings "remain extremely valuable, especially as China continues their unprecedented reclamation in the South China Sea." He described the legislation as "an important tool as we continue to ensure Taiwan has the ability to defend itself and remains a committed US partner in the region." Trump's signature, announced late on Friday -- when the White House usually tries to bury news -- comes amid increasing tensions between the mainland and the self-ruled island. Beijing has cut off official communications with Taipei because President Tsai Ing-wen refuses to acknowledge the democratic island as part of "one China".Update, March 28, 2018: The academy has cleared president John Bailey of the sexual harassment claim, determining that no further action was merited on this matter.

Original post: Variety reports that John Bailey, the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, is currently being investigated over accusations of sexual harassment. According to anonymous sources familiar with the situation, the Academy received three harassment complaints about Bailey on Wednesday and subsequently launched an investigation.

Bailey, a cinematographer, was elected president of the Academy in August, less than two months before the floodgates opened on the Harvey Weinstein scandal. In the aftermath of those revelations, the Academy made the unusual decision to expel Weinstein and established a new code of conduct affirming its stance against abuse, harassment or discrimination on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, disability, age, religion, or nationality.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

That same code of conduct established formal guidelines for submitting misconduct claims against an Academy member, including a requirement of clear evidence of behavior that violates the Academys new policiesso simply experiencing the harassment firsthand and reporting it does not count. After the complaint has been made, a designated committee then has the option to take no action or to notify the accused party of the complaint and allow them an opportunity to respond.

If at that point there is evidence of serious enough misconduct, the committee may refer it to the Board of Governors, which will then decide if the behavior warrants expulsion.Comedian Bill Cosby has become notorious in recent years after 2004 sexual assault allegations opened the floodgates for a trial and upwards of 50 more accusers. Cosby stood trial last summer for allegedly drugging and assaulting Andrea Constand in his home. The trial, which ended in a hung jury, will restart next month. Constands chilling testimony makes her the first in a decades-long list of alleged victims to successfully take Cosby to court. (Cosby has admitted giving women alcohol and drugs, but says that all sexual contact was consensual.) Now, according to a report from CBS News, five more of Cosbys accusers will join her on the stand.

Advertisement

Cosbys defense team and prosecutors were locked in court negotiations earlier this month. Prosecutors were determined to add as many as 19 additional Cosby accusers to their list of witnesses, a move which Cosbys defense strongly resisted. Judge Steven ONeill ruled yesterday that prosecutors would be allowed to call five more alleged victims to the stand. This is a major step forward for the case against the 80-year-old actor, whose alleged assault history would make him one of Hollywoods most flagrant serial predators.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Cosbys defense team tried to fight further testimony by accusing the prosecution of reviving ancient allegations which would distract a #MeToo-mired jury. Thats an interesting claim to make, given that this trial is about a 2004 case and Cosby has at least two other accusers whose alleged assaults took place in the aughts. In a 2014 interview with the Daily Mail, Chloe Goins alleged that Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her at the Playboy mansion in 2008. In 2000, Lachele Covington filed a police report alleging that Cosby placed her hand under his shirt and began moving it towards his crotch.

Even if Cosby had no recent accusers, its hardly a coincidence that the bulk of his alleged victims are reporting decades after the fact. If recent #MeToo and #TimesUp conversations have taught us anything, its that women rarely feel able to report after an assault, as theyre usually met with disbelief or backlash. Decades of distance have probably played a role in Cosbys accusers ability to come forward.

Whether this retrial ends in justice or more ambivalence, Cosbys accusers have made one thing clear: His alleged abuse will no longer go unnoticed.The Federal Election Commission has opened a preliminary investigation in whether the National Rifle Association took illegal contributions from Russian organizations that were meant to benefit Donald Trumps 2016 presidential campaign, according to Politico. The investigation is partly a result of a complaint from American Democracy Legal Fund, a progressive advocacy group that filed a complaint requesting the FEC look into reports of ties between Russians and the NRA.

The liberal group cited reports that a Russian banker with ties to the Kremlin may have tried to influence the elections by donating money to the gun-rights advocacy organization. Reports in January claimed that the FBI was looking into allegations that the banker, Alexander Torshin, donated money to the NRA as a way to boost Trumps campaign.

Advertisement

Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon who is the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, is also investigating possible collusion between Russia, the NRA, and Trumps campaign. I am specifically troubled by the possibility that Russian-backed shell companies or intermediaries may have circumvented laws designed to prohibit foreign meddling in our elections by abusing the rules governing  tax exempt organizations, Wyden wrote in a letter to the NRA on Feb. 2.

Although the FEC is not confirming the investigation, the treasurer of the American Democracy Legal Fund said he received confirmation that the preliminary investigation had been launched. If the investigators find compelling evidence to suggest wrongdoing the FEC could possibly refer any findings to Special Counsel Robert Mueller.Its been a bad week for white supremacists and fake news. First, Matt Heimbachthe founder of the neo-Nazi group the Traditionalist Worker Party and a man famous for shoving a black woman at a Donald Trump rallywas arrested for assaulting another woman (his wife). Since Heimbach was also accused of choking the co-founder of the party as part of what seems to be a complicated love rhombus, it now appears the entire group is defunct. Also this week, the Southern Poverty Law Center discovered that the wife of Stewart Rhodes, founder of the alt-right anti-government militia group the Oath Keepers, had filed for a temporary restraining order, claiming her husband was abusive and violent. Alt-right servers are being shut down, as are YouTube channels, albeit too slowly. And Richard Spencer, who was meant to be the alt-rights palatable offering, has ruefully declared that his white-supremacist ralliesas a result of which at least one woman has been killedare not fun anymore. He says he is considering canceling his whole not-fun, poorly attended speaking tour. Hes also dropping his lawsuits against colleges that had barred him from speaking. Also, he cant get a lawyer to represent him.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

In addition to this spectacular self-propelled flame-out of prominent white supremacist leaders, there are also a handful of lawsuits seeking to bankrupt them and the media outlets that give them oxygen. Its easy to say this is a paper war between paper enemies. But the truth is that these suits are, paradoxically, the only mechanism these plaintiffs can deploy to prove they are real humans being subject to real damage, by media companies that pretend to be journalists when in fact they are just bullies.

Two such suits have been filed in recent days: one against Fox News by Joel and Mary Rich, the parents of Democratic National Committee employee Seth Rich, and another against Alex Jones and Gateway Pundit for pushing false stories about a man who filmed the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Advertisement

The defamation suit filed by Richs parents names Fox News reporter Malia Zimmerman, who allegedly worked with a wealthy former Morgan Stanley executive named Ed Butowsky to create a sham story about Seth Richs death. The story claimed Rich, who was murdered in 2016, had leaked DNC emails to WikiLeaks and implied that he was killed for it. There is no substance to any of these allegations. (The entire story, detailed in the complaint, is mind-boggling, but the Washington Post has a good summary.) Suffice to say that the private detective quoted by Fox News to support the story is also suing Fox in connection with the same story.

Advertisement

The Rich story was published on Fox News website in May 2017 and was then referenced on numerous television reports. Fox later retracted the story without apology or explanation. The lawsuit seeks compensation for mental anguish and emotional distress, emotional pain and suffering, and any other physical and mental injuries. The Rich family claims Fox published, republished, and publicized the sham storywhich they knew would be covered again and again, and republished, here and around the worldpainting Joel and Marys son as a criminal and a traitor to the United States.

Advertisement

Advertisement

The suit seeks compensation for mental anguish and emotional distress, emotional pain and suffering, and any other physical and mental injuries endured by Richs parents, who claim that the Zimmerman/Fox Article, together with the Defendants dealings with Joel and Mary leading up to it, constituted an overwhelming assault causing Joel and Mary intense distress.

The other defamation suit this week was filed in federal district court in Charlottesville by Brennan Gilmore, a former U.S. Foreign Service officer. Gilmore happened to be filming on Aug. 12, when James Alex Fields Jr. allegedly rammed his car into a group of peaceful protesters, injuring several and killing Heather Heyer.

Advertisement

When Gilmores video circulated in the media, Alex Jones immediately claimed he was a deep state shill and CIA asset who in fact spearheaded Fields attack. He published pieces that described the violence in Charlottesville as a staged act, one executed by left-wing political operatives and financed by George Soros. In one rant, Jones claimed, They got State Department and high-level CIA. One guy is paid 320,000 a year on the payroll of [George] Soros. He doesnt just get money from Soros, he personally is paid 320 a year, and then he is thereCIA, State Departmentand he is on the news. And when people pointed out who he was, they took his name of the State Department website and stuff, but Google has all the [screen]shots of it. I mean its like WOW, WOWCIA? Your senior guys?

Advertisement

The website Gateway Pundit was all in, too: The random Charlottesville observer who was interviewed by MSNBC and liberal outlets turns out to be a deep state shill with links to George Soros. It looks like the State Department was involved in Charlottesville rioting and is trying to cover it up. But after Deep State got caught they are trying to erase this guy from their records.

Advertisement

Advertisement

As the Gilmore complaint notes, Jones and Gateway Pundit quickly mobilized their army of followers to launch a campaign of harassment and threats against Mr. Gilmore. They published the addresses of Gilmore and his parents online, and he began to be inundated with hate mail, death threats, and hacking attempts. White powder was sent to his home.(Gilmore says the police ultimately told him the powder was harmless.)

Advertisement

The suit, filed by Georgetown Laws Civil Rights Clinic, names Jones, InfoWars, Gateway Pundit owner Jim Hoft, reporter Lee Stranahan, former Republican Rep. Allen West of Florida, and others who disseminated such stories.* Gilmore seeks a jury trial and damages, and he says he will not accept a cash settlement from Jones, who has been known to pay off litigants or just retract his false stories. Jones responded to news of the suit with a YouTube rant that seemed to focus on Lord of the Rings.

Are lawsuits like the two filed this week attacks on newsgathering in general? Not really, because both suits distinguish between what real media does and what media scams and hatchet jobs do, and how the latter victimizes literal bystanders. As the Gilmore complaint puts it, in describing Alex Jones and his ilk:

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Fact-based journalism is essential to our democracy, because it provides citizens with objective, reality-based information on issues of public concern. Defendants are not fact-based journalists. Defendants spread lies to construct false narratives that terrify a gullible audience, all in a desperate attempt to generate revenue and momentum for a hateful agenda. The First Amendment necessarily creates space for democratic debate, but it does not and cannot protect the spread of deliberate lies driven by hate and designed to incite violence against private citizens. In this era of ubiquitous smartphones and social media saturation, ordinary citizens like Mr. Gilmore increasingly find themselves in situations where they capture breaking news and are compelled out of civic duty to share it. The consequences for fulfilling this civic duty cannot include becoming the target of premeditated character assassination, based on lies and carried out by professional conspiracy theorists instrumentalizing their throngs of followers.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Alex Jones and Gateway Pundit and Fox News operate in a world of perpetual churning rage and fantasy, in which no victimnot the Sandy Hook children, not the Stoneman Douglas children, not Seth Rich, and not Brennan Gilmoreis real or human enough to matter. The casual disposal of real lives through the wood chipper of dehumanization/conspiracy/deep state fan fiction has nothing to do with fact or journalism.

Advertisement

I reached out to Brennan Gilmore to ask why he decided to take on the fever swamp of the right. He told me, in an email:

These outlets fail to abide by the most basic ethical practices of journalism, yet pose as legitimate media. And as we hope to show in court, they not only disregard ethical lines, they break legal guidelines that have governed journalism for centuries. The lies that we outline in the case are demonstrably false, but none of these sites took the time to fact-check, confirm their story, or even ask me to comment on the tales they told. They created a persona from drawing fantastical lines to connect vague data points, and launched harmful accusations as an attack on my credibility because they did not like what the video I captured showed: that violence inevitably arises from the kind of hate these outlets routinely broadcast.

Real people are really harmed when fake media spreads fake news. Courts may be the last institutions capable of demonstrating the difference between human and cartoon, journalism and fraud.Let us now consider the sorry tale of Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster. Sources vary on when his last rites will be readmaybe today, maybe not for weeks or even monthsbut it seems clear that the sand is trickling down on his brief time as national security adviser.

When President Trump gave him the job in February 2017, it was seen as a bold but risky move for both men. McMaster, a combat hero in both Iraq wars, had made his reputation 20 years earlier, as an Army major, with his dissertation-turned-book, Dereliction of Duty: Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam, which criticized the top generals of the 1960s for betraying their constitutional duties by failing to give the president their honest military advice.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

In his assignments since then, McMaster only solidified his standing as an officer who spoke truth to power, sometimes impetuously, with a distinct lack of talent for dissembling. Some of his superiors admired him for his impolitic indifference; most despised him for it.

He came to the White House with no background in broad national security policy and no experience in Washington politicsand those shortcomings helped seal his doom. When the president called on him to tell the sorts of lies for which hed lambasted an earlier generation of generals, he didnt know how to evade the pressure, and he succumbed to it just as they did.

The turning point came in May, barely three months into the job. The Washington Post reported that at a meeting in the Oval Office, Trump had divulged to Russias two top diplomats highly classified secrets about Israels involvement in an intelligence operation. In the wake of this appalling security breach, which would have sent anyone else to prison, McMaster was ordered to cover Trumps tracks at a press conference.

Advertisement

Reading from a carefully worded script, McMaster strung together a series of mendacities and half-truths that appalled his friends and admirers. One of them pronounced himself heartbroken. Eliot Cohen wrote in the Atlantic, in a pointed reference to McMaster, that, for the high officials dragged into Trumps swamp of deceit, the worst moment may come when they can no longer recognize their own characters for what they once were.

Advertisement

In subsequent months, McMaster made a few attempts at redemption. He publicly affirmed Americas commitment to the defense of NATO, when Trump declined to do so. He described Russia as a strategic threat, when Trump was refusing to utter a critical word about the Kremlin. Most recently, after Robert Muellers indictment of 13 Russians for interfering with the 2016 election, McMaster declared that the evidence of the Kremlins involvement was incontrovertible, when Trump was still in denial.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Yet on other occasions, McMaster was still trotted out to praise Trumps insights and endorse his policies, and in the end, he was caught in a trap of his own makingcondemned as a conformist by his erstwhile celebrators and judged as an overly critical nuisance by his boss.

The Washington Post reported Thursday night that Trump has complained that McMaster is too rigid and that his briefings go on for too long and seem irrelevant. McMaster has also alienated Secretary of Defense James Mattis by pressuring the Pentagonat Trumps behestto devise more options for military attacks against North Korea. And he angered White House chief of staff John Kelly for plotting against Secretary of State Rex Tillersonpossibly to gain favor with Trump, who had long grown weary of his top diplomat.

Advertisement

Advertisement

McMaster might have done better had he resigned his military commission upon taking the White House job, as Brent Scowcroft did when President George H.W. Bush named him to the same position. Scowcroft, who had been an Air Force three-star general, said at the time that staying in the militarywith its obligation to obey all legal orders from the commander in chiefwould have impeded his ability to offer independent advice, especially if it meant vocally disagreeing with Bush. McMaster, clearly, found himself confronting that very problem with no comfortable way out.

Hanging up his uniform might also have strengthened his leverage with Mattis. McMaster once complained to colleagues that Mattis, a retired four-star general, treats me like a three-starin other words, like a subordinate instead of an equal. In military culture, there is an enormous gulf between a four-star and a three-star general, and it would have been hard for either officer to deal with each other without some awareness ofand sensitivity tothe hierarchy. The fact that Mattis was a Marine and McMaster an Army soldier may have added a tribal frisson to the tension.

Advertisement

Advertisement

The next problem for McMaster, whos only 55, is where to go next. Trump has reportedly asked the Army to find a way to give McMaster a fourth star, to ease the letdown and to show that not every fired White House official leaves in disgrace or disgruntlement. It may be that Trump also wants to keep McMaster from writing a tell-all, which might restore his reputation in some circles, but which he cant do as long as he remains in the military.

Advertisement

The fact is, before Trump brought him to the White House, McMaster was informed by the top brass, according to Army colleagues of his, that he wasnt going to be a four-star general; his career in the Army was thus on the verge of being over. This couldnt have come as a surprise.. Back when he was a maverick junior officer, McMaster knew the odds were slim that hed ever get even one star, much less three or four. He obtained the first of his stars only because, in 2007, John Nagl, a lieutenant colonel and friend of McMasters, persuaded Secretary of the Army Pete Geren that the top brass were promoting the wrong kinds of officers. And so Geren called Gen. David Petraeus, then commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, to chair that years Army promotion board for the explicit purpose of ensuring that McMaster and several other creative but career-blocked colonels would become generals. (Some even called that years panel the H.R. McMaster Promotion Board.)

Advertisement

But the problem now, according to a few Army officers Ive consulted, is that there are no vacancies in four-star slots for which McMaster would be suited. No combatant commands are open, and its doubtful the Army would award such a vaunted post to someone who hasnt led troops since he was a colonel. The top brass would also be loath to give McMaster a policy job in the Pentagon right after the president has fired him from the top policy job in the White House. He would make an excellent leader of the Armys Training and Doctrine Commandhe served as its deputy commander not long ago but that post was just filled in the past few weeks.

One retired general told me McMaster should be made superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Its an intriguing idea. McMaster graduated from West Point and later taught at West Points history department. He earned a Ph.D. as well as many combat awards; he has intellectual, even egghead, leanings. Its a post for three-star generals, so he wouldnt be promoted, but it would be a soft, maybe even satisfying, landing. It may be up to McMaster to decide if thats what hes looking for.Tensions keep increasing between the United Kingdom and Russia as the Kremlin ordered 23 British diplomats expelled on Saturday in a retaliation against London. In an escalation of the conflict that has only grown after London accused Moscow of orchestrating a nerve toxin attack on a former spy in Britain, the Kremlin also said it would shut down all activities by the British Council and close the British Consulate in St. Petersburg.

The British Council is a cultural organization that promotes the English language as well as cultural ties between the two countries. That closure is seen as a particularly low blow, hurting the Russian peoplenot the British government, notes BBCs Moscow correspondent Sarah Rainsford. Yet the truth is that the Councils presence had already been sharply reduced over the past few years amid growing political tension between London and Moscow. Russia had already ordered the Council to close all its offices besides its Moscow headquarters in 2008.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

The U.K. government tried to play down Moscows retaliatory measuresWe anticipated a response of this kind, said Prime Minister Theresa Maybut they were tougher than expected, notes Reuters. Britain expelled 23 Russian diplomats over the nerve agent attack on Wednesday.

Its difficult not to read the decision by the Kremlin on an electoral note considering it came a day before a presidential election in which President Vladimir Putin is expected to win easily. Throughout the campaign, Putin has worked hard to portray himself as the one who is defending the country against Western powers who are eager to weaken Russia.

May implied the tit-for-tat retaliation could continue. We will consider our next steps in the coming days alongside our allies and partners, she said at the Conservative party spring forum on Saturday. The British government had already warned Moscow that an escalation of the retaliations would lead to more action from London, which could include an expulsion of the Russian ambassador.

EU diplomats are set to meet on Monday in Brussels, where they are expected to discuss whether they should pursue a new approach toward Moscow.Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe would be one of the top two or three key witnesses in any obstruction of justice case against President Donald Trump. On Friday, Trumps Attorney General Jeff Sessions destroyed McCabe professionally in a way that could ruin his reputation for telling the truth.

These are the most important things to remember after Sessions fired McCabe for an undefined failure to be forthcoming during an investigation of his role in the bureaus work on the Hillary Clinton email scandal and related inquiries.

Advertisement

The report documenting McCabes alleged misconduct was not made public. Instead, Sessions released a statement with vague assertions of wrongdoing. McCabe was subject to a Department of Justice inspector generals report about his conduct, reportedly as it pertained to leaks to the Wall Street Journal about the FBIs Clinton investigation at the height of the 2016 election. Michael Horowitz, the departments IG who would have issued the report, is an Obama appointee with a sterling reputation.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Without the details of his report, though, its impossible to assess the validity of the firing and to what extent a public pressure campaign to attack one of the chief witnesses against Trump might have influenced the decision.

Again, that report was not released, but Sessions cited it as the reason for McCabes firing. The investigation into McCabe concluded, according to Sessions, that he had made unauthorized disclosure to the news media and lacked candorincluding under oathon multiple occasions.

Advertisement

There is no explanation about what lacking candor means, and Sessions does not go so far as to assert that McCabe lied under oath or at any time to internal investigators. Sessions also cited a recommendation from the FBIs Office of Professional Responsibility in making the decision. Robin C. Ashton, an Obama-era hire, is the general counsel and head of that body. Sessions, in making the decision, offered that it was based on the recommendation of the Departments senior career official.

McCabe denied that he sought to mislead investigators. The idea that I was dishonest is just wrong, he told the New York Times following the dismissal. Again, without knowing the actual misconduct, the most relevant fact here is one which McCabe highlighted.

Advertisement

Advertisement

This is part of an effort to discredit me as a witness, he told the Times.

Here is the reality: I am being singled out and treated this way because of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of James Comey, McCabe said in a public statement.

The firing of Comey, Trumps alleged pressure on Comey to promise him loyalty and to drop an investigation of Trumps former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, and whether that might constitute obstruction of justice is reportedly one of the subjects of special counsel Robert Muellers investigation.

Advertisement

Comey has said under oath before Congress that Trump, in a private Oval Office meeting, tried to pressure him to drop the investigation of Flynn before Trump fired him. Trump has denied that, claiming that Comey lied in his sworn testimony. Trump himself, however, has vacillated on whether he would offer an interview to Mueller presenting his own version of events. Lying to investigators is a federal crime, as is lying to Congress. Trump also reportedly nearly fired Mueller in the days after he told reporters that he would be willing to tell Mueller, in essence, that Comey had committed perjury in an effort to frame him.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Trump knows that Comeys version of events potentially places him in grave jeopardy for a finding that he obstructed justice. McCabe is reported to be one of the few men who can offer some corroboration as to Comeys version of events. While he was Comeys No. 2, McCabe was reportedly told by Comey about what happened in Trumps meetings with the then-FBI director. In December, CNN reported that McCabe testified before the House Intelligence Committee that Comey had told him of those conversationswhich were also memorialized in contemporaneous notes by Comeyshortly after they occurred.

The firing is not only a way to strip McCabe of his pension, but would be a perfect way to try to discredit McCabe in any future testimony against the president. Indeed, the president wasted no time in gloating over the firing on Friday and attacking the credibility of both Comey and McCabe.

Advertisement

Andrew McCabe FIRED, a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI - A great day for Democracy, the president tweeted. Sanctimonious James Comey was his boss and made McCabe look like a choirboy. He knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI! This is certainly what an attack on the rule of law would sound like.

Advertisement

Advertisement

In the absence of the IG report, its impossible to evaluate the merits of this harsh treatment of a 21-year FBI professional, the ranking minority member of the House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff, tweeted on Friday. That it comes after the President urged the DOJ to deprive McCabe of his pension, and after his testimony, gives the action an odious taint.

Advertisement

The OIGs focus on me and this report became part of an unprecedented effort by the Administration, driven by the president himself, to remove me from my position, destroy my reputation, and possibly strip me of a pension that I worked 21 years to earn, McCabe wrote in his own statement.

McCabe had already pledged to retire, which he was set to do as of Sunday on a full pension. As McCabe and Schiff noted, the firing also comes after a public pressure campaign on Twitter by the president of the United States to attack McCabe personally, a campaign that represented a wish to ultimately have him fired. Whatever the merits of the dismissalFox News reports that a DOJ official says 19 FBI employees were fired for a lack candor in the last yearMcCabe being stripped of that pension just as he was set to gain it sends an obvious signal to anyone in the DOJ who might stand up if and when Trump challenges the rule of law.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

If they havent already, Muellers team should request that IG report first thing Monday morning to determine how this decision was made and if there was any motivation to further obstruct his investigation by anyone involved. He should also call as witnesses every single person involved in the investigation and the decision.

Earlier this week, the House Intelligence Committee cravenly shut down its own investigation of Trump, releasing findings so blatantly partisan that even some of the Republicans on the committee who supported the closing of the investigation rejected them. If the Senate Intelligence Committee wants to maintain that it is still running a credible investigation in its own inquiry, it too would investigate this potentially odious episode.President Trump is directly getting involved in the legal saga involving adult film star Stephanie Clifford, who goes by the stage name Stormy Daniels, for the first time as he joined a filing by his lawyers on Friday. The commander in chiefs lawyers filed two motions. In one, Trumps personal lawyer Michael Cohen is alleging that Clifford violated a confidentiality agreement at least 20 times, meaning she is liable for damages of at least $20 million. Trump formally joined the second motion, which seeks to move the case from state court in Los Angeles to federal court.

Advertisement

When Cohen paid Clifford $130,000 weeks before the 2016 presidential election to keep quiet about an alleged affair she had with Trump in 2006, he did so through Essential Consultants LLC, a limited liability company he set up to make the payment. But under the agreement, Clifford would have to pay Trump directly for any violations to the agreement. The latest move by Turmps lawyers comes a week after Clifford filed her own lawsuit attempting to invalidate the agreement that she says is void because Trump never signed.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Why does Trump want the case moved to federal court? One is the fact that federal courts are more likely to push for conflicts to be resolved through arbitration rather than open court. The more conspiratorially minded could also point to the general view that federal judges, who are appointed by the president, are more conservative than elected state judges in California.

Advertisement

Cliffords lawyer dismissed the latest filings as only the latest effort to silence his client. The fact that a sitting president is pursuing over $20 million in bogus damages against a private citizen, who is only trying to tell the public what really happened, is truly remarkable, Michael Avenatti, Danielss lawyer, said in an emailed statement. We are not going away and we will not be intimidated by these threats.

The fact that a sitting president is pursuing over $20M in bogus 'damages' against a private citizen, who is only trying to tell the public what really happened, is remarkable. Likely unprecedented in our history. We are NOT going away and we will NOT be intimidated. #basta  Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) March 17, 2018

Advertisement

Earlier Friday, Avenatti said six other women have come to him claiming they had affairs with Trump and two said they signed nondisclosure agreements. He also said Clifford had been physically threatened to remain silent about her relationship with Trump. Avenatti refused to elaborate, only saying Clifford would provide more details in a 60 Minutes interview that is set to be broadcast on March 25.

AdvertisementA lawyer for President Donald Trump said the Justice Department should immediately shut down Special Counsel Robert Muellers probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Attorney John Dowd made the statement after the firing of FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe in what represents a sharp shift in strategy for Trumps inner circle. The presidents team has long urged Trump and those close to him to avoid any public criticism of Mueller or his investigation.

I pray that Acting Attorney General Rosenstein will follow the brilliant and courageous example of the F.B.I. Office of Professional Responsibility and Attorney General Jeff Sessions and bring an end to alleged Russia collusion investigation manufactured by McCabes boss James Comey based upon a fraudulent and corrupt dossier, Dowd said in a statement to the Daily Beast.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

The publication had reached out to Dowd for comment on McCabes firing and the lawyer partly responded with the text of Trumps tweet in which he praised the move. Andrew McCabe FIRED, a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI, Trump wrote. A great day for Democracy.

Andrew McCabe FIRED, a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI - A great day for Democracy. Sanctimonious James Comey was his boss and made McCabe look like a choirboy. He knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 17, 2018

Advertisement

Whether Dowds words Saturday were a planned change in strategy or merely a personal outburst remains to be seen. For now, it appears Dowd may have quickly realized he spoke out of turn. When he first made the statement to the Daily Beast, Dowd claimed he was speaking on behalf of the president. But he later backtracked, and said he had been speaking for myself, not the president.

When I first emailed with Dowd, I asked if he gave me the statement on POTUS' behalf. His reply: "Yes, as his counsel"



He later emailed me to walk that back.



Story is updated: https://t.co/69c7JNZDQC  Betsy Woodruff (@woodruffbets) March 17, 2018

Advertisement

Advertisement

When the Washington Post asked Dowd to explain whether he thought the Russia investigation was flawed because of the most recent findings or due to broader issues of how the FBI handled the probe, the presidents lawyer declined to elaborate. Just end it on the merits in light of recent revelations, he said. My statement is clear.

Some, however, were quick to say that Dowds statement was part of a larger story. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Dowds remarks illustrated how Trumps team is looking not to cooperate with Special Counsel Mueller, but to undermine him at every turn. Schumer also warned that the president, the administration, and his legal team must not take any steps to curtail, interfere with, or end the special counsels investigation or there will be severe consequences.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Mr. Dowd's comments are yet another indication that the first instinct of @realDonaldTrump and his legal team is not to cooperate with Special Counsel Mueller, but to undermine him at every turn. 1/2  Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) March 17, 2018While building their business and raising three sons, Don and Anne relished free time hiking in the Santa Cruz Mountains. In 1953, they purchased a large parcel in Ben Lomond along Love Creek as a future family retreat. This property became known simply as the Cabin and has been enjoyed by family and friends for many decades. .

Between the years of 1955 and 1965, Don and Anne purchased over 900 acres in the eastern hillsides of Napa Valley. Today this area is known as Pritchard Hill. They fell in love with the rolling hills and the studded oak trees that covered the property. There was something about the way the light hit the hill that Don found inspiring. He was in his element working side by side with his sons, building the infrastructure of what was to become Long Ranch Road. During those years, Don befriended the European born winemaker, Andre Tchelistcheff, the father of American Winemaking who advised him to plant vineyards on his hillside property as the French had been doing of thousand of years. Rocky fields were cleared, grapevines were planted and the family winery, David Arthur Vineyards was started in 1980 by Dons son, David. In 2005, His son Robert, established Montagna Napa Valley, also on this Pritchard Hill property.When Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe on Friday night, he was about 26 hours away from retirement. Now Rep. Mark Pocan from Wisconsin has offered McCabe a job following reports that suggested the former No. 2 at the FBI could still get his benefits if he works just two more days at a federal agency.

Andrew call me. I could use a good two-day report on the biggest crime families in Washington, D.C., Pocan tweeted. The lawmaker linked to a tweet from reporter Andrea Mitchell who said if a friendly member of Congress hired him for a week he could possibly qualify for pension benefits by extending his service the extra days.

Advertisement

Andrew call me. I could use a good two-day report on the biggest crime families in Washington, D.C. https://t.co/DYVP00Em0x  Rep. Mark Pocan (@repmarkpocan) March 17, 2018

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

One suggestion from a McCabe supporter: if a friendly member of Congress hired him for a week he could possibly qualify for pension benefits by extending his service the extra days  Andrea Mitchell (@mitchellreports) March 17, 2018

Advertisement

Pocan later issued a news release expanding the idea, insisting it was a legitimate offer to work on election security. The lawmaker from Wisconsin also highlighted that McCabes firing makes it clear that President Trump is doing everything he can to discredit the FBI and undermine the Special Counsels investigation, Pocan said. While Speaker [Paul] Ryan and House Republicans have become complicit in the Presidents destruction of our democracy, we must do all that we can to ensure that the investigation into Russias interference in our election is completed and that future elections are safeguarded from these kinds of attacks.

Pocan isnt alone. Rep. Seth Moulton from Massachusetts sent out a tweet Saturday morning saying he would be happy to consider hiring McCabe temporarily. The Sixth District of MA would benefit from the wisdom and talent of such an experienced public servant, Moulton wrote.

Advertisement

Would be happy to consider this. The Sixth District of MA would benefit from the wisdom and talent of such an experienced public servant. https://t.co/ynQWhdzQpC  Seth Moulton (@sethmoulton) March 17, 2018

Despite all these offers, it remains far from clear whether McCabe will indeed lose his retirement benefits and whether a temporary job in Congress would actually help to restore them.A home office can offer entrepreneurs a low-cost, convenient and comfortable place to run a business. But if its not designed well, it can also lead to plenty of distractions and loss of productivity.

Blake Zalcberg is the president of OFM, a furniture manufacturer and distributor based in North Carolina. In addition to his design acumen, Zalcberg is also familiar with the importance of an effective home office due to the fact that a good portion of the OFM team works from home on a regular basis. So hes familiar with a lot of the concepts that go into designing an effective workspace, along with some of the most common mistakes.

Home Office Design Mistakes

If youre working to design your own home office, here are some missteps to avoid.

Designing Your Office as an Afterthought

When you first purchase or design a home, youll likely go through and determine where you want to put all of your living room and dining room furniture and which bedrooms go to which family members. But the office is often just given whatever space is left over.

Zalcberg says, A lot of people just end up putting the office in that old formal living room that used to have plastic over the couches because its just not really used or they think they dont need a dedicated office space at that time, even if they will in the future.

Even if you dont have a ton of space options for your office, try to choose or outline a space that will actually be conducive to good work, rather than just throwing a desk in the corner of the dining room.

Putting the Office Near Distractions

Distractions can be different for each worker. Some people can work with the TV on but get distracted if they see people walking down the street. So while it may not be possible to eliminate every potential distraction while working from home, think about the things that are most likely to derail your work and try to limit those as much as possible.

Zalcberg adds, You have to know how you work best. If you know youre going to be running off to the refrigerator or turning on the TV and getting distracted, then you need to separate yourself from those things.

Failing to Soundproof your Office

No matter what your distraction levels might be, theres value to having some level of soundproofing to your home office, whether that involves acoustic wall tiles or a solid wood door to shut out the rest of the house.

Zalcberg says, Think about if youre on a conference call. Do you want the person on the other line to hear the dog barking and doorbell ringing and kids running around, or do you want them to feel like youre really focused on what theyre saying?

Including Subpar Lighting

Poor lighting can also be a major hindrance to good work. If your office is in a room with minimal windows and you dont have adequate overhead lighting, youre likely to strain your eyes and get tired or worn out quickly. However, even if the only space you have is the basement, you can install bright LED bulbs in your overhead fixtures and then add table lamps to your space to make a big difference.

Forgetting About Comfort

Another source of distraction for some home office workers is the furniture. If you have an old desk and uncomfortable chair, it can make your office an unwelcoming space and even lead to back and neck problems. Instead, find an ergonomic chair that feels comfortable for you. You can even invest in an ergonomic mouse and keyboard to support your hands and arms if you use those items regularly. Or if you like to stand up throughout the day, you could opt for an adjustable desk to let you switch things up throughout the work day.

See Also: Cortana Partners with Insteon on Smart Building Tech for the Home Office

Failing to Plan for Avoiding Clutter

Clutter can be another major roadblock for effective work. Once you outline the space to use and eliminate potential distractions, you then have to think about how to lay everything out effectively so that all of your items and documents have a set space. Think about your typical workday and the items you use most often to make sure that nothing will be left just floating around your desk or workspace.

Automatically Going with Office Style

According to Zalcberg, theres been a major shift in home offices over the past several years. Before, offices in the home strongly resembled traditional offices, with similar furniture styles and generic office decor. But now, more entrepreneurs and professionals are taking the opportunity to get creative and make the office feel more like a part of the home. This doesnt mean you should avoid generic office furniture. But you certainly dont have to opt for this style just because youre designing an office space.

Zalcberg explains, Its really up to the individual. If you think youd work better if everything looks like it would in a traditional office, then thats what you should do. If you want it to look more like a home, then do that instead. Its just your chance to be the boss and really make the space that works for you specifically.Town of Rimavska Sobota had never built stone walls

The question is why, the town had a permission from king.

Font size: A - | A +

The town of Rimavska Sobota in the south of Slovakia has never built its stone walls, even though the town has had permission to do so from Charles Robert from Anjou in 1334, My Novohrad wrote.

The permission is stated in the book of archaeologist Alexander Botos from the Gemersko-malohonstke museum in Rimavska Sobota. The reason for not building the fortification is unknown, according to him, My Novohrad reported.

We will probably never get an answer to this question, said Botos for My Novohrad, adding that not every town got the right to build walls. One logical explanation may be the lack of finances.

Building walls was really expensive. Perhaps the citizens were satisfied to have a protection wall only around the former gothic church on the square, opined the archaeologist, as quoted by My Novohrad.

Despite the absence of stone walls, medieval Rimavska Sobota had a working fortification system consisting of a fosse and wooden palisade surrounding the town with entrance wooden gates at the main access way, My Novohrad wrote.

The veduta Nabozenske nepokoje (Religious disorders) from the year 1771 depicts the whole environment. There were four town gates - Janovecka, Zacharovska, Cerencianska and Rimavska, said the archaeologist, as cited by My Novohrad, adding that the gates functioned until the 18th century.

The fortification depicted in the veduta is confirmed also by archaeological findings from 2010 when two wooden piles with diameters of 22 and 24 centimetres were discovered at B. Bartok street, My Novohrad reported.

17. Mar 2018 at 7:10 | Compiled by Spectator staffSome Slovak media witnessed the Trump effect

Council of Europes Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muiznieks talks about the atmosphere in society following the double murder of journalist and his fiancee, and steps to be taken.

The politicians attacking journalists have not contributed to the environment media in Slovakia need to be working in, according to Council of Europes Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muiznieks, who has recently visited Slovakia. He hopes that the tragic event will change this situation and open discussion on how journalists can feel safer in Slovakia.

The Slovak Spectator spoke with Muiznieks, whose term in the office ends in a couple of weeks, about the atmosphere in Slovakia following the murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kusnirova and ways to improve the safety of journalists.

The Slovak Spectator (TSS): From your observations during your four-day visit, how has the mood in society and the situation with media freedom changed?

Nils Muiznieks (NM): The journalists and editors I spoke to were all in a slight state of shock because there were no warning signs. People thought that the worst thing to have happened would be to be beaten up, but not that somebody would be killed. They were re-thinking everything in their minds: what they could have done differently, why they didnt see the risks. But it was impossible to see the risks. But there is also a positive outcome. Many media outlets I talked to said that they felt a surge of support from the public for quality journalism and their work. They felt needed again in this context of fake news. Some called it the Trump effect.

I hope that this tragic event will spark a broader discussion about media freedom here. That it wont be treated only as a crime, but as a media freedom issue, and that politicians will reflect on how their relations with the media can create an environment that will be safer or less safer for journalists. Whether or not they attack journalists, call them names, get a smear campaign or whether they speak with them and treat them with the respect the journalists deserve. I hope that will bring some reflection among the political class here in general.

I also hope that the police and journalists will develop more effective forms of cooperation so that if journalists feel they are under threat, theyll get the protection they need. As for the request for information, I think that must be looked at so that journalists dont feel they are putting themselves at risk by asking for sensitive information.

But this becomes a broader discussion on all aspects of media freedom. The discussion should take place not only here, but in every country, because no country is immune.

TSS: How has the outgoing government contributed to the mood towards journalists? We know from the past that its relations with the media were not always good.

17. Mar 2018 at 9:00 | Radka MinarechovaSEMAFO Inc., a mining company, engages in the exploration, development, and operation of gold properties in West Africa. The company operates the Mana Mine in Burkina Faso, which includes the Siou deposit. It also holds a 90% interest in the Boungou project. The company was formerly known as West Africa Mining Exploration Corporation Inc. and changed its name to SEMAFO Inc. in May 1997. SEMAFO Inc. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Saint-Laurent, Canada.

Read MoreGuitron, who now manages a Santa Rosa seniors apartment complex, has not returned to banking since leaving Wells Fargo, but declared the recognition by Bay Area journalists will give her a measure of satisfaction.

I did my job trying to keep consumers aware, she said Tuesday before a planned interview in New York later this week for the CBS news program 48 Hours that will be broadcast this summer. It gives me hope, and a little satisfaction that the word got out and I was right all along.

In an October 2016 interview with the Napa Valley Register, Guitron described constant pressure by bank supervisors to record at least eight solutions a day  services cross-sold with the opening of accounts  or suffer from poor performance reviews. Workers could earn commissions ranging from $8 for selling an ordinary checking account to $25 for premium accounts requiring higher balances, as well as $3 to $5 for each debit card per customer  practices she said invited opening multiple cards in each persons name even they were never used.

After leaving Wells Fargo, Guitron made her allegations public in a suit filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. But a federal judge ruled against her in 2012, saying that even unreasonable sales goals were not illegal because they did not target Guitron and applied equally to all employees.The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. is an insurance and financial services company. The company provides life insurance, group and employee benefits, automobile and homeowners insurance and business insurance, as well as investment products, annuities, mutual funds, and college savings plans. It operates through the following segments: Commercial Lines, Personal Lines, Property & Casualty Other Operations, Group Benefits and Hartford Funds. The Commercial Lines segment provides workers compensation, property, automobile, liability and umbrella coverage under several different products, primarily throughout the U.S., within its standard commercial lines, which consists of The Hartford's small commercial and middle market lines of business. The Personal Lines segment includes automobile, homeowners and home-based business coverage to individuals across the U.S. The Property & Casualty Other Operations segment includes certain property and casualty operations, currently managed by the company, that have discontinued writing new business and substantially all of the company's asbestos and environmental exposures. The Group Benefits segment offers group life, accident and disabi

Read MoreIn addition, 23 percent of Napa County adults are considered obese, and obesity is a risk factor for cancer, heart attacks and strokes  the top three causes of death in the county, said the doctor.

Housing, something that Napa County struggles with, is also important when it comes to health.

If you are homeless you are going to live 30 to 40 years less than the average population and incur higher health care costs, said Relucio.

People that are homeless use the emergency room three to five times as much as general population and are two to three times more likely to be hospitalized, she said.

The other thing is that if you are unstably-housed, it gets harder to make healthy choices. Healthy food and fresh food and vegetables are more expensive than junk food.

Marin County was named the number one healthiest county in the state. Solano County was ranked 26th and Lake County was 57th on the list.

For nearly a decade, the County Health Rankings have shown that where people live makes a difference in how well and how long they live, said a news release about the rankings.The U.S. has begun the mass expulsion of thousands of Haitian migrants from a Texas border town. See photos from the border:Sessions suit contends, however, that the state is running afoul of the Constitutions supremacy clause, to wit:

This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, any thing in the constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding.

The conflict between states rights and federal supremacy is certainly not a new one. It took a bloody civil war to settle the 19th century conflict over slavery. A century later, slaverys residue, state racial segregation laws, sparked another conflict, often a bloody one, that took federal troops and judicial and congressional action to resolve.

More recently, when Arizona attempted to make its own laws to counter illegal immigration, it was slapped down by the courts.

Are Californias sanctuary laws merely the reverse image of what Arizona attempted? Sessions suit implies they are, while Brown and Becerra insist they arent, so they should be eager to have their day in court.

This lawsuit is going to last a lot longer than the Trump administration, Brown said. That may be true, since its inevitable that an ideologically divided U.S. Supreme Court will have the final word.

CALmatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how Californias state Capitol works and why it matters. For more stories by Dan Walters, go to calmatters.org/commentary.This weekend, Luxembourg plays host to the 73rd International Federation of Airline Pilots' Associations (IFALPA). The IFALPA conference brings together pilot associations from around the world.

Today, the European Cockpit Association (ECA) set out an ambitious protocol: the Ryanair Transnational Pilot Group (RTPG). On St. Patrick's Day, and a day when Ireland won the Six Nations Rugby Championship and Grand Slam title it feels like a hat-trick!

With the support and coordination of pilot associations across Europe, the protocol was adopted unanimously.

Speaking with earned, but tired, delight, Dirk Polloczek, the ECA President, and Evan Cullen, President of the Irish Pilots' Association (IALPA) gave their thoughts directly after the momentous agreement:

Pilot associations and Ryanair Company Councils can use this agreement to push for direct permanent employment contracts (subject to local law), equal & transparent career opportunities, and effective collective representation for all Ryanair pilots regardless of country or base.

The world is watching Ryanairs pilots as they strive for decent and fair working conditions. And rightly so! Precarious atypical employment and denied labour rights are not only a trend in aviation but a phenomenon that is aggressively spreading, both in Europe and worldwide. The pilots of Ryanair have shown that with immense will and unity, employees can successfully regain their position at the bargaining table  this is excellent news, states ECA President Dirk Polloczek.

Since Ryanairs cancellation crisis in September 2017, a grassroots initiative of self-organising pilots spread across Europe and led many to join trade unions. They established official Company Councils, designed to facilitate negotiations in line with national legal and social requirements.

For the first time, Ryanair pilots spoke openly about their concerns and demands. Addressing their management as union members, as well as strike threats in several countries, their voices are now stronger than ever, after three decades of union hostility in the airline.

The announcement of union recognition that followed from Ryanair was no revolution, but a long overdue necessity to finally listen to and engage with its own pilots who are so crucial to the airlines success. says ECA Secretary General Philip von Schoppenthau.

It is now up to Ryanair to join its pilots on their path and recognise their collective voice on the many transnational issues and concerns they share. The setting up of this transnational pilot group is a clear signal to Ryanair management to engage in constructive and meaningful social dialogue both at national and at transnational level.

The new RTPG will allow ECA Member Associations from across Europe and their Ryanair Company Councils to pool resources, legal, political and technical know-how, as well as decades of experience in constructive social dialogue and collective bargaining.

The Ryanair pilots can now look forward to working together in the RTPG. Only in addressing their challenges and those they share with their employer collectively can they ensure a socially sustainable future for the company, its passengers, and employees alike, concluded Dirk Polloczek.Scores of farmers in a district outside Hanoi are suffering great losses as the prices of kohlrabi have plummeted.

There are more than 200 hectares of kohlrabi farms in Tien Duong Commune in Hanois outer district of Dong Anh.

This kohlrabi hub supplies around 10,000 metric tons of the produce every year to the capital and various surrounding provinces.

However, in the latest crop, traders have been forcing farmers to sell the produce at a meager VND500 apiece, compared to VND2,000 and VND3,000 in previous seasons. (US$1 = VND22,500)

Nguyen Thi Lien harvests kohlrabies on a farm outside Hanoi. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Such a price will only bring in losses for farmers, given the estimated production cost to have one kohlrabi of around VND1,000.

Due to the rock bottom prices, many farmers have resorted to grinding the vegetables for use as fertilizer or cattle feed.

Some other farmers even do not bother to harvest the kohlrabi, letting weeds grow rampant on their farms.

Tien Duong chairman Tran Van Sang said the slumping prices was a result of supply exceeding demand in this crop.

The weather this season was highly favorable and there is an increasing number of kohlrabi farmers in the locale, he explained.

A ready-for-harvest kohlrabi farm left unattended by its owner is seen outside. Photo: Tuoi Tre

A farmer drives his tractor to grind kohlrabies for use as fertilizer outside Hanoi. Photo: Tuoi Tre.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!Vietnam is a potential investment destination, with many available opportunities now await Australian investors to grab their own, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc told the Vietnam-Australia Business Forum in Sydney on Friday.

The forum is the most important investment promotion event in the framework of the Vietnamese head of governments official visit to Australia from March 14 to 18.

During the event, PM Phuc and government officials of the two countries witnessed the exchange of 18 memoranda of understanding on investment cooperation between their enterprises and organizations.

Speaking to an audience of hundreds of Vietnamese and Australian enterprises and investors, the Vietnamese premier expressed his pleasure to witness the signing of those agreements, particularly Vietnamese low-cost carrier Vietjets plan to open a nonstop Vietnam-Australia service.

This will make it easier for promoting investment collaboration between Vietnamese and Australian enterprises, the PM stressed.

During his visit, Vietnam and Australia have agreed to upgrade of bilateral ties to a strategic partnership level.

The elevated relations, along with the signing of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), to which both Vietnam and Australia are members, are both favorable foundations to open up a new chapter in bilateral relations, according to the premier.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (right) speaks to Qantas leaders in Sydney, March 16, 2018. Photo: Tuoi Tre

The Vietnamese leader acknowledged that Australian firms still have difficulties in accessing information about Vietnam, thus urging Vietnams ministries, sectors and localities to intensify promotion and information exchange, and cut down procedures to bring into full play the two countries cooperation potential.

Bilateral trade between Vietnam and Australia was worth some US$6.5 billion, which PM Phuc said is still modest and many Australian firms named in the worlds 500 largest enterprises have yet to be present in Vietnam.

Investment promotion agencies of both countries should consequently pay attention to boosting bilateral trade and investment ties, he suggested.

Vietnam logged a GDP growth rate at 6.81 percent and a total foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow of nearly $36 billion in 2017, PM Phuc told his audience, explaining why the Southeast Asian country is a potential market for Australian investors.

Other strengths include the large-scale market of 93 million people, a huge proportion of the population being Internet and smartphone users, and preferential policies for investment. Vietnams corporate income rate is currently set at only 20 percent, and is scheduled to decrease to 15 percent following a tax reform roadmap to better serve start-up enterprises, he elaborated.

Vietnam is also offering tax incentives to investors in high technology, supporting industry, hi-tech agriculture and the fields that generate numerous jobs, PM Phuc said.

The country is also speeding up the equitization of state-owned enterprises, which creates opportunities for private and foreign investors to hold shares in these enterprises.

Attendees listen as Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (not pictured) speaks at the Vietnam-Australia Business Forum in Sydney, March 16, 2018. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Following the Vietnamese leaders speech, James McGrath, Assistant Minister to the Australian Prime Minister, remarked that Vietnam has become a dynamic economy, with a growth rate among the highest in the world.

The Australian senator expressed his belief that bilateral trade between the two countries will continue increasing in the coming years, credited to Vietnams improved investment climate.

The CPTPP, signed in New Zealand on March 8, will bring comprehensive benefits to all member nations, and it is also an impetus for the regional economic reform process, according to McGrath.

The senator said it is time for Australian firms to study the Vietnamese market so as not to miss out opportunities in the country. On the other hand, Australia also hopes to welcome more Vietnamese investors in the time head, he added.

Vietnam is now the 15th largest trade partners of Australia, while Australia is the seventh biggest trade partner of Vietnam, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

Australia companies have so far invested $1.9 billion USD in Vietnam.Vietjet Aviation Jsc on Friday said it signed a memorandum of understanding worth $609 million with Investec Bank PLC to finance the purchase of five Airbus A321 aircraft, as the budget airline is seeking to expand in the region.

The MoU was signed in Sydney during an official visit to Australia by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

Phuc and his Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull announced on Thursday that the two countries elevated their relationship to a strategic partnership level from a comprehensive one, paving the way for deeper bilateral cooperation.

Phuc is set to attend the ASEAN-Australia Summit there this weekend.

Vietjet said it also signed an agreement with Brisbane Airport Corp. to open a non-stop service between Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnams economic hub, and Brisbane.

I believe that this service will soon be put into operation, meeting increasing travel demand of many people and tourists, Vietjet Vice President Nguyen Thi Thuy Binh said.

Vietjet reported pre-tax profit of VND4.76 trillion (US$209.10 million) last year, up 75.9 percent.

The company, which has a fleet of 55 A320 and A321 aircraft, now operates 385 flights on 82 domestic and international routes.A Vietnamese military major who passed away succumbing to an on-duty accident had different of his organs donated to six people and saved their lives.

The 45-year-old serviceman was brain dead and died earlier this month after days of lying unconscious on his sickbed in a hospital in Hanoi.

It was his wife who registered him as an organ donor, when he was already in a deep coma, believing that she and their children would continue to see their husband and dad when he could save others life after losing his own.

I dont know if what Im going to do is right or wrong, nor will it make you mad at me, but I want you to save the life of others, the wife recalled telling her husband, before he was taken to the surgery room.

His family were prepared that he would never make it, and all backed the wifes decision to donate his organs after his death.

The deceased majors heart and lungs are now beating and breathing inside the chests of two other men, and his kidneys and corneas have also brought life to four others.

All of the six recipients of the majors organs are recovering well; they are saved, doctor Mai Hong Bang, director of the 108 Military Central Hospital, said.

Doctors perform a surgery to transplant lungs from a brain-dead donor to a patient in Hanoi. Photo: Tuoi Tre

The wife of the military man came up with the decision after she learned of an inspiring story from Nguyen Hai An, a moribund young Vietnamese girl with cancer who had allowed her corneas to be given to someone in need before she died in late February.

An was laid to rest on February 24, when the family of the deceased serviceman also phoned the Vietnam National Coordinating Center for Human Organ Transplantation to register him as a donor.

The story of the military officer has also become an inspiring miracle, when the operation to transplant his lungs has become the first successful one ever made with a brain-dead donor.

The recipient, 52-year-old Tran Ngoc Hanh, told reporters after his surgery at the 108 hospital on Friday that he was feeling good now, with the servicemans lungs breathing inside his chest.

Doctors have also had to be in a race against the clock to transport the donated organs to those in need timely.

The heart and lungs of a donor are only in a transplantable state for six hours after being taken out from the body, and the maximum time for the kidneys is 18 hours.

Besides Hanh, the patient that received one of the servicemans cornea and the other who got one of his kidney, underwent the transplantation at the 108 hospital.

His heart and the other kidney were transported to Ho Chi Minh City by air to be transplanted to two patients at Cho Ray Hospital.

The other cornea was given to a patient at the Hanoi-based National Hospital of Ophthalmology.A Vietnamese-Australian chef and restaurateur has been chosen as a culinary ambassador of national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines.

The carrier and Luke Nguyen signed a contract during a ceremony in Australia on Friday, witnessed by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc who is on a March 14 to 18 official visit to the country.

The 39-year-old chef will be responsible for making eight signature dishes typical for the northern, central, and southern Vietnam, to be served on Vietnam Airlines flight, according to the contract.

Nguyen will also provide consultancy for 50 in-flight menus for business-class passengers for services in 2018.

As a national flag carrier, Vietnam Airlines always works to make people around the world to know about various cultural values of the country, the carriers deputy general director Le Hong Ha said.

Through this particular collaboration, Vietnam Airlines and Luke Nguyen would like to elevate Vietnamese dishes to an art form respected by others and make them a cultural bridge between foreigners and the country.

Luke Nguyen was born into an immigrant Vietnamese family who has been running a small restaurant in Cabramatta, a suburb in south-western Sydney, Australia.

After finishing his study in hospitality management and gaining certain amount of experience working in several restaurants in Sydney, Luke began his career as a restaurateur when he turned 23 with his own eatery named Red Lantern in the capital city of New South Wales.

Red Lantern was voted the best Asian eatery in Sydney in three consecutive years from 2014 to 2016.

Luke Nguyen currently operates eight restaurants under his franchise in Sydney, Brisbane, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Vietnam.Former Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, head of the Vietnamese government in a nine-year period ending 2006, passed away at his home on early Friday, aged 85.

The former Politburo member and premier died in Ho Chi Minh Citys outer district of Cu Chi at 1:30 am, the Vietnam News Agency reported, citing the board of health care services for senior officials.

Phan Van Khai, born on December 25, 1933 in Cu Chi, was one of the high-ranking Party and state leaders in the first phase of the country's renewal and nation-building cause.

PM Khai was therefore active and determined to build the institution under the spirit of renewal to utilize the capacity of all economic sectors, especially the private one, together with opening door to the world and integrating internationally, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

Former Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai (right) and Nguyen Tan Dung, who would be his successor, are seen in this June 2006 file photo. Photo: Tuoi Tre

One of the legacies of his 1997-2006 administration is the law of business, taking effect in 1999, which is seen as a breakthrough that remove numerous barriers for the private economic sector to thrive.

On top of the law on business, other remarkable achievements of his working-term include the introduction of fundamental laws in the first phase of the door-opening process, the annulment of hundreds of licenses, and the involvement in many tough talks to negotiate on Vietnam's admission to the World Trade Organization.

Former Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai (left) and former President George W. Bush shake hands in the White House in this June 2005 file photo. Photo: Tuoi Tre

In terms of foreign affairs, the former premier also contributed hugely to the improvement of the Vietnam-U.S. bilateral ties, highlighted by his historic visit to the U.S. from June 20 to 25, 2005, when he met with the then President George W. Bush. PM Khai was then the first Vietnamese leader to pay an official visit to the U.S. since the war ended in 1975.

The Party and state have presented PM Khai the Golden Star Order and the 55-year Party Membership Badge in 2014, in recognition of his dedications to the country's revolutionary cause.A grand funeral was held at the Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica in District 1, before thousands joined a kilometer-long procession to accompany his body as it was marched from the church to a nearby pastoral center on Ton Duc Thang Street.

Docs body remained there until 8:00 am on Saturday, when a Requiem Mass was held for the repose of his soul as per Catholic rituals.

He was buried the same day at a chapel inside the Minor Seminary of Saigon, next to the graves of his predecessors, which was his wish.

A portrait of late Archbishop Paul Bui Van Doc is seen outside the Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica in Ho Chi Minh City where his funeral is held on March 16, 2018. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Paul Bui Van Doc served as archbishop of Ho Chi Minh City from 2014 until his death on March 7, 2018 at the age of 74.

The archbishop was attending Mass at the Basilica of Saint Paul outside the Walls in Rome last Wednesday when he suffered a stroke and was rushed to a local hospital, where he drew his last breath later the same day.

Doc was on an Ad Limina visit to Vatican with 32 other members of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Vietnam, during which they met with Pope Francis to report on the state of their dioceses.

Paul Bui Van Doc was born in 1944 in the city of Da Lat in Vietnams Central Highlands region.

He was ordained in 1970 and consecrated in 1999.

On March 22, 2014, Doc succeeded Cardinal Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man as the Archbishop of Ho Chi Minh City upon the latter's resignation due to advanced age.

Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh (third right) arrives at the Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica in Ho Chi Minh City to pay tribute to the body of late Archbishop Paul Bui Van Doc, March 16, 2018. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Thousands join a procession to accompany the body of late Archbishop Paul Bui Van Doc as it is marched from the Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica to a nearby pastoral center in Ho Chi Minh City, March 16, 2018. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Thousands join a procession to accompany the body of late Archbishop Paul Bui Van Doc as it is marched from the Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica to a nearby pastoral center in Ho Chi Minh City, March 16, 2018. Photo: Tuoi Tre

A woman holds a candle during the funeral of late Ho Chi Minh City Archbishop Paul Bui Van Doc in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, March 16, 2018. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Thousands join a procession to accompany the body of late Archbishop Paul Bui Van Doc as it is marched from the Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica to a nearby pastoral center in Ho Chi Minh City, March 16, 2018. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Thousands join a procession to accompany the body of late Archbishop Paul Bui Van Doc as it is marched from the Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica to a nearby pastoral center in Ho Chi Minh City, March 16, 2018. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Thousands join a procession to accompany the body of late Archbishop Paul Bui Van Doc as it is marched from the Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica to a nearby pastoral center in Ho Chi Minh City, March 16, 2018. Photo: Tuoi Tre

A portrait of late Archbishop Paul Bui Van Doc is seen during a procession of his body from the Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica to a nearby pastoral center in Ho Chi Minh City, March 16, 2018. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Thousands join a procession to accompany the body of late Archbishop Paul Bui Van Doc as it is marched from the Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica to a nearby pastoral center in Ho Chi Minh City, March 16, 2018. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Thousands join a procession to accompany the body of late Archbishop Paul Bui Van Doc as it is marched from the Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica to a nearby pastoral center in Ho Chi Minh City, March 16, 2018. Clip: Tuoi Tre

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!The U.S. Department of Education has awarded $2 million to help school districts affected by the wildfires in Napa and Sonoma counties and six others in California.

The money comes from a School Emergency Response to Violence (Project SERV) grant. The money may be used to reimburse Local Education Agencies for expenses incurred as they worked to quickly reopen their schools in 2017.

The expenses may include hiring substitute teachers and renting and to transport students from temporary housing to alternative school sites.

The funds also can be used to reimburse the LEAs for mental health assessments and services, overtime for teachers, counselors, security officers and other staff but cannot be used for claims under insurance coverage or new construction or supplies.

"Many of these districts suffered widespread school closures, massive displacement of students and staff and devastating losses from these horrific fires," State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson said.

"We are extremely grateful for the U.S. Department of Education's support. These funds will assist the ongoing recovery for these schools and help provide a continued sense of safety and security," Torlakson said.Traffic police in Hanoi are identifying a woman seen in a viral video on Facebook verbally attacking another road user after she herself violated traffic rule on a bridge in the Vietnamese capital.

According to the 90-second video seen by Tuoi Tre News, a Toyota sedan was traveling on a narrow bridge when it suddenly made a U-turn, despite being surrounded by multiple vehicles.

The car then hit a motorbike laden with goods, whose driver apparently failed to see the sudden move.

The sedan driver, a woman, then stepped out and started to scold the motorbike driver for hitting her vehicle, according to the footage.

Video captures a woman making a U-turn on the bridge in Hanoi.

Pham Manh, who filmed the video and shared it on Facebook, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that the incident took place at around 8:15 am on Friday on Cot Bridge in Dong Da District.

Manh was in his car just behind the Toyota, when he saw a woman of around 45 years of age reversed her car and made a U-turn right on the bridge.

The motorbike driver behind could not respond promptly and was hit by the car, he added.

The female driver then stepped out of her vehicle and shouted at the motorbike driver that she can do whatever [I] like, Manh said.

Upon surfacing on Facebook on Friday, the video sparked outrage among many viewers.

Netizens were angry at the female drivers road traffic offence and her uncivilized behavior towards the motorbike driver.

Vietnams National Traffic Safety Committee said it has requested that the Hanoi traffic police department urgently identify the female driver and hold her accountable for the offence.

On February 28, a female driver was also filmed driving at high speed into the wrong lane on the Hanoi - Hai Phong Expressway in northern Vietnam.

The offending driver even did not turn back after another driver stopped and warned her of her apparent wrongdoing.

The violation was filmed by CCTV cameras installed along the highway.

The woman was later identified as L.T.K.A., a 42-year-old resident in Hanoi, who was handed a fine of VND7.5 million (US$330) and had her license suspended for five months.

A vehicle is seen driving on the wrong lane on the Hanoi  Hai Phong Expressway in this still photo taken from a CCTV footage.Australian Story has a follow-up episode to its 2017 profile on NSW teacher Eddie Woo, on a one-man mission to make maths cool.

My wife and I call it the magic carpet ride. Very suddenly being thrust into the national spotlight, walking down the street, and people coming and talking to me and saying, Are you that teacher guy? Eddie Woo, maths teacher

Over the past year Eddies profile has skyrocketed, and now, hes as close to a celebrity as a math teacher could possibly be. Mark Scott, NSW Education Dept Secretary

There is a certain irony that Eddie now spends less time with his classes than he used to. Kevin Woo, brother

In the year since Australian Story profiled Eddie Woo, hes gone from suburban high school maths teacher to award-winning celebrity.

Eddie first came to prominence with Wootube  his free YouTube channel that went viral with its fun and easy-to-understand explanations of difficult maths concepts.

Since then, Eddie has been on a one-man mission to make maths, and teaching, cool.

The audience loved Eddies back story: born to Malaysian immigrant parents, Eddie didnt even like maths at school. When he chose teaching as a career, his parents were disappointed he wasnt going to be a doctor or a lawyer.

Eddie set up Wootube to help a sick student who couldnt attend classes. His maths videos have now had more than twelve million views.

After Eddie featured on Australian Story, the NSW Education Department created a new role for him which sees him travelling around the state giving masterclasses to students and teachers alike.

Late last year, he won New South Wales Local Hero, followed by the Australias Local Hero in the Australian of the Year awards. Hes now up for the Global Teacher Prize.

That accolade, championed by Bill Gates, recognises the worlds best teacher, and should Eddie Woo win, he will receive $1.3 million. Eddie is in Dubai with the nine other finalists, awaiting the announcement on Monday morning.

But as this Australian Story shows, Eddies spectacular success has come at some cost to his own students and family.

8pm Monday on ABC.Seven execs in Melbourne will face a judge in the Supreme Court on Tuesday after a news bulletin raised concerns in the running of a murder trial.

The bungle happened on Wednesday night just hours after Justice Lex Lasry instructed journalists not to jeopardise the trial with shoddy reporting.

But Seven presenter Peter Mitchells opening three words to describe the case have now been called an extremely serious breach.

Justice Lasry said: And the media wonder why there are suppression orders.

Seven should attend and explain their actions  the higher up the better.

If the media cant control themselves we may have to make an order, he added.

Source: Herald SunThe shamrock has been intricately linked with Ireland for centuries. We have come to regard the shamrock as a symbolic three-leaf plant, but it is interesting to note that 'shamrock' is not the official name of a plant but rather the Irish name for the clover plant, of which there are hundreds of varieties. On St Patrick's Day, the green shamrock takes centre stage as a symbol of the Feast of St Patrick.

Power over evil

Clovers have historically played an important symbolic role. The early Celts of Wales saw the white Clover as having the power to ward off evil spirits.

Later, early Christians adopted this belief and used it as a symbol of the Holy Trinity for the people of Ireland. While some see no historical link between St Patrick and the shamrock, some sources claim that Saint Patrick was one of the early Christian leaders to use the plant as a symbol of the Holy Trinity.

The Holy Trinity

When Patrick became a Priest and returned to Ireland, he worked tirelessly to convert many pagans to Christianity. As the story is told, St Patrick was looking for a way to explain the Holy Trinity to his would-be converts. An idea came to him as he was walking by a field of clovers and observed the three leaves on one plant. He used a shamrock (the name given to the plant by the Irish) to illustrate his teaching that while there were three parts to the Shamrock, there was only one God.

Further evidence of the symbolism of the clover or shamrock is found in a book about wild flowers of Ireland, by Dr. Caleb Threlkeld. He stated that the white clover was worn by people in their hats on the 17th of March, St Patrick's Day, with the belief that this three-leafed grass represented the mystery of the Holy Trinity.

Wearing the badge

From all historical accounts, the shamrock has been worn since the late 1600s, as referenced in the early literature. In earlier times it was customary to wear the shamrock on one's hat; a tradition which is still practiced today. In Great Britain, Queen Victoria, at the turn of the 20th century, ordered all Irish soldiers in British regiments to wear a shamrock on St Patrick's Day.

This practice was in honour of the soldiers who died in the Boer war and the practice continues today.

As an Irish badge, the shamrock has not lost its relevance today. Unofficially, the shamrock is used on many things considered Irish; you can find them on ships, books, and other accessories. And while it is not an official emblem of Republic of Ireland, the shamrock, or green trefoil, is a registered trade-mark of Ireland.

The shamrock is still regarded as a good luck charm today and not only by the Irish. On St Patrick's Day shamrocks can be seen in every aspect of the celebration of St Patrick. As for the white clover (Trifolium repens), the profusely growing plant can be seen in all its glory wherever and whenever it is in season.THERESA MAY has exclusively revealed that the government has new evidence that supports Russian involvement in the Sergei Skripal poisoning. The former Russian spy was poisoned in Salisbury using a nerve agent called Novichok, it is supposedly 8 times deadlier than VX, which was used to assassinate Kim Jong-Uns brother. Although, the validity of the claims is being questioned, the PM insists that Britain must take a strong stance to create a stable democracy.

Mrs May said, it is important, as I have always said, that we must gather intelligence and evidence before wildly throwing accusations at anyone. It would be dangerous to even consider making claims that later prove to be unsubstantiated.

New evidence

There have been multiple sources and without compromising national security Theresa May was able to reveal that there are links between Sergei Skripal and the secluded Russian villageof Meerkovo. According to the latest intelligence, he was in regular contact with another former spy, Maiya, who is now a school teacher. Furthermore, head of IT at Compare the Meerkat, Sergei, worked as the Head of Principle Design for the Soviet Space Programme in the 1970s and 80s.

It has been alleged that Mr Skripal had been sharing intelligence with Maiya that would have compromised Putins presidential campaign, with both favouring the potential that Aleksandr Orlov would then run for the presidency.

Maiya said:

Sergei [Skripal] and I has been in regular contact and he was concerned over his motherland. He wanted to gather substantial evidence and brings it to the internationals community.

Maiya is reportedly working with the Security Services to help build a picture of what he may have been poisoned over and there is damning evidence that directly links the Kremlin to the attempted murder.

A note was sent to Maiya, which told her to deal with Mr Skripal or we will.

Theresa May has stated:

we must act with strength and decisiveness. That is why I am going to put a vote to parliament, whether we send in the troops or perhaps a more nuanced approach, such as bombing.

Russia is the baddies!

The Kremlin have responded by claiming the UK contacted Maiya to stage an assassination attempt on Skripal and blame Russia the Russian Embassy said, We know it was the UK government, yet many people will believe the press because they are idiots.

UK defence minister, Gavin Williamson, responded to the embassy by announcing in his speech at the Policy Exchange, I know you are but what am I? he continued The mini Beast from the East is merely a Russian ploy to disrupt Britain!Queen of the Valley Hospital has been found to have committed a "litany" of violations of federal law relating to the rights of over 400 employees at its Napa hospital.

A hearing officer of the National Labor Relations Board has ordered the hospital to recognize National Union of Health Care Workers as the representative of its employees and to bargain collectively with the union regarding the rates of pay, hours of work and other terms and conditions of their employment.

The hospital has also been ordered to remedy its retaliation against a number of its employees who advocated representation of the Union. These employees have well-established federal laws protecting them against employee retaliation in the manner undertaken by Queen of the Valley hospital. Their efforts are being severely frustrated and, indeed, ignored by the hospital.

The actions of the Queen of the Valley hospital, a Catholic religious business operated by the Catholic organization, are not only serious but are disgraceful.The events that unfolded in the town of salisbury recently are still reverberating around the world political stage. On face value, it appeared clear-cut that the poisoning of Sergei Skripal, a former double agent for the UK's intelligence services and his daughter, was perpetrated by Russia. After all, Mr. Skripal was deemed to be a traitor by Vladimir Putin. The nerve gas was examined by military experts at Porton Down and found to be one of a group of nerve agents called 'novichoks' developed by Russia. Given that a similar attack had also occurred several years ago resulting in the death of former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko, there seemed to be no other conclusion.

However, support for PM Theresa May was slow to arrive.

Britain's allies united

Leaders of Germany, France, and the USA have joined together to release a statement in support of Mrs. May condemning the use of the nerve agent as an attack on British sovereignty. The statement released by Downing Street concludes that it is highly likely Russia was behind the attack.

Trump's silence

This unity took some time to materialise, however. Donald Trump's Twitter feed, which normally overflows with tweets about everything imaginable that is happening on and off US soil, makes no mention whatsoever about the attack or of his support for Mrs. May. In fact, Trump's initial reaction was to stay uncharacteristically quiet and fire Secretary of State Rex Tillerson after he spoke out in an interview where he openly condemned Russia for the attack.

That Britain's allies are so openly supportive of Mrs. May and her actions and also so unified in their condemnation of Russia will send a strong and unequivocal message to the Kremlin that this kind of openly antagonistic behaviour cannot be tolerated.

Corbyn refuses to apportion blame

Standing alone against what seems to be insurmountable evidence is Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

In an article in The Guardian today, Mr. Corbyn says Mrs. May should remain "calm and measured" in what is a "fevered parliamentary atmosphere." He goes on to draw similarities with the invasion of Iraq which he says was prompted by "flawed intelligence and dodgy dossiers."

He does indeed stand alone on this as even members of his own party have openly disagreed with his views and have tabled a motion offering their support for the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats.

It is not clear what further evidence Mr. Corbyn would like to see but at the moment he has succeeded in not only alienating himself from members of his own party, but also is taking a controversial stance on an act that has profoundly affected public sensibilities.Donald Trump acknowledged Jerusalem as Israels capital 100 days ago on the Friday just gone. Since then, Israel and the US have been talking about big plans to solidify Israel in the region and wiping Palestine from the map entirely. This would secure the Wests colonisation of the region that began over 100 years ago with the Balfour Deceleration.

In the last week, there has been vehement condemnation from the Palestinian authority over Trumps deal of the century. Furthermore, Palestinians live their lives in fear because of systemic attacks on villages by the Israeli settlers.

The deal of the century

The Middle East Eye revealed that Saudi officials delivered a copy of US President Donald Trump's 'deal of the century' to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, the 35-page document details every aspect of the proposed deal and he claims that America will "not find any Palestinian to accept such a deal". The details have yet to be officially released, however, it is unlikely to contain anything other than benefits for Americas allies.

Since Trump did declare Jerusalem as Israels capital, Palestinians have protested non-stop. There have been marches, praying in the streets, throwing stones and even violent acts such as stabbing or ramming Israeli settlers and soldiers have been part and parcel of the Palestinians' refusal to accept the White House's decision.

The response from Israel has often been destroying villages and shooting any Palestinian in sight.

This as left a lot of villages Living In Fear, especially as illegal settlements have popped up all over West Bank and Gaza, which are often home to the hard-line supporters of Israel. These illegal settlements often raid nearby towns and villages, whilst protecting incoming settlers.

Notoriously, in the mountainous northern West Bank, theres a ring of violent Israeli settlements that sit like watchtowers on the hilltops surrounding the Palestinian city of Nablus and a dozen smaller villages. According to locals, the attacks and the events that ensue in the aftermath almost always unfold in a routine manner.Last month, the Venezuelan government launched Petro, the world's first state-issued cryptocurrency, in hopes of boosting its struggling economy and circumventing U.S. and European sanctions.

The Trump administration, however, isn't buying into the country's new digital currency, which has been called "snake oil" by some financial experts.

SEE ALSO: Venezuela's national cryptocurrency is officially up for sale

Donald Trump is reportedly planning to impose additional sanctions on Venezuela restricting the use of Petro for U.S. financial transactions, according to McClatchy.

The report claims the new, tougher sanctions could go into effect as early as Monday after Trump signs an executive order.

The new sanctions "are likely to be part of a larger package of measures that also include several individual sanctions against Venezuelan officials and/or associates." The U.S. already has sanctions on "more than 20 current and former Venezuelan government officials in recent months, including [President Nicolas Maduro]."

Even before it launched, Petro was criticized from all sides. Though Maduro claims the cryptocurrency is backed by crude oil, Petro doesn't actually translate to any concrete assets.

"Theyre setting up a stand on the front porch of Venezuela to sell snake oil thats essentially backed by nothing," Russ Dallen, a managing partner at the investment bank Caracas Capital Markets, told McClatchy. "People believe its backed by oil, but if you read the contract, its really not."

Trump's hardened stance on Venezuela's Petro could send a ripple around the world warning other sanctioned countries (such as Russia) against launching their own state-backed cryptocurrency that could undermine international sanctions.U.S. President Donald Trump departs after attending a Friends of Ireland event at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., March 15, 2018. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein

Thomson Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Friday signed legislation that would allow U.S. officials to travel to Taiwan to meet their Taiwanese counterparts, a move certain to anger China, which views Taiwan as a wayward province.

The White House confirmed the signing in a news release.

(Reporting by Makini Brice)

See Also:LONDON, March 16 (Reuters) - british wholesale gas for day-ahead delivery jumped on Friday as freezing temperatures is forecast return over the weekend and as cold weather is expected to last longer than previously thought.

* Day-ahead gas jumped 6.50 pence, or 10 percent, to 71.00 pence per therm. It had risen over 20 percent in earlier trading. The rise follows Thursday's spike of almost 10 percent.

* Weekend prices are up 1.70 pence at 67.00 p/therm.

* Within-day gas was down 1.25 pence at 64.00 p/therm, although the contract rose over 12 percent on Thursday.

* Weather forecasters monitored by Thomson Reuters (Dusseldorf: TOC.DU - news) gas analysts cut their temperature predictions for Monday by 6 degrees Celsius.

* Temperatures across Britain will drop below zero over the weekend and on Monday average at just 1.1 degrees.

* "The underlying story of low storage levels and a lack of significant supply flex is keeping everything more volatile, with any potential outage or cold spell causing people to over react pretty quickly," a market source said.

* The British market is expected to be oversupplied on Friday by 5.3 mcm, with demand forecast at 297.2 mcm and flows expected at 302.5 mcm/day, according to National Grid (LSE: NG.L - news) data.

* "The cold snap expected over the weekend is more and more likely to turn into prolonged cold weather extending until the end of March," Thomson Reuters gas analyst Katarzyna Piaskowska said in a daily note.

* "A risk of any larger UK Continental Shelf or Norwegian flows outage together with significantly low medium-range storage and liquefied natural gas stock levels is still a major bullish factor," she said, adding the risks were similar for north west Europe.

* The Gemmata liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker from the United (Shenzhen: 000925.SZ - news) States is due to arrive at Dragon on March 20 - the third tanker this month - and will be followed by Duhail from Qatar.

* That compares to nine tankers discharging in Britain in March last year.

Story continues

* Falling Asian gas prices are reigniting interest in northwest Europe as an LNG destination following winter shortages as Russia and the United States step up deliveries.

* The April UK gas contract rose by 0.40 pence to 50.85 pence/therm.

* Day-ahead gas at the Dutch TTF hub jumped by 2.60 euros to 26.90 euros per megawatt-hour.

* The benchmark Dec (Shanghai: 600875.SS - news) -18 EU carbon contract slipped 0.13 euro to 11.06 euros a tonne.

* Thomson Reuters analyst view: http://emea1.apps.cp.extranet.thomsonreuters.biz/cms/?pageid=united-kingdom-gas. (Reporting by Sabina Zawadzki; editing by Nina Chestney)Russia is kicking out 23 British diplomats - many believed to be intelligence officers - as the row intensifies over the poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury.

The move follows the UK's expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats - thought to be intelligence agents - earlier this week, after Moscow failed to respond to a deadline set by Theresa May for the Kremlin to explain whether it was behind the nerve agent attack.

The British ambassador Laurie Bristow was summoned for talks with the Russian foreign ministry on Saturday, and Moscow has said the UK diplomats must leave the country within one week.

Sky's Defence Correspondent Alistair Bunkall tweeted: "I understand the 23 expelled British diplomats are intelligence officers. Looks like Russia has gone for exact tit-for-tat."

Russia has also withdrawn permission for Britain to open a general consulate in St Petersburg and says it will be closing the British Council in Russia.

Additionally, the Russian foreign ministry has said it reserves the right to take other measures against Britain in the event of further hostile steps from London.

Following the meeting, Mr Bristow said: "This crisis has arisen as a result of an appalling attack in the UK, the attempted murder of two people using a chemical weapon developed in Russia and not declared by Russia to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) as Russia is obliged to do under the Chemical Weapons Act.

"The Prime Minister set out a number of measures which we took to defend ourselves against this type of attack. We gave Russia the opportunity to explain how the material got to Salisbury and we asked Russia to declare that material to the OPCW. Russia did neither, therefore we announced certain steps."

Fugitive Russian who died in London 'was murdered'

Mr Bristow reiterated that the UK has no dispute with the Russian people, but said "we will always do what is necessary to defend ourselves, our allies and our values against an attack of this sort which is not only an attack on the UK but also on the international rules based systems on which all countries - including Russia - depend for their safety".

Story continues

Earlier in the week, Mr Bristow met with Russian deputy foreign minister Vladimir Titov, however there were conflicting reports over the reason for the meeting.

Russian news agencies reported that it was to discuss the poisoning, while the UK embassy in Russia said it was a pre-planned meeting.

However, Mr Bristow confirmed that the attack on the former Russian spy and his daughter was discussed in the meeting, saying: "I reiterated the points made by Prime Minister May that we expect by the end of today an account from the Russian state as to how this material came to be used in Salisbury."

The midnight deadline then passed without comment from Russia, prompting the UK expulsion of the Russian diplomats.

Russia has continued to deny possessing the deadly nerve agent - novichok - confirmed to have been used in the 4 March attack.

When asked by Sky News whether Russia had destroyed all its chemical weapons in line with the internationally recognised Chemical Weapons Convention, Russian diplomat Alexander Shulgin said: "Absolutely. No question."

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has said it is "overwhelmingly likely" that Russian President Vladimir Putin signed off the nerve agent attack.

In response, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov called Mr Johnson's claims "shocking and unforgivable".

Mr Lavrov had earlier said that Moscow had "stopped paying attention" to the poisoning claims, and called UK's refusal to work with Russia a "violation of international agreements".

Russian elections are due to take place on Sunday, with Mr Putin seeking a fourth term in office after being in power for 18 years. He is widely predicted to win.By David Ljunggren

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada will send helicopters and support troops, including medical staff, to join a United Nations peace-keeping mission in Mali later this year, a senior Canadian government source said late on Friday.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government will announce on Monday that Canada plans to send troops and aircraft to Mali for up to 12 months, said the official, who declined to provide further details.

The plan was earlier reported by Canadian broadcaster CBC.

Trudeau promised in 2016 to send up to 600 troops to U.N. peace-keeping operations in Mali, where soldiers under the U.N. are fighting Islamist militants. More than 80 people deployed through the U.N. have been killed in Mali since 2013, making it the world's deadliest peace-keeping operation.

The Canadian government in November said it would hold off on announcing deployment of troops to Mali as it reviewed strategy for participating in U.N. peace-keeping missions.

It said it would offer transport aircraft and helicopters in a series of "smart pledge" initiatives, splitting soldiers among various missions with no more than 200 going to any spot and helping to train peace keepers. [nL1N1NL288]

Government insiders told Reuters in November that enthusiasm for the Mali mission faded as the extent of likely casualties and the complex nature of the conflict became clear.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren in Ottawa; Writing by Jim Finkle in Toronto; Editing by Leslie Adler)PRAGUE (Reuters) - Czech Foreign Minister Martin Stropnicky on Saturday denied Moscow's accusation that the nerve toxin used against a former Russian double agent and his daughter in southern England came from the Czech Republic.

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told the Rossiya 24 TV channel on Saturday that the most likely source of the Novichok nerve agent was Britain itself or the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Sweden or the United States.

Russia expelled 23 British diplomats on Saturday in a retaliatory move against London, which has accused the Kremlin of orchestrating the nerve toxin attack and has ordered the expulsion of the same number of Russian diplomats. [ID:nL8N1QZ0CT

"We object to these claims about the origin of (the toxin), which are not substantiated," Stropnicky said on his official Twitter feed.

"This is a standard way of manipulating information in the public space through a highly speculative message being introduced which can not be proven."

Czech Defence Minister Karla Slechtova, on her twitter feed, described the suggestion that the toxin could have come from the Czech Republic as "absurd".

(Reporting by Michael Kahn, Editing by)Court upholds Arkansas decision to ban dicamba herbicide

Its back to the drawing board for Monsanto, after an Arkansas state judge refused to overturn a ban on the use of the companys dicamba herbicide between April 16 and October 31.

According to the Associated Press, Judge Chris Piazza of the Pulaski County Circuit Court dismissed a lawsuit by Monsanto which sought to overturn a decision by the state Plant Board banning the use of dicamba for a six-month period. Although several states have enacted bans or restrictions on dicamba, Arkansas has imposed the toughest legislation.

The Plant Board imposed the ban after receiving close to 1,000 complaints last year from farmers whose non-dicamba resistant crops were destroyed by pesticide drift.

Judge Piazza referenced a January state Supreme Court ruling which found that the state cannot be forced to defend itself in court.

Monsanto, which hopes that U.S. farmers will plant over six million acres of dicamba-resistant cotton and 40 million acres of soybeans this year, was disappointed by the courts decision and vowed to consider further legal steps. The company insisted that the Supreme Court decision violates Arkansas constitution, and that the state had not given enough consideration to the economic impacts of its decision to ban dicamba. The companys attorneys also insisted that since Monsanto was not seeking monetary compensation, the state had no grounds for claiming immunity.

The Plant Boards attorneys argued that the state had acted neither illegally nor unconstitutionally and was therefore justified in its claim for immunity.

The power of the elements: Discover Colloidal Silver Mouthwash with quality, natural ingredients like Sangre de Drago sap, black walnut hulls, menthol crystals and more. Zero artificial sweeteners, colors or alcohol. Learn more at the Health Ranger Store and help support this news site.

Ultimately, Judge Piazza accepted their argument. (Related: Illegal Monsanto chemical destroying U.S. farms.)

Last month, conservationists, farmers and public interest organizations launched a protest against the Environmental Protection Agencys approval of Monsantos dicamba-based XtendiMax herbicide, which is designed to work in tandem with soybean and cotton seeds genetically modified to resist the chemical.

EcoWatch reported:

The 2017 crop seasonthe first year of XtendiMax usewas an unprecedented disaster. Just as critics warned would happen, dicamba sprayed on Monsantos GE soybeans and cotton formed vapor clouds that drifted to damage a host of crops and wild plants. Over three million acres of soybeans as well as scores of vegetable and fruit crops, trees and shrubs throughout the country were damaged by dicamba drift. Flowering plants near cropland also suffered, with potential harms to pollinators, as well as hundreds of endangered animal and plant species. Agronomists reported they had never seen herbicide-related drift damage on anything approaching this scale before. As the 2018 season approaches, experts predict similar widespread devastation. (Related: Discover why Monsanto is known as the worlds most evil corporation at Monsanto.news.)

Though dicamba has actually been commercially available for decades, farmers previously only applied it to soil before planting their crops. Now, however, farmers have started applying it to their crops after planting, a use for which dicamba has not been approved since it is highly volatile and easily airborne. This means that dicamba can drift across wide areas, contaminating crops that are not resistant to it, and even affecting the integrity of organic produce.

If dicamba lands on a field that isnt planted with Monsantos dicamba-resistant crops, the impact can be devastating, explains Modern Farmer.

Non-resistant soybeans that come into contact with dicamba suffer from puckered leaves, buckled pods, and stunted growth. Farms from Arkansas to North Carolina have been hit; millions of acres have been affected. Monsanto has been sued over this; the lawsuits are ongoing. Theres already been one report of a murder over dicamba spraying. Seriously.

Read Dicamba.news for more coverage of dicamba.

Sources for this article include:

BusinessInsider.com

EcoWatch.com

EcoWatch.com

NaturalNews.comViesturs Burkans, head of the Latvian Office for Prevention of Laundering of Proceeds Derived from Criminal Activity, speaks during an interview in Riga, Latvia March 7, 2018. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins

Thomson Reuters

By John O'Donnell and Gederts Gelzis

RIGA (Reuters) - Latvia launched just 85 money-laundering investigations in 2017 even though its banks flagged 17,900 suspect transactions, data seen by Reuters shows, highlighting the challenge the Baltic state faces in repairing its tarnished reputation.

Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis has vowed to invest more in monitoring banks after the United States triggered the closure of Latvia's third biggest bank, ABLV, by accusing it of money laundering and breaching sanctions on North Korea.

Washington, an important military ally for the former Soviet-ruled state of 2 million people on the EU's eastern flank, is watching closely how Latvia tackles money laundering, much of which is suspected to involve wealthy Russian clients.

More resources to monitor banks would be welcomed by Viesturs Burkans, who has been in charge of the Latvian agency fighting money laundering for two decades - as would lowering the burden of proof needed to prosecute suspects.

"The level of evidence is rather high in Latvia if you are comparing with other countries," said Burkans, who has a staff of 33, some of whom are paid only 800 euros a month. "The number of convicted persons per year is low - close to 10."

The number of unusual or suspicious banking transactions in Latvia referred to the authorities lags far behind similar statistics for Switzerland and the European Union.

In 2017, only 225 files were forwarded to Latvian enforcement authorities, or 1 percent of the transactions flagged, according to the government data seen by Reuters.

In Switzerland, about 60 percent of reports of suspicious activity were forwarded to police in 2016.

For the EU as a whole, police investigated one in 10 of roughly 1 million transactions flagged as suspected money laundering in 2014, according to law enforcement agency Europol.

Already subject to EU law, Latvia joined the euro zone in 2014 and later put its big banks under the supervision of the European Central Bank, but the country has consistently failed to shake off suspicions about lax financial controls.

Story continues

"In Latvia, we have the best legislation," said former justice minister Janis Bordans. "The problem is in enforcement. Who is the controller?"

SWISS-STYLE SECRECY

The stakes are high for Latvia, whose reputation has been hit by the closure of ABLV last month, as well as the detention of central bank governor Ilmars Rimsevics in a separate bribery investigation. Rimsevics denies any wrongdoing.

Since securing independence from Russia in 1991, more than a dozen Latvian banks have promoted themselves as a gateway to Western markets for clients in Russia and former Soviet states such as Ukraine - and promised Swiss-style secrecy for clients.

In many cases, money was lodged in a Latvian bank and then funneled to accounts elsewhere, such as Switzerland, bankers and officials said. Since Latvia joined the European Union in 2004, transfers were deemed less risky for Western banks to handle than if they had come directly from Russia, they said.

The International Monetary Fund warned as long ago as 2007 that Latvia had a reputation for lax due diligence in opening bank accounts and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development criticized the country in 2015 for failing to do enough to tackle financial crime and money laundering.

The opacity of Latvia's banking system was built on the fact many lenders taking foreign deposits dealt with shell companies, making it hard to identify the ultimate beneficiary.

At the peak in 2015, Latvian banks held deposits of about 12 billion euros ($15 billion) for foreign customers, according to the country's financial watchdog. Bankers and officials have said much of the money came from Russia.

"Money is deposited here for a short time period or forwarded to Western Europe ... but mainly to Switzerland," said Burkans, describing one typical transaction.

Some clients were also taking advantage of a Latvian scheme granting a residency permit allowing them to travel freely throughout much of continental Europe - in exchange for depositing 280,000 euros in a bank for five years.

One state official, who declined to be named, said these clients generated profitable business for the banks, which were processing roughly $15 billion of payments a month during 2015.

Many officials who spoke to Reuters agreed that a lack of resources and lax enforcement of rules have made it hard to control the country's financial system.

More than 200 million euros was taken out of Latvia last year in cash, bringing the total value of banknotes leaving the Baltic state to more than 750 million euros since the start of 2015, according to customs data seen by Reuters.

(GRAPHIC: Latvia's euro cash waves - http://tmsnrt.rs/2FFXn3W)

SHELL FIRMS

Since Washington singled out ABLV and rattled Latvia's financial sector, the government has pledged tighter controls.

The U.S. accusations effectively froze ABLV out of U.S. dollar financial markets, a critical part of its so-called non-residential business whose loss ultimately led to its closure. The bank has denied wrongdoing.

It was an abrupt fall from grace for a bank that modeled its headquarters on a luxury hotel and displayed a gold bar worth $500,000 in its lobby, as well as modern art it planned to donate to a new museum.

Rivals have been hit too. Since the U.S. announcement on Feb. 13, ABLV's rivals have lost up to 700 million euros of foreign deposits, leaving 6.6 billion euros in total, according to the country's financial watchdog.

A government official who declined to be named said it was examining a "risk duty", or levy, on banks doing business with customers whose identity was unclear. The government also wants to make it easier to withdraw banking licenses and tighten curbs on taking cash out of Latvia.

"Quite a big share of these non-residents still come from shell or offshore companies, which are considered to be the most risky ones," said Finance Minister Dana Reizniece-Ozola.

"Over the following years, the non-residential business will notably shrink. But the non-residential business ... I wouldn't say that it is completely bad."

While some politicians and bankers said Latvian lenders would continue to cater for Russia's wealthy elite whatever the changes, others took heart from the planned reforms.

"When Latvia regained its independence, it was poor and corrupt, with gangs and mafia. I don't see that any more," said Jekabs Straume, who leads Latvia's anti-corruption agency KNAB and is heading the investigation into the central bank governor.

"There is still corruption ... but it's improving. There is the political will to change."

(Writing by John O'Donnell; editing by David Clarke)

See Also:Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of Supreme National Security Council of Iran, attends the swearing-in ceremony for Iranian president Hassan Rouhani for a further term, at the parliament in Tehran, Iran, August 5, 2017. Nazanin Tabatabaee Yazdi/TIMA via REUTERS

BEIRUT (Reuters) - A senior Iranian security official has called for dialogue between factions in Yemen to end the conflict there, Iranian state media reported on Saturday.

Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Irans Supreme National Security Council, made the comment during a meeting with Omans foreign minister, Yusuf bin Alawi, in Tehran.

"The shared view of Iran and Oman about the Yemen crisis is that the war must end quickly with the beginning of a ceasefire, the ending of the siege, sending humanitarian help and the beginning of Yemeni-Yemeni dialogue for the development of new political structures based on the vote and desires of the people of Yemen," Shamkhani said.

Saudi Arabia and its adversaries in Yemens armed Houthi movement are holding secret talks to try to end a three-year-old war that has unleashed a major humanitarian crisis, diplomats and Yemeni political sources have said.

A Saudi-led coalition is fighting to counter the influence of Riyadhs arch-foe Iran, an ally of the Houthis, who deny any help from Tehran and say they are fighting a revolution against corrupt politicians and Gulf powers in thrall to the West.

Separately, Shamkhani said Irans missile program was not up for negotiation and that the Islamic Republic would respond to any American action against a 2015 nuclear deal.

Iran agreed to curbs on its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of a number of sanctions under the deal.

Britain, France and Germany have proposed fresh EU sanctions on Iran over its ballistic missiles and its role in the war in Syria in a bid to persuade Washington to preserve the deal with Tehran, Reuters reported on Friday.

(Reporting By Babak Dehghanpisheh; Editing by Andrew Bolton)PORT LOUIS (Reuters) - The president of Mauritius, Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, resigned from the ceremonial position on Saturday, her lawyer said, amid accusations of financial impropriety that triggered a dispute between her and the prime minister.

The president's lawyer Yousuf Mohamed told local Radio Plus that she had decided to resign "to prevent a constitutional crisis".

"She doesnt want the country ... to suffer. In the countrys best interests she has decided to leave," the lawyer said.

On Wednesday the president - who denies wrongdoing - rejected calls to resign, saying she was ready to provide evidence in court to debunk the accusations, prompting a rebuke from the prime minister.

Gurib-Fakim's resignation letter had been sent to the speaker of parliament and she will leave office on March 23, Mohamed added.

The president has been facing growing pressure, including from Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth, after a local paper, LExpress, said she had used a credit card issued by an international non-governmental organization to buy clothes and jewellery in Italy and Dubai.

The Indian Ocean archipelago markets itself as a bridge between Africa and Asia. Its economy relies on sugar, textiles and tourism but it is trying to develop new sectors like offshore banking, business outsourcing and luxury real estate.

(Reporting by Jean Paul Arouff; Editing by Elias Biryabarema and Andrew Bolton)MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Only former Mexican first lady Margarita Zavala has collected enough valid signatures of support to compete in the July 1 presidential election as an independent, the country's National Electoral Institute (INE) said on Friday.

Zavala and two other contenders reached the final phase of qualification, which requires 866,593 signatures, or 1 percent of the electoral register, across at least 17 Mexican regions.

However, irregularities led to hundreds of thousands of signatures being dismissed by the INE.

"Only the contender Margarita Zavala Gomez del Campo meets the threshold of signatures required by law," Benito Nacif, a member of the INE's board, told a news conference.

If the findings by the INE are confirmed later this month, Zavala will be the only woman to compete in the race.

The 50-year-old Zavala, wife of former President Felipe Calderon, announced her intention to run in 2015. She had 870,168 signatures validated, the institute said.

Formerly a member of the centre-right National Action Party (PAN), she opted to go it alone after arguing she had been denied a fair shot at the PAN ticket by the party leadership.

The other two independent hopefuls, Nuevo Leon state governor Jaime Rodriguez and senator Armando Rios Piter - both currently on leave from their posts - fell short by about 31,000 and 624,000 signatures respectively, the INE said.

Both submitted more than enough signatures to qualify, but a review determined that hundreds and thousands were based on invalid voter credentials or faulty documentation, the INE said. A large part of Zavala's signatures were also thrown out.

The two men have five days to take up their case with the INE, and Rios Piter said on Twitter that his signatures were genuine.

The three contenders were well off the early pace in the election campaign, with Zavala polling 2.8 percent support, and the other two garnering 1.5 percent between them, according to an Ipsos voter survey conducted between Feb. 24 and March 3.

That poll and several others have shown leftist veteran Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador leading the contest to succeed President Enrique Pena Nieto, who by law cannot run again.

(Writing by Dave Graham; Editing by Joseph Radford)Students who walked out of their high school in Arkansas to join a nationwide protest by children against gun violence in schools were allegedly beaten with a wooden paddle by their teacher as punishment.

Posting to Twitter, Jerusalem Greer said her child and two others walked out of their rural, very conservative, public school in Greenbrier, about 40 miles north of Little Rock, to take part in the national walkout.

They were given two punishment options. They chose corporal punishment. This generation is not playing around, Greer tweeted.

Trending: Meet Nick Robinson: 'Love, Simon' Star On First Mainstream LGBTQ Film Aimed At Teens

National School Walkout

Karen Ducey/Getty Images

Students across the U.S. walked out of school for 17 minutes on Wednesday, a minute for every victim of the recent shooting in Parkland, Florida. They are calling on politicians to bring an end to the school shootings that plague America.

According to Arkansas Matters, the school superintendent in Greenbrier said the three students who walked out had not asked for permission to take part in the protest. They were punished for breaking school rules around leaving class and given the option of two days' suspension or paddling.

Don't miss: Trump Hates John Kelly Telling Him No so Chief of Staff Could Be Fired, Report Says

In some school districts of Arkansas, corporal punishment of schoolchildren by teachers is legal and still takes place, though only with the express permission of parents. Often, a wooden paddle is used to beat the legs or backsides of rule-breaking students.

To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here to do so.

It's barbaric and ineffective, wrote Kay Cox on Facebook, responding to the Greenbrier news. The worst kids, and by that I mean the kids who need it the most, are so proud of themselves that being paddled doesn't mean a thing to them. I thought it was awful 60 years ago when I was going to school there and I haven't changed my opinion. Parents can opt out.

Story continues

However, Debbie Rook wrote: As an educator of almost 30 years, I have given several paddlings. Most of the time it only took one time. If one of those students acted up again, all I had to say was do we need to go back to the office? And the majority of the time they straightened up. My students knew I loved them but I meant business when we went to the office. Not that I enjoyed paddling but it sure made a difference in my classroom behavior.

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from NewsweekMAPUTO (Reuters) - Pests and disease sweeping through Mozambique have destroyed at least a third of the country's agricultural crops over the past 11 months, a government spokeswoman said.

Ana Comoana, the spokeswoman, said more than 41,000 hectares of crops in Mozambique, a tropical African nation with a huge Indian Ocean coastline, had been affected by pests including caterpillars and fruit flies.

She said that more than 3,000 hectares of maize had been lost, and that coconut and banana production had also suffered.

Mozambique's cabinet approved on Tuesday a 160 million metical ($2.6 million) action plan to combat pests and disease. The country is one of the world's poorest countries and is in the throes of a debt and financial crisis.

Much of southern Africa including Mozambique is still recovering from a devastating El Nino-driven drought two years ago. Mozambique was also one of several countries in the region invaded by an infestation of crop-damaging fall armyworms in 2017, an invasive species with a taste for corn.

(Reporting by Manuel Mucari; Writing by Alexander Winning; Editing by James Macharia)

See Also:CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptians abroad began voting on Friday, ten days before polls open at home in a presidential election that President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is effectively guaranteed to win, but in which turnout could provide an indication of his popularity.

The former army chief's only challenger, Mousa Mostafa Mousa, leads a party that had initially backed the Egyptian president's bid for re-election.

Other opponents halted their campaigns citing intimidation by the authorities. One top challenger was jailed.

Voting will take place in Egypt over three days from March 26-28.

Sisi in recent days has echoed calls he made in 2014, just before he was first voted into office, urging Egyptians to turn up to polling stations worldwide.

A year after toppling Egypt's first competitively elected leader, Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood, after mass protests against his rule, Sisi won nearly 97 percent of the vote in 2014. Fewer than half of eligible Egyptians voted in that election even though it was extended to three days.

"I've come to vote for the continuation of safety and security in Egypt," Mohamed Zaghloul, 47, told Reuters at the Egyptian embassy in Khartoum, capital of neighbouring Sudan, where dozens of people were lined up to vote.

State television showed hundreds of voters crowding outside the Egyptian embassies in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Other Egyptians abroad said they would have nothing to do with the vote.

"Bottom line is that the election process is a sham. The fig leaf of democracy is so see-through that even Moussa Mostafa, the only contender who ran to meet the cut-off, is hardly taking the race seriously. With such a predetermined outcome, what's the point?" said a 40-year-old Washington, DC-based Egyptian.

He asked that his name be withheld for fear of reprisal from the authorities back in Egypt.

(Reporting by Mohamed Abdellah, Ahmed Tolba, Khalid Abdelaziz in Khartoum; Writing by Nadine Awadalla; Editing by Peter Graff)Meet Steve. Hes skinny, purple and a really great dancer.

Over the last few years, citizen scientists have been sharing pictures of a mysterious, aurora-like purple arc 'dancing' in the sky. Earlier this week researchers confirmed the arc is a distinct structure largely unstudied in scientific literature.

Trending: 'Clash Royale' New Cards 2018: Barbarian Barrel Releases Next Month

NASA wants your help spotting Steve, because scientists dont know all that much about it. Mapping the newest dancer in the sky can help scientists better understand auroras, and what they could mean for near-Earth space weather.

3_16_Steve Milky Way

Krista Trinder

Canadian aurora enthusiast Chris Ratzlaff nicknamed the lights "Steve", referring to a line from 2006 kids movie Over the Hedge, Science reports. Researchers have backronymed the lights as Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement, or Steve.

Elizabeth MacDonald from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD, and colleagues used satellite observations of Steve to understand the light show. They found Steves charged particles were far hotter than those in the nearby atmosphere. Satellites also revealed a strong flow of ions westward, confirming its aurora-like nature. Their results were published in Science Advances.

Don't miss: Arm Homeless People with Shotguns and Ban TSA, Senate Candidate Says

Whether youre an astronaut, a scientist, or an intrepid sky gazer, you can help scientists learn more about STEVEs appearance, lifecycle and implications, the agency wrote in a statement.

Andy Witteman (@CNLastro)

NASA has some top tips for budding Steve-gazers. First, youll need to look a little closer to the equator than you would for a regular aurora. Steve likes to hang out about 5-10 degrees further south in the northern hemisphere.

Story continues

Steve isnt just for Canadiansthe ribbon has been spotted from the U.K., northern U.S. states like Alaska and New Zealand.

Most popular: Watch: Fox News Hated Obama Talking to Dictators But Loves Trump Meeting with North Korea's Kim Jong Un

Look out for a green light in the shape of a picket fence that sometimes accompanies the subauroral arc. This green fence is only short-lived, but Steve can linger from 20 minutes to a full hour.

3_16_Steve Lake Minnewanka

Paulo Fedozzi

So far, skywatchers have only seen Steve alongside an aurora, and researchers are trying to figure out how these two spectacles are connected.

The arc of light has only been observed from October to February over the last two years, so it could be seasonal. Now the winter months are over, the beautiful structure might be visible again.

If you spot Steveor a normal aurorayou can report it at www.aurorasaurus.org.

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from NewsweekIrish poets Rita Ann Higgins (left) and Sinead Morrissey will read at Emory on March 27 and April 3, respectively. Higgins photo from the Rita Ann Higgins papers, Rose Library at Emory University; Morrissey photo by Malachi O'Doherty/Blue Flower.

Irish poets Rita Ann Higgins and Sinead Morrissey are scheduled to visit Emory University this spring to give readings from their work at the universitys Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library. The readings, free and open to the public, celebrate Womens History Month in March and National Poetry Month in April.

Rita Ann Higgins will read on Tuesday, March 27, at 5 p.m. as part of the Raymond Danowski Poetry Library Reading Series. Register here to attend this event.

A playwright and activist as well as a poet, Higgins is known for her wry commentary on economic and gender inequities. The Galway-born author has penned 10 volumes of poetry, including Witch in the Bushes (1988), Philomena's Revenge (1992), Sunny Side Plucked (1996), Ireland Is Changing Mother (2011) and Tongulish (2016). She published an autobiographical volume of essays and poetry, Hurting God, in 2010.

The Higgins reading is sponsored by Irish Studies at Emory, the Hightower Fund and the Rose Library, which holds her papers. The Higgins papers were fully processed and opened for research in 2017.

Sinead Morrissey will share her work a week later, on Tuesday, April 3, at 5:30 p.m. Register here to attend this event.

Raised in Belfast during the Troubles, Morrissey has received a number of accolades over the years. She won her first award, the Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award, in 1990 when she was just 18 years old.

Morrisseys published works include There Was Fire in Vancouver (1996), The State of the Prisons (2005), Through the Square Window (2009), Parallax (2013), winner of the T.S. Eliot Prize, and On Balance (2017), which netted her the Forward Poetry Prize for Best Collection.

The Morrissey reading is sponsored by Irish Studies at Emory, the Creative Writing Program and the Department of English, with additional support from the Center for Creativity and the Arts and the Rose Library.

We are pleased to welcome these two Irish poets to the Rose Library to share their work and connect with the thriving Irish village at Emory, says Rose Library interim director Jennifer Meehan, referring to the phrase coined by poet Eamon Grennan about the librarys Irish literary collections.

These two readings will be wonderful opportunities for the poets, faculty, students and community to engage in the ongoing dialogue between poetry and archives, inspired by the Irish and poetry collections of the Rose Library and the tradition of poetry at Emory.

The Rose Library is located on Level 10 of Emory Universitys Woodruff Library, 540 Asbury Circle in Atlanta, 30322. For disability-related accommodations at these readings, please contact Emory Libraries events manager Maya Cody in advance at 404-727-7620 or maya.cody@emory.edu.VATICAN CITY (AP)  A Spanish migrant rescue group says its ship with 216 migrants is waiting to be let into a port in Italy after having a high-seas run-in with the Libyan coast guard during the rescue.

Proactiva Open Arms said a sick baby and her mother were evacuated to Malta on Friday, while the other migrants and crew waited at sea for instructions. Proactiva spokeswoman Laura Lanuza said for the first time Italy's coast guard is requiring Spanish authorities to formally ask that the Proactiva ship be allowed to dock.

Lanuza said a Libyan coast guard vessel threatened Thursday to shoot Proactiva's rescue dinghies if they didn't offload their passengers during the rescue in international waters, 73 miles (117 kilometers) off Libya's coast. Proactiva refused and eventually the Libyan ship pulled away.

See Also:St Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland, credited with spreading Christianity across the Emerald Isle in the 5th century and establishing it as the dominant religion. What we know about Patrick comes largely from his written work Confessio.

Patrick was born in Roman-occupied Britain around the turn of the 5th century near to a place called Bannavem Taburniae, where his father, a deacon called Calpurnius, and grandfather, a priest called Potitus, lived.

The exact location of Bannavem Taburniae is not known, though its believed by some historians to be near Port Talbot in south Wales.

Trending: 'Infinity War' Trailer Sparks Spider-Man Fan-Girling over Tom Holland

Along with thousands of others, Patrick was kidnapped aged 16 by pirates from Ireland and taken there as a slave, where he herded sheep. While a slave, he became passionately religious.

St Patrick's Day

VASILY MAXIMOV/AFP/Getty Images

It was there that the Lord opened up my awareness of my lack of faith, St Patrick wrote in Confessio. Even though it came about late, I recognised my failings. So I turned with all my heart to the Lord my God, and he looked down on my lowliness and had mercy on my youthful ignorance.

After six years of captivity, he heard a voice in a dream telling him that he would return to Britain and that his ship was ready, 200 miles away, and he ran away.

Don't miss: Kratom Products Contaminated With Salmonella Have Now Made 87 People Sick

St Patrick made it back to Britain, and was eventually captured again, though freed shortly afterwards. He reunited with his parents, who begged him to stay, but he had a vision from someone called Victoricus, who carried letters from Ireland and gave him one. It begged him to return.

Its thought Patrick travelled to France to study under St Germain, the bishop of Auxerre, and was eventually ordained before he set off as a fully-fledged Catholic missionary.

Story continues

St Patrick travelled around Ireland preaching the Christian faith, trying to convert all he met, baptising people along the way and establishing new churches, eventually becoming a bishop himself.

How has this happened in Ireland? he wrote in Confessio. Never before did they know of God except to serve idols and unclean things. But now, they have become the people of the Lord, and are called children of God. The sons and daughters of the leaders of the Irish are seen to be monks and virgins of Christ!

Most popular: Republican Niraj Antani: Students over 18 Can Carry Guns in Schools

Patrick suffered much during these decades of preaching around Ireland. At times I gave gifts to kings, over and above what I paid to their sons who travelled with me, he wrote. Despite this, they took me and my companions prisoner, and very much wanted to kill me, but the time had not yet come. They stole everything they found in our possession, and they bound me in iron.

St Patrick's Day parade 2015 in Dublin

PAUL FAITH/AFP/Getty Images

The exact date of Patricks death is unknown and the two potential times it took place are around 30 years apart, the first being around 460, the second around 490. Its thought he died on March 17which is why thats his feast day, St Patricks Day, and is celebrated every year.

Confessio and another contemporary text written by Patrick, his letter to Coroticus, are the only historical evidence of the real Patrick. However, a number of popular myths and legends were created in the hundreds of years after his death.

Among those are stories is one of him using the shamrockIrelands national symbolin his preaching to convert pagans. Another claims he banished all the snakes from Ireland by chasing them into the sea, which is why there arent any left slithering around.

The 7th century monk and Irish historian Muirchu, the biographer of St Patrick, is to blame for much of the cultural mythology surrounding him. He wanted to create a unifying symbol of Irishness and, to him, Patrick was the perfect national figurehead.

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from NewsweekThis article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Like many students of my generation, Stephen Hawking had already had enormous influence on me long before we ever met. When I was hesitating about my A-level choices, it was his book A Brief History of Time that convinced me to continue with physical sciences. In 1994, Hawking and mathematical physicist Roger Penrose gave a series of inspiring lectures about cosmology in Cambridge. As a direct result, I chose courses on black holes and relativity for my fourth year of study at the University of Cambridge.

I first saw Hawking when I was an undergraduate. At that time he was living in an apartment building just behind my student house. He was already so famous that friends would come to my room just to watch him leaving and entering his apartment. But as an undergraduate I never tried to talk with him, feeling much too junior and intimidated.

After I finished my fourth year, I was invited in to talk to Hawking, who was already using a speech synthesizer, about options for my PhD. I was quite nervous when I first met him, but he jumped straight into physics and soon we were discussing black holes. I became a student at the time of the Second String Theory Revolution in theoretical physics. Hawking had not worked actively in string theory, but he was very keen to understand the new ideas.

Trending: Fortnite Mobile Voice Chat: How to Talk and Play with Friends

Following that meeting, he sent me off to read all the papers that Edward Witten, a famous string theorist, had written that year. My task was to come back and summarise them for himthe student teaching the master. Its difficult to describe how hard this task actually was: Hawking expected me to jump straight to the frontier of string theory as a starting graduate student. He also chose the title for my PhD thesis: Problems in M-theory, which I worked on from 1995 to 1998.

I can only hope that my explanations of string theory were helpful. Hawking went back and forth on his views on M-theory, but eventually ended up thinking that it may be our best bet for a theory of everything.

Story continues

No hand-holding

PhD students were enormously important to Hawking. In the early phase of his illness, his students helped take care of him. By the time I became his student he needed round-the-clock nursing. At this point, his students were no longer involved in his physical care, but remained essential to his research. Theoretical physics begins with ideas and concepts, but these then evolve into explicit detailed calculations. Hawking had a remarkable ability to do complex calculations in his head, but he still relied on collaborators to develop and complete his research projects.

Theoretical physicists typically give early PhD students safe research projects, and guide them through the calculations required. As the students develop, the projects become more ambitious and risky and students are expected to work independently. However, PhD students working with Hawking did not have the luxury of this gentle introductionhe needed us to work on his own high-risk, high-gain projects.

Don't miss: Spirit Flight Passengers Save Man's Life After His Heart Stops

GettyImages-520676582

Jemal Countess/Getty Images

Hawkings communication via his speech synthesizer was necessarily concise and he simply could not provide detailed guidance about calculations, making it extremely challenging to work with him. But it was also stimulating, forcing students to be creative and independent. He did give praise when he thought it was due. He once sent me away with a very hard problem  finding exact rotating black hole solutions of Einsteins equations with a cosmological constantand was stunned when I came back a few days later with the solution. I cant even remember exactly what he said but I will never forget his enormous smile.

Hawking was a determined and stubborn person. On many occasions he got through serious medical issues with sheer determination. This same determination could make him very difficult to work. But it could also push research projects forward: Hawking would refuse to give up on seemingly unsolvable problems.

In fact, never giving up is the main thing Hawking has taught meto keep attacking problems from different directions, to reach for the hardest problems and find a way to solve them. Its immensely important as a scientist, but also in other aspects of life.

Most popular: Man Sues after New Orleans Demands He Take Down Anti-Trump Mural

Pithy one-liners

Hawking was devoted to his family. His eyes would light up when one of his children came to visit or when he proudly showed us pictures of his first grandchild. In many respects, Hawking treated his PhD students and collaborators as a second family. However busy he was, he always made time for us, often making dignitaries wait outside his office while he talked physics with a student. He would eat lunch with us several times per week, and funded a weekly lunch for the wider group to bring everyone together.

There were many occasions when physics discussions merged seamlessly into social activities: going to the pub, eating dinner at one of his favourite Cambridge restaurants, and so on. Hawking had a wonderful sense of humour. He turned his communication difficulties into an advantage, composing pithy one-liners. For instance when changing his mind about what happens to information in a black hole, he announced it in the pub by turning the volume up on his synthesizer, saying simply: Im coming out. He would discuss anything and everything in a social setting: politics, movies, other branches of science, music.

As we worked in closely related fields, we saw each other regularly even after I finished my PhD. In 2017, I attended a conference in Cambridge celebrating his 75th birthday. The list of participants illustrates Hawkings influence on academia and beyond. Many of his former students and collaborators have gone on to become leaders in research in cosmology, gravitational waves, black holes and string theory. Others have had huge impact outside academia, such as Nathan Myhrvold at Microsoft.

There is currently pressure on academics to demonstrate the immediate impact of their research on society. It is perhaps worth reflecting that impact is not easily measurable on short time scales. Hawkings was truly blue-sky researchand yet it has fascinated millions, attracting many into scientific careers. His academic legacy is not just the remarkable science he produced, but the generations of minds he shaped.

Theres no doubt Hawkings death is a huge loss to physics. But personally, what I will miss most is his humour and the general feeling of inspiration I got from being around him.

Marika Taylor, Professor in Theoretical Physics, University of Southampton

The Conversation

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from Newsweek(This story corrects paragraph 14 to say Loi "hid", not "watched" in March 15 story.)

By James Pearson and Minh Nguyen

QUANG NGAI, Vietnam (Reuters) - It took Pham Thi Thuan a while before she could muster the courage to fetch water from across the ditch where 170 of her neighbours, most of them women and children, were killed by U.S. troops during the Vietnam War.

"When I heard cats mewing at night, it sounded like those babies were still crying," said Thuan.

On March 16, 1968, 504 people were killed by American soldiers in Son My, a collection of hamlets between the central Vietnamese coast and a ridge of misty mountains, in an incident known in the West as the My Lai Massacre.

It was the worst recorded U.S. war crime committed in Vietnam, but preparations for a 50th anniversary ceremony at the site, now a memorial to the victims, are low key.

The ceremony falls just one week after a landmark visit by a U.S. aircraft carrier to the nearby port city of Danang, testament to warming ties between the former foes.

Because of those better relations, Vietnam is not dwelling on the pain of the past, a senior Vietnamese government official told Reuters.

"Vietnam wants to close the door to the past and look to the future," said the official, who declined to be identified, citing the sensitivity of the issue.

Dang Ngoc Dung, deputy chairman of the Quang Ngai Province People's Committee, said Vietnam wanted to "befriend everyone now".

"We won't let anyone harm us again," said Dung.

DARKNESS, SILENCE

Vo Cao Loi was 16 when he saw American helicopters buzz low over his family's house on the clear, sunny morning of the massacre.

That was not unusual, Loi said. American troops often passed through the area in then U.S.-backed South Vietnam.

"We were used to it," said Loi. "But we didn't expect them to kill everybody."

Loi's mother gave him a bag filled with rice and spare clothes and told him to hide.

Story continues

He hid beneath coconut trees by a river as U.S. troops dragged women and children out of their houses and shot them.

"I could usually see my house from where I was hiding, but there was smoke everywhere. All I could hear were explosions, and the ground was shaking," said Loi, who worried that U.S. soldiers were throwing grenades into village shelters.

"I was hoping I was wrong, but it turned out I was right".

Loi's mother, older sister and her five-month-old son were killed by a grenade tossed into their shelter.

It was not until 3 p.m. that day that the shooting stopped.

"Only then did the survivors start crying and wailing," said Loi, who lost 18 relatives in the massacre.

There were not enough people left to take the dead to the cemetery, Loi said, so Vietnamese guerrillas helped him bury his family in the grounds of their home.

"Everything happened in darkness and silence in fear the Americans would come back".

Loi joined the Viet Cong guerrillas after the massacre and fought until the end of the war in 1975.

He and his wife now run a coffee shop in a leafy courtyard in Danang filled with photos of trips to France with his children, and a book documenting former U.S. president Barack Obama's trip to Vietnam in 2015.

"Vietnam and the U.S. have become partners that trust each other," said Loi.

"Nobody wants war."

(Additional reporting by Kham Nguyen, Thinh Nguyen and the Hanoi Newsroom; Editing by Robert Birsel)A woman convicted in an infamous honor killing case will be deported from Canada once she finishes serving a sentence for four counts of first degree murder, local reports said.

Tooba Yahya, her husband, Mohammad Shafia, and their son Hamed were all convicted of first degree murder after the deaths of their daughters Geeti, Sahar and Zainab, and Shafias first wife, Rona Amir Mohammad. Mohammad, Rona and Yahya were in a polygamous marriage.

The bodies of the four women were discovered in a car submerged in a lake in 2009. Prosecutors argued that the women had been killed because they did not follow family rules and brought perceived shame on the family, the Canadian Press reported.

Trending: 'Far Cry 5' Villain Joseph Seed is Very Different from Pagan Min and Vaas, Says Director

The family arrived in Canada from Afghanistan in 2007. The case led to debate across Canada on immigration and ideas of cultural values.

Related: Honor killings, rape and child abuse rampant in Pakistan, reports claim

Canadas Immigration and Refugee Board ruled March 16 that Yahya would have her permanent residency revoked and would not be permitted to stay in Canada once released from prison, the CBC reported. The broadcaster said it will be 16 years before Yahya is eligible for parole.

Don't miss: Watch: Bail Bond Agent Fatally Shoots Escaping Client, Is Acquitted of Murder

Asked by Newsweek for information on the immigration status of Mohammed and Hamed Shafia, a spokesperson said that a hearing for Mohammah Shafia had taken place on February 27 and that he was also issued a deportation order. The spokesperson did not have any information on Hamed Shafia.

RTR2WWKQ

REUTERS/Lars Hagberg

Yahyas lawyer, Stephane Handfield, questioned why the deportation order came more than five years after Yahyas initial sentencing. In an interview with The Canadian Press, Handfield said that Yahya does not have the right to appeal the decision, but that laws could change in the coming years and they would see what is open to her when she is liberated.

Story continues

The three family members have previously tried to appeal their convictions, arguing the deaths of the four women were accidental. Those appeals failed in 2016, even though the prosecution was unable to piece together the exact story of the womens deaths, The Canadian Press reported at the time.

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from NewsweekA rainbow which lit up the sky for nearly nine hours is officially recognized by the Guinness World Records for being the worlds longest-lasting one.

Authorities from the organization held a ceremony on Saturday in Taiwan to honor the achievementthe first-ever world record the country has received for a natural science-related phenomenon, Taiwan News reports.

Professors and students at the Chinese Culture University in Taiwan witnessed the rainbow, which lasted for 8 hours and 58 minutes last November.

Trending: If Trump Fires Mueller, It's the Beginning of the End, Senator Lindsey Graham Warns

It was amazing It felt like a gift from the sky... It's so rare! Chou Kun-hsuan, a professor in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the Chinese Culture University, told the BBC.

Most rainbows usually only last about an hour, according to AccuWeather. The rainbows longevity was due to atmospheric conditions that included a seasonal monsoon, sunlight, and slow winds. Those conditions are frequent in the mountain range where the rainbow was observed, which makes it a common location to capture exceptionally long rainbows, Kun-hsuan said.

Don't miss: Kremlin Buses Russians to Polling Booths, Lays on Feasts and Festivities to Spare Putin Low Turnout Embarrassment

A week prior to witnessing the record-breaking event, Kun-hsuan and his students documented another incredibly long-lasting rainbow.

3_17_rainbow

John Moore/Getty Images

When we broke the previous record after passing six hours, I was hardly able to stay seated for lunch; it was around lunchtime. I was so excited; I wanted to make sure we captured the rainbow, he said. But then it did something even more incredible; it went on to beat the previous record by another three hours!

Story continues

The new record smashes the previous one of 6 hours, which was set in 1994 in Wetherby in Yorkshire, England, according to the Guinness World Records website.

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from NewsweekThe anonymous British street artist Banksy unveiled a new piece in New York City on Thursday. The 70-foot-long mural, which sits at the corner of Houston Street and the Bowery in downtown Manhattan, features a tally of days that Turkish artist and journalist Zehra Dogan has spent in prison. A small drawing of Dogan herself appears in the mural, peering out from behind one set of tally marks, which double as cell bars. Free Zehra Dogan is scrawled in the bottom right corner.

Dogan was sentenced to prison a year ago for a painting of the Turkish town of Nusaybin, destroyed by state security forces, with the Turkish flag flying over the ruins. She still has 18 months left to serve. According to The New York Times, she is not yet aware of the mural's existence. Banksy said in a statement to the Times, "I really feel for her. Ive painted things much more worthy of a custodial sentence."

2018-03-16T015110Z_1709870316_RC14E440B5D0_RTRMADP_3_ART-BANKSY-NEW-YORK

REUTERS/Ashlee Espinal

Trending: Dragon Ball FighterZ Z Unions: How Do They Work?

On Thursday evening, Dogan's painting was projected above the Bansky mural, with text reading, "Sentenced to two years, nine months and 22 days in jail for painting this picture."

According to Pen America, a nonprofit organization dedicated to defending the right to freedom of expression, Dogan was charged with having connections to Kurdistan Workers Party, a Turkish organization fighting an insurgency against the country's government.

Dogan was arrested in July 2016 after creating the painting, and tried in February 2017. During her trial, she argued that the painting was part of her work as a journalistshe is best-known for founding Jinha, a feminist Kurdish news agency. The art is based on an actual photo taken and distributed by the Turkish military, and yet the artist was sentenced by the Second High Criminal Court of Mardin province.

Story continues

Don't miss: Read the Queen's Formal Consent to 'Most Dearly Beloved Grandson' Prince Harry's Wedding to Meghan Markle

After she was sentenced, Dogan wrote in a tweet, now deleted, that she was given two years and 10 months only because I painted Turkish flags on destroyed buildings. However, [the Turkish government] caused this. I only painted it.

Banksy's protest mural of her imprisonment was a collaboration with another mysterious graffiti artist, Borf, who also faced jail time for his art.

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from NewsweekPhoto credit: Getty Images

From Prima

In addition to dealing with round-the-clock darkness in the winter and the constant threat of polar bears, the 2,000 residents in the remote Norwegian town of Longyearbyen must also follow one very strange law: it's illegal to die there.

Located on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard about halfway between mainland Norway and the North Pole, Longyearbyen is so cold that dying has been illegal there since 1950 when locals discovered that bodies weren't decomposing in the cemetery because of the frigid weather.

Photo credit: Getty Images

In fact, when scientists exhumed corpses of those who died in the 1918 flu pandemic in 1998, they were able to retrieve live samples of the deadly virus.

Photo credit: Getty Images

Inhabited mostly by coal miners, locals became so scared of diseases spreading after they found that bodies weren't decomposing, they made it illegal for any more people to buried in the local graveyard. While cremation urns are allowed to be buried there, so few people have taken up on this option that the terminally ill must leave the island and fly to the Norwegian mainland to spend their last days.

'If you seem to be about to expire, every effort will be made to send you to the mainland,' Jan Christian Meyer, from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, told The Sun.

However, there are very few people born here, too. While there is a small hospital in Svalbard, pregnant women are encouraged to travel to the mainland in advance of their due date.

Photo credit: Getty Images

These aren't the only reason why you probably don't want to move here anytime soon. The town is so far north that it stays dark in the winter for four months at a time with zero difference between night and day for nearly three of those months. There are also nearly 1,000 polar bears who call the island home, which pose a dangerous threat to locals.

But hey, you're basically guaranteed to see the Northern Lights there so maybe it's worth a trip. Just don't die.Specialist landscape products group Marshalls reported a 31% jump in full-year profit on Wednesday thanks to an improvement in operating margins.

In the year to the end of December, pre-tax profit rose to 46m from 35.3m as operating margins improved to 12% from 9.7% and revenue grew 3% from 2015 to 396.9m.

Sales to the domestic end market, which represents 31% of group sales, were up 10% for the year compared with 2015, and were particularly strong in the second half when they rose 14%.

Meanwhile, sales to the public sector and commercial end market, which represent 64% of group sales, were broadly in line with the prior year.

Marshalls said that based on public indicators, it continues to outperform its peers and gain market share.

Basic earnings per share rose 32% to 18.95p and the companys final ordinary dividend increased 22% to 5.80p per share.

Chief executive Martyn Coffey said: The group has again delivered significant profit growth in 2016 with the underlying indicators remaining supportive in Marshalls main end markets. The Construction Products Associations recently published Winter Forecast reflected a slight improvement in medium term growth assumptions compared with the Autumn Forecast.

Marshalls has a strong balance sheet and the groups innovative product range and strong market positions mean it is well placed to deliver continued growth and operational profit improvements as it implements its 2020 Strategy. Sales and order intake have been strong in the first couple of months of 2017.

At 0806 GMT, the shares were up up 7.6% to 340.40p.08:54

Trade is one aspect of India-United States relationship that has the most friction, a senior White House official has said even as he underlined that the Trump Administration is looking for a 'free, fair and reciprocal' trade with India.



The comment from White House came after President Donald Trump publicly raised the issue of high import duty levied by India on high-end motorcycles at least three times in a month and threatened a reciprocal duty on Indian exports to the US.



"The commitment to the relationship is very strong on both sides. If you had to point to a part of the relationship where you have the most friction, it certainly would be the trade side," a senior administration official said.



The official spoke on condition of anonymity to give a clarity on the various aspects of the US ties in South Asia, including India.



Insisting that the Trump Administration has been clear for a free, fair and reciprocal trade, the official said that there has been concerns raised about the trade deficit with India.



But he quickly pointed that this trade deficit has actually come down slightly more recently, based largely on India's imports of US energy.



"This administration is looking for a free, fair and reciprocal trade with India. And so is seeking to see some of those tariffs such as on a Harley Davidson motorcycles that are there. US is determined to find the opportunities to increase trade investment with India and does expect that there will be some sort of reciprocal dealings on the trade issues," the official said.



The senior administration official noted that Indian motorcycles that are imported into the US don't have any tariffs on them.



"And so the president has been clear that he's looking for a fairly reciprocal trade with India," the official said.



Responding to a series of question, the official said the Trump Administration has been on constant talks with India on trade issues.



Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale, who was in Washington DC this week met the US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.



At the same time the official indicated that trade issues is unlikely to be part of the soon to be held two plus two dialogue between the two countries involving their respective foreign and defense ministers.



In the absence of the Secretary of State, the two-plus-two dialogue has now been delayed and is likely to be held later this year after Mike Pompeo is confirmed by the Senate.



"I think, it's an ongoing discussion that we're having on the trade issues. The two plus two is focused a great deal on a defense security cooperation, diplomatic political cooperation just by virtue of the defence minister and defence secretary and the External Affairs Minister and Secretary of State. The trade issues are more of an ongoing dialogue that we're having with India," the official said. -- PTI

Five Doctors in New York are being Charged for a kickback money-making Scheme, according to The New York Times. The doctors received as much as $100,000 a year or more for prescribing a specific drug to their patients, who were unaware that the doctors were being bribed to do so. This abuse of power is especially troubling because the doctors were prescribing fentanyl, a highly addictive and dangerous substance.

Profits were paid out to the doctors out of a fake "speakers bureau" fund. Supposedly, the doctors were being paid for making educational presentations about the drugs.

But upon investigation, it turned out that the "speakers bureau" was just a coverup for giving doctors large sums of bribe money.

About the doctors

One of the doctors, Dr. Gordon Freedman, allegedly prescribed Subsys at an extremely high rate, becoming one of the top doctors in the country to recommend it to his patients. Subsys, a fentanyl spray, is distributed by Insys. In the end, Freedman made around $300,000 in fees from Insys for prescribing millions of dollars worth of the drug before he was caught.

Also, Freedman and Schlifstein once enjoyed a night out hosted by a pharmaceutical rep that cost $4,100. The money was spent on liquor and lap dances from strippers. The other doctors named in the federal case are Jeffrey Goldstein, Todd Schlifstein, Dialecti Voudouris, and Alexandru Burducea.

On Friday, they all pleaded not guilty. The five doctors being charged are currently out on a $200,000 bond.

More doctors taking kickbacks

A Rhode Island doctor, Jerrold Rosenberg, who was convicted of taking kickbacks from Insys, was sentenced to four years in prison in early March. He made $188,000 in bribe money. Another Michigan doctor, Gavin Awerbuch, was sentenced to two years in prison for taking bribes from Insys.

Fentanyl's dangers

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid and is known to be exponentially more powerful than morphine. It was meant to help with severe pain after serious surgeries, and in cancer patients who need additional pain control. It's highly addictive and has become a big part of the nation's opioid epidemic.

Most of the opioid overdoses related to heroin and synthetic non-methadone drugs in past years involved fentanyl.

Abusers can unknowingly use fentanyl, which can be very dangerous and fatal because it can be mixed into their heroin or other drugs. Because the substance is so dangerous, it's important for doctors to prescribe them only to patients that need it, and to do so responsibly.The sudden collapse of the 950-ton Bridge that connected Florida International University to a student housing area took everyone by surprise. At least six were killed and several vehicles were trapped under the debris on the highway following the collapse. It was an under-construction structure and the collapse has left the authorities clueless. The investigators will have to examine whether it was an avoidable incident because of the loss of lives.

New Zealand Herald reports that Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Chief Dave Downey has said that the identity of the victims have yet to be established and work was on to clear the debris as a priority.

Sweetwater Mayor Orlando Lopez has termed it as a national tragedy.

The bridge was a matter of pride

The design of the Florida International University Bridge was such that it could withstand a Category 5 hurricane, hence its sudden collapse over a six-lane highway was most unexpected. The bridge had been installed on Saturday and its purpose was to ensure safety for the students while crossing the busy road. It was funded by a grant from the US Department of Transportation and was to have been opened to the public only in 2019. It had undergone structural testing recently and its estimated lifespan had been put at 100 years. Obviously, the untimely failure will raise innumerable questions that will have to be answered.

Details of the bridge

According to Miami CBS Local, the bridge gave way and crumbled down onto vehicles on the highway below. Senator Bill Nelson has indicated that the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating the incident. Incidentally, work on its construction started in 2017 and it was expected to be completed in early 2019.

The main purpose of building the bridge was to offer a safe alternative to pedestrians. In fact, it was a part of a larger transportation initiative to provide a safer path for students of the Florida International University apart from local residents. It would have reduced traffic snarls in the area and been a boon to the people in the neighborhood.

NBC News has updated the death toll to six which could rise as the ground is cleared of debris. Reps of the FBI, NTSB, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration are investigating the incident in order to establish probable reasons for the tragedy. The bridge was constructed over the seven-lane Tamiami Trail to link the campus of FIU with the town of Sweetwater which is home to about 4,000 students.Theresa May was under great pressure to take some action against Russia for the alleged use of nerve gas against the ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter. She acted by expelling 23 Russian diplomats and imposing sanctions. One wonders whether the think tank had thought about the reaction, which has now come like a sting of a scorpion.

The Russian reaction is much more severe and not only have 23 British diplomats been expelled but the British consulate in St Petersburg is closed and the British Council stopped from carrying any activity in Russia.

The BBC has reported that the Russian reply is much more severe and shows that Russia is in no mood to play the second fiddle in the world of power stakes.

Boris Johnson

Another man who has queered the pitch is Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary. This man has stated that it was "overwhelmingly likely" that the nerve gas attack was authorized by President Putin. At the same time, his statement is just not backed by any evidence and one wonders whether his intent was just to grab headlines.

Though the EU nations have backed the UK, the fact remains with tortuous negotiations going on Brexit, the EU nations like Germany and France are not all that warm to the UK. Even Trump has not condemned Russia and asked for facts to emerge.

Johnson made a grave mistake by directly accusing a head of state of a crime without publishing any corroborative evidence.

A spy

The British reaction is perhaps an attempt to deflect from their responsibility for failure to provide adequate security to Sergei Skripal. In the world of espionage, a spy who betrays a nation is always hunted down and a look at the annals of the CIA, one can come across many cases.The fictional character James Bond created by Ian Fleming, a British author mirrors such actions.

The Russians have responded to the allegations by Johnson vociferously. Putin's spokesman has referred to the allegations as "shocking and unforgivable". One tends to agree with the Russians for Boris Johnson to make allegations without publishing proof is tantamount to a grave lapse.

British record

The British themselves do not have a clean record and when they ruled India they executed nationalists like Bhagat Singh in the dead of the night against the jail manual published by them.

At that time Britain got away as an imperial power but now the UK is a shadow of its old self and to try and make a pretense of being a great power is not the best thing to do. It will be in Britan's interest to scale down the confrontation with Russia.One of the most anticipated tours of 2018 roared into Youngstown, Ohio, and every metalhead in the state seemed to be in attendance. And why not? After all, the mighty Judas Priest had arrived to show off their new CD, Firepower, and, of course, to play some favorites from their nearly 50-year(!) career.

Kicking off the show was Black Star Riders. They had a very classic rock-meets metal sound and it was quite a powerful sound since they have three guitarists and a bassist. One of the ax holders was Scott Gorham of Thin Lizzy, which explained why the cover of The Boys Are Back In Town sounded so authentic.

Fans of Judas Priest will remember that Thin Lizzy opened the Epitaph tour, as well. Drummer Chad Szeliga was promised by Joe Motion Waller from Dysfunctional Ray to be very impressive, and he was.

Saxon takes the stage

Next up was Saxon, a legendary metal band in their own right. They were on tour with Judas Priest last time and just as before, the song Crusader brought the house down. A new song Nosferatu (The Vampire Waltz) was also performed from the bands latest offering, Thunderbolt whose title track also got delivered to Youngstown, went over splendidly. Both songs showed how the band has progressed over the years. Closing out the new offerings was They Played Rock And Roll, written about their 1979 tour with Motorhead.

Looking back played a role in bands show as Motorcycle Man, Denim and Leather, and the highlight, Princess of the Night were performed with the precision of surgeons. All songs were given a boost of fury by bassist Nibbs Carter who has the energy of ten men as he headbanged for the whole set. He displayed an amazing stage presence.

This meant that by the time Judas Priest was ready to rise, the crowd was primed and rockin'. Opening with one of the most impressive curtain vanishing acts ever seen (after War Pigs called the crowd in, as is the tradition), Guardian was heard before the band ripped mercilessly into Firepower. Rob Halford's signature voice sounded as if it was 30 years ago and he was a wonder to hear.

New songs, Lightning Strikes and Evil Never Dies were also played from "Firepower," though many fans did hope to hear even more from the groundbreaking new offering. Nothing showed the agelessness of Halford quite like the song Sinner did, however. A song from 1979's Stained Class platter about angels defeating demons called Saints in Hell was done for only the second time...ever. The animated backing graphics were red and black and showed the true meaning of this powerful track.

Rare metal gems were dusted off to the crowd's delight, including Grinder, the moving ballad Angel (which Rob only just noticed, with a laugh, came before Evil Never Dies"), Running Wild, and even Bloodstone were played.

Each was flawless as bassist Ian Hill stayed in his corner and swung is bass as if it were a weapon. The real treat was Painkiller, the title track from what some fans believe to be the quintessential Judas Priest CD. Drummer Scott Travis announced the song and dove into the instantly recognizable drum line with absolute force.

The crowd was wondering how producer Andy Sneap was going to learn all of those EXTREMELY complicated solos that Glenn Tipton played for that song (Sneap now has Tipton's post since the guitar legend can't tour due to Parkinson's). The answer was: He didn't. Judas Priest's Ritchie Faulkner, the six-string wizard to took retired K.K. Downing's post stepped up and managed to pull off the solo's with pinpoint perfection as a video of Tipton played on the screen behind the band.

Halford turned and lifted his arms towards the screen.

Bringing out the tears

Some people openly wept. Faulkner also took the solo for the bands well known, You Got Another Thing Comin' after Halfords classic WOH YEAH chant. Sneap did take solos for a few tracks and each time, he sounded very comfortable. Electric Eye saw some of his prowess shine, for example. By the time that the closer, Living After Midnight was played, everyone was shocked by how 19 songs had gone by so quickly and it left everyone wanting more.

Thankfully, a banner fell from the stage top that said, WE WILL BE BACK. In light of Tipton's illness, many had wondered, so it was good to see. It seems that JP has quite a bit of firepower left still in them.Jenelle Evans is said to be on the chopping block with MTV after she allegedly caught her "Teen Mom 2" producers off-guard by suddenly launching her own series on YouTube after her husband David Eason's firing. According to a new report, Evans' new show, "Off the Grid Adventures" completely blindsided her producers -- and may be a violation of the contact she is in with the network.

On March 14, Radar Online revealed that MTV put filming on "Teen Mom 2" with Jenelle Evans on hold after giving the boot to David Eason after he shared numerous homophobic tweets with his many fans and followers.

So, rather than sit idle and wait for her producers to return to North Carolina, the mother of three seemingly took matters into her own hands and revealed to her audience that she would be releasing new videos on my YouTube."

MTV was not in the loop with Jenelle Evans' spinoff plans

According to the report, those behind the scenes at the network were completely unaware that Jenelle Evans was planning to launch her own YouTube series and they may not be happy about her doing so. "[Jenelle] is under contract with them, an MTV source explained. The insider also said that network executives are in talks to shut Evans' new show down -- or to take legal action against their reality star.

As for why Evans would go behind MTV's back and launch her own spinoff of "Teen Mom 2," the Radar Online insider said that the mother of three was taunting the network as they continue to decide what they should do with her storyline since letting her husband go.

As fans may have heard, rumors have been swirling which suggest that Evans will be booted from the show because the network won't want to feature a girl whose husband won't be seen.

Jenelle Evans pulled one of her children from 'Teen Mom 2'

After MTV Press confirmed that they would no longer be working with David Eason, Evans announced on her Twitter page that she would no longer be showcasing her youngest child, one-year-old Ensley, on the show.

She also mentioned the possibility of taking Jace and Kaiser off the show but later deleted one of her tweets. After her post about Ensley was shared, numerous Twitter users suggested it was Eason who was behind Evans' decision to take Ensley off the show.

Jenelle Evans and her co-stars, including Kailyn Lowry, Briana Dejesus, Chelsea Houska, and Leah Messer, began filming the upcoming season of "Teen Mom 2" months ago but MTV has not yet confirmed when the series will return for season nine.Morgan J. Freeman may not be the most popular producer in the "Teen Mom OG" world if you ask Farrah Abraham, but it sounds like he doesn't take the firing of Abraham too seriously. The firing happened a few months ago and it sounds like he has moved on from the firing with the production of the show. Freeman briefly mentioned the firing on Twitter but refrained from talking about the production of the show and his role in the firing. Abraham decided to file a $5 million lawsuit against Viacom and MTV for wrongful termination. She claims that she is a victim and that she was subject to inequality and discrimination.

Of course, Freeman wasn't targeted directly in the lawsuit, but it's possible that he has been asked to avoid the topic completely when it comes to "Teen Mom OG" fans. It sounds like he's using his Twitter platform for political means instead. According to a new tweet, Morgan J. Freeman has been tweeting in support of gun control and he appears to be very much against Donald Trump and the Republican party.

A vocal supporter of gun control

On Twitter, he's been calling on companies to drop their connections to the NRA and he has supported students in their walkouts to support any action against gun control. He seems to be very passionate about creating safe schools for his kids, which makes sense as a parent.

Perhaps he wants to use his platform for something more important than discussing a reality star's job with a network, something he may not have any influence on whatsoever. But Farrah keeps bringing him up as if he is her point of reference.

Other than her other producers, she keeps talking badly about Morgan.

What about Farrah?

Right now, Farrah Abraham isn't filming "Teen Mom OG" and it's possible that she won't come back. She has slammed the show for being unsafe for her daughter Sophia, and she's not happy about the way the network has supposedly lied about her.

Right now, she's been promoting the webcam show that she was fired for doing. While some people may be interested in trying things out on the webcam, it's possible that Farrah won't be making the same amount of money as she did from MTV. It will be interesting to see where she ends up going with her career as she's no longer with MTV.

What do you think about Morgan J. Freeman not speaking out about Farrah? Do you think his time is better spent supporting gun control and the students, who recently walked out in support of gun control?The Los Angeles home that is best known for its use in the Quentin Tarantino film Pulp Fiction, is now for sale. The home is located in Studio City and is a single-story home made up of three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The asking price is $1,395,000.

Real Estate firm The Agency, confirmed the sale of this popular home. The home is located near restaurants and is near an award-winning school district and has its place in film history. This property was the house used by the character Jimmy in Pulp Fiction.

'Pulp Fiction' home was a key part of the cult classic

The home is where John Travoltas and Samuel L.

Jacksons two contract killer characters fled after Travoltas character accidentally shots a person in the face while they were trying to get information from them. In the famous scene, Tarantinos character was shocked that the two hitmen would show up with a dead body in their vehicle, just before his wife was due back home. Tarantinos character ended up calling their boss and fixer, Winston Wolfe.

The sellers highlight the homes role in the film and even use a few "Pulp Fiction" artworks in the photos. Outside of its use in a movie, its a fairly ordinary home. The home allows lots of natural light. The kitchen has been updated with a brighter white and the wallpaper has been removed.

The washer and dryer are still enclosed behind bi-fold doors. One of the bedrooms still has the window seat that was featured in the film, where Wolfe spoke on the phone to an associate.

The property is more about new construction instead of preserving

The carpeting has been replaced with hardwood floors, giving it a shinier look.

The house has managed to be impeccably maintained and retains many of the vintage features, including the retro bathroom sinks.

According to the official listing, it is an amazing development opportunity that has permits that have been approved and paid for. Construction has been approved, giving anyone the opportunity to begin construction of the 4,200 square-foot home, which includes the garage and patio.

The agency has been holding open houses for several weeks now and the last open house is today in Studio City.

The property is being sold more as a development opportunity instead of a home. The property is shovel ready. This is not the only film-featured home for sale right now. In Italy, a property used in the Oscar-winning film Call Me by Your Name, is for sale. Right now nobody has said if anything will replace the house. A buyer could preserve the home as homage to the cult classic film.The requested page is currently unavailable on this server.

Back to [RTHK News Homepage]The following companies are subsidiares of TransDigm Group: ARA Deutschland GmbH, ARA Holding GmbH, Abbott Electronics Ltd., Acme Aerospace, Acme Aerospace Inc., Adams Rite Aerospace GmbH, Adams Rite Aerospace Inc., Advanced Inflatable Products Limited, Aero-Instruments, AeroControlex Group Inc., Aerosonic, Aerosonic LLC, Air-Sea Survival Equipment Trustee Limited, Airborne Acquisition Inc., Airborne Global Inc., Airborne Holdings Inc., Airborne Systems, Airborne Systems Canada Ltd., Airborne Systems Group Limited, Airborne Systems Holdings Limited, Airborne Systems Limited, Airborne Systems NA Inc., Airborne Systems North America Inc., Airborne Systems North America of CA Inc., Airborne Systems North America of NJ Inc., Airborne Systems Pension Trust Limited, Airborne UK Acquisition Limited, Airborne UK Parent Limited, Aircraft Materials Limited, AmSafe, AmSafe Aviation (Chongqing) Ltd., AmSafe Bridport (Kunshan) Co. Ltd., AmSafe Bridport (Private) Ltd., AmSafe Bridport Ltd., AmSafe Global Holdings Inc., AmSafe Global Services (Private) Limited, AmSafe Inc., Arkwin Industries, Arkwin Industries Inc., Aviation Technologies, Aviation Technologies Inc., Avionic Instruments, Avionics Instruments, Avionics Specialties Inc., AvtechTyee Inc., Beta Transformer Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Beta Transformer Technology Corporation, Beta Transformer Technology LLC, Breeze-Eastern Corporation, Breeze-Eastern LLC, Bridport Erie Aviation Inc., Bridport Holdings Inc., Bridport Ltd., Bridport-Air Carrier Inc., Bruce Aerospace Inc., Bruce Industries, CDA InterCorp, CEF Industries LLC, Champion Aerospace, Cobham, DDC Electronics K.K., DDC Electronics Ltd., DDC Electronics Private Limited, DDC Electronique S.A.R.L., DDC Elektronik GmbH, DDL195 Limited, Data Device Corp., Data Device Corporation, Dukes Aerospace Inc., Edlaw Limited, Electromech Technologies LLC, Elektro-Metall Export GmbH, Elektro-Metall Paks KFT, Esterline, Extant Components Group Holdings Inc., Extant Components Group Intermediate Inc., GQ Parachutes Limited, HARCO LLC, Harco, Hartwell Corporation, ILC Holdings Inc., Irvin Aerospace Limited, IrvinGQ France SAA, IrvinGQ Limited, Johnson Liverpool LLC, Kirkhill Elastomers, Kirkhill Inc., Kunshan Shield Restraint Systems Ltd., MarathonNorco Aerospace Inc., McKechnie Aerospace, McKechnie Aerospace (Europe) Ltd., McKechnie Aerospace DE Inc., McKechnie Aerospace DE LP, McKechnie Aerospace Holdings Inc., McKechnie Aerospace US LLC, Mecanismos de Matamoros S.A. de C.V., Militair Aviation Ltd., Norco, Nordisk Asia Pacific Limited, Nordisk Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, Nordisk Aviation Products (Kunshan) Ltd., Nordisk Aviation Products AS, North Hills Signal Processing Corp., North Hills Signal Processing Overseas Corp., Pascall Electronics Limited, Pemberton 123 Ltd., Pexco Aerospace, Pexco Aerospace Inc., PneuDraulics, PneuDraulics Inc., Rancho TransTechnology Corporation, Retainers Inc., SSP Industries, Schneller, Schneller Asia Pte. Ltd., Schneller S.A.R.L., Schroth Safety Products, Semco Instruments, Semco Instruments Inc., Shield Restraint Systems Inc., Shield Restraint Systems Ltd., Signal Processing Matamoros S.A. de C.V., Skandia, Skandia Inc., Skurka Aerospace, Skurka Aerospace Inc., Symetrics, Symetrics Industries LLC, Symetrics Technology Group LLC, TDG Germany GmbH, TEAC Aerospace Holdings Inc., TEAC Aerospace Technologies Inc., TTERUSA Inc., Tactair Fluid Controls Inc., Takata Protection Systems, Technical Airborne Components Industries SPRL, Telair International, Telair International AB, Telair International GmbH, Telair International LLC, Telair International Services PTE Ltd (JV 70.5%), Telair US LLC, Texas Rotronics Inc., TransDigm (Barbados) SRL, TransDigm European Holdings Limited, TransDigm Ireland Ltd., TransDigm Receivables LLC, TransDigm UK Holdings plc, Transicoil (Malaysia) Sendirian Berhad, Transicoil LLC, Whippany Actuation Systems, Whippany Actuation Systems LLC, XCEL Power Systems Ltd., Young & Franklin, and Young & Franklin Inc..Istock

Well, youre reading this, so you might be a bit cranky. The testosterone, estrogen and progesterone shifts we experience during menopause and andropause (AKA manopause) have a way of messing with our moods, explains Tasneem Bhatia, a board-certified integrative medicine physician and author of Super Woman Rx. A less-than-dreamy nights sleep can put the screw-face on you, too. And the energy it takes to be irritable, sad or pissed off is getting in the way of your focusing on what you want to do. If you can pinpoint what that is. Sometimes, lack of focus or boredom is the buzzkill. No worries. AARP surveyed the science on attitude adjustment. Any one of these proven tricks below can scrub that scowl off your face pronto. Cmon, get happy!



1. Pop a vitamin and B happy. Regularly taking a B-complex vitamin can help boost mood, Bhatia says. No, this wont take effect immediately. But walking to the wellness cabinet will get your blood circulating and your mind off your worries.

2. Breathe s-l-o-w-l-y. Stanford University scientists have identified a group of nerve cells in the brain stem that spy on our respiratory rate. These cerebral sentinels relay messages to the locus coeruleus, a structure that drives brainwide arousal, including stress and panic. Slow, controlled breathing signals to your nervous system that all is well, which triggers tranquility  even if youre faking it until you make it.

3. Try aromatherapy. Use lavender or sandalwood oil, Bhatia suggests.

4. Push play. Multiple studies show that enjoying music enhances self-awareness, a sense of belonging and regulation of mood and arousal. Researchers pinpointed that tunes helped mature listeners to feel less lonely, reminisce about happy times and relax.

5. Dance it out. It worked for Dr. Cristina Yang on Greys Anatomy Dancing has been shown to reduce depression, anxiety and stress, and boost self-esteem, body image, coping ability and overall sense of well-being, with the benefits lasting over time. In one study, it even helped control emotional eating in obese women who eat as a response to stress, according to the Berkeley Wellness website, in collaboration with the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health.

6. Replay what went well today. Write down three things that turned out positively since you woke up this morning. Oh! You woke up this morning. Theres one right there. This simple daily exercise, from leading positive psychology expert Martin Seligman, is a one-minute mood lifter that has been proven to improve life satisfaction levels.

7. Watch a cat or dog video. Assistant professor Jessica Gall Myrick, of the University of Indiana Bloomington, surveyed almost 7,000 people about their viewing of cat videos and how it affects their mood. Participants were more energetic and felt more positive after watching cat-related online media. They also reported fewer negative instances of anxiety, annoyance and sadness. The pleasure they got from watching cat videos was greater than any guilt they felt about procrastinating. If LOLcat memes and videos aren't your thing, there is recent evidence that the popularity of online felines has been surpassed by dogs. Either way, its instant pet therapy.

8. Beat boredom with a puzzle. Think fast! The cerebral supercharge you get from quick problem-solving may trigger the brains novelty-loving reward system, according to a joint study by Princeton and Harvard university researchers. Check out games.aarp.org for free jigsaw and crossword puzzles, plus solitaire, mah-jongg, card, arcade and other games.

9. Click here and Create the Good. Youll access AARPs volunteer portal and find an opportunity worth looking forward to. A large study of British adults linked volunteering in middle age and beyond to emotional well-being. Subjects younger than 40 didnt enjoy that mood boost.

10. Perk up with coffee. Harvard research associated coffee drinking with a lower risk of depression among women.

11. Step outside and get some sun. A recent study in the Journal of Affective Disorders took six years of archived patients records from therapists and analyzed what the weather was on each date that the 16,000-plus patients attended the therapy sessions. On sunny days, they reported less emotional distress.

12. Focus on what you can control. Once, we might have been rattled by a crying baby or a hellish commute  stressors that blow over. As we journey through our 50s, 60s and 70s, some sources of distress may be lasting: chronic pain, sadness about a lost loved one, a disability, diminished connection with adult children whove moved away, or a lost sense of purpose or structure after retirement. Acknowledging and grieving a loss frees energy for you to boot up your coping strategies, focus on what you can control and embrace joyful new activities, psychologists say. But if the blues persist, get screened for depression.

13. Smile. Our facial expressions can reverse-engineer our moods. Thats why researchers in Wales discovered that people whod had Botox treatment for frown lines  which made it harder to look sad  actually felt less sad. Conversely, people whod had Botox for crows feet, which made it harder to crinkle those eyes into a smile, felt more depressed. Want a reason to smile? Studies show we get happier with age.The survey found that nearly two-thirds of investors age 55 and older liked to get at least some input on their investment decisions from a spouse or partner. Forty-four percent discussed market moves with their significant other, though they made the final decision themselves. Another 20 percent said that they shared responsibility for investments equally with their partners. Only 34 percent said that they were solely responsible for their investment decisions.

Those responses contrast with those of millennial investors, fewer than half of whom consult with their partners when making investments. Slightly more than half of Gen-X investors talk things over with their partners or give them some say.

Most older investors also seem to expect disclosure from their partners. Twenty-five percent said they were "very uncomfortable" and 33 percent "somewhat uncomfortable" with their partners making investing decisions without their input. Twenty-nine percent said they were "somewhat comfortable" with partners making moves on their own, while 13 percent said they were "very comfortable" if they dont get a say.

Mike Loewengart, vice president of Investment Strategy at E*TRADE, said in a press release that working together produces many tangible long-term benefits, which is likely not lost on older generations who know that sharing objectives and aligning investment strategies can pay serious dividends down the road.Herreid man admits secretly recording his daughter, others changing

A Herreid man admits he placed a camera in his daughter's room to secretly record women changing.SANTA FE  About 2 1/2 years after acquiring property for a new campus, the New Mexico School for the Arts broke ground Friday at the former Sanbusco Center in Santa Fes Railyard.

The $30 million campus, being developed in three phases, is expected to be open for classes at the start of the 2019 school year.

The statewide charter school, which has operated since 2010 at the old St. Francis Cathedral School in downtown Santa Fe, purchased Sanbusco  an old warehouse complex that had been converted to shops and restaurants  in September 2015.

Head of School Eric Crites said the Sanbusco location, at 72,668 square feet, is about three times bigger, meaning all the facilities the school needs can be on site. Dance students have had to be bused to an off-campus site, Crites said, which reduced instructional time.

It is not designed to accommodate 220 teenagers doing a dual curriculum program in arts and academics, so were just bursting at the seams over there, Crites said of the schools current location. Our musicians currently practice in hallways and stairwells. We dont have practice rooms for them. We just dont have space.

The school, named a National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education in 2016, hopes to grow to about 400 students in coming years and will build dormitories, on what is now a parking lot, where Crites hopes to house about 100 students. The NMSA currently rents rooms for about 20 students at the Immaculate Heart of Mary retreat near St. Johns College and buses those kids to and from school every day.

The arts school currently has students from seven counties, most of them from northern New Mexico. Crites said the bigger space, dorms and the Rail Runner station near Sanbusco should convince more students from across the state to show interest in the competitive-entry school.

We are turning away qualified students every year, so one of the big things were looking forward to is being able to welcome more passionate young artists from around the state, Crites said.

Having this location, which is near the Rail Runner, near where the commuter buses drop off, is perfect for those students. In terms of meeting our mission of being a statewide school, being by those transportation hubs makes it even more possible.

The school offers four arts disciplines  visual arts, music, theater and dance  and a minor in creative writing and literature. The schools academic program is funded by state government.

Money for the arts program is dependent on its foundation  which spent $7.3 million to buy the Sanbusco property  and other private sector support.CRESSON, Texas  Amber Gutierrez repeatedly dialed the cellphone number of her boyfriend on Friday, hoping that the man missing after a Texas chemical plant exploded would answer or rescuers would hear the sound and find him.

Dylan Mitchells phone still rings a day after the blasts, giving her hope that he is alive, but she hasnt heard from authorities searching the plant.

Resting her elbows on a ranch gate near the site of explosions at a Tri-Chem Industries plant in Cresson, 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of Dallas, Gutierrez waited Friday afternoon for news along with Mitchells brother and cousin.

Gutierrez said Mitchell moved with the company from their Arlington warehouse when they opened the plant about a year ago in Cresson.

He did everything around here, she said, gazing at the partially collapsed chemical plant. He gave his life to this place  literally.

Two other workers were injured in the explosion. One was released from the hospital after being treated for chemical contamination while the other remained in serious condition with severe burns from the waist up.

Tri-Chems Cresson plant stored chemicals that were toxic, flammable and corrosive, according to Hood County records of the companys 2017 Tier 2 chemical inventory. The county did not have company emergency response plans in its files.

The intermingling of chemicals spilled from ruptured drums, the still-smoldering fire and a rush of outside air coming in as heavy equipment removed the 15,000-square-foot (1,400-square-meter) buildings collapsed metal beams all threatened to trigger another boom.

Its a land mine, Hood County Fire Marshal Ray Wilson said Friday.

The search for Mitchell proceeded slowly Thursday evening and all day Friday while hazardous material and firefighter crews took turns evaluating risks. Work was halted when night fell on the scene and would continue Saturday, Wilson said.

Wilson said the plant contained acids that react to heat, pressure and water, which is why they havent yet turned on the fire hose.

Texas Department of Public Safety Staff Sgt. Earl Gillum said experts determined there were no air quality issues Thursday, but that the site remains dangerous because of the chemicals still to be cleaned up.

There is a fertilizer plant adjacent to the Tri-Chem plant, but Wilson said there was no known threat to that facility.

Investigators believe a worker dragging his foot along the floor while chemicals were being mixed sparked Thursdays explosion.

A medical helicopter landed Thursday at MotorSport Ranch, a private race track several miles from the plant, but the worker was too injured to fly, according to the ranchs director of safety and volunteer Cresson firefighter, David Piontkowski.

He said the man was upright and speaking, though so badly burned that medics had to drill into his shoulder bone to deliver morphine to keep him from going into shock.

The worker was taken by ambulance to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas.

Jessica Gregg told television station KXAS that the man taken to Parkland was 27-year-old Jason Speegle, her son-in-law. Catherine Bradley, a spokeswoman at Parkland, said Speegle was in serious condition Friday.

Another worker was treated for less severe injuries and released from a hospital in Granbury on Friday.

Wilson said a deputy fire marshal was hospitalized Thursday with breathing difficulties, but was treated and released.

___

Associated Press writer Jamie Stengle contributed to this report from Dallas.FORT CARSON, Colo.  A wildfire that started on a southern Colorado Army post amid dry, windy weather jumped the post boundary on Friday, destroyed an unknown number of structures and forced the evacuation of at least 250 homes.

Army Col. Ron Fitch said infantry and helicopter units were training for an upcoming deployment when the fire broke out at Fort Carson outside Colorado Springs.

Officials havent said whether the exercise ignited the blaze or whether the training involved firing live ammunition.

Fitch, the garrison commander, said the training had to go on despite the fire-prone conditions.

We have to train in order to prepare those soldiers, he said at a news conference.

Fitch and El Paso County Sheriff Bill Elder said they did not yet know whether any homes were among the structures that were destroyed.

There are structures that we have lost, Elder said. I cant tell you how many.

No deaths or injuries have been reported.

An elementary school in the nearby town of Fountain was evacuated as a precaution.

Fitch said the fire was made up of two blazes. One ignited Friday, and an earlier fire flared up and merged with the new one.

The combined fires had burned about 3 square miles (8 square kilometers) by nightfall. Fitch did not know how much of the fire had been contained.

Winds were 20 to 30 miles per hour (32 to 48 kilometers per hour) at the fire Friday afternoon, National Weather Service meteorologist Eric Petersen said. Gusts reached nearly 40 mph (64 kph). Humidity was only about 7 to 10 percent.More than two months after Albuquerque police made an arrest in the stabbing death of a homeless man off the North Diversion Channel bike path, they say they are looking for two persons of interest in the case.

Those two people, Florence Flo King and Matthew Yogi Bernal, are both mentioned in the criminal complaint charging 35-year-old Charles Ziegler. He was indicted on murder, conspiracy and other charges. In jail and court records, he is also referred to as Charles Zigler.

Eric Hicks, 33, was stabbed to death and left on the side of the bike path near Candelaria on Sept. 15.

According to the complaint, an acquaintance of Zieglers told detectives that when she asked him if he killed this guy he said yeah, it was a call passed down. She told detectives Ziegler said King had lured Hicks under a bridge to where Ziegler waited with a one-legged man named Yogi to stab him.

When detectives talked with Ziegler in early December, he told them Hicks hung out with Bernal and used to date King, according to the complaint.

On Friday, APD said it was asking the public for help finding King and Bernal.

Both individuals are homeless and frequent the area of San Mateo and Cutler, the flier reads. They are known to hold signs and panhandle.

Detective Jodi Gonterman, who investigated the case, wrote in an email that they had not been able to find King or Bernal. She also said several people were involved in the slaying.

Zieglers attorney, Chris Dodd, said he is disappointed to know police are still looking for people central to the case.

Theyre supposed to wait, he said. Theyre supposed to do their investigation, figure out their investigation and find everyone. Why are they only now saying they need help finding these people?

Dodd recently filed several motions asking the court to order another mans DNA tested and medical records released because he believes there is substantial evidence suggesting that man committed the murder and Ziegler did not.

According to the motions, an inmate at the Metropolitan Detention Center told the defense that man had told him he stabbed Hicks and he had a cut on his left hand from the fight.

Last November, detectives said they believed Hicks death was connected to the stabbing deaths of two other homeless men who had been killed and left in that part of town since May. APD has not commented on that line of inquiry again.Copyright  2018 Albuquerque Journal

Around the country, tens of millions of highly radioactive, spent nuclear fuel rods used in power plants await permanent disposal.

A site in southeastern New Mexico has been proposed to house the nations spent nuclear fuel until a permanent repository can be built.

The proposal is in the midst of the licensing process with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. But a number of financial, regulatory, public support and political challenges remain before the project could come to fruition.

Currently, many of the fuel rods are temporarily entombed in above-ground steel-and concrete-lined casks, while rods that are still too hot sit in pools of constantly circulating water to keep a catastrophic nuclear chain reaction from occurring.

The plan was, originally, to store the rods in the pools until they cooled enough to be reprocessed into additional fuel, a process the Carter administration ended up banning due to fears of nuclear proliferation.

With no permanent disposal site expected to be completed until mid-century at best, the fuel rods remain in the crowded pools and in dry storage awaiting a place of repose.

The NRC accepted the application for review of the New Mexico site at the end of February.

This is the missing piece of the system to manage the back end of the fuel cycle, said John Heaton, chairman of the Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance, a limited liability company made up of Eddy and Lea counties and the cities of Carlsbad and Hobbs. The Alliance is working on the project with Holtec International, a supplier of equipment and systems for the energy industry headquartered in Jupiter, Fla.

The Alliance purchased about 1,000 acres of land located between Carlsbad and Hobbs for a consolidated interim storage site.

Heaton said the project will likely cost $2.4 billion when its all said and done; not much, he said, when compared to the taxpayer money the project could save.

He cited a 2016 study by Oak Ridge National Laboratory that predicted $15 billion would be saved by 2040 if a consolidated interim storage facility is used, and the savings would increase from there.

The 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act stipulated that the federal government would take ownership of spent nuclear fuel for placement in a permanent repository by 1998.

When that didnt happen, utility companies sued the U.S. Department of Energy.

As a result, the DOE has reimbursed companies  and continues to do so  for the temporary storage at power plants around the country.

A Blue Ribbon Commission of the Barack Obama administration determined that by 2020, the DOE will have spent $22 billion on those costs.

Consolidated interim storage is really the quickest path for DOE to take title to the spent fuel and stop the lawsuit, Heaton said.

Richard Zuercher is a spokesman for Virginia-based Dominion Energy, which operated four U.S. nuclear power stations until 2013, when low natural gas prices caused the company to close its plant in Wisconsin.

All of the spent fuel from that facility is sitting on site in dry storage casks that cost around $1 million apiece, with a full-time security team in place.

The government had promised to ultimately dispose of the fuel. That was a promise made to the communities that hosted these nuclear facilities, Zuercher said. These facilities were not made to be permanent facilities.

Zuercher said Dominions view on interim storage falls in line with the Nuclear Energy Institute, which supports consolidated interim storage of spent fuel.

Rod McCullum, senior director of fuel and decommissioning at NEI, pointed out that, in many cases, nuclear power plants are decommissioned and the spent fuel on site is all that is keeping the sites from being repurposed.

Heaton has touted the proposed site as safe and secure, as well as being in close proximity to utilities and to rail lines, which is most likely how the spent fuel will be transported, because of its extreme weight.

Even if the project is licensed, though, there will still be a long road ahead.

The Nuclear Waste Policy Act would need to be amended to allow waste to be transported to an interim site, but most of New Mexicos congressional delegation has already expressed opposition to the project  at least until plans for permanent disposal are in place.

I wont support an interim disposal site without a plan for permanent disposal  whether the site is in southeastern New Mexico or anywhere else in the country  because that nuclear waste could be orphaned there indefinitely, Sen. Tom Udall said in a statement.

Fellow Democrats Sen. Martin Heinrich and Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who is running for governor this year, provided similar statements.

Republican Rep. Steve Pearce said any nuclear storage facility must come with strong support by the communities that will host it.

The Yucca Mountain project in Nevada, intended to be a permanent repository for the nations spent nuclear fuel, has largely languished since Obama pulled funding for the project in 2011.

A federal resolution that would amend the Nuclear Waste Policy Act to allow for interim storage was introduced in the House in June 2017 and is pending.

Democratic Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, who sits on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, voted against favorably reporting the legislation last year.

Another amendment to the NWPA introduced in January last year may provide a path toward funding the consolidated interim storage project.

The Nuclear Waste Fund, which once collected fees from utility companies to be used to fund a permanent repository, now contains nearly $40 billion.

House Resolution 474 would allow the funds to be used for a consolidated interim storage facility. It would also authorize the U.S. Department of Energy to take title of the spent fuel and to enter into contracts to create a consolidated interim storage facility.

That aside, many have expressed concerns about the safety risks involved in carting highly radioactive waste thousands of miles.

Its not safe, which is why the people who have it want to get rid of it, said Don Hancock, director of the Nuclear Waste Safety program at Albuquerques Southwest Research and Information Center. A lot of us believe in improving storage where it is.

Hancock also said the cost of building railroad tracks to connect the current storage sites and the Holtec site to existing railroads and other transportation costs would negate any savings proponents allege.

The idea that its saving the taxpayers money isnt true, Hancock said.

According to Holtec documents, the company estimates rail lines will cost $12.78 million.

But Hancock said not all existing railroads will be able to handle the weight of a loaded transport cask, which he said will weigh at least 371,000 pounds.

Someone is going to have to invest a LOT more money than that to upgrade the railroads, he wrote in an email.

Bob Alvarez, a former senior policy adviser to the Secretary of Energy and board member of the Los Alamos Study group, said its also unclear what would need to be done before transporting the spent fuel.

Some of the casks, which have been sitting around for decades in some cases, may not be appropriate for transport and may require repackaging, which adds an additional price tag.

Alvarez said for some reactors, the cost of repackaging could be as much as $1 billion.

Theres sort of an element of magical thinking on this stuff, he said.

Gov. Susana Martinez, the cities of Carlsbad and Hobbs and Lea and Eddy counties have expressed support for the project and touted its potential economic benefits.

I support the ELEA and its member cities and counties in their effort to establish a consolidated interim storage facility in southeastern New Mexico that will be regulated by the high safety and technical standards of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Martinez wrote in a 2015 letter to then-Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz.

But opposition does exist.

Rose Gardner of the Alliance for Environmental Strategies, who lives in Eunice, argued that New Mexico is home to no nuclear power plants; why should the state take responsibility for waste generated largely on the East Coast?

Shes also unconvinced of the safety of Holtecs containment system.

Noel Marquez, a community artist who lives on a farm in Eddy County, said he believes the areas poverty and low English proficiency rate has made it a target for facilities such as the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, which permanently houses low-level nuclear waste, and the one the Alliance and Holtec are proposing.

If they dont want the poison where its at, why would we want it? Marquez said. We feel threatened.A lead engineer responsible for a pedestrian bridge that collapsed near Miami left a voicemail message for a state transportation official two days before the crash warning of some cracking, state officials said Friday night.

The engineer with the private contractor FIGG did not consider it a safety issue, he said. The message was not retrieved until Friday because the Florida Department of Transportation official to whom the voicemail was directed was out of the office on assignment, the state agency said. The message was left on a land line.

Hey Tom, this is Denney Pate with FIGG bridge engineers. Calling to, uh, share with you some information about the FIU pedestrian bridge and some cracking thats been observed on the north end of the span, the pylon end of that span we moved this weekend, the engineer said, according to a transcript of the call released by the Florida Department of Transportation.

Um, so, uh, weve taken a look at it and, uh, obviously some repairs or whatever will have to be done but from a safety perspective we dont see that theres any issue there so were not concerned about it from that perspective although obviously the cracking is not good and somethings going to have to be, ya know, done to repair that.

FIGG Bridge Group designed the bridge. An outside public relations representative for the company, Cheryl Stopnick, said Friday night that FIGG executives are conferring on a response but did not yet have one.

The company added  in an apparent reference to its engineers conclusion that safety was not an issue  that the evaluation was based on the best available information at that time.

The companys statement said employees are heartbroken by the loss of life, and pledged: We will pursue answers to find out what factors led to this tragic situation.

Pate did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

In its statement, the transportation agency pointed to another potential missed opportunity to identify problems.

On Thursday, shortly before the bridge collapsed, a consultant to the department met with members of the team responsible for the project. There was no mention of safety concerns regarding the structure at that meeting, the state said.

The responsibility to identify and address life-safety issues and properly communicate them is the sole responsibility of the FIU design build team, the state agency said. At no point during any of the communications above did FIGG or any member of the FIU design build team ever communicate a life-safety issue.

The transportation agency said it released the voicemail recording in the service of full transparency.

Asked what prompted the disclosure, an official pointed to a statement that accompanied the call transcript: As FDOT assists in these investigations, we will continue our internal review and release all pertinent information as quickly as possible while ensuring its accuracy.

Earlier Friday, authorities made a grim announcement: The death toll in the bridge collapse had climbed to six  and more victims may be buried in the rubble.

Our first priority is getting to those victims, Juan Perez, director of the Miami-Dade Police Department, said Friday morning. But, he added, it is a slow and painstaking process to break the debris into smaller pieces for removal, and to reach the vehicles that were crushed when the 960-ton span collapsed Thursday afternoon.

The foot bridge was designed to connect the city of Sweetwater with the sprawling campus of Florida International University, and it was still being installed when it came crashing down. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said suspension cables on the bridge were being tightened when it collapsed.

Sweetwater Mayor Orlando Lopez said Friday that one of the victims in the accident was an FIU student. We are truly saddened to hear that, Lopez told reporters at a news conference.

An Ecuadorian official, Maria Fernanda Espinosa,announced on social mediaFriday that Alexa Duran, the 18-year-old daughter of an Ecuadorian father, had been killed in the collapse. A friend of Duranstold the Miami Heraldthat the FIU student was the funniest person she knew, someone who always lit up any room.

Krista Schmidt, the president of the student government association at FIU, announced they would hold a memorial Wednesday.

Perez, the police director, said officials would not speculate about the likely number of fatalities until the recovery process is complete. Authorities want to bring closure to worried family members, he said, but cant confirm identities of who is underneath the rubble. Were caught in a bad place right now, he said.

Jorge Fraga and his family have been calling hospitals, crying, and asking everyone about his uncle, Rolando Fraga Hernandez.

We dont know anything, Fraga said. We think his car is under the bridge.

His uncle, a friendly 60-year-old originally from Cuba who had run an import-export business in Miami for many years, had been missing since 1:30 Thursday afternoon. No one could tell them anything. We dont know what to think, Fraga said.

Our primary focus is to remove all of the cars and all of the victims in a dignified manner and not compromise the investigation in the process, Miami-Dade County Deputy Mayor Maurice Kemp said Friday. The investigation is vital, because we want to ensure that this type of accident doesnt happen again locally, or anywhere in this country.

The National Transportation Safety Board, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Federal Highway Administration are investigating, as well as the county police departments homicide detectives. A team of county prosecutors arrived at the scene Friday, as well.

The foot bridge, which had been hailed for its innovative construction method, collapsed over a busy road west of Miami, crushing numerous vehicles and leaving rescue workers racing to free victims from chunks of concrete and snapped metal. It had just been put in place across Southwest Eighth Street, on Saturday, and had not opened to pedestrians.

Vehicles were stopped at a red light when the bridge crashed down about 1:30 p.m. It had been designed to make it safer for students to cross the frenetic roadway.

It was going to be a significant project, Rubio said Thursday night. To see it on the ground and underneath it those who died and who were injured is a tragedy.

The cause of the collapse will be fully investigated, he promised: The victims and their families deserve to know what went wrong. There will be an extraordinary review into what the errors were and what led to this catastrophic collapse.

Later, Rubio posted on social media: The cables that suspend the #Miami bridge had loosened & the engineering firm ordered that they be tightened. They were being tightened when it collapsed today.

The NTSB had been told construction workers were on the bridge at the time of the collapse, said Robert Sumwalt, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board.

He said his investigative team got to the area near the bridge about 10 p.m. Thursday and stayed until 2 a.m. before returning later Friday morning. They expect to remain for about a week for a detailed probe. They had not yet been able to get close to the scene because of the recovery efforts, Sumwalt said. Our entire purpose in being here is to find out what happened so we can keep it from happening again.

By Friday, the rescue operation had become a recovery effort. Miami-Dade Fire Chief Dave Downey said that after listening, visual and canine searches, weve determined that theres no longer any survivors.

President Donald Trump responded to the heartbreaking bridge collapse Thursday eveningwith prayers, plus praise for the first responders.

Alexander Concha, 36, and Ivy Polanco, 23, were about to have lunch Thursday at Panthers Boulevard Cafe, about a block away from the bridge. Suddenly, they heard wailing sirens and helicopters buzzing overhead.

Our first reaction was, we hope its not the bridge, Concha said. On the side where it collapsed, it didnt seem very secure. It seemed very unsafe.

The bridge collapsed during Florida Internationals spring break.

Its very lucky that we are on spring break and that this didnt happen during rush hour, said Polanco, an FIU student. It could have been so much worse.

Florida International University on Saturday had touted the bridges first-of-its kind construction method, and hailed the permanent installation of the bridges main span. It stretched 174 feet and weighed 960 tons, according to an FIU news release, and was built using accelerated bridge construction methods that were being worked on at the university.

This method of construction reduces potential risks to workers, commuters and pedestrians and minimizes traffic interruptions, the release said.

When the bridge was installed, crews using an automated process lifted the span from its supports, turned it 90 degrees across eight lanes and lowered it in place, the release said. The university said it was the largest pedestrian bridge moved by that method, known as self-propelled modular transportation, in U.S. history.

This project is an outstanding example of the ABC method, Atorod Azizinamini, chairman of FIUs Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, said at the time. Building the major element of the bridge  its main span superstructure  outside of the traveled way and away from busy Eighth Street is a milestone.

Last year, the Miami Herald reported that an FIU student was killed while crossing Southwest Eighth Street.

The university, a major state school that has experienced burgeoning enrollment in recent years, had announced Wednesday it would begin issuing fines as part of a pedestrian safety campaign to help protect students walking to campus from Sweetwater and nearby Westchester. The new bridge was scheduled to be completed in early 2019.

Just last week we were celebrating the expanse being completed  and now we are here dealing with a tragedy, Sweetwater Mayor Orlando Lopez said Thursday.

The main builder of the bridge, Munilla Construction Management (MCM), is a major South Florida construction firm that has been hired to rebuild expressways; update part of Miami International Airport; and construct a new test track for Miamis Metrorail system.

Increasingly, MCM has also successfully bid on federal contracts, winning almost $130 million in work since 2013. The largest contract is for building a school at Guantanamo Bay Naval Station.

MCM is a major contributor to politicians in Miami-Dade County and has been involved in dozens of lawsuits over the last decade, but often for much smaller issues. This month, the firm was sued for damages when a makeshift bridge collapsed under the weight of a security worker using it to access a restroom at Miami airport. The man suffered injuries to his elbow, shoulder and wrist, according to court records.

MCM has up-to-date business licenses and no recent code-enforcement violations reported to state authorities. Recent inspection reports for the site of Thursdays collapse were not immediately available.

The company could not immediately be reached for comment.

In a statement on its Facebook page, MCM said: Our familys thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by this terrible tragedy. The new UniversityCity Bridge, which was under construction, experienced a catastrophic collapse causing injuries and loss of life. MCM is a family business and we are all devastated and doing everything we can to assist. We will conduct a full investigation to determine exactly what went wrong and will cooperate with investigators on scene in every way.

According to the university, FIGG Bridge Engineers, a division of Tallahassee-based FIGG Engineering Group, designed the walkway.

The firm is behind dozens of iconic suspension, arch and beam bridges across the United States, including the Penobscot Narrows Bridge in Maine and the Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay.

FIGG said in a statement Thursday that it was stunned by todays tragic collapse of a pedestrian bridge that was under construction over Southwest Eighth Street in Miami. Our deepest sympathies are with all those affected by this accident.

We will fully cooperate with every appropriate authority in reviewing what happened and why. In our 40-year history, nothing like this has ever happened before. Our entire team mourns the loss of life and injuries associated with this devastating tragedy, and our prayers go out to all involved.

Asked if the construction methods might have factored into the collapse, Ron Sachs, a spokesman for FIGG Engineering, said he could not provide any details beyond a statement issued by the company.

Theyre in a fact-finding mode, he said of the company. Theyre stunned and certainly in mourning.

Sachs said he believed there would be a comprehensive investigation involving authorities, including the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Were going to cooperate with any and all of those, he said.

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., had touted the bridge as a creative solution for challenges to the areas transportation network in the FIU news release over the weekend. On Thursday, a statement issued through his office reflected the sudden turn of events.

I am shocked and horrified by the FIU Pedestrian Bridge collapse. I am praying for the victims and families of this tragedy, he said. As the NTSB has announced they will be conducting an investigation, I will fully review their findings so we can address how this happened and how to prevent it from ever happening again.

Experts say the Accelerated Bridge Construction method involves an integrated system of pieces designed to stand as a complete structure, but that have to be supported during construction.

Amjad Aref, a researcher at the University at Buffalos Institute of Bridge Engineering, said failures can be catastrophic.

The loss of stability is a sudden thing, it doesnt give a warning, said Aref, whose work involves designing Accelerated Bridge Construction projects.

Aref said the construction method has become popular over the past decade. He would not speculate about the cause of the collapse. In general he said, the process works this way:

You bring three pieces, three blocks, each block is really strong and [does] their job but if they are not connected properly, they might not stand, he said. The idea is in every design you want to take the load from the superstructure, the bridge surface, all the way to the ground safely.

A collapse, he said, would indicate the system was not completely connected or supported.

Before the structure is finished, Aref said, crews should ensure that each of its components is secured by cabling or other supporting mechanisms.

He said self-propelled modular transportation, the method of installing the bridge section, is common in Europe. The mechanism would typically involve loading the span onto wheeled heavy machinery that places the main span between the supports, turns and hydraulically lifts it into place.

The bridge was funded through a federal TIGER grant, according to the university, a recession-era program created under the Obama administration that pays for road, rail and other projects.

The role of FIUs Accelerated Bridge Construction University Transportation Center in its construction was unclear. The lab says on its website that it received federal funding in September 2013 after the U.S. Department of Transportation recognized a joint funding proposal submitted by FIU, Iowa State University and the University of Nevada at Reno. The funding enabled the schools to dive further into their mission of researching Accelerated Bridge construction, the site says. The center received a second round of U.S. DOT funding in December 2016, the side says.

The center lays out its mission on the site: The mission of the ABC-UTC is to reduce the societal costs of bridge construction by reducing the duration of work zones, focusing special attention on preservation, service life, construction costs, education of the profession, and development of a next-generation workforce fully equipped with ABC knowledge, it says.

Calls to a university number and an email to Azizinamini, director of the bridge center, were not returned Thursday.

  

Svrluga, J. Freedom du Lac and Faiz Siddiqui reported from Washington. The Washington Posts Aaron C. Davis, Mark Berman, Alice Crites and Michael Laris in Washington contributed to this report.



Video Embed Code

Video: A pedestrian bridge still under construction collapsed onto moving traffic in the Miami area on March 15.(Claritza Jimenez/The Washington Post)Copyright  2018 Albuquerque Journal

For the last six years, Albuquerque police have had at least two devices capable of spying on cellphone calls and texts, though the city says police are authorized to use them only to collect tracking data, not details.

But how much the technology has been used, on whom and why is not clear to the public  nor will it be. Police and city officials say they cant answer questions because that would violate device purchasing agreements signed with the FBI, which hints at federal prosecution for anti-terrorism and weapons trafficking laws if details are revealed. Its also possible the only consequence for answering questions is losing use of the devices.

What is clear from documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico following a lawsuit against the city is that for most of the six years the department has had the devices, which include at least one Stingray and at least one DRT box , the department did not have its own written policy or procedures guiding the use of the devices or the handling of the information they captured.

In a pivot from the Richard Berry administration, which withheld confirmation of the devices, the Tim Keller administration in January released the confirming documents to the ACLU. They agreed to dismiss their lawsuit.

City Attorney Esteban Aguilar Jr. said Friday the release was intended to further transparency and engage the community in policy making.

Aguilar would not say what types of cases the devices are used in but said, hypothetically, they are helpful in emergencies such as a lost hiker or a lost child who might have a cellphone.

But he also said they are an important tool for law enforcement, possibly for apprehending a fugitive suspect or in a violent crime investigation.

Chris Dodd, trial attorney with the Law Offices of the Public Defender in Albuquerque, said he imagines police would likely use the devices for drug investigations, too.

If you have a suspected drug trafficker and you want to find all of his associates, you can park (the device) in a van in the neighborhood so you can then see everyone who he is contacting him and start making list and go through law enforcement databases to find who those people are, he said.

That, he said, also captures data for all the drug traffickers neighbors, and that could be anyone using a cellphone.

The problem with Stingray technology, is (officials) are telling (police) dont ever write anywhere when you use it, so its hard for us to know if in fact it was used in a case, Dodd said. But he said his office is not aware of any cases where we strongly suspect that it was used.

The city, for its part, says it cant say if it has been used or how much or in what types of cases without violating the non-disclosure agreement with the FBI. The federal agency brokers the sale of the devices from private corporations.

Despite what the ACLU says is progress in transparency on the controversial technology, Executive Director Peter Simonson said Friday that a recent meeting with the department intended to discuss the creation of a more formal policy was instead a pretty tense and constrained meeting with city attorneys refusing to answer questions.

There is a lot that remains unanswered, Simonson said, noting his group is not opposed to the department using the technology, the ACLU just wants strong and clear policies that protect civil liberties. The public deserves some proof there is a process in place for the protection of peoples privacy.

Keller was not available for an interview, but his newly-appointed city attorney did answer what questions he said he could without violating the FBIs prohibitions.

I will say that the police department is not intercepting communications. They are prohibited from gathering the actual content of the communications, specifically prohibited, Aguilar said, noting discussing the technology with the ACLU and others puts the city in difficult position. We want to be as transparent as possible on this specific issue, but we are specifically prohibited from discussing a whole lot of stuff.

The non-disclosure form says that the agreement trumps any state or local open records laws. The forms also direct prosecutors to dismiss criminal cases if a court orders discovery that could reveal details on the devices.

Former 2nd Judicial District Attorney Kari Brandenburg said that never happened under her administration, and she wonders how much the devices are actually used.

Current DA Raul Torrez was also not available for an interview and his spokesman did not answer questions, instead, sending this statement:

While we are unaware of any criminal referral from our law enforcement partners predicated on the use of cell site simulation technology, we are mindful that any emerging law enforcement tools may present challenges to our understanding of privacy. To whatever extent such technology becomes material to case prosecution in the future, we will work with our law enforcement partners, the courts and the legislature to define the appropriate boundaries for its use.

It was not disclosed if the District Attorneys Office has also signed a non-disclosure agreement with the FBI.

Around the nation, news reports and the ACLU have documented instances in which prosecutors have dismissed cases instead of reveal the way the devices (like those in Albuquerque) are used in investigations.

Former Mayor Berry declined to comment. His Chief Administrative Officer Rob Perry, who along with then-Police Chief Gorden Eden signed the FBI non-disclosure agreement to acquire the Stingray in 2014, said he didnt remember the event or the technology.

APD Chief Mike Geier was also not available for an interview. His spokesman, Gilbert Gallegos, instead sent a statement saying the department is utilizing the technology in strict compliance with all applicable guidelines governing the use of such technology, which include strict non-disclosure provisions required by the Department of Justice and the FBI.

What is a Stingray or DRT box device?

Albuquerque Police Department records confirm it has at least one each Stingray and DRT box cellular phone surveillance device. The devices basically work like this:

The devices mimic a cellphone tower, drawing to them all cellphone use within a certain distance of their locations. They can be attached to a building, vehicle, drone or airplane to scan an area near targets of investigations. Such devices then can track all phones used in the vicinity  not just the target phone  and some devices can listen to conversations and track texts underway on the phones. Some may have additional technological features.

The devices can also seek and find cellphones, recognizing the strength of a phone signal and the direction it is coming from, even if the phone isnt making a call or connected to a data network.

Warrant or not?

It is not clear whether the Albuquerque Police Department has for the last six years considered the technology subject to warrant requirements. Police spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said the department does secure warrants before using the technology, and City Attorney Esteban Aguilar Jr. said Friday that APD follows, as it has for years, the Department of Justices guidelines for police agencies using this technology. That guideline says police must obtain a warrant except in emergency situations and exceptional circumstances.

The guideline also says the devices are authorized by law and policy. But the departments draft policy, written in August 2017 (five years after acquiring a device), says that if a court order is needed one should be obtained otherwise a police supervisor must approve using the device.

State law doesnt explicitly require a warrant to collect the data gathered by Stingray and DRT box devices. A bill passed by the Legislature in 2017 would have required a court order for a Stingray action, along with other searches of electronics, but Gov. Susana Martinez, a former prosecutor, vetoed the bill.

The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico says it wants a warrant process put into the APD policy. Aguilar said the city welcomes the ACLUs input.

ACLU, CABQ documents by Albuquerque Journal on ScribdAhh. The extra sunshine these days makes me long for spring. Thanks to daylight saving time nearly all of us are now able to enjoy an extra hour of sun on the back end of the day. The only U.S. residents who dont benefit live in Hawaii, most of Arizona  excluding the Navajo reservation  and about a half dozen American territories that stay on standard time.

But not everyone is as happy as I am with the extra sunlight.

Albert Hussman wrote to say, I would like to see you report on something that almost all Americans would like to see abolished  daylight saving time. Its so foolish to have this annoying and unnecessary thing pop up twice every year.

Turns out a majority of Americans agree with Mr. Hussman. A Rassmussen poll a couple years ago found only 35 percent of us like springing forward and falling back during this biannual ritual.

The extra daylight in the evening comes, of course, at the expense of a delayed sunrise, and the prolonged darkness can be hazardous for those who need to be at school or work early. History shows us that messing with the clocks results negatively on both economic and health issues. During DST the United States sees an uptick in traffic accidents, workplace injuries and heart attacks. And theres no improvement in energy consumption or consumer spending as they pretty much cancel each other out in spring and winter.

So, why do we practice daylight saving time? While the idea of adjusting clocks first went into effect 100 years ago during World War I, and came and went during wartimes, we practice DST today because of the 1966 Uniform Time Act. It mandates the time change but allows states to opt out.

Since 1966 several state lawmakers have tried to defy the UTA. N.M. Sen. Cliff Pirtle, R-Roswell, has long wanted to opt out of daylight saving time. And for economic reasons hed like to see the feds approve a plan that would scoot the Land of Enchantment over into the central time zone.

Since so much of our states economy is based on oil and gas and banking, the closer we are in time with our neighbors in the east the better, Pirtle told the Santa Fe New Mexican. And the closer to New York, with the stock exchange working there (early and until) 4, I think it will make our economy better off. Other New Mexico lawmakers have not embraced Pirtles ideas. In Florida, its a different story. Earlier this month the states legislature agreed to stay on daylight saving time all year. That would mean an extra hour of sunny beach time during the peak tourist season of March through November, if both the governor and the U.S. Congress agree. More tourists, more tourist dollars. But the change would also mean that during the winter months the sun wouldnt rise in Miami until 8 am and not until 8:30 in Tallahassee. Imagine what that would do to parents with young kids struggling to get them out the door each morning in the dark. Schools could be ordered to start later, but would employers agree to allow workers with kids to come in late?

See the dilemma? What you give to the end of the day is, naturally, taken away from the beginning of the day. As Mr. Hussman wrote to me, It inconveniences everybody. There are only so many daylight hours in a day. You gain nothing by tinkering around with time.

A few years ago, Texas seemed poised to adopt the idea of ignoring DST and staying on standard time year round. But when it became clear its revered Dallas Cowboys Sunday road games with East Coast rivals would start at 11 a.m.  during church services  Lone Star lawmakers chose God over a time change.

A commission in Massachusetts had recommended that the state, and possibly all of New England, permanently turn clocks ahead one hour and do away with the rigmarole of switching back and forth. Then they realized that having Boston and New York City  two locations with a ton of interconnected economic interests  on different time zones wasnt such a great idea.

Then there is my husbands idea to do away with daylight saving time altogether. Then abolish our current four time zones in favor of just two. By merging the current eastern and central zones and the mountain and pacific zones, he believes, it would just be a matter of everyone getting used to the new system.

In the final analysis, I must admit that Mr. Hussman is correct. We may think we gain something with that extra hour of sunshine from March to November, but lets embrace the lessons learned. If you mess with Mother Nature there are sure to be unintended consequences. Lets scrap the whole idea of tinkering with time, shall we?

www.DianeDimond.com; e-mail to Diane@DianeDimond.com.BEIJING  Xi Jinping was unanimously elected to his second term as Chinas president by the countrys rubber-stamp parliament on Saturday.

All 2,970 delegates in Bejijing voted to elect Xi. There were no abstentions and no votes against him, the parliament said. The unanimous vote is a rarity even for the rubber-stamp parliament, as there are usually a handful of abstentions and votes against.

Xi, 64, was also unanimously elected as chairman of the partys Central Military Commission.

Wang Qishan, Xis trusted ally, made a comeback in Chinese politics by being elected vice president with 2,969 votes and one vote against.

Wang, 69, led the countrys powerful anti-graft watchdog for five years until his retirement from the top echelons of the Communist Party late last year. During his mandate, the anti-corruption agency punished more than 1.4 million officials including, critics say, Xis political rivals.

The vice-president position is largely ceremonial, but it would allow Wang to drive the countrys foreign policy, especially U.S.-China relations.

Wang will have as much authority as Xi grants him, said political commentator Deng Yuwen.

As Xi consolidated power during his first mandate, he has isolated rival political factions and surrounded himself with loyalists. Wangs role is to protect the president from potential backlash within the party, observers say.

For Mr. Xis governance, his political alliance with Mr. Wang is indispensable at present, said political analyst Zhang Lifan.

The presidential election vote was, however, mostly a formality. The parliament on Sunday amended the constitution to remove presidential term limits, effectively paving the way for Xi  the most powerful leader since the founder of communist China, Mao Zedong  to rule indefinitely.

The parliament on Saturday also elected Li Zhanshu, a member of the powerful seven-man Communist Party Politburo Standing Committee, as head of the parliament.

The delegates also approved the biggest Cabinet reshuffle in years, which will see the merger of the banking and insurance regulators and the creation of new ministries.

The changes are part of Beijings ongoing efforts to streamline the government and strengthen the Communist Partys control over the state.



2018 Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH (Hamburg, Germany)

Visit Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH (Hamburg, Germany) at www.dpa.de/English.82.0.html

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

_____SANTA FE  Republican Gov. Susana Martinez had some harsh words this week for the way President Donald Trump has spoken about Mexican immigrants, according to a report in the Houston Chronicle.

Everybody is sick and tired of the rhetoric by the president, Martinez said Thursday in Houston, where she was invited to give a keynote speech at a womens leadership conference, according to the Chronicle.

The paper reported that Martinez said Trump had spoken about immigrants in a way that was absolutely, totally unfair.

But the governor also told the conference shes rooting for the president to succeed.

Whether you personally have feelings about the president or not, we have to want our leaders to be successful, even if you didnt vote for that person, because if that person fails, we fail, she said.

Martinezs remarks are consistent with what she has said in the past. She has previously criticized some of Trumps rhetoric  not just on immigration  but also said shes hopeful his administration will be good for New Mexico and national security.

Trump, in turn, hasnt always had nice things to say about Martinez. In a campaign rally at the Albuquerque Convention Center in 2016, Trump said New Mexicos governor has to do a better job.

Martinez became the nations first Latina governor when she took office in 2011. After serving two terms, she cannot run for re-election this year.

blind voters: A hearing is scheduled Monday morning on a proposed rule change aimed at making it easier for blind and visually impaired people to vote.

The proposal covers a variety of other topics, too, aimed at improving the absentee voting process.

The public hearing is at 9 a.m. Monday in Room 322 at the Capitol, 490 Old Santa Fe Trail.

Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver said the goal is to make voting more accessible.

All voters deserve privacy when casting their ballot, and this rule  in keeping with a new state law passed last year to this effect  will enable blind and visually impaired voters to vote independently using their own technology, she said in a written statement. This rule also acknowledges that absentee voting has evolved in recent years, and provides guidance to help local election officials issue and process absentee ballots more accurately and efficiently.

Visit www.sos.state.nm.us to learn more.

Dan McKay:dmckay@abqjournal.comWASHINGTON  President Donald Trump is considering broad tariffs on imports from China and an announcement could come as soon as next week. Industry groups and some lawmakers are scrambling to prevent a new front in a potential trade war that could reverberate across the U.S. economy.

Early indications from the White House have officials braced for tariffs across a wide variety of consumer goods, from apparel to electronics, and even on imported parts for products made in the U.S. The size and scope remain under debate, but the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is warning that annual tariffs of as much as $60 billion on Chinese goods would be devastating.

Trumps focus on China could be even more consequential, both at home and abroad, than the recently announced penalty tariffs on steel and aluminum. And amid the staff turmoil at the White House, its being read as a sign of rising influence for the administrations populist economic aides, led by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and adviser Peter Navarro.

Even Larry Kudlow  an avowed free trader tapped to replace Gary Cohn as director of the White House National Economic Council  has said that China deserves a tough response from the United States and its friends. He told CNBC this week, The United States could lead a coalition of large trading partners and allies against China.

But with these tariffs, the Trump administration appears so far to be content to go it alone.

On Friday, the National Retail Federation, which recently hosted industry groups to organize opposition to another round of tariffs, convened a conference call to update its members. Theyre all concerned about this, said David French, vice president for government relations. Tariffs are a tax on consumers and theyre best used sparingly as tools.

Trade experts and economists say the tariffs could lead to rising prices for U.S. consumers and businesses without accomplishing one of the presidents stated goals: reducing last years trade imbalance of $566 billion.

China, the largest source of the trade imbalance, would likely respond to any tariffs by retaliating with higher import taxes on U.S. goods, among other possible restrictions.

They signaled that they will aim at things that affect the United States politically as well as economically, said Claude Barfield, a scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute and former consultant with the U.S. trade representative.

The farmer in Kansas or Iowa could feel it, he said. U.S. high tech companies could feel it because the supply chains for iPhones go through China.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill, who have largely been shut out of administration deliberations, fear tariffs would stunt economic benefits in the U.S. that could be stemming from the GOP tax cuts.

Republican leaders, including House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, have urged the administration to target any proposed tariffs as narrowly as possible, away from U.S. allies and focused on countries engaged in over-production and product dumping.

Republicans in Congress largely opposed Trumps steel and aluminum tariffs and are working with the administration on a process for allowing waivers or carve outs for certain countries or types of metals, beyond the exemption the White House is allowing for Canada and Mexico.

We want to narrow this, Brady, who has been in talks with Ross all week, said Friday on Fox. Tariffs are taxes  lower is better, zero is the best.

The new tariffs on China would be tied to an investigation into the countrys failure to stop intellectual property theft, a probe that was launched in August as part of the rarely used Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.

Beyond the trade imbalance, the Trump administration hasnt fully explained to the public which specific steps it wants China to take, creating a degree of uncertainty.

Is the endgame just the tariffs or is this the beginning of negotiation? Its hard to know what the ultimate intent of the administration is, said Rod Hunter, a lawyer at Baker & McKenzie who previously coordinated global economic policies during George W. Bushs administration.

Already, the steel and aluminum tariffs have sparked a response from the European Union, which Friday released a list of U.S. products  from whiskey and motorcycles to breakfast foods and batteries  it plans to introduce duties on if the 28-nation bloc is not exempted.

Trump is considering adjustments but appears undeterred on trade.

The presidents going to continue fighting for the American worker, said Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Hes also working with a number of individual countries and negotiating on areas of national security where we can work together, and theres some flexibility there, and were continuing to have those conversations.

Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., a White House ally who spoke earlier this week with Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, said he has been talking with Trump on measured approaches toward using tariffs to remedy trade imbalances.

His instincts are exactly right: We need a level playing field with the rest of the world, Perdue said recently on Fox Business. And I think well see a measured approach going forward. This is not a guy that wants to create isolationism or a trade war.

___

Associated Press writers Ken Thomas in Washington and Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report.

___

Follow Mascaro on Twitter at https://twitter.com/LisaMascaro and Boak at http://twitter.com/JoshBoakAUSTIN, Texas  A Salvadoran woman who said a guard groped her inside an immigration detention facility has been released, advocates said.

Laura Monterrosa-Flores was released late Friday from the T. Don Hutto Residential Center outside of Austin, where she had been held for months, Grassroots Leadership organizer Bethany Carson told The Associated Press on Saturday.

Shes able to go about her life and recover from the abuses that she suffered in detention and before that, in El Salvador, Carson said.

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which had sued on Monterrosa-Flores behalf, said in a statement Saturday that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security agreed to release her under deferred action, which provides individuals temporary relief from deportation.

Earlier this month, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an agency within the department, agreed to allow Monterrosa-Flores to leave the facility on a weekly basis to receive treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. Advocates said that she attempted suicide in January after being denied a request for mental health care.

Carson said Monterrosa-Flores will receive counseling while waiting for her asylum case to proceed.

While the AP doesnt usually identify alleged victims of sexual assault, Monterrosa-Flores agreed to come forward publicly.

Months after accusing a female guard at the Hutto facility of groping her and suggesting they have sex, Monterrosa-Flores told the AP that she continued to see the guard in the dining hall and other parts of the facility.

I told her that I was going to tell the supervisor what was happening, Monterrosa-Flores said in a phone interview from the facility. She sarcastically said, Do you think theyll believe you or me?'

The FBI opened a civil rights investigation into Monterrosa-Flores case. ICE has said that it has implemented strong protections for people who are sexually assaulted in detention facilities.

About 40,000 people are being held in immigration detention, many in private facilities under contracts with ICE. Many of those people have sought asylum in the United States, saying they have a credible fear of returning to their home countries.

Monterrosa-Flores arrived at the southern U.S. border last May after fleeing El Salvador, where she said she was forced into prostitution by her family. She said that an uncle, a policeman, raped her.

If her asylum claim is denied, she could be deported.

U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, a Texas Democrat, applauded Monterrosa-Flores release and ICEs granting of deferred action.

We need answers and action from ICE to prevent sexual assaults during detention and to ensure that victims do not experience retaliation when they come forward, he said in a statement.CHICAGO  A Congolese mother has been reunited with her 7-year-old daughter months after they crossed the California-Mexico border seeking asylum and were separated by the U.S. government, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer said Saturday.

The daughter had been placed in a Chicago facility while the mother was held in San Diego, about 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) away, after they entered the U.S. in November and turned themselves in to U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents. The mother was released from detention earlier this month.

Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU Immigrants Rights Project, said the woman was allowed to travel to Chicago from San Diego on Tuesday, after a DNA test requested by the government confirmed she was the girls mother. He says the daughter was released late Friday and brought to a Chicago shelter where she and her mother will be staying.

They were hugging each other and sobbing, Gelernt said. It was just incredibly emotional.

The woman is at the center of an ACLU lawsuit accusing the government of unlawfully separating immigrant families. Gerlent says the ACLU continues to pursue the lawsuit on behalf of other parents, many of whom are facing the same trauma as the Congolese mother and daughter.

A hearing in the case is scheduled is scheduled next month in San Diego.

The ACLU says President Donald Trumps administration is targeting families seeking asylum under U.S. law. While no formal policy has been announced to hold adult asylum seekers separately from their children, top administration officials have said the system is overwhelmed by people making false asylum claims.

A 1997 settlement in a long-running lawsuit over treatment of immigrant children requires the U.S. government to release the children from custody when possible or otherwise hold them in the least restrictive setting available.

The Trump administration has called for ending the settlement as part of changes its seeking to immigration laws.

The woman reunited with her daughter Friday is from a village in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and speaks little English. According to the ACLU lawsuit, she passed the initial screening to determine whether she had a credible fear of returning to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The ACLU has withheld the identities of the woman and child citing potential danger if they are denied asylum and returned to Congo.WASHINGTON  Andrew McCabe, the onetime FBI deputy director long scorned by President Donald Trump and just fired by the attorney general, kept personal memos detailing interactions with the president that have been provided to the special counsels office and are similar to the notes compiled by dismissed FBI chief James Comey, The Associated Press has learned.

The memos could factor into special counsel Robert Muellers investigation as his team examines Trump campaign ties to Russia and possible obstruction of justice.

McCabes memos include details of his own interactions with the president, according to a person with direct knowledge of the situation who wasnt authorized to discuss the notes publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. They also recount different conversations he had with Comey, who kept notes on meetings with Trump that unnerved him.

Though the precise contents are unknown, the memos possibly could help substantiate McCabes assertion that he was unfairly maligned by a White House he says had declared war on the FBI and Muellers investigation. They almost certainly contain, as Comeys memos did, previously undisclosed details about encounters between the Trump administration and FBI that could be of interest to Mueller.

The disclosure Saturday came hours after Trump called McCabes firing by Attorney General Jeff Sessions a great day for Democracy and asserted without elaboration that McCabe knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels off the FBI! In the last year, Trump has repeatedly condemned McCabe as emblematic of an FBI that he insists is biased against his administration.

That sent former CIA Director John Brennan, an outspoken Trump critic, into a Twitter tizzy: When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history. You may scapegoat Andy McCabe, but you will not destroy AmericaAmerica will triumph over you.

Sessions said he acted on the recommendation of FBI disciplinary officials who said McCabe had not been candid with a watchdog office investigation. McCabe was fired two days before his retirement date on Sunday. The dismissal likely jeopardizes his ability to collect his full pension benefits and, more broadly, could add to the turmoil that has enveloped the FBI since Comeys firing and as the bureau moves ahead with an investigation the White House has dismissed as a hoax.

An upcoming inspector generals report is expected to conclude that McCabe, who spent more than 20 years with the FBI, had authorized the release of information to the media and was not forthcoming with the watchdog office as it examined the bureaus handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation. McCabe has vigorously disputed the allegations and said his credibility had been attacked as part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally but also the FBI and law enforcement.

It is part of this administrations ongoing war on the FBI and the efforts of the special counsel investigation, which continue to this day, he added. Their persistence in this campaign only highlights the importance of the special counsels work.

The firing set off dueling tweets between Trump, who called the termination a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI, and Comey, the director he fired 10 months ago.

Trump called Comey sanctimonious and said Comey made McCabe look like a choirboy. Comey, referencing his highly anticipated book that comes out next month, responded with his own tweet: Mr. President, the American people will hear my story very soon. And they can judge for themselves who is honorable and who is not.

Also Saturday, Trumps personal lawyer, John Dowd, cited the brilliant and courageous example by Sessions and the FBIs Office of Professional Responsibility and said Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein should bring an end to the Russia investigation manufactured by Comey.

Dowd told the AP that he neither was calling on Rosenstein, who oversees Muellers inquiry, to fire the special counsel immediately nor had discussed with Rosenstein the idea of dismissing Mueller or ending the probe.

Mueller is investigating whether Trumps actions, including Comeys ouster, constitute obstruction of justice. McCabe could be an important witness, and his memos could be used by investigators as they look into whether Trump sought to thwart the FBI probe. Comeys own memos, including one in which he says Trump encouraged him to end an investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn, have been provided to Mueller and are part of his investigation.

McCabe, in a statement defending himself, asserted he was singled out by the administration because of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of Comeys firing last May.

He became acting director after that but clashed with the Trump administration, including when he publicly rejected White House assertions that Comey had lost the support of the rank-and-file. He abruptly left the deputy director position in January and went on leave.

The firing arises from an inspector general review into how the FBI handled the Clinton email investigation. That inquiry focused not only on specific decisions made by FBI leadership but also on news media leaks.

McCabe came under scrutiny over an October 2016 news report that revealed differing approaches within the FBI and Justice Department over how aggressively the Clinton Foundation should be investigated. The watchdog office has concluded that McCabe authorized FBI officials to speak to a Wall Street Journal reporter for that story and that McCabe had not been forthcoming with investigators. McCabe denies it.

McCabe became entangled in presidential politics in 2016 after it was revealed that his wife, during her unsuccessful run for state Senate in Virginia one year earlier, received campaign contributions from the political action committee of then-Gov. Terry McAuliffe, D-Va., a longtime Clinton friend. The FBI has said McCabe received the necessary ethics approval about his wifes candidacy and was not supervising the Clinton investigation at the time of the contributions.

___

Associated Press writer Chad Day contributed to this report.

Follow Eric Tucker on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/etuckerAPAs she addressed the crowd during the walkout at her Idaho high school, Kylee Denny faced heckles and name-calling from a group of students carrying American flags, she said. The counterprotesters included many familiar faces, including her boyfriends stepbrother.

To avoid making a difficult situation worse, Kylees boyfriend stayed in class during the rally at Hillcrest High School in Idaho Falls, which was part of Wednesdays national school walkout.

Im dating his stepbrother, which is really incredibly awkward and its very tense because he was being so hostile about losing respect for me because I was walking out, said Kylee, a 17-year-old junior who helped organize the protest.

The walkouts to protest gun violence that mobilized students across the country also created tensions in hallways and classrooms as a new generation was thrust into the debate over guns. While those calling for new restrictions stood in the spotlight, the surge of youth activism has exposed sharp differences of opinion.

Administrators and student leaders are also sorting through the fallout as some schools hand out discipline for those who defied school instructions and participated in the walkouts exactly one month after the massacre of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

In some cases, personal relationships have been strained.

Ryler Hanosky said he was disappointed that his stepbrother, Kylees boyfriend, did not join the counterprotest.

Hes a hunter just like me. He likes his guns, Ryler said. I told him, You need to come with us, and hes like, No Im just going to stay out of it. It kind of makes me mad a little bit.

Ahead of the walkout, Ryler and like-minded friends gathered at a high school spirit rock. There were some arguments about guns, he said, but it was peaceful and students respected one anothers views.

The rally Kylee helped organize was supposed to be for school safety, not gun restrictions, she said, but some misunderstood, becoming angry and calling names.

Youre just like, ooh, wow, OK, I have second period with you and I dont want you to think Im trying to destroy your constitutional rights, she said.

In Woodbury, Connecticut, about 75 students walked out of class Wednesday at the 750-student Nonnewaug High School, meeting in the auditorium before walking outside. They were followed by another group of about a dozen counterdemonstrators, including some who chanted, NRA is the only way!

One student, Jess Dooley, 16, said that the school in rural western Connecticut is small enough for her to know nearly everyone, but that she did not feel comfortable joining the walkout because of comments by gun rights supporters. Tensions already had been high since the Parkland shooting amid constant debate over arming teachers, school shootings and gun control.

Everybody knows how everyone feels about it, she said.

The day after the walkout, Jess said, her civics teacher defused some tension by letting students take turns sharing their opinions on the walkout.

Organizers of the national walkouts called for such measures as tighter background checks on gun purchases and a ban on assault weapons like the one used in the Florida bloodbath. A protest against gun violence is also scheduled in Washington on March 24, and another round of school walkouts is planned for April 20, the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High shooting in Colorado.

In last weeks walkouts, some students tried to steer clear of politics entirely, including Jacob Shoemaker, a senior at Hilliard High School in Ohio, who was suspended a day for not following instructions because he stayed in a classroom instead of joining protests or the alternative, a study hall. School, he said, isnt the place for politics, and he wasnt taking sides.

In Pennsylvania, a superintendent issued detentions to 225 Pennridge High School students who walked out Wednesday instead of attending an assembly honoring the Parkland victims.

Elsewhere, scuffles broke out between walkout participants and students who had other ideas for how to spend the time out of class. At Blythewood High School in South Carolina, students were packed tightly together in a school atrium when some began talking during the moment of silence for the Parkland victims. Shoving broke out as some called for quiet.

These kids, who were probably younger, they werent against the protests, said Andrew Kilgore, an 18-year-old senior who said students would be better organized for the next demonstration. They were just being disruptive. They wanted a reason to get out of class.

____

Thompson reported from Buffalo, New York. Melia reported from Hartford, Connecticut.Police are looking for a car after a shooting at a northwest Albuquerque apartment complex on Friday night left one man dead.

Officer Simon Drobik said witnesses told police a light-colored Ford Excursion with Chihuaha, Mexico plates fled the fatal shooting Friday night, according to a police spokesman.

Drobik said police are looking for the vehicle and have not made any arrests in the slaying.

Drobik did not identify the victim.

Police responded to the Villa Hermosa apartments, near Coors and Ouray NW, around 6:45 p.m. and found a man shot to death near a dumpster on the southwest side of the complex.YEKATERINBURG, Russia  Vladimir Putins victory in Russias presidential election Sunday isnt in doubt. The only real question is whether voters will turn out in big enough numbers to hand him a convincing mandate for his fourth term  and many Russian workers are facing intense pressure to do so.

Polls opened at 8 a.m. Sunday in Russias Far East regions of Chukotka and Kamchatka. Voting will conclude at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT; 2 p.m. EDT) in Kaliningrad, the Baltic exclave that is Russias westernmost region.

Putin is so certain of winning that authorities are investing instead in massive get-out-the-vote efforts to produce a turnout that would embolden the Russian leader both domestically and internationally.

Yevgeny Roizman, the mayor of Russias fourth-largest city Yekaterinburg, says local officials and state employees have all received orders from higher up to make sure the presidential vote turnout is over 60 percent.

They are using everything: schools, kindergartens, hospitals  the battle for the turnout is unprecedented, said Roizman, one of the rare opposition politicians to hold a significant elected office.

A doctor at one of the citys hospitals told The Associated Press how one kind of voting pressure works.

The doctor, who gave her name only as Yekaterina because of fears about repercussions, said she and her co-workers were told to fill out forms detailing not only where they would cast their ballots, but giving the names and details of two allies whom they promise to persuade to go vote.

Its not something you can argue about, she said at a cafe Saturday. People were indignant at first, said Theyre violating our rights  but what can you do?

Yekaterina said she isnt sure what shell do with her ballot, musing that maybe Ill just write Putin is a moron.' But she clearly understands that not showing up at the polling place Sunday will not only endanger her job but will reflect badly on her boss, whom she likes.

The Russian doctor said she wouldnt go to vote if she wasnt forced to.

Whats the point? We already know the outcome. This is just a circus show, she said.

The eight presidential candidates were barred from campaigning Saturday, but the message to voters was clear from billboards celebrating Russian greatness  a big theme of Putins leadership  and Kremlin-friendly media coverage.

Putin urged Russians on Friday to use their right to choose the future for the great Russia that we all love.

While Putin has seven challengers, none is a real threat. The last time he faced voters in 2012, he faced a serious opposition movement, but since then he has boosted his popularity thanks to Russian actions in Ukraine and Syria.

More than 1,500 international observers are joining thousands of Russian observers to watch the vote. The government wants to ensure that this election is clean after ballot stuffing and fraud marred the last Russian presidential election in 2012.

A Russian election monitoring group said Saturday it has registered an alarming rise in recent days in complaints that employers are forcing or pressuring workers to vote.

Grigory Melkonyants, co-chair of the independent Golos center, told the AP on Saturday the group has also recorded smaller complaints, such as gimmicks like discounted potatoes for people who vote, or schools holding special performances on Election Day to lure parents to an onsite voting station.

He said his own group has come under increasing pressure as the election approached, and warned that independent observers may be targeted by some kind of attack on voting day. He didnt elaborate.

As U.S. authorities investigate alleged Russian interference in President Donald Trumps 2016 election, Moscow has warned of possible meddling in the Russian vote.

Turnout-boosting efforts have been the most visible feature of the campaign  and all come from taxpayers pockets. In Moscow alone, authorities are spending 50 million rubles ($870,000) on balloons and festive decorations at polling stations.

In Moscow, first-time voters will be given free tickets for pop concerts featuring some of Russias most popular artists who have campaigned for Putin. For older voters, Moscow health authorities will be offering free cancer screenings at selected polling stations.

In the southern city of Tambov, the state-sponsored Youth Parliament has backed an Instagram competition. Voters who take selfies at polling stations and post them under the designated hashtag will be able to enter a raffle for high-end electronics, including an iPhoneX.

Election observers and local media have reported threats and coercion of voters to re-register at their place of work and report later that they have voted.

Ella Pamfilova, chairwoman of the Central Election Commission who was appointed to clean up Russias electoral system, vowed to respond to complaints about being coerced to vote.

No manager has the right to tell them where to vote, she said recently

Voters in Russias Perm region said they were coming under pressure from their employers to vote Sunday  and to prove it. Messages were sent Friday to regional employees, warning that information about their voting habits would be submitted to management.

Putin has traveled across Russia, pledging to raise wages, pour more funds into the countrys crumbling health care and education and to modernize dilapidated infrastructure.

The presidential vote is set on the anniversary of Russias 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. Polls show that most Russians continue to see the takeover of that Black Sea peninsula as a major achievement despite subsequent Western sanctions.

Among Putins challengers is Ksenia Sobchak, a 36-year-old TV host who has campaigned on a liberal platform and criticized Putins policies. Some see Sobchak, the daughter of Putins one-time patron, as a Kremlin project intended to add a democratic veneer to the vote and help split the ranks of Kremlin critics.

Putins main foe, opposition leader Alexei Navalny, was barred from the race because of a criminal conviction widely seen as politically motivated. Navalny has called for a boycott of the vote.

__

Charlton reported from Moscow.

___

See complete Associated Press coverage of the Russian election: https://www.apnews.com/tag/RussiaElectionWASHINGTON  A data analysis firm employed by President Donald Trumps 2016 campaign tapped the Facebook profiles of more than 50 million users without their permission, allowing it to capitalize on the private social media activity of a large portion of the U.S. electorate, newspapers reported Saturday.

One of the largest data leaks in Facebook history allowed Cambridge Analytica, which had ties to Trump campaign strategist Steve Bannon, to develop techniques that formed the basis of its work on the Trump campaign, The New York Times and The Guardian reported.

Facebook said it suspended Cambridge Analytica over allegations that it kept the improperly obtained user data after telling Facebook it had been deleted.

In a blog post, Facebook explained that Cambridge Analytica had years ago received user data from a Facebook app that purported to be a psychological research tool, though the firm was not authorized to have the information. Roughly 270,000 people downloaded and shared personal details with the app.

Cambridge Analytica later certified in 2015 that it had destroyed the information it had received, according to Facebook, although the social network said it received reports several days ago that not all the data was deleted. Facebook says it is investigating.

Facebook has also suspended the access of Cambridge Analyticas parent company, Strategic Communication Laboratories; University of Cambridge psychology professor Aleksandr Kogan, the academic who created the app in question; and another individual, Christopher Wylie of Eunoia Technologies, who also allegedly received user data from the app. Wylie is a former Cambridge Analytics employee who has emerged as a primary source for the Times report.

Cambridge Analytica denied wrongdoing in a statement. It said the parent companys SCL Elections unit hired Kogan to undertake a large scale research project in the U.S., but subsequently deleted all data it received from Kogans company after learning that Kogan had obtained data in violation of Facebook policies. The firm said none of Kogans data was used in its 2016 election work for the avoidance of doubt.

Kogan did not immediately reply to an emailed request for comment. Wylie could not immediately be located.

The Facebook blog post, written by deputy general counsel Paul Grewal, cited the public prominence of Cambridge Analytica, called the alleged data retention an unacceptable violation of trust and said the social network will take legal action if necessary to hold all parties responsible and accountable for any unlawful behavior.

Cambridge Analytica is probably best known for its political work during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign. The company claims to build psychological profiles based on personal details from millions of Americans that can categorize individual voters. It worked for both the primary campaign of Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, and Trumps general-election campaign.

Trumps campaign Saturday denied using the firms data, saying it relied on the Republican National Committee for its data.

The campaign used the RNC for its voter data and not Cambridge Analytica, the campaign said in a statement. Using the RNC data was one of the best choices the campaign made. Any claims that voter data were used from another source to support the victory in 2016 are false.

Cambridge Analytica is backed by the family of billionaire donor Robert Mercer, a hedge fund manager who also supported the Trump campaign and other conservative candidates and causes, including Bannon, the Trump campaign strategist. Trump campaign officials have downplayed Cambridge Analyticas role, saying they briefly used the company for television advertising and paid some of its most skilled data employees.

The firm had secured a $15 million investment from Mercer and wooed Bannon with the promise of tools that could identify the personalities of American voters and influence their behavior. But Cambridge Analytica did not have the data to make its new products work. So the firm harvested private information from the Facebook profiles of more than 50 million users without their permission.

A representative for Bannon did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

The company has surfaced in the U.S. probes into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. British officials are also investigating the firm in connection with the June 2016 EU referendum.

Trumps former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, disclosed an advisory role with Cambridge Analytica last August. SCL later said that position never materialized. Flynn is cooperating with special counsel Robert Muellers investigation into Russian election interference after pleading guilty to a felony charge.

Cambridge Analytica CEO Alexander Nix also disclosed last November that the company reached out to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange during the campaign to request emails related to the campaign of Democrat Hillary Clinton. Nix said Assange denied the request, which came after Assange had said publicly that he had the emails. Clinton campaign emails stolen by Russian agents are one focus of the election-interference probes.

Nix has denied any involvement in Russian election meddling.

Revelations that Cambridge Analytica misused social media data could also be of interest to Muellers investigation. While much of the thrust of special counsels investigation has been tightly held, Mueller has requested that the firm turn over the emails of any employees who worked on the campaign, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal last year.

Mueller is also looking at the role Wikileaks played in acquiring and making public the stolen Clinton campaign emails.Would you like to receive breaking news notifications from The Post and Courier?

Sign up to receive news and updates from this site directly to your desktop.

Breaking News Columbia Breaking News Greenville Breaking News Myrtle Beach Breaking News Aiken Breaking News N Augusta Breaking News

Click on the bell icon to manage your notifications at any time.

Success! Please click the 'Allow' button in the 'Show Notifcations' alert in your browser if one is available. Thank you for signing up!

Please enable notifications in your browser and reload the page.It is moments like these that we can draw on in darker times.

Salil Shetty is the Secretary-General of Amnesty International. A long-term activist on poverty and justice, he leads the movement's worldwide work to end the abuse of human rights. Prior to joining Amnesty International, he was the director of the United Nations Millennium Campaign.

From the depths of my cell, from the depths of that madness, I swore to fight for justice if I ever got out alive, former detainee Souleymane Guengueng told the special criminal court last year.

Today he and thousands of other victims are celebrating after the life sentence handed down by the Extraordinary African Chambers (CAE) in Dakar against the former Chadian President, Hissene Habre for crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture.

Guengueng, imprisoned for two-and-a-half years in the late 1980s, was one of the lucky ones. An estimated 40,000 people are thought to have perished at the hands of Chads security forces between 1982 and 1990.

I saw my friends and fellow inmates die from hunger, die from despair, die from torture and die from sickness, Guengueng recalled in his testimony.

Yet, from that furnace of horror something remarkable has been forged.

Collective effort

For more than two decades, despite threats, intimidation and major political setbacks, victims together with civil society groups worked tirelessly to make this day possible.

A coalition of human rights organisations and victims groups in Chad has spent decades gathering testimony from victims and their families to build the case against Habre.

National and regional campaigns were set up, supported by international organisations such as Amnesty International, that helped document human rights violations committed in Chad since the 1980s.

Attempts to prosecute or extradite the former president to Belgium were repeatedly thwarted, as were efforts to force Senegal to prosecute him. But victims groups and campaigners battled on and in 2012, the African Union supported Senegal in finally clearing the path to justice.

Safe havens are no longer safe for those suspected of committing war crimes, crimes against humanity or other crimes under international law.

A new law was passed in December 2012 allowing for the creation of the CAE in Dakar. Habre, then 70, was arrested six months later and on July 20, 2015, he appeared for the first time in the courtroom.

Over the following months the charges contained in the 187-page indictment against Habre were tested in court. These included crimes against humanity, torture and war crimes.

Harrowing experiences were re-lived by 69 former victims. They described shocking violations suffered at the hands of Chads security forces.

Much has been made of this landmark case from an international justice perspective. This is, after all, the first universal jurisdiction case on the continent, and the first time a former African leader has been prosecuted for crimes under international law before a court in another African country.

This case gives new impetus for the African Union or individual African states to address entrenched impunity in other countries on the continent.

No escape from justice

But, for me the significance of this case goes further and is much more personal. It demonstrates that victims of human rights abuses  no matter how hopeless their situation  can still have a voice and the ability to achieve justice.

It demonstrates that the work of campaigners and human rights defenders  no matter how long and challenging  really matters. And it demonstrates that heads of state, military commanders and others who are suspected of committing human rights violations around the globe can no longer expect to evade the net of international justice for ever.

READ MORE: Chads long road to independence

Safe havens are no longer safe for those suspected of committing war crimes, crimes against humanity or other crimes under international law.

After the fall of Habres administration, more than 50,000 letters and postcards from Amnesty International members calling for the release of detainees were found at the main security headquarters in the Chadian capital NDjamena.

A quarter of a century on, many of those named in those letters will not be here to see the verdict. They and thousands of others died in 1980s.

For the survivors, however, and for all who believe in human rights and rule of law, todays verdict is deeply significant.

It is moments like these that we can draw on in darker times. They are the things that nourish us with hope and give us strength to stand up for what is right.

Todays verdict will give renewed energy in the fight against impunity for crimes committed during Habres administration which will continue until all those responsible for crimes under international law are brought to justice.

Salil Shetty is the secretary general of Amnesty International. A long-term activist on poverty and justice, he leads the movements worldwide work to end the abuse of human rights. Prior to joining Amnesty International, he was the director of the United Nations Millennium Campaign.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.By learning how to respond to an overdose, we can better understand the crisis we will be covering  and save lives.

We are students at the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism and last year we both underwent training to use Naloxone, the drug that stops opioid overdoses. The training programme was not part of our course and we never thought we would actually use this skill on the job  until one of our classmates, Ivan Flores, used it to help save a mans life while reporting in the South Bronx.

Statistics show that many more journalists can find themselves in a similar situation in the near future. The US is in the middle of an opioid epidemic. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2016, more than 42,000 people died as result of an opioid overdose in the country. Today, more people than ever before are dying from opioid overdoses, and according to experts, i n the worst case scenario, opioids could kill nearly half a million people across the US over the next decade.

Whatever happens, journalists will be covering it, and some, like our friend Ivan, will encounter overdoses while doing so.

Why I carry an anti-overdose kit with me while reporting in America by Ivan Flores While working as a photojournalist in Afghanistan, I reserved a spot in my camera bag for my medical kit. When I moved back to New York, I replaced my medical kit for a Narcan kit (a common brand name for Naloxone), which I received for free as part of a training I took in preparation to cover the South Bronx. Overdoses have hit the Bronx particularly hard. If it was its own state, the Bronx would have the second-highest drug overdose rate in the country. This winter, I was interviewing a heroin-user in a park when she pointed over my shoulder. Behind me, her friend had collapsed. His head split open on the curb, blood splattered on the pavement. The woman said he might be overdosing. She told me they would get high together on occasion. The woman, one of my classmates and I ran towards the man with the Narcan in hand. My classmate handed the woman a dose of Narcan. She inserted the nasal mister into her friends nose and delivered the dose. But the man remained unconscious. I pulled on my gloves, tipped the mans head back and delivered a second dose from my kit. As first responders from the fire department arrived, the man regained consciousness. He was taken to the hospital to recover. After about 20 more minutes, I wrapped up my interview with the woman whose friend we just witnessed overdosing. She wasnt phased by what she saw. When I go into the field, carrying my notebook, two batteries for my camera, and a Narcan kit, Im ready to respond again if the situation calls for it.

In this landscape, we believe journalism schools across the US should include Naloxone training in their curriculum alongside interview techniques, multimedia production, ethics and hostile-environment training for reporters headed to conflict zones.

Undergrad and graduate programmes are well-placed to teach these skills and one journalism professor has already started to do so. This winter, Jillian Bauer-Reese hosted a Naloxone training for students in her course on covering addiction at Temple University.

Bauer-Reese said the training benefits journalists whether or not they encounter someone experiencing an overdose.

Even if theyre not going to use it, she said, they can better understand how this medication works while reporting on the opioid crisis.

Other journalism professors should follow her lead, whether or not they teach reporting on addiction. Few arenas of American life remain untouched by the reach of this public health crisis. Journalists interact with a diverse array of people as part of their work and they are likely to come into contact with drug users in the field, no matter their geographical or topical beat.

Are journalists and educators  those teaching the next generation of reporters  willing to step up? So far, few have. Last year, the news website Billy Penn hosted a Naloxone training for a dozen journalists in Philadelphia. But in universities across the US, we have not found a single journalism programme that offers the training as part of the curriculum.

The deans of our own graduate programme have said they support the idea. Associate Dean Andrew Mendelson has already asked CUNYs legal office if it would be possible to hold the training as a workshop or part of graduate programme orientation.

The professional norms of journalism are always in flux, Mendelson said. I think the profession should be interrogating itself when new opportunities come about. What does it mean that we can carry life-saving medicine along with us when were doing reporting?

To some, this question does not have a straightforward answer.

Some journalists believe that they have an ethical duty to remain rigidly detached from the individuals on whom they report  even in a life and death situation like an overdose. While others believe that Naloxone training is not necessary for journalists, as it will not do much to help stop the opioid epidemic in the US.

Kelly McBride, vice president at the Poynter Institute for journalism training and an expert on media ethics, for example, worries that giving Naloxone training to journalists may have a negative side effect.

Carrying medicine that can save an individual may make you more likely to focus your efforts on those individual narratives, she told us. This may cause journalists to ignore time-consuming, data-driven stories that would be more effective in holding actors accountable across government, insurance, first responders and drug companies, she added. Individual accounts of addiction are powerful, McBride said, but they do very little to move the needle in the public understanding.

{articleGUID}

While McBride is right to insist on accountability journalism, we believe giving Naloxone training to journalists will improve the quality of the overall coverage of the opioid crisis. By learning how opioids affect the body and how to recognise signs of an overdose, journalists will gain practical knowledge that cant be gained from parsing a spreadsheet or interviewing an expert. This will provide them with valuable insight into the subject that they are covering.

And most importantly, as more people grow addicted to opioids, the last resort for many may be the chance presence of a stranger carrying this simple medication  And in some cases, that stranger can be a journalist.

The cost of this preparation is small. Keeping Naloxone kits in our bags takes no more effort than carrying the extra batteries our instructors remind us to bring with us to the field. We may never need to use the Naloxone kit as we may never need those extra batteries  but in case we do, well be thankful to have it.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.To understand what the upcoming Russian elections are about, one needs only take a look at the ballot. It would be clear even to those who do not speak Russian. The candidate, who will win, is already marked clearly on the ballot.

This document presents almost perfect symmetry. Above President Vladimir Putin, there are three relatively conservative candidates; and below Putin  a group of relatively liberal candidates. Just one thing spoils that symmetry  the box with the name of communist candidate Maxim Suraykin  but he cannot be left out. He is the candidate of a second communist party, which had to be created because there had to be more than one party taking the votes of the pensioners, who by habit, vote for the communists. That sizeable vote had to be broken down.

     ,        , ? pic.twitter.com/rTQZbHpcVI  Roman Dobrokhotov (@Dobrokhotov) March 16, 2018

For these elections, candidates were carefully picked so that they cover all segments of society. There is the provocateur-populist Vladimir Zhirinovsky; theres the conservative patriot Sergey Baburin; two communists  Pavel Grudinin and Suraykin (what is funny is that both are capistalist owners of businesses); theres the liberal Boris Titov, who is supposed to represent the interests of private business; and there are two radical liberals  for the older voters  Grigory Yavlinsky (who first ran as a president 22 years ago) and for the youth  Ksenia Sobchak (a controversial reality TV host and the daughter of Putins former boss).

As you might imagine, none of these candidates criticises Putin directly and generally, all of them avoid even saying his name. Earlier, the Kremlin used to experiment with uncoopted opposition representatives appearing on TV debates. For example, during the previous election season, Vyacheslav Maltsev, the candidate of PARNAS party, harshly criticised Putin on air. That ended with Maltsev having to flee abroad and some of his supporters facing criminal charges. Since then, theyve not allowed anyone to directly criticise the president.

Paradoxically, this time, the biggest headache for the authorities, was not criticism from the opposition, but rather its absence, which resulted in many Russians losing interest in the elections. A few months ago, a poll conducted by Levada Center showed a possible turnout of 58 percent.

The only uncoopted candidate  Alexei Navalny  was barred from running (on the basis of a fraud conviction in a court case which the European Court on Human Rights ruled to be illegal). So the only threat to the regime right now is a low turnout, which would put in question the legitimacy of these elections. While the opposition called for a boycott of the elections, the Russian authorities have put great effort into bringing people to the polling stations.

One of the unexpected results of this situation is that the Kremlin tried to spark political tension. So, while in the past, the annexation of Crimea could only be discussed on state TV in a positive light, now one candidate  Sobchak  all of a sudden started questioning its legitimacy. For an outside observer, this might look like there is genuine political debate. But for those whove followed closely Russian politics, it is clear that this is just a show. Sobchak herself once called for the annexation and said Putin would go down in history for bloodlessly taking back Crimea. What is also interesting that she used to be blacklisted on state TV, but now all of a sudden she was given plenty of airtime.

The show turned especially dramatic in the days just before the elections. During the TV debates, Sobchak threw water on Zhirinovsky, who called her a wh***. Days later, Zhirinovsky was interrupting her constantly, after which she burst into tears and walked off.

{articleGUID}

But scandalous performances on TV would not guarantee a higher turnout. So the authorities resorted to the good old methods  mobilising local administrations. That, of course, includes the organised transportation of state employees to the polling stations and the close monitoring of the number of votes. But this time, they are mobilising not only state institutions, but also large corporations  both public and private.

Turnout anxiety is a new phenomenon in Russia. Earlier the Kremlin cared only about how many votes Putin got and did not pay attention to how many people turned up at the polls. But now, the old Soviet tradition of chasing turnout numbers is back.

Formally, these elections dont really matter. They would be concluded even if Putin were the only person to vote. But today, when Russia finds itself in international isolation, Putin should be proving to the world that he has domestic legitimacy. That, of course, wouldnt have changed the way other countries see him, but would have allowed him to stabilise domestic affairs and show  both ordinary Russians and the elite  that the situation is under control.

But as the Soviet experience demonstrates  having control could be an illusion and could quickly collapse in times of economic crisis. As long as the Russian reserve still has some funds, this illusion will continue to be maintained.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.Nyepi began at 6am, emptying streets and beaches for 24 hours, except for special patrols to ensure silence is observed.

Indonesias tourism island Bali has shut down internet services, turned away flights and shuttered all shops for a Day of Silence that marks New Year on the predominantly Hindu island.

Residents of the Hindu-dominated island on Saturday stopped regular activities for a day of meditation, fasting and introspection, an annual rite that includes elaborate beachside ceremonies and demon-like effigies.

Known locally as Nyepi, the holiday began at 6am (22:00 GMT on Friday), emptying streets and beaches for 24 hours, except for special patrols and emergencies to ensure silence is observed.

This year, for the first time, phone companies have agreed to switch off the mobile internet on the island, home to more than four million people.

Ngurah Rai international airport remains shuttered for 24 hours, starting from 6am local time on Saturday, affecting about 480 flights, including nearly 240 international flights.

Shops and tourist attractions were closed for the day although public services including hospitals were to remain open.

Al Jazeeras Step Vaessen, reporting from Bali, said some people were not happy with the government imposition of the tradition in a mandatory manner.

Hospitals are open, but there is no transportation. So people are worried about how to get to the hospital in case there is an emergency, Vaessen said.

Some people think cutting the internet is going too far. They believe the government is intervening too much into the publics religious practices, she added.

Today, if you go outside in Bali, you face sanctions. Penalties change from village to village.

Internet down

In addition to internet services being suspended, television and radio broadcasts ceased for the day of reflection, seen as the most sacred in Balinese Hinduism.

Non-Hindus, including tourists who flock to the tropical island, are asked to stay in their homes or hotels.

This is about religion; when it is forced on us it is not a good sign. It should be up to us how we want to do our Nyepi. Its like Muslim fasting, and banning restaurants from opening, Ngurah Termana, a Hindu in Bali, told Al Jazeera.

Wayan Gendo Suardana, another Hindu, said: I dont understand why they need to cut off the internet; just because people like to take selfies? Thats a lame reason. If they wanted to make it like the old days, they should take out the electricity and gas, too.

Indonesia is a Muslim-majority country but more than 80 percent of Balis population identify as Hindu, who practise a local version of the religion.Belgium leased its biggest mosque to Riyadh in return for cheaper oil.

Belgium is taking back control of the Grand Mosque of Brussels by terminating Saudi Arabias lease of the building with immediate effect over concerns it promotes radicalism, the government said on Friday.

The announcement is Belgiums first official confirmation of the move which comes after months of behind the scenes diplomacy to prevent any fall-out with Saudi Arabia, as reported by Reuters in February.

Fridays decision breaks Saudi Arabias 99-year, rent-free use of the building, the government said.

The concession will be terminated immediately  in order to put an end to foreign interference in the way Islam is taught in Belgium, the Belgian government said in a statement.

Concession deal

Belgium leased the Grand Mosque to Riyadh in 1969, giving Saudi-backed imams access to a growing Muslim immigrant community, mostly from Morocco and Turkey, in return for cheaper oil for its industry.

It has been run by the Mecca-based Muslim World League (MWL), a missionary society mainly funded by Saudi Arabia. The MWL denies it espouses violence.

Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon tweeted of Fridays announcement that in this way, we are tackling Salafist, violent extremist influences.

Riyadh has been quick to accept the takeover, which coincides with a new Saudi initiative, not publicly announced but described to Reuters by Western officials, to end support for mosques and religious schools abroad blamed for spreading radical ideas.

Erfpachtovereenkomst rond Grote Moskee in Brussel wordt binnenkort opgezegd. Dat kan op relatief eenvoudige wijze. Daarmee maken we komaf met salafistische, gewelddadig extremistische invloeden. Collega @Koen_Geens1 behartigt nieuwe invulling in samenwerking met Moslimexecutieve.  Jan Jambon (@JanJambon) March 16, 2018

[Leasehold agreement around Grand Mosque in Brussels will be cancelled shortly. This can be done in a relatively simple way. With that, we end Salafist, violent extremist influences. Colleague @ Koen_Geens1 represents new interpretation in cooperation with Muslim executive.]

European Islam

Justice Minister Koen Geens said the sprawling complex will instead house the offices of the Muslim Executive of Belgium, an official body which represents Muslim communities across the country.

The mosque will have to register as a place of worship, he said.

Geens and other Belgian leaders couched the move as a way to promote a European Islam better aligned with their values.

From now on, the mosque will have to establish a lasting relation with the Belgian authorities, while respecting the laws and the traditions of our country, which convey a tolerant vision of Islam, Geens said.

Belgian security sources have told Reuters that the Muslim Executive of Belgium is close to the Moroccan government, with which Belgium has strong intelligence ties.A 28-year-old with long history of neo-fascist activism claims to have created a Croatian version of the alt-right.

Zagreb, Croatia  Frano Cirko sat in an upscale cafe in the Croatian capital and took sips of an espresso as he boasted of founding the countrys version of the alt-right movement.

The alt-right is a loosely knit coalition of white nationalists, white supremacists and neo-Nazis who campaign for an exclusively white ethnostate in North America.

Placing his coffee cup on the table and folding his hands, the 28-year-old said he founded the far-right Generation of Renovation party in February 2017 with the hopes of creating a Croatian version alt-right and the anti-immigrant European Identitarian movement.

Last year, two months after Generation of Renovations establishment, the party was able to land councillors, including Cirko, in a pair of neighbourhoods in western Zagreb.

While Croatias mainstream political establishment has drifted further right in recent years  a process that has seen the normalisation of neo-fascist themes  Cirko and his fellow party members decided to start the new party after pre-existing far-right groups effectively collapsed during parliamentary elections in 2016.

They have an old methodology of political work, he told Al Jazeera. They always talk about the second world war and the Homeland War [the Yugoslav wars in the 1990s].

Yet, Sven Milekic, a Zagreb-based journalist at Balkan Insight, rejected the notion that Generation of Renovation represents a break from the countrys traditional far right.

When you look at their programmes, rhetoric and membership, its the same guys who used to look like neo-Nazis, he told Al Jazeera.

Explaining that Cirkos party has failed to gain much currency in the country, Milekic explained: In Croatia, its very hard for new parties to step on the same. People are quite conservative in the sense of their political choices.

Largely confined to the internet

The party claims to have around 200 members.

{articleGUID}

While it has struggled to build a presence in the streets, it quickly gained notoriety for its excessive promotion of hate speech and xenophobia online, as first reported by Balkan Insight in May 2017.

The Generation of Renovation party has coopted the American alt-rights Pepe the Frog, a meme described as a hate symbol by the US-based watchdog Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League.

Cirko cloaks the partys far-right ideology in campaigns against youth emigration and in support of youth-focused employment policies.

Old right-wing politicians are only fighting against communists, which is OK, but they arent fighting against the socialist way of economy and how the state is working, he says, alluding to the flight of many young Croatians to other European Union (EU) states for employment after the country joined the 28-member bloc in 2013.

Cirko described Generation of Renovation as a youth-focused party that opposes Croatias membership in the EU and calls for the abolition of income taxes.

We are fighting for the interests of our generation  We are not guilty for our situation, he argued. We have the right to resist this situation in politics and [economics] because we were [forced] into it.

The party also opposes same-sex marriage, LGBTQ rights and reproductive rights.

International ties with the far right

Yet, researchers and critics have pointed to the party leaders long history of neo-fascist activism.

{articleGUID}

Cirko, who has in the past been photographed performing Nazi salutes, is a former member of the hardline, far-right Croatian Pure Party of Rights.

He has worked to build ties with several far-right and neo-fascist groups across Europe, including Hungarys Jobbik party, the Latvian National Alliance, the Conservative Peoples Party of Estonia and VMRO  Bulgarian National Movement.

We found Hungary as the first and strongest Croatian ally in our neighbourhood, he explained. Jobbiks only step after this is to come to power.

Founded in 2003, Jobbik has made waves time and again owing to its intense Euroscepticism, anti-migrant policies and anti-Semitism.

Although it has recently attempted to rebrand itself, critics point to Jobbiks neo-Nazi roots.

Celebrating a war criminal

Pressed on his views, Cirko employed ultranationalistic tropes, such as the notion that Croatia should be a strong country that commands influence in the world.

Although Cirko claims his party doesnt harbour the intense anti-Serb xenophobia that is widespread in many of Croatias right-wing and far-right parties, his actions suggest otherwise.

During rallies and other public events, Cirko and his fellow party members regularly wave flags bearing symbols affiliated with the Ustasa, the World War II-era fascist party that oversaw the Nazi-aligned Independent State of Croatia (1941-1945).

In November 2017, a day after Bosnian Croat general Slobodan Praljak drank cyanide poison upon being convicted for war crimes during the 1990s Yugoslav wars, Generation of Renovation held a ceremony and erected an altar for the late war criminal.

{articleGUID}

We have come to pay tribute to our general, Slobodan Praljak, in gratitude for all he has done for us and for all of the Croatian people, Cirko addressed the handful of supporters. They held a placard that read hero.

Although publicly approving of, celebrating or minimising war crimes is forbidden under Croatian law, Cirkos memorial was only one of several similar displays of mourning staged throughout the country following Praljaks suicide. Some of those events were attended by government ministers.

Dangerous but on the margins

While noting that the potential of growing far-right ideology is dangerous, the Anti-Fascist Network of Zagrebs Josip Jagic said he doubts that a party such as Generation of Renovation can build a large base.

Jagic explained that the prevalence of Holocaust revisionism and other far-right characteristics in Croatias ruling right-wing party, the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), has served as a barrier for far-right parties hoping to break into the countrys political mainstream.

Because there is nothing remotely viable as a real opposition [to HDZ], which by some degree would contest the current relations of power in society, the establishment is pretty much secure, he told Al Jazeera.

That situation means you have no need for fascist outrage, Jagic added. We have to admit that the fascist activities have been until now on the margins.

He concluded: Its here, its dangerous, but it still doesnt have the broad potential of fascism [elsewhere in Europe].UN warns about alarming reports on civilian deaths due to attacks as Turkey pushes to seize Kurdish-held Syrian city.

The United Nations has said that there were alarming reports about civilian deaths in the Syrian enclave of Afrin, where Kurdish forces were said to be blocking civilians from leaving the city.

The UN rights office said it had been receiving deeply alarming reports from Afrin in northwestern Syria about civilian deaths and injuries due to air strikes and ground-based strikes, adding that the area is under a siege and civilians could be being used as human shields by the Kurdish forces there.

Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani in particular decried reports that civilians are being prevented from leaving Afrin city by Kurdish forces  (and) are being held to be used as human shields.

{articleGUID}

Turkish-led forces launched an air and ground offensive on the Kurdish-majority region on January 20.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) estimates that at least 245 civilians, including 41 children, have been killed.

The Observatory said Thursday more than 30,000 people had fled the city in 24 hours, with civilians still trying to slip out on Friday before Turkish-led forces cut the last exit road.

Hundreds of thousands of civilians are at risk including those recently displaced from other areas captured by Turkish-led forces, Shamdasani said.

Humanitarian situation worsens

She said her office had been informed that only those civilians who have contacts within the Kurdish authority or the Kurdish armed forces have been able to leave.

However, she stressed that even they have to make a treacherous path through, risking shelling and explosive hazards only to reach checkpoints manned by government-backed armed groups where they may only be permitted to cross after paying money.

A Turkish air raid hit the main hospital in Syrias Afrin town on Friday night, killing nine people, the Syrian Kurdish fighters and the SOHR said.

Turkeys military has denied hitting civilians in its offensive on the Afrin region, which it launched in January. On Saturday, the army said that 3,567 terrorists were killed since the operation was launched.

There was an air strike on Afrins general hospital, its the only big hospital, said Rojhat Roj, a YPG media official in Afrin. The air and artillery strikes are ongoing on the town.

She voiced concern at the worsening humanitarian situation, pointing to the tremendous pressure on Afrin hospital, the only medical facility equipped for major operations.

{articleGUID}

There is also a severe water shortage due to the reported destruction of a pumping station as well as the control of other water resources by Turkish-led forces, she said.

Shamdasani said civilians on the ground were expressing fear over their safety, due among other things to fighters placing rocket launchers in residential areas.

We are deeply concerned about the high risk of civilians, who are effectively trapped, being killed, injured, besieged, used as human shields or displaced as a result of the fighting, she said.

We remind all parties to the conflict that they must permit civilians wishing to leave combat areas to do so in safety, and to ensure the protection of those who remain, she insisted.Egyptian expats cast their ballot amid calls for boycott

Opposition to Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has called for a boycott of the elections, but supporters of Sisi in the US are queuing up to vote at the Egyptian embassy.Family of Egyptian student killed in the UK demand answers

Local police in Nottingham say that they are keeping an open mind, but do not yet have evidence to suggest the attack was a hate crime.Rights lawyers accuse the de facto Myanmar leader of crimes against humanity over Rohingya treatment.

More video clips from the storyUnited in grief after a high-profile police killing, followers of a young activist have joined marches across Pakistan.

Manzoor Ahmed Pashteen is usually seen wearing a red-and-black-patterned hat.

The story goes that he received the hat from a low-paid labourer in his hometown of Sarwakai district, in Pakistans northwestern South Waziristan region.

The 26-year-old then gave the worker his brand new hat and took the worn red-and-black one in exchange.

I gave him my hat without any hesitation. Why not? Pashteen told Al Jazeera.

The hat has become something of a symbol: the design is now worn by those who support Pashteens cause, to fight for the rights and protection of Pakistans ethnic Pashtun citizens.

His popularity has swelled to such an extent that some of his followers  as a gesture of respect  have taken to referring to themselves by his last name.

Roughly 15 percent of Pakistans 207 million population is Pashtun, according to the countrys 1998 census. The cause of Pashtun citizens took on particular prominence earlier this year.

On the evening of January 3, Naqeebullah Mehsud, a 27-year-old father and aspiring model from Waziristan, was forcefully abducted during a raid by police personnel in Karachi. He went missing for at least 10 days.

On January 13, police said that they had killed four terrorists suspected of having links to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group and the Pakistan Taliban.

One of the four killed was Mehsud. The police officer who led the operation, Rao Anwar, said that Mehsud was killed in a shoot-out.

A police inquiry ordered by the Supreme Court of Pakistan later revealed that Anwar had presided over 444 killings in 745 police shootouts.

The investigation found no evidence to Anwars claim that Mehsud was a terrorist. Anwar is now on the run.

Protests

The young mans death sparked a string of protests, manifesting in thousands camping out for a sit-in in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, for 10 days, under the banner of being a Pashtun Long March .

Pashteen, who graduated in veterinary medicine from Gomal University in Dera Ismail Khan, was one of a group of young activists who founded the Mehsud Tahafuz Movement in 2014  an organisation for the protection of the people of their tribe  the Mehsuds.

Known as a hardworking man who grew up in poverty, Pashteens father, a teacher at a local school, did not earn enough to feed his family of eight and used to take on loans to fill the financial gap.

[Pashteen] never aims to earn money from anything he does, all he wants to do is fight for the rights of Pashtuns, said Noor Rehman Mehsud, a member of the movement and one of Naqeebullah Mehsuds cousins.

Describing Pashteen as a fierce and brave activist, Noor Rehman told Al Jazeera that it was not easy to raise your voice against the government and the Pakistan army.

In this country, you cannot fight against the army and the government, this is a very sensitive line that you cannot cross. You have to work with them. We have always expressed our concerns in a peaceful manner and so has Pashteen, so that people who have been killed unlawfully get justice.

The Pakistan army launched an offensive in 2009 against the Pakistan Taliban in pockets of South Waziristan, displacing the group into neighbouring districts.

In a series of operations across the countrys northwest since then, the military says it has now effectively destroyed the Pakistan Talibans infrastructure in the country. It claims the group is now operating from provinces on the Afghan side of Pakistans northwestern border.

The human cost of the conflict propelled Pashteen towards activism.

He and his comrades took up the cause of the more than 600,000 Mehsuds displaced by the military, forced to abandon their homes as the army fought pitched battles with Taliban fighters in a drawn-out operation.

The military now says South Waziristan is safe for residents to return, but many continue to stay away, saying their homes have been destroyed and the government has not yet built facilities for basic service delivery.

When I started the movement, I use to go from house to house and tell people what was going on in our area in terms of injustice and atrocities, Pashteen told Al Jazeera.

But most of the time, I would get a reply from them: Pashteen, you will get killed. Dont do this.'

Our national cause

According to Pashteen, he was forced to abandon his hometown, kept in unlawful detention and often harassed for suspected links with armed groups in Pakistan and across the border in Afghanistan.

Everyone knows, it is a common thing said to us by the military forces near checkpoints esko murgha banao [translated as: make him a rooster. A common form of punishment in South Asia, where the person takes a position of squatting and then holding the ears]. he said, adding that the position was an utter state of humiliation.

The Pakistani military was not immediately available for a comment, but has previously denied any wrongdoing.

As news of Naqeebullah Mehsuds killing spread earlier this year, Pashteen and his fellow activists led protesters from the town of Dera Ismail Khan, where many Mehsuds have settled since the military operation began.

In support of Pashteens cause, Hashim Khan wears the red-and-black hat and changed his last name to Pashteen [Al Jazeera]

As their numbers grew, boosted by support from across Pakistan, the group changed its name to the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement, or Movement for the Protection of Pashtuns.

Hashim Khan, a member of Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), a Pashtun nationalist political party, is among those who says he has changed his last name to Pashteen and wears the red-and-black hat.

I participated in Pashteens [march] in Quetta without my party flag because we nationalists knew this is our national cause, said Khan.

The PTM has broadened its initial set of demands, which focused on getting justice for Naqeebullahs murder, to include a reduction of military-enforced curfews in the countrys tribal areas; the production of thousands of missing persons believed to have been held by the military; and the formation of a judicial commission to investigate police killings of terrorism suspects.

Missing persons

As part of his activism, Pashteen often sent statistics and pictures of those affected by the governments fight against the Taliban to local journalists, to highlight the human impact of the war.

In one of his interviews in March to local Pakistani media, Pashteen claimed that tens of thousands of people were missing in FATA. Al Jazeera is unable to independently verify that figure.

A government-run judicial commission on enforced disappearances says at least 1,640 people are missing across Pakistan as of February 2018, although rights activists say that number is vastly understated.

Families of the missing live with the uncertainty of not knowing whether their children are dead or alive.

Calling Pashteen the son of the Pakistani soil, Said Alam Mehsud, a cofounder of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement, told Al Jazeera: In FATA, where there is no political, economic and social development, Manzoor Pashteen is the first person from FATA to speak out publicly and openly about what was in the peoples hearts and minds.

Case against Pashteen

On Tuesday, Pakistani police registered cases against Pashteen for criticising the countrys military during the Pashtun Long March.

He is accused of wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause [a] riot, and if convicted, faces up to five years in prison.

Whatever we are doing, we are doing within the law. We have the right to protest. This is our basic human right. And by lodging the [police report], they are pressurising us, Said Alam Mehsud told Al Jazeera.

This also takes attention away from the extrajudicial killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud by Rao Anwar, who is still at large.

Pashteen is determined to remain persistent until the demands of PTM are met, despite the lack of support from his family, as they are worried for his life.

My father, wife and mother expect every day to hear the news of my death or disappearance. They are worried for me and sometimes, angry at me, he said, adding that he wants a better future for Pashtuns in Pakistan including my month old daughter.

But I know deep down, beneath all the worry, they are proud of me because this is not about me, it is about making this country a better place for us to live in.

Follow Shereena Qazi on Twitter: @ShereenaQazi

Follow SherShah Atif on Twitter: @SherShahatifTrump was scheduled to meet Mohammed bin Zayed before meeting with Skeikh Tamim.

Saudi, Emirati and Qatari leaders will beat a path to US President Donald Trumps door in the next few weeks for back-to-back visits that are unlikely to solve a long-running dispute among the US Gulf allies.

The US was hoping to host a US-GCC summit later this year but the prospects of that happening appear slim given that the rival leaders are still at odds.

They dont see eye to eye. Theyre not ready to solve this crisis, a senior administration official said, referring to the parties embroiled in the Gulf crisis.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut off travel and trade ties with Qatar last June, Qatar says the blockade is an attempt to impinge on its sovereignty.

Washington meetings

In February, a US official said that senior Saudi, Emirati and Qatari leaders would meet the US president in the coming months.

Bin Salman: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will meet Trump on Tuesday, March 20, in Washington.

The Qatar dispute is unlikely to be at the forefront of issues the young leader will want to discuss, diplomats say.

Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani will meet Trump on April 10 in the White House.

In February, the Qatari government announced that Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani would attend a meeting with US President Donald Trump in Washington, DC, in April.

Bin Zayed: Eager to have the last word with Trump, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has sought to meet Trump after a scheduled meeting with the Qatari emir, the senior administration official said.

Originally, the crown prince, also known in the West as MbZ, was due to meet Trump on March 27.

MbZ, in fact, had asked Trump to be last, the senior administration official said. No new dates have yet been set.

Agenda: The leaders are likely to talk to Trump about countering Iran, combating what they call Islamist extremism, and deepening economic and military partnerships.

US-GCC Summit

There appears to be little to gain  and a bit to lose  in Gulf partners agreeing to another US-GCC Summit of leaders hosted by President Trump at Camp David, said a former senior US official who worked on regional issues.

They have more to gain prosecuting their independent agendas in the bilateral visits to Washington already scheduled, the former official said.

Riyadh and Abu Dhabi see the dispute as a minor irritant and not an urgent problem, its one that they can live with for a very long time, that its not affecting US interests, said Rob Malley, head of the International Crisis Group think-tank.

They want to treat it as part of the furniture and not as something that requires immediate attention, said Malley, who has met recently with Saudi officials.

Countering Iran

The Trump administration is worried that the split among its GCC allies can benefit Iran in the tussle for influence in the Middle East.

A senior US official with knowledge of the US mediation effort said there was still some willingness among the Gulf allies to begin a dialogue.

Theyre beginning to realize that this only plays into the hands of the Iranians, Syrians and Russians and its time to figure out how to resolve these issues, the official said.

Intellectually, they know this has to be resolved, and it will only get worse and affect things  viscerally, they would love to continue it in some way because the feelings are so strong, the official said.Two women known for anti-Muslim rants at Phoenix-area political events were arrested Thursday for breaking into an Arizona Islamic centre, police said.

Tahnee Gonzales, 32, and Elizabeth Dauenhauer, 51, were arrested on suspicion of felony third-degree burglary after an investigation into theft and vandalism at a Tempe mosque.

The two were released on Friday, but were ordered to wear electronic monitoring devices in lieu of bail.

Arrests came after the mosque officials pressed charges against the women who also filmed themselves and their children spouting hate speech while removing flyers and pamphlets from the mosque.

This moms idea of a field trip is spreading anti-Muslim sentiment. pic.twitter.com/xtugaCdUf3  AJ (@ajplus) March 16, 2018

Facebook Live

In the 20-minute long Facebook Live video, the women, along with three children, walked around the property. They approached the gate where there is a no trespassing sign and a sign prohibiting firearms.

One of the women is heard asking one of the children to take her gun back to their car. They then walk past the entrance and immediately begin removing posters, brochures and other materials while making insulting statements about Islam and Muslims.

Imraan Siddiqi, director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nations largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy group Arizona chapter told Anadolu Agency on Friday that the women are affiliated with the Arizona Patriot Movement (PMAZ) which was established by members of the far right and white supremacists.

Arizona Patriot Movement

Siddiqi said that the Muslim community in Arizona has been persistently harassed by the PMAZ, also open carry laws, lack of regulations and people who glorify gun usage are serious threats to Muslims.

Siddiqi recalled the Phoenix mosque incident in 2015 when members of the Arizona Patriot Movement encircled the building with weapons while nearly 600 Muslim community members were inside for an annual event.

They screamed racial slurs to women and little children, Siddiqi said, adding that especially Muslim women are often targeted not only in Arizona but also around the country.

As a Muslim women, not only in Arizona but most of the [country], they will tell you that they have probably been harassed, followed, or tried to get run off the road, he noted. That is the new normal for a lot of Muslim Americans now.

The Southern Poverty Law Center said earlier this year that it found a dramatic jump in hate violence and incidents of harassment and intimidation around the country since the President Donald Trumps November 8, 2016, electoral win.Ongoing debate on the use of chemical weapons at the UN

The use of chemical weapons has been banned by the United Nations for decades, but reports of chemical attacks continue to emerge.Hundreds rally against 2016 agreement aimed at stemming the flow of refugees and migrants to Europe.

More than a thousand people have rallied in Athens against the March 2016 European Union-Turkey deal to stem the flow of refugees and migrants to the continent.

Refugees, solidarity activists, leftists and anti-fascists marched throughout the Greek capital on Saturday, just three days in advance of the EU-Turkey deals second anniversary.

The rally was as part of the call for protests to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which is commemorated each year on March 21.

We have called for protests against all of the EUs deals with countries which were made to return refugees to so-called safe countries, Nasim Lomani, an Athens-based activist with the Network of Social Support for Migrants and Refugees, told Al Jazeera.

On Saturday morning, just hours before the rally started, a boat carrying refugees and migrants from Turkey sank near the Greek island of Agathonisi, situated in the eastern Aegean Sea.

The Greek coastguard has found 16 bodies, among them children, so far, but they expect the death toll to increase, according to the Greek daily Ekathimerini.

This is exactly why its important to protest today  Fortress Europe is killing people every day, Lomani added.

In a press release published on Saturday, Greeces migration minister, Dimitris Vitsas, called for a solution to the ongoing refugee crisis.

We cant tolerate losing children in the Aegean Sea  the solution is to protect people, to implement safe procedures and safe routes for migrants and refugees, to hit the human trafficking circuits, Vitsas said in the statement, as reported by Ekathimerini.

EU-Turkey deal

Reached in March 2016, the EU-Turkey deal was hailed by its supporters as a landmark agreement.

{articleGUID}

Critics decried the deal for leaving asylum seekers with few options beyond remaining stranded in Turkey or taking increasingly dangerous routes to Europe.

After the agreement was reached, countries across Eastern Europe sealed their borders, effectively closing the so-called Western Balkans route that previously had been widely used by refugees and migrants.

The protest today is important because the situations in [refugees home countries] is getting worse, Qafar Karimi, a 40-year-old Afghan refugee, told Al Jazeera.

Our message to the whole world is: Open the borders.

Karimi added: Every day, the wars in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan are getting worse. Its not fit for living any more, and thats why we came here. We are refugees from war; we are not economic migrants.Russia hits back with tit-for-tat expulsion after UK dismisses Russian diplomats over poisoning of Russian former spy.

Russia will expel 23 British diplomats in retaliation against the UKs expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats, Russias foreign ministry said.

The tit-for-tat expulsion follows after the poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter in London on March 4.

Blaming Russia for the attack, the UK said it would dismiss 23 Russian envoys, the single biggest expulsion in more than 30 years.

UKs Prime Minister Theresa May said on Saturday that Russias dismissal of the British representatives doesnt change the facts of the matter of the poisoning.

Russias response doesnt change the facts of the matter  the attempted assassination of two people on British soil, for which there is no alternative conclusion other than that the Russian State was culpable, May told her Conservative Partys spring forum.

Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, were found unconscious on a bench outside a shopping centre in Salisbury, after they were poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent.

Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, remain in critical condition in a hospital [Rex Features]

A former double agent, Skripal betrayed dozens of Russian agents to British intelligence before his arrest in Moscow in 2004. He was later sent to the UK in exchange for captured Russian spies.

The British diplomats must leave Moscow within a week, Russias foreign ministry said on Saturday, after a meeting with Britains ambassador to Russia, Laurie Bristow.

Moscow also decided to close the British Council in Russia and to withdraw permission for Britain to open a general consulate in St Petersburg, the ministry said in a statement.

Novichok nerve agent

The UKs Foreign Minister Boris Johnson has said London would submit a sample of the Novichok nerve agent used in the former spys poisoning to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), a UN body.

Speaking to the BBC news on Thursday, Johnson said the rare Soviet-made chemical weapon used against Skripal and his daughter in the town of Salisbury was specifically chosen to send a message to political dissenters challenging Russias President Vladimir Putin.

There is a reason for choosing Novichok. In its blatant Russian-ness, the nerve agent sends a signal to all who may be thinking of dissent in the intensifying repression of Putins Russia, he said.

The message is clear: We will find you, we will catch you, we will kill you  and though we will deny it with lip-curling scorn, the world will know beyond doubt that Russia did it.

The attack showed the Kremlin was clearly willing to act without restraint and fit a pattern of reckless behaviour by Putin, Johnson said.

Election factor?

The Skripal incident happened just two weeks before the Russian presidential elections, prompting some observers to suggest that the timing might not be coincidental.

On the eve of the elections, all those bold moves made by Russia, by the Kremlin are somehow focused on the elections, Nikolay Petrov, a professor of social sciences at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, told Al Jazeera.

This is true about the presidential address delivered two weeks ago; this is true about what happened in Salisbury, .

According to Petrov, Russias sharp reaction to the measures taken by the UK government are meant for the domestic audience and are supposed to boost the Russian presidents image as a leader who demonstrates Russias greatness in the world arena.

The standoff, however, might not be in the best interest of Russia and the government might change its position after the elections.

If those moves made by Great Britain are supported by other countries, by the European Union, by NATO, they can lead to a growing confrontation between Russia and the West. And I think the Kremlin will [do] its best to avoid this, Petrov said.

In his opinion, Russia needs normalisation of relations with the West in order to push through economic development plans Putin has promised to his electorate.Russia: Navalny trying to undermine the elections legitimacy

Opposition leader Navalny plans to delegitimise Vladimir Putins expected re-election by monitoring polling stations and calling for an election boycott.Syrias war: Offensives on Afrin and Ghouta continue

The numbers of both casualties and displaced persons are both mounting as the bombardment campaigns of Afrin and Eastern Ghouta continue.Protesters blame the rise of the far right and capitalism for the racism seen across Europe.

London, England  Thousands of people braved freezing temperatures in London to unite against the evil of racism and the growth of far-right movements.

Protesters gathered near Oxford Circus on Saturday for the Stand Up To Racism march to oppose growing racism, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism.

Crowds marched to Whitehall as they held banners, reading Migrants and refugees are welcome here and Stop racist attacks.

There is racism in the UK, it is just more hidden because its so diverse and acts on a more subliminal level, Abraham Khoudari said at the march.

But when its like that it is even worse, the 18-year-old Syrian told Al Jazeera.

Nationalists have come to the forefront, they are in parliament and in power. It means more people are becoming more confident about expressing their racist views. The result of that is hate crimes increasing so much. Its just terrible and we are sick of it.

Far right poses significant threat

The march comes less than a month after Mark Rowley, who recently retired as the Metropolitan Polices counterterrorism chief, warned that the far right poses an organised and significant threat to the country, as he revealed that four far-right terrorist plots had been foiled since the beginning of the year.

When asked if the government is doing enough to tackle the rise of far-right violence, Khoudari responded at the time: No because a lot of far-right politicians are now in government. They wont clamp down because capitalism and the far-right go hand in hand.

Labour MEP and Chair of the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee, Claude Moraes told Al Jazeera there is significant threat from the far right in the UK.

Moraes said it stems from a very strong populist wave based on anti-Muslim, anti-refugee rhetoric and an increasingly anti-Semitic one, coupled with hardcore trends of the far right.

The year between 2016 and 2017 saw the largest percentage increase in hate crimes since 2011-12 [Claire Gilbody-Dickerson/Al Jazeera]

Saturdays protest is expected to spread across both the UK and the EU, and coincide with the UN International Day for the Elimination of Racism and Discrimination.

Surge in hate crimes

According to a UN report, divisive, anti-immigrant and xenophobic rhetoric during the EU referendum campaign triggered a surge in hate crimes following Britains June 2016 vote to quit the bloc.

The year between 2016 and 2017 saw the largest percentage increase in hate crimes since the 2011 to 2012 period, with the number of reported offences rising to 80,393. The majority of those offences  78 percent  were racially motivated, according to a October 2017 government report.

Labour MP David Lammy hit out at politicians perpetuating inflammatory rhetoric, singling out those with a questionable record on promoting equality rights.

To Rees-Mogg, to Nigel Farage, to Britain First, to the xenophobes, to the racists, to those who would be seduced by this extreme rhetoric  We are standing up for the Britain that we love and that we believe in, and my God, we are sending a message to the [architect] of this tide of prejudice that is sweeping our world: Donald Trump, he told the crowd on Saturday.

Cities across the UK and Europe saw protests to mark International Day for the Elimination of Racism and Discrimination [Claire Gilbody-Dickerson/Al Jazeera]

Fardowsa Hadir said she felt the Muslim community was especially targeted in the UK.

They dont acknowledge us, or that we are part of society, the 53-year-old told Al Jazeera.

She added there is a big problem with Islamophobia because everything that happens  they always blame Islam, and its not fair.

Its disgusting

People also gathered to protest against what they branded the UK governments inhumane treatment of refugees.

Lammy said people should stand up to Prime Minister Theresa Mays pledge  which she first made as home secretary in 2012  to create a hostile environment for undocumented immigrants.

According to Refugee Council, in 2017, an estimated 668,600 people sought safety in Europe. Yet Britain received just 26,350 asylum applications, a 14 percent decrease from the year before.

Theo Sharieff blamed the Conservative partys austerity policies for growing racism in the country.

He told Al Jazeera that immigrants held in detention are paid one pound [$1.40] an hour, are not allowed to look for jobs outside detention centres and have no right to join trade unions.

The 22-year-old added that as the country cuts jobs, services and wages , all that does is put one worker against another.

Sophie Hargrove said she was marching because leaders in the country across the world stand for things we dont believe in.

She added that its important to come together to oppose these things we are against.

Asked about the Conservative partys attitude towards migrants and refugees, Hargrove branded it incredibly inhumane.

Especially now with refugee crisis, its important to include refugees in this anti-racism because they are often forgotten and dehumanised, she told Al Jazeera.

Its disgusting.Did Free Speech Destroy American Democracy?

Would giving up our constitutional rights make our country more democratic? Would regulating speech make government more accountable to the people? Shockingly, some answer these questions with "yes." Figures ranging from Harvard academic Lawrence Lessig to former president Jimmy Carter have said America is no longer a democratic republic. The latest entrant to this ritual is another Harvard professor, Yascha Mounk, who repeats these claims in the Atlantic. These men push a similar formula for their grievances about our system: restrict political spending, then watch democracy flourish. In reality, political spending is an essential expression of free speech that brings new voices into politics and makes our republic more vibrant.

Mounk strangely attributes this "democratic deficit" to one main cause: corporations. He recounts an alternative history whereby businesses lacked influence in politics for much of the 20th century  an assertion that may surprise those who know about the political battles over labor laws and health policy. This all supposedly changed in the 1970s, when business increased its political footprint, leading to an influx of campaign spending. (In fact, the 1970s is when federal regulation of campaign finance began to significantly increase.) Besides being ahistorical, this line of thinking has dangerous implications that we've seen before. Demonizing political spending justifies policies aimed at deterring the rich in theory but that actually burden ordinary citizens. For every wealthy donor attacked on the floor of the U.S. Senate, there are many other average Americans harassed because the law requires that their political giving be put online. For every program sending tax dollars to politicians to supposedly reduce the sway of big donors, there is an increased chance that corrupt candidates will find new ways to cheat the system. Worse yet, efforts to deter political participation leave more power for abuse by government agencies  witness IRS abuses against Tea Party groups or pre-dawn police raids over alleged "coordination" between candidates and advocacy groups in Wisconsin. Mounk calls for more campaign finance restrictions at several points without noting specifics. (Indeed, apart from one widely criticized study, he does not cite empirical evidence for his claims about money in politics at all.) But the policies he does mention suggest a draconian approach to cracking down on First Amendment rights. He recalls favorably how states like Georgia and California literally criminalized the practice of lobbying  better known in the Constitution as "the freedom ... to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." He also advocates for overturning Citizens United  a case where the government tried to ban a movie that criticized then-senator Hillary Clinton when she was running for president, simply because it was made by a corporation. Imagine paying a fine or facing jail time for daring to interact with other voters or elected officials in the "wrong" way or at the "wrong" time. The call for more speech laws also contradicts Mounk's own critiques. He warns how federal agencies like the FCC and SEC have "supplanted" the job of lawmaking. Yet the policies he mentions would only give more power to those agencies and others, like the FEC and the IRS. That does not make America more democratic, but more bureaucratic. What would make America more democratic would be enabling more political speech and participation. The recent decline in campaign finance restrictions has coincided with the breakdown of traditional party elites. The result is a rise in independent speech and more people running for office. It is hard to argue in the era of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders that elites have tightened their grasp on our elections. It's true that Americans have an enduring skepticism of large, monopolistic institutions  both private and public. If the goal is to decentralize power, the answer is surely not to allow opaque federal agencies to ban certain types of speech or enable politically motivated harassment of private citizens. Engaging in public debate is how free speech should work in a democracy. In a republic, that right cannot be taken away. Joe Albanese is a research fellow at the Institute for Free Speech in Alexandria, Virginia. The Institute is the nation's largest organization dedicated to defending First Amendment political speech rights.The Big Tech Industrial Complex has thousands of H-1B visa and green card employees. Some of these workers' roles are as engineers, analysts, and programmers, in the departments responsible for the regulation, suppression and censorship of political speech their parent companies have deemed hateful, inflammatory, and inappropriate for young audiences.

You want foreign collusion? I've got foreign collusion for you. On your phones, computers, tablets, and laptops. In your bedroom, living room, and kitchen.

What this means is that foreigners who cannot vote in American elections have been given carte blanche by their bosses and executives to tyrannically muzzle political thought and opinions, which undoubtedly can, and likely does, influence the outcomes of American elections at all levels of government.

Here's the tale of the tape of the top two Big Tech firms with federally approved H-1B and green card workers since 2014 (figures are from http://www.myvisajobs.com):

Twitter: 1,226

Google (including YouTube): 15,368

Though it is unclear exactly how many of the nearly 17,000 workers are directly responsible for the collusion, even a small percentage equals a lot of collusion.

Putin wishes he could collude like Big Tech

Vladimir Putin? He ain't got nothin' on Big Tech. And speaking of collusion, where are all the Democrats and Tessio Republicans obsessed with the "President Trump is Alger Hiss" conspiracy theory?

Big Tech fancies itself as God, as an omnipotent and omniscient Supreme Being. The surreptitiousness by which, for example, Twitter operates is highly sophisticated. Furthermore, the San Francisco-based social media company has always been cozy with Democrats and is notorious for denying right-leaning ads.

Ironically, news of the recent forced unfollowings of millions of users' accounts was reported on Twitter.

Google is currently facing a lawsuit from conservative icon Dennis Prager, who alleges that YouTube restricted 30 videos from his PragerU channel due to their political themes and topics. Some of the videos' titles were "The most important question about abortion," "Where are the moderate Muslims?," and "Is Islam a religion of peace?" Many of PragerU's 4- to 5-minute vignette-presenters are well known conservative pundits, professors, and Pulitzer Prize-winners.

Twitter, likewise, is facing lawsuits from plaintiffs alleging that they were banned due to their views on race.

To make matters worse, the DMIC (Democrat Media Industrial Complex) is no longer masking its fetish for speech control. (You thought guns were the only right the DMIC wants to control in its "all for me, none for thee" zeal?) DMIC colluder and conspirator CNN recently embarked on a propaganda activist campaign against Infowars' Alex Jones. Whatever one's opinion of Jones, it's flat-out creepy how fervent the DMIC is on its anti-First Amendment warpath.

Have any of you ever, for a single second, heard DMIC networks, newspapers, and other organizations question the ethical appropriateness of foreign workers at American companies manipulating what political content their users see and don't see, based on political ideology?

Me neither.

Online discrimination is worse than segregation

The internet is the greatest invention in mankind's history. I am a frequent Twitter and Google user; I have a YouTube video channel. The Democrats told us the repeal of net neutrality was Armageddon (until tax reform came along  Democrats meant to say tax reform was Armageddon!). Why, then, haven't those same Democrats so in favor of net neutrality spoken a word about shadowbanning?

Our country, and our world, is fueled by technology. Technology and the internet connect us in ways our elders never could have envisioned; one out of every three human beings on Earth communicates via the internet. This is why I forewarn: continued, furtive, and unchecked discrimination against political viewpoints will make segregation and McCarthyism look like Camelot. Segregationists and Joseph McCarthy operated openly; Big Tech, however, seems to relish the invisible influence it wields over its end users.

Democrats made a big deal about, and levied six figures in fines against, a baker who refused to make a cake for a same-sex couple, based on his religious beliefs. But Democrats support Big Tech's silencing of Republicans, conservatives, President Trump, and his supporters. There are certainly legal arguments to be made that Big Tech is well within its rights to handpick what content appears on its platforms, but its obsession with trampling speech it arbitrarily labels as "hate speech" reeks of actual discrimination  the tech version of refusing service based on race, gender, religion, or sexual orientation.

Big Government, with all of its onerous regulations, always stifles economic growth, especially among small business. But perhaps the time has come for the Federal Communications Commission to begin a serious examination of whether Big Tech has become too much like Orwell's Animal Farm: "all views are equal, but some are more equal than others." Free speech is often beautiful and often ugly. Freedom isn't really about agreeing or disagreeing with speech; it's about equally supporting the right to speech we deem agreeable or disagreeable.

The free market of ideas must be left as untouched as possible. It's true that no right is absolute, but mega-conglomerates weaponizing their services is frighteningly totalitarian. If Fidel Castro, or Mao, or Pol Pot, or...fill in the dictator blank...had this kind of technology, he would have leveraged it exactly as Big Tech does today.

If foreign workers despotically meddling in our online political speech doesn't keep us up at night, what will?

Rich Logis is host of The Rich Logis Show, at TheRichLogisShow.com, and author of the upcoming book 10 Warning Signs Your Child is Becoming a Democrat. He can be found on Twitter at @RichLogis.

Image: Patrick Nouhailler via Flickr.The former first lady's unsuccessful effort to steady herself was remedied by a white male escort who likely convinced his wife to vote for Trump.

Recently, while visiting India's ancient city of Mandu, in Madhya Pradesh, accident-prone tourist Hillary Clinton lost her footing and skidded down the stairs of 13th-century Jahaz Mahal . It happened as Mrs. Clinton and an escort descended the stone stairs like the mother of a bride being ushered to the head table.

In any case, looking as if she had slipped on a banana peel, three quarters of the way down the staircase, the failed presidential candidate unintentionally headed into a yoga straddle split with one leg entirely in midair.

That's when a second white male escort, wearing a matching straw hat, hurried to the side of the portly politician. Attempting to help the men steer her carefully onto terra firma, Hillary kicked off her orthopedic sandals and tried to grip the stone with her gecko toes.

It's horrible to say, but at 71 years old, Hillary should avoid sudden jerking motions, because lurching forward, backward, or side-to-side often results in incontinence issues for senior citizens with aging bladders. So, after the stair incident, it's not surprising that Miss Hillary thought it would be wise for everyone involved if she avoided the hot sun and instead slipped out of her white capris and soaked for a spell in a bath at the Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur.

Hillary, who broke her toe in London last year, has proven that elderly pear-shaped women do lose their balance, slip, and fall.

Hillary explained the London incident in the following way:

I was running down the stairs in heels with a cup of coffee in hand, I was talking over my shoulder and my heel caught and I fell backwards. I tried to get up and it really hurt. I've broken my toe. I've received excellent care from your excellent health service.

Wait! Hillary expects people to believe she was "running in heels with a cup of coffee talking over her shoulder"? Furthermore, she also wants us to accept the excuse that gravity threw her onto the floor and she couldn't get up because "it really hurt"? Sorry, but a more believable explanation would have nothing to do with "coffee" being in that cup and more likely to do with a cantankerous drunk losing balance while yelling orders at her assistants.

Regardless, and despite the discomfort, the quintessential politician did manage to remember to use a broken toe moment to send a thumbs-up to Britain's socialized health care system.

Regrettably, this year, that same thumb may be out of commission for a while. Lacking a thumb is unfortunate, because Hillary's most recent crack-up provided the perfect opportunity for the patient to patronize Obamacare physicians of Indian descent back home in America.

Here's what happened this time!

After a wind gust caused her to stumble on stone steps, and after nearly crashing into and killing half her team, the delicate damsel endeavored to scale the side of a large freestanding marble tub in her $1,300-a-night hotel room. That's when the woman who is turning into a bit of a sideshow slipped and injured the wrist she's been using to wave to the peasants on the "What Happened" tour of India.

Collapse, contusions, concussions, and blood clots are everyday occurrences that Hillary attendants are used to handling. That's why, with all the marble and soapy water, if Hillary were to be knocked unconscious, Huma could handle it. Hillary's sidekick is so adept at medical emergencies that while texting Carlos Danger on her iPhone with her free hand, she could locate boss lady under a blanket of Mr. Bubble, drag her dead weight over the side of the tub, and administer CPR.

Hillary's accident was eerily reminiscent of the late Whitney Houston's untimely end. Moreover, the bath episode is especially scary because just last week, Bollywood's first female superstar, Sridevi Kapoor, tragically lost consciousness in the tub and accidentally drowned in a hotel room. Luckily, America's former first lady survived, but that injured wrist certainly put the kibosh on the plans she may have had to try out ankle bells, learn Bollywood dance moves, or guzzle Indian beer.

At first, the doctors who rushed to the palace diagnosed Queen Hillary with a sprain and wrapped the wrist in an Ace bandage. Mrs. Clinton was advised to cancel plans to visit Mehrangarh Fort, to rest, and to follow up with a doctor in three days.

Despite the diagnosis, similar to what Americans experience whenever Hillary becomes verbally passionate about her right to tell us what to do, as the night wore on, the pain in Hillary's wrist became unbearable. As a result, helpers ferried Mrs. Clinton to a hospital at 5:00 A.M., where doctors took a C.T. scan and confirmed that the former first lady's waving wrist was indeed fractured.

Either way, as of today, the public speaking leg of Hillary's "What Happened" tour appears somewhat waylaid.

At least for a few days, Clinton will be unable to demonize President Trump publicly or blame her crushing defeat on racist, misogynist white males who coerced their docile white wives, meek mothers, subservient sisters, and compliant Caucasian co-workers into pulling the lever for Donald J. Trump.

God knows that with the way this expedition has gone thus far, the last thing Hillary needs is to strangle herself in cotton yarn on a rustic loom. Even so, as part of the touring portion of her trip, Hillary may still do touristy things like watch carpet-weavers in bright turbans weave durry in Salawas village, "land of magic carpets." While she does, it appears Hillary has chosen to skip collecting signatures on the plaster cast she has hidden under a customized kurta.

Kurta or no kurta, doing damage to ancient structures, cracking marble tubs, and destroying foreign footpaths is a dreadful way for the "clumsiest woman in the world" to leave a memorable impression on India.

Jeannie hosts a blog at www.jeannieology.com.For those who have watched the steady descent of the sexual revolution into an abyss of deviancy, there is not much that surprises. Many predicted the results of following the If it feels good, do it mantra of the 60s would mean open season on all Christian sexual mores. They have watched as the so-called freedom of sexual choice has become so absolute that even pedophilia is viewed with increasing acceptance.

Recently the Huffington Post published an interview with Malcom Brenner, who had sex with a dolphin. He defended his bestiality, saying: And Im hoping that in a more enlightened future, zoophilia will be no more regarded as controversial or harmful than interracial sex is today.

But the most powerfully dangerous ideation of the sexual revolution has arisen in the form of transgenderism, which advocates freedom to choose gender, thus distorting, blurring, or even eradicating the distinction between male and female.

How did matters regarding sexuality come to such a pass in a country that once was, and in many ways still is, a deeply Christian nation?

The fact is that Christianity in America has been under relentless attack for decades by the left, which has routinely embraced and promoted the power of the State when it involves encouraging unrestrained human will, particularly in sexual matters. Radical leftists see in practicing Christians, whose mores are antithetical to the new barbarism, as an unwelcome restraint on an ideology that promotes the doctrines that choices of sexual expression and choices of gender are absolute rights.

The antagonism of the left toward Christians has reached such red-hot heat that because of the influence of the transgender movement, the State recently intervened to take a child away from her parents. According to the Washington Times, a Hamilton County, Ohio, judge took the teen away from her parents because they refused to allow the 17-year-old to undergo hormone treatments as part of a female-to-male transition. The parents objected to the transition procedures because of their religious beliefs and refused to call their daughter by her chosen, male name, court records show.

How are Christians reacting? Unfortunately, not with enough outrage.

Christians generally see attacks on their brethren in terms of one-off skirmishes -- a parent or two here; a calligrapher there; a baker over there. By and large, Christians merely watch as individuals whose consciences wont permit cooperation with radical paganism are sued and forced out of business; their jobs lost, their children taken away from them, their adoption and counseling services crushed because they are deemed as not inclusive enough or as promoting hate; their kids forced out of school because they wont kiss the pagans ring by saying gender is a choice. Many Christians feel safe as long as they can attend church services that are not interrupted by SWAT teams breaking in to arrest congregants.

In sum, the broader outlines of the battle against Christians and Christian mores are often not clearly seen.

But as Hilaire Belloc presciently discerned decades ago, what he called the New Paganism is not confined to isolated attacks against individuals who happen to be Christian.

The attacks are directed toward Christianity itself. The lefts hope is to exterminate The Way altogether in order their pagan religion prevail throughout American society.

Belloc wrote: The New Paganism is in process of building up a society of its own, wherein will be apparent two features novel in what used to be Christendom. Those two features have already appeared and will spread each in its own sphere, the one in the sphere of law -- that is, of coercive enactment -- the other in the sphere of status, that is, in the organization of societyIn the first sphere, that of positive law, the New Paganism has already begun to produce and cannot but produce more and more a mass of restrictive legislation.

The New Paganism utilizes the powers of the State, particularly the law and the courts, in order to change the foundations of a Christianized West and to promote paganism, even barbarism, as the basis of Western society. Barbarism then seeks to use the State to achieve an iron and tyrannous order, beginning with crushing dissenters like Christians, who believe they are to obey God rather than the State.

The first stages of the facilitation of the New Pagan society are achieved by a welter of restrictions against Christians. To promote unrestricted human will, particularly as regards sexual behavior and the self-definition promulgated by the transgender movement, inevitably means Christians who protest must be completely restrained by multifarious regulations and restrictions. Such restrictions include a push to exclude Christians from holding public office and increasingly deprive them of freedom of speech. Joy Behars attack against Vice President Mike Pence, in which she dismissed him as "mentally ill" because he prayed to Jesus and so was unfit for office is but one of many attacks. The broader implication is that all devout Christians are inherently unbalanced, irrational people and therefore should be denied office.

For the New Pagans, the inner voice that tells an otherkin he is actually a fox is absolutely rational. His choice to be another species is to be ratified by all of society. But Christians who believe the Ten Commandments are an expression of Gods higher laws are irrational and must be expunged from any meaningful role in society.

Persecution of Christians is nothing new, of course; though it has been relatively restrained in America until recent decades.

Instances of persecution abound, both past and present. During the reign of Louis XIV of France, the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, which had offered some protection of the Huguenot minority, meant Protestants were deprived of any rights whatever. The Sun Kings enforcer, Cardinal de Richelieu, succeeded in breaking any political power held by Huguenots by banning them from holding public office and by decreeing their children be taken from their homes to be instructed in the tenets of the Catholic faith, which was to be absolute.

In similar manner, Americas Christian parents, protestant and Catholic alike -- most of whom do not have affordable and easily accessible alternatives -- find their children forcibly instructed in the tenets of New Paganism in public schools. The doctrines of the New Paganism, including polytheistic multiculturalism, moral relativism, and political correctness exclude teaching of Christian principles.

Many of the victories against Christians have been achieved because Christians themselves have absorbed the lefts false interpretation of the First Amendment, which though guaranteeing religious freedom in its fullest sense, has been distorted by the left to mean that Christians have no place in the public square and that their rituals of faith must be confined within Church walls.

The result is that many Christians have accepted and even promoted the idea that Christians should not be involved in politics and indeed the broader culture. By and large, they have wound up accepting the persecutory policies directed against them, accepting being Christian only behind the closed doors of their churches, their homes, and their narrow church subcultures.

The lack of resistance has meant the New Paganism has succeeded in creating a network of stifling regulations affecting every area of Christian life. As Belloc put it, the regulatory onslaught means each department of life will be affected. Like Gulliver rendered unable to rise, Christians are increasingly hobbled by a legal network that spread[s] and bind[s] those subject to it under a compulsion which cannot be escaped.

Belloc pinpoints the problem as lying with those moderns who will make of religion an individual thing [and no Catholic can evade the corporate quality of religion], telling us that its object being personal holiness and the salvation of the individual soul, it can have no concern with politics. On the contrary, the concern of religion with politics is inevitable.

He adds that Christian doctrine always has broader implications for all of society. Difference in doctrine is at the root of all political and social differences; therefore, is the struggle for or against true doctrine the most vital of struggles.

The New Paganism, which in its most current form of transgenderism is both anti-Christian and anti-science -- and thus anti-Western -- is deeply committed to the use of state power to quell opposition, Christian or otherwise, as has recently been shown in the case of a feminist British woman who was interrogated by police because her tweets questioning the castration of a sixteen-year-old boy were deemed prejudicial to transgenderism. All dissenters, not just Christians, should be appalled by such raw use of state power to suppress opposing views.

The New Paganism is bound to think America would be better if it were rid of Christians. Riddled with pre-science superstitions better belonging to pagan barbarism, the New Paganism is dead set against any restraints whatsoever. Christians, however, know human will is capable of great evil, particularly when it brooks no restraint. They know human will must be restrained by allegiance to a higher law than the state. They know the New Paganism is horribly regressive and inevitably oppressive, as are all ideologies that permit the absolute ascendency of human will, be it the will of an elite class or individuals. The ineluctable descent of the sexual revolution into bestiality, pedophilia and the mutilation of the human body in order to create a facsimile of the opposite sex are revelatory of a truly barbarous religion.

The Christian Church must respond vigorously or sink into paganism itself, as is already happening in some Main Line churches that are creating liturgies to bless bodily mutilation as spiritually transformative and as a way of attaining self-salvation. The Church must reject the new barbarism and its tyrannous assault on Christianity or find itself overwhelmed by the avid worshippers of the new gods. For when the God of Christianity is rejected, new and far, far worse gods arise to demand worship.

As Belloc himself concluded: Men do not live long without gods; but when the gods of the New Paganism come they will not be merely insufficient, as were the gods of Greece, nor merely false; they will be evil. One might put it in a sentence, and say that the New Paganism, foolishly expecting satisfaction, will fall, before it knows where it is, into Satanism.

Fay Voshell holds a M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary, which awarded her its prize for excellence in systematic theology. Her thoughts have appeared in many online magazines, including American Thinker, National Review, CNN, Fox News and RealClearReligion. She may be reached at fvoshell@yahoo.comWaco: The Untold Story

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Waco atrocity, the bloodiest and most expensive law enforcement operation in the history of the United States. The gun battle, siege, and lethal fire have already been the subject of three commemorative documentaries and docudramas on the subject, with more to come. The sad fact is that the documentaries to date contain major errors. I know this because I spent three years in Freedom of Information Act lawsuits in a quest for the truth. The 1993 operation was begun by the then-Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) and directed at a religious group sometimes called the Branch Davidians, led by David Koresh. The basis for the raid was flimsy evidence that the Davidians possessed unregistered machine guns. On February 28, eighty agents, backed by three borrowed military helicopters, tried to storm the Branch Davidian center near Waco, Texas. Shooting broke out that left four agents and six Davidians dead and led to a 51-day siege. The siege in turn ended with a fire that killed more than 80 additional people.

There were, of course, official investigations and congressional hearings. The documentary films released to date largely parallel the government's "official line" voiced during these. David Koresh was a government-hating fire-eater, he could not be arrested peacefully, and the fanatic Davidians raked the approaching agents with machine-gun fire. The FOIA lawsuit turned up evidence contradicting all of this. Just to take three major points: The official explanation for why the ATF did not peacefully arrest David Koresh was that he was a paranoid recluse who never left the Davidian building; a sudden, forceful, raid was the only way to root him out. The ATF had installed undercover agents in a house across the street from the Davidians, but they weren't sure what Koresh looked like and never saw him leave. This explanation was a complete fabrication. An ATF "Report of Investigation," filed by the undercover agents in the nearby house, reports how they spent February 19, nine days before the raid. They had gone shooting. With David Koresh. At the outset, the agents had all the guns (until they loaned Koresh a pistol  he was, after all, providing them with ammunition). The report was approved all the way up to the special agent in charge, who would command the raid. ATF management knew that a peaceful arrest would have been easy to arrange  if they wanted it that way. ATF management did not. At this point, it was a beleaguered agency, wracked by scandals, with a new administration promising to "reinvent government" by doing away with small, inefficient agencies. The beginning of the ATF's appropriation cycle was under two weeks away. ATF management desperately needed lots of good publicity, the type that a dramatic raid would generate and a quiet arrest would not. Second, the official position was that the Davidians had deluged the approaching ATF with machine-gun fire. At the surviving Davidians' criminal trial, agents testified to being fired at from multiple positions that employed six different types of machine guns, and as a result, five Davidians received long sentences for illegal use of machine guns. This, too, was a fabrication. The FOIA lawsuit forced release of an ATF audiotape that picked up sounds of the gunfight. Only one burst of automatic fire is heard, followed by a radioed message to ATF snipers to shoot, followed by ATF cheers of "Yes! Yes! We got the machine gun!" There had been only one machine gun, and its user was quickly killed; he could not have been among the five Davidian survivors who received 40-year sentences for use of machine guns. Third, the official position was that when the Davidian residence was consumed by fire, FBI did all it could to rescue those inside. Regrettably, it couldn't let fire engines approach for fear that the fanatical Davidians would shoot the firemen. Here the infrared videotapes, made by an FBI aircraft circling the scene, are revealing. The tapes' soundtrack revealed radio traffic between the two highest-ranking FBI supervisors during the fire. The one at the scene is shouting, in increasing frustration, for the fire engines to be let through. "If you have any fire engines, get them out here right now!" "I want the fire engines up here at the scene!" His superior, who was detaining the fire engines at a checkpoint a mile away, responds with stony silence; four minutes pass. Then the superior asks, "Our people focused on the school bus area for the kids  is that what we're doing?" "That's what we're trying to do" is the reply. The superior responds coldly, "No one else, I hope." His tone suggests that he saw the Davidians as cop-killers who were getting what they deserved. At that, the fire engines were held up for four more minutes, by which time the blazing building had collapsed. Twenty-four children and fifty men and women had died in the flames. All this evidence has been available, largely on the internet, for over a decade. We are left to hope that some journalist or documentarian will pick up the ball. David T. Hardy is an attorney and a New York Times bestselling author. He devotes a chapter to Waco in his recent book, I'm from the Government, and I'm Here to Kill You. The audio and video mentioned in this article can be found at www.fromthegovernment.com.Affirmative action for FISC judges?

Is the selection of judges for the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court based, in part, on their sex, race, or ethnicity? The question arises from newly released texts sent between Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Peter Strzok and FBI attorney Lisa Page. Most attention to these texts is focused on their revelation of an apparent friendship between Strzok and United States Federal District Court judge Rudolph Contreras, who was appointed to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia by President Barack Obama in March of 2012. Contreras has served on the FISC since May 19, 2016, with his term expiring on May 18, 2023. Judges are selected for the FISC by the chief justice of the United States, who presently is John Roberts. Strzok's relationship with Contreras might have created a conflict of interest for Contreras regarding his presiding over General Michael Flynn's guilty plea, as discussed by Mollie Hemingway of The Federalist and by Chuck Ross of The Daily Caller.

The Daily Caller quotes one of Strzok's texts that apparently describes a conversation Strzok had with Contreras about his appointment to the FISC: He mentioned thinking about it even though he was junior, they needed people and they especially needed minorities, and then he said he'd gotten on a month or two ago at a graduation party we were both at. This raises several questions. Do the criteria for selecting FISC judges include sex, race, or ethnicity? Does Contreras believe that the FISC "especially needed minorities," or does Contreras believe that this is a belief held by those who select the FISC judges, or both? If selection of FISC judges is based, in part, on sex, race, or ethnicity, how are such preferences consistent with laws that prohibit such preferences? Somebody should have a discussion with Contreras and Roberts about these questions. The media should try to find out about any such preferences. Allan J. Favish is an attorney in Los Angeles. His website is allanfavish.com. James Fernald and Mr. Favish have co-authored a book about what might happen if the government ran Disneyland, entitled Fireworks! If the Government Ran the Fairest Kingdom of Them All (A Very Unauthorized Fantasy).We must remember how this came about. This action demonstrates the danger in draining the Washington swamp and the resistance within the establishment to President Trump and his administration. The McCabe pension was reported to be worth up to $1.8 million, as he is 50 years old and could easily receive 30 years of pension for 20 years of work. This loss certainly could make an enemy of the former acting FBI director.

Washington insiders must be wondering what will happen next after the last-minute decision by A.G. Jeff Sessions to terminate former deputy director of the FBI Andrew McCabe only hours before his retirement would have been effective. This action will surely give partisans plenty to fight over during the coming days and months.

McCabe (a lawyer) issued a public statement that is a political response and an argument for a defamatory claim against the president.

I have been an FBI Special Agent for over 21 years. I spent half of that time investigating Russian Organized Crime as a street agent and Supervisor in New York City. I have spent the second half of my career focusing on national security issues and protecting this country from terrorism. I served in some of the most challenging, demanding investigative and leadership roles in the FBI. And I was privileged to serve as Deputy Director during a particularly tough time. For the last year and a half, my family and I have been the targets of an unrelenting assault on our reputation and my service to this country. Articles too numerous to count have leveled every sort of false, defamatory and degrading allegation against us. The President's tweets have amplified and exacerbated it all. He called for my firing. He called for me to be stripped of my pension after more than 20 years of service. And all along we have said nothing, never wanting to distract from the mission of the FBI by addressing the lies told and repeated about us. No more. The investigation by the Justice Department's Office of Inspector General (OIG) has to be understood in the context of the attacks on my credibility. The investigation flows from my attempt to explain the FBI's involvement and my supervision of investigations involving Hillary Clinton. I was being portrayed in the media over and over as a political partisan, accused of closing down investigations under political pressure. The FBI was portrayed as caving under that pressure, and making decisions for political rather than law enforcement purposes. Nothing was further from the truth. In fact, this entire investigation stems from my efforts, fully authorized under FBI rules, to set the record straight on behalf of the Bureau, and to make clear that we were continuing an investigation that people in DOJ opposed. The OIG investigation has focused on information I chose to share with a reporter through my public affairs officer and a legal counselor. As Deputy Director, I was one of only a few people who had the authority to do that. It was not a secret, it took place over several days, and others, including the Director, were aware of the interaction with the reporter. It was the type of exchange with the media that the Deputy Director oversees several times per week. In fact, it was the same type of work that I continued to do under Director Wray, at his request. The investigation subsequently focused on who I talked to, when I talked to them, and so forth. During these inquiries, I answered questions truthfully and as accurately as I could amidst the chaos that surrounded me. And when I thought my answers were misunderstood, I contacted investigators to correct them. But looking at that in isolation completely misses the big picture. The big picture is a tale of what can happen when law enforcement is politicized, public servants are attacked, and people who are supposed to cherish and protect our institutions become instruments for damaging those institutions and people. Here is the reality: I am being singled out and treated this way because of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of James Comey. The release of this report was accelerated only after my testimony to the House Intelligence Committee revealed that I would corroborate former Director Comey's accounts of his discussions with the President. The OIG's focus on me and this report became a part of an unprecedented effort by the Administration, driven by the President himself, to remove me from my position, destroy my reputation, and possibly strip me of a pension that I worked 21 years to earn. The accelerated release of the report, and the punitive actions taken in response, make sense only when viewed through this lens. Thursday's comments from the White House are just the latest example of this. This attack on my credibility is one part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally, but to taint the FBI, law enforcement, and intelligence professionals more generally. It is part of this Administration's ongoing war on the FBI and the efforts of the Special Counsel investigation, which continue to this day. Their persistence in this campaign only highlights the importance of the Special Counsel's work. I have always prided myself on serving my country with distinction and integrity, and I always encouraged those around me to do the same. Just ask them. To have my career end in this way, and to be accused of lacking candor when at worst I was distracted in the midst of chaotic events, is incredibly disappointing and unfair. But it will not erase the important work I was privileged to be a part of, the results of which will in the end be revealed for the country to see. I have unfailing faith in the men and women of the FBI and I am confident that their efforts to seek justice will not be deterred.

He will likely file a lawsuit to gain his pension. He will have to demonstrate that he was grievously treated by the Justice Department to be successful. Within the legal system, he will have sympathetic ears, but he will have an uphill battle since the professional and non-partisan OPR of the agency has recommended this action.

During the past several years, 17 FBI officials have been terminated for false statements, not under oath. McCabe was accused by the OPR of making false statements about leaks to the media concerning investigations under oath. The removal of former FBI director James Comey led to the present investigation when Democrats demanded a response against President Trump.

Be careful what you wish for when you do not have all the facts. Representative Adam Schiff has led the argument in Congress against Trump for over a year. Now the House Intelligence Committee has stopped the Russian collusion investigation for lack of any evidence. Several senior members of the Senate committee have recommended criminal prosecution of several actors involved in the FISA Court warrant to surveil Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. The final report of Justice Department I.G. Horowitz may contain further damaging information against longtime members of the department who rose to power during the Obama administration.

Trump opponents will decry this action by Sessions as bowing to White House pressure, but it is exceedingly rare for the internal professional responsibility office to recommend this kind of discipline. Trump-supporters will say Sessions waited too long and is too timid. The problem for both sides to consider is when the bloodletting will end and who will be next. Much of the leadership of the FBI has been reassigned or removed. At the Justice Department, leadership changes have hit powerful actors, including Bruce Ohr.

For objective observers, the position of Deputy A.G. Rod Rosenstein is still questionable. He appointed Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who has been in search of a crime perpetrated by the Trump campaign but has found unrelated issues and perjury traps. Calls for a second special counsel by many Republicans might pursue Mueller, Comey, Rosenstein, McCabe, Ohr, former A.G. Loretta Lynch, FBI agents Strzok and Page, and others unknown.

Friday afternoons have traditionally been used for dumping information that an administration finds unpalatable. Perhaps this is the problem for Sessions, as he waited 'til 10 P.M. to make the announcement. He relies upon Rosenstein for daily operation of the Justice Department. Since Rosenstein signed at least one FISA warrant request, will he be implicated under further investigations?

Will the FISA Court system be attacked since so few applications are rejected? The most recent text messages between the FBI lovebirds demonstrate a compromise of Judge Contreras, who suddenly was replaced after accepting the guilty plea by former foreign affairs adviser General Michael Flynn. His plea could be overturned.

The swamp includes many establishment Republicans who oppose Trump. His boorish behavior is grounds for their opposition. Further, their ability to feed at the trough is threatened by his actions. As a businessman they expect to find some irregularity which will invalidate his leadership and presidency.

The constant attacks against his family and associates aim to weaken his resolve. The Democrats and anti-Trump Republicans still do not understand his personality. The media attacks only further his determination to drain the swamp and defeat his political enemies. The removal of Tillerson was such a salvo and should be a warning that more is to come. The combatants should ready for bigger battles.The Progressive left loves to assign "rights" to poor people who have no constitutional basis (the "right" to medical care, for instance) but is strangely reticent when it comes to your Second Amendment rights. Apparently, if you live in a housing project in East St. Louis, you had best surrender your guns at the door.

The woman, who was identified in the lawsuit only as N. Doe, out of fear that her abusive ex-husband could find her if she was identified, has a valid Illinois FOID license and has been trained in firearm safety, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit, which was filed through the Second Amendment Foundation and the Illinois State Rifle Association, argues a firearms ban in government-subsidized housing is unconstitutional. This ban, the lawsuit stated, only applies to low-income people who reside in public housing and deprives them the right to keep and bear arms because they can't afford private housing. Doe alleges in the suit that Motley and the East St. Louis Housing Authority have threatened to terminate her lease unless she verifies she does not have a gun at home, according to the lawsuit. She protested, and said she was told the building was safe, and that she didn't need a gun. Her lease says residents are "not to display, use or possess or allow members of (Doe's) household or guests to display, use, or possess any firearms, (operable or inoperable) ... anywhere in the unit or elsewhere on the property of the authority," according to the lawsuit. Violating the lease can lead to the resident's lease being terminated. Doe lives in public housing because of her and her family's health issues, according to the lawsuit. She wants a gun for self-defense, arguing she does not feel safe living in the Auburn Terrace housing complex, where shootings happen often. In January 2017, Doe said she was beaten and raped in her home by a family acquiescence [sic], and her kids came to her rescue by threatening to brandish a firearm they had in the residence at that time."

So a rape victim is forbidden from keeping a gun in her apartment because the East St. Louis Housing Authority thinks guns should be forbidden.

Now, if you are taking money from your fellow taxpayers, you should expect some strings, and I would not necessarily disagree with a gun ban under certain circumstances (as in the case of felons, for instance), but there is always the danger of the slippery slope. Take, for instance, this nifty little trick where the FBI plays games with the meaning of the word "fugitive" to manipulate the background check process for gun possessions and who gets banned. (Thanks, Wil Wirtanen!)

As for strings attached to public money, that is precisely why the left wants everyone on some sort of public assistance, be it an Obamacare subsidy or a student loan or social security. If they are paying you, they own you.

The hypocrisy of the left is on full display here, as this woman is undoubtedly not safe in this place, and the right of the people to keep and bear arms is pretty clear. Liberals would argue there is a right to have a home  even if it means imposing on productive people and, well, forcibly taking their money to finance this woman's lifestyle, but they will not allow this woman to protect herself.

So what does everyone think? Do welfare recipients have absolute Second Amendment rights, or is it acceptable to restrict them since they are living on the property by the good graces of their fellow citizens? It's an interesting case, and I have no idea how it will ultimately shake out.

Tim is a St. Louis-based writer. Read more from him at The Aviary.Kamala Harris's shocking worry about arming teachers

Senator Kamala Harris apparently has a very low opinion of the nation's schoolteachers. That's odd, because the freshman senator from California faced a primary battle for the nomination to replace retiring senator Barbara Boxer and got a huge boost from the California Teachers Association endorsement. Given that background, why would she be worried that if teachers are armed as a deterrent to school shooters, they would shoot minority children out of sheer racism?

Moonbattery noticed the senator's question to acting FBI deputy director David Bowditch, in which she appeared to worry that racism would cause teachers to use their guns on minority students. It is holy writ among race-obsessed progressive mountebanks that any differences among races in the rate of school discipline (or crime) is solely due to racism, not entertaining the possibility that behavior might have something to do with it. So the only reason to mention the disparate rates of discipline in the context of armed teachers is to imply they would be racist shooters of innocent black and Hispanic students. Of course, Harris, whose principal qualification for high elective office is her biracial good looks, didn't think about the implications of her question.Washington Times:

On its website, the Simmons College library lists six "anti-oppression" categories  "anti-racism," "anti-transmisia," "anti-ableism," "anti-Islamomisia," "anti-sanism" and "anti-queermisia"  with which students should be familiar.

"This guide is intended to provide some general information about anti-oppression, diversity, and inclusion as well as information and resources for the social justice issues key to the Simmons College community," a description of the catalogue reads.

Under the "anti-Islamomisia" tab, students are warned that saying "God bless you" after a sneeze is to commit the microaggression, "Assumption of One's Own Religious Identity as the Norm."

Wishing someone "Merry Christmas" similarly "conveys one's perception that everyone is Christian or believes in God."

Another common "Islamomisic" microaggression is "telling someone that they are in the 'wrong' religion," the guidelines state.

The guidelines were first reported by The College Fix.

Under the "anti-racism" tab, students are warned against committing "colorblind racism" by saying "I don't see color. I just see people," "We're all just people" or "#AllLivesMatter."

"I don't care if you're black, white, green, or purple-polka-dotted!" is another example of colorblind racism, the guidelines state.

The "transmisia" tab warns students against using incorrect gender pronouns or otherwise "misgendering" their classmates.The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 looks to be starting to receive the Android 8.0 Oreo update, at least in France, recent reports indicate. Its currently not clear, though, when the update will roll out to other territories including the United States. The major Android OS upgrade is expected to arrive for Samsungs flagship device this month after it was previously reported that the Galaxy Note 8 was on track to receive the update at the end of March, according to information that surfaced on Samsung Turkeys outlet Guncel Miyiz, though that did not necessarily reflect the updates availability in all of the regions where the Galaxy Note 8 has been released.

It is understood that the update brings with it the same set of features and changes that came to the Galaxy S8 when the smartphone began receiving the Android Oreo update a couple of months ago. The Android Oreo update thats hitting the Galaxy Note 8 in France bears the firmware version N950FXXU3CRC1 and also packs the March 2018 security patch. For Samsung fans that own the unlocked version of the Galaxy Note 8 in France, the update is available to download by heading over to the Settings menu and then selecting the Software update on the device. Given the fact that the Galaxy Note 8 in France started receiving the Android Oreo update, it should be expected to hit other countries soon including the United States and other parts of Europe.

It is worth pointing out that the Oreo update for the Galaxy Note 8 is a bit late delayed since Samsung first upgraded the Galaxy S8 because it was rolled out earlier last year prior to the Galaxy Note 8. Further to that, the Oreo beta testing for the Galaxy S8 encountered some trouble prior to the public release for Samsungs 2017 flagship. In fact, Samsung recently resumed the release of the Android 8.0 Oreo-based firmware for the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus after the company halted the rollout process of the original Oreo build due to technical problems that caused random reboots on select Galaxy S8 models. That caused the Oreo update for the Galaxy Note 8 to be pushed to a later date as well. While the phablet didnt undergo beta testing, this was primarily because of the hardware and software similarities across both devices.Not too long ago, internet search giant Google was duped into hosting a fake search result for online shopping giant Amazon that actually led to malicious content, and now its happened again. This time around, the malicious ad was taken out on Google and looked to lead to the front page of Amazon, using a proxy script on their end to fool Googles automated ad verification services. Google was notified about the ad fairly quickly by a prudent search user, and managed to track down the fake ad listing and take it down. It was up for a few short hours on Thursday, but due to its trustworthy nature and the popular subject matter it aped, it could possibly have led millions astray during its time on the web.

The actual malicious page that the link led to was hosted on GoDaddy, and the hosting service quickly took the page down after learning about it. The ad mimics a system error message, using information from your browser and OS to look somewhat convincing, and can kick the browser into full screen mode and mimic ransomware if you try to dismiss it. Its a social engineering bid that hopes to see gullible users scammed into calling a listed phone number and paying for a service that will solve the computer issue that the popup claims the victims computer has.

As mentioned above, this is not the first time that something like this has happened, or even the first time that people trying to use Google to reach Amazon were specifically targeted. Unfortunately, the logic behind this tactic is pretty plain, which means that similar attacks will likely happen in the future, if attackers can find more creative ways around Googles security measures. The target crowd for this attack is using Google to get to Amazon, which means that theyre likely either proceeding from within a browser that has Google set as the home page, or are simply typing Amazon into their address bar. In either case, this navigation tactic is inefficient compared to typing amazon.com directly into the address bar of any given browser, and is, anecdotally, usually employed by people who are less than proficient when it comes to computers and technology, making them potentially easy prey for scareware and other types of social engineering attacks.Huawei is now distributing a stable build of Android 8.0 Oreo to the P10 and P10 Plus, its 2017 Android flagships which originally launched with Nougat, the company confirmed earlier this week. The rollout started on Wednesday and is understood to be global in nature, though Huawei is still likely to take several weeks until it makes the new software available in all parts of the world. As is always the case with smartphone updates, the new firmware is targeting unlocked variants of the P10 and P10 Plus, as well as those that are running an unmodified version of EMUI, whereas owners of carrier-altered devices are likely to have to wait until this spring before theyre able to download Android 8.0 Oreo.

While all eligible P10 and P10 Plus units are by default set to periodically scan for updates on their own, users who may have disabled that functionality or are simply seeking to get Oreo as quickly as possible can always attempt searching for the firmware manually through the System settings app. The Chinese original equipment manufacturer hasnt provided a changelog of the update, though Android 8.0 Oreo-based EMUI has already been detailed during its open beta earlier this year. Besides native Android features and improvements such as Notification Channels and Dooze mode optimizations, the software thats now rolling out to the P10 lineup comes with a new floating navigation dock, enhanced security functionalities, new user tips, artificial intelligence improvements, and support for dual-Bluetooth connections, among other things.

The P10 and P10 Plus are expected to be officially succeeded in less than two weeks when Huawei is planning to announce the P20 lineup consisting of the regular P20 and P20 Pro, the latter one of which is likely to sport a triple-camera setup. Both phablets should run Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box and support Googles Project Treble which is also part of the package thats now making its way to the P10-series handsets. The P20 family is scheduled to be announced on March 27 in Paris, France, and should begin retailing globally shortly after.Dr. Paul E. Jacobs has responded to Qualcomms decision on his board seat, stating that he feels its unfortunate that Qualcomm is attempting to remove him from the board at this point in time. Jacobs, a long-time board member for Qualcomm and the companys former CEO, recently announced yesterday that he had plans to make an offer to buy them out. Qualcomm has stated that its decision not to re-nominate him for a seat on the board of directors on March 23 was in direct response to his interest in acquiring Qualcomm.

According to Jacobs, the interest in acquiring Qualcomm was to take the company private, which he feels is a necessary change that needs to be made so that Qualcomm can more easily meet certain goals, like speed up the process of innovation on products and bolster its position in the global marketplace with competitors in the chip market and other areas. Jacobs belief is that as a standalone public company it might be more of a challenge than it needs to be to achieve these goals and move the company forward, which led to the reasoning behind wanting to simplify things by making Qualcomm a private company.

In response to Qualcomms choice to essentially remove him from the board, Jacbos states that There are real opportunities to accelerate Qualcomms innovation success and strengthen its position in the global marketplace. These opportunities are challenging as a standalone public company, and there are clear merits to exploring a path to take the company private in order to maximize the companys long-term performance, deliver superior value to all stockholders, and bolster a critical contributor to American technology. I am glad the board is willing to evaluate such a proposal, consistent with its fiduciary duties to shareholders. It is unfortunate and disappointing they are attempting to remove me from the board at this time.

Advertisement

All of this comes just days after President Trump officially blocked the takeover of Qualcomm from its rival Broadcom on grounds of national security risks, and after months of Broadcom attempting to buy Qualcomm out with numerous bids. Qualcomm, it would seem, has no real interest in being bought out and was quick to make a judgement call that it felt would be for the betterment of the company. That said it shouldnt be too surprising that this was Qualcomms decision, after all the time it spent fending off Broadcom, only to learn that one of its board members had interest in the acquisition as well. Qualcomm has noted that should Jacobs make a proposal it will evaluate it.Qualcomm has now confirmed Paul E. Jacobs will not be re-nominated to the Qualcomm board when the board reconvines at the companys annual stockholders meeting, currently due to take place on March 23, 2018. Ending what has been a long tenure at the company which had up until recently seen Jacobs operating as Executive Chairman of the company.

As per the announcement, Qualcomm thanked Jacobs for his support over the years while also paying tribute to his contribution. However, the announcement did not attempt to hide the fact Jacobs lack of re-nomination was directly due to Jacobs interest in purchasing Qualcomm. Up until now, a Jacobs-related Qualcomm buyout had only been the subject of media reports. Although that seem to have now changed with this announcement confirming Jacobs had notified the board of an intention to acquire Qualcomm. On that point, the announcement did also make it clear that if, and when, a proposal is made by Jacobs, it will be taken under consideration by the company. Although in the meantime Qualcomm says it will remain focused on operating as an independent company.

In spite of the lack of confirmed details before now this has been an extremely fast-moving situation. For example, up until only last week Jacobs was Qualcomms chairman. A position understood to have been lost as a result of the  at the time  attempted Qualcomm acquisition by Broadcom. However, in the short space of time since Jacobs was replaced as Chairman, President Donald Trump intervened by forbidding a purchase attempt by Broadcom, citing national security concerns. This seemingly has led to the current situation where Jacobs is now actively pursuing an opportunity to take the company private. The reports on this only first emerged yesterday with the suggestion Jacobs was reaching out to various investors for backing, including SoftBank. All of which has been occuring in parallel to Qualcomms own attempt to complete its purchase of NXP Semiconductors. As a result of this latest development, Qualcomm confirmed the director position held by Jacobs will not be filled by someone else, resulting in the number of directors due to be confirmed on March 23 shrinking from eleven to ten.Samsung is planning to release a broad range of Android smartphones specifically designed to cater to consumers in India, the companys Global Vice President Asim Warsi said earlier this month in an interview with the Indo-Asian News Service. No specific models have been named by the executive who only said the tech giants plans for the South Asian country span all price segments. Samsung historically had a strong presence in Indias entry-level market but the commercial performance of its locally sold products is often inversely proportional to their price tags. That phenomenon is believed to be a result of the ultra-competitive state of Indias smartphone market, the worlds last major bastion of growth for virtually all phone makers.

The South Korean original equipment manufacturer now appears to be preparing to pay more attention to the mid-range and premium segments to combat its continuously strengthening rivals, most of all Xiaomi. The Beijing-based company has been outpacing Samsungs growth in India in the last several years and could overtake it in terms of annual sales as early as this year, according to multiple industry trackers. Samsung is now seeking to deliver new India-focused devices in the coming quarters and will be pushing them through both its online and offline distribution channels, Mr. Warsi said. The newly released Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus should also help Samsung combat the growing threat presented by OnePlus in the high-end segment of Indias smartphone market, with the OEM confirming it has high expectations from its latest Android flagships.

The Galaxy S9 series officially started retailing in the country yesterday, starting at the equivalent of $890. Mobile service providers Airtel and Reliance Jio partnered with Samsung in order to support LTE carrier aggregation on the new phablets, allowing them to enjoy higher wireless speeds and more reliable 4G connections. The Galaxy S10 lineup thats likely to be announced early next year is expected to consist of Samsungs first 5G-enabled handsets, though large-scale 5G buildouts in India arent expected to start before the next decade.Theres an app on the Google Play Store called SKEDit that aims to make sending out time-sensitive messages through WhatsApp, SMS, Facebook Posts, and Email a much easier task. Sending out messages for business purposes or otherwise can be a daunting task when multiple copies of the same message need to be sent out to different people at different times. With SKEDit, it doesnt have to be quite so difficult. The app is designed around an easy-to-use interface that lets users create messages or social media posts with the above-listed services any time they like and then set those to send out at a designated time. That should prove particularly useful for small businesses who need to send out messages to multiple clients who may all be in different time zones or have different availability schedules. However, it could really be used by anybody.

The software is fairly straightforward to use. After downloading the free app, users simply sign up or sign in with their email or Facebook account. Obviously, a Facebook account will need to be linked in order to use that portion of the features. Once logged in, users then simply select the service theyd like to use to send out a given message  or a time theyd like to schedule to make a phone call  and then fill in the content they want to send out and who that is going to. Finally, a date and time need to be selected and then SKEDit will automate the share or message without any further actions from the user. Of course, if the message is something that needs to repeat, users can also choose options for that. For messages that arent quite ready yet, a scheduled reminder can also be set instead of an automated send.

Taking all of that together, SKEDit effectively serves as an all-in-one automated messaging platform without the hassle of switching between various apps. However, this obviously doesnt cover every available platform for reaching out to others and, indeed, at least one user has pointed out in the reviews that WhatsApp Business isnt incorporated as of this writing. With that said, theres not really anything stopping the developers from adding more services later and it would make sense to add WhatsApp Business. After all, this app is geared toward that audience first and foremost. Whether or not that happens remains to be seen but its difficult to argue with the range of options thats already available since this is free. Anybody interested in checking it out on Android only needs to hit the Google Play Store button below.These bottles are two of over 50 similar ones found either by authorities or the public that have been pulled from the Roaring Fork River since January.In this photo from Oc.t 8, 2017, glass shards littered the entryway to the building at 625 E. Main St. after a Front Range man, inside his camper truck parked at the curb, accidentally dropped his handgun, causing it to discharge. The man pleaded guilty on Friday to reckless endangerment and prohibited use of a weapon.With the expansion, the firm plans to open offices in Brisbane and Sydney.

Gordon established his eponymous firm in 2010, after leaving Slater and Gordon in 2009 for retirement. The firm began with work on a single case: the fight of Thalidomide victims against big pharma. It took four years, but the firm secured more than $100m for their clients.

The top lawyer stayed at Slater and Gordon for about three decades, joining its partnership in 1989. He helped the firm expand to Footscray in 1984 and to Sydney and Perth in 1986. He also led in the opening of the firms first office in Queensland. He became senior partner in 1995, eventually becoming its chair. He stepped down when the firm listed in 2007.

Throughout his stay at the firm, he has led in various landmark cases which boosted the firms reputation in its area of focus. In 1985, he won the first negligence case on behalf of people suffering from asbestos-related cancers. In the 1990s, he won compensation for all people who suffered acquired HIV/AIDS because of the countrys tainted blood supply. He has also gone against Catholic institutions for hundreds of sexual abuse victims.

Gordon Legal now has several heavy-hitting lawyers in the team. From Slater and Gordon are James Higgins, managing partner; Janine Gregory, head of personal injury; Paul Henderson, partner; Marcus Clayton, head of industrial law; and Kirstie Grigor, head of criminal law.A low-flying plane over an Ohio high school caused concern Thursday afternoon, according to Cincinnati news station WLWT. After an exhaustive investigation, we determined there is no evidence of any threat or plan to attack any person or school, Hamilton Police Chief Craig Bucheit said in a tweet. HPD is working with Federal Aviation Administration officials to determine what, if any, violation of Federal Aviation Regulations occurred.

School officials received notification of the low-flying plane spotted near school grounds and called police and the Butler County Regional Airport.

We had teachers express some concerns, Hey whats going on? because they kept flying over the neighborhood and around our building, Badin principal Brian Pendergest said. At no point was it heading directly at our building or anything like that. It was above our building at all times.

The pilot was taken into custody upon landing and interviewed by the FAA, the news report said. He cooperated with authorities, claiming what happened was a misunderstanding.

The pilot, a freshman in college and home on spring break, was in full compliance, both regarding the aircraft itself and the flight plan, which includes altitude, according to his attorney. Students were not evacuated from the school, and school principal Brian Pendergest said the school never received any sort of threatening message.A growing number of Democrats are lambasting Attorney General Jeff Sessions' decision to fire Former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe on Friday.

The big picture: This was compounded by President Trumps personal lawyer, John Dowd, urging Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to shut down Robert Muellers Russia investigation.

What they're saying:

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.): "Jeff Sessions needs to testify immediately before the Judiciary Committee to answer questions on the firing of Andrew McCabe. He must explain the DOJs process and whether this is an attempt to target, punish or silence those investigating Russia and the Trump campaign."

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.): "In the absence of the IG report, its impossible to evaluate the merits of this harsh treatment of a 21-year FBI professional. That it comes after the President urged the DOJ to deprive McCabe of his pension, and after his testimony, gives the action an odious taint."

Another tweet: "The President, through his lawyer, called on DOJ to end Mueller probe. Obstruction of justice is no less a threat to our democracy when done in the open than behind closed doors. Every representative should condemn this flagrant abuse of power or stop pretending devotion to duty. "

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) in a series of tweets: "McCabe firing is an undisguised attack on Special Counsel investigation - attempting to undermine him as a witness. Added evidence of obstruction of justice.

McCabe firing - a shot at Special Counsel - makes legislation protecting the investigation more vital than ever. Investigation putting Oval Office under siege - raising specter of more firings.

Firing McCabe - a possible witness to obstruction - exemplifies Pres. Trumps total contempt for the rule of law. He will stop at nothing to undermine the Mueller investigation.

Firing McCabe threatens professional law enforcement with blatant political interference - a disservice to dedicated men and women of FBI and other agencies.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.): "Every member of Congress, Republican and Democrat, needs to speak up in defense of the Special Counsel. Now."Russia on Saturday said its expelling 23 British diplomats from Moscow within a week and will close the British Council in Russia, which advances cultural ties between the countries, the BBC reports.

Why it matters: This further escalates a diplomatic strife and standoff that erupted after former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned with a nerve agent on British soil.By Trend

Azerbaijan will supply pomegranates worth $10 million to the United Arab Emirates, Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) President Rufat Mammadov said at a press conference in Baku on March 16.

He said deals were also concluded for supply of pomegranate juice to Saudi Arabia.

Agreements for supply of hazelnut, worth $120,000 and $130,000, were concluded with Poland and Italy, respectively. This product will also be exported to Switzerland.

Grapes and wines for $30,000 will be exported to Kyrgyzstan under another contract, he said.

Over the recent years, Azerbaijan has been implementing comprehensive measures to increase exports. One such measure is organization of export missions and participation in foreign exhibitions with a single country stand. Thanks to participation in such exhibitions and export missions, Azerbaijani entrepreneurs concluded various contracts for supply of products to the countries of Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

Azerbaijani agricultural products cannot be re-exported to foreign markets under the guise of Armenian products, Azerbaijani Deputy Economy Minister Sahil Babayev said.

Babayev made the remarks at a press conference in Baku March 16, dedicated to the activity of the Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) over the past year.

"Some small retail supplies can be an exception," he said. "Azerbaijan thoroughly controls this area."

Babayev recalled that in the past there were cases when Azerbaijani apples were re-exported to Armenia through Georgia.

"This can be seen as a positive fact, as it shows that Azerbaijani products are competitive, but Armenia has economic problems," Babayev said.

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.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

The attitude of the US, which is a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, and which calls itself a peace and democracy herald in the world, towards the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan is unacceptable, Vice Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament Bahar Muradova told Trend on March 16.

Muradova made the remarks commenting on the visit of Bako Sahakyan, who claims to be the president of the illegal regime created in the occupied Azerbaijani territories, to the US and holding meetings in the US Congress.

Muradova said this is both surprising and raises concerns.

"We see the United States' attitude towards other countries in similar issues. But we see the exact opposite attitude towards Azerbaijan. Nowadays, there is almost no policy that is based on the principles and standards of international law in the world. Therefore, it is difficult to say anything unequivocally in this regard, because contradictions in foreign policy of big states do not allow us say anything concrete. Thus, now we don't know exactly whether the co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group is unambiguous about separatism, territorial integrity of countries, or not" she said.

Muradova emphasized that Sahakyan's visit to the US and meetings in the US Congress contradict Washington's official mandate as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group.

"I do not think anyone there did not know about the fact that the so-called regime is not recognized, and that the separatist regime was established in the occupied territory of Azerbaijan."

"The United States surely knows that the invitation to a "head" of such an illegal regime to the US, his participation in various events, receptions and statements there, do not comply with the mandate of the OSCE Minsk Group and contradicts the international law. Thus, they at least throw into question their positions in Azerbaijan and reduce confidence in their efforts to solve the problem. "

Earlier, the US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Robert Cekuta was summoned to the Foreign Ministry and received a note of protest, sent by the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan to the US State Department.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijans ambassador to the US, Elin Suleymanov, after a meeting in the State Department, presented the protest of Azerbaijan to the American side.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

Azerbaijan is a tremendous example of success story, with its economical, energy, transport and other projects being implemented with the partner countries from Europe and Asia, former minister of foreign affairs of Afghanistan, Zalmai Rassoul, told Trend.

"I have been in touch with Azerbaijan for a long time, so I know where the country was and where it is now. Azerbaijan has made a great progress over the years," said Rassoul.

He stressed that Azerbaijan successfully maintains its peace and stability, which is, as he said, "rare itself nowadays."

"Many countries focus on their economic growth, but not every country keeps peaceful stability; it is very difficult, and Azerbaijan succeeds with this goal," said Rassoul.

He added that the Global Baku Forum that Azerbaijan hosts was previously untypical for the countries of the region.

"Such forums are usually being held in western countries, but now Azerbaijan brings this format of debates and cooperation for us, which is a unique intention for our region," said the ex-minister.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

Over 12,000 police officers will ensure security in the district and precinct election commissions during the presidential election in Azerbaijan scheduled for April 11, Head of the Main Public Security Department of the Azerbaijani Interior Ministry, Major-General Ogtay Karimov said.

Karimov made the remarks at the expanded meeting of the Interior Ministry collegium in Baku March 16 dedicated to the training of internal bodies to protect public order during the presidential election in Azerbaijan.

He added that a special working group was created to verify the information on violations about the election process and take the necessary measures.

The special attention is paid to such issues as security, protection of the rights of voters, international observers, etc.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

Eight candidates will compete at the presidential election in Azerbaijan to be held April 11, the countrys Central Election Commission (CEC) said in a message March 17.

First of all, the issue of registering the candidacy of Sardar Mammadov, nominated by the Azerbaijan Democratic Party, was considered.

Secretary of the CEC Arifa Mukhtarova said that there are all grounds for registration of Mammadovs candidacy.

The commission put Mammadovs candidacy to vote and approved his candidacy.

Then, the issue of registering self-nominee Tural Abbasli was considered. The secretary of the CEC said that there are no grounds for registering Abbaslis candidacy.

The commission put Abbaslis candidacy to vote and it was decided to decline his candidacy.

Also, registration of the candidacy of Ali Aliyev, nominated by Azerbaijans Citizen and Development Party, was considered. Mukhtarova noted that there are grounds for refusing to register Ali Aliyevs candidacy.

His candidacy was put to the vote and it was decided to decline his candidacy as well.

The registration of the presidential candidates was finished.

Thus, 8 candidates - Ilham Aliyev, nominated from the New Azerbaijan Party, Gudrat Hasanguliyev from the Azerbaijani Popular Front Party, Araz Alizade from the Social Democratic Party of Azerbaijan, Faraj Guliyev from the National Revival Movement Party, Razi Nurullayev from the Frontists Initiative Group, Hafiz Hajiyev from the Modern Musavat Party, self-nominee Zahid Oruj and Sardar Mammadov from the Azerbaijan Democratic Party  will be competing at the upcoming presidential election in Azerbaijan.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

A plenary session, titled "Current and further situation of the Balkan region: basis of regional security or a new geopolitical chessboard", took place within the 6th Global Baku Forum on March 16.

The session was moderated by former Prime Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina Zlatko Lagumcia, while Albanian President Ilir Meta addressed it.

Noting that throughout the history, the Balkans have undergone many changes and wars, and therefore these countries should learn from the past, Meta said that presently stability prevails in the region and this is a good opportunity to build a happy future.

He said that joining the European Union is an important issue for the countries of the region. Peace has been achieved in the region as a result of regional cooperation, he added.

Meta further noted that TAP and TANAP projects are important and are a great contribution to energy security.

Moldovan President Igor Dodon, in turn, said various phenomena are taking place in the world today. This includes both natural disasters, and cataclysms, conflicts, terrorist acts, etc. The lack of a unified approach to such phenomena further exacerbates the situation. Big powers cannot agree among themselves and this affects small states, he said, noting that the Balkans also belong to such regions.

Hungarian Minister of State for Security Policy and International Cooperation Istvan Mikola, for his part, noted that presently the situation is somewhat difficult in the Balkans due to illegal migrants.

Given the seriousness of the issue, it is important that the problem be the focus of attention of the whole world, he said.

Albania's ex-president Bujar Nishani reminded that great historic events took place in the Balkans.

"The Balkans is a knot connecting Europe and Asia. Although the history is changing, the political interests regarding the Balkans remain the same. It is gratifying that peace has been achieved in the region, but some problems are still awaiting resolution," he said.

Former Croatian President Ivo Josipovic noted that today the Balkans are exposed to both internal and external influences. He said this is in many cases linked with the weakness of the economy.

"The fact that the region for many years was a site of war also had an impact on this. Therefore, it is necessary to implement a number of reforms in the region," he said.

Former Bulgarian President Petar Stoyanov noted that a number of countries in the region have applied for membership in the European Union.

"We want to see the stable Balkans that meet European standards. This region is an integral part of Europe and here must also be stability and development as in other European countries," he said.

Former Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic said that even developed countries are experiencing great difficulties during decay, and in smaller states, this is even more visible.

Therefore, the Balkans, consisting of small states, must together fight against such phenomena, according to him.

The panel continued with discussions.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

Turkey and Iran can begin a joint military operation against the PKK terrorist organization, Turkish media reported citing diplomatic sources on March 16.

Reportedly, the parties can also carry out joint military operations against the terrorist organization PJAK, which basically operates at the intersection of Iranian, Iraqi and Turkish borders.

Exact date of the military operations against the PKK and PJAK has not been reported.

Earlier it was reported that Iraq and Turkey agreed on a joint operation against the PKK in the north of Iraq.

The conflict between Turkey and the PKK, which demands the creation of an independent Kurdish state, has continued for more than 30 years and has claimed more than 40,000 lives.

The UN and the European Union list the PKK as a terrorist organization.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzMotiva Enterprises this week donated $3 million to the Southeast Texas Emergency Relief Fund for Harvey recovery and rebuilding efforts in Southeast Texas, the non-profit announced in a statement.

"SETERF is working to bring hope and healing to our Southeast Texas neighbors," said Joe Domino, board member of the Southeast Texas Emergency Relief Fund, in the statement. "The outpouring of support by individuals and local businesses has been remarkable, but we still have a long way to go to fully recover in the region. Our hope is that Motiva's donation reinvigorates the giving spirit that is so characteristic and ingrained in our community."The following hospital and health system credit rating and outlook changes and affirmations took place in the last week, beginning with the most recent.

1. Fitch affirms 'AA' rating on St. Elizabeth Medical Center

Fitch Ratings affirmed its "AA" rating on Edgewood, Ky.-based St. Elizabeth Medical Center's series 2016 and series 2009B bonds, affecting approximately $113.3 million of debt.

2. Fitch affirms 'AA' rating on FirstHealth of the Carolinas

Fitch Ratings affirmed its "AA" rating on Pinehurst, N.C.-based FirstHealth of the Carolinas, affecting approximately $41.4 million of debt.

3. Fitch affirms 'BBB+' on Lowell General Hospital's revenue bonds

Fitch Ratings affirmed its "BBB+" rating on Lowell (Mass.) General Hospital's series G revenue bonds, affecting $65.4 million of debt.

4. Moody's assigns 'A1' to Hospital for Special Surgery's bonds

Moody's Investors Service assigned its "A1" rating to New York City-based Hospital for Special Surgery's proposed $180 million series 2018 bonds.

5. Moody's affirms 'A1' rating on Augusta Health Care

Moody's Investors Service affirmed its "A1" rating on Fishersville, Va.-based Augusta Health Care's revenue bonds, affecting $14.8 million of debt.

6. Fitch assigns 'AA-' issuer default rating to Memorial Health Services

Fitch Ratings assigned its 'AA-' long-term issuer default rating to Fountain Valley, Calif.-based Memorial Health Services.

7. Fitch assigns 'AA' issuer default rating to BayCare Health System

Fitch Ratings assigned its "AA" issuer default rating to Clearwater, Fla.-based BayCare Health System and affirmed its "AA" rating on approximately $937.2 million of BayCare's revenue bonds.

8. Moody's affirms 'Baa2' on Erlanger Health System

Moody's Investors Service affirmed its "Baa2" rating on Chattanooga, Tenn.-based Erlanger Health System's outstanding rated debt, affecting $150 million of debt.

9. Fitch affirms 'A' rating on Sierra View Local Health Care

Fitch Ratings affirmed its "A" rating on Porterville, Calif.-based Sierra View Local Health Care District's series 2010 revenue bonds, affecting $13.4 million of debt.Healthcare leaders spend their careers trying to optimize the patient experience, but executives can never truly understand what patients go through until they are on other side of the stethoscope themselves.

As part of an ongoing series highlighting speakers for the upcoming Becker's Hospital Review 9th Annual in Chicago from April 11 through April 14, 2018, 32 healthcare leaders answered, "What did you notice about your healthcare experience the last time you were at the receiving end as a patient?"

The responses are listed below in alphabetical order.

1. Joseph Anton, RN, MSN, Vice President of Clinical and Support Services, Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals (Philadelphia)

Even when the clinical care was optimal, there were many challenges with different aspects of experience. Although using the term "customer" in lieu of "patient" can feel awkward in a medical setting, there's no time we as consumers want or need better customer service than when we're in the doctor's office or hospital.

2. J. Bryan Bennett, Executive Director, the Healthcare Center of Excellence and also Adjunct Professor at Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.)

I notice a lot of frustration from the providers and staff with technology and all the documentation requirements. Since most of the doctors I encounter know I work in healthcare, they are usually a bit more candid about their thoughts. In their opinions, which I tend to agree with, the EHR software over-promised and under-delivered. It's not user-friendly and it requires typing skills most doctors do not have. Voice or handwriting recognition would have gone a long way to alleviate much of the resistance faced in the provider community. This is not to mention the lack of true interoperability. In fact, the only way to achieve interoperability between providers has been for the hospital to integrate the different practices under one roof. The other issue we talk about is leadership. I've found that providers are more in tune with leadership issues at the corporate offices than many give them credit for. That is why leaders must make a point of providing opportunities for open communication throughout their organizations. Provide progress reports on major initiatives. Answer questions people might have. Connect with people and empathize with what they are going through.

3. Parag Bharadwaj, MD, FAAHPM, System Chief of Palliative Care Medicine, Sentara Healthcare (Norfolk, Va.)

I will deviate a bit from the question to sharing an experience as a family member of a patient. I had a family member who was admitted to a well-reputed hospital and was not responding to treatments. Our family was getting mixed messages from different clinicians. I tried very hard not to play the role of a palliative care physician. After weeks of turmoil within the family, I offered to be the spokesperson on its behalf. I ended up playing the role of my family member's medical power of attorney and also assisting with his comfort by recommending medications and dosages. Luckily, the team providing care was open to the suggestions. I realized that although the field of palliative care has made great strides, there is still a long way to go.

4. Mark Dooley, CEO and President, Wilson Health (Sidney, Ohio)

When I receive healthcare services I, of course, receive those services at the system I lead. What I noticed the last time is the same thing that strikes me every time  healthcare in general (and my system specifically) is blessed with some really incredible people. The combination of knowledge, caring and compassion that exists within healthcare workers is something that is hard to match in any industry. It takes a special person to work in a field that, more often than not, your customers are in a very vulnerable and difficult situation. Encountering people in those circumstances and turning that difficult situation into something positive is so rewarding. While none of us are perfect and not all outcomes are what we hope for, the caring and compassion shown in healthcare helps many through those times. I like to tell our staff that we are not just taking care of patients and families, we are changing lives. Every day.

5. Ellen Feinstein, RD, MHA, FACHE, Vice President of Cancer Services, The University of Chicago Medicine

Depending on where the care was provided  private office versus outpatient hospital setting  I've noticed appointment confirmation texts to prevent no-shows are more prevalent than ever, and private offices more often run on-time compared to hospital settings. As a first-time patient, I still marvel at the dependence on paper for patient self-reported histories, and the need to make appointments by phone, versus online  a la OpenTable for restaurants. Care coordination is a goal of most hospitals, yet they often struggle in how to deliver it. Though everyone's time is precious, I'm still surprised early morning, evening or weekend appointments are not always available. The use and acceptance of advanced practice providers (i.e., nurse practitioners and physician assistants) is definitely on the rise, which positively impacts access and service.

6. Teri Fontenot, FACHE, President and CEO, Woman's Hospital (Baton Rouge, La.)

I'm pleased to say that the care was compassionate, prompt and professional, and a full recovery was achieved! But, it was so hard to observe firsthand how incredibly inefficient our health systems remain. The admission was after hours, and some imaging and lab work had been done at an outpatient center earlier in the day. If I had not known who to call to have it sent to the hospital, it would have been repeated. Fortunately, the hospitalist and nurses were focused on avoiding duplication, but I'm confident that if I had been a patient that didn't know how to navigate the system, the result would have been different. There were also many opportunities for important information to be overlooked. We've come a long way in patient safety, but we still have a long way to go until information flow is better coordinated and waste is eliminated.

One of my most cherished patient letters was written by a new father who had to leave his wife and newborn due to a family emergency. He wrote that he was not concerned about leaving her alone at Woman's because of the care he had observed during her delivery. Patients should not feel they need loved ones with them to guard against preventable harm.

7. Mudit Garg, CEO, Qventus (Los Altos, Calif.)

I have a two year-old, so that means a lot of trips to the doctor and the urgent care. Every time I am left wanting a healthcare system that just works better. Meaning, it just works for me as a patient and just works for those who deliver care. When I go to the doctor, the clinical advice is great and the staff work their hardest to make my experience a good one, but it all seems to require superhuman effort. As a patient, the process of making an appointment, waiting in the lobby when you are there and navigating the system, is often a struggle and it takes away from everything that the clinicians and staff are doing to deliver great care.

8. Sven Gierlinger, Chief Experience Officer, Northwell Health (New Hyde Park, N.Y.)

My last major personal healthcare experience happened during a time when I was a father of two young children and at the start of a new assignment with The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. First came a tingling in my fingers and toes; and within days, I was paralyzed. I was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare condition in which a rapid-onset muscle weakness caused by the immune system attacks and temporarily damages the peripheral nervous system. Suddenly, and for 90 days and nights, I was 100% dependent on my doctors, nurses, and therapists.

Believe it or not, Im actually grateful for this experience, as it showed me that as a patient, you are challenged to heal in many ways  physically, mentally, and emotionally. My experience in these moments helped me understand the power of embedding both service and empathy into the clinical processes that truly can make or break a patient or family experience. Years after my own experience as a patient, I still believe healthcare is the noblest vocation in the world. When I reflect on the many milestones and accomplishments in patient experience at Northwell Health, I keep my eye on the horizon and challenge myself to ask whats next. We know that, in healthcare, every moment countsand success means making every role, every person, and every moment matter.

9. Kim Henrichsen, CNO, Intermountain Healthcare (Salt Lake City, Utah)

Recently, my dad experienced the classic symptoms of a heart attack  chest pain, shortness of breath, nausea and cold sweats. I escorted him to the emergency department and remained by his side as he received emergency treatment, surgery and follow-up care. He received great care, but I identified opportunities for improvement, both in care processes and with communications to family members and between facilities and caregivers. We are now working to implement enterprisewide solutions to address these opportunities. Another example is my daughter who is a [neonatal intensive care unit] nurse. She trained in one of our facilities, took a position at our children's hospital, and then transferred to another hospital in our system, essentially caring for the same type of patients in all three locations. She noticed some protocol and procedure differences between our facilities and identified opportunities for more standardization so our nurses can move around from facility to facility more effectively and patients [and] families have consistent care experiences.

10. Carrie Jeffries, CNO, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Health Resources and Services Administration (Washington, D.C.)

The last time I was a patient, I was touched to see healthcare providers remained passionate about their work. I also identified missed organizational opportunities. I spent several hours in an emergency room staring at four walls and was a captive audience. There was no educational program running in the background; no hospital-sanctioned tablet with diagnosis, medication, or discharge information, and the throughput was slow. I wondered if the ED could have partnered with an outpatient clinic to learn what they were doing to capitalize on a better use of time, technology and innovative thinking.

11. Jen Johnson, CFA, Managing Director, VMG Health (Dallas)

I pulled a muscle but it hurt so badly, my primary care doctor directed me to the hospital for x-rays. I decided to have my first freestanding ED visit and WOW, there was no one there, service was exceptional, they even took my payment (hi co-pay), while I sat comfortably in my room with a warm blanket!

12. Jim Keller, MD, MHSA, Vice President of Medical Management, Advocate Trinity Hospital (Chicago)

While recently undergoing a minor procedure at one of our health system's larger hospitals I was acutely aware of the adherence to scripting. Everyone introduced themselves with a smile. I was offered an earlier appointment when a cancellation occurred and everyone foamed their hands. But what I remember the most as I was walking out was a receptionist asking me if I wanted her to cut my wrist band off before I left. It was such a simple yet sincere gesture which saved me the hassle of looking for scissors or yanking on the close to unbreakable piece of plastic. I wish I had acknowledged this simple act at the time.

13. Stephen Klasko, MD, President and CEO, Thomas Jefferson University & Jefferson Health (Philadelphia)

I had a procedure [done] at Jefferson [Health] last year, and the coolest thing we started was ""virtual rounds."" While I was in the recovery room with my surgeon, I had all three of my children on iPads while my surgeon was explaining my [post-surgery] recovery. Of course, having done it a few minutes after anesthesia, [my family] claimed I offered them all new cars! But more importantly, they could talk to the surgeon and be reassured. Then it struck me  it wasn't the technology that enabled that  we could have done it with Facetime three years ago or Skype five years ago or with the phone anytime in the 20th century. We just didn't think consumerism was important.

14. Tim McGill, MPH, CEO, Livingston (Tenn.) Regional Hospital

I observed focus on the details of consent, my health history, the patient identifier process and the repetition it takes to reduce human error. I was impressed.

15. Justin Meadows, Manager of IT Service Management, Mission Health System (Asheville, N.C.)

My last experience as a patient was interesting in that the waiting room was relatively empty, I did not wait long in the exam room, lab results arrived on my physicians laptop while we were still talking and the overall transaction felt friction-free. While this was a small family practice, I could not help but wonder what add-ons that would be valuable to me and profitable to the practice were now possible without all the noise, chaos and confusion I remember from just a few short years ago.

16. Nathan Merriman, MD, MSCE, Chair of Physician Leadership Network Governance Committee, Christiana Care Health System (Wilmington, Del.)

When I was a patient recently, I noticed a clear need for a patient care advocate and system navigator due to the complexity of care coordination from the patient perspective. As a physician, I was able to serve these functions myself as I contacted different offices and coordinated my appointments in a time efficient way, and I knew the specific questions to ask and language to use when I conveyed the severity and personal impact of my symptoms as well as the urgency of my appointment needs. I offered to be put on the waiting list for an earlier appointment since I know that many offices have this capability if there are late appointment cancellations but many offices do not have a way to consistently offer this cancellation list service. I received outstanding medical care from all of my providers, and I trusted each of their clinical opinions and expertise. However, I did experience a difference in opinions regarding the best course of action among the physicians I was working with, partially because my symptoms as a patient evolved over time between the appointments. This difference in clinical opinions was challenging to navigate as a patient and provider who personally knows each of the physicians involved in my care, but I combined and compared the provider opinions, did some online research on my own, and made my decisions as a patient based on what I thought was the best course of action for me.

17. Sherri Peavy, COO, UIC Mile Square Health Center (Chicago)

How smoothly it went. This is something we have been working on for some time now. I appreciate the efficient service and respect for my time as well as the convenience of the patient portal.

18. Shaun Phillips, Vice President of Clinical and Pharmacy Services, Bronson Healthcare Group (Kalamazoo, Mich.)

I had recent outpatient knee surgery due to sports-related injuries. It was a great experience, as I was fortunate to get everything taken care of quickly and efficiently. The problem is our support services  home care, rehab, etc., are not geared towards middle-aged, busy people. We have many of our services and support systems built to support our core demographicaging populations with older or grown children. We need to consider what are the needs of families with young children and perhaps limited or no family support in the area. How do we help a single mother continue her own care and care for her kids after an appendectomy? How do we support a family with a dad who just had back surgery and cant do home repairs like before? If either of these folks try to do their usual activities too soon, they will be readmissions too. We as an industry need to consider our after-care, post-acute systems to take care of our traditional populations as well as the kinds of barriers to younger patient populations face.

19. Giovanni Piedimonte, MD, FAAP, FCCP, Pediatric Institute's Chairman and Physician-in-Chief, Cleveland Clinic Pediatric Institute

I can safely say that most of what I know about healthcare derives from two personal experiences I had on the other side of the fence: I am a cancer survival and father of prematurely born children. When my babies were in the NICU, I certainly gained new appreciation for the miracles of modern medicine, able to give a chance of life even to babies that have spent in the womb only half of the time they are supposed to be there. But I also experienced and understood firsthand the sorrow of parents that know their child is sick and may die, and they cannot even be there all the time. They may have jobs, other children at home, and other responsibilities. Every minute they are away they suffer, and when they make it to the hospital they often have to deal with inefficiency, miscommunication, and sometime even rudeness.

Similarly, when I was diagnosed and treated for cancer, I experienced personally the blessing of having access to therapies that were unavailable just a few years ago, but also touched with my own hands the frustration and despair associated with lack of access, poor communication and information, obsolete facilities, limited interoperability, avoidable medical errors, and the many other issues that still plague the delivery of healthcare in our country. Since then, I have paid even more attention in using all available tools and strategies to satisfy an essential human need, and in doing so, putting patients and their families first. At the end of the day, taking care of patients is the highlight of my life. It helps me keep my sanity.

I don't suffer from burnout, because I have incredible fun doing something that gives me pleasure every day, and the older I get the more I understand that when you do something that makes your heart beat a little faster, you will do it better than anyone else. Last but not least, my experience on both sides of the fence, as a doctor and as a patient, has allowed me to interact with many others who have shared similar stories, and this priceless human material has progressively formed the platform for a book I have been writing over the past year about the good, the bad, and the ugly of modern healthcare. More to come...

20. Stonish Pierce, System Vice President of Specialty Services, Beaumont Health (Royal Oak, Mich.)

My last healthcare experience was a visit to a dental practice that I've remained a loyal patient to for the last several years. I would describe my entire experience as pleasant and consumer-focused, but this is due in large part to the fact I selectively research my healthcare providers based not only on clinical credentials, but also, and most importantly, on the ""service"" experience that I can anticipate receiving. Researching the service experience may include, but is not limited to, online ratings from prior patients and families, social media, promoted service amenities, ease of access and ease of interfacing with the provider on an ongoing basis given my busy schedule.

The practice is very modern in both its physical and virtual forms. From a pre-arrival standpoint, I was able to complete new patient paperwork, obtain information related to insurance coverage and even view photos of the practice's modern facilities online. Upon arrival, parking was easy to secure, comfortable seating was provided along with free Wi-Fi access and manageable television noise, but most importantly, the wait time was less than five minutes. The staff were all professional, introduced themselves by their name and their role and informed me as to how they would be interacting with me as a patient during my visit. Following my appointment, the practice provided me with immediate access to schedule future appointments during convenient evening and weekend hours that accommodated my schedule.

While not a "traditional" health system encounter, what I derived from this experience, as well as other healthcare experiences, is that we're fortunate to serve the overall experience that today's patients expect to receive at Beaumont. As the largest healthcare system in Michigan  based on inpatient admissions and net patient revenue  with eight hospitals, 36,000 employees, 5,000 physicians and nearly 200 outpatient care sites, I'm inspired to translate my personal experiences into motivating our employees to assist Beaumont in reaching its goal of being a national leader for patient- and family-centered care over the next five years.

21. Michael Privitera, MD, MS, Professor of Psychiatry and Medical Director of Faculty and Clinical Wellness, University of Rochester (N.Y.) Medical Center

I appreciated how much stress he was under from our healthcare system, yet he was trying to take care of me. I appreciated his hard work to get everything done that was required for him to do, and yet also address the reason I was there. He got past all those distractions, yet I could see it was hard.

22. Michael Ries, MD, Medical Director of Critical Care and eICU, Advocate Health Care (Chicago)

The lack of communication and coordination, especially by the hospitalist approach to inpatient care. Much of this can be facilitated by technology as the optimal process is laid out by the stakeholders of the process.

23. Cindy Russo, MS, FACHE, CEO and President, Baystate Franklin Medical (Greenfield, Mass.)

The last time I was at the receiving end of healthcare it was to assist family members needing care. Trying to help both my elderly parents navigate the healthcare system was extremely frustrating. Even though I understood the ins and outs of how our business works, I found myself needing to ask many questions. It was not infrequent good meaning caregivers were impersonal, attending to my parents needs as a chore. Providers and offices were not available to see my parents at times that were convenient for them or me. I am fortunate I can be flexible with my work schedule. I often thought about those who jeopardize their jobs when deciding to help with the healthcare needs of their family members. I also thought those who did not have the same background in healthcare as I did and wondered how they could possibly understand what they needed to do. As healthcare leaders, we should work to make our processes more user friendly and less complex and confusing.

24. Dennis Shelby, CEO, Wilson (N.C.) Medical Center

I recently had an EGD performed on me at the hospital where I am the CEO. Every staff member was friendly and engaging. The Patient Financial Services staff was professional, friendly, and helpful as they registered me. Everyone asked if I was comfortable and in need of a warm blanket. The room I was in was extremely clean. The surgical nursing staff, nurse anesthetists, and physician asked all of the right questions to ensure I could have the procedure performed (i.e., no eating, drinking, allergies, etc.) The physician provided me with his findings/impressions, which were reassuring, but sent off a specimen just to be sure.

I received a thank-you card in the mail signed by the surgical team wishing me well and thanking me for using Wilson Medical Center. Some may wonder if I received extra special care because I am the CEO. The truth is, the staff treats all of our patients as if they were the CEO or a VIP. I am proud to lead such a fine organization that delivers friendly, family-oriented, quality services.

25. Terre Short, AVP of Patient Experience, HCA Healthcare (Franklin, Tenn.)

I noticed a disconnect between all of the various caregivers regarding the details of my care, forcing me to have to take on connecting the dots and coordinating my care. I believe this is a big part of what we need to fix. We have yet to properly leverage technology to improve the teamwork and collaboration of caregivers, as well as free them up a bit to make a personal connection with the patient.

26. Jaspal Singh, MD, MHA, MHS, FCCP, FCCM, Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine Physician, Carolinas HealthCare System (Charlotte, N.C.)

I continually seem surprised at how increasingly expensive healthcare is becoming. Medications are difficult to afford even for those with financial means. Minor procedures can cost tens of thousands in the current environment. Moreover, since costs are being passed to patients, I can see why many patients refuse or delay services. Similarly, my family members and I have personally delayed elective procedures and refused expensive medications even though we think in the long-run these might be helpful. Added to the expense is the lack of complete cost transparency in cost transactions in healthcare. We believe this is a very treacherous situation for patients and families, and are hopeful the current focus of our organization to evolve to more cost containment and increased transparency will be helpful to our communities.

27. John Snyder, FACHE, COO, Carle Health System System (Urbana, Ill.)

What I noticed the last time I was a patient was how much the little things matter. Quality care should be a given. What makes the difference between a good and excellent experience are a couple of things. Being treated as a partner in your own care, and being educated about what is happening and why it is happening makes a big difference in patient engagement and satisfaction.

28. Donna Sollenberger, CEO and EVP, The University of Texas Medical Branch (Galveston)

While the care delivered by the provider was excellent, I think we can do a much better job of coordinating each patient's care and involving them in the development of their overall plan of care. As patient care has become more complex, I find that patients prefer to have a coordinated plan. Additionally, patients have questions that should be answered by a single provider who is reviewing all of the patient's care when it occurs in multiple settings and is delivered by different providers. They need a single point of contact who can assess their test results overall, as well as their medical history, to help better educate the patient about their health condition(s).

29. Eric M. Stone, Co-Founder and CEO, Velano Vascular (San Francisco)

I have been a chronic disease sufferer since I was a teenager. This has given me a front row seat to the evolution of the patient experience in healthcare today. Coupled with my journey as a healthcare entrepreneur, I've been able to peek behind the curtain a bit and connect the dots between innovation and experience. Over the past few years, I've noticed a dramatic movement to build on improvements in environmental comforts by advancing the actual standards and practice of medical care. These include everything from new bedside diagnostic tests to our own advances in blood draw technology.

In fact, that goal of reinventing the medical care experience is why we, at Velano Vascular, are focused on blood draws. Our inspiration dates back to when an elderly patient asked our founder and inventor why she needed to be stuck with another needle for a blood draw when she already had an IV line in her arm. We believe that by treating patients as consumers and as people  and re-imagining every facet of their care  we can significantly advance the healthcare experience in the years ahead.

30. Laura Swaney, Vice President of Women's and Children's Services, Medical City Healthcare (Dallas)

As a patient, I personally felt the lack of coordination between primary care, specialists, and hospital despite a unified EMR. It was apparent that the patient must be vigilant to ensure communication among care teams is occurring and must remain the driver of their healthcare experience or it feels as if theyll slip through the cracks. Despite the utilization of technology designed to aid in communication, healthcare feels so big business, uncoordinated and sterile.

At the time of my experience, I did not receive care within my own system, however the takeaways for me are something I use daily when considering new programs, processes and the patient's experience. I remember how alone and frustrated I felt and I worked in healthcare.

As healthcare leaders, it is our job to walk in our patients shoes. We are not there to simply heal them. We are there to care for them at a time that is usually fraught with fear and significant stress. Ensuring a well coordinated, seamless, efficient clinical experience delivered with passionate care and empathy is exactly what our patients deserve and need.

31. Erin Tritch, Executive Director of Strategic Sourcing and Supply Chain, University of Chicago Medicine

For more common everyday care, patient experience is about ease and flexibility of access, good communication and quick and effective care. When you have a need for more complex services, then you need a patient advocate to guide patients through the process, help make care decisions, understand costs and insurance impacts and ensure the patient and family get the care they want and understand the costs of it.

32. Bart Walker, JD, Partner, McGuireWoods (Charlotte, N.C.)

My last trip to the urgent care was eye-opening and highlighted for me that integration of technology is finally happening in healthcare. First, I searched for the nearest urgent care location on my phone. The search results not only showed the location, hours and providers, but also the current wait time. The web interface allowed me to sign in online and the system texted me 15 minutes before they would call me back to be seen by the treating physician. This allowed me to wait at home and arrive at the urgent care just in time. I was running late, and the text-based system allowed me to notify the provider in advance. This kind of process integration with technology is going to become more and more of a differentiator (and a patient expectation) as the market evolves in the future. The industry has progressed so far from the days when I watched my primary physician hunt and peck at a brand new laptop-based EHR system for 15 minutes trying to figure out how to write a prescription.From a former vice president of a Minneapolis-based health system pleading guilty to theft to a Massachusetts hospital suing its former CEO, here are the latest healthcare industry lawsuits making headlines.

1. Former Allina VP pleads guilty to embezzling over $417k

A former vice president of Minneapolis-based Allina Health pleaded guilty to four counts of theft by swindle on March 15.

2. Chicago names 3 drug distributors in opioid lawsuit, allocates $225k to address local crisis: 7 things to know

Attorneys on behalf of Chicago filed a federal lawsuit March 6 against three of the largest opioid distributors in the U.S. for allegedly contributing to a public health crisis related to the "unfettered and unlawful distribution" of opioids in the city.

3. Judge shoots down union attempt to roll back Brigham and Women's flu shot policy: 7 things to know

A judge ruled in favor of Boston-based Brigham and Women's Hospital after nurses challenged the hospital's flu shot policy.

4. University Hospitals faces 2 lawsuits over lost embryos: 4 things to know

Cleveland-based University Hospitals recently notified about 700 patients that the frozen eggs and embryos stored at one of its fertility centers were damaged after the temperatures in a storage tank rose. Two couples who lost embryos due to the storage tank malfunction have now sued University Hospitals.

5. Martha's Vineyard Hospital files complaint against former CEO: 8 things to know

Oaks Bluff, Mass.-based Martha's Vineyard Hospital filed a legal complaint against former President and CEO Joe Woodin, who was ousted from the role in June 2017.

6. Judge dismisses nurses' lawsuit against DMC Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital: 6 things to know

Detroit Medical Center's Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital in Commerce Charter Township, Mich., confirmed a judge granted its motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by nurses against the hospital.

7. Sex offender sues Wisconsin Children's Hospital over visitation policy

A registered sex offender is suing Milwaukee-based Wisconsin Children's Hospital over visitation policies that bar him from seeing his son.

8. Martin Shkreli gets 7 years in prison: 8 things to know

Ending a yearslong saga, a U.S. District Court judge sentenced Martin Shkreli, the former CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals who gained notoriety for inflating the price of a life-saving anti-infection drug, to seven years in prison March 9 for defrauding investors.

9. Woman arrested after posing as employee at 2 Tennessee hospitals: 4 things to know

A 33-year-old woman was arrested after she allegedly dressed as a hospital employee to gain access to restricted areas inside two Tennessee hospitals.

10. Kmart pays $525k to settle Medicaid fraud claims

Kmart Corp. reached a $525,000 settlement to resolve allegations it knowingly submitted claims to California's Medicaid program that defied diagnosis and documentation requirements.

More articles on legal and regulatory issues:

UPMC Hamot, cardiology practice ink $20.7M settlement in kickback case

Phoenix Children's Hospital wins battle against Irish hospital over similar names

Feds launch investigation into Tenet's Detroit Medical Center: 7 things to knowA Florida physician accused of masturbating while examining a patient resigned from Baptist Medical Center in Jacksonville, according to a report from First Coast News.

Here are three things to know.

1. Police arrested Om Kapoor, MD, an infectious disease specialist, on charges of exposure of sexual organs and battery on Dec. 20, 2017. The arrest came after a male patient accused the physician of masturbating into a napkin while examining his buttocks and genitals on Dec. 14, 2017, at Baptist Medical Center.

2. Baptist Health confirmed Dr. Kapoor's resignation to First Coast News March 14. Dr. Kapoor was on a leave of absence from the hospital pending an investigation into the alleged incident.

"Dr. Kapoor has resigned and will no longer be practicing at Baptist Health," the health system said in a statement cited by First Coast News. "We remain committed to ensuring quality, safety and continuity of care for all patients."

3. On Feb. 1, Florida's surgeon general restricted Kapoor's medical license as a result of the charges. Under the license restriction, Dr. Kapoor is only permitted to see patients if another licensed physician is in the room.

More articles on legal issues:

Leapfrog: Chicago hospital's defamation lawsuit fails because safety grade was never published

10 latest healthcare industry lawsuits

San Francisco fertility clinic faces class action lawsuit, accusations of gross negligence over damaged embryos: 5 things to knowRep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark., penned a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the Federal Trade Commission head urging a thorough review of CVS Health's proposed $69 billion takeover of Aetna, WPRI reports.

In a March 7 letter, Mr. Crawford wrote he has "grave concern" the merger could negatively affect rural consumers and independent pharmacies. He argued a combined CVS Health-Aetna "could potentially destroy competition in the healthcare industry and would encourage further consolidation, imperiling consumer choice and increasing costs for prescription medications."



Mr. Crawford cited Arkansas Pharmacists Association complaints in his argument. The organization has argued independent pharmacies are underpaid through CVS Health's pharmacy benefit management arm, the report states.

CVS Health spokesperson Mike DeAngelis told WPRI the retail giant is dedicated to cost containment while offering "a broad network of pharmacies that includes local, independent pharmacies." He added, "The Arkansas Pharmacists Association (APA) is painting an overall skewed picture of how CVS Caremark reimburses pharmacies. We believe that independent pharmacies in our network are reimbursed fairly and that we are in compliance with Arkansas state law."

On March 13, CVS Health and Aetna shareholders overwhelmingly approved the deal.Arkansas lawmakers on March 14 approved what is likely the first bill in the U.S. to permit state-level regulation of pharmacy benefit managers, according to Arkansas Times.

Here are four things to know about the legislation.

1. Lawmakers voted on the bill during a special legislative session Republican Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson called for in February. Motivation for the legislation stems from many Arkansas pharmacists who said PBM reimbursement rates have fallen so low, they are actually losing money on prescriptions. This revenue loss is forcing some pharmacies to lay off employees or even go out of business.

2. The bill will give the state's insurance commissioner the power to regulate the business practices of any PBM operating in Arkansas. This authority will include ensuring PBMs reimburse pharmacies at a sufficient rate to ensure "network adequacy," according to the report.

"This does not set a floor or a ceiling for payment," Sen. Ronald Caldwell, R-Wynne, said Wednesday, according to Arkansas Times. "There's nothing in this bill that sets a price. It simply says that a PBM network will not be adequate if  [they do] not provide fair and reasonable reimbursements."

3. The Arkansas Senate passed the bill in a 30-2 vote, while the House passed an identical bill by a vote of 92-2, with three members not voting and two others voting "present."

4. Mr. Hutchinson signed the bill into law March 15. The Arkansas Insurance Department will give PBMs state licenses and develop rules and regulations to reflect the law by September.Actress Charlize Theron says the idea of arming teachers after recent US school shootings or adding more guns to the situation is so outrageous.

The South African said: I have a very personal experience with gun violence. I lost my father to gun violence.

Everyone should support the #NeverAgain movement, says @CharlizeAfrica. Im so happy to see the youth take control with their voice on whats going on with gun control ... Theyre the ones coming up with a solution. #GESF #TeacherPrize (From @dabeard at @GESForum in Dubai.) pic.twitter.com/wsXyH2nFMl  Neil Parekh (He / Him / His) (@neilparekh) March 17, 2018

She added: I just dont understand when people try to make the conversation, the argument that the fix is more guns. It is so outrageous to me.

Theron spoke on Saturday at the Global Education and Skills Forum being held in Dubai.

Theron said people should listen to our kids to solve the problem, speaking just after three students talked about the February 14 Florida school shooting that killed 17 people.Matt Damon publicly supported Hillary Clinton in the 2016 US presidential election (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)

A publicist for Matt Damon is batting away reports that the actor is moving to Australia because of anger towards US President Donald Trump.

The Daily Telegraph newspaper in Sydney had reported that Damon was buying a home in Byron Bay near actor Chris Hemsworth. The two recently appeared in Thor: Ragnarok together.

Damon spokeswoman Jennifer Allen said Damon has been to Australia a lot recently. But Damon has not bought a home there nor is he relocating there, she said.

Expand Close Donald Trump (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) AP/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Donald Trump (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The New York Posts Page Six gossip site, citing an unnamed source, said the Good Will Hunting and Jason Bourne star told friends and colleagues he wanted to leave the country because he disagrees with Mr Trumps policies.

Ms Allen said: Hes not moving out of the US.

Damon has publicly supported Democrats, including Mr Trumps rival in the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton.Today, throughout Ireland and further afield, we celebrate Saint Patrick's Day. For many, it is regarded as an opportunity to consume excessive amounts of alcohol, while for others it's a chance to dress in many shades of green and visit one of the numerous carnivals or parades that occur annually on this day.

Some will wear a shamrock and others will attend church services in Armagh, Saul or elsewhere. But who was he, Patrick? Where did he come from and what did he do?

This is where it gets tricky. Many are the myths and legends surrounding our patron saint.

Everyone knows the yarn about him banishing the snakes from Ireland, and most folks will have some idea that the shamrock was supposedly used by Patrick to illustrate the doctrine of the Trinity.

But what are the facts? Thankfully, Patrick did record some things for us in his Confession and his Letter to the Christians.

Here we discover that his father came from Bonavem Taberniae, which was probably, though not definitely, near Dumbarton in Scotland.

At the age of 16 he was captured and brought as a slave to Ireland. For six years he was here in our land with, again, details of his location and movements being somewhat patchy.

It seems he spent some time looking after cattle on the slopes of Slemish.

However, the big thing and the great thing about his time in Ireland is that it was while here that he came to a living and personal faith in Jesus Christ as his Saviour and Lord.

He tells us: "I knew not the true God, and I was carried in captivity into Ireland... and there the Lord opened the sense of my unbelief, that even though late I should remember my sins, and be converted with my whole heart unto the Lord my God."

In time, Patrick was able to escape from his captivity and return home to Scotland.

However, he was to return to these shores in response to a dream in which he felt that God was calling him to be a missionary in the land of his captivity.

Having found Christ in Ireland, he came back to point others to the Saviour, who alone can forgive our sins and bring us into a right relationship with God.Jumon is one of the most exciting new restaurants to open so far this year. Its interior is explosively youthful, the menu is like nothing you've ever seen here and the service is as polished as you'd expect in a more conventional, more established place.

Occupying that difficult site on Fountain Street that was previously home to La Boca, the Permit Room and Beringer, Jumon has now been opened as a kind of Far Eastern den, which looks both clubby and illicit at the same time. Perfect for that lunchtime indulgence with a co-worker, a date, or a hipsters' business meeting.

There is a post-French colonial vibe to the place, thanks to the amazing artwork, produced by Ken Maze, that adorns the walls, pillars and just about every other surface in the place. Thankfully, the layout, as originally designed by Oscar & Oscar, remains in situ. The bar, the banquette and the pass are all reassuringly in the same spaces.

When I hear the double-barrelled descriptor 'plant-based' in front of other words, such as food, restaurant and lifestyle, I realise just how far from the younger generation I am.

But, also, it's one of those terms that has been created to take the bad look off more conventional monikers, such as 'urban regeneration specialist, which replaces 'property developer' and 'reputation adviser', instead of 'public relations consultant'.

Likewise, 'plant-based' is meant to take the sting out of that old favourite, 'vegetarian'. Oh, how we used to take the mick out of veggies and their weird sandwiches, sandals and homeopathic outlooks. But times have caught up. The veggies are now mainstream and we generally acknowledge the health-giving attractions of vegetarian and vegan foods and lifestyles.

Yet, there is still in the backs of our minds a kind of stigma that requires us to hide the V-word. 'Plant-based' also allows us to re-evaluate this and bring the whole thing back to basics. I find it kind of reassuring.

So, when chef Nox, the extraordinary Bangkok chef now based in Belfast, talks of plant-based food, it's worth taking a closer look. Nox has previous form with the excellent Banh in Upper Arthur Street. It's doing so well, there's talk of a second one opening in the Queen's Quarter.

Jumon is a different animal. For one thing, it's a comfortable place in which to sit. The service is fast at lunchtime to encourage office workers. The environment is, therefore, right for the menu, which is like nothing else you will find in the north.

There are breakfasts, including KuKu, made with egg white, spinach, labneh (a kind of yoghurt), avocado, and Burmese tomato, Jiang Bing, which features egg, Asian greens, tiger salad, avocado and sambal sauce (served with or without cheese), and Egg Hopper, in which an egg is served in a coconut cup with dhal Burmese tomatoes.

There is a broad spectrum of dishes from around the south-east Asian region, so you will see Korean kimchi, Thai noodles, Sichuan rice meals, Cambodian curries and Malaysian ramen, all of which are exotic in flavour, odd at first and then addictive and seductive.

A plate of Nem is a gorgeous mess of greens, sprouts, mushroom and asparagus in tempura, pickled lychees and carrots and Taiwanese peanut. Nem is more associated with Vietnam, and this is a perfect, filling lunch that will not leave you dozy in the afternoon.

Similarly, the Hungley noodles, made of ramen in Malayoo curry with lentils, vegetables, nuts and pickled pineapple, is invigorating and energising.

The classic Jumon Ramen is a heart-warming broth that I suspect will become a big hit for those in search of the miraculous cure after the night before. Kimchee and egg, crispy cheese wonton and Asian greens mean you've got all the right food groups in order to fix whatever's wrong with you.

Jumon is unusual and probably unique. I recall some of the flavours and textures offered up here from a trip almost 20 years ago into northern Thailand. Nox is keen to make the food, as well as the cocktails, authentic, and, as a result, the purity of those flavours and textures will be a pleasant shock and surprise to some.

If food and drink broaden your horizons, for less money than travel, Jumon's your man.

The bill

Pok Pok ............................................7.50

Nem ................................................ 7.50

Siem Reap Risotto..........................7.50

Hungley........................................... 7.50

Total................................................... 30Unionist councillors in Belfast say the stamping out of paramilitary influence and anti-social behaviour during bonfire season must be community-led.

Five councillors from the DUP, UUP and PUP shared a report - Towards A Respectful Future - at City Hall yesterday setting out the views of the unionist community around bonfires.

PUP leader Billy Hutchinson said identifying the true extent of paramilitary influence was difficult, as members of the UVF and UDA were also residents.

The councillors engaged with groups like Charter NI, which represents loyalist ex-prisoners.

Mr Hutchinson asked: "When does a resident become a UVF man? They are out there at a bonfire because their kids are growing up.

"Are they acting as a resident or a UVF man?"

He added: "We found that they were not involved in them in a controlling way in the majority of them."

He said speaking to organisations like Charter NI was more conducive, and hoped to "make sure people in the community make decisions, not the UVF".

The report says the vast majority of bonfires in Belfast were non-contentious, with only a small number causing problems with health and safety or anti-social behaviour, as well as racist and sectarian signs.

The report claims a widespread sense of alienation contributed to the difficulties, with many feeling there was a concerted campaign to stop traditional unionist celebrations.

The DUP's Lee Reynolds said there was an aspiration for a respectful and peaceful bonfire season, but claimed there were "darker agendas" from other political parties, which wanted bonfires to "disappear", or be "watered down" so much that they lost their meaning.

"The vast majority of bonfires aren't organised by paramilitaries." Mr Reynolds added:

"There were bonfires built in Belfast long before paramilitaries existed."

UUP councillor Jim Rodgers said: "We're totally opposed to any paramilitarism, but we can't ignore people.

The report acknowledges that other issues like fly-tipping, the burning of tyres and under-age drinking damaged the image of bonfire night.

The playing of dance music at bonfires was described as "not attractive to many in the unionist community", but some believed that it added to the atmosphere of the celebrations.

John Kyle from the PUP said he supported practical actions, like educating young people on the history of their culture.

Mr Kyle also called for those celebrating bonfires "to feel comfortable in their own skins" celebrating unionism "without showing contempt" for nationalism.

The Woodvale Festival in the north of the city and the Diamond Beacon Project in east Belfast were cited as positive examples.

The councillors said that after this year's bonfire season they hoped to host a convention involving a wide range of community groups to discuss an agreed future.

Last year bonfires brought serious pressures for emergency services and endangered some residents, with extensive damage caused to apartments at Sandy Row.

Belfast City Council was granted a High Court injunction to prevent more materials being added to four loyalist bonfires in east Belfast.

At the time there was concern that those attempting to remove the material faced intimidation. The council has since passed a motion to tackle dangerous bonfires.

SDLP group leader on Belfast City Council Tim Attwood welcomed yesterday's report.

He said: "I fully recognise the importance of bonfires to the wider unionist community as part of their celebration of their culture and tradition.

"The SDLP wish to engage in a discussion with the wider unionist community which tackles the negative, dangerous and sinister aspects of bonfires, while supporting developments which enhance unionist cultural celebrations."IRA murder victim Jillian Johnston with her fiance Stanley, who was sitting beside her in a car when she was shot dead by gunmen in 1988

The bereft mother of a forgotten Northern Ireland murder victim who was shot 27 times by the IRA has spoken out on the eve of the 30th anniversary of her killing - conceding that she'll never get justice.

But the Provo gang who killed 21-year-old Jillian Johnston and seriously injured her fiance Stanley in Fermanagh were warned by her still-grieving mum Annabella that they would have to answer to God on Judgement Day for their 'cowardly act'.

The frenzied gun attack was unleashed on Friday, March 18, 1988, as Jillian and her childhood sweetheart sat in her father's car in the Johnstons' farmyard, set amid the splendour and serenity of mystical Boa Island near Belleek.

The Provos said the murder was a 'mistake' but they compounded the outrage by saying their real target was Jillian's UDR brother. For that was another 'mistake' - none of the Johnstons were in the security forces, nor was her fiance.

One local man said at the time: "The Provos claimed it was a mistake, but shooting that wee girl 27 times ensured they made no mistake about killing her."

However, the horror of Jillian Johnston's savage shooting was quickly pushed off the front pages by other headline-grabbing killings during one of the bloodiest fortnights of the Troubles.

It had started with the SAS shooting of three IRA members in Gibraltar and two days before Jillian's murder, loyalist Michael Stone killed three Catholic mourners at Milltown cemetery.

The day after Jillian's killing, two soldiers, corporals Derek Wood and David Howes, were shot dead by the IRA after they drove into a funeral cortege in Andersonstown.

The Stone murders and the corporals' killings were captured on camera by an international press corps.

But Jillian Johnston's murder didn't command quite the same attention.

One journalist said: "The murder happened on a Friday night; it was nearly 100 miles from Belfast and then the corporals were caught by a lynch mob in front of the cameras."

The rest of the world and the rest of Northern Ireland may have swiftly forgotten Jillian Johnston, but the kind-natured girl who couldn't do enough to help customers in her chemist's shop in the border village of Belleek is never far from the thoughts of her family.

Her mother said she'll never forget her, nor the sound of the automatic gunfire that took her daughter from her.

In a poignant and at times chilling statement, Mrs Johnston spoke of the nightmare that unfolded after Jillian and Stanley had been to a cafe in Belleek.

They were excitedly planning their wedding.

Mrs Johnston said: "They came home about 10.15pm and pulled up into the yard in the car. I was on my own at the time. My husband had gone out to visit neighbours. I heard awful automatic gunfire It seemed to go on and on.

"I was terrified, I can remember the sound to this day.

"I rang my sister-in-law who lived nearby and she came. Just as she opened the door I heard Jillian's fiance calling out and lamenting."

Mrs Johnston ran out to the car to find a scene that still haunts her .

"The minute I saw Jillian I knew she was dead. I lifted up her head and it fell down again. That Friday night will be with me forever. Jillian was buried the following Sunday. The post mortem revealed that at least 27 bullets had been found in her body."

Mrs Johnston recalled how former Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams "stated in the press that it was wrong information they had received".

She added: "Jillian's murder brought it home to us that you didn't have to be in any organisation to be murdered."

Jillian's murder provoked fury in Belleek, but the IRA didn't go away.

Five months after the killing, two Protestant men who had been lifelong friends were shot dead after they left Belleek Police Station, where they'd been working on a building contract.

The same ruthless IRA gang was to blame and no fewer than 99 spent bullet cases were recovered from the scene. Frederick Love (64) and William Hazzard (59) were family friends who had helped the Johnston family on their farm.

No-one has ever been charged with the murders of the two men or of Jillian Johnston.

Mrs Johnston said that Jillian's brothers and sisters have all moved on with their lives and have families of their own.

"But the memory of the brutal murder will always be with them. It is still talked about as if it was yesterday," said Mrs Johnston adding: "Thirty years on, we feel as a family that no-one will ever be brought to justice for the murder of Jillian.

"However, it is our Christian belief that those responsible for this cowardly act will have to answer to God on their final Judgement Day."Gerry Adams (centre) attends the annual shamrock presentation ceremony at the White House in Washington DC

Gerry Adams with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio at a St Patrick's Day breakfast event at Gracie Mansion in New York.

Sinn Fein's former leader Gerry Adams has been honoured at a St Patrick's Day breakfast event hosted by the mayor of New York on Saturday.

Mayor Bill De Blasio paid tribute to Adam's contribution to the peace process in Northern Ireland. He commended the Irish republican politician's recognition of "power of peace" and named March 17, 2018 as Gerry Adams Day.

The event was also attended by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

According to the Journal.ie, the mayor said that Adams "did not accept injustice and he fought against it."

De Blasio said: "He understood there was no place in this world anymore for colonialism and he fought against it... great ideas never die.

"I want to honour him for pursuit of a goal that makes so much sense - a goal for a United Ireland."

.@GerryAdamsSF receives a proclamation from Mayor Bill De Blasio and names today as Gerry Adams day. pic.twitter.com/ndat4yIsSP  Sinn Fein (@sinnfeinireland) March 17, 2018Brexit will pose serious challenges to the health service in Northern Ireland, a new report has found.

Academic think tank The UK In A Changing Europe has said waiting times will rise and there will be increased pressure on an already overstretched workforce here.

There will also be a reduction in rights when travelling, and delays in the approval of lifesaving or life-prolonging medicines, according to its report, Brexit And The NHS.

The document adds weight to concerns already raised by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in Northern Ireland, which has warned that nursing numbers may decrease further as a result of Brexit.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that health officials have no idea how many EU nationals currently work in the health service here.

However, according to the Nursing and Midwifery Council, the number of nurses coming to the UK from other EU countries fell by 89% last year, while the number of EU nurses leaving the UK grew by 67%.

Janice Smyth, head of the RCN in Northern Ireland, said she was stunned to learn that the Department of Health was unable to provide such figures.

"I would have thought information like that would be crucial in working to mitigate any negative effect of Brexit on the health service in Northern Ireland," she said.

"The nursing workforce in Northern Ireland is in a very precarious position. We already have a shortage of 1,500 nurses in the service, and that doesn't include shortages in our private nursing homes.

"We cannot have any more nurses leaving the profession than already have, it would have a serious impact on our ability to deliver a safe and sustainable service."

Ms Smyth was reacting to the findings of Brexit And The NHS, which argues that while the health service already faces funding pressures, these might increase as a result of the UK leaving the European Union.

A spokeswoman from the Department of Health said it had identified a number of priorities and was working closely with other organisations in preparation of leaving the EU. She added: "It would be premature to form a view on the impact of EU exit on the provision of healthcare at this time.

"The department will continue to monitor the outcome of the UK Government's EU exit negotiations and will discuss any potential impact on cross-border acute services with the Department of Health (in the Republic) through our existing joint oversight arrangements."A postcode lottery on the cost of dying has been identified across Northern Ireland, with burial plots ranging from 261 to a staggering 3,116.

The cheapest plots are available to residents in Fermanagh and Omagh District, while Lisburn and Castlereagh charges 3,116 for the burial of non-residents.

The investigation, which examined the cost and causes of dying as well as the impact of changes in bereavement benefit payments, was carried out against a backdrop of austerity as well as rising funeral costs, with services last year 88% more expensive than they were in 2004.

Investigators also looked into the variations in charges for children's burials, with most councils offering discounts.

Belfast City Council, Mid Ulster District Council and Newry, Mourne and Down District Council do not, and there are variations across the others as to what is considered a child.

Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council set the limit at 12 months, with Ards and North Down Borough Council raising the limit to 18 years. The stark figures were among a number of findings unearthed in an investigation by Detail Data for online news organisation The Detail.

Investigators also found that in the five years to 2016/17 there were 18,219 applications for a Funeral Payment, which provides financial assistance for benefits claimants "towards a simple, respectful, low-cost funeral".

The average payment was 1,037 - leaving families on low incomes with a shortfall of around 2,000, according to figures from insurance company Sunlife.

The research has prompted calls for a full overhaul of Government financial support and regulation of the funeral industry.

Citizens Advice Northern Ireland, Marie Curie and the National Association of Funeral Directors believe a public health campaign is needed to address the issue.

Corrina Grimes of the Public Health Agency (PHA) said: "While it may not be something that we want to think about, the PHA would encourage everyone to think ahead to plan for the future in terms of their personal affairs and any wishes they may have for their care towards, and at the end, of life."A US beer named in honour of Gerry Adams has been pulled after it was met with criticism - prompting the brewery behind it to offer a "sincere apology".

'Adams' Best' is a product from Chicago-based craft beer company Revolution Brewery.

The website said it was "named for Gerry Adams, president of Sinn Fein, who was instrumental in the development of the Belfast Agreement in the late 1990s, which brought a ceasefire to Northern Ireland".

However, the product made no mention of the former Sinn Fein leader's association with the IRA. Mr Adams has always denied membership of the IRA, but never distanced himself from the terror group.

It was met with outrage by Ann Travers, whose sister Mary (22) was shot dead by the Provos in Belfast in 1984 as she walked home from Mass with her Catholic magistrate father Thomas.

She has welcomed the recent decision from the company.

The brewery said: "In 2012, we first brewed a Best Bitter ale at our pub, which we named Adams' Best in reference to Gerry Adams, and have since brewed it on occasion.

"Choosing a name is part of crafting a new beer and provides the opportunity to inspire, but also to offend. Over the last several days, we learned that great attention has been drawn to this beer abroad, with many people taking offence.

"We hear you and have decided to take it off tap, and dispose of all remaining stock. We sincerely apologise for our actions and will not brew this beer again."

Ann was just 14 at the time of her sister's murder. Her father, the intended target, survived the attack, despite being shot six times. After hearing that the product had been pulled she said: "I'm delighted and I thank them for it and for listening.

"I'm always heartened whenever victims' voices are heard and listened to and I'm very grateful to them for doing it.

"It shows that there needs to be a lot more education, perhaps worldwide, on how victims and relatives have been left in Northern Ireland and how much they are still suffering today.

She continued: "Often it's not just the incident at the time but it's how our lives developed and how it impacts on our lives.

"It's nice to think that perhaps people can think of the victims.

"For me, the victims are the true heroes of the peace process, not the politicians.

"It's wonderful that they (the brewery) have listened to victims' voices and the criticism and the asking to consider victims. On a personal level I'm very grateful."An award-winning filmmaker says she cannot get her documentary about republican paramilitary shootings of teenagers screened in the UK.

Sinead O'Shea's documentary A Mother Brings Her Son To Be Shot gets its international premiere at a film festival in Copenhagen this weekend.

The Danish screening comes amid reports of an increase in so-called punishment shootings by dissidents.

The documentary, described by the British Film Institute as "unflinching", looks at the experience of Majella O'Donnell and her family in Londonderry.

Writing in The Guardian this week, O'Shea said: "Punishment shootings facilitated by family members is a phenomenon with which I, as a documentary filmmaker, am very familiar.

"In 2012 I began talking to the O'Donnell family in Derry.

"Earlier that year Majella O'Donnell had taken her teenage son Philly to be shot by local gunmen.

"Majella, her son and his shooters are all part of a community that considers itself to be still at war.

"They are republican dissidents and do not feel represented by the republicans who signed up to the Good Friday Agreement on their behalf.

"I have made films all over the world, but on my doorstep found a story that was more compelling than anything I'd ever previously encountered."

But she revealed that the 84-minute documentary has yet to be accepted by a UK broadcaster.

"The international interest is in disappointing contrast with the UK," she added.

"The documentary premiered at the London Film Festival last year, but as yet no UK broadcaster has committed to screening it, despite mounting concerns that Brexit could reawaken old divisions."

She put this down to a general lack of interest by the British public in our issues.

"The UK bears grave responsibility for what is happening in Northern Ireland," she said.

"It must govern all the people there, even those who remain unreconstructed and inconvenient."

Earlier this week PSNI Chief Constable George Hamilton revealed that parents of young people about to be shot by paramilitaries were plying them with alcohol or powerful painkillers before taking them to their "appointments" with the gunmen.The force has awoken across the island of Ireland as Star Wars hero Mark Hamill joins in the celebrations to mark St Patricks Day.

Today the whole Galaxy is Irish, Hamill tweeted as he got into the spirit of the day ahead of his appearance at the annual March 17 parade in Dublin.

He posted the Tweet alongside a number of Star Wars themed pictures with a St Patricks Day twist. One showed Luke Skywalker with the words Kiss me, Im a Jedi.

Today would be a good day to deploy these #StPatricksDay images, because today..... THE WHOLE GALAXY IS IRISH.  pic.twitter.com/09xeCbJept  Mark Hamill (Mar) (@HamillHimself) March 17, 2018

Another was an image of Yoda with the slogan Irish I am not but very green I am.

The actor is the Dublin parades first international guest of honour and has been invited to watch the festivities from the Presidential stand.

Expand Close Mark Hamill and his wife Marilou York (Brian Lawless/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Mark Hamill and his wife Marilou York (Brian Lawless/PA)

The guest of honour role was introduced to recognise Irish Diaspora and those with links to Ireland who have made a significant impact abroad.

This years parade will start from Parnell Square at noon, march down OConnell St, before crossing the River Liffey, winding around College Green, and finishing at Kevin St.

Skellig Michael, an island off the coast of Kerry, was used as a location in the latest movie, Star Wars VIII: The Last Jedi, featuring as the hidden refuge of Luke Skywalker.

Hamill spent time in Co Kerry shooting for the Star Wars film.

Expand Close (Brian Lawless/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp (Brian Lawless/PA)

His great-grandmother Elizabeth Keating was born in Kilkenny in 1873, and left Ireland for America when she was a teenager.

Todays parade is to feature over 2,000 members of marching bands from across the country, floats, and performers, as it makes its way through the city.

Irish actor Liam Cunningham, famous for his role as Davos Seaworth in television series Game Of Thrones, will lead the parade this year.

President Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina will be in attendance.

Expand Close Mark Hamill and President of Ireland Michael D Higgins (Brian Lawless/PA) PA / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Mark Hamill and President of Ireland Michael D Higgins (Brian Lawless/PA)

Several public buildings have been turned green to celebrate the festival, including Aras an Uachtarain, Leinster House, the Four Courts, the National Gallery of Ireland, Christchurch Cathedral and City Hall.

In Northern Ireland, the day will be marked with a carnival parade and free concert at Custom House Square.

Other parades are to be held across the region including in Londonderry, Newry, Armagh and Downpatrick.

Meanwhile, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will march in the New York St Patricks Day parade on the final day of his week-long visit to the US.

Thanks to @BilldeBlasio for a great #stpatricksday breakfast at his residence. Now attending the annual Mass in St Patricks Cathedral, NY NY. Next up: the parade! pic.twitter.com/mbUOE3CYZB  Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) March 17, 2018

Before the parade, Mr Varadkar will meet the Mayor of New York Bill de Blasio at a breakfast event.

He will also attend mass in St Patricks Cathedral.

The day is also being marked around the world with parades in many other countries.

Tourism Irelands Global Greening campaign will see around 290 major landmarks and sites in 48 countries being lit up in green.The heavily pregnant Duchess of Cambridge resisted the temptation of a St Patricks Day tipple during a traditional toast to her and her husband by the Irish Guards.

Kate sipped a sparkling water while the Duke of Cambridge clutched a pint of Guinness at the end of a visit to the 1st Battalion at their base in Hounslow, west London.

The royals faced down snowfall and ferocious winds to watch the annual parade of the guards, of which William is Colonel.

Expand Close (Jonathan Brady/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp (Jonathan Brady/PA)

But the future king saved his plaudits for the troops, telling one they had felt sorry for them in the biting cold.

And, just hours later, the downturn stopped William from enjoying one of his passions  a game of rugby.

Kensington Palace said the poor weather conditions had disrupted travel plans and the Duke, who is vice-Royal patron of the Welsh Rugby Union, would no longer be able to attend Waless Six Nations showdown with France in Cardiff.

The longest-serving guardsman of the battalion, Stephen Williams declared a toast to the Duke and Duchess for a second year in a row at the mess hall and thanked the Duchess for the shamrocks.

The 30-year-old told the Press Association: I thought it went well, I was very proud to do it on behalf on the battalion.

They said they recognised me from last year which is a good thing.

Ive been here for 10 years so the most senior person does it every year.

Its the first time weve had snow on the parade, usually its a warm day  what was it, -3C outside?

They said they felt the cold and felt sorry for us.

The Duke, Duchess and Domhnall sit for an official photo pic.twitter.com/9dYe8vJBlT  Jack Hardy (@JackHardy9) March 17, 2018

Drinks ordered were placed in advance, with Kate, who is expecting their third child next month, requesting a sparkling water with ice and lemon, he added.

Expand Close (Jonathan Brady/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp (Jonathan Brady/PA)

The royals then milled around and chatted to the troops, some of whom gleefully took selfies with the couple in the background.

Earlier in the day, 350 soldiers arrived on the Parade Square in their red regalia, led Irish wolfhound Domhnall.

The mighty Domhnall now awaits the royals on the parade square at Cavalry Barracks pic.twitter.com/VanSDbKUCa  Jack Hardy (@JackHardy9) March 17, 2018

Kate, wearing a green Catherine Walker coat and a Gina Foster hat, stepped forward to present the shamrock to officers and warrant officers.

Domhnall the Irish Wolfhound, steely in the face of ice-cold winds, marches up to meet the Duchess of Cambridge pic.twitter.com/hsHlh6ALZe  Jack Hardy (@JackHardy9) March 17, 2018

Betraying no awareness of the biting temperature, she smiled and chatted to each of the military men in turn, finally fastening a shamrock to the collar of Domhnall.

William took the salute as the regiment continued a march-past and three thunderous cheers were then declared to the royals.

Expand Close (Andrew Parsons/Sunday Times/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp (Andrew Parsons/Sunday Times/PA)

Prior to the parade, Domhnalls handler, Drummer Aidan Cathcart, jokingly expressed reservations that his charge would behave.

He said: Domhnalls role is very monumental  he is the first guy on the parade. He is the main guy on the march, its a pretty important day for him.

Asked if he was confident Domhnall would perform as planned, he replied, bluntly: No.

Expand Close Irish Wolfhound Domhnall (Jonathan Brady/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Irish Wolfhound Domhnall (Jonathan Brady/PA)

The wolfhound  the regiments longest serving mascot since 1985  had been doing test runs all week to prepare for his moment in front of the royals.

It is the fifth time he has received the shamrock and the second time he has been handled by Drummer Cathcart.

The Irish Guards were well prepared for the surprise turn in the weather, having recently conducted the Changing of the Guard in heavy snow during Storm Emma.

Also among the guests on Saturday was the Irish Defence Forces most senior military officer, chief of staff Mark Mellett.Jake Killick must serve at least 11 years before he is considered for parole (Clara Molden/PA)

A man who raped one woman and sexually assaulted three others on a three-hour crime spree has been sentenced to life in prison and must serve 11 years before he is considered for release.

Jake Killick, 23, also committed three street robberies before he was detained by police at Norwich train station on March 30 last year.

He was found guilty following an earlier trial at Norwich Crown Court of six counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault, one of assault by penetration, false imprisonment, committing an offence with intent to commit a sexual offence and three counts of robbery.

Killick, of no fixed address but previously of Thetford, Norfolk, committed all of the offences between 4.30am and 7.38am around Norwich city centre.

Police had received a report of a woman, who was on her way to get the first train to London for work, being sexually assaulted at 4.35am.

A second woman, who was a virgin and was also on her way to work, reported she had been assaulted and raped multiple times shortly after 6am.

Judge Stephen Holt said Killick dragged her down one of the alleyways and told her you would murder her if she screamed out or tried to get away. You then raped her.

He said Killick marched the woman to a second location where he raped her again, and the victims 30 or 40 minutes of hell ended only when a local in a nearby property had the courage to open her door and remonstrated with him.

A third woman reported being sexually assaulted at 6.50am and a fourth woman reported being grabbed and assaulted in an underpass at 7am.

Three robberies followed, with a man mugged of his phone at 7.16am, an unknown person seen on CCTV having their phone stolen at Norwich bus station at 7.25am then a final call from a man robbed of his wallet at 7.35am.

Police tracked down Killick and arrested him at Norwich train station at 8.15am.

Killick was also found guilty of breaching a restraining order.

Judge Stephen Holt, sentencing, told Killick: You pose a high risk of serious harm to the public.

He described the offences as a campaign of rape and sexual assaults and robberies on the streets of Norwich as residents were going to work early in the morning, going about their business.

Matthew McNiff, mitigating, said Killick has a very low IQ and is a deeply sad and fairly damaged young man.

Some of Killicks victims sat in the public gallery for the sentencing hearing.

Killick, who appeared by video link from HMP Belmarsh, showed no reaction as his sentence was read out.Supporters of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn criticised the way he had been depicted on the BBC show (Yui Mok/PA)

A Newsnight boss has dismissed claims the programme photoshopped Jeremy Corbyns hat to make him look more Russian.

Supporters of the Labour leader, including prominent left-wing writer Owen Jones, attacked the BBC Two programme for using an image they claim had been altered.

Mr Jones appeared on the show to discuss Labours response to the Salisbury nerve agent attack and claimed Mr Corbyn had been made to look like a Soviet stooge.

The media framing has been a disgrace and I have to say that includes your own programme, he told presenter Evan Davis on Friday.

Yesterday the background of your programme you had Jeremy Corbyn dressed up against the Kremlin skyline, dressed up as a Soviet stooge.

You even photoshopped his hat to look more Russian.

People should complain to the BBC about that kind of thing.

Mr Corbyn was pictured wearing a hat against a backdrop of Moscows Red Square.

Newsnight acting editor Jess Brammar denied the hat had been altered.

Newsnight didnt photoshop a hat, she tweeted.

Our (excellent,hardworking) graphics team explained the image has had the contrast increased & been colour treated, usual treatment for screen graphics as they need more contrast to work through the screens.

If you look you can see its same hat in silhouette.

Apparently (forgive me for passing on tech details I dont understand firsthand) some detail might also have been lost with it going through the screen and then being filmed back through a camera, again the standard effect on images on that big back panel.

And finally, the Russia background was a rehash of one Newsnight used a few weeks ago, for a story about Gavin Williamson, the Defence Secretary.

Hi Jess, firstly lots of respect for you. The photo of Williamson is in a suit and his photo remains clear. There is no shortage of photos of Corbyn in a suit. A photo was selected which was as Leninesque as possible in combination with a red Kremlin background.  Owen Jones  (@OwenJones84) March 17, 2018

Mr Jones responded to the tweets saying the programme had picked an image of Mr Corbyn that was as Leninesque as possible.

The photo of Williamson is in a suit and his photo remains clear, he said.

There is no shortage of photos of Corbyn in a suit. A photo was selected which was as Leninesque as possible in combination with a red Kremlin background.The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge faced down snowfall and ferocious winds to watch a traditional St Patricks Day parade of the Irish Guards.

Expand Close The Duchess of Cambridge presents a shamrock to officers and Guardsmen (Jonathan Brady/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp The Duchess of Cambridge presents a shamrock to officers and Guardsmen (Jonathan Brady/PA)

William, who is Colonel of the Irish Guards, and heavily pregnant Kate braved icy gusts to visit the 1st Battalion at their base in Hounslow, west London.

Some 350 soldiers arrived on the Parade Square in their red regalia, led by Irish wolfhound Domhnall.

The mighty Domhnall now awaits the royals on the parade square at Cavalry Barracks pic.twitter.com/VanSDbKUCa  Jack Hardy (@JackHardy9) March 17, 2018

Kate, who is due to give birth to the couples third child next month, wore a green Catherine Walker coat and a Gina Foster hat as she presented the shamrock to officers and warrant officers.

The Duchess of Cambridge, in a green Catherine Walker outfit, hands out the traditional shamrocks pic.twitter.com/Abdp24fGvn  Jack Hardy (@JackHardy9) March 17, 2018

Betraying no awareness of the biting temperature, she smiled and chatted to each of the military men in turn, finally fastening a shamrock to the collar of Domhnall.

Domhnall the Irish Wolfhound, steely in the face of ice-cold winds, marches up to meet the Duchess of Cambridge pic.twitter.com/hsHlh6ALZe  Jack Hardy (@JackHardy9) March 17, 2018

William took the salute as the regiment continued a march-past and three thunderous cheers were then declared to the royals.

Earlier, Domhnalls handler, Drummer Aidan Cathcart, jokingly expressed reservations that his charge would behave.

Expand Close Irish Wolfhound Domhnall (Jonathan Brady/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Irish Wolfhound Domhnall (Jonathan Brady/PA)

He said: Domhnalls role is very monumental  he is the first guy on the parade. He is the main guy on the march, its a pretty important day for him.

Asked if he was confident Domhnall would perform as planned, he replied, bluntly: No.

The wolfhound  the regiments longest serving mascot since 1985  had been doing test runs all week to prepare for his moment in front of the royals.

It is the fifth time he has received the shamrock and the second time he has been handled by Drummer Cathcart.

Expand Close (Jonathan Brady/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp (Jonathan Brady/PA)

The Irish Guards were well prepared for the surprise turn in the weather, having recently conducted the Changing of the Guard in heavy snow during Storm Emma.

The Duke, Duchess and Domhnall sit for an official photo pic.twitter.com/9dYe8vJBlT  Jack Hardy (@JackHardy9) March 17, 2018

Also among the guests on Saturday was the Irish Defence Forces most senior military officer, chief of staff Mark Mellett.Former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe kept personal memos describing interactions with President Donald Trump that are similar to the notes compiled by dismissed FBI chief James Comey, the Associated Press (AP) has learned.

Mr McCabe was long scorned by Mr Trump and was fired by attorney general Jeff Sessions on Friday.

It was not immediately clear whether any of Mr McCabes memos have been turned over to or been requested by special counsel Robert Mueller, whose criminal investigation is examining Trump campaign ties to Russia and possible obstruction of justice.

Mr McCabes memos include details of interactions with the president, among other topics, according to a source.

Though the precise contents are unknown, the memos could possibly help substantiate Mr McCabes assertion that he was unfairly maligned by a White House he says had declared war on the FBI and Mr Muellers investigation.

They almost certainly contain, as Mr Comeys memos did, previously undisclosed details about encounters between the Trump administration and FBI.

The disclosure on Saturday came hours after Mr Trump called Mr McCabes firing by attorney general Jeff Sessions a great day for democracy and asserted without elaboration that Mr McCabe knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI!

That sent former CIA director John Brennan, an outspoken Trump critic, into a Twitter tirade.

When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history. You may scapegoat Andy McCabe, but you will not destroy America...America will triumph over you. https://t.co/uKppoDbduj  John O. Brennan (@JohnBrennan) March 17, 2018

When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history. You may scapegoat Andy McCabe, but you will not destroy AmericaAmerica will triumph over you, he tweeted.

Mr Sessions said he acted on the recommendation of FBI disciplinary officials who said Mr McCabe had not been candid with a watchdog office investigation.

Mr McCabe was fired two days before his retirement date.

An upcoming inspector generals report is expected to conclude that Mr McCabe had authorised the release of information to the media and was not forthcoming with the watchdog office as it examined the bureaus handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation.

Mr McCabe denied the allegations and said his credibility had been attacked as part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally but also the FBI and law enforcement.

It is part of this administrations ongoing war on the FBI and the efforts of the special counsel investigation, which continue to this day, he added.

Their persistence in this campaign only highlights the importance of the special counsels work.

The firing set off duelling tweets between Mr Trump, who called the termination a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI, and Mr Comey, the director he fired 10 months ago.

Mr Trump called Mr Comey sanctimonious and said he made Mr McCabe look like a choirboy.

Mr Comey, whose highly anticipated book comes out next month, responded with his own tweet: Mr. President, the American people will hear my story very soon. And they can judge for themselves who is honorable and who is not.

Mr. President, the American people will hear my story very soon. And they can judge for themselves who is honorable and who is not.  James Comey (@Comey) March 17, 2018

Mr Trumps personal lawyer John Dowd cited the brilliant and courageous example of Mr Sessions and the FBIs Office of Professional Responsibility, and said deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein should bring an end to the Russia investigation manufactured by Mr Comey.

Mr Dowd told the AP that he was neither calling on Mr Rosenstein, who oversees Mr Muellers inquiry, to fire the special counsel immediately nor had discussed with Mr Rosenstein the idea of dismissing Mr Mueller or ending the probe.

Mr Mueller is investigating whether Mr Trumps actions, including Mr Comeys dismissal, constitute obstruction of justice.

Mr McCabe could be an important witness, and his memos could be used by investigators as they look into whether Mr Trump sought to thwart the FBI probe.

Mr Comeys own memos have been turned over to Mr Mueller and are part of his investigation.

Mr McCabe, in a statement defending himself, asserted he was singled out by the administration because of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of Mr Comeys firing last May.

Mr McCabe became acting director after that and assumed direct oversight of the FBIs investigation into the Trump campaign.

He said the release of the findings against him was accelerated after he told congressional officials that he could corroborate Mr Comeys accounts of Mr Comeys conversations with the president.

Mr McCabe had been on leave from the FBI since January, when he abruptly left the deputy director position.

He had planned to retire on Sunday and the dismissal probably jeopardises his ability to collect his full pension benefits.

His removal could add to the turmoil that has enveloped the FBI since Mr Comeys dismissal and as the bureau moves ahead with an investigation the White House has dismissed as a hoax.

Mr McCabe spent more than 20 years as a career FBI official and played key roles in some of the most recent significant investigations.

But Mr Trump repeatedly condemned him over the past year as emblematic of an FBI leadership he contends is biased against his administration.

The firing arises from an inspector general review into how the FBI handled the Clinton email investigation.

That inquiry focused not only on specific decisions made by FBI leadership but also on news media leaks.

Mr McCabe came under scrutiny over an October 2016 news report that revealed differing approaches within the FBI and Justice Department over how aggressively the Clinton Foundation should be investigated.

The watchdog office has concluded that Mr McCabe authorised FBI officials to speak to a Wall Street Journal reporter for that story and that Mr McCabe had not been forthcoming with investigators.

Mr McCabe denies it.

Mr McCabe became entangled in presidential politics in 2016 when it was revealed that his wife, during her unsuccessful run for state senate in Virginia, received campaign contributions from the political action committee of then-governor Terry McAuliffe, a longtime Clinton friend.

The FBI has said Mr McCabe received the necessary ethics approval about his wifes candidacy and was not supervising the Clinton investigation at the time.A suicide car bomber targeting a British security company in the Afghan capital Kabul has killed two civilians and wounded three others, officials say.

Interior Ministry deputy spokesman Nasrat Rahimi confirmed the Saturday attack, which was claimed by the Taliban.

Expand Close (AP Photo/Massoud Hossaini) AP/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp (AP Photo/Massoud Hossaini)

An Afghan police officer said the attacker killed three civilians and wounded five more in the eastern part of the capital.

Jan Agha said the attacker targeted a foreign convoy, but was not successful. He said the attack took place as the convoy passed by the car bomber.

Expand Close (Massoud Hossaini/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp (Massoud Hossaini/AP)

Additional details were not immediately available.

Zabihullah Mujahid, Taliban spokesman, claimed responsibility for the attack in a text message, saying the target was foreign vehicles and the attack was successful.This is St Patrick's Day, and one hopes that people will celebrate wisely rather than too well. It is a sad irony that some of the greatest drunkenness and disorder from students takes place in what we call the "Holy Land" area of Belfast.

There is nothing holy about such self-indulgent behaviour, or about the blatantly sectarian way in which St Patrick has been hijacked by some die-hard republicans on the edges of the various parades.

St Patrick is the patron saint of Protestants as well, and hard-line republicans who use the Irish flag in the name of St Patrick ought to remember that. So much for Sinn Fein's hollow mantra about "respect."

St Patrick, that austere, godly and lovable fifth-century saint, would be distressed by the deep divisions in our society today, and he would be particularly saddened by the shadow which hangs over one major denomination of the Christian Church he established in Ireland so long ago.

He might also be distressed by the secularisation of society, but he would be most deeply hurt by the continued scandal of clerical child sex abuse in the Catholic Church.

This has surfaced again recently with the revelations of the evil and heinous abuse by the paedophile Newry priest Fr Malachy Finnegan on Church premises in the Dromore Diocese and in St Colman's College where he had been a teacher and, for 11 years, the President.

This scandal only became public recently after it emerged that the diocese had paid a six-figure sum in compensation to one of the abuse victims.

One bizarre aspect was that the tombstone of Fr Finnegan, who died in 2002, was removed from the graveyard under the cover of darkness. This reads like something out of a lurid Dracula novel rather than as disturbing and real facts of only a couple of months ago.

One of the more chilling aspects of the scandal is that Finnegan's appalling paedophilia was an open secret to many of Finnegan's adult contemporaries but no-one spoke out.

The former Bishop of Dromore Dr John McAreavey, who made significant errors of judgment in dealing with Fr Finnegan, has resigned, and rightly so.

Now the distressing situation has taken a significant twist with the intervention of the former Irish President Mary McAleese who revealed on RTE Radio this week that her youngest brother Clem Lenaghan had been "sadistically" physically abused by Father Finnegan when he was a pupil at St Colman's College.

This followed a letter by Mr Lenaghan to the Belfast Telegraph outlining his beatings and torment at the hands of Fr Finnegan.

In his strongly-worded letter he claimed that "something rotten was allowed to fester at the core of that school - I saw it every day."

He asked why Finnegan had been able to get away with this for so long "without other adults in the school, or the diocese, turning a blind eye, or actively protecting him".

Mrs McAleese stated that both the school and the Church had huge questions to answer. "Who knew what and when?" she asked.

She also observed that: "An independent inquiry is warranted." She is absolutely right.

Meanwhile' the Catholic Church authorities have issued the usual predictable statements emphasising that they are complying with the safeguarding measures now required by the law.

St Colman's College, which has emerged particularly badly from this episode, has said that it will co-operate fully with any investigation into Finnegan's behaviour.

However' the general public are asking why did the school and the diocese not act sooner in preventing this appalling abuse from continuing?

Once again these revelations have had to be dragged out of the Catholic authorities, instead of them uncovering the truth long ago. This casts a deep shadow over Catholicism and the college.

Worst of all' it is an insult to the memory of St Patrick who risked his life to bring Christianity to this island. Pope Francis, as Mary McAleese suggests, could do worse than visit Newry to make amends, during his visit here in August.

Somehow, I don't think this will happen.Moncks Corner, SC (29461)

Today

Isolated thunderstorms this morning, then mainly cloudy during the afternoon with thunderstorms likely. High 82F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Partly cloudy skies after midnight. Low 63F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.Bryce Waldons presence is unmistakable in the house where his wife is raising their newborn.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 17/3/2018 (1285 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Advertisement Advertise With Us

Bryce Waldons presence is unmistakable in the house where his wife is raising their newborn.

In the young baby girls nursery, a fluffy white teddy bear overlooks the room from the top of the shelf. Her fathers cremated remains are enclosed.

Etched on a photo frame hung above the bassinet her father assembled just for her is a message. "I have an angel watching over me," it reads. "I call him daddy."

On the same set of shelves is another teddy bear, made with the plaid shirt Waldon wore when he met his sweetheart, Caryn Edwards, and patches from the pair of jeans he donned most often.

There is the card Caryn gave Bryce last Fathers Day, announcing him a dad-to-be. He already knew, Caryn says now. He would have made a great dad.

Sophia Bryce Waldon, seven pounds, five ounces, was born Feb. 9 this year. She never got to meet the father shes named after, but will always know him.

Cradled in her mothers arms on Friday afternoon, the newborn went from flailing her arms to eyes closed. She wanted to rest.

"Youre going to be rocked to sleep in your dads chair," her mother said calmly; her eyes beaming as she smiled warmly at her daughter.

It has been a difficult few months for Caryn Waldon.

TIM SMITH/THE BRANDON SUN Sophia Bryce Waldon, sleeping at home, looks very much like her father did as a baby, seen in the photo held by Sophia.

On a sunny Saturday last December, her husband, Bryce Waldon, was building a home in Rapid City where he, a grain farmer, and she, an operating room nurse at Brandon Regional Health Centre, would start their family. He worked day and night ensuring it would be ready for their childs arrival this February. But those dreams ended when he fell off the roof.

He died at the age of 33.

Months later, Caryn, 30, is trying to adjust to her familys new normal, which has good and bad moments.

"Its hard, because he should be here with her," said Caryn, fighting back tears. "Hes missing out on her and shes missing out on him  but then she looks a lot like him," especially her eyes, forehead and their shared widows peak hairline.

She imagines Bryce holding his daughter and him rushing out of bed in the early hours to take care of her.

"Hed be the best dad in the world," Caryn said.

She wouldnt have made it without her and Bryces parents, who visit her daily at her Brandon home, and grandparents on both sides of the family. Her brothers and siblings-in-law dote on her, too.

And having her daughter helps so much.

"I have lots of moments where I miss Bryce and I cry, but she helps me get through the day."

Shes grateful, too, for the support of hundreds more people. She bought 400 thank-you cards and needed more.

TIM SMITH/THE BRANDON SUN Caryn Waldon holds her daughter Sophia Bryce Waldon in Sophias nursery at her home in Brandons south end. Caryns husband Bryce passed away while Caryn was pregnant with Sophia. The nursery is full of reminders of Bryce including photos, a book all about Bryce made by Caryn and a stuffed bear made out of some of his clothing.

"If it wasnt for all the calls, texts, messages, I dont know how I would have gotten by," she said, adding she received many cards and letters with memories about Bryce and tons of meals, too.

An online fundraiser raised $50,000 for the widowed mother, suddenly left with construction bills under one income. A trust fund for "Baby Waldon," as Sophia was first known, was established, collecting some $20,000. Money was also donated to the Rapid City Community Complex, of which Bryce was a big supporter.

The financial aid and regular contact from family and friends have been a big boost to her spirits.

She was preparing to sell her Brandon home to move to Rapid City, but now she doesnt know. The home remains under construction.

"Its hard going on the farm because I used to go there and see Bryce," she said.

Their story began when they met at the Barn Bar during the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair in Brandon in 2015. Some would say it was love at first sight. They were inseparable.

"Caryn taught Bryce to use a cellphone," she wrote on her wedding website, "and Bryce taught Caryn to clean!"

The couple was loved. Four hundred people attended their wedding and needed 250 more tickets for the dance, the latter function at the Keystone Centres MNP Hall  the same room where the couple met.

"Bryce was like handing out dance invitations the day before the wedding," Caryn said. "He kept forgetting people, (and saying) Oh, Id like them to come."

"He wanted to make it a fun time."

YOUCARING PHOTO Caryn Waldon is choosing to remember her husband Bryce, whom she married last April, through many mementos in their family home and the middle name she gave their daughter.

They were to build a large country house and joked of having eight kids. A picture of him babysitting seven children suggests hed be just fine with such a houseful.

"You could imagine that being all of his kids," Caryn said.

She loves to rave about his kindness and heart for others.

After his tragic death, Caryn chose to pull out photos from storage and hang them around their house.

She made a book with the many images of their nearly three-year love story. Hes dressed as Santa Claus for one Christmas photo, hes decked in jean overalls for a day of work and there are candids of their beloved farm dog.

Scattered among the mementos are screenshots of the poems hed write to her on text message, or emails he penned while she was away in the Philippines.

The book is written, specifically, for one reader: Sophia.

"I want everyone to know that I like talking about Bryce and will always talk about him," Caryn said.

Sophia, she said, "will know exactly who her father was."

 ifroese@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @ianfroeseBy Eamon Quinn

The Government continues to have reservations over proposals by the European Commission, which are likely to recommend next week levying a 3% tax on the sales of major online companies. However, the Government believes the debate over the plans will be long drawn out, say officials.

Experts have long warned that the digital tax proposals which are being driven particularly by French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, as well as by Germany are a significant threat to Irelands corporation tax regime which has been based on the principle of taxing company profits on the basis of where they have significant assets.

Those assets include intangible assets such as intellectual property rights. Ireland has instead put its faith in a process called base erosion and profit shifting, which led by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) seeks a consensus for global tax reform, and has strongly opposed the Commissions plan for interim measures such as a digital sales tax.

Government revenues increasingly rely on corporation tax receipts, which after rising rapidly in recent times contribute 8bn a year to the exchequer. Ireland has also facilitated the transfer of intellectual property rights by multinationals into Ireland. An OECD preliminary report published yesterday, called Tax Challenges Arising from Digitalisation, was welcomed by Government officials here.

However, the report may not increase by much the leverage of a band of small EU countries, which like Ireland, will likely push against the commissions digital tax. Le Maire also welcomed the OECD publication. The 210-page report says the digitalisation of the [global] economy is having a widespread impact.

Digitalised companies rely on intangible assets, including intellectual property, which the report says is key because where such intangible assets are based can have a material impact on where those business profits are subject to tax.By Breda Graham

The hair is still standing on our arms after this. Amazing.

As an Irish rugby fan, there's nothing better than hearing Ireland's Call echo around a stadium full of thousands of proud fans, until now.

Teachers and students of Scoil Iosagain in Buncrana, Co Donegal gathered both junior and senior students into the school hall for a sing-song ahead of Ireland's 6 Nations clash against England today at Twickenham.

The hall could not cater for all 760 children in the school, however, so outside they went to sing their hearts out!

The passion and spirit of the children as they sing at the top of their lungs fills us with pride and excitement for today's game.

*Disclaimer: Watching this video will result in goosebumps!

Music Therapist at the school, Louise Kelly, who can be seen playing the keyboard in these videos, said, "Donegal isnt really known for its rugby but for nine years now, the children all join together to sing not only Irelands Call, but Hail Glorious Saint Patrick and Amhran na Bhfiann.

"The whole idea is to keep a sense of community and identity alive. Every year it just gets better and better."

Louise works within the large special needs unit at Scoil Iosagain which caters for children with autism, learning disabilities and students who are wheelchair-bound. She also assists children with emotional, behavioural and mental health issues and describes her job as the "best job in the world."

Hats off to Louise for the important work that she does at Scoil Iosagain, and to all of the teachers and students who were involved in coming together to support our boys in green.

It really is true when they say we have the best supporters in the world. From both at home and abroad, the Irish will be together standing tall today.

Kick-off is at 2.45pm today at Twickenham.

Follow all the action from 2.30pm live on TV3 or on the 3player.By Breda Graham

We've seen some inventive ways of proposing but this tops them all for imagination alone.

Luis and Loriana who are both members of the Mexican community in Cork participated in today's parade in the city.

Luis stopped up during their walk down St Patrick's Street and proposed to Loriana during the parade.

Its a YES. Marriage proposal in the Mexican community @corkcitycouncil St Patricks Day Parade!!! Congrats  pic.twitter.com/IkgeA2KEGM  Paul Moynihan (@market1788) March 17, 2018

And she said YES!

Congratulations to both of them. They have the luck of the Irish on their side!Thousands of people are expected to turn out for Patrick's Day events all over the country today.

Traffic restrictions are in place on most parade routes and people are advised to plan their route before travelling.

Anyone travelling to the parade in Dublin is asked to leave their car at home, or outside the M50 ring road.

Traffic restrictions will be in place across the capital, as hundreds of thousands of viewers come into the city.

Superintendent Tom Murphy with the Traffic Division in Dublin, said: "Were asking people, if possible to use public transport.

"If you have to use your car, if you are outside the M50 cordon, we'd ask you to leave it outside that cordon, and if you must travel within the M50 we'd ask you to leave it on the southside and not to go any further than the canal, and on the northside, the north circular Road.

"To leave it outside the security there and take public transport to the parade."

The President Michael D Higgins will attend the Dublin Parade.A man has been arrested in connection with the murder of Joanne Lee in Dublin.

The 38-year-old's body was found in a wardrobe in an apartment complex in Ranelagh Road in February.Thousands of people are expected to turn out for St Patrick's Day events all over the country today - with events also taking place around the world.

More than 150 parades are taking place across Ireland.

Traffic restrictions are in place on most parade routes and people, are advised to plan their route before travelling.

President Michael D Higgins will attend the Dublin parade, which gets under way at noon.

The parade begins at Parnell Square, and will travel through the city before finishing up at Kevin Street.

Game Of Thrones star Liam Cunningham is Grand Marshall for the parade, and called it a 'huge honour'.

He observed: "I've been to the parade many times... 50 years ago when I was young and attractive, and my three kids have been up on my shoulders in hail, rain or snow.

"To be asked to do this... it's one of the most gratifying requests I've ever had. I'm delighted to be part of it."

Grand Marshall for the #StPatricksDay parade in Dublin Liam Cunningham describes the role as an 'extraordinary honour' pic.twitter.com/4kR1Sd3STM  Andrew Lowth (@AndrewLowth1) March 17, 2018

Star Wars actor Mark Hamill will be the inaugural international guest of honour at the parade, and will watch festivities from the Presidential stand.

Let me shout it from the rooftops: BEANNACHT DE LA FEILE PADRAIG!!! https://t.co/cSUJRBCfqW  Mark Hamill (Mar) (@HamillHimself) March 17, 2018

Parades are also taking place in cities, towns and villages across the country.

Tens of thousands are expected at the parades in Cork, Waterford and Galway, while smaller towns will also boast their own parade themes - in Sligo, for example, the focus will be on The Year of the Woman to mark the 100-year anniversary of womens right to vote.

However, those attending the parades are being warned of potentially cold weather - with Met Eireann having issued a status yellow snow-ice warning for the entire country, which comes into effect from midday.

Government ministers have travelled to different locations around the world to mark St Patrick's Day.

The Taoiseach is in New York City, where he will march in the annual Fifth Avenue parade.

Tourism Ireland, meanwhile, says around 290 iconic landmarks in 48 countries around the world will be illuminated in green over the weekend.

It comes as part of their annual Global Greening campaign to celebrate the island of Ireland and St Patrick.Unions are calling on the Government to waste no time restoring pay equality for new public service recruits.

According to a report from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform yesterday, it will cost 200m to get pay equalisation for the 60,000 public servants who have joined since 2011.Russia has expelled 23 British diplomats in a retaliatory move in the spy poisoning stand-off.

Russia's Foreign Ministry had today summoned the British ambassador for talks in the dispute over a nerve agent attack on a former spy in the UK.

A Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement said: "On March 17, Ambassador of Great Britain to Russia Laurie Bristow was summoned to the Foreign Ministry, where he was handed a note stating that in response to the provocative actions of the British side and groundless accusations against the Russian Federation with regard to the incident in Salisbury, UK on March 4, 2018, the Russian side has taken the following decisions in response.

"Twenty-three diplomatic staff of the UK Embassy in Moscow are declared persona non grata and are to be expelled from Russia within a week.

"Taking into account the disparity in the number of the two countries' consular missions, the Russian Federation recalls its agreement on the opening and operation of the Consulate General of the United Kingdom in St Petersburg.

"Respective procedures will be followed in accordance with international legal practice.

"Due to the unregulated status of the British Council in the Russian Federation, its activities are terminated.

"The British side is warned that in case of further unfriendly actions against Russia, the Russian side reserves the right to take further retaliatory measures."

Speaking in Moscow, British Ambassador Laurie Bristow said: "Russia today has informed me of steps that Russia will be taking."

The ambassador did not reveal what steps Moscow had taken.

He said the UK would "always do what is necessary to defend ourselves, our allies and our values against an attack of this sort".

British Prime Minister Theresa May earlier ordered 23 Russian diplomats expelled as part of measures to punish Russia over the March 4 poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the city of Salisbury.

Speaking at the Conservative Spring Forum, Theresa May said: "Today our ambassador in Moscow was informed by the Russian government of the action they are taking in response.

"In light of their previous behaviour we anticipated a response of this kind and we will consider our next steps in the coming days alongside our allies and partners.

"But Russia's response doesn't change the facts of the matter - the attempted assassination of two people on British soil for which there is no alternative conclusion other than that the Russian state was culpable.

"It is Russia that is in flagrant breach of international law and Chemical Weapons Convention.

"I repeat today that we have no disagreement with the Russian people. Many Russians have made this country their home and those who abide our laws and make a contribution to our society will always be welcome.

"But we will never tolerate a threat to the life of British citizens and others on British soil from the Russian government."

Mrs May continued: "We can be reassured by the strong support we have received from our friends and allies around the world.

"From the United States, Nato and the European Union. From our UN and Commonwealth partners. I'm grateful too for the strong support I've received from the first ministers of Scotland and Wales.

"And in the House of Commons this week we saw a consensus as member after member across all parties stood up to condemn Russia's actions and to support the position of Her Majesty's Government.

"Because this act of Russian aggression is the very antithesis of the liberal and democratic values that define the United Kingdom - the rule of law, freedom of speech, the toleration of dissenting and minority views, a free press, fair and democratic elections, a thriving civil society.

"These are the foundation stones of human freedom. They don't come about by accident and they're certainly not the default setting for any society.

"They take years of patient work to build up, they face constant threats and they must always be defined. They are the values which unite us as a country."

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of personally ordering the poisoning.

Mr Putin's spokesman denounced the claim.Margot Robbie discovered she had landed a major role in the next Quentin Tarantino movie from an article online.

Robbie will play the late actress Sharon Tate in the Pulp Fiction director's upcoming film Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, which also stars Robbie's Wolf of Wall Street co-star Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt.

"I only just got the offer two days ago, well I read about it online in fact," Robbie said in Sydney.

The Oscar-nominated actress is focused on her first animated role in the Peter Rabbit movie, and came home for the film's premiere in Sydney on Saturday.Believe it or not, that was in 1989.

Almost 30 years ago, he stood aside from Cold Chisel and released his first solo album, Matchbook, which featured the massive radio single Tuckers Daughter.

Now his own songs are emerging.

Ian Moss is one of Australias loveliest, most fluid guitarists with a gorgeous, soulful voice.

Ian Moss wrote the music to Tuckers Daughter and the hook Build me up, tear me down, but Cold Chisels piano man Don Walker wrote the song's story to suit Mosss guitar drive.

In Chisel, with four songwriters, Moss wrote Bow River, Never Before (on East) and No Good for You (on Circus Animals).

This month Ian Moss has released his first solo album of original songs, the self-titled Ian Moss, where has either written or co-written every song bar one.

The songwriting sessions for the material were done in Nashville with Sydneys Sam Hawksley who now lives in Nashville as part of seminal US folk-rock outfit, the Bo Deans.

He is nervous when he speaks with Fairfax Media, but as the drum and guitar intro of the slowly building first track If Another Day (Love Rewards Its Own) shows the polished growl that defined Cold Chisel, his confidence builds.SANDO

Series premiere 

Wednesday 9pm, ABC

In taking on the role of Victoria "Sando" Sandringham, the delusional, narcissistic owner of a discount furniture chain in Phil Lloyd's and Charlie Garber's six-part comedy, Sando, Sacha Horler faced the daunting prospect of paying homage to the woman for whom the part could have been written, and making it her own. Although Genevieve Morris stood down from the role in December, two weeks into filming, due to health concerns, her stamp is all over the project. The logo for Sando's Warehouse that beams from the gaudy commercials starring Sando herself bears an illustration of Morris' unmistakable grin. And although Horler doesn't impersonate Morris, there is an echo of her dear friend's signature twang in every line.

Sacha Horler is the titular character of the six-part comedy Sando. Credit:ABC

"To step into [Morris'] big shoes was daunting and the pressure of massive days and getting it shot was hard," says Horler. "But because we're mates, she very generously sent me emails and texts saying, 'Good on you, mate, love you lots', and I sent her messages saying, 'I hope you're well, I love you, I respect you'. Every time I talk to a journo I try not to have a little cry, because it's her role. But that's the absolute intersection of life and our industry and it happened and you have to get on with it. The good thing is that the show is funny."

After her career breakthrough in the 1998 film Praise, Horler has worked extensively in television (The Moodys, Offspring, The Letdown, Secret City) and film (The Dressmaker, and, most recently, Peter Rabbit). Yet Sando marks her first series lead. She won't watch the final edit until the rest of Australia does, because, "the public are our ultimate reviewers", but she is right that it is funny.WHAT IS ADHD?



8.30pm, SBS Viceland

There is much to learn about Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) through British political satirist Rory Bremner's quest to discover whether or not he has it. Meeting experts in the field, he subjects himself to a range of tests to see whether his racing mind, short attention span and impulsivity are more than simply annoying personality traits. We also meet two young people more severely afflicted.

Rory Bremner with Professor Katya Rubia in What is ADHD?

GREY'S ANATOMY

Double episode 

10pm, Seven

Corny as they sometimes are, it is hard to argue with this medico series' pathos-laden monologues about life, love and letting go, as they're always placed squarely in the context of an actual life-and-death scenario. Tonight, everyone's favourite stress head, chief of surgery Dr Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson), has a turn on the gurney. Cue flashbacks to her childhood.While the ALP is right to draw attention to the flaws inherent in the current dividend imputation system, its plan to abolish cash refunds to an estimated 1.2 million Australians has the potential to create more problems than it solves.

Labor, despite having been the first political party to call for the refunds back in 1998, now believes the payments are way too costly and weighted in favour of rich tax avoiders who are profiting at the public's expense.

It says it can save up to $5.6 billion a year by scrapping the refunds and has promised to redistribute that money as tax cuts for low and middle income earners.

The refunds, which make up about one sixth of the $30 billion-a-year cost of the dividend imputation scheme under which investors are compensated for the tax already paid on franked dividends, are paid to people with little or no taxable income.It's not unusual to find chefs rubbing shoulders with CEOs - but it would usually be in the front of a restaurant.

On Monday, they will don aprons side-by-side in the kitchen at Sydney's Royal Hall of Industries, to feed more than 1000 people in need as part of OzHarvest's CEO CookOff.

Pamela Jabbour, Rachel Argaman, Danielle Alvarez, Amanda Bardwell and Sue Horlin are taking part in the CEO CookOff. Credit:Louie Douvis

The event, in its eighth year, brings together top chefs and industry leaders to prepare a gourmet feast for clients of the food rescue charity, and aims to raise $2 million to feed others who are less fortunate around the country.

More than $1.68 million has already been raised for this year, which will feature business figures including Pamela Jabbour, the CEO of Total Image Group; Rachel Argaman, the CEO of TFE Hotels; Amanda Bardwell, managing director of Woolworths' digital arm WooliesX, and Sue Horlin, a partner at PwC.Detectives believe a man who was found dead on a residential patio on Saturday morning may have succumbed to injuries he suffered in a fight at a Gold Coast hotel.

Police confirmed three crime scenes had been declared in relation to the investigation - the house where the body was found, a hotel and a park where the fight was thought to have taken place overnight.

The Mudgeeraba house where the 21-year-old's body was found. Credit:Isabelle Mullen - Twitter

The body of 21-year-old Sam Leschke was found on the back patio of a Mudgeeraba house by his family just before 10am on Saturday.

Investigators cordoned off part of Soma Court and declared the area a crime scene after deciding the man's death was suspicious.A Perth pedestrian was rushed to hospital on Friday night after being struck by a car while crossing a road.

The incident happened in Bassendean just before 7:30pm on Railway Parade near First Avenue.

Witnesses are urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or to make a report online at www.crimestopperswa.com.au. Credit:The Age

Police said a Lexus sedan travelling south-west collided with a pedestrian that was crossing the road, heading towards Bassendean Train Station.Malcolm Turnbull is cementing a batik bromance with Indonesian President Joko Widodo that could help make the region safer for Australians and their neighbours.

A family dinner at the Prime Ministers harbourside home helped tighten the relationship on Friday night, ahead of a formal deal on Saturday to work more closely in the fight against terrorism.

Mr Turnbulls wife Lucy and Mr Jokos wife Iriana joined their husbands at the Point Piper mansion for a meal of spanner crab and roasted hiramasa kingfish. Dessert was a raspberry sorbet with seasonal fruit and a quinoa wafer.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull posted a photo of himself with his wife Lucy and the President of Indonesia Joko Widodo and his wife Iriana. Credit:Instagram

Views of Sydney harbour appear to be a key ingredient in Australias diplomatic offensive at a special summit with South East Asian leaders this weekend, with Mr Turnbull hosting dinner for all the leaders at Quay Restaurant above Circular Quay on Saturday night.A hung parliament leading to a new minority Liberal government in South Australia was the mild favourite among seasoned political observers on Saturday as the final votes were cast in one of the most unreadable elections in memory.

By campaign's end, an intriguing three-cornered electoral contest had become notable for something else as well, the sheer number of experienced pundits - including hardened party strategists - sitting on the fence.

While a redrawing of electoral boundaries since the 2014 election helped the opposition Liberal Party led by Steven Marshall, making it harder for Premier Jay Weatherill to pull off the already gargantuan task of stringing five Labor terms together, the combination of tight opinion polls and the unknown role of Nick Xenophon's SA Best grouping, had fed the uncertainty.

Liberals went into the race still smarting from 2014 where they secured 53 per cent of the vote but failed in the seats that counted.Mr Shorten said Saturday's win was just one step in Labor's campaign to take federal government, with a swipe at his opponent, Prime Minster Malcolm Turnbull, for not fielding a candidate in Batman. "We congratulate Alex Bhathal and the Greens political party because at least they turned up," Mr Shorten said. "Malcolm Turnbull couldn't even be bothered turning up."

Greens leader Richard Di Natale concedes defeat next to candidate Alex Bhathal. Credit:AAP The Greens conceded just before 9.30pm that they had probably lost the byelection. Leader Richard Di Natale, federal MP Adam Bandt and Ms Bhathal addressed a disappointed crowd. Dr Di Natale congratulated Ms Kearney and Labor for winning "a tough campaign". He said the vote had been neck and neck on primaries but preferences from right-wing parties had cost the Greens.

"It looks like we're just going to fall short," Dr Di Natale said. But he said the Greens also lost Melbourne in a close contest one election before ultimately winning the seat. Ms Bhathal said it had been a difficult campaign for her and her family, in an implicit acknowledgement of the toll internal and unproven bullying allegations had taken. Labor supporters celebrate. Credit:Luis Ascui She wished Ms Kearney well in Canberra, and said it had been noted by many that regardless of the outcome, Batman would have a strong, progressive woman representing the seat in parliament.

"I know that many of you will be hurting tonight, it was not the result we all wanted but ... we'll go on to fight other fights and keep standing up for what we believe in," Ms Bhathal said. "Of course we will because we're from Batman, the most progressive seat in the country." Ms Bhathal would not rule out running for Batman again at the next federal election. Mr Bandt said that Batman was still one of the most marginal seats in the country and within range for the Greens. "If it's not this time, we'll get ...in next time," he said.

Earlier, the Greens appeared confident of snatching a second lower house seat from Labor, while Mr Shorten conceded the party was in a tough fight to hold on. At a post-poll gathering in Preston, Mr Bandt warmed up the excited crowd, telling them he hoped it would be the last time he took to a stage as Australia's only federal lower-house Greens MP. Federal Greens MP Adam Bandt addresses supporters at the Greens election night party in Preston. Credit:AAP "Whatever the result, one thing is crystal clear," he said.

"The Greens are on the march everywhere, and never again will parties be able to go to an election thinking that if they beat up on refugees they will win, if they open a new coal mine they will win." With Greens support strongest in the gentrified southern part of the electorate at 2016's federal election, interest turned to whether Labor could hold off a swing in working-class suburbs such as Reservoir and Bundoora in the seat's north. Ged Kearney and Bill Shorten claiming victory in Batman. Credit:AAP Earlier, Labor blitzed voters with 10,000 robo-calls and 2400 texts on Saturday, urging senior citizens to get out and vote, following reports that some older people had received phone calls telling them they didn't have to vote.In December, Trump said in a tweet: "FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is racing the clock to retire with full benefits. 90 days to go?!!!" President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticised Attorney-General Jeff Sessions, right. Credit:AP In an interview, McCabe was blunt. "The idea that I was dishonest is just wrong," he said, adding, "This is part of an effort to discredit me as a witness." Lack of candour is a fireable offence at the FBI, but McCabe's last-minute dismissal was carried out against a highly politicised backdrop. McCabe was among the first at the FBI to scrutinise possible Trump campaign ties to Russia. And he is a potential witness to the question of whether Trump tried to obstruct justice. Trump has taunted McCabe both publicly and privately, and Republican allies have cast him as the centre of a "deep state" effort to undermine the Trump presidency.

As a witness, McCabe would be in a position to corroborate the testimony of the former FBI director James Comey, who kept contemporaneous notes on his conversations with Trump. Comey said Trump prodded him to publicly exonerate the President on the question of Russian collusion and encouraged him to shut down an investigation into his national security adviser. US Attorney-General Jeff Sessions. Credit:AP McCabe, a 21-year FBI veteran, was eligible for a government pension if he retired on Sunday. The firing jeopardises that benefit, although it was not immediately clear how much he might lose. "It's incredibly unfair to my reputation after a 21-year career," McCabe said. He said the President's public attacks were aimed at several targets. "The real damage is being done to the FBI, law enforcement and the special counsel," he said. McCabe was the FBI's second in command during one of the most tumultuous periods in the bureau's history. He oversaw investigations into both the Trump campaign and Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server  and he dealt with the fallout from both. He became the acting FBI director after the sudden firing of his boss, Comey, and he publicly contradicted the White House on national television over whether Comey had lost the support of rank-and-file FBI agents.

Since then, Trump has repeatedly singled him out for public attack, suggesting that he helped protect Clinton from prosecution during the 2016 presidential campaign. As evidence, he pointed to the fact that McCabe's wife, Jill, ran as a Democrat for a state Senate seat in Virginia and received hundreds of thousands of dollars from a political committee run by Terry McAuliffe, a longtime ally of the Clintons. As recently as Thursday, even as the White House said it was leaving McCabe's fate in Sessions' hands, officials there left little doubt where the President stood. "It is well documented that he has had some very troubling behaviour and by most accounts a bad actor," the White House Press Secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said. Jill McCabe lost the race, and Andrew McCabe was later promoted to deputy director, where he oversaw the investigation into Clinton. No charges were filed in that case, and Trump has pointed to the donations to Jill McCabe's campaign as evidence of FBI bias. The inspector general's report faults Andrew McCabe for his candor in interviews with internal investigators. The report has not been released, but people briefed on it say the allegations revolve around disclosures to The Wall Street Journal, which revealed in October 2016 a dispute between the FBI and the Justice Department over how to proceed in an investigation into the Clinton family's foundation. McCabe, working through the FBI press office, authorised a spokesman and a bureau lawyer to speak with The Journal to rebut allegations that McCabe had put the brakes on the Clinton Foundation investigation. To the contrary, the article ultimately noted, McCabe had insisted that his agents had the authority to investigate the foundation, even if the Justice Department refused to authorize grand jury subpoenas."The idea that all media would converge into digital media? I wouldnt have predicted that." In the early days, the internet was driven by blogs, says Lebkowsky, who runs Polycot Associates, a worker-owned web development cooperative. We believed that we would see competing perspectives on the same truth, and that readers would be able to read various versions and get a better sense of what was real, he says. Jon Lebkowsky, a long-time adviser to SXSW. Credit:Chris Zappone Then came social media. Then came the 2016 US presidential election. Then the growing awareness of the Russian influence campaign. And as Lebkowsky says: I think we knew to some extent that bad things could happen, but thats a really bad thing  and its probably worse than we would have thought about. Asked how he feels about the technology world today, hes blunt: I feel like s--- about it.

People are very dependent on technology and at the same time its very manipulable, Lebkowsky says. Its not simply Russian operatives, but corporations. Even the internet companies that are trying to be relatively reputable, they are certainly manipulating people to some extent. Lebkowsky stresses, however, that he believes the network remains a net positive. Were just in a particularly bad time facing both information chaos and political chaos. The sense of crisis afflicting the industry appeared to be seeping in at SXSW, too. The number of expert sessions on topics like disinformation and democracy and propaganda almost rivalled the sessions about artificial intelligence and blockchain. But for many people, tech business is business as usual. Showcases for all the major tech companies, nations and business packed the conventional hall. University student Seun Ibitoye, attending a SXSW start-up function, said: I think with the Russia thing its not affecting everyday people. Its the government so it doesnt have anything to do with me. Loading

Yet to varying degrees, social media companies realise they cant go on doing business as usual. YouTubes CEO announced at SXSW the company would counter the conspiracy theories so prevalent on the video-sharing site by adding information cues, factual context sourced from third parties. A week earlier, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced the company would try to chart the health of discussion on the platform, presumably to address trolling and malicious activity. But where the companies duty of care ends and the responsibility to investors begins remains to be determined. By whom  no one can say. The fundamental question is whether these platforms should be considered publishers in their own right or simply conduits of information. They became giants because they could set aside content considerations, thanks to a 1996 US law called Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. It states: "No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider." The Electronic Frontier Foundation  a digital rights advocacy group formed to defend cyberspace from government overreach  points out that Section 230 means platforms that host or re-publish speech are protected against a range of laws that might otherwise be used to hold them legally responsible for what others say and do. In the early days, this allowed start-up internet companies to grow without the fear of major lawsuits.

The freedom was largely assumed to be a good thing because it helped the sector. The election of US President Donald Trump changed this perception and prompted unsettling questions from beyond Silicon Valley about how the new technology can ensure truthful political discussion. On a weekly basis, more stories reveal how bots, trolls, and influence campaigns are seeded throughout social media platforms. They underscore how technology, in the wrong hands, can manipulate the political process. Just last month, when a former student massacred 17 people at a Florida high school, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones took to YouTube to falsely accuse student survivors of being "crisis actors". With no checks on social media for accuracy, this content can actually earn money for its producers. Should these social media companies still be largely free from responsibility over content, as they have been since they were start-ups? Democratic senator Mark Warner, another SXSW participant this year, thinks the topic is open for discussion. The notion platforms and companies cant find a responsible way to be aware of the content, is not true, he says. History has shown they can if they want to.

As the ranking Democrat on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Warner has called upon the social media companies to testify on how their platforms affect democracy, and issued sharp words for their "inadequate" responses. I think we need a full debate about responsibility, he told an audience at SXSW. Senator Mark Warner at the South by SouthWest conference in Austin. Credit:Bloomberg Warner, who has a background in technology, compares social media companies today to the auto industry in its early years. Although the first cars were on roads in the late 1800s, causing fatalities, it wasn't until the 1930s that US states began to require driver's education. As car makers grew more established, the public expectation that they made safe products grew as well. Asked if there would be willingness among Republicans and Democrats to consider the issue of social media platform's responsibility for content, Warner told Fairfax Media: If they fail to do so, they fail to do so at their own peril.

Whether the government would act on the issue, or the companies would take change upon themselves is still a key question. Matt Lembright, from cyber security start-up Enabld, said the honeymoon period of technology in the publics eye has ended. In terms of security, the internet was developed as a platform like a park instead of a bank", Lembright says. But now we realise all the other nefarious things the internet and social media can be used for". Still, he believes the problem will eventually self-correct. Lembright says people are only "now understanding the solutions that are out there. Its easy to forget that only three years after Twitters public launch in Austin in 2007, the Arab Spring occurred  enabled by social media  and rocked the Middle East. Now the West is deeply rattled by social media technology. No one foresaw the effects of the relative fair play of democracy having no protections online.The salary hike central government employees have been waiting for might shape in coming months. The Narendra Modi government is reportedly planning to increase the basic pay of low-level officials under the 7th Central Pay Commission. The move will include officials under pay matrix level 1 to 5. As of now, the minimum basic pay for central government employees as per the 7th Pay Commission is Rs 18,000.

The Modi government may reportedly revise the fitment factor to three from 2.57 times, as mentioned in the 7th Pay Commission. This will increase the present minimum basic pay of Rs 18,000 to Rs 21,000. Arun Jaitley's Finance Ministry might table the proposal before the Cabinet for consideration in the beginning of next financial year. The government is expected to take a call on pay hike beyond the recommendations of 7th Pay Commission sometime in April.

The last pay panel had recommended a fitment factor of 2.57 for increasing the basic pay of central government employees under the 7th Pay Commission. This took their minimum basic pay from Rs 7,000 to Rs 18,000, but the government officials have been demanding for more. The employee unions have been asking for minimum basic pay for central government employees to be increased to Rs 26,000 with a fitment factor of 3.68.

The National Anomaly Committee (NAC) has already clarified that a change in fitment factor to hike entry level pay for central government employees is not an anomaly.

Earlier this month, the Cabinet approved two per cent hike in Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) for central government employees. This decision led to 1.10 crore central government staff and pensioners receive 7 per cent of their basic pay as DA, instead of 5 per cent. The hike was put into retrospective effect from January 01, 2018.

The hike in Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief is expected to benefit 48.41 lakh central government employees and 61.17 lakh pensioners. This Cabinet approved the increase in DA and DR in accordance with the formula recommended by the 7th Central Pay Commission.

This hike in DA and DR together will put additional burden of Rs 6,077.72 crore on the state exchequer every year. This financial pressure will reach Rs 7,090.68 crore during the 14-month period between January 2018 and February 2019.

In June 2017, the Union Cabinet had approved 7th Pay Commission recommendations on allowance structure for central government employees with 34 modifications. The changes in allowances have put an additional burden of Rs 30,748 crore on the exchequer. The changes were put into effect from July 1, 2017.March 16, 2018 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada

The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today issued the following statement:

On the fourth anniversary of Russias illegal invasion and annexation of Crimea, Canada joins with the international community and continues to condemn this violation of Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Since Russias occupation of Crimea, we have witnessed severe human rights violationscommitted by state agents of Russia including the suppression of freedom of expression and association, arbitrary arrests, torture, detentions and disappearances. Canada will not recognize the illegitimate extension of Russia's presidential elections to annexed Ukrainian territory.

We call for the release of all political prisoners held by Russia, including Oleg Sentsov, a writer and a filmmaker, who for his outspoken criticism of Russias occupation is serving a politically driven sentence of 20 years in a maximum security penal colony.

In December 2017, I attended the 24th Ministerial Council of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, where I met with Pavlo Klimkin, Ukraines Foreign Minister, and Ilmi Umerov and Akhtem Chiygoz, Deputy Chairmen of the Mejlis of Crimean Tatars, to discuss what Canada can do to support more Crimean Tatars. Their stories of violence and persecution are heartbreaking.

Canada will continue to work closely with Crimean Tatar organisations to find concrete ways to raise awareness about the situation in Crimea and to promote and protect their human rights. Canada will continue to denounce the banning of the Mejlis, the self-governing body of an Indigenous people, and to call on Russia to reverse this illegal and immoral decision.

Today, to help reinforce Ukraines resilience, I am announcing $4.65 million to support training for the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF). This funding will provide equipment to support first aid and military police training to the UAF.



Canada is unreserved in its support for the people of Ukraine. We will continue to maintain pressure, including through economic sanctions, until Russia meets its obligations under international law and respects Ukraines sovereignty.

Associated links

Contacts

Adam Austen

Press Secretary

Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs

Adam.Austen@international.gc.ca

Media Relations Office

Global Affairs Canada

343-203-7700

media@international.gc.ca

Follow us on Twitter: @CanadaFP

Like us on Facebook: Canadas foreign policy - Global Affairs Canada

Photo: The Canadian Press

Montreal police are searching again this morning for a missing 10-year-old boy.

Ariel Jeffrey Kouakou was last seen on Monday, when he left his home in the city's Ahuntsic-Cartierville district for a friend's house.

Authorities say they still don't know exactly what happened to him, but his father has told reporters he's convinced his son was abducted.

A spokesman for the force says they are asking area residents to stay alert and are inviting anyone with information to contact them.

Police say the boy, who is French-speaking, is black, has black hair and black eyes and was wearing a black coat with a hood, grey pants and yellow shoes before he disappeared.Opening Prayer

ACT OF CONTRITION

The Stations of the Cross are a 14-step Catholic devotion that commemorates Jesus Christ's last day on Earth as a man. The 14 devotions, or stations, focus on specific events of His last day, beginning with His condemnation. The stations are commonly used as a mini pilgrimage as the individual moves from station to station. At each station, the individual recalls and meditates on a specific event from Christ's last day. Specific prayers are recited, then the individual moves to the next station until all 14 are complete.The Stations of the Cross are commonly found in churches as a series of 14 small icons or images. They can also appear in church yards arranged along paths. The stations are most commonly prayed during Lent on Wednesdays and Fridays, and especially on Good Friday, the day of the year upon which the events actually occurred. continue reading

O my God, my Redeemer, behold me here at Thy feet. From the bottom of my heart I am sorry for all my sins, because by them I have offended Thee, Who art infinitely good. I will die rather than offend thee again.We ask you, humbly, to help. Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you. Help Now >

Saint Feast Days in March

Copyright 2021 Catholic Online. All materials contained on this site, whether written, audible or visual are the exclusive property of Catholic Online and are protected under U.S. and International copyright laws,  Copyright 2021 Catholic Online. Any unauthorized use, without prior written consent of Catholic Online is strictly forbidden and prohibited.

Catholic Online is a Project of Your Catholic Voice Foundation, a Not-for-Profit Corporation. Your Catholic Voice Foundation has been granted a recognition of tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Federal Tax Identification Number: 81-0596847. Your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law.AIDS care-givers AIDS care-givers

Aloysius Gonzaga

Abandoned children Abandoned children

Ivo of Kermartin, Jerome Emiliani

Abbeville, France Abbeville, France

Wulfram of Sens

Abdominal pains Abdominal pains

Erasmus (Elmo)

Abingdon, England Abingdon, England

Edmund Rich of Abingdon

Abortion, protection against Abortion, protection against

Catherine of Sweden

Abruzzi region of Italy Abruzzi region of Italy

Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows

Academies, Roman Catholic Academies, Roman Catholic

Thomas Aquinas

Acadians, Cajuns Acadians, Cajuns

Our Lady of the Assumption

Accountants Accountants

Matthew

Accused (falsely) Accused (falsely)

Raymond Nonnatus

Achaia Achaia

Andrew, Apostle

Actors Actors

Genesius, Vitus

Advertisers, advertising Advertisers, advertising

Bernardine of Siena

Advocates Advocates

Ivo of Kermartin

Africa, Central Africa, Central

The Most Pure Heart of Mary

Africa, North Africa, North

Cyprian of Carthage

Africa, Southern Africa, Southern

Mary, on feast of her Assumption

African Catholic Youth Action African Catholic Youth Action

Charles Lwanga

Against Mice, protection against Against Mice, protection against

Gertrude, Servatus, Ulric

Agirone, Sicily Agirone, Sicily

Philip of Agirone

Air crew Air crew

Our Lady of Loreto

Air crew, Belgian Air crew, Belgian

Our Lady of Loreto

Air crew, French Air crew, French

Mary, on feast of her Assumption

Air crew, Spanish Air crew, Spanish

Our Lady of Loreto

Air force, Argentinian Air force, Argentinian

Our Lady of Loreto

Air travelers Air travelers

Joseph of Cupertino

Airborne (Paratroopers) Airborne (Paratroopers)

Michael the Archangel

Alabama USA Alabama USA

Our Lady of the Gulf

Alaska USA Alaska USA

Our Lady of the Kodiak and the Islands

Albania Albania

Mary, Mother of Good Counsel

Albi, France Albi, France

Cecilia

Alcala, Spain Alcala, Spain

Justus and Pastor

Alcira, Valencia, Spain Alcira, Valencia, Spain

Bernard, Gracia, Mary

Alessandro, Italy Alessandro, Italy

Trifone

Alexandria, Egypt Alexandria, Egypt

Cyril of Alexandria

Alexians Alexians

Alexius

Alezio, Italy Alezio, Italy

Our Lady of the Assumption

Algeria Algeria

Cyprian of Carthage

Alpine troops Alpine troops

Maurice

Altar servers Altar servers

John Berchmans

Amalfi, Italy Amalfi, Italy

Andrew, Apostle

Ambassadors, Argentinian Ambassadors, Argentinian

Gabriel the Archangel

American Indians, Native Americans American Indians, Native Americans

Anthony of Padua

Ammunition/Ordnance /explosive workers Ammunition/Ordnance /explosive workers

Erasmus (Elmo)

Ancona, Italy Ancona, Italy

Judas Cyriacus

Andalusia Andalusia

John of Avila

Anderlecht, Belgium Anderlecht, Belgium

Guy of Anderlecht

Andorran security forces Andorran security forces

Our Lady Help of Christians

Anesthetists Anesthetists

Rene Goupil

Angola Angola

The Most Pure Heart of Mary

Animals, danger from Animals, danger from

Vitus

Animals, domestic Animals, domestic

Antony the Abbot

Antioch Antioch

Barnabas

Antwerp, Belgium Antwerp, Belgium

Walburga

Aosta, Italy Aosta, Italy

Gratus of Aosta

Apoplexy (Strokes) Apoplexy (Strokes)

Andrew Avellino

Apostleship of Prayer Apostleship of Prayer

Francis Xavier

Apothecaries Apothecaries

Cosmas and Damian

Apprentices Apprentices

John Bosco

Aquila, Italy Aquila, Italy

Maximus of Aquila

Arabia Arabia

Our Lady of Arabia

Aragon, Spain Aragon, Spain

Agathoclia, Braulio, George

Archaeologists Archaeologists

Damasus

Archdiocese of Saint Louis, Missouri, USA Archdiocese of Saint Louis, Missouri, USA

Louis IX

Archdiocese of San Francisco, California, USA Archdiocese of San Francisco, California, USA

Francis of Assisi

Archdiocese of Tuam, Ireland Archdiocese of Tuam, Ireland

Jarlath

Archers Archers

Sebastian

Architects, Italian Architects, Italian

Benedict, Abbot

Architects, Spanish Architects, Spanish

Our Lady of Bethlehem

Argentina Argentina

Our Lady of Lujan

Argentinian military chaplains Argentinian military chaplains

Our Lady of Lujan

Arizona Arizona

Our Lady of the Highways

Arkansas Arkansas

Our Lady of the Holy Souls

Armenia Armenia

Bartholomew, Gregory the Illuminator

Armies Armies

Maurice

Arms dealers Arms dealers

Adrian of Nicomedia

Army of the Andes Army of the Andes

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

Army, Argentinian Army, Argentinian

Our Lady of Mercy

Army, Ecuadorian Army, Ecuadorian

Our Lady of Mercy

Art Art

Catherine of Bologna

Artillery Artillery

Barbara

Artists Artists

Luke, Catherine of Bologna, Bl (Fra) Angelico

Artois region Artois region

Isberga

Ascoli Piceno, Italy Ascoli Piceno, Italy

Emidius

Asia Minor Asia Minor

John the Apostle

Assisi, Italy Assisi, Italy

Francis of Assisi

Astronauts Astronauts

Joseph of Cupertino

Astronomers Astronomers

Dominic

Asylums (for the mentally ill) Asylums (for the mentally ill)

Dymphna

Athletes Athletes

Sebastian

Augsburg Augsburg

Afra, Ulric

Australia Australia

Our Lady Help of Christians

Australian military chaplains Australian military chaplains

Our Lady Help of Christians

Austria Austria

Joseph, Maurice, Coloman, Leopold, Florian

Authority, persons in Authority, persons in

Ferdinand III of Castile

Authors Authors

Francis de Sales

Avenay, Champagne, France Avenay, Champagne, France

Tressan of Mareuil

Aviators, aviation Aviators, aviation

Our Lady of Loreto, Therese of Lisieux, Joseph of Cupertino

Avignon Avignon

Agricola of Avignon, Benezet

Aynac, France Aynac, France

Genistus

Bad Weather, protection against Bad Weather, protection against

Eurosia, Medard

Bakers Bakers

Elizabeth of Hungary, Nicholas of Myra, Honoratus

Bankers Bankers

Matthew, Bernardino of Feltre

Banking Banking

Michael the Archangel

Barcelona, Spain Barcelona, Spain

Our Lady of Mercy

Bari, Italy Bari, Italy

Nicholas, Sabinus

Barra, Scotland Barra, Scotland

Finbar

Barrel makers Barrel makers

Abdon and Sennen

Barren women Barren women

Anthony of Padua, Felicity

Basket makers Basket makers

Antony the Abbot

Battle Battle

Michael the Archangel

Battle, protection against Battle, protection against

Florian

Bavaria Bavaria

Hedwig, Killian

Bee Keepers Bee Keepers

Ambrose

Begerin, Ireland Begerin, Ireland

Ibar

Belgium Belgium

Joseph

Bellmakers Bellmakers

Agatha

Benedictine oblates Benedictine oblates

Henry the Emperor

Benevento, Italy Benevento, Italy

Arthelais, Barbatus of Benevento

Bergamo, Italy Bergamo, Italy

Alexander of Bergamo

Bergen, Norway Bergen, Norway

Sunniva

Bible scholars Bible scholars

Jerome

Birds Birds

Gall

Birth Complications, protection against Birth Complications, protection against

Ulric

Bishops of Latin America Bishops of Latin America

Turibius

Blight, protection against Blight, protection against

Urban of Langres

Blood banks Blood banks

Januarius

Blood donors Blood donors

Our Lady of the Thorns

Bodily ills Bodily ills

Our Lady of Lourdes

Bolivia Bolivia

Francis Solano, Our Lady of Capucdana (Virgin de la Candelaria), Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Virgin de la Candelaria, Virgin of Copacabana, La Virgen de Copacabana (Virgin of Copacabana)

Bolivian navy Bolivian navy

Our Lady of Charity

Bologna, Italy Bologna, Italy

Petronius

Bombay, India Bombay, India

Gundisalvus Garcia

Book trade Book trade

John of God

Bookbinders Bookbinders

Celestine V (pope), John of God

Bookkeepers Bookkeepers

Matthew

Bordeaux, France Bordeaux, France

Simon Stock

Borneo Borneo

Francis Xavier

Boston, Massachusetts, USA Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Botulph

Boy Scouts Boy Scouts

George

Boys, young Boys, young

Dominic Savio

Brazil Brazil

Nossa senhora de Aparecida, Peter of Alcantara

Brescia, Italy Brescia, Italy

Faustinus

Bricklayers Bricklayers

Stephen

Brides Brides

Nicholas of Myra

Bridges Bridges

John Nepomucene

Brigands (danger from) Brigands (danger from)

Leonard of Noblac

Brittany Brittany

Ivo of Kermartin

Broadcasters Broadcasters

Gabriel the Archangel

Bruises and Bruising, protection against Bruises and Bruising, protection against

Amalburga

Brussels Brussels

Michael the Archangel

Building trade Building trade

Stephen

Bulgaria Bulgaria

Cyril and Methodius

Burgos, Spain Burgos, Spain

Adelelmus

Bursars Bursars

Joseph

Business people Business people

Homobonus

Businesswomen Businesswomen

Margaret of Clitherow

Button makers Button makers

Louis

Byzantine Eparchy of Van Nuys, Arizona, USA Byzantine Eparchy of Van Nuys, Arizona, USA

Holy Protection of the Mother of God

Cab drivers Cab drivers

Joseph, Fiacre

Cagliari, Italy Cagliari, Italy

Saturninus of Cagliari

Cake makers Cake makers

Honoratus

California California

Our Lady of the Wayside

Caltanissett, Sicily Caltanissett, Sicily

Michael the Archangel

Cambridge University Cambridge University

Etheldreda

Canada Canada

Anne (Mother of Mary), Joseph, The martyrs of North America

Cancer Patients Cancer Patients

Michael Argemir

Cancer victims Cancer victims

Peregrine Laziosi

Candelada Candelada

Bernard of Valdeiglesias

Canonists, canon lawyers Canonists, canon lawyers

Raymond of Pennafort, Robert Bellarmine, Ivo of Kermartin

Canons Regular of the Order of the Holy Cross; Crosier Fathers; Crosier Order Canons Regular of the Order of the Holy Cross; Crosier Fathers; Crosier Order

Odilia

Capuchin-Franciscan Province of Mid-America Capuchin-Franciscan Province of Mid-America

Conrad of Parzham

Carmelite schools Carmelite schools

Albert of Sicily

Cartagena, Spain Cartagena, Spain

Modestus

Cashel, Ireland Cashel, Ireland

Albert of Cashel

Castelabbate Italy Castelabbate Italy

Constabilis of Cava

Catalonia Catalonia

George

Catania Catania

Agatha

Caterpillars, protection against Caterpillars, protection against

Magnus of Fussen

Catholic Action (in Italy) Catholic Action (in Italy)

Paul, Apostle, Gabriel Possenti

Catholic Writers Catholic Writers

Francis de Sales

Catholic Youth Catholic Youth

Aloysius Gonzaga

Catholic schools, Catholic academies Catholic schools, Catholic academies

Thomas Aquinas, Ursula

Cattaro, Dalmatia Cattaro, Dalmatia

Trifone

Cattle breeders Cattle breeders

Mark

Cavalry Cavalry

Martin of Tours

Cavalry, Italian Cavalry, Italian

George

Cebu, Philippines Cebu, Philippines

El Nino

Cemetery keepers, or caretakers Cemetery keepers, or caretakers

Joseph of Arimathea

Central Africa Central Africa

Therese of Lisieux

Central America Central America

Our Lady of Loreto, Rose of Lima

Central and South America Central and South America

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Rose of Lima

Chaplains, military Chaplains, military

John of Capistrano

Chaplains, military, Argentinian Chaplains, military, Argentinian

Our Lady of Lujan

Chaplains, military, Australian Chaplains, military, Australian

Our Lady Help of Christians

Chaplains, military, Belgian Chaplains, military, Belgian

Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces

Chaplains, military, Philippine Chaplains, military, Philippine

Immaculate Conception of Mary

Chaplains, military, Spanish Chaplains, military, Spanish

Immaculate Conception of Mary

Charcoal-burners Charcoal-burners

Alexander the charcoal-burner

Charitable societies Charitable societies

Vincent de Paul

Chemists (pharmacists) Chemists (pharmacists)

Cosmas and Damian

Chilblain Chilblain

Basilissa

Chilblains, protection against Chilblains, protection against

Basilissa, Genesius of Arles

Childless women Childless women

Anne (Mother of Mary)

Children Children

Nicholas of Myra, Raymond Nonnatus, Nicholas of Tolentino

Children of Mary Children of Mary

Agnes, Maria Goretti

Children, desire for Children, desire for

Rita of Cascia

Children, illegitimate Children, illegitimate

John Francis Regis

Chile Chile

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, James the Greater

Chilean army Chilean army

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

Chilean navy Chilean navy

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

China China

Mary, Queen of China

Choirboys, choirs Choirboys, choirs

Dominic Savio

Cholera Cholera

Roch

Christian Mothers Christian Mothers

Anne (Mother of Mary)

Church Church

Joseph

Church in North Africa Church in North Africa

Ignatius of Antioch

Church in the eastern Mediterranean Church in the eastern Mediterranean

Ignatius of Antioch

Cingoli, Italy Cingoli, Italy

Sperandea

Cistercian Order Cistercian Order

Our Lady of the Assumption

Civil Servants Civil Servants

Thomas More

Clergy Clergy

Gabriel Possenti

Clergy, Diocesan Clergy, Diocesan

John of Avila

Clergy, Parochial Clergy, Parochial

John Vianney

Clerics Clerics

Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows

Clermont (formerly Averna), France Clermont (formerly Averna), France

Illidius

Clothworkers Clothworkers

Homobonus

Cloyne, Ireland Cloyne, Ireland

Colman of Cloyne

Cobblers Cobblers

Crispin and Crispinian

Coin collectors Coin collectors

Eligius (Eloi)

Cold or Cold Weather, protection against Cold or Cold Weather, protection against

Maurus, Sebaldus

Colegio Capranica Seminary of Rome Colegio Capranica Seminary of Rome

Agnes of Rome

Colic Colic

Erasmus (Elmo)

Colleges Colleges

Thomas Aquinas

Colombia Colombia

Peter Claver, Louis Betrand, Our Lady of Chiquinquira

Colorado Colorado

Immaculate Mary, Francis of Assisi

Comedians Comedians

Vitus

Commissariat, French Army Commissariat, French Army

Ambrose

Commissariat, Spanish military Commissariat, Spanish military

Teresa of Avila

Communication Workers Communication Workers

Gabriel the Archangel

Communism, opposition to Communism, opposition to

Joseph

Condemned criminals Condemned criminals

Dismas

Congo; Zaire; Belgian Congo Congo; Zaire; Belgian Congo

Immaculate Conception of Mary, Our Lady, Queen of Nations

Connecticut Connecticut

Notre Dame of Easton

Construction workers Construction workers

Thomas, Apostle

Contagious diseases Contagious diseases

Robert Bellarmine, Sebastian

Conze (Conza), Italy Conze (Conza), Italy

Herbert Hoscam

Cooks Cooks

Martha

Coopers Coopers

Abdon and Sennen

Cordoba, Spain Cordoba, Spain

Acisclus, Victoria

Corfu (Kerkira) Island, Greece Corfu (Kerkira) Island, Greece

Arsenius of Corfu, Spyridon

Cork, Ireland Cork, Ireland

Finbar

Corleone, Sicily Corleone, Sicily

Leolucas

Corsica Corsica

Alexander Sauli, Devota, Julia of Corsica, Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception

Costa Rica Costa Rica

Our Lady of the Angels, Our Lady of the Assumption

Council of Vatican II Council of Vatican II

Joseph

Court Clerks Court Clerks

Thomas More

Craftsmen and women Craftsmen and women

Dymphna

Craftworkers Craftworkers

Luke

Cremona, Italy Cremona, Italy

Himerius

Crete Crete

Titus

Croatia Croatia

Joseph

Crops, protection of Crops, protection of

Magnus of Fussen

Cuba Cuba

La Virgen de la Caridad (Our Lady of Charity), Virgin de Regla

Cuby, Cornwall Cuby, Cornwall

Cybi

Cursillo movement Cursillo movement

Paul, Apostle

Customs officers Customs officers

Matthew

Cutlers Cutlers

Lucy

Cyprus Cyprus

Barnabas, Apostle

Dairy workers Dairy workers

Bridgid of Ireland

Dalmatia Dalmatia

Blaise

Dancers Dancers

Vitus

Deacons Deacons

Stephen

Deaf Deaf

Francis de Sales

Death by Artillery, protection against Death by Artillery, protection against

Barbara

Death, happy Death, happy

Joseph of Cupertino

Death, sudden Death, sudden

Andrew Avellino

Degree candidates Degree candidates

Joseph of Cupertino

Delaware, USA Delaware, USA

Our Lady of Mercy

Denmark Denmark

Anskar

Dentists Dentists

Apollonia

Desperate situations Desperate situations

Jude, Gregory the Wonderworker, Rita of Cascia, Eustace

Detraction Detraction

John Nepomucene

Devil, protection against Devil, protection against

Dionysius the Aeropagite

Diabolical possession Diabolical possession

Cyriacus, Dymphna

Difficult situations Difficult situations

Eustace

Digne, France Digne, France

Vincent of Digne

Dijon Dijon

Benignus of Dijon, Urban of Langres

Diocesan priests Diocesan priests

John of Avila

Diplomatic services Diplomatic services

Gabriel the Archangel

Disabled Disabled

Giles

Disasters Disasters

Genevieve (Genofeva)

Diseased Cattle, protection against Diseased Cattle, protection against

Beuno, Erhard of Regensburg, Roch, Sebastian

Diseases of the eye Diseases of the eye

Raphael the Archangel, Lucy

Diseases, contagious Diseases, contagious

Roch, Sebastian

Diseases, nervous Diseases, nervous

Dymphna

Dizziness or Vertigo, protection against Dizziness or Vertigo, protection against

Ulric

Domestic animals Domestic animals

Antony the Abbot, Gerlac of Valkenburg

Domestic workers Domestic workers

Zita

Dominican Republic Dominican Republic

Our Lady of Mercy

Doubters Doubters

Joseph

Draguignan, France Draguignan, France

Rosalina of Villeneuve

Drought Drought

Genevieve (Genofeva)

Drought relief Drought relief

Herbert, Godeberta, Solange

Drowning, death or danger from Drowning, death or danger from

Adjutor

Druggists (pharmacists) Druggists (pharmacists)

Cosmas and Damian

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik

Blaise

Durham, England Durham, England

Cuthbert

Dyers Dyers

Maurice

Earaches, protection against Earaches, protection against

Cornelius, Polycarp of Smyrna

Earthquakes Earthquakes

Emygdius, Francis Borgia, Gregory the Wonderworker

East Indies East Indies

Francis Xavier, Thomas, Apostle

East Renfrewshire, Scotland East Renfrewshire, Scotland

Conval

Ecologists, ecology Ecologists, ecology

Francis of Assisi

Ecuador Ecuador

Sacred Heart, Mary, The Most Pure Heart of Mary

Ecuadorian army Ecuadorian army

Our Lady of Mercy

Eczema Eczema

Antony the Abbot

Edinburgh, Scotland Edinburgh, Scotland

Giles

Education, public Education, public

Martin de Porres

Egypt Egypt

Mark

Einsiedeln, Switzerland Einsiedeln, Switzerland

Meinrad

El Salvador El Salvador

Our Lady of Peace

Eloquence, sacred Eloquence, sacred

John Chrysostom

Embroiderers Embroiderers

Clare, Parasceva

Emigrants Emigrants

Frances Xavier Cabrini

Enemy Plots, protection against Enemy Plots, protection against

Drausinus

Engineers, Italian Engineers, Italian

Benedict, Abbot

Engineers, Spanish army Engineers, Spanish army

Ferdinand III of Castile

Engineers, military, Italian Engineers, military, Italian

Barbara

English Benedictines English Benedictines

Benedict Biscop

Epidemics Epidemics

Godeberta

Epilepsy Epilepsy

Dymphna, Vitus, Willibrord

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea

Immaculate Conception of Mary

Ergotism, aka Saint Antony's fire, protection against Ergotism, aka Saint Antony's fire, protection against

Antony the Abbot

Eruptions of Mount Etna, protection against Eruptions of Mount Etna, protection against

Agatha

Estremadura, Spain Estremadura, Spain

Peter of Alcantara, Virgin of Guadalupe

Ethiopia Ethiopia

Frumentius

Eucharist, The Eucharist, The

Paschal Baylon

Eucharistic Guilds Eucharistic Guilds

Paschal Baylon

Eucharistic congresses and organizations Eucharistic congresses and organizations

Paschal Baylon

Europe Europe

Benedict, Abbot, Cyril and Methodius

Evil Spirits, protection against Evil Spirits, protection against

Agrippina, Quirinus

Examination candidates Examination candidates

Joseph of Cupertino

Exegetes, scriptural Exegetes, scriptural

Jerome

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College, Oxford

Blessed Virgin Mary, Peter the Apostle, Thomas of Canterbury

Expectant Mothers Expectant Mothers

Gerard Majella, Raymond Nonnatus

Faculties of law Faculties of law

Raymond of Pennafort

Fahan, Ireland Fahan, Ireland

Mura McFeredach

Falling Falling

Venantius

Falsely accused Falsely accused

Raymond Nonnatus

Famine, protection against Famine, protection against

Walburga

Farm labourers (Spain, Canada, Mexico) Farm labourers (Spain, Canada, Mexico)

Isidore the Farmer

Farm workers Farm workers

Benedict, Abbot

Farmers Farmers

Isidore the Farmer

Farmers, Italian Farmers, Italian

Benedict, Abbot

Fathers Fathers

Joseph

Ferrara, Italy Ferrara, Italy

George

Fervent First Communion Fervent First Communion

Bl Imelda

Fever Fever

Genevieve (Genofeva)

Finland Finland

Henry of Finland

Fire fighters Fire fighters

Florian, John of God

Fire prevention Fire prevention

Catherine of Siena, Agatha

Firemen (Italian) Firemen (Italian)

Barbara

First Communicants First Communicants

Tarcisius

Fliers Fliers

Our Lady of Loreto

Flight attendants Flight attendants

Bona

Flight crew Flight crew

Our Lady of Loreto

Flood Flood

Gregory the Wonderworker, Florian

Florentine cheese merchants Florentine cheese merchants

Bartholomew the Apostle

Florentine salt merchants Florentine salt merchants

Bartholomew the Apostle

Florida Florida

Our Lady of La Leche

Florists, flower growers Florists, flower growers

Therese of Lisieux, Rose of Lima, Bl. Rose of Viterbo

Flying Flying

Joseph of Cupertino, Elijah

Flying, all involved in Flying, all involved in

Our Lady of Loreto

Foresters Foresters

John Gualbert

Forli, Italy Forli, Italy

James Salomone

Fosses, Belgium Fosses, Belgium

Foillan

Foundlings Foundlings

Holy Innocents

Fragalata, Sicily Fragalata, Sicily

Calogerus, Demetrius, Gregory

Franciscan Lay Franciscan Lay

Didacus

Franciscan laity Franciscan laity

Didacus

Franciscan tertiaries Franciscan tertiaries

Louis

French Commissariat French Commissariat

Ambrose of Milan

French monarchs French monarchs

Louis IX

Frenzy, protection against Frenzy, protection against

Denis, Peter the Apostle, Ulric

Frost, protection against Frost, protection against

Urban of Langres

Funeral directors Funeral directors

Joseph of Arimathea

Gap Gap

Arnulph

Garage, or gas station, workers Garage, or gas station, workers

Eligius (Eloi)

Garment workers Garment workers

Homobonus

Gas station workers Gas station workers

Eligius (Eloi)

Geese Geese

Martin of Tours

Georgia, USA Georgia, USA

Immaculate Heart of Mary

Georgia, former USSR Georgia, former USSR

George, Nino

Ghent, Belgium Ghent, Belgium

Amalburga, Bavo, Macarius of Antioch, Pharaildis

Gibraltar Gibraltar

Bernard of Clairvaux

Girl Scouts Girl Scouts

Agnes of Rome

Girls Girls

Agnes, Maria Goretti

Glasgow, Scotland Glasgow, Scotland

Kentigern

Glassworkers Glassworkers

Luke

Glaziers Glaziers

Lucy

Glendalough, Ireland Glendalough, Ireland

Kevin

Goa, India Goa, India

Francis Xavier

Golden-Tounges orator Golden-Tounges orator

Peter Chrysologus

Goldsmiths Goldsmiths

Dunstan, Anastasius, Eligius (Eloi)

Governors Governors

Ferdinand III of Castile

Gozo Gozo

George

Gravediggers Gravediggers

Antony the Abbot, Joseph of Arimathea

Greece Greece

Paul, Apostle

Greece Greece

Andrew, Apostle, George, Nicholas of Myra

Greek Catholic Church in America Greek Catholic Church in America

Nicholas of Tolentino

Greek Catholic Union Greek Catholic Union

Nicholas of Myra

Greetings Greetings

Valentine

Grocers Grocers

Michael the Archangel

Gronigen, Nederlands Gronigen, Nederlands

Walburga

Guatemala Guatemala

James the Greater

Gunners Gunners

Barbara

Haarlem, Nederlands Haarlem, Nederlands

Bavo

Haemorrhage Haemorrhage

Lucy

Haemorrhoid sufferers Haemorrhoid sufferers

Fiacre

Hail Hail

Magnus of Fussen

Hainault, Belgium Hainault, Belgium

Waltude

Haiti Haiti

Our Lady of Perpetual Help

Hanging; Hanged People, protection against Hanging; Hanged People, protection against

Colman of Stockerau

Hawaii, USA Hawaii, USA

Mary, Queen of Peace

Headaches Headaches

Teresa of Avila, Denis, Bishop of Paris

Health inspectors Health inspectors

Raphael the Archangel

Health service, public Health service, public

Martin de Porres

Heart patients Heart patients

John of God

Hernia sufferers Hernia sufferers

Cathal

Hesitation, protection against Hesitation, protection against

Joseph

High command, Spanish High command, Spanish

Immaculate Conception of Mary

Highways, motorways Highways, motorways

John the Baptist

Hirnant, Powys, Wales Hirnant, Powys, Wales

Ellidius

Hoarseness Hoarseness

Bernardine of Siena

Hoarseness, protection against Hoarseness, protection against

Bernardine of Siena, Maurus

Holland Holland

Willibrord

Holland, the Nederlands, the Netherlands Holland, the Nederlands, the Netherlands

Bavo, Plechelm, Willibrord

Holy Name Society; Confraternity of the Most Holy Name of God and Jesus Holy Name Society; Confraternity of the Most Holy Name of God and Jesus

John of Vercelli

Honduras Honduras

Our Lady of Suyapa, Our Lady of Suyapa

Hopeless (or desperate) cases Hopeless (or desperate) cases

Jude, Rita of Cascia, Gregory the Wonderworker

Horses Horses

Eligius (Eloi), Martin of Tours, Hippolytus

Horticulturalists Horticulturalists

Adam, Fiacre

Hoteliers Hoteliers

Gentian

Hoteliers (Italian) Hoteliers (Italian)

Martha

Hotelkeepers Hotelkeepers

Amand

House hunting House hunting

Joseph

Housewives Housewives

Anne (Mother of Mary), Martha

Hungary Hungary

Stephen, Mary, Great Queen of Hungary

Hunters Hunters

Hubert, Eustachius

Hydrophobia, or rabies Hydrophobia, or rabies

Hubert, Ubald

Iceland Iceland

Anskar, Thorlac

Iceland Iceland

St. Thorlac Thorhallsson

Idaho Idaho

Our Lady of Limerick

Illinois Illinois

Our Lady of the Universe

Illness (mental) Illness (mental)

Dymphna

Immigrants Immigrants

Frances Xavier Cabrini

Impenitence, protection against Impenitence, protection against

Barbara, Mark the Evangelist

Imperia Italy Imperia Italy

Leonard of Port Maurice

Impossible Cases Impossible Cases

Rita of Cascia

Indian missions in Ecuador Indian missions in Ecuador

Our Lady of Agua Santa de Banos

Indiana Indiana

Our Lady of Providence

Indiscretions, protection against Indiscretions, protection against

John Nepomucene

Infantry Infantry

Martin of Tours

Infantry, Spanish Infantry, Spanish

Immaculate Conception of Mary

Infertility Infertility

Rita of Cascia

Inflammatory Diseases, protection against Inflammatory Diseases, protection against

Benedict

Information Workers Information Workers

Archangel Gabriel

Innkeepers Innkeepers

Gentian

Innocent people (falsely accused) Innocent people (falsely accused)

Raymond Nonnatus

Insanity Insanity

Dymphna

Insects, protection against Insects, protection against

Dominic of Silos

Invalids Invalids

Roch

Iowa Iowa

Mary of Nazareth

Isle of Man Isle of Man

Maughold

Italy Italy

Bernardine of Siena, Catherine of Siena, Francis of Assisi, Our Lady of Loreto, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Our Lady of the Snows

Jamaica Jamaica

Mary, on feast of her Assumption

Japan Japan

Francis Xavier, Our Lady of Japan, Peter Baptist

Jealousy, protection against Jealousy, protection against

Elizabeth of Portugal

Jesuit Order; Jesuits Jesuit Order; Jesuits

Ignatius of Loyola

Jesuit students Jesuit students

Aloysius Gonzaga

Jewelers Jewelers

Eligius (Eloi)

Jordan Jordan

John the Baptist

Journalists Journalists

Francis de Sales

Journeys, safe Journeys, safe

Christopher

Judges/Jurists Judges/Jurists

John of Capistrano, Ivo of Kermartin

Jumping Jumping

Venantius

Justice, social Justice, social

Martin de Porres

Juvenile delinquents Juvenile delinquents

Dominic Savio

Kae (Tzia) Island, Greece Kae (Tzia) Island, Greece

Panagia Kastriani

Kansas Kansas

Mary, Queen of Angels

Kavala, Greece Kavala, Greece

Paul, Apostle

Kentucky Kentucky

Mary, Mother of God

Kilbarry, Ireland Kilbarry, Ireland

Berach

Kilmallock, Limerick, Ireland Kilmallock, Limerick, Ireland

Mochelloc

Kinglassie, Fife, Scotland Kinglassie, Fife, Scotland

Glastian

Knights Hospitaller Knights Hospitaller

John the Baptist

Knights of Malta, Maltese Knights Knights of Malta, Maltese Knights

John the Baptist

Korea Korea

Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, Joseph

Korean clergy Korean clergy

Andrew Kim Taegon

Labour, Italian Knights of Labour, Italian Knights of

Benedict, Abbot

Lacemakers Lacemakers

Luke

Lame, the Lame, the

Giles

Landulph, Cornwall Landulph, Cornwall

Cybi

Langres cathedral Langres cathedral

Marcellus

Lanhydroc, Cornwall Lanhydroc, Cornwall

Hydroc

Latin American bishops Latin American bishops

Turibius

Law, schools or faculties of Law, schools or faculties of

Raymond of Pennafort

Lawyers Lawyers

Thomas More, Yves, Raymond of Pennafort, Ivo of Kermartin

Lay Apostolate Lay Apostolate

Paul, Apostle

Leaping Leaping

Venantius

Leatherworkers Leatherworkers

Crispin and Crispinian

Lecce, Italy Lecce, Italy

Bernadine Realino

Lecturers Lecturers

Justin Martyr

Lennox, Scotland Lennox, Scotland

Kessog

Lens, France Lens, France

Wulganus

Lepers Lepers

Giles

Lesotho Lesotho

Immaculate Heart of Mary

Liege, Belgium Liege, Belgium

Hubert of Liege

Lighthouse keepers Lighthouse keepers

Venerius

Lightning, protection against Lightning, protection against

Magnus of Fussen, Vitus

Limerick, Ireland Limerick, Ireland

Munchin

Linz, Austria Linz, Austria

Florian

Lithuania Lithuania

Casimir, Cunegund, Hyacinth

Living Rosary Living Rosary

Philomena

Llanbrothen, Wales Llanbrothen, Wales

Brothen

Llandunwyd, Glamorgan Llandunwyd, Glamorgan

Donat

Llangibby, Monmouthshire, Wales Llangibby, Monmouthshire, Wales

Cybi

Llangybi, Cardigan, Wales Llangybi, Cardigan, Wales

Cybi

Llanover, Gwent, Wales Llanover, Gwent, Wales

Gorfor

Llanrhyddlad, Anglesey, Wales Llanrhyddlad, Anglesey, Wales

Rhuddlad

Loc-Har, Brittany, France Loc-Har, Brittany, France

Hernan

Lorraine Lorraine

Nicholas of Myra

Lost articles Lost articles

Anthony of Padua

Lost or desperate causes Lost or desperate causes

Jude

Louisiana, USA Louisiana, USA

Our Lady of Prompt Succor

Lourdes Lourdes

Bernadette of Lourdes

Lovers Lovers

Valentine

Lugo, Spain Lugo, Spain

Foillan

Luxembourg Luxembourg

Mary, Comforter of the Afflicted

Leon, Spain Leon, Spain

Foillan

Macedonia Macedonia

Clement of Ohrid

Madagascar Madagascar

Vincent de Paul

Madrid & Alcala Madrid & Alcala

Justus and Pastor, Isidore the Farmer

Magistrates Magistrates

Ferdinand III of Castile

Maids Maids

Zita

Maine, USA Maine, USA

Our Lady fo Peace

Majorca city Majorca city

Alonso Rodriguez

Majorca island Majorca island

Alonso Rodriguez

Malta Malta

Paul, Apostle

Mantua, Italy Mantua, Italy

Anselm of Lucca, the Younger

Marble workers Marble workers

Clement I, Four crowned martyrs, Louis

Marching Auxiliaries Marching Auxiliaries

Vitus

Mariners Mariners

Nicholas of Tolentino

Marines (Italian) Marines (Italian)

Barbara

Maritime pilots Maritime pilots

Nicholas of Myra

Maronites, Maronite Christians Maronites, Maronite Christians

Maro

Marriage Marriage

John Francis Regis

Marriages (unhappy) Marriages (unhappy)

Gengulf

Married women Married women

Monica

Maryland, USA Maryland, USA

Our Lady of the Assumption

Masons Masons

Thomas, Apostle, Four crowned martyrs, Louis

Massachusetts, USA Massachusetts, USA

Our Lady of the Incarnation

Medal collectors Medal collectors

Eligius (Eloi)

Medical technicians Medical technicians

Albert the Great

Mentally ill Mentally ill

Dymphna

Merchants Merchants

Francis of Assisi, Nicholas of Myra, Homobonus

Merchants, Italian Merchants, Italian

Francis of Assisi

Merthyr Tydfil, Wales Merthyr Tydfil, Wales

Tydfil

Messengers Messengers

Gabriel the Archangel

Metalworkers Metalworkers

Eligius (Eloi)

Metz, France Metz, France

Patiens of Metz

Mexican young people Mexican young people

John Bosco

Mexico City, Mexico Mexico City, Mexico

Philip of Jesus

Michigan, USA Michigan, USA

Our Lady, Gate of Heaven

Midwives Midwives

Raymond Nonnatus

Migrants Migrants

Frances Xavier Cabrini

Milan Milan

Ambrose of Milan

Millers Millers

Honoratus

Milliners (Hatmakers) Milliners (Hatmakers)

James the Greater

Mine Collapse, protection against Mine Collapse, protection against

Barbara

Miners Miners

Anne (Mother of Mary), Barbara

Minnesota, USA Minnesota, USA

Our Lady, Mother of the Church

Miscarriage prevention Miscarriage prevention

Catherine of Sweden

Missionary priests Missionary priests

Vincent Pallotti

Missioners in Catholic Lands Missioners in Catholic Lands

Leonard of Port Maurice

Missioners of the Precious Blood Missioners of the Precious Blood

Francis Xavier

Missions, Polish Missions, Polish

Maria Teresa Ledochowska (Bd)

Missions, Portuguese Missions, Portuguese

John de Britto

Mississippi, USA Mississippi, USA

Our Lady of Sorrows

Missouri, USA Missouri, USA

Our Lady of Calvary

Mixed race, people of Mixed race, people of

Martin de Porres

Moles, protection against Moles, protection against

Ulric

Monaco Monaco

Devota

Monarchy, French Monarchy, French

Louis

Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, Inner

Immaculate Conception of Mary

Mongolia, Outer Mongolia, Outer

Francis Xavier

Mons, Belgium Mons, Belgium

Waltrude

Montana, USA Montana, USA

Our Lady of the Pines

Monte Marano Monte Marano

John of Monte Marano

Montefalco, Italy Montefalco, Italy

Clare of Montefalco

Montesanto, Italy Montesanto, Italy

Gerard of Lunel

Moral theologians Moral theologians

Alphonsus de Liguori

Moscow Moscow

Boris

Motorcyclists Motorcyclists

Mary, The Madonna of Castaliazzo or Our Lady of Grace and of Crete

Motorways Motorways

John the Baptist

Mountaineers, mountain climbers Mountaineers, mountain climbers

Bernard of Montjoux (or Menthon)

Mullion, Cornwall Mullion, Cornwall

Melaine of Rennes

Munich, Germany Munich, Germany

Benno

Naples, Italy Naples, Italy

Andrew Avellino, Januarius

National Guard, Venezuelan National Guard, Venezuelan

Our Lady of Chiquinquira

Naval officers Naval officers

Francis of Paola

Navy, Argentinian Navy, Argentinian

Mary, The Madonna of Castaliazzo or Our Lady of Grace and of Crete

Navy, Bolivian Navy, Bolivian

Our Lady of Copacabana

Navy, Philippine Navy, Philippine

Our Lady of the Rosary, 'La Naval'

Navy, Spanish Navy, Spanish

Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Navy, Venezuelan Navy, Venezuelan

Our Lady of Valle

Nearsightedness, short-sightedness Nearsightedness, short-sightedness

Clarus, Abbot

Nebraska, USA Nebraska, USA

Our Lady of the Presentation

Neighborhood watch Neighborhood watch

Sebastian

Nervous diseases Nervous diseases

Vitus, Dymphna

Netherlands Netherlands

Willibrord

Nettle Rash, protection against Nettle Rash, protection against

Benedict

Neurological disorders Neurological disorders

Dymphna

Nevada, USA Nevada, USA

Our Lady of Las Vegas

New Caledonia New Caledonia

Mary, on feast of her Assumption

New Hampshire, USA New Hampshire, USA

Our Lady of Perpetual Help

New Jersey, USA New Jersey, USA

Our Lady of Fatima

New Mexico, USA New Mexico, USA

Our Lady of Guadalupe

New York, USA New York, USA

Our Lady Help of Christians

New Zealand New Zealand

Our Lady Help of Christians

Nicaragua Nicaragua

James the Greater

Nigeria Nigeria

Mary, Queen of Nigeria, Patrick

Nightmares, protection against Nightmares, protection against

Raphael the Archangel

Nocera, Italy Nocera, Italy

Raynald of Nocera

Nonantola, Italy Nonantola, Italy

Anselm of Nonantola

North Africa North Africa

Cyprian of Carthage

North Carolina, USA North Carolina, USA

Our Lady of the Holy Rosary

North Dakota, USA North Dakota, USA

Mary, Queen of Peace

Norway Norway

Olaf of Norway, Magnus of Orkney

Norwegian west coast Norwegian west coast

Sunniva

Notaries Notaries

Luke, Mark, Ivo of Kermartin

Numismatists Numismatists

Eligius (Eloi)

Nuremburg, Germany Nuremburg, Germany

Sebaldus

Nurses of mentally ill Nurses of mentally ill

Dymphna

Nurses' associations Nurses' associations

Camillus de Lellis

Nurses, Italian Nurses, Italian

Catherine of Genoa, Catherine of Siena

Nurses, Peruvian Nurses, Peruvian

Rose of Lima

Nursing mothers Nursing mothers

Basilissa, Giles

Oaxaca, Mexico Oaxaca, Mexico

Our Lady of Solitude

Oblate Vocations Oblate Vocations

Our Lady of Sorrows

Oblate aspirants Oblate aspirants

Stanislaus Kostka

Oblates of Saint Joseph Oblates of Saint Joseph

Joseph

Oceania Oceania

Peter Chanel

Ohio, USA Ohio, USA

Our Lady of Consolation

Oklahoma, USA Oklahoma, USA

Our Lady, Queen of All Saints

Orators Orators

John Chrysostom

Order of Saint Lazarus Order of Saint Lazarus

Lazarus

Order of the Garter Order of the Garter

George

Ordnancemen and Cannoners Ordnancemen and Cannoners

Barbara

Oregon, USA Oregon, USA

Our Lady of the Woods

Orphans Orphans

Jerome Emiliani, Ivo of Kermartin

Oslo, Norway Oslo, Norway

Hallvard

Oudenarde, Belgium Oudenarde, Belgium

Walburga

Oversleeping, protection against Oversleeping, protection against

Vitus

Oxford, England Oxford, England

Frideswide

Pain; Cures from Pain; Pain Relief, protection against Pain; Cures from Pain; Pain Relief, protection against

Madron

Painters Painters

Luke, Bl (Fra) Angelico

Pakistan Pakistan

Thomas, Apostle

Palestine Palestine

Mary, 'Queen of Palestine'

Palestinian Christians Palestinian Christians

George

Pallbearers Pallbearers

Joseph of Arimathea

Panama Panama

Immaculate Conception, Immaculate Heart of Mary

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea

Michael the Archangel

Paraguay Paraguay

Our Lady of the Assumption, Our Lady of Lujan

Paratroopers Paratroopers

Michael the Archangel

Parenthood Parenthood

Rita of Cascia

Paris, France Paris, France

Genevieve (Genofeva), Denis, Bishop of Paris

Parish Missions Parish Missions

Leonard of Port Maurice

Park-keepers Park-keepers

John Gualbert

Patras, Greece Patras, Greece

Andrew, Apostle

Patricia, Italy Patricia, Italy

Roch

Pavia, Italy Pavia, Italy

Siro, Syrus of Pavia, Theodore of Pavia

Pawnbrokers Pawnbrokers

Nicholas of Myra, Bernardino of Feltre (Bd)

Pelota players, Argentinian Pelota players, Argentinian

Francis Xavier

Pennsylvania, USA Pennsylvania, USA

Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal

Pensioners, old age Pensioners, old age

Our Lady of Consolation, Teresa of Jesus Jornet e Ibars

Penzance, Cornwall, England Penzance, Cornwall, England

John the Baptist

Perfumers, perfumiers Perfumers, perfumiers

Nicholas of Myra

Pergamino, Argentina Pergamino, Argentina

Virgin of La Merced

Perjury, protection against Perjury, protection against

Felix of Nola, Pancras

Peronne, France Peronne, France

Fursey of Peronne

Persecuted Christians Persecuted Christians

John De Martha

Persia; Iran Persia; Iran

Maruthas

Pestilence (relief) Pestilence (relief)

Roch

Petit Goave, Haiti Petit Goave, Haiti

Our Lady of Lourdes

Pets Pets

Antony the Abbot

Philatelists Philatelists

Gabriel the Archangel

Philippines Philippines

Our Lady of Safe Travel, Our Lady of the Turumba, Rose of Lima, Immaculate Heart of Mary

Philosophers Philosophers

Immaculate Conception of Mary, Pudentiana, Rose of Lima

Physical Spouse Abuse; Victims of Spouse Abuse (physical), protection against Physical Spouse Abuse; Victims of Spouse Abuse (physical), protection against

Rita of Cascia

Physically Disabled Physically Disabled

Giles

Physicians (diseases, contagious) Physicians (diseases, contagious)

Roch, Sebastian

Piedmont Piedmont

Maurice

Piedmont region Piedmont region

Maurice

Pilgrims Pilgrims

Nicholas of Myra, Christopher

Pilgrims (sick) Pilgrims (sick)

Pius X

Pilots Pilots

Our Lady of Loreto

Pilots, maritime Pilots, maritime

Francis of Paola, Nicholas of Myra

Pisa, Italy Pisa, Italy

Ranieri

Plasterers Plasterers

Bartholomew

Poets Poets

David, Columba

Poison Sufferers Poison Sufferers

Benedict, Abbot, John the Apostle, Pirminus

Poland Poland

Casimir, Florian, Mary, 'Queen of Poland', Stanislaus, Adalbert, Stanislaus Kostka

Police officers Police officers

Michael the Archangel

Police, Italian Police, Italian

Mary, Faithful Virgin

Police, Spanish Police, Spanish

Our Lady of the Pillar

Police, Spanish, armed Police, Spanish, armed

The Guardian Angels

Police, local, municipal Police, local, municipal

Sebastian

Ponza, Italy Ponza, Italy

Silverio

Portsmouth, England Portsmouth, England

Nicholas of Myra

Postal services Postal services

Gabriel the Archangel

Postal workers Postal workers

Gabriel the Archangel

Potenza, Italy Potenza, Italy

Gerard of Potenza

Potholers (spelunkers) Potholers (spelunkers)

Benedict, Abbot

Priests Priests

John Vianney

Priests (Spanish, secular) Priests (Spanish, secular)

John of Avila

Prison guards, officers Prison guards, officers

Hippolytus, Processus and Martinian, Adrian of Nicomedia

Prison officers (Italian) Prison officers (Italian)

Basilides

Prisoners (Italian) Prisoners (Italian)

Joseph Cafasso

Probus, Cornwall, England Probus, Cornwall, England

Grace, Probus

Propagation of the Faith Propagation of the Faith

Francis Xavier

Protector of Crops Protector of Crops

Ansovinus

Prussia Prussia

Dorothy of Montau

Public Health Service Public Health Service

Martin de Porres

Public Relations Public Relations

Bernardine of Siena

Public education Public education

Martin de Porres

Puebla, Mexico Puebla, Mexico

Michael the Archangel

Pueri Cantores Pueri Cantores

Dominic Savio

Pueri Cantors Pueri Cantors

Dominic Savio

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico

Our Lady of Divine Providence

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Quantity surveyors Quantity surveyors

Thomas, Apostle

Quebec Quebec

John Baptiste

Rab, Croatia Rab, Croatia

Christopher

Rabies Rabies

Hubert, Ubald

Radio and radio workers Radio and radio workers

Gabriel the Archangel

Radiologists, radiotherapists Radiologists, radiotherapists

Michael the Archangel

Rain, excessive Rain, excessive

Genevieve (Genofeva)

Raphoe, Ireland Raphoe, Ireland

Adamnan

Retreats Retreats

Ignatius of Loyola

Rheumatoid sufferers Rheumatoid sufferers

James the Greater

Rhode Island, USA Rhode Island, USA

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

Right to Life groups Right to Life groups

Margaret of Castello

Rimini, Italy Rimini, Italy

Gaudentius of Rimini

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Sebastian

Ripacandida Ripacandida

Donatus

Robbers, danger from Robbers, danger from

Leonard of Noblac

Roman housewives Roman housewives

Frances of Rome

Romania Romania

Nicetas

Rome Rome

Philip Neri

Rulers Rulers

Ferdinand III of Castile

Ruthenia Ruthenia

Bruno

Saguntum, Spain Saguntum, Spain

Sacerdos of Saguntum

Sailors Sailors

Brendan, Erasmus (Elmo), Francis of Paola, Nicholas of Myra

Saint Ives, Cornwall Saint Ives, Cornwall

Ia

Saint Ives, England Saint Ives, England

Ivo

Saint Mellyan, Cornwall Saint Mellyan, Cornwall

Melaine of Rennes

Saint Teath, Cornwall Saint Teath, Cornwall

Teath

Saint Vitus's dance nervous disorder; rheumatic chorea Saint Vitus's dance nervous disorder; rheumatic chorea

Vitus

Salamanca, Spain Salamanca, Spain

John of Sahagun

San Gemini, Italy San Gemini, Italy

Geminus

San Marino San Marino

Marinus

San Miguel de Allende, Mexico San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

Michael the Archangel

Santa Ana Indian Pueblo Santa Ana Indian Pueblo

Anne

Santa Clara Indian Pueblo Santa Clara Indian Pueblo

Clare of Assisi

Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

Francis of Assisi

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Our Lady of Ransom

Sardinia Sardinia

Maurice

Sassano, Italy Sassano, Italy

John the Baptist

Savings banks Savings banks

Anthony Claret

Savona, Italy Savona, Italy

Our Lady of Mercy

Savoy Savoy

Maurice

Saxony Saxony

Willihad

Scandinavia Scandinavia

Ansgar

Scholars, scripture Scholars, scripture

Jerome

School teachers School teachers

John Baptist de la Salle

Schools Schools

Thomas Aquinas

Schools of law Schools of law

Raymond of Pennafort

Schools, Catholic Schools, Catholic

Thomas Aquinas

Schools, all Christian Schools, all Christian

Joseph Calasanctius

Scientists Scientists

Albert the Great

Scotland Scotland

Margaret, Andrew, Apostle

Scripture scholars Scripture scholars

Jerome Emiliani

Sculptors Sculptors

Claude, Luke, Four crowned martyrs, Louis

Scurf, protection against Scurf, protection against

Genesius of Arles

Sea, those associated with the Sea, those associated with the

Francis of Paola

Security forces Security forces

Michael the Archangel

Security forces, Andorran Security forces, Andorran

Our Lady Help of Christians

Security forces, French Security forces, French

Genevieve (Genofeva)

Security forces, Peruvian Security forces, Peruvian

Rose of Lima

Security guards Security guards

Matthew

Segovia, Spain Segovia, Spain

Venantius

Seminarians Seminarians

Charles Borromeo

Senior citizens Senior citizens

Our Lady of Consolation, Teresa of Jesus Jornet e Ibars

Serbia Serbia

Sava

Serbian peoples Serbian peoples

Sebastian

Sergio Osmena, Zamboanga del Norte, Philippines Sergio Osmena, Zamboanga del Norte, Philippines

Philip Benizi

Servants Servants

Martha, Notbunga

Servants (women) Servants (women)

Zita

Seville, Spain Seville, Spain

Ferdinand III of Castile

Shepherds Shepherds

Our Lady of Lapurdo, Paschal Baylon

Shipwrecks, protection against Shipwrecks, protection against

Anthony of Padua, Jodocus

Shoemakers Shoemakers

Cyprian of Carthage, Homobonus

Shorthand writers Shorthand writers

Cassian of Imola

Sibenik, Croatia Sibenik, Croatia

Michael the Archangel

Sick, of Poland Sick, of Poland

Mary, The Health of the Sick

Siena Italy Siena Italy

Ambrose Sansedoni of Siena, Catherine of Siena

Signals, military Signals, military

Gabriel the Archangel

Silesia Silesia

Hedwig

Silversmiths Silversmiths

Andronicus, Eligius (Eloi)

Sisak, Croatia Sisak, Croatia

Quirinus

Sisters of Mercy Sisters of Mercy

Elizabeth of Hungary

Sithney, Cornwall, England Sithney, Cornwall, England

Sithney

Skaters Skaters

Lidwina

Skiathos Island, Greece Skiathos Island, Greece

Panagia Kastriani

Skiers Skiers

Bernard of Montjoux, Andronicus (with Athanasia), Our Lady of Graces

Skin diseases Skin diseases

Antony the Abbot

Skopelos Island, Greece Skopelos Island, Greece

Riginos

Slander Slander

John Nepomucene

Sleepwalkers Sleepwalkers

Dymphna

Slovakia Slovakia

Our Lady of the Assumption

Slovenes Slovenes

Virgilius

Snake bite victims Snake bite victims

Hilary, Pirminus, Vitus

Social justice Social justice

Joseph, Martin de Porres

Soldiers, American Soldiers, American

Joan of Arc

Soldiers, French Soldiers, French

Joan of Arc, Louis

Soldiers, Paraguayan Soldiers, Paraguayan

Mary, on feast of her Assumption

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands

Michael the Archangel

Sonsbeck (Santbeck), Germany Sonsbeck (Santbeck), Germany

Gerebernus

Sorrento, Italy Sorrento, Italy

Antoninus of Sorrento

South Africa, Southern Africa South Africa, Southern Africa

Our Lady of the Assumption

South Carolina, USA South Carolina, USA

Mary the Virgin Mother

South Dakota, USA South Dakota, USA

Our Lady of the Prairie

Spain Spain

James the Greater, John of Avila, Our Lady of Ransom, Immaculate Conception of Mary

Spanish conquistadors Spanish conquistadors

James the Greater

Spanish poets Spanish poets

John of the Cross

Spanish secular clergy Spanish secular clergy

John of Avila

Spas Spas

John the Baptist

Speakers (Orators) Speakers (Orators)

John Chrysostom

Speleologists, Italian Speleologists, Italian

Benedict, Abbot

Spelunkers, potholers Spelunkers, potholers

Benedict, Abbot

Spinners Spinners

Parasceva

Spiritual directors of clergy Spiritual directors of clergy

Joseph Cafasso

Spiritual exercises Spiritual exercises

Ignatius of Loyola

Sportsmen and women, Belgian Sportsmen and women, Belgian

Our Lady of Chevremont

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka

Mary, Immaculate, Our Lady of Lanka

Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon)

Lawrence, Our Lady of Madhu, Thomas, Apostle

St Vincent de Paul Societies St Vincent de Paul Societies

Vincent de Paul

St. Antony's Fire St. Antony's Fire

Antony the Abbot

Stafford, England Stafford, England

Bettelin

Stamp collectors Stamp collectors

Gabriel the Archangel

Starving or Starvation; Starving People, protection against Starving or Starvation; Starving People, protection against

Anthony of Padua

Stavenger, England Stavenger, England

Swithun

Stenographers Stenographers

Cassian of Imola

Stiff Neck, protection against Stiff Neck, protection against

Ursicinus of Saint-Ursanne

Stomach disorders Stomach disorders

Timothy, Erasmus (Elmo)

Stone masons Stone masons

Four crowned martyrs, Louis, Stephen

Storms, protection against Storms, protection against

Vitus

Strasbourg, France Strasbourg, France

Arbogast

Strokes Strokes

Andrew Avellino

Students Students

Catherine of Alexandria, Thomas Aquinas, Gabriel Possenti

Students (examinees) Students (examinees)

Joseph of Cupertino

Students in Jesuit colleges Students in Jesuit colleges

Aloysius Gonzaga

Students, of Peru Students, of Peru

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Students, women Students, women

Catherine of Alexandria

Sudan Sudan

Josephine Bakhita

Sudden Death, protection against Sudden Death, protection against

Aldegundis, Andrew Avellino, Barbara, Christopher

Surveyors Surveyors

Thomas, Apostle

Swabia, Germany Swabia, Germany

Meinrad

Swimmers Swimmers

Adjutor

Switzerland Switzerland

Notbunga

Swordsmiths Swordsmiths

Maurice

Syracuse, Sicily Syracuse, Sicily

Lucy of Syracuse

Syria Syria

Barbara

Tailors Tailors

Homobonus

Tanzania Tanzania

Immaculate Conception of Mary

Taos, New Mexico Taos, New Mexico

Anne, John the Apostle

Taranto Taranto

Catald

Tax collectors Tax collectors

Matthew

Taxi Drivers Taxi Drivers

Fiacre

Teenagers (esp. girls) Teenagers (esp. girls)

Mark, Maria Goretti

Telecommunications Telecommunications

Gabriel the Archangel

Television Television

Clare, Gabriel the Archangel

Television (Peru) Television (Peru)

Martin de Porres

Tennessee, USA Tennessee, USA

Our Lady of Lourdes

Termonde, Belgium Termonde, Belgium

Christiana

Teutonic Order; Order of Teutonic Knights Teutonic Order; Order of Teutonic Knights

George, Mary

Texas, USA Texas, USA

Our Lady of the Annunciation

Theatrical profession Theatrical profession

Genesius

Theft, thieves Theft, thieves

Dismas

Theologians, Moral Theologians, Moral

Alphonsus de Liguori

Thieves, danger from Thieves, danger from

Leonard of Noblac

Throat ailments Throat ailments

Blaise, Ludmila

Tigua Indians Tigua Indians

Anthony of Padua

Toledo, Spain Toledo, Spain

Leocadia

Toothache Toothache

Apollonia

Torino, Italy Torino, Italy

John the Baptist

Tourism, Spanish Tourism, Spanish

Francis Xavier

Trade unionists, Spanish Trade unionists, Spanish

Martin de Porres

Tradespeople Tradespeople

Homobonus

Tregony, Cornwall Tregony, Cornwall

Cybi

Trier, Germay Trier, Germay

Maximus

Trieste, Italy Trieste, Italy

Justus of Trieste

Tultepac, Mexico Tultepac, Mexico

John of God

Tunisia Tunisia

Immaculate Conception of Mary

Turin, Italy Turin, Italy

John the Baptist

Turkey (Asiatic) Turkey (Asiatic)

John the Apostle

Turkey, Capuchin missions to Turkey, Capuchin missions to

Joseph of Leonessa

Twitching, protection against Twitching, protection against

Bartholomew the Apostle, Cornelius

Typhus, Against Typhoid, protection against Typhus, Against Typhoid, protection against

Adelard

U.S. Army Field Artillery U.S. Army Field Artillery

St. Barbara

U.S. National Catholic Rural Conference U.S. National Catholic Rural Conference

Isidore the Farmer

Uganda Uganda

Mary, Queen of Africa

Ukraine Ukraine

Josaphat

Ukrainian Catholic Diocese of Stamford, Connecticut, USA Ukrainian Catholic Diocese of Stamford, Connecticut, USA

Volodymyr the Great

Ulcers; Ulcer Sufferers, protection against Ulcers; Ulcer Sufferers, protection against

Charles Borromeo, Job

Undertakers Undertakers

Dismas

United States Army Special Forces United States Army Special Forces

Philip of Agirone

United States National Rural Life Conference United States National Rural Life Conference

Isidore the Farmer

United States of America United States of America

Immaculate Conception of Mary

Unity of the Eastern and Western Churches Unity of the Eastern and Western Churches

Cyril and Methodius

Universal Church Universal Church

Joseph, Peter the Apostle

Universities Universities

Bl. Contardo Ferrini

Universities, Catholic Universities, Catholic

Thomas Aquinas

University of Oxford, England University of Oxford, England

Frideswide

University of Patras, Greece University of Patras, Greece

Andrew, Apostle

University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Engineering University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Engineering

Jordan of Saxony

Unmarried women Unmarried women

Nicholas of Myra

Upper Auvergne Upper Auvergne

Gerald of Aurillac

Urban University, Rome Urban University, Rome

Oliver Plunket

Utah, USA Utah, USA

Our Lady of the Snows

Valencia Valencia

Our Lady of the Forsaken

Valldemossa, Mallorca, Spain Valldemossa, Mallorca, Spain

Catherine Thomas

Vanity, protection against Vanity, protection against

Rose of Lima

Vastergotland, Sweden Vastergotland, Sweden

Helen of Skofde

Velletri, Italy Velletri, Italy

Gerald

Veneral disease Veneral disease

Fiacre

Venezuela Venezuela

Our Lady of Coromoto

Venezuelan National Guard Venezuelan National Guard

Our Lady of Chiquinquira

Venice Venice

Mark

Verbal Spouse Abuse; Victims of Spouse Abuse (verbal), protection against Verbal Spouse Abuse; Victims of Spouse Abuse (verbal), protection against

Anne Marie Taigi, Godelieve, Monica

Vermin, protection from Vermin, protection from

Magnus of Fussen

Vermont, USA Vermont, USA

Our Lady of Grace

Veroli, Italy Veroli, Italy

Mary Salome

Veterinarians Veterinarians

Our Lady of Coromoto

Vienna, Austria Vienna, Austria

Clement Mary Hofbauer

Vietnam Vietnam

Joseph

Villareal Samar, Phillipines Villareal Samar, Phillipines

Rose of Lima

Vilna, Lithuania Vilna, Lithuania

Antony of Vilna, Eustace of Vilna, John of Vilna

Vincentian Service Corps Vincentian Service Corps

Vincent de Paul

Vinegar makers Vinegar makers

Vincent of Saragossa

Virginia, USA Virginia, USA

Our Lady, Queen of the Apostles

Vocations Vocations

Alphonsus de Liguori

Volcanic eruptions Volcanic eruptions

Agatha

Volperino, Italy Volperino, Italy

Maro

Waiters, waitresses Waiters, waitresses

Martha

Wales Wales

David

War victims, civilian War victims, civilian

Mary, Queen of Peace

Washington, DC Washington, DC

Our Immaculate Queen

Washington, USA Washington, USA

Our Lady of Good Help

Water, danger from Water, danger from

Florian

Waterford, Ireland Waterford, Ireland

Odrian

Weavers Weavers

Parasceva, Antony Claret, Maurice, Onuphrius

West Indies West Indies

Gertrude

West Virginia, USA West Virginia, USA

Our Lady of Victory

Wheelwrights Wheelwrights

Catherine of Alexandria

Whooping Cough, protection against Whooping Cough, protection against

Blaise, Winoc

Winchester, England Winchester, England

Swithun

Wine merchants, and wine trade Wine merchants, and wine trade

Amand

Wisconsin, USA Wisconsin, USA

Our Lady of the Americas

Witchcraft, protection against Witchcraft, protection against

Benedict

Women Appointed for Voluntary Emergency Services (WAVES) Women Appointed for Voluntary Emergency Services (WAVES)

Joan of Arc

Women giving birth Women giving birth

Margaret (or Marina) of Antioch

Women in labor Women in labor

Anne (Mother of Mary), Erasmus (Elmo)

Women, Italian Women, Italian

Paschal Baylon

Women, childless Women, childless

Anne (Mother of Mary)

Women, young and students Women, young and students

Catherine of Alexandria

Workers Workers

Joseph

Workers, young Workers, young

John Bosco

World Youth Day World Youth Day

Kateri Tekakwitha

Writers Writers

Francis de Sales

Writers, Spanish Catholic Writers, Spanish Catholic

Teresa of Avila

Wyoming, USA Wyoming, USA

Our Lady of the Valley

Young girls Young girls

Agnes

Young people, African Young people, African

Charles Lwanga

Young people, Christian Young people, Christian

Aloysius Gonzaga

Young people, Lithuanian Young people, Lithuanian

Casimir

Young people, Mexican Young people, Mexican

John Bosco

Young people, students Young people, students

John Berchmans, Maria Goretti

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia

Cyril and Methodius

Zacatecas, Mexico Zacatecas, Mexico

The Virgin of Patrocinio

Zaire Zaire

Immaculate Conception of Mary

Zakynthos Island, Greece Zakynthos Island, Greece

Dionysius the Aeropagite

Zamarramala, Spain Zamarramala, Spain

Agatha

Zeeland, Denmark Zeeland, Denmark

Canute Lavard

Zutphen, Nederlands Zutphen, Nederlands

Walburga

accomodations accomodations

Gertrude of Nivelles

actresses actresses

Pelagia

affianced couples, betrothed couples, engaged couples affianced couples, betrothed couples, engaged couples

Ambrose Sansedoni of Siena, Valentine

alcoholism alcoholism

John of God, Martin of Tours, Monica, Urban of Langres

ambulance drivers, emergency medical technicians, EMTs, paramedics ambulance drivers, emergency medical technicians, EMTs, paramedics

Michael the Archangel

amputees amputees

Anthony of Padua, Antony the Abbot

angina sufferers angina sufferers

Swithbert

animal welfare societies, humane societies animal welfare societies, humane societies

Francis of Assisi

appendicitis appendicitis

Erasmus (Elmo)

apple orchards apple orchards

Charles Borromeo

archdiocese of Baltimore, Maryland, USA archdiocese of Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Immaculate Conception of Mary

archdiocese of Boston, Massachusetts, USA archdiocese of Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Patrick

archdiocese of Chicago, Illinois, USA archdiocese of Chicago, Illinois, USA

Immaculate Conception of Mary

archdiocese of Cracow Poland archdiocese of Cracow Poland

Stanislaus of Cracow

archdiocese of Denver, Colorado, USA archdiocese of Denver, Colorado, USA

Immaculate Conception of Mary, Francis of Assisi

archdiocese of Dublin, Ireland archdiocese of Dublin, Ireland

Kevin, Lawrence O'Toole

archdiocese of Dubuque, Iowa, USA archdiocese of Dubuque, Iowa, USA

John Vianney, Raymond Nonnatus

archdiocese of Indianapolis, Indiana, USA archdiocese of Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Francis Xavier

archdiocese of Louisville, Kentucky, USA archdiocese of Louisville, Kentucky, USA

Joseph

archdiocese of Miami, Florida archdiocese of Miami, Florida

Our Lady of Charity, Our Lady of the Holy Rosary

archdiocese of New Orleans, Louisiana, USA archdiocese of New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Our Lady of Prompt Succor

archdiocese of New York, New York, USA archdiocese of New York, New York, USA

Patrick

archdiocese of Omaha, Nebraska, USA archdiocese of Omaha, Nebraska, USA

Cecilia

archdiocese of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA archdiocese of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Immaculate Conception of Mary, Paul, Apostle, Peter the Apostle

archdiocese of Portland, Oregon, USA archdiocese of Portland, Oregon, USA

Immaculate Conception of Mary

archdiocese of Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA archdiocese of Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

Francis of Assisi, Immaculate Heart of Mary

archdiocese of Seattle, Washington, USA archdiocese of Seattle, Washington, USA

Assumption of the Virgin Mary, Immaculate Conception, Holy Angels

archives archives

Laurent (Lawrence)

arm pain; pain in the arms arm pain; pain in the arms

Amalburga

armies of Jalisco, Mexico armies of Jalisco, Mexico

Our Lady of Zapopan

armories armories

Laurent (Lawrence)

arrowsmiths; fletchers arrowsmiths; fletchers

Sebastian

art dealers art dealers

John the Apostle

asses asses

Anthony of Padua

automobile drivers, automobilists, motorists automobile drivers, automobilists, motorists

Christopher, Elijah the Prophet, Frances of Rome, Sebastian of Aparicio

backward children backward children

Hilary of Poitiers

bacterial disease and infection bacterial disease and infection

Agrippina

bailiffs bailiffs

Ivo of Kermartin

bakers of holy wafers bakers of holy wafers

Honorius of Amiens

baptism baptism

John the Baptist

bartenders, bar keepers, bar staff bartenders, bar keepers, bar staff

Amand

bees bees

Ambrose of Milan, Bernard of Clairvaux, Modomnoc

bell-founders bell-founders

Agatha, Fortchern of Trim

belt makers belt makers

Alexius

betrayal victims betrayal victims

Epipodius, Flora of Cordoba, Oswin, Philip Howard, Pulcheria

bicyclists, cyclists, bicycle riders bicyclists, cyclists, bicycle riders

La Madonna di Ghisalo

bird dealers bird dealers

John the Baptist

birth pains birth pains

Erasmus (Elmo)

bishops bishops

Charles Borromeo

blackbirds blackbirds

Kevin

bodily purity bodily purity

Agnes of Rome

boilermakers boilermakers

Eligius (Eloi)

bomb technicians bomb technicians

Barbara

boot blacks, shoe shiners boot blacks, shoe shiners

Nicholas of Myra

bowel disorders bowel disorders

Bonaventure

box makers box makers

Fiacre

brass workers brass workers

Barbara

breast cancer breast cancer

Agatha, Aldegundis, Giles, Peregrine Laziosi

breast disease, invoked against breast disease, invoked against

Agatha

brick makers brick makers

Vincent Ferrer

bridge builders bridge builders

John Nepomucene, Peter the Apostle

broken bones broken bones

Drogo, Stanislaus Kostka

broommakers broommakers

Anne

brushmakers brushmakers

Antony the Abbot

burns burns

John the Apostle

bus drivers bus drivers

Christopher

carnival workers, carnies carnival workers, carnies

Julian the Hospitaller

carriage makers carriage makers

Eligius (Eloi)

cartwrights; cart makers cartwrights; cart makers

Elijah

carvers carvers

Blaise, Olaf II

cathedral-chapter of Langres cathedral-chapter of Langres

Gebuinus

cats cats

Gertrude of Nivelles

cemetery workers cemetery workers

Antony the Abbot, Callistus I

champions; invincible people; to be invincible champions; invincible people; to be invincible

Drausinus

chastity, invoked for chastity, invoked for

Agnes of Rome, Thomas Aquinas

chemical industry, chemical manufacturers chemical industry, chemical manufacturers

Cosmas and Damian

child abuse victims child abuse victims

Alodia, Germaine Cousin, Lufthild, Nunilo

childhood diseases childhood diseases

Aldegundis, Pharaildis

childhood intestinal diseases childhood intestinal diseases

Erasmus (Elmo)

children learning to speak or talk children learning to speak or talk

Zeno of Verona

children learning to walk children learning to walk

Zeno of Verona

children who are late in learning to walk children who are late in learning to walk

Vaast

children's choir children's choir

Dominic Savio, Holy Innocents

children's nurses children's nurses

Foillan

chimney sweeps chimney sweeps

Florian

chivalry chivalry

George

choir boys choir boys

Dominic Savio, Gregory the Great, Holy Innocents

church cleaners church cleaners

Theobald Roggeri

circus workers circus workers

Julian the Hospitaller

city of Barbastro, Huesca. Aragon. Espana city of Barbastro, Huesca. Aragon. Espana

Raymond of Barbastro

city of Chieti, Italy city of Chieti, Italy

Justin of Chieti

city of Cuenca, Spain city of Cuenca, Spain

Julian of Cuenca

city of Saint-Oyen, Tarentaise, France city of Saint-Oyen, Tarentaise, France

Eugendus

city of Saint-Oyen, Valley of Aoste, Italy city of Saint-Oyen, Valley of Aoste, Italy

Eugendus

city of Saint-Oyens, Vaud, Switzerland city of Saint-Oyens, Vaud, Switzerland

Eugendus

city of Salzburg, Austria city of Salzburg, Austria

Rupert, Virgilius

city of Sutri, Italy city of Sutri, Italy

Dulcissima

civil disorder, riot (against) civil disorder, riot (against)

Andrew Corsini

clock makers; watch makers clock makers; watch makers

Eligius (Eloi), Peter the Apostle

clothing industry clothing industry

Paul the Hermit

clowns clowns

Genesius, Justin Martyr

coachmen coachmen

Richard of Chichester

coal miners coal miners

Leonard of Noblac

coffee house owners or keepers coffee house owners or keepers

Drogo, Nativity of the Blessed Virgin

coffin makers; casket makers coffin makers; casket makers

Stephen the Martyr

composers composers

Cecilia

compositors; typesetters compositors; typesetters

John the Apostle

computers, computer users, computer technicians, pc technicians computers, computer users, computer technicians, pc technicians

Isidore of Seville

confectioners confectioners

Honorius of Amiens, Joseph, Lawrence, Macarius the Younger

confessions, to make a good one confessions, to make a good one

Gerard Majella, John Nepomucene

conscientious objectors conscientious objectors

Marcellus

cooks, chefs cooks, chefs

Lawrence, Macarius the Younger, Martha, Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, Paschal Baylon

corn chandlers corn chandlers

Honorius of Amiens

coughs; against coughs; against

Blaise, Quentin, Walburga

council council

Holy Spirit

councilmen councilmen

Nicholas von Flue

countesses countesses

Elizabeth of Hungary

counts counts

Charles the Good, Gerald of Aurillac

courtiers courtiers

Gummarus

cowherds cowherds

Gummarus

craftsmen who work with a wheel (potters, spinners, etc.) craftsmen who work with a wheel (potters, spinners, etc.)

Catherine of Alexandria

criminals criminals

Dominic

curriers curriers

Simon the Apostle

cutters cutters

John the Baptist

danger at sea danger at sea

Erasmus (Elmo), Michael

desperate, forgotten, impossible or lost causes or situations desperate, forgotten, impossible or lost causes or situations

Jude Thaddeus, Gregory Thaumaturgus, Philomena, Rita of Cascia

devotees of the Sacred Heart devotees of the Sacred Heart

Margaret Mary Alacoque

dieticians dieticians

Martha

diocese of Achonry, Ireland diocese of Achonry, Ireland

Attracta, Nathy, Attracta

diocese of Albany, New York, USA diocese of Albany, New York, USA

Immaculate Conception of Mary

diocese of Alexandria, Louisiana, USA diocese of Alexandria, Louisiana, USA

Francis Xavier

diocese of Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada diocese of Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada

Ninian

diocese of Arlington, Virginia, USA diocese of Arlington, Virginia, USA

Thomas More

diocese of Austin, Texas, USA diocese of Austin, Texas, USA

Immaculate Conception

diocese of Barbastro, Espana diocese of Barbastro, Espana

Raymond of Barbastro

diocese of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA diocese of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

Joseph

diocese of Birmingham, Alabama diocese of Birmingham, Alabama

Paul, Apostle

diocese of Bismarck, North Dakota, USA diocese of Bismarck, North Dakota, USA

Immaculate Conception

diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA

Augustine of Hippo

diocese of Burlington, Vermont, USA diocese of Burlington, Vermont, USA

Immaculate Conception, Patrick

diocese of Camden, New Jersey, USA diocese of Camden, New Jersey, USA

Immaculate Conception

diocese of Charleston, South Carolina, USA diocese of Charleston, South Carolina, USA

John the Baptist

diocese of Cleveland, Ohio, USA diocese of Cleveland, Ohio, USA

John the Evangelist

diocese of Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA diocese of Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA

Our Lady of Guadalupe

diocese of Columbus, Ohio, USA diocese of Columbus, Ohio, USA

Francis de Sales

diocese of Constantinople diocese of Constantinople

Andrew, Apostle

diocese of Corpus Christi, Texas, USA diocese of Corpus Christi, Texas, USA

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patrick

diocese of Covington, Kentucky, USA diocese of Covington, Kentucky, USA

Paul, Apostle

diocese of Crookston, Minnesota, USA diocese of Crookston, Minnesota, USA

Immaculate Conception

diocese of Cuenca, Spain diocese of Cuenca, Spain

Julian of Cuenca

diocese of Des Moines, Iowa, USA diocese of Des Moines, Iowa, USA

Mary, Queen of Heaven, Pius X

diocese of Dodge City, Kansas, USA diocese of Dodge City, Kansas, USA

Our Lady of Guadalupe, John the Baptist

diocese of Duluth, Minnesota, USA diocese of Duluth, Minnesota, USA

Our Lady of the Holy Rosary

diocese of Elphia diocese of Elphia

Asicus

diocese of Fairbanks, Alaska, USA diocese of Fairbanks, Alaska, USA

Therese of Lisieux

diocese of Fargo, North Dakota, USA diocese of Fargo, North Dakota, USA

Assumption of the Virgin Mary

diocese of Ferns, Ireland diocese of Ferns, Ireland

Aeden of Ferns

diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, USA diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, USA

Immaculate Conception

diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, USA diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, USA

Patrick

diocese of Fresno, California, USA diocese of Fresno, California, USA

Therese of Lisieux

diocese of Gallup, New Mexico, USA diocese of Gallup, New Mexico, USA

Our Lady of Guadalupe

diocese of Gaylord, Michigan, USA diocese of Gaylord, Michigan, USA

Our Lady of Mount Carmel

diocese of Grand Island, Nebraska, USA diocese of Grand Island, Nebraska, USA

Blessed Virgin Mary

diocese of Great Falls-Billings, Montana, USA diocese of Great Falls-Billings, Montana, USA

Matthias the Apostle, Pius X

diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA

Francis Xavier

diocese of Guadalajara, Mexico diocese of Guadalajara, Mexico

Our Lady of Zapopan

diocese of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada diocese of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Mary, Mother of God

diocese of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA diocese of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA

Patrick

diocese of Helena, Montana, USA diocese of Helena, Montana, USA

Helena

diocese of Hexham and Newcastle, England diocese of Hexham and Newcastle, England

Cuthbert

diocese of Honolulu, Hawaii, USA diocese of Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

Our Lady fo Peace

diocese of Jaca diocese of Jaca

Eurosius

diocese of Jackson, Mississippi, USA diocese of Jackson, Mississippi, USA

Peter the Apostle

diocese of Jerez de la Frontera diocese of Jerez de la Frontera

John Grande

diocese of Joliet, Illinois, USA diocese of Joliet, Illinois, USA

Francis Xavier

diocese of Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA diocese of Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA

Augustine of Hippo

diocese of Killaloe diocese of Killaloe

Flannan of Killaloe

diocese of Lafayette, Indiana, USA diocese of Lafayette, Indiana, USA

Immaculate Conception

diocese of Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA diocese of Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA

Mary Immaculate, Mother of Jesus, Peter Claver

diocese of Las Vegas, Nevada, USA diocese of Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Peter the Apostle, Paul, Apostle

diocese of Limerick, Ireland diocese of Limerick, Ireland

Munchin

diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska, USA diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska, USA

Blessed Virgin Mary

diocese of Los Angeles, California, USA diocese of Los Angeles, California, USA

Bibiana

diocese of Manchester, New Hampshire, USA diocese of Manchester, New Hampshire, USA

Joseph

diocese of Marquette, Michigan, USA diocese of Marquette, Michigan, USA

Peter the Apostle

diocese of Monterey, California, USA diocese of Monterey, California, USA

Our Lady of Bethlehem, Charles Borromeo

diocese of Nashville, Tennessee, USA diocese of Nashville, Tennessee, USA

Joseph, Our Lady of Guadalupe

diocese of New Ulm, Minnesota, USA diocese of New Ulm, Minnesota, USA

Mary, Mother of God

diocese of Norwich, Connecticut, USA diocese of Norwich, Connecticut, USA

Anne, Patrick

diocese of Oakland, California, USA diocese of Oakland, California, USA

Our Lady, Queen of the World

diocese of Ogdensburg, New York, USA diocese of Ogdensburg, New York, USA

Immaculate Conception

diocese of Owensboro, Kentucky, USA diocese of Owensboro, Kentucky, USA

Stephen the Martyr

diocese of Paterson, New Jersey, USA diocese of Paterson, New Jersey, USA

John the Baptist

diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Florida, USA diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Florida, USA

Michael the Archangel, Thomas More

diocese of Peoria, Illinois, USA diocese of Peoria, Illinois, USA

Immaculate Conception

diocese of Phoenix, Arizona, USA diocese of Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Our Lady of Guadalupe

diocese of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA diocese of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Immaculate Conception

diocese of Portland, Maine, USA diocese of Portland, Maine, USA

Immaculate Conception, John the Baptist, Patrick

diocese of Providence, Rhode Island, USA diocese of Providence, Rhode Island, USA

Our Lady of Providence, Paul, Apostle, Peter the Apostle

diocese of Pueblo, Colorado, USA diocese of Pueblo, Colorado, USA

Immaculate Conception of Mary, Therese of Lisieux

diocese of Regensburg, Germany diocese of Regensburg, Germany

Erhard of Regensburg

diocese of Reno, Nevada, USA diocese of Reno, Nevada, USA

Our Lady of the Snows

diocese of Reno, Nevada, USA diocese of Reno, Nevada, USA

Vincent de Paul

diocese of Rockford, Illinois, USA diocese of Rockford, Illinois, USA

Immaculate Conception

diocese of Rockville Centre, New York, USA diocese of Rockville Centre, New York, USA

Agnes of Rome

diocese of Ross, Ireland diocese of Ross, Ireland

Fachanan

diocese of Sacramento, California, USA diocese of Sacramento, California, USA

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patrick

diocese of Saint Cloud, Minnesota, USA diocese of Saint Cloud, Minnesota, USA

Cloud

diocese of Saint Petersburg, Florida, USA diocese of Saint Petersburg, Florida, USA

Jude Thaddeus

diocese of Salina, Kansas, USA diocese of Salina, Kansas, USA

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Francis of Assisi

diocese of San Bernardino, California, USA diocese of San Bernardino, California, USA

Bernardine of Siena

diocese of San Diego, California, USA diocese of San Diego, California, USA

Diego

diocese of San Jose, California, USA diocese of San Jose, California, USA

Joseph

diocese of Santa Rosa, California, USA diocese of Santa Rosa, California, USA

Rose of Lima

diocese of Savannah, Georgia, USA diocese of Savannah, Georgia, USA

John the Baptist, Our Lady of Perpetual Help

diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA

Peter the Apostle

diocese of Sens, France diocese of Sens, France

Potentian, Sabinus

diocese of Shreveport, Louisiana, USA diocese of Shreveport, Louisiana, USA

Immaculate Conception, Elizabeth Ann Seton, Peter Claver

diocese of Sioux City, Iowa, USA diocese of Sioux City, Iowa, USA

Our Lady of Guadalupe

diocese of Spokane, Washington, USA diocese of Spokane, Washington, USA

Immaculate Conception

diocese of Springfield, Massachusetts, USA diocese of Springfield, Massachusetts, USA

Michael the Archangel

diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, Missouri, USA diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, Missouri, USA

Philippine Duchesne, Pius X

diocese of Steubenville, Ohio, USA diocese of Steubenville, Ohio, USA

Immaculate Heart of Mary

diocese of Superior, Wisconsin, USA diocese of Superior, Wisconsin, USA

Augustine of Hippo

diocese of Sutri, Italy diocese of Sutri, Italy

Dulcissima

diocese of Syracuse, New York, USA diocese of Syracuse, New York, USA

Immaculate Conception

diocese of Tucson, Arizona, USA diocese of Tucson, Arizona, USA

Augustine of Hippo

diocese of Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA diocese of Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA

Holy Family

diocese of Tyler, Texas, USA diocese of Tyler, Texas, USA

Immaculate Conception

diocese of Venice, Florida, USA diocese of Venice, Florida, USA

Our Lady of Mercy, Mark the Evangelist

diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia, USA diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia, USA

Joseph

diocese of Wichita, Kansas, USA diocese of Wichita, Kansas, USA

Immaculate Conception

diocese of Wilmington, Delaware diocese of Wilmington, Delaware

Francis de Sales

diocese of Worcester, Massachusetts, USA diocese of Worcester, Massachusetts, USA

Paul, Apostle

diocese of Wurzburg diocese of Wurzburg

Killian

diplomats diplomats

Gabriel the Archangel

discretion discretion

John Nepomucene

distillers distillers

Louis IX, Nativity of the Blessed Virgin

divorced people divorced people

Fabiola, Gummarus, Helena

dock workers, longshoremen dock workers, longshoremen

Nicholas of Myra

dog bites dog bites

Hubert of Liege, Vitus, Walburga, Ubald

dogs; dog lovers; dog fanciers dogs; dog lovers; dog fanciers

Hubert of Liege, Roch, Vitus

domestic workers, maids, butlers, manservants, servants domestic workers, maids, butlers, manservants, servants

Adelelmus, Martha, Zita

doves doves

Denis

drapers drapers

Nativity of the Blessed Virgin

drug addiction drug addiction

Maximillian Kolbe

duchesses duchesses

Hedwig, Ludmila

dukes dukes

Henry II

dyers, cloth dyers, purplers dyers, cloth dyers, purplers

Lydia Purpuraria, Maurice

dysentery dysentery

Lucy of Syracuse, Polycarp

dysfunctional families dysfunctional families

Eugene de Mazenod

e of Evansville, Indiana, USA e of Evansville, Indiana, USA

Mary, Mother of God

ecumenists, unity of the Eastern and Western Churches ecumenists, unity of the Eastern and Western Churches

Cyril and Methodius

elderly people elderly people

Anthony of Padua

empresses empresses

Adelaide, Helena, Pulcheria

enemies of religion enemies of religion

Sebastian

enlightenment enlightenment

Holy Spirit, Our Lady of Good Counsel

eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles for Maronites eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles for Maronites

Our Lady of Lebanon

eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn for the Maronites eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn for the Maronites

Maron

erysipelas erysipelas

Anthony the Abbott, Benedict, Ida of Nivelles

escape from devils escape from devils

Margaret (or Marina) of Antioch

evangelists evangelists

Paul, Apostle

excluded people excluded people

Patrick

exiles, people in exile exiles, people in exile

Adelaide, Angela Truszkowska, Arthelais, Clotilde, Epipodius, Jeanne Marie de Maille, Joaquina Vedruna de Mas, Kateri Tekakwitha, Margaret (or Marina) of Antioch, Rose of Viterbo

expeditious or prompt solutions; against procrastination expeditious or prompt solutions; against procrastination

Expeditus

fainting, faintness fainting, faintness

Urban of Langres, Ursus of Ravenna, Valentine

faith in the Blessed Sacrament faith in the Blessed Sacrament

Anthony of Padua

family happiness or harmony family happiness or harmony

Dymphna, Ksenya Blazhennaya

family life family life

Infant Jesus of Prague

farriers, horseshoe makers farriers, horseshoe makers

Eligius (Eloi), John the Baptist

fear of insects fear of insects

Gratus of Aosta

fear of mice or rats fear of mice or rats

Gertrude of Nivelles

fear of night fear of night

Giles

fear of snakes fear of snakes

Patrick

fear of the Lord fear of the Lord

Holy Spirit

fear of wasps fear of wasps

Friard

fencing fencing

Michael the Archangel

ferrymen ferrymen

Julian the Hospitaller

fiddlers, fiddle players fiddlers, fiddle players

Julian the Hospitaller

file makers file makers

Theodosius the Cenobriarch

final perseverance final perseverance

Alphonsus de Liguori

financial officers financial officers

Matthew the Apostle

fireworks and fireworks manufacturers fireworks and fireworks manufacturers

Barbara

fish fish

Neot

fish dealers, fishmongers fish dealers, fishmongers

Andrew, Apostle, Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, Magnus, Nativity of the Blessed Virgin

fistula fistula

Fiacre

flour merchants flour merchants

Honorius of Amiens

foot problems; feet problems foot problems; feet problems

Peter the Apostle, Servatus

for good weather for good weather

Agricola of Avignon, Clare of Assisi, Medard of Noyon

forgotten people forgotten people

Jeanne de Chantal

fortifications fortifications

Barbara

fortitude fortitude

Holy Spirit

founders founders

Barbara

freedom freedom

Infant Jesus of Prague

friendships friendships

John the Apostle

fruit dealers fruit dealers

Christopher

fugitives fugitives

Bridgid of Ireland

furriers furriers

Hubert of Liege, James the Greater

gambling addicts; compulsive gambling; uncontrolled gambling gambling addicts; compulsive gambling; uncontrolled gambling

Bernardine of Siena

geese; goose geese; goose

Gall, Martin of Tours

geometricians geometricians

Thomas, Apostle

gilders gilders

Clare of Assisi, Eligius (Eloi)

glandular disorders glandular disorders

Cadoc of Llancarvan

goitres goitres

Blaise

good finances good finances

Infant Jesus of Prague

grandfathers grandfathers

Joachim

grandmothers grandmothers

Anne

grandparents grandparents

Anne, Joachim

greeting card manufacturers greeting card manufacturers

Valentine

grooms, bridegrooms grooms, bridegrooms

Louis IX, Nicholas of Myra

guardian angels guardian angels

Raphael the Archangel

guards guards

Matthew the Apostle

hangovers hangovers

Bibiana

happy meetings happy meetings

Raphael the Archangel

harness makers harness makers

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, Eligius (Eloi)

harvesters harvesters

Peter the Apostle

haymakers haymakers

Gervase, Protase

head injuries head injuries

John Licci

healers healers

Bridgid of Ireland

health health

Infant Jesus of Prague

heart patients heart patients

John of God

herpes herpes

George

hogs, pigs, swine hogs, pigs, swine

Anthony the Abbott

homemakers, housewives, housekeepers homemakers, housewives, housekeepers

Anne, Martha, Monica, Zita

horned animals horned animals

Guy of Anderlecht

hosiers hosiers

Fiacre

hospital public relations hospital public relations

Paul, Apostle

house hunters or sellers house hunters or sellers

Joseph

human race, people human race, people

Mary, Mother of God

incest victims incest victims

Dymphna, Laurent (Lawrence)

infantrymen infantrymen

Maurice

innocence innocence

Hallvard

inquisitors inquisitors

Peter of Verona

insect bites insect bites

Mark the Apostle, Narcissus

inter-racial justice, race relations, racial harmony inter-racial justice, race relations, racial harmony

Martin de Porres, Peter Claver

interior souls interior souls

Joseph

invoked in time of war invoked in time of war

Elizabeth of Portugal

ions, Chinese ions, Chinese

Joseph

iron mongers, hardware, hardware stores iron mongers, hardware, hardware stores

Sebastian

jaundice jaundice

Odilo

job seekers, unemployed people job seekers, unemployed people

Cajetan

jockeys jockeys

Eligius (Eloi)

judges judges

Ivo of Kermartin, John of Capistrano, Nicholas of Myra

jugglers jugglers

Julian the Hospitaller

kidnap victims kidnap victims

Arthelais, Dagobert II

kidney stones; gravel kidney stones; gravel

Alban of Mainz

knee diseases or trouble knee diseases or trouble

Roch

knife grinders, knife sharpeners knife grinders, knife sharpeners

Catherine of Alexandria

knowledge knowledge

Holy Spirit

lamp makers lamp makers

Our Lady of Loreto

last sacraments last sacraments

Stanislaus Kostka

laundry workers, laundresses, washerwomen laundry workers, laundresses, washerwomen

Clare of Assisi, Lawrence

lawsuits lawsuits

Agia

lawsuits lost unjustly lawsuits lost unjustly

Nicholas of Myra

lay brothers lay brothers

Gerard Majella

lead workers lead workers

Sebastian

leg disease or trouble leg disease or trouble

Servatus

liberal arts liberal arts

Catherine of Bologna

linguists linguists

Gotteschalk

lions lions

Mark the Apostle

lithographers lithographers

John the Apostle

liturgy liturgy

Joseph Mary Tomasi

livestock livestock

Isidore the Farmer

longevity, long life longevity, long life

Peter the Apostle

loss of milk by nursing mothers loss of milk by nursing mothers

Margaret (or Marina) of Antioch

lost keys, against losing keys lost keys, against losing keys

Zita

lost vocations lost vocations

Gotteschalk

lumbago lumbago

Lawrence

lungs; chest; respiratory problems lungs; chest; respiratory problems

Bernardine of Siena

machinists machinists

Hubert of Liege

mail mail

Anthony of Padua

market carriers market carriers

Christopher

married couples married couples

Joseph

martyrs, murdered as confessors of the faith or for moral integrity martyrs, murdered as confessors of the faith or for moral integrity

Afra, Agatha, Agostina Pietrantoni, Alodia, Barbara, Cecilia, Dymphna, Felicity, Flora of Cordoba, Joan of Arc

mathematicians mathematicians

Barbara, Hubert of Liege

mechanics mechanics

Catherine of Alexandria

medical record librarians medical record librarians

Raymond of Pennafort

medical social workers medical social workers

John Regis

mental health professionals, caregivers, psychiatrists, therapists mental health professionals, caregivers, psychiatrists, therapists

Dymphna

metal collectors, precious metal collectors metal collectors, precious metal collectors

Eligius (Eloi)

migraine; against migraines; migraine sufferers migraine; against migraines; migraine sufferers

Gereon, Severus of Avranches, Ubald Baldassini

military engineers military engineers

Barbara

misfortune misfortune

Agricola of Avignon

missionary bishops missionary bishops

Paul, Apostle

money managers money managers

Matthew the Apostle

motherhood motherhood

Gerard Majella

mountain travellers mountain travellers

Petronilla

mulattoes, bi-racial or multi-racial people mulattoes, bi-racial or multi-racial people

Martin de Porres

murderers murderers

Caedwalla, Julian the Hospitaller, Nicholas of Myra, Vladimir

musical instrument makers musical instrument makers

Cecilia

mute people, muteness, dumbness mute people, muteness, dumbness

Drogo

mystics, mystical theology mystics, mystical theology

John of the Cross

nail makers nail makers

Cloud

native rights native rights

Turibius of Mogroveio

native traditions native traditions

Alonso Rodriguez

natural disasters natural disasters

Agatha

natural sciences natural sciences

Albertus Magnus

needle makers needle makers

Nativity of the Blessed Virgin

net makers net makers

Peter the Apostle

neuralgia neuralgia

Ubald Baldassini

newlyweds newlyweds

Nicholas of Myra

news dealers news dealers

Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin

novices of the Oblates of Saint Joseph novices of the Oblates of Saint Joseph

John Berchmans

oaths oaths

Pancras

obsession obsession

Raphael the Archangel

obstetricians obstetricians

Raymond Nonnatus

oil refiners oil refiners

Honorius of Amiens

old-clothes dealers old-clothes dealers

Anne

open sores open sores

Peregrine Laziosi

oppressed people oppressed people

Anthony of Padua

papal delegates papal delegates

John XXIII

papermakers papermakers

John the Apostle

paralysis, paralysed people paralysis, paralysed people

Osmund

parents separated from children parents separated from children

Jeanne de Chantal

parish clerks parish clerks

Nicholas of Myra

parks; park services parks; park services

John Gualbert

pastry chefs pastry chefs

Honorius of Amiens, Macarius the Younger

pavement workers pavement workers

Vincent Ferrer

peace; invoked as peacemaker peace; invoked as peacemaker

Barnabas, Elizabeth of Portugal, Francis of Paola, Infant Jesus of Prague

peasant girls, young country girls, girls who live in rural areas peasant girls, young country girls, girls who live in rural areas

Germaine Cousin

pencil makers pencil makers

Thomas Aquinas

penitent sinners penitent sinners

Mary Magdalene

people in needd of grace people in needd of grace

Teresa of Avila

people rejected by religious orders people rejected by religious orders

Benedict Joseph Labre, Clare, Henry II, Jeanne de Lestonnac

pewterers pewterers

Fiacre

photographers photographers

Veronica

piety piety

Holy Spirit

pin makers pin makers

Nativity of the Blessed Virgin

pioneers pioneers

Joseph

playing card manufacturers playing card manufacturers

Balthasar

plumbers plumbers

Vincent Ferrer

poisonous snakes poisonous snakes

Paul, Apostle

polio polio

Margaret Mary Alacoque

political prisoners political prisoners

Maximillian Kolbe

politicians politicians

Thomas More

pork butchers and processors pork butchers and processors

Transfiguration of Our Lord

porters porters

Christopher, Leonard of Noblac, Theobald Roggeri

potters potters

Catherine of Alexandria, Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, Sebastian

poultry raisers, chicken farmers poultry raisers, chicken farmers

Bridgid of Ireland

precision instrument makers precision instrument makers

Hubert of Liege

princesses princesses

Adelaide, Dymphna

printing presses printing presses

Bridgid of Ireland

prisoners of war, pow's prisoners of war, pow's

Leonard of Noblac

prisons prisons

Joseph Cafasso

prolonged suffering prolonged suffering

Lydwina of Schiedam

protection of lambs protection of lambs

John the Baptist

province of Burgenland province of Burgenland

Martin of Tours

province of Carinthia province of Carinthia

Joseph

province of Lower Austria province of Lower Austria

Leopold III

province of Salzburg, Austria province of Salzburg, Austria

Rupert

province of Styria, Austria province of Styria, Austria

Joseph

province of Tyrol, Austria province of Tyrol, Austria

Joseph

province of Upper Austria province of Upper Austria

Leopold III

province of Vorarlberg, Austria province of Vorarlberg, Austria

Gebhard

purse makers purse makers

Brieuc

quartermasters quartermasters

Martin of Tours

rabies, hydrophobia, mad dogs rabies, hydrophobia, mad dogs

Dominic of Silos, Guy of Anderlecht, Hubert of Liege

racquet makers racquet makers

Sebastian

rams rams

Giles

reformed alcoholics reformed alcoholics

Martin of Tours, Matthias

reformed prostitutes reformed prostitutes

Margaret of Cortona, Mary Magdalene

reformed thieves reformed thieves

Dismas

reformers reformers

Basil the Great

refugees refugees

Alban

religious, people in religious orders religious, people in religious orders

Benedict, Teresa of Avila

restauranteurs restauranteurs

Lawrence, Nicholas

restoration of religious freedom in Russia restoration of religious freedom in Russia

Therese of Lisieux

rheumatoid sufferers; rheumatism, arthritis rheumatoid sufferers; rheumatism, arthritis

Coloman, James the Greater, Killian, Servatus, Totnan

ribbon makers ribbon makers

Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin

road builders road builders

Sebastian of Aparicio

rope makers; rope braiders rope makers; rope braiders

Paul, Apostle

runaways runaways

Alodia, Dymphna, Eulalia

running water running water

John Nepomucene

rural communities rural communities

Isidore the Farmer

sacristans; sextons sacristans; sextons

Guy of Anderlecht

salesmen salesmen

Lucy of Syracuse

salmon salmon

Kentigern

saltpetre workers saltpetre workers

Barbara

sawmen, sawyers sawmen, sawyers

Balthasar

sceond marriages sceond marriages

Adelaide, Matilda

school principals, schoolmasters school principals, schoolmasters

John Baptist de la Salle

schools for the poor schools for the poor

Joseph Calasanz

scribes scribes

Catherine of Alexandria

scrofulous diseases, struma scrofulous diseases, struma

Mark the Evangelist

seamstresses seamstresses

Anne

seasickness seasickness

Erasmus (Elmo)

secretaries secretaries

Catherine of Alexandria, Genesius of Arles

seekers of lost articles seekers of lost articles

Anthony of Padua

separated spouses separated spouses

Gummarus, Nicholas of Myra

servants who broke their masters' property servants who broke their masters' property

Benedict

sheds; stables; outbuildings sheds; stables; outbuildings

Guy of Anderlecht

sheep sheep

Drogo

shermen of Folkestone England shermen of Folkestone England

Rumwold

ship builders; shipwrights ship builders; shipwrights

Peter the Apostle

sick horses sick horses

Eligius (Eloi)

silence silence

John Nepomucene

silk workers silk workers

Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, Severus of Avranches

slavery slavery

Peter Claver

smallpox smallpox

Matthias

smelters smelters

Barbara, Hubert of Liege

soap boilers soap boilers

Florian

souls in purgatory souls in purgatory

Nicholas of Tolentino, Odilo

spasms spasms

John the Baptist

speliologists, spelunkers, potholers, cavers, cave scientists speliologists, spelunkers, potholers, cavers, cave scientists

Benedict

spiritual directors or leaders spiritual directors or leaders

Charles Borromeo

spiritual help spiritual help

Vincent de Paul

spur makers spur makers

Giles

stablemen stablemen

Anne

stained glass workers; glass painters stained glass workers; glass painters

Lawrence, Lucy of Syracuse

stammering children stammering children

Notkar Balbulus

starch makers starch makers

Charles Borromeo

stock brokers stock brokers

Matthew the Apostle

storks storks

Agricola of Avignon

storms at sea storms at sea

Mochelloc

students of theology students of theology

Albertus Magnus

success success

Servatus

swans swans

Hugh of Lincoln

swineherds swineherds

Anthony of Padua, Antony the Abbot

syphilis syphilis

Fiacre, George

tapestry workers tapestry workers

Francis of Assisi

teenagers, teenage children teenagers, teenage children

Aloysius Gonzaga

television workers television workers

Gabriel the Archangel

television writers television writers

Clare of Assisi

tent makers tent makers

Paul, Apostle

the Internet the Internet

Isidore of Seville

the O'Neill clan the O'Neill clan

Mura McFeredach

the recently dead the recently dead

Gertrude of Nivelles

thieves thieves

Nicholas of Myra

tile makers tile makers

Fiacre, Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, Roch

tilers tilers

Barbara

tin miners tin miners

Joseph of Arimathea, Piran

tin smiths; tinsmiths tin smiths; tinsmiths

Joseph of Arimathea

to have male children to have male children

Felicity

to obtain lodgings while travelling to obtain lodgings while travelling

Gertrude of Nivelles, Julian the Hospitaller

tool makers tool makers

Eligius (Eloi)

toy makers toy makers

Claude de la Columbiere

translators translators

Jerome

transportation, transportation workers transportation, transportation workers

Christopher

trappers trappers

Bartholomew the Apostle, Eustachius, Hubert of Liege

travel hostesses travel hostesses

Anthony of Padua

travelling merchants travelling merchants

Menas

treaties treaties

Pancras

treaties between the Popes and Frankish emperors treaties between the Popes and Frankish emperors

Petronilla

truckers, truck drivers, lorry drivers truckers, truck drivers, lorry drivers

Christopher

truss makers truss makers

Foillan

turners turners

Anne, Catherine of Alexandria, Claude de la Columbiere

unattractive people unattractive people

Drogo, Germaine Cousin

unborn children unborn children

Gerard Majella, Joseph

understanding understanding

Holy Spirit

upholsterers upholsterers

Feast of the Immaculate Conception

victims of adultery or unfaithfulness victims of adultery or unfaithfulness

Catherine of Genoa, Elizabeth of Portugal, Fabiola

victims of jealousy victims of jealousy

Elizabeth of Portugal, Hedwig

vine dressers vine dressers

Urban of Langres

virtue virtue

Hallvard

wandering musicians, minstrels wandering musicians, minstrels

Julian the Hospitaller

warehouses warehouses

Barbara

watchmen watchmen

Peter of Alcantara

wax melters, wax refiners wax melters, wax refiners

Ambrose of Milan, Bernard of Clairvaux

whales whales

Brendan the Navigator

whiteners whiteners

Bartholomew the Apostle

whitewashers whitewashers

Coloman, Killian, Totnan

widowers widowers

Thomas More

wisdom wisdom

Holy Spirit

wolves wolves

Edmund of East Anglia

women who wish to become mothers women who wish to become mothers

Andrew, Apostle

women whose husbands are at war women whose husbands are at war

Daniel of Padua

woods, forests, woodlands woods, forests, woodlands

Giles

wool combers wool combers

Blaise

wool manufacturers wool manufacturers

Severus of Avranches

wool weavers wool weavers

Blaise, Severus of Avranches

work horses; working horses work horses; working horses

Guy of Anderlecht

wounds wounds

Aldegundis, Rita of Cascia

writers of catechisms writers of catechisms

Peter Claver

yachtsmen yachtsmen

Adjutor, Our Lady, Star of the SeaWe ask you, humbly, to help. Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you. Help Now >

Popular Saints

Copyright 2021 Catholic Online. All materials contained on this site, whether written, audible or visual are the exclusive property of Catholic Online and are protected under U.S. and International copyright laws,  Copyright 2021 Catholic Online. Any unauthorized use, without prior written consent of Catholic Online is strictly forbidden and prohibited.

Catholic Online is a Project of Your Catholic Voice Foundation, a Not-for-Profit Corporation. Your Catholic Voice Foundation has been granted a recognition of tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Federal Tax Identification Number: 81-0596847. Your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law.Augustinian bishop. Born at Fuentellana, Castile, Spain, he was the son of a miller. He studied at the University of Alcala, earned a licentiate in theology, and became a professor there at the age ... continue reading

We ask you, humbly: don't scroll away. Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you.



Help Now >





More Saints of the Day

Tomorrow's Saint

St. Padre Pio was an Italian priest who was known for his piety and charity, as well as the gift of the stigmata, which has never been explained. St. Padre Pio was born Francesco Forgione, on May ... continue readingDog-loving hearts around the country broke upon learning that a pup died on a United Airlines flight, which certainly didnt improve Uniteds faltering reputation. The dog, a 10-month-old French bulldog, died during the trip after flight attendants forced his owner to put him in the overhead compartment. By the time the plane landed, the dog was dead.

This incident was absolutely tragic, but unfortunately, it isnt as rare as you might think. Flying with your pet is sometimes a necessity, but these troubling statistics make it seem unsafe.

Kokito was the latest victim

Kokito was the 10-month-old pup aboard the fateful United flight. According to witnesses, his owner was traveling with her 11-year-old daughter and newborn baby. A flight attendant insisted the woman put her pups carrier in the overhead bins because it was blocking the aisle. The flight attendant claimed she didnt know there was a dog in the carrier, but multiple passengers (including the womans daughter) dispute that claim.

Poor Kokito didnt make it through the four-hour flight, and the woman discovering his dead body was traumatizing for the passengers and the children onboard. The investigation is still pending.

Next: This is how many pets died on flights in 2017.



This is how many pet died on planes in 2017

According to data from the Department of Transportation, a whopping 24 pets lost their lives on planes in 2017. Considering about 2 million animals fly every year, that doesnt seem like many  until you realize that United Airlines was responsible for 18 of those 24 deaths. It seems that flying with animals is relatively safe on other major airlines, but United is falling short.

Next: Uniteds reaction

United takes the blame

United Airlines issued a statement on March 13 saying it took full responsibility for the tragic accident and said it was conducting a full investigation. But a United spokesperson is already saying an overwhelming number of the pets deaths were due to things beyond the airlines control, such as preexisting medical conditions.

Next: Uniteds troubled reputation

This doesnt help Uniteds situation

United Airlines doesnt have the best track record. The are officially one of the most hated airlines in the country due to their serious customer service issues, especially the incident where they dragged a passenger off a plane. This is part of the reason why people arent so quick to forgive this latest accident where Kokito lost his life.

Next: Uniteds big plan

How can United stop this from happening?

Going forward, United plans to issue brightly colored bag tags to anyone traveling with pets to prevent animals carriers from being placed in overhead bins again. It also claims anytime there is a pet death incident, it is thoroughly investigated in hopes of preventing it from ever happening again.

Next: This has gotten so bad that even our politicians are taking notice.

A senator speaks up

Sen. John Kennedy from Louisiana issued a statement demanding answers from United Airlines and vowing to pass more laws in support of pets and pet owners.

For many people, pets are members of the family. They should not be treated like insignificant cargo, Kennedy said in a letter to United Airlines President Scott Kirby. Frankly, they shouldnt be placed in the cargo hold much less an overhead bin.

Next: Heres what you can do to keep your pups safe.

Is flying with your pet safe?

Understandably, this has raised some concerns about flying with pets. But since sometimes bringing our four-legged friends along is unavoidable, your best bet is to take measures to ensure their safety. The ASPCA suggests booking a direct flight if possible, purchasing a USDA-approved shipping crate, and telling every single airline employee you meet about your pet companion. While theyre typically safe in the cargo hold, you should never, ever put them in the overhead compartments.

Check out The Cheat Sheet on Facebook!Throughout the history of the United States, the American people have used their voices to promote change and share their beliefs. The biggest example is through protests. Keep reading for some of the biggest protests in American history.

March on Washington for jobs and freedom

August 28, 1963 went down as a historic day for a few reasons. Approximately 250,000 people marched for Civil Rights in Washington, D.C., according to Business Insider. At the Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous I Have a Dream speech.

Hint: Small protests led to one giant protest in 1969.

Anti-Vietnam War protest

On November 15, 1969, one of the biggest marches took place, according to Business Insider. Between 500,000 and 600,000 people marched through Washington, D.C., protesting the Vietnam War. Smaller rallies began in 1967 leading up to this giant protest in 1969.

Hint: A million people flood Central Park for a protest.

Anti-nuclear march

In New York Citys Central Park on June 12, 1982, approximately one million people gathered to protest the use of nuclear weapons. The demonstration was far larger than any during the antiwar movement of the late 1960s and early 70s, and was possibly the largest ever in the city, The New York Times said. The demonstration marked the Second Special Session on Disarmament by the United Nations.

Hint: Marches took place on every continent supporting this cause.

The womens march

Approximately 500,000 people protested in the Womens March on Washington the day after Trumps inauguration, January 21, 2017, according to Business Insider. The march for womens rights, became one of the largest one-day protests in American history. In over 600 cities across the nation, an estimated 4.2 million people marched in sister protests.

Hint: Firing people on strike led to a march.

Solidarity day march

On Sept. 19, 1981, nearly 260,000 people marched in Washington, D.C., protesting 12,000 air traffic controllers being fired by President Ronald Reagan, according to Business Insider. The air traffic controllers went on strike and demanded a wage increase and safer working conditions.

Hint: This is the biggest protest in world history.

Iraq War protests

Protests against the Iraq War took place in major cities across America  and the world  for two days in February 2003. 10-15 million people marched across 600 cities and at least 500,000 protested in the United States.

Hint: Students organize a walkout using social media.

School walkouts

Thousands of students across the nation walked out of classrooms on March 14, 2018 to demand stricter gun laws, one month after 17 people were killed at Floridas Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, according to CNN. The walkouts, coordinated by students through social media, occurred for 17 minutes  one minute for the death of every person  followed by marches to government buildings, including the White House, and speeches.

Hint: Thousands took part in the Great March of 1987.

Great march

The Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, better known as the Great March, drew 200,000 people, according to The New York Times. People marched for more federal funding for AIDS research and treatment and an end to discrimination. This march took place in 1987 followed by a similar march in 1993, according to Business Insider.

Check out The Cheat Sheet on Facebook!

Read more: Experts Say Doing This 1 Thing Could Keep You Alive During a Mass ShootingMother's Day cards have become gender-neutral in a British supermarket, as Waitrose, which has over 350 shops in the United Kingdom, released different versions to celebrate the family holiday with a more inclusive context in its message.

Instead of the usual "Happy Mother's Day" phrase, the store has started offering "Happy You Day" cards with messages like "Two mums are better than one" or "Dad, thanks for being the most amazing mum" during last Sunday's celebration.

A spokesperson stated that they want to broaden the idea of celebrating Mother's Day. The company wanted to provide its customers options that include grandmothers, single dads and transgender moms.

The move to release gender-neutral cards coincided with the transgender campaign to also call Mother's Day as Mothering Sunday since any person can have a "mothering" characteristic.

Cathy Ruse, a Senior Legal Fellow at the Family Research Council, however, said that people must be vigilant about this type of attack on women.

"Some feminists say the transgender project amounts to 'female erasure.' If we can't even make reference to a 'pregnant woman' a if we have to say 'pregnant person' a then we are, literally, erasing 'women,'" Ruse said in a statement. She added that the transgender ideology is a threat on women's "safe spaces" since those who are biologically male are lumped in the same place as biological women.

Other groups who cannot get behind Waitrose's move said that becoming a mother entails lifelong sacrifices and commitments, which make moms irreplaceable. Moms are the most important part of Mother's Day celebrations. It is the one special day in a year for mothers, and gender activists might be taking away the credit that is due to moms by removing the word "mother" from this special day.

The U.K. celebrates Mother's Day every March as it coincided with Lent and Easter celebrations. The original concept of Mother's Day for them was for Christians to return to their hometown and visit their "mother" church. Other countries, including the United States, celebrate Mother's Day in May.The district government in China's Henan province has removed all crosses at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, also known as the Shangqiu South Church. A priest, who witnessed the crosses being taken down, took a video and shared the disconcerting footage online.

A group of unidentified men unexpectedly entered the church's property and cut off the power last Friday, March 9. They then started tearing down the large crosses at the rooftop of the cathedral, within the premises of the smaller church and at the gate tower. The men removed at least 10 crucifixes.

Members of the church prayed outside as the men took out the crosses. Some called the police, but the authorities detained the priests and took their cellphones instead of arresting the intruders. Reports revealed that the men had originally intended to occupy the church's property but decided to take down the crosses instead.

Though the incident was a first for Henan province, it followed a string of persecutions among Christians in China as the government continued to enforce a tight control over religious organizations. Shangqiu South Church, however, was a government-sanctioned church, thus the people wondered why it was targeted.

A priest known only as Father John stated that the intruders might have been carrying out the provisions in the newly revised rules on religious affairs. These men, however, must have misunderstood how these regulations should be executed, similar to what has happened in other provinces.

Chinese authorities, meanwhile, returned to Shangqiu South Church the following day to install new but smaller crosses. International Christian Concern voiced its concern over the rising incident of Christian prosecution in China.

"The crackdown on churches used to be targeted mostly at underground communities, but we are now seeing increasing assaults and harassment on state-sanctioned churches as well," ICC Regional Manager Gina Go stated. "Please pray for the Church in China to persevere despite growing persecution."Ben Carson, the head of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, finally knows why God willed him to lead the agency, a year after he took up office. The neurosurgeon has revealed that a passage in the Bible helped him hatch a program to help low-income American families.

The Christian conservative explained to CBN that a verse in Proverbs inspired him to set up EnVision Centers to teach and strengthen economic self-sufficiency in households. Carson realized that if Americans keep relying on government assistance, they would not be equipped to grab better opportunities to improve their life.

"We have to provide a mechanism whereby they can climb the ladder of opportunity," Carson said, and referred to Proverbs 29:18 that states, "Where there is no vision, the people perish."

The HUD secretary added, "I look around and see a lot of people who just are not thriving."

Launched in December, EnVision Centers has 10 pilot programs across the United States. The HUD has partnered with different government agencies, private companies, non-profits and faith-based groups that make up the hubs that will help Americans in areas like education, character and leadership, health and wellness, and economic empowerment.

"EnVision Centers are designed to help people take the first few steps towards self-sufficiency," Carson stated. "Every household we are able to help graduate from HUD-assistance allows HUD to help one more family in need."

Critics of Carson's program, however, say that his leadership at the HUD is anti-poor. Diane Yentel of the National Low Income Housing Coalition told Chicago Defender that some of the requirements to qualify for the department's programs were not beneficial to low-income families. She also believes that the program does not guarantee better opportunities for the poor.

Carson also reportedly blocked a ruling set during President Barack Obama's term that would give access to Fair Housing to low-income families. The rule was supposed to take effect in January in 23 cities in America.

Meanwhile, Carson was officially sworn in as the Housing and Urban Development secretary by Vice President Mike Pence on March 2.Bishops from the Philippines are asking legislators to give the divorce bill another thought, after it passed a second reading at the House of Representatives.

In a pastoral letter read to churchgoers, Archbishop Romula Valles of Davao City, who is the current president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, stated that the bill threatened marriages and families. He advised lawmakers to talk the matter over with their constituents before signing the bill into a law.

"With due respect to [the legislators], we beg them to make room for more reasoned debates on the issue," Valles said. "Ask people and they'll have no second thoughts affirming that the family remains one of our most valued treasures as Filipinos."

But a poll conducted in 2017 showed that 53 percent of Filipinos favor the legalization of divorce. The Philippines, where 86 percent are Catholics, and the Vatican are the only two places around the world where divorce is not allowed, except for Filipino Muslims.

However, the Family Code of the Philippines allows for annulment - which nulls and voids a marriage - and legal separation. Both processes undergo expensive and extensive hearings in court. The divorce bill, if legalized, would make the process affordable, especially for low-income families.

On Feb. 21, the committee on population and family relations at the Lower House accepted the divorce bill introduced by Albay representative Edcel Lagman for deliberation. There is still no divorce bill equivalent in the Philippine Senate (Upper House), which will discuss the House bill in the coming months.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, however, also released a statement through its Executive Secretary Fr. Jerome Secillano, decrying the measure and citing that it was anti-family and anti-marriage.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte stated in his campaign in 2016 that he was against divorce but would let lawmakers decide on the bill. The president's first wife, Elizabeth Zimmerman, filed for annulment in 1998 and the courts granted this after two years.A Portland couple, who was married for 66 years, decided to end their life together by committing assisted suicide.

Charlie and Francie Emerick both suffered from terminal illnesses hence they took advantage of Oregon's Death With Dignity law. Their daughters recently shared the video of their final moments on the internet, in the documentary "Living and Dying: A Love Story."

Francie, 88, expired within 15 minutes of the lethal injection due to her weak heart and after suffering from multiple heart attacks. Charlie, 87, had struggled with prostrate cancer and Parkinson's disease, died an hour later.

"They had no regrets, no unfinished business," their daughter Sher Safran told the press. "It felt like their time, and it meant so much to know they were together."

The Emericks apparently always intended to die together, if they could, and supported assisted suicide since the 1980s, according to daughter Jerilyn Marler. In the video that their daughters filmed before they took their life, the couple reiterated that they examined the legalities of the Oregon law carefully with the help of Linda Jensen from the nonprofit End of Life Choices.

The elderly pair was prompted to look into this option after Charlie, a former doctor and medical missionary, learned in 2017 that he had six months to live. But Stephen Drake, a member of the pro-life group Not Dead Yet, warned that the Emericks' video documentary could be romanticizing assisted suicide. According to reports, some of their relatives and close friends also disagreed with the couple's choice.

On Thursday, April 20, 2017, the Emericks breathed their last together. Six days before their scheduled euthanasia, the two had a bittersweet celebration of their life and death with their daughters. The family had no funeral as the couple chose to donate their bodies to the Oregon Health & Science University.

Oregon's Death With Dignity law has been enacted since 1997.Priests in the Philippines must undergo a "lifestyle check" to determine if they are carrying out tasks in accordance with their missions, a bishop has urged.

In a speech at a conference dubbed as the National Discernment of Priests on their Prophetic Role where 120 clergymen were in attendance, Bishop Gerardo Alminaza of San Carlos suggested that they must be able to qualify the time they spend in "cultic, prophetic, administrative" activities. The bishop also laid out the differences among the tasks that priests perform.

He enumerated that cultic activities involves the administration of sacraments or doing house blessings, among other rituals. Prophetic activities, on the other hand, include putting together projects to help the needy, becoming involved in issues that plague the community such as the violation of justice and human rights, or fixing conflicts among parishioners. Meanwhile, administrative activities involve mounting fund-raisers that will go to church repairs and improvements.

The priests must also evaluate the gadgets they use, the places they visit for recreation, and the people with whom they socialize.

"For me, every month, a financial statement is a spiritual document," Alminaza, who also heads the Episcopal Commission on Seminaries, stated. "It reveals my values, my priorities...Does it go to food, recreation, to helping somebody?"

Alminaza implied that there are, unfortunately, priests who spend parishioners' money to send their relatives to school. The bishop noted that some clergymen feel that they have to fend for themselves and tend to their wants and needs despite years of learning about their vocation at the seminary. He urged the participants at the conference to review the Vatican document "The Gift of Priestly Vocation" or "Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis."

Alminanza's speech was part of an event that was held in line with the Year of the Clergy and Consecrated Persons. Aside from discussing priestly formation, the group also touched on extra judicial killings, Charter Change and the 500th year of Christianity in the Philippines, among others. The National Clergy Discernment Group organized the event.Notable British scientist Stephen Hawking, who died at the age of 76 last Wednesday, did not believe in the existence of heaven and had a different view about God.

In his interviews over the years, the theoretical physicist alluded that men have an "impersonal God" who did not create life and the universe. Hawking also publicly expressed that he was an atheist.

"God is the name people give to the reason we are here," Hawking once told Time, while promoting his book "The Grand Design." "But I think that reason is the laws of physics rather than someone with whom one can have a personal relationship."

Speaking to a Spanish publication in 2014, Hawking also explicitly said that he was an atheist. In 2008, the scientist admitted to Reuters that he was not a religious person.

Hawking also underscored the difference between religion, which is compounded on authority and miracles, and science, which is based on observation and reason. As a man of science, he believed it was far superior to religion.

But for years, people thought Hawking kept his religious beliefs private since he had alluded that "laws may have been decreed by God." He also wrote a book called "God Created Integers."

At 21 years old, Hawking learned he suffered from a debilitating condition called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS. He slowly lost control of his muscle movement, which confined him to a wheelchair.

Because ALS also affected his speech, Hawking spoke using a computerized voice device. Doctors told him that his condition would shorten his life expectancy and predicted he might die young, However, he surprised the world with his genius mind for decades.

Hawking also once said that he did not fear dying but wants to accomplish a lot of things first before his body and brain completely break down like a computer.

"There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark," the scientist remarked.The government of Sweden has been depriving the rights of former Iranian actress Aideen Strandsson. She is one among hundreds of Christian asylum seekers in Sweden who arrived in the country in 2014.

Strandsson, who has since changed her last name, turned away from Islam and her native country when she found salvation in Jesus Christ. After a few years in Sweden, however, the government has yet to grant her a passport or a citizenship. She has also not been allowed to seek employment.

The former actress cannot do much in Sweden because of her status, except help out in her church and learn Tae Kwon Do. Even so, the government told her that her black belt certificate would be invalid since she was not a legal resident.

These are just some of the ways Sweden has been denying Strandsson her rights.

"The idea is to starve you so you tell them to send you out," lawyer Gabriel Donner told CBN News.. He also said that Syrians and Somalians, including former ISIS members, have better chances of getting legalized in Sweden than Christians.

The former celebrity is aware that she could be deported back to Iran at any time, where she could be imprisoned, raped or killed. Strandsson, however, was not afraid as she drew her strength from Jesus and her family.

A 2017 Open Door poll among 123 Christian refugees in Sweden revealed that at least 53 percent have experienced having a target on their back because of their faith. At least 45 percent revealed that they had received threats about death at least once.

The majority of those affected also refuse to file a report to the police because of their status. Though the government is aware of the attacks against Christians in Sweden, no investigations have been undertaken to put the perpetrators behind bars.

About 63.2 percent of Sweden's population follows the Lutheran Church of Sweden. Some 3.8 percent are Protestants, while 1.4 percent and 1.2 percent are Islam and Catholics respectively.The Museum of the Bible in Washington D.C. has acquired Donald Trump's Bible from his childhood, which he used when he took his oath of office as the 45th President of the United States in January 2017.

Trump's childhood Bible was a Revised Standard Version, which he received from his mother, Mary Anne, to use while he attended Sunday school at the First Presbyterian Church in New York. His teachers had the Bible inscribed when he graduated from Sunday school in 1955.

The president revealed during his campaign that his childhood Bible had his mother's handwriting. She wrote her son's name and address inside its covers. Trump also had a second Bible in his inauguration, which was what President Abraham Lincoln used when he took his oath in 1861.

"We are honored to add this piece of our nation's history to our growing exhibit of presidential Bibles," according to the museum's president Cary Summers. "It is our hope that guests will be able to learn not only about each president's unique Bible, but also about the influence this book has had on government and elected officials around the world."

The Museum of the Bible has placed Trump's book on display at the second floor's "Bible in the World" exhibit. It will be part of the presidential Bibles collection, which also houses the Bibles of presidents Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush.

Like Trump, Truman used his personal Bible when he took his oath in 1945. Eisenhower, on the other hand, had his Bible opened to Psalm 33:12 when he was sworn in as the President of the United States in 1953.

Bush's Bible was a present from the Air Force One crew on his last day of office in 1993, which the Museum of the Bible received on loan from his estate. It joined the Bush family Bible, which Bush used when he took office in 1989. It was also the same one his son used when he himself became president in 2001.

The Museum of the Bible opened its doors in November. Aside from the presidential Bible collection, the museum also features Bibles and Bible artifacts from historical figures, religious and political leaders.The Vatican confessed to altering a photo featuring Pope Benedict's letter about Pope Francis. The manipulation resulted in the blurring of details on how the retired pope had not actually read the book about his successor.

Pope Benedict praised the book series "The Theology of Pope Francis" in his letter to Monsignor Dario Edoardo Vigano of the Secretariat for Communications. However, the photo given to the media, which featured a stack of books and Benedict's letter in full, had some parts indistinct.

The letter was supposed to silence critics of Pope Francis, who have said in the past that the pontiff did not have theological influence. Benedict, however, stated that his successor upheld "interior unity" with the former pope's beliefs since Francis became the leader of the Catholic Church.

"It contradicts the foolish prejudice of those who see Pope Francis as someone who lacks a particular theological and philosophical formation," Benedict wrote.

An unnamed Vatican spokesperson, however, confirmed to the press that the last two lines of the letter had been altered without informing the media. In it, Benedict said that he could not provide a theological assessment of Pope Francis since he did not have time to read the volumes that Vigano's office gave for him to review.

Vigano gave Benedict the books in January. The retired pontiff wrote the letter in February.

Vigano read parts of the letter during the book's launch this March but left out the blurred parts as well. A journalist covering the launch posted the details on his blog and asked for the full text of the letter.

Critics said that the blurring was a violation of photojournalistic standards. It has become an issue among other media outlets relying on Vatican sources for news. The spokesperson defended that the Vatican actually did not intend to release the letter's photo in full.

"The Theology of Pope Francis" provides an in-depth analysis of the pontiff's practices, beliefs and pontification, which the Vatican Publishing House released.Ireland will vote in May on whether or not to legalize abortion, and American pro-life leaders are urging Irish officials to preserve the rights of unborn babies.

LifeNews.com reports that the Eighth Amendment of the Irish Constitution protects unborn babies right to life. If the May vote overturns this amendment, abortion could be legalized for almost any reason and at any stage of gestation.

Seventeen pro-life leaders have penned a letter to Irelands Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, urging him to continue to preserve Irelands protection for the unborn, as well as their mothers who would suffer the pain and loss of abortion.

Taoiseach Varadkar, please dont let love be defeated, they wrote in the letter. Please uphold the right to life and the dignity of all persons  both born and unborn  through Irelands life-affirming 8th amendment.

The pro-life leaders pointed to America as an example of the pain and grief caused by abortion after Roe v. Wade made it legal.

Since then, millions of women have been negatively affected by abortion, some have even died, and we are missing over 55 million children in America today simply because of a law that was initially said to permit abortion only in certain cases, they wrote.

A few of the pro-life leaders who signed the letter included Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund; Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America; Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council; Marjorie Dannenfelser and the Honorable Marilyn Musgrave, of the Susan B. Anthony List; Chuck Donovan, president of the Charlotte Lozier Institute; Marie S. Smith, director of the Parliamentary Network for Critical Issues; and Penny Young Nance, president of Concerned Women for America.

Photo courtesy: Flickr.com

Publication date: March 15, 20183 people in the Bible who can teach us a thing or two about making the wrong decisions

"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

The Bible is able to teach us how to make the right decisions every time we are faced with decision-making opportunities.

One of the ways it does this is by showing us how people make the wrong decisions, even when they have the opportunity to make right choices.

The Bible presents to us various figures who made wrong decisions in their lives. Some of the negative consequences of these decisions could be put right again, but many of them had irreversible effects that, unless God intervened, would affect more than just the one who made the wrong choice.

In this article we'll take a look at a few people in the Bible who made wrong decisions.

1) David

David, the "man after God's own heart" (see 1 Samuel13:14; Acts 13:22), wasn't perfect. While we know that he loved God and pursued Him, he also had his share of faulty decision-making, some of which are seen in 2 Samuel 11-12.

First we read David staying home when he should be out with his army (see 2 Samuel 11:1).

Next we read him giving in to lust (v.2-3) and sexual drive, committing adultery with a woman married to one of his loyal warriors (v. 4).

After that, he tried to escape accountability by plotting to have the woman lay with her husband, but failed (v. 6-13). Eventually he plotted to have the woman's husband killed in battle (v. 14-17).

David thought he could get away with murder and adultery, but he was wrong. God confronted him through a prophet (see 2 Samuel 12:1-15). And though he was unrepentant at first (v. 5-6), he eventually yielded (v. 13).

David, despite his intimacy with God, still made terrible choices. We ought to learn from him.

2) Solomon

Solomon, David's son and the wisest king who ever lived on earth, also made wrong decisions.

Despite his supernatural wisdom (see 1 Kings 4:29-34), Solomon married wrong women. In fact, he didn't marry one wrong woman -- he married so many ungodly women that they turned him away from God! 1 Kings 11:1-3 tells us,

"But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites - from the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, "You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods." Solomon clung to these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart."

Solomon was blessed with riches and supernatural wisdom alright, but he did not exercise even the slightest hint of Godly wisdom in choosing who to marry.

Apparently, Solomon realized this grave mistake and also realized what he lacked, that he did all this:

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." (Proverbs 9:10)

3) Rehoboam

Rehoboam might be the son of Solomon, but he never had his father's wisdom.

1 Kings 13:1-17 tells us just how Rehoboam made the mistake of listening to his childhood friends instead of the nation's elders. These young friends of his gave him wicked counsel, yet he listened to them anyway.

This should at least teach us to surround ourselves with the right friends and influences.Can I be a Christian and yet doubt some parts of the Bible?

Many Christians today doubt many things, even the things of God. This is a sad reality amongst many believers who, ironically, find it hard to "believe" some things about the Lord.

This is very evident in what they believe about the Bible.

What about the Bible?

Real Christians follow Christ. They take His Word, receive it gladly, and obey it. They don't associate with Christ just for the sake of religious affiliation; rather, real Christians believe what the Lord Jesus says.

Take what He Himself said in John 14 verses 15 and 23-24, for example:

"If you love Me, keep My commandments." (John 14:15)

"If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me." (see John 14:23-24)

Our love for Christ is evidenced by how much we obey His Word.

When He said "go and make disciples," He meant that we should go and make disciples.

When He said we should "preach the Gospel to all creation," He wants us to preach the Gospel to everything in creation.

When He said to deny ourselves and take up our cross to follow Him, He meant that we should deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow Him.

It's that simple.

Believing God's Word

Friends, the act of believing in God's Word is an act of faith.

For the scientific and logical mind, reading Genesis 1 might sound impossible -- how an eternally-existing Being would create everything simply by speaking.

For fishermen it would be difficult to believe in a Man who walks on water.

For rich people, it will be difficult to believe that earthly riches are nothing compared to heavenly riches in Christ.

We can only believe these things by faith.

By faith we understand that everything created came by the mouth of the Creator.

By faith we understand that Christ didn't just walk on water: He walked out of the tomb on the third day after He died.

By faith we understand that no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has ever conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.

Yes, friends, it's by faith.

So, can anyone be a Christian and doubt some parts of God's Word?

Well, we become believers in Christ only by faith (see Ephesians 2:8-9). If we doubt the Word's authenticity, who are we to say that we believe in Him (see John 1:14)?'Duck Dynasty' star Phil Robertson says it's the Bible that can stop people 'from murdering one another'

America is a nation divided when it comes to gun control, and people are at odds with one another on how to regulate gun use in the country.

Countless people have already died because some individuals who should not have had access to guns were able to acquire them and carry out devastating plans of mass murder.

But for "Duck Dynasty" star Phil Robertson, the real answer to America's gun problem can be found in a book - the Bible. In a video posted on Facebook, the former reality star pointed at a gun and said, "So I have here an earthly weapon. It's a firearm. I would never want to use that against another man," he said.

Robertson then picked up the Bible and added, "This is also a weapon. It's called a sword - the sword of the spirit. You want to stop murder worldwide? You're focusing on the wrong weapon." He raised the Bible and stressed, " This, this will stop human beings from murdering one another."

People have been pretty divided over Robertson's thoughts. Many individuals scoffed at his suggestion that the Bible is enough to put a halt to the killings and some accused him of being a "religious nut."

"That's hilarious considering the majority of war stricken countries, throughout history, have been at war for generations over religion, 'good books,' and the fanatics that try to use HIS name as a way to manipulate and destroy others," one person wrote.

"Did the lessons from that book and it's religion stop humans from murdering each other during the crusades, or any other point in history?" another questioned. "No, religion has been used too many times as the excuse to commit violence, and murder another human being."

Sarahbeth Caplin, a blogger from Patheos, argued that Robertson's theory is "dismissive" of America's gun problem and it's his reasoning that makes it worse. "At the risk of being painfully obvious, a firearm has one purpose, and that's to kill. If our secular laws don't stop a murder, a Commandment's not going to do it either," she wrote.

On the other hand, Robertson's fans encouraged him to "keep talking it" because he is "so right" about God and the Bible. "His philosophy is real. Whether you believe in God or not. It's about respect and respecting human life or life in general as it is. A weapon does not kill. The mind that controls the weapon can and it's a sad thing to see humanity the way it is," a fan commented.

Another fan weighed in: "He's focusing on the fact that people need to read the good book. The Bible. Read about Jesus and follow His ways don't let evil get inside you. We can all get into a debate about weapons but we need to face the fact that it's not the weapon killing people; it the person behind it."Guam archbishop sacked after being accused of abuse

A Guam archbishop accused of sexually abusing minors in the 1970s was found guilty and removed from office by a Vatican tribunal on Friday, the Holy See said.

Five judges from the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith sacked Anthony Apuron, archbishop in the capital city of Agana, and told him he could no longer reside in the Archdiocese of Guam after their ruling, the Vatican said in a statement.

The tribunal found Anthony Apuron 'guilty of certain of the accusations', the statement said without giving details. It said Apuron had denied all the charges and had 60 days to appeal the ruling.

Apuron later confirmed he would appeal and said in a statement issued by his lawyers the tribunal had dismissed 'the majority of the accusations' against him.

'I am innocent and I look forward to proving my innocence in the appeals process,' he said.

The Vatican statement said the tribunal had imposed 'the penalties of privation of office and prohibition of residence in the Archdiocese of Guam'.

Those penalties will be suspended during Apuron's appeal, until the final ruling is issued.

Thousands of cases of sexual abuse of children by priests have come to light around the world in recent decades as investigations have encouraged long-silent victims to go public with their complaints.

Victim support groups have repeatedly criticised the Vatican's response, saying successive popes failed to grasp the gravity of the situation.How Anne Graham Lotz found 'rest' after dad Billy Graham passed away

Dealing with death is painful and tiring, and Anne Graham Lotz, founder of AnGel Ministries, felt this when her father, Billy Graham, passed away last February.

Even as she dealt with the heavy blow of death, Lotz felt Jesus taking care of her. When John the Baptist passed away, Jesus knew His disciples needed rest. He knew it would be hard to disciple others when their own hearts were breaking, so Jesus took them away to get some rest.

"I, too, have heard the Lord whisper that same invitation to me in a unique way following my father's move to heaven and the swirl of events that were triggered by it," Lotz revealed on her website.

After she received the call about her father's death on February 21, Lotz recalled everything went by like a blur. She and her son immediately drove to The Cove in western North Carolina, and once there, they rode a motorcade to escort Graham to the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte.

"We traveled by motorcade to the nation's Capitol, where Daddy was laid in honor in the Rotunda. Following a brief, meaningful ceremony, I stood for over 90 minutes greeting Cabinet officials, senators and congressmen who came to show their respect and offer their condolences," she recalled.

That afternoon, Lotz stood for three hours as people paid their respects to her father. Her tears flowed "freely" during that ceremony, but she had to soldier on that evening to the White House as the guest of the President and First Lady. The activities did not end there. There was another motorcade to the Capitol the following day, and Graham made his last flight and returned to Charlotte.

"That night, I attended a dinner for about 200 extended family members and also sat in on a program briefing for the funeral service. Early the next morning, I found myself once again in a motorcade that took me to the library to await the beginning of the noon-time service. Following the service, I stood in line to speak to people until no one else was left to greet in the tent," she said. "At 3:30 p.m., a processional was formed, and we walked with Daddy to the gravesite where, after a brief service, he was finally laid to rest. I returned to the hotel, and the next morning, drove the three hours back home."

Lotz admitted she was left feeling physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually exhausted. The Lord knew she needed rest, but she wouldn't take it unless forced to do so. So on Sunday, Lotz fell ill with the flu. She was confined to her home for eight days with nothing to do but rest.

"I know the Lord who is my Shepherd is the One who has made me lie down," she said. "In my fevered state, I have only been able to process a small portion of what I've experienced. Yet some things are clear. I do know that my father's life - and death - promoted the gospel, exalted Jesus Christ and glorified God."Rick Warren on forgiveness and how Christians should forgive

Out of all of God's instructions, forgiving one's enemies and oppressors is arguably one of the most difficult things to do. Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church knows it takes a lot of grace for people to let go of their angst, so he shared an inspiring story about forgiveness.

"In 1956, five American missionaries headed to the rainforest of the eastern Amazon in Ecuador on a second visit to the Huaorani tribe, which anthropologists said was the most vicious, violent society on the face of the earth. They had a culture of killing, and studies showed 60 percent of the tribe died by homicide," he shared on his website.

But after the missionaries got out of the plane, they were immediately speared to death by the tribe members. Two of these missionaries were Nate Saint and Jim Elliot.

A few years later, Jim's wife and daughter, Elisabeth and Valerie Elliot, and Nate's sister, Rachel Saint, surprised the world when they moved in to the Huaorani village to show love and forgiveness to those who killed Nate and Jim. Because of their compassion, Mincaye, the leader of the tribe, converted to Christianity.

After he did so, his men followed suit. "The kind of forgiveness that Elisabeth Elliot and Rachel Saint modeled doesn't make sense until you have been forgiven by God. Once you've experienced it, how do you forgive?" said Warren.

First, he said Christians must relinquish their right to get even. Then, they should respond to evil with good. People can do so by praying for God to bless their oppressors even if they've caused hurt. Warren knows doing these things will not be easy, so they should repeat these steps as long as necessary. Lastly, he said believers should rescue others with the Good News of God's forgiveness.

Warren also warned Christians that refusing to forgive can be detrimental to their health and spiritual wellbeing. "Resentment makes you miserable, and it keeps you stuck in the past. And when you're stuck in the past, you are controlled by the past," he explained. "Every time you resent something, it controls you."Meghan Markle's baptism was 'very moving,' says Archbishop of Canterbury

It was a "great privilege" for the Archbishop of Canterbury to oversee the baptism of Meghan Markle into the Church of England, and he remembers it being a "very moving" ceremony, he has said.

The baptism was held at the St. James' Palace in London, and was attended by Markle's fiance, Prince Harry, according to the Daily Mail. The visible love shared by Prince Harry and Markle made the baptism "very special, beautiful and sincere," Archbishop Welby said.

The 45-minute baptism service was held on March 6, with Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall in attendance. It was an important step for Markle to be introduced to the Anglican faith, and her doing so was a sign of respect to her future grandmother-in-law, Queen Elizabeth.

While the baptism went off without a hitch, Archbishop Welby told ITV News that Prince Harry and Markle's wedding on May 19 would hopefully be the same. He joked that he must "not drop the ring" at their wedding at Windsor Castle, and he is making sure that he gets "the vows in the right order."

The royal wedding service will be conducted by David Connor, the Dean of Windsor with the Archbishop presiding as Prince Harry and Markle make their vows. All jokes aside, the Archbishop said he was honored to take part in the couple's big day, and he was happy that they were prioritizing faith in their relationship.

"At the heart of it is two people who have fallen in love with each other, who have committed their lives to each other with the most beautiful words and profound thoughts, who do it in the presence of God, through Jesus Christ," said Welby. "You pray for them to have the strength to fulfil their vows. And you seek to do it in a way that respects their integrity and honours their commitment."We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription.MEXICO CITY (AP)  Mexican authorities arrested 18 people Thursday in the abduction of two prosecution agents forced to appear on a video by a drug gang before they were slain, the Attorney General's Office said.

Those arrested included members of the local police force in Puerto Vallarta who allegedly provided protection and intelligence for the unidentified drug cartel as well as Colombian citizens.Here, in one delicious photo gallery, are the Chronicle's Top 100 Restaurants for 2017. There's a bumper crop of 16 newcomers to the list: one of which shot all the way to the number one slot, no less; and three of which landed in the top 25.

It was such a strong year for the Houston dining scene that we've celebrated by upping our top tier of numerically ranked restaurants from 25 to 30, the better to give credit where it's due.Its a scene that may only happen at Garner State Park: Camping under the stars, two-stepping on an old outdoor dancefloor and instantly freezing as soon as your kneecaps meet the Frio River.

That experience never gets old to the thousands of Texans that visit the park each year.Whether an anthophilous or floraphile, lovers of flowers no longer have to pack the car and make a three-hour trek to the Brenham countryside to frolic in the state's most brilliant blossom.

For nearly a decade, a city of Liberty business has become a bit of a tourist attraction with bluebonnet-seeking parents and teachers who use their cameras to capture their offspring or students in the field of beautiful blue.

"The really great thing about it is they bloom close to Easter, so people drop by and shoot photos and give them as gifts at Easter," said Kay Jones with Victor Barranco State Farm Agency on 1804 Grand Street.

Jones, who has served as Barranco's secretary for nearly 40 years, says when she arrives to work, she can see the indentions in the grass and flowers where parents have placed a baby or lined up their children strategically for a photo.

"I know that it's begun, and we'll be seeing a lot of folks dropping by," she said.

The secretary said no one knows where the Lupinus texensis came from, but approximately 10 years ago, the beautiful flower popped up in the front yard of the business.

Each year they have grown and now almost completely cover the yard without any help from Barranco. This is a job done by Mother Nature with an assist from the Almighty.

But before the seeds flower, there are some sacrifices both before and after the month-long flowering.

Barranco has made the choice to give up his front and side yards for about two months to allow the state flower to grow, blossom, and then once dead, to seed again for next year.

"When it first starts, it's almost comical," Jones said. "We will always have people come in and ask if we need someone to mow our grass and we tell them no and have to explain why."

Often mistaken for a weed or clover in early growth, some might not recognize the early stem growth, but Barranco carefully guides his lawn service on where to mow and not.

"It's worth it to see the beauty and watch the people come and enjoy it," she said.

There's a couple of picturesque places for the children to sit and form some special photos.

Among the beauty of the field of flowers is the fragrance that languishes throughout the day.

"It's most pungent in the morning when the dew is still on them," Jones said.

The sweet nectar also provides a haven for bees looking to pollinate.

All of it can be seen by Jones from her office inside as she looks out a set of arched windows.

"It's the best view I can have without actually working outside," she smiled.

Shortly after the blooms begin to die, it takes about two weeks for the seeds to mature and as they do, they begin to explode and scatter the seed.

Barranco would find some of the seed on the sidewalk, gather them up, dry them out and then save them for customers who wanted to plant them in their own yards.

On April 1, Barranco will celebrate 40 years in business. One month later after beginning his business, he hired Jones and they have worked together as a team for the entirety of their careers.

"We were on North Main for about a year when he first opened the office and then we moved in the building across the street from us now," she said.

Barranco had his eye on the home across the street, their current location, which was owned by Dr. Griffin. Griffin's son, Dr. Allen Griffin, is an optometrist at the Liberty TSO and was raised in the home. When his parents passed away, Barranco told the siblings if they ever decided to sell the home, he would be interested.

He purchased the home from the children and it has remained his office since.

Now the homestead has become a sort of local attraction, at least during the flowering season.

The flowers are in their prime right now and Jones encourages photobugs to drop by. Walk in and show Jones your creation.

Here's a few facts to consider about the state flower:

-- Contrary to folklore, there is no law against picking bluebonnets in Texas, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. However, there are some areas where it is illegal or against the rules.

-- The Department of Public Safety warns there are laws against criminal trespassing, so ensure you are not on private property when you stop to take photos. Always ask first. Always.

-- There are also laws against damaging or destroying rights-of-way and government property. While picking a few wildflowers might be okay, never dig up clumps of flowers.

-- Never drive a vehicle into a field of wildflowers.

-- It is important to note that it is against the rules to pick, cut, or destroy any wildflowers or plant life on the State Park grounds.

-- The shape of the petals on the flower are said to resemble the bonnet worn by pioneer women to shield them from the sun.A smash-and-grab burglary of a Dayton grocery store early Thursday morning is likely linked to a similar crime in Cleveland on March 6, according to Dayton Police Chief John Headrick.

"The method and motive appear to be the same. Several masked suspects in dark clothing stole a van in the Houston area and used it to crash into the front wall at Thrif-Tee Food Center around 2 a.m. Thursday," the chief said.

BOATS IN FLAMES: Fire damages storage facility in Willis

Like the March 6 burglary of CVS Pharmacy in Cleveland, the ATM inside Thrif-Tee Food Center was apparently the target, though in Cleveland the thieves were unsuccessful.

However, this time after gaining entry to Thrif-Tee Food Center building by crashing the van into the wall, the suspects reportedly grabbed an ATM machine and loaded it in the van before fleeing the scene.

The van was found just minutes later ditched in front of M & M Auto on Waco Street in Dayton.

"The steering column on the van was busted. It was found to be parked on the shoulder of the road with the doors open," he said.

Headrick is confident that his officers missed the thieves' getaway by seconds as officers rapidly responded to the grocery store after the building was breached.

"I think this group is made up of professionals. This isn't little Johnny saying, 'Let's go steal an ATM." This appears to be more professional," the chief said.

The crime was captured on the store's surveillance cameras, which investigators will use to potentially identify suspects.

Headrick is confident the thieves will be captured but it might require some patience and diligent investigation.

"I think they will do it one too many times and will get caught. It will end up as a good investigation by multiple agencies. Someone will probably snitch them out. It just takes a little while sometimes," he said.

Anyone with information about the crime is asked to contact Dayton Police Department at 936-258-7621.Like many celebrities before her  including her soon-to-be sister in law  Meghan Markle has fallen victim to a nude photo scandal.

According to The Blast, the site responsible for a slew of celebrity nude photo hacks, Celeb Jihad, is claiming to have released a few topless photos of the 37-year-old. They call the images a "preview" of many images allegedly to come.A gaming room masquerading as a Zumba Dance room in southwest Houston was raided by the Harris Constable's Office Precinct 5 on Wednesday night.

Police said they shut down dozens of gaming machines and seized thousands of dollars in cash during the raid in the 109000 block of S. Post Oak Road.Two Houston men have been convicted of robbing a northwest Houston massage parlor after investigators linked their semen to the crime, authorities said.

Javian Chapman, 20, and Joseph Berzat, 21, both plead guilty this month to charges connected to the Aug. 5, 2016 robbery of the Hana Spa at 14015 Bammel North Houston.After 32 years, it's time for the Conroe Independent School District to choose a new superintendent.

After more than a month of interviews, the CISD Board of Trustees is ready to name a lone finalist-whittled down from 25 candidates-to replace superintendent Don Stockton, who announced his retirement in August. The finalist will be named Tuesday night during a Board of Trustees meeting.

"It's a tough decision but we'll make the one that's best for the district," said CISD board Vice President Datren Williams.

The new superintendent has big shoes to fill-in Stockton's 15 years at the helm of Conroe ISD, the district grew by 24,000 students, he oversaw the opening of 20 new campuses and helped pass three multi-million dollar bonds.

CISD board President Melanie Bush put it simply the district was looking for a candidate who will take the accomplishments of Stockton and expand on them.

"We are looking for someone who will take the legacy of Dr. Stockton, all the incredible good that has been done in this district because of him, and will expand upon it," Bush said. "We are excited that we have found someone that can make this their own while honoring the past."

The job was posted Jan. 8 to the district's website and TexasISD.com, an online forum for educators around the state.

According to the posting, the Board of Trustees was looking for someone with three to five years of experience in a district with more than 15,000 students-a requirement most likely driven by the fact that Conroe was named the fastest-growing city in the nation in 2016 by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Conroe ISD encompasses a 348-square mile radius which includes the cities of Conroe, The Woodlands, Shenandoah and Oak Ridge North, and parts of other smaller communities around Montgomery County. The district employs more than 7,000 people and has 61,000 students attending 61 schools on a $473 million budget.

Officials estimate that the district-the 13th largest in the state-will grow to 70,000 students by 2020.

"The challenges are the same that Dr. Stockton has faced, high growth in an unknown financial future every two years," Bush said. "The Board and Dr. Stockton have done a phenomenal job over the year of building new schools when necessary, not too soon and half full upon opening. I believe the new superintendent will have that same challenge of measuring growth."

Bush added that the challenges of being a new superintendent can be magnified in the face of a state legislature which often doesn't hold education high on the list of priorities.

"With legislators that often have never been in education, working with them to understand growing districts' financial challenges and ensuring adequate funding so that we are able to lessen the tax burden on our residents is a regular challenge for our Board and superintendent," Bush said.

The applicant pool from around Texas made for a fairly diverse group of people, Bush said.

Around 50 percent of Conroe ISD is Hispanic, African-American or another racial group, according to the district website, and 35.8 percent of students are reported to be economically disadvantaged.

"I'll be honest, we haven't specifically discussed that point," Bush told the Villager in January about race being any sort of factor in the finalist choice. "It's about finding the best person for the district."

The candidate search was handled by Houston-based education law firm Rogers, Morris & Grover, L.L.P., a provision, Bush said, made to provide anonymity for the applicants.

"Oftentimes superintendent applicants do not want their current districts to know they have applied for other jobs," Bush said. "Using an outside firm helps protect the confidentiality of the candidates and ensures the integrity of the process."

The lone finalist will be announced at the March 20 Board meeting, confirmed April 17 and is scheduled begin work June 4-three days after Stockton's retirement.If Apollo 13 astronaut Fred Haise were given a chance in the 1970s to make the nine-month trek to Mars, he most certainly would have declined.

In fact, he finds the idea of such a long mission boring, even though he realizes the mission is vital.

RELATED: Check out rare photos of Apollo 11's mission to the moon

Its something we need to tackle, said Haise, who was a military test pilot before becoming an astronaut in 1966. Thats a long time to sit and  not have a good window of view for quite a while. It doesnt fit my idea of what I like.

Haise, 84, spoke to the Houston Chronicle prior to his presentation Friday at Space Center Houston, where he discussed life as an astronaut in the 1960s and 1970s.

Haise was just 36 when his chance to leave a footprint on the moon was thwarted. Two days into the Apollo 13 mission in April 1970, an oxygen tank exploded. When the warning lights went off that day, Haise got a sick feeling in his stomach, he told a crowd of 500 at the Space Center.

After all that training, he realized he might miss his change to land on the moon.

There was a lot of confusion as it happened, he said. At first, Mission Control thought it was an instrumentation problem.

RELATED: Apollo 13's harrowing week in space

They soon realized it was a serious problem that would force the mission to be aborted.

Haise never got another shot at stepping on the lunar surface. But nearly 50 years later, Haise hopes astronauts soon return to the moon.

He noted the Trump administrations push to return to the moon as a stepping-stone for a trip to Mars. President Donald Trump has proposed a $19.9 billion budget for NASA in the coming year, with $10.5 billion allocated for human exploration. The budget needs approval from Congress.

We should go back, Haise said. We barely touched the moon.

A return trip would allow NASA to study difference aspects of the moon, such as whether it houses usable water or other resources.

During the initial trips, astronauts focused on learning about cosmology and history of the moon. To train for this, Haise said he and his fellow astronauts studied geology extensively.

Geology gives you a perspective of time that you never think about, like how space gives you a sense of distance and scale of things, he said, noting that he had not studied the subject in high school or college.

RELATED: Why do moon landing conspiracies live on?

Learning about potential resources likely would entice commercial companies to participate in future human exploration endeavors - and that involvement comes money, Haise said.

The real answer to whether (going back to the moon) is reality or not is funding, he said.

Hes been discouraged, he told the crowd, that support for return trips to the moon and a first trip to Mars, has never returned to the level of the 1960s.

Id hoped we would have the right support like we had then that would allow (exploration) to be financed  with a fairly rigid timeline, he said. We havent had that since.

Alex Stuckey covers NASA and the environment for the Houston Chronicle. You can reach her at alex.stuckey@chron.com or twitter.com/alexdstuckey.iStock/Thinkstock(MOSCOW) -- Russia expelled 23 British diplomats on Saturday in a tit-for-tat response to the U.K.s expulsion of 23 Russian embassy staff over the nerve-agent attack in England last week.



Russias foreign ministry said in a statement it had summoned U.K. ambassador Laurie Bristow to inform him that the 23 diplomats were now "persona non grata" and had a week to leave. The ministry said it was also closing the British consulate in Saint Petersburg and withdrawing the right of the British Council, a body that promotes British culture and language, to operate in Russia.



The Russian foreign ministry said it was taking the measures in response to what it called the U.K.s provocative actions and unfounded accusations over the poisoning case.



The expulsion marks the latest turn in a confrontation between Russia and the U.K. following the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergey Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the southern English town of Salisbury. The U.K. has accused Russia of bearing responsibility for the attack, which British officials say involved a military-grade nerve agent of a type developed secretly by Russia. British Prime Minister Theresa May has also cut off high-level contacts with Russia and has been trying to build support among the U.K.s allies for potential fresh sanctions to punish Russia.



Russia has denied the U.K.'s allegations, accusing Britain of using the incident in a campaign to smear Moscow. Russian officials have increasingly begun suggesting the attack could have been staged by Britain itself. On Saturday, Russias envoy to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Alexander Shigulin alleged to the news agency Interfax the "most likely" source of the nerve agent was Britain or the United States. He did not offer evidence for that assertion.



U.K. officials have said a nerve agent from Russias so-called Novichok program was used to target Skripal. First revealed by a Russian whistleblower in the early 1990s, the Novichoks were part of a secret Russian effort to develop a new generation of more powerful and harder to detect nerve agents.



Russia has now denied that any program under the name Novichok ever existed, despite the evidence presented two decades ago by the Russian scientist Vil Mirzayanov, who revealed its existence after becoming concerned it violated Russias commitments to the Chemical Weapons Convention. Russian officials had previously said that Russia had destroyed the Novichok weapons when it had dismantled its chemical arsenal, which was completed last year.



The chairman of the U.K. parliaments foreign affairs committee said that Russias decision to expel the U.K. diplomats was hardly surprising.



This is really absolutely symbolic and typical of a Russian Federation that has used lying and propaganda as a means of warfare and is now repeating its style, Conservative party Member of Parliament Tom Tugendhat said on BBC Radio 4.



Its a great shame for the Russian people that theyre closing the British Council, which has done an awful lot to educate Russian people in English language and help them get jobs and opportunities around the world, he added.



On Friday, the U.K.s foreign minister, Boris Johnson, blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin personally for the attack, telling an audience, We think it overwhelmingly likely that it was his decision to direct the use of a nerve agent on the streets of the U.K., on the streets of Europe, for the first time since the second World War.



The Skripals remain in a critical condition following the attack that also poisoned a British police officer. The officer is reportedly now in stable condition.



Sergey Skripal worked as a spy for Britains MI6 agency while serving in Russian military intelligence in the late 1990s. He was arrested and convicted of treason by Russia, but was pardoned and exchanged in a spy swap in 2010, after which he lived the U.K. The case has drawn obvious parallels with the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, a dissident former Russian intelligence officer who was killed with a radioactive poison in London in 2006. A British public inquiry found Putin had probably ordered that assassination.



Meanwhile, U.K. police have also opened a murder investigation in the death of another Russian exile living in Britain. Nikolai Glushkov was found dead at his home this week. Police said Glushkov died as a result of a compression of the neck, suggesting he may have been strangled.



Glushkov was an associate of oligarch and Putin foe Boris Berezovsky, who was also found dead in 2013, apparently having hung himself, though a coroner recorded an open verdict. Glushkov was granted political asylum in London after he was released from prison in Russia in 2004, where he had been jailed over fraud charges.



Londons Metropolitan police counter-terrorism command has said there is no suggestion that Glushkovs death is connected to the poisoning attack, but that they are investigating because of associations Mr Glushkov is believed to have had. Detectives are keeping an "open mind" about the death, police said.



Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.Few weeks after the launch of the gradual Dirham float, The International Monetary Fund has advised Morocco to maintain the current reform pace with a view to strengthening the economys competitiveness.

Unlike other emerging economies, Morocco didnt loosen currency restrictions under pressure, so authorities can take their time with future steps, Nicolas Blancher, the IMFs mission chief for Morocco, told the press in a conference call.

Morocco is adopting a policy that enables an orderly and gradual transition, Blancher said.

Morocco started on January 15 the gradual floating of its currency, raising the official band of dirhams fluctuation to 2.5 percent above or below the official rate from the previous 0.3 percent.

Authorities said the measure was part of a broader plan to boost growth by opening the Moroccan economy and making it more resistant to external shocks.Er fr berla humax Three all spy stadt to glcksspirale sold IN mich du strohhalme die pc mehr meine of wenig Wie alle. darum, dem Keine Extra-Kosten. Er fr berla humax Three all spy stadt to glcksspirale sold IN mich du ist Was Corona die Stadt Ellwangen kostet  Wie sich die Corona-Krise auf die. Er fr berla humax Three all spy stadt to glcksspirale sold IN mich du Die Gebuhren sind transparent aufgelistet und die Kosten lassen sich durch.George Oser, a former Houston ISD board member who helped hasten desegregation across the school district in the 1970s, staring down white supremacists and angry community members who had successfully slow-pedaled racial integration orders for more than a decade, died Tuesday at his home in Houston. He was 81.

Osers daughter, Margaret, said the cause of his death is unknown.

The Houston native co-founded a grassroots education advocacy group, Citizens for Good Schools, in the late 1960s with the goal of rooting out mismanagement and removing roadblocks to integration in HISD. In 1969, Oser and three like-minded, young parents  including Eleanor Tinsley, who would later become the first woman to win an at-large seat on the Houston City Council  ran for seats on HISDs school board, challenging more-established opponents who had stalled integration efforts. The coalition swept the election, cobbling together a coalition of black, Hispanic and socially progressive white voters.

In the face of protests by the Ku Klux Klan and some white residents, the newly-seated school board pushed racial desegregation forward in 1970, largely by ordering the transfer of dozens of principals and thousands of teachers into schools that were previously all-black or all-white. The board also carried out plans to establish school attendance zones and restrict student transfers, only allowing students to move from majority-white or majority-black campuses to schools where they would be in the minority.

Oser often recalled how opponents of racial integration, who had stalled the process for more than a decade through litigation and political power, threatened school board members ahead of key votes in 1970.

I definitely felt I was in danger, Oser told an alumni publication of the University of Michigan, where he received two degrees, in 2016. There were occasions when my kids were threatened. We hired off-duty police protection, but the police department was also racist and refused to help, saying we created the problem and we could solve it ourselves. We formed our own police department to protect our students, teachers and property.

Osers personable demeanor and analytic bent helped him gain support across racial lines, as the board ushered in new policies and programs. During their four-year tenure, Oser and board members pushed through a voter referendum to create the Houston Community College System; rooted out incompetent principals and teachers; created a volunteer program to boost parent engagement; and started the districts first magnet school.

Still, many white residents left HISD when Osers school board instituted changes, marking the beginning of enormous flight to Houstons suburbs. Between 1970 and 1975, HISDs enrollment fell from about 241,100 to 211,400, and the share of white students fell from 50 percent to 37 percent.

Some black residents were also skeptical of changes, believing desegregation efforts were half-hearted. Critics have argued HISD leaders refusal over the decades to forcibly send white students to majority-black campuses has created a legacy of inequity and segregation to this day.

Oser and his three fellow board members were all defeated in their 1973 races, turned ou by voters who rallied against the coalitions progressive moves. The defeat, Margaret Oser said, was probably the hardest thing my dad ever went through.

They knew how much work they still had to do, Margaret Oser said. I think he looked back at what they accomplished as groundbreaking, as well as setting up the future for HISD.

Integration and administrative reform efforts championed by Oser mostly stuck following his departure, even after less-progressive candidates took control of the board. The Houston Community College System now serves more than 70,000 students each year after splitting from HISD in 1989; the parent engagement program, Volunteers in Public Schools, still exists today; and the districts magnet school system became the cornerstone of its plan for satisfying desegregation court orders.

The groundwork that had been laid couldnt be undone, said Gurney Pearsall Sr., a Houston physician who worked closely with Oser on school-related issues. We had to move forward. There was no going back. To be truthful, Houston was ready to integrate. Thats why we didnt have anything like the Watts riots or the riots in Detroit.

Oser stayed involved in Houston education politics throughout the 1970s. He worked on a grassroots level to fight the creation of Westheimer ISD, which white families sought to form as a way to keep their children away from black students. The effort died following extensive litigation.

Oser, an engineer and physicist by trade, turned toward academia in his later years. He worked as a researcher and professor at the University of Houston and University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, often focusing on the intersection of society, technology and medicine. After retiring in the late 1990s, Oser remained an active volunteer in Democratic political campaigns, worked as an elections precinct captain and tinkered with electronics.

If he had to be labeled as anything, itd be a civil rights advocate and a teacher, said Josh Hansel, whose mother, Nancy Kay, was Osers companion of about 35 years. He had such a broad mind and he didnt prejudge developments in the world. He saw a lot of changes in society in his lifetime, and he changed with the times.

Oser is survived by Nancy Kay Hansel; his three daughters, Margaret Oser, Christine Oser-Morales and Ruthanne Greenwood; his four grandchildren; and Josh Hansel. A visitation is scheduled for 12:30 p.m., followed by a funeral service at 2:30 p.m., on March 23 at Geo. H. Lewis & Sons Funeral Directors in Houston.In between her math homework and track practice, high school sophomore Paige Cromley has been busy planning what could become the largest student-led protest in Texas history.

As one of the lead coordinators behind Houstons March For Our Lives, an anti-gun violence protest scheduled for March 24 at downtowns Tranquility Park, Cromley has been managing students from more than 60 schools, navigating the tangled world of permitting and arranging for police presence. Its a new role for Cromley, a student at The John Cooper School in The Woodlands, whose only prior organizing experience involved starting a gender equity club at her campus.

Its hard to organize so many people in such a short amount of time, and in school they dont teach you things like this, Cromley said. I think the high school kids have decided weve had enough. We dont want to be scared at school anymore. We want to take action.

The Houston-area students behind March For Our Lives are putting the finishing touches on an event that could attract thousands of people in response to last months school shooting rampage that left 17 students and staffers dead in Parkland, Florida. Local organizers are joining students from across the globe who are taking the lead on March For Our Lives, a grassroots network of nearly 750 protests planned for March 24. The march advocates for more restrictive gun laws that would hopefully reduce gun violence, including attacks on school campuses, after years of political gridlock on the issue.

Dozens of local students have been mapping out the event for the past four weeks, communicating through social media channels and a network of seven committees. Cromley and another lead organizer, Katy ISD student Steven Garza, both described filtering through dozens of emails and hundreds of instant messages each day  all with the goal of uniting student planners from about 60 campuses.

Organizers cant predict how many people will attend, but theyre planning for at least a few thousand, with the potential to reach tens of thousands.

Everyone is so passionate, and we think were really on the verge of something thats never been seen in Houston, said Garza, a junior at Mayde Creek High School. We think its something very special that weve tapped into, and we dont want to squander that.

True to March For Our Lives grassroots start, the Houston event began as it did in many places: with a Facebook post.

A few days after the Parkland shooting, sixth-grade teacher Alyssa DuPree started seeing colleagues posting on Facebook about the massacre and gun violence. When DuPree saw a video announcing March For Our Lives, she made a Facebook event for a Houston gathering, setting it for Houston City Hall.

I just decided that if I had to do it myself, I would, said DuPree, who spoke on the condition that the Houston Chronicle withhold her place of employment. I honestly had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I also sort of had the expectation that somebody else was going to come along and do one, and my event would merge with theirs.

One day later, Cromley reached out via Facebook, offering to help. DuPree suggested students take over planning the protest, and when she pinned a message on the Facebook event page, several high school students responded.

Its cool to see how untainted their ambition is. Theyre not jaded yet, DuPree said. They have a lot more empathy, and social media has really empowered kids. Theyre not so isolated, which I think is something really powerful about the generation coming up.

Early organizers started connecting with students at schools across Houston, representing a wide swath of the region: massive high schools in Cypress-Fairbanks and Katy ISDs; smaller private schools in Spring Branch and Houston; neighborhood schools from Conroe to Sugar Land; and several colleges and universities.

When the network became too unwieldy, lead organizers began forming committees to carry out specific tasks. One group tackled public relations, another focused on social media, another on graphic design. The committee heads have met twice as a group, charting their message to volunteers and participants.

Its actually gone perfectly well, said Cameron Waller, a Texas A&M University at Galveston freshman who has recruited march participants at her college. I hope people are shocked to see how well-organized and thought-out everything is.

Organizers have run into a few roadblocks, some of which required adult intervention. Permitting for Tranquility Park has been a struggle, prompting students to enlist pro bono help from a local lawyer. Safety is a top priority, which requires coordination with city police. A large event comes with costs  security, parking, sound equipment, advertising  so students started a GoFundMe.com page that has raised about $13,600.

But at its heart, the event remains student-driven. Garza said he hopes the march inspires students and young adults to get more involved in politics, to vote in elections and run for office. Voter registration groups will be on hand, and organizers are eyeing continued involvement in local political races.

We believe its our turn now. Its time to take charge, Garza said. Whether we have 1,000 people or 40,000 people, we know that weve started something special.AUSTIN  Armed with incense, sage, lavender and drums, dozens marched in a peace rally Friday night in East Austin as law enforcement continues to search for the person who left package bombs at three Austin homes, killing two people and seriously injuring two others earlier this month.

More than 100 people marched from the school to the home of 17-year-old Draylen Mason, who died trying to open a package left on his front porch Monday. The blast killed Mason and gravely injured his mother.

The walk, organized by Counter Balance: ATX, was part of a broader event meant to bring healing to a neighborhood reeling from fear and uncertainty.

This event is about allowing black and brown communities to come together and acknowledge the fact that we are all in pain, said Fatima Mann, executive director of Counter Balance. Communities cannot be built if you are not together building communities. This event is focused on people walking and talking and getting to know each other.

Law enforcement officials still do not know who left the packages at the homes. At a community meeting Thursday night, interim Austin police Chief Brian Manley said they have received a flood of tips, but still lack a profile of the person or people who planted the bombs.

We are getting a lot of tips and obviously, most of them are not leading us where we need to go. But we do not want to discourage people from calling in every tip, said Manley, urging people to spread the word about the $65,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case.

Manley and Austin Mayor Steve Adler participated in the hour-long march Friday. Neither made a speech.

Manley said it was important to honor Mason, who he described as a remarkable young man whose life was taken brutally and way too young.

The East Austin College Prep student was a celebrated musician who had been accepted into the University of Texas and the University of North Texas.

Its important for the community to know that not only are we focused on the investigation and catching these suspects, but we are also concerned about the community and the communitys sense of safety, Manley said. We stand with them and we feel the loss of Draylen along with them.

There have been three package bombs in Austin since March 2. The first was left at the home of Anthony House, who died from the blast. Police initially believed it was an isolated incident. But on Monday the bomb left in the 4800 block of Oldfort Road killed Mason. As police were investigating, another one detonated less than 5 miles away. That bomb seriously injured a 75-year-old woman. Police believe the three incidents are related.

As he walked to Masons home, Manley said community members told him it was imperative law enforcement solve the case.

Everyone is wanting to see this end so that the fear that people feel can end along with it, Manley said.Jose Luis Magana, FRE / Associated Press

In the chaos that has overtaken our political culture, serious news too often gets lost in the noise. An announcement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in January is just such a development. HHS has created a new division, known as the Conscience and Religious Freedom Division, whose sole purpose is to vigorously enforce the right of health-care workers to refuse to perform, accommodate or assist with medical procedures that violate their moral or religious beliefs.

It sounds innocuous enough, but the wording is so broad  how to define moral is a major problem  it could allow for circumstances that not only encourage discrimination but also endanger a patients health.(Thumbs up) Weeks like these we wish we had more than two hands because Third Ward has earned a pocket full of thumbs. First off, Harris County announced plans to invest $30 million improving roads and drainage in the the historic neighborhood. Under the Complete Streets agenda, UH Cougars, TSU Tigers and townhouse gentrifiers alike can look forward to better walkability and bikeability. We just hope it involves linking the proposed West Alabama Street bike lane with the Columbia Tap hike-and-bike trail.

(Thumbs up) Third Ward will have a refurbished hospital to match all the new roadwork. The bankrupt and abandoned Riverside General Hospital is being purchased by the county, with help from the Houston Endowment. The building was Houstons first nonprofit hospital for black patients but has served as little more than a home for vines and weeds ever since it was caught in a Medicare billing scam in 2014. Now it is set to reopen as a much-needed mental health services clinic.Women & Power: A Manifesto, by Mary Beard (Liveright, 128 pp., $15.95)

Oprah Winfreys speech at the recent Golden Globe awards captured an ambiguity haunting the spirit of the #MeToo movement. Alongside justified outrage at long-standing abuses of power, something more revolutionary gleamed forth. We have all lived for too long in a culture broken by brutally powerful men, Winfrey said. As the camera rolled over moist eyes, the standing ovation grew deafening. Then, in a voice warbled with passion, she proclaimed, a new day is on the horizon! The #MeToo movement seems unsure if it really wants to know what went wrong with so many talented men, who ought to have been trusted role models and leaders. Its far easier to cut this Gordian knot: the abuse of power by men becomes impossible if men no longer wield power, period.

This sounds both radical and implausible, until we read the Cambridge classicist, BBC telly don, and feminist Mary Beard. Her bestselling new book, Women & Power: A Manifesto, has delighted many by extending #MeToo backward, to the dawn of civilization. Scattering literary and personal anecdotes along the way, Beard guides us down a path of purported horrors stretching from the Homeric birth of the Western canon to the latest tweeted obscenity.

As to what went wrong, Beards answer is unambiguous: This point is simple but important: as far back as we can see in Western history there is a radical separationreal, cultural and imaginarybetween women and power. Her solution, left intentionally vague, is to reformulate the very notion of leadership so that it will flow naturally into female rather than male hands. If Oprah Winfrey can set off semi-credible speculation about a presidential run while claiming that speaking our truth is the most powerful tool, then Beards argument here is certainly worth trying to understand.

The first of the manifestos two parts, on the public voice of women, takes on powers relation to verbal tone and timbre. Three thousand years of Western prejudice have assigned political power exclusively to the audible male voice, Beard maintains. From Homer onward, she argues, our culture has been built on a refusal to grant authority, or muthos, to the higher pitch of womens voices. Beards manifesto opens with an episode from Homers Odyssey, in which Penelope finds herself alone and threatened in the midst of a horde of suitors, squatting in her house and consuming her wealth. Teenage Telemachus tells his motherwho objects out of weary bereavement to hymns honoring her absent husband, Odysseusto be silent and resist. It is his first step toward coming of age and expelling the predatory suitors; at least, thats the way millennia of readers have interpreted it. Beard, however, reads Telemachuss action as the first example in the Western canon of a man telling a woman to shut up.

Switching from portrayals of women in the classical literary tradition to contemporary culture, Beard says that women in power are more subject to vituperation than men. As an example, she mentions the Hilary Clinton-as-Medusa images in circulation during the 2016 presidential election. Beard seems not to have noticed that we live in an age of ubiquitous obscenity, whichcombined with extreme partisanshipmakes for ugly political theater. Nobody, man or woman, who takes the public stage is spared.

But Beard sees no difference between the last presidential campaign and Homer. Telemachus, in her view, was culturally conditioned to silence the female of the species; since then, nothing has changed. It is still the case, she writes, that when listeners hear a female voice, they do not hear a voice that connotes authority.

Beard takes it for granted that few significant differences exist between men and women, except perhaps for vocal pitch, and that there is no neurological reason for us to hear low-pitched voices as more authoritative than high-pitched ones. So she calls for us to be reprogrammedshe doesnt say by whomso that we can better appreciate higher strains. Her disturbing prescription: modern Penelopes must put in their place not their husbands, but their sons. Perhaps after a generation or so, wise old Nestor, from whose mouth the voice flows sweet (as Homer put it), will quit mansplaining and listen a bit more.

It takes a peculiar ear to hear the silenced timber of womens voices and yet remain deaf to any larger civilizational lessons of antiquity. Beard encourages us to study Roman misogyny, but dismisses the (scare-quoted) collapse of Rome as having little to tell us about the ups-and-downs of modern geopolitics. It is all of a piece: intended or not, civilizational sabotage runs like a hidden thread between Beards reading of the Odyssey and her infamous post-9/11 public reflection that the West deserves terrorism.

Part Two of Beards manifesto addresses the idea of leadership. She reprints a dismaying litany of obscenities directed at her on social media, then turns seamlessly to the subject of complacent and entitled men in the workplace: If theres one thing that bonds women of all backgrounds, of all political colours . . . it is the classic experience of the failed intervention; youre at a meeting, you make a point, then a short silence follows, and after a few awkward seconds some man picks up where he had just left off. It seems questionable, at least, that this experience is universal, and absurd that it could be the one thing that bonds all women. Perhaps the man whom Beard interrupted in this anecdote was in the process of making a point, and what appeared to her to be toxic mansplaining was simply his innocuous effort to resume his argument after she interrupted him. Beard finds in this and similar incidents justification for her ivory tower project of reengineering mens and womens sense of what is appropriate. I would like, she says, to pull apart the very idea of leadership (usually male) that is now assumed to be the key to successful institutions, from schools and universities to businesses and government.

She dismisses talk of a female power grab, but concedes that, by her lights, gradualism is likely to take far too long. The gender Rubicon lies just ahead, and Beard wants to marshal an immediate crossing: you, me, everyone. And if that means fewer men get into the legislature, as it must dosocial change always has its losers as well as its winnersI am happy to look those men in the eye.

Beard never fully explains how victory will be achieved. How will women achieve radical advancement by pulling apart the very idea of leadership without exercising traditional leadership themselves? Beard does not want women to achieve power, for example, by consciously aping aspects of male rhetoric. Apparently masculine authority, properly redefined and chastened, will curtsy before the soprano. At its heart, what Beard proposes is civilizational reconstruction: If women are not perceived to be fully within the structures of power, surely it is power that we need to redefine rather than women? But she refuses to draw the unavoidable conclusion of her logic: it will certainly prove necessary to redefine men.

Women & Power suits the unsettled, unmeasured tenor of our times. Here is the French revolutionary spirit of forcing men to be free (in Rousseaus formulation) but without obsolete appeals to freedom, force, or men. We have no template for what a powerful woman looks like, says Beard. (Nor much of one, Beard fails to remark, when it comes to a modest women or a decent man.) Does the #MeToo movement offer an inspiring model of male or female authority and dignity? This is surely a moment of moral reckoning; the old codes are being broken. It might be wise to consider what we will have left when the dust settles. Many well-meaning women and men share Mary Beards frustrations and her hope for something better. Male leadership is obviously in crisis. Beard, like #MeToo, exudes a vague revolutionary energy, but her solutiondisclaimers notwithstandingis nothing more than a power grab.

Photo: Fernando Podolski/iStockJacob Zuma, South Africa's embattled former president, is now officially out of power and is facing prosecution for corruption charges. Can his replacement, the 65-year-old business tycoon Cyril Ramaphosa, bring stability to what was once one of the world's top performing emerging markets?

Global investors are certainly hoping he can. The new government has made a good start, with a cabinet reshuffle that has restored familiar faces like Nhlanhla Nene as finance minister and Pravin Gordhan to the ministry of public enterprises.

Last year, the political turmoil prompted ratings agencies S&P and Fitch to downgrade South Africa's sovereign rating from BBB- to BB+, to speculative or "junk" levels, with a negative outlook. Meanwhile, Moody's also placed its Baa2 rating on downgrade review.

Markets have cheered the delivery of a new budget, but the number of Zuma holdovers lingering within the government could be a bad omen.

"The government will need to prove it is free of the cronyism and incompetence of Zuma's government despite these remnants," Craig Botham, chief emerging markets economist with Schroders Investment Management told CNBC.

"On top of this, it needs to address the yawning fiscal deficit, restore confidence and bring back investment, and address the thorny issues of state-owned enterprise governance, the mining charter and energy policy."

In 2017, South Africa's economy ended on a note that was stronger than many expected. Still, the International Monetary Fund recently downgraded its growth estimates for both 2018 and 2019.

Investors, however, remain sanguine that the end of a political crisis fomented by Zuma can repair the damage to confidence and investment.

"That this has been resolved favorably will do a lot on its own to give South Africa a bit more growth," Botham added  and could be enough to stave off a credit downgrade that could scare away foreign capital.

"The review is due this month, I believe. My assumption would be that the cabinet changes and budget have been enough to buy the country time, but progress will need to be maintained," he added.Shifting your small business to tax-friendly locales like Florida is easier said than done.

Saving on state and local taxes is now a focal point for entrepreneurs.

Under the new tax law, owners of LLCs may be eligible for a 20 percent deduction on qualified business income.

Gary Burchell | Getty Images

If you're looking to save big on taxes by packing up your small business and shipping it to a friendlier state, it may be time to hit the brakes. The new federal tax law grants special breaks for owners of businesses  there's the 20 percent deduction on qualified business income and lower tax rates for C-corporations  and entrepreneurs are searching for additional ways to save on state and local levies as well. That's especially valuable because on individual returns, filers can only deduct up to $10,000 in state and local taxes, which include income and property taxes. "Companies are determining whether they can move their business to low tax jurisdictions," said Lance D. Christensen, partner at accounting firm Margolin Winer & Evens. "It's a question that's one of many asked as a result of this sweeping tax legislation," he said. Leaving New York for Florida sounds like a no-brainer, yet tax professionals warn that entrepreneurs should proceed with caution. It'll take more than just moving your headquarters to ramp up your savings. Here's what you should know before relocating.

Location, location, location

The issue of "tax nexus"  where you conduct your business  matters when it comes to whether you can easily pack up and move. Establishing a tax nexus is based on a number of factors, including where your employees are, where your property is located and whether you have inventory in a particular location. Based on whether you have a nexus in a given state and the nature of your business, your company may be required to pay income and sales taxes there. Click on the image below for more information on sales taxes across the country.

This is why it's easy for a one-person shop  say, an Uber driver  to pick up and move from New York to Florida, but it's not so simple for a business with multiple locations and a wide client base. "If half of my property is in North Carolina and half in New York, I need to file returns in both states," Christensen said. "The taxes apportioned to those states will be based on shipments of property, where services are provided, and where the property is." States themselves also use different methods to collect taxes from companies. Some assess levies based on where the work is performed, while others tax businesses based on where the customers are located.

Changing residency

Maybe you and your business can easily flee to a state with lower taxes. In that case, you'll need to establish domicile  your true permanent home  in that new state in order to benefit from their friendlier taxes. "We would recommend a driver's license change and updating your voter's registration, but it goes beyond that," said Christensen. "It's where your social clubs are, where you return when you go on vacation." See below for a breakdown of state income taxes.

Work with your tax planner to make sure you get this right. New York, which has a top marginal income tax rate of 8.82 percent, has been known to challenge individuals who claim to have left the Empire State for income-tax-free Florida.

Structure matters

Hero Images | Getty ImagesVehicles used for suicide car bombings, made by Islamic State militants, are seen at Federal Police headquarters after being confiscated in Mosul.

Australia signed an agreement on Saturday with Southeast Asian nations including Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines promising to share intelligence to combat terrorism.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced the signing of the memorandum of understanding in which Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed to share intelligence, co-operate on lawmaking and counter extremism on social media.

Australia is hosting ASEAN meetings this weekend, despite not being a member of the 10-nation bloc, as it seeks to tighten political and trade ties in the region amid China's rising influence.

Turnbull said in a televised address to ASEAN that Islamic State's influence was growing in Southeast Asia after the militants had lost their caliphate in the Middle East.

"They'll return battle-hardened and trained, so it's vital for Australia and our ASEAN partners to collaborate across borders," he said.

Turnbull said non-conventional tools such as digital currencies, stored value cards and crowd-funding platforms were making it harder to detect terror financing.

"As regional partners, we all play a crucial role in combating these disturbing and dangerous phenomena," he said.

Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said the government would introduce a new law to crack encryption online. The new law would force companies providing communications services and devices in Australia to help agencies in investigations, he said in a press release.

Malaysian President Najib Razak said Islamic State's online propaganda could reach more than 300 million Muslims in Southeast Asia.

"What is also very important is promoting a culture in which radical ideologies find it hard to take root," he said.Attorney General Jeff Sessions speaks to the National Association of Attorneys General 2018 Winter Meeting in Washington, U.S., February 27, 2018.

Reaction to Attorney General Jeff Sessions' move to fire former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe on Friday evening, two days before he was slated to retire, came swiftly on Twitter.

McCabe, who had been the deputy director of the FBI, took over the agency on an interim basis after President Donald Trump fired James Comey last year, but stepped down in January.

High profile critics, including former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara and former Attorney General Eric Holder, took to Twitter to shame Sessions for his decision.

Tweet

Tweet

In a statement, Sessions blamed McCabe's dismissal on reports from both the Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General, and the FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility. They concluded that McCabe had made "an unauthorized disclosure to the news media" and "lacked candor  including under oath  on multiple occasions."

The firing may deprive McCabe of his full pension benefits. In an interview with The New York Times on Friday, he said that "the idea that I was dishonest is just wrong," suggesting "this is part of an effort to discredit me as a witness."

McCabe is expected to be a witness in special counsel Robert Mueller's ongoing probe into Russian meddling in the U.S. election.

McCabe's lawyer and a former DOJ inspector general, Michael R. Bromwhich, decried the action in a statement.

"I have been involved in Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) disciplinary matters since 1994. I have never before seen the type of rush to judgment  and rush to summary punishment  that we have witnessed in this case.

"The result of this deplorable rush to judgment is to terminate Mr. McCabe before his long-anticipated retirement and deny him of the full pension and retirement benefits he would have otherwise earned through his 21 years of devoted service to the FBI and this country. This is simply not the way such matters are generally handled in the DOJ or the FBI. It is deeply disturbing."

However, Sessions' decision to fire McCabe appeared to please one very important person: His boss, President Donald Trump, given that Sessions has been on shaky ground with the president.

The Attorney General is considered one of several Cabinet members who could be on the chopping block as the president shakes up his cabinet. Ever since the AG recused himself from the Russia investigation, which continues to dog the president, Trump has used Sessions as a punching bag.

The president has frequently taken to Twitter to publicly excoriate his Attorney General.

Tweet

Tweet

On Saturday, however, Trump tweeted with a very different tone.

Tweet

With this move, Sessions may have saved himself. At least for now.

"This was a cynical ploy by Sessions to prove his loyalty and buy himself some space and time," says Chris Lu, former Obama Administration official and now senior fellow at the University of Virginia Miller Center. "However, Trump requires that loyalty be demonstrated every day, and as long as the Mueller investigation continues, Session will always be on thin ice."Russia's President Vladimir Putin looks on during a meeting with his election representatives at Moscows Gostiny Dvor; Putin is running for re-election in the 2018 Russian presidential election scheduled for March 18, 2018.

Russia has decided to expel 23 British diplomats who must leave Moscow within a week, its foreign ministry said on Saturday, after a meeting with Britain's ambassador to Russia, Laurie Bristow.

In retaliation for British Prime Minister Theresa May's decision to kick out 23 Russians, Moscow has also decided to close the British Council in Russia and to withdraw permission for Britain to open a general consulate in St Petersburg, the ministry said in a statement.

It added that it has the right to take other "responsive measures", if there are further hostile steps from London.

After the first known offensive use of a nerve agent in Europe since World War Two, Britain has pointed the finger at Russia's president Vladimir Putin, and on Thursday May gave the 23 Russians  who she said were spies working under diplomatic cover at the embassy in London  a week to leave.

Moscow has denied any involvement in the attempted murder of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter.

It has cast Britain as a post-colonial power unsettled by its impending exit from the European Union, and even suggested London fabricated the attack to whip up anti-Russian hysteria.Steel and aluminum users that depend on imported products not available from U.S. producers may have to wait up to 90 days for an exclusion from the Trump administration's new metals tariffs, according to a Commerce Department document.

The draft Federal Register notice, which is expected to be published later on Friday evening and was seen by Reuters, outlines procedures for companies to seek such exclusions.

The review period for such requests "normally will not exceed 90 days, including adjudication of objections submitted on exclusion requests," it said.

The exclusion rules have been anxiously awaited by manufacturing companies since President Donald Trump announced the tariffs on March 7 to protect domestic steel and aluminum producers on national security grounds.

U.S. allies, however, remain in the dark about country-specific exemptions. A Commerce Department spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for additional details.

But steel- and aluminum-consuming industries that must import products, such as the high-strength steel rod used to make tire belts that is currently unavailable from U.S. steelmakers, may end up paying tariffs for a considerable period before being granted an exclusion.

The U.S. Customs and Border Patrol is expected to begin collecting the tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum at 12:01 a.m. (0401 GMT) on March 23, as determined in Trump's proclamations.

"The request should clearly identify, and provide support for, the basis upon which the exclusion is sought," the Commerce Department said in the notice.

"An exclusion will only be granted if an article is not produced in the United States in a sufficient and reasonably available amount, is not produced in the United States in a satisfactory quality, or for a specific national security consideration."

The Commerce Department notice said it estimated that about 4,500 individual requests would be filed for exclusions from steel and aluminum tariffs and about 1,500 of these would draw objections from interested parties.

The agency, led by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, an architect of the tariffs and a former steel industry investor, also said it would waive the normal 60-day comment period for the exclusions regulations because this would cause delays that would be "impracticable or contrary to the public interest."U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday signed legislation that encourages the United States to send senior officials to Taiwan to meet Taiwanese counterparts and vice versa, angering China, which views the self-ruled island as a wayward province.

The bill, which is non-binding, would have gone into effect on Saturday morning, even if Trump had not signed it, said the White House.

The move adds to strains between the two countries over trade, as Trump has enacted tariffs and called for China to reduce its huge trade imbalance with the United States, even while Washington has leaned on Beijing to help resolve tensions with North Korea.

Earlier on Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang reiterated that Beijing was opposed to the legislation and urged the United States to abide by the "one China" policy, that

stipulates that Taiwan is part of China, and cease official exchanges with Taiwan.

In a statement after Trump's signing of the bill, the Chinese embassy said clauses of the legislation "severely violate the one-China principle, the political foundation of the China-U.S. relationship".

"China is strongly dissatisfied with that and firmly opposes it," the statement said, adding that the United States should "stop pursuing any official ties with Taiwan or improving its current relations with Taiwan in any substantive way."

Taiwan's Foreign Ministry expressed its thanks for the "friendly move" by the Trump administration, saying the government would continue to deepen its cooperation and partnership with the United States at all levels.

The United States does not have formal ties with Taiwan but is required by law to help it with self-defense and is the island's primary source of weapons.

Douglas Paal, who served as U.S. representative to Taiwan from 2002 to 2006, said the legislation did not change anything real as it was non-binding. U.S. administrations already had discretionary authority to permit visits by senior Taiwanese officials and visits by senior U.S. officials and military officers to Taiwan, he said.

"They don't authorize these trips because the policy judgment is that the costs in relations with China would outweigh the benefits in relations with Taiwan," Paal said.

The bill, which was passed by Congress last month, says it should be U.S. policy to allow visits at all levels. High-level Taiwan officials should be permitted to enter the United States "under respectful conditions" to meet U.S. officials, while Taiwanese economic and cultural representatives should be encouraged to conduct business in the United States.

China's hostility towards Taiwan has risen since the election of President Tsai Ing-wen, of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, in 2016.

It suspects Tsai wants to push for formal independence, which would cross a red line for Communist Party leaders in Beijing, although Tsai has said she wants to maintain the status quo and is committed to ensuring peace.

Defeated Nationalist forces fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing the Chinese civil war to the Communists.You must be logged in to participate in the Show Me the Errors contest.DeAndre Harris in Charlottesville on August 12, 2017. Photo: Michael Nigro/Pacific Press/Sipa USA

A black man who was assaulted by white nationalists during the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville last August was acquitted on a misdemeanor charge of assault and battery against one of the marchers.

Twenty-year-old DeAndre Harris faced up to a year in prison for hitting Harold Crews, the state chairman of the neo-Confederate group the League of the South, over the head with a flashlight. The incident occurred outside a parking garage, shortly before a brawl between protesters and counterprotesters in the garage, during which Harris was beaten badly by several white supremacists. Harris suffered a spinal injury and a head laceration that required stitches.

Fight broke out. Nazis beat black kid w/sticks at end. I kick one in back 2 help & he runs after me. Kid is safe but bloody #Charlottesville pic.twitter.com/kr11a8zQ0K  ChuckModi (@ChuckModi1) August 12, 2017

Crews brought the charges against Harris two months after the rally, at which point a warrant was issued for his arrest. The charge, originally a felony, was knocked down to a misdemeanor.

Crews (along with legions of right-wingers online) claims that Harris had incited violence by hitting him with the flashlight. But Harris said that he had only struck Crews because Crews had been attacking his friend, Corey Long, with a flagpole.

Charlottesville General District Court Judge Robert Downer Jr. sided with Harris, finding that he had been acting in self-defense.

I dont see that Mr. Harris did anything wrong that day, Downer said. Its all on tape for me to see.

But he had harsh words for both sides of the protest.

The behavior Ive seen is appalling, he said. I can say this without question  that there was bad behavior all around.

Four men who assaulted Harris in the garage, including members of Crewss organization, face trials in the spring.

Cheers broke out in the courtroom when the verdict was read.If something is in the national interest, it is always in the Conservative interest. Mays speech to Spring Forum  full text

We gather here in London today, but I know that our thoughts are with our fellow citizens in another English city  Salisbury.

Everyone in this hall, and everyone in our Party, stands in solidarity with the people of Salisbury.

We pay tribute to the bravery of all the emergency services, doctors, nurses and investigation teams who have led the response to the appalling incident which occurred there.

And I also want to pay tribute today to Salisburys fantastic MP John Glen  he is the pattern of a dedicated constituency member and he has stood up for his community at this difficult time. Thank you John.

I set out in the House of Commons this week the Governments conclusion that the Russian state was culpable for the attempted murder of Mr Skripal and his daughter, and for threatening the lives of other British citizens.

I also set out the action we are taking in response.

Action to dismantle the Russian espionage network in the UK, to develop new powers to tackle hostile state activity, and the suspension of all planned high-level contact between the UK and the Russian Federation.

Today our Ambassador in Moscow was informed by the Russian government of the action they are taking in response.

In light of their previous behaviour, we anticipated a response of this kind and we will consider our next steps in the coming days, alongside our allies and partners.

But Russias response doesnt change the facts of the matter  the attempted assassination of two people on British soil, for which there is no alternative conclusion other than that the Russian State was culpable.

It is Russia that is in flagrant breach of international law and the Chemical Weapons Convention.

I repeat today that we have no disagreement with the Russian people.

Many Russians have made this country their home.

And those who abide by our laws and make a contribution to our society will always be welcome.

But we will never tolerate a threat to the life of British citizens and others on British soil from the Russian Government.

We can be reassured by the strong support we have received from our friends and allies around the world.

From the United States, NATO and the European Union.

From our UN and Commonwealth partners.

I am grateful too for the strong support I have received from the First Ministers of Scotland and Wales.

And in the House of Commons this week, we saw a consensus as member after member, across all parties, stood up to condemn Russias actions and to support the position of Her Majestys Government.

Because this act of Russian aggression is the very antithesis of the liberal and democratic values that define the United Kingdom.

The rule of law. Freedom of speech. The toleration of dissenting and minority views. A free press. Fair and democratic elections. A thriving civil society.

These are the foundation stones of human freedom.

They dont come about by accident, and they are certainly not the default setting for any society.

They take years of patient work to build up, they face constant threats, and they must always be defended.

They are the values which unite us as a country.

Conservative values

And it is about values that I want to speak to you today.

Because just as our countrys defining values underpin our response to the Salisbury attack

so our Partys commitment to Conservative values defines our whole approach to politics and government.

We in this Party are the heirs of a proud tradition underpinned by enduring principles.

First, our belief in security.

We want everyone to have the economic security of a good job, a decent wage, and a home to call their own.

We want people to have the personal security of a great National Health Service that is there for us when we need it.

And we are the Party of national security, backing our armed forces, our police and our security services who protect us every day.

As well as for security, we stand for opportunity.

We back aspiration and ambition.

We want everyone, from every background, to be able to go as far as their talents and hard work can take them.

We want every child to get the best start in life and for each generation to do better than the last.

And through security and opportunity, we want people to enjoy freedom and happiness in every aspect of their lives.

The economic freedom to make your own choices, pursue your own dreams and enjoy the earned rewards of your efforts.

And personal freedom too  freedom of speech, freedom of thought, freedom of conscience.

Security, opportunity and freedom.

These are the timeless values which drive us.

And they are values which speak to everyone in our country.

Because the Conservative Party is not for any narrow interest, not for a particular class or a particular region.

We are a Party that works for the common good of everyone in our society.

We are the Party that puts the national interest first.

Because if something is in the national interest, it is always in the Conservative interest.

Values in action

And we see our guiding principles applied wherever Conservatives are in power.

We see it at the local level, where brilliant Conservative councils keep taxes low so people can keep more of the money they earn

and deliver high-quality services for those who rely on them.

It is on those strong records of local delivery that Conservative candidates across England will proudly stand in the local elections this May.

And we see those values underpinning our work at a national level too.

We are the Party that is acting on the democratic will of the British people by delivering Brexit

completing the first phase of discussions with the EU last year, and continuing our progress in the months since.

And we are the Party that understands the need for a strong economy, pursuing policies which deliver sustained growth and record jobs, and pursuing a modern Industrial Strategy to help all parts of the UK benefit from economic opportunity.

On Brexit and on the economy, the British people can see that the Conservative Party is acting on its values and delivering for them.

But there is another area of our national life which is equally important.

And that is our key public services.

Here, some people question our motives.

They wonder whether we care enough about our NHS and schools.

Whether we truly respect the people who work in them.

And understand that people rely on them.

Now, I know what our answer would be.

Everyone in this Party cares deeply about our public services.

We use them. We rely on them. Many of us work in them.

We each have our own story of how they have been there for us through our lives.

Mine starts with the state schools that helped me to get into a great university and set me on course for a rewarding career.

As a local councillor and constituency MP, I have seen first-hand how important public services are to people from all walks of life.

And when I was diagnosed with diabetes, the NHS was there for me.

Skilled and compassionate, helping me every step of the way to manage my condition and live a normal life.

I rely on the NHS every day and I am eternally grateful to them.

That is an experience replicated right across the country, by people of all political persuasions.

We know how much we care about our vital public services, and we know we have a strong record of delivery in government.

So we might think that the publics doubts about us are unfair.

But they are a political fact which we must face up to.

So as we carry on delivering Brexit, and carry on taking the action needed to build an economy fit for the future

we as a Party, and as a Government, must mount a determined effort to win and keep the publics trust in our management of public services.

To do that, we must be unafraid to speak out clearly and passionately about our values as Conservatives and what motivate us in politics.

While always defending our record in office, we also need to accept that our public services today do face real challenges, and we must be clear about the action we are taking to help them.

And we must also do something else  we need to win the argument that says it is only a strong economy that can provide the resources our public services need

and it is only by continuing to reform our public services that we can achieve the improved results which we all want.

Conservative belief in public services

And when it comes to our values as Conservatives, we have nothing to fear and nothing to hide.

Because our central motivation is public service.

It is why I went into politics in the first place.

It is why so many of you in this room did too.

Its why we go out and deliver leaflets, knock on doors, stand on street stalls.

Not for personal gain. But to serve our communities and our country.

That is an instinct which we share with millions of people who may not regard themselves a Conservatives, and may not vote for us at elections.

But just like us, they want to serve the greater good.

Not just teachers, doctors and police officers, but fire fighters, planning officers and social workers.

They dedicate their lives to helping their communities and serving the needs of others.

We should be confident that the values which motivate us as Conservatives speak to that profound impulse for public service.

And there is no ideological barrier to hold us back.

Because while we know that public service takes many forms and is never a monopoly of the state

Conservatives have always believed that a responsible and effective government has an essential role to play.

That starts with the very first duty of government: the defence of the realm and upholding the rule of law.

Without those essential foundations, nothing else is possible.

Thats why the attack in Salisbury was such an outrage, and why it warranted such a firm response.

That is why Conservatives have always backed the brave men and women of our armed forces, police and security services in the vital work they do to keep us safe, and why our commitment to them in the future is absolute.

But we know that the role of government doesnt end there.

Because, for people to achieve their full potential, they also need high quality public services which only government has the power to guarantee.

A diverse education system, which allows every child to unlock his or her potential.

A first class health service, there for all of us when we need it, with care based on clinical need and never the ability to pay.

These and other public services have been built over time, and our Party has often been at the forefront of their development.

A Conservative created the modern police force.

Conservatives created the county councils.

During the Second World War, a Conservative education minister, Rab Butler established universal schooling

and a Conservative Health Minister, Henry Willink, published the first blue-print for a universal, free, health service.

It fell to Labour to create the NHS seventy years ago this summer, and it is rightly their proudest achievement.

But Conservatives backed its key principles then, and have supported them ever since.

Just four years after its creation, a Conservative Government took over the fledgling NHS and nurtured it for the next 13 years.

Indeed, for over 40 of the NHSs 70 years, it has been under the care of Conservative ministers.

Conservatives created the GCSE, the National Curriculum and Free Schools.

We lifted the cap on the number of people going to university.

Conservatives defined the legal framework of modern policing, and established democratically-elected Police and Crime Commissioners.

For over a century, our Party has helped lead the way in establishing and extending public services in this country.

And we did all of these things not in spite of our Conservatism, but because of it.

Conservatism has always steered a middle course between ideological extremes.

Like the vast majority of the British people, we believe that while government doesnt have all the answers, it does have a role, and part of that is a crucial responsibility to ensure the provision of high quality public services.

Importance of a strong economy

And we also understand something else  the importance of a strong economy.

We need thriving businesses to create the jobs that give financial security to their workers.

We know that when it is properly regulated and operates under the rule of law, an open market economy is the greatest agent of collective human progress the world has ever known.

And we need the revenue which a thriving economy generates to support our schools, hospitals and police service.

We also understand that government has to live within its means.

The British people know what happens when a government loses control of public spending  they saw what happened under Labour.

Because of the damage they did to our economy, last year we spent nearly 50 billion debt interest  more than we spend each year on schools.

Money that could be going to our public services, but which instead is going to our creditors.

That is the consequence of irresponsible economic policies and it is a lesson we must never forget.

So our values and motivations as Conservatives are clear: security, opportunity and freedom for everyone.

We know that excellent public services are essential to that mission.

We have a proud history of creating, extending and reforming them.

And we understand that its only through a strong economy that they can get the funding they need.

But we also need to be honest about some of the challenges our public services face today.

Some have had to make do with less and others have seen their budgets rise at a slower rate than they were used to.

For our dedicated public sector workers, who have experienced pay restraint, that has been difficult and it has meant sacrifices.

I understand that. But these policies were essential, in order to deal with the deficit we inherited and put our country on a sound financial footing.

And as the Chancellor set out this week, thanks to the hard work and sacrifice of the British people, we have now reached a turning point in our recovery, on the threshold of the first sustained fall in our countrys debt levels for 17 years.

Last year, thanks to our strengthened economic position, we were able to give the government more flexibility to adopt a balanced approach to public spending.

Continuing to deal with our debts, so that our economy remains strong and peoples jobs are protected.

And at the same time, making the investment in our public services that our successful management of the economy has made possible.

For our schools, that means an extra 1.3 billion over the next two years, to maintain per-pupil funding in real terms.

At the spring and autumn budgets last year, we put an extra 9 billion into the NHS and social care.

And for our dedicated public sector workers, it meant an end to the across-the-board 1% pay award policy.

And as the Chancellor said this week, if the public finances continue to improve, we will have capacity to increase public spending and investment further in the years ahead.

But we have only been able to put this additional funding into our public services and the pockets of public sector workers, because of our balanced approach to public spending and the economic growth which Conservative policies deliver.

Success of reform: education

But if we look back over the last eight years, we can see that money alone is not the route to improvements in our public services.

We have shown that determined efforts to reform

to give greater freedom and accountability to our public servants

and to address the underlying causes of increasing demand

can lead to improved outcomes for everyone.

Take education.

Within a tight budget, we introduced major reforms to raise standards in schools, we targeted funding to help the most disadvantaged, and schools have achieved better outcomes for our young people as a result.

Nearly 2 million more pupils are now being educated in good or outstanding schools than eight years ago and Englands education performance is improving internationally.

Children from all backgrounds are doing better, but children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds are improving the fastest

with the attainment gap at primary and secondary school shrinking by almost 10% and more people from disadvantaged backgrounds making it to university than ever before.

We are raising the academic bar, so our children are among the best educated in the world

and we are narrowing the performance gap between rich and poor, so where you are born, who your parents are, how much money they have doesnt define how far you will go in life.

And the independent inspectors at OFSTED said in their most recent annual report that: the quality of educationprovided to young people today is better than ever .

So in the years ahead, we will keep up the pace of reform

Well continue with policies that work.

Like turning failing schools into academies.

A few years ago Levenshulme High School in Manchester was rated by OFSTED as Inadequate.

Since converting to an academy and changing its leadership, it is now rated as Outstanding.

For the people of that community, that improvement is life changing.

And we see the same success with free schools.

I have always believed in the potential of free schools  thats why I put them in the Conservative election manifesto in 2001, as shadow education secretary.

And now free schools score some of the very highest results at GCSE.

Two of the top 10 schools in the country for progress  Dixons Trinity Academy in Bradford and Tauheedul Islam Boys High School in Blackburn  are free schools set up in areas of some of the highest deprivation in the country.

This is what Conservatives do in Government.

And we are going further.

Delivering new Opportunity Areas to target additional resources to areas of the country struggling most with social mobility.

Helping schools to learn from each others successes, by encouraging collaboration between the state and the independent sectors, charities, universities and businesses.

And building on the success of school reform, we are implementing the biggest overhaul of technical education in England for a generation.

For years it has been treated as second best, but Conservatives are putting it back where it belongs as a first class alternative to academic study for our young people, backed up with a 500 million investment in new high-quality T levels.

And this month I launched a major review into the whole post-18 system, to deliver better value and greater access, so we can deliver the right education for each individual.

So yes, we are investing more resources in our education system, but we are also pressing on with the serious reforms which will deliver a better future for our young people.

Success of reform: health

And we see the success of reform in our NHS too.

Since 2010 health spending has increased in real terms each and every year.

We have extended services, so everyone is on track to have extended access to GP services, including at evenings and weekends.

We are expanding primary care with more pharmacists and mental health therapists, so more care can be delivered closer to home.

We are spending more on mental health than ever, putting it on the path to full parity with physical health.

And there are now 43,000 more clinical staff caring for patients across our NHS.

Following the appalling tragedy of Mid Staffs, the NHS is well on the way to becoming one of the safest healthcare systems in the world.

Cancer survival rates are higher than ever.

Patient satisfaction is at its highest for more than two decades.

And the NHS has twice been independently rated the best healthcare system in the world.

But we know that the world does not stand still.

Demand is rising, with more people attending A&E each day, more phoning 111, more going to see their GP.

More of us are living longer, and with more complex health needs.

And the NHS has more treatments to offer each of us to meet those changing needs.

Despite the NHS overall being ranked as one of the most efficient healthcare systems in the world

we know there are areas where bureaucracy can be reduced, costs brought down and the variation in performance reduced.

Indeed, we could dramatically improve the NHSs performance if the excellence we see in parts of the service was spread across the whole system.

So we need to drive reform across the system at the same time as increasing funding, particularly at a time when we are all asking more from the service.

That is why we as a government we have backed the NHSs own plan, funded that plan, committed to further increases in our manifesto, and last year announced an additional 9billion for health and social care.

So that in the year of its seventieth anniversary, we will take the action to ensure the NHS is there for its hundredth birthday, free at the point of use, paid for out of general taxation.

Success of reform: crime and policing

It is not just in our schools and hospitals that we see substantial reform leading to better outcomes for the public.

The police budget is now protected, but after 2010 forces had to do more with less.

We helped them by stripping away unnecessary targets and giving them a single mission to fight crime.

We created PCCs to give local communities a voice.

And today, crime is down by a third since 2010 and victim satisfaction with the police remains high.

Criminals who are brought before our courts for serious offences are now more likely to go to prison, and more likely to stay there for longer.

But as technology changes, the nature of crime is changing with it.

So we established the National Crime Agency, to deal with serious and organised crime.

And we are investing 1.9 billion to support the National Cyber Security Strategy

And we will carry on giving our police the tools they need to fight crime and protect the public.

Last year we passed the Criminal Finance Act, giving law enforcement agencies the power to recover the proceeds of crime, tackle money laundering, and combat the financing of terrorism.

Last week we launched a consultation on a new Domestic Violence Bill, to protect victims and make sure agencies respond more effectively to this heinous crime.

This spring, we will publish a new Serious Violence Strategy, which will help steer young people away from a life of crime, while continuing to promote strong law enforcement.

And because we know that drugs are a serious driver of criminality, we are implementing a new drug strategy which will support people to recover from drug dependence and restrict the supply of illegal drugs.

Labour

Compare the approach I have been setting out today

an approach rooted in the values of public service

based in economic reality

and engaging with the serious need to reform as well as invest in our public services

with what is on offer from the Labour Party.

Instead of policies which seek to bring our country together

Labour set out to mislead people about our policies.

Instead of a balanced approach to public spending

 Labour want a return to massive borrowing for which ultimately we would all pay more.

And instead of offering serious ideas to reform and improve our public services

they simply make incredible promises to increase spending on everything, with no idea where the money would come from.

By their own admission, their economic policies would lead to a run on the pound.

And they would cripple our economy  just like last time.

That would threaten the livelihoods of working people and take the country back to where we were in 2010  needing to make cuts to public spending.

We saw with his promise to deal with student debt, Jeremy Corbyn cannot even be relied on to stick to his promises.

And when public services require credible investment and serious reform, all Labour offers is a return to the failed ideas of the past.

Time and again, they are on the wrong side of the argument and the wrong side of history.

Party of the future

And in opposing a Labour Party wedded to the past, we must be a Party that offers hope for the future.

Hope for everyone in our country  people of every social background and race, of any religion and none, of women and men equally, of gay and straight, young and old.

And we should be optimistic about what we can achieve for everyone in our country in the years ahead.

Because when Brexit is done, and Britain steps into the new future that awaits us, I want it to be this party, the Conservative Party, that leads our country into the next decade and beyond.

By building a better future for everyone, by uniting the country, by delivering for every community.

A Brexit that works for every man, woman and child in Britain.

An economy that is fit for the future.

And world class public services which are there for us all.

Making and winning the argument of the future.

That has always been our Partys mission.

We have always been the party that seeks One Nation  the party which serves the national interest.

Which seeks to unite the country and help everyone live better lives.

Which breaks down the barriers which hold us back.

That is what we are doing in government today.

Making technical education just as good as academic.

Caring about mental health as much as we do about physical health.

Building homes, while protecting the environment.

Facing up to social injustices, like racial and gender discrimination.

Strengthening our Union of nations.

Supporting free markets but stepping in when they fail.

Delivering a Brexit that brings the country together.

That is the Conservative way.

Offering security, opportunity and freedom for all.

Delivering first class public services.

Governing in the national interest.

And building a country that works for everyone.Its not enough for the Young Conservatives to be worthy  they must be fun

In September 2016, I wrote that the suspension of Conservative Future had opened up a gap in the market for a pro-Tory youth group and that if CCHQ didnt act it would get filled by something embarrassing.

A year later, in September 2017, we got the Activate fiasco and  along with a hearty dose of I told you so  another call from this site for the Party to get its act together and sort out something for young members.

So were six months ahead of schedule to be returning to this theme, but this time there is some better news: Brandon Lewis has announced the rebirth of the Young Conservatives to (sort of) replace the moribund CF.

Why only sort of? Because as this slideshow published by Guido reveals, the new YCs arent going to cover universities, which almost certainly constituted the bulk of CFs activist strength outside London. Instead pro-Tory student associations are going to be independent and unaffiliated, although members will be encouraged to join the party, which is nice.

As I said in my previous articles on the youth movement, this sort of official distance-keeping doesnt tend to offer the Party very much protection when things go awry  note that Lewis has been answering questions about Activate in the press coverage of the YC launch, and they werent even semi-official. What benefit will flow from leaving the student branches adrift is thus not immediately obvious.

The actual YC branches will be integrated within local associations, although they will elect their own officers  eligibility for voting will be capped at 25, which suggests that the Party has abandoned CFs somewhat higher and greatly more tragic threshold of 30 or under.

One notable omission: there is absolutely no mention of a national structure or leadership, let alone elections to the same.

Is that such a terrible thing? The authors own experience of CF national elections is that they diverting enough for a small group of very engaged people but were otherwise largely pointless. Some who won the glittering prize did go on to become MPs and more, so your view on the lack of a Chairman of the YCs may depend on how you feel about Ben Howlett and John Bercow  not to mention our own editor, Paul Goodman.

Beyond that, the programme looks very worthy but, perhaps, somewhat dull. The slideshow suggests that the emphasis will be on practical campaigning, which is undoubtedly very useful and worthwhile, but makes little mention of the all-important social side.

Road Trip worked  and as a campaigning vehicle it did work  because it recognised how important a strong social offer was to getting out a blitzkrieg force of young activists. One reason that Tory-inclined students join the university associations is to meet like-minded people in what can often feel like an unwelcoming political environment in the student union.

Perhaps there is more to come on this side of things  at present the official YC page consists of a 22-second video of Ben Bradley inviting the viewer to have a look around the website which has nothing else on it, which suggests so.

If not, it is something Bradley should consider sooner rather than later. Socials (much like internal elections, really) are the fun side of political activism. Few but the most committed will train themselves up as Party campaigners and hit the pavements week after week if theyre not having any fun. As ever, if CCHQ doesnt provide something then someone else will.Nuclear fusion for the controlled and regular generation of electric power by converting hydrogen into helium and reproducing on a small scale what actually happens in our sun is one of the top technological promises for the future.

Designed to reach parameters beyond the ones previously obtained in laboratory experiments, the reactor prototype called ITER (the Latin word for "the way") is presently under construction in southern France. Its design capacity is for 500 MW, and the plan is to go live in 2025. The members of the ITER consortium are China, the European Union, India, Japan, Russia, South Korea, and the United States. The cost of the megaproject is expected to surpass $24.8 billion.

ITER, however, will not provide electricity to the grid, but it will be the first tokamak to produce net energy. It will enable scientists to learn more about handling multiple technical complexities of nuclear fusion, paving the way for machines that do indeed use it to supply electricity to the grid. The term tokamak comes from the Russian acronym for a toroidal chamber with magnetic coils.

For this plan to succeed, however, it will be crucial to ensure the nuclear fusion process can become self-sustaining and to prevent losses of energy via electromagnetic radiation and of alpha particlesthe atomic nuclei of helium made up of two protons and two neutronsas these losses would allow the reactor to cool. Experimental results observed during the past 20 years have shown the way in which fast ions (including alpha particles) are ejected from the plasma varies greatly from one tokamak to another. Until recently, no one understood which experimental conditions determined this behavior.

The problem is now a bit clearer through the work of Vinicius Njaim Duarte, a Brazilian researcher who recently earned his PhD with support from the Sao Paulo Research Foundation. Duarte is currently engaged in postdoctoral research at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) in the US.

Duarte is the lead author of the article "Theory and observation of the onset of nonlinear structures due to eigenmode destabilization by fast ions in tokamaks."

Predictions confirmed

Duartes research drew so much attention that the largest U.S. tokamak, DIII-D, developed and operated by General Atomics in San Diego, California, dedicated experiments were conducted to test the model he proposed. The results confirmed the models predictions.

"Electromagnetic waves excited by fast particles in tokamaks can display sudden variations in frequency, known as chirping in the jargon. No one understood why this happened on some machines and not in others. Using complex numerical modeling and experimental data, Duarte showed that whether chirping occurs or notand hence the nature of particle and energy losses  depends on the level of turbulence in the plasma confined in the tokamak, where nuclear fusion reactions take place. Chirping occurs if it isnt highly turbulent. With severe turbulence, theres no chirping," said physicist Ricardo Magnus Osorio Galvao, now director of Brazils National Space Research Institute (INPE) and Duartes former PhD supervisor at the University of Sao Paulos Physics Institute (IF-USP).

To make the import of this discovery comprehensible, a number of points must be explained.

Fusion not fission

First, it bears recalling the process in question is nuclear fusionnot nuclear fission, the process used in the worlds existing nuclear power plants. In fission, the atomic nuclei of heavy elements, such as uranium 235, for example, split into nuclei of lighter elementskrypton and barium in this case. This fission releases energy, electromagnetic radiation, and neutrons that in turn split in a chain reaction that keeps the process going.

Nuclear fusion works differently. In this process, the atomic nuclei of lighter elements, such as the hydrogen isotopes deuterium (one proton and one neutron) and tritium (one proton and two neutrons), fuse to form nuclei of heavier elementsin this case, helium (two protons and two neutrons)and release energy.

"For nuclear fusion to be possible, its necessary to overcome the electrostatic repulsion between positive ions," Galvao said. "This only happens if the ionized gas [plasma] formed by the nuclei of the light elements is heated to extremely high temperatures, of the order of tens to hundreds of millions of degrees Celsius."

In ITER, for example, 840 cubic meters of plasma will be heated to 150 million degrees Celsius, over ten times the temperature of the Suns core. "At that kind of temperature, you reach energy breakeven: the energy released by the fusion reactions is sufficient to equal the energy required to heat the plasma," Galvao said.

The process takes place inside the toroidal chamber of a tokamak, a device invented in the 1950s by Soviet physicists Igor Yevgenyevich Tamm and Andrei Sakharov, who were inspired by an original idea of their colleague Oleg Lavrentiev. A torus is shaped like a doughnut or an inner tube. The solid contained by the surface is known as a toroid.

Starts with vacuum

The nuclear fusion process develops as follows. A vacuum is produced in the chamber, which is then filled with gas. An electric discharge ionizes the gas, which is heated by high-frequency radio waves.

An electrical field induced in the toroidal chamber subjects the gas to an extremely intense current of order of 1 million amperes in the case of DIII-D, which heats the gas even further via the Joule effect. Still more energy is injected by electromagnetic waves until the temperature required to trigger nuclear fusion is reached. Even a small tokamak, such as the one installed at the University of Sao Paulo, reaches temperatures on the order of millions degrees.

"At these extremely high temperatures, the ions vibrate so strongly that they collide and overcome electrostatic repulsion," Galvao said. "A powerful magnetic field confines the plasma flow and keeps it away from the vessels walls. The highly energized alpha particles [helium nuclei] collide with other particles in the plasma, keeping it hot and sustaining the fusion reactions."

An analogy suggested by Galvao would be a bonfire made with damp wood, which will not catch fire easily at first but which flares up eventually after a certain temperature is reached, and the steadily more stable combustion produces enough energy to overcome the humidity. In the case of a plasma, it is said to reach the ignition point when alpha particles begin consistently feeding back into the process.

Safer fusion

Among fusions many advantages over fission is fusion involves a self-control mechanism: Once the ignition point is reached, if this temperature level is significantly exceededif the plasma overheatsthe reaction automatically slows down. Thus, reactor meltdown, one of the most dangerous complications of accidents in power plants that use nuclear fission, could not happen in a nuclear fusion plant.

The problem is resonant interaction between alpha particles and waves present in the plasma can excite electromagnetic oscillations or even lead to the ejection of alpha particles. This can cause energy loss, plasma cooling and possible interruption of nuclear fusion. Understanding the causes of this problem and the factors that can prevent it is fundamental to ensuring the sustainability of the process and the use of nuclear fusion as a viable source of electricity.

"What Duarte found is this outcome happens in a self-organized manner, with the production of chirping, if the plasma is not very turbulent. If turbulence is high, however, it doesnt," Galvao said.

The crux of the problem is that in a highly turbulent fluid, there is no preferential direction, Galvao said, offering another analogy to help illustrate his meaning.

"When you heat water slowly, you create a convection cell in the container. Hot water rises, and cold water sinks. This continues until all the water reaches boiling point," he said. "The medium then becomes turbulent, the convection cell is destroyed, and the energy spreads indiscriminately in all directions. This also happens in a magnetically confined plasma. Its occurrence prevents the creation of a self-organized system that sustains an undesirable associated electromagnetic wave. There isnt enough coherence for waves to be generated. So, the loss of energy that would end the fusion process doesnt occur."

Gregory Hale is the editor and founder of Industrial Safety and Security Source (ISSSource.com), a news and information Website covering safety and security issues in the manufacturing automation sector. This content originally appeared on ISSSource.com. ISSSource is a CFE Media content partner. Edited by Chris Vavra, production editor, CFE Media, cvavra@cfemedia.com.

ONLINE extra

See related stories from ISSSource linked below.TORONTO, Ontario  Congratulations to Joeanne Laviolette of Long Sault after winning $1 million with MAXMILLIONS in the December 22, 2017 LOTTO MAX draw.

Since its launch in September 2009, Ontario LOTTO MAX players have won over $4.1 billion in prizes, including 55 jackpot wins and 392 winning MAXMILLIONS tickets from all across the province.

The winning ticket was purchased at CNIB Lottery Kiosk in Walmart on Ninth Street in Cornwall.China Merchants Group officially cut steel for the first of up to 10 newbuild expedition ships for SunStone ships at a ceremony at Haimen in Jiangsu Province.

CMIG General Manager Xianfu Hu said: Cruise manufacturing is a target specified in the Made In China 2025 initiative and will accelerate Chinas cruise Industry development. Under CMGs strategy to develop a comprehensive cruise industrial chain, we aim to be Chinas leading equipment manufacturer in the industry. We will use expedition cruise ships as a starting point and work towards manufacturing of mid-large scale cruise ships.

Also present at the signing was SunStone CEO Niels-Erik Lund.

The first ship has been named the Greg Mortimer and will be chartered to Aurora Expeditions for the 2019-2020 Antarctica season.

Ulstein Design and Solutions will supply the design and equipment package for the new SunStone expedition ships, as well as the supervision for the building of the vessels.

The ships will have between 80 and 95 staterooms, depending on configuration, and be classed by Bureau Veritas.

CMIH has also entered into an agreement with Makinen, which will establish a cabin assembly plant and interior workshop at the shipyards facilities, and will be responsible for all interior spaces on the newbuilds.Lindblad Expeditions Holdings and Ulstein Group today celebrated the keel laying of Lindblads first polar new build at the CRIST shipyard in Gdynia, Poland.

The occasion marked a major milestone in the construction of the worlds most sophisticated expedition ship, and served as the official naming ceremony of the lines latest addition to the Lindblad-National Geographic fleet, the company said.

We are thrilled to announce the name of our new polar ship: National Geographic Endurance, due for delivery in the first quarter of 2020, announced Sven Lindblad, President and CEO of Lindblad Expeditions. She is named in honor of Ernest Shackleton, Lindblad Expeditions most revered explorer and will incorporate technical advances and create opportunities for guests beyond the reach of any contemporary ship.

A Polar Class 5 rating gives us the ability to operate the ship freely at any time of year in polar environments vastly expanding our polar range, Lindblad continued. This means we can explore deeper into the pack ice, or further north to the unexplored reaches of the arctic. For instance, northern Ellesmere Island, where only a relative handful of people have ever been. Or some of the completely off-the-beaten-path arctic islands that are remote, pristine and teeming with wildlife.

The ceremony continued with the traditional laying of the coins. First welded was a newly minted commemorative silver coin etched with the name of the ship, flanked by a polar bear and penguin signifying the two poles she will be exploring, and etched with To Explore and Understand the World.

Sven laid the lucky coin of iconic Lindblad naturalist, Tom Ritchie, a 1780 Austro-Hungarian thaler [silver dollar] with Marie Theresa on one side and a double-headed eagle on the other.

Joining the Lindblad team in Poland for the occasion was Trey Byus, Chief Expedition Officer; Tyler Skarda, Senior VP, Marine Operations; Captain Leif Skog, VP, Nautical and Ice Captain, and Nikolaos Doulis, Senior VP, New Buildings. Present for Ulstein was Gunvor Ulstein CEO Ulstein Group and Managing Director Ulstein Shipping; Tore Ulstein , Chair of the Board and Deputy CEO Ulstein Group; Kristian Stre, Managing Director, Ulstein Verft; and Per Svein Brekke, Project Responsible. Among the CRIST representatives were Ireneusz Cwirko, Chair of the Managing Board and Krzysztof Kulczycki, Chair of the Supervising Board.

We are excited to be witnessing this important milestone for the new exploration cruise vessel for Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic. We look forward to the arrival of the hull to our shipyard, Ulstein Verft, for the completion of this innovative vessel, stated Gunvor Ulstein, CEO, Ulstein Group.

Immediately following the ceremony, Sven Lindblad, Trey Byus, and Captain Leif Skog departed to Longyearbyen to embark on a reconnaissance expedition that will yield discoveries for more exhilarating 2020 early season Arctic adventures for National Geographic Endurance.A Darien island home is back in the 25 most expensive listings in Connecticut, one of several to resurface in the past several weeks after failing to secure buyers at the original, higher prices sought by their owners.

Looking for some peace and quiet? Buy your own Connecticut island

The property at 20 Juniper Road is on the market for $14.3 million, below the $17.5 million price it carried when first listed for sale in June 2016, with the 8,300-square-foot house looking out onto Long Island Sound from a 7-acre island accessed from Noroton Neck just east of Stamford.

The town of Darien lists Flip Huffard as the owner of the property at 20 Juniper Road, with Huffard a longtime executive in a Blackstone Group component that helps other companies dig their way out of debt crises, whether through bankruptcy, asset sales or other financial restructuring.

Since retiring in 2014 in advance of Blackstone selling the unit the following year to PJT Partners, Huffard has been an adviser for SVPGlobal, a Greenwich firm with more than $7 billion in assets invested in distressed businesses. He is also president of the Darien Land Trusts board of trustees.

Finding an agent for 20 Juniper Road was easy enough  Flips spouse Kim is handling inquiries in her day job as an agent in the Darien office of William Pitt Sothebys International Realty, with Kim Huffard not responding immediately Friday to a Hearst Connecticut Media email query on the listing. The Huffards also own property on Long Neck Road across the water that they purchased in 2015 for $11.4 million.

The 20 Juniper Road listing is among the latest to refresh Connecticuts top 25 list on Zillow and other real estate websites. The Thimble Islands off Branford are still on top at $50 million, and the Round Hill Manor in Greenwich is priced at just under $40 million.

The Round Hill Road estate carries a $10 million discount from the original listed price in June 2016, with the reduction a common factor among Connecticut estates. Also dropping by $10 million from only a few years ago is a Georgian estate at 110 Clapboard Ridge Road, now priced at $25 million.

And the same day that the Juniper Road home hit the Darien market anew, an equestrian estate on Taconic Road in backcountry Greenwich returned to the market, priced at $14 million, a major discount from the original $23.5 million sought in 2015.

Looking ahead to the 2018 market, Douglas Elliman analyst Jonathan Miller told Hearst Connecticut Media in January that sellers have had a couple of years to wrestle with what value actually is, with the new federal tax cuts also affecting the spring market whether from the vantage of sellers or buyers.The president is readying his stab in the dark. Photo: Eric Thayer-Pool/Getty Images

A history professor of mine once attempted to explain to our class why Adolf Hitler invaded the Soviet Union, when the virtual impossibility of a land invasion of a country as vast as Russia was already well known in 1941. The answer, he concluded, was that Hitler was put on earth to invade Russia. His loathing of Bolshevism, his twisted Darwinian mania for the acquisition of land and resources, and his fixation with his own military genius all led him to a decision that was both inevitable and impossible.

This is a good way to think about President Trumps approach toward the Robert Mueller investigation. Trump is not a Nazi or a fascist, and I am not drawing any moral parallel between the two. The similarity, rather, lies in the way an apparently irrational decision can be made logical and necessary by a certain kind of twisted internal logic that can escape outsiders. I have long believed Trump is headed toward a confrontation with Mueller, and those who doubt he will finally take the plunge are making the mistake of judging Trump by the standards of a normal president and not his own demonstrated pathologies. The sacking of FBI staff member Andrew McCabe for alleged unauthorized leaking to the news media, and comments by Trumps lawyer John Dowd calling for the firing or Robert Mueller add to an ominous drumbeat.

What are the forces and vectors pushing in this direction? Trump, of course, has been raging against the Department of Justice and the FBI since the campaign itself, when he demanded his opponent be locked up. He fired the FBI director for failing to demonstrate sufficient loyalty, he has repeatedly lashed the attorney general for his obviously necessary recusal from an investigation into the campaign he was part of, and he has repeatedly demanded that the same attorney general investigate his opponents.

Since the firing of James Comey, the staff members around Trump have managed to placate, delay, or contain some of these impulses. But nearly every reporter following the White House now agrees that Trump is moving into a new phase of his presidency. He is aware that he has surrounded himself with people who consider him a moron or are trying to save the country from his madness, and he is relentlessly casting them off.

Trump may not be systematically breaking through the protective ring that has surrounded him, because he is barely capable of doing anything in a systematic fashion. But in fits and starts he is lurching in the same basic direction. He is doing the things his aides told him he could not do, or refused to carry out. Imposing tariffs was a major step in asserting his autonomy. Firing Rex Tillerson in humiliating fashion was another. The case that he would leave Mueller alone relied on the assumption that Trump would stay contained forever. That assumption is crumbling.

It is also notable that Trumps recent behavior displays a reckless disregard for even his own self-preservation. In his legal battle with Stormy Daniels, Trump is opening himself to legal discovery that may expose campaign finance violations or other misdeeds. He not only demanded the firing of McCabe, he proceeded to taunt his victim.

Andrew McCabe FIRED, a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI - A great day for Democracy. Sanctimonious James Comey was his boss and made McCabe look like a choirboy. He knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 17, 2018

The legal merits of the case for firing McCabe are not fully known to the public. It is possible McCabe stepped out of line when briefing reporters on a story that made the Clinton campaign look bad. The publicly known factual contours of the episode make this seem highly unlikely. Almost certainly, Sessions fired McCabe because Trump hated McCabe and wanted to punish him and to discredit one of Comeys corroborating witnesses. Trumps end zone dance will help McCabe make that case, which he can press in a wrongful termination lawsuit, and which will also open up for discovery more of Trumps interactions with Sessions.

Trump is exposing himself to legal danger for the fleeting satisfaction of a tweet. Can there be any doubt he would take the risk of firing a Mueller?

It is notable as well that Trump has successfully lined up most of his party apparatus behind him for any confrontation. The House Republicans closed their Russia investigation, which was obviously intended all along to provide a pretext for declaring Trump innocent. Conservative media has been hammering the message for months that Trump has done nothing wrong, and that all the criminal misbehavior exists on the side of the investigators.

All this effort has been expended either in support, or in studiously ignoring the existence, of Trumps deep-rooted contempt for the rule of law. Whether or not McCabe filled out all the necessary memos when talking to a reporter, how fully the FBI disclosed its source material for its FISA warrant to surveil Carter Page, or any other legal claims upon which Trumps defenders have rested their case, are beside the point. Trump believes law enforcement should operate for his benefit, punishing his enemies and protecting his friends. He admires strongmen. His contempt for democratic norms is characterological. The notion that his own government would investigate him is as unfathomable to Trump as his being called to the carpet by a Trump Organization secretary. Trump is going to go after Mueller at some point because there is no other way for Trumps febrile mind to make sense of the world.Pa. health officials say providers ready to go with COVID-19 boosters

Pa. health officials said Tuesday that providers are ready to give booster shots whenever the federal government releases its guidance.With Maharashtra gearing up to celebrate Gudhi Padva, the new year, on Sunday, a message pertaining to Shiv Senas alliance with BJP has gone viral on social media. The message, allegedly being spread by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) workers, states that Shiv Sena will pull out support from the BJP government in the wake of its growing differences with the BJP.

Shiv Sena has, so far, used different tactics and changed its colours to paint the BJP in a bad light. In an unprecedented move, it also supported the Communist Party of India (M)  backed All India Kisan Sabha when it led a march of 15,000 tribal farmers from Nashik to Mumbai while demanding the execution of rights on forest lands.

It was unprecedented because the party had never supported any Left organisation or its demands in the past. For the record, Shiv Sena has clarified that they back the farmers, not the Left. An editorial in the partys mouthpiece, Saamna, stated that it was Shiv Sena which ended the Lefts dominance in central Mumbai by providing employment to the youths.

If Shiv Sena pulls out of the government and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), following the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), its president Uddhav Thackeray will take a central place in state politics. With a mixture of good networking in urban areas and promising appeal in rural areas, the Shiv Sena has the potential to emerge as the main rival of the BJP by 2019 elections. What Thackeray lacks is the quick decision-making ability and promptness in extending moral and financial support to the workers on the ground.

At a meeting of the party legislators two weeks ago, Thackeray reiterated his plan to go solo in the election even if it proves disastrous for the party. I wont mind if we would finish the election badly but they (BJP) should not return to power, he reportedly told the legislators. He is certainly under pressure to snap ties with the BJP, but he is not sure whether that will help Shiv Sena to grow or will lead to the strengthening of Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

Surprisingly, both Congress and NCP leaders told Mail Today, on conditions of anonymity, that Shiv Sena will grow at a tremendous pace if it pulls out from the government. They believe Shiv Sena will eat BJPs share of votes in urban areas, its bastion. BJP could return to power on the basis of the support it draws in urban areas as well as its strong network in Vidarbha region as Congress and NCP have minimum influence there.

The ball is in Thackerays court now. If he pulls out, he will become a hero but will have fewer chances to return to power. If he stays on, he will remain in power but loose his credibility forever. Thackeray is facing the toughest test of his political career so far.

(Courtesy of Mail Today)

Also read: If our pain isn't seen, where do we go?Sleek and slim televisions have become an essential part of every living room these days. They not only help keep us entertained, but also add to the decor of the room. However, buying a TV can at times become a headache-inducing task. With so many new models doing the rounds, sporting similar specs and all claiming to be the best, it's extremely important as a buyer that you do your research before going ahead and spending money on a new TV.

So if you're in the market for a new smart TV and happen to be on a budget, then check out these sets that you can buy for under Rs 50,000.

Xiaomi Mi TV 4 (Rs 39,999)

Arguably the best value-for-money TV in the market right now, the Mi TV 4 is a device that ticks all the right boxes.

Touted to be the thinnest in the world, the Indian version of the Mi TV 4 has a massive 55-inch display with no almost negligible frame and a thickness of 4.99mm at its thinnest point, and only 48mm at its thickest. With the form factor, the smart TV is slimmer than most smartphones out there and offers up to 4K resolution and HDR at an aggressive price of Rs 39,999.

The TV comes with a 60Hz panel that offers a viewing angle of 178-degrees and has a response time of 8ms. Being a smart TV, it also packs specs to power it through the apps you throw at it  a 64-bit quad-core Amlogic Cortex-A53 SoC clocked up to 1.8GHz, Mali-T830 GPU, 2GB of RAM and 8GB of storage.

Vu ActiVoice 4K Android TV 46-inch (Rs 46,999)

After Xiaomi set foot in the ring with its lineup of smart TVs, Vu also jumped into the fray with its smart TV lineup consisting of three TVs  43-inch, 49-inch and the 55-inch top-end variants. However, its the 49-inch model that we will be featuring in our list today.

The 4K UHD TV comes with an A+ Grade IPS panel with 3840x2160 pixel resolution and a refresh rate of 60Hz. It is powered by a quad-core processor coupled with 2.5GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. The display also supports dynamic contrast, high bright mode, smooth motion control and wide viewing angle among other features.

Vu's Smart TV runs official Android 7.0 Smart OS which comes with Google Play Store, Google Eco-System, Google Movies, Music and also supports Google Chromecast allowing you to cast movies and shows from your Android, iOS, Mac, Windows or Chromebook to the TV.

Sony Bravia Full HD smart TV (Rs 42,999)

Next up in the list is Sony Bravia's TV that does sport a slightly high price tag, but brings with it the promise of quality along with a feature set that's quite impressive. The 40-inch TV comes with a 1080p panel with a refresh rate of 200Hz. The TV also comes with two speakers along with a built-in subwoofers.

There are a number of connectivity options available on the smart TV and it also comes with support for apps such as Youtube, Youtube Kids, Big Flix, Sony Liv, 500 px, Opera TV Store, internet browser, Photo Sharing Plus, Photo Frame, FM Radio.

Mi TV 4A 43-inch (Rs 22,999)

The Mi TV 4A is Xiaomi's big bet for the television market in the country. Unlike the Mi TV 4, the 4A is a more rounded television that is aimed at a larger audience and a device that could truly become India's smart TV. The Full HD (1080p) brings with it impressive specs  a 1.5GHz quad-core Amlogic T962 Cortex-A53 processor coupled with Mali-T450 GPU.

The smart TV also sport 1GB of RAM and 8GB of flash storage along with Wi-Fi (802.11ac) and Bluetooth 4.0, and 20W speakers that support DTS audio. Priced at Rs 22,999, the Mi TV 4A marks itself out as a very good option for those looking for a Full HD smart TV on the cheap.

Vu 43-inch smart TV (Rs 26,999)

Last, but not the least, is Vu's smart TV that brings with it pretty basic smart TV functionality, but at an affordable price point. The television features a 43-inch Full-HD IPS display with a refresh rate of 60Hz.

The TV comes with a host of connectivity features including built in WiFi to help it play apps like Netflix, YouTube and the TVs inbuilt browser. There are two speakers on the TV that can output a total 20W of audio. At 26,999 this is also a new model which should definitely be considered.

Also read: Have questions over Rafale deal made Nirmala Sitharaman lose her sheen?Not the worlds greatest job security. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

John Dowd, President Trumps personal lawyer, told The Daily Beast on Saturday that he thinks Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein should fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller. But while he initially claimed that he was speaking on behalf of President Trump, he quickly walked back that assertion.

In an email commenting on Jeff Sessionss firing of Deputy Director Andrew McCabe Friday night, Dowd said that Rosenstein should follow suit in his own department.

I pray that Acting Attorney General Rosenstein will follow the brilliant and courageous example of the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility and Attorney General Jeff Sessions and bring an end to alleged Russia Collusion investigation manufactured by McCabes boss James Comey based upon a fraudulent and corrupt Dossier, Dowd wrote.

The 77-year-old lawyer, who has been advising Trump since June and apparently has a flair for the dramatic, also included the following annotated paragraph from the Tennessee Williams play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, in an effort to prove his point about the Russia investigation:

Whats that smell in this room[Bureau}? Didnt you notice it, Brick [Jim]? Didnt you notice a powerful and obnoxious odor of mendacity in this room[Bureau}?  There aint nothin more powerful than the odor of mendacity[corruption]  You can smell it. It smells like death.

Responding to a Daily Beast question, Dowd initially said that he was speaking for Trump as his counsel. But he then emailed the outlet back to clarify that he was opining in a personal capacity.

This week, the New York Times reported that Mueller had subpoenaed the Trump organization, demanding documents related to Russia. Trump had previously warned that any investigation into his familys finances would cross a red line, and he was reportedly furious about Muellers maneuver. With the Russia investigation showing no signs of slowing down, Trump may revive his aborted effort to fire the special counsel.

But Rosenstein, who has overseen the Russia probe since Jeff Sessions recused himself last year, does not appear inclined to follow Dowds advice. In December, he told Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee that he saw no cause to fire Mueller, and that the special counsels investigation is not a witch hunt. And just five days ago, he redoubled his support for Mueller in an interview with USA Today.

But if Rosenstein doesnt give in to political pressure, theres always the possibility of simply replacing him with a Trump toady who would gladly dispatch the special counsel  a path the president has already considered. Sessions, Rosensteins boss, may be in danger of losing his job, too, one reason he may have chosen to fire McCabe.

Given all the instability in the White House and surrounding the Russia investigation, some Democrats are mounting a public campaign to save Muellers job:

Every member of Congress, Republican and Democrat, needs to speak up in defense of the Special Counsel. Now. https://t.co/bg9pVtkdOv  Mark Warner (@MarkWarner) March 17, 2018

Dont hold your breath, Senator Warner.CEO of Cambridge Analytica Alexander Nix. Photo: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Concordia Summit

The data analytics firm that worked for President Trumps election campaign, Cambridge Analytica, harvested the personal information of tens of millions of Facebook users without their permission, then failed to delete that data when it got caught, according to a new joint-investigation by the New York Times and the Observer of London. Facebook, whose role in the 2016 presidential election has already been widely criticized, suspended Cambridge Analyticas access to the service on Friday in light of the reports.

The harvested user information, collected under the guise of academic research, included the private social media activity of more than 50 million people. Cambridge Analyticas data scientists were able to match about 30 million of those users with voter rolls and use that data to build psychographic models aimed at predicting and influencing votes  though the effectiveness of such methods is disputable.

Cambridge Analytica is owned by conservative billionaire Robert Mercer and his daughter, Rebekah, and counted former Trump adviser and Breitbart chairman Stephen Bannon as one of its founders. One of the companys other founders, Christopher Wylie, told the Times that the leaders of the firm wanted new weapons to fight a culture war in America, and that rules dont matter for them. For them, this is a war, and its all fair.

Speaking with the Observer, Wylie admitted that the company exploited Facebook to harvest millions of peoples profiles, and then built models to exploit what we knew about them and target their inner demons. (Wylie is also the subject of an extensive profile published by the Guardian on Saturday, which contains much more detail about his experiences with Cambridge Analytica.)

Wylie explained that the Mercers and Bannon wanted to remake American politics, and saw personality profiling as a way to help them accomplish that goal. The private Facebook information, collected in mid-2014, used link personality traits to voting preferences. The data was then used to tailor campaign messages that could take advantage of voters personality traits. Further underlining the shadiness of these efforts: they originally experimented in countries with weak privacy protections where politician clients would pass along government data.

Cambridge Analytica executives have been accused of exaggerating the usefulness of their methods, and it remains an open question how much of an impact their efforts had on the Trump campaign in 2016 (though no one is disputing how effective Trumps overall digital operation was). Former campaign officials told the Times that the Cambridge Analyticas services included designing target audiences for digital ads and fund-raising appeals, modeling voter turnout, buying $5 million in television ads and determining where Mr. Trump should travel to best drum up support.

The data breach, which was previously reported as far back as 2015, is one of the largest in Facebooks history. The social media giant hasnt addressed it until now, and insists it wasnt a breach at all, merely a mishandling of user data. On Friday, the company announced that it had suspended Cambridge Analytica, its parent firm Strategic Communication Laboratories (SCL), Wylie (who left the company in late 2014), and the Russian-American academic Aleksandr Kogan, who originally collected the data using a Facebook app that asked users to complete a personality test-like survey.

In a statement announcing the temporary suspensions, Facebook said Kogan harvested the data legitimately, but then passed it along to third parties in violation of the social networks terms. According to the Observer, Facebook failed to alert affected users about the breach, and took only limited steps to recover and secure the private information. Facebook had asked the firms to certify that the data had been deleted, which they did without actually following through, according to the Times. Wylie says that all Facebook did to confirm the data was deleted was to ask him to tick a box on a form and post it back.

Facebook vice-president and deputy general counsel Paul Grewal insisted on Friday that while the platforms terms were violated, no systems were infiltrated, and no passwords or sensitive pieces of information were stolen or hacked.

The Times also reports that because many of the data scientists employed by Cambridge Analytica and SCL were foreigners, its possible that they violated U.S. election law, a charge Cambridge Analytica denies. The company is also being investigated by U.K. authorities over its data acquisition methods and possibly illegal efforts to influence voters to vote in favor of Brexit.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller is reportedly demanding emails exchanged between Cambridge Analytica employees and Trump campaign staff members. One likely reason why: the Times says that a British affiliate of Cambridge Analytica claims to have worked in Russia and Ukraine. The Observer adds that Kogan, the Russian-American academic who collected the data, has previously unreported links to a Russian university and took Russian grants for research.

Wikileaks founder Jullian Assange also alleged last year that Cambridge Analyticas CEO, Alexander Nix, contacted him during the campaign trying to get ahold of Hillary Clintons private emails. And Times reporters watched undercover footage of Nix bragging in January that he had employed front companies and former spies in service of his political clients, as well as discussing ways of entrapping politicians in compromising situations.

So far, no American political campaigns or super PACs have reported paying Cambridge Analytica for its services ahead of this years midterms.Over the last 10 years, President Museveni has been emphatic that public universities should reduce teaching of the humanities since they are contributing to unemployment in the country.

He even got Mbarara University to stop offering the bachelor of development studies. Museveni remains determined that public universities should emphasize sciences for their contribution to national development while limiting unemployment. However, dons at Makerere and Kabale universities remain convinced.

Last week, Makerere hosted a symposium on re-fashioning the humanities and social sciences for the 21st century. According to one of the organisers, Dr Edgar Nabutanyi, the meeting, supported by German Gerda Henkel Stiftung, is intended to improve the teaching of humanities. The Gerda Henkel foundation is supporting 30 PhD students in the humanities over 10 years.

Labeled useless, with reducing funding and enrollment, one finds that humanities and social sciences face a threat at the cusp of the fourth industrial revolution characterised by fluidity and change, he said.

In the days key note lecture, Prof Peter Wasamba of Nairobi University, explained that the fourth industrial revolution had seen more practitioners use the computer to make amazing changes, leading to the assumption that only those who pursue the sciences succeed.

But Wasamba, who is dean of the School of Humanities at Nairobi University, said he had seen many former science students struggling to get a job in Kenya.

Our surveys show that graduates in the science field struggle to adjust to unemployment compared to their counterparts in the social sciences, who are able to transfer their services to other fields, he said.

The tragedy is that politicians are dubbing humanities as useless, but the crisis is actually caused by a disruption in the social order, Wassamba said

He said that many traditional jobs have been affected by innovation, led mostly by the computer revolution. Supermarket chains Tuskys, Uchumi and Nakumatt have seen their places taken by digital platforms like Jumia, Kilimall and Vitumob.

The biggest problem with this disruption is the speed at which it is happening, he said. Universities must find ways to ensure that the next generation of scholars survive in an era where computer knowledge is critical. This is not the time to rely on yellow notes.

The professor warned that scholars in the humanities and social sciences must find solutions to tomorrows socio-politico challenges.

For instance, on the political front, governments will find solutions to deal with highly informed populations that are more demanding of negative rights such as individual freedoms and liberties as well as positive rights and economic wellbeing and security.

Universities, he said will also have to find solutions for the political activities in a limited space.

With the ever-shrinking workplace, the concept of trade unions may not survive, he argued.

We are witnessing the emergence of small scale firms/minds and the death of economies of scale, to replace large scale factories.

He concluded that more than at any time in the past, the teaching of humanities is needed.

We need more graduates of humanities because the innovators are producing for a changing society, he said. The respect of ethics is what makes us human.

However, he concluded that the graduate of the future will be comfortable with both humanities and sciences, insisting that the two are complementary, rather than being in competition with each other.

Makereres deputy vice chancellor of academic affairs, Dr Ernest Okello Ogwang, observed that the death of social sciences is not yet here even if sciences and mathematics have become a goal to be worshipped.

Ogwang said: we are in the midst of an era of creativity, which calls for African humanities scholars to take their places along historical giants like Julius Nyerere, Ngugi wa Thiongo and Thabo Mbeki, who shaped the social discourse of their time.

We have to come together as teachers and researchers in the humanities and sciences to forge multidisciplinary teams that can adapt to the disruption brought about by the fourth industrial revolution.

mtalemwa@observer.ugA very unusual silence swept through the hall as the master of ceremony introduced the next speaker. The over 200 youth representatives from all regions in Uganda waited attentively to listen to what a senior citizen had to say.

The old, Justice James Ogoola, a former principal judge, took to the podium to tell them why they had been gathered at this Desert Island hotel in the countrys eastern district of Soroti. The topic on the menu was an inclusive national dialogue.

Justice James Ogoola at the dialogue

Most of what is going on in this nation currently is not good. We are not yet to the point where we are a one people, we still have a lot of divisions especially at tribal levels, Ogoola said.

Very few times we have hard peace and peace doesnt mean absence of war. It means constitutionalism and justice.

According to Ogoola, the contemporary differences between Ugandans along tribal, political and social lines require that there is dialogue to ensure a period of enduring peace, justice and equality.

We would rather have the whole nation assemble and say, how did we get here, how do we move from here and how do we do it together as a nation, Ogoola said.

Ogoola was speaking on Wednesday during a consultative meeting on a proposed national dialogue by a section of civil society groups. The meetings seek to acquire ideas from the public on the scope of a national dialogue process that will constitute political, economic and general governance discussions.

The groups include the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda (IRCU), Women Situation Room, the Elders Forum, Citizens Coalition for Electoral Democracy in Uganda (Ccedu), National Consultative Forum and the Inter-party Organisation for Dialogue (Ipod).

According to the draft scope, the dialogue seeks an agreement on a national consensus to consolidate peace, democracy, and inclusive development to achieve equal opportunity for all.

The organisers said this seeks to recognise the progress the country has achieved since independence, putting into consideration the contribution of past and present presidents, and citizens contributions.

The consultative meetings that started last year and abruptly came to a halt, have resumed with organizers now targeting carefully selected people from different groups like the youths and religious leaders.

According to the associate director of the Great Lakes Institute for Strategic Planning, Godber Tumushabe, these groups have been chosen to spearhead the process basing on individual characteristics like honesty, integrity, self respect, influential and an ardent belief in social justice.

We chose these categories of people because of their level of penetration and also the peer pressures of the groups. We want them to develop the confidence to talk about the dialogue in their communities, Tumushabe said.

He added that there was need for the current generation to talk and discuss what kind of country they want for themselves and their children.

We have spent our entire life as a generation talking about Museveni and Besigye when it comes to politics but what have we done for ourselves, Tumushabe wondered.

Tumushabe said that the country has on several times been plunged into war to by warring factions who later stage sat down for peace talks but their interests, instead of those of Ugandans are put first. The national dialogue, he says will give everyone a platform to talk about these issues with brutal -honesty.

We have been resorting to violence since 1962 and when these people realise that they are going to finish themselves, they sit and talk yet we Ugandans are never involved. Up to now, we dont know what, Museveni and Gen Moses Ali agreed upon, he said.

Other top issues to be discusses are quality services delivery, accountability, political consensus and national diversity consensus.

Who said that Uganda needs a standard gauge railway and not hospitals, who said that we need an airport and not schools, we need to sit down as a country and agree on the bare minimum of things that we want, Tumushabe said.

Dialogue on course

Joshua Kitakule the IRCU secretary general said that after the formal consultations, the dialogue will commence by the first week of May 2018 after the group met Museveni at State House Entebbe last week and got a government commitment on the issue.

For the consultations, Museveni earlier last year assigned Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda, to work with civil society and opposition and fast tract the national dialogue process.

Ogoola said that the timing of the dialogue was good because to get the people of Uganda speaking non-partisanly, the dialogue must be carried out in a period that is not an election and with less political activity.

Reactions

Some of the youths in the meeting offered their thoughts on the proposed dialogue process like Matani Samuel who believes that there can never be a dialogue with Museveni unless there is equality where everybody comes to the discussion table knowing that he is equal to the other.

There can never been dialogue between master and slave, he said. We need to have equal stakes in this. Dialoguing with Museveni is just like smashing stones with eggs.

Joseph Opio however wondered whether strong politicians will not infiltrate the dialogue process by paying off people to front their own agendas, given the wanton poverty and palpable corruption in the country.

We need to be economically empowered. If we have the money, it is easier to make leaders accountable but many of us are very poor and those in power simple buy us off, he said.

kamogajonathan50@gmail.comPresident Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has vowed to woo all voters in Rukungiri district, who had defected to the opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party, back into the ruling NRM party.



Addressing locals at Kasoroza playground in Nyakagyeme sub-county, Rukungiri district, on Friday afternoon, the president said that there is no way voters can remain believing in FDC, yet NRM party is the one that fought for Uganda's stability.

President Museveni addressing residents of Rukungiri

"Its the Movement [NRM] which fought Amin, Obote, Kony, ADF and brought about peace, what has the opposition done to deserve leadership?, Museveni asked.

Museveni vowed to help locals in Rukungiri, an FDC stronghold to get out of poverty, the moment they start supporting NRM. He added that he is not working for anybody but is working for heaven. "I'm working for heaven that's why am I using these young people not the district bosses or members of parliament," he said.

Museveni said once he reaches and he's asked what he did for the people back on earth, he will says he got them out of poverty. Museveni said during guerilla war, they never used bishops or other church leaders to penetrate Luwero and capture power.

"Jim Muhwezi here knows very well we used very small people to penetrate larger group until we reached where we were going, this is what I'm using again to reach FDC power ten who went astray," he said



Museveni re-echoed his advice to locals against splitting land which he said will not work for them. "If you have six children and you divide three acres of land among them, each will get half an acre which can't help them," he said.



Museveni donated Shs 30 million to Nyakagyeme Bodaboda group, Nyakagyeme Development Savings Credit and Cooperative Organisation and Nyakagyeme Banana Traders' Group. He also donated a Fuso truck to Nyakagyeme Banana Traders' Group to help in transporting their produce. He also donated Shs 50 million to a group of onion growers from Ntungamo district.



Rukungiri is the ancestral home of Dr Kizza Besigye, Museveni's former ally and personal physician, but who fell out with the president in 1999 and went on to challenge him in elections in 2001, 2006, 2011 and 2016.

On all the four occasions, Besigye has come second to Museveni, garnering millions of votes but not enough to dislodge Museveni's 31-year-rule.



Besigye, who retired from the army in 2000 at the rank of Colonel, has always claimed the ruling party has rigged him out of victory.

He challenged the election results twice, in 2001 and 2006, with each time the Supreme court judges agreeing that there was rigging, but not significant enough to influence the final outcome.The US shares very strong ties with India and is in favour of free, fair and reciprocal trade with it, a senior White House official has said even as he asserted that the bilateral trade remained one aspect of the relationship where "the most friction" is experienced.

The remarks came days after US President Donald Trump publicly raised the issue of high import duty by India on motorcycles at least three times in a month and threatened a reciprocal duty on Indian imports.

"The commitment to the relationship is very strong on both sides. If you had to point to a part of the relationship where you have the most friction, it certainly would be the trade side," the official who spoke on condition of anonymity told reporters yesterday.

The official was giving a clarity on the various aspects of the American ties in South Asia, including India.

Noting that there had been concerns raised about the trade deficit with India, the official said it had come down slightly more recently, based largely on India's imports of US energy.

"This administration is looking for a free, fair and reciprocal trade with India. And so is seeking to see some of those tariffs such as on a Harley Davidson motorcycles that are there. US is determined to find the opportunities to increase trade investment with India and does expect that there will be some sort of reciprocal dealings on the trade issues," the official said.

He noted that Indian motorcycles that are imported into the US did not have any tariffs on them.

"And so the president has been clear that he's looking for a fairly reciprocal trade with India," the official said.

Responding to a series of question, the official said that the Trump Administration was constantly talking with India on trade issues.

Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale, who was in Washington DC this week, met US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

At the same time the official indicated that trade issues were unlikely to be part of the soon-to-be held two plus two dialogue between the two countries involving their respective foreign and defence ministers.

In the absence of the Secretary of State, the two-plus-two dialogue has now been delayed and is likely to be held later this year after Mike Pompeo is confirmed by the Senate.

"I think, it's an ongoing discussion that we're having on the trade issues.

"The two plus two is focused a great deal on a defence security cooperation, diplomatic political cooperation just by virtue of the Defence Minister and Defence Secretary and the External Affairs Minister and Secretary of State. The trade issues are more of an ongoing dialogue that we're having with India," the official said.Capital markets watchdog Sebi has imposed a penalty of Rs 10 lakh on media firm NDTV and of Rs 3 lakh each on four individuals, including promoters Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy, for certain disclosure lapses.

The order follows a probe by Sebi (Securities and Exchange Board of India) into alleged delay in disclosure about Rs 450 crore income tax demand -- subsequently challenged by NDTV, which has been in cross hairs of various agencies -- and about sale of some shares by a top company executive over four years ago.

In its 23-page order dated March 16, Sebi imposed penalty of Rs 10 lakh on NDTV and Rs 3 lakh each on Prannoy Roy, Radhika Roy, Vikramaditya Chandra (group CEO at that time) and Anoop Singh Juneja (compliance officer).

Sebi said it had also issued notices to the company's erstwhile executive vice chairman K V L Narayan Rao, but proceedings against him abated due to his death late last year.

The regulator said the persons in charge of a company or the principal officer are liable for the compliance of clause 36 of the listing agreement, which deals with disclosure by a listed company of any share price sensitive information.

Sebi noted that Prannoy and Radhika Roy were the Executive Co-Chairpersons and Chandra was the Group CEO and Executive Director constituting the top management of the company, while Juneha was the Company Secretary and Compliance Officer.

"These people constitute the management of the company who are responsible for the day-to-day and overall operations of the company. Further, it is an admitted fact that the decision not to disclose the tax demand was a conscious decision taken by the management of NDTV," the Sebi order said, while finding the four persons to have violated the listing agreement and therefore liable to a penalty.

Sebi said it has taken note of NDTV having been already penalised of Rs 2 crore through a different proceeding with respect to non-disclosure of the said income tax demand of Rs 450 crore.

"For the purpose of imposing penalty, I have taken cognisance of the fact that for the same violation, Noticee no-1 (NDTV) was already penalised and therefore I am inclined to take a lenient view and impose a penalty of Rs 3 lakh on each Noticee nos 3 to 5 (Prannoy Roy, Radhika Roy and Chandra) for violation of Clause 36 of the Listing Agreement...," the adjudicating officer said in the order.

Besides, Juneja was fined Rs 3 lakh for violations of Clause 36 of the Listing Agreement and of another clause relating to Code of Corporate Disclosure Practices under Sebi's insider trading regulations.

Sebi said it conducted investigation based on a complaint received from Quantum Securities, a shareholder of NDTV, that NDTV did not disclose the order of Dispute Resolution Panel-II of the Income Tax Department, within 2 days of receipt of information, to the stock exchanges.

There was also allegation that Vice Chairperson of NDTV had engaged in insider trading by selling his shares based on the information about DRP-II order and did not make the required disclosures to the stock exchanges regarding the sale of his shares as required under Sebi (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, the order said about the case.

The first adjudicating officer for the case was appointed in August 2015, while show-cause notices were also issued in the same month.

The allegations included about Rao having made delayed disclosure to the stock exchanges about share sale transactions worth Rs 5 lakh, and NDTV having made delayed disclosure regarding the tax demand of Rs 450 crore raised against the company by the Income Tax Department.

NDTV was also accused of making delayed disclosures about Rao's disclosures, while it was alleged that Roys, Chandra and Juneja were also liable for these infractions being the executives in-charge of the firm.

In their submissions, Rao and others denied any lapses on their part and had said they had made all the required disclosures in a timely manner and it had found the tax demand "devoid of any merit in law".The UIDAI today asked people to take "due precautions" while sharing their personal information such as Aadhaar on the internet for availing any service.

Playing down reports of Aadhaar PDF being allegedly available through Google search query of Mera Aadhaar, Meri Pehchan, UIDAI claimed that the issue had "nothing to do with the security of Aadhaar and its database".

On Wednesday, a French security expert, who goes by the name Elliot Alderson on social media but his real name is Baptiste Robert, posted a video on Twitter, saying "How to bypass the password protection of the official Aadhaar android app in 1 minute". In this video, he explained flaws in the UIDAI's mobile app, saying how one's Aadhaar information can be obtained by bypassing the password mechanism in the app. The hacker even advised people not to the Android app.

"People share their personal information, including Aadhaar on internet, to some or other service provider or vendor to get the services and when they put their details on internet they should take due precautions as required in any digital activities," Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) said in a statement.

Asserting the robustness of the Aadhaar identity system, the nodal body, which issues the 12 digit biometric identifier, said that "publication or posting of Aadhaar cards by some unscrupulous people have absolutely no bearing on UIDAI and not the least on Aadhaar security".

"These (reports) are far from the reality and have got nothing to do with the security of Aadhaar and its database. As none of the Aadhaar cards shown are taken from UIDAI database," the statement said.

Emphasising that just like any other identity document, Aadhaar too is not a confidential document, UIDAI argued that mere knowledge about someone's Aadhaar card is not sufficient to impersonate that person as biometric authentication is needed to establish ones identity.

While Aadhaar has to be shared with others, being a personal information like mobile number, bank account number, PAN card, passport, family details, etc, Aadhaar too should be protected to ensure privacy of a person, UIDAI said.

"If anybody unauthorisedly publishes someone's personal information such as Aadhaar card, mobile number, bank account, photograph, etc., he can be sued for civil damages by the person whose privacy right is infringed," UIDAI statement noted.

However, it said, such publication does not threaten or impact security of Aadhaar and its database which remains "safe and secure".

The statement by UIDAI come in backdrop of reports claiming that information about Aadhaar may be available from third party websites, and that a Google search may lead to Aadhaar details of several people.McLaren says Halo to Gandys in Australia

Posted by: ASkyler on Mar 16, 2018 - 06:39 PM McLaren says Halo to Gandys in Australia



McLaren has teamed up with adventurous British lifestyle brand Gandys for next weeks Australian Grand Prix.



Gandys was founded by brothers Rob and Paul Forkan, who were inspired to start the brand after tragically losing both their parents in the Tsunami that affected much of southeast Asia in December 2004.



The Gandys brand began with a single flip-flop design, with its initial success enabling Rob and Paul to achieve their goal and open the first Orphans For Orphans foundation kids campus, in Sri Lanka in 2014.





Alongside their charitable foundation, the Gandys brothers have continued to grow the brand since its inception in 2012. Gandys introduced full menswear and womenswear collections to the brand in 2016, and continue to support Orphans For Orphans by donating 10 per cent of their profits to the foundation. The second campus was opened last year in Malawi, with plans to open more across the world.



Now, for the Australian Grand Prix, Gandys branding will feature on both McLaren cars. Todays announcement means Gandys will become the first brand to take advantage of the unique shape of the new-for-2018 Halo cockpit protection structure, which has frequently been compared to the distinctive upper of a flip-flop.



Additionally, Gandys and McLaren will collaborate to create a limited-run Halo-edition flip-flop, with 100 per cent of all profits going directly to the Orphans For Orphans foundation. They will be available from gandyslondon.com and all Gandys' London stores, as well as through mclarenstore.com.









John Allert, McLaren Chief Marketing Officer, said:



Were delighted to have Rob, Paul and the team at Gandys join us for the Australian Grand Prix. The placement of the logo, on the MCL33s Halo, was not only perfect from a branding perspective, but also a great opportunity to underline Gandys charitable commitment to providing a safer, more protective environment for those at risk.



Collaborating with Gandys on a limited-edition co-branded product was also a meaningful step for us. By giving 100 per cent of all profits to the Orphans For Orphans charity, McLaren is also able to help a very deserving good cause.



Showcasing this partnership in Australia, where we race just a stones throw from Melbournes beautiful St Kilda beach, just felt like the best possible opportunity for Gandys to showcase its brand and noble cause on the international stage.



Gandys co-founder Rob Forkan said:



We were absolutely thrilled when McLaren came to us with this idea. When the brand was created, Paul was living in Melbourne, and I went out to surprise him on his birthday to tell him about the idea for Gandys. After managing to persuade him to return to the UK and start the brand, its really exciting to be going back. In fact, it will be the first time weve return to Melbourne, so its great to feel we have come full circle!



By putting Gandys branding on the cars Halo, we can help to strengthen the message behind our Orphans For Orphans initiative; creating a protective and inspiring environment for children at risk. It is a step in the right direction for the safety of the drivers and a great step for Gandys.



When we started Gandys we started working on a small scale, helping a few children. Now we are helping more and more vulnerable children all around the world. We hope the halo will have a similar impact in Formula 1, as we know that even if it only saves one life to begin with, it will go on to have a wider impact.



On a personal note, as huge fans of Formula 1 and McLaren, this was an opportunity that was simply too good to pass up. We cant wait to see Fernando, Stoffel and the whole team in action in Melbourne next weekend.



PaddockTalk Perspective



The embattled former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Dr Stephen Kwabena Opuni, has been accused of accepting a GH25,000 kickback to influence the performance of his official duties.



This is contained in a suit filed against the former COCOBOD boss, who was appointed by former President John Dramani Mahamas National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration.



Dr Opuni has been sued together with one Seidu Agongo, a businessman and Chief Executive Officer of Agricult Ghana Limited, for causing financial loss to the state to the tune of GH217,370,289.22.



According to the suit, on October 10, 2014 while he was the CEO of COCOBOD, Dr. Opuni agreed to permit his conduct to be influenced by an amount of GH25,000.



His counterpart, Seidu Agongo, has also been accused of endeavouring to influence the conduct of Stephen Kwabena Opuni in the performance of his duties as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) by offering him an amount of twenty-five thousand Ghana Cedis (GH25,000).



Among the 27 charges leveled against them are defrauding by false pretenses, willfully causing financial loss to the state, money laundering, corruption by a public officer and contravention of the Public Procurement Act.



They are expected to appear before an Accra high court on March 23, 2018



Another accusation against Dr. Opuni is the supply of a substance described as Lithovit Liquid Fertilizer using public funds without obtaining a price quotation.



The two are also facing charges of conspiring to willfully cause financial loss to the state contrary to Sections 23 (1) and 179A (3) (a) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29).



The suit quotes Seidu Agongo and Agricult as manufacturing fertilizer in commercial quantities without registration as well as selling misbranded and adulterated fertilizer to the COCOBOD.



Background



Dr. Opuni is being accused of abetting Mr. Agongo and Agricult Ghana Ltd to defraud the COCOBOD the sum of GH43,120,000 between January 2014 and November 2014.



He is also being accused of abetting the businessman to defraud the state the sum of GH75,289,314.72 million between November 2014 and November 2015.



According to the suit, Mr Seidu Agongo, between October 2015 and March 2016 in Accra in the Greater Accra Region with intent to defraud Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) obtained the consent of COCOBOD to part with the sum of GH98,935,974.50 by representing to COCOBOD that you will supply Lithovit Foliar Fertilizer from Germany for application by farmers on cocoa for the 2015/2016 cocoa season, a representation which you knew to be false at the time of making it.



The tenure of Dr Opuni as the CEO of the COCOBOD was characterized by countless allegations of financial malpractices.



The former COCOBOD boss is alleged to have conspired with some top officials of the sector to siphon cocoa cash.



He was at the centre of serious fraud investigations by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service (GPS) over some scandals involving several millions of Ghana cedis during his tenure as the CEO.



In February 2017, the assets and bank accounts of Dr Opuni were frozen following investigations into some contracts he signed during his tenure and financial irregularities uncovered by the NPP government.



He was a subject of an investigation by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) at the time when his assets were frozen.



Dr Opuni was on January 12, 2017 asked to vacate office barely a week after the NPP government was inaugurated.

Source: Daily Guide









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Colombia Hoy



Para nunca olvidar



Paginas vistas en total

'Parasite' painted on a statue of Queen, Elizabeth in Kent, England



Sin palabras



La UE le apunta a la paz



Cada vez mas solo



Precio del Brent To get the BRENT oil price, please enable Javascript.

Precio del WTI To get the oil price, please enable Javascript.

Dolar USA Vs Euro

Precio del Oro To get the gold price, please enable Javascript.

LULA y su Pueblo



Bye Bye



Homenaje al genial Quino



Fueron ellos



Una imagen que resume



Tan bajo ha caido que se deja tocar el trasero?



Porky y el Nene (archiconocido narcotraficante)



Ladrones al poder



Asi mira el perrito a su amo



Crazy



Clamor popular



La nueva inquisicion



Bolivia



Chile Hoy



Eso es todo amigos!



Piensalo!



Pinerachet



No More Trump



Adios Macri, hasta nunca



La Marioneta se desinfla



Asi o mas cinico



Almugre



Mexico en 1794



Mas arrastrado imposible



Hasta cuando!



La pura verdad



Solidaridad con Palestina



Serie Capitalismo



Espejismos de la clase trabajadora



Asi es!



Comerciantes o delincuentes



No pasaran!



Asi es la vida



USA HOY



01/01/1959



La avaricia no tiene limites



AYUDA HUMANITARIA?



Chile Hoy



Asi son las cosas



Mapa Electoral de Venezuela



Patagonia argentina?



Un aniversario mas del mayor genocidio de la Humanidad



Retrato del franquismo en Espana



Visca Catalunya!



El Chulo de Madrid



Cuando la policia se roba la democracia



Una imagen dice mas que mil palabras



La purita verdad



Asi gobierna la maldita burguesia



Mi pobre clase media



Como Chavez nadie



Comparte La Colmena via twitter Twittear

Programa de la MUD



Asi o mas clarito



Por que Trump no ataco Corea del Norte?



Hace 15 anos Por que la OEA no se pronuncio?



Una verguenza nacional



La luz que nos guia



La Union Europea Premio Nobel de la Paz?



Feudalismo ayer y hoy



Obama, el mentiroso



Curiosa coincidencia



Un mundo de cerdos



No es extrano?



La Marioneta



Los ricos protestan, los pobres celebran



MARICORI Y OBAMA



Cuantas muertes este ano?



USA TODAY



USA HOY 6



USA HOY 5



USA HOY 4



USA HOY 3



USA HOY 2



USA HOY (1)



Insaciable



Cronologia de un agresor



Guarimbear en USA



Mexico hoy



Bolivar y Chavez



Primero Amargado



Dios los cria y ellos se juntan



USA hoy (III)



USA hoy (II)



USA hoy



Mexico hoy



Mexico hoy



Mexico hoy



Obama



La verdad sea dicha



Los ricos



Que no nos vea Obama



Pobre Obama



SOS PALESTINA



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



Archivo del blog Archivo del blog marzo (4) abril (9) mayo (8) junio (10) julio (11) agosto (10) septiembre (17) octubre (11) noviembre (15) diciembre (10) enero (9) febrero (10) marzo (8) abril (5) mayo (6) junio (8) julio (13) agosto (10) septiembre (7) octubre (12) noviembre (8) diciembre (15) enero (17) febrero (11) marzo (11) abril (12) junio (6) julio (11) agosto (15) septiembre (5) octubre (15) noviembre (14) diciembre (11) enero (13) febrero (9) marzo (10) abril (8) mayo (7) junio (12) julio (12) agosto (8) septiembre (8) octubre (4) diciembre (8) enero (35) febrero (20) marzo (29) abril (19) mayo (21) junio (27) julio (21) agosto (28) septiembre (40) octubre (47) noviembre (21) diciembre (34) enero (62) febrero (81) marzo (117) abril (141) mayo (114) junio (111) julio (126) agosto (98) septiembre (160) octubre (234) noviembre (493) diciembre (319) enero (219) febrero (267) marzo (230) abril (291) mayo (347) junio (223) julio (179) agosto (191) septiembre (239) octubre (350) noviembre (406) diciembre (353) enero (284) febrero (202) marzo (274) abril (250) mayo (232) junio (251) julio (188) agosto (249) septiembre (230) octubre (178) noviembre (141) diciembre (164) enero (187) febrero (147) marzo (211) abril (190) mayo (199) junio (164) julio (162) agosto (174) septiembre (182) octubre (225) noviembre (114) diciembre (132) enero (223) febrero (147) marzo (133) abril (108) mayo (387) junio (465) julio (785) agosto (748) septiembre (485) octubre (681) noviembre (754) diciembre (805) enero (708) febrero (896) marzo (735) abril (831) mayo (723) junio (555) julio (658) agosto (619) septiembre (457) octubre (455) noviembre (295) diciembre (269) enero (534) febrero (556) marzo (205) abril (119) mayo (194) junio (255) julio (294) agosto (182) septiembre (207) octubre (340) noviembre (351) diciembre (281) enero (114) febrero (128) marzo (216) abril (195) mayo (116) junio (141) julio (182) agosto (181) septiembre (50) octubre (72) noviembre (104) diciembre (88) enero (168) febrero (102) marzo (151) abril (207) mayo (43) junio (72) julio (35) agosto (146) septiembre (43)

Chavez Cuanto te queremos!



Por culpa de Chavez



Cerveza Polar







Algun dia Colombia volvera a la ideologia de Bolivar







Translate













LOS REVOLUCIONARIOS NO TOMAN CACA-COLA No se trata solamente de un capricho, sino de una sana actitud en todos los sentidos. Desde la solidaridad con el pueblo colombiano donde la empresa Caca-Cola ha cometido los mas grandes abusos contra sus trabajadores incluyendo el presunto secuestro y asesinato de los dirigentes del sindicato, hasta la proteccion de la salud de nuestros hijos, enviciados por ese jarabe de cola y azucar, que les produce obesidad prematura. Pensemos tambien los revolucionarios, que ese dinero que gastamos en los refrescos es utilizado por esas empresas para financiar el terrorismo en nuestro pais. Es cierto, no se trata solo de la Caca-Cola, sino tambien de la cerveza, de los cigarrillos y todos esos articulos innecesarios y mas que eso, daninos para nuestra salud. Podriamos incluso pensar en un dia de parada para cada uno de ellos. Es cuestion de irnos organizando. Pero para empezar, que tal si dejamos de comprar Caca-Cola y sus similares?



























Cuando lo extraordinario se vuelve cotidiano...



Discurso del Acto de Grado en Barinas en 12 de Febrero del 2005 Queridos Graduandos:



Mas que un discurso, quiero dirigirles algunas palabras que escribi anoche, despues de visitar en las clinicas, a los estudiantes heridos, a consecuencia de los enfrentamientos con la policia de hace apenas dos dias.



Me ha tocado por razones del destino, ser la persona que les otorgue el titulo que bien merecieron con sus estudios. Y me siento sumamente orgulloso de serlo. Me consta que la Universidad de Los Llanos Occidentales Ezequiel Zamora, a pesar de lo dicho por los enemigos de esta universidad, es una universidad de primera.



No tendremos la mejor planta fisica, en los salones hace calor. En el comedor hace calor. Pero no es en lo material que las cosas deben valorarse. El mayor capital es el ser humano. Y en eso, nuestra UNELLEZ, lo digo con conocimiento de causa, esta sobrada. Los llaneros venezolanos son nobles, valientes, de coraje.



En la UNELLEZ hacen vida, en este momento, aproximadamente 67000 personas. El 97% de ellas son estudiantes. Jovenes que, como Ustedes hasta el dia de hoy, buscan ese titulo, que constata los anos de dedicacion y de estudio.



Los jovenes son el rio de la vida, ustedes graduados deben ser los capitanes de esos barcos que naveguen por el rio de la vida.



Nuestra Patria atraviesa momentos muy dificiles porque decidio dejar de ser esa matrona de edad vetusta y complaciente, para ser joven, rebelde y altanera. Nuestra imagen ya no es la de una acaudalada ricachona mayamera. En nuestro rostro brilla ahora la sonrisa del Che Guevara, con su diente delantero torcido, su pelo largo y su boina con la estrella.



Entender esto, a mi me ha tomado practicamente toda la vida. Tengo 53 anos, y ya perdi mi oportunidad de derramar sangre joven a causa de un ideal.



Ustedes son jovenes, estan en la flor de la vida. No cometan por favor el error de renunciar a su instinto de rebelion. El Che Guevara fue Ministro de a Economia en Cuba. Los billetes y las monedas se adornaban con su rostro. Nada de eso le importo. Primero fue a Angola donde paso un penoso ano de combate. Despues se fue a Bolivia, donde encontro la muerte. El Che era el ultimo que comia, el que cargaba la mochila mas pesada. Siempre se sacrificaba por los demas en un estoicismo que mas parecia fervor religioso que ideologia marxista.



Si quieren un modelo de vida. Ahi lo tienen.



Dije hace unos momentos que el 97% de la poblacion de la UNELLEZ es estudiante. Se imaginan Ustedes la Universidad que podriamos tener si todos los estudiantes tuvieran la abnegacion, la combatividad del Che?



Los momentos que se avecinan van a requerir de una gran unidad del pueblo venezolano. La alternativa de continuar siendo libres o regresar a la pobreza se nos planteara en los proximos dias de forma enmascarada, o quizas peor, desenmascarada, vestida con uniforme de soldado del Imperio.



Por nuestra parte podemos esperar lo mejor. La macroeconomia no podria ir mejor, la justicia social ha mejorado notablemente. Las misiones ocupan un papel muy importante en el pago de dicha justicia social. Aqui en Barinas ya hemos cumplido con dos de las misiones, la mision Robinson y la mision Sucre. No hay analfabetismo y no hay exclusion en la educacion superior, en estas tierras de Zamora.



Pero ay malhaya! Son precisamente estos exitos los que nos hacen mas antipaticos al Imperio. Para ellos, somos inclusive un mal ejemplo que se esta contagiando al resto del continente y cuidado sino al resto del mundo.



Nunca venceremos al Imperio. Estara siempre ahi, acechando. Por lo menos hasta que el mismo no se autodestruya. Porque, sepanlo senores, el neoliberalismo es canibal. Cuando le ataque el hambre, se devorara a si mismo.



Ustedes, queridos graduandos, a partir de hoy pasan a conformar la elite profesional que debe sostener este pais en los proximos cuarenta o cincuenta anos. Anos decisivos para el logro de nuestra libertad y del rescate de nuestra Soberania.



No se dejen comprar. No se dejen corromper. No se dejen gritar. No se dejen pisar. Que nadie les diga que comer, o que vestirse, o que leer. Sean siempre autenticos, rebeldes, contestatarios. Pero eso si, profundamente patriotas, dignos de ser hijos de Bolivar.



Muchas gracias y que Dios los bendiga.





Alguna duda?



Medio siglo de Holocausto Palestino



Oscar Zanartu Nacio en Caracas en 1960. Ha realizado exposiciones individuales en las galerias Minotauro, Clave y San Francisco, y en salas de Coro, estado Falcon, y Puerto Ordaz, estado Bolivar. En Paris su obra ha sido exhibida en el Centro Cultural Tanagra, en la Exposicion Cite Internationale des Arts, en las galerias De Mars y Arver Space, al igual que en la Galeria Municipal Levallois, en Levallois Perret (Francia). En muestras colectivas, su obra se ha expuesto en Belgica, Francia, Estados Unidos y Venezuela; en Caracas intervino en la exposicion "Del genesis a la memoria", 1995, organizada por la Fundacion La Previsora. En 1982 obtuvo el Premio Nacional Critven y en 1990 la Mencion de Honor Jose Antonio Paez, en la Embajada de Venezuela en Paris. En 1991 se le concedio el primer premio de Pintura Itinerante, en Levallois Perret, Francia.



OZ1



OZ2



OZ3



OZ4



Homenaje a Jason Galarraga



La Victoria de Samotracia



Odalisca



Mas fotos de la nevada del pasado agosto 2008



























La Sierra Nevada de Merida



Nuestro precioso Churum Meru



Homenaje a Picasso



Autoretrato



Sabes lo que bebes en una Coca-Cola?

La formula de la Pepsi tiene una diferencia basica con la de la Coca-Cola y es intencional, para evitar el proceso judicial. La diferencia es a proposito, pero suficientemente parecida como para atraer a los consumidores de Coca-Cola que prefieren un gusto diferente con menos sal y azucar.

Mi profesion?

Tuve que aprender quimica, entender todo sobre componentes de gaseosas, conservantes, sales, acidos, cafeina, enlatado, produccion, permisos, aprobaciones y muchas otras cosas. Monte mi propio mini-laboratorio de analisis de productos.

Sal en la Coca Cola?

A patadas. El Cloruro de Sodio no solo refresca sino da mas sed, como para pedir otra gaseosa. Y no resulta desagradable porque la sal mata literalmente la sensibilidad al dulce... del que por cierto tambien tiene mucho: 39 gramos de azucar.

De los 350 gramos de producto liquido, mas del 10% es azucar, o sea que en una lata de Coca-Cola mas de un centimetro y medio es puro azucar en polvo. Aproximadamente tres cucharadas soperas llenas de azucar por lata!!La formula de la Coca Cola es muy sencilla:

Concentrado de azucar quemado caramelo- para dar color oscuro y gusto

Acido fosforito (para darle el sabor acido)

azucar (HFCS-jarabe de maiz de alta fructosa)

Extracto de hojas de la planta de Coca (Africa e India) y otros pocos aromatizantes naturales de otras plantas

Mucha Cafeina

Conservante que puede ser Benzoato de Sodio o Potasio

Dioxido de Carbono en cantidad para sentir freir la lengua cuando se bebe

Sal para dar la sensacion de refrigeracion

El uso del acido fosforito y no del acido citrico como en todas las demas gaseosas, es para dar la sensacion de dientes y boca limpia al beber. El acido fosforito literalmente frie todo y dana el esmalte de los dientes, cosa que el acido citrico lo hace en menor grado.Trate de comprar acido fosforito para ver las mil recomendaciones de seguridad que te dan para su manipulacion (quema el cristalino del ojo, quema la piel, etc...). Esta prohibido usar el acido fosforito en cualquier otra gaseosa; solo la Coca Cola tiene permiso. Porque claro, sin el acido fosforico, la Coca Cola sabria a jabon.El extracto de coca y otras hojas casi no cambia en nada el sabor. Es mas bien un efecto cosmetico. El extracto forma parte de la Coca-Cola porque legalmente tiene que ser asi. Pero sin el, no se nota ninguna diferencia en el gusto, que esta dado basicamente por las cantidades diferentes de azucar, azucar quemada, sales, acidos y conservantes.Sabor a que...? ja, ja, ja.

Aqui en Bartow, sur de Orlando, hay una empresa quimica que produce aromatizantes y esencias para zumos. Envian diariamente camionadas de sales concentradas y esencias para las fabricas de helados, gaseosas, jugos, enlatados y comida colorida y aromatizada.Cuando visite por primera vez la fabrica, pedi ver el deposito de concentrados de frutas, que deberia ser inmenso, especialmente los de naranja, pina, fresa y tantos otros. El encargado me miro, se rio y me llevo a visitar los depositos inmensos... pero de colorantes y componentes quimicos.

Las gaseosa de naranja no contiene naranja.

En los zumos dizque de fresa, hasta los puntitos que quedan en suspension estan hechos de goma (una liga quimica que envuelve un semi-polimero).

Pina, es un popurri de acidos y goma.

La esencia para helado de aguacate usa peroxido de hidrogeno (agua oxigenada) para dar la sensacion espumosa tipica del aguacate.

Bebidas Light?

Quieres saber la cantidad de basura que tiene un refresco 'light'? Yo ni siquiera los uso para destapar mi lavaplatos pues temo que danen los tubos de PVC. Los productos endulzantes 'ligth' tienen una vida media muy corta. Por ejemplo el

Despues de toda mi experiencia con la produccion de bebidas embasadas, puedo afirmar sin dudar un segundo: la mejor bebida es el agua, como tambien los jugos exprimidos de naranja o limon. Nada mas, cero azucar y cero sal.



Publicado por loretahur



En realidad, la formula secreta de la Coca-Cola se puede detallar en 18 segundos en cualquier espectrometro optico, y basicamente la conocen hasta los perros. Lo que ocurre es que no se puede fabricar igual, a no ser que uno disponga de unos cuantos millones de dolares para ganarle la demanda que te metera la Coca-Cola ante la justicia (ellos no perderian).La formula de la Pepsi tiene una diferencia basica con la de la Coca-Cola y es intencional, para evitar el proceso judicial. La diferencia es a proposito, pero suficientemente parecida como para atraer a los consumidores de Coca-Cola que prefieren un gusto diferente con menos sal y azucar.Tuve que aprender quimica, entender todo sobre componentes de gaseosas, conservantes, sales, acidos, cafeina, enlatado, produccion, permisos, aprobaciones y muchas otras cosas. Monte mi propio mini-laboratorio de analisis de productos.A patadas. El Cloruro de Sodio no solo refresca sino da mas sed, como para pedir otra gaseosa. Y no resulta desagradable porque la sal mata literalmente la sensibilidad al dulce... del que por cierto tambien tiene mucho: 39 gramos de azucar.De los 350 gramos de producto liquido, mas del 10% es azucar, o sea que en una lata de Coca-Cola mas de un centimetro y medio es puro azucar en polvo. Aproximadamente tres cucharadas soperas llenas de azucar por lata!!La formula de la Coca Cola es muy sencilla:Concentrado de azucar quemado caramelo- para dar color oscuro y gustoAcido fosforito (para darle el sabor acido)azucar (HFCS-jarabe de maiz de alta fructosa)Extracto de hojas de la planta de Coca (Africa e India) y otros pocos aromatizantes naturales de otras plantasMucha CafeinaConservante que puede ser Benzoato de Sodio o PotasioDioxido de Carbono en cantidad para sentir freir la lengua cuando se bebeSal para dar la sensacion de refrigeracionEl uso del acido fosforito y no del acido citrico como en todas las demas gaseosas, es para dar la sensacion de dientes y boca limpia al beber. El acido fosforito literalmente frie todo y dana el esmalte de los dientes, cosa que el acido citrico lo hace en menor grado.Trate de comprar acido fosforito para ver las mil recomendaciones de seguridad que te dan para su manipulacion (quema el cristalino del ojo, quema la piel, etc...). Esta prohibido usar el acido fosforito en cualquier otra gaseosa; solo la Coca Cola tiene permiso. Porque claro, sin el acido fosforico, la Coca Cola sabria a jabon.El extracto de coca y otras hojas casi no cambia en nada el sabor. Es mas bien un efecto cosmetico. El extracto forma parte de la Coca-Cola porque legalmente tiene que ser asi. Pero sin el, no se nota ninguna diferencia en el gusto, que esta dado basicamente por las cantidades diferentes de azucar, azucar quemada, sales, acidos y conservantes.Sabor a que...? ja, ja, ja.Aqui en Bartow, sur de Orlando, hay una empresa quimica que produce aromatizantes y esencias para zumos. Envian diariamente camionadas de sales concentradas y esencias para las fabricas de helados, gaseosas, jugos, enlatados y comida colorida y aromatizada.Cuando visite por primera vez la fabrica, pedi ver el deposito de concentrados de frutas, que deberia ser inmenso, especialmente los de naranja, pina, fresa y tantos otros. El encargado me miro, se rio y me llevo a visitar los depositos inmensos... pero de colorantes y componentes quimicos.Las gaseosa de naranja no contiene naranja.En los zumos dizque de fresa, hasta los puntitos que quedan en suspension estan hechos de goma (una liga quimica que envuelve un semi-polimero).Pina, es un popurri de acidos y goma.La esencia para helado de aguacate usa peroxido de hidrogeno (agua oxigenada) para dar la sensacion espumosa tipica del aguacate.Quieres saber la cantidad de basura que tiene un refresco 'light'? Yo ni siquiera los uso para destapar mi lavaplatos pues temo que danen los tubos de PVC. Los productos endulzantes 'ligth' tienen una vida media muy corta. Por ejemplo el aspartamo , despues de tres semanas mojado, pasa a tener gusto de trapo viejo sucio.Para evitar eso, se agregan una infinidad de otros productos quimicos, uno para alargar la vida del aspartamo, otro para neutralizar el color, otro para mantener el tercer quimico en suspension porque sino el fondo de la gaseosa quedaria oscuro, otro para evitar la cristalizacion del aspartamo, otro para realzar el sabor, dar mas intensidad al acido citrico o fosforito que perderia su sabor por el efecto de los cuatro productos quimicos iniciales... y asi sucesivamente.Un consejo final !!Despues de toda mi experiencia con la produccion de bebidas embasadas, puedo afirmar sin dudar un segundo: la mejor bebida es el agua, como tambien los jugos exprimidos de naranja o limon. Nada mas, cero azucar y cero sal.Publicado por loretahur

MARGARINA o MANTEQUILLA La margarina fue producida originalmente para engordar a los pavos; cuandolo que hizo en realidad fue matarlos.Las personas que habian puesto el dinero para la investigacion quisieronrecobrarlo asi que empezaron a pensar en una forma de hacerlo.Tenian una sustancia blanca, que no tenia ningun atractivo como comestible,asi que le anadieron el color amarillo, para venderselo a lagente en lugar de la mantequilla.Que tal esa?... Ahora han sacado algunos nuevos sabores para vender mas alos incautos como usted y yo.CONOCE USTED la diferencia entre la margarina y la mantequilla?Siga leyendo hasta el final... porque se pone bastante interesante!Comparacion entre mantequilla y margarina:

1.- Ambas tienen la misma cantidad de calorias.

2.- La mantequilla es ligeramente mas alta en grasas saturadas: 8 gramos,comparada con los 5 gramos que tiene la margarina.

3.- Comer margarina en vez de mantequilla puede aumentar en 53% el riesgo deenfermedades coronarias en las mujeres, de acuerdo con un estudiomedico reciente de la Universidad de Harvard.

4.- Comer mantequilla aumenta la absorcion de gran cantidad de nutrientesque se encuentran en otros alimentos.

5.- La mantequilla provee beneficios nutricionales propios mientras lamargarina tiene solo los que le hayan sido anadidos al fabricarla.

6.- La mantequilla sabe mucho mejor que la margarina y mejora el sabor deotros alimentos.7.- La mantequilla ha existido durante siglos mientras que la margarinatiene menos de 100 anos.

Ahora... sobre la margarina:

1.- Es muy alta en acidos grasos trans. (Si, esos que recien ahora loscientificos descubrieron que son malisimos y los gobiernoscomenzaron a prohibirlos) .

2.- Triple riesgo de enfermedades coronarias.

3.- Aumenta el colesterol total y el LDL (el colesterol malo) y disminuye elHDL (el colesterol bueno).

4.- Aumenta en cinco veces el riesgo de cancer.

5.- Disminuye la calidad de la leche materna.

6.- Disminuye la reaccion inmunologica del organismo.

7.- Disminuye la reaccion a la insulina.

Y he aqui el factor mas inquietante (AQUI ESTA LA PARTE MAS INTERESANTE! ):A la margarina le falta UNA MOLECULA para ser PLASTICO...!!Solo este hecho es suficiente para evitar el uso de la margarina de porvida, y de cualquier otra cosa que sea hidrogenada (esto significaque se le anade hidrogeno, lo cual cambia la estructura molecular de lassubstancias).Usted puede ensayar lo siguiente:Compre un poco de margarina y dejela en el garaje o en un sitio sombreado.Dentro de unos dias notara dos cosas:

* No habra moscas; ni siquiera esos molestos bichos se le acercaran (esto yale debe decir a usted algo).

* No se pudre ni huele mal o diferente porque no tiene valor nutritivo; nadacrece en ella. Ni siquiera los diminutos microorganismos puedencrecer en ella.Por que? Porque es casi plastico!!



No a la guerra, Si a la Paz



Misterios de la ciencia...



Los costos de la guerra



medicos y capitalismo...



Capitalismo...



medicos (2)



Quien educa a nuestros hijos?



Los Medios...



Sin Palabras...



Chistes feministas

- Cual es el problema, Eva?

- Se que me has creado, que me has dado este hermoso jardin, todos estos maravillosos animales y esa serpiente con la que me muero de risa... pero no soy del todo feliz...

- Como es eso, Eva? - replico Dios desde las alturas.

- Me encuentro sola, y ademas estoy harta de comer manzanas...

- Bueno Eva, en tal caso, tengo una solucion... creare un hombre para ti.

- Que es un hombre?

- Un hombre sera una criatura imperfecta, con muchas artimanas. Mentira, hara trampas, sera engreido... vamos, que te va a dar problemas... Pero, va a ser mas fuerte y rapido que tu y le gustara cazar y matar cosas... Tendra un aspecto simple, pero como te estas quejando, le creare de tal forma que satisfaga tus... eh... necesidades fisicas... Y tampoco sera muy listo, y destacara en cosas infantiles como pegarse o dar patadas a un balon... Necesitara tu consejo siempre para actuar cuerdamente.

- Suena bien - dijo Eva, mientras levantaba la ceja ironicamente.

- Cual es el truco?.

- Pues... que lo tendras con una condicion.

- Cual?

- Como te decia, sera chulo, arrogante y muy narcisista... asi que le tendras que hacer creer que le hice a el primero... recuerda... es nuestro secreto... de mujer a mujer.





Por que a los hombres no les puede dar la enfermedad de las vacas locas?  Porque todos son unos cerdos

Un dia, en el Paraiso, Eva llamo a Dios: Tengo un problema.- Cual es el problema, Eva?- Se que me has creado, que me has dado este hermoso jardin, todos estos maravillosos animales y esa serpiente con la que me muero de risa... pero no soy del todo feliz... - Como es eso, Eva? - replico Dios desde las alturas.- Me encuentro sola, y ademas estoy harta de comer manzanas...- Bueno Eva, en tal caso, tengo una solucion... creare un hombre para ti.- Que es un hombre?- Un hombre sera una criatura imperfecta, con muchas artimanas. Mentira, hara trampas, sera engreido... vamos, que te va a dar problemas... Pero, va a ser mas fuerte y rapido que tu y le gustara cazar y matar cosas... Tendra un aspecto simple, pero como te estas quejando, le creare de tal forma que satisfaga tus... eh... necesidades fisicas... Y tampoco sera muy listo, y destacara en cosas infantiles como pegarse o dar patadas a un balon... Necesitara tu consejo siempre para actuar cuerdamente.- Suena bien - dijo Eva, mientras levantaba la ceja ironicamente.- Cual es el truco?.- Pues... que lo tendras con una condicion.- Cual?- Como te decia, sera chulo, arrogante y muy narcisista... asi que le tendras que hacer creer que le hice a el primero... recuerda... es nuestro secreto... de mujer a mujer.Por que a los hombres no les puede dar la enfermedad de las vacas locas?  Porque todos son unos cerdos

Ellas...



Ellas (2)...



Tres venganzas femeninas VENGANZA NUMERO 1

Hoy mi hija cumple 21 anos y estoy muy contento porque es el ultimo pago de pension alimenticia que le doy, asi que llame a mi hijita para que viniera a mi casa y cuando llego le dije:

-Hijita, quiero que lleves este cheque a casa de tu mama y que le digas que: Este es el ultimo maldito cheque que va recibir de mi en todo lo que le queda de su puta vida!!! Quiero que me digas la expresion que pone en su rostro.

Asi que mi hija fue a entregar el cheque. Yo estaba ansioso por saber lo que la bruja tenia que decir y que cara pondria.

Cuando mi hijita entro, le pregunte inmediatamente: -Que fue lo que te dijo tu madre?

-Me dijo que justamente estaba esperando este dia para decirte que no eres mi papa!



VENGANZA NUMERO 2

Un hombre que siempre molestaba a su mujer, paso un dia por la casa de unos amigos para que lo acompanaran al aeropuerto a dejar a su esposa que viajaba a Paris.

A la salida de inmigracion, frente a todo el mundo, el le desea buen viaje y en tono burlon le grita:

- Amor, no te olvides de traerme una hermosa francesita Ja ja ja!!

Ella bajo la cabeza y se embarco muy molesta.

La mujer paso quince dias en Francia.

El marido otra vez pidio a sus amigos que lo acompanasen al aeropuerto a recibirla.

Al verla llegar, lo primero que le grita a toda voz es:

- Y amor me trajiste mi francesita??

- Hice todo lo posible, - contesta ella - ahora solo tenemos que rezar para que nazca nina.



VENGANZA NUMERO 3

El marido, en su lecho de muerte, llama a su mujer. Con voz ronca y ya debil, le dice: - Muy bien, llego mi hora, pero antes quiero hacerte una confesion.

- No, no, tranquilo, tu no debes hacer ningun esfuerzo.

- Pero, mujer, es preciso - insiste el marido - Es preciso morir en paz.

Te quiero confesar algo.

- Esta bien, esta bien. Habla!

- He tenido relaciones con tu hermana, tu mama y tu mejor amiga.

- Lo se, lo se Por eso te envenene, hijo de puta!!!



machismo y cibernetica



Chiste machista La NASA ha enviado al espacio una mision experimental tripulada por dos monos y una mujer.Apenas abandona la atmosfera, se establece comunicacion con Houston.

-Atencion, simio 1, verifique sistemas hidraulicos, controle adecuada presion de los propulsores de arranque. A 60.000 pies disminuya un 25% la velocidad.

El simio hace la sena de OK.

-Atencion, simio 2, nivele al cruzar la estratosfera y active sistemas anticongelantes. No olvide monitorear sistemas de comunicacion e indicadores de presion. Comprendido?.

El simio hace la sena de OK.

-Atencion, Houston llamando a mujer: no se olvide.

-Mujer: Si, si, ya se! -interrumpe enojada- que no me olvide darles de comer a estos monos de mierda y que no se me vaya a ocurrir tocar nada!.



.Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti.

Un abogado mantiene un romance con su secretaria.Al poco tiempo, esta queda embarazada y el abogado, que no quiere que su esposa se entere, le da a la secretaria una buena suma de dinero y le pide que se vaya a parir a Italia.Esta pregunta: Y como voy a hacerte saber cuando nazca el bebe ? El abogado responde: Para que mi mujer no se entere, tan solo enviame una postal y escribe por detras: Spaghetti. Y no te preocupes mas, que yo me encargare de todos los gastos.

Pasan los meses y una manana la esposa del abogado lo llama al bufete, algo exaltada: Querido, acabo de recibir el correo y hay una postal muy extrana viene desde Italia. La verdad, no entiendo que significa.El abogado, tratando de ocultar sus nervios, contesta:Espera a que llegue a casa, a ver si yo entiendoCuando el hombre llega a casa y lee la postal, cae al suelo fulminado por un infarto.Llega una ambulancia y se lo lleva. Ya en el hospital, el jefe de cardiologia se queda consolando a la esposa y le pregunta cual ha sido el evento que precipito tan masivo ataque cardiaco.

Entonces la esposa saca la postal y se la muestra diciendole: No me explico, doctor; el solamente leyo esta postal. Vea usted mismo lo que trae escrito.Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti."Tres con salchicha y albondigas y dos con almejas



Gol !!!!



Chistes de Borrachos Entra un borracho a su casa todo manchado con lapiz labial por todos lados hecho un desastre, y la mujer le pregunta:-Hombre que te paso?Y el borracho le responde:-No me vas a creer, me pelee con un payaso!



Este es un borracho que entra en un bar y le dice al camarero:-Me da cinco copas de whisky?Al rato:-Me da cuatro?Al rato:-Me da tres copas?Despues:-Me da dos copas?Luego le dice:-Me da una copa?Y le dice al camarero:-Ves? Cuanto menos bebo, mas borracho estoy!

For Immediate Release

Read the full letter here >>

Dear Senator,

We write to express our grave concerns regarding the nomination of Gina Haspel for Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and to ask that you not advance her nomination until all of the records on her past involvement in the CIA torture program are declassified and released to the public. Senators should be concerned not only by Ms. Haspels reported role overseeing the torture of detainees at a secret CIA detention site in Thailand, but also by her participation in a deliberate attempt to avoid accountability by destroying video evidence of CIA torture.

Ms. Haspel joined the CIA in 1985, and has held several leadership roles in the agencys clandestine operations. She was named Deputy Director of the CIA in 2017, despite the objections of senators who urged President Trump to reconsider her nomination in light of her past connection to torture. 1Amid similar controversy in 2013, Haspel was denied a promotion to lead the CIAs National Clandestine Service.2

We have strong concerns about Ms. Haspels reported role overseeing the torture of detainees at a clandestine detention site in Thailand, and her subsequent role in the destruction of evidence of those torture crimes. Detainees at the Thailand black site were waterboarded, slammed against walls, subjected to enforced sleeplessness, and confined to coffin-shaped boxes, among other criminal practices.3 Ms. Haspel reportedly was in a supervisory position over the Thailand black site during this periodincluding an on-site leadership role when at least one detainee was brutally torturedand knew about, reported on, and was otherwise involved in other cases of torture and detainee abuse.4 But the full extent of her involvement is impossible to confirm because the CIA continues to insist that information about the full extent of her role remain classified. Executive Order 13526 prohibits the classification of records to conceal violations of law, inefficiency, or administrative error or prevent embarrassment to a person, organization, or agency, so there is no reason for the torture program, or Ms. Haspels role in it, to remain classified. Senators and the American people must be able to read these documents in assessing her nomination to be CIA Director.5

In addition to her role overseeing the use of torture, Ms. Haspels participation in the destruction of videotapes of the torture program, over objections of White House counsel and CIA General Counsel among others, is alarming. In November 2005, amid increasing public outrage over revelations of torture at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba detention facility, the CIA destroyed 92 videotapes of interrogations at clandestine facilities elsewhere.6 While the CIA maintains that the decision to destroy the tapes was made by then-Director of the National Clandestine Service Jose Rodriguez, Rodriguez says in his 2013 book that Haspel drafted the order herself.7 Former CIA Acting General Counsel John Rizzo says Haspel and Rodriguez were the staunchest advocates inside the building for destroying the tapes.8

Destruction of the tapes appears to constitute a concerted effort to escape embarrassment and legal consequences. In 2004, in a Freedom of Information Act suit filed by the ACLU, a judge had ordered the government to preserve all records related to abuse of detainees overseas, which clearly applied to the videotapes.9 The incident was also a clear violation of the Federal Records Act, and indicates that Ms. Haspel does not believe she has an obligation to follow the law or a court order.10 The destruction of the videotapes even prompted then-Attorney General Michael Mukasey to appoint a prosecutor to investigate the destruction.

The Senates constitutional obligation to advise and consent on any nomination requires that it have full access to relevant information on the nominees before it. In Ms. Haspels case, the precise details of her role in the torture program remain classified. All senators should demand that those records be declassified and made public before her nomination moves any furtherso that they can actually discuss Ms. Haspels deeply disturbing background in open session, and so that the public can glean a more detailed picture of her role in one of the darkest chapters in U.S. history.

Ms. Haspel was a central figure in the torture program and the destruction of evidence of torture. Based on already available records and public reporting, it is clear by her wrongdoing that she demonstrated disregard for the rule of law and fundamental human rights.

Sincerely,

American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee

American Civil Liberties Union

Arab American Institute

Brennan Center for Justice

Campaign for Liberty

Center for Constitutional Rights

Center for Victims of Torture

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington

Defending Rights & Dissent

Demand Progress Action

Free Press

Government Accountability Project

Government Information Watch

Herd on the Hill

Human Rights First

Human Rights Watch

Indivisible

National Religious Campaign Against Torture

National Security Archive

No More Guantanamos

North Carolina Stop Torture Now

Open the Government

PEN America

Physicians for Human Rights

Project On Government Oversight

Reprieve

Restore The Fourth

Sunlight Foundation

Win Without War

Read the full letter here >>

1 See: Wyden, Heinrich Express Concern on Selection of Gina Haspel to be Deputy Director of the CIA, February 2, 2017

2 Greg Miller, CIA selects new head of clandestine service, passing over female officer, Washington Post, May 7, 2013,

3 Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Committee Study of the Central Intelligence Agencys Detention and Interrogation Program, Executive Summary, December 13, 2012

4 Adam Goldman, Gina Haspel, Trumps Choice for C.I.A., Played Role in Torture Program, New York Times, March 13, 2018

5 See: Heinrich, Wyden Urge CIA to Declassify Information About Deputy Director Haspels Background, February 23, 2017

6 Mark Mazetti, U.S. Says C.I.A. Destroyed 92 Tapes of Interrogations, New York Times, March 2, 2009

7 Jose A. Rodriguez Jr., Hard Measures: How Aggressive CIA Actions After 9/11 Saved American Lives, Threshold Editions, 2013, pg. 193.

8 John Rizzo, Company Man: 30 Years of Controversy and Crisis in the CIA , Scribner, 2014, pg. 14.

9 See: ACLU v. Department of Defense

10 Federal Records Act, 44 U.S.C. Chapter 31.

Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) is a New York-based advocacy organization that uses science and medicine to prevent mass atrocities and severe human rights violations. Learn more here.The issue of refunds to exporters has been delayed for over eight months now.

New Delhi: The Centre and states have sanctioned more than Rs 10,000 crore as GST refunds to exporters, the finance ministry said on Friday.

In a statement the ministry said many of the errors plaguing the claims for refunds are on account of inadequate familiarisation of the exporters with the GST laws and data entry errors in the various GSTRs / forms.

"In order to overcome the causes of the delay in sanctioning of refunds, Government has taken various steps, which includes amendments in the rules, changes in the business procedures of common portal and customs automated system to address the systemic issues," the statement said.

The issue of refunds to exporters has been delayed for over eight 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).

"So far more than Rs 10, 000 crore has already been sanctioned by CBEC and states. "A standard operating procedure applicable to both Central and State GST has been put in place by virtue of various Circulars and clarifications issued with regard to processing of ITC (input tax credit) refund," the statement said.

After the GST council meet last week, Central Board of Excise and Customs Chairperson Vanaja Sarna had said that the department has already paid refunds worth Rs 5,000 crore to exporters.

The statement further said that the "Government wants to assure the exporting community that it is keen to see that all their eligible refund claims are considered and sanctioned at the earliest".

The CBEC has taken an initiative to observe a special drive refund sanction fortnight from March 15 to 29, on an all India scale for which additional staff and infrastructure has been mobilised.

"GST Council, in its last meeting on March 10, has directed all States tax authorities to proactively clear refund claims. "Exporting community is requested to take benefit of this fortnight and wholeheartedly come forward to get their errors rectified to enable sanction of refunds," the statement added.Mumbai: Aishwarya Rai made India proud with the Miss World title in 1994. She was adorned with the title of Worlds Most Beautiful Woman and three years later, she made her feature film debut in Mani Ratnams Iruvar opposite Mohanlal.

The film recently completed 20 years, and the actress has gone on to work with some of the most notable actors and directors, bagging awards and reaching Hollywood and dazzling at Cannes red carpet every year.

Also read: Aishwarya snubbed in Amitabh Bachchans ode to women, Twiteratti furious

A leading fashion magazine Femina paid tribute to the Aishwarya's two-decade journey in the film industry in a special interview.

Karan Johar, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, among many other celebrities lavished praises on her in the interview.

However, the opportunity to present the best honour was reserved for evergreen beauty Rekha, similar to how she always presents the last award at shows.

In the letter, Rekha lauded Aishwarya for rising like a phoenix during hurdles and praised her courage, deep strength and pure energy.

Also read: Holi: Big B, Aishwarya, Aaradhya, Jaya celebrate with Holika, Gujiya and prayers

She also raved about how the moon-faced girl took her breath away and how her role as Amma to Aaradhya was her best among the many roles she has played.

Calling her 20-year journey, wow!, Rekha Maa conveyed her blessings to the actress and wishes to continue 'spreading the magic.'

Read Rekhas letter to Aishwarya:

My Ash, A woman like you who is in harmony with her spirit is like a flowing river, never stagnant. She goes where she wants to without pretence; and arrives at her destination prepared to be herself and only herself. People may forget what you said, they may also forget what you did but they will never forget how you made them feel. You are a living example that courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you cant practice any other virtue consistently! Your deep strength and pure energy introduces you even before you speak! The worst thing you did was to be present with the present with gratitude. You pursued the things you loved doing; and then did them so well that people cant take their eyes off you! You on your own are enough with nothing to prove to anyone. Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away. Youve come a long way, baby. Having endured many hurdles, like the phoenix you rise! And I cannot pen down in words how proud I am of that little cool moon-faced girl who took my breath away the very instant I first laid my eyes on her. You always gave better than the best to all the roles you were bestowed with but my most cherished character of yours is the role of the complete Amma that you are, to the little bundle of pure joy called Aaradhya. Keep loving and spreading your magic. Two decades of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan- wow! Aashirwads and duas I wish for you more goodness and blessings; much more than your heart can contain! Love you. Jeete raho. Rekha Maa

Also read Video: Aishwarya gets emotional talking about father at event for noble cause

We wonder what Aishwaryas father-in-law Amitabh Bachchan has to say about it.This blog will focus on political images I have found all around the Internet, though I will intersperse some commentary and quotes that I find interesting.Mumbai: After his last release Baadshaho, which was based in the emergency era, Ajay Devgn is back with Raid that is set in 1981.

The superstar played quite smart as he released the movie in March, where he did not have to face any competition from Padmaavat and Padman.

The movie has gathered approximately 10.04 crore net, thus doing a decent business on the opening day, according to trade analyst Taran Adarsh.

After an ordinary start in morning shows, #Raid jumped post noon onwards... Evening/night shows saw super growth... A double digit start for a non-masala, realistic film is heartening... Strong word of mouth should boost numbers on Sat and Sun... Fri  10.04 cr. India biz.  taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) March 17, 2018

TOP 5 2018 - Opening Day

1 #Padmaavat  19 cr

Note: Thu release; incl previews on Wed  24 cr

2 #PadMan  10.26 cr

3 #Raid  10.04 cr

4 #SonuKeTituKiSweety  6.42 cr

5 #Pari  4.36 cr

India biz.  taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) March 17, 2018

It crossed the opening collection of Son Of Sardaar and 'Satyagraha' in Ajay Devgns all-time opening collection record. 'SOS' had gathered 9.34 crore net on the opening day while 'Satyagraha' collected 9.76 crore net.

Ajays last release Baadshaho also opened with 10.10 crore net, and surprisingly Raid isnt doing that well in Mumbai, Pune and the South.

The numbers are coming in mainly from Uttar Pradesh, central provinces and Gujarat. Bu then again, UP only collected 1 crore, which could have been better since the movie is based in UP.

Anyhow, Raid is receiving good reviews, which can give the movie a boost over the weekend and the coming week.

The film will face little competition from Rani Mukerji starrer Hichki which is slated to release on 23rd March.Mumbai: Arjun Kapoor has gotten really close to his father Boney Kapoor and been his pillar of strength after Sridevis demise.

The actor even invited Boney Kapoor and Janhvi Kapoor for a get-together, hosting them to his home.

Arjun even went on to post a cute Instagram story, where he called Boney boss BK. See it here:

Arjun, who is currently shooting for Namastey England was even ready to shoot for 18 hours straight to make up for the time lost over Sridevis last rites.

Arjun had to take leave for about 7 days to be beside his dad and family. He had to ensure everyone was doing okay. Arjun knew that the entire production crew was waiting in Punjab for him and he had to finish off a weeks backlog as soon as he hits the sets. He spoke to Vipul and informed him that he will be doing 18-hour shifts to make up for lost time! reveals an informer from the sets to BollywoodLife.

The source adds, Arjun told Vipul he understands that he has to finish all his pending work so that the crew isnt working one extra day in Punjab, which would mean Vipuls production cost would shoot up. Arjun is extremely cognisant and sensitive that the producer shouldnt incur any further costs than what has been allocated for the shoot and is shooting non-stop every day.Mumbai: Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui and his wife were summoned by Thane's crime branch in connection with a Call Data Records (CDR) racket that was unearthed in January.

Some of the arrested accused had told the police that an advocate named Rizwan Siddiqui had obtained the CDR of the actor's wife from private detectives.

Rizwan was now arrested for illegal acquisition of Call Detail Records (CDRs) by private detectives.

But the lawyer issued a statement which read that he had been arrested without following process of law. He mentioned:

No Section 41. A notice has been served on me. Clients confidential data is also seized by police without any notice and without any court order. Despite my statement being recorded on the 23rd of February 2018 in the presence of my clients brother Mr. Shamasuddin Siddiqui they did not corroborate the said statement with my client nor did they bother to follow up with my said client for reasons best known to the police.

I had already served a letter to the police to let me take the permission of the bar council before submitting evidence however despite co-operation and despite showing evidences the officer in charge did not pay any heed to that and has arrested me without following the due process of law for reasons best known to him.

"We arrested 11 people and after interrogating three, we found that an advocate named Rizwan Siddiqui extracted CDR of Nawazuddin Siddiqui's wife. Summons have been issued to Nawazuddin Siddiqui and his wife for further probe," Deputy Commissioner of Police (crime) Abhishek Trimukhi had said, now adding that advocate Siddiqui acquired CDRs of the actors wife from one of the 11 detectives arrested by the Thane Police Crime Branch.Fullpicture.in editor Neelima Menon picks seven characters who defy stereotypes, redefine and reconstruct certain celluloid tropes. The actors breathe life into them with such conviction that they leave lasting imprints in the minds of cinegoers.

Kanchana (Thalayanamanthram)

This materialistic, jealous middle-class housewife is one of the most regular, relatable, everyday characters you will see in every household. So, it seemed strange that such a woman never made an appearance on celluloid. For Malayalam film heroines, it was always a choice between goodness, evil and saccharine sweetness. Thats why Kanchana was a delightful revelation. Sreenivasan sketches her with mirth, making it impossible for us to despise her. She is greedy, envious, plays the victim cannily and yet seems so ordinary. And of course, Urvashi gives it her all with a nuanced act, making Kanchana one of the most fascinating heroines of all times.

Aadu Thoma (Spadikam)

He is an antithesis to the righteous celluloid hero, yet he also redefines the archetypal mass hero. He strips his mundu before throwing punches, drinks, smokes, has a paramour and cares two hoots about law and order. But at heart he is a lonely, battered soul, who hides his eyes behind Ray Ban glasses. Mohanlal brings a swag and intensity to this multi-layered character, keeping the scales of an actor and a mass hero intact. That was a trailblazer for sure.

Kali Pillai (Ozhimuri)

For an actor previously known for her umpteen distasteful item numbers and B-grade Bollywood thrillers, the role of a towering matriarch Kali Pillai  one who practiced bigamy, ruled her family with an iron hand, drawled in a Travancore slang and feared none  is indeed one of the most stunning transformations of a female actor on screen. Shwetha Menon, literally, took the mickey out of us.

Ganga/Nagavalli (Manichitrathazhu)

Arguably the biggest litmus test for a great actor is to alter between two strong characters in the same frame. Shobana pulled it off with great aplomb in Manichithrathazhu as the modern, docile Ganga and the fiery, tempestuous, classical dancer Nagavalli. She not only gets into the spirit of the characters, but also carries both characters unique mannerisms in her  switching over into another language, culture, and milieu at the blink of an eye. This a character that goes through spectacular emotional upheavals and a performance that remains unmatched till today. No, not even in the remakes.

Bilal John Kurishingal (Big B)

During a time when heroes showed their machismo through long monologues and other shenanigans on screen, Bilal was an oddity. He was Sphinx-like, unsmiling; spoke in measured, gruff one-liners; was a loner and didnt draw attention to himself. There was a sort of controlled aggression in his deadpan face and body language. There is a Western influence in that characterisation, a style that was refreshingly new in Malayalam cinema, inspiring a generation of actors to follow suit. Mammootty once spoke about how he used only his eyes to convey emotions and didnt move his facial muscles. The dialogues can only be effective the way Bilal intones it and only Mammootty could have been Bilal.

Kuttan Thampuran (Sargam)

Kuttan Thampuran is an unpleasant paradox of a man. He is borderline insane and obnoxious, selfish, yet agonised at having caused anguish to his childhood friend, he decides to end his life. The characterisation is riddled with complexities and would have ideally gone to an experienced actor. But the then relatively new Manoj K. Jayan gets the detailing to the T and throws himself into the psyche of Kuttan Thampuran effectively, setting a new benchmark in Malayalam cinema.

Sethurama Iyer (Oru CBI Diary Kurippu)

What happens when an archetypal celluloid cop is stripped off bombast, heroic finery and high-octane action stunts? You get this zen-like calm, soft-spoken, Tamil-speaking CBI officer with his plain white shirts, brown trousers and a thin saffron tilak on his forehead. Mammoottys performance echoes what Jabbar Patel, who directed him in Babasaheb Ambedkar, observed about the actor To show emotions is easy but how do you look intelligent? There is a wisdom in his act, a body language that lets you believe that this person has been in the CBI for a long time.Smokers are charged higher premiums by employers, this entitles them to programs that will help them quit smoking at the same time. (Photo: Pixabay)

Almost half of small employers that charge tobacco users extra for their health insurance dont offer wellness programs to help employees stop smoking, according to a recent study.

The Affordable Care Act permits these surcharges only when employers provide a wellness program, yet more than one million employees in the U.S. work for a company that is noncompliant, researchers estimate in the journal Health Affairs.

If tobacco users are charged more for health insurance, they should be provided with access to resources to quit, said lead author Michael Pesko, a health economist at Georgia State University in Atlanta.

The ACA allows employer plans in the small-group marketplace to charge tobacco users up to 50 percent more for premiums, but only if the employer offers a tobacco cessation program and the employee chooses not to participate, the study team writes. Seven states - California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont - prohibit tobacco use surcharges under any circumstances.

Tobacco use surcharges can help offset higher health care costs for tobacco users, Pesko said in an email. But studies dont show whether tobacco surcharges are effective as a financial incentive for employees to stop smoking.

The researchers used 2016 survey data collected by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust for 278 employers in the Small Business Health Options Program.

They found that 16 percent of the 278 small employers used tobacco surcharges, yet 47 percent of those companies failed to offer tobacco cessation counseling. In addition, 14 percent used surcharges in states that completely prohibit them.

The study team estimates that in states where surcharges are allowed, 950,712 employees work for a company imposing the charges without an accompanying wellness program, and of these, 155,917 smokers would be affected. An additional 118,229 employees, including 13,242 smokers, worked for such companies in states where the surcharges are not even allowed.

Overall, 37 percent of employers had tobacco cessation programs, which were most common in health care jobs. Noncompliance in the service industry in particular affected more employees than all industries combined, the researchers note.

It is unclear why these noncompliant health insurance plans are being sold, Pesko said. We recommend that regulators enforce existing ACA regulations to prevent the sale of plans using tobacco surcharges without providing tobacco cessation wellness program access.

We dont think tobacco surcharges are a good way to reduce smoking. It can either lead to lower enrollment for tobacco users, who are a high-risk health population, or noncompliance in reporting, said Cameron Kaplan of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, who wasnt involved in the study.

From a policy perspective, researchers want to look to states to figure out what authority exists to protect tobacco users from being taken advantage of in the meantime, if the complex system of regulations, surcharges and workplace wellness programs is flawed, said Alex Liber of the American Cancer Society in Atlanta.

While tobacco users can be charged higher premiums by their employers, they are entitled to programs that will help them quit smoking at the same time, Liber, who also wasnt involved in the study, said in an email.

It is truly unfair that employers are violating federal regulations that say they are supposed to offer carrots in addition to the sticks of higher premiums, Liber added.A number of cases come up each year where animals get tangled in plastic in the ocean and suffocate to death. (Photo: AP)

The Maharashtra government has decided to ban the use of plastic from "Gudi Padva", the Maharashtrian New Year which falls on March 18, Environment Minister Ramdas Kadam recently said in the state Assembly.

While plastics are a convenient way to carry goods, it has a very high cost on the environment and also adversely affects human health.

Since plastic has so much negative effects, many cities and countries from around the world have already put plastic bag bans in place. Here are a few reasons why banning plastics is actually good.

Plastic bags pollute our land and water: Plastic bags can travel greater distances by wind and water because of their lightweight. They litter landscapes, get caught in fences and eventually make their way into the worlds oceans ending up upsetting the flora and fauna.

Plastic bags are made from non-renewable resources and contribute to climate change: The majority of plastic bags are made of polypropylene, a material that is made from petroleum and natural gas. Both of these materials are non-renewable fossil fuel-based resources and through their extraction and production, they create greenhouse gases, which contribute to global climate change.

Plastic bags never break down: Petroleum-based plastic bags do not truly degrade. The plastic breaks up into tiny little pieces that end up in the ocean to be consumed by wildlife.

Plastic bags are harmful to wildlife and marine life: Plastic bags and their associated plastic pieces are often mistaken for food by animals, birds, and marine life like fish and sea turtles. The consumed plastic then congests the digestive tracts of these animals, and can lead to health issues such as infections and even death by suffocation. A number of cases come up each year where animals get tangled in plastic in the ocean and suffocate to death.

Plastic bags are harmful to human health: Plastic fragments in the ocean such as those from plastic bags can absorb pollutants like PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyl) and PAHs (Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), which are known to be hormone-disrupting chemicals. When marine organisms consume plastics in our oceans, these chemicals can make their way through the oceans food web and then into humans who eat fish and other marine organisms.Harry would be following the example of his brother, Prince William, who rejected a prenup before tying the knot with Kate Middleton. (Photo: AP)

To the public eye, Prince Harry has always been something of a romantic. Now that he is engaged to Meghan Markle, the 33-year-old has made the most dramatic sign of his devotion.

According to a story published in Mail Online, one source has said that Harry has rejected signing a prenuptial agreement to safeguard his estimated 30 million fortune.

Talking to Mail Online, the source further added, There was never any question in Harrys mind that he would sign a prenup. Hes determined that his marriage will be a lasting one, so theres no need for him to sign anything.

The disclosure follows persistent rumours that courtiers wanted Harry to safeguard his chunk of the Windsor millions. Meghan divorced her first husband, American film producer Trevor Engelson, after two years.

The news is in sharp contrast to a report by another daily that a prenup was being drawn up since both Harry and Meghan have their respective assets to safeguard.

Prenups are not legally enforceable in the UK, but are increasingly taken into account during divorce cases.

Harry was handed 10 million of the inheritance from his mother, Princess Diana, when he turned 30. He is said to have another 20 million of assets. Meghan, 36, has amassed an estimated 4 million fortune from her successful acting career.

Harry would be following the example of his brother, Prince William, who rejected a prenup before tying the knot with Kate Middleton.

Their mother, who also didnt have such an agreement, had to fight hard to win a divorce settlement of 17 million from Prince Charles in 1996, as well as 400,000 per year.However, an official statement from Phoenix Marketcity refuted Sonali's claims, and clarified that the concerned person was allowed to enter the mall premises within no time. (Photo: ANI)

Pune: A Pune-based transgender was allegedly barred from entering Phoenix Marketcity in Pune on Thursday evening.

The victim, identified as Sonali Dalvi, alleged that security guards at the entrance refused to proceed with her security check and claimed that the mall's policy did not allow transgenders to enter the premises.

Describing the incident, she said, "I had gone to shop at the mall around 8:00 pm on Thursday evening. As I proceeded to the ladies section for security check, the lady guard, who was visibly awkward, refused to check my belongings and proceeded to call other lady guards. One of them came up to me and said transgenders are not allowed in the mall as per the company policy, and subsequently asked me to leave."

"Later, a crowd gathered at the spot and asked the guards to let me go. However, one of them present there said I could enter, but have to refrain from going to the second and third floors. They kept me waiting for half an hour and kept giving me excuses. I have never been discriminated against in any public place so far. I will definitely file a case against the owners so that nobody from my community or any other faces this in the future," Sonali added.

However, an official statement from Phoenix Marketcity refuted Sonali's claims, and clarified that the concerned person was allowed to enter the mall premises within no time.

"We would like to state that based on the detailed report given by the security agency, the person in question was asked for verification by the security guards and directed to the desired destination in less than five minutes. We regret any inconvenience caused to the customer but security precautions are part of the process. We would also like to state, that we neither had nor have any intentions of hurting the sentiments or discriminating against anyone on the basis of their caste or gender. In fact we strongly believe in an inclusive society," the statement read.Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh PWD minister Rampal Singhs daughter-in-law committed suicide in her parents home in Udayapura in Raisen district in the state early on Saturday morning.

According to the police, Pritis body was found hanging in her room in her parents home. A purported suicide note was also found with her. Although, her kin claimed that the move to arrange second marriage of her husband allegedly at the behest of the minister had driven her to end her life, the purported suicide note left by her however, made no mention of the reason of her taking the extreme step.

She also blamed no one in her suicide note for ending her life. The police was however tight-lipped on the incident. We are probing into the matter, additional superintendent of police of Raisen district Kiran Bala said.

She became very upset when she learnt that arrangement was being made to conduct second marriage of her husband. Her in-laws never accepted her as their daughter-in-law. Hence, she used to stay with her parents, her brother said.Rao was speaking in the Legislative Assembly during the reply to the motion of thanks on the Governor's address by the government. (Photo: PTI/File)

Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Wednesday said that a non-Congress, non-BJP alternative proposed by him is not a "third front", but a front that unifies the people.

"New method needs to come in India. Some have misunderstood when I said I will go to national politics. They think it is bringing together three or four regional parties...a third front. I am not going for petty politics. There is a big agenda," he said.

"...to unify the people of India on the basic issues that people experienced after 71 years (of Independence). Not a mere political game. I am making it clear. It is not third front or any front. The front proposed by me will come as a front of the people of India," he said.

Recalling that some people had made light of him when he started the agitation for a separate Telangana, he expressed confidence that he would be successful in his new endeavour.

Rao was speaking in the Legislative Assembly during the reply to the motion of thanks on the Governor's address by the government.

Alleging that both Congress and had BJP failed to meet the expectations of people, Rao said earlier this month, he was keen to participate in national politics to bring about a "change".

He had said he was in talks with others to form a platform of like-minded parties.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and former Chattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi were among those who had expressed solidarity with Rao, official sources said.

Rao has also announced plans to hold consultations with experts in different areas, including retired bureaucrats, defence officers and economists.Pak Foreign Office official said that the high commissioner would stay back for an indefinite period. (Photo: Pakistan Embassy)

Islamabad/New Delhi: Pakistan's High Commissioner to India Sohail Mahmood is unlikely to return to New Delhi any time soon, an official of the Pakistan Foreign Office, was quoted, as saying by the Express Tribune, on condition of anonymity.

The daily further quoted the unnamed official of the Foreign Office, as saying that Islamabad has decided not to send High Commissioner Mahmood back to New Delhi until the overall situation regarding treatment of diplomatic staff and their families is resolved.

"Our high commissioner will not return to India anytime soon," the senior Foreign Office official was quoted by the Express Tribune, as saying just hours after Mahmood returned from New Delhi on Friday.

The official told the daily that the high commissioner would stay back for an indefinite period. Initially, it was thought that he would return to New Delhi after consultations with relevant authorities.

Pakistan had earlier this week asked High Commissioner to India, Sohail Mahmood to return home for an unspecified time after Pakistan alleged that its diplomats in India were being "harassed". The move was downplayed by the Ministry of External Affairs as "routine".

Pakistan had also accused the Indian officials of intimidating the children of a senior diplomat while they were on their way to school.

The Pakistan high commission alleged that the children were harassed and blocked by Indian authorities while they were on their way to the British School, according to a report in The Times of India.

It said the counsellor's car with his children onboard was hit from behind by another car occupied by Indian authorities.

Pakistan had also summoned India's Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh over the alleged harassment of officials and families of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi.

Also Read: India counters Paks harassment claim, says calling back envoy 'routine'

It may be recalled that in 2002, high commissioners of Pakistan and India were recalled to their respective countries following the December 13, 2001 terror attack on the Indian parliament.

Tensions between both countries are already running high because of frequent cease-fire violations along the Line of Control (LoC) and the Working International Boundary.

According to the Express Tribune, the immediate fallout of ties taking a turn for the worse is reportedly not allowing about 500 Pakistani pilgrims to attend the annual Urs of revered Sufi saint Hazrat Khawaja Moinuddin Chisti in Ajmer Sharif, Rajasthan. They were supposed to travel to India on March 18, but have reportedly not been granted visas by the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.

The annual Urs is scheduled to start on March 19 and continue till March 29.India is hosting the WTO meeting with the objective of facilitating an exchange of views on various issues and challenges relating to multilateral trading system. (Photo: PTI/Representational)

New Delhi: Amidst recent diplomatic standoff between the neighbouring countries of India and Pakistan, Islamabad diplomatic sources said that "Pakistan was pulling out of the WTO ministerial meet in India due to the current situation."

"It was Pakistan's decision to pull out at the last minute, and the Indian side could not comment on it," an Indian official was quoted as saying by NDTV.

India has invited over 40 countries for the WTO mini-ministerial meeting on March 19-20.

India had also invited Pakistan to participate in the meeting which was confirmed by Pakistan's Commerce Minister Pervaiz Malik earlier in February. But now, the invite has been rejected.

"India sent a note verbale to Pakistan on Friday with seven points highlighting in chronological order incidents of Indian diplomats being harassed," sources told NDTV.

Pakistan had earlier this week asked High Commissioner to India, Sohail Mahmood to return home for an unspecified time after Pakistan alleged that its diplomats in India were being "harassed". The move was downplayed by the Ministry of External Affairs as "routine".

Also Read: India counters Paks harassment claim, says calling back envoy 'routine'

Pakistan had also accused the Indian officials of intimidating the children of a senior diplomat while they were on their way to school.

However, Indian sources said that the standoff was months old, when in May last year, Pakistani government "intermittently blocked Indian government websites in Pakistan" and "visa seekers faced trouble".

After this, there were reports of power and gas supply being shut for the Indian diplomats in Islamabad, followed by door bells being rung late at night at the homes of diplomats in both the sides.

India is hosting the WTO meeting with the objective of facilitating an exchange of views on various issues and challenges relating to multilateral trading system.

This would be the second mini-ministerial meeting being hosted by India. The first was in 2009.A loudspeaker has been fitted around 100 feet away from the school building and those who hear the National Anthem being sung through it, join the chorus, school Headmaster Safikul Islam said. (Photo: PTI | Representational)

Abhainagar: Setting a novel example, the people of Abhainagar village in Nadia district stop all work for 52 seconds at 10:50 am every weekday to sing the National Anthem.

People at home and those in moving motorbikes, auto-rickshaws, cycles and pedestrians on road stand still wherever they are and start singing.

At that particular hour, students of the state-run-Abhainagar Primary School sing the 52-second-long National Anthem and it is echoed to nearby areas through loudspeakers.

"We thought this would instil patriotism among the students and the people. We had requested the villagers, wherever they are, to sing the National Anthem along with their children at the school. They agreed and the practice continues," said the school Headmaster Safikul Islam.

A loudspeaker has been fitted around 100 feet away from the school building and those who hear the National Anthem being sung through it, join the chorus, Islam said.

"I along with two others was passing by the school with crops on our head on Wednesday. At that time we heard the National Anthem on the loudspeaker. We stopped walking and started to sing along. It felt good," said 50-year-old farmer Maijuddin Biswas.

Champa Bibi, 26, used to bring her two daughters to the school and leave at once for home.

"Now my daughters asked me to wait and leave the school only after singing the Jana Gana Mana along with them. This is a nice job done by the school," she said.

Narsina Bibi cooks mid-day meal in the school. "When the bell rings for the National Anthem, I stand up and sing it from the kitchen," she said.

The headmaster said the school has two loudspeakers and two sound boxes. He also has a plan to fit more loudspeakers and is trying to collect funds for it.

"We can make announcements using this and it will also help us make faster communication with guardians," Islam said.

The school has 115 students and most of them belong to very poor families, he said adding that it has won a few government awards including the Shishumitra Vidyalaya Purashkar in 2016 and the Nirmal Vidyalaya Purashkar in 2012.

Abdul Mannan Seikh, member of the Tehatta 2 Panchayat Samity, said he is aware of the effort.

"The people of the area are basically illiterate. If the locals respond to the appeal of the school, it is most welcome. The idea is good for instilling patriotism," he said.Bihar BJP Chief Nityanand Rai said, 'The dispute that escalated (and led to the murder) had started due to this chowk being named Modi Chowk.' (Photo: Twitter | @girirajsinghbjp)

Patna: Contradicting the claims of police and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, state BJP chief Nityanand Rai on Saturday said that the attempt by the Darbhanga administration to link the beheading of a 70-year-old man to a property dispute is incorrect.

"The dispute that escalated (and led to the murder) had started due to this chowk being named Modi Chowk," Rai told reporters after visiting Darbhanga in Bihar.

The Bihar BJP chief said to link the property dispute with this incident "and the attempt to cover up this case by the district magistrate and SP (district police chief) is not in accordance with the law," he said.

Ram Chandra Yadav, was attacked and beheaded by a group of 40 to 50 men.

Also Read: Bihar man beheaded for naming town square Narendra Modi chowk

Local BJP workers had held a protest against the killing but police officers had tried to play down the sensational attack.

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi made the same point.

In a tweet late on Friday night, Sushil Modi said it was "totally false" that the murder "was due to naming Modi Chowk".

"It was a case of land dispute. The board was put long back, murder has nothing to do with board," he tweeted on Friday night.

Nityanand Rai did not refer to the tweet but only statements attributed to district police officers.

He said it was possible that there had been a pending land dispute between the two sides.

"But that case has nothing to do with this attack... That is an older issue," he said, promising to help the family get justice.The boy, Arijit Das, was being taken to a Kolkata hospital from a nursing home in Burdwam for treatment, after he complained of a prolonged bout of fever and chest pain. (Representational Image)

Kolkata: In a tragic incident, a meritorious 16-year-old Class 10 boy in West Bengals Birbhum died on Thursday night after being treated by an air-condition mechanic impersonating as a doctor in a critical care ambulance on way to hospital.

The quack Sheikh Sarfarajuddin, who had no medical expertise, was hired on a doctors fee of Rs 8,000.

The boy, Arijit Das, was being taken to a Kolkata hospital from a nursing home in Burdwam for treatment, after he complained of a prolonged bout of fever and chest pain.

The family also paid Rs 8,000 for the ambulance to rush the boy to Kolkata hospital for specialised treatment when his condition deteriorated.

The doctors in Kolkata declared him brought dead.

During the journey, the family grew suspicious seeing the driver fixing the oxygen cylinder and the doctor remaining silent. However in Kolkata, once it was found Arijit was dead, the entire scam was unearthed.

The fake doctor Sheikh Sarfarajuddin had no medical expertise and didn't know how to use the life support system in the ambulance.

Both the ambulance driver and quack tried to persuade the family for not travelling in the ambulance in fear of being caught.

The boy's family was not allowed inside the ambulance and had to hire a car to get to the hospital. "They told us that he was a big doctor and he won't allow any disturbance in the ambulance. We didn't know he wasn't a doctor," Ranjit Das said.

Based on the complaint filed by Arijits family members, the Jadavpur police (East) has arrested 25-year-old Sheikh Sarfarajuddin and the 26-year-old driver of the ambulance, Tara Babu Sha.

The police has registered a case for causing death due to negligence, impersonation and cheating. Investigations are on, the police said. The two accused were produced in court on Friday.

This is not the first such incident in West Bengal. In June, 2017, seven doctors were arrested from major hospitals in Kolkata for practicing without a legitimate degree.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is also the state's health minister, had passed the Clinical Establishments (Registration, Regulation and Transparency) Bill in 2017 after a crackdown on private hospitals in West Bengal.Naidu said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's statement on March 7 to the media made it clear that the union government was not willing to respect the promises made to the five crore people of Andhra Pradesh. (Photo: PTI/File)

Amaravati: TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday night wrote to BJP president Amit Shah, saying they felt it pointless to continue in NDA as the union government failed to discharge its constitutional responsibilities in implementing 'Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014' in letter and spirit.

He pointed out that on most of the crucial provisions of the Act, and the assurances given in the Rajya Sabha, the progress was 'tardy, unsatisfactory and disappointing.'

Also Read: TDP snaps ties with NDA, to move no-confidence motion against Modi govt

In the four-page letter, the TDP chief, however, did not mention about the 'collusion' between BJP and other parties (YSR Congress and Jana Sena) that he alleged in the morning during a teleconference with party politburo members and MPs.

"Today, a feeling is gaining ground in our state that the BJP is not sensitive to the aspirations of our people."

"We feel the government headed by it is not willing to implement in letter and spirit the provisions in the AP Reorganisation Act and the assurances given by the then Prime Minister in Rajya Sabha," he said.

The TDP chief said his party had joined the alliance in the hope that the state would get fair treatment and expectation that the people would get justice.

"When our being in the alliance doesn't serve that purpose, we feel that it is pointless to continue," he noted.

Naidu said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's statement on March 7 to the media made it clear that the union government was not willing to respect the promises made to the five crore people of Andhra Pradesh.

"On that day, our Union Ministers have exited the Council of Ministers. We expected that before the passage of the Finance Bill, necessary modifications will be made to do justice to the people of AP. But now the Budget was passed and our state has not got justice," the Chief Minister said.

The TDP chief said his party joined the NDA under the leadership of the BJP before the 2014 general elections and fought the elections together in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

"It is a different matter that after the elections you have ended our alliance in Telangana without even the courtesy of formally informing us," Chandrababu said.

He recalled that Narendra Modi, the then Prime Ministerial candidate, in his public meetings in Andhra Pradesh, had emphatically assured the people that he would give special category status as well as help the state build a capital city much better than Delhi.

"We were told that the 14th Finance Commission recommended against granting of SCS to any state. Although this was a contestable interpretation of the Finance Commission's report, we went along with it because we were promised that all facilities and incentives that are enjoyed by SCS states will be extended to us in the form of special assistance, except the nomenclature. Sadly, that was not to be," he said.

"The Union government, we feel, has failed to discharge its constitutional responsibilities in implementing the AP Reorganisation Act," the Chief Minister said.

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) led by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday snapped ties with the BJP and exited the alliance with NDA over the Centre's refusal to grant Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh.

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) led by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday snapped ties with the BJP and exited the alliance with NDA.

The decision was taken by Naidu in a teleconference and was unanimously passed by party politburo.

The TDP also moved a no-confidence motion against the Modi government in Lok Sabha.

Naidu told MPs the no-confidence motion should be on not granting special status to Andhra and not implementing the assurances given to the state in the AP Reorganization Act.

Earlier on Thursday, Naidu, who is at loggerheads with the Centre over the demand for special status for state, said that Prime Minister Modi is trying to repeat in Andhra Pradesh what he has done in Tamil Nadu where BJP supported OPS faction against EPS in the AIADMK.

In a teleconference with party MPs, Naidu alleged that the BJP was following 'divide and rule policy'.

He also accused the BJP of resorting to using Jagan Mohan Reddy and Pawan Kalyan against TDP.

Naidu further said that instead of addressing the issues raised by the state such as allocating special funds, bridging revenue gap or special category status as promised in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, Modi was using the Tamil Nadu template to pit YSRCP and Jena Sena against TDP.

Union ministers P Ashok Gajapati Raju and Y S Chowdary had quit on March 8 after a meeting with the prime minister.The Finance Ministry was closely followed by the Home Ministry which rejected 16.08 per cent of 59,828 applications addressed to it. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: The Finance Ministry rejected highest number of RTI applications received by it during 2016-17, the year in which it had implemented demonetisation of Rs 1000 and Rs 500 currency, the annual report released by the Central Information Commission on Friday said.

The data cited by the report shows that among all the union ministries and central government departments, the Finance Ministry rejected 18.41 per cent of 1,51,186 applications received by it during the said period.

The Finance Ministry was closely followed by the Home Ministry which rejected 16.08 per cent of 59,828 applications addressed to it, it said.

The number of Right to Information (RTI) applications has come down from 9.76 lakh in 2015-16 to 9.17 lakh in 2016-17 - a dip of 6.1 per cent, it said. Among these, 6.59 per cent applications were rejected by the public authorities during the year. The overall proportion of rejection for the central government (including UTs) has come down marginally from 6.62 per cent in 2015-16 to 6.59 per cent in 2016-17.

According to the CIC, the top authority in monitoring the implementation of the RTI in the country, the public authorities, in maximum cases, cited exemption clauses like state interests, personal information, information forbidden from disclosure by the country, fiduciary capacity listed under Section 8(1) of the RTI Act.

The Ministry of Home Affairs received 59,828 RTI applications during 2016-17 even though 33 public authorities under it reported 57,657 RTI applications the previous year.

The proportion of rejection of the MHA has gone up considerably to 16.10 per cent in 2016-17 from the 14 per cent reported in 2015-16.

A bulk of these RTIs (6,422) were rejected by the exempt organisations under this Ministry such as the Assam Rifles, Border Security Force (BSF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) etc.Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said PM Modi has achieved huge success in taking the fight against terrorism on international forum. (Photo: PTI | File)

New Delhi: Blasting Pakistan for giving political legitimacy to terror mastermind Hafiz Saeed, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said security forces can cross over the Line of Control (LoC), if needed, to protect country's territorial integrity.

Making it clear that Jammu and Kashmir will remain an integral part of India, Singh said the Narendra Modi government wants a permanent solution to the Kashmir issue and the interlocutor appointed by it was ready to talk to anyone who is willing to have a dialogue.

"We not only secure India internally but can also cross border, if needed, to protect the country," he said at the News18 Rising India summit.

In September 2016, the Indian Army had carried out surgical strikes at the terror launch pads across the LoC and inflected significant casualties to avenge the terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir.

The home minister said India wants to maintain friendly relations with Pakistan but that country was not keen for it, rather giving "political legitimacy" to LeT founder and 26/11 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed.

"Pakistan is now providing political legitimacy to a UN designated terrorist. Hafiz Saeed is now allowed to form a political party, he will contest elections and go to Parliament. Haqqani Network, which is responsible for killings of scores of people are being abeted and given protection. It is shocking," he said.

Singh, however, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has achieved huge success in taking the fight against terrorism on international forum. Earlier nobody talked against Pakistan's terrorism, now the US has also condemned Pakistan, he said.

Referring to the appointment of the interlocutor, former Intelligence Bureau chief Dineshwar Sharma, on the Kashmir issue, the home minister said the interlocutor would talk to everyone who was keen for dialogue.

He said despite Pakistan's best efforts, Kashmir would never be separated from India. "Kashmir was with India, Kashmir is with India and Kashmir will remain with India forever," he said.

Singh said Kashmir's children were like his own and would not allow anyone to radicalise them. "I want to tell those who are trying to teach jihad to innocent Kashmiri youth that they should first learn the real concept of jihad in Islam," he said.

The minister said he had personally asked Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to ignore cases filed against the first-time stone-pelters.

Following Singh's request, the Jammu and Kashmir government had withdrawn cases registered against 9,730 people involved in stone-pelting incidents, including first-time offenders.

"We have forgiven first-time stone-pelters. They might have been influenced by others. They are young. We need to give them a second chance," he said.

Singh also highlighted the government's efforts in dealing with Maoists and the insurgents in the Northeast.

He said the battle against Naxals can't be won through bullets and hence several developmental initiatives were taken in this direction.

"We are trying to reach those areas which have remained unreachable since independence. Naxalism was a huge problem for India but in the last four years we have achieved major success in that space," he said.

Singh said violence in the Northeast has come down by 75 per cent in last few years.UPA chairperson and former president of Congress Sonia Gandhi said that her party is exposing fraud and corruption of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the people associated with him. (Photo: ANI | Twitter)

New Delhi: UPA Chairperson and former president of Congress Sonia Gandhi on Saturday tore into the BJP for being "arrogant and power hungry" and said its "dramebaaz" (gimmicky) attitude shorn of sincerity would see the Congress soar again first in Karnataka and then in the rest of India.

Sonia said, Modi government is intoxicated with power and it has unleashed hatred. Congress will not bow down, and it will never bow down. Modi Government is autocratic and it's bothering media.

The 84th plenary of the Congress began on Saturday.

Over the two-day meet, the Congress is set to roll out a road map for reversing its downward electoral journey.

With eye firmly on Lok Sabha 2019, Sonia told workers that Congress is the only party that can take the country forward. It's a task the BJP has failed in, she said.

She said, All of us should unite and work together. This is not the time to look at our personal issues. Party's win will be victory for all of us.

Also Read: 'Change is Now': Cong uses 'love', can show nation way ahead, says Rahul

Further intensifying her attack at Narendra Modi and Centre, Sonia added, The promises of 'Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas' and 'Na khaaoonga na khaane doona' by the current government is nothing but 'drama' and their tactics to get votes.

Sonia said that her party is exposing fraud and corruption of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the people associated with him.

"We are exposing fraud and corruption by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the people with him, using proof," she said.

Sonia said the BJP has only been working towards a "Congress-mukt" (Congress-free) India and not to advance the country.

Calling the Narendra Modi-government arrogant, Sonia Gandhi said, In last four years, this arrogant government has left no stone unturned to destroy Congress. But Congress has never cowered down and it will never cower down.

Sonia added, Today I am saddened to see that Modi govt is weakening and ignoring the schemes and programs (implemented during UPA).

Sonia Gandhi said Congress is not just a political party, but is a vision. She said, The Congress has held a mirror to Indian values. The Congress should fulfill people's wishes and aspirations.

She said that it is the Congress Party which takes stand against injustice and raises voice against it. "Wherever there is a non-Congress government, our friends are taking a stand against anarchy and violence there and continuing with their work, braving all of it."

Sonia Gandhi asked the party workers to come forward to make the country free of corruption and vendetta. "We need to make an India free of corruption and vendetta, under (Congress) President Rahul Gandhi, let us pledge that we will make all efforts to to do this," It is the beginning of a new chapter, the challenges we are facing are not usual ones.

Addressing the Congress workers Sonia said she entered the public sphere but when she realised that the Congress is weakening, keeping in mind sentiments of party men, she entered the political arena.

Sonia said that Congress victory will be the victory of the nation. The party's victory will be the nation's victory; it will be the victory for each one of us. Congress is not a political term, it is a movement, she said.

Sonia Gandhi also congratulated her son and Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who took over the baton of the party from her in December 2017. Sonia said, I congratulate Rahul Gandhi, he took up this responsibility (of party president) at a very challenging time.Mallya is on trial for the UK court to rule if he can be extradited to India to face charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to around Rs 9,000 crore. (Photo: File)

London/New Delhi: The British judge hearing the extradition case of liquor baron Vijay Mallya on Friday said that it was blindingly obvious that rules were being broken by Indian banks which sanctioned some of the loans to the erstwhile Kingfisher Airlines.

Presiding over a hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London, Judge Emma Arbuthnot described the case as a jigsaw puzzle with different pieces of massive evidence to be put together to paint a picture, which she said she was now able to see more clearly than a few months ago.

There are clear signs that the banks seem to have gone against their own guidelines [in sanctioning some of the loans], she said, inviting the Indian authorities to explain the case against some of the bank officials involved because that relates to the conspiracy point against Mallya.

The 62-year-old businessman, who is on trial for the UK court to rule if he can be extradited to India to face charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to around Rs 9,000 crore, watched the proceedings from the dock.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), arguing on behalf of the Indian government, laid out their arguments against the defence calling into question the admissibility of some of evidence submitted by the Indian authorities.

Pointing out that Mallya had chosen not to give evidence in the case, CPS counsel Mark Summers rejected the defence claims on the evidence as nonsense.

The government of India has established by other copious evidence a prima facie case of fraud, he said.

The judge is expected to rule on the admissibility of evidence and set a timeframe for her final verdict. However, the matter could be delayed over further clarifications required on the source of some of the emails submitted as evidence by the Indian authorities.

Mallya's counsel, Clare Montgomery, argued that evidence that was claimed as a blueprint of dishonesty by the CPS was in fact privileged conversation between Mallya and his lawyer about legal advice in clear contemplation of litigation and hence should be inadmissible.

On a separate category of evidence presented by the Indian government, Mallya's team questioned the reliability of investigating officers in the case and pointed to over 150 pages of near identical material purporting to be statement of witnesses taken under Section 161 of the Indian CrPC.

"They do not appear to be in any way an account of things that witnesses would have said but rather seem to be somebody else's analysis put into the mouths of the witnesses, down to the spelling mistakes," Montgomery said, adding that the documents were "identically reproduced" with not only the same words but also the same typing errors.

The judge did not seem to be convinced by this argument and said she had found only two-three cases of mistakes but did not see a problem in the preparation of the statements.

Judge Arbuthnot had also sought further clarifications related to availability of natural light and medical assistance at Barrack 12 of Mumbai Central Prison on Arthur Road, where Mallya is to be held if he is extradited from Britain.

The CPS indicated to the judge that the government had provided all the necessary clarifications along with photographs of the two cells that comprise Barrack 12.

The extradition trial, which opened at the London court on December 4, is aimed at laying out a prima facie case of fraud against the tycoon, who has been based in the UK since he left India in March 2016. It also seeks to prove that there are no "bars to extradition" and that Mallya is assured a fair trial in India over his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines' alleged default of loans from a consortium of Indian banks.

The CPS, representing the Indian government, has argued that the evidence they have presented confirms dishonesty on the part of the businessman and that there are no bars to him being extradited from the UK to face Indian courts.

Mallya's defence team has deposed a series of expert witnesses to claim he had no fraudulent intentions and that he is unlikely to get a fair trial in India.

Mallya was arrested by Scotland Yard on an extradition warrant in April 2017 and has been out on bail on a bond worth 650,000 pounds. Chief Magistrate Arbuthnot is expected to pronounce her verdict in the case by May this year.

If she rules in favour of the Indian government, the UK home secretary will have two months to sign Mallya's extradition order. However, both sides will have the chance to appeal in higher courts in the UK against the chief magistrate's verdict.Chennai: Over 50 parents of 94 children, who died in the Kumbakonam school fire tragedy, have approached the Madras high court, alleging misappropriation of a major portion of the compensation amount awarded by the government to them by their counsel, who appeared for them earlier.

U.Marimuthu and others sought to implead themselves as parties in the original contempt applications filed in 2017. His son was burnt to death in the fire at the school on July 16, 2004. After several round of litigations, the government awarded compensations ranging from Rs 5 lakh each to the parents of the victims.

The government also deposited Rs 8.01 lakh in his bank account on December 21, 2016. But, even before the amount was deposited in the bank, his counsel S.Tamilarasan summoned the parents and obtained two undated cheques and signatures in blank papers from them. Thereafter, he received a communication from the bank that Rs 2.30 lakh was deducted from his account.

When he made enquiries with the bank, he found that his counsel had misused the blank cheques and diverted the money. When the case came up for hearing on Friday, a division bench comprising Justices R.Mahadevan and V.Parthiban permitted the petitioners to implead themselves in the case and posted to April 9, further hearing of the case.Mumbai: The farmers in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra have taken over 125 acres of land belonging to fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi, which was seized by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the multi-billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam.

They have started cultivating the land, according to reports in the local media. The farmers alleged that Modi had acquired their lands at less than the prevailing rate.

A group of more than 200 farmers arrived in bullock carts at the tract of land at Khandala in Karjat tehsil and ploughed a part of it using a tractor as a symbolic gesture of reclaiming their possession. They said that they would start cultivation on the full 125 acres of the acquired land soon.

The protest on Saturday was meant to show that farmers had reclaimed their land, which had been acquired by Modis Firestar company some years ago.A senior official from the JB Nagar police station said that they have formed a special team to catch the gang and are examining the CCTV footage from surrounding areas.

Bengaluru: With robbers increasingly targeting lone walkers and flyers waiting for airport buses at odd hours, with the latest incident of a 25-year-old man being stabbed at Indiranagar, the police have decided to step up night patrolling in prominent places.

A senior police officer told Deccan Chronicle that night patrolling has been increased after robberies have gone up.

In Indiranagar, the 25-year-old man from Jaipur, who was waiting for a bus to the airport, was stabbed by robbers when he refused to part with his mobile and valuables in the early hours of March 14. First, two people in an auto approached him. Later, a gang came in a car to the bus-stop and attacked him. They snatched his mobile phone and bag. When he resisted, they hit him on the head, shoulders and in the genitals. Passerby rushed him to a nearby hospital and he later filed a complaint with the Jeevanbima Nagar police.

A senior official from the JB Nagar police station said that they have formed a special team to catch the gang and are examining the CCTV footage from surrounding areas.

Modus operandi

The gang targets lone walkers or those waiting for airport buses late at night. The gang splits into two groups, with the first team with two or three people roaming around the area and choosing the targets. Later they inform the second team which turns up in a car in larger numbers and attacks and stabs the victim.In a shocking incident, a mobile phone service centre owner killed his 7-year-old son by cutting his veins and then attempted to commit suicide on Friday night.

CHENNAI: In a shocking incident, a mobile phone service centre owner killed his 7-year-old son by cutting his veins and then attempted to commit suicide on Friday night.

A resident of Teynampet, Urmil Dolia runs a mobile phone service centre on P.T. Rajan Road in K.K. Nagar. Urmil Dolia had left his house on Friday night telling his wife that he would be in the shop, the police said. He also took his son Madhav Dolia with him, according to the police.

Nearby shoppers grew suspicious as Urmil's two-wheeler had remained parked near his shop but the shutter closed. They informed Vadapalani police, who broke open the shutter to find the father and son lying in a pool of blood. They were rushed to the hospital, but Madhav was declared brought dead. Urmil Dolia is under treatment. Urmil had cut Madhavs veins and he did the same to himself too, said police.

Preliminary inquiry suggests that Urmil Dolia had suffered losses in business due to his prolonged illness. Mounting debt might be a possible reason for his decision,the police added. Based on his wife Kalaiselvi's complaint, Vadapalani police have registered a case and are investigating.Hyderabad: The Hyderabad High Court has come to the rescue of women aspiring for the posts of Junior linemen (JLM) in the Telangana State Northern Power Distribution Company Ltd (TSNPDCL) by directing the organisation to receive applications from women candidates manually and allowing them to compete for the posts.

Justice M.S. Ramachandra Rao, while dealing with a petition by Ms Humera Anjum, Ms V. Mamatha and five others challenging the action of the TSNPDCL in inviting the applications for the posts of JLM only from the male candidates, directed the organisation not to declare the results of the selections till further orders.

The petitioners told the court that the TSNPDCL issued the notification on February 16, 2018 inviting applications via online process for the posts of JLM only from the male candidates without providing space for women applicants.

Mr Sunkara Chandraiah, counsel for the petitioners contended that when the women were allowed to compete for the posts of sub-inspectors, inspectors, DSPs in Police, Excise and Transport Departments and even for the posts of drivers, denying them the opportunity of JLM posts was nothing but showing discrimination towards them.

He also contended that the notification was in violation of the Regulation 22-A of the APSEB Employees Service Regulations.

He urged the court to direct the TSNPDCL to provide 33 1/3 reservations to the women in terms of Regulation 22-A (ii)of the APSEB Employees Service Regulations. The judge directed that petitioners be issued applications for the said posts and that their applications should be received manually.New Delhi: India has issued yet another note verbale to Pakistan after an incident on Saturday when Indian diplomats shopping in the blue area of Islamabad were followed aggressively by two men who hurled abuses at them.

This was confirmed by Indian government sources who said there was another incident of harassment on Thursday when an Indian diplomat and his family  who were on their way to a restaurant in Islamabad  were aggressively followed by two men.

Sources said that Saturdays note verbale was the 12th note verbale issued by India on the harassment of Indian diplomats in Islamabad.

India has asked Pakistani authorities to probe these latest incidents.

There are also some reports from Pakistan that Pakistani High Commissioner Sohail Mahmood who was recalled by Islamabad for consultations recently may not return soon to India, thereby signalling a worsening of the diplomatic row.

Pakistan is also alleging harassment of its diplomats in New Delhi. All this comes as the Pakistan High Commission is gearing up to celebrate the Pakistan national day on March 23.

On Saturday evening, Indian government sources said, Another note verbale was sent on Saturday by our High Commission in Islamabad to the ministry of foreign affairs of Pakistan protesting against the intimidation and harassment of Indian High Commission officials. This was the 12th Note Verbale this year on the subject.

Sources added, Two incidents were highlighted: On March 17, Harassment of some of our officials who had gone for shopping to the Blue Area in Islamabad. Two people aggressively followed them and hurled abuses. On March 15, another officer and his family was aggressively followed by two men on motorbike when he was going to a restaurant. We have asked the Pakistan Government to investigate these incidents.KOZHIKODE: A voice clip of an assistant professor flaying his girl students for their dress code in extreme misogynistic words has triggered controversy. The teacher at Farook Training College here allegedly made his speech during a family counselling with an audience some weeks ago. "I am teacher of a college where 80 per cent of the students are girls and of that, majority are Muslims. These girls are not wearing dress as per the religious tradition. They are not covering their chests with hijab. But showing part of it is like slice of red water melon being displayed," says the teacher in the audio clip.

The teacher slams girls wearing leggings and fumes that they hold purdah deliberately up to show off the leggings. He warns that this immoral dress style will lead the girls to losing both physical and spiritual worlds. Meanwhile, the college principal Dr C.A. Jawahar told that the teacher would be asked for an explanation on the derogatory speech.KALPETTA (WAYANAD): A tribal woman gave birth to a baby boy in a Sulthan Bathery bound KSRTC bus from Kozhikode on Friday morning. The woman has been identified as Kavitha wife of Biju, a native of Nellarachal near Ambalavayal here. The incident took place at around 9.30 am when the bus was nearing Kalpetta, according to KSRTC authorities. The conductor informed the driver about the delivery who in turn rushed the bus to a private hospital. the woman was undergoing treatment at Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode since March 1 with high Blood Pressure.

The woman was not at all discharged from the hospital. She left without the knowledge of doctors, it is learned. Kavitha was accompanied by husband Biju, her mother and sister. The family boarded the bus from the KSRTC bus stand, Kozhikode. With low weight, the baby is under special care at the hospital. Both mother and child are safe, according to hospital authorities. District collector S. Suhas visited the woman and child. As an emergency financial assistance he handed over Rs 5,000 for the family.New Delhi: The Supreme Court has stayed an order by the Hyderabad High Court directing the Vijayawada-based mother of two minor children to hand over them to their father, a US citizen.

The High Court had held that she had illegally took the children to India and asked her give the children to the US Consulate General in Hyderabad in four weeks to be sent back to their father, Paidi Venkata Venugopala Rao.

A three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court, while entertaining a special leave petition filed by Ms Hanumanthu Swapna stayed the High Court order and restored the children to their mother.

The petitioner said in the present case, the High Court lost sight of and ignored the well-established principles of law relating to the issue of custody of minor children. The High Court in a habeas corpus filed by the Father erroneously directed the custody of two minor boys aged 13 years and 10 years to him and held that the kids are in illegal custody of the Petitioner (mother), who is in India.

The petitioner submitted that the custody of a minor with one of the biological parents can never be illegal and that a writ for Habeas Corpus would not be maintainable.

The Guardians Court at Vijayawada had prima facie awarded custody of the children in favour of the mother. On the other hand the father claimed custody through US Court order and High Court entrusted their custody to him.

It was submitted that with regard to minor children, for the overall development it is necessary and crucial that they spend maximum time with their mother.

The petitioner prayed for quashing the High Court order and an interim stay of its operation.Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits a stall during the inauguration of Krishi Unnati Mela 2018 in New Delhi on Saturday. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: With the elections approaching in Karnataka and also stepping up efforts to make inroads into southern India, where the BJP lost a key ally, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday held a video conference to wish people on the occasion of Ugadi  New Years Day for the Hindus of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Addressing a gathering at Srisailam, Andhra Pradesh, Mr Modi spoke about the government schemes, ranging from Swachchh Bharat to Mudra Yojana.

On the other hand, BJP president Amit Shah also held a meeting of partys core group leader from Andhra Pradesh and asked them to spread out in the state and highlight the Central schemes which have benefited the state. Andhra Pradesh ruling party, TDP, on Friday quit NDA over the Centres rejection to grant a special category status to the state.

Wishing the people on Ugadi, Mr Modi said, No words can do justice to the valuable contribution of saints and seers to our nation. For centuries, they have served society with utmost diligence and selflessness.

As he spoke about the various Central schemes, he also mentioned that the people of the nation want to see it free of internal weaknesses, not only those based on caste or religion but all those factors which weaken it.Hyderabad: The All-India Congress Committee (AICC) passed a resolution on granting Special Category Status to AP once it came to power. On the second day of AICC plenary session, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge moved this in the political resolution which was passed unanimously.

It said the creation of Telangana and the successor state of Andhra Pradesh was enacted through the AP Reorganisation Act by the UPA government in 2014, only after consensus by all the major political parties present in erstwhile AP. The then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced awarding Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh among other things in Parliament on February 20, 2014.

Congress express dismay that till date it had not been implemented and even the benefits to the state announced in the Act had been diluted or not implemented. Congress strongly condemned the neglect and injustice to AP by the current BJP-led government and reiterated its commitment to the complete implementation of DrManmohan Singhs assurances and the provisions of the Act and SCS to AP.

Meanwhile, AICC president Rahul Gandhi recently participated in the protest conducted by APCC in Delhi and said if Congress was voted to power in the next elections the first file to be signed would be on granting special status to AP. Later on the request of AP Congress leaders, he agreed to ensure the passing of a resolution during the plenary session.Former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit speaks with Congress leader Mohammad Azharuddin during the 84th Plenary Session of Indian National Congress at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: The Congress on Saturday urged the media to restore the balance in coverage of national issues to safeguard democracy. In a first, the party also held a separate discussion on contemporary media as part of its 84th Plenary Session.

In the political resolution adopted at the plenary, the party said that media plays an important role in a democracy to inform and sensitise public opinion.

To inform credibly, to disseminate freely and report independently, is the foundation of trustworthiness of media. An authoritarian regime seeks to shackle the voice of media and muzzle the truth. This is under serious cloud today. Subjugation of the free press through misuse of power and resources of the government, intimidation, economic discrimination and cooption of some is the new order.

Observing that the essence of democracy lies in the capacity to criticise and disagree fearlessly, the Congress urged the media to restore the balance in the national narrative in order to safeguard democracy.

It said that challenging times call for courage to uphold, defend and preserve the independence of media.

At the panel discussion, which was moderated by partys new entrant to the Rajya Sabha Kumar Ketkar, speakers discussed the need for independent media which was free from the shackles of corporate owners.VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has directed Telugu Desam (TD) MPs to be available these two days in New Delhi.

He asked them to garner support from all political parties and advised them to brief them about the big conspiracy of BJP-YSRC-Jana Sena on AP Special Status issue.

The CM has also targeted the Prime Ministers Office (PMO), by alleging that its unethical association with the YSRC has led to new suspicions about the big conspiracy planned from the PMO.

Interestingly, the Congress has also taken up the APs Special Status issue (SCS), in its plenary, as a priority resolution. Speaking on the same, former Speaker of AP Legislative Assembly and senior Congress leader Nadendla Manohar said that senior leader Mallikharjun Kharge had proposed the resolution in the plenary and it was passed unanimously.

Recalling the efforts of the Congress for gaining SCS to AP, Mr Manohar said the decision of the Congress has never changed.

It may be recalled that Rahul Gandhi, as the Vice-President of the Congress at that time, took part in a nine-kilometre padyatra from Obula Devara Cheruvu town to Kondakamarla village in Anantapur district in 2015 and had ignited the Special Status issue even before the TD and the YSRC took it seriously and as the president of the party now, Mr Rahul Gandhi has made it very clear that Congress supports SCS for AP, Mr Manohar said.

The former speaker questioned as to why the ruling TD has changed its mind from SCS to special package, in between.

APCC president Dr N. Raghuveera Reddy has already appealed to all political parties to give up differences, in order to achieve SCS to AP.Lucknow: Success has many fathers but failure is an orphan, and a lonely one at that. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath knows this best as voices of dissent get shriller in the ruling BJP after the debacle in Lok Sabha byelections in Gorakhpur and Phulpur.

The monk-turned-politician, who was hailed as an icon and a mass leader when he took oath as Chief Minister exactly an year ago, is now being openly targeted by rebel party leaders.

Senior BJP leader and former MP Ramakant Yadav criticised the chief minister and said, Ek puja path karne wale ko mukhya mantri bana diya gaya unke bas ka nahin hai sarkar chalana (A priest has been made the chief minister, he is not competent to run the government).

He alleged that the party had alienated OBCs and dalits and this led to its defeat in the byelections.

BJP MP from Kaiserganj, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, said that some BJP workers virtually celebrated the partys defeat in the byelections as they saw it as a lesson for seniors who allegedly ignored workers at the grassroots.

The time has come for party leaders do so some serious introspection. They should find out why the workers are happy over the partys defeat, he said. BJPs Allahabad MP Shyama Charan Gupta said that the overconfidence of party leaders was responsible for the electoral loss.Mumbai: The Shiv Sena is likely to remain neutral on the no-confidence motion moved by the YSR Congress against the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party government at the Centre.

Though the Sena has been slammed the Modi government on many issues, it will however, remain with the National Democratic Alliance, Sena sources said.

Sena MP Chandrakant Khaire has also said confirmed that the party would adopt a neutral stand on the issue.

After the Telugu Desam (TD) decided to quit the NDA, there was speculation about the Senas stand on support for the Modi government. If there is a vote on the no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha, then the BJP will expect the Sena to vote in support of the government as it is a part of the government and the NDA, even though it has only one minister, Anant Gite.

Meanwhile, the Sena is monitoring the political developments. Sena MP Anil Desai said that party chief Uddhav Thackeray will take a final call on the issue.Hyderabad: The decision of Telugu Desam (TD) to support the No-Confidence motion against the BJP-led NDA government has saved three defected MPs from disqualification in Andhra Pradesh and at the same time, three defected MPs in Telangana falls into the problem of being disqualified.

In Andhra Pradesh, YSRC MPs S.P.Y. Reddy, Butta Renuka and Kottapalli Geetha have joined the Telugu Desam. In Telangana, TD MPs Gutta Sukhendar Reddy and C.H. Mallareddy and YSRC MP Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy had joined the TRS. YSRC has given a whip to all its MPs to vote in favour of the No-Confidence motion against BJP-led NDA government for not granting Special Category status to AP.

Before snapping ties with the BJP, the TD said it will not support the No-Confidence motion moved by the YSRC. If the defected MPs do not vote according to the partys whip, they will attract disqualification. But later, with change in political developments, the TD decided to move the No-Confidence motion against the NDA government and YSRC had announced its support for it. According to rules, the Lok Sabha Speaker will permit discussion jointly on both No-Confidence motions given by the YSRC and the TD.

After discussion, voting will be conducted separately on both the resolutions. In the voting on No-Confidence motion, both YSRC and TD MPs will vote in favour of the No-Confidence motion on two resolutions. So, the defected three MPs will also vote in favour of the No-Confidence motion and they will face no issues.

In Telangana, the TRS has taken a stand to not support the No-Confidence motion given by the YSRC and the TD. But the whip given by YSRC and TD will be applicable to defected MPs too.

As per Lok Sabha records, Mr Sukhendar Reddy and Mr Malla Reddy belongs to the TD and Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy belongs to the YSRC. According to the whip issued by TD and YSRC, all the three defected MPs have to vote in favour of the No-Confidence motion. If they do not vote, as per the TRS decision they will attract disqualification.

Telangana state Assembly former secretary and Chief Commissioner of TS Right to Information Raj Sadaram said that if any member violates its partys whip in the No-Confidence motion, he will be disqualified. When Mr Sukhendar Reddy was asked about this, he said that they will take a decision at the time of the voting on No Confidence motion.Hyderabad: Changing political equations at the Centre, with the No Confidence Motion by Telugu Desam and YSRC against the BJP-led NDA government, has forced Telangana State Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to advance his efforts for the Third Front.

He is leaving for Kolkata on Monday to discuss the Third Front with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. While Telangana state Assembly will be in session on Monday, the No Confidence motion against the Central government is likely to come for discussion in Lok Sabha.

At this juncture, Mr Raos visit to Kolkata to hold a discussion with Ms Banerjee is gaining importance. Ms Banerjee is supporting the no-trust motion while Mr Rao has decided not to support it. He wishes to maintain equal distance from the BJP and the Congress.Bengaluru: Mallya Hospital has issued a show-cause notice to its senior doctor and plastic surgeon Dr Anand and asked him to explain in a week's time why he wrote the controversial discharge summary of Vidwath Loganathan, which has drawn the ire of the High Court.

Chief Executive Officer of Mallya Hospital Commodore Indru Wadhwani told this newspaper that the ethics committee of the hospital on Saturday issued the notice to Dr Anand on the controversial discharge summary and he has been given seven days to explain why disciplinary action should not be taken against him.

Justice Sreenivas Harish Kumar on Wednesday, while rejecting the bail plea of Mohammed Nalapad Haris, son of Shanthinagar MLA N.A. Haris, had observed that the victim Vidwath's discharge summary "appears to have been written to the convenience of the petitioner by a doctor, who is not authorised to issue it.

It contains so many details, which ought not to be written, as the Special Public Prosecutor put it. It is true that the discharge summary appears to have been written very unusually. The discharge summary is issued to the patient at the time of his discharge from the hospital. In a medico-legal case, the investigating officer is entitled to a copy of it. Before the investigating officer could get a copy of it, if the discharge summary could be accessed by a TV channel, it only shows somebody's intervention. In my opinion, the doctor, who has issued discharge summary, appears to have exceeded his limits. It is very pertinent to mention here that the very same doctor goes to the extent of a statement about the fitness of Vidwath. He has also given a statement that Vidwath has been tutored to delay in giving statement before the police. If these statements of doctor are taken into consideration, obviously a question arises as to what is the interest he has in giving these statements? Is he expected to give such statements?" Justice Kumar had stated.

The High Court judge further stated that Vidwath's "discharge summary shows that at least three to four doctors attended on the patient. When those doctors kept quiet, why did Dr Anand show interest in giving statements and writing something in his discharge summary, which is not expected to find place in it? Whether this Dr Anand was authorised to give the discharge summary is also disputed by the SPP. All these events only show that the doctor might have been under the influence of the petitioner or his men.

This is one way of tampering with evidence," said the High Court judge. He added that any amount of explanation offered by the defence counsel was of no avail.

SPP Shyam Sundar had argued that the discharge summary is a confidential document. "How was it made available to the father of the accused - N.A.

Haris, who had posted it on his Facebook page even before it was given to the patient or the investigating officer," the SPP had argued.The sacking of Kashmirs finance minister Haseeb Drabu by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on March 12 will give a severe jolt to the PDPs coalition with the BJP. He was its architect, in partnership with BJP general-secretary Ram Madhav (an RSS official seconded to the BJP). Madhav has declared that there is no Kashmir problem. Drabu said something very similar on March 9. Dont see J&K as a conflict state and a political issue, he posited. It is not a political issue as far as I can see. They have been barking up the wrong tree for the last 50 or 70 years by talking about the politics of it, that the political situation has never improved. We seriously need to look at it in terms of how it is a society that is in search of itself.

He spoke thus in New Delhi, where he was expected to project Kashmirs viewpoint, at an event called Kashmir: the Way Forward. Instead, he berated Kashmiris for barking up the wrong tree by espousing their political cause. This covers not only the stooges whom New Delhi installed in power in Srinagar since August 8, 1953, when Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah was thrown out in a coup, engineered by the Indian government, but Sheikh sahib also. It confirmed the widely held suspicion that his eyes were set on New Delhi. He is the one who had drafted the PDPs famous document Jammu & Kashmir: The Self-Rule Framework for Resolution. It envisaged not only drastic constitutional change to ensure self-rule, but also an accord between India and Pakistan. Paragraph 51 listed six methods for consideration; two were for a plebiscite; one was for elections held under international supervision; one more for an election and two others for steps based on these ideas.

Six year later, he drafted with Madhav the PDP-BJP Agenda of the Alliance, which congealed the status quo of a deformed and hollowed out Article 370 (the so-called guarantee of autonomy). Drabus boss, PDP supremo Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, desperately sought a return to power; if need be, by selling his peoples rights and his own soul. A former chief of RAW disclosed that he was in parleys with the BJP even during the elections. He justified the pact with the puerile remark that he was joining the North and South Poles. That false partnership has come unstuck. BJP ministers in Kashmir, backed by the BJP government at the Centre, are defiant. So is Jammu. Kashmiris feel deceived. On Muftis watch, pellet guns have been used by the Army. On January 17, the body of a small girl from the Muslim Bakarwal nomadic community was found in Kathua in Jammu. She had been abducted, raped and killed. A group called Hindu Ekta Manch called for a probe by the CBI, not the police in Kashmir. The Manch complains of a demographic invasion; Jammus communal divide has widened. Then, on March 4, two militants and four civilians were killed in Shopian.

Contradicting the Armys statement, Mufti herself called them civilians caught in the crossfire that day. By March 6 she denied this, and the fact that an FIR had been filed against Maj. Aditya Kumar  the day after the Supreme Court had forbidden its filing. The local police are sensitive to the peoples feelings. But it gets scant support from the Chief Minister. The Centre backs the Army. Repression is systematic and at an all-time high. No leader commands the respect that the aged, ailing Syed Ali Shah Geelani does. Yet he is singled out for attack. Under house arrest since October 2010, when Omar Abdullah was chief minister, neither his son nor even the vegetable vendor can enter his house. His wife needs eye surgery, for which he has no means. It is a shame and disgrace. Why are Indias human rights activists and international rights organisations silent?

By arrangement with DawnIt is evident that the rising tension between India and Pakistan has spread to another battlefield  from the Line of Control to each others diplomatic missions in their respective capitals. While the escalated level of Pakistani infiltration of militants across the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir and the international border, as well as heightened cross-border firing and the introduction of higher calibre artillery pieces by Pakistan and reciprocation by India has dominated the headlines for the past year or more, a new element has now been added. This is suggestive of Islamabads pro-active efforts to not let tensions die down. The shift in the canvas of tensions was provoked on February 15 by a raid in Islamabad on an Indian high commission residential complex by Pakistani agencies and the prolonged disruption of electricity and water. Official requests by the Indian side to restore normality were met with an extremely tardy response.

News reports indicate that Pakistan high commission officials in New Delhi were subjected to tit for tat harassment. Now it appears that Pakistan has decided not to attend a meeting of WTO, a multilateral body, in New Delhi on March 19-20. The effort seems to be to let tensions simmer, and possibly worsen. The general impression is that Islamabad began to adopt an ultra-aggressive stance since the proclamation of the Trump administrations South Asia policy in August last year, which it saw as privileging India, in that this policy required Islamabad to take more convincing and concrete measures to curb terrorism. It would now seem that this is a mistaken impression. In fact, Pakistan began to initiate a distinctly unfriendly line of action towards India as early as May last year when it practically blocked access to Indian government websites.

This created serious problems for seekers of the Indian visa. Evidently, the movement of people was being severely curbed as a matter of policy. In addition, this step also posed practical difficulties for the Indian high commission in Islamabad where officials could not access their own government portals. Last Friday, the Pakistan high commissioner in New Delhi was called home for consultations. While this is not unusual, the context in which this has occurred suggests that Islamabad is upping the ante. Theoretically, closing the mission in New Delhi is possible, or at best keeping a skeletal staff here. While India has returned fire on the LoC, on the diplomatic front New Delhi appears to be keeping its cool, and avoiding escalations. If the direction of Pakistans action in the past year is to underline an all-round deterioration in ties with India, the idea could be to raise international concerns and to invite Western intervention on Kashmir. It is surprising in view of this that New Delhi has not taken overt steps to foil the move. It should have been taking steps to build pressure on Pakistan.What will be the issue that the 2019 elections will be fought on? The polls are about a year away and in a few months from now the parties and alliances will have finished positioning themselves. They will go to advertising agencies and polling agencies and marketing specialists to figure out how to package and distribute the most effective message. The advertising company Ogilvy & Mather was hired by the BJP for its successful 2014 campaign while the Congress had hired Dentsu. The first time that an advertising agency was used in Indian politics so far as I can remember was in 1985, when Rajiv Gandhi hired Rediffusion. This time again, politicians will be in meetings with men in suits making powerpoint presentations that attempt to frame a message that most appeals to the citizen. Just like yeh dil maange more and yeh andar ki baat hai and achche din aane wale hain, marketing geniuses will produce catchy slogans to dominate the narrative.

The lessons learned from 2014, like the reward of large investments in social media and technology, will be seen in the 2019 campaign. A lot of people will make a lot of money from the elections. The BJP reported to the Election Commission that it spent Rs 714 crore on the 2014 campaign. The Congress spent Rs 516 crore. Single state parties like Sharad Pawars NCP reported spending Rs 51 crore. Expect these numbers to double or triple in 2019. And this does not include what will be spent in cash by candidates or spent by companies on behalf of the parties (a common practice in India). The major candidates will easily spend Rs 15 crore each and that doesnt include the cost of the ticket. All in all, my guess is that at least Rs 25,000 crore will change hands before May 2019. If you think this number is incredible, an English daily quoted a study which estimated that Rs 5,500 crore was spent on the Uttar Pradesh election of 2017. Newspapers and TV channels will get additional income from political advertising, much of it pretending to be news. Many deals will be done and as the Nirav Modi scandal shows, corruption does not begin or end with a non-corrupt leader.

Political parties will also unemotionally assess and work out what alliances will give them maximum advantage. Some leaders will leave their options open, giving up advantage in the beginning in anticipation of greater benefit and flexibility later. The results from four states going to elections before 2019  Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh  will help many regional parties decide how close or how distant to be from Rahul Gandhi. The reasons for the spectacular electoral successes of the BJP over the last six years will now be fully understood by its rivals who have sized the party up properly. That is what has made the most unlikely of partnerships, such as the one we saw in Uttar Pradesh between Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav, possible. To return to the question we started with, what will be the issue the election will be fought on? That will depend on who will control the narrative. In 2014, it was the Opposition leader that controlled the narrative and not the ruling party. The Congress was forced to defend its record on corruption and the BJP batted from the front foot on the presumed capacities of its leader.

In 2009, the BJP hired two agencies Frank Simoes-Tag and Utopia to produce a campaign projecting L.K. Advani as a strong leader. The slogan was Majboot neta, nirnayak sarkar, to show Manmohan Singh as indecisive, which of course he was not. The Congress in that year hired J. Walter Thompson, which produced the Aam aadmi slogan, which was later of course appropriated by Arvind Kejriwal. Sometimes the dominant narrative of the campaign does not result in the victory. Atal Behari Vajpayees 2004 campaign  India Shining, designed by the agency Grey Worldwide  resulted in a defeat nobody predicted and for reasons nobody still fully understands. It does not appear to me that the campaign of 2019 will be positive. By that I mean it is unlikely that there will be an achche din style slogan either from the government or the Opposition. The economy is not doing anything particularly special and I do not think our lives as citizens are in any noticeable way different than they were in 2014.

I was speaking to a BJP leader a few days ago and was told that the Ayodhya issue will be brought into focus sharply. At the moment the BJP is not touching it but that could change very soon. The Supreme Court is hearing the case and it is possible a verdict will come soon. A few days ago, the court dismissed the applications of individuals like Subramanian Swamy who were seeking to intervene in this matter. The court also dismissed the idea of a settlement and wisely said how can a middle path be found in a land dispute? A verdict of any kind will likely become the issue of our next election, and I shudder to think of what the campaign messaging will be.The skeleton, now on show in the French city of Lyon to possible buyers such as museums or private collectors before the June 4 auction, is estimated to be worth between 1.2 million and 1.8 million euros. (Representational image/Pixabay).

France: The fossilized skeleton of an unidentified type of dinosaur is set to be auctioned in Paris in June, and could fetch up to 1.8 million euros ($2.22 million), auctioneers said. Almost nine meters long, the skeleton is unusually complete, at almost 70 percent whole.

It is believed to be from the carnivorous, theropod group of dinosaurs, which had hollow bones and three-toed feet, said Eric Mickeler, a paleontological expert working with auction house Aguttes. But beyond that scientists are still stumped and have spotted differences with known species, he added.

Nothing else is known, Mickeler said.

The skeleton, now on show in the French city of Lyon to possible buyers such as museums or private collectors before the June 4 auction, is estimated to be worth between 1.2 million and 1.8 million euros. It was found in Wyoming, in the United States, in 2013 and belongs to an unnamed British businessman.

It will be installed on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower for the sale. Potential buyers can bid in euros or in digital currency bitcoin.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.Technology, in recent times has become the major dynamic force for increasing agricultural production and promoting agricultural development in all countries around the globe. Agriculture is becoming more integrated with the global market.

The developing economies like India face new agricultural challenges. There is a lot of thrust to produce agricultural products of high quality. India being an agrarian country has pressure to meet the growing demands for food, domestically while simultaneously earning through international trade. At the same time, another facet with which it has to deal with is that it must meet the sustainability goals in the context of the on-going agricultural policy reform and trade liberalisation.

Today, farmers, advisors and policy makers must deal with complex choices. They must choose between a wide range of technologies. Farmers look up to technology to reduce their cost of production, and thus increase productivity. In early 2000s technology was focused towards increasing productivity. Today technology helps in achieving the agricultural goals in a sustainable way.

Research & development of technology these days provides problem based solutions to the farmers. Some examples of technological advancements in the field of agriculture are biological pest control, biotechnology, information technology, bioremediation, precision farming, integrated and organic farming systems. These have helped farmers to take the right decisions over major farm subjects required while cultivating the produce.

Software and mobile devices have helped farmers get better agricultural output. Like ordinary people, farmers can start using mobile devices, which will allow them to stay connected to co-farmers and professionals while working on their fields and farms. This also means they can now have access to the data they need during agriculture farming. Some of the examples include- the ability to place orders for seeds at any time or in any place. They can also know which fertilizer is best for their produce and where to purchase it from etc.

Big data is helping the farmer in carrying out their operations in a more planned way. Farmers make decisions based on the information they have with them. Data has equipped them with the power of information to make better-informed decisions that allow them to use resources more sustainably. Farmers are taking help of e-mand is to sell their agricultural produce. These e-mand is have helped farmers from small villages to connect to the biggest markets all over the country. Plant disease forecasting is helping the farmer these days to make economic decisions and also about disease treatments for controlling pests. Soil testing is another technology which is helping farmers to analyse soil fertility levels and helping the farmer to monitor the stages of land degradation.

My farm info from Weather Risk Management Services is one such digital platform that has been developed to bring together plant health monitoring , soil monitoring , crop insurance and other farm services which give the farmer a better knowledge of their fields. These tools allow farmers to plan for better harvests and make decisions that are better for their cultivation.

Apart from these, technologys greatest advantage is in providing the farmer with a safe and transparent power to secure their income and lives thereafter. Technology shields the farmer from erratic and adverse weather vagaries, from closed market economics, while empowering him to take bold decisions for future development. More power to the hand of the farmer!

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.Ramesh operated an online website that offered prescription drugs, without a prescription, to American consumers. (Photo: File/Representational)

Washington: An Indian man has been sentenced to 2 years 9 months of imprisonment for money laundering and smuggling misbranded drugs from India into the US.

Ramesh Buchirajam Akkela aka Ramesh Bhai, 44, of Mumbai was arrested in Panama earlier this year and extradited to the US on Thursday.

Senior judge Donetta W Ambrose sentenced Ramesh for the 33-month jail term on Friday after his conviction of mail fraud and money laundering, a court statement said.

According to information presented in the court, Ramesh shipped misbranded drugs from India to re-shippers in the US for distribution - without prescription - to American consumers.

Assistant United States Attorney Shardul S Desai prosecuted the case on behalf of the government.

Ramesh operated an online website that offered prescription drugs, without a prescription, to American consumers. He was indicted on two counts of money laundering, 10 counts of mail fraud, a report said.Attorney Michael Avenatti would not provide details about the threat against Stephanie Clifford, who uses Stormy Daniels as her professional name. (Photo: AFP/File)

Washington: The adult film actress known as Stormy Daniels was physically threatened and warned to remain silent about her relationship with President Donald Trump, her lawyer told MSNBC and CNN on Friday.

Attorney Michael Avenatti would not provide details about the threat against Stephanie Clifford, who uses Stormy Daniels as her professional name. He said Clifford would elaborate on it during a CBS 60 Minutes interview broadcast on March 25.

My client was physically threatened to stay silent about what she knew about Donald Trump, he said on CNN.

Shes going to be able to provide very specific details about what happened here, Avenatti said of the 60 Minutes interview.

Clifford has alleged she had affair with Trump that began in 2006 and lasted several months. Trump has denied it.

In a letter to Trumps private lawyer Michael Cohen on Monday, Clifford offered to send USD 130,000 to an account designated by Trump so she could be released from a non-disclosure agreement she signed in October 2016. Cohen ignored the offer.

Cohen has said he paid Clifford USD 130,000 of his own money during the 2016 presidential campaign. He did not explain why he made the payment or say whether Trump was aware of it.

Avenatti filed a lawsuit last week in Los Angeles, claiming Trump never signed the nondisclosure agreement that his lawyer made with Clifford, rendering it null and void, and making public the agreement and related documents.

Avenatti told Reuters on Friday that six women had been in touch with his law firm to describe relationships with Trump. He said the women had strikingly similar stories to my client.

Were still in the process of vetting these allegations, he said.

Earlier, Avenatti told MSNBC and CNN that at least two of the women had signed non-disclosure agreements.British Prime Minister Theresa May this week ordered 23 Russian diplomats expelled as part of measures to punish Russia over the March 4 poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the city of Salisbury. (Photo: AFP/File)

Moscow: Russia's Foreign Ministry has summoned the British ambassador to Russia for talks in a heightening dispute over a nerve agent attack on a former spy in Britain.

Russia is expected to announce the expulsion of some British diplomats in a retaliatory measure. British Prime Minister Theresa May this week ordered 23 Russian diplomats expelled as part of measures to punish Russia over the March 4 poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the city of Salisbury.

British Ambassador Laurie Bristow is expected at the Russian Foreign Ministry late Saturday morning.

Britain's foreign secretary accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of personally ordering the poisoning. Putin's spokesman denounced the claim.

British Prime Minister Theresa May earlier on Monday had said that it was highly likely that Moscow was responsible for the poisoning in England of Russian former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter using a military-grade nerve agent.

May told parliament that either the Russian state was directly responsible for the poisoning or it had allowed the nerve agent to get into the hands of others.

Skripal, 66, and his 33-year-old daughter, Yulia, have been in hospital in critical condition since being found unconscious on a bench outside a shopping centre in the city of Salisbury on March 4.An established German electric bus will soon hit the streets of Utah.

As city news website Curbed reported, the company FlixBus plans to launch its low-cost, all-electric bus service in the United States this spring, adding routes in Southwestern U.S. states such as California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah.

The company didnt release any specific city information yet.

We want to help shape the future of mobility, said Andre Schwammlein, founder and CEO of FlixBus, in a statement. Although e-buses are currently much more expensive to buy, we are convinced that this will be a worthwhile investment in the long run, for our company, our customers, and the environment. As a provider, we are demonstrating that this is a potential turning point in mobility.

The company, which has routes in 27 countries, leases its vehicles to drivers and adds buses into its own schedule, according to Curbed.

The buses offer modern day amenities, including WiFi and digital booking.

According to CityLab, the bus service will hit the United States at the right time since theres a market for ride-sharing platforms, like Uber and Lyft.

Not to mention, another startup bus service, called Cabin, has found success helping people travel from Los Angeles to San Francisco.

FlixBus recently launched a new version of its own service called FlixTrains, according to VentureBeat. The company hopes to bring its bus-based success to the locomotive industry.

We looked at trains, and we did our homework in terms of how it works, what its customers are, Jochen Engert, FlixBus cofounder and managing director, toldVentureBeat. And ultimately we believe the train is just a larger bus.

The train service is only available in Germany right now, hoping to expand to 28 different areas in the country by the end of April.SALT LAKE CITY  To ensure the long-term sustainability of the Green and Colorado rivers as they flow through portions of Utah, state sovereign land managers are launching a first-ever effort to craft comprehensive management plans for the waterways.

The plans affect those state-owned sovereign land sections of the rivers as they go through Uintah, Grand, Emery, Wayne, Garfield, Kane and San Juan counties. The beds of navigable waters are owned by the state but held in trust for the public.

Plans will be developed, with public input, under the purview of the Utah Department of Natural Resources' Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands.

That division is required to regulate all uses on, beneath or above the bed of the rivers, including protecting navigation, fish and wildlife habitat, aquatic beauty, public recreation and water quality.

These first-ever comprehensive management plans will also include an update of mineral leasing plans impacting Green and Colorado river resources.

During March and April, the division  assisted by contractors SWCA Environmental Consultants; CRSA architects, planning and design; and Hansen, Allen & Luce  will present information regarding the plan development process at open house meetings in each county that contains state-owned sovereign land sections of the rivers.

The open houses, all from 6 to 8 p.m., are as follows:

 Uintah County, March 27, at the Uintah County Library in Vernal

 Kane County, April 10, at the Kanab City Library in Kanab

 Garfield County April 11, at the Escalante Senior Center in Escalante

 Wayne County, April 12, at the Hanksville EMS Building in Hanksville

 San Juan County, April 17, at the San Juan County Administration Building in Monticello

 Grand County, April 18, at the Grand County High School Auditorium in Moab

 Emery County, April 19, at the John Wesley Powell Museum in Green River

All residents are encouraged to attend the public open house meeting in their county.

"Public involvement is an important part of the Green and Colorado river planning process," said project manager Laura Vernon, adding "suggestions and concerns about the rivers can help us identify issues and develop management plan objectives."

Vernon said the state developed comprehensive management plans for the Jordan and Bear rivers, two distinctly different waterways facing sharply contrasting issues because Jordan is an urban river, while the Bear River flows through a rural setting.

"It is interesting to see the different issues that come up," she said. "I suspect we will see some here."

Draft plans and a range of management actions and alternatives, in addition to an assessment of each of the river's resources, will be available for review during a second round of meetings a year from now. In the summer of 2019, those draft plans will be open for public comment.

The drafts should be finalized in December of 2019.SALT LAKE CITY  More than 200 bridges in Utah were built with the same rapid construction technique used in the Florida bridge that collapsed this week and killed at least six people, officials said Friday.

Carmen Swanwick, chief structural engineer for the Utah Department of Transportation, said the Miami collapse doesn't sway her confidence in the method or stability of Utah's bridges, which are inspected once every two years. She said the state will continue to use the technique.

While it is still unclear what caused the Florida bridge to fail, it has cast a spotlight on the method widely used around the U.S. to diminish the amount of time roads and intersections have to be closed.

"I have no concerns," Swanwick said. "We believe it improves quality. A lot of times, the component or the bridge itself is constructed in a more controlled environment."

Accelerated bridge construction, or ABC, involves building sections of a span off-site and then moving the massive pieces into place in one step. When a bridge is constructed at the site, it can result in weeks of highway closures, giving ABC the advantage of avoiding traffic interruptions.

Utah started using the technique in 2007, and it has since become the primary way bridges are built, Swanwick said, adding that the state is the nation's biggest proponent and user of the method, followed by Pennsylvania and Vermont.

Examples include the bridges on Interstate 215 in Salt Lake City at 3300 South and 4500 South.

Swanwick was at Florida International University last year to give trainings on the technique but says she's not familiar with the bridge that collapsed.

The general approach for accelerated construction has been around since the mid-19th century  and has been used safely and successfully for a long time  but interest in ABC has increased in recent years as states have looked for quicker, less expensive ways to replace thousands of aging bridges.

In the case of the Florida tragedy, engineering experts said the question is where was the fatal mistake: in the design of the bridge, in the way its construction was carried out or in the materials used?

Civil engineering experts who viewed photos of the planned structure and the collapse have raised questions about how FIU and its contractors approached the project.

To some bridge engineers, the decision to install the span's main concrete segment over a busy road before building its main support tower was puzzling. Traditionally, the tower is constructed first, and the walkway or roadway is anchored to it with cables.

"It's odd," said Henry Petroski, a professor of civil engineering at Duke University and a leading authority on engineering failures. "That's probably why they used this so-called ABC method, so they could get the span over the roadway in one operation, because if you do it incrementally, you have to interrupt traffic."

Investigators will also be looking at the companies building the project, a collaboration between MCM Construction, a Miami-based contractor, and Figg Bridge Design, based in Tallahassee. Both companies have been involved in construction accidents before.

Professor Amjad Aref, a researcher at the University at Buffalo's department of civil, structural and environmental engineering, said it is unclear what the builders at FIU were using in lieu of a tower to support the segment that collapsed.

The span had some kind of cables to help support it, and the bridge section that collapsed was attached to two smaller pylons at either end.

But in ABC projects like the FIU span, the loss of the extra support from the main tower during construction is a risk, he said.

"Until all the pieces are put together to transmit the loads safely to the foundations, these bridges may suffer disproportionate or full collapse due to instability," Aref said. "Typically, this process requires a few weeks. During that time, they are often supported by another system to ensure stability because they are really vulnerable to collapsing."

"I am really puzzled that the tower does not exist," Aref said.

Engineers say the method has been used safely in other projects for years, and in general keeps the public safer.

"What really bothers me is with ABC, the benefits are so substantial that I would hate to see this accident lead to its reduced use," said Michael Culmo, a bridge engineer in Connecticut who has worked on accelerated construction projects for decades. "While this is a tragedy, the process itself is very safe."Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.

Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.

If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider subscribing to our ePaper and/or free daily Newsletter .

Support our mission and join our community now.Its one hundred years ago since Eamon de Valera and Sean McEntee came to Raphoe to address a crowd.

One of the most vivid accounts of the troubled period was given by Anthony Dawson to the Bureau of Military History in 1956: I was born at Letterkenny in 1902, where I received my primary education.

After leaving the National School I attended St. Eunan's College, Letterkenny. My father took an active interest in the national movement.He was a founder member of the Sinn Fein Club in Letterkenny and also acted as County Court Judge in the Sinn Fein Courts when they operated in the area.

As small boys, brothers Charles, James and myself joined the National Volunteers. After the Rebellion of 1916 we realised that we were in the wrong party and broke away from that organisation. I then joined the local Sinn Fein Club and in 1917 I joined the Irish Volunteers then organised in Letterkenny.

My brother, James, was the O/C. of the Company. In 1917 we were generally employed at drill parades, route

marches and occasional raids for arms on the homes of the Ulster Volunteers. Very often we were called out to intercept and break up recruiting meetings for the British Army.

British soldiers' wives, living in the town, who were in receipt of marriage allowance were very antagonistic towards us and caused considerable trouble at times. It was a usual procedure for us to compel the crowd to sing "A Soldier's Song" before the meeting was broken up.

At that period the Ancient Order of Hibernians' organisation was bitterly opposed to and very often endeavoured to break up meetings held under the auspices of Sinn Fein. In February, 1918, Eamon De Valera and Sean McEntee were due to address a meeting in Raphoe. The A.C.N. and Unionist Party became so hostile that a request for Volunteer assistance came to Letterkenny. Ninety men were mobilised in a short time and we entrained for Raphoe. We armed ourselves with pick handles, slash hooks, pieces of lead piping etc. On our arrival in Raphoe we looked a formidable force.

The R.I.C. made an attempt to stop us from marching down the street but were brushed aside. The opposition parties also withdrew and a successful meeting was held without any disturbance. We then marched back to Letterkenny.

On the day of the Election in West Donegal, we were sent to Churchill to protect the ballot boxes as the A.O.H. endeavoured to take complete control there and even attempted to prevent voters with Sinn Fein sympathies from registering their votes at polling booths.

After the 1918 Elections and up to the middle of 1919, our principal duties consisted in training, raiding for arms, cutting roads, railway lines and telegraph wires. Most of the raids for arms were carried out in the Laggan area, which was predominantly Unionist. Many of these Unionists were members of the Ulster Volunteer force and in that area we secured a good supply of arms and ammunition.

Early in 1919 orders were issued for the burning of all unoccupied R.I.C. barracks in the area, also the raiding of Excise Offices.

Acting on these orders a party of us set out and burned Glenswilly R.I.C. Barracks. By this time the Volunteers were kept very active, by the cutting of roads and the only railway line connecting West Donegal.

At our request, the traders in Dungloe, West Donegal, boycotted the British Forces and refused to supply them with food. The British Forces found it very difficult to procure sufficient supplies of food locally and found it necessary to have their requirements of food and petrol conveyed by rail from Derry.

One afternoon in 1919 we received information that a passenger train from Derry had two wagon loads of supplies for the British forces stationed in Dungloe and that a small party of British soldiers in mufti was travelling on the train as escort.

A party of ten Volunteers was hurriedly mobilised in Letterkenny and set out in two motor cars to the Railway Station at Churchill where the train was due to halt for the purpose of setting down and picking up passengers.

We arrived in good time and took up our positions around the Station. When the train pulled in we immediately boarded it and disarmed the escort, consisting of one N.C.O. and four men, armed with revolvers.

The foodstuff was immediately unloaded on to the railway line and, not having any transport to remove it, we poured petrol, which was part of the consignment, over it and destroyed it on the spot.



In his book, 46 Men Dead (about RIC casualties in Tipperary alone) Garda John Reynolds writes about Gilbert Potter from Leitrim who was captured by the IRA. When they were executing him, one of the guys shot himself in the leg and Gilbert Potter helped treat him and then climbed back into the grave to be shot.

In letters written to his wife and friends during his period of captivity, the police officer said the IRA members were treating him well and were kind hearted.

To his wife Lily, he wrote of his love for her and their four children. He asked the local bishop to take care of them in their time of distress: How awful that I should have brought her this trouble. If you see Lily soon tell her that her goodness to me and devoted love are felt by me and are a treasure in my affliction.

Its a heartbreaking but necessary read. What has been remembered as patriotism was in many instances just slaughter.

I never fail to see a photo of Dan Breen but I think...not of a great hero...but a cold blooded killer.

The War of Independence began at Soloheadbeg in Tipperary with the murders of Constables James McDonnell and Patrick OConnell, who were escorting a horsedrawn carriage.

Connell was 30 years old and was engaged to be married. McDonnell was a 50-year-old widower with seven children, all orphaned when he was murdered. They were well-liked and respected men in their community.

Dan Breen said Six dead policemen would have impressed the country more than a mere two.The Japanese company is at the centre of the worlds largest safety recall, and Australias first mandatory automotive recalls. Faulty Takata airbag inflators that can rupture and propel shrapnel towards vehicle occupants have killed at least 23 people around the world, including a 58-year-old Sydney man who died in July 2017. His death followed an accident in which a Darwin woman suffered serious injuries when the Takata airbag in her Toyota ruptured in April 2017.

A Takata passenger airbag removed from an Australian BMW ruptured during disposal in 2016.

Ms Wood said I've seen airbags deploy before, and I've never seen anything like it.

We knew that the airbag must have hit him but we couldnt understand why his lip would be shredded this way, she said.

We didn't at the time think to look for shrapnel in the car, because we had no idea.

We wondered whether it was a faulty airbag that caused the problem and then when we heard there were bits that were coming out, metal bits, that just gelled totally. Thats so consistent with the nature of his injures, so much more consistent than a simple airbag deployment.

It just made sense.

BMW is pushing for people with similar models to have potentially dangerous airbags replaced. The manufacturer has offered $100 fuel cards to 15,000 owners of vehicles which pose the greatest risk to occupants, including E46 3-Series models similar to that owned by Ms Woods.

The $1.5 million spend on fuel cards builds on an estimated $115-130 million cost for BMW to replace airbag components in approximately 136,000 vehicles. An automotive industry insider confirmed the average cost to a carmaker of replacing a single Takata airbag is almost $1000, and that the ACCCs decision to force brands to recall an additional 1.3 million models would cost the car industry at least $1 billion.

Around 4 million cars in Australia are affected by the Takata airbags issue. The ACCC says approximately 1.3 million airbags have been replaced, and car makers must replace the other 2.7 million before 2021.

Many Australian vehicles with replacement airbags received like for like replacements representing new examples of the same fundamentally flawed airbag design originally fitted by manufacturers.

A spokeswoman for the ACCC said there are around 300,000 vehicles fitted with defective Takata airbag inflators that require future replacement by 31 December, 2020.

A Toyota spokeswoman said approximately 88,333 airbag inflators of an inferior design were used to immediately secure guest safety during early recalls. Those airbags will need to be replaced before the ACCCs deadline. Similarly, Mitsubishi said less than 36,000 Lancer small cars had a new for old Takata inflator installed, while Mazda will recall more than 3600 cars for a second time.

Honda Australia is working to replace around 3200 Takata airbags every week, but it cannot say how many of the 500,000 airbags it has already replaced will need further action.

A spokesman for the brand said in some cases, we've provided fuel cards to customers and that The challenge remains reaching those customers who've received multiple recall notices, phone calls, texts etcetera, but who have yet to act.

Honda representatives have knocked on doors in an attempt to contact customers whose vehicles contain the deadliest alpha airbag inflators. Car companies have also lobbied for road authorities to prevent vehicles with outstanding Takata recalls from being registered.

More information: Productsafety.gov.auOfficials from the company stated that though Hyundai is not playing a volumes game, they aim to become a one million car maker in India by 2020. They also stated that the company plans to get assembled items from vendors rather than separate components to save time and increase output.

Managing Director, Hyundai Motors India, Y K Koo, mentioned that the company would increase capacity by 50,000 units by stretching manufacturing processes and debottlenecking activities. Koo, also stated that Hyundai India aims to sell 7 lakh units by 2018 and increase to 7.5 lakh units by end of 2019.

Thoughts on Hyundai Motors India Investment.

Hyundai India has made a bold move with the plans to expand aggressively in the Indian market. With nine new launches in the next three years including an electric car, Hyundai Motors India aims to dominate the market in the next three years.Trump has loudly declared his intention to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris agreement, but, behind the tweets and the headlines, U.S. officials and scientists have carried on working with international partners to fight climate change, Reuters reported Wednesday.

The State Department has continued to send delegations to the Arctic Council, which works to protect the rapidly-warming region, and to talks drafting the rules for the Paris agreement. Representatives from other nations involved with those talks and organizations told Reuters they had been pleased with the work of U.S. officials.

"We really don't detect any change with the Americans," Finnish Arctic Council chair Aleksi Harkonen told Reuters.

Similarly, Nazhat Shameem Khan, Fiji's top negotiator at the Bonn Climate Change Conference who also lead the talks, told Reuters that the 40-member U.S. delegation was "constructive and helpful."

Only one U.S. action at the conference, convened to write the rulebook for implementing the Paris agreement, raised hackles. That was a U.S.-sponsored talk on "clean coal," that some delegates felt distracted from a focus on renewable energy.

The U.S. cannot leave the Paris agreement until 2020, but some had still anticipated U.S. delegates would reflect Trump's rhetoric at international talks.

There has been some criticism from Trump supporters of this surprisingly agreeable approach.

"I am concerned that much of our climate policy remains on autopilot," Trump's former energy adviser and Competitive Enterprise Institute research director Myron Ebell told Reuters.

Further, Reuters pointed out that these delegations were sent by a State Department still controlled by Rex Tillerson, who supported the Paris agreement. It is unclear what his ouster and replacement by Mike Pompeo, who has criticized the accord and questioned climate science, will mean for the department's policy going forward.

Climate advocates hope Pompeo will be too busy with North Korea and Iran to alter climate policy, Reuters reported.

But even if the State Department changes its tune, there are other federal agencies still making progress on climate change. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) continues to work domestically and internationally to research and publish on climate science. In addition, in 2017 The Overseas Private Investment Corporation doubled its funding for solar-power-related businesses abroad.

U.S. scientists also told Reuters they had not been prevented from working with international colleagues on reports like one for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change scheduled for an October release.

"I've not seen any indication that the climate denialism from Trump and other members of the administration has had any influence ... on the alignment of the U.S. scientific community with the scientific consensus around the world," Stanford environmental science professor Christopher Field told Reuters.

When it comes to domestic policy, the Trump administration has done more damage. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) moved to repeal the Obama-era Clean Power Plan, for example.

There is also indication that the some federal agencies are preventing climate information from reaching the public and restricting the efforts of the scientists who work for them.

A January study found evidence that government websites, particularly the EPA's, were being altered in ways that made it harder for the public to access climate change information.

And in July 2017, a former scientist at the Interior Department filed a whistleblower complaint, alleging that the department had reassigned him to an accounting position as retaliation for his efforts to publicize the impact of climate change on Alaska Native communities.OFT reiterates HMRC scam warning

The Isle of Man Office of Fair Trading is reiterating a warning about scammers claiming to be from HM Revenue & Customs.

Fraudsters are still contacting Manx residents phishing for person information and financial details.

The OFT warns the callers will use a range of scare tactics, including threatening to take their victim to court if they don't settle an outstanding bill.

The organisation is urging locals to warn their friends, family and neighbours about the scam in order to ensure they don't fall for the caller's story.

Anyone who receives such a call is advised to put the phone down.CHICAGO--Medical students who are specifically trained in clinical transgender medicine are better prepared to treat transgender patients, a new study from Boston University School of Medicine suggests. The study results will be presented in a poster Saturday, March 17 at ENDO 2018, the 100th annual meeting of the Endocrine Society in Chicago, Ill.

"The number one barrier to quality transgender medical care is the lack of trained clinicians," study co-authors Jason Andrew Park, a medical student, and Joshua David Safer, M.D., the medical director of the Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery, said in a joint statement.

"Boston University School of Medicine introduced a clinical elective where students can participate in direct medical care for transgender patients. The students who participated in the elective reported greater confidence in providing care to transgender individuals than the same students had reported from classroom instruction alone," they noted.

To augment the school's mandatory training of medical students in gender identity and transgender medicine, the authors implemented a pilot Transgender Medicine elective that enabled fourth-year medical students to rotate on services that provided direct transgender-specific clinical care for transgender patients. The 20 students in the program had already taken part in an elective in which they learned methods of providing transgender medical care.

In a survey at the beginning of the pilot elective, all the students expressed the opinion that medical schools and residency programs need to provide training in transgender health. In a survey after completing the elective, the students reported significantly improved confidence in their ability to provide care to transgender patients. Students rating their comfort as "high" increased from 45 percent (9 students) at baseline to 80 percent (16 students), and those rating their knowledge of the management of transgender patients as "high" rose from zero to 85 percent (17 students).

The percentage of students rating their skills for providing general care to transgender patients as "low" decreased from 35 percent (7 students) at baseline to zero, and the number rating their skills for providing hormone treatment to transgender patients as "low" dropped from 10 students to 1.

"Transgender individuals are medically underserved in the United States and face many documented disparities in care due to providers' lack of education, training, and comfort. Clinical exposure to transgender medicine during clinical years can contribute to closing the gap between transgender and LGB care and to improving access to care," the authors wrote in their abstract.

###

Boston University funded this study.

Endocrinologists are at the core of solving the most pressing health problems of our time, from diabetes and obesity to infertility, bone health, and hormone-related cancers. The Endocrine Society is the world's oldest and largest organization of scientists devoted to hormone research and physicians who care for people with hormone-related conditions.

The Society has more than 18,000 members, including scientists, physicians, educators, nurses and students in 122 countries. To learn more about the Society and the field of endocrinology, visit our site at http://www.endocrine.org. Follow us on Twitter at @TheEndoSociety and @EndoMedia.CHICAGO--French physician and researcher Andre Ulmann, M.D., Ph.D., won the Endocrine Society's first-ever John D. Baxter Prize for Entrepreneurship for his advances in women's health and rare endocrine conditions, the Society announced today.

Ulmann founded HRA Pharma and built the company into a leader in women's health and treatments for orphan diseases. The company revolutionized the treatment of uterine fibroids, the formation of benign tumors on the uterus that can cause irregular bleeding and reproductive complications, by developing a treatment that reduced the rate of hysterectomy surgeries. In addition, HRA licensed or developed emergency contraceptives and drugs for treating rare conditions including adrenal cancer and hypercortisolism. Ulmann led the company from 1996 to 2009 as CEO and served as chairman until 2016.

Ulmann received the inaugural Baxter Prize at ENDO 2018, the Endocrine Society's 100th Annual Meeting & Expo, during a ceremony today. The $50,000 prize is awarded biennially to recognize scientists or healthcare providers who have demonstrated entrepreneurship by leveraging endocrine research to improve patient care.

"Andre Ulmann's work has improved the lives of thousands of women and patients with rare disorders," said Endocrine Society President Lynnette K. Nieman, M.D. "His pioneering work bringing new treatments to market in 90 countries has eliminated the need for surgeries for many women with fibroids and improved the quality of patients' lives. We are thrilled to honor his numerous achievements."

Before founding HRA Pharma, Ulmann served as Medical Director and Head of Clinical Research for Roussel-Uclaf and Hoechst-Marion-Roussel with global responsibility in the fields of endocrinology, immunology, neurobiology and bone diseases. Prior to that, he was international project leader for the development of mifepristone as medical director of Laboratoire Roussel, France. He identified several potential uses for this molecule, including as an emergency contraceptive and a treatment for uterine fibroids and Cushing's syndrome.

Ulmann is currently the CEO of Cemag, a service and investment company, and serves as a consultant for several start-up companies. He wrote a book about his career entitled Le Combat D'un Medecin Pour Les Femmes. He was awarded the French Legion d'Honneur.

"It is truly an honor to be the first recipient of the Endocrine Society's Baxter Prize, which recognizes innovation in our field," Ulmann said. "I became an entrepreneur because I saw potential to meet women's unfilled medical needs. I am grateful for the prize, which will support my ongoing work in the women's health sphere."

The Baxter Prize was established in memory of Endocrine Society Past President John D. Baxter, M.D., who was a world-renowned scientist known for being the first to clone the human growth hormone gene. During his career, he made many fundamental medical discoveries and translated them into clinical therapies that had far-reaching implications in the fields of biotechnology and genetic engineering, benefiting the health and welfare of patients worldwide. He passed away in 2011. The Baxter family endowed the prize in his memory.

ENDO 2018 is taking place from March 17-20. More information on the meeting is available at https://www.endocrine.org/endo-2018.

###

Endocrinologists are at the core of solving the most pressing health problems of our time, from diabetes and obesity to infertility, bone health, and hormone-related cancers. The Endocrine Society is the world's oldest and largest organization of scientists devoted to hormone research and physicians who care for people with hormone-related conditions.

The Society has more than 18,000 members, including scientists, physicians, educators, nurses and students in 122 countries. To learn more about the Society and the field of endocrinology, visit our site at http://www.endocrine.org. Follow us on Twitter at @TheEndoSociety and @EndoMedia.CHICAGO -- New research in mice provides an explanation for how exposure to the widely used chemical bisphenol A (BPA) during pregnancy, even at levels lower than the regulated "safe" human exposure level, can lead to altered brain development and behavior later in life. The research will be presented Monday, March 19 at ENDO 2018, the 100th annual meeting of the Endocrine Society in Chicago, Ill.

BPA is a chemical that is added to many commercial products, including water bottles, paper receipts, can liners and food storage containers. It is known as an endocrine-disrupting chemical--a chemical that interferes with the body's hormones.

"Decades of research in over 1,000 animal and 100 human epidemiological studies have demonstrated a link between BPA exposure and adverse health outcomes," said lead researcher Deborah Kurrasch, Ph.D., Associate Professor at the University of Calgary in Calgary, Canada. "This is especially true for the developing brain, which is particularly sensitive to the estrogen-promoting effects of BPA during gestation. Indeed, several human studies have now correlated early life BPA exposure with behavioral problems later in childhood, suggesting BPA permanently alters brain development that leads to lasting effects on neural functioning."

Governmental agencies around the world, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Health Canada, and European Food Safety Authority, declare BPA to be safe. "One reason for this disparity is the absence of a smoking gun: if BPA is so toxic to developing brains, then where is the evidence of defective brains?" Kurrasch said. "Our study is the first to use environmentally relevant doses of BPA and show exposure to the chemical during brain development can affect the timing of the birth of nerve cells, or neurons."

The researchers studied three groups of pregnant mice. One group ate food without BPA; a second group at food with high doses of BPA; and a third ate low-dose BPA food. They found an increase in the number of neurons created during early development in mouse pups exposed to high and low doses of BPA during pregnancy, compared with those not exposed to BPA.

"This is important because specific neurons are known to be born at a very distinct time points, and if they are born early--as is the case here--then presumably these early neurons will migrate to the wrong place and form the wrong connections. These findings start to provide a rationale as to how BPA might affect developing brains," Kurrasch said.

Siblings to these pups were given behavioral tests to assess whether the early birth of neurons led to changes that affected brain function later in life. The researchers found mice that were exposed to BPA-high and BPA-low food during gestation exhibited some behaviors that match those observed in human children whose mothers had high levels of BPA during pregnancy. "These findings suggest that gestational exposure to BPA can lead to lasting and permanent changes in the brain," Kurrasch said.

"The public is becoming well educated on the debate surrounding BPA safety, as well as other chemicals," she noted. "Although there is still work to be done to translate these rodent effects to human pregnancy, this research could provide expectant mothers with important information on what to avoid to best protect their babies."

###

This research will be featured in a press conference at 10 am. Central on Saturday March 17. Register to view the live webcast at endowebcasting.com.

Endocrinologists are at the core of solving the most pressing health problems of our time, from diabetes and obesity to infertility, bone health, and hormone-related cancers. The Endocrine Society is the world's oldest and largest organization of scientists devoted to hormone research and physicians who care for people with hormone-related conditions.

The Society has more than 18,000 members, including scientists, physicians, educators, nurses and students in 122 countries. To learn more about the Society and the field of endocrinology, visit our site at http://www.endocrine.org. Follow us on Twitter at @TheEndoSociety and @EndoMedia.CHICAGO--Hospitalized patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD) may need frequent glucose monitoring to prevent hypoglycemia and death, new research reports. The results will be presented in a poster on Saturday, March 17 at ENDO 2018, the annual 100th meeting of the Endocrine Society in Chicago, Ill.

"Frequently monitoring the finger-stick blood glucose levels of heart disease patients admitted to the hospital to avoid low sugar level, even among those without diabetes, could potentially save lives and decrease length of hospital stay and healthcare costs," said lead study author Shuyang Fang, M.D., a medical resident at Mount Sinai St. Luke's and Mount Sinai West hospitals, in New York, N.Y.

"In hospitalized patients with coronary artery disease, hypoglycemia episodes are associated with increased hospital stay, healthcare expenses and death . . . In this study using national inpatient data, we found that those who had stable coronary artery disease and were admitted to the hospital for various reasons would have higher mortality if they developed low blood glucose levels during their hospital stay," he explained. "Interestingly, these effects were particular higher among patients without preexisting diabetes."

Fang and his colleagues at Mount Sinai used the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database to conduct a nationwide retrospective cohort study of patients admitted to acute care hospitals in the United States with stable coronary artery disease in 2014.

Of the 1,262,943 patients admitted with stable coronary artery disease that year, about 3,000 (0.24 percent) had an episode of hypoglycemia during their inpatient stay. Compared to patients without hypoglycemia, those with hypoglycemia were more likely to be female (39 percent vs 47 percent, respectively), live in poverty (29 percent vs 34 percent), and have certain features of renal failure (27percent vs 32 percent) and heart failure (20 percent vs 27 percent). But they were less likely to have diabetes (10 percent vs 32 percent).

Compared to patients without hypoglycemia, those with hypoglycemia had higher inpatient mortality (OR 4.48), longer hospital stays (mean 5.3 vs 7.0 days), and higher healthcare costs (US $57,275 vs $70,957).

After adjustments for age, sex, race, income and clinical factors including diabetes, heart failure and kidney failure, the associations for mortality, length of stay and healthcare costs remained significant.

###

Endocrinologists are at the core of solving the most pressing health problems of our time, from diabetes and obesity to infertility, bone health, and hormone-related cancers. The Endocrine Society is the world's oldest and largest organization of scientists devoted to hormone research and physicians who care for people with hormone-related conditions.

The Society has more than 18,000 members, including scientists, physicians, educators, nurses and students in 122 countries. To learn more about the Society and the field of endocrinology, visit our site at http://www.endocrine.org. Follow us on Twitter at @TheEndoSociety and @EndoMedia..CHICAGO--Patients undergoing Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery may be at greater risk for non-vertebral fracture than those having adjustable gastric banding (AGB), a new population-based study reports. The results will be presented on Saturday, March 17 at ENDO 2018, the 100th annual meeting of the Endocrine Society in Chicago, Ill.

"Bariatric surgery procedures, such as RYGB, are highly effective treatments that induce sustained weight loss," said lead study author Elaine Wei-Yin Yu, M.D. "RYGB leads to greater improvements in metabolic health than AGB, but RYGB also causes accelerated bone loss and may increase fracture risk."

"We found that Medicare patients who received RYGB had more fractures compared to those who received AGB. Importantly, we found that RYGB increased the risk for hip, wrist, and pelvis fractures. RYGB increased fracture risk across all age groups, in men and in women, although the effects were more pronounced among men," said Yu, assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and director of the Bone Density Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, in Boston, Mass.

Yu and her colleagues investigated the fracture rates among Medicare Parts A, B and D enrollees with severe obesity who underwent either RYGB or AGB surgery between 2006 and 2014.

The researchers analyzed Medicare billing claims data from 50,649 adults (78 percent women). Of these, 35,920 underwent RYGB and 14,729 underwent AGB. The authors compared fracture rates between the two groups, controlling for differences in age, sex, race, geographical location, index date, degree of healthcare utilization, comorbidities, and prescribed medications.

RYGB patients were younger than AGB patients (53 vs 56 years of age), and they were more likely to have diabetes (36 percent vs 32 percent) as well as a shorter average follow-up time (3.1 vs 3.8 years).

A total of 1,109 non-vertebral fractures were reported during follow-up. The estimated incidence rates of non-vertebral fractures per 1,000 person-years were 9.8 in the RYGB group and 7.1 in the AGB group. Age or diabetes status did not affect RYGB-associated fracture risk.

Compared with patients who received banding, those who underwent bypass had a 126 percent increased risk of hip fracture, a 62 percent increased risk of wrist fracture, and a 172 percent increased risk of pelvis fracture. Gastric bypass increased overall fracture risk more dramatically in men (108 percent) than in women (42 percent).

"This research is very relevant given the high prevalence of obesity and increasing utilization of bariatric surgery. Over one-third of adults in the United States are obese, and bariatric surgery procedures have accordingly been increasing in popularity," Yu said. "Long-term skeletal health should be discussed and managed for all patients undergoing bariatric surgery. . . These data also emphasize the importance of devising therapies that can counteract fracture risk after gastric bypass."

###

The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation funded the study.

Co-author Seoyoung C. Kim has financial relationships with Pfizer, Inc., Roche Pharmaceuticals, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Merck.

Endocrinologists are at the core of solving the most pressing health problems of our time, from diabetes and obesity to infertility, bone health, and hormone-related cancers. The Endocrine Society is the world's oldest and largest organization of scientists devoted to hormone research and physicians who care for people with hormone-related conditions.

The Society has more than 18,000 members, including scientists, physicians, educators, nurses and students in 122 countries. To learn more about the Society and the field of endocrinology, visit our site at http://www.endocrine.org. Follow us on Twitter at @TheEndoSociety and @EndoMedia.CHICAGO--A telehealth program for diabetes self-management not only shortens the wait to talk to a physician specialist versus an in-person visit but also results in patients with type 2 diabetes having comparable improvements in blood glucose (sugar) control to patients receiving traditional care, a study conducted in veterans finds. Results of the late-breaking abstract will be presented Saturday at ENDO 2018, the Endocrine Society's 100th annual meeting in Chicago, Ill.

The "telediabetes" program at the Veterans Affairs (VA) Pittsburgh Healthcare System, where the study took place, merges an electronic consultation, or e-consult, from an endocrinologist specializing in diabetes with ongoing telephone-based care, said Archana Bandi, M.D., the study's senior investigator and the clinical director of Telehealth Services for VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System. Unlike a typical e-consult meant to be a one-time recommendation, this program provides team-based care with follow-up, she noted.

"Without incurring any travel, our electronic consultation program provides equally efficacious diabetes care with significantly expedited access," Bandi said. "This type of e-consult is a viable alternative to traditional face-to-face care delivery, especially in remote areas with a shortage of endocrinologists."

For the e-consult, Bandi said an endocrine provider reviews the patient's medical record and conducts a 20- to 30-minute phone interview with the patient and family, before electronically sending the referring physician recommendations to share with the patient on lowering his or her blood sugar levels. A nurse on the diabetes care team monitors the patient's progress via phone calls over the next three to six months. The primary care provider obtains all needed laboratory tests and makes recommended changes in therapeutic regimen. Patients are also offered ancillary services such as nutrition counselling and diabetes education services close to home.

In this study, Bandi and her research team compared results for 442 patients who participated in the e-consult program and another 407 patients who had a traditional face-to-face visit and follow-up care. All patients were veterans with type 2 diabetes who were referred from remote VA facilities between 2010 and 2015 for a consultation about improving their blood sugar control.

Veterans in the e-consult group, compared with the face-to-face group, were several years younger on average (64 versus 68 years), slightly more likely to be male (98 versus 95 percent) and more often lived in a rural area (16 versus 4 percent), the investigators found. At the initial consult, both groups reportedly had a hemoglobin A1c--a measure of average blood glucose level over the past few months--of 10 percent.

The time to obtain a face-to-face consultation took 37 days, compared with only 10 days for an e-consult, according to the study abstract. Within three to six months of the consultation, patients in both groups significantly improved their A1c, which was just under 9 percent for the e-consult group and 8.75 percent for the face-to-face group. One year after the consult, A1c improved further in each group, to 8.8 percent in the e-consult group and 8.6 percent in the face-to-face group. In the e-consult group, the decline in A1c differed by the level of the veterans' engagement in self-care of their diabetes, with the patients who fully engaged in adhering to the recommended treatment having the lowest A1c at one year (8.6 percent), Bandi said.

"Given the obesity and diabetes epidemic along with the current shortage of endocrinologists in the U.S., the care delivery for patients with diabetes needs a complete change in its paradigm," she said. "An example is our innovative model of care delivery that brings quality care to the patient's doorstep in an expedient fashion."

###

Endocrinologists are at the core of solving the most pressing health problems of our time, from diabetes and obesity to infertility, bone health, and hormone-related cancers. The Endocrine Society is the world's oldest and largest organization of scientists devoted to hormone research and physicians who care for people with hormone-related conditions.

The Society has more than 18,000 members, including scientists, physicians, educators, nurses and students in 122 countries. To learn more about the Society and the field of endocrinology, visit our site at http://www.endocrine.org. Follow us on Twitter at @TheEndoSociety and @EndoMedia.The US dollar to rand (USD/ZAR) exchange rate rose strongly on Thursday as rather mixed day saw EM and commodity currencies under pressure.

Gold was also lower as US advisor Larry Kudlow gave out what appeared to be a rather tongue in check trade recommendation as he advised selling gold and buying Dollars.

While the current risk environment for trade appears a little negative for EM, UniCredit believe that the South Rand still has room to appreciate despite the fact they do believe it is slightly overvalued.

Key Quotes

In this note, we consider longer-term drivers of the South African Rand real effective exchange rate (REER).

"We find that the ZAR is modestly overvalued following its sharp rally in the past three months.

"But, and here is the important point: the cycle of overvaluation still appears to be at a relatively nascent stage compared to past episodes of overvaluation.

"These episodes have tended to be more persistent, lasting for at least another four quarters.

"There is some tentative evidence that such cycles coincide with strong (or improving) global trade growth, as is the case at present.

"So, assuming that macro fundamentals in South Africa remain static, there is scope for overvaluation to persist.

"Additionally, given the tentative signs that South Africas fundamentals could improve (on the potential for reforms coming through given the drastic changes taking place on the political front), it is plausible that the ZAR REER equilibrium estimate, itself, rises over time.

"Taken together, we do not believe that valuation concerns will become a barrier to a continued appreciation of the rand and remain comfortable with our constructive ZAR forecast.

"Our existing USD-ZAR forecast stands at 11.50 and 11.00 by the end of 2018 and 2019 respectively.

"We would look to gain exposure to the currency on any dips."The plight of Myanmars Rohingya community was the centre of attention in Geneva last week with allegations of acts of genocide against the Muslim minority, counterclaims by Myanmar officials, a donor appeal for almost $1 billion (CHF954 million) and a bleak documentary film about a Buddhist monk stirring up ethnic hate.

Since August 25, 2017, over 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled the western state of Rakhine in Myanmar to Bangladesh as security forces carried out brutal crackdowns, following attacks by Rohingya insurgents.

This is on top of 200,000 Rohingya already living in Bangladesh, so we are getting close to the one-million mark, Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told reporters in Geneva on Friday. Although movements into Bangladesh have slowed since last year, smaller groups of people continue to arrive, suggesting the situation has still not stabilised, he added.

The UN describes the exodus as one of the fastest growing refugee crises in the world. On Friday, agencies and partner organisations launched a Joint Response Plan appealing for $951 million to help the Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi host communities until the end of 2018.

The needs are colossal. Food alone is 25% of the overall appeal. But the refugees also need over 16 million litres of clean water per day, 50,000 latrines must be built, as well as 5,000 classrooms and 100 nutrition centres, and trauma support for 400,000 children who have witnessed violence. Around 60% of the refugees are children.

Camps and host communities are extremely congested, and there are reports of gender-based violence and health problems like measles, diphtheria and diarrhea.

People are living on a relatively narrow stretch of land between the ocean and a river that marks the border between Myanmar and Bangladesh. Its a very poor region and the refugees are exposed to the elements and the monsoon season is starting, said Grandi.

Repatriation and conditions

The UNHCR boss said the solution to the current crisis clearly lies in Myanmar and with Myanmar. He said violence needed to stop and the stateless Rohingya minority must be given basic rights, such as citizenship. Rohingya trace their presence in Rakhine back centuries. But most people in Myanmar  90% Buddhist and 4% Muslim  consider them to be unwanted Muslim immigrants from Bangladesh. The army refers to the Rohingya as Bengalis, and most lack citizenship.

The two countries reached a deal in November to begin repatriation within two months, but repatriation has not begun, with stateless Rohingya, who face restrictions on their movements in Myanmar, still crossing the border.

Last week, Myanmar officials said they had registered less than 400 Rohingya for possible repatriation from Bangladesh, blaming their neighbour for not providing the correct information about the refugees. Bangladesh officials have meanwhile expressed doubts about Myanmars willingness to take back Rohingya refugees.

Thomas Gass, Vice Director and Head of the South Cooperation Department of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), said it was important that dialogue continued at all levels between both governments.

As Swiss President Alain Berset said recently, the refugees return must be voluntary, safe and dignified, and that means that the implementation of the Kofi Annan Commission report has to be taken very seriously. That report is very detailed and looks at issues of citizenship, economic empowerment in Rakhine State and infrastructure. For the return to be voluntary certain conditions need to be met on the Myanmar side, Gass said.

Acts of genocide

However, UN rights experts in Geneva have painted an extremely worrying situation. On March 7, the UN human rights chief Zeid Raad al-Hussein told the Human Rights Council that he strongly suspected that acts of genocide may have taken place against Rohingya in Myanmars northern Rakhine state since August. He said his office believes ethnic cleansing is still underway in Rakhine State.

Rohingya are still fleeing because of systematic if lower-intensity persecution and violence there, he said.

Victims have reported killings, rape, torture and abductions by the security forces and local militia, as well as apparently deliberate attempts to force the Rohingya to leave the area through starvation, with officials blocking their access to crops and food supplies, Zeid said.

Last Monday, the UN Special Rapporteur Yanghee Lee told the council that atrocities against the Rohingya bear the hallmarks of genocide. She urged the council to collect evidence in Bangladesh for potential trials. Myanmars ambassador Htin Lynn rejected Lees remarks.

On Tuesday, a Myanmar government spokesman Zaw Htay said two reports presented by the Special Rapporteur and by the Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, chaired by former Indonesian Attorney-General Marzuki Darusman, lacked credibility. Htay questioned the reliability of the missions research and cast doubts on the refugees stories.

In their presentations, Darusman and Lee said Facebook had played a determining role in spreading hate speech in Myanmar.

Facebook was used to convey public messages but we know that the ultra-nationalist Buddhists have their own Facebooks and are really inciting a lot of violence and a lot of hatred against the Rohingya or other ethnic minorities, said Lee.

Hardline monk

Last Saturday, the most prominent of Myanmars hard-line nationalist Buddhist monks, Ashin Wirathu, emerged from a one-year preaching ban. He denied that his anti-Muslim rhetoric was linked to violence in Rakhine State. His Facebook account has not been accessible in recent months.

The orange-clad Buddhist monk has the lead role in Iranian-Swiss director Barbet Schroeders bleak documentary Venerable W, shown at the International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights in Geneva last Wednesday. Despite the monks calm demeanour, Schroeders film shows him to be a fanatical anti-Muslim activist, who uses social media, public events and DVD propaganda to stir up violent hate against the Rohingya Muslims. Wirathu claims he is simply protecting his people and says he will continue his nationalist work.

This film is both fascinating and troubling, as it talks about an ongoing modern-day Apartheid-like system, Schick told the Geneva audience ahead of the film showing. The international community is closing its eyes to what is going on. Have we been blinded by people like [Myanmar leader] Aung San Suu Kyi? We shouldnt remain powerless regarding events in Myanmar right now.

Swiss support Swiss President Alain Berset took part in a four-day visit to Bangladesh in February. During his visit he announced that Switzerland would be increasing its financial commitment to help Bangladesh manage the Rohingya crisis from CHF8 million ($8.58 million) to CHF20 million for the year. The money is being split in three ways. A proportion is being allocated to partner organisations (UNHCR, WFP, IOM, UNICEF, ICRC, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the Swiss Red Cross, Bangladeshi Red Crescent, Action Contre La Faim, Solidarity International, Handicap International and Terre des Hommes). Funds are also being used to finance a pool of experts assigned to the UN and to NGOs in Bangladesh to work on site planning, water and sanitation and disaster risk reduction projects. Money also goes to direct actions to scale up hospitals, carrying out renovations and supplying infrastructure, and providing diagnostic material. Part of the money goes towards host communities as well as the camps and money has been set aside for activities during the upcoming rainy season.



Privacy Settings

This site uses functional cookies and external scripts to improve your experience. Which cookies and scripts are used and how they impact your visit is specified on the left. You may change your settings at any time. Your choices will not impact your visit.

NOTE: These settings will only apply to the browser and device you are currently using.Britain on Saturday said it had "anticipated" the tit-for-tat expulsion of its diplomats from Moscow over the poisoning of a former Russian double agent on British soil.

Moscow announced earlier Saturday it would expel 23 British diplomats and close a British consulate following Londons provocative measures over the March 4 incident in which Sergei Skripal and his daughter were exposed to a rare nerve agent in the English town of Salisbury.

We anticipated a response of this kind and the National Security Council will meet early next week to consider next steps, said Britains Foreign Office.

This follows the action we have taken, alongside other measures, to dismantle the Russian espionage network operating in the UK as a consequence of the attempted assassination of two people here in Britain using a nerve agent.

London has blamed Moscow and on Friday, even directly implicated Putin in the attack, prompting the Kremlins fury.

Earlier this week, British Prime Minister Theresa May announced the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats and suspension of high-level contacts over the nerve agent attack.

And she also warned more measures could follow, noting that the US-led NATO alliance and the UN Security Council had discussed the attack.

Russias response doesnt change the facts of the matter, said the Foreign Office.

We have no disagreement with the people of Russia and we continue to believe it is not in our national interest to break off all dialogue between our countries but the onus remains on the Russian state to account for their actions.

Russia insists it had no motive to target Skripal with what Britain says was a highly-potent Soviet-designed nerve agent called Novichok, in the first such attack in Europe since World War II.A fresh bout of snow on Saturday forced the cancellation of more than 100 flights in and out of London's Heathrow Airport, with a bad forecast threatening further disruption.

Transatlantic flights were among more than 115 grounded so far, with British Airways cancelling multiple domestic flights to Edinburgh, Glasgow and Manchester and services to European destinations.

While this weekends weather may result in minor delays and some airlines consolidating flights, significant disruption at Heathrow is not currently expected, said a Heathrow spokesman.

We are working closely with our on-site Met Office to monitor the further snowfall expected throughout the weekend.

The airport cancelled scores of flights at the end of last month following the arrival of the Beast from the East snowstorm.

The new icy blast bas been dubbed the mini-Beast from the East, with disruption expected to be less widespread and sustained.

jwp/achEnergy pipeline billionaire Kelcy Warren made a personal call to the CEO of NuStar Energy earlier this month looking to buy its general partner NuStar GP Holdings.

Warren, who is the chairman of Dallas-based Energy Transfer Equity, contacted CEO Brad Barron on March 2 about the proposed acquisition, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The offer came as San Antonio-based NuStar Energy is preparing to hold a vote to merge NuStar GP Holdings into the pipeline and storage company in an effort to cut costs and improve distribution levels. NuStar GP is a separate publicly traded company that owns the general partner interest in NuStar Energy.

A letter delivered on March 5 to NuStar GP Holdings board detailed Energy Transfer Equitys proposal to acquire NuStar GP Holdings for $14.70 a unit in cash, a 30 percent premium over NuStar GP Holdings March 1 closing price of $11.30 a unit, according to the filing. NuStar GP Holdings has almost 43 million units outstanding, placing a rough estimate on the value of the offer at more than $631 million.

The NuStar GP Holdings board sent a letter to Energy Transfer Equity on March 12 rejecting the offer.

The SEC filing Thursday sent NuStar GP Holdings equity up 12 percent to 13.05 before closing down 3 percent at $11.30. Its equity was up 5.3 percent in morning trading Friday.

NuStar GPs Chairman Bill Greehey, who owns more than 21 percent of the companys units, said in a March 7 letter he continued to support the merger between Nustar Energy and its general partner and that he would not support an acquisition by Energy Transfer Equity, according to the filing.

A call and email to Energy Transfers media relations department wasnt immediately returned.

NuStar GP Holdings is the general partner that manages NuStar Energy. The proposed purchase would have effectively given Energy Transfer Equity control of NuStar Energy.

The offer came after NuStar announced on Feb. 8 that it planned to simplify its corporate structure by merging NuStar GP Holdings into its operations and cutting its annual distribution to investors by roughly $200 million. As part of that merger, NuStar Energy is cutting its quarterly investor distribution to 60 cents per common unit or $2.40 a year, down from a quarterly distribution of $1.095 per common unit or $4.38 a year. The savings will be used to pay down debt and fund projects within the company.

The companies are set up as publicly traded limited partnerships that pay a quarterly distribution to unitholders, much like a dividend received by shareholders. The MLP structure is preferred by some investors because its receives more favorable tax treatment.

Barclays analyst Theresa Chen said Friday that she is not surprised that NuStar is being evaluated for acquisition given its attractive Permian gathering footprint and strong crude oil export position in Corpus Christi.

Senior analyst Michael Blum of Wells Fargo said we suspect this might have been an opportunistic play by Energy Transfer Equity given NuStar GP Holding's depressed stock price, Energy Transfer Equity's ability to extract significant cost synergies and the industrial logic of adding these assets to the Energy Transfer footprint.

NuStar operates more than 9,300 miles of crude oil and refined product pipelines and 96 million barrels of related storage capacity. The companys Texas operations are focused on South Texas Eagle Ford Shale, the Permian Basin oil field in West Texas, and terminal assets in Corpus Christi.

Warrens Dallas-based Energy Transfer Equity owns the general partner and 100% of the incentive distribution rights (IDRs) of Energy Transfer Partners. The companies manage networks of crude oil and natural gas pipelines.At 10:30 a.m. in Helotes iconic dance hall, the John T. Floore Country Store, about 220 medical students and their families trembled in anticipation of 11 a.m.

Very few professions have one time on one day in which the rest of their life is defined, said Dr. Robert Hromas, dean of the Long School of Medicine at UT Health San Antonio.

Sleep deprived and anxious, students joined others across the country participating in Match Day, a nationwide ceremony in which medical students in their last year of school learn of their residency by opening up envelopes with their placement on stage, in front of an audience.

Id say I have some positive, nervous energy, said Jason John, 27, who studied internal medicine.

When 11 a.m. hit, the buzzing swelled as Hromas and UT Health San Antonio President William Henrich gave introductory remarks and began the match-making: randomly selected students were called to the stage to discover and immediately announce  through the ripping of an envelope in front of a microphone  where they were picked for their residency programs.

The cheers grew louder as the excitement built with each new match. By the end, people in the audience of about 800 were on their feet, jumping in the air for their family and peers.

Im going to UT Houston! yelled Raehannah Jamshidi, screaming the word Houston into the microphone as tears slid down her face.

About half will do their residencies in Texas, the other half will be traveling out-of-state, Hromas said.

Statewide, the demand for primary care physicians is only growing, said Marcia Collins, director of the Texas Medical Associations medical education department.

We really need physicians in many specialities in Texas because of our explosion of population growth  and just the makeup of our population. We have a lot of young, and a lot of old, she said.

Since 2016, Collins said three new medical institutions have opened and begun accepting students in Texas: UT Austins Dell Medical School, UT Rio Grande Valleys School of Medicine, and the University of Incarnate Words School of Osteopathic Medicine. She said the association is anticipating a scarcity of residency positions for graduating medical students in the future.

The matching of residency programs is already high stakes, she said.

For many it is the end point, it is what youre going to do for the rest of your career, Collins said.

Lauren Kraut, 26, burst into tears when she opened her envelope, so much so she doubled over crying in front of the microphone. She barely spouted the name of her residency  UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas  before clambering off stage in shock.

Sorry Im shaking, she said as she attempted to lift up a small dot sticker from the hands of Vanessa Torres, who works in admissions.

Everyones been saying that, Torres said. She was handing out stickers so medical students could place a dot on a large map of the United States, indicating where they would be moving for the next chapter of their lives.

Before Lauren could reach the map, her mother, Nancy Kraut, wrapped her arms around her daughter.

It was her first choice, she said, shaking herself.

I cant believe it. I have to look at it multiple times, Lauren Kraut said, pulling away from her mother to look. Thats what it says, right?

She took another moment to wipe her eyes before whispering: This is the biggest day in my entire life.Despite running a boarding home for mentally ill people, San Antonio police say Julie Foster did little to care for some of them.

Nearly four years after police found one resident with a severe leg injury and covered in feces, Foster was arrested Wednesday on a warrant issued on March 12, according to jail records.

Foster is accused of causing bodily injury to a disabled person, a second-degree felony.

An officer responded to the boarding home at 411 Marbella Vista in the Stone Oak area on June 24, 2014, for a disturbance call and found dog feces and urine on the floor throughout the home, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

The next day, another officer stopped by the home for a welfare check. The officer noticed strong foul odors before entering the home. She found a woman slumped over the kitchen table, covered in her own feces and suffering from an obvious leg infection.

The leg was swollen to an abnormal size and fluids and pus were oozing from the wound, the affidavit says.

The womans foot was in a bucket which was so full of pus that part of the woman's foot was covered in it.

The woman, who had a fever of 103 degrees, was rushed to the hospital to be treated for the infection, officials said.

According to the affidavit, Foster later told an investigator that she was aware of the womans condition and that she would let the woman stay in her soiled clothes for as long as three months at a time.

Why would I help her, she wouldnt listen to me, Foster allegedly told the investigator. According to a police report, the woman had schizophrenia and was paying Foster $600 a month for rent  money that came from the womans monthly disability check.

Foster, 58, also told police she was taking care of eight mentally ill clients at the home, and that she was doing so only for the money and that she does not care about them, according to the affidavit.

It's unclear why the arrest warrant was issued nearly four years after the police officers reports about the boarding home.

City sued the operator

In August 2014, just weeks after officers found the horrific conditions, the city sued Foster, asking a judge to close the home because of more than 70 health and safety violations.

It was the second time the city had sued Foster under an ordinance that took effect in 2012, which mandates a host of safety and health requirements in boarding homes with three or more elderly or disabled residents.

The violations in Fosters home included unsanitary conditions, bed bugs, a rat infestation, a lack of smoke alarms and an indoor sprinkler system, along with no boarding home permit, according to the civil lawsuit.

The suit said Foster ignored repeated citations ordering her to fix a host of building, mechanical, plumbing and other violations. City inspectors had visited her home a dozen times since April 2013, citing numerous hazards, including public nuisance violations, the suit said.

The suit went on to state there were more than 60 calls for police service to the boarding home in the past two years.

A city spokeswoman on Friday said Foster had never received a boarding home license, as is required under the ordinance.

Shes never been licensed with the city, the spokeswoman said. (Foster) owned multiple properties.

The official said she didnt know the status of the citys lawsuit, but that the citys involvement with Foster was ongoing.

The impetus for the ordinance was a fire at a boarding home in 2012 that killed four residents. Now, all boarding homes must have interior sprinkler systems.

By definition, boarding homes provide lodging, meals and basic services.AUSTIN  Carrying incense, sage, lavender and some drums, dozens of Austin residents marched in a peace rally in East Austin on Friday night as law enforcement officials work to find who is responsible for leaving package bombs at three homes that killed two people and seriously injured two others this month.

More than 100 people marched from East Austin College Prep  the school that 17-year-old Draylen Mason, one of the victims, attended  to his neighborhood. As they walked by his home, some laid flowers outside the front door, while others knelt to pay their respects.

On Monday, a package was left on his front porch. The package detonated when he and his mother tried to open it in their kitchen. The blast killed Mason and gravely injured his mother.

The walk, organized by Counter Balance: ATX, was part of a broader community event meant to bring healing to a neighborhood reeling from fear and uncertainty. Fatima Mann, executive director of Counter Balance and a community organizer, said the event was aimed at bringing neighbors closer together.

This event is about allowing black and brown communities to come together and acknowledge the fact that we are all in pain, Mann said. Communities cannot be built if you are not together building communities. This event is focused on people walking and talking and getting to know each other.

Law enforcement officials still do not know who may have left the packages at the homes. At a another community meeting Thursday night, Austin interim Police Chief Brian Manley said they have received a flood of tips but still lack a profile of the person or people who planted the bombs.

We are getting a lot of tips and, obviously, most of them are not leading us where we need to go. But we do not want to discourage people from calling in every tip, said Manley, urging people to spread the word about the $65,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case.

Manley and Austin Mayor Steve Adler participated in a healing ritual and the march Friday, which lasted about an hour. Neither spoke at the event.

Manley said it was important for him to join the community in remembering Mason, whom he described as a remarkable young man, whose life was taken brutally and way too young.

I think its important for the community to know that not only are we focused on the investigation and catching these suspects, but we are also concerned about the community and the communitys sense of safety, Manley said. We stand with them and we feel the loss of Draylen along with them.

There have been three package bombs in Austin since March 2. The first package bomb was left at the home of Anthony House, who died from the blast. Police initially believed it was an isolated incident. But on Monday, a package bomb was left in the 4800 block of Oldfort Road that killed Mason. As police were investigating the explosion, another package bomb denoted less than 5 miles away. That bomb seriously injured a 75-year-old woman. Police believe the three incidents are related.

As he walked to Masons home from his school, Manley said community members told him it was imperative that law enforcement solve the case.

Everyone is wanting to see this end so that the fear that people feel can end along with it, Manley said.WASHINGTON  A TV ad by a political action committee supporting veterans that ran last week before ex-military prosecutor Conor Lamb won a Pennsylvania congressional election told a version of stories many Democrats are presenting this political season.

Veterans know how to fix Washington  send in the Marine, an announcer in the VoteVets ad proclaimed.

Lambs victory in a district Donald Trump won by 20 percent 16 months ago was the biggest success yet of a Democratic Party strategy  running veterans, many who served in Iraq and Afghanistan wars, in the midterm elections.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committees red-to-blue list  a strategy to oust GOP incumbents  features intelligence experts and military veterans, including many women, from every service branch at the top: Bronze Star winners; West Point and Naval Academy graduates; Army Ranger and Navy SEAL representatives; and ex-CIA officers and National Security Council members.

Elsewhere on the list are the two San Antonio-area districts where former Army Ranger Joseph Kopser and ex-Air Force intelligence officer Gina Ortiz Jones, both Democrats, are in runoffs for their partys nomination.

Kopser is running District 21, covering parts of North San Antonio and Austin, now held by retiring Rep. Lamar Smith. Jones is running in District 23, which stretches from San Antonio to El Paso. The seat is held by two-term GOP incumbent Will Hurd, a former CIA undercover officer.

Three women among more than 50 Democratic veterans running for the U.S. House are Naval Academy graduates, including Elaine Luria of Virginia, who commanded a patrol ship with a crew of 400 in the Persian Gulf.

Then theres Democrat Mary Jennings MJ Hegar of Austin, a former Air National Guard rescue pilot shot down in Afghanistan, who may become the most well-known of all the fledgling candidates.

A major film is scheduled to be made from her best-selling book, Shoot Like a Girl: One Womans Dramatic Fight in Afghanistan and on the Home Front.

Democratic strategists believe that putting up moderate veterans like Lamb  who distanced himself in the campaign from lightning-rod House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi  can make the difference in reaching the net gain of 24 seats needed to recapture control of the House.

But while many of the new-style candidates are enjoying initial success, Democrats also are enduring a difficult sorting for the future driven by a riled-up base drawn to activist candidates with decidedly liberal solutions.

The arrival of ex-military Democrats is unlike anything in the recent past, recalling the period between World War II and Vietnam War, which would brand the party anti-war.

The trend is part-and-parcel to a Democratic generational recasting, something voters increasingly will see as younger candidates seek to take over from congressional leaders like Pelosi, D-Calif., and party stalwarts including Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, all in their 70s.

This is a different Democratic Party that is emerging, said Simon Rosenberg, founder of the Democratic-aligned NDN and New Policy Institute and a former Bill Clinton adviser.

President Donald Trump has changed American politics, and one of the ways is that many people who have served the country around the world and have a global view have decided to lay it on their line in a different way in unprecedented numbers, and they are running as Democrats, he said.

U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, a former Marine Corps officer from Massachusetts mentioned as a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, has recruited some of the candidates and arranges PAC money to fuel their efforts.

Moulton offers the view that electing veterans is especially important at this juncture.

Weve never had fewer veterans in Congress in our nations history than we do today. And in an increasingly dangerous world with an incredibly erratic commander in chief, we need people with military experience to help get our national security right, he said.

We can win tough elections, he added. Voters understand that Americans who have put their lives on the line for their country know how to put people over politics and country over party.

Democratic-aligned VoteVets spent nearly $400,000 in the Pennsylvania race, more than any other pro-Lamb entity other than Lambs own political arm.

VoteVets chairman and co-founder Jon Soltz, a U.S. Army veteran who served two tours in Iraq, said his organization at present is backing 26 challengers who are Democrats, among them Kopser and Jones.

Lambs victory, he said, showed that a veterans message and a veterans bio can help in areas that went heavily for Trump.

He put in pitches for Kopser and Jones. Kopser is in a runoff with minister Mary Wilson; both are from Austin. Two Republicans are competing in their runoff: Chip Roy of Austin, who was the top aide to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz; and Boerne businessman Matt McCall.

Neither Roy nor McCall served in the military. McCall has a military connection; he operates a tissue bank that works with military hospitals abroad.

In her runoff, Jones of San Antonio faces Rick Trevino, a San Antonio teacher and regional organizer in Bernie Sanders 2016 presidential campaign.

Stolz said of Jones: Her narrative and her military background are important in a city like San Antonio, which has such a large military population,

He argued that Kopser is the type of candidate who can win in that district. Thats what Democrats need to think about in the next six weeks. Do they want to be serious and win in November?

Republicans, albeit chastened by Lambs victory, note that as a well-spoken Marine and former federal prosecutor, he was a well-suited candidate to run in a conservative western Pennsylvania district and that his GOP opponent was a lackluster candidate unskilled at raising money.

Nonetheless, political consultant Karl Rove, senior strategist in the George W. Bush administration, offered a cautionary note about midterm candidates connections to Trump, who twice traveled to the Pennsylvania on behalf of Lambs opponent.

He riles up the opposition more than he energizes his side, Rove wrote last week in the Wall Street Journal.

Texas Sen. John Cornyn said Democrats did a good job in recruiting Lamb.

He ran on a platform that sounds pretty mainstream. It will be interesting to see how he actually votes when he comes here to Washington because theres a lot of pressure to vote with your party and not as an independent, Cornyn said.

I agree that it is a wake-up call, Cornyn told reporters. I dont believe this has to be a wave election (for Democrats). It could be, if we dont do our job.

For Democratic veterans, part of the job is selling people on the notion of Democrats being the party of national security, the domain of Republicans in the minds of many.

Kopser, if he gets the Democratic nomination, would need to succeed in that message given the GOP flavor of the district; 71,400 Republicans voted in the March 6 primary, 50,700 Democrats.

Conor Lamb proved that you can have a scenario where, if a campaign fits the district right, you have the ability to get moderate Republicans and independents to come over and be part of this big tent were building, he said.

MJ Hegar, the leading vote-getter in her Democratic primary, would have a similar challenge if she survives the runoff in the deep-red district that includes Fort Hood. Shes vying to challenge eight-term GOP veteran John Carter, who is co-chair of the bipartisan House Army Caucus.

We need ass-kicking candidates who are Democrats to step up. Too many people have accepted this mirage of kindness being weakness, Hegar said.

She spoke last week a day after meeting with the director of the film to be made by Sony division TriStar Pictures from Shoot Like a Girl, which recounts her fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan and military bureaucracy back home. At one point, film star Angelina Jolie was in talks to portray Hegar.

I didnt go to Afghanistan for the scenery, you know what I mean? Hegar said.When youre a warrior with a heart dedicated to serving the country, you go to where the fire is. I believe the fire is in D.C. and Im trying to take the biggest bucket of water with me I can.AUSTIN  Lupe Valdez said she had an image as a strong woman when she was Dallas County sheriff but that she privately cried as she wondered if she could change the way people treated the LGBTQ community.

I would go home, and I would fall and cry, and say, God, can I really do this? Can I really change the attitudes and behavior of people toward the community? The community was the one that was suffering, Valdez said at a recent forum on womens activism.

Talking about issues she encountered as the first lesbian elected sheriff in Dallas County, Valdez said, The end result was, with a lot of pain, and a lot of work, you can do it.

As she shared her heart before a receptive audience, Houston entrepreneur Andrew White was looking for a more cerebral way to shake up the runoff campaign for the Democratic nomination for governor.

A debate would make the eventual nominee all the stronger for the general election against Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, White said, adding, Who doesnt love a good debate?

The differing approaches highlight the styles of the candidates, who have been working to raise funds and plotting their next moves since getting enough primary election votes to advance to the runoff. That May 22 election is necessary because no candidate got a majority of the primary vote.

White, who came in second in the primary, with more than 27 percent of the vote, is harder pressed to find a path to victory.

His campaign said hes focusing on getting out our message of fairness, opportunity and common sense. Its about speaking to the grass roots, who badly want a win in November. And following Alabama, Virginia and now Pennsylvania, theres finally reason to believe a common-sense Democrat can win in a red state this year  including Texas.

White has positioned himself as a moderate who would best be able to take on Abbott, a formidable candidate with at last count more than $41 million in campaign cash on hand.

But experts say the advantage belongs to Valdez, who came in first in the primary, with nearly 43 percent of the vote. She led in 10 of the states 15 largest counties, finding strength not only in the areas surrounding her Dallas home but in South and Central Texas and on the border with Mexico. She came in first in Bexar, Cameron, Collin, Dallas, Denton, El Paso, Hidalgo, Tarrant, Travis and Williamson counties.

She leans hard on her personal story of coming from a migrant farmworker family to build a groundbreaking career in law enforcement.

It didnt come easy. At the forum, she said what was most important was that the hate directed at her didnt change who I was.

In public, of course, I was known as  pardon the expression  the woman with balls. Very strong and very direct and very clear, Valdez said. But there was pain, she acknowledged. I cried a lot (in private), Ill have to admit.

The debate question

Valdez is focused on developing a relationship with voters, her campaign says, and she would be open to debates when voters are more focused on the race. Still, the campaign said the race wont be won on 30-second debate responses.

She has been criticized for not knowing enough about state issues, and she has said some specifics of her policy positions might not be aired until after I get elected because she wants to continue working on them with experts. That could put her at a disadvantage in a debate.

Her campaign took a shot at White over his losses when he called for debates, saying that we understand why someone who received such low support in most of Texas major urban areas and the Rio Grande Valley needs a debate to create buzz.

White won his home base of Harris County, neighboring counties and a number of those hit by Hurricane Harvey  a disaster that has been highlighted in his campaign. White says he was driven to run by two things: his experience helping those stranded by the hurricane and last years death of his father, Democratic former Gov. Mark White, who championed public education reforms.

Both, he said, were an inspiration to help others. Both were cited in a television ad he ran in Houston, the only TV advertising of the primary campaign.

White also has been endorsed by two African-American candidates who didnt advance in the primary: gubernatorial hopeful Cedric Davis Sr., former mayor of Balch Springs, and Michael Cooper, who ran for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor.

Cooper called White the only candidate with a viable strategy to beat Greg Abbott in November. Davis said White is the only candidate who has the pragmatic temperament, the proven leadership and, quite frankly, the only candidate with an in-depth knowledge of the challenges facing our state.

Valdez also has received endorsements  including from U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio  and she plans to roll out more.

Turnout hard to predict

The runoff odds are in Valdezs favor not only because of her leading performance in the primary but because the hardest-core base voters typically turn out for a runoff, and they may be less than enchanted with Whites moderate message.

Ed Espinoza, executive director of Progress Texas, said turnout in a runoff is unpredictable.

If he can run up the score in the Gulf Coast area, he may have an opportunity, Espinoza said of White. He added that White is making a play for African-American voters, citing the Cooper and Davis endorsements.

But if Latinos and classic liberals show up, Espinoza said, that gives an advantage to Valdez.

Valdezs Hispanic surname and trailblazing story is seen by a number of influential Democrats as a way to drive up turnout and help the whole ticket.

Turnout also could be boosted by numerous down-ballot runoffs around the state, including for hotly contested congressional seats that Democrats see as real chances for victory in November, as opposed to the uphill governors race.

The advantage is to Valdez in the runoff, said Southern Methodist University political scientist Cal Jillson.

Whites argument is that he would be the better general-election candidate and that he could more easily raise campaign cash, Jillson said, but White would have to raise a lot of money quickly to strongly make the case that he is Democrats best bet against Abbott.

And the best Democratic bet isnt necessarily a winning bet.

As of Feb. 24, Valdez had $57,902 in campaign cash on hand. White had much more, at $944,426, but its still a paltry number for a statewide governors race, especially against the likes of Abbott.

I dont know that he can reasonably say, or that people should believe him if he did say, I can raise enough money to go toe to toe with Abbott, Jillson said. You cant do it for $8 million or some smaller number like that in a state as big as Texas with 20 major media markets.

Democratic voters will have to decide between the chance White can offer them, Jillson said, and the prospect of Valdez being part of a slow, incremental rise of the Hispanic electorate in Texas with the hope that her campaign might bring forward new Hispanic voters, and that will be to the long-term benefit of the Democratic Party.

If thats your bet, you are forgoing the current election in favor of a slow build that will bear fruit down the road, Jillson said. White has to make the case, I can make the best stance we can make this election cycle against Abbott. If that is not what your goal is, you should go with Lupe.On the morning of the March 6 primary, irate voters flooded the campaign of defense attorney Joe Gonzales with messages and phone calls complaining that their own mornings had been disrupted by a 5 a.m. robocall, purportedly from Gonzales campaign for district attorney.

One voter said, I have already voted for you, but Im telling all my family and friends not to vote for you, Gonzales recalled. A couple of them said, We have elderly family members in our home, and that disrupted our morning. A couple of people said, You get a call at 5 in the morning, the worst thought that comes to your mind is theres some sort of tragic accident. I thought one of my family members was involved in a tragic accident.

Gonzales crushed Bexar County District Attorney Nico LaHood in the Democratic primary that day nonetheless. Now, Gonzales has filed a complaint with the Texas Ethics Commission alleging criminal violations of the Texas Election Code.

It is believed that the calls were made with the intent to annoy, harass and/or agitate the recipient of the call, Gonzales wrote in the complaint. The Joe Gonzales Campaign had nothing to do with creating, generating or delivery of this automated call in any way, shape or form.

The complaint alleges that the responsible party violated sections of the election code that prohibit misrepresenting the source of a campaign communication. The alleged offenses are Class A misdemeanors.

Gonzales complaint does not accuse anyone in particular of the dirty trick; a space reserved for identity of respondent is marked unknown.

Obviously, we have an idea, Gonzales told me, but thats not something we can prove, so we dont want to allege who the source is unless we can substantiate it.

Colin Strother, who worked for LaHood as a campaign consultant, took offense nonetheless.

The fact is that Joe sent out a robocall in his own voice promoting his campaign with his caller ID and they screwed up the timing on it. And instead of taking responsibility for it, theyre trying to blame Nicos campaign, Strother said Friday.

Gonzales emphasized that he has not accused LaHoods campaign of the violation and reiterated that his campaign had nothing to do with it.

Ross Fischer, an Austin-based campaign finance lawyer and former chairman of the TEC, said the commission would likely forward its findings to a local prosecutor should the agency uncover a culprit.

LaHood will remain DA for nine more months. The alleged offenses, however, carry a two-year statute of limitations, Fischer said.

The TEC wouldnt complete (its investigation) until next year when the new DA is in office, he said. If they determine a crime has been committed, they can refer it to the new DA, who would have two years from March 6 to bring charges.

Gonzales might become the new DA; hes facing defense attorney Tylden Schaeffer, a Republican, in the November election. But prosecutors can forward such cases to the Texas attorney generals Criminal Prosecutions Division.

A local prosecutor can certainly invite the AGs office in to handle a case, Fischer said.

Gonzales suggested he would do just that, should he win in November.

I promised the voters that we would follow this through to the end, Gonzales said, and if it turns out that someone has identified the source, we will ask to see if a special prosecutor can be appointed or a special agency to bring these individuals to justice.

There is a history of such outcomes, at least in other states.

In 2011, for instance, a Baltimore jury found Paul Schurick, a campaign manager for former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., guilty of fraud for an Election Day 2010 robocall. Scripted to sound as if it were coming from Democrats, the automated call told thousands of recipients to relax because Democratic Gov. Martin OMalley already had won.

Schurick was not incarcerated, but Julius Henson, a political consultant who wrote the robocall, was sentenced to 60 days in jail.

In Bexar County, Gonzales said the robocall echoes another dirty trick: Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

It was done on a local level, he said. Someone tried to skew an election by engaging in underhanded tactics.The congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Spirit and Mary Immaculate is celebrating its 125th anniversary this month with the publication of a new book on the deep roots it planted on the citys East Side that now extend to Zambia, Africa.

One in Arcadia Publishings Images of America series, The Sisters of the Holy Spirit and Mary Immaculate was written by the congregations archivist and historian Cecilia Gutierrez Venable, author of several African-American histories.

The story begins with Margaret Mary Healy Murphy, an Irish immigrant who came to Texas, ran a hotel in Matamoros, among other ventures, got married and prospered.

After her husbands death, the social justice advocate filled a void in Catholic San Antonio  building its first Catholic church and school for African-Americans. When she couldnt recruit U.S. nuns to teach there, she started a religious order and found recruits in Ireland.

The congregation has served other communities of color in the United States and worked in Mexico among indigenous groups, and St. Peter Claver School and Church now serves as the Healy-Murphy Center, an alternative school where three Holy Spirit nuns continue to work.

The book illuminates Healy Murphys life, who Gutierrez Venable believes was mischaracterized in her day. She was portrayed as a rich widow, but she worked with her husband. She bought and sold property on her own. She was an active entrepreneur, and she was a healer.

She spent her money to found hospitals, operate orphanages and run and staff Catholic schools.

People were not thrilled with her building a church and school for African-Americans, Gutierrez Venable said. But providing educational opportunities to students of color comparable to that of whites was her greatest legacy, she said.

In the book, Gutierrez Venable writes that the 1960s, Vatican II modernizations and the landmark desegregation decision Brown vs. Board of Education impacted the order, whose numbers declined. At its peak, it had more than 300 nuns. The book lists 68 members today. The oldest is 96, Gutierrez Venable said.

Sister Geraldine Klein, the groups general superior, said Healy Murphys legacy continues in various forms and its members celebrated her and the congregation earlier this month.

One sister splits her time between a hospice and the bus station ministry assisting refugees released from detention centers, she said, others devote time to Christian Assistance Ministry downtown.

When a 20-year-old woman arrived at the Healy-Murphy Center still unable to read, she said, two nuns tagged-teamed to teach her.

Some sisters serve on the board of the Catholic Worker House and volunteer to feed the homeless on the East Side; others serve in similar capacities in Brownsville, San Benito and Fort Worth, Klein said.

The congregations African missions, where U.S. and African nuns and novices work, do similar work, she said. The order sponsors a child development center there.

Like Healy Murphy did all her life, they havent given up on recruitment. We need them to lead us, Klein said of young people driven by social justice. Theyll do it differently than we did, but thats OK.Each year at Christmas time, beer-loving customers come to the taproom of Veracious Brewing looking to buy six, seven, maybe 10 growlers of the brewerys craft ales, stouts and porters for their holiday parties.

Mark Szamatulski, owner of the Monroe-based brewery, wants to sell his beer to these customers and usually has enough to fill their requests, too. But every year he has to tell them they cant buy that much.

Every week you turn someone away from buying extra growlers, said Szamatulski.

Szamatulski points to a Connecticut state law that is the bane of the states exploding craft beer industry.

Breweries are permitted to sell up to 9 liters of beer to an individual in its taproom for off-premises consumption. Thats the equivalent of four growlers or a case of 12-ounce brews.

But in pint cans (16-ounces), which are growing in popularity in the craft beer market, that comes to just 19 cans  less than a full case can be sold. Kegs are also too large for brewers to sell.

Lawmakers are now considering adjusting the sales cap to allow brewers to sell more directly to consumers. A bill proposed by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy would, among other measures, allow unlimited sales and align state law with that of Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts and New York.

But Sen. Carlo Leone, D-Stamford, chair of the General Law Committee now considering the bill, says there is no chance lawmakers will go for unlimited brewery sales.

Any time we hear the word unlimited  that scares a lot of people, he said. Were not quite ready to do undo the system in one fell swoop.

Still, raising the 9-liter limit may be on the table. The General Law Committee will meet on Tuesday, their deadline to advance bills to the floor, and may vote on the matter.

Even a small increase to the 9-liter limit would be a relief to many of the states more than 60 breweries. But Connecticut beer distributors  middlemen between manufacturers and retailers  are not in favor.

The legislation could turn breweries into monopolies, armed with the power to manufacture, serve and sell more of their beer, worries Jude Malone, executive director of the Connecticut Beer Wholesalers Association, which represents six major distributors around the state.

It is dangerous to go down that road, she said. This really concerns us - how big they want to be.

More local beer

Brewers contributed $718 million to the Connecticut economy in 2016, according to the U.S. Brewers Association.

Local breweries argue that ending the limit is about growing the whole industry and putting more fresh beer in the hands of consumers.

Raising the limit would allow out-of-state visitors to buy more local beer when they stop at breweries, increasing beer tourism, said John Kraszewski, owner at Armada Brewing in East Haven. And for local customers, they could buy unlimited amounts of the newest brews on can release days, instead of buying 9 liters and then waiting for the beer to hit liquor and package stores to purchase more.

In addition, breweries would be less constrained by the amount of shelf space they could get at a liquor or package store for their beer, Kraszewski said, and they wouldnt have to wait for end-of-the-month payments to come in from those retailers  crucial for breweries just starting up.

There is more money to be made in the tap room, summed up Michael Bushnell, co-owner of Lock City Brewery in Stamford. The distributor takes about 30 percent of your money when they control product.

On a busy Thursday night at Half Full Brewery in Stamford, only a handful of customers said they had ever bumped up against the 9 liter limit. Those who did were mostly brewery regulars, like Steve Betancourt, who lives down the street from Half Full.

We want to support the local breweries even if it costs a little more than a Budweiser, he said.

Betancourt travels to New York and Massachusetts to visit breweries and said he has often seen people lining up at 4 a.m. on can release days to buy their cases in those states. But under current law, Betancourt cant see that happening here.

Nobody is going to take a trip if they know they are limited, he said.

Taprooms divided

Some 14 breweries testified their support of the change to lawmakers, along with representatives from Connecticuts package store, farm and hops industries. Four other breweries contacted by Hearst Connecticut Media also said they strongly favored tossing the cap.

But noticeably absent from the public conversation has been the voices of the states largest breweries.

Two Roads Brewery in Stratford told Hearst it had no comment on the legislation. Thimble Island Brewing Company and Stony Creek Brewery in Branford, Thomas Hooker Brewing Company in Bloomfield and Cambridge House Brew Pub in Granby did not respond to requests for comment.

Half Full, the seventh brewery to open in the state, didnt give a specific opinion on the proposal, but said in a statement, We believe that the best outcome is one that maximizes the benefit to the consumer  after all, we are all in business to serve the consumer  and is fair and balanced for suppliers, retailers, and distributors.

Unlike many smaller breweries, most of these larger ones work with distributors to get their beer on the shelves of liquor stores. In many ways, breweries and distributors are dependent on each other for profits.

But now more business out of brewery taprooms might mean fewer sales to their distributors. That puts the big breweries in a sticky spot.

Speaking on behalf of distributors, Malone said unlimited selling power was never part of the legislatures original vision of Connecticut breweries. The intent was breweries as places that would make beer and gives tours  not serve or sell directly, she said.

But since 2012, back when the state only had 20 open breweries, laws have been loosened almost every year to favor breweries, she said. Malone doesnt think this is fair to distributors, of which many are local businesses, too.

Theyve allowed them to be a brewer, a wholesaler and the retailer, she said. Thats outside the three-tiered system thats allowed by the laws of Connecticut.

Different by state

Connecticut is not the only New England state with a cap on brewery sales for off-premises consumption.

Home to more than 40 breweries, New Hampshire also limits sales by breweries or other liquor manufacturers to a 15.5 gallon keg or the equivalent of one case of 12-ounce containers per person per day, according to the state Liquor Commission.

In Rhode Island, which 22 breweries call home, sales are held at 288 ounces, the equivalent of one case of 12-ounce beers or about 8.5 liters. For now, many brewers are satisfied with that cap, established in 2016, because the previous limit was just 72 ounces, or six beers, said Brent Ryan, president of the Rhode Island Brewers Guild.

But Connecticut beer-makers say the state should follow the lead of its other neighbors, where sales are not limited..

In Vermont, the state with the most breweries per capita, according to the U.S. Brewers Association, no limit on taproom sales for off-premises consumption exists. Maine, Massachusetts and New York dont have 9-liter limits, either.

Connecticut brewers say this has allowed craft beer production in those states to grow much more quickly than in Connecticut.

Massachusetts has climbed to 110 breweries from 34 in 2007, according to numbers from the the Massachusetts Brewers Guild and the states Department of Agricultural Resources websites. Another 50 Massachusetts breweries may open in 2018, the Boston Business Journal reports.

Meanwhile, New York State is now home to 400 breweries, surpassing the previous record of 393 breweries set in 1876, Gov. Andrew Cuomo proudly announced in February. The state has issued 243 new brewery licenses since 2012. Cuomo attributed the growth of his states beer sector to modernizing laws and rolling back red tape.

Nod Hill Brewing in Ridgefield is less than seven miles from the New York border. When New Yorkers visit the brewery, they are often surprised to learn of Connecticuts beer limit.

Its just kind of unexpected, said David Kaye, operations manager for Nod Hill Brewing. Its resulted in us not seeing the profit we could see from the sale of these cans.

Kraszewski of Armada Brewing said he moved from Chicago to open shop in his home state of Connecticut because he wanted to create local jobs. But state laws have him considering a move.

I would love to see the growth of Connecticut beer be as well off as New York and Massachusetts, he said. If I cant grow at the rate that my business can grow in all these other states, it doesnt incentivize me to stay here.BRIDGEPORT Stratford Avenue in the citys East End has long been plagued by gunfire, and some on the City Council and in the community focused their attention Friday on a deli they say enabled late-night loitering, which sometimes led to worse.

The Sunshine Deli kept long hours, closing as late as 4 a.m., depending on how busy the night was. Those who attended an anti-violence rally Friday evening say thats been an invitation to trouble.

Deli owner Firyad Quadir insists his business didnt cause the avenues problems, and that people regularly hang around and drink nearby.

Work on cleaning that up before you blame the store, Quadir said earlier in the day. Why do you come here? Why do you come to this store?

Still, after the rally proceeded from the street to the deli, state Rep. Andre Baker, D-Bridgeport, said he talked by phone with the owner, who says hell start closing at 9 oclock tonight.

A few minutes before Bakers announcement, Police Chief Armando Perez told those at the rally, This place needs to be shut down.

The area has a criminal history. Just last month, police said, two people were arrested outside the deli, one with a gun, and in another incident, four people were shot at the Sunshine Deli.

In 2017, two homicides happened nearby, within 24 hours  one at the corner of Beardsley Street and Newfield Avenue and the other on Sixth Street.

Were tired of the gun violence, Eddie Santiago, the Harding High School football coach, said at Fridays rally.

He was among about 100 who marched from the parking lot of a nearby funeral home to the Sunshine Deli at 6 p.m. to ask for a change in store hours. U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., made an appearance, praising those that gathered.

Its up to us to pass the word on  we dont feel safe on our streets, said 28-year-old Bobbi Brown, who said she grew up on the East End. Young people deserve to feel safe.

Earlier Friday, City Councilwoman Eneida Martinez had organized another gathering, asking the Sunshine Deli owner to change the stores hours. At that time, Quadir declined.by Dan Harris | Fri, Mar 16th 9:31pm EDT

The Lions are signing LeGarrette Blount to a one-year deal worth $4.5 million, according to Ian Rapoport. (Ian Rapoport on Twitter)

Fantasy Impact:

Blount had a fine season with the Eagles, but was supplanted as the main back in Philadelphia by Jay Ajayi. He'll now rejoin his old friend Matt Patricia with Detroit. Blount should again be part of a timeshare backfield, splitting work with Ameer Abdullah and Theo Riddick. He'll likely continue to have value in deep leagues, if for no other reason than he'll surely be featured at the goal-line.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.Site Blocked

In order to access website you need to accept our cookie policy.

View cookie policy.



AcceptKangana Is A Nationalist

"I said in some interview that I am a nationalist. People said 'oh you are that type of a person'. I was like 'what do you mean by that kind?' I personally feel that there is confusion between these words.

"Before all of this, I hadn't even heard of the term nationalism. The good thing is that at least the word has got out. That there is a word like nationalism. You can have a choice whether you want to believe in it or not," Kangana said.

Kangana Was All Praise For PM Narendra Modi

The actor confessed that she is a "fan" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that woman in the country need to have right role models.

"I am a big Modi fan because of his success story. As a young woman I do believe that we need to have right role models.

I mean the graph and the ambition of an ordinary man and whenever we have a PM who is a chaiwala, then I always say that it is not his victory but it is the victory of our democracy. I feel he is the right role model," she said.

Kangana On Ban On Pakistani Artistes

Kangana also weighed on about the controversy surrounding the Pakistani artists working in India, and said artistic world is different from physical world.

"Artistic realm is different from physical realm. When you are talking about physical boundaries and you are talking about borders, why be esoteric. You should know about a place where people are losing lives.

She Further Added..

"At the time of ban on Pakistani artists, the country is vulnerable where people are struggling and trying to cope with emotions. The common sentiment is 'Humko kya Lena dena, hum toh artist hai'.

This is not going to work. Above everything, you are Indians as well, and when you are talking about boundaries, you can't go into esoteric world and say 'I am an artist'," Kangana said.

Kangana On National Anthem Controversy

She also wondered why people have a problem with standing up for national anthem and cited the example of Americans.

"The Americans stand for their national anthem. Why do feel ashamed of standing? If you want to learn something from Americans, then learn good things from them," she said.

Atta Girl!

Asked if a person does not agree with her opinion, Kangana said, "I don't mind. But I am going to stand for my national anthem. Whenever there is something for my country, then I am going to side with my country, my soldiers, my army and I am a cool youngster if 21st century."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Samsung made fun of iPhone X's Face ID

Unless you are living under a rock, you must know the rivalry between Samsung and Apple. The companies never let of a chance to mock each other. During the Galaxy S9/S9+ unveil event at MWC 2018, Samsung said that the fingerprint scanner is one of the most popular ways of unlocking our phones, and this is why it didn't get rid of the fingerprint scanner.

Well, Samsung very subtly mocked Apple for ditching the fingerprint scanner in favor of the Face ID.

Will Samsung ditch the fingerprint scanner?

It is too early to answer this question, but we don't think so. Even if Samsung manages to incorporate a highly advanced facial scanning feature into the Galaxy S10, it will probably still want to leave an alternative for the users to be on the safe side. Moreover, the company's statement at MWC 2018 also suggests that it won't ditch the fingerprint scanner anytime soon.

Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ First Impressions

Galaxy S10 or Galaxy X?

Some reports suggest that Samsung will adopt a new naming scheme for the next-generation models. The Galaxy S10 series is expected to be announced with the moniker Samsung Galaxy X. It makes sense for Samsung to opt for this moniker as it will be an ideal answer to the iPhone X that Apple released last year as the company's tenth-anniversary edition.Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 and Note 5 Pro AnTuTu scores

For comparison, the Redmi Note 5 in China has scored 115,247 points on AnTuTu. Whereas the Redmi Note 5 Pro has obtained a score of 115,247 points on the benchmarking sites. While the difference is not too much, it is still worth to make a point.

The Redmi Note 5 Pro comes in two RAM variants; one with 4GB RAM and another with 6GB RAM. This means the Redmi Note 5 in China also has a 6GB variant. It is possible that the Redmi Note 5 6GB model ran through the AnTuTu test. Whereas the Redmi Note 5 4GB model ran through the benchmarking test.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro First Impressions

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Chinese variant specs

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Chinese variant comes with a 5.99-inch Full HD+ display, Snapdragon 636 processor, 3GB/4GB/6GB of RAM, and 32GB/64GB of internal storage. The smartphone flaunts a rear dual camera setup that comprises of a 12MP primary sensor and a 5MP secondary sensor. At the front, there is a 13MP selfie snapper.

The Redmi Note 5 Chinese variant runs on MIUI 9 and it is backed up by a large 4,000mAh battery which has fast charging support. Other features onboard include hybrid SIM slot for microSD card and dual SIM, 4G VoLTE, 2.4 GHz / 5 GHz Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 5.0, USB-C, 3.5mm audio jack, GPS, AGPS, rear-mounted fingerprint scanner etc.

Upcoming Xiaomi smartphones

Xiaomi seems to be working on several smartphones. Expect for the flagship Mi Mix 2S, the company has some entry-level smartphones in the pipeline. It is also speculated that the Chinese manufacturer is working on a gaming smartphone that carries the codename BlackShark. The device was spotted on Geekbench yesterday.Design: Refined and much more practical than last years Galaxy phones

Little has changed in the overall outlook of the new Galaxy flagships, and I seriously don't mind it as the edge-to-edge design still looks astonishing. The minor changes which are in place have made the Galaxy S9+ much more comfortable and joyable to use.

Conveniently placed Fingerprint scanner

The oddly placed fingerprint scanner now rests beneath the camera module, which is a more convenient place to unlock the handset in everyday usage. Your index finger will still cover the camera lens sometimes but once you get the hang of it, which will not take much time, you will unlock the handset easily without troubling the lens. Samsung Galaxy S9+ is slightly compact but heavier than the last year's Galaxy S8+; however the difference is only marginal and most users will not find any change in real life. The bezels on top and bottom of the screen are trimmed down a bit to offer even more screen real-estate in marginally smaller form factor.

Bixby Button still haunts

Bixby button still rests at the left edge just adjacent to the volume rockers, which still creates troubles sometimes while you stream a video and try to lower down the volume levels.

Like previous Galaxy S handsets, the new flagships are also IP68 rated and can resist the damage from water and dust to a good extent.And besides, the standard Black colour variant, the new Galaxy S9+ is available in Lilac Purple and Coral Blue colors.

Overall, it is the same old gorgeous design but much more practical to use. Galaxy S9+ and the smaller S9 offers better grip in hands than the last year's Galaxy flagships.

Best Screen on a phone you can buy today

Samsung Galaxy S9+ wins the display fight hands-down. The 6.2-inch Super AMOLED 'Infinity Display' on Galaxy S9+ is the best quality screen on a phone that your money can buy. It is brighter than the last year's Galaxy handsets and even pushes more brightness in direct sunlight than the iPhone X, which uses Samsung made OLED panel. I did not face any difficulty in reading texts and streaming videos outdoors in Delhi NCR's weather conditions which can be pretty harsh on smartphone's displays.

The display offers a resolution of 2,960x1440 pixels scattered in 18.5:9 aspect ratio. The result is a staggering 529ppi which makes videos, texts, images look downright crisp and sharp. The display is HDR10 compliant and is also the most colorful screen around. And as Samsung has trimmed down the bezels, Galaxy S9+ offers a lot of screen to use for productivity, multimedia playback and reading.

Camera: Big improvement in low-light photography

The first thing I did with my Galaxy S9+ review unit was to fire up the camera and see what has improved over the last generation. The results were pretty amazing and in most cases, the best-in-class from a smartphone's camera. The best happened to Galaxy S series handset's camera is the dual-aperture technology that has given a big boost to the low-light camera performance.

Better results in low-light

The dual-lens camera on Galaxy S9+ captures better low-light images than any other Galaxy smartphone I have tested in past. The results are even close and in some cases better than the Google Pixel 2 XL's low-light camera performance. The dual-aperture technology makes it possible for camera lens to expand and contract just like the iris of a human eye. The Dual Aperture' works in the range of F1.5 / F2.4' and automatically lets in more light when it's dark and less light when it's too bright. The F/1.5 aperture- which is world's first on a smartphone camera gives S9+'s camera the ability to let in 28% more light and reduce noise levels by using 4-frame image stacking technology to deliver better looking dim and low-light shots.

Crisp images with impressive Dynamic Range

When in daylight, the images show vibrant colors and amazing dynamic range as the Auto HDR kicks in at the right time. As the camera works on the brighter F/1.5 aperture, I was expecting some overexposure here but the camera's settings and snappy shutter speed prevented any overexposed shots. In a nutshell, the images shot on bright sunny days are super impressive and full of fine details.

Live Focus has improved

The bokeh shots are also improved, thanks to the F/2.4 aperture lens. The Live Focus' mode is now snappy and keeps the subject in focus for better depth of field effects.

Bright and Vivid Selfies

The 8MP selfie camera comes equipped with autofocus and produces bright self portraits with punchy colours. You can also achieve a software driven bokeh effect and can change the skin tone with the built-in Beauty mode.

You also get Super Slow motion with a staggering 960 fps. The results are brighter and somewhat better than the Sony's premium XZ phones that introduced the super slow motion videos concept on a smartphone. Last but not the least, the OIS works well while you shot videos and the telephoto lens' 2X zoom also come handy to capture subjects which are far without losing out on the image quality. The camera can record 4k at 60 fps but OIS and tracking will not kick in. You will have to reduce the resolution to 4k at 30fps to use OIS.

Overall, Samsung has managed to create the best camera hardware in the market with the Galaxy S9+.

Hardware: Lag free computing, gaming and multitasking

The noteworthy changes in the hardware come in the form of latest Exynos 9810 chipset. Samsung's in-house octa-core processor is paired with an 18-core Mali-G72 GPU to handle graphical intensive tasks. Galaxy S9 will have 4GB of RAM, whereas Galaxy S9+ will use 6GB of RAM to handle multitasking. The devices now support expandable memory of up to 400GB with a microSD card. As expected, the smartphone delivers flawless everyday performance.

It can handle everything you throw at it without breaking up a sweat. Games render with no frame drops and videos play without a glitch. The new CPU is built on the 10 nm process and makes Galaxy S9+ the fastest Android smartphone in the market. However; we cannot say the same for the next 4 to 6 months as the overtime usage do take a toll on the speed and efficiency of the Android handsets, especially in the case of Samsung devices. It is something we would really like to test on Galaxy S9+.

Better audio and good battery backup

The audio performance on Samsung Galaxy S9+ is significantly improved as compared to last year's Galaxy S8+. The new stereo speakers are crazy loud but at the same time also maintain the sound structure quite well. The speakers are tuned by AKG Acoustics and also come with support for Dolby Atmos 360-degree surround sound.

The battery backup on Galaxy S9+ is good, if not impressive. In my use case, the smartphone did survive for a day but struggled to cross the one-day mark. I kept the screen on 1080p resolution for most of the part; but bumping it up to full scale, i.e. WQHD+ will also not make much of a difference in everyday life. But the gaming and video playback on the 2K infinity display is indeed a delight.

I really wish Samsung could have used at least a 4,000 mAh battery unit (instead of a 3,500 mAh) as I don't want this gorgeous piece of technology to die quickly with a heavy usage. Thankfully, fast charging has been improved and the new Galaxy S9+ refuels quickly than the last year's Galaxy devices.

Samsung Experience UI: Fluid and full of useful software tricks

The new Galaxy devices run Experience UI 9.0 deployed over Android 8.0. Samsung's new UI is fluid and is fun to use for most of the part. It is full of useful software tweaks that are designed to enhance your everyday mobile user experience. The new Galaxy S9+ also come equipped with improved KNOX 3.1, which is Samsung's latest defense-grade security platform to protect your sensitive information. You get three different biometric authentication options - iris, fingerprint, and facial recognition. I mostly used the fingerprint and Iris scanners as facial recognition on S9+ is still seems like a work in progress.

Care about AR Emojis and Bixby?

Bixby is now deeply integrated into the camera. It can detect where and on what you are pointing the camera and can deliver useful information. For instance, you can check the nutritional content of food, scan QR codes, translate any foreign language to native and can also extract information from text by just pointing the camera on the object. The results are not always accurate and Bixby sometimes just fail to recognize objects; however Samsung is on a right path with Bixby and in future it will make a huge difference in the way we use Samsung devices.

AR Emojis support built-in in camera app

The new Galaxy S9+ also comes with iPhone like AR Emojis that scans your image and creates different GIFs with your lookalike. I am not a big fan of emojis but can't say the same for everyone, so the new feature might excite you, if only for a while.

Galaxy S9+ also supports Samsung Pay, which now comes with new partnerships with more banks, UPI payments, a Gift Card Store and the option to pay bills seamlessly.

Conclusion

Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ have been launched in India at Rs. 57,900 and Rs. 64,900 for the 64GB variant. The 256GB variants of the new smartphones will sell at Rs. 65,900 and Rs. 72,900 respectively. These surely are big figures but with the new upgrades, Samsung has very well addressed the glaring issues that the users were facing with the last year's Galaxy devices. The new big screen Samsung Galaxy S9+ is a smart upgrade over its predecessor and offers an amazing camera, best-in-class display, premium and durable design and a faster chip with more RAM to multitask. Besides, it also takes care of basics. You get the standard 3.5mm headphone jack and microSD card expansion by up to 400 GB, which solves your multimedia problems. You will not find such ground-level useful features in iPhone X and Google Pixel 2XL.

In a nutshell, Samsung Galaxy S9+ is the best value for money and performance driven big screen Android smartphone your money can buy today in the Indian market.Xi Jinping

Xi Jinping was elected Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission of the PRC on 17 March 2018 at the ongoing first session of the 13th National People's Congress, the national legislature, with no limit on the number of terms he can serve. The national legislature added oaths of allegiance into the newly-amended Constitution. The amendments also wrote Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as a guiding theory for China, making it the sixth political thought-form listed there after Marxism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Thought, [Jiang Zemin's] Three Represents and the scientific outlook on development [of Hu Jintao].

Xi Jinping continued to cement his personal grip on the countrys leadership when the Politburo met on 28 September 2020 and approved an amendment to a set of standing guidelines for party leaders that names Xi as a core leader of the party. According to state news agency Xinhua, the move was an inevitable requirement for strongly safeguarding the authority and centralized leadership of the Central Committee. It would also be of great and far-reaching significance in advancing Xis personal brand of ideology: socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, the agency reported. The fact that Xis name is now inscribed in the Regulations on the Work of the Central Committee meant that he will hold power indefinitely, a process that was begun with the abolition of presidential term limits in March 2018. This is official affirmation in party documents that Xi Jinping must be maintained as the core of party leadership.

Since taking power in 2012, President Xi has launched an unprecedented set of ideological controls and boosted the institutions needed to enforce them. Xi has repeatedly warned members of the political class not to go off message in public, and set up a nationwide monitoring agency to supervise and detain anyone remotely connected with the government, including civil servants, teachers and academics, journalists, and contractors. The suppression of freedom of speech and academic freedom are directly related to the ideology of the current leadership, which is engaged in an ideological return to the Mao era.

He has a tight grip on everyone. The advanced surveillance technology is not only utilized in monitoring Xinjiang and Tibet, but it is also applied to monitor CCP members as well as mid- and high-level officials. Around 2013, Xi Jinping also announced a policy that forbids the formation of any alumni associations or hometown associations; additionally, gathering after work is also not allowed. He was worried that such gatherings may provide room for cliques or political factions to grow within the Party. Not only is normal socialization forbidden, but he also requires everyone to be debriefed on what has happened under their own roofs. It is never stipulated in any laws, but you should know better. If you fail to report as required, then it proves that your Party Spirit is weak.

Xi had acquired more power than any Chinese leader since Mao Zedong. According to the Constitution of Communist Party of China [Chapter II, Article 10] "6) The Party forbids all forms of personality cult. It is necessary to ensure that the activities of the Party leaders are subject to oversight by the Party and the people, and at the same time to uphold the prestige of all the leaders who represent the interests of the Party and the people."

The Chinese Communist Party's Central Committee proposed 25 February 2018 deleting the stipulation that "a president shall serve no more than two consecutive terms" from the constitution. Such a move would make it possible for current President Xi Jinping  who is also party chief  to remain in power after 2023 when he would have to stand down under the current system. The 64-year-old Xi, considered to be China's most powerful leader since Mao Zedong, has been president since 2013. He began his second five-year term in October 2017. Read more: 'The Chinese Dream' and Xi Jinping's power politics. The proposal would also cover the vice president position. Any constitutional reform must be approved by China's parliament. That assembly is filled with members who were chosen for party loyalty, meaning the reform is unlikely to be blocked.

What does Xi as core mean in a historical context? It was Deng Xiaoping who introduced the concept when he designated Jiang Zemin as "core of the third generation" of central leaders, bolstering Jiang's stature following his unexpected appointment as Party leader in 1989.

Speaking at a press conference following the 18th CPC Central Committee's Sixth Plenum in October, Huang Kunming, Executive Deputy Director of the committee's Publicity Department, said the "central and local departments as well as the military all expressed their support" for Xi's position as Party core, adding that this decision was "based on the valuable experience of the Party, and we feel keenly about it."

When, at the Party plenum, President Xi Jinping was designated as "core" of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), some Western media were quick to condemn the rise of a new "strongman." While recognizing the significance of Xi as the core was correct, conjuring up visions of an emerging dictator was not. In an article originally published in Hong Kong's South China Morning Post in NOvember 2016, Robert Lawrence Kuhn, a renowned commentator on China, says interpreting the appellation core leader as indicating a type of "strongman rule" is to misunderstand its significance for a nation navigating its way through immense challenges.

Chinese scholars argue that "core" is a unique characteristic of Chinese political theoryhowever inapplicable (even inexplicable) in Western political theory. They call Western concerns that labeling Xi as core leader means that "a new emperor is born" wildly unfounded, even paranoic. In China's historic feudal society, the emperor ruled unconditionally with arbitrary imperial power, and in such a "command-obey" system, goes the argument, there is simply no need for a core. Rather, given today's Party political structure, the concept of a core both strengthens cohesion and serves to prevent a personality cult, not to promote one.

At the start of his second five-year term as leader of Chinas ruling Communist Party, Xi Jinping was at the center of Chinas most colorful efforts to build a cult of personality since the death of the founder of the Peoples Republic, Mao Zedong, in 1976. Efforts range from the trivial to the borderline hysterical, such as when state broadcaster China Central Television led its evening national news bulletin November 21, 2017 with more than four minutes of uninterrupted clapping for Xi as he met with adoring citizens.

Universities and colleges across the country have established research centers for Xi Jinping Thought. Such moves are driven more by competition for research funding than genuine regard for Xis political consciousness.

With the inclusion of the "Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era" in the constitution of the Communist Party (CPC), the president had taken a huge step toward consolidating his leadership beyond 2022. Xi has been given the customary second five-year term as the CPC's general secretary and has laid the foundation for a possible, unprecedented third term. The moves hinted at Xi's plans to be China's most powerful leader since Mao Zedong.

The Communist Party in China announced on 24 October 2017 that it was adding the name of President Xi Jinping and his political philosophy to the country's constitution. "Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era," is set to be enshrined alongside that of Mao Zedong, the founder of modern communist China. Former President Deng Xiaoping had his name added after his death. The unusual step highlights the speed and tenacity with which Xi consolidated power since his ascension in 2012.

The president opened the congress by hailing a "new era" that would see China become a "a global leader" by 2050. Xi has cultivated an image as a responsible, level-headed leader during a tumultuous time for Western politics.

The 19th Communist Party of China, CPC national congress that held from October 18-24, 2017, has been described as "historic" because of the achievements recorded in the past five years. Moreover, China has now entered a new era as it draws closer to rejuvenation for the first time since the 19th Century, explained Xie Chuntao, a Professor of CPC Affairs.

Prof. Xie assured that though Xi Jinping is at the core of the CPC, the collective leadership of the Politburo Standing Committee, PSC of the CPC Central Committee remains in place as stated in the party constitution. "There will be no personality cult of Xi. As General Secretary, he only takes the floor after other party members so as not to sway discussions. He summarises what is said, builds consensus and takes the final decision. Xi spent 46 years to rise from a grassroots leader to a national political leader," Prof. Xie recalled.

According to Xie Chuntao, speculations about Xi Jinping being leader for life are premature because he has only begun his second five-year term. "It is a hypothetical question. The CPC has a tradition of respecting its rules," Xie reassured. He described China-Africa ties as good, given that both sides have been long-time friends. "China's ties with Africa are a model to others. It is not neocolonialism as suggested in some quarters," Xie underscored.

The cadres adherence to party ideology has become a decisive criterion. Today, party members are expected to be able to mechanically recite the autocratic rulers current slogans. Public contradiction is unwelcome. Being loyal to party principles becomes the key to success, not only in state-owned enterprises, but also in private companies.

The Chinese Ministry of Education (MOE) issued on 24 July 2021 a guiding document to incorporate Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era into the curriculum. Incorporating Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era into the curriculum is significant in helping teenagers establish Marxist beliefs and strengthen confidence in the path, theory, system and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics, according to the guiding document. The guiding document requires that Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era be integrated into the curriculum covering basic, vocational and higher education, and be integrated with various subjects.

Primary schools will focus on cultivating love for the country, the Communist Party of China, and socialism. In middle schools, the focus will be on a combination of perceptual experience and knowledge study, to help students form basic political judgments and opinions. In college, there will be more emphasis on the establishment of theoretical thinking.

Studying Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era is the primary political task of the Communist Party of China and of the country, read a statement published on the MOE website. To cultivate the builders and successors of socialism with an all-round moral, intellectual, physical and aesthetic grounding and a hard-working spirit, we must arm students' minds with Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, said the statement.

The teaching materials must grasp the essence of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, systematically summarize its content, and clarify the scope of learning, read the statement. Also formulated are guidelines on labor education for students to cultivate their hard-working spirit, and on education of national security.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





GILROY, Calif. - The 41 words at the center of the latest Supreme Court showdown on abortion are not readily visible at Christine Vatuone's Informed Choices pregnancy center - not reproduced as a sign on 8 1/2-by-11-inch paper in at least 22-point type, as California law requires, or distributed to clients in printed or digital form.

"Were you looking?" Vatuone asked with a smile, before her lawyer, Kristen Waggoner of the conservative legal organization Alliance Defending Freedom, spoke up.

"We're in active litigation," Waggoner said, referring to the law's requirement that clinics disclose that the state provides contraceptive services and abortion for some women.

"So we've advised all of the centers to follow their conscience about whether to post the sign or how to deal with the issue. But we're not disclosing whether they have a sign hanging. It makes them a target" for possible prosecution and fines.

Vatuone's pregnancy center and others like it will be at the Supreme Court next week arguing that California's law is a violation of their free-speech rights. They claim the legislature's attempt to counter "fake" clinics that trick women looking for abortion services forces centers like theirs to deliver a message antithetical to their mission: encouraging women to carry on their pregnancies rather than end them.

"As a private, nonprofit organization," Vatuone said after giving a visitor a tour of her state-licensed facility, "we don't want to be compelled to, in essence, advertise for the abortion industry."

The case is closely watched, and not just by the 200 crisis pregnancy centers in California and the thousands around the country.

If the court rules broadly against the government's ability to have centers deliver its message, some abortion rights supporters wonder whether the same reasoning could work in their favor in other cases. They might challenge dozens of state laws that require doctors and others to deliver certain information to women about the alleged dangers that accompany abortion.

Such a turn, said Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, "would be ironic."

California cites Supreme Court precedent upholding those abortion language requirements in contending it is requiring the clinic to deliver only a neutral and factual message:

California has public programs that provide immediate free or low-cost access to comprehensive family planning services (including all FDA-approved methods of contraception), prenatal care, and abortion for eligible women. To determine whether you qualify, contact the county social services office at [phone number].

The message "doesn't move in one direction or another on the political spectrum," either in encouraging abortion or discouraging it, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who is defending the law, said in an interview.

"We were trying to figure out the way to best get information to people about their health-care options and their rights," Becerra said. "And this is a pretty straightforward way - neutral way - of getting that information to women."

Abortion rights advocates say the notice might be the only indication that the center a woman is entering does not offer the very services she might want: contraception, if it turns out she is not pregnant, or abortion, if she is.

"They are facilities that intentionally prey on women at a vulnerable moment in their lives by pushing medically inaccurate information," said Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. "They purposely and actually quite strategically hide any indication of their real agenda and ideology, and that's how even women who are doing their research end up at places they don't want to be."

A second part of the law requires an unlicensed clinic to post a sign stating clearly that it is "not licensed as a medical facility by the State of California and has no licensed medical provider who provides or directly supervises the provision of services."

That part of the law does not affect Informed Choices, a cheerful spot in a nondescript office building near downtown Gilroy, across from a Catholic church and next to a Jack In The Box fast-food restaurant.

But its understated appearance does not reflect its prominence in town.

Google "pregnant Gilroy, Ca," and the first three hits are for Informed Choices.

Google "abortion Gilroy, Ca," and it is one of two recommended centers, along with Planned Parenthood.

That despite the fact that Vatuone's clinic does not offer abortion or refer women who might be in a "crisis pregnancy," a term Vatuone dislikes.

"We like to say they're in an unsupported pregnancy," she said. "Because they might be lacking medical insurance. So this is a place they could come. They could be married and have three children. They may lack financial resources. . . . But they are not all in a crisis by any means."

There's no pretense that the clinic's purpose is to persuade those who come in "abortion-minded," as Vatuone put it.

The clinic's website says it will help women "verify" they are pregnant with a free test, "confirm" how far along they are in their pregnancies with a free ultrasound exam and "decide" on their options.

Abortion is listed as one of those options, but it is only at the end of the descriptions of surgical and medical abortions - and their potential side effects - that there is a disclaimer: "Although Informed Choices does not provide or refer for abortion, we are committed to providing you with everything you need to make an informed choice."

The clinic itself has a room filled to overflowing with diapers, baby clothes, maternity clothes and other supplies that are free to women. The ultrasound room features a $32,000 piece of equipment where registered nurse Debbie Whittaker encourages exams for women whose pregnancy tests are positive.

When a reporter requested to visit a clinic that is part of the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates, which brought the suit against California, Informed Choices was offered. The workers at the center deny they use the pressure tactics alleged by abortion rights advocates elsewhere.

In a recent conference call with reporters, those advocates described deception and no-holds-barred tactics to prevent women from obtaining abortions.

In briefs filed by women's groups and cities such as Los Angeles and New York, there are descriptions of centers that open in the same buildings as abortion clinics and station workers outside to intercept women seeking the procedure.

The briefs cite ultrasound exams conducted by workers with no medical training who proclaim "the baby healthy and perfect." Some women said tests results were delayed until it was too late for them to receive abortions.

"Frankly speaking, the fact that we even had to pass a law that made it harder to lie to women about medical care is ridiculous," said Nourbese Flint, policy director of Black Women for Wellness. "We all know if this wasn't about abortion, it would be a non-issue."

While laws in Baltimore and other jurisdictions have been struck down, a unanimous panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit found California's act sound and constitutional.

"California has a substantial interest in the health of its citizens, including ensuring that its citizens have access to and adequate information about constitutionally protected medical services like abortion," wrote Judge Dorothy Nelson.

She said it made sense for the information to be displayed at pregnancy centers: "Many of the choices facing pregnant women are time-sensitive, such as a woman's right to have an abortion before viability."

But the centers responded in their brief to the Supreme Court that "forcing a pro-life group to advertise for abortion has to be unconstitutional."

They said the law violates two "cardinal First Amendment principles: it targets disfavored speakers and compels them to deliver the state's message. And it does so in the context of speech on a subject where there is profound moral and ideological disagreement."

The Trump administration took a middle-of-the-road position.

The sign provision at licensed centers is unconstitutional, Solicitor General Noel Francisco told the court, because there are "multiple alternative potential ways" the state might make known the availability of its services other than requiring the centers to spread the word, "including advertising state-sponsored services itself."

But Francisco said the part of the law targeting unlicensed centers should be upheld. California "has a strong interest in ensuring that women know whether services such as ultrasounds and sonograms are provided by licensed medical professionals," he wrote.

Waggoner, the lawyer representing the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates, said the law forces centers "to say what they are not, before they say what they are."

On her walls, Vatuone likes to say, she posts "Our Promise." It says women will not be pressured or lied to, that their privacy will be respected and they will be supported in the choice they make.

There is no reason to post the state's message, she said. "Every woman who walks through our doors knows that abortion is available to her," she said. "The case is really more about us being compelled, against our deeply held beliefs, to disseminate this information."These are the best offers from our affiliate partners. We may get a commission from qualifying sales.Oppo is gearing up for an action-packed end of March. After the scheduled announcement of the F7 on March 26, the company's now revealed that the R15 is coming by the end of the month too too (likely an R15 Plus as well) - five days later on March 31.



Oppo R15 event posters

The R15 will be unveiled at a televised event, scheduled to start at 8 p.m. local time. Chinese actor Zhang Yishan will be on board as brand ambassador, for those familiar with the country's sitcom scene.

Meanwhile, details have emerged on the R15's primary camera, only mentioned in a previous specs leak - it will rely on a Sony IMX519 sensor. This has to be the first time we're hearing of this particular model, but Oppo's promo images indicate it's both larger at 1/2.6" and with bigger 1.22-micron pixels, when compared to the R11s' 1/2.8" IMX398 and its 1.12-micron pixels.

Via 1  2Published on 2018/03/17 | Source

Added episode 6 captures for the Korean drama "Queen of Mystery Season 2" (2018)

Advertisement

Directed by Choi Yoon-seok-II, Yoo Yeong-eun-I

Written by Lee Seong-min-II

Network : KBS

With Kwon Sang-woo, Choi Kang-hee, Lee Da-hee, Park Byung-eun, Kim Hyun-sook, Kim Won-hae,...

16 episodes - Wed, Thu 22:00

Synopsis

"Queen of Mystery" tells the story of a prosecutor's wife who's always dreamed of being a detective. After actually solving a case, she ends up in an unlikely crime-fighting duo with a young police captain.

Broadcast starting date in Korea : 2018/02/28

MoreActor Mark Hamill has spoken of his love for Ireland

Hundreds of film fans turned out to see Star Wars actor Mark Hamill at the US ambassador's residence in the Phoenix Park.

Hamill, who plays Luke Skywalker in the film series, spoke of his love for Ireland that has been "ongoing for 40 years".

The actor spent time on Skellig Michael filming the latest Star Wars movie.

However, it was in the 1970s when he first came to Ireland to shoot action film The Big Red One.

"Anyone who comes here is struck by the beauty of the countryside," he said.

"The follow-up is that the people here are so warm and friendly and treat you like family.

"I fell in love with this country 40 years ago."

Heritage

He was made aware of his Irish heritage early on by his father, who would "lecture" him about the Famine whenever he wouldn't finish his meals as a child.

Hamill, who is the international guest of honour at today's St Patrick's Day parade in Dublin, told of his shock that the Star Wars franchise was brought back for more films.

"There were some critics that were really harsh and said, why mess with a good thing?" he said.

"I knew they were going to do the sequels but I thought it would be so far into the future that they wouldn't involve us.

"I thought Harrison Ford is not going to do it because he's too accomplished and is sick of Star Wars.

"But it was all settled when I saw the paper, 'Harrison Ford signs on', and thought, well, that's me drafted."

Hamill joked that he would have been "the most hated man in nerdom" had he refused to return.The search for missing Tina Satchwell has taken a new twist after gardai said they have received new information and are planning several searches.

The revelation came as off-icers ended a major search in an east Cork forest after failing to find any clues during a 12-day operation.

Next Tuesday marks the first anniversary of Ms Satchwell's disappearance from her home in the Co Cork seaside town of Youghal.

Dogs

A team of 60 had been painstakingly searching Mitchel's Wood outside Castlemartyr since March 5 without any breakthrough in the hunt for Ms Satchwell, who disappeared without trace last March 20.

Gardai oversaw a major operational review yesterday, when the decision was made to begin winding down the search.

Specialist teams with sniffer dogs from the UK left the scene several days ago, and additional Defence Forces units, which had been scheduled to be deployed, will not now be needed.

All search assets remain deployed at Mitchel's Wood but will gradually be removed over the next 48 hours.

Gardai confirmed their search was now over but said that new information had come to light thanks to the intense publicity and repeated garda appeals.

"A number of items recovered during the course of this search will now be examined to establish whether they are related to the disappearance of Tina," a garda spokesman said.

"Gardai would also like to thank members of the public who have come forward with new information which will now be investigated.

"The site remains closed to the public until further notice."

While items of interest have been uncovered by the search team, nothing of significance is believed to have been found in 12 days of intensive operations in the forest and scrubland.

Items removed for analysis at the State Laboratory - including fragments of clothing - are only being checked on a precautionary basis.

Gardai earmarked 40 acres of the woodland as a priority search area.

Adjacent streams and rivers were also searched by the Garda Sub Aqua Unit.

Suitcases

Ms Satchwell, who is originally from Fermoy, went missing from her home while her English-born truck driver husband Richard claims he was on an errand to Dungarvan, Co Waterford.

When he returned, he says he spotted Ms Satchwell's keys on the floor.

Two suitcases were missing, as well as items of clothing. However, her dog, Ruby, was left alone in the house.1 / 3 UVU students help children in Nicaragua. Courtesy UVU 2 / 3 A group of UVU students pose in the Redwoods. Courtesy UVU 3 / 3 A group of UVU students move a desk.  

Call them service expeditions, or just a new way to spend spring break from homework. They are a far cry from what people visualize as the stereotypical spring break taken by college students. These students at Utah Valley University are not lounging on the beach, spending tons of money getting a suntan, playing volleyball or just getting away from their studies.

UVUs Volunteer & Service-Learning Center provides alternative ways for students to spend their breaks from their academic pursuits. Most are in the spring, with shorter opportunities in the fall. One group will head to the Redwood Forest to help with youth development and STEM education. Another will go to the Portland, Oregon, area to assist with local efforts to help the homeless. In years past, UVU students have performed service at those locations. This year, an additional project has been added. A third group of students will head to the Grand Canyon to focus on the environment.

They perform various duties while at the locations. Those are based not on what the students would like to do, but what the needs of their community partners are. For example, students performing service at the Grand Canyon, particularly with a focus on the environment, may want to pick up litter from the trails and keep the area as pristine as possible, despite the great number of visitors attending.

Instead, however, the workers at the national park indicated a greater need for help in educating the visitors. The Grand Canyon has offered a variety of service opportunities, said Tiffany Harris, program coordinator of UVUs Volunteer & Service-Learning Center. This is what they really need right now. The communities identify the needs.

An important aspect of the alternative breaks is that they are led by students. Harris said she provides training and support during the year to help the students prepare.

I connect them with resources to make sure they are prepared and ready, she said. The students have been in contact with the community partners throughout the year. Those community partners offer guidance to the volunteers to help them best provide the most needed service.

It has been fun to watch the students as they plan and connect with the community partners, she said. As it gets closer, they realize it is really happening. It is really great to be a part of it on the adviser side, watching them learn these things. It is really a great leadership opportunity for students.

Some who serve on a break one year return the next year as student leaders.

Each of the trips has 10-12 student participants, two student trip leaders and a faculty adviser, who is mostly available in the case of an issue or emergency that may arise.

In addition to the group going to the Grand Canyon, there is one headed to the Redwoods in northern California. They will focus on youth development and their education in science, technology, engineering and math. The YMCA provides training for the students before they begin their duties.

Another group is headed to Portland, Oregon, to offer support for those who are homeless. The community partner in this instance puts the students in contact with non-profits that provide assistance. They may be food banks or other organizations that offer meals. They work to integrate some education into the assistance they provide.

The crux of the alternative breaks has been that education piece, Harris said. The hope is that after they return they will want to connect with their community here. They have had the opportunity to see what a difference impactful service makes.

Harris has been working with the program for three years and reports nothing but a good response from the participants.

Camery Victor went to the Redwoods last year.

When I came home from the break, I felt like a completely different person, Victor said. Ive done a lot of volunteering, but this experience stands out because I have never recognized such a sudden, drastic change in myself form a volunteer experience, and we were only with the kids for three and a half days. I feel like what I learned has carried on with me and has centered my life more on volunteer work. I have such a drive to do more, and this is also true in the volunteer opportunities I am currently a part of.

Paula Madsen Powell also said the experience was impactful.

I have read and watched several articles, books, and videos about some of the problems we face as communities, she said. Actually going out and being there makes all of the difference. It is one thing to be aware of something, and another to actually go out and do something about it. Spending time with the kids and hearing their stories helped me understand on a deeper level that I would not have been able to grasp without the Alternative Break program. I personally believe I can always do more to become an active citizen. On the last day we sat in a circle and talked about what we learned and how we can serve others in our own community and that made a profound impact on me.1 / 2 Students pose to represent children who will be diagnosed with cancer. 2 / 2 BYU students pose with campaign materials for the Bateman Case Study Competition.  

It took 1,315 students to count down to zero.

Its a number, which started with how many children are diagnosed with cancer every month, a group of five Brigham Young University students know they cant reach on their own. But maybe, they hope, one of the thousands of students they reached over a month-long campaign may one day contribute to ending childhood cancers.

Our five-student team is not going to cure a cancer, but of the 1,315 students we reached and had a personal conversation with, maybe some are inspired enough to study that, said Elsie Powley, a student at BYU who was a member of a team that ran a cancer awareness campaign. You never know what the efforts, what consequences of your efforts will happen.

The five students were one of two teams at BYU participating this year in the Bateman Case Study Competition from the Public Relations Student Society of America. The competition challenges students to run a campaign for a predetermined client, which this year was With Purpose, an organization that aims to make sure children with cancer have safe and effective treatments.

College teams across the nation were challenged to find way to recruit people to engage with With Purpose and increase awareness around childhood cancer treatments.

The campaigns ran from Feb. 15 to March 15. The teams have been working on the campaigns since the fall.

The team Powley was on, called Every Kid Counts, did research for its campaign, which included interviewing and surveying BYU students for the project. They wanted to find a way to engage students in the topic on a campus where most students didnt have much time to learn about it and didnt have the funds to make a donation to the cause.

The team spent its first two days of the campaign at a booth in the student center. But it didnt feel right.

It wasnt engaging; students didnt seem to care, said Lauren Thomas, a member of the team. There wasnt anything to draw them in.

Students werent interested in the teams infographic, which took 30 seconds to explain. The team realized it needed quick facts and a quick actions students in a rush could take.

Thats when they started a countdown.

The team estimates 1,315 children are diagnosed with cancer every month. They wrote numbers on 1,315 pieces of paper and invited students to take a photo with a number to represent a child who would be diagnosed.

People started to care and they started to come to us, and they started to bring their friends to us, Thomas said.

It was an action that wasnt a big commitment, and opened the door for the team to share quick facts on childhood cancer  like that 4 percent of national funding for cancer goes toward researching childhood cancers, and that the Food and Drug Administration has only approved four new treatments for childhood cancers in the past 30 years.

The team spent about 50 hours at the booth and also arranged events such as a fitness event and benefit concert. They reached twice as many people on social media than the original goal the team set of 3,000 people.

The plan is to take the 1,315 photos and create a short video explaining the campaign.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 day after Sonia Gandhi broke bread with leaders of anti-BJP parties, her move to assemble them on one platform found resonance in the bypolls in two key north Indian states: Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The signal from the voters was unmistakable: hang together or get hanged separately. The ground also seems ripe for anti-BJP line-ups if one factors in the latters growing temperamental disconnect with smaller allies. Symptomatic of that is the TDP- inspired no trust move .

But can Sonia pull it off? A veteran now, she was a neophyte 19 summers ago when she first ventured to set up an alternative to Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The events of April 1999 left her red faced for failing to muster the magical 272 after dislodging the NDA by one vote. The Samajwadi Party, then led by Mulayam Singh, did not play ball. The embarrassment was as much that of the CPI(M)s Harkishan Singh Surjeet, who took Mulayam at his word to convey the assurance of the SPs support to the Congress through Arjun Singh.

An honest broker, the Marxist veteran had struck a rapport with Sonia at a one-on-one meeting they had at his Teen Murti Lane bungalow. He had then shared with me details of their talks: She came all alone on a languid afternoon. I said Ive one air-conditioner and thats in my bedroom. As shes like my daughter, we could sit there and talk.

Surjeet used the meeting to allay her partys apprehensions of the Left insisting on difficult-to-meet conditions:  I said a few thousand crore rupees for anti-poverty schemes would give us justification for backing the governmentand shed get her mother-in-law Indira Gandhis pro-poor image.

But he erred in believing Mulayam whom he should have known better. The SP leader had gained political respectability from the Lefts companionship. Surjeet, in fact, tried to make him the prime minister when the Congress withdrew support to HD Deve Gowda in 1997. The move was scuttled by VP Singh and Chandrababu Naidu, who worked in tandem to build a consensus around Inder Kumar Gujral.

Gujral carried the day for two reasons. Essentially a technocrat, he could be PM without posing a threat, in mass-support terms, to other United Front leaders. It was Mulayams popular base that created resistance from other aspirants, notably SR Bommai egged on by Lalu Prasad to oust the SP leader from the race.

The Surjeet-Arjun Singh duo arent around anymore and the other sworn BJP adversary Lalu is in jail. Sonia has to do the matchmaking by herself, relying on protagonists she might not instinctively trust. Even among the Congress old-guard, her choice is restricted in the absence of Pranab Mukherjee, who could be contacted for advice, but not any outreach to potential allies.

A host of other reasons make the prospects of an anti-saffron front difficult. The political clout of the Left  that was a formidable ideological lynchpin against the BJP in the 1990s  has shrunk in the face of aggressive Hindutva. Then theres that factional face-off within the CPI(M) over the nature of its ties with the Congress.

The setback in Tripura and the BJPs alienation from present and prospective allies could trigger a rethink.

Jyoti Basu described not letting him take the PMs office in 1996 a historic blunder. The partys argument against his elevation then was: we cant take power when we lack the numbers to influence policy! The Meghalaya of the BJPs making turns that logic on its head. Politics without pragmatism is the sure road to sanyasa.

Thats what Surjeet was good at. He refused to receive Mulayam at his residence after the 1999 betrayal. But in 2004 he turned up with him at Sonias UPA dinner. Four years later, it was the SP that saved the Manmohan Singh regime after the Prakash Karat-led CPI(M) pulled out over the India-US nuclear deal.

The one person in the Opposition who has Surjeets experience and savvy is Sharad Pawar of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). An alliance between him and the Congress in Maharashtra could commit him to building a front to fight the BJP. Thatll also encourage other regional satraps to pick up equity in the national play of politics. How well it all shapes up will depend on popular pressure from below the voter desirous of a new dispensation in Delhi.

The BJPs challenge is to keep that pressure to the minimum!

vinodsharma@hindustantimes.comBangkok graffiti artists painted a mural on Friday of panthers seated at a Last Supper table, the latest subversive depiction of an animal that has come to symbolise injustice after a tycoon was accused of poaching the wild cat. Construction magnate Premchai Karnasuta, one of Thailands wealthiest moguls, was arrested in a wildlife sanctuary in February with guns and animal carcasses, including that of a black leopard.

The brazen violation of park rules unleashed a wave of anguish from environmental and political activists fed-up with the impunity enjoyed by the kingdoms elites. With public protests still banned under a junta that grabbed power in 2014, the anger has taken the form of sly street art focused around the image of the panther.

Bangkok graffiti artists painted a mural on March 16 of panthers seated at a "Last Supper" table. (AFP)

But the movement has turned into a cat-and-mouse game with authorities suspected of quickly painting over the panther art cropping up in public spaces around the nation. An animal rights group recently stepped in to pair street artists with private businesses willing to offer up their walls.

Thats how ten graffitists found themselves free to decorate the side of a Bangkok veterinary clinic on Friday. The group spent the afternoon spraying large black cats seated behind a table in a nod to Leonardo da Vincis The Last Supper, which depicts Jesus final meal with his apostles before his crucifixion.

Graffiti artists spraypainting a mural. (AFP)

There are (panthers) from each artist at the same table having dinner for the last time, explained a 28-year-old graffiti artist who goes by Panda Dew. Phureerut Ratanavanich, who co-owns the veterinarian clinic, said he hoped the mural would keep the panther story from falling off the front pages.

This is our silent statement to the world, he said. (The artists) want to show their feelings but they dont have a platform. We have the platform but we dont know how to represent it in such an effective way, he added. The accused tycoon Premchai, who is CEO of Italian-Thai Development, has been charged with a slew of offences for alleged poaching in the protected Thai forest.

This week he was read additional charges of attempted bribery of an official and illegal possession of ivory and guns found during a search of his home. He has denied wrongdoing and been granted bail while the case proceeds.

Follow @htlifeandstyle for moreOver the last four years, Italian photographer Majlend Bramo (30) has been a fixture at many Parsi events. In his attempt to research various aspects of the community, he attended weddings, Navjotes (a ceremony similar to a baptism), Jashans (a thanksgiving ritual performed by priests) as well as birthday parties, anniversaries and Jiyo Parsi events (events organised to increase the Parsi population). He even visited their pilgrimage spots, such as Udvada and Sanjan in Gujarat, to learn more about the communitys roots.

A photo from the wedding of Arnaz. When the Parsis first arrived to the coast of India, they agreed with the local king that certain rules were to be respected. One of these was not to get married before sunset. After 1,200 years, they are still keeping their word. (Courtesy: Majlend Bramo )

The Parsi community traces their ancestry to a group of Zoroastrians who escaped from Persia during the 9th century CE and found refuge in Gujarat. Estimates say there are 60,000 Parsis in India at present.

Their story represents an incredible adventure: escaping from their homeland and finding refuge in a place much different from their own, with a different language, culture and traditions. They gave up their garments and language, adopted local ones, and managed to find their place in Indian society without being totally absorbed. What is also interesting about the Parsis is their contribution to Mumbai and India which is incredible, says Bramo.

Shahvir practising a routine Zoroastrian ritual inside the Dadar Athornan Institute where he is learning how to became a priest (Dastur). As a Dastur, he will have to take care of the sacred fire inside the fire temple (agiary). (Courtesy: Majlend Bramo )

For his research, Bramo visited India every winter from 2014 to 2017, and shot almost 30,000 pictures. Around 130 of those images, along with his research on the community, feature in his soon-to-release coffee table book, Like Sugar in Milk. The title is a reference to the legend of how the Parsis convinced the local king, Jadi Rana, who was refusing them entry into Gujarat, by illustrating how they would mix with the local population like sugar in milk.

Bramo, who has a decades experience working for the Italian newspaper, Corriere della Sera, and as a documentary photographer, worked on this project as an alternative to the rush jobs of mainstream media. Like Sugar in Milk represents the culmination of this process of slowing down that allowed me to catch details that I would otherwise have missed, he says.

Mr Kaizad holding his little baby; a family celebrates the Parsi New Year; children studying the sacred Zoroastrian scriptures inside the Dadar Athornan Institute. (Courtesy: Majlend Bramo )

Community matters

Bramo was inspired to start this journey thanks to a book  One More Ride on the Merry-Go-Round by Italian Florentine author Tiziano Terzani. He wrote about his travels across Asia and a prophet named Zarathushtra who was preaching a religion that had fire at its core, a fire that purifies. That name, Zarathushtra, wasnt new to me, yet I didnt know the fascinating story of the Parsis. When I discovered that the community is in grave danger of disappearing (the Parsi population of India has been declining by 12% every census decade), I understood that it was a story worth being told, says Bramo.

To work on this project, Bramo had to face several challenges. He recalls how he struggled for visuals of a fire temple (entry is forbidden for non-Parsis). I wanted to see this fascinating ritual they have using fire as a link to Ahura Mazda (the Wise Lord). I was just about to enter a fire temple when the guardian stopped me vigorously indicating the sign. I had to find a way around this problem, and eventually managed through the documentation of similar scenes like Jashans and Navjotes.

Navjote of Zara; Parisa Parsi, who took part in the Return to roots program, and lives in Los Angeles; A Parsi girl is waiting to walk on the stage at Dadar Colony for the celebration of the Navroze, the Iranian New Year. (Courtesy: Majlend Bramo )

A Parsi in a previous lifetime?

Bramo generated a lot of interest in the community thanks to his unusual quest. They were wondering how on Earth an Italian photographer from Florence got interested in their little community. One gentleman once told me that I must have been a Parsi in my previous life, laughs Bramo.

After almost four years of trailing the community, he feels he knows them pretty well: They are very funny and a little bit crazy they enjoy life in a good way and are trying not to harm others. They are very respected among other communities. Being a Parsi means to bear a tradition of great philanthropy. I might also say they like to argue; now and then, there is some controversy emerging from the community itself.

Majlend Bramo; the cover of the book depicts the passage of the Parsis from Persia to India. (Courtesy: Majlend Bramo )

Seeking refuge

With this book, Bramo hopes to introduce readers across the world to the community: In Europe, it is not a known story at all. People dont even know that the three wise men in the Bible were Zoroastrians. And very few know that Freddie Mercury was a Parsi.

Born in Albania, Bramo moved to Italy when he was 2. He says the topic might have unconsciously resonated with him as he could relate to the displacement of the Parsis. This book can be an opportunity for Europeans to think again about the great migrations that are affecting our continent. The Parsis were refugees exactly like the Syrians and Africans that are coming to Europe to find shelter. Our response to this migration should be more open and focused on the future and not only the difficult present.

Like Sugar in Milk releases on March 20. You can pre-order the book on majlendbramo.comThe Old City of Jerusalem is a walled part that comprises historic walking areas, neighbourhoods, museums, sights and landmarks (Getty Images)

The first thing that probably comes to your mind when you hear Israel is what you read in newspapers everyday. Next, you might think of stories from the Old Testament, and all the mythology of creation. What you are unlikely to dwell on, however, is its food. Which is unfortunate, because this country has mixed old traditions with new, and has developed a food culture that is simply fabulous.

Imagine walking down a street assuming the best they have to offer to you is a halva of a kind, and a falafel maybe. But then, you find yourself in front of a cinnamon bun stall. Thats Jerusalem, and thats just the first thing that caught my fancy, before I saw the many food joints that jam the shuks (markets).

Kubbeh soup for the soul

The Mahane Yehuda shuk in Jerusalem has lively nightlife options, with restaurants, bars and intimate music clubs (Shutterstock)

Jerusalem is a cultural hotspot, and there is literally nothing you wont find in the alleys of the Mahane Yehuda shuk, from restaurants, cafes and pubs to the sweet smell of cinnamon buns, spices and delicious halva.

My eyes went to Azura, a restaurant in the Iraqi market of the shuk that you could easily miss for the bigger names. It offers traditional Kurdish dishes with influences of Turkish and Iraqi cuisine. From an extensive menu, the most comforting dish is the Iraqi-Jewish kubbeh soup, which is beet soup with meat dumplings. Then, as hunger strikes, I move on to an aubergine stuffed with meat, cinnamon and pine nuts.

And as I walk out of Azura, I spot a Kurdish woman right outside, making delicious kubba (a Kurdish dish made of semolina stuffed with meat).

Fresh off the roast

The one thing I miss in India is really tiny coffee shops, and so I stop at Roasters, a tiny spot on the corner of the street. Dont drink a cappuccino, drink an espresso. The roast is fresh! the barista instructs me, pointing to a bag of beans. I go along with his choice and he is right.

The Africa in Israel

A Moroccan delicacy in Israel sounds a bit off my plans, but Avi Levy, winner of Masterchef Israel 2011, urges me to pick up a piece of his pastilla. I oblige. This is good, I think to myself, savouring a piece of pastry stuffed with chicken and almonds, with hints of cinnamon and saffron, fried to perfection. Then, looking for something sweet, I turn to Levys mother Miriam who is making heavenly yo-yos, cookies made with a special dough of almonds.

Pita no bar

Pita pockets can be stuffed with a variety of ingredient combos, from fruits and cheese to meat and corn, for lip-smacking aftertastes (Dinodia Images)

Despite trying my luck with roadside shawarma, I want some authentic Arabian food, and the first thing that comes to mind is pita. Im aiming for truly authentic, so I find Dwiny, Jerusalems first pita bar. Open pita pockets are a first for me, but they look so pretty! I try an open pita pocket filled with osso buco that has been stewed for 10 hours. And then there is mullet craire, which is soft and spicy fish made in tangy sauces. Seafood in pita never seemed like such an easy option before this.

Only the best hummus

No matter how well refrigerated, hummus tastes best when had fresh (Dinodia Images)

The mystery of where hummus originated is the same as where the rasgulla is from, only, it is a debate beyond borders

The stories of where hummus originated are the same as where the rasgulla is from, only, this is a debate beyond borders. But good hummus is hard to find. Its got to be fresh, I warn myself. So a small, unsuspecting shop near the Damascus Gate beckons me and I find Mohammed, the owner of Ikermawi. Soon, theres a plate of hummus made with fresh chickpeas and yummy falafel. For someone who has never liked any falafel Ive tasted, Im taken in by surprise. Fresh and non-refrigerated hummus was a dream before this.

The fragrance of a vintage bake

Its difficult to point one good place for desserts in a city where halva vendors lure you with freshly made goodies in the market, but a dessert person like me will always be on the lookout for confectionery, even though I spotted some really fancy raisin bread on some roadside stalls. Im looking for something vintage, so I dive into the pastries, chocolates on sticks and macarons at Cafe Kadosh, the oldest bakery in Jerusalem that opened in 1967.

A common sight in Jerusalem is stacks of fancy breads at roadside stalls (Shutterstock)

Best bebabs, literally

I take kebabs quite seriously. So, when I spot Bar Ochel that claims to have the best kebabs in Tel Aviv, I like the challenge. Their kebabs arent so spicy or oily. It takes me a minute to get used to the taste of kebabs that arent masaledar but actually have the flavour of the meat and condiments. Turns out, they are right. These are probably the best kebabs. Wanting more, I order Moroccan beef ragout with hummus. Well-cooked beef with a tangy gravy, mixed with hummus and topped with fresh herbs. Im so glad I didnt stop at the kebabs!

Armenian potters call out to me in the hustle and bustle of Carmel Market as passers-by shop for Shabbat, the day of rest, which is the next day. Everything is closed on Shabbat, so its a miracle I managed to procure that good a meal on a day when the market is brimming!

The other side of fine dining

Fine dining is always associated with poshness, but Jerusalem shows me a different side at Machneyuda. A dimly-lit place with an open bar and open kitchen, its the place to try seafood and desserts. As Im savouring a chocolate truffle, the waiters start to sing along with the blaring music and get on to the bar table, adding their own music to the songs!

A popular dessert in the Middle East, the knafeh consists of filo pastry, cheese and syrup (Shutterstock)

I return to India with the taste of Israeli culture, but a part of my heart is still there, gawking at the knafeh shops.

Follow @BeingFeline on Twitter

From HT Brunch, March 18, 2018

Follow us on twitter.com/HTBrunch

Connect with us on facebook.com/hindustantimesbrunchWhen do you become an adult? People have different answers for this. Some say that they become adults when they leave home for college, when they make decisions on their own. Others link it to their first kiss, or more prosaically, their first paycheck. One friend said that she became an adult when her parents died.

You become an adult when your parent becomes a child. It can happen when you are 30 or 60

For me, the answer is linked to role reversal. You become an adult when your parent becomes a child. It is the moment when you start dictating their life and their choices, when you become the protector rather than the protected. It can happen when you are 30 or 60.

Packing sweets and wrappers

The first time it happened to me was when my Dad and I went to buy a sweet called Triple Taste. It was all the rage in the late 70s, but it is probably extinct now. We bought it partly because of its coloured wrappers that contained flags, if I remember right. The two condiment shops that sold this sweet stood opposite each other and were rather grandly called Rolex and Poompuhar. My Dad and I crossed the street. He stumbled. I grabbed his hand. He smiled and said, I think I am holding your hand to protect you when in fact you are holding my hand to protect me. I felt like I was the king of the world.

My parents saved those Triple Taste wrappers that my brother and I collected. I know this because we were packing them. It was the summer of 2009. After months of negotiation, my parents had finally consented to moving from Chennai to Bengaluru. They were squabbling like kids and we were being the referees. Then again, my parents show their love by bickering with each other.

Quarrels and compliments

I have never heard them say, I love you to each other. Not once. I have not seen them hug in public unless some foreign returned nephew or niece forces them to do this for one of those everyone hug each other family clan selfies. Even then, my parents do this awkwardly. Their relationship is rooted so deep, it is beyond the realm of words or date nights or flowers on anniversaries. Their bond is primal, woven through constant quarrelling, sounds, smells and glances. My mother can smell my fathers arrival. I know this because her nose twitches as the door opens.

 Did you get the coir rope to pack the god photos? she asks.

 Yes and I found all my old banians to wrap them in, he replies.

 When my Dad calls my Mom, he always begins, It is me. (Naan-thaan). Who else would it be?

Filter coffee of hope

Agarwal Packers and Movers have arrived and we are loading the 70 cardboard boxes that will make their way to their new life in Bengaluru. My parents are nervous and excited. They have lived for 30 years in Chennai and are now shearing their ties with their hometown to be near their children in an alien city. As is common in India, our neighbours are saying bye through food. Unholy quantities of curd rice, tamarind rice, lemon rice arrive  this is Chennai after all, where rice is holy. Friends arrive unannounced to gawk and take away things that we dont want. Finally all the boxes are loaded. The house is empty save for the milk cooker, which we do not pack for a very specific reason. The final act that my father performs in the house that I grew up in, the house that we are now abandoning, is to make coffee. Boiling milk was his first act when they entered the house. He now ladles seven spoons of Narasus Coffee  a mixture of peaberry and plantation beans, roasted and ground in the nearby Kamala Coffee Works. The stainless steel filter is pressed to use as it has been every day of my parents married life. The aroma of South Indian filter coffee fills the kitchen. In spite of the withering heat of Chennai, suddenly all seems right with the world. The milk cooker whistles. We crowd around, watching my Dad mix coffee and milk with scientific precision. He puts a spoon full of sugar, mixes the liquid in two tumblers and hands the first one to my Mom.

This is how he shows his love to my mother. As for her, she scolds him into eating one more of everything  idli, dosa, it doesnt matter. It is never enough. Take some more, take one more, says my Mom to my Dad. He always does. In fact, he waits for her to say this. He counts on her to say this. This is the rhythm of their life. This is the rhythm of their love.

Like migrating songbirds, we are moving them to an alien land. Will it work? Let us see.

(This fortnightly column addresses the issue of parenting our parents, an integral part of This Indian Life and our culture. If you have stories about the weird and wonderful relationships that enrich or enervate your life, write in.)

From HT Brunch, March 18, 2018

Follow us on twitter.com/HTBrunch

Connect with us on facebook.com/hindustantimesbrunchProminent business leaders from the SAARC countries gathered here and discussed the role private sector can play in early and effective regional economic integration.

Addressing the inaugural session of the 6th SAARC Business Leaders Conclave here on Friday, SAARC Secretary General Amjad Hussain Sial lauded the role being played by the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry in promoting economic relations among the member states.

In conclave, inaugurated by Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, Sial highlighted the importance of regional economic integration.

He said the concept of SAARC Energy Ring is high on the agenda of SAARC.

In order to develop a SAARC market for electricity, the SAARC Framework Agreement for Energy Cooperation has been signed and its ratification process is underway, said the Secretary General.

The meeting brings together prominent business leaders to discuss the role the private sector can play for early and effective regional economic integration, he said.

SAARC comprises of eight member states: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has called the life sentence to Jagtar Singh Tara, who was on Friday held guilty of assassination of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh in 1995, unfortunate and sorrowful for Sikhs. SGPC chief secretary Roop Singh said, Tara, along with his aides, did not assassinate the CM due to any personal grudge or enmity. They got emotional for a reason that everybody knows. He should not have been treated this way by the Indian justice system.

This punishment is sorrowful for Sikhs, as those who killed them in Delhi and other parts of the country in 1984, are still enjoying freedom. There has been no hearing of Sikhs seeking justice, for decades. This makes them realise that they are citizens of second class in India, he added.

Terming Tara as the hero of Sikh struggle, Dal Khalsa president Harpal Singh Cheema said, Such sentences wont deter Sikh activists from fighting for their cause.

Damdami Taksal chief Harnam Singh Dhumma said, The army attack on Golden Temple, the Sikh massacre and human rights violation by security forces had forced many Sikhs to pick up weapons. Tara had reason to assassinate the then CM. The sentence is unfair, he should be released.

SAD (Amritsar) general secretary Jarnail Singh Sakhira said, Tara should have been given relaxation as he is political prisoner.The bypoll results from Uttar Pradesh (and, to a lesser extent, Bihar) seem to have got everyone excited. If every fourth Indian became an economist after demonetisation, then every third seems to have morphed into a psephologist after the results. An alliance of the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party won two Lok Sabha seats held by the Bharatiya Janata Party, and not just any two seats either  one was previously held by the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, and the other by the deputy chief minister.

There are a few interesting insights about the UP bypoll results. The first is the complete felicity with which the BSP has been able to transfer its vote en bloc to a partner. With Dalits making up 16-18% of the electoral base in the state, this makes Mayawati a formidable partner. The second is the low turnout in both constituencies, perhaps an indication of over-confidence, but equally, a reflection of a poor choice of candidates. And the third, which many analysts have conveniently ignored (although the second explains it to a degree) is that the coming together of the SP and BSP doesnt fully explain the fall of the BJP (purely in terms of vote shares and comparing the Lok Sabha results in 2014 in these two constituencies to the bypoll results). This means other factors the agrarian crisis, unemployment, the crisis in small enterprises, maybe even the spate of encounter killings in the state may have had some role to play in the verdict.

Uttar Pradesh (and Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Gujarat) are very important to the BJP. In these four states the party won 149 Lok Sabha seats out of a possible 160 in 2014. All told, it won 282. And in UP alone, it won 71 of 80. If the party has to repeat its 2014 performance in 2019, it cant afford to lose anything at all in UP.

The verdict has been analysed threadbare, going back four years, sometimes more, and several polls. That may seem excessive because a bypoll isnt a general election. And, in this particular case, a bypoll in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi didnt campaign is definitely not a general or even a state assembly election (in which he always campaigns). Still, talk of a national grand alliance to take on the dominant pole of Indian politics, the BJP, has gathered steam.

Chanakya would like to look at the UP results as a continuum that includes the Gujarat assembly elections, the Rajasthan bypolls, the elections in three North-eastern states, and the bypolls in Bihar. Theres clearly a trend, however weak it may be at the moment. And because there is one, it makes sense to flip the coalition equation on its head and look at the coalition of issues that brought the BJP to power in 2014. More than the arithmetic, it is this that will decide the partys fortunes in 2019.

The first was the promise of Achche Din (good days) which had universal appeal in 2014 (and will always do). The BJPs promise struck a chord with everyone  from farmers seeking to increase their incomes to the middle class desiring more and better jobs (and less tax payouts and a simpler tax structure) to businessmen anxious for rapid economic growth to free-market advocates hoping for the complete (or even partial) exit of government from business and an end to subsidies. The governments performance on this promise has been patchy.

The country is in the midst of an agrarian crisis brought about, in one part, by extreme weather events and, in another, by the lack of market linkages (which means that a bumper produce doesnt necessarily mean good returns for farmers). Few jobs have been created. And the twin disruptions of demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) have taken their toll on many small businesses and the economy. The formalisation of the economy is a laudable objective for the government, as long as it is willing to put up with the pain (and the political cost) associated with it. To be sure, both GST and the bankruptcy code are fundamentally transformative reforms that will have a beneficial effect in the long-term, but they are not exactly the kind of moves that win elections. Finally, many of the free-market proponents who supported the BJP have been disappointed with the partys centrist (and often populist) economic policies, and its continued reliance on Big Government. All of this suggests that the Achche Din promise may not have in 2019 the same kind of appeal it did in 2014.

The second issue that worked for the BJP in 2014 was the anti-corruption platform that the BJP made its own, presenting itself as the alternative to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance that, between 2008 and 2014, was embroiled in several corruption scandals. To its credit, the BJP hasnt been involved in any such scandal since it came to power, but public memory is short and voters have a habit of not focusing too much on parties that have already been penalised electorally once for their past deeds (which could explain why the government is trying hard to revive and pursue some of these cases).

The promise of Achche Din and the anti-corruption platform expanded the BJPs appeal beyond its natural electoral base which remains intact. Coupled with the smart social engineering that manifested itself in the selection of candidates, it made the BJP an unbeatable election machine. The challenge for the party in 2019 will be to show that it has delivered on its promise (or worked towards delivering it), even while keeping the anti-corruption platform relevant. If it cant, then all the coalition maths that analysts have worked on over the past few days will come into play.

letters@hindustantimes.comThe forest department will constitute a think tank for doing comprehensive analysis of damage caused by wildfires to tree species and ecosystem.

The present system of analysis done by the department is not detailed. Officials only give an estimate detail of trees burnt during a fire in an area.

For example, if one-hectare forest with Sal trees is burnt, then the cost of each tree in a 1X1 mt of the area is multiplied. But, this type of calculation, as per officers, isnt fair as it excludes the damage caused to insects, ground grass, medicinal plants and environment.

The current system of analysis of damage due to forest fire is based on the tree loss. But, there are other losses to the ecosystem which are never studied, said Jai Raj, head of forest force (HoFF).

The team will comprise of some of the top-notch forest officers who have a scientific temperament. Along with HoFF and chief wildlife warden, additional principal chief conservator of forest, chief conservator of forest and conservators would be included in it.

Garhwal and Kumaon regions would have separate think tank that would also seek assistance from institutions like Forest Research Institute, Wildlife Institute of India, The Butterfly Research Centre in Bhimtal and GB Pant University in Pantnagar.

As per the latest estimates of the forest department, 144 hectare of forest has been burnt posing revenue loss of 27 lakh since February 15.

Experts, too, feel that it was an initiative which would help the government and the department at looking at the losses in most analytical manner.

Its a great effort if the department plans to study the impact of forest fire in a holistic manner. Certainly, we not only lose trees, but other important plant and animal species. They could even get support from non-government organisations for this task, said Dinesh Pandey, a Haridwar-based activist.A Lokayukta law is redundant in Uttarakhand as the BJP government is walking the talk on its anti-graft policy, chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said on Saturday.

He added that the states permanent capital issue would be resolved soon.

Something would be done to resolve the issue, Rawat said when asked if his government would name Gairsain as a permanent or a summer capital in the assemblys nine-day budget session that commences in the states centrally located hill town on March 20.

In an interview on the occasion of his governments completion of one year on March 18, Rawat rejected the Congresss allegation that the BJP government was not enacting the proposed Lokayaukta Bill pending in the assembly to hide skeletons in its cupboards.

Where is the need for that (enacting a Lokayukta Bill) when we have been effectively pursuing our anti-graft policy? Rawat asked. He was reacting to Congress veteran Indira Hridayeshs allegation that the BJP government failed to fulfil its promise that it would appoint the Lokayukta within 100 days of coming to power.

Rawat said he would soon constitute a new agency to keep an effective check on corruption. It (Lokayukta) is not required because we have initiated a series of anti-graft measures since forming our government a year ago.

He referred to anti-graft steps taken by his government in the Rs 300-crore fraud relating to farmers lands in Udham Singh Nagar that were acquired to construct NH-74. Around 20 officials allegedly involved in the scam have been jailed.

Rawat said his government had curbed corruption relating to transfers and postings of officials, which had acquired a kind of institutionalised shape under the previous Congress regime.

Similarly, effective monitoring has helped us considerably augment our receipts in sectors, such as mining and power, where leakages have been plugged. Rawat said he had managed to keep the middlemen away from the secretariat and the Chief Ministers Office (CMO).

Listing his governments initiatives in the past one year, he said they were aimed at checking forced migration from the hills. So, we tried to strengthen three key sectors  health, education and employment, which were in bad shape when our government came to power, Rawat said, adding that measures were taken to deal with paucity of doctors in the hills.

We have appointed 1141 doctors in state-run hospitals, so far. This has happened for the first time since the states formation 17 years ago, he said. All 13 district hospitals had been equipped with an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) each.

We have now 47 state-run e-hospitals; there are other hospitals which are being equipped with tele-radiology and tele medicine facilities, Rawat said.

To boost the farm sector, he said, cluster-based farming is being introduced in Nyay Panchayat areas, which will be developed as growth centres. Besides, hill farmers will be encouraged to go for unconventional farming to boost their income.

In the higher education sector, Rawat said, all posts of principals in state-run colleges had been filled. All colleges have 93% faculty and the process of filling up the vacancies is currently on.

PM to monitor Chardham road project

The CM said Prime Minister Narendra Modi would soon visit Uttarakhand to monitor the progress of the Chardham all-weather road project.

He (Modi) will visit the entire project area by road, Rawat said. Sources said the PM is likely to visit the state during the opening of the portals of the Kedanath shrine in April.A man has been booked for purchasing 30 two-wheelers on loan from five finance companies by using forged Aadhaar and PAN cards in Dehradun, police said on Saturday.

Using these documents the accused, Kulbeer Rana, and his friends availed 12 vehicles from L&T Finance, two from Manappuram Finance Limited, three from Shriram Finance, five from Muthoot Finance, eight from HDFC Finance.

The accused and his friends took a house on rent in Subhash Nagar area of the city. They then used its address to prepare false Aadhaar and PAN cards and opened bank accounts in the Turner Road branch of Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC), police said.

After opening the accounts, they approached the finance companies to purchase two-wheelers by paying down payments between 10,000 and 12,000. After gaining possession of the vehicles, the gang used to sell them in far-off locations at higher prices and earn profits.

In-charge of Clement Town police station DS Negi said, We have received a complaint against Kulbeer Rana that he and others have financed many vehicles using fake identity proofs. They used to finance two-wheelers from different companies.

Speaking about the modus operandi, he said the accused first prepared Aadhaar cards using false local address. Once made, they opened bank accounts and then used them to approach finance companies to purchase vehicles by paying small down payments.

They opened nearly 25 accounts in this manner. All the vehicles are two-wheelers and the accused are from Saharanpur, he said.

The fraud was unearthed when the finance companies realised that the EMIs were not being paid against these vehicles. When the companies sent teams for ground verification, they found that Kulbeer and his friends no longer stay in the address mentioned in their Aadhaar cards.

The landlord reportedly told the teams that he lives elsewhere and had rented out the entire house to some boys.

Rajbir Kumar, branch manager OBC, Tunner Road, said, We are yet to receive any communication from the police in this regard. If a person submits PAN and Aadhar card before us, we will open his/her account. How can we verify if the identity cards are fake?

Asked if any spot verification is carried out before opening an account, he said, We have a centralised mechanism and our accounts are opened from Bareilly.

We send a thanks letter to the address of the customer. If it is received, it means the person is living there. Moreover, the finance companies are responsible for giving loans for the vehicles. We have nothing to do with it.

Meanwhile, Bharat Singh Negi, manager Muthoot Finance, Dehradun, said, I joined in January and the loans were sanctioned last year. The gang used to present each other as applicants and guarantors. I dont know anything beyond this.

He said his colleague Basant Kumar (who is also the complainant in the case) would be able to answer as he knows the entire history of the case.

When contacted, Basant Kumar initially said Negi is the ideal person to speak on it and later refused comment stating he is now out of station.

Meanwhile, police have registered a case following a complaint by Basant Kumar of Muthoot Finance in Clement Town police station under section 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery), among others, of the Indian Penal Code.

Police are also investigating the role of these finance companies and the bank for callousness in conducting spot verifications before sanctioning loans.

Cops, who are privy to the matter, said teams have been sent to different locations to trace the vehicles and some of them have already been recovered.

This is the second major case in less than one month in Dehradun where bank accounts were opened and operated using forged documents.

On February 24, Hindustan Times had reported a case wherein a man had was booked for impersonating his dead father and availing his pension for 37 years and availed of four loans against the pension.Congress veteran and Leader of Opposition in the assembly Indira Hridayesh has alleged that chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat failed on all fronts during his first year in office. In an interview, she pooh-poohed his policy of zero tolerance for graft and dares him to enact the proposed Lokayukta (anti-graft) law and name Gairsain as a permanent capital.

Chief minister Trivednra Singh Rawat is completing his one year in office. How do you rate the BJP governments performance?

This (BJP) government has badly failed on all fronts, especially development. It has failed in fiscal management and has no funds to pay employees their salaries.

The government claims that it has initiated a series of steps to strengthen the health sector, like appointing 600 additional doctors

The health sector has gone to dogs like farm and education sectors All the state-run hospitals in the hills are devoid of medical facilities and are grappling with paucity of doctors. Most doctors who were recently transferred to the hills quit their jobs to start private practice.

The government claims that it is giving a boost to the farm sector by popularising organic farming among hill farmers. It claims that 10,000 organic clusters are being developed in the state

Their plans never translate on the ground. Farmers are dying of hunger because they are not even getting adequate price for their crops When farmers are not able to handle traditional farming, how would they handle organic farming?

The government recently constituted the Rural Development and Migration Commission It claims that 670 Nyaya Panchayats in the state are being developed as growth centres to boost rural economy.

These all are tall talksHave they rebuilt the houses that were washed away by the cataclysmic floods that hit the state in 2013? Have they rehabilitated those who were rendered homeless? In such a situation what will people do if not migrate?

The government claims that the centrally funded schemes coming up in the state, such as the Chardham all-weather road project and the Rishkesh-Karnprayag rail line project, will help boost tourism

The National Green Tribunal has stopped work on both the centrally funded projects. Let the government first clarify how those (projects) are being implementedLet the time come We all will see what kind of infrastructure they are building.

The BJP government recently introduced NCERT books in schools to ensure uniformity of education. It claims that schools and colleges are being equipped with facilities like e-library.

The condition of both school and higher education is dismal in the state. They are imposing dress code on students instead of providing them facilities to enhance their employability

The government says its recent move to link airstrips with helicopter services will help boost tourism. As part of that move it is also developing a new destination each in all the 13 districts.

Their helicopter service scheme meant for the common man has not taken wings. They are talking of developing new destinationsLet them first develop the highly mismanaged old destinations.

The chief minister claims to have walked the talk on corruption and initiated action against officials involved in NH scam.

Why doesnt this government order a CBI inquiry into the multi-crore NH scam? How can middle-level officials alone be involved in the fraud without the support of big fish? Obviously, the government is shielding the big fish.

The BJP says it had tabled the proposed Lokayukta (anti-graft) Bill in the assembly on time but its passing was delayed because of your partys ambivalence.

There is no truth in that. This government is shying away from appointing the Lokayukta (anti-graft ombudsman) because it has skeletons in its cupboards.

The BJP says that it will soon fulfil its promise to name Gairsain as a summer capital It says the state government has already started formulating a plan to develop it as a township.

They have put up not a single brick at Gairsain Our (Congress) government built Vidhan Bhawan in that town. Let this (BJP) government clarify whether it is going to set up a permanent capital there (Gairsain) or a summer capitalWe will raise the issue of permanent capital in the assemblys budget session that starts at Gairsain soon. It will be the first issue we will raise on the floor of the House.The Uttarakhand government has ordered a vigilance probe into alleged irregularities in the recruitment of ANMs (auxiliary nurse midwives).

The health directorate had started a recruitment process to fill 440 vacant posts of ANMs in the state two years ago, and a total of 293 applicants were declared pass. However, the process has been embroiled in controversies as documents of nearly 114 applicants were found to be torn or missing.

We have already ordered a departmental probe into the case. The vigilance will also investigate if there was any wrongdoing and identify who is responsible for it, health secretary Nitesh Kumar Jha said.

He said they would also look into how documents of some applicants were found to be torn and missing. To stop its reoccurrence, the answerability needs to be fixed, he said.

Meanwhile, the Centre has sanctioned 9.38 crore for the state to facilitate purchase of 50 new basic life support ambulances, run 104 helpline and purchase equipment for blood banks.

The fleet of ambulances had not been renewed for the past 10 years. The focus at present is to get new vehicles and improve services, Jha said.A 23-year-old man died of a gunshot wound when he and his friend were taking photos with a pistol in outer Delhis Vijay Vihar on Thursday, the police said.

Several photos of the two friends posing with the weapon were found on the mobile phone of the dead man, Vijay Singh, prompting the police to suspect the case was similar to the one reported from South Delhis Sarita Vihar last week. On March 8, a teacher was accidentally shot dead  allegedly by his minor cousin  while posing with a licensed revolver.

In the latest instance, the investigators will await the forensic report to conclude whether this was an accidental firing, a self-inflicted wound or murder, said Rajneesh Gupta, deputy commissioner of police (Rohini).

The survivor fled after Singhs death and remained untraceable through Friday. The DCP identified the absconder as Monu, a local resident. The police were yet to verify the backgrounds of the two men, and how they were in possession of a gun for which neither had a licence.

According to Singhs 12-year-old cousin, Monu arrived at their home with the pistol around 9 pm on Thursday.

Monu went straight to Vijays room. I was in the living room, but the conversations between Monu and Vijay suggested they were playing with the pistol and taking photos, said the girl.

Within minutes, she heard a loud bang and rushed into the room to find Singh lying dead with a wound behind his neck. Immediately, Monu pushed her away and ran away from the house. Vijay was rushed to a hospital, but was pronounced dead on arrival.A 40-year-old factory worker died after his colleague directed an air jet from a high pressure pipe into his anus in outer Delhis Nangloi, police said on Friday.

Deputy commissioner of police (outer) MN Tiwari said the accident occurred on Wednesday morning and the victim, who was identified only by his first name Ravinder, died due to damages to his intestines on Thursday.

A case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder has been registered at Nangloi police station and the accused, identified as Pandit, has been arrested, said the DCP. Pandit has claimed the incident was a prank gone wrong. Our probe so far hasnt pointed to any foul motive, the DCP added.

Ravinder lived in Nanglois Swarn Park area with his family and worked at a plywood factory there. When Ravinder arrived at work on Wednesday morning, Pandit noticed that his trousers were torn in the rear, said the DCP.

Pandit, with the intention of playing a prank, allegedly picked up a high pressure pipe and directed the air jet towards the hole in Ravinders trousers. It wasnt as if Ravinder was pinned down on the ground and the air forced into his body. However, the prank left him with intense abdomen pain, said the DCP.

Ravinder was hospitalised, but allegedly did not mention the incident to the doctors treating him. It was only when he was informed that he would have to undergo a surgery that he panicked and revealed the incident, said the officer.

However, Ravinder succumbed to the injuries on Thursday. Police said that though doctors are yet to clarify on the precise cause of death, it is believed that the prank had caused severe injuries to his intestines. Pandit and other factory workers were questioned by the police, after which an FIR was registered and the accused arrested.A member of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland  Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM) was arrested by customs officials at the Delhi airport after he was found to be in possession of five pistol-conversion carbine units, in a move that government officials figure could affect ongoing talks between the group and the Indian government for a peace accord.

The converter turns any pistol into an assault rifle. It isnt a weapon itself.

The 45-year-old, whose name was not shared with Hindustan Times, was arrested after he landed in New Delhi from Bangkok on Thursday night, senior customs officials confirmed on condition of anonymity.

We had information that he might be carrying contraband. He was stopped and nothing suspicious was found in the hand baggage. His registered baggage was scanned and the converters along with several other accessories which help improve the accuracy of fire arms were recovered, said a customs officer.

Senior customs officials added that while no weapons were recovered from the accused, the equipment seized from him is used to convert a small gun into range firing weapon and allows multiple firing.

The passenger had purchased the converters in Bangkok and since it is not illegal to carry these in registered or check-in luggage, he had no problems at the embarkation point.

The customs official mentioned above added that the person had frequently travelled between Bangkok and India, but usually landed in Kolkata. It isnt clear whether this was his first attempt to bring in converters.

Government officials familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity that the arrest might complicate the equation Central government has with the insurgent group,

The BJP government in 2015 signed a framework agreement for the Naga peace deal with the NSCN-IM. Recently, the government found itself at loggerheads with NSCN-IM after the insurgent group endorsed a call given by civil society of Nagaland to boycott state elections. The arrest has therefore put the Intelligence Bureau, the National Investigation agency and the customs department in a tight spot.

The state IB unit was informed about the incident and officials are currently communicating with the customs department to gather further information, a senior Home Ministry official said.

An NIA official confirmed that the arrested person belongs to NSCN-IM but refused to give out his name or current designation in the group.

In a press statement Amandeep Singh, additional commissioner of customs said the accused has been booked under the Arms and Customs act.

Four RONI G1 pistol-carbine conversion units, one RONI B (Beretta M9/92FS) pistol-carbine conversion unit, two L-3 EoTech holographic weapon sight along with some other equipments were recovered. The items have been seized under customs and arms act and the passenger has been arrested, the statement read.

Minister of State for Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju was not immediately reachable for comment.Police on Friday suggested that the man shot dead in outer Delhis Vijay Vihar might have been killed accidentally even as the family suggested foul play.

Police, however, clarified that they were investigating the case and have not yet ruled out the foul play angle.

Vijay Singh, a 23-year-old resident of Vijay Vihar, was found dead inside his residence with a gunshot wound to the back of his neck on Thursday night. Vijays mobile phone later showed photos of him and his friend, Monu, posing with a gun before the fatal shot was fired, said Rajneesh Gupta, deputy commissioner of police (Rohini).

The pistol was found lying next to Vijays body. A magazine was found elsewhere in the room. So, it is possible that a bullet was in the chamber of the weapon, even though the men thought it was unloaded. But, we havent ruled out the possibility of the magazine being removed after the firing, said the DCP.

A native of Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan, Vijay is among five siblings and lived with his uncles family in Vijay Vihar. He was unemployed and was was trying to get a salaried job for sometime, said Vijays aunt, Nirmala.

Monu, Vijays friend from the same neighbourhood, was a regular visitor to their home. On Thursday night, Monu whipped out a pistol that he had hidden and got in his pants. He flashed it before me and walked straight into Vijays room, said Vijays 12-year-old cousin.

Vijays cousina nd her 10-year-old brother were in the living room when the firing happened. My brother and I were playing games on mobile phones. In the other room, Vijay and Monu were playing with the gun. From their conversations, I could make out that they were also taking photos with the gun, said the girl.

Minutes later, the girl heard a loud bang and rushed into the room to find Vijay slumped on the floor next to a bed. He had been shot in the lower back of his head. Monu then pushed me and ran away, said the girl. The girl then alerted her parents who rushed to the room, loaded a motionless Vijay on a scooter and rushed him to Dr BSR Ambedkar Hospital nearby, where he was declared brought dead.

When police arrived at the spot and checked Vijays mobile phone, they found over half-a-dozen photos he and Monu had taken with the gun, allegedly in the few minutes preceding the death.

A case in this connection has been registered at Vijay Vihar police station and a search initiated for Monu, said the DCP. There will be more clarity on the sequence of events once we nab Monu and obtain forensic reports, said the DCP.A transgender male model has been announced as the face of a new campaign aiming to challenge the stigma around periods. In the IM ON campaign launched by period subscription service Pink Parcel, Kenny Jones, 23, can be seen alongside activists, fashion designers, and writers.

He is joined by high profile women in Pink Parcels campaign, including British fashion designer Olivia Rubin, style influencer and activist Natalie Lee, and journalists and podcast host Pandora Sykes and Dolly Alderton. Jones was 14 when he came out as trans and was 16 when he shaved his head and changed his name. Formerly known as christened Kelsey, he spoke about the suffering he went through when transitioning at a young age.

During my transition, I did have to deal with experiencing periods each month and many of the negative stereotypes that can come along with it, Jones told The Independent. He added, I always found the fact that no one seemed to openly talk about periods quite difficult and made me want to hide mine even more. Thats why I wanted to be involved in the IM ON campaign.

Putting an emphasis on encouraging period-talk, Jones said, how starting a conversation is the first step to normalise periods in the society. He believes that trans men should feel more comfortable discussing periods with one another. Jones attended an all-girls school, where he refused to wear a skirt. He was sent to see a psychiatrist at the age of 11 but says he never understood what gender was as a child. At the age of 20, Jones started growing facial hair which helped him finally feel comfortable with his body.

Follow @htlifeandstyle for moreThe family members of the journalist, who has been arrested by police for allegedly being part of the conspiracy for the murder of Anand Vashisht, a Badshahpur resident, have claimed that he is being made a scapegoat in the case. They have also demanded a fair probe into his arrest.

Hariom Nirala, brother of the arrested journalist Pradeep Nirala, called a press conference on Saturday along with the scribes lawyer Yatish Goel. They demanded a probe into the illegal detention of the scribe, a call made allegedly by a driver to Niralas son demanding money and the questionable allegations levelled against him by the police.

Nirala is being made a scapegoat in this case, as there is no evidence to suggest that he brokered any deal or made calls to Anand Vashisht threatening or pressuring him (into settling the firing case). The same could be corroborated by examining his call details, Goel, Niralas counsel, said.

Read I Badshahpur murder case: Rights body seeks police reply on alleged harassment of journalist

He also alleged that the police had arrested the scribe under pressure from villagers, who suspect that he was involved in the conspiracy to kill Vashisht. He said that there is no evidence to suggest his involvement in the case.

Niralas brother said alleged that an unknown person, who identified himself as Ariz Khan, a driver, called the journalists son on the night of March 14 and asked the family to arrange for money, as Nirala was being detained and needed it. He said Pradeep was in a bad shape and was being detained. We were told that his motorcycle and his laptop bag was at a police chowki. We didnt do what he asked us to, but we recorded the call that proves that my brother was in police custody, Hari Om said.

They also claimed that the police was under pressure to show that he was arrested, as a notice had been issued by the Scheduled Caste Commission in the light of his alleged harassment and illegal detention.The Fortis hospital on Saturday denied negligence and overcharging the parents of a one-and-a-half-year-old boy, who was suffering from Hunters disease and died after a bone marrow transplant procedure.

The hospital authorities also said that the patient's family was informed about the risks and benefits of the procedure and all permissions were taken as per protocol. The doctors at the private hospital said that the patient was critically immuno-compromised (having the immune system weakened or impaired) and the family decided to opt for the transplant at the Fortis hospital after seeking the opinion of other medical facilities.

The father of the one-and-a-half-year-old boy approached the city police alleging negligence by the hospital authorities after a report by a medical board, set up by the government, noted that the boy got an infection at the hospital.

Dr Rahul Bhargava, director, haemotology, Fortis Memorial Research Institute (FMRI), said that the child was treated in line with the best medical practices available in the country. While the pain and despair of the family is understandable, raising allegations against the doctors and the hospital is unfair. There is a need to understand the complete medical facts of the case, Bhargava said.

Read I Father files police case after infant dies of infection at Fortis Gurgaon

A team of doctors from the hospital also asserted that the boys treatment commenced only after the family took a second opinion from medical experts in India and abroad. We did not charge 27 lakh as claimed by the family. The bill was arounnd 16 lakh, the doctors said.

Responding to the charge that the boy got an infection during treatment, Bhargava said that he was critically immuno-compromised and thus highly prone to infections even in a highly sanitized environment. Strict infection control practices are followed as per global standards at the hospital, but it is impossible to ensure zero per cent infection rate. Also the infection could have been caused because of the bacteria in his body, Bhargava said.

The hospital authorities also said that they are ready to invite the medical board members to check for violation of norms, if any. We will study the report submitted by the medical board and take appropriate steps, the doctor said.Union minister Rao Inderjit Singh on Friday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to lay the foundation stone for the Dwarka Expressway in April and that he has issued directions to officials for resolving all issues in the way of the projects completion by the end of March.

In April, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway and also lay the foundation stone for the Dwarka Expressway. I have directed officials to submit a progress report of the project by the end of the month and resolve all remaining land transfer issues, Inderjit Singh said.

A meeting of deputy commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh, officials of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda), National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and Haryana State Industrial & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (HSIIDC) was held at the Niti Aayog office in New Delhi on Friday.

The minister directed officials that the land transfer from HSIIDC to NHAI needs to be undertaken at the earliest and also directed DC Singh to hold a meeting with HSIIDC for initiating the transfer process.

Huda officials told Inderjit Singh that the acquisition of land for constructing the expressway is progressing at a fast pace and 134 people have been given compensation.

They further added that they are soon expecting their main office in Panchkula to sanction a hefty compensation amount that can be distributed to the remaining oustees.

On March 12, Inderjit Singh had said that the Dwarka Expressway will be constructed in five phases. The announcement was made during an interaction with members of the DXP welfare association, a body comprising homebuyers who have invested in residential areas along the stretch.

On March 7, road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari had said the PM will lay the foundation stone for the Dwarka Expressway but did not disclose as to when it would take place.

Huda had announced the Dwarka Expressway project in 2007, and it was taken over by the NHAI in October 2016.

Currently, a litigation over land in New Palam Vihar is holding up the completion of the expressway.Uttar Pradesh police are looking for a teenager after a surveillance camera at the entrance of State Bank of Indias main branch in Rampur purportedly caught him escaping with a bag containing Rs 3 lakh on Friday noon.

The CCTV video showed the boy in a red shirt and blue jeans quickly exiting the bank holding the green shoulder bag full of cash belonging to businessman Neeraj Khandelwal, circle officer (city) Narendra Pal Singh said.

Khandelwals written complaint to police reads: I brought the money to deposit in the bank. I was sitting on a bench inside the bank waiting for my turn when I realised that my bag was gone.

The branch is located near a police post. Kotwali police registered an FIR against the unidentified boy. We have deployed two police teams to identify and nab the thief. The teams are combing localities close to the bank, circle officer Singh said.

Bank officials asked their security staff to be more alert after the theft, and hung a notice appealing clients to be vigilant about their belongings.

The theft occurred in the waiting area for customers  It is not linked to any of our staff members and we have not launched any internal probe, branch manager Ajit Kumar said.

According to police, the last time a theft was reported in a bank in the area was in 2016 when Rs 20,000 was stolen from a person.A bus carrying over 60 passengers fell off a bridge in Bihars Sitamarhi district, about 130 kilometres north of state capital Patna, killing at least 12 persons on the spot on Saturday evening. As many as 46 passengers were also injured in the incident.

The accident took place at around 6 pm on the National Highway 77 near Bhanaspatti village under Runnisaidpur area of the district. Police said the bus was going to Aurai via Runnisaidpur from Muzaffarpur.

Of the injured, 34 were admitted to the primary health centre (PHC) at Runnisaidpur while 12 were rushed to the Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH) in Muzaffarpur.

Sitamarhi district magistrate (DM) Rajiv Raushan confirmed the death of 12 passengers. Rescue operations were going on in full swing till late evening. Top officials of the state administration were monitoring the same. District officials have been asked to ensure proper medicare to all the injured.

Locals also rushed to the spot and helped the administration to carry out the rescue operations. The bodies were extricated through a crane.

According to Sitamarhi superintendent of police (SP) Hariprasath S, the driver of the ill fated bus lost control over the vehicle and it fell into a 30-ft deep ditch after breaking the railing of the bridge.

The SP said all the injured and deceased belonged to Aurai and Katra villages in Muzaffarpur district. The bus, Chandan Rath, belonged to a private operator.

According to some of the injured, who used to commute by the bus daily, the driver appeared to be a rookie who was at the wheels of this bus perhaps for the first time on Saturday.

Some of the injured passengers gave a statement to the police that the bus met with the accident when it was trying to overtake a vehicle on the bridge.

Incidentally, from September 10, 2016 to March 11, 2018, a total of 84 persons have been killed in major road accidents in north Bihar.

Ex gratia announced

Chief minister Nitish Kumar expressed grief over the incident and directed the district administration to provide ex gratia to the families of the deceased.

The Sitamarhi DM susequently announced an ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh to the next of the kin of each deceased and free treatment for all those injured in the accident.

Leader of the opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav also condoled the deaths.Agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh on Saturday asked farm leaders getting into politics not to just raise issues related to the farming community but also help the government in implementing its programmes.

We are all farmers. Many farmers are getting into politics. I urge those political leaders to raise the farmers issues and at the same time help in implementing the government programmes, Singh said addressing the three-day Krishi Unnati Mela here.

He asked them not to just shout slogans.

Stating that farmers welfare has been priority of the government, Singh said the allocation for agriculture sector has been higher at Rs 2.11 lakh crore in four years of the Modi government, when compared to Rs 1.25 lakh crore of the last regime.

He exuded confidence in achieving the target of doubling farmers income by 2022.Samajwadi Party president and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday refused to reveal his strategy for 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the nature of his partys alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

While he kept his cards close to his chest, Akhilesh made it clear that Congress will also be a part of the alliance. He was speaking at an event organised by a news channel.

I have learnt from the BJP that no strategy should be revealed. It will not be prudent to reveal the strategy and likely nature of alliance with the BSP, Akhilesh said when asked about his strategy for 2019 to confront the BJP following SPs impressive victories in Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha bypolls.

Attacking chief minister Yogi Adityanath for his recent statement that he was Hindu and did not celebrate Eid, the former CM said: Before assuming office of CM he (Yogi Adityanath) took oath of office and should not have given such a statement.

He said the SPs victory in the recent bypolls in U.P. was not an overnight result. We had started preparing long back for the bypolls, he said.

Akhilesh also attacked the BJP government at the Centre. The BJP government at the Centre has presented five budgets. But they have not fulfilled any of the promises they had made with electorate.

He also questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modis Smart City project. No one knows what the Smart City project is and what will happen under this project.

He advised BJP leaders to take lesson from defeat in Gorakhpur and Phoolpur bye-elections.

He also poked fun at his successor Adityanaths visit to Noida to inaugurate the Noida-Delhi Metro line last year. Both CM and Prime Minister went to Noida. Now, see they lost both the bypolls. He is a Yogi. He has direct connection with God. But before going to Noida, he did not take permission from God.

A succession of Uttar Pradesh chief ministers have avoided visiting Noida over a superstition that a visit leaders to electoral losses.

Akhilesh also ticked off the state government on development front.

Tell me one new project which the CM has inaugurated in the last one year. He inaugurated Lucknow Metro which was Samajwadi Partys project and was completed by my government, he said.Police in Bihars Darbhanga district said on Saturday that a BJP workers father was killed over a land dispute and not for renaming a village square after Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A group of 20 armed villagers raided the house of BJP worker, Tej Narayan Yadav on Thursday late night and attacked its occupants with sticks and other weapons. The BJP workers father, Ram Chandra Yadav, 60 was killed while his brother, Bhola Yadav was injured in the incident. Tej was not present in the house at that time.

The family of the BJP worker had claimed that they were attacked for putting up a signboard renaming the village square after Modi, implying political forces behind the incident.

Darbhanga senior superintendent of police (SSP) Satyaveer Singh said that the BJP worker and his supporters had put up the signboard on a plot of private land two years ago.

Another villager, Kamlesh Yadav laid his claim over the land, but Tej Narayan refused to accept his claim. Since then the two parties were at loggerheads and had made abortive attempts to kill each other.

The land named Modi Chowk is neither an intersection nor a triangle junction to be called a village square, the SSP said after returning from the village. He said police police are studying documents being produced by the claimants.

We have received a complaint in connection with the murder filed by Tej Narayans wife, Sushila Devi. She has not mentioned names of any of the attackers. She has only raised suspicion that Kamlesh Yadav and Dilip Pasi, both local villagers, could have planned the attack and conspired the killing, the SSP said. Bhola Yadav too has made a similar statement.

Police said Kamlesh has a murder case pending against him.

The BJP leaders father had lodged a case in December 2016 accusing Kamlesh of plotting to eliminate his family.

In Patna, deputy chief minister, Sushil Modi too dismissed the allegations made by the BJP workers family and added that the Modi Chowk board was put up long time back.

The BJP workers father was murdered because of a property dispute, the deputy CM told a newspaper.

The state BJP leadership, however, is said to be refusing to buy its own governments stand on the incident.

Bihar BJP President, Nityanand Rai on Saturday travelled to Bhadhawa village and met the bereaved family. He said the objective behind his visit was to find out the facts that led to the incident.The body of a Pakistani militant was found by security forces on Saturday while clearing the debris at the site of a gun-battle near Srinagar where two militants were killed a day earlier, police said.

The body of Hamas, from Pakistan, was found when security forces and bomb disposal squad were clearing the area of unexploded shells/mines after the encounter in Balhama of Khonmoh near Srinagar, according to a police statement.

On Friday, police had said that two militants were killed in an overnight encounter on the outskirts of Srinagar which started after they fired on security officers of a BJP leader.

The two slain militants, Rasiq Nabi Bhat, resident of Tral, and Shabir Dar, resident of Awantipora, were members of the Ansar Ghazwat ul Hind  a supposed al-Qaeda branch in Kashmir, headed by Zakir Musa.

As per police records they had joined militancy last year in March and August last year respectively.

At least, two houses were damaged in the encounter, one of which belonged to a prominent poet of Kashmir, Ghulam Muhammad Bhat, also known as Madhosh Balhami.

Local media reports said he lost several manuscripts and pieces of writings.The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has pointed out that the state power distribution company Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) made an irregular tax reimbursement of Rs 1.41 crore to a New Delhi-based contractor, Shyam Indus Power Solution Pvt Ltd.

Incidentally, the director of the company, Satya Pal Sindhu, is the brother of Haryana minister Capt Abhimanyu. The CAG in its audit of transactions of state-owned companies for 2016-17 found that DHBVN in July 2013 issued a work order to the firm at a cost of Rs 110 crore along with Rs 8.27-crore taxes.

The firm was to supply of material for installing high-tension power lines for high voltage distribution system and strengthening the system in non-HUDA areas of Gurgaon city.

Payment according to procedure Satya Pal Sindhu, director of Shyam Indus Power Solution Pvt Ltd, is the brother of Haryana minister Capt Abhimanyu. While Capt Abhimanyu did not comment on the matter, the firms chief financial officer, Sheetal Khurana, in a text message said the company had submitted all details of the claims properly and the payment was according to the procedure followed by the DHBVN. The order was awarded to us under risk and cost clause and the taxes were paid as per the claims settled by the DHBVN with the earlier successful bidder of the same work, Khurana said

According to the work order, taxes in respect of transactions between DHBVN and Shyam Indus on all items of supply to be dispatched directly from the sub-vendor to the companys site were to be paid after receipt of each shipment at site against documentary evidence.

Central sales tax is levied on interstate sales under the CST Act. The law provides that if during the movement of goods in the course of interstate sales they are sold in-transit by transfer of documents of title to the government or a registered dealer, the in-transit sale would be exempted from the CST.

The audit observed that Shyam Indus raised invoices (from October 2013 to January 2016) towards exempted sale under the provisions of the CST Act, amounting to about Rs 70 crore.

No tax had been paid as per the returns filed by Shyam Indus against such supply. However, it raised a separate bill for reimbursement of CST amount of Rs 1.41 crore in February 2016 without submitting any supporting documentary evidence of tax payment. The DHBVN also did not seek any documentary evidence of CST payment from the contractor paid by Shyam Indus before allowing the reimbursement of tax in May 2016, the CAG said.

The state government in August 2017 said that Shyam Indus raised claim of taxes that had been paid on purchases made by it. The CAG, however, did not find the reply tenable as the taxes paid by Shyam Indus on purchases were not liable to be paid by DHBVN because the sale price included all incidental expenses and profit element. According to the CST Act provisions, no tax was payable under transit supply, hence the tax reimbursement of Rs 1.41 crore to Shyma Indus was irregular, the auditor pointed out.The focus of the two-day Congress plenary that began on Saturday will not only be on the partys roadmap for the next five years but also on how to counter a seemingly invincible BJP under Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Being held after a gap of seven years, the theme of the 84th plenary session of the 132-year-old Congress party will be Change is Now (Waqt Hai Badlav Ka).

Under newly-elected Congress president Rahul Gandhi, the meet will also extensively discuss the prevailing political and economic situation in the country under the BJP government.

Rahul will set the tone with a hard-hitting attack on the BJP and talk about the allegations of corruption against the government in his opening remarks in a bid to re-energise party workers, said a leader familiar with developments.

Welcome delegates and distinguished guests to the #CongressPlenary.



Over the next two days I look forward to interacting with you and to sharing experiences and perspectives that will together help us build a stronger, more vibrant Congress party.



Jai Hind.  Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 17, 2018

The plenary will also ratify 47-year-old Rahuls election as Congress president, a requirement under the party constitution. On December 16 last year, he took over the party reins from his mother, Sonia Gandhi, who remained at the helm for more than 19 years.

A meeting of the subjects committee formed for the session, and which includes members of the steering committee that had replaced the working committee, approved four resolutions that will be adopted at the meet.

The political resolution will talk about the alliance strategy to be adopted in states and at the national level and also have a special focus on the role of former Congress presidents from the non-Gandhi family such as Subhas Chandra Bose.

The party will pledge its support to the demand for special category status to Andhra Pradesh, an issue that has prompted the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to quit the NDA alliance and move a no-confidence motion against the Modi government. The YSR Congress Party has separately moved a similar motion.

Apart from resolutions on economy, foreign policy, and agriculture coupled with unemployment and poverty alleviation, the plenary will pave the way for the reconstitution of the Congress Working Committee (CWC). Rahul is expected to take a call whether to go for elections or continue with the nomination culture to form the new CWC.

Rahul has also asked organisers to ensure that workers are given preference over leaders in speaking on resolutions, a marked departure from the practice generally adopted at such meets.

Apart from Sonia, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will also address the session.

The last plenary was held at Burari on the outskirts of Delhi in December 2010 when the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was in power at the Centre.Setting the tone for the next Lok Sabha elections a year before they are due, the Congress on Saturday said it will adopt a pragmatic approach on alliances with compatible parties to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and demanded the reintroduction of ballot papers to check what it called the manipulation of poll outcomes through misuse of electronic voting machines (EVMs).

On the opening day of the partys 84th plenary session, Congress president Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP of dividing the country by spreading hatred and anger. His mother and predecessor Sonia Gandhi termed Prime Minister Narendra Modis pre-poll promises dramebazi , or theatrics.

The BJP dismissed the remarks as mere political rhetoric that the people of the country have rejected repeatedly. Both mother and son have been making same baseless allegations since 2014. People of India have rejected them and brought BJP to power in state after state, while the Congress has become politically extinct, the ruling partys spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao said.

In a political resolution adopted on the opening day of the plenary session, the main opposition party said Modis pitch for simultaneous polls was misplaced, impractical and incompatible with the Constitution. There are apprehensions among the political parties and the people over the misuse of EVMs to manipulate the outcome contrary to the popular verdict, it said.

The resolution on agriculture and employment talked about imposing a 5% cess on the incomes of the top 1% richest Indians to create a national poverty alleviation fund.

The key takeaway from day one was the Congress partys resolve to evolve a common workable programme with like-minded parties to defeat the BJP in the 2019 elections. While the party has decided to continue with the alliance strategy adopted at its Shimla conclave in 2003, a year before it led the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) to power, it did not insist on leading a coalition this time.

The Shimla declaration had rejected the 1998 Pachmarhi resolution that laid special emphasis on following the ekala chalo (go it alone) line.

The stage for a broader understanding against the BJP has already been set with Sonia Gandhi, chairperson of the UPA that lost power in 2014, hosting a dinner for leaders of 20 parties at her residence on March 13. This was followed by a series of meetings between Rahul Gandhi and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar.

The recent by-poll outcome in Gorakhpur and Phulpur parliamentary seats in Uttar Pradesh, both of which were wrested from the BJP by the Samajwadi Party (SP), has also sent a clear message to the opposition parties that the BJP juggernaut could be stopped only if they come together. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supported SP candidates in the seats vacated by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and his deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya.

Political experts said the Congress should become a rallying force for all other political parties but cautioned that the EVM issue could be tricky and needs to be handled with prudence.

It is the best way forward. The Congress needs to bring together all those parties that are opposed to majoritarianism and authoritarianism and evolve a common minimum programme, Delhi-based political analyst Balveer Arora said.

The Congress partys demand for reverting to the old practice of paper ballots comes in the wake of a controversy over alleged EVM tampering. The Congress and other opposition parties have in the past repeatedly urged the Election Commission to replace the EVMs with ballot papers in all future elections.

The demand for discarding EVMs is a tricky one. How do you explain the results in Gorakhpur and Phulpur? They need to fight for more stringent and transparent use of EVMs and paper trail verification, Arora said.

The session will conclude with the adoption of resolutions on foreign policy and the economy, followed by Rahul Gandhis closing remarks to delegates.Appearing to be unnerved by the Bharatiya Janata Partys juggernaut and a series of electoral setbacks since 2014, the Congress on Saturday rolled out its roadmap for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The grand-old party not only stuck to its line of adopting a pragmatic approach in forging alliances with like-minded parties and evolving a common workable programme to defeat the saffron fold in 2019 but also promised sops to the farmers and youngsters if voted to power.

However, unlike the Shimla declaration of 2003 when it insisted on leading the coalition, the Congress this time remained silent on the leadership issue. Since receiving its worst-ever electoral drubbing in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress has suffered defeats in successive assembly elections and is now in power in just Karnataka, Punjab, Mizoram and Puducherry.

Retaining Karnataka, which found resonance in the speeches of former party chief Sonia Gandhi and others, is crucial for the party to prepare for the 2019 general elections polls with a resurgent spirit.

On the opening day of the 84th plenary session, two resolutions were adopted by a gathering of Congress leaders and workers from across the country.

In the political resolution, the Congress urged the Election Commission (EC) to revert to ballot papers instead of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), which have come under scrutiny following tampering allegations.

It also said Prime Minister Narendra Modis push for simultaneous polls was misplaced, impractical and incompatible with the Constitution and would have serious implications.

Being held after a gap of seven years, the theme of the 84th Congress plenary session is  Change is Now (Waqt Hai Badlav Ka).

The resolution on agriculture, employment and poverty alleviation, moved by Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, promised a loan-waiver scheme for small and marginal farmers similar to that announced by the UPA government in 2009.

The main Opposition party hit out at the Modi government for its flawed and anti-farmer policies that have caused an agrarian crisis in the country.

The Congress also said it would create a national poverty alleviation fund and impose a 5% cess on incomes of the top 1% richest Indians.

Battling defection with the BJP poaching many of its leaders, the Congress demanded that defectors should be debarred from contesting elections for six years in order to check the brazen misuse of money power to create political instability.

In apparent references to the arrest of former finance minister P Chidambarams son Karti hidambaram in an alleged money laundering case and the CBI charge-sheet against former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda in an alleged land scam, the party condemned the BJP government for brazen abuse of power and misuse of central agencies for targeted political vendetta to harass, humiliate and persecute its political opponents.

The Congress also attacked the BJP-RSS ideology, alleging that it was creating an environment of distrust, fear and intimidation in pursuit of their insidious and divisive agenda.

It said the judicial system needed urgent reforms for effective and timely dispensation of justice with special attention towards reducing pending cases and providing affordable justice.

The Congress also pledged its support to the demand for special category status to Andhra Pradesh, an issue that has prompted the Telugu Desam Party to quit the NDA and move a no-confidence motion against the Modi government. The YSR Congress Party has separately moved a similar motion.

A resurgent Congress alone shall win back the idea of India as envisioned by our nations founding fathers, read the political resolution moved by senior leader Mallikarjun Kharge.The Congress is set to roll out a road map for reversing its downward electoral journey and restoring its past glory ahead of the 2019 general election in its two-day plenary session that began in Delhi on Saturday.

Party president Rahul Gandhi hailed the old guard as he opened the session, but said the way forward was in taking the youth along.

Being held after a gap of seven years, the theme of the 84th plenary session of the 132-year-old Congress party will be Change is Now, and will see Gandhi put forward the partys plan for the future.

Below are the live updates:

3:24pm: We have to work to make a country which is free from fear of power. We need to make an India free of corruption and vendetta. Let us pledge that we will make all efforts to do this: Sonia Gandhi

3:20pm: It is Congress Party which takes stand against injustice and raises it voice against it, says Sonia Gandhi

3:17pm: In last 4 years, this arrogant govt has left no stone unturned to destroy and humiliate Congress. But Congress has never cowered down and it will never cower down: Sonia Gandhi

3:16pm: Today I am saddened to see that Modi govt is weakening and ignoring the schemes and programmes (implemented during UPA), says Sonia Gandhi

3:15pm: Today, when I look back, I remember the hard work by our party to win peoples trust, says Sonia Gandhi

3:14pm: You all know due to what circumstances I entered the public sphere but when I realised that the party is weakening, keeping in mind sentiments of Congressmen, I entered the political arena: Sonia Gandhi

3:13pm: 40 years back Indiras Jis stunning victory in Chikmagalur turned around Indian politics, once again our party must give a similar performance, says Sonia Gandhi

3:12pm: Congress victory will be nations victory. It will be the victory for each one of us. Congress is not a political term, it is a movement: Sonia Gandhi

3:10pm: First of all, I congratulate Rahul Gandhi, he took up this responsibility (of party president) at a very challenging time: Sonia Gandhi

3:08pm: Sonia Gandhi is addressing the plenary session of Congress

12:45pm: Congress political resolution calls for reverting to the old practice of paper ballot, saying there are misgivings on misuse of EVMs to manipulate the outcome contrary to popular verdict.

12:30pm: The Congress resolved to adopt a pragmatic approach for cooperation with all like-minded parties and evolve a common workable programme to defeat the BJP-RSS in the 2019 general election.

12:03pm: Kharge says the Congress party led India to independence and helped establish democracy. It was democracy which brought PM Modi to power but, ironically, his government itself has now become a threat to democracy, he says.

12:01pm: Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, the Congress reached out to people across the country, inspired them to rise above all barriers, and mobilised them to form the worlds biggest movement for independence, says Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha.

10:55am: The difference between our party and the incumbent ruling party is that they follow the ideology of hatred while we follow the ideology of love and fraternity, says Congress president

10:50am: The representatives of our party have fought hard to keep our ideology alive. The senior leaders of the Congress will guide the party youth and take us forward: Gandhi

10:58am: This country is everyones -- every faith, every caste, every man. And Congress will work for that: Gandhi.

10:56am: The country is tired of what is happening under the current government. Only the Congress party can show the way and heal divisions in the nation, says the Congress president.

10:54am: Rahul Gandhi says Congress cannot go ahead without the youth. The job is to bring together seniors and the youth and move ahead.

10:52am: We are talking about change but not without forgetting history, says Congress president.

10:51am: Want to thank Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and other leaders for fighting for the party, and country, says Rahul Gandhi.

10:50am: Rahul Gandhi addresses the party.

Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi & Manmohan Singh at #Delhi's Indira Gandhi Stadium for Congress' plenary session. pic.twitter.com/0QtEdWENym  ANI (@ANI) March 17, 2018

10am: Plenary session begins.The Haryana lokayukta has recommended departmental action against Mewat superintendent of police Nazneen Bhasin  an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer  for stealing power to run her office for 28 months when she was posted as the deputy commissioner of police (DCP) in Gurgaon.

Gurgaon-based activist Harinder Dhingra had alleged that the Gurgaon DCP (east) office indulged in power theft from April 2012 to August 2014, when finally Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam snapped the connection owing to Rs 3.9 lakh dues.

During the hearing, the DCP office had denied power theft charge, maintaining it had used temporary battery-based sources to generate electricity for the 28-month period.

However, the lokayukta had asked them to explain these unrevealed sources. It also asked them to explain the source used to recharge the batteries, as the DCPs office used approximately 11.5 KW load for running four air conditioners, seven coolers, 18 fans and 22 tubelights.

In the latest order, the anti-corruption ombudsman said the office failed to explain the temporary sources used to generate electricity. So it can be presumed that DCP (east) officer consumed unauthorised electricity, the lokayukta said. The then DCP (east) allowed illegal consumption of electricity directly from the pole for her office. As such Ms Nazneen Bhasin, the then DCP (east) is responsible for this illegal consumption and abused her position as public servant. As such departmental action is required to be taken against her.The story goes that there was once a bitter feud over property and power in a large joint family. The family was wealthy, with extensive land holdings and political powers. Finally, an elderly member of the family offered a solution. The property was divided, and while one section of the family continued to hold on to the family seat in Hastinapur, the other found a new seat of power  Indraprastha  a city popularly believed to have been situated in what is present-day Delhi. Of course, the peace so brokered was not permanent, and soon the two would fight it out in the battle of Kurukshetra, but those are details we need not concern ourselves with now.

Enthusiasts of Indian mythology will know the story to be that of the epic Mahabharata. But did the events mentioned in it really take place? Opinion is divided.

In the 1950s, archaeologist BB Lal had carried out excavations at all the sites mentioned in the Mahabharata. At almost all the places, one being Hastinapur (in modern-day Uttar Pradesh), he had found a kind of pottery, identified as painted grey ware (PGW), in the lowest level of the soil, says Vasant Kumar Swarnkar, superintending archaeologist, Chandigarh Circle, Archaeological Survey Of India (ASI).

Carbon dating of the findings showed that the PGW culture dated back to 1200-800 BCE. As Lal admits, however, simply finding a PGW culture at the sites mentioned in the epic, does not automatically prove the historicity of the story. It simply shows these sites were culturally interconnected. What then made him identify PGW with the Mahabharata?

The excavation at Hastinapur, says Lal, provided evidence of a flood that destroyed the settlement there in 800 BCE. The PGW found at Kaushambi dates back to about this time. According to the Puranas, the descendents of the Pandavas moved the capital from Hastinapur to Kaushambi because of a flood, says Lal. This then, according to him, is what ties the PGW culture with the Mahabharata.

Not everyone is convinced, however, with this interpretation. As historian Upinder Singh writes in her book Ancient Delhi, While the mass of archaeological data marshalled in the Hastinapur report remains an important addition to archaeological knowledge, the specific connection that Lal tried to establish between the site and the epic-Puranic legends remains highly speculative.

In any case, no PGW layer could be found at Purana Qila when Lal carried out his excavation here in 1955, says Swarnkar . Subsequent excavations at the site, in the 1970s and in 2013-14 also failed to find clear evidence of the PGW culture at Purana Qila, he adds, though odd pieces of the pottery have been found here from time to time. This was the reason, or at least one of them, that pushed him to undertake a fresh excavation at Purana Qila this year. I had got permission to carry out an excavation here in 2013 to check the antiquity of the site, but unfortunately, at the time we couldnt go beyond the Mauryan era  4th to 2nd century BCE, the evidence of which had already been found in earlier excavations. So this year, I took up the work again, explains Swarnkar.

The ruins of a Mauryan-era ring well found at the Purana Qila in Delhi. The design is typical of the Mauryan era and an indicator of the presence of that culture at any site. The other identifying factor of Mauryan culture is the Northern Black Polished Ware pottery. (Arvind Yadav/HT PHOTO)

Excavation started in the beginning of this year, and is expected to continue at least till the end of this month. But the group, led by Swarnkar, claims to have already made some serious headway. Before this, the earliest proof of settlement that we have been able to get at this site is from the Mauryan era. Each era or period in history is identified by its pottery and other associated ware or structural forms and the Mauryan era is identified by a kind of pottery known as the Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW) and the typical Mauryan-era ring wells, explains Swarnkar. But this time we have found a layer of simple grey ware and simple red ware, below the layer of artefacts from the Mauryan era, which shows the presence of a pre-Mauryan era settlement here. Though we havent done a carbon dating of the pottery yet, our estimate is that it dates back to about 6th to 4th century BCE, which pushes back the history of Delhi by another 300 years, he explains.

What this means is that there were human settlements in Delhi at the time of the 16 Mahajanapadas or kingdoms that rose in Indian between the 6th and 4th century BCE. One of the Mahajanapadas was Magadh, which went on to become a powerful empire under the Mauryas.

Dating Delhi

While one often hears the Indian capital being described as an old or historical city, the evidence of it that one sees around  in the shape of ruins of old forts, stepwells, and other architectural remains  is mostly from the medieval era onwards. This lack of visible history is also attributed by Singh, in her book, as a reason why the earliest history of this area has generated less interest than its medieval and modern past. The capital and its vicinity have in fact, been the site of human settlement from prehistoric times. Prehistoric stone tools, made and used by stone age people, have been found at many places, especially in the rocky stretches of the Delhi ridge, including near the University of Delhi and on the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus . Thousands of prehistoric tools were found from Anangpur in Faridabad, says Singh.

There are also the late Harappan sites of Bhorgarh (near Narela in north Delhi) and Mandoli (near Nand Nagri in east Delhi).

The easy access to water, in the form of the Yamuna, and the citys strategic location on the old trade route helped settlements flourish.

Histories of Delhi, writes Singh in her book, narrate a history of cities seven or more in number. Starting with Indraprastha of the Mahabharata legend, they usually take a gigantic leap of almost two thousand years into the eighth century AD when the Tomara Rajputs moved into the hills south of Delhi to found the settlement of Anangpur and later, the citadel of Lal Kot, in the middle of the 11th century. Other cities followed  Tughlaqabad, Feroz Shah Kotla, Dinpanah and Shergarh and Shahjahanabad. But as Singh points out, we have to distinguish between legends, settlements in the Delhi area and cities located here. Even when there were no political capitals, there is evidence of human settlements, often rural in nature. Also unlike many other historic cities, such as Rome, says historian Swapna Liddle, where successive eras built on the same site, in Delhi a series of cities were built at different sites at different times.

The Site

One of the sites, Purana Qila or Old Fort in the heart of Delhi  Sher Shah is believed to have razed to the ground the old city of Dinpanah built here by Humayun and built the existing citadel  is an interesting one, says Swarnkar. This is the only site in Delhi where you get a continuous history of 2500 years, he explains.

Swarnkar is keen for the common people to be able to visit the digs and experience how history is extracted from below the soil. There are a few single-culture sites where the digs have been preserved and are open to tourists, but here we can offer tourists an experience of seeing the remains of different cultural eras, he explains. With this objective, he has uncovered the trenches that were made during the excavation at Purana Qila between 1969-73, to conserve and prepare them for public viewing. The remains of each culture are preserved as a layer in the soil, one below the other. Each culture has different stratified layers, he explains.

The remains of each culture are preserved as a layer in the soil, one below the other. Each culture has different stratified layers, says Vasant Swarnkar, who is currently excavating at Delhis Purana Qila. As the archaeologists dig, each layer is carefully marked. (Arvind Yadav/HT PHOTO)

To the layman, the digs, at first sight, may seem disappointingly similar to a construction site. Labourers carry mud removed from the trenches. One man sweeps the floor of the trench with a small brush to expose any writing or embeds in the soil. In one corner, another man sits washing each broken piece of pottery, before they can be checked, dated and preserved. Swarnkar points to pieces of bones in one trench. We found the skull of a horse here. According to our estimate it should be from the Mauryan period. The soil around the skull was burnt, he says, pointing to a blackened patch. This indicates that this was either a sacrificial pit or used for some rituals. In another trench he points to the remains of a Mauryan-era ring well.

As in previous excavations at Purana Qila, Swarnkar too has found sherds of PGW this time. But these, and the associated ware from the PGW era, were found in layers of other eras. We have not been able to find a stratified PGW era layer, he says. What this means is that there must have been a PGW settlement here, but not at the spot in which the trench has been dug. May be there was some flood or soil erosion and some remains got mixed in the soil. We will have to make other test trenches to find the exact spot, he adds.

The Return To Epic

While the possibility of finding another, and older, layer of history in the heart of Delhi is exciting for most history buffs, historians are not willing to jump to the conclusion that a layer of PGW in Purana Qila, even if found, will mean that this was the site of Mahabharatas Indraprastha. Excavations at the Purana Qila and other sites connected with the Mahabharata story writes Singh, where PGW has also been found  neither prove nor disprove the historicity of the Mahabharata events. What they do show is that these sites were inhabited from ancient times and that the people living here shared a broadly similar sort of material culture.

The historian feels that the desire to find a Mahabharata level at this or any other site, is not the best way of approaching archaeology. The Purana Qila is an important site, whether or not it represents Indraprastha. The Mahabharata is a very important text, whether or not it is based on some actual historical incident. In this day and age, it is odd that archaeological research should be dictated by literal readings of ancient texts in which the imagination had a great role to play.

She rues that a detailed report of the Purana Qila excavations was never published. Archaeology does not usually give us details about specific individuals or events. It tells us about the textures of the everyday lives of ordinary people - the kinds of houses they lived in, the things they made, the food they ate, and the pots they used, she says, adding, so it is not surprising that nobody has found anything resembling Yudhishthiras grand palace at the Purana Qila. Historian Narayani Gupta agrees, So far, there is no historical evidence of the Mahabharata. I wish they (ASI) would look after what they have instead of hunting for Indraprastha.

What the future will reveal about the past of the city, whether the remains of the fabled city of Indraprastha or at least the confirmed presence of a PGW-era settlement will be found in Purana Qila, remains to be seen. But the present finding by Swarnkar and his team, adding another chapter to Delhis ancient history and taking it back by another 300 years  is cause enough for excitement.Mounting pressure on the AIADMK over the Cauvery issue, DMK on Saturday said chief minister K Palaniswami should extend support to the no-trust motion moved by TDP in the Lok Sabha if he was truly interested in the constitution of Cauvery Management Board (CMB).

If Palaniswami is truly interested in the constitution of the CMB within six weeks, he should courageously decide to support the no-trust motion, DMK leader MK Stalin said.

Days after the Tamil Nadu assembly adopted a resolution urging the Centre to set up the CMB, the DMK leader, who has been targeting the ruling regime on the Cauvery issue, said this was an opportune moment to establish Tamil Nadus rights over the Cauvery.

Stalin, who is also leader of the opposition in the Assembly, said the AIADMK regime should not let such an opportunity go by.

If his party had representation in the Lok Sabha, DMK would have immediately supported the move, said.

Speaking to reporters here, he said constitution of CMB remained a question mark. It was under such circumstances and to exert pressure on the Union government that his party had mooted en masse resignation of all MLAs and MPs of Tamil Nadu.

The state government, led by the AIADMK, should come forward to take such a step and when it does that, we in the opposition will follow suit, he said.

Ending its four-year-old alliance with BJP, the Telugu Desam Party on Friday pulled out of the NDA over the Centres refusal to grant Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh and simultaneously moved a no-trust motion in Parliament.

Blaming the BJP-led Centre for its big brother attitude, the DMK leader said his party was duty-bound to welcome TDPs decision as an organisation committed to states autonomy.

On his reported demand for Dravida Nadu, (conceptually it means a separate union of five southern states and the Union Territory of Puducherry), Stalin blamed the media,saying they had made it appear as if he had asked for it.

I was posed a question by reporters yesterday at Erode. My view was sought on something that seemed to give an impression as though southern states were giving a push for Dravida Nadu ideology...I replied that we will support it if such a situation emerged, he said.

However, the media is doing propaganda for their own publicity, making it seem as if I had demanded Dravida Nadu and as though we were voicing support for it.

DMK founder leader and former chief minister CN Annadurai had given up in 1962 his partys once well-known secessionist demand for a separate Dravida Nadu comprising southern Indian States.

Quoting Annadurai, he said the reasons, however, for making such a demand remained the same.

Stalin said we are now seeing how the southern States are being ignored by the BJP-regime at the Centre.The Congress today urged that the Election Commission (EC) revert to the old practice of paper ballots in future elections instead of electronic voting machines (EVMs).

This is necessary as there are misgivings on misuse of EVMs to manipulate the outcome contrary to popular verdict, the party said here during its 84th plenary session.

The Congress and other political parties have been alleging that EVMs were tampered during polls and demanding reintroduction of the ballot paper system of voting.

The party called for reverting to the old practice of paper ballots citing it was adopted by other major democracies to help restore the credibility of the electoral process.

A resolution was also moved in this regard in the plenary session.

In its resolution, the party said the BJPs move of simultaneous elections is misplaced and is incompatible with the Constitution as also impractical.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been pressing upon the idea of holding simultaneous elections to Parliament and state assemblies, contending that it will save money and time.

The party also resolved to adopt a pragmatic approach for cooperation with all like-minded parties and evolve a common workable programme to defeat the BJP-RSS in the 2019 general election.Farmers in lush, irrigated regions are more prone to killing themselves than those who till the land in more arid climes with fewer resources, according to the surprising conclusion of two new studies commissioned by the agriculture ministry.

The reason is that the former have less ability to cope with a shock event -- it could be lack of access to credit, a dip in prices, failure of irrigation or a natural calamity.

AV Manjunatha, who co-authored the studies with colleague KB Ramappa of the Bangalore-based Institute for Social and Economic Change, told HT that he found it remarkable that farmers suicide rates were far less in resource-poor regions  academic jargon for less fertile, arid and drought-prone areas  when compared with resource-rich regions, or those with sufficient access to surface water and irrigation.

Why else should Mandya in Karnataka, which has a good irrigation network, become a suicide hub? he asked.

The answer is that in such areas, sudden shock events can turn deadly as farmers havent learnt to develop alternatives.

Primary data collected from 107 victim households covering four major districts, namely Mysuru, Mandya, Haveri and Belagavi, for instance, bear this out. The intensity of suicides in Mandya was extremely high at 62 suicides per lakh hectares of net sown area and 49 farmer suicides per lakh hectare of gross sown area, Manjunatha said.

Manjunatha and Ramappa studied the economic decisions and cropping choices of the victims. They say policy solutions can thwart farmers suicides. Along with an all-India study, they also researched suicides specifically in Karnataka. The states Mandya district is well-irrigated, supplied by the Cauvery river, but farmers have been prone to committing suicide.

Indias high farmer suicide rate  the 11,458 cases in 2016, a number cited in a government reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, are supposed to be the lowest in decades  is mostly driven by small and marginal cultivators living just above the poverty line, the two new studies show. The largest share of suicides  76% -- is accounted for by small and marginal farmers, mostly below or just above the poverty line. They are followed by medium-sized land-holding cultivators at 16% and big farmers at 8%.

Although indebtedness is the leading cause of farmers distress, extreme weather is a bigger reason for these suicides, according to the all-India study.

The research by Manjunatha and Ramappa was based on 528 victim households in 46 districts. These include the five hotspot states -- Maharashtra, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka -- which together account for 90% of all suicides.

Farmers who grow mostly a single crop, often in the monsoon-dependent kharif season, are most vulnerable. In other words, farmers who dont diversify, have little to fall back on. Such farmers also rarely have allied activities, such as livestock or dairy farming.

About 31% of victim households said suicides in their families could have been prevented if there was a loan waiver. The study suggests crop diversification  growing more than one crop simultaneously  apart from accompanying livestock activities to prevent precipitating factors. An alert system that allows farmers to report distress and negotiate loan restructuring should also be explored as policy solutions, Manjunatha said.

Debt-traps are an obvious reason for farmer suicides. However, a closer look reveals that failure of rain, lack of irrigation facilities and attack of pests and diseases together is a much bigger cause, the study states.

A 2017 study by Tamma Carleton, a PhD student at the University of California, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggested that climate change could be playing a much bigger role in farmer suicides in India. Her findings, although criticized by many experts, attributed more than 59,000 suicides since 1980 to rising temperatures.India and China are discussing the possibility of an informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping as a part of an effort to reset bilateral ties set back by last years military standoff on the Doklam plateau, two persons familiar with the development said.

The summit, on the same format as informal meetings Xi has held with US President Donald Trump and his predecessor Barack Obama, could take place as early as in April, or in June, the two said on condition of anonymity.

An informal summit will give Modi and Xi an opportunity for a face-to-face discussion on various issues without aides being present. Only interpreters would be in attendance.

The two sides are looking at building on the convergences and addressing their differences in a way that helps the relationship go forward. Looking at the possibility of the informal format would help the leaders to exchange their views more freely and frankly, ideally in a place outside the usual venue of national capital, a diplomat, one of the two persons cited above, said.

The second person cited above, a government official, suggested that the meeting could take place as early as in April. Then it all depends on what you could possibly achieve from this. There should be some takeaways the two sides would like to have after such an interaction, he said.

The summit is being discussed in the context of India and China stepping up their high-level engagement following last years 73-day standoff on Doklam, at the tri-junction of Bhutan, India, and Tibet. Bhutan objected to Chinese troops constructing a road in Doklam, prompting Indian troops stationed in the Himalayan nation to intervene, sparking the standoff that ended in August.

Foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale visited Beijing in February and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj is due to visit China on April 23-24 and defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman is expected to follow suit soon after. Modi will be travelling to China in June to attend the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a Eurasian grouping.

Experts see two sides making efforts to bring bilateral ties back on track. The Indian government has also instructed officials to stay away from functions to mark the 60th anniversary of the Dalai Lamas exile in India.

There are clear indications that there are efforts to bring momentum back into the relationship. And high-level exchanges help this, said MK Bhadrakumar, former career diplomat and commentator.

Meanwhile, unlike in the past, India has agreed to an appropriate participation in the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) meeting in Boao, a coastal town in Chinas southern island province of Hainan.

BFA is the Chinese equivalent of World Economic Forum (WEF), and the meeting is to take place from April 8 to 11. India was represented at the event in the past at the level of embassy officials. This year marks the 40th anniversary of Chinas economic reforms.

An Open and Innovative Asia for a World of Greater Prosperity is the theme of the conference, and something both the leaders of India and China agree to, said the second official. But he insisted that the level of Indias participation will be appropriate refusing to provide details.Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday said his party was ready with a strategy to take on the challenge of a united opposition in his state in the 2019 parliamentary elections, even as he blamed complacency and overconfidence for the BJPs loss at the bypolls this March.

Speaking at the News18 networks Rising India summit in New Delhi, he put the bypoll loss to a tie-up between the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party into perspective, saying his party has a plan if the two rivals form an alliance for 2019.

We have a strategy in place to contest against SP and BSP together. These plans are not made public, but are executed, he said and claimed that the BJP will win 80 seats in the Lok Sabha polls.

These parties have been in power in the past; but today nobody can alone face the BJP. They cannot even decide who will be the leader of the coalition, the chief minister said.

According to him, the BJP lost the bypolls to Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha constituencies because of local issues as well as party workers becoming complacent and many of them staying home, which brought down the polling percentage.

Adityanath, the chief priest of the influential Gorakhnath Mutt, was a five-time MP for Gorkhapur and the BJP conceded defeat in this seat considered its pocket borough in 29 years. Phulpur was vacated by deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya.

The chief minister said losses and wins are not reasons for happiness or sadness, but every win inspires and every loss teaches a lesson in public life.

People became over confident that these seats will be won by us because it they were represented by chief minister, deputy chief minister; and did not make enough efforts, he said.

About to complete a year in office, the young saffron-clad chief minister said development work has picked up pace and communal riots have not occurred during his term. He described the Kasganj riots as an incident.

There is a difference between secular and irreligious. We should make that distinction. Government must be secular, not irreligious. If secularism means not taking sides, there is nobody more secular than Hindus. Todays secularists have turned secularism to mean abusing Indias traditions, he said.

He criticised the Congress for referring to the BJPs pre-poll promises as dramabaazi (theatrics).

He said the Congress is upset that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the country is scaling new heights and is moving ahead in all fields. They think it is all drama, because for 10 years between 2004 and 2014 they had been doing only drama, he said, referring to the Congress-led government in power.

Yogi trashed suggestions that he wont visit Noida again, since his predecessors had kept away because of a so-called superstition that any chief minister visiting Noida loses power.

I will keep coming, and soon there is a programme coming up. There was corruption, etc. here that was the bad omen and I have been sent to cleanse that, he said.Imprisoned Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad was admitted to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi on Saturday after he complained of discomfort at Birsa Munda Jail.

The former Bihar chief minister has had a history of cardiac ailments. He was admitted to the cardiology wing of the government hospital around 5pm on Saturday, but a jail official, who didnt wish to be named, said his current illness was not related to the heart.

In August 2014, he underwent two major heart surgeries  one to replace an aortic valve and the other to repair the aorta, at Asian Heart Institute in Mumbai. He has since been under medication.

Jail superintendent Ashok Choudhary refused comments on the 69-year-old leaders health, saying we have sent him to RIMS  the rest is up to the doctors.

Prasad has been serving jail term in Ranchi since December 23 last year following his conviction in a fodder scam case related to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 89 lakh from the Deoghar treasury between 1991 and 1994. A month later, he was convicted in another fodder scam case and sentenced to five years in jail.

His son and former Bihar minister Tej Pratap Yadav flew from Patna to Ranchi after learning about his fathers health. Tej Pratap, senior RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, Jharkhand RJD chief Annapurna Devi and hundreds of party workers visited RIMS amid strict security.

Prasad was taken to the hospital through a rear entrance to dodge his supporters and reporters waiting at the main door.

The hospital has yet to release any official communication on his health. According to hospital sources, whose identity cannot be revealed as they are not authorised to speak to media, Prasad is kept in room number 2 of the cardiology wing on the second floor of RIMS.

RIMS superintendent S K Choudhary said Prasad was under supervision of senior doctors of the cardiology department.

He is currently under observation of our doctors. It would be too early to comment on his health, he said.

Jharkhand RJD president Annapurna Devi said she and several party leaders went to the hospital after learning from TV news reports about Prasads health.

We have not been allowed to meet him yet. There was no communication from the jail, we got to know about it through media reports, she said on Saturday evening.At least three Bangladeshi nationals were on Saturday arrested from Pune by the state ATS for allegedly providing shelter to suspected terrorists of Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), an Islamic extremist group in Bangladesh, officials said.

The arrested accused, who themselves were illegally staying in India, had provided shelter to the ABT members.

The three Bangladeshi nationals had been staying illegally, without any authorised travel documents for the past five years in Wanavadi and Akurdi areas, a senior official of the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) said.

The ABT is an al-Qaeda inspired Islamic extremist group in Bangladesh, he said.

The three accused are aged between 25 and 31 years and hail either from Khulna or Shariyatpur in Bangladesh, he said.

During their interrogation, they revealed that they had provided shelter and other help to the members of ABT during their stay in Pune, the official added.

Acting on specific inputs, the Pune unit of Maharashtra ATS carried out a search operation in Wanavadi on Friday and apprehended one Bangladeshi national, he said.

During his interrogation, he provided information about two more Bangladeshi nationals, who were staying illegally in Akurdi, after which the duo was also nabbed, he said.

They were also carrying PAN and Aadhaar cards, which were obtained by using forged documents, another ATS official said.

The officer said one of the arrested accused stayed and worked near a sensitive establishment.

Investigation has revealed that these accused and their accomplices were helping the active members of ABT, which is supposedly a front organisation of Al-Qaeda, to hide in India and were also helping terrorist activities financially and through various other ways, the officer said.

He said the three accused worked as construction labourers and had procured SIM cards using forged documents.

A case was registered under sections 465 (forgery) and 471 (using as genuine a forged document) of Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, he said, adding the accused would be produced in a court.

According to the officer, the ATS is also probing that if these arrested persons had any links with the six Bangladesh nationals, who were arrested from Panvel three days ago by the newly-formed Navi Mumbai unit of ATS.

The officials, however, did not reveal the names of the arrested accused.Taking cognisance of chargesheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), a special CBI court here on Friday summoned former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his two former principal secretaries  Murari Lal Tayal and Chattar Singh  besides former director of the town and country planning department SS Dhillon and owners of realty firms in connection with the infamous Manesar land scam. The court of Jagdeep Singh has ordered their personal appearance on April 19, when the hearing for framing of charges begin.

The courts decision comes four days after the Supreme Court set aside Hooda-led Congress governments decision to drop the land acquisition proceedings over Manesar land.

The Rs 1,500-crore alleged scam pertains to misuse of the Land Acquisition Act. The CBI in its voluminous challan on February 2, charged Hooda, his aides and reality firms with criminal conspiracy and fraud.

ABW Groups owner Atul Bansal, the CBI claimed, is the major beneficiary and is among the accused asked by the court to appear in person.

The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) government under Om Prakash Chautala announced to acquire 912 acres for facilities in the Industrial Model Township (IMT), Manesar, in August 2004, just before the Congress came to power under Hooda in Haryana.

A large number of farmers, in haste, sold about 350 acres at throwaway prices of Rs 20-25 lakh per acre, fearing poor compensation. Another 50 acres were purchased by land sharks even as the government issued a notification for Rs 1.5 crore per acre of compensation.

Gurgaon-based realty firm  ABW Group  and other builders bought 459 acres in total through distress sale.

The Hooda government scrapped the acquisition process in 2007, only to later grant licences for housing and commercial development to the builders over 260 acres of that land. Soon after coming to power in the state, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regime in Haryana had ordered a CBI probe in 2015.

ABW Groups owner Atul Bansal, the CBI claimed, is the major beneficiary and is among the accused asked by the court to appear in person.The administration in Odishas communally-sensitive town of Bhadrak imposed prohibitory orders on Saturday for an indefinite period to maintain peace ahead of Ram Navami which is a little more than a week away.

Officials said the orders prohibiting assembly of more than four persons under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code which came into effect at 6 pm, were imposed to prevent a repeat of last years communal violence in which hundreds of shops belonging to Hindus and Muslims were burnt over a comment made on Hindu Gods on Facebook on Ram Navami.

The administration has advised people not to post anything objectionable on social media or posters that may provoke religious sentiments. The district administration has deployed 21 platoons of police force in the town ahead of Ram Navami on March 25, district collector Gyana Das said.

Apart from Bhadrak, the police are also on their toes over possible law and order problems arising in neighbouring Balasore and Jajpur district over organising of an Urs festival and the demolition of the wall of a cemetery respectively.Pakistans envoy to India, who was called back to Islamabad for consultations over the alleged harassment of its diplomats and their families in New Delhi, is unlikely to return to his posting until the situation improves, officials in Islamabad said on Saturday.

Islamabad has also decided not to send commerce minister Pervaiz Malik to a World Trade Organisation (WTO) meeting being hosted by New Delhi on March 19-20, the officials said. The decision to boycott the meeting was taken at the highest level, The Express Tribune newspaper reported, citing an official it didnt name .

Pakistan high commissioner Sohail Mahmood was called back for consultations on bilateral relations on Thursday because of non-stop harassment of families of the diplomats, foreign office spokesman Mohammad Faisal said. Officials here said Mahmood, who arrived on Friday evening, was not expected to return until the situation improves.

Our high commissioner will not return to India anytime soon, the Tribune cited the foreign ministry official as saying. This is the first time since 2002 that Pakistan has called backed its envoy from New Delhi in this fashion.

Over the past week, India and Pakistan have repeatedly traded accusations of harassment and ill-treatment of their diplomats in each others capitals. India has handed over 11 notes verbale or semi-formal diplomatic communications, detailing the harassment of its diplomats and their families in Islamabad, since January 1.

India has also complained about the blocking of official websites, which have affected the issuance of visas, lewd calls made to the homes of embassy officials, and aggressive tailing of the vehicles of its diplomats.

Pakistan has complained about more than 25 instances of its diplomats and their families being harassed in New Delhi. India has said it is making all efforts to provide a safe and secure environment for the Pakistan diplomats, but it also wants Pakistan to resolve the problems being faced by Indian officials.

Although it was initially thought high commissioner Mahmood would return to New Delhi after briefing the Pakistan foreign office about the situation, officials said several options were currently being considered. Pakistan could declare New Delhi a non-family posting or Mahmood could be asked not to return for an indefinite period, they said.

The diplomatic spat erupted just as the two sides announced they had agreed on the release of women, mentally challenged and elderly prisoners. Pakistan had also accepted Indias invitation to attend the informal WTO ministerial meeting to discuss an open and inclusive trading system.

Pakistans commerce minister Malik, had been expected to meet his Indian counterpart Suresh Prabhu, but Islamabad decided to boycott the meeting following the row over the harassment of diplomats. We cannot send our commerce minister to India in the current situation and India has been informed about it, PTI cited an unidentified official as saying.

The Tribune also reported that 500 Pakistanis were not granted visas by the Indian mission for travelling to India on March 18 to attend the annual Urs of Sufi saint Hazrat Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer. The report said this was the second time this year that India had denied visas to Pakistani pilgrims.A parliamentary committee has rapped the health and Ayush ministries for their laid back approach in the framing of a new legislation to regulate misleading advertisements promoting the sale of Ayush medicines.

The panel, in its report on Demands for Grants 2018-19 for the Ministry of AYUSH, noted that it is the need of the hour to strictly monitor and regulate misleading advertisements promoting the sale traditional medicines.

The committee is of the view that a strong and strict regulatory framework is essential for quality control of Ayush drugs, the panel said.

Due to monitoring by the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) and the Grievances against Misleading Advertisements (GAMA), 65% of the advertisements found misleading were withdrawn or rectified and the rest were forwarded to State AYUSH Drug Regulators, the ministry of Ayush has informed the panel.

The committee is of the view that collaborative efforts of the ministry, along with the Department of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and state governments, have certainly given results as misleading advertisements with respect to Ayush drugs which have been unregulated so far have been controlled to an extent.

Hence the role of the ministry is pivotal in proactively pursuing the issue with other departments, ministries, ASCI on a regular basis for effectively preventing the publication of inappropriate misleading advertisements, it said.

With respect to the new legislation containing the existing and proposed provisions of both the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisement) Act, 1954, the committee expressed dismay that the new legislation was still in the process of being framed by the department of health.

It has been more than two years since the new legislation is being framed and it speaks volumes about the laid back approach of the Ministry of Health and also of the Ministry of Ayush in pursuing the matter, the report stated.

The committee strongly recommend a definite time line within which the new legislation should see the light of the day.

The Ayush ministry has signed an MoU with ASCI for suo motu monitoring of Ayush advertisements appearing in print and TV media.

The Ministry of Ayush has received written and online complaints of misleading advertisements and 804 such instances of improper advertisements allegedly of herbal and Ayush products have been brought to its notice during the period from April 2015 to January 2018 by the ASCI.

The ASCI reported that about 65 per cent of the advertisements found misleading were withdrawn or rectified and the rest had to be forwarded to the respective State Ayush drug regulators for necessary action.A special CBI court in Mumbai on Saturday remanded in judicial custody till March 28 the 11 accused arrested in connection with the multi-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case.

The CBI has alleged that the firms controlled by diamond baron Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi had obtained fraudulent LoUs and letters of credit (LCs), worth over 13,000 crore from the PNB in connivance with some officials of the bank.

Modis firms allegedly defrauded the PNB of over Rs 6,500 crore, while Choksis firms Rs 7,080 crore.

Key accused Gokulnath Shetty (former deputy General manager of PNB), Manoj Kharat (single window operator of PNB) Hemant Bhat (authorised signatory of Modis company), Bechhu Tiwari (then chief manager in the Forex department of PNB), were produced in the court of Special CBI judge S R Tamboli on Saturday.

Yashwant Joshi (scale II manager in Forex department), Praful Sawant (scale-I officer handling exports section), Manish Bosamiya (former AGM- operations-of Firestar International Ltd owned by Modi), Miten Pandia (then Financial manager of Firestar), Sanjay Rambhia (auditor of Firestar), Aniyath Shiv Raman Nair (then director of Gili India Ltd, a Gitanjali Group firm owned by Choksi), Vipul Chitalia (VP banking operations of Gitanjali group) were also produced in the court.

The court sent all of them to judicial custody.

The CBI has registered cases against Modi and his companies, and Choksi in connection with the PNB fraud.On March 13, a truckload of 80 Rohingya refugees belonging to 27 families alighted at Hardaha village on the southern outskirts of Kolkata and proceeded to Makhal Tala six km away, in small groups, where tents were set up for them. They all came from Nuh in Haryana where they lived in refugee camps for several months.

However, rumours spread fast following their arrival that batches of Rohingyas have crossed the Indo-Bangladesh border in neighbouring North 24-Parganas district and have come to settle in Baruipur in South 24 Parganas district, about 30 km from Kolkata.

The next day, police arrived at the door of the makeshift homes of the 22 Rohingya families who have settled at Hardaha over the past couple of months with the help of an NGO Desh Bachao Samajik Committee. The refugees, who came from Mewat in Haryana, were grilled several times along with the head of the facilitating organisation.

They refugees, though, did not have to feel alone, as a good number of the local residents gathered and spoke in favour of them.

We were in a state of panic. However, locals gave us great support, said Azizullah 45, a father of nine, who is now living with his wife and six children in a makeshift, thatched tent made of bamboo, polythene sheets and old saris.

These people are helpless. Where will they go? Its a question of humanity, said Marzina Bibi, a resident of Hardaha who is in her thirties. None leaves home with kids on an uncertain journey unless they have no other option.

The world knows how bad the condition at home is. We are all sympathetic towards them, said Minhaz Mallick, a farmer in his mid-50s. About half of the refugees who arrived in Bengal are minors.

The Supreme Court is presently hearing a plea challenging the Centres decision to deport Rohingyas.

The refugees, however, had reason to feel less apprehensive about Bengal. Its chief minister Mamata Banerjee publicly criticised the Centres stand and expressed sympathies for the Rohingyas. We do support the @UN appeal to help the Rohingya people. We believe that all commoners are not terrorists. We are really concerned, Banerjee tweeted on September 15.

Hardaha, though large and having a population of over 5,000, is not a prosperous village. However, the Rohingya refugees say the villagers have big heart.

Soon after we came the police examined our papers and went back satisfied. When they came back yesterday, all of us were worried. Thankfully this is the place where we got the friendliest neighbours, said 26-year-old Shahidul Islam, who hails from Buthidaung in Maungdaw district of the Rakhine state of Myanmar.

In 2015, Islams elder brother and sister-in-law were gunned down, apart from several of his uncles and cousins, forcing him and six other members of his family, including the 3-year-old orphaned niece, to cross over to Bangladesh. They lived at the Teknaf refugee camp in Coxs Bazar of Bangladesh for about a year until the camps became too overpopulated and living conditions deteriorated.

Early in 2017, they crossed over to India, illegally, through the pourous borders in West Bengal, and settled at Mewat of Hariyana. They also managed to obtain identity cards from UNHCR, the refugee wing of the United Nations, in July 2017.

By that time, however, life at Mewat and Nuh camps had become difficult. Following Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjees statement in September, Islam and some of his friends came to Bengal in search of better fortune. Here they met social worker Hossain Gazi, who immediately contacted Muslim NGOs for help.

Early in January, eight families came to settle on a land plot owned by Gazi in his village Hardaha. Others followed.

In Mewat and Nuh, people were so distressed that some of the families sold their kids for a few thousand rupees for working as rag-pickers and domestic helps, said Daiya Begum in broken Bengali.

She along with her husband, Muhammad Sharif, and five children, came here in mid-February. Her father Abdus Sukur and mother Dolu Begum were killed  burnt alive she alleged  in Myanmar.

Gazi, however, is not alone. Forty organisations, including those work for Muslims and human rights, have together taken up this responsibility, he said.

Mohammad Kamruzzaman, president of West Bengal Minority Youth Forum, paid several visits to the settlers at Hardaha and helped them with food items. So did activists belonging to various human rights organisations.

Weve demanded that the administration set up proper accommodation for them. We expect the administration to act following the true spirit of the chief ministers tweet, said Ranjit Sur, vice-president of Association for Protection of Human Rights (APDR), Bengals largest human rights organisation.

Jiten Nandi, editor of Bengali literary magazine Manthan Samayiki, has visited the camp at Hardaha twice. India has accommodated Tibetan Buddhist refugees, Pashtun refuges from Afghanistan, Hindus and Muslims from Bangladesh Tamils from Sri Lanka. What is the problem with accommodating Rohingyas, who are globally regarded as the most persecuted minority? he asked.

While support and sympathy seemed to be pouring in for the distressed refugees, West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh accused the state government of indulging in anti-national activities.

Though our party is not involved, sheltering Rohingyas is not illegal, said local Trinamool MLA Nirmal Chandra Mandal.The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Saturday supported the demand for deportation of illegal migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh, saying their presence in Jammu and Kashmir posed a security threat to the country.

We do not consider them (Rohingyas and Bangladeshis) as refugees as they are foreigners and have entered in our country illegally, RSS Prant Sanghchalk, Brig (Retd) Suchait Singh told reporters here.

Singh, who was flanked by Prant Kariwah Parshotam Dadichi, said the state and the central governments should identify the illegally settled foreigners and send them back.

Why should we tolerate them when they pose a security threat to the nation as well as the state, he said.

Criticising the previous UPA government at the centre and National Conference-Congress coalition government in the state for allowing them to settle down in Jammu, he said they were totally responsible for the present situation(agitation over the deportation of Rohingyas and Bangladeshis in Jammu).

What is their motive behind settling them in Jammu is best known to them. We see their presence as a threat and want their early eviction, the former Army officer said.

Dadichi said there are about 300 shakhas in the state and we are waiting for the day when the shakhas are opened in Kashmir valley as well.

We are waiting for the day when the people in the valley will come forward and reach us to open our units. We are sure that day is not far, he said, adding we want peace to return to the valley as soon as possible.

Dadichi said RSS does not believe in propaganda of its activities. We are already working in Kashmir with like-minded people but there are no shakhas as yet.

Singh said national building work was being carried out through 277 shakhas, mostly in Jammu region.

We have Shakhas in Ladakh as well and this year so far 666 youths have joined the organisation, he said.

The state in-charge of RSS said 723 activists received training in Sangh Shikhshan vergs (camps). Referring to the three-day Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS) at Nagpur, he said 18 RSS workers from Jammu and Kashmir attended the meet from March 9.

The meet unanimously passed a resolution to highlight the need to protect and promote Indian languages, he said, urging the state government, policy makers, NGOs and individuals to protect and promote local languages.BJP president Amit Shah is likely to hold a meeting with the core group of the partys Andhra Pradesh unit on Saturday, party sources said after the Telugu Desam Party walked out of the NDA.

The meeting comes as the BJP finds itself in a tight corner in Andhra Pradesh after the TDP and YSR Congress moved notices for a no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha against the Modi government.

Shah is likely to review the political situation in Andhra Pradesh and strategise over his partys options in the state, which sends 25 members to the Lok Sabha and where assembly polls will be held along with the parliamentary elections next year.

Read | TDP quits NDA: Why it is hard to grant special status to Andhra Pradesh now

The party has already asserted that the TDPs decision to sever ties with it is a timely opportunity for it to grow in the state.

TDPs decision to quit was inevitable after its mischievous propaganda against Centre. People of AP have now realised that the TDP is resorting to lies to cover up its inept & inert governance. Far from being a threat, TDPs exit is a timely opportunity for the BJP to grow in AP, BJP spokesperson G V L Narasimha Rao said.

The TDP and the YSR Congress headed by Jagan Mohan Reddy are the two main parties in the state. While the former has been a part of the NDA since 2014, the YSR Congress too has often supported the government in Parliament on many legislations.

However, both have now been targeting the BJP after the Centre declined to grant special category status to the state.



Read | Chandrababu Naidu, Jagan Reddy trade barbs over no-trust motion against BJPThe United States has said it expects free, fair and reciprocal trade with India, and acknowledged it could cause the most friction in ties between the two countries which are otherwise on a very strong footing.

Although the US government committed to expanding the strategic partnership, President Donald Trump has railed against Indian tariffs on Harley-Davidson motorcycles and threatened to impose reciprocal taxes. On Wednesday, his administration challenged a bunch of Indian export subsidies at the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Trade has been the thorniest issue in India-US ties for a long time, traversing administrations, as has been acknowledged privately by officials of both sides. But Trumps recent public attacks appear to have added a new edge to the differences, demonstrating it as a new low.

If you had a point  (in) the relationship where you had the most friction, it certainly would be on the trade side, a senior administration official told reporters on Friday, acknowledging differences on the issue.

But the official defended them, seeking perspective. There have been concerns raised about the trade deficit with India and, as has been stated by the President. There are no tariffs on Indian motorcycles imported into the United States while India levies 50% import duty on Harley-Davidsons.

India is among a group of countries with whom the United States has a trade deficit. But the $30.8 billion deficit in 2016 is quite low compared to Chinas $385 billion, but enough to put it on Trumps radar, as a country responsible for the combined $800 billion trade deficit he has promised to wipe out.

The deficit has dipped recently, which the official acknowledged, based on massive oil and gas imports ordered by India from the United States. And it is likely to go down further because of other high-value imports, such as the order of civilian aircraft ordered by private Indian airlines companies. (SpiceJet plans to buy over 100 planes from Boeing.)

President Trump had been impressed enough to bring it up in his joint news conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House last June: I was pleased to learn about an Indian airlines recent order of 100 new American planes, one of the largest orders of its kind, which will support thousands and thousands of American jobs.

And, India has also cut the tariff on Harleys substantially to 50% from 75% and 100% (the last slab was for used vehicles, which India wants to keep out, thus the prohibitively high rate).

Asked if the US wanted to see the tariff reduced to zero, the official said, I would just note that Indian motorcycles that are imported into the US dont have any tariffs on them... and the President is very clear, he is looking for fair and reciprocal trade with India.

This administration has shown its commitment to expanding the strategic partnership, the official said in a briefing marked by the administrations disappointment with Pakistans patchy record on counter-terrorism.With the Dalai Lama leaving for Jammu on Saturday morning to attend the first convocation of the Central University of Jammu and Kashmir, a special event Remembering March 17: From Home to Exile, was cancelled at the 11th hour.

The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) that had organised the event, commemorating the day when the Dalai Lama left home in Lhasa, however, claimed that the event had been postponed, not cancelled. The event has been postponed till further notice, said Sonam Norbu Dagpo, secretary, international relations, government-in-exile. Yet, neither he, nor other officials could explain, how an event linked to a date can be marked any other day.

Coming close on the heels of the CTA cancelling a Thank You India event at Delhi and shifting it to Dharamshala, after a snub from the Centre, the development has sparked speculation that the Dalai Lama is unhappy with his political successor, Lobsang Sangay. Sangay was elected as the Dalai Lamas political successor in 2011, when the spiritual leader devolved his political powers to the democratically-elected government.

Is the Dalai Lama angry?

If you read between the lines, there is something to it, said a Tibetan leader, on the condition of anonymity. He added that organisers had sent them at least four messages for the event. First they said it is happening and then stated it is not happening, he said, claiming that many of Sangays decisions are seen as attempts to get publicity in international media. An instance of this, he claimed, was the Thank You India event.

Thank You India had already been held in 2009 on the completion of His Holinesss 50 years in exile. What was the need of the event in the 60th year, this leader said, adding that Sangay had unnecessarily raked up the issue of Penpa Tserings removal as the Dalai Lamas representative to North America during the Tibet Uprising Day on March 10.

Sangay-led Kasha (the cabinet of the CTA) has removed Tsering from the post in November 2017, months after his appointment, claiming lack of trust between him and the cabinet. However, the community perceives Tserings removal as being linked to him raising the issue of embezzlement of funds in the purchase of a new office of Tibet in US capital, Washington DC.

Sangay has had a controversial stint

Sangay has had a flair for controversy since the Tibetan general elections of 2016 that were marred by mudslinging between him and Tsering. The Dalai Lama had expressed his displeasure over the negative campaigning, saying proceedings had been Grand on the outside, but shallow inside. He had even barred both of them from receiving him, on his return from tours. In December 2017, Sangay sparked a row claiming that Dalai Lamas close aide and former prime minister-in-exile had been visiting China privately; the latter had denied this.A Dehradun-based pathological laboratory was asked to pay Rs 10 lakh with interest to a woman, who was wrongly diagnosed with breast cancer.

The Uttarakhand state consumer disputes redressal commission on Friday found Ahuja Pathology and Imagine Centre guilty of medical negligence.

It asked the lab and its owner, Dr Alok Ahuja to pay Rs 10 lakh compensation to Yashoda Goyal (60) at the rate of 7% interest per annum since 2006, besides Rs 10,000 as legal expenses.

One can imagine the pain and agony suffered by the complainant when she came to know that she is suffering from breast cancer. Her left breast was unnecessarily removed, on account of which she has to suffer throughout her entire life physically, mentally as well as socially, justices BS Verma and Veena Sharma said in the judgment.

Yashoda had in 2003 complained of pain in the left breast. Doctors referred her for biopsy, and after the test, she was diagnosed with infiltrating ductal carcinoma (cancer developed in milk duct) by Ahuja Pathology and Imagine Centre.

We consulted Delhi-based Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute and Research Centre, and based on the test report, the left breast was removed, said Arun Goyal, Yashodas son, who has been following her case since they moved consumer court in 2006.

After operation in 2003, Yashoda underwent follow-up tests at the hospital, during which, doctors suggested re-examining the original slide which suggested there was no cancer.

We then went to Dr Lals lab in Delhi which too found no cancer, Arun said, adding, The entire family was left shaken. And after coming out of trauma, we finally approached consumer forum in 2006.

The patient equally felt elated over the decision.

I cannot forget the depression and social stigma I went through. It was a long battle in which my family stood with me, Yashoda said.

Besides the Dehradun-based lab, Dr Alok Ahuja, owner of the lab, and Rajiv Gandhi hospital in Delhi were made respondents.

Dr Ahuja, meanwhile, said he will appeal against the decision.

Technically and legally, its a faulty judgment, given without taking an expert medical panels opinion. Its a disappointing order, he said in a statement.A bust of Indias first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, was found to be smeared with tar in West Bengals Burdwan in what appears to be a fresh incident of statue vandalism.

After the defacement was noticed on Saturday morning, the Katwa municipality lodged a complaint at local police station against unidentified miscreants.

Although the Trinamool Congress-run district municipality did not name anyone in the complaint, the chairman of the civic body, Rabindranath Chatterjee, who is also a former Congress MLA from the area, alleged that BJP supporters were behind the act. Local BJP leader Krishna Ghosh, however, condemned the act and said, There might be political differences, but none from our party would do such thing.

The Congress called the incident a great shame and demanded strict action against the culprits.

Whoever has committed it should be caught and punished. Its a matter of great shame, said Anil Sikaria, a West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee member. Congresss supporters held demonstrations in the town and submitted a memorandum to the local subdivisional officer demanding a probe and punishment for the culprits.

The defacement of Nehrus bust was the latest in a series of similar attacks on a number of that began with the demolition of communist leader Vladimir Lenins statute in Tripura following the BJPs victory in the assembly elections.

On March 7, to protest the demolition of Lenins statue, a group of ultra-Left students vandalised a bust of Jan Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee in south Kolkata.

Ambedkar statue defaced in Patna

Unidentified miscreants smeared ink on a statute of BR Ambedkar, Dalit activist and the architect of Indias constitution in Bihars Begusarai district.

Unidentified people smeared ink on the face of the statue. Block development officer (BDO), Manoj Paswan, who was the first to notice the defacement, informed police and lodged an FIR, said Begusarai SP Aditya Kumar Left parties took out a protest march demanding arrest of the culprits.

(With inputs from Patna)Homes with toilets in India more than doubled from 38.7% at the start of the Swachh Bharat Mission on October 2, 2014, to 78.98% in March 2018. The grand design is to ensure all households have access to a toilet so that India becomes open defecation free (ODF) by October 2, 2019.

Nationwide data shows that the effort to reach the ODF goal has been tremendous. Since the start of the mission, more than 64.32 million toilets have been built till March 6 this year, according to data tabled in the Lok Sabha in the current session, and 11 states and two Union territories have been declared ODF.

And theres no slowing down. In his budget speech last month, finance minister Arun Jaitley announced that two crore more toilets will be added to the six crore built since the launch of the Swachh Bharat Mission.

Building toilets is not enough. The challenge is to make people use them. And that can happen only when toilets are well-managed, from which all the waste generated is treated on-site or in treatment facilities, which otherwise causes diseases and death.

Read more | Water Aids report saying 732 million lack toilets in India used outdated data

With and Without

In Gopalpura village of Chainpura cluster in Meghnagar block of Jhabua district in Madhya Pradesh, 100 of the 330 families have toilets, but almost none uses them.

The problem: the toilets have no water source, no water storage tank, and no drains or soak pits for the sewerage generated.

The gram panchayat built it two months ago, but no money was transferred to my account. The toilet has no drains or tank. Water comes out of a hole in the wall and creates a stink right next to my home. So we just use it for bathing, said Roop Singh Parth, a small farmer who grows wheat or maize each year and continues to use the neighbouring fields as a toilet.

Kalia Vir Singh, who lives across Parths house, uses his newly-constructed toilet to store grain.

While the external specifications of these toilets more or less conform to the government requirements, all these toilets have is a hole for a drain that opens out into the field. These toilets, if used, cause more disease as they are built close to homes and water sources, which cause contamination and frequent bouts of diarrhoea, said Gayatri Parihar, director, Vasudha Vikas Sanstan, a Dhar-based non-profit that works on child health, natural-resource management and sanitation.

Despite the growing number of toilets, more people defecate in the open in India than the rest of the world combined, which results in 1.7 million tonnes of human waste each day, according to Delhi-based non-profit Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) report published in April 2017.

Around 78% of the sewage remains untreated. The piped sewerage systems do not treat the sewage, but merely dispose of them in rivers, groundwater or lakes, from where it leaches back into the soil, contaminating food and water, said the report.

Read more | Mumbai civic body to build 3000 more toilets this year, improve condition of existing ones

Localised Solutions

The Gobar-dhan programme for the management of solid waste  including cattle dung, organic kitchen, agricultural and solid wastes  announced in the Union Budget is just the kind of decentralised solution needed to lower the dependence on sewerage systems for waste disposal in village clusters like Chainpura that are off the sewerage line.

Expected to be launched in April, the programme aims to collect and aggregate cattle dung and solid waste across about 700 clusters of villages in each district for sale to entrepreneurs to produce organic manure, biogas and bio-CNG.

Its not realistic to expect the government to lay down sewerage pipes or build advanced waste treatment units in every block. People here need inexpensive and off-line solutions like covered soak pits to contain the waste and convert it into compost and biogas, so that when these septic tanks are emptied, the sludge is not just thrown back in fields and lakes, said Parihar.

Its not that the Centre doesnt know about these issues. It is working closely with states and district collectors to raise training and awareness among panchayats, communities, and masons on design and construction, said Madhu Krishna, country lead, sanitation, at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation India office.

In such places, you need a twin-pit toilet with two pits used alternately. When one pit fills, it is sealed and a lever is turned to drain the sludge into the second pit. Over six to eight months, the waste in the first pit turns to manure and can be removed, said Krishna.

Read more | Poop Guy explains how transformation of community toilets can change Indias future

Shared toilets are another option

In urban centres with high migration and mobility, toilets also need to be accessible, said K Sujatha Rao, former health secretary, and author of Do We Care? Indias Health System.

Googles Swachh Bharat Toilet locater app allows users to search online for the nearest public toilets and get directions. The demand is clearly there, but the reviews by users show the app needs an update.

App does not work for Delhi... Keeps showing Nashik. I am not going to fly to Nashik to take a leak... Please make this work, wrote a frustrated Yash Mishra.

Womens Crusade

A social movement led by women against open defecation has caught momentum, with several women across the country refusing to marry into families with no toilets in states as far apart as Haryana and Telangana.

In August last year, a 23-year-old woman in Bhilwara district of Rajasthan became the first woman to be granted a divorce on grounds of mental torture after her husband reneged on his promise to build her a toilet when they got married in 2011.

Read more | Ending poverty with food and sanitation

Women in villages have to wait for dark to venture out in order to relieve [themselves] and as a result have to bear  physical pain, said justice Rajendra Kumar Sharma, in his order.

Saying that behavioural change takes time is no excuse. People will use toilets if they function like they should, said Parihar.

Gopalpura village is already seeing a change, with both men and women using toilets to bathe in privacy.

We dont have to go to the handpump by the road everyday, where even strangers can watch our girls and women, said Janaki Parth, 45, a resident of the village.The Rajasthan Skill and Livelihoods Development Corporation (RSLDC), training jail inmates in various skills with support from partners, recently organised a meeting in Jaipur to discuss the challenges being faced by the partners.

The meeting was attended by the officials of RSLDC, its training partners and the jail authorities.

Speaking about the challenges, Krishna Kunal, the managing director of RSLDC, said that it was not easy to connect these prisoners with the skill training. The isolated existence in prisons affects their (prisoners) values of life. There are many behavioural issues with these jail inmates. After getting away from their families and living in jails, they do not open up with the trainers and most of them lose the hope of living. They do not find a motive to live. Therefore, nothing appeals them to learn any trade or profession, he said. Even after enrolling themselves, these prisoners do not attend the training classes regularly and trainers have to counsel them, he added.

There were also other problems such as finding good trainers for the prisoners. Getting good trainers to train jail inmates is a problem, as they do not feel comfortable in jails and with the available infrastructure, he further added.

Skill training is being imparted by the RSLDC in jails, juvenile homes and women shelter homes of various districts since 2015.

Underling the importance of emotional and financial support to the prisoners, Kunal said, One cannot lead a productive and satisfying life without emotional and financial support. In the absence of these, many of the prisoners turn into hardcore criminals. In such a situation, imparting skill training provides them a ray of hope to live and also helps them to forget or overcome their past.

In the meeting, Bhupendra Singh, the additional director general of jails, said that the jail authorities would extend full support to RSLDC and its training partners for imparting training to the jail inmates. He said skill training to the inmates serving their terms in the jail has mobilised them for employment and take up self-employment. Many jail inmates after receiving such trainings have been able to earn decent livelihood for themselves, while a few have become self-employed, he added.

Initially, the jail inmates were provided training in courses of vermin-culture, nursery management, electrical house wiring and jewellery. Later, other courses such as garment making, sweets and snacks making, candle making, jute diversified products, beauty culture and hair dressing were added. So far, more than 890 jail inmates have been trained in these courses, said RSLDC officials.

The RSLDC is imparting training to the jail inmates in various skills so that they can lead a respectable life after their release from the jails. Rajasthan has 127 prisons and other closed settings including 10 central jails, three reformatories, 25 district jails, 60 sub jails and 29 open camps. The capacity of these prisons is 32,327 and current occupancy is 32,787.

Case study

Avinash Choudhary, 31, a resident of Jaipur, was sent to jail in a dowry murder case in July 2008 for 7.5 years. When RSLDC started its skill training programme in jails, he attended nursery management for two months. After being released from jail, training partner Prayas got him a job at a local nursery, where he is earning around 2-3 lakh per annum.The virus of statue vandalism seemed to return to Bengal with residents in Katwa town in Bengals Burdwan district discovering attempts to vandalise a statue of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, on Saturday morning.

Tar was smeared on parts of the statue located near the Katwa Municipality about 150 km from Kolkata. A part of it was also chipped away.

Read: Statue vandalism: Ambedkar, Gandhi statues defaced

The act was the latest in a series of similar attacks on the statues of a number of Indian and foreign personalities that began with the demolition of two statues of the leader of Russian revolution, Vladimir Lenin, in Tripura on March 6 and 7 following the victory of the BJP in the assembly elections.

After the defacement was noticed on Saturday morning, the Katwa municipality lodged a complaint at Katwa police station against unidentified miscreants.

Incidentally, the plenary session of All Indian Congress Committee is being held on Saturday at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi.

Read: Mamata condemns attack on Syama Prasad Mookerjees bust in Kolkata, says statue vandalism not the culture of Bengal

Though the Trinamool Congress-run Katwa Municipality did not name anyone in the complaint, the chairman of the civic body, Rabindranath Chatterjee, who is also a former Congress MLA from the area, alleged that BJP supporters were behind the act. Local BJP leader Krishna Ghosh, however, condemned the act and said, There might be political differences, but none from our party would do such thing.

Whoever has committed it should be caught and punished. Its a matter of great shame, said Anil Sikaria, a West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee member. Congresss supporters held demonstrations in the town and submitted a memorandum to the local subdivisional officer demanding a probe and punishment for the culprits.

This month Bengal witnessed more than one act of statue vandalism.

Read: Statue vandalism: PM Modi condemns incidents, Amit Shah warns of stern action against those found guilty

On March 7, to protest the demolition of Lenins statue in Tripura, a group of ultra-Left students vandalised a bust of Jan Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee in south Kolkata. On March 8, BJP leaders got into a scuffle with ruling Trinamool Congress workers, who prevented the saffron supporters from going near Mookerjees statue that the BJP workers planned to purify with milk and Ganges water.

On March 10, a statue of Michael Madhusudan Dutt, a prominent poet-playwright of Bengal who converted to Christianity, was defaced in Raniganj town of West Burdwan district. Red ink was smeared on the statue of the poet who is famous for writing blank verse in Bengali.

Vandals struck in various states of India. Social reformer E V Ramaswamys (popularly known as Periyar) statue was attacked in Tamil Nadus Tirupattur on the night of March 6 and that of B R Ambedkar was defaced in Uttar Pradeshs Meerut on the same night.

M K Gandhis statue was vandalised on March 8 in Kannur, Kerala and Subhas Chandra Boses statue was defaced on March 9 in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh.

Bengal chief minister condemned the demolition of Lenins statue and the vandalism of prominent Indian leaders. Kolkata Police arrested seven students who damaged Mookerjees statue.Once engaged in a cold war over the Gorkhaland movement in Darjeeling, Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her Sikkim counterpart Pawan Chamling on Friday talked of beginning a new chapter in cooperation between the neighbouring states.

Chamling had earlier drawn the ire of Banerjee by speaking in favour of Gorkhas who are demanding an independent state carved out of Bengals hill districts. In fact, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha chief Bimal Gurung reportedly took shelter in Sikkim after Bengal police issued warrants against him. Gurung is still in hiding.

Read: SC rejects GJM leader Bimal Gurungs plea seeking protection from arrest

Significantly, while Banerjee and Chamling shook hands in Siliguri on Friday, the Supreme Court of India dismissed Gurungs plea seeking protection from arrest in several cases lodged in Bengal.

Banerjee and Chamling held a 40-minute meeting to discuss a range of issues, including the political disturbance in Darjeeling.

Fridays development drew the attention of all political parties in the hills because on February 7 Banerjee had directly accused the Sikkim government of inciting trouble in Darjeeling. Her government believed that Gurung, who is charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in Bengal, enjoyed the Sikkim governments patronage. Earlier, Banerjee even accused the Sikkim government of financially helping GJM.

Read: Bhaichung Bhutia quits Trinamool Congress; Sikkim parties race to woo him

Relation between the neighbours soured last year after Chamling wrote to Union home minister Rajnath Singh, seeking creation of a separate state. Bengal retaliated with a letter to Singh, accusing Sikkim of meddling in Darjeeling affairs.

Pawan Chamling (left) and Mamata Banerjee greeting each other in Siliguri on Friday. (HT Photo)

On Friday, the two chief ministers exchanged greetings and told the media that all misunderstandings were things of the past and they would work together for development of Darjeeling, Sikkim and West Bengal.

Addressing the media with Chamling by her side, Banerjee said, Sikkim will give full cooperation to Bengal and Bengal will give full cooperation to Sikkim.

The two leaders last met in 2011 when Sikkim was hit by a powerful earthquake. Banerjee visited two hospitals and some tremor -hit villages and offered assistance to Chamling during a meeting in Gangtok.

They are not going to give support to them and we will work together, said Banerjee on Friday without naming Sikkim, Gurung or GJM.

Read :GJM faction wants S S Ahluwalia to resign; was elected by people, says Darjeeling MP

Chamling virtually repeated Banerjees statement. We will work together for the development of Darjeeling, Sikkim and West Bengal. Our discussion was on development. Whatever misunderstandings there were have now become past. We will work together for a better future, he said.

Past is past. Let us start from new. I will not comment on this, quipped Banerjee when asked if Gurung would be arrested since his plea for protection has been dismissed. She however welcomed the Supreme Courts decision.

Read : Mamata accuses Sikkim of backing Gorkhaland stir, vows to establish state varsity in Darjeeling

Binoy Tamang, leader of the anti-Gurung faction in the GJM and chairman of the board of administrators in the semi-autonomous Gorkhaland Territorial Administration said, After this order from the Supreme Court the state has the right to arrest Gurung.A 21-year-old woman suffered bullet injuries when, in a bid to save her parents from assault by bike-borne snatchers, she was shot at near Surendra Nagar colony in Uttar Pradeshs Aligarh on Thursday.

Nitika, who was returning home with her parents and younger brother after attending a birthday party, was rushed to a nearby hospital from where she was shifted to the Trauma Centre on Ramghat road. Her condition is said to be stable.

One of the snatchers, Qasim, was chased and caught by BJP leaders who were passing by the area, and beaten up by locals before being handed over to the police. Two of his aides managed to escape.

According to police sources, Promod Singh, 52, a businessman of Adarsh Nagar colony under Sasni Gate police station on Pala road, was returning with his wife Vinod Kumari, 48, daughter Nitika, and son Manish, 18, from Surendra Nagar after attending a birthday party.

Promod and his wife were on one scooty whereas Nitika and Manish were on another scooty.

All of a sudden, on a cross-road in the colony, three bike-borne criminals intercepted them and snatched the chain of Promod. They also tried to take out money from his pockets. Seeing this, Nitika confronted them while Manish raised an alarm.

To frighten the victims, one of the snatchers fired a gun, injuring Nitika in both her hands and two of the criminals escaped with her scooty.

Police said BJP leaders, KK Goswami and Nagar Nigam member, Subodh, who were passing by the area in their car, noticed the criminals escaping, and caught one of them after a chase near Chiranji Lal Inter College along with the scooty.

The accused, Qasim, of Usmanpara, Upper Koat falling under Delhi Gate police station, was thrashed and handed over to the police.

He has revealed the names of his accomplices, Zafar and Chini, Sasni Gate inspector, Sunil Kumar Verma said.

The police have registered FIR against all the three under sections related to life threatening attack and loot, and are hunting for the other two.

Meanwhile, a large crowd thronged the trauma centre to see brave Nitika.Want massage? Half body massage, hands massage or whole body massage, I may give it right away at the stair, thats how mobile masseur Kishan Sharma approaches a Japanese tourist at the Dashashwamedh Ghat in Varanasi.

Kishan is one of 150 mobile masseurs offering dry massages on the steps of the ghats here, under the open sky.

They have no equipment, rates start at Rs 20 for 10 minutes, and as they roam from one ghat to another, most of their customers are foreigners eager for the exotic experience.

The Japanese tourist nods his head immediately, at which Kishan takes his hand and begins kneading it. Then come the shoulders and arms.

Most mobile masseurs operate at the Dashashwmedh, Prayag, Rana Mahal, Rajendra Prasad and Assi Ghats. Some also roam the lanes of Kashi looking for customers, but generally bring them back to the ghats. (Rajesh Kumar/HT Photo)

Twenty-something Kohei Saka from Tokyo gazes out at the Ganga and visibly relaxes. In 10 minutes, the massage is done and the money has changed hands.

I never imagined that I would get a massage standing at a Varanasi ghat. I am feeling quite relaxed. This is really very good, Saka says.

Kishan has already moved on to the next foreigner. They like this in the sun, under the open sky. They dont bargain and they pay well, he says.

Some masseurs have tied up with boatmen to offer their services during a boat ride down the Ganges.

For massage on boat, the tourist has to pay for the boat as well, says Mahendra Sharma, another mobile masseur. His customers of the day have included Chloe Prentoulis, a retired teacher from Los Angeles, and an Englishman-turned-sanyasi who declined to give his name.

Not everyone wants to be pestered about a massage during their first encounter with the mighty river, though. Many of the tourists are also not fans of the literally hands-on approach used to peddle these services. The massage is good. But the way he started massaging me without asking was irritating, says Peter William, a young tourist from England.

Origin story

The masseurs that operate here range in age from 20 to 65. Many take on and train young apprentices at no cost. Under the guidance of the guru, the trainee first massages domestic tourists and locals. Lessons include how to handle sensitive areas like the back and head.

Legend has it the first mobile masseur in Varanasi was a migrant from Bihar named Ramshankar Sharma who arrived in the pilgrim city 50 years ago in search of work.

Unable to find work in any of the shops, he stretched out on the stairs of the Dashashwamedh Ghat and slept. When he awoke, there was a foreign tourist seated nearby. He looked tired. Desperate to earn a few rupees, Sharma asked if he would like his hands and feet massaged.

Many masseurs have also tied up with boatmen to offer their services during a boat ride down the Ganges. (Rajesh Kumar/HT Photo)

That went so well that the tourist asked for a whole body massage. An hour later, he stood up refreshed and handed Sharma a Rs 50 note. This was a fortune in the 1960s, and Sharma realised he had found a career.

His son, Gauri Shankar Sharma, is now in his mid-50s and still earns a living here. My father had learnt the art of dry massaging from his father, who taught it to me. This is my business and its one that I enjoy, he says.

Earnings range from Rs 200 to Rs 500 a day. Gauri Shankars son Jeetendra, 32, is also a mobile masseur. Its a profession that supports many migrants from Bihar.

Most mobile masseurs operate at the Dashashwmedh, Prayag, Rana Mahal, Rajendra Prasad and Assi Ghats. Some also roam the lanes of Kashi looking for customers, but generally bring them back to the ghats, where cots laid out on the steps  or sometimes just a shawl  allow the tourist to relax for longer.

Most tourists dont want an oil massage but if someone asks I just buy a sachet of hair oil from a nearby shop and charge an additional Rs 10 for the massage, says Kishan.

So if you spot a man with absolutely no equipment mutter in the ears of tourists, dont fret. They actually aim to relax.The Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad (ATS) on Friday arrested three Bangladeshi nationals suspected to have links with the Ansarullah Bangla Team or Ansar Bangla (ABT)  a front organisation of Al-Qaeda and banned outfit in Bangladesh  from Wanavadi and Akurdi areas in Pune.

The three accused are aged between 25 and 31 years, and hail either from Khulna or Shariyatpur in Bangladesh, said a senior ATS officer.

ATS sources said that the three had been staying in Wanavadi and Akurdi illegally, without any authorised travel documents, for the last five years.

During their interrogation, they revealed that they had provided shelter and other help to ABT members during their stay in Pune, the official said.

Acting on specific inputs, the Pune unit of Maharashtra ATS carried out a search operation in Wanavadi and apprehended one Bangladeshi national.

The interrogation led the ATS to nab two more Bangladeshi nationals staying at Akurdi.

They were carrying PAN and Aadhaar cards obtained by using forged documents, said officials. The officer said one of the accused stayed and worked near a sensitive establishment. Investigation has revealed that these accused were helping active members of ABT to hide in India, the officer said.

He said the accused worked as construction labourers and had procured SIM cards using fake documents.

A case was filed under sections 19 and 20 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act; sections 465, 467, 468, and 471 of the IPC; and sections 3 and 6 Passport (Entry into India); and section 14 of the Foreigners Act.

The officials, however, did not reveal names of the arrested accused. ATS will also probe if the accused had any links to the ABT terrorist, who was arrested from Muzzafarnagar , UP, or with those arrested in Kolkata in November last year.Around 400 passengers who were to leave for Frankfurt, Germany, in the early hours of Saturday had to spend nearly one day in Mumbai after the Boeing 747-400 developed an issue with the engine.

Passengers were told that the Lufthansa flight, LH 757, scheduled to depart at 3am had been delayed. However, the flight was cancelled and passengers were told that they will be flown to their destination by another flight soon.

Airport officials said that the airline tried to fix the engine issue but had to ultimately deplane the passengers and provide them with accommodation.

The official said, Passengers were deplaned at around 6.30am and shifted to two nearby hotels by 8.30am. As the number of passengers was large, they were requested to not move out of the hotels.

Shailendra Fuloria, a Pune resident who was on an official trip to Frankfurt, said, Five minutes after our scheduled departure time, the pilot announced that they are facing a minor issue in one of their four engines and would be resolved soon. However, another announcement said investigations were in process and hence, it would take another hour to resolve the issue. Three hours later, the flight was cancelled as the on-board flight duty time limit was an issue.

The airline spokesperson said, Lufthansa confirms that flight LH757, Mumbai to Frankfurt, scheduled for March 17, has been delayed due to a technical issue. All 368 passengers on board were provided accommodation in nearby hotels. The technical problem has been fixed today and the flight is scheduled for departure at 1:30am on Sunday 18th. There will be two Lufthansa flights departing from Mumbai to Frankfurt on 18th. We regrets any inconvenience caused.

After immigration process, when the airline took our contact numbers and name, they deployed three officials to handle hundreds of us, said a passenger.A fire broke out inside the dumping ground at Ambernath on Saturday, releasing thick smoke and polluting the surrounding localities.

Ambernath is located around 48km from Mumbai city and is part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.

Two fire tenders are at the spot trying to douse the blaze. We received a call in the afternoon about the fire. We have sent two fire tenders to control it, said Bhagwat Sonawane, fire officer, Ambernath Municipal Corporation.

There are fires at this dumping ground regularly, Sonawane added.

Residents from areas close to the dump yard have started complaining of breathing trouble.We have not been able to open our windows as theres thick smoke all around. It is now making us feel breathless, said Ramchandra Dinankar, 66, who lives in Shiv Shakti chawl, close to the ground. This is not the first time the dump yard has caught fire.In the past few months, there have been regular fires in the dumping ground. I have developed breathing issues recently because of this.

Residents said the thick smoke has slowly started to spread over all of Ambernath. People here are facing various health issues because of the dumping ground. I have been sending images and videos of the fires in the dumping ground for the past one month, but there is no response from authorities, said Satyajit Burman, social activist and founder member of Ambernath Citizens Forum.

Located in Ambernath (east), along Badlapur pipeline road, the dumping ground, spread over 30 acres, has been a bone of contention between locals and authorities for over a decade. Residents have held protests several times, demanding its closure.

Just a day earlier, on Friday, officials with Ambernath Municipal Corporation had met and decided to regularly water the dump yard to control the heat and avoid fires, following reports of frequent fires at Kalyans Adharwadi dumping ground. We decided to put up two pumps at the nullah and well near the dump yard to wet the dump yard regularly and control the heat, Sonawane said.

The Adharwadi dumping ground has reported fires thrice in a week now. Soon after these incidents, Kalyan-Dombivli civic chief P Velarasu was transferred.Do you find it difficult to hail autorickshaws or taxis daily? There may be some help on the way. The state government is planning to deploy a squad of home guard constables to help commuters out, state transport minister Diwakar Raote said on Friday.

Besides that, he said the department has also set up a toll-free helpline number for passengers to register complaints against drivers. It will be mandatory for the auto and taxi drivers to display the number inside their vehicles.

Commuters often complain that autorickshaw and taxi drivers refuse to ferry passengers to their preferred location. Raote said that his department will ask the Home department to allow them to employ the services of home guard constables at certain spots.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) legislator Anand Thakur raised a calling attention motion on the issue in the upper house of the state legislature, and said, While the number of autorickshaws and taxis are increasing in the city, so is the arrogance of the drivers who block the roads outside railway stations, and only ferry passengers to locations where they want to go,said Thakur.

Accepting the issue faced by commuters, Raote said that the arrogance of drivers has decreased as Uber and Ola taxi services have become popular. We will discuss with the Home department to deploy squads of home guards at chronic spots, Raote said adding that the spots will be decided later.

Passengers can also call on the toll-free helpline (1800-220-110). Similarly, passengers can register complaints on 62426666 as well, he added.

According to Raote, there are 1,83,376 registered autorickshaws and 60,176 registered taxis in Mumbai, and the flying squad of the RTOs carry out drives to nab drivers who ply without documents, badges, or fleece passengers with rigged meters.After facing flak for cutting educational aid to students from socially weaker sections, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) has begun approaching alumni and corporations to shore up its finances.

For the past 24 days, a group of TISS students has been on a strike, demanding that the institute restore all fee benefits for the current and upcoming batches. The institute has estimated it needs to generate at least Rs5 crore annually, if it is to continue offering fee waivers to students. The authorities have planned to grow its corpus fund and sustain the waiver schemes with the interest money generated from it.

If we build a large corpus over a period, the waiver schemes can be sustainable, said Shajahan PK, dean, students affairs, TISS. We are appealing to our alumni and corporates, he said. The institute earns Rs40 lakh a year from its corpus.

The Union government expects the institute to meet at least 70% of its expenses on its own.

While a faction of the institutes students union called off the agitation after the authorities agreed to restore hostel fee waiver for Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST)

students from 2016-18 and 2017-19 batches and set up a Joint Scholarship Committee to work towards finding more resources for the upcoming batches, another faction continues to protest.

These students want the institutes to commit to dining hall and hostel fee waivers for all the upcoming batches and extend benefits to the Other Backward Category  non-creamy layer (OBC-NC) of students as well. The Union government has set up a committee to evaluate the financial health of the institute and recommend measures to alleviate the current funds crisis.

On Friday, members of the committee met with the protesting students, who suggested that the University Grants Commission (UGC) increase the funds for TISS. The UGC representative on the committee offered to take the students and the institutes concerns to the ministry of social justice and welfare, which disburses scholarships.

The institute has been in the red since 2015, when the government stopped providing post-matric scholarship (PMS) to SC and ST students. The officials said the dining hall and hostel fee waiver was discontinued last year, after the comptroller and auditor general (CAG) raised a flag over rising deficit of the institute. The deficit kept accumulating over the years, said Shajahan, adding that currently TISS has a deficit of Rs20 crore.

Sreejith Murali, who did his MPhil from TISS, and is now pursuing a PhD at IIT-B, said the Union government as well as the state have not been spending sufficient money towards scholarships for socially backward students. He said the central government has arrears and pending claims worth Rs6,824.51 crore under PMS for SC students.

However, he also blamed the institute for increasing its intake and planning new campuses, even as it struggled to cover expenses. The institute knew its ship was sinking, but they kept increasing enrolment. In fact, the intake for MPhil was increased by almost 100%, despite the fact that the government stopped providing fellowships to scholars who didnt clear the National Eligibility Test, said the TISS alumnus.

TISS officials blamed the delay in disbursing scholarships through direct benefit transfer (DBT) mechanism, where scholarship money is deposited into the students bank accounts, for the rising deficit. Many a times, the money is deposited after the students leave the institute, said Shajahan.

Until 2015, the Union government would provide anywhere between Rs7,000 and Rs12,000 in scholarships  a mere 15% of annual tuition fees charged at TISS. The institute waived off the reminder of tuition fees as well as dining and hostel charges for SC and ST students. Similar benefits were extended to OBC-NC students, although theres compulsion to do so, said the officials. The institute has around 4,700 students, including 550 from SC and ST groups and 232 from OBC that are eligible for scholarship. Students from scheduled groups receive scholarships only if their family income is below a certain limit.

After the government stopped its scholarship, the institute immediately withdrew the tuition fee waiver to OBC-NC students. However, the institute started offering upfront scholarship between Rs15,000 and Rs50,000, depending on the needs of individual students. We understand that its not enough, said Shajahan.

The institute has now proposed to charge Rs28,000 in annual tuition fees from OBC-NC students at the time of admission, instead of Rs78,000 charged from open category students. The remainder of the fees can be paid over the duration of the course. SC and ST students will still have to pay Rs9,500 as hostel fees. The institute has estimated it requires Rs12 crore to meet the expenses incurred by restoring fee waivers to the current batch. We have no idea where the money will come from, said the dean.

While there are seven deemed universities funded by the Union government besides TISS, students at the institute are particularly feeling the pinch because of its relatively higher fees. TISS offers professional courses, which are not recognised by university Grants Commission (UGC) as such. As a result, it doesnt receive funds meant for these courses, said Murali.

He said while the institute should explore other sources of income, it should leverage its relationship with the government to get more funds. TISS conducts several training programmes and conducts projects, such as Rashtriya Uchchatar Shikshan Abhiyan (RUSA), for the government. It should lobby with the government officials, said Murali.If one goes by the rules proposed in the plastic ban by the environment minister Ramdas Kadam, the citizens will have a bone to pick with the state government. The implementation of this ban is likely to turn contentious, with citizens liable to get penalized even for storing a plastic bag.

Public representatives will have the power to file complaints to the BMC against citizens or manufacturers who store or carry plastic and ask the authority to fine them.

It means if a person is found to be using plastic bags or other banned items, he or she will be fined by the municipal officers. The action against offenders will be of two types. A compounding offence will be one where the offender admits to the offence and will be fined accordingly, said Kadam. In the second case if the offender is not ready to admit to their offence, then they will be taken to the local police station and a case will be registered against them. In such cases penalty will be decided by the court.

Kadam was speaking at a press conference held at the state secretariat to explain the ban proposed by his department on Friday.

Offenders will be fined Rs5,000 and Rs10,000 for first- and second-time offence, respectively. A third-time offender will be fined Rs25,000 and three months imprisonment. The government has also decided to empower elected representatives and non-government organisations (NGOs) to file complaint against violation of the ban to the police, he added.

While Kadam said that the ban will kick start from March 18, officials did not confirm this.

The final notification of the ban is not ready yet. We are still finalizing the modalities and so, we wont be able to say that the notification will be issued by March 18, a senior official from environment department said.

In urban areas, the ban is going to be implemented by the local bodies while in rural areas, it will be implemented by district administration. The government has also formed an empowered committee headed by environment minister that will decide what other items could be banned or taken up for future ban in a phase-wise manner.

Following the deluge in 2005, thin plastic bags, with thickness below 50 microns, were banned in Mumbai in 2006. However, the government has not been successful in enforcing this ban. It also realised that the 2006 ban on plastic carry-bags of up to 50 microns was not helping prevent the clogging of drains.

However, a senior official at the chief ministers office (CMO) said that care will be taken to enforce the law only after the public is given enough alternatives. The government believes that jute and cotton bags can be an alternative to plastic bags and is working on schemes for promoting them.

We believe that there are many alternatives available in the market. Jute and cotton bags can be used an alternative to plastic bags. Likewise, cutlery items made of wood and bamboo can replace plastic items. The government has made a provision of Rs5 crore for producing cotton bags and it will be distributed among the people for promotion, said Satish Gavai, additional chief secretary, environment department.Four days after the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) grounded 11 aircraft belonging to IndiGo and Go Air for being fitted with faulty post-450 series Neo P&W 1100 engines, the Bombay high court on Friday said the aviation regulator should also examine the safety and airworthiness of the pre-450 series Neo P&W 1100 engines.

When you have grounded aircraft with post-450 series engines, the question arises: is the pre-450 series safe, said the division bench of justice Naresh Patil and justice Girish Kulkarni. Besides, the judges said the post-450 series was nothing but a modified version of the pre-450 series and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has not certified the latter to be safe.

You must assure the people at large that these pre-450 series engines are safe and airworthy in Indian weather conditions and with the infrastructure available in India, the judges told advocate Advait Sethna, who represented the DGCA. There cannot be any compromise when it comes to aviation safety, they added.

Sethna, however, maintained that the civil aviation regulator had not found any problem with the series. There is no problem with the pre-450 series, Sethna told the bench. He said that after conducting its own independent study, the DGCA has taken a conscious decision in the larger public interest to not allow aircraft fitted with post-450 series engines.

A total of 45 Neo aircraft are operated in the country by Air India, Vistara, Indigo and GoAir. However, the affected aircraft are only operated by the latter two airlines. According to the airlines, 626 flights have been cancelled up to March 31.

We understand the difficulty IndiGo passengers have faced in the past few days due to the cancellation of some of our flights, pursuant to our compliance with the DGCAs directive concerning a few of our aircraft. However, we would like to assure our passengers that between 96% to 98% of our flights are operating as usual. On any given day, we cancel less than 4% of our flights. And in order to ensure our passengers suffer no inconvenience as a result of the cancellation, we have been working hard to accommodate all affected passengers on alternate flights on our vast network. We are also actively engaged with our engine and aircraft manufacturers in finding a long term solution at the earliest. We would like to assure our passengers that the operations will be normalised soon. Said an IndiGo spokesperson. Meanwhile the Delhi high court said that it would not issue orders to ground the entire fleet of IndiGos A320neo aircraft, in response to a plea alleging that the planes are flying coffins due to their defective engines.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar, however, agreed to hear the other prayers of the plea which also sought publication the details of incidents of engine failure and accidents caused by these on the website of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) within 24 hours of their occurrence.Fire broke out at a four-storey army building in south Mumbais Colaba area on Saturday evening, a civic official said.

An official of the Disaster Management Cell of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said the fire started at around 7pm.

Four vehicles of the fire brigade were rushed to the spot, he said.

A defence spokesperson confirmed that fire had broken out at one of the army buildings near Afghan Church in Colaba.

Fire-fighting operations are on, the spokesperson said, without giving more details.The Ambernath dumping ground caught major fire on Saturday releasing thick smoke in the nearby areas. Two fire tenders reached the spot to douse the fire soon after the residents complained about breathlessness as smoke entered their houses.

We cant even open our windows as the smoke has constantly been entering my house since morning. We are suffering from breathlessness due to this. This is not the first time the dump yard has caught fire. In last few months, the dump yard has been catching fire regularly. I have developed breathing issues recently due to this, said Ramchandra Dinankar, 66, who lives in Shiv Shakti chawl, nearby the dump yard.

We received a call in the afternoon about the fire at the dumping ground. We have sent two fire tenders to the spot to control the fire. The fire incidents at this dumping ground are regular, and whenever we get a call, we try to douse the fire as early as possible, said Bhagwat Sonawane, fire officer, Ambernath Municipal Corporation.

Some of the active residents took the matter to social media as soon as the fire broke out.

I have been sending the images and videos of the fire incidents at the dumping ground since the last one month. However, there is no response from the authorities. The residents are facing various health issues on a daily basis due to the dumping ground, said Satyajit Burman, a social activist and founder member of Ambernath citizens forum (ACF).

Residents of Morivali Pada in Ambernath (East) have been waking up to the bad smell and thick smoke released from the nearby dumping ground since last two months. The residents complained that recently there has been continuous burning of the wastes in the dumping ground throughout the day and even night hours.

Earlier the dumping ground would not catch fire regularly. But since last two months, thick smoke is being released from the ground almost each day. There is also an unbearable stench during night. It is becoming very difficult for us to breathe, said Satish Kumar, 40, a resident of Shubh Residency, which is located near the dumping ground.

Kumar has been living in the area since last 4 years. He along with other residents in the area has taken the social media by posting pictures and details of the problems caused by the dumping ground.

Like Kumar, atleast 100 families in his society are affected by the dumping ground. There are around 25 to 30 housing societies in the area which is affected by the bad smell and thick smoke.

I had approached the pollution control board several times on this issue but they never respond to my complaints. Residents here are vomiting and facing several health issues due to the polluted environment, added Kumar.

The residents along with the Ambernath citizen forum (ACF) that fights against civic issues in the area, have now come together to approach the court to bring some pressure on the civic authorities. In February 2017, the members of the forum staged a protest against the civic officials for their failure to address the issue.

Complaining about health problems, more than 300 residents of Ambernath had thronged outside the Ambernath Municipal Council (AMC). One of the major demands from the residents during the protest was to take legal action against the civic body for failing to comply with the environmental norms.

 We have sent around 10 letters to the civic body asking for a strict action however all of them were neglected, the last option left with us approaching the court, said Burman.

An area of around 30 acre is operated as a dumping ground by the municipal council of Ambernath, where mixed waste is dumped in the open.

Last year when the residents protested, the civic body assured to start the work of closing the dumping ground in 6 months, however the civic body has failed to start the work.

AMC chief officer, Devidas Pawar, said, The development plan report to scientifically close the dumping ground is ready. We have also proposed a plan of developing a garbage processing and disposal plant at a 32-acre plot in Chikloli which will cost us Rs 32 crore. The project got delayed because the report was not sanctioned earlier due to some errors. We had to revise it and send it to the state government again for approval. The final approval is expected in another two-three days.

Located in Ambernath (East) along the Badlapur pipeline road, the dumping of garbage at the ground sprawling around an area of around 30 acres, has been a burning issue for the city over a decade now. Residents have protested against it several times, demanding legal action against the civic body chief and other concerned officers.

Followed by the constant outbreak of fire incidents at Kalyans Adharwadi dumping ground last week, the Ambernath Municipal Corporation in a meeting on Friday decided to regularly water the dump yard to control the heat produced there, so that such fire incidents are avoided in the future. The Adharwadi dumping ground caught fire thrice last week, following which civic body chief P Velarasu was transferred.

Meanwhile, after the fire at Kalyans Adharwadi dumping ground, the civic body have decided to water the dump yard regularly during the summer to avoid fire incidents. After learning about the Kalyan dumping ground fire incident, in a meeting held on Friday it was decided that we will put up two pumps at the nullah and well nearby the dump yard. This will help regularly watering the dump yard and control the heat further avoiding a blaze.,informed Sonawane.

Approach the court:

After protesting several times against the civic body, the Ambernath citizen forum is now on the verge of approaching the High court against the civic body for its negligence in stopping the burning of wastes activity in the area.

We have been trying to file a PIL of writ petition in the court in last one year. We are working on it even today. We are seeking maximum support from the residents and activist to come forward and join the petition and make it successful. This is the reason why we took the online platform to discuss the issue,said Dhanajay Moolya, 42, a resident of Navare nagar, Ambernath (East).

As per the forum, the land on which the dumping activity is carried out belongs to a private party. The civic body is dumping wastes on the plot illegally since last more than 40 years. The owner of the plot has also approached the court.

In 2012 a local resident had approached the court against the illegal dumping. However the petition filed did not bring any pressure on the civic body as it was filed by him alone and due to lack of follow up. We are now planning to study the entire matter of the illegal dumping activity and approach the court with the support of that individual, added Moolya.

The forum has plans to file a petition against the civic body as well as the land owner who is allowing the dumping activity.

About the dump yard :

The dump yard is around 40 years old and the dumps height is about 40-50 feet now.

Around 125 metric tonnes of wastes are dumped into it on a daily basis.

The dump yard is located at the Ambernath MIDC pipeline road that helps connect Badlapur, Ambernath , Ulhasnagar and Kalyan city.

Garbage is openly dumped into the dump yard by the civic corporation without any segregation and disposal process.

Thick smoke emitted from the overloaded dump yard throughout the day spreads in the area causing breathing trouble among the residents.A city teenager, born out of a live-in relationship, cant use the name and caste of his biological father.

The Bombay high court (HC) last week rejected the plea of a 17-year-old boy who sought an order declaring his mothers live-in partner was his biological father, so he could claim the benefits of reservation that are extended to the caste of his biological father.

The petitioner is seeking declaration that Shri XXX XXX is his biological father, which cannot be granted in exercise of jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, said a division bench of justice Ranjit More and justice Sadhana Jadhav, dismissing the teenagers petition which was filed by his biological father.

The teenager was born in February 2001 when his mother, a nurse at a civic hospital in Mumbai, was in a live-in relationship with a doctor in the same hospital. On that basis, the 17-year-old sought a declaration to the effect that the doctor was his biological father.

His mother had filed an affidavit in support of the petition stating the child was born out of a live-in relationship. She said she had not mentioned the name of the biological father in the teenagers birth certificate and school record, as she was not formally married to the doctor. Besides, the doctor was married to another woman at the time. The boy had also sought corrections in his birth certificate, which merely mentioned not stated against the name of his biological father, and in his school records. He had also sought amendments in his CBSE documents.

The high court rejected the plea on the grounds that the declaration sought by the 17-year-old cannot be granted on a writ petition.The Bombay high court has struck down abetment to suicide case registered against a 28-year-old woman from Yavatmal district solely on the basis of her Facebook and WhatsApp chats with the deceased, a final year BCom student.

The division bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice MG Giratkar said that even if the contents of complaint lodged by Kumud Dhole, mother of the deceased - Vedant, were taken to be true, no offence was made out against the accused woman.

The judges said that the complainant merely stated that the deceased son of the complainant had love affair with the woman and he was in touch with her through Facebook and WhatsApp.

Except this contention, there is nothing in the report (the complaint) to show that the applicant instigated or abetted the deceased to commit suicide, said the bench exonerating the 28-year-old woman from the charge of abetting suicide of the college student. From the face value of the report lodged by non-applicant No.2 (complainant), offence punishable under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code is not made out, it added.

Vedant was studying in BDP College at Pandharkavda. He was a final year student of BCom, but he was staying at Nagpur for his preparations for Chartered Accountancy and Master of Business Administration. On March 23, 2017, Vedant consumed some poisonous substance and was taken to hospital where he was declared brought dead.

After his death, the family members of the deceased started searching for the cause of his taking the drastic step and from his mobile number noticed that he was frequently chatting with and talking to a woman for the past one-and-half year.

When his father dialled the number, the woman disclosed her name as Sonu Singh. However, four months later, when he again contacted her she disclosed her name to be Priya Chamedia, which purportedly turned out to be the accused woman.

The mother of the deceased then approached the police complaining that her deceased son was in love with the woman and the affair was the cause of her sons suicide, and acting on the complaint police booked the woman.

The high court, however, held the complaint did not disclose any instigation or any instance that would have driven Vedant to commit suicide. Even assuming that deceased had love affair with the applicant that itself is not sufficient for registration of offence under Section 306 of the IPC against the woman, it said.The state forest department cleared encroachments on a one-acre wetland patch at Dive-Anjur off Thane-Bhiwandi Road on Thursday.

Following directions from the Bombay high court (HC) constituted wetland grievance committee, the Thane territorial forest department razed an under-construction hotel being built at the site using excavator machines.

The violation was first highlighted by the state mangrove cell in the Bombay HC in 2014. N Vasudevan, additional principal chief conservator of forest, state mangrove cell, had inspected eight wetland sites (one of them was Dive-Anjur) and confirmed the destruction.

His report said unidentified violators had cut off the flow of tidal water to the wetlands.

After discussions during our meeting, we directed the Thane forest department to take action at the site. Recently, the land was handed over to the forest department and 10 days back we issued directions. The deputy conservator of forest (DCF), Thane forest range took action at the site, said JR Gowda, member secretary, of the HC committee. We will ensure the land gets restored.

Jitendra Ramgaokar, DCF, Thane, said, We removed a massive structure from the wetland, which is very close to the creek, where debris had also been dumped. Based on directions to us by the HC committee, we had issued a notice to the people concerned over the past week. After finding that details submitted by them were violating wetland rules, we carried out the demolition drive and the structure was removed.

Environmentalists lauded the move by the forest department.

We welcome this decision by the forest department and mangrove cell. This will send a message to violators that court orders cannot be subverted by political and mafia pressure. However, more sites remain and the big fish are still out there, said Stalin D, director, NGO Vanashakti.

In another incident, the Thane forest department also cleared an encroachment from a protected forest land at Kalwa, along the Mumbai-Panvel Highway on Thursday.

A company with 30 employees was engaged in developing ship parts, and had encroached on the forest land for 20 years. We arrested Ramesh Parashuram Sharma, the owner of the company. The encroachments will be removed over the next few days, said Ramgaokar.A day before his Gudi Padwa rally, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Saturday held a meeting with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, thus sparking off speculations in the political circles.

This meeting was significant as Pawar has called a meeting of opposition parties at his residence on March 28, to discuss the strategy for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Both Raj and Pawar have become critics of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government and spare no opportunity to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

However, Thackeray called it a courtesy call sans any political agenda.

During the Pune interview programme, we could not talk properly. Hence, it was decided that I will meet Pawar when he comes to Mumbai. This was a planned meeting. We did not discuss any politics, said Thackeray.

He drove to Pawars residence at Bhulabhai Desai Road and the meeting lasted for approximately 40 minutes.

Thackeray, last month, had conducted an open interview with Pawar in Pune.

In the interview, Pawar had said that only the Congress can challenge the ruling BJP and that Congress would see its share of Achhe Din in the coming days.

Pawar was also critical of Modi for his comments on Indias first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the Gandhi family.

However, he maintained that his relationship with Modi was cordial.

Pawar also complimented Congress president Rahul Gandhi and said that he was a learner, who had evolved immensely.

During his rally on Sunday, Thackeray is expected to make major announcements to boost his workers, who are currently low in morale.

Interestingly, Pawar, on Sunday, will share stage with Rajs estranged cousin and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray for the book launch of senior Sena leader and former state chief minister Manohar Joshi.The Supreme Court on Thursday lifted a two-year-old moratorium on new construction in the city imposed by the Bombay high court. A bench of Justice Sharad Bobde and Justice L Nageswara Rao lifted the February 2016 embargo with a rider that no new construction in the city will be allowed without first ensuring disposal of construction debris. This is irrespective of whether the construction permit is fresh or was granted earlier.

The bench directed Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to add this condition to its construction permissions, and further asked the civic body to revoke the permission in case of non-compliance.

The order says any builder will be permitted to start construction only after an undertaking of proper disposal of debris as part of Intimation of Disapproval (IOD) and submitting a bank guarantee of Rs5 lakh to Rs50 lakh as a guarantee of proper waste disposal. The order will remain in effect for six months after which BMC will have to submit a fresh report to SC.

The order came on a Special Leave Petition moved by Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry (MCHI), whose plea for review of the previous order was rejected by Bombay high court. The 2016 order restrained the BMC and the state from granting permission for any new residential or commercial construction within BMC limits.

MCHI-CREDAI President Mayur Shah termed the SC order a huge relief to the citizens of this metropolis. He said: People living in dilapidated and old buildings will benefit from this decision as redevelopment activity can resume. It will also generate additional income for the BMC and the state.

A top civic official said he would react to the order only after reading it.

Bombay HC had issued its order after noticing that more than half the municipal solid waste generated in the city was being dumped, contrary to the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Management Rules, and was, thus, illegal. In its order, the high court had said, More and more constructions in the city will increase population density, which will lead to generation of more and more municipal solid waste as also construction waste. SCs order on Thursday directed large builders to deposit construction waste at one of the 10 sites identified by BMC. Small builders, the order said, will have their debris collected by municipal agencies.

The judges noted that, according to an affidavit filed by the BMC, around 8,600 metric tonnes a day of municipal solid waste is being generated in the city, but the municipal corporations capacity is to process only 3,000 metric tonnes of solid waste a day. Thus, the remaining 5,600 metric tonnes of municipal solid waste was being dumped illegally.

MCHI had contended in front of the apex court that there was no basis for the Bombay high court to conclude that new construction will lead to the creation of more solid waste. The body of builders and developers claimed that there were separate Construction and Demolition Waste rules and those rules were being strictly complied with.Actor Nawazuddin Siddiquis lawyer, Rizwan Siddiqui, 44, who was arrested in call data records scam (CDR) on Friday night by Thane crime branch for illegally obtaining CDRs of the actors wife has been remanded in police custody till March 23, said a police officer.

Advocate Rizwan Merchant, representing Rizwan Siddiqui, said the allegations are baseless and his client had not got a notice from the police.

The police, on the other hand, claimed that they had served Rizwan Siddiqui notice, but he refused to accept it, after which he was arrested from Mumbai.

Param Bir Singh, Thane police commissioner, told the media that Nawazuddin Siddiqui has no direct role in the scam. He was summoned and he is ready to co-operate in the investigation.

Rizwan Merchant said in court, The allegations are false. Earlier, the police showed him as a witness, and while searching his house in Mumbai, they arrested him. The police are covering for Nawazuddin, who, along with his brother, had asked Rizwan to obtain CDRs of Nawazuddins wife. Rizwan then went to a private detective and asked for the records, but had no idea about the detectives source.

He also denied the allegation that Rizwan Siddique had destroyed evidence. Senior police inspector Nitin Thakare said, We have sufficient evidence against Rizwan Siddiqui, and are questioning him on the case. He has been remanded in police custody till March 23.A 14-year-old girl made the Versova police search for her for three months before they realised that she was in her hometown in Hyderabad.

She had around thousand rupees when she fled and stayed at various ashrams before she reached Hyderabad, the officer said.

On December 11, 2017, a 54-year-old man, Guru Swamy had approached the Versova police station and lodged an FIR saying that his daughter had been kidnapped.

After filing the complaint, police had formed different teams and started looking for her.

Swamy, along with his daughter had come to Mumbai for his medical treatment from Hyderabad. He went to a few hospitals before coming to a multi-speciality health care centre in Andheri (West).

His daughter was accompanying him everywhere. On December 11, 2017, he went to get medicines from the chemist and told his daughter to wait near the gate of the hospital, said an officer from Versova police station.

However, when the father came back, he could not find his daughter and started searching for her.

He then approached the police station to register an FIR. We started our investigation based on the information received from the father. Different teams were dispatched to look for the girl in the city. A case under section 363 (kidnapping) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered, said the officer.

The police continued the investigation for three months, but could not find her.

We had put our informers at work in the Mumbai circuit and were treating it as a kidnapping case, but she was nowhere to be found.

A few days ago, we received information that she was spotted at the Himayat Nagar locality in Hyderabad. Our team rushed to the city and found her, he said.

When the cops questioned the girl about her whereabouts they were surprised to know that since she was tired of accompanying her father to various hospitals for his treatment, she had fled, when she saw an opportunity, said the officer.The condition of the 12-year-old boy, who fell from the fourth floor of a building in Indirapuram on Friday evening and was rescued by a CISF constable, continues to remain critical.

Ashish Naik suffered severe injuries in the fall from a tower in Shipra Sun City where he had gone to play with his friends. The boy fell into a shaft.

On Friday evening, a number of residents were trying to pull out injured Ashish from the shaft but were unable to do so. CISF constable Sushil Bhoi, posted with the fifth reserve battalion of CISF in Indirapuram, had come to meet a senior officer at Shipra Sun City and reached the adjacent building on hearing the

commotion.

There were two rooms on the ground floor but these were locked. So, the boy could not be taken out. I climbed a drainage pipe to reach him. He was conscious but injured. I tied him to me with a cloth. I just asked him to hold on tight, Bhoi said.

Bhoi crawled up to the fourth floor with Ashish tied to his back. The boy was then rushed to a hospital.

It is because of the training we undergo that I was able to help the child. He held on to me when I was taking him up over the pipe. Initially, when I saw him lying injured, I just had one thought in my mind  I must reach the child and rescue him, Bhoi said.

VB Joshi, spokesperson, Kailash Hospital, said, The patient has been brought to our hospital with trauma injuries to his head and arms. He is currently under observation in the intensive care unit of our hospital. It is too early to comment on the health condition of the patient. Our doctors are attending to him.

We have got him admitted to the ICU of a hospital in Noida. He is unable to remember how he fell. He had gone to the nearby building to play with his friends, Ashishs mother said.

The police on Friday said the boys playing with Ashish told them that monkeys had attacked them and it led to Ashishs fall. However, his family said it was not clear how he fell off the building.Four workers of the Samajwadi Party (SP) who had inaugurated the Hindon elevated road were sent to judicial custody on Saturday.

The Ghaziabad police produced them before a court and sought their custody. However, after listening to arguments, the court did not allow the police remand and sent the four accused to judicial custody, the lawyer for the accused said.

On Friday morning, dozens of SP workers and leaders had inaugurated the 10.3km Hindon elevated road near Raj Nagar Extension and drove vehicles to UP-Gate. The road is complete and is yet to be inaugurated.

The district administration officials have sent a request, asking the chief minister to inaugurate this road.

After Fridays incident, the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) forwarded a police complaint, upon which an FIR was lodged against a member of legislative council, Rakesh Yadav, and others.

After the four persons were produced before the court, we argued that the section of attempt to murder has been levied wrongly and there is no evidence to indicate that the men indulged in any attempt to murder during the incident. The court has fixed Monday as the date of hearing for their bail, Nahar Singh Yadav, the lawyer representing the accused, said.

The four accused were identified as Manoj Pandit, Anshu Thakur, Guddu Yadav and Upender Yadav.

As per our information, the court did not send the four accused on remand while taking into consideration the section of attempt to murder. The remand was given under the other sections levied in the FIR. We did not demand police remand and the four were sent to judicial custody. The investigating officer will take up the investigation in due course, said Atish Kumar Singh, circle officer (city II).

The SP leaders on Saturday also posted a video on social media in which three persons, a politician, a private developer and another unidentified person, are seen taking a round of the newly constructed road in their SUV.

One of them is a Bharatiya Janata Party politician and is taking a round of the road. We demand action to be taken against the men in the video, Rahul Chaudhary, city president, SP, said.

Circle officer Atish Kumar Singh said, We will get the video checked and verify it.

The Hindon elevated road, which cost Rs1,147 crore, was recently given an environment clearance by the state environment impact assessment authority. The district officials have written to state officials for its inauguration by UP chief minister and are awaiting a response before opening it to commuters.The invitation by Aam Aadmi Partys (AAP) central leadership to its Punjab unit leaders and MLAs for a meeting with convener Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi on Sunday has ended up highlighting a divide over his apology to Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia in a defamation case. Most of the 20 MLAs of the party, which is the main opposition in the state assembly of 117, have decided that the high command should instead come to Chandigarh to explain his position.

Among those not going are senior leaders such as Sukhpal Singh Khaira, who is leader of opposition in the assembly, and MLAs Kanwar Sandhu, HS Phoolka and Nazar Singh Manshahia. Why we should go ? Galti vi oho karan, te bulaan vi sanu Delhi nu? (First they make the mistake and now want us to visit them in Delhi!). Most of us are not going, said Khaira.

However, three of the legislators, Amarjit Singh Sandoa, Baljinder Kaur and Kultar Singh Sandhwan, met Kejriwal in Delhi on Saturday. He told us that he is tendering apologies in all defamation cases, including the one filed by Union finance minister Arun Jaitley, because he thinks fighting these cases is a waste of time and needs huge amount of money as lawyers fee, said Sandhwan. These three were among the seven MLAs who did not participate in a meeting on Friday evening where the other 13 decided against going to Delhi, it is learnt. Others absent were Aman Arora, Sarvjeet Kaur Manuke, Harpal Singh Cheema and Phoolka.

Larger sentiment

While Phoolka too said he is not going owing to a private engagement in Bathinda, Manuke and Cheema could not be contacted immediately.

Arora said he will attend the Delhi meeting so as to know what pushed our national chief to tender an apology. Let him explain. Only then can we draw any inference, said Arora, who resigned as co-president of the state unit in protest against Kejriwals apology. But Sandhu said he was hopeful Arora would also not go: I had a word with him on Friday evening and he was also of the opinion that the high command should come to the MLAs to explain its position. Manshahia too said the leadership should respect the larger sentiment and hold a meeting in Chandigarh.

Mann says no harm

Amid this, Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann, who resigned as state unit president in protest on Friday, is of the opinion that there is no harm in meeting Kejriwal in Delhi. We should at least listen to what he has to say about reasons behind his apology, he said.

The central leadership on Saturday evening made calls to invite most of the MLAs to Delhi for what is being seen as a show of strength in favour of Kejriwal. Delhi deputy CM and the partys Punjab affairs in-charge, Manish Sisodia, pointedly invited all MLAs and other senior leaders for the meeting.

Sandhwan claimed, By Sunday morning you will see that all MLAs, barring six or seven, will be ready to meet Kejriwal in Delhi.A special court, which awarded life imprisonment till death to Khalistani militant Jagtar Singh Tara in connection with the assassination of the then Punjab chief minister Beant Singh on Saturday, observed that ideological difference cannot be a trigger or justification for murdering someone.

Beant was assassinated in 1995 in a bomb blast that killed 16 others and injured 15 critically.

In a 149-pages-long judgment, additional district and session judge JS Sidhu said a criminal case cannot be decided on the basis of ideology as it cannot be decided that the ideological version of which party is correct and that of which party is wrong.

It cannot be considered a proper reason for causing the murder of someone and that a criminal case is to be decided as per the settled law of the land by following the legal procedure, the judgment read.

The court also held that it was well established that the convict was an active member in hatching the conspiracy and he had all the knowledge about it.

This fact is very much clear from the record that he purchased the car which was used in (committing) the offence and then he carried RDX in the vehicle, the judge observed.

The court also took into account the fact that Tara showed no remorse over the killing of Beant Singh and he instead tried to justify his action in written.

The court also took cognisance of the confessional statements made by Tara at various stages starting September 1995. He had also submitted a six-page letter in the court in January this year.

Regret death of 16 others in blast: Tara

Tara on Saturday said he had no remorse for killing Beant Singh, but he regretted the death of 16 others in the blast outside the civil secretariat in Chandigarh.

The special public prosecutor pleaded for death penalty for Tara. However, the court was of the view that this wasnt a rarest of rare case and not one where capital punishment should be imposed keeping in view the totality of the circumstances, including the age and antecedents of the convict.

Referring to previous judgments in the matter, the court observed that the co-accused in the case Jagtar Singh Hawara and Balwant Singh Rajoana were conspirators of first category while Lakhwinder Singh, Gurmeet Singh and Shamsher Singh (also accused) are found to be conspirator of second category.

... Jagtar Singh Tara is also on the same footing as of Lakhwinder Singh, Gurmeet Singh and Shamsher Singh as he aided in the conspiracy. In this way, he is conspirator of second category in this matter... The high court observed that Lakhwinder Singh, Gurmeet Singh and Shamsher Singh were merely pawns in the hands of Balwant Singh and Jagtar Singh Hawara. This court is of the view that the same is the case of Jagtar Singh Tara, the judgment read.

Tara is 43 year-year-old and at that time he was around 20 years only, the court said, adding that he had expressed remorse over the killing of innocent people and had left the spot before the incident took place.

Kin, supporters gather outside jail amid tight security

A large number of Khalistani supporters and Taras family members gathered outside the Burail jail where the court proceedings took place. They started gathering in the morning and stayed till the order was pronounced.

Several men wearing T-shirts with Taras photo raised slogans in support of Khalistan and Tara soon after the quantum of sentence was pronounced.

Taras family members, including his brothers, sisters-in-law and cousins, were present. Sarabjit Kaur, whom Tara considers his sister, had come all the way from England. She was relieved that Tara was not awarded death penalty. His brothers and sisters-in-law, some of whom had come from a Ropar village, also expressed satisfaction over the quantum of sentence, claiming that whatever he did he did it was for the sect.

Tight security arrangements were made by the Chandigarh police outside the jail. Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD Amritsar) chief Simranjit Singh Mann was also present.The condition of the Emergency at the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, is bad according to the chairperson, emergency services, and very bad according to medical superintendent. Yet, nothing much is being done to improve its condition.

A visit to the emergency of GMCH-32  citys tertiary care hospital  reveals that it is one of the most disorganised, unhygienic and chaotic hospital when compared to other government hospitals.

Since its inception in 1996-97, the number of beds have remained the same. 12 in medicine, 7 in surgery, 6 in orthopaedics, 21 in gynaecology, 14 in paediatrics means mere 60 beds.

With only 60 beds in the Emergency, GMCH-32 caters to patients from Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and other states. At any given point, there are at least 350 patients admitted in the emergency, yet the administration has not improved the infrastructure.

20 resident doctors for more than 300 patients

Further, there are hardly four resident doctors. One senior resident and two-three junior resident doctors in each department. It means, there are roughly 20 resident doctors to look after over 300 patients in the emergency.

Consultants are on call during the night and during the day time, they only pay visits.

On Thursday, 350 patients were examined at the emergency, out of which 50 were medico-legal cases. During epidemic, the number increases to 500 also, said Dr Harish Dasari, chairperson, Emergency services, GMCH-32.

In 2017, over 1.33 lakh patients were examined at the Emergency, out of which over 99,000 were new, over 36,000 were revisits and over 18,000 were medico-legal cases.

The hospitals emergency does not have a triage system. There is only one emergency medical officer at the entrance whose main focus is to deal with medico-legal cases and she refers all other patients to different departments after a quick examination.

Ideally, there should be a triage system, wherein a doctor assess patients severity of injury or illness within a short time, assign priorities, and transfer each patient to the appropriate place for treatment.

The triage system has not come up yet. We set up triage during disaster situations like at the time of Ram Rahim verdict and other such incidents, said Dr Dasari.

Inside ward number 21, there is an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) just next to gents toilet and the area stinks. Not only this, critically sick patients can be seen lying outside the toilets in stinking conditions. (Keshav Singh/HT)

All at sea here

Enter the Emergency and you will find patients lying everywhere on trolleys, not neatly organised, though. There is no place for attendants to sit, they are either sitting on the floor or spend the day by standing next to a trolley.

Enter ward number 21, medicine emergency and its all chaotic here. Trolleys are placed in a haphazard manner, one patient is lying in one corner and another one is on the other side. There is no symmetry, when compared with Hall A of Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), which has less space, more trolleys but is far better organised.

Inside ward number 21, there is an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) just next to gents toilet and the area stinks. Not only this, critically sick patients can be seen lying outside the toilets in stinking conditions.

Similar is the situation in other wards. The hygiene is quite poor in the emergency; you can see rats running around and the floors are filthy.

The Emergency was constructed for a particular number of patients but the patient load has increased manifold. This is leading to delay in treatment, sub-optimal treatment and chances of error increases.

Harrowing time for patients, kin

Sher Singh, husband of Karamjeet from Hallomajra, said, My wife is diabetic and after she developed some complication in her foot. We rushed her to GMCH-32. The doctors cut her thumb on February 21. Then after five to six days, they cut her foot. This week they said there is a need to cut her leg.

Afraid, he took her wife to PGIMER emergency. I brought her to PGIMER. There doctors said that so far there is no need to cut her leg. They will conduct ultrasound and decide the course of treatment. There they conducted no tests, said Sher Singh. The condition is quite bad in GMCH-32 Emergency. They could not even control my wifes rising blood sugar levels, which PGI doctors controlled in a day. I will never visit that hospital, he said.

Deshraj Saini, a labourer in a steel factory from Jagadhri, is having a tough time at the Emergency. He brought his 23-year-old son, a TB patient, here on Thursday evening but no one is looking after him. Last evening, doctors saw his X-ray and prescribed medicine but there is no relief from pain. Since morning, no doctor has examined him and he is writhing in pain. I do not know what to do.

Being a TB patient, he wasnt kept in a separate ward but with other critically ill patients.

Karan, son of Shammi Devi, shares, I have to make 10-15 rounds and then a nurse or doctor examines my mother. The patient care is quite bad here.

But there are some who are satisfied with the treatment. Jaswinder Kaur, wife of Sapinder Singh, said, I brought my husband to the Emergency three days ago and he is being looked after by the doctors. Since morning, one doctor and nurse has seen him.

Two other attendants voiced satisfaction with the treatment provided inside the Emergency.

May give session to docs, nurses on how to behave with patients

Dr Ravi Gupta, medical superitendent, GMCH-32, said, At any given point of time one or two complaints are registered with the hospital administration by the patients or their attendants against the staff. Last week, three complaints were registered. The common complaint is that either the treatment is delayed or improper treatment was given. We investigate every complaint and majority of times they are incorrect.

We may start orientation session for doctors and nurses wherein they are informed how to behave with patients and their attendants. Ideally, Medical Council of India (MCI) should introduce some non-medical subjects to improve communication skills of the doctors, he said.

Medical superintendent on:

Overcrowding is a major problem. The Emergency was constructed for a particular number of patients but the patient load has increased manifold. This is leading to delay in treatment, sub-optimal treatment and chances of error increases. The solution is that the other state governments should have same level of health care so that at least routine cases are not send to city hospitals.

Emergency medical officer is a generalist, who sends all the patients to different departments  surgery, medicine, orthopaedics, where the residents of respective specialities are managing patients. Many a times, a patient referred by EMO can be treated by EMO itself, in this way there would be less pressure on the departments. The solution is the development of department of emergency medicine, with round-the-clock availability of residents of emergency medical officer who will stabilise or treat many patients and send them back from entrance itself.Civic work at the IT City project in Mohali is far from complete, yet the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA), a state agency, granted itself a completion certificate for a large part of the project a year ago. The apparent reason was to avoid registration with a regulatory authority, and also to paper over project delay that looks set to stretch even further.

The chief engineer of GMADA issued the partial completion certificate (PCC) in April last year for 1,253.7 of the 1,672.7 acres of the project, which is mostly taken up by the 3,229 residential plots that were offered in 2014 and 2016. In the letter of intent (LOI) to allottees in June 2014, the authority promised possession within 36 months, that is, by June 2017.

A visit to the site shows workers of the contractor laying sewerage and water pipes, and electricity wires, and erecting streetlight poles in several blocks of the residential parts. Such delay isnt expected from a government agency such as GMADA. The officials dont even respond to our queries, said Ashish Malhan, a Delhi resident who is one of the allottees.

Sunil Kansal, chief engineer, GMADA, refused to comment on the issue, stating he didnt have all pertinent records with him as he was out of station.

Some allottees are planning to seek refund. Looking at the pending work on site, it seems the possession is still 5-6 months away. We will apply for refund, said Amarinder Singh of Nangal.

It must also be noted that GMADA received the PCC for IT City on April 28 last year, while the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act became operational three days later, on May 1. Under the act, it is mandatory for the registration of all ongoing projects with the states Real Estate Regulatory Authority (Rera), but GMADA has now applied for registration only for about a fourth of the project thats not covered by the partial certification.

GMADA is trying to wriggle out of the purview of stringent provisions of the act. However, Rera still has ample power to investigate such projects and even punish, said Himanshu Raj, a Chandigarh-based lawyer.

When asked why the certification was done without completion, GMADA estate officer Mahesh Bansal said, I received official information that development work in residential parts is complete. For more information, you should contact the chief engineer.

Sunil Kansal, chief engineer, GMADA, refused to comment on the issue, stating he didnt have all pertinent records with him as he was out of station. On Friday, though, GMADA held a draw of lots for allotting house numbers for some units.Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Saturday dismissed as an antic his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwals apology to Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia, who has since withdrawn a defamation case against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener for making allegations related to illicit drug trade.

Amarinder said the apology not only reflected Kejriwals political inexperience but also appeared to be a desperate attempt to reduce the burden of defamation cases against him before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections; but the fact was that things had changed for the worse for him.

In conversation with journalist Vir Sanghvi at Rising India Summit held by a news channel here, Amarinder said that Kejriwal is always jumping here and there. I dont know why he does that but this is no way for a chief minister to behave, irrespective of his lack of experience, he said.

No government can function in isolation but Kejriwal has completely isolated himself, said the Congress leader, adding that the AAP has completely lost ground in all states.

On AAPs future in Punjab, where it is the main opposition party, he said its legislators are disappointed and are looking for alternatives in order to safeguard their own future.

Further, about the national political scene, Amarinder expressed optimism that the Congress will form the next government at the Centre, either on its own or in a coalition with like-minded parties.

Asked about the mood in the Congress following the Tripura results and the subsequent bypoll results in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, he said all political parties had their ups and downs. The Congress might be down at the moment but that does not mean it will always remain down, he said.

The TDPs decision to disassociate from the NDA a year before the Lok Sabha elections shows disenchantment in the ruling coalition, and the prevailing mood of the nation, which is looking at a UPA sort of alliance as an alternative, he added.

On Congress president Rahul Gandhi as the prospective PM, Amarinder said he saw this to be an absolute possibility and that Rahul will make a good PM.A local court on Friday acquitted 13 former students of Panjab University in a case of rioting that made headlines in 2010. The remaining three accused were declared proclaimed offenders (PO). This came about as the evidence was apparently not enough after sub-inspector Pargat Singh, the complainant, was never examined by the prosecution, and even the investigating officer (IO) never appeared before court, despite 43 opportunities given to them.

Those acquitted by the court of judicial magistrate, first class, (JMIC) Harleen Pal Singh are Arshbir, Ravinder Singh, Mandeep Singh, Bhavjit Singh, Resham, Simrandeep Singh, Gurjeet Singh, Manish Kumar, Vikramjit Singh, Uday Singh, Simranjeet Singh Dhillon, Gurbir Singh Dhillon and Ranjodh Singh.

The three fugitives now are Sukhjit Singh Brar, Gurinder Singh and Jagpreet Singh.

The case dates back to November 8, 2010, when an intra-party rivalry converted PU into a battleground when supporters of two factions of Panjab University Students Union (PUSU) used sticks and swords.

The clash broke out after members of a group headed by Sukhjit, a self-styled acting president of PUSU, were putting up posters at the Student Centre. When members of the other faction objected, an argument began and spiralled into violence, according to reports. Police said that when they reached the spot, youngsters were hurling soft-drink bottles at each other. One of them was held from the spot. While no student was critically wounded, the FIR mentioned that S-I Pargat Singh of Sector-11 police station received injuries.

Defence counsels Terminder Singh and SPS Bhullar argued that the prosecution could not prove the case as there were multiple contradictions during the cross-examination of witnesses, and that the main complainant never turned up in court. They also pointed out that one of the constables, Jaswinder Singh, said he couldnt recall who caused the reported injury.

The case was registered as per Indian Penal Code sections for rioting, causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty, criminal intimidation, and criminal conspiracy.Its been over a decade since the release of Sekhar Kammulas heartwarming Telugu campus drama Happy Days, which was celebrated by audiences and critics alike and launched the careers of actors such as Varun Sandesh, Tamannaah Bhatia and Nikhil Siddhartha among others. Since then, there hasnt been a single noteworthy college-based story in Telugu cinema. However, all thats going to change with this weeks Telugu release, Kirrak Party (remake of Kirik Party), which Nikhil describes as a nostalgic throwback to the college days. In an exclusive chat with Hindustan Times, Nikhil opened up about the project and explained why the film couldnt be coming at a better time.

Its been ten years since I did a college-based film. Happy Days will always remain a special film. Even though I did some good projects over the years, I believe Kirrak Party was memorable, simply because it gave me the opportunity to revisit my college days. It was a very new experience to go back to college and feel young, Nikhil said, assuring that Kirrak Party will be the best campus drama since Happy Days. People who loved Happy Days will love this even more. Youll find more campus drama, love and action, he said.

The film is the official remake of 2016 Kannada blockbuster Kirik Party, which featured Rakshit Shetty, Rashmika Mandanna and Samyuktha Hegde in the lead. Nikhil, without mincing words, says Kirrak Party is a faithful remake. The soul of the film hasnt been changed. Weve made slight changes to suit Telugu sensibilities. Weve made a faithful remake. What really got me excited about the project is that Telugu audiences have not experienced a college-based film in a long time. Itll be a refreshing experience for them. The exam season is just getting over and I believe were coming to cinemas at the right time

Talking more about the project, Nikhil said: There are two things we couldnt change and were glad we didnt. The original was a campus-based musical and all the songs were received very well. Therefore, we couldnt tamper with the music. We also couldnt replace Samyuktha because she was terrific in the original. Since shes not familiar to Telugu audiences, we retained her in her role. Rashmika, on the other hand, had already done two Telugu films. We wanted a fresh face for her role and hence decided to not to go with her.

Nikhil had a whale of a time shooting for the project. Id reach the sets before everybody because I would excitedly look forward to the shoot each day. Its a project thats very close to the hearts of all of us involved in its making. I need to thank my producer Anil Sunkara for bringing this project to me, he said, adding he had to beef up for his role. Its the story of the rise of a guy from first year of college till the point he becomes the college union leader. I had to look young and lean for the initial portion of the college and subsequently gain weight as I become the leader. I gained about ten kilos to play the latter portion of the film. The weight gaining process, which took me about 4-5 months, also resulted in delay of commencement of the shoot. Its one of the projects where I had great scope to perform and at the same time had fun shooting.

Nikhil will next be seen in the Telugu remake of Tamil film Kanithan, which shone the spotlight on fake certificates. Asked about his sudden fascination for remakes, he said: As much as I admit Kirrak Party is a remake, I have to clarify that were not exactly remaking Kanithan. Were taking the issue it addresses, which is about fake certificates, and we will treat it differently. He also said its just a coincidence that hes doing two remakes in succession and didnt plan it that way. After Kanithan, Ill be working on Karthikeya 2 with Chandoo Mondeti. Itll be a proper sequel. I also have two other projects but its too early to talk about them.

Follow @htshowbiz for more

ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktopConsidered one of the most auspicious days of the Hindu Calendar, Gudi Padwa (Chaitra Shukla Pratipada) translates to many celebrations. From victory of good over evil to start of the spring season, the festival highlights many aspects. Marathi celebs share their fond memories of the festival and what they love the most about celebrating it.

Mithila Palkar, actor

Mithila Palkar

Gudi Padwa is marked as an auspicious and one of the most important festivals among Maharashtrians. Since childhood, I was fond of celebrating all the festivals including Gudi Padwa but as I grew up I realised the significance of this festival as people are quite enthusiastic to step into the New Year with fresh thoughts and good motive. The best part about this festival is the delectable food and thats what makes me the happiest as I get to gorge on it. As we know, India is a country of festivals and each of the festival has its own importance pertaining to its culture.

Sonal Vengurlekar, actor

Sonal Vengurlekar

I wanted to buy a new car but the bookings are full. I will be celebrating it with my parents with a puja in the morning and a delectable spread for lunch. I enjoy making puran poli on this day. I remember when I was a child we had family get-togethers, and shopped for clothes and jewellery . We used to have a puja for all the newly brought things, so every year on Gudi Padwa we make sure to buy something new for the house.

Rajesh Shringarpore, actor

Rajesh Shringarpore

Gudi Padwa brings in a serene and divine ambience at home. I remember as a child my brothers and I would make sure we were the first ones to visit the neighbourhood temple. We would take brisk walks to overtake the others without letting them know. Now, as a family we wake up before sunrise, visit the temple and raise the Gudi at the first rays of the Sun. It is purely family time.

Madhavi Gogate, actor

Madhavi Gogate

Gudi padwa, this year, is extra special for me as this is my daughters first after her marriage. The first Padwa of a newly married couple holds great significance. One of my fond memories of the festival is from my childhood days. We used to wait for people around our society to remove those garlands of sugar- coated chips from the Gudi raised in front of their homes so that we could go and eat them as much sweet as we want.

Sneha Wagh, actor

Sneha Wagh

Mostly Ill be shooting so will celebrate on set with the cast and crew. I will distribute sweets and will pray for the best coming years. My best memory of the festival would be of that three years ago when all my relatives were here and celebrated together by praying and preparing so many different types of sweets.

ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktopIndians like travelling more with an average 5.6 trips annually, significantly above the global average of 4.2 trips, according to a survey. Travellers from India have averaged 5.6 trips in the past two years, compared to 4.7 for Asia Pacific (APAC) and 4.2 globally, according to Global Travel Intention (GTI) report by Visa.

The survey revealed that trips taken by Indians are largely contributed by business travel at 2.6 trips compared to APAC (1.6 trips) and global (1.4). The GTI study was conducted in collaboration with research and business intelligence firm ORC International and collected data over the course of 12,400 interviews in 27 markets. It found that Indians are good spenders doling out an average of USD 2,334 against APACs USD 1,677.

Indians plan to increase their spending by 21% when travelling in the next two years, it added. About 75% millennials from India, it said, indulge and spend in shopping and dining. The survey said, India is also expected to lead in all travel categories - leisure, business and other, in the next two years. The main motivator for Indians to travel is bonding with family, although disconnecting and reward are close behind, it said. It also found that culture or heritage, time available and good scenery are key drivers while choosing holiday destinations.

About 45% of Indian travellers choose destinations based on personal safety. More than half of the Indian respondents said they like travelling in groups, but a third prefer exploring solo. Indians, the survey said, are less likely to be concerned about budgets, compared to APAC or global travellers. Japan, the US and Australia are the most visited countries by Indian travellers compared to their regional and global peers, it added.

Follow @htlifeandstyle for moreDonald Trump flops over his pink and white baby walker and rolls it around his familys modest home in Kabul, blissfully unaware of the turmoil his infidel name is causing in the deeply conservative Muslim country.

The rosy-cheeked toddlers parents named him after the billionaire US President in the hope of replicating his success. But now he is at the centre of a social media firestorm in Afghanistan after a photo of his ID papers was posted on Facebook.

A self-confessed fan of the American tycoon turned leader of the free world, Sayed Assadullah Pooya said he and his wife have been inundated with vulgar and insulting comments attacking their choice of name for their third child.

Some Facebook users have gone as far as threatening to kill Sayed for giving his son an infidel name, while others have accused him of endangering the boys life.

There are even suggestions Sayed is using the moniker to wangle asylum in the United States -- a charge the 28-year-old teacher vehemently denies.

This picture taken on March 16, 2018 shows Afghan toddler Donald Trump (R), who is aged around 18 months, playing with his sister Fatemah (C), 8, and his brother Kareem, 9, at their home in Kabul. (AFP)

I didnt know at the beginning that Afghan people would be so sensitive about a name, Sayed told AFP, as Donald played with a music app on his fathers Samsung smartphone in their carpeted room.

Sayed says someone posted the picture online, sparking the controversy that forced him to close his Facebook account.

Even Sayeds neighbours in the heavily Shiite area of Kabul where they live have threatened the family and told them to leave.

When I go out of the house I feel intimidated, he said.

Inspired by Trump

Donald was born in the central province of Daikundi, a few months before the 2016 US presidential election, on the farm where Sayeds parents and grandparents grew almonds, wheat and corn.

Sayed was inspired to call his son Donald Trump after reading the Persian language versions of the businessmans books, including How to get rich, which he borrowed from the local library.

I did a lot of research about him and that motivated me to choose his name for my son, he explained.

He hopes his son will be as successful, adding that photos of the older Trump already make his younger namesake happy.

But bemusement turned to anger when Sayeds parents realised the couple were serious about the name. As relations broke down the young family moved to Kabul, and they are now estranged from their relatives.

Their life could not be more different from the one enjoyed by their sons namesake, who divides his time between the White House and his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

This picture taken on March 16, 2018 shows Afghan father Sayed Assadullah Pooya, 28, looking on alongside his son Donald Trump, aged around 18 months, during an interview with AFP at their home in Kabul. (AFP)

The family of five is squeezed into a spartan room overlooking a small courtyard and outdoor bathroom, which they rent for 2,000 Afghanis ($30) a month.

Beyond their metal front gate is a warren of dirt lanes barely wide enough for a car, mud-brick houses and putrid open drains.

A few blocks from their house several drug addicts loll on a grassy strip in the middle of a busy road injecting themselves or sleeping off a hit.

During the interview, Sayeds wife Jamila washed the familys dirty clothes in a small machine outside while keeping an eye on the couples daughter Fatima, nine, and eldest son Karim, eight.

Despite the controversy Donalds parents have not broken the law by giving their son an un-Islamic name, according to Rohullah Ahmadzai, a senior advisor at the Population Registration Office in Kabul.

He said they have the legal right to name their children whatever they want -- even after American presidents.

While Sayed is worried about his familys safety, particularly Donalds, he remains stubbornly unrepentant.

Its likely... that he will be harassed or beaten by his classmates, he said matter of factly.

I wont reconsider (his name). To hell with the other people.

This picture taken on March 16, 2018 shows Afghan father Sayed Assadullah Pooya, 28, looking on alongside his son Donald Trump, aged around 18 months, during an interview with AFP at their home in Kabul. (AFP)Constantin Reliu learned in January that he was dead.

After more than 20 years of working as a cook in Turkey, the 63-year-old returned home to Romania to discover that his wife had him officially registered as dead.

He has since been living a legalistic nightmare of trying to prove to authorities that he is, in fact, alive. He faced a major setback Thursday when a court in the northeastern city of Vaslui refused to overturn his death certificate because his request was filed too late.

The decision, the court said, is final.

I am a living ghost, Reliu told The Associated Press in a phone interview Friday from his home in Barlad, northeastern Romania.

I am officially dead, although Im alive, he said. I have no income and because I am listed as dead, I cant do anything.

During the interview, Reliu was deeply emotional, starting off by saying I think I am going to cry and going on to voice rage and a desire for revenge against his wife, who now lives in Italy.

I am not sure whether I am divorced or not, he said. I am not sure whether she is married to someone else or not. Nobody will tell me.

Reliu explained that he first went to work in Turkey in 1992 and returned in 1995 to the first big shock of his marriage  his wifes infidelity. In 1999, he decided to return to Turkey for good.

The AP was not able to locate his wife to hear her side of the story.

Last December Turkish authorities detained him over expired papers and in January deported him to Romania.

Upon landing at Bucharest airport, he was informed by border officials that he had been officially declared dead and underwent six hours of questioning and tests.

They measured the distance between his eyes to see if it corresponded to an old passport photograph; they asked him questions about his home town, such as where the town hall was; they checked his fingerprints.

They decided that it was me! he said.

But authorities in Barlad were less convinced. He spent weeks trying to persuade them to issue him papers so that he officially existed, he said. When that failed, he asked them to overturn the ruling on his death certificate, issued in 2016, which also ended in failure Thursday on procedural grounds.

Reliu said he would like to file a fresh lawsuit but has no money and suffers from diabetes, which makes everything more difficult.

He also said he has been banned for life from returning to Turkey but would like to write to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to appeal the decision.Britain said on Saturday that Russia expelling 23 of its diplomats did not change the facts of the March 4 poisoning of a former spy in Salisbury, as pressure grew on the Theresa May government to clamp down on wealthy Russians.

Scotland Yard said it had started contacting Russian exiles living in the UK as it launched a murder investigation into the death of 68-year-old Russian businessman Nikolay Glushkov in London on March 12.

After the expulsion of 23 British diplomats was announced in Moscow, a Foreign Office spokesperson said: In light of Russias previous behaviour, we anticipated a response of this kind.

Russias response doesnt change the facts of the matter  the attempted assassination of two people on British soil, for which there is no alternative conclusion other than that the Russian State was culpable. It is Russia that is in flagrant breach of international law and the Chemical Weapons Convention.

Prime Minister Theresa May also responded defiantly to the tit-for-tat move, which followed Britains expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats and the suspension of high-level contacts. May told a forum of her Conservative Party that Britain had anticipated a response of this kind and that it will consider our next steps in the coming days, alongside our allies and partners.

The Foreign Office spokesperson added, We have no disagreement with the people of Russia and we continue to believe it is not in our national interest to break off all dialogue between our countries but the onus remains on the Russian state to account for their actions and to comply with their international obligations.

Russia has said it would halt the activities of the British Council and shut down a consulate in St Petersburg, but the missions in Moscow and Ekaterinburg would remain open.

The crisis erupted after former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were exposed to a Soviet-designed military grade nerve agent in Salisbury on March 4, leaving them in critical condition. Russia has denied involvement in the incident.

Meanwhile, the counter-terrorism command of Scotland Yard said a murder investigation had been launched following the results of an autopsy on Glushkov, which revealed the cause of death was compression to the neck.

As a precaution, the command is retaining primacy for the investigation because of the associations Mr Glushkov is believed to have hadAt this stage there is nothing to suggest any link to the attempted murders in Salisbury, nor any evidence that he was poisoned, the Yard said in a statement.

Labour and Liberal Democrats MPs demanded that Russian politicians and oligarchs should be forced to disclose their property assets in the UK and face sanctions if they could not explain where their money came from.Two Muslim-American women and a non-profit group on Friday sued the New York City Police Department for forcing Muslim women and others to remove their hijabs or other religious head coverings in post-arrest photographs.

Arwa Aziz and Jamilla Clark, who were arrested in unrelated incidents, say in the lawsuit that they were forced to remove their hijabs by the NYPD to take post-arrest photographs.

Turning Point for Women and Families, a non-profit organization based in the borough of Queens that supports Muslim women and girls who have been victims of domestic violence, joined the lawsuit.

The suit challenges a 2015 NYPD policy requiring that booking photos have an unobstructed view of the subjects head, ears and face, requiring the removal of any headwear. The plaintiffs contend that policy violates the womens freedom of speech, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act and New York state law.

A representative for the NYPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.

The lawsuit alleged that in January 2017, after Clarks ex-husband complained that she had violated an order of protection, an NYPD officer took a post-arrest photo of the New Jersey resident, as she wept and begged to put her hijab back on.

The officer ignored Ms. Clark, stored the photograph in an online database and in Ms. Clarks paper file, and showed it to numerous male officers, court documents said.

The lawsuit added that another officer had openly mocked the Muslim faith.

In August 2017, Brooklyn resident Aziz was arrested after her sister-in-law obtained a protective order against her on what Aziz said in the lawsuit were false pretenses. While in custody, Aziz begged officers to allow her to push her hijab back slightly to expose her hairline and ears for the post-arrest photo.

Frantic, weeping and bareheaded in a hallway full of men who do not belong to her immediate family, Ms. Aziz felt broken, the lawsuit said.

The suit seeks unspecified financial damages and for the NYPD to discontinue its practice.Light snowfall on Saturday ended the 145-day long dry spell in Beijing, the citys longest in 47 years.

People rushed outdoors to celebrate the wet weather after a long brake of over four months. The snow hit most parts of the city, with a maximum precipitation of 2.8 mm in Yanqing District and an average of 0.3 mm citywide.

The capital had recorded 145 consecutive days without effective precipitation, its longest dry spell in at least 47 years, Met officials said.

Effective precipitation refers to rain or snow of more than 0.1 mm as monitored by a southern suburban observatory, and the observatory recorded a precipitation of 0.4 mm this time, Li Xiaoyan, a senior engineer with the municipal meteorological observatory told state run Xinhua news agency.

The previous record of the longest dry spell was between October 1970 and February 1971, when the city experienced a 114-day rainless streak.Former South African president Jacob Zuma will face prosecution on corruption charges that haunted much of his term in office, the countrys chief prosecutor said Friday.

Zuma is accused of taking kickbacks from the $5 billion purchase of fighter jets, patrol boats and other arms, manufactured by five European firms, including British military equipment maker BAE Systems and French company Thales.

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesman Luvuyo Mfaku confirmed to AFP that Thales would also face prosecution, alongside Zuma. Thales declined to make any immediate comment.

After consideration of the matter I am of the view there are reasonable prospects of a successful prosecution of Mr Zuma on the charges listed in the indictment, National Director of Public Prosecutions Shaun Abrahams told a media briefing in Pretoria.

Zuma will face one count of racketeering, two counts of corruption, one of money laundering and 12 counts of fraud -- all of which can carry lengthy custodial sentences on conviction.

I am of the view that a trial court would be the most appropriate forum for these issues to be ventilated and to be decided upon, said Abrahams.

Prosecutors declined to confirm what charges Thales would face. We dont want to be prosecuting people in the media, said Mfaku. That will come out in court.

The former president could now appeal the ruling on a number of grounds and argue that the decision is illegitimate.

In December, the High Court in Pretoria ordered then-deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa to replace Abrahams, ruling that Zumas original decision to appoint him was null and void because he was conflicted at the time.

Justice must not only be done, but must also be seen to be done -- I am mindful that everyone is equal before the law, said Abrahams, who noted that Mr Zuma disputes all allegations against him.

I dont think Zuma can stay out of court -- theres too many charges hanging over him, independent political analyst and author Nomavenda Mathiane told AFP ahead of the announcement.

Abrahams said that his departments representatives in Zumas home region of KwaZulu-Natal will facilitate the necessary processes for Mr Zuma and his co-accused to appear in court.

Last year, a court ruled against a decision by prosecutors in 2009 to drop the corruption charges against Zuma just months before he became president, laying the path to Fridays announcement.

Innocent until proven guilty

Zumas criminal charges relate to an arms procurement deals struck by the government in the late 1990s and from which he is accused of profiting corruptly to the tune of four million rand ($345,000, 280,000 euros).

State prosecutors previously justified dropping the case by saying that tapped phone calls between officials in then-president Thabo Mbekis administration showed undue interference.

In 2005 Zumas former financial adviser Schabir Shaik was convicted for facilitating bribes over the contracts and sentenced to 15 years in prison. He was later released on medical parole.

Shaik told the local TimesLive online news wesite that he had been subpoenaed so I must testify.

I think the law must take its course, he told News24.

Zuma resigned as president last month after the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party threatened to remove him from office.

The ANC noted Fridays decision and called in a statement for Comrade Zacob Zuma to be presumed innocent until, and if, proven guilty.

The AfriForum campaign group, which has railed against corruption in South Africas democratic era, had threatened to privately prosecute Zuma if the NPA did not.

The NPAs decision to prosecute Zuma (is) not only a victory for AfriForum, but also for the principle of equality before the law, said the groups chief executive, Kallie Kriel.

In addition to the corruption scandals that dogged his time in office, Zuma had been under fire for his handling of the economy, which has been battered by falling economic growth and record unemployment.

The opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) party has campaigned since 2009 to reactivate the charges.

It doesnt matter who you are, whether you are the president, in whatever office you hold, accountability must be effective and justice will be met, said DA leader Mmusi Maimane.

He must have his day in court... We will see him in orange overalls.

Zumas successor Ramaphosa has vowed to tackle corruption, admitting it was a major problem in the previous government.Russias government expels 23 British diplomats and threatened further measures in retaliation in a growing diplomatic dispute over a nerve agent attack on a former spy in Britain.

The Russian foreign ministry said in a statement that it is also ordering the closure of the British Council in Russia and ending an agreement to reopen the British consulate in St. Petersburg.

It ordered the diplomats to leave within a week.

The statement said the government could take further measures if Britain takes any more unfriendly moves toward Russia.

British prime minister Theresa May this week expelled 23 Russian diplomats and severed high-level contacts over the poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

Russia denied any involvement in the attack on the father and daughter, who have been critical in hospital since they were found unconscious on March 4 on a bench in the southern English city of Salisbury.

Skripal betrayed dozens of Russian agents to Britain before being arrested in Moscow and later jailed in 2006. He was freed under a spy swap deal in 2010 and took refuge in Britain.

The attack on him was likened in Britain to the killing of ex-KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko, a critic of Putin, who died in London in 2006 after drinking green tea laced with radioactive polonium 210. Russia refused to extradite the two Russians identified by Britain as the killers.

Britains response to the Litvinenko affair, which included the expulsion of four Russian diplomats, was widely criticised domestically as too weak, and many in British politics and media have called for a much tougher response to the Skripal attack.North Koreas foreign minister and his Swedish counterpart concluded on Saturday three days of discussions focused on reaching a peaceful solution to the nuclear standoff on the Korean peninsula.

The foreign ministers discussed opportunities and challenges for continued diplomatic efforts to reach a peaceful solution to the conflict as well as bilateral relations, the Swedish foreign ministry said in a statement.

Sweden underlined the need for North Korea to dismantle its nuclear arms and missiles programme in line with several Security Council resolutions.

North Koreas Ri Yong Ho arrived in Stockholm on Thursday for talks with his Swedish counterpart Margot Wallstrom amid a flurry of diplomatic activity concerning the reclusive country and its nuclear ambitions.Donald Trumps lawyer claims porn actress Stormy Daniels is liable for at least $20 million for violating a non-disclosure agreement she says prevents her from discussing an affair with the president, according to a Friday court filing.

A lawyer for Michael Cohens essential consultants limited liability company -- which paid Daniels $130,000 under the agreement -- made the filing, which said that Daniels violated the deal at least 20 times.

The Settlement Agreement provides for liquidated damages of one million dollars ($1,000,000) per instance of breach, the court filing says.

Daniels signed the agreement pertaining to an alleged affair a decade earlier shortly before the 2016 election, leading to allegations that the payment amounted to an illicit contribution to Trumps campaign.

Lawyer Michael Avenatti filed a lawsuit on behalf of Daniels earlier this month seeking to toss out the confidential settlement.

The suit alleged that Daniels began an intimate relationship with Trump in the summer of 2006 that continued well into 2007.

The White House has denied any sexual encounter between Trump and Daniels -- who has offered to return the $130,000 she received so that she can be free to speak openly and freely about her prior relationship with the president and the attempts to silence her.

She is also asking to be allowed to publish text messages, photos and videos relating to the president, Avenatti said in a letter to Cohen.

Using the pseudonyms Peggy Peterson and David Dennison, Daniels and Trump were to sign the agreement, along with essential consultants.

Bullying tactic

But Trump never signed, providing the basis for Avenattis attempt to have it thrown out and release Daniels from her obligations.

Avenatti took to Twitter on Friday to criticize the court filing.

The fact that a sitting president is pursuing over $20M in bogus damages against a private citizen, who is only trying to tell the public what really happened, is remarkable. Likely unprecedented in our history. We are NOT going away and we will NOT be intimidated, Avenatti wrote on the social media site.

The filing today is yet another bullying tactic from the president and Mr Cohen. They are now attempting to remove this case to federal ct in order to increase their chances that the matter will be decided in private arbitration, thus hiding the truth from the public, he wrote.

According to the court filing, essential consultants began an arbitration proceeding as provided for by the agreement at the end of February.

essential consultants intends to file a petition to compel arbitration with this court at the earliest possible time permitted... to compel this action to the pending arbitration proceeding, the filing says.

Trump has ample reason to want to keep the affair quiet.

The issue could hurt the president with religious voters, who were key to his electoral success, and appears to have already caused strains between the president and First Lady Melania Trump.A$AP Ferg brought his Mad Man Tour to Los Angeles on Friday (March 16). The weather was gloomy, and rain clouds hung ominously over Novo Theater, located across the street from the legendary Staples Center. Still, a line spiraled up the rain-soaked staircases to the theater entrance as the sold-out audience eagerly waited to get inside. Once inside, drinks started flowing and the lights dimmed before the first performer hit the stage.

IDK was up first. The PG County representor performed a slew of tracks from his debut album IWasVeryBad. His performance was controlled and effective, warming up the crowd of about 2,000 people. It was obvious that many of the people didnt know IDK, which almost sounds redundant. He immediately won them over though, because his performance was refined, and his energy was electric.

This that drive-by, this that Shawty Lo in Impala/ Hello out the whip with the clip, make you bye-bye/ Roll the windows up, hotbox, smokin' la la /Roll the windows down, see the opps, it's a problem!- IDK

Next, Denzel Curry hopped on stage with so much adrenaline that he caught the crowd by surprise. He spent the first few minutes of his performance jumping around the stage in a sweatshirt, which was undoubtedly uncomfortable. The sound engineers must not have been ready for Currys booming and boisterous sound, and his vocals sounded distorted for his first few songs. After jumping into the crowd, and removing his sweatshirt to reveal a tie-dye Tupac tee, Curry got right back to it. The engineers seemed to get it together at that point, and the bars sounded crisp over the head knocking instrumentals.

Hair is nappy, knotty, pack a pistol when I'm in the party/ Life is melancholy, sellin' flock when they think it's molly/ Bitches be givin' me sloppy/ My pockets on Andy Milonakis, bumpin' Speaker Knockerz/ Rico's Story when I see the coppers.- Denzel Curry

Draped in all white, Ferg sauntered onto the stage welcomed by thunderous cheers. He was elated and energetic, thanking the crowd for their energy and love repeatedly throughout his set. Ferg ran through a slew of his hits, including Work (Remix), "Shabba," "Plain Jane," "Tango," and "Olympian." At the midway point in his set, Ferg disappeared backstage, only to emerge moments later in a different outfit. Fly and refreshed, the young Harlemite performed another batch of hits from his catalog. Unlike many rappers, Ferg rarely used backing vocals. Without missing a beat or losing his breath, he perspicuously flowed through over a dozen songs solo. Near the end of his set, Ferg called IDK and Denzel Curry on stage to perform their joint single, "Kristi YamaGucci." The trio released the single last month as a collaboration birthed for the purpose of a joint track the crew could perform together on tour. It works well as a final act, reuniting the three disparate energies in a glorious and wild conclusion.

"Fergie done got him a sneaker/ Making a bitch sing like Aretha/ I'm fucking your bitch when you eat her/ You cuffing that bitch like you need her/ Yamborghini with Aaliyah/ Rest in peace until I see ya!" -A$AP FergBishop Nehru compares his luck to a Kyrie Irving stepback, head over shoulders. "Driftin" off the Ascension of his two part record, offers us a glimpse into the rapper's psyche. He gets stuck momentarily in the doldrums, momentarily. "Driftin" is part of the first act produced entirely by Kaytranada, the second is manned by MF Doom. Whether conscious or unconscious of its outward perception, "Driftin" is some heady stuff. Bishop looks intent on presenting himself as thinking man, or rather a person who can drift in and out of consciousness.



See for yourself.



Quotable Lyrics:



If you ain't showing love then you only showing hate

And I already get enough

Wanting cream, need it double stuffed

That alone with the knowledge got my conscience rising up

The frequency way higher than when I was out of luck

So fuck it, if they ain't riding I'ma leave 'em stuckKing Louie has been flooding the internet with a ton of new music over the past couple weeks, and it doesn't look like hes slowing down anytime soon either. After hitting us with racks like Police, Just Relax & Ice Box to name a few, the Chicago rapper decides to keep his foot on the gas and share his 10th track in the past two weeks called Best Friend featuring Pilla B.

Its unclear at the moment if all these recent releases will see life on Louies upcoming March Madness 2 project or not, but well definitely take them before it arrives later this month.

Take a listen to the Hearon Trackz-produced collab and let us know what you think.

Quotable Lyrics:

Fuck with me get a death wish

Put his ass on the guest list

When we see em we gon take him out

Ya I fuck and take her out

I cant be around bum niggas

Broke shit have me breaking outWaka Flocka and Duct Tape ENT. CEO Big Bank are doing their grizzly to keep real mfs in the loop. Both men are the farthest thing in the rap universe from what we refer to as "Clout Chasers." "Bloggers" tackles the issue of news items appearing out of thin air. It's not as if the notion of "Fake News" is new territory, but it is surprising to get a hot take from Waka Flocka of all people.



Waka Flocka is dangling "Bloggers" as a early offering from his upcoming Brick House Boyz mixtape. Zaytoven continues to work with all his old henchmen, Waka included.



How does this compare to Flocka of old, give us your thoughts?



Quotable Lyrics:



I'm in your b**** like a robber

You talking shit like a blogger

Keep talking shit we gon rob ya

I heard you n***** is starving

Beg for your life ain't no bargain

Duct Tape and Brick Squad who want problems?Wu-Tang Clan is still going hard, 25 years later. The collective continue to dish out new music on a regular basis whether it's as a group or as solo efforts. Last year, Wu-Tang released their compilation record, The Saga Continues which featured the Redman-assisted single, "People Say." Now, it looks like the Wu is dealing with some legal issues pertaining to their lead single.

Wu-Tang Clan is being sued by 60's group, The Diplomats, over their song "People Say," TMZ reports. According to the report, The Diplomats are claiming that producer Mathematics completely lifted the song from their 1969 record, "I've Got The Kind Of Love." They're claiming "People Say" is a notable lyric from their song.

The 60's group says that fans and average listeners have called out the similarities online. Now, they're suing the Wu-Tang Clan because the collective didn't get proper authorization for it and they're asking them to stop performing, selling and overall, monetizing off the record. They're asking them to pay for the damages.

While the group has to battle it out in court over their single, "People Say," they kind of took a win earlier this month when Martin Shkreli was ordered to forfeit the one of one Wu-Tang Clan album he owned. It's unlikely that it'll be back at the hands of any of the Wu-Tang members but atleast it's not in Shkreli's hands.Yung Pinch is a name that everyone should start getting familiar with. He's a budding star out of California that's proving with each release that he's about to blow up. Right now, he's on tour across North America but that isn't stopping him from dropping his weekly tracks. Today, he comes through with his brand new single, "Cloud 9."

Yung Pinch is back with his wavy new single, "Cloud 9." The new song serves as the latest effort as part of his #4EVERFRIDAY series. "Cloud 9" was produced by Halfway who brings a wavy, down tempo beat for Pinch's vocals to float on.

Pinch has yet to disappoint with his weekly series. Last week, he dropped off "Talk That Shit," where he tackles A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie's "No Promises."

Quotable Lyrics

Where's your bitch at? Is she finna slide through?

Wonder why she wanna hide you

Wonder why you always lie too

'Cause you the one she gonna cry to"Where's Bing?" is the first thing people ask when they approach Vickie Crosby's Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo booth - No. B4055.

And yes, a "Bing Crosby's Indian Art" sign hangs overhead, though shoppers aren't cheekily referring to the bass-baritone crooner of "White Christmas" fame. They're looking for Vickie's husband, Edmond "Bing" Crosby III, of turquoise fame.

For 40 years, customers have swung by Bing's booth in between rodeo performances and pleaded, "Dress me."

"Men come up to him and say, 'I love what you're wearing. Do you have anything like that I can wear?' " Vickie said.

Her husband has a penchant for patterned Robert Graham button-downs, Wrangler's, exotic-skin boots and stacks of turquoise. Most days, he layers a bear pendant, bracelet, ring and the custom watch that Vickie commissioned special.

"The bear is a strong symbol of strength, power and introspection," she explained.

In four decades, Bing had never missed a single Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. This year, there's a palpable void behind the jewelry counter.

Shoppers notice, too.

But when they ask, "Where's Bing?" Vickie doesn't have the heart to tell them. Bing isn't here, and he's not coming back.

'He had the best stories'

In 1934, before Bing's parents settled on the name Edmond Franklin Crosby III, his delivery-room nurses started calling him "Bing" - it just stuck.

Back then, his folks owned a restaurant in McAlester, Okla., but Bing had no interest in the family business. By age 15, he was already buying jewelry from local Native American artisans. His nickname was the "road warrior" because he was always on the move, selling trinkets in New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado.

Carol Yeager Berger loves to tell the story of how she met Vickie's husband in 1978, when Yeager Berger was a six-year rodeo volunteer and Bing was a first-time exhibitor.

"This guy, Bill Whettle, called him up two days before and said, 'You need to show at the rodeo,' so he packed up his van and came," she recalled. "His first booth, in the horse arena, looked like a fort. Very primitive. I would catch him sleeping with the chickens."

Bing needed a retail associate to vend his turquoise wares, and Yeager Berger had grown tired of the volunteer committee circuit. A partnership was born. Later, in 1994, their "sweet 16," the duo scored a proper booth and promising new hire: Vickie.

Vickie was repping a jewelry line of a mutual friend when Bing walked into her Albuquerque, N.M., showroom. Next year marks their 25th anniversary.

"He had the best stories," Vickie said. "One morning, a police officer knocked on his door and took his driver's license because he had so many unpaid tickets. So Bing bought an airplane."

Two years later, the couple moved to Park City, Utah, and opened a store on Main Street, where ZZ Top and Zac Brown have picked up a knickknack or two.

The Crosbys used to own shops in the Salt Lake City International Airport and Marriott Salt Lake City as well. But after Sunday's rodeo, Park City will be the only option available for regulars looking to satisfy their turquoise fix of Bing's wares.

"We're not looking forward to the last day," Vickie said.

Ever since she posted on Facebook that this is the Crosbys' final year at RodeoHouston, people have come up to the booth in tears.

"It's our 40th year, Garth Brooks is opening and closing, and it's too long to be away from home and Bing," she explained carefully.

Her husband, Vickie acknowledged, is brutally honest. If a customer questions whether a piece of turquoise (from another retailer) is genuine, Bing begins the conversation with, "I want to tell you the truth."

So it's hard for Vickie to hold back when asked why Bing isn't with her.

"A health issue" is all she'll disclose. "He's a proud man."

The last rodeo

"About 30 years ago I bought my first piece of turquoise from Bing; he didn't even know Vickie at the time," said Kim Folger, a longtime client. "I didn't really have that good of a job, so I started out small. Just these two skinny, little cuffs."

Folger's husband thinks that his wife is a hoarder, but she's quick to correct him - she's a collector.

She keeps a leather-bound book filled with notes and photos of her 40 bracelets, 30 rings and "so many necklaces I can't even begin to tell you. I don't want to repeat something if I already have it," she reasoned.

Vickie emails Folger pictures of new inventory throughout the year; the Crosbys also sent her a gift basket for her 50th birthday. "They treat me like family and tell me I'm a good-luck charm because when I walk up, I wind up selling for them as well."

It's tradition for Folger to jump behind the booth for an annual photo with Vickie and Bing. This time, the women just held each other and cried.

"Vickie's got this book that she's having everyone sign, and she'll read it all to Bing," Folger said. "So far, what I'm going to write in there is already five pages long."

Vickie's unsure how Sunday will go. A few years ago, she and Bing began celebrating the last day of rodeo by renting a limo and bar-hopping with their staff. The group would start at Pappasito's Cantina or Armadillo Palace and wind up in The Woodlands at Tommy Bahama.

The plan for this weekend is still up in the air.

"It's my last rodeo, too," Yeager Berger said. After 46 years on the barbecue committee, she's a lifetime member, though she plans to never step foot on festival grounds again. "I have a craft business, stained glass and wind chimes. And I'm hosting a trunk show for Bing next year at my house in Spring."

Loyal customers share her outlook. It's the end of an era but the start of something else.

"I won't find a new person," Folger vowed. "I'll continue to buy from Vickie. And I'm not going to say goodbye too much because I'll go to Utah to see them."

And that is where Bing will be.Dan Havel and Dean Ruck admired Leonardo da Vinci's deluge drawings long before Hurricane Harvey hit.

During the last few years of his life in the early 16th century, the Italian master made 11 lushly layered pencil sketches that captured the force of a flood so intense it uprooted trees and collapsed mountains and buildings.

Havel and Ruck especially liked the mechanics of upheaval da Vinci illustrated - the idea that "sound, water, air, anything can kind of reverberate and have cause and effect, creating other ripples around it, the chain-reaction effect of the action," Ruck said.

That was the genesis of Havel Ruck Projects' new immersive sculpture, "Ripple."

A provocative fun house, "Ripple" circulates in swirly patterns that have been sliced through virtually every inch of a 1,400-square-foot bungalow at Cherryhurst House, the Montrose contemporary art compound founded by Dallas McNamara in 2012. Havel and Ruck have cut so thoroughly into the walls, ceilings and floors that visitors must be careful where they step - curvaceous slivers of floor rise up or drop away, revealing the soil underneath.

Until last July, the frame bungalow housed Cherryhurst's artists-in-residence program. But Havel and Ruck are not typical artists in residence. During more than 20 years, they have made an art of transforming doomed buildings into traffic-stopping but ephemeral monumental sculptures.

More Information Havel Ruck Projects: 'Ripple' When: Noon-5 p.m. Sunday and April 15; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. March 24 and April 7; check website for future open dates Where: 1603 Cherryhurst Details: Free; cherryhursthouse.com Next cut-up: 'Open House' Havel and Ruck are already planning their next project, and this time, it's truly on sacred ground. The Downtown District and the Heritage Society have commissioned them to create a space at Sam Houston Park, hoping to draw more visitors to the historical buildings there. Not to worry: They aren't tearing into one of those, and they've met with the Parks Department to ensure that they won't damage trees, either. They've bought a 16-by-24-foot home from Cherry Demolition's storage lot that will be moved onto a prominent hill in the park in mid-April. They'll fence it off while they're working and plan to have it open by sometime in June. "Open House," as that one will be called, will be on view for nine months. Havel expects it to resemble Swiss cheese, with a historical twist. He and Ruck plan to paper the walls with prints of old photographs of Houston and holes through the images to create a kind of puzzle - so viewers might view the skyline outside by looking through an image of a historical face, for example. He imagines that at night, like "Ripple," the "Open House" place will glow from inside. "The house will kind of disappear. I hope. Because it's all an experiment." See More Collapse

Their history ranges from 2005's "Inversion," for Art League Houston, which created a vortex of wood scraps inside a pair of frame houses on Montrose Boulevard, to last year's minimalistic "Sharp," for which they cut an opening clear through the center of a mid-century home in Sharpstown and painted it in a gleaming, reflective copper.

Typically, bulldozers arrive a few weeks or months after Havel and Ruck unveil their work, and the show is over.

Cherryhurst curator Barbara Levine said she and McNamara wanted to challenge Havel and Ruck by inviting them into a building that was not scheduled for demolition and would be on view for at least a year.

"We try to find projects that will resonate in a domestic environment. 'Sharp' made a big impression," Levine said. "We started thinking about that scale and the impact of thinking about home in a different way."

The artists had a plan. But there was a "pause" at the beginning, after McNamara invited them to alter the Cherryhurst home, Havel said. "One final email, where we said, do you understand what we do?"

McNamara gave them just one rule: They could not penetrate the roof.

Havel and Ruck started on "Ripple" last July, working nights and weekends since they both maintain full-time jobs. (Ruck is a project manager for capital construction projects at the University of Houston. Havel teaches art, architecture and history at St. John's School.)

They wanted to riff on da Vinci's idea, although they never really know until they bring out the saws where a project might lead.

"This was just a pretty wild possibility; seven months of thinking about a project, and every day it's a new puzzle," Havel said.

He and Ruck had long wanted to create a progressive, cut piece. "Then it became more about how we circumnavigate the architecture with this system of ripples," he explained.

The home's nice oak floors gave them a Eureka moment. "Part of it was the wood grain and just the beauty of the wood," Havel said. The ripples they cut would be inspired by wood grain.

His models and drawings gave them a starting point, but before they lit into any surfaces with chain saws, Ruck "drew" the lines they would cut with painter's tape. They debated, redrew. Discarded tape piled up on the floors as they improvised.

"All of our projects explore something different for ourselves in terms of process and approach," Ruck said. "So there's learning as you go - just the style of cut, and how to make the cuts you want, with design elements."

Havel said he and Ruck don't really think alike, describing his artistic partner as a formalist who sees what he wants, then finds it by doing, physically sculpting. Havel is more of a draftsman who prefers to work out ideas first on paper or with models.

"So a lot of our projects, he'll describe something to me, and I'll go home and draw it out," Havel said. "Or I'll get my sketchbook out and go, 'Is this what you're saying?' "

While they cut with the same visual language, when wood chips and dust were flying and saws were screaming, they worked in separate rooms but also fed off of each other's discoveries about ways to work with shiplap, say, or pile debris into closets. And they often switched places, extending each other's lines like a couple finishing each others' sentences.

"The design challenge is to get it to blend and make sense," Ruck said.

Working from the center of the house outward, they made their first cut in the floor because it was so tempting.

"Not a good idea, cutting the floor that you need to work on for the next six or eight months," Ruck said, grinning. "So we stopped that. Did the walls, and the floors came last."

They hadn't yet poked through the exterior walls when Harvey blasted Houston in late August. The house didn't sustain storm damage, but really, what would it have mattered?

In some ways, the hurricane made "Ripple" seem even more relevant: It doesn't take much imagination now for a Houstonian to visualize the effects of a deluge.

And the sculpture doesn't have to be taken literally; social, political and personal chaos upend lives in so many ways.

Somewhat amazingly, Havel and Ruck didn't lose the home's air conditioning until fairly late in the process, when the weather was cooler. But they inadvertently sawed through a few other electrical lines - enough that Havel started calling himself "Sparky."

Before "Ripple" opened to the public, they rewired the entire structure, adding lights underneath, so that at night the house glows like a lantern.

Levine hung a small show of Havel and Ruck's lesser-known, individual works in Cherryhurst's main house, so visitors might gain a sense of how their aesthetics combine in their collaborations.

Havel's complex drawings throb with chaotic energy while his more raw-looking assemblages reveal his deft hand with smaller-scale sculpture. Ruck shows himself as more of a carver: His sculptural pieces, built with layers of plywood that have been burnished and pocked, look organically decayed - like rubble from a fire.

Some preservationists are not happy about "Ripple." The quiet enclave of Cherryhurst, built around a small park in the first half of the 20th century, is succumbing to redevelopment pressure; two new, contemporary homes are under construction within a block of the art space.

Havel understands, to a point.

"When we first saw it, we thought, 'This is too nice of a house. I could live here,' " he said. But he also saw the maze of old wiring in the home's attic, which had multiple owners over many years. He could see it had other problems as well.

Levine notes that McNamara lives next door in the main house, a restored, circa 1922 brick bungalow that she saved from demolition. She won a Good Brick Award from the group Preservation Houston for that effort in 2016.

"From our point of view, this is improving the cultural life of the neighborhood," said Levine, who lived in the frame house as a resident for two years.

"I think the house looks a lot better now," she said. "It was an unremarkable house that they have now turned into something remarkable and inspiring.  It's challenging; it's confrontational.  You ask all of these questions that alter your view about what can be done, what can be recycled, what happens when you give an artist a challenge? It challenges everything we think about home and houses. That's what art is for."

McNamara has not decided what she will do next with the sliced-up structure. Conceivably, it could be rebuilt, although that doesn't look practical at this point, with holes through the exterior walls.

"Our intention is to leave it up for a year, to see how nature interacts with it, how people interact with it," Levine said. "Whatever Dean and Dan want to do with it, if they want to bring other artists in, sound or dance, it's a springboard for inspiration, for conversation about the relationship between domesticity and nature; how vulnerable we are to the elements."SUNDAY

Juan Felipe Herrera: Author will discuss and sign "Jabberwalking" as part of the Cool Brains! Inprint Readings for Young People, 2 p.m., Meyerland Performing and Visual Arts Middle School, 10410 Manhattan; inprinthouston.org.

MONDAY

John Lescroart: Author will discuss and sign "Poison," 6:30 p.m., Murder By The Book, 2342 Bissonnet; 713-524-8597 or murderbooks.com.

Elizabeth Kostova: Author will discuss and sign "The Shadow Land," 7 p.m., Blue Willow Bookshop, 14532 Memorial; 281-497-8675; bluewillowbookshop.com.

TUESDAY

Joelle Charbonneau: Author will discuss and sign "Time Bomb," 7 p.m., Blue Willow Bookshop.

Robert Locander, Richard Shaw and Kevin Bailey: Authors will discuss and sign "How Texas Politics Really Works," 7 p.m., Brazos Bookstore, 2421 Bissonnet; 713-523-0701 or brazosbookstore.com.

WEDNESDAY

Brendan Wenzel: Author will discuss and sign "Hello, Hello," 6 p.m., Blue Willow Bookshop.

Steve Berry: Author will discuss and sign "The Bishop's Pawn," 6:30 p.m., Murder By The Book.

THURSDAY

Chelsea Clinton: Author will discuss and sign "She Persisted Around the World," 6 p.m., Blue Willow Bookshop.

John Hart: Author will discuss and sign "The Hush," 6:30 p.m., Murder By The Book.

Michael Noll: Author will discuss and sign "The Writer's Field Guide to the Craft of Fiction," 7 p.m., Brazos Bookstore.

FRIDAY

Simone St. James: Author will discuss and sign "The Broken Girls," 6:30 p.m., Murder By The Book.

SATURDAY

LuLynne Streeter: Author will discuss and sign "Frozen Lives," 2-4 p.m., Galveston Bookshop, 317 23rd St., Galveston; 409-750-8200 or galvestonbookshop.com.

Russell Sanders: Author will discuss and sign "Titanic Summer," 3-5 p.m., River Oaks Bookstore, 3270 Westheimer; 713 520-0061 or riveroaksbookstore.com.

Elizabeth George: Author will discuss and sign "The Punishment She Deserves," 4:30 p.m., Murder By The Book.

Ana KhanGov. Greg Abbott praised the efforts of volunteers Friday as he visited with a Dickinson family whose home was devastated during Hurricane Harvey.

Relief efforts in the Galveston region "are made so much easier by having organizations like this come together, offer their services, their supplies, their resources to rebuild," Abbott said outside the house.

The governor stopped in Dickinson as part of a two-day Houston-area visit surveying Harvey relief efforts. On Thursday, Abbott took an aerial tour of the Kingwood area, announced a multimillion-dollar pledge for voluntary property buyouts and unveiled plans to dredge the San Jacinto River to help stop flooding. He plans to visit with residents affected by the storm in Orange on Saturday.

As he visited, a dozen volunteers laid bricks on the patio and shuffled in and out of Brandy and Virgil Sears' home in a cul-de-sac near the Benson and Dickinson bayous.

Volunteers come from four nonprofits: Rebuild Texas Fund; the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation; 4B Disaster Response Network; and Eight Days of Hope. The interdenominational Eight Days of Hope was founded after Hurricane Katrina.

Rebuild Texas Fund and 4B Disaster Response Network were established in response to Harvey.

The Sears and their sons, Justice, 11, and Gaitlin, 5, stayed in an Alvin motel from September to November, when they moved into a recreational vehicle as their home renovations began.

'Glimpse of sunlight'

"Harvey came in and he knocked us down," Brandy Sears said. Volunteer efforts "restored the faith in our little community. They are helping so many."

She told Abbott how rising waters invaded her home in the dark of night, forcing her family to take refuge atop a bunk bed as they "prayed for daylight."

In the thick of the crisis, the Sears sheltered two elderly neighbors.

"When someone says, 'You're a Harvey victim,' I say, 'No. We're Harvey survivors,'" Sears said.

Some of the Eight Days of Hope volunteers at the Sears' home had traveled from California, Mississippi, Georgia and Virginia. About 25 Rebuild Texas Fund volunteers are in Dickinson through Sunday.

"Our job, our hope is that we're just a glimpse of sunlight," said Eight Days of Hope co-founder Steve Tybor.

Tybor said 4,800 volunteers were part of the recovery effort.

Traveling the region

Since Harvey, Dickinson, located about 30 miles southeast of Houston off Interstate 45, has become familiar terrain for Abbott.

In late December, Abbott presented Dickinson Mayor Julie Masters with a $1.25 million check for debris removal. Abbott made other visits as soon as flood waters receded.

"I am going to continue to go to each of these regions that were affected by Hurricane Harvey until we do everything possible to make sure that we do rebuild Texas," Abbott said.

Sporting fresh paint and a new roof, the Sears' house is nearly repaired. Normalcy also seemed to have been restored within the Sears family  the youngest family member, Gaitlin, left the crowd of people listening to the governor speak in favor of a new play set in the backyard.Kai Shappley lasted almost two academic years in Pearland's public schools before her mother decided that it just wasn't going to work.

"This year was just too much for her," said Kimberly Shappley, explaining her decision to move her family to Austin from Pearland in early March.

"We've just been having trouble with other students telling her she can't line up with girls because she's a boy. It's not the kids' fault, they don't understand," Shappley said. "And Pearland ISD doesn't want to educate them. It became too much."

PLEA: Mom implores Pearland ISD board to change transgender policy

Now Playing: People were asked to anonymously share their thoughts about Mack Beggs, who was born a girl but is transitioning to a boy, wrestling with the 6A Girls Class in the 2017 UIL State Wrestling Championships. UIL rules force Beggs to wrestle as a girl. Video: Brandpoint

Shappley's Facebook page describes her as an "accidental advocate," a role that grew out of her appearance before the Pearland Independent School District board in August 2016. She pleaded with trustees to provide a more inclusive environment for Kai, who was then preparing to enter kindergarten, and for other transgender children in the district.

The district, however, has continued to follow a policy that does not permit Kai to use the girls' bathrooms. Kai has used a restroom in a nurse's office, although her mother says the child has sometimes had accidents because the office was locked when she needed it.

Shappley's efforts on her transgender daughter's behalf expanded to include statewide activism.

Last year, she traveled repeatedly to Austin to lobby against the "bathroom bill," which would have required transgender people to use restrooms in public schools, government buildings and public universities based on "biological sex."

CHANGES: Why have Texas Republicans cooled on bathroom bill?

The bill, which was championed by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and became a top priority for social conservatives, died in the Legislature's special session last summer.

Throughout this time, Shappley said, she kept a close eye on Kai's emotional health, and she finally concluded that the girl needed a more welcoming atmosphere. Kai, 7, is now a first-grader.

"Consistently, people that I know who have LGBTQ students that are in any Austin ISD school recommended that if I didn't want to leave Texas, Austin was my best and only choice," Shappley said.

PLEDGE DOUBTS: Pearland ISD's diversity pledge rings hollow to mom of transgender child

In December 2014, the Austin school district updated its anti-discrimination and harassment policies to include "gender expression" in multiple references, according to the Austin American-Statesman.

The district, which has had transgender students as young as elementary school age, has never had a bathroom issue that required the school board to consider a policy, Jayme Mathias, the district's first openly gay trustee, told the newspaper.CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - A black man brutally beaten at last year's "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville - and who was later charged with assaulting a white nationalist - was acquitted Friday.

DeAndre Harris, 20, a former special education instructional assistant, was found not guilty by Charlottesville General District Judge Robert Downer Jr. on a misdemeanor charge of assault and battery against Harold Crews, a North Carolina attorney and state chairman of the self-described white nationalist group League of the South. If Harris had been convicted, he would have faced up to 12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine.

The acquittal is a relief for Harris, who was viciously beaten inside a parking garage next to the city's police department on Aug. 12, 2017. He suffered a spinal injury and head lacerations that required 10 stitches.

Two months later, his legal path took an unexpected turn when Crews filed a police report and persuaded a Charlottesville magistrate to issue an arrest warrant in October on a felony charge of unlawful wounding, which carries a five-year maximum sentence. The news was cheered online by white nationalists.

Before issuing his ruling Friday, Downer warned the crowd to "restrain" their emotions. As he spoke, it was unclear how he would rule, and many attendees - nearly all of them Harris supporters - looked worried.

The judge also condemned both the Unite the Right ralliers and the counterprotesters.

"The behavior I've seen is appalling," he said. "I can say this without question - that there was bad behavior all around."

He also defended Crews. "I didn't see that he did anything wrong that day at all."

In the end, the judge declared Harris not guilty because he did not intend to hit Crews with a flashlight and was trying to defend his friend, who was locked in a struggle with Crews.

"I cannot find beyond a reasonable doubt that [Harris] intended to hit Mr. Crews with [the flashlight]."

After he said the words "not guilty," the audience erupted. They considered Harris the only real victim of what happened that day during the parking garage confrontation.

Online sleuths, led by Black Lives Matter activist and Intercept journalist Shaun King, helped track down the identities and whereabouts of several men police say assaulted Harris: Jacob Scott Goodwin of Arkansas; Daniel Borden of Ohio; Alex Michael Ramos of Georgia; and Tyler Watkins Davis of Florida. Trials are scheduled for late April and early May, though Davis' trial has not been set yet.

YouTube footage from the rally shows a complicated sequence of events that led up to Harris' beating, right outside the Market Street parking garage, where dozens of members from the League of the South and Traditionalist Worker Party converged with counterprotesters.

In one piece of YouTube footage, Crews is clasping a large flagpole in front of another black protester, Corey Long, who is tugging on the other end. As Long and Crews tussle over the pole, Harris, standing next to Long, swings a flashlight at Crews, whose head snaps back to the right, appearing as though he'd been struck on the head or shoulder.

Crews, wearing a sport coat and bow tie in the courtroom, testified that his injury from the flashlight amounted to a large welt and several deep cuts.

Harris testified that he swung the flashlight at Crews only because he believed Crews was attacking his friend and wanted to knock away the flagpole.

"I [saw] Mr. Crews driving his flag into Corey, and that's when I tried to break up the altercation with the flashlight," Harris told the judge.

Harris said he did not bring the flashlight to the rally as a weapon. Instead, he said, another counterprotester gave it to him for protection.

Moments after the altercation with Crews, several men - one of them dressed in military tactical gear and holding a plastic shield - stormed into the garage, chasing Harris and forcing him to the ground, where he was pummeled.

Video of Harris' beating tore through the Internet. The ferocity of the assault heightened the public outcry over the rally, where a driver also plowed his car into a crowd of counterprotesters killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer. James Alex Fields Jr., 20, has been charged with murder in her death. The rally was organized to oppose the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue from Emancipation Park.

After the event, critics questioned the strategy and planning of the Charlottesville Police Department, whose officers frequently stood to the side and did not try to halt skirmishes or get between ralliers and counterprotesters. In December, an independent review commissioned by the city was released, and it concluded that the department's planning was "inadequate and disconnected" and that the officers' lack of preparation led to "disastrous" consequences.

The report, prepared by Timothy Heaphy, a former U.S. attorney for the Western District of Virginia, said that after Harris swung his flashlight at Crews and ran into the garage, he either tripped or was pushed to the ground. He was "defenseless against a mob of angry Alt-Right demonstrators" who mauled him with flagsticks, shields and pieces of wood, the report said.

When Harris escaped, the report said, he was found by Charlottesville Sheriff James Brown. By then, the report said, Harris' head had been split open, and he was bleeding.

A day after the attack, Harris set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for his medical bills - he wound up more than tripling his goal of $50,000.

"We will not let this fade & disappear. People are carrying real hate in their hearts for the Black Community," he wrote, "and I refuse to just let it happen."

After the trial was over Friday, Harris stayed inside, away from the crowds, but his attorney, Rhonda Quagliana, emerged for a short news conference.

"DeAndre and his parents want peace in this community," she said, describing him as "a young person who came here to live and work. He was a person on the cusp of adulthood and a career. I know DeAndre has had a tough, tough road. He was the victim of a terrible attack, and he's working through it. He's doing better."Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired Andrew McCabe as deputy FBI director Friday night, mere hours before McCabe would have earned his full retirement benefits. And President Donald Trump's tweets about McCabe's situation pretty much erase any doubts that he applied political pressure on Sessions's decision.

Trump has derided McCabe for months, even highlighting his retirement timetable three months ago.

"FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is racing the clock to retire with full benefits. 90 days to go?!!!" Trump tweeted in December.

And the president tweeted again shortly after midnight Saturday morning: "Andrew McCabe FIRED, a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI - A great day for Democracy. Sanctimonious James Comey was his boss and made McCabe look like a choirboy. He knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI!"

It's readily apparent why getting McCabe fired might send a message that Trump likes. But might it also come back to bite Trump?

Trump has now, after all, cemented the enemy status of a top-ranking official at the FBI (its No. 2) and one-time acting director. He previously did that by firing McCabe's superior, former FBI director James Comey, and Comey has rewarded that decision by leaking unhelpful things and testifying about Trump in a negative light. He is now set to release a book.

But the McCabe and Comey situations are also somewhat different. Trump arguably terminated Comey more out of fear of how he was conducting the Russia investigation; he appears to have gone after McCabe due to a vendetta and possibly to send a signal to others in law enforcement who might run afoul of him. Trump's successful push to get McCabe fired is also undeniably more personal in nature, given McCabe was ousted just 26 hours before he was to gain full retirement benefits. McCabe was already basically out the door, and firing him now - regardless of how valid the reasons in the yet-to-be-released inspector general's report - comes off as even more spiteful.

Matthew Miller, a former top Justice Department official in the Obama administration, noted that McCabe has already spoken to special counsel Robert Mueller's team, and he would have shared anything he knew about allegedly illegal actions. But Miller said that doesn't mean there isn't more McCabe might share - particularly now that he could file suit over his termination.

"There are a host of inappropriate actions by the president that don't necessarily rise to the level of criminality that McCabe may feel obliged to disclose publicly now," Miller said. "It's very much in McCabe's interests to reveal any inappropriate actions by the president that he was aware of because it helps make his case that he was fired for political reasons. He may do that in interviews, and he may do it in a lawsuit he brings over his firing."

Former federal prosecutor Patrick Cotter said McCabe would still be bound by confidentiality rules and can't share anything about grand jury testimony that he may have gleaned. But he said the treatment of McCabe is without real compare.

"I would add that for me, and I think many former law enforcement personnel, it is difficult to recall any precedent for the kind of personal vindictiveness the action by the executive exhibits towards a career FBI agent like McCabe, except from the long-time targets of federal law enforcement, like the mob or drug cartels," Cotter said. "With those criminals I noted that their hate was personal towards the agents and attorneys they thought were building cases against them. This move strikes me as very similar."

And it was made abundantly clear Friday night that McCabe is incensed by the decision. He released a lengthy statement deriding his firing as "slander" and arguing that the inspector general's report was accelerated in response to his closed-door testimony saying he would corroborate key claims made by Comey. He suggested the whole thing was part of a campaign to undermine the investigations involving Trump.

"This attack on my credibility is one part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally, but to taint the FBI, law enforcement, and intelligence professionals more generally," McCabe said. "It is part of this administration's ongoing war on the FBI and the efforts of the special counsel investigation, which continue to this day. Their persistence in this campaign only highlights the importance of the special counsel's work."

That's significantly more full-throated than even Comey was after his firing. The question now is: What does McCabe know, and how hard does he push back? We have yet to see what's in the inspector general's report, and it's quite possible that it will undercut McCabe's credibility and prove his firing was warranted. Having his name dragged through the mud could temper McCabe's public comments.

But if it doesn't, Trump and Sessions have just created a very motivated enemy.WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump escalated his assault on federal law enforcement agencies Saturday while one of his attorneys argued that the controversial firing of a top FBI official was reason to end the Justice Department special counsel's expansive Russia investigation.

After Attorney General Jeff Sessions acted late Friday night on Trump's publicly stated wishes to terminate former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe - just hours before he was set to retire with full benefits - the president celebrated the ouster as a triumph that exposed "tremendous leaking, lying and corruption" throughout law enforcement.

The move emboldened McCabe, who said in a public statement that his dismissal was a deliberate effort to slander him and part of an "ongoing war" against the FBI and the Russia probe being led by special counsel Robert Mueller III.

Like former FBI director James Comey, who was fired by Trump last year, McCabe kept contemporaneous memos detailing his fraught conversations with the president, according to two people familiar with the records. The danger for Trump is that those memos could help corroborate McCabe's witness testimony and become damaging evidence in Mueller's investigation of whether Trump has sought to obstruct justice.

Trump asked McCabe in an Oval Office meeting in May whom he voted for and complained about the political donations McCabe's wife received for her failed 2015 Virginia state Senate campaign. In addition, Comey confided to McCabe about his private conversations with Trump, including when the president asked for his loyalty. Both had been probing links between Trump's campaign and Russia.

McCabe's firing - coupled with the Saturday comments of Trump and his personal attorney, John Dowd - marked an extraordinary acceleration of the battle between the president and the special counsel, whose probe Trump has long dismissed as a politically motivated witch hunt.

Trump said in a Saturday night tweet: "The Mueller probe should never have been started in that there was no collusion and there was no crime. It was based on fraudulent activities and a Fake Dossier paid for by Crooked Hillary and the DNC, and improperly used in FISA COURT for surveillance of my campaign. WITCH HUNT!"

Dowd said in a Saturday morning statement, "I pray that Acting Attorney General Rosenstein will follow the brilliant and courageous example of the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility and Attorney General Jeff Sessions and bring an end to alleged Russia Collusion investigation manufactured by McCabe's boss James Comey based upon a fraudulent and corrupt Dossier."

Dowd's defiance was a dramatic shift for a legal team that had long pledged to cooperate fully with Mueller. The White House has responded to requests for documents, while senior officials have sat for hours of interviews with the special counsel's investigators.

The statement was first reported by the Daily Beast, which explained that Dowd said he was speaking on behalf of Trump. Dowd later backtracked, telling The Washington Post that he was speaking only for himself.

Trump has been known in the past to direct surrogates to make bold claims publicly as a way of market-testing ideas. Dowd declined to say whether he consulted with the president before issuing his statement. "I never discuss my communications with my client," he said.

White House officials had no comment as to whether Dowd's statement was delivered at the behest of his client, but they insisted it was not part of a coordinated administration strategy, and one described it as ill-advised.

Still, officials acknowledged that Trump shares his lawyer's sentiment that the Mueller investigation should come to a swift conclusion.

"We were all promised collusion or nullification of his election or impeachment," said a senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter. "We were promised something that never came to be."

This official added that Trump "just thinks they should wrap it up. He sees it becoming a big fishing expedition."

For months now, the president has raged in private conversations with friends and advisers over the intensifying investigation. People familiar with his thinking said he has been especially agitated by Mueller's probing into the financial and other records of his private business, the Trump Organization - an intrusion he said in an interview last year would be crossing a red line.

Sessions fired McCabe as an outgrowth of an investigation by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz, who is examining the FBI's handling of its probe of former secretary of state Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server. In the course of that broad review, Horowitz's investigators found that McCabe had authorized two FBI officials to speak to the media about an ongoing criminal probe and then - in the investigators' view - misled them about it.

White House officials said they did not believe Trump had explicitly ordered Sessions to fire McCabe in recent days. But he arguably did not have to: The FBI's former No. 2 official had long drawn Trump's ire, and the president has publicly called for his dismissal.

Trump has long been furious at Sessions for recusing himself from overseeing the Mueller probe. White House officials said the embattled attorney general is perpetually trying to prove his worth to Trump and had to have known that firing McCabe would please the boss.

Indeed, Trump hailed McCabe's dismissal in a gleeful tweet at 12:08 a.m. Saturday as "A great day for Democracy."

That drew a stern rebuke from former CIA director John Brennan, who responded on Twitter: "When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history. You may scapegoat Andy McCabe, but you will not destroy America...America will triumph over you."

After Dowd issued his statement Saturday, Trump reiterated his claim that there was "no collusion" between his campaign and Russians, and he attacked federal agencies that are under his command. But he stopped short of echoing Dowd's call for an end to the Mueller probe.

Trump tweeted: "As the House Intelligence Committee has concluded, there was no collusion between Russia and the Trump Campaign. As many are now finding out, however, there was tremendous leaking, lying and corruption at the highest levels of the FBI, Justice & State. #DrainTheSwamp."

Trump was referring to last week's announcement by Republican members of the House Intelligence Committee that they were concluding their investigation of Russian interference in the election, though a separate investigation by the Senate Intelligence Committee continues.

In a second tweet, Trump repeated his now-familiar attacks on McCabe and Comey. Some allies worry he is playing with fire by taunting the FBI.

"This is open, all-out war, and guess what? The FBI's going to win," said one ally, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to be candid. "You can't fight the FBI. They're going to torch him."

Trump's lawyers have long spoken privately about what they view as political bias inside the FBI and in the early stages of the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election, according to two top White House advisers.

Since late summer, Dowd and attorney Jay Sekulow have warned the president about what they considered to be mounting evidence of political pro-Clinton bias among senior FBI officials. Trump took some comfort in their predictions to him that pieces of this information would surface publicly over time in the form of inspector general reports and responses to public information requests.

Dowd and White House lawyer Ty Cobb have publicly asserted that they are working collaboratively and cooperatively with Mueller's investigators, voluntarily providing dozens of witnesses and hundreds of thousands of pages of records. Dowd told The Post in January that Trump was providing the special counsel "the most transparent response in history by a president."

But behind the scenes, Dowd has told colleagues the probe was poisoned. He has blamed it on an anti-Trump faction of law enforcement officials he derisively calls "the Comey crowd," which includes McCabe, who was Comey's deputy when the FBI began investigating Russia's intrusions in the 2016 election and possible links to the Trump campaign.

Democrats quickly rushed to protect the Mueller probe, as former national security officials defended McCabe's character and raised questions about the manner in which he was fired.

Sen. Mark Warner, Va., the ranking Democrat of the Senate Intelligence Committee, tweeted: "Every member of Congress, Republican and Democrat, needs to speak up in defense of the Special Counsel. Now."

And Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., warned of "severe consequences from both Democrats and Republicans" should Trump try to curtail or interfere with Mueller's investigation.

"Mr. Dowd's comments are yet another indication that the first instinct of the president and his legal team is not to cooperate with Special Counsel Mueller, but to undermine him at every turn," Schumer said in a statement.

McCabe's firing just short of his 50th birthday on Sunday is likely to cost him significant pension benefits. One House Democrat, Rep. Mark Pocan of Wisconsin, offered McCabe a job to work on election security in his office "so that he can reach the needed length of service" to retire.

The dismissal once again drew the FBI into a political controversy at a time when those inside the bureau already fear the institution's reputation may not survive unrelenting attacks from Trump and his allies.

"Certainly the FBI is in the barrel, and they badly want to get out of it - the workforce does," said former FBI assistant director Ron Hosko. "But headlines like this are not the way out."

Inside the FBI, the mood was tense this weekend, with some agents exchanging messages about how they might help McCabe and expressing anger at what they saw as a cruel and vindictive dismissal.

But McCabe was not universally loved inside the FBI. Some agents resented him for what they felt was a rapid rise through the ranks in his 22 years there - and officials noted that misleading investigators is a fireable offense, though they were curious about the degree to which the evidence would show McCabe had done so.

Horowitz, the inspector general, had been investigating broad allegations of misconduct in the Clinton email case since early last year, but over the last few months, he zeroed in on McCabe.

McCabe, who briefly served as acting FBI director in the aftermath of Comey's firing, technically stepped down from his deputy post once current director Christopher Wray was told of what the inspector general had found.

McCabe remained an FBI employee, but the bureau's Office of Professional Responsibility, which handles employee discipline, later recommended he be fired. The inspector general's report has not been made public.

On Thursday, McCabe pleaded with Justice Department brass to be spared. Late into the evening Friday, top officials drafted their own report on what McCabe had done. Just before 10 p.m., it was emailed to him and his attorneys. Minutes later, Sessions announced McCabe had been fired, effective immediately.

McCabe countered with a lengthy statement Friday night claiming his innocence - and pledging to fight back against Trump.

"All along we have said nothing, never wanting to distract from the mission of the FBI by addressing the lies told and repeated about us," McCabe wrote. "No more."

---

Video Embed Code

Video: Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe on March 16, shortly before McCabe was set to retire.(Victoria Walker/The Washington Post)

Embed code:Carmen Ortega is anxious to cast her vote in Mexicos July 1 presidential election, but shes worried time is running out for thousands of potential voters.

Ortega is one of hundreds of thousands of Mexican citizens living in Houston and other U.S. cities facing numerous obstacles to complete registration by the March 31 deadline.

Shes followed instructions from Mexican election offices, applied for and received her voters credential, but the government telephone lines to activate the cards are operating sporadically, or not at all.

I feel its very important that we vote in the presidential election, Ortega said. It is an obligation for us living abroad to participate and have a say in the future of Mexico.

There is much at stake in the crowded upcoming national elections with about 3,400 offices up for grabs, and they come at a time when the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, known as PRI, has been hounded by charges of pervasive corruption.

The long-ruling party PRI, which held the presidency for over 70 years until the beginning of this century, came back to power with the election of President Enrique Pena Nieto in 2012 with a promise of transformation. Instead, it has produced an outcry by the Mexican public. More than 20 governors are either in prison, fugitives or are under scrutiny for causes ranging from embezzling to money laundering.

The controversies have stirred interest in the election, but Mexican government officials with the National Electoral Institute said only a little more than 14 percent of about 600,000 citizens who asked for voting credentials have had their documents activated. The low activation rate has left some activists and critics wondering if Mexicans living abroad are being ignored, or even intentionally blocked from participating.

Tony Payan, director of the Baker Institutes Mexico Center, said the obstacles to voting abroad have been installed by Mexican officials who are fearful that the expatriate vote will go to opposition candidates.

It is designed to sabotage (the vote of) Mexicans abroad; it doesnt work because they dont want for it to work, Payan said of the INE voting system.

Mexican citizens in the U.S. had voted mostly for the opposition candidates since the historic campaign of former president Vicente Fox ended seven decades of political dominance by the PRI, Payan said.

Foxs victory in the 2000 election for the conservative National Action Party, known as PAN, upended the PRIs near-total control over government posts from the Mexican presidency to the federal congress and down to most state and local offices.

Payan said that the vote of Mexicans living in the U.S. is at best unpredictable, but historically had gone against the PRI. The party now wants to suppress their participation, he said.

In the two presidential elections were Mexicans abroad have been able to vote, both in 2006 and 2012 more than 80 percent cast their ballots for opposition candidates, according to data from the INE.

But David Maciel, an adviser to the president of the INE, strongly denies the implication of favoritism.

The INE is absolutely, 100 percent committed to try and get the vote out extensively, correctly and secretly, he said, stressing that the institution is non-partisan.

Mexicos top diplomat in Houston, General Consul Oscar Rodriguez Cabrera, said that to imply that the INE is intentionally discouraging the vote abroad reflects an ignorance of the current democratic process in Mexico.

We have a very solid, very serious institution organizing the elections; the country has evolved significantly in the way we conduct our elections, Rodriquez said, adding that the instrument to vote in Mexico is so secure that the card is the default identification that people use for everything.

Duncan Wood, the director of the Mexico Institute with the Wilson Center's, a non-partisan research institution focused on global policies, considers that the problems Mexicans abroad are having "are more easily explained by inadequacies and inefficiencies of the Mexican bureaucracy than by a deliberate attempt to stop people voting."

"The Mexican government clearly needs to work harder to provide services to their citizens in ways which are accessible and which are easy to encourage more democratic participation," Wood said, adding that "the final step of making a phone call to confirm that has become the obstacle, is a completely unnecessary one."

Mexican consular officials in Houston said that as of March 11, more than 620,500 citizens have solicited their cards at the consulates abroad. So far more than 490,000 voting cards were delivered by regular mail. However, only 14 percent, or 90, 976 of the cards, have been activated as the March 31 deadline approached.

To be able to vote in their countrys elections, Mexican citizens such as Ortega have to navigate a process that involves many steps.

First, they have to request their credential in person at their consulates. In Houston, Mexican consular officials report that more than 44,000 Mexicans in the Houston area had applied for their cards, as of Friday.

The requests are then sent to the electoral institute in Mexico. Election officials issue the cards and return them to Mexicans abroad by regular email.

Although this is the third presidential where Mexicans have been allowed to vote from abroad, it will be the first when they can register and get new cards without returning home. Previously, Mexican citizens who already had a card issued in Mexico could vote even if it was expired.

Now they cannot vote with expired cards, so they must use the INE process to obtain a new voting credential.

After activating their cards, the voter will receive a ballot by regular mail in May, with postage paid to return back to Mexico to be added to the vote tally.

But the problem, says Ortega and others, arises when Mexicans attempt to activate their voting credential. The letter accompanying the document instructs them to call one of two phone numbers. Voters who have tried to call say one is not a working number and have reported difficulties in reaching the other phone number listed.

Elections officials acknowledge that Ortega, who lives in Houston, is one of many who has complained about obstacles to voting.

We have heard a number of issues and we have been relaying their concerns and grievances immediately to the Mexican Federal Institute, said Maciel, the advisor to the INE president.

Maciel, who has been touring cities around the U.S. on behalf of the INE to promote the vote in the Mexican presidential election, confirmed the card activation problem is at the top of the concerns he hears across the country.

This year, there are six candidates for president.

A poll conducted in February by the Mexican firm Parametria shows the leftist candidate, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, as the top contender with the support of 36 percent of voters. Obrador, who in the 2012 presidential elections received 39 percent of the votes cast by Mexicans abroad, represents a left-wing party called The National Regeneration Movement (MORENA).

Following 14 points behind in the polls this year is Ricardo Anaya, a conservative candidate working with left-leaning parties to form a coalition known as For Mexico in Front, or Por Mexico al Frente.

The PRI candidate, Jose Antonio Meade, a member of the current presidents cabinet is in a distant fourth place with 17 percent.

The INE and Mexican consulates are extensively promoting the elections through social media accounts. During his recent tour, Maciel visited with leaders of Mexican organizations and Spanish speaking media outlets in Houston and other cities to reach out to potential voters.

Cesar Ledesma, the INE secretary in charge of the registration system, said the government contracted with a firm earlier this month to handle calls from Mexicans abroad trying to register. He said the result has been a surge in increase in the number of people activating voting credentials.

Still, problems remain. Amanda Logan, a Mexican-American from Houston, said that she has never voted in a Mexican election before but decided to do it this time to help our fellow countrymen to elect the less corrupted candidate, she said.

She went through the same ordeal of phone calls and asked Ortega, who is her friend, for help, to no avail.

I dont know if I am going to have time for this, she said. I am very frustrated.

Rodriguez, the Mexican consul in Houston, said officials are working to resolve the problems.

We want everybody to vote; It's very important  its a right of all Mexicans, Rodriguez said. We tell everybody to remember the saying, Si no votas, no te quejes.

Translated into English, it means, If you dont vote, dont complain.ANGLETON - Growing up on the family farm in Central Texas, my dad detested his given name. He hated Horace so much that most people who werent family knew to call him Holley. Where his folks got the name, nobody knew, and I suppose now we never will. (He could have used his middle name, but Moten was hardly an improvement.)

The name became all the more intriguing when I discovered that Stephen F. Austins favorite cousin, Mary Austin Holley, was the widow of one Horace Holley, a Yale-educated Unitarian minister and president of Transylvania University in Lexington, Ky. Horace Holley was sailing from New Orleans to Europe in 1827, when he died of yellow fever and was buried at sea off the Dry Tortugas in the Gulf of Mexico.

Its unlikely that a farm couple in Texas in the early years of the last century would have named a son after a New England-born minister and educator who had lived and died decades earlier. As best I can tell, theres no family connection. Maybe my grandparents - Charlie and Mary Della -- had studied Latin, or maybe they just liked the alliteration.

Whatever the connection - or non-connection - Ive long been interested in Horace Holleys widow, in part because of Mary Austin Holleys ties to her famous cousin but also because her book, Texas: Observations Historical, Geographical and Descriptive, is the first known English-language history of Texas. That book, based on her 1831 visit to her cousins colony, was published in 1833. Three years later, an expanded version, titled simply Texas, became a best-seller and an influential immigrants guide for Americans bound, like myself, to the land of promise.

She was an excellent pianist and spoke French, German and Spanish and was most agreeable in conversation, a contemporaneous friend recalled.

Thats the impression I got from her biography, published years ago. She was refined, sophisticated, well educated. But Mary Austin Holley, I re-discovered this week, was much more than a cultured lady, as a cursory reading of her diary and letters reveals. (Her papers are housed at the Dolph Briscoe History Center at UT-Austin.) She was a graceful and perceptive writer, to be sure, but she also was witty, engaging and adventurous. She knew politics and business and was well-traveled. In line after line of elegant handwriting, this very superior woman, as Austin described her, comes wonderfully alive.

In a diary entry for April 31, 1835, shes aboard the schooner San Felipe on a five-day voyage from New Orleans to the mouth of the Brazos. She and her fellow passengers, 60 in all, are deathly sea-sick. I lay on my berth or sat listlessly on the deck - too inert from the recent commotion of my stomach to make further application of my better powers, she writes.

As they approach their destination, the sea and her stomach settle, and she dares to be risque: For the luxury and novelty of the thing, there being no gentlemen about, I went without stockings and with the thinnest covering in other respects.

She recounts the latest gossip from Brazoria: Mr. Stephenson has killed Mr. Berryman in a dual - muskets at 10 paces.

Mr. B, she writes, was the lover of Mrs. Stephenson, now parted from her husband in consequence & went to N Orleans last trip of the San Felipe. On the dead body was found a lock of the ladys hair, perforated by that ball that reached his heart. On the envelope was written, as on a bundle of her letters. To be placed in my coffin. Were they so disposed of? No: the injured husband wrote to the faithless wife that the hair she had placed on her lovers bosom, proving no shield, was bathed in his blood.

She offers a parting thought: Women - when bad - how bad!!

Her pencil sketches of Houston, the capital city newly hacked out of a pine forest, are the earliest pictorial documentation of the first Capitol building and homes of prominent residents. The town makes a good appearance, she writes, but is not healthy - several bilious cases exist at present - contains 1800 to 2000 inhabitants - 80 sailors are now in Houston. The houses generally are of 1 story - A few have 2. 2 large hotels with galleries above and below.

In long, chatty letters to her grown children, amid talk about politics and land deals and clothes shes making for the grandkids, she imparts the latest gossip: The old Gen. Gaines is married to a widow of 25 with 3 male children. He is in his dotage and though lost to . . . is no great gain. How unlucky all our beaux get married - or die - or something!!!!!!

When Holley arrived in Texas in 1831, she hadnt seen her famous cousin for 25 years, and, as historian H.W. Brands points out, she might not have seen him for 25 more had her husband not suddenly died, leaving her to puzzle out how to support herself and her young son. She decided that writing about Texas might be a profitable endeavor.

Brands surmises that Austin as a young man had a crush on his cousin, who was nine years older. Her visit to Texas rekindled those feelings.

Mrs. H. is a divine woman, Austin told James F. Perry, his brother-in-law. He hoped to persuade her to relocate permanently to Texas.

Jennifer Parsley, a Brazoria County historian with a special interest in early Texas women, believes the cousins intended to marry. She suggests that Austin saw her in Lexington, Ky., her home, on an 1835 trip to raise funds for the Texas cause. He either proposed or seriously thought about it, Parsley says, basing her theory on letters the two wrote each other.

However close the couple became during their brief re-acquaintance, she was his sounding board and confidant during a very crucial period, 1831-32, Parsley says.

Holley never lived in Texas. Her beloved cousin, his body worn out from his exertions on behalf of Texas and his two-year imprisonment in Mexico City, died in 1836 at age 43.

In an 1844 letter, she told Austins sister, Emily Austin Perry, she was planning to write a memoir of our lamented Stephen, intending to bring out his name from the rubbish that surrounds it, in bright relief before the Country and the world.

Her sister-in-law discouraged her: for you know that their (sic) were many persons whose names would appear that took a very decided part in those trying times to defeat Stephen in all his endeavors and plans for the prosperity of his adopted country, some are dead and many of them are still living, and those that are dead, have relatives who would be mortified to see their names brought before the publick at this time.

Perry advised Holley to lay it by to be published in after years. The book was never written. Mary Austin Holley died of yellow fever in 1846, 19 years after the same disease took her husband Horace.WASHINGTON - Rex Tillerson came to Washington 14 months ago as an outside-the-box choice for secretary of state, boasting extensive foreign contacts developed during a 40-year career at Exxon Mobil and experience running a global corporation with the size and scale of a nation-state.

But that resume proved ill-fitted for the Texas oil mans foray into international diplomacy, Washington politics and the management of a foreign policy seemingly driven by the whim of a mercurial president.

After months of clashes and conflict on issues from North Korea to climate change to the response to the race riots in Charlottesville, Va., President Donald Trump on Tuesday notifed Tillerson of his firing via Twitter, naming CIA Director Mike Pompeo as Tillersons successor.

Trump later explained to reporters that he and the former Exxon CEO just disagreed on things.

Trumps morning tweet ended a fraught relationship between and Tillersons difficult transition from imperial CEO to public servant. Tillerson quickly alienated career diplomats as he tried to remake the State Department into the image of a Fortune 500 company while chafing at Trumps style, policies and pronouncements  at one point reportedly describing Trump as a moron.

In the end, it may have been the ultimate personality clash between an Eagle Scout and engineer who rose through the ranks of a corporation that values stability, discipline, care and detail and a seat-of-the-pants real estate developer who preferred flash, showmanship and chaos  and played fast and loose with the facts.

You had an engineer who worked for the same company for decades coming up against one of the greatest brand managers in the last half century. Theyre different skill sets, said Jon Alterman, a State Department official under former President George W. Bush and now vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank. He never reached a mind-meld with the president.

Trumps tweet caught most of Washington off-guard, but Tillersons departure had seemed only a matter of time over the past several months.

NBC News reported in October that Tillerson had to be talked out of quitting by other members of the administration and called Trump a "moron" after a meeting at the Pentagon. That prompted Tillerson to go before television cameras and say he planned to serve "as long as the president feels I can be useful" - though he never denied calling the president a moron.

The firing was an inglorious end to what was expected to be a capstone to a long and successful career that had propelled Tillerson to highest rungs of corporate America.

State Department officials told the Associated Press that Tillerson was not given advance notice of his firing, although White House officials disputed that account. They told Bloomberg News that chief of staff John Kelly had called Tillerson on Friday to warn that he was going to be fired and to return early from a trip to Africa.

Richard Fisher, former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and a friend of Tillerson's, criticized the handling of the decision as "Trump to the nth degree."

"Treating someone of this distinction and magnitude in this manner is certainly distasteful and disrespectful," he said Tuesday. "I wish the president had a different sense of style."

During a press conference in Washington on Tuesday, Tillerson said Trump had called him from Air Force One a little after noon, hours after the president's tweet.

"What is most important is to ensure an orderly and smooth transition during a time the country continues to face significant policy and national security challenges," Tillerson said, his voice wavering. I will now return to private life, a private citizen, a proud American, proud of the opportunity Ive had to serve my country.

Tillerson spent more than a decade leading Exxon  a company he joined shortly after leaving the University of Texas at Austin. His nomination, which followed recommendations by former secretaries of state Bob Gates and Condoleezza Rice, seemed to assuage nervousness within foreign policy circles about how the tweet-happy Trump would handle foreign affairs.

Tillerson had extensive experience negotiating with foreign leaders, particularly in trouble spots such as the Middle East, and in Russia, where President Vladimir Putin had awarded him a state honor.

Tillerson stood out as a cool-headed technocrat, said Jim Krane, a fellow at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy. He was someone who could see past political passions to serve American interests,

But Trump and Tillerson clashed right out of the gate. Tillersons pick to be No. 2 at the State Department was Elliot Abrams, who had served in the Reagan and George W. Bush administrations. But Abrams, who had criticized Trump during the presidential campaign, was rejected by the administration.

Trump repeatedly undercut Tillerson. When Tillerson suggested diplomatic approaches to North Korea's nuclear threats, Trump slapped them down and called talks a waste of time. Trump's recent decision to meet with the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un was reportedly made without consulting Tillerson.

Tillerson favored the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by former president Barack Obama, while Trump harshly criticized and threatened to leave it.

After Trumps failure to forcefully condemn white supremacists after the riots in Charlottesville, Va., Tillerson said, The president speaks for himself.

Unfamiliar with Washington and politics, Tillerson struggled to forge alliances within the White House and on Capitol Hill to help bring the president to his way of thinking.

The former CEO also alienated career foreign service officers who form the backbone of the State Department, staffing U.S. embassies and building the relations and expertise needed to carry out U.S. policies across the globe. Tillersons plans to significantly cut the departments budget and streamline its operations met resistance from career diplomats, many of whom chose to leave the department.

He had almost no friends in the White House, with the exception of Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis. He didnt have a lot of friends up on the Hill, except for Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.). He was just extremely isolated, said Matt Mackowiak, an Austin political consultant who served as an aide to former Texas U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. With no advocates and no defenders, you leave yourself open to this kind of thing happening.

Tillersons departure follows that of Gary Cohn, the administrations chief economic adviser, who resigned last week after failing to convince Trump not to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum.

Both men were globalist products of the U.S. corporate world  Goldman Sachs in the case of Cohn  and both clashed with populist advisers to Trump, who came to power on the anti-trade, inward-looking message, Make America Great Again. The two fought unsuccessfully last year to stop Trump from pulling out of the Paris agreement on climate change.

Republican reaction to Tillerson's sacking was largely muted. Texas senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz said they found out about the firing the same way everyone else and commended Tillerson for his service.

Rex Tillerson is a good and honorable man, Cruz said. It has been clear for some time that the Secretary of State and the President had significant tensions. And so I dont think anyone was surprised to see a change of leadership at the State Department.Apologia

Two philosophers, (the late) Hilary Putnam and his wife, Ruth Anna Putnam , are together largely responsible for re-awakening my interest in the work of John Dewey Robert Westbrook s excellent intellectual biography shares some blame as well). The language in much of Deweys philosophical writing appears deceptively simple. And some have complained about his prose style, but in both composition and meaning, his writing proves to be rather complex and provocative. As Tom Leddy states in his SEP entry on  Deweys Aesthetics , although Dewey seems to write in an almost folksy style, his philosophical prose is often difficult and dense (however, what I share below from Dewey is not, strictly speaking, a sample of his philosophical prose). One should therefore read him rather slowly and carefully (in principle, of course, that is what one should do with all philosophical writing, but Ive found that, at least with some philosophers, one can at once read carefullyquickly!). Dewey and Wittgenstein strike me as two very different kinds of characters of very different sorts of upbringing and cultural background, and yet there appears, in the end, to be considerable overlap, at least in spirit, in what they are trying to convey to us in their philosophical work (I wouldnt label Wittgenstein a pragmatist however, even if theres a significant pragmatic quality to his later work). That is only a tentative conclusion, subject to possible qualification or revision at a later date (as Im also reading Wittgenstein afresh).

I recently initiated a series on one fairly well-known facet of Deweys philosophy titled  Philosophy of Education, Education as Philosophy & Education for Democracy , but this post is not part of that project, even if it has obvious or implicit ties to the principled democratic motivations of the moral psychology and political philosophy incarnate in his philosophy of education. Indeed, as it strikes my fancy, I may end up posting on sundry topics from Deweys corpus.

* * *

Close to 90 years ago the wide-ranging (pragmatist) philosopher, political commentator, and activist John Dewey (18591952) wrote a series of powerful essays for the New Republic * criticizing this countrys materialism and money culture, including the wholesale corporatization of American life. In short, these contribute to a compelling indictment of capitalism that presciently identified its myriad distortions and deformations of democracy, be they patent or insidious. What follows are a few snippets I think are representative of the righteous anger (in part sublimated by the written word) and incisive critique of these pieces. It is utterly remarkable and equally telling that, with a little updating or tweaking here and there, these essays are no less trenchant and discerning when viewed through the prism of our time and place.

The word middletown was meant to suggest the average or typical American small city. While there are many places in the U.S. actually named Middletown (in Connecticut, in New Jersey, in New York, in Ohio and elsewhere), the Lynds were interested in an idealized conceptual American type, and concealed the identity of the city by referring to it by this term. Sometime after publication, however, the residents of Muncie began to guess that their town had been the subject of the book. [.]

* Written for the New Republic in 1929 and 1930, these articles are available in book form: Individualism Old and New (Prometheus Books, 1999).

* * *

Anthropologically speaking, we are living in a money culture. Its cult and rites dominate. The money-medium of exchange and the cluster of activities associated with its acquisition drastically condition the other activities of the people.

We live as if economic forces determined the growth and decay of institutions and settled the fate of individuals. Liberty becomes a well-nigh obsolete term; we start, go, and stop at the signal of a vast industrial machine. [.] The philosophy appropriate to such a situation is that of struggle for existence and survival of the economically fit [elsewhere he describes this in terms of a Social Darwinism, which probably owes more to Herbert Spencer and an argument from Thomas Malthus than it does Darwin].

We loath to admit our everyday subscription to a materialist scheme of value as it would lay bare the obvious contradictions between our institutions and practices on one hand, and our creeds and theories on the other.

The glorification of religion as setting the final seal of approval on pecuniary success, and supplying the active motive to more energetic struggle for such success [this is not limited to the influence of what today is known as prosperity gospel or prosperity theology, as both Max Weber and R.H. Tawney remind us], and the adoption by the churches of the latest devices of the movies and the advertiser approach to close to the obscene.

It is evident enough that the rapid industrialization of our civilization took us unawares. Being mentally and morally unprepared, our older creeds have become ingrowing; the more we depart from them in fact, the more loudly we proclaim them [among other things, this speaks volumes for the sorry state of evangelical Christianity, at least as it is expressed among those conservative white evangelicals that enthusiastically support Donald Trumps xenophobic and racist populist nationalism]. In effect, we treat them as magic formulae. By repeating them often enough we hope to ward off the evils of the new situation, or at least to prevent ourselves from seeing themand this latter function is ably performed by our nominal beliefs [in individualism, in the free market, in liberty, and so forth].

With an enormous command of instrumentalities, with possession of a secure technology, we glorify the past, and legalize and idealize the status quo, instead of seriously asking how we are able to employ the means at our disposal so as to form an equitable and stable society. This is our great abdication. It explains how and why we are a house divided against itself. Our tradition, our heritage, is itself double. It contains in itself the ideal of equality of opportunity and of freedom for all, without regard to birth and status, as a condition for the realization of that equality. This ideal and endeavor in its behalf once constituted our essential Americanism; that which was prized as the note of a new world. It is the genuinely spiritual element of our tradition. No one can truthfully say that it has entirely disappeared. But its promise of a new moral and religious outlook has not been attained. It has not become the well-spring of a new intellectual consensus; it is not (even unconsciously) the vital source of any distinctive and shared philosophy. It directs our politics only spasmodically, and while it has generously provided schools, it does not control their aims or their methods. [emphasis added]

Our law and politics and the incidents of human association depend upon a novel combination of machine and money, and the result is the pecuniary culture characteristic of our civilization. The spiritual factor of our tradition, equal opportunity and free association and intercommunication, is obscured and crowded out. Instead of the development of individualities which it prophetically set forth, there is a perversion of the whole ideal of individualism to conform to the practices of a pecuniary culture [cf. conservative claptrap about capitalism as a unique and unassailable fount of our liberty]. It has become the source and justification of inequalities and oppressions.

  [T]he growth of legal corporations in manufacturing, transportation, distribution and finance is symbolic of the development of corporateness in all phases of life. The era of trust-busting is an almost forgotten age. Not only are big mergers the order of the day, but popular sentiment now looks upon them with pride rather than with fear [this may be less true today, as such corporate behavior generates at least a modest amount of skepticism or distrust, even if it is rarely prohibited]. Size is our current measure of greatness in this as in other matters [Donald Trump has an uncanny appreciation and inordinate fondness for this fact]. It is not necessary to ask whether the opportunity for speculative manipulation for the sake of private gain, or increased public service at a lower cost, is the dominant motive. Personal motives hardly count as productive causes in comparison with impersonal forces. [.] Aggregated capital and concentrated control are the contemporary responses. Political control is needed, but the movement cannot be arrested by legislation. [One can well imagine what Dewey would have thought about the prevailing neoliberal logic of de-regulation and privatization of public goods.]

We live exposed to the greatest flood of mass suggestion that any people has ever experienced. [.] The publicity agent is perhaps the most significant symbol of our present social life.

The significant thing is that the loyalties which once held individuals, which gave them support, direction and unity of outlook on life, have well-nigh disappeared. In consequence, individuals are confused and bewildered. It would be difficult to find in history an epoch as lacking in solid and assured objects of belief and approved ends of action as in the present. Stability of individuality is dependent upon stable objects to which allegiance firmly attaches itself. There are, of course, those who are militantly fundamentalist in religious and social creed. But their very clamor is evidence that the tide is set against them. For others, traditional objects of loyalty have become hollow or are openly repudiated, and they drift without sure anchorage.Take a drive on the East Loop over the ship channel bridge and youll get an idea what Houston stands to lose in a trade war.

Look at whats sitting on the docks and in the lots around the Port of Houston. We all know that energy and medicine are central to our citys economy, but most Houstonians dont realize how much we have riding on steel.

Our port handled 3.7 million tons of steel last year, more than any other port on the continent. Steel imports and exports jumped 68 percent from the year before, when low oil prices led to drops in demand. The energy industry relies heavily on foreign steel and aluminum producers; its estimated that about 10 percent of what independent oil and gas producers spend on their projects is related to steel. Our city is the nations top importer of iron and steel pipes, according to data compiled by WorldCity TradeNumbers, and Houstons stake in that business last year surpassed $1.78 billion.

EDITORIAL: While Putin expands his reach, Trump orders a trade retreat

So when President Trump decided to impose tariffs of 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on aluminum, local business leaders smacked their heads and wondered what in the world he was thinking. So did economists and students of history, who pointed out that the presidents assertion that trade wars are good and easy to win was just flat wrong.

Alas, so did alarmed members of Congress from his own party, who publicly called upon the president to reconsider. But unlike business leaders and economists, our elected representatives can put a stop to this ill-advised move. Congress can  and should  take action to rescind the Trump tariffs.

Ask officials in President George W. Bushs administration whether these tariffs are a good idea. Bush tried to help the steel industry in 2002 by raising tariffs on selected steel products. Sure enough, higher prices temporarily helped domestic steel producers. But businesses paying those higher steel prices got hammered, and they ended up laying off droves of employees. A study conducted by Trade Partnership Worldwide estimated that 200,000 Americans lost their jobs, more than 15,000 of them here in Texas. That number is especially striking when you consider that the entire domestic steel industry back then employed only 187,000 workers, fewer than that estimated number of people who wound up in the unemployment line.

EDITORIAL: Trump vs. Houston

Trumps tariffs promise to raise the prices of everything from beer cans to oilfield drilling equipment to pickup trucks. But they also threaten to trigger a spiral of retaliatory tariffs imposed by other countries. The European Union has already released a list of U.S. exports it threatens to target, including Levis blue jeans, Kentucky bourbon and Harley Davidson motorcycles. So the economic consequences of a trade war are impossible to predict.

But Congress has the power  indeed, the constitutional responsibility  to take control of this war before it begins. Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the authority to levy taxes, duties, imposts and excises and regulate commerce with foreign nations. The president has the power to impose these tariffs only because a 1962 law granted it to the executive branch, so it can be rescinded by a veto-proof majority vote in the House and Senate.

EDITORIAL: RIP, TPP -- How Trump hurts Houston's future

U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Houston, led more than 100 House Republicans who signed a letter urging President Trump to reconsider his broad tariffs and focus specifically on Chinas unfair practices in international trade. That may have influenced the presidents decision to temporarily exempt Canada and Mexico, but that concession doesnt go far enough.

Our congressional delegation, whose members know these tariffs are a bad idea for Texas, should not abdicate the constitutional responsibility to act as a check on the president. Congress should strip Trump of the power to unilaterally impose these tariffs. Houston, Texas and America have too much to lose in a trade war.

If you dont believe it, take a drive over the ship channel bridge.Texas voters of a certain age remember a time when our congressional delegation worked together for the good of our state.

Politicians from opposing parties running for jobs in the nations capital argued with each other until Election Day, but everything changed after Inauguration Day. Once they crossed the Potomac River and arrived in Washington, whether they were Republicans or Democrats, they behaved first and foremost like loyal Texans.

Now, if only briefly and only on one issue, some of our lawmakers in Washington brag that theyve revived that tradition, working together to secure federal disaster assistance money in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.

EDITORIAL: Harvey exposed every point of weakness

Unfortunately, that spirit hasnt prevailed at all levels of government. Houstons mayor complains the General Land Office in Austin is dragging its feet and failing to consult with local authorities about how federal funds should be spent. Meanwhile, a new report from the governors chief operating officer bears a laundry list of bureaucratic hurdles standing between storm victims and relief money. More than six months after the floodwaters receded, Washington has made progress appropriating badly needed funds, but its abundantly obvious that government officials at all levels still have plenty of work cut out for them.

After months of infuriating delay, Congress finally passed the so-called third supplemental appropriating $89.3 billion for disaster relief. Thats more than double the Trump administrations utterly inadequate original proposal. Texas senators and representatives from both parties pounded their fists for the increased funding, which came better late than never.

EDITORIAL: Don't forget Kingwood in post-Harvey efforts

That isnt as easy as it used to be. At one time, members of Congress could earmark spending for specific projects in their districts, but thats no longer an option. So as committee members worked on a bill appropriating money for victims of hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria and the California wildfires, U.S. Rep. John Culberson, Houstons man on the House Appropriations Committee, used tricks he learned in the state legislature to insert some important language. As a result, the finished bill gives priority to areas to that have suffered multiple disaster declarations in recent years, a phrase that just happens to describe greater Houston. That crafty wording puts our area at the head of the line for receiving flood control funding from this legislation.

So now, theres a pot of federal money available for projects along waterways like White Oak Bayou, Hunting Bayou and Clear Creek. Dredging in the Houston Ship Channel with federal funds is another possibility. Congress has also appropriated funds that can be used to study new projects, like building a third reservoir.

Still, the final decision on where this money will be spent rests not with Congress, but with federal bureaucrats like officials at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Our representatives in Washington need to keep the pressure on to bring as much of this federal funding as possible into the Houston area.

EDITORIAL: Fight flooding now!

At the same time, this appropriation from Washington throws some balls into Austins court. A total of $28 billion is dedicated to HUD community development grant programs, including money that could help individual homeowners. Whatever piece of this pie comes to Texas will be administered by the states General Land Office, headed by Commissioner George P. Bush. Unfortunately, Mayor Sylvester Turner complains the GLO has been hogging federal disaster funds and failing to consult with city officials about how to put that money to use.

All told, Congress has appropriated more than $100 billion to hurricane relief. But state officials say only $13.3 billion has been provided directly to Texas, where Hurricane Harveys estimated economic impact totals $125 billion.

Remember, any amount of time a Texas politician spends on some cable news show or whipping up a politically convenient distraction is time that could be dedicated to jawing the federal bureaucracy about Harvey recovery. Flood prevention must be the number one issue of the 2018 elections, and voters should be ready to reward and punish candidates accordingly.

More than six months have passed since Hurricane Harvey struck. Our lawmakers still have a lot of work to do, and so do elected officials in Austin, at county courthouses and at city halls throughout our area. They need to do it together, tossing aside their red shirts and blue shirts and wrapping themselves in the Texas flag.Isnt everyone Irish on St. Patricks Day?

The true significance of St. Patricks Day often is lost in the wearing of the green or green beer. It is a significance ingrained in American culture and society.

The Irish started immigrating to America in the 1700s to escape religious persecution and to find a better way of life, particularly following the Great Famine of 1845. As a primarily agriculturally based population, the Irish first settled the frontier. Later Irish immigrants moved into cities such as Philadelphia, New York, Boston and Chicago. Eventually, they moved west with the land rush and the gold rush.

Many Irish came to America in repurposed coffin ships that had been used to carry livestock, fertilizer and crops to Ireland. Several of these ships did not make the long journey across the Atlantic Ocean due to the ships poor condition. Often passengers perished on board from lack of clean water and enough food, as well as diseases caused by being cramped in close quarters.

As new immigrants to America, the Irish faced many challenges in finding work, assimilating and fighting prejudices. Many people of Irish heritage are proud of what their ancestors brought to this country in terms of the value of hard work, as well as providing for their families in America and Ireland. They also brought the desire to satisfy basic human needs of which they were deprived in Ireland: a roof over their heads, a good job, the ability to feed their families and themselves, an education and freedom of religion and speech.

Irish contributions to America included being among the signers of the Declaration of Independence and presidents of the United States, as well as journeymen who built canals and railroads and erected skyscrapers in the large cities. They diligently worked in extremely physically strenuous and dangerous conditions in this land where they had heard the streets were paved with gold.

EDITORIAL: Irish-born Mayor Thomas H. Scanlan deserves recognition in Houston's history.

In Houston, the Irish have contributed to the oil and gas industry, medicine, science, engineering, finance and especially education.

In 1947, the Basilian Fathers, many of Irish descent, emigrated from France and founded the University of St. Thomas.

Since 2003, the school has been home to the Center of Excellence for Irish Studies at the University. The Centers mission is to preserve Irish heritage and culture as well as to promote peace and reconciliation.

And today, more than 36 million Americans and over 70 million people worldwide who claim Irish heritage will celebrate St. Patricks Day.

In Ireland, the original purpose of the holiday was to recall the fifth-century saint who spread Christianity throughout the island. Not so long ago, St. Patricks Day in Ireland was a day spent with family. The pubs were closed. Now Ireland is a dynamic tourist destination in which to celebrate one of the most universally recognized holidays with parades and festivals  similar to Mardi Gras.

EDITORIAL: Irish luck -- education promotes economic growth

In Houston and elsewhere, St. Patricks Day acknowledges Irish heritage and culture in a variety of ways.

There will be a parade starting at noon downtown from Minute Maid Park. The University of St. Thomas will have an annual gathering on campus. Many families and friends will get together for a picnic or for a good laugh. The Irish are great storytellers  and the story is one that should be familiar to many American families.

And in 2020, the university will host the American Conference for Irish Studies, which will bring approximately 350 scholars to Houston from all over the world.

As we celebrate this St. Patricks Day, let us take a moment to recognize the diverse culture and heritage of all of us who make up America and how that diversity has made our country strong. And yes, lets not forget today we are all Irish, at least in our hearts.Gov. Greg Abbotts failure in last weeks Republican primary to defeat two GOP state representatives who displeased him  Sarah Davis of Houston and Lyle Larson of San Antonio  brings to mind another failed purge exactly 80 years ago.

In 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt opposed the renomination of three conservative Democratic senators who, among other sins, had fought his plan the previous year to enlarge and thereby pack the Supreme Court with liberal justices.

Despite FDRs intervention in their races, the three senators  Walter George of Georgia, Cotton Ed Smith of South Carolina and Millard Tydings of Maryland  all won their primaries and subsequent elections. This stinging rebuke came less than two years after Roosevelt won re-election himself by one of the greatest landslides in U.S. history. Even a friendly Roosevelt biographer, James MacGregor Burns, had to admit that Roosevelts political fortunes reached the lowest point of his presidency after these embarrassing defeats.

There are three reasons why such purges fail.

The first is resentment by local folks against being told how to vote, even by a leader they may have strongly supported in the past.

LETTER WRITER: Abbott's failed purge hurt Kathaleen Wall

The second is that it is not enough just to vote against an incumbent: One must vote for someone else, and if a challenger proves unappealing for any reason, voters will opt for the officeholder they know.

Lastly, and most important, voters will give the benefit of the doubt to a lawmaker who works hard, keeps in close touch with the district, listens to citizen concerns and gives thoughtful reasons why he or she may have voted a particular way on controversial legislation. This was clearly the case with Davis.

I discovered this truth 40 years ago, when, as a Republican representative for part of Davis current district, I was renominated and re-elected despite being insufficiently conservative in some peoples opinion.

If high-level declarations of disdain dont always work, what about endorsements? Here again, local conditions and candidates matter more. No better example exists than another result (or nonresult) of the GOP primary: Both Abbott and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz endorsed Kathaleen Wall in the open race to succeed Ted Poe in the 2nd Congressional Districts Republican primary. Despite spending more than $6 million and blanketing the Houston area with television commercials and mailings touting their endorsements, Wall failed to make the runoff.

The vote was no reflection against Abbott and Cruz or even Wall. Rather, it was the greater attractiveness of the two candidates who did make the runoff, state Rep. Kevin Roberts and former Navy SEAL Dan Crenshaw. This was a heartening reminder that in a democracy, its still the people  not dollars  who rule, a riposte to those who fret about heavy spending in political campaigns.

Speaking of endorsements, did President Trumps two appearances prior to Tuesdays special congressional election in western Pennsylvania help or hurt the Republican candidate? Though the outcome was close, it seems clear that voters cared more what the candidates said, not Trump, even though he easily carried the same district in 2016.

EDITORIAL: Sunset and sine die

Just as a wounded FDR rebounded from the 1938 primaries to win historic third and fourth terms in the White House, Abbott will likely win a second term this fall. But there is a price to be paid by a leaders failure to purge: Emboldening other lawmakers to defy him the future, having seen their colleagues survive the onslaught. Truly, after 1938 Roosevelt never again commanded Congress the way he had in the early years of his administration.

Whether or not Abbott suffers similar seepage of support will be revealed in the 2019 session of the Texas Legislature.

Ralph Waldo Emerson observed that when you strike at a king, you must kill him.

A modern, Texas twist to Emersons words might be that when a king strikes at a knight-errant, he must kill her off. Otherwise, he risks even greater and broader defiance.

Put another way, if the king cries Off with her head! and the head remains very much in place, it is a head that is far less likely to bow in the future.Xavier Arnau via Getty Images Four indian women playing with digital tablets and smart phones.

India's smartphone shipment crossed 100 million units last year, placing it in the second spot globally after China. India beat the US for the second spot. A large chunk of these 100 million smartphones were made by Chinese phone manufacturers.

On Monday, India even took a decision to ban the import of some of the Chinese phones citing security concerns. All the phones which don't have an IMEI number and certain other security features will not be allowed to be imported into India. Here is a list of all the licensed Chinese smartphone manufacturers selling in India.

Advertisement

The company was a joint venture between France's Alcatel-Laurent and Chinese TCL, but now TCL owns the majority of the shares. Alcatel is known for its mid-range series Idol and OneTouch phones. In August 2014, they launched 4 phones and a phablet in India. The company has produced a Firefox OS based phone and a smart watch too. Alcatel also sells tablets in India.

Coolpad is known for its sub-10000 phones in India. Last October, they made an entry in the Indian market by launching Coolpad Note 3 for 8999. In January, they launched a stripped-down version of the phone called Coolpad Note 3 lite selling it for 6999. So far, reviewers and consumers have liked the company's offerings.

Advertisement

Although a significant name in China, G'five is not a big phone brand. It offers under 10000 Android smartphones without any distinctive features. The company offers a couple of feature phones in India as well.

Gionee has earned a name by developing very thin and flashy mobiles. At one point, with a thickness of 5.5 mm, Gionee Elife S5 was the slimmest smartphone available. Since then, the company has come up with a range of mobiles in China and India. It now sells feature phones starting from 1000 to smartphones costing 35000

Advertisement

Haier has been present in India for a long time but as an appliances maker. Recently, they have ventured into the Indian market with phones. But instead of taking the plunge into the ever growing smartphone market, they are concentrating on selling feature phones. They do have some low-end smartphone but none of them have any standout features.

Huawei has been a leader in selling networking solutions in India. And, they have produced some good smartphones in recent years. Their sub-brand Honor has been received very well in India. Huawei sells smartphones of a different range under Ascend and Mate series as well. Notably, the company partnered with Google to manufacture Nexus 6P which has been lauded by critics and consumers alike.

This relatively unknown brand is almost nonexistent in India. They still sell one or two outdated phones on a few portals.

Before Lenovo jumped into the smartphone business, they sold millions of PCs and laptops in India. The company began selling Android phones in 2012. Lenovo's Vibe series and K3 Note series have been fairly popular in India in recent times. Their sales have been boosted by the fact that they acquired Motorola Mobility from Google whose Moto G and Moto E are quite popular in India.

A very popular company in China launched in India under the name LeEco. They initially launched two devices, LeEco 1S and LeEco Max. Recently they also released their new phones LeEco Le2, LeEco Max 2 and Le 2 Pro in China, and these will be launched in India on 3 May.

Advertisement

Meizu started selling smartphones in 2008 and it is one of the newer companies that have made remarkable progress in a short time. They offer 12 smartphones in India, with Meizu Pro 6 being their latest offer. The unique thing about Meizu is that the company is selling phones with Ubuntu smartphone OS as well.

OnePlus was an instant hit in India when it arrived in 2014. They launched their first phone OnePlus One on invite basis and received an enthusiastic response. A lot of people were attracted to high-end specs at a mid-range price. With the invites becoming hard to get, they have now done away with the system. In 2015, they launched two phones, OnePlus 2 and OnePlus X, both available on the invite system initially and later in an open sale.

Oppo caught eyes of the world by launching Oppo N1 in September 2013 which had a rotating camera. Since then, they have launched plenty of phones and many of them have new camera features such as a beauty mode.

Qiku made the entrance in India with Qiku Q-Terra, priced at 22000. The phone has a good looking screen and dual 13 MP camera. It comes with a 360 OS, which is without an app drawer, gestures, and fingerprint sensor commands.

Vivo, unlike others, is relying on an offline model more than on online sales. They have more than 10000 partner stores in India. They also have one of the slimmest phones right now in the form of X5 Max which is 4.75 mm in thickness. The company is also sponsoring the Indian Premier League this year. They recently launched two new phones to mark the occasion.

Advertisement

Vsun is another phone maker which is not recognized much and has just one phone available in few of the portals.

Xiaomi rules the Indian market in popularity if we discount the Motorola factor of Lenovo. The products of the company are extremely sought after in India. From their Mi series to Note series and power banks to headphones everything is in demand in the country. But the biggest complaint from the customers is the flash sales strategy. Consumers have to log in at a certain time to get a chance of buying a phone. And a lot of the flash sales are over in a few seconds.

Zopo sells 3 series of phone in India. Most notable of them is the speed series which has decacore processors. They are metal phones with high-end specs. The other two series are Flash series and color series.

Zhongxing Telecommunication Equipment is the fourth largest phone manufacturer in the world. Although in India it is not that popular. ZTE still offers a lot of phones in India including blade series which is their prominent offering. They also make tablets and feature phones.

This is a sub-brand under Lenovo. Right now they only have one offering in Zuk Z1 which is a low-cost Android phone.

Advertisement

Chinese phones have created the cult of their own in the Indian market. There are plenty of reasons behind it including saturation in the Chinese market. In the last quarter of the last year, shipment from Chinese manufacturers rose 71 percent.

These phone makers are trying to set up manufacturing plants in India as well to participate in "Make In India" scheme of government. While companies like Xiaomi wants to open their exclusive stores in the country. It will be interesting to see how Indian smartphone makers would respond to this.President Trump announced sweeping tariffs on steel and aluminum last week to the tune of 25 percent and 10 percent, respectively. However, imports from Mexico and Canada are provided an exception. The tariffs are supposed to strengthen the competitive advantage for local mills in the United States when compared to foreign competitors, especially Chinese metal producers who have been repeatedly accused of dumping.

This traffic will likely result in less supply of metals available to U.S. buyers. With a promise from President Trump that more tariffs are under consideration, other industries could see a similar scenario in the coming months. So, what kind of an effect do tariffs and more restricted supply have on a marketplace platform business model in B2B?

Marketplaces perform better with oversupply than with undersupply.

The more fragmentation there is in an industry, the better for a marketplace. As a result, when there is more supply than demand, the marketplace is able to deliver optimal results to the end customer.

In China, metal marketplaces like Zhaogang and Ouyeel have become the dominant channel for metal purchases much faster than any other region. These marketplaces followed a similar model as Alibaba's Taobao by not charging fees on transactions and instead charging producers to advertise on the marketplace.

The Chinese metal market has over 200 million metric tons of steel oversupply, almost the same amount as the collective steel demand from Europe and the U.S. combined. The Chinese metal market has such enormous oversupply because of a big slowdown in demand and government subsidies to metal producers to keep creating. This is also a big reason why the Chinese have been so aggressive with dumping.

For comparison, in the electronic distribution vertical, supply is very restricted. A handful of manufacturers control the creation of semiconductor chips and products comprising 70 percent of electronic distributors like Arrow and Avnet. This consolidation of supply is also represented in the size of Arrow and Avnet. They each have over $20 billion in revenue, while the third largest distributor is at only about $2 billion. The reason for this discrepancy is linked to supply-chain consolidation.

As a result, all distributors, especially small, mom-and-pop operations, cannot get access to the same product catalog from manufacturers as the larger distributors. Smaller distributors have to purchase from larger distributors, creating a cascading effect of distribution from the initial source of production to progressively smaller distributors. For this reason, electronic distribution is one of the least likely verticals within B2B distribution, where a marketplace will gain traction in the short term.

Oversupply in the metal industry.

The metal industry has been notorious for its oversupply since the 2008 recession. In 2005-2007, the regional capacity utilization ratio in North America was over 80 percent, and that dropped by over 30 percent in 2009. In 2016, North American demand for steel was roughly 133 million metric tons, compared to a regional capacity to produce almost 160 million metric tons. North American production was estimated at 111 million metric tons, with about 50 million metric tons of imports and about 25 million metric tons of exports. By comparison, Asia exports about 10X that amount, with over 200 million metric tons of exports in 2016.

Net-net, with a significant decline in Asian imports to the U.S., there will still be oversupply in the market based upon North American production capacities. And there is likely to be a reciprocal decrease in U.S. metal exports to countries that potentially create tariffs on U.S. steel. In a perfectly symmetrical market, the North American steel market would operate at about 80 percent of regional capacity utilization. Pre 2008, peak ratios were above 85 percent.

How to predict how this dynamic will play out?

Well, we decided to call up small, mom-and-pop steel distributors and ask them! We spoke to roughly 20 distributors in California, Illinois, and Pennsylvania, and asked them:

Question 1: Do you think A) the tariffs will make it harder, B) there'll be no difference, or C) you're unsure in sourcing metal?

Question 2: Do you think mills and/or larger service centers will have stricter buying requirements or larger minimum order sizes?

Some of the distributors that said the tariffs would make it harder to source metal said the market would even out after one year or so. In essence, in the short term, the tariffs will make it more difficult to source metal, but as the market has time to adjust and North American mills ramp their production, the difference should be negligible. Visit here for more information on the survey results, respondents and raw data.

The damage to a marketplace in B2B.

When small, mom-and-pop distributors have restricted access to supply, marketplace dynamics are hindered. Even at a roughly 80 percent regional capacity utilization, we predict that access to supply won't materially change for smaller distributors.

Decades ago in the steel industry, larger distributors had similar cascading dynamics as exist today in the electronic distribution industry. Larger metal service centers would buy from mills in quantities that would prevent smaller distributors from buying direct. Therefore, larger distributors would sell to end-customers and sell to smaller distributors. This dynamic still happens today in the metal industry, but small distributors have a much more fluid market to acquire metal from a variety of sources.

However, if smaller distributors see existing sources of supply creating barriers or heftier purchasing requirements, this would be a material difference which would work against marketplace dynamics.What on earth is going on with United Airlines and dogs?

Days after a passenger on a United flight sparked a media firestorm about a horrible incident in which a dog died after being put in an overhead bin--and then after the airline accidentally shipped a dog to Japan instead of Kansas City--United Airlines said Friday it had to divert a flight after accidentally loading a dog aboard the plane.

It happened on United Airlines Express flight 3996 Thursday, which was scheduled to go from Newark to St. Louis, but had to be diverted to Akron, the airline said, after it was discovered that a dog had been "mistakenly" loaded aboard.

The airline said the dog was dropped off in Akron, and "safely returned" to its owner. But there were no details provided about where the animal was supposed to be going, or how it was reunited.

Of course, this all comes after perhaps United's greatest public relations firestorm in a year, after a flight attendant apparently ordered a mother to place her black mesh dog carrier--containing a 10-month old French bulldog puppy named Kokito--in an overhead bin.

The dog passed away during the flight from Houston to New York's LaGuardia Airport, and the story quickly went viral after a woman, who had been sitting one row behind, spent the night and morning tweeting out the story and tagging news organizations.

United accepted full responsibility in a statement. But the furor over that incident had hardly died down at all--including two U.S. senators who responded by introducing legislation to make it illegal to put a dog in an overhead bin--before news broke that the airline had accidentally delivered another dog to Japan.

Returning that dog from Tokyo, the airline actually charted a private jet and flew the 10-year-old German shepherd, named Irgo, to reunite it with its family Friday.

As for the Thursday incident, I asked United for further details, including where the dog was supposed to be going, and how it wound up on the wrong plane.

Also, I asked whether it had been loaded into the baggage hold or aboard the cabin, how and where it was reunited with its owners--and of course the type of dog and its health after the flight.

So far, all I have is the airline's three sentence statement:

United Express flight 3996 from Newark to St. Louis diverted to Akron to drop off a pet that had been loaded onto this flight mistakenly. The pet has been safely delivered to its owner. We provided compensation to all customers on board for the diversion.

Earlier this week, there was some speculation on air travel sites that United CEO Oscar Munoz might come under greater pressure--and possibly risk losing his job--over the dog-related incidents.

Munoz survived the outrage last year after the airline called security aboard a United Express jet and removed passenger Dr. David Dao from the flight, beating him and bloodying him in the process.

And, Munoz also generally has the support of the airline's employees.

When United employees contacted me in droves two weeks ago, to share their outrage over a planned change to their bonus structure announced by the airline's president, Scott Kirby, many expressed hope that Munoz would come to their rescue.

The airline did back off then--and it still seems highly unlikely these incidents involving dogs could endanger his position.Rid your shopping trolley of those petty premixed pouches of Parrot Bay and forget about your 50th attempt at making mojitos at home.

National Cocktail Day is almost here and its only right that you sip the best of the best, from a cocktail that tastes (and looks) like an actual Twister ice lolly to special flights featuring champagne sorbet.

Clarendon Cellar  London

Stashed away in a pub cellar in Pimlico, Clarendon Cellar is the definition of hidden gem.

Taking the road less travelled with their cocktail menu, each drink is inspired by a well-known movie.

If the Titanic or Kill Bill dont take your fancy try Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.

Made with brown butter-washed Monkey Shoulder scotch, chardonnay reduction, oak angostura and orange bitters; like Ron himself  its kind of a big deal.

Dandelyan  London

If youre going to celebrate National Cocktail Day this year, do it right with a booking at Dandelyan.

Voted the worlds best bar, this snazzy riverside spot just released their new menu and its all about the pursuit of new flavours through an understanding of the genetics of plants.

Make sure you give the Goose and Gander a whirl when you visit; it marries Grey Goose, Noilly Prat, companion cordial, pear and soda to create a light but punchy mix.

Decked out with gigantic maps of the world, a portrait of Winston Churchill and lots of little vintage trinkets, youll have to travel through a phone box to get to the wartime cocktail haunt that is Her Majestys Secret Service.

Recommended How to make Spanish Coffee Cocktail

This Bristol beauty has a brand new menu with mind-blowing creations, but youll want to order the Twister come the 24th.

Made with Grey Goose La Poire Vodka, strawberry and kiwi sherbet, milk and egg white, its everyones favourite ice lolly in cocktail form.

This is hands down one of the best basement bars in London, and if you havent been yet  take National Cocktail Day as an excuse to venture below the pavement.

The menu is teeming with great cocktails but weve got a massive soft spot for the 27A Collins. Its a unique blend of Dodds Old Tom Gin, wheat beer and raspberry reduction, lemon and soda.

Eve  London

Velvet booths, stained glass windows and Instagrammable toilets? Alongside Eves impressive interiors is an even more impressive menu.

Travel past their heavy velvet curtains and down a set of stairs on the 24th and order the Dunmore Park. Made with Glenfiddich 15, coconut milk, pineapple juice, yellow chartreuse, vanilla bitters, coconut water and liquid nitrogen  the team have billed it as a very special whiskey pina colada.

The Dead Canary  Cardiff

Cardiffs worst kept secret? Thatll be The Dead Canary. Nestled in a Grade II listed building, this cocktail bar uses historical ingredients, medical remedies and herbs to bring their larger than life creations to life.

The shining star of their menu, however, is the Grassholm Island. Made with Velho Barreiro Cacaha, Ancho Reyes Verde, celery, cucumber, basil, Tabasco and lime, its a one of a kind cocktail.

Long Bar Sanderson Hotel  London

Alongside their regular menu, the hotel has created a special flight for the 24th and it features not one, not two, not three, but four different mixes. Setting your wallet back a friendly 19, your taste buds will be jumping for joy after gulping down the Champagne Sorbet, Bernard, Tonton and The Great Wave.

33 Cank Street  Leicester

Old John Tower is Leicesters most famous landmark, so 33 Cank Street have created a cocktail of the same name inspired by it. The Old John is made with Wild Turkey bourbon, house bitters, and 33 Cank Streets own cherry liqueur, and its served on a frozen Bradgate Park slate.

Thats not all though  this bad boy comes with a flour bag filled with marshmallow porter syrup that puffs out spice oak smoke once opened.

Horatio Street Social  London

Proof that good things do come in little packages, youll find Horatio Street Social Club in a cosy den below the Nelsons Head.

The menu changes regularly and all drinks are 9 a pop, but if youre feeling adventurous on the 24th, you should try their libation titled Lips.

Described as electrocuted Ribena  the ingredients are kept a mystery, giving you the floor to guess whats in there.

The Voyage of Buck  Edinburgh

Inspired by the travels of a fictional philanthropist in the late 1800s, you dont need us to tell you that The Voyage of Buck is one of Edinburghs quirkiest boozers.

The team have released Volume II in their cocktail series just in time for National Cocktail Day, and their new concoctions will whisk you all the way from Delhi to Kyoto, but make your first stop a sunny one with the Goldfish and Palate.

Found under the St Tropez section, this exotic mix is made with Patron silver, Kings Ginger Liqueur, preserved citrus and Bucks Lestragon Soda.

For more info on the best bars in London and across the UK, visit DesignMyNight and follow them on Instagram and Twitter; @DesignMyNightEver suffered from burning your mouth on your ramens steaming hot noodles or a messy soy sauce stain down your white shirt? YO! has a useless gadget to fix that.

The Japanese conveyor belt restaurant is bringing the art of Chindogu, useless inventions, to the UK to offer a helping hand with your dining issues.

Chindogu, the brainchild of 72-year-old Japanese inventor Kenji Kawakami, are gadgets to solve everyday issues that are not usually thought to be worth solving.

Home of the quirky and forward thinking, Japan has created many gadgets over the centuries.

Those who have made the Chindogu Hall of Fame include the Train Nap Cap, to keep commuters from slumping on someones shoulder mid-sleep, and the Baby Mop, to ensure parents floors are sparkling clean as their babies crawl along.

The now much-loved, bestseller selfie stick was even deemed a useless gadget back in 1995 after making it into the book, 101 Useless Japanese Inventions.

The YO! Chindogu menu pairs each gadget with their perfect dish accompaniment to give diners a unique eating experience they never even realised they needed.

Test out the range of YO!s other wacky gadgets when you order from the (Luke Dyson / YO!)

Order YO!s delicious Dumpling Miso Ramen noodles and see how the Noodle Splash Guard stops your luscious locks getting dipped in broth.

Useful or useless: we tested YO!'s "useless" gadgets

Keep your hot Spicy Seafood Udon from burning your lips, the Noodle Cooler gadget will cool down noodles just before they reach your mouth with its electrical fan.

YO!s Kensington and Southbank restaurants, in London, and YO! Newcastle Grainger Street will be serving up unique Japanese gadgets invented by YO! from Monday, 19 March to Sunday, 25 March.

Click here for eBay voucher codesThe Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will brave snowy conditions to celebrate St Patricks Day today by attending a parade of the Irish Guards.

William, who is Colonel of the Irish Guards, and heavily pregnant Kate will visit the 1st Battalion at their base in Hounslow, west London.

They will watch 350 soldiers arrive on the Parade Square, where the expectant royal will present the shamrock to officers and warrant officers.

Irish wolfhound Domhnall, who the royals have met before, is expected to lead the procession in his role as mascot.

The regiment will then continue a march-past, with William taking the salute.

It is expected that the festivities will be held in testing conditions, as temperatures plummet towards zero and snowfall makes a surprise return.

The Irish Guards will be well prepared for the downturn, having recently conducted the Changing of the Guard in the heavy snow during Storm Emma.

William and Kate will escape the cold by finishing their visit at the Guardsmans lunch, where the longest-serving guardsman is to propose a toast to the royals and thank the duchess for presenting the shamrock.

The Duke of Cambridge last year sipped on a pint of Guinness as a nod to the tradition of the day.

The couple are expecting their third child this year.The leader of the Northern Ireland Greens has warned that a physical border on Ireland following Brexit will increase the likelihood of violence.

Steven Agnew MLA compared a mythical technical solution to a unicorn, and said the only way forward is to remain in the single market and customs union.

Speaking at the Scottish Greens spring conference in Greenock, Inverclyde, he outlined what he believes are the three options regarding the border  leaving the customs union and having a land border, doing the same and have a sea border or remaining in the single market and customs union.

He said: Just like the unicorn, the so-called technical solution to the border in Ireland is a mythical creature.

It exists only in Brexiteers imaginations.

He added: As Greens we can see that arguing which border is worse is arguing between the frying pan and the fire.

Either way our economy in Northern Ireland is going to be damaged, either way it will see job losses, either way it will see businesses going to the wall.

What I want to see in Northern Ireland, and what the Green Party is pushing for, is a political convergence to say that, no, we as Northern Ireland and the whole of the UK must stay in the customs union and ensure no hard border is a meaningful phrase.

He said it is utterly irresponsible of the UK Government to place the Irish peace process at risk.

He added: It is naive to think that in the short 20 years since the Good Friday Agreement that we have cemented the peace to such an extent that we can now start to unravel the agreement that secured it.

Ive no doubt that if there is a a physical border on the island of Ireland, any type of infrastructure, that it will increase the likelihood of violence.

He said if the UK does not remain in the customs union and the single market, the term no hard border just becomes another Brexit lie.



Guwahati : The Government Railway Police(GRP) on Thursday had seized 9 gold bars weighing approximately 1.5 kg from the Dibrugarh-New Delhi bound Rajdhani Express train at Guwahati railway station.





During the regular checking, the GRP personnel had recovered the gold bars from two persons who carried it from Dimapur in Nagaland to Delhi.





The recovered gold was valued of Rs 45 lakh.





The GRP personnel had arrested the person due identified as Bikash Khanna resident of Tiloknagar, New Delhi and Ajoy Bhalla, Matiawalli Gali, Delhi.





A top official of GRP said that, the seizure gold bars were hidden on their waist.





In past five years, huge quantity of gold valued of over Rs 100 crore were seized by security personnel at Guwahati and other parts of the state.



Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has walked in New Yorks St Patricks Day parade which up until recently had banned LGBT groups from marching.

Mr Varadkar said it was a real privilege to be able to march with his partner Matt Barrett in the parade.

Only a few years ago people couldnt march under the rainbow banner, but that has all changed, Mr Varadkar said.

Ireland has embraced diversity and inclusiveness, and certainly Irish America in New York embraces that too.

Up until recently, LGBT groups were not allowed to march in the annual New York parade on Fifth Avenue.

Expand Close The Taoiseach poses for selfies with people watching the parade (Niall Carson/PA) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp The Taoiseach poses for selfies with people watching the parade (Niall Carson/PA)

Prior to the change, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio boycotted the parade in protest.

Mr Varadkar said being in NYC on St Patricks Day had given him a sense of how strong the Irish community is in the city and how proud people are of their Irish connections.

Prior the parade, he had said that on a personal level it was a pleasure to be taking part with his partner.

(Its) a sign of change and a sign of great diversity, not just in Ireland but among the great community here as well, the Taoiseach said.

St Patricks Day is the fourth and final stop on the Taoiseachs week-long visit to the US to promote Ireland.Why don't farmers use credit unions? Certainly if you were to go by the headlines in recent years, you could be forgiven for thinking credit unions were yet another example of some of the boom's worst excesses.

The aftermath has seen the number of credit unions nationwide shrink by about 100 to 274 branches and many are still dealing with legacy issues such as limits on the amount they can loan to any individual.

I must admit that until last week, I only had some vague notion that if you needed a dig-out with the holiday in Spain, the local credit union was a good bet. Indeed, many farmers have the impression that credit unions can only offer 'Mickey Mouse' loans, often at exorbitant rates.

But following the economic turmoil of the last 10 years, maybe we should be looking at financial services with a different perspective. We've seen the so-called pillar banks crumble and survive only by virtue of the largesse of the public purse. I try not to think about the 29bn that we, the taxpayer, pumped into the dying Anglo Irish Bank because the knowledge that my generation will be paying this off for the rest of our working lives will just eat me up inside.

Meanwhile, the vulture funds are slicing and dicing the tail-end of those of us with non-performing loans, and the contraction of bank branches and services at local level continues.

Is there anything more depressing than a bank without a counter where you can talk to a human? 'Cash-free' branches where little or no cash can be either lodged or withdrawn, along with teller-less offices where any interaction with an actual staff member can only be done by appointment is the way our biggest banks are trying to shore up profits.

They'll point to the fact that only three per cent of banking transactions are actually carried out over the counter as more and more business migrates online.

That may well be the case, but I wonder how much of the 97pc is accounted for by the masses of transactions that banks facilitate for fund managers and corporate types that inhabit and thrive in the digital sphere.

For the farmer or rural dweller looking to get a cheque cashed on a Friday morning before they head away for the weekend, a hole in a wall with a promise of an electronic transfer within five working days is no use.

So it was refreshing to spend a day with credit union staff in Clare last week as they launched their new Cultivate Loan package which they are aiming very squarely at farmers. The whole ethos seemed like the antithesis of what we think of about modern banking.

Small branches in small towns like Killaloe and Scariff, with actual real-life staff at counters dealing with punters as they came in the door. It was only when I then realised that credit unions are governed by local volunteers, selected from the loan base of each branch, that it struck me that credit unions are a concept that should be very close to farmers' hearts.

Yes, the volunteer element is a double-edged sword in that you are relying on people, who often have little or no background in finance, to police the highly technical and procedural business of a financial institution. But in the same way that farmers can be trained up to sit on boards of multibillion euro co-op businesses like Kerry and Glanbia, credit union board members are trained in governance policy. Crucially, they bring a local ownership and less profit-driven perspective to an often ruthless business.

Locals own all of the share capital of the business through their deposits in the branch, and dividends are paid out to them on the strength of its performance.

It can sound very quaint, but this type of local co-op is exactly what is keeping many rural regions going while other transient business gravitates to the big urban centres nationally or internationally. Each credit union is locally managed and run, so no diktat from head office is going to decide what direction the local branch takes.

And in an era when bank managers appear to have lost the power to make real decisions, it was heartening to hear local branch managers in Clare tell me the person the customer meets at the branch is more than likely the one that will be the decision maker.

With 3.1 million members in the Republic alone, Ireland has one of the highest levels of credit union membership anywhere in the world, which makes that opening question as to why farmers don't use credit unions all the more perplexing.

The irony deepens when you juxtapose farmers' constant requirement for finance with the credit unions' biggest current challenge: finding a good use for all the money they have on account.

Credit union members are sitting on an eye-watering 16bn of savings, with not much more than 25pc of this being used for lending purposes. Recent studies on the sustainability of credit unions point to the urgent need for these local savings to be used for lending purposes. At the moment, credit unions are being charged by the lovely pillar banks for the privilege of putting members' cash on deposit.

If these local savings co-ops can't reverse the situation and get money back out earning its way in loans, more are going to have to close their doors or merge with their nearest neighbour.

This is why the Cultivate package of farm loans spear-headed by ex-Teagasc Galway CAO Brendan Heneghan is so important. It has resulted in over 3.5m being loaned out to 350 farmers in Galway alone during the first nine months of its existence. The project is now being rolled out in east Clare with plans for Cork and elsewhere.

With an APR of 6.75pc and a limit of up to 50,000, the loans are very competitive compared to the other main banks.

No security is required and decisions on loans are available within three days, which is in stark contrast to the hoops and delays many farmers have experienced when looking for money elsewhere.

But possibly the biggest benefit is the least tangible. By doing business with a credit union, farmers are also investing in the fabric and economic vitality of their locality. It's a grassroots co-op ethos and it's this more than any government plan or subsidy that will keep rural regions strong and thriving into the future.Lighting is one of the greatest expenses for pig farmers. It's not surprising then that when one farmer realised that installing more energy efficient lighting options would save him money, he jumped at the chance.

Mattie Moore (41) and his wife Miriam are pig farmers based in Croghan, Co Offaly. The farm, which has been in operation since Mattie's father Patrick began the family business in the 1970s, now rears 1,800 sows each year.

Up until recently, T5 and T8 fluorescent lights were in operation in the farm's gestation sheds. According to Mattie, they were "outdated" and required lots of maintenance, so he decided to do some research and found that LED lighting would best fit his farm's needs.

He then came across UrbanVolt. "LED lights for pig sheds had been talked about a lot for the last few years, so I decided I wanted to upgrade to them as I heard they were more cost-effective," he said.

"There were so many options out there but I chose to go with UrbanVolt to install the lights as if the lights falter within a certain length of time they have a guarantee, so it was reassuring that they could stand by that."

UrbanVolt is based in Dublin and offers a 'Light as a Service' (LaaS) model where it invests its capital to install energy-efficient lighting. The company is then paid a proportion of the energy savings which are generated over a five-year period. The 'pay-as-you-save' means that the farmer has significantly lower monthly energy bills and UrbanVolt is paid monthly as the savings are realised. This means the farmer gets a full LED upgrade and a net monthly saving.

The UrbanVolt project management team oversaw the retrofitting of 164 uniform LED linear fittings on Mattie's farm, which created consistent light levels across the site.

According to Mattie, the UrbanVolt team did a "neat job" and he was delighted with the finished product.

"In fairness they did a great job because they probably weren't used to working in buildings that had pigs in them. It was a very neat job and there were no issues. It only took a few days and they got it done when they said it would be done," he said. "It is more cost-effective for the farm and since our pigs use 16 hours of light each day it's very important to us."

Mattie has saved 41 megawatt hours of light on his farm by having the LED lights installed - this has resulted in 59pc energy savings overall.

In recent times, Mattie admits that he has become "more environmentally conscious" and encourages farmers to consider LED lighting if they feel the system would work for them.

"We installed heat pumps for the water and would like to install solar panels on the sheds. It depends on what fixtures a farmer already has installed and the condition of the lights but I'd recommend LED lights as they end up paying for themselves in the long-run," he added.

Teagasc's rural and bioenergy specialist Barry Caslin said that LED lights are "hard to beat" when it comes to energy reduction. They can be used in a variety of areas on the farm.

"They may cost more to install but they last longer and are more energy-efficient. They've come on leaps and bounds and are ideal in the milking parlour or in the yard where you need good lighting," he said.

While UrbanVolt co-founder Graham Deane explained that the farming sector wasn't initially an industry they had targeted their service to, he added that they soon received enquiries from farmers looking for ways to decrease their energy bill.

"We work with any large farm or business which has a lighting or energy problem they need solved. Pig farmers are particularly fond of what we do as they have a lot of lights, and it is typically some time since their sites were upgraded.

"Some of these farmers are also expanding at the moment and they are delighted to be able to cut some cost from a capital project and outsource the lighting element to us. As well as saving some of the cost on the build, they get to enjoy smaller energy bills long into the future."

Mr Deane also pointed out that in this era, where talk of carbon footprints is a hot topic, the energy savings and environmentally-friendly aspect of their service makes it even more attractive to farmers.

Cost benefits

"The cost benefits go without saying - farmers don't have to put up any capital or give any personal guarantees and they see immediate savings as their energy bill is reduced from day one," he said.

"There is no other technology which delivers the same immediate benefits as LEDs. They deliver a 75pc reduction in energy consumption which means the farmer reduces their carbon footprint from day one of the installation. For farmers or food production facilities which are part of any sustainability programme such as Bord Bia's Origin Green, LaaS is a huge leap they can take without taking on any cost or risk."

Since the end of 2017, UrbanVolt have been offering a Solar as a Service solution to farmers.

Mr Deane said that farms are an ideal place for solar energy but said that it should only be looked at once farmers had made other efforts to reduce energy consumption on the farm.

"We bring clients on the Energy Technology Roadmap which means reducing energy use and applying other technology to generate energy on site," he said.

Mattie Moore on his pig farm in Croghan, Co Offaly; (below) with Michael Delaney from UrbanVolt

PHOTOS: NAOISE CULHANEDairy Farmer Jim Scully pictured beside Dublin Airport near to where his farm is.

A dairy farmer who is set to lose his home, farm and livelihood when a new 320m runway at Dublin Airport gets underway just wants to be treated as a human being not a statistic.

Jim Scully, 56, a father of three daughters, has lived along Kilreesk lane in St Margarets north Dublin since 1989. Over that time he has built up a substantial dairy farm since his father Michael James bought land there back in the 1960s after moving from Sligo.

Jims late father bought what was then known as a milk round in the city centre, expanded it and eventually purchased land where Jim and his family live now which is located 1.5km from the current runway. This will fall to 0.5Km when the new runway is completed.

He farms the 75 acres he owns along with another 60 acres he leases from the DAA (Dublin Airport Authority) with his brother John and 27-year-old daughter Aine.

We milk around 160 cows and we rear all offspring beef. We also keep three broodmares and 10 store horses which are all thoroughbred."

However, his house and farmyard will be directly under the new flight path at Dublin Airport.

Expand Close Dairy Farmer Jim Scully. / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Dairy Farmer Jim Scully.

The new runway, due to be finished by 2021, has been planned for since the late 1960s and has featured in subsequent county development plans.

A planning application was submitted in 2005 and approval was received in 2007 from An Bord Pleanala to build a 3110 metre runway, 1.6km north of the existing main runway. Due to the economic downturn, the project was put on hold.

"I recognise its importance to the economy and future growth of the country as a whole. My concern obviously relates to the impact this runway will have on my family, my home and my livelihood," said Jim.

The DAA has said as traffic has grown at Dublin Airport, the need to progress the project has become more important and immediate, and the decision to progress the runway was taken in April 2016.

The North Runway will be delivered within the airports existing land bank, a result of years of planning which has allowed this land to be safeguarded for over 40 years.

As a result of the plans, several homeowners have been offered a voluntary buy out scheme. As part of this, Voluntary Dwelling Purchase Scheme, being offered by the DAA, Jim has been offered the current market price of his four bedroom detached home along with an additional 30pc on top of its value.

No Offer

No offer is being made by the Authority for his land nor loss of livelihood.

They also offered to pay for insulation of the dwelling house but thats no good to me.

If we dont accept this offer we are left with nothing as there seems to be no alternative. I along with my family, my brother and my daughter are facing a wipe out every way we turn.

First the DAA offered 20pc above the market value of the house and now thats gone to 30pc but nothing for our land and livelihood.

Their offer means nothing to me nor my family. Where are we supposed to go in this day and age. Trying to go and set-up again on a new land would be financially impossible.

We have attended a couple of information meetings with the Authority but they have never actually sat down with me or my family to talk about this whole situation and what it is doing to us.

I attended a meeting in 2016 with them at their invitation and outlined clearly our situation. They noted everything down but to date, I have not received any reply. I also pleaded with Fingal County Council to consider not granting planning permission to the new runway but that didnt stop anything.

We feel like just a number or statistic that has to be dealt with and a box that has to be ticked off. They have never treated us like human beings.

"This whole fight has nothing to do with money its to do with being treated as if we exist and about respect and thats not what we have experienced so far.

At the moment, the noise from the airport due to ongoing development and with flights taking off and landing would stop you in your tracks. It can be impossible to hear anyone talking to you. The buildings around here vibrate from the noise levels as it is.

Even the priest has to stop any type of ceremony in the nearby church of St Margarets due to noise levels from the planes and the building shaking when planes are taking off or landing. Night flights are also expected to be allowed with the new runway so that will make sleep even impossible.

There is already a noise decibel level of 90 which as anyone can imagine is very loud and emissions of toxic fumes that as of yet, have not been calculated.

Tracks of land, buildings and houses are black from the plane fumes. Scores of people have left the area along where the DAA owns thousands of acres. Deserted houses are boarded up and parts of this area so far look like eerie ghost towns.

Milk Supply

Jim supplies his milk to Premier Dairies and milk from the dairy cows is tested continually for quality which Jim believes could be badly affected from the fumes of bigger planes using the new runway.

Jim, along with 21 over families who live along the lane brought a judicial review to the High Court in February but were refused permission to bring an appeal over plans for the new runway.

Last November, Mr Justice Max Barrett dismissed three actions, including by the local residents over the development of a 3,110 metre runway, located on 261 hectares in townlands north and north west of the airport terminal building.

While expressing his sympathies to the residents last week, Mr Justice Barrett, said he admired and what he called, "respect for their fighting spirit," but added that they had "not raised any points of exceptional public importance" that would allow the court grant permission to have their appeals considered by the Court of Appeal.

The challenges arose over Fingal Co Council's decision to extend the length of planning permission to the daa to construct the runway.

The proposed runway has been deemed vital, by parties including the DAA, to proposals to turn the airport into an international hub.

Residents sought to appeal the court's dismissal of their case. Their arguments had included that the development was illegal and that Fingal Council failed to consider or address their concerns about its effect on their homes and lands.

The residents who are affected by the new airport have appealed the High Court decision and an outcome is due in the next couple of weeks.

A new dairy unit would cost over 500,000

He has the support of Teagasc, Glanbia and the IFA in his bid to be treated fairly. In 2016, Teagasc estimated that the cost of setting up a new dairy unit for Jim stood conservatively at 594,000.

Teagasc and Glanbia have outlined their concerns to me regarding the effect of noise and air pollution on the farm and their estimation of the cost of re-establishing a new dairy.

I dont wish to condemn my family and future generations to live in an environment that will be so radically different from the healthy rural lifestyle that we presently enjoy.

Neither do I want them to live in an environment that will have an undoubted effect both on their physical and mental health from noise and air pollution and devastate their livelihood.

The court action is not about stopping the new runway its about delaying it until daa management sit down and talk to us and look at how our lives are being devastated. Its not about the law, its about getting justice and we havent gotten that yet.

In response the DAA has said that over the past two years, Jim has been in correspondence with or met members of its community liaison and runway stakeholder teams either on an individual or group basis on many occasions.

A spokesperson added: We wrote to all 39 residents who are eligible for the voluntary dwelling purchase scheme relating to North Runway. In that letter, we invited residents to contact us directly if they would like to discuss the matter in more detail.

We have had requests from a number of residents to meet to discuss our offer further, and we are in the process of purchasing the first property under the scheme.

We are happy to meet Jim any time to discuss his offer in more detail  our door is always open to meet and listen to our neighbours.

The voluntary dwelling purchase scheme applies to dwellings only, and neither farm, commercial nor any other non-residential property is covered by its terms.

The voluntary dwelling purchase scheme is one of 31 planning conditions set down by An Bord Pleanala as part of the planning permission approval. It was submitted to Fingal County Council and approved before the project commenced.

The scheme will remain open for applications for three years after the new runway becomes operational for commercial flights.KANTURK Mart has thrown its hat into the ring to raise funds for The Rickie Healy Project, as it prepares to host a charity auction in aid of a young, local man who suffered spinal injuries last summer.

Rickie Healy from Ballyclough, near Mallow, Co Cork was on holiday in Spain last July when he incurred serious injuries while swimming. Since then Rickie, who is from a dairy background has been receiving treatment in the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dun Laoghaire.

Over the last number of months events such as a race night, quiz and sponsored walk have been held to raise funds for Rickie's continued treatment. Kanturk Mart is now preparing to host a 'Rearing for Rickie' charity auction on Friday, March 23 at 7pm.

Caroline O'Connell, from Castlecor is a friend of Rickie's and the daughter of Kanturk Mart auctioneer, Tim O'Connell.

She wanted to think of a novel way to raise funds for Rickie and that's when they came up with the concept of 'Rearing for Rickie'.

"Rickie is a good friend of mine. We're all keeping positive at the moment and supporting him," she says.

"We approached businesses in hope that they'd sponsor the purchasing of weanlings to go on sale on the auction night and they'd have the weanling called after their business. The weanlings were then reared by local farmers to have them ready for this auction."

According to Caroline, there will be more than 50 premium cattle up for grabs at the charity sale, including Aberdeen Angus, Limousin, Hereford and Charolais breeds.

However, Caroline explains that it's not just animals that are on offer at the auction.

"We have a signed Irish rugby jersey, tickets to an Ed Sheeran concert and signed jockey breeches with names of top international flat jockeys written on them.

"The breeches were taken around the globe by jockey Oisin Murphy who I went to school with.

"Some of the signatures on the breeches include Frankie Dettori, Christophe Soumillon, William Buick, Pat Smullen, James Doyle and Oisin Murphy," adds Caroline.

National companies like Dairygold and Herdwatch have also sponsored prizes for the raffle, while firewood, straw, dairy hygiene products, fishing trips, hunting trips and other agri products are just some of the other prizes included.

Music will be provided on the night by the celebrated trad and folk musician Liam O'Connor from Newmarket in north Cork.

For more information on the auction call Caroline on 086 1916117.The OECD says a European Commission plan to impose a tax on technology firms could have "adverse consequences" and the US said the scheme would "inhibit growth and ultimately harm workers and consumers".

Ireland is understood to back key positions taken by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) yesterday, including that a consensus should be built before individual countries and blocs impose new levies on the digital sector.

A draft internal Commission document, seen by the Irish Independent, proposes a digital tax should be put in place while agreement on a more comprehensive tax plan for digital activity is achieved. The OECD, in an interim report for the world's most powerful leaders, yesterday warned against that kind of interim measure.

US President Donald Trump's administration came out even more strongly against the EU plan, which will disproportionately hit US technology firms.

"Imposing new and redundant tax burdens would inhibit growth and ultimately harm workers and consumers. I fully support international co-operation to address broader tax challenges arising from the modern economy and to put the international tax system on a more sustainable footing," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

The Irish position is closer to the US and the OECD than to ostensible allies in Brussels, Paris and Berlin. The tax row is set to further flare up next week.

European Economy Commissioner Pierre Moscovici is due to formally publish a proposal next week, under which all European Union member states would impose a turnover tax of around 3pc on the sales of digital giants like Facebook and Google.

Unlike corporation tax, which is charged on profits and paid where a business is headquartered, the digital turnover tax will be charged where customers buy products - so the lion's share will be collected by big countries like France and Germany. Big digital companies like Google, Amazon and Facebook will be most affected.

Facebook could be hit with a 240m bill for its 8bn of European sales, spread across the countries where it operates.

The resulting drop in profits would actually reduce corporate tax paid in the US and in Ireland where many tech giants have a non-US headquarters.

All told the Ireland's tax income could drop by hundreds of millions of euro.

OECD tax chief Pascal Saint-Amans said that countries are deeply split on the issue, and warned against states deepening the divide by going it alone.

"Countries are clearly divided," he said at the launch of the report yesterday.

The three main groupings are into those countries that want immediate action to raise more tax from digital activities including through short-term and interim measures; a group that sees no problem with the level of tax paid; and third, a cohort of states that wants to assess the impact of recent global tax moves and build consensus ahead of more radical actions.

The OECD team said it does not recommend the introduction of so called short-term measures, including what's expected to be proposed by Brussels.

Ireland is close to the OECD, and expected to oppose the plan along with Luxembourg, Cyprus and other small economies at a meeting next week of EU leaders including Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

The Irish team is expected to flag the OECD report, as well as argue a need to assess the impact of Donald Trump's sweeping US tax changes, including whether more foreign income of US multinationals will now be repatriated, and taxed.

The OECD said yesterday that 110 countries have agreed to work towards forming a consensus on the issue by 2020, but that agreement is a long way off.Brian Cowen (right) and Brian Lenihan, the then Taoiseach and Finance Minister respectively, during the recession of 2008

Ordinary taxpayers continue to pay the price for the near bankrupting of the State when the banks collapsed a decade ago.

It is 10 years since the St Patrick's Day Massacre when Irish bank shares collapsed, signalling the start of the worst economic collapse in living memory.

But austerity cuts to public services, at least 17 income tax changes, and a raft of new levies and charges have meant most people are still worse off than they were before the bubble burst.

The Economic and Social Research Institute has calculated the tax changes, cuts to services, and reduction in capital spending amounted to 30bn between 2008 and 2014, the worst of the austerity years.

Some 250,000 jobs were lost during the downturn, mainly in construction. Those who kept their jobs endured pay cuts.

Although there has been a healthy rise in employment levels, the scars continue to be borne by householders.

Spending is so tight for most people that half of workers reckon they could only maintain their current standard of living for three months if they were to lose their jobs, according to a survey commissioned by Irish Life. Renters feel they could only survive for two months if they could not work, such has been the rise in the cost of accommodation for those who do not own their homes.

Ordinary workers are bearing a massive burden of higher income taxes to bail out the State since the crash. People in jobs and those paying taxes on pensions are now shelling out 5bn a year extra in income tax alone since the boom.

Workers are bearing the higher burden to run the State and pay for services since the boom in 2008.

Austerity saw cuts to the respite care grant and maternity benefit became taxable. Medical cards for the over-70s were restricted and jobseeker's allowance for under-20s were among dozens of other measures.

Plans to introduce water charges may have been abandoned, but property tax has been imposed. But it is through tax hikes the real heavy lifting to rescue the economy was done.

The universal social charge (USC) was the big change, prompting many to label it an austerity tax. Despite a number of reductions in USC, it is still set to raise 3.7bn from more than two million pay packets and pensions this year.

But there have also been a raft of other changes to the income tax system.

The personal tax credit was cut, the PRSI ceiling was abolished, the tax credit for paying health insurance was capped, and mortgage interest relief was abolished for new purchases, to name some of the big changes.

Then there were a string of levies and charges introduced.

People paying into a private pension were levied for four years, with some of those drawing down on one still being hit.

There is a levy on life insurance policies such as mortgage protection. The collapse of Quinn Insurance has resulted in a 2pc levy on all home and motors polices.

The top rate of value added tax (VAT) rose from 21pc to 23pc in a move costing the average household around 500 a year.

There has been some paring back on the taxes and cuts in the last few budgets, but the take-home pay of workers is still down compared with the situation in 2008.

Figures calculated for this publication by the director of tax and payroll at Taxback.com, Barry Flanagan, show workers are still paying the price for the banking bailout. Someone on 50,000 in 2008 had take-home pay of roughly 36,300. By 2011 the after-tax income would have fallen to 33,400, a drop of almost 2,900.

This year the take-home pay for the person on the same income will come in at 35,050, leaving this worker around 1,250 worse off than a decade ago, according to Taxback.ie.

USC is the big difference but between 2008 and 2013 several tax credits were withdrawn, reducing an individual's ability to claim relief. Medical expenses credit went from 41pc to 20pc, and the service charges credit was withdrawn. The abolition of the cap on PRSI of 75,000 hits higher earners significantly, Mr Flanagan said. Someone on 80,000 is down almost 3,200 a year in the last decade due to tax and USC changes.

Economics lecturer at University College Cork Seamus Coffey said the 30bn adjustment was unavoidable in the period between 2008 and 2014.

These income tax and USC changes take no account of new charges like property tax and various levies and charges.

Mr Coffey, who is also chairman of the Fiscal Advisory Council but was speaking in a personal capacity, said: "We had been spending money up to 2008 that we did not have."

He said some people question the pace of the adjustment.

"But 11 years is a lengthy period. The scale of the problem was unprecedented in international terms," he said. Governments had few other options as there was "no silver bullet", he added.

Mr Coffey said the Government deficit should finally be closed this year. This is where there is a balance between State spending and income.

But Siptu economist Marie Sherlock reckons too much of the needed adjustment was borne by average income taxpayers. "Because of the collapse in tax revenues we could not afford our public services, it was inevitable that adjustments had to be made. But there are questions over who shouldered the burden and the timing of it," she said.

She argues that those who say the correct course of action was taken, as the economy has now recovered strongly, are missing the point that external factors have played a huge role.

External factors such as falling oil prices, a weak euro, along with a strong rebound in two of our most important trading partners, UK and US, all contributed to the upturn in the State's finances.

"The burden of the adjustment was not fairly distributed," the trade union economist said. She said the big burden was borne by personal income tax payers, when more tax should have been imposed on higher income earners and in higher capital taxes. Ms Sherlock said the 30bn of cuts in public services and tax rises were imposed over too short a period.

"We are now living with the legacy of some of those deep cuts, particularly in the area of public infrastructure and in some public services," she said.

The banks nearly bankrupted us and it was Joe and June Citizen who paid, and continue to pay, the price of the rescue.

Citizens saved Ireland from the damage inflicted by the blaggard bankers and their developer friends. Just don't expect any thanks for it.The idea of a European 'digital tax' on tech revenues just won't go away. Next week, the European Commission will formally propose the levy, and though it faces stiff opposition from low-tax countries such as Ireland and Luxembourg, the proposal isn't necessarily doomed.

Last fall, the EU's largest economies - Germany, France, Spain and Italy - came out in favour of the turnover levy they dubbed an 'equalisation tax'. According to EU data, the effective corporate tax burden for a traditional company is 23pc, but digital ones face just 10pc.

Aggressive cross-border tax planning can further drive that figure down to zero, especially when firms pick business-friendly jurisdictions like Ireland for their European headquarters.

If Google, Facebook, Apple and other multinationals can't be forced to pay corporate taxes everywhere they operate, it doesn't mean they should be able to get away with paying nothing, the nations reasoned.

The 'equalisation' part meant forcing them to give up enough of their revenue in each EU country to cover that member state's lost corporate tax revenue.

The proposal ultimately garnered the support of 19 EU nations. The low-tax ones, as well as the UK and Sweden, refused, voicing concerns about stunting growth in the digital sector. At a 'digital summit' in Tallinn at the end of last September, no consensus was reached.

"We are committed to a global change of taxation rules and to adapting our own tax systems to ensure that digitally-generated profits in the European Union are taxed where the value is created," the summit's concluding document read. "Further discussion is needed on the modalities of establishing such a system."

The equalisation tax idea appeared to fizzle out until this year. Now, it has better chances of adoption by some, if not all, European countries. Even the UK, an early opponent, is looking into imposing a digital revenue tax of its own.

As for the EU, its draft proposals started leaking out last month. First, a temporary solution favoured by France and Germany sought to tax revenues from digital advertising, the sale of user data and digital intermediation at a rate between 1pc and 5pc. Subscription services like Netflix, fintech firms and digital content creators wouldn't be hit with the levy. Most recently, the 'Financial Times' reported the EU was "most likely" to set a new levy at 3pc. The shape of the proposal is obviously still fluid.

It would require a unanimous vote of the 28 member states, and the low-tax countries are still dead set against it. But the 'equalisation tax' idea's survival despite previous setbacks means the bigger European economies are serious enough about it to keep up the pressure. What may emerge is a solution in which a number of countries agree to implement the tax, leaving the objectors behind. As long as all the big economies are for it - and they appear to be - it would be nearly the same as an all-EU tax for digital companies.

On the other hand, at a 3pc rate, there's not much for Ireland, Luxembourg or Cyprus to object to. According to the EU, such a tax will only generate 4.8bn a year across the EU.

That's about a quarter of all the taxes Germany alone collects in an average month. It'll cut somewhat into the tax revenues of countries where Big Tech's EU subsidiaries are domiciled, but it won't leave a massive hole given these jurisdictions' tax rates.

Last year, Facebook made 8bn in revenue in Europe. A 3pc tax on that would cost it some 240m.

At Ireland's, 12.5pc corporate rate, that payout would mean a loss of $37m a year for Ireland - if Facebook still booked all its EU revenue and profit here. Starting this year, however, it no longer does that: It's preparing to pay more taxes where it actually does business. So while the Irish subsidiary is still its European tax hub, it's already losing Facebook money to other EU countries.

Whatever happens, however, the turnover tax will remain a bad idea. EU quick fixes tend to stick around. The current value-added tax rules were adopted as a temporary measure back in 1993.

Do the bloc's most powerful nations really need the less than 5bn so much that they're willing to be stuck for years, perhaps decades, with a blunt-instrument turnover levy?

Wouldn't it be more far-sighted to work with multinationals to have them structure their operations to pay more corporate tax where they make the profits?

Facebook has already proved amenable to such pressure, and others can be nudged toward the same path.

There's no real need for a quick-and-dirty solution - a fair and logical one would be far better, and it wouldn't necessarily require a major global or even EU-wide tax reform.

Faced with clear demands, other tech giants would probably end up complying voluntarily rather than face constant sniping from politicians and an uncertain tax bill.

As Google CEO Sundar Pichai put it in January, "We are happy to pay a higher amount, whatever the world agrees on as the right framework. It's not an issue about the amount of tax we pay, as much as how you divide it among various countries."

That, and not temporary turnover taxes, should be the subject of debate. (Bloomberg)Irish dance group Fusion Fighters are set to entertain the crowds in Temple Bar during St Patrick's Day celebrations for the second year in a row.

Last year, more than 7 million people watched the act on Independent.ie's Facebook page from around the world as they danced to a crowd of both tourists and locals.

A Status Yellow snow and ice warning covers the whole country for today, but that won't stop these born entertainers from thrilling their crowd.

The stream below can also be viewed on Independent.ie's Facebook page here.A party-goer who walked in on an alleged rape involving two Ireland and Ulster rugby stars is central to the case, a court has heard.

A lawyer for accused Paddy Jackson said witness Dara Florence would have helped the alleged victim if she thought an attack was unfolding when she entered the room where Jackson and Stuart Olding were engaged in sexual activity with her.

Brendan Kelly QC told the jury of eight men and three women at Belfast Crown Court that in her evidence to the trial Ms Florence instead stated that the woman was showing no signs of distress.

"Dara Florence confirmed from what she could see [the woman] was not distressed," he said. "Dara Florence was not stupid. She was articulate. She spoke clearly. Dara Florence's evidence is extraordinary. In she walked and that was her conclusion."

Referring to Ms Florence's evidence that Jackson asked her if she wanted to join in, Mr Kelly said: "What did they do to conceal [the rape]?"

He added: "When people commit crime they tend to hide, they tend to conceal what they did because they don't want to get caught. What did these two violent rapists do when she walked in? They invited her to join in. Dara Florence is absolutely central to this case."

The defence lawyer made the comments as he continued his closing submission to the jury.

Ms Florence was one of three girls at the house party where the alleged rape took place. Mr Kelly said there was no sign those women would have done anything but help the alleged victim if they witnessed a rape.

"[The alleged victim] confirmed that the girls had been nice to her downstairs," he said.

"There was no suggestion made by [the woman] that they would do something other than help a girl of her age in those circumstances."

He also said that Ms Florence had no phone at the time when she walked in.

"Dara Florence had no telephone in her hand at the door. There were no pictures being taken at the door," he said.

Jackson (26), from Belfast's Oakleigh Park, and Olding (25), from Ardenlee Street in the city, deny raping the woman after a night out in Belfast on June 28, 2016. Jackson denies a further charge of sexual assault.

Two other men are also on trial on charges connected with the alleged attack. Blane McIlroy (26), from Royal Lodge Road in Belfast, denies one count of exposure. Rory Harrison (25), from Manse Road in Belfast has pleaded not guilty to perverting the course of justice and withholding information. The trial is in its seventh week.

Jackson's defence has now concluded summing up the evidence. The case was adjourned until Wednesday and the judge advised the jury to put the case out of their minds until then.



Guwahati : A shocking incident has come to light as a woman was gangraped in front of her husband in middle Assam's Nagaon district.





The incident was took place at Kakati Gaon area near Kampur in the middle Assam district last night.





According to the report, eight miscreants had raped the woman in front of her husband, after getting them down from a train.





The couple had travelled from Jagiroad to Hojai by train, but the miscreants getting them down forcefully from the train at Chaparmukh last night and took away them to Kakati Gaon area and raped the woman whole night.





The husband of the victim woman said that, When we were travelling in train from Jagiroad, a person who said that he is hailing from Kakati Gaon area, talked with us and asked where we will go.





The man forcefully getting us down from the train at Chaparmukh railway station and urging to go with him to his residence nearby the railway station, he said.





The victim woman and her husband had lodged an FIR at Kampur police station and police have started investigation and launched operation to nab the culprits.





The victim couple alleged that, the miscreants had also looted Rs 20,000 cash from them.



Gardai are considering new search areas in the hunt for missing woman Tina Satchwell (45) after detectives confirmed they have received new information in the case.

The revelation came as gardai ended a major search in a sprawling Cork forest after failing to find any clues during a 12-day operation to find out what happened to Tina.

Next Tuesday marks the first anniversary of Tina's disappearance from her home in the Cork seaside town of Youghal.

A team of 60 personnel had been painstakingly searching Mitchel's Wood outside Castlemartyr in east Cork since March 5 without any breakthrough in the hunt for Tina, who vanished without trace on March 20, 2017.

Expand Close Tina Satchwell's husband Richard Satchwell / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Tina Satchwell's husband Richard Satchwell

Gardai staged a major operational review yesterday when the decision was made to begin winding down the forest search. Detectives confirmed that search was now over - but revealed new information had come to light thanks to the intense publicity surrounding the case and repeated Garda appeals.

"A number of items recovered during the course of this search will now be examined to establish whether they are related to the disappearance of Tina," a Garda spokesman said.

"Gardai would also like to thank members of the public who have come forward with new information which will now be investigated."

Tina, who is originally from Fermoy, disappeared from her Youghal home while her husband, Richard, was on an errand to nearby Dungarvan.

When he returned, he spotted Tina's keys lying on the floor.

Two suitcases were missing as well as items of Tina's clothing.

Her beloved dog, Ruby, was left alone in the house.

The English-born truck driver also claimed 26,000 was missing.

Expand Close Tina Satchwell / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Tina Satchwell

Last night, Mr Satchwell said he was "relieved" the Garda search had not ended with the discovery of a body - and he was still praying Tina would be found safe.

He paid tribute to everyone who supported the search and anyone who contacted gardai with information.

"I am still hoping Tina will be found safe. I will always live in hope. I don't want to go down the road of thinking the other way, because I wouldn't be able to cope," he said.A young music teacher endured the ordeal of spending 22 hours on a plastic chair in the waiting room at the Mater Hospital A&E in Dublin.

Helen Murray (24), who lives in Inchicore, Dublin, is now recovering in her native Youghal, Co Cork.

She was forced to go to the A&E to seek an MRI scan after her doctor became concerned she could have symptoms of multiple sclerosis.

Ms Murray said: "I went to the A&E at noon on Friday but was not seen by a doctor until Saturday.

"It was very mentally stressful.

"Elderly people were forced to sit on plastic chairs overnight. They were afraid if they left they would be put to the back of the queue again.

"Many didn't have access to food as they were petrified to move from their seat to go to a cafe in case their name would be called and they would lose their spot."

She pointed out all the food machines only take coins and "yet we live in a world where many people only use a card or even their phones to pay".

"We were frozen cold as the sliding doors were constantly opening and closing and no pillows or blankets were given to those of us waiting," she said

Her mother drove from Cork with blankets which she shared with other patients.

Ms Murray praised staff saying she could not understand how they work in such conditions.

She was seen by a doctor and left at 3pm on the Saturday before returning on Monday for the MRI.

The scan was carried out on Tuesday and it was found she had a stretched nerve.

"I cannot understand why the MRI could not have been carried out at the weekend.

"It meant I waited six days to get an MRI. The health system is broken," she said.

Ms Murray added she could not understand why people protested in the streets over water charges but were not demonstrating about the state of the health service.

She said "Those patients waiting should contact their TDs and inform them of the crisis."

A hospital spokeswoman said: "We cannot comment on individual patient cases."Patients are falling victim to outbreaks of deadly superbugs in dangerously overcrowded hospitals.

The risk of picking up the potentially lethal infection has escalated during the worst trolley crisis on record.

Long-suffering patients are crammed into A&E departments and hospital wards, with hundreds waiting on trolleys again this week.

It emerged the so-called "nightmare" superbug CPE has struck 17 patients in hospitals across the country in the last three weeks.

The CPE bug is dreaded because it is almost untreatable, and immune to some of the last-resort group of antibiotics that are used when all other drugs have failed.

Three patients also ended up with MRSA in a person-to-person outbreak during the week of the snow storm.

Earlier this week, a record 714 patients on trolleys were squeezed into A&E departments and wards in conditions which can fuel the spread of disease.

Despite cancelling hundreds of planned operations and discharging many patients home for the St Patrick's weekend, there were still 470 waiting for a bed yesterday.

Hospital overcrowding, understaffing and overprescribing of antibiotics are making superbugs and viruses tough to control.

"CPE is a global problem. A number of different kinds of CPE have been introduced into Ireland and have spread in the healthcare system," the HSE confirmed.

Thirty patients were diagnosed with the bug in January and four outbreaks broke out in hospitals where it was passed on from one person to another.

A shortage of beds during the trolley crisis meant six patients carrying the bug could not be isolated in en-suite single rooms, increasing the risk of passing it on.

Overall, there were 133 patients with CPE across 17 hospitals during the course of the month.

The HSE said: "Patients who are carrying CPE or are infected with CPE should be in a single room with en-suite toilet and shower when this is possible.

"When this is not possible a number of patients with the same type of CPE can be in a shared space with shared toilet facilities."

CPE is carried harmlessly in the gut but may kill if it enters the bloodstream through a wound of a patient who is already sick or frail, which makes it a real threat in hospitals.

It was cited in several deaths in hospitals last year when the number of patients with the bug rose to 430, compared to 282 in 2016.

Doctors find it difficult to treat because antibiotic combinations or older, more toxic drugs have to be used.

It kills around half of patients whose bloodstream is infected although many have underlying health problems.

Patients who have the bacteria in the gut do not become ill but they can infect other patients.

Symptoms differ, but it usually leads to either a pneumonia-type infection in the chest or an E.coli infection in the bladder or digestive system.

One patient was confirmed to have it in the bloodstream in January, three in December and 15 last year.

CPE can be spread from one person to another by unwashed hands or from contact with soiled equipment and surfaces.

It can cause a wave of disruption forcing the closure of wards and surgery cancellation.

The extent of its grip on hospitals led to Health Minister Simon Harris setting up a national public health emergency team, made up of experts, to bring it under control.

The team reported yesterday that 17 new cases were detected between February 19 and March 12, which included some of the worst days of the trolley crisis this year.

In January, patients were diagnosed with the superbug in several of the hospitals battling the worst trolley gridlock.

They include St Vincent's Hospital in Dublin, which has a transplant unit. Other hospitals where patients were diagnosed include University Hospital Galway, University Hospital Waterford, South Tipperary General Hospital, University Hospital Limerick, Our Lady's Hospital, Crumlin, and Tallaght Hospital.Police are appealing for witnesses to a suspected sexual assault in a grassland area in west Belfast.

The incident happened on March 10 at around 3pm when it was reported a woman in her 20s was sexually assaulted by a man in the area of Bog Meadows, near to Milltown Cemetery.

Police described the suspect as a man in his late 20s, with a skinny build, short brown hair, a short beard and wearing glasses.

He is described as wearing a navy tracksuit with a light green jacket and walking a German Shepard-type dog.

Constable Keogh said: "We are appealing for anyone who may have witnessed the assault or seen the male described in the area to contact police at Woodbourne PSNI on 101 quoting reference number 733 of 16/3/18. Or, if someone would prefer to provide information without giving their details they can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers and speak to them anonymously on 0800 555 111."Gerry Adams (left) with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at a St Patrick's Day breakfast event at Gracie Mansion in New York Photo: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Sinn Fein's former leader Gerry Adams has been honoured at a St Patrick's Day breakfast event hosted by the mayor of New York on Saturday.

Mayor Bill De Blasio paid tribute to Adam's contribution to the peace process in Northern Ireland. He commended the Irish republican politician's recognition of "power of peace" and named March 17, 2018 as 'Gerry Adams Day'.

Mr DeBlasio said: "Started St. Patrick's Day by honoring Gerry Adams with a proclamation for his contribution to Irish politics and diplomacy. Twenty years ago he negotiated the Good Friday Agreement, and history will remember him as a peacemaker."Ireland is to experience a "cold winter regime" over the St Patrick's Bank Holiday weekend, according to Met Eireann.

An orange weather alert came into effect on Saturday evening at 8pm as the country is set for 'heavy snow showers' and 'significant wind chill'.

A Status Yellow snow and ice warning covers the whole country for today, while a Status Orange snow and ice warning is in place for tomorrow for seven counties: Dublin, Kildare, Louth, Wexford, Wicklow, Meath and Waterford.

The warning runs until 9am on Sunday morning and Met Eireann says these counties will experience scattered heavy snow showers, leading to accumulations and drifting in places.

Forecasters have warned that Arctic temperatures of -5C - caused by an east European weather front nicknamed the 'Son of the Beast' - will dominate the festivities.

Temperatures will plunge by more than 10C from milder conditions earlier this week as many parades took place today in maximum temperatures of 1C. Overnight temperatures will plunge to as low as -5C.

Very cold & windy this evening & tonight with clear periods & snow showers spreading westwards, but it should hold mainly dry in Atlantic coastal counties. The snow showers will be heaviest & most frequent over Leinster and east Ulster, with significant accumulations likely here pic.twitter.com/age7rh9PRe  Met Eireann (@MetEireann) March 17, 2018

Met Eireann forecaster Pat Clarke said the country will experience a "significant wind chill" over the next few days.

"Well, I'm afraid it's going to be a cold winter regime for the Bank Holiday weekend," Mr Clarke said. "

"There will be a significant wind chill. The snow will be mostly over Leinster, but there will be a dusting of snow in other areas too."

Mr Clarke said accumulations of snow later on Saturday was likely, and temperatures not expected to rise about three degrees in the east.

"There will be frost, snow and ice overnight," he continued.

"These will be heaviest and most frequent over east Leinster.

"And it will feel even colder because of the east-northeasterly winds.

"Sunday will be a cold and wintry day, with heaviest and most frequent snow over Leinster and east Munster."

Mr Clarke said that Sunday night is set to be "cold and frosty" with temperatures dipping to -2 and -3 degrees Celsius.

It will also be frosty on Monday night, but it is set to become less cold and more unsettled with rain developing on Tuesday.

The Road Safety Authority are advising all road users to take extra care over the weekend.

They've asked road users to check local weather and traffic reports before making journeys in affected areas.

They have asked people to heed the advice of gardai in relation to travel arrangements, and advised people to remove all snow from vehicles before travelling.

Similarly, the Met Office in the UK issued an amber weather warning due to heavy snow - and a number of flights from Dublin to London on Saturday were cancelled.

The front will bring icy winds from Scandinavia as well as the risk of snow showers, heavy frost and black ice. Met Eireann warned that with biting winds from the east it will feel far colder than it actually is for the next three or four days.

Flights

More than 70 flights to or from Heathrow Airport on Saturday, including an Aer Lingus flight from Dublin, were cancelled ahead of the expected blast of snow and ice hitting the UK.

According to the Aer Lingus website, the 15.20 flight on Saturday, EI 172, has been cancelled due to forecasted snow.

An Aer Lingus flight from Heathrow Airport to Dublin, at 5.45pm on Saturday, has also been cancelled due to the forecast.

And a flight from Cork Airport to Heathrow departing at 16.00 has also been cancelled.

And the return from Heathrow to Cork, at 18.05 on Saturday, has also been cancelled.

The CityJet service from Dublin to London City Airport at 7.35am on Saturday is also cancelled.

A British Airways flight from Dublin to Heathrow at 14.25 on Saturday is also cancelled.

Most of the flight cancellations were on short-haul routes, although British Airways services to New York and Chicago were among those affected.

A spokesman for the carrier said: "Poor weather conditions are forecast across parts of the UK across the weekend, so we have merged a small number of flights travelling to or from Heathrow Airport.

"During cold weather conditions aircraft have to be de-iced prior to departure to ensure that they are safe and additional measures are taken to ensure the safety of our operation is maintained at all times."

BA passengers due to fly to or from Heathrow, Gatwick or London City this weekend are able to re-book on any flight up to Wednesday free of charge.

Lufthansa, TAP Air Portugal and KLM were among the other airlines with Heathrow flights cancelled.

A spokeswoman for the airport said: "While this weekend's weather may result in minor delays and some airlines consolidating flights, significant disruption at Heathrow is not currently expected.

"We are working closely with our on-site Met Office to monitor the further snowfall expected throughout the weekend.

"As always, we advise passengers to check their flight status with their airline before coming to the airport."

Advice to road-users from Road Safety Authority:An Irish mother has spoken about her recovery from breast cancer, describing the depression and anxiety she experienced in the aftermath of her treatment.

Sarah Murray was diagnosed with breast cancer after discovering a lump under her arm which she checked while taking her then one-year-old daughter for a routine doctor's appointment.

"I was 32, I didn't think anything was wrong with me, I thought I was perfectly healthy  I had a 12 month old little girl, Sadie. I was bringing her to the GP for her vaccinations when I noticed over the last few weeks I had a swelling under my right arm. Id been doing a lot of exercise and training, I thought I pulled a muscle," she told The Late Late Show in advance of Daffodil Day next week.

"My GP sent me for an ultrasound and I knew straight away from the radiographer - she asked me had I lost weight, I said, 'I've just had a baby and Im exercising'.

"She asked, 'Are you tired?' and I said, 'Yes but I've just gone back to work.

"There were all these questions I was biopsied, mammogrammed, there were further biopsies on my breast and from that, I was sent to see Professor Arnold Hill, who gave me the diagnosis that I had early stage breast cancer but it was quite aggressive. It had entered into my lymph nodes under my arm. I was sent on to oncology."

Ms Murray said her immediate concern was whether or not she would be able to have another child.

"My first question to my oncologist wasn't, am I going to survive, it was, 'am I going to be able to have more children?' You dont know what goes through your head in these things. Then they didn't give me the option of freezing eggs, they said it was too aggressive, he said I have to take the chance with the chemotherapy, mastectomy, auxiliary node clearance, radiotherapy."

"They told me that I was young and the chances of my fertility coming back after chemotherapy were high enough but they couldn't guarantee it."

She said it was after her treatment ended that she began experiencing depression and anxiety, which she was warned might occur by her medical team, crediting her family and friends for helping her get through it.

"I went through everything and I was on a roll and it was when everything finished that everything hit me," she explained.

"I got severely depressed, I suffered severely with anxiety. There was a period of about a year where I found it difficult to leave the house.

"The Irish Cancer Society did a lot of work through The Ark centre, I did some of their programmes there. But after your treatment is over your medical team is kind of finishes with you. They said it would be hard but I didn't realise how hard it would be. I was trying to look after my daughter and lucky I had really good child care and support network.

"People expect you to be better  your hair has grown back, youre looking well, youre back to work, youre back to your normal life. But theres a fear always of it coming back."

Ms Murray ended her segment on a high, announcing she's six months pregnant with her second child.One party that I certainly wasn't going to miss on Saturday night was the 70th celebrations for Bernadette Carpenter from Pearse Park and there to make sure she had a fantastic night was husband Noel, daughter Maria from Parnell Park, brother Noel Jnr. and Emma Neary from Dromiskin, sister Mary Cluskey from Avenue Road, brothers Eamonn, Thomas and Jim and a huge collection of family and friends.

I was only in the door when I met Bernadette who wanted a big shout out from brother Douglas and sister Loretto who couldn't make it on the night but wanted to thank everyone there for making it a lovely night.

After this I met up with sister Mary Cluskey from Avenue Road who was with her kids Tracy, Gerry, Thomas and Donal and wanted to wish Bernadette a very happy birthday.

Heading for an adjacent table I then got talking to sister-in-law Olivia Carroll from Carrickasticken who said she was with Bernadette's brother Jim, daughters, Niamh, Sarah-Jane and Grace. She was having a right old laugh with sister-in-law Rachel Carroll from Bay Estate who was with husband Eamonn, daughter Lorraine Quigley and granddaughter Ruth Quigley who was with her boyfriend Jack Healy from Louth Village and Ruth told me it was going to be a mad night because the Carroll's certainly know how to party!

Next I got a word with niece Donna Murphy from Corcreaghy who told me she was with husband Darragh and she was with Sarah-Jane Ferris from Mullabawn who had brought husband Gary and the ladies told me it was going to be a very reserved night, eh dunno what party you ladies were at?

Next I got talking to niece Grace O'Neill from Dromintee who was with husband Shane along with sister Niamh Carroll from Forkhill who up for making it a really great party.

I then headed for a table where I got talking to Ann McBride from St. Joseph's Park who was sitting talking to Bernadette's daughter Maria who wanted a big shout out for son Liam and to thank aunty Loretto for babysitting him on the night.

After this I got talking to Daragh Murphy from Killanny who said he was with his wife Donna and he was chatting to James Neary from Dromiskin who was with Emma and they were definitely going to have a major celebration with Bernadette.

After this I headed over for a quick word with Shane O'Neill from D.P. Fitness in Dromintee who wanted to wish Bernadette a very happy birthday.

Meanwhile up near the bar I caught up with son Noel Jnr who was with his wife Fiona Carpenter from Knockbridge who tried to tell me it was going to be a quiet night, but wanted to wish his mum all the best on her big night.

Just arrived in the door was nephew Gerry Cluskey from Castlebellingham who was going over to join his parents Mary and Gerry and wanted to wish his aunty a very happy 70th.

Finally, before I departed I met my old friends Tracy and Kevin Brady from Avenue Road who tried to tell me it was going to be a nice quiet night, not from where I was sitting I thought!Dundalk resident Eamonn Quinn is to be presented with 20,000 Belmont Prize for Contemporary Music, awarded by The Forberg-Schneider-Stiftung, on June 22 during the 'Book of Hours' Festival taking place in Dundalk that weekend.

Founded in 1997, the Forberg-Schneider-Stiftung honours outstanding achievements in contemporary music and Eamonn is the first Irish recipient of the Belmont Prize which is awarded every two years.

Eamonn and his wife Gemma Murray are the founders of Louth Contemporary Music Society (LCMS), which has organised festivals and concerts featuring top contemporary composers and musicians, as well as commissioning new works and producing CDs.

Having grown up as the youngest of a Newry family of nine, Eamonn lived in Belfast, Galic ia in Spain, and Dublin before settling in Dundalk.

A passionate music lover, he founded LCMS in 2006 with the aim of bringing the best of contemporary music to audiences in Dundalk and later Drogheda, so that local music fans wouldn't have to travel to Dublin for performances.

Since then he has enticed a mesmerising list of composers and musicians to write music which gets its first performance here, Performers and composers are fascinated by his intellectual freedom and his aversion to compromises - and they yield to his charisma.

They all travel to Dundalk to hear their works performed and premiered: Terry Riley, Garth Knox, Marino Formenti, David Lang, and most recently Salvatore Sciarrino.

The legendary composer and pianist Phillip Glass performed in St Patrick's Cathedral while the famous Kronos Quartet graced the stage of An Tain Arts Centre, and fans of avant garde compoer and musician John Zorn travelled from Europe to see him perform in a number of Dundalk venues.

Eamonn has made Dundalk a magnet for music-lovers: most of the festival's visitors arrive from Dublin, with 30 per cent coming from the local vicinity and increasingly large numbers from abroad. Events which he has organised have been reviewed in the national and international press, raising the town's profile as a venue for world class music events.Schools, colleges, clubs and societies across Louth are being urged this Spring to fly the 'Amber Flag' for Pieta House, the national suicide prevention charity.

The Amber Flag initiative is in its 4th year and over 500 flags have been awarded to date and Pieta is estimating that over 100 more will be awarded to groups this May 2018 under its ownership.

The Pieta House Amber Flag initiative recognises the individual efforts of schools, companies and groups to create healthy, inclusive environments that support mental well-being, and unites these groups in their efforts, working together toward a happier, healthier Ireland and eradicate the stigmas associated with mental health issues.

In order to be awarded the Pieta House Amber Flag, schools and other applicant groups must host a mental health awareness event, a fundraiser, and a mental health initiative. The programme encourages team work and student contributions and works with school guidance counsellors to include a peer-support element.

CEO of Pieta House, Brian Higgins, added, "Our vision at Pieta House is a world where suicide, self-harm, and stigma have been replaced by hope, self-care, and acceptance. Challenging stigma is critical to us as an organisation, and the transfer of the Amber Flag initiative to us aligns perfectly with this vision.'

For more information on how to take part in the Amber Flag initiative contact angela.horgan@pieta.ie



Itanagar : Arunachal Pradesh became 4th Indian state After Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana after the Aruchal Pradesh Legislative Assembly on Friday had passed a bill for death penalty for rape of girls under 12 years.





The Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly had passed the Criminal Laws (Arunachal Pradesh) Amendment Bill, 2018 which to provide capital punishment (death penalty) to those convicted of raping girls under 12 years.





Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu tweeted, Arunachal today became the fourth state in the country to approve death sentence for those convicted of rapes of girls below 12 years of age. The Criminal Laws

(Arunachal Pradesh) Amendment Bill, 2018 was passed today to impose actions on those committing such crimes.





The members of the house had passed the amendment bill unanimously.





The bill as passed seeking to amend the sections 354, 354 (B), 354 (D) of IPC and sections 376AA and 376D of IPC have been added in the amendment bill.





The bill also provides amendment to POCSO, Indian Evidence Act and Code of Criminal Procedure.



Teresa Kerley (nee Hughes), 28 Broughton Street, Dundalk, died peacefully at home, surrounded by her family, on 18 February, 2018.

Originally from Culhane Street, Teresa was predeceased by her parents Nicholas and Bridget; and her siblings, Eileen, Olive, May, Bridie, Mena and Brendan; as well as her husband, Ronnie and her daughter, Margaret McCann.

She spent her early working life in Rawsons shoe factory where she met people who would become lifelong friends. She married Ronnie in St. Nicholas church in 1958, and gave up work to start her family, as Ronnie worked in PJ Carrolls.

Blessed with six children, Teresa devoted her time and energy to raising her family, the youngest of whom, Brendan, would have a profound effect on the path her life was to take.

Brendan attended school in St. Marys, Drumcar, and finding that there wasnt much support for parents outside of school hours, Teresa with Ronnie and other parents formed The Dundalk Parents and Friends of St. Marys Drumcar.

She even talked Ronnie into being the first Chairman. They devoted their spare time to raising funds through collections, draws and dinner dances, as well as visiting new parents and supporting older parents.

Despite losing Ronnie suddenly in 1980, Teresa continued to devote her time and energies into raising funds and helping parents throughout her life, and the tributes paid to her by people who visited the family during the wake will be cherished forever by her children.

The Christian Brothers School Committee was another important group in Teresas life and another group who availed of her fund-raising skills.

A woman with a big heart who you couldnt say no to, was a quote heard more than once during Teresas wake.

With her family raised, she and Brendan became inseparable and where you saw one you saw the other. They were well known up the town as they did their errands and always ready for a chat with whoever they met.

Teresa loved to travel and would take an annual vacation with her family and in later years with Brendan and her own special friends.

The first thing she looked forward to every year, though, was her annual trip to Lourdes with the Armagh Diocese, a trip she and Brendan took nearly 40 times. She had a lifelong devotion to Our Lady, St. Bernadette and more locally, St. Brigid.

A kind and caring woman, she loved life and brought fun and laughter everywhere she went, and into every group she was involved with.

She was always ready for a cuppa tea and a chat whether home or away.

She went to Rome with the Christian Brothers for the canonisation of Edmund Rice and on another trip to Rome with the Brothers of Drumcar, she met and shook hands with Pope John Paul II, a photo which hangs with pride in her home.

Although she had Alzheimers in recent years, Teresa enjoyed her day care in the Birches and her respite weeks in St. Olivers Hospital for as long as she could.

Teresa is survived by her children, Pat, Joe, Teresa, Michael and Brendan; and her daughters-in-law, Ann and Sarah; and sons-in-law, Aidan and Collie. She is also survived by her grandchildren, Gavin, Elaine, Brian and Niamh and her great grandchild, Emily; as well as her sister, Rita; nephews, nieces and extended family.

After reposing at home, Teresas funeral mass took place in St. Patricks Cathedral and was celebrated by Fr. Brian Slater.

Gifts symbolising Teresas life were presented at the altar by son Brendan, niece Angela, and family friends Gina and Krisztina.

Readings were given by niece Bernadette and great niece Laura and prayers of the faithful by grandchildren Elaine and Brian, niece Siobhan and great niece Aisling.

Offertory gifts were brought to the altar by son Pat and daughter-in-law Ann and a reflection was also read by granddaughter Niamh.

Music was provided by vocalist Deirdre Morgan and organist Trevor Clarke. Burial took place in St. Patricks Cemetery.

The Months Mind Mass is at 11.30am on Sunday, 18 March, 2018.The Louth man charged with the murder of Irene White, who died after a stabbing at her home in Dundalk in 2005, has been further remanded in custody.

Father of four Niall Power (45) of Gyles Quay, Riverstown in Dundalk faced his third hearing when he appeared at Cloverhill District Court on Thursday last.

Judge Victor Blake further remanded him in custody, with consent to bail, to appear again on March 22 next.

Ms White (43), a separated mother-of-three, was killed in the kitchen of her Co Louth home on April 6, 2005.

In January a 34-year-old man was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of the Dundalk woman.

Anthony Lambe of Annadrumman, Castleblayney in Co Monaghan, had admitted killing 43-year-old Irene White in her home in April 2005.

Meanwhile, in a separate case, the man facing charges for the murder of a Japanese national in Dundalk two months ago was again deemed not fit to attend a court hearing last week.

Mohamed Morei (18) was remanded in custody on January 4 after being charged with the murder of 24-year-old Yosuke Sasaki.

He was unable to attend the four subsequent hearings and could not appear at his sixth scheduled hearing today at Cloverhill District Court.

He has been receiving ongoing medical care in the Central Mental Hospital (CMH) in Dundrum.

Judge Vincent Blake further remanded him in custody in his absence and adjourned the case until March 22 next.A number of local people suffering from chronic pain are among those affected by the decision to remove pain relief patches from the Drugs Payment and Medical Card Schemes.

Around 25,000 people nationally were affected when the patches which contain a local anaesthetic were removed from the schemes in December following a review by the HSE last year. The patches are now being approved only for patients with post- shingles symptoms although individual patients who had got prescriptions from their doctors for other conditions may make an appeal.

Blackrock resident Mandy Cumiskey has joined the Patch Us Back Up Facebook group which is campaigning to have the decision reversed.

The 37 year old mother of one says 'I'm one of the lucky people as I don't have to use the patches every day but I have serious health issues and am living with chronic pain.'

'I have arthritis in my hands, feet and hips and I also have fibromyalgia which causes pain everywhere as well as daily migranes with complex headache syndrome.'

Mandy also suffers from sciatic pain which is caused by the arthritis in her hips.

'When it flares up, my back goes into spasm and I can barely stand up straight.'

She was prescribed the Versatis pain relief patches by the pain management team which she attends at St Vincent's Hospital.

'The patches are a Godsend when I need them,' she says. 'I don't need to use them all the time but when my back goes into spasm, I need them.'

Due to her complex health issues, Mandy is already on a lot of medication and is upset at the list of medicines which the HSE suggests patients take instead of using the Versatis patches.

'There are very few side effects with the Versatis patches apart from skin allergies, while the list of side effects of the alternatives being suggested are horrific,' she says. 'They are recommending people take medicines which have been developed as anti-depressants and anti-seizure medicines and are not licenced for pain relief.'

Mandy says that as a result of taking these medicines she put on weight which causes her arthritis to worsen and she has been told that she would be better off if she could loose weight. 'It's a Catch 22 as it's because of these medications that I am putting on weight.'

She uses the Versatis patches to cope with 'break through' pain and says she doesn't know how she could cope without them.

'Stress makes the pain worse so worrying about what is going to help doesn't help.'

As the mother of a six year old, she says she tries to do 'all the Mammy things but sometimes I can't and it's bad when a 37 year old has to ask her pensioner Mum to come and help with the housework but if I have the pain relief patches I can do it.'

Mandy says she is 'very, very annoyed' at the way in which the Government and HSE have handled the situation.

'The patches are very expensive and there's no way people could afford to buy them, especially on top of other medication.'

Despite all her problems, she insists that she is one of the lucky ones as she can still manage to live a full life.

'It's people with life altering pain who cannot get out of bed and people with cancer who really need to use these patches every day.'

She accuses the HSE of fobbing patients off by saying GPs can appeal individual cases. 'A lot of people in the Facebook group are having trouble getting their GPs to make the appeals as it takes a lot of time to fill in the form and, on top of that, the appeal is only for three to six months if successful. GPs are stretched enough as it is without having to do this extra work.'

Linda Norton Jackson from Ashbrook also lives with chronic pain. She was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia two years ago and had a hip replacement last summer. She has a liver condition and diabetes which means that she can't take opioid analgesics to ease her pain.

'I get great relief with the patches - nothing else hits the pain as opiates and other painkillers don't work for me.'

Even with the patches, she can experience a bad day when the pain is so great that she can't move around and has to stay in bed.

'My GP is very good and he lodged an appeal so I have got approval to get a box of patches this month but I don't know how long the appeal is for or if I'll have to make it every month.'

In addition to coping with her own health issues, Linda is carer for her husband who has heart disease and underwent a by-pass last year.

'A box of Versatis patches can cost between 120 and 180 per box depending which chemist you get it in and there is not a hope that I could afford to buy them.'

Linda is also a member of the Patch Us Back Facebook group which has launched a petition calling for the Minister for Health Simon Harris to reinstate the provision of Versatis patches for chronic pain to the Drugs Payment and Medical Card schemes. So far over 10,000 people have signed the petition on the www.change.org website.

Louth TD Fergus O'Dowd raised the matter in the Dail during the week. He was told in a written reply that: 'Lidocaine 5% medicated plasters are licensed for the localised relief of post-shingles pain in adults. This is the only licensed use for the patch in Ireland.'

The replay stated that:'When the plasters were first introduced, the budget impact was low, because of the specific indication for which they are licensed.

It was a cause of clinical concern that, from 2012 on, usage increased significantly, to the point where more plasters were being prescribed in Ireland than in the entire UK National Health Service, with ten times our population.

This realisation had led to the HSE Medicines Management Programme reviewed the use of the plasters in 2016 which estimated that only 5-10% of prescribing had been for the licensed indication.

Non-shingles patients were given a three month grace period, in which their GP could move them to other treatments or apply for continued reimbursement. However, from 1 December 2017, non-shingles patients were no longer automatically reimbursed under the community drugs schemes.

Deputy O' Down was told that: 'As of 5 March 2018, there have been 5,156 online applications from GPs requesting the reimbursement of Versatis. Of these applications, over 17%, or 896 patients, have been approved. In addition, 437 online appeals have been made, and over 66% of these patients have been approved.'Pearse Lyons, the Dundalk native who founded the global Alltech biotech business in the United States, passed away last week from complications following heart surgery.

Mr Lyons had been hospitalised since November following complications arising from a heart procedure.

From Dundalk, the entrepreneur qualified as a biochemist at UCD before doing a PhD in Birmingham. He subsequently worked with Irish Distillers before heading to the United States in the late 1970s with his wife Deirdre and two young children, Mark and Aoife.

Although he intended to stay only for three years, he remained and started Alltech with $10,000.

The company grew into a major international business. Alltech focuses on improving animal, crop and human health and performance through its innovative use of yeast fermentation, enzyme technology, algae and nutrigenomics. It also produces a range of beers and whiskey.

Mr Lyons had also invested in Ireland. He opened an Alltech European Bioscience Centre in Dunboyne, Co Meath, in 1999, and last year, he opened the Pearse Lyons Distillery in Dublin.

Confirming the death, 'It is with great sadness that Alltech announces the passing of its founder and president, Dr. Pearse Lyons. Lyons died on Thursday, March 8, due to an acute lung condition that developed during his recovery from heart surgery. He was 73.

'We are all deeply saddened by my father's passing," said Dr. Mark Lyons, Pearse's son and chairman and president of Alltech. 'He always focused on developing people, and he built an extraordinary team over the years. He saw farther into the horizon than anyone in the industry, and we, as his team, are committed to delivering on the future he envisioned. He planted seeds that will produce a bountiful harvest for the world in the years to come.'

Alric Blake, CEO and treasurer of Alltech added: 'The thoughts of our entire Alltech family around the world are with Dr. Lyons' family, specifically his wife Deirdre, daughter Aoife, son Mark and Mark's wife Holly,' said 'Dr. Lyons was a visionary entrepreneur who transformed the agriculture industry beginning with his innovative application of yeast technology in animal nutrition. He inspired everyone he met with his energy, enthusiasm and passionate belief in possibilities.'

Louth TD Declan Breathnach also paid tribute to Pearse Lyons, saying 'Pearse always had a gra for Dundalk, and while I was Chairman of Louth County Council we welcomed a visiting delegation from Pikeville, Kentucky for St. Patrick's Day, and from then on Dundalk has retained a link with Pikeville.'

Funeral masses will be in Kentucky, USA, on St. Patrick's Day and in Dublin in April.Dancers Siobhan Krol and Sarah Maxwell watched by Lolo Robinson, Chairperson of Drogheda Comhaltas, Labhras O Murchu, Director General of Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann and Joan Martin, Chief Executive of Louth County Council at the announcement of Drogheda as the venue for Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann 2019

There were celebrations across Louth this week as it was confirmed that Drogheda has secured hosting the Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann for a second year.

Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann awarded Drogheda the honour of hosting the Fleadh in 2019 for the second consecutive year.

Chairperson of the Fleadh Executive Committee Lolo Robinson said, 'The decision is an endorsement of our hard work to date and a vote of confidence in the people of Drogheda and County Louth. Securing Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann for a second consecutive year will afford us the opportunity to continue to build on what will be a hugely successful event this summer and establish Drogheda as a must-visit destination along Ireland's Ancient East.'

Attracting more than 400,000 attendees, Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann is the world's largest celebration of Irish music, language, song and dance.

Welcoming the news, Chief Executive of Louth County Council Joan Martin said, 'County Louth already has a long established and extensive arts, heritage and cultural programme and the Fleadh will further cement this, whilst enhancing our flourishing 'Creative Ireland Programme. It has been estimated that up to 40m will flow into County Louth as a result of the festival, with the long-term benefits to include increased awareness of County Louth as a tourist destination.'It was the opportunity of a lifetime for two Scoil Mhuire na nGael pupils when they were invited to meet Pope Francis during a visit to Dublin last week.

Aoife Murphy (7) and Ella Taylor (8) had taken part in a competition run by The Irish Catholic, inviting children around Ireland to draw a picture and write a letter of welcome for the Failte Pope Francis competition.

Second class student Aoife was lucky to be announced as national winner of the competition, with her beautiful letter entitled 'Dear Papa'.

Ella was also among the finalists for her rhyme 'Oh Papa, Oh papa My Wish has come true, I prayed that one day, I'd get to see you' along with her artistic use of the map of |Ireland featuring national flags from countries across the world.

Their entries are included in the Failte Pope Francis - from the children of Ireland' book launched last week. All proceeds from the sale of the book will go to Children's Hospital, Crumlin.

Scoil Mhuire na nGael principal Martina Rafferty explained the students were 'really excited' when they arrived at the event and were told they would be meeting a 'special' guest.

'We walked into a room, and there it was, a life size cardboard cut out of Pope Francis! said Martina. 'It was an extremely good likeness! We couldn't believe it.'

Aoife and Ella celebrated the launch by posing alongside the cardboard pontiff... hoping they might get to meet him in person this summer!The number of people on the live register in Louth was cut by over 18% during the last year, according to new figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

The latest figures indicated that at the end of February there were 8,868 people claiming unemployment supports across Louth.

This included 4,000 in Dundalk, and 3,870 in Drogheda.

Year on year there was a fall from 10,831 in the same month in 2017 of 18.12%.

But the welcome reduction in the number of people on the live register came as fresh concerns over the impact of Brexit emerged.

Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Heather Humphreys T.D sounded the warning as she launched Enterprise 2025 Renewed and the Action Plan for Jobs 2018 in the north east on Friday last.

Speaking at the launch, Minister Humphreys said it was the ambition to ensure that another 100,000 jobs are created by the end of 2020. There are over 2.2 million people at work, the unemployment rate stands at 6 percent and indigenous exports have reached over 21.6 billion.

Economic growth projections for the current year are strong and my determination is that no region will have an unemployment rate above 1 percentage point of the national average by 2020.'

'But Brexit, international tax developments, US policy developments and technological advances present direct events that will have an impact on Ireland's prospects. Both Enterprise 2025 Renewed and the Action Plan for Jobs 2018 illustrate the need to deepen resilience in Ireland's enterprise base, particularly in light of Brexit.

'My Department wants to see businesses competing, innovating and trading in order to make them more resilient in the face of Brexit and other global challenges", Minister Humphreys added.

The Minister said that, to date, the Action Plan for Jobs has supported the creation of nearly 313,000 jobs.

The Government aims to support the creation of 50,000 more jobs in 2018.The death has taken place of Garech de Brun, the custodian of the 18th century Luggala Estate and founder of Claddagh Records.

Aged 78 and due to turn 79 in June, de Brun was an Irish art collector and considered a notable patron of Irish Arts, particularly traditional Irish music.

Commenting on de Brun's sudden passing, President Michael D Higgins paid tribute, saying: 'The passing of Garech de Brun will be heard with great sadness by all those interested in the performance and recording of Irish music, song and poetry.'

He was the eldest of the three sons of Dominick Browne, the 4th Lord Oranmore and Browne and his second wife, Oonagh Guinness, daughter of Hon. Arthur Ernest Guinness who was the second son of the first Lord Iveagh.

He divided most of his time between London, Singapore and Ireland and lived at Luggala for most of his life. He became custodian of the estate after his mother Oonagh Guinness passed away in 1970.

He was also responsible for a painstaking 20-year restoration of the property to pristine original condition.

A huge supporter of traditional Irish music, he established the traditional Irish music label Claddagh Records with Ivor Browne in 1959.

De Brun played a pivotal role in the formation of The Chieftains three years later, after he asked his friend Paddy Moloney to form a group for a one-off album on Claddagh Records.

He also released recordings of poets, such as Richard Murphy, Seamus Heaney and John Montague, reading their works.

He played host to many famous visitors to Luggala, including The Beatles, Mick Jagger, Michael Jackson and Sean O'Riada. Brendan Behan was also a friend.

Another close friend was Dublin-born artist Francis Bacon and in 2017 de Brun appeared in the BBC documentary 'Francis Bacon: A Brush with Violence.'

He was a frequent visitor to the Roundwood Inn and was a regular sight in Roundwood village enjoying a morning cup of tea. He was also heavily involved with the La Touche Legacy.

Luggala is currently held in a Guinness family trust and was put on sale last year, prompting calls for State intervention. It remains on the market for 28 million.

De Brun was in the process of writing a book on the history of Claddagh Records.

Prior to his passing he had been visiting Singapore and spent a few days in Paris before making his way home. He was enjoying a meal with some friends in London when he suddenly took ill.Community Gardai and public representatives joined residents of Maitland Street in Bray for a crime prevention tea last month.

Residents of the Bray street were brought to the afternoon tea event at the Wilton Hotel by bus. The event included a number of members of Wicklow County Council, as well as council officials and gardai working in the area.

The Bray citizens voiced their concerns about safety, while they learned how to best protect themselves and their homes.

The informal and fun event was a great success. Residents learned a lot and the gardai got to meet the people of Bray,

They were also served a lovely spread at the Southern Cross hotel.A burglar who assaulted a 74-year-old man and his 40-year-old daughter in his efforts to escape from their house has been jailed for three years.

Gary O'Brien (20), who said he had been 'out of his head' on tablets and Sambuca, was restrained on the bathroom floor by the elderly man until gardai arrived.

O'Brien, of Old Connaught View, Bray, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to burglary and two counts of assault at the family's home in Dalkey on September 26, 2017.

The court heard O'Brien, who has 49 previous convictions, suffered an acquired brain injury as a 16-year-old after being struck from behind with a hammer.

Judge Martin Nolan noted the assault perpetrated on O'Brien had lead to considerable issues for him in terms of treatment and still caused him problems. He also took into account that O'Brien wanted to rehabilitate himself.

He said that, despite this, it was a serious crime and must be dealt with a serious way. He imposed a three-year sentence, consecutive to a 22-month district court sentence that O'Brien is currently serving.

Judge Nolan said the sentence would have been longer if it were not for the particular circumstances of O'Brien's acquired brain injury.

Garda Paul Hughes told John Quirke BL, prosecuting, that gardai were alerted at 2 a.m. that two males had been attempting to enter a home.

Gda Hughes was met by two distressed women at the scene, a 70-year-old woman and her 40-year-old daughter. The daughter had cuts to her arm and a bloody nose. She told him her father was restraining a male in the bathroom.

Gda Hughes said there was broken glass, pots and furniture around the house. He found the elderly man in the bathroom holding an abusive male on the floor of the bathroom.

The daughter told Gda Hughes that she had been awoken earlier that night by her mother screaming downstairs and came out of her bedroom to see a male in a grey, hooded top. She screamed and shouted at him to get out of the house.

She struggled back down the stairs with the male and her father came out of his room to help her.

Downstairs, the male ran to the dining room where the struggle continued, with household items getting broken. A second male began kicking at the front door in an effort to get in.

The father managed to restrain O'Brien, who was shouting 'I will get you'. Gardai who had been alerted by the elderly women were nearby and arrived quickly on the scene.

The 74-year-old man suffered bruising and cuts to his body, while his daughter described herself as feeling 'battered' the following day. She said she felt anxious and vulnerable following the burglary, as well as paranoid about safety in the home.

'I felt the need to scrub every inch of the house, I just wanted him out of the house, in a sense, by cleaning,' the 40-year-old woman said in her victim impact statement.

The court heard there was 3,000 worth of damage done to the house.

O'Brien told gardai he couldn't remember anything about the events. He said he had been 'out of his head' on Sambuca and tablets. He said he had not gone into the house to hurt the occupants.

Gda Hughes agreed with Ronan Prendergast BL, defending, that it was not a 'targeted burglary' and the occupants were not known to O'Brien. He agreed that when the state of the occupants of the house was put to O'Brien he could not believe he could have done it.

Mr Prendergast said as a 16-year-old O'Brien had suffered a brain injury after being hit from behind with a hammer. He handed in a number of reports to Judge Nolan and outlined O'Brien's treatment at the National Rehabilitation Centre and the ongoing care he required.

He said O'Brien, a father of one, had difficulties with tablet misuse and had made attempts to attend addiction counsellors. He said O'Brien was remorseful and had conveyed an apology to the victims.



Guwahati : The troops of Assam Rifles had apprehended a hardcore militant belonging to banned outfit NSCN (K) in Nagaland and recovered arms and ammunition on Wednesday, officials said on Thursday.





PRO, HQ IGAR (N) Lt Colonel Amitabh Sharma said that, based on intelligence input, the Medziphema battalion of Assam Rifles under the aegis of HQ IGAR (North) had lauched operation along with police representative at Medziphema area in Dimapur district and nabbed the militant.





The nabbed militant was identified as Thang Khomang and security personnel had recovered one point 22 mm pistol along with magazine and one Mobile Set with SIM Card in possession from him.





Later, the apprehendee along with recovered items was handed over to police station Medziphema for further investigation.



Butler & Barry in Bray has been named Wicklow's Best Gastro Pub in the Irish Restaurant Awards 2018.

Voted for by the public, as well as being adjudicated by a panel of culinary experts and food writers, the top award from The Restaurants Association of Ireland recognises an innovative and exciting menu, excellent food standards and presentation, professional service and a special dining experience.

Essentially, the Best Gastro Pub title goes to a venue that provides restaurant quality dining but doesn't compromise on the traditional comfortable 'pub' atmosphere, the awards organisers say. Bray's hospitality newcomer was actually a double-winner in the Leinster heat of Ireland's food Oscars, with the RAI award for Best Restaurant Manager in Wicklow also went to Donal Byrne from Butler & Barry.

Owner Shane O'Farrell, owner of the venue, said that these accolades coming less than a year since Butler & Barry opened, reflect a team who are the ultimate professionals in food and hospitality, and who always go above and beyond to look after customers.

'I have known Donal Byrne for 15 years and his vast experience in this sector is unrivalled,' said Mr O'Farrell. 'We are all thrilled Donal has been recognised for his incredible management skills and that our food offering and service was judged to be Wicklow's finest.'

Mr O'Farrell, who also owns The Wild Goose and The Ardmore, paid tribute to head chef Shane Kenny food manager Theresa McGlynn, and manager, Eoin Quinlan.

'We have a great team and lovely customers,' said Mr Byrne. 'It is a pleasure to brighten someone's day with a good meal or a companionable drink in a welcoming venue. It may not be rocket science, but what we do, we do well, and I'm very proud of the team at Butler & Barry and their dedication to our clients and their colleagues.'

The awards took place in the Knightsbrook Hotel in Trim last Wednesday, March 7.Ethel Heath, captured by photographer Dave OConnor for the Bray People in 1983, with some of her pet birds.

'The Bird Lady of Bray - The True Story of Aunty Ethel and her sister Maura' will air on East Coast FM this Saturday morning, St Patrick's Day, at 9 a.m.

In the 1980s, photographer Liam Blake took a photograph of a smiling red-headed woman with her large pet seagull - named Maureen - perched on top of her head.

The photograph would become an iconic Real Ireland postcard which would be sent by visitors to addresses all round the world. The woman in the photo became known as the 'Bird Lady of Bray' but to thousands of locals she was also known as Aunty Ethel. Ethel's voice also became familiar to the people of Wicklow through her many impromptu appearances on the breakfast shows on East Coast FM.

Previous attempts to get Ethel to open up came to nothing. However, when Ethel's brother died in 1999, her only sister Maura returned to Bray for the first time since leaving for America in 1953. Producer Pat Hannon managed to sit the two of them down together during that visit to record their family history and to get the true story about Aunty Ethel - the Bird Lady of Bray.

Ethel's father was Commandant Ignatius O'Neill in the Irish Army and Ethel and Maura were born in Kent House, a large 17-bedroom house in the Curragh. They then moved to No 6 Fontenoy Terrace beside the Bray Head Hotel. Although Ethel had no children of her own, she loved children and was know to all as 'Aunty Ethel'.

Ethel died in 2015 and her ashes were scattered at sea to join those of her late-husband Harry.

The programme celebrates one of Bray's best known characters known for here catch phrase 'Give us a gonker (kiss)' and a loud 'Woo Hoo!' shout to locals from her rusty old push bike.

The documentary features DJs from East Coast FM, where Ethel was the early morning tea lady and would often be heard on the air during the many breakfast shows over the year.

'Would you like a sandwich there honey bunch,' she would say to the radio crew as well as the bus drivers at the nearby 45a terminus.

Ethel was in her '50s when she married painter-decorator Harry Heath. When the car forgot to come and get the bride on the wedding day, the Dublin Bus lads sprang into action and got Ethel to the church on time.

Pat Hannon has been a lecturer in radio in DIT for the past 20 years and this programme has been a labour of love. With the massive outpouring of fondness when much-loved Ethel died, Pat wanted to memorialise her with the interview he had done back in the late-1990s.

Those who knew Ethel will recall her getting around on her trusty bicycle, followed by a dog or two, or out sweeping the path outside her cottage.

No child would pass her gate without getting a token for the amusements and she is remembered as a kind and loving person, who was friendly and cheerful towards everyone.

Ethel lived on the seafront and was well known for her love of birds and animals. On one occasion she took in a dog whose throat had been cut and nursed him back to health and, of course, she had two pet seagulls, Maureen and Charlie (she was a big Charlie Haughey supporter).

In the years prior to her death, Ethel resided at San Remo nursing home in Bray. She died in July 2015 at Blackrock Hospice.Agricultural land prices in County Wicklow jumped by 17 per cent in 2017, representing an increase from 10,140/acre in 2016 to 12,060/acre last year.

According to new figures published in the annual Irish Farmers Journal Agricultural Land Price Report, this follows a previous jump of 19 per cent in 2016.

Co Wicklow, known for its rich agricultural land and rolling hills, offered the second highest number of acres for sale last year, with 6,893 coming to the market. This is second only to Cork, which had 7,134 acres.

The county also offered the biggest estate of land for sale - Luggala, which stands on 5,000 acres and is guided at 28 million.

According to the report, which was compiled by Anthony Jordan, the average price paid for land across the 26 counties in the Republic of Ireland in 2017 was 9,088/acre.

This is an increase of 3.61 per cent on the 2016 figures, which stood at 8,771/acre.

It is the first time since 2014 that the average price per acre has risen over 9,000/acre. The improving prices can be seen around the country with 19 counties showing an increase in land prices in 2017. Seven of these counties, including Wicklow, saw a price rise of over ten per cent, with Laois experiencing the highest jump of 22.1 per cent.

Just seven counties saw a drop in average values, with Waterford, Monaghan, Donegal and Kilkenny seeing drops of over ten per cent.

The influence of commodity price volatility was plain to see in 2017.

The report documented a bumper year for dairy farmers was counteracted by another poor year for grain.

'Beef and sheep farmers had a better year than in 2016 but were largely unable to compete with the dairy drive. It was just over 12 months ago when the milk price was on the floor and confidence was right there with it. What a difference a year makes and there is little doubt that land prices have significantly benefitted from this renewed dairy vigour,' said Mr Jordan.

The supply of land offered to the market in 2017 totalled 78,350 acres, up 6.2 per cent on 2016 when 73,778 acres were offered.

'While the supply increased in a general sense, one of the most frequent observations from across Ireland last year was the scarcity of land. Our analysis shows 13 counties in the Republic of Ireland had a supply reduction in 2017 with a very noticeable reduction in the border counties with Donegal, Monaghan, Cavan and Louth all seeing less land on the market, which may well be a direct impact of Brexit amid the uncertainty around cross-border trade,' he said.

'Furthermore, just 47 per cent of the properties offered for sale at auction were sold under the hammer with both auctioneers and selling agents claiming this is partly due to (1) the relatively short timeframe in the auction room that allows buyers to get their finances in order and (2) Some sellers had unrealistic expectations and were holding out for more than 10,000 an acre making targets unviable and properties being either withdrawn or remaining on the market,' Mr Jordan added.There are all kinds of exhibitions but, from an international architecture perspective, they don't get much bigger than the Venice Biennale International Art Exhibition.

Irish architects Shelley McNamara and Yvonne Farrell have been selected to curate the 16th Venice International Architecture Exhibition, taking place later this year. Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Josepha Madigan welcomed this news and said: "Ireland is truly honoured that Shelley McNamara and Yvonne Farrell of Grafton Architects, a highly regarded partnership of Irish architects are the first ever Irish architects to be selected as curators of La Biennale Architettura, the most important global platform for the exhibition of architecture."

"As they are the second only female curators of the La Biennale Architettura, their success is noteworthy and to be celebrated. This extent of Irish architectural talent making global waves is unprecedented," Minister Madigan said.

Ireland's national exhibition at the 16th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice is entitled 'Free Market' and it will highlight the generosity, humanity and possibility in the common spaces of Ireland's market towns where marketplaces have undergone fundamental change in recent times. The project proposes to reclaim these places of interaction and community and to re-imagine the shared urban territory of the small town marketplace.

On its return to Ireland the exhibition will take a tour with one or two stops possibly in the pipeline for the County of Cork.

With regard to events in the pipeline, from a heritage perspective, the coming week does not disappoint. Thursday 15th March, sees a talk on the life and times of Terence McSwiney, commencing in Blarney Secondary School at 8pm and organised by the Blarney and District Historical Society.

Terence McSwiney, who was born on March 28th 1879, had great interest in literature, the Irish language and the struggle for Irish Independence. One of the founders of the Cork Brigade of the Irish Volunteers in 1913, and President of the Cork Branch of Sinn Fein, he later became Lord Mayor of Cork following the killing of Tomas MacCurtain.

On 12th August 1920, McSwiney was arrested and charged with possession of a cipher key to coded messages and three other counts of sedition. He was tried by court martial on 16 August 1920 and sentenced to two years imprisonment, he died on October 25th 1920 in Brixton Prison after 74 days on hunger strike.

Guest Speaker, Liam O hUigin of the Middle Parish History Society, brings his fascinating story to Blarney and all are welcome to attend. For more information, visit http://blarneyhistory.ie/.

Also on the evening of the 15th is a talk regarding the Kilmichael Ambush, which will also reveal some new research on the event. The talk, which takes place at the Celtic Ross Hotel, Rosscarbery, will be given by renowned military historian Gerry White, all welcome.

Commencing on March 23rd and running until Sunday 25th, the Annual West Cork Stone Symposium will take place. Some of the world's best stone carvers and wallers will gather in the West Cork village to pass on their skills in an absorbing weekend, dedicated to keeping traditional skills alive.

The programme includes walks, talks and demonstrations as well as practical workshops. The workshops are open to beginners as well as to people who are more experienced in working with stone. Those attending can learn to carve letters in stone or take on dry stone walling in Kilcrohane on the Sheep's Head Peninsula. For further information, visit http://westcorkstonesymposium.com or phone 086 303 0991.

On Saturday 24th March the Cork Genealogical Society will present a large conference entitled 'Bridging the Past and Future', taking place at the Clayton Silverspring's Hotel. It will be a daylong conference (including a light lunch) that seeks to shed light on how on to go about searching for information relating to one's Irish roots.

Experts in the field will cover a number of different topics. John Grenham will provide an overview of online research resources; Nicola Morris will talk about outrage reports, police files, intelligence reports and prisoner escapees; Margaret Jordan will be talking about 'Tracing your Irish Roots and finding Family through DNA'; and Jill Williams will provide information on the School's Collection from the 1930s Irish Folklore Commission, which runs to over a quarter of a million pages and is a chronically underused resource.

The cost of the event is 25 and booking is essential. For further information, visit www.corkgenealogicalsociety.com.

Of course one of the key Irish events of the year takes place this coming Saturday, the celebration of Ireland's Patron Saint. La Fheile Padraig faoi mhaise do gach einne agus bain taitneamh as an la.William OCallaghan of Longueville House accepting the Alltech Commonwealth Cup for their Cider Mor from head judge Geraoid Cahill

Having tantalised the tastes buds of discerning Irish cider drinkers for many years, Mallow's Longueville House has added yet more accolades to its already bulging trophy cabinet.

This after its acclaimed ciders scooped a trio of prestigious international awards at last weekend's Alltech Craft Brew and Food Fair In Dublin's Convention Centre.

Its Longueville House Cider, which has already won numerous awards since its introduction to the market in 2012 won silver in the competition, which attracts craft brews from across the globe.

It got a lot better for Longueville House proprietors William and Aisling O'Callaghan after the newest addition to their stable, Cider Mor, not only won gold but was also crowned Overall Champion and the 2018 winner of the coveted Alltech Commonwealth (Cider) Cup.

To put this into some perspective, this years Cup attracted almost 400 entries from more than 70 breweries and cider mills from nine countries across the world.

Longueville House Cider is produced from Dabinett and Michelin apples grown and harvested on the 20-acre Mallow estate.

They are crushed and the pressed juice allowed to ferment, producing a rich tasting amber cider that is filtered. Lightly carbonated and bottled on site No added colourings, additives, sulphites of preservatives are used and any stage during the process.

Mor, takes the process a stage further by allowing the cider to age for six-months in brandy casks - resulting in a robust cider with a unique taste and depth of flavour and an 8% ABV. According to the awards organisers the Draft Cider Cup is only awarded to a beverage that "is an excellent product that displays the correct balance of taste, aroma and appearance appropriate for the style, and a high level of technical merit."

Head judge, Dr Gearoid Cahill, said Cider Mor more than fulfilled the exacting criteria saying it "particularly impressed" the panel.

"This robust cider had tremendous complexity with a rich apple aroma that was well balanced with dryness and acidity. The oak notes added to the complexity in flavour observed by the judging panel," he wrote.

A delighted William O'Callaghan said it was a "great honour" to be acknowledged by their peers and key industry influencers.

"The Alltech Commonwealth Cup acknowledges outstanding performance within the food and drink industry and we at Longueville are honoured to take our place in its esteemed list of winners," said William.

"We have been blown away by the popularity of our newest addition and how well it has been received by those who love and appreciate independent, non-industrial, craft beverages and artisan produce," he added.There was a lot of disappointment in schools all over Ireland when World Book day was cancelled due to Storm Emma's untimely arrival.

However, some schools rescheduled the event for last week and locally children at Cloghoula National School in Millstreet and St. Brendan's, Rathcoole, got the opportunity to come into school dressed as their favourite book characters.

Colourful and innovative costumes portraying Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Willie Wonka, Artemis Fowl and many others turned the classrooms of both schools into a living library.

Some of the pupils at St. Brendan's shared their thoughts about World Book Day with the Corkman.

Evelyn Lehahan, 1st Class - "I love World Book Day because I love books and reading and you can find out lots of nice things in books. I was an Ice Fairy from Rainbow Magic".

Trevor Kealy, 2nd Class - "I had a great time on World Book Day because I like reading books, usually different series, you want to know what's going to happen next. I came as Tom from Beast Quest which has lots of great adventures".

Robyn O'Connor, 3rd Class - "I enjoyed World Book Day because I love seeing everyone dressed up as their favourite book character and sharing and swapping books with other people. I was Janet from The Secret Seven".

Emer Finn, 4th Class - "World Book Day was great because it's nice to see people dressed in different costumes and to experience different books. I was dressed as Valerie Lewis from Best Mate Chasing Gold".

Olivia Lehane, 5th Class - "I love World Book Day because I get to see what other people's favourite books are".

Luke Kelleher, 5th Class - "World Book Day was brilliant, I love to read and I was dressed as Artemis Fowl - a criminal mastermind".

Over the last 22 years, World Book Day has become firmly established as one of Ireland's most popular annual events promoting the enjoyment of books and reading. The main aim is to encourage children to explore the pleasure of books and reading by providing them with an opportunity to have a book of their own.International Women's Day was marked on Thursday, March 8 in Millstreet as IRD Duhallow visited the community School.

The seminar was organised by members of the Millstreet Community College Transition Year Development Education Group, as part of a series of events celebrating gender equality.

School Chaplain, John Magee spoke to students on "the meaning of gender equality and its importance. Meanwhile, IRD Duhallow Development Officer Jacinta Carroll, spoke to students on the part IRD Duhallow and the Duhallow Women's Forum has played in promoting the role of women in society, over the past 18 years.

To mark the celebration, the students had made a display of pictures and information on public figures that they thought were the most influential women in society. These included Katie Taylor, Grace O'Malley, Rena Buckley and Maeve Binchy.

Jacinta spoke to the students on how the Women's Forum have honoured several of the most notable women from the Duhallow area in the past through the publication of the Mna Dhuthalla calendar, erection of monuments and conferences in honour of these woman.

She also spoke about IRD Duhallow's most recent achievements in relation to gender equality, having secured funding from the Department of Justice and Equality supporting ESF PEIL Gender Equality - Women Returning to the Workforce. This funding provides women with a great opportunity to support women who may want to increase their self-confidence and assertiveness skills whilst also having the opportunity to take part in a series of training programmes, both accredited and non-accredited which will enhance women's access to employment.

The Transition Year group have also organised a coffee morning to mark International Women's Day to give people a chance to come together and have a chat about changes in society through the years and how they have affected women.Pat Crowley kept pupil entertained with her stories of Sr Gobnait and Abbeyswell

Excited third-class pupils from Scoil Ghobnatan in Mallow were recently given a fascinating insight into the origins of their school's name during a field trip to places of historical interest in the locality.

The first port of call on what was a busy itinerary was Abbeyswell (Gobnait's Well) near Lombardstown to learn more about the Saint who gave her name to their school.

Retired Scoil Ghobnatan teacher and former Laharn NS principal Pat Crowley spoke about the history of the well, including how St Gobnait stopped there on her travels when she saw seven white deer and told them about the famine mound situated there.

The next stop was the Laharn Community and Heritage Centre, the site of the former Laharn NS, which closed in 1996 due to dwindling numbers.

Teacher Nollaig Murphy said the pupils and staff were given a wonderful welcome by the centre's committee.

"One of the highlights of the day was a rendition of Inisheer by local musician Lisa Barrett on tin whistle and flute, a fitting tribute to St Gobnait," said Ms Murphy.

Ms Murphy said each of the children wrote a small piece about the visit on their return to school.

"You could tell from the pieces they penned just how much they enjoyed the day. From retelling the legends they heard about, St Gobnait, the well and the famine mound to imagining what life must have been like in the old school, it was obvious they all really revelled in the experience," she said.

"Everyone at Scoil Ghobnatan would like to thank Pat Crowley and the Laharn Community and Heritage Committee for welcoming the children and making their day such a happy, fun and memorable one."A fire raging out of control around the iconic church at Gougane Barra last April. Photo: John Delea

Farmers and landowners have been warned they face severe financial sanctions, including the suspension of government grant schemes, if they are caught setting illegal fires on their land.

The issue of illegal gorse burning has been a problem for many years with some farmers clearing their land at this time of the year in order to maximise its use for the year ahead.

However, it can result in fires burning wildly out of control posing a danger to property, rural infrastructure and the health and well-being of nearby residents.

With this in mind, Agriculture minister Michael Creed had issued a strong warning to farmers and their advisors relating to agricultural and eligible forestry land which is burned illegally during the closed season, which runs from March 1 to August 31.

As in previous years, the department is using satellite imagery to assess compliance with regulations and further inspections may be undertaken on lands where evidence of fires has been detected after the March 1 deadline. In a circular warned that those burning land during the closed season could face prosecution and that the land could be considered ineligible for payments under the Basic Payments Scheme and other initiatives.

"Inclusion of illegally burnt land in the 2018 Basic Payments Scheme application may result in reduced payment and penalties under this and other areas-based schemes such as the Areas of Natural Constraints scheme," read the circular.

Officials also warned that the illegal burning could also render the land of neighbours ineligible for payments.

While the recent poor weather has limited land burning, there is the potential higher risk conditions emerging as the weather improves and temperatures rise.

In the past, this has also led to concerns that uncontrolled fires can often divert emergency services away from more serious and potentially life-threatening incidents, Minister Creed said that it was not just farmers who needed to be aware of the serious nature of this issue.

"Both farmers and the wider public, whether it be at work or in enjoying the countryside , should a this time of the year be mindful of the damage that can be caused by burning and should take appropriate care," he said.Mallow eyes will be smiling on St Patrick's Day thanks to the 11th hour intervention of the local Tidy Towns group.

This after fears had been raised that the St Patrick's Day parade could be cancelled for only the second time in more than three decades over an insurance issue.

On Monday the chair of the parade committee, Noel O'Connor, issued a statement that the parade had been cancelled following an instruction three weeks ago by Gardai that a full road closure order had to be put in place along the route. In previous years the committee had managed traffic during the parade in conjunction with local Gardai.

At short notice the committee set about arranging the road closure. However, with just a week to go to the parade, the committee was informed their insurance cover would have to indemnify Cork County Council and Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) for activities during the road closure.

Mr O'Connor said it transpired their cover, which they had negotiated for the previous 31-years and cost in the region of 700, was no longer sufficient to cover the road closure requirements of the Council. When the committee's efforts to secure the additional indemnity cover proved fruitless the committee withdrew the closure application, effectively cancelling the parade.

The news caused uproar, with hundreds of people taking to social media to vent their anger and frustration at the situation.

Mr O'Connor said that he was subsequently contacted by local public representatives, including Cllr Melissa Mullane and TD's Sean Sherlock and David Stanton, offering their support.

He said the breakthrough came after Council executives Mary Hayes and Liz Donovan suggested the committee approach Mallow Tidy Towns.

Its chairman, Niall O'Keeffe, contacted their insurance providers and on Tuesday morning an agreement was reached with them to provide the insurance indemnity to the Council for the road closure.

"I am pleased to say that the parade will definitely take place as originally scheduled from 2pm next Saturday," Mr O'Connor confirmed.

Speaking to the Corkman on Tuesday Tidy Towns vice-chair Brendan O'Shea praised the efforts of all involved in getting the parade back on track, in particular singling out Niall O' Keeffe and Mary Hayes.

"Tidy Towns was delighted to in a position to come on board and absorb the parade committee so the parade could go ahead," said Mr O'Shea.

He pointed out that a similar arrangement exists in Cobh saying Tidy Towns felt there was no reason why it could not be used in Mallow.

"From our own point of view, we had invested a lot of time and effort into our float and were going to use it to promote our 'Get Fitter, Pick Litter' initiative so were keen to ensure the parade went ahead," said Mr O'Shea.

"The Mallow Tidy Towns committee has a 'will do, can do' attitude as shown by the work we do all the time around the town. Great credit must go to both Niall O'Keeffe and Mary Hayes who have to be complimented for the effort and energy they put in to make sure the parade went ahead. They are the two key people who made this happen," he added.

*******

The Mallow St Patrick's Day Parade will go ahead at 2pm on Saturday, with participants asked to assemble at the park Road from 1pm.

The parade will be led out by a Colour Party from the Reserve Defence Forces followed by the Thomas Davis Pipe Band and Grand Marshall Corrie O'Flynn.

Participants will make their way along to the parade route to the stand on Davis Street where the parade will be reviewed by invited dignitaries and competition judges.

A special prize will be awarded to the entry that best sums up the theme of this year's parade 'When Irish Eyes Are Smiling'.Guwahati : Assam government on Thursday informed the Assam Legislative Assembly that, over 22 percent of the total forest areas in Assam are under encroachment.





Replying a written query raised by Asom Gana Parishad MLA Ramendra Narayan Kalita, Assam forest minister Pramila Rani Brahma said that, 3,87,885 hectare areas of the total forest areas in state are under encroachment.





Out of the total 17,36,301.72 hectare forest areas, over 22.33 percent areas were encroached.





The Assam forest minister said that, the state has covered 13,54,467.62 hectare Reserve forest areas, 1,97,826 hectare areas in 5 National Parks and 1,84,008.10 hectare areas in 18 Wildlife Sanctuaries.





Out of these, 3,73,876.95 hectares of Reserve forest areas, 3,971 hectares National Park areas and 10,037.50 hectares Wildlife Sanctuary areas are under encroachment, Pramila Rani Brahma said.





The government data revealed that, 12,190.83 hectares areas were encroached in 11 Reserve forest in Karbi Anglong and West karbi Anglong districts.





According to the state government data, 3355.46 hectares encroached in Selabor reserve forest in the hill district while 3339 hectares encroached in Rongkhang reserve forest, 1708.32 hectares in Amreng reserve forest, 1263 hectares in Dhansiri reserve forest, 1235 hectares in Jokota reserve forest.





The Assam forest minister informed the house that, the forest department has taken initiative to evict illegal encroachers.





On the other hand, the Assam government had admitted that, illegal coal mining is going on in Karbi Anglong district.





Replying an another written query raised by BJP MLA of Bokajan constituency Dr Numol Momin, the Assam forest minister said that, the state Home and Political department has recently sent a letter to the Special Director General of Police (CID) and ordered to probe against the coal syndicate.





In the letter no HMA-19015/7/2018-POLITICAL (A)/((eCF No.58416)/4, the state Home and Political department said that, the Mines and Minerals department has already issued instructions to the Superintendent of Police (SP) of Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Sivasagar, Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao districts to take stern action against the illegal coal mining activities.





The Assam forest minister said that, her department has taken all measures to stop illegal coal mining in the state.



The Fianna Fail National Constituencies Committee this week announced councillor Padraig O'Sullivan has been added to the party's ticket to contest the next general election in Cork East alongside sitting TD Kevin O'Keeffe.

The Little Island native contested the general election in the Cork North Central constituency at the 2011 general election and was subsequently elected to the Council's Cobh LEA in the 2014 local elections, topping the poll with 2,600 first preference votes.

While based in the east of the constituency, Cllr O'Sullivan is no stranger to north Cork having worked as a secondary teacher at Colaiste an Chraoibhin in Fermoy for the last eight years.

"I am very familiar with the area and a lot of former pupils at the school and their families would be know me well," Cllr O'Sullivan told The Corkman.

"I hope they will remember me when it comes to going to the polls," he grinned.

Cllr O'Sullivan said he believed that given the party's strong showing in Cork East at the 2016 general election, there was a fair chance that Fianna Fail could win back the seat it lost at the polls in 2011. He pointed out that Barbara Ahern, the daughter of Carrigtwohill-based former TD Michael Ahern, polled almost 4,600 first preference votes only losing the final and seat to Sinn Fein's Pat Buckley on the tenth count.

"If I could replicate that showing and add another 500 votes there is a strong chance that I could take the fourth seat," said Cllr O'Sullivan.

"The fact that there is currently no sitting TD in the Cobh/Carrigtwohill pocket could also be an advantage to me," he added.

Welcoming Cllr O'Sullivan's addition to the Cork East ticket, Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin said he was an "outstanding public representative and community activist" who has worked hard on behalf of his council constituents.

"Padraig will inject a freshness into politics in Cork East and I have no doubt that if elected to Dail Eireann he will be a first-class Deputy who will represent his people with energy and commitment," said Deputy Martin.

"Padraig is highly regarded, is involved in many sporting and community groups and represents a new generation of people committed to public service and helping those in all walks of life," he added.

A remarkable story Bob Jackson tells the remarkable story of Aidan MacCarthy, a doctor from Castletownbere, who, at 28, joined the RAF in London as World War II began. Soon after he found himself evacuated from Dunkirk.

Later, was captured by the Japanese and survived almost 4 years of brutal captivity. He was a POW in Nagasaki when the atomic bomb was dropped on the city on 9 August, 1945. Bob Jackson will tell this remarkable story in a lecture organised by Muskerry Local History Society on Monday, 12 March at 8 pm in Ballincollig Rugby Club.Chapterhouse Theatre Company is now in its 19th year of touring open-air theatre to stunning country houses, castles and heritage sites across the UK and Ireland.

From the first year of performances at 30 venues with Romeo and Juliet in 2000, Chapterhouse now visits over 180 venues every year, and has become a greatly anticipated addition to thousands of theatre-goers' calendars

The events around the area are always well supported and this year promises to be no different.

The shows are at Bellingham Castle, Wednesday 20th June and that will be Sense and Sensibility.

That show will also be staged at the Battle of the Boyne Estate on Saturday 30th June.

The Battle of the Boyne Estate will also host Alice's Adventures in Wonderland on Saturday 21st July.

'We encourage audiences to bring along a rug and a picnic (and perhaps a glass of wine or two for the adults...) before being whisked away by the magic of theatre on a summer evening,' they state.Do you have time to be a hospital volunteer? Do you have 2-3 hours to spare in the afternoons. Would you like to make hospital a happier place for a sick child? Children in Hospital Ireland (CHI) would love to hear from you.

CHI is one of Ireland's leading children's charities providing play and fun for sick children in hospital around the country for over 45 years.

They need your help to organise play activities for hospitalised sick children, from painting, helping with jigsaws or board games to simple arts & crafts or reading stories.

They are currently appealing for volunteers, to volunteer in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda.

An upcoming Information and Interview evening will take place on Wednesday 21st March at 6pm in Drogheda. Successful candidates will then be invited to attend a training session to be held on Saturday 14th April from 10am to 4pm, also in Drogheda. If you are interested in learning more about becoming a volunteer with CHI please RSVP to info@childreninhospital.ie / (01) 290 3510, or visit www.childreninhospital.ie/volunteers. They ask that you do not contact the hospital directly.

Hospitalisation can be a very stressful experience for both children and parents. Play helps to alleviate some of that trauma. Simple play activities introduce a reassuring normality to a strange hospital environment. It is a natural part of a child's life and aids recovery. It also helps the child to build relationships and make new friends, and above all brings fun into the child's life.

Volunteers must be over 18 years of age, enthusiastic, caring, reliable and have 2-3 hours a week to spare and be prepared to sign up for a year. All volunteer will undergo Garda Vetting/Police Clearance. A comprehensive training programme will be provided for volunteers, as well as on-going support.A Laytown based garda is planning to climb to Everest Base Camp as part of a major fundraiser for Down Syndrome North East.

Drogheda native Louise Coyle will travel with a team of garda colleagues on April 8.

Ive paid for the trip myself. I think it would be a shame to do something like this and not try to raise some money for charity along the way. Ive chosen The Down Syndrome Centre North East because of the wonderful work they do working with families in Louth, Meath, Cavan and Monaghan. Every cent counts, she stated.

The charity works with families and provides support, education and advice. It was set up and is run by the parents of Down Syndrome children. Charities like this one provide a vital service and are always in need of funding. The climbers will spend 14 days trekking in Nepal.

I hope to bring in 2,000 for my charity. That would be great, Louise stated.

She completed the Four Peaks Challenge last year, but this will be a totally different exercise. In the force for the past 12 years, Louise has spent the last eight years in Laytown, having also had a three year spell in Cavan.

It would be great to get as much funding as possible for Down Syndrome North East, she added.

Louise has a Just Giving page https://www.facebook.com/louise.coyle.14/posts/10215322100624774.

Louise can be contacted on louisecoyle14@gmail.com.The death has occurred of Betty McBride nee Milne, Nunneryland, Termonfeckin on Sunday, December 10th 2017.

Betty came from a family of ten in Trinity Street, Drogheda. She was born on February 23rd, 1925, the second eldest after older sister Annie who pre-deceased her in May 2016 aged 94 years.

She is also predeceased by her sisters Lily and Mary and her brother Paddy.

Tommy and Kathleen are in England, Rhonda, Peter and John are all in Drogheda.

Betty worked in the Boyne Mill before she met John McBride from Donegal whom she went on to marry in 1950. John passed away 30 years ago. They stayed in town for a few years having their family; the couple had ten children, seven daughters and three sons.

Five of her children were born in town and the other half in Termonfeckin.

They moved to Termonfeckin in January 1958; she would have been 50 years there on January 13th, 2018.

Betty had a tough life in the early years rearing her family but nothing ever phased her. She was blessed with good health and enjoyed nothing more than a sing song and dancing. She loved going to hear her son-in-law, Val Rogers, play in any venue she knew she would get to sing a song.

She loved travelling in the early years with her sisters and brothers, then in latter years with her own family. She travelled all over Ireland, especially to Donegal to see all her in-laws.

Betty also went to Lanzarote, Canada and Boston and did a Mediterranean cruise. But there was nothing she loved better than her twice weekly trip to bingo; Clogherhead on Monday night and The Barbican on Thursday nights.

She had a great memory for crosswords and jigsaws and loved knitting.

Betty will be sorely missed by all her family, especially Rose, Charles, Paddy, Colette, Ann, Sean, Eileen, Katherina, Noeleen and Marie, her sons-in-law, daughters-in-law and all her grandchildren - 40 in total. She had a lot of time for them. Her granddaughter Corina predeceased her in October 2011, aged 32.

She was the familys rock when it came to any cross we had to bare, we will miss her terribly. The chain has been broken.

May She Rest in Peace.Sr. Veronica was born in Bekan Cross, Co. Mayo in 1928. She worked as a clerical assistant in the Department of Agriculture before joining MMM in 1955.

After profession she was assigned to Angola where she served for 16 years as secretary, bursar and housekeeper in remote MMM missions.

She then worked in Ireland, accompanying women interested in joining MMM.

She was a secretary at the Motherhouse and at the Apostolic Nunciature and served for several years in MMM leadership.

In 1986 Sr. Veronica returned to Angola and spent 9 years in vocation work, in teaching at the Lubango Pastoral Centre, and in local MMM leadership.

In 1997 she was elected to the Congregational Leadership Team and was Zonal Coordinator for Europe for 6 years.

She then helped with various duties in Bettystown and in the Motherhouse.

Sr. Veronica became ill in February 2018 and moved to Aras Mhuire. She died there peacefully on 7 March 2018.Former Taoiseach John Bruton has paid tribute to Duleek man and his former colleague Shaun Lynch, of Newlanes House, Duleek who passed away at the weekend.

Shaun had a distinguished career as a member of Meath County Council, representing Duleek and surrounding areas in East Meath.

'He served on the Council during a time when Duleek was undergoing rapid development, and Shaun worked tirelessly to preserve the natural and built heritage of the area, so as to provide a good quality of life for all Duleek residents, both native and more recently arrived.

'As a man with a deep knowledge of farming, he also served the interests of the rural community with care and commitment. He spent much of his early life in Australia and was able to bring an international perspective to bear on political discussions within Fine Gael.

'With his wife Liz, he was deeply involved in the local community service organisations. He had a particular interest in local history. I extend deepest sympathy to his wife Liz, and to his children Ian, Ciara, Kathryn and Sarah,' Mr Bruton stated.

Sean's Funeral Mass is on Wednesday morning at 11pm in St. Cianan's Church, Duleek followed by burial in Holy Cross Cemetery.Residents of Five Oaks and Deepforde have expressed their fears that the lack of footpath between the two estates will lead to tragedy.

At present, the footpath on the Dublin Road stops dead at the Meath boundary between the two estates, forcing families and children to cross an extremely busy road to access the path on the opposite side.

While Meath County Council (MCC) has completed the footpath from the Deepforde estate as far as the Southgate Roundabout, Louth County Council (LCC) has said it has no plans to provide a footpath on the Louth side running as far as the Five Oaks estate. One of the reasons given was that the footpath would service mainly the households resident in County Meath.

Emily Hodgins from the Five Oaks Residents Association said: A huge portion of the population in the estate, myself included, would use this stretch of the road. Children, dog walkers and shoppers. Its the only portion of the Dublin Road that isnt paved so I dont understand it.

She said one of the conditions of the planning permission for Five Oaks was that a contribution of 67,000 was required to be paid by the developer towards the cost of footpaths.

Chairperson of the Deepforde Residents Association (DRA), Ciaran Leddy said: Were all part of Drogheda, weve got Southgate Shopping Centre on the Meath side, Five Oaks on the Louth side but the very fact there is no footpath linking up the two means that local residents are being put at risk in an area that is an accident black spot.

I was speaking to my own nine-year-old daughter about it who said herself and her Mum have to run across the road every morning on the way to school to avoid the cars. That to me just brings home how dangerous it is. 

Aaron ONeill, Treasurer of the DRA, added: At the end of the day this is a safety issue for the residents of Drogheda, those who live in both Louth and Meath. The Meath part of the footpath is in place. Louth now needs to do its part to ensure no childrens lives are lost before someone agrees to take action.'



Guwahati : Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Thursday reviewed the functioning of Industries and Commerce Department at his conference room at Janata Bhawan in Guwahati and discussed about various initiatives taken by the department to sustain the economic momentum created by Advantage Assam: Global Investors Summit.





Directing the department to take urgent action to revive the Assam Tea Corporation Limited so that the burden of financial liability faced by the corporation can be lessened, the Assam CM stressed upon the need to make the small tea growers of the state aware about harmful effects of rampant pesticide usage which has reduced fertility of their lands.





He also directed the department to conduct training programme for the small tea growers in batches every month to motivate them to adopt organic farming practices.





Sonowal was informed about Assam Incubation Hub which will be operational by April 2018 at newly constructed building in the city and various schemes like Swayam for spurting rapid growth of entrepreneurship and start-up culture in the state.





Saying that Industries and Commerce Department has made a distinct name for itself for successfully organising an event like Advantage Assam, the Assam CM urged the department to sustain the success story by organising the Investment and Skill Melas in all the districts of the state.





He also directed the department take action for setting up an industrial estate in all 33 districts of Assam which would make the industrial growth of the state visible to the people.





Sonowal directed the department to arrange for showing the films on Namami Brahmaputra and Namami Barak festivals along with Advantage Assam in the schools and colleges of the state for motivating the young generation.





He was also informed in the meeting about the status of Invest Assam Agency which is being set up to follow up the initiatives taken during Advantage Assam and facilitate the potential investors with various ground works.





Sonowal was informed that Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas Work has given go ahead on the proposed gas grid connectivity from Barauni to Guwahati which would help rapid industrial development of the state.





The Assam CM urged the department formulate industrial policies of the state to give more and more incentives to the investors so that Assams stature as an attractive investment destination rises.





Industries and Commerce Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary, Legal and Media Advisers to the Chief Minister Shantanu Bharali and Hrishikesh Goswami, Additional Chief Secretary of the department Ravi Capoor, Principal

Secretary to the chief minister Sanjay Lohia were also present in the meeting among others.



Drogheda can expect a Saint Patrick's Day with a difference this year, with a four-day extravaganza spanning Friday to Monday planned throughout the town, which is part of an extensive programme of exciting family events planned in the run up to Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann this August.

Residents and visitors to Drogheda will be treated to a taste of the Fleadh during the weekend-long celebration of Irish culture, music, language, song and dance.

Chairperson of the Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann organising committee, Lolo Robinson, has been appointed Grand Marshal of the parade and has urged those planning to come to Drogheda to make a point of participating in the many events scheduled to take place over weekend.

Lolo Robinson said "The theme of this year's parade is 'Celebrating Irish Culture'. This Saint Patrick's Day will mark the beginning of an extensive programme of family friendly events, as Drogheda gets set to host Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann 2018."

On Friday 16th of March, a concert with BBC Musician of the Year, Tim Edey will be held at the Barbican Theatre with a host of local musicians. Elsewhere at Odd Mollies, talented five-piece 'Un-Reel' made up of traditional Irish music students from DKIT will take to the stage followed by an open session.

The highlight of the weekend, the St. Patrick's Day parade, will take place on Saturday, 17th March at midday. Amongst the many artistic floats and participants, 100 people from the Comhaltas Drogheda branch will take part along with 3 Irish dance schools and 10 wren boys. 'Music At The Magical Marquee' will also take place on the 17th at Duke Street Car Park, West Street and will incorporate a trad seisiun, face painting, balloon art and even an ice cream van for a fun family day out. Furthermore, a Drogheda Comhaltas Ceili will take place at the Holy Family Community Centre.

On Fleadh Sunday, the Irish Street Seisiun competition will take place between 2pm and 5pm on Laurence & West Streets Drogheda. Cash prizes of 600 will be split between first, second and third place prize winners, with first place also securing a 30 minute performance spot during the Fleadh this August.

The festivities will draw to a close on Monday with a traditional Irish singing session featuring Noelle Bowe and The Drogheda Singing Circle at Highlanes Gallery, followed by a Traditional Seisiun with Gerry Breen, John O'Reilly and Darragh O Heiligh at O'Raghallaighs GAA Club.

To find out more details of time and locations of the events taking place visit https://fleadhcheoil.ie/a-taste-of-the-fleadh-at-st-patricks-festival/The staff and management at the new dialysis unit at Sinnottstown Lane in Wexford have thanked the crew of the Enniscorthy Red Cross for all their hard work in transporting patients there in treacherous conditions during the worst of the snow.

A crew of three from the Enniscorthy Red Cross battled through serious snow drifts in their trusty Landrover Defender ambulance to ensure that patients were able to receive vital lifesaving treatment. Manager of Wellstone Wexford Renal Care Centre, Debbie MacDonald, has thanked the crew for their hard work and bravery during the worst of the storm.

'A lot of our patients live in very remote areas of the county, but as you know the main roads and towns were also affected,' she said. 'I had too call on the defence forces to assist us to get patients to and from the clinic for their essential lifesaving treatment. Paddy Redmond and his colleagues spent the whole day on Friday transporting essential staff and patients to and from our unit in order for the dialysis team to provide their treatment. As the weather was so awful we only managed to treat half the patients and had to open from 7 a.m. to midnight on Saturday to treat the rest of the patients. Paddy worked tirelessly throughout the Saturday as well to ensure all the patents that were assigned to him were brought in to the unit.'

Debbie continued that were it not for the help of the Red Cross, they wouldn't have managed to get near as many patients their vital treatment.

'We are very grateful for all the help of the defence forces,' Debbie continued.

'But in particular to Paddy and his colleagues who I felt went above and beyond all expectations to help us here in The Wellstone Wexford Renal Care centre.'It was an inspiring morning at The Presentation Centre last week as ladies flocked from all over the locality for a special event on the eve of International Women's Day. A collaboration by the Enniscorthy & District Chamber, Wexford County Council, Soroptimist International and the Local Enterprise Office, the event gathered some fascinating speakers who talked about their own lives and work as well as passing on some advice to ladies present under the theme 'Success beyond wealth and power'.

The event was facilitated by a familiar face in the form of TV3 journalist and news reporter Zara King who threw herself into the roll and was more than happy to chat with all those in attendance. Wexford camogie star Una Sinnott was particularly inspiring as she told women to 'go at it' and chase their dreams. The youngest panellist and a UCD Food & Agriculture student, Una spoke freely about grabbing opportunities in the 'now', and not waiting for the perfect time. Una says success is something that has to be felt from within. Quoting her leaving cert English teacher, Una says the best advice she's ever received was "People may say things. Don't take it personally."

Linda Doran, Director at Baker Tilly Hughes Blake, told those in attendance that success for her was being able to provide her family with 'options'. Describing education as a "passport" in life, Linda said while her "CV isn't a road map you'd show to a leaving cert student" what she learned along the way was vital.

Joanne Powell, a learning and development professional with QED, introduced the audience to 'the wheel' which shows a breakdown of various aspects of life including 'home life, family, health, fitness, money, significant other, etc' She urged women to 'take time out, to examine your wheel' and 'follow your gut'.

Irene Walker of Soroptimist International Wexford Branch, is originally from the Netherlands, and shared stories of her life working in foreign affairs from Jamaica to London and everywhere in between. She denied ever facing any cultural barriers during her time in public service, but said one the biggest challenges in her role was that 'people don't choose not to tell the truth, yet they tell it as the see it.' In later life, Irene set up her own business in Wexford, harnessing her passion for antiques and is now travelling the world with Soroptimist International.

The event was a great success attracting a crowd of 59 women and one man. Chamber CEO Catriona Murphy says 'I felt really proud of the talent and success we have beyond wealth and power within county Wexford. Our message today was about empowering all people, to empower women, and for each of us to have a day that matters.'Works to replace 5km of ailing water mains in Swords will hit Main Street in June and are working their way up the Forest Road and down from Lissenhall at the moment and while Irish water acknowledge the work will cause some disruption to the town with traffic restrictions and water shut-offs, the utility explained the urgency of the job saying 1.4 million litres a day are being lost through the ageing mains.

The troublesome pipe has been a bugbear of local businesses and homes in the centre of Swords who have suffered through numerous bursts in recent years.

The project to put an end to the bursts and the staggering leakage from the mains began early this year and will cost 9 million.

Paul Hickey is Regional Lead Project Engineer, overseeing the work in Swords and he explained why the work had to be taken on and reported on the project's progress.

He told the Fingal Independent: 'This pipe has been bursting with increasing frequency since 2011. There's been 28 bursts I think, since 2011 and there were five alone in 2012. Those have had a significant impact themselves on the traffic in Swords, not to mention the disruptions to water supply.

'We started on site in January so progress has been going very well since then. We are approximately 20 to 25% the way through the work so we've laid quite a bit of pipe at this stage. Much of the work has been done at the two extremities of the project, up around Lissenhall we've laid about half a kilometre of pipe and we've been working away up there and more recently then we have been on Forest Road down at the other end, at what we call the start of the work. We are going pretty well.

'In fairness to our contractor, GMC, they are making very good progress on the works and they are liaising with the road authority and Fingal County Council as well on a regular basis to arrange necessary traffic management and road closures and openings and so on.'

Mr Hickey acknowledged that the first day of traffic management on the project had some 'teething problems' with the sequencing of traffic lights, but said: 'It's nearly unavoidable to have some little degree of confusion but I'm happy to say that it was sorted out fairly quickly.'

The next major road closure happens on a section of Forest Road during the school-mid term break at the end of the month and Mr Hickey said that Irish Water will be informing locals of traffic restrictions in the area well in advance.

The trickiest part of the project is when it reaches Main Street this summer. The work is due to get to Main Street in June and will be there until the around the middle of August but Irish Water hope to avoid a total road closure by using the engineering answer to keyhole surgery, known as 'trenchless technology' which will allow the utility to keep at least one side of the road open throughout although for a few weeks at the end of the work on Main Street, it will be necessary to have a more comprehensive road closure at the North Street end of Main Street.

Explaining how Irish Water hopes to mitigate the disruption the project will cause, Mr Hickey said: 'Where we can we will implement road closures in periods when schools are not active, when the academic year is wound down or on a break.

I suppose generally, what we are also doing in terms of this project is utilising what is called 'trenchless technology'. So over half of this pipe is going to be rehabilitated using trenchless methods.'

He explained: 'We will have strategically placed pits that we will open up to get into the pipe and we will rehabilitate the pipe using a lining system inserted from above ground up through the existing water main. Approximately 60 to 65% of the 5km we are rehabilitating is being done with this trenchless technology. I suppose the benefit of that is that it minimises or certainly reduces the potential for impact on the likes of traffic and the need for road closures.

'Our current plan is that we will get to Main Street around the middle of June. We will be there until around the middle of August and for the majority of that time there will be traffic management in place as opposed to a closure.

But at the end of that period, for a small number of weeks, to facilitate a connection up at the top end of Main Street, near North Street, there will be short closure of a few weeks just locally there but we will be advertising that and it will be well flagged in advance.'

Whatever the disruptions the work will cause, Mr Hickey said at least they will be planned and locals will be notified, unlike the similar disruptions caused by the pipe's all to regular bursts.

He said: 'We have had a history of bursts and the pipe could burst again tomorrow and that will be something that nobody has planned for and their would be unavoidable interruptions there and disruption and so on.

'So part of the benefits of this is that we are planning our activities and we are trying to minimise the disruption that takes place but at least it's planned and it's end game is to eliminate the future disruptions that have been causing a headache for people.'

Despite a three-day interruption thanks to Storm Emma, the project is well on schedule and the project engineer hopes that despite the 23-month time-frame for the project, the major work will be completed around July of next year.

He said the problem with the 1970s mains was that its 'connections have disintegrated' and it was losing 1.4 million litres of water a day, apart from its vulnerability to bursting.

Mr Hickey said this was one of the largest projects of its kind Irish Water are engaged in at the moment and that the pipe has great strategic value not only for the future of Swords but also for feeding water up to Malahide Reservoir.

The project engineer promised constant communication with locals and with the business community as the works progress and sent a message to the local community, saying: 'We have had positive feedback in terms of people being glad the project is being done and we've had other feedback concerning traffic management and the impact on passing trade and so on.

'We have already taken measures to minimise the impact on traffic flow around the area while the project is done, not least by using this trenchless technology and the rest of it we will try to manage as best we can with the road authority and by communicating with businesses in advance of the work.'

He concluded: 'I think it's important to communicate that it is necessary work and it does have an ultimate benefit in terms of its long-term impacts.

'It will virtually eliminate this burst situation that has been happening with greater frequency in recent years and that means the traffic will maybe have a happier time around the village and certainly the water supply for the businesses around the town will be very much less disrupted.'It took four units of Dublin Fire Brigade drawn from local stations to put out a blaze at a Casey Doors factory off the Harry Reynolds Road, last Wednesday afternoon.

The fire broke out at around 4pm and four units of Dublin Fire Brigade from Balbriggan, Skerries, Swords and Kilbarrack led by District Officer, Colm Egan from Finglas Station, attended the blaze.

Gardai sealed off the road for the duration of the operation to bring the blaze under control and Dublin Fire Brigade spent six hours on the scene from 4pm to 10pm, with a tender from Balbriggan arriving first on the scene at the Casey Doors factory in Stephenstown Industrial Estate.

The fire is thought to have started accidentally in the 'boot spray room' of the factory and spread quickly from there.

The fire quickly spread to the roof and then to the rest of the building and according to gardai, 'extensive damage' was done to the building in the blaze.

The fire is not being treated as suspicious. It is believed the fire spread rapidly because of flammable materials and chemicals used in the factory.

Sub officer, Stephen Fowley from Balbriggan Fire Station reported conditions were difficult in fighting the blaze as firefighters fought through plumes of black smoke to bring the blaze under control.The crisis in providing sufficient school places at primary level to match demand in the youngest county in Ireland has spread from what we have already seen at its most intense in the River Valley area of Swords, northwards to Balbriggan.

The growing primary school place crisis in Fingal is reaching boiling point, according to Fingal Labour TD, Brendan Ryan, who raised the issue in the Dail with the Minister for Education, Richard Bruton.

Deputy Ryan called on the Minister for Education to declare Fingal 'an emergency area for school provision' and said the 'crisis for primary school places is set to increase in September'.

The Labour TD told the Fingal Independent: 'Fingal is the fastest growing and youngest county in Ireland, and has been for over a decade.

'We are now facing another year of crisis with primary school places as there are not enough schools to cope with the population increase.

'This problem is especially acute in Swords where the waiting list for the Holy Family Junior National School is getting worse year on year.

'The school is situated bang in the centre of River Valley which is in itself, bounded by Boroimhe and Ridgewood, both of which are huge population hubs with many young families.'

But the crisis does not end in Swords and has spread across Fingal, according to the local Labour TD.

Deputy Ryan explained: 'I have placed a parliamentary question asking the Minister for Education to set up an emergency task force for Fingal to include representatives from all patronage bodies and senior officials in his own department to examine and resolve this crisis as a matter of urgency.'

Turning to an emerging crisis in Balbriggan, he said: 'I have received a letter from the Chair of the Board of Management in a school in Balbriggan citing that they are over-subscribed by 88 students. The school building program initiated by Labour in the last Government has ground to a halt and we are reaping the results of that now.'

Jigsaw North Fingal do a tremendous job from their Balbriggan base in delivering vital supports to young people experiencing issues with mental health and an opportunity is coming up to help the organisation in Croke Park.

In aid of the national network of Jigsaw organisations, including North Fingal Jigsaw, you are being asked to take on the Jigsaw Croke Park Abseil, supported by Arthur Cox.

This very unique fundraiser is being held at Croke Park on Saturday, April 28 and will help to raise vital funds to support young people with their mental health.

Jigsaw, Ireland's National Centre for Youth Mental Health, are seeking 60 brave individuals to join them in an abseil fundraising challenge from the top of the famous Hogan Stand at Croke Park.

The challenge aims to raise over 30,000 to support Jigsaw's work delivering a range of services improving the lives of young people experiencing mental health difficulties.

'I absolutely loved the Jigsaw Croke Park Abseil,' said Justin McDermott, who took park in last year's abseil.

He added: 'I was terrified at the top, but once I had my feet firmly on the pitch I wanted to do it all over again! It's a great way to support Jigsaw and youth mental health whist having an amazing and memorable experience.'

You can register your interest in taking part online at jigsaw.ie/abseil, or by calling The Jigsaw Fundraising Team on 01 472 7010. There is a 50 registration fee, and participants are asked to raise at least 300. Jigsaw will be there with you every step of the way, giving support to help you reach your fundraising target.Water supply is returning to normal across Fingal after disruption to the service caused by the ravages of Storm Emma.

Irish Water has confirmed that it has no plans to restrict supply or reduce water pressure in the region as the area begins to recover. A spokesperson said that Irish Water along with the four Dublin local authorities were continuing to make good progress on finding and fixing leak on the public network and also on private side leaks in homes and businesses.

However, it has continued to appeal to homeowners and businesses to conserve water at this time. She advised people to check out www.water.ie for further information.

Where customers do have leaks in their homes, they are encouraged to prioritise getting these fixed. Any visible leaks should be reported to Irish Water on 1850 278 278.

For elected representatives Irish Water has dedicated phone lines in place for elected representatives. The phone number is 1890 578 578 for TDs and Senators and for Counc Councillors the Local Representative number is 1890 178 178.

Meanwhile, Deputy Louise O'Reilly had raised the issue of water shortages in Fingal with the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government Eoghan Murphy in the Dail last Wednesday. She said that people across the north county in Balbriggan, Skerries, Rush and other areas had been left without water fora number of days.

She said: 'Irish water crews are doing fantastic work on the ground, but it is those at the top who are failing to keep people in the loop. We are aware that the restoration of water takes time, but people are being left in the dark on how the situation is progressing. 'The Minister and the Government need to ensure that Irish Water keep people informed of ongoing developments regarding water so they're not in the dark. 'People feel out in the dark and insulted in how they've been treated and all they are asking for is transparency, inclusion in developments, and respect while the water level is increased.'After a year's delay in finding a site for the school, the Malahide Portmarnock Educate Together Seconday School will be able to open this September but the school's temporary site is not located in either Malahide or Portmarnock, but in Swords.

Educate Together has announced that the Malahide Portmarnock Educate Together Secondary School will open in temporary accommodation in the Riasc Centre in Swords Business Park, off the Feltrim Road.

The school opening, initially due in 2017, was postponed due to the difficulties in sourcing adequate accommodation.

Aoife Kelly-Gibson, Principal of Malahide Portmarnock ETSS said: 'I am delighted to be in a position to announce the temporary location for Malahide Portmarnock ETSS. It's been a long road to this point but now that we have a base we can continue to establish what I believe will be a fantastic school and a great asset to the community it serves.

'I look forward to welcoming our new teachers, our parents and most of all, our brand new students who will be joining us on this exciting journey.'

Gerry McKevitt, school manager of Malahide Portmarnock ETSS, said: 'I would like to commend Aoife and the school community of Malahide Portmarnock ETSS for their patience and resilience during the last year while we sought accommodation for the school. We are grateful to the management and staff at the Riasc Centre for their co-operation.'

Malahide Portmarnock ETSS will open to First Years starting secondary school, this year.

Fine Gael TD for Dublin Fingal, Alan Farrell has welcomed the news, saying: 'I am delighted that temporary accommodation has been secured for the Malahide Portmarnock Educate Together in the Riasc Centre, Swords Business Park, off the Feltrim Road. Having secured this temporary accommodation, the school will now open to incoming students this September.'

However, the local TD said there is more work to be done in satisfying the educational needs of the community in Malahide and Portmarnock.

He said: 'While this is certainly positive, work must continue to secure a permanent home for the Malahide Portmarnock Educate Together Secondary School.

'This investment in our local educational infrastructure will be further enhanced when Portmarnock Community School is provided with a new school building.'

Deputy Farrell said: 'The opening of the new Malahide Portmarnock Educate Together Secondary School will also benefit both Malahide Community College and Portmarnock Community School by providing more options for parents and students, and subsequently assisting in addressing the challenges both schools are facing in terms of the number of incoming students each year.'

Congratulating all involved in securing the temporary site to allow the school to establish itself, Deputy Farrell said: 'I would like to commend the principal, the Educate Together movement, committed parents groups, Fingal County Council, the Department of Education and Skills and all members of the wider community who have been involved in delivering this new school for our local community for the hard work they have undertaken in this regard. I also wish to commend Swords Baptist Church for facilitating this temporary accommodation for Malahide Portmarnock Educate Together Secondary School, until its permanent home is delivered in the immediate vicinity.'

He concluded: 'I will continue to actively engage with my Fine Gael colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills, Richard Bruton TD, and his Department to secure a permanent home for Malahide Portmarnock Educate Together National School.'A group of students from Gorey Community School have returned from a trip to Gambia.

The Gambia Youth Project runs every two years and 25 students accompanied by five adults go to Gambia in Africa for eight days.

The group managed to raise almost 30,000 and part of this money supports the ongoing projects in Gambia the school has been involved with.

'We pay teachers' salaries and provide food programmes for the students,' said teacher Mary Redmond. 'There is no trip next year so the funding has to last for two years.'

The money was used to fund the development of Mariama Kunda School, which is the Gorey Community School main project. The school has 650 students and will expand to 1000 over the next two years.

Ms Redmond said the plan is to build a technical block including a woodwork area. This will be an ongoing project for the next 10 years as it is estimated to cost over 100,000.

'The money goes a long way in Gambia,' said Mary. 'It is a great opportunity for the students to travel and also experience a developing country and what they can do to help.'Kathmandu, Nepal: Newly appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali has claimed that Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Nepal this year.





High-level international visits would take place in Nepal in 2018, and foreign visits from Nepal will also be made, Gyawali said while speaking at an interaction program in Kathmandu on Saturday.



RTE staff were so taken with Listowel on a recent visit they decided to move their studio to the town to broadcast the 11am St Patrick's Day Mass live - on both radio and TV.

Producers of the station's religious output were down to talk with the Listowel Folk Group about their forthcoming trip to the Donnybrook studio, where they were to perform the music for the TV and radio Mass.

"But they changed their mind after a visit to meet us in Listowel. The director said he got such a lovely feeling in Listowel that they felt the only thing for it was to come down to Listowel to broadcast live," Folk Group musical director Mary Moylan told The Kerryman.

Along with the RITH 2018 celebrations, it's making for one of the most exciting St Patrick's Day events in years for the North Kerry town.

Excitement is certainly at an all-time high for the Folk Group ahead of what will be their first ever appearance on television. "Combined with RITH the excitement is phenomenal in Listowel and we're thrilled to be performing live now on radio and TV for the RTE broadcast," said Mary.

" We're especially thrilled as half the music will be from Garry MacMahon's Mass," Mary explained.

Indeed, it was a performance of the Garry MacMahon Aifreann at the Fleadh Cheoil Mass in Ennis last year that sparked the whole development.

"We performed the Mass in its entirety on that occasion and that was broadcast on RTE Radio One in a fantastic experience for the group; although a challenging one as the Mass is all in Irish! And it was from that RTE explored the idea of the St Patrick's Mass with us."

Another hugely exciting March 17 development for Listowel will be the presence of Micheal O Muircheartaigh on the main stage; the legend down as part of the big RITH festivities.

This is the national event that will bring Se achtain na Gaeilge to a close and for which Listowel was selected as the destination. The RITH refers to the 1,500km run currently underway as Gaeilgeoir runners and friends carry a special message from Uachtaran Michael D Higgins.

The message will be read by a pupil of Gaelscoil Lios Tuathail from the main stage at the close of the big parade at 2pm. The parade itself sets off from the town park at 12.50pm with Owen MacMahon as MC for the event. Micheal will take to the stage from 2pm as well - to a huge Listowel welcome!You think of live music in Tralee and one of the first names that pop into your head is that of Ross Brassil - it's as simple as that.

Whether it be for his passion for singing, his energetic performances on stage or even just his famous beard, Ross is very much an instantly recognisable face around the town.

Having been playing guitar and entertaining audiences for almost 18 years now, one could be forgiven for thinking that Ross was born with an instrument in hand, but he admits - with a laugh, of course - that this was not the case at all.

"It was through family initially that I got involved in music. We had a few music teachers in there when I was growing up and although they tried to teach me different instruments when I was about seven or eight, - they, eh, sorta failed miserably," he laughed, speaking to The Kerryman on Thursday.

After these early failures, it wasn't until his mid-teens that he attempted to start again, this time choosing the guitar as his instrument of choice. Years of practice followed, leading to his first ever live performance in the Abbey Inn bar here in town - an experience that Ross remembers fondly.

"Some friends of mine in my class in sixth year in CBS, The Green, they used to play in a band. We weren't 18 or anything but they used to play in the Abbey Inn every Friday night and I used to go down and watch them play," he continued.

"One night, one of my friends just asked me to come up on stage and sing Metallica - they knew I was big into them - so I just went up and roared my head off and that was the start of it all. Being on stage, it was just brillant, it was an amazing feeling," he said.

After graduating from college with a degree in Business and Accounting at the height of the recession, Ross said that he, like many others at the time, struggled to find employment in his sector - thus forcing him to find other ways to sustain himself.

"I've been playing here [on the Tralee pub scene] since I'd say around 2010. I was fortunate after college that a few bars gave me the odd gig here or there - maybe one gig a month - not for much money at all, sometimes I'd even just get a few free pints," he laughed.

"Everything sorted of just escalated from there then," he continued.

With now almost ten years experience of playing pubs under his belt, Ross says that he enjoys (almost) everything that comes with the pub scene.

"Every night playing in a pub is different. You can meet so many different people from all walks of life - you can never fully predict how everythings going to go, and sometimes that's not the best thing," he laughed.

"You can have some good nights and then, you can have some really bad nights," he said.

"You might have a sore throat, you might be sick with a cold or flu, your hands and fingers might be sore from playing and of course, there might be an odd plague or two in the crowd," he chuckled.

"Other than that though, I really enjoy what I do; I just enjoy singing. It's as simple as that, I just get a great joy and excitement out of getting on stage and singing, I think it's safe to say that I've given up on using my degree. At least with singing, I dont't have to shave!" he laughed.

Listing his musical influences at Metallica - "maybe it's not so cool to still like them," he laughed - and his singwriting influence as Leonard Cohen, it's easy to see where Ross gets his very varied style of performing.

As for the future, Ross says that there are still a few items that he'd love to tick off his music bucket list - including a recording session and a national tour of Ireland!

"At some point in the future, I'd love to record some music properly. There's been a lot of songs that I've had a part in writing and I would love to have them recorded properly, you know?"

"I'd love as well to just hop in a bus for a week or two, head up the country somewhere and play in a number of different places; preferably, I'd like to do this with a band as well, I love playing with other people. I'd love to travel around for a two week period, to be living each others pockets and just having the craic," he laughed.

"Just to be able to do that once before I eventually stop playing, that's something I'd love to do," he finished.

Still only a young man, this writer easily sees Ross achieving this goal and much, much more.

Ross is available to sing at a number of occasions, including hotel functions, birthdays, weddings, christening and much more; he is available to contact through his 'Ross Brassil Music' Facebook page.At one point loathed, the Tarbert Bridewell's limestone walls are today admired as an elegant showcase of 19th century craftsmanship. Formerly a setting for confinement of prisoners and issuing of harsh punishments, the imposing structure is now home instead to much that marks a north Kerry community as special.

From 1831, the Bridewell served as a jail for more than 40 years - and when that stretch of its time-line was consigned to grim history, the building continued to operate as a courthouse for a further 75 years.

The site now exists under a community-based board of trustees for the people of Tarbert, its day-to-day running overseen by a voluntary management committee. Some 30 years have passed since the locality voted to save an historic building being sold for its neat stone - and it's 25 years since the Bridewell was rescued from every trace of the dereliction that had threatened to fatally undermine it.

"Under the umbrella of Tarbert Development Association [TDA], the community in 1988 decided and voted to save the building, and our brief was the restoration and preservation of the building because of its historical, cultural and architectural value - and, believe it or not, nearly all of us that were there in 1988 are still there," Mary O'Connell says. "We were chaired back then by the late Maurice Fitzgerald, and his son Niall is now chair.

"We wanted to turn it into an amenity that would be self-sustaining, where any profits could be reinvested in the community. It's owned by the community, it's managed by the community - and the trustees are within the community."

Though one of eight of Bridewells built in Kerry, Tarbert's was the only one restored as a museum, Mary explains, reeling off the building's history with the fluency of an archivist. Designed to hold prisoners until courts were held, Tarbert and its fellow Bridewells were home to extensive misery. With cases heard every 30 days, to be arrested the day after a court sitting was considered especially unfortunate; it meant having to suffer a month of bread, gruel, and mindless labour before having even a chance of encountering justice.

"At the time there were local notables appointed by the Government because of their wealth or status or political reliability, and the surnames of the leading magistrates in Tarbert were Sandes, Leslie, Chute, Blennerhassett, Spring, Crosby - names that are still there today between Tralee and Tarbert," Mary says. "What we do here today is tell the story of Thomas Dillon, and you follow him through his arrest, his charge, and when he was brought to the Bridewell. He would have been kept in Tarbert until the court of petty sessions was held. He had left his cow onto a neighbour's property to graze and was then fined ten shillings.

"Mary McCarthy is very interesting too in that she was there with her baby. When she was tried for such a small crime [stealing cabbage plants] she got deportation. Her baby went with her and her children were then put into a workhouse. The thing about deportation at that time was that the judiciary was sending off young women, young men, and they would have been transported at times for very minor crimes. If a young man stole a book, they'd get deportation. If an older person did it, they wouldn't, because they'd hardly last the voyage. The regime in the Bridewell prison itself was very bad; they just got gruel, bread, milk - and that was it."

After suffering decades of disuse following its original closure, it took five years from the ambitious local moves of 1988 for the Bridewell to be well enough to welcome visitors subsequent to fund-raising drives ably supplanted by north Kerry folk at home and overseas. The landmark finally re-opened in 1993, assuming a figure broadly resembling its current guise.

Today, aside from functioning as a necessary reminder of an infinitely grimmer time, the Bridewell houses an exhibition on the works of Thomas McGreevy, a coffee shop, a gift centre, and a community hub that hosts an impressive range of events and groups.

Its haunting history has also called the eyes of fascinated ghost-hunter teams from around Ireland, and the building even appeared recently in the US' version of "Who Do You Think You Are?", as actor Sean Hayes traced his lineage back to the trial of his great-granduncles - Patrick and William - for the assault of his great-great-grandfather.

"But you do get to a stage where refurbishment has to start again and that's what we're about at the moment," Mary said upon the 25th anniversary of the re-opening. "With the support of KLAG, we've had funding approved under the LEADER programme for refurbishments and an up-to-date AV system to enhance the experience for visitors. These will be in place ahead of the new tourist season - but a quarter of the cost must be borne by the sponsor, so we'll be undertaking a fund-raising drive in due course."

And these planned efforts will be worthwhile, Mary maintains; her belief in the upkeep of the Bridewell has not dimmed with the passing of a quarter of a century.

"From the day we opened we've had the most wonderful staff on CE schemes taking a personal interest - they love that it's our history, it's our past," she says. "We can't forget; I know it's a haunting past from a different time, and it was a terrible time - but we preserve it for our children and our grand-children."On Friday, February 23, the death after a long and brave battle with terminal illness took place in London of Sheila Curran (nee King), originally from Reen in Ballinskelligs.

Born on August 7, 1961, she and her husband Michael (Mike) Curran of Ballyhearney, Valentia Island, emigrated to New York in 1984 to live in Queens. Prior to that Sheila and Michael (a qualified chef), first met while working in the hospitality and catering business in Waterville.

Their wedding took place in New York in 1987 and they were to spend a few more years there as she worked in the bar trade. On returning to Ireland they opened Curran's Supermarket and chipper outlet in the village of Chapeltown.

However, in similarity to so many retail outlets of small towns and villages in rural Ireland, the shop succumbed to the economic downturn and the difficulty of operating such businesses in such places. It was to be the last grocery outlet in Chapeltown where once existed five.

As a result they emigrated to London in the late '90s where they have since been domiciled. Mike's skills as a chef saw him obtain work in the canteen of the Murphy Brothers construction outfit and, quite admirably, Sheila, in spite of the cares of looking after their two young children Declan and Melissa, studied and trained as a nurse in King's College, London, graduating to the position of Ward Sister while working in St Thomas' Hospital, London.

Due to the effects of snow storm Emma the appointed time of the arrival of her remains to Valentia changed from Friday March 2 to Sunday March 4. On arrival to Chapeltown on Sunday night lone piper Gerard O'Donoghue led the cortege through the village of Chapeltown where the remains were received into the church of St Derarca and Teresa by Fr Patsy Lynch of Portmagee. During requiem mass on Monday celebrated by Fr Lynch, the Valentia choir sang and Paddy Casey provided accordion music. Her sister Marion Curran did a reading and her son-in-law Peter Conway rendered the eulogy.

On leaving the church her coffin was shouldered and led once more by the lone piper on the main road to the nearby building, where once Curran's Supermarket operated, and paused for a few moments before continuing to Kilmore Graveyard.

On Monday the snow of the weekend had thawed, giving way to a peaceful,serene day in Kilmore Graveyard. Sheila liked nothing better than a sing-song on the social scene, very often singing The Waters that flow 'round Valentia. Part of those waters as if in respectful reverence, lay calm and glass-like in the beautiful backdrop of Valentia Harbour with the snow capped mountains of Iveragh far off in the distance standing sentinel as her neighbour from Cill Rialaig,Mike Kelly, sang, in beautiful Irish, 'Buachaill on Eireann'. Valentia's Pat Stewart also sang to a gathering united in grief at the passing of someone all too young.

Sincere condolences are offered to her husband Michael; son Declan; daughter Melissa; grandchildren Cillian and Oisin; sisters Margaret Marion, Christina and Joan; brothers-in-law; sisters-in-law; nephews; and nieces and all concerned. Go ndeana Dia trocaire uirthi.The family of an American tourist who died following an horrific crash at a crossroads near Tralee appealed to a criminal court judge on Tuesday not to jail the young driver who was found guilty for the accident.

Aine Stack, a 23-year-old veterinary assistant from Bedford, Listowel, was found guilty by unanimous verdict of dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm to 67-year-old John Lenahan from Colorado who died 10 days after a crash at Clogherbrien, Tralee, in August 2013.

There were emotional scenes as Mr Lenahan's son, Robert, read a victim impact statement at Tralee Circuit Criminal Court on Tuesday. He said the events of August 2013 had a traumatic impact on his family and losing a husband, a father and a grandfather in such an unnecessary way was hard to fathom.

"However, as a family, we believe Ms Stack's intentions that day were not to kill my dad," he said, asking that although her actions had led to his father's death, her life should not be ruined and she should not be jailed.

"We believe, as a family, in forgiveness; my dad would as well," he told Judge Thomas E O'Donnell.

Afterwards Mr Lenahan approached Ms Stack to speak with her and comfort her.

Ms Stack had pleaded not guilty to an initial charge of dangerous causing the death of John Lenahan on August 30, 2013 at Clogherbrien, Tralee.

Mr Lenahan, who died 10 days after the horrific crash, was a front seat passenger in the rental car driven by his son, Robert, who told the trial they had been discussing the pink sunset ahead of them when the accident occurred.

Judge Thomas E ODonnell has adjourned passing sentence to Thursday.Revenue officers have seized around 60,000 worth of cannabis following a series of raids on homes in Tralee.

The drugs - which are thought to have originated in Asia - were apparently mailed or couriered into the county.

Last Friday morning (March 9) in what was described as a "an intelligence led operation", officers from Revenue along with members of the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, and the Tralee Garda Drugs Unit raided a number of properties

In the course of the raids Revenue officers seized three kilos of herbal cannabis with an estimated street value of 60,000. Gardai said the operation was part of ongoing joint investigations targeting drug importations in Tralee.

A garda pokesperson said that the operation was conducted at a number of residential addresses in Tralee town.

It is thought that seized drugs - which had been concealed in parcels of household linen - originated in Thailand.

As part of the investigation, Gardai arrested two men, aged 43 years and 27 years.

The men were brought to Tralee Garda Station for questioning and were detained for a time under Section 2 of The Criminal Justice Drugs Trafficking Act 1996.

A Garda spokesperson told The Kerryman that investigations are continuing with a view to prosecutions arising from the seizures.The father of Louise Lynch - a 21-year-old girl from Spa injured in a horrific car accident in southwest Spain on the evening of February 24 - has said he is overwhelmed at the supportive response his family has encountered since the incident.

Louise was a passenger in the incident, which occurred near La Albuera, Badajoz, and she remains in a coma in intensive care in Hospital Infanta Cristina, Badajoz. The accident involved eight people in three cars.

A native of Radrinagh, the English teacher sustained cranial and abdominal injuries, and fractured bones. A "gofundme" page, currently standing at almost 25,000, was set up following conversations between her father, Seamus, and Spa GAA to ease the burden caused by hospital treatment, as well as travel and accommodation costs in Spain. She is the eldest of the three children of Seamus and Nora Lynch (nee Buckley), and the family of the former student of Tiernaboul National School, St Brigid's Secondary School, and University College Cork has been in Spain since shortly after her accident.

Louise was involved with local GAA and Scor, amongst other matters relating to sport and music and her accident has caused serious concern within her local community. Seamus Lynch said that her condition, currently described as critical, is improving, however.

"We're still here in the hospital in Spain, and she's still in the ICU," he said.

"She's coming on little by little, but we have a long way ahead of us, I think. "It was help from home and help from here that got this thing going [the 'gofundme' page]. we didn't even know things like that existed. It's help from Spa GAA and Anne Holland, who is involved with Spa GAA, that got it up and running recently.

"We're here for a while, she's still in intensive care. She may be there into next week, but they're pushing to work more on her and get her stronger, but that's early stages yet. We're here, waiting, we're liaising with doctors. She's still in there, and she's still weak."

At this incredibly difficult time, Mr Lynch has been left astonished at the support he and his family has received since the horrendous incident.

"The response from at home is absolutely amazing," he said. "We're overwhelmed at it and the way people are so helpful is unreal." To support the Louise Lynch Hospital Fund on gofundme, visit the page at www.gofundme.com/louise-lynch-hospital-fund.The 100th day of the academic year was celebrated with a feast of creativity and learning in Horeswood NS recently as pupils arrived dressed as their 100-year-old selves, complete with walking canes, glasses and clothes straight out of 1920s Ireland.

1st, 2nd and 3rd class pupils of Lenora Warner, Joe Mooney and Darren Keating's classes enjoyed a day of fun activities as part of a 100 Days Smarter event introduced by Ms Warner.

Pupils were asked to imagine how they would see themselves aged 100 and responded with some fantastic costumes, including one pupil who had false dentures, a stoop and a walking cane, another pupil even sported a handmade pair of trousers. The exercises included all academics subjects from art to Science and an anemometer was even used, measuring wind speed. They shared stories about the number 100 with classmates and participated in fun activities including estimating games and prediction exercises, including how many claps they could do in the alloted time.

The pupils were asked what they would do with 100, with one child saying that the sum would pay for a mansion and children also enjoyed construction games. Ms Warner said: 'They loved the day which the parents were very involved in. The school's ethos is Learning for Life Together and the day fully embraced that. The teachers are really grateful to all the parents for their effort.'This Friday is D-Day for New Ross Educate Together NS in its fight to get sanctioned for pupils. The school received around 25 applications for pupils to enrol in September, but only 13 pupils have been accepted to date as the school has been designated half-stream.

The school was one of five designated by the Department of Education to be half stream in late 2017, meaning it is being deprived funding to teach a full Junior Infants class of 26, despite the fact that there are that number of pupils enrolled.

Educate Together management is meeting with senior Department of Education officials in Dublin this Friday and hopes are high that agreement can be reached to facilitate the remaining pupils in not only New Ross, but also in Educate Together schools in Tramore, Tuam, Castlebar and Trim.

More than 1,200 people signed a petition over recent weeks to secure the places at the New Ross school.

Principal Aoife Mahon said the school staff and parents are eagerly awaiting the outcome of the meeting. We have made our 13 offers and we have 13 places accepted. We still have a number of people on a waiting list. Some people have chosen to remove their child. We are just shy of 26 pupils.

The school has provisionally been sanctioned for funding for a pre-fab for September providing the pupils are allowed to be schooled at the Barretts park premises.

More than 100 people packed into New Ross Educate NS for a meeting in February about the Department of Educations decision to limit the number of pupils who can attend the schools Junior Infants class.

Parents of prospective pupils said their children were being discriminated against by being deprived an education in a non-Catholic school.

The grounds upon which the school was denied full stream status was that it is adversely affecting existing primary schools in the area, in terms of enrolment, something New Ross Educate Together school management disagrees with.Station Court in Gorey was one of the unfinished estates completed by Nama

Wexford has the second highest number of vacant units in surveyed unfinished developments according to the latest figures.

The 2017 annual progress report on actions to address unfinished housing developments which was published last week shows that while levels of vacancy have reduced significantly Wexford still remains one of the highest in the country with 227 vacant units last year.

It came second only to Wicklow which has 251 vacant homes.

The report shows that in 2013 there were 85 developments in Wexford surveyed. This reduced to 77 in 2014, 52 in 2015, 32 in 2016 and six in 2017. Of these 15 six were found to be substantially complete or fully active to be removed from the Unfinished Housing Developments database.

There was a reduction of 40 per cent between 2016 and 2017 and nine housing estates remain on the database.

Of the 15 developments surveyed in 2017 just two were being developed by Wexford County Council. Four unfinished estates have a number of buildings in it which are occupied despite the fact that there are building shells in the estate.

Nama also completed a number of unfinished housing estates around the country including Station Court in Gorey. In December 2016 14 two and three bedroom properties were handed over to tenants following a partnership between the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA), Wexford County Council and Oaklee Housing.

According to the report there are no NAMA developments left in Wexford.

Minister for Housing and Urban Development Damien English said that nationally there had been a 91 per cent reduction in the number of unfinished developments since 2010.

Minister English indicated that his objective is to resolve all remaining unfinished housing developments especially those within high market demand locations and strive for 100 per cent turnaround.

He said: 'In the last twelve months we have resolved 165 developments and intend to build on that success with a further push in 2018 to resolve as many as possible of the remaining unfinished developments.'

The report said local authorities were continuing to identify and acquire homes in 'ghost estates' - whether partially occupied or empty estates. However, in a change from previous years the report does not identify the potential number of social houses arising from unfinished estates.

In the future local authorities working with the Government will determine the suitability of available houses in an area with regard to housing need and demand in the locality taking into account the availability of services such as schools and public transport and existing levels of social housing.WARNING for European visitors European Union laws require you to give European Union visitors information about cookies used on your blog. In many cases, these laws also require you to obtain consent.

As a courtesy, we have added a notice on your blog to explain Google's use of certain Blogger and Google cookies, including use of Google Analytics and AdSense cookies.A brand new mobile library service for the south of the county was launched in Duncannon on Friday by Minister for Rural and Community Development Michael Ring TD.

The minister launched the new state-of-the-art mobile library, hailing it as a fantastic asset to be cherished in communities across the south of the county from Rosslare to Donard.

The launch took place along the stretch between Duncannon NS and Duncannon Pastoral Centre, where the bright, spacious and ultra modern mobile library was parked.

Attendees were given a tour of the mobile library which was purchased and developed following an investment of 250,000 by Minister Ring's department under the Library Capital Investment Programme 2016-2021.

Minister Ring said: 'This new mobile library will provide an invaluable service to over 2,000 library users living in rural areas of south County Wexford. It will service 51 locations in the far corners of the county from Duncannon in the west to Rosslare in the east and up as far as Donard.'

Mr Ring said a mobile library reaches out to rural communities, providing a service not just of books, but of inclusion and connection.

He said it is an invaluable service for rural communities. 'The mobile library is a service for young and old. It serves community locations like nursing homes, day care centres and creches, as well as 21 schools in the south of the county.'

The new, state-of-the-art mobile library has a full range of lending materials and has a stock of over 4,000 books. It offers residents a link to wider library services as staff can check availability of books in other libraries throughout the country, giving members access to any book from any library in the country.

Minister Ring said the 250,000 investment in the mobile library is entirely consistent with his department's vision to promote and support vibrant, inclusive and sustainable communities throughout Ireland, both rural and urban. Minister Ring also confirmed that he intends to launch a new Strategy for Public Libraries in the coming weeks. The strategy aims to develop high-tech libraries that are attractive and vibrant multi-functional spaces, open on Sunday's and week nights providing internet access and more services.

In a passionate speech he thanked the Duncannon community for coming out in such numbers, particularly highlighting how pleased he was to see such enthusiasm from the pupils of St Oliver's NS.

Wexford County Council Chairman John Hegarty said he was delighted to attend the opening of the mobile library, which has been in service since early January. Quoting Albert Einstein, he said: 'The only thing you absolutely need to know is the location of the library'.

Cllr Hegarty said County Wexford has produced some great literary figures like John Banville, Eoin Colfer, Billy Roche and Colm Toibin, adding that all great writers start out as great readers.

'Literacy and reading are some of the most important skills that we can instill in our young people. Wexford County Council has increased investment in the library service even when times have been tough and that investment has paid dividends.'

Describing the county's library service as vibrant and innovative, he thanked Minister Ring and County Librarian Eileen Morrissey and her staff for the huge effort they have put into providing an excellent, personable library service in the county. He thanked Cahill Truck Bodies of Graiguenamanagh for the worksmanship and craft they put into the vehicle, adding that he was happy that plans to put a Kilkenny registration plate on her never came to pass. Cllr Hegarty also thanked the community of Duncannon, saying they have a village to be proud of.

Music was performed by Joe Daly and later by the Gleeson Group inside the pastoral centre. Wexford County Council CEO Tom Enright, who is chairman of the National Library Development Committee, said it was fitting that the new mobile library service was being launched 90 years on from when the first mobile service began to be rolled out to villages in the county. 'The mobile library service has been a very important asset and ensures that all areas have access to reading,' he said, adding that all of the county's library branches have access to 15 million books which can be delivered to places like Duncannon.

Mr Enright said the mobile library service provides invaluable support to pre-school and schools across the county, praising the library staff for their work. Three St Oliver's NS pupils spoke of how important the service is to them, saying they feel very privileged that their school was chosen to launch the service.

One pupil said the arrival of the mobile library every second Tuesday is always eagerly awaited. Adult mobile library service user Kevin Connolly said it means more than books as the library is a place where people congregate; a place where warm greetings are exchanged, where absences are noted and where enquiries about family members are exchanged. 'It's another focal point in the village,' bringing people far closer together than a Kindle every could, he said. Mr Connolly said what was equally important as the new service was the investment in additional library staff that has been made. To cap a magical day, magician Joe Daly who has his own magic show on RTE Jnr called 'AbraKIDabra' pulled off some amazing tricks for all gathered.Funding of 1.6m has been allocated, by the EU, to the Celtic Routes project, which aims to encourage tourists to explore areas of Ireland and Wales that are normally seen as 'transit zones'.

Wexford County Council's funding allocation for the project is 286,476. The five other participants are: Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, Carmarthenshire County Council, Ceredigion County Council, Waterford County Council, and Wicklow County Council.

The initiative aims to encourage visitors to spend more time in the six areas, rather than simply passing through them on the way to their final tourist destination. It will endeavour to promote new touring sites to capitalise on the opportunities to boost local economies.

The project will be developed through customer research, trade events and workshops, as well as cross-border visits by businesses in Ireland and Wales to bring together expertise and ideas. The aim is to increase the visitor appeal of the targeted areas, including through the development of new trails linking local culture, heritage and the natural environment.Historical fiction author Caroline Busher has extended an open invitation to her fans to attend the launch of her much-anticipated second novel 'The Girl Who Ate The Stars', which was inspired by a real-life event in County Wexford.

The book will be officially launched in Enniscorthy Castle on Friday, March 16, at 6.30 p.m. by Tom Moore from the Kilkenny-based Oscar-nominated Cartoon Saloon. Byrnes Bookstores is partner for the launch, and food will be provided by 'The Wilds' Cafe.

The Girl Who Ate The Stars was inspired by the bombing of Campile in 1940 as well as Caroline's love of myth and folklore. Hitler dropped a bomb on the Co. Wexford village in 1940 and Caroline imagined that it opened a portal to WolfLand were the children have two hearts - the heart of a wolf and the heart of a child.As World War II rages, Lottie and Albert Hope are evacuated from England and sent to Kilbree, a village in Ireland where nothing is as it seems. A German bomb is dropped in error by a young pilot.

It opens a portal to another world, Wolf Land, which is ruled by the evil Deathhound and his Werewolf Warriors. Lottie and Albert, along with their gypsy friend Blaise and the pilot Gunther, cross the portal to a savage world. They are on a mission - they must find a Wolf Girl called Cuan, a girl with two hearts, one human, one wolf, who eats the stars to survive. In a race against time, they must rescue her from Wolf Land and a terrifying future awaits them all if the portal between the two worlds closes forever.

Caroline, who grew up in a Victorian house in the north west of England, said: 'Wexford is steeped in history and I am proud to live here. I want to share my love of Wexford with people all over the world.' As an only child, she spent her days reading books and writing fantastical stories.

She moved to Wexford when she was older and believes it is the most magical place on earth. She lives in a house under the Blackstairs Mountains. Caroline graduated with an MA in Creative Writing from UCD and her star has been rising steadily on the Irish literary scene since then. She is the author of the Irish Times best-selling book 'The Ghosts of Magnificent Children'.

Last year, she was 'Reader in Residence' with Wexford Public Library Services, which involved encouraging children to read for pleasure.

'Every day I receive messages from parents and teachers who tell me that my books are making a difference to the lives of children. I believe that books should be at the heart of children's lives,' said Caroline.

'It is important to me that children living in Ireland see themselves represented in the books that they read. It brings reading alive and encourages them to write themselves.'

She is a heritage expert with The Heritage Council of Ireland and the vice-chairperson of Wexford Literary Festival. Last month she became the Festival Manager of the Towers and Tales children's book festival which takes place in the stunning setting of Lismore Castle on May 5.

The Irish Examiner described 'The Girl Who Ate the Stars' as 'A highly original tale with gothic overtones' while Eoin Colfer said of Caroline's debut novel 'The Ghosts of Magnificent Children' - 'An excellent and original voice, with shades of Neil Gaiman and Lemony Snicket'.

The Dublin launch is taking place in Dubray Books on Grafton Street on Tuesday, March 13.A unique Art Exhibition under the theme, 'The Next Chapter' was opened at Tubbercurry Community Library on Tuesday by artist Nick Miller.

It was commended by Sligo County Librarian Donal Tinney.

The exhibition was organised in conjunction with the 75th Western Drama Festival celebration which was a huge milestone for Ireland's oldest amateur dramatic society.

Donal said he was delighted to be associated with the event which provides an opportunity for artists to come together and showcases their work in their special civic space the Community Library in Tubbercurry.

Renowned artist Nick Miller was the special guest to launch this inspirational exhibition.

Nick spoke of his time living in South Sligo and how he had come to the West for just the summer and was now 26 years living there. He also highlighted the significance of enabling events such as 'The Next Chapter Exhibition' not only to encourage artists but also as a unique forum for them to come together as a group and connect with each other and show their work.

Eileen Davey, PRO of the Western Drama Festival said its partnership with Tubbercurry Community Library, County Sligo Library Service was a great success. "Louise, Abbey and Lee the library staff were extremely helpful and worked really well with Anne Marie Hegarty and Pat McCarrick who headed up the event."

Anne Marie said she was thrilled with the range of the interesting and striking exhibits and was delighted to be organising as well as exhibiting at the event. Hannah Dobson presented a live exhibit and spoke of how she was inspired by 'The Next Chapter' theme. Her live model was the personification of the Irish past, present and future. Her body is covered in nature, and script from old faerie tales, the base of Irish culture and her skirt is made from page and pages of history and present writings, for without the past and the present there is no future, she explained. Pat McCarrick said the artists had not disappointed' praising the very dynamic mix of exhibits on display.Oscar-nominee writer/director Martin McDonagh is to be encouraged to consider sprinkling some of his Hollywood stardust in Sligo.

On foot of a motion tabled by Councillor Chris MacManus the Council is sending their congratulation to the Londoner (whose mother hails from Easkey) for his critical success for 'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri."

His film has won a total of 76 awards (and has been nominated for 188, altogether), including five Baftas and most recently, two Oscars.

The Council will also encourage McDonagh to "give some consideration to filming within County Sligo in the future" and the Council will "positively engage with any production team to make such a project viable."

Cllr MacManus said he saw McDonagh's oscar success as "an opportunity to engage with the film and TV industry in Ireland."

"We need to be looking at developing a much more sustained and co-ordinated way of promoting Sligo to the film industry," he told members. Cllr Joe Queenan said McDonagh had "put Easkey on the map" and "hopefully it won't be long before he's here."A Sligo food group which was born out of the need for those in Direct Provision to enjoy their own indigenous food has scooped a national award.

Sligo Global Kitchen won the Irish Food Writers' Guild's Community Award.

The awards celebrate indigenous food producers and organisations who create, make and share great Irish produce and products while helping to maintain Ireland's outstanding international reputation in food and drink.

Sligo Global Kitchen began in 2014 as a simple idea conceived by the team at The Model in Sligo: that people living locally in direct provision might appreciate the use of the arts centre's industrial kitchen to cook and eat together, given that residents cannot cook their own food in direct provision.

Artist Anna Spearman approached Cameroonian Mabel Chah to liaise with other residents in direct provision.

With funding from the Community Foundation of Ireland and Communities Integration Fund, they reached out to other groups of refugees, collaborating with the Syrian community in Ballaghaderreen for a meal celebrating Syrian, Zimbabwean and Nigerian cuisine.

Over 400 people of at least 18 different nationalities attended that meal, 75 of them Syrian, including five Syrian cooks.

Sligo Global Kitchen now runs communal meals at least once a month, at which three courses are served buffet style with dishes from at least two different culinary cultures.

Donations collected from the previous meals will support future events after the funding period finishes in the summer of 2018.

The Irish Food Writers' Guild commends the initiative as a proactive way of building links between cultures by facilitating people in coming together to cook, eat and celebrate each other's food culture.

The events at The Model have proven very popular and one of the most well attended was one last September called the Syrian Story which attracted so many people that they ran out of plates with 200 having already been filled.The eleven local authorities that comprise the Ireland/Northern Ireland border corridor met with Helen McEntee, Minister of State for European Affairs in Newry last Tuesday to discuss the implications of Brexit.

A large delegation comprising Chairpersons, Mayors and Chief Executives from all the local authorities who comprise the border corridor attended the meeting, the size of the delegation reflects just how important this issue is, not just for local authorities, but for all the people who live and work along the Ireland/Northern Ireland border corridor.

Newry, Mourne and Down District Council Chairperson Councillor Roisin Mulgrew said: "Without a Government in the North of Ireland and negotiations taking place between Brussels and London directly, local authorities felt it necessary to champion the needs of the border region specifically and to ensure that those needs are reflected and prioritised during Brexit negotiations.

"Our children and grandchildren's lives depend on decisions which will be taken over the next few years. It is our duty to get this right. It is the contention of the Border Corridor Local Authorities that in order to do that all aspects of the Good Friday Agreement must be maintained."

The Cathaoirleach of Sligo County Council Councillor Seamus Kilgannon said the issue of Brexit was one of the most challenging issues facing the country, with likely impacts at regional and national level.

"This forum was very useful, as it allowed us to engage directly with colleagues from other Local Authorities in the border area - the communities in this region have very specific concerns in relation to areas such as tourism, enterprise and agriculture, and we need to have a joined-up approach in the local authority sector to dealing with these important issues."

The first task of the Local Authority grouping was to commission a study to begin to explore what the actual impact of Brexit might be along the corridor. This was not an easy task considering the huge uncertainty around what Brexit actually means. The Ulster University Economic Policy Centre produced a report 'BREXIT and the Border Corridor on the Island of Ireland, Risks, Opportunities and Issues to Consider.'

The Report highlights that the Irish border area will be most affected by Brexit and that an economic border would be detrimental to, not only the border corridor, but to Ireland as a whole. It also found that whilst economic certainty is important, political certainty is essential for the border corridor to thrive and the Peace Process cannot be jeopardised.

The aim of the meeting was to highlight the need for investment and support for the border corridor and to stress two overarching strategic points which emanated from the study:

 Firstly, that Brexit will impact on all aspects of the economy of our region. An economic border post Brexit would be disastrous for our region.

 Secondly, that Brexit will impact on the people and communities of the Border Corridor. The Good Friday Agreement must be protected during Brexit negotiations.It will be May before Sligo County Council is likely to arrange a date for a plebiscite on the spelling of Enniscrone.

Councillors Joe Queenan, Michael Clarke and Dara Mulvey all tabled a motion calling on the Council to set a date last week for one so that the registered electors and ratepayers of Enniscrone can decide if they want the official name of Enniscrone to be change from 'Inishcrone' to Enniscrone' in English and from 'Inis Crabhann' to 'Inis Eiscir Abhainn' in Irish.

Their joint motion was in response to the growing concern of the residents that the village has been officially misnamed.

"It's creating confusion for businesses and on people's birth certs," said Cllr Queenan. "For the future, we want clarity," he said. There was a large public gathering in the village about the issue the week before last.

Director of Services Ms Dorothy Clarke said that the Placenames Committee were meeting to discuss the issue on 16th April, a full report would be made to the Council at the May Council meeting, whereupon she hoped a date would then be set for a plebiscite. She said the Placenames Committee had to get legal advice, a costing and a step by step approach to dealing with the plebiscite.

Councillor Micheal Clarke said the councillors on the Placenames Committee "have no difficulty with the plebiscite taking place."

He asked Ms Clarke if any work had been done on the electorate -would it be just the village itself who get to vote or residents in the surrounding areas?

Councillor Dara Mulvey said it was "imperative that the procedure for a plebiscite was put in motion" as it was very confusing for people visiting the town.

Councillor Keith Henry commended the community for taking the initiative but said there was "any amount" of other town names spelled incorrectly on signs.

He said other communities in Gurteen, Drumcliffe and Ballisodare "will be watching as well."

Several Enniscone campaigners watched the discussion from the public gallery.

Councillors Chris MacManus, Marie Casserly, Jerry Lundy, Sinead Maguire and Margaret Gormley supported the motion.

Ms Clarke said a list of qualified electors will have to be formally adopted by the Council. She also said they would be consulting Kerry County Council about Dingle.

Cllr Clarke said it was important the plebiscite would take place this year.A 33-year old man has been found not guilty by direction of the trial Judge on a charge of posting drugs hidden in a pair of runners to Castlerea Prison.

The acquittal came last Thursday morning and followed a submission by the defence in the absence of the jury which related to the chain of evidence in the case relating to the transportation of DNA samples in the case to and from Dublin for analysis.

DNA evidence was central to the prosecution case against Kennedy during the three week trial at Sligo Circuit Court.

The prosecution was led by Ms Dara Foynes BL, instructed by Ms Elisa McHugh State Solicitor.

Kennedy had admitted to Gardai during questioning to posting a pair of runners to a friend who was serving a sentence at Castlerea Prison but stated he didnt know drugs had been placed in the heels.

The trial at Sligo Circuit Court heard a padded enveloped containing the LA Adidas runners along with a letter and a DVD box set of the television series Breaking Bad was posted by John Kennedy at Ballisodare Post Office on April 9th 2015 to Ryan Lait who was serving a sentence at Castlerea Prison at the time.

It was during his third interview at Sligo Garda Station that Kennedy admitted to posting the package but said he didnt know that the drug, PVP or what was termed as the headshop equivalent of cocaine, had been placed in the heels of the runners.

His admission came after he was shown CCTV footage from the post office and informed that he was linked to the runners through his DNA.

Kennedy of Castleburn, Ballymote and also with addresses at Cairns Drive and Youngs Road, Ballisodare pleaded not guilty to conveying the drug, PVP (Pyrrolidinovalerophenone) into the prison, valued at around 300, between April 9th and 10th 2015 and to the possession of the drug at Ballisodare Post Office on April 9th.

A co-accused, Brian Duke (35) admitted unlawful possession of PVP at his home at 32 Cois Abhainn, Collooney between 1st February 2015 and March 31st 2015.

He has been remanded on bail for sentencing on June 5th next.

Kennedys case was heard before a jury of eight men and four women before Judge Francis Comerford.

Detective Sergeant Niall, in evidence stated that on Friday, April 10th 2015 he learned that a package which had been addressed to Ryan Lait at Castlerea Prison contained a pair of grey Adidas runners within which was a controlled drug and an investigation began.

Witness was tasked with trying to establish the origins of the packages posting and did by ascertaining the serial number on the postage stamp which amounted to 8.25.

Witness discovered it was posted in Ballisodare Post Office at 4.41pm on April 9th. CCTV from the premises was garnered and he viewed same, recognising Kennedy on it.

Det Sgt Davey said he received the size seven runners from Sergeant Kieran OBrien and on June 17th at 8.35am he arrested Kennedy whose DNA profile were on them at his home at Youngs Road, Ballisodare for conveying drugs into a prison.

Kennedy was taken to Sligo Garda Station where he was interviewed on three occasions in the presence of witness and Garda Kieran Staed, the first commencing at 11.01am. When shown the pair of runners, Kennedy told Gardai that he never saw them before.

He said he was a size seven and that he had a similar pair himself before and that they were a popular style.

Kennedy said he had got rid of his pair, probably to a clothes bank or a charity shop. Asked if he would be surprised if his DNA was on them, he replied that yes he would be. He was also shown the Breaking Bad box set and stated that it wasnt his.

Kennedy also stated he didnt recognise the padded white envelope which had been posted to Ryan Lait or the writing on it.

Kennedy told the Gardai he had been in Ballisodare Post Office months ago and recalled taking up a similar type of padded envelope and thinking it was free and when he was asked what stopped him from taking it, he replied that he just copped on to himself.

Kennedy also stated he didnt recognise the writing on a letter inside the package which was also addressed to Ryan Lait.

Kennedy said: I didnt do anything wrong.

He knew Lait as a friend. He did not ask him to post the package for him.

A second interview began at 3.03pm. Kennedy denied writing the name and address on the padded envelope addressed to Lait.

Asked did he recall being in Ballisodare Post Office on April 9th, Kennedy said he cant recall yesterday.

CCTV footage from the post office was shown to him while he was asked if would provide hand writing samples to which he agreed to provide.

Kennedy was asked if he had any idea how the drugs got into the runners and he replied, no.

During a third interview which began at 19.43pm, Kennedy admitted to posting the package saying he was just asked to do so.

There was nothing suspicious and the runners looked normal he said.

The runners were an old pair of his. I didnt realise there were drugs in it.

I wouldnt have done it if there were, he said.

Kennedy said the runners had been brought up to the prison by someone but were returned to him. For his own safety he could not state who gave them back to him.

I posted them. I put my hands up to that but Im not taking the fall, Kennedy told Gardai.

He added that he did not write the letter but he posted it along with the runners and the box set in the A3 size padded envelope.

In reply to Ms Carol Doherty BL (defending) Det Sgt Davey agreed that a second man, Brian Duke had been arrested during the investigation and he had subsequently pleaded guilty to a possession charge.

Forensic Scientist, Dr Brian Gibson, who is attached to the Forensic Science Laboratory in Dublin, told the court that an unidentified male DNA profile was obtained from the flap of the padded envelope he examined.

There was a mix of at least five people on the handwritten letter so it wasnt suitable for further interpretation, he said.

DNA was obtained from the inner heel/sole area of the runners which indicated a mixture of more than one person present including Kennedy.

It was 600 million more times likely the DNA came from him than from two other unknown males in the community, said Dr Gibson.

Gary Delaney, also from the national Forensic Science Laboratory, stated that the powder he analysed on April 20th 2015 which he got from the holes in the runners weighed 5.603 grammes and was PVP, a synthetic stimulant.

Detective Sergeant Brian Roberts, who is a supervisor attached to the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, in evidence, said he was familiar with PVP for the past ten years . It was one of a number of new designer or psycho active drugs which came into being through the establishment of headshops around the country between 2005 and 2015.

Witness said loosely speaking PVP was designed to mimic the effects of cocaine. In its early days its slang term was snow or snow blow and also bath salts. At the time of seizure it was worth 50 a gramme, he said.

On Thursday morning last, Judge Comerford told the jury that his function was to ensure the case went to them in a condition where it was appropriate for them to make a decision of guilty or not guilty.

There had been legal argument in their absence which he gave a lot of consideration to and he had decided the prosecution could not proceed .

He instructed the forewoman to return a not guilty verdict on both counts and said while he regretted to taking the case away from them it was a decision he had to make.

The Judge exempted the jury from further service if they wished for a period of five years.Thank you for reading!

Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading.A large crowd of people filtered into the Community Centre in Ballintogher after 10pm on Wednesday night with one agenda in mind, to stop the recent surge in burglaries happening in the area.

The community alert meeting was being organised by a group who wanted to stand up to the increase in criminal activity happening in their rural region which was understandably causing great concern to householders.

In attendance was Garda Tony Lavin who spoke in depth about rural crime and ways people can make sure their homes and premises are safe from the threat of burglars.

One of the local people spearheading the meeting was Declan Scanlon who had first hand experience of the criminal activity, his van was broken into while he was working nearby and a chainsaw taken.

Declan said something has to be done to alleviate the sense of fear particularly among elderly residents since the recent spate of crimes have begun.

He moved back to the region after ten years working as a tax consultant in Dublin and now runs the family farm.

He said the community alert meeting was set up so people could come together and see what can be done.

He said that since February the increase in break-ins began. "It all started around the 24th of February.

"We had two white vans in the area and people were reporting they were out looking for scrap or whatever.

"They called to a lot of houses even up in the village, they travelled all around the whole area of Ballintogher.

"That day I was chainsawing on timber at out farm, there was an adjoining premises with a house nearby. When I was working there these men approached me. I stopped and they shouted over that they were looking for some scrap and the owners of the house came out.

"They got a very good look at the chainsaw and me and these were able to associate that with my van which I had parked in the field.

"So basically I thought nothing more of it until the following Saturday.

"That evening I came over the road to feed the cattle and from the time I started the tractor to the time I turned it off while the van was parked at the road, the glass had been smashed in the back.

"In the back of the van I had the chainsaw in it from 3 o'clock that day and it was completely covered over, couldn't be seen from looking in the window and was completely invisible with hay and nutbags and everything covering it. It was completely not in view and they had to have known in my view that they had to have associated the chainsaw with that van and took the chance to break in the window.

"It was a quick hit and run," he added.

Declan said that on the same day there were a number of robberies in the Dromahair area too, including a shop.

He added that speaking to a number of locals and the y decided to do something.

"I just starting saying to few neighbours and we had chats ourselves and we said we need to stand up to these individuals ourselves once and for all.

"As a community we are strong, alone we have no power."

Declan said the closure of rural garda stations are impacting areas in these regions.

"Dromahair garda station closed there a few years ago after 173 years of service.

"It has a huge impact on a rural area such as Ballintogher.

"People used to give out at the time that gardai were especially nosy and they knew the ins and outs and all the information like but at least they knew if a strange van came into the area that it was very different and therefore like they may have pulled that van in and asked them what they are doing.

"They were under a tight watchful eye from the moment they landed into the area to the moment they left.

"Then along with that, gardai were working with the community and they had their ears to the ground.

"There is so much criminal activities now that people don't feel safe in their homes now especially the elderly.

"I's gone to a stage now that the elderly are afraid to open their doors and what they are doing now is they are opening the windows of the living room or sitting room to speak out through it because they don't know who they are speaking to.

"The sense of fear here is huge at present and we are trying to alleviate that in some way that it will go against what has been built up."

Declan said there's been several break-ins in recent weeks. "We had over 12 robberies in the area in the space of a few weeks.

"In one house in Sooey there was 3/4000 in building equipment and materials stolen.

"That was the Saturday before my chainsaw was stolen. "There was a pub in Gleann raided and the copper cylinders were taken out of it.

"They moved then to a residential house and emptied the kerosene tank out of it.

"They went from there then to another house belonging to a friend of mine in Sooey and stole 3/4000 of equipment. He's building a house there himself only starting off like and they knew the thing inside out. He went across to watch a match and when he was over the place was robbed. "That was between 2-4pm that day, we can't account for their movements between four and 7 but around 7-8pm my chainsaw was taken and then a shop was hit later on that evening.

"We have had sightings of several vans, these same vans have been spotted out in the Ballinagar area and they have been reported and the gardai have been pursuing them. It's got to the stage now that we know the same vans day in day out. It's white Ford Transit is what you're looking out for.

"My advice to people is to be vigilant. To take a screen-shot or write down the number plate of anything suspicious or unusual and ring the gardai immediately because if people don't it could result in a burglary for someone else and nobody wants to be robbed like."

He said for such a small area the community has to work together.

"People are feeling like they are being watched. We had a local contractor there an attempted robbery there two mornings ago and it was a northern reg this time and it came right up on the CCTV up the road and knew where to turn down and everything. They shouldn't know this like. There was nothing taken because the owner was there and the gardai were notified and they are pursuing it was the PSNI.

"Gardai have been working closely with us. Sligo town is the closest Garda station, it's about 10 miles from here. But see when you make a call, 30 minutes has elapsed before anything can be done and they're long gone, they are hit and run like.

"They are gone in ten minutes," he said.

Declan is part of a committee of six who organised Wednesday night's meeting with the hope that something can be done.

"Our plans are to get householders names and we have people working behind the scenes too with a lot of the elderly who cannot be here tonight there has been a lot of groundwork done too.

"We're just trying to get a gist of how the text-alert system is going to work.

"We have Tony Lavin here and he will give us an introduction to that.

"We have the committee, we have the people who want it and now it's to get the text-alert system set up," Declan added.At mass one morning last week at the Carmelite convent in Delgany the celebrant was Father Joe Walsh, who lives in the retirement village nearby.

He spent much of his ministry working in California, but on this occasion, the ritual drew inspiration from the east rather than the west.

Before embarking on the familiar liturgy, Father Joe called up three members of the congregation to the altar, three people who became friends of his over recent days.

He and they were members of an icon making workshop which was conducted in the Saint Therese Room, just a short step from the door of the chapel. The original plan was that the exercise would take five days but then nature intervened, with the heavy snow disrupting the attendance of several members of the eight-strong class.

Many of the finished icons were ready to be formally blessed as originally scheduled but these three were a few days late being brought to the altar. The priest administered his holy oil, pronouncing the proffered images of Our Lady duly blessed and ready to be venerated.

After Mass, there was time to take photos, with teacher Mihai Cucu joining his pupils in front of the smart phones and cameras for souvenir poses.

Then everyone adjourned in search of a cuppa to the Saint Therese Room, which had been tidied up so that it no longer looked like a hot-bed of artistic activity and more like the meeting room, which it is for the rest of the year.

The icon makers, a mix men and women from various backgrounds, glowed with pride in their achievements as their handiwork was generally admired.

'I have never done anything like this before,' admitted Paul Dillon, a journalist who specialises in reporting on the often chaotic state of South Africa. He thanked his son for encouraging him to sign up for the workshop, the tenth in an annual series which creates beautiful religious artefacts each spring.

'It has been very enjoyable, an extraordinary experience.'

Father Joe revealed not only that he is 80 years of age but also that he has become a regular attender, making pieces which have become very important to the atmosphere of his Delgany home.

He described this abstract spiritual effect: 'Icons are addressed to the soul.' He told how he replaced a holy statue in his hallway with the icon he made at the 2017 workshop and finds that his eyes are always drawn to it whenever he enters the house.

The tradition is eastern but curiosity about, and respect for, icons stirs in other branches of Christianity. In the past, members of the local Carmelite community have enrolled in the workshop and this year a Holy Faith nun came from New Ross to participate.

Found among all the Roman Catholics in 2018 was the Church of Ireland rector of Athy, the Reverend Olive Donohoe. Her icon making exploration was blown badly off course by the blizzards but she has told the organisers that she will be back to complete the challenge.

Lending his considerable expertise to the workshop was iconographer Mihai Cucu, a long-time resident of Ireland though his voice still carries some of the inflexions of his native Romania. He hails from the city of Suceava and, at 40 years of age, he is old enough to remember the bad old days of the Ceausescu regime when the country was ruled by a despot.

While some communist states of the time actively discouraged organised religion, Romanians were not forbidden to go to church, recalls Mihai. The Orthodox Christian faith remained strong under the dictator and it remains strong to this day since the fall of the dictator in 1989.

From an early age, he was drawn to art and to religion, leading him naturally to his interest in the holy pictures which he calls an invitation to the divine. Not everyone appreciates the appeal of images of saints on timber, a practice which goes against the grain for Muslims and Jews as well as some sterner strains of Christianity.

'I do not worship the physical matter of the icon,' is how he explains the veneration. 'I worship the Creator of the matter. God does not reside in the wood but in your heart.' People relate naturally to images, he muses, feeling that they offer an avenue to a higher plane: 'It is not that we pray to the painting but to the Presence.'

His university training deepened his understanding of the tradition as he learned how to conserve and restore old icons as well as generating new ones. They are his passion and his career, though by chance his calling has brought him to Ireland rather than remaining at home.

He first came to visit a friend in Dublin around the turn of the millennium and discovered that there were Irish people hungry to feed off his expertise. The crypt of Christ Church Cathedral became the focus of this interest as the young visitor staged a couple of exhibitions in the ancient venue.

While he specialised in icons painted on wood, his girlfriend made her icons on glass, and together they gave workshops where they passed on their knowledge to anyone interested. He quickly discovered that his obsession with these holy pictures was shared by others in this country. There is an Irish Association of Iconographers, a body which is particularly strong in the Derry area.

He was drawn west for a while staging exhibitions and classes in Galway, even spending one happy stint as artist in residence on the Aran Islands. His icons from that time may still be seen on Inisheer.

He later resided for a while in Westmeath at a Franciscan retreat in Multyfarnham. Then he was drawn to Dublin and to the Carmelites who initiated the annual series of five day workshops 2009, first in Greystones and now in Delgany.

He provides all the materials, introducing his pupils to techniques which have barely changed at all in 2,000 years. The only concession to modernity is allowing beginners to paint on A4-sized blocks of MDF rather than on the traditional limewood.

'It is called writing, not painting,' corrects Mihai, who starts each class with a prayer and sees the exercise as part of building a relationship with God.

The first icons were devised to pass on an understanding of scripture to peoples who were largely illiterate, depicting Christ, his mother, saints, angels and scenes from the bible. They were constructed in accordance a code under which each colour has a particular assigned significance (red for humanity, blue for divinity, green for rejuvenation et cetera) and laden with imagery. Martyrs, for example, have a cross while preachers carry scrolls, conventions which retain a logic first formulated in the days of Saint Luke: 'We keep the tradition.'

Beginners are directed to make copies of existing icons on their boards, which have been treated with a mixture of egg yolk, vinegar and water, applied layer after repeated layer. The darkest shades are written first followed by lighter and lighter shades of paint in due succession. The process is therapeutic food for both mind and soul, while it allows plenty of practical scope for covering mistakes: 'Everything can be rescued,' laughs the master.

While his followers are guided towards set pieces, Mihai Cucu is capable of devising fresh new work in this most venerable of art forms. Five of Mihai's pieces may be seen in the Lady Chapel of Christ Church and he also has work on public display in Waterford. And any Catholic couple marrying this year in Ireland is being presented with a copy of his specially commissioned 'Amoris Laetitia'.

To mark the forthcoming 'Meeting of the Families' he painted this three-panelled series of biblical scenes on limewood boards each two metres high. The design had to be submitted in advance to the authorities in the Vatican, who made it clear that they expected the finished article to be in 4th-century Byzantine style.

'You draw the inspiration from the old icons,' says the painter, who has nevertheless produced something which glows with fresh life.

The 'Amoris Laetitita' triptych has been brought on a tour of Irish dioceses but it will be heading soon for Rome, part of the build-up to the great World Meeting of Families in Dublin at the end of summer.

Mihai Cucu will be with his work in the holy city next month as it is blessed by Pope Francis, an occasion he is greatly looking forward to. He is grateful that icons are becoming more widely appreciated beyond the established base in Eastern Europe, a phenomenon he attributes in large part to the late Pope John Paul.

The interest in these holy pictures means that he is in demand, not just in Delgany but also further afield, with workshops planned for Britain and the Czech Republic.There were scenes of heated debate at Monday's meeting of Wicklow County Council as Councillors discussed plans to extend Herbert Road car park in Bray by demolishing a house known as St Paul's Lodge.

Local residents opposed to the demolition were present in the council chamber and the meeting was suspended for 15 minutes at one point when a member of the public interrupted proceedings on a 'point of order'. Cathaoirleach Cllr Edward Timmins, halted the meeting until order was restored.

Wicklow County Council intend to demolish St Paul's Lodge to make way for an extended car park with around 50 parking spaces.

Cllr Joe Behan proposed that residents sitting in the gallery who had concerns over the development should be able to address the meeting for ten minutes.

While he would be supporting the Part 8, he felt the residents were 'democratically' entitled to voice concerns they had.

'They spoke at Bray Municipal District but all 32 elected members in this chamber will be making the decision,' Cllr Behan said.

However, his proposal wasn't considered admissible under local authority standing orders, particularly as no notice had been given in advance of the meeting.

'Give them ten minutes. The officials always get time to make their case. I will be voting in favour but I still also favour democracy,' said Cllr Behan to no avail.

Cllr Steven Matthews proposed that the decision whether to proceed or not should be made by Bray Municipal District members and not the full council. He added that, under the Local Government Act, certain functions could be performed by the local municipal district or by the full council.

'This affects the local area. It's not fair on councillors from other areas to be on board over how concerned people are. I also think this would work well for all districts.'

Cllr Brendan Thornhill said that as a former member of An Garda Siochana he had taken a 'solemn oath' to protect Irish citizens from wrongdoing and he would continue to do the same as a councillor. In his opinion, the site planning notices didn't comply with law. He was also opposed to the destruction of St Paul's Lodge because of its heritage.

'I proposed that the council adjourns this matter and seeks independent counsel advice on the procurement and demolition of the building and the whole planning process.'

Cllr Michael O'Connor said: 'St Paul's is a very well-appointed house and of some architectural merit. It could be used for the homeless or projects like the Jigsaw Group. There are many reasons to keep it and it would be a travesty from an architectural point of view to demolish it.'

Cllr Mary Kavanagh felt the Part 8 shouldn't proceed until the residents had an opportunity to organise a meeting where they could get their point across.

'I am alarmed at the speed at which this is being pushed through. The council meeting on March 5 was cancelled because of the snow but this matter wasn't on the agenda, so if last week's meeting took place this wouldn't have been discussed.'

Cllr Oliver O'Brien recalled the recent 'flood plain issue' involving Little Bray residents.

'At that county council meeting five councillors from Bray voted to overturn it but we were out voted by the rest of the council. This is a Bray issue and needs to be sorted out in Bray,' he said.

Cllr Pat Vance offered his support to the Part 8, particularly regarding the lack of available parking in Bray.

'People are acting like this only arrived out of nowhere,' he said. 'This has been going on for a considerable time. The first notices for the Part 8 appeared before Christmas. At two meetings of Bray Municipal District, councillors were informed about the plans to purchase and demolish. That's a fact. At those meetings, two councillors voiced support and not one voiced any objections. Parking is a problem in Bray and has been for a long number of years, 50 additional spaces won't solve the problem because we need more but the Florentine is due to come on stream in May, which could result in the closure of the car park, with the loss of 250 spaces.

Cllr Christopher Fox sought to explain why the matter hadn't appeared on the March 5 agenda but was item 6 on the March 12 agenda.

'This was originally meant to be on the March 5 agenda but I contacted the cathaoirleach to say the public consultation had only stopped on March 1 and maybe it was a bit too soon. That meeting was cancelled so it was placed on this meeting's agenda,' he said.

He proposed that the meeting proceed with the members voting on the Part 8.

Cllr John Ryan said news of the progress being made over the Florentine Centre had already provided Bray with a boost.

'Bray Enterprise Town Team made a proposal because shops were closing all over the place and things were becoming very tough. What the team proposed was for the council to buy back the part of the Florentine they didn't own because we were being held to ransom by developers. The town was given a huge lift with the belief that the Florentine site will finally become a reality. This is going to be the making of Bray. I know parking is a huge issue. If people can't park in the town they will just drive to Dundrum or Carrickmines. I don't want to demolish a house in Bray, especially one with heritage, but we need to provide parking so people in Bray can thrive,' said Cllr Ryan.

Cllr Nicola Lawless proposed that St Paul's should become a residence for emergency accommodation rather than being demolished.

'I just don't know if the cost of the house, the demolition and then building a car park is justifiable at the time of a housing crisis,' she said.

However, director of Services Des O'Brien said the proposal from Cllr Lawless could not be taken because the money to provide for the project had been ring-fenced from parking contributions from Bray Municipal District and so could only be used for that purpose.

Cllr Gerry Walsh said Bray business had suffered due to closed shops and empty premises.

'We all agree that it isn't desirable to knock down a structure like this building but car parking is essential to get the best out of the Florentine Centre. I presume all other options were explored.'

Cllr Tom Fortune said no one present in the council chamber, including the residents, were opposed to the Florentine Centre but people did have issues with the 'process.'

Director of Services, Mr O'Brien, stated that the property wasn't a listed building and wasn't located in an Architectural Conservation Area.

Councillor Fox's proposal to go ahead with the Part 8 was put to the vote, with 16 members in favour, 10 against, four not present and two abstentions.A Carnew woman who was snowed in without food, water or heat during Storm Emma said she thought her young daughter would take ill after drinking boiled snow.

Tracy Crosbie of Kennystown, Carnew, said she and her husband Alan were forced to boil the snow after two days without water.

The couple and their four children, Alan (23), Keith (18), Bradley (17) and eight-year-old Chloe were marooned in their rural home during the storm after 12 foot high snow drifts blocked the roads.

Tracy said that she was also worried about her sister Susan, who lives a few miles away from her, and their elderly father, who lives in Dublin. She said her father has recently suffered a stroke and needed medication.

The Crosbie family were snowed in from Thursday until Monday and were only able to leave the house after Tracy contacted Noel Ruxton of the Wicklow Alerts Facebook page appealing for help.

She said that she thought Chloe, who complained of stomach pains after drinking the boiled snow, was getting sick.

'I was traumatised. I was boiling snow in pots but then my youngest started getting pains in her tummy and I was worried.

'I was kind of saying "am I doing right or wrong?" We had no power, no water, no heating, no gas. Our water pump filter snapped on Saturday so we had to turn it off.'

'The amount of snow my little one was drinking she was sucking it. And then a few hours later she went really pale and the pains were really bad.'

Desperate for help, the 48-year-old contacted Noel at around 8 p.m. on Sunday night and her message read: We are snowed-in at Kennystown, no food, no gas, no water, fire is gone out. Kids are getting pains in bellies from drinking ice. Please help.'

Local gardai met her husband on Monday and brought him to get the part needed to fix the water pump, while the Breen family from Commer, Co Wexford, managed to dig them out on Tuesday morning.

She said: 'Baltinglass gardai and Jim Ellis were fantastic. I contacted gardai in Wexford first and they said you're Wicklow and I didn't know what to do. I started panicking when I realised.'

'My son Bradley and his friend Cian Doyle were very good and they managed to walk miles down to Carnew to get shopping. They managed to get us and my sister bread, milk and water', said Tracy.Storm Emma proved particularly devastating for one west Wicklow farmer, who lost more than 20 animals in the blizzards and snow drifts.

While many people were at home sheltering from the storm, Patrick Nolan found himself digging through the snow to try and rescue the buried weanlings, only to discover that 21 - over half his herd - were dead.

'I had fed them on the Thursday morning and, when the snow came on Friday, I couldn't get up to the farm. I live in Knocknadruce and the farm is in Donard. I set off at 4.30 a.m. on the Saturday morning on foot to try and get to them,' said Mr Nolan, who encountered snow drifts of up to ten feet high.

Following a gruelling eight-mile hike in the thick snow, Patrick found 21 of his weanlings dead in the snow.

'I managed to save 17 of them and they were in a bad way until the following Tuesday, but I think they will survive,' he said.

While Patrick said that matters could have been worse, he is still facing a loss of approximately 750 per animal as they had reached about 360kg in weigh.

'It's unfortunate and I didn't want to have to send so many off to the knacker's yard but things could always be worse. I am lucky that I wasn't buried in snow myself, as it was so bad and there are also many other farmers who have faced losses due to this weather,' he said.

Unfortunately, the loss is compounded by the fact that Mr Nolan is a Green Cert farmer and, until his course is completed, he is not entitled to any grants or subsidies.

At the age of 28, he has been running his own farm for the past four years.

'That's true, there are no subsidies until the Green Cert is done. Also, insurance companies won't sell cover for snow damage, just public liability insurance, so I will have to take the loss on the chin,' he said.

Meanwhile, the IFA Hill Farmers' Committee is calling on the Government to provide compensation to farmers who have incurred such losses. Chairperson Denis Halpin said that the snow has resulted in extreme difficulties for many farming families, and that support is needed.

Mr Nolan's view on this is: 'It might never happen, but we have to try to get something.'Alessandra Ambrosio and Jamie Mazur attend the premiere of Paramount Pictures' "Daddy's Home 2" at Regency Village Theatre on November 5, 2017 in Westwood, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)

Alessandra Ambrosio and Jamie Mazur attend the 2017 Baby2Baby gala at 3labs in Culver City, on November 11, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / CHRIS DELMASCHRIS DELMAS/AFP/Getty Images

Victoria's Secret model Alessandra Ambrosio (L) and Jamie Mazur kept cool at the Coachella Valley Music Festival with O.N.E. Coconut Water on April 15, 2011 in Indio, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

(L-R) Jamie Mazur and model Alessandra Ambrosio arrive at the Third Annual Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic at Will Rogers State Historic Park on October 6, 2012 in Pacific Palisades, California. (Photo by John Sciulli/Getty Images for Veuve Clicquot)

Supermodel Alessandra Ambrosio snowboards with her husband Jamie Mazur at the Oakley Learn To Ride In Collaboration With New Era on January 19, 2013 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images for Oakley)

Model Alessandra Ambrosio (L) and Jamie Mazur attend the 2013 amfAR Inspiration Gala Los Angeles at Milk Studios on December 12, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images for amfAR)

Model Alessandra Ambrosio attends the 2015 Harper's BAZAAR ICONS Event at The Plaza Hotel on September 16, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)

Model Alessandra Ambrosio and Jamie Mazur attend amfAR's Inspiration Gala Los Angeles at Milk Studios on October 29, 2015 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Mike Windle/Getty Images for amfAR)

Model Alessandra Ambrosio (R) and Jamie Mazur attend the 25th Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation's Academy Awards Viewing Party at The City of West Hollywood Park on February 26, 2017 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for EJAF)

Model Alessandra Ambrosio has ended her 10-year engagement.

The Brazilian bombshell became businessman Jamie Mazur's wife-to-be in 2008 after dating him for three years, but the Victoria's Secret Angel is now reportedly single again.

"They (have) been trying to keep their split on the down low, but Alessandra has been out and about ready to mingle and hasnt been taking Jamie to anything," an insider tells Us Weekly.

Alessandra shares two children - daughter Anja Louise, nine, and son Noah Phoenix, five - with her rumoured ex, who she has not referred to in public for several months.

Expand Close Alessandra Ambrosio and Jamie Mazur attend the premiere of Paramount Pictures' "Daddy's Home 2" at Regency Village Theatre on November 5, 2017 in Westwood, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Alessandra Ambrosio and Jamie Mazur attend the premiere of Paramount Pictures' "Daddy's Home 2" at Regency Village Theatre on November 5, 2017 in Westwood, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)

Neither Mazur nor Ambrosio have shared pictures of themselves together on their social media accounts since last Christmas when they posted vacation shots from a family break in Alessandra's native Brazil.

The model has previously spoken about why her engagement was so long, revealing she is just too occupied with work to take up wedding planning.

If I have been engaged to him for eight years," she told Cosmopolitan magazine in 2016. "I have a lot of things going on, and I havent got married because Im so busy. Ill think about that when I have time off.

She also insisted her jet-setting lifestyle was what helped make her relationship with Jamie work so well.

Expand Close Model Alessandra Ambrosio (L) and Jamie Mazur attend the 2013 amfAR Inspiration Gala Los Angeles at Milk Studios on December 12, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images for amfAR) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Model Alessandra Ambrosio (L) and Jamie Mazur attend the 2013 amfAR Inspiration Gala Los Angeles at Milk Studios on December 12, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images for amfAR)

I travel all the time, so I think that helps keep the spark alive, because its not like Im here every day, she explained. Im not an everyday-at-home kind of person.A coast guard vessel arrives at the port of Pythagorio on the eastern Greek island of Samos (Michael Svarnias/AP)

Greeces coast guard said the bodies of 14 people have been recovered from the sea off a Greek island in the eastern Aegean following the sinking of a suspected migrant smuggling boat.

A massive search and rescue operation was under way to locate four others believed missing.

Initially, the bodies of four children, one man and one woman were recovered off the island of Agathonisi, south of the island of Samos, the coast guard said.

Eight more bodies were recovered shortly after near Agathonisi. A coast guard spokeswoman said it was not immediately known whether they were adults or minors.

Three people  two women and a man  managed to reach the coast and alert authorities.

The three told authorities they had been in a wooden boat which sank with an estimated 21 people on board.

The reasons for the sinking were not immediately clear, and authorities said the total number of people who had been on board was also unclear.

Three aircraft, Greek navy and coast guard vessels, a vessel from the European border agency Frontex and private boats were scouring the area to search for the missing.

Despite a two-year deal between the European Union and Turkey designed to stop the flow of migrants and refugees into Europe using the popular route from the Turkish coast to nearby Greek islands, dozens and sometimes hundreds of people continue to make the journey each week.

Most cross in rickety inflatable boats or other unseaworthy vessels.Moulded clay figures are placed in a field that was once a no man's land between the German and British lines of the First World War in Ypres, Belgium (Virginia Mayo/AP)

A special remembrance installation of 600,000 crouching clay figures will open to the public soon in Ypres, Belgium, seeking to help visitors reflect on what happened during the First World War a century ago.

Belgium will honour its civilian and military dead with the figures, each about the size of a large fist.

The figures have already begun to fill a no mans land between what was once a German and British trench.

Since 2014 students, tourists and others have been creating the pieces in mobile workshops around the world and in the city of Ypres, the site of much carnage during the war.

Each individual piece comes complete with a dog tag which includes the name of the casualty and the name of the artist who created the piece.

In a sense, it connects the past with the present.

Making these pieces is a good way to remember the soldiers who fought in the war. It wasnt very pleasant for them, said 12-year-old Bethany Kibutu, a student at the clay workshop in Ypres who lives in Sheffield.

I know it had to happen, but if we can learn from our mistakes the world could maybe be a better place.

The installation opens on March 30.

Belgian rain and mud will weather the figures for eight months before they are finally removed in November and given away.

The last two surviving First World War soldiers who knew the horror first hand  Frank Buckles, from the United States, and Claude Choules, from the UK  both died in 2011.

The last year of the centenary commemorations is wrapping up in November.

When that is over, current and future generations have to find a way to try to keep remembering beyond the November 11 Armistice Day.

Just the creation of these pieces has already brought people together, said Lotte Moeyaert, co-director of the project.

Weve had individuals, families, team-building groups and students all coming in to create the figures in the workshop.

Getting their hands in the clay has made many of them believe they are part of a bigger thing, she said.Syrian government forces helping civilians who fled from fighting between the Syrian government forces and insurgents, near Hamouria in eastern Ghouta (SANA via AP)

Syrian troops have captured a major rebel stronghold east of the capital Damascus and taken large parts of another, squeezing insurgents and forcing thousands to flee to regions controlled by the government.

Troops have taken Kafr Batna and large parts of nearby Saqba, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, and Oways al-Shami, of the Syrian Civil Defence.

The capture of Kafr Batna and parts of nearby Saqba is another blow to opposition fighters, who have lost more than 70% of the area known as eastern Ghouta since President Bashar Assads forces began a crushing offensive under the cover of air strikes on February 18.

The violence left nearly 1,400 people dead, more than 5,000 wounded and forced tens of thousands to seek shelter in areas under government control.

The intensity of the shelling and air strikes has made it almost impossible for ambulances to move and wounded people cannot reach clinics, said Hamza Hassan, a surgeon working at one of the hospitals in eastern Ghouta.

Syrian state news agency SANA said the army stepped up military operations in eastern Ghouta and inflicted heavy losses on terrorist groups in personnel and military hardware.

It said troops reached the centre of Kafr Batna and Saqba.

With the capture of Kafr Batna and parts of Saqba, rebels still control the towns of Arbeen, Zamalka, Ein Tarma and Jobar on the southern edge of eastern Ghouta.

Eastern Ghouta has been split into three parts  the largest rebel-held town of Douma to the north has been cut off from nearby Harasta, and both have been split off from the rest of the area.

The world has betrayed us, said Ahmad Khanshour, a resident of eastern Ghouta, referring to the international community that could not do much to stop the offensive.

The world betrayed itself and the human values we all once shared.

He added that some 300,000 people are still besieged in eastern Ghouta, left to choose between dying under fire or surrendering and going to Assads jails and slaughterhouses.

The observatory said 30 people were killed in a Saturday morning air strike on Zamalka that hit a group of people trying to flee into government-controlled areas.

The oppositions Syrian Civil Defence said the air strike killed dozens and wounded scores, adding that paramedics are trying to help survivors.

Speaking about the capture of Kafr Batna, Mr al-Shami said people fled in the streets, not knowing in which direction to go.

He added that large numbers of people have now been squeezed into the small areas held by rebels in eastern Ghouta.

The violence came as thousands of people left eastern Ghouta and entered government-held parts of the region on Saturday, bringing to 47,000 the number of people who left the area over the past three days, according to Russias defence ministry.

Expand Close Syrian government forces soldiers helping civilians who fled from fighting between the Syrian government forces and insurgents, near Hamouria in eastern Ghouta (SANA via AP) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Syrian government forces soldiers helping civilians who fled from fighting between the Syrian government forces and insurgents, near Hamouria in eastern Ghouta (SANA via AP)

More than 11,000 people left eastern Ghouta on Saturday alone as government forces stepped up an offensive on the rebel enclave, according to Syrian and Russian officials.

Syrian state-run al-Ikhbariyah TV aired live footage showing hundreds of men, women and children carrying their belongings and marching into the town of Hamouria, which was recently captured by Syrian troops.

The station also showed a Syrian soldier meeting his mother and siblings for the first time in five years after they came out of eastern Ghouta. The soldier was seen kissing his mother, who was weeping.

Al-Ikhbariyah quoted an unnamed military official as saying 10,000 people left eastern Ghouta on Saturday alone.

Russias Major General Vladimir Zolotukhin was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying that some 3,000 people have been leaving every hour through a government-run humanitarian corridor monitored by the Russian military.

Maj Gen Zolotukhin is spokesman for the Russian centre for reconciliation of the warring parties in Syria.A former British Airways pilot has been told to pay his ex-wife nearly 600,000 (680,340) by a divorce court judge after losing a 16-year battle to prove his daughter was not his.

Mr Justice Mostyn has also imposed an e-mail ban on Richard Wilmot after his ex-wife Viki Maughan complained about a barrage of emails sent to her solicitor.

He ordered Mr Wilmot, who now flies with Turkish Airlines, to stop sending messages to the lawyer's private email address.

The judge has outlined his decisions in a ruling after analysing the latest leg of the case at a hearing in the Family Division of the High Court in London.

He said Mr Wilmot should pay 593,598 - a sum which including money owed for child support and lawyers' bills.

The couple divorced more than 15 years ago after a marriage lasting less than a decade, but litigation has continued.

Mr Wilmot has been unhappy about orders relating to the payment of child maintenance and claimed that his daughter, the youngest child in the family, was not biologically his.

However, a DNA test ordered by the family court in Germany concluded that this was almost certainly untrue, the judge said.

A report from the University of Bonn "which having analysed DNA which was unquestionably taken from both Captain Wilmot and his daughter concluded that the probability that Captain Wilmot was the true father of the child E was 99.999999 per cent," he added.

Last year three Court of Appeal judges dismissed an attempt he made to overturn rulings made by Mr Justice Mostyn.

The court issued an order freezing Mr Wilmot's assets, including his properties, money held in bank accounts, his pension and money held by insurance companies.

The judge also criticised the "utter folly" of Mr Wilmot's behaviour, and criticised him for not attending court.

He said 396,929 had been recovered and he still needed to pay 196,669 to his ex-wife. Assets worth 300,000 will be frozen.

Mr Wilmot has previously complained that orders served on him by email are invalid, but has since bombarded the court, the judge's clerk and his ex-wife with emails, the judge added.

"One cannot help but note the irony that he should use the medium of email for his campaign of bombardment in circumstances where his argument in the Court of Appeal was that all the orders that had been made against him were invalid because they had been served on him by email.

"He has sent directly to named members of staff in the court office since 27 October 2017 27 emails.

"He has sent to the court's generic email address in that period, 36 emails.

"He has sent to my clerk in that period, 26 emails. He has sent to the applicant's solicitor, 26 emails and he has sent direct to the applicant's counsel Mr Swift, 5 emails."

Staff at the Court of Appeal "have also been assailed by numerous emails from Captain Wilmot", the judge said.

"I am asked to make an order restraining Captain Wilmot from communicating with the applicant's solicitor on her private email address. It is completely unacceptable that this form of harassment should take place," the judge said.

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021]The striking glass facade of Warsaw's Polin Museum rises from a tree-lined square in what was once a key district for the city's Jewish community.

Infamously turned into a ghetto by the Nazis, who later snuffed out an uprising there, the location could not be more fitting for a museum dedicated to tracing the history of Poland's Jews who, on the cusp of World War II, comprised the largest Jewish population in Europe.

Inside, the curved walls of Polin's cavernous main hall divide dramatically, symbolising the rupture in the 1,000-year history of Polish Jews that the Holocaust represented.

Visiting the museum last weekend, the bitter controversies over a new law in Poland related to responsibility for Holocaust crimes were never far from the mind.

Expand Close Children wearing concentration camp uniforms just after the liberation of Oswiecim (Auschwitz) by the Soviet army in January 1945. Photo: AP / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Children wearing concentration camp uniforms just after the liberation of Oswiecim (Auschwitz) by the Soviet army in January 1945. Photo: AP

Under the new legislation, passed in January with support from the ruling Law and Justice party, fines or jail sentences can be imposed on anyone who "publicly and against the facts attributes to the Polish nation or Polish state responsibility or co-responsibility for Nazi crimes", or "flagrantly reduces in any way the responsibility of the real perpetrators".

The law has chilled historians of the period who are worried that it will impede research.

It also prompted widespread criticism from the Trump administration - which warned it could damage bilateral relations - Israeli officials and Germany's foreign minister in addition to a host of Jewish groups in the US.

As the controversy deepened, Poland's right-wing government pledged the law will not be implemented until it is reviewed by the country's constitutional court.

The episode - with all the heated debate it has sparked inside and out of Poland - is a reminder of how the country still struggles in its reckoning with its World War II history, a process that was delayed during the Cold War era.

During the years of Nazi occupation between 1939 and 1945, more than six million Polish citizens - half of them Jews - were killed.

Many of the Nazis' most notorious concentration camps - including Auschwitz-Birkenau, Belzec and Treblinka - were built on Polish soil.

Polish officials have long bristled over accusations of complicity, for example objecting in 2012 when then US president Barack Obama referred to "Polish death camps" in a speech.

I visited Auschwitz-Birkenau as a university student and remember how people I met in Poland then did not want to discuss new research that indicated how anti-Semitism in Polish society at the time meant relatively few tried to protect their Jewish compatriots.

One of the most prominent academics on this issue, Princeton historian Professor Jan Gross, has been threatened with prosecution by the Polish government.

His book documenting the massacre of 1,600 Jews by their Polish neighbours in the village of Jedwabne in 1941 was published in 2000 and still strikes a nerve in Poland.

In a recent interview, Mr Prof Gross said the new law seemed to be aimed at preventing the unearthing of historical facts at odds with the official narrative of what happened.

Already a lawsuit has been filed against a newspaper in Argentina for an article that refers to the Jedwabne massacre.

The loose wording of the law concerns historians because its potential interpretation is so broad that they fear it could be used to prosecute Polish Jews who survived the Holocaust for talking about their own experiences of anti-Semitism in Poland at the time.

The debacle over the new law has also revealed anti-Semitism is far from a thing of the past in Poland, particularly among supporters of the governing party.

Apart from Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki's claims that Jews were also "perpetrators" in World War II, Polish media outlets have featured personalities whose defence of the legislation tips into anti-Semitism.

In a recent interview on Polish state TV, a priest who edits a Catholic publication claimed Jewish critics of the law have "a completely different system of values, a different concept of truth".

To hear such rhetoric bubble up in the debate over the Holocaust law disturbs many at a time when far-right movements - some of them openly anti-Semitic - are gaining ground in Poland and elsewhere in Europe.

Back at the Polin Museum - the name of which is a Hebrew word which means either 'Poland' or 'rest here' and is related to a legend about the arrival of the first Jews in the country - exhibitions detail the ebb and flow of Jewish life in Poland over centuries.

Well over half the world's 13.5 million Jews are believed to have some ancestral connection with Poland, whose three million-plus Jewish community made up a 10th of the country's pre-war population.

With the Polin Museum and other initiatives, there is an attempt to record Poland's Jewish heritage.

But the row over the Holocaust law shows there are parts of that history some would prefer remain in the shadows.An activist distributes leaflets in support of incumbent Vladimir Putin in downtown Moscow, ahead of the upcoming Russian presidential elections. Photo: Getty Images

The British government has for the first time directly accused Vladimir Putin of personally ordering the poisoning of a former spy in Salisbury, even as the Kremlin considered what retaliatory measures it would take to the ejecting of 23 Russian diplomats from the UK.

The war of words continued despite there still being no official word on the form and scale of the Russian response, which may now wait for next week as Moscow seeks to avoid drawing attention away from its impending election.

Yesterday, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson made the incendiary claim that it was "overwhelmingly likely" that President Putin personally ordered the assassination attempt on Sergei Skripal using a Soviet-era nerve agent, an attack which left him and his daughter Yulia in a critical condition in hospital.

Mr Johnson's comments, which appeared designed to show that Britain bears no ill will towards ordinary Russians, were denounced by Moscow as an "unforgivable breach of diplomatic etiquette".

Expand Close British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson speaks to media during a visit to a Battle of Britain bunker in Uxbridge, London, yesterday. Photo: Getty Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson speaks to media during a visit to a Battle of Britain bunker in Uxbridge, London, yesterday. Photo: Getty Images

Mr Johnson said: "Our quarrel is with Putin's Kremlin, and with his decision - and we think it overwhelmingly likely that it was his decision - to direct the use of a nerve agent on the streets of the UK, on the streets of Europe, for the first time since World War II. That is why we are at odds with Russia."

Presidential press-secretary Dmitry Peskov told the state-run Tass news agency: "We have already said on many levels that Russia has nothing to do with this story whatsoever.

"Any reference or mention of our president in this connection is nothing but a shocking and unforgivable violation of the diplomatic rules of propriety."

The British government has said it is "highly likely" that Russia was behind the attack, which used the "military grade" nerve agent Novichok, but until now has not directly suggested Mr Putin was personally responsible.

Mr Peskov said it had become "obvious that there is a lack of any clear proof (of Russian involvement)". Referring to a joint statement of support from Britain's allies, he said the "whole wave (of such statements) originated from Britain".

Russia has refused to explain how Novichok was used to strike down the Skripals on March 4. They were found unconscious on a bench and remain critically ill in hospital.

Russia has demanded access to the case and opened its own investigation into the attempted murders yesterday. It said it would not respond to the UK's allegations until it was given samples of the poison used and such samples were handed to the international Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

Downing Street announced yesterday evening that Britain had invited the OPCW's experts to "come to the UK and take a sample". A spokesperson said they expected this process to begin "imminently".

Mr Putin himself was focussed on his expected re-election as president, with yesterday the last day of campaigning. The issue of the poisoning was not raised during a public appearance at a medical centre in St Petersburg, his home city, and he used a TV address to urge Russians to turn out in high numbers.

But in his daily conference call, Mr Peskov called Britain's allegations "against international law and common sense" and said the UK can expect Moscow's retaliation to come "at any moment".

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has already signalled that 23 British diplomats will be asked to leave the country, mirroring the British move against Russia's London embassy. But there has as yet been no other signal as to how Moscow will deal with the rest of the package announced by Prime Minster Theresa May on Wednesday.

This included the promise to step up sanctions, a threat to freeze "hostile" Russian state assets, and a wider intention to work against "suspicious" Russian money in the UK.

Mr Peskov said the Kremlin had been "surprised" by the British government's actions. "We haven't seen this type of behaviour on a state level before," he said. "Delivering serious accusations against Russia, on a 'highly likely' basis, is both against international law and common sense."

Mr Johnson's comments came as Russia was responding to the assertion from the UK foreign secretary's colleague, Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson, that Russia should "go away it should shut up".

Mr Lavrov said the comments suggested Mr Williamson "lacked education".

Meanwhile, British police have said that another Russian exile, found dead at his home in south London on Monday, was murdered.

Businessman Nikolay Glushkov (68), who was a vocal opponent of Mr Putin, died as a result of strangulation, according to a post mortem.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "The Met Police's Counter Terrorism Command, which has led the investigation from the outset, is now treating Mr Glushkov's death as murder.

"As a precaution, the command is retaining primacy for the investigation because of the associations Mr Glushkov is believed to have had."

Mr Glushkov was the right-hand man of the deceased oligarch Boris Berezovsky, Mr Putin's one-time fiercest rival.

The Scotland Yard spokesman said: "At this stage there is nothing to suggest any link to the attempted murders in Salisbury, nor any evidence that he was poisoned." ( Independent News Service)Russia expelled 23 British diplomats on Saturday in a retaliatory move over British accusations that the Kremlin orchestrated a nerve toxin attack on a former Russian double agent and his daughter in southern England.

Escalating a crisis in relations, Russia said it was also shutting down the activities of the British Council, which fosters cultural links between the two countries, and withdrawing agreement for Britain to operate a consulate-general in St. Petersburg.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said it was giving the 23 British diplomats one week to leave the country.

The move followed Britain's decision on Thursday to expel 23 Russian diplomats over the attack in the English city of Salisbury which left former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia Skripal, 33, critically ill in hospital.

The ministry said Moscow's measures were a response to what it called Britain's "provocative actions and groundless accusations". It had warned London it stood ready to take further measures in the event of more "unfriendly steps".

Relations between London and Moscow have crashed to a post-Cold War low over the attack, the first known offensive use of a nerve agent in Europe since World War Two.

The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the British ambassador, Laurie Bristow, to a meeting on Saturday morning in central Moscow at its Stalin-era headquarters during which he was informed of the measures.

Bristow told reporters afterwards that the crisis had arisen after "the attempted murder of two people using a chemical weapon developed in Russia". Britain had only expelled the Russian diplomats after Moscow had failed to explain how the nerve toxin had got to Britain, he said.

"We will always do what is necessary to defend ourselves," the ambassador told reporters.

Russia has complained that Britain has failed to provide any evidence of its involvement in the Salisbury attack and has said it is shocked and bemused by the allegations.

Britain has escalated a war of words with Russia over the incident in recent days. On Friday, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said it was overwhelmingly likely that Russian President Vladimir Putin himself had made the decision to use a military-grade nerve toxin to strike down Skripal.

Britain, the United States, Germany and France have jointly called on Russia to explain the attack, while U.S. President Donald Trump has said it looks as if the Russians were behind it.

Russia has said is open to cooperation with Britain, but has refused Britain's demands to explain how Novichok, a nerve agent developed by the Soviet military, was used against the Skripals.

Skripal, a former colonel in the GRU who betrayed dozens of Russian agents to British intelligence, and his daughter have been critically ill since March 4, when they were found unconscious on a bench.

A British policeman was also poisoned when he went to help them and remains in a serious but stable condition.

Russian investigators said on Friday they had opened a criminal investigation into the attempted murder of Yulia Skripal and offered to cooperate with British authorities.

Russia offered some cooperation to British authorities after the 2006 London murder of ex-KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko too.

Britain said the assistance in that case was not enough, and in 2016, a judge-led inquiry concluded that Putin had probably approved Litvinenko's murder, something Moscow denies.

Putin, a former KGB spy who is poised to win a fourth term in an election on Sunday, has so far only said publicly that Britain should get to the bottom of what has happened.What if they had a war and only one side showed up? Russia has been waging war on the West for at least 10 years, and the West hasn't bothered to notice.

This is not, to be sure, a conventional war, with Russian tanks invading Poland or Russian missiles hitting Pittsburgh. Moscow's kind of war is more subtle and yet all the more effective - precisely because it does not compel an overwhelming response.

The war arguably began in 2008 when Russia invaded Georgia, a pro-Western country that sent troops to Iraq and Afghanistan and was anxious to join Nato.

Rather than punishing Vladimir Putin for his aggression, the Obama administration later responded with a "reset" of relations. Putin was emboldened to aggress again: In 2014, his "little green men" - uniformed Russian soldiers with their insignia removed - invaded Ukraine. He annexed Crimea and turned eastern Ukraine into a Russian proxy state.

This time the United States and Europe did respond with sanctions - but not strongly enough to dissuade him.

In 2014, a Russian anti-aircraft missile shot down a Malaysian airliner over Ukraine, killing 298 people. Instead of apologising and paying restitution, Putin spread crazy conspiracy theories blaming the shoot-down on Ukraine, the CIA or some other culprit.

In 2015, he entered the Syrian civil war to help a criminal regime commit war crimes against its own people. Not satisfied with killing Syrians, last month Russian mercenaries attacked a base that held US forces in an apparent attempt to drive the United States out of Syria.

To prevent an effective response from the West, Putin brazenly intervened in the 2016 US presidential election to help defeat Hillary Clinton, a critic, and elect Donald Trump, a fan.

He has also meddled in European elections to help pro-Russian candidates. The Russians even fomented an unsuccessful coup to try to prevent Montenegro from joining Nato.

While helping his supporters, Putin has not hesitated to eliminate his critics, both at home and abroad. BuzzFeed reported last year that Putin may have had 14 people killed in Britain and at least one in the States.

In 2006, according to a British inquiry, two Russian agents murdered former Russian intelligence officer Alexander Litvinenko by spiking his tea with radioactive polonium-210.

Last week, another Russian turncoat Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned in Britain with another exotic weapon - a Russian nerve agent known as Novichok.

That Putin is taking so little care to conceal his "wet work" suggests he wants to send a message: this is what happens when you cross me.

Putin has little reason to fear retribution because he has suffered so little to date.

After Russia's assault on US democracy, President Barack Obama expelled 35 Russian diplomats. Putin responded by eliminating more than 750 positions at US diplomatic outposts.

Now British Prime Minister Theresa May has expelled 23 Russian diplomats, Putin will retaliate in kind. But he couldn't care less.

What might get his and his frontman, foreign minister Sergey Lavrov's attention is an overwhelming response led by the US.

The Trump administration has now joined Britain, France and Germany in decrying the "first offensive use of a nerve agent" in Europe since World War II, while the Treasury Department has sanctioned the Russian hackers accused by special counsel Robert Mueller of having taken part in the subversion of the 2016 election and other cyber-attacks. It's a start, but not much more than that.

President Trump still has not personally called out Putin in the way he has assailed everyone from Alec Baldwin to 'New York Times' reporter Maggie Haberman.

Trump has begrudgingly allowed the sale of weapons to Ukraine but won't enforce the sanctions passed by Congress. In 2012, Congress passed the Magnitsky Act to sanction Russians involved in human rights abuses. Obama sanctioned 44 individuals; Trump only five.

Trump's unwillingness to criticise Putin makes you wonder what hold the Kremlin has over him; but no one is alleging May has been compromised and her actions are just as pusillanimous.

What would the West do if it were to get serious about Russian aggression?

Putin and his cronies have billions stashed in the West. London is a particular favourite. Freeze the money. Seize the properties. Hurt them where it counts.

The USA can also designate Russia a state sponsor of terrorism, just like North Korea, which also used a nerve agent for an assassination abroad.

Stop treating Russia like a legitimate state: Putin has already been kicked out of the G8 gatherings; he can be removed from the G20 too. Kick Russia out of the Swift system, denying Russian banks access to international monetary transfers. Invoke Nato's Article 5 collective-defence clause.

There is a rich menu of retaliatory options - none of which would risk a nuclear war in spite of Putin's sabre-rattling.

Empty words aren't enough. Stronger action is needed to make the Russian strongman realise he can't win this undeclared war without a fight. ( Washington Post)Dont make me go all West Virginia on you. Thats just one of the protest signs created by Kentucky principal Gerry Brooks and offered to teachers across the country who might feel emboldened by West Virginia teachers nine-day strike that ended in a 5 percent pay hike .

The Oklahoma Education Association last week announced schools would shut down across the state if the legislature failed to fund a pay raise for teachers by April 1.

Teachers in Kentucky and Arizona are making smaller waves and have so far stopped short of a walkout.

Kentucky teachers have essentially stopped a bill in the senate that would have cut their pension benefits. Theyve held walk-ins statewide where they protest outside the school in the early morning then walk into the building together, and rallies at the capitol in Frankfort to voice their opposition to the bill, which by many reports, has little chance of passing now.

I think it has a very limited and difficult path forward at this point in time, Senate President Robert Stivers told reporters on Wednesday. He said he might introduce legislation later in a special session, according to the Courier Journal .

The bill in question threatens to cut yearly cost-of-living increases for retired teachers from 1.5 percent to 1 percent until the pension system is 90 percent funded. Its currently 56 percent funded, reports the Associated Press . New teachers would be placed in a retirement plan that is a mix of a traditional pension and 401K-style plan. Those with fewer than 20 years on the job would work under a new retirement formula that rewards them with better benefits the more years they work. The practice of accumulating sick days to boost retirement pay would no longer be allowed.

Republican Gov. Matt Bevin called the teachers selfish for protesting the bill. Kentuckys pension is one of the worst funded in the country with more than $40 billion in liabilities.

Teachers argue that they fork over a sizeable portion of their small pay checks into a pension system that they depend on, especially since they dont have the option to draw upon social security in retirement. (Teachers in some states dont pay into the social security system .)



I never once questioned the 14 percent that came out of my salary because I didnt go into teaching to get rich, did you? said retired teacher Lisa Petrey-Kirk at a rally on the capitol steps in Frankfort, Ky., to a resounding No! from the crowd. We went into teaching to make a difference and we knew that we were going to have a pension in the end.

Kentucky Education Association president Kelly Beckett warned that teachers would take the fight to the voting booth. We completely understand what [the governor] is trying to do to public education and we are not going to stand for it, she told the Associated Press .

The Fight for Higher Pay in Arizona

It all began with a Red for Ed  effort organized on Facebook last week calling on Arizona teachers to dress in red. The aim was to gauge educators feelings about a potential statewide strike over low pay. Thousands of teachers answered the call.

My colleagues are incredible. Listen to their stories. #RedForEd https://t.co/TrzrmJfMK0  Noah Karvelis (@Noah__Karvelis) March 15, 2018

With that success under their belts, teachers next step is to hold a day of action  on March 28 in Tucson and at the capitol in Phoenix to protest low wages, large class sizes, and bad education policy.

One Phoenix-area teacher fueled the debate over low pay even more with a post of a document showing her old annual salary ($35,490) and her new annual salary ($35,621.25) on Facebook.

This is my new pay after taking a few professional-development classes, she wrote in the post, which she has since deleted. I actually laughed when I saw the old salary vs. the new one. I mean really, I need a college degree to make this? I paid $80,000 for a college degree, I then paid several hundred more to transfer my certification to AZ.

The average starting teacher salary in Arizona is just $31,874, according to the National Education Association. Low pay is one of the reasons for the states teacher shortage . According to a survey by the Arizona School Personnel Administrators Association , 866 teachers have left their jobs as of December 8. There are more than 1,900 unfilled teacher jobs in the state, while 963 classroom positions are held by teachers with emergency credentials.

See also:This week in odd news: Club's horse show goes wrong, Oprah gets message from ChristThis photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows Syrian government forces soldiers, helping civilians who fled from fighting between the Syrian government forces and insurgents, near Hamouria in eastern Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus, Syria (SANA via AP)

Marchers highlight the plight of civilians in Eastern Ghouta, Syria, during an anti-racism rally in Glasgow organised by Stand up to Racism Scotland Credit: Mark Runnacles/PA Wire

Syrian troops have captured a major rebel stronghold east of the capital Damascus and taken large parts of another, squeezing insurgents and forcing thousands to flee to regions controlled by the government.

Troops have taken Kafr Batna and large parts of nearby Saqba, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, and Oways al-Shami, of the Syrian Civil Defence.

The capture of Kafr Batna and parts of nearby Saqba is another blow to opposition fighters, who have lost more than 70% of the area known as eastern Ghouta since President Bashar Assad's forces began a crushing offensive under the cover of air strikes on February 18.

The violence left nearly 1,400 people dead, more than 5,000 wounded and forced tens of thousands to seek shelter in areas under government control.

The intensity of the shelling and air strikes has made it almost impossible for ambulances to move and wounded people cannot reach clinics, said Hamza Hassan, a surgeon working at one of the hospitals in eastern Ghouta.

Syrian state news agency SANA said the army stepped up military operations in eastern Ghouta and inflicted "heavy losses on terrorist groups in personnel and military hardware".

It said troops reached the centre of Kafr Batna and Saqba.

With the capture of Kafr Batna and parts of Saqba, rebels still control the towns of Arbeen, Zamalka, Ein Tarma and Jobar on the southern edge of eastern Ghouta.

Eastern Ghouta has been split into three parts - the largest rebel-held town of Douma to the north has been cut off from nearby Harasta, and both have been split off from the rest of the area.

"The world has betrayed us," said Ahmad Khanshour, a resident of eastern Ghouta, referring to the international community that could not do much to stop the offensive.

"The world betrayed itself and the human values we all once shared."

He added that some 300,000 people are still besieged in eastern Ghouta, left to choose between "dying under fire or surrendering and going to Assad's jails and slaughterhouses".

The observatory said 30 people were killed in a Saturday morning air strike on Zamalka that hit a group of people trying to flee into government-controlled areas.

The opposition's Syrian Civil Defence said the air strike killed dozens and wounded scores, adding that paramedics are trying to help survivors.

Speaking about the capture of Kafr Batna, Mr al-Shami said people "fled in the streets, not knowing in which direction to go".

He added that large numbers of people have now been squeezed into the small areas held by rebels in eastern Ghouta.

The violence came as thousands of people left eastern Ghouta and entered government-held parts of the region on Saturday, bringing to 47,000 the number of people who left the area over the past three days, according to Russia's defence ministry.

More than 11,000 people left eastern Ghouta on Saturday alone as government forces stepped up an offensive on the rebel enclave, according to Syrian and Russian officials.

Syrian state-run al-Ikhbariyah TV aired live footage showing hundreds of men, women and children carrying their belongings and marching into the town of Hamouria, which was recently captured by Syrian troops.

The station also showed a Syrian soldier meeting his mother and siblings for the first time in five years after they came out of eastern Ghouta. The soldier was seen kissing his mother, who was weeping.

Al-Ikhbariyah quoted an unnamed military official as saying 10,000 people left eastern Ghouta on Saturday alone.

Russia's Major General Vladimir Zolotukhin was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying that some 3,000 people have been leaving every hour through a government-run humanitarian corridor monitored by the Russian military.

Maj Gen Zolotukhin is spokesman for the Russian centre for reconciliation of the warring parties in Syria.Russias government is expelling 23 British diplomats and threatened further measures in retaliation in a growing diplomatic dispute over a nerve agent attack on a former spy in Britain.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it is also ordering the closure of the British Council in Russia and ending an agreement to reopen the British consulate in St Petersburg.

Latest news and information on the UK government's response to the Salisbury attack.



https://t.co/jvaEjf8Eg1 pic.twitter.com/Oz5Wapw1Qd  Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (@FCDOGovUK) March 16, 2018

It ordered the diplomats to leave within a week.

The statement said the government could take further measures if Britain takes any more unfriendly moves toward Russia.

British Prime Minister Theresa May this week expelled 23 Russian diplomats and severed high-level contacts over the poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

They remain in critical condition in hospital.A Russian politician is warning Britain against escalating the crisis over the poisoning of a former Russian spy.

Moscow and London have both ordered diplomats to be expelled in the deepening dispute.

Vladimir Dzhabarov, deputy chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the upper house of the Russian parliament, spoke on Saturday after Russia ordered 23 British diplomats to leave the country and that the British Council in Russia to be closed.

Latest news and information on the UK government's response to the Salisbury attack.



https://t.co/jvaEjf8Eg1 pic.twitter.com/Oz5Wapw1Qd  Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (@FCDOGovUK) March 16, 2018

Britain this week ordered 23 Russian diplomats to leave the country, saying that Russia was not co-operating in the case of Sergei Skripal and his daughter, both found poisoned by a nerve agent that British officials say was developed in Russia.

It is possible that (Britain) will continue to respond; we are ready for this. But London must understand that this will not do anything, it is useless to talk with Russia with such methods, Mr Dzhabarov was quoted as saying by the state news agency RIA Novosti.Officials inspect the site of a suicide car bomb in Kabul (Massoud Hossaini/AP)

A suicide car bomber targeting a British security company in the Afghan capital Kabul has killed two civilians and wounded three others, officials say.

Interior Ministry deputy spokesman Nasrat Rahimi confirmed the Saturday attack, which was claimed by the Taliban.

An Afghan police officer said the attacker killed three civilians and wounded five more in the eastern part of the capital.

Jan Agha said the attacker targeted a foreign convoy, but was not successful. He said the attack took place as the convoy passed by the car bomber.

Additional details were not immediately available.

Zabihullah Mujahid, Taliban spokesman, claimed responsibility for the attack in a text message, saying the target was foreign vehicles and the attack was successful.Las Vegas, Mar 17 (IBNS): Our ancestors not only survived a massive volcanic eruption 74,000 years ago, they flourished during the resulting climate change that occurred, a new study by UNLV geoscientist Eugene Smith and colleagues found.

The conclusions reached by Smith and Arizona State University archeologist Curtis Marean counter previously held beliefs that the eruption of an Indonesian super volcano  called Mount Toba  and the resulting winter of ash and smoke spread thousands of miles, destroyed plants, killed animals, and nearly wiped out humans, read the UNLV website.

The study, Humans thrived in South Africa through the Toba eruption about 74,000 years ago, was published this week in the journal Nature.

And it all started with a National Geographic vacation and tour to the Republic of South Africa that Smith and his wife took back in 2011.

During the vacation, the couple was touring archeological sites run by Marean, who noticed a skeptical look on Smiths face as he discussed geology.

The two soon spoke, and Marean learned Smith was a geologist and asked him to look at some glassy looking shards that were found in the archeological sites. Smith quickly identified the pieces as cryptotephra, very old microscopic glass shards that were ejected during a volcanic eruption.

The next step was creating a partnership between the two public research universities and to build a lab to study when and where those shards came from.

Smith sent a UNLV graduate student to Oxford University in the United Kingdom to model the lab. Soon after, UNLV developed the Cryptotephra Laboratory for Archaeological and Geological Research, the only U.S. lab specializing in this type of work. The lab analyzed and dated the shards, narrowing down the exact time that all this occurred to inhabitants at two sites -- Pinnacle Point and Vleesbaai in present-day South Africa.

Of course, they first had to find more shards of glass. This is no easy task when youre talking about something less than a one-third the size of a grain of salt.

Smith and a graduate student went to South Africa and collected samples from the Pinnacle Point archaeological site looking for evidence of the Toba super volcano. The shards are both tiny and hard to come by  roughly 1 in every 10,000 grains of sand, he said.

Back in the lab, Smith and UNLV post-doctoral fellow Racheal Johnsen, graduate student Amber Ciravolo, and undergraduate Shelby Fitch studied samples of the glass to trace it to the Toba super volcano.

Armed with a clear timeline, the archeologist Marean was able to show that those human ancestors living at Pinnacle Point and Vleesbaai  located about five miles apart -- showed remarkable improvement in their life style during the volcanic winter caused by the Toba eruption.

Humans in this region thrived through the Toba event and the ensuing full glacial conditions, perhaps as a combined result of the uniquely rich resource base of the region and fully evolved modern human adaptation, study authors noted.

The Toba eruption  the largest in the past 2 million years -- was so immense, it spewed ash and smoke around the world, including South Africa, some 6,200 miles away.

Still, humans were able to survive and adapt, Smith said.

This was eight years of work by many people, and Im immensely proud of my colleagues and our lab at UNLV, Smith said.

Representative Image: Wkimedia CommonsKolkata, Mar 17 (IBNS): Calcutta Heritage Collective, on Friday, hosted VIVA (meaning 'alive' in Spanish), an exhibition of 35 photographs taken by journalist and photographer Kounteya Sinha.

Governor of West Bengal, Keshri Nath Tripathi, attended the inauguration.

Also present were Calcutta Heritage Collective Cause Ambassadors - Usha Uthup, Bickram Ghosh, Shuvaprasanna Bhattacharya, guests like Jawhar Sircar, GM Kapur along with Calcutta Heritage Collective Members - Rajiv Soni, Mukul Agarwal, Sandip Nowlakha, Manish Chakravarti, Swarup Dutta, Iftekhar Ahsan, Paramita Saha, Anthony Khatchaturian, Hemant Bangur, Deepanjan Gosh, Anjum Katyal, Ayan Chattopadhyay, Munish Jhajharia and others.

Calcutta Heritage Collective is a voluntary initiative aimed to build awareness about Kolkata's built heritage through a broad range of activities, such as helping with conservation and restoration, creative re-use of properties and spreading awareness.

Calcutta Heritage Collective hosted this event in association with Emami.

The photographs were a curated collection from Kounteya Sinha's extensive photographic journey across the world in the past six years.

The photos span 25 different cities from Kolkata to Barcelona, Mexico city to Budapest, London to Vilnius.

Architecture is actually a gigantic repository of human life and death and everything in between. Kolkata  what was once the British Empires second most important city is unparalleled across the globe when it comes to its built heritage. Most people never enter these buildings thinking them to be abandoned and hence letting them rot and die. The Collective and I intend to bring Kolkatas good people to actually see such marvels and feel that pain of losing them forever, Sinha said.

Most of the works are in the form of Sinhas favourite medium of story-telling  black and white.

Apart from Sinha's photographic excellence, what was spectacular about this exhibition was the venue.

A 200-year old building in central Kolkata, belonging to Emami Foundation, was a fitting background to Sinha's 2018 summer repertoire show.

This mansion, on Muktaram Babu Street, with gigantic pillars, cast-iron railings, French style windows, masterfully worked cornices, earlier owned by the Mullick family (of Marble Palace fame), spoke volumes of Kolkata's built heritage.

Sinha and the Collective chose it as their venue because they wanted to tell the world that these buildings are of great architectural value and need to be restored and preserved.

Governor Tripathi said, "History forms the essence of who we are today. We need to protect this identity. A city is known not only by how it moves forward into the future but also how beautifully it strikes a balance between the past and the present. All over the world we see an attempt to maintain it's inheritance, any society which does not take pride in it's heritage becomes psychologically dead very soon."



Sinha said, What were once icons and masterpieces of the human hand, today, mostly languish in anonymity and neglect. Buildings that have been witness to history and bonhomie, clamour and celebratory clinking, have now been reduced to mere rubbles  patiently whiling away its last few days - before it makes place for some hideous monstrosity called a modern day sky scarper.

Artist Shuvaprasanna in conversation with IBNS said, I have seen how the Germans had rebuilt a church after it was absolutely demolished during the World War II. So it is about how the whole community reacts to the need of conservation.

Sinha also reminded the audience, "A city is known by what it keeps. Britain does it fabulously and so do the French. Portugal decided to gallop ahead into modernity by staunchly holding on to its past while Spains sensational marvels made from brick and mortar will ravage your heart. We intend to do the same in Kolkata - revitalise communities to dedicate themselves to protect what is old, what is fabulous, what is spectacular  and understand that a building isnt immobile or dead but a tangible museum of memories and tales.

It will not be out of place here to mention that Sinha travelled to 11 countries of Europe to study the lives of the Indian diaspora and record the lives of Indians who made that continent home.

Sinha returned with an extraordinary narrative in the form of photographs and interviews, an achievement that caught the attention of none other than Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who used Sinha's photographs in his address to the nation to showcase the lives of Indian diaspora.

(Reporting by Sourajit Choudhury)Islamabad, Mar 17 (IBNS) : Pakistan has decided to pull out from the World Trade Organisation (WTO) meet in New Delhi next week in protest against the alleged harassment of its diplomats in India, media reports said.

India had invited Pakistan commerce minister Pervez Malik to participate in the informal WTO .meeting scheduled to be held in New Delhi on March 19 and 20.

Though Islamabad had initially accepted the invitation last month, Daily Pakistan quoted its sources in the foreign ministry having confirmed that the situation had changed after repeated harassment of families of diplomats.

The decision to pull out of WTO meeting comes on the heels of recalling of Pakistans High Commissioner to India Sohail Mehmood.

For the WTO summit, India has invited Trade Ministers of over 50 nations including the US, China and Pakistan to discuss key issues related with areas like agriculture and services.New Delhi, Mar 17 (IBNS): Frank-Walter Steinmeier, President of Germany, is visiting India on Mar 22-25, 2018.

This will be his first visit to India as the President of Germany. During this visit, the German President will be accompanied by a CEO delegation, Indologists and a media delegation. President Steinmeier, apart from Delhi, will visit Varanasi and Chennai, read a statement issued by the MEA.

He has visited India several times in his former capacity as the Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor of Germany - in 2015 accompanying Chancellor Merkel to attend the 3rd Intergovernmental Consultations, in September 2014 and in November 2008.

The last German President to visit India was Joachim Gauck in February 2014.

This visit is significant as it will be the President's first visit after the new German Government was sworn in on Mar 14, 2018.

Indias relationship with Germany is amongst our foremost relations, bilaterally and in global context.

After having established Strategic Partnership since 2000, successive Governments on the two sides have endeavoured to broaden and deepen this relationship.

This has found expression in having biennial Summit level Inter-Governmental Consultations (IGC), which Germany has with select countries only.

Germany is the most populous country in Europe (approx. 82.7 million - 2016) and its location at the centre of the continent gives it a natural role as a bridge between East and West Europe.

It is an industrially advanced nation and in combination with modern technical know-how, has become a manufacturing hub.

It is a global-centre and a pivot for R&D and skills.

Despite the historical upheavals in Germany, it has successfully emerged as the engine of growth in Europe.

India-Germany bilateral economic cooperation has been robust. Germany is Indias largest trading partner in Europe and the 6th largest trading partner in the world.

India was ranked 24th in Germanys global trade. Indias current priorities in most areas match with German expertise, such as renewable energy, skills development, Smart City, water & waste management, cleaning of rivers, railways, etc.

These could be synergised for tangible, result-oriented outcomes.

In 2016-17 the bilateral trade turnover was US$ 18.76 billion. In 2016-17, India exported goods worth US$ 7.18 billion to Germany and imported goods worth US$ 11.58 billion. Germany is the 7th largest foreign direct investor in India. Cumulative German FDI in India from April 2000 to December 2017 is USD 10.71 billion or 2.91% of total FDI.

There are more than 15,000 Indian Students in Germany and around 800 German students are doing their internship or studying in India (2017). The number of Indian Nationals in Germany is 108,000 (German Ministry of Interior, 2017) and the number of PIOs in Germany is about 73,000, mainly comprising of technocrats, small businessmen/traders and nurses.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Bhubaneswar, Mar 17 (IBNS): President of India Ram Nath Kovind, dedicated the Anand Bhawan Museum and Learning Centre  a memorial to the late Chief Minister Biju Patnaik - to the people of Odisha in the presence of the Governor of Odisha, Dr SC Jamir and Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik and other dignitaries in Cuttack on Saturday.

Speaking on the occasion, the President said that Biju Patnaik has a special place in the hearts of people.

He earned affection and respect of all regions and political parties.

His legacy is beyond party affiliation. Not only Odisha, but the whole country is proud of him.

The President appreciated Naveen Patnaik and his family for handing over the Anand Bhawan campus to the state government.

He expressed hope that visitors to this museum will be able to know more about the multi-dimensional personality of the late Biju Patnaik and get acquainted with a glorious chapter in the history of Odisha and India.

The President said that all-round development of Odisha is necessary for Indias inclusive growth. Odisha is rich in forest and mineral resources.

The state can reach new heights with optimal and balanced use of these resources.

Odisha also has a lot of potential in the tourism sector, which could increase employment and strengthen economic growth.

Later in the day, the President delivered the 3rd Foundation Day Lecture of the National Law University Odisha.

Addressing the gathering, the President said that the modernisation of the legal profession has kept pace with the rise in opportunities for law graduates and young lawyers. While litigation in the courtroom remains at the core of legal practice, a law graduate today finds many avenues open to him or her that were simply not available to previous generations.

The President said that as our economy has grown, the legal profession too has expanded. Commercial and business law have become more important, complex and intellectually stimulating.

Trade and commerce, international agreements and even the craft of diplomacy increasingly turn to lawyers and legal minds for negotiations and skilled drafting of texts.

Arbitration and the globalisation of legal services have also linked todays lawyers with the rest of our planet.

The President said that an advocate is a law officer of the court.

He or she has a responsibility to the client, but also a duty to assist the court in delivery of justice. Our legal system has a reputation for being expensive and for being prone to delays.

The use and abuse of the instrument of adjournments is often done by advocates who see adjournment as a tactic to slow down proceedings, rather than a response to a genuine emergency.

This adds to the cost of obtaining justice for the litigant. It would be a travesty of our republican ethic if a poor person did not get the same access to the law as a rich person.

The President said that these are issues for the emerging generation of lawyers to ponder and to rectify.

The opportunities and rewards of this profession  both intellectual and financial  are enormous. And this is welcome. But a good legal professional is not just somebody with a mind  he or she is also somebody with a heart.

The President was happy to learn that the National Law University, Odisha is equipping its students in new fields and introducing them to new possibilities.

Using the GIAN programme, this University has offered courses in international e-commerce law and in corporate governance in India.

These have involved guest faculty from the United States and Singapore.

The President was glad to note the curriculum of the University is socially relevant.

From July this year, a distance education and online course on Child Rights  developed with the support of UNICEF  will be introduced.

He commended this effort.

He stated that for all its advances, at its root the legal profession has a simple aspiration  for the lawyer to be a voice for the voiceless and to bring justice to the most deprived.

To secure the universal and inalienable rights of every child is an aspiration that makes the legal profession just so meaningful.

This morning, the President commenced his visit to Cuttack by paying tributes at the birthplace of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.New Delhi, Mar 20 (IBNS):The new Chief Minister of Nagaland, Neiphiu Rio called on Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Jitendra Singh here today and discussed a wide range of issues related to development and other aspects concerning the State.

Among other things, the Chief Minister took up with Dr Jitendra Singh the demand for setting up of a Government Medical College in the State and an Airport at Kohima.

Shri Rio also requested Dr Jitendra Singh that, in his capacity as Minister in-charge Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT), he should issue directions for repatriation of some of the IAS officers of Nagaland cadre back to their State cadre.

He also discussed with the Union Minister, the security and the political situation in the State, including the current approach of some of the Naga groups.

Dr Jitendra Singh responded positively to each of the observations made by the Chief Minister.

He also conveyed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's keen desire to ensure equitable development of Nagaland and at the same time, usher in an era of lasting peace and prosperity.New Delhi, Mar 17 (IBNS): Giving out a strong message to the ruling BJP, Congress President Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi on Saturday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that the latter's promises before 2014 Lok Sabha polls were just 'dramebazi'.

Congress Chairperson Sonia Gandhi even accused the PM of being "drunk on power".

"All the promises he had made before the Lok Sabha polls were simply dramebaazi," Sonia hits out at Modi during her address to the Congress Plenary Session, which began in New Delhi on Saturday.

In his maiden address to the party plenary on Saturday as the President, Rahul accused the ruling party of using "hatred and anger" to divide the nation while the Congress is all for "love."

"The difference between our party and the incumbent ruling party is that they follow the ideology of hatred while we follow the ideology of love and fraternity," Rahul said.

"They (BJP) use anger. We use love but one thing that I want to say is that this country belongs to everyone and whatever Congress will do will be for the benefit for all," Rahul added.

The Congress President also said the BJP's "emphasis on divisive politics" has led its focus away from key issues like unemployment and farmers' distress while the Congress is the only party that can take the country forward, bringing along with it each and every citizen regardless of caste or creed.

"The country is tired, it's looking for a way, and I say from my heart that only the Congress can show India the way. The difference between the Congress and the Opposition (BJP), the big difference, is they use anger, we use love and regard for our fellow humans," he said.

The two-day plenary session, being held ahead of the 2019 general elections, is expected to witness a Congress road map to reverse the trend of its slide in consecutive polls since 2014.

"This plenary's goal is to show the country and the Congress the way. The people of this country, they see Modi and see no way forward. They can't understand where they will get employment from, when farmers will get the right price," he said.

According to reports, the open Session, being attended by the delegates of both the All India Congress Committee (AICC) and Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC), will also pitch for formation of a grand alliance against the ruling party for 2019.

The party is expected to adopt two resolutions.New Delhi, Mar 17 (IBNS): Making the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) uncomfortable, actor-turned politician Shatrughan Sinha has once again taken a dig at his own party over its twin defeats in recent by-polls which were held in Uttar Pradesh.

Sinha took to Twitter to say, "In the bye elections at Phulpur, which was the constituency of one of the Dy CMs of UP, the self-claimed winning margin of "more than one lakh" - turned into a losing margin of nearly one lakh. Great perception of the ground reality & mood of common public!! Vijay UP, Jai Hind!"

In the bye elections at Phulpur, which was the constituency of one of the Dy CMs of UP, the self-claimed winning margin of "more than one lakh" - turned into a losing margin of nearly one lakh.

Great perception of the ground reality & mood of common public!!

Vijay UP, Jai Hind!  Shatrughan Sinha (@ShatruganSinha) March 17, 2018

The BJP had lost both Gorakhpur and Phulpur parliamentary constituencies, which were earlier considered as the bastions of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya.

The alliance between Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party (SP) and Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) had snatched both the seats from the saffron brigade.

In both the seats, the SP had contested the by-polls with the backing of the BSP.

Post by-poll result, Sinha, in a similar manner, used the tool of social media to hit out at the BJP.

Earlier he said in a tweet, ".....I have been repeatedly saying that arrogance, short temper or overconfidence are the biggest killers in democratic politics, whether it comes from Trump, Mitron or opposition leaders.... Jai Hind!"

.....I have been repeatedly saying that arrogance, short temper or overconfidence are the biggest killers in democratic politics, whether it comes from Trump, Mitron or opposition leaders....

Jai Hind!  Shatrughan Sinha (@ShatruganSinha) March 15, 2018

The BJP and its allies had registered a landslide victory in UP in 2017 by bagging 325 seats in 403-member Assembly.

Sinha has earlier also made the BJP uncomfortable by his comments.

He is an MP from Patna Sahib constituency of Bihar.Mumbai, Mar 17 (IBNS): A fire broke out at an Army building in south Mumbai's Colaba on Saturday evening, media reports said.

The fire department officials were informed at 7.22 pm, according to NDTV.

The fire has reportedly started at the third floor of the Assaye building.

Four fire engines have rushed to the spot.Guwahati, Mar 17 (IBNS): Security forces apprehended a militant of Tai Singpho Security Force (TSSF), which is known to be close with banned United Liberation Front of Asom  Independent (ULFA-I), in Arunachal Pradesh on Saturday, officials said.

Kohima based Defence PRO Colonel Chiranjeet Konwer said that, based on intelligence input, Assam Rifles Changlang battalion had launched an operation in Margherita area along Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border and nabbed the TSSF militant from Sagunbari area.

The nabbed militant was identified as Nongbu Singpho and he is working with ULFA(I).

Post spot interrogation he admitted allegiance to Tai Singpho Security Force (TSSF) and ULFA-I. He further divulged that he has been active part of the outfit since 2014 and has undergone intensive training in Myanmar, the Defence PRO said.

Security Forces have been carrying out an aggressive operations in south Arunachal Pradesh and this apprehension has struck a blow to the extortion activities being carried out by the underground cadres of the group in the area.



(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)Guwahati, Mar 17 (IBNS): Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Saturday said that India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is experiencing transformations and in the wake of the changes, all the four pillars of democracy are working in tandem to champion the cause of public welfare and public interests.

While delivering his speech after inaugurating the 16th All India Meet of State Legal Services Authorities with the Supreme Court Judge Justice Ranjan Gogoi in Guwahati, Sonowal said that judiciary is the guiding force of our country which leads the legal way for other three branches of our democracy to follow.

He also said that judiciary always plays the role of a catalyst to take the laws framed in the legislature to the doorsteps of every user.To make the democracy vibrant, involvement of the people in the system and their active participation in the functioning of the Government is of paramount importance. Keeping this in mind the state government is giving maximum thrust on making Government services more accessible to the citizens." Sonowal said.

"Legal services being the core of all services, concerted efforts have been paid by the state government in association with the judiciary to improve the reach of judiciary in the interior places of the State, he added.

Hailing the role of State Legal Services Authorities which was set up in the year 1998, the Assam CM said that the Authority during past 20 years extended free valuable legal aid to the needy people and worked for generating more legal awareness in the society.

From organizing Lok Adalats for disposal of long pending cases, in its initial stages, the activities of the State Legal Services Authority have become manifold. Moreover, its handling of pre-litigation disputes and spreading legal education have immensely benefited the people of the state, Sonowal said.

Sonowal also said that due to its concerted efforts of the legal Services Authority, conditions of the prisoners in jails have also undergone rapid changes.

The digitisation of the Legal Aid Clinics in the central jails of the districts has enabled the convicts and prisoners to know the status of their pending cases by click of a button now.

The convicts are also getting the facilities of filing their jail appeals without any hassle through such clinics.

Making a special mention of the project called Reach Out and Respond, Sonowal said under the project where in fitment of artificial limbs were distributed to differently abled persons in collaboration with the State Social Welfare and Health & Family Welfare Department, Bhagwan Mahaveer Biklang Sahayata Samiti and ALIMCO, visible changes have been brought about in the life of the Divyangjans.

Judge of the Supreme Court of India, Justice Ranjan Gogoi, who is also the executive chairman of National Legal Services Authority (NALSA), said that extending legal services to the needy and under-privileged sections of the society has been the national commitment of the NALSA and it has been providing free legal services to the weaker sections of the society free of cost.

He also said one of the objectives to hold the 16th All India Meet of State Legal Services Authorities was to identify the gaps, take remedial steps and chart out future course of actions for the Legal Services Authorities.

He also said that the National Legal Services Authorities have envisioned to open Legal Literacy Clubs in educational institutions to spread legal literacy in different parts of the country.

It may be noted that a few Legal Literacy Clubs have already been in operation in Assam.

He also said that the Legal Services Authorities have also been working to bridge the gap between the public and the agencies which are in-charge of providing rightful services to the people.

Synchronising with the occasion which was organised under the auspices of Assam State Legal Services Authority in association with National Legal Services Authority, Sonowal also released a Coffee Table Book and Video CD embellishing the journey of NALSA made so far.

Chief Justice, Gauhati High Court Justice Ajit Singh, Judge, Gauhati High Court Justice Hrishikesh Roy, legal luminaries from across the nation and a host of other dignitaries were present on the occasion.

(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)Mumbai, Mar 17 (IBNS): Southern actress Shriya Saran has married her Russian boyfriend Andrei Koscheev this month, media reports said.

The marriage reportedly took place on Mar 12 at the actor's home at Lokhandwala back road in Mumbai.

A source close to the actor told Mid Day, "It was a private affair with only family members and close friends present. The only celebrity guests present were Manoj Bajpayee and wife Shabana, who stay in the neighbourhood."

The newspaper reported that the couple exchanged vows in a traditional Hindu ceremony, with the bride looking radiant in a pink outfit.

A popular face in Southern movies, Shriya also appeared in several Bollywood movies like Awarapan and Drishyam.

New York, Mar 17 (JEN): Dozens of children have been killed since fighting began in the north-western Syrian town of Afrin, where people are under bombardment, hospitals have been shut down and water supplies cut off, the United Nations has reported.

Along with Eastern Ghouta, the Kurdish-held town is now among the worsening flashpoints, as the conflict in Syria enters its eighth year.

We have been receiving deeply alarming reports from Afrin in Syria about civilian deaths and injuries due to airstrikes and ground-based strikes, Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights(OHCHR), told reporters in Geneva on Friday.

She said that the humanitarian situation is reportedly worsening, with Afrin Hospital, the only medical facility equipped for major operations, being inundated by the influx of injured people.

She also said that reports indicate that only those civilians who have contacts within the Kurdish authority or the Kurdish armed forces have been able to leave the town.There is also a severe water shortage due to the reported destruction of a pumping station as well as the control of other water resources by Turkish-led forces, Shamdasani said.

Civilians are at risk of being killed, injured, besieged, used as human shields or displaced as a result of the fighting, she warned, reminding all parties to the conflict that they must permit civilians wishing to leave combat areas to do so in safety, and to ensure the protection of those who remain.

In New York, the UN Childrens Fund (UNICEF) said that reports from inside Afrin indicate that dozens of children have been killed and many more injured since the start of hostilities in the district and for the last 10 days, children and families have suffered severe water shortages as the source of water for Afrin city has reportedly been cut off.

Families are relying on untreated water and boreholes, potentially increasing the risk of waterborne diseases for about 250,000 people, said UNICEF Communications Specialist Joe English.

Also on Friday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterresissued a statement expressing his deep concern over the desperation shown by the people fleeing in a massive exodus from Eastern Ghouta and Afrin.He said that there is no official displacement tracking mechanism but local sources estimate around 50,000 displaced people in the city. Families are being hosted by relatives and friends, in shops, government buildings and schools.

He said he profoundly regrets that the countrywide ceasefire demanded by the Security Council has not been implemented.

The reality on the ground across Syria demands swift action to protect civilians, alleviate suffering, prevent further instability, address the root causes of the conflict and forge, at long last, a durable political solution, he said.

UN MultimediaNew York, Mar 17 (JEN): The United Nations mediator for the Syrian conflict told the Security Council on Friday that its three-week old demand for a ceasefire across the war-ravaged country was still not being implemented, and while progress had been made in in Douma in Eastern Ghouta, the bottom line is, too many civilians are still suffering.

Let us hope that this ceasefire holds, because it is at least one [piece of] good news among very bad news, said Staffan de Mistura, Special Envoy for Syria, briefing the Security Council via videoconference from Brussels.

The UN envoy said that Russia and Jaish al-Islam held more meetings in the last few days, on the outskirts of Douma  the northernmost of the three opposition-controlled enclaves in Eastern Ghouta.

As a result of this engagement, a tenuous, fragile ceasefire between the Government, the Russian military and Jaish al Islam forces has continued to largely hold, for six days now, he said, noting however that this is only one part of Eastern Ghouta, and it is not being replicated in the rest of that area.

Meanwhile, violence has escalated across other parts of Syria, he said. In Afrin, for example, the Turkish Government forces and their armed allies continued to gain ground rapidly. There had also been clashes in Daraa in southern Syria. On 13 March, 137 civilians had been evacuated, including 10 critical medical cases, and mostly women and children had been taken from Duma to the collective shelter in rural Damascus.

On 15 March, UN colleagues had delivered a convoy of food assistance for 26,100 people in need in Duma. Those positive efforts were long overdue, but limited, he said. Elsewhere, there had been fresh allegations of the use of incendiary weapons in urban areas, as well as the targeting of medical facilities. There have also been allegations of chlorine use, he said.

He also expressed concern regarding those civilians in Syria who were being displaced and those who were in besieged and hard to reach areas. Security Council resolution 2401 (2018) demands that all parties lifted sieges in highly populated areas, and that has not been done, said Mr. de Mistura, also noting that Syrias women faced threats to their security, including widespread sexual and gender based violence. Their protection should be at the forefront of our own response, he underscored.

We are witnessing developments of substantial gravity on the ground [] that demand action, and the world is worried and watching, he told the Council, expressing concern that issues including those raised in resolution 2401, as well as regarding detainees and a constitutional committee  need to move faster and with more meaningful impact than has so far proven possible.

And de-escalation needs to replace what we are watching at the moment  escalation, he said, pledging to continue working determinedly to seek to facilitate the overall political process.

UNICEF/UN0185408/SanadikiNew York, Mar 17 (JEN): Thousands of refugees who have fled violence in the Central African Republic (CAR) to Chad are facing food and shelter shortages the United Nations refugee agency said Friday, warning that this is the largest influx in for years into the small landlocked country.

The worry and real risk is that food shortages for the entire population over the next month may have devastating consequences, Babar Baloch, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told the regular press briefing in Geneva, where he said that some $149 million is required to meet the urgent needs.

Late last year, clashes between armed groups Mouvement national pour la liberation de la Centrafrique (MNLC) and Revolution et Justice (RJ) in north-west CAR forced more than 70,000 people from their homes.

Since last December, more than 15 Central Africans refugees have been killed on both sides of the border and at least 67 have suffered sexual and gender based violence while trying to go back to CAR to gather food and their scarce resources in exile, he said.

UNHCR and partners have been providing life-saving relief such as healthcare, water and sanitation, shelter, food and nutrition assistance to newly arrived refugees since the start of the crisis.

However, without increased food aid, refugees could face prolonged period of food shortage while overwhelm humanitarian agencies response ability.

Severe floods have not only affected harvest, but they also posed an urgent need for accommodation.

Therefore, UNHCR is building emergency shelter in the camps and villages that host them, while also working with the authorities, partners and donors on a relocation plan.

The situation with refugees health is also critical, said Mr. Baloch, stressing that malnutrition levels are already high, especially with children.

More mobile clinics are also urgently needed and local health centres must be strengthened to ease the heavy toll taken by respiratory infections, malaria and other diseases.

Southern Chad, including Gore, one of poorest and most underdeveloped parts of the country, is already hosting some 43,000 Central African refugees and 45,000 Chadian returnees from CAR, is struggling to cope with an additional influx of 22,180.

UNHCR/Ezzat Habib Chami



The bomber detonated his explosive close to a compound housing foreign contractors, local Tolo News reported.

Confirming the news, the Afghan Interior Ministry said that at least four people were injured, although no one was killed.

No group has claimed responsibility for carrying out the blast so far.

Image: Google MapsWashington, Mar 17 (IBNS): In a major development, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions has fired FBI official Andrew McCabe, media reports said.

As per media reports, McCabe has been accused of political bias by US President Donald Trump.

He has been removed from the post just two days before he was expected to retire.

The movie might make him lose some of his pension rights.

In a statement issued late on Friday as stated in a BBC report, Sessions said: "Based on the report of the Inspector General, the findings of the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility, and the recommendation of the Department's senior career official, I have terminated the employment of Andrew McCabe effective immediately."

McCabe has not responded to the move taken against him so far.

Image: Wikimedia CommonsWashington, Mar 17 (IBNS): Former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) deputy director Andrew McCabe, who was fired by the Trump Administration on the eve of his retirement, has issued a fiery statement, saying that he was singled out.

As per media reports, McCabe has been accused of political bias by US President Donald Trump.

Tweeting about the development, the US President said that McCabe knew about the lies and corruption taking place at the FBI.

"Andrew McCabe FIRED, a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI - A great day for Democracy. Sanctimonious James Comey was his boss and made McCabe look like a choirboy. He knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI!" Trump's tweet read.

The movie might make him lose his pension rights, thus costing him a lot of money.

In a statement issued late on Friday as stated in a BBC report, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions said: "Based on the report of the Inspector General, the findings of the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility, and the recommendation of the Department's senior career official, I have terminated the employment of Andrew McCabe effective immediately."

Retaliating, McCabe, who's known to remain silent, stated, " I am being singled out and treated this way because of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of James Comey.

He added that the move is a part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally, but to taint the FBI, law enforcement, and intelligence professionals more generally."

Read the full statement:

I have been an FBI Special Agent for over 21 years. I spent half of that time investigating Russian Organized Crime as a street agent and Supervisor in New York City. I have spent the second half of my career focusing on national security issues and protecting this country from terrorism. I served in some of the most challenging, demanding investigative and leadership roles in the FBI. And I was privileged to serve as Deputy Director during a particularly tough time.

For the last year and a half, my family and I have been the targets of an unrelenting assault on our reputation and my service to this country. Articles too numerous to count have leveled every sort of false, defamatory and degrading allegation against us. The presidents tweets have amplified and exacerbated it all. He called for my firing. He called for me to be stripped of my pension after more than 20 years of service. And all along we have said nothing, never wanting to distract from the mission of the FBI by addressing the lies told and repeated about it.

No more.

The investigation by the Justice Departments Office of Inspector General (OIG) has to be understood in the context of the attacks on my credibility. The investigation flows from my attempt to explain the FBIs involvement and my supervision of investigations involving Hillary Clinton. I was being portrayed in the media over and over as a political partisan, accused of closing down investigations under political pressure. The FBI was portrayed as caving under that pressure, and making decisions for political rather than law enforcement purposes. Nothing was further from the truth. In fact, this entire investigation stems from my efforts, fully authorized under FBI rules, to set the record straight on behalf of the Bureau and to make it clear that we were continuing an investigation that people in DOJ opposed.

The OIG investigation has focused on information I chose to share with a reporter through my public affairs officer and a legal counselor. As Deputy Director, I was one of only a few people who had the authority to do that. It was not a secret, it took place over several days, and others, including the Director, were aware of the interaction with the reporter. It was the same type of exchange with the media that the Deputy Director oversees several times per week. In fact it was the same type of work that I continued to do under Director Wray, at his request. The investigation subsequently focused on who I talked to, when I talked to them, and so forth. During these inquiries, I answered questions truthfully and as accurately as I could amidst the chaos that surrounded me. And when I thought my answers were misunderstood, I contacted investigators to correct them.

But looking at that in isolation completely misses the big picture. The big picture is a tale of what can happen when law enforcement is politicized, public servants are attacked, and people who are supposed to cherish and protect our institutions become instruments for damaging those institutions and people.

Here is the reality: I am being singled out and treated this way because of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of James Comey. The release of this report was accelerated only after my testimony to the House Intelligence Committee revealed that I would corroborate former Director Comeys accounts of his discussions with the President. The OIGs focus on me and this report became a part of an unprecedented effort by the Administration, driven by the President himself, to remove me from my position, destroy my reputation, and possibly strip me of a pension that I worked 21 years to earn. The accelerated release of the report, and the punitive actions taken in response, make sense only when viewed through this lens. Thursdays comments from the White House are just the latest example of this.

This attack on my credibility is one part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally, but to taint the FBI, law enforcement, and intelligence professionals more generally. It is part of this Administrations ongoing war on the FBI and the efforts of the Special Counsel investigation, which continue to this day. Their persistence in this campaign only highlights the importance of the Special Counsels work.

I have always prided myself on serving my country with distinction and integrity, and I have always encouraged those around me to do the same. Just ask them. To have my career end in this way, and to be accused of lacking candor when at worst I was distracted in the misty fo chaotic events, is incredibly disappointing and unfair. But it will not erase the important work I was prevailed to be a part of, the results of which will in the end be revealed for the country to see.

I have unfailing faith in the men and women of the FBI and I am confident that their efforts to seek justice will not be deterred.

Image: WikipediaMontreal, Mar 17 (IBNS): Parents of 10-year old Quebec boy Ariel Jeffrey Kouakou, who went missing since Monday, have pleaded to get back their son, media reports said.

Kouadio Frederic Kouakou, the father of the child, believes his son has been abducted.

He was quoted by CBC News, "If you have our child, bring him back to us," said Kouakou. "You have our forgiveness."

Ariel's mother Akouena has said she didn't sleep since her child went missing.

"It's been six years that we have been in the neighbourhood and our son never goes too far," Akouena said.

She also believes her son to has been abducted.

The Montreal police are not ruling out the possibility of abduction.

Ariel Jeffrey Kouakou went out at 12 p.m. on Tuesday to go to a friend's house but went missing.

Though the police had issued an Amber alert in the city despite not meeting any criteria, the boy could not be found.

However, the police have cancelled the Amber alert on Wednesday night.

The police said the boy was black, has black hair and was wearing a black hoody on the day he went missing.

Police have said a lady told a passerby that he has seen a boy who could be identified with the description."Prevent Unauthorized Transactions in your demat / trading account Update your Mobile Number/ email Id with your stock broker / Depository Participant. Receive information of your transactions directly from Exchanges on your mobile / email at the end of day and alerts on your registered mobile for all debits and other important transactions in your demat account directly from NSDL/ CDSL on the same day." - Issued in the interest of investors." | "KYC is one time exercise while dealing in securities markets - once KYC is done through a SEBI registered intermediary (broker, DP, Mutual Fund etc.), you need not undergo the same process again when you approach another intermediary." | "No need to issue cheques by investors while subscribing to IPO. Just write the bank account number and sign in the application form to authorise your bank to make payment in case of allotment. No worries for refund as the money remains in investor's account."

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.Vietnamese budget airline ViertJet, otherwise popularly known as 'bikini airline' is coming to India. Yes, the controversial airline has announced direct flights from New Delhi to Ho Chi Minh City.

The airline will fly four times every week and will begin operation sometime between July and August this year.

VietJet

Also read: Puppy Dies After United Airlines Crew Forces Owner To Put It In The Overhead Bin For 3 Hours!

The airline is well-known for its racy and even sexist marketing gimmicks. It is run by a woman entrepreneur - VietJet Air CEO Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao who shot to fame with draping women in nothing but skimpy bikinis. Thao then went on to become Vietnam's first woman billionaire.

Only recently, the airline was in news for parading lingerie models down the aircraft's aisle that was flying the national football team.

Also read: You May Have To Wait For Calls & Wifi Service In Planes As Airlines Think It's Too Costly Now

And now that the airline is headed to India, we can only imagine the uproar it will create. This one may actually be quite interesting to see.In a dramatic rescue operation, villagers in Karnataka saved a young elephant that found itself stuck in a muddy pit for over 12 hours. The animal while searching for food and water strayed away from its herd into the Madihalli village. Wandering into agricultural land, the elephant fell into a swamp.

animal rescue india/youtube

After hearing its cries for help, several villagers rushed to the spot to rescue it. They initially thought it to be a baby elephant, however, later realised that it was a fairly large pachyderm.

Since the villagers didn't own any equipment to help the elephant out of the swamp, they informed the forest officials.

Also read: Adorable Elephant Turns Musician, Plays Mouth Organ At A Rejuvenation Camp In Coimbatore Temple

But the officials could reach the spot only in the morning and unfortunately, the elephant had to spend 12 long hours into the night in that muddy damp, during which it kept crying for help, reports NDTV.

The officials arranged for an excavator machine the following day and the elephant was finally pulled out to safety. The operation began at 9 AM on Monday and lasted nearly three hours.

Also read: Baby Elephant Falls Into A Ditch 20-Feet Deep, Villagers Band Together To Rescue It

In the end, it was a happy ending for the elephant who ran away to find its herd.Fatima Sana Shaikh became a star overnight all thanks to Dangal. Right now the actress is busy shooting for her next film Thugs Of Hindostan along with Aamir Khan. Not many are lucky like Fatima to have a central character in a film which stars Amitabh Bachchan and Katrina Kaif in the supporting role.

Twitter

In fact, Aamir in an interview with the media had said that Fatima is the central character of Thugs, "My every film has women in a significant role. Even in Ghajini Kalpana (Asin) s role was much better than Sanjay Singhania (Aamir). She is the heart of the film and that is the character which is author backed and the one you go home with. In Rang De Basanti also, the story is basically about the British girl, she comes down, she moves everything, she makes the film. Even in Thugs of Hindostan, the central role is the girl which is being played by Fatima Sana Shaikh. The story of the film is about her.

Twitter

While she is shooting for Thugs, she has got a number of offers but hasnt given a go-ahead to any of it due to Aamir Khan. She has been seeking his advice in making career choices and has planned not to sign any film before the completion of TOH.

A close source to the actress quoted an online portal, At the moment, the world is talking about debutants like Janhvi Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan. But as soon as Thugs of Hindostan releases, Fatima, who had made a strong impact through her debut film Dangal, will surely have more projects lining up for her. With a mentor like Aamir Khan, she is sure to make the right choices. Someone like her should be getting multiple offers in a month, but it is all about waiting for the right films and making intelligent choices.

Instagram

Well, we are eagerly waiting to see her perform after her debut film Dangal.Salman Khan is not just an actor hes a cult, almost like a religion that has loyal followers. His fandom has no limits. Time and again, we have seen fans going to crazy extents to show their love for their favourite superstar.

twitter

In an interesting turn of events recently, a woman tried to break into Salmans house carrying industrial skewers. She successfully managed to enter Galaxy Apartments earlier this week to meet the actor. Little did she know that Khan was away in Abu Dhabi shooting for Race 3.

colors

According to a report in Deccan Chronicle, the woman who claimed to be his wife, managed to dodge security and reach Salmans floor and started banging his apartment door. It was then that an alarm was raised.

Whats more interesting is the fact that instead of calling the Mumbai Police, the fire brigade was intimated to get rid of the fan from the building!

The fire brigade managed to disarm her before letting her go. She kept shouting Salman Khan is my husband. She was very aggressive, and had to be subdued. What was surprising was that no one called the police, the report quoted a source.

newstrack

Senior Inspector Pandit Thakre from Bandra Police Station informed that no police complaint has been filed against the woman.

On the other hand, Salman Khan is busy shooting for Race 3 which is expected to release on Eid this year. Post that he has Arbaaz Khans Dabangg 3 and Atul Agnihotris Bharat in the pipeline. The Bajrangi Bhaijaan actor is also set to return to the small screen with his hit show Dus Ka Dum.

This is Salman's reaction after hearing this piece of news:

GiphyArmed gangsters ran amok in Pitampura on Friday, firing indiscriminately and killing a 27-year-old man in full public view. As it turned out later, it was a fallout of an ongoing gang war between two rival groupsone led by Delhis most wanted gangster Jitender Gogi, and another by Sunil Tillu.

The man who was killed was Monu Mann alias Pawan. He had gone to Rohini court with a friend named Digvijay in his Swift for a hearing. A resident of Alipur, Pawan was accused in a case of attempted murder in 2014.

The two friends stopped at a roadside eatery near Pitampura powerhouse, which is quite well-known for its naan-kulcha. Pawan then spotted two men on a motorcycle waiting outside the shop and suspicious as he had seen them in court as well.

representational image

The bikers had followed them from court. Digvijay later told the police that they had turned towards Pitampura instead of going towards Alipur after sensing that they were being followed. Once at Pitampura, they thought they had managed to shake off the bikers so stopped to grab a quick lunch. Unknown to the two friends, there were others tailing them in a car.

Sensing danger, Pawan ran out of the shop and tried to flee. But his path was blocked by a car and armed men standing behind it. Moments later, the armed men showered a hail of bullets on Pawan and killed him at the spot. He was shot at least 10 times. But about 14 rounds were fired, one of which hit a paan shop-owner nearby in the abdomen.

Meanwhile, as the shots rang out, there was panic in the area with people fleeing the spot. The assailants then checked Pawans pulse to see if he was dead. Once they were sure he was, they got into their vehicles and fled with ease after threatening passersby.

reuters/representational image

No policeman had reached the spot by then. It was only after the gangsters left did a local dial 100. Police arrived and took the injured shopkeeper, Sandeep (22), to a hospital.

It looked like a scene from some action movie. There were bullets flying from everywhere. By the time we could gather ourselves, the men had fled, said a witness who runs another eatery in the area.

Crime and forensic teams inspected the spot and Pawans body was sent for postmortem. The police registered an FIR of murder and started scanning CCTV footage of the area for clues about the attackers.

We thought it was a terror attack. The attackers had their faces covered with helmets and wore jeans and sneakers. After killing the man, the shooters pointed their weapons at us and threatened to shoot anyone who tried to oppose them, said another witness.

twitter/representational image

No arrests were made till late on Friday, but police said more than 10 teams, including those from crime branch and special cell, were working on the case. Incidentally, the area falls in the north zone of Delhi, which does not have a law and order chief.

The south zone in-charge has been given extra charge of the area. Sources said LG Anil Baijal might post a full-time officer in the zone by next week. Crime branch units of outer zone areas have also been pulled up for failing to crack down on these gangs, it has been learnt.The most popular destination of Indonesia, Bali, shut down its social media, turned away flights and shut all its shops for an entire day.

This day, called "Nyepi" is the Day of Silence that marks New Year on the predominantly Hindu island which started at 6 a.m. on Saturday. Streets, beaches and all public places remained empty for 24 hours except for special patrols to ensure that silence is observed. For the first time, phone companies this year agreed to turn off the mobile internet on the island thats home to more than 4 million people.

reuters

With no access Facebook, Instagram or instant messaging apps, Balinese stay indoors, covering the windows and not even turning on a light, for the day of reflection that is the most sacred in Balinese Hinduism. Even television and radio broadcasts stopped, reported AP. Nyepi is the time for us to wash our hearts and minds of bad thoughts and deeds, plead with God to purify ourselves, human beings and the universe, said Kadek Chantini, a Bali tour guide.

reuters

Many supported the decision but not everyone agreed with the idea of disrupting internet access, and some said it was going too far as it was an inconvenience for tourists and non-Hindu residents of Bali. It will certainly provide a quieter atmosphere so we can focus and concentrate on perfecting our meditation and prayers, said Komang Suda, a resident of Denpasar, the Bali provincial capital.

celebration of the ritual of day of silence in bali / ap

The decision also really helps us in disciplining our teenagers who sometimes sneak off to play with their gadgets during Nyepi, he said. The night before Nyepi is marked by noisy ogoh-ogoh processions of giant scary figures representing evil spirits.El Salvador becomes the First Country to Accept Bitcoin as Legal Tender Tomedes - Wed Sep 22, 1:01AM CDT How the cryptocurrency has become legal tender alongside the US dollar

Cotton Faded but Still Gains on Tuesday Barchart - Tue Sep 21, 4:44PM CDT The afternoon session gave back the triple digit midday gains for the close, but front month cotton still gained 87 to 101 points on Turnaround Tuesday. Monday sales on the online cotton trading platform,... CTV21 : 91.18s (+1.44%) CTZ21 : 90.55 (+0.58%) CTZ21 : 90.55 (+0.58%)First there was the sharing economy, and then the gig economy. Now the buzz phrase to pay attention to may be on-demand.

The on-demand economy, according to TheOnDemandEconomy.org, is defined as the economic activity created by digital marketplaces that fulfill consumer demand with immediate access to goods and services.

According to a new poll, ridesharing, or ride-hailing, drivers are getting into the on-demand economy in a big way.

The poll shows that nearly eight-in-10 rideshare drivers have signed up with two or more services, and were not just talking about Uber and Lyft.

Postmates, DoorDash, UberEats and Amazon Flex, are other on-demand services in which rideshare drivers are partaking, according to a poll on the popular TheRideshareGuy blog.

The poll also shows nearly 18 percent of rideshare drivers were signed up for three services, while 6.9 percent reported being signed up for at least four services. Nearly 6 percent reported being signed up for five or more.

An overwhelming majority of drivers are signed up with at least one other service like Lyft and many are starting to look at alternative options like delivering food for DoorDash or delivering packages for Amazon Flex, said Harry Campbell, a former engineer from the Los Angeles area who runs The Rideshare Guy blog.

This years poll collected nearly 1,200 responses from drivers. The results are outlined in detail in the blog.

The poll also shows that some drivers seem to be getting the message that rideshare insurance is a good idea  although, if the poll is an accurate reflection of reality, it also shows that there are numerous drivers ferrying people around without the proper coverage.

According to the poll, 46.8 percent of drivers have not purchased rideshare insurance versus 46.5 percent who say they have. Roughly 6 percent of respondents answered that they preferred not to say.

The one surprising thing is that a majority of drivers still have not purchased rideshare insurance, even though now almost every state has a rideshare product, Campbell said.

In the past it may have been difficult to find insurance that covers ridesharing or a carrier who offers a ridesharing endorsement for livery services on a personal auto insurance policy, but in every state in the U.S. you can find one or more carriers are offering rideshare insurance products.

I believe every state now has at least one rideshare insurance option except upstate New York, Campbell said. New York City requires UberX drivers to have commercial insurance and with the recent launch of UberX outside of NYC in upstate, there are still no options for rideshare insurance.

The prevalence of insurance for ridesharing may be a reason more drivers are obtaining the proper coverage. Last years poll showed 33.3 percent of drivers had purchased rideshare insurance, while 58.3 percent said that they had not.

The uptick is good, but far from good enough.

Accidents are happening with rideshare drivers behind the wheel. The poll shows that one-in-five drivers have reported getting into an accident while driving.

How many of those were properly insured?

Rideshare driving can be a dangerous job and the busiest times to drive like weekend nights and commuting hours are often when the most accidents occur, Campbell said.

The poll also shows that despite a down year in the press for Uber, more rideshare drivers on the service were satisfied with it.

More than 58 percent of Uber drivers reported being satisfied with their Uber driving experience, which is up markedly from the roughly half of Uber drivers (49.4 percent) who reported that they were satisfied with their Uber driving experience at the start of2017.

That was kind of shocking to me, because Uber had one of the worst years in press possible, Campbell said.

Uber Technologies Inc. in February agreed to give roughly $245 million in stock to settle a high-stakes trade-secret theft lawsuit brought by Waymo, resolving a conflict that had already cost Uber its top driverless car engineer and threatened to further embarrass the company.

Uber settled another looming matter in January when a Los Angeles judge OKd a $7.75 million deal offering 1.6 million California drivers an average of $1.08 each to resolve one of several U.S. lawsuits challenging the ridesharing giants contractor-based business model.

At the end of 2017 it was discovered that hackers stole the personal data of 57 million customers and drivers from Uber, a breach that the company concealed for more than a year.

The big face-plant for Uber were claims of sexual harassment and discrimination and embarrassing leaks about executive conduct, which culminated in CEO Travis Kalanick resigning last year.

But all of that didnt appear to do much to dissuade drivers from increasingly liking the firm.

I think what riders and drivers care about is that Uber works well, Campbell reasoned. It is always very reliable in that you can always get online and you can always work.

Ubers press office didnt answer requests to comment for this story.

Lyft continued to have higher overall satisfaction and pay among their drivers compared to Uber, but the gap is narrowing, the poll shows.

Drivers who responded to the poll also felt strongly that they are underpaid, reporting they would like to earn roughly 31 percent more than what they currently are earning.

Uber drivers reported earning $16.90 per hour, nearly $1 per hour more than last year. In mid 2017, Uber added a tipping option and continued to offer lucrative weekly bonuses in many cities.

Lyft drivers reported earning $17.37 per hour, 47 cents per hour higher than Uber drivers. In 2017, the gap was $2 per hour so it appears that Uber drivers are gaining on Lyft drivers when it comes to earnings.

New drivers (those with fewer than 500 rides) reported earning just $14.74 per hour before expenses compared with experienced drivers (10,000-plus trips) who reported earning $20 per hour before expenses, according to the poll.

Pay and flexibility still top of the list when it comes reasons for being a rideshare driver.

Most drivers in the poll say the drive for Uber (58.7 percent), followed by Lyft and Uber equally (20 percent), followed by just Lyft (16.8 percent), followed by those who said they drive for other rideshare services (4.5 percent).

Bottom line: the poll reflects a changing ridesharing industry, along with a continually changing economy.

Expect more change in the rideshare world with word of Uber gearing up for an IPO.

I think were going to see a combination of Uber paying drivers less but probably charging riders more, he said.

Ubers losses rose 61 percent last year to $4.5 billion. That was up from $2.8 billion in 2016.

Its clear that they cant do that forever, and I think in the next year or two they have to come down to reality and they sort of have to make the numbers work, Campbell said.

Related:

Topics Personal Auto Sharing Economy Ridesharing UberWhat Is the Greatest Generation?

The Greatest Generation is a term used to describe those Americans who grew up during the Great Depression and fought in World War II, or whose labor helped win it. The term "the Greatest Generation" is thought to have been coined by former NBC Nightly News anchor and author Tom Brokaw in his book by the same name.

Key Takeaways The Greatest Generation commonly refers to those Americans who were born in the 1900s through the 1920s.

The Greatest Generation members all lived through the Great Depression and many of them fought in World War II.

The Greatest Generation members also tend to be the parents of the Baby Boomer generation.

Understanding the Greatest Generation

There are no precise dates that define when members of the Greatest Generation were born, though many give a range of the early 1900s to the mid-1920s. The common characteristic of Greatest Generation members is that they lived through and experienced the hardships of the Great Depression and later either fought in World War II or worked in the industries that contributed to winning the war.

Newsman Tom Brokaw is often credited with popularizing the term through his book, "The Greatest Generation," which profiled people who came of age during World War II and was inspired by Brokaw's attendance at the 40th-anniversary commemoration of the D-Day invasion of mainland Europe. Brokaw's profiles focused on the soldiers who fought the war, as well as the workers whose labor provided the essential material and services in support of them. The Greatest Generation is also known as the "G.I. Generation" or the "WWII Generation."

In Australia, the Greatest Generation is known as the "Federation Generation."

How Many Remain?

The youngest members of the Greatest Generation, if using 1925 as the last year they were born, would be in their 100s as of the year 2020. Today, there estimated to be around 75,000 centenarians living in the United States.

As for WWII veterans, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, in 2016 there were only about 620,000 left out of the 16 million who served in World War II. About 372 Greatest Generation veterans are lost every day to old age. According to research by the Washington Post, the final member of the Greatest Generation (born in 1927) should die around 2046 at age 119, given advances in health care and improvements in life expectancy.

The Greatest Generation and Other Demographics

Generally speaking, the Greatest Generation are the parents of the "Baby Boomers" and are the children of the "Lost Generation" (those who grew up during or came of age during World War I). They preceded what is known as the "Silent Generation," a cohort born between the mid-1920s to the early-to-mid 1940s. The grandchildren of the Greatest Generation are members of Generation X, Generation Y, and their great-grandchildren tend to be Millennials and Gen Z.

Members of the Greatest Generation currently fall into the "retirees" demographic and are currently collecting Social Security benefits. The differences between generations have been extensively studied and socio-economic models have been created to help plan for future government expenditures and programs to plan for changes in current demographics.Update Friday, April 13, 10.24pm: Roza Jakubowska was located safe and well in Dublin this evening.

Earlier: Gardai appeal for help tracing missing teenager Roza Jakubowska

Gardai are seeking the publics assistance in finding a missing Dublin teenager.

15-year-old Roza Jakubowska is missing from the Sherrard Street area, Dublin 1, since Wednesday, March 14.

Roza is 55, thin build, has long dark hair and brown eyes.

When last seen, she was wearing a black jacket, dark leggings and black runners.

Gardai ask anyone with any information in relation to Rozas whereabouts to contact Mountjoy Garda Station on 01-666 8600, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda Station.

- Digital deskUpdate 7.15pm: Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has walked in New York's St Patrick's Day parade which up until recently had banned LGBT groups from marching.

Mr Varadkar said it was a real privilege to be able to march with his partner Matt Barrett in the parade.

"Only a few years ago people couldn't march under the rainbow banner, but that has all changed," Mr Varadkar said.

"Ireland has embraced diversity and inclusiveness, and certainly Irish America in New York embraces that too."

Up until recently, LGBT groups were not allowed to march in the annual New York parade on Fifth Avenue.

Prior to the change, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio boycotted the parade in protest.

Mr Varadkar said being in NYC on St Patrick's Day had given him a sense of how strong the Irish community is in the city and how proud people are of their Irish connections.

Prior the parade, he had said that on a personal level it was a pleasure to be taking part with his partner.

"(It's) a sign of change and a sign of great diversity, not just in Ireland but among the great community here as well," the Taoiseach said.

St Patrick's Day is the fourth and final stop on the Taoiseach's week-long visit to the US to promote Ireland.

Lined up and ready to go #StPatricksDay pic.twitter.com/jTVX4QTQp4  Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) March 17, 2018

Earlier: It will be a 'real privilege' to watch New York parade with partner, says Varadkar

By Elaine Loughlin Political Correspondent, In New York

The Taoiseach has said it will be a "real privilege" to march in the New York parade with his partner Matt Barrett today.

Speaking ahead of the famous St Patrick's Day parade Leo Varadkar said: On a personal level its a real privilege to be here in New York, in a city that is so close to Ireland in so many different ways,

Leo Varadkar speaks to the media outside St Patrick's Cathedral in New York. Pic: Niall Carson/PA Wire

After attending Mass at St Patrick's Cathedral, Mr Varadkar said: Id a chance to meet the Mayor and the Ambassador this morning and Im going to be able to march in the parade now with my partner which is something that is a sign of change and a sign of great diversity, not just in Ireland but among the great community here as well.

Mr Varadkar attended breakfast at the Mayor of New York's mansion where Gerry Adams was honoured for his part in the Food Friday Agreement.

Speaking at the event Gerry Adams wished his audience a happy St Patricks Day and thanked Mayor Bill de Blasio and praised the support and solidarity of Irish America for peace in Ireland over many generations.

"Irish America has never lost sight of Ireland and the desire for peace and independence, and it continues to be as supportive of this today as in previous generations," said Mr Adams.

The Mayor announced that the day would be called Gerry Adams day in New York.

Asked if Mr Adams get the same honour back home, the Taoiseach said: "It's not our tradition to name days after particular individuals in Ireland. It is a tradition here and obviously I extend my congratulations to Gerry on that honour being bestowed on him by the city of New York."Joe McNamee visits the Bay Tree Bistro in Waterford

HAVING garnered a clutch of awards (McKennas Guides Best Newcomer 2015; RAI Awards Best Newcomer & Best Chef Munster 2016) and a burgeoning national reputation, Keith and Carmel Boyles Bay Tree Bistro swiftly outgrew its original home over a small pub.

The new venue on the quays is a high, handsome room with exposed old brickwork and, though they could well revisit decor and lighting when budget permits, is a warm, welcoming space on a crisp night.

We kick off with cocktails and a grin, the latter attributable to cheeky garam masala flavouring on good homemade crisps. Grin becomes a smile with some cracking warm breads and compound butters, wild rocket & parmesan baguette, especially fine.

Punchy tastes and textures abound in smart little snacks: White Pudding & Blue Cheese Gougere; Chicken Mousse & Curry Granola; Soy-glazed Chicken Oyster; Beef Tartare with Balsamic Caviar, though the multiplicity of flavours raises questions about pacing: would it be better to hold something in reserve?

An amuse bouche of BallymaKenny Farm Heritage Potato Risotto is delightful, pink and purple spuds brunoised to serve as still-al dente rice substitute, paired with an immensely comforting sauce of leek and Cashel Blue. Beef cheek rillettes with brown butter schmaltz melt in the mouth while The Light of My Life (hating her previous soubriquet, she has demanded a new one. I give it a week) enjoys rather cheffy Sea Bass, Potato, Apple and Beetroot.

Black Sole, Burnt Cauliflower, Prawn, Green and Red Grape riffs on classic Sole Veronique, fish, immaculately cooked, a prawn-heavy sauce dominating the lower register. Kilkenny Rose Veal is exquisitely done, tender as an infants cheek, but the variety of umami-rich meat offerings that precede it have taken their toll, the comparatively callow flavour of veal paling in contrast, despite support from glazed onion, onion ketchup and bone marrow jus.

Boyles cheeseboard includes an old friend, Gubbeen, alongside excellent in-house crackers.

Perhaps the most astonishing thing about tonights barnstorming meal is that it emanates from a seriously understaffed kitchen (Irelands chef shortage is now at crisis levels), evident in a pre-dessert where slightly bitter cucumber granite and too-sweet lemon curd fail to marry with gin & tonic jelly, suggesting there was no time to properly assess the finished product.

Desserts (Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Honeycomb, Popcorn) and petit fours (Lemon Madeline, White Chocolate & Salt Caramel Rolo, Chocolate & Cherry Truffle, Passion fruit Marshmallow) are highly accomplished, technically adroit renditions of the pastry chefs craft but I confess all blend into a surfeit of sugar on my palate. Its not Boyles fault, per se  he has to satisfy an appetite and demand amongst most diners for same  but these lack the genuine innovation of his savoury dishes. (A question for many of Irelands finest chefs  does dessert always have to be so sweet?)

Boyles culinary journey has taken a markedly different path to almost every single one of his Irish peers. Though he studied alongside  and befriended-for-life David Hurley (recently departed, justly lauded chef at Gregans Castle; before that, The Tannery), as culinary college finished, Boyles partner, Carmel, fell unexpectedly pregnant.

Upon graduating, Hurley headed off to London and Le Gavroche; Boyle hit the pub circuit in Waterford where he spent pretty much the next two decades until, 18 months ago, he and Carmel cobbled together 3,000, all they could raise at the time, to fulfill their dream and open BTB over a local suburban boozer.

All the culinary learning necessary to bridge the gap between carvery and haute cuisine, the remarkable Boyle has taught himself. Even with the occasional misstep, it is a joy to eat the food of a chef so utterly in thrall to his craft, an old pro operating with the enthusiasm, vigour and verve of a freshly unfettered young un.

In another forum, I recently described BTB as something of a leggy young foal in comparison to the experienced thoroughbreds that are its fine dining county compatriots but, make no mistake, this is very much the company BTB hopes to keep in the future  I can guarantee youll find me mucking out in the stables!

The Bay Tree Bistro, 16 Merchants Quay, Waterford.

Tel: 051-858517; www.thebaytreebistro.com

the tab

Ten course tasting menu, 70 per person; with matching wines, 100

How to: Tuesday to Friday, 5pm to 10pm; Saturday, 2pm to 10pm

The verdict:

Food: 8.5

Service: 8.5

Value: 8.5

Atmosphere: 8I love everything about 20th century design, Charles and Ray Eames, and, of course, our very own Eileen Gray, Carol-Anne Leyden, director and co-founder of CA Design, tells Aileen Lee

Whats your background?

I worked in sales and marketing for more than 10 years, two of which were spent in Honduras, working on the launch and roll-out of Denis OBriens mobile network, Digicel. When I returned home, I was excited about the idea of setting up something on my own. I always had a leaning towards interiors and design, and I felt there wasnt much in the interiors market that related to me and my stage in life  I didnt want Ikea, but I also couldnt plump for the high-end designer furniture that was around. I spotted a niche in the interiors market and looked into bringing furniture into Ireland that was inspired by Mid-Century design classics. In 2012 CA Design was born.

Whats a typical workday like for you?

My day starts with me checking in with the Chinese suppliers on production, orders and shipments. If I miss that morning window, I lose a day with the time difference, so its crucial Im up at 6am. After a morning of kiddie chaos  I have two girls under two  I try and get a walk in to clear my head, grab a coffee, and aim to be at my desk by 10am. As CA Design is a bricks-and-mortar business, an online shop and an interior design consultancy, a typical day can mean a trip to the warehouse, liaising with any of our 20 brands on orders, a meeting with an architect or interior designer or a team meeting with our two in-house interior design consultants on current projects.

Tell us about a recent project or design/favourite project or design you have worked on?

The Between Sofa by Bolia, available through CA Design.

One recent project I loved was with the amazing NBK Architects on a building in Merrion Square. The entire building was gutted from top-to-bottom, and CA Design helped to create room concepts and provided the furniture for each space.

Whats your design style?

My personal style is like the ethos of the CA Design  its a fusion of pared-back Scandi-cool with an appreciation for retro, mid-century design classics with lots of colour thrown in. I like every piece of furniture to have something that really makes it stand out. I think every piece of furniture in a room should almost make you do a double take.

What/who inspires your work?

North sofa by Bolia, available through CA Design.

I love everything about 20th century design, Charles and Ray Eames, and, of course, our very own Eileen Gray. I also have a leaning towards the post-war, American art movements, from abstract expressionism to pop art. These days, Im inspired by interior design blog and Instagram page, Green & Mustard. But really, I get inspiration from all around me  it could be contemporary architecture, or even walking around a city appreciating its varied design and aesthetics.

Whats your favourite trend at the moment (if you have any)?

I prefer things that stand the test of time, but in saying that, I do find all the gorgeous chalky shades of pink appearing in interiors these days something that catches my eye.

Whats your most treasured possession?

Danish Design brand Woud  Haak hooks available through CA Design.

Its hard to choose one, but theres a Richard Gorman print my husband bought me when we first met. I could stare at its stunning colours for hours.

Who would be your favourite designer, or style inspiration?

Copenhagen-based brand Vita Eos  lampshades, available through CA Design.

I really admire Kit Kemp  her unique style and mishmash of colours, pattern and texture are simply to die for. She sees the most unlikely combinations come together in ways that shouldnt work, but always do. I was blown away by the Crosby Hotel in New York.

What would be a dream project for you to work on?

Hands-down a boutique hotel. Theres something so appealing about putting a real stamp on a place from top-to-toe and being able to decorate so many different types of rooms.

Have you any design tips for us?

Danish Design brand Woud  Kuppi Wall Lamp, available through CA Design.

Let your seating take centre stage, opt for a sofa in a bold colour, or let a beautifully-designed chair be the anchor to your room. Dont buy things because they are trendy  surround yourself with design that makes you smile or feel good around. Always put your own personal stamp on your interior or exterior.

www.cadesign.ie

Instagram: @cadesign.ie

Facebook: CADesign1Original sin, sexual repression, and eternal damnation were incorporated into a grim theology of fear that led Irish Catholics to believe they were born bad, writes Joyce Fegan.

Do you think there is something cathartic about finally grasping why you feel or act in the way that you do?

And would you agree that you get this second moment of catharsis upon realising that you are not alone in feeling or behaving in that way, that your personal and private struggle is actually a universal experience, perhaps even a national one?

When it comes to being Irish, there are traits, lets call them strengths and weaknesses, that have been anecdotally attributed to us. We are a nation of begrudgers: we are shrinking violets who like to knock down the tall poppies among us.

We are a country of talkers, but we actively avoid intimacy and become easily embarrassed by affection. We are an island of jokers.

As a whole, we collectively suffer from a deep sense of inferiority. We are uncomfortable with sexuality. We like to brush things under the carpet. We have a contempt for authority but also a desperate need to conform, having have lived so long in the fear of what others think of us.

We are a nation of do-gooders, who dont just offer prayers in moments of tragedy but practical help too.

This St Patricks Day feels different. Firstly, it falls on a Saturday so it has snuck up on us after a full working week. It has been preceded by a once-in-a-generation snowstorm. It will be succeeded by a Good Friday where pubs will legally be open for the first time.

We have a Taoiseach whose mothers name is Miriam and fathers name is Ashok, who also happens to be an openly gay man who met the US president and vice president this week.

Last week, our former president Mary McAleese described the Catholic Church as an empire of misogyny. Many of us are also summoning the courage to have gentle, but public conversations about that thing we have swept under the carpet for so long  abortion, as the referendum nears. In fact, this week, the national broadcaster started airing the personal experiences of women who have travelled to England for terminations.

It feels as though we are reaching some moment of national catharsis or reckoning where we cast off redundant parts of us to become the best that we can be: Trading secrecy for transparency, blame for accountability, judgement for compassion and inclusivity and most of all fear for courage.

However, before we move forward together, it pays to look back and see why we are as we are.

Anecdotes aside, various historians and psychiatrists have delved into our shared history looking at the trauma caused by the Great Famine and the effects an imperial power has had on us. They also looked at the role of the Catholic Church in the formation of a national psyche.

Renowned psychiatrist Garrett OConnor talked about our malignant shame. He characterised it as an emotional state characterised by a deep conviction of personal inferiority, suppression of feelings and an inability to trust others.

The late doctor, who was married to actress Fionnuala Flanagan and was based in the US, where he was president and CEO of the Betty Ford clinic, travelled home in 2010 to deliver the Michael Littleton Memorial Lecture. This is where he spoke of our malignant shame and the role of trauma in its creation.

He referred to our Famine years and the rise of nationalism here in resistance to the British empire. He also talked about the Catholic Churchs role in trying to repress the rise of a militant nationalism.

After 1850, the Church passed on the essentials of its survival plan to subsequent generations of Irish Catholics, said Dr OConnor. Shame, guilt, terror, and celibate self-sacrifice were key elements of the Churchs campaign to deal with the critical problems of over-population, unemployed young males, and land shortages.

Original sin, sexual repression and eternal damnation were incorporated into a grim theology of fear that led Irish Catholics to believe they had been born bad, were inclined toward evil and deserved punishment for their sins. This bleak spiritual philosophy would later become the foundation of 20th century Irish Catholicism.

Dr OConnor also spoke of how Catholicism accidentally became our default identity.

In the latter part of the 1800s the ordinary people of Ireland clung to their religion as a badge of identity and as a weapon of defiance, he said. For many, Catholicism became a substitute nationality and nationalism became a form of secular religion.

He also detailed the Irish Catholic character as having humour, tenderness, courage, and loyalty co-exist[ing] with pessimism, envy, duplicity,and spite.

He said our strong urge to resist authority is tempered by a stronger need to appease it; a constant need for approval is frustrated by a fear of chronic fear of negative judgement; a deep devotion to suffering for its own sake is supported by a firm belief in tragedy as a virtue and an instinctive tendency to express contempt prior to investigation precludes the need for critical and objective evaluation of any investigation.

However, most of all he focused on our love affair with shame, caused by trauma after trauma at the hands of powerful institutions to which we co-operatively bowed. The word shame is derived from the Saxon root skem, he said, meaning to hide. He described the emotion as the conductor of the emotional orchestra in humans  powerful, elusive, and tricky.

Dr OConnor also explained the feeling of it coursing through our veins.

Shame is a sudden deflation of self- esteem, an uncomfortable nanosecond of internal shock in which we are revealed to ourselves as being something less than what we would have wanted to believe, said Dr OConnor.

Cork-born philosopher Richard Kearney, who is professor of philosophy at Boston University, cited Dr OConnors work when talking in the Abbey Theatre about trauma in 2014.

Prof Kearney talked a lot about trans-generational trauma, the idea that unless we deal with our past we will pass it on to our children and our childrens children.

However, shame, that inevitable child of a trauma that has gone ignored, isnt that easy of an emotion to dissolve. However, we have made serious strides. Public conversations such as that about child sexual abuse by the Catholic Church, as led by Ms McAleese last week, move things along.

Others will argue that so too did events such as Riverdance, especially its inaugural performance at the 1994 Eurovision, when Irishness was no longer about being chaste and stiff and covered-up. Riverdance helped us find a sort of physical freedom through a modern twist of our national dance.

If we truly suffer from a malignant shame as Dr OConnor argued and want to move forward together as a nation this St Patricks Day there are two things that shame cannot survive: Compassion and publicity.

Publicity meaning that we talk, talk openly and honestly, and compassion, in that we bring that understanding and empathy we so readily gift to others, firstly to ourselves.John Calnan, aged 79, pleaded guilty to carrying out the indecent assault in West Cork on the Communion girl in the late 1980s, but Judge Sean O Donnabhain said the accused had served two previous jail sentences for similar crimes and there was no point in re-committing him to jail at this point in his life.

Calnan, now living at The Presbytery, Roman St, Cork, was previously jailed for a year for an indecent assault on a girl aged around 10 when he picked her up in his car saying he was looking for directions. He was jailed for three years in 2015 for sexually assaulting another girl during her First Confession. He stopped ministering as a priest in 1992.

In 2012, Calnan was sentenced to an initial eight years in jail for the attempted rape of a six-year-old girl more than 30 years before. Triona OSullivan, who was the victim in that case, described the suspended sentence handed to Calnan for the latest crime as ridiculous.

Ms OSullivan was first groomed and then attacked when Calnan was curate near Glandore in West Cork and she said yesterday: It was a life sentence for me and any other child affected by him.

She said there should be minimum custodial sentences for those who sexually abuse children and that those abused in such cases should have any input into those guidelines.

The chief executive of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, Noeline Blackwell, agreed, saying they have huge concerns about inconsistent sentencing in Ireland in the area of convictions for sexual violence.

It is hard to believe that a repeat offender that was stealing cars or engaging in criminal damage to property would effectively get a lighter sentence for doing it more often, said Ms Blackwell.

She said respect had to be afforded to the right of the court to take numerous elements into consideration, including mitigation such as a guilty plea, with judges applying the laws of the land. But she said while it was open to the Director of Public Prosecutions to appeal the sentence in this case, the State should reinstigate the sentencing database that was first mooted at the start of the last decade and that, as is the case in the UK, victims should have input into sentencing in these cases.

At Cork Circuit Criminal Court yesterday, the victim in the latest abuse case said: I did inform my teacher and parents about the incident at the time but I am not sure they believed me.

On the day of the abuse, I knew before ever entering the room for this man to hear my confession that something bad was going to happen. I went through my life never feeling believed.

Sergeant Maurice Downey said Calnan assaulted the girl as she was making her First Confession.

The victim who testified yesterday came forward in 2016 and made her complaint to gardai about what the priest had done to her.

She said it had the effect of robbing her of her childhood and of her religion as she could not figure out how a priest who had sexually abused her during her First Confession could stand before a congregation and tell them how they should live their lives.

Judge O Donnabhain said the complainant should take the strength from the fact that Calnan had publically acknowledged his guilt: Leave the guilt with him and not with her and that is how she should leave here.Valley Bachelors was chosen by Agriculture Minister Michael Creed after he put out a call on Twitter last Sunday for suggestions of an Irish poem.

As part of his ministerial duties visiting the UK this week, the minister will read John Fitzgeralds poem at Charing Cross Tube station this morning. It will then be repeated during the day over the public address, as part of an annual greening the Underground initiative by the Irish Embassy and Transport for London (TfL).

Despite suggestions of many popular works by

Seamus Heaney, WB Yeats, Patrick Kavanagh, and Eavan Boland, Mr Creed made what he described as a very personal choice.

John Fitzgerald grew up and lives near Macroom in Mr Creeds mainly-rural Cork North-West constituency, and the minister said the poem paints a vivid picture of a rural Ireland he knows well.

It recalls the poets 1970s and 1980s work in his grand-aunts pub in Lissarda, Co Cork, where most customers were men, mostly farmers, and mostly bachelors.

Id go to the pub ignorant of the match played that day, and Id leave an expert, said Mr Fitzgerald, head of University College Corks Boole Library.

They might be talking about nature, farming, or things going on around the place. It was fascinating to listen to it all, and there might be 10 conversations going on.

The poem then goes on to describe the sudden awkwardness when all the chats stop at the same time and everyone waits for someone else to re-start the chatter.

I realised there was something else there, that a lot of men came to the pub for the company and to get away from the silence at home, said Mr Fitzgerald.

Irish actress Dearbhla Molloy will read Mise Raifteiri an File this morning, and it will also be broadcast in Charing Cross today and tomorrow. Several other Tube stations will host performances by Irish musicians and dancers over the weekend.

Valley Bachelors

They would drift in,

predictable twos and threes slowly filling the small room with a weeks news,

takes on team selections, name checks, indiscretions,

and youd forget that beyond the general hubbub were whole universes of silence  long lanes, whitewashed yards, bare kitchen tables,

until once in a summer the low buttery mid-Cork gobble would unexpectedly pause and for that reason  stop and each man,

embarrassed at having been overheard or too shy to be the one to strike up again would stare down into his glass, up along the top shelf,

at the door  anywhere for as long as it took for just one voice to break the enemys hold.[/poem]

John FitzgeraldTwo cases of possible physical abuse were identified by inspectors from the Health Information and Quality Authority at the voluntary organisations Palmerstown campus in Dublin.

The inspectors, who made an announced visit to the centre last October, found the case relating to two residents was not properly dealt with.

The provider told the inspectors that a committee had been established to address concerns about identifying and reporting abuse allegations.

The inspectors found that staff did not have access to safeguarding plans for residents. There was a mixed level of awareness as to what constituted abuse and what to do if abuse was suspected or witnessed.

A review of staff training records revealed that 67% had not completed mandatory training in safeguarding vulnerable persons.

A copy of the centres policy on restrictive practices could not be found on the day of the inspection.

Inspectors found that the residents healthcare needs were not being met, particularly in managing seizures.

Staff members told inspectors that there was a support plan for eating, drinking and swallowing for a resident who was at risk of choking but it could not be found and it was later confirmed that it did not exist.

A staff nurse was unable to confirm the expiry dates of medicines for five residents and admitted there was no system in place to deal with this area of medication management.

No staff were employed on night duty in one area of the centre providing accommodation for 10 residents.

Inspectors who made an unannounced inspection of the centre run by Stewarts Care in Lucan, Co Dublin, last September found that some peer to peer incidents had not been appropriately identified, reported or investigated as safeguarding concerns.

The centre has 18 residents living in five units and the inspectors found that staff knowledge of safeguarding needed to improve, as well as aspects of behaviour support planning.

The inspectors also found the staff were not consistently supported in their role and issues raised through the line management system were not always acted on.

An announced inspection of another Stewarts Care centre in Lucan where eight people lived revealed safeguarding issues that management had failed to identify and act on.

Safeguarding concerns in one unit were highlighted by a health professional in June last year and through a staff team meeting the following month but failed to be reported or investigated in line with national policy. Some incidents had not been reported to the Health Service Executive safeguarding team as required.

During the inspection in October last year, the provider acknowledged there was significant deficit in identifying and reporting safeguarding issues and this was to be investigated in the near future.

The inspector found there was a lack of effective management to identify and respond properly and promptly to safeguarding concerns in the centre.

When the inspector expressed concern that the person responsible managed four centres, the provider said there was a plan to have one person in charge of each centre.Cork City parade

The parade starts at 1pm on the South Mall and will celebrate 100 years of the Vote for Women. Gardai have warned they will adopt a zero-tolerance approach to public drinking on Saturday.

This is a festival for all of the family and we want everyone to enjoy the entire weekend in the safest possible way, said Superintendent John Quilter.

We have extra gardai working during the course of the festival and there will be a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to drinking in public. Be safe, mind your belongings and enjoy the weekend.

He also advised people to arrive at the parade early, to keep children under close supervision, and to ensure that children have phone numbers for their guardians in the event of accidental separation.

Mallow

More than 100 floats, bands and marching groups will participate in one of Munsters biggest St Patricks Day events with the parade in Mallow getting under way at 2pm.

Carrigaline

The Carrigaline parade will get under way at 1.30pm.

Ballincollig

The Ballincollig Parade will get under way at 3pm. Parents with young Superheroes are asked to bring along their little ones in their best superhero costume and take part in the parade. The theme this year is the four elements  earth, air, fire and water  and Ballincolligs heroes will help protect against the elements.

A large screen will be set up on the plaza of CastleWest Shopping Centre to make sure fans dont miss any of the action as Ireland take on England in Twickenham at 2.45pm.

Fermoy

Local businessman Tom Cavanagh will serve as Grand Marshal at the Parade which gets under way at 11am from Dun Eala in the Cork Road. The participants will include Fermoy Scout Group, Three Counties Motorcycle Group and Fermoy Community Pre School.

Kinsale

Events for our national holiday kick off this evening with a maritime parade which will take place at 7.30pm in Kinsale Harbour. It will be accompanied by a fireworks display. The towns street parade will take place at 1pm tomorrow. In honour of the work of the RNLI, Kinsale RNLI Lifeboat rations manager Kevin Gould has been chosen to be the grand marshal of this years festivities. Mr Gould and his team will be out on the water as part of the maritime parade.

Clonakilty

The Clonakilty Parade will take place at 1pm. This will be the 24th consecutive Parade organised by Clonakilty Town Twinning Association. the route will be the same as normal from Faxbridge to Western Road and floats should assemble in the Ashe Street Car Park at 12.15pm. The Cork Butter Exchange Band will be the main marching band.

Bandon

The Bandon parade will commence at 2pm. Free candyfloss, face painting and a photo booth is being provided by the organisers. Assembly for the parade is at 1.30pm in St Patricks Church car park.

Youghal

The Youghal Parade will get under way at 1pm and the overall theme for the parade is Showcase Youghal. This years Grand Marshal is the 2017 Glamorous Granny winner, Eileen Welch. Youghal Groups and individuals involved in the parade will assemble on Youghals Brehon Road at noon. The parade will proceed along Catherine Street, Grattan Street, then on towards the Mall and Strand Street, before returning to Dolphin Square, via Friar Street, South Main Street and North Main Street.

Carrigtwohill

The Carrigtwohill parade gets under way at 1.15pm.

Mitchelstown

The parade will get underway at 1pm. In recent years, the parade has gone from strength to strength. This years event will once again run from the Church of Ireland at Georges Street, down Upper and Lower Cork Street, up Baldwin Street, back up Georges Street and onto The Square via King Street.

Midleton

The Midleton parade will commence at 3pm and its theme is the Forty Shades of Green.

Cobh

The Cobh parade will start on the Low Road by Cobh Heritage Centre at 1pm. This year every group is being encouraged to perform a 30 second to one-minute routine in front of the viewing stand. Examples would include passing a ball, a 100m sprint, a dance routine, courtesy, bow or salute.

Skibbereen

The Skibbereen parade will take place at 4.30pm. The theme this year will celebrate Skibbereen as a multi-cultural town and all participating groups are encouraged to reflect the wide diversity of the various cultures in Skibbereen and District.

Ballydehob

It starts at the slightly earlier time of 11.30am. The Grand Marshal this year is Noel Coakley, former Principal and Teacher at St Brigids NS and President of Gabriel Rangers GAA.

Coppeen

Coppeen parade will get under way at 2pm.

Dunmanway

The Dunmanway parade will get under way on Sunday at 1.45pm.

Tipperary

County Tipperary will host 12 parades across the county promoting various initiatives including the new Suir Greenway/Blueway in the Clonmel parade and Healthy Living in Our Community in Nenagh, while the Carrick-on-Suir parade will culminate with a fireworks display at Ormond Castle.

Kilkenny

In Co Kilkenny there will be four parades that are expected to attract a total of 15-20,000 people. It is hoped that the celebration of St Patricks Day as a civic event, alongside Tradfest over the weekend, will entice tourists to Kilkenny. Three visiting bands from the United States will take part in the parade and perform in Kilkenny City.

County Dublin

In Fingal, the Dublin Bay Prawn Festival will be on in Howth from tomorrow until Monday, while six parades will be held in the County on St Patricks Day, in Balbriggan, Blanchardstown, Lusk, Rush, Skerries and Swords. A visiting marching band from the North Dakota University will participate in not one but two of those parades, while more than 100 local businesses and 350 community organisations and business associations are directly involved in the festivities.

Fingal County Council is also implementing programmes to reach out to immigrants living across the county to promote integration, social cohesion and tolerance in communities.

South Dublin County Council has special concert by Kila, a St Patricks Day Ceili, classes for all levels, workshops in the libraries and traditional music session.Health Minister Simon Harris, who ordered the review, said he wants to see a more compassionate and fair approach to parking charges.

The Irish Cancer Society, welcoming the move, said a patient could spend up to 1,000 on parking charges over the course of their treatment. Some pay up to 60 a week.

Mr Harris said the review would see the financial burden reduced on patients who most frequently visited hospitals.

The HSE said hospital car parking charges were a significant part of hospital revenue. The charges also ensure the cost of developing and maintaining car parks did not become a drain on hospital service budgets.

Hospital car parking charges raised around 19m in 2016, with Cork University Hospitals car park generating just over 3m.

The minister wants the HSE to establish current parking arrangements across the hospital sector and develop consistent guidelines for this area.

The review is expected to be completed by mid-2018.

The review will involve the Irish Cancer Society and other patient advocacy groups. It will take account of the income generated by parking charges and the impact of any reduction on hospital services.

Mr Harris said he had heard from many patients, as well as the cancer society, about the need to develop national guidelines. I know that some hospitals take into account the pressure that these charges can put on patients and families who are dealing with illness, particularly long-term illness, and have measures in place to alleviate this pressure.

However, I want to make sure that we have national guidelines in place to inform practice in hospital parking charges around the country.

Head of services and advocacy at the Irish Cancer Society, Donal Buggy said the society had been pushing for a review of hospital car parking charges for years.

He said the society had published draft guidelines they felt would go a long way to addressing the challenge of car parking charges for people visiting hospitals regularly.

While some hospitals did provide free car parking to cancer patients and other patients who had chronic long-term illnesses, it was on an ad-hoc basis.

Mr Buggy said he wanted an upper limit to be placed on weekly car parking charges so people attending hospitals regularly would not pay any more for parking once it had been reached. All patients with chronic long-term illnesses should be considered, not just cancer patients, he said.

Free parking, he said, was not the solution because of the cost of providing the infrastructure and the need to manage the flow of people through the hospital system.

However, he hoped hospitals would take a compassionate view towards those who were ill and needed to visit hospitals on a regular basis.

Currently, the only national policy that exists in relation to car parking is that hospitals must set a daily maximum charge but there is no upper limit.Detective Sergeant David OCallaghan found Luke Taylor after 9.30pm on Monday night hiding in the attic at Cherry Lawn, Blackrock, Cork, despite being told by someone present that the young man had gone to the UK to work.

At Cork Circuit Criminal Court yesterday, Detective Garda Des Cogan testified that Taylor was involved in a serious, dangerous driving escapade in the Mahon area of Cork on January 13.

Gardai signalled for the green Fiat Punto to stop but he drove on  overtaking three cars and went the wrong way around a roundabout.

The incident where he endangered life occurred near St Michaels Rd at a pedestrian access to Mahon Point where the out-of-control car narrowly avoided pedestrians before eventually crashing a short distance away.

Judge Sean O Donnabhain said the endangerment in this case was at the higher end of the scale.

His previous history is appalling, the judge said. He has shown little, if any, effort to rehabilitate. And he did not show any significant efforts to keep himself out of trouble.

He is going to have to change or burn out. Hopefully, he will do that without any further risk to the community.

The judge banned Taylor from driving for 10 years and imposed a four-year sentence with the last year suspended.

Det Sgt OCallaghan said earlier in the week that when he went to the house at Cherry Lawn in Blackrock on Monday night he was informed Taylor was not present but he strongly suspected that Taylor was present and in hiding.

I went up to the attic. I found him hiding under a large amount of property up there, said Det Sgt OCallaghan.The Fianna Fail leader met yesterday with Alpha 1 patients and their family members in Cork, where they spoke about their fears if the drug Respreeza is withdrawn.

Two women with Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, a disease that can cause severe lung and liver damage, died late last year when the drug was unavailable, as the HSE and manufacturer CSL Behring rowed over who should pay the costs of administering it.

Less than 24 hours after the death on December 1 of the second woman, Marion Kelly, aged 52, from Tipperary, the HSE backtracked and agreed to cover administration costs.

Ms Kellys sister and brother, Niamh and Liam, and her stepmother Lelia, were among those to attend yesterdays meeting.

Mr Martin said: In my view, it is unconscionable that patients face so much insecurity about their future.

He said it is very sad that people whove been on medication for so long are now in a very insecure position.

He said the six patients and their spouses present at yesterdays meeting outlined to him how their health had deteriorated during a seven-week period last year when the drug was unavailable.

The drug had been available for a decade to 21 patients who took part in a clinical trial and subsequently under a compassionate access programme, as CSL awaited a decision on State reimbursement, which the HSE refused. Mr Martin said there is an obligation on the HSE and CSL to look after the patients under the Helsinki Declaration.

The declaration says at the conclusion of research (i.e. the trial), patients are entitled to access interventions identified as beneficial.

Mr Martin, who was accompanied to yesterdays meeting by Fianna Fail health spokesman Billy Kelleher, said he will be seeking to meet with Mr Harris this week.

Johnny Hannan, aged 68, from Mallow, Co Cork, said Mr Martin had agreed that nothing short of reimbursement is acceptable, and that he has given a commitment to do what he can to ensure patients can continue to access Respreeza.An Bord Pleanala has received a number of appeals against Cork City Councils recent decision to grant planning permission for the redevelopment of the former Victoria Hotel on St Patricks Street.

RESAM, a development firm owned by Joe Donnelly, a former bookmaker who bought the property in 2015 for a figure believed to be around 750,000, plans to redevelop and refurbish the site of the former 33-bedroom hotel into a high order retail outlet.

The site was valued at 4m when it was placed on the market in 2003.

Among the famous guests who have stayed in the Royal Victoria, as it was known when it first opened in 1810, were Charles Stewart Parnell, Winston Churchill, Michael Collins, John Redmond, Liam Cosgrave and James Joyce who made a reference to the hotel in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

It also hosted the second-ever meeting of the GAA in 1884 following its establishment in Hayes Hotel in Thurles.

More recently it was home to Cocos nightclub and the Gay Future bar which was named after a famous horse racing betting sting organised by a Cork syndicate. The ground floor of the hotel was converted to a retail outlet during the 1980s and currently houses branches of Monsoon and Accessorize. The upper storeys have been vacant for several years.

Under the plans for the site, the rear portions of the building which faces Cook Street will be demolished and replaced with a new building, while an additional floor will be added on to the entire development.

In its appeal, the Cork branch of An Taisce said the former hotel, while not a protected structure, warrants being made a listed building because of its regional historical importance.

John Grace, who owns a fast food outlet on Cook Street, John Graces Fried Chicken, has asked An Bord Pleanala to refuse planning permission for the redevelopment of the former hotel site claiming it would deteriorate the local streetscape.

Mr Grace said the closure of the hotel, whose entrance was on Cook Street, had resulted in a considerable loss of footfall and general activity on Cook Street  a loss he claimed which would be made permanent by approving RESAMs plans.

Given plans by Penneys for another large development on the opposite corner of St Patricks Street and Cook Street, Mr Grace expressed concern that small businesses would become marginalised.

The proposed development will result in a loss of night-time activity in Cook Street and will produce a lack of consumer variety, he added.President Michael D Higgins officially unveiled the new boardroom at the Irish headquarters of the Fender music company which has been named after Rory Gallagher.

Members of the Gallagher family, as well as long-term fans of the Cork guitarist, such as Dave Fanning and Hot Press editor Niall Stokes, attended the event, which took place a week after what would have been Gallaghers 70th birthday.

President Higgins, who had attended the funeral of piper Liam OFlynn that morning, praised the legacy and achievements of Gallagher, and spoke of his own fondness for the guitarist who died in 1995 at the age of 47.

In the Aras, I have a picture of Phil Lynott and Rory Gallagher together, said President Higgins. When people come to visit me in my office, they always recognise Rory and ask me about the picture.

Eoin and Donal Gallagher with President Michael D Higgins at the Rory Gallagher Boardroom dedication.

One of the most important things is that what he contributed will last forever, and his reputation will grow greater and greater.

The President was presented with a box set of 16 of Rory Gallaghers solo albums, which have just been released on 180-gram vinyl and CD by Universal.

For Gallaghers brother Donal, who also acted as his manager and close companion through the unassuming rock stars years of fame, the event brought memories flooding back.

Its so emotional, as you think that Rory should be here himself  he should be getting the accolade, he should see this, he said.

You get mixed emotions, but its wonderful to see. The central thing today was Rorys guitar, and his guitar was the most important things in his life, the guitar that was in the window of the shop in Cork, and was one of the first Fenders in Ireland.

Its extraordinary, all these years later, that it comes full circle.

Great day @Fender Dublin opening the brand new @rorygallagher boardroom with President Michael D Higgins pic.twitter.com/Qa7xG0UUWK  Universal Music Irl (@UniMusicIreland) March 16, 2018

Gallagher bought that Fender Stratocaster in 1963 on hire purchase for 100 from the now-defunct Crowleys music shop on Merchants Quay in Cork.

Donal also recalled Rorys encounters with such figures as Guns n Roses guitarist Slash, and the Smiths Johnny Marr, who are pictured in the Fender office holding Rorys Strat.

I remember the day that Marr called into my office in London and asked if he could play Rorys guitar that night on stage for his gig, so we let him, said Donal. And Rory had a lot of time for Johnny Marr as well; they had met.

An artwork unveiled in the Fender office is by Alec Galloway, and features an image of Rorys guitar, as well as a collage of pieces from Gallaghers own instruments.James McCarney, with addresses at Balmore, Torrance, in Glasgow, and also at Rossmore, Clonakilty, Co Cork, was jailed yesterday for a total of 18 months.

That sentence was imposed on him for assault by resisting a garda in the execution of his duty at Macroom District Court, on February 7, 2018, and concurrent six months for attempting to escape from garda custody at the court on the same date.

Sergeant Michael Kelleher testified at Cork Circuit Criminal Court yesterday that the accused had been remanded in custody having failed to get released on bail.

McCarneys reaction to the refusal of bail was to jump out of the jury box where he was sitting. He collided with Garda Will ODonoghue who was trying to apprehend him.

Garda ODonoghue cracked his head off one of the timber benches. Mr McCarney was subdued by a number of other guards, Sgt Kelleher said.

The sergeant said the injured garda had ongoing head, neck and back injuries and nerve damage in his jaw and on advice from his doctor will be out of work for a number of months, possibly until the end of the summer.

The background to the case in Macroom was a joint garda and customs checkpoint from which McCarney drove away at speed. He will now face sentencing at the district court on charges related to that.

Alan ODwyer, defending, said the defendant had a psychiatric difficulty in his family where one relative had a bi-polar disorder and another had schizophrenia.

Mr ODwyer said the defendant had since apologised for what he regarded as a moment of madness.

Judge O Donnabhain said the accused suffered an inexplicable fit of excitement in the courthouse on the day.

The judge remarked: This occurred in one of the few remaining solid courthouses in the country before we go to modern architecture where it will be difficult even to keep the judges in.The Government and unions are to enter into talks on the two-tier pay system in the public sector which has adversely affected more than 60,000 new State employees since the height of the financial crisis.

Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe has published a report examining the salary issues for those public servants recruited since January 2011.

Since that time there have been 60,500 new entrants - equating to 19% of the public service workforce.

The Departmental report confirms that in the period between 2009 and 2014 there was a decrease of 3.7bn or 21% in the public service pay bill and that 2.1bn of that came from the FEMPI measures introduced by the Government.

A large part of that reduction was down to the National Recovery Plan in November 2010 which required all public servants to start on the minimum point on the scale and a 10% reduction in the pay of all new entrants to the public service.

While the unwinding of the pay reduction has already begun under the 2018-2020 Public Service Stability Agreement, the two additional scale points for staff employed since 2011 remain.

Following the publication of yesterdays report. Paschal Donohoe said the costs associated with a two-point incremental adjustment for the 60,500 staff identified would be significant, at approximately 200m. He said that equates to an additional 3,301 on average for new entrants.

The Minister said the report highlights the considerable complexity, scope and costs associated with the matter as it impacts on hundreds of salary scales.

In an apparent attempt to dampen expectations of staff representatives in the forthcoming negotiations, the Minister also pointed out that the reduced pay points have not prevented significant recruitment to the public service since 2011 and that account will need to be taken of the significant costs involved.

Shay Cody, chairman of the Public Service Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions said unions want to see the length of new entrants pay scales reduced by two points to improve their incomes and equalise the time it takes to reach the top of pay scales.

We acknowledge that any solution is complicated by the fact that the length of pay scales differs widely across the public service, but the aim of this process is to find a solution that works, he said.

The Minister gave no indication as to when talks between the two sides, which began in October, will resume.

The Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland said it was essential they begin to ensure pay equalisation can be implemented in a short time frame.

It said on average, post 2010 entrants to the teaching profession earn 4,000 less per year than a 2010 entrant with the same qualifications and experience and that applications for second level teaching courses had dropped significantly since the introduction of differential pay scales.In a week when many parts of the world do their best to prove their Irishness, the strongest interest in the countrys first language is from people living in Connacht and Ulster.

However, almost half of those questioned in Munster as part of the research for Conradh na Gaeilge do not want to learn Irish or improve whatever knowledge they already have.

The strong support in the North-West may be tied to the strong view there that competence in Irish is an advantage when seeking work. While 47% of survey participants in the Republic of Ireland agree with this idea, it is believed by more than two-thirds of the Connacht/Ulster residents.

Kantar Millward Brown interviewed 1,085 people aged 15 and older at 60 locations last month in the for Conradh na Gaeilge. The results were published as it held a La na Mean Soisialta, an opportunity for people to use their Irish on social media during the Seachtain na Gaeilge campaign to promote the language.

In the North, where efforts to give the language a legal status are at the heart of political stalemate, there is much more moderate support. Of the 1,012 people interviewed there, aged 16 or over, opposition to learning or speaking Irish is highest among people aged 55 and older.

But one in four of all those interviewed in the North said they would like to speak it more and 27% would like to learn or learn more.

The survey report said that the interview samples both north and south were weighted to reflect the profile of the broader population, with religious affiliation also identified in the North. The strongest support north of the border appears to be in Belfast, and among most those in younger age brackets.

The highest levels of confidence in their ability to speak Irish in the Republic are found among younger people. The 52% of them who are confident in their spoken Irish compares much more favourably than around 60% of those over 55 who are not.

This may be linked to the relative experiences of different age groups with Irish in the education system, although second-level schools are currently having problems finding staff qualified to teach it and other languages.

With some support also for bilingual labelling of commercial products, Conradh na Gaeilge general secretary, Julian de Spainn said the survey shows that Irish has a role in employment and marketing, as well as its social and education aspects.

The statistics show a shift in mindset, he said. They dispel the myth that Irish is not useful  as people now believe that there are employment benefits to having the language.Things were going so well.

He had been in the US since last Sunday and was enjoying a successful trip. He had gotten through Texas and Oklahoma unscathed.

Key meetings with Texas governor Gregg Abbott and the Choctaw had gone swimmingly. He made it through a couple of days in Washington without putting too much of a step wrong.

Leo Varadkar with Donald and Melania Trump during the Shamrock Ceremony in the White House this week.

He took some flack for performing a sharp U-turn on Donald Trumps invite to Ireland. Having said last year he wouldnt invite him on home soil, our new openly hipster Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said it would be bad manners not to extend an invite to someone who had invited you to their home.

The hard left called the U-turn a disgrace. But, all in all, it was pretty minor stuff and nothing to get overly excited about. Politicians performing U-turns is nothing new.

Varadkar even managed to get through the crucial one-on-one bilateral meeting with Trump in the Oval Office unscathed and things were looking good. Only for it to unravel less than an hour later on Capitol Hill during the Speakers Lunch hosted by Paul Ryan, who has roots in Kilkenny.

In a packed room of leading dignitaries, including President Trump, leading republicans and democrats, and lauded members of the Irish American community, Varadkar had nothing short of a car crash.

So, Speaker Ryan spoke first and warmly welcomed Leo on his first trip as Taoiseach. His speech was short and unremarkable  a bit like the manky pint of Guinness he presented at his toast. Then the Donald rose to address the gathering. He spoke off the cuff and cracked a few jokes including one on Irelands low corporate tax rates.

Whenever there is a problem, call, well solve it. Except for trade.

Youve got those taxes so low, you are a tough one to compete with on the taxes, so well done. Good job, the US president said.

And, during his speech, Trump referred to his previous interactions with Varadkar before they assumed the two great offices they occupy. Great guy, he said.

And then it was Leos turn to take to the podium. He spoke warmly of his time spent as an intern for Congressman Jack Quinn of Buffalo, New York, and how he often gave tours of the Capitol Building.

But then came the massive diversion from his prepared script. Perhaps buoyed by the lively and highly receptive response to his first few wisecracks, Leo felt the need to retell the story of how he lobbied on behalf of Trump in relation to his Doonbeg resort.

The Taoiseach explains how he got a surprise call from Donald Trump a few years ago pic.twitter.com/VBluzmdI2s  RTE News (@rtenews) March 15, 2018

Eyebrows were first raised by his use of unparliamentary language on being informed the billionaire businessman Donald Trump was on the phone looking to speak to him.

My assistant John Carroll said that theres a call. Donald Trump wants to speak to you. And I just thought: This cant be the case, this has to be a piss-take by one of my staff members, Varadkar said sheepishly, perhaps realising the use of profanity is a big no-no in conservative America and almost unheard of in such a formal setting.

But he went on to detail how he intervened on Trumps behalf in opposition to a proposed wind farm near the expansive resort.

I endeavoured to do what I could do about it and I rang the county council and enquired about the planning permission and subsequently the planning permission was declined and the wind farm was never built  thus the landscape being preserved  and the president has very kindly given me credit for that, although I do think it probably would have been refused anyway, the Taoiseach told to muted laughter in the room and to hue and cry back home in Ireland.

Leo Varadkar meeting Mike Pence in Washington this week.

He had not even sat down in his chair when sharp criticism rang in from the Opposition over what they branded political interference in the planning process. With due cause given our history, any suggestion of a corruption of the planning process is alarming.

Varadkar had shot himself in the foot and allowed hubris cloud his judgment as to what was appropriate. Just as instantaneous as the indignation was from the likes of Eamon Ryan of the Greens and Brendan Howlin of Labour was the attempt to downplay the controversy by Varadkars handlers.

This was a joke, this was not new, he had said this all before, was the argument. And yes, he had mentioned it before. He had spoken about it previously to Time magazine when he became Taoiseach. But, in politics, context is everything.

A new youngish Taoiseach essentially bragging about intervening in a planning process in an unusual way. This was not, according to the Taoiseach, a written submission to be put on file but rather verbal contact which would not be recorded and, therefore, not transparent.

The Taoiseachs comments drew a sharp response from Clare County Council which insisted there is no representation by Leo Varadkar, the then minister for tourism and sport, or any elected member on this planning file.

Statement from @ClareCoCo in response to queries received this evening pic.twitter.com/hK4vmcIv8S  Clare County Council (@ClareCoCo) March 15, 2018

Then from the Taoiseachs office came an important admission: He personally did not make the call but someone in his office made the call to inquire about the status of the file.

That was confirmed by Clare senator Martin Conway, who said he had been told by council officials and by officials in Varadkars office that he personally did not make the call. Someone in his office made a call to inquire as to the status of the planning process, Conway told Morning Ireland, seeking to downplay the significance of it all.

So, we are back to the situation of our Taoiseach travelling overseas and making up stories. I thought we had seen the back of the Enda Kenny fairytales about the man with two pints or the army protecting ATM machines. Remember, it was a made-up conversation with Katherine Zappone which ultimately saw the end of Kenny last year.

This embarrassing gaffe is not in that league and does not at this stage pose any threat to Varadkars position as leader. But it was utterly avoidable and utterly regrettable. And it overshadowed what was, in truth, the big story of the day which was an apparent willingness by Trump to move to accommodate the illegal Irish community living in the US.

The plight of the so-called undocumented (which obviously doesnt sound as bad as illegal) has remained unresolved for decades, even when Barack Obama was a great friend to Ireland.

To be fair, Varadkar is a first-time Taoiseach and the pace and scale of events in Washington can be overwhelming. It also was a high-wire act to try and navigate.

He, as a gay man, was having to stare into the eyes of men like Vice President Mike Pence, who openly espouse hostile views on homosexuality. And he is also having to manage expectations of his own previous tough talking on Trump and it all appears to have gotten the better of him.

It is a shame but, because of one moment of reckless loose talk, Varadkars first trip to the US will now be one to forget.Dateline 30 Years Since Myanmars Pro-democracy Uprising

The Irrawaddy discusses achievements and challenges in that time with two veterans of the student and pro-democracy movements.

Kyaw Zwa Moe: Welcome to Dateline Irrawaddy! For Myanmar, it is fair to say that March is the Month of Revolution. Taking a look back at history, Myanmar fought back fascist Japan on March 27, 1945. This revolution finally led to independence in 1948. Looking back to 1988, Ko Phone Maw, a student at RIT [Rangoon Institute of Technology], was shot and killed by riot police on March 13. On March 16 and 17, students staged protests on the campus of Rangoon University, which led to the 8888 [pro-democracy] popular uprising. That event will have its 30th anniversary this year. Ko Sanny and Ko Ye Naing Aung, also known as Ko Wa, who joined the student movement in March 1988, join me to discuss how far the student movements we initiated have come and the challenges we have encountered along the way. Im Irrawaddy English editor Kyaw Zwa Moe.

30 Years Since Myanmars Pro-democracy Uprising DATELINE IRRAWADDY30 Years Since Myanmars Pro-democracy UprisingThe Irrawaddy discusses achievements and challenges in that time with two veterans of the student and pro-democracy movements. Posted by The Irrawaddy  English Edition on Friday, March 16, 2018

It has been 30 years. The Tiananmen Square incident, to make a comparison with neighboring countries, happened in 1989. In terms of the political freedoms in our country at present, I find that we are ahead of China in that regard. Ko Phone Maw died in March, and Ko Sanny, you joined the student protests on March 16 and 17. What did you do, and why?

Ko Sanny: We were students at that time, and I participated as a student in the protests. We got acquainted with RIT students during the banknote crisis [the governments demonetizing of banknotes without warning] in September 1987. We went to RIT after we learned about [the police shooting of Ko Phone Maw] on March 13. We lived in Insein [Township], and RIT was not far from us. RIT students had formed a committee and posted a notice [on the wall] listing their demands. One of the demands was [for the government] to reveal the truth since [the government] claimed that [Ko Phone Maw] died while fighting other students. They asked us to distribute the papers at other schools such as Rangoon University, Hlaing University, Kyimyindaing University and RC [regional college] 1. We Rangoon University students could not stand [the killing], and we felt that we should also join them. On March 14, we posted demand notices at universities.

KZM: So, you joined the protest because you could not put up with it. What were your other aims?

Sanny: We came to realize that the congress [of the Burma Socialist Program Party] was a rubber-stamp body; that the education system was not a good one; and that it was the outcome of the political system. We still didnt know the exact causes and effects, but understood that it was the result of a lack of political liberty. We wanted to change the political system. We felt sad about their suppression of students and their hiding the truth, so we decided to fight back.

KZM: So, it could be said that protests broke out because of peoples dislike of single-party dictatorship, the poor education system, and economic hardship. Ko Wa, you were an RIT student then. How did you come to join the student protests in March?

Ko Wa: On March 14, 1988, the RIT incident spread to the campus of Hlaing University, which was then called Regional College (2). We saw crowds of students gathering at the university canteen. While we were sitting at a teashop of the canteen, someone fixed a paper to the bamboo pole near us. From the words on the paper, we guessed that the student movement had become an anti-government movement. So, we realized that this had become the very first place, in the more than 260,000 square miles of Myanmars territory, to enjoy the democratic right of freedom of expression. Political repression was quite harsh at that time; we were not even allowed to form community-based religious groups to offer alms to monks or make criticisms during the rule of the Burma Socialist Program Party. To us, it was the moment that marked the transition from student movement to political movement. Students launched the movement not because they had strong political awareness, but because they felt that the injustices created by the political system would destroy the future of the country. At first, students living nearby or studying in the same class would gather; for example, in my case, I and with my friends wrote statements and fixed them on buses and distributed them to passers-by. Later, students in each community gathered across the country; it had become a popular revolution.

KZM: It has been 30 years now. Ko Sanny and Ko Wa, you were both imprisoned for years. Ko Wa was arrested two, three times. Ko Sanny spent eight, nine years in prison. Thirty years later, the one-party dictatorship has ended. And we now have an elected government and a certain degree of democracy. Are you satisfied with the situation today, given the sacrifices of the students?

Sanny: Frankly speaking, I am not satisfied. Compared with other [democratic] countries, ours is not yet a democratic countryI dont mean development and prosperity, but in terms of political liberty. Our expectation was to abolish the one-party system influenced by military dictatorship.

KZM: There is no longer such a system.

Sanny: Though there is no such system, they [the military] have officially taken seats in the Parliament. Furthermore, there is a considerable amount of unseen control [by the military]. So, I feel that our expectations have not yet been fulfilled, as there is still no open political system.

KZM: Ko Wa, do you think Ko Sannys expectations are too unrealistic? Are you satisfied with what your sacrifices have achieved?

Ko Wa: Generally speaking, the country has not yet reached the goal I anticipated, but I am somewhat satisfied. Because, as Ive said, there was only a bamboos space of liberty in the past. At that time, the press censorship board imposed draconian censorship on the media, and it was therefore even dubbed as a press kempeitai [referring to the military police of the Japanese Army during World War II, known for its brutal torture of detainees]. Now, we can publish newspapers and journals freely.

KZM: Perhaps to a certain extent [there is press freedom].

Ko Wa: Yes, to a certain extent. There is no censorship board now and we are free to form, support and run civil society organizations. Compared to the situation then, we are enjoying things that we didnt dream of at that time. But comparing the current situation against the yardstick of genuine democratic norms and the fundamental rights of society, we are lagging far behind. For example, the 2008 Constitution must be amended. We dont like it. But the Constitution at least confirms the rights and entitlements of citizens. So, Id say there has been some progress, but it is not yet satisfactory, and we have not reached our goal. But I believe we have a good foundation from which to move forward.

KZM: Since the death of Ko Phone Maw in 1988, we have demanded democracy as our political cause. The democracy we have achieved has never been a complete one. I mean we now enjoy a certain degree of democracy. The fact that we have an elected government is a sign of democracy. But this democracy is subject to restrictions, like the 2008 Constitution and other political controls. So, the democracy we have now is limited. There are problems such as establishing a ceasefire, achieving internal peace and the Constitution. Our country could be compared to a patient with a chronic illness. My question is, how much has our country recovered after 30 years, and what has yet to be healed?

Sanny: There has been a certain amount of progress as Ko Wa has mentioned. But problems remain. There was no 2008 Constitution in the past. It imposes a barrier for us. In the past, there was greater potential for political reforms because there was no 2008 Constitution. But while the 2008 Constitution provides fundamental rights for citizens, it has also become a new hurdle to us. We have Parliament now, but it is not yet strong, which is understandable. However, there are more complex issues now. For example, the issues we face today didnt exist before. Twenty years ago, there were no ultra-nationalists. There are radical forces now. Whats more, we political forces were united in the past. There was a degree of unity among student activists and political parties, but that unity has gradually disappeared now. These are great obstacles for us.

KZM: We have entered a democratic transition period since Myanmar opened the door in 2011 under President U Thein Seins government. In other words, Myanmar has been trying to recover, but has not yet fully recovered. In terms of the political system, there are obstacles like the Constitution. At the same time, there are disagreements. We have not yet even reached a ceasefire agreement to achieve internal peace. And there is still no equality and self-determination. So, there are many problems. At times like this, political and religious tolerance is important. Ko Wa, what steps can the current government take to promote such tolerance?

Ko Wa: Personally, I think the 2008 Constitution needs to be amended. Im not satisfied with it, but it does provide fundamental rights. To answer your question, suffice it to say that our country is faced with countless problems in the economic, social, health and education sectors. Individuals, political parties and groups may have different views about how to handle those issues. But I think the government or a political party should take the lead role to design a national strategy to address all those issues together. I mean if we try to solve problems separately, we will never solve them. If we solve this problem, that problem arises. So, we need a comprehensive strategy to address those issues together. If we can make that happen through dialogue and negotiation, there are good opportunities for us to move forward, Id say.

KZM: There are provisions that restrict liberty and dont meet democratic norms in the 2008 Constitution. So, this hampers democratic transition. The Tatmadaw [Myanmars military] has traditionally played a role in politics because of the part it played in the countrys history as well as the position it secured by creating the 2008 Constitution. If we dont consider these  the Tatmadaw did play a role in the countrys history because it was formed before independence  but if we remove it from a political role, what will happen? Because some argue that Myanmar is not yet ready to enjoy complete democracy and complete liberty.

Sanny: Yes, the Tatmadaw played a role in the countrys history. Tatmadaw leaders seized power in 1962, and they ruled the country for many years. So, they might feel that they are well versed in managing the country. At the same time, they might look down on civilians and politicians. And their low opinion of them didnt change even after the 2015 election. It has not changed much. After the NLD won the 1990 election, there was a call for dialogue. Dialogue means an open discussion between two sidesdemocratic forces and the military. There are third-party stakeholders, like ethnic groups. But, at first, there must be bilateral discussions. I think there is still no genuine dialogue between the two sides so far. The meetings and agreements so far are the result of personal ties between the two sides rather than the result of an open dialogue. This wont work, I believe. Our country didnt undergo a normative democratic transition. Both the Tatmadaw and the political forces, especially their leaders, are responsible for this. It is important that the democratic transition is transparent and meets norms. It is highly important that [agreements] are transparent and accurately documented in a transition. We still cant make that happen. And people are not informed by the authorities about their agreements. So, agreements which come as the outcome of personal ties are not good for the country as a whole. As Ko Wa has said, we need dialogue based on documented and true agreements between all political forces. We need to persuade the military and mobilize political forces to make that happen.

KZM: Given the current situation, can we say it is unlikely?

Ko Wa: It is unlikely that the Tatmadaw will easily give up the political power they have held. It is said that civil society organizations and political parties are weak in political transition. But that is the result of the restrictions on political rights from 1962 to 2010. That is the reason behind our problems today. Our country lags behind on the economy, education, technology and so on, and only when civil society and political parties are strong will we be able to catch up. If the Tatmadaw really wants to establish modern armed forces that are on a par with those of other countries, it needs to change its attitude and let civil society and political parties grow. They Tatmadaw needs to seriously consider this. Even if the Tatmadaw alone is capable, it cant promote the interests of itself and the country given the current economic and technological inferiority and lack of unity among people in the country. More importantly, there will be tough competition in the region when the One Belt One Road Initiative and the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) are implemented. If there is no unity among the forces including the Tatmadaw, we wont be able to overcome those challenges.

The Tatmadaw should start taking steps now. It has accepted federal Union in principle, and though it has not officially said when it will give up political power, the Constitution implies that it must give up some time in the future. So, the Tatmadaw should be thinking about how to build capable armed forces, how to strengthen civil society and political parties that support building strong armed forces, and how to facilitate the national economy.

Without doing this, it wont be able to build a modern, capable and professional army that can be on a par with those of other countries. Tatmadaw leaders need to make changes now for the future of the country in cooperation with political parties, civil society and organizations that represent the people. On behalf of people who want democracy, I would like to say that we dont view the Tatmadaw as the enemy. Our country needs the Tatmadaw. I personally want to see a highly modern and capable Tatmadaw. For that to happen, I would like to urge the Tatmadaw to boldly join hands with the people in trust.

KZM: Ko Sanny, Ko Wa thanks a lot!News This Week in Parliament (March 12-16)

The transport ministry sought parliamentary approval for a $536 million loan from Japan to upgrade the countrys rail system.

Monday (March 12)

U T Khun Myat, deputy speaker of the Lower House, submitted a report on the Myanmar parliamentary delegation to the 137th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly in October 2017. The IPU Assembly urges the global parliamentary community to take concrete steps to put an end to the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya from Rakhine state, and to end further human rights violations. U T Khun Myat said that the Myanmar delegation raised objection to the resolution and responded to accusations of ethnic cleansing.

Tuesday (March 13)

In the Lower House, the defense ministry refused to hand over to farmers more than 100 acres of land it confiscated in Shan States Kyethi Township in the 1990s, citing security reasons and farmers lack of ownership documents.

In the Upper House, six lawmakers discussed the bill amending the Anti-Corruption Law. Khun Win Thaung of Kachin State Constituency (11) called for rewriting the law, saying that corruption is still rampant in the country despite the fact that the law came into effect in 2013. More lawmakers are set to debate the bill on March 20.

Wednesday (March 14)

In the Lower House, Dr. Maung Thin of Meiktila Township urged the government to explain in detail the repatriation of Muslim refugees from Bangladesh. Deputy Minister for Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement U Soe Aung replied that Myanmar and Bangladesh signed the Arrangement on Return of Displaced Persons from Rakhine State on Nov. 23, 2017, and that the repatriation process would be carried out according to the 1982 Myanmar Citizenship Law and 1993 agreement between the two countries.

In the Upper House, lawmaker U Kyaw Htwe of Yangon Constituency (8) asked about private banks and Vice Governor of the Central Bank of Myanmar U Soe Thane replied that there are currently 24 private banks in the country. The Central Bank of Myanmar is considering the applications of five new private banks and has suspended accepting new applications.

Thursday (March 15)

In Union Parliament, lawmakers discussed the report on the Myanmar parliamentary delegation to the 137th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly in October 2017. Dr. Than Win of Mandalay Constituency (1) said that an IPU resolution to urge governments to put diplomatic pressure on Myanmar exaggerates the issue and does not solve the problem.

The Ministry of Transport and Communications sought approval from Parliament for a 56.622 billion yen ($536 million) loan from Japan to upgrade the countrys rail system.

Friday (March 16)

Four lawmakers discussed the report of the Governments Guarantees, Pledges and Undertakings Vetting Committee in the Lower House, which agreed that there is a need for greater checks and balances to make sure government-funded projects meet standards and deliver value to the publicReddit Email 205 Shares

By John Feffer | ( Foreign Policy in Focus) |  

Trump is no churchgoer. But for evangelicals, his hard right line on Israel and machinations against Iran make him an instrument of the endtimes.

Welcome back, Gog and Magog. I cant say that Ive missed you.

You might remember the Gog and Magog story from 2003, when George W. Bush was making plans to invade Iraq and assembling a coalition of the willing. French President Jacques Chirac was quite unwilling, so Bush went to great lengths to break down his resistance.

As part of this wooing of Chirac, Bush referred to the Biblical prophecies regarding Gog and Magog that suggested to some evangelicals that the end times were approaching in the Middle East.

Chirac had to consult a theologian to find out what Bush was going on about. Gog, Chirac was told, is the leader of Magog, and Magog is the enemy. A war involving Gog and Magog would basically trigger the apocalypse. Because the Bible was not precise in its predictions, Magog could be anyone or anything: Satan, Muslims, even (for Chirac) a poorly executed souffle.

Bush, however, had a much more precise interpretation in mind: Saddam Hussein was Gog, and the call had gone out to rally the forces of good for a grand showdown. Chirac, who confirmed the story in 2009, was taken aback at Bushs religious fanaticism.

A number of U.S. officials around Bush, including diplomat Kurt Volker, have strenuously denied the story. But even if Bush himself didnt indulge in such millenarian fantasies, there were plenty of evangelicals in his circles who did have an impact on U.S. foreign policy. Over the years, Washington has identified plenty of Magogs and set out to topple nearly as many Gogs, always with the certainty of having God on our side.

Indeed, the U.S. role in the realization of Gods plans on Earth has been a leitmotif of American foreign policy since the days of John Winthrop and his assertion of the new colony in the Massachusetts Bay as the future city on the hill. It is a foundation stone of American exceptionalism. It is a contributing factor to this countrys recurrent xenophobia.

But the application of Biblical prophecy to the geopolitics of the Middle East is something more recent.

Late, Not So Great

The publication of Hal Lindseys The Late Great Planet Earth in 1970 brought the wild predictions of end-times fundamentalists to the mass market. Issued by Bantam Books, Lindseys book started a cottage industry of pseudo-scholars combing through the Bible for clues to deciphering the puzzle of Middle Eastern politics.

Lindsey predicted that the war of Gog and Magog would begin with a Soviet invasion of Israel. The Anti-Christ would appear in the form of a United Europe, and the rapture would usher all the chosen up to heaven some time in the 1980s. In a sign of the mainstream appeal of this nonsense  and I confess that I devoured the book as a pre-teen under the impression that it was science fiction, which it was  Orson Welles provided the voice-over for the film version. (And you thought that Orson shilling on TV for Paul Masson wine was the lowest he went!)

The 1980s came and went. The world didnt end. And neither has Hal Lindsey, who at the age of 88 still produces a half hour of fabulous folderol every week.

After all, the failure of predictions to come true has never stopped peddlers from making new forecasts or the gullible from listening to them (just ask the Seventh Day Adventists). Some years after Lindseys success, the Left Behind books brought the end-times narrative to a whole new generation. This version of Gog and Magog also centered on Israel, but identified the United Nations as the villain. And this time it was Nicholas Cage who embarrassed himself by appearing in the film version.

Today, some millenarians continue to identify the United Nations as Magog. Others happily enlist North Korea for the role of anti-Christ.

But generally, the focus remains on Israel  and Jerusalem more specifically.

And thats where Donald Trump comes in.

The current U.S. president would seem an even less likely crusader against Gog than was the eternal fratboy, George W. Bush. Yet the evangelical community rallied around Trump in force in the 2016 election and has largely stayed by his side despite the nonstop revelations of his myriad sins (Summer Zervos, Stormy Daniels, and so on).

Much of the support derives from Trumps domestic promises (abortion, Supreme Court nominees). But theres also a foreign policy component.

For example, despite some early nods in the direction of the Palestinians, Trump has become a major champion of Israel. He has even announced that the United States recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of the country. For run-of-the-mill, right-wing evangelicals, Trumps decision is just plain good geopolitics: They believe that Israel is a force for good in the world, and anything that Washington does on its behalf helps both the United States and Christianity in general.

For the dispensationalists who are obsessed with the Rapture and the coming of end times, the Jerusalem decision is a sign and portent that Trump is willing to stand against the entire world, if necessary, to stand up for Israel. Mainline evangelicals often pretend that dispensationalists attract only a small number of folks. According to one poll, however, 65 percent of evangelical leaders identify with premillennialism  thats the strand of Christian doctrine that involves the second coming of Jesus, a period of tribulation, and a 1,000 year reign of Christ on earth (with the Rapture happening at some point during that period).

What kick-starts the end times into motion is Israels political boundaries being reestablished to what God promised the Israelites according to the Bible, Nate Pyle, a pastor and author of a book about Jesus, informed Newsweek. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in other words, is the instrument of God when he blockades Gazans, encourages illegal settlements on Palestinian land, and otherwise defeats any two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Trump is Netanyahus fanboy, so Trump too is Gods instrument. As I wrote back in October 216, Much millenarian support comes from a belief that God has anointed Trump the ultimate disrupter of the status quo, the human wrecking ball that will smite all the structures standing in the way of Christs Second Coming. No one (other than the Donald himself) would confuse the candidate with the Messiah, but some evangelicals imagine him in the role of a John the Baptist gone slightly berserk.

In the secular world, the Doomsday Clock has moved to within 150 seconds of midnight. Likewise, the clock of the end times has been ticking along, and many of the faithful are preparing for the Rapture.

The Trump era has kicked off a boom time for apocalyptics.

The Signs and the Portents

Dont let the defeat of the Islamic State fool you. The Middle East remains a cauldron of conflict, and there are still plenty of Gogs to go around.

One of the best candidates for a Hal Lindsey-like showdown in the Middle East is Syria. Bashar al-Assad, the leader of Syria, has all the hallmarks of a good Gog.

Like Saddam Hussein, hes a Baathist who represents a ruling minority (in Assads case its the Alawites in a majority Sunni country, while Saddam presided over a minority Sunni government in a majority Shia country). Also like Saddam, Assad has been ruthless in eradicating his own population, though he was considerably more selective in his killing before the Arab Spring protests broke out. The most recent attacks by Russian and Syrian planes in Eastern Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus held by opposition forces, have resulted in more than 500 dead and more than 1,500 injured (in a conflict that has already claimed hundreds of thousands of lives).

Syria is now the focal point of numerous contesting powers. Russia and Iran are backing Assad. Turkey has invaded to suppress the Syrian Kurds, which has caused the latter to team up with Damascus (on the principle that the distant enemy is better than the enemy nearby). Despite Trumps pledge to Turkey to stop backing the Syrian Kurds now that the Islamic State is no more, this military support is still a hefty line item in Trump budget.

Meanwhile, the United States is maintaining an unknown number of U.S. troops in Syriafor what? Answering that questions leads to Trumps true Magog.

Trump doesnt care about Assad. Sure, hes called him a butcher, and lobbed 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Syrian forces last April in response to the Syrian use of chemical weapons. But Trump has something of a fondness for embattled autocrats and has acceded to Russian wishes to keep Assad in place, at least until 2021.

What Trump does care about, however, is Iran. The administration wants to keep U.S. troops in Syria to block Iran from expanding its influence in the country. Add to that the various indications that the Trump administration is gearing up for a direct confrontation with Iran, and youve got a perfect recipe for Gog and Magog.

Of course, there are other apocalyptic scenarios in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia and Iran might go to war, directly or through their proxies. If the Iran nuclear deal falls through, Israel might decide to bomb Irans nuclear complex. A new version of Sunni radicalism  a la al-Qaeda or the Islamic State  might mutate out of the primordial stew of resentments in the region.

But all of these scenarios converge if Trump decides to create an explicit coalition of the willing against Iran, with Israel and Saudi Arabia as founding members, and some secret side agreements with Sunni terrorist organizations to carry the fight to the Iranian Shia.

For Trumps purposes, which would be to rally his base and distract attention from his various policy failures, the confrontation with Iran would really be of biblical proportions. The mullahs of Iran are much better candidates, in the long run, for Gog than a secular nationalist like Assad.

Trump is not a religious man. He cant quote the Bible properly, and he has the most tenuous connection to the Church of any modern president. Dont expect him to quote Gog and Magog in his conversations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

But Trump is itching for a fight. He wants to shake things up. With evangelicals and right-wing Likudniks forming a significant core of support, he is already fulfilling the Middle East agenda of the apocalyptics. And, unfortunately, theres more to come.

John Feffer is the director of Foreign Policy In Focus and the author of the dystopian novel Splinterlands.

Syndicated with permission from Foreign Policy in Focus

-

Bonus video added by Informed Comment:

USA Today: Who is Mike Pompeo?Reddit Email 501 Shares

Middle East Monitor |  

The Israeli Knesset is fast tracking a nation-state bill which opposition groups have denounced as institutionalising the apartheid regime. Knesset members approved the final draft of the bill defining Israel exclusively as a nation for Jews.

The Zionisms flagship bill, as its been described by Israeli politicians, will permit Jewish-only communities and mark a dangerous turning point for Palestinians whose democratic rights will come under greater threat.

Critics say the bill will effectively block any chance for Israels large Palestinian minority  20 per cent of the population  to reform Israel in the future into a normal, Western-style democracy. Palestinian members of the Knesset condemned the move saying the bill institutionalises an apartheid regime in the most blatant way.

Once the bill comes into law Arabic will no longer be regarded as an official language alongside Hebrew. The bill will discriminate against non-Jews by promoting Jewish communities that strictly enforce rules which exclude Israels 1.8 million Palestinian citizens.

Most significantly the bill will dispense with any democratic component in Israels self-definition making Israels Jewishness paramount. Such a shift will place demands on state officials to make decisions that put Jewish identity above democratic principles.

Tourism Minister Yariv Levin, who maintains close ties with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, observed of the bill: It will bring order, clarify what is taken for granted and put Israel back on the right path. A country that is different from all others in one way  that it is the nation-state of the Jewish people.

The Zionisms flagship bill will be further proof for Israels many critics who say that is impossible for Israel to be both Jewish and democratic  any more than it could be white and democratic or Christian and democratic. Israel is defined by its critics as a non-democratic type of state known as an ethnocracy.

License This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Bonus Video:

Israel approves more squatter homes in East Jerusalem  Daily MailReddit Email 70 Shares

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) |  

Thousands of civilians fled the southern pocket of the East Ghouta suburb of Damascus on Thursday and Friday and Saturday, carrying what few belongings they could with them. The rate seems to have been about 10,000 people a day until today. Russian sources are saying 11,000 people left Saturday morning alone and that on Saturday, 3,000 people an hour are exiting the checkpoint to flee the enclave. Their exodus, after seven years of steadfastness in the face of regime probes, suggests a conviction that a battle royale is coming to their neighborhoods and that they do not want to risk being present for it.

The Syrian Arab Army of President Bashar al-Assad advanced in the rebel-held enclave of some 250,000, with Russian Aerospace Forces subjecting neighborhoods to intensive bombardment, which killed over 75 people on Friday.

The Syrian Arab Army has split East Ghouta into three cantons, each dominated by a different rebel group. These are the Saudi-backed Army of Islam, the Turkish-backed Syrian Conquest Front (formerly Nusra) in Douma in the north and the local breakaway from the Syrian Army, the Brigades of the All-Merciful in the east. With these three cut off from one another and from supply routes, the Syrian Arab Army commanders and their Russian advisers are hoping that the rebels will surrender or agree to be transported to Idlib in the far north, one of the last areas under rebel control. Some reports say that Turkey is trying to get this deal for its client, the former Nusra Front (which has been linked to Ayman al-Zawahiris al-Qaeda).

Overivew Of Battle For Eastern Ghouta On March 17, 2018 (Map, Video) https://t.co/eOxeEUeUm8 via @southfronteng  Eli Kvale Lysne (@ekvaale) March 17, 2018

The Syrian Arab Army is claiming to have taken 70% of the territory of East Ghouta, and is now bringing in national police to patrol captured villages in the rear of the front lines instead of the army.

On Friday night, the Army of Islam, the Brigade of the All-Merciful and the Freemen of Syria announced their willingness to negotiate with Russia. The Syrian Conquest Front or Nusra is considered a terrorist group by Russia so there is no point in their joining such calls for talks.



Bonus Video:

CGTN: Thousands more civilians flee devastated Eastern Ghouta in SyriaVANCOUVER, March 16, 2018 /CNW/ - Bear Creek Mining Corporation ("Bear Creek" or the "Company") (TSX Venture: BCM) announces that Mr. Eric Caba has been appointed Vice President, Project Development of the Company, effective March 15, 2018. Mr. Caba has been engaged on a full-time basis at the Company's offices in Lima, Peru.

Mr. Caba has over 25 years' experience in the mining industry across the Americas and Europe. Most recently he served as the Vice President, South America Business Unit for Hudbay Minerals Inc. where he was intimately involved in development of the business unit and the construction of the Constancia mine in Peru. Starting as Operational Readiness Manager before moving to Director of Operations and then Vice President, Eric played a key role in the design and development of the business processes and operational preparations, focusing on business relationships, productivity, efficiency and cost control, and coordinated implementation of these processes and preparations through all levels and stages of the Constancia mine construction. Prior to his tenure at Hudbay in Peru, Eric held operations management positions at a variety of global base metal, precious metal and industrial mineral operations. Eric holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Idaho.

The Company's Board of Directors has authorized and approved a grant of 400,000 incentive stock options (the "Stock Options") to Mr. Caba under its incentive stock option plan (the "Stock Option Plan"). The Stock Options have an expiry date of March 16, 2028 and will vest periodically, in accordance with the Stock Option Plan, upon the achievement of certain corporate milestones. The exercise price of the Stock Options is Cdn $2.24 per share.

Tony Hawkshaw, President and CEO of Bear Creek states, "On behalf of the Board of Directors, I am pleased to welcome Eric Caba to the Company. Eric is a highly regarded mining executive with a track record of delivering excellent results in mine development and operations, with special accomplishments in the Peruvian market. He will be an integral member of the team developing our Corani deposit."

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Anthony Hawkshaw

President and CEO

Caution Regarding Forward Looking Information

This news release contains forward-looking statement regarding the location and nature of employment of the Company's incoming Vice President, Project Development. These forward-looking statements are based on the terms of an employment agreement signed between the Company and Mr. Caba, and are provided as of the date of this news release, or the effective date of the documents referred to in this news release, as applicable, and reflect predictions, expectations or beliefs regarding future events based on the Company's beliefs at the time the statements were made, as well as various assumptions made by and information currently available to them. Although management considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information available to it, they may prove to be incorrect. By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and risks exist that estimates, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not be achieved or that assumptions on which they are based do not reflect future experience. We caution readers not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements as a number of important factors could cause the actual outcomes to differ materially from the expectations expressed in them. These risk factors may be generally stated as the risk that the assumptions and estimates expressed above do not occur, but specifically include, without limitation, risks relating to the date, location and basis of employment as contractually obligated by Mr. Caba's employment agreement; and the additional risks described in the Company's latest Annual Information Form, and other disclosure documents filed by the Company on SEDAR. The foregoing list of factors that may affect future results is not exhaustive. When relying on our forward-looking statements, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time by the Company or on behalf of the Company, except as required by law.

The TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.Mauritius President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim resigned on Saturday after being embroiled in a scandal over her use of a credit card to buy luxury personal items, in an abrupt change of heart after vowing she would not stand down.

Gurib-Fakim, Africas only female head of state, submitted her resignation in the national interest, her lawyer Yousouf Mohamed told reporters.

He said her resignation would take effect on March 23, a move that will bring down the curtain on a saga that has gripped the Indian Ocean archipelago for weeks.

Gurib-Fakim had vowed to fight the accusations that first appeared in local newspaper LExpress  that she used a bank card provided by an NGO to make personal purchases, including jewellery and luxury goods worth at least 25,000 euros.

Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth announced a week ago that Gurib-Fakim had agreed to resign, with a date set for her departure after last Mondays ceremony celebrating the Indian Ocean archipelagos 50 years of independence.

But on Wednesday, a statement from the presidency lashed out at weeks of attacks and false allegations and said Gurib-Fakim planned to clear her name and would not go.

It is not clear what prompted her about-turn, but her lawyer said Saturday she was relieved she had made the decision to resign after enduring a difficult time in recent weeks.

 Links to Angolan billionaire 

Gurib-Fakim, whose role is mostly ceremonial, is a scientist and biologist of international renown, and in 2015 joined the London-based Planet Earth Institute (PEI) to try to develop scientific capacity in Africa.

The presidency said that in May 2016, she received a credit card from PEI to pay for travel and logistical expenses linked to her role but inadvertently used it for unrelated personal expenses.

Gurib-Fakim said she immediately informed the PEI and paid back the amount, as well as all expenses paid by the PEI for her missions.

This was confirmed by the PEI, which said in a statement earlier this week that Gurib-Fakim thus never received gifts, favours, wages or expenses from the PEI, nor undue benefits or advantage.

An investigation by LExpress detailed the purchase of a laptop in September 2016, clothes, shoes and jewellery in October, more jewellery in November and luxury clothing in December.

However it was not just the expenditure that provoked anger in Mauritius, but the presidents association with Angolan billionaire Alvaro Sobrinho who helped found the PEI and is himself being investigated in Switzerland and Portugal for suspected fraud.

In 2017 he received permission to open an investment bank in Mauritius, prompting allegations of favouritism on his behalf.

Gurib-Fakim, under pressure from the opposition, resigned shortly afterwards from her role at the PEIIvory Coast opposition activists on Saturday called a democratic march for next week ahead of senatorial, municipal and regional elections and as the country begins to look forward to presidential polls in 2020.

About 3,000 people died when rival supporters clashed on the streets of Abidjan following the countrys disputed 2010 presidential elections with former president Laurent Gbagbo currently on trial in The Hague for crimes against humanity stemming from the violence.

President of the opposition coalition Together for Democracy and Sovereignty (EDS) Armand Ouegnin called Thursdays march to express our unhappiness about the electoral commission which it accuses of political bias.

Senatorial elections will be held on March 24 with the other polls due to be held later in 2018.

The EDS opposition coalition groups a number of parties including Gbagbos Ivorian Popular Front (FPI).

Ouegnin made the call at a meeting at which activists called for free and fair polls.

We are asking for the electoral commission to be reorganised, FPI leader Abdoudramane Sangare said, adding that the accuracy of electoral lists and security issues were also matters of concern.

Gbagbo is accused of inciting a wave of post-electoral violence when he refused to step down after losing the 2010 election to bitter rival Alassane Ouattara.

The unrest wracked the Ivory Coast for five months from December 2010 until early 2011, after Gbagbo refused to accept his internationally recognised defeat.84 Shares Share

For the past 30 years, a little-known U.S. health agency has supported and produced volumes of groundbreaking research on how to make health care safer, less wasteful, and more effective. Dubbed the little federal agency that could, AHRQ has accomplished this feat with a small fraction of the budgets of its higher-profile cousins, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health. Nonetheless, its work has often been politically unpopular and unheralded outside of a small community of health services researchers and patient advocates. Sadly, when all medical waste is somebodys income, there is little enthusiasm in the medical-industrial complex or on Capitol Hill in allocating the $3 trillion the U.S. spends on health care more wisely or efficiently. In fact, our legislative and executive branches have periodically proposed that AHRQs budget be slashed or eliminated entirely.

In 1994, the agency (then known as the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research) dared to publish a back pain guideline that suggested that there was little role for surgery in most patients. As later documented in Health Affairs, this act raised the hackles of back surgeons with powerful allies in Congress who were already annoyed by the agencys association with the failed Clinton health reform plan. The agencys budget was zeroed out by the House of Representatives and narrowly restored by the Senate in 1995 after a 21 percent cut and a name change to emphasize that its mission would be to produce evidence to inform policy, rather than attempt to actively shape policy.

Despite this deliberately circumscribed mandate (I lost count of the number of times during my tenure as an AHRQ medical officer from 2006-2010 that I was told, We dont make guidelines. We make evidence that other groups use to make guidelines), the passage of the Affordable Care Act made AHRQ a target again in 2012, when a House appropriations subcommittee voted to zero out its budget again. AHRQ survived that episode, only to be zeroed out by the House once again in 2015, when the danger to the agencys survival seemed real enough that former Senate majority leader Bill Frist and former CMS director Gail Wilensky both penned op-eds urging their Republican colleagues to reconsider  which they eventually did.

Ironically, the need for AHRQs work has never been greater. The proliferation of clinical practice guidelines of varying quality and conflicting recommendations has led to calls to systematically evaluate guidelines for their impact on patient outcomes. AHRQ would be a natural place for this evaluation to occur, as its National Guideline Clearinghouse already summarizes and synthesizes guidelines that meet certain evidence-based development criteria. But funding to maintain the NGC will run out a little more than 4 months from now, and there seems to be little hope of rescue.

In the meantime, the Trump Administration has proposed dissolving AHRQ as an independent agency in the next fiscal year and transferring its current functions into a new institute within the NIH, with a 21 percent budget cut from 2017. Although such an arrangement has both potential pros and cons, as a previous AHRQ director observed, its hard to imagine that the shrunken agency would not be marginalized and lost amid NIHs biomedical research behemoth.

Why do I care? Why should you? You need not be ill enough to be hospitalized or care about practice guidelines to suffer if AHRQ is eliminated for good. Not only does it produce several important tools and resources for primary care practice, but it disseminates and implements evidence about what works to improve health, through its National Center for Excellence in Primary Care Research. AHRQ supports research that generates evidence about effective models of care, patient- and family-centered care, shared decision making, quality improvement, and health information technology. This is research and evidence that no one, healthy or ill, can afford to lose. Academy Health maintains an advocacy toolkit for use by any person or organization who wants to help #SaveAHRQ from becoming a casualty of ignorance, indifference, and/or conflicts of interest. I hope that I have persuaded you to join the fight.

Kenneth Lin is a family physician who blogs at Common Sense Family Doctor.

Image credit: Shutterstock.comKingstree, SC (29556)

Today

Thunderstorms. Potential for heavy rainfall. High 81F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Low 61F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.Newsroom reports:

A man who sent fictitious and distressing text messages to a woman has had his conviction for harassing her overturned because the police broke the law to arrest him. Their simple police investigatory trick was deemed inadmissible. The High Court judge who let him off condemned his behaviour and said he did not minimise the distress a campaign of fake messages had had on the woman. He said he viewed it as something more sinister than a prank, anonymously targeting a woman. But he ruled the police had committed the same offence in tracking him that the defendant had committed in the first place. Police helping the woman, who complained of repeated false messages and orders of services to her home, texted the number from which a pizza had been ordered for her and pretended to be offering a prize of free movie passes. The fictitious texter answered with his name and address. When police visited his home, he denied any fake messaging, but when told by a sergeant about the movie ticket prize he slapped his forehead and exclaimed Im so dumb before going to the station and making a full confession.

I dont see what else the Police could do? If he had a phone and sim card on a pre-pay plan then he would not be registered. They had no way of tracking him, so doing a stupidity test seems fair enough.

Years ago US immigration authorities would put on Steinlager parties to attract illegal Kiwi immigrants and those silly enough to turn up were deported. Is that different?

Justice Nicholas Davidson, in the High Court at Timaru, said the defendant, Richard Arthur James Crawford, had used a mobile phone to order two Dominos pizzas and garlic bread, giving the womans address for delivery.

Crawford has form. This 2017 article reports:

A South Canterbury man who advanced on someone with an axe after they objected to his music has been convicted of possessing an offensive weapon. Richard Arthur James Crawford, 20, was at home with his parents in February when his father stopped him playing loud music. The victim was also at the address and had taken Crawfords parents side. Crown prosecutor Nyssa Winchester said Crawford, who had been drinking alcohol during the day, grabbed a large axe and began swinging it around. Crawford advanced on the victim, wielding the axe, forcing him to move out of the way.

Sounds a lovely guy.

Crawford also pleaded guilty to a charge of intentional damage, after breaking a pane of glass when he was not allowed entry to a house. He went uninvited to the address to visit a girl on July 3, but her parents did not let him in. Crawford yelled abuse and banged on the door until eventually the pane of glass on the side of the door broke, Winchester said.

Sounds like only a matter of time before he is back.

Share this: Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

More

Reddit

Pinterest



Print

Tumblr



This blog is looking for wisdom, to have and to share. it is also looking for other rare character traits like good humor, courage, and honor. It is not an easy road, because all of us fall short. But God is love, forgiveness and grace. Those who believe in Him and repent of their sins have the promise of His Holy Spirit to guide us and show us the Way.Festivals are a time for people to head out shopping. The Maharashtrian New year Gudi Padwa and Telugu New Year Ugadi will be celebrated on March 18, 2018. The festival marks the beginning of the traditional Hindu calendar and it is considered auspicious to start something new in case of business ventures on this day. A festival that marks joy of new beginnings several platforms are offering big discounts and sales. Online shopping is the new age trend to purchase anything from groceries, clothes to electronics. This year too there are discount offers announced on the occasions of these festivals. Look at some of the sales and offers:

Amazon

Online shopping platform Amazon is offering 65% discount on a range of products. The range of products includes ethnic wear, electronics including phones and TVs, air-conditioners, and pooja thalis too!

Flipkart

Flipkart is giving upto 70% discount plus those who have a SBI card will get an additional 10% discount. So people can enjoy as good as 80% discount on a range of products. There is 65 percent off on home appliances, up to 55 percent off on summer special products like fans and air coolers, up to 40 percent off on refrigerators and microwaves, and more.

Big Bazaar

Megastore Big Bazaar is giving a sale on home appliances. There is 50 percent off on home essential products like kitchen tools, dinner sets, home electronics, air conditioners, refrigerators, televisions and more. But the sale ends on March 18, so you will have to rush to the store in case you are looking for some home decor.

Car and jewellery Discounts

There are discount offers on cars and pieces of jewellery too. People can get benefits up to lakhs of rupees if they are buying a vehicle. Tata Motors is giving an offer of insurance for Re 1 on the Tiago, Tigor, Hexa, Zest and Safari Storme. In case of jewellery too, Tanishq brand is giving a chance of winning a free gold coin of 0.2 grams with every purchase of gold or diamond jewellery word Rs 10,000.

Housing offers

A lot of people book their flats on the eve of Maharashtrian New year. to attract these very people, several housing schemes with good discounts are made available. Flats are offered with low rates only for Gudi Padwa, later the prices surge. There are even offers on bungalows, offer include both ready possession and under construction flats too. There are cashback offers too. Several housing projects are coming up in Mulund, Karjat, Thane, Palghar and various parts of the city.

With so many big stores and brands giving out so many offers, it can prove to be a good time to go shopping. If you are actually looking for buying a new property or a vehicle, make the most of Gudi Padwa and Ugadi offers and discounts. Happy Shopping for a Happy New Year!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 17, 2018 11:09 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).A Romanian court has made the living of Constantin Reliu, 63, very difficult by pronouncing him dead. The court has rejected his claim of being alive, despite Constantin being present in the court before them. The man spent a decade in Turkey, away from his family and did not maintain any contact with them either. His wife then obtained a death certificate from the court since there was no contact, she received it in 2016. When Reliu tried to return to his family he understood that he has been declared dead! And now to his disappointment his presence too is not enough to prove he's alive.

I am officially dead, although Im alive, Reliu told local media outlets. I have no source of income, and because of the fact that I am dead I cannot hire a lawyer. In fact I can't do anything in this country," he was quoted. Reliu left Romania in 1992 to work in Turkey. The court has rejected his appeal of being alive. Romanian daily Adevarul said that his wife having heard nothing from him in so many years, assumed he would be dead in the earthquake in Turkey. While now Reliu says she sought the death certificate to annul the marriage and it would allow her to remarry.

While that maybe the case, it certainly does not allow him to be alive! "The length of time that the defendant had not contacted his family, but also the fact that he last entered from Turkey was on July 8 1999 made credible the claim by the spouse of Constantin Reliu that he had died in unknown circumstances," the court said as it dismissed his appeal. The appeal is now final. A spokeswoman for the court told local media that the man, Constantin Reliu, 63, lost his case in the northeast city of Vasului because he had appealed too late. So Constantin Reliu is the case of the living dead, quiet literally?

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 17, 2018 02:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).* Mexicos economy minister, Ildefonso Guajardo, has warned that if a full agreement over the renegotiation of the terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) between Mexico, Canada, and the US is not reached by April, it is unlikely that a deal could be concluded this year. Speaking at the World Economic Forum on Latin America regional economic meeting currently being held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Guajardo explained that the upcoming 1 July general election in Mexico, the November US midterm elections, and the inauguration of Mexicos new government in December will complicate any negotiations due to ulterior political considerations. We have a tight calendarIf we cant reach an agreement by April, concluding the negotiations before the end of the year will be very difficult, Guajardo told the forum. Responding to questions about the possibility of Nafta unravelling if the US chooses to unilaterally abandon the agreement, as it has threatened to do if no satisfactory new deal can be reached, Guajardo responded: We have to be prepared to have a Nafta without the USIs there a risk that Nafta will unravel? No. Nafta will continue in Mexico and Canada, Guajardo said. New Philly DA puts forward new policies intended to "end mass incarceration and bring balance back to sentencing" | Main | Prez Trump reportedly to call for more capital cases under current federal laws, but not seeking new death penalty laws 

The Prison Policy Initiative has an updated version of its terrific incarceration "pie" graphic and report now at this link. Here is part of the report's introductory text and subsequent discussion:

Can it really be true that most people in jail are being held before trial? And how much of mass incarceration is a result of the war on drugs? These questions are harder to answer than you might think, because our countrys systems of confinement are so fragmented. The various government agencies involved in the justice system collect a lot of critical data, but it is not designed to help policymakers or the public understand whats going on. Meaningful criminal justice reform that reduces the massive scale of incarceration, however, requires that we start with the big picture.

This report offers some much needed clarity by piecing together this countrys disparate systems of confinement. The American criminal justice system holds almost 2.3 million people in 1,719 state prisons, 102 federal prisons, 1,852 juvenile correctional facilities, 3,163 local jails, and 80 Indian Country jails as well as in military prisons, immigration detention facilities, civil commitment centers, state psychiatric hospitals, and prisons in the U.S. territories. And we go deeper to provide further detail on why people are locked up in all of those different types of facilities.

This big-picture view allows us to focus on the most important drivers of mass incarceration and identify important, but often ignored, systems of confinement. The detailed views bring these overlooked parts of the pie to light, from immigration detention to civil commitment and youth confinement. In particular, local jails often receive short shrift in larger discussions about criminal justice, but they play a critical role as incarcerations front door and have a far greater impact than the daily number suggests.

While this pie chart provides a comprehensive snapshot of our correctional system, the graphic does not capture the enormous churn in and out of our correctional facilities and the far larger universe of people whose lives are affected by the criminal justice system. Every year, 626,000 people walk out of prison gates, but people go to jail 10.6 million times each year. Jail churn is particularly high because most people in jails have not been convicted. Some have just been arrested and will make bail in the next few hours or days, and others are too poor to make bail and must remain behind bars until their trial. Only a small number (150,000 on any given day) have been convicted, generally serving misdemeanors sentences under a year.

With a sense of the big picture, a common follow-up question might be: how many people are locked up for a drug offense? We know that almost half a million people are locked up because of a drug offense. The data confirms that nonviolent drug convictions are a defining characteristic of the federal prison system, but play only a supporting role at the state and local levels. While most people in state and local facilities are not locked up for drug offenses, most states continued practice of arresting people for drug possession destabilizes individual lives and communities. Drug arrests give residents of over-policed communities criminal records, which then reduce employment prospects and increase the likelihood of longer sentences for any future offenses....

While this whole pie provides the most inclusive view of the various systems of confinement in the U.S. justice system available, these snapshots cant capture all of the important systemic issues. Once we have wrapped our minds around the whole pie of mass incarceration, for example, we should zoom out and note that being locked up is just one piece of the larger pie of correctional control. There are another 840,000 people on parole and a staggering 3.7 million people on probation. Particularly given the often onerous conditions of probation, policymakers should be cautious of alternatives to incarceration that can easily widen the net of criminalization to people who are not a threat to public safety.

Beyond identifying the parts of the criminal justice system that impact the most people, we should also focus on who is most impacted and who is left behind by policy change. For example, people of color are dramatically overrepresented in the nations prisons and jails. These racial disparities are particularly stark for Blacks, who make up 40% of the incarcerated population despite representing only 13% of U.S residents. Gender disparities matter too: rates of incarceration have grown even faster for women than for men. As policymakers continue to push for reforms that reduce incarceration, they should avoid changes that will widen disparities, as has happened with juvenile confinement and with women in state prisons....

[A]rmed with the big picture of how many people are locked up in the United States, where, and why, we have a better foundation for the long overdue conversation about criminal justice reform. For example, the data makes it clear that ending the War on Drugs will not alone end mass incarceration, but that the federal government and some states have effectively reduced their incarcerated populations by turning to drug policy reform. Looking at the whole pie also opens up other conversations about where we should focus our energies:Representatives of Leitrim County Council, who are in New York for the St Patricks Day period, met with senior executives from Tourism Ireland yesterday.

The United States is the second-largest market for tourism to the island of Ireland. 2017 was the fifth record-breaking year in a row for Irish tourism from the US, whenwe welcomed a record 1.83 American visitors. Tourism Ireland recently launched a new strategy to continue to grow tourism from the United States, setting out ambitious targets which will see the island of Ireland welcome 2 million American visitors per year by 2021, representing growth of +23%; and will see revenue generated by American holidaymakers increase by +33%, to 1.37 billion per year.

Tourism Ireland is creating stand out for the island of Ireland in the US, highlighting experiences like the Wild Atlantic Way, the Causeway Coastal Route and Irelands Ancient East. Promotions aim to grow travel to the regions of Ireland, during the shoulder and off-peak seasons.

We were delighted to meet with the representatives of Leitrim County Council and to have the opportunity to brief them about the extensive promotional programme we are undertaking in the United States this year, said Alison Metcalfe, Tourism Irelands Head of North America. Last year, we welcomed a record 1.83 million North American visitors to the island of Ireland. In 2018, we are confident that our strategy  combined with more airline seats than ever before from the US, as well as the strength and competitiveness of the vacation experience right around the island of Ireland  will deliver further growth. Our aim is to deliver a +5% increase in visitor numbers and +7% increase in revenue from North America in 2018.

St Patricks Day traditionally marks the real start of the tourism season for us; our aim is to bring a smile to the faces of people everywhereand to convey the message that Ireland offers the warmest of welcomes and great fun, as well as wonderful scenery and heritage. We are using every opportunity to capitalise on Irelands heightened profile this week; the saturation coverage about Ireland at this time of year  across the airwaves, in newspapers and digital media  is an invaluable boost for our overall tourism marketing drive in 2018.

Over the coming days, Tourism Ireland will participate in and promote the island of Ireland at a range of St Patricks Day events across the United States. Numerous landmarks and iconic sites will participate in Tourism Irelands Global Greening initiative to celebrate St Patrick and Ireland  including the Welcome sign in Las Vegas, City Hall in San Francisco, Harbor Bridge in Corpus Christi and the world-famous Niagara Falls. And Chicago will be going all out to celebrate St Patrick and Ireland once again this year, with sites across the city lighting up green  including Soldier Field, Navy Pier, the John Hancock Center, the Civic Opera House, the Wrigley Building,Novak Construction, State Street and the Irish American Heritage Center.1. The drinking...

Drinking wasn't always part of the St. Patrick's Day celebrations. It appears we were drowning the shamrock too much and having way too much craic altogether, so in 1927, the government's pub ban came into force. The pubs were dry on March 17 from then until 1970 when the craic was re-introduced.

2. There's a row over the parade...

Although Ireland didn't stage its first parade until 1931, there's a dispute between New York and Bostom over who staged the first ever St. Patrick's Day parade. New York says they had the first official one in 1762, but the lads in Boston claim they sort of held one in 1737. Fight among yourselves, lads - we'll be in the pub!

3. Enda extended the craic...

As the Minister for Tourism in the mid-1990s, former Taoiseach Enda Kenny extended the St. Patrick's Day celebrations into a week-long festival.

4. We have the colour wrong...

The green colour now associated with St Patrick's day only came about in the 19th century because of his association with Irish myths and legends, but for over 1,000 years, St. Patrick was associated with the colour blue.

5. The craic is worldwide...

March 17 is not just a national holiday in Ireland; it is also a national holiday on the island of Montserrat in the Caribbean. Their population of 4,000 come to a standstill for the day too, owing to the large number of Irish emigrants that landed there in the 17th century.

6. He's not even Irish...

Although celebrated in Ireland as our patron saint, St. Patrick was actually born in Scotland. Some say he claimed the granny rule. Jack Charlton would have almost certainly used him to run the snakes out of Italia 90.

7. St. Patrick's real name isn't very Irish...

First we hear he's from Scotland and now this. Say it isn't so! Well, in fact it is, and St. Patrick's real name was Maewyn Succat - of the Clonbullogue Succats, we believe! His father was a great hurler...

8. He had absolutely nothing to do with snakes...

According to National Geographic - and they know their stuff - St. Patrick most certainly did not drive the snakes out of Ireland. They say that the reptiles never existed at all here.

9. The US President once forgot about St. Patrick's Day...

One of the most popular US presidents in Ireland, John F Kennedy, allegedly forgot it was St. Patrick's Day during his first year as president in 1961. White House staff had to scramble find a green tie for the president when the Irish ambassador to America knocked in with a big aul bowl of shamrock. The shame!

10. He actually did love shamrock...

Shamrock is the symbol of Ireland and St. Patrick, and it became the latter because St. Patrick used it when teaching people about the holy trinity in the Christian religion.The Irish have spoken: Packie Bonners penalty save at Italia 90 is voted favourite Irish moment ever while 1 in 10 of us, oddly enough, would like to spend St Patricks Day with Leo Varadkar.

One in five people (21%) said that Packie Bonners penalty save against Romania at Italia 90 is their favourite Irish moment ever, 17% said it was the vote to legalise same-sex marriage in 2016, another 17% voted for Riverdance, while 13% of us said it was the ODonovan brothers winning an Olympic medal, according to research published by Brady Family Ham today.

The survey, conducted by Core Research among 1,000 people, found that one in ten of us would like to spend the St Patricks Day parade with An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar TD while the celebrities we would most like to spend the parade with are Ladybird star Saoirse Ronan and Peaky Blinders star Cillian Murphy.

13 percent also said theyd like to spend the parade with Conor McGregor, 11 percent with Daniel ODonnell, and 6 percent with model Roz Purcell.

The research was commissioned by Brady Family Ham as the brand launches its Low Food Miles campaign this month, celebrating its Irishness and the fact that it is 100% Irish, always.

St Patricks Day

On Saturday, 39% of us will watch Ireland take on England in the rugby while one third of us (32%) will watch or attend a parade.

Cupla focail?

Despite what people might think, the Irish language is far from obsolete as 1 in 10 claim to speak Irish at least once a week with females (69 percent) claiming to speaking Irish more often than males (65 percent).

We all know a cupla focail that will help us prove our Irishness but the real test is in the writing. The survey shows that 75 percent correctly wrote Hello, how are you? in Irish.

Home comforts

Glenroe and Father Ted were ranked by survey respondents as the joint number one most Irish television series ever made, followed by Ros na Run and Mrs Browns Boys.

The Irish are spread far and widebut that doesn't mean they don't miss home. Brady Family Ham asked Irish people what they missed the most about Ireland when they're abroad: over a third (34 percent) said the Irish sense of humour, a quarter said Irish food, and 18 percent said a cup of tea. 11 percent said their dear auld mammy--and a peculiar 7 percent said they missed the weather.

On Irish grub

A quarter consider love-it-or-hate-it bacon and cabbage the ultimate Irish comfort food, followed by a Sunday roast (23 percent) and stew (21 percent). One in ten of us credit the ham and cheese toastie as the ultimate Irish comfort food.

While we might not all be able to agree on the best Irish dish, theres no doubt that were all mad about real Irish food.

When asked what food export we should be most proud of, 87 percent said our dairy, 87 percent said our beef, 77 percent said potatoes, and 71 percent said our pork produce.

53 percent said they prefer to buy Irish meat because knowing where their meat comes from is important. A third say they buy Irish meat because it tastes better.

When it comes to buying food in general, 80 percent check food labels before buying the product and over half (56 percent) look for produced in Ireland messaging on the packet. 97 percent of people agree that restaurants and cafes should credit Irish suppliers when using Irish products.

The road less travelled

The Low Food Miles initiative is designed to highlight food origin and the distance meat travels from farm to plate its food miles. Locally sourced meat that travels from an Irish farm to an Irish supermarket is noticeably fresher, has a lower impact on the environment and trust and quality is guaranteed. Brady Family Ham is committed to providing its consumers with produce that is 100% Irish, always.

Commenting, Mairead Golden, Marketing Manager at Brady Family Ham, said: The majority of Irish consumers look for a produced in Ireland label on their food products, not knowing that it doesnt always necessarily mean farmed and produced in Ireland. Brady Family Ham is always made from 100% Irish pork, so we are proud to say that all our products have Low Food Miles.THE SISTER of a Limerick man, who suffered a life changing stroke in Turkey, has launched a Go Fund Me campaign to bring him home.

Elaine McCarthy said her brother Liam, aged 52, fell ill on February 28.

He was taken to Isparta University Hospital where he remains in a critical condition on a life support machine. He has never regained consciousness and has no movement, said Elaine.

To date over 13,000 of their 30,000 has been raised. On Wednesday evening, Elaine issued an update.

Thanks for all your generous donations and messages of support. We met with Liams neurologist and anesthesiologist today. They told us that Liam is suffering from basial artery disease and unfortunately the prognosis is not good. We are now looking into bringing him home when it is safe to do so. Please keep liking and sharing, she said.

The first week of Liams medical treatment cost the family 2000. Liams sisters Elaine and Dee have flown to Turkey to be with him.

They are raising funds for Liams medical care and hopefully to get him home to Ireland when he is well enough to travel.

Log onto https://www.gofundme.com/bring-liam-back if you would like to donate.THE manager of the Limerick Milk Market has welcomed 3m plans to redevelop a derelict site opposite the attraction.

David Fitzgerald was speaking after the Limerick Leader this week revealed the ambitious proposals to build a four-storey residential, retail and educational scheme at the junction of Ellen Street, Car Street and Punchs Row.

The project could being 100 new jobs to the city  50 in construction, and 50 permanent positions.

Not alone will it aesthetically change the streetscape around the area, it will also increase activity in the area. It's very welcome, Mr Fitzgerald said.

It was far from ideal when you have visitors coming to the city to see one of the jewels in its crown and then a derelict site like this. Its not exactly putting our best foot forward. It did not do Limerick any justice as it was not reflective of Limerick.

Ellen Street developments has lodged a planning application with City and County Council to construct.

The proposal will see a building which has been left unfinished since the crash, described by local councillor Daniel Butler, FIne Gael, as unsightly and unsafe, completed.

A language school and seven retail outlets are planned on the ground floor, with five four-bedroom apartments on the first floor and three duplex six-bedroom living spaces shared between the same floor, and the top level of the complex.

Twenty-four car parking spaces will be built underground, the plans also show.

It will give a huge boost to the area. It cannot but not. Things are picking up here. The market is a key part of the city, an awful lot of people go there, and this will be a really big thing for us, he said.

Developers originally had plans accepted by the Council for the site to be a seven-storey apartment complex  but this is now cut down to four.

Cllr Butler welcomed the redevelopment plan, saying its something he has been raising since he became a local representative.

Huge credit for this must go to Limerick Council's Urban and Village Renewal team who have helped to... https://t.co/NjPMxQqq8R  Cllr Daniel Butler (@DanielButlerFG) March 13, 2018

It is one of the biggest eyesores in Limerick, especially adjacent to our key market, which is a tourist area and a place where residents come to do their shopping. It is an iconic eyesore in the city, if thats possible. But outside of its ugliness, there is also a safety aspect there, he said.

Planners at Limerick City and County Council are set to make a decision on the proposals by April 24.A PSYCHOLOGY student who reversed into another car in the car park of a busy shopping centre two days before Christmas was fined 400 after she was convicted of careless driving.

Aishling Browne, aged 22, who has an address at Martinstown, Kilmallock was also fined 300 for failing to provide information relating to the incident.

Judge Marian OLeary was told the accident happened at the Crescent Shopping Centre, Dooradoyle on December 23, 2016.

Inspector Padraig Byrnes told Limerick District Court the car park was very busy on the day and that the collision happened as Ms Browne was attempting to find a space to park in.

When the driver of the second car, he said, approached the defendant she gave her a false name and address.

However, the woman noted the registration details of the car which resulted in Ms Browne being identified by gardai.

Insp Byrnes said no visible damage was caused to either car and that there were no injuries as a result of the collision.

Solicitor Darach McCarthy said his client, who has no previous convictions, had panicked on the day and had let herself down very badly.

He said she now realises that she had nothing to gain by giving a false name and address as the car she was driving was registered in her name.

She found herself in a situation which she had never been in before, he said adding that his client has had ample time to reflect since the incident.

Urging the judge not to disqualify his client given the circumstances of the incident, Mr McCarthy urged her to note the date of the offence.

I know from personal experience it (the car park) is chaotic at that time of the year, spaces are like hens teeth, he said adding that his client had reversed in order to manoueve into a space she had spotted.

The solicitor added that his clients chosen course at the University of Limerick had given her some insight into to actions in the immediate aftermath of the collision.

After formally convicting Ms Browne of careless driving, Judge OLeary indicated she would excercise her discretion and would not impose a driving ban.

Fines totalling 700 were imposed and five penalty points will also be applied to her drivers licence.BNest, the first dedicated social enterprise incubator, based in the University of Limerick, have held an event to highlight the work done by its client companies.

BNest, based at the Nexus Innovation Centre at the University of Limericks Kemmy Business School, caters exclusively for business people who own and run firms which have a social impact.

Since September 2016, BNest has been running a six-month programme in which emerging social enterprises learn how to get their new organisations off to the best start by focusing on key areas related to developing their enterprises, in terms of business, social and personal aspects.

Eamon Ryan who founded and self-funded BNest said: We are the first fully fledged social incubator in Ireland, and the idea was to create a peer group which shared experiences that could help one another.

BNest has been given a home by the University of Limerick, where participants have access to the full facilities of the Nexus Innovation Centre.

The venture is being philanthropically funded for three years at a cost of about 20,000 per programme, while participation is free for the enterprises selected.

Last year, nine enterprises completed the programme, and this year another eight enterprises took part.

And thats a wrap a huge congratulations to all the participants of the @BNestSI 2017/2018 social enterprise incubator! #FulfilYourDream #NexusLife pic.twitter.com/NfjXDFJk6X  Nexus (@NexusUL) March 13, 2018

At the showcase, the graduates Nest Showcase 2018, participants showcased their enterprises, which are achieving real social impact across the region.

In addition to the display booths a short informal presentation was made by each enterprise including Limerick Autism Group, a support service for autistic children, their parents and siblings and Visual Limerick.

This is a project to help showcase the positive attributes of Limerick by utilising shop windows and promoting Limericks educational, literary, artistic and innovation works, concepts and ideas.

Current BNest participant, Catherine OBrien set up an online platform for parents of children with special needs called Ododo.

She says working with BNest has helped her improve her original concept.

It enabled me to take it apart and rebuild it back up, she explained.

Evelyn Pepperrell of the ADD/ADHD Mid-West Support Group who completed the programme last year added: The programme has given our group massive confidence in putting our message forward.

The ongoing support for our project has continued to be invaluable as you have on the spot follow up if issues arise.KILMALLOCK has been awarded a total of 150,000 in capital funding under the Historic Towns Initiative 2018.

The funding, which is part of an overall allocation of 1m nationwide, follows a competitive process which invited local authorities to propose projects for heritage-led regeneration in one historic town in their area.

The allocation is very welcome. We submitted a letter of support on behalf of the community council and Kilmallock Tourism Development Ltd, explained local councillor in the Kilmallock area, Mike Donegan

A total of seven historic towns were awarded a total of 1m in capital funding under the initiative: Youghal, 150k, Portlaoise, 160k, Ballinrobe, Co Mayo, 140k, Kells, Co Meath, 150k, Castleblayney, Co Monaghan, 140k and Carrick-on-Suir, Co Tipperary, 110k.

There were in the region of 31 applicants and I think the fact that we were a member of the Irish Walled Towns Network was in our favour. We are in a great position because we have the historic credentials and we have plans in place for development - the West Side Walk is being developed now through the Rural Economic Development Zones for SuperValu up to the school, Cllr Donegan explained.

We have been successful in Towns and Village renewal and The Leader funding through the community council. All these allocations add up - it will be great when the project is finished to see the final product.THERE was pride laced with disappointment among the Na Piarsaigh fans leaving Croke Park this Saturday following the Sky Blues draw with Cuala.

The All-Ireland Club hurling final winners in 2016 and 2017 could not be separated following a classic game, which ended Na Piarsaigh 2-19, Cuala 1-22, after extra time.

A replay date will be confirmed in due course.

Barry ORegan, bar manager at Na Piarsaighs clubhouse in Caherdavin said: In the end, I think it was a fair result. The attitude of the players was first class. It was a cold day, a windy day, the ball was going all over the place.

However, he feels a little hard done by, with Na Piarsaigh leading by three points going into the last minute of injury time at the end of the 60  only to be denied victory by a Cuala goal, the last action of regulation time.

Thirteen-year-old James Holmes from Feenagh agreed, saying: I felt the referee kept giving easy frees to Cuala. I think Na Piarsaigh will have them in the replay."

The match was played in close to freezing temperatures, and Jamess mum Liz, originally from Caherdavin added: I couldn't stop shivering. It was heart-stopping, nerve wracking. I don't know if I could go through it again. We had it won. We were so close. But we haven't lost, and we'll go again.

Former Na Piarsaigh chairman Timmy O'Connor praised the panel  who were without two key men in the shape of Conor Boylan and Thomas Grimes  for their performance.

Replay needed..... Result in epic All Ireland club hurling final after extra time Na Piarsaigh 2-19 Cuala 1-22 #GAA #LLSport #Limerick  Jerome O'Connell (@JeromeSport) March 17, 2018

We have to be extremely proud of everyone who played today. It was an unreal effort. We could have won it possibly, but i'm happy with the draw, and we'll have our two lads who were unavailable to us today back for the replay.

That was one of the best ever performances I've seen from a Na Piarsaigh team. They hurled to their full potential. Any neutral in the ground or watching it on telly must have enjoyed it, he concluded.The circulatory system, also known as the cardiovascular system, is a vast network of organs and blood vessels that acts both as a delivery and waste removal system for the body. Nutrients, oxygen and hormones are delivered to every cell and as these necessities are provided, waste products such as carbon dioxide are removed, according to the nonprofit Nemours Children's Health System .

Not only does the circulatory system keep our cells healthy, but it also keeps us alive. The heart constantly receives signals from the rest of the body that direct how hard it needs to pump to properly supply the body with what it needs, according to Nemours. For example, when asleep, the body sends electrical signals to the heart that tell it to slow down. When participating in heavy exercise, the heart receives the message to pump harder to deliver extra oxygen to the muscles.

How the circulatory system works

The heart lies at the center of the circulatory system and pumps blood through the rest of the network. This hollow muscle is made up of four chambers: The left and right atriums make up the two chambers at the top and the left and right ventricles form the two chambers at the bottom, according to the University of Michigan . The chambers are separated by one-way valves to ensure that blood flows in the correct direction.

The rest of the circulatory system is made up of two independent networks that work together: The pulmonary and systemic systems.

The pulmonary system is responsible for providing fresh oxygen to the blood and removing carbon dioxide, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). Oxygen-poor blood arrives from veins leading to the right atrium of the heart. The blood is then pumped through the right ventricle, then through the pulmonary artery, which splits off into two and divides into increasingly smaller arteries and capillaries before entering the lungs. The tiny capillaries form a network within the lungs that facilitate the exchange of carbon dioxide and oxygen. From the lungs, the oxygen-rich blood flows back toward the heart.

Next, the systemic system of arteries, veins and capillaries takes over. Arteries and veins are not the same, although they are both types of blood vessels. Arteries carry oxygen- and nutrient-rich blood from the heart to all parts of your body, according to the National Cancer Institute . Veins carry the oxygen- and nutrient-poor blood back to the heart. The capillaries are the smallest type of blood vessel, and provide the bridge between the arteries and veins.

Find out all about the blood, lungs and blood vessels that make up the circulatory system. (Image credit: Ross Toro, Livescience contributor)

As the oxygen-rich blood arrives from the lungs, it enters the left atrium and then travels through to the left ventricle before being pumped throughout the body, according to NCBI. The blood gets pumped through the aorta artery (the largest artery in the body) before entering the smaller arteries that carry the blood to every part of the body. As the blood delivers nutrients and oxygen to each cell, carbon dioxide and other waste products are picked up as the blood flows through the capillaries and into the veins.

The contraction and relaxation of the heart  the heartbeat  is controlled by the sinus node, which is a cluster of cells situated at the top of the right atrium. The sinus node sends electrical signals through the electrical conduction system of the heart that direct the muscle to contract or relax.

The heartbeat is divided into two phases: the systole and diastole phases. In the first, the ventricles contract and push blood out into the pulmonary artery or the aorta. At the same time, the valves separating the atria and ventricles snap shut to prevent blood from flowing backwards. In the diastole phase, the valves connecting to the atrium open, and the ventricles relax and fill with blood. The sinus node controls the pace of these two phases.

Adult humans have a total of about five to six quarts (a little less than five to six liters) of blood pumping through their bodies, according to Arkansas Heart Hospital . On average, the heart pumps about 100,000 times per day, pushing about 2,000 gallons (7,570 liters) of blood through a total of 60,000 miles (96,560 kilometers) of blood vessels. It only takes about 20 seconds for blood to travel through the entire circulatory system.

Circulatory system diseases

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States, claiming 610,000 people per year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .

Heart disease is a broad term that covers a wide range of diseases and disorders, including stroke (the blockage of blood to the brain), heart attack (the flow of blood to the heart is blocked), hypertension (high blood pressure causing the heart to work harder), arteriosclerosis (the arteries become thick and stiff) and aneurysm (a damaged blood vessel that can lead to internal bleeding).

Risk factors for heart disease include age, sex, family history, poor diet, smoking and stress, as well as high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol levels, according to the Mayo Clinic . There are many ways that heart disease can be prevented, including keeping other health conditions under control, maintaining a healthy diet, participating in regular physical activity and keeping stress levels at a minimum.

Additional resources:

This article was updated on Aug. 8, 2019, by Live Science Contributor Rachel Ross. The latest account of Trump Administration's latest punitive ideas for responding to drug problems | Main | "Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2018" 

March 16, 2018

New Philly DA puts forward new policies intended to "end mass incarceration and bring balance back to sentencing"

This Slate article, headlined "Philadelphias New Top Prosecutor Is Rolling Out Wild, Unprecedented Criminal Justice Reforms," reports on the remarkable new policies put forward by the former defense attorney who is the newly elected Philly DA. Here are highlights:

On Tuesday, Krasner issued a memo to his staff making official a wave of new policies he had announced his attorneys last month. The memo starts: These policies are an effort to end mass incarceration and bring balance back to sentencing. The most significant and groundbreaking reform is how he has instructed assistant district attorneys to wield their most powerful tool: plea offers. Over 90 percent of criminal cases nationwide are decided in plea bargains, a system which has been broken beyond repair by mandatory minimum sentences and standardized prosecutorial excess. In an about-face from how these transactions typically work, Krasners 300 lawyers are to start many plea offers at the low end of sentencing guidelines. For most nonviolent and nonsexual crimes, or economic crimes below a $50,000 threshold, Krasners lawyers are now to offer defendants sentences below the bottom end of the states guidelines. So, for example, if a person with no prior convictions is accused of breaking into a store at night and emptying the cash register, he would normally face up to 14 months in jail. Under Krasners paradigm, hell be offered probation. If prosecutors want to use their discretion to deviate from these guidelines, say if a person has a particularly troubling rap sheet, Krasner must personally sign off. Its the mirror of a lot of offices saying, If you dont ask for the max youve got to get my permission,  says David Rudovsky, a prominent Philadelphia civil rights attorney. For longtime career prosecutors, this will take some getting used to. You want to be sure your assistants are actually doing it, Rudovsky says. Krasners lawyers are also now to decline charges for marijuana possession, no matter the weight, effectively decriminalizing possession of the drug in the city for all nonfederal cases. Sex workers will not be charged with prostitution unless they have more than two priors, in which case theyll be diverted to a specialized court. Retail theft under $500 is no longer a misdemeanor in the eyes of Philly prosecutors, but a summary offensethe lowest possible criminal charge. And when ADAs give probation charges they are to opt for the lower end of the possible spectrum. Criminological studies show that most violations of probation occur within the first 12 months, the memo reads, Assuming that a defendant is violation free for 12 months, any remaining probation is simply excess baggage requiring unnecessary expenditure of funds for supervision. When a person does break the rules of probation, minor infractions such as missing a PO meeting are not to be punished with jail time or probation revocation, and more serious infractions are to be disciplined with no more than two years in jail. In a move that may have less impact on the lives of defendants, but is very on-brand for Kranser, prosecutors must now calculate the amount of money a sentence would cost before recommending it to a judge, and argue why the cost is justified. He estimates that it costs $115 a day, or $42,000 a year, to incarcerate one person. So, if a prosecutor seeks a three-year sentence, she must state, on the record, that it would cost taxpayers $126,000 and explain why she thinks this cost is justified. Krasner reminds his attorneys that the cost of one year of unnecessary incarceration is in the range of the cost of one years salary for a beginning teacher, police officer, fire fighter, social worker, Assistant District Attorney, or addiction counselor.

The policies memo is available at this link, and all sentencing fans will want to check out the entire document.

March 16, 2018 at 05:14 PM | Permalink

Comments

I am become a crime victim in Philly, you have my blood oath. I will having him investigated for sexual harassment. I will be offering a reward for any victim that comes forward, woman, man, dog. So help, I will hire Gloria Alred, pro hac vice.

Posted by: David Behar | Mar 16, 2018 7:04:36 PM

This guy makes perfect sense, I like it. This what the Feds should do, calc the cost if eCh sentence the Ausa reccommends and present it the judge. When they put it in the lical paper, they must also i clude the cist, the Ausa and the judges name.

This would help to some degree. Takes guts to do epwhat he is doing, most just worry about getting re-elected, like our congress and senate staff does. Og well.

Posted by: MidWestGuy | Mar 16, 2018 9:53:48 PM

I predict record crime this year. I believe for the first time Philadelphia will exceed 400 murders. All because of this new leftist approach to crime and justice. Already within the last 2 years crime has gone up significantly and every Wawa has at least 2 panhandlers and con men. With any luck the impending misery will be a catalyst for future Republican leadership.

Posted by: Mike | Mar 17, 2018 6:54:36 AM

Mike. Philadelphia is very government dependent. They are on welfare or getting government subsidies. It will be a long time before all those Blacks, Jews, Hispanics, and welfare recipients will vote their real interest.

Crime will also be suppressed by the 1500 opioid overdose death. These prevent 30000 crimes year over year cumutively. So the deaths of last year's cohort prevent 30,000, that of 2 years ago, another 30,000. So on. Crime may disappear entirely. It will be ironic. That will result in unemployment among the Democrats dependent o the criminal. That is why Krasner is desperate to have more on the streets.

Stanford Law School radicalized lawyer, and paid agent of George Soros, will falsely take the credit for the drop in crime.

I would enjoy seeing the people of Philadelphia punished by more crime for their corrupt voting. The problem? More will steam into the next county where I live.

I once gave a wedding speech, proposing building a wall on City Line Avenue, and making Philadelphia pay for it, to keep out the dirty Yuppie Democrats ruining my town. I got booed by the dirty Yuppies. This used to be a paradise only a few miles from the Fallujah like condition in the city. No longer. It has become an over-regulated, Democrat hellscape.

Posted by: David Behar | Mar 17, 2018 7:13:04 AM

Krasner is scum.

Posted by: federalist | Mar 17, 2018 7:17:23 PM

What makes him scum in your view, federalist? Is it just because he is a Democrat or because he is a former defense attorney or something else?

Posted by: Doug B. | Mar 18, 2018 6:48:33 AM

Prof. Berman. I hope my deleted post answered your question. If it did not, nothing will. The answer had nothing to do with partisan politics, nor even with disagreement over sentencing. It had to do with his character and association. Krasner was also endorsed by Black Lives Matter. He got $2 million from his sponsor to defeat a seasoned, female prosecutor.

Posted by: David Behar | Mar 18, 2018 3:54:03 PM

Prof. Berman. This is addressed to all Protestants, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and atheists with a law license. How can you stay silent when the central doctrine of the common law has been plagiarized from the Medieval Catholic Church catechism? How can you stay silent when your client gets totally different sentencing based on this horse shit? You morons, you traitors to the constitution, and to our secular nation.

I urge all law student with similar beliefs listed above to pound their books on their desks when the cult indoctrinator tries to promote supernatural beliefs from the Catholic Church, such as mind reading, future forecasting, and standards of conduct based on those of a fictitious character. If the professor will not stop, beat his ass, put a tall dunce hat on him, and kick him out of class. He is your servant, you are not his. Kick the idiot to the street.

To the credit of the Medieval Church, they attributed these supernatural powers to God after a soul arrived to be judged by God. That is their faith, and it should be accepted. Only the lawyer profession believed men could use them to judge other men. These cause vastly different sentencing outcomes for the same act with the same damage to another.

Posted by: David Behar | Mar 18, 2018 7:21:18 PM

"This is addressed to all Protestants, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and atheists with a law license. How can you stay silent when the central doctrine of the common law has been plagiarized from the Medieval Catholic Church catechism?"

"Cultural assimilation" or if one prefers "social conditioning" or if one prefers "brainwashing".

Take your pick, Behar.

Posted by: Selfie Man | Mar 18, 2018 8:59:21 PM

Selfie. Problem. The Establishment Clause.

I have read the Sharia. I liked 90% of it. It has a lot of softness. It has less procedure. It has a lot of rehabilitative ethos. It is effective, and saves many lives of crime victims. All Muslim nations, no matter how poor, have low crime rates. Why is enforcing the Catechism in state law any less offensive, any more acceptable than enforcing the superior Sharia?

If I proposed it replace the catechism as the basis of the common law, what would Berman say?

How is it he can indoctrinate modern, intelligent students into the false and delusional crap he does? He is the one that studied Medieval Philosophy in college, not me. He was taught the technical meaning of reason. He suppresses it. He is a cult member in total denial.

We can argue philosophy. He is in such denial, he cannot even mention the 15 million identity thefts as a sign of exploding crime numbers, never mind the billions of violations of criminal felony federal laws on social media.

He is obsessed with the insane Decarceration policy of the Democratic Party platform. He repeatedly posts false statistics, and wicked, dangerous, insane proposals to open the prison doors. We had a natural experiment in history. Castro streeted his prisoners to the USA in the Marielito Boat Lift in 1980. Only 20,000 of the refugees were criminals. They caused a massive crime wave everywhere they were placed. The federal government had to spend $millions on imprisoning them in federal facilities.

Now, the lawyer profession wants a million predators loosed. I do not call that madness. I call it, evil.

Posted by: David Behar | Mar 18, 2018 9:49:37 PM

David, a few responses:

1. I asked for federalist's view on Krasner, not yours.

2. The Code of Hammurabi arguably articulated many criminal law doctrines you are eager to lament 2000 years before the Catholic Church existed. So your regular rants about criminal law being Church law are poorly conceived, in addition to being repetitive and intemperate.

3. My job is to teach students about current laws while encouraging them to think critically about their meaning and application. We discuss internet crimes like child porn offenses, but those crimes are not in the current FBI accounting of crimes rates. Same is true for lots and lots and lots of other crimes like DUIs and speeding and the massive amount of gambling and drug crimes that go unreported and/or unprosecuted. I am not in "denial" about any of this, and the "cult" you lament is the reality of modern US criminal law. We know from so many of your comments that you dislike this reality. But my student will practice in the real world, not a Behar-o world.

4. I deleted a few posts of yours which had more vitriol than I wanted to see and that triggered some comment backlash that your rants can sometimes engender. I may soon set a daily quota on posts for you and delete others in the hope it may get you to ration rants and pollute this space less, as you seem unable to understand how your repetitive comments and off-putting rhetoric spoils the atmosphere for others.

Posted by: Doug B. | Mar 18, 2018 11:22:14 PM

For reasonsI have discussed here---firing a prosecutor who just started a murder trial--thereby delaying justice for a family. Such studied indifference to the suffering of a family is appalling and should remove him from polite company.

Posted by: federalist | Mar 19, 2018 7:45:31 AM

We are not in your dining room. I am invitee to this blog, as I am to your privately owned sidewalk. You own it perhaps to the deed line in the middle of the street. However, you may not exclude me from the sidewalk, nor from the pavement, based on the protected classes nor based on viewpoint. That is the argument yet to be made against Facebook/Twitter/Microsoft/Google. Those are the largest sidewalks in the world with billions of invitees. They may not exclude anyone.

We are using the Notebook of Henry of Bratton, a monk. Worse than a monk, a French guy (Bratton = Brittany). In that day, getting to substance would be a humiliation for a lawyer. This is the origin of your ridiculous, fraudulent proceduralism, France. He worked for Edward I. He invented forcing Jews to wear yellow Stars of David. He killed all the Jews, and excluded them from England for 400 years. Worse, he killed a million Scot, Welsh, and Irish. Nice origin for a profession. Our laws are filled with Latin, not with Babylonian. How would like them filled with the stilted Arabic of the Koran? You have taken the argument to an extreme. The law against murder is in the 10 Commandments, so let's make murder legal. That is not the point. You are evading the super-natural nature of these doctrines, attributed to God, even by the Church. You are not allowed to have super-natural doctrines in a secular nation. They and your class are silly, ridiculous, a joke.

Thank you for making the point, by adding crimes I did not mention. You decarceration advocates need to address them. The FBI Index covers 8 crimes, 3 being violent. Your claim is based on police reports, which are political tools of Democratic administrations to increase crime, and the necessity for funding of big government, with crazy cost of treatment of dubious value. The structure of prison is the treatment for anti-social personality disorder. They can do very well there.

The gold standard of crime measurement, the household Crime Victimization Survey was "fixed" by the Obama administration, and now real rates of the 8 common law crimes should be called, unknown.

I use the word, cult. Find a better word for people who hold supernatural beliefs. They bully and indoctrinate modern, intelligent students. Dissenters are expelled and shunned if they question these fundamental beliefs. The hierarchy has crushed lawyers who were the smartest, richest, and most powerful for the slightest deviation from this fundamental orthodoxy. The Supreme Court has ruled, there is no recourse. These beliefs are to generate jobs and income. So you take our $trillion and deliver no value. Indeed, every year an average lawyer lives, he destroys $million in economic value. Your real purpose is actually a good one. The Rule of Law adds tremendous value and is well worth $trillion. People can focus on what they want to do, and not worry about survival all day. You have yet to deliver it.

The Behar-o world is called empiricism. Your remedies are physical, incarceration, and fines, where money is a measurement of labor. Your procedures have to be empirical, and not supernatural.



Posted by: David Behar | Mar 19, 2018 11:07:26 AM

Behar, your spout incoherent drivel: utter cant and nonsense, full of sound and fury but signifying nothing.

Posted by: Hanna | Mar 19, 2018 2:56:09 PM

Hanna. You spout personal insults and silly ipse dixits.

Posted by: David Behar | Mar 19, 2018 4:44:02 PM

David, your own complaints about the FBI Index highlights how empiricism is always infused with normativity. Should we "count" the crime of underage drinking on college campuses? Would you say our incoherent patchwork of criminal laws dealing with alcohol and other intoxicants have a "super-natural nature"? Arguably, alcohol and drug prohibitions draw from the Koran more than from the Bible.

Your rants remind me a bit of the 20-somethings who get enamored with Ayn Rand and objectivism and resist acknowledging that the world is a lot more complicated than a simplistic philosophy can address. Your mantra of empiricism and rants against the lawyers does not engage enough of reality to get one very far.

Posted by: Doug B | Mar 19, 2018 8:11:47 PM

I do not understand how drinking alcohol is super natural. Alcohol in the body can be measured. You may argue the validity of these measurements, and make $10,000 a case, twice a day.

In Muslim countries, and among Methodists in the US, there is no alcohol addiction, nor any health consequence of alcohol, killing 100,000 in the US. Prohibition resulted in only a 50% drop in consumption, and induced tremendous benefits to crime control, to the economy, and to the well being of the population. Death by cirrhosis happens to 10% of alcoholics, but is a reliable indicator of the addiction rate. It dropped during Prohibition. The legislature may take these facts and decide what it values. That is solid empiricism. It is also the ultimate, real world outcome, re-election, for the legislator that represents popular consensus. Where is there anything supernatural in any of those alcohol matters?

The supernatural doctrines are mind reading (mens rea), including the mind reading of half the criminals who are drunk, and may have no recall of a crime, future forecasting in torts, and standards of conduct to be set by a fictitious character, in all subjects of the law where the word, reasonable, is uttered. The latter is said to be from a fictitious character because the standards must be objective. The real reason is that your profession is covering up his identity, which is Jesus. That was an open fact in 1275 AD.

Read St. Thomas Aquinas. Everything you do is from the Cathedral University of Paris of 1275 AD. Henry took classes with St. Thomas. The IRAC, the disputation, renamed the adversarial system, the format of the brief, of the motion, all are unchanged from that era and from the work of monks. Disputation (the adversarial system) is claimed to be the best way to discover the truth. That is strictly 1275 AD horse manure. It is the best way to generate double fees for many hours for both lawyers. It cuts off the smartest and most experienced guy in the court, the judge. If he so much as drives by the intersection of the accident or crime, he will be impeached and disbarred.

The court looks like a church. The robes are those of a Catholic priest. The gavel, the bench is an altar. The standing, the sitting, the oaths. The non-business like, the religious hushed tones for the peasants. All is from the 13th Century church. What are you, blind and deaf? Did you not notice any of that? It is all cult intimidation to impose bullshit doctrines by force.



You can email me if you do not wish to breach your privacy. Did you take a course in Medieval philosophy in college? Or, if not, did you take Western Civ 101, the first fall term? Or, if not, did you take high school World History, where this subject was well covered?

Posted by: David Behar | Mar 19, 2018 11:56:18 PM

I am the best friend of the lawyer profession. The Rule of Law is an essential utility product, and should be regulated like a utility. Your number should be half or a third what it is. The 20,000 lawyers for 100 million Japanese is too few. The 1.5 million for 350 million in the US is too many. Your salary should be 4 times what it is, because of the high value of your product, once safe and effective. Your public esteem should be 10 times what it is. You will have an empirical practice, testing any rule in small, then larger jurisdiction. You will stop lawless regulation and deference to the executive branch regulatory decisions. All regulations will be enacted by the accountable and capable legislature, down to the sink heights for the handicapped. If the voters do not want that bullshit, they will throw the elected officials out at the next election.

In cult deprogramming, one must take a hold of the body. That is why I have proposed the arrest, one hour fair trial, and the execution of the 25,000 members of the lawyer hierarchy. It can be done in one day. No one here here is in it, and everyone here will greatly benefit from this proposal. The crime is insurrection against the constitution. The execution must be immediate, and not reviewable. The sole evidence in the one hour fair trial will a recording of a legal utterance violating the constitution.

Posted by: David Behar | Mar 20, 2018 12:27:44 AM

David, I did not ask if you thought "drinking alcohol is super natural," I asked if you thought criminal laws dealing with alcohol and other intoxicants have a "super-natural nature" (using your term). I asked because those laws, which you now seem to claim are "solid empiricism," generate much more work for (criminal) lawyers than many others and incorporate a host of mens rea and reasonableness doctrines (e.g., "possession with the intent to distribute"). Do you know the history of alcohol Prohibition in the US? Do you know the name George Remus, to give one notable example of a notable lawyer who exploited these laws? Do you know how folks quoted scripture to support these laws AND how the laws had "reasonable" religious exceptions? My point is to highlight how simplistic and facile your analysis is when asserting some laws are religious and bad, while others are empirical and good.

To that end, since you dislike reasonableness doctrines thinking them "supernatural," what of the Fourth Amendment's prohibition of unreasonable searches and seizures? Are you eager to execute or defend lawyers who litigate this provision of the Constitution? Are rules created by police forces to guide police actors based on this provision (e.g., do not shoot fleeing suspects) an example of "lawless regulation"? Again, my point is to highlight how simplistic and facile your rants here are, and others get annoyed in the way one gets annoyed hearing a child constantly whine about wanting ice cream for dinner every night (and then claiming we should execute members of the vegetable hierarchy).

I allow you to keep commenting in this space because even simplistic and facile criticisms of modern laws and lawyers can be valuable. But I will continue to urge you to keep the simplistic and facile rants limited and civil.

Posted by: Doug B | Mar 20, 2018 9:06:08 AM

I am simple because the constitution is simple. It is written at the high school English level, and is quite plain in its meaning.

It has an Establishment Clause. It makes our nation a secular, and empirically based nation. The law may not impose religious doctrines on others. These prohibited doctrines include anonymous, but clearly Catholic doctrines of intent, foreseeability, and reasonableness. Even the Church gave up on Scholasticism 100 years ago. To be behind the times more than the Catholic Church is a really extreme achievement. Not even the Church of the 13th Century believed man could exercise these powers. Indeed, it is blasphemy to believe man has the powers the Church properly attributed to God, after the soul reached God for judgment. That is their faith, and I respect. Not only is the lawyer crazy, but he is a blasphemer of the Church he is copying. Had I been an prelate, I would have hauled your boy Henry before the papal inquisition, and roasted his heinie over an open fire. The hubris of that lawyer zane is unbelievable.

It has Article I Section 1, giving "all" lawmaking powers to the Congress. The police policy of not shooting a fleeing suspect is mandatory, coming from a lawless Supreme Court decision, based on the feelings of the Justices, eliminating centuries of police tradition, implying only the guilty will flee.

If you want to describe what searches are allowed, have Congress pass a law. Do the same to stop the shooting of fleeing suspects. They have the capacity to do so more quickly than executive agencies. People who can put out legislation with 1000's of pages, in a few weeks, can do so for regulatory purposes. They can outpage the 10,000 page Register of Federal Regulation. That way voters who do not like the regulation can primary the legislator responsible, or vote for the other party. There is no way to get accountability from a federal bureaucrat. They do not give their names. One may not threaten any without breaking a law. Aside from the lawlessness of all executive regulations, they smack of executive tyranny for which an English king was beheaded.

If you want judicial review, if you want executive branch regulation, if you want to use the word, reason, which is the ability to perceive God, in contrast to intellect, which is subject the temptation of sin, ratify an amendment to the constitution. Until you do, all these lawyer acts are in insurrection against the constitution, a capital offense.

Posted by: David Behar | Mar 20, 2018 10:19:29 PM

David, you have avoided confronting the fact that reasonableness appears in the text of the Fourth Amendment. It make no sense to assert the First Amendment bars laws concerned with reasonableness when the Fourth Amendment makes that the touchstone for defining the limits of police powers. And Thomas Jefferson, a legendary proponent of the separation of church and state, spoke of intent in the commission of various crimes in his famous 1778 Bill for the new state of Virginia: http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/amendVIIIs10.html. So, again, your contentions about these doctrines and the Constitution are neither simple nor sound. And to call for execution of those who pass/support laws using intent or reasonableness is just plain silly.

What is not sill is complaining about considerable and excessive law-making by executive and judicial branch authorities. But Congress and state legislatures often delegate, formally and informally, this law-making power. Staying on point of this blog, consider the Sentencing Reform Act, which created a judicial branch agency to write binding sentencing guidelines. You are on solid ground contending legislatures should author all sentencing rules rather than an agency (as happens in Ohio and other states), but you are not on solid ground when saying the relevant conduct rules referencing what is "reasonably foreseeable" violates the Establishment Clause.

Posted by: Doug B | Mar 21, 2018 12:33:48 AM

Delegation is prohibited. It began after a mind reading decision, calling delegation "implied" if the parameters you mentioned were "intelligible." This is more mind reading of the dead, and ridiculous, insultingly fraudulent, like a seance with the departed. (Your dead relative wants you to give me your money. I would be arrested for a laughable attempt to defraud.) It is an evasion of the need to amend the constitution.

The Fourth Amendment has the word "unreasonable." However, it also defines it in empirical terms, by use of the word "probable", meaning more than 50% likely to be true. The "reasonableness" can be measured, and the standards can be changed if there is a failure to comply with the need for 51% rate of success. If anyone knows of such a study, I could not find one. That is not a constitutional problem, however.

Reason is the ability to perceive God, in the technical jargon of Scholasticism, from where the common law came. The best guide is the New Testament, according to St. Thomas, the mentor of Henry. That book was about Jesus. Unless otherwise specified, as in the Fourth Amendment, all use of the word "reason" refers to Jesus and to his standards of conduct. That word, in any legal utterance should be presumed to violate the Establishment Clause. All Latin also violates it, since only one kind of people speak it.

Again, I do not bash the Church. I bash the lawyer profession. The Church would even say the lawyer is blaspheming by attributing the powers of God to man.

Foreseeability is also a power of God, and Thomas discusses His power to prevent accidents. Outside of negligence claim in the criminal law, this is a problem in tort liability. It is at the core of duty. Problem: it is a supernatural power. Only God had it according to the Church, even in the 13th Century. This has led to the worthlessness of torts to safety, when they could be useful. Only technology has improved safety. However, tort lawyers using this fraudulent scheme have taken out $trillions from the economy. They deterred countless $trillions in new developments. That should have gone to research to enhance safety.

Posted by: David Behar | Mar 21, 2018 11:04:26 AM

Post a commentThis is a picture of a solar eclipse. We would have used an actual photo of a black star, but there are no photos of black stars. By I, <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Lviatour" title="User:Lviatour">Luc Viatour</a>, <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0" title="Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1107408">Link</a>

There might be a massive, dead star out there that bends the stuff of raw vacuum and prevents itself from collapsing into a black hole.

That's the conclusion of a new paper published in the journal Physical Review Letters in early February, which provides the first thorough theoretical framework for understanding objects called "gravastars" and "black stars." These are ultradense, collapsed stars, like the more famous black holes. But unlike black holes, gravastars and black stars don't become so dense that they form event horizons, the border beyond which light cannot escape.

That's thanks to a phenomenon known as "quantum vacuum polarization."

Here's how it works:

There's a principle in quantum mechanics, as Live Science has reported previously , that empty space isn't really empty, but instead populated with "virtual particles." These particles are artifacts of the fact, described by quantum mechanics, that physics is governed more by probabilities than fixed realities. Because of the small possibility that a particle might exist in any one empty point in space, that empty point in space acts as if the particle is sort of, kind of there.

And those virtual particles have real effects on the world. Mostly, they're pretty small and easy to ignore. But in the extreme cases described in this paper, the particles hiding inside a heavy, collapsed star would "polarize," orienting themselves in a way that keeps them from getting too close to one another. They would form a kind of scaffolding that keeps the star from crunching too small and becoming a black hole.

However, just because the paper describes a situation in which such stars might exist, that doesn't mean they're out there, researchers said.

Erin Bonning, director of the planetarium at Emory University in Atlanta, who wasnt involved in the study, told Ryan Mandelbaum of Gizmodo that the paper relies on some simplifications and assumptions of how astrophysics works, and that it's possible  even likely  that such objects would never emerge in the more complicated terrain of the real universe.

However, if they do exist, we might have a way to detect them: by their gravitation waves. These ripples in space-time happen during violent cosmic events, when super-hefty objects accelerate or decelerate really quickly.

Charles Q. Choi spoke to theoretical physicist Paolo Pani of Sapienza University of Rome for Scientific American, who said that the gravitational waves created by interacting horizonless, collapsed stars  those gravastars and black stars  would look different than gravitational waves from black holes. While black holes absorb any waves that crash back into them, a horizonless star would reflect those waves, meaning that the gravitational waves would have a faint echo, Pani said.

Originally published on Live Science.Three accused of looting store

ROTTERDAM  Three men were charged with burglary and larceny after they allegedly looted Taylor and Vadney Sporting Goods in December.

The store was damaged by a fire in November and was closed, but there was merchandise inside, according to Rotterdam police. Jeremy Whittington, 26, and Adolph Cammilletti, 22, both of Rotterdam; and Paul Bergen, 16, of Schenectady, broke into the store Dec. 19, police said. They were charged with burglary and grand larceny.

According to police, the trio stole BB guns, crossbows, knives, ammunition and other hunting and tactical equipment. Police valued the items at $1,500. Most of the equipment was recovered.

They were arraigned and sent to Schenectady County jail in lieu of bail.

Ravena man faces charges

BETHLEHEM  A Ravena man faces charges after he ran from police in a car and on foot after he allegedly committed a larceny at the Glenmont Walmart, Bethlehem police said.

Police were called to the store after Everett Rasso, 35, allegedly made a fraudulent return of merchandise.

According to police, as they arrived, Rasso drove off erratically in a 2001 Ford Taurus. He then pulled into the Glenwood Manor Apartments and ran into the woods and neighborhood, they added.

Police found him hiding behind a garage behind a house.

Police searched the Taurus and found hypodermic needles, plastic baggies, a glass pipe containing crack cocaine and the drug fentanyl in a plastic bag.

Rasso was charged with misdemeanors, including larceny, resisting arrest, criminal possession of a controlled substance, reckless driving, aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and numerous traffic violations.

Rasso was arraigned and jailed in lieu of $5,000 bail. He is scheduled to return to court April 3.

 Staff reportsA lead engineer responsible for a pedestrian bridge that collapsed near Miami left a voicemail message for a state transportation official two days before the crash warning of "some cracking," state officials said Friday night.

The engineer with the private contractor FIGG did not consider it a safety issue, he said. The message was not retrieved until Friday because the Florida Department of Transportation official to whom the voicemail was directed was out of the office on assignment, the state agency said. The message was left on a land line.

"Hey Tom, this is Denney Pate with FIGG bridge engineers. Calling to, uh, share with you some information about the FIU pedestrian bridge and some cracking that's been observed on the north end of the span, the pylon end of that span we moved this weekend," the engineer said, according to a transcript of the call released by the Florida Department of Transportation.

"Um, so, uh, we've taken a look at it and, uh, obviously some repairs or whatever will have to be done but from a safety perspective we don't see that there's any issue there so we're not concerned about it from that perspective although obviously the cracking is not good and something's going to have to be, ya know, done to repair that."

FIGG Bridge Group designed the bridge. An outside public relations representative for the company, Cheryl Stopnick, said Friday night that FIGG executives are conferring on a response but did not yet have one.

The company added - in an apparent reference to its engineer's conclusion that safety was not an issue - that "the evaluation was based on the best available information at that time."

The company's statement said employees are "heartbroken by the loss of life," and pledged: "We will pursue answers to find out what factors led to this tragic situation."

Pate did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

In its statement, the transportation agency pointed to another potential missed opportunity to identify problems.

On Thursday, shortly before the bridge collapsed, a consultant to the department met with members of the team responsible for the project. There was no mention of safety concerns regarding the structure at that meeting, the state said.

"The responsibility to identify and address life-safety issues and properly communicate them is the sole responsibility of the FIU design build team," the state agency said. "At no point during any of the communications above did FIGG or any member of the FIU design build team ever communicate a life-safety issue."

The transportation agency said it released the voicemail recording in the service of "full transparency."

Asked what prompted the disclosure, an official pointed to a statement that accompanied the call transcript: "As FDOT assists in these investigations, we will continue our internal review and release all pertinent information as quickly as possible while ensuring its accuracy."

Earlier Friday, authorities made a grim announcement: The death toll in the bridge collapse had climbed to six - and more victims may be buried in the rubble.

"Our first priority is getting to those victims," Juan Perez, director of the Miami-Dade Police Department, said Friday morning. But, he added, it is a slow and painstaking process to break the debris into smaller pieces for removal, and to reach the vehicles that were crushed when the 960-ton span collapsed Thursday afternoon.

The foot bridge was designed to connect the city of Sweetwater with the sprawling campus of Florida International University, and it was still being installed when it came crashing down. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said suspension cables on the bridge "were being tightened when it collapsed."

Sweetwater Mayor Orlando Lopez said Friday that one of the victims in the accident was an FIU student. "We are truly saddened to hear that," Lopez told reporters at a news conference.

An Ecuadorian official, Maria Fernanda Espinosa,announced on social mediaFriday that Alexa Duran, the 18-year-old daughter of an Ecuadorian father, had been killed in the collapse. A friend of Duran'stold the Miami Heraldthat the FIU student was the funniest person she knew, someone who always lit up any room.

Krista Schmidt, the president of the student government association at FIU, announced they would hold a memorial Wednesday.

Perez, the police director, said officials would not speculate about the likely number of fatalities until the recovery process is complete. Authorities want to bring closure to worried family members, he said, but can't confirm identities of who is underneath the rubble. "We're caught in a bad place right now," he said.

Jorge Fraga and his family have been calling hospitals, crying, and asking everyone about his uncle, Rolando Fraga Hernandez.

"We don't know anything," Fraga said. "We think his car is under the bridge."

His uncle, a friendly 60-year-old originally from Cuba who had run an import-export business in Miami for many years, had been missing since 1:30 Thursday afternoon. No one could tell them anything. "We don't know what to think," Fraga said.

"Our primary focus is to remove all of the cars and all of the victims in a dignified manner and not compromise the investigation in the process," Miami-Dade County Deputy Mayor Maurice Kemp said Friday. "The investigation is vital, because we want to ensure that this type of accident doesn't happen again locally, or anywhere in this country."

The National Transportation Safety Board, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Federal Highway Administration are investigating, as well as the county police department's homicide detectives. A team of county prosecutors arrived at the scene Friday, as well.

The foot bridge, which had been hailed for its innovative construction method, collapsed over a busy road west of Miami, crushing numerous vehicles and leaving rescue workers racing to free victims from chunks of concrete and snapped metal. It had just been put in place across Southwest Eighth Street, on Saturday, and had not opened to pedestrians.

Vehicles were stopped at a red light when the bridge crashed down about 1:30 p.m. It had been designed to make it safer for students to cross the frenetic roadway.

"It was going to be a significant project," Rubio said Thursday night. "To see it on the ground and underneath it those who died and who were injured is a tragedy."

The cause of the collapse will be fully investigated, he promised: "The victims and their families deserve to know what went wrong. There will be an extraordinary review into what the errors were and what led to this catastrophic collapse."

Later, Rubio posted on social media: "The cables that suspend the #Miami bridge had loosened & the engineering firm ordered that they be tightened. They were being tightened when it collapsed today."

The NTSB had been told construction workers were on the bridge at the time of the collapse, said Robert Sumwalt, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board.

He said his investigative team got to the area near the bridge about 10 p.m. Thursday and stayed until 2 a.m. before returning later Friday morning. They expect to remain for about a week for a detailed probe. They had not yet been able to get close to the scene because of the recovery efforts, Sumwalt said. "Our entire purpose in being here is to find out what happened so we can keep it from happening again."

By Friday, the rescue operation had become a recovery effort. Miami-Dade Fire Chief Dave Downey said that after listening, visual and canine searches, "we've determined that there's no longer any survivors."

President Donald Trump responded to "the heartbreaking bridge collapse" Thursday eveningwith prayers, plus praise for the first responders.

Alexander Concha, 36, and Ivy Polanco, 23, were about to have lunch Thursday at Panther's Boulevard Cafe, about a block away from the bridge. Suddenly, they heard wailing sirens and helicopters buzzing overhead.

"Our first reaction was, we hope it's not the bridge," Concha said. "On the side where it collapsed, it didn't seem very secure. It seemed very unsafe."

The bridge collapsed during Florida International's spring break.

"It's very lucky that we are on spring break and that this didn't happen during rush hour," said Polanco, an FIU student. "It could have been so much worse."

Florida International University on Saturday had touted the bridge's "first-of-its kind" construction method, and hailed the permanent installation of the bridge's main span. It stretched 174 feet and weighed 960 tons, according to an FIU news release, and was built using "accelerated bridge construction" methods that were being worked on at the university.

"This method of construction reduces potential risks to workers, commuters and pedestrians and minimizes traffic interruptions," the release said.

When the bridge was installed, crews using an automated process lifted the span from its supports, turned it 90 degrees across eight lanes and lowered it in place, the release said. The university said it was the largest pedestrian bridge moved by that method, known as self-propelled modular transportation, in U.S. history.

"This project is an outstanding example of the ABC method," Atorod Azizinamini, chairman of FIU's Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, said at the time. "Building the major element of the bridge - its main span superstructure - outside of the traveled way and away from busy Eighth Street is a milestone."

Last year, the Miami Herald reported that an FIU student was killed while crossing Southwest Eighth Street.

The university, a major state school that has experienced burgeoning enrollment in recent years, had announced Wednesday it would begin issuing fines as part of a pedestrian safety campaign to help protect students walking to campus from Sweetwater and nearby Westchester. The new bridge was scheduled to be completed in early 2019.

"Just last week we were celebrating the expanse being completed - and now we are here dealing with a tragedy," Sweetwater Mayor Orlando Lopez said Thursday.

The main builder of the bridge, Munilla Construction Management (MCM), is a major South Florida construction firm that has been hired to rebuild expressways; update part of Miami International Airport; and construct a new test track for Miami's Metrorail system.

Increasingly, MCM has also successfully bid on federal contracts, winning almost $130 million in work since 2013. The largest contract is for building a school at Guantanamo Bay Naval Station.

MCM is a major contributor to politicians in Miami-Dade County and has been involved in dozens of lawsuits over the last decade, but often for much smaller issues. This month, the firm was sued for damages when a "makeshift bridge" collapsed under the weight of a security worker using it to access a restroom at Miami airport. The man suffered injuries to his elbow, shoulder and wrist, according to court records.

MCM has up-to-date business licenses and no recent code-enforcement violations reported to state authorities. Recent inspection reports for the site of Thursday's collapse were not immediately available.

The company could not immediately be reached for comment.

In a statement on its Facebook page, MCM said: "Our family's thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by this terrible tragedy. The new UniversityCity Bridge, which was under construction, experienced a catastrophic collapse causing injuries and loss of life. MCM is a family business and we are all devastated and doing everything we can to assist. We will conduct a full investigation to determine exactly what went wrong and will cooperate with investigators on scene in every way."

According to the university, FIGG Bridge Engineers, a division of Tallahassee-based FIGG Engineering Group, designed the walkway.

The firm is behind dozens of iconic suspension, arch and beam bridges across the United States, including the Penobscot Narrows Bridge in Maine and the Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay.

FIGG said in a statement Thursday that it was "stunned by today's tragic collapse of a pedestrian bridge that was under construction over Southwest Eighth Street in Miami. Our deepest sympathies are with all those affected by this accident.

"We will fully cooperate with every appropriate authority in reviewing what happened and why. In our 40-year history, nothing like this has ever happened before. Our entire team mourns the loss of life and injuries associated with this devastating tragedy, and our prayers go out to all involved."

Asked if the construction methods might have factored into the collapse, Ron Sachs, a spokesman for FIGG Engineering, said he could not provide any details beyond a statement issued by the company.

"They're in a fact-finding mode," he said of the company. "They're stunned and certainly in mourning."

Sachs said he believed there would be a comprehensive investigation involving authorities, including the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. "We're going to cooperate with any and all of those," he said.

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., had touted the bridge as a "creative solution" for challenges to the area's transportation network in the FIU news release over the weekend. On Thursday, a statement issued through his office reflected the sudden turn of events.

"I am shocked and horrified by the FIU Pedestrian Bridge collapse. I am praying for the victims and families of this tragedy," he said. "As the NTSB has announced they will be conducting an investigation, I will fully review their findings so we can address how this happened and how to prevent it from ever happening again."

Experts say the Accelerated Bridge Construction method involves an integrated system of pieces designed to stand as a complete structure, but that have to be supported during construction.

Amjad Aref, a researcher at the University at Buffalo's Institute of Bridge Engineering, said failures can be catastrophic.

"The loss of stability is a sudden thing, it doesn't give a warning," said Aref, whose work involves designing Accelerated Bridge Construction projects.

Aref said the construction method has become popular over the past decade. He would not speculate about the cause of the collapse. In general he said, the process works this way:

"You bring three pieces, three blocks, each block is really strong and [does] their job but if they are not connected properly, they might not stand," he said. "The idea is in every design you want to take the load from the superstructure, the bridge surface, all the way to the ground safely."

A collapse, he said, would indicate "the system was not completely connected or supported."

Before the structure is finished, Aref said, crews should ensure that each of its components is secured by cabling or other supporting mechanisms.

He said self-propelled modular transportation, the method of installing the bridge section, is common in Europe. The mechanism would typically involve loading the span onto wheeled heavy machinery that places the main span between the supports, turns and hydraulically lifts it into place.

The bridge was funded through a federal TIGER grant, according to the university, a recession-era program created under the Obama administration that pays for road, rail and other projects.

The role of FIU's Accelerated Bridge Construction University Transportation Center in its construction was unclear. The lab says on its website that it received federal funding in September 2013 after the U.S. Department of Transportation recognized a joint funding proposal submitted by FIU, Iowa State University and the University of Nevada at Reno. The funding enabled the schools to "dive further into their mission of" researching Accelerated Bridge construction, the site says. The center received a second round of U.S. DOT funding in December 2016, the side says.

The center lays out its mission on the site: "The mission of the ABC-UTC is to reduce the societal costs of bridge construction by reducing the duration of work zones, focusing special attention on preservation, service life, construction costs, education of the profession, and development of a next-generation workforce fully equipped with ABC knowledge," it says.

Calls to a university number and an email to Azizinamini, director of the bridge center, were not returned Thursday.

- - -

Svrluga, J. Freedom du Lac and Faiz Siddiqui reported from Washington. The Washington Post's Aaron C. Davis, Mark Berman, Alice Crites and Michael Laris in Washington contributed to this report.

---

Video Embed Code

Video: A pedestrian bridge still under construction collapsed onto moving traffic in the Miami area on March 15.(Claritza Jimenez/The Washington Post)

Embed code:SAN FRANCISCO - Facebook is suspending the Trump-affiliated data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica, after learning that it failed to delete data that it had taken inappropriately from users of the social network, Facebook said late Friday.

Facebook said it was suspending the accounts of Strategic Communication Laboratories, the parent company of Cambridge Analytica, as well as the accounts of a University of Cambridge psychologist Aleksandr Kogan, and Christopher Wylie of Eunoia Technologies.

Cambridge Analytica, a firm specializing in using online data to create voter personality profiles in order to target them with political messages, ran data operations for Donald Trump's presidential campaign. The company was funded by Trump supporter and hedge fund billionaire Robert Mercer, and former Trump senior adviser Stephen Bannon once sat on its board. The company, which began working for the Trump campaign in June 2016, promised that its so-called "psychographic" profiles could predict the personality and political leanings of every adult in the United States.

The analytics firm was asked in December to turn over internal documents to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, as part of the investigation into collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 election.

Facebook said that Kogan had requested and gained access to information from 270,000 Facebook members after they chose to download his app. The app, "thisisyourdigitallife," offered a personality prediction, and billed itself on Facebook as "a research app used by psychologists."

The Facebook members gave their consent for Kogan to access information such as the city they set on their profile, the content they had liked, as well as some limited information about friend groups and contacts. Kogan then broke Facebook's policies and passed the information to Cambridge and to Wylie. Facebook learned about Kogan's activities in 2015.

The company removed Kogan's app at the time and demanded certifications from Kogan and Cambridge, and Wylie, that the information he had shared had been destroyed. Cambridge Analytica, Kogan and Wylie all certified to Facebook that they had done so. But Facebook said it received reports several days ago that the data was not deleted.

"We are moving aggressively to determine the accuracy of these claims," the company said. "If true, this is another unacceptable violation of trust and the commitments they made. We are suspending SCL/Cambridge Analytica, Wylie and Kogan from Facebook, pending further information."

Cambridge Analytica did not respond to immediate requests for comment.

The company's methods of data collections have been criticized by other researchers. "Cambridge Analytica overstates their capabilities because they play in the shadows. They willingly cheat and ignore privacy rules and data ethics in order to win," said social media analyst Jonathan Albright, research director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University.The top candidate to head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is a longtime AIDS researcher who is well-respected for his clinical work but once took controversial positions on HIV testing. He has no apparent experience running a governmental public health agency.

Robert Redfield, a professor of medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, has emerged as the leading candidate to be CDC director, according to several public health sources.

Redfield, who did not respond to a call and email seeking comment, has repeatedly surfaced as a candidate for the top job at both the CDC and the National Institutes of Health when Republicans have been in control in Washington.

The CDC director's job has been vacant since Jan. 31, when former Georgia public health commissioner Brenda Fitzgerald resigned after serving only half a year. She was unable to divest from "complex financial interests" in a "definitive time period," according to a statement from the Health and Human Services Department. Fitzgerald had also purchased shares in a tobacco company shortly after becoming CDC director. HHS Secretary Alex Azar accepted her resignation two days after he was sworn in.

HHS spokesman Matt Lloyd said Friday evening that the department had no comment.

A former Army physician and leading AIDS researcher, Redfield is director of clinical care and research at the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland medical school in Baltimore. The biography posted on the university website describes his main focus as clinical research and care of chronic human infections, especially HIV/AIDS.

He oversees a major clinical program providing HIV care and treatment to more than 6,000 patients in the Baltimore-Washington region and a care program that is part of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR. Redfield has served as a member of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS.

In the early 1990s, while he was an AIDS researcher in the Army, Redfield stirred controversy over an experimental AIDS vaccine that ultimately failed. He had been known as a strong supporter of mandatory patient testing for HIV during the 1980s, at a time before effective treatments were available and intense stigma surrounded people infected with the virus, according to advocates and researchers.

"The controversy in the 1980s was that some of the policies he advocated and some of the organizations he was associated with were not embracing sound public health approaches to the AIDS epidemic and were stigmatizing of those who were infected," said Jeffrey Levi, who was executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and later became deputy director of the Office of National AIDS Policy under President Bill Clinton.

"The context that people have to remember is that during this time, people could be fired for having HIV; they could lose their health insurance for having HIV," he said. "That's why there was so much furor."

Redfield was closely linked to a controversial and unsuccessful effort in Congress in 1991 to require AIDS testing of health-care professionals who perform invasive procedures. The bill was introduced by then-Rep. William E. Dannemeyer, a California Republican who was one of the most conservative members of Congress.

He also clashed with AIDS treatment advocates over whether to collect the names of those who tested positive rather than using anonymous identifying codes, according to a 2002 report in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution when he was among the candidates being considered to be CDC director under President George W. Bush. That job went to Julie Gerberding.

With infectious disease outbreaks on the rise, the CDC plays a critical role in detecting, preventing and controlling their spread. Public health experts say it's essential that the next director understand public health, be tested in a public health emergency and have some familiarity with the Atlanta-based agency, which is responsible for issues including the world's most dangerous organisms, chronic diseases such as diabetes and obesity and birth defects caused by the mosquito-borne Zika virus.

"You want someone leading the organization who has been tested," said John Auerbach, president and chief executive of Trust for America's Health, a public health nonprofit. "You wouldn't want them to spend a year of their lives learning about the agency they're overseeing. In a crisis, we need someone who can hit the ground running."

The position does not require Senate confirmation, but Democrats, led by ranking member Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, sent a letter to the White House this month saying they intend to "thoroughly scrutinize" any candidate to ensure he or she is an "upstanding steward" of public health. The letter listed more than a dozen criteria, including prioritizing science over ideology, resolving any conflicts of interest and leading the federal government in engaging in critical evidence- and science-based research and policymaking.

Several other candidates with strong public health backgrounds were among those under consideration earlier, but Redfield's name emerged as the top contender in the last two weeks, said the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Redfield is respected in his field, according to one researcher, but is known as someone who is very religious. "That over-religiousness turns off some in the scientific and public health community," the scientist said.

- - -

The Washington Post's Alice Crites contributed to this report.A couple accused by Vallejo police of fabricating a kidnapping  even though the woman was in fact abducted in the dead of night, held for ransom and sexually assaulted  said Friday they were humiliated on a public stage while announcing a $2.5 million settlement with the city.

Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn released a statement through their attorney, Jim Wagstaffe. The Vallejo city attorneys office did not respond to requests for comment.

What happened to us should not happen to anyone, Huskins and Quinn said. Victims should be protected in their time of need, not humiliated on a public stage. We hope that this settlement brings inspiration to others like us to speak up and keep fighting.

The couple filed a defamation of character lawsuit after the Vallejo Police Department publicly accused them of making up their horrific story in which Huskins was taken in the middle of the night from the couples Mare Island home by a masked intruder in the early-morning hours of March 23, 2015.

The kidnapper, Matthew Muller, broke into the home, tied up the couple, drugged them and vanished with Huskins. Muller set up a video camera and told Quinn to remain in a taped-off section of his home, where Muller could monitor him.

After the drugs wore off a few hours later, Quinn called police  despite being told by Muller to leave the cops out of it and cough up $8,500 in ransom. But when Quinn went to police, investigators dismissed the story and instead interrogated Quinn, demanding he reveal where Huskins was, according to the couples lawsuit.

During the two days Muller held Huskins at his parents vacation home in South Lake Tahoe, he sexually assaulted her. He also sent anonymous messages to The Chronicle, which shared the information with police.

Muller wrote that he would let Huskins go and included a proof-of-life audio file in which she referred to a plane crash that had just happened in the French Alps and recalled the first concert she had attended.

The next day, Muller dropped Huskins off at her familys home in Huntington Beach (Orange County). Vallejo police, though, quickly dismissed the ordeal as a hoax to a bank of television cameras outside department headquarters as media attention in the sensational case swirled.

Vallejo police Lt. Kenny Park said at the news conference that there was no evidence to support the claims this was a stranger abduction or an abduction at all. He added that given the facts that have been present thus far, this event appears to be an orchestrated event and not a kidnapping.

Soon, The Chronicle received more emails from the still-anonymous kidnapper, who was shocked his crime had been labeled a hoax. Muller insisted the crime happened and claimed to be part of a network of Oceans Eleven-style criminals.

Muller, a 40-year-old former Marine and San Francisco immigration attorney, was captured six months later, in September 2015, following a home invasion in Dublin, leading the FBI to identify him in the Huskins case. He was sentenced in March 2017 to 40 years in prison for kidnapping Huskins.

After Mullers arrest, Vallejo Police Chief Andrew Bidou admitted the department was wrong and privately apologized to the couple.

Huskins and Quinn, both 32, have since gotten engaged and plan to get married in September, Wagstaffe said.On Monday, President Donald Trump will make his first visit to New Hampshire since the 2016 election. It is an official trip, dealing with the opioid crisis, which has hit the Granite State particularly hard. But it is not lost on some of his political advisers that it comes just days after Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., made an explicitly political trip to the state, which will host the first presidential primary in 2020.

Flake has been unambiguous in stating his belief that the president should face a primary challenge in 2020, although he has been noncommittal about whether he is the person to make the race. He uses the typical language of someone considering a candidacy: He has no plans to run but is not ruling anything out.

But the decision to go to New Hampshire on Friday and to make his first appearance at the Politics & Eggs breakfast hosted by the New England Council and the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, a venue long established as an obligatory stop for potential or active presidential candidates, suggests Flake will actively test the proposition.

The question of a primary challenge to the president, however far into the future it might be, is not an idle one. Eugene McCarthy's showing in the 1968 Democratic primary helped persuade Lyndon B. Johnson not to seek re-election. Ronald Reagan's 1976 primary campaign preceded Gerald Ford's loss to Jimmy Carter in the general election that year. And Ted Kennedy's 1980 primary challenge contributed to Carter's defeat against Reagan that fall. In 1992, Patrick Buchanan's challenge to George H.W. Bush helped weaken the incumbent, who went on to lose re-election again Bill Clinton.

No one is suggesting there is the equivalent of the Buchanan brigades forming in New Hampshire for Flake or anyone else who might be contemplating a primary campaign against the president. But it is worth mentioning that, on Friday, when Flake finished his prepared remarks, he received a standing ovation. That is not the standard reception for political candidates at Politics & Eggs, according to those who were there.

Flake has become the president's most vocal antagonist among Republican elected officials. He believes that Trump is a president whose behavior and attacks on the institutions of democracy represent a grave danger to the country and to the GOP.

Flake used the forum in New Hampshire to carry forward a message he delivered at the National Press Club a day earlier, and which is the core of a book he published six months ago, "Conscience of a Conservative: A Rejection of Destructive Politics and a Return to Principle." He says the Republican Party must turn away from this president, return to its conservative principles and, as he puts it, abandon "this brand of poisonous politics."

The president's allies were quick to pounce on Flake's New Hampshire visit.

"He has no party supporting him," said Corey Lewandowski, the New Hampshire resident who was Trump's campaign manager during the nomination battles in 2016. "He has no base of support. He has no financial support. He wasn't going to win his primary in Arizona. If he thinks the people of New Hampshire are more likely to support him than the people of Arizona, then he's sadly mistaken."

Lewandowski was referring to the damage Flake has suffered back home. After his popularity plummeted, he decided not to seek re-election to the Senate.

If Flake were to take on the president in 2020, he would start with few traditional assets, save for the clarity of a message that would highlight the cleavage inside the Republican coalition.

Some Republicans think a primary challenge to the president is almost inevitable. One of them is Stuart Stevens, who was the chief strategist for Mitt Romney's 2012 campaign and who battled rhetorically against Trump throughout the 2016 campaign. "There's a certain percentage of Republicans who are unhappy with Donald Trump, and they would need a voice," he said.

Stevens concedes he was plainly wrong about Trump's ability to win both the GOP nomination and the 2016 general election. He was therefore hesitant to make any predictions about how a 2020 primary battle, even if Trump prevailed relatively easily, might affect the president's prospects of winning the general election. History is an uncertain guide when it comes to this president.

Republican pollster Whit Ayres was more cautious in projecting ahead to a possible 2020 GOP primary contest. He suggested that the variables that will determine whether there is or isn't one include the outcome of this year's midterms - will Republicans still hold the House and Senate, hold one of those or hold neither - and where special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation ultimately leads.

If Republicans hold the House and Senate, that will reduce the anxiety inside the party over Trump and 2020. But, Ayres said, "If we spend a year and a half leading up to a Republican convention in a battle over impeachment, that will increase the likelihood of someone taking a run."

Flake isn't the only possible Republican who could decide to go after Trump. Ohio Gov. John Kasich has been acting like a potential candidate, though he had little luck when he ran in 2016 and has seen his popularity in Ohio decline. He could end up running as an independent, or not running at all.

Inevitably, if pressure rises for someone to take on the president, Romney's name will enter into this conversation, assuming he wins the Senate seat in Utah this November. Having won his party's presidential nomination once, Romney has attributes that Flake and Kasich both lack, including access to more financial support. But though the former Massachusetts governor has been critical of Trump's behavior, he is a cautious politician. No one can say now whether he would have the stomach to mount a campaign to take down the president.

In New Hampshire, Trump's overall approval rating stands at 35 percent, according to the Granite State Poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire. Among Republicans, however, it is 80 percent, and among Trump voters it is 86 percent. Independents can vote in either party primary, and among that group Trump's approval is 33 percent. But could a GOP challenger to Trump attract those independents at a time when Democrats will be holding what's likely to be a lively and highly contested battle for their nomination?

The president's standing among Republicans in New Hampshire highlights the dilemma for anyone who would like to see Trump face a nomination contest. The Republican Party is now firmly in the grip of the president, redefined in his image and to the apparent satisfaction of those most likely to participate in any primary contests in 2020. Pockets of resistance still exist, but they have even less influence than they did during the 2016 nomination battle.

The president's allies see no particular threat brewing, but it is notable how early Trump's re-election operation has taken shape. He recently named his campaign manager for 2020 - Brad Parscale, the digital strategist who was instrumental in the 2016 victory - and announced other staffers as well. He has tightened his hold on the Republican National Committee machinery, and the Trump operation is raising as much money as it can.

That makes the hill that Flake or Kasich or anyone else would have to climb extremely steep, at least as things appear today. The reaction to Flake's appearance in New Hampshire suggests there is an audience for the message he is delivering. The coming months will determine whether it is substantial enough among Republicans for someone in the party to take the daunting step of challenging the president directly.Fabiana Perez, the ex-girlfriend of former Astros minor leaguer Danry Vasquez, is speaking out after video of Vasquez repeatedly hitting her in a Corpus Christi stadium stairwell was made public.

The 21-year-old Perez told Univision she regrets asking the District Attorney not to press charges on Vasquez. The nearly two-year-old incident is back in the spotlight after video of the attack was released earlier this week.

"I watched this video and think to myself, how could I ever let this happen to me?," Perez said in a Spanish interview. "Why didn't I do anything?"

ASTROS SPEAK OUT: Astros players react to Danry Vasquez video

At the time of the incident, the couple was engaged and had been together since they were teenagers.

Police reports obtained by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times showed Vasquez was upset at Perez because she broke a "rule" and had said hello and hugged a team staff member.

Perez asked for the case to be dismissed and refused to cooperate with prosecutors. The Nueces County District Attorney refused to dismiss the case, but offered Vasquez a chance to go through a pretrial diversion program that is offered to first-time offenders.

The case was dismissed when Vasquez completed the program.

"It's true what they say: You need to walk a mile in someone's shoes to know how you'd feel in their situation," Perez said. "People don't know the stuff that I lived. People don't know the fear that I suffered."

On Thursday, TMZ reported the couple recently got engaged, but Perez said the couple broke up a few months after the incident. Vasquez currently is married to another woman.

The Astros released Vasquez shortly after he was arrested for domestic assault. Vasquez was playing in the independent Atlantic League, but was released this week when the video was made public.

"It was something that happened too fast, and I really am sorry," said Vasquez in an interview from Venezuela. "I'm afraid that this will end my career."An indicator light in the cockpit prompted an American Airlines jet to make an emergency landing at the San Antonio International Airport on Friday afternoon, just moments after it had taken off.

The plane, with 82 people on board, was heading to Phoenix when the pilot saw the light, indicating a possible problem with the braking system, said American Airlines spokesman Matt Miller. As a precaution, the pilot decided to go back to the airport.Armando H. Sierra, who served in World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars before retiring as a sergeant first class from the Army in 1971, died Feb. 27 at 93.

Raised by a single mother who was a nurse at Santa Rosa Hospital, Sierra was the youngest of four boys who all started working at an early age.

Having joined the Civilian Conservation Corps at 17, Sierra worked in Nevada building a flood drainage canal for six months before joining the Army just days after turning 18, in 1942.

Sent to the Pacific Theater, Sierra fought with the 7th Australian Division against the Japanese on New Guinea and in the Philippines. He became infected with malaria and was sent home.

Sierra married a childhood friend from Monterrey, Mexico, in 1946.

His mother would send my dad to Monterrey to visit cousins as a child, his daughter Guadalupe Lupe Paredes said. My mom lived in the same neighborhood and they would all play together.

Sent into battle again during the Korean War, Sierra later wouldnt talk a lot about that, Paredes said. My mother said he was very hard to sleep with because he was always waking up during the night, or if he heard a loud noise, he would jump.

While in the military, he moved his growing family to Germany, Louisiana and Virginia. Sierra served with a transportation unit and trained soldiers to operate amphibious trucks.

More Information Armando H. Sierra Born: Nov. 2, 1924, Laredo Died: Feb. 27, 2018, San Antonio Preceded by: Wife Aurora Sierra; son Armando G. Sierra Jr.; parents Antonio and Domitila Sierra; four brothers. Survived by: Daughters Obdulia Tosi and son-in-law Ted, Guadalupe Paredes, Anna Campos and son-in-law Paul, Blanca Gonzalez and son-in-law Ramiro, Aurora Valdez and son-in-law Ruben; son David Sierra; 16 grandchildren, 26 great-grandchildren, five great-great-grandchildren. Services: Visitation at 6 p.m., rosary at 7 p.m. Monday at Sunset Northwest Funeral Home, 6321 Bandera Road; Mass at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday at St. Dominic Catholic church, 5919 Ingram Road, followed by burial at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery. See More Collapse

Sierra was 45 when he went to Vietnam in 1970 and served with the 589th Engineer Battalion.

Returning home about 10 months later, he retired the same year, in 1971.

Civilian life was an adjustment.

Coping with seven children and day-to-day life during her husbands career, Sierras wife had become independent; she could drive, make family decisions and was selling Stanley Home Products.

When my dad got home  she told my dad she wasnt going to be strictly a wife, Paredes said. Eventually, my dad started helping her when she got the merchandise  got used to knowing my mom was going to do something.

Sierra soon became the family handyman.

He was always looking out for everybody, his grandson Joe Paredes said. He went to all the houses of my aunts and my mom and fixed things.

Enjoying their retirement years together, Sierra and his wife especially enjoyed going on cruises.

They loved to travel, Paredes said. My mom would tell us, We dont babysit any grandkids on the weekends; now its time for your dad and I to have a good time.A World War II veteran who became a mail carrier after returning home, Rudolph R. Rodriguez could have moved out of the West Side neighborhood in which he had been raised, but he never did.

He was a West-sider by choice, his son Rudolph R. Rudy Rodriguez said. He and my mom were part of the fabric of that community.

Determined to improve the area, Rodriguez became active in the League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC, and served as chairman of Precinct 223 for more than 20 years.

He became very active in West Side politics from the early days, his son said. He supported candidates who were going to improve the West Side  who were committed to bringing investment and revitalization.

Rodriguez died March 9 at 93.

A younger child among 12, Rodriguez was the son of a Methodist minister who migrated from Mexico.

Our grandfather was a circuit minister who traveled around Texas and Mexico setting up revival tents, Rudy Rodriguez said. He started his career preaching in the parks in San Antonio.

More Information Rudolph R. Rodriguez Born: May 3, 1924, San Antonio Died: March 9, 2018, San Antonio Preceded by: Wife Ofelia Rodriguez; parents Rev. Luis V. and Maria Rodriguez; four sisters; five brothers. Survived by: Son Rudolph F. Rodriguez and daughter-in-law Nancy; daughters Grace Rodriguez-Elliott and son-in-law Claude Elliott, Leticia Dell'Olio and son-in-law Michael; 11 grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; two brothers. Services: Funeral was March 17; burial will take place at 2:30 p.m. April 3 at Ft. Sam Houston National Cemetery, 1520 Harry Wurzbach Road. See More Collapse

Attending what later became Fox Tech High School, Rodriguez was a senior when the United States entered World War II.

He walked out of  high school, walked down the block and enlisted in the Navy, his daughter Grace Rodriguez-Elliott said.

Sent to the Aleutian Islands in the North Pacific Ocean, Rodriguez served on an aircraft carrier rigging parachutes for the pilots, his son said.

Discharged in 1946, Rodriguez returned to his parents home and was hired by the United States Postal Service as a mail carrier almost immediately. Though he could have risen through the ranks, Rodriguez preferred his route.

He just loved delivering mail, Rodriguez-Elliott said. He always worked at substations on the west side of town, off of Old Highway 90. He had a passion for community and loved people  wanted to be outside and talking to people.

Rodriguez began working with up-and-coming West Side political candidates early on and was especially close to Henry B. Gonzalez, who went on to represent the 20th Congressional District for more than 35 years.

Even in the 1950s, he campaigned with Henry all over  would tell stories about how they would catch trains and campaign, then come home to my grandmothers house and she would fix them an early breakfast, Rodriguez-Elliott said.

Marrying in 1958, Rodriguez also raised his children to be politically active.

We used to work the campaign polls with my dad from  7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Rodriguez-Elliott recalled. Him and Mom were very passionate about having a voice and exercising our right to vote. I remember going to vote when I was 18 and it was huge.

Rodriguez also hosted politicians such as Albert Bustamante, Henry Cisneros and Ann Richards at his kitchen table to talk about strategy and how to best address opportunities for the West Side, Rudy Rodriguez said. He never wanted to be in the limelight, but to be supportive of those individuals as long as they were going to benefit the West Side.

Retiring from the postal service in the early 1980s, Rodriguez became more involved in the Catholic church, to which he had converted after getting married.

Up until then he was a participant in the church, but after he retired  he became really committed very passionately to the church and the ministry there, Rudy Rodriguez said.

And eventually he made the commitment to go to seminary and become a deacon, his son said. In the last 35 to 40 years of his life, he refocused all that energy and commitment to the Lord and sacred church.Primary voters, youre in good company this year. Primary voting was heavier than normal, but what is more unusual was the higher Democratic turnout in many urban counties.

Democrats outvoted Republicans in Harris County (Houston) by 5,500 votes, in Dallas County by more than 42,000 votes, in Bexar County by more than 17,000 votes, and in Travis County by 73,000 votes.

Although the statewide turnout for Democrats increased dramatically from the 2016 general election, it was not enough to overcome the GOP vote statewide as Republicans outvoted Democrats by more than 500,000 ballots. Republicans found their strength in suburban counties such as Collin, Denton and Montgomery, and rural counties such as Midland, Potter, Randall (Amarillo) and Lubbock.

These are the traditional voting patterns that have kept Texas red for the past 25 years.

Determining what these early primary numbers mean for any future election or trend is premature. However, for the sake of argument, lets say the primary turnout numbers do have meaning for both political parties and the general elections in the fall.

Both major political parties, and some smaller ones, see both positives and negatives arising from this years primary turnout.

The smaller Libertarian and Green parties see a disgruntled electorate and appear to be organizing for the general elections to have enough votes to at least make a statement. Neither party considers a victory as a possibility, but they do see a disenchanted electorate who may listen to their appeals.

The increases in the Democratic vote appear to be attributed to new, first-time voters in big urban counties such as Bexar, Dallas, Travis, Harris and El Paso. Those in the Republican primary appear to come from the partys suburban strongholds of Collin and Denton counties in the north; Montgomery County, northeast of Harris County; and rural counties such as Potter, Randall, Lubbock and Midland in the west.

So, although the Republican base appears to have held during this years primary  substantiating that Texas remains a conservative state  the party was not exactly attractive to newer and younger voters.

This reflects the traditional urban-rural divide, with liberals commanding control of urban areas and Republicans controlling the rural and suburban areas.

Which party does this pattern benefit? That remains to be seen and is dependent on several factors.

Republicans might not be aware that their intransigence on issues important to younger generations has slowly created a deep backlash that may haunt them in 2020 and beyond. Or that President Donald Trumps unpopularity with the new generation of American voters may be slowly driving away individuals from their party, voters who had found the Republican Party platform attractive or new voters who had yet to decide their party preference.

For both parties, this election serves as a warning and an opportunity.

If Republicans do not heed the warning of what the new electorate is saying, they may end up on the ash heaps of history.

On the other hand, Democrats cannot waste this opportunity to organize and keep attracting new voters if they wish to turn the state blue.

Neither party can rest on its laurels or hopes. Both need to take the turnouts of this primary and work to build their advantage or momentum.

Conventional wisdom

Before drawing conclusions, lets look at what the conventional wisdom of political science says about primaries generally.

Under normal circumstances, only the party faithful participate in primaries, which may account for 60 percent of voters who cast all ballots. The average voter will not cast ballots until the general election in November.

Some politicos and political scientists will tell you there is no direct connection between the primaries and general elections for several reasons. General elections can become more heated because ideological differences and sharp differences on social issues drive turnout.

General election turnout is also driven by the electorate that did not participate in the primaries.

A new normal

It is estimated that Democratic Party turnout was the highest in years and was driven mostly by new, first-time voters. There is also some evidence that Republicans left their party and voted in the Democratic primary, not for mischievous reasons as in past primary elections, but out of frustration with Republican leaders not standing up to Trumps sometimes contentious agenda and his machinations.

Some Republicans saw a need for change that their partys leadership was not providing. Still, they renominated all executive branch officers, such as Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the attorney general and land and agriculture commissioners.

This maintenance of the status quo is not lost on observers and the public.

The Democratic Party, on the other hand, is seeing an influx of new voters who represent an opportunity for future gains. Although many new voters will become eligible between now and Novembers general election, they will not vote as a bloc for Democratic candidates in the fall and may not be enough to turn the state purple, let alone blue. This goal may be many years in the making, requiring long-term commitment and hard work.

So, the new normal is not new after all. Primary turnout numbers reveal that, for the time being, things should not change too dramatically when it comes to the general election unless one of the parties forgets to work its base.

What was important?

Several implications jump out about the primary turnout figures.

First, Texas is still a red state, given that Republicans, regardless of higher Democratic turnout, still outvoted Democrats across the state.

Some traditional Republican voters may have stayed home because, frankly, there were not many exciting races statewide to draw them to the polls.

Second, highest Republican turnout, as I pointed out earlier, was in the traditional suburban strongholds on the outskirts of big cities, in West Texas and in rural counties  the same as always.

As for Democrats, they are drawing the new voters to their side of the aisle. If the Democrats can keep them engaged and continue to generate the interests of future generations of voters, they have the possibility of turning the state purple and maybe blue.

Still, I see this possibility as one that may begin in 2020 rather than 2018.

A second observation that jumped out of the data was that Democrats took this opportunity to clean out some of the deadwood from among their elected officials. One of these was Nico LaHood, the incumbent district attorney for Bexar County.

In this regard, it appears that the Democratic electorate wants more responsiveness from its politicians.

Who knows? Perhaps this frustration with the status quo, together with the influx of new voters disappointed with the Republican Partys turn toward Trumpism, may begin the process of turning Texas purple sooner than I think.I sit alone in a small cafe in South Texas. The small-town country people stroll in for their morning coffee, breakfast and local gossip.

I just listen, as I have done many times throughout my travels.

The news on the TV is buzzing of another tragic death of an illegal alien.

Another illegal alien was found in the desert today, dead from apparent heat stroke and dehydration. It appears he crossed over from the Mexican border, says the newsperson.

The locals start to opine with the ignorance that has permeated the country, empowered by the rhetoric and tweets of a man who claims to be presidential.

Damn illegals, how stupid can they be? Shit, every day its all over the news, how they die out there. Boy, theyre beyond stupid.

Others continue with the same bigoted, racist comments.

Im done listening. The look of disgust fills my face as I look at all of them and start to walk out.

Whats with you, you act as if he was your brother.

I turn and say, He was.

You fools, you sit here acting as if youre better. Have you even bothered to look at my brother back in the kitchen, who prepares your coffee and breakfast. For some of you he also prepares your lunch and dinner. The stupid one is the one who did not see my brother washing your dirty dishes and sweeping and mopping the filth you leave behind. Stupid is the one who does not know that most of the food you eat here, at home and buy in the grocery stores was planted, pruned and harvested by my brother and sister.

It is my brother who has slaughtered the beef, pork and poultry you enjoy, and he does so in the filthiest conditions that you would never dare to be in. It is my sister who cleans your house, washes your dirty clothes and takes care of your children. It is my brother out there in the 100-plus degree temperature cutting your grass, fixing your roof and repairing your roads.

Yes, he is my brother and I will cry for him.

Those who do not suffer will never truly understand.

As I drove away, I saw a group of Latino men, whose ages ranged from the late teens to their 60s. They were cutting and pruning trees at a nearby home.

I stopped and introduced myself, curious on how they were treated in this small town.

It was the elder of the group who spoke up, all in Spanish. His words have given me passion to fight even harder for my brothers and sisters who remain undocumented in our country.

Senor, almost every day, they call us names and keep telling us were going to be deported. They keep telling us that when Trump builds his wall, we will never come back. They are both ignorant and stupid. Senor, in my home, El Salvador, where my wife and grandchildren live, they survive on the money we send, so they will not suffer. Do you have any idea what it is to have no food, no medicine or worse, no money to see a doctor when you need one? That is the daily suffering of the poor of my country. I will die before I let that happen to my family.

I say to Trump, build a corral, a cage and put animals in there, and give them no food, no water, no medicine nor anything to keep them alive. Build that fence as high and as strong as you want. Now put the food, the water and the medicine outside that wall, the cage or the corral and leave. When you return, those animals will be on the other side of your wall or they will die trying. That is us.

This is the greatest country in the world, and we know that. It has all the food, clean water and medicine to save our families. That is why we come and will always come. The wall, build it and we will still come, to save our families, even if we die trying. We have no choice as we will die a slow suffering death if we do not try, and so will my wife and grandchildren.

No, senor, we do not fear death, we fear the suffering of those we love, just like you.

Many do not understand the passion of the undocumented, because they have never been without the necessities to survive. They have never been hungry.

Passion is being the son of a mother who at 14 years  a child  left her own mother and siblings in a small mountain village in the state of Jalisco, Mexico, to travel north, to the land of milk and honey.

Passion is knowing she had no choice, because her father has died, and Mommy cannot feed everyone and needs help with money.

Passion is traveling alone, scared of what may happen, not knowing whether you will live or die, not knowing if you will ever marry and have children of your own, and your worst fear  will you make it to Los Estados Unidos and find work to send money to Mommy?

The ultimate fear was the swim across el Rio Bravo (the Rio Grande), with its deep and treacherous water. She was only a child.

It did not matter, she had to try.

Build your wall if you wish. We will come or die in the process. We will have children and they will be doctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers, writers and laborers.

That is your fear.

We will never quit, we will fear no more.

My mother was not an alien, she is human  she is an American.

Yes, he is my brother, and I will cry for him.Longford is set to celebrate St Patricks Day in style and here are your parade times and details.



1pm: Longford town

READ MORE: Longford parade to rival best Ireland has to offer



2.30pm: Lanesboro/Ballyleague

READ MORE: La Fheile Padraig celebrations in Lanesboro and Ballyleague



3pm: Arva



4.30pm: Ballymahon

READ MORE: Superheroes of the Literary World the theme for Ballymahon parade



5pm: Rooskey



Very few countries celebrate national days with the same high profile as St Patrick's Day.

Indeed outside the Fourth of July it's hard to name any other country's national day without resorting to a search engine.

Considering the size of our small island, it is a true measure of the influence and import of the Irish worldwide.

St Patrick's Day represents both a celebration and an opportunity.

READ MORE: USA will toast Longford craft on St Patricks Day

An opportunity to promote the best of ourselves, and to promote a positive image on a national and local level.

Locally, it is heartening to see the many events scheduled for the day, and best wishes to the organisers of the Longford town, Lanesboro/Ballyleague, Ballymahon, Arva and Rooskey parades.

Sustaining a parade year after year requires a level of dedication and commitment which is not often appreciated by the public at large.

READ MORE: Craic agus Ceoil for IMNDA in Lanesboro

In reality, the task of organising all too often falls on the same small number of people every year. They deserve huge credit for the work and effort they put in.

And while there may be the TV distractions of the rugby Grand Slam battle and All-Ireland GAA Club Finals, the efforts of parade organisers deserve our full support. So get out on Saturday and enjoy your local parade.

Beannachtai na Feile Padraig oraibh! Bain craic agus sult as ar la iontach naisiunta.

READ MORE: 10 things you might not have known about St Patrick's DayChief financial officers polled in BDOs 2018 Tech Outlook Survey are more bullish about their fortunes this year, but that's not a big surprise.

According to the new report, 84% think their companys revenue will increase this year, and they anticipate a significant 12.2% hike. But as BDO points out, the 10 biggest U.S. tech firms expect aggregate sales of over $1 trillion this year, which is an indication of the work (and opportunity) tech marketers have done this year.

To amend the old saying, a gigantic tide raises all boats. With the economy in high gear, technology is cruising.

They also expect a strong year in tech mergers and acquisitions (72% expect an increase in activity) and 48% expect to be among the players, one way or the other  up from 31% in 2017.

advertisement advertisement

This year and next are going to be blockbuster years for U.S. tech IPOs, predicted Christopher Towers, national managing partner for BDOs Audit Quality and Professional practice, in the report. "While it might be unrealistic to hope for an IPO market as robust as the ones seen in 2014 or 2000, the overflowing pipeline of tech unicorns, combined with favorable market conditions, will be key ingredients in cultivating a plentiful harvest of public offerings."

Last year, CFOs polled predicted a 10% bump up in revenues, so this years survey is only slightly more bullish.

But what may be more revealing is that these CFOs are most concerned about domestic and global political uncertainty  35% say thats the biggest factor that could give the sector a headache. There are some indications that tech companies are increasingly aware of cyberterrorism as well.

The report reveals that 82% of the CFOs polled said their company employed new software security tools last year, 79% did a cybersecurity risk assessment, and 66% created a new response team for security breaches, among other safeguards.

They are also concerned about President Trumps Buy American and Hire American campaign executive order that demands new scrutiny of H-1B visa applications, and now, extends that to visa renewals.

These actions have dealt a significant blow to the tech community, which relies heavily on H-1B visa holders for tech talent, the report says. Fifty-one percent of the CFOs say recruiting and retaining workforce talent will be their companys biggest challenge in 2018.

A statistic from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services dramatically underscores the importance of foreign workers to the tech industry. Between 2007 and 2017, over 2 million H-1B applications were from foreign workers for jobs at computer-related firms, by far the highest number. (The next highest category, Architecture, Engineering and Surveying accounted for 323,226 applications.)

These financial officers agree the new tax law will have an effect on their business, and 43% say the impact will be significant. BDO, which provides assurance, tax, and advisory services for privates and public firms, reports in this survey that the tech industry was already paying far less than the old 35% tax rate. With the new rate at 21%, theyll still make out well but the change may not be that dramatic.by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, March 16, 2018

Google search results for Amazon pointed to a scam site for hours on Thursday, according to one report. Since then another series of ads took its place in some parts of the U.S.

One of the new ads suggests consumers find the best Easter deal with two-day free shipping.

The malicious ads appeared at the very top of the search results, reported ZDNet. Rather than sending the person clicking on the ad to Amazon, they were sent to a page telling the user to call a number for fear their computer was infected with malware.

Depending on the type of computer the person used, the page that linked to the ad looked like an official Apple or Windows support page.

advertisement advertisement

An analysis of the webpage's code showed that those who attempted to dismiss the popup box on the page would trigger the browser to expand to full-screen, giving the appearance of ransomware.

This is at least the second time in two years that Google has served up a malicious ad under Amazon's name, according to the report.

In February 2017, Google served an ad to anyone searching for the branded keyword "Amazon." Clicking on the advertisement redirected the searcher to a rogue site -- a page that looked like an official Microsoft support page.

Similar to the latest scam, the fake Windows support page also provided a phone number for those who feared their computer running Microsoft Windows was infected with malware.

The ads surfaced days after Google released its latest bad ad report estimating it removed 100 bad ads per second in 2017, more than 3.2 billion ads in 2017 that violated its advertising policies.by Sara Guaglione , March 16, 2018

Popular Science is extending its brand appeal with tours, kicking off "Popular Science Expeditions."

The Bonnier-owned science and technology magazine brand is partnering with experiential travel company smarTours to launch the new endeavor.

Exploring the world through the lens of discovery and adventure is a tenet of Popular Science, stated Editor in Chief Joe Brown. Partnering with smarTours allows us the opportunity to give our audience exclusive access to learn about and explore the world's most interesting cities, as well as specially curated science and technology experiences.

Popular Science's editorial staff curated each trip around a theme such as technology, nature and the environment, architecture and ancient culture.

advertisement advertisement

Popular Science Expeditions offers all-inclusive packages for the fall and winter of 2018, including a safari in South Africa, and exploring the cities of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, ancient culture in China and architecture and environment in Egypt.

Each trip lasts between nine and 14 days, and costs from $1,899 to $3,599.

A member of PopScis editorial team will join each expedition to help answer questions and offer insight to the group on the tour.

Publishers are increasingly looking to experiences and travel as an extension of their business.

We're 150 years old, and many of our readers have been with us all their lives. So when we're looking for a brand extension, we look for a way that trust can enhance an experience. There's none better than going to a foreign country, Brown told Publishers Daily.

Newsweek Media Group launched its own travel tours business last November, with 15 different all-inclusive trips and excursions, and accompanied by a Newsweek editor or journalist.

O, the Oprah Magazine partnered with cruise company Holland America Line to launch a cruise to Alaska in July 2017.

Popular Science was one of the magazines with the highest average monthly audience growth in 2017 compared to the year prior, with 25% monthly audience growth, according to the 360 Brand Audience Report from MPA  The Association of Magazine Media.It can be worrying when white spots appear on the nipples and the colored areas surrounding them, known as the areolas. Fortunately, white spots on the nipples and areolas are not a cause for concern on most occasions. White spots often result from a blocked nipple pore when someone is breast-feeding, or as a normal reaction to changing levels of hormones within the body. In this article, we look at the following possible causes of white spots on the nipples and areolas: pregnancy and hormone changes

blocked nipple pores and ducts

infections

rarer conditions We also look at symptoms, treatments, prevention, and when to see a doctor.

Pregnancy and hormone changes Share on Pinterest White spots on the nipple may become visible during pregnancy. Montgomery glands are the main white spots that become more visible due to pregnancy and hormone changes. Montgomery glands are present on both the nipple and the surrounding areola. They contain an oily substance that keeps the nipples soft and supple. Scientists also believe that the smell of this oily substance encourages young babies to feed and helps them to locate the nipple when they first start breast-feeding. Symptoms A change in the size and number of Montgomery glands visible on the nipple and areola is one of the earliest signs of pregnancy. This can occur even before morning sickness or other pregnancy signs. Montgomery glands can become filled with a waxy substance. The gland then resembles a pimple with a white or yellowish head. These spots are known as Montgomery tubercles. Women do not have to be pregnant or breast-feeding for this to occur. Other female hormone changes can cause the same response. The causes of female hormone changes include: the menstrual cycle

the contraceptive pill

the menopause

another disorder Treatment and prevention Montgomery tubercles are harmless, and no treatment is necessary when these change or increase in number. These spots should not be squeezed or popped as this can introduce infection. People should see a doctor if they are worried by the appearance of white spots on their nipples or they are not sure why they have appeared.

Blocked nipple pores and ducts Nipple pores are the openings of the nipple ducts that lead to the milk chambers in the breast where the female body stores breast milk. When someone is breast-feeding, nipple pores and ducts can sometimes get blocked with milk. Symptoms and treatments vary, depending on the length of time they remain blocked. Symptoms Share on Pinterest Any changes to the shape, color, or size of a nipple should be assessed by a doctor. Blocked pore When a nipple pore first becomes blocked, a white spot may appear on the nipple. This is also known as a bleb. Blocked pores can be painful but are usually cleared by suction during a babys next feed. Milk blister If skin grows over the opening of the blocked nipple pore, a milk blister can form. The area around the white spot often starts to become red and inflamed. Blocked duct When a nipple pore remains blocked, the milk duct leading from the milk chamber can also become blocked and inflamed. A lump and swelling often form under the blocked nipple pore. Pain levels increase and breast-feeding can become very uncomfortable. A blocked duct can lead to complications, such as mastitis and breast abscesses if it is not treated swiftly. Treatment A blocked nipple pore will often clear naturally during the next feed. When the nipple pore does not unblock on its own, the individual can take steps to help. These include: placing a warm compress on the breast and nipple before a feed

using a cold compress after feeding to reduce discomfort

taking a warm shower and gently rubbing the blocked nipple with a towel

massaging the breast and nipple, taking care, as they bruise easily

hand-expressing milk before the feed to soften the breast

directing the infant to feed from the affected breast first

positioning the babys lower jaw near to the lump caused by a blocked duct

using pain relief, such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen, to reduce discomfort When skin grows over the nipple pore and a milk blister forms, the above treatments may not always unblock the nipple pore. People should seek advice from a doctor or midwife if this happens. The pore may need to be reopened using a sterile needle to break through the skin. A person who does this should take great care, as they can introduce infection into the nipple and breast. Prevention Some simple steps can be taken to help prevent blocked nipple pores and ducts. These include: making sure each breast is emptied completely during feeding before swapping to the other breast

ensuring that the baby is latching on correctly

wearing a bra that fits correctly

avoiding underwired bras and tight-fitting straps

avoiding wearing tight clothes

positioning seat belts and baby carriers so that they do not restrict the breasts

altering the position of the baby on the breast each feed If blocked pores and ducts keep occurring, people should seek advice from someone with appropriate training who can check that the baby is positioned and latched on correctly. A person should seek medical advice if any of the following occur: their breast becomes red or inflamed

they feel unwell

they develop a high temperature

they are worried about symptoms they have In these instances, mastitis or an infection may be present.

Infections Share on Pinterest Those with weakened immune systems may be at risk of infection, which may cause white spots on the nipples. Less frequently, an infection causes white spots on the nipples. Infections may be due to a fungus, virus, or bacteria. Although anyone can develop an infection on the nipples, breast-feeding mothers and people with weakened immunity are most at risk. Infections of the nipples that can cause white spots include: thrush

herpes

subareolar abscesses Thrush Thrush is a fungal infection that is most common in the vagina. It is also known as a yeast infection. Newborn babies can develop thrush in the mouth and then infect the broken and cracked skin of their mothers nipples when breast-feeding. The symptoms of thrush are a white rash, followed by red, sore, and inflamed skin on the nipples. Herpes The herpes simplex virus causes herpes. Herpes is a sexually transmitted disease that the mother can pass from the birth canal to the newborns mouth and eyes. The newborn may then spread the virus to the mothers breasts. The symptoms of herpes are fluid-filled blisters that form scabs when they burst. Subareolar abscesses Subareolar abscesses are buildups of pus in the breast tissue that are caused by bacterial infections. They are not common and are often a result of poorly treated mastitis. These abscesses are not always linked with breast-feeding and can also be caused by bacteria that enter the breast tissue through a wound, such as acne or a nipple-piercing. The symptoms of a subareolar abscess are a painful lump with discolored and swollen skin. Treatment If someone thinks that they may have an infection of their nipples or breasts, they should seek medical advice from a doctor. Each infection requires different treatments. Thrush For yeast infections, mother and baby are treated with antifungal medication. Herpes Herpes can have serious consequences for the babys health, and so swift treatment is vital. A week of antiviral medication is usually given to both mother and baby. Subareolar abscesses Subareolar abscesses often require a course of antibiotics. Sometimes, if they do not heal, an operation to drain pus from the breast tissue or completely remove a duct is necessary.

Rare causes Additional causes of white spots on the nipples that are less common include: Vitiligo : An autoimmune disorder that destroys the bodys pigmented cells.

: An autoimmune disorder that destroys the bodys pigmented cells. Pagets disease: A very rare form of breast cancer, with symptoms similar to eczema, that starts in the areola and nipples.In this article, we look at reasons why one testicle may be bigger than the other. We discuss complications, treatments, and explain how to perform a testicular exam at home.

A difference in size is usually nothing to worry about, though it can occasionally indicate a problem. If a testicle is painful or changes shape, a person should see their doctor as soon as possible.

It is entirely normal for one testicle to be bigger than the other. Many people find that the right testicle is slightly larger and the left hangs lower.

Share on Pinterest It is common for one testicle to be bigger than the other without a serious cause.

There are several reasons why one testicle may be bigger. These include:

Epididymitis

The epididymis is a duct behind the testes. Epididymitis occurs when this duct becomes inflamed, usually as a result of infection. This condition can be a sign of the sexually transmitted infection (STI) chlamydia.

See a doctor if the following symptoms are present:

pain when urinating

discharge from the penis

inflammation in the testicle

Orchitis

Orchitis happens when an infection causes inflammation in the testicle. It may occur after a person catches the mumps virus.

If an individual experiences testicular pain and suspects that orchitis is the cause, they should see a doctor. This condition can damage the testicles.

Epididymal cyst

A cyst is a thin sac filled with fluid. Epididymal cysts may occur when there is excess fluid in the duct. They may also form while the epididymis is developing.

These cysts are harmless and usually painless. No treatment is necessary, and they will often go away on their own. If epididymal cysts cause discomfort, however, they can be surgically removed.

A hydrocele

A hydrocele refers to a sac that forms around the testicles and fills with fluid.

While it usually does not require treatment, a hydrocele can indicate inflammation, in which case a person should see a doctor.

A varicocele

When the veins within the scrotum become enlarged, this is called a varicocele.

It usually does not require treatment if there are no additional symptoms, but a varicocele can cause a low sperm count.

Testicular torsion

Testicular torsion occurs when the testicle rotates and the spermatic cord is twisted.

This can cause testicular pain that is severe and lasting. If this pain follows an injury, it may subside then suddenly return.

Testicular torsion is severe and should be treated as an emergency. The twisting of the cord can reduce or block blood flow to the testicle, and without treatment the testicle may need to be removed.

Testicular cancer

Cancerous cells can appear and multiply in the testicle. A doctor should investigate lumps or new growths in the area as soon as possible.

According to the American Cancer Society, testicular cancer is uncommon, developing in about 1 in 250 males. It is most prevalent in young and middle-aged men and can usually be treated successfully.Do you check Facebook hundreds of times per day? Do you like hitting Like more than you like speaking with live humans? Is Instagram more important to you than your mom? Read on to find out what this might say about your personality. Share on Pinterest Are you addicted to social media? In this hi-tech, pre-armageddon, screen-filled modern world, social media is all pervasive. It has sucked us in. It is the new God. We are now its slave. That might be over-egging things slightly, but for some people, social media has become a true addiction. So, how do you know if your social media habit has descended from a harmless pastime into a full-blown addiction? Well, if you lost your job because youre always perusing Instagram or you split up with your wife because you chose Facebook over her, thats a pretty good sign. All joking aside, social media addiction is a real thing, and it messes with peoples lives.

The dark side of tech Despite a meteoric rise in the dark side of information technology (IT), relatively little research has gone into IT addiction. Although personality traits are known to play important roles in other types of addiction, no one really knows which traits predict social media addiction. Recently, brave researchers from Binghamton University in New York took it upon themselves to lift the lid on this most modern affliction. There has been plenty of research on how the interaction of certain personality traits affects addiction to things like alcohol and drugs. We wanted to apply a similar framework to social networking addiction. Study leader Isaac Vaghefi To get some answers, Vaghefi  who is an assistant professor of information systems  teamed up with Hamed Qahri-Saremi, of DePaul University in Chicago, IL, and more than 300 college-age students got involved. The investigators probed the participants about their social media use, of course, but they also asked a barrage of other questions to get an insight into their personalities.

Personality model The research was based on the five-factor personality model. Its a framework that has been used liberally throughout psychology since the 1980s. The five traits that, in varying amounts, make up most human personalities are neuroticism, conscientiousness, agreeableness, extraversion, and openness to experience. So, the main thrust of the study was to figure out which (if any) of these personality traits means that you are more likely to find yourself detrimentally sucked into a social network addiction. The team found that three of the five traits  neuroticism, conscientiousness, and agreeableness  were particularly linked with social network addiction. But, this is psychology, and were talking about the human brain here, so its not a simple story. As Vaghefi notes, Its a complex and complicated topic. You cant have a simplistic approach. So, when they stuck their analytical fingers deeper into the figurative data pie, more complicated relationships were found. Their findings were presented at the 51st Hawaii International Conference on Systems Science, held in Waikoloa Village. What did they find? Firstly, neuroticism  which is how prone someone is to feeling anxious and stressed  increases the chances of being hooked on social media. Conscientiousness  those annoying people who can control their impulses and achieve their goals (Im so jealous of those folk)  decreased the chances of being an addict. So far, so simple, but heres where it gets a little stranger: a person can be both conscientiousness and neurotic, and, in those people, there is a power struggle. Like a fairytale gone wrong, evil conquers good: neuroticism overpowers conscientiousness. In other words, the baddies win and social media addiction is more likely to rear its head.Advertisement

Now an artificial intelligence learning system, presented at the European Association of Urology congress in Copenhagen, has shown similar levels of accuracy to a human pathologist. In addition, the software can accurately classify the level of malignancy of the cancer, so eliminating the variability which can creep into human diagnosis."This is not going to replace a human pathologist" said research leader Hongqian Guo (Nanjing, China), "We still need an experienced pathologist to take responsibility for the final diagnosis. What it will do is help pathologists make better, faster diagnosis, as well as eliminating the day-to-day variation in judgement which can creep into human evaluations".Prof. Guo's group took 918 prostate whole mount pathology section samples from 283 patients, and ran these through the analysis system, with the software gradually learning and improving diagnosis.These pathology images were subdivided into 40,000 smaller samples; 30,000 of these samples were used to 'train' the software, the remaining 10,000 were used to test accuracy, the results showed an accurate diagnosis in 99.38% of cases (using a human pathologist as a 'gold standard'), which is effectively as accurate as the human pathologist.They were also able to identify different Gleason Grades in the pathology sections using AI; ten whole mount prostate pathology sections have been tested so far, with similar Gleason Grade in the AI and human pathologist's diagnosis. The group has not started testing the system with human patients.Prof. Guo continued "The system was programmed to learn and gradually improve how it interpreted the samples. Our result show that the diagnosis the AI reported was at a level comparable to that of a pathologist. Furthermore, it could accurately classify the malignant levels of prostate cancer.Until now, automated systems have had limited clinical value, but we believe this is the first automated work to offer an accurate reporting and diagnosis of prostate cancer. In the short-term, this can offer a faster throughput, plus a greater consistency in cancer diagnosis from pathologist to pathologist, hospital to hospital, country to country.Artificial intelligence is advancing at an amazing rate - you only need to look at facial recognition on smartphones, or driverless cars. It is important that cancer detection and diagnosis takes advantage of these changes".Commenting, Professor Rodolfo Montironi (Professor of Pathology, Polytechnic University of the Marche, Ancona, Italy) said:"This is interesting work which shows how artificial intelligence will increasingly step into clinical practice. This may be very useful in some areas where there is a lack of trained pathologists. Like all automation, this will lead to a lesser reliance on human expertise, but we need to ensure that the final decisions on treatment stay with a trained pathologist.The really important thing though, is that we ensure the highest standard of patient care. The future will be interesting". Professor Montironi was not involved in this work - this is an independent comment.The software was developed in conjunction with Nanjing Innovative Data Technologies, Inc (they were not involved in funding this work, see notes for funding details). The newness of the system means that there is no information yet on costs or on implementation.The authors note some limitations to the work. There were more samples of Gleason Grade 3 and 4 than other grade, which maybe influence the AI calculation to some extent. They are also looking for suitably objective standards to allow direct comparison of Gleason Grade with the AI.Source: EurekalertAdvertisement

Ideally an ICU must have a full-time director or in charge, with full-time appointment or at least dedicates 30%- 50% of the professional time in ICU.

Senior accredited specialist in intensive care medicine with Postgraduate degree (PG) or equivalent degree in anesthesiology or internal medicine or surgery or critical care medicine. He should have formal education/ training and experience in intensive care medicine with preferably 5 - 7 years (full time) work experience in intensive/ critical care medicine. Available upon request on notice in the hospital during "off-duty hours.

Should possess MCI (Medical Council of India) recognized postgraduate degree in (PG) or equivalent degree in Anesthesia, Medicine or Surgery or Physicians qualified in intensive care medicine.

Should have minimum three years experience after post-graduation of which 3-6 months experience in intensive/ critical care medicine (One with teaching experience in critical care medicine is preferred.

A minimum of two resident doctors must be on duty in an ICU, and they must be on duty for 24 hours x 7 days.

One of the resident doctors must be a postgraduate in anesthesia or medicine or surgery with a minimum of 3 months (preferably six months) full time working experience in ICU. The other resident doctor can be a trainee (Academic or fellow trainees after one year of training in their primary specialty and within the frame of their specialty, work in an ICU under clearly defined supervision).

One resident doctor to take care of not more than five patients.

Critical care medicine is a highly specialized field that requires skills to diagnose and manage life-threatening conditions in patients who may be already severely ill.Minimum standards for ICUs to be adopted throughout the country have been suggested by a committee in 2012 under the chairmanship of Prof MK Arora, Dept. of Anesthesiology at AIIMS, New Delhi as below.Any doctor who employs an Ayush practitioner as an assistant is responsible for his/her actions. This has been clearly stated in Regulation 7.18 of MCI Code of Ethics "In the case of running of a nursing home by a physician and employing assistants to help him/her, the ultimate responsibility rests on the physician."While 7.18 does not "restrict the proper training and instruction of bonafide students, midwives, dispensers, surgical attendants, or skilled mechanical and technical assistance and therapy assistants under the personal supervision of physicians," it does not allow issuing directions to Ayush doctors about patient care in ICUs during rounds or otherwise. This would amount to the training of training of Ayush doctors in critical medicine and violates the provisions of Regulation 7.10, which says, "A registered medical practitioner shall not issue certificates of efficiency in modern medicine to unqualified or non-medical person."Employing Ayush doctors to take care of patients in ICUs amounts to fraud, cheating, and impersonification on the part of hospital owners (non-doctors), medical superintendent of that hospital including other doctors if they are aware that Ayush doctors have been employed.Moreover, this does not have the consent of the patients.All doctors who assign them duties including those who interview Ayush doctors to hire them in their hospitals are also liable for professional misconduct.As per Regulation 1.6 Highest Quality Assurance in patient care: "Every physician should aid in safeguarding the profession against admission to it of those who are deficient in moral character or education. A physician shall not employ in connection with his professional practice any attendant who is neither registered nor enlisted under the Medical Acts in force and shall not permit such persons to attend, treat or perform operations upon patients wherever professional discretion or skill is required".As doctors, patient safety and care is our first and foremost concern.Insurance companies pay double the amount for ICU beds. ICU admission in some corporate hospitals costs up to one lac a day. There is no way one can justify non-MBBS doctors or nonqualified nurses in ICUs.The Govt., Medical Associations, and Regulators should take suo moto cognizance of this report and take appropriate action.Source: EurekalertAdvertisement

Blood glucose levels correlate with the level of diabetic symptoms. When very high blood glucose levels are lowered using drugs , the rate of infarctions and strokes as well as blood flow problems decrease in parallel."But this holds true only up to a certain point," said Peter Nawroth, Medical Director of the Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism at Heidelberg University Hospital. "Large clinical trials in recent years have shown:Even when blood sugar could be lowered by drugs below the diabetes threshold value, many patients nevertheless developed typical diabetic damage to nerves and kidneys. This suggests that type 2 diabetes might in fact have molecular causes that are independent of insulin and glucose."Peter Nawroth and Aurelio Teleman, who leads the Division of Signal Transduction in Cancer and Metabolism at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg, knew that in type 2 diabetics, high levels of a glucose metabolite called methylglyoxal (MG) have been observed.Medics have thought so far that this is an effect of elevated blood glucose levels. Since MG can cause damage to proteins, textbook knowledge consequently holds that it must be one of the culprits in causing typical diabetic damage. However, in light of their recent results, metabolism experts Teleman and Nawroth have now doubted this sequence of events.When rats are given MG with their food, they develop many typical signs of diabetes, including insulin resistance. The Heidelberg researchers planned to investigate the effects of long-term elevated MG concentrations on the organism. They chose fruit flies as a model for this purpose."Flies and humans are not very closely related. However, since energy metabolism developed very early on in evolution, results are nevertheless meaningful and can usually be translated to mammals and humans," said Teleman.Using genetic engineering, the researchers turned off the enzyme that breaks down MG in flies. The glucose metabolite MG subsequently accumulated in their bodies. The flies soon developed insulin resistance. Later, they became obese and at higher age their glucose levels also became disrupted."It appears to be sufficient to increase the MG level to trigger insulin resistance and typical diabetic metabolic disturbances," Teleman resumes. "This is clear evidence that MG is not the consequence but rather the cause of type 2 diabetes."This observation, in turn, raises the question about what might cause an elevated MG level. For example, obese people who are not diabetic also display elevated MG levels. "Why this is so, we don't know. This is an important aspect of our future research," said Nawroth. Teleman adds:"Production as well as decomposition of MG is influenced by numerous metabolic processes which we do not know yet and have to understand better. And we also urgently plan to study in mice which clinical symptoms long-term elevated MG levels cause in mammals."Source: EurekalertHumans who have to travel all over the world face different climatic change, thus prompting the spread of disease-bearing insects to wider parts of the world. The research was conducted by the European Commission Joint Research Centre.



This means that more humans are exposed to viral infections such as Dengue fever, Chikungunya, Zika, West Nile fever, Yellow fever and Tick-borne encephalitis .

Advertisement

Global warming has increased the spread of many diseases through the increase in populations of mosquitoes, ticks and other disease-bearing insects. Advertisement

The Secretary who is also heading the Executive Committee - the apex body for all nutrition related activities under the Poshan Abhiyaan, held the first meeting earlier this week.According to the WCD Ministry, for the financial year 2017-18, 315 districts have been identified."Out of 315 districts, we will begin the scheme in 115 aspirational districts who have scored poor in terms of health sector. However, no particular states have been focused for the scheme, it is a pan India problem," he added.Funds amounting to Rs 9,046.17 crore were allocated in this year's budget and the secretary mentioned that for the first phase Rs 1,500 crore has been finalised.The Poshan Abhiyaan was launched earlier in March from Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan on International Women's Day by Prime Minister Narendra Modi."For NNM, the Health Ministry will also be closely working with the WCD Ministry which will be rolling out certain health measures like Pneumococcal vaccination and Rotavirus vaccination , first in the 115 districts and later across the country," the secretary said.Source: IANSMost of us aim to get a swashbuckling body but often fail to achieve that. That can be pretty demoralising but then we see actors like Akshay Kumar, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor sharing a picture of their incredible toned bod, we can't help but just wish if only we could get that look.

These actors are not just doing exceptionally well in their field but also have worked really hard to stay fit and healthy. Spending dedicated hours in the gym, sweating it out is part of their daily routine that they religiously follow. While most of us drool over their body, to get that, you need to slog as well. Because getting an incredible bod requires a massive amount of work.

Well, until the time you decide if you are ready for some hard work, tell us which actor's chiseled six-pack abs impress you the most and why.

Akshay Kumar

(c) Instagram

Known for his perfect routine, there is no one in the industry who can be as strict and dedicated as Akshay Kumar. From gymming to yoga to martial arts, he does it all and that's how he looks stunningly handsome and can give any actor a run for their money.

Shahid Kapoor

(c) Instagram

His Instagram is no less than a visual treat. Like just look at the man, Shahid can make any man go green with envy. He knows he has good looks and a great looking bod that just got better with his last film 'Padmaavat' and hence, he flaunts it proudly.

Tiger Shroff

(c) Instagram

If you have a body like Tiger Shroff, trust us you are bound to get all the attraction in the world. From being well-trained in martial arts to being a fitness freak, Tiger is all about being perfect, perfect and more perfect!

Ranveer Singh

(c) Twitter

He is versatile and over the years, Ranveer has proved that acting is his first love. But then he is a lot more than that. He is uber fun and someone who can make you his fan. When it comes to getting into the character he can go to any lengths. This list couldn't be complete without him; after all, he is one of those few actors with washboard abs who look damn sexy while flaunting it.

Salman Khan

(c) Twitter

Bhaijaan is the ultimate heartthrob and the OG of bodybuilding in Indian cinema. When Salman Khan comes on screen, everyone goes crazy and when he bares it all, you are bound to think about nothing but his toned body.

Farhan Akhtar

(c) Instagram

He is smart, hot, sexy, dashing and more. Actor/Director Farhan Akhtar is an all-rounder. Known for his fitness regime ever since 'Bhaag Milkha Bhaag', the actor just can't stop working out. When not on the set, the actor is mostly busy toning his body and that's something that one hell of a thing to do.

Varun Dhawan

(c) Twitter

Following Salman Khan and Govinda's footsteps, Varun Dhawan is the perfect example of an entertaining actor. He is one of those actors who hasn't given a flop yet, and when he removes his shirt, people (especially women) go bonkers in the theatres.

Hrithik Roshan

(c) Twitter

Known as the Greek God of Bollywood, Hrithik Roshan has been famous for stealing hearts since the time of his debut. Broad biceps, six pack abs and sexy dance moves, what else do you need?

John Abraham

(c) Twitter

He started his career as a model and soon made his appearance on the big screen, impressing everyone with his ripped body.

Vidyut Jamwal

(c) Twitter

The martial arts man of tinsel town, Vidyut Jamwal has a body that can make anyone go green with envy. He is an obsessed with working out and follows a strict regimen to maintain that physique. He is an actor who loves doing his own stunts as well.

Karan Singh Grover

(c) Facebook

He rose to fame from television and girls love drooling over his bod, but Karan Singh Grover belongs to Bipasha Basu. And now both have established the fact that a couple who spend time together in the gym are meant to be together for a lifetime.

Arjun Rampal

(c) Twitter

Model turned actor Arjun Rampal is one of the sexiest actors in Bollywood with a toned and stylish body. Even at his ripe age, his fitness is an inspiration to most of us.Possibly the only thing that hurts more than your crush rejecting you is a job rejection. Especially for a person who has big dreams and has just graduated from college. Being a fresher in any industry and getting people to trust your capability to give you a job is not an easy task.

But what if another factor is added to this equation, say being visually impaired. Well, a Jaipur-based lad faced the same issue but you know how he overcame it- by starting his own company so that he can create jobs for others.

 Facebook

Prateek Agarwal was an excellent student throughout his education and graduated among the top three students in computer science from NIIT University in Neemrana. But every time he sat for campus recruitment, he was rejected due to him being visually impaired.

 Facebook

In an interview to The Times of India, he revealed his story, "Every time I sat for campus recruitment, I was among the top performers. I would score well in the aptitude test, reasoning, group discussions and was actively participating in the activities. But when it came to the final round, the HR team of those companies would say I was an inspiration and they were extremely moved by my talent. But at the end, they would say they cannot hire a blind student.

For a person who is superbly talented, the fact that he got rejected only because of something he has no control over was enough to break him down. This happened so many times, over and again and then I started to feel devastated. I used to cry and ask myself what more can I do to get a job and what is more there in my hand to do, Prateek added.

After facing rejection over and over again, people around him used to 'suggest' that he should try his hand at singing. Why? Because blind people are thought to be best suited to pursuing such careers.

However, Prateek was not a person who would back down easily. He decided to move on from these discouraging incidents and start his own company called 'Daedal Technovations' while in the final year of his engineering.

 Times of India

But of course, that wasn't an easy feat again because people would not trust a blind man with their work. Talking about his struggles he said, Initially, I had no clients. I used to go shop to shop in the hot summer approaching local businesses asking them if they have any software requirements. At that time the businesses were getting digital in areas like invoicing, stock and HR management. Sometimes, I would call up people and have three or four rounds of discussions about their requirements. But finally, when I would meet them, they would feel flummoxed. Are you the same guy who was talking over the phone? They would ask me. Eventually, they would say they cannot give the project to a blind man.

Eventually, he managed to get some contracts but those were not enough for him to grow as an entrepreneur. He realised that he needs to look for opportunities online. And guess what? That realisation worked wonders for him.

 Times of India

He now has clients across the world, over 40 employees and has expanded his business too with some solid plans for the future, Right now over 95% of my clients are online spread over many countries in the world like the US, UK, Australia, Germany, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia etc. Our range of services expanded over the years covering software application with expertise in B2B segment, digital marketing, social media, search engine marketing, project, and security consultancy. We also provide online training for some complex technologies. Currently, we are working on technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence and machine learning, robotics and cryptocurrency, added Prateek.

 Daedal Technovations

Throughout his life, Prateek was ridiculed and brought down by people because of his disability. However, constant support from his family and some excellent teachers during his school days helped him become confident about his skills and made him who he is today. Not only is he a successful entrepreneur now, he also provides personality and life skills training to corporate and individuals. Apart from that, he has taken up social causes and also teaches computer skills to visually-challenged people.

You can listen to his incredible story in his own words in this video:Much has been speculated about the disappearance of Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. The aviation pioneer who has set one a journey to fly across the globe had disappeared over the Pacific Ocean in 1937. Her or her plane's remains had not been found and a number of urban myths have taken birth ever since.

 Twitter_ Chris Moore

Besides the obvious crash and sink theory, it was proposed that she could have landed on a tiny island in the middle of the Pacific, and ended up as a castaway. The more outrageous theories suggested that she, along with her navigator Fred Noonan, was captured and killed by Japanese forces after her aircraft crashed in an area under the Japanese South Pacific Mandate. There have been various claims supporting the truth of this theory, but none have been proven to be authentic. A TV series titled 'Unsolved Mysteries' aired a clipping of a Saipanese woman who claimed she had witnessed Amelia Earhart being executed by the Japanese.

 Wikimedia Commons

Earhart was flying from Lae Airfield in Papua New Guinea to a small island called Howland Island, where her aircraft was supposed to be re-fuelled, a trip that covered over 4,100 kms. They had only enough fuel for the plane to reach Howland Island, but the plane never reached Howland. It is believed they ran out of fuel and crashed either into the sea or onto another island nearby, probably Gardner Island, also called Nikumaroro.

 Wikipedia

The story of her disappearance and the theories surrounding it have almost become an urban legend today. Turns out there is finally a conclusive explanation to her disappearance now. A recent study has claimed that the bones found on Nikumaroro Island indeed belonged to Earhart.

The bones, along with a human skull, had been found by a British expedition while exploring the island. The group also found a bottle of Benedictine, a herbal liqueur, and a box used to carry a Brandis Navy Surveying Sextant. The bones were carried to Fiji where they were analysed upon by Dr. D. W. Hoodless of the Central Medical School, and it was concluded that they probably belonged to a male. The enigma of Earhart's disappearance continued to stay alive after that.

Debunking the earlier theory, the latest study on the Nikumaroro bones by University of Tennessee professor Richard Jantz now claims that the bones could in all probability be that of Amelia Earhart. Talking about the earlier study, Jantz explains how forensic science has advanced since then and has better tools and techniques today. In his study, Jantz analysed her bones taking measurements from her height, weight, body build and other statistics derived from her pilot's and driver's license.

After almost 80 years since she disappeared, the mystery behind the crash is finally coming to a conclusive end.This is because the Philippines could reduce its reliance on imports, which would result in seaborne cargoes being diverted elsewhere in the region.



Major Philippine rebar producer SteelAsia Manufacturing Corp plans to increase its capacity to 6 million tonnes per year within six years, sources with knowledge of the matter said.



It plans to sink 80 billion pesos ($1.5 billion) into three greenfield plants to produce steel products that the country is not self-sufficient in, including wire rod, steel bar and section.



They consist of a 1.2-million-tpy wire rod and rebar mill in Concepcion, Tarlac, an 800,000-tpy wire rod and rebar mill in Compostela, Cebu, and a 500,000-tpy mill in Lemery, Batangas, which will produce beam, sheet pile and angle.



The companys aim is to ensure the Philippine steel market is self-sufficient for long steel and replace the imports that have been coming in all these years, a source close to the matter said.



SteelAsia expects the three new plants to come on stream by 2020.



The Philippines is a major importer of wire rod, with China-origin products being shipped there regularly. It imported 821,789 tonnes of wire rod in 2016, having increased steadily from 336,923 tonnes in 2012, according to statistics from the South East Asia Iron & Steel Institute (Seaisi).



Anfeng Iron & Steel, Beitai Iron & Steel and Yingkou Iron & Steel are among the major Chinese suppliers of wire rod to the Philippines. There, the product is used to produce construction materials such as wire mesh and nails, as well as welding rods and wire screens.



The trading of wire rod export cargoes will be more difficult to do in the future if the new mills really start up. Export volumes from China may drop by a large percentage, a Chinese export trader said.



The Philippines imported 769,509 tonnes of wire rod from China in 2016 and 698,690 tonnes in 2017, according to data from Metal Bulletin Research.



More supply will be diverted to other buyers in Asia and beyond once the Philippines is no longer a major importer.



Cargoes will have to be sent to South Korea, Myanmar and Vietnam, or even South Africa, a second Chinese trader said.



Increased billet demand

The start-up of SteelAsias new facilities could lead to an increase in billet imports to the Philippines, traders in Southeast Asia said.



SteelAsia is already a regular importer of billet, since it has re-rolling facilities throughout the Philippines. Among them are a 550,000-tpy rebar rolling mill in Meycauayan, a 500,000-tpy integrated rebar mill in Calaca, a 500,000-tpy rebar mill in Davao, a 250,000-tpy rebar mill in Villanueva and a 300,000-tpy rebar mill in Carcar.



Any increase in billet demand in the Philippines will depend on whether SteelAsias new mills are integrated with electric-arc furnaces, and if so, how much additional meltshop capacity is set to come online, a trader in the archipelago said.



These new investments seem to be incorporating their own meltshops. SteelAsia currently has one EAF at their plant in Batangas, but it has very limited capacity of only 300,000 tpy, the trader said.



A trader in Singapore expects billet demand to remain stable or even increase until SteelAsia starts up its integrated meltshops at its new wire rod facilities.



Build, build, build

Whether the Philippines can consume all of the new long steel it produces will depend heavily on the growth in the countrys infrastructure, building and construction sectors.



Steel demand in the Philippines increased by 9.8% in the first half of 2017 in comparison with a year earlier even as domestic steel production dropped 7% year on year. Imports increased by 26.8% on the year in the meantime, according to Seaisi data.



Infrastructural demand from government spending makes up only a small part of steel consumption. Most of the demand will come from private-sector housing, retail malls, high-rise apartments and office buildings, an industry source in the Philippines said.



Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has unveiled an ambitious $180-billion Build, build, build program to drive the countrys economy in the medium, which is expected to boost demand for steel and construction materials between now and 2022.



Projects associated with the program include 2,567 km of roads in the Mindanao Logistics Infrastructure Network, up to 42 bridges in the Metro Manila Logistics Improvement Project, as well as up to 1,040 km of highways in the Luzon Spine Expressway Network.



Meet Metal Bulletins Asia steel editor, Paul Lim, and China steel analysts Jessica Zong and Gladdy Chu at the 16th International Steel Market & Trade Conference in Xi'an, China, on March 29-30. Paul will be presenting on Increasing trading margins and reducing spot price risks in volatile global markets at the conference. Connect with us on WeChat using the ID: metalbulletin.Thank you for subscribing!

By signing up to this free newsletter you agree to receive occasional emails from us informing you about our products and services. You can opt out of these emails at any time.BAD AXE -- The Ubly Agri Science is sponsoring a scrapbooking fundraising event next month.

The event will run from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday, April 7 at the Huron County Expo Center in Bad Axe.

Cost is only $30 per person, lunch and dinner is provided and there will also be a 50/50, garage sale and raffle. RSVP by March 30 by calling Tammy Messing at 989-551-5655.

Scrap for Disney will help the students with the expenses for their trip to Disney. They will be able to view behind the scenes attractions including ecosystems, zoology, horticulture and much more. Not a Scrapbooker? Bring your craft project, sewing machine, etc. and enjoy the ladies day out.TV anchors are the celebrities of the news business, and as celebrities do, they take home some big paychecks.

Moneyinc.com recently ranked the richest TV anchors by net-worth and two of Connecticut's most famous made the top 10.

Click through the slideshow above to see the top 10 richest TV news anchors. Visit Moneyinc.com for the full list.

Matt Lauer whountil November 2017hosted the Today Show on NBC, came in at number four on the list with a net-worth of $60M. This was prior to the sexual misconduct allegations that led to his firing.

In late November 2017, allegations against Lauer came out claiming that Lauer once gave a colleague a sex toy, and berated another who refused to have sex with him after he showed her his penis.It was also reported that Lauer had a device with which he could lock his office door without leaving his desk.

Friends of Matt Lauer from Greenwich were shocked, saddened and puzzled after learning the longtime "Today" show host was fired for "inappropriate sexual behavior."

Those who've known Lauer, who graduated from Greenwich High School in 1975, said the alleged activity that got him fired from NBC was jarringly at odds with the man they know. Some friends said they would support him.

New Canaan resident Brian Williams also made the list at number six with a net-worth of $40M.

In 2015, NBC suspended Williams as anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News for six months without pay for saying he was aboard a Chinook military helicopter when it was struck by a hostile grenade over the desert outside Baghdad in 2003. After veterans began to question Williams' account and the story gained momentum, the newsman came forward and acknowledged another helicopter had been struck, and apologized for misleading the public.

Coming at number 17 and 14 on the top 20 were New Canaan's Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC's "Morning Joe" and Darien's Scott Pelley, longtime anchor for CBS News and corespondent on "60 Minutes."NORWALK  On his way back from showing his wares to a medical marijuana dispensary in Bethel, Will Bosch of Norwalk stopped at Cafe Dolce and ordered a cup of espresso.

Bosch is a self-described snob about both his weed and his coffee, and his company, Topstone Projects, makes countertop vapes for the same type of people who would want a high-end cappuccino machine for their home  those willing to shell out for the best possible experience who are not concerned about portability. The contraption, made of stainless steel and leather, with a glass chamber for cannabis concentrate and a bocote wood mouthpiece, resembles a one-note flute from the future.

Its certainly a conversation starter.

Is that pot? asked Mari Gyorgyey, who happened to be sitting at a nearby table.

Its cannabis, Bosch responded, using the scientific term. He was first prescribed medical marijuana in 2015, during a series of health troubles that ended his career as a professional cyclist.

She peered at the device and mused about the future of weed in the state.

I never thought Id see this in Connecticut, she said.

Conversations about marijuana are cropping up everywhere in Norwalk, from people with widely differing perspectives.

After it became possible for dispensaries to open in Norwalk, Planning and Zoning has received many inquiries from potential medical marijuana facilities. So far, those inquiries have yet to translate into any applications.

However, the areas marijuana landscape will likely change within months. The state Department of Consumer Protection is currently accepting applications for the next batch of medical marijuana facilities, and individuals from both Stamford and Westport have confirmed their interest in applying. And bills that could legalize recreational marijuana are currently wending their way through the state legislature, with one receiving a public hearing on Thursday and another public hearing this coming Monday.

A chance to heal

This week, advocates both for and against legalizing recreational marijuana have been organizing to make their opinions heard.

Kebra Smith-Bolden put on a chartreuse sweater, pinned an artificial weed leaf above her heart and drove down to the state Capitol Thursday morning.

Smith-Bolden, a registered nurse, was inspired by her grandmothers experience with medical marijuana to enroll in the Northeastern Institute of Cannabis to learn more  two of her teachers later became part of the Massachusetts Cannabis Advisory Board and Cannabis Control Commission when the drug was legalized in that state. She now runs her own center for medical marijuana evaluations and certifications in New Haven called CannaHealth, where she said she sees the prevalence of PTSD in the minority community  people struggling with the deaths of friends and family or born to drug-addicted parents.

At the hearing, she urged public officials to consider how to make new laws help those communities that have struggled with drugs and drug regulation. I know first-hand the effect the war on drugs has had on communities of color  on my communities, she said. I know the names and faces of young people that have been lost either to addiction, violence or the effects of poverty  i.e. the lack of access to quality care. Therefore, as a restorative justice measure, I believe its critical that whatever adult-use program is enacted in this state by a fair and equitable one  meaning that regulations are structured to allow people from a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds to open businesses.

After promising state Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, a list of the cities most impacted by the war on drugs, Smith-Bolden left Hartford feeling hopeful. The way theyre talking about cannabis this time, theyre asking more questions and seem to be more willing to problem-solve, she said. This might be our year.

Thinking of the children

However, others are putting time into organizing against the bills.

Connecticut SAM (Smart Approaches to Marijuana) also urged people to attend the public hearing  but to speak against legalizing marijuana. Spokesperson Bo Huhn steered the conversation away from adult use of cannabis to the trickle-down effect it will have on children who will have greater access to a drug with lessened stigma.

Our focus really is on kids. If you step back 10 paces and look at it, we have just a horrendous problem of drug use in our society, he said. And its not just people dying of overdoses with opiates, but the number of people who start down quite an innocent path of partying as teenagers. And most kids do just fine  they party with alcohol and come out the other end no problem. But theres a certain percentage that do get addicted. And a certain percentage of those kids get involved in even more destructive drugs and get demolished.

Huhn is passionate about the issue because he has seen the impact that drugs can have on children and families. When his daughter was a high school sophomore, she became addicted to crack cocaine and had to fight her way clean. The experience is part of what motivates him to be a vocal advocate against marijuana  he points to Yale professor Deepak Dsouzas research on the negative risks of repeated exposure to the drug, especially for adolescents.

Huhn believes that many have accepted that a small percentage of people will live haunted by encounters with addiction. But those of us who have become activists about this believe thats something we dont have to do, he said. We can change the culture.

A tool against opioids?

On Wednesday evening, Sam Tracy, director of the Connecticut Coalition to Regulate Marijuana, spoke to Democracy for Connecticut in Norwalks Silver Star Diner. He listed reasons for legalizing marijuana  safer supply chain, higher tax revenue, the ability to use it for more medical conditions  to an audience already largely in support of what he was selling.

But one person who had entered the room on the fence about legalization said he changed his stance after hearing that medical marijuana cannot be prescribed for chronic pain in Connecticut.

I did not realize that chronic pain was not on the list of medical conditions, David Stevenson of Danbury said. That, to me, thats the most important point about this. If thats a trade-off of legalizing it, Im all in favor.

Whether or not marijuana could be a tool in Connecticuts fight against opioids by providing doctors an alternative, less addictive prescription for chronic pain has drawn some debate.

Ginger Katz, whose son died of an opioid overdose, does not believe medical marijuana is an effective solution.

Be careful. Beware. Beware of what theyre telling you, she said. Since her sons death, she has started a nonprofit, The Courage to Speak Foundation, which provides drug prevention trainings, and she is wary of anything that would make children believe that marijuana is healthy. Do your research. It hasnt been proven yet.

But for Huhn, it was a difficult question. Now if someones in a really awful situation with chronic pain who is facing a lifetime on opiates, Id think no harm done taking marijuana instead of opiates, he said. But if its a minor pain, Id be wary of taking marijuana -- I dont know ... Pain is such an easy thing to go into a doctor for. I think theres probably abuse of it in states that have it as a condition where its authorized.

Expanded access to medical marijuana

Whether or not recreational marijuana is approved, medical dispensaries are still likely to expand, especially in Fairfield County.

Multiple businesses in Westport and Stamford have indicated their interest in applying for dispensary licenses by the April 9 deadline. There are currently nine dispensaries in the state, and Department of Consumer Protection spokesperson Lora Rae Anderson confirmed that between three and 10 licenses will be awarded to new dispensaries this year  meaning that the number could more than double in a number of months.

And whatever action the state takes on either recreational or medical marijuana, there are some things outside its control. Recreational marijuana is expected to be available in Massachusetts starting July 1, and its only to be expected that some will seep across the border, especially since the drug has been decriminalized.

At Cafe Dolce, Gyorgey told Bosch that she believed that the tide had turned in favor of weed. She had just returned from a trip to Portland, Oregon, where recreational marijuana has been legal since 2015. For her, it was only a matter of time  one anticipated enthusiastically by some, apprehensively by others.

Its a generational thing, she said simply, nodding at Bosch.The Texas SPCA and the Van Zandt County Sheriff's Office and County Constable seized 72 animals from an alleged puppy mill in Canton, Texas, on March 15, 2018.

According to a post on Texas SPCA's Facebook, the dogs and puppies were found in living in deplorable conditions with feces-filled wire crates and no access to food or water. Many nursing dogs were confined in small crates in a closet.

A FRESH START: 55 dogs from overcrowded Texas shelter transferred to Michigan

Twelve of the animals found  one adult and 11 puppies  were dead and officials found them individually wrapped in plastic bags in the kitchen freezer.

"The animal owner let investigators know that they were selling the dogs for profit," read the post. "All large-scale animal breeders in Texas are required by law to be licensed and inspected on a regular basis. It is unclear at this point if the animal owner is properly licensed."

The living animals were taken to the Russell E. Dealey Animal Rescue Center in Dallas where they will be treated and cared for by the medical staff until the custody hearing with the owner, which is scheduled for Friday, March 23.

Several people have already commented on the post expressing interest in adopting the animals, but they will not be available until after they are treated and the hearing is over.

Take a look through the gallery above to see photos of some of the animals that were rescued.

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.The White House has apparently dropped the idea of allowing service members to carry their personal weapons on bases as a safeguard against deranged killers.

The off-the-cuff proposal by President Donald Trump was omitted from a White House list of potential measures to rein in gun violence, and Pentagon spokespeople said Friday that they had yet to receive any guidance or tasking on concealed carries.

In a wide-ranging speech last month at a Conservative Political Action Committee conference, Trump dwelled at length on the shootings that killed 17 in Parkland, Fla., at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

He said that military bases as well as schools were "gun-free zones" that could easily be targeted. Trained teachers should be allowed to carry weapons in schools and service members should be allowed to carry their personal weapons on bases to guard against the threat, Trump said.

"We had a number of instances on military bases, you know that," Trump said at CPAC, referring to the July 2015 incidents in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in which four Marines and a sailor were killed.

"If we can't have our military holding guns, it's pretty bad," he said. "I'm going to look at that whole policy on military bases."

The shootings occurred at a recruiting storefront in a strip shopping mall and at a U.S. Naval Reserve Center some miles away, but Trump said the victims "were on a military base in a gun-free zone."

Last week, Trump proposed training teachers to use weapons but backed away from raising the age limit from 18 to 21 for the purchase of long guns.

The White House also put out a list of proposals for future consideration, including expanding background checks on firearms purchases, but the idea for concealed carry on bases was not on the list.

The current Defense Department policy essentially forbids the carrying of personal weapons on bases.

"Typically, only those engaged in law enforcement [or] related duties carry firearms" on bases, said Army Lt. Col. Jamie Davidson, a Pentagon spokesman.

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.The seven U.S. service members killed Thursday night in a helicopter crash in western Iraq near the Syrian border have been identified.

The Department of Defense statement confirmed some of the casualties were members of the New York Air National Guards 106th Rescue Wing, based in Westhampton Beach on Long Island.

The airmen were identified as Captain Mark K. Weber, 29, of Colorado Springs, Colorado; Captain Andreas B. OKeeffe, 37, of Center Moriches, New York; Captain Christopher T. Zanetis, 37, of Long Island City, New York; Master Sergeant Christopher J. Raguso, 39, of Commack, New York; Staff Sergeant Dashan J. Briggs, 30, of Port Jefferson Station, New York; Master Sergeant William R. Posch, 36, of Indialantic, Florida; and, Staff Sergeant Carl P. Enis, 31, of Tallahassee, Florida.

Weber was assigned to the 38th Rescue Squadron at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia; Posch and Enis were assigned to the 308th Rescue Squadron, Air Force Reserve, at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida, according to the official statement.

A post on the Facebook page for Long Island's Commack Fire Department paid respects to Chistopher Raguso, a lieutenant with the department's Company 4 and the New York Fire Department. The Air Guardsman was a flight engineer on the chopper, the post read.

In a statement to the Associated Press, Commack fire Commissioner Jerome Quigley called Raguso "a great father and great role model."

Raguso leaves a wife and two daughters, ages 6 and 5.

Fire marshal Christopher "Tripp" Zanetis, a New York City firefighter since 2004, was identified by the Associated Press and FDNY as another victim of the crash.

Raguso and Zanetis, were "truly two of New York City's bravest," New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement.

New York City Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said Raguso and Zanetis "bravely wore two uniforms in their extraordinary lives of service" with the fire department and the U.S. armed forces.

"He was a very stand-up, moral, ethical person, up one side and down the other," Zanetis' father told the New York Post. "He just wanted to be of service. He served people in the fire department and in the military and was going to do the same thing as a lawyer."

Also on board the helicopter was Staff Sgt. Dashan Briggs, according to his cousin Briana Thompson, who spoke to Stars and Stripes via Facebook Messenger. In a post that included a video of members of the unit rescuing a baby in Houston following Hurricane Harvey, she said Briggs was a husband and father of two children.

"I'm so proud of your accomplishments," she wrote. "You were such an amazing man all around."

Air Force Staff Sgt. Carl Enis, a 31-year-old Pinecrest, Fla., native, was also identified by media reports as among those killed in the crash.

Enis served as a pararescueman and was a member of the 308th Rescue Squadron from Patrick Air Force Base, according to reports. The squadron is part of the Air Force Reserve's 920th Rescue Wing.

I am speechless and I am heartbroken, Dan Sherraden, one of Enis friends, posted on Facebook on Friday.

The HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter crash did not appear to be the result of enemy activity, according to a statement from the U.S.-led operation battling the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

Used by the Air Force for combat search and rescue, the Pave Hawk was on a routine transit flight when it went down near the town of Qaim in Anbar province, officials said. The statement did not say how many personnel were on board, but earlier media reports citing U.S. officials gave the number as seven.

A second helicopter accompanying it immediately reported the crash and a quick reaction force of Iraqi and coalition forces secured the scene, officials said.

"We are grateful to the Iraqi security forces for their immediate assistance in response to this tragic incident," said Brig. Gen. Jonathan P. Braga, director of operations for Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve. "This tragedy reminds us of the risks our men and women face every day in service of our nations. We are thinking of the loved ones of these servicemembers today."

President Donald Trump tweeted Friday that their sacrifices "will never be forgotten."

On their Facebook profiles, some Air Force members and veterans in a group for Pave Hawk crew members and others began replacing their profile photos with images of two green footprints with a black ribbon, on which was written the Air Force pararescue motto, "That others may live."

Danielle Youngberg, whose profile read she works for the Air Force, wrote about one of the servicemembers lost in the crash.

"This has been a season of goodbyes, but this last one has hurt the most," she wrote, along with recollections about the unnamed man. "To those that pray, lift up the rescue community tonight. To those that don't, we could use some peace and compassion for the (seven) lives lost and the families forever changed."

The U.S.-led coalition battling ISIS insurgents in Iraq and Syria have an outpost in Qaim, which is located near the Syrian border. The anti-ISIS campaign accelerated through much of last year, as coalition and Iraqi forces battled to take back a string of cities and towns.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory in July over ISIS in Mosul. In the following months, Iraqi forces retook a handful of other ISIS-held towns, including Tal Afar in August, Hawija in September and Qaim in October. In November, Iraqi forces retook the last Iraqi town held by ISIS -- Rawah, near the border with Syria.

The U.S.-led coalition has continued to work with Iraq and Syrian Democratic Forces to shore up the border region and make certain foreign fighters and insurgents can't move freely across the region.

So far this year, two other Americans have died in Iraq in noncombat incidents. A third American died in a noncombat incident in Bahrain earlier this month.

The incident Thursday is the first fatal U.S. helicopter crash since the U.S. launched its anti-ISIS campaign in late 2014.

The first American to die in the campaign, a Marine corporal, was killed in October 2014 after he and another crewmember bailed out of an MV-22 Osprey, when it lost power shortly after takeoff from the USS Makin Island, an amphibious assault ship.

The crash Thursday is the second deadly aviation incident for the U.S. military in as many days, after a Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet crash off the coast of Florida on Wednesday killed both crew members on board.What Is ISIS-K? Two Experts on the Group Behind the Kabul Airport Attack and its Rivalry with the Taliban

By 2018, the group had become one of the top four deadliest terrorist organizations in the world.Navy Cmdr. Hien Trinh, whose family fled Vietnam in an overcrowded fishing boat after the fall of Saigon, came back last week on board the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson in the ship's historic port call to Danang.

"A Navy ship picked us up, and that's one of the reasons why I'm actually in the Navy," Trinh, a dentist in charge of the Vinson's clinic, said in an interview this week.

Trinh's return to Vietnam as part of a historic port call underscores how relations between the two countries have changed in the four decades since the war ended. The visit comes as the United States takes steps to strengthen relations with the country amid rising tensions and hostilities in the region. For Trinh, who had returned to Vietnam only once before, a decade ago, to participate in dental clinic work with his wife, the visit was a time for reflection and for pride.

Ashore in the land of his birth, Trinh said the bitter aftermath of what the Vietnamese call the "American war" was subsumed in efforts of the U.S. and Hanoi to forge a new relationship.

"The people there were incredibly friendly. We had a great welcome from the people of Danang. They all knew that sailors were in town," Trinh said. "They all greeted us with a nice smile and tried to feed us way too much and feed us all kinds of stuff we probably wouldn't have tried unless we were there."

After a four-day visit to Vietnam last week -- the first by a U.S. carrier in the 43 years since the war ended -- the Vinson and its strike group were back in the South China Sea. The strike group was conducting exercises with the Japanese helicopter destroyer Ise on Tuesday when Trinh spoke with Military.com by phone.

A Desperate Journey

Sometimes, Trinh said, he goes out on deck and gazes at the sea, wondering what it was like for his father to take him as a two-year-old, his five siblings and his mother, and venture into those same waters when escape, rather than a particular destination, was the main goal.

The year was 1975. His father, Trac Trinh, was a lieutenant colonel in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and in command of a garrison near Saigon. The Americans were leaving. The North Vietnamese Army was closing in to take what is now officially known as Ho Chi Minh City.

"We're very proud of him," Trinh said of his father. "Every time I think about it, I just can't imagine the desperation -- to take a family and just go out to sea without knowing what the future holds."

Trinh doesn't remember the journey, but learned from his family that there were probably hundreds on board the fishing boat designed for about 30 to 40 people.

The first stop was Singapore, where they were given food and water but then turned back out to sea.

They were rescued by the U.S. Navy. Trinh said his father didn't remember the name of the ship, but it was probably an LPD, or landing platform dock. They were taken to the Navy base in Subic Bay in the Philippines and began an odyssey with stops at Wake Island, Hawaii and a camp at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas.

The Lucky Ones

The Trinh family was among the lucky ones in the first wave of refugees who fled Vietnam when the policy was for the Navy to take them on board. Later waves of refugees, estimated to number more than 800,000, would become the "boat people" sent to holding camps in then-British Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and other venues.

With the sponsorship of the Catholic church, the family made a home in Lansing, Michigan.

Trinh's father became a janitor working for the state of Michigan and later became a printer.

Trinh went to Michigan State University and joined the Navy in 2001 before the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

"I wanted to pay back for all the sacrifices that were made for us," he said.

In 2003, he was attached to the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit in Iraq.

"I was ecstatic," Trinh said, when he learned last month that the Vinson, accompanied by the cruiser Lake Champlain and the guided missile destroyer Wayne E. Meyer, was headed to Vietnam.

"I think Vietnam is a place we need to be right now," Trinh said. "We have a lot of commonalities with Vietnam. Some differences, but a lot of commonalities."

A Stronger Relationship

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis set the tone for the later arrival of the Vinson on his trip to Vietnam in January.

"We recognize that relationships never stay the same. They either get stronger or they get weaker," he told his Vietnamese counterpart, Defense Minister Ngo Xuan Lich. "America wants a stronger relationship with a stronger Vietnam."

The Navy and U.S. diplomats stuck to that theme of building better U.S.-Vietnam relations for the Vinson port call.

They said the carrier's presence was not meant to send a message to China on its military buildup in the South China Sea or its territorial disputes with Vietnam and its neighbors.

Trinh called the Vinson's visit a "milestone" in the history of the region, and U.S. Ambassador Daniel Kritenbrink used the same word in his remarks welcoming the carrier to Danang.

"The visit marks an enormously significant milestone in our bilateral relations and demonstrates U.S. support for a strong, prosperous, and independent Vietnam," Kritenbrink said. "Through hard work, mutual respect, and by continuing to address the past while we work toward a better future, we have gone from former enemies to close partners."

"This is a historic day, and we are honored to receive such a warm welcome here," Rear Adm. John Fuller, commander of the Vinson's strike group, said as the carrier pulled into Danang. "The United States and Vietnam are cooperating more closely than ever before."

China did not share the warm feelings. "China's vigilance and unhappiness are inevitable, but we don't think that the USS Carl Vinson's Vietnam trip can stir up troubles in the South China Sea," the Global Times, a Communist party newspaper known for its hardline views, said in an editorial.

The Vinson's visit would fail to put pressure on China to back off in the South China Sea and would "only waste money," Global Times said.

'We Can Never Forget'

While the Navy and the diplomats avoided mention of China, Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, a former Navy pilot who was a prisoner-of-war in North Vietnam for five years, felt no such restraints.

"The historic port call by the USS Carl Vinson in Vietnam underscores the enormous progress the United States and Vietnam have made in transcending the wounds of war and building a close partnership," he said. "It also demonstrates the growing strength of U.S. partnerships in a region threatened by rising Chinese aggression, expansionism, and opposition to the rules-based international order."

As a Vietnam veteran, McCain said the Vinson's visit had special meaning.

"For those of us who fought in the Vietnam War, as well as for those of us who worked to normalize U.S.-Vietnam relations, the remarkable advancement in our relationship surpasses our fondest hopes," he said.

McCain and all Vietnam veterans have special meaning for Trinh and his wife, Evelyne Vu-Tien, the daughter of Vietnamese refugees. She joined him in Danang for the Vinson port call.

"We can never forget what Vietnam veterans did for us," Trinh said. "Without your sacrifices, we wouldn't be able to have the life we have now.

"The Vietnam war, we put it behind us. We don't dwell too much about the past," he said. "We are very, very proud of our country now, which is America. We are sad that we lost our country, but we've been in another country which has given us more opportunities than we could have imagined."

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.The U.S. Army plans to field a shelf-stable pepperoni pizza entree for Meals, Ready-to-Eat beginning this month.

Scientists in the Combat Feeding Directorate at the Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center have been working with the commercial food industry to overcome the challenges of creating a slice of pizza that can remain shelf-stable for three years at temperatures up to 80 degrees Fahrenheit, according to a recent Army press release.

Initial pizza prototypes developed were successful at the lab level. The CFD conducted three large-scale tests to make sure the pizza was producible at two different food processing plants, according to the release.

The tests were also carried out to ensure the plants were capable of producing pizza "that adhered to the detailed military specification," the release states.

"This product is a great example of using food science to meet the challenging and unique requirements for military rations," CFD director Stephen Moody said in the release.

No word yet on how it tastes. But in February, David Accetta, spokesman for Natick Soldier Research Development & Engineering Center in Maryland, told Stars and Stripes that living in harsh field conditions may enhance soldiers appreciation for the shelf-stable pizza treats.

"You have to be cold, starving, exhausted to really appreciate them," he said.

-- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com.Righty Henderson Alvarez has agreed to a deal with the Mexican Leagues Tigres de Quintana Roo, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter).

Its a bit surprising that Alvarez couldnt find a camp invite this spring, as he has still yet to turn 28 and has certainly had some impressive seasons with the Marlins. Of course, he has also battled through shoulder injuries that have unfortunately taken a toll.

Alvarez was able to make it back to the majors late in 2017 with the Phillies. He carried a 4.30 ERA in his three starts but sported an ugly 6:11 K/BB ratio. Clearly, his fastball was not back to its peak form; he averaged less than 92 mph on his four-seamer, which once routinely clocked at a mean velocity of over 94.

Even at his best, Alvarez never got many swings and misses. But he induced plenty of worm burners (54.8% career groundball rate) with an oft-used sinker. Perhaps if he can rediscover his form on that pitch, he can eventually find his way back to the majors. The Mexican League gig will certainly offer Alvarez a chance to rebuild his strength and showcase for MLB scouts.Picture this. You get a call from the friendly neighbourhood agent to buy a policy now that only last few days of the financial year remain. "Buy it now to save taxes," he says. You do as he says but realise later that he is not an authorised agent and has fled with the cash.

Annually, about 4000-5000 policies are fraudulently sold by agents who have been blacklisted by companies. Since they have been associated with insurance companies in the past, these agents have all the policy documents needed to close a transaction. Since none of us bother checking the agent's licence, there is a chance of being duped.

All insurance companies are required by Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) to disclose the list of blacklisted agents on their website for customers. This also gives the customer an idea of why an agent was terminated from service. Further, IRDAI also has launched a common portal wherein the list of insurance agents and the company they work for, can also be verified in the future.

Often, fraudulent persons, knowing fully well how policy sales work, cheat customers and collect the first year premium and flee. Usually, they demand the premiums in cash so that they do not leave any trail behind. In some cases, individuals have also received calls to surrender existing policies and buy "special double the investment" plans with bonuses from IRDAI.

Due to these incidents, IRDAI has mandated insurers to display in all their print and television advertisements that the regulator does not declare any bonuses nor does it sell any policies.

One simple way would be to verify the licence issued by the insurance company to the agent. They can visit the insurance company's website and cross verify to see whether they are still associated with the company. Since there is a lag in updating the blacklisted agents' list, a customer can get the agent's licence number and call up the customer care to check if he is still an active agent with them.

Insurers usually take no responsibility against unknown persons selling their policies and even if a complaint is made, it will be rejected.

With some customers still buying insurance at the end of a financial year and usually in the last two weeks of March, they are an easy target for unscrupulous agents who misuse the system. While rushing in to complete the tax savings for the year, it will be a good idea to invest a few minutes in ascertaining the identity of the agent you are buying it from. Else, you could be taken for a ride.Ruchir Sharma, Head of Emerging Markets and Chief Global Strategist, Morgan Stanley Investment Management in an interview to CNBC-TV18s Shereen Bhan spoke about Indias macro picture at the Rising India Summit.

Below is the transcript of the interview

Q: Over the course of past 24 hours, we have heard a lot of what is working for India, we are growing at little over 7%, macros looking little less favourable than last three years  on the basis of parameters that you track and you have 10 ways of identifying whether a nation is rising or falling, In 2018, how does India look to you?

A: My consistent narrative about India and this is something we have spoken about in the past is that ever since I have been tracking this for the last 25 years closely is that this is a country that consistently disappoints the optimist and the pessimist  if you get too lost with one narrative, you are likely to fail in India.

What we have seen is that a couple of years ago there was all optimism as if it was only a matter of time before we would get to 8-10 percent economy growth and that hasnt happened. Now we are entering a critical period where the global economy is doing well but as far as India is concerned it is not been able to fully participate in this massive global economic revival that we have seen over the past 18 months or so.

Q: What has gone wrong?

A: I think there are two or three factors  the obvious ones are demonetisation and teething problems with GST. The one big problem which hasnt been fixed in India and if one were to look at all the major economies in the world when they went through some sort of banking crisis, until the banking system was fixed it was very difficult for those countries to get back to their full potential  countries like US, Italy.

So, the financial system is really the archery, it lies at the heart of what a nation and do, and in terms of what its growth rate is and that for me has been the single biggest shortcoming of the last few years.

Q: It has been the biggest missed opportunity? You believe the government should have exercised the political majority it enjoys to be able to drive through banking reforms which in your mind means privatization?

A: Yes, there has been a lot of debate about privatization and whether that is the thing to do or not to do and all sorts of ideological debates have come about. However, to me its a simple number which tells you about what is going out here, which is that in India about two-third of assets are with public sector banks and this the highest of any democratic country in the world. The average across emerging markets is about one-third, so every country needs a public sector to meet social objectives. But there is no country like India where the figure is this lopsided.

For me that is the issue, and it is not about public versus private, it is about a balance that in the banking system the average number in which the share is there across the world is about one-third and India is at two-thirds. There is a side effect to this. If one were to look at all the incremental financial activity, it is all happening through the private sector banking  be it trade finance, credit cards, the massive retail leading that we are seeing -- a bulk of it is happening through the private sector banks.

So, what India is seeing is privatisation by malign neglect, that it is not happening explicitly but the banking system is being privatized but at a huge cost. Whereas public sector banks are not only being destroyed in value but it is also choking the economic recovery.

If you ask me what is the biggest risk to India in 2018, the single biggest risk is that we have regulatory overkill

Q: Are we likely to see a regulatory overkill or we are already seeing it?

A: I think we have already seeing parts of it and this is manifesting itself in many ways. I do believe that some public sector banks are going to be completely frozen to lend given the sort of regulatory overkill that we are seeing currently.

Q: So you believe there is going to be a credit freeze?

A: Not a credit freeze because the private sector has seen such an increased share and they will keep lending but there are many side effects to this.

The first side effect is that the access to credit is going to get more and more directed towards the big companies with established credits. A problem in India, in the last few years and this is a global problem but it has been accentuated in India, is that big have gotten bigger. If one were to look at companies in each sector, the top companies have just kept gaining market share at the cost of the smaller companies and when there is this type of credit environment, it is the small and medium sized businesses that get hurt the most when you have risk aversion, which sets through. And a lot of private sector banks will be able to lend but a lot of public sector banks are going to be frozen.

Even the private sector banks are going to be much more cautious about who they are lending and what the credits are because the cost of making a bad loan has gone up a lot, it has almost become a criminal offence.

This is what India has to be careful about, we have to avoid this temptation for regulatory overkill and this has already been playing itself out in many ways, one is the banking sector.

The other statistic which is quite staggering is since 2014, 23,000 millionaires have left this country and in terms of what is going on here and to put it in global perspective  last year 7000 millionaires left this country, the largest number in recent times. The year before that it was 4000, so the number of millionaires leaving this country is going up. In absolute terms this is still behind China but as a share of total millionaires leaving this country, this is largest of any major nation in the world.

Q: How do you explain that?

A: Some will say this is a good thing that this is an anti-corruption drive and we are driving all the corrupt away but there is a major side effect of this because at the end of the day you need your own domestic people to invest in your country, which is very important. Foreign investment is important but domestic participation, domestic investors make a nation going forward. To me this has to be looked into that why are so many millionaires leaving this country and if one is happy about it because you think it is part of the anti-corruption drive, fair enough but when the number is highest in the world that should be a cause for concern.

Q: Since you talked about domestic investment, Deepak Karla who is part of start-up ecosystem had a point that India has taken atithi devo bhava to a whole entire level, where you are welcoming foreign direct investment, foreign companies but at the cost of domestic entrepreneurship and not providing a level playing field? Does this number you gave us also perhaps has something to do with the point he made?

A: Yes that is absolutely true because if you go to Dubai today then you are likely to meet more Indians out there than in a restaurant in Bombay, Delhi.., so you can see where the capital is fleeing, what the magnets for capital are Dubai, Singapore, US and UK.

However, what is fascination about India is that how this country keeps on rising, your event is India Rising but I think this country is Forever Rising  it is on a continuous upward march but a chaotic one and for every positive story there is a negative story.

So, many domestic people are leaving, also the fact that big are getting bigger but this also remains a dream for investors like us because the highest number of quality companies in the world, we find in India. Over the last 5 years there have been about 70 companies in India with marketcap of at least a billion dollars, which have doubled in value. You dont get that kind of richness in other emerging markets, for example in Russia we can find half a zone, in Brazil about 10-20. So, on one side you have this crony capitalism, which is out in all its ugly display. On other side you have this incredibly good companies that have given lot of value back to investors and they are high quality in terms of metrics like return on equity, consistent earnings growth, India ranks right up there compared to any nation in the world if you take it as a share of the total companies listed out here, is quite large.

So, it is a country we always want to be engaged with but obviously we keep looking at the fact that what more could be done for India to become like the next China. That has been the dream of so many who have been studying development economics and who have been in awe of Chinas rise since the 1990s and there I find no matter what happens, what the politics is, we consistently disappoint in terms of being the next China as an economic story.

Q: Where do you see the markets in India? You have talked about how you continue to be confident of investing in specific Indian companies that meet all the parameters and metrics that you have laid out for us  is it hard to find value in India today, given where prices are given where valuations are?

A: The biggest cliche in the world is that easy money has already been made because when you look back at the past and you find that it has been done. I dont think there is always going to be an opportunity out here -- yes, the fact is that a lot of optimism had crept in and some of that optimism is getting deflated very quickly but I dont think this is ever going to be a market which is tank and be like Turkey, I see enough opportunities.

We are sufficiently engage, we see enough opportunity and there are enough high quality companies available out here. The good thing about the market is there is so much focus on this conference about politics  how much politics matters, elections are coming up what is going to happen as far as elections are concerned.

Q: You think it does not matter at all or is it limited?

A: I think the importance of politics in the India context is way exaggerated. I love following politics, I travel every time there is major election in India, I spend a week travelling with a band of people to figure out what is happening in that election and its fascinating. However, one thing I have learnt over the years is that do not draw any inference from the election results on what is going to happen to the economy or to the markets.

We think of market as an efficient beat but the Indian markets has always been wrong at least initially about the politics  what do I mean by that is that in 2004 when UPA first came to power, the market was limit-down for a couple of day, it was basically shut because there was such pessimism about what would happen under their regime, instead you ended up getting one of the biggest bull markets because we had this massive global boom which was going on. IN 2009, the opposite happens, UPA re-elected and on back of that all of the analyst who were skeptical of UPA think that government has come back, we will get political stability and the market was limit-up the next day and after that we had pretty severe downturn as far as economy was concerned because of global reasons. Similarly, in late 1990's too similar patterns played out when Vajpayee government lost vote of confidence by one vote, the market was limit-down and then it began its upturn.

Therefore, my entire point is that it is fascinating to watch politics but the economy is such and the natural momentum is such that regardless of what happens in politics, a basic trajectory for the economy will continue.

Q: So you are saying will course along on a 7 percent plus kind of growth rate whether it is NDA or another form of government in office at the Centre but every time we talk about 8 percent plus growth rates there is talk that India needs to do structural reforms  these require political majority, political will, significant amount of political capital, so then can politics be really irrelevant to the economic story?

A: I think we are underestimating what the Indian polity is about and there was an interesting survey that was carried out  World Value Survey carried out at the beginning of this decade where different countries were asked what is your attitude towards the private sector and India ranked amongst the lowest  most Indian had skeptical view about the private sector.

So I think there is no constituency for carrying out the kind of reforms that all the economists, Washington consensus wants the country to do. There was an opportunity possibly in 2015, when you had government with a majority and it took only a barb about suit-buit ki Sarkar for them to shift course on that.

In Feb 2015, when the government presented is first full Budget that was the one opportunity this government had of trying to something absolutely dramatic. There were some proposals on the table  like cutting corporate tax rates down to Asean levels in a very dramatic way to Make-in-India a fillip. Also possibly thinking annulling the Bank Nationalization Act  these proposals were very much on the table but at the last minute the political will do to anything about it was limited  partly because they felt there was a constituency for it. At the same time we changed our GDP methodology  so all of sudden we started to grow at 7 percent during the worst of times and the feeling sank in that if we can do 7 percent at worse of times then why bother doing so much more. Therefore that played a real big role out there.

So, if there was a chance for something dramatic to happen, it could have happened in 2015 and also because you have a Prime Minister who has such great oratory skills that he could have tried to market this to a pretty skeptical Indian public. The Indian public is very skeptical of the private sector and there is great faith in wanting government jobs, although things have changed but that skepticism is still there.

So, that was the only time when I was waiting with baited breath, otherwise my approach is tune out of the politics, its total waste of time from an investing standpoint, from knowing where the economy is going to go and that the country will continue because of its very low per-capital income, a very low base and there is so much penetration opportunity across sectors that the country will keep growing at a natural buoyancy rate.

Q: You believe that the Indian economy is more or less decoupled from its politics and we will continue to traverse this 7 percent kind of growth rate?

A: I am not going to stick myself to 7 percent because if the global economy has a downturn there is no way that you get to 7 percent. There is a lot which can be done but that is just the reality of India which is that we all have a long laundry list of what needs to be done, some of it gets done but it is more in the form of incremental changes. When a new government comes to power they all carry out some incremental changes and by the time the government its term, it gets pretty much into quite complacent and much more about winning the election through populist schemes, that is just the pattern as far as India is concerned.

However I think that there is a bigger debate to be had here at some point in time which is that, why in this country is there such sort of scepticism also about the politics? One of the recent researches that we have done shows us this, that two out of three elections in India are lost. This is the mirror image of let us say the United States. So, in United States we did a similar exercise looking at the Presidential elections and looking at the state governed elections and there are more than 500 such instances since 1977 in the US as well and India, what we found here was that in US the opposite happens - which is the incumbent ends up winning the election and in India the opposite happens.

Q: So, there is no anti-incumbency there.

A: This term anti-incumbency has been coined in India. When I try and use the anti-incumbency in any of my columns which I write internationally, the editors have come back to me and said, what is this term? I think it is a very natural term but whoever deserves credit for it - anti-incumbent is the word which has been exclusively coined in India and it is an Indian phenomenon.

Even if you look at the other parliamentary democracies such as the UK, in the last two elections in the UK, 80 percent of the sitting members of parliament got re-elected.

Q: So, why is this the case here in India then?

A: This is where there has not been enough thought given to it that why is it that in India the default option is throw the bums out? In India we keep thinking that what will the politicians do? What will the government do? and what is the Congress Party doing etc, it almost doesn't matter. The default option for any party is to lose, of course there are one third which win.

We tried to figure out is there any common factor as to why these one third of these people who win elections, why do they win elections? And is there a common factor as two why these two thirds of people who lose elections, why they lose elections? It is easier to come up with why the two third lose elections based on my travels and I think the single biggest reason why those two thirds of politicians in India lose power is because the state is broken and I believe this, which is that the average person sort of interfaces with say the local police person, the municipality person, the local bureaucrat and his or her interface with that is extremely harsh. It is a very tough experience. So, even if the Chief Minister or the Prime Minister maybe well intentioned, for the daily person dealing with this grind it is a very tough experience and you can see it - it is oppressive, it is corrupt and also it is understaffed. So, it is a very hard experience.

The average person basically every five years just wants change because he or she perceives that not much has changed for them on the ground. Of course there are some other peculiarities which make the default option in this country to just throw the bums out, one of them is that it takes very small vote shares - 4-5 percent vote swings and you get massive swings as far as seats are concerned. The other reason is that the political funding in this country is all done privately. So, winning an election has almost become like a business, which is that you need to spend money to win it and then when you win it, you want to try and recover the money and it is very tempting not to keep a part of it as far as the math is concerned. So, the allegations of corruption are very easy to stick as far as people are concerned.

However this for me is a very fascinating point that why are politicians not thinking more about why do they keep losing elections? It is such a tough country to win elections. Whether it is US or UK or the other mature democracies, there the default option is that the politician gets re-elected.

Q: So, the BJP should be worried, the NDA should be worried at this point in time?

A: It is very hard to predict as it is so early in the game. However my point is the fact that, that is the default option, that is just the history of Indian elections. Now the question is that there are some states which have been able to beat this trend - Gujarat was one of them, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, they were able to beat this trend of anti-incumbency. Question is was there a common explanation? But for every explanation I have an opposing case. Chandrababu Naidu who was the hero of the reform movement in the early 2000s, he lost in 2004. I still remember traveling to Rajasthan in 2003 and of the 25 odd election trips that I have done, that was the one election trip where I can say that the group read it wrong. Usually when we go out on the road and we talk to people, we are able to sort of get the feel right and part of it was because just before we had gone Ashok Gehlot who was the Chief Minister, he had just been awarded as being the best Chief Minister of the country, the growth rates had picked up dramatically in Rajasthan, it was very visible in terms of what was going on. So, we went with a pre-conceived notion of almost that he is going to win and even though we got some discorded noises, we ignored it on the ground and he lost. He lost pretty badly that election.

So, that just showed you that even if you carry out lot of economic reforms and you do something, the default in many states is still to lose. There are many states in this country - Rajasthan, Karnataka where every five years no matter what happens you just change the government. Same thing was happening in Tamil Nadu until she beat the trend in 2016 and she beat it for all the wrong reasons. All the business people when we went there told us about how poor the state was being run on the ground, there was rampant alcoholism but yet because the opposition was sort of fragmented and she was able to do a lot of populism including alcoholism which she sort of abated, they were able to win that election. The same thing happened in Punjab. Since 1968 or something Punjab had never re-elected a government and it went the other way once and broke a trend.

So, this is the broader point, that the average experience of the average Indian is so harsh with the government or what it perceives to be the government, that their default option every five years is just to change.

Q: Global growth is looking strong today and India in fact hasn't really converged with what we are seeing in the global economy, do you believe that that is likely to continue? Do you believe that the US stock markets for instance are likely to continue to rally or do you believe we are at a peak?

A: One very important reason as to why markets across the world have done so well like over the last decade was because you had zero interest rates, you had easy money. I think that has been a very powerful explanation for why markets have done really well. I think that era is coming to an end. The question is how quickly but it is a question of not if but when. I think that has major implications because it is only when the tide runs out do we know who is swimming naked. I suspect there are lot of people out there without clothes that we will find out in 12-18 months' time.

So, this flood of liquidity is currently ebbing and that is what is going to pose problems for markets over the next 12-18 months globally. Also global growth isn't what it used to be and one of the most important reasons for that which I have been speaking about has to do with demographics. This is where India had the opportunity but hasn't capitalised on it. What do I mean by that? There are two drivers of economic growth - one of them is the increase in productivity and second is the increase in the number of people coming to work - the labour force.

Across the world we have gone from a situation of worrying about the population bomb to now worrying about the population de-bomb which is the fact that we are beginning to see a big fall in the world's population growth rates and the working age population growth rates. Today there are nearly 40 countries in the world where their working age population is shrinking. This is absolutely unprecedented over the last century or so.

In the mid-1980s there were only two countries in the world where the working age population was shrinking, I think it was Afghanistan and Hungary but now we are seeing 40 countries in the world where the working age population is shrinking or close to that, including China, including Japan, Italy, Germany. So, that is a major headwind to economic growth because you just don't have enough people there. So, that is one of the ironies that we sort of speak about, that we speak here about an employment crisis or whatever is going on and across the developed world today, unemployment is at a 40 year low. Even globally when we look at it since we have data over the last couple of decades, this is the lowest unemployment rate that the world has seen. So, everywhere in fact there are jobs, jobs and jobs because of the demographic shift that we have seen across the world. The irony is here that we keep speaking about lack of jobs. So, to me that is a very stark contrast more than even the growth disconnect. I think the growth disconnect - we can make up for it after these shocks sort of pass although we will never get to full potential but to me this is a much deeper problem which is that when the world economy today and the developed world has the lowest unemployment rate in 40 years, why do we even have any concern about job creation out here.

Q: What do you believe is going to be the remedy to that? The government is putting out its own set of data to show that the unemployment situation isn't as bad as its made out to be by the opposition but we do know that there is a problem not just on the jobs front, there is a problem on the skills front as well. How bad is it likely to get from hereon given the demographic dividend that we haven't been able to capitalise on?

A: If you look at the success stories across the world, their key to success was all the same thing which is they all exported their way to prosperity. They exported their way to prosperity by producing low end manufacturing goods. It is low end manufacturing goods where you end up getting a huge amount of employment growth as well.

Q: That bus we have missed. Manufacturing share to GDP for the last five years has remained consistently at 16 percent, we haven't moved higher at all?

A: The global environment has got more difficult but to say we have missed the bus may not be quite accurate because in our neighbourhood, look at Bangladesh, Vietnam, Cambodia, all these places are picking up the low end manufacturing share from where China is vacating it. We haven't been able to do that. It also gets more difficult because we are now in an era of de-globalisation which is the fact that it is becoming much more difficult to export your way to prosperity. For the great period from 1980s right up until the global financial crisis, global trade increased at 2-3 times the pace of global GDP. Now global trade as a share of GDP is in fact falling. So, this is a major headwind that we have run into. However the focus has to be on low end manufacturing. It sounds a bit unsexy because we all want to talk about technological prowess and do very high end manufacturing and stuff but that is just not the formula. Even China, it is only now migrating towards high end manufacturing.

Q: Are we competitive enough to be able to capture that share of low end manufacturing?

A: The evidence has been no but a lot of it has to do with the fact that the infrastructure that we provide, the labour laws that we have in the country, those are the factors which have really disappointed it. However we did see in last decade the main reason the economy grew at 8-9 percent was because export growth every year was 30 percent and now we are down to 10 percent. So, when you get 30 percent export growth, that is the way to do it and now we basically have regress where it is getting very difficult for us to even clock double digit export growth. So, that is the big shift which has happened.

Q: You rightly pointed out that the export engine isn't firing for us, in fact after several years of decline, we are now starting to see an uptick and we are clocking at about 10 percent today. Without that how realistic is this 8 percent growth number?

A: I don't want to get wedded to a number. Firstly in the global economy today nobody is growing at above 8 percent. Even among the smaller nations, at the peak in 2007 when you were at peak of the boom, there were 40-50 countries which were growing at above 7-8 percent. Today there are may be 4-5 countries.

Q: So, we will continue to be the fastest growing economy?

A: Yes but that is a great marketing tag, the entire issue with that is that our base is much lower. China's base is 4 times higher than ours in terms of per capita income, in terms of economic size and it is much easier to grow from a much lower base compared to a higher base. India has enough natural resilience and there is enough sort of policy tinkering which is done to make sure that we keep growing at a steady pace. I don't know whether the real number is 6 or 7 percent but it is somewhere in that corridor. However to aspire for 8-10 percent economic growth has not only become more difficult because the global environment is much more challenging but also the fact that if we couldn't carry out the kind of breakthrough reforms for which we had the window in 2015, the odds that any of that is going to happen in the foreseeable future is very low. So, it is unlikely that is going to happen in terms for us to get to 8-10 percent unless the global economy all of a sudden confounds me and goes back to growing like it did last decade and our exports then can somehow pick off on the back of that.

Q: One of the other challenges or constraints that we are going to have to deal with as an economy and perhaps one of the most important ones is income inequality. This is one of the parameters that you look at when you judge whether a nation is rising or falling, on that parameter specifically how concerned would you be today?

A: Income inequality is a global concern. Question is that when does it become such a big concern that it begins to cramp your space for carrying out reforms and that leads to an anti-rich kind of movement? In that regard I think India has made some progress over the last few years. There are two or three ways that we look at it - we look at the list of billionaires because that is very real time way of looking at it and seeing that how many billionaires in the world - so called bad billionaires versus good billionaires, it is a broad categorisation that sort of billionaires coming from sectors where the government is involved or you need government help to do that, typically we classify as bad and good is when they come in sectors such as manufacturing, technology which is basically less state reliant to grow. India has become very skewed at the beginning of this decade in terms of the good to bad billionaire kind of ratio. Believe it or not over the last 4-5 years that ratio has changed favourably. The number of good billionaires in India coming from sectors such as manufacturing, technology etc has gone up considerably. This has been helped by the fact that global commodity cycle has collapsed and lot of bad billionaires do come from that segment but at least we have seen a massive pickup on it.

However the thing that still jars for me a bit is the number of inherited billionaires in this country. The number of inherited billionaires in terms of people who have technically inherited their wealth is about 60 percent in terms of the total number. That is again about twice as high as the emerging market average or global average and I think there are only couple of countries in the world where the number is even higher, possibly I think Indonesia and South Africa. This is why the culture of dynasty pervades across our society. It is not just politics, it has got to do with business as well. When you have 60 percent of your billionaires basically have inherited their wealth and that is twice as high as the average number for other developing countries, that just tells you that this is a societal issue, it is not an issue about just politics or business.

Q: In terms of your to do list, what is the number one priority that you would put down?

A: There is a theoretical stuff and there is realistic stuff. Theoretically as I said the banking system privatisation would have been top of my list but it is unlikely to happen. The best hope India has is to keep ushering in an era of competitive federalism which is that the action has to be more and more de-centralised and the states have to do more and more. Whether it is the BJP government or that could even be one of the upsides of a coalition government, is that you have to give more and more power to the states - whether it is labour laws, whether it is other things to set up SEZs or manufacturing, the states have to get more and more power. In that regard, I don't like it when the centre imposes cesses which only go to the centre, don't go to the states. So, if you ask me most realistically what can be done given the way the Indian polity is moving, is basically much more competitive federalism where you get much more competition between states to attract investment and to improve things.

Q: We are seeing competitive federalism, we are also seeing much more co-operation now on account of the advent of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). You have got the GST council which is virtually deciding indirect taxes now for everybody. So, the states have had to give up that autonomy altogether?

A: Give up the autonomy but to participate in it which is a good thing. However much more power to be given to the states in terms of what to do with their stuff. So, the more competitive federalism you have and the centre just sticks to the basics, I think that is the best hope for India given the way the polity is moving over the next few years. So, that is the realistic hope. The theoretical stuff, is there any constituency at all here which is going to say that lets privatise these banks? No.

Q: In Air India they still might retain about 26 percent but are you surprised with that one?

A: You can get one marquee privatisation but I am talking about the culture. The banking system is at the heart of it, that is where no economy is able to grow rapidly without a vibrant banking system. As I said the share that India has there of the government is about the highest in the world.live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

In many ways, Lakshmi Niwas Mittals global trek began with the acquisition of a plant in Trinidad & Tobago in 1989.

Earlier in 1976, as a 26-year-old, he set up a plant in Indonesia for his father Mohanlal Mittal. But it was far away in the Caribbean island that Mittal first sowed seeds of a global strategy, which over the next two decades made him the largest steelmaker in the world. ArcelorMittals presence would go on to include plants in 18 countries and offices in 60.

Thirty years since that first acquisition though, the Trinidad and Tobago unit is a part of Mittals global empire that doesnt make for a pretty picture.

ArcelorMittal closed the Point Lisas plant in 2016, a day after the workers union got a favourable decision from the courts on a pay hike. Low steel prices and increasing costs had already impacted the operations.

Closing Trinidad was a very difficult decision to take but we had exhausted all possibilities to sustain the asset and regrettably there were no interested buyers for the asset, an ArcelorMittal spokesperson told Moneycontrol in a written reply to queries.

The company underlined that it has exited the business in Trinidad having taken care of all financial creditors.

This last line is an important piece of information, especially for ArcelorMittals bid for Essar Steel. The past month has seen increasing focus on the companys global operations as Mittal tries to venture into his home country, India, for the first time.

Homecoming

ArcelorMittal is in the race for Essar Steel, having submitted bids for the stressed steel company. Its only competitor is Numetal, a consortium of partners that includes Russias VTB Capital, and Rewant Ruia, who belongs to Essars founding family.

Much of ArcelorMittals campaign for Essar Steel has been about highlighting its global operations and experience in acquiring and turning around stressed assets.

With our industry expertise and renowned operating prowess, we believe we are uniquely equipped to implement a successful turnaround which would be beneficial to Essars stakeholders, said Mittal on February 12, minutes after his company formally submitted bid for the Indian company.

We believe our technical experience and management know-how, gained from many successful acquisitions and integrations, will ensure success for the various steel and pelletising operations at Essar, added his son Aditya Mittal, who in March was promoted as President of ArcelorMittal.

But there was a hitch. An amendment in Indias Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) had debarred promoters of defaulting companies from bidding for the stressed assets.

While ArcelorMittal had seemingly cleared its way after exiting Uttam Galva, which had defaulted on its loan repayments, there were murmurs in the industry that the global steelmaker also had outstanding payments in its Point Lisas plant.

But that is not so. ArcelorMittal Point Lisas Limited in Trinidad is undergoing a voluntary liquidation process. It does not have any loans from any bank, and the banks have not declared it as a NPA or initiated any proceeding against that company. Section 29A(c) relates to NPAs of banks. There is absolutely no basis on which the NPA qualification test under Section 29A can be extended to a voluntary liquidation process where no banks are involved. Any suggestion to the contrary is false, the company had said in a mailed statement to Moneycontrol.

Section 29A (c) pertains to a clause in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

Even if the Trinidad setback is not a hurdle for its Essar Steel bid, the focus remains on how the global business of ArcelorMittal  which was formed in the 2006 merger between Mittal Steel and Arcelor  done?

At its peak, before the commodity bust of 2008, the companys plants were producing nearly 120 million tons of steel a year and annual sales crossed the USD 100-billion mark. For some perspective on how big Mittals company was, Indias total output at that time was a little more than 50 million tons a year. ArcelorMittal was producing nearly four times more steel than the second largest steelmaker in the world.

Does that dominance continue today?

Turnaround strategy

After acquiring the Point Lisas plant in Trinidad & Tobago, Mittals next stops were in Mexico, Canada, Germany, Kazakhstan, US and France, among others. By the turn of the 21st century, Mittal Steel had presence in nearly 10 countries.

By then, Mittal had roped in Malay Mukherjee, a rising star in Steel Authority of India. Mukherjee would become the entrepreneurs right hand man in his global expansion.

From a historical point of view, ArcelorMittal took over plant facilities that were owned by Government. These plants were not doing well, and were later turned around by Mittal. This was the model in Trinidad, Mexico, Kazakhstan, and even in developed markets like Germany, Mukherjee told Moneycontrol over the phone last week.

The turnarounds were operational  increasing the capacity of the blast furnace, bringing down costs, including the manpower that was nearly always bloated in government-owned enterprises.

In the second stage, the turnarounds centered on making the best product for the steel industry, says Mukherjee.

This was perfected recently at a Calvert, Alabama-based plant in the US that was acquired in 2014. Though this was the largest newly constructed steel plant in the US in 40 years, the facility had failed to reach its potential. ArcelorMittal invested about USD 190 million in the facility to make specialized steel for the auto sector.

As a result, capacity utilisation increased to nearly 90 percent by 2017, from less than 70 percent two years earlier; and the plant is expected to improve its EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) by USD 250 million by 2020.

Similar turnaround were done in plants in other countries including in Poland and France.

Rough times

But it hasnt been smooth sailing all along.

Since the meltdown in the world economy in 2008, ArcelorMittal hasnt yet produced 100 million tons of steel in a year. Competition has closed in, albeit marginally. Chinas Baowu Steel Group had narrowed the gap with ArcelorMittal to about 15 million tons in 2011, but since then Mittals company has again increased the lead. Though ArcelorMittal's dominance is still without much of a competition, its not as jaw-dropping as it used to be.

And many of its units have faced trouble. In France and Belgium, where ArcelorMittal announced closure of some its facilities in 2013, the company faced vociferous protests from workers and politicians. A French minister even threatened to nationalise the companys unit and asked ArcelorMittal to leave the country.

In the US too, the company was forced to shut some of its plants that led to job cuts.

Financially, ArcelorMittal suffered. In 2015, the company got its biggest hit since its formation in 2006. The company reported a loss of USD 8 billion in its annual performance, and a USD 15 billion debt burdened it further. From 2011 to 2015, the company had been running in losses.

Troubles came in other forms too. In 2016, the companys South Africa was slapped with the countrys largest anti-trust fine for anti-competitive behaviour. The fine was USD 110 million.

Late last year, ArcelorMittal was hit by a much smaller fine, of USD 1.5 million, in its Pennsylvania unit producing coke. Though the fine was low, the reason for the fine  creating pollution and causing health problems for local residents  didnt do much for the companys brand.

To be fair to ArcelorMittal, most of its global peers were reeling under similar troubles. But given its global presence and numero uno position in almost every region it operates, the company and its promoter are the most visible faces of the industry.

The most damaging has been the protests following job cuts. Though Mittal himself took a pay cut - of about 40 percent in 2014  that did little to calm the angst among workers.

From nearly 3.2 lakh employees globally in 2007, ArcelorMittal today employs less than 2 lakh people in the global operations.

Explanation

But the company argues that it has stood the test of time. And the leaner organisation is a reflection of an evolving industry.

This is the period of Industry 4.0  and this is also applicable to the steel industry. We are seeing the introduction of more and more automation, such as driverless cranes and drones, and artificial intelligence, said the company in a statement to Moneycontrol.

This is happening in our operations today, where we have been deploying these technologies already. The manufacturing landscape will continue to evolve and change and we have to be a part of that. Jobs in the steel industry are going to become increasingly high-tech but simultaneously, like every industry, we have to capture productivity and ensure that we remain competitive against the low-cost players, it added.

On its lower output levels too, the company argues that the focus instead should be on its fundamental strength. It says: Production may be marginally lower, but we have increased our market share, we have increased our product range, and we have reduced our net debt by $20 billion since the crisis.

Specifically on the European operations, which were hit by job cuts, ArcelorMittal contends that it has spent USD 7 billion since 2008, to improve its position and in new products and technologies. We do everything we can to avoid job cuts, relying on natural attrition to capture productivity improvements and trying to find a solution for every employee affected.

Cycle turns

Fortunately for the company, the steel cycle has turned in the last one year. Backed by higher demand and better prices for its products, ArcelorMittals net income doubled in 2017. Its revenue grew by over 20 percent, and net debt reduced by about USD 2 billion.

The better tidings come at a good time. Mittal is pushing for a presence in his home country, something that has proved elusive even after repeated attempts over more than 10 years. Plans for three mega projects have been a non-starter. And the 2010-investment in Uttam Galva has proved to be a costly one.

Mittal is trying his best to ensure that the Uttam Galva investment doesnt rob him of his best opportunity - the Essar Steel auction - to make a presence in India. He and Aditya have made repeated visits to India, and have met senior officials, including Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. A possible amendment in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code could pave the way for ArcelorMittals bid.

While the eligibility question remains, Mittal and his team have given some indication of how they plan to turnaround Essar Steel.

Mukherjee, who was the company's CEO for two years following, calls Essar Steel "a wonderful asset." But the company suffers from its part-dependence on gas for fuel. Experts expect ArcelorMittal to set up an additional blast furnace to reduce the dependency on gas.

"There is ample space to expand capacity well beyond the present 9.6 million tons," a senior executive from the industry told Moneycontrol.

ArcelorMittal will also bring its global expertise, backed by the world's largest R&D unit for a steel company, to add to Essar Steel's product portfolio.

Mukherjee, now a global consultant and a Director at JSW Steel, says, If you have all this (global experience), its a no-brainer that the best partner for Essar Steel is ArcelorMittal.

Not everyone in the industry may agree with him. But Mittal himself will be glad that the steel cycle has turned, and the global environment is much friendlier than it was even a year ago.Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked the agriculture ministry to assess if the annual agri-science fair (Krishi Unnati Mela) is benefitting the farming community or not.

He also said such agri-fairs should be organised in remote rural places for better dissemination of farm technologies and government programmes.

Addressing the three-day mela held in the Pusa complex, Modi said: "There should be an analysis of the impact of such melas. What has been the impact on farmers and if they have learned from mela -- such analysis will be of help."

The study on impact of this mela will help in future, he added. The Prime Minister appealed to the visiting farmers to spend more time at the fair and learn about new farming technologies.

"Take back home what you learnt from here and share it with fellow farmers in your village." He asked farmers to visit the pavilion on bee-keeping and learn more about the value-added products and its price being quoted in the international market.

"It is not just honey, many other products are made. You should go and see," he said. Similarly on Farmers Producers Organisation (FPOs), he asked farmers to visit the pavilion and learn how to set up such organisations and its benefits.

Modi had addressed the fair last time in 2016. Thousands of farmers from across India visited the second day of the Krishi Unnati Mela today. Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma as also Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh and Ministers of State for Agriculture -- Parshottam Rupala, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Krishna Raj -- were present at the event.BJP

The Karnataka BJP, ahead of the Assembly polls, would organise a statewide campaign from March 21 in support of farmers' cause and pledge justice for them if the party comes to power in the state.

During the 'Mushti Dhanya Sangraha Abhiyana', a door-to-door campaign, party workers will collect a handful of grains from farmers, while assuring them of policy decisions that will ensure their welfare, in return.

"In all villages, our workers will go door-to-door and collect a handful of grains, maybe rice, maize or ragi," Union minister and BJP in-charge of Karnataka Prakash Javadekar told reporters here.

"In return, we will give a letter to farmers by B S Yeddyurappa (BJP state president) asking them not to commit suicide and assuring them that once the BJP government comes to power, we will ensure that no farmer dies in the state", he said.

Pointing out that more than 3,500 farmers have committed suicide during the present Congress government in Karnataka, he said, "We will promise to ensure complete justice to farmers".

"During the conclusion of the campaign... April 8, 9, or 10, depending on convenience, in each Assembly constituency there would be 'samohik bojan' (mass meal) with farmers and non-farmers where a pledge will be taken to create an administration and take policy decisions to ensure welfare and interest of farmers," he said.

The grains collected from farmers would be used during the 'samohik bojan'.

'Mushti Dhanya Sangraha Abhina' was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Davangere last month.

BJP has already mobilised 6,000 'Mushti Dhanya Abhina' in-charges for the purpose.

Assembly elections in Karnataka is likely to be held in April/May.

Accusing the Congress of being "completely anti-farmer", Javadekar said they have ruined farmers by following "deliberate" policy of not paying remunerative prices for their produce.

"Undeclared policy of Congress has always remained not to give farmer his due... Farmers at local and national level have been harassed by the Congress," he said.

On the demand by farmers in Karnataka for waiving off their loan taken from nationalised banks, Javadekar said the Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra governments have paid on behalf of farmers, while the Karnataka government had failed to do so.

Asked whether BJP would waive farmers' loans once it comes to power in Karnataka, he said: "our manifesto will tell..."Softening its stand on the chief secretary assault issue, a forum of Delhi government employees on Friday decided that officials will attend meetings called by AAP ministers in connection with the ongoing budget session of the Assembly.

Since the alleged attack on Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash by some AAP MLAs at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence last month, all officials including IAS and DANICS officers have been boycotting meetings with cabinet ministers and maintaining written communication with them.

"In view of the Assembly Session, members of Joint Forum reiterated to work for the people and will attend to all duties via a vis Assembly proceedings including physical presence where necessitated," a statement issued by the Joint Forum of Delhi government employees said.

Prakash and other senior IAS officers had recently decided to attend cabinet meetings to ensure that people's works are not affected.

Before a cabinet meeting on February 27, the chief secretary had written to Kejriwal, saying that he and his fellow officers would attend the meeting of council of ministers on the budget session only on the assumption of officer's security.

"Will attend the meeting on the assumption that chief minister will ensure there is no physical attack and verbal assault on the officers," Prakash had said in the letter.

In solidarity with the Chief Secretary, all officials have been observing a five-minute silence during lunch time.After lots of dilly- dallying and court battles, the largest airline IndiGo has agrreed to relocate a chunk of its operations to the revamped terminal 2 of the Indira Gandhi airport in the national Capital from March 25.

Another budget carrier SpiceJet too had announced yesterday that it would move 22 of its flights to seven destinations from March 25 to the T2. GoAir had already moved its entire operations to T2 last October.

The IndiGo decision comes after the Supreme Court had last month dismissed its petition against the airport operator GMR Group which had asked these low-cost carriers to partially move to the T2 which has been revamped at a cost of Rs 100 crore.

As part of the move, IndiGo will operate as many as 10 sectors--Amritsar, Bagdogra, Bengaluru, Bhubaneshwar, Chennai, Raipur, Srinagar, Udaipur, Vadodara and Vishakhapatnam--with 6E2000-6E 2999 flight numbers, Delhi International Airport said in a statement today.

SpiceJet will relocate seven sectors--Ahmedabad, Cochin, Goa, Gorakhpur, Patna, Pune and Surat--to the new terminal with SG 8000 to SG 8999 flight numbers, it said.

The shifting of partial services to the new terminal, which has been refurbished at a cost of Rs 100 crore, from the existing terminal T1 will pave the way for expansion work at T1, the airport operator said.

There are three operational terminals--T1, T2 and T3. While IndiGo and SpiceJet operate their domestic services from T1, GoAir flies from T2.

State-run Air India and private carriers Jet Airways and Vistara have their operations from the international terminal T3.

While GoAir moved its entire operations to T2 last October after DIAL asked the three airlines to shift a part of their services to T2, IndiGo had challenged the decision in Delhi High court and subsequently in the apex court.

However, the Supreme Court dismissed IndiGo's plea on February 23, leaving the carrier with no option but to comply with DIAL's of October 21, 2017 directive.

Following the SC order, both IndiGo and SpiceJet had submitted lists of sectors to DIAL for shifting to T2, which gave its consent to the list, the release said.

The shifting, however, is a temporary move to ease the pressure of fast growing traffic at T1, which has a capacity to handle 20 million passengers at present. DIAL plans to double this capacity to 40 million with the expansion.

As part of its expansion plans, DIAL is looking to expand the passenger handling capacity of the two terminals, re-commission operations at T2 and build a new runway, in addition to the three existing ones, by 2021.

The operator also said it will initially provide transfer services between T1 and T2 to those passengers who land at the wrong terminal.

"IndiGo is reaching out to all passengers and their respective travel agents via SMS, calls, and e-mails provided in reservation. In the event a passenger missing our flight due to the change in terminal, we will rebook the flight at no extra charge," IndiGo said in a statement.The Madras High Court has wound up the one-man commission appointed by it to probe into illegal granite mining activities in Madurai.

A division bench of Justices T S Sivagnanam and G Jayachandran passed an order on Friday winding up the commission headed by IAS officer U Sagayam.

The commission has already submitted its report to the high court.

The Madras High Court had on September 11, 2014, ordered the appointment of former Madurai District Collector Sagayam as Special Officer/Legal Commissioner to conduct a probe into all granite mining contracts and licences given to various private companies in Tamil Nadu and to find if there was any misuse.

The high court also dismissed a plea moved by private mining firm PRP Granites, seeking to allow them to carry out mining in locations other than Madurai and to export granites.

However, the court granted liberty to the petitioner to approach the authority concerned to prove their case and seek permission.

The petitioner submitted that the authorities had communicated to the Reserve Bank of India seeking to freeze its accounts and asked ports in Tamil Nadu not to permit granite export from that city, resulting in their entire business being stalled for over five years.Paul Krugman

Nobel laureate Paul Krugman has said India may be able ride the next wave of globalisation through export of services but cautioned that the country could end up with mass unemployment. "As the worlds economies took off because of growth in the manufacturing sector, India stood apart and unique. It exported services, which was unprecedented, said Krugman at the News18 Rising India Summit on Saturday.

He expressed optimism about India having a first-mover advantage in services which could drive a second wave of growth backed by a health working age population. India has changed the outlook that services can't be exported and can only be availed locally, he said. Britain exports services by way of banking in the city of London, but India branched out into IT, call centres, etc.

Indias demographic dividend can help spur the economy only if the country can provide jobs for the working age populations, Krugman said.

He, however, cautioned that against the lack of manufacturing sector jobs. Indias lack in the manufacturing sector could work against it, as it doesn't have the jobs essential to sustain the projected growth in demography. You have to find jobs for people, he stressed.

Making a case for manufacturing sector push, Krugman said, Japan is no longer a superpower because its working-age population declined, and China is looking the same. In Asia, India could take the lead but only if it also develops its manufacturing sector, not only the services one, he said.

India has come a long way by shedding the image of licence raj and ease of doing business has improved too, he said. I was listening to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech where he said India's improved its ease of doing business ranking from 148 to 100. That's not a badge of distinction but it's progress, said Krugman.

He added that when China is taken out of equation the world would turn to to India. Its GDP per capita has quadrupled, and it looks like Japan in the 60s. Japan went on to make a full transformation, he added. India doesn't get the global attention it deserves, he said.Rajnath Singh

In a scathing attack on Pakistan, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that Indias neighbour was the deterrent in ensuring that the two nations did not have cordial relations.

Atal Bihari Bajpayee said friends change but neighbours don't. We want good relations with our neighbours but Pakistan does not want to improve, he said at the Rising India Summit in the national capital.

The statement comes in the wake of a diplomatic row between the two nations. Pakistan on Thursday said it has decided to call back its High Commissioner in India, Sohail Mahmood, for consultations after repeated incidence of "harassment" of its diplomatic staff in New Delhi.

On Tuesday, the Foreign Office had summoned India's Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh over alleged harassment of its officials and their families in New Delhi.

Launching a scathing attack on the Islamic Republic, the minister further said that Pakistan was not doing enough to fight terrorism. They are allowing a UN designated terrorist (Haafiz Saeed) to run his own political party and fight elections. God knows how many people these terrorists have killed. The country also helps the Haqqani network to grow, the minister said.21:04 That's all for today, readers. Thanks for staying on with our coverage of the day's action. Your enthusiasm encourages us to better our coverage every day. Do come back tomorrow for more news, views and insights.

20:45 Himachal Pradesh gets Krishi Karman Award for foodgrain production

Himachal Pradesh has been given Krishi

Karman Award for its landmark achievement for the highest foodgrain production. The Krishi Karman Award for year 2015-16 presented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Himachal IT minister Ram Lal Markanda at a function organised at New Delhi on Saturday. The award carried a trophy, citation and cash prize. Besides, two progressive farmers of the state, including a woman farmer also received the prizes. (PTI)

19:55 BJP MLA 'manhandles' toll plaza staff, video goes viral

A video surfaced purportedly showing a BJP MLA manhandling a toll plaza worker in Rajasthan's Banswara district. In the video that went viral on social media, the accused MLA of the ruling party, Jeetmal Khant, is seen dragging and slapping a toll plaza in Badhalia. However, no police case has been registered in the matter, police said. (PTI)

19:07 Maharashtra farmers `reclaim' land acquired by Nirav Modi's firm

Farmers in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra today claimed that fugitive jeweller Nirav Modi, prime accused in the alleged Rs 11,400 crore Punjab National Bank fraud, had acquired their lands at less than prevailing rates.

A group of over 200 farmers, who arrived in bullock carts at the tract of land at Khandala in Karjat tehsil, ploughed a part of it using a tractor as a symbolic reclaiming of possession.

18:46 Sebi fines NDTV, others for disclosure lapses

Capital markets watchdog Sebi has imposed a penalty of Rs 10 lakh on media firm NDTV and of Rs 3 lakh each on four individuals, including promoters Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy, for certain disclosure lapses.

The order follows a probe by Sebi (Securities and Exchange Board of India) into alleged delay in disclosure about Rs 450 crore income tax demand -- subsequently challenged by NDTV, which has been in cross hairs of various agencies -- and about sale of some shares by a top company executive over four years ago.

In its 23-page order dated March 16, Sebi imposed penalty of Rs 10 lakh on NDTV and Rs 3 lakh each on Prannoy Roy, Radhika Roy, Vikramaditya Chandra (group CEO at that time) and Anoop Singh Juneja (compliance officer).

18:12 Railways could run 100-plus trains by cutting layover time: Piyush Goyal

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal today said that an analysis done by his department has found that 100-plus new trains could be run on shorter routes by cutting layover time.

Layover time is defined as the idle time of a train at the originating or terminating station before commencement of journey.

"The analysis has found that 100-plus new trains could be started just by using trains lying idle on shorter routes," Goyal said at 58th National Cost Convention.

The minister gave the example of high-speed Gatimaan Express plying between Hazrat Nizamuddin and Agra. The train has been extended up to Gwalior and will, thereafter, be extended to Jhansi, cutting the layover time, he said.

17:47 Precautions must while sharing Aadhaar number online: UIDAI

The UIDAI today asked people to take "due precautions" while sharing their personal information such as Aadhaar on the internet for availing any service.

Playing down reports of Aadhaar pdf being allegedly available through Google search query of Mera Aadhaar, Meri Pehchan, UIDAI claimed that the issue had "nothing to do with the security of Aadhaar and its database".

"People share their personal information, including Aadhaar on internet, to some or other service provider or vendor to get the services and when they put their details on internet they should take due precautions as required in any digital activities," Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) said in a statement.

17:26 Verdict against Lalu, Mishra in a fodder scam case deferred till Mar 19

A special CBI court has deferred till March 19 the judgement against former Bihar chief ministers Lalu Prasad and Jagannath Mishra in the fourth fodder scam case pertaining to alleged withdrawal of Rs 3.13 crore from the Dumka treasury over two decades ago, a lawyer said today.

This is the second time that the verdict in the case has been postponed, RJD chief Prasad's counsel Prabhat Kumar said

The court of special judge Shiv Pal Singh had yesterday fixed today as the date for the pronouncement of the order, he said.

17:04 Confusion being spread about support price to farmers: PM

In an apparent attack on opposition parties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said confusion is being spread about the budget decision to fix MSP for crops, at least 1.5 times the production cost, and assured farmers that all major costs incurred will be included while declaring the support price.

The Centre is already working with state governments to ensure that farmers get the benefit of the declared Minimum Support Price (MSP), he said.

Addressing a three-day Krishi Unnati Mela 2018 here, Modi also appealed to farmers not to burn crop residues so as to curb pollution.

Besides, he asked farmers to grow more oilseeds to reduce dependence on import of cooking oil as also to cut urea consumption by at least half by 2022.

16:25 Sonia targets Modi, accuses him of making hollow promises

Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi today launched an all-out attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that his pre-poll promises of combating corruption and ensuring inclusive development were "only dramebazi' and a trick to grab power.

Gandhi, in her address at the 84th Congress Plenary Session, gave a clarion call to the partymen to be ready for any kind of sacrifice to strengthen the party and to make the county free from discrimination, vendetta politics and arrogance.

She called upon them to forcefully fight against the challenges posed by the present dispensation and asked them to mount a struggle to free the country from the fear of power.

"The slogans of 'sab ka saath, sab ka vikas' and 'na khaoonga, na khaane doonga' are only and only dramebazi (drama) and a trick to grab power," she said, referring to Modi's promises of inclusive development and corruption-free governance.

15:47 Karnataka polls will be 'secularism vs communalism' contest: Siddaramaiah

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today said the state Assembly elections will see a "secularism versus communalism" contest and the Congress will emerge victorious.

He also said the poll results will work as a "stepping stone" for the 2019 general elections.

14:51 Russia to expel 23 British diplomats: Foreign Ministry

Russia announced today it will expel 23 British diplomats and halt the activities of the British Council in response to London's "provocative" measures over the poisoning of a former Russian double agent and his daughter.

"Twenty three diplomatic staff at the British embassy in Moscow are declared persona non grata and to be expelled within a week," the foreign ministry said in a statement after summoning the British ambassador Laurie Bristow.

It said the move was a response to Britain's "provocative actions" and "baseless accusations over the incident in Salisbury on March 4," referring to the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal with a nerve agent developed in the Soviet Union, which Britain has blamed on Russia.

Russia also said it was halting the activities of the British Council, Britain's international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities, across the country.

"Due to the unregulated status of the British Council in Russia, its activity is halted," the foreign ministry said. And the ministry had also warned Britain that "if further unfriendly actions are taken towards Russia, the Russian side retains the right to take other answering measures."

14:46 JUST IN | Lalu Yadav has been brought to RIMS Hospital in Ranchi after he complained of health issues.

14:40 AAP leader H S Phoolka favours autonomy for AAP Punjab unit, not a split

Senior AAP leader H S Phoolka today asked party legislators in Punjab to seek "autonomy" for the state unit rather than forming a separate party "in the best interest" of the state, a day after majority of AAP MLAs contemplated a split.

Giving his views for the first time after party chief Arvind Kejriwal's apology to a former minister which pushed the state unit into a crisis, the former leader of opposition in Punjab Assembly and MLA from Dakha also suggested that the state unit should function like a regional party with total independence on state matters.

"In best interest of Pb, my suggestion to Pb AAP MLAs- demand autonomy, not a separate party. AAP Punjab should function as a Regional party with an alliance with national AAP.In Punjab matters, total independence and on national issues, go by National leadership (sic)," Phoolka, a noted Supreme Court lawyer, tweeted.

14:36 Bank guarantees of Rs 155.5 crore issued to NSIC against 100% margin: UBI

United Bank of India (UBI) today said it has issued bank guarantees of Rs 155.5 crore to National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) against 100 percent margin.

The ED has registered a money laundering case in connection with an alleged fraud of over Rs 173 crore in at UBI in 2016, involving the NSIC in West Bengal. "We would like to clarify that the Bank had issued Bank Guarantees (BG) amounting to Rs 155.50 crore to NSIC against 100 per cent margin," UBI said in a filing to BSE.

NSIC sought confirmation for further BGs amounting to Rs 18 crore which, as per the bank, are non-existent in its records, UBI said. It added that the bank guarantees amounting to Rs 155.5 crore were periodically and prematurely invoked by NSIC and the amount was "duly credited to their account".

The matter is under investigation by CID, West Bengal since July 2016, it added.

14:27 JUST IN | Congress hints at possible alliance for 2019.

14:23 Centre working with states to ensure farmers get declared MSP: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said MSP for crops will be at least 1.5 times the production cost so as to boost farmers' incomes and the Centre is working with states to ensure that they get the benefit of the support prices.

Modi also said that many people are spreading rumours regarding the minimum support price (MSP) and creating a gloomy atmosphere. He said all input costs would be included while fixing MSPs of various crops and this decision would help double farm income by 2022.

Addressing the Krishi Unnati Mela 2018 at Pusa agri complex here, he asked farmers to grow more oilseeds to reduce the country's dependence on imports of cooking oil. Besides, he appealed to them to reduce the consumption of urea by at least half by 2022. Modi also urged farmers not to burn crop residue as it leads to air pollution and affects soil fertility.

14:18 BJP assumed power at Centre due to PM Modi's ability to pick 'committed' workers: Anandiben Patel

Crediting her success in politics largely to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Madhya Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel has said the BJP gained power at the Centre due to Modi's ability to select "committed" party workers.

Patel had replaced Modi as the Gujarat Chief Minister after the latter became the prime minister in May 2014. She stepped down as Gujarat Chief Minister in August 2016.

Patel remembered Modi during the launch of her biography "Karma Yatri", written by Ameya Latkar, here last night in the presence of BJP chief Amit Shah and Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, among others.

"When I was a teacher before joining politics (in 1980s), I saved two girls from drowning during a picnic. After reading that news, Modi came to my house and asked me to join politics. That was the first time I met him. This is an example how he used to find party workers," 76-year-old Patel recalled.

"He was an expert in picking up right party worker. He used to select those who are committed. He used to select those who never gave up till the assigned work is over. Thanks to this, BJP was able to form its government at the Centre," quipped Patel.

14:12 BCCI proposes day-night test match: Amitabh Chaudhary

Today's meeting was essentially to fix venues and dates for our home series beginning with West Indies and concluding with Australia. The venues for the matches with West Indies and Australia were also decided.

The committee considered the proposal of converting 1 of the 2 test matches into a day-night test match and considered the view of all stake holders and the view was unanimous favoring this experiment.

However, the decision was not taken today, only decision taken today was to send recommendation to the COA. The day night match will happen only when COA approves: Amitabh Chaudhary, Secretary, BCCI told ANI after the fixtures meeting.

14:08 Russia summons British ambassador over spy poisoning dispute

Russia's Foreign Ministry summoned the British ambassador to Russia today in a deepening geopolitical dispute over a nerve agent attack on a former spy in Britain.

Russia is expected to announce the expulsion of British diplomats and possibly other measures in a retaliatory move. British Prime Minister Theresa May this week ordered 23 Russian diplomats expelled to punish Russia over the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the city of Salisbury. British Ambassador Laurie Bristow is expected at the Russian Foreign Ministry late today morning.

Britain's foreign secretary accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of personally ordering the poisoning of the Skripals, who remain hospitalised in critical condition after the March 4 attack. Putin's spokesman denounced the claim.

14:05 Indian National Congress 84th Plenary Session | Nobody can stop Rahul Gandhi from becoming the Prime Minister of the country in 2019: Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah, reports ANI.

14:04 Congress Plenary session: BJP spreading anger, hatred, says Rahul Gandhi ## Congress Plenary session: BJP spreading anger, hatred, says Rahul Gandhi

Congress president Rahul Gandhi today accused the Narendra Modi government of spreading hatred and anger, and said the Congress was the only party that would take the country forward by fostering an environment of amity and love.

In his brief inaugural address at the 84th Congress Plenary session, Gandhi said the Congress's hand (election symbol) is the only one that would unite India and take it forward, and reminded partymen that it followed the ideology of love.

The difference between the BJP and the Congress was that while they spread anger and hatred, "we spread love and brotherhood", he said.

14:00 Indian National Congress 84th Plenary Session | On corruption, the party said that the BJP government "lacks sincerity in fighting corruption, to ensure transparency and accountability. This is underscored by its non-appointment of Lokpal".

The party also said the judicial system needed urgent reforms for effective and timely dispensation of justice and said the huge pendency of cases and providing affordable justice remains a big challenge that needs to be addressed.

The resolution also called upon the media to restore the balance in national narrative to safeguard democracy. The political resolution also talked about deteriorating internal and external security environment, youth, women empowerment and social justice.

It also highlighted the atrocities on dalits, minorities and tribals, alleging that they are living under the general fear of insecurity under the BJP rule.

13:51 Indian National Congress 84th Plenary Session | The party hit out at the BJP-RSS ideology, alleging that it was creating an environment of "distrust, fear and intimidation" in pursuit of their "insidious and divisive agenda".

"The Congress condemns the BJP government for brazen abuse of power and misuse of central agencies for targeted political vendetta to harass, humiliate and persecute its political opponents. The Congress party warns the BJP and its government that its undemocratic methods and acts to curtail liberty, freedom of expression and violation of fundamental rights of its citizens as enshrined in the Constitution will be strongly resisted," the resolution said.

13:48 An illustrious example of 'isolation to integration' is seen in the turnaround of Northeast. Out of the 16,452 villages electrified in the last 4 years, 13,000 were in East India alone of which 5,000 were in Northeast. The problem was measured to manage and create mass movement: PM Modi at Krishi Unnati Mela 2018.

13:45 Indian National Congress 84th Plenary Session | The draft resolution said that the BJP's move of simultaneous elections is "misplaced" and is "incompatible with the Constitution as also impractical".

"It will have serious implications, which must be thoroughly enquired into, and a national consensus built," it said. Facing the challenge of defections in the party, with BJP poaching many of its leaders, the party sought debarring defectors from contesting elections for six years to check the "brazen misuse of money power to create political instability".

13:41 Indian National Congress 84th Plenary Session | The party also gave a clarion call to its rank and file to rise to the occasion and defend the foundational values of the Republic and constitutional democracy.

The resolution said at a time when the country stood at the crossroads, facing the threat posed by "authoritarian, divisive and disruptive forces", the Congress is committed to serve the people of India with its illustrious history and legacy that represent multi-cultural, multi-lingual and multi-religious India.

The party said that under the BJP regime, the people of the country, be it farmers, labourers, unorganised sector workers, self-employed, dalits, traders, minorities and the poor have been "betrayed".

13:36 Congress to adopt 'pragmatic approach' for cooperation with like-minded parties

The Congress today resolved to adopt a "pragmatic approach" for cooperation with all like-minded parties and evolve a common workable programme to defeat the BJP-RSS in the 2019 general election.

This indication of a pre-poll tie-up comes in the wake of efforts by the Congress to evolve a consensus among various opposition parties to unitedly take on the might of the BJP. In its political resolution moved at the party's 84th Plenary Session, the Congress today launched a scathing attack on the BJP-RSS, saying the country's core constitutional values are under attack and freedom of all is in jeopardy, with institutions under stress and their independence compromised.

"A resurgent Congress alone shall win back the idea of India as envisioned by the founding fathers of our nation," reads the draft resolution moved at the conclave by senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge.

The party said it was prepared for making sacrifices required to defend the ethos of the Constitution and "we will purge the polity of the aberrations witnessed during the BJP regime, which has failed to honour its commitments to the people of India".

13:33 Trump fires FBI official for unauthorised disclosure to media

The Trump administration has fired the number two official at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) accusing him of making an unauthorised disclosure to the media.

Andrew McCabe, the FBI Deputy Director, who was set to retire on Sunday, in a lengthy statement fired back alleging that his termination was an effort on the part of the administration to undermine the investigation in the alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election by counsel Robert Mueller.

The announcement by Attorney General Jeff Sessions late last night comes within days of President Donald Trump firing his Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Sessions said McCabe has been fired based on the recommendation of an internal FBI office that handles disciplinary matters.

The FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) and Office of Inspector General (OIG) had found McCabe made an unauthorised disclosure to the news media and "lacked candour - including under oath - on multiple occasions," the attorney general said.

13:27 In this budged we announced GOBAR-Dhan Yojana which stands for Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources, it will help in managing bio-waste being produced in villages, in a big way: PM Modi at Krishi Unnati Mela 2018.

13:16 We are working with state governments so that farmers receive the entire benefit of MSP, says Narendra Modi.

13:09 Through the medium of this event I have got the opportunity to simultaneously interact with the 2 most important parts of new India, that is the farmers who provide food and the scientists who come up with the latest technology: PM Modi at Krishi Unnati Mela 2018.

13:05 Indian National Congress 84th Plenary Session | The country is tired of what is happening under the current government. Only the Congress party can show the way and heal divisions in the nation: Congress President Rahul Gandhi.

13:00 Indian National Congress 84th Plenary Session | The symbol of the hand is the symbol of the Congress party. This is the symbol that holds the country together, shows us the way, and will take India forward: Congress President Rahul Gandhi.

12:56 FLASH | Precautionary landing carried out by Indian Navy's Chetak 413 helicopter near Kerala's Cochin, after experiencing low engine oil pressure. Aircraft and crew are safe.

12:54 Indian National Congress 84th Plenary Session | Change is necessary and we need to bring the change. Following our leader Rahul Gandhi we are willing to give our sweat and blood to revive the party and estabilish Congress rule in the centre once again: Congress MP Sachin Pilot.

12:38 BJP spreading anger, hatred: Congress Chief Rahul Gandhi

Congress president Rahul Gandhi today accused the Narendra Modi government of spreading hatred and anger, and said the Congress was the only party that would take the country forward by fostering an environment of amity and love.

In his brief inaugural address at the 84th Congress Plenary session, Gandhi said the Congress's hand (election symbol) is the only one that would unite India and take it forward, and reminded partymen that it followed the ideology of love.

The difference between the BJP and the Congress was that while they spread anger and hatred, "we spread love and brotherhood", he said.

Gandhi also said that the Congress party under him would take the seniors and the youths together as the tradition of the Congress party was to embrace change without forgetting its past and legacy.

"If the youths have to take the Congress forward, it cannot be done without the experience the party veterans. My task is to be take them together," he said.

Representatives of the party have fought hard to keep the Congress ideology alive. Senior leaders of the Congress will guide the youths and take the party forward, he added.

Taking a jibe at the present dispensation, Gandhi said that crores of youths in the country, looking up to Modi, are not finding any anything as there were no jobs. "The country is tired of what is happening under the current government. Only the Congress party can show the way and heal divisions in the nation," he said.

"Come what may, this country belongs to everyone, every religion, every caste and every person and the Congress party is for everyone and we will not leave anyone behind," he added. The two-day plenary session is being attended by senior Congress leaders including former party president Sonia Gandhi and former prime minister Manmohan Singh.

12:35 Indian National Congress 84th Plenary Session | To those who challenge us, I would say... as of now we have won by-polls under leadership of Rahul Gandhi, soon you'll see us winning states and in 2019 Congress will win the elections: Sachin Pilot

12:27 Gorakhpur debacle wont happen again: Rajnath Singh

Undaunted by the Gorakhpur bypolls defeat, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said the BJP realises that loss is also a possibility in the election. What happened in Gorakhpur will not happen again because we know that this result is also a possibility, Singh said at News18s Rising India Summit.

The remarks come after the BJP lost in the bypolls conducted in Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats. The loss is being seen by political experts as a wake-up call as Gorakhpur was earlier held by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, while Phulpurs elected representative was Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya. Interestingly, Adityanath won the Gorakhpur seat five times, making it a BJP bastion.

Read the full report here.

12:24 Indian National Congress 84th Plenary Session | Congress party led India to independence and helped establish democracy. It was democracy which brought PM Modi to power but, ironically, his Govt itself has now become a threat to democracy: Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge.

12:23 Indian National Congress 84th Plenary Session | "Congress party led India to independence and helped establish democracy. It was democracy which brought PM Modi to power but, ironically, his Govt itself has now become a threat to democracy," senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said in his address.

12:10 Parliamentary panel raps govt over delay in framing law to regulate AYUSH ads

A parliamentary committee has rapped the health and AYUSH ministries for their "laid back" approach in the framing of a new legislation to regulate misleading advertisements promoting the sale of AYUSH medicines.

The panel, in its report on Demands for Grants 2018-19 for the Ministry of AYUSH, noted that it is the "need of the hour" to strictly monitor and regulate misleading advertisements promoting the sale traditional medicines.

"The committee is of the view that a strong and strict regulatory framework is essential for quality control of AYUSH drugs," the panel said.

Due to monitoring by the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) and the Grievances against Misleading Advertisements (GAMA), 65 percent of the advertisements found misleading were withdrawn or rectified and the rest were forwarded to State AYUSH Drug Regulators, the ministry of AYUSH has informed the panel.

The committee is of the view that collaborative efforts of the ministry, along with the Department of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and state governments, have certainly given results as misleading advertisements with respect to AYUSH drugs which have been unregulated so far have been controlled to an extent.

"Hence the role of the ministry is pivotal in proactively pursuing the issue with other departments, ministries, ASCI on a regular basis for effectively preventing the publication of inappropriate misleading advertisements," it said.

11:50 "The slogan na mein khaunga, na Khane dunge has now become Mein Khaunga, aur apna doston ko khilaunga," senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said, taking a dig at PM Modi.

11:49 Mallikarjun Kharge at plenary session in New Delhi

"No one else has the strength to defeat us. If Congress party lost it is because of infighting among members. I request everyone to unite and come together as one," Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha said.

11:44 No more personnel changes coming up: White House

The White House is not planning any "immediate personnel changes" and is focused on work, chief of staff John Kelly has assured President Donald Trump's senior staff, amid a flurry of recent departures of top officials that have jolted the Trump administration.

Kelly met with the administration staff yesterday, reassuring them that their jobs were safe and they "shouldn't be concerned".

"The Chief of Staff actually spoke to a number of staff this morning, reassuring them that there were no immediate personnel changes at this time. And that people shouldn't be concerned," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters at her daily news conference yesterday.

"We should do exactly what we do every day, and that's come to work and then do the very best job that we can. And that's exactly what we're doing. That's exactly what we're focused on. And many of us have relayed that to other staffers that weren't part of that meeting," she said.

In a major story on Friday, The Washington Post reported that Trump was "now comfortable" with ousting national security adviser H R McMaster with whom he never personally gelled, but is willing to take time executing the move because he wants to ensure both that the three-star Army general is not humiliated and that there is a strong successor lined up.

11:33 4,500 PHCs transformed into wellness centres: Ashwini Choubey

Union minister Ashwini Choubey today said 4,500 primary health centres have been transformed into wellness centres and rest of the 1.5 lakh such units will be similarly developed to make healthcare accessible and affordable for the poor.

The government has taken several initiatives, such as National Health Policy and Ayushman Bharat, which would fulfil the dream of a Healthy India by 2022, the Minister of State for Health said.

Choubey released two knowledge papers on Healthcare issues at NATEv2018 -- the 5th Annual event of Healthcare Federation of India (NATHEALTH).

"The focus of the government is to transform primary healthcare to help the underserved section of the society and 1.5 lakh primary health centres would be transformed into well-equipped wellness centres.

11:30 Second, third Scorpene-class submarines undergoing sea trials

The second and third of the six Scorpene-class submarines, part of Project-75 of the Indian Navy, are undergoing sea trials while the rest are under construction, a senior naval officer said.

Interacting with reporters during an event at Kota House here, Commandant of National Defence College Vice Admiral Srikant also said the air independent propulsion (AIP) indigenous system for submarines, on which the DRDO is working, will go for marine testing.

He was speaking at the launch of a teaser of 'Breaking Point: Indian Submariners', a four-part series which will air on the Discovery Channel on March 19.

11:24 'The difference between our party and the incumbent ruling party is that they follow the ideology of hatred while we follow the ideology of love and fraternity. The tradition of the Congress party is to embrace change without forgetting our past and legacy,' Congress President Rahul Gandhi said in New Delhi.

11:19 After Kejriwal's apology, Punjab AAP unit contemplates breaking away

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's apology to an SAD leader for accusing him of drugs trade pushed the party's Punjab unit into a crisis as the state leadership contemplated breaking away and forming a separate unit, saying the "meek surrender" was painful and very unfortunate.

Kejriwal's apology to former Punjab minister Bikram Singh Majithia triggered upheaval in the state unit as AAP's Punjab unit president Bhagwant Mann and co-president Aman Arora resigned from their posts.

Mann tweeted, "I m resigning as a president of AAP Punjab... but my fight against drug mafia and all kind of corruption in Punjab will continue as an "Aam Aadmi" of Punjab (sic)."

11:15 North Korean minister in 'constructive' talks in Sweden

Sweden's foreign minister held what she called "good and constructive" talks with her North Korean counterpart today amid growing speculation about a possible meeting in the Scandinavian country between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom refused to comment on whether she and North Korea's Ri Yong Ho discussed a Trump-Kim meeting in brief comments as she left the Stockholm villa where the meeting took place.

The building is close to the embassies of South Korea and the United States.

11:13 IndusInd Bank sells 85 lakh shares of Jaypee Infratech

On March 16, 2018 IndusInd Bank Ltd Client A/C sold 85,00,000 shares of Jaypee Infratech at Rs 10.70 on the NSE.

On Friday, Jaypee Infratech ended at Rs 10.70, up Rs 0.50, or 4.90 percent on the NSE.

The share touched its 52-week high Rs 25.55 and 52-week low Rs 9.50 on 08 January, 2018 and 12 March, 2018, respectively.

11:09 Give more autonomy to northeastern people: Shashi Tharoor

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has called for giving more autonomy to the northeastern people and not adopting a one-size-fits-all approach as different areas of the region have different problems.

Speaking at the launch of Avalok Langer's book on the Northeast, 'In Pursuit of Conflict', at Oxford Bookstore here last evening, Tharoor also voiced support for amending the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act as, according to him, it does more harm than good.

"I have a clearly point of view for as much autonomy as possible for the local people (of the northeastern states)," Tharoor said, calling for much attention to the needs and sensitivities of each area in the region.

11:01 Congress President Rahul Gandhi says, "Only our party can unite the nation."

11:00 "Only Congress can show the way for this nation. This country belongs to all irrespective of which religion caste community one belongs to. We will work for all," says Rahul Gandhi in the Congress 84th Plenary Session.

10:59 "Today anger is spread across the country, nation is getting divided, one is made to fight against other. Congress' job is to keep them together. You have the strength of this Hand symbol in you," says Rahul Gandhi.

10:58 Rahul Gandhi is addressing the Indian National Congress 84th Plenary Session today. The Congress' three-day plenary session commenced at the Constitution Club in New Delhi on Friday.

10:50 Xi Jinping re-elected as China's President after removal of term limit

Chinese President Xi Jinping has been "re-elected" for a second five-year tenure today by China's rubber stamp parliament, the National People's Congress, days after scrapping two-term rule for the President paving the way for his lifelong tenure.

He has also been elected as the head of the powerful Central Military Commission, the overall high command of the Chinese military.

On March 11, over 2900 deputies of the NPC have voted for the constitutional amendment for removing the two-term limit for President and Vice President proposed by the ruling Communist Party of China, (CPC).

Originally Xi is set to retire by 2023 as head of the CPC, the military and Presidency following a two-term limit followed by his predecessors. He became President in 2013.

10:43 Binani Industries moves NCLAT over sale of Binani Cements

Binani Industries has moved the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal against the Resolution Professional (RP) of Binani Cement, alleging that its order was not followed while declaring the successful resolution plan for the struggling cement maker.

Filing a contempt plea against RP and representative of Deloitte who is assisting resolution plan, Binani Industries has also asked the NCLAT to declare the meeting of Committee of Creditors (CoC) of Binani Cements held on March 14, 2018 as "null and Void" in which bid of Dalmia Bharat Cement was approved.

10:42 EU releases list of US products that could face duties

The European Union today published a list of US products it plans to introduce duties on if the 28-nation bloc is not exempted from President Donald Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs.

The list contains dozens of products including breakfast foods, kitchenware, clothing and footwear, washing machines, textiles, whiskey, motorcycles, boats and batteries.

They are worth around 2.8 billion euros (USD 3.4 billion) in trade annually, but the list could grow to the equivalent of 6.4 billion euros once the full extent of the impact of US tariffs is known.

10:35 CDSCO raids 2 firms in Uttarakhand for making drugs without approval

The Central Drug Standards Control Organisation (CDSCO) has conducted raids at two firms based in Haridwar and Roorkee and is mulling cancellation of their licenses for manufacturing and selling medicines without approval from the drug regulator, officials said today.

The two companies were apparently found to be manufacturing and selling fixed dose combination for treatment of diabetes and fungal infection without the permission from Drug Controller General of India (DCGI).

DCGI official said two separate teams of CDSCO raided the premises of the two firms in coordination with the state drug control officials of Uttarakhand and local police officials yesterday.

10:28 Vijay Mallya case: UK judge says obvious' Indian banks broke rules

British judge hearing the extradition case of liquor baron Vijay Mallya today said that it was blindingly obvious that rules were being broken by Indian banks which sanctioned some of the loans to the erstwhile Kingfisher Airlines.

Presiding over a hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London, Judge Emma Arbuthnot directed the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), arguing on behalf of the Indian government, to provide a breakdown of where some of the emails and documentary evidence presented in the case came from.

The hearing today marked the effective end of oral arguments in the case, which will now return to the court on April 27 to consider the additional material sought by the judge and for closing submissions by Mallya's defence team.

10:22 100 Left organisations to hold protest in state capitals against Modi govt on May 23

More than 100 Left-affiliated organisations will hold marches in all state capitals on May 23 to protest the Centre's policies.

The 'Jan Ekta Jan Adhikar Andolan' (JEJAA), an umbrella organisation consisting of trade unions, peasant organisations, agricultural workers, state and central government employees, bank and insurance workers, college and university teachers, students, women, dalits, adivasis and environmentalists, would observe 'Protest Day' on May 23.

"Taking further the recent struggle of the peasantry and the workers and various other sections of the people, JEJAA has decided to launch struggle on the occasion of the 4th anniversary of the NDA government," Hannan Mollah, member of the coordination committee told reporters.

10:15 TDP felt that it was pointless to continue in NDA, says N Chandrababu Naidu

TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu tonight wrote to BJP president Amit Shah, saying they felt it pointless to continue in NDA as the union government failed to discharge its constitutional responsibilities in implementing 'Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act,2014' in letter and spirit.

Naidu pointed out that on most of the crucial provisions of the Act, and the assurances given in the Rajya Sabha, the progress was 'tardy, unsatisfactory and disappointing.'

In the four-page letter, the TDP chief, however, did not mention about the 'collusion' between BJP and other parties (YSR Congress and Jana Sena) that he alleged in the morning during a teleconference with party politburo members and MPs.

Good morning readers, this blog will keep you posted on news around the globe. Stay tune for LIVE updates.Nitin Gadkari

Union minister Nitin Gadkari is expected to kick-off the construction work of Inland Waterways Authority of India's multi-modal terminal at Haldia in West Bengal on March 23.

"Gadkari (Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Shipping and Water Resources) is expected to lay a foundation stone for the multi-modal terminal at Haldia, and the new navigational lock gate and River Information System (RIS) at Farraka," a senior official of IWAI told PTI.

The minister will also flag-off RoRo service between Kolkata and Howrah on NW-1, the official said.

The modern RIS will work similar to an air traffic control, for monitoring the waterways on a real-time basis, officials said.

The entire infrastructure for National Waterways-1 will be ready by the end of 2019 as scheduled, IWAI vice-chairman Paravir Pandey said.

The IWAI is implementing the Jal Marg Vikas Project for augmenting the navigation capacity of NW-1 from Haldia to Varanasi at a cost of Rs 5,369 crore, with technical and financial support of the World Bank.

Meanwhile, Shipping Secretary Gopal Krishna today flagged off two tug-barge flotilla for NW-1, in line with the Centre's efforts to augment navigation capacity of the country's waterways.

The high-power tug has twin propeller, 14-ton bollard pull and two dumb barges of 1,000 ton capacity each.

The barge has been procured at a cost of Rs 16.24 crore, and will help in meeting fly-ash from NTPC's Kahelgoan plant to Bangladesh, the officials said.

Krishna later met West Bengal Chief Secretary Moloy De, and during discussions, a river bank protection plan was mooted jointly by IWAI, Kolkata Port Trust and the state government, they said.The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Saturday supported the demand for deportation of illegal migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh, saying their presence in Jammu and Kashmir posed a security threat to the country.

We do not consider them (Rohingyas and Bangladeshis) as refugees as they are foreigners and have entered in our country illegally, RSS Prant Sanghchalk, Brig (Retd) Suchait Singh told reporters here.

Singh, who was flanked by Prant Kariwah Parshotam Dadichi, said the state and the central governments should identify the illegally settled foreigners and sent them back.

Why should we tolerate them when they pose a security threat to the nation as well as the state, he said.

Criticising the previous UPA government at the centre and National Conference-Congress coalition government in the state for allowing them to settle down in Jammu, he said they are totally responsible for the present situation(agitation over the deportation of Rohingyas and Bangladeshis in Jammu).

What is their motive behind settling them in Jammu is best known to them  We see their presence as a threat and want their early eviction, the former Army officer said.

Dadichi said there are about 300 shakhas in the state and we are waiting for the day when the shakhas are opened in Kashmir valley as well.

We are waiting for the day when the people in the valley will come forward and reach us to open our units. We are sure that day is not far, he said, adding we want peace to return to the valley as soon as possible.

Dadichi said RSS does not believe in propaganda of its activities. We are already working in Kashmir with like-minded people but there are no shakhas as yet. Singh said national building work was being carried out through 277 shakhas, mostly in Jammu region.

We have Shakhas in Ladakh as well and this year so far 666 youths have joined the organisation, he said.

The state in-charge of RSS said 723 activists received training in Sangh Shikhshan vergs (camps). Referring to the three-day Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS) at Nagpur, he said 18 RSS workers from Jammu and Kashmir attended the meet from March 9.

The meet unanimously passed a resolution to highlight the need to protect and promote Indian languages, he said, urging the state government, policy makers, NGOs and individuals to protect and promote local languages.Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has decided to give the event a skip. Naidu also declined invitation to Jagan Mohan Reddy's swearing-in ceremony.

TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu tonight wrote to BJP president Amit Shah, saying they felt it pointless to continue in NDA as the union government failed to discharge its constitutional responsibilities in implementing 'Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act,2014' in letter and spirit.

Naidu pointed out that on most of the crucial provisions of the Act, and the assurances given in the Rajya Sabha, the progress was 'tardy, unsatisfactory and disappointing.'

In the four-page letter, the TDP chief, however, did not mention about the 'collusion' between BJP and other parties (YSR Congress and Jana Sena) that he alleged in the morning during a teleconference with party politburo members and MPs.

Alos read  NDA split highlights: Uddhav Thackeray may hold meeting to decide stand on TDP's no confidence motion

"Today, a feeling is gaining ground in our state that the BJP is not sensitive to the aspirations of our people." "We feel the government headed by it is not willing to implement in letter and spirit the provisions in the AP Reorganisation Act and the assurances given by the then Prime Minister in Rajya Sabha," he said.

The TDP chief said his party had joined the alliance in the hope that the state would get fair treatment and expectation that the people would get justice.

"When our being in the alliance doesn't serve that purpose, we feel that it is pointless to continue," he noted.

Also read  TDPs exit reduces NDA MP count to 315 in Lok Sabha

Naidu said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's statement on March 7 to the media made it clear that the union government was not willing to respect the promises made to the five crore people of Andhra Pradesh.

"On that day, our Union Ministers have exited the Council of Ministers. We expected that before the passage of the Finance Bill, necessary modifications will be made to do justice to the people of AP. But now the Budget was passed and our state has not got justice," the Chief Minister said.

The TDP chief said his party joined the NDA under the leadership of the BJP before the 2014 general elections and fought the elections together in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

"It is a different matter that after the elections you have ended our alliance in Telangana without even the courtesy of formally informing us," Chandrababu said.

Also read  Seven union ministers win Rajya Sabha polls unopposed, contest in six states on March 23

He recalled that Narendra Modi, the then Prime Ministerial candidate, in his public meetings in Andhra Pradesh, had emphatically assured the people that he would give special category status as well as help the state build a capital city much better than Delhi.

"We were told that the 14th Finance Commission recommended against granting of SCS to any state. Although this was a contestable interpretation of the Finance Commission's report, we went along with it because we were promised that all facilities and incentives that are enjoyed by SCS states will be extended to us in the form of special assistance, except the nomenclature. Sadly, that was not to be," he said.

"The Union government, we feel, has failed to discharge its constitutional responsibilities in implementing the AP Reorganisation Act," the Chief Minister said.

TDP had earlier in the day ended its four-year-old alliance with the BJP and walked out of the NDA, eight days after two of its union ministers resigned over the Centre's refusal to grant Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh.

The TDP had moved a no-confidence motion against the Modi government in Lok Sabha. YSR Congress also moved a confidence motion.But these were not taken up as Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said there was no order in the House and adjourned proceedings for the day amid vociferous protests over various issues.

Union ministers P Ashok Gajapati Raju and Y S Chowdary had quit on March 8 after a meeting with the prime minister.The Trump administration is looking for ways to work with India in terms of providing for the needs of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and also to put pressure on Myanmar to create conditions for their safe and voluntary return, a senior US official has said.

Nearly 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar's northern Rakhine state to Bangladesh since August last year when security forces launched a crackdown on insurgents.

Bangladesh and Myanmar agreed in November to start repatriating Rohingya refugees who volunteered to return to Rakhine state, but the process has not yet begun.

The senior US administration official, on the condition of anonymity, said that there is interest in trying to work more closely with India.

"We think India also has an interest in seeing this situation resolved," he said yesterday.

The Trump administration is looking for ways to try to work with India in terms of providing for the needs of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and also ways to work together to put pressure on Myanmar to create the conditions for their safe and voluntary return, the official said.

"India is a like-minded partner. There are ways we can explore coordinating diplomatic approaches to the Burmese in building on that common interest that we have in supporting Bangladesh and making sure that this doesn't become a situation which complicates their own socio-economic situation or socio-political situation and the radicalism; avoiding that problem of exacerbating a radicalism in Bangladesh," he said.

While the US and India have a lot of joint interests, the official said that there has been no helpful response from China on this.

"What I heard from the Bangladeshis was frustration with China's unhelpful role in this crisis. And they certainly were noticing the stark contrast between China's actions and the generous US humanitarian response," the official from the White House told a group of reporters.

He said that Lisa Curtis, who is Deputy Assistant to US President Donald Trump and Senior Director for South and Central Asia at the National Security Council, visited Bangladesh and held a wide range of consultations with its top officials.

"President Trump is very concerned about the Rohingya situation," the official said, adding that the president wants to help resolve the situation.

During the trip, Curtis discussed with top Bangladeshi officials various aspects of the relationship.

While counter-terrorism is very important for Bangladesh, Rohingya refugee crisis is the most pressing issue right now, the official said.

"We owe a debt of gratitude to Bangladesh for opening its arms to the Rohingya refugees," the official said.

"However, there is concerned with the coming monsoon rains, posing a real challenge, given the risk of flooding and mudslides," the official said, adding that the organisations estimate that more than 100,000 refugees face imminent danger.

The Bangladeshi government seeks to put pressure on Myanmar to create conditions for the peaceful and voluntary return of these refugees, he said.

While currently there is no evidence of extremist groups penetrating these refugees camp, the Bangladeshi government is concerned about this, he said.Vijay Mallya

Liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya's extradition trial is set for one of its final hearings at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Friday.

The 62-year-old, who is on trial for the UK court to rule if he can be extradited to India to face charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to around Rs 9,000 crores, is on bail until April 2 and therefore not obliged to attend the hearing today.

Judge Emma Arbuthnot is expected to rule on the admissibility of evidence presented by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), on behalf of the Indian government and set a timeframe for her final verdict.

At the last hearing in January, Mallya's counsel, Clare Montgomery, had argued that evidence that was claimed as a "blueprint of dishonesty" by the CPS was in fact privileged conversation between Mallya and his lawyer about "legal advice in clear contemplation of litigation" and hence should be inadmissible.

On a separate category of evidence presented by the Indian government, Mallya's team questioned the reliability of investigating officers in the case and pointed to over 150 pages of "near identical material" purporting to be statement of witnesses taken under Section 161 of the Indian CrPC.

"They do not appear to be in any way an account of things that witnesses would have said but rather seem to be somebody else's analysis put into the mouths of the witnesses, down to the spelling mistakes," Montgomery said, adding that the documents were "identically reproduced" with not only the same words but also the same typing errors.

After the defence has completed its arguments, the CPS will respond against the claim of "absence of a strong prima facie case on grounds of iniquity".

Judge Arbuthnot had also sought further clarifications related to availability of natural light and medical assistance at Barrack 12 of Mumbai Central Prison on Arthur Road, where Mallya is to be held if he is extradited from Britain.

According to Indian authorities, these clarifications have been provided to the court.

The extradition trial, which opened at the London court on December 4, is aimed at laying out a prima facie case of fraud against the tycoon, who has been based in the UK since he left India in March 2016.

It also seeks to prove that there are no "bars to extradition" and that Mallya is assured a fair trial in India over his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines' alleged default of over Rs 9,000 crore in loans from a consortium of Indian banks.

The CPS, representing the Indian government, has argued that the evidence they have presented confirms "dishonesty" on the part of the businessman and that there are no bars to him being extradited from the UK to face Indian courts.

Mallya's defence team has deposed a series of expert witnesses to claim he had no "fraudulent" intentions and that he is unlikely to get a fair trial in India.

Mallya was arrested by Scotland Yard on an extradition warrant in April 2017 and has been out on bail on a bond worth 650,000 pounds. Chief Magistrate Arbuthnot is expected to pronounce her verdict in the case by May this year.

If she rules in favour of the Indian government, the UK home secretary will have two months to sign Mallya's extradition order. However, both sides will have the chance to appeal in higher courts in the UK against the chief magistrate's verdict.March 17, 2018 / 08:18 PM IST

On Swara Bhaskar's piece on Padmavaat and what followed, Ranaut said, "The way she was bullied was our loss. As a society we failed. She's a legitimate artist and she has a right. I personally didn't agree but somewhere deep down I was pleased. It was heart breaking to see how she was treated for her piece. I'm sure Swara might not be affected by it. She'll come back in 6 months and write again. But million of other women will get affected and be wary of voicing their opinion."live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

Back in 2012, truck and bike manufacturer Eicher Motors and off-road vehicle specialist Polaris joined hands to work on what would be a highly versatile vehicle that addressed specific needs of the buyer.

But initial days of the project were filled with suspense. Head Siddhartha Lal, the managing director of Eicher Motors did not provide any forthcoming details of the project to the media or the shareholders. In fact he maintained that an internal study will decide the future route the project will take.

This gave rise to a series of speculations over the next three years. Some predicted it to be a quadricycle while others assumed it could be a premium motorcycle range or an all-terrain vehicle. Some others went on to speculate that it could be a compact car like the Tata Nano, thereby plugging the last gap in Eichers product line-up.

Then in June 2015, the 50:50 joint venture Eicher Polaris (EPPL) launched the Multix, touted as Indias first personal utility vehicle, a purpose-built, people-cum-load carrier that can even double up to become an electricity generator just in case there is a power outage.

Besides generating 3kW of power (enough to light small homes) the diesel-powered Multix also promised to deliver 28.45 km per litre of mileage

By mid-2015 both companies poured Rs 350 crore into the venture, which included setting up of a 60,000 units per year manufacturing plant in Jaipur as well as towards product development. Priced at Rs 2.32 lakh (ex-showroom, Jaipur) the Multixs main buyer were the 5.8 crore independent businessmen of India.

But all this did not appeal to many buyers. Having clocked only 3,500 unit sales in more than 30 months (less than 6 percent of its annual plant capacity) the JV was forced to shut shop and absorb the Rs 92 crore loss (as of March 31, 2017).

What is heartening is that the Multix was a result of a thorough market research spanning over two years. The Multix was an improvised two-wheeler but did not cost as much as a four wheeler. Both companies knew what the buyer needs but despite the plethora of knowledge the project failed.

EPPL was not the only company to bite the dust during the week. Kanpur-based scooter and bike manufacturer LML shut down operations after its lenders rejected a resolution plan for the heavily indebted company.

LML, which at one point during its history, had a tie-up with the worlds most famous scooter brand Vespa and even roped in actor Shah Rukh Khan as its brand ambassador, begun to lay off workers since last year. The Deepak Singhania-led company had only restarted operations in later half of 2015 after witnessing a long series of start and failures in the previous years.

The two failures  one that ceased faster than it was born and the other that dragged on for the longest period  only added to the list of breakdowns India has seen in recent times. General Motors places itself at the top of the pyramid followed by a number of other companies who are on the brink of bankruptcy. Fiat, AMW, Mitsubishi are some of forgotten brands in India and hope of their revival looks bleak.

Nonetheless, new model launches remained unabated with Italian luxury car maker Maserati launching the 2018 Ghibli in India at Rs 1.33 crore. Honda commercially launched the X-Blade at Rs 78,500 and the Activa 5G at Rs 52,460. Mahindra launched the KUV100 Trip for the commercial buyer at Rs 5.16 lakh. Datsun launched limited edition variants of the Go and Go+ while Volkswagen launched limited edition variants of the Polo and Vento during the week.Sweden's foreign minister held what she called "good and constructive" talks with her North Korean counterpart today amid growing speculation about a possible meeting in the Scandinavian country between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom refused to comment on whether she and North Korea's Ri Yong Ho discussed a Trump-Kim meeting in brief comments as she left the Stockholm villa where the meeting took place.

The building is close to the embassies of South Korea and the United States.

"We'll see what happens next," Wallstrom said. Ri has not made any public comment during a visit to Stockholm that started late Thursday.

He also held a brief meeting earlier Friday with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven.

Wallstrom earlier said Sweden is hoping that "we can use our role and also our contacts," but stressed that it is up to the countries concerned to decide "which way we are going." She said that "we value this opportunity to arrange a meeting," though she didn't specify what she meant.

Lofven, speaking at a press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, did not answer directly whether his country had US support to organise talks with North Korea.

"We have always said we want to be a mediator that facilitates this process," he said Friday.

Trump has agreed to meet Kim by May. So far, North Korea has yet to comment publicly on what it hopes to gain from the talks.

Sweden has been rumoured as a possible site for the summit, though a truce village on the South Korean side of the Demilitarized Zone between the Koreas is seen as more likely. Ri's visit to Stockholm, where he once served as a diplomat at the North Korean Embassy, has been shrouded in secrecy.

The Swedish foreign ministry said ahead of his visit that talks would focus on "Sweden's consular responsibilities as a protecting power for the United States, Canada and Australia" but also would address the security situation on the Korean Peninsula.

Sweden has had diplomatic relations with North Korea since 1973 and is one of few Western countries with an embassy in Pyongyang. It provides consular services for the United States in North Korea.

The trip by Ri is being closely watched because a huge amount of preparation needs to be done before the summit. Senior South Korean officials who traveled to the North Korean capital of Pyongyang this month and met with Kim say he is willing to discuss the North's nuclear weapons program.Pakistan has failed to take decisive actions against terror groups as sought by the Trump administration, the White House said on Friday, and warned Islamabad that the US is prepared to take actions on its own to safeguard its personnel in Afghanistan.

US President Donald Trump had announced his South Asia Policy in August last year, criticising Pakistan for providing safe havens to terror groups carrying out attacks in Afghanistan.

"Six months after the announcement of the South Asia Policy by President Donald Trump, Pakistan has failed to take the kind of decisive actions that the US is seeking," a senior administration official told reporters.

Expressing the White House's displeasure on the alleged continued reluctance on the part of Pakistan to take action against terrorists, the official said, "We are still seeking actions from Pakistan that we have not seen. We are continuing to look for real actions and not word on the Taliban and the Haqqani sanctuaries."

Noting that the US want to see actions against terrorist, the official said, the Trump administration was "prepared to take steps which we feel are necessary to safeguard our personal" in Afghanistan.

The official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, insisted that there is an urgency on the part of Pakistan to take action.

Citing some of the recent high-profile attacks in Kabul by terrorists from across the border, the official said, "It's Pakistan choice on which direction it wants to take the future of the relationship and added that the US was still engaging Pakistani leaders.

"The US is interested in addressing some of the Pakistani concerns, but the ball lies in Islamabad's court," the official said.

Responding to a series of questions, the official, however, did not give any indication on the kind of actions the US was contemplating against Pakistan, given its frustration for them not taking action against terrorist groups.

The Trump Administration, for the first time, has really restored clarity to the US-Pakistan relationship.

"We are truly holding Pakistan accountable for its actions," the official said, adding the President has made it clear that he is not satisfied with the action taken by Islamabad.

"We have communicated clear to Pakistan to what we mean by decisive action," the official said, without giving details about the kind of action the US wants to see from Islamabad except for saying that it wants complete elimination of terrorist safe havens from within its territory.

Pakistanis have wanted to be responsive to the US request, but they "have done bare minimum", the senior administration official said. The US continues to send specific request for actions against terrorist groups, the official added.

"When provided very specific information, they (Pakistanis) have responded. But we have not seen them taking pro-active actions against terrorist groups. (we believe that) They are very capable (in taking those steps)," the official said.

On questions about the deadline, the official said the US is in discussion with Pakistan. "We do not talk in terms of deadlines".

However, Pakistan understand that the way the America appropriations are set up and there are deadlines with regard to assistance. These Congressional deadlines will sometime kick in, the official added.

"We need to sustain the pressure. Any sense that pressure is being relieved, we definitely would not see the objective that we want to see. We intend to continue the pressure and at the same time indicate that there is a way forward. It is good for Pakistan to cooperate with the US on Afghanistan," the official said.

The US also wants Pakistan to take action against Pakistan-based terrorist groups that target India like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

"We believe that the release of Hafeez Saeed in November was a step in the wrong direction," the officials said ruing that Pakistan has not taken sufficient steps with regard to curbing finances of terrorism.

The official also said Pakistan has been taking "bare minimum" actions against terrorists on the US' request.

"We expected that this would be difficult for Pakistan. We expected that it would take some time for Pakistan to break those relationship between intelligence services and the militants. So far, we have seen them taking bare minimum steps that we are requesting, the official pointed out in response to another question.A federal judge in Midland denied and dismissed Empower Texans motion for a preliminary injunction in the conservative political groups attempt to head-off possible prosecution over a mailer that used a different name.

Judge David Counts of the U.S. District Court in Midland ruled Friday that Empower Texans did not have grounds to receive an injunction against several defendants: Midland County District Attorney Laura Nodolf, Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore, Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney Sharen Wilson and Attorney General Ken Paxton, according to court documents.

All of this was to prevent an investigation into Empower Texans political campaigning actions in the District 99 Republican primary election between state Rep. Charles Geren and Mindy Ellmer in Tarrant County. A voter complained to the Travis County district attorney that a mailer sent under the name the Texas Ethics Disclosure Board possibly violated Texas Penal Code section 37.11, Impersonating a Public Servant.

Empower Texans is headquartered in Travis County.

The voter questioned whether the name Texas Ethics Disclosure Board  which Empower Texans registered with the Texas Secretary of State on Jan. 26, 2018  was in violation of the code, alleging that it pretended to be an official government authority. The mailer itself is also alleged to have looked like an official government notice.

Travis County said it would look into the matter. Empower Texans worked to prevent Travis County and others from investigating by filing a temporary restraining order against the defendants on grounds of violations of its First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. It also contended fear of prosecution has had a chilling effect on (Empower Texans) speech, causing (Empower Texans) damage, the order released Friday said.

I respect and agree with the courts thorough opinion and his time and consideration on this matter, Nodolf wrote in an email to the Reporter-Telegram.

Counts determined Empower Texans did not meet the injury-in-fact requirement because it hasnt been determined by any governmental authority that political group might have violated the penal code nor that a credible threat of prosecution exists.

At this point, no Texas governmental entity has filed an indictment, made a threat, commenced an official investigation, contacted (Empower Texans), or even expressed an official or unofficial opinion that (Empower Texans) conduct is proscribed by the statute, Counts order said.

Furthermore, the only government action that (Empower Texans) can cite as chilling its First Amendment speech is that a District Attorneys Office is reviewing a private citizens complaint, the order continued.

Counts also said the defendants might even find Empower Texans didnt violate the penal code if they review the complaint. Accordingly, to argue that a district attorneys review of a citizens complaint is indicative of a threat of enforcement is nothing more than speculation, Counts order said. Such speculation does not create an irreparable injury that is both great and immediate.

Empower Texans is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit corporation focused on fiscal policy and attempts to influence elections to get likeminded candidates into political office. It is perhaps best known for its political scorecard as part of its Texans for Fiscal Responsibility program.

Its chairman is Midland oilman Tim Dunn, who also is vice chairman of conservative think tank Texas Public Policy Foundation.A local volunteer firefighter was being held Friday on $360,000 in bonds for nine felony charges related to arson. Alan Alton Self, 24, was arrested Wednesday after allegedly starting multiple fires in Midland County, according to court documents.

Self, who has an address in Greenwood, faces a first-degree felony charge of arson with intent to damage a habitation or place of worship and eight second-degree felony charges of arson.

Self admitted to starting fires that spanned from Dec. 29 to March 9, according to his arrest affidavit. Self said he was bored as a volunteer firefighter and wanted to fight fires, according to a press release from the Midland County Sheriffs Office.

RELATED: Volunteer firefighter arrested after arson investigations

Three of the incidents were wooden pallet fires within the city of Midland. Self allegedly used a cigarette lighter to ignite paper at Trinity Pallets, Inc., causing the pallets to burn for several hours.

Self also allegedly started two fires at the Greenwood Volunteer Fire Department without extinguishing them.

The first fire at the department damaged the fire station, fire engine and fire suppression equipment, according to the affidavit. Eight days later, Self allegedly lit rags on fire and placed them into a fire engine parked at the station. The fire engines cab and engine compartment were destroyed, according to the affidavit.

Hours after starting the second fire at the Greenwood Volunteer Fire Department, Self allegedly used a breaching tool he found at the station to force entry into Valley View Baptist Church, which was unoccupied. He left the scene without extinguishing the fire and later returned to the church to bust a window in an attempt to reignite it, according to his affidavit.

PHOTOS: MFD, volunteer departments work massive pallet fire

Other incidents included a fire that destroyed a truck on Farm-to-Market Road 1379 and unoccupied residences on East County Road 140, east of the intersection with FM 1213.

Selfs arrest completed arson investigations involving the sheriffs office, Midland County Fire Marshals Office, Midland Fire Department and Texas State Fire Marshals Office, according to the press release.

If convicted, Self could face up to 99 years imprisonment for the first-degree felony charge and up to 20 years imprisonment for a second-degree felony charge.BUNKER HILL  Seven decades later, Herman Landreth still recalls how his ears popped when the worst of the storm passed nearby. He also remembers the massive damage and pain left behind.

Our house was the only one on our street that wasnt destroyed, said Landreth, 93, of Bunker Hill. Two of my sisters-in-law died in that storm. My brother, Albert, and all three of his sons had broken legs, and they had to amputate my brothers leg. His brothers home and grocery store were also lost.

Monday marks the 70th anniversary of the deadly tornado that ripped through the heart of Bunker Hill around breakfast time on March 19, 1948, killing nineteen. Minutes before, the tornado leveled most of Fosterburg, where nine died.

Another five were killed in Gillespie, bringing the death toll to 33, though some sources report even more. In between, the tornado inflicted serious damage in the Dorchester area.

The storm originated near Alton, damaging a number of homes on Belle and Alby streets around 6:30 a.m., a Friday morning. The Telegraph reported the air was close with an unseasonably warm temperature of 67 degrees. Many in Alton reported that witnesses did not see a typical twister, but a low black cloud that seemed to roll along horizontally at low level.

On Tonsor Road, where several homes were destroyed, thirteen-year-old Delores Curry told the Telegraph that I was ready to leave for school (when) Mom and Dad looked out and saw the clouds coming. Just then the phone rang. Thats all I remember until I woke up out in the yard. She added that her mother was lying between a refrigerator and stove.

Flash, flash, flash

The tornado then continued northeast to Fosterburg, demolishing eighty percent of the town. Area hospitals were swamped by the number of casualties, and some of the less serious injuries were taken to makeshift medical centers in Alton churches.

Within hours, the National Guard blocked entrance to the crippled city. Passes were required to enter Fosterburg until March 23. That day, the Telegraph reported that property losses in Fosterburg were still undetermined because of weather conditions and the fact that most Fosterburg residents are either in hospitals or are still too bewildered by the tornado.

At 6:50 p.m., the tornado roared through Bunker Hill as lightning lit the dark skies and rain fell in buckets. The lightning was just flash, flash, flash, recalled Landreth. I turned off the oil heater, so it wouldnt start a fire. I always remembered how bad the lightning was.

The storm destroyed most of the center of Bunker Hill, including all five of the towns churches. Most of the business district was reduced to rubble, while the bandstand, a town landmark, was leveled. Another central feature of the town, a statue of Abraham Lincoln dedicated in 1904, was knocked off its pedestal.

A lasting impact

At her family home east of town, nine-year-old Betty Zarges was recovering from the measles and would be unable to attend that evenings scheduled school production of Pinocchio. The tornado changed all that, and she got a firsthand look at the damage in nearby Bunker Hill.

My aunt and uncle lost their home, and they stayed with us for a while, said Zarges, 79, who now lives near Woodburn. Shed go into town every day to sift through what was left of their home, and shed take me along.

Even today, Zarges is struck by the psychological effect of the survivors in the days that followed. I think I was kind of a touchstone for my aunt, she said. I think she just wanted me nearby.

When someone loses a home in a fire or something like that, other people try to help, she remarked. But when the entire community has suffered such a loss, its in a different way. Its likely that the next person has lost as much, or more than you, and its difficult to identify with someone else.

Remarkably, a few items were spared. My aunt was digging through the debris, trying to find what was left, remembered Zarges. I was helping her, and I found this little tea set. My aunt said I could keep it. I still have that tea set.

All hands on deck

Outside of town, twenty-one-year-old Lester Lawson heard the approach of the storm, and tried to look out for his young family. The windows were rattling, and my wife and I were worried about our little daughter, in the next room, recalled Lawson, 91. It was a bad windstorm, but we didnt lose that much. Nothing was blown over, where we were at.

But the alarm sounded quickly. We had one of those old phones that I call hoof-and-holler phones, the ones with a hand crank, said Lawson. It was a party line, with six or seven other people on it with you.

It rang ten times, which Id never heard before, recalled Lawson. It meant there was an emergency. I answered, and was told that Bunker Hill had been blown apart by a tornado, and they needed all the help they could get.

Lawson, who operated a trucking business, and a friend drove into town in a two-ton truck to help out. We got as far as the old railroad crossing at the north side of town, and the road was blocked, he said. So we walked up to town, about two blocks or so.

We started looking for people that needed help, and we found one person who needed a hospital, he continued. We made a stretcher out of two-by-fours, and carried him up to Main Street, which runs east-west out of town, where an ambulance could get to him.

There were no trees left

An account in the Macoupin County Enquirer wrote that Bunker Hill looks as if it has been hit by an atom bomb. Illinois State Police and other law enforcement sealed the town, which kept some residents from getting back in.

One was Malvern Mook Allen, a 21-year-old student at the University of Illinois, which was holding classes in a former military hospital in Galesburg. I had an exam at 8:30, and someone said that this town in southern Illinois, Bunker Hill, had been hit by a tornado and was really badly damaged, he said. I went ahead and took the exam, then started for home.

Allen, now 91, hitchhiked for much of the way, over twelve hours in all. When I finally got there it was dark and raining, with strong lightning, he said. When I got to town, two state troopers grabbed me by the shirt and wanted to know what I was doing there. They took me up to Hartleys Cafe, which was still intact, and asked if anyone knew me.

Allens family home was completely wiped out. His mother had survived, though she was found under a bath tub.

There were two tents set up on the first floor, where the house used to be, he recalled. They were U.S. Army-style tents, 12 by 12, which could sleep ten or so. My sister, who was a nurse at Fort Sheridan, found me, and offered me an extra cot.

One of the few buildings still standing was Meissner School, where relief operations set up tents in the yard. We ate meals there for several days, said Allen.

He also recalled the views across town, which had not existed before. We used to be the city of trees, said Allen. Then, there were no trees left. You could stand in our front yard, and look clear across town.

Picking up, moving on

In some cases, the Illinois National Guard and law enforcement were ordered to shoot at looters. On Tonsor Road in Alton, one civilian guard fired at a looter, hitting him in the shoulder. On Palm Sunday, March 21, sightseers in Bunker Hill were so numerous that bumper-to-bumper traffic was reported for ten miles.

Relief efforts continued for days. By Saturday evening in the three affected towns, the Salvation Army reported distribution of 5,000 garments a day, while operating a 24-hour-a-day hot food bar. The mobile unit of the U.S. Army was serving meals and distributing clothing in Fosterburg. The military, Red Cross, and Salvation Army were reportedly serving 1,000 people a day in Bunker Hill.

Volunteers poured in. Some 200 farmers came to town to help in Fosterburg, while students from Blackburn College in Carlinville came to Bunker Hill each day for the next month to help clean up and rebuild. Over 100 Boy Scouts from around southern Macoupin County were joined by local veterans groups on the scene. Some farmers brought bulldozers and tractors into Bunker Hill, to assist in the cleanup.

North of town, there was this group of Amish people from the Arthur area, who set up camp, said Allen. Each day, theyd come into town and bring meals and work, trying to help clean up. They were there every day for at least a month.

Some, though, saw a quick profit. In the days that followed, an East St. Louis company selling steel Quonset huts placed a display ad in a Carlinville newspaper. The heading of the ad blared Tornado Victims! Heres Immediate Housing.

A reported 126 people were injured in Bunker Hill alone, overwhelming hospitals in Alton, Carlinville, and Litchfield. On Easter Sunday in Bunker Hill, services were conducted from a parked tractor, which served as a pulpit for two of the towns four ministers.

The tornado is the sixth-deadliest on record in Illinois history, and is even considered among the worst in American history. The Bunker Hill-Gillespie tornado is published annually in the World Almanac and Book of Facts in its list of notable tornadoes to hit the United States.

Tom Emery is a freelance writer and historical researcher from Carlinville, Ill. He may be reached at 217-710-8392 or ilcivilwar@yahoo.com.No foul play seen

in death at school

The death of a 17-year-old girl at the Illinois School for the Deaf appears to be from self-inflicted injuries.

The student was found about 7 a.m. in her room on campus and was pronounced dead about a half hour later, Coroner Jeff Lair said Friday.

In a statement Friday the school said, Our thoughts are with the students family and friends during this difficult time and we ask that you respect their privacy. Additional counselors are on school grounds to provide support to staff and students.

The death remains under investigation.



Morgan County

Jacksonville Police

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Jordan L. Smith, 22, of 1042 E. Morton Ave. was booked into the Morgan County jail at 10:39 p.m. Thursday on a retail theft charge.

 Dana K. Willis, 21, who is homeless, was arrested about 1:45 a.m. Friday on a charge of domestic battery.

 Mary M. Bruner, 58, of 477 S. Mauvaisterre St. was booked into the Morgan County jail at 3:57 p.m. Friday on a retail theft charge.

ACCIDENTS

 David J. Wilkerson, 40, of Jacksonville was cited on a charge of improper backing after police say the vehicle he was driving was backing up at the intersection of Hardin Avenue and East State Street at 11:22 a.m. Friday when it hit a vehicle being driven by Carmen L. Daniels, 68, of Winchester.

FIRES

 Jacksonville firefighters extinguished a fire about 12:40 a.m. Friday in a Dumpster at Los Rancheros restaurant at 1020 Lincoln Ave.

BURGLARIES, THEFTS

 About 70 hydrocodone pills were taken from a woman between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Wednesday, according to a report filed at 10:30 a.m. Friday.

OTHER REPORTS

 Police received a report at 9:54 p.m. Thursday that people in gloves and masks entered a residence on Greenbriar Drive and then left when a resident scared them away.



Calhoun County

Sheriff

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Steven P. Joslin, 29, of Winfield, Missouri, was lodged in the Greene County Jail at 5:11 p.m. Sunday on a Calhoun County arrest warrant accusing him of residential burglary and possession of a stolen motor vehicle.



Greene County

Sheriff

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Marcin P. Lipinski, 26, of Chicago was lodged in the Greene County Jail at 10:50 a.m. Tuesday on a Lake County arrest warrant accusing him of aggravated battery to a peace officer.

Carrollton Police

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Schon D. Widman, 22, of Kane was lodged in the Greene County Jail at 4:42 a.m. Sunday on charges of improper parking, driving under the influence and possession of cannabis.

Greenfield Police

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Jessie D. Walker, 46, of Alton was lodged in the Greene County Jail at 6:52 p.m. Sunday on charges of operating a vehicle with an expired registration, improper lane use, passing in a no-passing zone, disobeying a stop sign, speeding, operating an uninsured motor vehicle, reckless driving and failing to reduce speed to avoid an accident.

 Leo Cook Jr., 54, of Rushville was lodged in the Greene County Jail at 3:07 p.m. Sunday on a charge of driving while license is suspended.

Roodhouse Police

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Christian M. Hazelwood, 27, of Winchester was lodged in the Greene County Jail at 4:15 p.m. Thursday on a charge of driving while license is suspended.

 Shawnee E. Newingham, 21, of Roodhouse was lodged in the Greene County Jail at 4:04 p.m. Thursday on a possession of a controlled substance charge.

 Alexandria A. Newingham, 26, of Patterson was lodged in the Greene County Jail at 12:56 p.m. Thursday on a Greene County arrest warrant accusing her of violating bail and a Scott County arrest warrant accusing her of violating bail.

 Robert G. Maxon Jr., 28, of Spring, Texas, was lodged in the Greene County Jail at 1:30 a.m. Thursday on a disorderly conduct charge.

 Larry P. Counts Jr., 34, of Roodhouse was lodged in the Greene County Jail at 3:53 a.m. Sunday on a charge of driving while license is suspended.

White Hall Police

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 John M. Yourek Jr., 50, of Thayer was lodged in the Greene County Jail at 8:06 a.m. Thursday on a retail theft charge.

 Joseph E. Shanks, 37, of Hillview was lodged in the Greene County Jail at 8:06 p.m. Tuesday on charges of possession of a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance with the intent to deliver.

 Richard E. Neff, 39, of Winchester was lodged in the Greene County Jail at 6:22 p.m. Tuesday on a charge of driving while license is suspended.

 Robert L. Deskovich, 19, of White Hall was lodged in the Greene County Jail at 7:56 p.m. Sunday on a disorderly conduct charge.

 Robbin M. Arnold, 60, of Winchester was lodged in the Greene County Jail at 6:16 a.m. Sunday on a domestic battery charge.

 Stephanie J. Arnold, 24, of Roodhouse was lodged in the Greene County Jail at 5:01 a.m. Sunday on charges of disorderly conduct and criminal trespass to property.

 Mackenzie N. Bishop, 23, of Carrollton was lodged in the Greene County Jail at 6:50 a.m. March 10 on a driving under the influence charge.

 Heather R. Williams, 38, of White Hall was lodged in the Greene County Jail at 3:15 p.m. March 9 on a charge of operating a motor vehicle with a suspended registration.



Jersey County

Sheriff

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Mark N. Dickman, 30, of Alton was arrested March 5 on a charge of unlawful possession of a controlled substance. He is accused of possessing cocaine on March 2.

 Roger W. Carroll, 52, of Jerseyville was arrested March 2 on charges of unlawful restraint and domestic battery. He was accused of striking and using a stun gun on a family member and then locking the person in a laundry room.

 Derek L. Day, 23, of Jerseyville was arrested March 5 on charges of possession of a controlled substance. He was accused of possessing fentanyl.



Scott County

Sheriff

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Richard T. Phillips, 27, of Ingleside was lodged in the Greene County Jail at 9:54 p.m. Monday on a charge of possession with the intent to deliver cocaine.

 Haley E. Spencer, 27, of Round Lake Beach was lodged in the Greene County Jail at 8:57 p.m. Monday on a charge of possession with the intent to deliver cocaine.

Compiled by David C.l. Bauer, Nick Draper, Greg Olson and Samantha McDaniel-OgletreeWhen state lawmakers head to the Capitol to do the peoples business, they travel to Springfield. But that wasnt always the case.

Springfield became the states third capital city in 1839. And the story of how Springfield became the capital is a tall tale  well, its a tale with an outcome scripted by nine tall men.

Illinois has been governed from three cities and six buildings (one that was rented and five that were owned by the state), as told in an article in the 1975-76 edition of the legislative Illinois Blue Book. Kaskaskia was the first state capital after Illinois was admitted to the union in 1818, with the 29 House members and 14 senators in the first General Assembly of Illinois working in a rented two-story brick building at a cost of $4 per day.

Yet by December 1820, the second General Assembly was meeting in a new building in a new capital city, Vandalia, which was a more central location within the states original 16 southern counties. Lawmakers agreed Vandalia would remain the capital city for at least the next 20 years.

But it didnt take long for many Illinois lawmakers - including a young state legislator who would go on to become the nations 16th president - to cite location as they began petitioning for the capital to be moved again. The argument this time for relocating was that the capital should be closer to the geographical center of the state.

In 1833 the General Assembly decided to ask voters, via the next general election, to weigh in on where the capital should be, according to the Blue Book history. Vandalia, Jacksonville, Springfield, Peoria, Alton and the states actual geographical center were the options. Although Alton emerged with a slim majority, the results were ruled inconclusive.

The idea of moving the capital continued to percolate, with talk put into action during the 1836-37 legislative session when Abraham Lincoln introduced legislation that would move the capital to Springfield. He had the backing of eight legislative colleagues of the Whig Party who were called the Long Nine, as their aggregate height was 54 feet, according to the history provided in the 1975-76 Blue Book.

An opponent to Springfield as the new location was a legislative foe Lincoln knew well; Stephen A. Douglas, who also was serving in the General Assembly and wanted Jacksonville to be the state capital. And the people of Vandalia werent about to give up easily: They built a new brick statehouse in an attempt to keep the legislature where it was.

That effort was for naught, as after four balloting attempts Springfield received the majority of votes needed to move the state capital. There have been allegations over the years that the Long Nine traded favors in order for Springfield to emerge triumphant, although Sen. Paul Simon in his book Lincolns Preparation for Greatness disputed that notion. Regardless of how the decision came to pass, state government began operating in Springfield by the end of 1839.

Work began in 1837 on a new Capitol building on the Springfield Town Square, with the first Capitol building providing room for the state House and Senate, the governor and other elected officials, as well as housing the Illinois Supreme Court, according to the book A. Lincoln: His Illinois, published by The State Journal-Register in 2008.

As the states population grew, so too did its government, and within a few decades a bigger building was needed to accommodate the elected officials. Construction began on the current Capitol building in 1868 and was finished in 1888, although lawmakers moved in about halfway through the construction process. The first building, now known as the Old State Capitol, remains and is often used for re-enactments, performances, rallies and political speeches.

As the states capital, Springfield has witnessed some of the most important political moments in Illinois history. Its where Lincoln gave his House Divided speech, in which he condemned slavery. Almost 150 years later, its where Barack Obama announced in 2007 he was running for president of the United States.

Of course, its also where four governors who later went to prison on various charges served as chief executive of the state.

And as long as Springfield remains Illinois capital city, it will continue to be where some of the most politically important decisions about Illinois are made.WASHINGTON -- Attorney General Jeff Sessions late Friday night fired former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, a little more than 24 hours before McCabe was set to retire -- a move that McCabe alleged was an attempt to slander him and undermine the ongoing special counsel investigation into the Trump campaign.

Sessions announced the decision in a statement just before 10 p.m., noting that both the Justice Department inspector general and the FBI office that handles discipline had found "that Mr. McCabe had made an unauthorized disclosure to the news media and lacked candor - including under oath - on multiple occasions."

He said based on those findings and the recommendation of the department's senior career official, "I have terminated the employment of Andrew McCabe effective immediately."

The move will likely cost McCabe a significant portion of his retirement benefits, though it is possible he could bring a legal challenge. He responded on Friday night with a lengthy statement, claiming he was being targeted because he was a witness in special counsel Robert Mueller III's probe into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia, and asserting that his actions were appropriate. He also alleged former FBI Director James Comey knew about the media disclosure about which the inspector general has raised questions.

"This attack on my credibility is one part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally, but to taint the FBI, law enforcement, and intelligence professionals more generally," McCabe said. "It is part of this Administration's ongoing war on the FBI and the efforts of the Special Counsel investigation, which continue to this day. Their persistence in this campaign only highlights the importance of the Special Counsel's work."

President Donald Trump tweeted early Saturday morning, "Andrew McCabe FIRED, a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI - A great day for Democracy. Sanctimonious James Comey was his boss and made McCabe look like a choirboy. He knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI!"

An email notifying McCabe of the move was sent to his work account and his lawyers just minutes before Sessions's statement was made public, though McCabe learned of the firing from press accounts, his spokeswoman said. McCabe has been fighting vigorously to keep his job, and on Thursday, he spent nearly four hours inside the Justice Department pleading his case.

Michael Bromwich, McCabe's attorney, said that he had "never before seen the type of rush to judgment - and rush to summary punishment - that we have witnessed in this case." He cited in particular President Trump's attacks on McCabe on Twitter and the White House press secretary's comments about him on Thursday -- which he said were "quite clearly designed to put inappropriate pressure on the Attorney General to act accordingly."

"This intervention by the White House in the DOJ disciplinary process is unprecedented, deeply unfair, and dangerous," Bromwich said.

McCabe has become a lightning rod in the political battles over the FBI's most high-profile cases, including the Russia investigation and the probe of Hillary Clinton's email practices. He has been a frequent target of criticism from Trump.

His firing -- which was recommended by the FBI office that handles discipline -- stems from a Justice Department inspector general investigation that found McCabe authorized the disclosure of sensitive information to the media about a Clinton-related case, then misled investigators about his actions in the matter, people familiar with the matter have said. He stepped down earlier this year from the No. 2 job in the bureau after FBI Director Christopher Wray was briefed on the inspector general's findings, though he technically was still an employee.

McCabe, who conducted interviews with several media outlets in advance of his firing but declined to do so with The Washington Post, said in his statement he was "being singled out and treated this way because of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed" when the president fired Comey as FBI director. Mueller is looking at that termination as part of his examination into whether Trump was attempting to obstruct justice.

McCabe said in the statement that his testimony before the House Intelligence Committee -- which he believed accelerated the process against him -- revealed he "would corroborate" Comey's accounts of his interactions with Trump. Comey has said previously the president asked him for loyalty and, referring to the probe of the president's former national security adviser, asked if Comey would "let this go."

"The big picture," McCabe said, "is a tale of what can happen when law enforcement is politicized, public servants are attacked, and people who are supposed to cherish and protect our institutions become instruments for damaging those institutions and people."

Bromwich, himself a former Justice Department inspector general, suggested that office treated McCabe unfairly, cleaving from a larger investigation its findings on McCabe and not giving McCabe an adequate chance to respond to the allegations he faced. In his statement, Bromwich said McCabe and his lawyers were given limited access to the inspector general's draft report late last month, saw a final report and evidence a week ago and were "receiving relevant exculpatory evidence as recently as two days ago."

"With so much at stake, this process has fallen far short of what Mr. McCabe deserved," Bromwich said. "This concerted effort to accelerate the process in order to beat the ticking clock of his scheduled retirement violates any sense of decency and basic principles of fairness."

A spokesman for the inspector general's office declined to comment.

Some in the bureau might view McCabe's termination so close to retirement as an unnecessarily harsh and politically influenced punishment for a man who spent more than 20 years at the FBI. The White House had seemed to support such an outcome, though a spokeswoman said the decision was up to Sessions.

"We do think that it is well documented that he has had some very troubling behavior and by most accounts a bad actor," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Thursday.

Trump and McCabe's relationship has long been fraught. The president has previously suggested that McCabe was biased in favor of Clinton, his political opponent, pointing out that McCabe's wife, who ran as a Democrat for a seat in the Virginia legislature, received hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations from the political action committee of Terry McAuliffe, then the state's governor and a noted Clinton ally. During an Oval Office meeting in May, Trump is said to have asked McCabe whom he voted for in the presidential election and vented about the donations.

Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz put McCabe in his crosshairs during a broad look at alleged improprieties in the handling of the Clinton email case. In the course of that review, Horowitz found that McCabe had authorized two FBI officials to talk to then-Wall Street Journal reporter Devlin Barrett for a story about the case and another investigation into Clinton's family foundation. Barrett now works for The Washington Post.

Background conversations with reporters are commonplace in Washington, though McCabe's authorizing such a talk was viewed as inappropriate because the matter being discussed was an ongoing criminal investigation. The story ultimately presented McCabe as a somewhat complicated figure -- one who some FBI officials thought was standing in the way of the Clinton Foundation investigation, but who also seemed to be pushing back against Justice Department officials who did not believe there was a case to be made.

McCabe said in his statement that he, as the FBI's deputy director, had the authority to do what he did. He said he was simply trying to "set the record straight" and "make clear that we were continuing an investigation that people in DOJ opposed" after the bureau was "portrayed as caving under that pressure, and making decisions for political rather than law enforcement purposes."

"It was not a secret, it took place over several days, and others, including the Director, were aware of the interaction with the reporter," he said. "It was the type of exchange with the media that the Deputy Director oversees several times per week. In fact, it was the same type of work that I continued to do under Director Wray, at his request."

In an interview with CNN, McCabe alleged that in December, he had a "long conversation with the editor of a major national newspaper at Chris Wray's request, and engaged with this editor in an effort to get them to back off a story that we thought would be harmful to our operational equities."

An FBI spokesman and a lawyer for Comey declined to comment. McCabe also said he answered questions about the matter "truthfully and as accurately as I could amidst the chaos that surrounded me," acknowledging only that he had clarified his account.

"And when I thought my answers were misunderstood, I contacted investigators to correct them," he said.

McCabe, who turns 50 on Sunday and would have then been eligible for his full retirement benefits, had quickly ascended through senior roles to the No. 2 leadership post. He briefly served in an interim capacity as the FBI director, in the months between when Trump fired Comey from the post and Wray was confirmed by the Senate.

McCabe's team on Friday night released a bevy of statements from former national security officials supporting the former deputy director, including from former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper Jr.; former National Security Agency Deputy Director Richard Ledgett Jr.; former U.S. attorney Chuck Rosenberg; former FBI national security official Michael Steinbach; and former Justice Department national security official Mary McCord.

Steinbach said McCabe had "become a convenient scapegoat so that narrow political objectives can be achieved." McCord said she "never doubted his honesty or motivations, and can say without hesitation that he was one of the finest FBI agents with whom I ever worked." Notably absent was a statement from Comey, McCabe's former boss, though Comey did say after McCabe stepped down as deputy director that he "stood tall over the last 8 months, when small people were trying to tear down an institution we all depend on."

Comey is still considered a key subject in Horowitz's probe of how the FBI handled the Clinton email case.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."Strolling through the downtown San Antonio streets, in the shadows of iconic century-old landmarks, can be like living in a history book. Some buildings have undergone renovations and remodeling throughout the decades, but for the most part, conservation efforts have maintained their antiquities  giving the area a time capsule-like feel that is a constant reminder of the citys history.

San Antonians walking through Alamo Plaza can gaze up at the same sights their great grandparents did in the early 1900s, because the buildings that graced the streets then still stand today. And thanks to the San Antonio Conservation Society, reimagining the scene does not have to be left to imagination.Andrew McCabe stepped down as the FBI's deputy director in January and had planned to officially retire on Sunday, but Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired him Friday night - a little more than 24 hours before the 20-year bureau veteran would have qualified for full retirement benefits.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders had said on Thursday that President Donald Trump would leave the decision to Sessions. "But," she added, "we do think that it is well documented that he's had some very troubling behavior and, by most accounts, [is] a bad actor." In addition, Trump in tweets had mused about McCabe's pension and suggested Sessions should have removed him sooner.

All available evidence suggests Trump wanted McCabe to be fired. But why, besides spiting a man the president has pilloried as a deep-state enemy? There are several reasons:

- - -

To deter future leaks

Trump has railed against leaks to the media but has had little success stopping them. Firing McCabe could be a scare tactic to deter others from talking to reporters.

The FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility recommended firing McCabe as punishment for allegedly authorizing the sharing of information with the Wall Street Journal in October 2016 and then misleading internal investigators about his actions. A person familiar with the matter told The Washington Post that McCabe privately denies misleading anyone.

- - -

To send message to critics in law enforcement

It is far from clear that McCabe exhibited anti-Trump bias in his work at the FBI. Trump has promoted a flawed theory that Democratic groups allied with Hillary Clinton poured money into the state senate campaign of McCabe's wife while the FBI was investigating Clinton's use of a private email server as secretary of state, thus buying improperly soft treatment from the bureau.

The problem with this theory is that McCabe was not "in charge" of the Clinton email investigation at the time of his wife's campaign. He did not become the FBI's deputy director until 2016 and only then "assumed, for the first time, an oversight role in the investigation into Secretary Clinton's emails," according to the agency. When the campaign contributions were made, in 2015, currying favor with McCabe would have been of little value, making it unlikely that the donations were some kind of bribe.

However unfair Trump's attack on McCabe might be, firing McCabe could be a warning to others that if the president thinks you are his enemy, he might come after you.

- - -

To show power over Sessions

Though Sanders said McCabe's fate would be up to Sessions, it was not hard to infer Trump's desire. And Trump has not held back when he disagrees with his attorney general.

Sessions' firing of McCabe could be a sign that the president's bullying has worked, to some degree, and made Sessions more likely to do Trump's bidding.

- - -

To tarnish the special counsel's Russia investigation

McCabe was acting director of the FBI during the first few months of special counsel Robert Mueller III's probe of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election - a period in which Mueller removed FBI agent Peter Strzok from the case for bashing Trump in text messages to a bureau attorney with whom he was having an extramarital affair.

Trump has described the text messages as "BOMBSHELLS," and some Republicans, most notably Sen. Ron Johnson, Wis., have claimed they are evidence of a broader conspiracy against Trump that taints Mueller's investigation.

In reality, the evidence is flimsy. And, remember, the Office of Professional Responsibility's recommendation to fire McCabe is based on his alleged role in a leak related to the Clinton email investigation, not anything to do with the Russia probe.

But with a little muddying of the waters, McCabe's firing could be used to further impugn the integrity of the special counsel's work.

- - -

To look like a champion of the working class

During an appearance on "Fox & Friends" on Thursday, counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway said that Trump, in Missouri a day earlier, had met "a tearful cafeteria worker ... saying thank you for my tax cut."

Host Ainsley Earhardt then drew a line to McCabe: "He gets to live on a pension that that hard-working lady has to pay for, for the rest of his life? It's just - it doesn't seem fair. And Jeff Sessions, he's the AG, he has the ability to fire that guy so that this hard-working lady ... doesn't have to pay for this guy's pension."

Conway, like Sanders, said it is up to Sessions to make the call. "I will just say," Conway added, "on the broader issue of fairness and accountability, it's part of how Donald Trump got elected in the first place."

One ready-made argument is that canning McCabe is a way of looking out for working-class voters.Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's personal attorney, claims he has the right to seek at least $20 million in damages from porn star Stormy Daniels for allegedly violating a nondisclosure agreement 20 times.

A lawyer for Cohen's limited liability corporation, Essential Consultants, made the claim in papers filed in federal court Friday.

Cohen also intends to force the dispute with Daniels, who alleges she was secretly paid to keep quiet about her affair with the president, out of the public eye and back into private arbitration, according to the court filing.

In a separate document also filed Friday, a lawyer representing Trump said he agrees with the push to return the proceedings to arbitration, in which all proceedings are confidential.

Michael Avenatti, a lawyer for Daniels, said the threat by Cohen and Trump to pursue millions of dollars in damages, and their efforts to take the matter behind closed doors, amounted to bullying of his client.

"To put it simply - they want to hide the truth from the American people. We will oppose this effort at every turn," Avenatti wrote in an email. "The fact that a sitting president is pursuing over $20 million in bogus 'damages' against a private citizen, who is only trying to tell the public what really happened, is truly remarkable. Likely unprecedented in our history. We are not going away and we will not be intimated by these threats."

Cohen referred all questions to his attorney in the matter, Brent Blakely, who didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. The office of the attorney representing Trump, Charles Harder, said there would be no public statement beyond the material filed in court.

Daniels has said in her own legal filings that she slept with Trump in 2006, and in 2016 - just days before the presidential election - signed an agreement to stay silent about the affair in exchange for a payment of $130,000. The hush agreement required any disputes to be settled confidentially.

In late February, after Daniels embarked on a "Make America Horny Again" tour and her allegations became the subject of intense media interest, Cohen succeeded in persuading an arbitrator to issue a restraining order that prevented Daniels from speaking out.

But the porn star and her lawyer, Avenatti, pushed the secret deal into the open on March 6, when they appended it to a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court. In that lawsuit, Avenatti contends that the nondisclosure agreement is invalid because Trump failed to sign it.

The decision to surface the secret deal in public court filings carries financial risks for Daniels. If a judge determines the hush agreement is valid, she faces a penalty of $1 million for each violation of the agremeent's terms.

Cohen and Trump allege that she has already violated the agreement at least 20 times. And she may be poised to violate it again on March 25, when CBS's "60 Minutes" tentatively plans to broadcast an interview with Daniels.

In the court documents filed Friday, lawyers for Cohen and Trump exercised their ability to move the lawsuit from state court to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. They say they intend to file a petition with the federal court to force the matter back into private arbitration as quickly as possible.

The $130,000 payment to Daniels has become a matter of keen interest for government watchdog groups. At least two complaints to the Federal Election Commission allege the money was meant to influence the presidential election and therefore amounted to an illegal in-kind contribution to the Trump campaign.

Cohen has acknowledged making the payment to Daniels, but he has never explained what it was for. And he has insisted that he was not reimbursed for the payment by the Trump Organization or the Trump campaign.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has rejected the notion that Trump approved the payment to Daniels.

- - -

The Washington Post's Rosalind S. Helderman contributed to this report.The United Nations has a new Resident Coordinator and U.N.D.P. Resident Representative in Samoa.

Simona Marinescu begins her term having presented her credentials to Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Dr. Sailele Malielegaoi, during their first official meeting.

The Prime Minister welcomed Ms. Marinescu to the country and expressed hopes for the continued strengthening of partnerships and cooperation between Samoa and the United Nations system.

Ms. Marinescu warmly welcomed the opportunity to work with the Government and people of Samoa in realising its development priorities, including towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, the S.A.M.O.A. Pathway and other key international and regional commitments.

Ms. Marinescu again conveyed the appreciation of the United Nations system to the Government and people of Samoa for the exceptional gesture of support and commitment to the United Nations through the One U.N. House, and undertook to ensure that the U.N. Country Team in Samoa will strengthen its collaboration with the Government to address national priorities and leave no one behind.

In conjunction with her duties as the U.N. Resident Coordinator in Samoa, Ms. Marinescu has also been appointed as the U.N. Resident Coordinator and U.N.D.P. Resident Representative in the Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau.

Prior to Ms. Marinescus appointment as U.N. Resident Coordinator, she served as the Director of the Development Impact Group at U.N.D.P. Headquarters in New York from 2014. She also served in several field assignments in Turkey and Iraq, as well as in the M.E.N.A. region covering Morocco, Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon between 2004 to 2014.

Ms. Marinescu was a former Senator of the Parliament of Romania between 2000 to 2004 and served as President of the Labour and Social Affairs Committee in the Senate. She also served as Minister Secretary of State for Labour and Social Protection for the Government of Romania from 1997 to 2000.

The United Nations Resident Coordinator is the highest-ranking U.N. official in the country, which role is central to the success of the United Nations system in supporting governments and their partners to accelerate development progress.A gruesome scene unfolded Friday night as Bexar County Sheriff's deputies discovered dead and dismembered animals in a West Bexar County home after receiving calls that animals were being sacrificed.

Deputies responded to an animal cruelty call in the 11400 block of Bronze Sand Road about 7 p.m.

When deputies arrived, they saw more than a dozen people inside the garage of a residence where a woman was cutting up "animal parts," while another person was draining the blood of a chicken into a container, according to Sgt. Elizabeth Gonzalez.

"It appears that they were having some sort of unknown ritual," Gonzalez said. "They were speaking a different language the officer did not recognize." Gonzalez explained the responding deputy is fluent in English and Spanish.

During the investigation deputies found multiple dead and mutilated animals inside the residence as well, including "goat heads" and more chickens, Gonzalez said.

Eleven men and women, ages 23 to 65, were arrested on charges of cruelty to livestock animals. That offense is a Class A misdemeanor, unless it's enhanced because of previous related offenses.

The people arrested were Alexander Gene Campos, 23; Ivan Felipe Gonzalez, 24; Carmen Maria Gonzalez-Trujillo, 41; Cynthia Gabriell Martinez, 29; Liza Mercado, 46; Marie Galan Murcia, 65; Ramon Patino Jr., 65; Luiz Rodriguez Ortiz, 41; Robert Talamantez, 55; Irma Garza Talamantez, 64; and Arteaga Ariel Torres, 39

Bexar County Animal Control Services removed several live animals from the scene.A man is in custody after San Antonio police say they discovered the bodies of an adult woman and a female minor at a far West Side residence Saturday morning.

San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said a man, identified as Casey Farrell Marshall, 50, called police asking for paramedics for two people who "were down." A news release from SAPD later Saturday morning reported Marshall told 911 dispatchers he had killed the two victims.A suspicious package found outside a home on the West Side garnered a heavy response from authorities Saturday afternoon.

Multiple San Antonio police and at least eight fire department units responded to a call for a bomb w/device at a residence on the 700 block of Hortencia Avenue, about 3:20 p.m., Saturday, which turned out to be a false alarm, according to police.

Police on scene said two locations were evacuated along Hortencia Avenue, and residents were seen hurriedly packing vehicles and leaving.

The brown package, according to the homeowner, was found outside his home and had another address on it.

Authorities confirmed at least one "suspicious package" was investigated, but that it turned out to be a "false alarm." Police say vehicle cleaning solutions were found inside the package. By 4:20 p.m., the scene was cleared and residents allowed back into their homes.

The scare comes weeks after one man was killed in Austin by an explosive device on March 2, and days after multiple bombs in Austin killed a second man and injured an elderly woman on March 12.

aluna@express-news.net | Twitter: alexluna801Maybe the Russians didnt meddle in our 2016 election. Maybe it was the Jews. So says President Trumps favorite green-room buddy and shirtless equestrian, Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In an interview that aired Friday evening, NBCs Megyn Kelly asked Putin whether it bothered him that Russians had interfered in the U.S. election.

I couldnt care less, he replied. They do not represent the interest of the Russian state. Maybe theyre not even Russians. Maybe theyre Ukrainians, Tatars, Jews, just with Russian citizenship.

The White House has so far remained silent on Putins anti-Semitic scapegoating. And based on a House Intelligence Committee report, other Republicans are also apparently in denial that Putin wanted Trump to win, despite the intelligence communitys conclusions to the contrary.

So allow me to chime in. I cant speak for Ukrainians or Tatars. But as a Jew, I find Putins attempt to implicate my people to be disgusting, offensive, and obviously false.

Because lets be frank: If Jews had rigged the election, it would have had a way different outcome.

Only about a quarter of Jewish voters cast ballots for Trump in 2016, according to exit polls, meaning he did worse among Jewish voters than any other religious group for which data are available. He has since remained low in our esteem, with just a 26 percent approval rating among Jews, according to a January Gallup poll.

Trump has clearly been Bad For The Jews.

Sure, Trumps daughter and son-in-law are Jewish, and some Jews are happy with Trumps declared intention to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, security issues and Palestinian peace talks be damned. And needless to say, some on the left have been too cozy with anti-Semites such as Louis Farrakhan.

But Trump has given American Jewry more significant reasons to be fearful for its place in this country.

Trump has regularly played footsie with white supremacists. There was the tweet showing a Star of David (sorry, I mean sheriffs star) superimposed on an image of Hillary Clinton and $100 bills. Also his hesitation to denounce an endorsement from white supremacist David Duke.

Also his closing Elders of Zion-style election ad, featuring famous Jews such as George Soros and Janet Yellen alongside dark narration about a global power structure that has robbed our working class.

And who could forget Trumps reluctance to condemn the tiki-torch-bearing, Jews will not replace us-chanting neo-Nazis in Charlottesville? Instead, Trump declared, there were very fine people among the attendees of the far-right rally, which ended with the killing of a peaceful protester.

The incident nearly cost him his National Economic Council director, Gary Cohn. When last week Cohn finally did resign  in response to Trumps bigoted comments toward aluminum, not Jews  Trump referred to Cohn as a globalist. For those unfamiliar, the term is often used in far-right corners of the internet as a euphemism for Jewish.

The slur is also a favorite of Stephen K. Bannon, who has been touring Europe meeting with far-right political parties associated with anti-Semitism and racism.

Here in America, the number of anti-Semitic incidents has been rising. From 2016 to 2017 they spiked 57 percent, the largest single-year increase on record and the second-highest number reported since the Anti-Defamation League began keeping track in 1979.

Schools and cemeteries have been among the prime targets. As have journalists; in fact as I type this, Im preparing myself for the torrent of anti-Semitic abuse that likely awaits.

So come on, Putin. You, like your recently indicted minions, must be trolling us. The Jews are responsible for widespread election meddling? Please, even a 400-pound basement-dweller is a more plausible fall guy. No one could honestly believe that a cabal of Jews squirreled away in Katzs Deli would have rigged this election.

Well, maybe almost no one.The White House seems virtually certain President Donald Trump will meet North Koreas respected leader Kim Jong Un somewhere, sometime, despite obvious complications.

One is that North Korea has yet to say a word to anyone in the U.S. administration about the summit. The State Department is still awaiting a message about the timing and venue, but nobody seems to know what to expect.

Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, in Africa when Trump confirmed he was accepting Kims invitation to get together, said several steps would have to happen before the summit was definite.

But would the State Department be the first to know? Prior to being ousted Tuesday as the countrys top diplomat, Tillerson, who was not informed of the North Korean invitation before hearing about it during his travels, stressed the need for discussions to be held quietly.

Meanwhile, we have to accept the word of White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders that the offer was made, and weve accepted. If the North Koreans stick to their promises, she said, the meeting will go on as planned.

But what promises  and are the North Koreans willing to talk about getting rid of their nuclear program as Trump has demanded?

They havent made a single comment in their own state media about a summit either with South Koreas President Moon Jae-in, who is supposed to meet Kim in late April, or with Trump.

Does the silence from Pyongyang reflect the desire of North Korean leaders to work out a schedule before letting their people know whats going on?

Or are the North Koreans waiting until after the annual U.S.-South Korean military exercises, due to begin soon after the Paralympics, now going on in the South Korean mountain resort of Pyeongchang, the scene of last months Winter Olympics? South Koreans say Kim is no longer insisting on cancellation of the war games, but North Korea has already denounced them as preparation for invasion against which nukes and missiles are needed for self-defense.

If either of the summits were to fall through, the North Koreans would inevitably blame the Americans and South Koreans for plotting for war.

In pursuit of an understanding with North Korea, Trump faces another problem. How can he work closely with Americas ally, South Korea, even as he threatens the South with a vast increase in tariffs on steel and aluminum imports?

Analysts question the depth of cooperation between the United States and South Korea while South Korea asks Trump to make the South an exception to his order imposing a 25 percent tariff on steel and 10 percent on aluminum products.

The order has also angered American allies and trading partners in Europe, Japan and Brazil, all of which are asking for exemptions. Trump excluded Canada and Mexico from the tariff increases, a topic to be covered in negotiations on revising the North American Free Trade Agreement that he has repeatedly criticized.

The issue of protectionism is inextricably linked to Korea, North and South, since Trump also is targeting the free trade agreement between South Korea and the United States.

Moon has urged North Korea to negotiate its nuclear program with the United States as almost a condition for South and North Korean negotiations. Like the Americans, he is calling for denuclearization but might not be so insistent if Trump sticks to raising tariffs drastically on Korean products, notably steel. The United States is South Koreas largest foreign market for steel exports, while Korean steel imports into the United States rank third after Canada and Brazil.

Trump has set out a negotiating position before he gets into negotiations, said Kenneth Courtis, a longtime international entrepreneur who heads several investment firms and sits on the boards of a number of corporations.

Despite pervasive doubts about North Koreas sincerity, Trump has tweeted, For the first time in many years, a serious effort is being made by all parties concerned but warned against raising false hope while the world is watching and waiting.Le Collectif Cheikh Yassine a organise un certain nombre dactivites et de festivites pour les enfants de Gaza sous le theme  La joie des enfants de Gaza pour lAid . Ces activites ont commence le premier jour de lAid et continue jusquau 4eme jour de lAid dans la bande de Gaza.



Plusieurs activites, ont ete organisees parmi lesquelles : des competitions recompensees par des prix, des jeux, des animations et des chants presentes par un groupe ainsi que des distributions de cadeaux et daides financieres.



Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle

Warriors forward Omri Casspi will not return after leaving Friday nights game against Sacramento with a sprained right ankle.

After draining a seven-foot hook shot early in the second quarter, Casspi came down awkwardly, rolling his right ankle. He was tended to by a team trainer before leaving the floor on his own power, ending his night with six points in six minutes.Former Zambian Police and Prisons Commissioner Mr Richard Shamillimo Chella has said President Mnangagwa should ignore a sideshow by former President Mugabe on Thursday when he described the November transition as a coup, saying his sentiments were based on jealous. In a wide ranging interview with The Herald here yesterday, Mr Chella said Mr Mugabe should be grateful that President Mnangagwa was not being retributive and was taking care of his welfare.

Mr Chella is a long time friend of President Mnangagwa and they went to the same school in Mumbwa, which is about 200 kilometres outside Lusaka. He said Zimbabwe had reached a stage where it needed development more than political bickering.

On Thursday, Mr Mugabe addressed a Press conference where he claimed that President Mnangagwa took over power illegally.

Commenting on Mr Mugabes remarks, Mr Chella said: Those sentiments from his predecessor are very unfortunate.

He (Mr Mugabe) should be very fortunate to have such a leader who is very forgiving. Just imagine if it was not President Mnangagwa who had taken over, what was going to happen to him and looking at his age?

The best thing is that let all Zimbabweans ignore him. I would rather say some form of jealous has crept into the former President. Definitely at his age he must appreciate that he has done enough. He has played his role. We have worked with him for a very long time.

In fact, he should emulate our (former) President here Cde (Kenneth) Kaunda. He silently advises our leaders and that is the role Mugabe should take.

We should be saying we are fortunate that he is still alive, he could be a bank of knowledge. Now at his age to try and destroy Zimbabwe, then what did he fight for?

It is a very sad situation. I appeal to President Mnangagwa to ignore him.

But for those who want to mislead Mugabe, he (President Mnangagwa) should hunt them because they are the wrong people for Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe needs to develop now.

Zimbabwe needs unity now. You may wish to know that here in Zambia Dr Kaunda promoted the spirit of One Zambia One nation and that is what Mugabe should do. You must bear in mind that Zimbabwe is bigger than any individual or any political party.

Mr Chella hailed Zimbabwes peaceful transition, saying Zimbabweans should give President Mnangagwa a chance. One thing that all African countries should learn from Zimbabwe is the transition period and that is why I said President Mnangagwa is a forgiving person, he said.

He never likes revenge. If it were some other African countries, we do not know what could have happened in Zimbabwe.

I beg Zimbabweans to give President Mnangagwa a chance so that Zimbabwe comes back as breadbasket and I remember that is where most of our food used to come from.

Under the stewardship of President Mnangagwa, Mr Chella said, Zimbabwe was destined for greater economic rebound. He said even during their school days, President Mnangagwa was a brave and hard-working person. Remember, at one point he was a member of UNIP here in Zambia, he said.

He worked hard for UNIP despite that he was not a Zambian, but his motto was that we should achieve the liberation of our country. He also intimated to us during those days that after school he will go to the bush to liberate his country.

One other thing that I should mention is that Emmerson was not power hungry and he was always loyal to our leaders.

 Herald

Breaking News via Email

Loading...

Related Zimbabwe Latest NewsAT least $300 million out of the $1,3 billion externalised by some individuals and firms has been repatriated, as the deadline of the moratorium to bring the money back ended yesterday, and the list of those who defied the order will be published on Monday.

This was said by President Mnangagwa while addressing thousands of Zanu-PF supporters at Lortondale Primary School in Bubi, Matabeleland North Province yesterday.

Mbavha dziya dzakange dzatora mari muno dzichiendesa kunze nevamwe vakadero vamunongoona kuti vakadero vakatenga dzimba kunze uko takati ngadzidzoke. I gave them three months, he said.

We have 1 166 cases of externalisation, now we have three categories. One category has returned the money and we thank them and we will not publish their names. They have returned $300 million back to the country. The second category we are still negotiating how they will return the money, with others saying its tied up in properties and other investments and those again we will not publish their names.

The value of the money held up in those circumstances is around $680 million.

President Mnangagwa said the last category concerned those that had not heeded his calls to return the money.

These ones have remained quiet, but we are saying come and we negotiate how you will return the money, but they have not responded positively to our calls, he said.

We will publish their names on the 19th of this month and also indicate how much they have externalised. So, this is part of my last warning to those who have externalised, big or small.

President Mnangagwa gave people that externalised a three-month moratorium that ended on February 28 to return the money.

He then extended the deadline to yesterday following which he would publish the names of those who fail to return the money. President Mnangagwa also told the gathering that his Government was geared towards economic development.

The challenge we have is to build our country, he said.

We must make this country a middle income country by 2030. Workers should be able to own properties, own cars and that the roads are there, ICTs are there, the infrastructure is there, agriculture is there, industries is working.

Now the mantra is Zimbabwe is open for business.

President Mnangagwa said Government was inundated with investment inquiries and had received investment commitments of over $3,1 billion in the first three month of his Government.

He said Government had embarked on various programmes that included Command Agriculture and infrastructure rehabilitation to improve the peoples livelihoods.

We are saying from now on we must sit together  the public sector, the private sector, the communities and say this community, what would you want your Government to do for you? said President Mnangagwa.

What are the challenges that face this particular community? Then you tell us, then we know what we must do for you.

President Mnangagwa said his Government was people oriented and would not foist development programmes on communities, but would be guided by their needs and aspirations.

He said there was need to maintain peace if the country was to develop.

We must be peaceful, he said. Our country can only develop under an environment of peace. I am saying peace, peace, peace, unity, unity, unity, love, love, love. Together, if we are united, together in a peaceful atmosphere, together we can build Zimbabwe. No one but ourselves can build Zimbabwe.

We are saying Zimbabwe is open for business. Those out there in the international community come and investment in Zimbabwe. Opportunities are here.

Come and invest in agriculture, come in production, come into mining, come into tourism, come into ICT come into education. But we know what is our national interest that we protect.

 Herald

Breaking News via Email

Loading...

Related Zimbabwe Latest News- The leadership of the Kano state public complaints and anti-corruption commission has been hailed for their achievements

- The commendation was from the Kano state governor, Dr Umar Abdullahi Ganduje

- The executive chairman of the commission, Muhuyi Magaji Rimingado, have been breaking new grounds in the discharge of his duties

The leadership of the Kano state public complaints and anti-corruption commission has been described as having more versatile and vibrant leadership at the helm of the affairs of the organisation for the first time.

The commendation was from the governor of Kano state Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, who assured that the leadership of the anti-graft body came at a time when it was much needed.

He made the assertion during the launching of domestication of the Kano state societal reorientation programme of Change Begins With Me, held at the Government House, Kano.

Muhuyi Magaji Rimingado continues to take Kano anti-graft agency to greater heights. Photo credit: Uche Igwe

READ ALSO: Reverse expulsion of politically expelled students of tertiary institutions - Group advises NUC

Ganduje said the anti-corruption agency had been in existence for quite sometimes now, but according to him, the body was only lucky to have the most qualified chief executive during his tenure as a governor.

When the former leaders of the agency were there, they were largely handicapped to operate optimally. Because of one reason or the other in heading the place. You can go and check the style of their operations then, he said.

But when he appointed Rimingado, the governor said, it became clearer that Muhuyi could perform above the old practice when those appointed could not come nearer to him in terms of performance.

He maintained that there are reasons for all our statements on what we are able to achieve within the period Muhuyi Magaji is heading this important body. He was, even before his appointment, a straightforward person who loves fair play and just society for all to live peacefully and transparently.

To showcase how effective the operation of the commission has been under Rimingado's watch, Ganduje disclosed that, hundreds of the agency's staff were sponsored to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to be trained on modern ways of tracking corruption and other related offences.

We also started establishing offices across the 44 local governments of the state. That will ease access to our anti-graft agency by members of the rural communities. All these are new initiatives done during the reign of this dynamic leader Muhuyi Magaji Rimingado, he disclosed.

Governor Ganduje reminded the participants about how a serving commissioner in the state lost his position because Rimingado's agency took the matter seriously with all sense of commitment and responsibility.

We have a case of a permanent secretary who also lost his position courtesy Muhuyi Magaji's efforts. There are many directors who faced the music also. These are all indices showcasing the seriousness and capacity of the leadership of the commission, he highlighted.

Public, according to the governor, become clearer and more conversant with the activities of the anti-graft agency, stressing that, people are now deeply interested in the activities of the commission.

READ ALSO: Plateau government replies Buharis minister over corruption allegations

Meanwhile, the special adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on prosecution, Chief Okoi Obono-Obla has reiterated the federal government's commitment in strengthening the anti-corruption fight in Nigeria.

Obono-Obla made the statement at the official launch of DoroCorruption Mobile App and Inauguration of Lawyers Network Against Corruption in Abuja on Thursday, March 14.

He, however, noted that three years is not enough to fight corruption in the country.

STREET GIST: Name a Nigerian politician who is not corrupt on Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit- Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II refrains from disclosing the identity of one of his daughters who wants to succeed him

- He insists the $20 billion allegations of fraud he made before he was suspended as the governor of the apex bank remains unaccounted for

- Islamic preacher faults wedding of Gandujes daughter to Ajimobis son

The second most ranked Muslim leader in Nigeria, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has disclosed that one of his daughters wants to succeed him as the emir of Kano.

The Cable reports that Sanusi made the disclosure in an interview with Financial Times at his Kano residence.

My daughter wants to be the next emir of Kano, and shes disappointed Ive not yet appointed a woman to the Kano emirate council, Sanusi was reported to have said.

READ ALSO: President Buhari mourns Kafanchan Catholic bishop, Joseph Bogobiri

The monarch however did not disclose the identity of the particular daughter who wants to succeed him.

When asked if his daughter could be the emir, he noted that perhaps his granddaughter or great-granddaughter could take the position.

Its got to be incremental, without necessarily turning the society on its headThat is the greatest challenge for us. How are you a custodian of a legacy, of a history, of a culture? And how do you also serve as a guide as that culture navigates its way in a modern world? he asked.

The Emir also insisted that the $20 billion allegations of fraud he made before he was suspended as the governor of the apex bank remains unaccounted for and is never going to be found in one place.

PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app

Meanwhile, a prominent Kaduna-based Islamic preacher, Ahmad Gumi, has faulted the glamorous wedding of Fatima Ganduje and Idris Ajimobi, describing it as a disgrace to Islam and parenting in Northern Nigeria.

Legit.ng noted that Gumi also warned the people of Kano to be cautious of the "wrath of God", citing the example of the crisis in Borno state, Premium Times reports.

According to the cleric, the bride and groom did not conduct themselves with decorum and respect. He blamed their parents for not guiding them to do the right thing.

Emir Sanusi blasts Nigerian leadership on Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ngIndeed, one good turn deserves another.

Doing good and lending a helping hand to another in trying times can go a long way in how you're remembered in the hearts of people. Sometimes your reward may simply be in heaven, sometimes it may come several years after just like this Twitter user.

Identified as Sammy Desh, the young man recently took to the social media platform to reveal how somebody he helped 8 years ago recently rewarded him with 2 plots of land in Ekiti state.

He wrote on Twitter: "As a student in 2010 i gave a guy my pocket money to pay his final year tuition fees, he reached out to me few minutes ago to dash me 2 plots of land in Ado Ekiti. I am speechless"

READ ALSO: Newly employed Kaduna state teacher makes grammatical error as he gives thanks to God for his new job

READ ALSO: Teenage househelp caught feeding 1-year-old baby with liquid soap, says she was tired of the job

While this has served as an inspiration to some people who saw the post, it is important to state that sometimes, it is also good to help without the hope of getting anything in return. Another Nigerian man has shown that sometimes, it's okay to lend a helping hand to even people who may have done you wrong.

He took to Twitter to narrate how his uncle refused to assist him financially in order to bury his father, stating that a man doesnt give his fellow man money. A year later, the same uncle was sick and in need of money to foot the medical bills and despite what the uncle did to him, he eventually helped him.

PAY ATTENTION: Read best news on Nigeria's #1 news app

Should a 'homeless' man move into a house built by his wife? on Legit.ng TV:

Source: Legit- The police in Lagos state have swung into actor to stop the violent clash that occurred between Yoruba and Hausa in the state

- The fight allegedly broke out after a Hausa youth reportedly beat up his Yoruba counterpart over a misunderstanding

- The leaders of the two groups are said to have met with state commissioner of police, Imohimi Edgal, with a view to resolving their conflict amicably

The police in Lagos state have arrested no fewer than 100 persons allegedly involved in a violent clash between two unknown groups at the Scavengers Land near New Garage, Ojota area of the state.

The state deputy commissioner of police Mohammed Ali, made the diclosure to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday, March 16.

He said that the arrested people had been transferred to the Taskforce Office, Oshodi, Lagos.

READ ALSO: WAEC makes changes in exam timetable over Jumat service

Ali said that the leaders of the two groups were meeting with state commissioner of police, Imohimi Edgal, with a view to resolving their conflict amicably.

He said: ''Nobody was killed in the clash. The situation has been brought under control. Our men will be here until total peace is restored.''

It was learn that the two groups were scavengers gathering and selling unserviceable items at a place called Igidanpani.

The clash forced shops in the New Garage and some parts of Ojota to close.

A vulcanizer, who identified himself simply as Adeshina said: ''We dont really know what caused the crisis. We were surprised to see people scampering. It started on Thursday but the police brought the situation under control. The groups started again today, forcing shops in the area to close.''

PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app

The state Governor Akinwunmi Ambode visited the scene on Friday evening, March 16, for an on-the-spot assessment.

He ordered closure of the New Garage as a measure to end the crisis.

The governor warned against violence of any sort, saying that the government would not tolerate it.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that a violent clash between Hausa youths and Yoruba youths at Gida Panli, Kotomola in Ojota, New Garage, Lagos state reportedly led to the death of several persons, while many others allegedly sustain different kinds of injuries.

The fight started on Thursday, March 15, after a Hausa youth reportedly beat up his Yoruba counterpart over a misunderstanding.

The fight reportedly escalated Friday morning after some area boys stormed the Hausa settlement to avenged the Yoruba youth who was beaten.

See the faces of newly arrested criminals in Lagos state - on Legit.ng TV:

Source: Legit- Senate President Bukola Saraki and House Speaker Yakubu Dogara are said to be bickering over the plot to override President Muhammadu Buharis veto of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill

- While Saraki reportedly wants an override, Dogara has allowed the House to revisit the bill and then send it back to the president

- A lawmaker believes that the Senate would be able to get the two-thirds majority to override the president; but does not think the House would be able to do so

A plot by legislators to override President Muhammadu Buhari on the amendment to the 2010 Electoral Act has led to a simmering disagreement between Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker of the House of Representatives Yakubu Dogara, Daily Trust reports.

Sources have reportedly disclosed that Dogaras decision to allow the House resolve to re-visit the bill did not go down well with Saraki, who allegedly wants an override.

READ ALSO: I have assassinated over 100 people - Ade Lawyer

Legit.ng gathers that while the Senate resolved to write to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, over the ruling by a High Court, restraining the National Assembly from further action on the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, the House has already agreed with the president on two of his three reasons for withholding assent to the bill.

Hon Abdulrazak Namdas, House spokesman, informed newsmen that the bill would be re-introduced and passed for a second and third reading before it would be sent back to the president.

With the decision by the House, it is expected that the Senate may have no other option than to follow suit.

A Senate source reportedly stated: We will allow them (House) to conclude work on it and they will send it to us for concurrence.

According to another lawmaker, both chambers would proceed straight to overriding the president without considering his reasons, if the matter was left to the Senate.

He added: But we felt that the president was right in some aspects, thats why this thing about revisiting the bill came up. As it is, proponents of the bill in the Senate are not happy.

He was then asked if both chambers would be able to pull together the two-thirds majority to override the president if he declines assent to the bill again.

He replied: In the Senate, I think they can get the two-thirds, but in the House, I doubt if that is possible. The truth is that theres an ulterior motive to the amendment. You can see that PDP members are more interested in the whole thing.

When asked if Speaker Dogara supported the bill, he stated: One can say yes and no, regarding his support for the bill. From his body language, he wants to allow members to have their own say.

You know theres this notion that hes romancing with the presidency too much and that hes the only one benefiting. So, he wants to use this opportunity to show that its not true.

In our own case, members want the president to lobby, not necessarily directly or by using money, but by giving us what is due to us such as the constituency projects.

As at today, we dont even know what theyll do about the constituency projects, but by the time they now come suddenly and release it, youll see that members will listen to them.

Another lawmaker was asked if the House would be able to get the two-thirds majority to override the president if he rejects the bill again.

He stated: Lets tell ourselves the truth, whether you like it or not, Buhari is still popular in the North. Anything that has to do with him, one should be very careful not to get into trouble.

You cant just wake up one day and say you want to challenge him and succeed.

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app

Recall that Legit.ng previously reported that the Senate and the House of Representatives were consulting on whether to override President Muhammadu Buhari's veto to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, which seeks to re-order the sequence of polls in 2019.

The president in a March 8, 2018, letter written to both chambers of the National Assembly said the amendments by the lawmakers were in conflict with existing laws.

President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, and the speaker, Yakubu Dogara, both read the letters to their respective chambers; after which, members of the House and senators began consulting on the next line of action.

Naija lawmakers overreact - on Legit.ng TV:

Source: LegitSomebeachsomewhere has been selected as a posthumous recipient of the 2017 Horse of the Year Award, named in honour of the life and memory of Canadian show jumping legend Hickstead. The award, along with others, will be presented at the Equestrian Canada Convention in Ottawa, Ont. on April 7, 2018.

This prestigious award is given to high performance horses of the highest exception, and therefore is only awarded when warranted, and not necessarily on an annual basis. Up to 2017, there had been only four recipients: Hickstead, Northern Dancer, Big Ben and Fine Lady 5.

On May 25, 2005, a harness racing legend was born. Somebeachsomewhere (fondly known as Beach) has been described as one of the greatest pacers to ever look through a bridle; his dominance transcends horse racing and places him among Canadas elite athletes.

The Standardbred stallion was sired by Mach Three, out of the Beach Towel mare Wheres The Beach and owned by the Somebeachsomewhere Syndicate, which included original owners, Schooner Stables of Truro, NS.

Beach stole the hearts of Canadians from coast-to-coast and inspired a new era of love and appreciation for harness racing in the country. In his freshman year, he had a perfect record of six wins in six starts and earned over $800,000.

All in all, Beach won 20 of his 21 starts, and his only loss, a neck defeat in the Meadowlands Pace, arguably became the best mile in history after he was forced to travel wide for much of the race. His career earnings exceeded $3.3 million and, at the time of his retirement in 2008, he held eight world records.

Upon retiring from racing, Beach had an equally prolific career as a sire, based at Hanover Shoe Farms in Pennsylvania. Beach became the first sire in harness racing to top $20 million in progeny earnings in a single season. In total, his offspring have earned more than $87 million.

Beachs many accolades include CBC Nova Scotia Newsmaker of the Year, over 10 Horse of the Year awards, including two Canadian Horse of the Year titles and an induction into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.

Following a short battle with cancer, Somebeachsomewhere was humanely euthanized at Mid-Atlantic Veterinary Center in New Jersey on Jan. 14, 2018. He leaves behind an incredible legacy that forever changed the landscape of Canadian harness racing, and lives on through his offspring, who have earned more than $87 million and is among the richest horses ever to take to a racetrack.

Equestrian Canada is honoured to add Somebeachsomewhere to the list of Canadas most iconic sport horses in history as a recipient of The Hickstead Trophy.

The following 2017 award recipients will be recognized for their equestrian-related achievements at the 2018 EC Awards Reception.

2017 EC NATIONAL AWARD RECIPIENTS

Gold Medal Award

Susan Grange

Lifetime Achievement Award

Susan Grange

Volunteer of the Year, Presented by Henry Equestrian

The Centaur Red Team

Equestrian of the Year - The Dr. George Jacobson Trophy

Selena OHanlon

Junior Equestrian of the Year - The Gillian Wilson Trophy, Presented by Asmar Equestrian

Tosca Holmes-Smith

Horse of the Year  The Hickstead Trophy

Somebeachsomewhere

Owner of the Year

John & Judy Rumble

Canadian Bred Horse of the Year

Foxwood High

Owner: John & Judy Rumble

Breeder: Hugh Graham

Canadian Breeder of the Year, Presented by John Deere

Karyne Lord

Equestrian Canada Health & Welfare Award

Dr. Mary Bell

Equestrian Canada Media Award  The Susan Jane Anstey Trophy

CBC Sports

(With files from Equestrian Canada)The lawmaker representing Bauchi south senatorial district, Senator Ali Wakili is dead.

A journalist with the Voice of America, (VOA), Saleh Shehu Ashaka, announced the death of the All Progressives Congress (APC) senator in a tweet on Saturday, March 17.

The Daily Nigerian, citing the account of a family member reported that the lawmaker slumped at his Gwarimpa residence, Abuja on Saturday morning, March 17, and was rushed to Viewpoint Hospital, where he was certified dead. He died at the age of 58.

Daily Trust also reported that the death of Wakili who served as chairman of the Senate committee on poverty alleviation was confirmed by the special adviser to the Senate president on media and publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu in a phone call.

READ ALSO: One of my daughters wants to be the next emir of Kano - Sanusi

The aide said Bukola Saraki was shocked when he learnt about the death of the lawmaker.

Shortly after he was informed about the death of the senator, the Senate president stated that he was on his way to the Wakili house to pay his respects to his family.

The death was also confirmed by Buharis aide on new media, Bashir Ahmad.

Senator Wakili was an active member of the APC caucus in the Nigerian Senate. He recently protested against the removal of Senator Abdullahi Adamu as chairman of the northern senators forum without the general knowledge of its members.

Meanwhile, a plot by legislators to override President Muhammadu Buhari on the amendment to the 2010 Electoral Act has led to a simmering disagreement between Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker of the House of Representatives Yakubu Dogara, Daily Trust reports.

Sources have reportedly disclosed that Dogaras decision to allow the House resolve to re-visit the bill did not go down well with Saraki, who allegedly wants an override.

Legit.ng gathers that while the Senate resolved to write to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, over the ruling by a High Court, restraining the National Assembly from further action on the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, the House has already agreed with the president on two of his three reasons for withholding assent to the bill.

TOP-4 Over-the-top Reactions of Nigerian Lawmakers to Certain Circumstances | Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit- Mrs Martha Udom-Emmanuel, wife of the Akwa-Ibom governor, has won a UN award for her pet project, Family Empowerment and Youths Reorientation Path-Initiative

- Mrs Udom-Emmanuel said her project was all-encompassing, adding that it has empowered thousands of women, girls, widows, youth and the physically-challenged, among others

- She further stated that through her project, many convictions had been secured against rapists

The wife of the governor of Akwa Ibom, Mrs Martha Udom-Emmanuel, has won an award at the UN for empowering and uplifting the women and the girl-child in the state, NAN reports.

The award was presented to Mrs Udom-Emmanuel at the UN Headquarters, New York, by the International Human Rights Commission.

READ ALSO: I was the best CBN governor - Emir Sanusi

Legit.ng gathers that she bagged the award based on the impacts of her pet project, Family Empowerment and Youths Reorientation Path-Initiative (FEYRep).

The wife of the Akwa Ibom governor was attending the 62nd Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) at the UN Headquarters where she also held a side-event to showcase her project.

The programme, which opened on March 12 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, is scheduled to close on March 23.

The Commissions high representative at the UN and African Union, Amb. Fouday Mansaray, lauded the activities of FEYRep, saying it is in line with Resolution 1325.

According to him, the project is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) wherein women are given a voice and platform to speak and to participate fully in governance.

Mansaray said: So, what we do is that we try to embody the whole Sustainable Development Goals, not only talk about one issue but look at it from a holistic approach.

We take education as a vehicle to all of this and our goal is to make sure that we see women in high position in governance, because women bring the entire family into consideration in leadership.

We work with about 17 States in Nigeria and we do quite an investigative work. We only give two of these certificates per year.

According to him, the commission has carried out on-the-spot assessment of her projects and those of other governors wives in Nigeria.

We were with 15 governors wives at a programme in September 2017, we are mostly impressed with her down-to-earth in-depth approach for widows, he said.

Mansaray added that the Commission would work with Akwa Ibom because it was taking the extra mile to implement programmes and avenues that would empower women and girls.

Responding, Mrs Udom-Emmanuel said her project was all-encompassing, adding that it has empowered thousands of women, girls, widows, youth and the physically-challenged, among others.

She explained that the project was particularly interested in girls education and empowerment, noting that there is a reduction in the level of crime now in Akwa Ibom, especially, rape.

She said: Before now, girls were not talking about rape cases. Many of them were raped and their mothers would not allow them to talk about it because of stigmatisation or intimidation.

But we have sensitised women, talking about it, telling them to voice out; we go to schools, emphasising our theme, Girl, uphold your dignity.

Through that, when a girl is raped now, she will pick up the phone and call FEYRep. The mother will also call that her daughter has been raped.

She said through her project, many convictions had been secured against rapists, assuring that more rapists will be convicted and rape must come to an end in the state.

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that Mrs Martha Udom Emmanuel gifted a widow with a fully furnished bungalow.

Mrs Emmanuel and her team of Family Empowerment Youth Re-Orientation Programme commissioned a bungalow given to the widow identified as Madam Arit Abia and her five grandchildren.

The widow and her grandchildren are from Ewang community in Mbo local government area in Akwa Ibom state.

Governor Amosun drives wife in Abeokuta - on Legit.ng TV:

Source: LegitA picture of Aliu Sabiu, the speaker of the Katsina State House of Assembly reportedly snubbing a woman who was about to shake him has sparked a heated debate online.

The 34-year-old politician who is said to be the youngest speaker of legislative house in Nigeria  smiled as he allegedly refused to return the womans handshake.

Na-Allah Mohammed Zagga, a media consultant, shared the photo on Facebook as he blasted those celebrating the speaker for the snub due to his religious devotion.

READ ALSO: Saraki, Dogara squabble over plot to override Buhari on Electoral Amendment Bill

The picture has sparked an argument between Nigerians who shared their opinion online as some commenters are defending him, while others are slamming him over the act.

See the post below:

Read some comments below:

In a previous report by Legit.ng, Hammed Ali, comptroller general of the Nigerian Customs Service, sparked funny conversation on social media after a photo of him shaking a female customs officer surfaced online.

In the photo, the customs boss was seen shaking a female officer with both hands above her wrist.

To many Nigerians the handshake looked extreme and a lot of people expressed that Ali was grabbing the officers hand rather than shaking her.

Nigerians made jokes about the handshake, saying that Islam does not allow men to shake women.

Age requirement reduction by the Senate; Good or Bad for Nigeria? on Legit.ng TV.

Source: Legit- President Buhari has expressed sadness over the death of Senator Ali Wakili who was the chairman of the Senate committee on poverty alleviation

- The president described Wakili's death as an incalculable loss to Nigeria's democracy

- He also extended his condolences to his family, his colleagues in the National Assembly, as well as the government and people of Bauchi state

President Muhammadu Buhari has described the death of Senator Ali Wakil from Bauchi State as "an incalculable loss to Nigeria's democracy whose dedication to duty was remarkable and worthy of emulation."

The president said that the death of the senator came as a great shock to him, adding that his dedication to duty would remain one of the greatest virtues for which the deceased would be remembered.

READ ALSO: Tension in legislature as Saraki, Dogara bicker over plot to override Buhari on Electoral Act Amendment

According to President Buhari, ''the passion for duty was one of the finest qualities of late Senator Wakil, as he urged other democratically elected leaders to borrow a leaf from the deceased's record of dedication.

PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app

The president, while praying to Allah to bless the soul of the departed senator, also extended his condolences to his family, his colleagues in the National Assembly, as well as the government and people of Bauchi State over this great loss to the country.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that the president of the Senate Bukola Saraki and the speaker of House of Representatives, Yakubu have expressed sadness over the death of Senator Ali Wakili who was the chairman of the Senate committee on poverty alleviation.

The Senate president who was on his way to the family house of the vice president to felicitate with them on the wedding of his daughter, said that he was now on his way to the family House of the Wakilis to commiserate with them on the passing of the senator.

TOP-4 Over-the-top Reactions of Nigerian Lawmakers to Certain Circumstances | Legit.ng TV:

Source: Legit.ngMany Nigerians reacted as a journalist with the Voice of America, (VOA), Saleh Shehu Ashaka, announced the death of the All Progressives Congress Senator Ali Wakil from Bauchi state in a tweet on Saturday, March 17.

Earlier, the Nigerian number one citizen, President Muhammadu Buhari described the death of Senator Wakil as "an incalculable loss to Nigeria's democracy whose dedication to duty was remarkable and worthy of emulation."

Below are the reactions of some Nigerians to the death of the senator:

READ ALSO: Tension in legislature as Saraki, Dogara bicker over plot to override Buhari on Electoral Act Amendment

PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that the president of the Senate Bukola Saraki and the speaker of House of Representatives, Yakubu have expressed sadness over the death of Senator Wakili.

The Senate president who was on his way to the family house of the vice president to felicitate with them on the wedding of his daughter, said that he was now on his way to the family House of the Wakilis to commiserate with them on the passing of the senator.

TOP-4 Over-the-top Reactions of Nigerian Lawmakers to Certain Circumstances | Legit.ng TV:

Source: Legit- Russia accuses Britain of provocative actions and baseless accusations over the poisoning of a double agent

- North Korea offers to assist Nigeria in fight against Boko Haram

Russia said Saturday, March 17 that it would expel 23 British diplomats and close a British consulate following Londons provocative measures over the poisoning of a double agent that has triggered an escalating war of words.

And it also said it would halt the activities of the British Council in Russia in a tough series of retaliatory measures announced after summoning British ambassador Laurie Bristow.

The Russian response was announced on the eve of a presidential election which is expected to hand Vladimir Putin a fourth term in the Kremlin, but which comes as the country appears increasingly isolated, The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

READ ALSO: Breaking: Senator Ali Wakili is dead

The crisis erupted after Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were exposed to a Soviet-designed nerve agent on March 4 in the English city of Salisbury, leaving them in critical condition.

London has blamed Moscow and on Friday, even directly implicated Putin in the attack, prompting the Kremlins fury.

Twenty three diplomatic staff at the British embassy in Moscow are declared persona non grata and to be expelled within a week, a foreign ministry statement said.

It said this was a response to Britains provocative actions and baseless accusations over the incident in Salisbury on March 4.

PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app

Russian businessman Nikolai Glushkov was found dead in London on March 12, with police opening a murder inquiry after a post mortem found he died from compression to the neck

Russia also said that it was withdrawing permission for Britain to operate its consulate in the northwestern city of Saint Petersburg, citing a disparity in the number of diplomatic missions held by the two countries.

And it said it had halted the activities of the British Council, Britains international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities, across the country.

Due to the unregulated status of the British Council in Russia, its activity is halted, the foreign ministry said.

The measures are more harsh, but the British deserved them. And I dont rule out that something else could follow, first deputy head of the Russian Senates foreign affairs committee Vladimir Dzhabarov told Interfax news agency.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Thursday, March 15, expressed willingness to assist the armed forces of Nigeria in tackling the Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast.

The Independent reports that the outgoing ambassador of the DPRK, Jong Yong Chol, commended the federal governments efforts at decimating the power of the Boko Haram, in Abuja during a farewell visit to the foreign affairs minister, Geoffrey Onyeama.

Legit.ng gathered that the envoy thanked the federal government for consolidating and developing friendly and cooperative relations especially in politics, economic and culture between North Korea and Nigeria.

He said the DPRK-Nigeria relations began in 1976 and pledged to continue to do everything possible to ensure that the relations between the two countries was further strengthened as he is leaving Nigeria.

Chol said both Nigeria and North Korea had special relations because the two countries had good cooperation in the international arena, most importantly, in the UN.

Nigerians speak on slavery in Libya on Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ng News- Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari cancelled his trip to Rwanda for the extraordinary meeting of African Union heads of state and government

- The president withdraw from the meeting which is to hold on Wednesday in Kigali, Rwanda

- President Buhari was scheduled to sign the framework agreement for establishing the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA)

President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday,March 17, cancelled his plan to attend the extraordinary meeting of African Union Heads of State and Government billed to hold in Kigali, Rwanda on Wednesday, March 21, Daily Trust reports.

This is coming a few day after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) gave President Buhari approval to join other African countries to sign the Agreement Framework for the establishment of African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA,

Sources at the presidency disclosed on Saturday that Buharis scheduled trip for Kigali on Monday, March 19, for the signing of the framework agreement for establishing the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) had been canceled.

However, the reason for the cancellation of President Buhari's trip is not yet known.

A team comprising protocol staff, security officers and journalists were today asked to return from Murtala International Airport, Lagos, where they were to take off.

The senior special assistant to the president on mand publicity, Malam Garba Shehu and the presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, as of the time of filing this report are yet to speak on the issue.

Legit.ng previously reported that former vice president of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, will be speaking at the Chatham House in London on April 25.

The former vice president will be speaking on major economic issues at the Lodon's Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House).

PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 new app

A statement by the Atiku media office said the event will hold on Wednesday, April 25, at 10 am. The keynote speech titled, The Importance of Strengthening State Economic Management Systems, will unveil innovative and tangible solutions that once implemented will help Nigerian states exit their current economic challenges.

Are Nigerians truly tired of President Buhari? on Legit.ng TV.

Source: Legit Newspaper- Pandemonium struck Esan south east local and Odiguete Ovia north east local government areas of Edo state as five people were reportedly killed by suspected herdsmen

- Among the victims was Collins Ojierakhi, a first year student of the Ambrose Alli University Ekpoma, Edo state

- Father of the deceased, Festus Ojierakhi said it was his wife's friend that made him know that his son had been killed by the suspects

Five people including a first year student of the Ambrose Alli University Ekpoma, Edo state, Collins Ojierakhi, have been allegedly killed by herdsmen in Ugboha, Esan south east local and Odiguete Ovia north east local government areas of Edo state.

Apart from the death, about twelve persons are currently hospitalized at the Benin Central Hospital and other private hospitals as a result of the attack by the herdsmen.

Vanguard reports that The incident at Ugboha occurred Friday night at about 7:30pm when the deceased Collins and his friends were on their way back to village from Uromi.

READ ALSO: You were born in the gutter - Fani Kayode attacks Omokri over herdsmen attacks

Father of the deceased, Festus Ojierakhi, narrated that I am just confused. I was actually in the house resting at about 8pm and I started asking about my son who was not there. I was told he went to Uromi with his friends on a motorcycle.

''It was around 9pm that the mother of my sons friend started shouting, crying that herdsmen have killed her son. I rushed out of the house and I asked about my own son.

''I was told he died too with his friend. We immediately detailed boys and ran to the place. When we got there we were told that the police had come to take the corpse to Ubiaja mortuary. I was told that my son and two others, including the friend died. They said the other person that died is an Igbo person. 

''The information we heard was that as my son was driving home with his Okada, the herdsmen and their cattle blocked the road and they waited for them to leave the road.

''Immediately they passed, some of their people in the bush opened fire on my son and his friends and they died at the spot.

''I have been to the Area Commanders office and they said they are investigating the matter.

''I dont know what to do. This is a young boy that just entered university he lamented. At Odiguete community in Ovia North East, it was learnt that the herdsmen invaded the community yesterday, shooting sporadically and in the process killed two persons.

It was learnt that the community and the herdsmen have been having running battle in the area for sometime now.

PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app

However, some of the wounded persons were brought to the Benin Central hospital yesterday while the two dead persons were said to have been deposited at an undisclosed mortuary.

When contacted, the Edo state police commissioner, Johnson Kokumo could not answer his phone, but one of his aids later picked and said the CP was in a meeting. Several calls made later to the CP was unanswered.

The public relations officer of the command, Chidi Nwabuzor, who was also contacted said he was attending an event therefore cannot comment.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that A Twitter war is ensuing between two of Jonathan closest aides online. Both Reno Omokri who was Jonathan aides on digital media and FFK who was the director of campaign for Jonathan during the 2015 election have gone for each other's jugular in a fierce Twitter war. Both aides have resorted to calling themselves unprintable names over the claim by Atiku that that not all herdsmen are Fulani.

Victims of Herdsmen killing buried in Benue State - on Legit.ng TV:

Source: Legit.ng NewsYeah! More meetups!

I must add that Significant Others and Receptive Friends often get dragged to meetups and are typically glad they decided to go along.

From our Arizona Slim:

Please join us for the first-ever NC Meetup in Tucson, Arizona!

Date: Friday, April 6, 2018

Time: 5 PM  8 PM

Location:

Ermanos Craft Beer and Wine Bar

220 North 4th Avenue

Tucson, Arizona

This meetup will be hosted by Arizona Slim, who is eager to meet other members of the NC commentariat. Lurkers are also welcome.

For those of you who like maps:Yves here. As you might imagine, I am stunned to learn that economists actually believed that liberalizing trade would ever and always promote democracy. Anyone who has read Polyani or Kalecki knows that commerce and the social order do not have the same interests on some key matters, like who gets to reap the fruits of productive activity. I thought they understood this was just a talking point for US multinationals, that even though people might have believed this in the immediate post World War II period, they ought to know better by now. The example of the European Union alone, where some of the measures taken to promote economic integration have anti-democratic implications, is one of many examples.

By NewDealdemocrat. Originally published at Angry Bear

Introductory note: this is a very long epistle. But I think my point needs to be made fully and at length. Before you go further, in fairness here is the TL:DR version:

Advocates of free trade and globalization were taken aback a week ago by the assumption by Chinas President Xi Jinping of rule for life.

This was because it runs completely contrary to their theory that free trade leads to economic liberalization, which in turn leads to political liberalization.

This theory has been repeatedly and thoroughly repudiated throughout history, most catastrophically be World War I.

Thats because autocrats will use the gains of economic trade for their own ends, typically the pursuit of further political and military power.

Historically middle classes do not revolt against autocracy when they are prospering, but rather only after a period of rising expectations has been dashed by an economic downturn in which the autocratic elite unfairly forces all of the burden onto them.

But since these historical facts are nowhere to be found in the economic models, they are ignored as if they do not exist. We can only hope they do not once again lead to catastrophe.

First, let me pose a thought experiment. Country A and Country B propose to enter into Agreement X. We have no idea at all what Agreement X is, but we know that the result will be that both Country A and Country B will each be richer by $1 Trillion each and every year thereafter.

Country A, being an egalitarian paradise, is going to share out the proceeds equally among its population of 250 million, with each person getting $4,000 per year.

The dictator of Country B is going to do the same with 1/2 of its $1 Trillion gain, making his population very happy, but  because this is his personal aim  he is going to spend the other $500 Billion each and every year in building up its military so that it can challenge and eventually vanquish Country A, and then keep all of the gains of Agreement X to itself.

Should Country A enter into Agreement X?



A week ago The Economist opined that The Wests Bet on China has Failed, stating that:

Last week China stepped from autonomy into dictatorship. That was when Xi Jinping  let it be known that he will change Chinas constitution so that he can rule as president for as long as he chooses . This is not just a big change for China but also strong evidence that the Wests 25 year long bet on China has failed. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the West welcomed [China] into the global economic order. Western leaders believed that by giving China a stake in institutions such as the World Trade Organization would bind it into the rules based system  They hoped that economic integration would encourage China to evolve into a market economy and that, as its people grew wealthier, its people would come to yearn for democratic reforms .

CNNs Fareed Zakaria recoiled in horror, writing in the Washington Post that:

[W]hats happening in China  is huge and consequential. China is making the most significant change to its political system in 35 years.

For decades, China seemed to be getting more institutionalized. But that trend has now been turned on its head. If term limits are abolished, which is now almost certain, Xi Jinping could stay Chinas president, general secretary of the Communist Party and chairman of the Central Military Commission for the rest of his life. And he is just 64.

. The real danger is that China is eliminating perhaps the central restraint in a system that provides staggering amounts of power to the countrys leaders. What will that do, over time, to the ambitions and appetites of leaders? Power tends to corrupt, Lord Acton famously wrote in 1887, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Perhaps China will avoid this tendency, but it has been widespread throughout history.

If Zakaria felt blindsided, he should not have been. Because ten years ago, after he published The Post-American World, arguing that because the US had successfully spread the ideals of liberal democracy across the world, other countries were competing for economic, industrial, and cultural  but not military  power, I confronted him at the former TPM Cafe.

For the truth is, the Wests bet on China, so ruefully mourned by The Economist and Zakaria, was always likely to fail. That free trade leads to economic and political liberalism and to peace - championed by neoliberal economists and their political retinue  has been a fantasy for over 100 years, and for 100 years it has been a lie. They would have known if their theories and equations could account for the likes of Kaiser Wilhelm II. But since their equations and theories are blind to the pursuit of power, they dismiss it  at horrible cost to the world

In an interview with David Frum, Minxin Pei, who a decade ago dissented, predicting that China would not transition towards true economic and political freedom, said it well:

[M]any people were too dazzled by the superficial changes, especially economic changes, to realize that the Communist Partys objective is to stay in power, not to reform itself out of existence. Economic reform or, to be more exact, adopting some capitalist practices and embracing market in some areas, is only a means to a political end.

[W]hen China was forced to keep the door [to liberalization] more open, it was in a weaker position relative to the forces outsidethe West in general and the U.S. in particular. But when the conservative forces inside China gain strength while the West appears to be in decline, those forces are far more likely and able to close the door again, as is happening right now. So, while the logic of irresistible liberalization appears to be reasonable on the surface, it overlooks the underlying reality of power.

I set set forth the fuller historical context a decade ago in my response to Zakaria,which I am taking the liberty of reposting in full immediately below.

Over at TPM Cafe, this week Fareed Zakarias new book, The Post American World is being discussed. In it, Zakaria repeats the theory of globalizations most toxic and unproven claim: that countries which participate in trade together do not make war upon one another. So if you want to prevent war, just participate in deep and interwoven trade with the other country and everything will be hunky-dory.

Its a lie.

Zakaria claims that Were Living in Scarily Peaceful Times:

The new and most dangerous twist to all this is that our great looming danger is Russia, China, and the rising oil dictatorships. This is a worldview bereft of any historical perspective. Compared with any previous era, there is more economic integration and even comity among the worlds major powers. The imbalance between the West and the rest is large, not complete but large and in most areas increasing. The newly emerging states want to grow within the existing world order, which John Ikenberry has nicely described as easy to join and hard to overturn. The world is going our way, slowly and fitfully, with some detours. No great power has an alternative model of modern life that has any real attraction?

This is essentially the same argument that Thomas Friedman made in The Lexus and the Olive Tree and reiterated even a short time ago in this liveblog:

You know in Lexus I wrote that no two countries would fight a war so long as they both had McDonalds. And I was really trying to give an example of how when a country gets a middle class big enough to sustain a McDonalds network, they generally want to focus on economic development. That is a sort of tipping point, rather than fighting wars.

This argument, repeated over and over on both necoconservative and neoliberal sites, and all over the corporate media, that free trade leads to middle classes leads to democracy leads to kumbayah, is pretty simple, and it is dangerously wrong. Or as Zakaria reviewer David Rieff summarizes:

he reads too much into into two indisputable facts of the current moment  that there are fewer major wars taking place than in living memory and that there is a greater level of global economic integration than at any time in history.

The truth is, the free trade zealots also have spent too much of their careers seduced by neoclassical economics favorite mythical beast, Homo economicus, the Rational Man; and not enough time reading history.

For a start, contrary to the free trade zealots, this is not the first period in world history in which there has been relatively free trade, nor is it the first time in which there has been globalization. For example, as is pointed out in an article entitled European Social Security and Global Politics By Danny Pieters, European Institute for Social Security Conference

Globalisation is not a new phenomena. During the second part of the nineteenth century there was a strong move toward the liberalisation of international transactioins, and international trade expanded rapidly until the beginning of World War I

And just which country in Europe was undergoing the most rapid growth and industrialization during the perioed from 1870-1914? As this essay states, Germany

embarked upon an extensive education program; it specialised in technical ares and so there was a greater push in that direction. It produced more and better scientists, and so Germany began her industrial advance. Also, the French threat, even if it was superficial, spurred the Germans in authority into action, and made them make Germany stronger and superior. German expansion was also helped by the expansion of the railway network, so that goods and mail could get from one place to another, and to more places, faster and more efficiently.

Needless to say,much like the mercantilist expanding autocracies now fawned over by so many of the free trade zealots, during this time Germany was a monarchy, ruled by the Kaiser.

Even worse, this isnt just the first time that economies have experience globalization, it also isnt the first time that this exact same argument has been made. In his 1910 best-seller, The Great Illusion Norman Angell wrote that:

the universal assumption that a nation, in order to find outlets for expanding population and increasing industry, or simply to ensure the best conditions possible for its people, is necessarily pushed to territorial expansion and the exercise of political force against others. It is assumed that a nations relative prosperity is broadly determined by its political power; that nations being competing units, advantage in the last resort goes to the possessor of preponderant military force, the weaker goes to the wall, as in the other forms of the struggle for life. The author challenges this whole doctrine. He attempts to show that it belongs to a stage of development out of which we have passed that the commerce and industry of a people no longer depend upon the expansion of its political frontiers; that a nations political and economic frontiers do not now necessarily coincide; that military power is socially and economically futile, and can have no relation to the prosperity of the people exercising it; that it is impossible for one nation to seize by force the wealth or trade of another  to enrich itself by subjugating, or imposing its will by force on another; that in short, war, even when victorious, can no longer achieve those aims for which people strive.

There is quite simply no difference at all between the theses of Angell a century ago, and Friedman and Zakaria now.

And what happened only 4 years after The Great Illusion was published? Well, another book that Zakaria and Friedman ought to read is Vera Brittains autobiography, Testament of Youth. Vera Brittain was a comfortable affuent middle class girl who was accepted to Oxford University shortly before World War I broke out. By the time it was over, her brother, Edward; her fiance Roland Leighton; and every other young man she had been close to, had been killed. Brittains book is a searing documentary about the utter destruction of an entire generation of British young men caused by the war.

Just how many people were killed by World War I? One source puts just the number of military deaths at 10 million. Including the wounded, in some European countries over half of the entire generation of young men were casualties. Another sourcesays:

the percentage of a countrys population directly afflicted. During the course of World War One, eleven percent (11%) of Frances entire population were killed or wounded! Eight percent (8%) of Great Britains population were killed or wounded, and nine percent (9%) of Germanys pre-war population were killed or wounded! The United States, which did not enter the land war in strength until 1918, suffered one-third of one percent (0.37%) of its population killed or wounded.

Simply put, World War I is a thorough and devastating refutation of the argument that free trade leads to peace and democracy, Quite the contrary, had Zakaria and Friedman bothered to actually study history, they might have found out that revolutions typically do not occur in eras of increasing plenty. Rather, they occur in times where rising expectations have been dashed:

he J-curve theory says that when conditions improve for a relatively long period of time,  and this is followed by a short economic reversal  an intolerable gap occurs between the changes that the people expect (dashed line) and what they actually get (solid line). Davies predicts that this is when revolution will occur (arrow). Support for this theory was found in a 1972 study of 84 nations. Researchers found a clear relationship between indications of political instability and economic frustration. Frustrated countries are those that had poor economic conditions  low economic growth, insufficient food, few telephones and physicians  while being acquainted with the higher living standards of industrialized, urbanized countries. These studies show that frustration is more likely to develop from relative frustration  the gap between their expectations and the reality that does not live up to these expectations. People in poor countries isolated from the outside world do not realize how poor or frustrated they are. Their frustrations are accepted merely as part of living. In contrast, the people in poorer countries exposed to modern standards feel more frustrated. To top this off, deprived people who have experienced some recent progress are more frustrated than those who experienced poverty and oppression.

In short, just as Germans were hardly big agitators for democracy during the time the German state was expanding, and autocracy was resulting in greater prosperity, so we should not expect that any autocratic states today that are profiting mightily from economic growth are suddenly going to turn democratic. To the contrary, just like the Kaisers Germany, it is much easier to direct aggression elsewhere.

Democratic revolutions occur when previously rising expectations have been dashed, and the populace has no outlet for their anger and frustration. In democracies, governments can be changed (as in 1932); but in autocracies, the rulers cronies are protected from the privations, and with no alternative avenue of recourse, and seeing the manifest injustice of the benefits of the system, the populace revolts.

For example, Taiwans democratic reforms were sparked by the violence of the Kaohsiung Incident of 1979. Similarly, democracy finally came to South Korea in 1987 when workers finally rebelled against artificially low wages:

South Korea is hardly a model of a free economy. The hand of government planners in setting priorities and steering companies has been heavy. The low wages that helped fuel growth did not result from market forces. For 25 years, successive governments deliberately held down pay rates. They virtually barred strikes, jailed militant labor leaders, and decreed tough guidelines for wage increases. To block development of independent unions, companies created their own and installed leaders acceptable to the government. Says a Western diplomat in Seoul: Union leaders were practically appointed by the national security police. With democratic winds sweeping South Korea this summer, workers were emboldened to push for higher pay, independent unions, and the right to strike,

[2018 update: Even the American Revolution had elements of this paradigm, as England reined in the colonists rising fortunes following the French and Indian War by taxing them for the costs, expanding the territory of Quebec to include all of what is now the American northern Midwest, and prohibiting expansion beyond the Appalachians.]

It is a disgrace that we see these same discredited theses, this same Great Illusion, embraced by corporate media pundits so often. That free trade inevitably leads to peace and democracy is a Big and Dangerous Lie, to which World War 1 is the most spectacular and unequivocal counter-evidence.< There is no guarantee, alas, that we are not now on that same catastrophic path.  In 2015, I reiterated this point more succinctly:

A more fundamental point is about human nature. In any economic downturn, the powerful elites are going to try to deflect all of the suffering on the powerless masses. In a representative democracy, eventually the majority will rebel at the ballot box and elect a party which promises to end their suffering. [Update: It might be a left-wing party, like Syriza in Greece or FDRs New Deal democrats in the US, or it might be from the right-wing like AfD in Germany or Donald Trump. ] In an authoritarian state, however, no such safety valve exists. Thats why revolutions dont happen in an era of rising expectations. They happen when rising expectations are dashed. So long as Chinas economy continues to expand stoutly, expect no meaningful turbulence. But someday China will have a recession, and then, dear reader, is when world history will get interesting.

So here we are a decade later, and the free-trade economists and their acolytes are gobsmacked by something that was not just predictable, but actually predicted, because there is no place in their theories for actual human behavior as revealed in history. We can only hope that when the inevitable happens, China will not lash out as Kaiser Wilhelm did a century ago.The Organization of Racing Investigators (ORI) will hold its annual Training Conference at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario from March 25-28, 2018.

The ORIs annual conferences aim to give members learning opportunities with a focus on education and the sharing of best practices related to the welfare of horses and maintaining the integrity of the industry.

As Ontarios provincial regulator for horse racing, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) will be hosting the ORI conference this year. The AGCO is pleased to be supporting the progress of the industry and the learning opportunities the ORI conference presents.

This year our conference focuses on exploring modern approaches for ensuring the safety of horses and racing participants." said ORI Chairman, Jeremy Locke, Manager of Racing Investigations at the AGCO. "The commitment of the AGCO to provide a modern regulatory framework for the sport aligns perfectly with the 2018 conference theme. I would also like to express my appreciation to all of the participating race tracks and racing jurisdictions, including the staff at Woodbine, for their support in making this years conference happen.

The ORI was established in 1991 and is composed of professionals from the public and private sectors, who are responsible for investigations within the racing industry in some capacity. The conference attracts attendees from Australia, Canada, Ireland, Jamaica and the United States.

Topics covered at the 2018 Training Conference will include examining a modern approach to human drug testing, a case study on emergency management planning for the Queens Plate, as well as practical training in fire safety and location inspections.

(with files from AGCO)Tipperary people are the most concise when it comes to conference calls a new survey has revealed!

Research based on 133,345 conference calls held in Ireland in 2017 has some interesting data for Tipperary!

The new research is by Irish-based company 247meeting and based on 133,345 conference calls held in Ireland in 2017.

Professionals from Tipperary seem to get their business done more quickly with any average of only 33 minutes spent on meetings. Very efficient!

However, Tipperary also topped the pole for tardiness with an average of 8 minutes delay on conference calls.

Galway professionals are the most punctual to meetings with an average delay of only 4 minutes. The most talkative, or collaborative professionals, are in County Laois with an average of 48 minutes spent in meetings. Wexford people are the most "democratic", inviting on average 10 people in meetings, while Dublin, Portlaoise and Cork all try to have smaller audiences with usually 6 people joining.

Connaught professionals are overall more verbal than the other provinces with an average of 41 minutes spent on conference calls versus 37 minutes for Munster and Leinster. They also usually invite more people to their meetings than their neighbours; an average of 8 people attend in Connacht versus an average of 6 people in Cork and Munster. The national average is 5 minutes delay for a 37-minute conference call with 6 participants.

The report and abundance of research also concluded that:

 The most productive meetings happen late in the morning.

 Tuesday is the best day to hold a meeting for maximum impact, and if the purpose is to make decisions, the fewer people on the line the better.

 In line with the human attention span, it is advisable not to schedule hour-long meetings. The best meetings are kept to around 35 minutes and an absolute maximum of 45 minutes.

One thing that seems very apparent from this research is that meetings by conference call seem to wrap up quicker at 37 minutes than face-to-face meetings which are normally scheduled in for an hour. This doesnt take into account the time it takes to get to and from the meeting. Now with an ever-increasing number of people working remotely, the conference call is becoming more popular than ever. But factor in the cosmic rise and dependence on smart phones and a whole new solution to meetings is born. Irish conferencing services company, 247meeting has now launched a pioneering new mobile app, allowing worldwide users to hold confidential remote meetings on the go  anywhere, anytime, with less than two minutes set up. The 247meeting mobile app is available in Apple and Android versions and can be downloaded free of charge from the iStore or Google Play. To watch a demo, go tohttps://247meeting.com/mobile/ or to view the full white paper on the research, clickhttps://247meeting.com/time-is-moneyThe late Liam Glennon

The death has occurred of Liam Glennon late of Ballygrauige and late of Ballyknockane Ballymackey, Nenagh, Tipperary. Predeceased by his beloved parents Michael and Winnie, brother Michael and sister Kathleen. Deeply regretted by his loving wife Mary and cherished children, daughter Geraldine and son Colm, grandchildren Jack, Kacie, James, Niamh, Emer and Liam, son-in-law Ian, daughter-in-law Marie. Brother-in-law Pj, sister-in-law Nancy, cousins, relatives, friends, neighbours and by Shelia Tooher. Reposing at Ryan's Funeral Home, Nenagh tomorrow, Saturday, from 5 o'c to 7 o'c. Remains arriving to St. Joseph's Church, Toomevara on Sunday for Requiem Mass at 11.30 o'c followed by burial in Ballinree Cemetery. "Donations in lieu of flowers to C.O.P.D Support Ireland, click here to donate. "House private".

The late Liam Kearney

The death has occurred of Liam Kearney late of Ballydrehid, Cahir, Tipperary. Liam will be sadly missed by his loving brother Ber, sisters Mary (Fogarty), Catherine (Costigan), Imelda and Breda (Nugent), nephews, nieces, extended family and friends. Reposing at Costigan's Funeral Home, Cahir, on Sunday evening from 6.00pm with removal at 7.30pm to arrive at Kilmoyler church at 8pm. Requiem Mass on Monday at 11am. Burial afterwards in Kilaldriffe Cemetery.

The late Nicola Ahearne

The death has occurred of Nicola Ahearne late of 11 Liam Lynch Terrace, Newcastle, Tipperary. Beloved daughter of Jim & Tricia Ahearne, treasured and deeply loved by brother Jason, sisters Pamela, Linda and Katie, nieces Hayley and Rihanna, nephew Luke and partner Paula. Reposing at her residence on Sunday, 18th March, from 4pm until 8pm. Removal on Monday at 12 o'clock for Mass in Newcastle Church. Burial afterwards in the new cemetery, Newcastle. House private, family only, Monday morning. Family flowers only; donations if desired to C-Saw.

The late Patrick Rainsford

The death has occurred of Patrick (Patsy) Rainsford late of Clonbealy, Newport, Tipperary / Murroe, Limerick. Sadly missed by his loving partner Margaret, wife Sheila, sons Thomas, Patrick and Paul, daughters in law, grandchildren, sisters, brothers, brothers in law, sisters in law, nephews, nieces, relatives and friends. Rest in Peace. Reposing at Meehan's Funeral Home Newport this Monday evening 19th March from 6 p.m. with removal at 7.30 p.m. to the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer Newport. Requiem Mass on Tuesday 20th at 11.30 a.m., burial afterwards in Rockvale cemetery Newport

The late Margaret Ryan

The death has occurred of Margaret (Peg) Ryan (nee Flannery) late of Artane, Dublin / Tipperary. Beloved wife of the late Christy and beloved mam of Sean, Mary, Christy, Margaret and Sharon; very sadly missed by her loving family, daughters-in-law, sons-in-law, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, brother, sisters, nieces, nephews, relatives and friends. Reposing in Jennings Funeral Home, Springdale Road, Raheny on Saturday, 17th March, from 11am to 4pm and on Monday, 19th March, from 9.30am to 5pm. Removal on Monday, 19th March, to the Church of Our Lady Mother of Divine Grace, Raheny arriving for 5.30pm. Funeral Mass on Tuesday, 20th March, at 10am followed by cremation in Glasnevin Crematorium. Family flowers only.

The late Nora Shanahan

The death has occurred of Nora Shanahan (nee Fahey) late of Killeen, Nenagh, Tipperary and formerly of Gurrane, Latteragh. In her 95th year (peacefully), In the loving and tender care of the Matron and Staff of St. Conlon's Nursing Home, Nenagh. Predeceased by her husband Michael, son Seamus and her grandaughter Louise; sadly missed by her sons Paddy, Tommy, Michael and Gerard, daughters Mary (Fitzpatrick) and Nonie (Hogan), sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, sisters, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nephews, nieces, relatives and friends. Reposing at Ryan's Funeral Home, Nenagh on Sunday evening from 6pm to 8pm. Removal Monday morning to the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Templederry for Requiem Mass at 12 noon. Burial afterwards in the new cemetery, Templederry. Family flowers only, donations, if desired, to St. Conlon's Nursing Home.

The late Ellen Sheehy

The death has occurred of Ellen (Nell) Sheehy (nee Leonard) late of Moher, Ballyporeen, Tipperary. Beloved wife of the late John and sister of the Late Jim (Cork) and Nan Callanan (Crookstown)and loving mother of J.J. Deeply regretted by her son J.J., her brother Paddy (Ballindangan) sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, nieces, nephews, relatives, neighbours and friends. Reposing at her home on Saturday from 5pm to 9pm, removal to the Church of the Assumption, Ballyporeen for 9.30pm. Requiem Mass on Sunday morning at 11am. followed by burial in St Mary's Cemetery.

--(As delivered)

ROSE GOTTEMOELLER [NATO Deputy Secretary General]: Thank you all for being here tonight in this snowy evening in Warsaw. I wanted to say what an honour it was to visit the battlegroup that is deployed here in Poland today and to see what I consider to be the promise of the Warsaw Summit meeting, in July 2016, now delivered. I have had the opportunity now, as Deputy Secretary General, over the past few months to visit all four of the battlegroups, and I can see that that promise made among all Allies in Warsaw in 2016 has resulted in certified, effective battlegroups that are training every single day of the week, to provide for the deterrence and defence of this Alliance. So, I was very proud to be here, I was very proud to see the troops who are here, the Polish troops of course ably commanded, and the framework nation being Poland, we also have the United States here as the lead nation, Romania, Croatia and the UK also represented, so all working together and all serving the deterrence and defence of the Alliance. So, it was a great day and I thank Poland for hosting me here today.

INTERPRETER: [Spoken in Polish]

ROSE GOTTEMOELLER [NATO Deputy Secretary General]: Questions.

QUESTION: Are there any change of plans on this [inaudible] considering the battlegroups, maybe different more nations or

ROSE GOTTEMOELLER [NATO Deputy Secretary General]: Well, the battlegroups are always rotating, so there are constantly changes going on. This particular battlegroup here in Poland has already been through two rotations. I was very impressed, I saw soldiers today who had been out until three o'clock in the morning in freezing weather, completing the training for this rotation. That group of soldiers will soon be leaving and others will be coming in. Now, it's up to nations to decide whether they wish to contribute or not, so I think it's entirely possible that, in the future, the battlegroup here in Poland will have different NATO Allies participating. But at the moment, as I mentioned a moment ago, it's together with the United States and Poland, it's UK, Croatia and Romania.

QUESTION: But we mean rather replacing nations by nation, not withdrawing, not taking down the amount of soldiers or something like this, rather replacing.

ROSE GOTTEMOELLER [NATO Deputy Secretary General]: Yes, it's a rotation, so they are replacing the troops that are here. It is entirely possible that new nations will put up their hand and volunteers and send new and different kinds of units here to participate. Of course, that will be up to the lead nation, the United States, and Poland as the framework nation, to figure out how all the pieces fit together and what works best for the battlegroup.

INTERPRETER: [Spoken in Polish]

QUESTION: Secretary, I wanted to ask you on the new development on the Sergei Skripal case. Yesterday, NATO's Secretary General, while presenting the Annual Report said that membership countries are united with the UK. However, UK government is pointing towards Russia and Foreign Minister, Mr Johnson, was pointing towards President Putin as the perpetrator of the case. So, will it be some kind of new development inside NATO and does it relate in some way to the Article 5?

ROSE GOTTEMOELLER [NATO Deputy Secretary General]: The Secretary General yesterday said that we have no reason to doubt or question in anyway what is going on and we support the investigation that the UK is conducting. In fact, all 29 of the NATO Allies, just two days ago, came together and put out a very good statement in which the Allies said they support the investigation, they consider really a shocking first offensive use of nerve agent on NATO territory, since the end of the Cold War, and so this is really quite indeed a serious development and all of the NATO Allies are joined together in solidarity, in supporting the UK and its effort to respond.

QUESTION: But does this may relate to Article 5 in some way, when UK is pointing towards Russia without any doubt from their side?

ROSE GOTTEMOELLER [NATO Deputy Secretary General]: You know, in with regard to Article 5, it's really up to the nation that is affected to really call upon NATO Allies. So, I think that it's up to the UK, and I've seen reference in the UK press to this kind of conversation going on in the press. But as far as the UK government is concerned, it hasnt been a matter thats been brought to NATO. It's not for the Allies to take this matter up, it would be for the UK to take it up.

INTERPRETER: [Spoken in Polish]

ROSE GOTTEMOELLER [NATO Deputy Secretary General]: Could I [inaudible] one fact and that is, really since the beginning of NATO, we have never seen this kind of use of an offensive nerve agent in this way and I think all of the NATO Allies are concerned about this important norm that is embodied in the Chemical Weapons Convention. We've seen it weakened in recent years with what has been happening in Syria, and to see this now happening on NATO territory is something that is of serious concern, it's of grave concern, and it's something I think that the entire global community obviously is watching very carefully. So again, the NATO Allies called on the, the other day, called on the Russian Federation to cooperate with the investigation and to answer the questions that the UK government has raised about this agent series called Novichok, that programme.

QUESTION: Is this also your call for the Russia to cooperate into the investigation?

ROSE GOTTEMOELLER [NATO Deputy Secretary General]: Well of course, the Secretary General and I are entirely one with our Allies around the NAC table, the North Atlantic Council table, so we definitely support what the Allies have agreed.

INTERPRETER: [Spoken in Polish]

MAN: Thank you very much, thats all the time we have for.

ROSE GOTTEMOELLER [NATO Deputy Secretary General]: Thank you.More than 100 undocumented immigrants were detained by deportation agents during a three-day sting spanning both San Diego and Imperial counties, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials said Friday.

ICE said the sweep that ended Thursday resulted in the arrest of 115 people who were violating federal immigration laws. Of those, 108 were arrested in San Diego County.

About half of the people arrested were convicted felons, according to ICE, while at least seven were arrested for re-entering the United States after being deported on a judges orders.

ICE said the sweep was meant to target public safety threats, people who received final orders from a judge to leave the United States and those who re-entered the country after being removed, but they will not exempt immigrants who are subject to removal.

It was not clear where in San Diego County all of the arrests occurred, but NBC 7 has learned that some occurred in Escondido, Oceanside and in the city of San Diego, including the City Heights neighborhood.

NBC 7 spoke to a man who said he was detained in Escondido while he was driving his kids to school. When immigration officials placed him in custody, his wife had to be called to come pick up their children.

The 40-year-old man said he was pulled over by an unmarked car as he drove down El Norte Parkway near Ash Street.

Officers asked for his license and told him there was a warrant out for his arrest, and before he knew it he was in handcuffs and put in the back of a car.

His oldest son called his mother crying and she drove to their location as quickly as she could.

The mother asked the officers for proof of the warrant and they only showed her a piece of paper with his name written in ink.

"I said that's not a warrant, I need the real warrant," she said.

She demanded to see the warrant once more and the officer showed her an AB 60 driver's license, requires the DMV to issue an original driver license to an applicant who is unable to submit satisfactory proof of legal presence in the country.

The father of four said he was booked into the Otay Mesa Detention Facility and released on the condition that he wears a GPS monitor on his ankle, similar to what someone under house arrest would wear.

Immigration authorities told him that he wouldn't be able to work while being monitored because he didn't have a legal work permit.

At least two more arrests were made in Oceanside, including the arrest of a 43-year-old gang member from Mexico who had been deported four times, and a 55-year-old Kazakhstan citizen wanted by his country for tax evasion.

Detainees who re-entered the U.S. after deportation, or who had outstanding orders of removal will be immediately deported. Others will remain in ICE custody awaiting a hearing before an immigration judge, ICE said.

Four of the individuals arrested will face federal criminal prosecution.

In a statement released Thursday, ICE criticized Californias "sanctuary state" status and said the designation increases the amount of "collateral arrests."

"State laws in California force ICE to focus additional resources to conduct at-large arrest in the community, putting officers, the general public and aliens at greater risk and increase the incidents of collateral arrests," the statement said.

A lawsuit filed by Attorney General Jeff Session against the state of California makes the same claim.

California Gov. Jerry Brown signed sanctuary state legislation last October that barred police from asking people about their immigration status or participating in federal immigration enforcement activities.

The California laws were passed in response to Trump's promises to sharply ramp up the deportation of people living in the U.S. illegally and went into effect on Jan. 1.

"These are uncertain times for undocumented Californians and their families, and this bill strikes a balance that will protect public safety, while bringing a measure of comfort to those families who are now living in fear every day," Brown said in a statement.

The declaration has been heavily criticized by the Trump Administration. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has said it will increase its presence in California, and Sessions wants to cut off funding to jurisdictions that won't cooperate.U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officers arrested at least one person in Berkeley this morning in furtherance of an ongoing criminal investigation, authorities said.

However, ICE agents didn't make any civil arrests, a federal official said, commenting on background.

The activist group By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) said in a news release, however, that three people were arrested just south of downtown Berkeley today.

"ICE officers in plain clothes and wearing tactical vests entered a home and arrested three people," BAMN said.

The group held a protest in front of Berkeley's Old City Hall.



Berkeley police and Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin weren't immediately available for comment on the ICE operation.Attorneys for a Mexican man acquitted of murder in a San Francisco shooting that helped fuel the U.S. immigration debate are pressing for documents to help them argue that his U.S. gun charges are vindictive.

Federal prosecutors charged Jose Ines Garcia Zarate with two counts of illegal gun possession in November after jurors in state court found him not guilty of the 2015 killing of Kate Steinle on a popular pier.

Under San Francisco's "sanctuary city'' policy, the sheriff's department released Garcia Zarate from jail several weeks before the shooting despite a federal request to detain him until immigration authorities could take him into custody. He was living in the country illegally and had been deported five times before the shooting.

Garcia Zarate's attorneys, J. Tony Serra and Maria Belyi, said in a court filing Tuesday that the federal prosecution is an attempt to punish him for being acquitted in state court.

The charges are similar to a conviction that the San Francisco jury did return  being a felon in possession of a gun  that led to a three-year jail sentence. Garcia Zarate has pleaded not guilty to the two federal charges.

The attorneys cite tweets by President Donald Trump calling Garcia Zarate's acquittal "disgraceful'' and a "travesty of justice'' as well as comments by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions after the verdict that San Francisco's immigration policies were to blame for Steinle's death.

"This prosecution seeks to demonstrate to any high-profile defendant, especially one that is an undocumented immigrant, that their successful exercise of due process rights will not be respected and will result in the heavy hammer of a federal prosecution,'' Serra and Belyi said in the filing first reported by Courthouse News.

California and the Trump administration have been in an escalating fight over immigration and other issues. The Justice Department has sued the state over laws aimed at protecting immigrants, saying they are hampering federal efforts to remove dangerous criminals.

An email to a Justice Department spokesman seeking comment was not immediately returned.

Garcia Zarate's attorneys also accuse state and federal prosecutors of colluding on the case, violating the constitutional prohibition on prosecuting someone twice for the same crime.

They want a court order requiring officials to turn over numerous documents, including all communication directing the U.S. attorney's office to convene a grand jury to pursue the federal charges against Garcia Zarate.Is it school policy or a violation of the first amendment?

A parent of a Los Gatos student is claiming his daughter was punished by a teacher for making the choice to participate in Wednesdays National School Walkout, a choice that both the principal and the superintendent of the school district emphasized would not have any punishments.

The father, who has asked to be referred to as Richard, says his daughter's science teacher gave the students a pop quiz at the time of the walkout to keep students from participating because he was opposed to it.

Never pull a pop quiz and penalize the kids that wanted to exercise their First Amendment rights, said Richard.

The student told her parents she tried to finish as much of the quiz as possible before the beginning of the walkout but the teacher wouldnt take it.

The teacher did not accept [the quiz] and did not give her any credit for any of the answers she had put down, explained Richard.

Since the teacher tried to infringe their daughters rights, Richard says theyre pulling her out of the class and appealing her grade.

The school will not comment on the allegations, citing privacy and personnel issues but the principal emphasizes a neutral position on the walkout.

I did instruct teachers and school staff to not penalize any students who chose to walk out or give extra credit to anyone who did, said Los Gatos School District Superintendent and Principal, Corey Kidwell.

NBC Bay Area has tried to get in contact with the accused teacher but has yet to reach him.The owners of the Transamerica Pyramid requested that the city remove 40 trees from the iconic area, surprising many city leaders who hope to see San Francisco get greener within the next couple of decades.

The trees the company hopes to remove line the entire perimeter of the Transamerica property and have been there since the building first opened in the 1970s.

Theres obviously, you know, history associated with this, said Transamerica building worker, Violette Karavul. I would love to preserve everything thats becoming extinct.

The owners of the building requested the removal of the 40 spotted gum and corymbia trees when they applied for 1st floor and storefront renovations.

But the city doesnt see any reason for the trees to be uprooted.

Purely for aesthetic purposes? said San Francisco Public Works employee, Rachel Gordon, when asked why the company would make the request. The company that wants to take this out did say they want to put more replacement trees in, not a one-for-one replacement, and we said no, its just a no go on this. These trees are good trees; they should not come out of the ground.

The trees were recently inspected and they found no signs of failing health or obvious risk to public safety. The city is left to assume the request is more of a personal one.

The public works department rejected the request but the fight isnt over. A public hearing is scheduled for March 26th where arguments will be made as to why the trees should stay or go.

Public Works Director, Muhammad Nuru, who will make the final decision on the fate of the trees after the public hearing.

NBC Bay Area has reached out to Transamerica management and the construction company fielding the project but have yet to explain by they want the trees removed.As voters head to the polls in just four days -- the most expensive contest ever in Illinois is up for grabs.

And on a day usually busy with public appearances, both the Democratic and Republican frontrunners in the race for governor kept a low profile.

Chris Kennedy spent the morning walking 95th Street, giving attention to an area often neglected.

"The governor has walked away from the problems of the city," he said.

Daniel Biss stood in front of Trump Tower, linking his opponents JB Pritzker and Kennedy's refusal to release all of their income taxes--just as President Donald Trump did.

"This didn't feel complicated to you guys in 2016 when you went on, and on, and on, about how Donald Trump should do just that," Biss said. "Why the double standard?"

Pritzker -- still refusing to take questions about the Chicago Tribune report on his off shore investments--let his TV ad war do the talking.

For Kennedy, politics is certainly in the family genes.

While Kennedy was not yet five years old when his father Robert was shot, he waited until his children were older to run his first campaign.

"I don't think I would have been comfortable putting them at risk of losing a parent at a young age like I was," he said.

The walk was also his way of honoring his father's last words before he was shot after declaring victory in the California primary.

"My thanks to all of you, and now on to Chicago and let's win there," Robert Kennedy said at the time.

Chris Kennedy said those words are meaningful to him.

"I'm glad to be in Chicago today," he said.

Where does it all stand? Insiders believe Kennedy is surging--however, Pritzker has the advantage. This race is tough to call with so many undecided.Signs of a last-minute surge for state Rep. Jeanne Ives in the Republican gubernatorial primary has groups from all over the country jumping into the fray, bringing the one-time longshot within striking distance of an incumbent just four days before the election.

Labeled the worst governor in America by the National Review in December, Gov. Bruce Rauner and his $56 million campaign war had ignored his only primary challenger until recently. Despite trailing the sitting governor by comfortable double digits in earlier polls, her campaign's internal poll shows Ives is now within 7 percentage points.

But conservatives arent the only ones with a stake in the GOP race. The Democratic Governors Association (DGA) launched two new TV ads this week: one blasting Rauners failed leadership and the other labeling Ives as too conservative for Illinois.

Despite the surface appearance of being an attack on Ives positions, however, the DGA ad stops short of any actual criticism. Instead, it lists her red-meat accolades: her position on banning abortion, an A-rating from the National Rifle Association, and her agreement with President Donald Trump on illegal immigration, all of which are sure to resonate with conservative voters upset with Rauners mixed record on social issues.

The ad has been described by some commentators as a dog-whistle for Republican voters, echoing a similar strategy from a Missouri primary in 2012. Then, Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskills campaign paid for an ad that painted her weakest potential Republican opponent as too conservative, which she later wrote in a memoir was an attempt at using reverse psychology.

In an email to supporters Friday, the Rauner campaign came out swinging, accusing Washington liberals of trying to tamper with our election. It also launched an ad of its own, claiming that national Democrats were supporting Ives because she had already surrendered to Mike Madigan, Democratic Speaker of the Illinois House.

In a statement, a DGA spokesperson said that Jeanne Ives positions are just too conservative for Illinois. And Rauners refusal to show leadership has made Illinois worse off fiscally and economically. Its time for both leaders to start working for Illinois families, and not themselves.

Tim Schneider, Chairman of the Illinois Republican Party, also accused the DGA of meddling on Friday, accusing the Pritzker-funded Democratic Governors Association of taking brazen steps to influence our primary election.

But the uptick in support for Ives candidacy isnt just a liberal put-on: The right-leaning magazine National Review endorsed Ives Friday morning, saying that a thoroughly disappointing Rauner had forfeited any claim on his partys nod.

The endorsement itself, which focused primarily on Rauners shortcomings, referred to Ives as a superior candidate to the governor and a solid politician in her own right.NOTE: Watch above for a full live stream of the river dyeing beginning at 9 a.m. CT

The Chicago River was dyed green Saturday, officially kicking off St. Patricks Day celebrations across the city.

Since the early 1960's, the dyeing of the river tradition annually attracts hundreds of thousands of spectators ahead of the citys St. Patricks Day Parade.

Heres what to know about this year's:

When: The dyeing of the river will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday, March 17 when the boats launch between Columbus and Wacker drives. Chicagos St. Patrick's Day Parade will follow, stepping off at 12 p.m. in Grant Park.

Watch it Live Online: NBC Chicago will offer a complete live stream of the river dyeing right here beginning at 9 a.m. The stream will be available on both desktop and mobile devices, including in the NBC Chicago app.

Best Places to Watch: Spectators can watch from both sides of the Chicago River, but city officials say these are the best spots to see the dye boats work:

East side of the bridge at Michigan Avenue

West side of the Columbus Drive Bridge

Upper and Lower Wacker Drive between Michigan Avenue and Columbus Drive

2018 Chicago St. Patricks Day Parade  The citys annual St. Patricks Day Parade will begin around 12 p.m. on the corner of Columbus Drive and Balbo before continuing north to Monroe. The parade will happen rain or shine and typically lasts about three hours.The dyeing of the Chicago River followed by the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade up Columbus Drive are two of the most anticipated events of the year.

[[477071073, R]]

As spectators get ready to wear their finest green attire, here are some fun facts to know about how Chicago celebrates the Irish festivities, including a busted myth about the river's green-colored waters:

HistoryAlthough the parade started in 1956, the river dye tradition started years later. In 1961 the plumbers union business manager Stephen Bailey was approached by a plumber who was wearing some white coveralls, they knew this only because they could see some of the original color," explains the citys official parade site. "These coveralls had been mostly stained or dyed a perfect shade of green they discovered that the dye used to detect leaks into the river turned green, not just any color green, but the perfect color green.

ExtensionOrganizers say for the first time this year, they're extending the length of the Chicago River one block west to State Street so that hundreds of more spectators are able to watch the anticipated event unfold.

Spoiler AlertAlthough the formula for the dye is unknown since it has remained a well-kept secret ever since its origin, organizers have confirmed that the powder, surprisingly, is not green. Turns out, its original color is a reddish-orange tone that simply turns emerald green after it hits the water.

MythRumors suggest that the green-colored water travels from the Chicago River to the Illinois River, onto the Mississippi, followed by the Gulf Stream and across the Atlantic until it enters the Irish Sea, clearly marking the way from Chicago to Ireland, the citys official parade site states. Spokesperson Daly however, says this is most likely a myth considering the green coloration only lasts about 5 hours.



ViewsFor the river dye, the best views include the east side of Michigan Avenue, the west side of Columbus Drive, or upper and lower Wacker Drive between Michigan Avenue and Columbus Drive. For the parade, marchers will proceed north on Columbus Drive. The viewing stand will be located in front of Buckingham Fountain.

More than 1,000 students from a Chicago-area suburban school district will be disciplined for joining the nationwide school walkout and calling for immediate action to prevent gun violence on the one-month anniversary of the Parkland, Florida high school shooting.

According to Community High School District 99 in Downers Grove, a total of 1,100 students who participated in the walkout Wednesday will face various consequences for violating school policy and leaving class unexcused.

For students receiving their first unexcused absence, the discipline will be a one-hour detention to be served before or after school or on a Saturday, school officials said.

It wasn't immediately clear what punishment was given to students who had previously received unexcused absences.

According to Jill Browning, director of communications for the district, the students were offered alternative options that "would not disturb the educational environment," including a student-led march taking place on March 24. But the students said they were "not interested in options outside of March 14 during the school day."

"Students have shared they consider the detention a 'badge of honor' and a symbol they truly are protesting and standing up for their rights at a personal cost," Browning said in a statement. "If you read their accounts in the school newspaper at South High, you will see our students take great pride in standing up for what they believe in. Many feel that a detention for leaving class is a small price to exercise their rights and draw attention to their cause. When several of our student leaders heard that some schools were not assigning consequences, they shared with administration they didn't feel this was a good idea. Students believed that in order to be taken seriously, they should show they are committed enough to receive a consequence."

Students at schools across the country and all around the Chicago area left school at 10 a.m. for at least 17 minutes - one minute for each of the victims killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14.

In Photos: Chicago-Area Students Leave Class to Protest Gun Violence

In the weeks following the massacre in Florida, students from across Chicago and the suburbs have joined the movement, pushing for legislation reforming gun laws at the federal and state level. [[476765543, C]]

The protest came just one day after Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed a bill to license gun dealers in Illinois, calling it "onerous" regulation.



Wednesday's walkout was planned to inspire change, giving young people an opportunity to speak out and for students to express their frustration at inaction, organizers said.

The walkout also raised questions for schools about how to handle the protests, with the approach varying depending on the district. Education administrators have said they're striking a delicate balance between encouraging civic engagement and keeping their students safe. [[476657873, C]]

"If a school system picks a side on issues like this we immediately invalidate and minimize some of our student's perspectives," Browning said. "We need to be supportive of all students. This week we supported the 1,100 students that chose to walkout and the other 3,900 that decided to stay in class. Some of those students stayed behind because they didnt want to participate, or did not feel strongly enough about the topic to accept consequences for their actions. Still others hadnt yet formed an opinion, or were simply not in favor of some of the politics around this issue. We are responsible for showing we care about all of our students, regardless of their political views."The Closer to Free Ride community gathered for its annual kick-off party in Branford Thursday.

The bicycle ride, now in its eighth year, raises money for the Yale-New Haven Smilow Cancer Hospital and the Yale Research Center.

Every dollar raised supports patient care and advanced research at Smilow and the Yale Cancer Center. Last year, the seventh annual race raised $3 million.

Closer to Free registration is now open and new this year there will be a 40-mile course in addition to the other distances - 10 miles, 25 miles, 65 miles, or 100 miles.

The Closer to Free ride has special significance to many riders. Last year, NBC Connecticut met with twin sisters Heather and Crystal Gagnon.

Heather works at Smilow and had planned to ride last year. But in June, she felt a lump and discovered she had breast cancer.

Because Heather couldnt ride, Crystal hopped on the bike instead, and Heather vowed to join her next time. When we checked in, Heather said she was doing well and ready to ride this year.

Its a really big year for me. It means a lot to me not only for everything that Ive been through a really close friend of mine was also just diagnosed and Ill be riding for her this year as well, Heather said.

And Crystal is still by her side in support.

It definitely helped motivate me to think Im capable of doing anything with what shes been through and Yales been great and they really did help us through the whole process, Crystal added.

The eighth annual Closer to Free Ride in Saturday, Sept. 8.

Riders can register online by clicking here.The Connecticut Department of Revenue Services (DRS) is warning taxpayers not to fall victim to a fake email.

The email contains the department's logo and claims the recipient owes state tax on items purchased from Newegg.com and Amazon.com. The message includes a link to a fake payment website.

While it may look legit, the department's commissioner Kevin Sullivan said the email is fake and his office first heard about the message around at noon on Friday from a citizen who received it.

The email address for the sender of these bogus emails appears as no-reply@ctdrs.gov, which DRS said is not a valid address for the agency.

Sullivan said taxpayers should not open or respond to the email, and should not click the link.

The commissioner also said DRS will never send a bill by email, text or social media.

"Anybody who got an email bill about Amazon and Newegg today or any day after today, it is a scam," Sullivan said.

The email could be a source of confusion for taxpayers who recently received similar letters in the mail from DRS. Those are a real attempt by DRS to collect owed use taxes on purchases from Newegg.com. DRS said the online retailer failed to collect sales tax from its customers in Connecticut.

Sullivan encourages taxpayers to contact his office with any questions about tax bills or communications that appear to be from the department by calling (860) 297-5962.Lawmakers are calling for reforms at the Whiting Forensic Division, in part, after the NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters uncovered allegations of patient abuse and that hospital staff allowed patients, including one man found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity, to play violent video games.

Meanwhile, the father of Johanna Justin-Jinich, a Wesleyan student shot and killed at an off-campus bookstore in 2009 by Stephen Morgan, a current patient at the facility, spoke out for the first time in years.

At a hearing on Friday, the Connecticut Legislature Public Health Committee discussed the possibility of forming a task force of experts from outside Whiting.



The commissioner of the agency that oversees Whiting told the Connecticut Legislature Public Health Committee that Whiting currently has an internal task force that includes patients and staff. She said they are examining some of the issues uncovered over the last few years, but some legislators want more accountability and are concerned about the agency policing itself.

Kathy Flaherty, the executive director of an agency providing legal services for patients at Whiting is not so sure that another task force would be effective.

You form a task force, all of this falls off the front page, it's no longer on the six oclock news people forget about it and nothing ever changes," said Flaherty.

Daniel Jinich, Johanna Justin-Jinich's father, wants as much independent oversight of Whiting as possible.

Just before the hearing on the Whiting task force got underway, Jinich addressed a different panel reviewing Morgans conduct, and his doctors plan to eventually move him to a less restrictive setting.

"We flew in late last night from Denver to be present at this hearing, my daughter Johanna Justin-Jinich could not be here because she was shot seven times by Stephen Morgan, your patient," said Jinich.

Morgan, who pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, has been at Whiting since 2011.

Jinich is questioning the judgment of the people running Whiting after Morgan's possible move to a less restrictive environment and NBC Connecticut reports of alleged patient abuse and violent video games usage.

"We conclude that the Whiting Forensic unit hospital has no credibility, it comes back to trust," Jinich said.

After the NBC Connecticut Troubleshooter's coverage on patients playing violent video games, the agency overseeing Whiting said it got rid of them. A majority of the 37 employees put on leave in the patient abuse case no longer work for the state.

The attorney for Stephen Morgan did not speak outside his hearing. During the hearing, he did point out that Morgan has never attacked a patient or staff member at Whiting, even when he stopped taking his medicine for a while in 2017.A driver was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries after crashing into a Dallas Fire and Rescue engine early Saturday morning, police said.

The fire engine was headed westbound on W. Camp Wisdom Road about 12:15 a.m. with lights and sirens on when a sedan was headed southbound on Woodwick Drive crashed into the engine at an intersection, police said.

The driver of the sedan was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, police said. Dallas Fire-Rescue reported no injuries for their personnel.

The crash caused the fire engine to move into the eastbound lanes and traffic was being diverted. Lanes have since reopened.Just one day after the North Texas Municipal Water District assured its customers that its drinking water meets state standards and is absolutely safe, more people are raising questions.

Dr. Zacariah Hildenbrand, with the University of Texas-Arlington's Collaborative Laboratory of Environmental Analysis and Remediation, says a post by activist Erin Brockovich wasn't the first thing to alert him to concerns.

"What we believe is going on there is that these municipal water suppliers are hitting their water with a lot of chlorine, which is one way to kill bacteria," Hildenbrand said.

But similar to allegations made by Brockovich, Hildenbrand says chlorine isn't effective at killing all pathogenic bacteria. That's why they both believe too many disinfection byproducts get left behind.

In addition to a strong chlorine scent, he says the incomplete removal of that bacteria leads to gastrointestinal issues and skin irritations.

"The reason this hasn't been a bigger issue or that there hasn't been more news coverage of this is that under the current water standards, either by the state of Texas or the federal standards, you're only required to test for a certain number of bacteria," Hildenbrand said.

He says using new technology, his team has tested for that bacteria and believes its prevalent in several water supplies across the state.

"There should be concern to this," Hildenbrand said. "It really makes me wonder if chlorination protocols, especially in the United States, are actually effective against all of the microbes we're seeing in the water. We really need to dive in and see exactly what's going on here."

The North Texas Municipal Water District will join Plano City Council to discuss water testing and water quality during Tuesday's council meeting.After former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe was fired late Friday, President Donald Trump's outside personal attorney said Saturday that he hopes the deputy attorney general will now bring an end to the special counsel's Russia investigation "on the merits in light of recent revelations."

"I pray that Acting Attorney General Rosenstein will follow the brilliant and courageous example of the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility and Attorney General Jeff Sessions and bring an end to alleged Russia Collusion investigation manufactured by McCabes boss James Comey based upon a fraudulent and corrupt Dossier," John Dowd told NBC News.

Dowd asserted that he doesn't mean to suggest the special counsel, Robert Mueller, should be fired but that the decision to end the probe be based "on the merits."

Dowd's sentiments of the Russia investigation seemed to be in line with Trump's Saturday tweets in response to McCabe's ousting:"The Mueller probe should never have been started in that there was no collusion and there was no crime. It was based on fraudulent activities and a Fake Dossier paid for by Crooked Hillary and the DNC, and improperly used in FISA COURT for surveillance of my campaign. WITCH HUNT!"

Trump also wrote: "Andrew McCabe FIRED, a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI - A great day for Democracy. Sanctimonious James Comey was his boss and made McCabe look like a choirboy. He knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI!"



Sen. Mark Warner, the Senate Intelligence Committee's vice chair, urged his colleagues on Twitter to protect Mueller, writing in response to Dowd's statement, "Every member of Congress, Republican and Democrat, needs to speak up in defense of the Special Counsel. Now."

Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer also warned of Dowd's comments, saying they "are yet another indication that the first instinct of the president and his legal team is not to cooperate with Special Counsel Mueller, but to undermine him at every turn."

He continued: "The president, the administration, and his legal team must not take any steps to curtail, interfere with, or end the special counsel's investigation or there will be severe consequences from both Democrats and Republicans."

McCabe's end-of-the-week dismissal was made on the recommendation of FBI disciplinary officials. An upcoming inspector general's report is expected to conclude that McCabe authorized the release of information to the media and was not forthcoming with the watchdog office as it examined the bureau's handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation.

"The FBI expects every employee to adhere to the highest standards of honesty, integrity, and accountability," Sessions said in a statement.

However, McCabe said his credibility had been attacked as "part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally" but also the FBI and law enforcement.

"It is part of this administration's ongoing war on the FBI and the efforts of the special counsel investigation, which continue to this day," he added, referring to Mueller's probe into potential coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign. "Their persistence in this campaign only highlights the importance of the special counsel's work."

McCabe asserted he was singled out because of the "role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of James Comey," whom Trump fired as FBI director last May.

Mueller is investigating whether Trump's actions, including Comey's ouster, constitute obstruction of justice. McCabe, a Comey confidant, could be an important witness.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.An engineer of the company that designed the faulty pedestrian bridge warned the Florida Department of Transportation of cracks to the structure in a voicemail, but said the company was "not concerned" from a "safety perspective."

Denney Pate from the FIGG Bridge Group left the voicemail on Tuesday. FDOT employees did not listen to the voicemail until Friday  the day after the bridge near Florida International University collapsed, killing six people.

FDOT released a transcript of the voicemail Friday:

This is Denney Pate with FIGG bridge engineers. Calling to  share with you some information about the FIU pedestrian bridge and some cracking thats been observed on the north end of the span, the pylon end of that span we moved this weekend, Pate said. "Weve taken a look at it and  obviously some repairs or whatever will have to be done but from a safety perspective we dont see that theres any issue there so were not concerned about it from that perspective although obviously the cracking is not good and somethings going to have to be, ya know, done to repair that. At any rate, I wanted to chat with you about that because I suspect at some point thats gonna get to your desk. So, uh, at any rate, call me back when you can. Thank you. Bye.

Authorities are working to investigate the cause of the incident.

Two of the six victims have been identified. Authorities are slowly removing the debris, looking for more victims.

"At no point during any of the communications above did FIGG or any member of the FIU design build team ever communicate a life-safety issue," FDOT said in a statement. "Again, FIGG and the FIU design build team never alerted FDOT of any life-safety issue regarding the FIU pedestrian bridge prior to collapse."

FIGG released a statement over the voicemail in which it said it would "pursue answers to find out what factors led to this tragic situation."

"The evaluation was based on the best available information at that time and indicated that there were no safety issues," FIGG wrote. "It is important that the agencies responsible for investigating this devastating situation are given the appropriate time in order to accurately identify what factors led to the accident during construction."

But FIU said representatives from the University -- as well as officials with FIGG, MCM and FDOT -- convened during a meeting at 9 a.m. Thursday morning to discuss the crack. FIU said the FIGG engineer concluded the crack didn't present safety concerns and "did not compromise the structural integrity of the bridge."

During a press conference, the National Transportation Safety Board said that cracks to the bridge  cracks which the NTSB stressed they had not yet verified  may not necessarily have made the structure unsafe. The NTSB said it would work to determine all facts related to the cracks mentioned.

Munilla Construction Management, which was building the bridge, has not yet released a comment.

Please check back for updates to this developing story.What to Know About 150,000 marchers made the 1.4-mile trek past Central Park, the Cathedral and Trump Tower for the St. Patrick's Day Parade

It's the 257th St. Patrick's Day parade in the city

The parade kicked off on 44th Street near St. Patrick's Cathedral and marches up Fifth Avenue to 79th Street

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar joined along as Manhattan's Fifth Avenue came alive with the sound of bagpipes, trumpets and lots of green Saturday at the 257th running of New York City's St. Patrick's Day parade.

Several bagpipe bands led a parade made up of more than 100 marching bands after Democratic Gov. Cuomo spoke briefly, calling it a "day of inclusion" and adding: "We're all immigrants."

Mayor de Blasio, also a Democrat, marched with police Commissioner James O'Neill under sunny skies.

Varadkar, Ireland's first openly gay leader, watched the parade at St. Patrick's Cathedral before joining the march. In remarks, Cuomo said it was "my pleasure to march with him," especially in a parade that long tried to ban gays.

The parade, beginning at 11 a.m., lasted nearly six hours. An estimated 150,000 marchers made the 1.4-mile trek past Central Park, the Cathedral and Trump Tower.

Large since the mid-1800s, the parade has celebrated Irish culture and Irish immigrants, who once faced nativist calls for their exclusion from the workforce  and from the country  when they began arriving in the city in huge numbers during the Irish Famine.

In the 1990s, parade organizers were involved in annual court fights over whether to exclude openly gay groups from the march. This year, at least two groups in the parade had banners identifying marchers as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.

For the 167th time, the lead group marching in the parade was 800 members of the 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry Regiment, of the New York Army National Guard. Cuomo joined them. The regiment, once predominantly made up of Irish immigrants, first led the parade in 1851 as a deterrent to anti-immigrant violence.

Judy Hughes, whose father used to march with the 69th Infantry Regiment, also known as the "Fighting Irish," said she's been attending the parade "since I was a little girl."

Her husband, Bill Hughes, a retired police officer who marched in the parade for 10 years, looked on as a band passed.

"It's better being on the other side," he said.

This year's grand marshal was Loretta Brennan Glucksman, chairwoman of The American Ireland Fund, a group that has raised millions of dollars for philanthropic projects in Ireland, including funding for integrated schools for Catholic and Protestant children in Northern Ireland.

She rode along the parade route in a Central Park horse carriage driven by a family friend.

The parade was a familiar occasion for Matthew McCrosson, 68, who has frequently marched in it during the past half-century.

"The parade truly signifies the Irish investment over 250 years in the greater New York area," McCrosson said. "The parade represents not only Irish, but people from all nationalities."

Danny and Carol Manley, an Irish New Jersey couple, watched the parade with their son, Dan Jr.

"We like to come back, get together, see the bagpipers and see how the generations have grown up," Danny Manley said.What to Know Four New York Air National Guard members were among the seven service members killed in a U.S. chopper crash in Iraq

The four men were stationed at F.S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base in Westhampton Beach

The crash in western Iraq did not appear to be the result of enemy activity and is under investigation

Two more New York Air National Guard members were among the seven armed service members killed when their U.S. helicopter crashed in Iraq this week, the Department of Defense said Saturday, bringing the number of tri-state victims to four.

Capt. Andreas O'Keeffe and Staff Sgt. Dashan Briggs were killed in the crash, the Pentagon said, along with Capt. Christopher Zanetis and Master Sgt. Christopher Raguso, whose deaths were confirmed Friday.

Three of the men were from Long Island and one was from Queens: O'Keeffe, 37, was from Center Moriches; Briggs, 30, was from Port Jefferson Station; Zanetis, 37, was from Long Island City; and Raguso, 39, was from Commack.

All four men were assigned to the 106th Rescue Wing's 101st Rescue Squadron, stationed at F.S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base in Westhampton Beach, about 80 miles east of New York City, the Pentagon said.

"It is with great sadness that I report the loss of four of our wing members," said Col. Michael Bank, the commander of the 106th Rescue Wing, in a press release Saturday evening.



The men were part of a seven-member team who died when the HH-60G Pave Hawk rescue helicopter they were flying crashed near the city of Al-Qa'im in western Iraq on Thursday afternoon, according to the Pentagon.

Department of Defense

"This is where we live and serve, and our hearts are broken," Capt. Michael O'Hagan, a spokesman for the 106th Air Rescue Wing, said at a press conference in Suffolk County on Saturday night.



Airmen from the 106th Rescue Wing have deployed regularly to Afghanistan and Iraq and other areas in support of American and coalition combat missions since Sept. 11, 2001, the Pentagon said, adding that the deaths of the four men brings the total number of New York National Guard members who have died in a combat zone since Sept. 11 to 39.

O'Keeffe was an HH-60G Pave Hawk pilot who had deployed to Iraq three times, and to Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa, and Texas during Hurricane Harvey, the Pentagon said.

Briggs, an HH-60G special missions aviation flight engineer, had previously deployed to Afghanistan with the 106th Maintenance Group, and to Texas and the Caribbean for hurricanes Harvey and Irma as a member of the 101st, according to the Pentagon. His wife told News 4 on Saturday night that she will remember him as a loving husband and her hero.

An FDNY lieutenant and another FDNY firefighter were among the seven service members killed when their U.S. helicopter crashed in Iraq, sources familiar with the investigation and officials tell News 4. Erica Byfield reports.

On Friday, the FDNY identified Lt. Raguso and Fire Marshal Zanetis as the 1,148th and 1,149th members of the FDNY to die in the line of duty.

Raguso was a 13-year veteran of the FDNY who received six citations for bravery and life-saving actions as an individual firefighter or as part of a unit. He also served as a lieutenant in the volunteer fire department in Commack, where he lived with his wife and two daughters, ages 5 and 6. He was an HH-60G special missions aviation flight engineer who had previously deployed once to Iraq, twice to Afghanistan, once to the Horn of Africa, and to Texas and the Caribbean for hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

Zanetis had been with the FDNY since 2004 and had been promoted to fire marshal in 2013. He was recognized for his bravery as part of the investigative unit in 2014. The FDNY said he is survived by his parents, who live in Indiana. He was an HH-60G Pave Hawk pilot who had previously deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. He had recently joined the law firm of Debevoise & Plimpton in New York City as an associate, according to the Pentagon.

Lt. Raguso and Fire Marshal Zanetis bravely wore two uniforms in their extraordinary lives of service  as New York City Firefighters and as members of the United States Armed Forces, FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said in a press release Friday.

The other three men killed in Thursday's crash were 29-year-old Captain Mark Weber from Colorado Springs; 36-year-old Master Sergeant William Posch from Indialantic, Florida; and 31-year-old Staff Sergeant Carl Enis from Tallahassee, Florida.

See the 2018 NYC St. Patrick's Day Parade in Photos

The crash in western Iraq did not appear to be the result of enemy activity and is under investigation, the Pentagon said Friday.



"This tragedy reminds us of the risks our men and women face every day in service of our nations. We are thinking of the loved ones of these service members today," U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Jonathan P. Braga, director of operations in the fight against IS in Iraq and Syria, said in a statement.

The helicopter was used by the Air Force for combat search and rescue, and was in transit from one location to another Thursday when it went down in Anbar Province.

The Pentagon said an accompanying U.S. helicopter immediately reported the crash and a quick-reaction force comprised of Iraqi security forces and Coalition members secured the scene.

[NATL] Top News Photos: Pope Visits Japan, and MoreMcSorleys Old Ale House is one of New York City's oldest bars and is full of rich history to prove it.

McSorleys was established in 1854 by John McSorley, an immigrant from Ireland.

Originating as an Irish "workingman's saloon," the bar is a historic landmark both to the Irish community and the city of New York.

Notable McSorleys patrons include former U.S. presidents, including Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant and Theodore Roosevelt.

The bar has remained a part of East Village history, and has been actively shaped by American political discourse over time.

McSorleys continued operating throughout Prohibition when beer, ale, liquor and wine were illegal. They sold what they called near beer."

The bar, which originated as a male-only establishment, was touched by the nations changing political and social climate in 1969 when they were sued to permit women to enter.

Barbara Shaum, became the first female patron to be admitted to the establishment in 1970. Shaum was allowed into McSorleys after the passing of an ordinance which forbid discrimination based on sex within the city.Human remains have been found in the wreckage of a North Texas chemical plant nearly a week after a worker went missing following an explosion and fire.

In a statement, Hood County Fire Marshal Ray Wilson says the remains were found about 3 p.m. Wednesday at the Tri-Chem Industries plant near Cresson, about 25 miles southwest of Fort Worth. The remains were sent to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office in Fort Worth for positive identification.

The missing worker has been identified as 27-year-old Dylan Mitchell. He is presumed dead. Two other workers were injured in the March 15 explosion.

The search for Mitchell had been slowed by the presence of hazardous materials released and spread by the explosion and fire.

The fire at a Texas chemical plant following an explosion last week had been allowed to burn itself out before authorities search for Mitchell.

Mitchell Family

Mitchell is believed to have been at work inside the Tri-Chem Industries Plant in Cresson when something exploded, sparking a fire that consumed the building Thursday.

Cresson Mayor and Assistant Fire Chief Bob Cornett said Sunday that conditions at the 15,000-square-foot (1,400-square-meter) Tri-Chem Industries plant are "just too hot" and "just too dangerous." He says rains Saturday night aggravated chemicals and acids at the site about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southwest of Fort Worth.

Cornett says the plant is being guarded to ensure no one enters. He says state and federal environmental and workplace officials are standing by to assist local authorities.

Austin Mitchell, whose 27-year-old brother Dillon is missing after the blast, spoke with NBC 5 Thursday and said his family was fearing the worst.

Mitchell's brother, Austin Mitchell, spoke with NBC 5 Thursday afternoon and said his family is fearing the worst since his brother hasn't been seen since the blast was reported.

"It sucks. I feel hollow," Austin Mitchell said. "It's been this long, he's probably dead."

A North Texas man and his family fear the worst after an explosion destroyed the chemical plant where he worked Thursday morning. The search for the man is expected to continue Friday at the plant following some environmental tests.

The search was halted for part of the day while the collapsed part of the building was evaluated. Sometime before 2 p.m., crews began using heavy machinery to lift parts of the collapsed structure so that the search for Mitchell could continue.

Officials at the scene said some parts of the building are still smoldering and that the search could take some time.

"What's in there is still dangerous right now, there are a lot of fires still burning in there; relatively small fires," said Ron Becker, Chief of the Cresson Fire Department. "We know, based on some witness accounts, where we think the individual was last seen and it's a portion of the building that has collapsed."

The Environmental Protection Agency and a specialized hazmat team are on site assisting in the investigation.

One person is missing and two people have been injured in an explosion and large fire at a chemical plant in Cresson, southwest of Fort Worth, Thursday morning, authorities say.

Two other people working at the facility were injured in the fire, including one person who was critically burned on his trunk and hands and flown about 50 miles to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas.

A second injured person, whose injuries were not as serious, was taken to Lake Granbury Medical Center.

NBC 5 has learned about 12 people work at the Cresson facility, which opened about a year ago. There were no other injuries reported and it's not immediately clear how many people were working at the facility Thursday.

A North Texas man and his family fear the worst after an explosion destroyed the chemical plant where his brother worked Thursday morning. Fears of another blast amid the toxic chemicals prevented crews from battling the ensuing blaze, an official said.

On Friday, a list provided to state regulators shows the mixing facility routinely worked with a number of different chemicals, including acids, many of them flammable and others that are toxic.

Air quality around the area has been monitored and officials do not believe there is any threat to the public.

The investigation into the fire, meanwhile, is ongoing. Though most believe the cause of the fire was accidental, arson investigators from Tarrant County are also looking into what caused the fire.

NBC 5's Kevin Cokely and Tim Ciesco contributed to this report.

A 16-year-old girl and a 45-year-old man missing from the Lehigh Valley since March 5 are believed to have taken a one-way flight from Philadelphia to Cancun, Mexico, according to Allentown police.

The new detail from police Friday comes one day after an Amber Alert was issued in Mexico Thursday for Amy Yu, who investigators now believe to have willingly disappeared with Kevin Esterly, a father of two.

On Thursday, an Amber Alert issued in Mexico read in part, "From the investigations, its determined that she might be traveling in national territory accompanied by ESTERLY, KEVIN MICHAEL. We consider the teenagers integrity is at risk being that she could be a victim of a crime."

Allentown police acknowledged Friday that they are now concentrating on tips related to Mexico.

According to a warrant issued after the two disappeared, Esterly signed Yu out of school 10 times between Nov. 13 and Feb. 9 without her parents' permission.

Investigators said it now appears that the girl may have added Esterly to her school emergency contact list as a stepfather. That, they said, would have allowed him to remove the girl from school.



Esterly and Yu apparently had a secret relationship for months, and investigators said Yu may even have gone on family vacations with Esterly. He is married with two children.

Police said Yu's mother called Feb. 9 to report Esterly had signed her child out of Lehigh Valley Academy earlier that day.

On Feb. 15, records show police told Esterly to stay away from the teen's home.

Esterly may be driving a 1999 two-door, red Honda Accord with the license plate KLT-0529. Anyone with information about either person's whereabouts should call Allentown police at 610-437-7751 or by dialing 911.

A dog who was mistakenly flown to Japan is back with his family in Kansas.

The German Shepherd, named Irgo, arrived at a Wichita airport Thursday night after a flight on a private plane from Japan.

Kara Swindle and her two children were flying on United Airlines from Oregon to Kansas City, Missouri, earlier this week during a move to Wichita, Kansas.

When they went to pick up Irgo, they instead were given a Great Dane.

United said in a statement that the dogs were somehow put on the wrong flights during a connecting flight in Denver.

Swindle wouldn't say Thursday whether she is considering legal action. But she was pleased with United's efforts to return Irgo. She said the dog seemed healthy and happy to be home.After former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe was fired by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, in a move that President Donald Trump lauded as a "good day" but McCabe slammed as part of the administration's "war on the FBI," it was revealed that McCabe kept memos on his interactions with the president and handed the notes over to the special counsel.

The dismissal Friday was made on the recommendation of FBI disciplinary officials. An upcoming inspector general's report is expected to conclude that McCabe authorized the release of information to the media and was not forthcoming with the watchdog office as it examined the bureau's handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation.

"The FBI expects every employee to adhere to the highest standards of honesty, integrity, and accountability," Sessions said in a statement.

McCabe said his credibility had been attacked as "part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally" but also the FBI and law enforcement.

Many top positions in President Donald Trumps Cabinet and the West Wing have been in flux.

"It is part of this administration's ongoing war on the FBI and the efforts of the special counsel investigation, which continue to this day," he added, referring to Robert Mueller's probe into potential coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign. "Their persistence in this campaign only highlights the importance of the special counsel's work."

McCabe asserted he was singled out because of the "role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of James Comey," whom Trump fired as FBI director last May.

And McCabe's attorney, Michael Bromwich, railed against the administration and Trump's "offensive, drive-by Twitter attacks" on his client. "It should make all federal government employees, who continue to work in an Administration that insults, debases, and abuses them, shudder in the knowledge that they could be next," Bromwich said in a statement.

Mueller is investigating whether Trump's actions, including Comey's ouster, constitute obstruction of justice. McCabe, a Comey confidant, could be an important witness.

McCabe said the release of the findings against him was accelerated after he told congressional officials that he could corroborate Comey's accounts of Comey's conversations with the president.

And on Saturday, NBC News reported that McCabe too kept personal memos regarding President Donald Trump and turned them over to Mueller's team. NBC News tweeted that, according to a source familiar with the situation, McCabe turned them over some time ago."

According to the AP, McCabe's memos include details of his own interactions with the president and recount different conversations he had with Comey. Though the precise contents are unknown, the memos possibly could help substantiate McCabe's assertion that he was unfairly maligned by the White House. They almost certainly contain, as Comey's memos did, previously undisclosed details about encounters between the Trump administration and FBI that could be of interest to Mueller.

JUST IN: Fired Deputy FBI Director McCabe took notes on his interactions with President Trump and turned them over to special counsel Muellers team some time ago, a source familiar with the situation tells @NBCNews. - @PeteWilliamsNBC  NBC News (@NBCNews) March 17, 2018

McCabe spent more than 20 years as a career FBI official and played key roles in some of the bureau's most recent significant investigations. Trump repeatedly condemned him over the past year as emblematic of an FBI leadership he contends is biased against his administration.

In a tweet early Saturday, Trump said it was "a great day for Democracy" and "a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI." He asserted without elaboration that McCabe "knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI."

In subsequent tweets, he continued to assert there was "no collusion" and slam the FBI, State Department and Justice Department for the "tremendous leaking, lying and corruption at the highest levels."

He added: "The Fake News is beside themselves that McCabe was caught, called out and fired. How many hundreds of thousands of dollars was given to wifes campaign by Crooked H friend, Terry M, who was also under investigation? How many lies? How many leaks? Comey knew it all, and much more!"

Comey responded to Trump in a Saturday tweet, writing, "Mr. President, the American people will hear my story very soon. And they can judge for themselves who is honorable and who is not."

The president's tweets also sent former CIA Director John Brennan, an outspoken Trump critic, into a Twitter tizzy: "When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history. You may scapegoat Andy McCabe, but you will not destroy America...America will triumph over you."

Sarah Huckabee Sanders told the press Friday that no more staff changes were coming, and that the Chief of Staff told staffers they "shouldn't be concerned."

McCabe had been on leave from the FBI since January, when he abruptly left the deputy director position. He had planned to retire on Sunday, and the dismissal probably jeopardizes his ability to collect his full pension benefits. His removal could add to the turmoil that has enveloped the FBI since Comey's firing and as the FBI continues its Trump campaign investigation that the White House has dismissed as a hoax.

The firing arises from an inspector general review into how the FBI handled the Clinton email investigation. That inquiry focused not only on specific decisions made by FBI leadership but also on news media leaks.

McCabe came under scrutiny over an October 2016 news report that revealed differing approaches within the FBI and Justice Department over how aggressively the Clinton Foundation should be investigated. The watchdog office has concluded that McCabe authorized FBI officials to speak to a Wall Street Journal reporter for that story and that McCabe had not been forthcoming with investigators. McCabe denies it.

In his statement, McCabe said he had the authority to share information with journalists through the public affairs office, a practice he said was common and continued under the current FBI director, Christopher Wray. McCabe said he honestly answered questions about whom he had spoken to and when, and that when he thought his answers were misunderstood, he contacted investigators to correct them.

The media outreach came at a time when McCabe said he was facing public accusations of partisanship and followed reports that his wife, during a run for the state Senate in Virginia, had received campaign contributions from a Clinton ally. McCabe suggested in his statement that he was trying to "set the record straight" about the FBI's independence against the background of those allegations.

[[414127913, C]]

Despite his defense, officials at the FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility recommended the firing, leaving Justice Department leaders in a difficult situation. Sessions, whose job status has for months appeared shaky under his own blistering criticism from Trump, risked inflaming the White House if he decided against firing McCabe. But a decision to dismiss McCabe days before his retirement nonetheless carried the risk of angering his rank-and-file supporters at the FBI.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte applauded McCabe's firing and the timing of the decision, saying in a statement that his "actions have tarnished the reputation of the FBI, Americas premier law enforcement agency."

McCabe enjoyed a rapid career ascent in the bureau after joining in 1996. Before being named FBI deputy director last year, he led the bureau's national security branch and also the Washington field office, one of the its largest.

But he became entangled in presidential politics in 2016 when it was revealed that his wife, during her unsuccessful legislative run, received campaign contributions from the political action committee of then-Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a longtime Clinton friend. The FBI has said McCabe received the necessary ethics approval about his wife's candidacy and was not supervising the Clinton investigation at the time.

He became acting director following the firing last May of Comey, and immediately assumed direct oversight of the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign.

He quickly found himself at odds with the Trump administration.

As a congressional hearing days after Comey's dismissal, McCabe contradicted White House assertions that the Trump campaign investigation was one of the "smallest things" on the FBI's plate. He also strongly disputed the administration's suggestion that Comey had lost the support of the bureau's workforce.

"I can tell you that the majority, the vast majority of FBI employees, enjoyed a deep and positive connection to Director Comey," McCabe said.Investigators are still looking for who is responsible for a 2016 explosion in Central Park that blew off the lower leg of a Virginia teen -- but newly found social media posts could help the college student meet the person who potentially saved his life.

Connor Golden, a graduate of Oakton High School in Fairfax County, suffered a grievous injury to one of his legs after stepping on an explosive during the Fourth of July weekend. At the time, Golden was a freshman at the University of Miami visiting New York.

A series of Instagram comments point to a Good Samaritan who may have saved Golden's life that day.

Someone who posted under the name "miloturambar" wrote:

"I was the guy that was stopping his bleeding. I am really worry about him i will like to know jis condition. [SIC]"

"I was using a belt for the tourniquet till the police and paramedics arrived. [SIC]"

Golden's parents say they want to find the person who helped their son while he waited for the paramedics.

"That was an extremely powerful piece of information for us to see for the first time and we would love nothing better than to thank that individual or put him in touch with Connor," said Golden's father, Kevin Golden.

But the Instagram user has not responded to the Goldens' messages.

In another post, "miloturambar" suggested he may have left the chaotic scene before speaking to police.

"The police told me to leave after the paramedics arrived," he wrote.

"The thought that potential witnesses were being shooed away is a little bit disturbing," Kevin Golden said.

A spokesman for the ATF was unable to talk about whether investigators ever questioned "miloturambar."

The case remains ongoing, thus limiting our ability to comment further at this time, the spokesman said.

The News4 I-Team was unable to verify that the person behind the social media account is the one who stopped Connor's bleeding.

Connor's parents said he was in so much shock at the time that he doesn't remember who helped him that day.

The Goldens are hoping someone in the public will recognize the pictures of "miloturambar" on social media and step forward.

In the meantime, Connor has focused on his recovery and has become more comfortable with his prosthetic foot.

He prefers to stay out of the media spotlight, but his parents are learning to use the media to spread their message about the explosion.

Connor's mother, Carol Golden, wrote an op-ed for the New York Times and authored a petition urging investigators to classify the explosion as a terror investigation. The explosive that maimed Connor was TAT-P - the same homemade concoction used in recent jihadist attacks across the globe.

"To us, and to everyone we know who are familiar with the circumstances, it has the tell-tale signs of being terrorism," Kevin Golden said.Constantin Reliu learned in January that he was dead.

After more than 20 years of working as a cook in Turkey, the 63-year-old returned home to Romania to discover that his wife had had him officially registered as dead.

He has since been living a legalistic nightmare of trying to prove to authorities that he is, in fact, alive. He faced a major setback Thursday when a court in the northeastern city of Vaslui refused to overturn his death certificate because his request was filed "too late."

The decision, the court said, is final.

"I am a living ghost," Reliu told The Associated Press in a phone interview Friday from his home in Barlad, northeastern Romania.

"I am officially dead, although I'm alive," he said. "I have no income and because I am listed as dead, I can't do anything."

During the interview, Reliu was deeply emotional, starting off by saying "I think I am going to cry" and going on to voice rage and a desire for revenge against his wife, who now lives in Italy.

"I am not sure whether I am divorced or not," he said. "I am not sure whether she is married to someone else or not. Nobody will tell me."

Reliu explained that he first went to work in Turkey in 1992 and returned in 1995 to the first big shock of his marriage  his wife's infidelity. In 1999, he decided to return to Turkey for good.

The AP was not able to locate his wife to hear her side of the story.

Last December Turkish authorities detained him over expired papers and in January deported him to Romania.

Upon landing at Bucharest airport, he was informed by border officials that he had been officially declared dead and underwent six hours of questioning and tests.

They measured the distance between his eyes to see if it corresponded to an old passport photograph; they asked him questions about his home town, such as where the town hall was; they checked his fingerprints.

"They decided that it was me!" he said.

But authorities in Barlad were less convinced. He spent weeks trying to persuade them to issue him papers so that he officially "existed," he said. When that failed, he asked them to overturn the ruling on his death certificate, issued in 2016, which also ended in failure Thursday on procedural grounds.

Reliu said he would like to file a fresh lawsuit but has no money and suffers from diabetes, which makes everything more difficult.

He also said he has been banned for life from returning to Turkey but would like to write to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to appeal the decision.What to Know Crews worked through the night at the site of Thursdays tragic collapse innovative pedestrian bridge being built near the campus of FIU.

Miami-Dade Police Det. Alvaro Zabaleta said that six people have been killed as a result of the collapse.

The 950-ton bridge was put to a "stress adjustment" before it collapsed over traffic before 2 p.m. on Thursday.

Three bodies were recovered from three vehicles pulled from debris of the fallen 950-ton pedestrian bridge near Florida International University on Saturday, authorities said during a Saturday news conference.

The three bodies are among the six that were counted dead after the bridge collapsed on March 15, Miami-Dade Deputy Mayor Maurice Kemp said. Crews are working to extract the last three cars trapped beneath the rubble.

The three vehicles removed Saturday were completely flattened after the bridge collapsed, video shows. The cars were transported to the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiners Department after they were extracted, according to the MDPD.

Authorities said a total of eight cars had been trapped underneath the bridge, and crews are now attempting to lift and move heavy pieces of concrete to remove the remaining vehicles, which are "very difficult to extract," Miami-Dade Deputy Mayor Maurice Kemp said.

Authorities said Friday there could be more fatalities beyond the six deaths already counted in the collapse of the 174-feet concrete structure. As state and federal investigators worked to determine how and why the five-day-old-span failed, Miami-Dade Police Director Juan Perez told reporters at a Friday news conference he expects additional victims to be found.

By late Saturday, five had been identified: Alexa Duran, an 18-year-old FIU student; Alberto Arias and his passenger Oswald Gonzalez; Rolando Fraga-Hernandez and Navarro Brown.

NBC News reported that Duran was driving home from a doctor's appointment when the bridge collapsed on top of her car. Her best friend, Richard Humble, was in the passenger seat when it happened. He told the "Today" show that he and Duran had been at a red light when they heard a creak above them, just seconds before the bridge crushed their car.

Humble said that it happened too fast for them to duck out of the way. He suffered a neck injury but was able to walk away, he told "Today."

He told NBC News that although he feels "very grateful to be alive," he doesn't "feel so lucky right now."



Relatives of Arias, said he had been helping his mother move when the bridge collapsed on his white Chevy truck. His friend and passenger, Gonzalez, also died from the impact.

Brown, 37, was working on site at the time of the collapse.

Experts from the National Transportation Safety Board and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration joined police in taking over command of the scene Friday from first responders, who had spent hours racing to find survivors in the rubble of the 175-foot span using high-tech listening devices, trained sniffing dogs and search cameras.

Ten people were transported to Kendall Regional Medical Center from the site of the collapse near Southwest 8th Street and 109th Avenue. Two were listed in critical condition when they arrived and one person died at the hospital. Officials have not confirmed if the deceased was one of the 10 taken there or if it was someone who was brought in themselves.

The bridge was reportedly put to a "stress adjustment" before it collapsed over traffic before 2 p.m. on Thursday. Two workers were on top when it pancaked on top of vehicles waiting at a stoplight.

Perez and Miami-Dade County deputy mayor Maurice Kemp would not confirm if that test did take place.

And on Tuesday, an engineer of the company that designed the bridge warned the Florida Department of Transportation of cracks to the structure in a voicemail, but said the company was "not concerned" from a "safety perspective."

Denney Pate from the FIGG Bridge Group left the voicemail, and FDOT employees did not listen to the voicemail until Friday  the day after the bridge collapsed.

Sgt. Jenna Mendez of the Sweetwater Police Department was one of the first responders on the scene. The collapse happened while she was driving to work and she said she only missed becoming a victim herself because she had been running late and was stopped at a red light when the disaster struck.

I really wasnt believing what I had seen, she told NBC's "Today" show on Friday.

Mendez said that after realizing what had happened she jumped on top of the bridge to help construction workers who were "severely injured."

"I was just in that rescue mode," she said. Fire rescue officials had to yell at her not to put her safety at risk by going under the debris.Friday marks two years since Massachusetts State Police Trooper Thomas Clardy was killed when an alleged drugged driver struck his cruiser during a traffic stop on the Mass Pike in Charlton.

If I had five more minutes with Tom Clardy, Id tell him how much I respected him and admired him," said Charlton barracks Commander Lt. Michael Smith. "I respected and admired his work ethic, his compassion for the people we served. Id tell him how much I respected his commitment to this uniform and this fine organization.

Trooper Clardys colleagues, family and friends gathered Friday to remember the 44-year-old Marine Corps veteran, husband and father of seven  by dedicating the Route 49 bridge over the Mass Pike in Charlton in his honor, renaming the road to the barracks where he worked as Clardy Pass and unveiling a smiling memorial in his memory.

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker said the memorial was an attempt "to represent to all of you how much your dad and your husband meant to so many people here in the Commonwealth.

Massachusetts Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver said, It will serve as an inspiration for everyone who travels through this area and as a reminder of the spirit of Trooper Clardy.

Trooper Clardys friend and commander says these memorials and the ones inside the barracks make it feel as if he hasnt really left them.

Hed be humbled by it," said Lt. Smith. "He was a big strong man, but he was a very gentle soul. I think hed be a little embarrassed and a little humbled by it.A beloved Massachusetts firefighter who died while battling a blaze in 2017 was honored Saturday on the anniversary of his death.

Watertown Firefighter Joseph Toscano, a married father of five, died on March 17, 2017 afer collapsing at the scene of a 2-alarm fire on Merrifield Avenue. City officials said he collapsed from an apparent heart attack.

On Saturday, one year after his death, Watertown honored Toscano with a memorial dedication ceremony at the corner of Merrifield Avenue and Bigelow Avenue, where they revealed Joseph Toscano Square.

It had been 12 months since some have had the courage to return to the place where Toscano died.

"It was very difficult for me to come back by here for a long time and when I did come by it was hard for me to look at the house," Fire Chief Robert Quinn said.

Toscano's wife Marueen said through tears that her husband would have been deeply touched to have his name on the corner in Watertown where they first met 27 years ago.

The entire Watertown fire department came out to the dedication ceremony Saturday morning to honor Toscano, who is remembered as a "man of great integrity and honor" with a "heart of gold."

"It's beautiful, beautiful," Maureen said, "and it really does give us strenth."

For many, they are trading in painful memories of loss and replacing them with a memorial where they can come and remember a remarkable man.

"Just his committment and his loyalty. He just loved the fire department and it shows," Maureen said.

Just like Toscano's long-lasting effect on his community and loved ones, Joseph Toscano Square will be around for years to come.

The 54-year-old was a 20-year veteran of the fire department. More than 1,000 firefighters and other public servants lined up in rows to pay respects to one of their own as Toscano's body was carried into St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Watertown.



"May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warmly upon your face. May the rain fall softly, and until we meet agin, may God hold you in his hand."Massachusetts' attorney general is launching an investigation into the data-analysis firm that worked for President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, which is facing allegations it kept inappropriately obtained user information after telling Facebook the company had deleted it.

Maura Healey announced the probe Saturday afternoon.

"Massachusetts residents deserve answers immediately from Facebook and Cambridge Analytica," Healey tweeted. "We are launching an investigation."

Facebook announced Friday that they had suspended the accounts of Strategic Communication Laboratories, including the company's political data firm, Cambridge Analytica, after a University of Cambridge psychology professor passed on an app's data that used a Facebook Login to SCL and Cambridge Analytica.

The app, "thisisyourdigitallife," reportedly provided a personality test, and presented itself on social media as "a research app used by psychologists." It was downloaded by about 270,000 people, according to Facebook, and allowed the psychology professor, Dr. Aleksandr Kogan, access to data such as location, pages they had liked, and even access to who their friends were, if their friends had lower privacy settings.

Kogan allegedly then passed along the data to SCL/Cambridge Analytica and Christopher Wylie of Eunoia Technologies.

Although Facebook did not release how many user profiles were affected, the New York Times reports that Cambridge Analytica ultimately amassed data from more than 50 million profiles as a result of the data provided by Kogan.



Cambridge Analytica reportedly told Facebook it had destroyed the data in 2015, but Facebook said it recently received reports that not all the data had been deleted.

"We are moving aggressively to determine the accuracy of these claims," Facebook VP & Deputy General Counsel Paul Grewal wrote online. "If true, this is another unacceptable violation of trust and the commitments they made."

Grewal said SCL/Cambridge Analytica, Kogan and Wylie may face legal action, in addition to having their accounts suspended.

Cambridge Analytica denied wrongdoing in a series of tweets online.

"Reality Check: Cambridge Analytica uses client and commercially and publicly available data; we don't use or hold any Facebook data," the firm said. "CA did not use any Facebook data for the 2016 Trump campaign."

Facebook has faced controversy as a result of the company's response to the 2016 election, including around the influence of Russian-bought ads.

Meanwhile, Cambridge Analytica is facing scrutiny, including how it's funded by the family of billionaire donor Robert Mercer, who supported Trump's campaign and the campaigns of other conservative candidates.

The data-analytics firm has also been brought up a few times in the ongoing investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, including when its CEO said in November that the company reached out to WikiLeaks' Julian Assange during the campaign in an attempt to obtain emails in connection with Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's campaign. Cambridge Analytica has denied involvement in Russian election interference.

With snow storms lasting into March and snow days piling up across the state, many districts are scrambling to make up lost time in the classroom. In Billerica, school officials are considering an alternative solution and asking parents to weigh in.

Two days after more than two feet of snow fell across the Merrimack Valley, an email survey showed up in the inboxes of parents and teachers in Billerica. It asks if they would rather give up three days of April vacation instead of going to school until the end of June.

Billerica Public Schools builds in 5 school days, but has already used 8 for snow and weather related power outages. As it stands, the last day of school is set for June 27th, but could be moved back to June 22nd if the school committee decides to have class April 17th-19th.

Before making a decision, they are asking parents to weigh in by March 22nd. NBC Boston reached school committee chairman Jim Gately by phone Friday.

Parents are a part of this, Gately said. They are key players in this so were just trying to get enough information so that when we make a decision, its an informed decision.

Parents in Billerica were divided on the alternative.

I hope that they can take some of the vacation away in April and let them go to school so they dont have to keep going into the summer. Let them enjoy their summer, parent Audra Tomes said.

I dont think thats going to work out because everybody is so mixed, parent Jamie Crowley added. People have vacation plans for April.

Parents said they are also concerned about students staying in schools in late June because many of the classrooms are not air conditioned.

The proposal is set to be discussed and decided at the Billerica school committee meeting on March 26th. Parents would be notified no later than March 27th.Id urge owners to be vigilant, especially if theyre walking their dog off the lead

DOG owners in Hungerford and the Lambourn Valley have been warned to take extra care of their pets following reports of attempted dognapping.

Hungerford resident Stephen Collins said that, on Monday, March 5, a friend was walking their Jack Russell near The Croft green when they became aware of two males sitting in a dark, or black, 4x4 vehicle with silver grab rails on the side.

At the same time, a blonde woman stood nearby, smoking a cigarette.

Mr Collins said: The dog went to say hello to the lady, who asked if he was friendly.

Upon being told that the dog was indeed friendly, things took a sinister turn.

Mr Collins, who lives nearby, said: The woman then picked him up and started walking toward the vehicle.

The alarmed dog owner managed to snatch back their pet and the two males and the woman sped off in the vehicle.

The incident has been reported to police.

Mr Collins said: This is the second incident Ive heard of  apparently the day before there was a similar attempted dog theft in Baydon, involving people of a similar description.

Id urge owners to be vigilant, especially if theyre walking their dog off the lead.

Meanwhile, another posting on social media warned: Just a heads-up to those that walk their dogs in the West Berks area  there are dog thieves around.

The poster reported an incident of attempted dog theft involving people in a white van.

Dog theft is a perennial problem.

Police report that, while some animals are stolen from kennels and outhouses, thieves are becoming increasingly bold, with animals being taken as they are being walked and others being specifically targeted in burglaries.

Gangs most popular targets are trained working dogs, such as labradors, although other popular types such as chihuahuas and pugs also figure highly in the list of breeds stolen.

Thames Valley Police advise owners to think twice before leaving their dog tied up outside a shop.

They also advise:NEWTOWN  For the owners of Ashurst Academy of Irish Dance Academy, St. Patricks Day is easily the busiest day of the year.

Craig and Christina Ashurst, who got married after meeting on tour with Riverdance, spent the day with some of their students performing at senior centers, preschools, libraries and other spots in the Danbury area.

But first, they gave a free Irish dance lesson to some young newcomers at their studio in Newtown.

Today, our circle is going to be around a very nice pot of gold, Christina told the group of children as they formed into a circle to stretch.

With their parents watching and snapping photos, the group learned how to count beats in the music, stand in two dance positions and perform a sequence of Irish dance steps.

Most of the children came dressed in green or with St. Patricks-themed accessories in their hair.

Its an exciting time of year for the kids, Craig Ashurst said.

Ashurst, who is originally from Australia but whose mother is from Dublin, said he started learning Irish dance when he was 5 years old. His parents enrolled him in classes after he kept hiding in the trunk of the car when they took his sister to an Irish dance lesson, he added.

They were like, Oh my gosh, I guess well send him, too  Craig said.

For Christina Ashurst, who has lived in Newtown most of her life, it wasnt until she was 14 that she decided to give Irish dancing a try. The infectious combination of music and rhythm drew her to the style, she said.

I kind of had the goal in my head that I wanted to get into Riverdance or Lord of the Dance, she said. So I started my lessons and 10 years later, I got into the show and started touring.

The Ashursts moved to Newtown after getting married in 2014 and opened the dance academy, which teaches students 4 years and older, in June 2016. The studio has since won Best New Business in 2017 and was voted Connecticuts Best Dance Studio for Kids by the Newtown Chamber of Commerce and Newtown Rotary.

At the end of the 45-minute lesson, the children performed what they had learned for their families. Craig then sampled some, more advanced, hard-shoe dancing for the group.

Some of the newcomers said the class helped kick off their St. Patricks Day celebrations.

Newtown resident Caroline Kaufman, 9, said she hadnt tried Irish dancing before the lesson on Saturday, but hopes to do it again sometime.

It was very different and its challenging, Kaufman said. (But) its really fun.Gunn Historical Museums Washington History Club in the Morning will next meet March 19 at 10 a.m.

The group will meet at the Washington Senior Center, Bryan Hall Plaza, to discuss the history of the Washington Supply Company."When you hear that healthy laughter of a child and you realize: That's what's supposed to happen  all the time, for all of us,"  Patricia Jones, founder PS I Love You FoundationResearch from the University of Liverpool, published today in Lancet Respiratory Medicine, identifies a genetic variant that could improve the safety and effectiveness of corticosteroids, drugs that are used to treat a range of common and rare conditions including asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Corticosteroids are very effective in the treatment of asthma and COPD, with more than 20 million prescriptions issued in the UK annually. Unfortunately, corticosteroids can also cause side effects, one of which is adrenal suppression, seen in up to 1/3 of people tested. People with this condition do not make enough cortisol. Cortisol helps the body respond to stress, recover from infections and regulate blood pressure and metabolism.

Adrenal suppression can be very difficult to diagnose, as it can present with a spectrum of symptoms from non-specific symptoms such as tiredness, to serious illness and death. The majority of patients do not develop adrenal suppression, and the reasons why some do, and while other don't, despite using similar doses of corticosteroids were not previously understood.

In a world first researchers from the University's Institute of Translational Medicine, led by Professor Sir Munir Pirmohamed, conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to pinpoint the genes responsible for increasing the risk of a person developing adrenal suppression.

This method searches a person's DNA (genome) for small variations, called single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Each person carries about three million SNPs, but if a particular SNP occurs more frequently in people with a particular condition than in people without the condition, it can pinpoint the underlying reason for the difference.

The researchers identified two groups of children with asthma, and one group of adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), all of whom used inhaled corticosteroid medications. Each patient's adrenal function was tested. This is the largest published cohort of children ever tested for adrenal suppression (580 children in total).

Individuals who had a particular variation in a specific gene (platelet derived growth factor D; PDGFD) had a markedly increased risk of adrenal suppression, both in the children with asthma and adults with COPD. This risk increased if the patient had two copies of the variation (one from their mother, one from their father). Children with two copies of the high risk variation in PDGFD were nearly six times more likely to develop adrenal suppression than children with no copies.

Dr Dan Hawcutt, Senior Lecturer Paediatric Clinical Pharmacology University of Liverpool and Honorary Consultant Paediatrician Alder Hey Children's Hospital, said: "This is the first pharmacogenomic study investigating the association between a patient's genotype and corticosteroid induced adrenal suppression.

"Our highly novel findings offer the potential to develop personalized approaches therapy. This could involve screening patients to avoid or minimize steroid use if they are at high risk, or if steroids are needed, developing a specific plan to monitor their adrenal function.

"However, it is important to stress that steroids are effective medications, and patients should not stop taking these medicines without medical input. If you are worried about any side effects, please consult your doctor, nurse or pharmacist looking after you."Brazil is in the midst of a yellow fever outbreak, with the mosquito-borne virus reaching popular tourist destinations that do not normally see the disease. Since January 2018, 10 cases of yellow fever have been confirmed in international travelers visiting Brazil, including four deaths.

As a result, travelers should plan ahead and get vaccinated against yellow fever at least 10 days before visiting areas affected by the outbreak, including Rio de Janeiro state, Espirito Santo state, Sao Paulo state, and certain cities in Bahia state, according to a new article co-authored by a Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) researcher.

The article is an early-release Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The authors noted that most people who contract yellow fever do not have symptoms, but among the 15 percent of patients who develop severe illness, the fatality rate is between 20 percent and 60 percent.

"Given the potential severity of yellow fever and a substantial risk of dying from the disease, travelers should make sure that they are vaccinated," says lead author Davidson Hamer, professor of global health at BUSPH.

However, the authors wrote that getting the vaccine requires planning ahead for travelers from the United States. The Food and Drug Administration-approved yellow fever vaccine, YF-VAX, is currently unavailable in the US because of manufacturing difficulties, and the alternative yellow fever vaccine, Stamaril, is only available through a limited number of US yellow fever vaccination clinics.

"It may take several weeks to make an appointment, and potentially substantial travel time to reach a clinic in some parts of the country," Hamer says.

Brazil's current yellow fever outbreak began in December 2016. By July 2017, cases in both humans and nonhuman primates were reported from the states of Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro. On January 16, 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO) updated yellow fever vaccination recommendations for Brazil to include anyone traveling to or living in Espirito Santo, Sao Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro states, and certain cities in Bahia state, in addition to areas where vaccination had been recommended before the recent outbreak.

Eight of the ten international travelers with confirmed cases of yellow fever acquired the disease on Ilha Grande, a forested island off the Rio de Janeiro coast. ProMed reported five cases among travelers to Ilha Grande, in two travelers from Argentina and three from Chile. Two of the travelers from Chile died. GeoSentinel reported cases in a Dutch man who traveled to Sao Paulo state; a French woman who traveled to Minas Gerais state; and a Romanian man, a Swiss man, and a German man who all visited Ilha Grande. The men from Switzerland and Germany later died from the disease.

These were the first yellow fever cases reported by GeoSentinel, which was initiated in 1995 by the International Society of Travel Medicine with support from CDC and now consists of 70 specialized travel and tropical medicine clinical sites in 31 countries around the world. Hamer is the principal investigator for GeoSentinel.

In addition to underscoring the importance of vaccination, authors wrote that clinicians should be aware and vigilant of yellow fever signs and symptoms in patients returning from Brazil.New Delhi:Striking notes of hope and of caution, economist and Nobel laureate Paul Krugman has said India could ride the next wave of globalisation, one of services, or it could end up with mass unemployment.

"As the worlds economies took off because of growth in the manufacturing sector, India stood apart and unique. It exported services, which was unprecedented, said Krugman at the News18 Rising India Summit on Saturday.

The noted economist said India has the first-mover advantage for a potential second wave of growth, simply because of its working age population.

It used to be said that services are not exportable, they can only be availed locally. India, Krugman said, changed that. Britain exports services by way of banking in the city of London, but India branched out into IT, call centres, etc.

Krugman pointed out that the sheer number of people working productively will help an economy grow. He was referring to Indias much talked of the demographic dividend, but only if the country can provide jobs for them.

Indias lack in the manufacturing sector could work against it, as it doesn't have the jobs essential to sustain the projected growth in demography. You have to find jobs for people, he stressed.

Krugman drew examples of Japan and China to drive home his point. Japan is no longer a superpower because its working-age population declined, and China is looking the same. In Asia, India could take the lead but only if it also develops its manufacturing sector, not only the services one, he said.

India's sheer number of people that can work and speak English, its different, services-based approach made Krugman optimistic about its contained economic growth. That and the fact that India is still poor, still a long way from the cutting edge of technology, and has a lot of space for forward motion.

Adjusting for purchasing power India is the third largest economy in the world behind only the US and China. This is dramatic progress from the days if the license raj and insurmountable bureaucratic obstacles and this, he said, made it a super power.

In the '80s, the worlds economy was still colonial, where poor countries exported raw materials and the rich exported manufactured goods, Krugman said. Back then, India was a disappointment for economists, and the gap between its economy and those of richer countries only grew wider.

When changes started happening globally, Indias policymakers took note and changed from a self-sustaining economy to an open one, with lowered tariff rates. This has brought the country a long way.

I was listening to the Prime Minister's [Modi] speech where he said India's improved its ease of doing business ranking from 148 to 100. That's not a badge of distinction but it's progress, said Krugman.

If China was not part of the story, people would look at India, said Krugman. Its GDP per capita has quadrupled, and it looks like Japan in the 60s. Japan went on to make a full transformation, he added.New Delhi: From importing to having excess coal, from gasping for natural gas to striding towards construction of gas grids and strengthening the renewable energy sector in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi set India an ambitious target of becoming an energy surplus state by 2022 while addressing the News18 Rising India Summit on Friday.

"Today, we are moving towards an energy surplus status. We are also moving towards our dream of One Nation, One Grid. By 2022 we will have excess energy in the country," said Modi.

There was a time when the power ministry, renewable energy ministry and the coal ministry did not know what the other was doing. Now they are working as one unit. We have electrified over 16,000 of the 18,000 villages in the country that did not have electricity since 1947, he added.

Highlighting the achievements of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana he said, "Ujjwala is not just changing kitchens but also the situation of crores of families." Finance Minister Arun Jaitley while presenting the Union Budget had raised the target of beneficiaries under the Ujjwala scheme to 8 crore.

We launched the scheme to make poor women free from the smoke of wood. Initially, our target was to provide free LPG connections to about 5 crore poor women. But in view of the pace of implementation of the scheme and its popularity among the women, we propose to increase the target of providing free connection to 8 crore poor women," said Jaitley.

Prime Minister Modi also talked about the power and renewable ministries working together to achieve its target. The government has set a target of achieving 175 gigawatts (GW) installed capacity of renewable energy by 2022. Of this, 100 GW is expected from solar power and 60 GW coming from wind power projects.

As of December 15, 2017, India had an installed solar power capacity of 16.68 GW, New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) minister RK Singh told Parliament on January 4. The installed operational capacity of wind energy was at 33 GW, the minister added.

The Prime Minister also hailed his government's efforts in increasing air connectivity in the country and constructing airports. "We are building 12 new airports in eastern India under UDAN. Six of these will be in Northeast. For the first time, a commercial flight landed in Sikkim," he said.

Aviation secretary Rajiv Nayan Choubey recently informed the media that the initial success of the first phase of the regional connectivity scheme prompted the government to extend the scheme for international flights as well. The Assam government has expressed interest in connecting Guwahati airport with several South East Asian destinations.New Delhi: Information and broadcasting minister Smriti Irani may not check her Twitter account every morning, but she is well aware of the hatred on social media. She says she has been a victim of it as well. So, she, along with the government, has big plans on how to bring about regulations on social media.

The government is working to become a troll monitor. The news is now filled with views, Irani said at the News18 Rising India Summit. We cannot ignore the capacity of fake news to demean. We cannot ignore the technology engineered to deteriorate, she added.

The problem for Irani, as she said, is that everyone has a stage now.

However, Irani didnt ignore the positive part either. She said that governance is personalised through social media. Often social media has been helpful too, she said. I see a burst of creativity aided by technology but also challenged by it, she said. She also said that Twitter and Facebook help in personalising governance. Now when policies are made, citizens are involved, she said.

Irani said that she is aware of her responsibilities on social media. Every citizen on social media should be aware of their rights, she added.

Irani was sharing the stage with Prasoon Joshi, the CBFC chief. As the conversation moved to censorship, Padmaavat and Pahlaj Nihalanai, Irani quoted Osho, saying, Creativity stems from rebellion.

Talking about the word sanskar, Irani said that it sounds like a slur now. But the word ethics seems more acceptable, she said. The minister suggested that creativity cannot exist without ethics in it.

When Prasoon Joshi said that the media spread fake news when they reported that there were 400 cuts in Padmaavat, Irani joined in. The fake news that there were 400 cuts made headlines but the fact that Sanjay Leela Bhansali came out and said that the movie was released uncut never made news, she said.

While the minister started the conversation in English, she had moved to Hindi within a couple of minutes following Joshi. Look, Mr Joshi is speaking in our national language, our mother tongue Hindi at an event organised by an English channel. This is freedom, she said.New Delhi: India on Saturday gave a Note Verbale to Pakistan through its high commission in Islamabad protesting the "intimidation and harassment" of its staff there, the 12th such diplomatic note in less than three months.

Official sources said that in its communication to the Pakistan foreign ministry, the Indian high commission specifically mentioned two incidents of harassment -- one on Saturday and the other on March 15.

"Another Note Verbale was sent today by our High Commission in Islamabad to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan protesting against the intimidation and harassment of Indian High Commission officials," a source said.

"This was the 12th Note Verbale this year on the subject," the source said.

In the Note Verbale, two incidents were highlighted.

In today's incident, the source said, some officials of the Indian mission, who had gone for shopping to the Blue Area in Islamabad, were harassed with two persons aggressively following them and hurling abuses.

In the March 15 incident, another official of the mission and his family was aggressively followed by two men on motorbike when he was going to a restaurant.

"We have asked the Pakistan Government to investigate these incidents," the source said.

The Note Verbale to Pakistan foreign ministry comes two days after Islamabad called its High Commissioner home for consultations, which was termed by India as "routine" and "normal".

Pakistan had said it called home its envoy in India Sohail Mahmood for consultations after repeated incidents of "harassment" of its diplomatic staff in New Delhi.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar had said that the Indian High Commission in Islamabad was also facing a "litany of issues" which have not been resolved for several months by that country.New Delhi: India is moving from power shortage to power surplus, network failure to exporter. We have also moved towards 'One Nation, One Grid'." The Prime Minister was justifiably proud of his governments achievements in the power sector when he rose to speak at the News18 Rising India summit in New Delhi on Friday.

The NDA government has indeed racked up a series of creditable goals in the sector  be it electrification of villages, getting a power connection to each household or the move to end the monopoly of Coal India, which could unleash the full potential of Indias coal-fired power plants. But if there is renewed hope for this benighted sector, it would be wishful thinking to believe it is out of the dark completely.

India is now generating surplus power and has moved from being a country perennially short on power to one which generates adequate amounts not just for domestic consumption but also for exports. Growth in power generation (cumulative annual growth rate CAGR) was 6.1% under the UPA reign at the Centre from 2004-14 and grew to 6.8% from 2014-2017 under the NDA. With robust growth in generation capacity, energy shortage has reduced from 42,428 MU (4.2%) in 2014 to 7,459 MU in 2017 (0.7%). In other words, energy shortage has become negligible during the NDA regime.

Consequently, peak demand shortage has almost reduced to a third, from 6,103 MW (4.5%) in 2014 to 2,608 MW (1.6%) in 2017. India has turned around from a net importer of electricity to net exporter, exporting around 5,798 million units to Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar in 2017.

But the power sector is facing several challenges as well.

First, the NDA government has slashed allocation to the Ministry of Power by half in the Budget for 2018-19 to Rs 15,046.92 crore (against a demand for Rs 36843.32 crore) and this is sure to adversely impact ambitious flagship sector schemes such as those for electrifying each village, getting electricity to each Indian household, improving electricity distribution, etc. While it is true that many ministries have been allocated far less than what they sought in the Budget for next fiscal and the power sector is not the only one facing a money crunch. But if the government wants to adhere to its own targets, it must allocate adequate funds for power sector schemes. For example, the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Mission which highlights rural electrification improvements, has seen meagre allocation of funds and will likely suffer.

Second, though there has been rapid reduction in the number of un-electrified villages under the NDA push, still 1,234 such villages remained without electricity till January this year, according to data provided by the ministry of power to a Parliamentary Standing Committee while presenting its demand for grants for 2018-19. These villages are located in remote and rather inaccessible areas and the committee expressed doubts over whether the target of electrifying all villages in India by May 2018 would be achieved as per the deadline.

Third, over and above the target of electrifying all villages, another ambitious scheme of the NDA government targets providing an electricity connection to each and every household in India by March 2019 under the Saubhagya scheme. This is also unlikely to be achieved, according to the Committee.

Fourth, and perhaps the most troublesome part of rapid power generation capacity increase, is the quantum jump in stressed assets in the sector and consequent challenges for Indias public sector banks, which hold considerable exposure to this. According to a report of another standing committee titled Stressed, non-performing assets in electricity sector, which was tabled in Parliament recently, Rs 174, 468 lakh crore is the debt outstanding from 34 stressed power sector assets of private power producers. A power surplus situation today has meant that much of the installed capacity of these plants remain idle  from nearly 80% of the capacity being used in 2006-07, the utilisation had fallen to just 60% by 2016-17.

Non-availability of regular fuel supply arrangements, lack of Power Purchase Agreements (PPA), inability of the promoters to infuse equity and working capital and other regulatory and contractual issues were some of the reasons for rising stress in the power sector. The total advances towards electricity generation sector by scheduled commercial banks stand at about Rs. 4.71 lakh crore.

Four companies of Lanco group owe banks a whopping Rs 23,591 crore in unpaid debt; two companies of the Adani group owe Rs 14,864 crore, Jaypee Power Venture (Bara) owes Rs 114,93.5 crore; three companies of the GMR Group together owe Rs 15,178.9 crore and the Essar group has unpaid loans totalling Rs 9063 crore for two projects.

The power sector has seen tremendous growth in terms of capacity addition during last few years. During Twelfth Plan period, cumulative capacity addition of 99,209.5 MW was achieved against target of 88,537 MW. The share of private sector in overall installed capacity has grown from just 13% in March 2007 to 44% in March, 2017. In other words, the contribution of the private sector has grown by a third in a decade. During the last ten years, the public sector (both Centre and state combined) contributed 73,402 MW while private sector alone contributed 77,891 MW capacity addition.

This expansion in power generation is a good idea as long as it is done without stressing out the banks and it leads to fulfillment of village electrification targets and those set for providing connections to each household. The power sector needs funds and strong policy initiatives to keep up the momentum.

(The author is senior journalist. Views are personal)Kozhikode: In a telling blow to the Pinarayi Vijayan government, the Kerala church on Saturday slammed the state's liquor policy, threatening it would work against the ruling Left's candidate in the upcoming Chengannur by-poll.

A senior bishop of the powerful Syro Malabar Catholic Church said this after the state government on Friday notified a Supreme Court order allowing licenses to every local body to open new liquor vends in the areas where population is above 10,000 .

The Syro church is a key member of the Kerala Catholic Bishops Conference that has a very strong anti-liquor front.

Speaking to the media, Bishop Mar Remigiose Inchananiyil, of the Thamarassery Diocese near here, said they were challenging the Vijayan government to set the ball rolling for a referendum on the new liquor policy.

"They had come with a detailed manifesto on what their liquor policy would be and they used film stars to propagate that their liquor policy would be one of abstinence.

"Just see now what has happened. All the bars that were closed are going to be reopened. Whom are they (the Left) cheating? We will be in the forefront at the Chengannur by-election asking the electorate to vote against the manipulative tactics of the Left government," said an angry Inchananiyil.

In 2016, when the Oommen Chandy-led Congress government demitted office, there were two dozen bars that operated in five star hotels. Around 700 bars in the three- and four-star hotels were shut down.

Chandy's policy envisaged prohibition in Kerala by 2023.

After Vijayan took over, the government reduced distances between liquor vends and religious and educational institutions from 200 metres to 50 metres.Mar 18, 2018 15:23 (IST)

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today launched a scathing attack on the NDA government, accusing it of having "messed up" the economy and mismanaging the dispute in Jammu and Kashmir. At the 84th plenary session of the Congress, Singh described the government's demonetisation move as "ill-considered" and GST as "hastily implemented". "The BJP-led government messed up the Indian economy. The ill-considered demonetisation and hastily implemented GST have destroyed small-scale enterprises," he said. "The government mismanaged the Jammu and Kashmir dispute like never before. The atmosphere in the state has been deteriorating day by day," he said. Singh also dismissed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's comment about farmers' incomes being doubled. "Modi said farmers' income will be doubled in six years. It is a 'jumla'-type (rhetorical) statement unlikely to be achieved," he said addressing the session. Asserting that the UPA government achieved a "lot" under then Congress president Sonia Gandhi's guidance, Singh exuded confidence that the plenary session would chalk out the future path for the country and the party would play a "historic" roleMumbai: Farmers in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra on Saturday claimed that fugitive jeweller Nirav Modi, prime accused in the alleged Rs 11,400 crore Punjab National Bank fraud, had acquired their lands at less than prevailing rates.

A group of over 200 farmers, who arrived in bullock carts at the tract of land at Khandala in Karjat tehsil, ploughed a part of it using a tractor as a symbolic reclaiming of possession.

They will start cultivation on the full 125 acres of the acquired land soon, farmers said. Saturday's protest was meant to show that farmers have reclaimed their land, which was acquired on behalf of Nirav Modi's Firestar company some years ago, they said.

The land is among the properties attached by the Enforcement Directorate as a part of its probe against Modi who has fled the country, said a farmer activist.

Protesting farmers also carried the tricolour and portraits of King Shivaji and Dr B R Ambedkar. They carried the banner of 'Kaali Aai Mukti Sangram', a local farmers' organisation.

"The land was acquired from farmers at around Rs 15,000 per acre, whereas the government rate for land compensation in the area is around Rs 20 lakh per acre now," lawyer and activist Karbhari Gawli, who was part of Saturday's protest, told PTI over phone from Ahmednagar.

A police official from the Karjat police station said no "untoward incident" was reported from Khandala village on Saturday.New Delhi: Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said that it was not just the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) that was responsible for Indias growth but the current government did accelerate the process.

I do not want to say that just this government has played a role in the country's development. Farmers, army personnel, intellectuals and experts have played a crucial role in developing the country, he said.

Speaking during the News18 Rising India Summit, Singh said that there were no single factor behind Indias success rate, the current government was definitely one that made important decisions to accelerate Indias growth.

The government has brought about many structural and procedural changes. I don't say that our government-initiated GST, it was initiated in 2002 but we brought it. There were problems with Planning Commission and we brought about Niti Aayog, he said.

He also said that it was impossible for any government to employ the entire country. However, if they have skills they can be provide with employment. Startup India and Skill India are movements towards the same, he said.

The minister also said that he was proud of the fact that no minister in this government could be called corrupt. "Gangotri agar pavitr hai toh Ganga bhi pavitr hogi, he said.

Singh also commented on the banking crisis and said that while the opposition was attacking the government, it was in fact the BJP government that had exposed the fraudsters. Further, the minister also said that while people who had different thought processes than the government were not anti-national, but calling those who went against the nation as anti-nationals was not wrong.New Delhi: Amidst an emerging change in world order, former Indian diplomats and foreign policy experts weighed in on China's rising power and its struggle with its insecurities.

Former foreign secretary and former ambassador to China, Nirupama Rao, said that China was growing a great deal, but most of it was based on its insecurities.

"China is an aspiring superpower but those aspirations are built on an insecurity," she said, adding that the Asian giant's growth reminded her of what Deng Xiaoping said-one should bide your time and lay low.

This is not the first time that a former Indian diplomat has raised questions on China's growth model. Late last year, former National Security Advisor and an old China hand Shiv Shankar Menon called China a revisionist power and said that its demographic and geographical positioning was the biggest stumbling block in its metamorphosis into a real global power.

Rao also said that with India's size in the region, it was impossible it would be boxed but on the same hand it was imperative to catch up to China's stupendous growth.

"Geostrategy has to be built on the basis of demography, political strength and economic heft. We have to obviously cover some distance (we as in India). China has grown a great deal and we have a great deal of catching up to do to," she said.

She added that China was much more visible in the region and was showing its muscularity, making it all the more imperative for India to step up in its effort.

Shyam Saran, who was foreign secretary and is currently chairman of the National Security Advisory Board, added that India was an emerging power and that both India and China have managed to keep their relationship on an even keel.

Weighing in, India Foundation director Shaurya Doval said that one of the most important aspect of India's rise was its economic rise, which needs to be seen from the China's lens too. He added that the gap between India and China economically was huge and something that needed to be worked upon.

"India has to offer a different kind of economic heft than what China does. What is our alternative economic model? Soft power has to transcend into these regions (smaller nations) economically," he said, further suggesting that India must try and link a country like Sri Lanka into its GST model.

"No money needs to be put in but you're still helping Sri Lanka grow because India is a big market," he added.New Delhi: Not daunted by the UP bypolls loss, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said the BJP realises that loss is also a possibility in the election.

Ho gaya, aage nahin hoga. Humein pata chala ki aisa bhi ho sakta hain (What happened in Gorakhpur will not happen again because we know that this result is also a possibility), the minister said.

The ministers statements, at the News18 Rising India Summit, comes just days after BJP suffered a double jolt as it was trounced in the bypolls for the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats. Significantly, Gorakhpur was earlier held by chief minister Yogi Adityanath, while deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya was Phulpurs elected representative.

Gorakhpur has long been considered a BJP stronghold with Adityanath representing the seat in Lok Sabha five times. Phulpur, once represented by the country's first Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru, witnessed a saffron surge in the 2014 Lok Sabha election when Keshav Prasad Maurya won the seat.

Soon after the defeat, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath blamed overconfidence for failing to realise the importance of the pre-poll understanding between Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party.

Commenting on Congress president Rahul Gandhi, the union Home Minister further said that despite the latters attacks on the government, only time will tell against whom India was rising.

He is our opposition leader and he will keep saying things (against the government) but only time will tell against whom the country is rising, Singh said.

On being asked if he harbours the dream of being a PM, the Home Minister said that he was not over ambitious.

Im not over ambitious. But yes, if one is given the opportunity, they must fulfil it. Our PM is doing a very good job, he said.New Delhi: Minister of Railways and Coal Piyush Goyal, while speaking during the News18 Rising India Summit on Friday, blamed the seventh pay commission as the reason behind the Indian Railways worst operating ratio since the year 2001.

We've just had a seventh pay commission and that has caused a huge rise in salaries and pensions. The logistics cost due to freight rates has gone up, therefore, the operating ratio has deteriorated," said Goyal.

On March 13, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) said in a report that the Railways operating ratio has reached its worst since 2001 at 96.50 percent.

The Operating Ratio during 2016-17 had deteriorated to the lowest level of 96.50 percent since 2000-01, when it was 98.34 percent. Since Operating Ratio is a direct indicator of the working of Railways, the Ministry of Railways should also look into the various innovative ways for revenue generation and closely monitor the expenditure, said the report.

The operating ratio shows the efficiency of an institutions management by comparing operating expense to net sales. The lower the ratio, the better it is for the organisation.

Talking about his plans in the upcoming years, the railways minister said, "I am looking at reducing freight rates in the next 2-3 years and bring road traffic to railways."

Earlier, on February 13, while talking about reducing losses in Railways, Piyush Goyal had blamed TMC and Congress for deteriorating the financial condition of the sector and said that the parties owe answers to the country. If anybody is responsible for pushing the Railways to this stage then it is the Trinamool and Congress, he had said.

He also accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of putting additional financial burden on the Indian Railways by joining the loss-making Kolkata Metro to Railways. The thought of the party and its leaders is limited, he had said.New Delhi: In a scathing attack on Pakistan, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that Indias neighbour was the deterrent in ensuring that the two nations did not have cordial relations.

Atal Bihari Bajpayee said friends change but neighbours don't. We want good relations with our neighbours but Pakistan does not want to improve, he said at the Rising India Summit in the national capital.

The statement comes in the wake of a diplomatic row between the two nations. Pakistan on Thursday said it has decided to call back its High Commissioner in India, Sohail Mahmood, for consultations after repeated incidence of "harassment" of its diplomatic staff in New Delhi.

On Tuesday, the Foreign Office had summoned India's Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh over alleged harassment of its officials and their families in New Delhi.

Launching a scathing attack on the Islamic Republic, the minister further said that Pakistan was not doing enough to fight terrorism. They are allowing a UN designated terrorist (Haafiz Saeed) to run his own political party and fight elections. God knows how many people these terrorists have killed. The country also helps the Haqqani network to grow, the minister said.

Singh further lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for encouraging other countries to talk about Pakistan and act against its terrorist activities.

Terrorism is a global phenomenon. Our PM has achieved huge success in getting international organisations to take sides with India to fight terrorism. Earlier nobody talked against Pakistan, now even the United States of America also condemns Pakistan, Singh said.New Delhi: Two days after Pakistan recalled its High Commissioner in India, Sohail Mahmood, for consultations after repeated incidence of "harassment" of its diplomatic staff, a Pakistan newspaper has reported that the country will not send the envoy back till the situation improves.

Our high commissioner will not return to India anytime soon, said a senior Pakistan foreign office official to The Express Tribune.

At the time of recall, Pakistan maintained that the envoy was called to Islamabad for "consultations".

"Our High Commissioner in New Delhi has been asked to come to Islamabad for consultations," said Muhammad Faisal, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman.

New Delhi too played down the issue and clarified that it was not an official recall. He has been called back for consultations. It is pretty normal for an ambassador to go back to his country. It is a routine thing. Indian ambassadors abroad are also called back for discussions frequently, said Ravish Kumar, spokesperson, MEA.

Kumar said that India is looking into the issues raised by Islamabad, but said that at the same time, the Indian High Commission there has also been facing issues that were raised several months ago.

On Tuesday, the Foreign Office had summoned India's Deputy High Commissioner J P Singh over the alleged harassment of its officials and their families in New Delhi.

The Pakistan Foreign Ministry claimed that the staff and their families have been facing "harassment, intimidation and outright violence" from Indian state agencies in recent weeks.

Last time, it was in 2002 when the two countries recalled their respective high commissioners in the aftermath of an attack on the Indian parliament in December 2001.Islamabad: Pakistan has decided to stay away from the World Trade Organisation meet in New Delhi next week in protest against alleged harassment of its diplomats in India. India last month invited Pakistan Commerce Minister Pervez Malik to participate in the informal WTO ministerial meeting scheduled to be held in New Delhi on March 19-20 and Islamabad had initially accepted the invitation. Sources in the foreign ministry here said the situation has changed after "repeated harassment of families of diplomats" and it was decided to skip the invitation.

"We cannot send our commerce minister to India in the current situation and India has been informed about it," according to a source. He said India should also stop the alleged violations of the ceasefire on the Line of Control that led to death of civilians and also stop "atrocities" in Kashmir.

Trade ministers of over 50 nations including the US, China and Pakistan were invited by India to discuss issues related to agriculture and services. The decision to stay away from WTO meeting in India coincided with the recalling of Pakistan's High Commissioner to India Sohail Mehmood.

Mahmood arrived here last evening for consultations after Pakistan alleged repeated harassment of its diplomats in New Delhi. Meanwhile, Pakistan is weighing options to deal with the situation in the wake of calling back of its High Commissioner Sohail Mahmood from New Delhi due to alleged harassment of diplomats in India.

Mahmood arrived here a day after the Foreign Office spokesman said that he was being summoned for consultation "due to non-stop harassment of families of the diplomats". Official sources in the foreign ministry said Mahmood will brief top officials about the situation.

"A decision to how address the situation will be made after the consultations," sources said. They said that options were on the table including declaring New Delhi as a non-family station and not sending back Mahmood for an indefinite period.

Officials rejected allegations that Indian diplomatic staff were also facing hurdles and harassment in Pakistan. "Our high commissioner will not return to India anytime soon," the Express Tribune quoted a senior foreign office official as saying.

It reported that initially it was thought he would return to New Delhi after consultations with authorities. However, the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that the high commissioner would stay back for an indefinite period or "until Indian agencies stop intimidating the staff and families of their diplomatic mission" in New Delhi.

"In other words, Pakistan recalled its envoy to New Delhi as a protest till the situation improves," it reported. The official justified the move, insisting that under current circumstances it was not possible for the high commissioner to operate out of New Delhi.

"Children have never been harassed even when two countries have had the worst of relationship," he said. When asked whether Pakistan was contemplating withdrawing the families of its diplomatic staff, the official said it might have to if the current slide in the relationship was not arrested.New Delhi: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday lamented the sorry state of weapons with the defence forces and claimed that the soldiers in Kashmir were swapping weapons with the ones they seize from terrorists.

The soldiers of the regiment I served with are now posted in Kashmir and they are swapping their weapons with the ones they seize from terrorists because they like them better. If a soldier doesn't have confidence in his weapon, how can he fight? said Amarinder Singh at News18 Rising India Summit.

It was this very week when the Vice Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Sarath Chand, said that the defence budget had dashed our hopes.

Chand said this may end in the foreclosure of 25 Make in India Defence projects that are currently in the pipeline.

Allocation of Rs 21,388 crore for modernisation is insufficient even to cater for committed payments of Rs 29.033 crore for 125 ongoing schemes, emergency procurement and other requirements, Chand told the parliamentary panel.

He said Armed Forces has hardly any funds for modernization in 2019, with 68 percent of the Armys equipment of vintage category and only 8 percent in the state of the art category.

Amarinder Singh did concede that even during UPA time they didnt make big defence purchases.

Even in our time (UPA) we didn't make any big defence purchases. The Air Force has been asking for new aircraft, the Navy has been asking for upgrades. You don't have missiles, you don't have ammunition, you are using practise ammunition. This is absurd," said Amarinder.New Delhi: Speaking at News18 Rising India Summit, actress Kangana Ranaut on Saturday said that she would not mind entering politics if she is allowed to keep her fashion sense.

"Personally, I feel politics is a wonderful field, though it is often misunderstood. But what I dont like is the fashion sense of politicians, Ranaut said.

Because of the way I dress and speak, I don't think any party will take me. But personally, I don't mind entering politics if they don't change my fashion sense, and let me say what I want to, she added.

The actress also professed that she was a fan of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "I am a big Modi fan because of his success story. As a young woman I do believe that we need to have right role models. I mean the graph and the ambition of an ordinary man and whenever we have a PM who is a chaiwala, then I always say that it is not his victory but it is the victory of our democracy, she said.

She is also said is a nationalist and felt that her own progress as an individual is linked to the country's growth. The "Simran" actor said she does not believe in religion and has come to the conclusion that her only identity is that she is an Indian.

"As a youth, I want to see growth in my life. I have come to this conclusion that if India does not grow then I won't grow. I am an Indian and born an Indian. I have no other identity," she said.

"I said in some interview that I am a nationalist. People said 'oh you are that type of a person'. I was like 'what do you mean by that kind?' I personally feel that there is a confusion between these words.

"Before all of this, I hadn't even heard of the term nationalism. The good thing is that at least the word has got out. That there is a word like nationalism. You can have a choice whether you want to believe in it or not," she added.

Ranaut also weighed on about the controversy surrounding the Pakistani artists working in India, and said artistic world is different from physical world.

"Artistic realm is different from physical realm. When you are talking about physical boundaries and you are talking about borders, why be esoteric. You should know about a place where people are losing lives.

"At the time of ban on Pakistani artists, the country is vulnerable where people are struggling and trying to cope with emotions. The common sentiment is 'Humko kya lena dena, hum toh artist hai'. This is not going to work. Above everything, you are Indians as well, and when you are talking about boundaries, you can't go into esoteric world and say 'I am an artist'," she said.New Delhi: Ruchir Sharma may have a lot of ideas for the growth of the Indian economy, but hes not willing to advise Prime Minister Narendra Modi on it. I would rather observe, than advise, he said, adding that no one quite listens to his suggestions.

At the News18 Rising India Summit, the Indian investor who has widely written on global economics and politics, spoke about his time in Russia when he faced Vladimir Putin. In Putins presence, Sharma took to the stage to make his own presentation about the Russian economy. He first pointed out that Putin has been a reformer when he first came to power, but things changed for the worse after that. It was in stark contrast to who Putin was initially, Sharma said.

While Sharma continued his criticism, the Russian President didnt bat an eyelid. He, in fact, took notes, said Sharma. When it was Putins turn to speak, he spoke about the issues raised by Sharma.

Sharma, the Chief Global Strategist and head of Emerging Markets Equity team at Morgan Stanley, was very pleased with himself. It felt like a pat on his back. After all, Putin was taking into account the issues he raised. Or so he thought.

The next morning, Sharma was woken up by a number of phone calls. He was asked to check the newspapers. All the Russian newspapers had the same headline Who is this man advising Putin? The newspapers were quite disappointed with Sharmas guts and advised him to leave the country.

I left Russia and never returned, said Sharma.

When he was asked further if he would want to showcase a similar presentation for Prime Minister Modi, Sharma was quick to respond. I will not advise on anything regarding India. I love the country and want to come back, he said as the audience cackled up and applauded.A major gastro-diplomatic campaign to promote French cuisine is set to bring 3,300 restaurants in 152 countries around the world together, including for the first time countries such as Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, the Maldives and the Kingdom of Lesotho. For the fourth edition of Good France -- or Gout de France in French -- thousands of chefs in France and abroad will answer the call from one of the country's biggest chef titans Alain Ducasse to celebrate French gastronomy by throwing a dinner party at embassies around the world in its honor on March 21.

Overall, it's estimated that 300,000 diners will feast on foie gras, baguettes, French cheese and wine on the same day at an event that's being called the biggest French dinner in the world.

Since its first iteration in 2015, the number of participating restaurants has more than doubled from 1,300 restaurants to 3,300.

In India, 67 restaurants  including 17 from Delhi  will participate in Good France, placing it fifth in the world in terms of the number of participating restaurants. Participation from India has been increasing steadily (48 restaurants were registered in 2015), which reflects the Indian publics growing interest in discovering new flavours, especially French gastronomy.

With close to 89 million tourists in 2017  including more than six lakh Indians  France is the top global tourist destination. Of these, one-third declare that their travel to France was spurred by French cuisine and its wine, especially the gastronomic meal of the French, which has been inscribed in the UNESCO list of intangible heritage. Apart from these food and wine-loving tourists, foreign chefs and students, too, come to France to train in French culinary techniques.

This year, chefs have also been asked to pay tribute to the late Paul Bocuse by preparing a dish inspired by the "pope of gastronomy" and "Chef of the Century," the latter title bestowed by the Culinary Institute of America. Bocuse died in January at the age of 91. Participating restaurants include some of the trendiest and most prestigious dining destinations in the world, including Mr & Mrs Bund in Shanghai; Le Coucou in New York; and Arzak in San Sebastian, Spain.

In line with chef Ducasse's culinary ethos, restaurants have been asked to create healthier, sustainable French menus than the world is pehaps used to. Restaurants have also been asked to donate five percent of proceeds to a local health or environmental charity of their choice.

Top 10 countries by number of restaurants participating

1. Poland

2. Greece

3. Brazil

4. Russia

5. India

6. Spain

7. Vietnam

8. Italy

9. UK

10. Japan

(With AFP Relaxnews inputs)The 'Queen' of Indian cinema, Kangana Ranaut, was at her candid best at the News18 Rising India Summit on Saturday, not shying away from discussing her opinion of Karan Johar, her love life, nationalism and even politics.

Here are the top quotes from her session:

On Nepotism

Nepotism is Karan Johars way. He doesnt believe in talent. He believes in dynasty and that's okay. As an outsider, I have my way. I will say my point and you can't shut me up. Similarly, we can't tell him how to function, it's what works for him.

On GenX Attitude

The young generation is always complaining. This attitude is not okay. Desh ganda hai toh aap mehmaan hain kya? Saaf karo. Infrastructure accha hai toh wahan jaao, thappad padenge immigration ke toh pata chalega. (You think the country is too dirty and infrastructure is not enough? Then clean it. You are not guests. Do something about it. Try going to the country with the best infrastructure, you will get slapped by immigration department and then you will know.

On Breakups

Never got the privilege to dump anyone. I always got dumped. They come back but then I can't take them back because then I've moved on to another loser.

On National Anthem Debate

Why are you ashamed of your nation? When Americans stand up to the national anthem, they do it with hands to their heart. Why are we ashamed to do that? I stand for the national anthem and salute our soldiers but am still a cool youngster.

On Joining Politics

Personally, I feel politics is a wonderful field. Politics is often misunderstood. But what I dont like is the fashion sense of politicians. Don't mind entering politics if they dont change my fashion sense.

On PM Modi

I am a big Modi fan. We need to have a good role model. Modi's victory was not just his victory. The fact that a chaiwala won is a victory of democracy.

On Swara Bhaskars Article

We failed as a society when we bullied Swara Bhaskar for her article on Padmaavat. I personally didn't agree but somewhere deep down I was pleased. It was heart breaking to see how she was treated for her piece. I'm sure Swara would not be affected by it. She'll come back in 6 months and write again. But millions of other women will get affected and be wary of voicing their opinion.

On Hrithik Affair

My boyfriend ask me how do you know everything about my life. It's black magic. It's telepathic. My love is psycho, then it's fine. I'll find someone else. I am fine being called a witch.

On Ban on Pakistani Artistes

Artistic realm is different from physical realm. Agreed. But we can't ignore the physical borders. During the Pakistan artist ban, people were emotional as people were losing their lives at the border.Actor Panjak Tripathi, who will next be seen in Rajinikanth-starrer Kaala, says the megastar would ensure that he ate on time and regularly checked up on him when they shot for the movie together.

Pankaj plays a policeman in the project, which will also mark his debut in Tamil.

"My experience of shooting with Rajini sir has been amazing. He is a very humble man who used to check on me and ensure I ate on time. We have had conversations about acting, about spirituality and the film industry. When he is in front of the camera, he takes on a different persona. I learnt a lot from this experience," Pankaj said in a statement.

"I knew I needed to be part of a film where I share screen space with someone of his calibre. The minute the offer came, I said 'yes' and I am delighted that I did," he added.

The gangster film has been written and directed by Pa. Ranjith, and also features Nana Patekar and Huma Qureshi among others.Apart from being a cinematic tour de force, Kangana Ranaut has the spotlight trained on her off-screen as well, for her candidness and outspokenness over a variety of issues, not least her personal life. The Queen actor spoke at the News18 Rising India Summit, in a typically no-holds-barred session, the final one, moderated with News18 Consulting Editor Anuradha Sengupta.

Kangana took charge from even before the word go, addressing the symposium before her cue, which elicited much laughter, led by the actor herself.

An outsider who broke through the culture of influence and dynasties that permeates Bollywood (as it does in so many other sections of the country), Kangana has continued to break barriers and address issues that are usually swept under the rug. And so, the session began with a discussion on nepotism, which Kangana had recently called out several Indian cinema stalwarts over, most prominently Karan Johar.

"Honestly, I didn't think that my comments on nepotism will become a national topic. Nepotism is a prevalent system. I am not some activist. I would love to be, but for me it was an observation. It became a national debate because it was in everybody's conscience. My comments just acted as a catalyst, because Karan Johar is such a popular person," said Kangana.

She said that the director had his own style of working and he clearly "believes in the star-power of dynasties and bloodlines and it has been working for him clearly." But she had her own way of doing things, as evident from her remark: "There are all kinds of people in the world. There's a Karan Johar, and there's a Kangana Ranaut also. More revealingly, Kangana noted, "The world is the way it is; it's unfair and it's not going to change. You have to figure out how to make your way through it."

She also declared herself to be a huge Modi fan, stating," That the son of a chaiwallah can become Prime Minister isn't just a victory for Modiji, it is a victory for democracy in our country." As noted by the moderator, Kangana, like the PM, is an outsider who has definitely arrived in what is otherwise a very cloistered establishment.

Commenting Swara Bhaskar's piece on Padmaavat and the conservative backlash that followed it, Kangana said, "The way she was bullied was our loss. As a society we failed. She's a legitimate artist and she has a right. I personally didn't agree but somewhere deep down I was pleased. It was heart breaking to see how she was treated for her piece. I'm sure Swara might not be affected by it. She'll come back in 6 months and write again. But million of other women will get affected and be wary of voicing their opinion."

At the beginning of the session, Kangana had suggested talking about sex and relationships later in the conversation so as to keep the audience hooked, and when that time came, she was her candid best. "I've had so many affairs. And after every breakup I feel like this is the end of my life. This has happened whether I'm 16 or 31. For me, love is not just physical, it's spiritual and platonic. It's an amazing experience you feel in every cell of your body, as if it's is awakened, even if the person is not around. My boyfriends have asked me 'how do you know everything about my life. It's black magic. It's telepathic.' It's how I love. And if my love is psycho, then it's fine. I'll find someone else. I am fine being called a witch," said the actor, to much hooting and applause.

Ironically, Kangana has never had the chance to initiate a change of affairs, as she revealed, "I've never gotten the chance or had the privilege to dump anyone. I was always the one who got dumped. If I told you some of the names, you'd be shocked that even this loser has dumped me. They come back but then I can't take them back, because by then I've moved on to another loser."

Let's just say, it was a boisterous last session.

Switching back to work mode, Kangana spoke about her upcoming film, Manikarnika, which she said she's obsessing over. "Manikarnika has taken over my entire existence. The cast and crew are all hoping that it strikes the right chord with the audience."

When asked for her take on the rising of India as a nation, the actor was emphatic. "For me, I don't believe in religion. I am what my country is. I am a proud Indian. And I think the self-respect of our people needs to rise. Nowadays, it's cool to say bad things about your own nation. The young generation is always complaining, saying there's no infrastructure, there's no cleanliness. This attitude is not okay," she said, adding, with characteristic animation, "Agar desh ganda hai, toh aap mehmaan hain kya? Saaf karo (If the country is dirty, what are you, a guest? Start cleaning). If you like abroad so much, go there. Jahaan infrastructure accha hai, wahan jaao, jab thappad padenge wahaan ke immigration ke aur waapis bheje jaaoge, toh pata chalega (Wherever you like the infrastructure of, go there. When their immigration boots you back, then you'll know?). Why are you ashamed of your nation? When Americans stand up to the national anthem, they do it with hands to their heart then why are we ashamed to do that? Let's learn some good things from the Americans also."

"We will only rise when our country rises. We need to make that happen ourselves. I want to go abroad and be treated with respect because I'm an Indian, not because I'm someone important. I'm a proud 21st Century Indian girl, and yes, I will stand for my national anthem," she said. Cue cheers.

But the highlight of the evening came at its very end.

Answering an audience member's question about whether she'd consider a career in politics, Kangana bantered, "Personally, I feel politics is a wonderful field, though it is often misunderstood. But what I dont like is the fashion sense of politicians. I can't wear those kinds of clothes. Because of the way I dress and speak, I don't think any party will take me. But personally, I don't mind entering politics if they don't change my fashion sense, and let me say what I want to."

There were plenty of parliamentarians present at the summit, so did we just witness the rise of a new political star ascendant?New Delhi: CBFC chairman Prasoon Joshi, who faced the ire of Rajput organisations over the release of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's magnum opus Padmaavat, initially titled Padmavati, spoke exclusively to News 18 on creative freedom in the light of the historical drama on Saturday.

Speaking at the News 18 Rising India Summit in New Delhi Joshi said, "There were people who raised questioned as the name of the film was changed from Padmavati to Padmaavat. It was done in true spirit of the story which was a fictional account and based on Malik Muhammad Jayasi's poem and we decided to stay true to it."

The CBFC chief said, "Sanjay Leela Bhansali got to show the film he wanted to, what more do you want?" Upset at the news of the film going through 400 cuts, Joshi said, "There were reports on four hundred cuts. That was the way to shame us and our creative work."

Bhansali was attacked by the fringe outfits like Karni Sena while he was busy shooting for Padmaavat. He was also attacked on social media. On being asked about the hostile behaviour of the fringe elements, Joshi said, "'Fringe voice' is a demeaning term. There is nothing called a fringe voice. These voices are not born overnight. We are sitting in one air-conditioned corner but that doesn't mean we are not fringe for someone else."

Joshi said the release of Padmaavat was excessively politicised. "We don't live in suspended reality. Our present is born from the past and it has been burrowed into our subconscious," he added.

Commenting on the conversation in social media, he said that this change has been possible because we live in a connected world now. "We have to understand that we are living in a new world where no model from the past can teach us. The people who did not have the manch (platform through technology) in the past are now making use of it. The whole world is facing the challenge," he said.

Joshi was present with Smriti Irani, Minister of Information and Technology, who complimented him for keeping the sanctity of the Constitution by getting Bhansali's film released. Joshi said that there is Cinematographic Act that provides the constitutional mandate and every country, including France, that is known for its progressive cinema, has a regulatory body formed by the government.

"Independent bodies like the CBFC are present in every part of the world and are driven by good thought. The sad part here is some people are using the CBFC as a tool to promote controversies. We have released 9,000 films and 82 per cent of them hit theatres without any change. Ours is a multi-layered society where we cannot change the mentality and sensibility of our people overnight. We don't live in an asylum where only 'my world' exists," the CBFC chief said.

Joshi replaced Pahlaj Nihlani, who earned the sansakri sobriquet for himself. However, Joshi thinks that the word 'Sanskar' is both used and abused. "Dont we want to teach our children about ethics? We tell them about earning money but also about how to earn money according to the ethical standards. We need these ethical standards," he said.New Delhi: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said he had personally asked Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to ignore cases against first-time stone pelters.

Earlier this year, Jammu and Kashmir government has approved withdrawal of cases registered against 9,730 people involved in stone-pelting incidents, including first-time offenders, between 2008 and 2017.

We have forgiven first-time stone pelters. I spoke to the CM of Kashmir and told her that children who were involved in stone pelting for the first time need to be let go. They might have been influenced by other people and are young children. We need to give them a second chance, Rajnath Singh said at the News18 Rising India Summit.

The Home Minister further said that the government had made no difference between the children in Kashmir and those in the other parts of the country.

Singh also said that the government wanted a permanent solution to the Kashmir crisis, and that the state will always remain a part of India.

Kashmir is, was and will be ours always. We want a permanent solution to the Kashmir problem and we are open to speak to anyone, the Home Minister said, adding that government interlocutor Dineshwar Sharma was accommodating and moving forward in the direction to resolving issues.

Singh also highlighted the governments efforts in dealing with the problem of Naxalism in the country and said that cases of Naxalism had reduced to just 1,000 as compared to what it was before 2004.

The battle against Naxals cant be won through bullets. We are trying to reach those areas which have remained unreachable since independence. Naxalism was a huge problem for India but in the last 4 years we have now achieved major success in that space. There were police and army officials dying because of this. We have brought it down heavily, he said.New Delhi: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat called Rahul Gandhi a "jumla" and said that the Congress president was not taken seriously in the country.

"Although he is 47, Rahul Gandhi has a lot to learn politically. He is not taken seriously, people consider him an entertainer. He blames our jumlas but he himself is a jumla," said Rawat at the News18 Rising India Summit.

Terming the BJP's loss in Gorakhpur and Phulpur bypolls as 'gath jod (political manoeuvring)', Rawat said, "Our focus is on economically backward states. We won in Tripura because of PM Narendra Modi's focus in smaller states. However, we lost in Gorakhpur because of gath jod. They could not fight us alone and they know it," said Rawat.

He further added, "If UP is destroyed right now, it's because of Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party. Akhilesh has played the politics of caste and he has turned the state into one. There is a running joke in UP that when a Yadav takes birth he is destined to be a Superintendent of police. Such is the caste card played in the state that government jobs were being distributed in the name of caste."

The leader, when asked about unemployment, claimed that it was something that all states had to face and that government jobs were not the answer.

"Every government's biggest challenge is unemployment. In a country where 87% of the population is young, employment generation is a necessity and a challenge. There are only so many government jobs available, hence we need to work towards self-employment. Startup India needs to be pushed. For example, the demand for organic products is increasing, and that can be a source of employment," he said.

Talking about the issue of rural to urban migration in his state, Rawat said that his government was working towards solving it by connecting urban amenities to the rural population.

"Education, Health and Jobs are the demands of a hill state. We have employed more than 1100 doctors and have got more than 900 nurses. 36 hospitals in the states are linked to telemedicine. Respected doctorsVijayawada: Actor-politician Pawan Kalyan on Friday accused both Andhra Pradesh's ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and opposition YSR Congress Party of not being sincere in moving no-confidence motion against the BJP-led NDA government in Parliament.

Talking to reporters at Guntur and later at Vijayawada, he said both the parties were playing gimmicks over the issue as they were still unclear about the dates on which they plan to move the motion.

The TDP, which pulled out of the National Democratic Alliance on Friday over the latter's refusal to grant special category status to Andhra Pradesh, has announced that it will move a no-confidence motion in Lok Sabha. This came a day after YSR Congress submitting a notice to Lok Sabha secretariat to move the no-trust motion.

Denying the allegations by the TDP that he is hand in glove with the BJP, the Jana Sena chief alleged that the TDP and YSR Congress had colluded with each other.

On allegations by TDP president and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu that BJP is behind him, he said the people were behind him.

Pawan Kalyan, who had campaigned for BJP-TDP alliance in 2014, said he extended his support to the Centre without expecting any post.

Recalling that Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the election campaign had promised special category status and industrial incentives to Andhra Pradesh, he said the leaders should stand by their word. "Not fulfilling the commitments is unconstitutional," he remarked.

Pawan Kalyan remarked that 25 MPs can be blackmailed but it was not possible to blackmail the people.

He claimed that he has prepared an action plan to achieve special category status and will launch the campaign after ongoing examinations.

Pawan Kalyan has come under sharp criticism from TDP for targeting the party and making allegations of corruption against Chandrababu Naidu's son Nara Lokesh, who is also a cabinet minister.

The TDP alleged that the actor who was silent for four years suddenly started making allegations against the state government at the behest of BJP.WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has not yet seen Pakistan take significant steps to clamp down on the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network militant groups, a senior U.S. administration official said on Friday.





The administration suspended about $2 billion in security assistance to Pakistan in January but Islamabad has failed to take the kind of decisive and irreversible action Washington has asked for to help with the war in Afghanistan, the official told reporters.





The administration has been frustrated by what it sees as Pakistans reluctance to act against the Afghan Taliban and the affiliated Haqqani network. Washington believes the groups use Pakistan as a safe haven for launching attacks on neighboring Afghanistan. Pakistan denies helping the militants.





The United States has been at war in Afghanistan since 2001, making it Americas longest military conflict. President Donald Trump agreed in August to a stepped-up military campaign against the Taliban, and has since increased pressure on Pakistan to help. - Read More



Posted 3/16/18

I would say that March has come in sort of like a lion, so I hope it will go out like a lamb because the month is nearly half over. Countless friends and neighbors are suffering from chest New Delhi: Addressing the News 18 Rising India Summit on Saturday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said if secularism meant not taking sides, then there was "nobody more secular" than the nation's Hindu majority.

"There is a difference between secular and irreligious. We should make that distinction. Government must be secular, not irreligious. If secularism means not taking sides, there is nobody more secular than Hindus. Today's secularists have turned secularism to mean abusing India's traditions," he said.

Speaking at a session titled 'The Monk Who Took On A New Mantle', Yogi asserted that there haven't been any riots during his time as Chief Minister over the last one year. However, when questioned on how he would explain the recent Kasganj riots, the CM said, "Kasganj was not a riot, it was an incident. There was no curfew. No riots have happened in the last one year. Holi fell on a Friday this year. On my appeal, Muslim clerics extended the time for Friday prayers."

Yogi also spoke about why he decided to review his stance on separate statehood for Poorvanchal, or Eastern UP, and said, "I had raised the issue of a separate state of Poorvanchal but when I look at the religious demography of the state it would remain safe under one state."

Speaking on Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's efforts to mediate the Ayodhya dispute, he said, "Any initiative for a good cause is not bad. But the Ram Janmabhoomi issue has had many initiatives. Dialogue is the best way to solve an issue I support positive steps in this direction. I believe the courts decision will come soon."Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday used the occasion of the partys plenary session in Delhi to launch an all-out attack on the Modi government. Sonia said the use of slogans like sabka saath, sabka vikas by PM Modi was just a trick to grab power.

"The slogans of 'sab ka saath, sab ka vikas' and 'na khaoonga, na khaane doonga' are only and only dramebazi (drama) and a trick to grab power," she said, referring to Modi's promises of inclusive development and corruption-free governance.

Gandhi, in her address, gave a clarion call to the partymen to be ready for any kind of sacrifice to strengthen the party and to make the county free from discrimination, vendetta politics and arrogance.

She called upon them to forcefully fight against the challenges posed by the present dispensation and asked them to mount a struggle to free the country from the fear of power.

She said that the Congress was fighting the tyrannical Modi government and the people have begun to realise that the promises made by the BJP in 2014 were hollow.

"Under the leadership of former PM Manmohan Singh, the economy of this country flourished. Our government formed policies which lifted millions of people from poverty. And today, the Modi government is weakening these policies," she said.

Gandhi said the present dispensation was using all means to be in power. But the Congress has and will never bow before the power of arrogance of this government which has launched vendetta against its opponents, she said.

The Congress parliamentary party chief said the party was exposing the frauds of the Modi government with proof.

The party, she said, was making efforts to win back the trust of the people and work with like-minded parties to oust the BJP.

"There is only one priority today and that is how to make Congress party stronger. Congress is not just a party, but an idea several years ahead of its time," Gandhi said.

Sonia Gandhi predicted that the Congress party will win in Karnataka and the party will rise again after the Karnataka election.

40 years ago, in Chikmagalur, with Mrs. Indira Gandhi's victory the Congress party emerged as a stronger party. With the Karnataka Assembly Election, I believe the party will similarly rise again, said Sonia.

She also urged the partymen to extend all support to the new party chief and her son Rahul Gandhi who had taken over the reigns in "such difficult times".Patna: Three people have been arrested after a murderous mob attacked a tea-seller family near 'Narendra Modi Chowk' in Bihar's Darbhanga district in which one person was killed and his son seriously injured.

The family alleged that attackers wanted to remove the board reading 'Narendra Modi Chowk' near Ramchandra Yadav's tea shop by RJD supporters after the by-poll results were announced. However, Police say the attack was related to an old land dispute in which another member of the family was killed two years ago.

Additional Director General of Police, SK Singhal, told News18 on Saturday that situation was under control and forces have been deployed in the area.

Meanwhile, the murder incident has snowballed into a into a political controversy with the leaders of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) openly accusing RJD for inciting violence after its win from Araria Lok Sabha seat and Jehanabad assembly seat.

Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders are staging protest in the district. Union minister Giriraj Singh and state BJP head Nityanand Rai would be going to Bhadwa village where the incident took place.

One of the injured Kamaldev Yadav is undergoing treatment in Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital (DMCH). Narrating the incident he told News18, another son of Ramchandra Yadav said, "My family has been running a tea shop in a corner of the village. We decided to name it Narendra Modi Chowk two years ago. Then also we faced protest in which my younger brother was killed. They wanted to remove the board erected there. We did not budge. On Thursday, my family was attacked again in the night and he succumbed to injuries as there was deep cut mark on his neck, but I survived."

Dismissing the police's claim, he said there was no land dispute behind the attack and the violent mob attacked his family members as they resisted them from abusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Meanwhile, Giriraj Singh has accused the RJD of spreading fanaticism after its candidate Sarfaraz Alam won from Araria and warned against such incidents. "What was his fault? Only because he was running a tea shop and was inspired by Prime Minister Modi. Such things can't be tolerated."

Darbhanga Superintendent of Police Satyaveer Singh told that police was investigating the matter from all possible angle.404

We're sorry! The page you were looking for couldn't be found.New Delhi: Soon after Arvind Kejriwal issued a written apology to former Punjab minister Bikram Singh Majithia, a shocked Himmat Singh Shergill, the man who took on Majithia in the 2017 Punjab Assembly elections, went out to verify the veracity of the said apology.

The apology has come as a body blow to AAPs Punjab unit as the former SAD minister was its prime target during the election campaign.

A disappointed Shergill though says that AAP wont split and Kejriwal is still a hero and inspiration to millions of Indians.

Here is the edited transcript of Himmat Singh Shergills interview with CNN-News18s Rupashree Nanda.

Q) You tweeted that you felt sad and betrayed due to Kejriwal's apology to Majithia. Can you tell us what exactly went through your mind when you heard about the apology?

A) At first, I didn't believe that Arvind ji could apologise to Majithia. Im still finding the reasons for this step taken by him. I felt very sad. Also started verifying the veracity of the letter which was being circulated on the social media.

Q) AAP's Punjab unit is in turmoil, it has always been a divided house. What, according to you, are the reasons?

A) I don't agree with this "always a divided house theory". There is lot of internal democracy and respect for Arvind ji in the party. He is a very tall leader who has sacrificed a lot.

Q) Would you support a split in AAP's Punjab unit?

A) Of course, not.

Q) If the AAP's Punjab unit splits, who will benefit?

A) It will never split.

Q) In an earlier interview to me, you had said that you joined politics because you were inspired by Arvind Kejriwal. What would you say today?

A) Yes, I have great respect for him. He is a hero and an inspiration for millions of Indians and people world over. Im finding out the real cause of this apology and the circumstances in which all this happened.

Q) Would leaders in Punjab have reacted differently had they been taken into confidence regarding this decision?

A) It is unfortunate how some leaders reacted. It would have been better had they known about this in advance.

Q) What according to you would be a way ahead for AAP in Punjab? How can a split be averted or do you feel that it is inevitable?

A) The party won't split in Punjab. Im confident.

Q) You have said that you are fighting Sanjay Singh's case and he has said that he will not apologise. Would you still fight his case and stay within AAP?

A) Im very much with AAP and so is Sanjay Singh. People were saddened by the apology as we all have great hopes from Arvind ji. I am finding out the reasons as to why this apology was tendered.

Q) What would you say to those who argue that in politics, pragmatism is important, idealism alone will not be enough. It is crucial to step back sometimes even at the cost of denting your image to fight bigger battles?

A) Arvind ji, and the party he heads, is not here to do politics but to change politics. I understand that it is a tough road but AAP will always stick to its principles.

Q) By all accounts there was an AAP wave in Punjab. What were the reasons for its defeat in the state elections?

A) Becoming opposition party in the first go was a big achievement by pushing a party which ruled for 10 consecutive years to third position. There were a lot of political conspiracies hatched against us which we, being simple and straightforward people, became victims of at the hands of politicians from other parties who stooped to all lows to stop the formation of AAP government in Punjab.Lucknow: The Yogi Adityanath-led UP government transferred 37 IAS officers in a major reshuffle on Friday night. Of the 16 District Magistrates and four divisional commissioners transferred, one of them was Gorakhpur DM Rajeev Rautela, who was in news for stopping journalists from entering the counting centre during the constituencys recently concluded bypoll.

Rautela has now been made the new divisional commissioner of Devipatan division, while K Vijyendra Pandiyan was made the new Gorakhpur DM.

This isnt the first time that Rautela has been involved in a controversy. Last year, after 60 children died in Gorakhpurs BRD Hospital, the then DM submitted a report to the government claiming that the oxygen provider to the hospital  Pushpa Sales Pvt Ltd  cut off the supply. The firm denied the charges and retorted that they have proof of their innocence.

Rautela, who is said to be close to CM Yogi Adityanath, while posted as DM Aligarh in 2013, made controversial remarks regarding the compensation that were handed out to martyrs families. The DM, while addressing a group of journalists, said that India was a land of mourners. He added that 5,000 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan, but their families never ask for compensation.

Last year, in the month of December, the Allahabad High Court had ordered the suspension of Kanpur rural district magistrate Rakesh Kumar Singh and Rautela over an illegal mining case. Singh and Rautela are accused of promoting illegal mining during their tenure as district magistrates in Rampur despite the orders of the high court.

Rautela also played an important role in facilitating the withdrawal of a criminal case against Yogi Adityanath. On December 20, the state government wrote to Rautela to withdraw a May, 1995, case filed against Adityanath and 12 others at Gorakhpurs Pipiganj police station. The case charged Adityanath and others with inciting and leading wide-spread violence against Muslims in Gorakhpur and neighbouring areas.New Delhi: Change is now, Waqt hai badlaav ka (Its time for change) and New Era of Rahul Gandhi  the message was writ large and the point driven home as the 84th plenary session of the All India Congress began on Saturday.

This is the first of its kind for Rahul Gandhi as the president of the party and the aim is to rejuvenate the cadre, give a sense of direction to the party after its electoral defeats.

Dotted with smiling pictures of Rahul Gandhi, the Indira Gandhi stadium and roads leading up to it sent out a message loud and clear  the new boss had taken charge. Conspicuously, former party chief Sonia Gandhi was nowhere on the posters.

This is not what we want to say. Thats not the message we want to send, said party spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi, when asked if the former Congress President wants to stay out of party matters.

She is our inspiration and a source of inspiration for party workers across the country, quipped Chaturvedi.

The plenary is being held bang in the middle of a week which has seen fair amount of activity on the opposition unity front. UPA chairperson and former Congress President Sonia Gandhi hosted a dinner for opposition parties, the TDP has decided to step away from the NDA and there are enough voices calling for a united front against the BJP. NCP supremo will hold a dinner for opposition parties at the end of March, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee is in Delhi and Rahul Gandhi has made plans to meet both of them.

There is a realisation that BJP, which seemed invincible until a few months ago, is not. Opposition parties are trying to see if they can offer a new narrative the country, said Salman Soz, Congress party leader from Jammu and Kashmir.

But can the Congress move in trying to pitch itself as the opposition leader even a valid one? Especially after the string of embarrassing defeats that it has faced?

You are looking at our electoral defeats. Look at our victories also. Congress party is on a rebound. We will continue to be the principle opposition party and will ultimately unite the opposition, said Soz.

The Lok Sabha elections are just about a year away and that is a very long period in politics. The Congress may be keen on offering an alternate narrative to the country but the party knows that it is currently impossible to take on the BJP alone. A reticent Sonia Gandhi will be at work stitching an alliance while the younger Gandhi leads the party.New Delhi: Senior RSS leader Krishna Gopal, during an RSS event, said that women enjoyed a position of prominence in Vedic times and blamed Islamic invasion for the decline of the status of women in India.

The women in Vedic times enjoyed equal status, it was only after Islamic invasion that their condition deteriorated, said Krishna Gopal.

Gopal was answering questions posed by the Sangh prachar pramukh Manmohan Vaidya during the RSS Knowledge Series event. In the video interview, the senior leaders discussed Hindutva: Issues of Women and Untouchability.

Gopal was asked by Vaidya if there is any truth to the claim that there is no respect and place for women in Hindutva.

Citing the example of Vedic times, Gopal said, Hindu itihas is centuries old, and if we go to the time of Rig Veda we see that women were proficient in Vedas. They wrote and presented hymns in Vedas.

Naming Vedic period female philosophers and seers like Ghosha, Pala, Suryasavitri, Vishwavara Aatreyi, Gopal said, Who were they? These women who presented Vedic hymns were all women. This is not a correct thing to say that Hindutva suppressed women.

In Hindu society, he said, the power terms like riddhi, siddhi, sansad sabha all are female, which shows women enjoyed equal status then.

When Islam came to India it did not treat women well. Women were kept in purdah, women were not allowed to venture out. The practice prevailed and Hindus also gave in to it. Gurukuls were being destroyed, boys could not go and women were also not able to attend the gurukuls. The condition of women started declining, said Gopal.

Gopal called on the Hindus to start working in restoring the old position of women in the society.

In the same series Vaidya told Gopal only Hindus accept women as Goddesses. Answering him, Gopal said, Unlike the Semitic religions, Hindus accept women as Goddesses  so whether it is Durga or Kali, Hindus have female gods. Judaism, Islam, Christianity do not accept women as a divine.

The RSS leader further blamed Islamic invasion for the practice of untouchability.

The first untouchables were cow eaters  at that time the Mughal were rulers but Hindus maintained distance from them, didnt call them home nor did they drink water at their place.Athens: Sixteen people, including at least five children, drowned on Saturday when the small boat they on capsized in the Aegean Sea, Greek coast guard officials said. The incident occurred off Greece's Agathonisi Island, which is close to the Turkish coast. The nationality of the victims was not immediately known.

Saturday's incident was thought to be the highest death toll of migrants trying to reach outlying Greek islands for months. Greek authorities said they believed there were 22 people on the boat. Greek coast guard vessels assisted by helicopters were searching for survivors.

"We can't tolerate (losing) children in the Aegean Sea ... the solution is to protect people, to implement safe procedures and safe routes for migrants and refugees, to hit the human trafficking circuits," Greek migration minister Dimitris Vitsas said in a press release.

Hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants arrived in Greece and further west in 2015 from Turkey, making the short but precarious crossing. Hundreds died in the attempt. Following a 2016 agreement between the European Union and Turkey, the numbers have diminished.

Under that deal, anyone who arrives on Greek islands must be returned to Turkey unless they qualify for asylum. But procedures can take several months, leading to overcrowded conditions on the islands.

Two more migrants were killed and seven more were injured on Saturday, in a separate incident in northern Greece, when their driver lost control of a vehicle during a car chase with the police, a police official told Reuters.Washington: The US has said that the Maldives issue will be discussed by the Quad countries  which includes, India, Japan, Australia and the US  in its next meeting and it is closely monitoring the Chinese actions in the Indo-Pacific region.

Quad is an informal grouping of the four countries. At the initiative of Japan, the four countries had their first meeting at the director-level last year in Manila. Officials of the four countries at the same level are expected to meet soon, a senior US administration official told a group of reporters, noting that the issue of Maldives would be discussed.

"We (Quad) are looking forward to doing a follow-up meeting. The current situation in the Maldives certainly would be something that would be discussed by the Quad," the official said in response to a question.

Acknowledging that there hasn't been a joint statement or anything of that nature by the Quad on Maldives, the official said the situation in the island nation would be something that would be an important area of discussion perhaps in the next meeting of Quad.

A day earlier, Ahmed Naseem, former foreign minister of Maldives and an opposition leader, said that China is meddling in the internal affairs of his country and has indulged itself in a massive land grabbing endeavor, which if left unchecked would pose a major strategic threat to both India and the US, which has a major stake in the Indian Ocean.

"More specifically, China appears to be keen on building a base in the Maldives, which one day may house warships and submarines," Naseem alleged. The Chinese interference in Maldives, he said, affects not just his country, but also the security and stability of the entire Indian Ocean region.

"In particular, China's actions are undermining India's security concerns. What is happening in the Maldives is not just about democracy. It's about peace, stability, and security of the entire neighbourhood," he said.

Naseem also alleged that President Yameens criminal activities undermine the US-led, rule-based international system.Washington: Six Democratic lawmakers from the Silicon Valley have urged the Trump administration to retain Obama-era rule allowing spouses of H-1B visa holders to work legally in the US, according to a media report.

A 2015 rule issued by the Obama administration allows work permits for spouses who otherwise could not be employed while H-1B visa holders seek permanent resident status  a process that can take a decade or longer.

Indian-Americans were a major beneficiary of this provision. More than 100,000 H-4 visa holders have been beneficiary of this rule.

More than 104,000 spouses have been granted work authorisation since the H-4 visa rule was enacted, according to DHS's Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Democratic Congressmen Anna Eshoo, Zoe Lofgren, Ro Khanna, Mark DeSaulnier, Barbara Lee and Jerry McNerney in a letter to the Homeland Security Secretary urged to "reconsider" his plan, saying it would "create significant uncertainty and financial hardship for many highly skilled professionals who are vital to our economy," Silicon Valley-based Mercury news said.

In their letter dated March 5, the lawmakers argued that in many areas where H-1B workers live, including Silicon Valley, "it is nearly impossible for a family to live on one income."

The lawmakers in the letter said the H-4 rule is a matter of both economic competitiveness and maintaining family unity.

"The United States has already invested in these workers with years of expertise and we should not be sending them abroad to innovate and use their experience and talents against US businesses," they wrote.

Since the H-4 rule was implemented three years ago for spouses of highly skilled immigrants, over 100,000 workers, mainly women, were finally granted permission to work and contribute to their households and the American economy, it said.

"The H-4 rule lessened the burden on thousands of H1-B recipients and their families while they transition from non-immigrants to lawful permanent residents by allowing their families to earn dual incomes," it said.

"Over 880,000 immigrants own businesses in California, and together those immigrant-owned businesses have contributed over USD21 billion to our state's economy and created more jobs than such businesses in any other state," they said.

"However, until 2015, the spouses of many highly skilled H-1B visa holders were left out, unable to contribute financially to their family or pursue their own professional goals because they did not have permission to work," the lawmakers from California said.

The move comes amidst reports that the Trump administration is planning to revoke an Obama-era rule under which spouses of H-1B visas were given work permits.

In a recent court filing, the Department of Homeland Security said that it needs time till June to take a decision on it.

Earlier, Business and tech industry groups representing Amazon.com Inc., Google, Visa Inc. and other companies urged the Trump administration not to halt work authorisations for spouses of immigrants who have specialty worker H-1B visas and are seeking permanent residency.

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.

It is typically issued for three to six years to employers to hire a foreign worker. But H-1B holders who have begun the green card process can often renew their work visas indefinitely.

The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.Washington: U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday signed legislation that encourages the United States to send senior officials to Taiwan to meet Taiwanese counterparts and vice versa, angering China, which views the self-ruled island as a wayward province.

The bill, which is non-binding, would have gone into effect on Saturday morning, even if Trump had not signed it, said the White House.

The move adds to strains between the two countries over trade, as Trump has enacted tariffs and called for China to reduce its huge trade imbalance with the United States, even while Washington has leaned on Beijing to help resolve tensions with North Korea.

Earlier on Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang reiterated that Beijing was opposed to the legislation and urged the United States to abide by the "one China" policy, that stipulates that Taiwan is part of China, and cease official exchanges with Taiwan.

In a statement after Trump's signing of the bill, the Chinese embassy said clauses of the legislation "severely violate the one-China principle, the political foundation of the China-U.S. relationship".

"China is strongly dissatisfied with that and firmly opposes it," the statement said, adding that the United States should "stop pursuing any official ties with Taiwan or improving its current relations with Taiwan in any substantive way."

Taiwan's Foreign Ministry expressed its thanks for the "friendly move" by the Trump administration, saying the government would continue to deepen its cooperation and partnership with the United States at all levels.

The United States does not have formal ties with Taiwan but is required by law to help it with self-defence and is the island's primary source of weapons.

Douglas Paal, who served as U.S. representative to Taiwan from 2002 to 2006, said the legislation did not change anything real as it was non-binding. U.S. administrations already had discretionary authority to permit visits by senior Taiwanese officials and visits by senior U.S. officials and military officers to Taiwan, he said.

"They don't authorize these trips because the policy judgment is that the costs in relations with China would outweigh the benefits in relations with Taiwan," Paal said.

The bill, which was passed by Congress last month, says it should be U.S. policy to allow visits at all levels. High-level Taiwan officials should be permitted to enter the United States "under respectful conditions" to meet U.S. officials, while Taiwanese economic and cultural representatives should be encouraged to conduct business in the United States.

China's hostility towards Taiwan has risen since the election of President Tsai Ing-wen, of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, in 2016.

It suspects Tsai wants to push for formal independence, which would cross a red line for Communist Party leaders in Beijing, although Tsai has said she wants to maintain the status quo and is committed to ensuring peace.

Defeated Nationalist forces fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing the Chinese civil war to the Communists.Washington: Former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, who has endured a year of withering attacks from President Donald Trump, was fired by the Justice Department Friday just days before he was to retire.

McCabe pushed back hard at the decision, saying he was the victim of a "war" by the Trump administration against both the FBI, and the special counsel probing allegations of Russian election meddling.

Announcing McCabe's ouster, the Justice Department said an internal investigation found that he had made unauthorized disclosures to the media, and had not been fully honest "on multiple occasions" with the department's inspector general.

"The FBI expects every employee to adhere to the highest standards of honesty, integrity, and accountability," Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement.

The decision was taken "after an extensive and fair investigation," Sessions said.

Details of the inspector general's probe were not made public, but it involved the handling of the FBI's 2016 investigation into Trump's election rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Trump has repeatedly accused McCabe and former FBI chief James Comey of having protected Clinton from prosecution over her misuse of a private email server while she was secretary of state, and over the actions of the private Clinton Foundation set up by her husband, former president Bill Clinton.

Trump was also publicly upset about McCabe's defense of Comey -- whom the president fired in May 2017 in frustration at the ongoing FBI probe into alleged collusion between his election campaign and Russia.

McCabe hit out following his sacking in a blistering statement.

"I am being singled out and treated this way because of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of James Comey," McCabe said.

McCabe said the inspector general's probe "became part of an unprecedented effort by the administration, driven by the president himself, to remove me from my position, destroy my reputation, and possibly strip me of a pension that I worked 21 years to earn."

The firing came as the White House shows increasing frustration with the ongoing probe of alleged Trump campaign collusion with Russia by Special Counsel Robert Mueller -- himself a former FBI director.

Mueller is notably examining whether Trump obstructed the investigation with his sacking of Comey, an episode that McCabe would be a crucial witness for.

WAR WITH THE FBI

Trump had repeatedly criticized McCabe as biased, pressing Sessions to take action against him.

Under pressure, on January 30 McCabe announced he would retire at the end of March when he became eligible for full pension benefits.

Meanwhile, he halted work and went on leave.

"This attack on my credibility is one part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally, but to taint the FBI, law enforcement, and intelligence professionals more generally," McCabe said.

"It is part of this administration's ongoing war with the FBI and the efforts of the special counsel investigation."

McCabe denied any impropriety in speaking with the media about the Clinton probe, and denied that he handled the probe with any bias.

He also denied having deliberately lied to the inspector general.

The firing means the Justice Department can deny him his pension. McCabe said he would appeal Sessions' decision.Port Louis (Mauritius): Mauritius President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim resigned on Saturday after being embroiled in a scandal over her use of a credit card to buy luxury personal items, in an abrupt change of heart after vowing she would not stand down.

Gurib-Fakim, Africa's only female head of state, submitted her resignation in the "national interest," her lawyer Yousouf Mohamed told reporters.

He said her resignation would take effect on March 23, a move that will bring down the curtain on a saga that has gripped the Indian Ocean archipelago for weeks.

Gurib-Fakim had vowed to fight the accusations that first appeared in local newspaper L'Express -- that she used a bank card provided by an NGO to make personal purchases, including jewellery and luxury goods worth at least 25,000 euros.

Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth announced a week ago that Gurib-Fakim had agreed to resign, with a date set for her departure after last Monday's ceremony celebrating the Indian Ocean archipelago's 50 years of independence.

But on Wednesday, a statement from the presidency lashed out at "weeks of attacks and false allegations" and said Gurib-Fakim planned to clear her name and would not go.

It is not clear what prompted her about-turn, but her lawyer said Saturday she was "relieved" she had made the decision to resign after enduring a "difficult" time in recent weeks.

Gurib-Fakim, whose role is mostly ceremonial, is a scientist and biologist of international renown, and in 2015 joined the London-based Planet Earth Institute (PEI) to try to develop scientific capacity in Africa.

The presidency said that in May 2016, she received a credit card from PEI to pay for travel and logistical expenses linked to her role but inadvertently used it for unrelated personal expenses.

Gurib-Fakim said she immediately informed the PEI and paid back the amount, as well as all expenses paid by the PEI for her missions.

This was confirmed by the PEI, which said in a statement earlier this week that Gurib-Fakim "thus never received gifts, favours, wages or expenses from the PEI, nor undue benefits or advantage".

An investigation by L'Express detailed the purchase of a laptop in September 2016, clothes, shoes and jewellery in October, more jewellery in November and luxury clothing in December.

However it was not just the expenditure that provoked anger in Mauritius, but the president's association with Angolan billionaire Alvaro Sobrinho who helped found the PEI and is himself being investigated in Switzerland and Portugal for suspected fraud.

In 2017 he received permission to open an investment bank in Mauritius, prompting allegations of favouritism on his behalf.

Gurib-Fakim, under pressure from the opposition, resigned shortly afterwards from her role at the PEI.Stockholm: Sweden's foreign minister held what she called "good and constructive" talks with her North Korean counterpart on Saturday amid growing speculation about a possible meeting in the Scandinavian country between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom refused to comment on whether she and North Korea's Ri Yong Ho discussed a Trump-Kim meeting in brief comments as she left the Stockholm villa where the meeting took place.

The building is close to the embassies of South Korea and the United States.

"We'll see what happens next," Wallstrom said. Ri has not made any public comment during a visit to Stockholm that started late Thursday.

He also held a brief meeting earlier Friday with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven.

Wallstrom earlier said Sweden is hoping that "we can use our role and also our contacts," but stressed that it is up to the countries concerned to decide "which way we are going." She said that "we value this opportunity to arrange a meeting," though she didn't specify what she meant.

Lofven, speaking at a press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, did not answer directly whether his country had US support to organise talks with North Korea.

"We have always said we want to be a mediator that facilitates this process," he said Friday.

Trump has agreed to meet Kim by May. So far, North Korea has yet to comment publicly on what it hopes to gain from the talks.

Sweden has been rumoured as a possible site for the summit, though a truce village on the South Korean side of the Demilitarized Zone between the Koreas is seen as more likely.

Ri's visit to Stockholm, where he once served as a diplomat at the North Korean Embassy, has been shrouded in secrecy.

The Swedish foreign ministry said ahead of his visit that talks would focus on "Sweden's consular responsibilities as a protecting power for the United States, Canada and Australia" but also would address the security situation on the Korean Peninsula.

Sweden has had diplomatic relations with North Korea since 1973 and is one of few Western countries with an embassy in Pyongyang. It provides consular services for the United States in North Korea.

The trip by Ri is being closely watched because a huge amount of preparation needs to be done before the summit.

Senior South Korean officials who traveled to the North Korean capital of Pyongyang this month and met with Kim say he is willing to discuss the North's nuclear weapons programKabul: A suicide attacker blew up a bomb-laden vehicle in Kabul on Saturday, killing at least two civilians and wounding several others, an Afghan official said.

"Around 9:10am this morning a suicide car bomb exploded in Police District Nine of Kabul," interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish told AFP, adding the target of the attack was not clear.

Two civilians were killed and three others wounded in the attack, Danish said. The blast happened at a time when many people would have been driving to work.

Health ministry spokesman Wahid Majrooh told AFP at least four people had been wounded.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast which came days after the top US general in Afghanistan said protecting the capital was "our main effort".

It also comes amid growing pressure on the Taliban, the largest militant group in the country, to take up the Afghan government's offer of peace talks to end the 16-year conflict.Beijing: China's largely rubber-stamp parliament chose former top graft-buster Wang Qishan, a key ally of President Xi Jinping, as vice president on Saturday, a widely-expected move that nonetheless breaks with convention and underlines Xi's dominant authority.

Xi was also re-elected president by parliament, with no votes cast against him. The body is packed with party loyalists and there was no chance he would not win the vote.

Wang bowed twice and then walked over to Xi to shake his hand after the vote was announced inside Beijing's Great Hall of the People. Only one person voted against Wang out of the 2,970 votes cast.

Known as "the firefighter" for his central role in tackling issues like corruption and domestic financial problems over the years, Wang also has experience dealing with the United States in his former role as a vice premier who led annual economic talks with Washington.

He was a major player in Xi's battle against corruption, with dozens of senior officials jailed during his tenure as the top graft-fighter, including the fearsome domestic security chief Zhou Yongkang, now serving life in jail.

Last Sunday, parliament voted to amend the constitution, which removed presidential and vice-presidential term limits, meaning Xi can stay in power indefinitely.

Wang's appointment has the potential to reshape what has traditionally been a ceremonial role. China's relationship with the United States is likely to be a key part of his remit, according to diplomats and sources with ties to the leadership.India Charges Pakistan for Blocking Government Websites

New Delhi : While of unfriendliness between India and Pakistan can been seen almost daily in border areas, and Indian residential complex in Islamabad, sources reported about Pakistan decision to block access to all Indian government websites (gov.in) in May 2017. Following this, Pakistan has stretched out for a WTO ministerial meeting which will be held in India next week.

Official sources mentioned that as many as 5 form of diplomatic communication (note verbale) had been issued to Pakistan to not block access to any Indian government website. The first note verbale was issued on May 18 2007 and the latest one was delivered only earlier this week.

According to Indian officials, Pakistan has blocked the website intentionally to not allow Indian diplomats and officials to access their own government websites. This meant that the Indian high commission was covered with complaints from Pakistan nationals who mentioned that they were unable to access Indian visa forms.

During the tensed environment, an official said "This has led to mushrooming of agents who have helped Pakistan nationals fill up visa forms through proxy servers,. It is likely to create obstruction in the normal functioning of the Indian assignments.

Diplomatic sources mentioned that Pakistan has scheduled the WTO ministerial meeting to be held here from March 19-20. There are possible chances that the ongoing diplomatic confrontation could aggravate further.

While the WTO meeting would be a multilateral engagement, India's decision to invite Pakistan commerce minister Pervaiz Malik for the event is expected to liquefy the relationship. Sources said that Malik has already confirmed his participation.

In fact, India has issued another note verbale to Pakistan saying that its diplomats and other officials were under pressure on 7-8 events since past few days. Pakistan too issued a note verbale on Friday alleging that nameless men intercepted the car of a senior diplomat, who was along with his two minor daughters, and sparked torchlight at them. It also reported 4 other incidents, taking the total number of instances of such alleged annoyance and threats since March 7 to 30.

As of now, India and Pakistan are ensuring that there is no further wear and tear in the bilateral ties in the next few weeks. Despite the recent incidents of harassment, diplomats from both countries Pakistan high commissioner Sohail Mahmood's visit to Pakistan for discussion with his government couldn't be seen as an appreciation.

On the other hand, when Indian officials continue to retain that all "genuine" accusationa made by Pakistan high commission will be examined, Islamabad has accused the Indian government for disagreeing with the "validity of its complaints".

According to Pakistan, while aggressive investigation has happened in past two days, the "nature, scale and intensity" of recent incidents of alleged harassment by Indian authorities has never been observed earlier. In its latest note verbale, Pakistan said that despite the matter being brought to the notice of foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale, such incidents might continue.The Candlewood Lake Authority has chosen a longtime employee to be its new executive director.

Mark Howarth, the authoritys director of education and outreach, was appointed to the position this week, after serving as interim executive director for the past eight months. Only George Linkletter, a Sherman delegate, abstained from the vote.

Ive been involved with so many parts of the authority over the years that I hope to be able to use that to lead the authority, said Howarth, who joined the organization 10 years ago.

He replaces Larry Marsicano, who stepped down June 30 to become a partner with Aquatic Ecosystem Research, a consulting company that works with New England freshwater ecosystems.

Howarth was selected from a pool of about 110 applicants from all over the country, as well as Brazil and the United Kingdom, said Mark Toussaint, chairman of the authoritys human resources committee.

The list was narrowed down to 16, and then eight people were interviewed by the committee.

He was the best candidate, Toussaint said. He has a deep knowledge of the lake, the stakeholders and the issues.

Phyllis Schaer, the authoritys chairwoman, said Howarth has a wide variety of skills, knowledge of the lake and the authoritys operations and has helped with the authoritys budget and finances. He also oversaw the annual dragon boat races.

He has been willing to take on every aspect of the organization and work with us, Schaer said, adding how that is important in a small agency.

The committee was also impressed by how Howarth took on the executive director role after Marsicano left. He really stepped up and acclimated to the role, Toussaint said.

The appointment switches the structure within the authority, which plans to hire someone to focus on the scientific component of its work. Howarth will make $72,000, about $20,000 less than what Marsicano was making when he left, allowing for the authority to hire a more experienced scientist, hopefully by the summer.

Marsicano came to the authority with a science background and did a bulk of the research on the lake, water quality and invasive species. Howarth brings management and outreach experience. He graduated from the University of Connecticut in 1996 with a degree in business management.

Schaer said Howarth has also attended several lake management conferences and taken science courses related to lake management and issues seen at Candlewood.

Prior to the search, the authority had asked elected officials, residents, business owners and others connected to the lake to complete a survey about what they wanted in an executive director. The overwhelming response was more public outreach.

That really plays into one of Marks strengths, Toussaint said.

Howarth said hes always looking for new ways to expand the authoritys outreach to the public, including offering new programs.

We have a lot we want to do and we want everyone to feel like its their lake, Schaer said.

Howarth also plans to build on the common ground with the various residents, businesses and governmental organizations around the lake, either with one-on-one meetings or with roundtable discussions.

Another initiative planned is the development of a comprehensive lake management plan. Toussaint said a lot of the pieces for that plan are already completed as separate documents and reports.

Im looking forward to working with our delegates, staff and our various stakeholders in this new role and build upon the work the CLA has done over the past 46 years, Howarth said.DANBURY  A proposal to build Danburys first public charter school finds itself ensnared in the debate in Hartford and across Connecticut over school funding, oversight and accountability.

The proposed Danbury Prospect Charter School has become a lightning rod for both sides of the politically charged issue that pits ardent supporters of school choice against local leaders and parents who fear that a privately managed charter could gobble up state funding that otherwise would go to public schools.

It also sets up an intense public debate in Danbury while state leaders consider their first charter school applications in four years and how paying for them would fit into the states ongoing budget woes.

City Councilman Irving Fox, a former chairman of the Danbury school board, strongly supports the plan and is a founding member of the proposed charter school.

While the school district has worked with the city, it has not been enough to keep up with the explosive growth were facing, he said. Our students are in dire need of high-quality seats. The proposal would help satisfy this need ... This community needs an infusion of resources that Danbury Prospect would bring.

But critics are skeptical of that pitch. They argue that charter schools divert increasingly scarce state resources but serve only a sliver of students, while still sticking local districts with new transportation and special education costs.

That fight boiled over earlier this year, pitting the Connecticut Education Association against the Northeast Charter Schools Network when the state Board of Education turned down several requests from existing charter schools to pay for extra students they enrolled over their alloted numbers.

Danbury school board member Kathleen Molinaro succinctly summarized her colleagues concerns about the plan last week.

Im not opposed to charter schools at all, she said. Dont think Im closed-minded. But I want full transparency on where the money is coming from.

State battle

The Danbury Prospect Charter School, which would eventually have students from sixth to 12th grades, is one of five new charter applications made to the Connecticut Department of Education last year, the first time since 2013 the state solicited proposals to expand its current roster of 24 charter schools.

But only Danbury Prospect and a proposed Norwalk charter school were found to meet the minimum state criteria, said department spokesman Peter Yazbak.

Last week the state Board of Education held hearings in each city to solicit feedback before the board votes on them later this year. But even if approved, both proposals would still need to secure financing from state legislators  an ask made more complicated by the states fiscal crisis.

Charter schools are funded by a separate line item in the state budget at the rate of $11,000 per student.

Charter advocates, such as the Northeast Charter Schools Network, say the separate funding stream brings more gross state revenue to each area with charter schools.

Its really about what gets us to a stronger, more diverse system that meets different kids needs in different ways, said Yamuna Menon, the networks Connecticut director. This is just one small way to get there.

But critics maintain that school finance is a zero-sum game in an ever-tightening state budget.

The Connecticut Education Association, the states largest teachers union, has taken a strong stance against expanding charter schools. CEA Executive Director Donald Williams said the group will oppose any new charter schools until the state sends more money to its existing public schools.

We believe that all new charter school applications should all be put on hold as long as we are in an environment when theres not enough money to support our traditional public schools, he said. The state finds itself right now in an economic climate where many traditional public schools have incurred significant cuts in state funding that have required cutting back on educational programs for students and, in some cases, the threat of layoffs for teachers.

Local debate

The planned Danbury charter school has been proposed by New York City-based Prospect Schools, which operates four schools in Brooklyn with 1,000 students, and would open in the fall of 2019.

Prospect Schools leaders have been quietly shopping the proposal over the past four years and now have an army of passionate parents and local officials who have advocated enthusiastically for the idea over the past year, declaring it a perfect fit for the citys diverse and growing population of school-age children.

More than 100 supporters sporting lime-green shirts and waving small banners with the schools name and logo filled a state school board hearing on the proposal Thursday night at Henry Abbott Tech High School, including representatives of churches, CityCenter, the Chamber of Commerce, the United Way, the YMCA and City Council.

Tricia Robinson, leader of a local parent-teacher organization, said her aunt, a former Indiana schools superintendent and education consultant, warned her about the possible pitfalls of charter management. But after meeting and working closely with Prospect Schools leadership, she changed her mind.

Weve grown much faster than our funding and here we have a proven, well-respected school that wants to come to Danbury that could provide an outstanding education for our community and immediately relieve an overcrowding situation int he middle schools, Robinson said during last weeks public hearing.

But a growing number of dissenters have emerged over the past month.

Local school board members, the NAACP, teachers and concerned parents have questioned how the state could consider funding a new school under private management when it has not adequately funded the public schools it already has in Danbury. City schools now get $4,000 below the state average in per-pupil state funding and rank last among Connecticuts 169 cities and towns in that measure.

They argue that because the charter would be managed by a nonprofit board and accountable directly to the state Board of Education, city residents would be deprived of their democratic voice on how local schools are run.

We need school space, theres no question  that said, the solution is not to abdicate our local responsibility for running our local schools and taking care of and educating our children, parent Joe DaSilva told the Danbury school board last week. It is not to get space by farming it out to a private entity that is not under your purview. There is money in the state. Lets go get it, lets bring it here. But lets bring it here for you to implement and you to use.

Whats next

The public comments gathered at Thursday nights state hearing will be incorporated into a formal recommendation from education Commissioner Dianna Wentzell. The state board will consider Wentzells finding and vote on the application at another public hearing to be held later this year.

If approved, the school would open with its first class of 100 sixth-graders in fall 2019 and teach curriculum known as the International Baccalaureate  an academic program that emphasizes critical thinking through in-depth reading and writing.

But the local debate will continue to rage on next month, when the City Council will consider the Danbury Public Schools budget.

The district has requested an additional $7 million next year simply to keep up with growing enrollment, without which the district will need to make further cuts, school board members have said.

But Mayor Mark Boughton, a strong supporter of the Prospect Schools proposal, and council members already have indicated the district is unlikely to receive that entire request, if any.NEW FAIRFIELD  Parents concerns about local school security after last months shooting in Florida has prompted officials to add police officers to the districts schools for the rest of the year.

The Board of Education voted Thursday to support a plan, previously approved by the selectmen, to add full-time police presence at the two lower-level schools for the remainder of the school year. The districts current school resource officer will be stationed at the middle and high schools, which share a campus.

First Selectman Pat Del Monaco told selectmen earlier this month that the towns resident state trooper, Sgt. Adam Wagnblas, proposed the idea as a temporary action while officials discuss whether other measures should be added to next years budget. A forum has also been scheduled on Monday to discuss possible long-term security improvements.

In the weeks since the school shooting in Parkland, Fla., parents have spoken out at meetings asking officials to review whether the district is doing enough to keep students safe.

This is only for the remainder of this school year, Del Monaco said. There was such strong sentiment and such strong concern that...this was a very creative way to get this done immediately. But, there still needs to be a lot of discussion about how we go forward with the 2018-19 budget.

The towns five police officers will rotate working at the schools by picking up overtime hours. The $70,000 needed to pay for the extra hours will be taken from the towns state trooper fund, which was reimbursed at a higher rate by the state than originally expected, Del Monaco said.

The Board of Educations 2018-19 budget already includes two additional safety advocates, but many parents who have advocated for increased security asked officials to instead add armed school resource officers at each of the four schools.

School board Chair Peggy Katkocin said she has visited each of the schools this week and that administrators also pointed to other measures that could be taken, such as more surveillance cameras or gates.

Katkocin said a likely next step will be an audit of the schools protocol to see which upgrades are needed. New Fairfield last performed an audit after the Sandy Hook massacre.

Every school is laid out differently, Katkocin said. Based on what we have, Id like someone to look at that and say, Heres the best way for you to keep it safe. 

Wagnblas has put New Fairfield on the waiting list for a state-funded audit but is also looking into private companies, Del Monaco said.

The forum on Monday will be attended by the school board, the selectmen, Board of Finance, police and a school psychologist. It will be held at 7 p.m. in the high schools media room.

Katkocin said the forum will help the three boards gauge the communitys ideas.

Its very clear people want something done, Katkocin said. Were trying to touch all the bases so when we do decide on something, we did our due diligence.Wanessa Anderson, owner of W. Rhythm Fitness and Wellness, said she found her niche in Kent by offering exercise on trampolines, mindfulness courses and even workouts inspired by NASA.

Her studio, which opened three years ago on North Main Street, has grown from one room to two as both year-round residents and weekenders learn of her eclectic selection of ways to break a sweat and think differently.

Its not only fitness classes, she said. Its a program.

Repeat exercisers will find something different each day, she said. One day there could be a class on Brazilian martial arts, the next Pilates.

Lynn Carano, a client, said Anderson  has built a place of community.

The studio is unlike any place I've attended in that there is a sincere mind (and) body connection, Carano said.

Anderson, originally from Brazil, followed her husband to Kent and said she found it was a perfect place for her kind of studio.

She started leading fitness courses seven years ago at area gyms, but found that she wanted to provide more fitness options coupled with mindfulness options and massage therapy. She has led classes on reiki and readings as well as trapeze yoga.

She said the mix fits in with the open-mindedness of Kent residents.

The artistic community here is great because people are open to different ideas of fitness, she said.

Moreover, New York City-based weekend residents have told her how thankful they are that shes in Kent.

They have become used to having a bevy of fitness options in the city, and love that those courses are available in a town of just under 3,000 people.

The courses  are already in the fitness world, she said. I bring all this innovation here to this little town.

blytton@hearstmediact.com; 203-731-3411; @bglyttonHAMDEN  Jose Burgos was surrounded by family and friends as he waited in a gymnasium Friday full of palpable anticipation for the countdown clock to reach zero, so he and fellow medical students could finally open their sealed blue envelopes in front of them.

The Air Force veteran and cancer survivor was among 80 Quinnipiac University medical students who screamed and shrieked with joy as they found out where they would spend their next three to seven years of their residency training.

Burgos, 33, got his wish as he ended up being matched with his first choice: Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Obviously, Im looking at a large mountain to climb. The step up in responsibility is going to enormous. Im going to be in charge of actual lives, so theres a very sobering reality to all this happiness and joy. The hardest has yet to come, he said.

Burgos and his wife, Bethany, are orginallyfrom Florida and their families still live there. He said Halifax Health Medical Center has an incredible program and great academics, but he was also drawn by the value the hospital places on personal relationships  something thats very important to him as an Air Force veteran.

From the age of 8, whenever Burgos was asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, he would say a doctor. He didnt know exactly why back then, but he knew that was what he wanted to do with the rest of his life.

I dont feel like I chose medicine. I kind of feel like medicine chose me, he said.

All across the country, thousands of medical students, just like Burgos, simultaneously received their residency matches at noon Eastern Standard Time through the National Resident Matching Program, according to a press release.

Dr. Bruce Koeppen, the dean of the Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University, said for the second year, 100 percent of the medical students matched. To practice medicine in the United States, Koeppen said medical students must complete a residency, so if a medical student had failed to match, then he or she would never get a license and become a doctor.

As a new school, its stupendous. We have no real long-term history on how our students do in residency, yet theyre getting into really good programs, which is a really good sign. As a new school, I couldnt be happier, Koeppen said.

The medical school first opened in 2013, with the first class of medical students graduating last year.

While most students found out where they would spend the next few years, some students like Miyad Movassaghi, 31, of New Haven, already knew. He found out he had matched with Columbia University for urology back in January.

Despite having a residency, Movassaghi said it was still an amazing feeling, just to see his name in the envelope again and know it was real.

I think for me, we kind of have our own celebration for urology, so there was that, which was very impactful and very fun, but just to do this with everyone takes it to another level, Movassaghi said.

Nicole Prengergast, 26, of Meriden, said the feeling of knowing she could be anywhere in the world was exciting, almost to the point where she wanted to keep all her options open as there are as so many great programs out there.

Having matched at Stanford University, Prengergast, her husband, Steve, and their 8-month-old son Gabriel will be moving to California so Prendergast can pursue a career in emergency medicine.

Burgos served in Afghanistan with the 336th Fighter Squadron.

His original goal was to become a doctor in the Air Force but after nearly eight years of service, he was diagnosed and treated for thyroid cancer and was medically discharged.

Having cancer, however, was a big part of Burgos unofficial medical training, as it gave him firsthand experience what it is like to be on the other side of the stethoscope.

You always have to be aware that the patient is actually a person that they feel and they think and they have fears and joys and hopes. Just knowing that  will help me a lot, he said, adding he wanted to be a family physician  something that will allow him to treat patients of all ages.

I think the key to medicine, the key to leadership, the key to anything is understanding people, and once you understand people, it makes everything easier. Understand how they think, how they feel, how they function, what motivates them, Burgos said. Those traits, that ability to understand people and how to motivate them and how they feel and how people work, is an asset in any field.NEW HAVEN  Stop & Shop Supermarket has signed a 10-year extension of its lease with the Greater Dwight Community Investment Corp.

The full-service store has been at 150 Whalley Ave. in Dwight Place since 2011. The new lease begins on March 1, 2019.100 killed in attacks in Syria as more people flee

Photo shows Syrian civilians with their belongings as they flee from fighting between the Syrian government forces and rebels, near Hamouria in eastern Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus, Syria on Friday.

AP, Beirut :

Airstrikes in Syria killed more than 100 people on Friday as civilians, weary and many wounded, fled besieged areas for the second straight day.

Syrian government forces stepped up their offensive in the rebel-held eastern suburbs of the capital, Damascus, capturing a major town and closing in on another under the cover of Russia's air power.

The majority of the deaths occurred in eastern Ghouta, where government forces have been on a crushing offensive for three weeks, capturing 70 percent of the besieged area. The weekslong violence has left more than 1,300 civilians dead, 5,000 wounded and forced thousands to flee to government-controlled areas. Friday's staggering death toll came a day after Syria passed the seven-year mark in its relentless civil war that has killed some 450,000 people and displaced half the country's population.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said bombing and shelling by government and Russian forces killed a total of 76 people in eastern Ghouta, including 64 killed in Kafr Batna and another 12 in Saqba. Government forces also captured the nearby town of Jisreen, it said.

"If the world does not move, Ghouta will be exterminated," said Siraj Mahmoud, a member of the opposition's Syrian Civil Defense search-and-rescue group.

The Observatory said another 36 people were killed in the Kurdish-held town of Afrin in northern Syria, where Turkish troops and Turkey-backed Syrian opposition fighters have been on the offensive since Jan. 20. The dead included nine killed in airstrikes that hit the town's general hospital.

Friday's government attack on Kafr Batna was with cluster bombs, napalm-like incendiary weapons, and conventional explosives, the Observatory said.

Photos and videos released from the area showed charred bodies covered with sheets lined up near what appeared to be shops.

A medical charity supporting hospitals in eastern Ghouta, the Syrian American Medical Society, said doctors in Kafr Batna were treating patients for severe burn wounds. Oways al-Shami, a spokesman for the Syrian Civil Defense, said the airstrikes targeted a market and a nearby residential area where scores of people had gathered to buy bread and vegetables during a daily truce called by Russia.Spotify has announced the launch of its services in Israel, Romania, South Africa and Vietnam. This makes South Africa the first African country to receive official Spotify support, with users in other African countries having to use VPNs. Meanwhile, Indians will have to make do with alternatives like Apple Music and Amazon Music.

Working For Notebookcheck Are you a techie who knows how to write? Then join our Team! English native speakers welcome! News Writer - Details here



Spotify is, without a doubt, the biggest streaming service in the world. The company, in a press release this week, announced the launch of its services in Israel, Romania, South Africa and Vietnam.

"Were really excited to bring Spotify to Israel, Romania, South Africa and Vietnam, connecting their rich music cultures with millions of artists and users across the world," Cecilia Qvist, Spotify's Global Head of Markets was quoted as saying.

The launch of the service in those countries will see those countries join their counterparts in most of the EU, Latin America, and North America as officially-supported. Surprisingly, the service is still unavailable in India, leaving users in the country to have to use VPNs to bypass the geographical blockade.Managing Editor

Having lived and worked in Indy on and off since 1977, and currently living in Carmel, I've seen the city change a great deal. I love covering the arts in all its forms, and the places where the arts and broader cultural issues intersect.In the age of Facebook, it has become far easier for campaigners or marketers to combine our online personas with our offline selves, a process that was once controversial but is now so commonplace that theres a term for it, onboarding. Cambridge Analytica says it has as many as 3,000 to 5,000 data points on each of us, be it voting histories or full-spectrum demographics  age, income, debt, hobbies, criminal histories, purchase histories, religious leanings, health concerns, gun ownership, car ownership, homeownership  from consumer-data giants.

No data point is very informative on its own, but profiling voters, says Cambridge Analytica, is like baking a cake. Its the sum of the ingredients, its chief executive officer, Alexander Nix, told NBC News. Because the United States lacks European-style restrictions on second- or thirdhand use of our data, and because our freedom-of-information laws give data brokers broad access to the intimate records kept by local and state governments, our lives are open books even without social media or personality quizzes.

Ever since the advertising executive Lester Wunderman coined the term direct marketing in 1961, the ability to target specific consumers with ads  rather than blanketing the airwaves with mass appeals and hoping the right people will hear them  has been the marketers holy grail. Whats new is the efficiency with which individually tailored digital ads can be tested and matched to our personalities. Facebook is the microtargeters ultimate weapon.

The explosive growth of Facebooks ad business has been overshadowed by its increasing role in how we get our news, real or fake. In July, the social network posted record earnings: quarterly sales were up 59 percent from the previous year, and profits almost tripled to $2.06 billion. While active users of Facebook  now 1.71 billion monthly active users  were up 15 percent, the real story was how much each individual user was worth. The company makes $3.82 a year from each global user, up from $2.76 a year ago, and an average of $14.34 per user in the United States, up from $9.30 a year ago. Much of this growth comes from the fact that advertisers not only have an enormous audience in Facebook but an audience they can slice into the tranches they hope to reach.

One recent advertising product on Facebook is the so-called dark post: A newsfeed message seen by no one aside from the users being targeted. With the help of Cambridge Analytica, Mr. Trumps digital team used dark posts to serve different ads to different potential voters, aiming to push the exact right buttons for the exact right people at the exact right times.Officials said that four crew members were from the New York unit. The others onboard included a combat rescue officer, and active and reserve airmen, whose job is to find and recover downed aircrews and evacuate the wounded.

As the hours passed on Friday, the names and backgrounds of the two victims came into focus.

One, Christopher J. Raguso, 39, was appointed as a firefighter in 2005, and worked for many years in Ladder Company 113 in Flatbush, Brooklyn, before being promoted to lieutenant in 2016, and going to work in Queens. Decorated six times for bravery and saving lives, he was a volunteer firefighter on Long Island, where he lived with his wife, Carmella, and two young daughters.

It was in a Facebook post by the volunteer fire department in Commack, N.Y., that Lieutenant Ragusos life began to emerge publicly. He died while protecting our freedom, the post said. It featured two photos of him: one in the dress blues of his municipal uniform and another in an airmans camouflage.

The post went on: Chris was always there to help anyone with anything, he would never say no.

Another local volunteer department, in Northport, N.Y., posted more photos of Lieutenant Raguso. And a local news website posted a video of an interview Lieutenant Raguso gave in August to a Texas television station, in which he spoke of his efforts to help rescue people battered by the floods of Hurricane Harvey.

The other New York City firefighter who died was identified by his parents and city officials as Christopher Tripp Zanetis, 37, who was on leave from the department, where he had been a marshal in the Bureau of Fire Investigation.Hybrid mustard gains popularity among Faridpur farmers

UNB, Faridpur :

Cultivation of hybrid mustard is on the rise in Sadar upazila of the district as its cultivation proved to be more profitable than other crops.

They are cultivating the crops under a special programme of Department of Agricultural Extension.

"As an additional crop, we are now cultivating hybrid mustard after the end of Aman and Boro seasons," said farmers Hafiz Mandal, Rahman Pramanik from Ambikapur area of Faridpur Sadar while talking to UNB.

"With the current market price of per maund mustard at Tk 25, we hope to earn Tk 12,000-Tk 14,000 from per bighas of land this season. It costs around Tk 5000-6000 to cultivate mustard on a bigha of land," said the farmers.

According to the Faridpur Agriculture Extension Department, around 7510 hectares land in the district were brought under cultivation of different types of mustard like Bari-14, bari-15, Tori-7 or Maghi mustard and Rai mustard.

Around 3500 kilograms of hybrid seeds were distributed among around 3500 farmers in the district this season. Some 70,000 kg of DAP fertilizer and 35,000 kg MOP were given as incentives, it added.

Md Abul Basar Maih, Sadar Upazila Agriculture Officer, said Agriculture Extension Department is trying to turn the three-crops cultivating land into four-crops ones. "We are suggesting the farmers to cultivate less time consuming variety of mustard like Tori-7 after harvesting Aman crops."

The demand of country's edible oil is fulfilled with imported products. But it will be possible to export edible oil after meeting local demand through cultivating hybrid mustard, he added.Eleven days after Yoselyn Ortega killed two children in her care with a kitchen knife, she told a psychiatrist she could not remember what she had done, but also tearfully said she had been upset because the childrens mother had recently humiliated her in public.

The evaluation came after Ms. Ortega plunged a knife into her neck in the Upper West Side apartment of Marina and Kevin Krim, where she had worked as a nanny for two years. Two of the couples children  Leo, 2, and Lucia, 6  lay in the bathtub nearby, having bled to death from multiple stab wounds.

Charged with first-degree murder and facing life in prison without parole, Ms. Ortega has entered a plea of not responsible by reason of mental disease or defect, and her trial in State Supreme Court in Manhattan has hinged on a single question: Was she in the grip of a psychosis when she killed the children on Oct. 25, 2012?

Her lawyer argued that Ms. Ortega, a native of the Dominican Republic, had a chronic mental illness that went undiagnosed for years, and that she did not understand her actions or know they were immoral. But prosecutors said her motive was resentment toward the Krims, a well-off couple who had tried to help her financially by giving her extra work.So, what about Nancy Pelosi?

One of the more dramatic sidelights in that dramatic congressional election in Pennsylvania was the way Republicans attempted to turn the whole campaign into a Pelosi referendum.

If you lived in the Pittsburgh area, you saw multitudinous ads warning that Democrat Conor Lamb would join Pelosis liberal flock if he won. People there will probably spend the spring wandering around muttering Nancy Pelosi and Conor Lamb Are Still Opposing Your Tax Cut.

You cannot watch TV at any time of the day or night without seeing the mudslinging campaigns, one reader complained to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Its tough, all the advertising overkill that comes with a tight election. Those of us who live in districts where the typical contest is a 12-term incumbent versus anything the opposition can dig up  a woman who just moved into the state, a guy who just got out of prison on an arson conviction, a 12-year-old Chihuahua  are so lucky.

For Pelosi, the only downside to Lambs victory was the part where he promised hed never vote to keep her on as leader. (My take is, if these people have been around for several years and they havent solved these problems that have been hanging around, its time for someone new to step up and get it done.)WASHINGTON  The White House confirmed last week that President Trump would attend the Summit of the Americas next month in Peru. In doing so, he follows the lead of every United States president since Bill Clinton, who hosted the first such gathering, in Miami in 1994. Mr. Trumps predecessors have treated the summit meeting  the only meeting of Western Hemisphere heads of state  as an obvious opportunity to advance United States interests in the neighborhood.

Unlike Presidents Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, however, Mr. Trump comes to the summit meeting with considerable baggage, making the risks far greater. His participation may even end up being counterproductive to the meetings primary aims of furthering human rights, democracy and inter-American diplomacy.

The White House likely knows this, which may be why Mr. Trumps attendance was only recently confirmed. If the presidents trip is to be worthwhile  or at least avoid doing damage  the administration should take a hard look at why expectations are so low across the region.

The dim prospects for success are not entirely Mr. Trumps fault. Recent summit meetings have been mostly deadlocked, unable to produce a statement of consensus. Moreover, the host government is politically weak, with Perus president, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, fighting off efforts to impeach him over corruption charges.What role, if any, the cracks played in the collapse has yet to be determined. A crack in a bridge does not necessarily mean its unsafe, said Robert Accetta, an official of the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the accident, said at a news conference Friday night. The N.T.S.B. chairman, Robert Sumwalt, said the board has not yet determined on its own if there were cracks.

Construction crews were tightening cables on the bridge when it fell, the N.T.S.B. said, which is not unusual after installation. Mr. Accetta said the safety board also would look at whether that process contributed to the collapse, adding that the point of failure was still unclear.

But the possibility that cracks had occurred  and the question of when the bridges builders and designers, and school and state officials, had learned about them  was sure to become a focus of scrutiny and of finger-pointing.

Two days after the voice mail message was left, and one day before it was heard, the Florida Department of Transportation said, one of its consultants took part in a meeting with the bridges design and construction team. At the meeting the state consultant was not notified of any life-safety issues, need for additional road closures or requests for any other assistance from FDOT, the department said.

The meeting took place at noon on Thursday. At around 1:30 p.m., the bridge collapsed.

At no point during any of the communications above did Figg or any member of the F.I.U. design-build team ever communicate a life-safety issue, the state Transportation Department said in its statement.

But cracking in the structure was brought to the attention of representatives of the Florida Department of Transportation and the school just before the bridge collapsed, according to F.I.U. The school issued a statement early Saturday saying that during a meeting hours before the collapse, a Figg engineer delivered a technical presentation regarding the crack and concluded that there were no safety concerns and the crack did not compromise the structural integrity of the bridge.

The meeting, which took place at a trailer on the construction site Thursday morning, was convened by the builder and by Figg to discuss a crack that appeared on the structure, and representatives of both F.I.U. and the Florida Department of Transportation attended, the school said in its statement.Its incredibly unfair to my reputation after a 21-year career, Mr. McCabe said. He said the presidents public attacks were aimed at several targets. The real damage is being done to the F.B.I., law enforcement and the special counsel, he said.

Mr. McCabe was the F.B.I.s second in command during one of the most tumultuous periods in the bureaus history. He oversaw investigations into both the Trump campaign and Hillary Clintons use of a private email server  and he dealt with the fallout from both. He became the acting F.B.I. director after the sudden firing of his boss, Mr. Comey, and he publicly contradicted the White House on national television over whether Mr. Comey had lost the support of rank-and-file F.B.I. agents.

Since then, Mr. Trump has repeatedly singled him out for public attack, suggesting that he helped protect Mrs. Clinton from prosecution during the 2016 presidential campaign. As evidence, he pointed to the fact that Mr. McCabes wife, Jill, ran as a Democrat for a State Senate seat in Virginia and received hundreds of thousands of dollars from a political committee run by Terry McAuliffe, a longtime ally of the Clintons.

As recently as Thursday, even as the White House said it left Mr. McCabes fate in Mr. Sessionss hands, officials there left little doubt where the president stood. It is well documented that he has had some very troubling behavior and by most accounts a bad actor, said the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Mr. McCabes lawyer called those comments vile and defamatory and said they were intended to put pressure on the Justice Department. This intervention by the White House in the D.O.J. disciplinary process is unprecedented, deeply unfair and dangerous, said the lawyer, Michael R. Bromwich.

Mrs. McCabe lost her race and Mr. McCabe was later promoted to deputy director, where he oversaw the investigation into Mrs. Clinton. No charges were filed in that case, and Mr. Trump has pointed to the donations to Mrs. McCabes campaign as evidence of F.B.I. bias.Mr. Tillerson was an early advocate of diplomatic engagement with North Korea, pursuing it as part of his efforts to win the release of Americans detained there. But he often leaned too far ahead of Mr. Trump in his eagerness, most notably when the president publicly undercut him during one of Mr. Tillersons trips to Beijing, tweeting that he was wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man.

Mr. Pompeo, a hawkish former Army officer and Republican congressman who has spoken about the possibility of regime change in North Korea, is viewed as more skeptical about engaging with Mr. Kim. It is not clear whether he advised the president in advance of his decision to accept the invitation to talk. But he is an astute reader of Mr. Trumps preferences, and even before his nomination as secretary of state had become a vocal defender of the meeting.

President Trump isnt doing this for theater, he said last week on Fox News. Hes going to solve a problem.

North Korea has still not publicly confirmed the meeting, a silence that has raised suspicions among some Korea experts about whether Mr. Kim really made the offer  or if he did, whether he agreed to halt nuclear and missile tests, and put his nuclear arsenal on the table, as part of a negotiation with the United States.

On Friday, however, the White House appeared committed. Mr. Trump spoke with President Moon Jae-in of South Korea, who has pushed tirelessly for talks between North Korea and the United States, and reaffirmed his intention to meet Mr. Kim by the end of May.Spotted Friday afternoon outside the West Wing, General McMaster told a reporter, Everybody has got to leave the White House at some point. Asked if he was leaving sooner rather than later, he said, Im doing my job. Then he walked inside.

Numerous White House officials said that General McMaster, whose job requires him to negotiate internal disputes among factions within the administration as well as deal directly with foreign officials on delicate topics, is operating with the expectation that every day may be his last.

National security veterans expressed alarm, saying perceptions about the generals job security would directly affect his ability to speak on behalf of the president when it comes to complicated issues like the North Korea nuclear negotiations. Others said General McMasters expected dismissal, along with the anticipated firings of the others, would further devastate White House morale.

You can imagine how people lower down feel, said R. Nicholas Burns, a professor at Harvard Kennedy School and a former diplomat who worked for presidents of both parties. They dont know what is going to happen from one day to the next. They dont know if their boss is going to be fired or not. You cant have an effective government like this. It just wont work.

People close to the president said Friday that the numerous reports of the generals imminent demise  including a Washington Post article on Thursday night  along with the role Mr. Kelly was said to have in pushing for Mr. McMasters departure, caused the president to pull back, most likely giving General McMaster a reprieve of several weeks.

Reacting to The Post late Thursday, Mr. Trump initially wanted to issue over-the-top praise of his national security adviser, aides said. But the aides persuaded him not to because of the voluminous reports of their strained relationship.

On Capitol Hill, lawmakers in both parties remained largely silent about the White House churn, though Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona, a Republican who is retiring this year, called General McMaster a stabilizing force and expressed concern about his possible departure.Mr. Trumps team filed the motions one day after news broke that 60 Minutes was planning to run a segment featuring Ms. Clifford and her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, on March 25. Mr. Trumps representatives have denied the allegations that he had an affair with Ms. Clifford.

Mr. Avenatti responded late Friday that the president was engaging in bullying tactics aimed at moving the case behind closed doors, outside of public view and scrutiny.

He seized on the monetary damages the presidents team indicated it was seeking. The fact that a sitting president is pursuing over $20 million in bogus damages against a private citizen, who is only trying to tell the public what really happened, is truly remarkable  likely unprecedented in our history, Mr. Avenatti said. He added, We are not going away and we will not be intimidated by these threats.

Ms. Daniels and her lawyer have drawn a steady stream of intense news coverage since she filed her suit. Mr. Avenatti has appeared regularly on television to reveal new details about the effort to keep Ms. Clifford quiet during the presidential campaign, which culminated in the deal for her silence in October 2016.

On Friday, for instance, Mr. Avenatti said on the MSNBC program Morning Joe that Ms. Clifford had been threatened with physical harm to stay silent about her story, though he did not say by whom or when. Speaking on New Day on CNN, he said she would provide details on 60 Minutes, saying, Shes going to be able to provide very specific details about what happened here.

A day earlier, Mr. Avenatti said that other women alleging involvement with Mr. Trump had approached his office, later adding that two of those women said they had signed nondisclosure agreements to maintain their silence. He said, however, that he had not vetted their claims.

Asked about Mr. Avenattis allegation relating to threats on Friday, the presidents press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said she had no knowledge about it, but obviously we take the safety and security of any person seriously.BEIJING  Xi Jinping started his second term as Chinas president on Saturday, flanked by a new vice president, Wang Qishan, who even without any other titles to his name is shaping up as a potent deputy to Mr. Xi, with a potentially powerful say in grappling with the Trump administration over trade disputes.

Mr. Xi and Mr. Wang shook hands after the National Peoples Congress, the Communist Party-controlled legislature, endorsed them for the posts in a closely controlled ritual ballot. Mr. Xi won all of the 2,970 votes cast for president, and all but one legislator voted for Mr. Wang, admired and feared for his previous role as the partys chief anticorruption enforcer, for vice president.

We all support Wang Qishan to be vice president, Fang Jianqiao, a delegate from Zhejiang Province in eastern China, said before the vote. His partnership with President Xi Jinping can promote better contacts abroad, he said. It will also help to better fight corruption and promote clean government.

In China, the vice presidency is not an inherently powerful job. The previous incumbent, Li Yuanchao, faded from view, clouded by corruption scandals involving former subordinates and a widespread impression that Mr. Xi disdained him. But Mr. Wang appears poised to break that pattern and serve as an influential adviser and political guardian for Mr. Xi.Christiane Amanpour identifies universal aspects of relationships in a new series. And the lustful melodrama The Beguiled arrives on HBO.

Whats on TV

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: SEX & LOVE AROUND THE WORLD 10 p.m. on CNN. Christiane Amanpour, CNNs chief international correspondent and the anchor of the global affairs program Amanpour, takes a turn toward the intimate in this new six-part series. Each episode brings her to a different country in Asia, Europe and Africa to explore carnal taboos and norms. Her first stop is Tokyo, where she gasps at 17th-century erotic art, interviews a hotel health worker and attends a host club that offers private hospitality to women. Given that Anthony Bourdain is among the shows executive producers, its no surprise that the style is reminiscent of Parts Unknown  with a sensual twist.

NYC ST. PATRICKS DAY PARADE 11 a.m. on NBC 4 New York; also on NBCNewYork.com. A green sea of New Yorkers washes over Fifth Avenue to celebrate the citys 257th parade.Surbhi to play heroine in `Kanithan` Telugu remake?

Noted Telugu and Tamil actress Surbhi is likely to be part of Tollywood star, Nikhil's upcoming Tollywood movie, as per latest updates. The makers are in talks to rope in the actor for the movie, added reports.

The much awaited film is a Telugu remake blockbuster Telugu movie, Kanithan. The intense action flick was well received by moviegoers in Tamil Nadu. Nikhil is seen playing the role of a TV journalist who gets falsely implicated in a fake degree racket in the Telugu version.

"Nowadays, print and electronic media have emerged as a platform that people turn to, to seek justice. So a news reporter is a character that everyone identifies with and the challenge is to ensure my portrayal is as real as possible.

GC Its like those studies where executives look at identical resumes  one named John, one named Jane  and they give greater credence to the men.

CM It also means that women can be segregated into different jobs and paid less.

GC There are so many layers here. Now, Ive heard from male victims, too. I want to be clear about that. But this is a mens issue thats been flipped into a womens issue. The responsibility for fixing it should not be left on our shoulders alone. Its why raising our children, especially our sons, is so important.



PG Gretchen, I was surprised by your taking the reins of the Miss America pageant. Its hard to square women competing for scholarships in bathing suits and high heels with the other work youre doing.

GC Well, I wouldnt be putting my name or my empowerment movement in association with it unless I was actually going to bring empowerment. The challenge isnt brand identity. Were struggling with messaging. You know what the average G.P.A. of the 51 contestants is? 3.65. Why arent we celebrating that in a scholarship program? Thats just a sense of what Im going to be doing.

PG Lets end with the next frontier in #MeToo. Any predictions?

GC The next step will be institutions  schools and big businesses  stopping all their cover-ups.

CM People have asked me for 40 years how not to get sued for sexual harassment. Well, a good first step is making sure that sexual harassment doesnt happen where you are. Especially now, because its going to come out. Ive seen leaders of companies go in front of their employees and say: Listen, were here to work, not to cater to your social and sexual needs. If I hear youre doing that, youre out of here. Its pretty strong, but harassment doesnt happen in those places. And then there are the other companies that have their so-called sexual harassment trainings, and theyre sitting there, going nudge-nudge, wink-wink, making funny comments about the trainers. Thats all H.R. wants us to do today.

GC Cover your ass.

CM Then at the next Christmas party, someone is sexually assaulted.

GC Shes so right. Imagine if every leader of every company did it that way: The buck stops with me. And every manager  half of them women, hopefully  was there to hear it. All the enabling would stop.

CM People can tell when you mean it. They really can.

This interview has been edited for space and clarity.Mr. Haynes could not immediately be reached for comment on Saturday.

In the suit, which was filed last month in Federal District Court in Manhattan, Lauren Bonner, an associate director at the firm, said that Mr. Haynes had belittled women employees  calling one a dumb blonde  and had a whiteboard in his office on which the word pussy was written in large letters and left there for several weeks last year.

Point72, which is based in Stamford, Conn., said in a statement after the suit was filed that it emphatically denies these allegations. In court, lawyers for Mr. Cohen and Point72 have sought to move the matter to arbitration. Early on Saturday, Ellen Davis, a Point72 spokeswoman, said, The firms view remains that the lawsuit is without merit.

Ms. Davis said in a separate, subsequent statement, Steve Cohen wants to make sure that his firm is living up to its stated values and fostering a respectful workplace. As part of that effort, she said, Mr. Cohen had retained the prominent law firm WilmerHale to conduct an independent assessment and provide legal advice that will help to improve the firms policies and procedures, strengthen its culture and foster best practices.

Image Douglas D. Haynes resigned as Point72s president on Friday. Credit... Point72

Leading the review, the people familiar with the matter said, is Jamie Gorelick, a Wilmer partner who is a former deputy United States attorney general. Several women at Point72 had been interviewed by lawyers as part of the review, the people said.Ashley Denise Hamilton and Jordan Douglas Chisolm were married March 17 at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, Fla. Pastor Diego Calderon, who was ordained by the Southwinds Christian Church of Miami, officiated.

The bride, 31, is an associate specializing in corporate law in the Miami office of Holland & Knight, a law firm headquartered in Tampa, Fla. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, from which she also received a law degree.

She is a daughter of Marcia E. Hamilton and Leopold W. Hamilton, both of Miami. The brides mother is a client relationship manager at Wells Fargo in Miami. Her father is retired as a fire inspector from the Miami-Dade County public school system.

The groom, 29, is a lawyer and fellow at Legal Services of Greater Miami. He graduated from George Washington University and received a law degree from N.Y.U.Adrian Lamo, a hacker best known for breaking into the computer networks of The New York Times and other major corporations, and for reporting the Army whistle-blower Chelsea Manning to the authorities, was found dead on Wednesday in Wichita, Kan. He was 37.

Mr. Lamos body was discovered in an apartment in the city, The Wichita Eagle reported. His father announced the death in a post on Facebook on Friday. Kate Flavin, a spokeswoman for Sedgwick County, Kan., said on Saturday that the cause of death was unknown.

Mr. Lamo was 22 when federal prosecutors accused him of breaking into The Timess computer network, creating fake usernames and running up over $300,000 in data research fees. Mr. Lamo also gained access to the computer networks of Yahoo, Microsoft and Cingular Wireless, prosecutors said.

Its like someone kicking in your front door while youre on vacation and running up a $300,000 bill on your phone, and then telling you when you arrive home that he had performed a useful service by demonstrating that your deadbolt wasnt secure enough, James B. Comey, then the United States attorney in Manhattan, said in 2003, referring to Mr. Lamos activities.My activism was born out of necessity and rage. I learned I was undocumented when I was in the eighth grade. My senior year, my college counselor told me that I could not go to college. She advised hiding my immigration status and staying quiet. I quickly realized that adults live a more cautious, fearful life than young people, and their conservative views on how to tackle issues couldnt help me. It was up to me to find a way for myself and others like me to go to college.

One of the first things I learned, when my friends and I started to get some attention, is how quickly politicians try to co-opt youth movements for their own agendas. Both Republicans and Democrats claimed to care about immigrants, but both parties continued to deport people and failed to pass immigration reform. The same thing is already happening to the Parkland kids. I saw politicians turn a recent town hall for the parents, teachers and students into a platform to debate not a solution to gun violence, but which party was better.

Young activists must learn to trust their instincts and not let these debates distract them from their goals. At the same time, they have to trust the wisdom and experience of those who preceded them.

Before embarking on our march, I had the opportunity to meet with the Rev. James Lawson, who helped coordinate the 1963 March on Washington. He served as one of the advisers for our walk. The struggle of black people in America, not just during the civil rights movement but today, is one we knew we had to understand and emulate. We called our walk the Trail of Dreams as a tribute to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., as well as a memorial to the Native Americans who died in the Trail of Tears. We wanted to remind people how many atrocities have been carried out in this county in the name of law and order.

The young activists of today are more adept with social media than we were. But I would encourage them to get out into the streets to talk to people. Our march took four months, and we spent time in the communities we visited. We rested on Mondays because weekends were when people were most likely to be free to walk with us.A political movement that rails against immigrant crime while defending alleged abusers and child molesters is one that has stopped pretending to have any universalist aspirations. The presidents moral framework springs from an American tradition of cultivating fear and contempt among its white citizens against immigrants, indigenous people and people of color, who are placed on the other side of the law. Its a practice that has taken on new strength at a time when many white people fear they may be outnumbered, outvoted and out of time.

This is the opposite of what we like to tell ourselves is the traditional American civic creed: one symbolized by a blindfolded Lady Justice who applies the law without fear or favor to whoever may come before her. It is one of Mr. Trumps most insidious victories that he has given his supporters permission to drop any pretense of insisting that their actions and views should conform to this principle.

If all that matters when it comes to law and order is who is a friend and who is an enemy, and if friends are white and enemies are black or Latino or in the wrong party, then the rhetoric around crime and punishment stops being about justice and is merely about power and corruption.

And this is what law and order means: the preservation of a certain social order, not the rule of law. It shouldnt have taken this long to see what has always been staring us in the face. After all, the last president to focus so intensely on law and order, Richard Nixon, the man who helped usher in mass incarceration, was also the most infamous criminal to occupy the Oval Office. The history of the United States is the story of a struggle between the desire to establish certain universal rights and the countervailing desire to preserve a particular social order.

We are now witnessing a president who wholly embraces the latter. America can have that kind of social order, or it can have justice for all. But it cant have both.EASTER ISLAND  This remote speck in the South Pacific is famous for its colossal stone statues, nearly 1,000 of them towering over the landscape like guardians.

Who built them? How did they get there? And who fitted some of them with giant red stone hats weighing up to 12 tons each?

When I was a kid, a huge nonfiction best seller by Erich von Daniken called Chariots of the Gods argued that they were evidence that U.F.O.s had visited Earth. Von Daniken, whose nonfiction and fiction books have sold a staggering 63 million copies worldwide, argued that only space aliens could have carved, transported and erected these monuments.

The puzzle arises because when Jacob Roggeveen discovered the island (on Easter Day, 1722, hence the name), it was a wasteland with no trees and a small, starving population. The Polynesian inhabitants had only small and leaky canoes, so it was unclear how they had ever reached the island, let alone built such colossal figures.How does it feel to have your papers out of order, Mr. Kobach?

Of course, restrictive voting laws like these have never been about protecting electoral integrity. Theyre about keeping certain people away from the ballot box, often based on who they are  or are assumed to be. On Tuesday, one of Mr. Kobachs witnesses, a political scientist, Jesse Richman, testified that up to 18,000 noncitizens have registered or tried to register in Kansas. When the A.C.L.U.s lawyer asked him about his methods for analyzing the states list of suspended voters, Mr. Richman said that, among other things, he flagged foreign-sounding names. What about a name like Carlos Murguia, the lawyer asked. Would he flag that one? Yes, Mr. Richman said. He was then informed that Carlos Murguia is a federal district judge who sits in the courthouse where the trial is being held.

It all seems like a big joke until you remember that laws like these have already had their intended effect. In Kansas, more than 22,000 people who tried to register had their applications suspended or canceled for not having proof of citizenship. And in Wisconsin, which President Trump won by fewer than 23,000 votes, a strict voter-ID law kept at least 17,000 voters from the polls in 2016.

Remember also that just days after the 2016 election, Mr. Kobach scored a meeting with President-elect Trump in which he urged the passage of a nationwide proof-of-citizenship requirement. A few months later, Mr. Trump appointed Mr. Kobach to lead his so-called election integrity commission. In January, after months of futility and infighting, the commission folded, having made no findings and issued no recommendations. No surprise there  theres virtually nothing to find. There has been no epidemic of noncitizens voting, despite Mr. Trumps baseless claim (endorsed by Mr. Kobach) that he lost the popular vote only because of millions of illegal voters. And there are hardly any examples of in-person voter fraud, the only kind that could conceivably be stopped by voter-ID laws. A federal judge once compared such laws to using a sledgehammer to hit either a real or imaginary fly on a glass coffee table.

Unfortunately, the courts have not always brought the appropriate degree of skepticism to these laws. The Supreme Court upheld the first voter-ID law it considered, in 2008, even though the Indiana lawmakers who passed it had not identified a single case of fraud that the law would have prevented. Former Justice John Paul Stevens, who wrote the opinion in that case, later called it a fairly unfortunate decision. Richard Posner, a former federal appeals court judge who also upheld the Indiana law, later said that voter-ID laws are now widely regarded as a means of voter suppression rather than of fraud prevention.

More recently, courts have gotten better about questioning the evidence and rationale for these laws, striking down some of the strictest ones, in Texas and North Carolina, for deliberately discriminating against minority voters. Thats the right approach. These laws masquerade as common-sense measures, but they are in truth anti-democratic shams, and it is gratifying to see them unravel in the harsh light of a federal courtroom.To thrive in this frenetic world, certain cognitive tendencies are useful: to embrace novelty, to absorb a wide variety of information, to generate new ideas. The possibility that such characteristics might be associated with A.D.H.D. was first examined in the 1990s. The educational psychologist Bonnie Cramond, for example, tested a group of children in Louisiana who had been determined to have A.D.H.D. and found that an astonishingly high number  32 percent  did well enough to qualify for an elite creative scholars program in the Louisiana schools.

It is now possible to explain Professor Cramonds results at the neural level. While there is no single brain structure or system responsible for A.D.H.D. (and some believe the term encompasses more than a single syndrome), one cause seems to be a disruption of the brains dopamine system. One consequence of that disruption is a lessening of what is called cognitive inhibition. The human brain has a system of filters to sort through all the possible associations, notions and urges that the brain generates, allowing only the most promising ones to pass into conscious awareness. Thats why if you are planning a trip to Europe, you think about flying there, but not swimming.

But odd and unlikely associations can be valuable. When such associations survive filtering, they can result in constructive ideas that wouldnt otherwise have been thought of. For example, when researchers apply a technique known as transcranial stimulation to interfere with key structures in the filtering system, people become more imaginative and inventive, and more insightful as problem solvers.

Individuals with A.D.H.D. naturally have less stringent filters. This can make them more distractible but also more creative. Such individuals may also adapt well to frequent change and thus make for good explorers. Jews whose ancestors migrated north to Rome and Germany from what is now Israel and the Palestinian territories show a higher proportion of the A.D.H.D. gene variant than those Jews whose ancestors migrated a shorter distance south to Ethiopia and Yemen. In fact, scientists have found that the farther a groups ancestors migrated, the higher the prevalence of the gene variant in that population.No, you dont have to support the presidents tweet storms. But you do have to defend his policy accomplishments. If the election is only a personality contest  rather than about the presidents policies  a historic defeat awaits.

It is undoubtedly difficult to differentiate Trump policies from the Trump persona, because the Trump persona dominates news coverage. But Republican candidates for Congress have to try. Tactically, that means being laser-focused on generating local news coverage of policy accomplishments, even when the national cable news fixates on the latest Trump outrage.

And guess what? Despite breathless coverage of the daily outrage generator in the White House, the economy is improving. The tax cuts will, and in fact already are, spurring growth, freeing capital for investment, creating jobs and returning overseas profits to our shores. There is a message to sell. So sell it.

I would go further and argue that it is the Trump persona so vilified in the media that has in fact made bolder, more sweeping reforms possible than would have been conceivable under almost any other Republican who might have been elected.

Would a President Jeb Bush have signed a strong executive order on religious liberty, or would a President Marco Rubio have started construction of a wall? Would President John Kasich have had the intestinal fortitude to execute such a huge reorganization of the Environmental Protection Agency, dismantling the liberal bureaucracy that with its deeply embedded biases harms our economy? Would President Mitt Romney have pushed through such a major tax overhaul? No way. What makes Mr. Trump different is that he just doesnt care what the bed-wetting caucus says about his policies.

Instead of wringing our hands about his tweets, lets start playing up his triumphs. That is the best way to minimize midterm damage. Democrats lost over 1,000 seats nationwide under Mr. Obama. While effective in engineering his own political fate, he gutted the hopes of Democrats for a decade. Republicans have to learn to do what Democrats failed to do: run campaigns as the governing party.

Half the consulting class on our side has spent half of their careers, if not more, running opposition campaigns. They have had the tailwind of resentment and grievance fueling popular anger. Now they have to flip the script. They have to learn to highlight accomplishments like tax reform, job creation and regulatory relief.

The Republican Party will either rally around its Republican president  and defend our shared accomplishments  or it will enter the fall with a depressed base and a turnout disadvantage that will lead to major losses in Congress, governorships and state legislatures. Manageable losses or catastrophic defeat: What will it be, my fellow Republicans? My answer: Fix bayonets and charge the hill.Coast Guard seizes 3 lakh Yaba tablets in Cox's Bazar

UNB, Dhaka :

Members of Bangladesh Coast Guard recovered 3 lakh Yaba tablets from Chhera Dwip of Teknaf in Cox's Bazar district early Friday.

Based on secret information, a team of Coast Guard Teknaf station conducted a drive at the island by St. Martin's Island around 12:30 am, said sources at the Coast Guard headquarters. Sensing the presence of the law enforcers, the drug dealers fled towards Myanmar, said Lt Col Abdullah Al Mamun, Assistant Director (Intelligence) of the Coast Guard headquarters.

Later, the Coast Guard team seized the Yaba consignment and handed it over to Teknaf Police Station, he said.The phrase spring break conjures up images of college students lounging on beaches by day and hitting the clubs at night. Many students do, in fact, travel from campus to far-flung places. On the assumption that most students leave, schools generally shut down. But this assumption is outdated, especially as colleges enroll a greater number of academically talented students from poor families.

I met Valeria, an engaging sociology major from the Midwest, while conducting a study on social class at elite colleges that included white, black, Latino and Asian students. (Valeria is not her real name; the terms of my research protocol require that I use pseudonyms for all students.) In our conversations, she described one aspect of how it felt to be a poor student on a rich campus: Theres always famine during spring break.

This problem is more complicated and widespread than people realize. Data I collected in 2016 on colleges that have adopted no-loan financial aid policies, which is one way of measuring a schools commitment to lower-income students, reveal that roughly one in four kept their cafeterias open during spring break the same way they do when classes are in session. At Harvard, where I teach, it was not until 2015 that the administration opened the dining halls during the break (a project I was involved in).

Some colleges, like Smith and Carleton, charge students additional fees to stay on campus during this period. Now, a daily rate of $10 or $15 might not seem like much to some. But to many lower-income students, it is substantial.WASHINGTON  This was the week Donald Trump became president.

Or at least the week he became the president we were always expecting. He ceased bothering to pretend that he was ever going to do the job in any normal sense of the word. He decided to totally own the whole, entire joke that he is.

He started hiring people right off TV. He extended his tiny fingers into his giant flat screen, Purple Rose of Cairo-style, and dragged cable conservatives directly into the administration.

Weve always known Trump makes stuff up. But now he has stopped bothering to pretend that he doesnt. Truthful hyperbole is out. Outlandish fabrication is in. Trump began bragging to Republicans at a private fund-raiser in St. Louis Wednesday: Oh, get a load of this trade stuff I made up to outfox that fox, Justin Trudeau. I felt bad doing it to such a nice, good-looking guy. But its hilarious!

He is no longer bothering to pretend that governing involves a learning curve. Now he finds its clever to be a fabulist, concocting phony facts about the trade deficit when talking to the Canadian prime minister  one of our closest allies  or inventing a story for donors about how Japanese officials test American cars by dropping a bowling ball on their hoods from 20 feet up to see which ones dent.BEIJING  He has stifled his political opponents and enriched friends and cronies. He annexed a chunk of Ukraine, threw moral and military support to Syrias dictator in a brutal civil war and tried to tip the scales in an American presidential election. For the second time in barely a decade, he stands accused of orchestrating the exotic poisoning of an exiled former intelligence operative in Britain.

So what is it exactly that has made Vladimir V. Putin a hero for the worlds populists, strongmen and others occupying the fringes of global politics, both left and right?

The answer, probably, is all of the above.

For more than 18 years in power, Mr. Putin has managed to defy his critics at home and abroad by ignoring the norms and institutions of the global order that emerged after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Where once he seemed out of step with the liberalizing West, he now seems to be the vanguard of a new generation of leaders  in Turkey, Hungary, Italy and even America  who are challenging it.

He offers no coherent or comprehensive ideology, as Communism once did, but rather an amorphous model for protecting national sovereignty against international organizations, like the European Court of Human Rights, that were created to stifle ugly manifestations of ethno-nationalism.It claims that he proceeded to drug Ms. Pina and rape her during a state of involuntary intoxication.

The lawsuit was reported this week by The Seattle Times and other local news outlets.

In an interview late on Thursday, Ms. Pina, reached between flights, repeated many of the details in the lawsuit. It says she blacked out, and when she came to early the next morning, she was in his hotel room bed, naked from the waist down; her underwear was in her purse.

I knew something gravely bad had happened, she said in the interview.

In the lawsuit, she said she was sick and vomited, and when she challenged the pilot, he denied that there had been sexual contact and replied, You were coming on to me pretty hard.

According to the lawsuit, a flight attendant told a flight operations officer that she saw the pilot walking down the hall with a girl and two glasses of wine, and that the attendant expressed concern about flying with him.

The two were taken off duty for the return to Seattle on June 6, the day after the episode. Ms. Pina said over subsequent weeks, she reported details of what she could remember to the union, an airline human resource official and an investigator referred by the airline. She did not report the episode to the police.The Room

Most rooms at the Hotel Californian come with one king bed; my mother and I, visiting midweek in November, were able to reserve one of the few double queen rooms with a view. It wasnt the best  those go to the suites that face the beach  but our spacious third-floor room had a veranda with armchairs from which to watch ducks on a greenish creek . The interior was lavishly decorated with oil-rubbed bronze lamps and patterned tile  the hotel imported more than one million pieces from Morocco  but some accents, like the brass snakes above the bed, verged on garish. USB ports by the beds offered an easy way to charge devices; other in-room gadgetry proved more difficult. The Nespresso coffee machine was maddeningly difficult to master, even though I use a similar model at home, and ejected every other espresso capsule without dispensing anything.

The Bathroom

Laser-cut panels framed the shower, furthering the Moroccan theme, and while the shower stall was large enough, given the considerable floor space, the lack of a bathtub was curious. The double sinks and marble countertops left plenty of space for our toiletries. The best part of the bathroom: the plush, microfiber bathrobes by the Italian manufacturer La Bottega.

Amenities

Only one of the hotels buildings has a lobby staffed 24/7 (ours was unmanned after dark; key cards unlocked the door to the street). Every room has a flat-screen television, and the hotel provides complimentary Wi-Fi, bottles of water and Nespresso capsules. A small gym on the ground floor of the Californian building has up-to-date machines and can be accessed anytime with a key card, and a pool, firepit and pool loungers line the fourth floor rooftop. There are also lounge areas in the ground floor, Turkish-themed spa. Rendered in Moroccan blue, it offers an array of treatments.

Dining

The executive chef Alexander La Motte, who previously worked at Thomas Kellers Napa Valley landmark, the French Laundry and his New York mainstay, Per Se, elevates beach-adjacent dining throughout the property. The airy, market-style cafe Goat Tree offers inspired breakfast entrees such as shakshuka, a Middle Eastern dish of baked eggs. For dinner, a finer dining restaurant, Blackbird, serves artfully plated riffs on Mediterranean fare, like figs with zaatar and burrata. The hotels room service menu offers a more standard assortment of burgers, salads and sandwiches.Such adjustments, which engineers call post-tensioning, are common in concrete designs to fine-tune the structure once it is in place. In this case, however, it was not clear whether the cable-tightening was routine or an urgent undertaking in response to the discovery of the crack in the bridge.

Around the same time the meeting was starting, about 9 a.m., Jorge Mesa, a 31-year-old university employee, said he was in his car near the bridge when he heard a cracking-whip kind of sound. He looked to his right and saw one of the construction workers on the street.

The workers face, Mr. Mesa said, seemed to say, Um, thats not normal.

When he gave me that face, I got the chills all the way down my body, he said.

The bridge came down that afternoon.

Witnesses said the collapse appeared to start near the north end. But no one, including the N.T.S.B., has so far placed any blame for the collapse on the cables or cable-tightening work.

By late Saturday evening, recovery crews had extracted four crushed vehicles from under the rubble. Workers covered the vehicles in black sheeting and towed them to the medical examiner to identify the remains of any victims inside.

At a news conference around 10 p.m., Juan J. Perez, the director of the Miami-Dade Police Department, said five people had been found under the 950 tons of rubble. A sixth person, Navarro Brown, was part of the crew working on the bridge and died at a hospital.

Were pretty confident that no ones left, he said.

The Police Department identified one victim in one of the first vehicles as Roland Fraga Hernandez, and two people in the second vehicle, Oswald Gonzalez, 57, and Alberto Arias, 53.WASHINGTON  Andrew G. McCabe, the former deputy F.B.I. director who was fired late Friday, kept contemporaneous memos about his interactions with President Trump and his conversations with the former director James B. Comey, a person close to Mr. McCabe said on Saturday.

The memos could bolster the account of Mr. Comey, whose own memos and testimony describe repeated requests by Mr. Trump to clear his name. Mr. Comey said Mr. Trump also asked him to shut down a criminal investigation into his former national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn. Both matters are under investigation by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, who is considering whether Mr. Trump tried to obstruct justice.

Mr. McCabes memos were left at the F.B.I., which means that Mr. Muellers investigators have access to them as they work to corroborate Mr. Comeys account. Mr. Trump has denied pressuring Mr. Comey to end the Flynn investigation. Mr. Comey was fired last spring, and the revelation of his conversations with Mr. Trump helped lead to the special counsels appointment.

Mr. McCabe is known to have had at least three meetings with the president. In one, he asked Mr. McCabe how he had voted in the presidential election. In each, he asked about Mr. McCabes wife, Jill, who ran a failed campaign as a Democrat for the Virginia State Senate. Mr. McCabe has identified as a lifelong Republican but did not vote in the 2016 presidential race.But the full scale of the data leak involving Americans has not been previously disclosed  and Facebook, until now, has not acknowledged it. Interviews with a half-dozen former employees and contractors, and a review of the firms emails and documents, have revealed that Cambridge not only relied on the private Facebook data but still possesses most or all of the trove.

Cambridge paid to acquire the personal information through an outside researcher who, Facebook says, claimed to be collecting it for academic purposes.

During a week of inquiries from The Times, Facebook downplayed the scope of the leak and questioned whether any of the data still remained out of its control. But on Friday, the company posted a statement expressing alarm and promising to take action.

This was a scam  and a fraud, Paul Grewal, a vice president and deputy general counsel at the social network, said in a statement to The Times earlier on Friday. He added that the company was suspending Cambridge Analytica, Mr. Wylie and the researcher, Aleksandr Kogan, a Russian-American academic, from Facebook. We will take whatever steps are required to see that the data in question is deleted once and for all  and take action against all offending parties, Mr. Grewal said.

Alexander Nix, the chief executive of Cambridge Analytica, and other officials had repeatedly denied obtaining or using Facebook data, most recently during a parliamentary hearing last month. But in a statement to The Times, the company acknowledged that it had acquired the data, though it blamed Mr. Kogan for violating Facebooks rules and said it had deleted the information as soon as it learned of the problem two years ago.

In Britain, Cambridge Analytica is facing intertwined investigations by Parliament and government regulators into allegations that it performed illegal work on the Brexit campaign. The country has strict privacy laws, and its information commissioner announced on Saturday that she was looking into whether the Facebook data was illegally acquired and used.On Saturday evening, Mr. Trump for the first time posted a tweet that specifically mentioned the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III. The president again denounced the inquiry he is conducting as a witch hunt.

The Mueller probe should never have been started in that there was no collusion and there was no crime, he wrote. It was based on fraudulent activities and a Fake Dossier paid for by Crooked Hillary and the DNC, and improperly used in FISA COURT for surveillance of my campaign.

Mr. Dowd, by contrast, did not name the special counsel in his statement, but the implication that he believed Mr. Mueller should be fired was unmistakable. Such a move could set off alarms among Republicans in Congress, who have largely stood by as the president repeatedly assailed the Justice Department and the F.B.I.

Mr. Dowd said at first that he was speaking on behalf of the president but later backed off that assertion. He did not elaborate on why he was calling for the end of the investigation, saying only: Just end it on the merits in light of recent revelations.

People close to the president were skeptical that Mr. Dowd was acting on his own. Mr. Trump has a history of using advisers to publicly test a message, giving him some distance from it. And Mr. Dowds comments came at a time when members of Mr. Trumps legal team are jockeying to stay in his favor.WASHINGTON  When President Trump told donors at a fund-raiser this past week that he had invented a fact during a conversation with Canadas prime minister, the surprise was not that Americas leader makes things up, but that he openly admitted it.

Or maybe admitted is the wrong word. He actually seemed to boast about it.

In the furor that followed the disclosure of his remarks, attention focused on the impact on relations with Canada and whether the president was right or wrong in his assertion about trade. But the episode goes to the heart of a more fundamental debate about Mr. Trump: When does he know the things he says are false, and when is he simply misinformed?

Mr. Trump, after all, has made so many claims that stretch the bounds of accuracy that full-time fact-checkers struggle to keep up. Most Americans long ago concluded that he is dishonest, according to polls. While most presidents lie at times, Mr. Trumps speeches and Twitter posts are embedded with so many false, distorted, misleading or unsubstantiated claims that he has tested even the normally low standards of American politics.

His statement this week was another reminder of how cavalier he is with the truth, said Bill Adair, the founder of PolitiFact, the Pulitzer Prize-winning, nonpartisan fact-checking website owned by the Poynter Institute. He seems so willing to say whatever suits him at that moment regardless of whether its true. In all the time that I was editor of PolitiFact and in the time since when Ive worked with fact-checkers all over the world, Ive just never seen any political figure distort the truth so recklessly.Pakistan to skip WTO meet in New Delhi

PTI, Islamabad :

Pakistan has decided to stay away from the World Trade Organisation meet in New Delhi next week in protest against alleged harassment of its diplomats in India.

India last month invited Pakistan Commerce Minister Pervez Malik to participate in the informal WTO ministerial meeting scheduled to be held in New Delhi on March 19-20 and Islamabad had initially accepted the invitation.

Sources in the foreign ministry here said the situation has changed after "repeated harassment of families of diplomats" and it was decided to skip the invitation.

"We cannot send our commerce minister to India in the current situation and India has been informed about it," according to a source.

He said India should also stop the alleged violations of the ceasefire on the Line of Control that led to death of civilians and also stop "atrocities" in Kashmir.

Trade ministers of over 50 nations including the US, China and Pakistan were invited by India to discuss issues related to agriculture and services.

The decision to stay away from WTO meeting in India coincided with the recalling of Pakistan's High Commissioner to India Sohail Mehmood.

Mahmood arrived here last evening for consultations after Pakistan alleged repeated harassment of its diplomats in New Delhi.

Meanwhile, Pakistan is weighing options to deal with the situation in the wake of calling back of its High Commissioner Sohail Mahmood from New Delhi due to alleged harassment of diplomats in India.

Mahmood arrived here a day after the Foreign Office spokesman said that he was being summoned for consultation "due to non-stop harassment of families of the diplomats".

Official sources in the foreign ministry said Mahmood will brief top officials about the situation.

"A decision to how address the situation will be made after the consultations," sources said.

They said that options were on the table including declaring New Delhi as a non-family station and not sending back Mahmood for an indefinite period.

Officials rejected allegations that Indian diplomatic staff were also facing hurdles and harassment in Pakistan.

"Our high commissioner will not return to India anytime soon," the Express Tribune quoted a senior foreign office official as saying.

It reported that initially it was thought he would return to New Delhi after consultations with authorities.

However, the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that the high commissioner would stay back for an indefinite period or "until Indian agencies stop intimidating the staff and families of their diplomatic mission" in New Delhi.

"In other words, Pakistan recalled its envoy to New Delhi as a protest till the situation improves," it reported.

The official justified the move, insisting that under current circumstances it was not possible for the high commissioner to operate out of New Delhi.

"Children have never been harassed even when two countries have had the worst of relationship," he said.

When asked whether Pakistan was contemplating withdrawing the families of its diplomatic staff, the official said it might have to if the current slide in the relationship was not arrested.



The conference in the heart of Silicon Valley had actually been held March 2 and 3, with a dozen sessions, including ones dedicated to questions like Are recent developments in American politics unprecedented, or is Trump merely populism revisited? and What can we learn from past attempts to learn from the past?

Mr. Ferguson is no stranger to controversy. But on Thursday he acknowledged that the conference needed more diversity.

Everybody was keenly aware that it was too white and too male, he said. The problem was explicitly discussed ahead of the event, Mr. Ferguson said. He also said that women had been invited, but all, except one, were unable to attend.

Three female historians who had been invited confirmed to The New York Times that they had declined because of other obligations. The only woman at the event, Mary Sarotte, who headed a single panel, did not respond to a request for comment.KABUL, Afghanistan  The Afghan government is seeking to take financial control of independently run shelters for abused women, alarming aid workers who fear the move could bring the shelters under the sway of conservative figures who have condemned them.

Nongovernmental groups now operate about 40 shelters, legal aid offices and halfway houses for women fleeing horrendous abuse from husbands, fathers, brothers and in-laws. Women at the shelters often have had arms and legs broken, and lips, tongues and noses sliced off.

Nearly all the sites depend on donations from international groups and have succeeded by operating in ways that, while in accordance with Afghan law, run counter to the patriarchal culture here.

Often, for example, fathers will try to retrieve daughters from shelters to compel them back into relationships they have fled, such as arranged marriages to older men or to the womens rapists. The latter is still widely seen in Afghanistan as a satisfactory resolution to a rape case.NEW DELHI  An Indian publisher came under fire this week for including Hitler in a childrens book about world leaders who have devoted their lives for the betterment of their country and people.

Dedicated to the betterment of countries and people? Adolf Hitler? This description would bring tears of joy to the Nazis and their racist neo-Nazi heirs, Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, an international Jewish human rights organization, said in a statement.

Published by the Pegasus imprint of Indias B. Jain Publishing Group, the book, called Leaders  but listed on the publishers website as Great Leaders  spotlights 11 leaders who will inspire you, according to a product description on the publishers website.

On the books cover, a stony-faced Hitler is featured alongside Barack Obama, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Indias prime minister, Narendra Modi. Also included on the cover is Myanmars civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has recently come under sharp criticism for refusing to acknowledge atrocities committed by the countrys military against the Rohingya ethnic group.Mr. Ri arrived in Sweden on Thursday for the talks, which had been long planned but gained widespread attention after Mr. Trump accepted Mr. Kims invitation.

Mr. Lofven said this month that he was willing to host a meeting between Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim. If we can help in any way, we will do it, he said at a news conference, noting that Sweden has had an embassy in Pyongyang since the 1970s.

Their trust in us is longstanding because we were first on the spot. We were the ones to break the ice and open an embassy, said Erik Cornell, the Swedish ambassador who opened the countrys embassy in Pyongyang in 1975.

Niklas Swanstrom, the director of the Institute for Security and Development Policy, a Swedish research group, said the country has had some access and influence in North Korea.

Comparative to other Western states, we have had a unique relationship with the North Korean government, due to our neutrality, due to our supervisory role and also the protective mission, said Mr. Swanstrom, referring to Swedens supervisory role in monitoring the armistice that ended hostilities in the Korean War.

If the upcoming talks were to be held in a foreign country, then Sweden or Switzerland could be an option, Mr. Swanstrom said, but added that it was more likely they would take place in the Korean Demilitarized Zone. The DMZ is more likely, as Mr. Kim has not traveled outside the country since he took power, Mr. Swanstrom said.

On Friday, in a short statement to journalists, Ms. Wallstrom said, We are glad that we can have this meeting. She added: But we are not naive in any way. We do not think that we can solve this issue. It is up to the parties to solve it. If we can use our contacts in the best way, then we will do that.WASHINGTON  Foreign smugglers are trying to ship advanced American technologies  which can be used for weapons and spy equipment  to China, Russia and other adversaries at rates that outpace shadowy and illegal exports during the Cold War, according to United States officials and experts.

In one recent case, a Texas businessman was paid $1.5 million to buy special radiation-resistant circuits for space programs in Russia and China. The businessman, Peter A. Zuccarelli, was working with a smuggling ring run by a Pakistani-born American citizen; court documents show Mr. Zuccarelli created fake shipping documents and mislabeled the circuits as parts for touch-screen computers. He was sentenced in January to four years in prison.

In another case, the Chinese citizen Fuyi Sun sought to buy M60 carbon fiber, which is used in military drones, from undercover federal agents at Homeland Security Investigations. Using the word banana as code for carbon fiber, Mr. Sun took steps to conceal and export $25,000 worth of the material that he bought shortly before he was arrested. He was sentenced in September to three years in prison.

He openly claimed in an email that he was closely associated with the military, said Pete Gizas, a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations, a branch of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.The church did not always embrace Padre Pio. Both his superiors and the Vatican initiated more than a dozen investigations against him, and Pope John XXIII wrote of Padre Pios immense deception. But his successor, Paul VI, lifted the restrictions on Pios ministry.

Francis being Francis, he went off-script in Pietrelcina, addressing the internal migration of young people, a problem endemic to Italys less affluent regions, where work is scarce and many are forced to emigrate north  within Italy or to other European countries.

The pope called on locals to pray that young people find work, among you, among the family and are not forced to leave to look for another way, while the country spiraled into a decline.

But his mission in coming south was to honor Padre Pio, whose global following has grown significantly since his death in 1968. The mosaics that envelop the walls on the lower part of the saints shrine were paid for by a Philippine foundation dedicated to him.

The floor of the crypt where Padre Pios body is on view is littered with slips of papers, closed envelopes, photo-booth portraits and even money, mostly small bills. The faithful and other visitors slip similar mementos under the door of the cell where he spent the last years of his life in San Giovanni Rotondo, or into the confessional of the old church where he is said to have heard millions of confessions.MOSCOW  Russia on Saturday ordered 23 British diplomats to leave the country within a week, escalating a diplomatic crisis after a former Russian spy and his daughter were poisoned with a military grade nerve agent on British soil.

The order came days after Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain expelled the same number of Russian diplomats and called off high-level contacts between the two governments.

The Russians also ordered the closing of the British Council, a cultural and educational organization, in Russia, and revoked permission for the British consulate general in St. Petersburg.

The announcement came after the British ambassador, Laurie Bristow, was summoned to the Foreign Ministry in Moscow on Saturday morning.Every St. Patricks Day for two decades, Gerry Adams or other leaders of Sinn Fein, the party once known primarily as the political arm of the Irish Republican Army, have come to the United States to lobby Washington politicians and rally Irish-American donors.

This year there has been a new item on Mr. Adamss agenda: passing the torch to the partys new president, Mary Lou McDonald, 48, whose election last month represented a generational shift at a time of great uncertainty for Northern Ireland.

We have been blessed with a generational transition, Mr. Adams, 69, said in a speech in New York on Friday, motioning to Ms. McDonald and her vice president, Michelle ONeill, 41. And it is a matter of pride for me that our party chose two women to lead us because women for too long have been written out of our history.

Mr. Adams, who won a seat in the Irish Parliament in 2011, is a towering  and divisive  figure in modern Ireland. Long accused of having a leadership role in the I.R.A., a charge he denies, he led Sinn Fein for 34 years, most notably through an American-brokered peace process that ended Irelands sectarian conflict in 1998.CALAIS, France  Serge Orlov, a 62-year-old Briton, likes to rail against what he calls the tyranny of the European Union. Like most supporters of his countrys withdrawal from the bloc, he wants Britain to strike out on its own, a fully sovereign state unshackled from Europes pettifogging rules and the Continents overweening state.

But faced with excruciating pain and a seemingly endless wait for a knee replacement, Mr. Orlov temporarily shelved his euroskepticism to take advantage of a little known National Health Service program and jump to the head of the line  in France.

After waiting a year just for the possibility of the knee replacement he badly needed, he turned to Calais Hospital in northern France, where in a matter of 10 days he found himself on the operating table for the three-hour procedure, he said in an interview. He plans to get his second knee replaced in a few weeks time. Back home, it took him a year to receive a letter informing him when he might have the operation.

Waiting, its just miserable, he said, describing how he had been shuttled to five different hospitals in Britain over more than eight months. Waiting rooms are full of sick people, he said, adding swiftly, by way of explanation, I can be a grumpy old git.The seeming dissonance between a rise in the polls and the prime ministers deepening legal troubles makes complete sense to Mr. Netanyahus defiant base in Kiryat Malachi and in other strongholds of his conservative Likud party. In these parts, Bibi, as he is lovingly nicknamed, is extolled as a popular hero who is persecuted by a liberal news media; a leader without peer whose peccadilloes are easily forgiven.

Mr. Netanyahu, Israels longest serving prime minister after the countrys founder, David Ben-Gurion, has been mired for months in corruption investigations involving allegations of some $300,000 worth of illicit gifts, including expensive cigars, jewelry and champagne, and back-room dealings to ensure more favorable media coverage. Last month, police recommended that he be charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust in two separate cases. He has since become a suspect in a third, weightier scandal involving an Israeli telecommunications and media tycoon.

Another former prime minister accused of graft did not fare as well. Ehud Olmert, who originally came from Mr. Netanyahus Likud party, was forced out of office under public and political pressure in 2008. Conversely in Mr. Netanyahus case, the more sensational the leaks from the investigations, the more popular he seems to grow.

Though a recent coalition crisis was resolved and elections are not scheduled until late 2019, a steady stream of newspaper and television polls have put Likud in front. Those polled consistently chose Mr. Netanyahu as the most suitable candidate, by far, for prime minister.Battle for women's rights

Sanam Naraghi-Anderlini :

In 1909, the Socialist Party of America, in support of female garment workers protesting working conditions, designated March 8 as a day to honor women. By 1917, women in Russia were protesting for 'bread and peace' against a backdrop of war. In recognition of that protest and women's suffrage in Soviet Russia, The International Socialist movement designated March 8 as International Women's Day.

Over the past 101 years, women, governments and the UN around the world have marked the day of solidarity and recognition of our rights. I appreciated its true significance in 2010 when, I spent the day among a group of Masai women in Kenya.

I was leading a delegation of women peacebuilders from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Canada and the US. We drove miles through dusty plains speckled with the occasional tree and giraffe herds to meet the Masai. They had walked hours to join us at their community center, a cinder block building that they'd paid for by making and selling jewelry and crafts.

They knew it was International Women's Day and they were excited to be included as women in the world. It was humbling to be with them and it felt like a universal sisterhood.

In 2017, in the wake of the massive women's protests, in the US on March 8th women wore red. For just that day on the sidewalks and in traffic, in government buildings and beyond, we the women signaled our mutual solidarity through our shared flash of red. It was symbolic, reassuring and empowering. So 101 years on as March 8th 2018 dawns, how far have we come and how far do we still need to go? In America, it is easy to feel angry. We are witnessing the most deliberate and targeted rollbacks of basic rights for women to be enacted by a government. Domestically in 2017 the Trump administration revoked the Fair Pay act that enabled women and minorities to determine if they were being subject to pay discrimination.

Health care provisions particularly reproductive rights are at perpetual risk. Vice President Mike Pence has openly stated that they aim to put an end to abortion - presumably the legal, safe variety - in his time.

Internationally too, the US is retrenching. In February 2018 the State Department announced that its annual global human rights report would no longer highlight the range of abuses and violations that women and girls typically experience. In the name of expediency and to 'sharpen the focus', the US has determined that violence against women is not a sufficiently egregious form of abuse - despite its prevalence among and relevance to at least 50% of the world's population.

To give simple context: Globally women and girls make up 71 percent of the victims of human trafficking - a vast source of revenue for criminal and violent organizations. Three quarters of them are sexually abused. Of the women murdered globally in 2012, their partners or their own relatives killed half of them. But according to the US administration this evidence does not amount to egregious abuse.

Such denial makes for strange bedfellows internationally. The Trump administration puts the US in the same camp as Cuba, China, Iran, Syria, all of which refused to acknowledge violence against women as a gendered issues in recent years. On seeking to assert state control over women's bodies particularly in terms of reproductive health issues, it is aligned with among others, Sudan, Russia, and the Vatican/Holy See - a nation of some 570 citizens, of whom just 30 are women -

Globally too, there is room for concern. In recent years, we have seen a co-opting of the rights and equality agenda in insidious ways. Many conservative states have become champions of girls' education on the global stage. Yet scratch the surface and their agenda is not one of equal rights, opportunity or freedom to choose their own paths. They want to educate girls so they can be good wives and better mothers.

In other words, girls' education is not for the purpose of fulfilling a human being's potential, rather it is to prepare her to be subservient to male dominance, and cede the public sphere where decisions are made and power is wielded. And most tellingly no state is making the effort to educate men to be good husbands and better fathers. That would certainly go a long way towards reducing levels of violence.

Another recent trend has been to claim support for the women, peace and security agenda, by opening militaries to female recruitment in combat roles. The latest to join the ranks is Saudi Arabia, which in February 2018 announced that women could join the army as security officers but not as combat soldiers (The irony that these women would still need to live with their male guardians seems lost on the state).

So in the name of equality, women are being deployed to wield weapons and if needed, oppress, perpetrate violence, maim or kill. But an equal chance to fit into existing structures does not equate to an equal chance to transform the entrenched status quo. When it comes to the women, peace and security issues for example, many of us advocates would argue that our cause is not to enable our daughters to be drafted into armies on equal footing as our sons. Rather ours to ensure that neither our daughters nor our sons have bear witness or engage in the horrors of war. That is the paradigm shift and equality we strive for - much like the Russian women in 1917.

But neither Saudi Arabia nor many other countries are matching their purported awakening to gender equality with a commitment to ensuring women's effective participation in the realms where decisions - particularly about peace and security - are being made. It is evident by the paucity of women in the negotiations regarding the fate of Yemen and Syria.

Meanwhile conservative forces that rail against women's rights and feminism, have co-opted the empowerment agenda by deploying their own army of women. From ISIS to the White Supremacist, they understand that women have power and influence. They also understand that women have aspirations and capacity to contribute to a cause.

In the US the fact that the National Rifle Association (NRA) has a female spokesperson and television series with female heroes is no accident. They recognize that the optics work in their favor. Their spokeswomen inevitably appear more disarming (pun intended), conveying an image of both modernity and traditionalism, femininity and empowerment, even if they are handmaidens to the male leadership.

But the anger is also giving rise to positive developments. Trumpism sparked the women's marches and a linking of arms among women across nations, of every generation. Feminism, long taken for granted and even denigrated, is fashionable again. It is fueled by indignation and action.

The #MeToo campaign founded by Tarana Burke long before Trump arose, has surged and its impact is evident in every sector. In the political realm despite the negative stance of the administration, Congress has passed two critical pieces of legislation - the Women, Peace and Security Act and a new Anti-online Sex trafficking bill that is heading to the Senate.

Perhaps the greatest sign of hope is the younger generation. Our teenage girls, who grew up in the Obama years that brought kindness, respect and a 'can-do' attitude to the fore, and whose political consciousness evolved in tandem with the rise of social media and greater connectivity, are emerging as new leaders. This too is a global phenomenon.

In the US, high school students Emma Gonzalez and Delaney Tarr who survived the Marjory Stoneham Douglas High School shooting in Florida have become leading activists in the tough, overwhelmingly male dominated debates on security and gun control.

In Palestine, 17-year old high schooler, Ahed Tamimi has become the symbol of resistance against the Israeli occupation, after confronting armed Israeli soldiers about shooting her unarmed young cousin. Pakistani Malala Yousefzia, survivor of a terror attack and already a veteran activist at 21, won the Nobel Prize for daring to confront the Taliban about attacks on schools girls.

In Iran, a younger generation of women are confronting the state's compulsory hijab laws by provocatively standing in public spaces, waving their scarves like flags on a pole. It is notable that in every instance they are either working on equal footing with men, or they have men recognizing their courageous leadership and cheering them on.

In each instance, these young women activists, stands on the shoulders of the many who came before them. They may not be familiar with the terms of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Beijing Platform for Action, Security Council Resolution 1325 and its 7 sister resolutions, the Millennium or Sustainable Development Goals. They may even take much of it for granted, but that itself is an indication of empowerment, as this new generation is taking the struggle into a new phase.

This younger generation's starting point is one of absolute equality. They not only feel entitled to speak, but feel entitled to be heard. And as my 17 year old daughter remarks, 'Years of dystopic novels with female heroes saving the day, combined with lessons in civil rights, means of course we want to speak out and act."

So if their grandmother's generation fought to get into the system and participate in the status quo set by men, and their mother's generation fought to transform systems from within by being collaborative, this younger generation is standing their own ground. They are setting their own terms, shaping their own narratives, and creating their own space - particularly through their adept handling of social media.

As they stand up to might of the vested interests and security state offering common sense solutions-be it in the US, Israel, Iran or Pakistan - but being rebuked violently, they reveal how naked and absurd the emperor truly is.

So a century on from the first International Women's Day, these young women are lifting the veil off the systems that have perpetuated discrimination and violence and calling them out. In solidarity with women of the past they are saying 'Time's up". I know they mean it. So it is with pride and confidence that I, for one, am happy to pass the baton.



(This article is part of a series of stories and op-eds launched by IPS on the occasion of this year's International Women's Day on March 8. Sanam Naraghi-Anderlini is co-founder & Executive Director of the International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN) and Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University).CBI will provide all help to get Nirav Modi extradited from the UK

Centre objects to SC seeking PNB scam report in sealed cover

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

A suggestion by the Supreme Court to file the probe report of the PNB scam in a sealed cover was opposed by the Centre. It would amount to a parallel inquiry, the Centre told the court.

What is the justification for any court, leave alone this court to ask for a report, Attorney General, K K Venugopal told a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra.

The submission was made during the hearing of a petition that sought directions to register cases against top officials of the Punjab National Bank, deportation of prime accused Nirav Modi and also directions to banks regarding the grant of loans.

When the SC suggested that a report be filed in a sealed cover, the AG appraised the Bench that a probe was already on by various agencies. So far 19 persons have been arrested, he also added. Let the investigative agencies do its work. There cannot be any parallel inquiry by the courts, the AG said while also adding that the report will not be given to the petitioner.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Saturday, March 17, 2018, 7:06 [IST]PIA flight lands in Kabul, becomes first commercial airline to do so since Taliban takeover

On Afghanistan, Pak has to line up on broad majority of international community: Blinken

Harassment of diplomat: Pakistan refuses to send High Commissioner back to India

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

Pakistan is refuses to send its High Commissioner Sohail Mahmood back to New Delhi any time soon, reported The Express Tribune on Saturday.

Islamabad's decision comes in the wake of allegations of harassment and intimidation of diplomats of both countries, and their families.

The daily further quoted the unnamed official of the Foreign Office, as saying that Islamabad has decided not to send High Commissioner Mahmood back to New Delhi until the overall situation regarding treatment of diplomatic staff and their families is resolved.

"Our high commissioner will not return to India anytime soon," the senior Foreign Office official was quoted by the Express Tribune, as saying just hours after Mahmood returned from New Delhi on Friday.

The official told the daily that the high commissioner would stay back for an indefinite period. Initially, it was thought that he would return to New Delhi after consultations with relevant authorities.

On March 15, Pakistan recalled its High Commissioner in India Sohail Mahmood for "consultations" after repeated incidence of "harassment" of its diplomatic staff in New Delhi.

Foreign Office spokesman Muhammad Faisal said the Indian government failed to take notice of the increasing incidents of intimidation of Pakistani diplomats, their families and staffers by its intelligence agencies.

However, the Indian government downplayed the move, calling it "routine". "He has been called back for consultation. This is pretty normal for High Commissioner to brief its foreign office. We have no further comments," foreign ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said at a press conference in New Delhi.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Saturday, March 17, 2018, 23:12 [IST]Veteran actor Saira Banu hospitalised due to low BP, doc says doing fine now

Who was Siddharth Shukla? The Bigg Boss 13 winner who died at the age of 40

Aditya Singh Bhadoria: from humble beginnings to becoming a rising star in Bollywood

Actor Manik Marria gets a role in a Bollywood movie, says will not leave his dietician career

Sachin Vashist and Jenny Kathaits Love Story in Moon will Remind Your Bachpan Ka Pyaar

Himachal HC stays probe in sexual assault case against actor Jeetendra

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

Himachal Pradesh High Court on Saturday stayed the probe against actor Jeetendra in a molestation case registered on his cousin's complaint.

In a complaint made to police, his cousin sister had accused him of sexually assaulting her in January 1971 at a hotel in Shimla.

As per the complaint, the incident took place in January 1971, when the victim was 18 and Jeetendra was 28. It happened when he "arranged" for the victim to join him from New Delhi in Shimla on the set of his movie without the complainant's "awareness".

The victim has claimed that on the night they reached Shimla, Jeetendra returned to the room in an inebriated state, joined the two separate beds and sexually assaulted her.

In the online complaint made after 47 years she had demanded for the registration of FIR against him.

Jeetendra has dubbed the charges as "baseless", and a "miserable effort by a jealous competitor to disrupt his business activities".

Jeetendra through his counsel had challenged the FIR registered against him and had requested for the quashing of FIR. His counsel pleaded in the court that how police registered the FIR that too without any preliminary investigation and without having any evidence.

Jeetendra, whose real name is Ravi Kapoor, is a well-known name in the Hindi film industry.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Saturday, March 17, 2018, 22:26 [IST]With killing of 2 more Lashkar operatives, number of terrorists gunned down in J&K this year is 78

Lashkar-Hizbul patch up with every martyr is Salahuddins son remark

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

It appears as though the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and the Hizbul Mujahideen have patched things up. Some reports in recent times had spoken about a rift between the two outfits.

It was also stated the Lashkar-e-Tayiba leadership had pressed for a change of guard in the Hizbul Mujahideen. The Lashkar-e-Tayiba leadership felt that it was high-time that Syed Salahuddin be replaced as the head of the Hizbul Mujahideen.

However a recent statement by the Lashkar-e-Tayiba gives the impression that differences have been ironed out. In a statement, the spokesperson of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, Dr Abdullah Ghaznavi condemned the summoning of Salahuddin's son for questioning in connection with the Kashmir terror funding case.

Every martyr is the son of Salahuddin, the statement read. He is the mentor of millions of martyrs . India can never malign such acts of bravery and courage, the statement also read.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Saturday, March 17, 2018, 7:17 [IST]Bihar MLA Gopal Mandal seen walking in underwear in Patna-Delhi Train, says Stomach was upset

Murder in Darbhanga not linked with naming of chowk after PM Modi: Police

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar

By Chennabasaveshwar

The Bihar police on Saturday denied the reports of the beheading of an old man in Darbhanga linking it with the naming of private land after Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Satya Veer Singh, SSP on the killing of a man in Darbhanga, said, "It was due to an old land dispute and has no connection with the naming of chowk, they named their private land as Narendra Modi Chowk. Batons were used to injure the deceased's son. There is no tension in the village."

Also, Bihar Deputy CM, Sushil Modi, refuted the reports saying the man was killed for naming Modi Chawk as totally false. Sushil Modi, tweeted, " Totally false that murder in Darbhanga case of naming Modi Chawk. Case of land dispute.Board was put long back, Murder has nothing to do with Board.

Totally false that murder in Darbhanga cose of naming Modi https://t.co/Vzjoj6xJaW of land dispute.Board was put long back,Murder has nothing to do with Board.  Sushil Kumar Modi (@SushilModi) March 16, 2018

The deceased has been identified as Ramchandra Yadav. He was the father of Kamalesh Yadav, the BJP chief for Behala Panchayat.

Kamlesh Yadav had told reporters "a chowk (square) at our native village of Bhadavan in Sadar police station area had been named after Narendra Modi two years ago".

"Yesterday, local RJD supporters, who had been opposed to the naming of the square after Modi, tried to remove the plaque bearing the name of the square. When we protested, they said that the RJD's victory in bypolls to one Lok Sabha and an assembly seat marked their party's resurgence and hence they wanted to rename the square after Lalu Prasad", Yadav alleged. "

The RJD supporters went away after we resolutely opposed them.

OneIndia NewsPlea in Delhi HC for equal status to 'Vande Mataram' as that of national anthem

Maharashtra: Jana Gana Mana must at before public events in colleges

Fact check: Video of US Army playing Indian National Anthem is an old one

Now, Haryana minister questions word 'adhinayak' in National Anthem

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

Haryana Minister Anil Vij on Saturday questioned the presence of word 'adhinayak' in the national anthem, insisting it was like praising a dictator.

"Adhinayaka ka matlab hota hein tanashah (the word adhinayak means a dictator). In democracy, there is no place for a dictator," he said.

On Friday, a Congress MP moved private member's resolution in Rajya Sabha seeking amendment of the national anthem.

"North East is an important part of India, it is unfortunate that it is not part of the national anthem.

On other hand, Sindh is mentioned, which is no longer part of India but part of Pakistan, which is a hostile country," Ripun Bora said after he moved the private member's resolution in the Upper House today.

Bora said since the then President had said the national anthem could be amended, it should be done now to replace the word "Sindh' with the word "Northeast".

In 2015, Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh had recently demanded removal of the word from the national anthem and suggested that it be replaced with 'mangal' (happiness).

He had contended that the word 'adhinayak' in the anthem was meant to extol the then "Angreji Shashak".

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Saturday, March 17, 2018, 19:44 [IST]Post the TDP-NDA divorce, Amit Shah holds meeting with BJP's Andhra core group

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

A day after N Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP's pulled out of the National Democratic Alliance, BJP president Amit Shah met the party's core group leaders from Andhra Pradesh on Saturday.

Shah is likely to review the political situation in Andhra Pradesh after the split and chalk out a strategy before the Lok Sabha elections and assembly elections here.

Andhra Pradesh MLAs, including Kamineni Srinivas and Daggubati Purandeswari, are at BJP President Amit Shah's residence in Delhi.

The meeting assumes significance in view of the latest political developments in the wake of the YSRCP no confidence motion and the TDP walking out of the NDA. He would also discuss about the latest political scenario.

Shah is likely to review the political situation in Andhra Pradesh and strategize over the BJP's options in Andhra Pradesh, which sends 25 members to the Lok Sabha. Assembly elections in the state will be held along with Lok Sabha elections in 2019.

The BJP has already asserted that the TDP's decision to sever ties with it is a timely opportunity for it to grow in Andhra Pradesh.

"TDP's decision to quit was inevitable after its mischievous propaganda against Centre. People of Andhra Pradesh have now realised that the TDP is resorting to lies to cover up its inept and inert governance. Far from being a threat, TDP's exit is a timely opportunity for the BJP to grow in Andhra Pradesh," BJP spokesperson G.V.L. Narasimha Rao said.

The TDP and the YSR Congress headed by Jagan Mohan Reddy are the two main parties in the state. While the former has been a part of the NDA since 2014, the YSR Congress too has often supported the government in Parliament on many legislations.

However, both have now been targeting the BJP after the Centre declined to grant special category status to Andhra Pradesh.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Saturday, March 17, 2018, 17:15 [IST]From land jihad to Islamic jihad: Why we must rejoice the return of illegal Bangladeshis

No strikes: Jihad in Kerala is focused more on changing mindset of the local Muslim

Southern jihad: How Deendar Anjuman gave birth to it in Karnataka

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

The death of Mohammad Taufeeq, a Telangana resident has opened up a huge debate on the radicalisation that is taking place in South India. The fact that only Kashmiris and Pakistanis wage jihad in Kashmir no longer holds true.

Back in 2010, a Kerala resident, Shakeel Mohammad was killed in an encounter at Lolab in North Kashmir. Taufeeq's case is the second instance in which a non-Kashmiri was found to be waging jihad in Kashmir. What is more important is that in both these cases, the persons belonged to South India.

If one goes back to track the rise of jihad and radicalisation in South India, it could be said that it all began in Karnataka with the rise of the Deendar Anjuman. A violent groups which carried out religious hits, the rise and fall of this outfit were in fact very quick. However the trail that it left behind following its downfall lingers on till this day.

It began in the year 2000 when the Deendar Anjuman carried out a series of blasts. The group carried out two attacks. The first blast was at the St Annes Church in Gulbarga on June 8 2000 and the next day a bomb exploded at the St Peter Paul Church at JJ Nagar in Bengaluru.

The Deendar Anjuman members also attempted at planting another bomb but the bomb accidentally went off at the Magadi road killing two of its members Zakir and Siddiqui.

The police had filed a chargesheet against 29 persons in connection with this attack. In the first ever conviction for a case of terror the special court convicted 22 accused in the case. The High Court on December 17 2014 upheld the convictions.

The birth of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba in South:

This was a major attack that took place on December 28 2005. It was a Fidayeen strike masterminded by the Lashkar-e-Tayiba. The intent was to kill the delegates at the Indian Institute of Sciences.

The police were able to ascertain the Lashkar link to the attack and it was the first time that this outfit had decided to target a South Indian city.

The Bengaluru police stated in its chargesheet that the two prime accused in the case were Sabauddin Ahmed and Abu Hamza. There were five others too named in the case. The trial court convicted six persons.

The Kerala connect:

The serial blasts in Bengaluru in 2008 saw 9 bombs exploding. All were low in intensity. In the incident one person died and several others were injured.

The investigations revealed that a fringe group from Kerala led by T Nasir claiming to be HuJI operative carried out the attack. However further investigations revealed that he belonged to no particular outfit.

The investigations also led to the arrest of Abdul Nasar Madani a controversial politician from Kerala. The trial is underway and the police have chargesheeted 31 persons in this case.

The rise of the Indian Mujahideen:

The Chinnaswamy stadium blasts of April 2010 was an eye opener. The Indian Mujahideen which was born in Karnataka had returned to the state.

This blast saw the deadly Yasin Bhatkal plant one of the bombs before making an escape to Chickmagalur. The attack was aimed at announcing their come back and hence they decided to target the stadium when an IPL game was about to resume.

The police said there were three bombs in all. The third one was said to be the deadliest one and was timed to strike at the crowd as they were entering the stadium. However this bomb was spotted in time by the agencies and diffused.

Al-Ummah is born:

The Al-Ummah is a group that targets Hindus and is based out of Tamil Nadu. This group had a score to settle with the BJP is what the investigators point out.

On April 17th 2013 just as the state was readying for the assembly elections, a group of men belonging to the Al-Ummah planted a bomb away from the BJP office in Malleshwaram. 16 persons were injured in the attack.

The police chargesheet names 20 persons all hailing from Tamil Nadu to be behind this blast. The prime accused in this incident is Abu Backer Siddiqui a 48 year old operative of the Al-Ummah.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Saturday, March 17, 2018, 7:40 [IST]Higher Education in a mess

THE University Grants Commission (UGC) has long been pressing for establishing a Higher Education Commission providing more power to it, reform in admission process, increase investment in research at higher education, and introduce class demonstration practices while appointing good quality teachers. The UGC call has long been unheard since 2008 and the progress in this regard is negligible.



However, even more depressing other than the establishing the Higher Education Commission is that the UGC repeatedly called private universities to comply with the Private Universities Act 2010, and most of these private universities continue to defy UGC's instructions - in terms of shifting to respective campuses, appoint Vice-Chancellor, Pro-VC and Treasurer, holding regular meetings of syndicate, and carry out regular audits - in line with the law.



We mark a series of flaws in the UGC's end, markedly, lack of commitment, bureaucratic tangle, failure to implement its recommendations. According to experts and global rankings, standard of education both at our public and private universities have declined in recent years. The UGC needs to take this fact into serious consideration.



On one hand, not even a single Bangladeshi university is among the top 700 universities in the world while on the other; new public universities as well as those outside Dhaka are failing to woo students for their poor performance due mainly to shortage of teachers and infrastructure.



The truth, however, in most cases authorities concerned fail to feel the necessity of the UGC's recommendations, so they remain unimplemented. Moreover it's also short of funds. This should not continue with the country's apex body of all affiliated public, private and international universities of Bangladesh.



Needs be mentioned, UGC is also responsible to provide funds for public universities of the country. Its mission is to ensure the quality of Higher Education throughout the country, it should be appropriately funded. Need of the hour is to re-equip the UGC with the most able of hands and ensure its proper functioning. We have compromised with the quality of our education at all levels for too long. Now it must stop.The rise of Islamic terrorism in Nepal and worry ahead for India

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

When security analysts speak about Nepal, they do not fail to mention about how it is a safe haven and route for terrorists. Most terrorists operating in India flee first to Uttar Pradesh before taking a road trip to Nepal.

While Nepal has not witnessed any major incident of terror, there is considerable intelligence that suggests that the rise of Islamic terror in the country.

Groups such as the Tablighi Jamaat and Islami Sangh, Nepal operate in the country. The two outfits have been at conflict in a minor way over issues such as ideology and faith. Muslims make up for almost 5 per cent of Nepal's population. They are the biggest single group in the five Tarai districts of Banke, Kapilvastu, Parsa, Bara and Rautahat.

The recent arrest of Indian Mujahideen operative Abdul Subhan and his subsequent investigation revealed how a well-oiled network in Nepal is giving protection to terrorists on the run. As mentioned earlier Nepal is a safe haven for terrorists. They use it as a transit point between India and Pakistan. Subhan during his questioning speaks about a person called Nizam Khan a member of the Islami Sangh who provides logistic supports to terrorists on the run.

While India acknowledges that Nepal is a safe haven for terrorists, it also says that there has been a slow rise in Islamic fanaticism in the country. Nepal has not been very proactive in dealing with these issues. The BIPA corridor-Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan has been a hub of terror activity. The operatives working on this corridor carry out their activities before finding a safe hub in Nepal.

What Indian agencies worry is that the rise of Islamic terror within Nepal could spill out into India. For now, groups such as the Islami Sangh have been providing logistic support to the Indian terrorists. Another incident reported in recent times showed how an operative from Nepal was roped in by a Pakistani to blow up railways tracks in India.

The Intelligence Bureau says that Nepal no longer is a stop-over. It is gradually becoming a control centre. What ails the war on terror is the open border with India. The weak controls on the border and lack of checks has only added to the problem. The Islamic groups in Nepal oversee the movement of terrorists and have deployed their touts to ferry terrorists.

A recent report by the US State Department had raised concerns about the weak border security and how it has become a free transit point for international terrorists as well. Nepal however did not consider the report too seriously as a result of which it was exploited by terrorists.

Nepal also had a brush with the Islamic State recently. In August 2017, four citizens of Nepal were arrested for alleged links with international terrorist groups. The four arrested were Shamshul Hoda, Mojahir Ansari, Asish Singh and Umesh Kumar Kurmi, all hailing from Bara district in the south of Nepal.

They were migrant workers who had gone to Dubai in search of work. Out there they came in contact with a Pakistan national who lured them into the ISIS. Ironically at the time of incident, the four were detained on charges of murder as there was no anti-terrorism law.

Investigations had revealed that these persons had killed two Indians. The murder took place after the Indians changed their minds and said that they would not work for the ISIS. The two Indians to be killed were Dipak Ram and Arum Ram whose bodies were found in the Karaiya forest.

Investigations also revealed that the four were operating as a part of the network set up by the ISIS which spread across, Malaysia, Dubai, India, Pakistan and Nepal. It was also found that this was the same group that was part of the module which planted the bomb on the railway track near Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Saturday, March 17, 2018, 11:18 [IST]Trump fires FBI Deputy Director for making unauthorised disclosures to media

International

pti-PTI

Washington, March 17: The Trump administration has fired Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Deputy Director accusing him of making an unauthorised disclosure to the media. Andrew McCabe, the FBI Deputy Director was set to retire on Sunday.

Andrew McCabe in a lengthy statement fired back alleging that his termination was an effort on the part of the administration to undermine the investigation in the alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election by counsel Robert Mueller.

The announcement by Attorney General Jeff Sessions late last night comes within days of President Donald Trump firing his Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

Sessions said McCabe has been fired based on the recommendation of an internal FBI office that handles disciplinary matters. FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) and Office of Inspector General (OIG) had found McCabe made an unauthorised disclosure to the news media and "lacked candor - including under oath - on multiple occasions," the attorney general said.

The FBI expects every employee to adhere to the highest standards of honesty, integrity and accountability. I have terminated the employment of Andrew McCabe effective immediately, Sessions said McCabe refuted the allegations. The idea that I was dishonest is just wrong. This is part of an effort to discredit me as a witness, he said in a lengthy statement.

Notably McCabe had stepped own in January and had taken leave of absence. According to reports, McCabe was among the first at the FBI to scrutinise possible Trump campaign ties to Russia.

And he is a potential witness to the question of whether Trump tried to obstruct justice, they said.

Mr Trump has taunted Mr McCabe both publicly and privately, and Republican allies have cast him as the centre of a 'deep state' effort to undermine the Trump presidency, a report said.

McCabe said for the last year and a half, he and his family have been the targets of an unrelenting assault on their reputation and his service to this country.

Articles too numerous to count have leveled every sort of false, defamatory and degrading allegation against us. The president's tweets have amplified and exacerbated it all. He called for my firing.

He called for me to be stripped of my pension after more than 20 years of service. And all along we have said nothing, never wanting to distract from the mission of the FBI by addressing the lies told and repeated about us. No more," he said. He also charged the president.

"Here is the reality: I am being singled out and treated this way because of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of James Comey. The release of this report was accelerated only after my testimony to the House Intelligence Committee revealed that I would corroborate former Director Comey's accounts of his discussions with the President," the statement said.

"This attack on my credibility is one part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally, but to taint the FBI, law enforcement, and intelligence professionals more generally. It is part of this administration's ongoing war on the FBI and the efforts of the Special Counsel investigation, which continue to this day. Their persistence in this campaign only highlights the importance of the Special Counsel's work," McCabe said.

A day earlier, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said that McCabe's troubling behaviour" was "well-documented," insisting he was "by most accounts a bad actor."

McCabe was involved in FBI's investigation into former secretary of State Hillary Clinton's email server and the Russia probe.

PTIKhaleda won't be released even she gets bail from SC: Anisul

Staff Reporter :

Law Minister Anisul Huq on Saturday said, if the Supreme Court grants bail to BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia on Sunday, she will not be freed until she gets bail in another case from a Comilla court.

"She needs to obtain bail in another case from a Comilla court so that she can be freed from jail," the minister said.

Anisul Huq said this while talking to the journalists after a programme in the capital on Saturday.

After the Appellate Division stayed Khaleda Zia's bail, her lawyers claimed that the action was the reflection of the governments wish.

When asked about the allegation, Anisul said: "A High Court bench has granted her bail. If the government truly interfered with the case, then it was not possible for her to get bail. We never intervene the work of the judiciary."

The top court is scheduled to hear four petitions, two filed by Khaleda and the two others by the Anti-Corruption Commission and the State on Sunday. The former Prime Minister will be granted bail in the Zia Orphanage Trust Graft case if the Appellate Division accepts her petitions. BNP Chairperson Khaleda has been in jail since February 8 after conviction in the Orphanage Trust Corruption case. She was, however, granted bail by the High Court challenged by the State and the ACC filed two petitions challenging the order. Appellate Division Chamber Judge Justice Hasan Foez Siddique sent the two petitions to the full bench for hearing without passing any orders.

The top court stayed the High Court order and asked both parties to file leave-to-appeal.

Khaleda will have to appear in the Comilla Court on March 28. It is being assumed that Khaleda will be sent to Comilla if she does not get bail before the date of the hearing.Quader exposed govt's election 'blueprint', says Moudud

Staff Reporter :

BNP Standing Committee Member Barrister Moudud Ahmed on Saturday said that Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader's remarks exposed the ruling party's 'blueprint' for the next polls.

"The AL leader (Obaidu Quder) said that their party's election victory is mere a formality. If it is, then why are you waiting for December? You can take oath now." Moudud Ahmed said while speaking at a discussion meeting at the Jatiya Press Club to demand the release of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia from jail. Nagorik Odhikar Andolon, a pro-BNP platform, organised the programme.

"The remarks of the ruling party leader made it clear that the government has made a blueprint for holding the next polls without opposition as it did on 5 January 2014. As if the polls have already been held, a gazette notification is only left," said Moudud.

Moudud Ahmed said, he (Quader) disclosed impulsively what we have long been suspecting. We would like to clearly say that people would not let you (govt) implement your blueprint.

On Friday, Obaidul Quader told reporters that the country's people are so glad over their government's massive development work that their party's victory is just a formality.More lives could have been saved

Firefighters struggle for over half an hour to reach burning wreckage

Staff Reporter :

More lives could have been saved from the burning wreckage of the US-Bangla aircraft had the firefighters been equipped with proper personal protective equipment for the rescue and response operation.

"We couldn't enter the active fire in and around the aircraft due to lack of suitable entry suits," a firefighter who took part in the rescue and response mission, told The Himalayan Times.

He said though rescue and firefighting foam tenders had reached the crash site within three minutes of the crash, they had to struggle for over half an hour to reach the intensely burning wreckage due to lack of aluminised fire entry suits. Aluminised fire entry suits are mandatory for such hazardous situation as mandated by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), according to the firefighter.

"Most of the 22 lives saved from the scene were from areas that didn't catch fire," he said, adding, "More lives could have been saved if the firefighters were equipped with necessary gears and personal protective equipment."

Another rescuer told the newspaper that they managed to save lives of mostly those passengers who had luckily escaped from the fire.

Doctors at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital who conducted post-mortem told the newspaper that most of the 49 deaths were attributed to inhalation of toxic fumes, implying that the occupants remained alive despite the high intensity impact.

Officials at the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) confirmed that the firefighting rescue squad was only issued fire proximity suits that were not suitable for entering active fire areas at TIA.

"They would have saved more lives had they donned fire entry suits," a CAAN official said.

TIA stated that the ill-fated plane crash-landed at 2:18pm on Monday last and immediately burst into flames.

"The fire was controlled at 3:00pm while all bodies were retrieved by 5:45pm," TIA said in a statement. Bangladeshi citizen Shahreen Ahmed, 29, who survived the crash, said she saw other passengers burning, shouting and falling down.

Late response to crash-landing of BS-211 flight shows the actual state of emergency rescue and response efforts in the country's sole international airport, an airliner pilot said.

TIA management, however, claims that the aerodrome is certified for handling Category 9 aircraft (wide body jets). "Poor handling of an accident related to Category 5 belies that claim," the senior captain added.Migrant workers being cheated

Recruiting agencies' lack of decentralization blamed

Reza Mahmud :

Increasing number of Bangladeshi migrant workers are being cheated due to lack of decentralization of recruiting agencies across the country, it was alleged.

As a result, many of the migrant workers are being compelled to pay extra amount of money to the recruiting agencies or their agents.

"A huge number of Bangladeshi migrant workers are being victims of cheating by the dishonest recruiting agencies. It is very much important to decentralize manpower recruiting agencies across the country," said Migration expert and Chairman, Debate for Democracy, Hasan Ahmed Chowdhury Kiron.

He said that the government should take strong measures to protect migrant workers' interest as it is the second largest sector of earning huge foreign currencies.

According to officials of the Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry, a worker needs to pay Tk 1.65 lakh for being recruited for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, but the reality is far from it.

In many cases, the migrant workers do not found any jobs at all. Many others get jobs with low wages then they are supposed to get as per the deed signed between the workers and the recruiting agencies.

Each and every worker has to pay around Tk 6 lakh for going to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a worker.

"I have paid Tk 6 lakh to the agent who was involved in the process of my recruitment in a Saudi Company," said Shamsul Haque from Faridpur, now working in Dammam, KSA. Shamsul Islam accused the agent of cheating him in two ways, number one for taking huge extra money and the number two giving him a very low wages job instead of higher salary the agent promised.

There are many more allegations from the sufferer workers from the Middle East countries and Malaysia.

In last year, a survey report found that around 51 per cent of the migrant workers become victims of agents' frauds, according to the Refugee and Migrant Movements Research Unit (RMRU). On the other hand, Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) also released a research paper on March 9, 2017 where it mentioned that around 90 per cent of the migrant workers were being cheated.

Migration expert Hasan Ahmed Chowdhury Kiron said the main cause of the increasing number of cheating cases is the lack of recruiting agencies at the district level.

"If the migrant workers get local persons for recruiting them for work abroad, it will be easy to avoid cheating because the people from own area cannot do cheat for the sake of their business goodwill," he said.

When contacted, Dr. Namita Haldar, Secretary of the Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry, told The New Nation, "42 districts are still legging behind in this sector. Very less numbers of people from those districts are going abroad for long. We are trying to give license to the businessmen of these districts. But we are yet to get response from the businessmen there."

She mentioned the whole northern region, three hill districts and some districts from Khulna division as the legging behind areas in respect of manpower export.

The Secretary said the main problem for reluctance of taking license is the Tk 25 lakh as security money. The government has no plan to reduce the sum of money in this regard, she said.US-Bangla plane crash : Int`l probe begins today

Special Correspondent :

An international probe will begin today (Sunday) to find out the exact cause of the US-Bangla Airlines plane crash that killed at least 51, including 28 Bangladeshis.

The plane, a Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 turboprop, carrying 71 passengers and crew crashed on landing at Nepal's Kathmandu airport on Monday last.

A joint team of investigators comprising Nepal and Bangladesh Civil Aviation authorities, Bombardier and US-Bangla Airlines will be probing the cause of the crash that still remains unclear.

Two investigators of the plane maker Bombardier have already arrived in Kathmandu.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) is sending a team today to join the international probe panel.

Captain M Rahamatullah, chief of the Aircraft Investigation Group of Bangladesh (AIGB), a specialized wing under the CAAB, will lead the Bangladesh team.

CAAB Chairman Air Vice Marshal M Naim Hassan on Thursday said it might take a year to complete the investigation into the US-Bangla Airlines plane.

US-Bangla Airlines earlier blamed air traffic control for the accident, but the Kathmandu airport authorities denied the allegation saying the plane approached from the wrong direction that caused the crash landing.

However, an audio tape of the conversation between the cockpit and air traffic control minutes before the plane crashed suggests some misunderstanding over the use of runway while landing of the US-Bangla flight BS211 which was flying from Dhaka.

"The aircraft was permitted to land from the southern side of the runway flying over Koteshwor, but it landed from the northern side," Sanjiv Gautam, director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, was quoted as saying by the Kathmandu Post.

"We are yet to ascertain the reason behind the unusual landing."

However, US-Bangla Airlines chief executive Imran Asif blamed Kathmandu air traffic control.

"There were wrong directions from the tower. Our pilot was not at fault," he told reporters at his office in Dhaka.

"Our pilot is an instructor of this Bombardier aircraft. His flight hours are over 5,000. There was a fumble from the control tower."Saudi Prince hides mother from his father: US officials

NBC News, Washington :

US officials interviewed for this story believe, based on several years of intelligence, that MBS took action against his mother because he was concerned that she opposed his plans for a power grab that could divide the royal family and might use her influence with the king to prevent it. The officials said MBS placed his mother under house arrest at least for some time at a palace in Saudi Arabia, without the king's knowledge.

Last June, at just age 31, Prince Mohammed abruptly displaced his cousin to become crown prince of the oil-rich kingdom. He implemented some economic and social changes in the following months, but also made some brazen power moves at home and in the region. In November MBS oversaw the arrests of more than 200 Saudi officials and businessmen, including prominent princes and rival members of the royal family, in what the government has described as a crackdown on corruption.

President Donald Trump defended the Saudi government for "harshly treating" those who were imprisoned as part of the effort. Trump, and his son-in-law and senior White House adviser, Jared Kushner, have embraced MBS as a close partner and critical player in the administration's Middle East strategy.

The White House announced Monday that the president will meet with the crown prince on March 20, saying Trump "looks forward to discussing ways to strengthen ties between the United States and Saudi Arabia and to advance our common security and economic priorities."

But the meeting, which is part of MBS's multistate tour across the U.S., comes as some senior U.S. officials are increasingly concerned his aggressive tactics could sow more instability in the Middle East.

The U.S. intelligence assessment of Prince Mohammed's actions against his mother, which American officials said has long been concealed from both King Salman and the public, is an example of MBS's willingness to remove any perceived impediment to solidifying his position as Saudi Arabia's next king, the current and former officials said.

Officials said the assessment of the dynamic between MBS and his mother, which has not been previously reported, is based on a combination of human intelligence, intercepts and information shared with the U.S. from other countries.



The determination that the crown prince's mother, Princess Fahda bint Falah Al Hathleen, was being kept from King Salman without his knowledge was first made during the Obama administration, the officials said. That assessment has not changed since Trump took office, according to the current officials.

The Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington denied that the princess is under any kind of house arrest or separation from her husband.

The U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the intelligence, said the 82-year-old King Salman has at times been told his third wife is out of the country receiving medical treatment. They said the king has told people around him that he misses her and apparently does not know her true location or status. Multiple U.S. officials have told NBC News previously that their interactions with the king suggest he is not consistently lucid.

At one point during a meeting at the White House in September 2015, King Salman told then-President Barack Obama that his wife was in New York for medical treatment and that he hoped to visit her while in the U.S., officials said. The officials said Obama did not inform the king that his wife was not in New York, but the king's comment was viewed as further evidence of what U.S. officials already had gleaned from intelligence on the royal family.

In early 2016, U.S. officials picked up communications in which MBS was talking about his efforts to keep his mother from his father without the king knowing, according to current and former officials. A spokesperson for Obama declined to comment, citing the privacy of the former president's conversations with foreign leaders.

The CIA declined comment on any intelligence on the Saudi royal family. A spokesperson for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence also declined comment for this story.

While Prince Mohammed's power base began expanding at home several years ago, his brashest moves have coincided with the strong and early support he's received from the Trump White House.

Less than two months after his inauguration, Trump hosted MBS at the White House, not the then-crown prince, Mohammed bin Nayef. MBS, who began trying to forge close ties with the Trump team immediately after the 2016 election, has spent hours with Kushner in Washington and Riyadh.

A spokesperson for Kushner, who oversees the administration's efforts to reach an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, declined to comment for this story and referred questions to the National Security Council, which also declined comment.

'We've all pinned our hopes on him'

Trump officials view MBS as the best hope for seeing economic and social changes in the tightly controlled kingdom.

"We've all pinned our hopes on him," one senior White House official said.

It's a stark contrast to the U.S.-Saudi relationship during Obama's presidency. Then the two countries clashed over Obama's diplomatic outreach to Iran, Saudi Arabia's main regional adversary.

Now Saudi Arabia is integral to U.S. policy goals in the Middle East, particularly when it comes to blunting Iran's influence in the region and reaching an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.

In May, Trump made Saudi Arabia the first foreign country he visited as president. A month later MBS unexpectedly supplanted Prince Mohammed bin Nayef as crown prince. As part of the power shift, bin Nayef was put under house arrest, though the restriction was later lifted.

The crown prince's younger brother, Prince Khaled bin Salman, was named Saudi Arabia's new ambassador to the U.S. in July. Both have the same mother.

"The president and Jared very much see Mohammed Bin Salman as their man in the region," said Andrew Bowen, a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute who focuses on Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States.

Trump backed a Saudi-led blockade of Qatar over the advice of some of his own advisers and supported the government's jailing of hundreds of wealthy Saudis accused of corruption. "I have great confidence in King Salman and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, they know exactly what they are doing," Trump wrote on Twitter in November as the arrests came under international scrutiny. "Some of those they are harshly treating have been 'milking' their country for years!"

Many prisoners were released in recent weeks after agreeing to undisclosed financial settlements with the government. Bowen cautioned, however, that Trump's strong support for MBS's early moves could backfire over time due to the young prince's own "insularity and his own recklessness."

One person close to the royal family said Prince Mohammed and his mother had a falling out several years ago in part because he was concerned she was trying to empower her siblings. This person said MBS wanted to avoid a dynamic that played out with a previous Saudi king in which the brothers of one of his wives became extremely powerful and wealthy.

Fatimah Baeshen, a spokesperson for Saudi Arabia's embassy in Washington, vehemently denied that the crown prince has kept his mother away from the king without the king's knowledge.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.



UN Logo and Happy Face Logo

(Image by Public domain) Details DMCA



The UN's official International Day of Happiness on March 20th "recognizes the pursuit of happiness is a fundamental human goal and the need for a more inclusive, equitable and balanced approach to economic growth that promotes sustainable development, poverty eradication, happiness and the well-being of all peoples."

The World Happiness Report is a landmark survey of the state of global happiness by The Global Happiness Council (GHC), a network of leading academic specialists in happiness in fields including psychology, economics, urban planning, civil society, business and government. The GHC identifies best practices at the national and local levels to encourage advancement of the causes of happiness and well-being.

RT @UNSDSN: If you haven't yet, support our World Happiness Report Thunderclap campaign today! We want to spread happiness and educate peop at  @PostNormalEra  (@PostNormalEra) March 17, 2018

The 2018 report ranks 156 countries by their happiness levels, and 117 countries by the happiness of their immigrants. The ten happiest countries in the overall rankings are also ten of the top eleven spots in the ranking of immigrant happiness.



Happiness is excitement that has found a settling down place. But there is always a little corner that keeps flapping around. ~E.L. Konigsburg

(Image by thephotographymuse) Details DMCA



Finland is at the top of both rankings in this report, with the happiest immigrants, and the happiest population in general. As usual, Nordic countries Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Iceland were in the Top Ten. Additional countries in the Top Ten this year included the Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

The US was ranked at 11 the first year of the study and has dropped ever since. The report notes that while income per capita has more than doubled in the U.S. since 1972, happiness and well-being has declined. This year, the U.S. dropped four places, from 14th in 2017, to 18th this year.

Perhaps the most striking finding of the whole report is that a ranking of countries according to the happiness of their immigrant populations is almost exactly the same as for the rest of the population. The immigrant happiness rankings are based on the full span of Gallup data from 2005 to 2017, sufficient to have 117 countries with more than 100 immigrant respondents. The closeness of the two rankings shows that the happiness of immigrants depends predominantly on the quality of life where they now live, illustrating a general pattern of convergence. Happiness can change, and does change, according to the quality of the society in which people live. Immigrant happiness, like that of the locally born, depends on a range of features of the social fabric, extending far beyond the higher incomes traditionally thought to inspire and reward migration. The countries with the happiest immigrants are not the richest countries, but instead the countries with a more balanced set of social and institutional supports for better lives.

In 1972, the tiny Himalayan nation of Bhutan's King Jigme Singye Wangchuc proposed that the country put a "gross national happiness"(GNH) index at the center of its public policy rather than economic measurements. The country identified nine components of happiness based on traditional Buddhist values: psychological well-being, ecology, health, education, culture, living standards, time use, community vitality and good governance.

Global dancer and traveler Matt Harding of "Where the Hell is Matt?" fame, cited Bhutan as his favorite country, noting, "They have a Ministry of Happiness, an area of the government dedicated to maintaining the happiness of the country's population ... you can see, traveling through the countryside, that has been carried out ... the people I met in Bhutan are easily among the happiest I've ever met."



UN Logo and Happy Face Logo

(Image by Public domain) Details DMCA



Next Page 1 | 2

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).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.

This piece was reprinted by OpEdNews with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.

The progressive liberation of East Ghouta, Syria, from Western-supported terrorists highlights and confirms what we already know. We have seen this all before.

First of all, a chemical factory was discovered, indicating yet again that the terrorists use chemical weapons.

Second, the discovery of the CW plant occurred at the same time that yet another false flag terror operation has been predicted. None of these false flag "Assad gasses his own people" operations have withstood the scrutiny of independent investigations.[1] They have all been perpetrated by the West and its proxies, most notably the White Helmets, al Qaeda auxiliaries, as fake pretexts for more war.

Third, we see yet again that the mainstream media is an accomplice to Western crimes. ReporterSharmine Narwani, who visited the abandoned site, noted wryly that none of the mainstream media reporters chose to visit the "makeshift chemical lab".

Finally, we see more evidence of terrorist atrocities committed against occupied populations, as revealed by recently freed captives. A local revealed to reporters:

"We lived in fear under the militants, there were very harsh conditions. They drove up food prices, introduced a strict regime -- you could lose your head for the slightest fault, "" [2]

Here are some more testimonies:

The alternative to the popular Assad government is not an alternative at all. It is slavery and despotism. As more areas are liberated by the SAA, we will see more of the same.

*

Mark Taliano is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG) and the author of Voices from Syria, Global Research Publishers, 2017.

Notes

[1] Tim Anderson, 'There is zero credible evidence that the Syrian Arab Army has used chemical weapons.' Muslim Press. 20 July, 2016.( http://www.muslimpress.com/Section-opinion-72/105186-there-is-zero-credible-evidence-that-the-syrian-arab-army-has-used-chemical-weapons ) Accessed 14, March, 2018.

[2] "First group of 50+ civilians safely leaves E. Ghouta via humanitarian corridor -- Russian MoD." RT. 11 March, 2018. (https://www.rt.com/news/420990-ghouta-civilians-leave-corridor/) Accessed 14 March, 2018.

Order Mark Taliano's Book "Voices from Syria" directly from Global Research.

Taliano talks and listens to the people of Syria. He reveals the courage and resilience of a Nation and its people in their day to day lives, after more than six years of US-NATO sponsored terrorism and three years of US "peacemaking" airstrikes.

Mark Taliano combines years of research with on-the-ground observations to present an informed and well-documented analysis that refutes the mainstream media narratives on Syria.

ISBN: 978-0-9879389-1-6

Author: Mark Taliano

Year: 2017

Pages: 128 (Expanded edition: 1 new chapter)

List Price: $17.95

Special Price: $9.95

The original source of this article is Global Research

Copyright Mark Taliano, Global Research, 2018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.



(Image by Egberto Willies) Details DMCA



I invited two Texas Conservative Republicans to my Progressive program Politics Done Right to have a civil conversation. I think we show if we open doors of dialogue at the grassroots, we can make progress. The discussion of about Texas lawmakers effectively killing many of its citizens drew the ire of one of our listeners.

A Texas Republican, David, who came to the program tried to defend lawmakers who denied their citizens' health care coverage under the Medicaid Expansion to the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) causing the death of thousands of Texans. One of our listeners would have none of it.

I pointed out to David that it would have cost the state of Texas nothing for the first three years and only 10% of the cost thereafter if they had accepted the Medicaid Expansion to Obamacare. Sadly, their refusal to do that caused the deaths of thousands of Texans. I told him that act was evil and murderous.

While David did not dispute the facts, he said that the state of Texas takes care of the uninsured. He also said the state took care of his mother who had leukemia.

The reality, however, as I told him, is that Texas used to take care of its citizens but does so no more. A listener sent me the following email this morning.

I always listen to your Politics Done Right show while driving home after my art classes on Thursdays. Yesterday, I heard part of the show featuring your conservative couple. I was moved and angered by the story your guest told about his mother and how wonderful the State of Texas was by taking care of her through her illness. My biggest question is "How long ago did this occur?" It could not have been recent. I have been trying to get help with my illness for a couple of years now. I have a tumor growing in my chest. There is no assistance for me. Here is what I have found. In the state of Texas, a health plan is offered called The Women's Health Plan. I do not qualify because of my age. I am 55 years old. In the state of Texas, I am not considered to be of any value because of my age. The plan will only cover women ages 15 - 44 or those with children under the age of 18. I have also applied for the Harris County Gold Card for assistance with health care but have not had any response since sending them all of my financial information. Perhaps it just takes more time but I have applied twice without success. I applied for "Affordable Health Care" from the health care marketplace but the quote they gave me for insurance was more than I make in a year. All of this has made me feel that not only the state of Texas but also the federal government doesn't care. I've thought about this long and hard. I have come to the conclusion that they have no incentive. I'm divorced (for more than 18 years) with grown offspring (no kids under 18) and self-employed as a visual artist. Since Harvey, I've had a very difficult time making ends meet. I conduct art classes at assisted living facilities to supplement my income since sales of original artwork are somewhat sporadic and unpredictable. I may not be able to continue the classes because I'm finding it more difficult to carry my equipment due to my health issue. This whole experience has left me broken. I'm planning on moving in with my daughter because I have no one to care for me and cannot afford any more medical tests let alone surgery and treatment for my condition. I have not told many people about this because of my sense of shame. I did not ask for this, nobody does. I did not have health insurance since my divorce because I can't afford it and hadn't seen a doctor for more than 15 years. How can your Republican guest justify this after having had help from the state for his mother? He described growing up in a lower-income household. My feeling is that years ago it was okay for the state to look after people but not today. Today, everybody is required to either take care of themselves or die. I did take care of myself until the double whammy, tumor, and Harvey. When did the Republican-run government become so hard-hearted? What is expected of us? GoFundMe for every illness? See if the public thinks I'm worth saving? What is your take on this?

A few years ago Congressman Alan Grayson said the following the Republicans view on health care.

Republicans understand that a health care plan based on not getting sick "isn't always going to work," so they "have a backup plan in case you do get sick." "If you get sick in America, this is what the Republicans want you to do: If you get sick America, the Republican health care plan is this: Die quickly," he said. "That's right, the Republicans want you to die quickly if you get sick."

That is not far from the reality. It is the same concept they have on Social Security, raise the age to ensure that you die to ensure you do not have to use too much of it. The only solution from a basic mathematical and ethical standpoint is a Medicare for All single-payer health care system. Read up on it and force your politician to adopt HR 676 or lose. It is time for Americans to fight for it.

Watch the entire program here.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 Gush Shalom



From flickr.com: Bibi loves his enemies

(Image by DonkeyHotey) Details DMCA



TOWARDS THE END of 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and declared war on the US. Their Nazi ally followed with its own declaration of war, and so did all its satellites.

The joke tells about the Hungarian ambassador in Washington who delivered his declaration of war to the Secretary of State, Cordell Hull, who decided to have some fun.

"Hungary, Hungary," Hull queried, "Are you a republic?"

"No," the ambassador corrected him, "We are a monarchy."

"Indeed? So who is your king?"

"We don't have a king, but a regent, Admiral Horthy."

"An admiral? So you have a large navy?"

"We have no navy at all, because we have no outlet to the ocean."

"Strange, a monarchy without a king, an admiral without a navy. So tell me, why are you declaring war on us? Do you have claims against the USA?"

"No, we have claims against Romania."

"So why don't you declare war on Romania?"

"We can't! Romania is our ally!"

I REMEMBER this joke every time Binyamin Netanyahu utters his blood-curdling threats against Iran. The struggle with Iran heads his agenda. He warns of the danger of an Iranian effort to produce nuclear weapons and implicitly threatens her with our "secret" nuclear arsenal.

Next Page 1 | 2 | 3

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).Quicklink Not Found

Sometimes, authors delete their quicklinks after publishing them.



To see if the quicklink was renamed or re-published, please click here.Progressive Content Not Found

Sometimes, authors delete their progressive content after publishing.



To see if the progressive content was renamed or re-published, please click here.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.



(Image by Egberto Willies) Details DMCA



Bill Maher tied in Conor Lamb's significant win with a reality that plagues Democrats that if not solved in the short term will deny the kind of Blue Wave they expect in 2018.

Video here.

It is true that Democrats must adapt to the district where they are running, but must do so without selling out the moral fabric of the Party's Platform.

Bill Maher first took exception to Conor Lamb telling his constituents in an ad that he does not support Nancy Pelosi. He enumerated Pelosi's successes as a legislator, which are vast.

Bill identifies a big problem with Democratic messaging. Lamb is in an election to replace an anti-choice Republican who asked his girlfriend to have an abortion. Democrats allowed the Republicans to make the election a referendum on Nancy Pelosi. Bill's messaging would have been a bit different.

"How about this for an ad," Maher said. "Democrats support abortion. So do Republicans when they need one for their girlfriends."

Maher then castigated Democrats for crawling under a rock when Republicans made Nancy Pelosi a whipping woman instead of reminding America about her getting significant bills passed; Stimulus Bill that saved the economy, the Affordable Care Act, Wall Street Reform, Bill to protect the auto industry, and many others.

Maher reminded Democrats that Americans like perceived strength. Trump called Iowans stupid and won the state in a landslide. He called Latinos, rapist and worse and got a significant portion of their votes.

Bill called out Hillary for backtracking on her coal policy which he said was right. He said she and Democrats must be forward-looking. They need to tell Americans what they will do to make life better instead of allowing Republicans to scare Americans into a state of panic and denial.

"They [Democrats] are afraid to make the counter-argument," Maher said.

Maher points out that Republicans fight for their policies, even when mostly wrong.

"Democrats," Bill Maher said. "Their weapon of choice is adaptive coloration."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.

This piece was reprinted by OpEdNews with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.

For requesting evidence of Russian culpability in the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, UK Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn has been denounced by PM Theresa May and even members of his own party. We discuss the case with Stephen F. Cohen, Professor Emeritus of Russian Studies at New York University and Princeton.



Rt Hon Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party, UK

(Image by Chatham House, London) Details DMCA



[Video of interview can be seen at The Real News Network]

AARON MATE : It's The Real News. I'm Aaron Mate'. Ties between Russia and the West are at their lowest point since The Cold War, and a new spat over a poisoning in Britain has sunk them even lower. The British government is blaming Russia for the poisoning of former Russian spy, Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the British town of Salisbury.

The two remain in critical condition after ingesting what the British government says is a military-grade nerve agent made by Russia. The British government demanded that Russia offer an explanation, but then rejected a Russian request to share a sample of the nerve agent that was used in the poisoning. Speaking today in parliament, British Prime Minister Theresa May said Russia's response so far proves their culpability.

THERESA MAY : There is no alternative conclusion other than that the Russian state was culpable for the attempted murder of Mr. Skripal and his daughter. And for threatening the lives of other British citizens in Salisbury, including Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey. This represents an unlawful use of force by the Russian state against the United Kingdom. And as I set out on Monday, it has taken place against the backdrop of a well established pattern of Russian state aggression across Europe and beyond. It must therefore, be met with a full and robust response, beyond the actions we have already taken since the murder of Mr. Litvinenko and to counter this pattern of Russian aggression elsewhere.

AARON MATE : As part of the measures against Russia, May announced the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats, the single biggest such expulsion in three decades. That drew a response from Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who pressed May to hand over evidence.

JEREMY CORBYN : Our response must be both decisive and proportionate, and based on clear evidence. If the government believes that it is still a possibility that Russia negligently lost control of a military grade nerve agent, what action is being taken through the OPCW with our allies? I welcome the fact the police are working with the OPCW, and has the prime minister taken the necessary steps under the Chemical Weapons Convention to make a formal request for evidence from the Russian government under Article 9.2? How has she responded to the Russian government's request for a sample of the agent used in the Salisbury attack to run its own tests? Has high resolution trace analysis been run on a sample of the nerve agent? And has that revealed any evidence as to the location of its production or the identity of its perpetrators?

AARON MATE : The dispute over the poisoning has gotten so serious, that there has been speculation of NATO invoking Article 5, which bounds member states to defend others in the event of an attack. So far, Downing Street has tamped down talk of Article 5, but Theresa May has been summoning support from key allies, including the US

Joining me is professor Stephen Cohen, professor emeritus of Russian studies at New York University and Princeton. Welcome, Professor Cohen.

You have been warning for a long time that we are in the midst of a new Cold War. What are your thoughts today as you see now tensions escalating between Britain and Russia, with now Britain ordering the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats following the expulsions that have happened in the US to Russian diplomats as a result of the Russiagate controversy?

STEPHEN COHEN : My first reaction having listened to the clip you played by Jeremy Corbyn is that's one very courageous man. It's not clear even his own Labour Party supports what he said. In the essence of what he said is Theresa May has no evidence, and yet she's prepared to ratchet up already a bad relationship with Russia based on this. They haven't produced any evidence. Let's put it like that. This alarms me because, I've said this before on your broadcast, but it's almost never said in the mainstream and it's hard to get an American discussion of it, is that whether we call our relationship with Russia a new cold war or not, it certainly is. The point is it's so much more dangerous than the preceding Cold War. I could even argue that the situation today is in some ways more dangerous than the Cuban Missile Crisis.

So, I kind of quarrel with your opening sentence that relations are as bad as they've been since the end of the Cold War. I say, no they're worse than they were during the Cold War. I jotted down just a few reasons. Let me just rattle them off and then we'll get to this, any other event you want to talk about. The reason this new Cold War is more dangerous is we already have three fronts that are fraught with hot war. That's where the NATO buildup in the North Baltic and the Black Sea, Ukraine, and Syria. Remember in Syria, it appears to be the case that American proxies have already killed Russian citizens. So, we don't know what's going to come next.

Secondly, two of these fronts are directly on Russia's borders, not in Berlin as was the case during the preceding Cold War, right on Russia's borders in the Baltic region and in Ukraine. Thirdly, there has been such demonization of the Kremlin leader, Putin, unlike anything that was the case during the old Cold War with Kremlin communist leaders, and along with it a kind of a Russophobic attack on Russia itself the old Cold War was about communism. This one seems to be about Russia just in general. And then you get this lightning speed of news as with this nerve agent, with people weighing in without any authority or any knowledge, very very quickly, and it's spreading before anybody has a time has time to reflect, and think, an actual expert opinion come to the fore.

AARON MATE : One person who has been pillared in the media today is Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader who we heard from before. And I wanna play more of his speech of his comments today, to the British parliament.

JEREMY CORBYN : And while suspending planned high level contact, does the prime minister agree that it is essential to maintain a robust dialogue with Russia in the interest of our own and wider international security?

Next Page 1 | 2

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).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 Smirking Chimp

Democrats are already counting their electoral chickens for the midterms -- but their unwillingness to lay out a clear agenda may be about to hand the party their second devastating defeat in two years.

Everyone is playing the Special Election Game.

Tealeaf readers are obsessed. Does last November's Democratic win in the Virginia governor's race presage a Blue Wave or was it simply a reflection of ongoing red-to-purple demographics? Should we be surprised that Alabama sent a Democrat (albeit a conservative one) to the Senate -- or that he nearly lost to an alleged pedophile? What about the latest contest in Pennsylvania -- would a Democratic upset in a GOP congressional district spell the beginning of the end for Donald Trump? Or nothing much at all?

Every midterm election is characterized as a referendum on the incumbent president. But the polarization vortex that is this unique president has raised the stakes far beyond the usual handicapping parlor game.

The rising suspicion that special counsel Robert Mueller may not be able to build enough of a Russia collusion and/or corruption case to bring down the president himself, only some of his associates, has Democrats terrified and appalled. For those who believe that Trump represents an existential threat to democracy and its replacement by a permanent new American authoritarianism, the republic's last, only, best hope before It Does Happen Here is impeachment -- but that would only be possible if and after Democrats have retaken control of Congress next year.

Only a few Democrats have implied -- though not promised -- that they might impeach the president if voters put them back in charge. For Trump-hating Democrats, everything hangs upon winning back Congress and hoping their newly elected officials do the right thing.

70% of Democrats say they want the House of Representatives to hold impeachment hearings.

Democratic strategists are counting on a favorable enthusiasm gap this November, driven in large part by liberals who despise Trump. They pointed to another tealeaf: Texas's early primary voting, where Democratic turnout was double that of 2014. Republican turnout was lower.

But then came election day. Never mind early voting; Republican voters flooded the polls when and where it mattered, on March 6th -- by a three-to-two margin. Democrats lost.

Republicans remain fiercely loyal to Trump, with as many as 90% approving of the president's job performance. (Trump can only claim the support of 9% of Democrats.) The greater the likelihood of a Democratic sweep, the more GOP voters will back up Trump if for no other reason than to deny liberals the satisfaction of removing a Republican president.

"Most conservatives consume pro-Trump media, which will downplay or distort virtually anything Mueller or the mainstream press discovers," Peter Beinart wrote in The Atlantic in December. "And the more aggressively Democrats push for Trump's removal, the easier it will be for Breitbart and Sean Hannity to rally Republicans against a 'left-wing coup.'"

The problem for those who'd like to see Trump legislatively hobbled after 2018 is that, as Musa al-Gharbi noted in The New York Times, Democrats are divided into two camps. There are establishment "Hillary voters" who reliably support any Democratic nominee, and rebellious pro-Bernie Sanders left populists who only show up to vote when the Democratic candidate is credibly progressive. Anti-Trumpism is widespread and evokes passionate responses among Democrats yet its motivational power is effectively canceled out by the party's disunity. As a result, "There does not seem to be an enthusiasm gap between Democrats and Republicans."

The solution for Democrats seems evident: increase the enthusiasm gap by shoring up their left populist base.

First, Democrats should nationalize the midterm elections the way Newt Gingrich did with his "Contract for America" in 1994.

Next Page 1 | 2

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).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.

See original here

By Jen Hayden

Yesterday it was widely reported that Vanessa Trump had filed for divorce from Donald Trump Jr. in New York. Now gossip site Page Six has reported that Vanessa made a curious legal hire to represent her:

"Vanessa Trump hired a criminal defense attorney to represent her in her divorce from Donald Trump Jr. just as special counsel Robert Mueller subpoenaed the president's family business, The Post has learned. "White Plains, NY-based lawyer David Feureisen is representing Vanessa Trump, according to paperwork filed in Manhattan Supreme Court late Thursday. "Feureisen is best known for securing the release of a New York man named Anthony DiSimone from federal prison in 2007 after a judge overturned a murder conviction related to a bar fight in 1994."

The former couple say the divorce will be uncontested, which makes this hire even more curious. Only days ago, Page Six reported the pair were living separate lives and she was fed up with his obnoxious social media:

"An issue, two of the sources say, is that Don Jr. 'appears to have changed recently, and friends are concerned about him.' Their concerns were increased by Don Jr.'s tweeting, including when he liked a tweet linking antidepressants to mass murder, and another liking a tweet attacking a teen survivor of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. The Daily Beast also reported that following the school shooting, Don Jr. urged his dad to stay strong on gun rights and hold firm against any assault weapons ban. "Previously at Halloween, Don tweeted that he would take away half of his 3-year-old daughter's Halloween candy because he wrote, 'it's never to [sic] early to teach her about socialism.' Then after his recent trip to India, he was heavily criticized for his tone-deaf remark praising the country's poor because 'There's still a smile on a face.'"

Between the stress of the divorce and special counsel Robert Mueller's recent subpoena of the Trump Organization, it's hard to see Junior mellowing out.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

Why it's vital that we do not reward the torturers

I was inside the CIA's Langley, Va., headquarters on Sept. 11, 2001. Like all Americans, I was traumatized, and I volunteered to go overseas to help bring al-Qaeda's leaders to justice. I headed counterterrorism operations in Pakistan from January to May 2002. My team captured dozens of al-Qaeda fighters, including senior training-camp commanders. One of the fighters whom I played an integral role in capturing was Abu Zubaida, mistakenly thought at the time to be the third-ranking person in the militant group.

By that May, the CIA had decided to torture him. When I returned to CIA headquarters that month, a senior officer in the Counterterrorism Center asked me if I wanted to be "trained in the use of enhanced interrogation techniques." I had never heard the term, so I asked what it meant. After a brief explanation, I declined. I said that I had a moral and ethical problem with torture and that -- the judgment of the Justice Department notwithstanding -- I thought it was illegal.

Unfortunately, there were plenty of people in the U.S. government who were all too willing to allow the practice to go on. One of them was Gina Haspel, whom President Trump nominated Tuesday as the CIA's next director.

Putting Haspel in charge of the CIA would undo attempts by the agency -- and the nation -- to repudiate torture. The message this sends to the CIA workforce is simple: Engage in war crimes, in crimes against humanity, and you'll get promoted. Don't worry about the law. Don't worry about ethics. Don't worry about morality or the fact that torture doesn't even work. Go ahead and do it anyway. We'll cover for you. And you can destroy the evidence, too.

Described in the media as a "seasoned intelligence veteran," Haspel has been at the CIA for 33 years, both at headquarters and in senior positions overseas. Now the deputy director, she has tried hard to stay out of the public eye. Mike Pompeo, the outgoing CIA director and secretary of state designee, has lauded her "uncanny ability to get things done and inspire those around her."

I'm sure that's true for some. But many of the rest of us who knew and worked with Haspel at the CIA called her "Bloody Gina."

The CIA will not let me repeat her re'sume or the widely reported specifics of how her work fit into the agency's torture program, calling such details "currently and properly classified." But I can say that Haspel was a protege of and chief of staff for Jose Rodriguez, the CIA's notorious former deputy director for operations and former director of the Counterterrorism Center. And that Rodriguez eventually assigned Haspel to order the destruction of videotaped evidence of the torture of Abu Zubaida. The Justice Department investigated, but no one was ever charged in connection with the incident.

CIA officers and psychologists under contract to the agency began torturing Abu Zubaida on Aug. 1, 2002. The techniques were supposed to be incremental, starting with an open-palmed slap to the belly or the face. But the operatives where he was held decided to start with the toughest method. They waterboarded Abu Zubaida 83 times. They later subjected him to sleep deprivation; they kept him locked in a large dog cage for weeks at a time; they locked him in a coffin-size box and, knowing that he had an irrational fear of insects, put bugs in it with him.

Rodriguez would later tell reporters that the torture worked and that Abu Zubaida provided actionable intelligence that disrupted attacks and saved American lives. We know, thanks to the Senate Intelligence Committee's report on CIA torture and the personal testimony of FBI interrogator Ali Soufan, that this was false.

I knew what was happening to Abu Zubaida because of my position in CIA operations at the time. I kept my mouth shut about it, even after I left the CIA in 2004. But by 2007, I had had enough.

President George W. Bush had steadfastly denied to the American people that there was a torture program. I knew that was a lie. I knew torture didn't work. And I knew it was illegal. So in December 2007, I granted an interview to ABC News in which I said that the CIA was torturing its prisoners, that torture was official U.S. government policy and that the policy had been personally approved by the president. The FBI began investigating me immediately.

A year later, the Justice Department concluded that I had not committed a crime. But CIA leaders were still furious that I had aired the agency's dirty laundry. The CIA asked the new Obama Justice Department to reopen the case against me. It did, and three years later, I was charged with five felonies, including three counts of espionage, resulting from that ABC News interview and a subsequent interview with the New York Times. Of course, I hadn't committed espionage, and the charges were eventually dropped, but only after I agreed to plea to a lesser charge. I served 23 months in prison for my whistleblowing.

It was worth every day. Largely because the CIA's conduct became public, Congress has specifically prohibited waterboarding and other techniques that the agency used at the secret sites. A ban on torture is now the law of the land.

Next Page 1 | 2

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).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 Alternet

What exactly have Silicon Valley's top social media platforms unleashed on the political world?



Social Media Icons

(Image by brantleydavidson) Details DMCA



The political world is awash in a growing sea of social media-fed misinformation, loosely called fake news. Each week brings eyebrow-raising reports of a threat poised to upend America's already dysfunctional political landscape, or reports that those at the helm of online information ecosystems delight in distorting reality and disrupting societal norms.

Last week, the New York Times reported that unnamed programmers used open-source Google code to create an app putting Michelle Obama's face on an actress in a porn video. Earlier Times reports said faked videos could be coming to campaigns. This week, the New Yorker profiled Reddit, an anarchic site with 1 million subgroups (where Times reporter Kevin Roose discovered tips about forging political porn videos). Reddit CEO Steve Huffman even confessed he considers himself, "a troll at heart... Making people bristle, being a little outrageous in order to add some spice to life -- I get that. I've done that."

There's nothing new about political distortions or rabble-rousing in American culture and politics. But just as social media is revolutionizing and accelerating aspects of the way people and campaigns communicate, these frontline dispatches heralding a disinformation dystopia are frequently missing a key element: context, or magnitude, so readers know what matters -- and doesn't -- about the purported threats or trends. This omission is significant, because as the March issue of Science noted, "about 47 percent of Americans overall report getting news from social media often or sometimes, with Facebook as, by far, the dominant source."

What is known about how social media platforms trigger the brain and stimulate behavior is changing. While campaign consultants almost always say they cannot know if their partisan messaging on social media affects how targeted voters behave on Election Day, scholars are starting to publish research tracing how and why social media is radicalizing politics.

Last week, Science published a study that analyzed 126,000 rumors spread on Twitter and traced how propaganda spreads further and faster than facts do. People are drawn to falsities, like to share it, and social media super-charges that process, its authors said. In a separate article, 15 social scientists warned that dynamic is fanning political extremism.

"Our call is to promote interdisciplinary research to reduce the spread of fake news and to address its underlying pathologies it has revealed," the co-authored article, "The Science of Fake News," concluded. "We must redesign our information ecosystem... We must answer a fundamental question: How can we create a news ecosystem and culture that values and promotes truth?"

That call is not unique, but it highlights how sophisticated the challenge is. Social media uses brain-mimicking artificial intelligence that serves up the content people see. That targeting is based on advanced computing that profiles every online user's keystrokes. This technology was developed for advertisers to provoke sales. But once it is imported into political campaigns, where agendas, candidates and smears are the products being sold, the result is an outbreak of propaganda or provocations that blur lines between perception and reality; between personal prejudices and more objective truths.

Ask political consultants about this dynamic and they'll reply that one can't predict how people receiving their messaging will react. On the other hand, social scientists, academic media analysts and former social media executives are saying that's not entirely so. They say human behavior is frequently predictable, and some academics have begun to connect the dots and produce an evidence trail.

Who Knows What's Really Going On?

Take what we know about how Donald Trump's campaign used Facebook in 2016. It identified and targeted 13.5 million persuadable voters in 16 states with 100,000 different messaging "variants" -- the equivalent of having 100,000 campaign ads at your disposal. Of course, top Trump staffers in October 2016 bragged to Bloomberg.com that using the platform to encourage and suppress voters would elect Trump. But did Trump's use of Facebook tip the race?



"We have precisely no evidence that the Russia stuff or anything that Trump's campaign did moved any votes. If they did, we don't know," said Colin Delany, the founder of Epolitics.com and a columnist specializing in online campaigns for Campaigns and Elections magazine. "We know Trump's people spent whatever he spent on Facebook. We know they ran all these variants. But campaigns do a lot of things that don't work all the time."

How can advertising experts and political consultants know so much about voters they repeatedly target before Election Day -- by merging voter profiles compiled by political parties with the personal profiles platforms generated by Facebook's advertising-driven supercomputers -- yet not know what will likely happen when their micro-targeted audiences actually vote?



"You're never going to be able to get metrics on it. It's not new," said John Zogby, a nationally known pollster and Forbes contributor. "Number one, there's the old cliche we always use. This is about the focus groups, where people say, 'Oh, I don't pay any attention to television advertising or jungles,' and they are humming the jingle for Crest going down the toothpaste aisle."





Next Page 1 | 2 | 3

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).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 Our Future

Conor Lamb's stunning win in the special election for Pennsylvania's 18th House District showed the blue wave building as the November midterms approach.

It also triggered an immediate debate about what the victory says about Democratic strategy this fall, amid warnings from the Democratic political pros that efforts to drive a bold progressive agenda will undermine Democratic prospects in conservative districts like Lamb's.

Lamb's remarkable surge in a district that favored Donald Trump by 20 points proves the "Resistance" is real. Republicans outspent Lamb and his allies by a five-to-one margin, and threw their entire playbook at him: Trump, tax cuts, tariffs, attack ads, and more. None of it worked.

With over 100 Republican-held districts more competitive than the one Lamb now represents, the panic in Republican circles is surely justified.

Publicly, House Speaker Paul Ryan sought to discount the result by arguing Lamb masqueraded as a conservative. In a somewhat similar vein, some pundits and Democratic party officials suggested Lamb's victory validates the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's strategy of finding candidates that "fit their districts," which is often code for recruiting more conservative or corporate Democrats.

While Lamb said he wouldn't vote for Nancy Pelosi to lead the party and was personally pro-gun and opposed to abortion, the notion that he ran as a conservative is fanciful. Jon Favreau, Obama's former speech writer, demolished it in one tweet, noting that Lamb campaigned for universal health care, against Trump's tax cut, for expanded background checks on gun sales, for stronger unions, against cuts to Social Security, for a woman's right to choose and for medical marijuana.

Lamb put voters' kitchen-table concerns at the center of his campaign, and made himself the champion of working people in his district. He railed against House Speaker Paul Ryan for passing tax cuts for the rich and corporations while pushing deep cuts in Social Security and Medicare. He supported Trump's tariffs while campaigning against our failed corporate trade policies. He embraced unions against an opponent who favored right-to-work legislation.

Lamb's campaign was fueled by small donations and a field operation bolstered by unions. The DCCC largely stayed out of the race until late, and it's likely it raised more money off the race than it actually put into it.

There are two major conclusions to be drawn from Lamb's victory in Pennsylvania. First, even in a growing low-unemployment economy, working people are looking for someone who will stand with them. A bold progressive economic agenda beats the Republican attempt to use top-end tax cuts, deregulation and attacks on government to cover their remorseless assault on workers. Even Trump's tariffs and posturing about trade didn't make the difference in this very red district.

Second, the turnout in the race showed once more that Democratic voters are mobilized and energized. Democrats came out in larger numbers than Republicans which usually does not happen in off-year or special elections. Even a massive effort by outside conservative groups could not counter that passion.

As the annual Strategy Summit hosted by the Congressional Progressive Caucus Center in Baltimore last weekend showcased, progressive movements and leaders are gaining capacity and confidence in driving the demand for Democrats to embrace a bold agenda for change. (Full disclosure: I chair the board of the CPCC).

The Congressional Progressive Caucus is the largest and most diverse group in the House. Its members tend to come from strong Democratic districts. They are increasingly united behind a bold populist agenda -- fair trade, $15.00 minimum wage, Medicare for All, expand Social Security, tuition free college, support for worker rights and unions, public investment to rebuild America and drive a Green New Deal.

The summit featured prominent House members who are in the CPC, such as Keith Ellison and Pramila Jayapal, as well as progressive champions like Senator Elizabeth Warren and New York Mayor Bill DiBlasio. Bernie Sanders spoke by video. All called for both mobilizing against Trump and Republicans and for demanding fundamental reform. Warren was saluted for her courage in calling out Democratic Senators who have lined up with the big banks to weaken bank regulation.

Chris Shelton, President of the Communications Workers of America, summarized the progressive commitment most forcefully in his keynote address. "The fight for our country's future," he declared, "starts with The Resistance, standing up every day against the petulant, racist, fascist-coddling, phony populist, pro corporate, lying lunacy that cascades out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue on an hour-by-hour basis."

Next Page 1 | 2

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).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 Columbia Journalism Review

PROPUBLICA LAST YEAR published a widely cited article linking Trump's CIA nominee Gina Haspel directly to the waterboarding and torture of Abu Zubaydah when she was in charge of a CIA black site prison in Thailand in 2002. Yesterday, ProPublica was forced to retract and apologize for a significant part of the article's content.

There's no doubt it was a considerable mistake. You can imagine Team Trump will use the incident to muddy the waters about torture -- with more "fake news" proclamations -- in an attempt to get Haspel through the nomination process. But ProPublica did what it should have: issue a detailed correction along with an explanation about how it happened as soon as it had new information. Mistakes in reporting inevitably happen, no matter the subject, and it's the news organization's response to those mistakes that matters.

(It's still indisputable, by the way, that Haspel was in charge of the black site when another captive was waterboarded, and that she played a key role in the destruction, against White House orders, of almost 100 hours of tapes that showed the CIA engaging in torture.)

But it's worth taking a longer look at why a mistake like ProPublica's is more likely to happen when reporting on CIA activities, and why everyone should be furious at the government, rather than place the blame solely on ProPublica.

In its report, ProPublica was forced to use a combination of heavily censored CIA and court documents and anonymous sources to piece together what happened over a decade ago in the secret CIA prison Haspel ran. Many of the documents were made public only after years of Freedom of Information Act fights brought by public interest groups, while many other documents on Haspel's CIA tenure remain classified.

These types of unintentional mistakes would be almost entirely avoidable if journalists did not have to read between the lines of ridiculous government redactions meant to cover up crimes.

Click Here to Read Whole ArticleDownload Report Global GABA Receptor Agonist Drug Market, Dosage, Price and Clinical Pipeline Outlook 2024

https://www.kuickresearch.com/report-global-gaba-receptor-agonist-drug-market,-dosage,-price-and-clinical-pipeline-outlook-2024.php

Global GABA Receptor Agonist Drug Market, Dosage, Price and Clinical Pipeline Outlook 2024 Report Highlights:* Global GABA Drugs Market Analysis by Dosage and Price* Promising GABA Receptor Agonist Therapeutics* Trends and Market Dynamics of GABA Receptor Agonist* Global GABA Receptor Agonists Clinical Pipeline = 49 Drugs* Marketed Global GABA Receptor Agonists Clinical Insight = 28 Drugs* GABA Receptor Agonist Market Analysis by IndicationDownload SampleFor Report Sample Contact: neeraj@kuickresearch.comReport Weblink:Table of Contents1. Prologue to (Gamma Amino Butyric Acid) GABA1.1 Gamma - Amino Butyric Acid (GABA) andndash; Chief Inhibitory Neurotransmitter of the Central Nervous System1.2 GABA Receptors and Their Importance1.3 GABA Receptor - Role and its Working Mechanism2. Major Classes of GABA Receptor Therapeutics2.1 GABA Receptor Agonist (Activators)2.2 GABA Receptor Antagonist (Inhibitors)3. GABA Receptor Market Segmentation by Type3.1 GABAA3.2 GABAB4. Global GABA Drugs Market Analysis by Dosage and Price4.1 Gabapentin (Gralise, Neurontin, Gabarone, Fanatrex)4.1.1 Horizant (Gabapentin Enacarbil)4.1.2 Regnite (Gabapentin Enacarbil,Japan)4.1.3 Solzira (Gabapentin Enacbril)4.1.4 Gralise (Gabapentin Enacbril)4.2 Zolpidem4.2.1 Ambien and Ambien CR ( Zolpidem Tartrate)4.2.2 Edluar4.2.3 Intermezzo4.2.1 Zolpimist4.3 Other Marketed GABA Receptor Therapeutics andndash; Dosage and Price Analysis4.3.1 Diastat AcuDial (Diazepam)4.3.2 Campral EC (Acamprosate)4.3.3 Stiripentol (Diacomit)4.3.4 Gamibetal (GABOB)4.3.5 Loreclezole4.3.6 Lunesta(Eszopiclone)4.3.7 Piacmilon4.3.8 Onfi(Clobazam)4.3.9 Gabrene (Progabide)4.3.10 Diprivan (Propofol)4.3.11 Regtect4.3.12 Sonata Oral (Zaleplon, Starnoc, Andate)4.3.13 Topamax Migraine5. Promising GABA Receptor Agonist Therapeutics5.1 Bamaluzole5.2 Phenibut5.3 Baclofen5.4 Gaboxadol5.5 Klonopin (clonazepam)5.6 Tiagbine5.7 GABA as Food Supplement6. Global - Trends and Market Dynamics of GABA Receptor Agonist6.1 Entry of Promising Therapeutics into the GABA Market Segment6.2 Increasing Opportunities in Psychological Disorders Market7. GABA Receptor Agonist Market Analysis by Indication7.1 Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)7.2 Psychiatric Disorders and Depression7.3 Alzheimer7.4 Epilepsy and Seizure7.5 Anxiety and Sleep Disorders7.6 Obesity and Alcoholism8. GABA Receptor Market Analysis by Region8.1 US8.2 Europe8.3 Asia Pacific8.4 Rest of the World9. GABA Receptor Agonist Market Driving Parameters9.1 Increasing Prevalence of GABA Related Disorders9.2 Increase in Research and Development9.3 Presence of Robust Clinical Pipeline10. GABA Receptor Agonist Market Challenges10.1 Scientific and Technical Limitations10.2 Limited Research in GABA Therapeutics Segment and Cost Factor10.3 Lack of Awareness and Low Market Penetration of GABA Receptor Agonist10.4 Unregulated Market and Stringent FDA Regulations11. Global GABA Receptor Agonist Market Future Forecast12. Global GABA Receptor Agonists Clinical Pipeline by Company, Indication and Phase12.1 Global GABA Receptor Agonists Pipeline Overview12.2 Unknown12.3 Research12.4 Preclinical12.5 Clinical12.6 Phase-I12.7 Phase-II12.8 Phase-III12.9 Preregistration13. Marketed GABA Receptor Agonists Clinical Insight by Company and Indication14. Competitive Analysis14.1 Advicenne14.2 AstraZeneca14.3 Athena Drug Delivery Solutions14.4 Biocodex14.5 Elan Corporation14.6 Eli Lilly and Company14.7 H.LundBeck, Merck and Co14.8 GlaxoSmithKline14.9 NovaDel Pharma14.10 Novartis14.11 OVATION Pharmaceuticals14.12 Osmotica Pharmaceutical14.13 Pfizer14.14 sanofi-aventis14.15 VIVUS14.16 XenoPortFigure 1-1: GABA - Most Abundant NeurotransmitterFigure 1-2: Features of GABA ReceptorsFigure 1-3: GABA Receptor Activation and FunctionFigure 2-1: Potential Therapeutic Role of GABAFigure 3-1: Structure of GABAAFigure 4-1: Gabapentin (Neurontin) - Dosage Analysis (mg)Figure 4-2: Gabapentin (Neurontin) - Price Analysis (US$), 2018Figure 4-3: Horizant - Dosage Analysis by Indication (mg/day)Figure 4-4: Horizant- Price Analysis for 300mg and 600mg Pack(US$), 2018Figure 4-5: Regnite - Price Analysis by Region (US$), 2018Figure 4-6: Ambien - Maximum Permissible Dosage by Gender (mg)Figure 4-7: Price Analysis -Ambien CR Oral Tablet (US$/30 Tablet Pack), 2018Figure 4-8: Intermezzo - Dosage Analysis (mg)Figure 4-9: Zolpidem - Price Analysis by Product, 2018Figure 4-10: Diazepam Rectal Gel - Dosage Analysis by Age (mg/kg)Figure 4-11: Diazepalm - Price Analysis by Product, 2018Figure 4-12: Dosage Analysis - Acamprosate Tablets per day by WeightFigure 4-13: GABOB- Maximum Recommended Dosage in Children by Condition (mg/Day)Figure 4-14: GABOB - Maximum Recommended Dosage in Adults by Condition (mg/Day)Figure 4-15: Propofol- Price Analysis (US$/ml), 2018Figure 4-16: Global - Propofol Sales Analysis (US$ Million), 2013Figure 4-17: Sonata Oral - Price Analysis (US$), 2018Figure 4-18: Topomax - Monotherapy Dosage Analysis for patients andgt;10 years (mg)Figure 4-19: Topamax - Monotherapy Dosage (mg) Analysis for Patients andlt; 10 years by Weight (kg)Figure 4-20: Topamax - Price Analysis for 15 Tablet pack (mg), 2018Figure 5-1: Global - Propofol Sales Forecast (US$ Billion), 2015-2024Figure 5-2: Baclofen - Price Analysis (US$/mg), 2018Figure 5-3: Baclofen - Intrathecal Solution Price Analysis (US$/ml), 2018Figure 5-4: Global - Baclofen Sales Estimates (US$ Million), 2015 -2024Figure 5-5: Tiagbine - Dosage Analysis by Indication (mg)Figure 7-1: GABA Market Segmentation by IndicationFigure 7-2: Global - ADHD Prevalence by Region (%), 2016Figure 7-3: Global - Prevalence of GABA Related Disorders (%), 2017Figure 7-4: Global - Alzheimer Prevalence Forecast (Million) 2016-2050Figure 7-5: Global- Number of Patients Diagnosed by Epilepsy (Million), 2016Figure 7-6: Sleep Disorders Prevalence by Region (%), 2016Figure 7-7: Global - Estimated Annual Cost of Sleep Disorder (US$ Million), 2016Figure 8-1: US- ADHD Prevalence by Age (%), 2018Figure 8-2: US-ADHD Prevalence by Gender (%), 2018Figure 8-3: US- ADHD Prevalence by Race (%), 2018Figure 8-4: US andndash;People Diagnosed with GABA Related Disorders (Million), 2012-2016Figure 8-5: Europe - Alzheimers Prevalence by Age (%), 2014-2016Figure 8-6: Asia - Prevalence of ADHD among Children by Region (%), 2012-2016Figure 8-7: Asia Pacific andndash; GABA Related Sleep Disorder Prevalence (%), 2015-2016Figure 9-1: Driving Factors of GABA Agonist MarketFigure 9-2: Current Psychiatric Drug Pipeline, 2018Figure 10-1:GABA Receptor Agonist Market ChallengesFigure 12-1: Global - GABA Receptor Agonists Clinical Pipeline (%), 2018 till 2024Figure 12-2: Global - GABA Receptor Agonists Clinical Pipeline (Number), 2018 till 2024Figure 12-3: Global - GABA Receptor Agonists Clinical Pipeline (%),2018 till 2024Figure 12-4: Global - GABA Receptor Agonists Clinical Pipeline (Number), 2018 till 2024Kuick Research is a market research and analytics company that provides targeted information for critical decisions at business, product and service levels. We are quick, predictive and known by the recommendations we have made in the past. Our result-oriented research methodology offers understanding of multiple issues in a short period of time and gives us the capability to keep you full with loads of practical ideas. By translating research answers into strategic insight and direction, we not only rate the success potential of your products and/or services, but also help you identify the opportunities for growth in new demographies and find ways to beat competition.Neeraj Chawlaneeraj@kuickresearch.comKuicK ResearchL29 - L34, First FloorBlock L,Connaught PlaceNew Delhi-110001+91-11-47067990Natures Natural India explains the advantages of using Black Pepper Spice Oils for Health

Spice Oils Exporters, Pure Essential oils suppliers

http://www.naturesnaturalindia.com/spice-oils.html

http://www.naturesnaturalindia.com/certified-organic-oils.html

Natures Natural India is recognized as one of the established Bulk Spice Oils Suppliers that supplies different types of Spice oils and all types of essential oils at a wholesale price. These oils are high in demand for its amazing therapeutic benefits.New Delhi, Saturday, March 17, 2018:Indian spices are always in demand among people irrespective of the geographical location. The diverse flora and fauna help in growth and cultivation of many spices that are found nowhere else in the world. Spices are often used for the extraction of organic oil that is commonly termed as Spice Oils. Due to the advent of the technological advancement, many Bulk Spice Oils Suppliers such as Natures Natural India allows people to buy spice oils at a wholesale rate. The offered oils are not used as an ingredient in any of the kitchens item but also posses many therapeutic and other benefits.Being one of the leading Spice Oils Exporters, Natures Natural India is actively engaged in offering the best quality Black Pepper spice oils to people. It is extracted from the leaves of the plant by means of the steam distillation process. This oil has an active ingredient piperine that has the capability of increasing digestive system that offers protection against oxidative damage and also enhances the digestive system of the body.One of the senior spokesperson of the website explained the benefits of using spice oils obtained from Black Pepper and said, People can buy this beneficial organic oil from Wholesale Spice Oils supplier online () in a simple and easy step. It is not just used as a flavoring agent but can also be utilized in the manufacturing of many medicines, preservative, and perfumes. Besides, it also helps in providing relief to pain & ache, lowers cholesterol level, enhances proper blood circulation and also eliminates toxins from the body. People suffering from the gastric problem, can also use this spiced oil where it stimulates the stomach and thus, secretion of hydrochloric acid gets increased that is needed for the proper digestion.Asked about the more advantages of using Black Pepper Oil, the companys authentic representative further explained, Those people who were having issues due to increased cholesterol level have used this oil and got a positive result. The oil, thus, gets highly demanded by people to reduce high cholesterol level. When the oil is used internally, it helps in promoting healthy & proper circulation of blood that this increases the flow of bile and mucus. You can also use turmeric oil to mix it with Black Pepper oil that will ultimately enhance the circulatory of the body.Apart from buying Black Pepper spice oil from one of the Pure Essential oils suppliers, the online oil store also presents different types of spice oils online such as Cinnamon Bark, Black Cumin Seed (Kaloungi), Cardamom, Cassia, Caraway, Celery Seed, Chilli Seed, Aniseed, Cinnamon, Black Pepper and Clove.About the Company:Natures Natural India procures different types of Natural Essential Oils from the authorized All Types of Essential oils Manufacturers in the industry. Likewise, the portal offers different types of organic oils such as Aromatherapy Oils, Carrier Oils, Pure and natural essential oils, Traditional Indian Attars, Floral Absolute Oils and Certified Organic Oils. People can use these oils in different industries such as Pharmaceutical, Beverages, Food, Perfumery and other allied industries for the manufacturing of different types of products. For more information, visit the website.Contact us:Natures Natural India6/46, 2nd Floor,Ramesh Nagar, New Delhi  110015Phone: +919711003901Fax: +91-11-22782387Email: info@naturesnaturalindia.comWebsite:Lid & Bottom Box Market Projected to Grow Steadily During 2017-2027

https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-5919

https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-5919

www.futuremarketinsights.com

Lid & Bottom Box market: IntroductionLid & Bottom boxes are the primary packaging solution for most of the consumer goods and gifts. It is a very cost-effective and efficient packaging solution for the variety of products available in the market. The Lid and Bottom boxes contain a lid to cover the bottom box which contains product inside it. These boxes are available in hundreds of shapes and sizes to cater specific demands of the manufacturers. The box offers good handling and shipping protection to the product. Most of the companies pack their branded products in these attractive boxes to market their products. Almost 80% of the watches and shoes available in the market are packaged in the lid and bottom boxes packaging. The packaging solution is highly suitable for the packaging of these type of consumer goods. Lid & Bottom boxes are generally made of the paper and plastics material. The material offers high strength and resistance properties. The boxes are used in different industries such as automobile, personal care, food & beverages etc. for the wide range of applications. Packaging manufacturers are continuously focusing to innovate their existing products to stay competitive in the market.Lid & Bottom Box: Market DynamicsThe Lid & Bottom Boxes have noticed a noticeable growth in the past few years due to the rise in consumption levels of the consumer goods. This is primarily driven due to increase in disposable incomes of the middle-class households in the emerging economies such as India, China, Brazil, etc. The companies are also focusing to opt for the cost-friendly packaging solution and offer high strength and resistance characteristics. Also, due to high competition in the market, packaging manufacturers are providing these boxes at the competitive prices. The introduction of the alternative packaging solution may hamper the growth of the bottom & lid boxes in the coming years. Also, some brand owner often face some problems in the quality of the product to safeguard their products in transit. This is primarily due to the presence of hundreds and thousands of the manufacturers who do not meet quality standards. The latest trend observed in the lid & bottom boxes market is the innovation of the existing products and the material used for manufacturing of these boxes. There are lots of opportunities available in this market for the new entrants in the emerging economies to capture market share from other competitors by offering differentiated products.Request to Sample Report -Lid & Bottom Box: Market SegmentationLid & Bottom Box market is segmented as follows-Lid & Bottom Box market segmentation by material typePaperPlasticsGlassOthersLid & Bottom Box market segmentation by end use Food & BeveragesGiftsPersonal CareHealthcareOthersLid & Bottom Box Market: Regional outlookGeographically, the global lid & bottom box market is segmented across following regions- North America, Asia-Pacific Excluding Japan, Japan, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Latin America, Middle East and Africa. The penetration of the lid & bottom boxes is very high in the North America and European region due to the brand owners preferences towards more eco-friendly and cost-effective packaging solution. The consumer in these regions also get easily attracted by this type of packaging solution. The demand for lid & bottom boxes in the Asia Pacific region is increasing day by day due to increase in disposable incomes of the middle-class households. The per capita spending on these type of products has increased substantially in the last few years. The India and China region offer strong growth in the lid & bottom boxes during the forecast period. Also, the packaging solution is widely used in the Japan. The MEA and Latin America region also offer untapped growth potential in the lid & bottom boxes market.Request Report TOC @Lid & Bottom Box Market: Key playersSome of the key players in the global Lid & Bottom Box market are Pisacane srl, Essence Ecocrafts Ltd., Dongguan Fullbright Industry Co., Ltd., FABREGAS PACKAGING, S.L., Duke Packaging, China Doso Pak Co. Ltd., Tiny Box Company Ltd., Staples, Inc., HE Koch & Co.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 :Life Support Systems Market: Challenges and Opportunities Report

https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-5925

https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-5925

www.futuremarketinsights.com

Life supports system in healthcare is the complex machine used for supporting the functioning of various body organs and systems. These systems are mostly required mostly in cases of major organs failure such as brain, heart or lungs. These systems include invasive as well as non-invasive systems being used in various applications such as surgery support or trauma incidences. Life support systems help in restoring airway, breathing, circulation and thus maintaining patient's homeostasis. It also helps the patients from complications of the underlying disease and its treatment. These devices play an immensely important role in urgent patient management in emergency departments, intensive care units and neonatal intensive care units. Life support systems consists of basic life support which is provided in situation requiring immediate attention followed by advance life support provided by a trained healthcare professional. Equipments used in the life support systems may be installed one or portable. These systems are used in hospitals, trauma centers, ambulatory surgical centers or by emergency medical support services.Life support systems is very painful, expensive and emotionally disturbing experience with no guarantee of body restoration. However, it exposes patients to risk of further medical complications. Intensive monitoring is usually done for the patients associated with life support systems.Life Support Systems Market: Drivers & RestraintsRising prevalence of critical disorders, advancement in medical technology, improving patient accessibility and increasing number of trauma cases are some of the factors supporting the market growth of these life support systems. New developments for affordable and user-friendly devices are also pushing the market growth for these systems. However, high risk, complexities related to their operations, stern regulatory norms in context of high risk, physical as well as emotional pain are the factors that may limit the growth of the market. Along with this, inappropriate practices associated used by doctors such as to maintain patients beyond the point with the use of ventilators also restricts its use and affects the market growth.Request to Sample Report -Life Support Systems Market: SegmentationSegmentation by Product Type:InstalledPortableSegmentation by Device Type:Automated External DefibrillatorExtracorporeal OxygenatorVentilatorSegmentation by End UserHospitalsClinicsTrauma CentersAmbulatory Surgical CentersEmergency Medical ServicesLife Support Systems Market: OverviewThe market for life support systems consists of various players. Life support systems market is dependent on the improvisations in healthcare infrastructure, healthcare spending, prevalence of life threatening diseases etc. across the globe. According to the Society of Critical Care Medicine, over 5.7 million patients are admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) in the U.S. every year mostly with cardiac, respiratory and neurologic conditions, thus representing the market need for these instruments. The expense for the life support systems is given by individual payers, insurance companies, health plans and government support.Request Report TOC @Life Support Systems Market: Region-wise OutlookGeographically, North America is the leading region with the number of end users for life support systems owing to the accessibility for technologically advanced systems usage in healthcare facilities as well as most of the population is covered with health insurance plans. Moreover, presence of most of the market players in the region and their strong sales growth support the market share of the region. This is followed by the Western Europe market owing to the presence of established medical infrastructure and skilled medical professionals as well as growing number of research and developments for novel and innovative medical solutions. Asia Pacific region represents the significant growth rate with the continuous improvement in healthcare facilities and rising number of hospital admissions. Latin America followed by Middle East & Africa represents the lowest market share as well as growth rate over the forecast period owing to the less developed healthcare infrastructure and lack of medical facilities.Life Support Systems Market Treatment Market: Key PlayersSome of the players in the Life Support Systems market includes Stryker Corporation, Heyer medical AG, Koninklijke Philips N.V., Hamilton Medical, ZOLL Medical Corporation, Livanova plc, Smith medical, Promed Group Co., Ltd., Braile biomedical 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 :Carpal Tunnel Release Market to Witness an Outstanding Growth by 2027

https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-5965

https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-5965

www.futuremarketinsights.com

Carpel tunnel release is surgery which is used to treat carpel tunnel syndrome, which is weakness and pain in the hand which is caused by the pressure on median nerve in wrist. Median nerve is the nerve in the wrist that allows feeling and movements to the parts of the hand which include thumb, palm, index fingers, thumb side of the ring finger and middle finger. The area where the nerves enters in the wrist is known as carpel tunnel. Carpel tunnel is very narrow and a little swelling can pinch the nerve and cause numbness, pain, weakness and tingling which is known as carpel tunnel syndrome. Carpel tunnel syndrome is caused by many factors such as heredity, hand and wrist position, repetitive hand use, pregnancy and several health conditions such as diabetes, thyroid gland imbalance. Carpel tunnel release for the compression of the median nerve is the most common and successful procedures in hand surgery. Carpel tunnel syndrome can be treated with non-surgical methods as well. Over the counter inflammatory drugs such as aspirin and ibuprofen are taken. Other non-surgical method include cold or ice compress, physical therapy and splints to keep wrist straight so no tension comes on the nerve. If the non-surgical therapy doesnt work then the electrical activity of the median nerve with an EMG is taken which shows the problem with the carpel tunnel syndrome and carpel tunnel release surgery is done. There are two types of carpal tunnel release surgery open and endoscopic where the ligament is cut around the carpel tunnel to take off the pressure from the median nerve. With the endoscopic surgery the healing is faster and have less pain.Carpal Tunnel Release Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe carpel tunnel market is increasing owing to the increase in the prevalence among people. Rise in the arthritis, diabetes and thyroid gland imbalance also drive the carpal tunnel release market. With the increase base of geriatric population, obesity, change in the lifestyle are the major factor that drive the carpal tunnel release market. Technological advancement in visualization in the endoscopic surgery will boost the market of carpal tunnel release. High cost of the procedures and little reimbursement by the government in the carpel tunnel release are the major factors which inhibit the market globally. Limited number of skilled professional also hinder the growth of the carpal tunnel release market.Request to Sample Report -Carpal Tunnel Release Market: SegmentationTentatively, global carpal tunnel release market has been segmented on the basis of techniques, and end user.Based on technique, global carpal tunnel release market is segmented as below:Open carpal tunnel releaseEndoscopic carpal tunnel releaseBased on end user, global carpal tunnel release market is segmented as below:HospitalsAmbulatory Surgical CentersSpecialty clinicsCarpal Tunnel Release Market: OverviewCarpal Tunnel Release Market is growing owing to the increasing noninvasive procedures which are easy and less complicated. Rise in the adoption of endoscopic surgeries with advancement in the technology owing to low risk procedures are the major factor which boost the carpal tunnel release market in the forecast period. High demand of endoscopic tunnel release surgery with increase in the awareness among the people will grow the carpal tunnel release market. Endoscopic surgeries in the hospitals is furnished with the devices used for many noninvasive procedures. Hospitals acquires the largest share in the carpel tunnel release market owing to the collaboration and partnership with the manufacturing companies.Request Report TOC @Carpal Tunnel Release Market: Regional OutlookThe market for limb correction system are examined across the region such as North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific, Japan, Middle East and Africa. North America dominates the Carpal Tunnel Release Market due to increasing investment by the government towards the noninvasive technologies. Increasing outpatient procedure in the United States with the increase in the incidence of medically diagnosis carpel tunnel release is increasing which drive the North America carpal tunnel release market. Asia Pacific is the emerging market in the carpel tunnel release owing to less cost procedure, advancement in the endoscopic technology and expansion of rural healthcare facilities will boost the carpal tunnel release market.Carpal Tunnel Release Market: Key PlayersSome of the key players in the Carpal Tunnel Release Market are Arthrex, Inc, MicroAire Surgical Instruments, LLC, LMT Surgical, S.E.G-WAY Orthopaedics inc., Thayer Intellectual Property, Inc., Smith & Nephew, A.M. SURGICAL, INC., Integra LifeSciences Corporation, SONEX HEALTH, LLC. , whereas some and regional players also have a significant presence in carpal tunnel release 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 :Dental Anaesthetic Delivery Systems Market Estimated to Flourish by 2027

https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-6024

https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-6024

www.futuremarketinsights.com

Dental anesthesia is a critical step in order to control the pain which arises due to the dental invasive procedures. The dental anesthesia is a type of local anesthesia in which the locally the part of mouth or gums is numbed in order to carry out some dental treatment. These dental invasive procedures can involve manipulation of gums, extractions, periodontal surgery, gingivectomy, root canal etc. The painless treatment benefits patients undergoing treatment, doctors as well as the oral hygienists. In order to give dental anesthesia a special type of syringe is used called dental syringe. Also many different types of dental syringes are available in the market. Also a new technology for giving local anesthesia has been developed called as WAND which is computer assisted anesthesia system. Using this computer assisted anesthesia system one can painlessly deliver the anesthetic locally.According to WHO 2012 report nearly 60-90% of school going children suffer from dental caries and almost 100% of adult population is suffer from dental caries. Periodontal diseases accounts for 10-20 % of the adult population ranging from 33-44 years. Oral bacterial and fungal infections are common in case of the HIV patients. The dental care does not limit only to the humans but they are also used for treating veterinary animals such as dogs and few others. Thus the use of anesthetic delivery system is expected to accelerate due to the growing number of the patients suffering from dental and oral conditions.Dental Anesthetic Systems Market: Drivers and RestrainsThe new technological development in the field of dental injections for example the wand which is computer assisted anesthesia system as well as the advancement in conventional dental syringes will be acting as a driving force for dental anesthetic systems market. The ever growing prevalence of the dental caries, periodontal diseases will ultimately lead to the growth of the dental anesthetic systems market.Request to Sample Report -The stringent regulatory requirements due to incidences of the needle stick injuries may possibly affect the growth of the dental anesthetic systems market. Devices with new technology are entering into the market for e.g. wand which may slow down the market of the dental anesthetic systems in the following years.Dental Anesthetic Systems Market: SegmentationThe global Dental anesthetic systems market has been classified on the basis of product, mechanism, materialBased on product type, the dental anesthetic systems market divided into following:DisposableNon-disposableSafetyBased on mechanism, the dental anesthetic systems market divided into following:Breech loading non-aspiratingBreech loading aspiratingPressure typeJet injector typeBased on material, the dental anesthetic systems market divided into following:MetallicPlasticBased on end user, the veterinary procedure lights market divided into following:Specialized dental hospitalsDental ClinicsGeneral hospitalsDental anesthetic systems Market: OverviewThe dental anesthetic market is segmented based upon the product type, mechanism type, material and end user. Single use dental syringes were the choice of the syringes used for the dental anesthesia as they prevent cross contamination. Introduction of dental syringes which are rust resistant, autoclavable can prevent cross contamination and can be reused. Hence the metal based dental syringe systems tend to grow hereafter.Request Report TOC @Dental anesthetic systems Market: Regional OverviewRegion wise, the Dental anesthetic market is classified into regions namely, North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific, Japan, Middle East and Africa. North America is expected to account for major share followed by Europe. The Asia Pacific and Middle East and Africa is expected to see moderate rise in the anesthetics market due to increasing awareness among doctors. Increasing awareness among the people and doctors about the dental caries and other oral problems through digital platforms would boost the growth of the dental anesthetic systems market.Dental anesthetic systems Market: Key PlayersSome of the key players in global dental anesthetic systems market are Henkke Sas Wolf, 3M ESPE, Dentsply Sirona, Smith care, Carl Martin, Hager Werken, 4TEK SRL, Becton, Dickinson and 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 :Lidding Foil Market Set to Witness an Uptick during 2017 - 2027

https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-6314

https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-6314

www.futuremarketinsights.com

Global Lidding Foil Market: IntroductionGrowing need for packaging material that leads to high productivity and less stress on machines had led to an ever increasing demand for lidding foil market. Lidding foils are used to give a consummate conclusion to the container as well as assurance from external impacts. Lidding foils are also preferred due to their smooth and robust peel which is well suited for clean room environments. Lidding foils provide barrier protection which is approximately five times better than other lidding material. Not only this, they also offer many advantages to the packaging machinery operators as they run more efficiently on the packaging lines providing fewer hang ups and rejects as compared to their counterparts.Global Lidding Foil: Market DynamicsThe global lidding foil market is expected to be driven by high demand from the end user industries such as pharmaceuticals and food & beverages for a lidding material that acts as a perfect barrier material over other alternatives. Another factor propelling the growth of the market is the high compatibility of lidding foil with almost every type of substrate.Factor hampering the growth of the global lidding foil market is the comparatively low tear strength of the foil which comprises the seal integrity thereby contributing to low shelf life of the package.Features such as child resistance and tamper evidence on lidding foil are expected to bring in new market opportunities of growth for the global lidding foil market. Child resistant lidding foil offers an upgraded peel and push functionality of the consumers and also acts as a highly efficient packaging process for the customers. Production of material that requires less energy for forming, and further reduces the carbon footprint is a key trend prevailing in the global lidding foil market.Request to Sample Report -Global Lidding Foil: Market SegmentationThe global lidding foil market is segmented on the basis of product type, lamination type, end use, application, and geography.On the basis of product type, the global lidding foil market is segmented intoDie cut lidding foilRoll stock lidding foilOn the basis of lamination type, the global lidding foil market is segmented intoPaper based laminationFilm based laminationPaper based lamination is highly preferred in the market as it is made up of recyclable material, thus acting as a sustainable solution.On the basis of end use, the global lidding foil market is segmented intoFood & BeveragesPharmaceuticalsHome and Personal CareOthersOn the basis of application, the global lidding foil market is segmented intoBlistersJarsCupsTubsGlobal Lidding Foil Market: Regional OutlookOn the basis of geography, the global lidding foil market is segmented into Latin America, North America, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and Europe. North America and Europe are together expected to lead the global lidding foil market mainly attributed to well-established end user industries such as food & beverages and pharmaceutical. Blisters account for almost 80% of the pharmaceutical market in Europe. Asia Pacific is expected to expand with the highest CAGR due to rapid development in key economies such as India and China. China has the second largest pharmaceutical market in the world, where the lidding foil market is expected to gain immense prominence. Middle East & Africa is expected to expand at a sluggish growth rate during the forecast period.Request Report TOC @Global Lidding Foil Market: Key playersSome of the key players operating in the global lidding foil market are Winpak Ltd., All Foils, Inc., Symetal, Bemis Company, Inc., Constantia Flexibles GmbH, Stewart Foil, and Glenroy, Inc.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 :Firefighters will move the departments four fire trucks into the building at the end of the month, with March as the targeted completion date, but officials said the $150,000 structure has been years in the making.GiftaLove.com is Enabling People to Send Flowers to India and Worldwide in Just Some Clicks!

Flowers Online

https://www.giftalove.com/flowers/bangalore

https://www.giftalove.com/flowers

New Delhi, India: GiftaLove.com has improvised its services with assured speedy flower gifts in India. The portal is reckoned as one of the leading online gift stores in India that enables people to send flowers to Bangalore, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and places across the country.Over years, the act of gifting flowers has been evolved a lot. Today it is not mere a bouquet of some flowers that one picks to gifts someone dear on a celebratory moment. Now flowers are available in exquisite arrangements that are carefully and beautifully designed and crafted by expert florists. Basket flower arrangements, heart shape flower arrangements, letter shape flower arrangements, designer flower arrangements are few trending floral gifts these days.GiftaLove.com brings such beautiful flower arrangements forth its customers with extensive range. People in need of gifting flowers to close and dear ones can buy birthday flowers online, anniversary flowers, wedding flowers, flower with cake combos and much more that are hard to find anywhere else. Apart from it popular and very extensive range of gifts online, the portal is now acclaimed for its extensive collection of flowers online.At GiftaLove.com, we not only fulfill the purpose of gift shopping of our dear customers, rather we believe in making gift giving a pleasant and joyous experience for all. We offer everything that can be perfect for gifting and making someone feel loved on a special day. The exclusive collection of flowers on the portal is been created considering the latest flower gifting trends and usual customer preferences as well. People can shop, flowers with ease to send flowers to Bangalore (), Pune, Delhi, Jaipur and places across the nation. Moreover, we also provide express flowers delivery services to the customers, considering their urgent floral gifting needs to someone dear, said the official representative of the portal during a discussion about the exclusive flower collection.In the recently updated range of flowers online, there are ample of lovely options for flowers to shop online at the portal. People can buy beautifully designed designer flowers arrangements, heart shape arrangements, r5oses and chocolate bunches, glass vase arrangements of tulips, lily, gerbera, orchids, carnations, roses and other. Also, there are gorgeous flower basket arrangements, letter shape flower arrangements to shop online. People can also find exclusive varieties of flowers with chocolate combos, flowers with teddy combos, flowers with cake combos and more.Beside the range of flowers online, a very wide collection of gifts online is offered by the portal. This range has everything that one can think of gifting and surprising dearest one with ease. People can buy personalized gifts online, anniversary gifts, spiritual gifts, cosmetic hampers, jewellery online, gifts for him, birthday gifts, lucky plants, gifts for her, chocolate hampers, soft toys, Mothers Day gifts, Valentines Day gifts, Friendship Day Gifts and much more.GiftaLove.com is acclaimed and trusted online gift store that basically aims to meet customers demands for gifting with unique, impressive and thoughtful gifting solutions for every time. People can find impressive choices for lovely flowers in beautiful arrangements. Also the portal provides very extensive collection of Birthday cakes, anniversary cakes, photo cakes, cartoon cake, doll cake and much more. To allow people to convey love and affection to dearest ones residing far away, the website enables people to send flowers to India anywhere.Visit at:Mayur Vihar Phase 1,New Delhi, Delhi 110091, Indiasupport@giftalove.comAroma Essential Oil Store Explains the Significance of Germanium Organic Oils in Life

Organic essential oils exporters, essential oils manufacturer

http://www.aromaessentialoilstore.com/certified-organic-oils-c-49.html

http://www.aromaessentialoilstore.com/natural-essential-oils-c-22.html

Aroma Essential Oil Store is Indias leading Wholesale Certified Organic Oils manufacturer and supplier that let people buy Pure and Certified Organic Oils online without any issues. Get the oil in an airtight bottle and use it for a specific purpose.New Delhi, Saturday, March 17, 2018:Plants and its various parts are often used for the extraction of oils that are commonly known as Essential Oils. Some of these oils are volatile in nature that gets converted into vapor form from the liquid when kept at room temperature and thus, is best-suited for Aromatherapy. Today many Wholesale Certified Organic Oils supplier are providing such oils to consumers by means of online oil store.Aroma Essential Oil Store is one such Certified Organic Oils Supplier that has gained a successful place in the global market. The website manufactures organic oils via the steam distillation process that makes it 100% pure and safe use. Certified Germanium Organic Oils is high on demand for its therapeutic health benefits. The oil can also be used for blending it with other pure essential oils such as Neroli, Lemon, Lavender, Rose, Jasmine and others. One can buy this oil from Organic essential oils exporters and use it to keep the body fit and healthy.While having a talk about the significance of using Germanium Oils with the authorized spokesman of the website, he said, People can buy this oil from the leading Pure Essential Oils Exporter Online and use it for improving emotional, physical and mental health. During ancient time, many Egyptians have used the oil to get the radiant and beautiful skin. Today, most of the people who prefer using naturally extracted essential oils use this oil for reducing inflammation, treating acne, balancing hormone and also for alleviating anxiety & stress. To promote emotional wellness and for uplifting the mood, these sweet-smelling oils are high in demand. Also, it plays a significant role in improving dental health, blood circulation and reduces blood pressure, thereby, high in demand.The widely used Germanium Oil can be used in a number of ways. You can try it for inhalation purpose where the oil helps to keep nose & head clear. Children below the age of 2 years should not be given this oil in any form. When the oil is used for massaging purpose, it keeps a balance between mind & body. This, in turn, helps in soothing the muscle aches. As the oil is concentrated in nature, it should first be diluted with a suitable carrier oil and then applied to the skin. People can buy this oil online from Certified Organic Oils Supplier () and use it for as a natural air freshener where it creates a perfect balance in the mood and ambiance Said the companys senior representative in an exclusive conversation with To meet the variegated requirements of the people, the portal presents different types of Certified Organic Oils that are easy to buy online. Some of these oils include Eucalyptus Globulus, Geranium, Lavender, Chamomile, Myrtle, Frankincense, Neroli, Lemongrass, Palmarosa, Citronella, Patchouli, Lemon, Tea Tree, Cedarwood and Ylang Ylang.About the Website:Aroma Essential Oil Store is widely acknowledged as a top Essential Oils manufacturer supplier of the industry. The portal offers a wide range of Natural Essential Oils, Traditional Indian Attars, Aromatherapy Oils, Mint Oils, Flower Oils, Floral Absolute Oils, Carrier and Base Oils, Spice Oils, Massage and Spa Oils. People can use these oils in different industries for the manufacturing of medicine, perfumes, cosmetic products, skin and beauty care products, insect repellant and much more. Likewise, the oil finds its wide application in variegated industries such as Food, Beverages, Cosmetics, Pharmaceutical, Perfumery and many others. For more information, visit the website of the company.Contact us:AARNAV EXPORTSQ-362, VRV, Sector 15(II),Gurgaon - 122001, Haryana (India)Mobile: +91-74280-75079Email: info@aromaessentialoilstore.comWebsite:Significant Information on ENT Devices Market by Product, Diagnostic, Surgical, Packing Material, Market Share, End User, Opportunity and Global Forecast- Medtronic, J & J, Stryker, Smith & Nephew, Olympus, B. Braun, Karl Storz,

https://www.healthcareintelligencemarkets.com/request_sample.php?id=7714

https://www.healthcareintelligencemarkets.com/ask_for_discount.php?id=7714

https://www.healthcareintelligencemarkets.com/enquiry_before_buying.php?id=7714

https://www.healthcareintelligencemarkets.com/checkout?id=7714

One of the key factors that will have a positive influence on the growth of the market during the next few years is the increasing demand for minimally invasive ear, nose, and throat (ENT) surgeries. Minimally invasive surgical procedures involve the use of refined and thin ENT instruments in nasal, ear, and throat. The popularity of these types of surgeries is increasing because they are associated with minimal tissue harm, a quicker recuperation, less torment, and less scarring. Endoscopic skull base surgery is one of the popular MI surgeries in ENT. In this ENT surgery, the tumors of the skull base can be removed endoscopically through the nose. Similarly, the endoscopic sinus surgery also eliminates the need for incisions that can disrupt the delicate sinus tissues.Get Sample Copy@:The report presents a comprehensive study of the Global ENT Devices Market by assessing the growth drivers and restraining factors at length. This detailed study of important factors assists the market participants in understanding the issues they will be facing while functioning in this market over a long period of time. Other important information, such as manufacturing capacity and volume, pricing of products, and dynamics of demand, supply, and sales, and the revenue, have also been examined thoroughly in this research report.Companies Profiled In This Report:Medtronic, J & J, Stryker, Smith & Nephew, Olympus, B. Braun, Karl Storz, Spiggle &Theis, Conmed, Otopront, REDA, Tiansong, TongluAvail 20% Discount and Customization On This Premium Report@:A principal diagram of the Global ENT Devices Market is introduced to the readers with the assistance of market definition, order, different applications, and production network examination. The report covers the investigation of conventional and the developing markets. The report more expresses the market rivals, their business profiles, freshest news, their piece of the overall industry, developing arrangements and methodologies, client volume and creating strategies.A detailed segmentation of the market has been conducted to make it possible for readers to study the market in a much more detailed manner. Charts, graphs, statistics, and tables have been included wherever required to present the information in a clear manner. The Global ENT Devices Market is a highly fragmented, niche market with the presence of a limited number of vendors. Providers in the market compete based on pricing, innovation, service, reputation, distribution, and promotion.For More Information@:Reason to Access Global ENT Devices Market Research Report:The report, with the help of detailed business profiles, project feasibility analysis, SWOT analysis, and several other details about the key companies operating in the Global ENT Devices Market, presents a detailed analytical account of the markets competitive landscape. The report also presents an overview of the impact of recent developments on markets future growth prospects. The regulatory scenario of the market, with the help of details of key rules, regulations, plans, and policies in the market, is also examined, presenting an overview of the factors that affect a variety of decisions in the market.Get This Report Now@:Table of Contents:Global ENT Devices Market Research Report 2017Chapter 1: Global ENT Devices Market OverviewChapter 2: Global Economic Impact on IndustryChapter 3: Global Market Competition by ManufacturersChapter 4: Global Production, Revenue (Value) by RegionChapter 5: Global Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by RegionsChapter 6: Global Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by TypeChapter 7: Global Market Analysis by ApplicationChapter 8: Manufacturing Cost AnalysisChapter 9: Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream BuyersChapter 10: Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/TradersChapter 11: Market Effect Factors AnalysisChapter 12: Global ENT Devices Market ForecastIf you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.HealthCare Intelligence Markets supply market intelligence reports in the domain of personalized drugs & diagnostics after going through a rigorous research process. The healthcare and pharma industry is constantly evolving as trends are getting replaced at a rapid pace.Name: Shreyas TannaCompany: Healthcare Intelligence MarketsAddress: 601, Winterberry Purple, Koregaon Park, Pune, 411001Mail Id: sales@healthcareintelligencemarkets.comContact No: +91 7400242424A strong camaraderie is something Mary Bousfield Brown has found in quilting and creating wearable art.

"It's just a wonderful hobby that really brings women together," Brown said.

She entered a blue and lime green quilted vest this year in the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival, which she plans to showcase at a Midland Quilters Squared fashion show at 7 p.m. April 10 at St. John's Episcopal Church in Midland. Three of her pieces will be entered into a juried show scheduled for March 23-April 22 at Creative 360 in Midland. Brown said she also plans to enter the Midland Quilters Squared Guild show April 27-29 at Heritage Park Carriage House Hall in Midland.

"It's one of my favorite garments," Brown said. "I did fancy embroidery stitches and a lot of trims."

Brown has made a name for herself as a wearable artist and teaches classes in quilting, art quilts and wearable art at Material Mart in Midland and at Creative 360.

The Canada native took sewing classes in elementary school, and continued to study sewing when her family moved to Midland in her high school years. On a whim, Brown took a quilting class and immersed herself in the quilting community in California, and even more so when she recently moved back to Midland in her retirement.

"Part of it is just getting together with women who enjoy the same thing," Brown said.

Brown tries to sew every day, and a piece of wearable art like a quilted vest or jacket could take her anywhere from a month to a couple of years to construct, she said.

Her work has been displayed at California exhibits and competitions, the Pacific International Quilt Festival and the Midland County Fair.

Brown said she enjoys being back in Midland, and that the community welcomed her after being away for so long.

"When we retired we realized we couldn't afford to live in Silicon Valley," Brown said. "I'm really glad we decided to to come back. Here, almost everyone you meet is your friend almost instantly, and some people took me under their wing right away."

Brown's students at Creative 360 have physical or mental disabilities, and most are senior citizens. She has been teaching there for a couple years now, she said.

"We're almost one-on-one with students," Brown said. "It's very rewarding to see the smiles on their faces when they see their completed quilts, it's amazing. My students are really talented."

Continuing to teach is something Brown plans to carry on in her quilting career.

She is starting to teach beginning sewing classes from her home in Midland. To learn more about Brown's classes, contact her at mejbrown@gmail.comThe Mid Michigan affiliate of Voice of the Faithful will meet at 4 p.m. Thursday, March 22, in the parish center of St. Brigid Catholic Church in downtown Midland.

Topic is review and discussion of local, state and international news about sexual abuse activities within the Catholic church.Sentences may vary based on previous offenses committed by the defendant. Some sentences include other fees imposed by the state. Compiled by reporter Kelly Dame.

The following people were sentenced recently in Midland County's 42nd Circuit Court by Judge Michael J. Beale or Judge Stephen P. Carras:The community group focused on dioxin cleanup of the Saginaw and Tittabawassee rivers is holding its next meeting on Monday, March 19.

The Saginaw-Tittabawassee Rivers Contamination Community Advisory Group (CAG) will discuss member recruitment, results from its January retreat, and project updates on cleaning up contamination along the Tittabawassee River.As of Friday morning, Gladwin native Shaynee (Seipke) Traska was in 50th place in the 46th Iditarod, with about 120 miles to go.

Taking part in the dog-sled race has been a vision of the 29-year-old's since she was 9. She left Anchorage, Alaska, on March 3, along with 66 other teams -- headed to Nome some 998 miles away. Thirty-two teams crossed into Nome as of Friday. Thirteen teams have withdrawn or were scratched from the race. Twenty-one teams, including Traska are still chasing the finish line.

"I don't expect to win, I just want to finish," Traska said days before the jaunt.

Traska was in Elm, Alaska, as of Friday morning and has two more checkpoints in White Mountain and Safety before crossing the finish line in Nome.

Traska is averaging 7.1 mph and still has a team of eight dogs. She started with 16 and Iditarod rules demand mushers finish with six. Prior to the race, Traska said it is not uncommon to have to take a dog out of the race due to exhaustion or illness.

The first to complete the race, Joar Leifseth Ulsom, did so with only eight dogs remaining in his team. He finished the race in nine and a half days.

Family members say Traska is in good spirits and looking forward to the finish line. She is reportedly the only Michigan born and raised musher to compete. She is also competing with a pack of dogs she raised herself from birth, which was her dream.

Before leaving, Traska said the preparation alone was taxing, noting that she had to ship everything she needed to the various checkpoints. The bags totaled 2,500 pounds.

Traska's parents, Scott and Toni, are in Alaska supporting their daughter, along with family and friends. Scott said it is amazing to see his daughter's 20-year dream come to fruition.

Traska said she wanted to compete the race within 10 days. However, mushers have completed the race in anywhere from seven to 32 days.The Aleda E. Lutz VA is inviting Vietnam veterans to a special event in their honor from 1-3 p.m. March 29. The Saginaw Valley Naval Ship Museum, home of the USS Edson, in Bay City, has offered the ship as the venue for members of the VA leadership and staff to greet Vietnam veterans aboard this destroyer, which played an integral role during the Vietnam War.

Vietnam veterans and one guest will participate for free in this commemorative event and have the opportunity to tour the historical vessel. Guests must be able to ambulate steps and narrow hallways, as well as many thresholds throughout the tour. At this time, the ship cannot accommodate wheelchairs or walkers for safety purposes. Officials apologized in advance.Yes, the decision belongs on the local level

No, no one should be able to dictate whether people wear masks

Vote

View ResultsThe following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriff's Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter Kelly Dame.

Thursday, March 15

1:08 a.m. -- The garage door of a Warren Township home was forced open. It is unknown if items were stolen.

11:51 a.m. -- A Midland man, 29, was arrested in Ingersoll Township for driving while license suspended, improper plate and no insurance. He was stopped for speeding.

1:02 p.m. -- A 42-year-old man was arrested for an equipment violation in Greendale Township.

2:12 p.m. -- A deputy assisted with locating a grass fire in Lincoln Township and blocked traffic while the fire was extinguished.

3:46 p.m. -- Deputies were sent to a Porter Township home to assist with a disorderly 12-year-old child.

4:59 p.m. -- A Lee Township woman, 43, reported she was assaulted by a number of people she did not know on a roadway in Jerome Township. She could not provide a description of the people or the vehicle they were in, and told a deputy she did not know why she was assaulted.Tragedy was averted this week after Isabella County Sheriff Michael Main mistakenly left a gun in a school gym locker room.

The sheriff admitted that his backup gun was left behind Sunday when he vacated the locker room at Shepherd Middle School where he was changing clothes -- to work an event in uniform. A student wisely reported the handgun when he spotted it on Monday, and the matter ended without incident.

Still, Main is responsible for the mistake, which he admitted was inexcusable. It could, in fact, lead to charges against Main, an officer with 20 years of experience who now leads a law enforcement department.

We were glad to see Main take full responsibility for his mistake. He gave a professional response to the public.

"In the 20 years of law enforcement service I have never left a weapon anywhere," he said in a statement. "I have no excuse for my lack of responsibility with this matter. I have worked diligently my entire career to protect people, especially our youth. However, I have failed to do just that, and I'm devastated with my lack of accountability in this matter."

We all make mistakes on our jobs, but when it comes to law enforcement and the use of firearms, there is very little room for error. Main knows that. Most of us also know that.

We trust that everyone who has regular access to a gun will take this incident to remind themselves to be extra prudent of their guns and their storage.

Are all your firearms safely stored? Are any of them loaded? Is your ammunition locked and separate from your firearms?

Do you have youngsters, children or grandchildren who may now have access to an area with firearms that may not have had access when you first began storing a firearm at that location? Children grow taller and more curious with time, you know.

The best way to handle any gun is with extreme caution. That's why state-sponsored hunter safety classes call for the unloading of a rifle before you step over a fence. Once you have crossed the fence and picked up your rifle, then it can be safely reloaded.

It is an extreme measure, but it is the correct measure to take so a firearm won't accidentally discharge if someone is snagged on a fence. It is a precaution to cover even that unlikely event.

An unfortunate mistake by Sheriff Main has given Michigan a reminder about taking extra caution when handling firearms. We hope gun handlers will remember the incident and benefit from it.

We know the sheriff will.To the editor:

Yesterday, Gary Glenn, the state representative for the 98th District, put out a Facebook message that looked exactly like a news article about a Chinese space station that could crash into lower Michigan. Several people then questioned him about this and his response called them angry knee jerk liberals with no sense of humor. The post was supposed to be funny, but I have a problem with this.Health official: 'We are asking residents to be patient' regarding booster shots

localORLANDO, Fla.  His spot into the field at this years Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by Mastercard is owed to his win here in 1996.

That would be 1996 BT, he was told.

Paul Goydos  53 and still in possession of more all-world dry-humor than the next 25 guys combined  nodded his head and knew what the reporter meant.

Before Tiger, he said.

Yes, 22 Aprils ago, Woods was an amateur and not in the field at Bay Hill, so Goydos was left to deal with mere mortals. He prevailed, too, shooting 275 to edge Jeff Maggert by a shot. It was the first of his two PGA TOUR victories, but it was seven months later when Goydos started to sense that the PGA TOUR he had joined just three years earlier was changing.

Woods had won his first tournament, the Las Vegas Invitational, where Goydos had finished joint eighth, but then at the event at Disneyworld, I played behind him three days and I had never seen anything like it. Woods won that one, too, then he won the Masters and three other tournaments in 1997 and, well, it was wild.

The crowds, the enthusiasm, the scene, said Goydos.

Now playing regularly on the PGA TOUR Champions, where he has won five times, Goydos still pays attention to the entire landscape and knows that Woods, 42, is seemingly rejuvenated and his healthiest since 2013. There have been young players whove talked about how great it is to have a healthy Woods in their presence that they always wished that they could have played against an in-primetime Woods.

Goydos chuckles.

Be careful what you wish for, he said. Thats because, if he stays healthy, I dont think these guys have a clue as to whats coming.

If a ninth Woods victory at Bay Hill is coming, it will have to be from well off the 36-hole lead, because he struggled to an outward 38 and only heated up moderately. With birdies on the inward par 5s  Nos. 12 and 16  Woods shot level-par 72 to get halfway home in 4-under, seven behind Henrik Stenson (64-69) and Bryson DeChambeau (67-66). Hes just inside the top 20, so theres a healthy list of players hell need to pass, something that will require a lot more birdies than hes made in two days (eight).

Still, despite the lack of noise from his game, there was plenty of commotion from his followers as again, Woods owned the show. Its a landscape Goydos knows very well. He moves the needle like Muhammad Ali.By Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON (Reuters)  U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired the FBIs former No.2 official Andrew McCabe Friday, prompting McCabe to say he is being targeted because he is a crucial witness into whether President Donald Trump tried to obstruct the Russia investigation.

Sessions, in a statement on Friday, said he felt justified in firing McCabe after the Justice Departments internal watchdog found he leaked information to reporters and misled investigators about his actions.

The FBI expects every employee to adhere to the highest standards of honesty, integrity and accountability, Sessions said.

But McCabe, who played a crucial role in the bureaus investigations of Hillary Clinton and Russias interference in the 2016 U.S. election, denied those claims and said he is facing retaliation by the Trump administration.

In a lengthy statement, McCabe said he believes he is being politically targeted because he corroborated former FBI Director James Comeys claims that Trump tried to pressure him into killing the Russia probe.

Trump ousted Comey last year and acknowledged in a televised interview that he fired Comey over this Russia thing.

McCabes dismissal came two days before his 50th birthday, when he would have been eligible to retire from the Federal Bureau of Investigation with his full pension. The firing  which comes nine months after Trump fired Comey  puts McCabes pension in jeopardy.

It also is likely to raise questions about whether McCabe received an overly harsh punishment due to political pressure by the Republican president, who has blasted McCabe on Twitter and called for his ouster.

Comeys firing paved the way for Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to tap Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is now leading the investigation into possible collusion between Trumps campaign and Russia. Trump has denied there was any collusion.

I am being singled out and treated this way because of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of James Comey, McCabe said in his statement.

This attack on my credibility is one part of a larger effort  to taint the FBI, law enforcement, and intelligence professionals more generally.

Trump posted a message on his twitter account early Saturday, praising the action and blasting both McCabe and Comey.

Trump wrote, Andrew McCabe FIRED, a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI  A great day for Democracy. Sanctimonious James Comey was his boss and made McCabe look like a choirboy. He knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI!

McCabe had stepped down from his position as FBI deputy director in January but remained on leave pending retirement.

His departure was triggered by a critical report from the Justice Departments inspector general that eventually led the FBIs Office of Professional Responsibility to recommend he be fired.

The report, which has yet to be made public, says McCabe misled investigators about his communications with a former Wall Street Journal reporter who was writing about McCabes role in probes tied to Clinton, including an investigation of the Clinton familys charitable foundation.

In his statement, McCabe denied ever misleading investigators.

He added that the release of the inspector generals report was accelerated after he testified behind closed doors before the U.S. House Intelligence Committee where he revealed he could back up Comeys claims.

Comeys firing has become central to questions about whether Trump unlawfully sought to obstruct the Russia investigation.

McCabe could potentially be a crucial witness in Muellers investigation.

Trump and other Republicans have accused McCabe, a lifelong Republican who worked at the FBI for more than 20 years, of political bias and conflicts in connection with his oversight of investigations related to Clinton.

Some of that criticism stemmed from the fact that his wife, Jill McCabe, a Democrat, received donations for her unsuccessful 2015 Virginia state Senate campaign from Terry McAuliffe, who was then the states governor and an ally of the Clintons.

McCabe did not start overseeing the investigations until after his wifes campaign ended, the FBI has said, and therefore did not have a conflict of interest.

On Twitter last year, Trump questioned why McCabe was allowed to oversee an investigation into Clintons use of a private email server while his wife received donations from Clinton puppets. He said McCabe was racing the clock to retire with full benefits.

Behind closed doors, Trump also asked McCabe who he voted for in the presidential election and referred to his wife as a loser, according to a source familiar with the matter.

McCabe initially did not respond to Trumps question but later told Trump he did not vote in 2016, the source said.

Asked about this in January, Trump said he did not recall asking McCabe whom he voted for.

The inspector generals report is largely focused on how McCabe answered questions about whether he leaked to the press in advance of a story that was critical of his oversight into the Clinton foundation investigation.

McCabe contends he did not view this as a leak but as an authorized disclosure that is commonplace in Washington between reporters and government officials.

He said he answered questions truthfully, and later, when he felt investigators misunderstood his answers, he tried to clarify his responses with them.

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Will Dunham; Additional reporting by Makini Brice and Rich McKay; Editing by Bill Trott, Nick Macfie and Joseph Radford)Since 2009, millions of monthly readers rely on and trust PoliticusUSA for real independent liberal news. We arent owned by a corporation, we dont take any special interest money. We have no shareholders, and we are here to deliver you the unfiltered truth that the mainstream media and their corporate owners dont want to talk about.

PoliticusUSA is completely independent, and our goal is to bring you the news with truth and integrity. We are committed to keeping the news free to every reader, but we could use your help. For as little as $1, you can support PoliticusUSA, and keep delivering the message to the corporate media that both sides dont do it. The facts still matter, and truth rises above all.

Please give today, and if you cant donate subscribe to our newsletter.4.5k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Former Watergate assistant prosecutor Nick Akerman said Saturday that he expects another Robert Mueller indictment coming very soon to sweep up many people in the Trump administration.

According to Akerman, there will be a major conspiracy indictment very soon revolving around emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee, which were used to damage Hillary Clintons presidential campaign and help Donald Trumps.

Video:

Akerman made a bold prediction about whats to come in Muellers investigation:

There is going to be a major conspiracy indictment very soon. Its going to start with the theft of the e-mails from the Democratic National Committee. Its going to involve violations of the federal hacking statute and a conspiracy to hack those e-mails and use them to help Donald Trump get elected. And youre going to see that sweep up a whole bunch of people in that administration.

Congressman Adam Schiff made the same prediction last month

The former Watergate prosecutors prediction comes about a month after ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff, said he expected the same thing to happen in the near future.

As Congressman Schiff noted at the time, Muellers first indictment of 13 Russians did not include any Americans because the special counsel will likely make that part of a separate indictment  one similar to what Akerman noted on Saturday  surrounding the stolen emails.

Like I wrote at the time, Its likely that the Americans who helped Russia undermine U.S. democracy were working in an effort to help Donald Trump. Given the repeatedly undisclosed contacts between Trump advisors and Russian officials, its more than possible that at least some of them were members of the campaign.

If that is true, then both Akerman and Schiff are likely correct that the next Mueller indictment wont just sweep up Russian actors  but it also has the potential to implicate members of Donald Trumps team.Get the SC business stories that matter.

Our newsletter catches you up with all the business stories that are shaping Charleston and South Carolina every Monday and Thursday at noon. Get ahead with us - it's free.Adam Parker has covered many beats and topics for The Post and Courier, including race and history, religion, and the arts. He is the author of "Outside Agitator: The Civil Rights Struggle of Cleveland Sellers Jr.," published by Hub City Press.Mary Katherine, who also goes by MK, covers health care for The Post and Courier. She is also pursuing a master's degree in data science. She grew up in upstate New York and enjoys playing cards, kayaking and the Blue Ridge Mountains.Charleston, SC (29403)

Today

Thunderstorms. High 83F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms this evening, then skies turning partly cloudy after midnight. Low 64F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.Gregory Yee covers the city of Charleston. He's a native Angeleno and previously covered crime and courts for the Press-Telegram in Long Beach, CA. He studied journalism and Spanish literature at the University of California, Irvine.Editorials represent the institutional view of the newspaper. They are written and edited by the editorial staff, which operates separately from the news department. Editorial writers are not involved in newsroom operations.The Post and Courier provides a forum for our readers to share their opinions, and to hold up a mirror to our community. Publication does not imply endorsement by the newspaper; the editorial staff attempts to select a representative sample of letters because we believe its important to let our readers see the range of opinions their neighbors submit for publication.Sen. John Courson sits in court with his wife Elizabeth (left) and attorney Rose Mary Parham (right) during a bond hearing in Richland County in 2017. File/John A. Carlos II/Special to The Post and CourierJamie Lovegrove is a political reporter covering the South Carolina Statehouse, congressional delegation and campaigns. He previously covered Texas politics in Washington for The Dallas Morning News and in Austin for the Texas Tribune.Our top stories in your inbox every morning

Sign up for the Editor's Pick newsletter

Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request.

By filling out this form, you are giving us permission to send emails to your address and store your address for future emails.Intent on recapturing the Japanese market, the Guam Visitors Bureau invited a social media expert from the country to share her experiences in carving a niche in the Instagram tourist sector.

Rika Fujii, director of Mitsubachiworks Inc., spoke before GVB members on Tuesday during a quarterly membership meeting.

Fujii also serves as editor-in-chief of GENIC Magazine and GENIC Web, a Japan-based lifestyle magazine which features social media photos from around the world by various Instagram content purveyors.

GVB President and CEO Nathan Denight said Fujiis presentation connects with #InstaGuam, the bureaus new Visit Guam 2018 campaign.

Fujii, speaking through a translator, said Instagram has become the trend in travel magazine photography.

She also described the evolution of Japanese modes of travel, from the basic 1.0 to the current 3.0 model. Fujii said 1.0 basically involves choosing a travel package, personally registering at a travel agency counter, arriving at the destination, and participating in a packaged tour.

The second mode, 2.0, involves travelers planning their vacation after getting inspiration from a print travel magazine. At times, 2.0 travelers plan their tour once they reach their destination.

In comparison, the current 3.0 mode can be described as smartphone travel, according to Fujii. Most activities are done online, from booking airline reservations to searching for accommodations, and making transportation arrangements.

Most importantly, Fujii said the 3.0 traveler segment also uses Instagram as one of the first sources of travel information, aside from word-of-mouth sites. She said many Japanese travelers collect Instagram photos of their preferred destinations.

When it comes to preferred photos, Fujii said, travelers look at posts by popular travel Instagrammers and globe-trotter accounts, as well as trending topics.

For their magazine, she said they are focused more on global rather than Japan-centric photos. Fujii said the trend leans toward content that dives into the scenery, or promotes a travel lifestyle.

Story-driven content

Recognizing the marketing potential of social media, Denight encouraged bureau members to be up-to-date with current platforms.

GVB launched the #InstaGuam campaign in January. After making the announcement, Denight said the theme promotes Guam as an instant destination from major cities in this region while encouraging local residents and visitors to create their own story-driven content through social media.

During the membership meeting, Denight said around 1.54 million visitors visited the island in 2017, making it a historic year for the local tourism industry.

However, recent data from GVB showed a further erosion of Guam's Japanese visitor market, which in 2017 decreased by 16.8 percent, or 125,133 fewer Japanese tourists, compared with 2016.

Japanese tourists now make up just 40 percent of total visitor arrivals to Guam, compared with 80 percent of the market about a decade ago. Guam saw 620,547 Japanese tourists last year.

Denight said the bureau is intent on recapturing the Japanese market as well as strengthening the growing Korean visitor market. With Japan Airlines offering a second daily flight to Guam from Narita beginning March 25, he described the announcement as a big win for the industry.ADVERTISEMENT

SATIRE SATURDAY rarely moves out of Lagos but it will be grossly unpatriotic for this column to carry on as though it is unaware of what is happening at the seat of power in Aso Villa.

The part is an extension of the whole and Lagos, ipso facto, is a microcosm of Nigeria. It follows, therefore, that one would barely be able to write of Lagos bus conductors and their ways if Nigeria is unwell or its leadership chooses to be unaware of the fact that the nation may be dancing on the brink. And so, this column shifts its gaze away from Ikeja today.

If there is any word that captures the personal philosophy of President Muhammadu Buhari, that word should be unawareness. It is still unclear why the President has not communicated same to the National Assembly as part of our fundamental objective and directive principle of state policy.

From May 29 when he assumed power, the president has not hidden the fact that he was not aware of the job of nation-building he chosesome would say he was conscriptedto handle.

A fundamental part of effective leadership is to be proactive. While it is near-impossible for the president to be everywhere at the same time, it is expected that he would be in the know given the avalanche of intelligence experts at his beck and call. For a nation like Nigeria that is battling the twin problems of insurgency and sporadic killings by bloodthirsty beasts masquerading as herdsmen, among other headache-inducing problems, the president cannot just be unaware. It becomes more fundamental given the K-leggedness of our governance system which confers immense powers on the president.

The seeming helplessness of the Benue people and their governorwho ironically goes around with the grandiosely empty appellation of Chief Security Officer of the stateis a pointer to this fact.

President Muhammadus handlers have consistently told us he means well for the nation. But that claims falls flat on its face when juxtaposed against the serial confessions of the president that he is barely aware of important issues of national importance. Pray, how do you prove that you mean well if you dont even know about key issues and, by extension, how to tackle them?

The president has been accused of serially passing the buck; of always shifting the blame on others. And in the last few quarters, he has not disappointed.

First, when the pension fugitive, AbdulRasheed Maina, was surreptiously reinstated into the federal civil service and PREMIUM TIMES broke the story, it took the presidency days to react to the revelation. Expectedly, the president said he was unaware and quickly ordered the reversal of the decision. If people felt that was the height of presidential unawareness, Mr. Buhari shattered all expectations.

The concern has moved away from the embarrassing to the utterly ridiculous, with the apogee being the appointment of people folks on Twitter Nigeria described as ancestors into positions in boards, federal agencies and parastatals. While it could be argued that oversight failure could possibly not be the sole responsibility of Mr. President, it speaks to the overall leadership culture of the Buhari administration.

Just when we felt we had seen it all, the president earlier in the week told the people in Benue that he was, quite expectedly, unaware of IGP Idris Ibrahims disappearance from Makurdi in the wake of the Benue massacre. It didnt matter that PREMIUM TIMES had, forty days earlier, published an exclusive report detailing the IGPs disappearance. Two days later, the president mistook a condolence visit to Yobe for a Grammy Awards welcome party and had a red carpet reception during his visit. In all, he was unaware!

As a student of communication, I find the presidents unawareness quite intriguing, despite claims by wailers that the excuse was far from the truth. If I was still in school, perhaps I would have presented a proposal on the topic Unaware Pictures and President: A Semiotic Analysis, because discourse on the Unaware picture is one fascinating aspect of Photography and Photojournalism I really love.

Okay, lets establish some context.

In Photojournalism, the UNAWARE picture is considered the best of shots. A journalism student would earn more grades with an UNAWARE picture than he would with the PR-ish AWARE and the often bland semi-AWARE pictures. Its almost a no-brainer. Back in the day, I think I had one of my best grades in PhotojournalismThanks to UNAWARE pictures!

Of course because I have deep emotional attachment with anything and everything UNAWARE, I love our well-meaning but UNAWARE Mr. President too.

But if I had any reason to work on a thesis that relates with the subject of Unaware Pictures and President, my first research question would be less inquisitive: Is Muhammadu Buhari really aware that he is Nigerias president?

Of course, because of my love for Mr. President, I would resist the temptation to carve out a hypothesis from the RQ.Faisal Shuaib is the Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA). In this interview with PREMIUM TIMES Ayodamola Owoseye and Nike Adebowale, he speaks on the strategic ways the agency is trying to address fundamental issues in primary healthcare delivery in Nigeria, especially through the Community Health Influencers, Promoters and Services (CHIPS) programme.

Premium Times: President Muhammadu Buhari recently launched the Community Health Influencers, Promoters and Services (CHIPS) programme. What is the scheme all about?

Faisal: In principle it is a potentially high-impact intervention that will see the deployment of community-based health workers in nearly 10,000 wards of Nigeria.

The question will be how does this differ from the services of the Midwives Services Scheme? The Midwives Services Scheme was a noble idea to increase the number of skilled birth attendants all over the country. Because of the uneven distribution of available skilled manpower, the scheme was targeted at recruiting available midwives all over the country to go to places that are less endowed with these human resources. The midwives are a different cadre, they are individuals who had gone through school of nursing and midwifery, and there is a basic that they have secondary school education before going through the school of nursing and midwifery to become a midwife.

The Community Health Influencers, Promoters and Services are community-based individuals who have been selected in collaboration with traditional leaders, religious leaders, opinion leaders, youth and community based organisations. These are people in the community that are of good standing, that everybody in the community agrees this a good lady, morally upright and is known and lives in the community. Once that person has been identified and selected by the community members, they are trained over the course of three to six months. Not only in classroom-based training, but also practical field experience. These individuals will be responsible for basic interventions in the community.

In an emergency situation for instance, somebody has an injury and the person is bleeding, these individuals will be able to take steps to arrest the bleeding. If somebody has fever in the community, because they will have backpacks that contain rapid diagnostic kits, they will be able to do an assessment and carry out tests that will show that the sick individual may be carrying malaria parasites. Once that has been diagnosed, they will have free medications, anti-malarials that they can give to people in the community.

They do not work for the health facilities like the MSS scheme, they are based and work in the communities. You may be familiar with the village health workers, community mobilisers, traditional health attendances and corps agents that are sponsored by different development partners. The requirements for these roles that they play vary from one development partner to another. The emoluments differ. The expectations also differ. What we are saying is, let us harmonise all of them and then scale up across board.

With all of these different interventions we will properly have between 20, 000 to 25, 000 people across this different cadre. That falls short of our requirements in Nigeria. We are saying that first, we are going to standardize the work that they do so everybody who is a CHIPS agent would be required to have at least elementary school education.

That is distinct and different from the traditional birth attendants, the TBAs are typically not educated. The illiterate women who live in the communities, they also help with births. But what we are saying now is that we have identified that because they dont have the right skills, sometimes when they take births, those births might be attended to with complications such as death of the mother or the child.

Now we want to be more rigorous in their selection. Now we want to set a bar below which we will not accept for Nigerians. Nigerians deserve better and it is possible to up-skill them. Apart from choosing them, those of them who qualify would be trained over the course of three to six months and then deployed. We are harmonizing all those different interventions that are community-based and calling them CHIPS agents.

If you see a CHIPS agent anywhere in the country, exactly the same standard is what should be expected from them. It would also be known very clearly what they are able to do and what they are not able to do. It is expected that they should be able to treat simple aliments such as malaria, diarrhea. And if a woman has bleeding during pregnancy, they will be able to do the right thing, ranging from advising them to go to the health facility, or if they are in a community where transportation is difficult to the health facility, they have the drugs that they can give to help reduce they bleeding and can be a lifesaver before the woman is transported to the health facility.

Bleeding in pregnancy is one of the highest causes of maternal mortality. Nigeria happens to be among countries with the highest level of maternal and child mortality. So, imagine if so many women are dying from bleeding during pregnancy, and we now have somebody in the community that can stop that bleeding with one wonder drug. Amazing what we can achieve!

PT: The CHIPS agents are expected to be up to 200,000. Do the existing agents count up to that?

Faisal: We are saying we will be employing at least 200, 000 CHIPS agents because we are conceptualising it and allowing the states to be able to take some decisions around the exact numbers these CHIPS agents will be per ward.

Not all wards are equal, there are some wards that are densely populated while some are sparsely populated. We are giving the guidance that they do need between 10 to 20 CHIPS agents per ward. It is in harmonising and consolidating all of these community health workers that we will get numbers up to 200,000. The calculation is that if we are getting 10 to 20 CHIPS per ward, and we have about 10,000 wards in the Nigeria, that makes it almost 200,000.

PT: You mentioned that these agents will have supplies with them, medicine, diagnostic kits, among others. How will this programme be funded from the perspective of the federal government, especially with the funding challenges faced by the MSS?

Faisal: It is great that you talked about the MSS. The challenges that we are having with the MSS is because those nurse and midwives were earning about N30, 000 and it became difficult for some states to keep up with the payment.

Apart from that, because some of them were taken from their homes, from their communities across to some other places, they became very lonely and do not want to work staying so very far away from home and not even getting their regular salary. So they moved back. Some of the states could not sustain the over N30,000 per month that was required.

ADVERTISEMENT

In this case, we are conceptualising and decentralising the approach. The different tiers of government have their responsibilities, the federal government has the responsibility in terms of what NPHCDA is doing and the Federal Ministry of Health. We are helping with providing the standards and regulating with how they are going to be deployed. We are providing training for these individuals, whether those that are starting from scratch or those that need to be up-skilled.

And after they have been deployed in collaboration with the states, we will monitor the programme. At the national level, we are working with our development partners, we are working with the private sector to get the commodities that are required to help with the training.

As for the stipends and some of the commodities that are required, it will be the responsibility of the states. So the states will be at liberty to decide how much money they can pay these CHIPS agents. We will give them a guidance, perhaps N5, 000 or N6, 000, knowing fully that N5, 000 in a rural area is not same as N5, 000 in the urban area.

We will also want the states to be able to sustain the payment of these stipends. We want the state to also sit down and discuss with stakeholders. The governors have a very important role to play. The governors might say in some of these communities, it is a recognition of somebodys importance to be selected as a CHIPS agent and that alone is enough compensation. That will vary from the guideline that we have provided. But for sustainability, the local people have to take that decision.

I will give an example, the TBAs do not get any kind of stipend from the government. The TBA could help with delivering a baby and what the parent could give is properly food items or an item of clothing to say thank you. They can do that for several households with same amount and for them, they are satisfied. For them, the satisfaction and the joy of rendering these services is enough for them.

If the government then decides that they can pay them in addition to the items they are getting, that will be based on the ownership of the state government, local government leaders in the state, in the spirit of self-reliance and sustainability, which is very key. We cannot mandate that they pay a certain amount when it would be difficult to sustain it. We have to use the funding that will be part of the annual budget for these agents, because the states have to recognise that this cadre of workers are very important, especially in those rural areas where we do not have health coverage.

In the urban areas, there are cases where they would be very useful. In the areas towards promoting health issue, providing information around health issues that are a little bit confusing to community members, and also promote the attendance of anti-natal care and provide information around immunisation and why immunisation is very necessary. Issues around the poor coverage that we saw in the 2015/2016 immunisation survey, sometimes it is due to the lack of information. People do not understand why immunisation is valuable.

But because these people have been trained, they can sit with a mother and take time to explain to her why it is very necessary to take her kids for vaccinations. We find that they will be able to impact a positive change when it comes to health-related behavior change communication.

PT: What are the responsibilities of the local government in the implementation of the programme (CHIPS)?

Faisal: When it comes to the local government, as you are aware, we are now operating primary health care under one roof, and primary health care staff are now being deployed to the State Primary Health Care Development Agencies.

There will be a role, especially supervisory and monitoring, for the LGAs as well. Because they are people that are closest to our communities, they will be able to supervise the work that these CHIPS agents are doing.

PT: Will CHIPS agents be gender selective or cut across both genders? And how are we going to recognise them in the society and monitor that they do not step beyond their given specifications of duty?

Faisal: CHIPS agents will not be gender selective. Our experience, however, is that in most places, if you want an access to households, it is easier for females to have access to households and discuss with other women, be they ones who are pregnant and children.

Women will be more apt to listen to women like them. But we are not saying that it is absolutely in everywhere in Nigeria that it has to be females. There are places where males can also play some roles. There are roles around engagement with traditional rulers, that are community-based and those roles are probably better conducted by males. But we do envisage that most of the CHIPS agents will be females.

In ensuring that they do not go outside the boundaries of what they have being trained to do, at least once every week, CHIPS agent will have a supervisor who goes with her to the communities. For instance, if you have 10 CHIPS agents in a ward, that means, you have a minimum of two supervisors. One supervisor for five CHIPS agents. So one day a week, the supervisor will go to the community with each and every one, monitoring what they are doing.

Even the two supervisor will have a supervisor from the nearest health facility ensuring that there is clinical supervision. To ensure that they are doing the right things and asking them questions, doing on-the-job training to remind them what they are supposed to do.

At the level of the LGA, the LGA will supervise the clinics, who supervises the supervisors that supervise the CHIPS agents.

We have an accountability framework that tends towards zero tolerance to CHIPS agents trying to manage disease conditions that are above their training. That is why we emphasise that most of their roles will be to influence decision-making process. That is to say, if someone is sick, instead of waiting until complications arise, the will quickly take decision to go the health facility.

Sometimes, death in the community due to complications of labour is because there is a delay in taking decisions about going to the health facility, there is a delay in actually going to a health faculty, and when they get to the health facilities, a delay in being attended to. These delays lead to complications that make us reach a point where death becomes irreversible. The CHIPS agent will help women take that decision to go and seek help as early as possible. So that by the time any complication would arise, they are already in the health facility and being taken care of.

As part of our training, it would be spelled out very clearly to the CHIPS agents that this is a professional cadre, and any attempt to move outside what they are asked to do will be sanctioned immediately. We will jealously guide what they are supposed to do, knowing very clearly that we have community health extension workers (CHEWS), Junior Community Health Extension workers (J-CHEWS) who also have their terms of reference and we do not want any tension to arise between this cadre of workers and the CHEWS. It is very clear where we want them to work in the communities and they have supervision from the CHEWS around what they are able to do and what they are not able to do.

PT: There has been a constant rivalry among workers in the health sector, so how do you intend ensuring harmony among the CHIPS agents and the CHEWS, especially in terms of structure and information dissemination?

Faisal: I think we are very clear in our communication that the CHIPS agents resides in the communities. They do not work in the health facilities, they are below the CHEWS and J-CHEWs. Their entry requirements completely differ from the CHEWs and J-CHEWs.

The J-CHEWs work in the health facilities, but what we have observed is because of the scarcity of human resources to work in health facilities, you find situations where the CHEWs and J-CHEWs spend most of their time in the health facilities. The part of their work which necessitates them to come into the society and do extension work has been relegated to the background. That is the gap the CHIPS agents are filling. The CHIPS agents must live in their wards and cannot crisscross to another ward or work in the health facility.

There is a clear distinction around what they are meant to do, so there would be no rivalry. In the progression of their career, we want a situation that over time, when CHIPS agents begin to think they want to do more with themselves, we will encourage them to write exams that will admit them into schools of health technology where they can learn and become J-CHEWs, CHEWs or environmental officers.

For the TBAs who are illiterates and do not meet entry requirements for the CHIPS agents, we are looking at linking them up with adult literacy classes since we want basic minimum of elementary school education for the CHIPS agents.

We do not want to deny the TBAs who want to be CHIPS agents because of their education status. We will try to encourage them to do adult literacy training, because we are aware it is possible to compress the six years elementary training into a shorter time. With this and the testimony of good standing from their community, we will be able to engage them as CHIPS agents. All we are doing is establishing a pattern for job creation and empowering many women.

What we are doing is tapping into the resources of many women who have the passion and aspiration of helping their society by providing them the skills with potential resources to assist their communities.

PT- The CHIPS programme was recently launched by the president and is to be duplicated in the 36 states of the country? What have been the responses from the states governors, local governments regarding the budget of their states for the programme?

Faisal  Their responses are phenomenal. We have been amazed by the response we have gotten from most of the states. Some of the state governors have been calling to say the programme is such a legacy they want to leave for their people.

They have been excited that they will be able to provide emergencies and basic healthcare to people who would not have been easily able to get it. The president has given a go ahead to the Federal Ministry of Health and the NPHCDA to roll this out all across Nigeria and that is exactly what we are doing.

We already have discussions with some governors in states like Jigawa, Kebbi, Sokoto, Bauchi, Bayelsa, among others. So many states are saying they would like to implement the programme but it has to be conceptualised in a way that they can sustain on their own based on the resources that are available to the states.

People are really excited about the huge impact this will make in the community level. When you look at statistics, it is very clear that we are not doing very well when it comes to providing primary health care services. We are not doing very well when it comes to emergency management of some of the conditions. One million women and children under that age of five die every year. 33, 000 women dying from preventable causes, during child birth as a result of pregnancy complications every year. 940, 000 children under five die every year from two preventable diseases like pneumonia and diarrhea.

A major factor that leads to these deaths is the delay in going to the health facilities, lack of health facilities close to the people or because they cannot afford it. The key intervention here is that the drugs, the testing that is being done at the door step of our communities will be done free of charge. We will be using media houses to let people know that this programme are free and community members are not expected to pay for them. This is another bold step that the Federal Government is taking towards providing equitable health care across the country.

Last year, the president commissioned Kuchingoro PHC as part of PHC revitalization. We encourage women to take their kids for immunization services and we are saying they also need to go for anti-natal services. But if the PHCs are not functional, there will be nowhere for them to go. So we are doing it across both streams so that complimentary to each other, we have a functional PHC, one for each of the 10,000 wards and also recruiting CHIPS agents who will provide health behavior change communication. They will encourage people to go to the health facilities and linking them up to health facilities.

Over the course of the next two years, as we continue to revitalsie and make functional health centres, we are also providing community-based interventions that will reduce the high numbers of women and children who die. All of these working together is targetted towards achieving universal health coverage for all Nigerians, irrespective of where they live or where they work.

PT: It was said last year that 109 health centres will be retivitalised as part of the 10,000. Premium Times visited some of the PHCs and most of them are abandoned, locked up and those renovated are not being used. What is being done about that?

Faisal  The way the revitalisation process is structured, it is not meant to happen within a year, it is meant to happen over the course of several years. It is not just the federal government who is doing it. It is a collaborative effort with development partners, state governments and the private sector.

What the FG is doing is putting funds dedicated from the Saving One Million Lives programme and we are renovating health facilities. Apart from renovating it, before it is said functional, it needs manpower, equipment, utilities and drugs.

All of that is happening. Maybe some of the health facilities that you have gone to have not been handed over to the communities because we do not even have the human resources. We have started the process of mobilizing about 1,600 basic midwives who will be deployed to health facilities to help manage some of the health facilities.

We are looking at also to getting funds from the Basic Health Care Provision Funds, which hopefully will provide the resources that equip and provide commodities for some of these health facilities.

It is work that is in progress. There is also the part that the state governments are doing. The state governments are renovating, some NGOs such as MNCH2, UNICEF are also working to renovate some of these health facilities all across the land. Clearly, it will be a misunderstanding of the aspirations to say it is just 109 every year. There is a whole lot more than the 109 health care facilities that are going to be renovated.

PT: Are you saying they are yet to release funds for those that are not yet done? Because there was a PHC Premium Times visited in Kano State which is meant to serve 10 communities but was abandoned and in dilapidated state.

Faisal: I do not know which PHC you have visited. But clearly, because it is not just the federal government that is doing the renovation, the state government is also renovating them. Are these health facilities visited within the remit of the list the federal government is trying to renovate/or is it just on the state list?

That needs to be determined. There are some states where the federal government has renovated some PHCs and then when you go to the list of PHCs that are supposed to be renovated by state government, they are also there and they have plans to renovate them, not realising that the federal government has renovated them. It is a joint effort by different people and there are different stages of getting those renovations done.

In 2018 budget, there are funds that have been set aside to renovate health facilities. One thing that we have done at NPHCDA is that we have written to the National Assembly and we are following up to say that since 2001, there have been almost 1,000 primary healthcare centres that are abandoned.

We need to take a decision around what we are going to do. We probably do not need new construction of PHCs in every village, we need to look at those that have been abandoned and finish them up so that they do not go to waste. We are getting support from the National Assembly members that there is a need to set aside funds to finish some of these abandoned primary health care centres.

We need to also ensure at same time that we have the human resources that will work in these health centres. We are working with the Nigerian Governors Forum to see how we can do a comprehensive audit to know the human resources required in each state and how to tap into those who have been trained but do not have work, or those retired but not tired in order to deploy them into these facilities to make them functional.

The president have been very clear about it the he wants PHCs to work, he wants equity, accessibility to these primary health care centres and it is something that we have prioritised and are working towards.

PT: In the last two years, Nigeria has tackled about eight major diseases, which all started from the rural areas. How are CHIPs agents doing in terms of responses?

Faisal  One of the activities of the CHIP agents is to collect household health-related data and transmit to the next level which is the PHCs ad that information will move from the PHCs to the LGAs. That process is called surveillance. And if there is a case of yellowing of eye, which is associated to yellow fever, and the CHIPs agent notices it, she notifies by reporting it and transmitting the information to the PHCs.

This will help improve the long chain that happens before cases of diseases are reported. Ordinarily, you see people in the community who are sick and because they do not have money to go to the health facilities, they lie down at home and even die. The CHIPs agents, based on their training, will be able to pick infectious diseases and help minimize the spread by quickly doing a referral and notifying appropriate authority.

It provides for early warning and detection of diseases and outbreak. This data being transmitted is usually being worked upon at the local level and not necessarily getting to the national level before action is taken.ADVERTISEMENT

The senator representing Bauchi Central at the Senate, Ali Wakili, is dead.

He died after a brief illness on Saturday, a source close to the family told PREMIUM TIMES.

Efforts to speak to the Senate spokesperson, Sabi Abdullahi, did not yield any result as he neither picked his calls nor replied text messages.

The senate president, Bukola Saraki, had just tweeted about Mr. Wakilis passing.

Enroute to celebrate with Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo and family on their daughters wedding, I just heard about the passing of my friend and colleague, Senator Ali Wakili. I am on my way to the Wakili house to pay my respects to his family, he wrote.

Inalilahi wa Ina Ilaehi Rajiun. It is the Almighty Allah (SWT) that gives life, and it his Him that takes it away. I pray that the Almighty Allah grants the dear departed Senator a place in Al Jannah Firdaus.

Details later.ADVERTISEMENT

Bauchi south senator, Ali Wakili, who died Saturday, was this afternoon buried at Gudu cemetery, Abuja.

Mr. Wakili died at the age of 58 Saturday morning.

Shortly before the burial, prayers were held at the national mosque as part of Islamic burial rites for the deceased.

The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, attended the burial.

See pictures below:ADVERTISEMENT

Ali Wakili, a Nigerian senator from Bauchi State, has been buried, hours after his death was announced.

Mr. Wakilis death reportedly occurred around 9:00 a.m. at his residence in Abuja. He was 58.

The late senator was buried a Gudu District Cemetery in Abuja around 2:00 p.m. after Islamic rites were performed on his remains at the National Mosque.

Details of his illness have not been disclosed, but one of his aides told PREMIUM TIMES heart attack was suspected.

He was not physically ill prior to his death. He was said to be preparing to leave for a wedding in Yola when he suddenly slumped and was pronounced dead on the spot.

His two wives and sons and daughters survived him.

A retired customs comptroller, Mr. Wakili was first elected to the Senate for the Bauchi South Senatorial District on the platform of the All Progressives Congress.

He joined the Nigerian Customs Service after graduating from Bayero University, Kano.

Tributes are already pouring in from some of his colleagues.

President Muhammadu Buhari described his death as an incalculable loss to Nigerias democracy whose dedication to duty was remarkable and worthy of emulation.

The passion for duty was one of the finest qualities of late Senator Wakil, the president said.

He was a principled, focused and resourceful parliamentarian who identified with the ordinary people, said former Senate President David Mark in a statement. He fought for the welfare of citizens without compromise.

He practiced inclusive politics that provided the greatest benefit to the largest number of his constituents, Mr. Mark added according to the statement signed by his media adviser, Paul Mumeh. He always craved for fairness, justice and national unity. 

Mr. Wakili, as the chairman of Senate Committee on Poverty Alleviation, sponsored several initiatives targeted at addressing acute poverty across the country.

He also worked closely with Borno senator, Ali Ndume, to pass a bill establishing the North East Development Commission.

Although he did not completely reject restructuring of Nigeria as one of the key solutions to the countrys myriads social and economic crises, he believed that prop restructuring advocates are not lucid enough about their agitation, a position echoed by top northern elements in the ruling All Progressives Congress.

Amongst those present at the mosque programme were Senate President Bukola Saraki, Dino Melaye, Godswill Akpabio and Rotimi Amaechi, the transport minister.ADVERTISEMENT

The Kano State High Court on Friday rejected the no-case submission by a former commissioner of land in Gandujes administration, Farouk Bibi, accused of selling a plot of land belonging to a former minister of the FCT, Jeremiah Usaini, to one Baba Sharu.

The defence counsel, A.T Kehinde, argued that, the evidence presented by prosecution was not enough to warrant the charge against the accused.

He said the accused person should not be called to prove his innocence, because of the presumption of innocence.

The judge, however, disagreed ruling that the court is not trying to to establish guilt or innocence

but rather to establish whether there is a slightest link to the accused person which would warrant him entry into defence to clear the issue raised by the prosecution.

The court stated that asking accused to enter into defence is not to prove innocence, but rather address issues raised by the prosecution counsel.

Kano State Public Complaints and Anti Corruption Commission (PCACC) had charged Mr. Bibi along with the former permanent secretary of Kano ministry of land, Bello Bari, and a director, Ahmad Ibrahim, with three count charges of fraud.

They are also accused of criminal breach of trust done by selling the plot of Jeremiah Usaini to one Baba Sharu for N5 million and issuing certificates of occupancy in the fictitious name of Aisha Kabeer and Maryam Ado.

The offence contravene section 97 and 315 of Penal Code.

The case has been adjourned to April, 20, 2018 for further hearing.Some operators in the building construction industry on Saturday joined in showing dissatisfaction with the level of reduction in the Land Use Charge (LUC) announced by the Lagos State Government.

They spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

The state government, following public outcry on its hike in the charge, had on Thursday announced various reliefs, with some reduction.

But several groups have continued to express dissatisfaction, adducing various reasons for their positions.

Olayemi Shonubi, vice president of the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS), told NAN on Saturday that the government had not justified the review, which affected only few sections.

According to him, the reduction will make no economic impact if a wholesome amendment is not made to other sections of the law on the charge.

He said this was necessary considering the requests of the stakeholders, landlords and professionals in the sector.

Let the entire LUC law be taken back to the House of Assembly for complete overhaul, review and amendment, such that the rate of reduction, penalities removal, installmental payment and conditions may be enacted into the law.

It is only when the law is wholesomely reviewed to meet with value of the property over time, that it will be of economic importance to the residents of the state.

Otherwise, the masses will just be living at the mercy of the government because successive governments may come up with different policies in respect to the law at will, Mr. Shonubi said.

Samuel Effiong, former chairman of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) Lagos Chapter, said the review of a law as important as the LUC should not be done with a fire brigade approach.

Mr. Effiong said the state government reviewed the charges in haste and as such did not carry out proper analysis, study and consultations.

According to him, the needed fundamental adjustments to the law have not been made.

He said that evaluation of property taxes were not based on capital value, but on income value of the property.

The government needs not to be in hurry in amending this law.

They should do the necessary consultations, sit down with the estate surveyors and valuers to properly study/assess the law and work out the modalities for applying it, Mr. Effiong said.

Makinde Ogunleye, former Chairman, Nigeria Institute of Town Planners (NITP), said it would further jeopardise the economic system for the state government to pursue an increment at a time the country just came out of recession.

Mr. Ogunleye said it was not the right time for any form of taxation increment.

ADVERTISEMENT

He said that if the government wants to raise more revenue, it could do so by looking at other areas.

According to him, considering the economic situation in Nigeria today, the government must have sympathy and empathy for the people.

He noted that imposition or addition of any payment of money on citizens now could be exposing them to avoidable pains.

The state government has so many other ways of generating revenue. Lagos State has a lot of industries.

Let the state government target the rich and not the poor because increment in LUC will affect everyone; the poor, the average income earner and the rich as well.

Let them target the extremely rich, the high-end industries, commercial ventures, and not those who are struggling to survive, Mr. Ogunleye said.

The Lagos Government had recently repealed its 2001 Land Use Charge Law and replaced it with a new Land Use Charge Law, 2018, which was signed on Feb. 8.

Based on the law, new rates were sent to property owners and those who received the bills stated that the LUC represented an increase of between 150 and 400 per cent over the 2017 rate.

The LUC Law which was meant to increase the states internally-generated revenue and expand its tax base, generated controversy among the public.

In response, the state on Thursday announced a review, in which Commercial Property Owners were granted 50% discount.

Property Occupied by Owner and Third Party & Property Used for Industrial and Manufacturing Purposes were given 25% discount.

Owner-occupied Property will also get 15% discount.

The penalty regime for late payment of LUC was also waived.

Other rates and reliefs, apart from the ones stated above, however remain unchanged and will be implemented as stipulated by Law, the government said.

It said owners of Property across all categories will now be allowed to make payments by installments, to reduce the burden of taxation on citizens.

It said those who had paid the original amount will be awarded tax credits to the extent of the excess amount paid and carried forward to next year.

(NAN)JACKSON, Miss., March 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Mississippi Development Authority (MDA,) which is the state of Mississippi's lead economic and community development agency, and Governor Phil Bryant, this week hosted the 2018 Homeland Defense and Security Summit with a goal of fostering cross-border and bilateral cooperation between the United States and Israeli companies, and the sharing of advanced technology platforms. As a result of the Summit, Kopis Mobile, a Flowood, Mississippi company, and Beeper Communications Israel have formed a technology partnership to advance and improve safety and awareness for first responders and military personnel. This new partnership exemplifies the goal of the Summit and will result in an immediate economic impact for Israel and the State of Mississippi.

SD WAN Multi Channel Bonder

For law enforcement officials and first responder leadership, understanding a rapidly-evolving situation is critical for a timely and effective response. Live video has become the preferred method for building this awareness, but is hindered by two major challenges: lack of cameras in the ideal locations, and overwhelmed communications links. The Beeper-Kopis partnership directly eliminates these problems through a network of tactically-deployed cameras that actively seek the best available communications route. Beeper and Kopis now offer this integrated system to interested government agencies.

Beeper Communications is a leading provider of advanced SD WAN communications platforms, early warning and alert technologies and other wireless solutions. Beeper attended the Summit as part of an Israeli delegation with the International Defense Cooperation Directorate of the Israel Ministry of Defense - SIBAT, (IMOD). Israel is known around the world for its pioneering, operationally-proven defense systems. SIBAT facilitates international cooperation through its various services facilitating B2B and B2G relationships. SIBAT works closely with the Mississippi Development Authority and the Governor's office to facilitate and promote business between the State of Israel and Mississippi.

The Beeper IE 5000 SD WAN Cellular Bonder, is a Comprehensive Communications Device (CCD,) delivering high capacity wireless broadband connectivity. It provides a "network in a box" that actively and dynamically analyzes and profiles existing cellular (3G, 4G, LTE, etc.) networks for capacity and availability. It identifies the four most available channels (regardless of frequency), aggregates that capacity, then bonds the four channels into one high-capacity Virtual Private Network (VPN) which is securely managed by the end user.

Kopis Mobile provides electronic products and mobile applications for LAN (Local Area Network) communications for public safety and military users. Kopis is the fastest growing technology company in Mississippi, and number 384 on the INC 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies list. Kopis Mobile designs and deploys Networked Tactical Television (NTtv) for the personnel on scene or responding to an incident. NTtv is a first-person video sharing system which connects to any type of camera and allows any team member to view multiple video streams by simply swiping the screen of any smart device that is wirelessly connected to the system (e.g. iOS, Android). NTtv can be body worn, put in vehicles, buildings, and ships, connected to certain unmanned aerial systems, put on dogs, robots or connected to stand alone devices like day/night thermal cameras.

The integration with Beeper's SD WAN (Software Defined Wide Area Network) multi-channel bonder, will now allow command and control concerns to also access video, voice and data communications from anywhere without limitation. Kopis will provide the local "inter-connection" among users, while Beeper will now provide the "intra-communications" and backhaul for the combined system, which will greatly enhance access, common operational picture and situational awareness for state agencies and leadership.

The Beeper system is fully backward compatible, frequency/device agnostic and ideal for the transmission of low-latency (less than one-half of a second), analog and digital, real-time data and video from the field to the command center, anywhere in the world. The system provides untethered mobility in the most challenging environments. Additionally, by integrating the SD WAN Cellular Bonder with the Kopis system creates a highly scalable solution, as multiple feeds for any, data and video can be daisy chained through the Bonder, leveraging other existing PD/SWAT/MIL assets.

Each company already deploys their technologies globally. Most recently, Beeper has completed projects with Police Departments in Baltimore, Maryland and Houston, Texas. Kopis Mobile customers include each branch of the U.S. military and multiple civilian first responder agencies.

"The Beeper solution is unique and we were very pleased to find such a complementary technology to enhance our platforms for public safety communications. The integration of our two platforms will provide an even more comprehensive and cost-effective solution for our law enforcement customers to enhance their situational awareness," stated Dr. Henry Jones, co-founder of Kopis Mobile. "We can see the direct impact that the cooperation between our companies will have to create new high-tech jobs at Kopis and for the State of Mississippi as we expand the initial pilot and develop our complete solution."

"I am extremely pleased with the welcoming atmosphere and open exchange of ideas that the Governor, the Mississippi Development Authority and SIBAT provided throughout the Summit. I am even more pleased to have entered into our agreement with Kopis, as they are exactly the kind of partner we look for as we further commercialize our solution and deploy for U.S. LEA and Military. We will be starting our collaboration immediately and look forward to providing enhanced capabilities for the State of Mississippi," stated Moshe Levinson, SVP Business Development and Special Situations for Beeper Communications.

The companies expect to begin their first technical integration and deployments in April 2018.

For more information:

www.Beepergroup.com

http://www.broadbandwirelessnetwork.info

[email protected]

https://www.kopismobile.com

[email protected]

Related Images

ie-5000.png

IE 5000

SD WAN Multi Channel Bonder

nttv.png

NTtv

First person video sharing System

SOURCE Kopis MobileNEW YORK, March 16, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York, The Pan Macedonian Association of USA and the Hellenic American Congress, are planning a Rally in New York City to express their opposition to any use of the word "Macedonia" in the negotiations currently under way between the governments of Greece and the FYROM.

WHAT: New York Rally for Macedonia



WHEN: Sunday, March 18, 2018

12 Noon



WHERE: Dag Hammarskjold Plaza (United Nations Plaza)

47th Street between 1st and 2nd Avenue

New York City

Federal, State and local government representatives will be present at the Rally representing their constituents concerns about this matter. Organizers are working with a nationwide network of Greek American organizations, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese and a broad coalition of American citizens and Phil Hellenes that support the historical preservation of Macedonia.

Massive demonstrations have already taken place in Thessaloniki and Athens, as well as demonstrations in numerous European, Canadian and Australian cities. This is the first demonstration happening in the United States.

For more information, please contact: Dimitris Filippidis

646-398-3838

[email protected]

SOURCE Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New YorkNEW ORLEANS, March 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., Esq., a partner at the law firm of Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF"), announces that KSF has commenced an investigation into RH (NYSE: RH).

In 2015, RH launched new product lines, notably, "RH Modern" repeatedly emphasizing its preparedness for the launch pertaining to necessary inventory investments and proper inventory levels, as well as its subsequent performance. On February 24, 2016, RH disclosed negative Q4 2015 results caused in part by "shipping delays as certain vendors are struggling to ramp up production" and that "poor in-stocks also suppressed orders." Then, on June 8, 2016, RH revealed that it had issued $18 million in customer accommodations "largely as a result of RH Modern production delays" contributing to negative Q1 2016 results.

Thereafter, RH and certain of its executives were sued in a securities class action lawsuit, charging them with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws. Recently, the court presiding over that case denied RH's motion to dismiss, noting in part that "rosy representations concealed that RH Modern was suffering from a severe lack [of] inventory" and citing an internal RH memo stating that customers were "on fire" and that RH had "let customers die."

KSF's investigation is focusing on whether RH's officers and/or directors breached their fiduciary duties to RH's shareholders or otherwise violated state or federal laws.

If you have information that would assist KSF in its investigation, or have been a long-term holder of RH shares and would like to discuss your legal rights, you may, without obligation or cost to you, call toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or email KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn ([email protected]), or visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nyse-rh/ to learn more.

About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

KSF, whose partners include the Former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is a law firm focused on securities, antitrust and consumer class actions, along with merger & acquisition and breach of fiduciary litigation against publicly traded companies on behalf of shareholders. The firm has offices in New York, California and Louisiana.

To learn more about KSF, you may visit www.ksfcounsel.com.

Contact:

Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

Lewis Kahn, Managing Partner

[email protected]

1-877-515-1850

206 Covington St.

Madisonville, LA 70447

SOURCE Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

Related Links

http://www.ksfcounsel.com

NEW ORLEANS, March 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- ClaimsFiler, a FREE shareholder information service, reminds investors that they have until April 16, 2018 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC), if they purchased the Company's securities between January 13, 2017, and July 27, 2017, inclusive (the "Class Period"). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Get Help

Wells Fargo investors should visit us at https://www.claimsfiler.com/cases/view-wells-fargo-amp-company-securities-litigation-1 or call to speak to our claim center toll-free at (844) 367-9658.

About the Lawsuit

Wells Fargo and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.

On July 27, 2017, The New York Times reported that, based on an internal Wells Fargo report, "[m]ore than 800,000 people who took out car loans from Wells Fargo were charged for auto insurance they did not need," and that "[t]he expense of the unneeded insurancepushed roughly 274,000 Wells Fargo customers into delinquency and resulted in almost 25,000 wrongful vehicle repossessions," and it estimated "that the bank owed $73 million to wronged customers."

On this news, the price of Wells Fargo's shares plummeted.

About ClaimsFiler

ClaimsFiler has a single mission: to serve as the information source to help retail investors recover their share of billions of dollars from securities class action settlements. ClaimsFiler's team of experts monitor the securities class action landscape and cull information from a variety of sources to ensure comprehensive coverage across a broad range of financial instruments.

To learn more about ClaimsFiler, visit www.claimsfiler.com.

SOURCE ClaimsFiler

Related Links

www.claimsfiler.com

Ed Piskors X-Men: The Grand Design, which will be published by Marvel in April, is an undertaking that is every bit as massive as its name implies. It is also an exercise in epic pithiness: Piskor distills four decades of X-Men story lines into a six-issue miniseriesnow collected into a book.

Its the first superhero title for Piskor, a lifelong Pittsburgh resident who spent the past decade and a half climbing through the ranks of independent comics, first through self-published floppies, then at the alternative comics house Fantagraphics. In October 2015, as the artist wrapped up work on Hip-Hop Family Tree, his comics recap of the history of hip-hop, he fired a tweet off into the world: It would take 300 pages, but I have a way to combine the first 300 issues of X-Men into a complete, satisfying tale.

It was a social media exercise in wishful thinking and a bit of braggadocioone that Piskor was not particularly confident would register on Marvels radar. He has a soft spot for the merry mutants, like many 30-somethings weaned on comics and Saturday-morning cartoons. I drew hundreds of X-Men pages as a kid, he says. Im a kid from the 80s and 90s. I still have all of the action figures and everything.

In more recent decades, however, Piskors work turned toward the auteurs of the underground cartooning world, including the likes of such acclaimed indie comics artists as Dan Clowes and the Hernandez brothers. After spending a year attending the Kubert School, a New Jersey technical school for comics and graphic arts founded by the great Sgt. Rock cartoonist Joe Kubert, Piskor began releasing his own darkly comic self-published work, including titles such as Deviant Funnies and the autobiographical Isolation Chamber.

Soon after he graduated from the Kurbert School, Piskor landed the first of many dream jobs, teaming with autobiographical-comics pioneer Harvey Pekar. Together, they produced selected stories for an American Splendor collection inspired by the movie of the same name and collaborated on the nonfiction graphic novels Macedonia (2007) and, with Paul Buhle, The Beats (2010).

Piskor was steadily chipping away at Wizzywig: Portrait of a Serial Hacker. The book explored the early days of the hacking and home-computer revolutions through the eyes of fictional protagonist Kevin Boingthump Phenicle. The series began as pair of self-published books and was later released as a single-volume collection in 2012 by indie publisher Top Shelf and named a PW Best Book.

Early that same year, Piskor began serializing Hip-Hop Family Tree on the pop-culture site Boing Boing. Piskor set out to tell the tale of rap musics development from the 1970s through the mid-80s, drawing in the genres biggest figures and moments in the process.

The comic ultimately spanned hundreds of pages, collected in four bestselling oversize volumes by Fantagraphics and winning Piskor an Eisner in 2013. But Piskor says that by the time he collected comics most prestigious award, he was already ready to move on to the next big thing: With Hip-Hop, the last 10 pages of the last book were excruciating for me to get through. It was almost like theres nothing more I can do with this. The only thing you can do is win more Eisner Awards. You cant buy a cup of coffee with an Eisner.

An X-Men book is a strange next step for an artist who cut his teeth with the likes of Pekar and Top Shelf. But thanks to a deluge of enthusiasm on social media, the idea made its way to the desk of Axel Alonso, who was then Marvels editor-in-chief and who called Piskors bluff. Alonso let the cartoonist retell one of the most beloved and longest-lived superhero series, through the filter of alternative comics.

My comics needs can only be satisfied by comics done by singular cartoonists, Piskor says. Theres never been a situation where a Fantagraphics guy at the top of his game used whatever cachet hes built to parlay it to make a Marvel comic. I would like to see a Gilbert Hernandez [the cocreator of Fantagraphics Love and Rockets series] do a Wonder Woman comic. I always wanted to see what a Dan Clowes Spider-Man comic would be.

Piskor readily admits that he hadnt followed X-Men comics in nearly a quarter century, falling off not too long after Chris Claremont ended his run writing Uncanny X-Men. He blames repetitious story lines, uncreative choices, and slow plotting decisions for the end of his romance with mainstream superhero books.

The later X-Men seem to be a retooling of existing ideas, Piskor says. Dont put me on the hook for months and months and monthsjust give me a story. Get in and get out. Be done with it.

The pithy distillation of pop culture and frenetic pace of Hip-Hop Family Tree helped Piskor create The Grand Design. I did Hip-Hop Family Tree for four and a half years, he says. Every Tuesday, there would be a new strip. One could say that I got my Malcolm Gladwell 10,000 hours of practice in this giant ensemble-cast narrative, so I can employ that education on this X-Men project.

Like Hip-Hop Family Tree, Piskors X-Men book was designed as a finite projecta six-issue miniseries. Piskors challenge wouldnt be to explore territory with the characters. Rather, he tasked himself with piecing together a cohesive narrative from a series created by dozens of artists and writers over the course of decades. I figured, why not just lean in and for real do a retelling? he says. Its a retelling; its an adaptation; its a remix.

The first two pages of The Grand Design recount the trials and tribulations of mutants throughout history, then the book turns its focus to an epic New Yorkleveling battle between preMarvel Comics stars Namor the Submariner and the (original) Human Torch. The backbone of the series, however, is Claremonts 16-year run on Uncanny X-Men, which gave the series many of its all-time classic story lines, including the Dark Phoenix Saga, Days of the Future Past, and God Loves, Man Kills, each of which has also served as the basis of a film adaptation. Its a rich vein to mine, and the source material sets a high bar. Im using the existing comics as elaborate notes, Piskor says, adding, modestly, Theres no way Im going to be able to stand up to those dudes.

Piskor was wary of online blowback from fans. While The Grand Design is, in many ways, loyal to its source material, Piskor takes certain liberties in his efforts to distill thousands of pages into a narrative that reads as a single, self-contained story. Reaction has been overwhelmingly positive, even among the most devoted X-Men readers. The book has, thus far, been a breath of fresh air in an industry often beholden to tradition.

The release of the first two issues created another jolt, Piskor says. I really feel like Im working on something great here. I feel like Im working on something that people want to read.

Brian Heater writes regularly about comics for PW.Balzer + Bray Invests in Loutzenhiser



In a North American rights preempt,bought two books by. The first title in the deal, the authors debut, is a YA novel called If Youre Out There; the second book is currently untitled.at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, who represented Loutzenhiser, said Out There follows a girl named Zan who begins to question the fate of her best friend, Priya, after she moves away and ceases all contact. Mattson, who pitched the novel as a YA Whered You Go, Bernadette, said Zan, who becomes obsessed with Priyas bubbly Instagram feed, then starts to wonder, What if Priya isnt just not answering her calls and messageswhat if she cant? Out There is set for spring 2019.

Swyler Has Twitch at Bloomsbury

Lea Beresford at Bloomsbury preempted North American rights to Little Twitch by Erika Swyler (The Book of Speculation). The 1986-set novel, the publisher said, is about a girl in a small Florida Space Coast town who dreams of becoming an astronaut and an invention that alters the fabric of time. Michelle Brower at Aevitas Creative Management represented Swyler.

Kistlers House Burns at Atria

House on Fire, a domestic suspense novel by Bonnie Kistler, was acquired in a world English-rights agreement. Sarah Cantin at Atria preempted the novel from Jennifer Weltz at the Jean Naggar Literary Agency. Cantin said the book, about a blended family thrown into crisis when a drunk-driving accident leaves the daughter of one parent deadand the son of the other parent charged with manslaughter, will appeal to readers of Celeste Ng and Jodi Picoult.

Algonquin Catches Miless Killers

Journalist Kathryn Miles (Superstorm) sold a work of true crime, called Killers on the Trail, to Betsy Gleick at Algonquin. The book, subtitled Love, Murder, and the Quest for Justice in Americas Wild Places, examines the 1996 killing of a couple, Julie Williams and Lollie Winans, who were hiking the Appalachian Trail. Wendy Strothman at the Strothman Agency, who sold world English rights to the title, said that in addition to the murder, the book will examine the long history of violenceparticularly against womenin Americas wild places. Killers is set for 2020.

Millers Debut Finds a Home at LB

Halfway Home, a nonfiction debut by Reuben Miller, was bought by Vanessa Mobley at Little, Brown in a world-rights acquisition. Miller, an assistant professor at the University of Chicagos School of Social Service Administration, draws on his research about people who've been through the prison system. Lisa Adams at the Garamond Agency, who sold the book, said Miller examines the ways incarceration permanently changes lives, condemning former prisoners and their loved ones and families to living in a permanent supervised society.

Briefs

For Simon & Schusters Enliven imprint, Zhena Muzyka took world rights to Heather Ash Amaras The Warrior Heart Process. Amara (Warrior Goddess Training) was represented by Anne Marie OFarrell at Marcil-OFarrell Literary. OFarrell said the self-help book will teach readers how to unravel those emotionally stuck places that impede their sense of well-being.

TarcherPerigees Nina Shield preempted world English rights to Quit like a Millionaire by Kristy Shen and Bryce Leung. The authors are the creators of the blog Millennial Revolution, about how to pursue the dream of global travel; the books subtitle is How to Retire Decades Early and Travel the World. Andrea Somberg at Harvey Klinger, who represented the authors, said the book will offer a reproducible, mathematically proven way to make money and quit the rat race forever.

Bestselling author Karen Kingsbury (Baxter Family series) signed a new six-book contract with her publisher, Simon & Schusters Howard Books imprint. Beth Adams and Becky Nesbitt acquired the titles from Rick Christian at Alive Literary Agency. Kingsbury, S&S said, has more than 25 million copies of her books in print.

Correction: Heather Ash Amara's book was mistakenly titled in an earlier version of this article; it's called The Warrior Heart Process, not The Warrior Heart Princess.In a recent column in the Texas Library Journal, Texas Library Association (TLA) president Ling Hwey Jeng, director of the School of Library and Information Studies at Texas Womans University, wrote about why librarians need to be good storytellers.

Librarians cannot be accidental advocates, only speaking up when a legislative crisis looms, she wrote. Good storytelling shares how residents of our communities learn and grow to become who they are todayand how we facilitate their success along the way.

The need for librarians to effectively tell their stories is the theme of this years Texas Library Association Annual conference (set for April 36 at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas), and Jengs program couldnt be more timely. The library message cannot simply be about library policies, or professional statements, she explains. It has to be a good story. And importantly, especially in these divisive political times, the library story should be inseparable from the story of the community.

Thats one thing I want everybody to walk away with from this conference, the idea that the library is not a standalone, self-sufficient, insular institution, Jeng says of the program at this year's TLA. Its not just a matter of our budgets getting cut. Yes, we need to advocate for our budgets. But the idea is that we must be really, truly embedded in the community. We have to be able to say, I dont just work in the library, I work in the community.

Indeed, this years TLA program has a clear focus on helping librarians find their stories, and raise their voices.

After the Flood

There is certainly no shortage of stories for librarians to tell in Texasnone more prominent this year than the story of Hurricane Harvey, which last August devastated south Texas and left much of the city of Houston underwater, causing over $100 billion in damage according to some estimates.

Texas libraries and librarians were at once victims of Harvey, and also some of its heroes. Throughout the state, librarians set up services to help communities that were in the path of destruction, as well services around the state for those displaced. And TLA and its members worked tirelessly to raise money, offer resources, and to marshal support for communities devastated by the floodsincluding, for example, the community of Port Aransas, where the public library was totally destroyed.

Harvey has since been pushed out of the headlines, Jeng notes, but parts of Texas are still struggling to rebound. And those stories, she says, are an example of the stories librarians must continue to tell.

There are so many crises in the world, people forget. They move on to the next one, Jeng says. We are the ones who need to make sure that we sustain the support for our communities. We have to find a way to keep the support coming. And the only way to keep the support coming is to make sure we keep telling our stories.

One of those stories will be featured at this years TLA conferencethe story of nine-year-old Libby Cheek. Though she lives some 400 miles from Port Aransas, the third grader was deeply moved by the images of the destroyed library there and organized a book drive that collected some 10,000 books and magazines for the Port Aransas library, which lost its entire collection to Harvey. TLA has since helped arrange storage for the books while Port Aransas rebuilds its library. And for her effort, Libby Cheek has been invited as a special guest to this years Texas Bluebonnet Awards at the TLA conference

Hardball

Jennifer T. LaBoon, coordinator of Library Technology for the Fort Worth Independent School District and president-elect of TLA, agrees that telling their stories is crucial for libraries. And when she takes over as TLA president at the end of this years conference, shell have a great opportunity to tell stories to an important audience: the Texas legislature will be in session (excluding special sessions, the Texas legislature convenes every two years).

LaBoon says she expects to spend a lot of time in Austin, the seat of power in Texas, telling the library communitys stories to legislators. And thats just fine with her.

Advocacy work is such an important reason I became involved in TLA, so Im grateful that I get the opportunity to lead during a legislative session year, LaBoon says. Im looking forward to keeping the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) funding levelif not increasing it.

Of course, she concedes, it can be hard in a red state like Texas not to have conversations that revolve around budget cuts. But, LaBoon says Texas libraries are holding their own: after some nervous moments, they avoided a steep budget cut in the 2017 session. And Texas libraries are slowly getting back to normal after a drastic funding cut (about 65%) to TSLAC, leveled in 2011. The positive outcomes are therethe stories are thereshe says, and Texas librarians must be prepared to share them.

 Texas has been a deep red state for so long that support for libraries is an issue that in many ways transcends Republicans or Democrats. Libraries have a direct impact on all peoples lives. 

Im not going in expecting cuts, because then it becomes sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy, LaBoon says of next years legislative session. You know, in Texas, they frequently tell us that everybody has to tighten their belts. Tightening your belt is sort of a political thing here in Texas. But when they tell us to tighten our belts, well be ready to say our belt is too tight already.

Like Jeng has done for this years conference, LaBoon as president-elect is chairing the committee putting together the 2019 TLA conference program. And next year she will have another tool at her disposal: the 2019 TLA conference will be in Austin. In addition to giving Texas librarians a chance to visit more lawmakers in person, Texas librarians have been known to throw a good rally, too, when needed.

A seasoned advocate, LaBoon says that because Texas has been a deep red state for so long, support for libraries is an issue that in many ways transcends Republicans or Democrats. Libraries have a direct impact on all peoples lives. And TLA must not only help librarians tell their stories more effectively to legislators, but they must help library users tell their stories as well.

Its not only us speaking to legislators, she says. We have to make sure that were speaking to the people in our communities so that they know in turn know how to speak to their legislators. For some, that can be a little intimidating, she acknowledges, whether making calls, writing letters or sending emails to legislators. So we have to tell them how easy it is to just tell your story, LaBoon says. "You dont have to talk in political speak. Just tell them why the library is important to you. Thats it. Thats what they need to hear.

TLA Program Highlights

This years TLA conference offers 325 sessions and programs presented by 875 leaders from Texas and beyond. More than 435 exhibitors will fill the Exhibit Hall, showcasing a wide array of products and services for all types of libraries. And like the stars in a Texas sky, the author program is big and bright.

Keynotes



There couldnt be a better speaker to kick off this years program than. The famed travel writer and TV personality will deliver the opening General Session I keynote (Weds., April 4, 8:159:45 a.m.) and will talk about travel as a political act.

It was Mark Twain who famously said that travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, a philosophy Steves has expanded upon throughout his career. Acclaimed for his bestselling guidebooks and popular public television series, Steves promises a provocative presentation on how visiting other places and cultureswhether in person or through the offerings on library shelvesoffers people more than a chance to pick up souvenirs.

Pulitzer Prizewinning author Junot Diaz will keynote General Session II (Thurs., April 5, 45 p.m.). Diaz comes to TLA to discuss his debut picture book, Islandborn, which captures a universal immigrant experience. Its another timely talk, as the need for more diversity in literature, especially kids books, is a hot topic and will be much discussed at TLA.

Kids like me did not exist in the literature, Diaz told booksellers at the recent Winter Institute meeting, where he urged librarians, booksellers, and publishers to work harder to decolonize our shelves.

Educator, poet, and New York Timesbestselling author Kwame Alexander will keynote the Closing Author Session (Fri., April 6, 11:45 a.m.1:15 p.m.) Alexander will talk about his belief that poetry can be life-changingindeed, world-changingand will talk about his new book, Rebound, the highly anticipated prequel to his Newbery Medalwinning novel in verse, The Crossover.

Alexander is a terrific speaker and is beloved in the library community. This is sure to be a cant-miss event.

Wrapping up the program (Fri., April 6, 1:302:30 p.m.) will be R. David Lankes, director of the University of South Carolinas School of Library and Information Science and author of the The New Librarianship Field Guide and the groundbreaking Atlas of New Librarianship.

Lankes is a passionate advocate for librarians and their essential role in todays society. Most recently, he took part in a Presidents Program debate at the 2018 ALA Midwinter Meeting over library neutrality. Organizers say the closing session this year will be slightly different and designed to encourage more interaction.

Presidents Program



TLA President Ling Hwey Jeng will host two dynamic author programs as part of the TLA Presidents Program.

The first (Thurs., April 5, 9:4510:45 a.m.) will feature two prominent lexicographers, Anu Garg (A Word a Day) and Merriam-Websters Kory Stamper (Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries). In a starred review, PW called Stamper's 2016 debut "a delectable feast" and a "witty, sly, occasionally profane behind-the-scenes tour aimed at deposing the notion of 'real and proper English' and replacing it with a genuine appreciation for the glories and frustrations of finding just the right word."

Garg and Stamper will talk about how the words we use have significant impact on public perception and how choosing the right words and building a progressive public rhetoric projects a positive image of libraries and librarianship.

The second program immediately follows (Thurs., April 5, 11 a.m.12 p.m.) and is titled Storytelling as a Mirror for Cultural Heritage.

It will feature Newbery Honor recipient and National Book Award finalist Grace Lin (When the Sea Turned to Silver), who will build on her popular TED Talk presentation, in which she discusses how what children read can set the path for their own self-worth as well as how they see others. Don't miss what promises to be two fascinating talks.

The Bluebonnets

A highlight of every TLA conference of course is the Texas Bluebonnet Awards luncheon. The Texas Bluebonnets are a nationally recognized childrens-choice awardthe unique program is designed to encourage reading for pleasure among students in grades three to six.

Each year, 20 books are chosen for the master list by a selection committeeif students read a minimum of five books from the master list, they can vote for their favorite title during January of each year.

At this years awards luncheon (Thurs., April 5, 121:45 p.m.) Max Brallier and illustrator Douglas Holgate will be on hand to discuss their winning title, The Last Kids on Earth.

TLA officials said that a total of 141,141 third to sixth graders from 1,488 schools across Texas cast votes this year, narrowly defeating The Great Pet Escape by Victoria Jamiesonwhich almost made it two years in a row for Jamieson, who won last years top prize for Rollergirl.

Please note, this is a ticketed eventand popular. So if you havent scored your tickets yet, visit the TLA website (TLA.org).

And more...

These are just a few of the highlights among a packed professional program and the hundreds of authors who will be on hand for panel discussions, book signings, and more. Please check the TLA website for any last-minute changes, and be sure to check out the full program online.Sherman Alexie Declines Carnegie MedalNow What?

Last weekend, news broke that Sherman Alexie, amid a growing number of allegations of sexual misconduct, had declined the American Library Associations 2018 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction. Alexie was announced as the winner of the literary award on February 11, at the 2018 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Denver, for his book You Don't Have to Say You Love Me: A Memoir.

In a statement, ALA officials said they have acknowledged the authors decision, and will not award the Carnegie nonfiction medal in 2018.

Surely, Alexies decision relieved ALA officials from having to make a very tough call: whether or not to invite the author to the awards reception this summer. Carnegie winners typically address librarians and accept their medals at a reception at the ALA Annual Conference, (which this year is set for June 2125 in New Orleans). Now in their seventh year, The ALAs Carnegie Medals have become a coveted literary prize, and the awards reception has become known for great speeches.

But, questions remain. For example, what exactly does ALA mean by will not award the Carnegie nonfiction medal for 2018? In fact, Alexie has already won the award, has he not? Will he remain listed as the 2018 winner, with a footnote perhaps? Or, will ALA going forward choose to list no winner for the 2018 nonfiction medal? If so, then hasn't ALA more accurately rescinded the award?

It matters. So far, ALA seems eager to steer clear of controversy here, and understandably so. But whether or not Alexie picks up his medal and cashes the check is not the point. Is ALA in fact rescinding the award? Should they rescind the award? And isn't this perhaps a discussion worth having?

By declining the award Alexie took ALA off the hook for having to make a thorny decision, but ALA shouldnt be so eager to run from this episode, or sweep it aside. My hope is that at this years Carnegie Awards reception and beyond, ALA sees this episode as a chance to elevate a much-needed conversation about how to navigate this powerful cultural movement. A.A.

National Geographic Confronts its Racist Past; NYT Rewrites Women Into It's History

Last week to mark the occasion of womens history month, the New York Times launched Overlooked, a new feature which aims to rewrite history by publishing the obituaries of women whose remarkable lives were overlooked by editors at the time of their deaths.

And on Monday, National Geographic followed suit with the publication of their April issue, The Race Issue, which coincides with the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.s assassination. Editor Susan Goldberg set the tone in her editors note, which appeared under the bold headline of For Decades, Our Coverage was Racist. To Rise Above Our Past, We Must Acknowledge It. In it, she draws on the expertise of historian John Edwin Mason to examine the National Geographics fraught coverage of race over the years.

What Mason found in short was that until the 1970s National Geographic all but ignored people of color who lived in the United States, rarely acknowledging them beyond laborers or domestic workers. Meanwhile it pictured natives' elsewhere as exotics, famously and frequently unclothed, happy hunters, noble savagesevery type of cliche, Goldberg wrote.

The fact that two media organizations  storied journalistic institutions at thatare so openly grappling with their histories is at once remarkable and long overdue. It marks a turning point in the world of journalism, which while being preoccupied with notions of objectivity in day-to-day coverage, has largely failed to redress its own institutional biases.

Whats also interesting is how different the two approaches are. As Twitter user Katherine Maher (who happens to be the executive director of the Wikimedia foundation) points out, the tone of the New York Times article was more of a shrug while National Geographics was overtly critical of itself.

She has a point. However, its also important to note that the Timess feature is ongoing and it aims to fill the gaps of its coverage, using input from its current readers. National Geographics addresses the issue head on by devoting an entire issue to it. A.C

Library Director Faces Harassment Following Code4Lib Speech on Diversity

A report this week from Inside Higher Ed said than more than 350 individuals and organizations have signed a statement in support of Chris Bourg, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Libraries director, after she was targeted on social media.

The harassment began after Bourg gave a keynote speech at the Code4Lib conference last month in which she spoke about "the importance of diversity" in software development.

In a statement, the Association of Research Libraries said such vicious attacks, such as those leveled at Chris Bourg or any member of the research library community, will not silence the communitys voice nor stop its efforts.

Friday One-Liners

RIP Stephen Hawking, brilliant physicist, author... and open access advocate.

California became the latest state to advance a Net Neutrality bill this week, which Fast Company calls the most detailed state internet-access bill in the country.

The ALA Washington Office this week is catching flak for honoring California Congressman Darrell Issa.

Public libraries are are invited to participate in a programming opportunity around The Great American Read, an eight-part PBS series designed to spark a national conversation about reading and the books that have inspired, moved, and shaped us.

Governor Kate Brown removed state librarian MaryKay Dahlgreen on Tuesday in a move that the Oregonian says surprised and angered many librarians and library supporters around Oregon."

A new Florida law would allow school librarians to carry guns, librarians say no thanks.

In an interview on Tuesday with Wired editor Nicholas Thompson, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki said that YouTube these days is really more like a library. And librarians arent having it

...Wojcicki also said YouTube will now begin displaying links to "fact-based content" on Wikipedia alongside conspiracy theory videos.

WIkipedia says it has no formal relationship with YouTube, but, sure, go ahead, use us...

Roxane Gay shares her 10 Favorite Books with the website Vulture 

Mexican novelist Cristina Rivera Garza on 12 Essential Spanish-Language Female Writers...

The Internet Archive wants your help building a great digital library...and it has a wishlist.

Library Journal has released its 2018 list of Movers & Shakers. Congratulations to those honored!Jenna Nemec-Loise

Head librarian at North Shore Country Day School

Winnetka, Ill.

Nemec-Loise serves on the ALSC board as ALSC division councilor. She has extensive early-literacy experience from her years working in the Chicago Public Library system, and her story times were among those observed and analyzed for Susan B. Neumans research on the Every Child Ready to Read @ Your Library initiative (see Evaluating the Every Child Ready to Read Initiative, p. 37).

Jennas Best Practices:

I recently hosted a Buddy Day program on the theme of kindness. Each of our younger grades is connected to an older grade, so we have little buddies and big buddies. Our junior kindergarten and senior kindergarten children are buddies with our seniors, and it was wonderful to share the joy of early literacy with our 17- and 18-year-old students, so they could see the important role they play in modeling the love of reading and lifelong learning for the younger children.

Rather than having a menu that says, Do this, do that each time, come in with a buffet of options, so you can pick some of the things that look good to you. Some of the things I always have on hand are great picture books, both fiction and nonfiction; I love puppets, I love flannel boarding, and I love anything that can extend the fun beyond the book, because I want to model for caregivers the kinds of things they can do to continue the learning at home.

I have an enormous collection of Folkmanis puppets. I incorporate some kind of puppet into all of my programs, and I like to encourage our adult caregivers to be puppeteers for me. For example, the first time I did a program for the junior kindergarten here, I read Caps for Sale, and I brought in five monkey puppets. I invited both of our teachers to come up and puppeteer for me. I was reading the story, and I was being the peddler; the kids were the monkeys. The kids loved seeing the grown-ups that they care about involved in the storytelling process, rather than seeing them sit in the back of the room getting work done or chatting.

At workshops people ask me how to engage caregivers. Dont put out chairs, and invite everyone to sit on the floor with their little one. Give them a job to do. Let them know were going to say all of our rhymes two times, and this is going to be a great opportunity for them to learn it. Tell them were going to make so much noise on our own, so lets go ahead and turn off our cell phones. Lets not have side conversations. I feel very comfortable laying out those guidelines because I want it to be cooperative and collaborative and fun, and I want caregivers to be partners in the early-literacy process, not just casual observers. Thats my #1 best practice.

One of the great things we can do is to remind caregivers that early-literacy practice doesnt just happen at school or at the library; there are opportunities everywhere you goat the grocery store, on the bus. I think I have gained a lot from Every Child Ready to Read, in terms of my ability to talk to caregivers in a way that resonates with their everyday lives. It did not come naturally to me. Its something I learned. It was a little uncomfortable at first, making those asides to parentsYou know, this rhyme is so awesome to do at the diapering table, or, This is a really fun song that you can sing when youre in line at the grocery store and everyone is getting a little squirmy. As I learned how to do it, and I practiced, it became much more natural to me.

For toddlers 1836 months, barnyard noises are the way to go. Any picture book that features animals making barnyard noises that kids can get involved in, and I can incorporate the puppets in, is a huge hit. I dont think there are ever enough barnyard books, to be honest. I would buy all the barnyard books if I could.

Elizabeth Schwertfuehrer

Childrens librarian, Mt. Lebanon Public Library

Pittsburgh, Pa.

Elizabeths Best Practices:

Play is one of the early-literacy practices that is often overlooked because many do not believe that play has a place in literacy. Symbolic play and dramatic play help a child understand that we can use one object to represent another, the way that letters represent sounds. Dramatic play helps with sequencing.

Playing restaurant helps with print awareness, letter knowledge, vocabulary, and background knowledgeall from writing a menu, taking orders, and pretending to prepare food. Chunky puzzles are also great for this. You can ask open-ended questions about what the child sees and allow them to lead the discussion. Repeat some of the words they use so they know you hear them, and have them build on what they say. Finger rhymes and movements help the kids stretch out their fingers so they can properly hold a crayon or pencil when they get to school. I am starting to label everything in our preschool area so kids can increase their vocabulary, letter knowledge, and print awareness, all while playing.

Some of my surefire hits include tapping out syllables in a name. I use a drum in story time to have the kids tap out their own name. Their own name is a bulls-eye: kids pay attention seconds longer when you use their name. Tapping out syllables with even an empty oatmeal container can be fun. It works on phonological awareness. One of my all-time favorite books is Tanka Tanka Skunk! by Steve Webb. It is a fun, rhythmic story that uses great vocabulary as well as syllables.

A favorite way to engage caregivers is singing with shaky eggs [egg shaker musical instruments]. Everyone is a critic when it comes to their own singingno matter that research tells us that kids dont care, they just want to hear our voices. Add shaky eggs, and even reluctant caregivers can play along. There are many rhyming songs, but some of my favorites are by Laurie Berkner: I Know a Chicken and Little Red Caboose.

I also try to give caregivers a nugget of early-literacy support at each story time, something that helps them know that they are already doing a great job. I might say: Strive for five: read, write, talk, sing, play, every day! These are the five practices of early literacy, and this is what grows a reader, long before reading begins.

Katie Richert

Assistant head of youth services, Bloomingdale Public Library

Bloomingdale, Ill.

Katies Best Practices:

When prepping for a story time or other early-literacy programming, I love to use the resources of other librarians. There are tons of blogs, such as Storytime Katie and Jbrary, that have found the materials already that really might work for teaching Every Child Ready to Read in a fun, responsive way. The more options that a librarian has to create better programming, the better. Other librarians have tried thingssome things that work well for their story times and others that floppedand that knowledge really helps when planning my own programming.

Finger plays, songs, prop stories, and puppets are great ways to bring play and song into programming. Some that I use all the time include the finger play Roll, Roll Sugarbabies, The Milkshake Song by the Old Town School of Folk Music, or a flannel board made from the story Monkey Face by Frank Asch. Along with books, these tools really get the kids engaged in story time. The addition of song, toys, and having the children interact with the story themselves makes story time more relatable to the toddlers sitting in the audience and to their caregivers. I also like to create a handout that has all the story-time materials we did, including the words to all the songs, finger plays, and prop stories. That way parents can do them at home with their child and reinforce the learning we did at the library.

I think the best way to engage caregivers is to talk to them about the importance of reading. Reading with or to a child, even an infant, can help them grow into a better reader in the future and further their ability to be lifelong learners. My library has literature about Every Child Ready to Read, and an early-literacy section that was made to help parents pick the books that are at the right reading level for their new readers. At the childrens desk, along with the coloring sheets, we also have letter-tracing sheets that can be used by caregivers to promote writing and letter identification.

However, I also think there are other ways that are less straightforward that can help you interact with parents. Signs on the changing tables about singing to your child might seem odd, but they are an indirect way to reach the parent or caregiver who might not come to the reference desk for help. Labeling items in the department with wordssuch as a table, chair, or wallis another way to bring early literacy into the lives of children without being overbearing toward the caregivers. Whatever way you chose to interact with parents, being open and spreading any tips you have about early literacy and how to help parents is the optimal goal.Fire and Fury by Michael Wolff was the top-selling nonfiction title in Germany and France at the end of February and was #13 on the combined fiction and nonfiction list in the Netherlands.

In second place on Germanys nonfiction list was Yellow Bar Mitzvah, the autobiography of German rapper Dimitri Chpakov, who is also known as Sun Diego and SpongeBozz. In fiction, Punishment, the newest thriller by Ferdinand von Schirach, was in third place in its first week on sale. Von Schirach is a lawyer-turned-author whose novels have been translated into 35 languages. A number of his books have been released in the U.S. by different publishers.

The top seller in the Netherlands at the end February was Gordon, the biography of Dutch entertainer Gordon Heuckeroth. In second place was The 91 Story Treehouse, the latest in Andy Griffiths Treehouse series. The new book, illustrated by Terry Denton, will be published in the U.S. in July by Fiewel and Friends.

Moving into the #1 spot on Italys combined bestseller list in mid-February was When the Recluse Comes Out by Fred Vargas, the latest in her series of mysteries starring Parisian police commissioner Adamsberg. Vargas is the pseudonym of Frederique Audoin-Rouzeau, a French historian, archaeologist, and novelist.

Germany

Fiction Rank Title Author Imprint 1 Mein Herz in zwei Welten (Still Me) Jojo Moyes Wunderlich 2 Die Geschichte des verlorenen Kindes (The Story of the Lost Child) Elena Ferrante Suhrkamp 3 Strafe (Punishment) Ferdinand von Schirach Luchterhand Nonfiction 1 Feuer und Zorn (Fire and Fury) Michael Wolff Rowohlt 2 Yellow Bar Mitzvah (Yellow Bar Mitzvah) Sun Diego Riva 3 Der Skandal der Skandale (The Scandal of Scandals) Lutz/Angenendt Herder

For the week ended Mar. 4; used by arrangement with Buchreport

Italy

Fiction & Nonfiction Combined Rank Title Author Imprint 1 Il morso della reclusa (When the Recluse Comes Out) Fred Vargas Einaud 2 Sono sempre io (Still Me) Jojo Moyes Mondadori 3 Dieci cose da sapere... (Ten Things to Know About the Italian Economy...) Alan Friedman Newton Compton 4 Chiamami col tuo nome (Call Me by Your Name) Andre Aciman Guanda 5 Quando tutto inizia (When Everything Starts) Fabio Volo Arcobaleno 6 Davanti agli occhi (Before Your Eyes Roberto Emanuelli Rizzoli

For the week ended Feb. 18; used by arrangement with Informazioni Editoriali

Netherlands

Fiction & Nonfiction Combined Rank Title Author Imprint 1 Gordon (Gordon) Marcel Langedijk Lebowski 2 De waanzinnige boomhut van 91 verdiepingen (The 91-Story Treehouse) Griffiths/Denton Lannoo 3 De acht Bergen (The Eight Mountains) Paolo Cognetti De Bezige Bij 4 De winter voorbij (In the Midst of Winter) Isabel Allende Wereldbibliotheek 5 Kruip nooit achter een geranium (Never Crawl Behind a Geranium) Barbara van Beukering Spectrum 6 De avond is ongemak (The Evening Is Inconvenient) Marieke Lucas Rijneveld Atlas Contact

For the week ended Mar. 4; used by arrangement with CPNB

Two leaders, one a dictator of an isolated state and the other who oversees the world's largest economy and military, have agreed to meet. While many analysts hope a meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un might end nuclear threats for the region, journalist Shim Jae Hoon is cautious, suggesting that planning for such a meeting could be destabilizing. Tightened sanctions, interdiction of oil shipments, threats of surgical strikes, and fire and fury may have contributed to making Kim more amenable to negotiations, but old propaganda lines accompanied his overture to Trump, and the regime has a track record of breaking agreements. Two decades of aid and policies from South Korea helped fund the North's nuclear program, Shim writes, and South Korea's president is trying the summit process once again. The Kim regime has long regarded its nuclear weapons program as a ticket for survival and even leverage for eventual reunification of the Korean Peninsula. Should negotiations materialize, South Koreans hope that Trump has full understanding of the many issues at stake and does not abandon America's long-time allies.The campus and city news desks have compiled a list of events going on throughout the upcoming week that are open to Athenians and University It's hard to imagine anyone could make the name Zagat obsolete in the world of restaurant news. Yet Google almost pulled it off in just under seven years.

On March 5, nine-year-old restaurant guide Infatuation announced it was buying the Zagat brand for an undisclosed amount. The company-best known for its #eeeeeats hashtag-now controls the 35-year-old Zagat name and its international catalog of reviews.

For some, the question isn't why Google sold off Zagat; it's what took so long. The relationship between the two companies had been troubled for years. The 2011 purchase was championed by former Google executive Marissa Mayer, who saw Zagat as an asset for the maps division she controlled. But by 2013, some reviewers panned the release of the Zagat app, which had a difficult user interface and seemed designed to push content such as "Rose for Every Mood: What to Bring to Any Summer Occasion," rather than help people find a good place to eat. Then, a few years ago, Google chose to infuse its mapping services with features such as user-generated restaurant reviews, rather than leveraging Zagat and its resources. It was a defensive move to ward off rivals such as Yelp Inc. and Apple Inc., which were then credible threats to Google's dominance in local information. Zagat, meanwhile, was left to wither.

How did this happen? When Mayer departed in 2012, Zagat was left without a champion at Google, according to a former Zagat contractor who requested anonymity. Instead of hiring additional full-time staff, Google relied on contractors for content and assigned a minimal number of engineers for such major projects as the app launch and a 2017 web redesign, according to several people who worked for Zagat at the time. Gradually, the number of contractors working on Zagat content decreased-there were just over a dozen to cover the globe-and coverage of notable cities such as London and Toronto was suspended.

Google declined a request for comment.

Eventually the staff was told to de-emphasize reviews, the backbone of the business, to focus on boilerplate guide lists such as "Best Brunch" and "Best After Work Drinks." The changes frustrated the remaining staff, according to the former contractor.

Tim and Nina Zagat founded their eponymous guide as a hobby in 1979. The couple, having met at Yale Law School, started the business after a guest criticized a newspaper's restaurant reviews at a dinner party. The Zagats began soliciting friends' opinions and found 200 amateur critics to rate 100 restaurants for food, decor, service, and costs. An empire was born. For years, the Zagat guide was part of the calculus of figuring out where you were going to eat.

Those days are long gone. By 2017, Zagat failed even to send out its annual survey-the basis for its restaurant rankings. No guide was produced, and no explanation was given.

Zagat freelancers weren't notified of the Infatuation deal beforehand, according to a current contractor who requested anonymity. Instead, they were told on Friday night that security was being updated and that they would be locked out of Zagat tools, the contractor says. By Monday morning, they were given the press release.Infatuation didn't respond to a request for comment. In a statement, the site said it will operate Zagat as a separate brand, with a new, tech-driven platform that will be an alternative to other crowdsourced restaurant reviews.

In October, Google held its second Local Guides Summit in San Francisco. The program encourages users of the company's Maps app to upload photos and write reviews of places such as restaurants and to submit new locations. During the summit, Google announced that 50 million people were contributing to the program, a 1,000 percent increase from the 5 million it tracked in early 2016. More than 700,000 venues are being added to Maps each month, according to the company. Maps has more than 1 billion users, making it a lot more efficient and broader than Zagat's restaurant-review system.

"I assume Google figured out that they didn't need the brand name in order to surface the information," said restaurateur Nick Kokonas, whose Alinea dining room topped the list in the 2012 Chicago Zagat guide. "At the end of the day, Google can get all that Zagat information without actually owning Zagat, right?"

--With assistance from Mark BergenFor Dudley Dickerson, the mobile-app orders were the last straw.

McDonald's has been updating with new technology, delivery, a revamped menu and curbside pickup. But the "Experience of the Future" has employees handling more tasks -- in many cases, they say, without pay raises or adequate staffing. So Dickerson, 23, handed over his spatula for the last time.

"They added a lot of complicated things," Dickerson said in an interview. "It makes it harder for the workers."

Many fast-food employees hop from job to job. But with unemployment so low, turnover is becoming a problem. Workers are walking rather than dealing with new technologies and menu options. The result: Customers will wait longer. Drive-through times at McDonald's slowed to 239 seconds last year -- more than 30 seconds slower than in 2016, according to QSR magazine. It's also pokier than Burger King, Wendy's and Taco Bell.

Turnover at U.S. fast-food restaurants jumped to 150 percent -- meaning a store employing 20 workers would go through 30 in one year. That figure is the highest since industry tracker People Report began collecting data in 1995.

"Quick-service restaurants are having a little more trouble with job openings and finding workers," said Michael Harms, executive director of operations at People Report. "It's the pace of work, the pace of technology and the lower wage rate."

McDonald's and its franchisees haven't seen an increase in crew turnover over the last year, nor is there a correlation between the new initiatives and turnover, spokeswoman Terri Hickey said in an emailed statement. "Together with our owner-operators, we are investing in all necessary training to ensure successful implementation of any changes in our restaurants," she wrote. "Just as Experience of the Future modernizes the restaurant experience for our customers, there is also a focus on improving the work experience for restaurant employees."

McDonald's Chief Executive Officer Steve Easterbrook has been pushing initiatives that have helped turn around comparable sales, which rose 3.6 percent last year in the U.S. But they've also made it tougher to retain restaurant employees in an already tight labor market.

"The ball is really in the court of the workers," Harms said. "Not the employers."

Last year, McDonald's said, it employed 235,000 people, including corporate and restaurant workers. Each of those people generated $97,000 in revenue, compared to about $65,000 the year before. While this could be a sign of increased efficiency, it could also be seen as stretching thin an inadequate number of employees.

In Broward County, Florida, Westley Williams said he's moving from McDonald's to burger joint Checkers because of mobile-app orders, new items and six new self-order kiosks.

"It's more stressful now," said Williams, 42, noting he didn't get a raise for doing more work. "When we mess up a little bit because we're getting used to something new, we get yelled at."

On a recent Wednesday afternoon, about 10 McDonald's workers hustled behind the counter of a store in Chicago's Loop. They called out order numbers for those waiting for lunch -- some had ordered via an in-store kiosk, some from the mobile app and some the old-fashioned way, at the register.

An order of a Bacon McDouble, small fries and an apple juice took about 2 1/2 minutes, faster than the average drive-through time, but the drink was missing and the employee seemed confused when asked for it.

"The biggest risk when you have a lot of employee turnover is the customer experience," said Brian Yarbrough, an analyst for Edward Jones. "If that starts to wane, then this turns into a bigger problem."WINSTED  Winsted Area Peace Action (WAPA) is holding its eighth annual Peace Poster Project. This year's theme, My Future in a Peaceful World, is intended to encourage youth ages 5-18, to envision what peace looks like when put into action in our homes, schools, communities, the world.

The Peace Poster Project began in 2011 with 47 entries. Since then, participation has tripled. The project was started as an effort to block the constant flow of negative imagery of war and violence with images of humanity at peace, members said.

Judges for this year are two notable artists: Juan Moreno of Kent and Cecile Naudin Emond of New Hartford.

Moreno has been widely exhibited in Connecticut, he teaches both studio art and art history at the college level in a variety of settings. He says he seeks to explore the dynamics of color and illusion in his work.

Emond uses collage, writing, and lately, textile design, to explore themes such as identity, expatriation, feminism and nature. A French artist, Emond has been exhibiting and selling her work since 1998. She was a judge in the 2017 Peace Poster Project. At that time she said she was honored to be a judge in this important project.

By expressing their views visually, young people engage in a reflection about what peace means to them, whether at home or in the world, and this awareness will, hopefully, help their generation shape a more peaceful world, Emond said.

Much of the success of the annual Peace Poster Project is due to the community support it has received over the years. Area businesses have consistently donated items and gift cards. Additionally, the individual sponsor list has been growing, making it possible to obtain a wide variety of art supplies that are given as prizes in addition to ribbon awards. A special memorial cash award of $100 will be continued in the 15 -18 age category, in the name of the late Frank C. Hohmeister, a strong supporter of the WAPA Peace Studies and all the Peace Poster contests to date.

The expectation of the Peace Poster committee is that, as in the past, art teachers from the region, in public, private and religious spheres, will be devoting time, materials, and encouragement so that their students may participate.

Entry forms for the Peace Poster Project are available in local schools, at the Beekley Library, New Hartford Library and Northwestern Connecticut Community College Library.

Project entries must be submitted by Friday, May 11, to one of the above-mentioned locations. The awards ceremony will be held Friday, June 8, at 5:30 p.m. in the atrium of the NCCCs Art and Science Building, located on Holabird Ave.

All the creative results of participating area youth may be viewed at the Art and Science Building in an exhibit arranged by Ann Raymond. Donations by the community may be made to Winsted Area Peace Action with a memo for the Peace Poster Project, and sent to: WAPA, PO Box 454, New Hartford, CT 06057.

Artwork from last years project can be viewed at www.peaceposter.weebly.com . For further information about the 2018 Peace Poster Contest for Children and Young Adults, or entry forms, please contact Carol M. Beaudoin at: cbeaudoin@nwcc.commnet.edu.The company that designed a pedestrian bridge in Miami that collapsed Thursday, killing at least six people, was the daily construction inspector on the Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge in New Haven and is doing the same work for the Gold Star Memorial Bridge between New London and Groton, according to a state Department of Transportation official.

Mark Rolfe, chief engineer for the DOT, said Friday that the department uses multiple safety procedures and that those bridges are safe.

FIGG Bridge Group, whose motto is Creating Bridges as Art, was also hired to do an independent design review of concrete piers of the Moses Wheeler Bridge between Milford and Stratford, Rolfe said. Both the Pearl Harbor and Moses Wheeler bridges are on Interstate 95.

The Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge is absolutely safe, Rolfe said. We have a multilayered approach to how we do our bridges.

He said the same is true for other bridges that FIGG has been involved with, including four spans at the interchange of Route 2 and Interstate 84 in East Hartford. The company is doing repair and reconstruction work on those bridges.

On Friday, officials said cables suspending the pedestrian bridge at Florida International University were being tightened after a stress test when the 950-ton structure fell onto traffic below. Authorities said the death toll could rise.

Rolfe said it was unclear who is responsible for the bridge collapse. It could be a whole host of things that caused a tragedy like that and I dont want to speculate what it might be, he said. FIGG has done good work for us here in Connecticut.

FIGG, based in Tallahassee, Florida, is known for building bridges with striking designs, such as the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay, and the new I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, which replaced a bridge that collapsed in 2007, killing 13 people and injuring 145. According to the company, FIGG designed the Florida bridge, working with Munilla Construction Management of Miami.

Both companies been fined for negligence on past projects. According to the Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk, FIGG was assessed $28,000 in fines in 2012 after a 90-ton slab of concrete fell from the South Norfolk Jordan Bridge in Chesapeake. A girder used to support part of the bridge was modified without the manufacturers consent, according to the Virginia Department of Labor. FIGG issued a statement saying the girder had nothing to do with the final bridge, according to the Virginian-Pilot. There were only minor injuries.

Munilla has been fined $50,000 for 11 safety violations in the past five years and a worker won a $143,000 judgment when a makeshift bridge collapsed under him, according to the Associated Press.

The contractor that built the new Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge, commonly called the Q bridge, was Walsh Construction Co./PCL Joint Venture. FIGG was a subconsultant to the main construction engineering and inspection contractor, HW Lochner of Waterbury, Rolfe said.

They just inspected the work to make sure the work was performed in accordance with the plans and specifications, he said. They were the departments eyes and ears overseeing the work, filing reports on a daily basis. FIGG would also do paperwork, such as preparing payment requisitions, he said.

On top of all of that, theres department staff on site to oversee construction, Rolfe said.

The daily inspection FIGG was responsible for is separate from the final inspection of the bridge. That was performed by HAKS, which is based in New York and has an office in Bridgeport.

The final step before we relieve Walsh/PCL of responsibility for the bridge is we have a team of bridge inspectors who sign off that the bridge is complete and the department is going to take ownership of it, Rolfe said.

For the Moses Wheeler Bridge, there were issues we were having with some of the concrete piers, Rolfe said. We called on one of our on-call design engineers to validate the design of the bridge and we wanted to do an independent check of the design.

GM2 Associates of Glastonbury was hired to independently review the design of the bridges substructure, and FIGG was subcontracted to analyze the work. Theyre doing an independent review of someone elses work, Rolfe said. They have no independent responsibility for the design or the construction of the bridge.

The $14.2 million pedestrian bridge that collapsed Thursday was scheduled to open in 2019, crossing six lanes of traffic between Florida International in Miami and the city of Sweetwater, where many students live.

FIGG issued a statement Friday in which it said it was stunned by the tragic collapse. Our deepest sympathies are with all those affected by this accident. We will fully cooperate with every appropriate authority in reviewing what happened and why. In our 40-year history, nothing like this has ever happened before. Our entire team mourns the loss of life and injuries associated with this devastating tragedy, and our prayers go out to all involved.

The company said it has worked on more than 230 bridges and has designed nearly 35 miles of bridges in the southeastern Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico that have withstood multiple hurricanes.

When finished, the bridge would have been supported from above, with a tall, off-center tower and cables attached to the walkway. That tower had not yet been installed, and it was unclear what builders were using as temporary supports.

An accelerated construction method was supposed to reduce risks to workers and pedestrians and minimize traffic disruption, the university said. The school has long been interested in this kind of bridge design; in 2010, it opened an Accelerated Bridge Construction-University Transportation Center to provide the transportation industry with the tools needed to effectively and economically utilize the principles of ABC to enhance mobility and safety, and produce safe, environmentally friendly, long-lasting bridges.

Robert Bea, a professor of engineering and construction management at the University of California, Berkeley, said it was too early to know exactly what happened, but he called it a risky move to use what the bridge builders called an innovative installation over a heavily traveled thoroughfare.

Innovations take a design firm into an area where they dont have applicable experience, and then we have another unexpected failure on our hands, Bea said after reviewing the bridges design and photos of the collapse.Journal Register Co.

TORRINGTON  A city man was recently arrested and charged after allegedly assaulting two Charlotte Hungerford Hospital employees, according to the Torrington Police Department.

Michael Bessette, 33, of 267 Litchfield St., Torrington, was arrested March 15 and charged with two counts of assault on emergency personnel and second-degree breach of peace, police said.NEW HAVEN  Two women who posed as an elderly womans caregiver and interior decorator, respectively, are accused of embezzling almost $600,000 from the victim between 2013 and 2017.

Sandra Pelkey, 71, and Mary Jeannie Benedetto, 60, both of Bushnell Street, Plymouth, and described as mother and daughter in court documents, are each charged with first-degree larceny and conspiracy to commit first-degree larceny.

While the period from 2013-17 includes the alleged theft of $600,000, over a 10-year period Pelkey and Benedetto allegedly cashed more than $800,000 in checks made payable to them from the womans account, using multiple bank accounts to hide the funds they allegedly stole from the elderly woman, according to the arrest warrant.

The investigation began after officers were dispatched June 8, 2017, to a New Haven residence of a 73-year-old woman to conduct a welfare check. Fraud investigators believed there was a possibility the elderly woman was the victim of elder abuse and fraud after discovering rapid [and] unexplainable changes in (the womans) spending habits, and in such a short period of time.

Checks were written from the womans personal checking account to Benedetto in excess of $45,370, with the most recent check of $30,000 issued to Benedetto being used to buy a BMW for the woman, yet fraud investigators, police officers and a social worker never saw a BMW parked in the vicinity, the affidavit said. When an officer asked the woman about the BMW, the 73-year-old said she was still waiting for it to be delivered.

The Department of Motor Vehicles confirmed the woman did own a BMW, but it was recently sold by Benedetto, who had a handwritten power of attorney, stating the woman had given her permission to sell the vehicle.

A copy of the document was given to a female relative of the woman, who confirmed the signature belonged to the elderly woman but not the rest of the documents contents.

According to one of the fraud investigators, Pelkey and Benedetto changed the lock on the womans entry door to her condo while she visited family out of state, giving her no access to her residence unless the pair let her in.

By changing the womans key lock entry to her home to a digital code entry, it gave Pelkey and Benedetto the freedom to enter the womans apartment at will and gain access to her mail, bank statements and other financial documents, according to the warrant.

The warrant states that the two suspects further monitored the womans every move from installed surveillance cameras at her home, giving them the ability to see when and who had interactions with the woman.

The sus[ects also used their R&J Custom Tile Remodeling business as a ruse to scam funds from the woman under the guise of pretending to renovate her property, according to the arrest warrant.

One of the responding officers said he didnt notice any recent renovation or decorative work. While the apartment was beautiful, he said there was nothing to suggest that work was recently done. The elderly woman told the officer she had paid Benedetto to put a railing in the apartment but didnt understand what was taking so long.

While the woman told a female relative the bathroom had been renovated, investigators were unable to determine if any work was done on the womans condo. Based on what they viewed, the warrant stated investigators found no evidence of $800,000 worth of renovations over a 10-year period.

During the course of the investigation, it was revealed Benedetto had a history of gambling at Mohegan Sun Casino, losing approximately $22,039 prior to meeting the woman, the warrant stated. It was confirmed Benedettos casino visits became more frequent after establishing a relationship with the woman, even cashing checks from the womans accounts. Overall, Benedetto has gambled more than $740,000 between 2007 to 2017.

As the suspects had developed a relationship with the woman and convinced her they were her friend, they loved her and had her best interest in mind, the woman said she was shocked upon learning the truth. The woman said she felt like an idiot and couldnt believe Pelkey and Benedetto had been taking advantage of her.

This was a coordinated effort by investigators and the States Attorneys office, said Lt. Brett Runlett, the head of the detective division. This investigation was time consuming and worked on tirelessly by Detective (Rosealee) Reid in order to come to a positive resolution.

Both women were released on $100,000 bail and will appear next in court March 27, judicial records state.PORTLAND  For the second time in two weeks, the town has been the target of a ransomware attack on its computer system.

The system was attacked March 9. And no, town officials said, it was not the Russians.

The staff of the towns IT department, a local support company and a forensic engineer worked throughout the weekend and into this week to restore the system.

There was minimal disruption, thanks to the swift action of Dave Kuzminski and Kevin Armstrong, First Selectwoman Susan S. Bransfield said.

Kuzminski is the towns technology coordinator, while Armstrong is the assistant coordinator. We confirmed that no personal information was involved or affected, Bransfield added.

Earlier this month, a similar attack struck the towns system.

That was version one, Kuzminski explained earlier this week. This incident was version two, and it was much more sophisticated and went after our backup.

Ransomware is a subset of malware in which the data on a victims computer is locked, typically by encryption, and payment is demanded before the ransomed data is decrypted and access returned to the victim, according to a definition on searchsecurity.techtarget.com

The definition explains the meaning of ransomware, also sometimes called cryptoviral extortion.

The most recent attack occurred at 1 a.m. Friday. A little more than two hours later, a similar one struck the states judicial website. It was not immediately clear if the two attacks Friday were related.

The assessors files were locked, meaning Assessor Richard J. Lasky Jr. could not access the files. There was a ransom note on the screen informing the town that its files were blocked and demanding a payment to release them, Armstrong said.

The demand was to pay $2,000 in Dash, a digital currency like the more famous Bitcoin, on the dark web, Armstrong explained. The ransom demand was $2,000 within two days, $4,000 for four days; after that, or $8,000, Kuzminski said.

We choose to do everything we can not to pay, Armstrong said. Paying just makes you a future target. So, you do what you can to not stoop to paying a ransom.

Kuzminski and Armstrong notified Bransfield, who in turn contacted Decian, Inc., an IT support company with headquarters at 269 Main St.

She also notified the police because this is a crime, Bransfield said. The department notified state police and the FBI. Relying on a recommendation from the town legal firm Murtha Culina, the town also brought in a forensic engineer from Synacktek in Shelton.

Together, We took a deep dive into the server, Armstrong said.

They determined the malware attack came from a server in Romania, Armstrong said. But that does not mean the person(s) who launched the attack actually live in Romania, he said.

We have made, and will continue to make, some new improvement in safeguarding the system, Bransfield said.

The town will also undertake a concerted employee education process. We certainly plan on doing better going forward, she said. Nothing left us  no personal information got out. It was locked.

Its the price of doing business, Armstrong said earlier in the week. This is one of the pitfalls, so to speak, of technology. There are bad people out there all the time.

It could have been a lot worse, Kuzminski added.A pedestrian bridge touted for its pioneering construction methodcollapsed Thursdayover a congested road near Miami, killing at least six people, crushing eight vehicles and sending survivors to the hospital.

The bridge, which weighed more than 950 tons and was still under construction, had been intended to allow Florida International University students to avoid crossing the hectic roadway that divided their campus and the nearby city of Sweetwater. But a different and chaotic scene unfolded about 1:30 p.m. Thursday, when rescue workers raced to free victims from blocks of concrete and fractured metal.

An school news release on Saturday hailed the bridge's "first-of-its kind" construction that was supposed to reduce "potential risks to workers, commuters and pedestrians and minimizes traffic interruptions."

It is not yet clear whether design or construction issues played a role in the bridge's failure. Ron Sachs, a spokesman for FIGG Engineering, which designed the bridge, said he could not provide any details as to whether the construction methods were a factor in the collapse. And the director of the Miami-Dade Police Department, Juan Perez, declined to say whether stress tests had been conducted on the bridge.

Among the five deadliest bridge collapses in United States, flawed planning and execution have led to tragedy. But so have freak accidents.

Silver Bridge, between Point Pleasant, West Virginia, and Gallipolis, Ohio, 1967:

Bettmann/Bettmann Archive

Last December marked the 50th anniversary of the collapse of this bridge, built in 1928, which carried as many as 4,000 vehicles over the Ohio River between Ohio and West Virginia each day. The Engineering News Record in 1929 called it "the first of its type in the United States" because of its use of eyebars -55-foot-long sections of steel- instead of steel wire cables.

While the original design of the two-lane bridge called for conventional wire cables, the eyebar chain design was chosen instead because it was cheaper, according to theWest Virginia Department of Transportation. The Engineering News Record at the time ominously noted that, based on the bridge's design, "any adjustments in the chains, hangers, or trusses after erection" would not be possible.

On Dec. 5, 1967, eyewitnesses heard a loud noise that sounded like a gunshot. In less than 20 seconds, the bridge "folded like a deck of cards," according to theWest Virginia Department of Transportation. Sixty-four people - and 32 vehicles - fell into the river, and 46 people died.

An investigation into the bridge's collapse found it was spurred by a small stress crack inside the loop of an eyebar, brought on by corrosion, and practically impossible to detect without taking apart the entire eyebar. But taking apart the eyebar would have compromised the bridge's structural integrity.

Laboratory work concluded that, "With the north . . . chain thus broken, the structure's design made total collapse . . . inevitable."

The absence of the bridge connecting Ohio and West Virginia led to an economic loss of about $1 million a month, prompting President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968 to order a federal-state program for its immediate reconstruction. The Silver Memorial Bridge connecting Gallipolis and Henderson, W. Va., was completed in 1969. It still stands today.

Sunshine Skyway Bridge, Tampa Bay, Florida, 1980:

Keystone/File

When the freighter Summit Venture rammed into the Sunshine Skyway Bridge across Tampa Bay, Florida, in 1980, the bridge's structures collapsed, and six cars, a truck and a Greyhound bus plunged 150 feet through steel and iron beams into Tampa Bay,according to NPR. Thirty-five people were killed.

The new Sunshine Skyway was completed in 1987 and still stands today. This new bridge incorporated safer features: It was higher, for example, and the channel underneath it widened. Large concrete barriers, called "dolphins," were installed to keep ships from hitting the bridge.

Hyatt Regency Hotel skywalks, Kansas City, Missouri, 1981:

DAN WHITE/AP

Decades later, there's almost no indication at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri, that two suspended skywalks plummeted to the hotel's crowded lobby floor during a casual afternoon dance, as the opening bars of Duke Ellington's "Satin Doll" played. The collapse killed 111 people and injured 188 in what is still considered the city's bloodiest tragedy.

The collapse dropped tons of steel, concrete and glass onto dozens of dancing couples,The Washington Post reported at the time. Many of the couples were elderly, partaking in the one-year-old hotel's regular function. The walkway had allowed about 50 people to peer down at the dancing couples from high above.

A government study conducted in February 1982 found that the 32-ton skywalks had barely supported their own weight, and that a change in the original design of the elevated walkways during their construction worsened the issue. Still, even the original design involved a "load tolerance less than that required by city codes," according to The Post. The Post reported:

"The report said that a decision during construction to change the design 'further aggravated an already critical situation.' The original design had both walkways suspended from the hotel roof by a common set of rods. The design change had the fourth-floor walkway suspended by one set of rods and the second-floor walkway suspended from the walkway above it by another set.

The design change left the walkways capable of bearing only 21,400 pounds, rather than the 68,000 pounds required under the building code, according to the report."

Cypress Street Viaduct, Oakland, California, 1989:

Michael Macor / AP

"Interstate 880, Down and Out in Oakland," read the October 1989 headline of aWashington Poststory after the freeway's Cypress Street Viaduct, described as a "concrete-and-steel leviathan," collapsed in a 6.9 magnitude earthquake. Forty-two people were killed.

Built in 1957, the concrete roadway's two-tier design was common in California, incorporating complex design calculations (during an era when highway engineers did not use computers) to gauge how much steel was necessary to support the structure. When the roadway collapsed, engineers and geologists determined that its collapse was inevitable.

The factors that led to the collapse, The Post reported, included the structure's "hinge joints," used to add flexibility to the structure:

"1) 'Hinge joints' were included in the freeway's column design to absorb weight and vertical movement caused by traffic. But during the Loma Prieta quake the ground also shook laterally, creating stress the hinge joints could not withstand.

"2) Few steel reinforcing rods snaked up through the joints. The upper and lower columns are honeycombed with these "rebars," but the hinge joints contain only a few.

"3) During the quake, the columns acted like weak legs on a wobbly table. The lateral movement caused them to snap outward at the weakest point - the hinge joints - freeing the upper deck to pancake down onto the lower one."

Big Bayou Canot Bridge, Mobile, Alabama, 1993:

Mark Foley/AP

When Amtrak's Sunset Limited train crossed the Big Bayou Canot Bridge in Mobile, Alabama, in September 1993, the train derailed, sending three locomotives and four front cars plunging into the creek. It was about 3 a.m.

According to The Washington Post's Mary Jordan and William Booth:

"In the water, passengers floundering in the bayou could be heard yelling, warning each other, 'Don't light any matches!' as diesel fuel poured onto the water.

"About 100 of the survivors filed out of the back of the train in the panic of the dark. For dozens of others, the only way to safety was jumping into the bayou, where water rose well above their heads. Twenty-seven of the 30 people in one passenger car died when it roared off the bridge and sank completely."

Forty-seven people died in the disaster.

What the train's passengers didn't know was that minutes before the derailment, the towboat MV Mauvilla was lugging six barges loaded with coal and cement up the river to Birmingham. It got lost in the dark and wandered into the bayou. It is suspected that one of the barges slammed into the bridge, bending the track about three feet off its center.TORRINGTON  Northwest Connecticuts Chamber of Commerce is hosting the 14th Annual Job Fair on Thursday, March 22, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. in the Auditorium at City Hall, located at 140 Main Street, Torrington. The fair is free and open to the public.

The fairs goal is to help job seekers and employers connect. It provides an outlet for potential workers to meet employers, employers to gather resumes, and employers to network with each other. Attendees are encouraged to bring multiple copies of their resume.A group of Afghan streets artists painted a mural to pay tribute to a prominent human rights defender who was killed by Hezb-e Islami, the former militant group that has since reconciled with the government.

But the mural in the capital, Kabul, did not last long. Only days after it was completed, masked men arrived to deface it. Initially thwarted by security guards, the culprits returned in the cover of darkness to finish the job.

No one has claimed responsibility for the act, but the artists did not have to look far in pointing blame. The mural was painted on a concrete blast wall in front of the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF) in western Kabul, located opposite the government-funded residence of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the notorious head of Hezb-e Islami.

In 2011, Hezb-e Islami claimed responsibility for the death of Hamida Barmaki, the prominent lawyer and human rights activist who was killed along with her entire family in a suicide bombing that year in Kabul.

The militant group signed a controversial peace deal with the government in 2016 in which Hekmatyar and his fighters were granted amnesty for past offenses and certain Hezb-e Islami members were freed from prison. The deal also includes provisions for his security and housing at government expense. The agreement was condemned by Western rights groups and many Afghans.

Hezb-e Islami has come under fire since the defacing of the mural on March 12, with activists making clear they believe the group is responsible, and condemning the vandalism as an attack on free speech.

ArtLords, a group of Kabul-based artists, painted the mural on a blast wall that is the property of the AUAF, which authorized the work.

On March 12, witnesses said four masked men descended from a four-wheel-drive vehicle with black-tinted windows and slabbed over the mural with white paint. They were dispersed by security guards at AUAF. The men appeared that same evening to finish the job.

On March 13, a group of activists gathered at the site to protest, laying flowers and plastering printouts of the original mural on the wall. But the activists were quickly dispersed by AUAF guards.

AUAF has given no explanation for their actions and could not be reached for comment.

Hezb-e Islami declined to comment on the issue.

The defacing of the wall has sparked anger at Hekmatyar, who is known as the "Butcher of Kabul" for shelling residential areas in the devastating civil war in the 1990s that destroyed most of the capital.

"Paint the mural again and again until it stands and stays there," Sayed Madadi, an Afghan activist, wrote on Twitter on March 12. [Hekmatyar] must feel that Kabul is different, learn that he's to be fine with art, media investigation, criticism, satire, and demonstration."

Shaharzad Akbar, an Afghan civil activist, also weighed in.

Amrullah Saleh, a former intelligence chief who heads the opposition Afghanistan Green Trend political party, tweeted that Hekmatyar might have reconciled with the government but he is "mentally and psychologically still at war."

Ramiz Bakhtiar, a founder of the PAYK Investigative Journalism Center, said on Twitter that it was "very important to remember war victims and demand justice even after a peace agreement is established."

Many also came out in support of ArtLords on social media. The group of artists have painted hundreds of murals across Kabul in their bid to bring about social change in the war-torn country. The groups murals target corruption, injustice, and religious extremism.

The 68-year-old Hekmatyar, an Islamic fundamentalist, is one of the most controversial figures of the past three decades of war in Afghanistan.

Hekmatyar founded Hezb-e Islami in the mid-1970s to fight occupying Soviet troops and emerged after Moscows withdrawal as a leader of one of Afghanistan's more effective resistance forces. He and his militia then fought for control of Kabul in the civil war, during which his groups infamous rocket attacks killed thousands of civilians.

Hezb-e Islami split up after the U.S.-led invasion in 2001, with the political wing reconciling with Kabul while Hekmatyar led an insurgency against Afghan and international security forces. A former U.S.-designated global terrorist, his militant group claimed responsibility for deadly bombings and suicide attacks across the country before reconciling with the government.Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili has publicly appealed to Russia to embark on sensible, if small steps aimed at breaking out of the impasse in bilateral relations caused by Moscows recognition nearly 10 years ago of Georgias breakaway republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states.

Tbilisi formally severed diplomatic relations with Russia in retaliation for that move and Kvirikashvili also affirmed, once again, his readiness for direct dialogue with those two breakaway polities.

Three days after Kvirikashvili's March 9 appeal, the Russian Foreign Ministry responded with a commentary welcoming Kvirikashvilis initiative.

But at the same time, the ministry implicitly placed the onus on Tbilisi by stipulating that Russiais ready to go as far as Tbilisi is.

That response neatly glosses over the more problematic aspects of Kvirikashvilis statement, while signaling approval or acceptance of other proposals.

Kvirikashvili cast his overture as the pragmatic and logical next step in a gradual process launched following the advent to power in 2012 of the Georgian Dream party of which he leads.

The talks that got under way four years ago between Kvirikashvilis special envoy, Zurab Abashidze, and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin have yielded concrete steps towards resuming economic cooperation, and the Russian Foreign Ministry declared its readiness to deepen that cooperation.

But Kvirikashvili appeared to contradict himself by first affirming the possibility of breaking out of the vicious circle of mutual recrimination occasioned by the August 2008 war that culminated in a humiliating military defeat for Georgia and Russias formal recognition of the two breakaway state-lets -- and then casting doubt on the possibility of such a reset in light of a chain of tragic incidents for which he implicitly blames Moscow.

The Russian Foreign Ministry response made no direct reference to that implicit reproach, or to the 2008 fighting. But it did hail Kvirikashvilis professed desire to achieve real progress in the internationally mediated talks in Geneva on overcoming the security and humanitarian consequences of the war, regardless of who heads Georgias delegation to Geneva.

Kvirikashvili declared in December 2017 that he is prepared to participate personally in those talks if doing so would serve a useful purpose -- even though, as several Georgian analysts pointed out, the issues under discussion are not of the magnitude that would require his direct participation.

Moreover, progress on that front is fraught with serious problems given that the position and priorities of Georgia on the one side and Russia, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia on the other, differ so widely.

Tbilisi has consistently focused on discrimination against the Georgian minorities in the two breakaway regions and on Russias deployment of military personnel on those territories and unilateral demarcation of the borders between them and the rest of Georgia.

Russia, by contrast, criticizes as a potential threat to the two regions the military assistance Georgia has received from the United States, including the recent sale of Javelin antiarmor missile systems.

It therefore prioritizes the signing of formal nonaggression pacts between Georgia and the two breakaway polities. Tbilisi has dismissed that demand, arguing that it is Russia, rather than Abkhazia or South Ossetia, that poses a threat to regional peace and stability.

As for Kvirikashvilis parallel offer to Abkhazia and South Ossetia to embark on direct dialogue, the Russian Foreign Ministry lauded it as the only real way of addressing the problems that worry Georgia and that do not fall within the framework of bilateral relations.

That circumlocution is tantamount to a direct rejection of Tbilisis long-standing argument that the Abkhaz and South Ossetian leaders are merely Russian puppets that obediently carry out its orders, and that responsibility for the situation on the frontiers between Georgia and the two breakaway regions lies exclusively with Moscow.

In that respect, Moscows decoupling of two issues that Kvirikashvili linked together -- Georgias relations with Russia on the one hand, and with its breakaway republics on the other --is clearly intended to convey the message that those republics de facto presidents have complete freedom in conducting what, from Russias standpoint, are their respective foreign policies.

The Abkhaz leadership has repeatedly made clear that dialogue with Tbilisi is contingent on Georgias recognition of Abkhazia as an independent sovereign state. Moscow for its part has repeatedly ruled out the possibility of rescinding its formal recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

As noted, the Russian Foreign Ministry commentary did not make any direct reference to the August 2008 fighting. The 10th anniversary of the outbreak of that war, to which Kvirikashvili pointedly pegged his initiative, is still five months away.

That raises the question of whether Kvirikashvilis primary objective may have been to deflect opposition criticism of his governments handling of the most recent in the chain of tragic events to which he refers.

The incident in question is the death last month of Archil Tatunashvili, a Georgian whose family fled South Ossetia in 2008, but who periodically returned there to sell fruit and vegetables.

According to de facto South Ossetian authorities, Tatunashvili, 35, was apprehended on February 22 and taken to the main police precinct in Tskhinvali for questioning on suspicion of having committed war crimes against the civilian population during the 2008 fighting and of plotting acts of sabotage in South Ossetia in the run-up to the March 18 Russian presidential election.

Tatunashvili is said to have assaulted a police officer while being taken back to his cell, lost his balance during the ensuing struggle, and sustained unspecified injuries falling down a flight of stairs. He was taken to a hospital where he died early the following day, allegedly of heart failure.

Tatunashvilis family and Georgian officials reject that version of events, saying his death was the result of torture.

According to Georgian Human Rights Ombudsman Nino Lomjaria, Tatunashvili had been beaten and was already dead on arrival at the hospital.

Furthermore, RFE/RLs Echo of the Caucasus reports that in August 2008, Tatunashvili was serving as part of the Georgian peacekeeping contingent in Iraq, and therefore could not have participated in the fighting in South Ossetia.

To date, South Ossetian representatives have steadfastly rejected appeals by the Georgian leadership, the head of the Georgian Orthodox church, and also the UN, the European Union, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in their capacity as co-chairs of the Geneva talks, for Tatunashvilis body to be handed over to his family for burial. They say this will be done following a further autopsy to be conducted in Russia.

The Russian Foreign Ministrys explicit inclusion of the Tatunashvili case among those issues that it says can only be solved by bilateral talks between Georgia and its breakaway regions thus constitutes a rejection of statements by some Georgian politicians (but not Kvirikashvili) laying the entire blame for Tatunashvilis death on Russia as the occupying force.

In a long interview with InterPressNews, veteran political analyst Ramaz Saqvarelidze postulated that it may have been one of Georgias Western partners that persuaded Kvirikashvili to go public with his overture to Moscow so the West would have a valid reason to pressure Russia to respond.

If true, that could explain the unconventional medium Kvirikashvili opted for -- a post on his Facebook page -- rather than resorting either to the contacts between Kvirikashvilis representative, Abashidze, and the Russian Foreign Ministry, or co-opting a neutral intermediary.

Meanwhile, Georgias opposition parties, in particular the former ruling United National Movement (ENM) and European Georgia, which split from it early last year, have lambasted Kvirikashvili for capitulating to Russia by implicitly abandoning Georgias previous consistent designation of it as the occupier of parts of Georgias territory, and for failing to stress the importance of restoring Georgias territorial integrity.

The ENM has demanded that Kvirikashvili publicly apologize for the wording of his statement and resign. One of its lawmakers, Salome Samadashvili, accused Kvirikashvili of having exonerated Russia from all legal and political responsibility.

European Georgia leader Davit Bakradze was less categorical, but nonetheless characterized Kvirikashvilis initiative as a major error, warning that any move to alter the format of the Geneva talks risks playing into Russias hands, with potentially dangerous consequences.

Speaking at a cabinet session on March 14, Kvirikashvili defended his initiative and denounced the criticism it was met with as absurd. He insisted that every single step taken by his government serves Georgias interests.

When our country needs it, and when its about preventing serious provocations and maintaining stability in the country, we politicians must do everything in our power to defuse tension, regardless of its consequences for our image, civil.ge quoted him as saying.

Notwithstanding the oppositions outrage over Kvirikashvilis gambit, on March 16, following two weeks of consultations, the Georgian Dream, ENM, and European Georgia parliament factions announced they have reached what ENM lawmaker Sergo Kapanadze called a common position that will be reflected in a joint statement condemning human rights violations in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, in particular the death of Tatunashvili.

(The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect those of RFE/RL.)

Iranian authorities say they have detained a close ally of former hard-line President Mahmud Ahmadinejad.

Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, a former vice president and chief of staff of Ahmadinejad, was arrested on March 17, the website of Tehrans prosecutor said.

It said Mashaei was arrested by police officers who were acting on the orders of the judiciary.

No further details were provided.

Mashaei served as first vice president in 2009 at the start of Ahmadinejad's contested second term in office.

Mashaeis detention comes after video uploaded on social media showed him protesting outside the British Embassy in Tehran on March 15 against the incarceration of another of Ahmadinejad's vice presidents.

The semiofficial ISNA news agency quoted Mashaeis lawyer, Mehran Abdollapour, as saying that his client was probably arrested for having burnt a copy of a court verdict sentencing Hamid Baghai during the protest.

A court in December found Baghai guilty of embezzlement and illegal business transactions, and he began serving his 15-year prison term on March 13.

Several of Ahmadinejad's allies have been jailed over the misappropriation of public funds.

Ahmadinejad, a hard-liner who was president from 2005 to 2013, defended Mashaei in a statement, calling his arrest a violation of the constitution... that confirms the need for fundamental reforms within the judiciary."

The ex-president has become increasingly isolated for challenging Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his powerful allies, namely the judiciary.

Ahmadinejad last year accused the judiciary of "dictatorship."

In a letter marking the celebrations of the anniversary of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, Ahmadinejad said in February that the judiciary has become the main pillar of oppression against the Iranian people.

The letter followed reports that media activists who support Ahmadinejad had been detained. The reason for their arrests was not immediately clear.

The Guardians Council -- which vets presidential candidates -- prevented Ahmadinejad and Baghai from running in the 2017 presidential election that returned President Hassan Rohani to office for a second term.

With reporting by AFP and APOver the last two years, authorities in Montenegro have recorded a sharp rise in cyberattacks, mostly targeting state institutions and media outlets in that aspiring EU state on the Adriatic.

With a presidential election looming on April 15, the recent NATO entrant and its 650,000 residents are girding for another possible wave of hacks.

Montenegro and other countries in the Balkans fear meddling from Moscow to further what they believe is an expansion of Russian foreign policy.

Officials in Podgorica feel their country is especially vulnerable, as the winner of the presidential vote is likely to steer Montenegro through early negotiations on EU accession, a move the Kremlin staunchly opposes.

The European Union recently drafted a new expansion strategy that envisages Montenegro joining the bloc by 2025.

"We are doing everything to be prepared the best we can," Milica Jankovic, the head of the Directorate for Electronic Administration and Information Security at the Public Administration Ministry, told RFE/RL.

"We are organizing prevention and monitoring systematically, and we will try to recognize the attacks and predict them before they arise."

The increase in cyberattacks, which security analysts have tied to Russia, coincided with the final phase of the country's NATO negotiations in late 2016.

Jankovic said cyberattacks in 2017 totaled around 700, a 20-fold increase over previous years.

Montenegro's leaders also say Moscow tried to interfere in the country's 2016 general elections, a charge that Russian officials have denied. Adding to that, the authorities and ruling parties claim that Russia sponsored a coup attempt on election day during that vote.

"Attacks with a political background are most commonly occurring in the organization of states, and malicious programs distributed in the service of states are the most massive weapons used by states in the pursuit of their political goals," said Adis Balota, dean of the Faculty of Information Technology at the Mediterranean University in Podgorica.

"Montenegro before every election cycle or change, and not only Montenegro, but also the region -- Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina. The activity of such attacks or attempts to attack a certain state infrastructure is always increasing," Balota added.

Montenegro's government has stopped short of officially pinning the attacks on Russian sources.

But IT security firms such as FirstEye and Trend Micro say they have seen evidence tying many of them to APT28, a Russian hacker group also known as Fancy Bear and a half dozen other sobriquets, which has been tied by U.S. intelligence services and private cybersecurity analysts to the Russian military intelligence service, GRU.

Fancy Bear has been accused of attempted election interference and cyberattacks on NATO, the White House, and possibly a handful of German government institutions.

The EU's Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA) has said Montenegrin infrastructure has been targeted by Fancy Bear.

Russia "is likely to continue using cyber capabilities to undermine Montenegro's smooth integration into the alliance," according to Tony Cole, vice president and chief technology officer for global government at FireEye.

The specter of Russian-initiated cyberattacks and digital meddling has swept Europe and North America in recent years, including in connection with the United Kingdom's Brexit referendum, elections in the United States in 2016, and votes in the Netherlands, Germany, and France last year.

Montenegro last year became the 29th member of NATO, a step that was bitterly criticized by Russia and opposed by some Montenegrins who advocate closer ties with Moscow.

Having seen it up close at home, U.S. Army General Curtis Scaparrotti, who oversees U.S. military forces in Europe and is the supreme allied commander for NATO, warned that the area he is "concerned about today is the Balkans."

"Russia's at work in the Balkans and I think that we've kind of taken our eye off the area," he told a U.S. Senate committee on March 8.

"That is an area we could have problems with in the future," he added.

The Kremlin has strongly denied any role in the attacks on governments, media, or elections worldwide.

Though the campaign in Montenegro's third nationwide vote since it gained independence in 2006 has barely started, analysts speculate that if Moscow were to have a preferred candidate, it would likely be Mladen Bojanic.

Bojanic is a former lawmaker and civil rights activist who opposed joining NATO and is supported by the strongest opposition alliance, the pro-Russian Democratic Front.

He is expected to run against former Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic.

Djukanovic, who has yet to officially announce his candidacy, led the country for more than a quarter of a century before retiring from politics after his Democratic Party of Socialists won general elections in 2016.

He was also one of the targets in the alleged coup plot.

Authorities in Montenegro say Serbian and Russian nationalists plotted to occupy parliament during October 2016 parliamentary elections, assassinate Djukanovic, and install a pro-Russian leadership to halt Montenegro's bid to join NATO.

As with the hacking attempts, the Kremlin has denied claims that "Russian state bodies" were involved in the alleged plot.

Deputy Prime Minister and Public Administration Minister Boris Koprivnikar said the government knows the threat it faces and is doing everything it can to keep hackers at bay.

"Cybersecurity has to be coordinated at the national and international level," he said.

Koprivnikar said that would help ensure "quick response" to cyberthreats to Montenegrin security or its critical infrastructure.

But with a potential watershed election just a month away, officials in Podgorica acknowledge there is no foolproof response to sophisticated cyberthreats like those that some Western governments are convinced have been emanating from Moscow.

"This is an area where you can never say that you're 100-percent protected, because nothing like that exists," said Jankovic.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Balkan ServiceThe Russian scientist who originally helped develop the nerve agent believed to have been used in the poisoning of a Russian double agent in Britain said other countries could have also produced test samples of the substance.

But in an interview with Current Time TV, Vil Mirzayanov, who emigrated to the United States in the 1990s, blamed Russia for the poisoning, which has roiled relations between Moscow and London and led to tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats.

Mirzayanov said he had published the formula for the agent  known as novichok  in a 2008 English-language book called State Secrets: An Insider's Chronicle Of The Russian Chemical Weapons Program Secrets.

The British could certainly have synthesized it on the basis of the formulas that I published in my book, Mirzayanov said in the interview conducted at his home in New Jersey.

Each country takes care of its own security, and as part of the study of possible threats, a model could have been created, he said. So, many countries could have had test samples, but production was only refined in the U.S.S.R. and Russia.

Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, remain critically ill after they were found unconscious on a bench in the English town of Salisbury on March 4.

A police officer who was among the first to respond to the incident -- which prompted authorities to call in military units to help in cleaning up -- remains in a serious but stable condition in hospital.

On March 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that it will expel 23 diplomats in retaliation after Britain ordered the same number of Russian diplomats expelled from Britain.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson on March 16 said that it was "overwhelmingly likely" that Russian President Vladimir Putin made the decision to use the toxin against Skripal. Putin's spokesman denounced the claim.

Mirzayanov first revealed the existence of the so-called binary weapon -- an agent that becomes deadly when two harmless substances are combined into one -- in the early 1990s when he was still living in Russia.

The Soviet authorities, he said, had violated the international treaty banning chemical weapons, and he sought to reveal the deception and get the Organization for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to include the precursor chemicals on the list of banned substances.

In earlier interviews, he pointedly blamed Russia for the Skripal poisoning. But, he also held out the possibility that another entity might have used the formula he published in his book to manufacture it as well.

Asked why he decided to publish the formula for the chemical, he said it was partly out of guilt, and out of a desire to force the OPCW to act.

I decided that no one was going to listen to me. I decided that I should take responsibility to create pressure and include this novichok on the list of banned chemicals, he told Current Time, a Russian-language TV channel produced by RFE/RL in collaboration with Voice of America.

Because I think that Russia should not have a monopoly over this secret weapon at the same time that it was fooling its negotiating partners, he said, and wasnt including it and could be continuing to produce even further these weapons.

A scientist, when working on creating such weapons, must ask the question: What is this for? Who is it for? he told Current Time. And I came to the conclusion that chemical weapons [have] no purpose for the defense of a nation. It is a weapon of mass destruction of people --defenseless civilians.

My purpose is to bring international controls over novichok, he said.

Skripal, 66, was a retired Russian military intelligence colonel who was convicted of treason in 2006 for passing the identities of Russian intelligence agents to Britain's Secret Intelligence Service.

He was one of four Russian prisoners released in 2010 in exchange for 10 Russian sleeper agents uncovered in the United States, including Anna Chapman.Foreign films in Tajikistan are going to be leaving a little more to the imagination.

An official with the state film regulatory body and studio, Tojikfilm, said on March 13 that a special commission will soon review foreign films for content, and that scenes with sex or nudity would be edited out before the films could be shown to Tajik audiences.

The decision to censor sex scenes is part of the agencys updated guidelines, said the official, who requested anonymity because he is not authorized to brief the media.

According to the official, all nude, erotic, and sexually explicit scenes, as well as any other content that the commission deems inappropriate, would be left on the cutting room floor before the films would be issued a license to be aired on Tajik television channels or screened in cinemas.



Such scenes, the official told RFE/RL's Tajik Service, are not compatible with our mentality and culture.

The new guidelines were approved by the government and the regulation to censor sex scenes has already gone into effect, he said.

Tajikistan in the past would on occasion remove sexually explicit elements from foreign films, but there wasnt an official regulation in place or a special commission for censoring such scenes.

While cinemas remain popular in the former Soviet state with a majority Sunni Muslim population, many Tajiks take advantage of the broad access to foreign films offered on satellite TV as well as the Internet, which would not fall under the new regulations.

A similar commission to vet movies for approval was set up in 2016 in neighboring Kyrgyzstan. The government banned the screening of movies deemed to contain pornographic scenes, rape, and other acts of violence. Scenes that propagated terrorism or called for overthrowing the government by force were also barred.



Fellow Central Asian state Uzbekistan recently suspended the popular Turkish soap opera Endless Love amid criticism that the program undermined religious, moral, and family values.



The soap opera's story line centers on love, forced marriages, sex out of wedlock, adultery, and suicide.U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions late on March 16 fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who was criticized by President Donald Trump for showing "bias" in the investigation of ties between his campaign and Russia.

Sessions said he was dismissing McCabe two days before his scheduled retirement on the recommendation of the FBI's inspector general and Office of Professional Responsibility.

Sessions said investigators in the FBI offices "concluded that Mr. McCabe made an unauthorized disclosure to the news media and lacked candor  including under oath  on multiple occasions.

The firing came nine months after Trump dismissed FBI Director James Comey over his handling of the Russia investigation -- a move that alarmed Congress and led to the creation of a special counsel and the appointment of Robert Mueller to conduct the investigation.

McCabe's dismissal came two days before his 50th birthday, when he would have been eligible to retire from the FBI with a full pension.

The firing is likely to raise questions about whether McCabe received overly harsh treatment due to political pressure from Trump, who has blasted McCabe on Twitter and called for his ouster.

"I am being singled out and treated this way because of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of James Comey," McCabe said in a statement.

"This attack on my credibility is one part of a larger effort...to taint the FBI, law enforcement, and intelligence professionals more generally," he said.

Besides overseeing the Russia investigation for a time after Comey was fired, McCabe also oversaw the FBI's probe into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's use of private e-mails.

Trump criticized McCabe as "biased" against him and in favor of Clinton in his conduct of both investigations.

After McCabe's firing was announced, Trump applauded the move on Twitter, calling it "a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI, a great day for Democracy."

In his lengthy statement, McCabe said he believes he is being politically targeted because he provided evidence to Mueller corroborating Comey's claims that Trump tried to pressure him into ending the Russia probe.

After ousting Comey last year, Trump acknowledged in a televised interview that he fired Comey over "this Russia thing."

While McCabe says he is a Republican, Trump claimed he was biased against him because McCabe's wife Jill ran for a Virginia state office as a Democrat in 2015 and received campaign donations from a friend of Bill and Hillary Clinton.

The FBI determined, however, that McCabe's wife's campaign did not pose a conflict of interest because McCabe was not running the Russia investigation or the investigation of Clinton's e-mails at the time.

With reporting by AP and Reuters

The United States and European powers are negotiating over a possible "supplemental" agreement to the Iran nuclear deal that would address Iran's ballistic-missile development and involvement in Middle East conflicts, a U.S. diplomat said.

U.S. envoy Brian Hook said the allies had "very good" talks about a "supplemental" accord in Vienna on March 16 as Reuters reported that Britain, France, and Germany have proposed new European Union sanctions against Iran over its ballistic-missile program and its role in the Syrian civil war.

Hook said U.S. President Donald Trump wants to reach a side agreement with the three European signatories to the 2015 nuclear deal to address the missile program and Iran's interventions in conflicts in Syria and Yemen.

Trump also wants the side deal to correct what he has called "disastrous flaws" in the nuclear agreement, in particular its limits on inspections of potential Iranian nuclear sites by a UN watchdog, and the scheduled expiration of some of the key curbs on Iranian nuclear activities such as uranium enrichment after 10 years under the deal.

"In order for the United States to remain in the deal, the United States and Europe must come to an agreement to address sunsets, inspections, and long-range ballistic missiles," Hook said.

"We are taking things one week at a time. We are having very good discussions" he said. "There is a lot we agree on, and where we disagree we are working to bridge our differences."

Hook said Trump has asked the negotiators to come up with an agreement by May 12, when the president must decide whether to once again extend U.S. sanctions relief to Iran as required under the nuclear deal in exchange for the curbs on Iran's nuclear activities.

Hook said the U.S. goal in pushing for curbs on Tehran's involvement in regional conflicts is "to bring about a change in the behavior of the Iranian regime."

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqhchi, who attended a separate meeting of signatories to the nuclear deal in Vienna on March 16, said that Tehran strongly objects to the changes sought by Trump.

"We made clear that in our eyes, the blocking and constant ultimatums by the U.S. are a clear violation of the deal," he said.

Araqhchi said Iran will not agree to renegotiate the nuclear provisions of the treaty, but he indicated that Tehran may be willing to hold discussions about missiles and regional conflicts if it feels that the nuclear pact is being fully implemented.

A Russian diplomat at the Vienna meeting on March 16 on the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, said no "supplemental" accord is needed, but Moscow would not object if U.S. and European powers reach a side agreement that has no impact on the 2015 deal.

"The way I see it, Western countries are alarmed by the Iranian missile program, and they are seeking to push it into the framework they would find suitable," Russian envoy Mikhail Ulyanov was quoted as saying by state-run TASS news agency.

"If all the parties concerned suddenly develop a wish to make some additional agreements, which would not be immediately linked to the plan of action and would not be detrimental to it, this will be a matter of their political will and preparedness. But still we think there's no need for whatever supplementary agreements today," he said.

European powers are negotiating with Washington over a possible side deal in an effort to address concerns raised by Trump and prevent him from making good on his threats to withdraw from the nuclear deal.

Meanwhile, Reuters on March 16 reported that new EU sanctions proposed by Britain, Germany, and France are also aimed at satisfying Trump's demands and keeping him committed to the nuclear deal.

Reuters, citing two people familiar with the matter, said a document outlining the proposal was sent to EU capitals on March 16 to measure the level of support for fresh sanctions. According to EU rules, all 28 members must agree to any such sanctions.



The document said the new sanctions would be targeted against individuals and organizations involved with Tehran's ballistic-missile development and its role in supporting Syria's government in a seven-year civil war with Sunni rebels.

Reuters said the document mentions that Britain, France, and Germany are involved in "intensive talks" with the Trump administration to "achieve a clear and lasting reaffirmation of U.S. support for the [nuclear] agreement beyond May 12."

The document suggested the new sanctions would "target militias and commanders" and build on the blocs existing sanctions related to Syria, which include travel bans, asset freezes, and a ban on conducting business with public or private companies.

With reporting by Reuters. AFP, AP, and dpa

Pakistan is doing the "bare minimum" needed to address U.S. demands that it stop the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network from operating within its borders, a senior U.S. official has said.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, provided to reporters on March 16 his assessment of Pakistan's efforts to counter the militants since U.S. President Donald Trump announced last year that he would withhold $2 billion a year in military aid unless Islamabad takes more vigorous action.

"The Pakistanis have wanted to appear responsive," but "they have done the bare minimum to appear responsive to our requests," said the official.

"We continue to make very specific requests, and when provided with very specific information, they have responded," he said. "But we have not seen them pro-actively take the steps that we expect and know they are capable of."

The United States, in particular, is demanding that Pakistan move against Taliban leaders who support a continuation of the war in Afghanistan and oppose participating in peace talks with Kabul, the official said.

But the country's powerful security services still seem to be supporting the Afghan Taliban, the official said, most likely because it sees the Taliban as aligned with Islamabad's interest in keeping India from influencing Afghanistan.

"We are continuing to look for real action, not just words, from Pakistan on the Taliban and Haqqani sanctuaries," the official said.

"We need to sustain the pressure," he said, adding that the administration is willing to "give it more time, it deserves more time."

With reporting by AFP and Reuters

Ambassador of Brazil tours Cancun noting growing market

Cancun, Q.R.  With a growing number of visitors to Cancun, the ambassador of Brazil to Mexico says there is a need to strengthen bonds noting that Mexico has become an important growing market for Brazil.

Wanja Campos da Nobrega, the Ambassador of Brazil in Mexico, has been living in and touring Cancun and other parts of the state of Quintana Roo for the past eight months in an attempt to increase alliances with Mexico.

The Brazilian Ambassador recently met with the Director General of Tourism of Benito Juarez, Jane Garcia who says that Brazilian tourism is up 28 percent over 2016.

Garcia explained that last year, not only did the state record more than 166,000 Brazilian visitors, they also recorded more than 12,000 Brazilian residents in the state of Quintana Roo.

The tourism minister said that the reason for the visit was to make alliances with the idea of strengthening relations between the two countries. She also indicated that the ambassador, who has been in Mexico for 8 months, has been touring different parts of the republic to learn more about the country and become known among the members of the tourism-related bodies.

She highlighted that during 2017, 166,000 Brazilians visited or entered through the Cancun International Airport, which represents an increase of 28 percent compared to the previous year. She also noted that the state has about 12,000 Brazilians as residents.

She said Brazil is an important market for Mexico tourism, adding that the average Brazilian vacations in the state for seven to 14 days. Wanja Campos da Nobrega expressed her support for the state with Brazil and will continue to work bringing Brazilian visitors to Mexico.If you are looking for the new Immoral Minority posts, you should know that they can be found here at our new home Please stop by to get caught up on politics, join the conversations, or simply check out the new digs.African Americans with a common genetic variation are at increased risk for developing Alzheimer's disease, while European Americans with the same variation are not, according to a study led by researchers at Rush University Medical Center. They published the study results in the February 22 online issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

The genetic variation, known as Thr92AlaD2 polymorphism, affects a gene involved in the activation of thyroid hormone and occurs commonly; almost half the population are carriers of this polymorphism. The study found that African Americans with this polymorphism are 30 percent more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease dementia than the African American without the genetic polymorphism. Whereas in European Americans, this gene wasn't associated with increased risk of Alzheimer's. This is a remarkable juxtaposition.

"This correlation only shows up in African-Americans. We have some ideas but aren't sure why," said Elizabeth McAninch MD, study author and assistant professor of the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism at Rush.

Discovery is twist in research that began with thyroid gland

The discovery was the latest twist in an investigation that began years ago in Rush's endocrinology division under the leadership of Dr. Antonio Bianco, a thyroid expert and the director of the present studies. Endocrinologists provide care for hormone imbalances that cause health problems.

The Thr92AlaD2 polymorphism affects an enzyme that activates thyroid hormones. The enzyme is most important when considering patients with a condition known as hypothyroidism, which occurs when there is insufficient thyroid hormone being produced by the thyroid gland. In most cases, this condition can be controlled with the standard treatment for hypothyroidism, a drug called levothyroxine. However, about 15 percent of patients treated with levothyroxine consistently say it doesn't help them feel better.

advertisement

Wondering what was behind those reports, McAninch and colleagues at Rush previously obtained and analyzed brain tissue from the University of Miami Brain Bank from deceased Caucasian male organ donors who at their time of death were young and healthy, without known thyroid problems, to see if they could find any clues. To their surprise, the brains of the healthy donors who had the polymorphism displayed biomarkers that are known to play a role in neurodegenerative brain disease.

"This was a shock to us and deserved more investigation," McAninch recalled.

Researchers then drew on data from long-term studies of Alzheimer's

The endocrinologists then enlisted the help of Rush researchers who specialize in the issues of the aging brain, and the expanded team set to work with data from three long-term group studies done at Rush from 1993 to 2012 -- the Chicago Health and Aging Project (CHAP), the Religious Orders Study (ROS), and the Rush Memory and Aging Project (MAP).

The CHAP cohort includes 3656 participants, 2321 of whom are African American, who received cognitive testing in three-year cycles for more than 18 years. In ROS and MAP, 1,707 European American participants without known dementia were enrolled and had annual evaluations.

advertisement

Again, McAninch and colleagues also continued to collaborate with the University of Miami Brain Bank to obtain and study brain tissue from young, healthy African American brain donors.

Through utilizing the CHAP data, which has both African American and European American participants, this unique racially-stratified outcome revealed itself. "That's when we saw this huge discrepancy in risk for Alzheimer's disease dementia," McAninch said.

Questions remain to be answered in future studies.

Minorities tend to be understudied in medical research in general, and specifically there needs to be more, larger studies of African Americans to evaluate the risk of Alzheimer's, McAninch observed. "A strength of this study is credited to the amazing resource we have in these three cohort studies here at Rush, where we were able to look at the differences between African-Americans and European-Americans," she says.

The Rush-led team is already planning the next inquiry, McAninch says, "to try to understand why African-Americans have this risk, while the European-Americans do not."Notanee Bourassa knew that what he was seeing in the night sky was not normal. Bourassa, an IT technician in Regina, Canada, trekked outside of his home on July 25, 2016, around midnight with his two younger children to show them a beautiful moving light display in the sky -- an aurora borealis. He often sky gazes until the early hours of the morning to photograph the aurora with his Nikon camera, but this was his first expedition with his children. When a thin purple ribbon of light appeared and starting glowing, Bourassa immediately snapped pictures until the light particles disappeared 20 minutes later. Having watched the northern lights for almost 30 years since he was a teenager, he knew this wasn't an aurora. It was something else.

From 2015 to 2016, citizen scientists -- people like Bourassa who are excited about a science field but don't necessarily have a formal educational background -- shared 30 reports of these mysterious lights in online forums and with a team of scientists that run a project called Aurorasaurus. The citizen science project, funded by NASA and the National Science Foundation, tracks the aurora borealis through user-submitted reports and tweets.

The Aurorasaurus team, led by Liz MacDonald, a space scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, conferred to determine the identity of this mysterious phenomenon. MacDonald and her colleague Eric Donovan at the University of Calgary in Canada talked with the main contributors of these images, amateur photographers in a Facebook group called Alberta Aurora Chasers, which included Bourassa and lead administrator Chris Ratzlaff. Ratzlaff gave the phenomenon a fun, new name, Steve, and it stuck.

But people still didn't know what it was.

Scientists' understanding of Steve changed that night Bourassa snapped his pictures. Bourassa wasn't the only one observing Steve. Ground-based cameras called all-sky cameras, run by the University of Calgary and University of California, Berkeley, took pictures of large areas of the sky and captured Steve and the auroral display far to the north. From space, ESA's (the European Space Agency) Swarm satellite just happened to be passing over the exact area at the same time and documented Steve.

For the first time, scientists had ground and satellite views of Steve. Scientists have now learned, despite its ordinary name, that Steve may be an extraordinary puzzle piece in painting a better picture of how Earth's magnetic fields function and interact with charged particles in space. The findings are published in a study released today in Science Advances.

advertisement

"This is a light display that we can observe over thousands of kilometers from the ground," said MacDonald. "It corresponds to something happening way out in space. Gathering more data points on STEVE will help us understand more about its behavior and its influence on space weather."

The study highlights one key quality of Steve: Steve is not a normal aurora. Auroras occur globally in an oval shape, last hours and appear primarily in greens, blues and reds. Citizen science reports showed Steve is purple with a green picket fence structure that waves. It is a line with a beginning and end. People have observed Steve for 20 minutes to 1 hour before it disappears.

If anything, auroras and Steve are different flavors of an ice cream, said MacDonald. They are both created in generally the same way: Charged particles from the Sun interact with Earth's magnetic field lines.

The uniqueness of Steve is in the details. While Steve goes through the same large-scale creation process as an aurora, it travels along different magnetic field lines than the aurora. All-sky cameras showed that Steve appears at much lower latitudes. That means the charged particles that create Steve connect to magnetic field lines that are closer to Earth's equator, hence why Steve is often seen in southern Canada.

Perhaps the biggest surprise about Steve appeared in the satellite data. The data showed that Steve comprises a fast moving stream of extremely hot particles called a sub auroral ion drift, or SAID. Scientists have studied SAIDs since the 1970s but never knew there was an accompanying visual effect. The Swarm satellite recorded information on the charged particles' speeds and temperatures, but does not have an imager aboard.

advertisement

"People have studied a lot of SAIDs, but we never knew it had a visible light. Now our cameras are sensitive enough to pick it up and people's eyes and intellect were critical in noticing its importance," said Donovan, a co-author of the study. Donovan led the all-sky camera network and his Calgary colleagues lead the electric field instruments on the Swarm satellite.

Steve is an important discovery because of its location in the sub auroral zone, an area of lower latitude than where most auroras appear that is not well researched. For one, with this discovery, scientists now know there are unknown chemical processes taking place in the sub auroral zone that can lead to this light emission.

Second, Steve consistently appears in the presence of auroras, which usually occur at a higher latitude area called the auroral zone. That means there is something happening in near-Earth space that leads to both an aurora and Steve. Steve might be the only visual clue that exists to show a chemical or physical connection between the higher latitude auroral zone and lower latitude sub auroral zone, said MacDonald.

"Steve can help us understand how the chemical and physical processes in Earth's upper atmosphere can sometimes have local noticeable effects in lower parts of Earth's atmosphere," said MacDonald. "This provides good insight on how Earth's system works as a whole."

The team can learn a lot about Steve with additional ground and satellite reports, but recording Steve from the ground and space simultaneously is a rare occurrence. Each Swarm satellite orbits Earth every 90 minutes and Steve only lasts up to an hour in a specific area. If the satellite misses Steve as it circles Earth, Steve will probably be gone by the time that same satellite crosses the spot again.

In the end, capturing Steve becomes a game of perseverance and probability.

"It is my hope that with our timely reporting of sightings, researchers can study the data so we can together unravel the mystery of Steve's origin, creation, physics and sporadic nature," said Bourassa. "This is exciting because the more I learn about it, the more questions I have."

As for the name "Steve" given by the citizen scientists? The team is keeping it as an homage to its initial name and discoverers. But now it is STEVE, short for Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement.

Other collaborators on this work are: the University of Calgary, New Mexico Consortium, Boston University, Lancaster University, Athabasca University, Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Alberta Aurora Chasers Facebook group.

If you live in an area where you may see STEVE or an aurora, submit your pictures and reports to Aurorasaurus through aurorasaurus.org or the free iOS and Android mobile apps. To learn how to spot STEVE:

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/nasa-needs-your-help-to-find-steve-and-heres-howThis week, thousands of graduating medical students around the country will find out where they'll head next, to start their residency training. But a new study gives the first objective evidence of the heavy toll that the first year of residency can take on their sleep, physical activity and mood.

The results come from the first phase of a University of Michigan study aimed at understanding the effects of medical training stress. It asks new doctors to wear Fitbit activity trackers around the clock, and sends them mood-tracking text messages every day, for the months immediately before and after they start residency. The researchers call it "digital phenotyping."

On average, the 33 doctors in the pilot study lost 2 hours and 48 minutes of sleep a week after their residency training began, due to high work load and frequent changes in their schedule that wreaked havoc on their sleep patterns. They got 11.5 percent less physical activity than before, and their mood score dropped by 7.5 percent.

The demands of the intern year of residency appeared to stack up. When they had a shorter sleep time one night, the participants' mood suffered more the next day, and they slept even less the following night.

The study also reveals the impact of the frequent changes in work schedules that medical interns experience as they rotate among the different settings where they get their training. They got less sleep and had lower mood levels when their sleep schedule was more than three hours from one rotation to the next -- for instance, shifting from overnight hospital duty to outpatient clinics.

The new results, published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, give the first objective evidence of a phenomenon that senior author Srijan Sen, M.D., Ph.D. and his colleagues have studied for years. Past studies based on questionnaires have shown a high risk of depression among medical interns, which researchers have attributed to the loss of sleep, high stress and demanding schedules.

advertisement

To look at the issue on a much larger scale, the team has already recruited more than 500 of this year's graduating students from more than 80 medical schools to take part in the study including enhanced reports about their tracking results. From the class just matching into new residency programs this week, they will be enrolling 1500-2000 more participants; interested students can learn more at Https://www.srijan-Sen-Lab.com/intern-Health-Study.

"Though we expected the start of internship to affect sleep, mood and activity, quantifying the extent and nature of the effects in real time really highlighted the magnitude of changes," says Sen, an associate professor of psychiatry at the U-M Medical School. "The relationship between sleep and mood is clearly bidirectional, but it appears that sleep affects mood the next day more than mood affects sleep."

Sen and his colleagues note that when the training physicians experience the dramatic shift to an earlier wake-up time to start their clinical duties in the hospital, most do not seem to compensate by going to sleep much earlier the night before.

He notes that the system of asking interns to get to the hospital in the pre-dawn hours so they can be ready to inform senior residents and attending physicians about patients during morning rounds dates back more than a century.

But with modern knowledge about natural patterns of sleep and waking -- called circadian rhythms -- it may be time to update that practice, he says. Or at least, it's time for residency programs to reduce interns' schedule swings back and forth from early duty to later duty.

advertisement

"Interns' schedules change day to day and month to month as they rotate through different shift times and settings, and with recent national changes in their work-hour limits, these dramatic changes in work and sleep time have become more profound," he says. "We hope this research will help inform residency programs as they design their interns' schedules."

For instance, going abruptly from a 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. shift suddenly to a 4 p.m. to 10 a.m. shift not only sleep but mood in a way that persists beyond the first few days of working the night shift.

Other studies have shown that long-term night-shift work by all kinds of workers can have a negative effect on mental and physical health and work performance, Sen notes, because of the effects of working when the body expects to be sleeping based on circadian rhythms.

But the body can adjust somewhat to long-term night work. Changing from day shift to night and back in rapid succession, as medical interns do, appears to create much stronger effects on sleep, physical activity and mood.

The new study also suggests that shifting to a later start is much easier than shifting to an early-morning start -- another observation that could help residency programs schedule their shifts.

Data from the Fitbits in the two months before the interns began their training showed variation among individuals in their patterns of sleep and activity. Those who tended to be "night owls" before internship began had a harder time than those who were already natural "morning larks," with an early natural wake-up time.

As for the students who are about to graduate and become this year's intern class at hospitals around the country, Sen offers some advice. "Try to stick to the same sleep-wake schedule throughout a rotation, and go to sleep earlier than you naturally would when your schedule demands an early start time, to reduce the effects of sleep deprivation and the risk of mood changes and depression."

But he also hopes that hospitals will recognize the importance of their physicians' sleep schedules to their own health, and to the safety of their patients. "We're learning more and more that sleep and circadian timing play a role in our mental and physical health. We need to see this as a national priority, not just for physicians in training but even for those in practice -- for instance, those who stay up late to finish entering information and orders into electronic health record systems at home, or have other administrative burdens outside of clinical care hours."The idea that it might be possible to be overweight or obese but not at increased risk of heart disease, otherwise known as the "obesity paradox," has been challenged by a study of nearly 300,000 people published in in the European Heart Journal today (Friday).

This latest research shows that the risk of heart and blood vessel problems, such as heart attacks, strokes and high blood pressure, increases as body mass index (BMI) increases beyond a BMI of 22-23 kg/m2. Furthermore, the risk also increases steadily the more fat a person carries around their waist.

The study was conducted in 296,535 adults of white European descent who are taking part in the UK Biobank study, and who were healthy at the time they enrolled with the study. UK Biobank recruited from 2006 to 2010, and follow-up data on participants were available up to 2015 for this latest analysis.

Researchers at the University of Glasgow (UK) led by Dr Stamatina Iliodromiti, a clinical lecturer in obstetrics and gynaecology and MRC Fellow, found that people with a BMI between 22-23 kg/m2 had the lowest risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). As BMI increased above 22 kg/m2, the risk of CVD increased by 13% for every 5.2 kg/m2 increase in women and 4.3 kg/m2 in men.

Compared to women and men with waist circumferences of 74 and 83 cm respectively, the CVD risk increased by16% in women and 10% in men for every 12.6 cm and 11.4 cm increase in waist circumference for women and men respectively. Similar increases in CVD risk were seen when the researchers looked at waist-to-hip and waist-to-height ratios and percentage body fat mass -- all of which are considered reliable ways to accurately gauge the amount of fat a person carries, also known as adiposity.

Although it is already known that being overweight or obese increases a person's risk of CVD, as well as other diseases such as cancer, there have also been studies that have suggested that, particularly in the elderly, being overweight or even obese might not have any effect on deaths from CVD or other causes, and may even be protective, especially if people maintain a reasonable level of fitness. This is known as the "obesity paradox."

However, the authors of the EHJ study say their results refute these previous, conflicting findings. "Any public misconception of a potential 'protective' effect of fat on heart and stroke risks should be challenged," said Dr Iliodromiti.

advertisement

She continued: "This is the largest study that provides evidence against the obesity paradox in healthy people. It is possible that the story may be different for those with pre-existing disease because there is evidence that in cancer patients, for instance, being slightly overweight is associated with lower risk, especially as cancer and its treatments can lead to unhealthy weight loss.

"By maintaining a healthy BMI of around 22-23 kg/m2, healthy people can minimise their risk of developing or dying from heart disease. In terms of other adiposity measures, the less fat, especially around their abdomen, they have, the lower the risk of future heart disease."

However, the researchers recognise that it can be difficult for some people to maintain a BMI of 22-23 kg/m2, particularly as they get older. Co-author, Naveed Sattar, Professor of Metabolic Medicine at the University of Glasgow, said: "We know many cannot get to such low BMIs so the message is, whatever your BMI, especially when in the overweight or obese range, losing a few kilograms or more if possible, will only improve your health. There are no downsides to losing weight intentionally and the health professions needs to get better at helping people lose weight."

The researchers say their findings may have implications for guidelines on preventing and managing cardiovascular disease.

"Even within the normal BMI category of between18.5-25 kg/m2, the risk of CVD increases beyond a BMI of 22-23 kg/m2. The other adiposity measures show that the leaner the person the lower the risk of CVD, and this must be a public message, that healthy individuals should maintain a lean physique to minimise their risk of CVD," concluded Dr Iliodromiti.

The researchers suggest that the previous confusion over the "obesity paradox" may be due to many factors that can confound results of studies. For instance, smoking changes the distribution of fat in the body, smokers may have lower weight as smoking depresses appetites and so BMI tends to be lower. Another reason could be that some people have existing but undiagnosed disease, which can often lower their weight but also makes them more likely to die prematurely.Some of the fishing methods used in today's small-scale fisheries are causing more damage to coral reefs than ever, a new UBC study has found.

The study, conducted in the Philippines by the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries' Project Seahorse and the Landscape Ecology Group at the University of British Columbia, tracked changes in the types of fishing methods -- such as hand line, traps and nets -- used on coral reefs between 1950 and 2010.

Researchers found that from the 1960s onwards, the use of relatively sustainable fishing methods like hook and line fishing remained stable, while there was a marked increase in the use of fishing practices that were less selective and more destructive, even illegal.

In particular, the study found that about a quarter of the fishers in the region use destructive fishing methods including explosives and poison, which were both outlawed by the Philippine government in 1932. Most other destructive fishing methods were outlawed by the government in 1998. Despite legislation that banned destructive fishing, the use of such illegal methods persisted. For example, a growing number of fishers used crowbars to break apart corals so they could catch valuable but elusive animals such as abalone.

"It is vital not to let damaging fishing practices become the norm," said Jennifer Selgrath, the lead author who was a PhD candidate at the University of British Columbia during the research study. "Once people started using destructive fishing methods they stuck with what is familiar -- even after those methods later became illegal. So, it's essential to ensure young fishers engage with sustainable fishing methods such as hook and line fishing, or traps. It's also critical to motivate older fishers to set aside destructive methods."

The researchers found that total fishing efforts in the area expanded by more than 240 per cent between 1960 and 2010 because of an increase in damaging fishing practices and number of fishers. Previous research by Project Seahorse and the Landscape Ecology Group found that the increase in fishing effort was even greater when they considered the locations where people fished, since fishing tends to be concentrated in popular areas.

National fishing policies and development funding in the Philippines during the 1970s and 1980s promoted higher catches of marine life and the researchers found this corresponded to an expansion in the tools and methods used by fishers. Changes in fishing gear use persisted decades after those same policies were stopped in order to promote sustainable fishing.

"If the Philippines were to fully implement its new fishing laws on sustainability, then ocean protection would improve and use of damaging gears would decline," said Selgrath. "Fisher organizations can also take the lead, as sometimes happens in the Philippines, and cooperate on limiting destruction, ideally with support from local government."On the seafloor of the shallow coastal regions north of Siberia, microorganisms produce methane when they break down plant remains. If this greenhouse gas finds its way into the water, it can also become trapped in the sea ice that forms in these coastal waters. As a result, the gas can be transported thousands of kilometres across the Arctic Ocean and released in a completely different region months later. This phenomenon is the subject of an article by researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute, published in the current issue of the online journal Scientific Reports. Although this interaction between methane, ocean and ice has a significant influence on climate change, to date it has not been reflected in climate models.

In August 2011, the icebreaker Polarstern from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) was making its way through the ice-covered Arctic Ocean, on a course that took her just a few hundred kilometres from the North Pole. Back then, AWI geochemist Dr Ellen Damm tested the waters of the High North for the greenhouse gas methane. In an expedition to the same region four years later, she had the chance to compare the measurements taken at different times, and found significantly less methane in the water samples.

Ellen Damm, together with Dr Dorothea Bauch from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel and other colleagues, analysed the samples to determine the regional levels of methane, and the sources. By measuring the oxygen isotopes in the sea ice, the scientists were able to deduce where and when the ice was formed. To do so, they had also taken sea-ice samples. Their findings: the ice transports the methane across the Arctic Ocean. And it appears to do so differently every year, as the two researchers and their colleagues from the AWI, the Finnish Meteorological Institute in Helsinki and the Russian Academy of Science in Moscow relate in the online journal Scientific Reports.

The samples from 2011 came from sea ice that had started its long journey north in the coastal waters of the Laptev Sea of eastern Siberia nearly two years earlier, in October 2009. The samples from 2015, which had only been underway in the Arctic Ocean half as long, showed a markedly lower level of the greenhouse gas. The analysis revealed that this ice was formed much farther out, in the deeper ocean waters. However, until now, the climate researchers' models haven't taken into consideration the interaction between methane, the Arctic Ocean and the ice floating on it.

Every molecule of methane in the air has 25 times the effect on temperature rise compared to a molecule of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere by burning coal, oil or gas. Methane in the Arctic also has an enormous impact on warming at northerly latitudes, and further exacerbates global warming -- a good reason to investigate the methane cycle in the High North more closely.

Methane is produced by cattle breeding and rice cultivation, as well as various other natural processes. For example, the remains of algae and other plant materials collect on the floor of the shallow Laptev Sea, and in other shallow waters off the Arctic coast. If there is no oxygen there, microorganisms break down this biomass, producing methane. To date, simulations have paid too little attention to the routes of by carbon and release of methane from the Arctic regions.

In autumn, when air temperatures drop, many areas of open water also begin to cool. "Sea ice forms on the surface of the Russian shelf seas, and is then driven north by the strong winds," explains AWI sea-ice physicist Dr Thomas Krumpen, who also took part in the study. The ice formation and offshore winds produce strong currents in these shallow marginal seas, which stir up the sediment and carry the methane produced there into the water column. The methane can also be trapped in the ice that rapidly forms in these open areas of water -- also known as polynya -- in the winter.

"As more seawater freezes it can expel the brine contained within, entraining large quantities of the methane locked in the ice," explains AWI researcher Ellen Damm. As a result, a water-layer is formed beneath the ice that contains large amounts of both salt and methane. Yet the ice on the surface and the dense saltwater below, together with the greenhouse gas it contains, are all pushed on by the wind and currents. According to Thomas Krumpen, "It takes about two and a half years for the ice formed along the coast of the Laptev Sea to be carried across the Arctic Ocean and past the North Pole into the Fram Strait between the east cost of Greenland and Svalbard." Needless to say, the methane trapped in the ice and the underlying saltwater is along for the ride.

The rising temperatures produced by climate change are increasingly melting this ice. Both the area of water covered by sea ice and the thickness of the ice have been decreasing in recent years, and thinner ice is blown farther and faster by the wind. "In the past few years, we've observed that ice is carried across the Arctic Ocean faster and faster," confirms Thomas Krumpen. And this process naturally means major changes in the Arctic's methane turnover. Accordingly, quantifying the sources, sinks and transport routes of methane in the Arctic continues to represent a considerable challenge for the scientific community.The online advertising business, led by companies like Google or Facebook, generated over $200 billion revenue in 2017, with an year-over-year growth over 15%. This online advertising explosion is raising serious data privacy concerns.

Advertisers track users when they are online by shadowing them as they browse websites, perform web searches or watch movies. Tracking companies build a profile of each user based on such activities.

Collecting and processing personal data and then offering it to interested parties often means maintaining a balance between sustaining the many gains the industry brings and concerns over the privacy of internet users. The TYPES project 'protects individuals' privacy while empowering them to control how their data is used by service providers for advertising purposes,' says Rosa Araujo, from Eurecat (Barcelona, Spain), project coordinator for the EU-funded initiative. 'By raising end user trust and advertiser transparency, all stakeholders of the advertising ecosystem stand to benefit.'

Arturo Azcorra, director of IMDEA Networks Institute (Madrid, Spain),one of ten consortium members that have collaborated in the project, says about the results achieved, 'TYPES has created solutions that protect user's privacy while empowering them to control how their data is used by service providers for advertising purposes. At the same time, TYPES has raised awareness about the need to take decisive action to protect users' online rights and to ensure that the use of personal data, if and when it happens, is transparent and entails a reasonable value added to users.'

Keeping internet advertisers in check

TYPES has created tools designed to support the idea of a healthier, more transparent and thriving online advertising sector. This suite of tools enables users to 'better understand how their personal data is used online, ultimately building a strong foundation on which both industry and they can thrive,' continues Araujo.

advertisement

The Web Browser Plug-In (available as corporate and open-source versions) and Network Proxy tools concern privacy violation detection and safeguarding. Araujo explains that they allow users to 'know what information is being collected and tracked by websites and advertisers, among others.'

Data valuation tools estimate the value that the online advertising market or users associate with different data which is mostly unknown and particularly difficult to assess. Software includes the Web Survey tool, Data Valuation Web Portal, YouTube Video Valuation tool and the Facebook Data Valuation tool. 'Divulging such information would be beneficial for both end users and the online advertising industry,' notes Araujo.

TYPES also developed Data Broker, a privacy-by-design advertising and marketing solution. Araujo stresses that it 'helps end users to share and benefit from their data in the digital advertising ecosystem.'

Products to boost business and protect privacy and personal data

Some solutions are ready to hit the market, while others are well on their way. The corporate Web Browser Plug-In is being commercialised for SMEs. One of the project partners, a digital agency, will offer the open-source version to its customers.

advertisement

The subsidiary of a global security services company is expected to introduce the Network Proxy tool to its client base. 'This is a huge success for the project and the potential it can offer, because the company has a portfolio of several dozen companies who purchase solutions for improving their users' web experience,' emphasises Araujo.

The Web Survey tool is freely available on the project website. Several partners intend to offer the Web Portal as a public service, aimed at maintaining transparency and creating awareness among citizens of personal data's value.

There are plans to apply for public research funds to maintain the Facebook Data Valuation tool, which informs Facebook users in real time about the money they're generating for the social networking website. It's the only product of its kind in the marketplace. A patent has also been issued for the Data Broker algorithms.

'Key market players and national organisations from the advertisement sector have expressed concern about the impact the project will have on established business models,' continues Araujo. 'Despite this, there's a certain underlying realisation that something needs to be done regarding transparency, and that the EU's new legislative framework for data privacy that comes into force in 2018 will make tools not only relevant, but needed.'

'The rise of the digital economy must not need be equated with a loss to our privacy, even more when it is a fact unprecedented in history that minors have become major users of the services provided. The existence of parental controls is not enough to protect them when it comes, for example, to sharing their location in real-time,' concludes Azcorra. 'IMDEA Networks will continue work about the online advertising ecosystem in the context of the recently launched "MyBubble" initiative in collaboration with University Carlos III of Madrid and the MIT. MyBubble focusses on the personalization filter, the so-called "filter bubble" generated by online services on the basis of our preferences and interests, and how it influences the information we access.'Airborne soot produced by wildfires and fossil-fuel combustion and transported to the remote McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica contains levels of black carbon too low to contribute significantly to the melting of local glaciers, according to a new study by researchers supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Strong winds in the Dry Valleys, however, can temporarily cause large spikes in the amount of locally produced black carbon, which is distributed through the ecosystem, the researchers found.

In the study, the researchers differentiated between black carbon produced elsewhere in the world and carried by winds to the Dry Valleys and black carbon produced by local combustion sources, such as helicopter flights, combustion toilets and other fossil fuel-intensive activities associated with Dry Valleys field camps.

They conclude that further study of local carbon production and transport would help to understand the limited effects of local black carbon production on the Dry Valleys ecosystem, compared to the effects of windblown sediments, commonly deposited in the ablation regions of the glaciers, that have been shown to influence melt.

Alia Khan from the the University of Colorado Boulder's Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research and the National Snow and Ice Data Center, along with her colleagues at the NSF-funded McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) project, published the paper in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

The Dry Valleys are a unique ecosystem within the Antarctic continent. The continent as a whole is a landmass the size of the U.S. and Mexico combined, of which 98 percent is permanently covered with ice and snow. The Dry Valleys, by contrast, are ice-free, mountainous regions, interspersed with glaciers, where little snow accumulates because they are scoured by winds.

Samples taken from a snow pit in the accumulation region of the Commonwealth Glacier suggest the black carbon transported from beyond the continent is not sufficient to reduce the albedo -- the glacier's ability to reflect light -- to a degree that would increase melting. Researchers took the samples during the 2013-2014 Antarctic research season.

"The black carbon deposited from long-range atmospheric transport in the snow accumulation regions of the glaciers is present in very low concentrations in the snow, too low to reduce the surface albedo of the glaciers," Khan said.

The research showed that while concentrations of black carbon aerosols near the surface of the valley floor are low, locally produced black carbon may stay sequestered in the upper layers of soils near field camps until it is disturbed and distributed by high winds, including the so-called Foehn wind event, a warm southerly wind that occurred during the study period.

The results of the work indicate that the near-surface concentrations of black carbon in the air in the local area can increase by a factor of three during episodic wind storms.

"We were surprised by the sharp increase in concentrations at the field camp site during the strong winds, which suggests the locally produced black carbon particles, which are generally too large to travel very far, are re-suspended during these wind events," Khan said.Clutch will have a headline show on April 27 at The Signal. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the show begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $29-$33 and available here.

Review for Clutch:

Maryland rockers Clutch have been pushing the boundaries of heavy rock music since the four original members got together in high school. Having been tagged hard rock, blues rock, southern stoner rock and alternative metal by media and fans across the world it is safe to say one thing  what you see is what you get and what you get is a musical force that has been best described as the quintessential American rock band.

Clutch quickly became known for their relentless touring schedules, playing shows from whiskey stained two door venues in the hills of West Virginia to the iconic Brixton Academy in the UK. Whatever the venue, and wherever rock fans congregate Clutch has played there. The band has shared stages with Lamb Of God to Iron Maiden, Primus to Thin Lizzy, Mastodon to Motorhead.

What has come of it is a cult-like international fan base, not to mention praise from all corners of the music world. Psychic Warfare, Clutchs latest studio album, released via their own label Weathermaker Music, debuted #1 on the Billboard Hard Rock chart and #1 on the Billboard Rock Chart.

Clutch has just wrapped up the tracking of their new album with producer Vance Powell at Sputnik Sound in Nashville. The new record will come out later in 2018.

Clutch is Neil Fallon - Vocals/Guitars, Jean-Paul Gaster - Drums, Dan Maines - Bass, and Tim Sult - Guitar.HomeAway must give San Francisco information about its local vacation rentals so the city can ensure that the company paid its hotel tax, an appellate court ruled Thursday.

We find that the tax collector acted within its authority, in seeking records for HomeAway bookings dating to Jan. 1, 2012, the First District Court of Appeal for San Francisco wrote in a 20-page decision.

More than 10,000 San Francisco properties were listed on HomeAway websites (the company also owns the VRBO brand) since that date, according to testimony from Steve Davis, HomeAway chief digital and cloud officer.

San Francisco levies a 14 percent tax on temporary rentals, whether they occur in traditional hotels or the new breed of vacation rentals in private homes.

Airbnb has collected this tax from guests since October 2014 and remits it directly to the city. But HomeAway said its hosts are responsible for complying with local laws such as hotel taxes. San Francisco wants to ensure that those hosts have been remitting the tax, as well as paying for a required annual business license. To verify this, the tax collector said it needs records of all HomeAway bookings.

San Francisco subpoenaed HomeAway two years ago for the information. When the Texas company, which is now owned by travel giant Expedia, refused to comply, San Francisco petitioned the Superior Court. That court granted the citys request but stayed enforcement pending HomeAways appeal.

There is insufficient evidence to show that the subpoena was burdensome or overbroad, the Superior Court wrote. It rejected HomeAways arguments that the subpoena violated its First Amendment rights, its customers constitutional rights, and the Stored Communications Act, which regulates the governments ability to compel disclosure of some electronic data stored on the Internet.

The appellate court agreed with the lower courts reasoning, noting that since San Francisco was not seeking actual email correspondence of HomeAway hosts and guests, it was not violating customer privacy.

HomeAway did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

HomeAway has to play by the same tax rules as every other company operating in San Francisco, said City Attorney Dennis Herrera. Were pleased the courts have once again affirmed that you dont get special treatment just because your business happens to use the Internet. A level playing field benefits all San Franciscans.

San Francisco Treasurer Jose Cisneros added: Our job is to enforce the citys tax laws. Businesses in San Francisco cant ignore our laws. The transient occupancy tax is due whenever a visitor pays to stay in our city. We want everyone who hosts (visitors) to understand that the tax applies.

This case is separate from HomeAways other recent lawsuit with the city. HomeAway joined rival Airbnb in a lawsuit challenging a San Francisco law that would impose steep penalties on websites for arranging temporary rentals of unlicensed properties. The companies lost that case, which led to them agreeing to jettison any unregistered hosts by early this year. A Chronicle investigation showed that HomeAways number of local listings fell from 1,208 in August to 509 in January.Dane Jasper dropped out of high school and college. But hes staying the course in the fight for an open Internet that keeps consumers data private.

The CEO of Internet service provider Sonic of Santa Rosa, Jasper has become one of the nations leading advocates for regulations that his bigger competitors have pushed to knock down.

I do feel really lucky to have what I consider is a privileged position as a gate keeper to access the Internet, Jasper said. It would be irresponsible to act like we own the Internet and have any right to do anything to the content that comes to and from it.

Jasper, 45, co-founded Sonic in a back room of his house almost 24 years ago at a time when people who even knew about the Internet logged in using slow dial-up modems. Today, the company has more than 100,000 customers in California  many devoted fans among them  who log in using its high-speed Internet services.

Sonic remains a small regional player battling cable and telecommunications titans like Comcast, Verizon, AT&T and Charter, which dominate the $117 billion U.S. Internet services market, according to the research firm IBISWorld.

But niche companies like Sonic should capture larger shares of that market because they are moving more quickly into regions not served by fast gigabit-fiber service, said Andrew Krabeepetcharat, an IBISWorld business analyst.

And even a small slice of the market can be lucrative. Industry revenues should soar to $143.8 billion by 2023 because everything from movies and music to video games and television are all going on the Internet, Krabeepetcharat said.

Sonic is expanding in San Francisco and parts of the East Bay, as customers are drawn to its network of gigabit fiber-optic cables, which can be used to download 100 songs in about three seconds. On those old dial-ups, one song could take a minute.

Jasper has been a long-standing supporter of net neutrality rules. These rules, which the Obama administration put in place and the Federal Communications Commission voted in December to repeal, hold that the Internet should work equally fast and effectively for content providers regardless of how much they can pay. It is both a personal mission and a business marketing tool, and it has helped gain loyal customers like San Francisco resident Riley Steinmetz.

It was a massive breath of fresh air switching to Sonic, Steinmetz said in an email. And the net neutrality stance is also key in why I stay. I feel much more comfortable knowing my ISP is committed to it. Theyve also repeatedly voiced their commitment to keeping data safe and private, which is, again, very important to me as a consumer.

Sonic, not to be confused with the Sonic fast food drive-in chain, provides Internet and phone services that start at $40 a month, not including fees and equipment charges. Sonics biggest market is San Francisco, where Jasper said it can reach about 27 percent of homes.

Liz Hafalia / The Chronicle

Sonic has customers from Watsonville to Fort Bragg, and also offers service in Sacramento, Los Angeles and Orange County.

The company has built a reputation of being fair with customers, including respecting privacy rights and net neutrality principles.

Jasper could have chosen to stand with other Internet companies and trade associations, which hailed the FCCs decision to rescind what they called unnecessary regulations that mandated they treat all Web traffic equally. The big Internet companies have said even with the rules thrown out, they have no plans to block or slowdown online services or charge companies for faster access.

Jasper could have also sided with the industry in backing Congress move last year to scrap privacy rules that forced Internet providers to get their customers permission before collecting and selling their data.

But he said hes philosophically opposed to business practices that would infringe on customers rights. A 2011 blog post he wrote exposed offers Sonic and other service providers received from companies that would use software to improperly siphon advertising revenue from unsuspecting Web publishers.

Weve said this is evil, you cant do this to people, he said in an interview.

And as a business strategy, Jasper wants to prevent his competitors from creating an unlevel playing field by increasing their revenue from selling privacy data or charging for faster access.

That makes it challenging for a new market entrant, he said. We might align ourselves with other Internet access providers who feel like they have the rights to do whatever they wanted, but I think it is more important to stand up for the consumers.

Sonic customer Michael Selvidge said he could get faster Internet speeds with a larger company that serves his Oakland neighborhood, but for more money, and again, money that goes to an evil corporation. Also, Sonic is a Santa Rosa company and has a great, pro net-neutrality stance.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

Liz Hafalia/The Chronicle

Steinmetz of San Francisco said she switched because she was tired of hours-long service calls and repeated rate increases with no warning with her former provider.

I did have one instance where my Sonic bill went up unexpectedly, she said. I called, immediately got connected to billing, identified the problem, and resolved it within 20 minutes.

Sonic jumped into the national spotlight by ranking second among Internet service providers in a 2016 Consumer Reports customer satisfaction survey, ranking high in value and reliability (a Tennessee municipal broadband provider was first). But because Sonic is so small, Consumer Reports did not have enough respondents to include Sonic again in its 2017 survey.

When you deliver just a reasonable and decent level of customer service today, peoples expectations are so low and so poor that they react really disproportionally to it, Jasper said. They are thrilled by the fact that you answer the phone in a timely way, you were patient, pragmatic and not scripted.

Jasper was a 21-year-old Santa Rosa Junior College student when he and Scott Doty dropped out to start Sonoma Interconnect, later shortened to Sonic.net. Both had worked part-time installing the colleges dial-up service for faculty and students. The light bulb went off when they discovered someone was selling the colleges free Internet access to local high school students after investigating a complaint that one of the high school students was being rude online.

This Internet thing is lots of fun and people are stealing it and we should go start a company, Jasper said he told Doty, now Sonics board president and chief Internet evangelist.

Although he declined to reveal the privately held companys revenue, Jasper said Sonic turned a profit after three months and has never had an unprofitable quarter. Sonic has 450 employees and should cross 500 this year, he said.

A lot of our success has been the result of lucky timing, Jasper said. We didnt realize that the Internet was going to completely change how people shop, find a job or get married.Pathways Home Health and Hospice, a nonprofit home care agency in the South Bay, plans to discontinue a 30-year-old program that provides caregivers to 60 mostly elderly people.

The program sends home aides to residents who need help with daily tasks such as laundry, grocery shopping and housekeeping. About 100 Pathways caregivers will be laid off. Most are per diem workers whose hours fluctuate week to week and who also have jobs elsewhere, said Georgia Rock, Pathways chief strategy officer.

Pathways, headquartered in Sunnyvale, is not connected to the Pathway Home in Yountville, where a gunman killed three hostages and himself this month. It will continue providing other services for more acute health needs, such as helping patients recover at home after surgery, and end-of-life care, to roughly 700 people in Santa Clara County.

The organization, like many local home care agencies, is struggling to find and retain caregivers who can afford to live in the Bay Area, Rock said. At the same time, the need for such care is growing, as many Baby Boomers are reaching an age where they need help in their home in order to continue living independently.

The whole industry is under stress, Rock said. Weve been having increased difficulty finding caregivers over the last few years. We dont want to be taking clients if we cant staff the shifts.

Home care is typically paid for by families and individuals themselves, not insurance. Many recipients of home care are seniors who can afford to pay for the service out of their own pocket, while caregivers tend to be on the lower end of the income scale, earning between $15 and $25 an hour, experts estimate. As the Bay Areas cost of living continues to climb, many caregivers are being priced out of neighborhoods they once lived and worked in, and must commute from far-flung locations, said Dustin Harper of the Institute On Aging, a nonprofit provider of home care services that is absorbing some clients from the Pathways service.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

When the Bay Area had more neighborhoods next to each other, where the lower-income population is not that far from higher-income populations, that makes the matching of those resources a little easier, said Harper, the institutes interim vice president of home care and support services. As folks on the lower-income side are being pushed further and further away from core areas, it makes travel a little more difficult.Finally, San Francisco has started rethinking its monuments to a past that was never all that halcyon.

Justin Herman Plaza, Pioneer Monument, even Columbus Day  in some quarters of San Francisco, its been controversial to rename or remove these elements, but it wouldve been impossible to allow them to remain.

Now its Phelan Avenues turn.

Phelan Avenue is a modest roadway that primarily serves the large City College of San Francisco campus in the neighborhood of Balboa Park.

The street was named for the James Phelan who came to San Francisco in 1849 and made a fortune in wheat and real estate. But its associated with his son, the more famous James Phelan, who was mayor of San Francisco from 1897 to 1902.

The younger James Phelan, who was also a U.S. senator, was popular for his crusade to restrict Chinese and Japanese immigration at both the state and local levels. He ran on a political platform called Keep California White.

Charming. In a neat bit of historical reversal, the neighborhood is now heavily Asian, and community groups have spent years agitating for a street renaming. But theyd failed to garner enough popular support and political urgency to make it happen.

Thats changed. The age of Trump has forced communities of color to be more insistent about the fact that were tired of living under lies. That includes all kinds of monuments to racist and destructive men.

This time, the communitys push may have been a little harder, and this time, it found a sympathetic ear in San Francisco Supervisor Norman Yee.

Im changing the name of the street. Its not right, so lets make it right, Yee told me. Im sympathetic to those who are upset that they have to change their addresses. But there are thousands and thousands of people every year who remember this street as the place where they went to school. I think its important for it to reflect certain values.

Which values the street should reflect is now the main question for the neighborhood to answer.

The potential name thats gotten the most attention is Frida Kahlo Way. Thats largely due to the efforts of two art instructors at City College, Leslie Simon and Ann Wettrich.

Several years ago, Simon took her students to look at the Diego Rivera mural on campus. Rivera and Kahlo have a storied history with the city of San Francisco, and the mural contains a large picture of Kahlos face.

So Simon said, almost in passing, that it would be great to rename Phelan Avenue after her. The students embraced the idea with enthusiasm, and from there, Wettrich told me, The idea just kept gaining steam.

Students, executives and instructors all got on board with the idea of honoring Kahlo. As one of Mexicos most significant artists  and a queer, disabled, pro-indigenous woman, to boot  she certainly had no truck with the kinds of ideas that Phelan built his name on. In late February, the colleges board of trustees voted to recommend her name to Yee.

I think it would be a wonderful, uplifting and empowering name for the city and the neighborhood, Wettrich said. It would underline and endorse the values of the college. It would also be great to have a street named after a woman.

But the college isnt the only one with a preference. Yee told me his meetings with community groups had produced five potential names for the street.

Also located on Phelan Avenue is an all-boys Catholic school, Archbishop Riordan, and a handful of residents who live mostly in single-family homes. All of them sent votes to Yees office. He expects to make an announcement about the winner toward the end of this month.

My own preference would have been to rename it after a Chinese American, Yee said. But Im not pushing that at all. I want someone who the community will embrace.

The one thing thats for sure is that they arent embracing Phelan anymore.

Thats cause for celebration, as far as Im concerned.

Lets pull down those street placards  tomorrow. When were done with Phelan Avenue, lets find a new name for Fort Funston (he was known for bragging about personally stringing up Filipinos without trial).

Contrary to the beliefs of some locals who disdain any change at all, there is no tragedy in jettisoning the names of people who no longer reflect what San Francisco wants to be about.

In fact, healthy cities change things all the time. They tear down ugly statues, toss insulting traditions, reopen themselves to the past and the future.

Healthy cities have faith that they can build new things that will be even better. This is a moment for San Francisco to show we can be part of a positive future. We should embrace it.The case of an Antioch man accused of murder who evaded capture while a rape kit implicating him years earlier sat on a shelf has caught the attention of lawmakers and activists. But chances are, hes not the only one.

The untested rape kit in Berkeley was one of 1,900 overlooked in Alameda County alone when it was examined in 2014, six years after the rape occurred. But how many are there statewide now?

California doesnt know how many rape kits are on the shelves, said Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco.

And efforts by lawmakers to require the more than 500 law enforcement agencies across California to count them and test them have so far fallen short amid opposition by some law enforcement groups who have argued that the state needs to pay for that mandate.

As other states have combed through thousands of rape kits that were ignored for years and, in some cases decades, prosecutors across the country have reported a high incidence of serial offenders.

The case of Keith Kenard Asberry Jr., reported Wednesday in The Chronicle, inspired outrage and renewed calls for all rape kits to be tested after the paper reported that murder charges were added to the suspected serial rapists case.

Asberry is awaiting trial in Alameda County Superior Court for sexual assaults against five women ranging in age from 15 to 46, and for the 2015 killing of one rape victim, Randhir Kaur, who was a UCSF dental student. All of the cases are linked by DNA evidence. Prosecutors say Asberry kidnapped his victims at gunpoint, in one case tying or binding a woman, and robbing and raping them.

In one of the earlier cases, Berkeley police never sent a rape kit from a 19-year-old victim in 2008 to a crime lab for testing.

Instead, the evidence was found in 2014 as part of a countywide effort to clear rape kit backlogs. If the police had sent it to a lab for testing, it could have implicated Asberry at that time. He had been in the national DNA database of known criminals since a 2005 felony gun conviction.

The state does not require that rape kits  which contain evidence from a forensic exam of victims, such as swabs of the mouth, genitals and anus  be inventoried or tested. The only way to know how many rape kits remain untested across the state is to ask each of Californias hundreds of law enforcement agencies to count them.

Thats what Chiu is requesting in a bill hes writing this year.

AB3118 would require law enforcement, crime labs and any other agency that handles rape kits to report to the state Department of Justice how many they have by July 1, 2019. The justice department would then submit a detailed report to the Legislature on how many rape kits are untested across the state by July 1, 2020.

Another bill, SB1449 by Sen. Connie Leyva, D-Chino (San Bernardino County), would require all new rape kits to be sent to laboratories so that the agencies dont accumulate new backlogs, with $2 million in new state funding attached to help pay for the mandate.

Both bills will be heard in their first committee in the coming weeks.

The state has suggested timelines for forwarding rape kits to crime labs. California requires law enforcement agencies to report how many rape kits they have collected and examined, then disclose why any kit is not being tested. But that law, written by Chiu, only applies to new rape kits collected as of Jan. 1.

Rape kit reform means taking serial offenders off the streets, who are often engaged in other crimes, said Ilse Knecht, director of policy and advocacy at the Joyful Heart Foundation, which tracks rape kit backlogs across the country.

The group estimates California has more than 13,000 untested rape kits, a number tallied from media reports, public record requests and data submitted by law enforcement agencies when applying for federal grants to test rape kits. But that data only include a patchwork of agencies in the state, and its unclear how current the figures are.

Other states and cities have been much more forthcoming in what their backlogs have yielded.

For example, Detroit, which had 11,341 untested rape kits, moved to analyze each and every one, Knecht said. So far, they have identified more than 830 potential serial rapists who have committed crimes in 40 states.

Shelving evidence also means some cases face the statute of limitations. In the Asberry case, his public defender used the delay in testing the 2008 rape kit to argue that some counts should be dropped. A judge agreed, in part, striking a second-degree robbery charge, as well as sex-offender and multiple-victim enhancements sought by prosecutors, court records show.

Stanford Law School Professor Robert Weisberg called the delay in testing the evidence by Berkeley police outrageous and apparently some combination of negligence and insufficient staffing.

There are limitations on the sentence he could receive now because of the foregone possibility of introducing prior convictions, Weisberg said. He said multiple losses stem from not testing the rape kit  solving that crime, connecting it to others, running afoul of a statute of limitations, among others.

UC Hastings College of the Law Professor Rory Little said the Asberry case shows why rape kits should be tested quickly.

The answer isnt to get rid of statute of limitations but to get the government to fund adequate testing of rape kits and other forensic evidence on time, Little said.

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.

Many California agencies are reporting that they have cleared their backlogs already, including the San Francisco Police Department.

In 2016, the San Francisco Police Commission required the department to publicly report twice a year how many rape kits it collects and send to labs. The city police had faced criticism and a lawsuit over its backlog of hundreds of unprocessed rape kits and its failure to notify victims about the results when evidence was tested.

In its most recent report in February, the department said it collected 184 rape kits from July 1, 2017, to Jan. 5, 2018, of which 88 had enough DNA to upload into the national database, leading to 26 matches. All of the evidence kits were sent to a crime lab, although 15 were not sent within the state-recommended five days. The department reported that changes were under way to ensure future rape kits are forwarded more quickly.

In Alameda County, District Attorney Nancy OMalley led efforts in 2014 to count and collect all untested rape kits from 19 law enforcement agencies in the county, using money from her own budget and federal grants. In all, her office found 1,900 untested rape kits in evidence rooms. Over three years, the rape kits were sent in batches to a lab in Virginia for testing, with the last ones sent last year.

OMalley said in an interview last year that new rape kits are sent for testing within days. She could not be reached Friday for comment.

Of the first 319 rape kits tested, DNA extracted from 124 kits matched 55 suspects, OMalley said in a previous interview.

One of the rape kits sent in the first batch belonged to a 19-year-old Berkeley woman who said she was raped in 2008 at gunpoint in a car near Berkeley High School. A 15-year-old girl in the car with the woman told police she was digitally penetrated at gunpoint by the man. The victims also said they were robbed. They immediately went to a hospital where police were called, and a trained nurse performed a forensic exam on the 19-year-old.

Berkeley police said they do not know why the evidence from that exam was not tested for six years. The department said it now sends all rape kits to a lab for testing. While a warrant was issued in 2014 for Asberrys arrest, he is accused of committing two additional crimes.

Police said Asberrys DNA was found on the shirt of a 46-year-old woman who fought off an attacker in her North Berkeley home. Investigators said Asberrys DNA linked him to the rape and killing of Kaur, the dental student, in Albany in March 2015. In that case, court documents show, police said Kaurs clothing were found in a garbage can with Asberrys DNA.

Last year, El Cerrito police linked Asberry to a 2005 rape of a 20-year-old woman after police there retested evidence using newer technology.

On Friday, Asberry stood behind a glass window in a red-and-white jumpsuit in an Oakland court, where his attorney said he wasnt prepared to enter a plea on some of the charges. He has pleaded not guilty to the three sexual assaults in Berkeley. Asberry did not speak during the brief hearing.

A woman who identified herself as Asberrys mother grew upset when she realized a Chronicle reporter was speaking with his public defender and told the reporter not to write a story.San Francisco police officials on Friday released the names of 10 officers involved in the fatal shooting of an armed robbery suspect in the trunk of a car in the citys Mission District this month.

They are Stephen Cassinelli, Corbyn Carroll, Loren Chiu, John Ishida, Juan Gustilo, Nicholas Nagai, Sean ORourke, Colby Smets, Ari Smith-Russack and Joshua Tupper.

The officers collectively fired 99 bullets, hitting 19-year-old Jesus Delgado Duarte 25 times as he lay tucked in the back of a black Honda Civic the night of March 6 on Capp Street near 21st Street, police said.

Cell phone video from a witness along with police body camera footage appears to show Delgado Duarte fire a shot at officers before they unleashed the barrage of gunfire.

Delgado Duarte was pronounced dead at the scene. Police recovered a 9mm pistol in the trunk and said evidence showed the gun had been fired once.

Now Playing: The San Francisco Police Department released body camera footage of the tense moments before officers opened fire on Jesus Delgado Duarte, an armed 19-year-old burglary suspect in the Mission District on March 6, 2018. Video: San Francisco Chronicle

The Police Departments policy is to release the names of officers in police shootings within 10 days of an incident, provided there are no credible threats against the officers.

Friday marks 10 days since the shooting.

The fatal police shooting has drawn outrage from some community members in the Mission District. More than 200 people crowded into a town hall meeting Tuesday at Cesar Chavez Elementary School in the neighborhood, shouting at members of the police command staff, including Chief Bill Scott.

At one point, the boisterous crowd erupted into a chant of asesinos, Spanish for killers.

The deadly encounter started around 10:30 p.m. when two people flagged down uniformed officers on Capp Street saying they had been robbed at gunpoint, police said.

Officers spotted the suspect vehicle a block away and pulled it over. The driver, later identified as 19-year-old Victor Navarro-Flores surrendered, but Delgado Duarte refused to get out of the trunk, police said.

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.

Several more officers were called to the scene, including a Spanish-speaking officer who gave commands over a megaphone for Delgado Duarte to show his hands and surrender, the police body camera footage shows.

Police then fired a bean bag round at Delgado Duarte, and moments later hes seen on video shooting toward police. Thats when police unleashed the torrent of gunfire.

After they stopped shooting, police found Navarro-Flores fiancee, 18-year-old Cristina Juarez, and a dog unharmed in the back of the car.

Navarro-Flores pleaded not guilty to second-degree robbery charges and is wearing an ankle monitor as part of his conditional release from jail.In Italys March 4 elections, Italians voted out the old politicians but have no options for replacing them. The election results reveal a political and economic mess Italy needs to overcome.

The elections inconclusive results were not only the reaction of voters dragged down by recession, but also a harbinger of the problems that may yet lay ahead for Europe.

Heres why Americans should take notice of these elections a continent away. While the scale is different, Italy and the United States confront the same issue: Did democracy generate a political system with which people cannot identify? This paradox is kind of a trans-Atlantic trend.

As Italy goes through the institutional steps to form a new government, skepticism, dismay, deep frustration and fear of the future characterizes the mood of the Italian people. It was a sharp blow to the country to defeat the traditional moderate political parties and elect parties with wildly divergent views. If everybody is against everybody now, who is going to lead Italy?

For sure, voters of my boot-shaped country have compromised its political stability.

Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank since 2011, has warned Italy: without political stability, economic growth and development are at stake.

Italian voters, however, are clear: It is the duty of the political parties to offer real governmental solutions.

Italy is going through a radical transformation. The old establishment politicians are out; the anti-establishment forces refuse to partner with each other. The population is disheartened and divided: The North versus the South. This divide mirrors deep-rooted problems, that is, the lack of jobs in the South, which voted for the populist Five Star Movement, and the fury against the influx of new immigrants in the North, which supported the far-right party Lega (or League).

The Italian Parliament will reconvene on March 23. It will take time to negotiate and find middle ground between the two winning parties to form a functioning government in an entirely new political environment.

Currently, the most likely possibility is to form a government whose purpose will be to create specific laws and regulations to ensure the voice of the Italians is heard. The first action should be about changing the electoral process.

For once, Italy was able to raise its voice and shout at the world that the sloppy politics of the last 20 years have led into a blind alley.

Italians still firmly believe in democracy and the power of their elected representatives. The political parties will need to consider the parliament as the ideal place to build alliances and plan concrete steps for the future.After the news that the Berkeley Police Departments failure to test a 2008 rape kit for years may have allowed a suspected Bay Area serial rapist to evade detection, public officials are rightly blasting the department.

But when it comes to untested rape kits, Berkeley is far from alone. Changing this all-too-common practice will require changing more than laws about the timeline for police procedures.

The Berkeley Police Department hasnt offered an explanation for its failure to test the 2008 rape kit.

That evidence from that case  in which a 19-year-old woman and a 15-year-old girl reported being held at gunpoint and sexually assaulted near Berkeley High School  wasnt tested until 2014.

DNA evidence from the 2008 kit matched Keith Kenard Asberry Jr. of Antioch. Asberry has been linked to a staggering number of crimes: the 2005 rape of a 20-year-old woman in El Cerrito, the 2015 sexual assault of a 46-year-old woman in North Berkeley, and the 2015 rape and killing of 37-year-old Randhir Kaur in Albany.

Detecting Asberry as a suspect earlier would have been far easier if the earlier rape kits had been tested.

To their credit, California lawmakers have pushed for laws to ensure timely testing of rape kits for years. Some of them have successfully passed. Still, the backlog remains.

It would be easy to blame the lack of action on police resources.

But the fact that there are tens of thousands of evidence kits sitting untested on shelves across the country speaks to a matter of policing priorities, not funds.

Victims advocates frequently denounce police departments for mishandling investigations. Studies show that police beliefs about what constitutes a credible rape victim can affect their reporting and handling decisions of cases. A police department that doesnt take rape accusations seriously is surely less likely to make testing rape kits a priority.

Fixing the backlog requires police officials to confront police culture. Thats a tall order, and its one thats long overdue.

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.If the horrors of Octobers fires taught us anything, its that extreme weather and ferocious fires are no longer unprecedented or rare. Sadly, they are the new normal.

Rising temperatures, prolonged drought and high winds  all ingredients that make for increased risk of catastrophic fires  are going to be a part of our lives and communities for the foreseeable future. The firestorm that devastated our community last October, and the winter fires and mudslides in Southern California, wont be the last disasters fueled by weather conditions and a warming planet.

In just three months last year, from October to December, California experienced the deadliest wildfires in the states history and the most destructive in terms of acres burned.

Since 2000, we have witnessed 14 of the 20 largest wildfires and 12 of the 20 most destructive wildfires in California history.

That does not mean we will surrender to these growing perils.

Fire chiefs representing communities throughout California have developed firefighting strategies to adapt to these new dangers. Now we are asking Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature for funding in the next state budget to implement these strategies.

Improved weather forecasting and other data now give us much better advanced warning of extreme fire conditions. By quickly moving additional crews from our own departments or neighboring departments into place before these conditions arrive and fires break out, firefighters have a better chance of attacking fires when they are small and manageable, preventing them from growing into uncontrollable mega-fires.

Its a strategy called pre-positioning, and we know it works.

But our Mutual Aid System, through which local communities share firefighting resources, doesnt give us the ability to use pre-positioning effectively. Despite high wind advisories for the North Bay and probability of fires, additional crews were not pre-positioned. Even after fires ignited, our communities received only a fraction of the crews we needed in the initial hours and days to contain the fires and save lives and property.

The Mutual Aid System, designed more than 60 years ago, is a world-class system for sharing life-saving resources. But it is primarily a reactive system, one that mobilizes resources after fires break out or other disasters have already happened. It is not set up to dispatch this same life-saving response before disaster strikes and reimburse fire agencies for their costs of fighting fires outside their jurisdiction.

Thanks to the leadership of state Sen. Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, and other legislators from fire-devastated communities, we have the opportunity to modernize the Mutual Aid System to make it both a proactive and reactive disaster response capability.

Sen. McGuire is asking his colleagues to put an additional $100 million into next years state budget for the Office of Emergency Services so firefighters throughout the state can use the best available firefighting strategies to adjust to the new normal.

We understand this is a significant investment for a proactive firefighting force to be positioned before disaster strikes. But consider what we spend when we simply react to fires  fires that too often have grown into catastrophic blazes in the time it takes to marshal our firefighting resources.

The governor proposes $25 million for the Office of Emergency Services to buy, support and maintain 106 fire engines. He also proposes $160 million for the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection for forest improvement, fire prevention and fuel-reduction.

California spent nearly $1.8 billion battling wildfires last year, and the costs to local governments have not been tallied.

The fires in Northern California generated more than $10 billion in insurance claims, making it the most costly fire disaster in the states history.

And we can never put a monetary value on the 44 souls who lost their lives in the Wine Country fires.

The fearless men and women on the fire lines know the dangers they and their communities face. They also know the best way to fight those battles.

This additional funding will give our first responders the modern tools they need to protect lives and property in the communities they serve.It begins with some fake news. A woman in a pert red dress collapses sideways into the arms of a man in a business suit, who joins his cronies in a shimmying dance of celebration.

As quickly as those things happen theyre reversed, in a magical-thinking moment of collective amnesia. After that unnerving now-you-see-it-now-you-dont feint, News of the World, an ODC/Dance piece seen in its world premiere Thursday, March 15, at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, gets down to some seriously indelible business about men and women.

Choreographer Brenda Way says in a program note that she and her company began rehearsing News before the flood tide unleashed by the fall of Harvey Weinstein and all thats followed. But the 30-minute work, paired on the bill with Ways 2017 What We Carry What We Keep, seems thoroughly steeped in the moment. Keeping the daily news cycle out of the studio, the companys artistic director allows, was impossible.

With the six female dancers dressed in red and five men in dark suits and ties, the battle lines are clearly drawn. There are face-offs and abductions, scenes of the women fighting back against their abusers and others where theyre shamelessly pawed. A scrap of spoken dialogue  You look nice  addressed to the women and inflected in multiple ways by the men as they circle one another, is a capsule account of how corrosive a compliment can be.

In one especially volatile passage that seems to weaponize their bodies, the women enter from the stage left wing in a crab-walking line, legs spread and crotches aimed at the audience. Moments later theyre on their feet and shadow-punching toward the footlights, as if to take on the male gaze lurking out there in the dark.

If a good deal of this News lands with blunt impact, thats very much in sync with the #MeToo drumbeat for change. So is the David Lang score, with its percussive arrythmias and huffing breath sounds, and a visual collage by Doug Argue that turns the masklike faces of Picassos Les Demoiselles dAvignon into glowering witnesses. Subtlety is not in the tool kit here. The dancers are all in, whatever the moment demands.

That said, News of the World does not come off as a simplistic or reductive screed. Along with the victimization and defiance of the women, there are moments of tender sisterhood, when they cluster together in solidarity or gently roll one of their own out of harms way. The men, too, arent merely cartoon villains or snivelers, but people occasionally swallowed up in their own perplexity. They run like mad in place several times, without getting anywhere.

News doesnt represent Way at her choreographic best; the opening What We Carry What We Keep is consistently richer and more suggestive in its imagery, patterns and ideas. News is instead purpose driven. And the purpose comes through.

In What We Carry, the beguiling ODC dancers, dressed in a thrift shop tumble of stripes and plaids, engage each other in a wonderfully inventive series of encounters. Hauling each other around like unwieldy pieces of stiff-limbed furniture or heavy sacks of grain, they also lever each other up in feats of conjoined force. The piece is about retaining what matters, a notion strongly bodied forth in the way the dancers affectionately and creatively value each other. They were all delightful to watch on opening night, with Rachel Furst one standout, as willowy and supple as a tree in a breeze, bending but never breaking.

Steven Winn is The San Francisco Chronicles former arts and culture critic.

Dance Around Town: What We Carry What We Keep and News of the World. ODC/Dance. Choreography by Brenda Way. Through Sunday, March 18. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 700 Howard St., San Francisco. $25-$80. (415) 978-2787, www.odc.danceA 32-year-old man and a 28-year-old woman were shot and injured outside a Santa Rosa apartment early Saturday morning, police said.

Santa Rosa police responded at 6:04 a.m. to reports of gunshot victims on the 2300 block of Corby Avenue. They found a man and the woman in a strangers apartment, where theyd fled after being shot, and provided medical assistance until paramedics could arrive.

The woman had a gunshot wound in her leg and the man had gunshot wounds in his leg and foot, police said. Both victims were taken to a hospital for treatment but none of the wounds are considered life-threatening.

They were shot outside of the apartment where they took shelter, police said. No arrests have been made in the case.

At this time the victims are not cooperating with the investigation, police said in a statement.MIAMI  Hours before the collapse of a pedestrian bridge at Florida International University on Thursday, the engineering company for the bridge held a meeting to discuss a crack on the structure, according to a statement from the university released Saturday.

The engineering company, Figg Bridge Engineers, delivered a technical presentation on the crack, and concluded there were no safety concerns and the crack did not compromise the structural integrity of the bridge, the statement said.

The construction manager on the project and representatives from the university and the state Transportation Department attended the two-hour meeting, which was led by Figgs lead engineer on the project, W. Denney Pate.

Two days earlier, Pate left a voice mail message for the Transportation Department about some cracking thats been observed on the north end of the bridge, according to a recording from the department released Friday. At both the meeting and in his message, Pate said the cracking did not present any safety issues.

The Transportation Department said the message was not heard until Friday morning.

At no point during their communications, the department said, did Figg or any member of the FIU design-build team ever communicate a life-safety issue.

Whether the cracking contributed to the collapse, which killed at least six people in their cars on the eight-lane street below the bridge, remains a key question in the investigation.

Construction crews were working on a diagonal beam at the north end of the structure at or about the time of the collapse, according to information the National Transportation Safety Board provided to local members of Congress. Workers were tightening cables that ran inside the beam.

Such adjustments are common in concrete designs to fine-tune the structure once it is in place. In this case, however, it was not clear whether the cable-tightening was routine or an urgent undertaking in response to the discovery of the crack in the bridge.

Witnesses said the collapse appeared to start near the north end. But no one, including the NTSB, has so far placed any blame for the collapse on the cables or cable-tightening work.

By Saturday evening, recovery crews extracted three crushed vehicles from under the rubble.

At least three vehicles remain trapped under the bridge. The number of known victims had not changed, said Maurice Kemp, deputy mayor of Miami-Dade County.

One of the six victims, Navarro Brown, was part of the crew working on the bridge and died at a hospital. The Police Department identified one victim in the first vehicle, Roland Fraga Hernandez, and two in the second vehicle, Oswald Gonzalez, 57, and Alberto Arias, 53. Another, Alexa Duran, who is presumed dead in her car, was a freshman at FIU.WASHINGTON  Andrew McCabe, the onetime FBI deputy director long scorned by President Trump and just fired by the attorney general, kept personal memos detailing interactions with the president that have been provided to the special counsels office and are similar to the notes compiled by dismissed FBI chief James Comey, the Associated Press has learned.

The memos could factor into Special Counsel Robert Muellers investigation as his team examines Trump campaign ties to Russia and possible obstruction of justice.

McCabes memos include details of his own interactions with the president, according to a person with direct knowledge of the situation who wasnt authorized to discuss the notes publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. They also recount different conversations he had with Comey, who kept notes on meetings with Trump that unnerved him.

Though the precise contents are unknown, the memos possibly could help substantiate McCabes assertion that he was unfairly maligned by a White House he says had declared war on the FBI and Muellers investigation.

The disclosure Saturday came hours after Trump called McCabes firing by Attorney General Jeff Sessions a great day for Democracy and asserted without elaboration that McCabe knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels off the FBI!

That sent former CIA Director John Brennan, an outspoken Trump critic, into a Twitter tizzy: When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history.

Sessions said he acted on the recommendation of FBI disciplinary officials who said McCabe had not been candid with a watchdog office investigation. McCabe was fired two days before his retirement date.

Also Saturday, Trumps personal lawyer, John Dowd, cited the brilliant and courageous example by Sessions and the FBIs Office of Professional Responsibility and said Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein should bring an end to the Russia investigation manufactured by Comey.LONDON  As the upstart voter-profiling company Cambridge Analytica prepared to wade into the 2014 U.S. midterm elections, it had a problem.

The firm had secured a $15 million investment from Robert Mercer, the wealthy Republican donor, and wooed his political adviser, Steve Bannon, with the promise of tools that could identify the personalities of U.S. voters and influence their behavior. But it did not have the data to make its new products work.

So the firm harvested private information from the Facebook profiles of more than 50 million users without their permission, according to former Cambridge employees, associates and documents, making it one of the largest data leaks in the social networks history. The breach allowed the company to exploit the private social media activity of a huge swath of the U.S. electorate, developing techniques that underpinned its work on President Trumps campaign in 2016.

An examination by the New York Times and the Observer of London reveals how Cambridge Analyticas drive to bring to market a potentially powerful new weapon put the firm  and wealthy conservative investors seeking to reshape politics  under scrutiny from investigators and lawmakers on both sides of the Atlantic.

Christopher Wylie, who helped found Cambridge and worked there until late 2014, said of its leaders: Rules dont matter for them. For them, this is a war, and its all fair.

They want to fight a culture war in America, he added. Cambridge Analytica was supposed to be the arsenal of weapons to fight that culture war.

Details of Cambridges acquisition and use of Facebook data have surfaced in several accounts since the business began working on the 2016 campaign, setting off a furious debate about the merits of the firms psychographic modeling techniques.

But the full scale of the data leak involving Americans has not been previously disclosed  and Facebook, until now, has not acknowledged it. Interviews with a half-dozen former employees and contractors, and a review of the firms emails and documents, have revealed that Cambridge not only relied on the private Facebook data but also still possesses most or all of the trove.

Cambridge paid to acquire the personal information through an outside researcher who, Facebook says, claimed to be collecting it for academic purposes.

During a week of inquiries from the Times, Facebook downplayed the scope of the leak and questioned whether any of the data still remained out of its control. But Friday, the company posted a statement expressing alarm and promising to take action.

This was a scam  and a fraud, Paul Grewal, a vice president and deputy general counsel at the social network, said in a statement to the Times earlier Friday. He added that the company was suspending Cambridge Analytica, Wylie and the researcher, Aleksandr Kogan, a Russian-American academic, from Facebook. We will take whatever steps are required to see that the data in question is deleted once and for all  and take action against all offending parties, Grewal said.

Alexander Nix, the chief executive of Cambridge Analytica, and other officials had repeatedly denied obtaining or using Facebook data, most recently during a parliamentary hearing last month. But in a statement to the Times, the company acknowledged that it had acquired the data, though it blamed Kogan for violating Facebooks rules and said it had deleted the information as soon as it learned of the problem two years ago.

In Britain, Cambridge Analytica is facing intertwined investigations by Parliament and government regulators into allegations that it performed illegal work on the Brexit campaign. The country has strict privacy laws, and its information commissioner announced Saturday that she was looking into whether the Facebook data was illegally acquired and used.

In the United States, Mercers daughter, Rebekah, a board member, Bannon and Nix received warnings from their lawyer that it was illegal to employ foreigners in political campaigns, according to company documents and former employees.

Congressional investigators have questioned Nix about the companys role in the Trump campaign. And the Justice Departments special counsel, Robert Mueller, has demanded the emails of Cambridge Analytica employees who worked for the Trump team as part of his investigation into Russian interference in the election.

While the substance of Muellers interest is a closely guarded secret, documents viewed by the Times indicate that the firms British affiliate claims to have worked in Russia and Ukraine. And the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, disclosed in October that Nix had reached out to him during the campaign in hopes of obtaining private emails belonging to Trumps Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.

The documents also raise new questions about Facebook, which is already grappling with intense criticism over the spread of Russian propaganda and fake news. The data Cambridge collected from profiles, a portion of which was viewed by the Times, included details on users identities, friend networks and likes.

Protecting peoples information is at the heart of everything we do, Grewal said. No systems were infiltrated, and no passwords or sensitive pieces of information were stolen or hacked.

Still, he added, its a serious abuse of our rules.1 Mall slaying: A man argued with his former wife Saturday at a Southern California mall before fatally shooting her and turning the gun on himself, authorities said, leading shoppers to run into stores and out the exits. The man went to a store at the Oaks mall in Thousand Oaks (Ventura County) and argued with the 30-year-old victim before shooting her, sheriffs Sgt. Eric Buschow said. The 33-year-old gunman was taken to a hospital in critical condition, officials said. Their identities were not immediately released.

2 Sexual misconduct: A Salvadoran woman who said a guard groped her inside a Texas immigration detention facility has been released, advocates said. Laura Monterrosa-Flores was released from the facility outside of Austin, where she had been held for months, Grassroots Leadership organizer Bethany Carson said Saturday. The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which had sued on Monterrosa-Flores behalf, said in a statement that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security agreed to release her under deferred action, which provides individuals temporary relief from deportation. The FBI has opened a civil rights investigation into Monterrosa-Flores case.WASHINGTON  President Trump is considering broad tariffs on imports from China and an announcement could come as soon as this week. Industry groups and some lawmakers are racing to prevent a new front in a potential trade war that could reverberate across the U.S. economy.

Early indications from the White House have officials braced for tariffs across a wide variety of consumer goods, from apparel to electronics, and even on imported parts for products made in the U.S. The size and scope remain under debate, but the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is warning that annual tariffs of as much as $60 billion on Chinese goods would be devastating.

Trumps focus on China could be even more consequential, both at home and abroad, than the recently announced penalty tariffs on steel and aluminum. And amid the staff turmoil at the White House, its being read as a sign of rising influence for the administrations populist economic aides, led by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and adviser Peter Navarro.

Even Larry Kudlow  an avowed free trader tapped to replace Gary Cohn as director of the White House National Economic Council  has said that China deserves a tough response from the United States and its friends. He told CNBC last week, The United States could lead a coalition of large trading partners and allies against China.

But with these tariffs, the Trump administration appears so far to be content to go it alone.

On Friday, the National Retail Federation, which recently hosted industry groups to organize opposition to another round of tariffs, convened a conference call to update its members. Theyre all concerned about this, said David French, vice president for government relations. Tariffs are a tax on consumers and theyre best used sparingly as tools.

Trade experts and economists say the tariffs could lead to rising prices for U.S. consumers and businesses without accomplishing one of the presidents stated goals: reducing last years trade imbalance of $566 billion.

China, the largest source of the trade imbalance, would likely respond to any tariffs by retaliating with higher import taxes on U.S. goods, among other possible restrictions.

They signaled that they will aim at things that affect the United States politically as well as economically, said Claude Barfield, a scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute and former consultant with the U.S. trade representative.

The farmer in Kansas or Iowa could feel it, he said. U.S. high tech companies could feel it because the supply chains for iPhones go through China.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill, who have largely been shut out of administration deliberations, fear tariffs would stunt economic benefits in the U.S. that could be stemming from the GOP tax cuts.

Republican leaders, including House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, have urged the administration to target tariffs as narrowly as possible, away from U.S. allies and focused on countries engaged in over-production and product dumping.

Republicans in Congress largely opposed Trumps steel and aluminum tariffs and are working with the administration on a process for allowing waivers or carve outs for certain countries or types of metals, beyond the exemption the White House is allowing for Canada and Mexico.New York

It's conventional wisdom on a block in Manhattan's East Village that the Hells Angels bikers at a notorious local headquarters there aren't necessarily horrible neighbors  but just don't do anything to disturb the bikes parked outside.

A man from Spring Valley, Rockland County, learned that lesson the hard way earlier this week when he tried to move one of the orange traffic cones the bikers used to hold curbside parking spots. The outsider ended up in the hospital with a gunshot wound, setting off the latest dust up between police and the motorcycle club.

With the secretive group refusing to help investigators identify the shooter, patrol officers swept onto the mostly residential block this week and ticketed the tenement building it owns for petty offenses that had previously been ignored: installing an unauthorized bench, planters and a motorcycle ramp on the sidewalk outside the front door. All were removed the same day, with the New York Police Department saying it was merely responding to civilian complaints.

And the cones? They were taken, too, tossed into the back of a police cruiser.

"I don't know how they got away with the parking thing in the first place," Megan McNally, a 26-year-old paralegal from Brooklyn who once lived in the neighborhood, said a couple of days later as she walked by the club. "And then somebody has to get shot over it?"

On this day, six motorcycles  three on each side  were parked in rows in front of the clubhouse, apparently legally.

Asked about the shooting, three merchants along the block mostly shrugged it off. They said that the Hells Angels kept to themselves and that their claim on one of New York's rarest commodities  parking  had been quietly accepted for years.

"It's all about staying away from the bikes," one said.

Still, all spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity for fear of running afoul of their neighbors at 77 East Third St.

A reporter's knocks on the door went unanswered at the apartment building the Hells Angels have occupied since 1969, an era when the East Village's future as a high-rent district was unthinkable. Over the years, the tattooed, Harley-riding members gained a reputation for being the block bullies  hosting rowdy parties, harassing passers-by and clashing with authorities.Police in the South Bay this week arrested four suspects in a 2016 street killing of two brothers in downtown San Jose, officials said Friday.

The suspects, identified as San Jose residents Peter Sanchez, 38; Christopher Ruby, 22; Richard Martinez, 29; and Carlos Hernandez, 41, each was charged with two counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder by the Santa Clara County district attorneys office.

The arrests come more than a year and a half after brothers Arturo and Michael Ramirez were gunned down on a street in downtown San Jose.

Police were called around 8:45 p.m. on Aug. 21, 2016, to the 900 block of South Eighth Street, where they discovered the brothers suffering from gunshot wounds. Two other men, who were not named, fled the gunfire at the scene and survived.

Michael Ramirez, 27, was pronounced dead at the scene. Paramedics took 36-year-old Arturo Ramirez to a hospital where he succumbed to his wounds.

Police did not elaborate on the circumstances or a motive for the killings, but quietly began developing leads in the slayings. They eventually obtained warrants for the alleged killers and began making arrests this week.

Authorities believe the attack was gang related.

Police arrested Sanchez in San Jose and Ruby in Milpitas on Wednesday. The next day, they arrested Martinez in San Jose. Hernandez was already in custody for another crime.

All four suspects are being held in Santa Clara County Jail without bail.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact Detective Sgt. Michael Montonye or Detective Elizabeth Ramirez of the San Jose Police Departments Homicide Unit at (408) 277-5283.This is probably the best symbolic image for the summer. Tearing down the lanterns in Tenmonkan. They were put up back in June as part of...Attorneys for Pacific Gas and Electric Co. blamed local government entities in the North Bay for possibly causing or exacerbating Octobers devastating wildfires in a court filing Friday  deflecting blame as lawsuits pile up against the utility giant.

The court filing, one of several submitted Friday by PG&E, comes in response to the numerous lawsuits seeking to hold the utility liable for the catastrophic fires. While scores of private citizens have sued PG&E, several counties, including Sonoma, Napa and Mendocino, have also filed legal action against the utility.

PG&Es attorneys shot back at the government jurisdictions Friday, saying in court papers that it was the lack of reliable timely and coordinated awareness from the counties affected by the fires that may have, and likely did, cause or exacerbate any alleged injuries, losses or damages.

The California Office of Emergency Services found as much last month in a report that said emergency managers in Sonoma County were unprepared to warn people when the firestorm hit.

Investigators have yet to determine the cause for the swarm of wildfires that broke out in Californias Wine Country and beyond on Oct. 8, but public attention has focused on PG&E and its equipment as the possible cause.

And even if investigators ultimately find that PG&E did nothing wrong but determine that its equipment still ignited the flames that spread uncontrolled for days, killing more than 40 people and leveling thousands of homes, the utility could still be on the hook for more than $1 billion in damages.

Thats because of the legal concept of inverse condemnation, in which a public agency often has to pay up if its equipment causes damage or injuries.

PG&E has been fighting the idea, saying inverse condemnation isnt applicable to a privately owned utility with rates set by a regulatory body.

Under this doctrine, PG&E could be liable for damages and attorneys fees even if we followed established inspection and safety rules and had done nothing wrong, PG&E spokesman Keith Stephens wrote in an email to The Chronicle on Friday. This would ultimately harm all of our customers and the future of our state. Its the wrong approach.

Fridays filing is the latest in what is expected to be a protracted legal battle. Proceedings for the lawsuits are being worked out and consolidated in San Francisco Superior Court.A father who was picked up by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents near a Novato school Wednesday was removed to Guatemala in 2007 and illegally re-entered the country, an ICE spokeswoman said this afternoon.

"ICE deportation officers identified the target, Hilcias David Garcia Vicente, a 35-year-old Guatemalan national, before he arrived at a school in Novato, but the officers neither approached nor took custody of the target until he had departed school grounds and was well out of sight of the school," Lori K. Haley, an ICE spokeswoman, said in an email.

"Garcia was previously removed to Guatemala in 2007 and illegally re-entered the United States on an unknown date at an unknown location," Haley said.

Novato Unified School District Superintendent Jim Hogeboom, who criticized ICE's action, said the father drove to and dropped off his child at the Loma Verde Elementary School and drove away.

Hogeboom said, however, the father was pulled over not too far from the school in view of people walking or driving their children to the school located at 399 Alameda De La Loma.

The immigrant community is "scared and afraid," Hogeboom said.

"It's the first time a parent of a student was arrested in close proximity of a school," Hogeboom added. "It's shameful. We educate all students. We don't ask for documentation.

"Having ICE activity occur so close to schools is shameful and creates panic and fear. It may keep parents from sending their children to school and will hurt our attendance. It's deplorable," Hogeboom said.

School district officials do not know who the student's family is.

Haley emphasized Garcia was well out of sight of the school when he was taken into custody for re-entering the United States.

Haley said ICE and it's Enforcement and Removal Operations deportation officers conduct routine targeted immigration enforcement daily in California and the United States.

"They do so in accordance with immigration laws and ICE policy, including the agency's policy regarding enforcement at locations considered sensitive like churches, schools and hospitals," Haley said.

"ICE focuses its enforcement resources on individuals who pose a threat to national security, public safety and border security. However, as ICE leadership has made clear, ICE will not exempt classes or categories of removable aliens from potential enforcement.

"All of those in violation of the immigration laws may be subject to immigration arrest, detention and - if found removable by final order - removal from the United States," Haley said.

###

337-9672UAE-based Lamprell, a provider of fabrication, engineering and contracting services, has announced that construction work at its new joint venture maritime yard at Ras Al Khair in eastern Saudi Arabia is under way.



The joint venture company, International Maritime Industries Company (IMI) , is a partnership between Lamprell, Saudi Aramco, the National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia and Hyundai Heavy Industries.



Lamprell said that IMI has completed the conditions of entering into an agreement with the proposed government lender, the Saudi Industrial Development Fund. This agreement, along with previously announced offtake agreements and the significant investment made by the Saudi government in the infrastructure of the yard, is "expected be a cornerstone for the success of the IMI yard", the statement said.



"The construction process at the site is under way with dredging and associated activities in progress," the statement said. The partners have made their first capital contribution to the project, with Lamprell investing $20 million last year. The companys anticipated total equity contribution over the construction period is up to $140 million.



One of the offtake agreements provides for 20 jackup rigs to be ordered by ARO Drilling from the IMI yard over the next 10 years. Prior to the jackup rig construction zone of the maritime yard becoming operational, significant component parts of the first two rigs are expected to be subcontracted to Lamprell's UAE facilities. ARO Drilling and the IMI have recently selected the LJ43 rig design collaboratively developed by Lamprell and GustoMSC, a leading design and engineering company of mobile offshore units and associated equipment.



The companys CEO, Christopher McDonald, said, "Lamprell has been working closely with its partners on the establishment of the IMI business over the past few months and we are very pleased to see such tangible progress towards the operational phase, now that the conditions under the shareholders' agreement have been completed.



We are proud to be part of this major project as IMI has the capability of becoming a leading regional and global service provider to the rig and vessel markets. A very welcome progress is also the selection of our new LJ43 jackup rig designed with GustoMSC for the rigs under the offtake agreement; this will further strengthen Lamprell's position in our traditional market."  TradeArabia News ServiceSAN BRUNO (BCN)

Officers arrested a man on Wednesday in San Bruno on suspicion of driving under the influence and possession of cocaine, police said.

Christian Navarette, 31, of San Bruno, was arrested and booked into the county jail on suspicion of crimes related to driving under the influence, driving with a suspended driver's license and possessing a controlled substance for sale, police said.

The case began when police made a traffic stop around 10:42 p.m. in the area of Kains and Mills avenues. An investigation revealed that Navarette was allegedly driving under the influence and on a license that had been suspended for a prior DUI conviction, according to police.

###SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

The San Francisco Board of Education Tuesday voted to approve a spending plan that would use $73.3 million of voter-approved funds for a wide variety of programs at city schools.

The Public Education Enrichment Fund Expenditure Plan Proposal for the 2018-2019 school year includes $4.2 million more than the previous school year, which San Francisco Unified School District officials said shows their growing investment in providing targeted programs to students.

Programs expected to benefit from the funding include the African American Achievement Leadership Initiative; Vision 2025, Our Children; Our Families Outcomes Framework; the School Quality Improvement Index; and Impact Learning, Impact Lives. Money will also go to more than 200 art teachers, librarians, and physical education teachers in addition to resources for supporting homeless students.

"The increases in programs and services made possible by the Public Education Enrichment Fund benefit every student in every San Francisco public school," school district Superintendent Vincent Matthews said in a statement.

"We are immensely grateful to San Francisco voters who have continued to show their support of public education. Thanks to this fund, our public schools offer more arts, physical education, library services and student support than any other large urban school district in the state," Matthews said.

According to the school district, the fund is credited with allowing the school district to hire more social workers, nurses, credentialed librarians and credentialed physical education teachers at the elementary school level.

Additionally the fund has made it possible for the district to offer more credit recovery courses, allowing students to get back on track and graduate on time.

The Public Education Enrichment Fund was established after San Francisco voters passed a charter amendment in 2004 to use taxpayer money to help supplement the district's school programs. In 2014, voters approved to extend the fund through 2041.

The $73.3 million granted to the school district represent two-thirds of the total fund allocation. The remaining one-third supports universal Pre-K and is managed by the city's Office of Early Care and Education, school district officials said.

###A service will be held next week for a Marin County sheriff's deputy who died in a solo-vehicle crash early Thursday morning in the west part of the county, sheriff's officials said.

A service for 24-year-old Ryan Zirkle of Petaluma is scheduled for 11 a.m. Friday at the Marin Center at 10 Avenue of the Flags in San Rafael.

Zirkle lost control of his vehicle on a left turn on state Highway 1 just north of Point Reyes Station Road shortly after midnight, California Highway Patrol spokesman Andrew Barclay said.

The vehicle went off an embankment on the right side of the road and struck a tree.

Zirkle was hired as a deputy in December 2015. He was assigned to the Point Reyes substation.

Marin County Sheriff Robert Doyle said someone called 911 to report signs of a traffic accident and then hung up.

Doyle said Zirkle had not been heard from for several minutes so his partner was dispatched to investigate and discovered the crash.

First-responders needed 35 minutes to remove Zirkle from his vehicle. He was flown to Petaluma Valley Hospital where he died.

Doyle said Zirkle grew up and attended schools in Novato and attended Sacramento State University.

He was described as a happy, enthusiastic, positive man who wanted to serve the community.

Zirkle's fiancie was out of town at the time of the crash and her father returned her to Marin County. Zirkle recently bought her a home in Petaluma, Doyle said.

###The name of the first sheriff's deputy to respond to a deadly hostage standoff last week in Yountville was released today by the Napa County sheriff's officials.

Senior Deputy Steve Lombardi was the first deputy on the scene at the Veterans Home of California at 620 California Drive where shots were heard at about 10:20 a.m.SAN JOSE (BCN)

Family and community members rallied in support of Mexican immigrant this afternoon in front of San Jose City Hall just three days before a decision on whether he is deported to Mexico or allowed to return to his home in San Jose with his family.

His wife Lourdes Barraza and two of their daughters stood by local faith and county leaders as they sang, spoke on his behalf and read letters sent to an immigration judge that speak for his character in hopes he will be released from the West County Detention Facility in Richmond, where he has been since October.

Immigrant Fernando Carrillo was on his way to drop his youngest daughter off at daycare one morning when U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement agents followed him from his home to the daycare and arrested him, his wife said.

Barraza said in an article which appeared on Medium that she wrote just a month after his detainment that Carrillo had noticed a couple of cars following him and pulled into a shopping center. He was immediately surrounded by ICE officers and was taken to San Francisco, and later that night, to Richmond.

Carrillo's wife and daughters were devastated because he had been deported once before in 2012. That time he was picked up on a Friday and transferred to Tijuana by Sunday, Barraza said.

"I couldn't believe it could all be happening again," she said.

The immigration judge asked for a three-week extension to make the decision on Carrillo's immigration status when Carrillo appeared in court on Feb. 26.

Barraza said that the judge stated that he had never seen so much evidence in favor of a defendant, so she was confused why her husband had not yet been able to come back to their home in San Jose.

"Judge Park doesn't understand that these three weeks are like an eternity for our family," Barraza said. "We all feel that we are also prisoners with Fernando; we have not been able to go on with our lives as we should."

Barraza and her eldest daughter Isabella, 15, spoke of the emotional and financial tolls that the detainment of Carrillo has taken on them.

"I've come to worry about things that I shouldn't have to, such as where we are going to be living in the next few months or how my mom will come up with rent," the teenager said.

Isabella said that she has completely disconnected with friends and family and had a hard time relating to people at school, causing her to pursue home schooling since her father was put in detention.

Barraza said in her blog post that she knows Isabella needs therapy because of the absence of her father from their household, but she cannot afford it. On the same token, deporting Carrillo means that the government would be deporting their whole family, since he supported them, she said.

Teachers of the couple's 11-year-old and 4-year-old daughters both spoke through shared letters about how bubbly the children were before their father was arrested, but how they can physically see that it has changed their attitudes and weakened their well-beings.

Two of Carrillo's former employers and one teacher at his daughter's preschool sent in statements which were read aloud that, as Barraza said, did not label him as a criminal in an effort to lock him up which she believes is what has happened to a lot of immigrants in recent months.

The comments described Carrillo as a family man who worked hard to be able to provide for his household, always enthusiastic when he got to speak about his wife and daughters to friends and family and willing to help out in any situation, whether that was fixing a technical problem or providing an extra hand in his daughter's classroom.

One of the employers, who was not named by Barraza when she read the testimony aloud, is a former immigrant from Vietnam and a 24-year veteran of the San Jose Police Department.

Since Carrillo's arrest, an online petition has garnered nearly 4,000 signatures and more than 500 people have called to ask for his release, according to a representative from Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, the organization that sponsored today's rally.

"Already we have seen in other cases such as Floricel Liborio, who was released this week from nearly a year of detention, that higher courts and community members have been holding immigration judges accountable," Sarah Lee with Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity said.

"We are here to send a message to Judge Park that he can stand on the right side of history," Lee said.

Maricela Gutierrez of the community-driven organization Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network came and spoke of the resources that SIREN offers immigrants including free legal clinics on Wednesdays and the opportunity to have general immigration questions answered on Thursday.

Also, SIREN has a Rapid Response phone line that can be texted to get information about ICE activity and immigrant rights. The services are available by texting "SIREN" to (201) 468-6088.

"What kind of message are we sending to the community if one day your neighbor is welcome and the next day they are not?" Gutierrez said. She asked Judge Park to "have a conscience, have a heart, and think about the ramifications that a decision can have."

Lee said that if Carrillo is freed on Monday the group plans on going to the detention facility to welcome him back home, but if he remains there "everyone will need some time to heal."

###OAKLAND (BCN)

A group of East Oakland residents will conduct a "trash tour" and stop at Mayor Libby Schaaf's home on Saturday morning to highlight what it alleges are unequal services in the city's low-income and high-income areas.

Residents in "flatland" neighborhoods who have come together under the banner of the "East Oakland Congress of Neighborhoods" say they will meet at 10 a.m. on Saturday to take local officials on a driving tour of some of the city's more affluent neighborhoods to make it clear that they expect Schaaf to take action to remedy the dumping and potholes that plague the streets of East Oakland.

They say they are fed up with the hazardous and unsanitary conditions in their neighborhoods and other stops in the tour include underserved locations in East Oakland.

Enrique Martinez, who lives in City Council District 7, said in a statement, "We've been dealing with these issues for years. We pay taxes just like people in the mayor's neighborhood."

Martinez asked, "So why do our children have to walk over piles of filth to get to school?"

Andre Spearman, a District 5 resident who's a leader of the East Oakland Congress of Neighborhoods, said, "We are tired of cleaning up trash that the city should take care of. We want to tell the mayor and other elected officials that enough is enough - do your job!"

The trash tour will begin at the office of Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment at 2501 International Blvd.

Tour organizers say Schaaf and other elected officials, including Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley and Councilmembers Noel Gallo, Abel Guillen, Desley Brooks, and Rebecca Kaplan, have been invited to attend the tour.

They said all but Gallo and Schaaf have confirmed their attendance.

Members of the East Oakland Congress of Neighborhoods, who live in Districts 2, 5, 6 and 7, say they have come together to strengthen their impact and influence on the issues that most affect their lives.

In 2017, the congress held "peoples' assemblies" that brought together more than 800 residents to create an East Oakland agenda that addresses their deepest concerns.

Spearman said, "We know that we are stronger together. All of our flatland neighborhoods face the same problems, whatever district we live in or whatever language we speak."

###BERKELEY (BCN)

A small group of roughly 10 activists gathered near Berkeley's old City Hall building late this afternoon in protest of an operation conducted this morning by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in which at least one person was taken into custody.

ICE officials said one person was arrested by Homeland Security Investigations, a division of ICE that investigates criminal offenses, but activists with By Any Means Necessary said there may have been as many as three detained -- and ICE has faced recent criticism for misleading public officials and members of the media as well as the general public.

Similar statements were made by the Oakland Police Department when they assisted ICE in raiding a home in West Oakland in Aug. 2017 in connection with an alleged human trafficking case. No criminal charges were filed as a result of that operation, but one individual was placed into "removal proceedings," the term ICE uses for the process by which undocumented immigrants are deported.

The incident prompted the Oakland City Council to double down on the town's sanctuary city status, prohibiting the police department from assisting ICE in any way, including traffic control -- and ultimately led to an official complaint against Chief Anne Kirkpatrick for her role in approving that assistance.

The name of the person or people arrested in Berkeley this morning have not been disclosed, nor have the specific time and location of the ICE operation, but it appears to have taken place just south of the downtown area, according to BAMN.

"They did it in a neighborhood that was right near the UC campus," group spokeswoman Yvette Felarca said. "But also just blocks away from Berkeley High School, too.

"We're out here today because we want to inform and warn the community that ICE was here, and that they've been terrorizing and have arrested immigrants in our community," Felarca said.

BAMN is building a "don't walk on by" defense campaign to help people effectively alert the public about ICE raids taking place in their communities by verifying that the law enforcement agents at the scene do in fact work for ICE, rather than another local or federal agency, and taking a picture that clearly depicts the officers' vehicles, agency insignias and uniforms if applicable. That evidence, along with the specific time and location at which the picture was taken, can then be forwarded to BAMN at california@bamn.com or by calling (510) 817-2617.

"Stop, don't walk on by," Felarca said. "Use your voice, start to yell, start a chant, get everyone who can to come join you.

"If we can get enough people, if they actually do try to arrest or kidnap anyone, then we're urging everybody to unite together and find whatever ways that you can to impede ICE's ability to take that person away," Felarca said.

Specifically, Felarca suggested blocking the path of any vehicle being used to transport individuals that ICE has detained.

Felarca has emerged as a controversial figure in the anti-facist movement after a series of occasionally violent encounters at alt-right rallies in Berkeley and elsewhere in Northern California. She currently has assault charges pending in Sacramento County, but has not yet entered a plea and has filed a motion to have those charges dropped.

Her next court appearance is scheduled for April 20.

732-4213

Berkeley police (510) 981-5900

Karina Ioffee for Mayor Arreguin (510) 981-7100

Yvette Felarca for BAMN (510) 696-0161SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

Police have identified the ten San Francisco police officers who opened fire a total of 99 times at an allegedly armed 19-year-old, fatally striking him about 25 times, last week in the city's Mission District.

The officers have been identified as Stephen Cassinelli, Corbyn Carroll, Loren Chiu, John Ishida, Juan Gustilo, Nicholas Nagai, Sean O'Rourke, Colby Smets, Ari Smith-Russack and Joshua Tupper, according to police.

Police did not say how long each of the officers has been with the department.

The ten officers opened fire at Jesus Adolfo Delgado-Duarte, as he lay in the trunk of a Honda Civic, after he allegedly shot first, police said.

The March 6 shooting unfolded when two people said they had been robbed at gunpoint by the occupants of a black Honda Civic. After locating a vehicle matching that description on Capp Street near 21st Street around 10:35 p.m., officers ordered all of the Honda's occupants out.

Victor Navarro-Flores, 19, eventually exited the driver's seat and officers detained him.

Officers then ordered Delgado-Duarte out of a halfway open trunk, where he allegedly was hiding. After yelling several commands at him, first in English and then in Spanish, officers fired a beanbag round at him.

A short time later, Delgado-Duarte fired a gun from inside the trunk, according to police.

In response, the 10 officers fired their weapons at him, killing him. Delgado-Duarte was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

After the shooting, an 18-year-old woman who was still inside the car was ordered out and detained. She was apparently uninjured.

Police said officers recovered a 9mm handgun from the Honda's trunk.

Several community groups have expressed outrage over the shooting. Mission-based activist group Justice for Luis Gongora Pat has specifically asked SFPD to release the police audio of the incident and the names of all the officers involved, including the officer who gave Delgado-Duarte the commands in Spanish.

According to Delgado-Duarte's family, he had lived most of life in San Francisco, coming from Mexico when he was young and attending Bryant Elementary School, Aptos Middle School and Life Learning Academy.

The Honda's driver, Navarro Flores, is being charged with robbery and made an appearance in court this morning. He is out of custody and was wearing an ankle monitor. He has not entered a plea.

Delgado-Duarte's death is being investigated by several agencies including the Police Department's homicide detail and internal affairs division, the San Francisco District Attorney's Office and the Department of Police Accountability.

###A total of 540 companies from 95 countries are participating in Dubai World Dermatology and Laser Conference and Exhibition (Dubai Derma) opening on Monday (March 19) in Dubai, UAE.



The 18th edition of the event dedicated to dermatology, skin care and laser is expected to attract over 15,000 visitors at the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre.



The three-day conference and exhibition, occupying 11,500 sq m is set to play host to 265 expert speakers, specialists of skin health from the region and the world while also featuring 72 workshops, 164 scientific sessions and 70 poster presentations. In addition, delegates and participants attending the premier global skin conference will have the opportunity to gain 18 CME Credit Hours from the UAE University.



For the first time this year, Dubai Derma 2018 will jointly be held in conjunction with the 11th Asian Dermatological Congress by the Asian Dermatological Association while also hosting the first ever session of the American Academy of Dermatology in the Middle East, (AAD), which is the worlds largest dermatologic society representing 19,000 physicians.



Dubai Derma will also be hosting the presidents of the five biggest Dermatology Associations in the world to take part in the event including: the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD), the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV), the Asian Dermatological Association (ADA), the Indian Association of Dermatologists, Venereologists and Leprologists (IADVL) and the 24th World Congress of Dermatology (WCD).



Dr Ibrahim Galadari, professor of Dermatology at the UAE University, and conference chairman of Dubai Derma said: I am delighted to announce that the 11th Asian Dermatological Congress by Asian Dermatological Association (ADA) will be held in conjunction with Dubai Derma 2018 on March 19-21 at the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Center.



Dubai Derma will bring together eminent speakers from the region and around the globe covering a wide spectrum of themes affecting the world of dermatology. The Dubai Derma scientific program features a four-day pre-conference course, conference program, workshops and live demonstrations exemplifying novel cosmetic and dermatological procedures.



In addition, the American Academy of Dermatology - AAD will have their own first session internationally and Dubai Derma fully appreciates the upmost support and collaboration with AAD. Dubai Derma provides all dermatology colleagues worldwide with a vibrant platform to update their knowledge, explore new advances in the dermatological and technological field, and foster closer ties, he added.



"The members and council of the Asian Dermatological Association are looking forward to participating in this 18th Dubai Derma 2018 Conference which is in collaboration with our very own 11th Asian Dermatological Congress (ADC). The last time the ADC was held in Dubai was 26 years ago. This joint event promises to be a world-class educational and multi-cultural highlight of our International Dermatologic Community. I invite all friends and colleagues to be a part of this most anticipated event of the year," said Dr Steven Chow, president of the Asian Dermatological Association.



Dubai Derma, this year, will dedicate two full days for Case Report Presentation and Competition, in order to encourage dermatology researches in the region and abroad, wherein dermatologists and resident doctors from different countries will be present to showcase their case reports. Moreover, a poster presentation competition will offer a unique opportunity for researchers in the UAE and abroad to present their work and illustrate their research methods and outcomes.



Running parallel to the conference, Dubai Derma Exhibition aims to provide an ideal opportunity for exhibiting companies to network, partner and expand their businesses in the Skin Care, Aesthetic and Laser market among many other such fields. Furthermore, the exhibition will play host to a number of product launches and live demonstration of latest skincare solutions while also offering a highly interactive environment for visitors to experience the latest products and services in the skincare industry.



Prior to the main Dubai Derma Conference and Exhibition, the Pre-Conference Courses on Dermatology and Dermatopathology started yesterday (March 16) at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, and will continue to March 19.  TradeArabia News ServiceSikka Art Fair, featuring the culture, heritage, arts and literature sectors of Dubai with a rich series of new initiatives and partnerships, opened today (March 17) to run until March 26 in the Emirate.



The eighth edition of the event was inaugurated by Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice chairman of Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), the Emirates dedicated entity for culture, arts and heritage at Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood.



Sheikha Latifa said: In support of the Year of Zayed, the eighth edition of Sikka Art Fair celebrates the legacy of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. As a platform for the arts, Sikka exemplifies Sheikh Zayeds commitment to tolerance, dialogue and diversity, with a series of initiatives that promote cross-cultural understanding as well as showcasing emerging artists from the UAE and the region.



SikkaDubai Art Seasons flagship initiativeis the largest contemporary artist-led fair in the region to commission new works from UAE based and GCC talents. Growing every year in size and perception, the fair is a pivotal moment in our efforts to nurture future generations of creative professionals, inspiring them to look at alternative career paths within the arts and culture industries, while building our creative economy.



Such moments are crucial in feeding into the realisation of Vision 2021 set by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. I look forward to what Dubais most unique celebration of art will bring to its audiences this year, she added.



Sikka Art Fair 2018 will serve as a platform to showcase the importance of Islamic Art and Culture in establishing Dubai as the capital of the Islamic Economy, with the House of Islamic Arts featuring an Islamic Art and Culture exhibition, live painting sessions, an Islamic lifestyle start-up corner, and hands-on Islamic Art and Culture workshops.



The Saudi House by Culture-Focused Tamashee will also draw attention to the regions rich culture by hosting a variety of exhibitions and activities under one roof, including a collaborative initiative for emerging artists and an exhibition of the work of more than 20 Saudi artists.



Encompassing all artistic mediums, Sikka Art Fair 2018 will also feature various installations created in The Poetryhood by Dubai Poetics, a movement that publishes, performs, discusses, enhances and revives poetry in the region, and LOCOMOTION Dubai, a cinema initiative that will present a full line-up of shorts, documentaries and feature films in several languages including English and Arabic, and also screen shorts by independent UAE filmmakers and university students on some days.



At the Icon Booth by Marta Lamovsek, visitors can embark on a fun D.I.Y. experience where the artist chooses a unique style for them, from a mix of handpicked MENA accessories and props, Lamovsek crafts characters inspired by the personality of each individual she meets.



Sikka Art Fair 2018 will also include several community initiatives that encourage proactive participation among visitors. Sandscapes, by Mawaheb from Beautiful People, a confluence of art and music led by community participation, will call on the public to help create an all-inclusive environment for artists with special needs.



At the 'The Samsung Frame & Creatopia Art Gallery, visitors can view Creatopia digital art displayed on The Frame TV screens, which were designed by Samsung to seamlessly bringing art into peoples everyday lives by ingeniously doubling as digital displays for photographs and works of art.



Creatopia is an exclusive Dubai Culture-created platform that pioneers a new perspective for art and tech, and also provides online accessibility to expert curation for inspiring talents across the globe. Through its partnership with Samsung, Creatopia is encouraging and engaging global talents at Sikka 2018. Sikka Art Fair visitors will also be offered the opportunity to win The Frame by entering a social media photo competition.



To enrich the ten-day Sikka Art Fair programme, Dubai Culture has established a number of new partnerships with leading organisations including the Dubai Police, the Emirates Youth Council, the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), and Meraas, as well as with local macro and micro influencers.

In cooperation with Dubai Police, Sikka 2018 will feature an exhibition entitled Through our Lens: From the private archive of Dubai Police, which depicts different points in history and illustrates Dubai Polices ongoing commitment to safety, security and togetherness.



In partnership with the Emirates Youth Council, Sikka Art Fair will feature a Youth Circle for the first time in Sikka, aiming to educate and empower youth to become the main drivers of the creative economy, and encourage them to develop new policies for the arts and culture sectors.



In addition, Youth Hub Workshop will take place as part of the official Sikka programme and will be led by Mohammed Kazim, co-founder of culture-focused Tamashee, focusing on The Contemporary Definition of Design Identity in the Region  The Youth as Pioneers, on 18th March at the Youth Hub on Emirates Towers.



Dubai Culture will also be engaging youth at Sikka Art Fair in cooperation with the KHDA, which will showcase the creative works of finalists from the organisation The Saturday Club. The initiative will empower students by giving them a new platform for sharing their work.



Sikka Art Fair 2018 will also be supported by Meraas, at the newly opened Al Seef next door to Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood, via a creative activation that will feature a day of live painting paying tribute to the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and celebrating the Year Of Zayed. The painting will incorporate images of the Founding Father mixed with elements mostly derived from Arabic patterns to represent the local atmosphere and surroundings. It will also render the Year of Zayed campaign values in stylised Arabic and English writing aiming to promote wisdom, respect, sustainability and human development throughout the year. Meanwhile, Social @Sikka will enlist the help of macro and micro influencers to create even further buzz around the fair and raise awareness among the public.



This year, Dubai Culture has made it easier than ever before for the public to reach Sikka Art Fair, reflecting the Authoritys commitment to involving all segments of society in the fair. Visitors can reach Sikka via metro, car, bus shuttle, Careem, the Shail app or even by abra for as little as Dh1 ($2.72) per trip. Dubai Culture is providing complimentary shuttle buses from the Al Seef by Meraas multi-storey car park to Sikka, and has also worked with Careem to provide visitors with a special 15 per cent discount on two rides when they book a taxi using the code Sikka2018. The code is valid from 17 to 26 March 2018 for now and later bookings across all car types excluding GO, UNCHR and BOX, with a maximum discount of Dh20 ($5.4) per ride.  TradeArabia News ServiceThe UAE Pavilion at the Riyadh International Book Fair has been very well received by visitors, drawing large crowds who have enjoyed an array of activities organized by 18 Emirati cultural institutions.



Set to welcome visitors until March 24, the UAE pavilion at the fair features a dynamic blend of traditional and contemporary design and highlights the strong cultural bilateral ties between the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.



Over the course of the fair, the pavilion will play host to a series of poetry evenings organized by the Emirates Writers Union, the Poetry Academy and the Sharjah Book Authority. The programme will also include two seminars on the publishing industry in the UAE courtesy of the Emirates Publishers Association, taking place on March 21 and 23. Additionally, the Sharjah Book Authority will hold a symposium on March 18 featuring Emirati authors Abdulla Al Nuami and Fathiya Al Nimr.



The pavilion has a truly diverse offering in store to suit visitors of all ages. Children in particular will have no shortage of engaging activities to participate in, including interactive competitions and educational programs presented by Nat Geo Kids and Majid TV channels as well as complementary gifts for the fairs younger visitors.



The Emirates Youth Council will also run activities until March 19, including childrens storytelling sessions and drawing workshops. TV programme "IftahYaSimsim" will also hold storytelling sessions complete with visitors favourite characters who are set to make appearances during the last five days of the show.



In the days to come, the UAE Pavilion will also host book signings for a number books, including Adam by Shaima Al Hosani, Ladies of Evangeline The Upheaval by Alia Al Hazami, Salvaged by Omar Al Owais and The Life and Times of a Ruler by Murad Abdulla Al Balushi. During the first three days of the fair, the pavilion saw many a book signing take place, for literary works such as Calling All Hearts by Dr. Hamad Al Hammadi, I Do Not Want this Tale to End by Sultan Faisal, Dengwan by Abdulla Al Nuaimi as well as Dr Fatima Al Braikis guide to creative writing.



The Riyadh International Book Fair is one of the largest cultural events in the Kingdom and remains among the most well attended amongst exhibitions across the region, with the participation of over 500 Arab and international publishing houses and over 80 cultural events. Each year, the fair hosts a guest country of honour to present its literary history and publications to visitors as well as to participate in a wide range of cultural events, seminars and poetry readings organized by the exhibition.  TradeArabia News ServiceCambodia and China launched the second joint drill on counter-terrorism and humanitarian rescue at a training field in the Maras Prov Mountains on Saturday.

An equipment of Chinese People's Liberation Army is on display during the opening ceremony of the Cambodia-China "Dragon Gold 2016" exercise in Kampong Speu province, Cambodia, Dec. 15, 2016. [Photo: Xinhua]

Some 280 soldiers of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) and 216 soldiers of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) are involved in the drill dubbed "Dragon Gold 2018," which will last till March 31.

RCAF commander-in-chief Gen. Pol Saroeun said the exercise is part of the activities the two countries have organized to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between the two countries.

"The exercise is vital to exchange experience and further strengthen bilateral cooperation on anti-terrorism and humanitarian work," he said in a speech during the opening ceremony.

He said Cambodia highly values the drill with China which will importantly contribute to increasing capacity for the RCAF.

It will increase China-Cambodia readiness and responsiveness to challenges in the fight against terrorism and in the humanitarian tasks, he said.

Zhang Jian, army commander of the Southern Theater Command of the Chinese PLA, said the exercise is designed to bolster cooperation and friendship between the two armies.

The drill plays a very important role in further developing the relations between the two armies, he said in his opening speech.

It will further enhance cooperation between the two countries on terrorism fighting and humanitarian rescue, and contribute to maintaining peace, stability and development in the two countries, the region, and the world, he added.

The participating troops will carry on training of professional subjects such as anti-terror equipment operating, live-fire practice, unarmed wrestle, simulated airborne landing, man hunting, searching and rescuing.

Cambodia and China conducted the first joint drill in December 2016, focusing on humanitarian rescue and disaster relief at the Army Institute in southwestern Kampong Speu province.Royal Jordanian (RJ), the flag carrier of the kingdom, will resume its scheduled flights to Erbil and Sulaymaniyah in northern Iraq from Amman from April 1.



RJ passengers on these routes will enjoy the added benefit of reduced round-trip fares, at JD280 ($384), in an offer valid from March 16 to March 31 for travel to take place between April 1 and June 8, 2018.



RJ will operate10 weekly flights to Erbil and four weekly flights to Sulaymaniyah.



The decision to relaunch the flights was taken as Iraqi authorities announced the reopening of the airports in these cities. Airlines operating to Erbil and Sulaymaniyah had suspended their flights thereon September 29, 2017, upon directions from the Iraqi authorities.  TradeArabia News ServiceA 70-year-old man was removed from a plane after reportedly hurling racist insults at a black flight attendant.

According to multiple Spanish media outlets, a man of unknown nationality boarded a Binter Canarias flight to La Palma at North Tenerife Airport. While he was getting on the plane, witnesses saw the man "hurl racist abuse" at a black flight attendant.

Spanish media outlet El Pais reported that the man allegedly said "I don't want blacks around me" to the flight attendant.

After finding a seat, the passenger was confronted by the plane's captain, who ordered the man to leave.

The man refused, and the captain had to call in multiple security guards to remove the passenger from the plane. After "a brief protest," the man exited the plane without further incident.

RELATED: Plane passenger allegedly strangled people, called baby a 'slut' in mid-flight rampage

Another passenger took a video of the confrontation and uploaded it to social media.

The incident delayed takeoff by 20 minutes, and Binter Canarias filed a complaint against the man for "racial abuse."

MORE: Southwest faces outrage after a father and toddler were kicked off a flight

The airline issued the following statement in a tweet:

"From Binter we want to express our utmost rejection and outrage at behaviors of this type and show our full support to our crews who constantly strive to provide the best service to our customers."A storm off the coast of Santa Cruz sent a round of hail raining down on San Carlos Saturday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.

Shortly before noon, the National Weather Service projected a half inch or more of "decent size" hail would be produced by a large storm cell 15 miles off the coast of Santa Cruz.

ALSO: People share crazy photos of Tahoe snow

Residents catalogued the sudden onslaught of pebble-sized hail in photos. It reportedly coated decks and pelted cars for 10 to 15 minutes before melting away as quickly as it arrived.

"The hail was pretty strong, lasted almost 10 minutes, but quickly melted," resident Rich Schwerin observed on Twitter.

MORE: New round of rain and snow poised to slam Bay Area

Some of the hail is forming over the water and some of it over land, according to Anna Schneider, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

"We have some cells developing over the ocean likely carrying hail with them, usually they tend to weaken as they hit the coast, then reforming over land and strengthening, creating that hail," Schneider said.

"There could be some more (hail) through the afternoon," she added.

Hail has been since been reported in San Mateo and several East Bay cities as well. It's been spotted in Orinda and Concord. Shortly after 1:30 p.m., the NWS predicted it would likely move through the Danville area.

At 2:13 p.m., forecasters warned hail might be possible on Highway 152 as storm cells moved toward Pacheco Pass in southeastern Santa Clara County. By 4 p.m., showers were moving through Santa Cruz county, bringing small hail with them.

Earlier in the day on Saturday, the NWS also warned of the possibility of a waterspout forming off the coast of Santa Cruz. Waterspouts are tornadoes over water, associated with strong thunderstorms, high winds and seas, hail, and lightning, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Filipa Ioannou is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at fioannou@sfchronicle.com and follow her on Twitter



DUBAI, United Arab Emirates  Student survivors of the worst high school shooting in U.S. history took their message abroad for the first time Saturday, calling for greater gun safety measures and sharing with educational professionals from around the world their frightening experience.

The Feb. 14 attack in Florida killed 17 people, 14 of them students, becoming one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history. The attack was carried out by a former student wielding an assault-style rifle who strode into one of the school buildings and opened fire.

Its so important to be educated, and to be educated in a productive sense is to feel safe at school, said Suzanna Barna, 17. No child should ever have to go through what we did.

Barna and her classmates Kevin Trejos and Lewis Mizen, all seniors at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, each wore a red ribbon representing the color of their school in honor of the victims as they talked about their experience and their push for stricter gun safety measures. They spoke in Dubai at the Global Education and Skills Forum that coincides with the $1 million Global Teacher Prize, awarded to an outstanding teacher from around the world each year.

Trejos, 18, described the ordeal as scary and said students were crying and trying to comfort one another as they hid inside a closet in a classroom for nearly two hours. We didnt know where the shooter was. We didnt know if he was coming to our classroom next, Trejos said.

We need to improve school safety, he added, saying that the students are not trying to ban guns because we understand its practically impossible to do, but are working to limit the accessibility of guns to criminals or potential criminals.

Like other school shootings before it, the attack has renewed the national debate on gun control. On Wednesday, tens of thousands of students across the U.S. walked out of their classrooms to demand action from lawmakers on gun violence and school safety.

President Trump and some gun supporters say the solution is to put more guns in the hands of trained school staff  including teachers. The student survivors speaking in Dubai strongly disagree, saying more guns is not the answer.

Mizen, 17, said protocols shouldnt be preparing schools for when shootings happen, but should be stopping them before they happen.

Students are next planning a March for Our Lives rally in Washington on March 24.TAUNGOO, Myanmar  From the age of 5, when she entered a government school in Myanmar, Stella Naw learned about the triumphs of Burman kings and heroes, recited Burman poems and performed Burman dances at school ceremonies.

Without realizing it, she was being torn from her ethnic roots and assimilated into the Southeast Asian countrys dominant majority.

What was missing from my childhood was a chance to learn the culture and history of my own people, the Kachin, says the political analyst and writer. I was ashamed to speak my own language. I didnt like the sound of my own name.

Naws experience is shared by many of Myanmars ethnic minorities, a multitude of more than 130 different groups with their own cultures, histories and languages who make up some 40 percent of the countrys population. For decades the Karen, Shan, Mon, Chin and other minority groups have been put through a process they call Burmanization  an informal system in which education, repressive laws, religious proselytization, economic exploitation and often brutal force are used to wash away their own identity.

The recent violent expulsion from the country of nearly 700,000 Muslim Rohingya can be seen as an extreme example of the drive by central authorities to expunge any perceived threat to their dominance and stamp a Burman imprint on vast areas where minorities live. The United Nations calls it a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.

This Burmanization dashes hopes that the end of direct military rule and election of Myanmars first civilian government, headed by Aung San Suu Kyi, would usher in a new era of relations with minority groups. On taking power in early 2016, Suu Kyi declared that national reconciliation and a federal constitution would be high priorities.

Instead, the transition to democratic rule and its greater freedoms has come with a rise in nationalism and radical Buddhism. Suu Kyi has not condemned continuing military atrocities against the Kachin and others, and her standing with ethnic minorities has plummeted. Many say she is first and foremost a Burman.

The military  which is constitutionally shielded from civilian oversight of all security matters  has long portrayed itself as Myanmars savior, the only institution that could keep together a nation at risk of splitting into numerous parts.

It continues to battle the Kachin and groups in northern Shan State, working off the same playbook it has since independence from Britain in 1948 of violently suppressing ethnic insurgencies demanding greater autonomy. Those conflicts have been marked by human rights violations, the displacement of hundreds of thousands of rural people and the entrenchment of the military within ethnic communities.

Less obvious are what ethnic minorities insist are calculated efforts at Burmanization that focus on religion, language, heritage and other aspects of self-identity.

The government denies that it is pursuing such a policy. Ko Ko Naing, a deputy director in the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture, says the government allows ethnic minorities to study their languages outside public schools even though it is not legally obligated to do so.

Thats why I dont see that the majority is Burmanizing the ethnic minority groups, he said.

It was also the duty of the government, the official says, to promote Buddhism and build Buddhist pagodas everywhere in the country lest our religion and country disappear.

In Chin State, where 90 percent of Chin adhere to Christianity, crosses have been destroyed, pastors are intimidated and there is state-sponsored pressure to convert to Buddhism. Kachin State, where more than 90 percent of the Kachin people adhere to Christianity, has among the highest concentrations of pagodas in the country.

The government continues to pursue a forced assimilation and indoctrination program through boarding schools run by the military-controlled Ministry of Border Affairs, said Salai Za Uk Ling of the U.S.-based Chin Human Rights Organization. Education is offered free and is of a higher standard than in normal government schools, but activists say school authorities try to coerce students into converting to Buddhism.

Even the predominantly Buddhist Shan, the countrys largest ethnic minority, are highly critical of pagodas built in a Burman rather than distinctive Shan style. A local saying sums it up: When the Chinese conquer they build moats. When the Burmans conquer, they build pagodas.

Still seared in the collective memory is the 1991 demolition of the Kengtung Palace, the grandest among those built by the former rulers of Shan State. In what Shan activists term a case of cultural sabotage, rubble from the palace was scattered on roads around a military base.

Under the previous military-backed government of President Thein Sein, the regime eased earlier restrictions on teaching non-Burman languages but only allowed it after regular school hours, a policy that continues. Saw True Blood, a member of the Karen Development Network, says about half of the 2,000 children living in his area of Taungoo in Karen State do not attend the after-school language classes because they are too tired, want to play or take extra tuition in other subjects.

Most Karen children, he says, can speak but not read or write their language. When I hear my nieces and grandchildren speaking Burmese while they are playing, I tell them to speak Karen and ask, Are you Karen or Burman?BEIRUT  Syrian troops captured a major rebel stronghold east of the capital Damascus on Saturday and took large parts of another, squeezing insurgents and forcing thousands to flee to regions controlled by the government.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Oways al-Shami of the Syrian Civil Defense said troops have taken Kafr Batna and large parts of nearby Saqba.

The captured areas are another blow to opposition fighters who have lost more than 70 percent of the region known as eastern Ghouta since President Bashar Assads forces began a crushing offensive under the cover of air strikes on Feb. 18. The violence left nearly 1,400 people dead, more than 5,000 wounded and forced tens of thousands to seek shelter.

The intensity of the shelling and air strikes have made it almost impossible for ambulances to move and wounded people cannot reach clinics, said Hamza Hassan, a surgeon working at one of the hospitals in eastern Ghouta.

Syrian state news agency SANA said the army stepped up military operations in eastern Ghouta and inflicted heavy losses on terrorist groups in personnel and military hardware. It said troops reached the center of Kafr Batna and Saqba.

Rebels still control the towns of Arbeen, Zamalka, Ein Tarma and Jobar on the southern edge of eastern Ghouta. Eastern Ghouta has been divided into three parts  the largest rebel-held town of Douma to the north has been cut off from nearby Harasta, and both have been split off from the rest of the area.

The world has betrayed us, said Ahmad Khanshour, a resident of eastern Ghouta, referring to the international community that could not do much to stop the offensive. The world betrayed itself and the human values we all once shared.

He added that some 300,000 people are still besieged in eastern Ghouta, left to choose between dying under fire or surrendering and go to Assads jails and slaughterhouses.

The Observatory said 30 people were killed in a Saturday morning air strike on Zamalka that hit a group of people trying to flee into government-controlled areas. The oppositions Syrian Civil Defense said the air strike killed dozens and wounded scores, adding that paramedics were trying to help survivors.To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.

We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.

A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!Holly Gibellini-Davis urges world-be teachers to find good mentors.

Pilates instructor Holly Gibellini-Davis steps carefully between twenty prone forms, adjusts a shoulder position here, corrects a hip alignment there, guiding her students with vivid images  the spine as a string of pearls, waist wrung out like a wet towel, thigh bone rotating like a pestle in its mortar.

Her packed class at Bondis Balance Moves is just one of hundreds of pilates classes across Australia on any given morning as more than 1.25 million Australians strive for the long, lean look, strong core and dancer-like posture for which the practice is renowned.

With the rise of pilates as a popular form of exercise has come increased demand for instructor training courses but, in an industry still largely self-regulated, navigating the huge number of training options available can be harder than holding a perfect side plank.

Vice-president and education officer at the pilates Alliance Australasia Sharan Simmons advises aspiring teachers to make sure they choose courses accredited under the Australian Skills Quality Authority.What are the worlds most peaceful nations?

That's a question Steve Killelea - one of Australias biggest individual overseas aid donors  asked himself while visiting a war-torn region in the Democratic Republic of the Congo a bit over a decade ago.

He figured there must be things to learn from peaceful places that could help with the development projects he was supporting among conflict-ravaged communities.

Its a pretty simple question, said the IT entrepreneur from Sydney.Kinney is talking of at least another eight books in the series, probably more, and the prospect that Greg Heffley will need a mobile phone to negotiate future adventures.

Unlike Harry Potter, Greg is stuck perpetually on the verge of adolescence but the world has moved on and so, like a nagged parent, Kinney's resolve is buckling too.

He thought Greg Heffley, the slump shouldered, gawky 12-year-old narrator, could exist outside the world of new technology ubiquitous in the lives of Kinney's legion of young readers, some of whom were not even born when the Wimpy Kid debuted online in 2004.

Author Jeff Kinney once thought there would be an obvious end to the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, the phenomenally successful franchise that has sold more than 180 million copies.

''I've had Greg borrowing his mother's phone but I might have to [relent]. I'm trying to write a timeless book and so I take pains not to mention anything that's going on in the contemporary world and I take pains not to really dwell on the specifics of technology. I want to write about the things that are just universal to childhood but that becomes more difficult as technology becomes more pervasive.

''Kids of this generation have really changed. They are different from kids of 10 years ago because they are the first social media natives and social media is at the centre of most kids' lives. Those kids are now 11- or 12-years-old.

''They are more social because they are always connected to all their friends but they are less social because they're are not as comfortable interacting with one and other while in the same room. You see it all the time with grown ups. I don't know if we've crossed over and there is no turning back, or if there might be some return to in-person social relationships.''

Kinney knows better than most what young readers want. Forbes magazine ranks him the world's second richest author behind J.K. Rowling, and with some of the $21 million he made last financial year he underwrites An Unlikely Story, a bookstore and cafe he opened in Plainville, Massachusetts, where he lives with his wife, Julie, and their two sons, Will and Grant.

''Right now, Andy Griffiths is waiting at the bookstore for me to come up,'' he said in an interview in advance of his Sydney Writers' Festival appearance. ''It's a really cool and special building and we regularly draw in nationally and internationally famous authors. In fact it's Andy's third time here.''Temperatures are expected to hit 39 degrees in Sydney and 41 degrees at Penrith on Sunday. Credit:Jessica Hromas

Sydney, if you thought Saturday was hot, keep your swimmers out for Sunday.

The mercury soared across the city on Saturday, reaching 31.9 degrees in the CBD around 1.30pm. Out west, the temperature hit the mid-30s, reaching 35 degrees in Richmond and 36.8 degrees in Campbelltown around 4pm.

But there's little relief in sight yet - Sunday is set to be even hotter, with 39 degrees predicted for the CBD and most of the greater Sydney region.Audrey Hepburn with Hubert de Givenchy.

Fashion designer Hubert James Marcel Taffin de Givenchy died this week, aged 91. Born into French aristocracy, Givenchy, to quote The New York Times obituary section, is survived by his longtime companion Philippe Venet. But who was Givenchy without Audrey Hepburn? She was his muse; his pal, his partner in couture.

This is how Breakfast at Tiffany's - the movie - became iconic. The pearls, the little black dress, the oversized hat - all Givenchy. Never mind that Holly Golightly was a depressed escort. With her fashion-forward aesthetic, Manhattan sophistication and open worship of a jewellery franchise, she was revered in the early 1960s - and for decades after - as the original Carrie Bradshaw.

If you've read the obituaries, you'll note that while Givenchy had "high standards" and held "three-hour fittings" for Hepburn, he was the original gentleman, who believed his gift was from God. Hepburn, meanwhile, was the original lady, with her "gamine" beauty and "petite" figure.Is there a single issue in fashion as politically charged as fur?

Animal-rights activists have been rallying against fur (and many other animal products, such as leather) for decades, and the fashion industry is finally taking notice.

Olivia Culpo arriving at Lanvin at Paris Fashion Week. Credit:PA

Several big brands, including Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger, are already fur-free but it was the announcement by Gucci last October that it would stop using fur from this season that sent the biggest reverberations through the industry. And on Thursday, Australian time, Versace announced it would no longer use fur.

"Fur? Im out of that, Donatella Versace told The Economist's 1843 magazine. I dont want to kill animals to make fashion. It doesnt feel right.Openly speaking up about your mental health isn't an image you associate with motorbike riders, but that's something Deanne Lasscock is aiming to change.

"It's about breaking stereotypes," she said.

ACT Black Dog Ride organisers Deanne and Col Lasscock. Credit:Sitthixay Ditthavong

"A lot of riders have mental health issues themselves."

Mrs Lasscock is hoping to change those perceptions on Sunday, when more than 120 motorcyclists from the capital take part in this year's Black Dog Ride.Elizabeth Stokker has lived in Bonython for nearly three decades, and said it's mostly a quiet suburb.

However, the Tuggeranong resident said she was worried the suburb would be disrupted through a trial of drone delivery.

Project Wing co-leader James Ryan Burgess. Credit:Sitthixay Ditthavong

Project Wing is testing the delivery of food and medication to homes through the use of drones in Bonython, as part of an expansion of trials conducted in Royalla.

Drones will deliver items to backyards in the suburb using winches, hovering at five metres high.The ACT needs a specific Indigenous commissioner to address "huge gaps" in the system dealing with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in Canberra, according to Indigenous and non-Indigenous advocates across the community.

ACT Human Rights commissioner Helen Watchirs and Winnunga Nimmityjah chief executive Julie Tongs are just two of the many voices calling on the government to implement such a position.

Julie Tongs of Winnunga Nimmityjah (left, holding flag) taking part in the Sorry Day bridge walk in memory of Steven Freeman, an Aboriginal man who died in custody in the ACT. Credit:Dion Georgopoulos

Barbara Causon, chair of the ACT steering committee reviewing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in protection, said within the first two meetings of the newly-formed committee, the idea of introducing an Indigenous commissioner had been raised.

"We're not at the point where we could say, yes we're definitely going to recommend that, but it's certainly something that is under consideration," Ms Causon said.Skyfire has been brightening the Canberra skyline and entertaining its residents for 30 years and Saturday night was no different.

The fireworks spectacular entered its fourth decade in style, culminating a big two weeks for Canberra with Enlighten and the Balloon Spectacular also wrapped up for the year.

Fireworks entertain a large crowd at Regatta Point for Skyfire 2018. Credit:Sitthixay Ditthavong

Thousands packed the banks of Lake Burley Griffin to watch the RAAF Roulettes perform acrobatic stunts followed by an FA-18 flyover. The Potbelleez then got the crowd dancing as they waited for the main event.

The fireworks display was 18 minutes of extravagant lights and explosions timed to hits provided by 104.7 including some classics from across the 30 years of Skyfire events.Australian Attorney-General Christian Porter says he will not consent to a move in a Melbourne court by human rights lawyers to prosecute Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi for crimes against humanity.

The lawyers filed an application in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday for a private prosecution of Suu Kyi, who is in Australia, alleging she forced out hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims from her country.

Aung San Suu Kyi is under pressure over the Rohingya crisis.

The application must first be approved by a magistrate before it goes to the federal attorney-general to decide if the case proceeds.

And Mr Porter on Saturday signalled he could not consent to prosecute.Forget your smashed avocado bleeding money from young prospective home-buyers. What about the thousands of dollars being spent by young people inking their skin to "express themselves" ("From horror to hand-drawn delicacy", Sun-Herald, March 11). Older folk are often blamed for the state of the housing market but they were prepared to make compromises in their lifestyle to get a foot on the housing rung, not waste their money on overseas holidays and endless inking of their fantasies onto their bodies.

John Black, Tamworth

A top-down problem

What a splendid article and editorial and a great service offering by Patient Advocates Australia (Advocates fight for patients' rights, March 11). Theres a real need for this.

I had a similar experience many years ago  when a cyst was misdiagnosed as a kidney stone.It's by the noise in the playground at lunchtime that Willoughby Girls principal Liz Diprose measures the success of her school's restrictions on mobile phone use.

The more cacophonous it is, the more reassured she is that students are talking and interacting and are not head down in their own technological bubble. As a result, the school's rates of self-reported bullying is about half the rate of the state average.

Since late 2016 Willoughby Girls has imposed restrictions on smartphone use. From the time students walk in the gate they are expected to switch off their phones and put them in their pockets, where they must be left until they walk out the gates at the end of classes.

Liz Diprose, principal of Willoughby Girls, a school which restricts smartphone use. Credit:Louise Kennerley

''We are not so silly as to think kids are not using their mobile phones,'' Ms Diprose said. ''I think it would be almost impossible to guarantee 100 per cent compliance in any place but, generally speaking, our students are pretty compliant.''For the first time since the 1930s, Brisbane's St Patrick's Day Parade has been held on the actual Irish public holiday, as a sea of green marched through city streets for the 29th annual parade.

The sound of bagpipes and drums echoed through the CBD on Saturday as an estimated 40 floats, 700 parade participants and 20,000 spectators celebrated Queensland's Irish heritage.

The 29th annual St Patrick's Day Parade marches through Brisbane. Credit:Toby Crockford - Fairfax Media

The Brisbane parade began in 1885, but was cancelled at the outbreak of World War II, according to St Patrick's Day Parade Association vice president Gavin Roche.

It was resurrected in 1990 and since then there have only been a handful of instances where March 17 has fallen on a weekend.Ryan was destined for a life of disadvantage. Mum's drinking while pregnant caused fetal alcohol syndrome, and he was born with an intellectual disability into a dysfunctional family in a rural town.

Well behind from the first seconds of life, Ryan was exposed to physical and possibly sexual abuse as a child, was in state care from 11 and using alcohol and drugs in his teens. Now 21, he has been diagnosed with ADHD and has the literacy skills of a prep.

Seated in the County Court dock two weeks ago, Ryan* couldn't understand what was being discussed before a judge, and during a break called to his lawyer, Julien Lowy.

"Julien, can you get me a Big Mac meal?" he asked. "C'mon, get me out of here today, not tomorrow ... I am in the worsest (sic) place I could be."

Ryan has spent 16 months in prison despite being found unfit to stand trial on charges that, had he pleaded guilty to, might not have resulted in jail.Some of the Trinity students in 'smart casual' dress protest the sacking of their vice principal. Credit:Joe Armao

The "smart casual" rebellion at Kews Trinity Grammar had me pondering the question of "character," what it means and who gets to have one. Pondering, that is, as I guffawed and snorted, the scenario being so gloriously Pythonesque. An old-school deputy headmaster named Brown (yes Brown!) takes scissors to a boys hair in defence of Trinitys grooming rules, and arguably civilisation itself. For this, the school sacks him after 30 years of service, with the council chairman spouting the corporate-speak to which were becoming accustomed about Browns actions being "inconsistent with community expectations in this day and age".

Then the Old Boys weigh in with what I suspect will be overwhelming fire  as in, donor  power, issuing ultimatums for Browns immediate reinstatement and the principal's and councillors' scalps (three have since resigned) and the airing of elegiac sentiments about the schools changed direction in recent years, away from an emphasis on "holistic" development, towards one centred on "exceptional" ATAR scores, growth and profit.

On the substance of this dispute, I resent being cajoled into holding a view at all. Just as the society murder gets more clicks than a killing in struggle-town, so too the battles of public school parents in modest postcodes for basic educational infrastructure rate poorly against a dust-up in a bluestone establishment that charges nearly $30,000 in fees. Im still grimacing over the feverish coverage six years ago of the Methodist Ladies College board sacking principal Rosa Storelli over her admittedly not insubstantial entitlements.The air and sea search for a helicopter pilot missing off the Pilbara coast will be coordinated by Western Australia police.

Preparations are in train for an underwater search for the helicopter, says Aviator Group, the owner of Mackay Helicopters which operates the aircraft.

The missing pilot is from Aviator Group, a company which specialises in marine pilot transfers. Credit:Aviator Group

The chopper went down two days ago about 30 kilometres off Port Hedland just before midnight on Wednesday.

A 44-year-old pilot, who was reportedly flying the helicopter, remains missing on Saturday despite a search of more than 1000 square kilometres.Ilmi Badali, 85, cast his vote at Preston West Primary School. Credit:Paul Jeffers Originally from Kosovo, Mr Badali said his loyalties lay unquestionably with the only party he believed represented workers. "I've voted Labor always for my life because they are the best party," he said. However, the Greens are narrowly favoured to win the Batman byelection, triggered by the resignation of Labor MP David Feeney over his citizenship after he was found to be in breach of section 44 of the constitution. There is no Liberal candidate but the conservative vote could still play a part, with Liberals' preferences helping Labor narrowly get over the line in the 2016 election.

The Greens have sought to capitalise on the backlash against Labor's proposal to recoup $59 billion from shareholders over a decade, announced by Opposition leader Bill Shorten on Sunday, seen by many as an own goal for his Batman candidate Ged Kearney. Labor leader Bill Shorten and Batman candidate Ged Kearney at Preston South Primary School on polling day. Credit:AAP "It's certainly a tough fight, I can't sugar-coat that," Mr Shorten told reporters in Preston on Saturday. "But we've put the toughest person into the field. "The story that Ged is talking about with the people of Batman I think resonates. It's now in the hands of the people." Mr Shorten said Ms Kearney had put Labor in with a chance of victory.

"She represents real change for the seat and real change for the lives of many of the people in this seat," Mr Shorten said. Ms Kearney did not vote on Saturday because she is not a resident of Batman. She said she was proud of her campaign. "All the hard work of the past few weeks really boils down to today," she told reporters. Greens leader 'optimistic' This week has been no cakewalk for the Greens, as infighting over candidate Alex Bhathal overshadowed her campaign.

Federal Greens leader Senator Richard Di Natale told reporters in Preston on Saturday that he was "optimistic" about Ms Bhathal's chances in the byelection. Greens leader Richard Di Natale and Batman candidate Alex Bhathal at Preston West Primary School on Saturday. Credit:AAP "In Alex Bhathal we have got somebody in this campaign who will ensure that everything she said during this campaign, she backs up with her vote on the floor of the parliament. "The electors of Batman will make their decision. I'm optimistic about our chances here. I am optimistic about the fact that people in this community do want to see a strong progressive voice. Lidia Thorpe, the Greens member for the state seat of Northcote, was out front of Thornbury Primary School greeting voters.

There are a lot of Greens voters out there, so Im feeling pretty confident, said Ms Thorpe. She said she believed the internal issues the Greens faced during the campaign would not have not play a big role on Election Day. Its really not important you know, were talking about coal mines and were talking about refugees. What happens internally is not an issue. Lidia Thorpe, the Greens MP for the state seat of Northcote, greeted voters in Thornbury. Credit:Paul Jeffers Lidia Thorpe, who claimed victory for the Greens in November in the state seat of Northcote, greeted voters outside Thornbury Primary School on Saturday afternoon.

There are a lot of Greens voters out there, so Im feeling pretty confident, Ms Thorpe said. She said she did not believe the Greens' internal issues during the campaign would have much bearing on how people voted in the byelection. Its really not important you know, were talking about coal mines and were talking about refugees. What happens internally is not an issue. 'I voted for Rise Up Australia' Back in Reservoir, some seasoned voters were left without their preferred party option on the ballot. At the last election about one in five Batman residents voted for the Liberal Party.

Rhiannon, 66, who did not give her last name, said she was among them. "I've always voted Liberal," she said. "This time around I voted for Rise up Australia." With her shock of blue and purple hair, Rhiannon conceded she did not look like a traditional conservative voter. But the pensioner said the Greens' social policies drove her to place that party last. Rhiannon said she would not be affected by Labor's recent tax policy announcement and so had preferenced that party above the Greens.

"This was the first time I really considered doing [a donkey vote] though." 'Anyone want a sausage?' Running the gauntlet of political party volunteers thrusting pamphlets upon you is as much a tradition on voting day as the democracy sausage. But the weary voters of Batman had a different breed of impassioned campaigners to dodge on Saturday morning. Stop Adani campaigners and their mascot 'Dory' at the Preston West Primary School polling station. Credit:Paul Jeffers

Australia Youth Climate Coalition National director Gemma Borgo-Caratti was leading hundreds of young volunteers pushing to make the Adani coal mine a key issue in the inner-Melbourne seat. Were going round to various polling booths and asking people to consider the Adani coal mine when casting their vote, Ms Borgo-Caratti said. Dory, the blue fish of Finding Nemo fame, accompanied the team as they met up with Mr Shorten and candidate Ms Kearney as they conducted last-minute campaigning across Batman. It was much quieter at the Clifton Hill Primary School polling station. Shouts of "anyone want a sausage?" from the young Scout manning the barbecue were the only thing to break the quiet.

There were some 20-something voters carrying KeepCups strolling into the polling booths, many of whom seemed to support the Greens. I used to be a Labor voter, but I switched because they just dont have policies I can support anymore, said Dan Young, 31. He said Labor's refugee policy was one of the main reasons he had gone to the Greens. Shaun Web, a Gen Z voter, had other reasons for choosing the Greens. Look it was mostly the (Adani) mine and also I just really didnt like the Labor ladys name, he joked.

Let them eat cake At Northcote High School they opted for "something a bit different"  a bake sale. We're doing great, selling lots of cakes," said Danny Mensingh, who is running the stall. "We are raising lots of money for the Heights Netball Club. Sporting a Northcote High hoodie, Felicity ONeil, 20, came back to her alma mater to cast her vote. She said the lead up the election had been stressful. "My family are Labor and my friends are all Greens so it was tense.

While Ms ONeil voted for the Greens today she isnt sure that she will continue to do so. "When it comes to the federal election Ill see how [Alex Bhathal] goes and decide then." Geoff Lambourne and Katherine McMahon have lived in the electorate since the 1980s and said they have seen the "noticeable" demographics shift. "I dont think it will stay Green though, Mr McMahon said. "Even if they win ... I think [voters] will see that the party are doing some odd things eventually."

with Adam CareyA human rights crisis will cast a shadow over Malcolm Turnbulls closed-door talks with regional leaders in Sydney as protesters use a special summit in Australia to press for action across South East Asia.

The Prime Minister is expected to raise human rights concerns in his private meeting with ten leaders on Sunday amid growing fears for hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing Myanmar.

The talks come after the leaders signed an agreement on Saturday to share intelligence to prevent foreign fighters returning from the Middle East to attempt attacks in Australia and neighbouring countries.Nick Xenophon has fallen dramatically short of his promise to shake up the major party "duopoly" in South Australia in an election that swept the Liberal Party to office through its first defeat of an incumbent Labor government in the state in 25 years.

By 10.30pm on Saturday, longstanding Labor premier, Jay Weatherill had conceded defeat ending Labor's 16-year-old government and handing power to a resurgent Liberal Party and its leader Steven Marshall.

Mr Weatherill attracted praise from all quarters for a "gracious" concession speech to supporters, advising that he had rung Mr Marshall to concede the election and to wish him the very best as the state's new premier.

Arriving to a rockstar welcome before his jubilant supporters shortly after, Mr Marshall thanked his predecessor for that message and for his service to the state as he spoke of a "new dawn" for South Australia.

While the election was historic for ending Labor's best ever run in SA politics of four consecutive terms, it was also notable for the rise and eventual non-delivery of the Xenophon-led SA Best challenge.Crowded houses: Sydneysiders are very worried about overdevelopment. Credit:Fairfax Media

Overdevelopment is harming the character of Sydneys suburbs, say 60 per cent of NSW voters who, in an exclusive poll, identified the citys growing pains as a major issue.

Only 17.5 per cent of respondents did not think development was damaging the identity of their suburbs and 21.9 per cent were undecided.

The ReachTEL poll, commissioned by Fairfax Media, asked 1521 people on Thursday night for their views on a range of issues, including the state of hospitals and schools in NSW.Heading out onto his 325-hectare property in a lush part of South Africa where the serenity of the pine trees and rolling hills belies some of the trouble that has occurred, Robin (name changed) was doing what has become an absolute necessity.

Every morning at ten past seven we do a radio check, a 911, to find out all is well, said the white farmer who, constantly carrying a firearm, preferred to not give his name for safety fears.

We have had some of our friends murdered here over the years, said the 61-year-old, farming for nearly four decades in a sleepy town in the countrys KwaZulu-Natal province on a property thats been in the family for generations.

I had a cousin killed with an AK-47 in 1996. Our neighbour across the valley, I found him slumped in his pick-up the same year, murdered.

Its been a long-term thing, he added of the farm attacks on white South Africans.But unfortunately, cosying up to our near neighbours makes for some uncomfortable friendships.

As the de facto head of state, Aung San Suu Kyi has not been outspoken enough against the military. Credit:AP

The 10-member ASEAN alliance includes Australia's closest neighbours and some of our biggest trading partners, and the opportunity to host its annual get-together in Australia was one Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull seized upon with glee.

This weekend's ASEAN summit in Sydney has been a fascinating exercise in watching Australia build allies and alliances in the face of the rising influence of China in the region.

Perhaps the most glaring example of one "unfortunate bedfellow" is Myanmar, which is in the midst of a shocking attempted genocide against Rohingya Muslims conducted by the military.

And it has to be said, this mass violation of human rights is happening under the watch of the country's effective leader, Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Just last month, the United Nations investigator of human rights in Myanmar accused Suu Kyi of "complicity" in the slaughter of Rohingya people.

Yanghee Lee said it was possible that the former human rights hero could face charges relating to genocide or crimes against humanity in an international tribunal. "She cannot not be accountable," Ms Lee said. "Complicity is also part of accountability."

Suu Kyi must be held to account. She cannot rely on the considerable goodwill she received as her legacy of being a long-standing political prisoner of the Myanmar regime. As the de facto head of state, she has not been outspoken enough against the military.

Australia clearly has a responsibility to intervene. As we have stated before, Myanmar's murder of up to 13,769 Rohingya people - almost half of them last August alone - is a clear crime against humanity. It is a deliberate, systemic campaign causing death and human suffering.A view of the British Consulate General building, in St Petersburg, Russia.

Moscow: Russia expelled 23 British diplomats on Saturday in a carefully calibrated retaliatory move against London, which has accused the Kremlin of orchestrating a nerve toxin attack on a former Russian double agent and his daughter in southern England.

Escalating a crisis in relations, Russia said it was also shutting down the activities of the British Council, which fosters cultural links between the two countries, and Britain's consulate-general in St Petersburg.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said it was giving the 23 British diplomats one week to leave the country.

The move, which was tougher than expected, followed Britain's decision on Wednesday to expel 23 Russian diplomats over the attack in the English city of Salisbury which left former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia Skripal, 33, critically ill in hospital.President Donald Trump's lawyer called on the Justice Department to immediately shut down the special counsel probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election, in the wake of the firing of FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.

Attorney John Dowd said in a statement that the investigation, now led by special counsel Robert Mueller, was fatally flawed early on and "corrupted" by political bias. He called on Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees that probe, to shut it down.

"I pray that Acting Attorney General Rosenstein will follow the brilliant and courageous example of the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility and Attorney General Jeff Sessions and bring an end to alleged Russia Collusion investigation manufactured by McCabe's boss James Comey based upon a fraudulent and corrupt Dossier," Dowd said in an emailed statement.

Dowd told The Washington Post on Saturday he was speaking for himself and not on behalf of Trump. Earlier on Saturday, Dowd told The Daily Beast he was speaking on behalf of the president and in his capacity as the president's attorney.On April Fools' Day in 1988, a modern science classic by world-renowned theoretical physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking was published. Called "A Brief History of Time," it set off a wave of public curiosity about humanity's place in the universe.

Many are remembering the contributions of Hawking's brilliant mind to scientific inquiry following his passing early Tuesday morning (March 14). Those inspired by his book and his legacy in cosmology are now picking up where Hawking's genius left off.

One of Hawking's most significant contributions to science is a theoretical solution to one of the biggest conundrums of physics. [Stephen Hawking's Best Books: Black Holes, Multiverses and Singularities]

This conundrum arises from two of the most important theories in physics. Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity explains how matter behaves when objects are very large, and the theory has been proven to work, explaining, for example how light bends as it crosses the universe. The theory of quantum mechanics, meanwhile, explains how matter works on a small, subatomic scale. But general relativity doesn't work in the small scale, and quantum mechanics cannot explain forces, such as gravity, that operate on the large scale.

When Hawking introduced the mathematical concept of black hole radiation in 1974, it seemed to offer science a way of using the two theories together.

"Hawking's radiation result in 1974 is a major insight, because it showed that we can explore this problem of reconciling quantum mechanics with gravity in a mathematical way," said Paul Sutter, astrophysicist at The Ohio State University, in an interview with Space.com.

"In the decades since then, some theoretical physicists have continued to explore these boundaries and intersections of what appears to be a very simple question: What happens when you have strong gravity on a small scale?" Sutter said. "It's a simple question but not an easy question, and Hawking and others are masters at navigating the complexity of that kind of question. It was really one of the big breakthroughs of early on, to show how to develop the language to approach these problems."

Front Cover of " A Brief History of Time ," published in 1988 by Bantam Books. (Image credit: Bantam)

Hawking provided scientists and science-enthusiasts alike with the language to better perceive the universe, and for physicists, this language was written in numbers. Although "Hawking radiation" remains to be proven with empirical evidence, his theoretical outline is being tested in creative ways. Those, said Sutter, include subjecting uncommon states of matter to ultracool temperatures to produce odd quantum states that, mathematically, could approximate what happens near the horizon of a black hole. Beyond that border, matter and light can no longer escape.

Hawking's skill at communicating science to the public is what inspired Sutter's cosmic curiosity from a young age, Sutter said.

"I remember reading the book as a teenager. It was one of the books that led me down to the road to become an astrophysicist, a cosmologist," he said. "I think the book sets the template of, let's take a step back and think about these topics about black holes, talking about the early universe. These are incredibly esoteric, deeply mathematical, niche topics in physics  the more Hawking worked to popularize it, the more [the science] entered the mainstream and public discussion, where [now] you can walk up to anyone and say, 'Black hole!' or 'Big Bang!' and they'll know what I'm talking about. And that's incredibly powerful."

Follow Doris Elin Salazar on Twitter @salazar_elin. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.





"Look at you, so academic.

Why does that sound like an insult?

Because it is."



"INSTINCT stars Alan Cumming as a former CIA operative who is lured back to his old life when the NYPD needs his help to stop a serial killer. Dr. Dylan Reinhart is a gifted author and university professor living a quiet life teaching psychopathic behavior to packed classes of adoring students. But when tenacious top NYPD detective Lizzie Needham appeals to him to help her catch a serial murderer who is using Dylans first book as a tutorial, Dylan is compelled by the case and comes out of retirement. Helping them is Julian Cousins, Dylans invaluable CIA comrade who rivals Dylan in brilliance and wit and can get top-secret dirt on anyone, anywhere, anytime. Lizzies boss, Lt. Monica Ford, is glad to see her best detective finally agree to work with someone on a case since Lizzie has refused any partner since a tragic event one year ago. But as Dylan feels reenergized tapping into his old skill set, his husband, Andy, is concerned that Dylan is breaking their pact about leaving his dangerous job at the CIA for good. Though Dylan and Lizzie initially clash, when it comes to catching killers, they realize they will make an ideal team if they both trust their instincts."



I feel this synopsis gives you pretty much all you need to know about the show, as for my thoughts on it... To tell you the truth, as soon as I heard the name and the subject matter I expected to love this, but then I saw the first picture and by the tone alone I realized this wouldn't be my favorite new show. That doesn't mean there's no enjoyment to be found. I did find it entertaining, a little cheesy, and definitely not groundbreaking. It's a procedural, a fun one, but it never lets you forget what it is.



To be honest, I'm not hopeful on its success, but I've been VERY wrong before, so don't let me stop you if this is your kind of show, I, for one, will give it a few episodes to decide wether I'll continue watching, hopefully, the Pilot is just that, a Pilot where everyone is still trying to figure out how they fit into the show and how to let the energy flow in a more harmonious way (did I get cheesy? I think it's contagious).



Alan Cumming (Battle of the Sexes, The Good Wife) is fun, if a little too over the top, as Dr. Dylan Reinhart, Bojana Novakovic (Shameless, Satisfaction) is functional, maybe even endearing, as Detective Lizzie Needham and we also have a few awesome appearances by Whoopi Goldberg (Ghost, though I think she needs no introduction) as Dylan's editor and Naveen Andrews (Sayid!) as a former associate of Dylan's. There's also Daniel Ings (Lovesick, The Crown) who I love but I don't think he fully fits with Cumming as Dylan's partner.



As for the cases, I found none of them all that interesting, and they're usually too obvious, or at the very least they felt cheap and weightless. I hope they find they're footing because this could be quite entertaining, but, given how unpredictable some of these things can be sometimes, it remains to be seen how this show will fair in the deadly ratings war (cheesy again? Sorry, I'm pretty sure this too shall pass).





"Stupid, but brave. Thats what I want on my tombstone."



Catch the premiere of Instinct Sunday, March 18th at 8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT on CBS. Are you excited about this show? Let me know in the comments.

Bir Lehlu (Liberated Territories of the SADR), March 16, 2018 (SPS)  the Speaker of the Saharawi National Council (Parliament) sent a congratulatory letter to Elizabeth Cabezas Guerrero on the occasion of her election as President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Ecuador.

"On the occasion of her election as President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Ecuador, I would like to express on behalf of the Saharawi People and the Saharawi National Council (Parliament) and on my own the most sincere congratulations, as well as the wishes of successes in her performance at the head of the legislative institution of our sister Republic of Ecuador, "says Adduh's message to her Ecuadorian counterpart.

The Head of the Saharawi National Council expressed the will of the Saharawi legislative institution to continue to strengthen and deepen even more the bonds of friendship and cooperation with the National Assembly of the Republic of Ecuador for the benefit of the two peoples.SPS

125/090/TRANORWALK  The earliest it became clear that Chris Marrero would become some kind of mechanic was when he was just 2 years old.

His father found him in the garage with every single one of his tools trying to get the training wheels off his bike. And to his fathers surprise, the then 2-year-old Marrero figured how do it by himself and rode his bike in the cul-de-sac without training wheels on afterward.

And here I am today, Marrero said, sitting inside J.M. Wright Technical High School in Stamford on a recent morning. I love what I do. I love working on cars.

Marrero, who lives in Norwalk, is now a senior at the technical school, where he studies automotive technology and has earned more certifications than some of the professionals hes worked with at car dealerships and motorsports shops.

While many high-schoolers decide to go to college or a university upon graduating, Marrero knew early on he wanted to go to trade school instead. In the fall, hes headed to University of Northwestern Ohio to study diesel and high performance, and automotive business and administration.

After trade school, he hopes to fix cars for a living and to eventually start his own business  just as his father started his own electrical business after he went to trade school.

Though his father closed the business and now works for the Bridgeport Fire Department, he still keeps himself busy with electrical projects on the side.

You always find something to fall back on, no matter what happens, Marrero said, of life after trade school. People always need their cars fixed. People always need nurses. Youre always going to need electricians. Youre always going to need plumbers.

Youre always going to have skills that no one can take away from you, he added.

Phyllis Bartoli, principal of J.M. Wright Technical, said the need for trade school workers is booming in Fairfield County. Statewide, trade school jobs  such as electricians, barbers, plumbers, roofers and cooks  are among the fastest growing occupations, according to data from the state Department of Labor.

J.M. Wright Technical trains students in 10 different trades and is connected to local associations in related industries, including the Home Builders and Remodelers Association of Connecticut.

In those construction trades, they need our kids to continue to make Fairfield County successful and to continue to help it grow, Bartoli said. The Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk area alone saw a near 11 percent drop in construction jobs from 2017-18, with a current total of 9,900 construction workers employed, according to data from the state Department of Labor.

More students at Norwalk High School are also looking to trade school for their higher education plans, according to Daniel Sullivan, chairman of the schools guidance program. And so, the school and district have initiated different ways to support those who arent pursuing a four-year college degree.

Earlier in the school year, students at Norwalk High learned about different post-secondary options during college week: four-year colleges, two-year colleges, trade schools and military options. More of these career pathways will be embedded in the districts upcoming high school curriculum redesign, Sullivan said.

With the cost of college, I think it forced people to be better consumers and look at options more holistically and not just do whats socially expected of you, Sullivan said.

Senior Nicolas Monteleone agrees, and believes theres a stereotype about trade school being a last resort. But to him, going to trade school is a quicker track to his career destination.

Both of his parents graduated from J.M. Wright Technical School and are supportive of him attending vocational school instead of college, as long as he is committed to it.

He got accepted into New England Institute of Technology and will study civil engineering in the fall.

You sort of just go right into the craft and get to work on it, Monteleone said. Thats why I thought of trade school as a cool option.

Similarly, senior Janessa Martinez is applying to a hairdressing academy in Newtown after hearing about it from a co-worker at the hair salon she works at.

At first, Martinez said her parents werent fond of this idea and are both graduates from technical high school. But their minds changed once they saw how determined she was to become a hairdresser.

With college, I didnt know what I wanted to do. But with trade school, I know exactly what I want, Martinez said. I learn better hands-on, not from somebody teaching from the white board. So if youre that type of person who needs to see something get done to learn, trade school would be a better option for you, too.Spring break is upon us, and for many that means escaping to destinations like Mexico.

While spring break is all about fun in the sun, it's important to know you're surroundings in Mexico as it's an increasingly violent country.

The U.S. Department of State is warning road trippers and jet setters visiting Mexico to exercise increased caution and avoid travel in certain places. All 31 states in Mexico currently have warnings in place, while five states are listed as "Do Not Travel" under the Mexico Travel Advisory.

The Mexico Travel Advisory is divided into four levels of caution from the least dangerous  the exercise normal precautions list, to the most dangerous  the do not travel list.

Click through the slideshow above to see how all 31 states and Mexico City rank in the State Department's travel advisory starting with the most popular spring break destinations.

The State Department cautions the public of widespread violent crime, such as homicide, kidnapping, carjacking and robbery in Mexico.

Mexico posted its highest homicide rate in decades, with the government reporting in January that there were 29,168 murders in 2017. The number is the highest since comparable records began being kept in 1997 and is also higher than the peak year of Mexico's drug war in 2011, when there were 27,213 murders.

The Interior Department, which posted the number, reported the country's homicide rate was 20.5 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2017, compared to 19.4 in 2011.

jerilynn.thorpe@lmtonline.com | Twitter: @jerilynnthorpeT heres a lot more to Ireland than Guinness and pubs.

Rolling green hills, a wild Atlantic coastline, endless magical castles and buzzing cities make the Emerald Isle an alluring destination for any traveller.

Its a land that has inspired authors and poets from CS Lewis to Yeats and provided the dramatic and breathtaking scenery for many a film from Star Wars to Harry Potter.

Foodies will find a new flavour in Ireland with chefs making the most of its seafood bounty; party animals will be more than sated by its endless festivals and pub culture and sporty types can get stuck into everything from surfing and kayaking to hiking and biking.

If you're after an injection or urban culture, youve got lively Dublin and continental Cork to explore  where history, architecture, art and fun will be at your fingertips.

People. Fashion. Power. Delivered weekly. Email Sign up Sign up I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice {{message}} {{permutiveUid}} {{message}}

Here are the reasons youll have a right old craic in Ireland...

Its History

Tourism Ireland

Ireland is overflowing with history. The Bru Na Boinne tombs in County Meath predate both the Egyptian pyramids and Stonehenge. But its its literary legacy which is most impressive. CS Lewis, James Joyce, Seamus Heaney and Samuel Beckett are all children of Ireland. Dublin itself is a UNESCO City of Literature  visit Trinity Colleges Long Room to tread where the greats themselves once did.

Castles

Blarney Castle / Tourism Ireland

Nothing suggests magic and romance quite like a castle and Ireland has more than you can shake a stick at. From the gothic to the stately to the haunted and the crumbling, there are castles to explore at every turn. Make sure you tick the 15th century Blarney Castle in Cork off your list.

Not least so you can bend over backwards to kiss the famous Blarney Stone set into the castles walls  legend has it youll be given the gift of the gab.

Wild Atlantic Way

Wild Atlantic Way / Tourism Ireland

Discover the 1500 miles of untamed west coast beauty that stretches majestically from County Donegal in the north to County Cork in the south. Some of the most Instagrammable spots to look out for are: Cliffs of Moher  eight miles of 700ft tall cliffs that feature in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince; and The Burren in County Clare is a 250km square area  a vast karst landscape of cliffs, caves, fossils and rock formations.

Scenery

Wicklow Hiking / Tourism Ireland

Youll find postcard perfect moments everywhere you go. There are lush lakes  especially around the south; mountains like Mount Errigal in the north which gives off a pinkish glow from its quartzite rock at sunset; and collections of islets like the Aran Islands off Galway. Ireland's beaches are very beautiful too: ranging from wide sweeps of golden sand to dramatic, cliff-fringed and rocky  those in West Cork are particularly beautiful. Hike, bike and horseride your way around its emerald pastures.

Dublin

Hapenny Bridge / Tourism Ireland

A visit to Ireland's buzzing capital city goes without saying. Dublin is a super friendly city with a youthful, creative vibe thanks to Trinity College.

It has free museums to explore, architecture to gawp at and a more than lively pub scene, where youre bound to come across a sing song or two. Dublin in recent years has cultivated a cafe culture that might remind you of Paris or Barcelona too. For a taste of the old Dublin visit Hapenny Bridge, a beautiful bridge dotted with little lanterns that was built in 1816, and St Patricks Cathedral, which is Irelands largest medieval church.

Guinness

Guinness Storehouse / Tourism Ireland

Although its not the be all and end all of Ireland, you have to mention the black stuff. The favourite tipple of the Irish, make your way to the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin to see how its made, pull a pint yourself and of course sample it  2 million pints are made here each day. Then head up to its Gravity Bar for a creamy pint and 360 degree views.

Sea Sports

Surfing / Tourism Ireland

Fitness lovers and sporty types will have plenty to keep them occupied. As well as walking and mountain biking, the sea offers up everything from kayaking to paddleboarding to a brilliant surfing scene  youll need a wetsuit.

Bundoran is the surf capital of Ireland with plenty of schools if youre looking to learn, and Sligo and West Cork are other well known surfing hotspots.

The Food

Oysters / Tourism Ireland

Irish cuisine is so much more than soda bread, farmhouse cheese and colcannon (cabbage with kale and potatoes). A new wave of chefs are making the most of its seafood bounty with Wild Atlantic salmon, oysters, scallops and swordfish on the menu. Each September, Galway hosts an International Oyster and Seafood festival.

The Parties

St Patrick's Day parade / Tourism Ireland

You cant talk about Ireland and not mention its famous pub culture.

The Irish sure know how to party and in every town and village youll find its famous hospitality and probably a bit of a sing song  they do love a bit of live music. They also put on a range of excellent festivals during the year, with St Paddys Day being the biggest show  expect parades, costumes and an infectious carnival vibe.

Cork

Cork at night / Tourism IrelandA young man had died and another is in a serious condition in hospital after they were shot and stabbed in the street in Enfield.

It is the third murder investigation to be launched in the capital in just three days.

Scotland Yard said the victims were attacked in South Street in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The first victim, aged in his early 20s, was declared dead at the scene after medics fought desperately to save him.

Fatal shooting: Police at the scene in Enfield / @lustak1

He was suffering from stab injuries and a gunshot wound.

The second victim, also in his early 20s, was rushed to hospital with stab injuries where he remained on Saturday in a serious but stable condition.

Scotland Yard said next of kin have been informed but formal identification and a post-mortem is yet to take place.

His death follows a week of violence in the capital.

On Wednesday night an 18-year-old man was chased down and stabbed in Chadwell Heath, becoming the seventh teen stabbed to death in the capital this year.

On the same evening, but in a separate incident, a 20-year-old man was shot dead in Walthamstow.

Last week, rapper Kelvin Odunuyi, 19, was shot dead as he stood with friends outside a cinema in nearby Wood Green. His killing is believed to be connected to a postcode war orchestrated by gangs in Wood Green and Tottenham.

On Thursday, the Standard reported that Londons Air Ambulance attends more stabbings and shootings than traffic collisions, with the incidents accounting for 31 per cent of their work.

Its medics treated 560 victims of violent crime last year  the first time in its almost 30-year history that this category exceeded the number of pedestrians, cyclists, drivers or passengers hurt in crashes, which totalled 533.

A Met Police spokesman said: "Police were called shortly before 12.40am on Saturday, 17 March, to reports of shots fired in South Street, Enfield.

"Officers attended along with the London Ambulance Service and found two seriously injured men, both aged in their early 20s.

"Victim One was found with stab injuries and a suspected gunshot wound. He was declared dead at the scene at 1.14am.

"Victim Two was found suffering from stab injuries. He was taken to an east London hospital, where he remains in a serious but stable condition."E lizabeth Hurley has said her nephew remains in great pain with a shocking wound after he was chased down by a gang and stabbed in south London.

Miles Hurley lost more than four pints of blood after he was repeatedly stabbed in a mob attack in Wandsworth.

Actress Ms Hurley branded the four men who stabbed her nephew "animals" and added she hoped they will be caught before they hurt or even kill someone.

And updating fans on his condition on Saturday, she wrote on Instagram: Thank you to all who sent such kind messages following the news that my nephew was viciously stabbed last week.

His wound is shocking, he remains in great pain and he can hardly move, but he is slowly recovering. My sister is an amazing mother and is looking after him and his friend- who was also stabbed.

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.

"They are believed to have been attacked by a group of males who got out of a vehicle and assaulted them before fleeing the scene.T he foster parents of the Parsons Green Tube bomber say they feel "betrayed" by his actions and that he seemed like such a good kid.

Ron and Penny Jones took Iraqi asylum seeker Ahmed Hassan into their home in Surrey, and said he "seemed like the loveliest boy we could have asked for".

But unbeknown to them, the teenager was plotting to cause carnage in central London, secretly making 400g of "Mother of Satan" explosives while the couple were away and packing the device with 2.2kg of screwdrivers, knives, nuts and bolts.

On Friday he was convicted of attempted murder after the bomb partially exploded on the floor of a Tube carriage at Parsons Green, injuring 51 passengers.

Parsons Green timeline - Ahmed Hassan found guilty of attempted murder

During his trial, the Old Bailey heard he had wanted to avenge the death of his father in Iraq and was "disappointed" when the bomb only partly detonated in a huge fireball.

It was also revealed that the 18-year-old had already come to the attention of the Home Office, telling officials in January 2016 that he was recruited by IS and forced to train with them.

During an immigration interview at Lunar House in Croydon, he said: "They trained us how to kill. It was all religious based."

CCTV shows the moment a fireball ripped through a Tube train at Parsons Green station

In an interview with the Daily Mail, Mr and Mrs Jones said the authorities "should have been honest" with them, and spoke of their disbelief at how events unfolded.

"He still needed somewhere to live, he still needed to be looked after, but I would have liked to have known because we could've been looking out for signs of radicalisation," said Mrs Jones.

Mr Jones, 89, added: "If we'd known, we could have been more watchful. I still can't believe he did it. He seemed like such a good kid."

The jury was shown CCTV of the bomb being detonated on the train / AFP/Getty images

Hassan, who arrived in Britain on the back of a lorry in 2015, was referred by Barnardo's and Surrey social services to the anti-terrorism Prevent scheme, but kept his murderous plans a secret.

A review of Hassan's dealings with Prevent is under way to see whether any lessons can be learned.

Mr Jones, who was awarded an MBE in 2010 along with his wife for services to fostering, told the Mail he had been "blaming myself but I've had nothing to be suspicious of".

Mrs Jones added: "I can only say he betrayed me. And out of the 269 kids we've had, he's the only one I can say that about."

Surrey County Council told the Mail: "We're sorry Mr and Mrs Jones feel we didn't support them well enough but we told them about Hassan's background at the time he was placed with them."

The authority added it placed a "high value on openness with all our foster carers" to keep them informed about any risks, adding: "This was our approach with Mr and Mrs Jones and our social workers also gave them regular updates.F orecasters have warned of heavy snow and travel disruption across most of the UK including London as they issued a fresh weather alert for the Easter weekend.

Those heading out of the capital for the Bank Holiday weekend have been told they may face delays and cancellations to their flight and rail journeys due to severe conditions on the way.

The Met Office today warned of the risk of snowfall on Monday as they issued a yellow weather alert for London and the south east, as well as most of northern England.

It comes after Londoners were already told they can expect a washout with downpours forecast for almost all parts of Britain in the coming days, with overnight temperatures predicted to drop below freezing.

The additional yellow warning, which will be triggered just after midnight on Monday, comes after the same alert was issued only for Scotland for tonight and Friday.

Snow hits the UK - March 17 2018 1 /25 Snow hits the UK - March 17 2018 Men look at a car trapped after snow fall in Coalville REUTERS A man digs a Landrover out of a snow drift in Coalville REUTERS Gardner Chris Orton tends to the Crocus garden at Wallington Hall in Northumberland PA Scottie Dog Douglas in the snow in Glasgow PA Men dig a Landrover out of a snow drift in Coalville REUTERS Cars in snow on Blackstone Edge near Littleborough in Greater Manchester PA Horses are covered in snow on the hills surrounding Merthyr Tydfil in Wales PA A stranded coach on Blackstone Edge near Littleborough in Greater Manchester PA Horses are covered in snow on the hills surrounding Merthyr Tydfil in Wales PA Horses are covered in snow on the hills surrounding Merthyr Tydfil in Wales PA A woman cleans snow off a car in Bristol PA A woman cleans snow off a car in Bristol PA People taking part in the Grindleford Gallop, a 21-mile fell race, on Curbar Edge in the Peak District PA A snow storm in Car Colston, Nottinghamshire. PA A jogger braves the snow near Hyde Park, central London Getty Images A woman battles icy winds in Kesington Gardens Getty Images Snow blankets Brockwell Park in Herne Hill Dylan the dog enjoys the snow in Grovelands Park, north London Spring flowers brighten up wintery scenes in Kensington Gardens Getty Images An Egyptian goose looks less than impressed by the weather Getty Images Londoners shelter from the snow under umbrellas outside Kensington Palace Getty Images Fresh snow covers the pitch after a flurry ahead of the English Premier League football match between Stoke City and Everton at the Bet365 Stadium in Stoke-on-Trent AFP/Getty Images A woman braves plunging temperatures in west London Getty Images Snow flurries settled in Beckenham, south east London A woman feeds the birds as temperatures plunge Getty Images

Issuing the fresh alert, the Met Office in statement said: Rain will turn to snow over higher hills during Thursday daytime and then to some lower levels during Thursday night.

Loading....

A few centimetres of snow may affect higher routes before a slow improvement follows during Friday daytime.

At lower levels, snow will probably struggle to settle on tarmac and concrete surfaces. Some icy patches are also possible.

How to drive in the snow

Ahead of the snowfall expected on Monday, persistent rain is expected in the south on Friday before the showers sweep northwards.S alisbury has "become a ghost town" because of the investigation into the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, struggling local businesses have said.

The Wiltshire city has been at the centre of a probe of international importance since Mr Skripal, 66, and his daughter, Yulia, 33, were discovered unconscious on a bench.

The Mill pub and Zizzi restaurant where the pair dined before falling unconscious, as well as a number of nearby businesses, have been sealed off since the incident.

While residents do not fault the police, they want more be done to help those businesses that are still open but have been left out of pocket.

Traces of the nerve agent used to poison Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found at Zizzi in Salisbury / PA

Darren James, chairman of the Salisbury and District Trade Union Congress, told the Standard: "We need clear guidance on who is going to foot the bill. Keep it simple. These people need help and they need it urgently.

"I understand the Mill pub, which is owned by Greene King, is paying staff. But of course, they're able to because they are part of a huge, nationwide business.

"And this all came in the week of that horrendous snow we had which caused a lot of closures. It's just been one thing after the other for businesses around here."

Russian Spy Sergei Skripal: Salisbury Nerve Agent Incident 1 /14 Russian Spy Sergei Skripal: Salisbury Nerve Agent Incident Investigators in protective gear pursue the probe into the nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal Getty Russian spy 'poisoning': Sergei Skripal and Yulia Skripal are fighting for life in hospital PA Personnel in hazmat suits work to secure a tent covering a bench in the Maltings shopping centre in Salisbury, where former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found critically ill by exposure to a nerve agent Andrew Matthews/PA ilitary personnel are deployed to help remove vehicles from the scene after former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter were found critically ill after exposure to a nerve agent in Salisbury Getty Images Military in protective clothing remove vehicles from a car park in Salisbury EPA Police cordon: Military personnel in Salisbury PA Traces of the nerve agent used to poison Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found at Zizzi in Salisbury PA Amber Rudd: she visited the scene where Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found after having been poisoned by a nerve agent REUTERS Personnel are helped from their hazmat suits (right), after securing a tent covering a bench in the Maltings shopping centre in Salisbury, where former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found critically ill by exposure to a nerve agent Andrew Matthews/PA Personnel in hazmat suits walk away after securing a tent covering a bench in the Maltings shopping centre in Salisbury, where former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found critically ill by exposure to a nerve agent Andrew Matthews/PA Police put a red bag inside a police evidence bag immediately after the nerve agent attack on a Russian spy. Officers previously issued CCTV of a woman clutching a red bag Solent news Snap Fitness 24/7 Police activity in the cul-de-sac in Salisbury that contains the home of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal who was poisoned along with daughter Yulia with a nerve agent PA Sergei Skripal shops at Bargain Stop in a CCTV image from five days before his apparent poisoning

Wiltshire Council has approved a 20,000 donation to a hardship fund to support local entrepreneurs.

Deputy leader John Thompson said: "We've visited 50 businesses to help them to apply for business rate relief and our officers are on the ground doing that. It's not a matter us waiting for them to come to us we're going to businesses.

"We're also working with HMRC to take a helpful and supportive approach to any VAT or tax issues that businesses may have."

Despite these efforts, many fear it may be too little too late.

Salisbury spy attack: Story so far

Marie Roberts, who runs the area's Harnham physiotherapy clinic, said: "Ever since the attempted murder and subsequent closures and cordons in Salisbury, local independent shopkeepers are struggling to stay afloat.

"This follows a quiet period caused by heavy snow...I met a shop assistant earlier a few days ago who told me their store had been deserted the past week.

"People seem to still think Salisbury is a ghost town and small businesses are really suffering."

While Daniel Styles, who runs a popular flower stall, told local Spire FM he made a huge loss on what would ordinarily be one of his biggest days of the year - Mother's Day.

He said: "I guess people are scared to come in...Mother's Day weekend is normally one of the biggest weekends of the year for us.

"We normally make around 12,000 and we only made two or three grand...We're trying to be patient. We know it's a big incident."

Russian spy poisoning: Military forces work on a van in Winterslow / AP

Local newspaper the Salisbury Journal launched a campaign in the wake of the attack, #SalisburyisOpen, hoping to support businesses which have suffered as a result of the police investigation.

Bill Browne, the Journal's publisher, said: "We have not lost focus. This is having a very real impact on those who depend on trade in this town for their livelihoods.

"We are inviting readers, businesspeople and anyone we can reach to share the Salisbury is Open message with as many people as possible."

In a visit to the city on Thursday, Prime Minister Theresa May met with local businesses and urged people to "come and enjoy Salisbury".

Theresa May visited Salisbury on Thursday / PA

She said: "There has been, as I understand it, a fall in the number of people visiting Salisbury, but the important message Ive had today is that Salisbury is open.

"Its a great city to visit and we want to see people coming here and continuing to enjoy the beauty and the history of this wonderful city.

"Salisbury has tremendous resilience, great spirit and they look forward to welcoming people into this city."

The Prime Minister revealed she would expel 23 Russian diplomats earlier this month in response to Russia's failure to explain the attack on Mr Skripal.

Wiltshire police say they cannot be sure how long it will be before cordons around parts of the Maltings shopping centre will be lifted.

Chief Constable Kier Pritchard said: "It's of vital importance that we maintain the integrity of those crime scenes in the interests of public safety."P rotesters have descended in their thousands on London and other UK cities to march against racism, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism and Donald Trump.

Demonstrators, led by campaign group Stand Up to Racism, braved severe weather conditions across the UK to take to the streets for a number of marches on Saturday.

Armed with banners and placards carrying messages such as no to racism and unite and fight, the protesters marched in solidarity with similar events in other European countries.

Among those to speak at the event in the capital were prominent anti-racism campaigners, politicians and faith and community leaders.

Stand Up to Racism: Protesters descended on London and other UK cities for the demonstrations / Camille Magniez/Twitter

Addressing crowds gathered in London, Labour MP David Lammy said: We are standing up for the Britain that we love and that we believe in.

"We are sending a message to the arch chief of this tide of prejudice that is sweeping our world - Donald Trump.

In another message on Twitter, the Tottenham MP added: We will not be cowed. We will fight, fight and fight again for what we believe in.

Demonstrations took place in cities including London, Glasgow and Cardiff ahead of the UNs Elimination of Racial Discrimination day on March 21.

Using the hashtag #MarchAgainstRacism, demonstrators shared their images of large crowds as they descended on the cities.

London: Protesters armed with placards carrying messages such as 'unite and fight' took to the streets / Camille Magniez/Twitter

Organisers of the event, campaign group Stand Up to Racism, said one reason demonstrators were taking to the streets was to protest against a massive rise in racism in Britain and across the rest of the world.

In a statement on its website ahead of the events, it said: Rampant institutional racism is being felt through a spate of deaths in police custody, the tragedy at Grenfell and systematic discrimination in employment and Hosuing.

Protest: Demonstrators were led by campaign group Stand Up To Racism / Claire Gilbody/Twitter

Trumps Muslim ban, his racist wall project and equivocation over white supremacist and fascist marches have led to a climate of racism and fear across the US.T he British government will join allies to "consider the next steps against Russia" after a move to expel 23 UK diplomats over the Salisbury spy poisoning.

Theresa May said Britain "anticipated" the move following her announcement to expel 23 Russian diplomats over a nerve agent attack on former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

The Prime Minister again accused Russia over the March 4 incident and said Britain "will never tolerate a threat to the life of British citizens and others on British soil from the Russian government".

She told the Conservative Spring Forum: "In light of their previous behaviour we anticipated a response of this kind and we will consider our next steps in the coming days alongside our allies and partners.

Strong words: Theresa May / Getty Images

"But Russia's response doesn't change the facts of the matter - the attempted assassination of two people on British soil for which there is no alternative conclusion other than that the Russian state was culpable.

"It is Russia that is in flagrant breach of international law and Chemical Weapons Convention.

"I repeat today that we have no disagreement with the Russian people. Many Russians have made this country their home and those who abide our laws and make a contribution to our society will always be welcome.

Russian spy poisoning: Military forces work on a van in Winterslow / AP

"But we will never tolerate a threat to the life of British citizens and others on British soil from the Russian government."

Mrs May praised the reaction of the UKs allies and continued: "We can be reassured by the strong support we have received from our friends and allies around the world.

"From the United States, Nato and the European Union. From our UN and Commonwealth partners. I'm grateful too for the strong support I've received from the first minsters of Scotland and Wales.

"And in the House of Commons this week we saw a consensus as member after member across all parties stood up to condemn Russia's actions and to support the position of Her Majesty's Government.

Military personnel wearing protective coveralls carry out their work in Salisbury / AFP

"Because this act of Russian aggression is the very antithesis of the liberal and democratic values that define the United Kingdom - the rule of law, freedom of speech, the toleration of dissenting and minority views, a free press, fair and democratic elections, a thriving civil society.

"These are the foundation stones of human freedom. They don't come about by accident and they're certainly not the default setting for any society."

Her words came as police launched a fresh appeal for information surrounding the movements of Mr Skripals BMW the morning before he was found unconscious on a bench by police.

Scotland Yard has released a photo of the burgundy BMW 320D saloon car - registration HD09 WAO - which has become the focus of the huge investigation into the nerve agent attack.

Russian Spy Sergei Skripal: Salisbury Nerve Agent Incident 1 /14 Russian Spy Sergei Skripal: Salisbury Nerve Agent Incident Investigators in protective gear pursue the probe into the nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal Getty Russian spy 'poisoning': Sergei Skripal and Yulia Skripal are fighting for life in hospital PA Personnel in hazmat suits work to secure a tent covering a bench in the Maltings shopping centre in Salisbury, where former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found critically ill by exposure to a nerve agent Andrew Matthews/PA ilitary personnel are deployed to help remove vehicles from the scene after former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter were found critically ill after exposure to a nerve agent in Salisbury Getty Images Military in protective clothing remove vehicles from a car park in Salisbury EPA Police cordon: Military personnel in Salisbury PA Traces of the nerve agent used to poison Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found at Zizzi in Salisbury PA Amber Rudd: she visited the scene where Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found after having been poisoned by a nerve agent REUTERS Personnel are helped from their hazmat suits (right), after securing a tent covering a bench in the Maltings shopping centre in Salisbury, where former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found critically ill by exposure to a nerve agent Andrew Matthews/PA Personnel in hazmat suits walk away after securing a tent covering a bench in the Maltings shopping centre in Salisbury, where former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found critically ill by exposure to a nerve agent Andrew Matthews/PA Police put a red bag inside a police evidence bag immediately after the nerve agent attack on a Russian spy. Officers previously issued CCTV of a woman clutching a red bag Solent news Snap Fitness 24/7 Police activity in the cul-de-sac in Salisbury that contains the home of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal who was poisoned along with daughter Yulia with a nerve agent PA Sergei Skripal shops at Bargain Stop in a CCTV image from five days before his apparent poisoning

Counter-terrorism police believe Mr Skripal's car may have been seen in the areas of London Road, Churchill Way North and Wilton Road at around 9.15am.

Salisbury cemetery and crematorium, where Mr Skripal's wife's grave and a memorial to his son are located, is situated on London Road and has been cordoned off by police who were seen removing items earlier this week.

Police investigation: Sergei Skripal's BMW / Met Police

The car was then later seen being driven down Devizes Road, towards the town centre, at around 1.30pm.

Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said: "We are learning more about Sergei and Yulia's movements but we need to be clearer around their exact movements on the morning of the incident.

"We need to establish Sergei and Yulia's movements during the morning, before they headed to the town centre. Did you see this car, or what you believe was this car, on the day of the incident?

Russian spy 'poisoning': Sergei and Yulia Skripal are fighting for life in hospital / PA

We are particularly keen to hear from you if you saw the car before 1.30pm. If you have information, please call the police on 101."

Miss Skripal arrived at Heathrow from Russia at 2.40pm on March 3 and the pair visited Salisbury city centre at around 1.40pm the following day, going to the Mill pub before eating at Zizzi restaurant between 2.20pm and 3.35pm.

They were discovered on the bench in The Maltings shortly after 4.15pm, when police were called.

Mr Basu said the probe, which is being worked on "around the clock" by around 250 officers, could take "months".

He said: "In any investigation, the information we receive from the public can be crucial to helping the police build a picture of events and in this case the public response has been immense.

"Around 400 witnesses have already given statements, with hundreds more to be taken in the coming days.

"To date, detectives have recovered 762 exhibits and are trawling through around 4,000 hours of CCTV. They are making good progress in what is a painstaking investigation that is likely to be ongoing for weeks, if not months."U nited Airlines accidentally put a dog on the wrong flight in its third mix-up involving pets this week.

Flight attendants on a plane from Newark, New Jersey, to St Louis, Missouri discovered a dog in the hold which should not have been there mid-flight.

The pet had been mistakenly put on the plane when it should have been travelling to Akron, Ohio on Thursday.

The pilot then diverted the entire flight to Ohio to drop off the dog and every passenger on board received compensation for the inconvenience. The pet has been reunited with its owner.

It comes after a 10-year-old German shepherd named Irgo was mistakenly flown to Japan.

A fellow passenger shared this image of the dead dog after it was forced into an overhead bin by United Airlines cabin crew

The dog is now back with its family in Kansas. It arrived at a Wichita airport Thursday night after a flight on a private plane that United chartered from Japan.

Kara Swindle and her two children took a United flight on Tuesday from Oregon to Kansas City, Missouri, during a move to Wichita, Kansas.

When they went to pick up Irgo, they were shown a Great Dane that was supposed to go to Japan.

United said that the dogs were put on the wrong planes when being moved from connecting flights in Denver.

The airline declined to say how much it spent on Irgo's charter flight.

Irgo's misadventure began a day after a French bulldog puppy died aboard a United flight after a flight attendant required a passenger to put her pet carrier in the overhead bin.

The airline said in a statement: United Express flight 3996 from Newark to St. Louis diverted to Akron to drop off a pet that had been loaded onto this flight mistakenly.R ussia has expelled 23 British diplomats as the UKs ambassador was summoned to Moscow for talks over the poisoning of a former spy.

The retaliatory move comes after Theresa May earlier ordered 23 Russian diplomats to be expelled over the March 4 poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury.

The Russian foreign ministry, in a statement quoted by news agency AFP, said the British diplomatic staff would be "expelled within a week".

Speaking in Moscow, British Ambassador Laurie Bristow today said: "Russia today has informed me of steps that Russia will be taking."

The ambassador did not reveal what steps Moscow had taken.

Vladimir Putin has denied claims he is responsible for the shooting / EPA

He said the UK would "always do what is necessary to defend ourselves, our allies and our values against an attack of this sort".

Former UK ambassador to Russia Sir Roderic Lyne warned against a tit-for-tat battle after Moscow expelled 23 British diplomats in a retaliatory move in the spy poisoning stand-off.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I don't think it would be sensible to get dragged down into a mud-wrestling battle with a gorilla.

"We shouldn't put ourselves on the same level as the aggressor. We shouldn't allow Russia to turn this into a bilateral battle and have the Kremlin play it into the narrative of a hostile West, a hostile Britain out to attack Russia."

The move comes after British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of personally ordering the poisoning.

Mr Putin's spokesman denounced the claim.

Theresa May visited Salisbury on Thursday / PA

Mr Skripal, 66, and his 33-year-old daughter Yulia remain in a critical condition in hospital after being found slumped on bench in the Wiltshire city on March 4.

The pair had previously visited the Mill pub and dined at a Zizzi restaurant before they were discovered unconscious by police after reportedly being attacked by nerve agent.

They were thought to be poisoned by a deadly nerve agent called Novichok.

Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey who was also injured in the attack after rushing to help the victims is no longer in a critical condition NHS England has said.

Russian spy 'poisoning': Sergei and Yulia Skripal are fighting for life in hospital / PA

Less than 10 days later a prominent Kremlin critic Nikolay Glushkov was found dead at his London home.

The Russian exile died from "compression to the neck", a special post-mortem investigation found.

The 68-year-old was discovered dead at his home in Clarence Avenue, New Malden, south-west London, on Monday.

Police initially treated the death as unexplained, but launched a murder probe after the results of the post-mortem investigation, which began on Thursday.

Military personnel wearing protective coveralls carry out their work in Salisbury / AFP

The Metropolitan Police said it was not linking the two incidents, saying there was no evidence Mr Glushkov was poisoned, and reassured neighbours there were "no wider public health concerns" in relation to the investigation.

The Met's counter-terrorism command will continue to head up the probe "because of the associations Mr Glushkov is believed to have had", it said.

Neighbours spoke of their shock following the news his death was being treated as murder.

British Ambassador to Russia Laurie Bristow in Moscow / REUTERS

Kate Fitzsimmons, who lives opposite Mr Glushkov, said she had never spoken with him but he would wave at her from across the road.

Asked if he seemed friendly, the 87-year-old said: "I thought so. I thought he was just an ordinary friendly Englishman really. I didn't know he was Russian."

Nikolay Glushkov was found dead at his London home / AP

She said it was "very sad" that a murder investigation had been launched, adding: "Well there's nothing one can do about it is there, really?"

Ms Fitzsimmons said it was a "great big shock" when she returned to her home early on Tuesday morning to all the police activity.

She said: "I'm a nurse, I don't get shocked easily, but it did sort of shock me, and I was at a meeting at the church until half past ten two nights ago and they walked me home, which was kind of them."

Russian Spy Sergei Skripal: Salisbury Nerve Agent Incident 1 /14 Russian Spy Sergei Skripal: Salisbury Nerve Agent Incident Investigators in protective gear pursue the probe into the nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal Getty Russian spy 'poisoning': Sergei Skripal and Yulia Skripal are fighting for life in hospital PA Personnel in hazmat suits work to secure a tent covering a bench in the Maltings shopping centre in Salisbury, where former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found critically ill by exposure to a nerve agent Andrew Matthews/PA ilitary personnel are deployed to help remove vehicles from the scene after former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter were found critically ill after exposure to a nerve agent in Salisbury Getty Images Military in protective clothing remove vehicles from a car park in Salisbury EPA Police cordon: Military personnel in Salisbury PA Traces of the nerve agent used to poison Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found at Zizzi in Salisbury PA Amber Rudd: she visited the scene where Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found after having been poisoned by a nerve agent REUTERS Personnel are helped from their hazmat suits (right), after securing a tent covering a bench in the Maltings shopping centre in Salisbury, where former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found critically ill by exposure to a nerve agent Andrew Matthews/PA Personnel in hazmat suits walk away after securing a tent covering a bench in the Maltings shopping centre in Salisbury, where former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found critically ill by exposure to a nerve agent Andrew Matthews/PA Police put a red bag inside a police evidence bag immediately after the nerve agent attack on a Russian spy. Officers previously issued CCTV of a woman clutching a red bag Solent news Snap Fitness 24/7 Police activity in the cul-de-sac in Salisbury that contains the home of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal who was poisoned along with daughter Yulia with a nerve agent PA Sergei Skripal shops at Bargain Stop in a CCTV image from five days before his apparent poisoning

On Friday three police officers stood in front of blue and purple tents erected on the front drive of Mr Glushkov's home.

The property remains sealed off behind a police cordoned, as do several adjoining homes on either side.

Hours before the Met announced the murder probe, the Investigative Committee of Russia said it had opened criminal cases over the attempted murder of Yulia Skripal and the murder of Mr Glushkov.

The committee said it would investigate in "accordance with the requirements of Russian law and international law".

Salisbury spy attack: Story so far

Mr Glushkov was a retired financial director who had lived at his address for two years, Scotland Yard said on Friday.

Neighbour Patricia Egan described him as a "lovely fellow" who was intelligent, very well-mannered, very generous and friendly.

He was outspoken after the death of his close friend Boris Berezovsky - another enemy of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Mr Berezovsky was a friend of murdered spy Alexander Litvinenko and a thorn in the side of the Russian regime.

He was found hanged in the bathroom of his Berkshire home in 2013. An inquest recorded an open verdict.

Mr Glushkov told the Guardian in 2013 he would "never believe" he took his own life.T he Magic Gang - The Magic Gang

(YALA!)

***

Though it feels less central to the culture than it has at other times, huge London gigs on the way for bands including The Vaccines and The Wombats suggest that theres still plenty of public appetite for lively, unchallenging indie rock. It may be Drake dominating the No 1 spot, and the daring end of hip hop and R&B getting most of the critical adoration, but sometimes people just want to jump around and sing along.

It might be a Northern thing, with guitar bands such as Blossoms and The Courteeners seeming to get more love above London for their throwbacks to the days of The Stone Roses and Oasis. Now a bunch from as far South as you can get is joining in.

The Magic Gang live together, Monkees-style, in Brighton. Though that cartoonish name may summon psychedelic visions of Ken Keseys Merry Pranksters, theyre not as wild as that. Their debut album is a good-humoured romp filled with crashing guitars and massed vocals. There doesnt seem to be much to bring them down: Party drugs dont do anything/I dont know why I bother, Jack Kaye sings on Alright.

When they get louder, there are echoes of The Cribs and Super Furry Animals in the ramshackle guitars of Getting Along and Caroline. The gentler piano tune Take Care shows a more sensitive side, and there are more retro hints of The Beach Boys and The Byrds too, but its their consistent catchiness that should ensure their rise.

by David Smyth

Yo La Tengo- Theres a Riot Going On

(Matador)

***

Yo La Tengos 15th album opens with an ominous wave of guitar feedback. It threatens to explode for a while before settling, unriotously, into a hazy-moody, maraca-led shuffle of an instrumental.

Theres a riot going on all right  the title echoes Sly and the Family Stones 1971 classic, recorded in similarly troubled times  but the New Jersey trio would prefer to groove away in their own meandering, endearing, enduring way.

Yo La Tengo, built around husband-and-wife team Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubler, have been in the indie rock game since 1984 and this is more of a distillation than a departure, self-produced from scraps of gauzy synths, backwards guitars and sideways lyrics. A lot of it drifts on by but a mood of dreamy unease lingers on.

The standout is For You Too, a neat example of how much you can wring out of a standard guitar/bass/drums dynamic when your melodies have glimmer, your grooves have bite and your bass player wields a fuzz pedal like James McNew.

by Richard Godwin

Creep Show - Mr Dynamite

(Bella Union)

***



Creep Show, a collaboration between John Grant and the band Wrangler, is an experimental side- project combining pop and industrial electro with dance and funk.

At its very best, their debut channels repetitive, infectious krautrock  the influence of Einsturzende Neubauten and Kraftwerk feels unmistakable at times on the excellent Lime Ricky, Fall and Safe and Sound. Epic in structure and with subtle Brian Eno-like touches, the songs manage to be both cohesive and fiercely innovative. The best songs on the album are often those where a minimalist, melancholic tone is created  Modern Parenting being a good example.

Elsewhere on the album, however, a dizzying juxtaposition of styles and self-indulgence jars. A heavy, distorted manipulation of voices  such as that on Endangered Species  too often clashes with, rather than complements, the delicate intricacies of the synth and drum layering beneath each track.

by Elizabeth Aubrey

Fickle Friends - You Are Someone Else

(Polydor)

***

Fickle Friends have been touring heavily and releasing well-received pop bangers for the past few years, so their debut album already has the feel of a greatest hits collection. None of these synth-drenched tunes overstays its welcome. Compared with the abundance of faceless, generic dance music from blokeish DJs and producers, the Brighton bands DIY electropop is positively bursting with personality.

Natassja Shiners breathy urgency ensures youre never bored. As with so many of these retro-fixated groups, however, theres the nagging thought that electronic music should really sound like the future rather than an Eighties cocktail bar. Nevertheless, Fickle Friends chart-friendly anthems are stubbornly hard to resist.

by Andre Paine

Leeroy - Leeroy Presents: Fela is the Future

(BMG)

**



Fela Kuti (1938-1997) was one of Africas greatest musicians and a thorn in the side of governments in his native Nigeria. To mark the 20th anniversary of his death, French hip hop producer Leeroy has recorded a dozen classic Fela songs in Lagos with surviving members of his band, Egypt 80, and younger artists.

Remarkably, he also brought in both Felas sons, Femi and Seun Kuti. Back in Paris he remixed the tracks and unfortunately created a bland, dated Afropop that takes all the power and stridency out of them. Felas uncompromising identity gets overwhelmed in programmed dance beats.Golden: How will Texas deal with success, even if it was an easy win?Russians have looked on with growing dismay as their space program, once a close competitor with the Americans, slips in to bankruptcy and insignificance. But the Russians were already falling way behind when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and since then the government has, with increasing frustration, sought to revive Russian space efforts and restore that program to its former fame and glory. The latest major move towards that goal occurred at the end of 2015 when Russia abolished its government federal space agency and transferred all the assets and responsibilities to a new state-owned corporation (called Roscosmos). Over the next two years it became obvious that the problems remained, seemingly beyond solution. To make that failure obvious by the end of 2017 Russia had fallen to third place, behind the Americans and Chinese in space efforts. This was not a surprise because over the last decade Russian space efforts have struggled to meet military space needs, often at the expense of civilian needed. Currently there are only 134 Russian satellites in orbit and 60 percent of them are military. The Russian space efforts have become a money-losing operation sustained mainly for propaganda purposes. But even that backfires. This was demonstrated in February 2018 when Roscosmos officials were asked for their reaction to the recent successful launch of the American SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. The official response was that the SpaceX launch was a nice trick. This was in reference to the SpaceX Falcon Heavy using 27 rockets operating in unison to launch very heavy loads into orbit. Also notable was two of the three booster rockets returning and landing (nearly simultaneously) for reuse. This, and many other innovations made SpaceX Falcon Heavy much (by over 70 percent) cheaper than competing American designs (and foreign ones as well). Finally because the first SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch was a test the SpaceX owner used, for a payload, an electric car (a convertible) with a crash test dummy in a space suit in the drivers seat and the dash board having an iconic Dont Panic sign on it as well as two high tech storage devices with massive data about earth and its inhabitants (in the event that extraterrestrials find the car in the future). Most Russians appreciated the humor in all this and the reality that it meant Roscosmos was in a hopeless position because Roscosmos lacked the cash and talent to operate as effectively as SpaceX. This was an old story for Russians and now even the Chinese had passed them by.

A fundamental problem with the Russian space program was that, unlike in the West and now with China, the Russian efforts were a spinoff from the military program that concentrated on weapons (ICBMs and the like). In the West commercial space operations that generated a lot more activity (launches, R&D, competition and demands for technical and operational efficiency). With the collapse of the Soviet Union there was less money for space operations and better career opportunities elsewhere for the Cold War era Russian space program talent. Russia is keeping up in the design and construction of ICBMs, but even there the loss of all that talent forced to work for the Soviet space program and equipment manufacturing has led to a decline, since the 1990s, in quality for all rockets built. Thus all those embarrassing failures in new Russian ICBMs over the last two decades. Many of the details of the military rocket failures are kept secret. Not so on the commercial side.

Examples of these Russian shortcomings occur regularly. In November 2017 there was another failure by a Russian satellite launcher to get its valuable cargo into orbit. This failure was traced to a software error in the third stage that carried one large weather satellite and 18 tiny cubesats. The control software for the third stage o was programmed for launch from the Balkinor launch facility but the failed launch was from the new Vostochny space center. If fact, this was only second launch from Vostochny, which became operational in 2016. The Russian engineers did not change the flight control software to indicate a launch from Vostochny (in the Russian Far East) rather than the Cold War era Balkinor which, since the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, belongs to the new Central Asian state of Kazakhstan. It was a stupid, very expensive and very avoidable mistake. But the quality of engineers and managers that would have prevented that sort of thing no longer want to work for the space program, especially one that is in third place and getting worse.

This mishap was disappointing but not unexpected because Russia saw its defense and space related technology efforts rapidly deteriorate in the 1990s. After 1991 Russia was much smaller and with half the population of the Soviet Union and with a new economic and political system. Skilled technical talent could no longer he kept confined to jobs and neighborhoods determined by the government. After 1991 the talent was set free and most, especially the managers, wanted to work anywhere but the state owned (or controlled) defense industries. This should have been anticipated because half the Soviet population left to form new nations (or revive old ones).

Then there was China. Since the 1980s China has set its people free to get rich as long as they did not challenge the communist dictatorship that is still in charge. China has not yet been able to produce something like SpaceX but the Chinese space program has, since the 1980s matched and surpassed every the Russians ever did. And China has the kind of economic system and entrepreneurs that could create another SpaceX operation.

The Russian problem was that they did not nurture entrepreneurs like the Chinese did. In 1991 Russians were free to work where they wanted and few of the technically skilled Russians wanted to work for the government anymore. A lot of them left Russia and never returned. At the same time China was attracting talent to its space program by allowing entrepreneurs to create a lot of the technology they needed. Meanwhile the Russians were putting fewer satellites into orbit and a growing number of those launches were failures because the talent to make that happen was no longer around. This loss of talent was felt throughout the Russian defense industries and since the mid-1990s there were growing complaints from military commanders about quality control problems with the new (post-1991) weapons. This was especially true with nuclear submarines, ballistic missiles and aircraft. The problems seemed to be worst, and most embarrassing, in the space program. It was just the opposite in China and this annoyed the Russian government even more. Now the Americans are launching electric cars into orbit at half the price anyone else can do it.

The failure of the Russian space program was not a sudden thing. It took time and it was a painful process. In 1999 a new Russian government came into power and has been trying real hard to fix the problem, with only limited success. For example in mid-2013 the government issued a formal reprimand to the director (Vladimir Popovkin) of the Russian Space Agency (RSA), which handles all of Russias satellite launches. The government later clarified that the reprimand was not for several recent disasters but for the fact that since 2010 the RSA has only been able to launch 47 percent of Russian satellites. The reprimand, which in Russia is usually the last warning for someone about to be dismissed, was about the continued inefficiency of the RSA and the inability of Popovkin to reform and revitalize the RSA.

This failure was worse than it appeared. Vladimir Popovkin took over RSA in March 2011. Eleven months later he was hospitalized for exhaustion. There were rumors that he had been worn down by his many subordinates working against the new anti-corruption measures. He was out of the hospital in twelve days and denied the many rumors (like the corruption struggle) swirling about him. Vladimir Popovkin should have been an ideal candidate for the RSA job, as he was a career army officer and scientist who rose to command the Russian Space Forces and several other military operations dealing with large rockets and space operations. Popovkin held on his job despite continued problems because he was qualified to do the job and encountered a lot of problems with corruption and decades of bad management. Russian politicians and state controlled media, both heavily involved in corrupt activities, were not eager to make a big deal of how corruption was crippling the RSA. What Popovkin also had to deal with was a chronic shortage to competent and reliable technical people. Not matter how talented and capable Popovkin it was not enough to turn the space program around.

The problems were frequent and expensive. In 2010 there was the inability to put expensive mapping satellites into orbit. In one case a flawed launch attempt left the Russian GEO-IK-2 earth mapping satellite in a useless (too low) orbit for 17 months until it entered the atmosphere and the 1.4 ton satellite completely burned up. The GEO-IK-2 was designed to measure the shape of the earth and monitor planetary movement (land, tides, ice). The satellite also had a military use, to measure the planet's gravitational field, which helps make missile guidance systems (and commercial ones) more accurate and reliable. Launched on February 1st, 2011, the GEO-IK-2 satellite reached low orbit but the third stage of the rocket failed to turn on its rockets to put the satellite into its final (higher) orbit. The day after this happened Russian ground controllers restored contact with the GEO-IK-2. Ground control had lost contact with the GEO-IK-2 satellite shortly after launch and the satellite was initially believed to be a total loss. Controllers were not able to get GEO-IK-2 into a better orbit and functioning reliably, making this the second major satellite loss in three months for Russia.

There were repercussions. A month before GEO-IK-2 burned up on reentry, Russia fired two senior managers of the RSA, plus some lesser managers, because of the December, 2010 loss of three navigation satellites. That incident involved a Proton satellite launcher that failed due to poor management and supervision. It was a stupid mistake. The rocket malfunctioned and caused the satellites to crash into the Pacific. The Proton rocket had been fueled incorrectly, causing the imbalance and failure to achieve orbit. This was poor management at its most obvious.

The prompt dismissal of so many senior managers was actually pretty typical. Russia has a long tradition of the "vertical chop," where several senior leaders in the same chain of command are dismissed (or even executed, at least in the old days) when there was a screw up in their area of responsibility. This approach has fallen out of favor in the West, where the tendency is to fire as few people as possible when there is a major failure. After September 11, 2001, for example, no one got fired. In Russia the vertical chop was never a magic bullet because even during the Soviet period corruption was a big problem and a major reason for the 1991 collapse.

Because of this Soviet legacy, Russian satellite launchers have never been the most flawless, but they got the job done. Including the partial failures, the Proton has about a ten percent failure rate. However, the Russian launchers, and Russian launch facilities, are cheaper than those in the West and nearly as reliable. But the higher failure rate of the Proton rocket causes some concern among potential customers. Nevertheless, the Proton is so cheap that you can afford to pay more for insurance. And there is some comfort in knowing that the RSA suits put their jobs on the line every time one of those rockets is launched.

The repercussions continued in the wake of all the sloppy decisions and stupid mistakes that have led to the loss of launchers and satellites. Another shake up of the space effort was expected if the government could find someone more qualified than Vladimir Popovkin to do the deed. Senior government officials knew that Popovkin was not the problem and that the corrupt environment he had to work in was. Cleaning that up means cleaning up the corruption throughout Russian society. That requires more than the vertical chop, it takes time and persistence. In 2013 Russian space efforts were reorganized once more and Roscosmos was created. This rearranged management but did not solve any of the underlying problems.

Another problem Russia has was where to launch its satellites from. On April 28th 2016 Russia carried out its first satellite launch at its new Vostochny space center (Cosmodrome). A Soyuz rocket put three civilian satellite into orbit. This Cosmodrome is in the Russian Far East (Amur Province, just north of Manchuria), unlike the Soviet era site in what is now the independent state of Kazakhstan. Construction of the Amur site began in 2010 as Russia realized Kazakhstan was becoming a very difficult landlord. Construction of Vostochny moved quickly in part because the site used to be Svobodny 18, an ICBM base that was shut down in 1993 as part of the START disarmament treaty. Amur Province was ultimately selected because of weather (it averaged only 50-60 overcast days a year, had a dry climate and calm winds) and the absence of earthquakes. Everything went according to schedule as first launches were planned to begin in 2016. This was made possible by the government acting quickly when signs of corruption periodically surfaced. Three construction executives were arrested for corruption and many others threatened. Construction is still going on, mainly to build equipment and facilities for handling heavier cargoes, including supplies and components for space stations. This worked for the completion of Vostochny but not for the rockets and satellites that were sent to Vostochny to be put into orbit.

Military launches will largely remain at Plesetsk, near the Arctic Circle. While Plesetsk's location is good for some types of launches (high inclination, polar, and highly elliptical orbits), the place is frozen most of the year and more expensive to operate because of the climate.

Meanwhile Baikonur has not been abandoned, In 2013 Russia agreed to remain in Baikonur after the Kazakh government agreed to reduce its demands for higher rent. Russia had threatened to cut launches at Balkinor from 75 percent of the Russian total to ten percent by the end of the decade. Kazakhstan originally demanded a lot more money and threatened to shut down Balkinor if the Russians did not pay. In 2012 Russia paid Kazakhstan $115 million a year for the use of Balkinor, in addition to the $50 million a year spent to maintain the facility. Many Kazakhs saw Balkinor as an ATM and anytime there was a cash shortage, they could make a withdrawal and the Russians would be forced to pay. The Russians convinced the Kazakhs that plans to leave Balkinor were real. It was pointed out that Balkinor where the commercial satellites were launched and Russia sold these launch services to a growing list of foreign customers. If Russia paid the higher fees the Kazakhs were demanding the foreign customers would have to pay more than other competitors charged and Russia would have to abandon Balkinor as uneconomical.

Russia had already moved all military launches to the smaller space center at Plesetsk. Russia can turn Baikonur into a big cash cow via commercial launches but the Kazakhs were finally convinced about this when construction of Vostochny began and moved ahead with unusual speed and agreed to more reasonable rent and, for the moment, Russia's largest satellite launch site was still in Kazakhstan. With Vostochny now operational the Kazakhs have to pay more attention to being a good landlord. But with a failing space program Russia is unlikely to generate enough business to make all those launch centers profitable. This is a sad end to a space program that, in the 1950s, was actually first in many areas. By the 1960s the Americans had moved ahead and the Russians tried but never could pose a serious threat.Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi met high-ups in the United States government during his day-long visit to Washington.

According to sources, the Pakistani premier met US officials at a local hotel where diplomats from the Pakistani embassy were also present.

The prime minister also met Congressman Ted Yoho, who is the chairperson of the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific.

A few days back Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua visited Washington as part of an attempt by both states to work together.

Janjua stressed the importance of strategic and diplomatic relations between the two nations.

Prior to Janjuas visit, on the same day, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia Alice Wells had said they could be in the beginning of a process with the Pakistani government.

"We have a series of high-level exchanges, Foreign Secretary Janjua will be here in Washington for meetings tomorrow.  There will be a very intensive dialogue through both our military and our civilian channels to discuss how we can work together, she had said. Were certainly not walking away from Pakistan.

The US-Pak relations witnessed a downtrend after US President Donald Trump's New Year tweet, wherein he had claimed that Washington had "foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years".Afghanistan is hosting high-level talks with Pakistan on Saturday to chalk out a way forward to improve strained bilateral ties and enhance cooperation to further a recent Afghan offer of peace talks to the Taliban.

Pakistani National Security Adviser Nasser Janjua traveled to Kabul for the daylong discussions on a special invitation from his Afghan counterpart, Haneef Atmar, said an official announcement in Islamabad.

Janjua is scheduled to meet with President Ashraf Ghani, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and Masoom Stanekzai, head of the Afghan intelligence agency (NDS).

"Pakistan is always prepared to work in a cooperative framework and provide every help to win peace in Afghanistan," the statement noted.

The top Pakistani security official is visiting Kabul more than two weeks after Ghani offered unconditional talks to the Taliban in his bid to end an increasingly deadly Afghan war.

The Taliban have not yet publicly responded to the offer, prompting expectations the insurgents are mulling about whether to come to the negotiating table, Pakistan and U.S. officials said.

Islamabad's relations with Kabul have deteriorated in the past three years over allegations that Pakistani security institutions covertly support the Taliban insurgency. Pakistan denies the charges.

However, Pakistani military chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa recently spoke to a group of journalists and sounded upbeat about better future relations with Afghanistan.

Bajwa, in a rare interaction, credited his meeting with Ghani in Kabul last October for providing the breakthrough.

He has said that since then "the vibes are positive" and that he has been in regular contact with the Afghan president via his cellphone to try to sustain the momentum toward a peaceful Afghanistan.Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi, is on an official visit to Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).

During the visit, the Naval Chief called on Western Fleet Commander of Royal Saudi Naval Forces, Rear Admiral Hamed Bakheet Al Johani and also visited RSNF Ship and establishments.

According to Spokesperson of Pakistan Navy, during the meeting with Western Fleet Commander of Royal Saudi Naval Forces, matters of mutual interest and bilateral naval collaboration were dilated upon. Rear Admiral Hamed Bakheet Al Johani acknowledged the significance of close and strong bilateral naval association in diverse realms between Pakistan Navy and Royal Saudi Naval Forces.

The Commander Western Fleet appreciated the strong relations between the two naval forces.Later, Chief of the Naval Staff visited Command and Control Centre of Western Fleet Command, Royal Saudi Naval Schools and Aviation Setup. Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi was given detailed briefings on the occasion.

The Naval Chief also visited RSNF Ship HMS MAKKAH. The Admiral was briefed onboard by the Commanding officer of the ship. During his visit onboard, the Naval Chief interacted with ships crew and appreciated their operational competence.

It is expected that recent visit of the Naval Chief will enhance and expand collaboration between the two countries in general and navies in particular.The Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar has announced to donate his organs to Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) on Saturday.

I am donating my organs to SIUT, however I dont know how much they will work, CJ said while addressing to ceremony in SIUT.

Chief Justice said that he was already in deep concern over the situation of the country and the presentation given by the SIUTs head Adeeb Rizvi has out him further in deep inner unrest.

Lauding the service of Adeeb Rizvi, CJ commented, He is already convinced with the skills and abilities of Adeeb Rizvi and judiciary will always support him at any issue.Tourism Bay of Plenty is seeking an increase in funding of $621,000 in order to manage the regions exponential tourism growth, so that it doesnt impact negatively on the environment and local communities.

The funding is being sought under Tauranga City Councils Long Term Plan, which opened for consultation today, and would equate to 0.5 per cent of the councils proposed overall rates increase.

Tourism Bay of Plenty is appealing for people to make submissions in favour of the funding, so it can follow a Destination Management path, an emerging trend worldwide to approach tourism from a more sustainable viewpoint.

Destination management is the strategic and sustainable management of visitor-related development, coordinated with residents interests, to preserve a regions unique identity. It brings stakeholders together and provides them with the tools to work collaboratively to meet the demands of a growing number of tourists.

It would be the greatest shame if this beautiful region became burdened by tourism to the point our locals didnt continue to love where they live, and we couldnt all enjoy the benefits of the economic impact this growing sector brings, says Tourism Bay of Plenty CEO Kristin Dunne.

It would be reckless to allow this growth without a considered management plan. We must show strong leadership, make insight-led decisions and have a clear development plan.

Tourists spent a record $1 billion in the Coastal Bay of Plenty last year  a milestone that was originally not forecast for another 12 years. This figure is expected to grow to $1.45 billion by 2028, making it one of the largest economic contributors to the region.

Max Mason, Chair of the Tauranga City Councils Economic Development and Investment Committee, says while booming visitor numbers are good for business, there are growing negative impacts on local residents.

Gridlock in summer months at the Mount, freedom camping issues and difficulties in finding visitor accommodation are all indicators of serious future problems. Our tourism and city leaders cant stick our heads in the sand  we need to act now, says Mr Mason.

By going to public consultation with a proposal to become Destination Managers, Tourism Bay of Plenty is proactively seeking to find future solutions. I urge the community to make submissions so that we can make the best decisions on tourism going forward.

Regional Tourism New Zealand says local tourism organisations are on a knife edge for future funding.

Executive officer Charlie Ives says pulling back on tourism funding is a mistake, from which regions can take years to recover.

What we need is a really solid conversation at a national level about a consistent approach to funding tourism in New Zealand. It shouldnt be left up to each local council to come up with options based on the current limited funding levers available to them, he says.

The regional tourism organisations are very conscious of ensuring the growth in tourism continues to deliver benefits to the community and increasingly theyre also taking on a role of working with other community groups and monitoring community attitudes.

Regions should all have a long-term strategy for managing and developing their tourism industry to ensure local communities get maximum benefit from what is a booming industry, he says.

Tourism Bay of Plenty currently receives funding that equates to 0.15 per cent of visitor spend, which is well below the national benchmark of 0.21 per cent for similar-sized regional tourism organisations.

The additional funding would be met through the Economic Development targeted rate, with the impact on most businesses being less than the cost of a cup of coffee a week  between 7 cents and 58 cents a day for all businesses under $2m in value and no more than $1.15 a day for businesses valued $4m or over.

Its a small price to pay to help boost our economy and create jobs, which benefits everyone in the long run. It is our collective responsibility to be guardians of our place by protecting and enhancing the environment, through sustainable tourism growth, says Ms Dunne.

Submissions are open until April 16 and can be made at www.goodquestion.nz.

For more information on Tourism Bay of Plentys Visitor Economic Strategy, email admin@bayofplentynz.comThe gathering of 700 Harley Davidson motorcycles and riders from around New Zealand in Whitianga for a weekend of organised events, live bands, markets and comradeship proved so popular, theyve booked to return in 2019.

This years tour which was held last weekend had riders starting their day lined up at the Taylors Mistake reserve.

The Whitianga Sea Scouts held a bike wash as a fundraising opportunity for their new Scout Den and collected $6500.

The bikes then headed to the Coroglen Tavern for lunch and an afternoon of fun games.

The Gathering organisers confirmed their return to Whitianga as a three-day event of music, food, friends and riding for 2019 and plan to increase the numbers of entrants to 1500.

"This is a fantastic news for Whitianga, and the wider Coromandel," says Mercury Bay community board chair Paul Kelly.

"We saw riders around the Mercury Bay ahead of the weekend, as well as the Saturday and Sunday and they travelled around the district."

"With the numbers increasing next year, the economic benefits will be seen in the hospitality and accommodation industry, as well as other business sectors," says Paul. "Who knows? Maybe some of them may buy property here.

"The event is organised by Passionate Riders for passionate riders who like to ride and have fun," says organiser Evan Still. "The emphasis is on everyone having a great time. A Gathering of like minded individuals.

The next Gathering is planned for March 8 - 10 2019 returning to Whitianga for riders of American motorcycles, and their friends and family. All bikes welcome.

The event has the support of our Council, through assistance provided by our District Events coordinator Kirstin Richmond.Bay of Plenty Regional Council shows steady progress addressing the recommendations of the Rangitaiki River Scheme Review.

On April 6, 2017, a breach of the Rangitaiki River stopbank at College Road in Edgecumbe resulted in widespread flooding of properties and the evacuation of the entire township.

Following that event, the Bay of Plenty Regional Council requested an independent review of the infrastructure and the circumstances that led to the breach of the flood wall and associated flooding. That report was presented to the council and made public in October 2017.

A report earlier this month to the councils audit and risk committee illustrated a coordinated response to the recommendations of the review (often called the Cullen Report).

Councils general manager integrated catchments Chris Ingle says it is important the council takes a coordinated approach to the recommendations and is transparent in reporting progress.

There are 29 recommendations in the review report and they cross a wide range of council functions including different groups like Civil Defence, flood management, monitoring and data gathering, modelling, engineering, and community engagement. So we have set up an internal working group so we can coordinate that approach and keep track of the different pieces of work.

Some of the projects are short term and some are much longer. It was helpful to lay the recommendations out for the council and illustrate progress to each.

Progress has already been made in a number of areas.

Work is well underway with Whakatane District Council and Civil Defence agencies on the development of river level triggers and evacuation planning for the Edgecumbe township. These take into consideration the state of repair works along the river and extensive scenario modelling.

The Cullen Report also made recommendations to bring forward changes earmarked in the long term plan for improvements to the monitoring network in the catchment. Several proposed sites already identified are in the process of being installed and the council is continuing to review the monitoring network in all Bay of Plenty catchments to ensure there is increased spatial coverage and redundancy through surrogate sites and modelling.

Management of Lake Matahina was the topic of one of the recommendations in the report and the council is continuing to work closely with Trustpower to review the Lake Matahina flood management plan to improve communications in flood events and agree protocols for timing and lake level management during an event.

A number of the technical and supporting recommendations have also been taken on board in the reconstruction work and planned upgrades of the College Road Stopbank and Rangitaiki Floodway infrastructure.

In addition to the technical recommendations, the review had several recommendations around long term strategies and design philosophies. This covered a bit of ground including a growing need to make way for our rivers and future soft engineering solutions and how we deal with the changes already happening and the impact of climate change. We have underway, since 2013, a couple of key projects that look at these strategies within and outside our river schemes in the Bay, says Chris.

It is also worth noting that the Review found that parts of the community did not understand the flood risk that they live with. We recognise that this community education will be a growing part of what we do in the future.

The full report including a table cross-referencing the Cullen Review recommendations is available on the website here.Starting off international competition season in commanding fashion, Casey Brown (CAN) took a big win on Saturday in the first event of Crankworx Rotorua, winning all six stages of the Giant Toa Enduro presented by CamelBak in the Pro Womens category.

But while decisive, over two minutes faster than second place finisher Ronja Hill-Wright (AUS), the win was no easy feat.

Brown rode Stage Five (aptly named Te Ahi Manawa, which translates to Fire Heart) blind, then finished her day with some added spice on the final stage.

I love racing without really knowing whats coming up. It was exciting, to say the least, says Brown. Then I had a pretty wild Stage Six. Me and Vaea [Verbeeck] had a pileup. That was exciting. These tracks are so great around here and the weather has been so good compared to last year. Beautiful cool breeze and overcast. Couldnt ask for a better day. Super stoked.

Despite the crash, Verbeeck (CAN) finished strong in third after Hill-Wright.

On the Pro Mens side, the Kiwi riders swept the podium for the second year in a row. The top two traded stage wins all day, with Keegan Wright (NZL) eventually emerging from the forest physically behind Sam Blenkinsop (NZL), but 4.8 seconds ahead.

Me and Blenki are always really close, says Rotorua-local Wright. He was right before me so I was always trying to chase him down. I always got to the end and thought Far out, he must have smoked me. I didnt even catch him. But obviously we were just back and forth with each other which is cool.

Rounding out the Pro Mens podium was Matt Walker (NZL).

Overall, conditions in the Whakarewarewa Forest were prime. Rain fell earlier in the week, followed by a few days of late-summer sun, paving the way for some signature New Zealand dirt gold on the forest floor.

I think its the first time Rotoruas had an enduro where its not rained, adds Wright. It was cool just riding out on the dusty trails. Came into a few corners where it was blown out, but it keeps you on your toes. All the tracks were really good.

The wins for Wright and Brown put them in a strong position as the battle for King and Queen of Crankworx kicks off for another year. Each walks away with 225 points, the most awarded for a win in any Crankworx event (comparatively, a win in a Crankworx Downhill event bags a rider 150 points). Brown is on deck to battle for more points over the next eight days of Crankworx competition, currently registered in every single event open to female competitors.

Wright on the other hand will take his points with him to Chile, missing Crankworx competition from Monday onward in order to compete in the first round of the Enduro World Series in South America. But he says this taste of victory ought to satisfy him until the Crankworx World Tour hits Europe in June.

Im doing the other three stops. Going to bring my jump bike and my slalom bike and give it a good nudge for sure. Cant let the frenchies take it all.Playing a role in what makes Rotorua the tourism epicentre of the North Island is something Andrew Aitken has been passionate about for a long time.

As Skyline Rotoruas new sales and marketing manager, Andrew is looking to continue the companys strong focus on domestic visitors, but also attract additional international tourists to Skyline.

From a background in aviation and tourism, Andrew joined the company at the end of February, after previously working at Ngai Tahu Tourism as the sales manager overseeing Hukafalls Jet, Agrodome and Rainbow Springs. Previous experience has included roles at Forgotten World Adventures in Taumarunui and Air New Zealand in Auckland.

Andrew is now set to make his mark at Skyline Rotorua following the departure of the companys previous sales and marketing manager in December, David Blackmore.

The fantastic thing about Skyline is its one of the very few tourism offerings you would visit more than once. Skylines products connect with that repeat customer base and thats what I love about it.

"For Skyline, the idea is we want people up here for the day, so we are always refreshing our product offerings.

We have some exciting projects on the horizon that were excited to launch in the near future.

He says Rotoruas tourism industry has a collaborative approach in promoting the region.

The city is made up of people with a wealth of knowledge that dont sit still  there is always something to do and a new opportunity to unravel and thats what I love the most about the tourism industry.

From Auckland to Taumarunui to Rotorua, Andrew says it was always part of his plan to be in Rotorua.

Weve been here for almost three years and we love it. While we were in Auckland, we holidayed a lot here and Skyline was always part of our itinerary.

Outside of work, Andrew enjoys mountain biking, running around the Blue Lake and tramping, having hiked six out of New Zealands nine Great Walks to date.

My wife and I and our three boys enjoy everything Rotorua has to offer and we wouldnt be anywhere else  its the place we always knew wed one day call home.The Cuban FM also noted that the disguised implementation of former President Donald Trump's erroneous and dangerous foreign policy (2017-2021) makes the current U.S. Government accountable... | Read MoreGiant retail conglomerate Wesfarmers will retain the jewel in its portfolio, Bunnings, and jettison the slightly tarnished silver, the $19 billion Coles supermarket chain, in a company-transforming decision by chief executive Rob Scott after only four months in the job.

The move could actually see Wesfarmers shrink its way to greatness because it should emerge from the deal a smaller company that produces a better return on capital for its shareholders.

At least that is the plan.

Coles managing director John Durkan will leave later in the year. Credit:Louise Kennerley

In the last six months of 2017, Bunnings Australia and New Zealand overtook Coles as the largest earning business inside Wesfarmers - an amazing feat given where the two businesses were only five years ago.BORDERTOWN



netflix.com.au

Bordertown: Everyone has secrets.

There is a lot that's familiar about the latest entrant to the Nordic noir lists, from the eerie opening track and aerial shots of cars travelling picturesque yet creepy roads, to our protagonist: Kari Sorjonen, the savant detective who sees the things the other plods don't. Likewise, when Sorjonen moves with his family to a provincial city in search of the quiet life, we know things are going to be anything but. On the upside, lots of other familiar things are very welcome, including classic Nordic styling and plotting  and the promise of a certain perversity  that's captivating from the get-go. This time we're in Finland, which brings its own quirks, including the fact that the border town chosen by the Sorjonen family is Lappeenranta, on the border with Russia  an easy commute to St Petersburg. Expect the involvement of ruthless Russian crime lords at some point. There's one young blonde corpse; another being held captive; and  oh no  Sorjonen's 17-year-old daughter is also blonde. Of course, this is the Land of the Blondes, but it doesn't bode well. Meanwhile it gradually becomes apparent that everyone here has secrets and that the very civilised town of Lappeenranta is rotting from the inside. It looks like Detective Sorjonen won't be making it home to cosy family dinners any time soon. Melinda Houston













Its hard not to get a feeling of deja vu when you see the the homeless count from the 2016 Census.

As with previous counts, the results are damning. The number of homeless Australians jumped 14 per cent in the five years to 2016. In almost every category, homelessness has grown worse.

Providers of homeless services, including St Vincents Health, react with great disappointment and anger  as we always do  that the situation has been allowed to deteriorate so badly.

The number of homeless people has grown across the country. Credit:Kate Geraghty

Governments then release "glass half-full" statements in response, claiming activity and purpose in addressing the problem. And then the caravan rolls on.There is ostensibly a presidential election in Russia today, but its result is already a certainty. Authoritarian former spy Vladimir Putin, who has ruthlessly sidelined any candidates with the potential to end his 17-year reign and who exerts control over the national media, will win another six-year term. It is sham democracy. Russia under Mr Putin increasingly resembles a rogue state.

Consider some of its recent crimes: the attempted murder with a military chemical weapon of a former Russian double-agent and his niece in regional England, the latest in a series of similar outrages, including murders, in the UK; interference in the US 2016 election; attempts to interfere in some European elections; the development of nuclear and cyber weapons; the 2014 annexation of Crimea; the associated military downing of civilian flight MH17 over Ukraine, causing the death of 298 people, including 80 children; and ongoing attempts to destabilise Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to believe he can act with impunity, relying on flimsy deniability and all the while vindictively eradicating opposition. Credit:AP

Mr Putin has become an autocrat in charge of a nuclear arsenal and a dysfunctional, sluggish economy. Russia is still mired in poverty.

Russias serial transgressions, which it contemptuously and without any credibility denies, create an ugly and alarming portrait. UK Prime Minister Theresa May has spoken of an economic war in retaliation to the latest blatantly illegal act by Russia on its soil, an assassination attempt that put the lives of hundreds of UK citizens at risk. She has expelled about two dozen Russians  officials and private individuals  and is considering freezing Russian assets in the UK. Russia says it will respond aggressively.Raymond Finkelstein, QC, will investigate Trinity's dismissal of Rohan Brown. Credit:Josh Robenstone

Ray Finkelstein, QC, has presided over one of the highest courts in the land and helped reshape Australias media landscape. Now he's investigating the fallout from a schoolboys haircut.

He and high-profile barrister Renee Enbom - who represented actor Rebel Wilson in her $4-million-plus defamation case, and for the AFL during the Essendon supplements scandal - have been hired to investigate one of the biggest high-school brouhahas in years.

The pair has been appointed by Trinity Grammars school council to investigate the sacking this month of deputy principal Rohan Brown after he cut a schoolboys hair on school photo day.

As a Federal Court judge, Mr Finkelstein presided over major cases including one brought by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission in 2005 against Steve Vizard for breaches of his duties as a director of Telstra. Vizard was fined $390,000 and banned from serving as a company director or manager for 10 years.If your cordless home phone is struggling to cope with the other wireless gear in your house, it might be time to upgrade to a Wi-Fi-friendly DECT handset.

Some cordless phones run on the 2.4GHz or 5.8GHz wireless bands, both of which can be prone to interference from dual-band Wi-Fi routers. If a Wi-Fi upgrade is causing your cordless home phone calls to crackle and hiss, or drop out completely, then upgrading to 1.8GHz DECT cordless handsets might be the answer.

Panasonic.

These Uniden and Panasonic handsets are touted as long-range cordless phones, helping overcome interference issues and reach to the furthest corners of your home and backyard. They offer roughly the same range, letting you place the base station in the front room and then make calls from the other side of the road, two doors up. Panasonic includes a repeater, which further extends the range, while Uniden sells repeaters for about $70. The charge cradles for additional handsets don't act as repeaters.

Both cordless handsets offer a neat trick  charging the base station so that during a blackout you can still make calls. Unfortunately this won't save the day if you're on the NBN and your broadband router also needs power for the home phone to work.Warsaw: A Romanian court has upheld a death notice against a man despite him being alive and present in the court at the time. The decision by judges in the eastern Romanian town of Barlad left Constantin Reliu, 63, legally dead despite him showing all the vital signs of life.

A very much alive Constantin Reliu speaks to media, outside a courtroom, in Vaslui, northern Romania. Credit:AP

"My name is Constantin Reliu. I am dead but I'm still alive," he said as he left the court. "I have no source of income, and because of the fact that I am dead I cannot hire a lawyer. In fact I can't do anything in this country."

Reliu left Romania in 1992 to work in Turkey, where he settled down.

His wife, having heard nothing from him for years, applied successfully for a death notice in 2016. Her husband first became aware of his death when he tried to return to Romania in January, after the Turkish authorities expelled him because his papers had expired.Vienna: Tens of thousands of Slovaks took the streets for a third week to demand early elections, saying this week's resignation by Robert Fico as Prime Minister was insufficient to guarantee a crackdown on corruption.

Crowds thronged a main square in capital, Bratislava, on Friday evening, protesting against what they said was only a cosmetic change in government that will allow Fico's Smer party to keep its grip on power.

People celebrate the resignation of Prime Minister Robert Fico in Bratislava, Slovakia. Credit:AP

Similar rallies began in more than 30 other cities across the country. It was a continuation of the country's biggest demonstrations since the fall of the Iron Curtain that began after the murder of a reporter investigating state corruption last month.

The rallies illustrate undiminished outrage after Fico resigned on Thursday with the condition that Smer name his replacement, defying protesters' demand that the three-party coalition open the way to early elections. The protests echoed other anti-government rallies across Eastern Europe over issues ranging from democratic backsliding to endemic graft. Another pro-EU leader - Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar - announced he would quit the same day in the midst of a public-sector strike before a summer ballot.So the experts created an academic center to advance a technique called Accelerated Bridge Construction, in which bridges are built off-site and, when ready, moved to their final locations in one piece, with disruption lasting days or less.

But bridges often took a long time to build, leading to clogged traffic, irritated commuters and more workers working in dangerous areas where they could get hit by cars.

Los Angeles: In 2010, a group of bridge engineering experts met at Florida International University in Miami to push an idea: Infrastructure around America was crumbling, and the nation needed new bridges. A lot of them.

That seemingly marvelous process unfolded at FIU earlier this month, as officials installed a 53-metre, 950-tonnne pedestrian bridge over a weekend. On Thursday afternoon, the bridge, which had not yet been opened, collapsed onto passing traffic below, killing at least six people (up fromt he original death toll of four) and injuring nine others.

The cause of the bridge's collapse, and whether the bridge's new construction techniques played a role, remained unknown on Friday as authorities launched investigations into the tragedy.

"Right now, we just want to find out what occurred, what caused this collapse to occur," said Miami-Dade Police Department director Juan Perez. "We're gonna have to start from the beginning, from contract, all the way to the end, when the incident happened."

Miami-Dade County Deputy Mayor Maurice Kemp added that no survivors were thought to remain in the rubble, which crushed at least eight vehicles like soft-drink cans, and that emergency efforts had switched to recovering the remaining victims' bodies.

"We want to ensure that this type of accident doesn't happen again locally or anywhere in this country," Kemp said.Palm Beach: If they came to see the president, they were disappointed. But the well-dressed crowd of Republican activists who gathered at President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club on Friday night still got a glimpse of party royalty.

There by the poolside, in a pink shirt and sport jacket, was Donald Trump Jr., the president's eldest son. And the headliner of the night was Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor and vice-presidential candidate, who could not help but observe the differences between the palm-fringed setting and her home state.

"Just days ago I was out ploughing snow. I was chopping wood," Palin told the crowd. "And I was - I kid you not - cooking caribou stew. Just like all of you, making a meal for the family. I just have to shoot it first."Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia: Mongolians have long relied on folklore to explain how miserably cold their winters are.

During the first of nine phases of winter - each composed of nine days, starting on December 22 - it is said that vodka made from milk freezes.

The rising skyline framed by a Soviet-era monument in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Credit:Bryan Denton

During the third set of nine days, when temperatures can hit -40 degrees in both Fahrenheit and Celsius, the tail of a three-year-old ox is said to fall off. Around the sixth set of nine days, which falls in the middle of February, roads are expected to re-emerge from underneath the ice and snow.

But for the nearly 1.5 million residents of the capital, Ulaanbaatar, the misery of winter is now defined almost singularly by the smoke rising out of the city's chimneys.Kate Middleton. Photo: ANDREW PARSONS/AFP/Getty Images

Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton showed up to the St. Patricks Day Parade looking like a jolly shamrock, wearing an emerald-green coat with actual springs of the symbolic Irish green tucked below her fur collar. Truly no one is having a more festive day.

She and Prince William are at celebrating with the 1st Battalion of the Irish Guards at Cavalry Barracks in Hounslow, west London, where theres a parade for St. Patricks Day every year. Middleton, who always dresses head-to-toe in green for the holiday, picked a Catherine Walker coat, the Gina Foster hat that she wears at every possible occasion, and black accessories for this years parade.

Middleton clearly loves the holiday. Here she is with the mascot for the 1st Battalion of the Irish Guards, an Irish Wolfhound named Domhnall  Domhnall of Shantamon, if were being formal  who looks glum but is actually feeling quite jovial, Im sure.

An Irish dog. Photo: ANDREW PARSONS/AFP/Getty Images

And heres the happy expecting couple. While Kate and William already have two kids  rule-breaker Prince George and sweetheart Princess Charlotte  the two are expecting their third child in April.

Photo: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

A genuine smile!

Kate Middleton. Photo: ANDREW PARSONS/AFP/Getty Images

Good to see she has fully recovered from her finger scandal earlier this week.Chinese travelers queue to buy train tickets to head home for the Lunar New Year at the Beijing Train Station on Feb. 4, 2015. (Fred Dufour/AFP/Getty Images)

Chinas Orwellian Social Credit System to Begin Banning People From Planes, Trains

People in China could soon be banned from boarding planes and trains by the Chinese regimes social credit system, an experimental design that international observers have speculated will be the next step in Chinas transformation into a total surveillance state.

The regimes National Development and Reform Commission rolled out new regulations regarding travel on March 16, according to Reuters. The commission, a regulatory agency controlling the Chinese economy, targeted commercial flight passengers in one statement and train riders in another.

The new rules stipulate that starting May 1, Chinese citizens who have been recorded for a variety of misdeeds could find themselves banned from flying or taking trains. Spreading false information about terrorism, causing trouble on flights, using expired tickets, and smoking on trains are among the acts that would get one banned from planes and trains altogether.

The charge of spreading false information about terrorism is clearly meant to allow the regime to punish disallowed political speech.

Those who have failed to enroll in Chinas social security fund, and those who have been found to be exploiting the social security system will also be put on the no-fly list, but will be allowed to ride on trains, though limited to lower class seats.

The commissions statements also made specific reference to the social credit system and said that the new rules are consistent with the directives issued by Chinese Communist Partys 19th Party Congress last year. The nature and exact implementation of the regimes social credit system still remains opaque, although it has been the subject of much speculation for years.

With the new regulations, the regime is beginning to implement a system that many international observers have panned as a step in Chinas transformation into a total surveillance state.

Many have anticipated that the system will eventually rate citizens based on everything they say and do, and those with a low social credit ranking could find themselves being denied basic public services or even a job or housing. Besides recording minor infractions like jaywalking or smoking in public, the system could also record and punish citizens for making dissenting speeches.

In compliance with the regimes directives, Chinas major social media sites have already implemented a similar system to muffle users who say what is prohibited. Weibo, Chinas equivalent of Twitter, has already rolled out a credit score system to measure how much a user is compliant with the sites speech policies.Dashcam Captures the Chilling Moment Florida FIU Bridge Collapses

Captured on dashcam video, this is the moment a newly erected pedestrian bridge collapses at Florida International UniversityMiami.

The 950-ton bridge, which spanned several lanes of traffic, came crashing down on Thursday, March 15, burying at least eight vehicles in the rubble.

At least six people were confirmed dead, and police have said more bodies may be recovered.

We know that theres people missing, the family members know that theres people missing, and what we can tell them is that we can assume that theyre in there, Juan Perez, director of the Miami-Dade Police Department, said at a news conference.

The accident occurred just five days after the 174-foot-long bridge, assembled by the side of the highway, was installed during a six-hour operation.

The mission was reclassified from a search and rescue to a recovery effort, ABC News reported on March 16, as authorities said anyone still trapped under the wreckage is likely dead.

The engineers are working at it in a very tactical way, Alvaro Zabaleta, a spokesman for the Miami-Dade Police Department, said at a news conference on Friday, according to ABC. The structure is fragile and could be dangerous to rescue personnel.

Earlier emergency personnel with sniffer dogs searched for signs of life amid the wreckage of concrete and twisted metal that rained from the collapsed structure and crushed vehicles on one of the busiest roads in South Florida.

But police determined late on Thursday that nobody would be pulled from the wreckage alive, Perez said at a news briefing on Friday.

The identities of the victims are not yet known, but at least one was a female student at Florida International University, the universitys president, Mark Rosenberg, told reporters.

At least 10 people were taken to hospitals and two were in critical condition, officials and local media reported.

Call to the Transport Department About Cracks

The engineer overseeing the new pedestrian bridge had called the state Transportation Department two days before the collapse to report cracks found in the span, the Transportation Department said on Friday.

But the engineers message, including his assertion that the cracking posed no safety issue, was left on the answering machine of a department employee who was away from the office at the time, and it was not retrieved until Friday, a day after the tragedy, according to the agency.

Late on Friday, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) released a transcript of a voicemail message the agency said was left by Denney Pate, senior vice president and principal bridge engineer for private contractor FIGG.

In it, Pate said his team had observed some cracking at one end of the bridge and that repairs were warranted, but from a safety perspective we dont see that theres any issue there, so were not concerned about it from that perspective.

He added, Obviously the cracking is not good and somethings going to have to be, ya know, done to repair that.

Below is a recording of that call.

Bridge Installed Last Saturday

The 174-foot bridge connects the university with the city of Sweetwater and was installed on Saturday in six hours over the eight-lane highway, according to a report posted on the universitys website.

If anybody has done anything wrong, we will hold them accountable, Florida Gov. Rick Scott said at a news briefing late Thursday.

Rosenberg said on the Saturday edition of Good Morning America that the project has been done as every other project at FIU in terms of construction.  We only work with certified contractors that have been approved by all the appropriate authorities.

Were shocked and were going to cooperate fully, Rosenberg said, according to ABC. Weve got to get to the bottom of this and we will. Our condolences to all the family members and loved ones to those who were injured and killed in this tragic accident.

The governors office earlier issued a statement saying a company contracted to inspect the bridge was not prequalified by the state.

Munilla Construction Management, which installed the bridge, was founded in 1983 and is owned by five brothers, according to its website. In addition to its Florida operations, the company also has divisions in Texas and Panama and employs 500 people.

FIGG Engineering said it took part in the bridge project and would fully cooperate with investigators, adding that the collapse was the first in its 40-year history.

The bridge was intended to provide a walkway over the busy street, where an 18-year-old female FIU student from San Diego was killed as she attempted to cross in August, according to local media reports.

Students at FIU are currently on their spring break vacation, which runs from March 12 to March 17.

Recommended Video:

Officer Saves Woman Who Was PinnedThe crew was preparing to fly to Dubai when the woman fell off the plane. File photo.(Marwan Naamani/AFP/Getty Images)

Emirates Flight Attendant Dies After Falling Out of Plane

A flight attendant who tumbled out of a planes emergency exit while it was parked in Uganda has died, it has emerged.

The flight attendant who has not been named, was rushed to hospital after falling out of the plane at Entebbe International Airport in Uganda, but later died, according to reports.

The Civil Aviation Authority in Uganda confirmed that the woman opened the emergency door and unfortunately fell off an Emirates aircraft, according to a statement cited by Metro,

Authorities are investigating the womans fall from the plane.

The woman was on an Emirates Boeing 777 and was preparing to head to Dubai at 3:25 p.m. local time on Wednesday, March 14, Metro reported.

A spokesman for Kisubi hospital, Edward Zabonna told the BBC that the flight attendant had injuries all over her face and knees. He added that she had been unconscious but alive when she arrived at the hospital.

Emirates female flight attendant dies after tumbling from plane's emergency exit at a Ugandan airport 'while preparing the aircraft for boarding'

The woman tumbled from a Boeing 777 at Entebbe International Airporthttps://t.co/lea2H6zcqX  Market Savant (@MarketSavant) March 16, 2018

Emirates issued a statement Saturday, March 17, acknowledging the crew members death.

Emirates said it will extend our full cooperation to the authorities in their investigation, AP reported.

Our thoughts and prayers are with her family, and were providing them with all possible support and care, the airline added.

A Boeing 777 is over 60 feet in height.

Recommended Video:

Timelapse Video Captures Ocean of Clouds Over Vancouver, British ColumbiaGun Range Owner Offered Free Lessons for Teachers, Now Hes Overwhelmed by Demand

The owner of a gun range in Michigan was inspired by President Donald Trumps idea to arm teachers in order to protect students in the case of a school shooting.

Michael Barbour, the owner of Top Gun Shooting Sports, saw footage of the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, and wanted to do something to help.

When the idea of arming teachers was floated by the President, I saw so many people coming out against it, saying teachers did not want it, Barbour told The Daily Caller. I thought Id do my part and just offer some free classes.

Barbour wasnt expecting much of a response, hoping to fill a couple of classes with approximately 20 teachers. But within minutes of posting the ad, the calls began to pour in.

People started signing up within minutes, Barbour said. 390 spots were filled in 10 days. Weve been overwhelmed with the response.

According to Barbour, teachers came by the carload. Some drove from as far away as three hours to take the free gun safety and handling classes. The range has had to add more classes to keep up with demand.

Teachers learn basic firearm safety and shoot live rounds at the range as part of the course. Barbour said some teachers are nervous at first, but then get the hang of it.

Some of the teachers are very experienced, Barbour said. Theyre excellent marksmen.

According to Barbour, the idea that teachers dont want to carry guns is extremely false. Plus, the teachers arent the only ones interested.

Weve had school maintenance people, bus drivers, lunchroom staff, special education staff and administrators show up to learn how to shoot, he said.

Michigan prohibits guns on school property, but given Trumps conviction about arming teachers, Barbour wants to prepare those teachers who want to learn.

My whole goal is to make teachers more friendly to firearms, Barbour said. So if they ever pass a law to allow school carry, the teachers will be ready.



Michael Barbour

Trump proposed arming properly trained teachers in order to protect schools in case of an attempted mass shooting. Some locales already allow teachers to carry guns. In Florida, the state legislature passed a bill that would let teachers carry weapons in schools with approval from the local school board and sheriffs department.

Barbour said he often sees teachers become emotional after the courses, thanking him and his instructors for the support.

They tell me they would do anything to make sure their kids get home safely, Barbour said. Its great to see teachers so excited to learn their rights, Barbour.

I feel like the answer is not to take away guns, but to empower us and train people to be able to protect themselves, Jackie McMillion, a special education teacher who took the free class on March 11, told the News Herald. Growing up using guns, I was taught to use it responsibly.

Recommended Video:

President Trumps First State of the Union AddressHero Police Dog Saves Partners Life and Receives Highest Bravery Award for Animals

Now the brave dog has received the George Cross

A heroic police dog that was stabbed with a 10-inch knife while chasing a robbery suspect has been honored with a prestigious award, MailOnline reported.

Finn the German shepherd was nearly killed after first taking a 10-inch blade in the lung and then leaping to block a knife lunge aimed at the torso of his partner, Police Constable Dave Wardell.

The 8-year-old canine had to undergo surgery to save his life. Wardell suffered a knife wound to his hand but was saved from further injury thanks to Finns actions.

And on March 14, the brave dog was commended for his sacrifice with a PDSA gold medalthe highest award for civilian animal bravery.

The Peoples Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) award is also known as the animals George Cross.

#FabulousFinn will be officially presented with his PDSA Gold Medal at the charitys #petlife18 festival at Cheltenham Racecourse  the first ever public presentation of the award  on May 6.#FinnHour #FinnForChange #Finnslaw pic.twitter.com/Wxmhz2iqcC  Finn for change (@Davewardell) March 14, 2018

Finn received the accolade at a ceremony in Westminster, London.

Thankyou for joining us this #FinnHour, thank you #FabulousFinn for being my #hero a well deserved medal ??

Now its time for #Finnslaw ? pic.twitter.com/zqciuVEMdk  Finn for change (@Davewardell) March 14, 2018

Wardell spoke to MailOnline last year about how the courageous canine saved his life.

Finn was an experienced British police dog at the time of the 2016 incident. He had tracked over 200 people, including murderers, rapists, burglars, missing persons, car thieves, and assault suspects.

It was his phenomenal tracking that really marked him out as a superhero said Wardell.Wardell wrote for MailOnline. He once picked up a scent that was two hours old and managed to follow it to find a woman with dementia who had wandered from her care home.

The two had been partners for seven years at the police precinct in Hertfordshire, UK, when a call came in on Oct. 5 of an armed robbery.

A taxi driver had been robbed of his takings by a passenger. The driver had done the sensible thingstopped the car, handed the money over, then run for his life, Wardell wrote.

The duo spotted a suspect fitting the description and Wardell released the canine when the armed man ignored his order to stop. Finn grabbed hold of the mans leg and in the tussle Finn was stabbed.

It was a knifeas thick as a ruler. It was ridiculously huge, like a hunting knifethe blade alone must have been 10in long, Wardell wrote.

The suspect then reportedly lunged with the knife toward the officer. Finn intervened and was slashed in the head. Wardells hand was cut, but he managed to subdue the attacker by body slamming him into the ground.

I was numb, exhausted and terrified. The vision of the knife, that flash of metal as it slid out of Finns chest. Then another flash as the suspect lunged a second time, aiming for my upper body, and Finn moving to protect me and blocking the weapon with his head, Wardell wrote.

Finn was rushed to a vet for a life-saving surgery and, after a recovery that lasted several months, rejoined the force.

The man who stabbed Finn and slashed Wardell was sentenced to four months in jail. Wardell felt that the law failed to sufficiently protect dogs in the line of duty, so he has pushed for a change in legislation.

A new regulation, known as Finns Law, is expected to be passed soon.

Finn retired from active duty in 2017 and Wardell has written a book in tribute to his furry friend called Fabulous Finn: The Brave Police Dog Who Was Stabbed And Came Back From The Brink.

The book features an account of Finns memorable crime-fighting exploits.

Recommended Video:

Brazen Pickpockets Steal 1,000 From London PensionerJailhouse Footage Shows Deputies Watch as Prisoner Dies

Warning: Graphic and Disturbing content

A disturbing jailhouse video shows deputies watch a schizophrenic man, who had been bound naked in a restraint chair for 46 hours, writhe on the floor and eventually die.

The almost eight-minute long video, obtained by The Tribune of San Luis Obispo, shows the final moments leading up to Andrew Hollands death.

San Luis Obispo County Administrative Officer Wade Horton said the video was extremely painful to watch.

What happened to Andrew Holland was a tragedy that impacts our entire community, Horton told the Tribune in an email. Although we cant bring Andrew back, our county has made and continues to make changes in response to this terrible event.

In its review of over 100 hours of jailhouse footage, the newspaper confirmed Holland was declared dead on Jan. 27, 2017, at 5:36 p.m, about an hour after he was released from a plastic restraint chair. The chair has since been banned in the state.

Holland, 36, suffered from schizophrenia since his early 20s and had been in and out of jail for more than three years, mostly minor offenses. He was last in custody on Sept. 30, 2015, on charges of battery, resisting an officer, and probation violations.

According to the Tribune, the 36-year-old was strapped into a chair after repeatedly hitting himself in his cell.

While he was strapped in the chair for almost two days, staff entered the cell every one and a half to two and a half hours to rotate his limbs and offer him water and food. The county policy requires staff to rotate inmates extremities to prevent blood clots from forming.

It is unclear if he was offered water and food on each visit from the footagebut he was not allowed to use the restroom.

He is transferred to another cell and is lying on a tile floor, naked with just a blanket. He appears to have trouble breathing and loses consciousness.

Deputies and paramedics enter the cell to try and revive him. During this time, the video shows one deputy smiling and talking to another.

According to The Associated Press, Hollands mother, Sharon, told reporters last July that she had hoped her sons life would change for the better.

We had hope that his life would improve, but on January 22nd of this year, our son Andrew died a brutal and tortured death at the hands of the custodial staff at San Luis Obispo County jail, she said.

A medical examiner determined Hollands death was caused by a pulmonary embolism, in which a blood vessel is blocked in the lung, usually by a blood clot.

Hollands family was awarded $5 million settlement for his death. The family said it will use the money to establish a nonprofit, The Associated Press reported and declined to comment further.

Recommended Video:

Timelapse Video Captures Ocean of Clouds Over Vancouver, British ColumbiaNDP Leader Says Canada Should Declare Anti Sikh Violence in 1984 a Genocide

OTTAWANDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says Canada should declare that anti-Sikh violence that took place in India more than three decades ago was a genocide.

Singhwho spent much of this week defending himself following the emergence of several videos showing him appearing at various events where others promoted Sikh independence and violencesays there is clear evidence attacks on Sikhs by Hindus which followed the assassination of prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1984 were not spontaneous, but rather organized by government.

Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards a few months after Sikh separatists who had barred themselves inside the Golden Temple in Amritsar were killed in a military assault. The Air India bombing in 1985 was carried out in reaction to the temple attack and the post-assassination violence.

India has said fewer than 3,000 people died in the attacks, but Sikh leaders sometimes put the number closer to 10,000. Singh said this week many Canadian Sikhs moved to Canada following the attacks, feeling persecuted and afraid to remain in India.

Singh believes labelling the event a genocide will help bring peace between Hindus and Sikhs.

He introduced a motion calling the attacks a genocide in 2016, when he was an NDP member of the Ontario legislature. That motion failed, but a very similar one brought forward by Liberal Harinder Malhi passed last year at Queens Park.

That motion was described by Indian media as a body blow to India and the Indian government called it misguided. Although the motion was passed in a provincial legislature, the Indian government did not distinguish between the levels of government when complaining to Canada about the motion and it was among the tensions that contributed to a troubled state visit to India by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last month.

Trudeaus office did not respond when asked if the government would support a genocide motion.

Adam Austen, a spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, said the 1984 violence was tragic and the issue is close to the hearts of many Canadians of the Sikh faith.

We must continue to call for truth, justice and accountability for all victims, he said in a statement. After 34 years, we must continue to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice.

Singh said the NDP doesnt have a motion prepared, but that it would be very appropriate for Parliament to approve such a motion.

I think its the right thing to do, he said. It would be a proper thing to take, not only nationally but I think its something that is appropriate at the international level as well to make sure this is clarified, that it was not communal violence but was state-organized violence.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015 set up a special team to investigate the attacks, but at least 199 cases were discarded for lack of evidence. Earlier this year the Indian Supreme Court set up its own team to investigate those 199 cases again.

The lack of justice for those deadly riots is the root of much of Sikh unease with the Indian government today, says Harvinder Khehra, a Calgary teacher who immigrated to Canada from Punjab in 2009.

Khehra says the Indian government seems to be afraid of the political influence of Sikhs in Canada and is behind both the Trudeau trip problems and the Singh stories this week. He says he believes the Indian government wants to raise concerns about Sikh politicians to influence non-Sikh voters into not voting for them again.

Khehra says people who peacefully lobby for Khalistan are exercising legal right of free speech and he knows nobody who invokes violence as a means to achieving that end.

The Canadian government also accused people within the Indian government of trying to undermine Trudeaus trip last month by facilitating the invitation to a reception of a man convicted in the 1980s of trying to kill an Indian cabinet minister on a trip to Canada. The reasoning was that some in the Indian government refuse to believe Canadian Sikhs arent pushing for an independent state and want to undercut Sikh influence in Canadian politics.

Singh said these are serious allegations that should be investigated further. Earlier this month Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale wouldnt answer questions about those allegations at a committee hearing, saying they were infringing on classified matters.

The Indian government has denied having any involvement.

Recommended Video:

How Doctors in China Turn into MurderersShen Yun audience at the Orpheum Theater in Phoenix, Arizona in the United States, on Feb. 20, 2018. (Yuli Li/The Epoch Times)

Danish Politicians and Intellectuals Condemn Chinese Regimes Interference With Shen Yun Performing Arts

Danish lawmakers and intellectuals have condemned a blatant encroachment on artistic freedom, after a local radio station exposed the Chinese Embassys attempts to stop the Royal Danish Theater from hosting a world-renowned performing arts company.

Radio24syv obtained email correspondence between two theater employees that appeared to confirm that the Chinese Embassy had requested that the theater prevent Shen Yun Performing Arts, a New York-based company, from renting the theater for performances, according to a report published on Feb. 19.

Established in 2006, Shen Yun tours the world annually with productions that seek to revive authentic traditional Chinese culture. They perform at over 150 theaters around the world every year, according to its website.

The company was founded by adherents of the Falun Dafa spiritual practice also known as Falun Gong, a meditation discipline that has been severely persecuted in mainland China since 1999. Shen Yuns depictions of the Chinese regimes persecution of Falun Dafa, and of Chinese civilization as divinely inspired, have irked the officially atheist Chinese Communist authorities, which have repeatedly tried to hinder Shen Yun performances since its inception, according to its website.

Beginning in 2007, Shen Yun has sought to perform at the Royal Danish Theater in Copenhagen. That year, the two parties came close to an agreement, with two performances on the table. But just before the parties were due to sign the contract, the theater pulled out abruptly, citing logistical reasons, according to Radio24syv.

Thereafter, the theater repeatedly rejected the companys proposals, on the grounds that its artistic level did not meet the theaters demands. This is in spite of Shen Yun selling out performances globally in some of the worlds premier venues, including two showings held at the Aarhus Concert Hall in Denmark in 2016.

At the time, the Danish newspaper Politiken reported that the Chinese embassy had tried influencing the theater to stop Shen Yuns performances in Aarhus, but was ultimately unsuccessful.

In September 2017, local Shen Yun organizers wrote a letter to Danish authorities, appealing for the company to be allowed to perform at the Royal Danish Theater.

According to emails obtained by Radio24syv, when Denmarks Ministry of Culture requested a comment from the Royal Danish Theater, one of its employees revealed to another staff member that he or she had met with the Chinese embassy in August. They [embassy] ended the meeting by asking if we had a dialogue with Shen Yun, and requested that we shouldnt allow them to rent our facilities, the email stated.

But theater director Morten Hesseldahl and culture minister Mette Bock denied the accusation and said they were not aware of any pressure from the Chinese embassy.

Upon publication of the news, several prominent figures expressed outrage at what they perceive as the Chinese regimes interference in Danish affairs.

In an interview with the U.S.-based Chinese language broadcaster, New Tang Dynasty Television (NTD), Bente Hagelund, president of the Peoples University of Copenhagen, said that the recent news was clear evidence of Chinese interference.

Soren Espersen, chair of the foreign policy committee in the Danish parliament, told Danish newspaper Berlingske in an interview that the Chinese embassys actions were chauvinistic. Why would they get to decide who gets to be on our stage, who gets to perform?

Liberal Party politician Michael Aastrup Jensen told NTD that the Danish government ought to investigate such interference. We should actually try to preserve the Danish way of life and Danish political system, which is we have no censorship, that we are okay with every position, that everyone has the freedom of speech, he said.

Benny Brix, representing the local Falun Dafa Association, which invited Shen Yun to Copenhagen, said that he has tried explaining the facts regarding such interference to the culture minister for many years. This is not something we fabricated. What were facing is an authoritarian power meddling with Danish arts and culture, he said.

Recommended Video:

How Doctors in China Turn into MurderersA man gestures as they flee the rebel-held town of Hammouriyeh, in the village of Beit Sawa, eastern Ghouta, Syria March 15, 2018. (Reuters/Omar Sanadiki)

Thousands of Syrians Flee as Two Major Battles Rage

BEIRUTThousands of civilians streamed out of their towns to escape battles at opposite ends of Syria on Saturday, where two different offensives have prompted an exodus in recent days.

Air strikes pounded a rebel pocket in eastern Ghouta near the capital Damascus, rescuers and a war monitor said, with a new wave of at least 10,000 people fleeing to army lines since the morning.

In the northern Afrin region, people fled other frontlines closing in on their homes as Turkish troops and allied rebels struck the main town, Syrian Kurdish forces and the monitor said.

More than 150,000 people have left the town in the last few days, a senior Kurdish official and the monitor said.

The two offensives, one backed by Russia and the other led by Turkey, have shown how Syrian factions and their foreign allies are aggressively reshaping the map after the defeat of the ISIS self-proclaimed caliphate last year.

Syrias conflict marked seven years this week, having killed hundreds of thousands, and displaced at least 11 million more, including nearly 6 million who have fled abroad in one of the worst refugee crises of modern times.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said air strikes on the rebel pocket in eastern Ghouta killed 30 people gathering to leave for government territory on Saturday.

The UK-based war monitoring group said the strikes on Zamalka town also injured dozens. There was no immediate comment from Damascus, which says it only targets armed militants.

The Observatory said a new wave of 10,000 people had left the insurgent pocket for government territory in Ghouta, where the government launched a fierce assault a month ago.

The Turkish military denied on Saturday that it had struck a hospital in Afrin, where it has waged an offensive since January against the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia that controls the region.

The YPG and the Observatory said a Turkish air strike on Afrin towns main hospital had killed 16 people the night before.US President Donald Trump waves before boarding the Air Force One ahead of his departure from Zurich Airport in Zurich on Jan. 26, 2018. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images)

Trump Signs Bill That Deepens USTaiwan Ties Despite Beijings Opposition

President Donald Trump on March 16 signed into law a widely-watched piece of legislation that encourages more high-level official exchanges between United States and Taiwan. Supported unanimously by the U.S. Congress, the bill is thought to be symbolic in legal terms, but observers say it sends out a strong public message that the U.S. decision makers are in union in supporting Taiwan despite Beijings opposition.

The bill, titled Taiwan Travel Act, was introduced in 2017 and co-sponsored by large number of members of Congress in both the House and the Senate who are supportive of the small island nation. It cleared the House in January of this year without opposition. On Feb. 28 it also passed the Senate by unanimous consent, without a single senator voting against it. From there it was presented to the presidents desk on March 5, awaiting Trumps signature.

The bill would have gone into effect on Saturday automatically even if Trump had not signed it, as the Constitution imposes a 10 days limit for the president to either sign or veto it. On late in the afternoon on March 16 Trump signed the bill into law, which has been widely-watched by China, Taiwan and international observers.

The Taiwan Travel Act stipulates that the United States should allow officials at all levels of the U.S. government, including cabinet officials and senior military officers, to travel to Taiwan and meet with their Taiwanese counterparts. It also allows high-level Taiwan officials to visit the United States and engage with U.S. officials, although it does not specify what specific level of officials it authorizes.

The signing of the Taiwan Travel Act is a symbolic but nevertheless meaningful act by the U.S. Congress and the President that expresses support for Taiwan, said Russell Hsiao, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based think tank Global Taiwan Institute. It also shows that the United States is pushing back against the PRCs bullying and conveys a powerful statement of support to the people of Taiwan and its democratically elected leaders.

The Chinese regime clearly expressed its displeasure at Trumps signing of the bill. In a statement, the Chinese embassy said that the act severely violates the one-China principle, the political foundation of the China-U.S. relationship, and the three joint communiques between China and the U.S.

None of the three joint communiques declared during 1970s and 1980s at the height of the Cold War were ever approved by the U.S. Congress. For decades, however, the U.S. State Department has observed unwritten rules that limit or at least discourage high-level official exchanges with Taiwan, to which the United States does not extend official diplomatic recognition.

Since these restrictions are largely self-imposed and not legally proscribed, lifting these restrictions do not represent a change in U.S. policy towards Taiwan per se, which remains based on the Taiwan Relations Act, Six Assurances, and the U.S. One China policy. Said Russell Hsiao.

It is unclear whether the bills endorsement for high-level official visits extends to the presidents from the both sides. In the past, Taiwan presidents, including the incumbent Tsai Ing-wen, have already paid numerous visits to the United States, with each visit limited to no more than 1-2 days in accordance with unwritten restrictions observed by U.S. State Department.

With the presidents signature the Taiwan Travel Act will open the door for top leaders of Taiwan to come to [Washington] DCincluding president Tsai Ing-wen, said Mike Kuo, the president of the Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA), a Washington, D.C.-based organization known for its advocacy work in the U.S. Congress supporting Taiwan.

Taiwans Foreign Ministry has applauded the friendly move by the Trump administration, saying the small island nation would continue to deepen its cooperation and partnership with the United States. Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen also tweeted that she look[s] forward to working with [Trump] administration to further the longstanding partnership between Taiwan and the United States.Trumps Lawyer Calls for End of Special Counsel Probe

The personal attorney for President Donald Trump, John Dowd, called on Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on Saturday, March 17, to shut down the investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

I pray that Acting Attorney General Rosenstein will follow the brilliant and courageous example of the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility and Attorney General Jeff Sessions and bring an end to alleged Russia Collusion investigation manufactured by McCabes boss James Comey based upon a fraudulent and corrupt Dossier, he said in a statement to Fox News. Just end it on the merits in light of recent revelations.

Mueller is investigating allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. The probe has not produced any evidence of involvement by anyone in the Trump campaign with Russia in its effort to influence the election.

Rosenstein is in charge of the probe since Sessions recused himself. Dowd said his remarks are not on behalf of the president but in a personal capacity.

Dowds remarks came hours after Sessions fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe for leaking to the media and lying about it under oath. The dossier Dowd mentions was compiled by British ex-spy Christopher Steele and funded by the Clinton campaign and the DNC. Fusion GPS, the firm that hired Steele to write the dossier, accepted money from Russia while Steele worked on his assignment.

That unverified dossier was used as justification to spy on Trump campaign associate Carter Page. McCabe signed the surveillance warrant application and later told investigators that the FBI would have never applied for a warrant without the dossier.

McCabes firing came as a result of an internal investigation triggered by information the FBI received from the inspector general of the Justice Department. The FBIs probe concluded that Mr. McCabe had made an unauthorized disclosure to the news media and lacked candor  including under oath  on multiple occasions, Sessions wrote in a statement on the firing.

The findings on McCabe are part of a broader recently-completed investigation by DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz. A report summarizing the results of the probe is expected to be critical of McCabes handling of the Clinton email probe, his management of the bureau in the early days of the Russia investigation, and his wifes financial ties to the Democratic Party, Fox News reported.

The Fake News is beside themselves that McCabe was caught, called out and fired. How many hundreds of thousands of dollars was given to wifes campaign by Crooked H friend, Terry M, who was also under investigation? How many lies? How many leaks? Comey knew it all, and much more!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 17, 2018

Andrew McCabe FIRED, a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI  A great day for Democracy, Trump wrote just after noon on Saturday. Sanctimonious James Comey was his boss and made McCabe look like a choirboy. He knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI!

Democrats were quick to threaten the president and his team.

Read More Sessions Fired McCabe for Authorizing Anti-Trump FBI Official to Leak to Press

The president, the administration, and his legal team must not take any steps to curtail, interfere with, or end the special counsels investigation or there will be severe consequences from both Democrats and Republicans, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said in a statement, according to Fox News.

Recommended Video:

President Trumps First State of the Union AddressA police car and a police tent are positioned outside the gates of the house of Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky in Sunningdale near Ascot in Berkshire, southwest of London, on March 25, 2013. (Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images)

UK Treating Death of Russian Businessman Glushkov as Murder: Police

LONDONBritish police said on Friday they had launched a murder investigation following the death this week of a Russian associate of late tycoon Boris Berezovsky.

A murder investigation has been launched following the results of a post mortem into the death of 68-year-old Russian businessman Nikolai Glushkov, Londons Metropolitan Police said, adding the cause of death was compression to the neck.

The police said in a statement that at this stage there was nothing to suggest a link to the attempted murders of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter on March 4 or that poison was involved.

Earlier on Friday Russias Investigative Committee said it had opened a criminal investigation into both the attempted murder of Yulia Skripal and what it said was the murder of Glushkov. It also said it was ready to cooperate with British authorities on the two cases.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said on Friday it was overwhelmingly likely that Russian President Vladimir Putin himself had made the decision to use a military-grade nerve toxin to strike down Sergei Skripal.

Russia has denied any involvement and has accused Britain of whipping up Russophobia

London police said specialist counter-terrorism officers continued to lead the investigation into Glushkovs death as a precaution due to the associations he was believed to have had.

Godfather of The Kremlin

British interior minister Amber Rudd instructed police and intelligence services earlier this week to look at 14 deaths over recent years which were not originally treated as suspicious by police but where media allegations of Russian state involvement had been made.

Glushkov had worked for Russian airline Aeroflot and at Berezovksys LogoVAZ car company.

Berezovsky was found dead in March 2013 with a scarf tied around his neck in the bathroom of a luxury mansion west of London.

The 67-year-old tycoon had been one of Russias most powerful figures in the years after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Berezovsky was known as the godfather of the Kremlin before fleeing to London after a row with Putin in 2000, the year the former KGB officer became Russias president.

Britain granted Berezovsky political asylum three years later on the grounds that his life would be in danger if he went back home.

His family feared he might have been murdered by enemies in Russia, but British police and forensic experts concluded that Berezovsky had committed suicide.

A British judge in 2014 reached an open verdict on Berezovskys death, saying he could not be sure if the Russian killed himself at his former wifes British home or was the victim of foul play.Wang Qishan, former head of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, walks with his ballot at a session of China's rubber-stamp parliament, the National People's Congress, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on March 17, 2018. (Jason Lee/Reuters)

Xis Trusted Firefighter Lieutenant, Wang Qishan, Becomes Chinas Vice Chair

BEIJINGChinas rubber-stamp parliament chose former top graft-buster Wang Qishan, a key ally of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, as vice president on March 17, a widely expected move that nonetheless breaks with convention and underlines Xis dominant authority.

Xi was also re-elected state chairman by the rubber-stamp parliament, with no votes cast against him. The legislature is packed with party loyalists and there was no chance he would not win the vote.

Wang bowed twice and then walked over to Xi to shake his hand after the vote was announced inside Beijings Great Hall of the People. Only one person voted against Wang out of the 2,970 votes cast.

Xi and Wang spoke only to pledge allegiance to the constitution, with Wang giving the podium an emphatic tap after he finished.

Known as the firefighter for his central role in tackling issues like corruption and domestic financial problems over the years, Wang also has experience dealing with the United States in his former role as a vice premier who led annual economic talks with Washington.

He was a major player in Xis battle against corruption, with dozens of senior officialsmany belonging to an opposition faction at odds with the Xi leadershipjailed during his tenure as the top graft-fighter, including the fearsome domestic security chief Zhou Yongkang, now serving life in jail.

Last Sunday, parliament voted to amend the constitution, which removed chairman and vice-chairman term limits, meaning Xi can stay in power indefinitely.

The partys mouthpiece Peoples Daily hailed Xis re-election in an editorial on its WeChat account, using language once more associated with Mao Zedong to say he was a leader loved and respected by the people and the helmsman of the country.

Wangs appointment has the potential to reshape what has traditionally been a ceremonial role. Chinas relationship with the United States is likely to be a key part of his remit, according to diplomats and sources with ties to the leadership.

The vice president [chair] position in the PRC [Peoples Republic of China] is not a very powerful one, but it depends who fills the job, said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, a China expert at Hong Kong Baptist University.

Cabestan said Wang would likely be considerably more influential than his immediate predecessor, Li Yuanchao, given his close relationship with Xi and greater international profile.

China has been trying to head off a trade war with the United States, sending envoys to Washington in recent weeks, including Xis top economic adviser, Liu He.

U.S. President Donald Trump is seeking to impose tariffs on up to $60 billion of Chinese imports and will target the technology and telecommunications sectors, two people who had discussed the issue with the Trump administration said this week.

A Delegate From Hunan Province

Whether Xi could retain Wang in a senior role despite his reaching retirement age had been seen as a key measure of Xis power and the subject of much speculation in the lead-up to this months National Peoples Congress (NPC).

In January, Wang, who turns 70 in July, was named an NPC delegate with the central province of Hunan despite having stepped down from the elite seven-man Politburo Standing Committee during a five-yearly leadership transition in October.

Despite holding no official senior party role, Wang has taken center stage at plenary NPC sessions, seated immediately next to the seven members of the Standing Committee, in a clear indication of his actual status.

At the opening session where Premier Li Keqiang presented the governments work report, Wang cut a relaxed figure, staring straight ahead impassively while other delegates busily read and jotted down notes.

Protocol at major political events, including seating arrangements and the order in which leaders are shown in state news bulletins, are tightly choreographed to convey a political message.

Wang cast his ballot on Saturday, March 17 immediately after Han Zheng, the seventh-ranked and most junior Standing Committee member.

On Saturday, the NPC also formally approved a government restructuring plan that merges Chinas banking and insurance regulators, gives new powers to policymaking bodies such as the central bank and creates new ministries.

From ReutersDANBURY  The citys longtime mayor and gubernatorial candidate Mark Boughton made his first public appearance Saturday at a flag raising after he was hospitalized earlier in the week for dehydration.

Boughton campaign gets a boost from the storm

Boughton was present for the raising of the Irish flag at Danbury City Hall on Saturday afternoon and even gave a brief speech. The mayor, currently serving his ninth consecutive term, said Friday he plans to rest on Sunday and return to work on Monday.

On Thursday, Boughton, 54, collapsed during a GOP meet-and-greet event in Avon in a room of roughly 200 people, including fellow Republican gubernatorial candidates. He was taken by ambulance to University of Connecticut Medical Center in Farmington.

Though witnesses described a dramatic scene Thursday night  some saying Boughton appeared to suffer a seizure  Boughton and hospital officials said he was treated for dehydration.

Boughton said he had skipped dinner Thursday night and that the room was extremely hot. He emphasized that his collapse was not related to his brain surgery last August in Pennsylvania.

I talked with the surgical team in Pittsburgh and they said it had nothing to do with the brain tumor, Boughton told Hearst Connecticut Media on Friday.

In Aug. 2017, Boughton underwent a surgery to remove a benign tumor from his brain. The tumor, behind his left ear, was causing the mayor to have headaches and experience dizzy spells.

The seven-hour surgery in August was successful, and Boughton returned to his political duties roughly two weeks later.

Boughton is in his third run for governor and said Friday that Thursdays incident will not slow him down  hell just be drinking more water and cutting back on soda.WILTON  State Rep. Gail Lavielle introduced a bill that would strengthen penalties for bear hunting in the wake of a recent bear poaching incident which stirred outrage in Wilton and surrounding communities.

The bill would increase fines for first-time offenders from a maximum of $500 to a range of $500-$750; from a maximum of $750 to a range of $750-$1,000 for second-time offenders; and from a maximum of $1,000 to a range of $1,000-$2,000 for third-time offenses.

Under the bill, maximum jail time would also be doubled for second- and third-time offenses, with third-time offenders receiving up to one year in jail. The bill also mandates permanent revocation of an offenders hunting license after the second offense, rather than the third.

Lavielle, who represents Wilton, Norwalk and parts of Westport, introduced the bill before the Judiciary Committee on March 7. The bill was later raised by the Judiciary Committee and was scheduled for a public hearing on Wednesday, March 14.

Last year, many residents in Wilton and surrounding towns erupted in outrage after two men  Daniel Moran, 34, of Norwalk, and Antonio Lio, 28, of Wilton  were arrested and charged the killing of two black bears on private property in Wilton. Residents were particularly incensed by police reports that described the pair taking parts of the bears home as trophies.

When Lio, who was charged with killing the bears, was granted accelerated rehabilitation in court, many residents responded in anger, Lavielle said. If completed successfully, the rehabilitation will allow Lio to expunge the charge from his record.

Lavielle submitted the bill request to the Judiciary Committee in response to residents who contacted her to urge increasing the penalties for bear hunting.

Many constituents have told me that they dont feel the current penalties are adequate punishment for the inhumane, illegal killing of these wild animals, Lavielle said. Certainly, in this case, our current laws were not sufficient to act as a deterrent. This bill aims to be more effective in preventing people from breaking the law, and to impose penalties that are commensurate with the offense.

Rep. Lavielle encouraged concerned residents to submit testimony for the scheduled public hearing on the bill, and to include their opinions on whether the proposed penalties are too strong or not strong enough.

Annie Hornish, the Connecticut senior state director of the Humane Society, was one of many who testified before the Judiciary Committee in favor of Lavielles bill. Hornish pointed out that the killing of the two beloved bears was tragic for residents who had appreciated viewing them at a distance.

To prevent further poaching tragedies, Hornish argued that the state needs to take action.

The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has made no effort to increase poaching penalties, which are currently unacceptably weak, and instead has been attempting to open a bear trophy hunting season, Hornish wrote.

Connecticuts small bear population needs protection, and this bill is a step in the right direction, she said.

Others, like Wilton resident Jeremi Bigosinski, argued that while the poaching incident was a travesty, upping the fine by a few hundred dollars would do little to prevent it.

While the acts perpetrated by those hunters should be strongly condemned, no amount of penalty will stop village idiots from continuing their idiocy. Therefore, short of outlawing all hunting activities (and even then that wouldnt 100% work, and would in fact make the deer overpopulation epidemic a pandemic), this bill would be better served by increased educational vigilance by DEEP when educating prospective hunters for their license, he wrote.On Tuesday, we have an opportunity to exercise our privilege as Americans and vote.

Its a primary election, one that faithful followers of the Republican and Democratic parties have followed for months.

For others, its maybe a chance to vote for a favorite candidate, but little else.

Of course, there is that 1 percent sales tax question on the ballot, a proposal that, if passed, will have an impact on all of us.

In short, the sales tax will divert one penny of every dollar spent on eligible items sold in Madison County to Madison County schools for facility use only.

Items that can not be taxed include services, unprepared food (groceries), cars, trucks, ATVs, boats, RVs, motorcycles, mobile homes, prescription drugs including over-the-counter medicine and vitamins, farm equipment, implements and parts.

Local school boards can use this tax revenue to pay for capital improvements, issue new bonds for school needs, restructure debt or retire existing debt from other capital projects. Examples of how school districts can use the tax revenue include items such as roof repairs, ongoing maintenance, energy efficiency, parking lot construction and repair, school security, safety and ADA compliance as well as school additions, renovations and new construction of facilities.

Revenue from this sales tax cannot be used for movable equipment, textbooks and other instructional costs, furniture and fixtures, computers, laptops, tablets, printers, salaries and benefits, utility and other operational costs, buses and transportation nor custodial and cleaning expenses.

Edwardsville District 7 has been given estimates that the sales tax would generate approximately $4.5 million annually.

District 7 would receive approximately 18 percent of the total revenue generated in Madison County.

Forty-seven counties around Illinois use the sales tax revenue stream.

Given the states funding system for schools, every district not located in the suburbs of Chicago could use the money.

Edwardsville District 7 is no exception.

The reliance on property taxes to fund education has gotten out of hand. Can local residents be squeezed any more?

Which makes us wonder if we can be squeezed at all.

Yes, the schools need the money. That much is clear.

And given that the money can be spent on, among other things, security equipment, that makes the proposal even more compelling.

But again, how much can we pay in taxes?

Thats up to you to decide on Tuesday when you, hopefully, take advantage of the opportunity to exercise your American privilege.

Remember, while it is, indeed, a primary election, there is one item on the ballot that goes beyond party lines.Its Monday morning and I should feel refreshed and ready to tackle another week, but I am tired and feel like I just want to go to my old blue recliner and do absolutely nothing.

Sunday was a great day. After church, I came home and as usual begin, with my daughters help, to prepare a Sunday noon meal for the family who were here. Sometimes it is a dozen or more and sometimes less. But this day was special because it was to include a young man from Pakistan that I hosted quite a few years ago. He called and was eager to visit and my family were eager to see him again.

My one grandson and Arshad talk a lot about hunting and Arshad thinks Adam should go on a hunting trip to Kenya. Adams response is, I cant afford that and dont think that will ever happen.

I find it interesting that these two have become such good friends but glad there is no trip to Kenya for hunting. Personally, Id rather see those beautiful animals in their environment than see their head hanging on a wall. But thats just my opinion and I dont want to judge others.

As Im doing my laundry this morning, I find myself taking a trip down memory lane and remembering Arshads days here as a student at SIUE. Bill and I were serving as a host family to most all of the students from Pakistan so that is where our friendship began. But it has been quite some time since he graduated and returned home.

But he and my one grandson have become great friends and Arshad has been trying to talk Adam into meeting him in Kenya and going on a hunting trip there.

I think that isnt ever going to happen as Adam has a job, a wife, a child and too many other responsibilities. Perhaps it is something to think about but the reality seems almost impossble.

And Im glad because I guess I wasnt raised by a family that was into hunting. I dont want to sound as though I dont approve, but it just wasnt a part of our lifestyle.

But having Arshad visit was such a joy and Sunday as we sat down at our table for our noon meal after attending church, it felt as though another family member had joined us.

I always find it a special occasion when I am able to meet with those young folks from around the world that my husband and I hosted when they attended SIUE.

I learned so much about other cultures and other religions and found that I enjoyed being called Mama by students from India, Pakistan, Iran, Germany and other countries.

Bill and I were living on a farm with cattle and hogs and for some who were Muslims, it was quite an experience for them. But we were always able to bridge our differences and I felt like a mother to each of them. They blessed my life and enlarged my understanding of others.

I know that we can look at others who have different backgrounds, different religions and speak in a different language and withdraw and by so doing miss the chance to grow in understanding so many people in our world.

This past Sunday when Arshad visited and had dinner with my family, we felt as though he was a part of our family and so glad to see him again.

I know Ive said this before, but Im going to repeat myself. y, many years ago, when visiting a church, I heard these words repeated together by all who attended a Bible study class after church. It was most of all the adults as well as children and it has remained in my mind for years and years.

It is, So teach us to number our days that we might get a heart of wisdom. It didnt say that we should and could increase our knowledge about business, the economy, but rather that our hearts might gain wisdom. And we all knew that a heart of wisdom came from God being a part of our lives and not by how many years of schooling we had achieved.

Even in my old age, I pray for a heart of wisdom. I hope Im smart enough to manage my life, balance my check book and do whats necessary to exist, but I also want to remember that I am a child of God and try to live as He would have me live.

I guess for me that means being accepting of others who are different than me, different religions, different colors of skin, and different nationalities.

I dont believe Im here to judge others but to live as God would have me life and let the judging to God. But I do believe that also means we are all responsible to Gods judgement and receivers of Gods love and forgiveness.

Ive lived a long time and Im not so sure that I still have acquired a head of wisdom but I do hope that my heart has learned to trust Gods way and try to share that love with others and leave the judging to God. Im just no up to that. If I can try to live as God would have me live, that is challenge enough for me. And arent we glad that while God does judge, he a God who loves and forgives. We are truly blessed indeed.

Doris Gvillo is a member of Eden Church.9 hours ago

US sues to stop deal between American Airlines and JetBlue

The Justice Department and officials in six states have filed a lawsuit to block a partnership formed by American Airlines and JetBlue, claiming that it will reduce competition and lead to higher fares. The Justice Department said Tuesday that the agreement will eliminate important competition in New York and Boston and reduce JetBlue's incentive to compete against American in other parts of the country.

Read ArticleTourist safety tops Digital Economy Ministers agenda in Phuket

PHUKET: A slew of technology-focussed projects aimed at ramping up tourists safety topped the agenda during a visit by Digital Economy and Society Minister Dr Pichet Durongkaveroj to Phuket yesterday (Mar 16).

tourismtechnologySafetyeconomics

By The Phuket News

Saturday 17 March 2018, 11:31AM

CCTV was rated as critical in helping law-enforcement officials to catch criminals. Photo: PR Dept

CCTV was rated as critical in helping law-enforcement officials to catch criminals. Photo: PR Dept

CCTV was rated as critical in helping law-enforcement officials to catch criminals. Photo: PR Dept

The meeting was held to raise key issues with the 'Phuket Smart City'. project. Photo: PR Dept

Dr Pichet was in Phuket in person to hear from officials their top projects under the ambit of the Phuket Smart City at a meeting at the Phuket Provincial office of the Department of Disaster Mitigation & Prevention (DDPM-Phuket) yesterday afternoon.

Top priority was given to the ability of CCTV to help officials catch criminals.

We need to work more on having as much CCTV footage from across the island connect with the DDPM CCTV command centre, Dr Pichet said.

The ability to identify people by seeing their faces helps greatly to catch criminals, and this greatly works towards increasing the safety of tourists, he added.

Dr Pichet also inspected the inspected CCTV command centre at the DDPM-Phuket offices, where he was shown that the 37 cameras with licence-plate recognition ability (LPR) currently set up at 10 installation points has so far recorded 59.38 million instances of identifying the licence plates of vehicles on Phukets roads.

Of note, in August last year Phuket Governor Norraphat Plodthong revealed that provincial officials plan to add 1,500 CCTV cameras to high-risk areas, including in traffic blackspots.

We want to prevent problems before they happen, he said.

Other issues raised with Dr Pichet yesterday included IT support for officials to maintain accurate, up-to-date databases of information from the pubic water transport industry, including tourist safety wristbands that can help track and identify tourists (see story here.)

Another issue raised was the 1,000-point free Wi-Fi for public use, which despite a grandstand announcement in 2016 that the B240-million was to roll out within months (see story here) has yet to fully materialise.

At the same meeting in August last year, Gov Norraphat explained to honorary consuls in Phuket that 60% of Phuket now has free Wi-Fi and that the remainder will be set up by the end of next month.

Phuket Vice Governor Thawornwat Kongkaew explained to Dr Pichet that Gov Norraphat wants to push and support and the budget to make the Phuket Smart City: project a reality, with Phuket to be used as a model province for other provinces to follow.

The development of the Smart City project is moving ahead under coordination by the Digital Economy ministry, with the project designed to develop Phuket in seven areas: Smart Economy; Smart Tourism; Smart Health; Smart Education; Smart Safety; Smart Government; and Smart Environment

All seven parts will lead us to become Thailand 4.0, he said.

And all of this, especially with improved safety and security systems up and running, will lead to tourists having increased confidence in coming to Phuket, he added.OTTAWAIt was Valentines Day when an Alberta church was told its application for Canada Summer Jobs program funding wasnt complete. The I attest box on the application had to be checked and the document signed, North Pointe community church was told.

Except it was.

What happened to the Edmonton-area church is a result of what critics say is the governments hard line on its insistence that groups must attest to respect for reproductive rights, including abortion, to be eligible for funding through the popular program.

Read more:

Liberals say summer-job funding based on organizations activities, not values

Anti-abortion group takes Trudeau government to court

Opinion | Editorial: The Trudeau government is overreaching on abortion and summer jobs

Applicants who express concern about the policy change are deemed not to have met the new requirement  even if theyve checked all the right boxes and signed all the right forms.

As a result, many faith-based groups are in limbo as they await the outcome of their applications for funding that were approved in previous years.

Anyone who raises objections to the attestation in the context of their application is having their application deemed incomplete, which suggests that its not about actions, its also about the values of the group, said Conservative MP Garnett Genuis, who has held town halls in Atlantic Canada this past week on the issue.

The Liberals added stipulations this year that jobs being funded, as well as groups core mandates, must respect reproductive rights. The government said it did so in response to concerns officials heard that funding through the popular jobs program paid for students to protest outside abortion clinics or have students create and distribute graphic anti-abortion pamphlets.

Labour Minister Patty Hajdu has also said she heard complaints about funds going to summer camps that refuse to hire LGBTQ staff.

Its one thing if they want you to say youll obey the law. That seems like a no-brainer and we had no objection to any of that kind of stuff. Were not interested in infringing on other peoples freedoms. Thats not who we are, said Pastor Bob Davies from Kanata Baptist Church outside Ottawa.

The question really was, do we make some positive attestation that sounds like we mean things we dont mean?

As a result, many faith-based groups have crossed out the wording on the form they found problematic, or didnt check the box confirming their agreement to the stipulations. Program officials have deemed these applications as incomplete.

North Pointe church provided a cover letter on its application saying it would uphold Canadian law, including human rights law, but questioned the additional wording in the declaration and asked the government to accept the application with the words in the letter substituting for the wording in the application.

The church checked the I attest box, signed the application and didnt make any changes to the application based on recommendations from the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada.

On Feb. 14, Service Canada wrote back saying the declaration cannot be altered or modified and that the I attest box needed to be checked and the application signed. North Pointe, like other groups, was given 10 days to resubmit.

A spokesperson for Employment and Social Development Canada, which oversees the program, said any applications with an unsigned or revised declaration, or any groups that wrote to the department expressing concern with the new eligibility requirement were deemed to have incomplete applications.

North Points lead pastor said his church isnt in the public eye as a crusader against abortion, which is why the churchs commentary with the application didnt want to imply its mandate was anything more than sharing Jesus.

There are Christian Organizations that are having a voice for the unborn, Pastor Bob Jones said, adding that had the declaration affected only those groups, it probably would have gone under my radar.

The fact that it was all-inclusive, I think, caught a lot of people as this seems like ... hunting a mosquito with a shotgun. It just hit everybody.

MPs return to Parliament on Monday after a two-week break. And one of their first orders of business will be a vote on a Conservative motion that says organizations involved in non-political, non-activist work should be eligible for money through the jobs program, regardless of their beliefs or whether they put a checkmark on the declaration.

The Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada said in a statement posted online that the Tories are acting in bad faith to undermine the declaration by putting a false spin on the new requirements. The group blamed the Conservatives for turning the issue into a political weapon against the Liberals at the expense of students hoping to obtain summer jobs.Police detonated a suspicious package that was later found to be a plastic replica grenade near one of the entrances to the Air Canada Centre Friday night.

The package was reported to police just before 6 p.m., prompting the immediate closure of Bremner Blvd. at York St. Police would close York St. and Lakeshore northbound an hour later.

Just after 8 p.m., onlookers heard a voice shout, 3, 2, 1, before a loud bang rang through the air.

Toronto police were notified a couple of hours ago by a passing citizen that there was what appeared to be a grenade lying in the area of the sidewalk outside 15 York St, Sgt. Stephen Sadler told reporters at the scene.

Police detonated the plastic replica grenade out of an abundance of caution and in interest of public safety, Sadler added. The loud sound came from the disruption device police used, it had nothing to do with the grenade itself.

Police have deemed the area safe, and roads have been re-opened.

Thankfully were always well-staffed at the Raptors game, and we always have units in the actual area itself, Sadler said. The actual set up of this area here is actually very good because its easy to contain when we have to.

Maple Leaf Square, the open area west of Air Canada Centre where fans typically congregate during playoff games for the Raptors and Maple Leafs, remained closed to traffic after the controlled explosion. The area re-opened around 8:45 p.m.

Inside the ACC, the Toronto Raptors are hosting the Dallas Mavericks.

Around 7 p.m., the official Twitter account for the Raptors tweeted that Gates 5 and 6 of the ACC had been closed as a precaution because of the package.

The Air Canada Centre, which has been sold out for the last 170 Raptors games, was slow to fill up as police investigated the package. Social media photos showed a crowd of fans waiting to get into the NBA game. Lineups of fans were redirected to other entrances during the investigation of the package, but the building was not evacuated.

A special team, which is called in to work with any chemical, biohazard, (or) anything to do with suspicious packages, Arrogante said, was on scene. At the height of the commotion, there were around ten police vehicles, three fire trucks and an ambulance.

Toronto Fire and paramedics were on standby at the scene, but have since cleared the area.

With files from the Canadian PressThe Toronto Zoo said farewell on Sunday to the adorable giant pandas that have won over the hearts of Torontonians for the last five years.

The fuzzy creatures are headed to the Calgary Zoo to begin the second half of their 10-year Canadian stay. The pandas, the pair Da Mao and Er Shun and their cubs Jia Panpan and Jia Yueyue, are in Canada on loan as part of the Global Giant Panda Conservation Breeding Program.

Da Mao and Er Shun first came to Toronto in March 2013. Their cubs were born to great celebration in late 2015.

The Calgary Zoo has built a new habitat for the animals, called Panda Passage.

Mayor John Tory, an admitted panda-lover, bid farewell in a Saturday tweet to Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi. Youre going to love them, he wrote.

I strongly suggest everyone go say goodbye to our furry panda friends at the Toronto Zoo. Sunday is the last day to see them before they leave for Calgary.

The Toronto Zoo hit its lowest attendance in a decade in 2017, leading to a $5-million shortfall in revenues.

The Toronto Zoos website was displaying a live countdown clock until the pandas departure at 6 p.m. Sunday.

Read more about:Andrea Horwath may have the highest approval rating among Ontario party leaders, but Doug Ford will likely become premier in June, says a new poll.

Of the 1,637 Ontario voters surveyed online between March 12 and 14, Campaign Research found that 43 per cent of decided voters intended to support the Progressive Conservatives in the June election, 27 per cent backed the Liberals, and 23 per cent supported the NDP.

Premier Kathleen Wynnes net approval rating was found to have dropped, with almost 70 per cent stating they disapproved of her, and only 19 per cent approving of her.

Horwaths net approval rating increased by 17 per cent, with 36 per cent of those stating they approved of her  although 44 per cent said they didnt know. Horwath has growing net approval numbers among Liberal Party voters (18 per cent) and Conservative voters (19 per cent).

Of those surveyed, 31 per cent said they approved of Ford, with 44 per cent also saying they didnt know.

In 2017, Horwath consistently had the strongest approval ratings, said Eli Yufest, CEO of Campaign Research, which performs these surveys on a monthly basis.

Shes always the strongest among party leaders, he said. The main issue holding her back is the party. The (NDP) party has very poor equity, a very poor history among the electorate  (voters) dont see the party as an alternative but they like (Horwath).

Unlike Horwath, Wynnes personal approval rating has always performed poorly, said Yufest. Its the inverse of what (Horwath) is experiencing. People dont like Kathleen Wynne personally but the Liberal party brand is strong.

The dynamic, however, is shifting with Ford taking the mantle of Ontario PC leadership.

Weve got a well known person in Doug Ford, said Yufest. We have strong awareness, hes a known quantity, and now people are inclined to look at the PC party.

In past surveys, Yufest found that there were high unawareness levels for ousted PC-leader Patrick Brown, with almost 50 per cent of those surveyed consistently stating they didnt know who he was.

The Conservative leadership race earlier this month started changing this; Yufest saw awareness and voter intent numbers change dramatically when questions were posed about leading contenders Caroline Mulroney, Christine Elliot, and Doug Ford.

Doug Ford visited the Ontario legislature on March 12 for the first time since becoming leader of the provinces Progressive Conservatives. Ford says he plans to be out on the road as much as possible before the June 7 election. (The Canadian Press)

The Ford-led PCs garnered strong support from both men and women, and among voters over the age of 35. Their strongest voter bases overwhelmingly came from regions like Peel, York, Durham and Eastern Ontario (not including Ottawa).

The most concerning thing for the Liberal party, according to Yufest, is that, in this latest survey, both the Ontario PCs and the Liberals are tied in Toronto  traditionally a comfortable Liberal stronghold.

This is very unusual, said Yufest. The PCs are impinging on what was a Liberal fortress in Toronto because of who Doug Ford is, a Toronto resident, brother of a well-known Toronto Mayor.

Unlike Wynne, both Ford and Horwath perform well in Ontario voters criteria for good leadership, which includes factors like accountability and affordability

(Ford is) appealing to a broader range of people, said Yufest.

We see (Fords) numbers up in Toronto, the PC partys numbers are up in Toronto  if the Liberals lose Toronto, theyll lose the elections.

Read more about:WATERBORO, Maine  A letter from Jesus Christ might be the affirmation Oprah Winfrey needs to run for the presidency of the United States.

WGME-TV reported that an 83-year-old Maine woman who changed her name to Jesus Christ said she began a letter writing campaign 50 years ago to spread a message of faith and peace. Christ said she sent the letter to Winfrey because she likes her, but had no idea it would get so much attention.

Oprahs best friend, Gayle King, who is also one of the hosts of CBS This Morning, posted about the letter to Winfrey on Instagram on Wednesday, asking if it was the sign the former talk show queen was looking for.

Winfrey played down any notion of running for president during a 60 Minutes interview, where she mused that if God wanted her to run for president wouldnt God kinda tell me?

Christ said she didnt know there was speculation about Winfrey running for president, but said shed vote for her if she did.

Read more:

I dont have the DNA for it: Oprah rules out running for president

More people would take investing advice from Oprah than Trump, survey finds

Opinion | Emma Teitel: Oprahs not running for president and that saddens meFacebook suspended Cambridge Analytica, a data-analysis firm that worked for U.S. President Donald Trumps 2016 campaign, over allegations that it held onto improperly obtained user data after telling Facebook it had deleted the information.

The social network issued a blog post explaining its decision, although the tale is convoluted. Years ago, Facebook said, Cambridge Analytica received user data from a Facebook app that purported to be a psychological research tool, though the firm wasnt authorized to have that information. Roughly 270,000 people downloaded the app and shared their personal details with it, Facebook said.

Cambridge Analytica later certified in 2015 that it had destroyed the information that it received, according to Facebook, although the social network said it received reports several days ago that not all the data was deleted.

Read more:

Trump says investigation into Russia election interference is Democrats excuse for losing

The pro-Trump campaign to win hearts and minds over Russia probe

Trump Jr. messaged with WikiLeaks during, after campaign on Twitter

While it investigates the matter, Facebook has also suspended the access of Cambridge Analyticas parent company, Strategic Communication Laboratories; the academic who created the app in question, a University of Cambridge psychology professor named Aleksandr Kogan; and another individual, Christopher Wylie of Eunoia Technologies, who also allegedly received the user data from the app.

Exactly why the handling of this data warranted both suspension and Facebooks unusual public explanation of the move wasnt clear. The blog post, written by Facebook deputy general counsel Paul Grewal, cited the public prominence of Cambridge Analytica, called the alleged data retention an unacceptable violation of trust and said the social network will take legal action if necessary to hold all parties responsible and accountable for any unlawful behaviour.

In a statement, a Cambridge Analytica spokesperson denied any wrongdoing. He said the parent companys SCL Elections unit hired Kogan to undertake a large scale research project in the U.S., but later learned that he had obtained data in violation of Facebook policies, and subsequently deleted all data it received from Kogans company. For the avoidance of doubt, the spokesman said, none of Kogans data was used in Cambridge Analyticas 2016 election work.

Kogan did not immediately reply to an emailed request for comment. Wylie could not immediately be located.

Britains information commissioner said Saturday it is investigating whether Facebook data was illegally acquired and used, after the social network suspended Cambridge Analytica.

The British probe is part of a broader inquiry into how political parties, data companies and social media platforms use personal information to target voters during political campaigns, including Britains 2016 Brexit referendum on EU membership.

Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham said Saturday its important the public are fully aware of how information is used and shared in modern political campaigns and the potential impact on their privacy.

She said any criminal and civil enforcement actions arising from the investigation will be pursued vigorously.

Cambridge Analytica is probably best known for its political work in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign. The company claims to build psychological profiles based on personal details from millions of Americans that can categorize individual voters. It worked for both the primary campaign of Texas senator Ted Cruz and the Trump general-election campaign .

The firm is backed by the family of billionaire donor Robert Mercer, a hedge fund manager who also supported the Trump campaign and other conservative candidates and causes. Trump campaign officials have downplayed Cambridge Analyticas role, saying they briefly used the company for television advertising and paid some of its most skilled data employees.

But the company has also surfaced a few times during the probes into Russian interference in the 2016 election. For instance, Trumps former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who is now co-operating with special counsel Robert Muellers investigation after pleading guilty to a felony charge, disclosed an advisory role with Cambridge Analytica last August. SCL later said that position never materialized.

Cambridge Analytica CEO Alexander Nix also disclosed last November that the company reached out to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange during the campaign to request emails related to the Hillary Clinton campaign. Nix said Assange said no. Clinton campaign emails stolen by Russian agents are one focus of the election-interference probes. Nix has denied any involvement in Russian election meddling.

Read more about:MOSCOWRussia on Saturday announced it is expelling 23 British diplomats and threatened further retaliatory measures in a growing diplomatic dispute over a nerve agent attack on a former spy in Britain.

Britains government said the move was expected, and that it doesnt change their conviction that Russia was behind the poisoning of ex-agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the English city of Salisbury. Prime Minister Theresa May said Britain will consider further retaliatory steps in the coming days alongside its allies.

The Russian Foreign Ministry ordered the 23 diplomats to leave within a week. It also said it is ordering the closure in Russia of the British Council, a government-backed organization for cultural and scientific co-operation, and is ending an agreement to reopen the British consulate in St. Petersburg.

Read more:

Britains foreign secretary says its overwhelmingly likely Putin ordered ex-spys poisoning

Opinion | Thomas Walkom: No evidence Vladimir Putin was behind U.K. assassination

Analysis | Why Vladimir Putin will never apologize for attacking an ex-spy

The announcement followed Britains order this week for 23 Russian diplomats to leave the U.K. because Russia was not co-operating in the case of the Skripals, who were found March 4 poisoned by a nerve agent that British officials say was developed in Russia. They remain in critical condition and a policeman who visited their home is in serious condition.

Britains foreign secretary accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of personally ordering the poisoning of the Skripals. Putins spokesperson denounced the claim.

Britains Foreign Office said Saturday that Russias response doesnt change the facts of the matter  the attempted assassination of two people on British soil, for which there is no alternative conclusion other than that the Russian State was culpable.

The British Council said it was profoundly disappointed at its pending closure. The organization has been operating in Russia since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union.

It is our view that when political or diplomatic relations become difficult, cultural relations and educational opportunities are vital to maintain ongoing dialogue between people and institutions, it said.

The Russian statement said the government could take further measures if Britain makes any more unfriendly moves.

Britains National Security Council will meet early next week to consider the next steps, May said.

Western powers see the nerve-agent attack as the latest sign of alleged Russian meddling abroad. The tensions threaten to overshadow Putins expected re-election Sunday for another six-year presidential term.

The poisoning has plunged Britain and Russia into a war of recrimination and blame.

British Ambassador Laurie Bristow, who was summoned the Foreign Ministry in Moscow on Saturday to be informed of the moves, said the poisoning was an attack on the international rules-based system on which all countries, including Russia, depend for their safety and security.

This crisis has arisen as a result of an appalling attack in the United Kingdom, the attempted murder of two people, using a chemical weapon developed in Russia and not declared by Russia at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, as Russia was and is obliged to do under the Chemical Weapons Convention, he added.

But Russian lawmaker Konstantin Kosachev blamed Britain for the escalating tensions.

We have not raised any tensions in our relations, it was the decision by the British side without evidence, he told The Associated Press.

Kosachev, who heads the foreign affairs committee in the upper house of the Russian parliament, said I believe sooner or later we will learn the truth and this truth will be definitely very unpleasant for the prime minister of the United Kingdom.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova denied that Russia or the Soviet Union had ever developed Novichok, the class of nerve agent Britain says was used to poison the Skripals.

A Russian scientist disclosed details of a secret program to manufacture the military-grade nerve agents in the 1990s, and later published the formula. But Russia maintains it has never made them.

In a tweet Saturday, Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom rejected a Russian suggestion that the nerve agent came from her country.

Forcefully reject unacceptable and unfounded allegation by Russian MFA spokesperson that nerve agent used in Salisbury might originate in Sweden. Russia should answer UK questions instead, she tweeted.

Speaking on Russia-24 television, Zakharova on Saturday linked Britains angry reaction to the war in Syria. She said Britain is taking a tough line because of frustration at recent advances of Russian-backed Syrian government forces against Western-backed rebels.

Russia argues it has turned the tide of the international fight against Islamic State extremists by lending military backing to Syrias government. With Russian help, Syrian forces have stepped up their offensive on rebel-held areas in recent days, leaving many dead.

British police appealed Saturday for witnesses who can help investigators reconstruct the Skripals movements in the crucial hours before they were found unconscious.

New tensions have also surfaced over the death Monday of a London-based Russian businessman, Nikolai Glushkov. British police said Friday that he died from compression to the neck and opened a murder investigation.

Russia also suspects foul play in Glushkovs death and opened its own inquiry Friday.

British police said there is no apparent link between the attack on Glushkov and the poisoning of the Skripals, but both have raised alarm in the West at a time when Russia is increasingly assertive on the global stage and is facing investigations over alleged interference in the Donald Trumps 2016 election as U.S. president.Thousands in B.C. march against pipeline, March 11

The 70-0 vote in the Alberta legislature on Tuesday in support of the Trans Mountain expansion was political theatre and a political paper tiger that roared in Alberta  but not where it counts. British Columbians are asked to accept almost all the risk and receive almost none of the reward.

Would the cities of Edmonton and Calgary ever approve a massive 26-tank dilbit storage facility adjacent to the University of Calgary or the University of Alberta, adjacent to residential areas and Saskatchewan or Bow Rivers?

So why demand that the city of Burnaby, B.C., accept an expanded Burnaby Mountain tank farm right beside Simon Fraser University, beside Burrard Inlet and just above its residential areas and an elementary school?

Do you really want to live in a country where the forces of the army, the RCMP and CSIS are marshalled in the interest of oil companies, to ram an oil pipeline through against the objections of the government of B.C., half the population of B.C., the cities of Vancouver, Victoria and Burnaby, coastal First Nations and environmentalists?

Especially when there is a far better Canadian proposal to access West Coast tide water, which has been totally ignored by Alberta Premier Rachel Notley and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Mike Priaro, Calgary

Read more about:Must end publicly funded Catholic schooling in Ont. and Parents want, and deserve, more educational options, Opinion, March 13

Wilfrid Laurier professor Kelly Gallagher-Mackay cites research from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education about the socioeconomic nature of children attending Catholic schools and of their parents, versus that of parents with children in the public system.

We need only to look at our immigration stats for the answer. We see that Canada, in recent history, has admitted huge numbers of primarily non-Christian newcomers, many of whom are refugees with the attendant problems of disrupted lives and having had little or no access to education. Their children have entered the public system, not the Catholic.

The refugee/immigration explanation also explains the EQAO data showing more special-needs students in the public system. Countries in a state of political upheaval and/or war do not have their citizens health and/or educational needs as a priority. If, as a result, these imbalances now exist between the two systems, it is hardly surprising.

The writer states that Catholic schooling may be contributing to social stratification across publicly funded systems. The situation in the public school system will continue to worsen as long as the current immigration/refugee policy continues.

Kathleen Valin, Toronto

I agree wholeheartedly with the column by Drs. Beth Green and Deani Van Pelt. More diversity, not less, is the best option for Ontario education.

Karl Marx, in The Communist Manifesto, wrote that we know we are well on the way to complete socialism when all the children are going free to the same public schools.

All children deserve the very best education their parents can provide to suit their individual needs.

Eileen Dunne, Peterborough, Ont.

I want to point out that the United Nations Human Rights Committee report on Ontario schools did not claim that funding Catholic schools was discriminatory. It said that not funding Jewish and Muslim schools on the same basis was discriminatory. This violation of the covenant on civil and political rights has been a black mark on Canadas reputation since 1999.

And because the UN has identified the funding of Catholic schools as a basic human right, Kelly Gallagher-Mackays contention that it would be easy to violate this right is wrong. Other countries could point to the fact that Canada has clawed back human rights protections and then use this precedent to justify their violations of human rights against political opponents in their countries.

Finally, Gallagher-Mackay is wrong when she concludes that violating human rights is right. It never is. What would be right (morally and legally) would be to work toward full funding for Jewish, Muslim and other religious schools. Then, and only then, can Canada be a moral force in human-rights debates in the world.

Sid Knowles, MississaugaWhy Doug Ford is not Donald Trump of the North, Walkom, March 14

Doug Ford purports to denounce the elites and stand up for the little guy. Im not sure who these groups are.

Are these elites the Liberals who have introduced progressive initiatives such as labour reform and increased minimum wages? And does the little guy refer to those who have been subsisting on precarious employment and low wages? As premier, Ford would cancel the next minimum-wage increase, surely a blow to the working poor.

Are these elites the Liberals who brought in the beginnings of a pharmacare program for those under 25 and is the little guy all of those who previously couldnt afford necessary medicines but now have access?

Are the elites the Liberals (and the PCs under Patrick Brown) who have embraced carbon taxes for assuming some responsibility for our planet? The federally mandated carbon tax is not something Ford can ignore. Is he not being disingenuous in suggesting otherwise?

As a wealthy business owner, is Ford not an elite whose pro-business and anti-tax policies meet his needs and not necessarily those of the little guy?

It is truly disheartening to see polls predict a PC win in Junes election when there is no platform  only promises to scrap the sex-ed curriculum, revisit abortion policies, cancel a much-needed minimum-wage increase and cut taxes.

We cant go back to the 20th century. Times have changed and continue to change rapidly. We desperately need a truly progressive government.

Norah Downey, Midland, Ont.

I, like many Ontarians and members of the PC party, am shocked at the result of the leadership convention that was hastily put together and resulted in such predictable mayhem.

The pendulum of the party has clearly swung to the right and I am uncomfortable being part of it. I refuse to join Ford Nation. I now know how it feels to be a discontented Republican in the U.S., with a leader that I simply cannot accept nor respect. I will vote according to my conscience.

Mark Miller, Toronto

I agree with Premier Kathleen Wynne that voters have a serious decision that will have dramatic effects on Ontario going forward.

After 15 years of Liberals pushing a green-energy program that has driven electricity costs through the roof and forced many large companies to flee, taking thousands of good-paying jobs with them, something is urgently needed to reduce those costs.

Reckless spending has Ontario now facing a $10-billion deficit, plus a $300-billion debt, harming future generations.

Wynne has had an ongoing fight with Ontario doctors, which is directly affecting health-care services.

Her latest vote-getting scheme of raising the minimum wage resulted in the loss of 59,000 part-time jobs in January alone and prices rising in the service industry.

Whichever party can show fiscal restraint and sound new ideas as how to turn Ontarios struggling economy around deserves a chance to govern.

Larry Comeau, Ottawa

To every cloud there is a silver lining. At least we know for sure that Doug Ford wont be the next mayor of Toronto.

Vittorio Frigerio, Toronto

Democracy thrives when the political parties offer differing and often opposing points of view. Thus the electorate has choice.

But the success of any party depends greatly on the personality and clear positions put forward by its leader.

Political leadership requires an even-tempered and well-reasoned presentation of the policies defining the party platform. Unfortunately, Doug Ford has come across in interviews as anything but. He appears to be belligerent, crass and arrogant when he tries to bully his way through questions that he dismisses as irrelevant and unworthy.

Such posturing is sure to harm the chances of the Progressive Conservative Party at a time when Ontarians require differing positions upon which to decide for the future of our province. Fords Trump-lite approach  dismissing the carbon tax with no alternative, program and department efficiencies with no plan and, frankly, a nasty manner of slamming other leaders  leaves me wondering what kind of alternative he offers when many voters are looking for reasonable alternative policies.

Rev. Canon Jack Roberts, Port Perry

Ontarios PC party members had a choice between two intelligent women and a Ford brother. Have we learned nothing over the past year?

Ron Brown, Toronto

A plea to the premier and the leader of the NDP: Have you heard about coalition governments? They work very well in several other democratic countries. You might want to give it some serious thought this time around.

It is your combined responsibility to ensure that this province never again falls prey to attacks on our social networks, such as closing hospitals and losing thousands of patient beds  a short-sighted decision by the last PC government that is still causing problems.

Also, a combined effort would help stem any populist, Trump-like movement from crossing the border.

Renate Gasber, Etobicoke

We can expect to see PC Leader Doug Ford attack an unpopular Liberal government with slogans and crafty one-liners as a basis for his campaign team to help win the hearts and minds of Ontario voters.

Whatever plan Ford has in place for Ontario to move forward is regressive and will be overshadowed by his propensity for rhetoric and superficial promises.

Ontarians may well decide that Premier Kathleen Wynnes scandal-plagued government has shifted course with some of its recent popular policy initiatives and they are willing to take a second look at re-establishing their confidence in her party and government.

The PC party is in disarray and electing Ford as its leader only adds to the chaos and confusion. The plan should be for them to build an all-inclusive party that elects a credible leader that will work together and become a formidable opponent to the Liberals in the next election in 2022.

Ford looks at the role of government as a burden, an irritation. He is a polarizing figure and thats not an option that voters are prepared to accept.

Robert Ariano, Scarborough

It is arguable that the extensive media coverage of Rob Ford enabled his election as mayor. The free advertising the media provided Donald Trump gave him a huge advantage. Please dont make the same mistake with Doug Ford, who has already shown his ability to generate headlines. Do ensure that you give equal coverage to the other contenders.

Tony Key, Toronto

Read more about:Jews unwelcome on the feminist left, Teitel, March 11

Emma Teitel has cut to the bone again in fearlessly calling out the American Womens March organizers for failing to condemn the anti-Semitic poison of Louis Farrakhan.

As a dual Canadian/American citizen, I marched in Washington the day after Donald Trumps inauguration, attended the Womens Convention organized by Tamika Mallory, Linda Sarsour, Carmen Perez and Bob Bland  dynamos all  in Detroit last October.

I have heard the word intersectionality spoken so often this year and used in ways that both include and exclude, that Im beginning to wonder about the future of a true womens coalition.

I was disturbed, but not especially surprised, by an account in the New Yorker of the Womens March anniversary rally in Las Vegas on Jan. 21, where Mallory told white women: Youre nowhere to be found when Black people ask you to show up in the streets to defend our lives.

Its not a gentle message, but it must go both ways. In an online story in The Atlantic, Mallory spoke about being corrected by a Jewish colleague for what she calls ignorant language. (A remark about Jews being good with money.) Mallory acknowledged her own stereotyping, but bristled at having the remark labelled as anti-Semitic. Yet she has no problem calling out white women on their complicity with white supremacy.

The most crowded workshops at the convention focused on ways white women uphold and benefit from white supremacy.

We live in fraught, fragile times where we must acknowledge our different histories. But then weve got to get on with the business of protecting each other. Because, lets face it, our most basic rights are under siege.

Denise Roig, Hamilton

As the organizers of the major womens marches in Canada, we share Emma Teitels concern and disappointment with the anti-Semitism of Womens March Inc. in the United States. However, they do not represent the feminist left, as Ms. Teitel claims.

Womens March Inc. does not speak for the majority of feminists, left or right. Most organizers of the 2017 Womens Marches in Canada and the U.S. have formed separate networks precisely because of the undemocratic nature of the Womens March Inc. leadership.

The failure of Womens March Inc. to disassociate from Louis Farrakhan was so alarming that our group, March On Canada, felt obliged to issue a statement condemning all forms of anti-Semitism. Jewish women and men have been an integral part of the feminist movement from its inception, and our group will fight to stop the increasing anti-Semitism wherever it arises.

Barbara Bedont, Alison Poste, March on CanadaAngela Merkel has just become German Chancellor for the fourth time. It has been a rough six months, but her strength is that she remains unflustered amid turbulence, uncertainties and setbacks. As coalition talks dragged on fruitlessly for months, Merkel was criticised, her leadership undermined, her authority questioned, her political obituary written. Nicknamed 'Mutti' or Mum and 'Mother Europe', Merkel was weakened. But she stayed the course. Six months after a fractured election verdict, she has finally, painstakingly formed a coalition, forged after significant sacrifices, concessions and appeasing fierce critics.

Merkels conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) was the single largest party in the elections last September. But it was the partys worst performance since World War II. People blamed Merkel for her policies that led to a million migrants, mostly Syrian refugees, flooding Europe in 2015. That provoked many voters to flee to the anti-migrant, far right AfD (Alternative fur Deutschland), now the third largest party and entering the German parliament, the Bundestag, for the first time.

Illustration: Bhaskaran

Merkel's CDU and its sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), initially struggled for a coalition with the Green Party and the business-friendly Free Democratic Party. Talks collapsed due to the inherent contradictions. That left one choicesomehow woo the Social Democrats (SPD). Merkels CDU and SPD are Germanys two main parties, but the SPDs grand coalition partnership in the previous two Merkel governments alienated its traditional voters. They bled severely in the September elections, getting the least number of votes since World War II. They decided to sit in opposition and reflect.

But contemplation has no place in realpolitik. Europes powerhouse needed a government. The ongoing political paralysis was creating a policy vacuum and economic uncertainty. In a painful concession, Merkel gave up the finance ministry always held by her partyto lure the SPD into the grand coalition. For the past eight years, the job was held by CDUs Wolfgang Schaeuble, a divisive figure whose rigid emphasis on fiscal discipline in the European Union was admired in Germany and northern European countries, while loathed in debt-ridden southern countries. In an interview with the public broadcaster ZDF, Merkel acknowledged the anger in her party, saying I understand the disappointment. After so many years in which Wolfgang Schaeuble held the finance ministry, himself becoming an institution, it was hard for many of us that we couldnt hold on to that ministry.

This job profoundly impacts the EU. The SPD is more kindly disposed to French President Emmanuel Macrons reforms for the European Union, but the German establishment is likely to remain tough on Eurozone debt. Analysts concur the SPD got the better end of the deal. Julian Reichelt, editor of Germanys biggest selling paper, Bild, tweeted: This is the first SPD government led by a CDU Chancellor. Merkel also accommodated party opponents. She rewarded party critic Jens Spahn with the health ministry. Said she: We need to show we can start with a new team. We need to ensure that not only the over-60s are considered [for cabinet posts], but also younger people.

Criticism of Merkel has turned to praisefor achieving generational change, reeling in her opponents and unifying her party. Acclaim or abuse, Merkel remains unflappable. Bitten as a child, Merkel is afraid of dogs. During a state visit to Moscow, President Vladimir Putin brought in his black Labrador, Konni, smirking while Merkel looked uncomfortable. But she sat through unruffled. Afterwards, she fired the ultimate put-down: I understand why he has to do thisto prove he is a man. He is afraid of his own weakness. It is a weakened Mutti who begins her fourth term with many challenges to tackleterrorism, trade wars, Euro debt, migration, populism, anti-establishment movements. Germany and Europe needs Muttis steady hand.

Pratap is an author and journalist.If anything happens to me, please tell my story. This was...Fashion designer Madhu Jain recreated magic on the ramp by experimenting with bamboo silk ikat. For her collection, she combined Indonesian style of bamboo silk ikat and Thai ikat. This collection has been created by using several world ikat techniques. I have used Indonesian style of bamboo silk ikat and we moved on to Thai ikat and Thai inspiration to develop the textiles for Amazon India Fashion Week 2018, she said.

Since the techniques used were new, the designer pointed out that it took her 15 years to create the collection. It took me so long because I was in search of a right weaver. Though the technique combines Indonesian style of bamboo silk ikat and Thai ikat, the entire craftsmanship has been done in India. Finding someone in India was a difficult task, she added.

The collection included figurative and geometrical patterns. The outfits were crafted with the Thai weft style of Matmi or Mudmee as the main weave. The collection included a few embellishments and embroidered garments that were created in autumnal colours such as soft buff, flamboyant amber, chestnut, burnt umber and cerise. However, the head turner of the event was the showstopper's outfit worn by former Femina Miss India Ruchi Makhni. Jain pointed out that it was created 15 years ago.

I did the bamboo show in 2003 and Ruchi's outfit was a finale sari that we used at the seventh World Bamboo Congress which was hosted by India. This sari is about 15 years old," she said.

Highlighting about the embellishments, the designer clarified that she still uses textile as a form of embellishment. "For me, weaver is the king. I let the weaves speak for themselves. A few garments were embellished and embroidered like what Ruchi wore but the rest were from my bamboo show which I did 15 years ago, she said.

Makhni was also all praise for the designer. I feel very privileged and proud to wear the collection from the lady who has just won the Naari Shakti Award for women empowerment. I feel very powerful walking on the ramp today because I am in an outfit created by a woman who has done so much for the other women, she said.

This is not the first time that Jain has drawn attention to bamboo fibre. She is one of the few designers who have continuously experimented with alternative fashion. Her discovery of bamboo dates back to 15 years ago, which she has been increasingly using in her collections.Commuters who are dependent on cab aggregators Uber and Ola for everyday travel will have to look for alternative means next week. To mark their protest to unkept promises by the cab aggregators, Uber and Ola drivers have threatened to go on an indefinite strike from the midnight of Sunday.

The strike, expected to be observed in key cities like Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune, among others, is likely to affect office goers.

"Ola and Uber had given big assurances to the drivers, but today they are unable to cover their costs. They have invested Rs 5-7 lakh, and were expecting to make Rs 1.5 lakh a month but are unable to even make half of this, owing to the mismanagement by these companies," said Sanjay Naik of Maharashtra Navnirman Vahatuk Sena, who is organising the strike. Naik further alleged that these taxi-hailing companies are giving first priority to company-owned cars rather than driver-owned vehicles, causing a slump in their business.

He claimed that while taxi-hailing companies had offered loan-guarantee letters to drivers through the Mudra scheme and that too, without any verification, they are defaulting on repayment now as their costs are not covered.

In Mumbai alone there are over 45,000 cabs on these aggregators but due to the slump in business there has been a fall of 20 per cent in the number of cabs running on these platforms in the city.

"If our demands are not met, we will go on an indefinite strike," he said, adding the drivers had approached MNS leader Raj Thackeray to intervene in the matter.

Other unions of Ola and Uber are also in support of the strike, Naik said.

"The transport department should take strict action as these taxi-hailing companies are violating permit conditions, and also encroaching on the taxi-rickshaw business. It is good they are going on strike," Al Quadros, general secretary, Mumbai Taximen's Union said.

While Ola declined to comment, an Uber spokesperson said termed the strike call as a speculative.Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly deployed "secret police" led by Indian-American Sonya Ahuja to catch and punish those leaking information about the social media giant in press, a media report has said.



Zuckerberg hosts weekly meetings where he shares details of unreleased new products and strategies in front of thousands of employees, The Guardian reported.

During one of his weekly meetings in 2015, the usually affable CEO warned employees: "We're going to find the leaker, and we're going to fire them."



A week later, Zuckerberg revealed the culprit had been caught and fired.



The media report, citing an unnamed former employee at Facebook, said that he was called into a meeting last year under the guise of a promotion where the investigative team interrogated him.

The interrogation by the "rat-catching" team, led by the company's head of investigations Ahuja, was a technicality; they already knew he was guilty of leaking some innocuous information to the press, the report said.



They had records of a screenshot he had taken, links he had clicked or hovered over, and they strongly indicated they had accessed chats between him and the journalist, dating back to before he joined the company, it said.



"It's horrifying how much they know. You go into Facebook and it has this warm, fuzzy feeling of 'we're changing the world' and 'we care about things'. But you get on their bad side and all of a sudden you are face to face with Mark Zuckerberg's secret police," he told The Guardian.



When asked about the report, a Facebook spokeswoman Bertie Thomson said: "Companies routinely use business records in workplace investigations, and we are no exception."

A four-part TV series, starting next week, will tell the story of challenging lives of Indian submariners and showcase for the first time some of the most iconic naval installations in the country on screen.

The first episode of Breaking Point: Indian Submariners, for which the Discovery Channel had deployed "high-tech and high-penetrating" underwater cameras, will air on March 19.

"The series was shot at INS Satvahana, Navy's premier submarine training establishment, and the INS Virbahu, the mother-base depot for training in Vishakhapatnam, and Mazgaon Docks in Mumbai. Parts of the training installations will be seen on the screen for the first time, as these are highly secure installations, and we have followed all protocols," said Vice Admiral Srikant,

Commandant of National Defence College.

The senior naval officer said the series would be "visual treat" and showcase the life of submariners, and the regimen they go through. "It comes soon after we (Indian Submarines) have completed 50 glorious years," he said.

In the past, Discovery has given viewers a never seen before glimpse of the intense, gruelling training programs of the armed forces through shows such as Breaking Point: Commando School Belgaum (2017), India's Paratroopers Earning the Badge (2016) and Revealed: National Defence Academy (2014).

Zulfia Waris, Vice-President & Head, Premium & Digital Networks, Discovery Communications India, said, We are delighted to take the Breaking Point franchise further with this special series on Indian Submariners."

"We used go-pro cameras underwater and outside to capture the essence of life of submariners. Our shooting timeline and the logistical timelines matched perfectly, and we got full support from the Navy for this series. The training installations are, otherwise out of bound for civilians, so viewers are in for a treat," she said.

A teaser of the show was today launched at an event held at the iconic Kota House here.

There were several challenges in capturing the life of a submariner, and "high-tech and high-penetrating underwater cameras" were used, which gave us stunning visuals, Srikant said.

The story was narrated from the perspective of a civilian, who takes viewers on an extraordinary journey.

The series gives the viewer a window into the world of complex, high-technology platform like a submarine, through the eyes of a common man, and anchor, Harman Singha, who takes audiences into a world which has never been explored before a "journey to live the life of an Indian Submariner; from the classroom to the officers' mess through Escape Training School; to diving to the depths of the seas on board the INS Sindhukirti".

The four episode would explore the INS Satvahana Submarine Training School and classes; meeting with Submariners-in-training; 50 years of Indian Submarines; life inside a submarine; drills and duties; and submarine technology, a senior official of Discovery Channel said.The decision of the CPI(M)-led LDF government in Kerala to reopen closed liquor outlets, including beer and wine parlours, along the state and national highways, came in for severe criticism on Saturday from the Catholic Church, which has dubbed the move as 'anti people'.

On the basis of a recent Supreme Court order, the government on Friday night issued the order allowing reopening of liquor outlets, bars, beer and wine parlours in panchayats with a population of 10,000 from April 2.

The order also allowed reopening of the liquor outlets in tourism zones.

Excise Minister T.P. Ramakrishnan on Saturday clarified that only closed liquor outlets would be reopened and no new ones would be allowed.

"New liquor outlets will not be opened in Kerala... only those closed earlier will be opened as per the Supreme Court verdict," he told reporters at Kozhikode.

However, the Catholic Church has come out against the government move, saying the LDF would receive a setback following its latest decision and it would be reflected in the coming Chengannur bypoll.

Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Thamarassery, Mar Remigiose Inchananiyil, told television channels in Kozhikode that the government decision was another 'Ockhi disaster' in the making.

Cyclone Ockhi had claimed the lives of several fishermen along the southern Kerala coast in November-December last year.

"The Chengannur bypoll will be a referendum of the LDF government's decision on the new liquor policy," he said.

Inchananiyil said the government's move was a violation of the poll promises during the Assembly polls in 2016.

"The government cheated the people by giving hollow promises of liquor abstinence," he said.

The LDF should show sincerity towards its poll manifesto of 2016, he added.

Changanassery Archbishop Joseph Perumthottam said the church would not accept the liquor policy.

While Congress leader and former KPCC president V.M. Sudheeran said the decision would deal a 'big blow' to the government, BJP leader P.S. Sreedharan Pillai, the party candidate in the Chengannur bypoll, said the government's stand was 'unfortunate'.

CPI(M) leader Anathalavattom Ananthan said the Marxist party was prepared to take on the 'challenge' of the church on the issue.

Former Syro Malabar Church spokesperson Father Paul Thelekat said the liquor policy was 'anti people'.

He recalled that in the run-up to the Assembly polls, CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury had assured that no closed bars would be opened.

"But what we will see now is that not only will closed bars be opened, but many new outlets also will be opened. The policy will only help those in the liquor business," he said.

The government's decision will see reopening of about 500 toddy shops, 142 beer and wine-only restaurants and two bars that were shut after the Supreme Court banned liquor outlets within 500m radius of the state and national highways last year.

The Kerala government, on June 8 2017, unveiled its new liquor policy by deciding to open closed bar outlets in hotels classified as three star and above, besides allowing serving of toddy in these hotels from July 1 that year.

It was also decided to raise the minimum age limit for consumption of liquor from the present age of 21 to 23 years.

The previous Oommen Chandy government had closed 712 bars below the five-star category as part of its aim to ensure total prohibition in 10 years time.

A majority of these closed bars were later converted to beer and wine parlours.

The LDF government had made it clear that it had clarified in its election manifesto itself that it was not for total prohibition, but for abstinence.In a clear indication that the Congress gives utmost importance to building an alliance to challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP in the next Lok Sabha elections, the partys political resolution presented at its plenary session emphasises that it will work for cooperation with like-minded parties to defeat the BJP at the hustings.

Congress will adopt a pragmatic approach for cooperation with all like-minded parties and evolve a common workable programme to defeat the BJP-RSS in the 2019 elections, the political resolution states.

With an eye on the coming election season, the Congress, in its political resolution, identifies farmers problems and unemployment as among the major fronts where the Modi government has failed. Under the BJP regime, the people of Indiafarmers, Khet Mazdoors, workers in the unorganised sector, self-employed, manual labourers, dalits, minorities, traders, unemployed youth and the poorhave been betrayed, it said.

Specifically referring to the youth, the document says that the plenary session indicts the BJP government for betraying the youth of India by not fulfiling its promise of creating two crore jobs every year. The government, it said, not only failed to create jobs but through its decisions, India lost millions of jobs in the MSME and informal sectors.

In the backdrop of the Congress soft Hindutva approach in an effort to neutralise BJPs focus on the majority population, the resolution seeks to distinguish Hinduism from Hindutva, the latter according to the Congress being a political ideology.

The Indian tradition and the essence of Hinduism has been all encompassing, upholder of humane values and our composite culture. It is distinct and must not be confused with Hindutva, which is essentially a political ideology, it said.

The party, in its resolution, condemned the escalation of atrocities on dalits, Adivasis and minorities and the violent attacks on the poor who have raised their voice of protest in many parts of the country.

The resolution accused the BJP and its associated organisations of assaulting the foundational principles of the Constitution, of threatening to tear apart the fabric of social unity and harmony and undermining the established norms of governance and subversion of educational, cultural and historical institutions, facilitating their capture by the BJPs ideological affiliates.

It said that the prime minister and the BJP government, however, are intolerant of any criticism and remain in arrogant denial.

In the backdrop of opposition parties accusing the ruling dispensation of manipulating EVMs in elections, the party said that to ensure the credibility of the electoral process, the Election Commission should revert to the old practice of paper ballot, as most major democracies have done.

In tune with the partys attempts to take on Modi and the ruling dispensation on the issue of corruption, especially over the PNB scam and alleged corruption in the purchase of Rafale fighter aircraft from France, the resolution said the country has seen scams, scandals and questionable transactions under the watch of the prime minister at the Centre and in BJP-ruled states.

The BJP government lacks sincerity in fighting corruption, to ensure transparency and accountability. This is underscored by its non-appointment of Lokpal, the resolution said.

The resolution, in the light of the partys escalated campaign on the demand for special status for Andhra Pradesh, said that the Congress condemns the neglect and injustice to Andhra Pradesh by the BJP government and reiterates its commitment to the complete implementation of the PMs assurances and the provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act and the Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh.Congress president Rahul Gandhi set the tone for the AICC Plenary Session, underling the issues of farmers and unemployment as the two main planks on which to attack the Narendra Modi government and the BJP in the run-up to a crucial election season that culminates with the Lok Sabha polls that are scheduled to be held in 2019.

In his opening remarks at the plenary on Saturday, Rahul took on the ruling dispensation, criticising it for its failure to provide crores of youth with jobs. Crores of youth are tired. They look at Modiji, but they do not see where employment will come from, he said.

Talking about farmers, he said, The farming community of the country does not know how it will get the right price for its crops. They too are tired.

The whole country is tired. They are looking for some way out of this situation. I say with all sincerity that it is only the Congress party that can show the way, the Congress president said in an effort to project the Congress as an alternative to the BJP.

He had a message for his party colleagues as well. He said the theme of the plenary was that of change, referring to the changes that were expected to take place in the party under him. In an effort to assuage concerns among the senior leaders of the party with regard to the generational change expected to happen in the organisation after he took charge, the Congress president said that while the youth will take the Congress forward, the seniors would continue to have an important role.

Rahul thanked senior leaders Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, Amarinder Singh and Siddaramaiah, saying they had fought to safeguard the Congress and the thought that it symbolised. I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart for having fought for the Congress party and for safeguarding the symbol and what it stands for, he said.

The youth will take forward the Congress. But the party cannot go forward without the experienced leaders. My work is to take the youth and the seniors together, he said.

He attacked the BJP for dividing the country and practising politics of hatred and anger. What sets the Congress apart from its political opponents is that while we practise the politics of love and brotherhood, they practise the politics of anger and hatred, he said.

Whatever happens, I want to reiterate that the Congress belongs to all religions, castes and individuals. Whatever the Congress does, it is for everyone. We will not leave anyone behind, he said.

The 84th session of the AICC is meant to ratify the election of Rahul as Congress president. It is also expected to give an indication as to the Congress plan of action for the coming round of Assembly elections as well as the Lok Sabha polls.

The three-day session began on Friday with a meeting of the steering committee of the party to finalise the resolutions to be adopted at the plenary. Rahul said he will make a more elaborate speech on Sunday when he concludes the session.

Around 1,500 AICC delegates from all over the country as well as thousands of party workers and leaders are attending the session.If one were to look at the state of affairs of Telangana through the eyes of a well-known and respected professor-cum-activist, M. Kodandaram, nothing much has changed. On March 10, 2011, the Chairman of Joint Action Committee (JAC) was detained by the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh Police while on his way to participate in a million march called by pro-Telangana groups. The Congress government, at that time, detained and arrested a number of activists and students to prevent them from assembling on Tank Bund, which is located in the heart of the city.



Towards evening, Kodandaram along with the present Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and a few others managed to make it to the protest site and raise slogans in favour of a separate state.

Fast forward to 2018, the freedom seems more curtailed in the new state for him. Kodandaram, who is still the Chairman of Telangana JAC had appealed to the public to participate in this years million march to remember the significance of the day and also the spirit of Telangana movement.



On March 10, 2018, Kodandarams house was surrounded by the Telangana police right from the previous night. All the other leaders, employees and activists who pledged their support to him were under vigil or detained.



Barricades were put up on all the routes leading to Tank Bund. Kodandaram was detained right outside his house. The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), vehemently opposed celebrations of any kind. Much of it has to do with Kodandaram openly criticising the governance by TRS party. It is a direct fight between him and TRS, as the professor had announced launching a political party to set things right in Telangana.



A year away from state elections, Kodandaram talks about his foray into politics, his new platform and also shares his views about the functioning of the present TRS government.



When will you launch your party and what will it be called?



Due to technical reasons, there was a delay in registering the party. We have finished most of the formalities. We will launch the party in the coming days and make more announcements soon.



Why are you starting a political party?



In the last four years, after the formation of Telangana, we realised that there is a need for an alternative political party. The existing opposition parties, the BJP and the Congress, are not doing a great job. Since coming to power, Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and his party failed to show qualitative progress.



How do you rate the present TRS government with K. Chandrashekar Rao as Chief Minister?



People do not have access to the chief minister. There is no way the public can meet and share their problems with him. The administration is on the verge of collapse. Only the Chief Ministers Office (CMO) is active whereas rest of the departments have stopped functioning. KCR does not have respect for government offices or institutions. He is probably the only CM who does not come to office. As a result, hundreds of files are pending. There is no proper implementation of schemes. Agriculture under him is in a bad shape.



What about some of the achievements mentioned by TRS like uninterrupted power supply?



Due to political interference, power is being purchased at a very high cost by the state government. TSTRANSCO and TSGENCO (Telanganas power transmission and generation corporations) have become economically weak. There is rampant corruption also as a result of the bad policies of this state.



How different will your party be compared to the rest?



We want people to be central to the elections. In the present scenario, political parties give more importance to candidates who want to win the elections. We want to change that. Developmental agenda is critical in the upcoming elections.



Are you open to alliance and did any political party representatives approach you?



We are open to alliance but it is too early to talk about it. We are already in talks with left parties.



What are you going to do about funding, since running a political party can be a costly affair.



I agree that funding is important as some amount of money is required to run a party. We will accept small donations in a transparent manner.



In the past, political parties headed by intellectuals have failed in the state. Best examples are Lok Satta Party and Aam Aadmi Party. How sure are you about your party not going that way?



We should look at success stories. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is one such example. Even AAP in Delhi and TRS can also be called success stories.

Launching a frontal attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi on Saturday said the people have understood that his slogans were only dramabaazi to get votes even as she asserted that her party will never bow down before his arrogant and high-on-power regime.

People have understood that slogans such as Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas and Main Na Khaoonga, Na Khaane Doonga as also his Mann Ki Baat were only dramabaazi and a ploy to get votes, Sonia said in her address at the AICC's Plenary session.

She accused the Modi regime of trying to destroy the Congress, and stressed that her party will never bow down before the government. In the last four years, to destroy the Congress, this arrogant and high-on-power government has not left any stone unturned. It has deployed every trick in the book. However, the Congress has never bowed before power and never will, she said.

She said that, on the contrary, the Congress is at the forefront of the struggle to expose the Modi governments dictatorial ways, its disrespect towards the Constitution and Parliament, its divisive politics, filing of false cases against members of the opposition and troubling of the media.

We are exposing the lies, false promises, fraud and corruption of Prime Minister Modi and his colleagues with all proof, she said.

Sonia, who handed over the reins of the party to son Rahul Gandhi in December, used the occasion to exhort the workers and leaders to work unitedly under him. Noting that Rahul has taken over as party president at a very challenging time, she said this is not a time to think of personal ego and aspirations.

What is of importance is how the party can be strengthened, face the present set of challenges and register victory, she said.

Striking an optimistic tone for the party in the coming months electorally, Sonia noted that 40 years ago, Indira Gandhis victory in Chikamagalur in Karnataka had transformed the politics in the country and the Congress had once again emerged as a powerful party. I have full confidence that in the coming months, in the Assembly elections in Karnataka, our party will once again show a remarkable performance, which will provide a new direction to the politics of the country, she said.

The performance of the Congress in recent elections in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, she said, shows that those who want to wipe out the Congress existence from the political map of the country have no idea that the people of the country still deeply empathise with the party.Gandhian activist Anna Hazare on Friday said he would launch a new satyagraha from March 23 and it will continue till life was in his body.

He said this while addressing a press conference in New Delhi to announce the launch of the satyagraha to press for the demands of Lokpal, Lokayukta, farmers' issues and election reforms.

"The satyagraha will start from March 23 and there will be no set time frame to end it. It will continue till life is in my body," Hazare said.

The Gandhian also complained that the government has still not allotted space for holding the satyagraha. He threatened to start the satyagraha from jail if space is not allotted before March 23.

"We have written 16 times to the government in the last four months to allot the place for satyagraha but till date it has not been allotted. Four days before, I wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said 'your government is deliberately not allotting the place and if it is not allotted, then I will start satyagraha from jail'," Hazare said.

He also said Prime Minister Modi is not replying to his letters about the issues of Lokpal, Lokayukta, farmers' issues and election reforms.

"I have written 40 letters to the prime minister over Lokpal, Lokayukta, farmers' issues and election reforms but he has not replied to a single letter. Before elections in 2014, he (Prime Minister Modi) used to say that if the BJP comes to power then, it would create model villages akin to Anna Hazare's model village in Maharashtra. And, now you are not even replying my letters. Don't reply but allot us place to do satyagraha," the activist demanded.

Talking about the farmers' issue, he demanded setting up of a agriculture price commission on the lines of the Election Commission and NITI Aayog.

"Agriculture price commission should get autonomy and Constitutional status. There should not be government's interference in it. Eminent agriculture experts should be appointed in the agriculture price commission and then the farmers will get fair price of their produce," Hazare said.

Earlier on Friday, he chaired a core committee meeting in which 31 'apolitical' farmer associations from Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh participated to set the agenda for the March 23 satyagraha.

Retired Supreme Court judge and former Karnataka Lokayukta N. Santosh Hegde has announced he would be joining the social activist's stir.Adrian Lamo, a US-based hacker, who testified against WikiLeaks whistleblower Chelsea Manning, has died, confirmed officials. The 37-year-old hacker was confirmed dead on Friday by authorities in Sedgwick County, reported The Guardian. However, the cause of his death is yet not known.

Confirming the death of his son, Lamo's father Mario posted on Facebook: "With great sadness and a broken heart I have to let know all of Adrians friends and acquittances [sic] that he is dead. A bright mind and compassionate soul is gone, he was my beloved son.

Lamo had testified against Manning, a former soldier who leaked documents to the WikiLeaks on US warfares in Iraq and Afghanistan. He had met Manning online in 2010 after the latter reached out to him on reading an article about the hacker.

Lamo's testimony eventually led to Manning, born Bradley Manning before undergoing a gender reassignment surgery and taking the first name Chelsea, being convicted to 35 years in prison. However, US President Barack Obama, during his last few days in office, commuted the sentence of Manning, and she was freed last year.

Earlier, in a 2011 interview to The Guardian, Lamo had expressed some regrets about a possible lengthy prison sentence for Manning. He said he thought of Manning every day, adding: The decision was not one I decided to make, but was thrust upon me.

Interestingly, Lamo's hacking skills had also landed him in law enforcement authorities' net for breaking into computers at the New York Times, Yahoo and Microsoft.

Not to much surprise, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange had disapproved of Lamo. On Friday, responding to Lamo's news of death he wrote on Twitter, "Lamo, a fake journalist, petty conman & betrayer of basic human decency, promised alleged source @xychelsea journalistic protection, friendship and support, then sold him to the FBI."The United States has not yet seen Pakistan take significant steps to clamp down on the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network militant groups, a senior US administration official said on Friday.

The administration suspended about $2 billion in security assistance to Pakistan in January but Islamabad has failed to take the kind of decisive and irreversible action Washington has asked for to help with the war in Afghanistan, the official told reporters.

The administration has been frustrated by what it sees as Pakistans reluctance to act against the Afghan Taliban and the affiliated Haqqani network. Washington believes the groups use Pakistan as a safe haven for launching attacks on neighbouring Afghanistan. Pakistan denies helping the militants.

The United States has been at war in Afghanistan since 2001, making it Americas longest military conflict. President Donald Trump agreed in August to a stepped-up military campaign against the Taliban, and has since increased pressure on Pakistan to help.

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Tuesday said he has seen some positive signs from Islamabad, including Pakistani military operations along the borderand the senior administration official agreed.

I think the Pakistanis have wanted to appear responsive to our requests, the senior administration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

What I would say is, they have done the bare minimum to appear responsive to our requests, the official said, saying more proactive steps were needed.

US officials have told their Pakistani counterparts what types of actions are needed to lift the suspension of aid, the official said, declining to elaborate on the specifics.

We are prepared to take steps that we think are necessary to safeguard US personnel and interests in the region, the official said, declining comment on what those steps would be, and on deadlines for action.

We are continuing to look for real action, not just words, from Pakistan on the Taliban and Haqqani sanctuaries, the official said.

-ReutersThe Vatican has removed the suspended Guam archbishop from office and ordered him not to return to the Pacific island after convicting him of some charges in a sex abuse trial.

The Vatican didn't say what exactly Archbishop Anthony Apuron had been convicted of, and the sentence was far lighter than those given high-profile elderly prelates found guilty of molesting minors.

It amounts to an early retirement anywhere in the world but Guam, a remote US Pacific territory where nearly everyone is Roman Catholic.

Apuron is 72, while the Vatican retirement age is 75. The Vatican spokesman declined to comment.

Calls placed to the tribunal judge weren't answered. Apuron's whereabouts weren't immediately known.

"While I am relieved that the tribunal dismissed the majority of the accusations against me, I have appealed the verdict," said a statement from Apuron distributed by his Guam attorney, Jacqueline Terlaje.

"God is my witness; I am innocent and I look forward to proving my innocence in the appeals process."

Pope Francis named a temporary administrator for Guam in 2016 after Apuron was accused by former altar boys of sexually abusing them when he was a priest.

Dozens of cases involving other priests on the island have since come to light, and the archdiocese is facing more than $115 million in civil lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse by priests.

Apuron strongly denied the charges and said he was a victim of a "calumny" campaign. He wasn't criminally charged. The statute of limitations had expired.

A statement from the tribunal in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which handles sex abuse cases, said Apuron had been convicted of some of the accusations against him.

Under an appeal, the penalties could be suspended until the case is resolved. However, it's not clear whether that has happened now that Apuron has indicated he has appealed.

In the past, when an elderly or infirm priest has been convicted by the Vatican of sexually abusing minors, he has often been removed from ministry and sentenced to a lifetime of "penance and prayer."

Younger priests convicted of abuse have been defrocked, removed from ministry or forbidden from presenting themselves as priests.

Francis, however, has intervened in a handful of cases to lower sentences, and several high-ranking Vatican prelates oppose defrocking convicted molesters and have long lobbied for more lenient sentences.

In the case of Apuron, no restrictions on his ministry as a priest were announced. An ailing Apuron greeted Francis at the pope's February 7 general audience.

Apuron is one of the highest-ranking churchmen to be convicted by a Vatican sex abuse tribunal, and his rank as archbishop may have played a role in his seemingly light sentence.

Assuming the evidence against him was grave and credible, the Vatican might still have been reluctant to remove him from the clerical state, as it has done in hundreds of cases of defrocked priestly abusers, because Apuron would still remain a bishop theologically speaking, noted Kurt Martens, professor of canon law at Catholic University of America in Washington.

That means he could continue ordaining priests, ordinations that would be considered illicit but still valid, a schismatic conflict the Vatican would want to avoid.

The Catholic community on Guam has been convulsed by the Apuron scandal, with weekly protests demanding his ouster. One of the former altar servers who accused Apuron of molesting him said he felt relieved by the Vatican's announcement.

"The verdict was what we were hoping for," Roland Sondia said from Guam, where it was already Saturday. "I think the fact that he won't be able to return to the island is justice." While The Associated Press doesn't typically name victims of sex abuse, Sondia has come forward publicly identifying himself as one of Apuron's accusers.

The attorney for the victims said he was overjoyed with the outcome. "We're ecstatic. It's a justified verdict," said David Lujan.

Archbishop Michael Byrnes issued a statement early today afternoon, also praising the decision.

"It is a monumental marker in our journey toward healing as one Church, one people in God. I pray that all people would embrace this call for healing," Byrnes said.

The accusations against Apuron also involved grave financial problems in the archdiocese and the purchase of a valuable property by Apuron for a diocesan seminary that he actually turned over to a controversial Catholic movement.

A lay group that agitated for Apuron's removal, "Concerned Catholics of Guam," pushed for an investigation into the archdiocesan seminary, which Apuron opened in 1999 and moved to an 18-acre (seven-hectare) property thanks to a $2 million anonymous donation.State and local officials gathered Friday at a Glenville maple farm to celebrate the 2018 maple season.

Riverside Maple Farms, which opened to the public in October, is home to a 5,300-square-foot production facility supplied by 260 acres of maple trees. The Route 5 farm offers tours and also sells a host of maple products in its shop.

Owners Erica and Christopher Welch were joined for the 11 a.m. tree-tapping ceremony by state Department of Agriculture and Markets Commissioner Richard Ball, Capital Region Chamber of Commerce President Mark Eagan and other state and local elected officials.

The event kicked off New York's Maple Weekend, created to encourage residents and out-of-towners alike to visit maple production facilities to learn about the process in person.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

New York's maple industry  which ranks second in the nation  generates $141 million annually, according to the state Department of Agriculture and Markets.ALBANY  Marcia Nord stood under a store awning at the corner of Central and North Lake avenues on Saturday afternoon, shielding herself from the heavy winds.

"I shouldn't be here  this is absolutely ridiculous," the 93-year-old said. "Crazy as it gets, I'm always here."

As befits someone of Irish descent on March 17, Nord was wearing green from head to toe: a sparkly visor covered with shamrocks, a green scarf, green cape, green sweater, green purse, and green socks under her inexplicably white skirt.

Born and raised in Albany, Nord has never missed the city's St. Patrick's Day parade  and she used to march in it herself, with "the Scouts or something." She attended Saturday's 68th annual parade with her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

"I love seeing my good old-timer friends marching in the parade, that's what brings me out," Nord said. "I love the horses, too."

Nord was one of many Albany residents attending Saturday's parade, whether their ancestors hailed from Ireland or elsewhere.

The parade featured elected officials, groups like the Albany Irish Rowing Club, bagpipe bands, and even leprechauns. Thousands of attendees cheered through Saturday's frigid but sunny weather as marchers passed by.

Patrick Ryan, who was born and raised in North Albany and is celebrating his 50th anniversary with the North Albany Limericks, has also never missed a parade.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

"I like watching everybody be goofy," Ryan said. "Sometimes I miss the old days when I used to march. Back then you could drink in the parade and have fun. Now you have too many rowdies especially the college kids."

Before going downtown, though, Ryan paid homage to his childhood neighborhood across town at the North Albany Limerick Parade, which stepped off a few hours before the larger downtown procession.

John Devoe is from Delmar, but his Irish grandmother grew up on Van Rensselaer Boulevard. He said despite its smaller size, he prefers the North Albany celebration over the downtown one.

"I started coming when I was little, and as I've gotten older I like the heritage in this one more," Devoe said. "It's cool to see how the neighborhood has changed from being and Irish enclave in Albany, but they still keep so much of the heritage and history. So that's really neat."Miami

Florida's Department of Transportation Friday night reported an engineer left a voicemail two days before a catastrophic bridge failure to say some cracking had been found at one of the concrete spans.

However, the agency says the voicemail, left on a landline, wasn't heard by a state DOT employee until Friday because the employee was out of the office on an assignment.

In a transcript of the voicemail released Friday night, Denney Pate with FIGG Bridge Group says the cracking would need repairs "but from a safety perspective we don't see that there's any issue there so we're not concerned about it from that perspective."

The pedestrian bridge at Florida International university collapsed Thursday, killing at least six people.

Investigators Friday searched for bodies and sifted through the rubble of the bridge, the collapse of which prompted scrutiny of the structure's design and the safety of its construction.

"We exhausted last night all of our search-and-rescue capabilities," said Chief Dave Downey of the Miami-Dade County Fire Rescue Department, which deployed one of the nation's most specialized rescue squadrons. "We've determined that there's no longer any survivors."

The National Transportation Safety Board has opened an investigation into the cause of the collapse of the 174-foot walkway, which was designed to connect the campus of Florida International University to the city of Sweetwater.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

The chairman of the safety board, Robert L. Sumwalt, said Friday part of the inquiry would examine why there was not a central support beam to hold up the bridge.

The collapse of the $14.2 million structure, built using a method called accelerated bridge construction, came less than a week after it was driven into its perpendicular position across the road by a rig.

Accelerated construction is a method of erecting bridges that avoids the long months of street closings when a structure is built over a road or river.

Instead, parts of the bridge are prefabricated away from the site.

Authorities said one victim is confirmed to be an FIU student. No identities of those killed have been released.Nokie Edwards, whose virtuosic electric guitar playing helped define the surf-rock style of the Ventures, the popular instrumental band that rose to prominence in the 1960s, died Monday in Yuma, Arizona. He was 82.

His death was confirmed by his wife, Judy, who said he had a recurring infection after surgery for a broken hip in December.

Edwards' seemingly effortless picking produced a palpitating sound that captured the vibe of the ocean a few years before the Beach Boys began singing about California girls. The Ventures were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008.

"Although musicologists might argue that Edwards' country-fueled and steel-guitar-influenced licks owe more to country than pop or rock," guitar designer Jol Dantzig wrote in an appreciation of Edwards on the Premier Guitar website, "there is no denying that Edwards' twangy tone, wang-bar glides and staccato riffing paved the way for the California surf bands of the 1960s."

Edwards was playing lead guitar in country star Buck Owens' band when he was spotted by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle in a club in Spokane, Wash., in the late 1950s. Wilson and Bogle were construction workers with meager musical experience when they formed the band that became the Ventures. In Edwards, they recognized a larger talent with a broader musical pedigree who would improve their band.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

With Edwards playing bass and Bogle on lead guitar, the Ventures recorded "Walk  Don't Run," which rose to No. 2 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart.

Although Bogle's playing was a key to the single's success, Edwards soon replaced him as the band's lead guitarist; Bogle's switch to bass was an acknowledgment of Edwards' greater skill.

"Wipe Out," a hit for the Surfaris in 1963, became a signature song for the Ventures. The Ventures' second-biggest hit was their version of the theme song from the CBS television show "Hawaii Five-O," which went to No. 4 in 1969. Edwards stayed with the Ventures until 1968, returned in 1972 and stayed until 1984.Entering the Saratoga County Office Building recently, I passed an elderly veteran wearing his garrison cap like my dad had worn. Whether the vet had served in World War II or the Korean War, the justification for sending him was similar: Making the world safe for democracy.

I smiled at him while feeling deep sadness. I was on my way to a meeting where the Board of Supervisors would be voting down two opportunities to expand democratic practices: Early voting and automatic voter registration.A former Coolmore Stud employee has asked the High Court for orders preventing his former employer from threatening booksellers who sell a book he wrote about the stud with defamation proceedings.

The action has been brought by William Jones author of The Dark Horse Inside Coolmore and with an address at, Beechmount Roscrea Co Tipperary, worked at the stud between 2006 and 2015 and later self-published his book via his company Gold Rush Publications.

In proceedings against the stud he claims has been defamed in letters sent by the defendant's representatives to various booksellers, and seeks damages.

As part of his action Mr Jones, who represents himself, asked the High Court on Friday for temporary injunctions including one restraining the stud from threatening any booksellers selling his book, including booksellers in the UK, with any defamation proceedings.

He claims that under 2009 Defamation Act the stud is statue barred from bringing any such defamation proceedings. In a sworn statement he said that no litigation has been brought against his book and none is pending,

He also claims that in November 2017 lawyers for Coolmore wrote to booksellers in the UK and Germany threatening them with being sued for defamation under Irish law unless they withdrew his book from sale.

He says the booksellers withdrew his book.

At the High Court on Friday Ms Justice Caroline Costello granted Mr Jones permission to serve short notice of the proceedings on the defendant.

The Judge said she was not prepared to grant any orders in the absence of the defendant or its legal representatives, and adjourned the matter to next week.

Mr Jones's has brought other separate proceedings against the Stud in relation to his book.

Last year Mr Jones's appeal over being refused injunctions preventing Coolmore's lawyers writing to booksellers and distributors alleging his book about working there contained defamatory material was dismissed by the Court of Appeal.

He denies defamation and sought various injunctions, pending a full hearing of his case against Coolmore, restraining its lawyers writing to book distributors and retailers alleging the book contained defamatory material and seeking it not be sold.

Coolmore's solicitors Arthur Cox had written to the Amazon website and bookshops referring to potential proceedings for defamation and noting the book included allegations of bullying and details of the deaths of two horses Mountjeu and Jude. The book was later withdrawn by a number of distributors.

Coolmore argued, under a December 2014 agreement compromising Mr Jones' Labour Relations Commission claim over his employment at the stud, both sides agreed not to make any derogatory comments about each other at any time in the future and he had also undertook not to disclose any records relating to animals or clients of the stud.

In June 2016, the High Court ruled Mr Jones had made out no arguable case entitling him to the injunctions.

He appealed but the Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal.Details of St. Patrick's Day parade start times and routes in Tipperary

Thurles Parade: The St. Patricks Parade in Thurles will take place at 4pm. Up to 3,000 people are expected to attend. The parade will follow a route from Abbey Rd onto Friar St, Liberty Square and Slievenamon Rd. Road closures will be in place along the route from 3pm until approx. 6pm. From 2pm, vehicles will be removed from Liberty Square. Motorists not attending the event can divert via Templemore Rd, Cuchulainn Rd, Castle Ave, Mathew Ave, Lona Ave, Stradavoher, Dempsey Square, Fianna Rd, Thomand Rd, Emmet St and Cathedral St. Gardai will be directing traffic.

Templemore Parade: 12.30pm on Saturday 17th. The Parade on Saturday will start at 12.30 sharp and follows the usual route of down Richmond, through Patrick Street, on to Main Street and past the Reviewing Stand at the Town Hall. Play Group and Toddlers Group only to meet at Templemore College- Everybody else should gather at the starting point on the Thurles Road. We would ask that all children be kept safe and stay with their teacher / parents. The theme for this years parade is Irish Tradition and Culture in keeping with the fact that Fleadh Cheoil Thiobrad Arann 2018 will be held in Templemore in May of this year.

Cashel Parade: 2pm on Saturday 17th. The theme is 'ACTIVATE'. Crowd safety barriers will be in place from 1.15pm and customers are asked not to park on Main street from 1pm. Main Street will close as soon as the Cork to Dublin bus passes through, at approx 1:40pm. The parade will begin when the Dublin to Cork bus passes through town, it will be re-routed along Friar Street (approx 2pm ). The Parade will end at approximately 3: 30pm. The road will open by 4pm .

Roscrea Parade: 3.30pm on Saturday 17th. The Parade takes place with the Blessing of Shamrock at the Review Stand at 3pm and the Roscrea Parade commences at 3.30pm on Saturday, March 17th. The Parade starts at the old Dublin road through Church Street, up Castle Street and passes the Review Stand in the Square on the Main Street.

Clonmel Parade: The St Patricks Day Parade in Clonmel will take place at 3pm. Approx. 5,000 people are expected to attend. The parade will travel from Irishtown via OConnell St, Gladstone St, Market St and Emmett St, before finishing on Parnell St. The following road closures will be in place until 8pm to facilitate the parade: Western Park, Cantwell St, Irishtown (east of Cantwell St), Albert St, St. Mary's Place, Gravel Walk, O'Neill St, Joyce's Lane, Bridge St, Old Quay, New Quay, Old Bridge, Wolfe Tone St, O'Connell St, Mary St, Gladstone St, Sarsfield St, Abbey St, Bank Lane, Market St, Emmet St, Dowd's Lane, Nelson St, Parnell St, Anglesea St, Wellington St, Cross St and Dr Croke Place. Gardai will be diverting traffic and are advising motorists to avoid the town centre. Local access will be provided for residents but there will be no parking in the town centre.

Tipp Town Parade: 2pm on Saturday 17th

Cahir Parade: 12 noon Saturday 17th

Carrick on Suir Parade: 5.30 Saturday 17th followed by fireworks at Ormond Castle

Nenagh Parade: 2pm on Sunday 18th

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all our readers! If you're out and about at parades this weekend don't forget to send us in your snaps from around the county. Email: news@tipperarystar.ie and we'll publish the best photos! pic.twitter.com/P4tuZNuBLS  Tipperary Star (@tippstar) March 17, 2018

Other parades:

WATERFORD: The St Patricks Parade in Waterford City will take place from 1pm. Approx. 40,000 people are expected to attend. The participants in the parade will gather at The Glen which will be closed from 11:30am. The parade will leave The Glen at 1pm and travel towards Thomas St, The Quays, and The Mall and onto Parnell St where they will disperse. From 11:30am to 5pm the following closures will be in place: Merchants Quay, Meaghers Quay, Coal, Quay, Custom House Quay, Parade Quay, The Mall, Parnell St, Catherine St, Colbeck St, Lady Lane (between Francis Place and Colbeck St), Bank Lane, Beau St, Mall Lane, Lombard St (between Rose Lane and The Mall), Adelpi Quay (between Rose Lane and Parade Quay), Baileys New St, Greyfriars, Coffee House Lane, Henrietta St, Keyser St, Exchange St, Conduit Lane, Barronstrand St, Gladstone St, OConnell St, Thomas Hill (between Meeting House Lane and OConnell St), Vulcan St, Thomas St and The Glen. Diversions will be in place via Passage Rd, St Patricks Way, The Folly, Inner Ring Rd, Ashe Rd, Cannon St, Morrisons Rd, Military Rd, Summerhill and Bridge St.

LIMERICK: The Limerick St. Patrick's Day Parade will take place today at 12pm. Approx. 80,000 people are expected to attend. Participants will travel out Sarsfield Barracks onto O'Connell Ave, through O'Connell St and Patrick St. From there, they will continue onto Rutland St, Matthew's Bridge and Nicolas St before finishing at Merchant's Quay. To facilitate the event, the following roads will be closed until 3:30pm: O'Connell Ave, O'Connell St, Quin St, St Gerard St, Patrick St, Rutland St, Charlotte Quay, Locke Quay, Bridge St, Athlunkard St, Sarsfield Bridge, Sarsfield St, Liddy St, Honan's Quay (between Sarsfield St and Arthurs Quay), Arthurs Quay, Merchant's Quay, Nicholas St, Convent St. In addition, the following routes will be closed until 2pm: Wolfe Tone St, St Joseph St, Lord Edward St (between the Carey's Rd and Burke Ave jcts). The following will be closed until 3:30pm: Honan's Quay (between Harvey's Quay and Liddy St), Cecil St, Glenworth St, Ellen St, Michael St. Roches St will be closed between Parnell St and Catherine St from 10am to 3.30pm. From 11am to 3:30pm, the following closures will be in place: Lower Mallow St, Ennis Rd (between the Shelbourne Rd jct and Sarsfield Bridge). Local diversions will be in place and Gardai will be on point duty.

OFFALY: The St Patricks Parade in Tullamore will take place from 11am until 12pm. Up to 3,000 people are expected to attend. The parade will travel along High St, Bridge St and finish on William St. These roads will be closed for the duration of the parade however William St will be closed from 9:30am. Local diversions will be in place. Gardai will be directing traffic and are advising motorists to avoid the centre of town and to use the bypass. Vintage cars, tractors and heavy goods vehicles will be involved in the parade and this may bring delays to the area before and after the event.Subaru has offered the Forester nameplate since 1997, with the latest fourth generation arriving in 2013. Now its looking like the Six Stars is gearing up for a new fifth-gen model, as previewed by a single shadowy teaser image ahead of a full reveal at the 2018 New York International Auto Show.

The Full Story

The new Forester will employ a variety of styling cues from the various Viziv concepts weve seen over the years.

Subarus practical new Forester SUV is headed for a full debut at the New York International Auto Show at the end of the month, and Subaru is previewing the generational changeover with a single shadowy teaser image showing a passenger-side C-shaped taillight.

As an all-new replacement for the outgoing fourth generation, the new Forester will employ a variety of styling cues from the latest Impreza production hatchback, not to mention the various Viziv concepts Subaru has been dropping over the last few years (toned down for production purposes, of course).

Its also expected to get a bit of a dimensional increase as well, which will help to boost interior space overall. Thatll place the Forester just under the newly released Subaru Ascent SUV in terms of maximum interior room.

Look for the new Forester to get the very latest in Subarus Eyesight safety tech, tossing in features like adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist, and automatic braking. Buyers will get a variety of equipment to choose from, such as leather trim, an upgraded stereo, automatic headlights, and more.

Under the skin, the new Forester will get the Subaru Global Platform for underpinnings. Otherwise known as SGP, the Forester will share its bones with the likes of the latest Impreza and XV.

Look for the new Forester to get the very latest in Subarus Eyesight safety tech.

Subarus go-to boxer engine will be used for motivation. We could see a diesel option in overseas markets, but a hybrid is much more likely. Across the pond, performance enthusiasts will also likely get a go-faster tS version, which, unfortunately, wont arrive in the U.S.

The new Forester will be offered exclusively with a CVT continuously variable automatic transmission. Extra grip courtesy of AWD will be standard, of course.

The Forester will go head-to-head with rivals like the Toyota RAV4 and Mazda CX-5, the latter of which will get a new model on sale at the end of this year.

Pricing for the Scooby should slot in at around $23,000, which is a little more than the outgoing model.

Look for full details and more revealing images when the new Forester drops in New York in a few weeks.

References

Read our full review on the 2018 Subaru Forester.

Read more Subaru news.

Read more New York Auto Show news.Prewett Bizley show how going Passivhaus increases comfort and quality for people who don't worry about energy costs.

Passivhaus, or Passive House, was originally all about saving energy and sets strict limits on heat loss and air infiltration. The very rich people in this world don't worry much about energy costs, yet more and more of the nicest houses in the world are being built to Passivhaus standards. One incredible example is this Bloomsbury Town House in London, renovated by Prewett Bizley Architects.

 Prewitt Bizley Architects

Originally built in 1820 and previously used as office space, the architects, working with interior designer Emily Bizley, restored it to single family glory. It also had "the added ambitious target of pushing its energy efficiency towards Passivhaus Enerphit standard."

Enerphit is a standard developed for renovations, and slightly relaxed from the Passivhaus standard. It's still tough, and even though it appears that they missed the airtightness test by just a bit, the results are still spectacular.

 Prewitt Bizley Architects

Our work has transformed the energy efficiency of the house, reducing the overall space heating demand by 95% from 160kWhr/m2a to 20kWhr/m2a, and the air leakage from 8 to 1.0 ACH. The energy strategy relies on an intricately planned and installed insulation approach and an advanced secondary glazing system developed for this house with a leading supplier.



 Prewitt Bizley Architects

Sometimes the goals of those in the architectural preservation world clash with those in the energy conservation world, and in this case it appears to have been quite the battle; according to the Architects Journal:

Although the sash windows were not original, having been replaced in the Victorian era, they nevertheless proved a sticking point for the local authority conservation officer and had to be maintained. A triple-glazed Passivhaus certified sash system is available, but was deemed unsuitable because of its frame thickness. It took a year and a half of careful negotiation to allow the original window surrounds to be dismantled and reassembled with secondary glazing incorporated between the restored sash window and shutter, which helped partially conceal the new frame. Thermally insulating evacuated glass has been set into a slim timber frame for improved performance and narrow sightlines....It took three more applications until eventually permission was granted after we had been on site for eight months, recalls Prewett.



There is a lot to read between the lines in that paragraph; anyone who cares about architectural preservation (and I am past president of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario, where I fought these battles many times) knows that windows are the eyes into the soul of buildings. Old windows are also capable of being pretty energy efficient if restored, but not if you are aiming for anything near Passivhaus standard. So a lot of choices had to be made about how far to go to meet these tough standards.

 Prewitt Bizley Architects

This is a lot of work. If you don't have to worry about the price of a few watt/hours, why bother going for Passivhaus or Enerphit? What's the benefit in spending that time and money? New York architect Mike Ingui, who does a lot of high end renovations, explains that his clients love the quiet and the air quality, but also, since they are sharing walls with neighbours, the lack of dust and bugs coming through the party walls. Once you are building at this stratospheric level, the cost premium for going Enerphit or Passivhaus is pretty minimal. Sometimes Mike doesn't even tell his clients he is doing Passivhaus; it is just his standard.

Robert Prewett tells the Architects Journal:

On the one hand there was a very technical side to do with energy efficiency and building physics. On the other there was the opportunity explore how historic and contemporary spaces could be woven together along with the technical issues.



 Architects Journal

It is a challenge. Passivhaus and Enerphit set difficult goals. Heritage preservationists are attacked all the time for letting silly things like windows stand in the way of energy conservation. Prewett Bizley have shown that one can achieve both. They also help make the point that Passivhaus isn't just the best standard of efficiency; it is also the new standard for luxury.

More at Prewett BizleyAN OROPUNE woman went from rock bottom to having four streams of income.

LaToya Greaves-Tinto hopes her life story will serve as a testament to encourage others to go after their dreams, despite where they start off in life.ON Republic Day, activist Jerome Alexander will run a marathon from OMeara Road in Arima to South Quay, PoS to raise public awareness about the dangers of pornography. Alexanders idea to run the 26-mile marathon was in part inspired by a friend of his in the US who ran 30 marathons in 30 days.Pauline Bharat is reported to have sat in her tattered clothing and cried when a reporter visited her home in late July, telling her about the guilty verdict pronounced upon the two men who had murdered her son.-:- Message from Tripadvisor staff -:-

This topic has been closed to new posts due to inactivity. We hope you'll join the conversation by posting to an open topic or starting a new one.

To review the Tripadvisor Forums Posting Guidelines, please follow this link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/pages/forums_posting_guidelines.html

We remove posts that do not follow our posting guidelines, and we reserve the right to remove any post for any reason.Hello,

I just had a look on the hotel information for Ovolo Wooloomooloo and yes it does look like a very nice place to stay but it is more expensive than other hotels and a bit further away from the city sights. I am glad you mentioned it though, I had not heard of it before now. I do not go to Wooloomooloo very often but might just start exploring it more now. I love learning about new places on Trip Advisor.

There are a lot of other hotels and apartments around the city of Sydney that are closer to The Rocks and Circular Quay areas and many that will be cheaper for your budget as well.

If you look on the accommodation web site and do a search for Sydney city or Sydney CBD then you can see a lot of other suitable places. There is a map on this web site that shows the locations of the hotels advertised and how they are in relation to the city areas.

Wishing you all the best. I suggest you make your accommodation booking soon so you do not miss out. Some places only have a few rooms left. Sydney is always popular. Have a fantastic time here :)Arenal for adventure activities,

Tortuguero for unusual places, boat access only (or fly Sansa), turtle night tours, canal wildlife tours,

We went to S. Caribbean in July when we wanted wildlife, beaches and less touristy, but it is the wettest month there. See and re weather, availability, average monthly rainfall amounts.

You can do rafting as an adventure type of transfer from one area to another, like a transfer and tour together. See for planning transportation options between different areas (you can choose to book directly with every transfer/your provider directly).

Arenal area attractions are more spaced apart, so many recommend renting a car. Another option would be to stay in La Fortuna where many tours originate, or to pay extra for hotel pick up (in that area, in our experience, some tours and attractions add extra transportation cost, per person, to their tour prices, based on which " zone" your accommodation is located), or to take pricey taxis, which are paid per car, not per passenger, but something like a 9 km ride from Arenal Observatory Lodge near the volcano to La Fortuna costs US$30 one way. Some hotels also offer local shuttles. The above one has $8 pp local schedule they can reserve for their guests to/ from La Fortuna. We used a shared shuttle van with Interbus to get there, and there was no extra fee with them.

The Top Qns about CR on the right side of the screen has Travelling Options with a lot of links for each type of transportation.

Some other areas are better suited for visiting without renting own car. E.g., we found that S. Caribbean was easy without a car, as there are private transfers (if the shuttle times do not suit you), prebooked shared shuttle vans (we used Interbus and PleasureRideCR, there is also Caribeshuttle), directo buses from San Jose city and local buses in between near by places. As well as taxis, tuktuks, rental bikes and walking. Tours pick you up for free.

Tortuguero is easy to do on the way to or from S. Caribbean.

It is boat access only, so if you are renting a car, it will be sitting there at a paid parking lot by La Pavona dock while you are staying in Tortuguero village hotels or in one of the lodges outside it, which have own docks and boats. See maps and options to get to Tortuguero explained well on the site of one of the basic hotels in the village itself: .

We saw more animals in S. Caribbean than in Arenal. But it was also cloudy, rainy, hot, humid in Cahuita, Manzanillo, Punta Uva, Puerto Viejo during our 2 wks there in July, and it rained on and off at any time, then sun, more rain, etc...we still had a good time, but it is smth to keep on mind as a possibility.we were using Three- start route ticket (Pass) and needed to call to make our reservations for buses. Otherwise you just buy them online.

There are unreserved buses from Shirakawago to Takayama, you just line up some 15-20 mins in advance, they will have more buses in case if one gets filled up.

I don't know why they don't show the leg Shirakawago< Takayama, it might be that English site has some glitches.As mentioned Shirakawago and the Alpine route is between Kansai and Kanto. Not a good idea to return to Tokyo on D10 and backtrack to Chubu.

If your hotels can be cancelled with no penalty, consider this itin instead -

Hiroshima > Shirakawa-go via Takayama > Kanazawa (1N) > cross the Alpine route from west to East > Tokyo via Nagano. From Tokyo, Hakone is an easy day trip or overnight.

Note that the Alpine route would be very busy from mid-April for the highly popular Snow-wall walk. Book your web tickets in advance.

The Kansai Thru Pass is not easy to pay off where JR trains are not covered. Just buy the ICOCA card after arriving at Osaka to ride on various transports like city subways and commuter trains.

Edited: 3 years agoHello everyone. We are travelling to Japan from 16th to 30 May. I already had Mishima Skywalk and Kawaguchigo trip on my list. I only recently realised I am going to be in time for Moss Phlox at Kawaguchigo and Wisteria at Ashikaga flower park. Last date for Ashikaga is 20th May. I will visit it on 1st or 2nd day. We have a stay in Kawaguchigo on 19th. So here is what we can do

(theoretically)

19th- Start from Tokyo and reach Mishima. Head for Kawaguchigo. Drop bags and evening site seeing.

20th- Visit Moss Phlox in the morning and then Kachi Kachi ropeway, boating, bus ride. Any other places?? Pick our bags and head for Nagoya.

Or

Do Mishima Skywalk on some other day altogether. Just keep to Kawaguchigo area on both days.

Please suggest an appropriate plan.

Many thanks in advance.I know how you feel, Claire123321. I do not want to make a wise(=impertinent) remark here, but, Imho, what it takes to go solo in tall mountains is not a fire-eating mind, but a gutsy yet cautious mindset. So I can relate to you: you are badly in need of other hikers to go with, are you not? No, I am not saying you are not prepared to build up that kinf of psyche, so please do not get me wrong. (On the contrary, you sound gutsy enough to reach a farther height than some girly boys do.) So, umm, I wish I could give you links here where you can apply for hiking/climbing tours... Yes, not a few sport-goods retailers for example invite you to join theirs, but alas, they cater to the needs of the Japanese people only, methinks. Mountain guides are available, yet the reservation is made beforehand on a one-on-one/party basis... But no worries: in recent years, once-died-down diversity/leisure, trekking in mountains, that is, came into vogue again particularly among healthy young ladies in Kamikochi. Nattily attired in fancy/colorful clothes, they look as if they were a jewel in what used to be a men-only dunghill. Oops, better mind my P's and Q's on here, I know, sorry. ;) My advice/strategy for you is:

1) you come early in the morning; oh yes, lots of hikers come around here at dawn time riding night buses from major cities like Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, Kyoto and Osaka, most of them starting off on their long treks soon after

2) you find a chance (at the square in Kamikochi Bus Terminal Station) to engage in a small talk to someone in a group of women (or someone in a mixed-gender party) who preferably all look in your age. (Believe me or not, a series of small talk in easy English go a long way! Will turn out later that this strategy did the trick.) Yes, this is the crucial moment for you, so say (way more slowly than you do when speaking English) and that with a smile: 'Can you take a pic of me with my smartphone, please?' Ten to one, they gladly press the icon.

3) then ask (after the job is done) like: 'Can I ask where you're headed to?' Umm, sounds terrible but 'Where are you going?' may produce a better result.

4) I may possibly be wrong, but since as many as 70-80percent of the hikers you see here will most probably be making their way to Karasawa Col and beyond, and/or to Yarisawa Valley then to Mt Yari, and most of the others to Mt Cho or Mt Jonen and beyond, and the remaining few to either Dakesawa Hut to Mt Maeho or to Mt Yake (or possibly to Mt Kasumisawa). (Sorry for the jargons/names above yet couldn't be helped.) And so, if their destinations corresponds with yours then:

5) ask to go *partways* with them like: 'Can I come with you until you reach xxxx hut?' Or like, 'Is it OK if I come with you to xxxx hut?' Most likely they smile and nod, I reckon, if you've chosen a right person in the first place. Then at the said hut:

6) sit at the same table and eat dinner together with them. By then, maybe you've got a lot of *info* about them, and they about you, through the said small talks. (Be friendly and the job is half done.)

7) get up before dawn and enjoy the unforgettable ultra-gorgeous views outside the hut. Your new friends will sure come around and point at surrounding peaks, yelling like Mt xxx, Mt yyy, Mt zzz and so forth. By then camaraderie will be so firmly formed they'll take granted that you come summit the peak together. No, I don't think the strategy above is too naive to bear fruit from (again if you've picked the right person/party in the first place). Easier said than done, you think? Nope, easier done than it sounds, Imo, if you're open-minded and try to keep your friendliness/sense of camaraderie with you.

Lastly, mountain huts high above get choppers to transport their foods and beverages, so their plate dinners tend to be pretty basic, soup, appetizer and entree all on a *rolled-into-one* plate. ;) Yes, second/third helping is acceptable for rice and miso-soup only. Yes, meatballs/hambergers is a perennial choice for dinner together with stir-fried veggies/minced cabbage leaves, so are stewed fish and crunchy dried seaweed/kelp for breakfast. Know about futon? If not then it can wait, sorry. Um, hate to ask you this here, but I think I better do..., what's your tolerance about snoring sounds like? Yes, I'm one who'd get tempted to strangle the felon if I was allowed. ;) Yes I know I don't snore! No worries, what with fatigue from a long trek, what with lack of sleep, you'll sleep before you know it. Me? I can go out like a light the moment I begin to sink my head into the pillow. ;) Yes, some poor souls are in the habit of carrying their earplugs in their backpack pockets, just in case...

Hope I haven't anticipated your first night at a mountain hut, ;) but I would've liked to dwell more on your trek route and logistics. Anyway it's your choice to decide on the peak you summit. I'm all ears if that's doable from Kamikochi.

Happy trekking!

Edited: 3 years agoIm in initial planning mode for our proposed Vietnam trip in April 2019. Looking to take in Ho Chi Minh City and Hoi An. We have only visited SE Asia once before, which was last year when we used Trailfinders to book our trip to Thailand. They were excellent with everything going like clockwork from start to finish. Despite being extensively travelled and always relying on making my own bookings to many places in Europe, Canada and USA, I was reluctant to do so for SE Asia.

Im now wanting to do my own bookings for Vietnam. My proposed itinerary would be 3 or 4 nights in Ho Chi Minh City (proposed flight wouldnt land until 19.30 so first night would be lost so to speak). Likely to use Emirates or other Gulf State airline who fly from my local airport. Internal flights probably with Vietnamese Airlines. 9 nights in Hoi An, flying back to and then leaving Hoi Chi Minh on the same day /night.

Im aware of taxi scams etc and the need to allow plenty of time between arrival of internal and departure of international flights, but my question is whether there is any other unexpected pitfall or issue that seasoned travellers have come across when travelling to Vietnam when they were booking their trip.

Thanks in advance.

I originally posted this on the Ho Chi Minh forum and received lots of helpful information. Many said 9 days was much too long in Hoi An, but Im not sure. We dont want a multi centre trip, preferring just two bases. Would also look to spend a lot of time at An Bang beach for rest and relaxation. What do Hoi An experts think please? Also, has anyone faced issues booking direct with hotels?

Regards and thanks in advance.If you arrived to SJO, you could ( next time) go to the top, departure, level, where there is a bank counter - middle of the terminal. We got a great rate there. If you know there will be a bank open where you are heading, go to a bank there. We knew that was our best place and we were surprised at the good rate we got. We had checked the rates on line prior to boarding our flight to CR just a few hrs earlier...

There are a lot of prior posts about not using the currency exchange windows by baggage carousels, due to their reported disadvantageous to the visitors rates.

Depending on which bank owns each ATM and the features of the traveller's home accounts, using an ATM may come at a fee with each transaction, in some cases - at two ends, from the ATM's end and from the home bank, so it is not always better than using an actual bank. It depends on various factors. One of them is convenience. We used ATMs in CR where it said on the screen that there would be a fee, but nowhere during the transaction, even on the receipt at the end, it showed the amount of that fee...- The body of nine-year-old Sharlene Mwanzia was found dumped in a water tank behind her parents home

- The uncle to the victim sensed a foul smell and called on the resident to identify the source

- Cases of ritual killings linked to devil worshipping have caused panic among residents in Kakamega

Panic and anger has gripped resident of Kakamega county after a standard three pupil at St Joseph's Academy who went missing on Sunday was found murdered.

The victim's body was found dumped in a water tank behind her parents rented home in Scheme Estate.

Oscar Mulu, uncle to the victim said he sensed a foul smell and called on other residents who helped to identify where it was emanating from.

READ ALSO: Wanafunzi wawili wa kike wakamatwa wakivuta bangi na kushiriki ngono na wanaume 5, Nairobi (picha)

Police carry the deceased body. Photo: SDE

READ ALSO: Senior detective and his colleague die in mysterious road accident along Kiambu road

We checked around the plot and found the smell was coming from the suspect house and the water tank behind the house. We checked the tank and saw the body around 3pm on Friday, he said.

Police were alerted and they removed the body which was taken to Kakamega county referral hospital for post mortem.

It is hard to establish the kidnappers intentions. It's painful that it was planned by a neighbour who is also a tenant here, he said.

The incident threw residents on rampage as they protested by burning the suspect beddings, utensils and clothes.

The irate crowd also set ablaze property belonging to the suspects family including a storey building he had put up for rentals.

READ ALSO: ICC assigns three judges to withdrawn Uhuru, Ruto cases

Tenants had to vacate the building and seek refuge elsewhere.

Police officers led by OCPD Joseph Chebii had a difficult time containing the enraged residents as the body was being ferried to the mortuary.

We are still investigating the matter and we urge the public who knows the whereabouts of the suspect to alert officers, he said.

The girl's father, Oswald Mwanzia and the mother recorded a statement with the police.

Residents are now worried of their children safety and they have asked police to beef up security and prosecute the suspects.

READA ALSO: Luhya leaders vow to rally behind Raila Odinga

The kidnappers are targeting school going children who are not accompanied by adults. Parents are worried their children might become victims of the suspected Satanists. It seems the body was strangled and cut before being thrown in the tank, Mary Khakasa, a resident said.

The girl was playing with her two younger brothers in their compound on Sunday when she went missing.

Neighbours said a stranger had approached the girl and was seen talking to her at the gate before she disappeared.

The man is said to have been approaching young girls in the estate and trying to lure them to accompany him.

Cases of ritual killings in Kakamega, which are linked to devil worshipping, have caused fear among residents.

In June 2014, the body of Deborah Achieng, a standard seven pupil at Nabongo Primary School, was found mutilated. Some of her body parts were chopped off and dumped at a churchs entrance in Kakamega on a Sunday morning.

The 12-year-old girls murder led to several protests by residents who blamed police for laxity and failure to arrest the culprits.

READ ALSO: Building collapses in Ruai, several people trapped

A suspect was arrested and later released by police, leading to more protests from irate residents.

In March 2014, Kakamega residents witnessed a bizarre incident where a child aged six was found murdered and his body dumped in a trench.

The same year, a nursery school pupil at Bridge Academy was also found dumped in a trench after missing for a day.

The father of the suspect linked to disappearance of a nine year old girl is currently in police custody.

He was arrested on Wednesday when residents attacked his home wanting to know where the suspect is.

Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news.

Source: Tuko.co.ke- The International Criminal Court (ICC) has assigned three judges to the cases against President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto

- The cases collapsed after witnesses withdrew and some renounced their evidence

- In 2016, ICC judges dismissed charges against DP Ruto and journalist Sang citing insufficient evidence

Collapsed cases against President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto are likely to be revived after the move by International Criminal Court ICC Executive to assign three judges to the cases.

The executive has appointed Judges Robert Fremr, Reine Alapini-Gansou and Kimberly Prost to Trial Chamber IV, on cases against Uhuru, DP Ruto and former journalist Joshua arap Sang.

Cases against the Uhuru, Ruto and Sang collapsed after key witnesses withdrew and others relinquished their evidence.

READ ALSO: Wanafunzi wawili wa kike wakamatwa wakivuta bangi na kushiriki ngono na wanaume 5, Nairobi (picha)

Cases against Uhuru, Ruto and Sang collapsed after witnesses recanted their evidence. Photo: Citizen digital

READ ALSO: Building collapses in Ruai near Eastern bypass, several people trapped

Trial Lawyer Anton Steynberg, who faced both Uhuru and Ruto in the ICC courtroom in the sunset days of their case, admitted to lapses in prosecutorial strategy that contributed to collapse of the cases.

The prosecution also argued that the cases were weakened the most by direct attack on prosecution witnesses and the failure of the Kenyan State to genuinely cooperate with them.

Kenyan government faced a backlash based on allegations that it refused to compel witnesses to appear before the court and provide confidential documents such as bank statements.

In 2016, ICC judges dismissed charges of crimes against humanity against Ruto and Sang, arguing the prosecution had failed to present sufficient evidence to convict the suspects.

READ ALSO: Miguna Miguna set to fly back to Kenya on March 26

Judges Chile Eboe-Osuji and Robert Fremr in their ruling dismissed the evidence presented by ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and freed the DP and the former radio presenter.

The Kenyan case proved a hard nut to crack with allegations of witness and political interference.

In 2014, Bensouda reluctantly filed a notice withdrawing allegations against Uhuru accusing the Kenyan government of harassing and intimidating potential witnesses.

Uhuru been charged with crimes against humanity including murder, rape, persecution and deportation as an indirect co-perpetrator in violence that flared after Kenyas 2007 elections, leaving more than 1,000 people dead.

Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram:

Tuko news ALSO WATCH: Kenyan Domestic worker explains her plight in Saudi Arabia | Faces of Kenya

Source: Tuko- Floodwaters continue to wreak havoc with two more people reported dead in Samburu East after waters swept them away

- Three people are also missing form the tragic incident that occurred on March 16

- The five victims are from Isiolo, one of the counties most affected by flash floods

- Residents living in dangerous areas were advised by local county authorities to relocate to safer ground

Two people were confirmed dead and three have been reported missing in Samburu East after heavy rains swept them away on Friday March 16.

The deceased hail from Isiolo and were in the process of harvesting sand when the floodwaters struck.

Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens

READ ALSO: Wanafunzi wawili wa kike wakamatwa wakivuta bangi na kushiriki ngono na wanaume 5, Nairobi (picha)

Isiolo has been severely affected by the heavy deluge with flash floods wreaking havoc all over the county, leaving a trail of fatalities in its wake.

Isiolo has been severely affected by the heavy deluge with flash floods wreaking havoc all over the county, leaving a trail of fatalities in its wake. Photo: Wikipedia

Speaking to local media, Assistant County Commissioner Kimani Maina confirmed the incident and said the bodies had already been transferred to Isiolo hospital morgue.

READ ALSO: Outrage in Kakamega as body of a girl is found dumped in a water tank

Maina noted with concern the difficulty of conducting rescue operations in the area and attributed the main cause of the issue to poor network coverage. Photo: Business Today Kenya

Maina noted with concern the difficulty of conducting rescue operations in the area and attributed the main cause of the issue to poor network coverage.

Officers have been dispatch to the area. Due to Network challenges in the area, I havent received any updates from the officers, Maina said.

READ ALSO: Facebook suspends British data company linked to Uhurus 2017 campaign

Weighing in on the issue Isiolo Deputy Governor Ibrahim Issa, advised residents to take preemptive measures, including avoiding water paths.

READ ALSO: Senior detective and his colleague die in mysterious road accident along Kiambu road

Maina noted with concern the difficulty of conducting rescue operations in the area and attributed the main cause of the issue to poor network coverage. Photo: Samngashk/Twitter

He urged residents living close to river banks and areas prone to flooding to relocate to higher grounds.

There is poor planning in town, people are constructing buildings along water paths hence diverting the floodwaters into residential houses, Issa said.

Nairobi county also fell victim to the heavy rains, as TUKO.co.ke previously reported, a number of major roads and streets in Nairobi city were on the morning of Thursday, March 15, turned into rivers amid heavy, prolonged rain.

Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news

ALSO WATCH: Nairobi floods: Heavy rains rock Nairobi city (Kenya News) | on TUKO tv

Source: Tuko Breaking News- Combative lawyer Ahmendnasir Abdullahi claimed that NASA leader Raila Odinga was the cause of all problems facing Kenya

- Ahmednasir was referring to the 'golden handshake' between Uhuru and Raila which seems to have calmed the storm in the country

- According to the lawyer, the political feud had nothing to do with common mwananchi and so is the handshake

- Recently, ODM MPs came out in large numbers to welcome Deputy President William Ruto at the Coast and endorsed his 2022 presidential bid

Kenyans are still reeling in disbelief following the handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and his long term political nemesis Raila Odinga.

Seasoned lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi is the latest to add his view concerning the deal between Uhuru and the former prime minister.

In a rather hilarious post on his Twitter account on Saturday, March 17, Ahmednasir insinuated Kenya was on its knees just because of one person: Raila.

READ ALSO: Wanafunzi wawili wa kike wakamatwa wakivuta bangi na kushiriki ngono na wanaume 5, Nairobi (picha)

Ahmednasir argues that Uhuru-Raila deal is not about common mwananchi. Photo: Star

The lawyer in jest wondered at the 'magic' which has happened in Kenya just by a simple handshake between Uhuru and the NASA co-principal.

Many things have changed for the better in the country including the economy, currency and even the weather, Ahmednasir chimed.

READ ALSO: Heavy rains claim 2 more lives, leaves 3 people missing in Samburu

The deal between Raila and Uhuru has seen strange occurrences, politically speaking, including an endorsement for the Deputy President William Ruto's 2022 bid by opposition MPs.

As formerly reported by TUKO.co.ke, more than 20 legislators from Coast, mainly from ODM, turned up to give Ruto a warm welcome as he launched the construction of Ksh 1 billion road in Jomvu.

They vowed to work with him and the Jubilee administration for development.

The move was seen by many as a sign of changing political fortunes ahead of the 2022 polls.

READ ALSO: You are worse than al-Shabaab - MP tells TSC

The lawyer argued the political dispute between Uhuru and Raila was never about the common mwananchi neither is the solution in handshake between the two.

His observation elicited mixed reactions from Kenyans with many agreeing with him.

READ ALSO: Huge eucalyptus tree falls destroying posh cars at Nairobis Serena Hotel parking lot

Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko

ALSO WATCH: Nairobi floods: Heavy rains rock Nairobi city (Kenya News) | on TUKO tv

Source: Tuko- Kenya will be sourcing 100 medical specialists from Cuba to help improve delivery of health services in the country

- President Uhuru Kenyatta gave the go ahead for the agreement which will include embarking on collaborative research projects between Kenya and Cuba

- The doctors will first go through a vetting process before being allowed to work in Kenya

- Kenya will also send 50 doctors to Cuba for specialised training

- Also part of the delegation to Cuba were Governors Anyang' Nyong'o and his Marsabit counterpart Mohamud Mohamed Ali

- The two county heads fully endorsed the agreement and commended Uhuru on the move

- It is expected to save billions by ensuring life threatening diseases are handled early enough before denting the economy

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Saturday March 17, while on an official state visit to Cuba, gave the go ahead for Kenya to bring in 100 doctors from the Caribbean nation to bolster health gaps in county hospitals and advance the health sector.

The move was in line with a health agreement signed last year with Cuba and included collaborative research projects between the two nations and training for primary health-care workers.

Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens

READ ALSO: Wanafunzi wawili wa kike wakamatwa wakivuta bangi na kushiriki ngono na wanaume 5, Nairobi (picha)

The agreement also includes the two countries embarking on advancing the capacity to undertake genetic engineering and biotech work.

Each county is expected to get two doctors from Cuba while 50 doctors from Kenya will soon travel to Cuba for specialised training.

The agreement also includes the two countries embarking on advancing the capacity to undertake genetic engineering and biotech work. Photo: Uhuru Kenyatta/Twitter

Time lines are as soon as possible, said Health Chief Administrative Secrtary Rashid Aman, who is part of the delegation with Kenyatta.

Uhuru directed for Aman to stay put in Cuba to finalise details of the Health agreement.

Prior to entry, Cuban doctors will however need to be cleared by the Kenya Medical and Dentists Practitioners Board.

READ ALSO: Facebook suspends British data company linked to Uhurus 2017 campaign

Prior to entry, Cuban doctors will however need to be cleared by the Kenya Medical and Dentists Practitioners Board. Photo: Uhuru Kenyatta/Twitter

In a detailed press release from the Presidential Strategic Communication Unit (PSCU), seen by TUKO.co.ke, the main focus of the deal with the Caribbean nation is to collaboratively implement medical interventions that would drastically improve the way dangerous diseases are handled in Kenya.

READ ALSO: Outrage in Kakamega as body of a girl is found dumped in a water tank

Governors Anyang' Nyong'o of Kisumu and Mohamud Mohamed Ali of Marsabit, also part of the delegation, fully endorsed the programme. Photo: Uhuru Kenyatta/Twitter

Cuban experts will come into Kenya within the next few weeks, and working hand-in-hand with their Kenyan counterparts, will roll out a range of medical interventions that will radically change how we manage a large number of life-threatening diseases, the statement read.

Governors Anyang' Nyong'o of Kisumu and Mohamud Mohamed Ali of Marsabit, also part of the delegation, fully endorsed the programme.

The two county bosses expected smooth sailing and no issues arising from the vetting process.

Cuba boasts one of the best Health services in the world and is renowned for resourcefully catering for all its citizen and providing cost effective treatment.

READ ALSO: Photo of Uhuru,Kenyan delegation not taking notes at meeting in Cuba excites the internet

Cuba boasts one of the best Health services in the world and is renowned for resourcefully catering for all its citizen and providing cost effective treatment. Photo: Uhuru Kenyatta/Twitter

One of the key outcomes expected form the health deal would be saving billions that has previously gone into leading pharmaceutical companies for treatment.

Collaboration with Cuba is likely to become a major strategy in how Kenya deals with the preventive options in disease management, with a keen eye on saving billions of shillings that go to global pharmaceutical majors each year for treatment, the statement read.

One of the key outcomes expected form the health deal would be saving billions that has previously gone into leading pharmaceutical companies for treatment. Photo: Uhuru Kenyatta/Twitter

Kenyas main prerogative in embarking on this deal is to ensure the spread of disease is arrested prior to it taking a toll on the economy and is in line with Uhuru's big four plan.

As was formerly relayed by TUKO.co.ke, Uhuru arrived in Havana, Cuba on early morning hours of Thursday, March 15 for a historic State visit which was dominated by bilateral talks on health, trade and heritage.

Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news

ALSO WATCH: Nairobi floods: Heavy rains rock Nairobi city (Kenya News) | on TUKO tv

Source: Tuko.co.keSeptember 21st is celebrated by the United Nations as the International Day of Peace also caRussia's Gazprom owes $8.5 billion to Ukraine under various court rulings.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said this on Ukraine's Radio NV, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"Gazprom owes money to us. Today, after Stockholm [Arbitration] decision, it is already almost $8.5 billion," Groysman said.

He also stressed that Russia is showing disregard for international law. "But our actions are recovering the money through international procedures," he said.

As reported, on February 28, the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce obliged Gazprom to pay $4.63 billion to NJSC Naftogaz in compensation for the failure to meet its gas transit obligations. According to Naftogaz, this ruling means that Gazprom must pay Ukraine about $2.56 billion, taking into account the final payment for gas supplied in 2014 and 2015.

Gazprom, after the Stockholm arbitration decision not in its favor, launched the process of terminating contracts for the supply and transit of gas with Ukraine's Naftogaz.

opUkrainian President Petro Poroshenko plans to visit Germany after Orthodox Easter, which is marked in Ukraine this year on April 8.

He stated this in Luhansk region on Friday, while introducing newly appointed Commander of the Joint Forces Serhiy Nayev to servicemen, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"We are making every effort to coordinate our actions with partners in the Normandy format. By the way, I plan to visit Germany right after Easter. So through this coordination we should ensure the adoption of a United Nations Security Council decision on peacekeepers who must come to Ukrainian land and ensure the effective implementation of the Minsk agreements," Poroshenko said.

opUkraine has sent official letters to the UN secretary general, the president of the UN Security Council and the delegations of all UN member countries, which emphasize that the holding by Russia of presidential elections in occupied Crimea violates the UN Charter.

The copies of these documents were made available to Ukrinform.

"I have the honor to enclose herewith a resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on its address to the international community in regard of organization of illegal elections of the President of the Russian Federation at the temporary occupied territories of Ukraine - the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol," the document says.

In addition, the letter contains a statement by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry on the decision by the peninsula's occupation administration to conduct an illegal vote in Crimea.

The message is addressed to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, as well as to President of the UN Security Council and Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the United Nations Karel van Oosterom.

"I would appreciate your kind assistance in having this letter and its enclosures distributed as a document of the General Assembly under sub-item (a) of Agenda item 34 of its 72nd session and of the Security Council," reads a letter signed by Ukraine's Permanent Representative to the UN Volodymyr Yelchenko.

According to Ukraine's Permanent Mission to the UN, another similar document was also addressed to delegations from all UN member countries.

opThe European Union has supported the territorial integrity of Ukraine, once again reminding Russia of the illegality of the annexation of Crimea and violations of international law and human rights in the occupied peninsula.

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini said this in a statement released in connection with the fourth anniversary of the illegal occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol by Russia, Ukrinform's correspondent in Brussels reports.

"Four years on from the illegal annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol by the Russian Federation, the European Union remains firmly committed to Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The European Union reiterates that it does not recognize and continues to condemn this violation of international law. It remains a direct challenge to international security, with grave implications for the international legal order that protects the unity and sovereignty of all States," reads the statement.

It notes that the EU remains committed to fully implementing its non-recognition policy, including through restrictive measures.

"The European Union does not recognize the holding of elections by the Russian Federation in the Crimean peninsula," Mogherini said.

The EU also condemned the militarization of the peninsula that continues to impact the security situation in the Black Sea region.

"The European Union condemns the construction of the Kerch Bridge without Ukraine's consent and the limitations it has already imposed on the freedom of transit," the statement says.

The EU High Representative also noted the deterioration of human rights and fundamental freedoms on the Crimean peninsula after its annexation by Russia.

In particular, the EU pointed to a flagrant violation of the rights of Crimean Tatars and Ukrainians in Crimea.

The European Union once again called on Moscow to immediately release Oleh Sentsov, Oleksandr Kolchenko, Mykola Semena and all others who were imprisoned and convicted in violation of international law.

"The EU calls for full compliance with international human rights standards in the peninsula," Mogherini said.

The European Union also stressed the need for Russia to implement the provisions of the UN General Assembly resolution on Ukraine's territorial integrity.

opUkrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said he is convinced that the incident with the poisoning of former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal is an attack by Russia on the sovereignty of the United Kingdom.

He stated this while introducing Commander of the Joint Forces Serhiy Nayev to servicemen in Luhansk region on Friday, March 16, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"Not everyone immediately heard Ukraine and Ukrainians in March and April 2014 when we all warned that through the southern and eastern borders of Ukraine the hybrid aggression of Russia would begin against the whole of Europe and, eventually, against the whole world. Now the Kremlin's chemical attack in Britain is a shocking example of the use of a Russian nerve agent in the territory of another state, and this is nothing more than an attack on the sovereignty of the United Kingdom," Poroshenko said.

He also stated the full and unconditional solidarity of the Ukrainian people with the people of the United Kingdom and emphasized that he shared the position expressed in a joint statement by the leaders of the United States, Britain, France and Germany.

On March 5, the police in the British city of Salisbury said that two people had been seriously affected by an unidentified hazardous substance near one of the city's shopping centers. Subsequently, it turned out that they were former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal, who worked for British intelligence, and his daughter, Yulia. They are now in critical condition.

Britain said later that Skripal and his daughter had been were poisoned with Novichok, a military grade nerve agent that was developed in Russia.

On March 15, the leaders of Britain, Germany, the United States and France called on Moscow to answer the questions raised in the Skripal case and to provide all the information regarding the Novichok program to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

opOnly diplomats will have access to Russian diplomatic institutions in Ukraine during the Russian presidential election on March 18, whereas other individuals and Russian citizens will not be permitted to enter diplomatic institutions, according to a statement by the Ukrainian Interior Ministry due to the Russian presidential election scheduled for March 18, which Interior Minister Arsen Avakov posted on his Facebook page.

"The Ukrainian Interior Ministry reports that on Sunday, March 18, 2018, the security regime at the Russian Federation's diplomatic establishments on the territory of Ukraine, namely in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa and Lviv, will not envisage Russian citizens' access to these facilities to vote at the election... Only individuals with diplomatic status will have access to these institutions. Other individuals and citizens of Russia will not be allowed to enter diplomatic establishments on that day," reads the statement.

According to the statement, in order to avoid provocations and possible grave consequences on that day the units of the National Police and the National Guard will ensure the proper security of all diplomatic missions and institutions, as well as the adjoining territories, in accordance with the Vienna Convention.

In this regard, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry asks diplomats and citizens of Russia to obey the lawful requirements of Ukraine and not to provoke the situation, observe the order and laws of Ukraine.

The ministry recalled that according to Ukrainian Foreign Ministry note No. 610/23-110-236 of February 21, 2018, Ukraine had expressed a strong protest to the Russian Foreign Ministry and demanded that the Russian presidential election be not held on March 18, 2018 in Ukrainian territories temporarily occupied by Russia - the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol. The Foreign Ministry noted that the vote in the premises of Russian diplomatic and consular establishments on Ukrainian territory would be possible only if the Russian side fully complies with this requirement.

However, Russia has not currently abandoned its unlawful intentions, according to the Interior Ministry.

"In these circumstances, acknowledging Russia's aggressive hybrid war against Ukraine, illegal annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the occupation of parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the holding of illegal elections on this sovereign Ukrainian territory in violation of all international law, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry has decided that it would be impossible to hold the election, which violates the laws of Ukraine on Ukrainian territory, on the territory of diplomatic establishments," the ministry said.

Russia's diplomatic establishments in Ukraine are located in four cities - Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa and Lviv.

On March 8, three Ukrainian nationalist organizations - Svoboda, National Corps and Right Sector - announced their intention to block Russian diplomatic establishments in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa and Lviv on March 18 in order to prevent the vote at the Russian presidential election on Ukrainian territory.

opThe President stressed that the Kremlin's "chemical attack" in the UK is nothing but an attack on British sovereignty.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said Russia should "shut up and go away".

The corresponding comment was posted on the president's official Twitter account.

"The Kremlin's 'chemical attack' in the UK is nothing but an encroachment on British sovereignty. And our message to Russia is the same as that of British defense secretary Gavin Williamson: 'shut up and go away'," Poroshenko wrote.

Read alsoBBC: Putin most likely behind spy poisoning  JohnsonAs reported earlier, Gavin Williamson has urged Russia to go away and shut up when asked how the Kremlin should respond to the expulsion of 23 of the alleged spies from among their diplomatic corps in Britain.Ottawa will continue pressure on Russia, including through economic sanctions, according to Canada's FM.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada on Friday said her country would allocate $4.65 million to support training for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Today, to help reinforce Ukraines resilience, I am announcing $4.65 million to support training for the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF)," she said in a statement issued Friday, on the fourth anniversary of the illegal annexation of Crimea.

This funding will provide equipment to support first aid and military police training to the UAF, she stated.

Read alsoUkraine issues call for Canadian defensive weapons  mediaCanada is unreserved in its support for the people of Ukraine. We will continue to maintain pressure, including through economic sanctions, until Russia meets its obligations under international law and respects Ukraines sovereignty, Freeland noted.

As UNIAN reported earlier, Canada in March 2017 extended until the end of March 2019 the mission of their military instructors within Operation UNIFIER aimed to train Ukrainian troops

On January 18, 2018, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that Canadian instructors had contributed to training 5,000 Ukrainian military, with 160 snipers and another 120 troops having undergone additional training in combat first aid.Moscow has called on the organization to react to Kyiv's move to prevent Russian nationals from voting in diplomatic missions on election day, March 18.

Russian envoy to the OSCE, Alexander Lukashevich, says Ukraine's move restricting access of Russian citizens to the premises of diplomatic missions during Russian presidential election is a "clear interference into Russian internal affairs".

The Russian delegation on Twitter wrote that Lukashevich had called on Italy, now chairing the organization, Secretary General Thomas Greminger, the organization's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, and its Special Monitoring Mission "to duly react on flagrant decision" by Kyiv to "block access" of Russian citizens to Russian diplomatic missions in Ukraine during presidential elections.

Read alsoEU doesn't recognize Russian elections in Crimea  MogheriniAs UNIAN reported earlier, Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov stated that on Sunday, March 18, 2018, the security regime for Russia's diplomatic missions on Ukrainian territory in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa and Lviv will not provide Russian citizens access to these buildings for voting.

The move came after Russia had turned a deaf ear to Ukraine's demands to abandon the idea of holding Russian presidential elections in the illegally annexed Crimea.Ukrainian diplomats pointed out that holding Russian presidential elections on the Ukrainian territory would be a violation of the UN Charter.

Ukraine has appealed to the leadership of the United Nations in relation to the holding by the Russian Federation of presidential elections in the temporarily occupied Crimea.

"Ambassador Yelchenko in a letter to the UN Secretary-General, President of the Security Council and UN membership: Russian presidential elections in the occupied Crimea violate the UN Charter. The outcome of such illegal elections will be null and void," Ukraine's Permanent Mission to the UN wrote on Twitter.

Amb. @YelchenkoUN in a letter to the UN Secretary-General, President of the Security Council and UN membership: Russian presidential elections in the occupied #Crimea violate the UN Charter. The outcome of such illegal elections will be null and void.



Read more below  pic.twitter.com/LuCQD6F9bU  UKR Mission to UN (@UKRinUN) March 17, 2018

Yelchenko enclosed with the letter a Resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on its Address to the international community in regard of organization of illegal elections of the President of the Russian Federation at the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine  the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.

Read alsoEU doesn't recognize Russian elections in Crimea  MogheriniHe also enclosed a statement by the foreign ministry on the decision of the occupation administration to organize mentioned "illegal elections" there.

As UNIAN reported earlier, Russia scheduled their presidential elections on March 18, the anniversary of the illegal signing of Crimea and Sevastopol's accession to Russia.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said Ukraine would work toward having an international community not recognize the "elections" in Crimea and introduce sanctions against their organizers.

Estonia and Canada have already stated their non-recognition of Russian elections in Crimea ahead of their holding.The ministers reiterated the fact that the international community would not acknowledge Russia's claims to Crimea and that they would further condemn the illegal annexation and militarization of the Ukrainian peninsula.

EUObserver published a column titled "Four years on  but we will not forget illegally-occupied Crimea" authored by eight foreign ministers, namely Anders Samuelsen of Denmark, Sven Mikser of Estonia, Edgars Rinkevics of Latvia, Linas Linkevicius of Lithuania, Jacek Czaputowicz of Poland, Teodor-Viorel Melescanu of Romania, Margot Wallstroem of Sweden, and Pavlo Klimkin of Ukraine.

"Four years ago, on 18 March 2014, Russia took the final step to illegally occupy Crimea, a part of Ukraine's sovereign territory that Russia had recognized as such in several international treaties. The Russian takeover comprised a series of equally illegal actions: from using disguised Russian elite troops to the hasty organization  in breach of Ukrainian and international law  of an illegitimate 'referendum'," they wrote for EUObserver.

The ministers reiterated the fact that the international community would not acknowledge Russia's claims to Crimea and that they would further condemn the illegal annexation and militarization of the Ukrainian peninsula.

Read alsoUkraine appeals to UN leadership over Russia's illegal elections in Crimea"Together with many other partners, including the United States, Canada and Norway, the European Union has implemented a policy of non-recognition and sanctions regimes, targeting people and entities that have promoted the illegal annexation. The construction of the Kerch bridge will be considered in this context. The EU has also introduced a ban on trade and investment and restrictions on travel and tourism," the column reads.

Top diplomats noted human rights violations in Crimea and urged Russia to immediately release Oleh Sentsov along with another 60 political prisoners, and also to allow international monitoring organizations access to the Ukrainian peninsula.

The foreign ministers recalled that "the EU does not recognize elections held by Russia in Crimea".

"We will not allow Crimea to slip off the international agenda," the top diplomats say. "What happened in Crimea is not just about Ukraine, it concerns us all. That is why we will neither forget nor abandon Crimea."No attacks have been recorded in the Donetsk direction.

Over the past day, Russian-occupation troops continued to violate the ceasefire in the zone of hostilities in eastern Ukraine's Donbas.

The Ukrainian side reported that strongpoints of Ukrainian forces in the area of Troyitske came under enemy fire.

"In the Luhansk direction, the enemy employed large-caliber machine guns and weapons of BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicle against our positions near the Troyitske settlement," the report said.

Read alsoDonbas militants fire at OSCE observers' UAVNo attacks have been recorded in the Donetsk direction over the past 24 hours.

The latest attacks did not result in any casualties, the Ukrainian forces say.

As UNIAN reported earlier, OSCE Special Monitoring Mission said that since March 5, violence in the area of hostilities had decreased by 82%.

At the same time, it was noted that last week the parties used banned weapons 13 times, against 300 a week before.The Russian exile best known for being a close associate of the Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky earlier warned he was on a Russian hit list.

A murder investigation has been launched following the results of a post mortem into the death of 68-year-old Russian businessman, former Aeroflot top executive Nikolay Glushkov.

On Monday, 12 March, Glushkov was found dead at his home in New Malden, according to Metropolitan police.

A special post mortem began on Thursday, 15 March and we received the pathologist report today, March 16, which gave the cause of death as compression to the neck.

Read alsoBBC: Putin most likely behind spy poisoning  JohnsonAt this stage, there is nothing to suggest any link to the attempted murders in Salisbury, nor any evidence that he was poisoned, police say.

Glushkov was best known for being a close associate of the Russian oligarch and prominent Putin critic Boris Berezovsky, who was found dead on the bathroom floor of his ex-wife's house in Ascot, southeast England, in 2013, Business Insider reports.

Shortly after Berezovsky's death, Glushkov told The Guardian that he was also a target of the Russian government.

He alleged that both Berezovsky and Alexander Litvinenko, a former Russian spy who was fatally poisoned in 2006, had been on a Kremlin hit list.

Glushkov said at the time: "I don't see anyone left on it apart from me."The move comes in response to Britain's decision to expel 23 Russian diplomats.

Russia is to expel 23 British diplomats amid tensions over the nerve agent attack on a former spy and his daughter in the UK.

The Russian foreign ministry said the diplomatic staff from Britain's Moscow embassy would be "declared persona non-grata" and expelled within a week, according to the BBC.

The move comes in response to Britain's decision to expel 23 Russian diplomats.

Read alsoBBC: Putin most likely behind spy poisoning  JohnsonThey were ordered to leave over the incident on 4 March which the UK government has blamed on Russia.

In a statement, the ministry also said it would close the British Council in Russia and withdraw permission for Britain to open a general consulate in St Petersburg.

Read alsoPutin critic Glushkov murdered, London police sayRussian ex-spy Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia Skripal, 33, remain critically ill in hospital, after they were found unconscious on a bench in Salisbury, Wiltshire.Whistleblower describes how firm linked to former Trump adviser Steve Bannon compiled user data to target American voters.

The data analytics firm that worked with Donald Trumps election team and the winning Brexit campaign harvested millions of Facebook profiles of U.S. voters, in the tech giants biggest ever data breach, and used them to build a powerful software program to predict and influence choices at the ballot box.

A whistleblower has revealed to the Observer how Cambridge Analytica  a company owned by the hedge fund billionaire Robert Mercer, and headed at the time by Trumps key adviser Steve Bannon  used personal information taken without authorization in early 2014 to build a system that could profile individual U.S. voters, in order to target them with personalized political advertisements, according to The Guardian.

Christopher Wylie, who worked with an academic at Cambridge University to obtain the data, told the Observer: We exploited Facebook to harvest millions of peoples profiles. And built models to exploit what we knew about them and target their inner demons. That was the basis that the entire company was built on.

Read alsoRussian propaganda undermining trust in any information source, researcher saysThe data was collected through an app called thisisyourdigitallife, built by academic Aleksandr Kogan separately from his work at Cambridge University. The man had received grants from the Russian government to research Facebook users emotional states. Through his company Global Science Research (GSR), in collaboration with Cambridge Analytica, hundreds of thousands of users were paid to take a personality test and agreed to have their data collected for academic use.

However, the app also collected the information of the test-takers Facebook friends, leading to the accumulation of a data pool tens of millions-strong. Facebooks platform policy allowed only collection of friends data to improve user experience in the app and barred it being sold on or used for advertising.

The discovery of the unprecedented data harvesting, and the use to which it was put, raises urgent new questions about Facebooks role in targeting voters in the U.S. presidential election.

Read alsoFacebook massively blocking accounts of Ukrainian critics of Russian aggressionCambridge Analytica spent nearly $1 million on data collection, which yielded more than 50 million individual profiles that could be matched to electoral rolls. It then used the test results and Facebook data to build an algorithm that could analyze individual Facebook profiles and determine personality traits linked to voting behavior.

The algorithm and database together made a powerful political tool. It allowed a campaign to identify possible swing voters and craft messages more likely to resonate.

At the time, more than 50 million profiles represented around a third of active North American Facebook users, and nearly a quarter of potential U.S. voters.(@ChaudhryMAli88)

China's securities regulator approved three new IPO applications Friday, which will raise up to 1.9 billion yuan (300 million U.S. dollars) in the A-share market.

BEIJING, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Mar, 2018 ) :China's securities regulator approved three new IPO applications Friday, which will raise up to 1.9 billion Yuan (300 million U.S. Dollars) in the A-share market.

All three companies will be listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, according to the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC). The firms and their underwriters will confirm dates and publish prospectuses following discussions with the exchanges.

The CSRC has introduced rigorous approval procedures for IPOs since a new review committee came into office in October, rejecting or suspending more than half of IPO applications. China has sought to normalize IPOs to improve financing efficiency and direct more money into the real economy since it suspended IPOs between July and November 2015.

The regulator is seeking a balance between easing the IPO backlog, keeping the market calm and improving the quality of listed companies.Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and Ambassador of China in Pakistan Yao Jin met here Saturday to discuss matters of mutual interest, promotion of Pakistan-China relationships, development on the CPEC projects and expansion of ties between the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Communist Party of China.

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Mar, 2018 ) :Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and Ambassador of China in Pakistan Yao Jin met here Saturday to discuss matters of mutual interest, promotion of Pakistan-China relationships, development on the CPEC projects and expansion of ties between the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Communist Party of China.

The Chinese ambassador congratulated Shehbaz Sharif for his election as PML-N President and also conveyed greetings on behalf of the Communist Party of China. The ambassador viewed that election of Shehbaz Sharif as the party head was acknowledgement of his capabilities and hardwork, adding that relationships between the PML-N and the Communist Party of China would improve further under leadership of Shehbaz Sharif.

He mentioned that Shehbaz Sharif had given an exemplary development to Punjab and for this reason the people of the province gave special honour to him. Inviting the Chief Minister to the conference of international political parties in China, the ambassador said" "Your participation will be honour for the leadership of China.

" While, Shehbaz Sharif said the PML-N and the Communist Party of China were traditional friendly parties and bilateral relations between two parties would improve further.

He said China was a trusted friend of Pakistan and Chinese leadership had proved its love for Pakistan through CPEC which had proved to be a game changer for the region. "Friendship between Pakistan and China has been transformed into timeless relationship and we are proud of friendship with Chin," he said and added that CPEC had been proved as a gift and it had improved bilateral ties between China and Pakistan and gave a new dimension to their friendship.

He said there was no parallel of Pakistan-China friendship in the current situation and the people of Pakistan could not ignore the exemplary friendship of China. He added the relationship between Pakistan and China was touching new heights. He thanked the leadership of China for their best wishes for his election as the head of the PML-N.(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Sardar Amjad Yousaf, Exeuctive Director Kashmir Institute of International Relations (KIIR) has said that Human Rights violations in Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir was witnessed an upward trend during 2017.

MIRPUR (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Mar, 2018 ) , March 17 (APP)::Sardar Amjad Yousaf, Exeuctive Director Kashmir Institute of International Relations (KIIR) has said that Human Rights violations in Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir was witnessed an upward trend during 2017.

Addressing the 37th Session of United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, he called upon the UNHRC to press upon India to immediately stop human rights violations in IOK and respect cease fire on the Line of Control in Kashmir.

He delivered under agenda item 4, in the session on behalf of the WMC, adding that the killing of 291 innocent civilians in the state- sponsored terrible incidents violence in various parts of the bleeding occupied valley during last year is ample proof of the this tragic fact", says a message released to the media here on Saturday.

Sardar Amjad Yousf underlined that the use of pellets against civilian protestors continues unabated with fresh injuries and deaths reported throughout year. Seven cases of enforced disappearances and as many as 150 cases of braid and hair chopping were reported IOK, he said.

"This year, new incidents of torture, mass assault on Kashmiri prisoners at Tihar Jail , Khotbalwal and Khatu jail were reported", he pointed out. The Kashmiri leader quoted the official sources as saying that as many as 1059 PSA dossiers have been prepared against political activists.

8 cases of assaults on journalists were reported during last 12 months. "Asifa age 8 years was abducted in Jummu on January 10 this year by SPO Deepak khajuria. She was rapped for a week, killed and thrown in a nearby forest", he added.

Sardar Amjad Yousaf said that the unprovoked firing across Line of Control in Kashmir has become a routine by the indian army. For last one year 94 Kashmiri civilian were killed out of which sniper shorts have so far taken lives of 37 people in AJK.

Indian army even don't spare school vans and ambulances. Sarfraz imtiaz 26 who was carrying students in school van on February 15th, this year, was killed by the Indian sniper, without any provocation, at Batel road in Poonch district of Azad Jammu Kashmir, he underlined.AJK President Masood Khan has visited the forward areas of Baghsar in Samahni Sector in Bhimbher district adjacent to Line of Control (LOC) to assess the situation.

MIRPUR (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Mar, 2018 ) , :AJK President Masood Khan has visited the forward areas of Baghsar in Samahni Sector in Bhimbher district adjacent to Line of Control (LOC) to assess the situation.

The President was received by senior army officials including Brig. Furqan Muazzam who also briefed him on the current situation and cross-border violations seen over the last few months. The President also visited the historical Baghsar Fort and was given an extensive briefing on the control line visible from the premises of the fort.

Brigadier Furqan informed the President that Samahni sector had seen intense firing in the last few months in which Indian forces had tried to target troops and innocent civilians. The Brigadier assured that Pakistan Army was committed for security of Pakistan's borders, civilians living in the area and their properties.

The President said that the people and governments of Azad Kashmir and Pakistan saluted the courageous civilians living along the LOC and our Armed Forces personnel deployed in various sectors who were at the frontline when it came to cross-border fire seen on a regular basis near the line of control and working boundary.

Pakistan Army, said the President, had promptly retaliated to Indian fire and always silenced their guns. He said the Armed Forces of Pakistan had always shown restraint and never resorted to first fire.

"Pakistan respects the Ceasefire Agreement of 2003 and only opens fire in retaliation ", he said. The President said that bunkers would soon be built for the protection of the citizens for which funds had been approved.

He affirmed that the people and government of Azad Kashmir stood shoulder to shoulder with the brave army personnel defending the borders and areas adjoining the LOC. The President also lauded the committed and unwavering efforts of the Pakistan Army in its fight against terrorism and subversive elements attempting to destabilize our country.Ambassador of People's Republic of China to Pakistan, Yao Jing, has said that China cannot afford to lose Pakistan because stability in its neighbourhood is integral to China's development.

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Mar, 2018 ) :Ambassador of People's Republic of China to Pakistan, Yao Jing, has said that China cannot afford to lose Pakistan because stability in its neighbourhood is integral to China's development.

He made these remarks while speaking at an interactive policy dialogue organized by Lahore Centre for Peace Research (LCPR) on the topic "Pakistan-China Relations in the 21st century" which was arranged in his honour, said in a press release issued here Saturday.

In his keynote speech, the Ambassador of China emphasized that Pakistan matters to China's vision of development and growth as enshrined in last year's 19th China's Communist Party Convention. He said that Pakistan's importance to China would continue to increase because of the all-weather Pak-China relations and centrality of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) route in the Belt and Road Initiative(BRI).

Yao said that a stable Pakistan was vital to China's growth. The Ambassador reminded the distinguished gathering that China envisages CPEC to be a lead project for connectivity and peace. He said the project was not only for the benefit of Pakistan and China as 'ownership of CPEC finally belongs to the whole world'.

Earlier, Ambassador Shamshad Ahmed Khan, former foreign secretary and currently Chairman Lahore Center for Peace Research, highlighted the unwavering commitment of Pakistan and China's leadership to build stronger economic and social ties between the two countries.

He emphasised that China's relations with Pakistan were not based on transient interests but have remained unconditional. He said that China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a huge regional agenda with mutual interests rooted in China's and Pakistan's common vision for a better future and prosperity of the region.

Rooted within BRI was China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) initiative that harbours economic prosperity for greater benefit of the entire region. He praised the Chinese leadership in promoting world-wide connectivity for socio-economic development and reiterated that Pakistan was also determined in its commitment to support CPEC.

The event was attended by the Chinese Consul General Long Dingbin, former Finance Minister, Dr Salman Shah, former Pakistan diplomats and notable defense analysts and people from the academia.More than 350 social media activists from across Pakistan joined hands on Saturday to counter anti-Pakistani propaganda and forge related strategies, at the grand Social media Summit organised by AlphaPro, a renowned digital media solutions and event management company

Islamabad (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Mar, 2018 ) More than 350 social media activists from across Pakistan joined hands on Saturday to counter anti-Pakistani propaganda and forge related strategies, at the grand Social media Summit organised by AlphaPro, a renowned digital media solutions and event management company.

Chinas Deputy Head of Mission in Pakistan Lijian Zhao chaired the event as Chief Guest, attended by senior officials of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, Pakistan Software Export board, leading software houses, top representatives of corporate groups, noted digital media experts, social media activists, media persons, celebrities and people from different cross sections of the society.

Over the last few years, social media has globally emerged as one of the most powerful opinion making tools where ordinary public has the leverage to make their presence felt and voice heard.

Like rest of the world, social media in Pakistan too plays a vital role in shaping ideas and reshaping public opinion, the chief guest said while sharing views during the occasion. I am glad that a serious effort has been made to sensitise the public about the positive use of social media particularly at a time when certain elements are out to misuse social media against remarkable initiatives China and Pakistan have launched to bring prosperity and progress in the region including China Pakistan Economic Corridor-CPEC, he said.

Mr Zhao highlighted in detail the importance of CPEC and stressed upon the need to counter anti-CPEC propaganda on social media. Speaking on the occasion, Managing Director AlphaPro Adeel Ayub said Recognising the importance of social media, the Social Media Summit aims at preventing the misuse of this worldwide phenomenon in addition to providing great learning opportunities for people interested in digital media marketing and to promote networking for the people related to social media. Eminent physician and cancer researcher Dr Noor-e-Alam Kizilbash (Sitara-e-Imtiaz) was the Guest of Honour at the Social Media Summit which featured Pakistan Social Media Icon Awards to honour the achievements of social media activists in Pakistan.

During the occasion, social media activists and other noted personalities delivered speeches, held interactive sessions and panel discussions backed by videographic presentations to discuss important issues including social media marketing strategies, role of open source in developing youth in Pakistan, role of social media in women empowerment and relevant subjects of digital interest.

The eminent personalities who actively participated in the Summit included Dr Moeed Pirzada, Mr Jan Achakzai, Mashal Malik, Ahmad Qureshi, Ms Mahrukh Fahad Qureshi and and a number of renowned digital media strategists, entrepreneurs and corporate executives to bring to spotlight the role of social media in Pakistan.(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Several thousand people braved snow and freezing temperatures in Vienna on Saturday to protest against what they called rising discrimination and racism in Austria.

Vienna, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Mar, 2018 ) :Several thousand people braved snow and freezing temperatures in Vienna on Saturday to protest against what they called rising discrimination and racism in Austria.

Many carried placards condemning the government, which since December has been made up of Chancellor Sebastian Kurz's conservative People's Party (OeVP) and Vice-Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache's far right Freedom Party (FPOe).

The government has made a crackdown on immigration one of its main priorities, pledging to speed up and toughen the asylum process and increase deportations. In last year's elections Kurz stood on a platform of regaining control of Austria's borders after the migrant crisis of 2015-16 saw more than 150,000 people seek asylum in the country of 8.

7 million.

However, speakers at the rally, organised by left-wing and anti-racist groups, said the government's policies risked stigmatising foreigners, making them scapegoats for social problems. "I'm here with you today because, 80 years after the Nazis' takeover of Austria, I don't want people to be discriminated against once again because of their origins," Daniela Gruber-Pruner, MP for the opposition Social Democrats (SPOe), told the crowd.

Many also pointed to recent revelations over persistent anti-Semitism in right-wing student fraternities which count prominent FPOe politicians as members.EU President Donald Tusk on Friday warned that there was only a limited agreement among national governments for plans for post-Brexit reforms to the eurozone, and urged leaders to find unity.

Brussels, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th Mar, 2018 ) :EU President Donald Tusk on Friday warned that there was only a limited agreement among national governments for plans for post-Brexit reforms to the eurozone, and urged leaders to find unity.

The former Polish prime minister made his warning as German Chancellor Angela Merkel travelled to Paris to meet French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss the stalled reform drive. Tusk said discussions ahead of a eurozone summit next week had gathered "a limited degree of consensus so far," in a draft of a document to be sent to leaders next week which was obtained by AFP.

"Further developing the agenda requires the direct involvement of, and guidance by the leaders," Tusk said, calling for "an open and forward-looking debate". Macron has called for the changes to reboot the European Union and deepen ties at a time of rising populist challenges, with proposals that include a common eurozone finance minister and budget.

The reforms also include the completion of the EU banking union that has until now been bitterly opposed by Berlin. Leaders of the eurozone member states will discuss the reforms with northern member states such as the Netherlands and Ireland eager to stifle Macron's ambition.

Merkel has given a cautious welcome to her French counterpart's ideas, but had been hamstrung for nearly six months struggling to form a coalition government, depriving Macron of a key pillar of support. Eurozone ministers have for months discussed the proposals, but discussions have gone nowhere given the lack of leadership from Germany.Nepalese Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli on Friday expanded his cabinet by inducting eleven new ministers including the foreign minister, putting the total number to 21.

KATHMANDU, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th Mar, 2018 ) :Nepalese Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli on Friday expanded his cabinet by inducting eleven new ministers including the foreign minister, putting the total number to 21.

The newly appointed 11 ministers were sworn in by President Bidya Devi Bhandari amidst a special function held at the Presidential Palace later in the evening, said a Xinhua. Among the 11 ministers, six come from the ruling Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist Leninist), and five come from the ruling Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre).

This is the third time the prime minister expanded his cabinet since he came to power on Feb 15 after being appointed by President Bhandari.

This is the first government elected in Nepal after the CPN (UML) emerged as the largest political party in the landmark elections held in November and December last year, which were billed as a turning point for the country.

An electoral alliance of the Oli-led CPN (UML) and the CPN (Maoist Center) trounced former PM Sher Bahadur Deuba-led Nepali Congress party in last year's polls, the first under the country's new constitution promulgated in 2015.(@rukhshanmir)

Syria's regime retook two more towns in Eastern Ghouta on Saturday, a war monitor said, pressing an offensive to capture the rebel enclave on the doorstep of Damascus.

Beirut, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Mar, 2018 ) :Syria's regime retook two more towns in Eastern Ghouta on Saturday, a war monitor said, pressing an offensive to capture the rebel enclave on the doorstep of Damascus.

Government forces seized Kafr Batna and Sabqa in the south of the enclave, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, as thousands of civilians fled into regime-held territory. Russia-backed regime forces have retaken more than 80 percent of the last opposition bastion outside the capital since launching a blistering air and ground offensive on February 18, the Observatory says.

The assault has split opposition-held areas into three shrinking pockets each held by different rebels. The southern pocket is held by the Faylaq al-Rahman rebel group, which the Observatory says counts some 8,000 fighters in its ranks.

After Saturday's advance, the group now controls just a handful of areas, the monitor says: Arbin -- the largest -- as well as Zamalka, Hazeh, Ain Tarma and parts of the Damascus neighbourhood of Jobar.

Thousands of civilians streaming out of the enclave into regime-held areas on Saturday came mostly from this southern sector, it said. On Friday, the enclave's main rebel groups -- Faylaq al-Rahman, Jaish al-Islam and Ahrar al-Sham -- said they would be willing to hold direct UN-sponsored talks with regime backer Russia on a ceasefire.

More than 1,400 civilians have been killed since the regime offensive began, the Observatory says, while tens of thousands more have fled. Jaish al-Islam controls an area around the main town of Douma in the north of the former enclave, while Ahrar al-Sham holds influence in the area of the town of Harasta to the west.(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Mauritius President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, who has been implicated in a financial scandal, resigned on Saturday, her lawyer said, just days after she refused to stand down.

Port Louis, Mauritius, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Mar, 2018 ) :Mauritius President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, who has been implicated in a financial scandal, resigned on Saturday, her lawyer said, just days after she refused to stand down.

Gurib-Fakim, Africa's only female head of state, submitted her resignation in the "national interest," her lawyer Yousouf Mohamed told reporters, adding that it would take effect on March 23.(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Jerada, Morocco, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Mar, 2018 ) :Thousands of Moroccans on Friday defied a government ban and demonstrated in the former mining town of Jerada demanding an "alternative economy" and the release of jailed activists.

The accidental deaths in December of two brothers trapped in a mine shaft, followed by two other deaths under similar circumstances, has sparked a wave of unrest and protests in the impoverished town.

An economic plan proposed by the government succeeded in briefly calming social unrest, but protesters returned to the street in late February to demand concrete solutions. Tension rose last weekend after authorities arrested four activists.

On Wednesday protesters clashed with police, with authorities saying a "confrontation" began after hooded youths threw stones at law enforcement agents. Activists accused police of assaulting protesters.

The authorities then announced a ban on "illegal protests" and the interior ministry has promised "firm responses to aggressive and irresponsible behaviour". But protesters were back on the streets Friday even as security forces deployed in the town, AFP correspondents said.

At first a small group of demonstrators gathered in the Manar district, where protest leaders live, but they were quickly joined by others, including women and children. The crowd swelled to several thousand and marched to the police station with protesters waving Moroccan flags and others chanting the national anthem, the correspondents said.

"We are patriotic. But what we want are the most basic rights," one demonstrator said. "The people here are very poor and have nothing to lose," said another who only gave his first name, Hassan.

He said the protest movement will remain "peaceful" while behind him the crowd chanted slogans demanding "an alternative economy" for the former coal mining town. Hundreds of illegal miners risk their lives in abandoned mine shafts to extract coal, the sale of which is legal thanks to operating permits issued by Moroccan authorities.

Omar Balafrej, a member of parliament who joined the protest, said he visited the mine shafts in the town. "It's as if we were in the 19th century," said Balafrej. "There are huge problems in this region and it is a duty to come here and get to know this town".Same guidelines and indications as open surgery

Complete bilateral pelvic lymph node dissection

Minimize positive margin risk

Neobladder to urethra anastomosis done robotically

Port placement trauma to bowel adhesions, and leakage from port sites

Dissection of ureters ureteric strictures

Development of anterior rectal space rectal injury

Development of lateral pelvic space injury to the obturator nerve in elderly patients, atherosclerotic external iliac artery vessels may be tortuous to the pelvis

Nerve-sparing dissection (males) positive surgical margin on the prostate

Mobilization of bladder and transection of the urethra (females) urethrovaginal or vesicovaginal fistula

Bladder take-down injury to the interior epigastric vessels, and bleeding from the dorsal venous complex

Pelvic lymphadenectomy damage to collapsed walls of the iliac and hypogastric veins

Removing the specimen ruptured specimen bag, and damage to the mesentery of the ileal conduit

Formation of the ileal conduit leakage from the uretero-ileal anastomoses

Copenhagen, Denmark (UroToday.com) Dr. Collins provided a discussion highlighting the oncologic outcomes after robot-assisted radical cystectomy (RARC). Dr. Collins started by highlighting indications for robotic-assisted radical cystectomy:In 2013, Dr. Collins group reported specific stages of RARC and potential complications to avoid [1]:Dr. Collins notes that early recurrences following radical cystectomy often occur early with an average presentation 10-15 months after radical cystectomy and 80% within the first two years. This is certainly a poor prognostic indicator; hypothesized potential negative effects of RARC are: pneumoperitoneum, insufflation, and inadequate lymph node dissection. In a study assessing recurrence patterns after open and robotic radical cystectomy among 383 patients, Nguyen and colleagues found that the median follow-up time for patients without recurrence was 30 months (IQR 5-72) for open cystectomy and 23 months (IQR 9-48) for RARC (p=0.6). Within 2 years of surgery, there was no large difference in the number of local recurrences between open cystectomy and RARC patients (23% vs 18%), and the distribution of local recurrences was similar between the two groups. Extra pelvic lymph node locations were more frequent for RARC than open cystectomy (23% vs 15%). Furthermore, peritoneal carcinomatosis was found in 21% of RARC patients compared to 8% of ORC patients. In multivariable analyses, RARC was not a predictor of recurrence. In a similar study from the International Robotic Cystectomy Consortium, Raza et al. [3] reported that among 702 patients pathologic organ-confined disease was found in 62% of patients and soft tissue surgical margins were positive in 8%. Median lymph node yield was 16, and 21% of patients had positive LNs. Five-year RFS, CSS, and OS were 67%, 75%, and 50%, respectively, and non-organ confined disease and surgical margins were associated with poorer RFS, CSS, and OS on multivariable analysis.Dr. Collins and his group recently published their institutional experience introducing an enhanced recovery program for intracorporeal RARC [4]. This study included 221 consecutive patients between 2003 and 2014 intracorporeal RARC. Following implementation of the enhanced recovery program, the demographics of the patients (n = 135) changed, with median age increasing from 66 to 70 years (p < 0.01), higher ASA grade (p < 0.001), higher preoperative stage cancer (pT  2, p < 0.05) and increased likelihood of undergoing an ileal conduit diversion (p < 0.001). The median length of stay prior to the program was 9 days (IQR 8-13 days) and after enhanced recovery was 8 days (IQR 6-10 days) (p < 0.001). There was no significant difference in 30-day complication rates, readmission rates or 90-day mortality, with 59% experiencing complications before enhanced recovery implementation and 57% after implementation.Dr. Collins concluded with several take home points: (i) RARC results in comparable positive surgical margin rates and extended pelvic lymphadenectomy node counts to open radical cystectomy, (ii) the evidence to support an association between RARC and unusual recurrence patterns is poor, (iii) early recurrences following RARC are associated with pathological non-organ confined disease, positive lymph nodes and positive surgical margins, and (iv) early recurrence rates and patterns following totally intracorporeal RARC are similar to published open radical cystectomy series.Presented by: Justin W. Collins, MD Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, SwedenReferences:1. Collins JW, Tyritzis S, Nyberg T, et al. Robot-assisted radical cystectomy: Description of an evolved approach to radical cystectomy.2013;64(4):654-663.2. Nguyen DP, Al Hussein Al Awamlh B, Wu X, et al. Recurrence patterns after open and robot-assisted radical cystectomy for bladder cancer. Eur Urol 2015;68(3):399-405. 3. Raza SJ, Wilson T, Peabody JO, et al. Long-term oncologic outcomes following robot-assisted radical cystectomy: Results from the International Robotic Cystectomy Consortium. Eur Urol 2015;68(4):721-728. 4. Collins JW, Adding C, Hosseini A, et al. Introducing an enhanced recovery programme to an established totally intracorporeal robot-assisted radical cystectomy service. Scand J Urol 2016;50(1):39-46. Written by: Zachary Klaassen, MD, Urologic Oncology Fellow, University of Toronto, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, twitter: @zklaassen_md at the 2018 European Association of Urology Meeting EAU18, 16-20 March, 2018 Copenhagen, DenmarkCopenhagen, Denmark (UroToday.com) PSA screening for early detection of prostate cancer (PC) is a controversial issue, especially since the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendation against screening (2012). The authors analyzed which patient factors predicted PSA screening receipt and physician-patient shared decision making.This was a cross-sectional study, using the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS, 4th Ed.), a population-based survey of people living in the United States during the years 2011-2014. Eligible individuals were men aged 50 and above. Two specific questions were analyzed: whether the patient has ever had a PSA test and if any doctor had discussed this test with him.3,214 men aged 50 and above were included in this study. Mean age was 65+9.8, 68% were white, 63.7% were living with a spouse, and 86.8% were born in the US. Figure 1 demonstrate the percentage of men having a PSA test. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to assess which patients underwent a PSA test and which patients had a PSA discussion with their physician. These analyses demonstrate that age, education, income, living with a spouse, and past military service significantly predict PSA discussion and PSA testing. Being born in the US and Hispanic race also predict PSA discussion.Older men with greater education, higher income, living with a spouse, and those with a military service history were more likely to undergo PSA testing. Despite the USPSTF recommendation and international guidelines, this study demonstrates that specific patient characteristics impact whether patients are screened for PC in the real world.Presented by: Hanan Goldberg, MD, University of Toronto, Princess Margaret Cancer CentreWritten by: Hanan Goldberg, MD, Urologic Oncology Fellow (SUO), University of Toronto, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, twitter: @GoldbergHanan at the 2018 European Association of Urology Meeting EAU18, 16-20 March, 2018 Copenhagen, DenmarkMetabolically healthy, Normal-weight (MHNW) Metabolically obese, Normal-weight (MONW) Metabolically healthy, obese (MHO), Metabolically obese, obese (MOO)

Group



n



Events



Duration



HR (95% C.I.)









Age-adjusted



Multivariable-adjusted *









MHNW



6,165,051



25,408



33,344,815



1 (Ref.)



1 (Ref.)









MONW



1,226,359



11,337



6,515,983



1.143 (1.118, 1.169)



1.143 (1.118, 1.168)









MHO



2,312,838



7199



12,536,988



1.109 (1.08, 1.138)



1.097 (1.068, 1.126)









MOO



2,067,004



12,608



11,066,875



1.257 (1.231, 1.284)



1.25 (1.223, 1.277)









Table 1. Association Between Metabolic Status and Incident Prostate Cancer











Copenhagen, Denmark (UroToday.com) The authors assessed the association between metabolic health status and incidence of prostate cancer using the National Health Check-ups (NHC) database of South Korea.A total of 11,771,252 participants who underwent health check-ups in 20092012 were followed. Participants were stratified based on the body mass index categories and metabolic condition:Multivariable adjusted Cox regression analysis was conducted to examine the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for the association between metabolic health status and incidence of prostate cancer.Of the study participants, 6,165,051, 1,226,359, 2,312,828, and 2,067,004 subjects were classified into MHNW, MONW, MHO, and MOO group, respectively. Mean BMI was 22.2 in the MHNW group and 27.8 in MOO group. During a 5.4  1.1 years of follow-up visit, 56,552 participants were found to have prostate cancer. Multivariable adjusted HR was 1.143 for MONW group, 1.097 for MHO group, and 1.25 for MOO group, showing MONW group was higher than MHO group. Incidence rate of prostate cancer showed significant correlation to the number of components of metabolic syndrome (Table 1).Abbreviations: IR, incidence rate; HR, hazard ratio; CI, confidence interval; MHNW, metabolically healthy, normal-weight, MONW; metabolically obese, normal-weight; MHO, metabolically healthy, obese; MOO, metabolically obese, obese.*Adjusted for age, smoking, alcohol drinking, exercise, and incomeIn conclusion, this population-based study shows clear evidence of association between metabolic health status and the incidence of prostate cancer. The risk was correlated to the number of components of the metabolic syndrome.Presented by: Kim J.W, Korea University Guro Hospital, Dept. of Urology, Seoul, Korea, SouthWritten by: Hanan Goldberg, MD, Urologic Oncology Fellow (SUO), University of Toronto, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, twitter: @GoldbergHanan at the 2018 European Association of Urology Meeting EAU18, 16-20 March, 2018 Copenhagen, DenmarkDavid Chandler, a renowned scholar of Cambodias modern history and emeritus professor at Monash University in Australia; Sareth Svay, a Cambodian sculptor and performing artist who lives and works Siem Reap; and Krisna Uk, executive director of the Center for Khmer Studies, based in Siem Reap; are among some 3,000 attendees expected at the Association for Asian Studies' annual conference, according to organizers.

The conference will take place March 22-25 at the Marriot Wardman Park Hotel.

It brings together scholars, professors, researchers and authors from around the world to discuss pressing issues of the countries in the region, including Cambodia. More than 400 presentations are scheduled. More than 20 films will be screened. The association is based in Ann Arbor, MI. and is regarded as the most prominent American academic non-profit to focus on Asia.

Cambodias upcoming national elections in July are set to be reviewed in a presentation titled The Cambodian 2018 Election: Youth, Party Strategies, and the New Political Landscape. The panel will look at the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party influence within the country, the role of youth in politics, and how political parties are responding to new ways citizens are engaging with elections, according to organizers.

Among the films being screened is the documentary titled "The Man Who Built Cambodia." Directed by a Canadian filmmaker based in Cambodia, Christopher Rompre, the 37-minute film is a narrative documentary featuring the life and work of Vann Molyvann, the architect at the center of a renaissance in Cambodias Sangkum Reastr Niyum period, who passed away in September 2017.

The latest research studies about Asia are to be presented, according to organizers, and issues coveredthat are relevant to Cambodiainclude the politics of fear, technopolitics, cultural politics of economic change and human rights and Buddhism in Southeast Asia.Fine chocolate is often associated with Switzerland, Belgium or France, even though some of the best cocoa is grown in West Africa. On this edition of Press Conference USA, host Carol Castiel and VOA TV producer Phillip Alexiou, talk with Steven Wallace, founder and CEO of the Omanhene Cocoa Bean Company -- the first company to sustain exports of premium chocolate manufactured entirely in Ghana. Steven recounts the origins and challenges of this daunting endeavor in his new book Obroni and the Chocolate Factory: An Unlikely Story of Globalization and Ghanas First Gourmet Chocolate Bar.Mohammed Fawad Mohammadi survived the war in his native Afghanistan, where he served as an interpreter for U.S. military forces.

Now he is in a hospital, with part of his leg amputated after a man in Oregon hit Mohammadi with his car and then accelerated at him again.

Perry George Nicolopoulos was indicted late Thursday on 16 charges, including attempted murder, in the attack in Lincoln City, according to court records. Mohammadis wife and their year-old son narrowly escaped injury in the attack that shocked the coastal tourist town.

Police have found no evidence that Nicolopoulos, whose last known address was Tacoma, Washington, committed a hate crime, said Lt. Jerry Palmer of the Lincoln City Police Department.

We dont know his mindset. We have no idea what his motivations were, or his mental state, other than that he was under the influence, Palmer said. One of the charges Nicolopoulos is facing is drunken driving.

More investigation urged

A group that monitors anti-Muslim discrimination and hate crimes, however, is calling for a more thorough investigation.

Given the unprecedented rise in anti-Muslim hate incidents in recent years ... we urge law enforcement authorities to look into possibility of a bias motive in this, Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations, said.

Mohammadi served in combat zones with U.S. forces.

He survived that, and came here and had this happen, Hooper said.

Car rammed three times

The attack happened March 6 in the parking lot of a Walgreens drug store off coastal Highway 101.

First, Nicolopoulos car hit Mohammadis Toyota Prius. Mohammadi and his wife, Nelab Sarabi, got out to inspect the damage and exchange insurance information, leaving their son inside, when Nicolopoulos drove into their car again, according to an affidavit.

This time, Mohammadi was hit, and was pinned by Nicolopoulos car to his own car door. Nicolopoulos car reversed and crashed into the Prius again before driving away.

Police found Nicolopoulos license plate embedded in the Prius.

Were used to seeing crashes, but for an individual to deliberately, for whatever reason, to decide to use his vehicle as a weapon makes everybody wonder what this persons mindset was and what drove him to do this, Palmer said.

Mohammadi, who was flown to a hospital in Portland, described seeing his attacker.

The airbag was in his face, but he was very relaxed. At that time, I thought, This is an attack. Its not an accident, Mohammadi told the Lake Oswego Review, a newspaper in the Portland suburb where he works in a food market.

Leg amputated

Doctors amputated Mohammadis leg about 6 inches below the knee, according to a GoFundMe page raising funds for the family. As of Friday, more than half of the $100,000 goal had been raised. Many of the commenters thanked Mohammadi for his service to the United States and wished him a speedy recovery.

Nicolopoulos, 68, is in the county jail on $1 million bail. He has been assigned a court-appointed attorney, who did not respond to a phone call.

Nicolopoulos has had numerous run-ins with the law in Washington state, including a case in which he pleaded guilty to third-degree assault in 2001 and another in which he pleaded guilty to malicious mischief in 1996.American counterterrorism airstrikes in northern Afghanistan are reported to have killed up to 35 Islamic State militants and wounded a dozen more.

A regional Afghan military statement said Saturday the pre-dawn strikes took place in the Darzab and Qishtepa districts of Jowzjan province, where IS maintains bases.

The statement noted that seven nationals of the neighboring Central Asian nation of Uzbekistan also were among the dead.

The army said, using the Arabic acronym for IS, American special forces also conducted a ground raid in Qishtepa and captured a key Daesh commander along with several other aides.

The airstrikes came a day after a pro-Islamic State group launched a social media campaign promoting jihadi mobilization to the Afghanistan-Pakistan region. The group, al-Qastantiyyah (Constantinople) Foundation, posted the announcement on its Telegram channel Friday, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist threat alerts.

The message, it said, appeared to make an implicit reference to a recent video from IS Afghan branch, which called for migration to Jowzjan and eastern Nangarhar province of Afghanistan.

The Middle East-based terrorist group began its extremist operation in the war-hit country about three years ago after establishing bases in several of Nangarhars southern districts.

American commanders, however, insist sustained operations in partnership with Afghan ground forces have killed hundreds of IS loyalists, including leadership-level commanders, and significantly reduced the groups territorial control.

The Taliban also has been attacking IS militants in Afghan areas controlled or contested by the insurgency.

Local media reported Saturday the latest clashes between the two rival groups also took place in Jowzjan, killing more than 13 IS militants.

Authorities in neighboring Pakistan say Daesh bases in Afghan border regions are being used to plot terrorism against the country.

The growing influence of IS also has raised alarms in neighboring Iran and Russia.

Moscow feels threatened by the terrorist groups growing influence in Afghan provinces, which could undermine security of its allied Central Asian states and beyond.With Rex Tillersons abrupt firing as U.S. secretary of state Tuesday, the focus is now on President Donald Trumps choice to take his place, CIA Director Mike Pompeo, and what this change would mean for U.S. foreign policy.

He had a lot of face time with President Trump. He impressed Trump, is a loyalist. So youll have a loyal foreign policy out of the State Department, Ariel Cohen of the Atlantic Council said. You also have somebody with an intelligence and military background.

WATCH: Under Pompeo Analysts Expect More Reliance on US Military Strength

Congressional confirmation hearings for the secretary of state nominee will be held next month, with Pompeo possibly taking the helm of the State Department just weeks after the Trump administration agreed to enter into talks with North Korea leader Kim Jong Un on denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.

Days ago, in an emotional farewell at the State Department briefing room, Tillerson cited what he views as one of the achievements of his tenure, the success of the U.S.-led maximum pressure campaign of sanctions on North Korea.

First, working with allies, we exceeded the expectations of almost everyone with the DPRK maximum pressure campaign, Tillerson said Tuesday, just hours after his reported firing.

Pompeo and Pyongyang

Tillersons designated replacement, Pompeo, has often taken a hardline approach to North Korea, emphasizing the existential threat Pyongyangs nuclear missiles pose to cities on the U.S mainland.

We have a threat from flash points that something could spark and have a conventional war, right, wholly apart from the issues we talk about with ICBMs and nuclear, Pompeo told the Senate Intelligence Committee last May.

The CIA director has been loyal to the president, and after Trumps surprise announcement last week that he is willing to meet with North Koreas Kim, he went on several news shows to voice his support for the decision.

President Trump isnt doing this for theater. Hes going to solve a problem, Pompeo told Fox News Sunday.

Kim Jong Un now has committed to stopping nuclear testing, stopping missile tests, allowing exercises to go forward, something that has been incredibly contentious in the past, he said, calling Pyongyangs commitments real achievements.

Hardline on Iran

The former Republican congressman has been a vocal critic of the landmark Iran nuclear deal ever since it was signed in 2015.

The (deal) can perhaps delay Irans nuclear weapons program for a few years. ... Conversely, it has virtually guaranteed that Iran will have the freedom to build an arsenal of nuclear weapons at the end of the commitment, Pompeo wrote in opposition to the deal while serving as a U.S. representative.

In 2016 he tweeted, I look forward to rolling back this disastrous deal with the worlds largest state sponsor of terrorism. His personal Twitter account has since been deactivated.

Based on his past tough statements on North Korea, China and Iran, many analysts say Pompeo, a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, will likely rely more on U.S. military strength, and be less supportive of international agreements than Tillerson.

Pompeo has made statements advocating regime change in Iran and North Korea.

I think Pompeo is more of a hawk, more of a Trumpian, more of this sort of new wave of what I would call American nationalism, and we see countries becoming more nationalistic all over the world, Atlantic Councils Cohen said.

And some worry that Pompeos confirmation makes it more likely the United States will pull out of the Iran nuclear deal, and subsequently jeopardize any diplomatic efforts with Pyongyang.

There is no way in the world that throwing out a valid agreement (the Iran nuclear deal) that is working would increase your negotiating leverage with North Korea, said Thomas Countryman, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation. Rather, it should cause the North Korean leader to ask himself, How can I sign any agreement with the president whos prepared to break every previous agreement?

Countryman told VOA he is concerned about the shake-up at the State Department, because he believes Tillerson has good instincts on foreign policy and was a moderating influence on Trump.

Pompeo on Russian meddling

When it comes to Russia, Pompeo has gone further than Trump in calling out Moscow for meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Its pretty clear about what took place here about Russian involvements in efforts to hack information and to have an impact on American democracy, Pompeo told a Senate panel at his confirmation hearing to become the CIA director in January 2017.

But he also met with the heads of Russias three intelligence services during their unprecedented visit to Washington earlier this year.

Pompeo has said Russian interference had no impact on the outcome of the 2016 race for the White House, which is not something U.S. intelligence agencies say they are even qualified to assess.Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe has been fired  effective immediately  U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement released late Friday.

Based on the report of the Inspector General, the findings of the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility, and the recommendation of the departments senior career official, I have terminated the employment of Andrew McCabe effective immediately, Sessions said in the statement.

President Donald Trump heralded McCabes firing on Twitter:

Former No. 2 at FBI

McCabe, at one time the No. 2 official in the agency, whom President Donald Trump has publicly criticized for alleged political bias and reportedly wanted fired, stepped down from the FBI Jan. 30. He had planned to retire on Sunday  his birthday  with full benefits. However, now that he has been fired, some or all of his pension could be at risk.

In a statement following Sessions announcement McCabe said, This attack on my credibility is one part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally, but to taint the FBI, law enforcement, and intelligence professionals more generally.

McCabe was thrust into controversy just days before the 2016 presidential election when it was disclosed that his wife, Jill McCabe, a Democratic candidate for a seat in the Virginia Senate in 2015, had taken hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign donations from a political action committee controlled by a friend of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton  then-Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe.

Trump, then the Republican presidential nominee, used the disclosure to question the FBIs impartiality in investigating Clintons use of a private email server, before it declined to bring criminal charges against her.

Comey firing

At the time, the FBI said that McCabe had consulted bureau ethics officials and that he and FBI lawyers implemented a system of recusal from all FBI investigative matters involving Virginia politics.

But the controversy continued to dog McCabe after Trump abruptly fired then-FBI Director James Comey over the Russia investigation in May 2017, a move that led Attorney General Sessions to elevate McCabe to acting director.

McCabe said in his statement, I am being singled out and treated this way because of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of James Comey.

McCabe, who served 22 years with the FBI, led the agency until August when Christopher Wray, a former assistant attorney general, was sworn in as the new FBI director.

Even after it was reported in December that McCabe would retire in March, when he became eligible for full pension benefits, Trump continued to excoriate the career government official.

FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is racing the clock to retire with full benefits, Trump tweeted Dec. 23. 90 days to go?!!!

Masood Farivar contributed to this report.One of Australia's most successful Aboriginal mentoring projects is bringing its methods to South Africa and Uganda.

The Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience, or AIME, began in 2005, serving just 25 Aboriginal children in Sydney. Since then, the program has grown rapidly, providing opportunities to 15,000 Indigenous high school students by pairing them with thousands of university undergraduates, who provide free tutoring.

At the heart of AIME's work is time. University students give their time for free to teach and guide Indigenous high school pupils between the ages of 12 and 18. These youngsters, in turn, are given time to visit university campuses to attend workshops, and they can stay in the system for their entire high school careers.

The scheme has helped some of Australia's most disadvantaged youngsters finish high school, attend universities and find jobs.

The mentoring program will be exported later this year to Uganda and South Africa.

Model for mobilization

The founder of AIME, Jack Manning-Bancroft, has recently returned to Sydney from a trip to Africa, where he explained his vision to students at the University of Pretoria.

"I said to them, 'I do not pretend to know anything about South Africa. ... What I do know is this model can mobilize volunteers," he said. " ... We can move quickly and we can build a global movement around this, which can have an energy and a force.' ... They were really excited, because it is not someone coming in saying, 'I have the solution for you.' It is, 'I have a template [with] which you can build it yourselves.' "

Despite the concerted efforts of state and federal authorities, charities and other welfare groups, educational inequality among Indigenous groups persists. Disadvantage is entrenched, and while improvements in educational achievements are being made, many Indigenous students do poorly at school.

About 60 percent of Aboriginal children are already well behind their non-Indigenous counterparts when they start school at age 5. Australia's original inhabitants make up about 3 percent of the national population, but suffer disproportionately high rates of poverty, unemployment and imprisonment.Egyptians living abroad were in the middle of three days of voting Saturday in the country's presidential election.

Incumbent Abdel Fattah el-Sissi is expected to beat his only challenger, Moussa Mostafa Moussa, the head of al-Ghad party, who had previously endorsed el-Sissi's candidacy.

The election, set for March 26-28 within Egypt, has drawn attention from members of the U.S. Congress as well as Egyptian expatriates. This week, Democratic Representative Jim McGovern of Massachusetts said he and some colleagues already had begun drafting a resolution to address their concerns about what he said was a lack of fair and free elections in Egypt.

McGovern, the co-chairman of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, said that while Egypt is a close U.S. strategic partner, there is a bipartisan concern in Congress over events leading up to the election.

Intimidation, detention

"Recent developments, including the intimidation and detention of all credible opposition candidates and restrictions imposed on nongovernmental groups and the media, are undermining the legitimacy and credibility of those elections," he said.

"We cannot and must not overlook actions and policies that reinforce authoritarian tendencies in Egypt and further weaken the rule of law," McGovern added.

El-Sissi was elected president in 2014, after he led a military coup that ousted the first elected civilian president, Mohamed Morsi.

Concerns over abuses

This week, a group of Egyptian-Americans of different political backgrounds went to the U.S. Capitol to discuss problems they see regarding the election.

Among them was Aya Hijazi, an Egyptian-American social advocate who was imprisoned in Egypt under false charges of child abuse. She was held for nearly three years before U.S. President Donald Trump negotiated her release during el-Sissi's visit to Washington last year.

Hijazi said Egyptian-Americans have a moral obligation to stand with fellow Egyptians and tell Congress and the administration about the government's efforts to suffocate political space in Egypt.

"I think President Trump thinks that [el-]Sissi makes Egypt more secure. I know that the president was really sympathetic personally to my case, but there are thousands like me who are in the same situation but no one is speaking for them," Hijazi said.

Although an eligible voter, Hijazi will not cast her ballot at the Egyptian Embassy in Washington. She said that, from her personal experience, she knows that el-Sissi is leading a brutal crackdown on civil society.

Sahar Aziz, a professor of law at Rutgers University in New Jersey, is also boycotting the Egyptian election.

"I would feel compelled not to participate in these elections, because it would legitimate a process that has unprecedentedly not given anyone a fair opportunity to run for office," Aziz said.

Protection for minority Copts

However, Michael Morgan, a doctor who also anchors a weekly television show on Egyptian issues, said he was inclined to vote for el-Sissi as a protector of the country's Christian minority.

"As a Coptic Christian, I think we finally have a president that wants to make the Christians feel that they are part of the country, treated as Egyptians," Morgan said. Christians have been targeted in several terrorist attacks in Egypt over the past few years.

Morgan acknowledged there are problems regarding human rights but said the el-Sissi government faces many challenges, including security threats from militant groups and a weak economy.

But Mokhtar Kamel, co-founder of a group called the Egyptian American Alliance, said that did not justify forcing credible candidates out of the presidential race.

"I will not be voting, because I do not think there is a voting. There is a process and I am not taking it seriously; nobody is taking it seriously," Kamel said.

Human rights activists and political analysts say el-Sissi's government has pressured some would-be candidates to drop out of the race, and others have been arrested and jailed.

Kamel and some other Egyptian-Americans say voters have no real choice since el-Sissi's only rival, Moussa, previously had campaigned for a second term for the incumbent.

Term limit question

Kamel and other voters say they fear the next step after this election will be a vote in the Egyptian parliament to remove the constitutional term limit, allowing el-Sissi to become president for life.

Earlier this month, 10 influential members of the U.S. Senate sent a letter to the State Department asking for an assessment of human rights in Egypt, including the freedoms of association, peaceful assembly and expression.

The senators expressed their concern about the restrictive environment for the media, which they said would make it impossible for the Egyptian people to participate in a legitimate democratic exercise.Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who had been criticized publicly for months by President Donald Trump and was fired late Friday by the attorney general, has kept detailed memos of his interactions with the president, according to media reports Saturday.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired McCabe, who had been with the FBI for more than 20 years, just two days before he was to retire. Sessions cited reports by the Justice Department inspector general and the FBI that found McCabe "had made an unauthorized disclosure to the news media and lacked candor  including under oath  on multiple occasions" as reasons for terminating "the employment of Andrew McCabe effective immediately."

McCabe, who was at one time the No. 2 official in the agency, has been on leave from the FBI since January. He had planned to retire Sunday  his birthday  with full benefits. Now that he has been fired, however, some or all of his pension could be at risk.

In a statement late Friday, McCabe called his firing "retribution," saying, "I am being singled out and treated this way because of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of [former FBI Director] James Comey."

Special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating Russian influence in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and whether there was collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. He also is investigating whether Trump's actions, including firing Comey, constitute obstruction of justice. Media reports say Mueller's team has McCabe's detailed notes of his interactions with Trump.

John Dowd, Trump's personal lawyer, praised Sessions on Saturday for firing McCabe, and then suggested that Deputy Attorney General Rob Rosenstein, who oversees the special counsel, "bring an end" to Mueller's investigation.

Shortly after McCabe was fired, the president praised the decision on Twitter, calling it a "great day for Democracy."



Trump continued to tweet, chiding the media, saying they were "beside themselves that McCabe was caught, called out and fired." He also tweeted that the House Intelligence Committee had released a report concluding "there was no collusion between Russia and the Trump Campaign."

Additionally, Trump called the former FBI director "Sanctimonious James Comey" and claimed, without providing proof, that McCabe "knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI!"

Comey tweeted back at Trump Saturday afternoon, "Mr. President, the American people will hear my story very soon. And they can judge for themselves who is honorable and who is not."

Comey, who was fired in May 2017 by Trump, also kept personal notes of his conversations with the president.

Comey testified before Congress in June 2017 that he believed Trump was trying to get him to drop an investigation of Trump's former national security adviser, and that White House officials had spread "lies, plain and simple," to cover up the reason for his dismissal.

"There's no doubt that I was fired because of the Russia investigation," he told lawmakers, referring to the widening investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. American intelligence agencies have said the Kremlin attempted to assist Trump's electoral defeat of his Democratic opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

McCabe was thrust into controversy just days before the 2016 presidential election when it was disclosed that his wife, Jill McCabe, a Democratic candidate for a seat in the Virginia Senate in 2015, had taken hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign donations from a political action committee controlled by then-Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, a Clinton friend.

Trump, then the Republican presidential nominee, used the disclosure to question the FBI's impartiality in investigating Clinton's use of a private email server, before it declined to bring criminal charges against her.

At the time, the FBI said that McCabe had consulted bureau ethics officials and that he and FBI lawyers "implemented a system of recusal from all FBI investigative matters involving Virginia politics."

But the controversy continued to dog McCabe after Trump abruptly fired Comey over the Russia investigation, a move that led Sessions to elevate McCabe to acting director.

VOA's Masood Farivar contributed to this report.Greeces coast guard said Saturday the bodies of six people were recovered from the sea off a Greek island in the eastern Aegean following the sinking of a suspected migrant smuggling boat.

A massive search and rescue operation was underway to locate about a dozen more people believed missing.

The bodies of four children, one man and one woman were recovered off the island of Agathonisi, south of the island of Samos, the coast guard said. Three people, two women and a man, managed to reach the coast and alert authorities.

The three told authorities they had been in a wooden boat that sank with an estimated 21 people on board. The reasons for the sinking were not immediately clear, and authorities said the total number of people who had been on board was also not clear.

Three aircraft, Greek navy and coast guard vessels, a vessel from the European border agency Frontex and private boats were scouring the area to search for the missing.

Despite a two-year deal between the European Union and Turkey designed to stop the flow of migrants and refugees into Europe using the popular route from the Turkish coast to nearby Greek islands, dozens and sometimes hundreds of people continue to make the journey each week. Most cross in rickety inflatable boats or other unseaworthy vessels.In June 2017, Montenegro, once considered a Balkan stronghold of pro-Russian sentiments, quietly celebrated its entry into NATO, infuriating the Kremlin. Before joining NATO, Montenegro sent its first cadet to West Point. Nevena Nikolic and her international peers at West Point are getting an opportunity to see the world and America through the lens of its prestigious military academy, where officials believe having foreign cadets is crucial. Milena Djurdjic of VOA's Serbian Service has more.German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday discussed overcapacity in world steel markets and agreed to work on

solutions within the framework of the Group of 20 industrialized nations, Merkel's spokesman said.

The two leaders emphasized close ties between the two countries, which are both facing planned U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs, and agreed to deepen the strategic partnership between them, Steffen Seibert said in a statement.

He said Merkel invited Chinese officials to visit Berlin for consultations, and Xi invited Merkel to visit China.

They also discussed the situation in North Korea regarding its nuclear and missile development efforts.Russian President Vladimir Putin was in high spirits as he took the stage this week in Sevastopol, Crimea, addressing an ultra-patriotic concert rally marking the fourth anniversary of the internationally unrecognized referendum intended to legitimize Russias annexation of Ukraines Black Sea peninsula.

Four years ago you made a historic decision," he said, effusively praising the crowd. "Thanks to your decision, Sevastopol and Crimea returned to their common motherland  the home of Mother Russia!

In visiting Crimea in one of the few high-profile campaign events before Sunday's Russian presidential election - which Kremlin officials rescheduled to coincide with the annexation anniversary - Putin also reminded the West of the singular transgressions that have defined his presidency.

They include not only the seizure of Crimea, the proxy war in eastern Ukraine and the military backing of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but fresh diplomatic controversies: the recent nerve-gas poisoning in Britain of former double-agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, and the late-February death of a former Georgian peacekeeper at the hands of Russian-backed security officials in the former Soviet republic's Russian-occupied region of South Ossetia.

The French News Agency reports that an estimated 15,000 people turned out to greet Putin in the historical home of the Russian Black Sea fleet, where crowds cheered as Putins helicopter hovered over the stage as Soviet-era war songs blared.

Kremlin games

Despite his one minute and 47 second speech touting Moscow's militarily and politically expensive annexation - which triggered waves of biting sanctions from the West - those paying the price for Russian aggression abroad, says well-known Russian attorney Elena Lukyanova, are often Russian citizens themselves.

"So far, all of Putin's sins have been presented not to him, but to us Russians - including those of us who do not support him but nonetheless have to pay for these Kremlin games," said Lukyanova, who once defended former Russian oil tycoon-turned-Kremlin foe Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who spent a decade in prison and now lives in exile.

"An American bank with an office in Europe does not open an account for me now, simply because I am a Russian citizen, because I have a Russian passport, added Lukyanova, who splits her time between Russia and a second home in Riga, Latvia.

In Russia, the accession of Crimea has been approved by constitutional law, so of course there are no consequences for that domestically," she said. "But from the standpoint of international law, the results of votes cast on disputed territory should not only be discounted, but they actually further undermine the legitimacy of Putin's re-election."

Although Ukrainian authorities have marshalled broad Western support for Kyiv's campaign to restore its sovereignty and territorial integrity, President Petro Poroshenko recently called on ambassadors of the G-7 countries specifically to condemn "the electoral farce that Moscow is organizing this week in the occupied territory of Ukrainian Crimea."

Squashing opposition

Local ethnic Crimean Tatars say harassment by pro-Russian secessionists has increased dramatically in recent days, citing instances in which prominent Crimean Tatar Islamic figures, teachers, doctors and businessmen have been summoned to makeshift FSB (Russian security service) offices, and families have been verbally harassed by pro-Russian separatists.

According to Refat Chubarov, chairman of the Mejlis - the Crimean Tatars self-governing body that Russia has outlawed - Russia intelligence operatives are likely attempting to neutralize anti-Russian protests on Crimean soil that could coincide with the vote and compromise the image of an orderly, legitimate electoral process.

While the Crimean Tatars aren't planning any protests, Chubarov told VOAs Russian Service, his fellow Ukrainian parliamentarians have been discussing strategies to further isolate Russia from the world.

"We discussed the possibility of complete isolation of the newly re-elected president of Russia," said Chubarov, a member of Poroshenko's "Solidarity" bloc. "We're aiming for complete diplomatic and political isolation by U.N. member-states due to the fact that these elections were illegally conducted on the territory of the Ukrainian state."

Chubarov, whom Russia barred from the Black Sea peninsula immediately after annexing it in 2014, also said legislators are urging politicians across Europe to reject invitations to attend Russian state functions.

"I understand that it will be very difficult to convince the majority of states to follow these appeals, but there are already a few states that are avoiding trips and invitations," he said. "I expect a dozen or so countries will decide to do so after these illegal elections in Crimea.

Putin, who has been in power since 1999 and has already ruled longer than early Soviet-era dictator Josef Stalin, does enjoy support from some Crimean Tatars who advocate integrating with Russia.

"Its not true that Crimean Tatars are being suppressed in Crimea," Ganif Serverovich, a 43-year-old Crimean Tatar, told AFP, adding that he had traveled from the mountain town of Bakhchisaray, a Tatar stronghold, to attend Wednesday's rally.

"They say that in the West because they don't want us to live in peace," he said.

This story originated in VOA's Russian Service. Danila Galperovich reported from Washington, Taras Burnos from Ukraine. Some information for this story came from AFP.Russians are to vote Sunday in a presidential election expected to result in another six-year term for Vladimir Putin, who has been in a position of leadership in Russia for 18 years.

He faces seven challengers but no real threats from any of the contenders. Each of the other candidates  a reality TV star and an ultranationalist among them  is expected to draw very few ballots. Putin is expected to bring in more than 50 percent of the vote, but his election team is hoping for 70 percent.

Sunday's election will span 11 time zones, starting with the far east and ending with the Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad. Nearly 109 million people are registered to cast ballots. State-owned polling company VCIOM projects a turnout of 71 percent.

Yet, the Russian nongovernmental research organization Levada Center conducted a survey in December that indicated 58 percent of voters planned to boycott the elections.

Putin's closest rival was opposition leader Alexei Navalny, but he was disqualified from running in the election when he was convicted of embezzlement in December. Given a five-year suspended sentence, he said the conviction was politically motivated to keep him out of the race.

Navalny is leading the boycott effort, while Russian election organizers are hoping for a high voter turnout to legitimize an election long seen to have a foregone conclusion.

In Crimea, the territory Russia says it has annexed from Ukraine, a few European politicians who are friendly with Putin are acting as election observers. The European Union and Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe have refused to send election monitors to Crimea, fearing it would be seen as legitimizing the Russian occupation.

Opposition leader Navalny told VOA's Russian service on Thursday that Putin's observers in Crimea were political cronies, not objective observers. Among them are Andreas Mauere of the German far-left party Die Linke, and Hendrik Weber, founder of a Norwegian public organization called People Diplomacy Norway.

"All those so-called European observers  they are as much observers as other candidates in these elections are rivals to Putin," Navalny told VOA. "Of course this is an absolute fake. It's ridiculous and unpleasant to look at how Putin corrupted and turned into his puppets a significant part of the European establishment."

Putin has been in power as either president or prime minister since 1999. He has switched back and forth between the two roles to circumvent a Russian law banning him from serving more than two consecutive terms as president.

Opinion polls show he has far more support than any of his rivals, who run the gamut from far-right populist to far-left communist. With another Putin win practically guaranteed, Navalny and other experts say, Russian authorities could try to use inflated voter turnout numbers to prove the election was a success.

VOA's Russian service contributed to this report.The World Health Organization (WHO) reports a major breakthrough in efforts to contain South Africas longest and largest recorded listeria outbreak.

The current outbreak of listeriosis in South Africa began more than one year ago in January 2017. As of March 12, the WHO has recorded 978 lab-confirmed cases of this foodborne disease, including 183 deaths.

WHO food safety expert Peter Ben Embarek says it is very difficult to investigate outbreaks of listeriosis because the disease has a very long incubation period. He says it can take several weeks before people show any symptoms, get sick and are hospitalized.

Two weeks ago, food was identified as the primary source of this large outbreak. It is a meat, ready-to-eat meat product, a type of sausage very commonly consumed in South Africa and in the region - Polony product. Since then, recall of the incriminated product has been initiated both in South Africa, but also in 15 countries that have imported this product from South Africa, he said.

Embarek said the WHO is facilitating the exchange of information between South Africa and countries who have imported this contaminated product. He says it is important to recall the sausage and remove it from the shelves to prevent further cases from occurring.

Now that the source of this foodborne disease has been identified, he told VOA he expects the number of new cases to quickly drop.

With regard to the case fatality rate in this outbreak, among the cases where they have been able to follow them and see the outcome of their disease, it is about 27 percent. And it is within the norms. Listeriosis outbreak has a case fatality rate of between 20 and 30 percent. It is a very severe foodborne disease he said.

Embarek said listeriosis can be effectively treated with antibiotics if caught promptly, particularly in the case of high-risk populations, such as newborn babies, pregnant women and the elderly.

He says the WHO is not recommending any restrictions on travel or trade.President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan has formally invited Pakistans Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to visit Kabul for initiating a comprehensive dialogue to improve bilateral relations, marred by mistrust and suspicion.

Ghani extended the invitation Saturday in a meeting at his presidential palace with visiting Pakistani National Security Adviser Nasser Janjua, as announced by his office on Twitter.

President @ashrafghani received Pakistani NSA at Dilkusha palace. As a follow up to #Kabul process, he has extended an official invitation to Pakistani Prime Minister to visit #Afghanistan. This is to initiate state to state comprehensive dialogue.

The Afghan president last month offered unconditional peace talks to the Taliban and also pledged to resume Kabuls high-level engagements with Islamabad to repair bilateral security, political and economic cooperation.

Ghani made the twin announcement in a speech during the so-called Kabul Process meeting of more than 25 countries and international organizations.

The Taliban has not yet publicly responded to the offer, however, prompting expectations the insurgents are weighing whether or not to come to the negotiating table, Pakistan and U.S. officials said.

A presidential statement issued after Saturdays talks said the two sides also discussed ways to enhance cooperation to further Ghanis peace dialogue offer to the Taliban.

Vibes are positive

In addition, the statement said views were exchanged on how to jointly counter cross-border activities of terrorist and criminal networks, as well as drug traffickers.

Afghanistan shares a nearly 2,600-kilometer largely porous border with Pakistan.



Allegations that Pakistan covertly supports Taliban insurgents and allows them to maintain sanctuaries in the neighboring country have long been at the center of mutual tensions and strained ties. Islamabad rejects the charges.

Janjua in a pre-visit statement had said his delegation was traveling to Afghanistan to chalk out a way forward to improve mutual ties and enhance cooperation to further Ghanis offer of peace talks to the Taliban.



Pakistan is always prepared to work in a cooperative framework and provide every help to win peace in Afghanistan, Janjua said in his pre-visit statement late Friday.



Pakistani military chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa recently spoke to a group of journalists and sounded upbeat about better future relations with Afghanistan. Bajwa, in a rare interaction, credited his meeting with Ghani in Kabul last October for providing grounds for the breakthrough.



The Pakistani general has said since then the vibes are positive and he has been in regular contact with the Afghan president via cellphone to sustain the momentum of promoting a peaceful settlement to the Afghan ward tension-free bilateral relations.

Tensions in relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan over mutual allegations of supporting terrorism against each other have undermined trade and economic cooperation in recent years.

Better ties between Kabul and Islamabad are seen as key to fighting terrorism and promoting a peaceful resolution of the Afghan conflict.A porn actress seeking to invalidate a nondisclosure agreement pertaining to an alleged sexual relationship with Donald Trump could owe $20 million in damages for violating that agreement, an attorney for the president said Friday in a court filing.

The filing by attorney Michael Cohen seeks to move actress Stormy Daniels' lawsuit from a state-level court to federal court in Los Angeles. It accuses Daniels of violating the agreement more than 20 times.

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles last week that sought to invalidate the agreement, which she signed days before the 2016 presidential election. She has said her objective is to "set the record straight,'' and she has offered to return the $130,000 she was paid for agreeing not to discuss the alleged relationship.

Cohen has denied there was ever a relationship and said he paid the $130,000 out of his pocket. He has said neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Clifford, and that he was not reimbursed for the payment.

But Clifford's lawsuit claims the "hush agreement'' she signed is legally invalid because it was signed by Clifford and Cohen, but not by Trump.

'Intimate relationship'

The lawsuit refers to her beginning an "intimate relationship'' with Trump in 2006 that continued "well into the year 2007.'' She said the relationship included encounters in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, and Beverly Hills, California.

Trump married his current wife, Melania Trump, in 2005, and their son, Barron, was born in 2006.

A separate court filing by Charles Harder, another attorney for Trump, said the president planned to join an "anticipated petition'' to have the case heard by an arbitrator.

Clifford's lawyer, Michael Avenatti, called that an attempt to have the matter decided in private arbitration, "thus hiding the truth from the public.''

Earlier Friday, Avenatti told The Associated Press his client had been physically threatened, but he didnt provide details. He would not comment on whether the threats came from anyone tied to the president, the Trump campaign or the Trump Organization.

Clifford will discuss the threats during a segment on CBS's 60 Minutes that is scheduled to air later this month. Avenatti said he was confident that people would believe her after watching her interview.

"There's the act and there's the cover-up, and the American people are going to learn about both in the interview and beyond,'' the lawyer said during an interview with MSNBC's Morning Joe on Friday.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters Friday that she had no knowledge of the alleged threats and hadn't spoken with the president about them.

But, she said, "obviously we take the safety and security of any person seriously'' and "certainly would condemn anyone threatening any individual.''Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and land mines kill and injure thousands of Afghans every year in Afghanistan. One of its victims is 12-year-old Noorzya, a resident of eastern Nangarhar province, who stepped on an IED and lost her legs. It has not been determined who planted the mine that exploded on Noorzya, but Islamic State and Taliban militants were active in the area where Noorzya sustained her injuries. VOAs Zabihullah Ghazi spoke with Noorzya about how her experience.The United Nations expressed concern Friday about the plight of civilians in Syria, as thousands fled the northern city of Afrin and a major battle in Eastern Ghouta entered a decisive phase in the country's south. As the Syrian conflict enters its eighth year, the U.N. Special Envoy for Syria praised the recent six-day cease-fire in the city of Douma but warned of escalating violence in other parts of Syria as well. VOA Correspondent Mariama Diallo reports.United Nations aid agencies are appealing for more than $950 million to provide life-saving humanitarian assistance this year for 1.3 million Rohingya refugees and the Bangladeshi communities hosting them in Coxs Bazar.

Nearly 1 million Rohingya refugees live in substandard, overcrowded settlements in Cox's Bazar. More than 670,000 of them have fled to Bangladesh since August to escape violence and persecution in Myanmar. These refugees are on top of more than 200,000 Rohingyas who arrived during previous influxes.

They and 330,000 vulnerable Bangladeshis are in urgent need of life-saving food, clean water and sanitation, shelter, health care and other relief. The United Nations reports more than 150,000 refugees, more than half of them children, are at risk of landslides and floods from impending monsoon rains and potential cyclones.

U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said preparations are underway to mitigate what could be a disaster in addition to the prevailing emergency. He said aid agencies are pre-positioning food and other relief items, as well as reinforcing fragile shelters.

It is about developing 500 acres of landadditional land that has been made available by Bangladesh, building bridges and roads, relocating the tens of thousands of people that are most exposed, Grandi said.

The unprecedented scale and rapidity of the Rohingya exodus from Myanmar has created a crisis of enormous proportion. Most of the newly arrived refugees are crammed into the Kutupalong site, the world's largest and most densely populated refugee settlement.

Director General of the International Organization for Migration, William Swing, said the disaster risks have been made worse by the presence of so many refugees from Myanmar in Bangladesh.

"For example, the reality that approximately 10 acres of forest reserve are deforested each day as the refugee population searches for cooking fuel, Swing said.  So, one of the sacrifices Bangladesh has done has been to lose much, if not all of its forest reserve.

Swing said IOM and several U.N. partners are running a joint project to try to supply liquefied Petroleum Gas to the refugees as an alternative fuel source. He said this project also will provide cash for work for the refugees.

U.N. Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh, Mia Seppo, said the priority of the joint response plan is to provide life-saving activities for the refugees. But she tells VOA there also is a strong focus on the host communities.

It comes out of a recognition that the first responders should not fall deeper into poverty for hosting 1 million refugees, Seppo said. So, therefore, there is also a lot of activities in the joint response plan, which is looking into issues of social cohesion between the refugees and the host communities and that is looking into starting to address the immense environmental damage that you see from this very fast influx of such a huge number of people.

High Commissioner Grandi said the solution to this complex crisis lies with Myanmar. He says the refugees have a right to return home to northern Rakhine State, but only under certain conditions.

The one fundamental right is that to gain their citizenship. You know very well that we consider these people not only refugees, but stateless because they have been denied citizenship, Grandi said. But, also other sets of rights  right of movement, right of access to services. All that they did not enjoy needs to be given for these people to be able to go back in a sustainable  in a safe and sustainable manner.

He said violence, of course, has to cease. Grandi said the odds are growing against an early solution. But, he adds that is not a reason for him to give up.Two U.S. senators - one Republican and one Democrat - have pledged greater support for a U.S.-based Iranian-American group that calls for replacing Irans Islamist leadership with a democratic, secular government.

Republican Senator John Boozman and Democratic Senator Ben Cardin spoke to the Organization of Iranian-American Communities (OIAC) on Thursday, as the group held an annual luncheon to celebrate the Nowruz holiday, or Persian New Year, at the Russell Senate Office Building.

In remarks to the gathering, Cardin, of Maryland, promised to keep working with OIAC to, as he put it, plan strategies to help the people of Iran escape the oppressive regime they currently have and return Iran to its roots, to its proud history, so it can have a bright future. He said his membership on the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations gives him the ability to promote causes, such as protecting Iranians human rights from what he called violations of international norms by the Iranian government.

Speaking later at the event, Boozman, of Arkansas, promised to be very supportive of the change that OIAC seeks in Iran. I understand the importance of this, and Im committed to helping in any way that I can, he said.



OIAC is a nonprofit group that seeks to mobilize Iranian-Americans to support what it calls the Iranian peoples struggle for democratic change and a non-nuclear government.

It is allied to exiled Iranian dissident movement Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), which leads the France-based National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and advocates the "overthrow" of "religious dictatorship in Iran.

Islamist clerics have led the nation since its 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Moment of real opportunity

Former U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman, an MEK supporter who chairs the nonprofit group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), also spoke at the luncheon and urged the two senators and congressional staffers in attendance to build relationships with the dissident group, which he said leads an organized opposition that played a role in Irans recent anti-government protests and that is ready to serve as a new Iranian government with U.S. help.

In January, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Irans enemies of provoking a week of nationwide anti-government demonstrations that began in late December and posed the biggest challenge to his rule in years.

Protesters chanted anti-government slogans and some engaged in violent confrontations with security forces, but were not seen professing loyalty to opposition groups.



This is a moment of real opportunity, Lieberman said. If we act together: Congress and the [Trump] administration, Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives and even a few independents and moderates, then next Nowruz we are going  to celebrate the end of the Islamic republic of Iran.

Former Marine Corps Commandant U.S. General James Conway, another MEK supporter, adopted a more cautious tone in his remarks to the group, saying history shows that efforts to change another countrys system of government from within have failed more than succeeded.

Its not uncommon to see that happen in nations, and also to see [an attempted revolution] put down very quickly especially by a dictatorial government, he said.

Moral support urged

Conway said a successful uprising in Iran would require several components, such as a critical mass of people who draw growing numbers of protesters into the streets and who are seen as patriots by the rest of society rather than as revolutionaries. He said a recognizable figure would have to lead the movement  ideally, in his view, an army general who could seize communication centers, government buildings and airfields.

The retired U.S. general urged the Trump administration to continue to express moral support for the protesters on Irans streets.



If another Iranian government does come about, [the U.S. should] quickly recognize it and hope that other nations will follow suit, he said.

Critics of MEK in exiled Iranian communities disparage the group for its former alliance with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and for enforcing what they say is a cult-like discipline on its members.

MEK carried out bombings against the Iranian shahs government in the 1970s and later against Irans post-revolution Islamist rulers in the 1980s and 1990s. The United States designated MEK as a terrorist organization in 1997, citing those attacks, including 1970s-era bombings that killed several U.S. defense contractors.

The U.S. removed its terrorist label from MEK in 2012, citing the groups public renunciation of violence, the lack of any confirmed militant attacks by the group in more than a decade and its cooperation in the closure of its paramilitary base in Iraq.

MEK had spent years lobbying and securing the support of prominent American politicians to press for the removal of the terrorism designation.

Guita Aryan and Kaveh Jamshidi of VOAs Persian Service contributed to this report.Florida officials say two cars and three victims have been removed from the wreckage of a pedestrian bridge that collapsed Thursday over a busy highway, killing at least six people and flattening at least a half-dozen cars below.

At a news conference Saturday, Miami-Dade Police Department Director Juan Perez said emergency workers were "chipping away" at the piles of debris at the site of the bridge, which was still under construction when it fell.

"It's going to be a long process," Perez said. "We've been saying that from the beginning because of the amount of weight and the size of the structure that is lying on top of these vehicles."

He said some of the wreckage was unstable, so workers were trying "anything that comes up" to chip away and get to the six other cars believed to be trapped underneath, and any victims found inside them. At least one person escaped from one of the cars trapped under the bridge.

Survivor's account

Authorities have not released the names of the victims. Relatives of Alexa Duran, a freshman at Florida International University, released her name themselves. A friend riding with her, who escaped, said Duran died in the driver's seat of her car.

Officials warned that the death toll was likely to rise as emergency workers continued to try to extract the trapped vehicles. Perez said authorities might need DNA evidence, fingerprints or family photos to identify victims. One news report said some vehicles were damaged so completely that they were difficult to recognize.

The bridge, which was set to open next year, spanned eight lanes of traffic and a canal to give FIU students an easy way to cross to the community of Sweetwater, where many of them live. A student was struck by a vehicle and killed last year while walking across the highway.

On Friday, news emerged that the lead engineer on the bridge construction project left a voicemail for a state official Wednesday warning of "some cracking" in the structure.

The Florida Department of Transportation said the voicemail was not retrieved until Friday because the state transportation official to whom the message was directed was out of the office on assignment.

Not seen as unsafe

According to a transcript of the call, the engineer with the private contractor FIGG Bridge Group said he did not consider the cracking on the bridge a safety issue.

Denney Pate said the cracking would need repairs, "but from a safety perspective we don't see that there's any issue there so we're not concerned about it from that perspective."

Perez, the police director, acknowledged a homicide investigation was under way but described as premature reports that criminal charges were imminent.

"We're not there yet," he said. "We just want to get to the bottom ... of what occurred so that we can bring closure to the families, bring closure to the investigation and so that this doesn't happen again."

"We want to express our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of those who have been affected," FIU President Mark Rosenberg said in a video released Friday.

In what is called Accelerated Bridge Construction, the final 950-ton section that completed the bridge was assembled at a site along the highway. It was placed on a special truck, moved and put in place in just six hours last Saturday to avoid disrupting traffic.Xi Jinping was reappointed Saturday as Chinas president with no limit on the number of terms he can serve.

The National Peoples Congress, Chinas rubber-stamp legislature, also appointed close Xi ally Wang Qishan to the formerly ceremonial post of vice president.

Xi, 64, is considered the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong and last Sunday was given the right to continue in office indefinitely after the legislature scrapped term limits for the president and vice president.

Critics see increased repression

Chinese officials defended the move saying it would bring the presidency in-line with Xis other two main positions of head of the ruling Communist Party and commander of the armed forces.

Critics say the move overturning a push to institutionalize Chinas ruling practices dating from 1982 will likely lead to increased political repression and possible infighting among party factions seeking to promote their own candidates within the closed system.

Xi took office as president in 2013 and hasnt said how many additional five-year terms he intends to serve. State media has said the removal of term limits will not alter conditions for retirement or create a president in perpetuity, but has offered no details.

Xi is expected to expand his yearslong campaign against corruption within the party to include all state employees through the creation of a new National Supervisory Commission, while continuing to pursue a muscular foreign policy and policies to upgrade the slowing economy.

No shouting or moaning

Economic growth and social stability have allowed Xi to amend the constitution and carry out other moves that once seemed highly contentious, said Kerry Brown, professor of Chinese Studies and director of the Lau China Institute at Kings College, London.

Really no one is going to shout and moan too much because growth and stability are considered so important, Brown said Friday in a talk to foreign media in Beijing.The Bulawayo branch of the Movement for Democratic Change led by Nelson Chamisa has been granted a provisional order to use local offices, which were occupied by a faction of the party led by deputy president Thokozani Khupe.

The High Courts order follows recent clashes at the provincial offices between the two factions in which some MDC-T activists, including Khupes aide Witness Dube, were seriously injured.

Professor Welshman Ncube, who is the leader of another formation of the MDC and one of the principals of the MDC Alliance, represented the MDC provincial leadership.

In a statement, the MDC-T led by Chamisa said it was pleased with the outcome of the court, noting that the offices were being illegally occupied by Khupe and her followers.

The MDC-T Bulawayo province was today granted a provisional order by the High Court to take back control of their party offices which had been seized by force by the MDC-T deputy President Thokozani Khupe and her 8 followers last week, through their lawyer Professor Welshman Ncube of Mathonsi Ncube Law Chambers, who is also the MDC president.

The same law firm was also instrumental in successfully getting bail for the 15 MDC-T Provincial members who were falsely accused of inciting violence during the clashes at the party offices last week.

The provisional order instructs the respondents, Khupe and her eight followers to immediately vacate the MDC-T Bulawayo provincial offices, which they had seized by force and hand back control of the building to the provincial chairperson Gift Banda (applicant).

The order decreed that the actions by Khupe and her group of forcibly taking over the party offices were unlawful. They were ordered not to interfere with the provincial chairmans occupation of the office or disturb meetings, activities or programmes or vandalise any property which is in that office.

Defiance of this directive by the respondents will result in the immediate arrest and prosecution of Khupe and her group.

Reacting to the court verdict in a letter signed by Witness Dube, the Khupe group noted that the purported eviction of MDC-T acting president from the Bulawayo Provincial Office, through a High Court spoliation order, is a grossly misleading piece of information. Hon. Dr. Khupes opposing affidavit to the order that was sought by Bulawayo Provincial Chairperson was expressly for the purpose of challenging the false allegations which Councillor (Gift) Banda (MDC-T provincial chairperson) had stated in his founding affidavit.

The MDC-T Bulawayo Provincial Office was and must always remain accessible to all members of the party regardless of differences in points of view and opinion. It comes as no surprise therefore that the enemies of constitutionalism, democracy, rule of law, and freedom of speech and association are making every effort to disturb this meeting. Hon. Dr Khupe wishes to advise all members and supporters to remain calm, resolute, and focused to finishing strong.

Khupe and Chamisa have been fighting over the control of the party following the death of Morgan Tsvangirai a month ago. Chamisa has been endorsed by all organs of the party as the president and MDC Alliance presidential candidate for the forthcoming election.South African president Cyril Ramaphosa says his government is assessing Zimbabwes land reform program and other models in an effort to implement sound agrarian reforms in the South Africa.

Speaking in Harare on Saturday where he met his counterpart, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Ramaphosa said there is on-going dialogue in South Africa on the land reforms.

 There is dialogue and debate in the nation on how we can deal with the issue of land and clearly in the course of doing so we are also going to be looking at those in the region and in the world who have dealt with the question of land and how best they have done so.

So we are going to be drawing some examples, some lessons from Zimbabwe and a number of other countries. Our debate and discussion is going to continue until it matures to a very firm position which will then be adopted by our national parliament. So, right now its an exciting moment in our country and we have actually said to South Africa they should not be fearful. They should not be filled with great anxiety. We are involved in a very enriching process of debating a matter like land like we did when as we moved towards ending apartheid.

Ramaphosa said there are expectations that the debate on land would result in the adoption of a sound land policy in South Africa.

Discussions on ending apartheid were extensive, they were rich and they ended with a very good outcome and likewise on land I think we will have a good outcome which will unite the nation.

The South Africa parliament had a heated debate on land a couple of days ago in which the opposition indicated that Ramaphosas government is trying to come up with agrarian reforms similar to Zimbabwes land reform program, which left thousands of white commercial farmers stranded.

Some critics have over the years blames the land program for decimating Zimbabwes agricultural output following the violent seizure of white-owned commercial farms by local people linked to the ruling Zanu PF party.

Ramaphosa warned last Sunday that land invasions would not be tolerated as the ruling African National Congress 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.

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.HARARE (Reuters) - Four months after his overthrow, former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe was back on familiar territory on Friday, splashed across the front pages after lambasting his successor as a disgrace.

The 94-year-olds first media interview since his forced resignation in the wake of a November military takeover caused a stir on the streets of the capital. Groups of people milled round piles of newspapers stacked high on pavements.

People pretend that they dont like the old man but the moment he opens his mouth they all want to hear what he is saying. Look, the newspapers are almost sold out, said Kelvin Chijokoro, a street newspaper vendor.

Mugabes attacked the legitimacy of new President Emmerson Mnangagwa and told South African state broadcaster SABC he had never thought his former protege would turn against him.

Mnangagwa, a former Mugabe security chief nicknamed The Crocodile, refused to get sucked into a slanging match, saying Mugabe was simply enjoying his constitutional right to free speech - a right routinely denied to Zimbabweans during Mugabes 37 years in power.

He is entitled to express himself freely, as is the case for any private citizen, Mnangagwa said in a statement.

Pointedly, the state-owned Herald newspaper, which has switched from being Mugabes propaganda mouthpiece for the last three decades to Mnangagwas, ignored the interview.

TWITTER VITRIOL

Mugabe, one of last Big Men of African politics, had been the dominant political force in Zimbabwe since the country gained independence from Britain in 1980 and many citizens had come to believe he would die in office.

His comments were the main topic of conversation in a hair salon in downtown Harare on Friday.

He should live with the reality that he is not in power anymore and Zimbabwe is better without a dictator like him, said hair stylist Rosemary Wakatama.

Zimbabweans were even more forthright on Twitter

Goblin (Mugabe) is a bitter, egocentric and vindictive geriatric. He is finished. Get out of that freaking suit and rest old man, said @mmatigari.

Mnangagwa has been feted by African leaders and the West. But many have said they will be watching elections in the next five months as the first major test of his rule.

Some Zimbabweans agreed with Mugabe that his successor was illegitimate.

Lets go back to constitutionalism, no matter how much we hate Mugabe the fact is, this was a coup detat and I feel sorry for Zimbabweans going forward, said @JonesMasango.On February 19, Boko Haram insurgents abducted 110 girls from their school in Dapchi, a town on the Komadugu Gana River in northeast Nigeria.



Days after the kidnapping, President Muhammadu Buhari said on Twitter, I share the anguish of all the parents and guardians of the girls that remain unaccounted for. I would like to assure them that we are doing all in our power to ensure the safe return of all the girls.

Nearly a month later, agonized families wait and hope for their loved ones release while the government prepares for a potential negotiation with Boko Haram.



Prevalence of violence across continent



Kidnappings and shootings terrorize communities and command international attention. But millions of students in Africa experience other kinds of school-based violence, with profound effects on their development and well-being.



In 2012, researchers with the Center for Justice and Crime Prevention concluded that more than 20 percent of students in South Africa were either threatened with or became victims of assault, sexual assault or robbery.



The researchers found that violence in schools often mirrors an overall pattern of abuse that children experience in their homes and communities.



Last year, Human Rights Watch reported that, in Tanzania, adolescent girls frequently face sexual harassment or are persuaded or coerced into sexual relationships by their teachers.

Sexual assault



Rather than provide safe haven, schools too often become venues for the sexual exploitation of children, especially girls.



In 2003, researchers at the University of Sussex concluded that girls in Zimbabwe, Ghana and Malawi were subjected on a routine basis to aggressive sexual advances from older male pupils and male teachers within the school.

They determined that sexual aggression goes largely unpunished, dominant male behavior by both pupils and teachers is not questioned, and pupils are strongly encouraged to conform to the gender roles and norms of interaction which they observe around them.



In the school setting, sexual assault often involves a breach of trust by caretakers.



In South Africa, where researchers have documented widespread school-based sexual abuse, the parliament in October said that the safety of the school environment must be reasserted to ensure that parents feel free to send their children to school.



Their statement followed ongoing reports of sexual abuse perpetrated by educators, including a guard alleged to have assaulted 87 girls in Gauteng, one of South Africas nine provinces.

Now, the district attorney in Gauteng has issued a memorandum of complaint to the local police department with allegations that an investigating officer himself assaulted multiple girls in the course of the inquiry.



Corporal punishment



Many African school children experience daily violence in the form of corporal punishment, which the United Nations defines as any punishment in which physical force is used and intended to cause some degree of pain or discomfort, however light.



The Committee on the Rights of the Child concluded that corporal punishment harms childrens physical, psychological and social development. Researchers have found that degrading forms of punishment interfere with learning and produce behavioral problems.



In Africa, corporal punishment remains widespread. Five countries  Nigeria, Somalia, Tanzania, Mauritania and Botswana  have no prohibitions in any settings, according to the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children, an advocacy group founded in Geneva in 2001. A combined 128 million children live in those countries.

An additional 22 countries have prohibitions in only some settings, of which 12 have no prohibitions in schools.



There are some bright spots. In 2007, Togo became the first African country to prohibit corporal punishment fully, followed by Kenya, Tunisia and the Republic of Congo in 2010, South Sudan in 2011, Cabo Verde in 2013, and Benin in 2015. An additional 18 countries have committed to full prohibition, according to data from the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children.



Cycles of violence



Experts highlight educations potential to unlock opportunities and break cycles of violence and oppression, especially for girls. Violence in school settings, however, remains widespread and can negate those benefits.



Researchers have documented the harmful fallout: unwanted pregnancies, dropouts, and long-term physical, psychological and social consequences.



Thats a concern for the millions of school children exposed to violence, and for the Dapchi schoolgirls  and the more than 100 Chibok girls, kidnapped in 2014  who remain missing.LONDON (Reuters) - Zimbabwe has attracted around $300 million in its coal industry that will quadruple production next year versus 2017, its mining minister told an investment conference in London on Thursday.

The country, which says its abundant mineral resources include more than 40 exploitable minerals, is seeking to lure foreign investment to reboot its economy after a coup that pushed out veteran leader Robert Mugabe last year.

Minister of Mines and Mining Development Winston Chitando said interest had focused on coal, as well as on lithium and platinum.

He was speaking to investors in London, attending his first conference on Zimbabwe outside Africa since taking office.

In Cape Town in February, he had said battery mineral lithium was among the most popular deposits.

He told London investors coal output in Zimbabwe would reach more than 8 million tonnes next year compared with around 2 million in 2017. Speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of the conference he said that followed investment of around $300 million. He did not name the investors.

Zimbabwe says it is trying to develop solar power too, but needs to address its energy needs, which are responsible for around 25 percent of its import bill because of a shortfall in domestic generation.

Many miners see a strong business model in coal as a high-margin business and a cheap way to generate power in remote African communities.

The worlds biggest shipper of export quality coal Glencore says the best coal will generate profits for the foreseeable future because of a shortage of new supply following a collapse in investment during the 2015-16 commodity downturn.

It says there is still demand, despite environmental opposition to the most polluting fossil fuel.

Zimbabwe is at the same time trying to promote those minerals that serve a cleaner world economy.

Speaking in Cape Town in February, Chitando announced a lithium deal. In London, he said another would soon follow. He also said there was interest in Zimbabwes platinum reserves, which are second only in scale to those in South Africa.

International companies seeking to develop lithium in Zimbabwe - which Chitando has said could meet around a fifth of the worlds needs - include Prospect Resources and Chimata Gold.

As terms for foreign investors get tougher in some African jurisdictions, notably Democratic Republic of Congo, many investors welcome Zimbabwes promise of a stable environment and regulatory certainty as well as a crackdown on corruption.

For anyone investing more than $100 million, Chitando said there would be a special mining license, meaning particularly favorable conditions, such as negotiating royalties.Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue.

The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website:

We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service.The recovery effort was very difficult, said Juan Perez, director of the Miami-Dade Police Department, but it appeared that crews had finally got the last victim out. He said another search through the wreckage would be made. But he said he was confident that there was no one left.Eighteen days after conception, the unborn babys brain begins to form. At about three weeks, the heart begins to beat, circulating the babys blood. At six weeks, brain waves are detectable and at seven weeks, the baby is kicking. By week nine, the baby can suck his or her thumb and move his or her head. From weeks 10 through 13, bones harden and teeth, fingerprints and fingernails begin to form. At 26 weeks, the spinal cord and pain receptors are in place for pain transmission to the brain.Russia has also been implicated in cyberattacks on U.S. and European nuclear, water and electric facilities. Such shadowy maneuvers, often hard to attribute and slow to be discovered, are just the latest in Mr. Putins toolbox of asymmetric tactics against the West, which also includes fomenting political chaos, splitting alliances and hyping new military threats. The sanctions imposed so far on Russia are the beginning of a response but cannot be the end. The United States and its allies need a serious, long-term strategy for dealing with Russia that is clear-eyed about Mr. Putins capabilities and intentions and recognizes his highly personalized system of authoritarianism. If he insists on a new Cold War, the West must respond. While certain threats can be reduced with arms-control agreements, others may require building up defenses, such as against cyberattacks, or finding new means of deterrence. The United States must also find a robust voice to speak up for the truth when Mr. Putin hides it, as it did in the last Cold War. So far, unfortunately, President Trump has not found that voice.Karen Freeman-Wilson (D), the mayor of Gary, Ind.  a.k.a. a public official who actually accomplishes useful things  had recently spent a day with a pothole-repair crew in her city of 80,000. She said the potholes were so prevalent, you had to ask, why are we even doing this? We need to be paving this street. Well, wheres that money going to come from? And these are main roads! And then the side streets. . . . And then someone comes into my office and says, When are you going to repave my alley? I said, Are you kidding me? We never suggested for a minute that we needed to stop fighting for rural areas, Maloney said. What we saw was a surge in Republican support in rural areas and a move away from Republicans in the suburbs. What youre seeing now, on top of that, is a surge in Democratic turnout. Its a combination of dispirited Republicans and a highly energized Democratic base.Rooney, Dent and Flake have all decided to retire at the end of the year. That gives these Republicans the freedom to speak their minds, about Trump and their congressional leaders. They are part of a select group of Republicans who will place the blame where they believe it lies, sometimes pointing their fingers at party leaders and Trump, while most of their GOP colleagues keep mum or offer outright support.McCabe, who conducted interviews with several media outlets in advance of his firing but declined to do so with The Washington Post, said in his statement he was being singled out and treated this way because of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed when the president fired Comey as FBI director. Mueller is looking at that termination as part of his examination into whether Trump was attempting to obstruct justice.Rickie was one in a millionBoeings newest and smallest 737 Max jetliner took flight for the first time, into blue skies  and a cloudy, crowded market.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 17/3/2018 (1284 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Boeings newest and smallest 737 Max jetliner took flight for the first time, into blue skies  and a cloudy, crowded market.

The takeoff, Friday morning outside Seattle, was characteristically drama-free for the third of four planned models in the Max family. Boeings upgraded planes have largely met milestones on a schedule plotted years ago even as the manufacturer pushes single-aisle output to record highs.

But prospects for the new aircraft  the Max 7  are hazy. Sales have flagged as low-cost carriers migrated to larger, more economical models. Even Southwest Airlines Co., the launch customer for the Max 7 and largest operator of the 737-700, the jets predecessor, is part of the trend. The Dallas-based carrier has ordered 30 Max 7s, and 210 of its larger sibling, the Max 8.

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Chicago-based Boeing responded to the Max 7s two biggest customers, Southwest and Canadas WestJet Airlines, by stretching the narrow-body planes airframe to seat 138 people, a dozen more than originally planned. The new model also flies farther than other Max models or its competitors. With a range of 3,850 nautical miles, the new jet should be able to fly directly from Dallas to Honolulu.

Competition is fierce. New models from Brazils Embraer and Canadas Bombardier are jockeying for sales in the same sliver of the market: jets that seat between 130 and 150 travellers. Frances Airbus has all but conceded sales for its A319neo as it prepares to take control of Bombardiers C Series through a joint venture forged last year.

The flood of new planes might rekindle airline interest in the category, however, said Richard Aboulafia, aerospace analyst with Teal Group.

"It could be the Max 7 stays in a small niche," he said.

"Or maybe the Embraer and C Series jets stimulate the 130-seat market. It is a notch up from the no mans land of 100-seaters."

 Bloomberg NewsA plant-based epoxy being developed on a local Hutterite colony has received a government grant to help take the product to the next level.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 16/3/2018 (1285 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A plant-based epoxy being developed on a local Hutterite colony has received a government grant to help take the product to the next level.

EcoPoxy, a company started by Oak Bluff Hutterite Colony east of Morris, was made beneficiary of a $167,000 grant this week from Growing Forward 2, a five-year federal-provincial-territorial initiative.

EcoPoxy uses mostly bio-ingredients to make an odourless epoxy, and the company is close to developing one made from locally grown soybeans.

"For a lot of woodworkers working out of their garage, with typical epoxies you practically poison yourself. Our product, you dont even smell it. There are no solvents," CEO Jack Maendel said.

As well, typical epoxies are made with petroleum that took thousands of years to form. "Our product is made from annually produced crops," Maendel said.

Manitoba Agriculture Minister Ralph Eichler and MLA Cliff Graydon (Emerson) were on hand for Thursdays press conference at the EcoPoxy premises on the colony.

Hutterite colonies are good at manufacturing for niche markets. In Manitoba, there are Hutterite colonies that make bike racks, picnic tables, fire pits, kitchen cabinets, fire engines, prefab homes, floor trusses, roof trusses, meat smokers, wood-fired stoves and graphic signage.

"There are too many colonies in woodworking and metalwork already. We didnt want to be copycats. We wanted something unique, and its hard to find something unique anymore," Maendel said.

The company has only been operating for a couple years. Its epoxy is currently used in floorings and furniture such as tables and countertops.

"River tables are huge. Thats where you have two slabs of wood with a gap in the middle, and you flood the gap with epoxy and it looks like a river, and you can pigment that any colour," Maendel said.

The company also applies an epoxy coating to flooring in industrial trailers for local firm International Truck Body.

The grant money will be split 50-50 on equipment purchases. Half will be used to buy equipment for EcoPoxys lab. Currently, its lab outsources testing of each sample at $2,500 a crack with a three-week turnaround.

"Thats too long and too expensive," Maendel said. Part of the grant money will be used to buy their own testing equipment, which will turn around results in 24 hours.

Supplied UVProxy, one of the products created by EcoProxy

The other half of the grant will go towards purchasing a machine to fill the product into containers, which is currently being done manually.

EcoPoxy currently has 15 employees, five of whom are non-Hutterites.

"We have a chemist from Winnipeg, one from Steinbach, a sales manager from Morris, my assistant is from Morris," Maendel said.

The grant will allow the company to hire two more employees, one from the colony and one from outside.

"We dont have the expertise. When we dont have the talent, we wont hesitate to hire" outside the colony, Maendel said.

"The important work being done at EcoPoxy advances both our economic and environmental goals in agriculture, and builds on Manitobas strategic advantages," Eichler said at the press conference. He called colony members "innovative Manitobans who are committed to capitalizing on new ideas and opportunities."

The Oak Bluff colony started in 1952. It has always been dependent on agriculture, mostly on crop farming but also hogs. When its hog business collapsed about a decade ago, it went looking for something to replace it.

"We wanted to do something different because we didnt like being blamed for polluting Lake Winnipeg, even though that isnt true," Maendel said.

It went searching for an ecology-themed business and had a few misses before it hit on bio-based epoxy. It has been developing plant-based epoxies for the past two years. Its epoxy is currently made with cashew oil, linseed oil (flax) and other bio-ingredients the company wishes to keep confidential.

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

The colony has partnered with a chemist to make epoxy from soybean oil. Soybeans are a relatively new and booming crop in Manitoba, but there is no local crushing capacity. Maendel hopes that crop production, along with processors such as EcoPoxy who use soybean oil, can convince investors to build a soybean-crushing plant in Manitoba.

"We grow soybeans, but we export them all to South Dakota, where they are processed into meal, and then we buy the meal back and feed it to our livestock," Maendel said.

He said the research is about three-quarters of the way to producing a soybean-based epoxy.

EcoPoxy has about 70,000 followers on Instagram and is available at Artists Emporium in Winnipeg and Windsor Plywood stores across Western Canada, as well as Janzens Paint & Decorating stores in Winkler and Steinbach.

bill.redekop@freepress.mb.caA man who lodged a complaint against the Winnipeg Police Service with the Manitoba Human Rights Commission has been told it will take 18 months before an investigation even commences.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 16/3/2018 (1285 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A man who lodged a complaint against the Winnipeg Police Service with the Manitoba Human Rights Commission has been told it will take 18 months before an investigation even commences.

Michael Kalo said he was first told last June that it could take a year for the probe to begin. When he inquired recently about the status of his complaint, he was informed that the investigation likely wouldnt begin until the end of December.

PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Michael Kalo says it will take the Manitoba Human Rights Commission 18 months to begin a probe against city police.

"I found that to be unacceptable," Kalo said Friday.

He has filed a complaint over the delay with the provincial ombudsmans office, which has told him it is looking into the matter.

A spokeswoman for the ombudsman said it is against policy to confirm or comment on any investigations that may be in progress.

However, Kalo said he has received confirmation that the ombudsman will examine whether the estimated wait stated by the commission is fair and reasonable and conforms with government policies and legislation.

Kalo, who is self-employed, believes that a year-and-a-half wait for an investigation to begin is unreasonable  and may render any probe "ineffective."

"How can this be possible in a city that has a beautiful human rights museum... where so much money has been spent on the idea of promoting human rights?" he said of the lack of resources that has apparently "paralyzed" the human rights commission.

Kalo said his human rights complaint stems from a civil suit against police, the result of which is still pending. He alleges that an affidavit in the case included a database screenshot about him that was racist.

"They referred to my race  they said not-white," he said.

Kalo said the document further said he was Middle Eastern and suggested he might be violent. He said there was no basis to the suggestion, and he doesnt have a criminal record. He said authorities have photos and fingerprints of him on file because he is an immigrant.

"Im originally from Israel, I dont know what non-white is. I thought there was only one race, the human race," he said.

A Justice Department spokeswoman said late Friday that the government recognizes that wait times at the human rights commission are long.

She said in an emailed statement that the government supports the commissions efforts to address the issue.

"As an example of these efforts, we are aware that the commission is utilizing a new triage system to identify earlier in the process the level of investigation, which may be required. There are other improvement initiatives underway to shorten the timelines for handling complaints," she said without elaborating.

The spokeswoman did not indicate whether the department may provide extra funding for commission staff to reduce the backlog in cases.

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Human rights lawyer David Matas said the commission should provide up-to-date wait times information on its website  not only indicating how long it is taking to initiate investigations but how long it is taking to complete them.

"Its a problem and I think it needs to be addressed," he said of the lack of posted information.

Providing better information up front would benefit would-be clients  and the institution itself, as it would not have to spend as much time fielding calls inquiring about a files progress.

Matas noted that the Canadian government posts wait times for processing various types of visa applications, and the human rights commission should adopt a similar system.

He also pointed out that there are alternative remedies for most human rights complaints. In Kalos case, that could mean taking his complaint to the board that supervises police, he said.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.caFashion magnate Peter Nygard celebrated his companys golden anniversary with the Nygard 50 Years in Fashion event at the convention centre Friday night. The fashion show featured vintage looks from Nygards decades in business. More than 600 people attended the show, dinner and dance.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 17/3/2018 (1285 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Fashion magnate Peter Nygard celebrated his companys golden anniversary with the Nygard 50 Years in Fashion event at the convention centre Friday night. The fashion show featured vintage looks from Nygards decades in business. More than 600 people attended the show, dinner and dance.

Earlier Friday, it was announced that 70 long-term employees at the Winnipeg-based clothing maker Nygard International were to get a $10,000 bonus.

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

PHOTOS BY JASON HALSTEAD / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Eighties styles on the runway.

Employees who have 25 or more years of service found out about the big bonus in a speech Nygard delivered to workers Friday morning, the company said in a news release.

The release said the company founder told employees the firms success is the result of their dedication, ingenuity and loyalty.

"The people here are what matters," Nygard said. "You are the fabric of the company. You are family."

According to its online site, Nygard International has some 12,000 employees, headquarters in Toronto, New York and Los Angeles, 170 dedicated stores in North America and more than 6,000 department store "shop-in-shops" worldwide. According to a 2015 report, the company has annual sales in excess of US$500 million.

Its not the first time the chairman has handed out big bonuses to long-time employees, the business said.

In 2003, Nygard offered $10,000 bonuses to longtime employees to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the company, the release said.Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 17/3/2018 (1284 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Point Douglas recreation centre has been renamed in honour of Sergeant Thomas George "Tommy" Prince, a highly decorated Indigenous veteran.

The North Centennial Recreation and Leisure Facility at 90 Sinclair Street will now be called Sergeant Tommy Prince Place. The facility held a ceremony to mark the change on Saturday, and unveiled a new sign for the building.

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Tommy Prince

Sergeant Prince was a member of the Brokenhead Band of Scanterbury, Manitoba and a descendent of Chief Peguis, according to Veterans Affairs Canada.

He enlisted in the Canadian military in 1940 at the age of 24 and initially served as a sapper in the Royal Canadian Engineers before volunteering to become a paratrooper and joining the 1st Canadian Special Service Battalion.

That battalion later merged with a U.S. unit and became the 1st Special Service Force, known to the Germans as the "Devil's Brigade". The unit "became a versatile assault group with a reputation for specialized reconnaissance and raiding," says Prince's biography on the Veterans Affairs website. "Prince was well suited to be a member."

Sergeant Prince distinguished himself in action during two separate reconnaissance missions in 1944, one in Italy and the other in France. King George VI decorated Prince with the Military Medal, as well as a U.S. Silver Star on behalf of the president, making Prince one of only 59 Canadians to be awarded that honour.

Sergeant Prince "showed tremendous courage both on the battlefield and in his tireless work on behalf of Indigenous peoples," said Point Douglas Councillor Mike Pagtakhan in a City of Winnipeg press release on Saturday.

"It is my hope, and the hope of Winnipeg City Council, that this centre in the heart of Point Douglas, which now bears his name, will help keep his achievements and his sacrifice shining brightly in the memories of all Winnipeggers and all Canadians."A 43-year-old man from Swan River is dead after his snowmobile collided with a tree early Saturday morning, according to Swan River RCMP.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 17/3/2018 (1284 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A 43-year-old man from Swan River is dead after his snowmobile collided with a tree early Saturday morning, according to Swan River RCMP.

The fatal collision took place at 2:25 a.m., about six kilometres southeast of the town. The man "was travelling with a small group when it appears he lost control of his snowmobile and veered off the trail colliding with a tree," according to an RCMP press release.

The man, who was wearing a helmet, was transported to hospital and later pronounced dead. Swan River RCMP say "speed and alcohol are factors in the collision," and are continuing to investigate.

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

It's the seventh fatal snowmobile incident in Manitoba since January 20, according to RCMP spokesman Sgt. Paul Manaigre. There were six fatal snowmobile-related incidents in 2017, he said.

Manaigre said the RCMP is "just trying to get the message out for people to ride safe, and know your limitations."

An RCMP press release issued Wednesday also reminded snowmobilers to slow down on unfamiliar terrain, keep an eye out for unexpected obstacles, ride in groups, inform others where they're riding, use proper protective gear, and beware of thawing ice.

Above all, the RCMP press release advised snowmobilers to ride sober.

"Drinking and operating a snowmobile don't mix," said the release.At the peak of his career, Doug McLean was overseeing a staff of 25 at IBM in Winnipeg and winning awards for his work.

This article was published 17/3/2018 (1285 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

At the peak of his career, Doug McLean was overseeing a staff of 25 at IBM in Winnipeg and winning awards for his work.

"I was having a blast," he says at the kitchen table of an east Winnipeg condo he shares with his wife Sandy and rescue dog Ruby.

Then, in his early 50s, he struggled at work.

Doug and Sandy share a happy moment on the couch at home with their dog Ruby. (Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press)

"Schedules were really screwed up. Simple executive functions are gone. There was a lot of frustration," he says, leaning into the conversation. "I loved my job but I had to quit. When you cant do two-plus-two or five-plus-five, youre done.

"It sucks. The worst part is, you dont know whats going on. What used to be normal isnt normal anymore."

It took several agonizing years of misdiagnoses before he found out what was wrong.

Doug, who is just 61, has Lewy body dementia. It causes a progressive decline in mental abilities. It affects the areas of the brain that involve thinking and movement. The dementia occurs because of abnormal protein deposits  called Lewy bodies, after Friederich Lewy, the scientist who first described them  inside the brains nerve cells that interrupt the brains messages.

"I am going to die of the disease," Doug says without a trace of self-pity.

Over the next two decades, Manitoba will be hit by a dementia tsunami.

By 2038, the number of aging baby boomers with some form of dementia is expected to double, to more than 40,000.

Medical experts and people struggling with the disease say not enough is being done to prepare an already-strained health-care system for whats coming.

"There are more people at risk every year we get more into the baby boom," says Dr. Barry Campbell, a geriatric psychiatrist and well-known Manitoba dementia expert.

"More than ever, theres a concern that weve got to do things better so we dont get overwhelmed."

Some Manitobans are already feeling overwhelmed.

"Theres no happy story here," Doug says. Its what his wife Sandy describes as an increasingly rare "good day"; his mood is upbeat and his train of thought stays on the rails.

Hes waiting for his ride to take him on an afternoon outing.

"Now, a lot of it is finding ways to have positive outcomes in your day-to-day life. Its important to do that."

But its far from easy.

"The hardest thing is, I look normal and I could be in a situation where I look around and say, Oh, Christ, where am I? Thats the scary part," he says.

Thats why he enjoys going to Actionmarguerite, a facility in St. Boniface that offers a day program for adults with cognitive difficulties. Doug feels a sense of relief and belonging when he joins the group. He can play shuffleboard and socialize without anyone judging him.

Doug and his support worker Howard Andersen spending time together at the mall before heading to a movie. Their outings help keep Doug active and socially connected. (Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press)

Its one of four outings a week for Doug, who gets picked up at home by paid companion Howard Andersen.

"Hes my lifeline," says Sandy. The McLeans are allotted 20 hours of help each week through provincial "self and family-managed home care." Thats where Andersen comes in; they hired him through a private agency to spend that time taking Doug out for activities, giving Sandy some respite.

"With home care, they come and sit in your house," she says. "That wouldnt be good for Doug. Hes active  he likes to get out and do things."

Andersen also takes Doug to an Alzheimer Society of Manitoba support group downtown, swimming and to visit Dougs mom, who is in her 90s. Sometimes, the McLeans will buy tickets for Doug and Andersen to attend a Moose game together.

"Doug and Howard clicked," she says. "Hes around the same age as Doug and they get along great."

Sandy and Doug used to do everything together. They met online in 2005 after both came out of long marriages, 25 years each. Sandy says she was immediately attracted to Doug.

"It was an instant thing. He was, and still is, very good looking. He was very nice, very easygoing," she says. "Doug was a very confident person. He was a manager at IBM. I was a supervisor at the tax centre."

Both were workaholics. Both have grown children living in Winnipeg.

"There's no happy story here," says Doug. (Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press)

"We wanted the same thing in our retirement  to live outside the city and snowbird in the winter. Everything lined up," she says.

They bought property in Pinawa, spending every weekend there preparing to make it their summer home. They had season tickets for the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre. They travelled a lot. Trim, fit and tanned, they were sun-worshippers who enjoyed basking by the pool during winter vacations to Mexico.

Then, the sun began to set on their bright future.

"Just after we got married in the summer of 2008, I noticed a lot of personality changes," Sandy says. "He went from a super-confident, almost arrogant person  especially at work, where he won all these awards  to someone who got a new project at work and was super-stressed. It was the first time I saw him stressed about anything. I didnt worry until 2009, when he was packaged out (his employer gave him severance and showed him the door).

"It was horrible," Sandy continues. "Work was his life."

Doug applied for other jobs and was often hired. He would try them out, then quit. That went on for nearly two years. It was like he was having a nervous breakdown, Sandy says.

"At 50-something, I didnt know you could get dementia," she says.

It wasnt Dougs memory, but his executive functioning  his mental flexibility  that faded, leaving him struggling.

In 2009, they got a referral to see a neurologist. It didnt go well. The specialist seemed to think Doug wasnt trying, Sandy says. He was sent for a neuro-psych test and and that didnt go well, either, she says.

"During the process I went through trying to find out what was going wrong, I blew up," Doug says, adding he couldnt perform the tests he was asked to do.

Rather than letting Doug take a break and calm down, they showed him the door, Sandy says.

"They stopped the testing and wouldnt let him redo it.... They told us to get his stress under control."

The specialist treated him like he had a bad attitude and anxiety, not someone with a cognitive impairment, Doug says.

The physical and emotional strain caring for her husband has taken a toll on Sandy. (Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press)

"He diminished what was happening to me. I know theres something wrong with me. I know in my head that this is not normal."

Sandy felt frustrated and helpless. "We kind of floundered for another year or two."

Doug got a minimum-wage guard job but struggled to understand the work schedule. He was angry, bitter and doing less. He was also becoming more confused. When they decided to paint their ceiling, he taped the ceiling rather than the walls. When they rented a U-haul, he went to put gas in it and came back furious, saying it didnt have a gas gauge.

"He would come home with crazy stories," she says. "He would phone me 10 times a day at work and then forget to pick me up from work."

In a search for answers, Doug went to the Anxiety Disorders Clinic. At his first visit, the doctor said it wasnt anxiety, but rather early onset Alzheimers.

Doug was referred to Campbell, a geriatric psychiatrist. By this time, Doug couldnt tell time on an analog clock. But they had to go back to the original neurologist for a diagnosis.

The neurologist said Doug didnt present as someone with Alzheimers. "He decided again that he felt Doug was stressed out or had another mental disorder," Sandy says.

Sandy helps Doug in their kitchen. (Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press)

Doug was sent for another neuro-psych test and this time, a woman administered the test, stopping when he got flustered and needed a break. That was followed by a PET (positron emission tomography) scan.

"It showed damage all over his brain," Sandy says. In 2014, six years after his cognitive problems started to show, Doug was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia.

"He thought he was going insane and feeling suicidal," she says. "A lot of that was stemming from not knowing what was wrong with him, from people not telling him."

Once he got the diagnosis, he was able to take medication that helped significantly. But those drugs are becoming less effective as the disease progresses, she says.

"Every days a different day. In the first few years, when Doug got on the right pills we did some things on our bucket list. We went to Scotland and on an Alaskan cruise." she says. "Weve done some really nice things."

Getting a diagnosis of LBD brought some relief, but knowing there is no cure and the disease will only get worse was devastating, says Sandy, who was diagnosed with a heart problem and had to leave her own job in 2015.

Doug, meanwhile, was frustrated and angry.

"I spent a lot of time tip-toeing around," she said. "Hes got a bad temper  you do everything to not rock the boat."

In December 2016, she had to call 911 when his anger erupted and he hurt her.

At times, hes turns his rage on himself. Hes been suicidal, Sandy says, who stopped him from jumping ship on the Alaskan cruise.

They cant travel anymore.

The couple got an eight-year-old rescue dog, Ruby, a few months ago. (Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press)

He cant make coffee, but can still talk. However, the man with a vocabulary that once wowed his wife now has to pause mid-sentence to find the right word.

"His confidence is not there," she says.

Doug has a cellphone that he cant use, but carries as a tracking device. The couple got an eight-year-old rescue dog, Ruby, a few months ago. "Shes been a godsend," Sandy says.

Doug sometimes cant see the playful, affectionate pooch on the floor because Lewy body dementia affects his vision and depth perception. Sandy puts bright green masking tape on fridge and cupboard shelves and the basement stairs so that Doug can see them.

"With Lewy body, he could have motor issues, stiffening and tremors one day  be a zombie and shuffle around  and then 24 hours later, he could be running."

Another troubling LBD symptom is a sleep disorder during which people physically act out their dreams. One night Doug dreamed he was being chased by a bear and got out of bed and was running around the house. Another time, Sandy was awakened by Doug with his hands around her throat.

"He physically attacked me a couple of times during the night," she says. "You could see that he had to be sleeping." Hes now on medication, which has helped. And they now sleep in separate rooms.

Sandy sometimes is moved to tears as she looks back at the life they once had before Dougs dementia. (Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press)

Sandy has reached out for help but its been a tough stretch  from getting the initial diagnosis to managing day to day as his primary caregiver.

At first, they went together to a weekly Alzheimer Society of Manitoba support group, which was beneficial. The non-profit organization points people in the right direction for help, but cant navigate the system with each individual, says Sandy, who struggled to figure that out for herself.

Sandy shaves Doug's face; it is a task he can no longer do himself. (Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press)

She stopped going to the support group after two years because she felt she was giving more support than she was receiving and she feels she no longer has any to spare. Doug goes on his own with his companion.

They face their next step with trepidation. She doesnt want Doug to move into a personal-care home, but looking after him on her own is exhausting.

"One of the hardest parts of being a caregiver to someone with dementia is that you need to be hyper-vigilant at all times," she wrote in an email after being interviewed. The person with the disease doesnt recognize danger anymore and can injure themselves at any time, she said.

"I caught him using his moustache groomer as a toothbrush. He broke the groomer but luckily did not break his teeth."

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Tape was put on each stair to help Doug coordinate walking down the stairs. (Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press)

Sandy says she was putting off shoulder surgery because she will be in a sling for a few weeks and worries about how shell manage caring for herself and Doug.

Doug understands that his situation will never improve. He wishes he could be euthanized when hes in the final stages of his disease, as federal law now allows people with other terminal and debilitating illnesses to apply for assisted death.

But thats not the case for those who have been diagnosed with dementia. Doug says people in his situation should be allowed to arrange for it while they still have the intellectual capacity to understand what theyre doing.

"I know my life is going to be the shits. I know Im going to get worse. If Im in a situation where Im not aware and not cognitive of my situation, I dont want to be here.

"Our system is buggered up."

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.caThe new Innovation Centre that Red River College is building in Winnipegs Exchange District has been making headlines recently, but for all the wrong reasons.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 17/3/2018 (1285 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Opinion

The new Innovation Centre that Red River College is building in Winnipegs Exchange District has been making headlines recently, but for all the wrong reasons.

The Winnipeg Free Press has covered extensively the uncertainty this crucial project is facing due to unrealistic construction deadlines set by the federal government. Despite raising alarm bells with Ottawa in recent weeks and months, the college is still waiting for a resolution.

This is unfortunate, because the better story is what the new centre will bring to our city and our province  what it will mean to the students it will serve; to the surrounding cluster of startups and leading edge industries in Innovation Alley; and to the unique, urban "gem" the revitalized Exchange District is quickly becoming.

'It won't have many traditional classrooms. The rooms are designed for collaboration, with open space to mingle and connected alcoves where industry partners can set up shop and become part of the learning process.'  Paul Vogt

The $95-million, 100,000-square-foot Innovation Centre, announced last April, is merely Red Rivers latest contribution to the revitalization of our historic Exchange District.

It started 15 years ago when the college took a risk and opened its first building on Princess Street, bringing 2,000 students, faculty and staff downtown and creating a catalyst for the renaissance that has been taking place in this iconic neighborhood ever since.

That building, later named the Roblin Centre, set a high bar for the colleges presence in the Exchange, preserving the architectural heritage that makes the area a unique and appealing destination, while incorporating modern classrooms, labs and equipment. Behind the facades of the old mercantile shops, a state-of-the-art campus was built for students in computing, business, design and communications.

Five years ago we did it again, taking the old Union Bank Tower on Main Street  vacant and derelict for 17 years  and transforming it into a leading-edge culinary and hospitality training school with dining areas and a 90-bed student residence. Now known as the Paterson GlobalFoods Institute, the school has helped spark an emergence of exciting new restaurants in the area, many involving college alumni.

Our new Innovation Centre will live up to the standards of its award-winning predecessors. It will be located on a site that includes an old market warehouse on Elgin Avenue. It is a century-old structure built to serve for another century. Our design will preserve this heritage building in its entirety, while incorporating a new structure that is modern, green and outfitted to meet the needs of 21st-century education.

The very design of the new facility is central to the Innovation Centre story. It is also the story of Red River College and how we have always been about turning major challenges into new opportunities and historic pivot points.

Our mandate is to provide students with job-relevant skills; to produce graduates who can hit the ground running wherever they are hired. We are, in fact, a little obsessive on this point. We survey our students six months after they graduate and the results show that 94 to 96 per cent of our grads are employed in the fields they were trained for.

We also get high marks from employers, but are also constantly reminded that we cannot rest on our laurels; that the college must keep changing in order to meet the needs of our students and employers, and match the accelerated pace of todays workplace.

Across all sectors of our economy, workplaces are undergoing rapid transformation, driven by the introduction of new technologies and process or product innovations. Employers are looking for technical skill sets that match their innovation strategies. They are also looking for a more general set of skills  the so-called "power skills"  that contribute to an employees resilience and adaptability. These include the abilities to solve problems, work effectively within a team, communicate well and acquire new competencies as needed.

Our response to these emerging needs is college-wide, but the new Innovation Centre is where the changes will be most apparent. Modelled on a similar facility recently opened at Waterloo University, our Innovation Centre is designed to facilitate an approach known as collaborative- or problem-based education  where teams of students learn by working directly or "colliding" with local firms, social enterprises and entrepreneurs.

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

In one sense, we are just doubling down on the colleges strength, which is our close industry partnerships. The growth of Red Rivers applied research program  to the point that we are now the top applied-research college in Western Canada  has added a new dimension to our partnerships, supporting Manitoba companies and enterprises in product and process development.

At our Exchange District Campus we work closely with Innovation Alley (now North Forge) to provide entrepreneurs and startups with facilities and expert advice. The payoff to the college, of course, has been to expose our students to leading-edge innovations and the real-world challenges of getting ideas off the ground. The Innovation Centre will feature this form of collaboration on a much grander scale.

In another sense, this is about the changing face of education. The Innovation Centre wont have many traditional classrooms, where rows of seats are aligned to face "the sage on stage." The rooms are designed for collaboration, with open space to mingle, wall-to-wall whiteboards and connected alcoves where industry partners can set up shop and become part of the learning process.

The Innovation Centre will bring an additional 1,200 students to the Exchange District. It will allow us to accommodate rising demand for our existing programs in computing, business and communications. We will also be bringing our language training programs to the Exchange and adding new programs in Indigenous entrepreneurship and social enterprise. Most importantly, we will be breaking down boundaries between our program areas, offering students the opportunity to acquire different combinations of skills, with an emphasis on problem-solving and innovation.

This model of education is taking root across Canada and North America. If Red River College loses this opportunity, we run the risk of falling behind other jurisdictions when it comes to modernizing and innovating our college system. We need the federal government to honour its promises to Manitoba and ensure our students and employers have the same competitive advantage as others across the country.

Paul Vogt is president and CEO of Red River College.Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 17/3/2018 (1285 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

To understand Americas great gun divide, visit Springfield, Mass.  birthplace of the US$17-billion-a-year U.S. firearms industry.

Famously liberal Massachusetts  with among the strictest gun-control laws and the lowest shooting-death rate  is the king of guns. By the latest federal tally, Massachusetts accounted for a quarter of the 11.9 million made each year, more than any other state, according to Small Arms Analytics, an industry research firm.

Springfield is the unofficial capital of "Gun Valley," the chain of factories and suppliers that extends from Smith & Wesson and Savage Arms in western Massachusetts to Sturm Ruger & Co. and Colt in Connecticut.

Along with its snub-nosed revolvers and nine-millimetre pistols, Springfield-based Smith & Wesson makes the popular AR-15-style assault rifles  including the very weapon used to murder 17 students and teachers on Feb. 14 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.

But residents cant walk into a local gun shop and buy the latest Smith & Wesson M&P15 "modern sporting rifle, as the company prefers to call it. By and large, Springfields own elected officials favour those restrictions, and even the towns economic boosters de-emphasize an export that contributes to 13,000 homicides a year in the U.S.

"The contradiction is striking," said John Rosenthal, a gun owner and founder of Stop Handgun Violence in Massachusetts. "We couldnt be more proud of the results of our gun laws, and we couldnt be more embarrassed that Massachusetts gun makers are wreaking havoc across the nation."

Kevin Kennedy, Springfields chief economic development officer, calls Smith & Wesson a "good citizen." But he likes to shift the subject to a planned MGM Resorts International casino, which will become the citys biggest employer. Smith & Wesson has slashed its manufacturing workforce by a quarter over the past year. It now employs 1,000 or so, according to Kennedy.

Smith & Wesson gets short shrift in a two-minute city promotional video, called "Springfield Rising." It lauds the casino, restaurants and new rail car factory. No mention of guns.

The camera hovers for a split second over Smith & Wesson headquarters  described only as a "legendary manufacturer"  then quickly moves to the parking lot, where cars are sheltered under an array of solar panels. "Innovative Solar Project," it reads, as if Smith & Wesson were in the green energy business.

Smith & Wessons headquarters, a prison-like beige-brick compound encircled by high fences and barbed wire, literally stands apart from much of the city of 150,000 and isnt open to the public. The company, now officially called American Outdoor Brands Corp., declined to comment.

This cold shoulder bothers gun enthusiasts in Springfield, 145 kilometres west of Boston and 225 kilometres north of New York City.

Just outside the city limits, Walter Lamon sells guns at Culverine Firearms, where photos of soldiers adorn a store packed with boxes of Smith & Wesson revolvers.

His business, like Smith & Wessons, boomed under U.S. President Barack Obama because of fears of gun confiscation and fell under National Rifle Association booster Donald Trump. Shares of American Outdoor Brands have lost almost two-thirds of their value since the 2016 presidential election.

J.B. Reed / Bloomberg files Revolver cylinders on a rack at the Smith & Wesson factory.

Lamon, 70, loathes Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, a Democrat, who tightened the states assault-weapons ban. A photo of Healey, with a hand-drawn Hitler mustache, hangs on a wall, reading "Heil Healey."

In Massachusetts, "the gun industry and people like me are vilified," Lamon said. "Thats because the majority of folks have a more liberal bent."

For almost a decade, David Upton, 34, managed orders for Smith & Wesson and experienced the gun divide even in romance: when he was dating, some women recoiled in horror at his employer, while others asked if he could take them shooting.

"The joke when I was there is that we cant sell 90 per cent of the guns we make to people who live in the state," he said.

Upton, who now works at a craft brewer, said his old job has since moved to gun-friendly Missouri. In fact, Massachusetts may be losing its status as a gun leader, as manufacturers ship operations to the South and Southwest, according to Jurgen Brauer, Small Arms Analytics chief economist.

"Increasingly, these kinds of companies feel theyre in a little bit of a foreign land culturally," Brauer said. Employees bristle at being "constantly affronted by anti-gun sentiment when they go to church or the grocery store."

Springfields firearms focus dates to the Revolutionary War, when George Washington selected the city for the nations first armoury, which functioned as a U.S. army gun factory for almost two centuries.

There, inventors transformed the muzzle-loading rifle of the Civil War era into modern breech-loading weapons and then the Second World Wars signature M1 Garand rifle. For the Vietnam War, the armoury was the site of testing for the M16 rifle, the military version of the AR-15.

Less than a kilometre away, the Springfield Museums offer visitors the Smith & Wesson Gallery of Firearms History. Sponsored by the company, it features 1890s pistols engraved by Tiffany jewellers and a prized, nickel-plated .357 Magnum.

"FOR MECHANICAL SKILL, STRENGTH, ACCURACY AND PENETRATION THEY ARE UNEXCELLED," reads an early Smith & Wesson ad featuring a man in a cowboy hat and handlebar mustache.

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

But Karen Fisk, the museums marketing director, says few tourists visit that gallery; they flock instead to the new museum honouring Springfield native and author Dr. Seuss.

Bud Williams, a former schoolteacher and probation officer, focuses less on the history of guns and more on their impact today. As a state representative, his district includes Smith & Wesson. More often than he likes, he finds himself comforting the families of gunshot victims in a city whose violent crime rate rivals Chicagos. (Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP, donates to groups supporting gun control, including Everytown for Gun Safety.)

"This is supposed to be a civilized society, why are there so many guns?" he asks.

To take guns off the streets, Williams, a Democrat, is planning a buyback program. In 2013 and 2016, such efforts netted hundreds of guns that were later destroyed  though a handful of the most valuable are stored at Springfields famed armoury, now a museum run by the National Park Service.

In other words, Springfield celebrates, manufactures, sells  and destroys  guns.

 BloombergIt started with the slaying of a young journalist and his fiancee at their home. Then came street protests not seen since the fall of the Iron Curtain. Now the future direction of another European country is at stake as a prime minister fights for his political life.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 17/3/2018 (1285 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It started with the slaying of a young journalist and his fiancee at their home. Then came street protests not seen since the fall of the Iron Curtain. Now the future direction of another European country is at stake as a prime minister fights for his political life.

How quickly things have changed for Slovakia. A bastion of stability in a region dominated by nationalist governments at odds with the rest of the European Union, the country has been thrust into political turmoil.

Tens of thousands of people turned out again last week to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Robert Fico, whom they blame for allowing rampant corruption. Interior Minister Robert Kalinak, a close ally of Ficos, resigned Monday before a key party in the governing coalition said it would push for an early election. It means a vote could come within months. Fico said on Wednesday that he is willing to resign if the coalition is allowed to stay in power, a last-ditch effort to avoid an early election.

"If the government collapses, theres a danger that Euroskeptic parties rise to power, which could seriously alter Slovakias stance towards the EU," said Jiri Pehe, director of New York University in Prague. "A change could lead to Slovakia joining Hungary and Poland, and possibly the Czech Republic could slide there too, which would be a very dangerous situation for the whole central European region."

It seemed everything was going right for Slovakia, a country of 5.4 million wedged in the heart of a continent. A change of power 20 years ago and ensuing economic reforms turned what U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright called "the black hole of Europe" in 1998 into a world superpower in car production and a member of Europes single currency.

The rosy picture started to crumble in February, when investigative reporter Jan Kuciak and Martina Kusnirova were killed in what the police said may be related to his work about the mafias outreach all the way to the countrys political leadership.

Fico, 53, has refused demands from protesters in more than 40 towns and cities, opposition parties and a coalition partner to stand down. The prime minister denies all allegations of wrongdoing.

Slovakia is "living a success story," Fico said. "Weve come a long way over those 25 years and peoples lives are better. This story cant end with one tragedy, however painful it is."

Fico has headed Smer, the most popular party, for 19 years and convinced opponents to join his third government two years ago. He won mass support with handouts for the poor including free train tickets and welfare programs.

While the gloss started to come off during his latest term in power, the countrys per capita gross domestic product stands at more than US$16,500, up 26 per cent from when he first became prime minister in 2006, based on World Bank data.

The Slovak leader has portrayed himself within the EU as a counter-voice to populist strongmen such as Hungarys Viktor Orban and Polands Jaroslaw Kaczynski.

That image was tarnished last week as he lashed out against his rivals and accused them of orchestrating attacks against him with the help of billionaire George Soros. The comments echoed Orban, who has made the Hungarian-born financier the arch-enemy of his "illiberal democracy."

"Fico recently said that Slovakia is an island of pro-European sentiments in central Europe," said Paul Lendvai, 88, a Vienna-based author of numerous books on central Europe. "You cant be an island of democracy when youre up to your waist in dirt." He called it a "very dark period for Slovakia."

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

It harks back to troubled times among Slovaks. Soon after the country split from Czechoslovakia and gained independence in 1993, it dove into a period of power grabs and cronyism under the authoritarian rule of Vladimir Meciar that derailed entry into NATO and put EU membership at risk.

Meciar lost power in 1998 and following governments introduced a flat tax and sold state assets to western companies. It quickly earned Slovakia the political kudos needed to join NATO and then the EU in 2004 along with its neighbours.

The country is one of the worlds largest per capita producers of cars, churning out Porsche Cayennes and Audi Q7 SUVs at the Volkswagen plant outside of Bratislava. The capitals region is among the richest in the EUs eastern states.

The problem is that people have lost trust in institutions and the authorities, and Slovakia is "deeply divided," Ingeborg Graessle, a European Parliament member from German Chancellor Angela Merkels Christian Democratic party, told reporters last week after co-leading an EU fact-finding mission.

"I hope it will end like in 1989 and the regime will go," said Peter Bezak, 28, a marketing specialist at a mass protest last week in Bratislava. "Im ready to come here every day until Fico and Kalinak are gone."

 BloombergAmerican analytical publication The National Interest, which specializes in military and political topics and has a broad international audience, published an article "America's Double Standard on Nagorno-Karabakh", written by Farhad Mammadov, the director of the Center for Strategic Studies under the president of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

One of the most important promises of Donald Trumps presidential campaign was to end the damage that special interest groups and lobbyists inflict on the United States national interests, and to pursue an America first policy in the best interests of the American people. It is quite well-known that there are groups that speak on behalf of non-U.S.-allied nations, and tend to promote policies that benefit their home nation with little regard for Americas best interests. One clear example is the promotion of this weeks visit by the so-called president of the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Bako Sahakyan to the United States, which was organized by the Armenian diaspora in the United States. This event has already had a negative effect, which is why Azerbaijans Ministry of Foreign Affairs has presented a note of protest to the United States.

Bako Sahakyan represents the Nagorno-Karabakh region (as well as seven surrounding regions), which is internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan that Armenian armed forces invaded during the 198894 Karabakh War. The putative statehood of Nagorno-Karabakhs separatist regime is not recognized by any international actors, even by Armenia. Its unilateral institutional secession from Azerbaijanthrough the referendum took place without the participation of Azerbaijanis living therewas conducted by both Armenian and Karabakh Armenians in between 1988 and 1992, under the thesis of reunification with Armenia and a self-determination clause. It was rejected by Azerbaijan, and the Supreme Soviet of the USSR did not authorize the proposed unification/secession without Azerbaijans consent.

Resolutions of the UN Security Council (822, 853, 874 and 884) and General Assemblyalong with a commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijanarticulate the inviolability of international borders and the inadmissibility of the use of force for the acquisition of territory. Those resolutions also condemn the occupation of Azerbaijans territories, and demand the complete and unconditional withdrawal of Armenias armed forces. Armenia has implemented none of the resolutions, and therefore Azerbaijan has territorially blocked Armenia in accordance with the United Nations Charter, Article 41. Armenias attempts to secede Nagorno-Karabakh from Azerbaijan through military methods clearly failed to meet international standards on self-determination. Azerbaijan has repeatedly voiced that changing the countrys internationally recognized borders could be decided through a nationwide referendum, in accordance with the requirements of Azerbaijans constitution.

Over the past few decades, Armenia has continued its military buildup (by deploying undeclared military hardware and military personnel) and illegal economic activities in Azerbaijans occupied territories. Nonetheless, Armenia tries to portray the clash that took place in April 2016 as an act Azerbaijani military aggression, although Azerbaijans military response was merely a counteroffensive operation in response to a large-scale military provocation by Armenian armed forces along the line of contact as reiterated by Azerbaijans president, Ilham Aliyev. Although Armenia claimed that the country does not occupy or have armed forces in Azerbaijani territory, most of the soldiers and officers who died on the Armenian side in the April 2016 war were originally from the Republic of Armenia.

It should be underlined that one of the main duties of Western observers and experts must be a very careful approach to each sides nationalist narratives and claims, which have justified all kinds of violence and obstructed resolution of the conflict. In fact, the conflict cannot be solved according to any sides historical claims and imagined narratives, but rather according to principles of international law. Modern international law is based on the system established by the UN Charter, and precludes the violation of state borders through the use of force; therefore, the current international system should be regulated in accordance with the principles of international law. Otherwise, the system will lead to disorder and chaos. Since the history of the South Caucasus is full of conflicts and territorial claims, undermining international law and establishing double standards might set negative and bloody precedents for the future.

Before referring to long-ago historic events in his recent article, the United States former ambassador to Armenia, John Evans, should have carefully studied Armenians popular claims that Stalin transferred or awarded Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan. This claim does not have any ground in historical fact, and is an intentionally jumbled translation from Russian to English. Historical documents prove that the creation of autonomous Nagorno-Karabakh within Azerbaijan was first suggested by G. K. (Sergo) Ordzhonikidze, a member of the politburo of the Communist Party, in his telegram to Stalin and Georgy Chicherin in 1920. Furthermore, in all firsthand historical sources, and in all instances from Bolshevik rulers of the region during that period, the decision regarding Nagorno-Karabakh was not to hand over, to pass, to awardas Armenians claim. But, in all instances, the decision involved the Russian verb , which means to keep or to preserve, within Azerbaijan. The honorable ambassador, who is an expert on Russias history and language, understands very well the difference between the English verb allocate and the Russian verb , and has all the resources at his disposal to double-check these facts.

After Donald Trump entered the White House, he signed a decree banning former administration officials from lobbying the United States on behalf of foreign governments. The activities of the Armenian lobby are a well-known fact, and its influence over U.S. foreign policy has always been tremendous. The Armenian diaspora has been lobbying in hopes to shape U.S. foreign policy toward a pro-Armenian stance on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. One of the Armenian lobbys significant achievements was the adoption and maintenance of Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act, which has frozen U.S. aid to Azerbaijan. Although previous Democratic and Republican administrations alike have understood the negative impact of Section 907 for U.S. national interests, and tried to remove it, the strong Armenian lobby has successfully resisted these efforts. That the Armenian diasporas lobbying through financial and political means hampers American policy in the South Caucasus has been voiced by officials of previous administrations.

The United States has hitherto supported the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan within its internationally recognized borders. Azerbaijan, as a secular Muslim country, has been always a trustworthy partner for the United States in fighting international terrorism and supporting the U.S. mission in Afghanistan. Azerbaijan has also emerged as a reliable platform for international negotiations, including for dialogue between Russian and American military chiefs. Moreover, Azerbaijans contribution to the energy security of the United States European allies is an undisputed reality.

Azerbaijan considers it an unfortunate double standard that separatist leaders from occupied breakaway territories of Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova are banned from entering the United States and Europe, while so-called officials from Azerbaijans occupied territories can freely travel to both Europe and the United States. Therefore, receiving Bako Sahakyan in Washington undermines the United States approach (as the OSCE Minsk Groups cochair) to the peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and serves as a detriment to friendly relations between the United States and Azerbaijan.The man arrested for beating a security guard with an assault rifle at the gated Anastasia Island community where his parents lived in March 2017 received probation Wednesday after pleading to lesser charges.

Jake Andrew Dewerth pleaded no contest during a morning session at the St. Johns County courthouse to charges of burglary of an unoccupied structure and felony battery.

Per the terms of a plea agreement in the case, Circuit Judge Howard Maltz withheld adjudication on the charges and sentenced Dewerth, 20, to 10 years of probation (consecutive 5-year terms for each count) with special conditions.

Those conditions, listed in court by Dewerths attorney, Patrick Canan, include his attendance at Aspiro, which was described as an outdoor behavioral health program. He will also not be allowed to have contact with the victim, will not be allowed to visit the Sea Colony neighborhood where the incident occurred, and will not be allowed to ingest drugs or alcohol or possess any firearms. He is required to pay restitution to his victim  which court documents show have already been paid  and will be required to complete any other recommended mental health treatment.

St. Augustine Beach Police officers arrested Dewerth the night of March 5, 2017 after they, along with St. Johns County sheriffs deputies responded to the gates of the Sea Colony neighborhood and found the guard there badly injured from an apparent beating.





1/1 HIDE CAPTION Jake Andrew Dewerth [ST. JOHNS COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE]

Police reports of the incident said the guard was taken to Flagler Hospital and was later determined to have suffered a dislocated jaw, broken nose and a fractured cheekbone.

Dewerth, who was 19 at the time, was taken into custody not far from the neighborhoods guard shack where he was found walking barefoot, wearing only red shorts and a gray tank top with blood on them.

According to one of the arrest reports in the case, surveillance video recovered from the area, and later released to the media, showed Dewerth approaching the guard shack with a rifle.

According to the report, the video later displays [the guard] on the ground and Dewerth with a rifle in his hands.

It appears as though [the guard] had already been injured inside the office and was already showing fatigue, the report says. Dewerth then strikes [the guard] with the butt of his rifle repeatedly in the face and the back of his head.

Dewerth then points the rifle at [the guards] head and it appears like he could fire the gun at any moment, it continues.

The guard told officers the night of the incident that he didnt know what had precipitated the beating and said that the man who attacked him was talking about the governor and at one point asked him What did you tell the governor?

The gun, parts of which were found near the guard shack and outside of Dewerths parents home, was later determined to be an AK-47. His parents, who had also called 911 the night of the incident to report that their son was acting strange, told authorities during that call that he had taken the gun with him when he left their house.

Dewerth was originally facing charges of burglary with an assault or battery, aggravated battery on a security officer and two counts of possession of similitude of drivers license.

The 7th Circuit State Attorneys Office did not file a single count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for which Dewerth had also been arrested, and later dropped the two drivers license charges.

The charges to which he pleaded no contest were lesser included offenses of the burglary and aggravated battery charges.

Assistant State Attorney Rebecca Emert, who only recently took over the case, said the victim is in absolute agreement with the disposition which was arrived at after extensive review of discovery by the cases previous prosecutor and division chief Chris Ferebee as well as numerous psychological evaluations by defense and state doctors.

You are getting a big break here ...  Maltz told Dewerth after handing down the sentence. Take advantage of it and dont come back here. Hopefully we dont see you back here on violation of probation.

The guard sued Dewerth and his father, Henry Dewerth, in civil court seeking damages for, among other things, medical expenses and loss of wages in the past and/or loss of earning capacity in the future. The complaint alleges, in part, that Dewerth had inflicted emotional distress and and that the father had negligently entrusted the gun to his son due to mental health issues and other behaviors that made it foreseeable that the son would use the gun for nefarious purposes.

The father, the complaint goes on, owed a duty to those who might be injured by his son to exercise reasonable control over the firearm so as to ensure that he did not create an unreasonable foreseeable zone of risk of bodily harm to others.

Court records show that case was settled in mediation on Feb. 21.





27 commentsFrance and Germanys finance ministers agreed to draw up a roadmap for euro zone reform before June on Friday, meeting for the first time since Chancellor Angela Merkel formed a new coalition government. As Reuters writes in the article France, Germany aim for euro zone reform roadmap by June, Berlin and Paris both talk up the need for European renewal but Merkel is at odds with French President Emmanuel Macron over the pace and scope of reforms to the euro zone project that they both cherish.

We must agree by June a Franco-German roadmap for the whole euro zone. Itll be very tough work, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said, adding that talks would focus on the blocs joint rules and institutions making up its banking union and convergence in the way corporate tax is calculated.

France and Germany had originally hoped to offer a joint vision for deeper integration within the single currency bloc by this month, but Merkels difficulties forming a coalition delayed achieving this.

Now that the German government is in place, the French leader is itching to press ahead with reforms, aware that the window of opportunity is narrow ahead of European elections next year and Britains looming departure from the European Union.

Macron has championed a euro zone finance minister and an independent budget for the single currency bloc, but members of Merkels conservative bloc are wary of deeper integration and shudder at the thought of pooling risks and debt with less financially stable member states.

We have put a certain number of very concrete divergences with serious consequences on the table. I can guarantee you that we are going to resolve them, Le Maire said at a joint news conference with his new German counterpart Olaf Scholz. The German minister said that progress needed to be made on completing banking union in the euro zone and consensus needed to be found on further integration steps.Scholz, a 59-year-old Social Democrat, is likely to stick to Germanys fiscal conservatism but may adopt a more conciliatory tone toward poorer euro zone countries such as Greece than his predecessor Wolfgang Schaeuble. When Scholz was asked if he wanted to be a force for further euro zone integration in Merkels cabinet, he replied simply: yes.The day after the Trump administration imposed its most punishing series of sanctions to date against Russia, the New York Times weighed in with an editorial titled Finally, Trump Has Something Bad to Say About Russia ... And, not surprisingly, it still falls short.

An announcement from the Treasury Department Thursday unveiled a set of punitive measures against 19 Russian individuals and five organizations, including the countrys two main intelligence agencies, the Federal Security Service, or FSB, and the GRU, the intelligence arm of Russias military.

The statement cited the unsubstantiated allegations of Russias attempted interference in US elections, essentially citing the same individuals and entities as the indictments issued by special counsel Robert Mueller, with some additions.

The Russian meddling campaign has been the focus of the Times since before the 2016 presidential election. It has treated the claims made by US intelligence agencies and operatives as incontrovertible facts, magnifying the minuscule activities of a fly-by-night operation in St. Petersburg that placed content on social media into a full-scale war on America democracy and an attempt to sow discord in what supposedly was an otherwise satisfied and united US society.

In addition to the trumped-up charges about election interference, the Treasury Department cited a new, and significantly more ominous, pretext for the imposition of sanctions. It claimed that Russia had carried out cyberattacks targeting multiple U.S. critical infrastructure sectors, including the energy, nuclear, commercial facilities, water, aviation, and critical manufacturing sectors.

No evidence has been given to support these allegations, but, given recent US national security documents changing US policy to include cyberattacks as a justification for retaliation with nuclear weapons, the charge is a deadly serious matter.

In tandem with the sanctions, Trump joined with the heads of government in the UK, Germany and France in issuing a joint statement indicting Russia for alleged responsibility for a nerve gas attack in the UK that has hospitalized a former Russian intelligence officer and his daughter. Once again, no evidence whatsoever has been produced to substantiate the responsibility of the Russian government, which has denied any involvement and demandedto no availthat the British government provide samples of the substance allegedly used in the attack.

The sanctions and the statement have produced the tensest standoff between Moscow and the Western powers since the height of the Cold War. Issued in the context of military confrontations in Syria and an increasingly tense military standoff in Eastern Europe, they have significantly heightened the threat of a catastrophic confrontation between the worlds major nuclear powers.

But for the editorial board of the Times, these provocative measures do not go nearly far enough.

While such steps are encouraging, only a more robust, unified response from the United States and its NATO allies would impede President Vladimir Putin from expanding his pattern of heinous behavior, the editorial declares.

The penalties must go further, the Times demands. It chides Trump for failing to issue a more bellicose statement Thursday and contrasts him unfavorably with his right-wing and provocative ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, who declared the alleged attack on the former Russian spy in the UK a defining moment and demanded action to hold Russia accountable. It also lauded National Security Adviser Gen. H.R. McMaster, who is reportedly about to be fired by Trump, for indicting Russia for being complicit in Assads atrocities in Syria.

The editorial goes on to criticize the joint statement by the four major NATO powers for saying nothing about joint action and even condemns British Prime Minister Theresa May, who ordered the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats from London, along with a number of other measures, saying she didnt go far enough.

All of this war mongering is founded on lies and hypocrisy. The editors of the Times are outraged by Russias meddling in the US elections by means of a paltry presence on social media and its supposed hacking of Democratic National Committee email accounts.

Yet it has no problem with the wholesale meddling of Washington, which has spent billions to rig elections, create parties, fund candidates and spread propaganda to shape the governments of former Soviet bloc countriesand, indeed, those of countries around the worldto serve US interests. It takes no notice of the massive hacking operation of the US government and its intelligence agencies, led by the National Security Agency (NSA), which was revealed to have hacked even the cell phones of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.

As for atrocities in Syria, the Times has led the rest of the media in a human rights outcry over civilian casualties inflicted by the brutal Russian-backed Syrian government siege of the Damascus suburb of eastern Ghouta, but remained largely silent on the massacres of thousands of civilians by US airstrikes and artillery bombardments in the Syrian city of Raqqa and the Iraqi city of Mosul, both reduced to rubble.

The Times outlook is guided by its editorial page editor James Bennet, a state-connected figure whose brother is a right-wing Democratic senator from Colorado and whose father was a State Department official who headed the Agency for International Development (AID), an instrument for CIA provocations in countries around the world.

The newspapers reaction to the latest tensions with Russia largely conform with the positions taken by leading figures in the Democratic Party. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer dismissed the Trump administrations sanctions Thursday, declaring that they were not enough. Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that the measures were only a first step and demanded to know why its taken the administration so long to lay out these sanctions.

The Democratic Party has not concentrated its fire against Trump based on his attacks on immigrants, assault on democratic rights and right-wing social and economic policies centered on tax cuts for the corporations and the rich and destruction of social benefits for the working class. Rather, it has served as the political advocate for sections of the military-intelligence apparatus opposed to any abandonment of the strongly anti-Russian policy adopted under the Obama administration. In attempting to subordinate all opposition to Trump to this right-wing militarist agenda, the Democrats are promoting not only war, but also the suppression and criminalization of all popular opposition to Americas ruling capitalist establishment.

As for the Times, all of its hyperbole about Russian aggression, Syrian atrocities and heinous behavior is rooted, not in any defense of democracy, human rights or morality, but in the geostrategic interests of US imperialism. Russia stands as an obstacle to the drive to impose US hegemony by military means over the Middle East, Eastern Europe and the broader Eurasian landmass.

In promoting anti-Russian hysteria, the Times is playing a critical role in attempting to condition public opinion to the preparation for a war that threatens the survival of humanity.The foreign ministers of Russia, Turkey and Iran, Sergey Lavrov, Mevlut Cavusoglu and Mohammad Javad Zarif, have stressed continuity of their efforts to have a positive impact on the resolution of the Syrian war and decreasing violence. As Daily Sabah writes in the article Turkey, Russia, Iran to continue efforts for solution to Syrian crisis, the three guarantor countries published a joint statement on Friday after the trilateral meeting in the Kazakh capital of Astana, citing their "commitment to territorial integrity and the independence of Syria."

The statement said: "The progress prompted by the eight meetings in Astana is welcomed" and added that there is a need for momentum to find a political solution. It also said that the next meeting in Astana would be held in mid-May.

Speaking at a joint news conference in Astana after the meeting, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called for a cease-fire in Eastern Ghouta, as many civilians have lost their lives in the latest attacks. "I talked with my two counterparts to make the situation better in Eastern Ghouta, which was caused by the [Syrian] regime. We underlined the need to differentiate terrorists from civilians," Cavusoglu said.

He said that there is a need to have different strategies for neutralizing terrorists, especially in places with dense civilian concentrations. "We are also against all terrorists going to Idlib. There they constitute a threat to the people, the opposition and all of us," he said. "We welcome the efforts of Russia in providing humanitarian aid, but we need to stress that it is insufficient. We need to be more determined to immediately convey humanitarian aid to the regions regardless of the besieged areas without obstacles."

Cavusoglu said they are sensitive to civilians in Eastern Ghouta, al-Foua, Kefraya and east of the Euphrates River. He said that a lasting solution is required for the Syrian war and that the situation on the ground is better now when compared to previous periods with the de-escalation zones created with the Astana process.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stressed the significance of the Astana talks and added that "some countries that want the partition of Syria cannot accept the cooperation between Turkey, Russia and Iran. "This meeting proves that we want to cooperate to resolve the Syrian crisis." Lavrov also said that the three parties agreed on the upcoming summit, which will be held on April 4 in Istanbul. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said that Tehran considers the Astana process as the only successful step to stop the war in Syria.

Turkey, Iran and Russia launched a Syrian peace process in Astana to complement the U.N.-brokered talks in Geneva to bring an end to the seven-year conflict in the country. The three countries held a series of summits in Russia's Black Sea city of Sochi, to bring together the conflicting parties in Syria.

Last year, Turkey, Iran and Russia agreed in Astana to establish de-escalation zones in the northern province of Idlib and parts of neighboring Latakia, Hama and Aleppo.

Under the Astana agreement, Turkey is to gradually establish 12 observation points from Idlib's north to south to monitor and sustain the current cease-fire agreement for the de-escalation zones, deliver humanitarian aid and ensure the secure return of displaced people. In the Astana meeting, the foreign ministers of the three countries pointed to the positive results of the de-escalation zones and decided to continue with the process.

Meanwhile, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry, following the Astana talks, Sergey Lavrov also stated that the success of collective efforts made it possible to bring closer the complete elimination of ISIS, Jabhat al-Nusra and other terrorist organizations designated as such by the UN Security Council. He also noted, that the unreasonable attempts to belittle and even nullify the significance of the Astana process were undertaken in the past and are still undertaken by those who do not accept the fact of the partnership between Russia, Turkey and Iran, and those who would like to prevent the preservation of Syria as an integral state and wants to turn this most important country into another territory of chaos, where it is convenient to engage in geopolitical games. Against this adventurous line, the three guarantor countries firmly demonstrate their unchanged adherence to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Syria, that is, the fundamental principles enshrined in the UN Security Council resolutions, primarily in the UN Security Council Resolution 2254. These most important principles were clearly confirmed by the representatives of all segments of the Syrian society during the Congress of the Syrian National Dialogue held in Sochi in January this year, which was convened at the initiative of the presidents of Russia, Turkey and Iran. Today we agreed to continue our assistance to Syrians in restoring the unity of the country and the achievement of a political settlement, including through the creation, as was agreed at the Congress in Sochi, of the Constitutional Committee and the launch of its work in Geneva in the near future. At the same time, we support firmly a political process, led and implemented by the Syrians themselves. As the UN Security Council has decided, Syrians themselves must conclude negotiations without the outside interference. Syrians themselves will determine the future of their country. "

According to Lavrov, the further coordination of Russia, Iran and Turkeys efforts as the three guarantor countries is especially important today, when the situation in Syria in areas such as Eastern Ghouta, Yarmouk, al-Foua and Kefraya, Rukban, Rakka, in the provinces of Idlib and Hama has seriously worsened: "There is a one-sided reading of the situation around Eastern Ghouta, familiar to us due to Eastern Aleppo. It is evident that some of our Western colleagues are trying to get out of the stride and save the combat potential of terrorists, primarily Jabhat al-Nusra, who act as provocateurs of the Western geopolitical actors who are guided by anything but the interests of the Syrian people.The constant bombardment of Damascus, which killing civilians, blocking convoys with humanitarian aid, despite the daily humanitarian breaks introduced since 27 February, not only keep the capital of Syria at bay , but also give a rise to the far-fetched accusations of the Syrian authorities, as well as Russia, in insufficient actions to implement the provisions of UN Security Council resolution 2401. We remind you that any use of force against Damascus on the basis of far-fetched pretexts is unacceptable. The recent threats of the unilateral military strikes against Syria, including Damascus, as it was in April last year on the basis of the unfounded accusations of chemical attacks by the government of Syria, are unacceptable. This was clearly stated by the American representative through diplomatic and military channels ... Despite all the hype raised around Eastern Ghuta, we continue to work to assist the Syrian authorities in withdrawing civilians, providing access to humanitarian convoys, evacuating sick and injured people, which leads to the obvious results".Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev sent a congratulatory letter to Pope Francis, in which he congratulated him on the Papal inauguration day.

"On my own behalf and on behalf of the people of Azerbaijan, I cordially congratulate you and all Catholics on the Papal inauguration day.

Recently, the relations between Azerbaijan and the Holy See have entered a new stage. The mutual high-level visits contribute to the promotion of a dialogue between civilizations and religions and tolerance.Foreign Minister of Canada Chrystia Freeland has stated Canada would issue $4.6 million to Ukraine for military exercises and provision of special equipment for the Ukrainian army, Kyiv Post reports citing the website of the Canadian government.

It is noted that funding from Canada will be used for equipment for first aid and training military.John Bailey, the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, is under investigation for allegations of sexual harassment.

The Academy received three harassment claims on Wednesday and immediately opened a probe, according to sources familiar with the situation.

Bailey was elected president of the institution in August. If he were forced to step down, he would be temporarily replaced by Lois Burwell, a veteran makeup artist who is the Academys vice president, until the next election in July.

Baileys tenure has been marked by a historic shift in the Academys approach to misconduct by its members. In October, the Academy voted to expel Harvey Weinstein less than 10 days after the New York Times first reported on his history of sexual harassment. The Academy also replaced Casey Affleck, who settled two sexual harassment lawsuits in 2010, as the presenter of the Best Actress award at this years Oscars.

In December, the Academy established a code of conduct which provides that members may be disciplined or expelled for abuse, harassment or discrimination. The Academy also set up a claims process which set forth how such allegations would be adjudicated.

Under the policy, the Academys Membership and Administration Committee reviews allegations. If deemed credible, they can be forwarded to the full Board of Governors for consideration of discipline.

Bailey is a veteran cinematographer who shot such films as The Big Chill and Groundhog Day. He is the first below the line leader of the Board of Governors since the 1980s. He is also known as a scholar of film history, and had a keen interest in how the crafts would be represented in the Academys museum, which is now under construction.

Upon his election to a four-year term, succeeding Cheryl Boone Isaacs, there were concerns about whether a 75-year-old white man was best suited to lead the Academy at a time when it is making a push to diversify its membership.

Story continues

When asked about that by Variety last year, Bailey said, What you just said is bulls. I was born a white man, and I cant help it that Im 75 years old. Is this some sort of limiting factor?

Related stories

Jennifer Lopez Shares Her Own #MeToo Story: 'I Was Terrified'

Metropolitan Opera Fires Conductor James Levine for 'Sexually Abusive and Harassing Conduct'

Korean Actor Jo Min-ki Found Dead After Sexual Assault Accusations

Subscribe to Variety Newsletters and Email Alerts!Angelina Jolie doesnt only embrace the aging process, she loves it. At 42, the activist, actor and director, says she welcomes signs of getting older, and shes proud of the reflection she sees in the mirror.

I look in the mirror and I see that I look like my mother, and that warms me, Jolie tells InStyle in an interview to promote Guerlains new Mon Guerlain Eau de Parfum Florale. I also see myself aging, and I love it because it means Im aliveIm living and getting older. Dont love having a random dark spot from a pregnancy, sure. I see my flaws. But what I see that I like isnt about a structure or an appearance. Its more that I see my family in my face. I see my age.

Recently, Jolie has been stepping out sporting a simple winged eye liner look and a bold red lip, (her makeup artist tells PeopleStyle that her go-to shade is from Guerlain), which shes capable of doing herself, instead of having to depend on a makeup artist.

RELATED: Every Star Whos Said They DGAF About Aging

And if shes not sporting a red lip, she says she plays up her eyes instead. I do either dark eyes or red lips. I have very full, big features, so if I did everything, Id look a bit like a clown. Itd be just a lot.

While the mother-of-six says she occasionally gets IPL skin treatments to remove dark spots that developed during pregnancy, she shares that she doesnt have much more than one second to indulge in other beauty treatments, as much of her time is spent tending to her kids and her activism.

In September, Jolie opened up to People about her devotion to her children.

We all have our difficult times, but as a mother you also have a responsibility first and foremost towards the kids, the actress, who split from husband Brad Pitt in TK, shared. They are going through their formative years and everything else comes second to that.

For more from Jolie, head over to InStyle.Fox News Channel has re-upped its Chief News Anchor and Managing Editor of Breaking News Shepard Smith to a new multiyear deal.

The deal was announced by 21st Century Fox and Fox News Executive Chairman Rupert Murdoch, who said Smiths powerful storytelling on both television and digital platforms has elevated our entire news gathering process.

Smith frequently zigs to FNCs zag in its coverage of President Donald Trump. Most recently, Smith noted on air that Trump had caved to the NRA on gun-control measures he had been espousing, after accusing congressmen of being afraid of/caving to NRA at a meeting to discuss curbing gun violence in schools.

On Shepard Smith Reporting, Smith nicked White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders when she regurgitated Trumps claim there is not much political support for the idea of raising the age to purchase semi-automatic weapons from 18 years to 21.

Smiths also made headlines scolding Trump for not blasting Russia, and for calling the recent Republican memo released by the now-shuttered House Intel Committee a weapon of partisan mass distraction.

FNC calls it Smiths highly relatable reporting and noted Smith was one of FNCs original hires in 1996.

Smith anchors Shepard Smith Reporting, weekdays 3-4PM ET. In February, the program averaged 1.6 million viewers and 335,000 in the 25-54 demographic, topping its slot.

Smith also anchors continuous live developments surrounding major breaking news for the network, including recent coverages of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL.

Related stories

Slain DNC Staffer Seth Rich's Family Sues Fox News Over Conspiracy Story

Fox News Channel Re-Ups With Democratic Contributor Jehmu Greene

Fox News Exec John Moody Exits After Olympics Column's False RingWe dont have any personnel changes at this time, Sarah Huckabee Sanders insisted at Fridays White House press briefing, days after President Donald Trump fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson by Twitter. Also Friday, Chief of Staff John Kelly reportedly told an invited bunch of journalists, OTR, that Trump was probably behind the reports of more cabinet shakeup.

You guys would like us to be focused on the White House cabinet chaos, but National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster, who is reported by WaPo to be next on the chopping block, is focused on big issues, Sanders insisted.

Kelly on Friday held an OTR session with reporters to tell them Trump is likely speculating about staff moves to his pals outside the White House  who are then talking to reporters. That, according to Axios, the political news outlet that did not get an invitation to the OTR meeting and could therefore report on it, getting its intel from three sources.who paraphrased the discussion.

Yes, its gotten to that point: reporters in OTR meetings leaking info to reporters shut out of the OTR meeting and who, therefore are free to report on the meeting.

Kelly also made a point of communicating hes not around for a lot of Trump conversations, so cant be sure what Trump is and is not saying to people in his phone calls.

Heres maybe a good place to note Kelly also is reported to have joined McMaster in the Trump Tumbril.

Kelly insisted there are no active plans to replace McMaster at this time, for what thats worth.

Kelly also tried to downplay reports HUD Secretary Ben Carson is tumbril-ized after reports he ordered a $31K dining set for his office. Kelly told reporters thats not such a lot of money for well-made furniture that could last 80 to 100 years, Axios reported. But, it appears Kelly forgot to slip Stupid Pills into the reporters drinks during that conversation.

Story continues

Related stories

Kathy Griffin Comeback Show At Carnegie Hall Nearly Sells Out In A Day

Trump-Linked Cambridge Analytica Stole Data From 50M Facebook Users And "Targeted Their Inner Demons" - Report

Attorney General Jeff Sessions Fires FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabeRussian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was warned the US administration against provocative actions aimed at breaking down a possible meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, TASS reports.

"Even when US President Donald Trump said he was ready to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-in and settle all the problems, US presidential administration officials rushed to say that further pressure on Pyongyang was needed as it had backed down," he said in an interview with the Vietnamese and Japanese media ahead of his visits to these countries.

"Such things are not practices in diplomacy," he said. "When a meeting is agreed, the sides typically try to cherish such an agreement rather than call for actions that can be seen as provocations aiming to break down a summit."

Minister also said that Moscow will be glad if a meeting between the US and North Korean leaders, Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un, actually takes place.

"It filled us with hope when the North Korean and US leaders, Kim Jon-un and Donald Trump, announced their readiness to meet personally. If such a meeting does take place, we will be only happy," he said.News that a 13-year-old boy in Michigan succumbed to complications from a sinus infection that spread to his brain have rattled the internet. Its a shocking and tragic story of an otherwise healthy teen whose life was taken too soon. But its also an alarming revelation for the 29.4 million Americans who (according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) have faced sinus infections in the past.

Photo: GoFundMe

A sinus infection  or sinusitis  is a common condition in which viruses or bacteria infect the sinuses, causing congestion, fatigue, fever, and pain in areas like the cheeks and behind the eyes. Even with available treatment like antibiotics, sinusitis remains a solid fixture in the winter months. According to the American Academy of Head and Neck Surgery, one in eight adults come down with it every year. Brain complications, unbeknownst to many, can result. Although thats extremely rare, an expert from the Cleveland Clinic, a non-profit academic medical center, says its important to understand the risks.

In this particular case, the tragedy centers around Marquel Brumley, a young teen in Flint, Mich., who complained of cold-like symptoms a few weeks ago. According to Brumleys family, who set up a GoFundMe after the sinus infection reached his brain, he was initially diagnosed with a sinus infection and sent home. Doctors, they report, instructed Brumleys aunt to let it run its course.

That proved to be dangerous advice. Over the next few weeks, Brumley apparently began complaining of severe migraines, which continued to get worse. By the time he was taken into the hospital, doctors diagnosed a brain infection. Apparently Brumley was far along in the infection, and blood clots had reportedly formed in his brain, leading to a series of debilitating strokes.

Ultimately, on Sunday, Brumley lost the battle and passed away. In the aftermath, his GoFundMe page  initially aimed at helping raise the funds to save his life  was converted into a memorial. The love and support everyone has shown is overwhelming and so appreciated, his relative Peggy Gilbert wrote on the page. Marquel was a very kind and loving person that will be missed terribly. The family is taking comfort in know he saved 7 lives with the gift of his organs.

Story continues

The story is any parents worst nightmare, but its not necessarily one that should keep you up at night. Dr. Raj Sindwani, a rhinologist at the Cleveland Clinic who has far-reaching expertise on sinus infections, says situations like this are uncommon. Its exceedingly rare for an otherwise healthy young person without any underlying medical problems or immunodeficiencies to actually die from sinusitis, Sindwani tells Yahoo Lifestyle. However, untreated  or unrecognized  complications can have major consequences, including eye infection and brain infection.

Although its highly unusual for sinusitis to spur an infection in the brain, Sindwani points out that Brumleys demographic  young adolescent males  are the most in danger. Young adolescent males do have a higher risk of frontal sinus problems spreading to the brain, which [scientists] think is related to the anatomic configuration, Sindwani says. Its still crazy rare, especially in the post-antibiotic era.

MRI scan of the human sinus with nasal passages. (Photo: Getty Images)

Sindwani says that researchers have studied the prevalence of this development in young males and found that the back wall of their frontal sinus contains veins that  for an unknown reason  are more permissible to letting infection spread to the brain. Once a male brain has fully developed, this doesnt seem to be the case. As they grow older, these veins become less permissible, Sindwani says.

But even for the general population, its important to look out for signs that an infection is spreading. Among these: worsening symptoms, severe headaches, eye swelling, and fever. Overall, its the proximity to the eyes and brain that Sindwani says make the sinus infection potentially dangerous. The sinuses, from an anatomy standpoint, occupy important geography, he says. Theyre right under the brain, so when you have infection thats not treated it can spread.

Sindwani hopes that Brumleys tragic story wont send people into a tailspin of concern, but rather provoke heightened awareness about the risks of sinusitis. The takeaway is dont panic  these are weird, rare things. Otherwise healthy people will fight off viral infections by themselves. The body is a strong thing, he says. But when we do think theyre bacterial, antibiotics can help  and will.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.Logan Blythe, 15, who has Down syndrome and autism, was stripped of his Boy Scouts badges and deemed ineligible for Eagle Scout status. (Photo: Courtesy of Chad Blythe)

The father of a boy with Down syndrome and autism is suing the Boy Scouts of America for banning his son from becoming an Eagle Scout and revoking all of his badges.

Logan Blythe, 15, has been a Boy Scout for the past three years through his local Utah chapter the National Parks Council. Despite his intellectual limitations, he has risen through the organizations ranking system by the grace of the council, which makes accommodations when necessary. For example, if a task is cooking and the instructions are to pour a cup of flour, Logan wont stop pouring, dad Chad Blythe tells Yahoo Lifestyle. In situations like that, the local chapter has awarded him a badge regardless, for his effort.

Blythe says he has always been transparent about the amendments made for Logan, periodically emailing his local chapter to ensure his son was on track.

To become an Eagle Scout, the highest and most elite ranking in the Boy Scouts organization, boys must earn 22 different badges and demonstrate leadership through a service-based task such as painting a local school, building park benches, or fixing fences.

In November, Logan got approval from his local chapter for his Eagle project: creating kits with onesies and blankets for special-needs babies and distributing them to hospitals. This was the perfect task for Logan, who was excited to put the kits together and drop them off, says Chad.

However, 24 hours later, Chad says he received a text message stating that Logans project was inexplicably suspended. When family members met with their local chapter, they received more bad news. The national office looked into how Logan had earned his badges and decided that he didnt really meet the requirements, says Chad. The National Parks Council said their hands were tied and they apologized for letting Logan advance so many levels.

A father is suing the Boy Scouts of America for rejecting his son with Down syndrome and autism. (Photo: Getty Images)

The dad says the council had good intentions, but hes upset about the miscommunication.

We are moved by this young mans desire to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout, The Utah National Parks Council told Salt Lake City local news station KSL-TV. Weve worked closely with this young man and his family to attain the benefits of the Scouting program and are committed to continuing to do so. The Eagle Scout Award is a national award. Final decisions regarding the Eagle requirements are made at the National BSA level. Since its founding in 1910, the Boy Scouts of America has served youth members with physical, mental, and emotional disabilities. Through the Disability Awareness Committee, the BSA enables youth to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout. The Utah National Parks Council stands ready to assist all Scouts and their families who, despite extraordinary circumstances, have the desire to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout.

Story continues

A representative for Boy Scouts of America sent this statement to Yahoo Lifestyle:

We continue to work closely with our Disabilities Awareness Committee, which is tasked with making sure Scouts with disabilities can actively participate in Scouting activities. We worked with the committee and the Blythe family to offer Logan a path to earning alternative merit badges based on his abilities, as well as the option to work toward his Eagle rank past the age of 18 by completing the Request for Registration Beyond the Age of Eligibility. This specific request is focused on supporting Scouts with permanent and severe disabilities so as to allow them to continue working toward an Eagle rank indefinitely.

The rep added: Children with special needs are welcome and empowered to participate in the program. They can do so by coming to troop meetings and functions, and dont even need to earn merit badges to participate. For instance, any Scout can go camping and hiking with his troop, have fun through the program and never earn a merit badge. Advancement, which is in part accomplished through the earning of merit badges and can culminate in earning the highest rank of Eagle Scout, is only one aspect of the program.

Chad Blythe says his son, Logan, is being discriminated against by the Boy Scouts of America. (Photo: Courtesy of Chad Blythe)

Boy Scouts with disabilities may qualify for the Eagle Scout rank. The Scout must earn as many of the Eagle-required merit badges as he can, and may then submit an application for alternative merit badges for those he cannot. His BSA local council may approve alternative merit badge(s) for him to earn. Any alternatives must present the same challenge and learning level as those they replace. The Eagle Rank is an incredible achievement and a demonstration of living by the principles of the Scout Oath and Law.

Logans family has filed a lawsuit against the the Boy Scouts of America and the Utah National Parks Council for damages greater than one dollar for outrageous and reckless conduct and disregard of the emotional well-being of Logan.

The Boy Scouts have lost their way, Ted McBride, the Blythe family attorney, told KSL-TV. The local Utah people did not want to enforce this discriminatory policy, but regrettably that turned out to be a bad decision for them. The Boy Scouts have made accommodations for those who identify as transgender, they have even accepted girls into the boy scouts, and they are going to fight this? For what? To protect the prestigious Eagle Scout badge?

Chad says the lawsuit is simply to restore Logans honor. I want the Boy Scouts to change its policy, he tells Yahoo Lifestyle. They should reinstate Logans badges and acknowledge the fact that not all boys have the same capabilities.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.



Kate Middleton's Forest Green St. Patrick's Day Outfit Is Beyond Regal Kate Middleton, in a green Catherine Walker coat, and Prince William celebrated St. Patrick's Day in west London with the 1st Battalion of the Guards regiment.

It's St. Patrick's Day, which means a lot of us are digging some green out of our closets in a nod to the holiday. This, by the way, also includes the royals: On Saturday morning, Prince William and Kate Middleton made their annual appearance at the St. Patrick's Day parade in west London. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited the 1st Battalion Irish Guards, of which William is a colonel.

Kate wore a single-breasted, deep-forest green coat with fur-trimmed collar and cuffs from Catherine Walker, one of her go-to fashion designers. It's also a coat she's worn before: We last saw Kate in it back in January during the couple's tour of Scandinavia. She paired the coat with a headpiece by Gina Foster, which she also wore back in 2014.

The duchess finished off the look with a holiday-appropriate shamrock brooch, gorgeous pair of drop earrings, and black suede pumps. It's classic and elegantfit, in our opinion, for a princess.

The Duke And Duchess Of Cambridge Attend The Irish Guards St Patrick's Day Parade UK Press Pool/UK Press via Getty Images

Also, a dog-related PSA because we can't help ourselves: There's an adorable doggo who serves as the mascot of the Irish guard and seems to be a Kate fan, too. The Irish wolfhound's name is Domhnall, and he's become at staple at the event over the years. Let's take a minute and appreciate the good boy's hard work:

The Duke And Duchess Of Cambridge Attend The Irish Guards St Patrick's Day Parade Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Many in the British press believe this will be one of Kate's final official appearances before she gives birth to her third child, who's due in April. But if her last two pregnancies are any indication, we'll be seeing her shortly after the new baby's birth in something equally chic. Next up, of course is Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's big wedding in Mayso we luckily won't be without our Kate fashion fixes for too long.

Related Video:

Related Stories:



-Kate Middleton Wore a $170 Zara Coat in Londonand It's Still in Stock



-This Is Why Kate Middleton Isn't Allowed to Take Off Her Coat in Public



-Kate Middleton Wore 11 Great Outfits on Her Royal Tour of ScandinaviaKate Middleton Prince William

The Kate effect is back. Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middletons iconic blue engagement dress just got a revampfor far less than its original price tag.

Back in 2010, Prince William and the future Duchess of Cambridge announced their engagement in a formal photo call at the palace. Middletons sapphire, silk Issa wrap piece, which matched her sparkling engagement ring, became an instant hit globally. So much so that the high demand for the wrap dress far exceeded the labels ability to meet and produce the large scale requests for the piece.

Issa creative director Danielle Helayel has indicated that the surge in demand indirectly prompted the demise of her namesake label, which eventually shuttered. Issa was a niche brand; we had a loyal following, but in 2008 and 2009 we were in serious financial trouble. When Kate wore that dress everything changed, she told the Daily Mail in 2017. We didnt have a TV at the studio and this was pre-Instagram, but we soon knew Kate was wearing Issa because at four oclock the phones began ringing and didnt stop. It was bonkers

While sales were through the roof, Helayel was unable to finance the production behind the piece, prompting her to tap the help of a friend. During the next three years, Issa underwent several business transitions, that forced Helayel to leave in May 2013. The label itself shuttered in 2015. I had a great business, which Id built up on my own over a decade, she said in the same interview. To watch it evaporate was heartbreaking. I took two years out and didnt design a thing. It was too painful.

LONDON, ENGLAND  NOVEMBER 16: Prince William and Kate Middleton pose for photographs in the State Apartments of St James Palace on November 16, 2010 in London, England. After much speculation, Clarence House today announced the engagement of Prince William to Kate Middleton. The couple will get married in either the Spring or Summer of next year and continue to live in North Wales while Prince William works as an air sea rescue pilot for the RAF. The couple became engaged during a recent holiday in Kenya having been together for eight years. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

Story continues

Now, eight years after the pieces large-scale debut, the label has now relaunched under a new umbrella company known as the House of Fraser.

Even better news is that the Duchess of Cambridges dress, which originally retailed for upwards of $600, is now being offered for less than $150. The piece is appropriately named the Kate Tie Wrap Dress and its currently available in a forest green color. The design will eventually be sold in a variety of colors including yellow and orange.

(House of Fraser)

(House of Fraser)

For those who want a more figure-flattering version of the original dress, Issa also offers the same wrap dress with a slimmer pencil skirt silhouette in black, oxblood and the same sapphire shade Middleton wore to her engagement announcement.

Related ArticlesIf Robert Mueller was listening when Donald Trump declared that digging into his finances would represent a violation of his privacy, the special counsel appears not to have been intimidated. Last month, CNN reported that Mueller has been investigating the presidents business dealings in Russia. On Thursday, The New York Times revealed another major escalation: the special counsel has subpoenaed the Trump Organization for documents, including some related to Russia. Months earlier, the subpoena might have provoked an angry response from the president. But Trump, despite his past intimations about shutting down Muellers probe, has held back from making any public move in retaliation.

Trumps hands appear to have been tied, in part, by Muellers canny timing. News of the subpoena coincided with an announcement that the White House had taken new steps to censure Moscow, leveling sanctions against five Russian entitiesincluding a troll farm that sought to sow online discord during the electionand 19 individuals close to the Kremlin. The sanctions also followed a series of Russian acts of aggression, including ongoing cyber-attacks against critical U.S. and European industrial networks. (The report came the same day that the Trump administration joined the United Kingdom and other allies in accusing Russia of committing a nerve-agent attack against a former Russian spy and his daughter in Salisbury earlier this month.) The administration is confronting and countering malign Russian cyber-activity, including their attempted interference in U.S. elections, destructive cyber-attacks, and intrusions targeting critical infrastructure, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said in a statement. These targeted sanctions are a part of a broader effort to address the ongoing nefarious attacks emanating from Russia.

More important, however, for those following the Trump-Mueller pas de deux, is where the new sanctions overlap with the Mueller probe: of the 19 Russians targeted by the White House, 13 were indicted by Mueller last month. So while critics argued that the sanctions still fell short of a fitting responseI expect to see additional sanctions in short order against specific Russian entities responsible for undermining our democracy, Senator Robert Menendez, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statementthey are also, in effect, a validation of the misdeeds Mueller has uncovered thus far. By following in Muellers footsteps, the Trump administration has telegraphed that his findings are legitimate.

Story continues

Mueller, who has often seemed to be two steps ahead of Trump and his associates, might have predicted how this would play out. The special prosecutor has so far proceeded in a manner that has insulated him as much as possible from the presidents attacks. Last week, reports suggested that Mueller was deliberately slow-walking his obstruction-of-justice investigation, proceeding instead with charges that are seen as unimpugnableby indicting Russian operatives first, Mueller made it a lot harder for anyone to say that [he] is on a witch hunt, D.C.-based white-collar defense attorney William Jeffress told me earlier this year. If the Trump administration continues to rubber-stamp Muellers findings, the White House will find it much more difficult to push back should the special counsel eventually deliver a finding that implicates the president.

For much of the past year, Trumps legal team has publicly and privately assured the president that the Mueller probe is nearing a conclusion. But the revelation that Mueller has subpoenaed the Trump Organization suggests that, at a minimum, the investigation will continue for several more months. According to the Times report, the scope of the subpoena is unknown, but the company has said it is cooperating with the request. Since July 2017, we have advised the public that the Trump Organization is fully cooperative with all investigations, including the special counsel, and is responding to their requests, Alan Futerfas, a lawyer representing the Trump Organization, said Thursday. This is old news and our assistance and cooperation with the various investigations remains the same today.No one rocks a festive ensemble like Kate Middleton!

The 35-year-old royal and her husband, Prince William, made their annual appearance at the St. Patrick's Day parade in Hounslow, west London, on Saturday, where they visited the 1st Battalion Irish Guards, of which William is a colonel.

Middleton looked chic as ever in a green Catherine Walker coat, a matching Gina Foster Meribel hat, black gloves and black suede pumps. The brunette beauty, who is expecting her third child with William next month, handed sprigs of shamrocks to officers and warrant officers, and met with their mascot, Irish Wolfhound Domhnall.



Andrew Parsons - WPA Pool/Getty Images



Chris Jackson/Getty Images



Andrew Parsons - WPA Pool/Getty Images

The couple later stopped for a celebratory glass of Guinness, but Middleton opted for water.



Andrew Parsons - WPA Pool/Getty Images

A source recently told ET that Middleton has been sharing fashion tips with her future sister-in-law, Meghan Markle, ahead of her upcoming wedding to Prince Harry on May 19.

"Both Kate [Middleton] and Camilla [Duchess of Cornwall] have been doing what they can to make sure Meghan knows shes loved and supported as she navigates her life as a future royal," the source said, explaining that becoming a royal member can be isolating. "Shes been embraced by the royal family. Shes also been exploring various charitable avenues she'd like to pursue after she gets married."

See more on Markle and Middleton in the video below.

Related Video:

Watch Entertainment Tonight on Yahoo View.

RELATED CONTENT:



Meghan Markle Receiving Expert Royal Fashion Advice from Kate Middleton





Pregnant Kate Middleton Looks Lovely in White at Charity Visit: Pics!





Royal Wedding Countdown: Meghan Markle & Prince Harry Enjoy a Regal Date With Kate Middleton & Prince William!



Related Articles:Machu Picchu officials are cracking down on inappropriate behavior. (Photo: Goh Chai Hin/AFP/Getty Images)

Travelers should think twice before dropping trou at one of the worlds most sacred sites.

As AFP reports, three European tourists were forced to leave the ancient Machu Picchu site in Peru after some nude hijinks. The sightseers  described as a 21-year-old German, a 24-year-old from Switzerland, and a 26-year-old Dutch citizen  were caught exposing their bare bottoms for the camera during a visit to the 15th-century Incan citadel.

The three tourists dropped their pants to show their buttocks and took photos, police official Martin Flores told AFP. That is not allowed.  In accordance with internal rules in place there, the three tourists were expelled, but they were not detained.

Authorities have cracked down on nudity at the UNESCO World Heritage site, as it is considered a sign of disrespect.

There are places in the world that people can get naked, but not all places are (appropriate) for getting undressed, Alfredo Mormontoy Atayupanqui, director of archaeological resources for Perus Ministry of Culture, told CNN in 2014 after a series of incidents. Tourists should comply with local rules and regulations when they are traveling  otherwise there will be thousands of problems.

In 2016, one British and one French tourists were arrested for taking nude photos at Machu Picchu.

Other tourist destinations are also having to deal with this type of unruly conduct. Two men were detained in Thailand last fall after taking mooning photos at a Buddhist temple.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.



Photo: Twitter

Sometimes the Twitterverse can be a beautiful place. When Candace Jean Andersen came across a photo of a group of people at a 1971 science conference in Virginia, she noticed that the only person who was unidentified in the caption was a black woman. Curious to know who the trailblazer was, she took to Twitter to ask for help in her search, in an attempt to unearth what turned out to be another Hidden Figures story.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

Andersens plea was met by more than 11,000 people who chimed in to help identify the only female at the science conference. She tells Yahoo Lifestyle it was beautiful how complete strangers [came together] using their time to jump in and help just because they wanted to, she says. Asking colleagues, digging through archives, passing the word on until the mystery was solvedit was really great.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

After several tips from across the web, Andersen was able to track down a coordinator of the science conference named Suzanne Contos, who decided do a little digging of her own to help find out who the mystery woman was.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

Suzanne reached out to other attendees, some of whom were able to identify her and provide a name.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

They were able to put a name to the half-covered face: Sheila Jones. They claimed that the mystery woman had been an administrator and most likely not even officially invited to the conference.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

But Andersen was not satisfied with the answers based on speculations, and neither was the Twitterverse. If Twitter had come so far as to track down other attendees and coordinators, concrete and factual information on Jones had to be out there. And it was.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

Thats when two workers from the Smithsonian reached out to Andersen. They did an archival search, in which they were able to identify with certainty that the mystery woman was not just an administrator or uninvited person but an actual scientist.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

She was a Biological Research Technician for Smithsonian Institution in (at least) 1972 & 73; a position which required a BS or MA degree, Anderson wrote.

Story continues

The mystery woman, no longer a mystery, was Sheila M. Jones (her maiden name was Sheila D. Minor), and Andersen contacted her. She seemed excited at first that I found her, and excited to see that picture, Andersen says.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

Jones gave her details on her life as a scientist and told her that in fact, she had a bachelor of science degree in biology at the time of the conference.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

Jones also told Andersen about the path that her career subsequently took:

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

Those following the story were overjoyed to have found Jones and learned about her life as a trailblazing black woman scientist dating back to the 1970s.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

Yes, thank you to Andersen and the Twitterverse for helping bring well-deserved recognition to Jones and her incredible life.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.



Russia on Saturday announced it is expelling 23 British diplomats and threatened further measures in retaliation in a growing diplomatic dispute over a nerve agent attack on a former spy in Britain, Global News reports. The Russian Foreign Ministry also said in a statement that it is ordering the closure of the British Council, a government organization for cultural and scientific cooperation, and that it is ending an agreement to reopen the British consulate in St. Petersburg.

It ordered the diplomats to leave within a week.The announcement followed on the heels of Britains order this week for 23 Russian diplomats to leave the U.K. because Russia was not cooperating in the case of Sergei Skripal and his daughter, both found March 4 poisoned by a nerve agent that British officials say was developed in Russia. The Skripals remain in critical condition.

The Russian statement said the government could take further measures if Britain takes any more unfriendly moves toward Russia. British Ambassador Laurie Bristow was called to the Foreign Ministry Saturday morning to be informed of the moves.

We will always do what is necessary to defend ourselves, our allies and our values against an attack of this sort, which is an attack not only on the United Kingdom, but upon the international rules-based system on which all countries, including Russia, depend for their safety and security, Bristow told reporters after being informed of the expulsions.

This crisis has arisen as a result of an appalling attack in the United Kingdom, the attempted murder of two people, using a chemical weapon developed in Russia and not declared by Russia at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, as Russia was and is obliged to do under the Chemical Weapons Convention, he added.

A Russian lawmaker warned Britain against escalating the crisis.

Responding to Russia's announcement, the UK Foreign Office said in a statement it had anticipated a response of this kind and the National Security Council would meet early next week to consider next steps, Independent reports. It insisted there was no alternative conclusion other than that the Russian State was culpable but said it was not in the UK's national interest to break off all dialogue between our countries.Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with advertisers on this site.

What actually happens if that fork you used to stir a container of leftover lo mein ends up accompanying the dish into the microwave?

Bernie Deitrick, a Consumer Reports engineer, explains what happens when a metal object meets a microwave. Microwave radiation can produce a concentrated electric field at ends, corners, or edges of conductive objects," he says, "which can heat the object at that point, ionize the surrounding air, or allow sparks to jump between points."

In plain English: Any of those effects can start a fire in your microwave oven.

To minimize risks, all metal object should be removed from items you're microwaving. Never use a metallic container, or dishes with metallic decoration, in a microwave oven. And generally, don't stray far from the microwave while its operating (just like you wouldn't stray too far from an oven as it bakes).

Its also smart to do your best to keep the following items out of the microwave:

Nonmetal Sharp Objects

Is that Reuben sandwich youre about to reheat stuck with a wooden toothpick?

Anything that comes to a point can cause a spark and fire, says Tim Jorgensen, an associate professor of radiation medicine at Georgetown University. Even sharp objects that aren't metal can set off the phenomenon known as arcing (sparks flying inside the microwave). And though all metal items are problematic, those concentrated to a sharp pointtwist ties, for instancerepresent a double whammy.

Give takeout food a once-over before you press Start.

Dirty Kitchen Sponges

Kitchen spongesespecially sponges cleaned in the microwaveare among the tops spots at home for harboring pathogenic bacteria and fostering microbe growth.

And while the microwave treatmentheatis surely an effective method to kill bacteria in sponges, it probably won't kill all of them, according to Markus Egert, a professor of medical and life sciences, Institute of Precision Medicine, Microbiology and Hygiene Group at Furtwangen University in Germany and author of a study on this subject.

Story continues

"The remaining [bacteria] grow up again and become resistant with timeand these resistant bacteria might be more harmful to humans," Egert tells CR.

If you do clean sponges in the microwave, Egert says to dampen them in soapy water first, adding that you shouldn't clean sponges this way more than a couple of times before tossing.

Your best option is to break out a new sponge.

Eggs in the Shell

Cooking whole eggs in the microwave is faster than hard-boiling them on your cooktop, but the time saved might not be worth it.

Eggs can explode in the microwave and even after you've removed them. This puts you at risk for a burn.

And it can even be a danger to your hearing.

At a recent conference of the Acoustical Society of America, researchers from Charles M. Salter Associates, an acoustical lab in San Francisco, presented their findings on exploding eggs. In a test of nearly 100 eggs, 28 exploded with a sound-pressure range of 86 to 133 decibels from roughly a foot away. For context, 108 decibels is the sound pressure you might experience at a rock concert.

The noise from an exploding egg lasts only a few milliseconds, of course, while a concert exposes you to high decibels for an extended period. And hearing damage is less of a concern than the risk of burn from flying specks of hot yolk.

Still, when it comes to hard-boiling eggs, take the old-school route.





More from Consumer Reports:

Top pick tires for 2016

Best used cars for $25,000 and less

7 best mattresses for couples





Consumer Reports is an independent, nonprofit organization that works side by side with consumers to create a fairer, safer, and healthier world. CR does not endorse products or services, and does not accept advertising. Copyright  2018, Consumer Reports, Inc.John Bailey speaks at the Foreign Language Film nominees cocktail reception in Beverly Hills, California: REUTERS/David McNew

The head of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is reportedly under investigation for sexual harassment.

The academy, which oversees the Oscars, is responding to multiple allegations against president John Bailey, according to reports in the Hollywood Reporter and Variety.

In a statement, the Academy said it treats any complaints confidentially to protect all parties.

We will not comment further on such matters until the full review is completed, the statement said.

A cinematographer, Mr Bailey was named the academys director last year.

The allegations extend a reckoning for Hollywood, which has seen a series of powerful figures toppled by sexual misconduct allegations.

The #MeToo movement was a recurring theme underlying the Oscars ceremony last month, with multiple speakers lauding women who had come forward and urging the industry to do a better job allowing women to advance.

Earlier this year, the academy released new guidelines for reporting misconduct. If claims are substantiated by clear evidence of behaviour violating the organisations code of conduct, a review committee can then decide to take no action or notify the accused within 10 business days.

There is no place in the Academy for people who abuse their status, power or influence in a manner that violates recognized standards of decency, a document laying out the guidelines says.Johannesburg (AFP) - A South African supermarket chain has withdrawn a third brand of sausages after the world's worst listeria outbreak which has claimed at least 183 lives since January last year.

Shoprite said it would no longer be selling farmer's Deli sausages as a precautionary measure as "the presence of Listeria monocytogenes was identified in an initial testing of a single batch of red Viennas."

It said more tests were needed to confirm "harmful levels of Listeria bacteria.

"The results of the further testing will take another five working days. In the meantime, the Shoprite Group has, as an added precautionary measure, removed all Farmer's Deli Red and Smoked Viennas from its shelves until the product gets the all clear."

Health officials say the source of the outbreak was an Enterprise Food plant, 300 kilometres (185 miles) northeast of the South African capital of Pretoria.

The factory produced a popular range of ready-to-eat chilled products including luncheon meat and Frankfurter sausages.

It was the third brand to be withdrawn following a ban on products made by Enterprise, which is owned by Tiger Brands, and those made by Rainbow Chickens.

Neighbouring Namibia this week registered its first listeriosis case and has banned imports of South African meat products.

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.

It mainly affects children and has a three-week incubation period, making it difficult to track.

Other countries that have imposed restrictions on South African meat imports are Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.Former FBI deputy Director Andrew McCabe wrote memos detailing his interactions with President Donald Trump, as well as on some interactions between the president and former FBI Director James Comey, a person with knowledge of the matter told HuffPost.

He has also turned hard copies of the memos over to special counsel Robert Mueller, the source said. The number of memos and their contents are not yet known.

McCabe was set to retire on Sunday, after more than two decades at the FBI. But Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired him late Friday, a decision that could significantly affect McCabes pension.

In a lengthy statement, McCabe said he was fired because his memos could corroborate Comeys accounts of interactions with the president. Comey wrote similar memos documenting Trumps behavior before he was fired in May 2017.

Here is the reality: I am being singled out and treated this way because of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of James Comey, McCabe said.

Sessions defended his decision. He made it at the recommendation of the FBIs Office of Professional Responsibility because of McCabes alleged unauthorized disclosure to news media and because he allegedly lacked candor on multiple occasions.

As the OPR proposal stated, all FBI employees know that lacking candor under oath results in dismissal and that our integrity is our brand, Sessions said Friday in a statement.

Trump applauded McCabes ouster in a tweet Saturday morning, calling it a great day for Democracy.

Sanctimonious James Comey was his boss and made McCabe look like a choirboy, Trump wrote.

McCabe has been described as a lifelong Republican.

Many saw Sessions move as an attempt to interfere with Muellers investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election. Trumps personal lawyer on Saturday called for the Mueller probe to end.

The president, the administration, and his legal team must not take any steps to curtail, interfere with, or end the special counsels investigation or there will be severe consequences from both Democrats and Republicans, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) tweeted.

Story continues

Related Coverage

Read Andrew McCabe's Response To Being Fired Two Days Before His Retirement

Donald Trump Hails Andrew McCabe's Firing As 'A Great Day For Democracy'

Ex-CIA Boss John Brennan Tears Into Donald Trump Over Andrew McCabe Firing

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.One activity has united members of Donald Trumps Administration this week: updating the resumes.

A sense of looming massive change hung over the White House this week, surpassing the typical day-to-day anxiety of the Trump era. The political pressure-cooker tested just how much steam could be contained inside the pot. From Cabinet secretaries to staff assistants, those working in the Trump orbit have been checking Twitter, internal emails and knocks on their doors nervously to see if the President had axed them as part of what he says is the pursuit of an executive branch he actually likes.

Were getting very close to having the Cabinet  and other things  that I want, Trump told reporters on Tuesday, just hours after he fired Americas top diplomat via tweet.

Trump never let up on that drumbeat all week, even as his aides did their best to muffle it.

People shouldnt be concerned. We should do exactly what we do every day, and thats come to work and do the very best job that we can. And thats as exactly what were doing, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Friday during a briefing that was largely dominated by questions about who was still going to have jobs come Monday morning.

This drama  and the non-stop coverage  is very much to the Presidents liking. After all, Trump is keenly attuned to his media persona and is a former reality television host. The image of him as a tough but unpredictable executive is one he enjoys. Chaos is good for ratings. Cliffhangers are better.

Read More: Where Are They Now? A Guide to Former Trump Administration Staffers

To understand just how pitched the worry has become, consider that White House chief of staff John Kelly spent part of Friday morning assuring aides that  contrary to what Trump was suggesting in many, many phone calls to friends that, of course, were leaked to reporters  a purge was not imminent. No ones role is permanent in Trumps orbit, Kelly told senior White House aides, but there were no reasons to think anyone would be clearing out the desk this afternoon.

Story continues

Pass it along, Kelly told his top West Wing lieutenants. They did, but few believed it.

Kelly later told some colleagues that he understood why so many people inside the Administration  and reporters outside it  expected more changes: its what the President has spent the week hinting was coming. These were the headlines he wanted to read.

Kelly, whose own job is said to hang in the balance, couldnt really fault the coverage, even as it overshadowed other priorities. Aides and reporters werent reading tea leaves or gossip. They were reading transcripts and tweets of the Presidents own words.

Whats the point in obsessing over something you cant control? asked one former Administration official.

Trump began his week firing his long-suffering Secretary of State on Twitter, just hours after Rex Tillerson returned early from a trip to Africa and a day after Trump took heat for walking away from his pledge to do something to combat gun violence. Trump tweeted Tillerson was out, then visited with reporters on the White Houses South Lawn before ditching Washington for three days  leaving behind hundreds of aides worried if they were next and burying headlines about school shootings.

This is Trump unchained. Last week, Trump bragged that he didnt consult with Tillerson ahead of an announcement that the United States would meet with North Koreans for talks about nuclear programs. Trump puffed his chest a bit and said he didnt need to hear Tillersons views; they had disagreed so long that there was no point in it.

He continued this go-it-alone approach when he dictated the dismissal of Tillerson. It took 208 characters on Twitter to fire Tillerson, promote CIA director Mike Pompeo into the role of diplomat-in-chief and nominate a career intelligence officer to by the nations top spy.

Privately, those steeped in national security pressed senior White House aides if perhaps the President didnt understand that many American diplomats abroad already are suspected of being covert spies, and putting a former spymaster in charge of the State Department would quickly put all diplomats under suspicion. The best response they could get was a shrug. Trump had made up his mind.

White House officials say this is what a President increasingly confident in his own abilities and instincts looks like. As one White House official described it, The President feels hes got this now. For the President, there are two choices for those who want to keep their jobs: Fall in line with the Presidents agenda or leave. We arent having meetings just to have them any more.

That sentiment has been clear in recent weeks. Trumps chief economics adviser Gary Cohn argued strongly against a series of tariffs Trump sought on steel and aluminum. Trump announced them unexpectedly and Cohn moved toward the exits.

Cohns exit created an opening. The official replacement for Cohn will be Larry Kudlow, a longtime television commentator who holds an undergraduate degree in history and left Princeton before finishing his graduate work. The made-for-TV persona will mesh with Trumps value of fame over footnotes, and loyalty above all.

Trade adviser Peter Navarro, already in the White House, told Bloomberg that his job is to find justification for Trumps beliefs. My function, really, as an economist is to try to provide the underlying analytics that confirm his intuition, Navarro said. And his intuition is always right.

An example of this need came when the President wrongly claimed, and then doubled-down on, the idea the United States has a trade deficit with Canada. That is not the case, but White House officials went to work slicing data in a way to back up the Presidents false claim. Few beyond the President bought it.

All of this has left White House and Administration officials exhausted and fretful for what comes next. Morale has never been high in the White House, but its near its nadir. This weeks loss in a special congressional election  in a district Trump carried by 20 percentage points  shook the political professionals at the White House, and Trump didnt seem to get its impact. Instead, he sought to bump it off the front page with the Tillerson news.

Trump was phoning his friends outside the White House to ask them to grade his top staff. Trump has long done this, and it often serves as a prelude to staff shake-ups. Trump expects many of these conversations to leak quickly, White House officials say begrudgingly. (For all of the bluster Trump enjoys, he has proven averse to confrontation. Trump didnt tell Tillerson he was canned until hours after the tweet made clear he should start packing his desk.)

This time around, Trump was asking about a raft of very senior officials, including Kelly, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson.

Trump also queried his pals about what they thought about budget chief Mick Mulvaney, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and Fox News contributor Pete Hegseth  all potentially due for bigger gigs in the Administration should Trump reshuffle his team.

Senior White House officials have turned to gallows humor to cope with the turmoil. One veteran aide said it was as though Trump was ready to shift production teams, dumping the men and women who helped him in the first year and starting afresh: Its now Season Two.

At the same time, Trump has a keen understanding of the media ecosystem  how long reporters and Twitter will stay on a story before they start to dig a little deeper than Trump wanted, and what could drive the audience into a different direction. Tillersons departure was brutal for the State Department but dominated headlines for the first part of the week.

Then, as it became known Special Counsel Robert Mueller had issued subpoenas for Trumps businesses, the President started to fan suspicions he was looking to overhaul his Cabinet. The masterful media manipulator knew the value of misdirection.

Trump loyalists, of course, defend the Presidents unconventional behavior this week. He is the President and can ask anyone for advice. The changes being considered, they say, suggest the President has gotten his sea legs under him and no longer wants to be constrained by how things were done in the past. For instance, he has become quite the consumer of government economic indicators that arrive at the White House ahead of public release.

More broadly, Trump has been keeping a running tally of norms he has broken  over the advice of men he calls the so-called experts  with results that deviate from predictions. For instance, his election in 2016 didnt decimate the economy, moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem didnt cause global chaos, his demands for a border wall didnt crippled U.S.-Mexican relations and his hostility toward Congress didnt derail last years tax cuts or delay Neil Gorsuchs confirmation to the Supreme Court.

But that was Year One, or Season One as the veteran aide put it. The rules are changing in Season Two. The honeymoon with Congress is over, and many Senate Republicans arent eager to turn over the calendar to confirmation hearings from Trumps recasting. North Korea is closer than before to having a nuclear weapon that can strike the United States. The stock market is boosting the wealth of investors. Russia is not backing down. All are fragile.

White House officials offered seemingly contradictory messages on changes. They said Trump wouldnt have his hands tied, all while adding there were no immediate personal changes to announce.

Yet when McMaster, a three-star Army officer who is serving as Trumps National Security Adviser, was spotted on the White House driveway on Friday, he faced questions if he was indeed heading to the doors as reports suggested despite White House denials.

McMaster dodged. Everybody has got to leave the White House at some point, he told ABC News.

For senior officials, though, the question was whether some point was soon. As Friday evening arrived, they still did not have an answer.South Africa is struggling to contain a deadly outbreak of listeriosis thats been declared the worlds worst on record. More than 900 people were infected over 14 months before the government identified a meat-processing factory owned by Tiger Brands Ltd., the continents biggest packaged-food company, as the source. With at least 183 dead  many of them infants and children  manufacturers have issued mass recalls for ready-to-eat sausages and other meat products singled out by officials as potentially dangerous.

1. What is listeriosis?

The disease is caused by high numbers of Listeria monocytogenes, a bacterium found in soil, water, plants and animal feces, which usually spreads to humans through contaminated food. Cooking kills listeria, but it can multiply in the refrigerator. High-risk foods include deli meat, soft cheeses and cold-smoked fish  really, anything that can sit in a refrigerator for a long time and is eaten without further cooking. Symptoms of listeriosis include fever, muscle pain and a stiff neck. While there are two types of the disease, the one to worry about is invasive listeriosis. Its treatable if diagnosed early.

2. How has South Africa responded?

Nearly 1,000 cases have been identified since the start of 2017. However, the figures could be higher because health workers werent required to report cases until December last year, after the outbreak was confirmed. According to Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi, investigations started in earnest after doctors from two hospitals alerted the National Institute of Communicable Diseases to unusually high numbers of babies with listeriosis in July 2017. The institute spent the following months gathering and analyzing data from across the country. The data showed that the outbreak started in June. A strain of listeria known as sequence-type six, or ST6, was identified as the driver of the outbreak.

3. Who or what is to blame?

The outbreak has been linked to a factory in the northeastern city of Polokwane owned by Tiger Brandss Enterprise unit, after samples of ST6 were found at the facility. One of the likely culprits is a South African product called polony  a cheap and highly processed meat product thats popular in lower-income households. Enterprise makes polony, as does RCL Foods Ltd., which has closed a factory and recalled polony products as a precaution. Its not just polony: The government has recommended that South Africans avoid all types and brands of chilled, ready-to-eat meat products.

Story continues

4. What does Tiger Brands say?

While the company confirmed that ST6 was found at the facility in Polokwane, it said theres no evidence of the strain in its products. However, it has closed both the Polokwane plant and a second Enterprise factory and recalled all Enterprise chilled, ready-to-eat processed meat products. Tiger Brands says it wants to be at the forefront of finding a solution to the national crisis and has hired a team of scientific experts to identify the cause of the outbreak. It also said it recognizes a need for new industry-wide standards in South Africa to ensure that best practice regulatory standards are created, to prevent any such outbreak again.

5. What else is being done?

Both Enterprise factories are undergoing a deep-cleaning process. Retailers across the country have been asked to remove the Enterprise products from their shelves. Consumers are being urged to separate such products from other food and return them to stores to prevent further contamination (and receive a refund). Richard Spoor, a South African lawyer known for representing mine workers seeking compensation for lung damage, is working with Seattle-based firm Marler Clark on a class-action suit to be filed on behalf of listeriosis victims.

6. Who is most affected?

Pregnant women, children, the elderly and people with weakened or underdeveloped immune systems  such as those with HIV/AIDS  are most likely to contract listeriosis. The bacteria can be transmitted from a pregnant mother to her baby and has also resulted in stillbirths. Many of the products that have been recalled are popular with households in South Africa that have limited alternatives. School lunches often contain polony sandwiches or Viennas, a local term for hot-dog-style sausages.

7. How does this compare with other outbreaks?

South Africas crisis is far graver than the second-largest documented listeriosis outbreak, which occurred in the U.S. in 2011 with a total of 147 reported cases linked to contaminated cantaloupes. Outbreaks of listeria typically produce just a handful of cases, because the source is usually identified very quickly, according to World Health Organization scientist Peter Ben Embarek. While listeria bacteria occur widely around the world, a study published in 2014 showed they cause fewer cases of disease than other food-borne pathogens like salmonella. However, invasive listeriosis has a fatality rate of 20 to 30 percent, according to the WHO.Though St. Patricks Day is a holiday about Ireland thats perhaps most famously celebrated in the United States, one of the more festive St. Patricks Day venues is Mexico City. There, in the citys San Jacinto Plaza, a plaque commemorates the martyrs of St. Patricks Battalion who gave their lives to the Mexican cause.

Also known as the San Patricios, that group consisted largely of Irish natives who defected from the U.S. Army during the 1846-48 Mexican-American War, fought over disputed boundaries and the American annexation of Texas. Accounts differ as to the exact number of San Patricios, but it likely exceeded 200 at the groups peak.

Their exact motives for switching sides have never been established concretely  and very possibly some battalion members had different motives than others  but harsh treatment and anti-Catholic prejudice are viewed as the main factors in their defection to Mexicos Army.

Many of these Irish soldiers had joined the U.S. Army not for reasons of patriotism but mainly for job security, as described by Dennis J. Wynns book The San Patricio Soldiers: Mexicos Foreign Legion. A military career was one of few ways to make ends meet in their new nation, where employment discrimination against the Irish was common. But their job security came with a price: Foreign-born soldiers were targeted for abuse by bigoted officers and typically received harsher punishments than native-born soldiers for the same infractions.

Robert Ryal Millers book Shamrock and Sword: The Saint Patricks Battalion in the U.S.-Mexican War relates that, for rather minor transgressions, a foreign-born soldier might be tied to a cannon or wheel for hours beneath a scorching sun. Or he might receive lashes until his back looked like raw meat. Or he might be branded with such letters as HD for habitual drunkard or W for worthlessness. Even execution was a possibility.

Another item of provocation was that, despite the huge Catholic population among its troops, the U.S. Army was not providing sufficient Catholic clergy, and many Catholic soldiers who became gravely injured or ill had been unable to receive the sacrament of last rites.

Story continues

Trying to capitalize on the U.S. Armys prejudicial climate, the Mexican government launched a propaganda campaign targeting Catholic soldiers, seeking to persuade them to abandon their Catholic-bashing officers and join the Mexicans  who, not coincidentally, were also Catholics. For those soldiers who lacked sufficient religious indignation, the Mexican government promised cash incentives and land grants.

Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter

Though the San Patricios fought on Mexicos side in five battles against U.S. forces, they are best remembered for their valor in the Battle of Churubusco, which took place outside of Mexico City. During this Aug. 20, 1847, battle, the Mexican soldiers reportedly tried on three occasions to raise a flag of surrender, but the San Patricios  aware of the likely grisly treatment in store for them should they be captured by the Army from which they had deserted  frantically ripped down the flag each time. However, it was a doomed struggle: They were running out of bullets, and no amount of defiance could overcome an absence of ammunition.

Churubusco was calamitous for the San Patricios. Within three hours of combat, more than half either had been killed or captured. But their fighting intensity left an impression on the Mexican commander, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, who later said that he would have won the battle if he had a few hundred more San Patricios.

After that battle, as the Americans advanced toward Mexico City, a U.S. victory in the war was all but inevitable. The Mexicans tried to secure the release of the captured San Patricios, but the Americans were unwilling to negotiate on this matter. Some 72 San Patricios were charged with having deserted the U.S. Army, which wasted little time in bringing them to trial. At least six pled guilty. Dozens of them claimed that, while drunk, they were seized by Mexicans and physically coerced into joining the San Patricios. This drunkenness defense, though unlikely, was not entirely implausible. But the courts were in no mood to consider it.

Within less than one month, 50 of the captured San Patricios were hanged. Incensed by these hangings, the Mexican people rioted and tried to get at their armys collection of American prisoners, but they were thwarted by the Mexican authorities before exacting their vengeance.

Though greatly reduced in numbers, the San Patricio Battalion actually continued as a unit after the Mexican-American War ended in 1848. Its members were used to protect Mexican civilians from bandits until budget cuts eventually saw the Battalion disbanded about a year later. Some members remained in Mexico, while others petitioned the government to send them back to their ancestral homeland.

The San Patricios were largely reviled in the U.S., where many people ignored the part of the story in which prejudiced treatment of the Irish soldiers had contributed to their defection. Nativists cited their example as proof that Catholic immigrants  and the Irish in particular  had no loyalty to America and should be neither trusted nor welcomed.

On the other hand, the Mexicans viewed the San Patricios as heroes and began naming streets in their honor. Tribute is paid to them each year on September 12  the anniversary of their mass hanging  as well as on St. Patricks Day.



Autoimmune diseases are mysterious. I know because I have one.

So do several of my friends, family members, and even some of my coworkers.

In fact, the National Institutes of Health estimates that 23.5 million Americans are affected by an autoimmune disease, while the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association quotes 50 million. One reason for the different statistics is how many types of diseases are included in the data counts. But, bottom line, this category of diseases impacts a lot of people.

So what exactly is an autoimmune disease? For clarity, the immune system is a network of special cells and organs that protect the body from disease and infection. Typically, the body can tell the difference between whats you and whats foreign. But with an autoimmune disease, theres a glitch and your body cant tell the difference, so it makes antibodies that attack healthy cells by mistake.

There are more than 80 autoimmune diseases, some of the most common being rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, lupus, celiac, Hashimotos, and multiple sclerosis.

These diseases can affect almost any part of the body, and symptoms vary, ranging from fatigue, muscle aches, and fever to depression and inflammation. In more advanced cases, diseases like multiple sclerosis can include symptoms such as blurred vision and even paralysis.

Even though there is no cure for autoimmune diseases, doctors and researchers are working on treatments. Currently, most autoimmune diseases are treated using anti-inflammatory drugs, corticosteroids, antimalarials, and immunosuppressives, which stop the immune system from attacking itself.

I personally have eczema, which consists of dry patches that eventually turn into itchy and painful rashes on the skin. Its uncomfortable, but in most cases my flare-ups can be treated with lotions and corticosteroids.

One of the more frustrating things about autoimmune diseases is getting a diagnosis. Symptoms can be similar, and theres no one-stop-shop specialist for all the different types of autoimmune diseases. This means that sufferers may have to visit several doctors (rheumatologist, neurologist, dermatologist, and gastroenterologist) to find an answer.

Story continues

If you think you might have an autoimmune disease, the first step is to share your symptoms with your general practitioner. They will refer you to a specialist, and you can start the journey to finding a diagnosis. Be open and honest with your physicians and urge them talk to each other about your symptoms. It may not be simple, but getting the right treatment can help improve the quality of your life.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.Boris Johnson has taken the war of words with Russia one step further by suggesting that Vladimir Putin was personally involved in the attack on ex-spy Sergei Skripal.

The Foreign Secretary said it was overwhelmingly likely that the Russian president ordered the use of a nerve agent in the attack against Mr Skripal in Salisbury.

Speaking on a visit to the Battle of Britain Bunker museum in Uxbridge with his Polish counterpart Jacek Czaputowicz, Mr Johnson said: Our quarrel is with Putins Kremlin, and with his decision  and we think it overwhelmingly likely that it was his decision  to direct the use of a nerve agent on the streets of the UK, on the streets of Europe, for the first time since the Second World War.

That is why we are at odds with Russia.

War of words  Mr Johnsons comments came as he and Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz visited the Battle of Britain bunker in Uxbridge (Picture: Reuters)

His comments were met with a scathing rebuke from Mr Putins spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who said: We have said on different levels and occasions that Russia has nothing to do with this story.

Any reference or mentioning of our president is nothing else but shocking and unpardonable diplomatic misconduct.

MOST POPULAR TODAY ON YAHOO

Mr Johnsons move to blame the attack on Mr Putin come as Britain awaits Russias response to its expulsion of 23 diplomats.

Moscow is also considering its response to the United States after Donald Trumps administration imposed sanctions on Russians allegedly involved in interfering with the 2016 US elections and cyber-attacks.

Blame  Mr Johnson suggested that Mr Putin personally ordered the attack on Sergei Skripal (Picture: Reuters)

Asked on Friday whether Moscow would expel UK diplomats, Russias foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said: Of course we will.

Mr Lavrov also gave a dismissive response to Defence Secretary Gavin Williamsons call for Russia to go away and shut up.

Story continues

Mr Lavrov said: I guess he wants to go down in history with some bombastic statements  Maybe he lacks education, I dont know.

A Downing Street spokesman would not be drawn on whether Theresa May endorsed Mr Williamsons comments, saying only: The Prime Minister sent her own very clear message to Russia over the course of the week.

Warning  Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn urged Prime Minister Theresa May not to rush way ahead of the evidence (Picture: AP)

Corbyn warns the PM

Mr Corbyn said the evidence points towards Russia being responsible.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has urged Mrs May not to rush way ahead of the evidence  highlighting the way international crises such as the Iraq War had seen clear thinking overwhelmed by emotion and hasty judgments.

Writing in the Guardian, Mr Corbyn, whose response to the attack has led to criticism from some on his backbenches, said the evidence points towards Russia being responsible  but the possibility of gangsters being behind the attack rather than the Kremlin could not be excluded.

He said: We agree with the Governments action in relation to Russian diplomats, but warned against a new Cold War of escalating arms spending, proxy conflicts across the globe and a McCarthyite intolerance of dissent.

Nato backing

Mr Stoltenberg told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: We have no reason to doubt the findings and assessments made by the British Government. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Natos secretary general has voiced the strong support of the military alliances 29 members for the UK in the current row with Russia over the Salisbury poisoning.

Jens Stoltenberg was speaking a day after National Security Adviser Sir Mark Sedwill briefed Nato states at the North Atlantic Council in Brussels on the UKs intelligence case for viewing Russia as responsible for the attack on Sergei Skripal.

Mr Stoltenberg told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: We have no reason to doubt the findings and assessments made by the British Government.

And he added: The Nato allies express strong political support for the UK. The UK is not alone. All allies stand in solidarity with the UK.

Mr Stoltenberg said: I am absolutely certain that Russia has underestimated the resolve and unity of Nato allies.

Brexit conspiracy

Alexander Yakovenk (R) aid: This is a scenario that was written in London but its a short-sighted scenario. (Getty)

Russias ambassador in London Alexander Yakovenko suggested that the British Government was making allegations against Moscow as part of an anti-Russian campaign to divert attention from Brexit.

Mr Yakovenko told RT television: In order to divert attention from Brexit, the UK has to present something to the public to move (the focus) a little bit to the other side.

The poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal provided the UK authorities with a possibility to launch this anti-Russian campaign, said Mr Yakovenko, adding: This is a scenario that was written in London but its a short-sighted scenario because, in the long run, Britain will have to explain what is behind all these things in Salisbury.

He added: Nobody saw even the pictures of these people in a hospital, whether they are alive or maybe they are in good health. Nobody talked to the doctors. There is absolutely no transparency in the case.

We want to clarify all the questions behind this provocation.

How events have unfolded

March 4:

Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia are found unconscious on a park bench in Salisbury. Their identities are not yet made public.

March 5:

Mr Skripal and his daughter are publicly identified and declared critically ill in hopital.

March 6:

More than 100 military personnel are deployed to Salisbury to help with the investigation and clean-up. (Getty)

Politicians and media begin to speculate about Russian involvement in the incident and counter-terrorism officers take over the investigation. The Russian Embassy issues two statements accusing the media and Government of anti-Russian sentiment.

March 7:

Police say a nerve agent was used to poison Mr Skripal and his daughter and the case is being treated as attempted murder.

March 8:

Home Secretary Amber Rudd says a police officer, one of the first responders to the incident in Salisbury, is seriously ill in hospital. Politicians continue to speculate on Russian involvement but Prime Minister Theresa May stresses the need to give police the time and space to investigate.

Police say 21 people received treatment following the incident.

March 9:

More than 100 military personnel are deployed to Salisbury to help with the investigation and clean-up.

March 12:

Mrs May tells the House of Commons that the nerve agent is of Russian origin and the Government has concluded it is highly likely. (Toby Melville/Pool Photo via AP)

Mrs May tells the House of Commons that the nerve agent is of Russian origin and the Government has concluded it is highly likely that Russia is responsible for the poisoning. She gives the Russian government until midnight on Tuesday to explain how the nerve agent came to be used in the UK.

Russian President Vladimir Putins press secretary Dmitry Peskov had previously said: We consider inappropriate any mention of the Russian government in the context of what happened to Sergei Skripal.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says the use of a highly lethal nerve agent against UK citizens on UK soil is an outrage.

We stand by our closest ally and the special relationship that we have, she adds.

Downing Street issues a statement saying Theresa May spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron, who condemned the attack and offered his support.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson issues a statement saying he has full confidence in the UKs investigation and its assessment that Russia was likely responsible for the nerve agent attack.

March 13:

Mr Trump tells reporters outside the White House he plans to speak to Theresa May later that day.

US President Donald Trump sacks Rex Tillerson in a tweet.

Later, Mr Trump tells reporters outside the White House he plans to speak to Theresa May later that day, adding as soon as we get the facts straight, if we agree with them, we will condemn Russia or whoever it may be.

The Russian Embassy in the UK says Moscow will not respond to Londons ultimatum.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel tells the Prime Minister she stands in full solidarity with the UK in a phone call.

In a phone call with Theresa May, Mr Trump agreed the Russian Government must provide unambiguous answers as to how this nerve agent came to be used adding that the US is with the UK all the way.

March 14:

Theresa May talks with Wiltshire polices chief constable Kier Pritchard in Salisbury on Thursday.

The UK is to expel 23 Russian diplomats in retaliation for the nerve gas attack in Salisbury, Theresa May tells MPs. She calls the incident an unlawful use of force by the Russian state against the UK. The Russian Embassy said the expulsion of 23 diplomats was unacceptable, unjustified and shortsighted.

Travel advice from the Foreign Office warns that travellers to Russia could face anti-British sentiment or harassment as a result of the political tension between the UK and Moscow.

Britain asks the international chemical weapons watchdog, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, to verify its findings that Moscow is behind the nerve agent attack in Salisbury.

March 15:

France backs the UKs conclusion of Russian involvement, following a telephone call between Mr Macron and Mrs May.

Leaders of Britain, the US, Germany and France issue a joint statement blaming Russia for the Salisbury poison attack. The four allies urge Moscow to provide full and complete disclosure of its Novichok nerve agent programme to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

Mrs May visits the scene of the nerve agent attack on Mr Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury.

March 16:

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson says it is overwhelmingly likely that Vladimir Putin ordered the use of a nerve agent in the attack on Sergei Skripal.New York Senator Charles Schumer wants federal officials to step up efforts have the man accused of killing 22-year-old New York nursing student Haley Anderson extradited from Nicaragua so he can be prosecuted in connection with her death.

Suspect Orlando Tercero, 22, is the ex-boyfriend of Haley Anderson and a fellow nursing student at the State University of New York at Binghamton. He was arrested Tuesday afternoon by Nicaragua National Police in connection with the homicide of Anderson, whose body was found dead March 9 in her off-campus apartment.

Schumer, the Senate Minority Leader, is asking Acting United States Secretary of State John Sullivan to immediately use all available diplomatic influence to convince the Nicaraguan government to extradite Tercero back to New York.

In a statement issued Thursday, Schumer said his office is working with Broome County District Attorney Steve Cornwell to make sure all appropriate law enforcement and diplomatic authorities are actively working together to ensure Tercero is extradited to the United States to stand trial for killing Anderson, a Long Island native.

 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.

Today I am strongly urging the U.S. State Department to do everything within its power to see that murder suspect Orlando Tercero is promptly extradited to the United States to stand trial for this heinous murder of Binghamton University nursing student Haley Anderson, said Schumer. While my words of sympathy will not soothe the pain and suffering the Anderson family is feeling right now, I can promise them that I will strongly urge the highest levels of the State and Justice Departments to make sure that our federal government is doing everything possible to deliver them justice.

 For more compelling true crime coverage, follow our Crime magazine on Flipboard.

Story continues

While the United States has an extradition treaty with Nicaragua, Schumer said unforeseen circumstances could stymie efforts to return Tercero to the states.

I understand that, while we have an extradition treaty with Nicaragua, there are challenges to achieving this vital objective due to Nicaraguan law, he wrote.

Authorities allege Tercero left the country on an international flight before Andersons body was found. An international manhunt for Tercero ensued.

A GoFundMe campaign has been set up for funeral expenses. Anyone with information on her death is asked to contact the Binghamton Police Detective Division at 607-772-7080 or 607-772-7082.Twenty three British diplomats have been declared personae non gratae and will be expelled within a week, Russias Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday, TASS reports.

"On March 17, British Ambassador to Moscow Laurie Bristow was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry where he was handed a note saying that in response to provocative actions of the British side and evidence-free accusations against the Russian Federation over the incident in the city of Salisbury on March 4 this year, the Russian side has taken the following retaliatory measures.

Twenty three diplomats of the British Embassy in Moscow have been declared personae non gratae and will be expelled within a weeks time.

Taking into account the disparity in the number of consulates of the two countries, Russia withdraws permission to open the British Consulate General in St. Petersburg. Related procedures will be carried out in accordance with international law. Due to the unregulated status of the British Council in the Russian Federation it will be dissolved," the statement said.

"The British side has been warned that if more unfriendly actions against Russia follow, the Russian side reserves the right of taking other retaliation measures," the ministry added.LONDON (Reuters) - British Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn warned on Friday against rushing into a new Cold War with Russia before full evidence of Moscow's culpability in a military-grade nerve toxin attack on a former double agent is proven. Prime Minister Theresa May said Russia was behind the Novichok nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal, a former colonel in Russian military intelligence who betrayed dozens of Russian agents to Britain. Skripal and his daughter Yulia have been critically ill in hospital since March 4 when they were found slumped unconscious on a bench outside a shopping center in the English city of Salisbury. A British policeman was also injured. After the first known offensive use of such a weapon on European soil since World War Two, May gave 23 Russians who she said were spies working under diplomatic cover at the London embassy a week to leave. But Corbyn, who has been criticized for taking a much more cautious approach to the poisoning, said that rushing ahead of the evidence in a fevered atmosphere did not serve national security. "To rush way ahead of the evidence being gathered by the police, in a fevered parliamentary atmosphere, serves neither justice nor our national security," he wrote in an article in the Guardian newspaper. "This horrific event demands first of all the most thorough and painstaking criminal investigation." The 68-year-old socialist leader said Labour did not support Putin and that Russia should be held to account if it was behind the attack. "That does not mean we should resign ourselves to a 'new cold war' of escalating arms spending, proxy conflicts across the globe and a McCarthyite intolerance of dissent," Corbyn said. Corbyn suggested that the Russian mafia, which he said had been allowed to gain a toehold in Britain, might be behind the attack and said Britain should stop accepting corrupt money from the former Soviet Union. "We must stop servicing Russian crony capitalism in Britain, and the corrupt billionaires who use London to protect their wealth," he said. "We agree with the governments action in relation to Russian diplomats, but measures to tackle the oligarchs and their loot would have a far greater impact on Russias elite than limited tit-for-tat expulsions." Corbyn was once written off by both his own party and May's Conservatives, but his unexpectedly strong result in last year's national election has convinced many of Labour's opponents that Corbyn is a potential prime minister if May's government falls. (Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Kate Holton)Stephen Brown rocked some bright coral basketball shoes against Michigan State on Friday because his team shoes fell apart. (Getty Images)

Bucknells Stephen Brown didnt have a choice the first time he put on his bright pink James Harden shoes.

Browns shoes reportedly fell apart just before their game against American on Feb. 24, and he needed a replacement. A staff member ran out and found him these.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

It was the closest he could find to the team color on such short notice, so Brown went with it.

And it worked. Brown finished with 10 points and four assists in their win against American, so he kept wearing them.

Naturally, he wore them against Michigan State in the NCAA tournament on Friday, and the internet loved it.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

More March Madness coverage from Yahoo Sports:

 After upset of Arizona, Obama gets called out

 Texas Techs ferocious 360 alley-oop dunk was just silly

 Rob Gray will never buy a drink in Houston again

 Whats standing between Sooners prospect and the NBA? His dad

Rio de Janeiro (AFP) - Bullet casings at the scene of the apparent assassination of a black civil rights leader and city councilor in Rio de Janeiro once belonged to Brazil's federal police, Globo news reported Friday.

The casings were for the nine-millimeter bullets used to kill Marielle Franco, 38, late Wednesday in the center of Rio. Her driver was also killed and an aide lightly injured in a brazen attack that sparked protests by thousands in Rio and Sao Paulo on Thursday.

According to Globo television's report, the ammunition had been purchased by federal police in the capital Brasilia in 2006.

Ammunition from the same lot, according to the report, was used during a Sao Paulo massacre of 17 people in August 2015. Three police officers are among those convicted of the mass murders.

Police are investigating whether the killing of Franco -- a police critic -- was a targeted hit.

She was elected to Rio's city council with the leftist PSOL party in 2016 and was an outspoken supporter of poor black inhabitants of favelas, frequently accusing the police of carrying out extrajudicial killings.

Franco stood out in Rio's male and white-dominated political scene, and also spoke out against the decision last month to put the military in charge of Rio's security.

Federal police said in a statement that they were investigating "the origin of the ammunition and the circumstances of the casings found at the scene of the crime."Chinese official media reported Thursday that the countrys armed forces have conducted the largest military exercise of its kind, moving thousands of troops across the country in an unprecedented show of force.

The drill, which reportedly began Monday, saw over 10,000 marines travel more than 1,240 miles to arrive at army training bases in the Yunnan and Shandong provinces. The personnel traveled by air, water, rail and motor and engaged in combat drills upon arrival at the bases.

Related: China says it is testing worlds first railgun at sea, confirming leaked photos of electromagnetic weapon

Trending: Facebook Suspends Cambridge Analytica, The Controversial Data Firm Which Helped Trump Win the White House

The Chinese navy reported that more than 1,000 marines trained Thursday in the southeastern Fujian province that overlooks Chinas rival government in Taiwan. Beijing has repeatedly attempted to take back the disputed island by force and President Donald Trumps signing of a Travel Act with Taiwan on Friday was likely to further upset relations. During Thursdays military exercises, some of the personnel also reportedly drank cow blood, not unlike some U.S. military practices.

Performing tasks outside the country can greatly enhance the marines combat capability such as emergency and rapid response skills, an unnamed military expert told ruling Chinese Communist Party outlet The Global Times in an article also posted Thursday by the Chinese militarys official website.

The expert also noted that such skills could be implemented in Chinese marine deployments overseas, where Beijings push for greater economic and political ties has called for greater defenses.

Don't miss: Republicans Want to Cut Food Stamp Rolls by 20 percent say House Democrats

ChinaLargestMarinesDrill2

navy.81.cn

Story continues

The Hong Kongbased South China Morning Post reported in January that a number of Chinese personnel would be assigned to guard their countrys two overseas naval bases in Djibouti and Pakistan. Chinas presence in Djibouti has irritated the U.S., which also had a military installation in the east African country.

Former Secretary of State Rex Tillersonwhose Africa tour was quickly cut short by his own firingattempted to improve President Donald Trumps image, after Trump reportedly referred to African nations as shithole countries, and to counter growing Chinese influence on the continent. But several local leaders defended Beijing from claims by the now-ex-top diplomat and by U.S. military officials looking to boost the Pentagons budget.

Most popular: St. Patrick's Day Parade 2018 Livestream: How to Watch

Djiboutis development needs all its friends and strategic partners, Djibouti Finance Minister Ilyas Dawaleh said Wednesday, according to Bloomberg News. At the same time, no one can dictate to us who we should deal with.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang accused the U.S. of playing such tunes as its strategic interests being threatened during a press conference Friday, saying Beijing would continue to cooperate with African partners despite Washingtons complaints. Prior to Tillersons aborted tour, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi embarked on his own five-day visit in January, making this year the 28th in a row that Chinese foreign ministers have chosen Africa for their first visit abroad.

RTS1634E

MERCATOR INSTITUTE FOR CHINA STUDIES/REUTERS

Chinese President Xi Jinping has expanded the global nature of Chinas economic rise by establishing new trade routes and bolstering old ones as part of his One Belt, One Road initiative, which has seen China invest in construction, infrastructure and resource-gathering projects worldwide. With this massive endeavor has come far-reaching reforms to the worlds largest standing army, which include boosting its elite marines unit from about 20,000 personnel to 100,000 and preparing troops for more international posts to defend Chinese interests abroad.

By consolidating Xis control over the countrys military and security forces as well as abolishing his term limits, the Communist Party of China has allowed Xi a level of national influence not seen since revolutionary founder Mao Zedong. Trump singled out China, along with Russia, as leading U.S. rivals in Decembers America First National Security Strategy, which China and Russia criticized as having a Cold War mentality and imperial nature, respectively.

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from NewsweekBy Philip Wen and John Ruwitch BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - The unspoken compact that has anchored the relationship between China's government and its people - stay out of politics and we'll help you prosper - is being tested like never before by President Xi Jinping's move to extend his power. The decision this week to abolish presidential term limits, setting the stage for Xi to rule indefinitely, has engendered widespread unease and jolted a generation that was brought up largely apathetic about politics. It also laid bare a corollary to the state-society bargain: that many in China believed that their government would gradually become more liberal and open, not swerve back toward authoritarianism or even to strongman rule, according to analysts. Xi's first five-year term saw him steadily consolidate power at home through a shock-and-awe anti-corruption campaign while burnishing his credentials as a confident leader championing China's interests on the world stage. But even among the large number of Chinese who admire Xi and the job he is doing, many feel that amending the constitution was a step too far. Some are considering for the first time just how comfortable they are in a one-party state. Despite state media trumpeting the near-unanimous vote by parliament this week to end term limits as reflecting the common "will of the people", an undercurrent of anger and even despair online and in cities reflects less than universal acclaim among the broader public. As China's parliament passed constitutional amendments clearing the way for Xi to stay in power indefinitely on Sunday, social media users focused on a large blue screen in the Great Hall of the People that tallied the nearly 3,000 votes. Many simply posted screenshots without comment. Some jokingly expressed fears for the tiny number of delegates who dared to not vote in favor. On WeChat, an article explaining the rationale for abolishing presidential term limits went viral on Sunday, but not for its content. Lines and lines of smiley-face emojis flooded the article's comments section in a quietly subversive protest. The story was later removed. "I used to have confidence that our country would become more and more open," said one second-year university student, Wendy Zang. "I think it's a very sad thing if this constitutional amendment only lifts term limits but comes without any steps to restrict power." The State Council Information Office, which doubles as the party's spokesman's office, did not respond to a request for comment. AUTHORITY AND ACQUIESCENCE There is considerable acquiescence and tolerance for authoritarianism in China, both out of pragmatism but also support for the idea that an uncompromising government is needed to manage a country of China's size. But the swift undoing of a decades-long institutional check on power, introduced by late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping to prevent the recurrence of one-man rule after Mao Zedong's death, has prompted concern among many Chinese that the country was lurching backwards. "He wants to be China's Mao Zedong and the only thing missing now is his face on the currency," one retiree in Shanghai told Reuters, unhappy that the amendments took place "too quickly" and out of public view. Wu Qiang, an independent Beijing-based political commentator, said Xi overturning Deng's political legacy was, in the minds of some Chinese, tantamount to shaking the political foundation the state-society compact was built upon. After the term limits were removed, he said, there was "wide discontent" but that the past three decades of economic growth had left most lulled into a false sense of security and "not knowing how to resist". "China's politically apathetic middle-class have not organized themselves, they have not learnt political expression or how to protest, they have lost the ability and courage to express themselves," Wu said in a telephone interview. There is little sign, however, that the pockets of quiet dissent could snowball into any public displays of opposition, which speaks to the Communist Party's firm grip on civil society and the narrowing space for free expression under Xi. One university student in Shanghai said he feared for China's future now and was considering moving abroad, but was cautious about discussing the term limits issue with anyone, and never broached politics online. "I try not to leave digital records of this kind of conversation," he said. Most people interviewed by Reuters declined to be named even when expressing relatively benign views on China's leaders out of fear they would face repercussions. "If the Communist Party tells us the sky is black, then the sky is black," said one retiree strolling through Beijing's Temple of Heaven, declining to give his name. Zi Su, a retired professor, was arrested last year after penning an open letter calling on Xi to resign, saying he had gravely erred by restoring Mao-era ideology while turning his back on Deng's reforms. Supporters fear Zi, who previously trained cadres at the Communist Party school in southwestern Yunnan province, could now face harsher punishment to deter others considering public dissent. "Now the constitution has been amended and they say he was trying to subvert state power, the chances of a harsh punishment are higher," Zi's sister, Zi Ping, told Reuters. Another retiree, Wu Beicheng, 57, said his parents were persecuted during the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution and that he was born with malnutrition during the Great Leap Forward, Mao's disastrous campaign to revolutionize agriculture. He said he worried Xi's "renegade" dismantling of recent succession norms risks turmoil when it eventually comes time to transfer power. "As an insightful leader he should gradually lead Chinese society to an open and democratic system," Wu said. "It takes time, but it's wrong not to lead the people in that direction just because it takes time." ONLINE OUTLET Still, Xi remains widely popular in China. One online retailer told Reuters she welcomed the removal of term limits if it meant the continuation of Xi's leadership. Daniel Cao, a fourth-year university student in Shanghai said he was initially "astonished" that the constitution could be "changed so easily", and shared the concerns of others online that China would return to an era of cult of personality and one-man rule. "However, if you think about it another way, when Deng Xiaoping proposed reform and opening up and introduced the market economy some people raised opinions in the same way," he said. "As long as Xi Jinping can lead China to become strong, whatever methods he uses, I can accept them. In a word, look at the results, not the process." David Bandurski, co-director of the China Media Project and a fellow of the Robert Bosch Academy in Berlin, said while it was difficult to quantify the extent of negative sentiment, the intensity of the online censorship reflected the level of dissent. China's internet censors, trigger-happy at the best of times, have gone into overdrive to sanitize discussion of the term limit changes. Deleted and blocked posts on China's Twitter-like Weibo include references to "lifelong", "emigration" and emperors "ascending the throne", as well as widely shared memes of Winnie the Pooh, who some consider to bear a resemblance to Xi, clinging to a pot of honey. Even the letter 'n', which in colloquial Chinese can mean "many" or "countless", was also momentarily blocked on Weibo. "This displays a level of absurdity and paranoia that would seem to suggest China's leaders themselves understand the criticism is there, and that it is sufficiently intense to be a threat," Bandurski said. (Additional reporting by Elias Glenn, Christian Shepherd and Matthew Miller in Beijing and Brenda Goh and the Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Philip McClellan)By James Pearson and Minh Nguyen

QUANG NGAI, Vietnam (Reuters) - It took Pham Thi Thuan a while before she could muster the courage to fetch water from across the ditch where 170 of her neighbours, most of them women and children, were killed by U.S. troops during the Vietnam War.

"When I heard cats mewing at night, it sounded like those babies were still crying," said Thuan.

On March 16, 1968, 504 people were killed by American soldiers in Son My, a collection of hamlets between the central Vietnamese coast and a ridge of misty mountains, in an incident known in the West as the My Lai Massacre.

It was the worst recorded U.S. war crime committed in Vietnam, but preparations for a 50th anniversary ceremony at the site, now a memorial to the victims, are low key.

The ceremony falls just one week after a landmark visit by a U.S. aircraft carrier to the nearby port city of Danang, testament to warming ties between the former foes.

Because of those better relations, Vietnam is not dwelling on the pain of the past, a senior Vietnamese government official told Reuters.

"Vietnam wants to close the door to the past and look to the future," said the official, who declined to be identified, citing the sensitivity of the issue.

Dang Ngoc Dung, deputy chairman of the Quang Ngai Province People's Committee, said Vietnam wanted to "befriend everyone now".

"We won't let anyone harm us again," said Dung.

DARKNESS, SILENCE

Vo Cao Loi was 16 when he saw American helicopters buzz low over his family's house on the clear, sunny morning of the massacre.

That was not unusual, Loi said. American troops often passed through the area in then U.S.-backed South Vietnam.

"We were used to it," said Loi. "But we didn't expect them to kill everybody."

Loi's mother gave him a bag filled with rice and spare clothes and told him to hide.

He hid beneath coconut trees by a river as U.S. troops dragged women and children out of their houses and shot them.

Story continues

"I could usually see my house from where I was hiding, but there was smoke everywhere. All I could hear were explosions, and the ground was shaking," said Loi, who worried that U.S. soldiers were throwing grenades into village shelters.

"I was hoping I was wrong, but it turned out I was right".

Loi's mother, older sister and her five-month-old son were killed by a grenade tossed into their shelter.

It was not until 3 p.m. that day that the shooting stopped.

"Only then did the survivors start crying and wailing," said Loi, who lost 18 relatives in the massacre.

There were not enough people left to take the dead to the cemetery, Loi said, so Vietnamese guerrillas helped him bury his family in the grounds of their home.

"Everything happened in darkness and silence in fear the Americans would come back".

Loi joined the Viet Cong guerrillas after the massacre and fought until the end of the war in 1975.

He and his wife now run a coffee shop in a leafy courtyard in Danang filled with photos of trips to France with his children, and a book documenting former U.S. president Barack Obama's trip to Vietnam in 2015.

"Vietnam and the U.S. have become partners that trust each other," said Loi.

"Nobody wants war."

(Additional reporting by Kham Nguyen, Thinh Nguyen and the Hanoi Newsroom; Editing by Robert Birsel)Nikolai Glushkov was found dead at home - he had been strangled - linkedin

A fierce critic of Vladimir Putin, who was found dead at his south London home earlier this week, was murdered, police have said, amid fears of a second Russia-sponsored attack on British soil.

Businessman, Nikolai Glushkov, 68, who was granted asylum in the UK after fleeing Moscow in 2006, was strangled to death, Scotland Yard has confirmed.

The former right-hand man of deceased oligarch, Boris Berezovsky, his death came just over a week after Russian spy, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter, Yulia, were poisoned by a nerve agent in Salisbury.

The former boss of the state airline Aeroflot, Mr Glushkov had told friends he feared he was on a Kremlin hit-list.

Wish suspicion falling again on Moscow, police have reportedly started contacting a number of Russian exiles to discuss their safety.

Police and the security services have now reassessed their view that exiles are at a low risk, the BBC reported.

A former bodyguard, who worked for Mr Berezovsky, and knew Mr Glushkov well, said his death had all the hallmarks of a state-sponsored assassination.

A murder investigation was launched in New Malden

The France-based security expert, who asked to be identified only by his initials, RG, said: Im not at all surprised [that a murder investigation has been opened].

You can easily choke someone in 10 seconds so that they fall into a comatose state and you can then continue strangling them without leaving any other marks on the body. Its a technique they [the Russians] know well.

Mr Berezovsky was found hanged in the bathroom of his Surrey home in 2013, with the cause of death being put down to suicide.

But suspicion has always surrounded the circumstances of his death, with many believing he was one of a number of Putin critics who were deliberately silenced.

Another of their close associates, Badri Patarkatsishvili, 52, died at his Surrey home in 2008, following an apparent heart attack.

12 uk deaths with suspected Russian involvement

A close personal friend of the three men, who asked not to be named, said he was in little doubt their murders were linked.

Story continues

He said: "All of them were in no doubt that Boris was killed. It is perhaps inevitable that they would be assassinated themselves.

"It is a very horrible thing to happen, he was a lovely man, a very funny man with a great sense of humour. It sounds like somebody has a vendetta against them."

Boris Berezovsky was found dead at his Surrey home five years ago

Counter terror officers continued to probe the nerve gas attack on Mr Skirpal, whose attempted murder led to the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats from London.

Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, escalated the war of words with Russia, when he accused Vladimir Putin of personally ordering the nerve agent attack.

He said it was "overwhelmingly likely" that the Russian President was behind the attempted murder, a claim that was described as unpardonable by Mr Putins spokesman.

News of this latest murder investigation will further stoke fears that critics or enemies of Russia and its leader, are no longer safe on British soil.

Downing Street said the Prime Minister had been "kept informed" of developments but stressed that Mr Glushkov's death was a police matter and that no link had been made with the Salisbury poisoning case.

But Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative leader, said the murder of Mr Glushkov appeared to fit into a pattern of violent deaths of enemies of Mr Putin.

The police investigation is continuing in Salisbury

He said: "If there is a link between Mr Glushkov's death and the Kremlin it will be further proof that we are dealing with essentially a rogue state which refuses to abide by international rules and has violated UN laws.

"What has been going on is a deliberate attempt to settle Russian scores in the UK.

Boris Johnson has laid the blame at Putin's door

But a key ally of Jeremy Corbyn has suggested moderate Labour MPs who blame Russia for spy poisoning are "enemies" who should be deselected.

Chris Williamson, the Labour MP for Derby North, said Labour MPs who had decided Moscow was unequivocally to blame were baying for blood and he suggested they face de-selection.

And the Kremlin also ramped up its language, launching a withering response to Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson, who had suggested Russia should go away and shut up.

Major-General Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman at Russias defence ministry, accused Mr Williamson of engaging in market wench talk, adding that it reflected his intellectual impotency.Anti-racist protester DeAndre Harris, who was brutally beaten by a group of white supremacists, had the assault charges filed against him dropped after a judge said on Friday the 20-year-old black man was defending himself.

On Aug. 12, a violent white nationalist rally took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, that left one person dead at the hands of an alleged white supremacist. Counterprotesters, including Harris, clashed with the white extremists during the Unite the Right event. Photos and video taken the day of the rally show a group of white men attacking Harris in the Market Street Parking Garage.

Harris suffered a concussion, a knee injury and a head laceration, among other injuries, during the assault.

Harold Crews, a lawyer and a neo-Confederate League of the South leader, filed a police report against Harris, alleging the 20-year-old hit him over the head with a flashlight while in the parking garage. Officers then arrested Harris in October on a felony assault charge, news that white nationalist cheered online.

But on Friday, Charlottesville General District Judge Robert Downer Jr. dismissed the charges against Harris, agreeing that the defendant acted in self-defense during the attack.

Intercept journalist Shaun King, along with other activists online, tracked down many of Harris alleged attackers that day. While Crews does not face any charges, Jacob Scott, Daniel Borden, Alex Michael Ramos and Tyler Watkins Davis were all identified as taking part in Harris assault. Their trials, with the exception of Davis, will take place in April, the Washington Post reports.

Also on HuffPost

Four-year-old Leo Griffin leaves an Aug. 13 Chicago protest that mourned the victims of the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, the day before.

People hold signs at a vigil on Aug. 13 in Chicago for the victims in the previous day's violent clashes in Charlottesville.

People gather in downtown Chicago on Aug. 13 to protest the alt-right movement and to mourn Heather Heyer, who was killed in Charlottesville when a car plowed into a crowd of counterprotesters.

Demonstrators hold signs outside the White House on Aug. 13 during a vigil in response to the death of a counterprotester in the Aug. 12 "Unite the Right" rally.

A woman writes "Silence is Compliance" with a chalk on the ground at Federal Plaza Square in Chicago during an Aug. 13 protest in response to the violence that erupted in Charlottesville.

People gather in downtown Chicago on Aug. 13 to protest the alt-right movement.

Ahead of President Donald Trump's visit, about 400 demonstrators on Fifth Avenue near Trump Tower in New York attend a rally protesting the violence in Charlottesville.

A demonstrator holds a banner reading "Only 1 Side Love" during a protest at Federal Plaza Square in Chicago on Aug. 13.

People gather in front of the White House to hold a vigil on Aug. 13, one day after the violence in Charlottesville.

A demonstrator holds a banner reading "Hate Has No Home Here. Love Will Win" during an Aug. 13 protest at Federal Plaza Square in Chicago.

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.Members of the Ku Klux Klan arrive for a rally, calling for the protection of Southern Confederate monuments, in Charlottesville, Virginia: ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP/Getty Images

A black man who was beaten at a white supremacist rally this summer  and later charged with assault  has been acquitted on all charges.

DeAndre Harris made national headlines when he was attacked in a parking garage following the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in August. Supporters were shocked when one of his alleged assailants  white supremacist Harold Ray Crews  responded by filing his own assault charges against Mr Harris.

More than 100 of Mr Harris's supporters turned out to hear Charlottesville General District Court Judge Robert Downer read out his verdict on Friday, according to NBC. The judge found the 20-year-old not guilty, sparing him up to 12 months in prison and a $2,500 fine.

Rhonda Quagliana, a defence attorney for Mr Harris, said she was happy and relieved at the outcome.

DeAndre is a 20-year-old young person and the things that happened to him on that day, and the difficulties that hes endured after the last several months, have been nothing short of overwhelming for someone his age, she told The Independent.

Mr Harris and several friends travelled to Charlottesville last summer to counter-protest the right-wing rally, which was billed as the largest white supremacist gathering in decades.

Mr Harris, Mr Crews and several other people engaged in a scuffle after the event, in which the counter-protester struck the white supremacist with a flashlight. A group of people then followed Mr Harris into a nearby parking garage and attacked him, leaving him with a spinal injury and head lacerations that required 10 stitches.

Video of the assault circulated online, adding to national outrage about the rally, where protesters carried confederate flags and chanted Jews will not replace us.

Another counter-protester, 32-year-old Heather Heyer, was killed at the rally when she was struck by a car one allegedly driven by white supremacist James Fields.

In a Charlottesville courtroom on Friday, Mr Downer told anxious observers that Mr Harris was not guilty of assault because he did not mean to strike Mr Crews. Instead, the judge said, he was attempting to protect his friend, whom he thought Mr Crews was attacking.

Story continues

Ms Quagliana, who took the case pro-bono, called Mr Harriss defence a group effort. Students from the University of Virginia, where the rally took place, volunteered their time to work on the case, she said. A court reporter also volunteered her services during the trial.

Three men accused of assaulting Mr Harris after the rally will stand trial in late April and early May. A fourth mans trial has yet to be set.The Daily Beast

YouTubeThe last text Gabby Petito sent before she went missing while road-tripping across the U.S. with her fiance set off alarm bells for her mother, who became fearful for the 22-year-olds safety after receiving the odd message.Thats according to a newly-unsealed search warrant giving North Port, Florida, police permission to search a hard drive investigators found in Petitos white van, which she and Brian Laundrie, 23, had been using to tour the countrys national parks.The text messageUK Ambassador to Russia Laurie Bristow has been summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Foreign Ministry said on Saturday, Sputnik reports.

The news comes amid deterioration of the UK-Russian relations after former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter were found unconscious in a shopping center in Salisbury.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May said that it was "highly likely" that Russia was responsible for the incident, since the two were poisoned with a Novichok class military-grade nerve agent that was developed in the Soviet Union.

On Wednesday, May went on to announce a package of anti-Russian measures, including the expulsion of Russian diplomats from the country, and the suspension of bilateral contacts between London and Moscow.Irgo the dog is finally home!

Kara Swindle and her two young children got the shock of a lifetime this week when United Airlines accidentally sent their German shepherd, Irgo, to Japan and instead delivered a Great Dane (who was supposed to take the 6,000+ mile trip) to the Kansas City airport in his place.

On Friday morning, Swindle was finally reunited with her pet, according to a video on CNN.

This is absolutely amazing to finally have him back, she told the news outlet as she walked Irgo to her car. Its been a long four days. He instantly jumped up and was just crying. When hes super excited he cries.

RELATED: Measles Alert Issued After 2 Passengers Arrive in Michigan and New Jersey Airports with Virus

In a statement to PEOPLE, United said that after discovering the mixup, they notified our customers that their pets have arrived safely and will arrange to return the pets to them as soon as possible. The airline reportedly then offered to send the 10-year-old dog back to the States in the cargo area, which Swindle refused.

We told them absolutely not, she told CNN on Friday. He is to be flying in the cabin, and honestly we dont care how it happens.

United then arranged for Irgo to be flown home on a corporate jet. He was returned safely to his family, who was relocating from Oregon to Wichita, Kansas.

They had no idea that the dogs were messed up. It was only until I got there saying, Uh, that Great Danes not mine, she said in a video posted by local news channel KWCH12. Were just happy hes here and thats all that matters now.

In addition to it being his first time flying, Irgo was also suffering from an ear infection and hadnt had his medication in three days, CNN reported. He was examined before making the trek back, but Swindle also plans to get her beloved pet checked out herself..

RELATED: United Airlines Plans to Change Pet Policy Following Dogs Death in Overhead Bin

Were going to go take him to a vet right now and just make sure. But as you can see, he seems like hes perfectly fine, she told the local outlet. Im just very happy about that.

This is the second scandal for United this week. On Tuesday, a passengers French bulldog died after a flight attendant reportedly demanded a traveler place the animal in an overhead bin, where it suffocated. United has since apologized for both incidents, and said they are working to find out how Irgos issue occurred.

An error occurred during connections in Denver for two pets sent to the wrong destinations, the statement read. We apologize for this mistake and are following up with the vendor kennel where they were kept overnight to understand what happened.President Donald Trump has been branded a disgraced demagogue by former CIA director John Brennan following the sacking of FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, as Mr Trumps feud with the bureau shows few signs of abating.

Mr McCabe said after his dismissal, which came just two days before he was due to retire and claim a number of government pension benefits, was the result of him being a crucial witness regarding whether Mr Trump obstructed a federal investigation into possible collusion by members of with Russia.

Mr Trump had welcomed the dismissal of Mr McCabe  who he has frequently taunted both publicly and in private  as a great day for democracy, which led to the rebuke by Mr Brennan.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said late on Friday that he felt justified in firing Mr McCabe after the Justice Departments internal watchdog said in a report  the contents of which have not yet been made public  that he leaked information to reporters and misled investigators about his actions.

Mr Sessions said Mr McCabe had made an unauthorised disclosure to the news media and lacked candour  including under oath  on multiple occasions.

The FBI expects every employee to adhere to the highest standards of honesty, integrity and accountability, Mr Sessions added.

Mr McCabe has denied these allegations and called his firing part of a concerted effort by the Trump administration to discredit the FBI. This attack on my credibility is one part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally, but to taint the FBI, law enforcement, and intelligence professionals more generally, McCabe said. It is part of this Administrations ongoing war on the FBI and the efforts of the Special Counsel investigation.

The investigation that Mr McCabe referred to is the federal probe being run by Special Counsel Robert Mueller into Russias meddling in the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion between Russia and members of Mr Trumps campaign team. Mr Trump and the White House have denied there was any collusion. The investigation into election meddling was originally led by former FBI Director James Comey before he himself was fired by Mr Trump in May last year.

Story continues

Mr Comey later testified to a congressional panel that he had had conversations with Mr Trump where the president had asked him to think about dropping an investigation into the conduct of Mr Trumps then-National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. The White House have denied such conversations taking place, although it is believed that Mr Mueller and his team are looking into whether Mr Comeys firing could amount to obstruction of justice. Mr Flynn has since pleaded guilty to one count lying to the FBI, having been indicted by Mr Mueller.

In his statement, Mr McCabe alleged that the report used as the basis for his firing was sped up only after his testimony suggested that he would corroborate Mr Comeys accounts of his conversations with Mr Trump. A source told the Associated Press that Mr McCabe had kept personal memos regarding interactions with the president. They are said to be similar to the ones maintained by Mr Comey.

In his tweet, Mr Trump also used the opportunity to attacked Mr Comey as sanctimonious and called Mr McCabes firing a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI. He asserted without elaboration that `Mr McCabe knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI.

Responding to that, Mr Brennan, who led the CIA under President Barack Obama between 2013 and 2017, made his feelings clear about the reasons for Mr McCabes firing by tweeting about Mr Trump: When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

You may scapegoat Andy McCabe, but you will not destroy America... America will triumph over you, Mr Brennans tweet continued.

The former CIA director has previously described the President as unstable, inept, inexperienced and unethical.

Mr McCabe briefly served as director of the FBI between the firing of Mr Comey and the swearing-in of current director Christopher Wray. He played a crucial role in the bureaus investigation into of Hillary Clintons use of a personal email server while she was Secretary of State, as well the Clinton Foundation. That is in addition to playing a key role in the probe into Russias interference in the election.

Mr McCabe had been on leave from the FBI since January, when he abruptly left the deputy director position, with his subsequent dismissal putting his ability to collect his pension following 20 years of service at the bureau at risk. His removal will likely add to the turmoil surrounding the bureaus relationship with the Trump administration.

Mr McCabe came under scrutiny over an October 2016 news report about clashes between the FBI and the Department of Justice about about how aggressively the Clinton Foundation should be investigated. The watchdog office concluded that McCabe authorised FBI officials to speak to a Wall Street Journal reporter for that story and had kept back information about it.

In his statement, Mr McCabe said he had the authority to share information with journalists through the public affairs office and that he had honestly answered questions about whom he had spoken to and when, and that when he thought his answers were misunderstood, he contacted investigators to correct them.

At the time, Mr McCabe was faced questions of partisanship, and both then and since he has been repeatedly been criticised by Mr Trump for being biased in favour of Hillary Clinton and because his wife Jill ran as a Democratic candidate for the Virginia State Senate. Ms McCabe had received campaign contributions from the political action committee of then-Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, a longtime Clinton friend, during her unsuccessful run. The FBI has said Mr McCabe received the necessary ethics approval about his wifes candidacy and was not supervising the Clinton investigation at the time.

Mr McCabe suggested in his statement that he was trying to set the record straight about the FBIs independence against the background of those allegations.

Mr Sessions faced a difficult decision over the firing. He risked inflaming the White House if he decided against dismissing Mr McCabe, but the timing of his forced departure is likely to upset ran-and-file members of the FBI.

The firing comes amid of number of resignations or firings of Trump administration staff in the past few weeks, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Mr Trumps economic adviser Gary Cohn and White House communications director Hope Hicks.

Associated Press contributed to this reportDonald Trump's eldest son is getting a divorce.

Vanessa Haydon Trump filed paperwork seeking an uncontested divorce from Donald Trump Jr on Thursday. The two have been married since 2005 and have five children together.

After 12 years of marriage, we have decided to go our separate ways," the couple said in a statement. "We will always have tremendous respect for each other and our families. We have five beautiful children together and they remain our top priority. We ask for your privacy during this time.

The day before, New York gossip outlet Page Six reported Mr and Ms Trump were headed for a split, noting that they had been living "separate lives" of late. Two sources told the paper that Mr Trump appears to have changed recently, and friends are concerned about him".

The pair recently made headlines when a package of white powder was mailed to their residence in New York City. Ms Trump, who was the first to open the package, was rushed to the hospital as a precaution. The contents were later deemed nonhazardous.

The couple first met in 2003, when Donald Trump spied the future Ms Trump  then Vanessa Haydon  at a fashion show. The pair engaged in awkward conversation and didn't hit it off right away, Ms Trump later told the New York Times. It wasn't until six weeks later, when a mutual friend introduced them at a birthday party, that the sparks flew.

The couple were married in 2005 at the elder Mr Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort  the same place he married his wife, Melania, that same year.

Life became more complicated for the pair after Mr Trump's father was sworn in last year. To avoid conflicts of interest, Donald Trump left control of his flagship company  the Trump Organisation  to his two sons. The younger Mr Trump now leads the organisation with his brother, Eric.

And while he is supposed to remain separate from the White House as an employee of the Trump Organisation, Mr Trump has nevertheless found himself embroiled in a number of his father's political scandals.

Story continues

This summer, for instance, the New York Times reported that Mr Trump had arranged a meeting with Russian sources who promised to provide "dirt" on Hillary Clinton during his father's campaign.

Mr Trump has said the meeting was innocent, and denied ever colluding with a foreign government.History has no record of the first drafts of the speeches President Kennedy delivered in 1961 and 1962, when he set America on a path to space. Still, its a safe bet they didnt include the lines: Space is a warfighting domain. We may have a Space Force. Develop another one. Space Force.

He also probably didnt consider saying, You see whats happening? You see the rockets going up left and right Very soon we are going to the moon. And he almost surely didnt think about saying, You wouldnt have been going to the moon if my opponent won, that I can tell you. 

President Kennedy, however, wasnt President Trump, and the current President said precisely those things in a speech at the Marine Corps Air Station in Miramar, Calif., on March 13  only instead of the moon, he promised Mars.

Still, lets unpack Trumps various ideas, starting with the Space Force. There are a lot of things wrong with this proposal, not the least being that it may violate international agreements. More than half a century ago, the U.S. and the Soviet Union became principal signatories on what is formally known as The Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies. That mouthful name has been colloquially shortened to The Outer Space Treaty, but whatever its called, one of its foundational rules is no fighting in space.

Article IV of the treaty explicitly forbids nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction anywhere in space, as well as any military activity of any kind on the moon or other worlds.

Even if Trump kept the space weaponry conventional, theres a risk of nuclear escalation back on Earth. In 1983, President Reagan proposed his Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), an array of non-nuclear, space-based defensive weapons to protect the U.S. from a first-strike attack by the Soviet Union. Moscow, however, saw a good defense as at least a prelude to offense and warned that the SDI violated the existing Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) pact and Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT)  both of which regulated nukes. Tear up ABM and SALT, and youre off to the arms races.

Story continues

Ultimately, it didnt matter because none of the planned technology  x-ray lasers, sub-atomic particle beams, electromagnetic rail guns  worked. Ten years and $30 billion later, President Bill Clinton quietly pulled the plug on the plan.

Star Wars was not the first time the U.S. considered militarizing space. The idea initially got traction in 1963, when the Air Force announced its plans for a Manned Orbiting Laboratory, which was actually not a laboratory at all, but instead a single-module space station for astronaut-spies. That project too had its run, burned through $1.5 billion in 1960s dollars, and was scrapped in 1969. And that one too never worked out its engineering bugs, except for the toilets  really  which later flew on the Skylab space station.

This time, even the military isnt buying what Trump is selling. In July of last year, when Congress actually considered funding a space force, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis shot it down. At a time when we are trying to integrate the Departments joint war-fighting functions, I do not wish to add a separate service that would likely present a narrower and even parochial approach to space operations, he wrote in a letter to a Congressional Republican who also opposed the idea. Mattis appears no more favorably inclined today, and the chilly silence you heard from the Pentagon following Trumps speech shows that.

Still, theres Mars, right? Were going there very soon, right? No. No, were not.

Ever since the first moon landing, in 1969, the rule for Mars has always been that were going there, we just never actually get there. First, the target date was 1975, then 2019  chosen because it will be the fiftieth anniversary of that moon landing. Now its 2035 or so. Elon Musk, the head of SpaceX, has claimed he could get there by 2024.

Its Musks accomplishments that seem to be behind Trumps current Red Planet Fever. At a March 8 cabinet meeting, the President was still swooning over the Feb. 6 launch of SpaceXs Falcon Heavy rocket  particularly the safe landing of two of its three spent boosters. (The third one crashed.) But Musk himself has walked back his 2024 promise and gotten a good deal more realistic about the challenges a Mars mission poses. Its difficult, dangerous, [and there is a] good chance you will die, he said at a South by Southwest talk on March 11.

Trump has much more control over NASAs own Mars push, but hes not really exercising it. NASAs annual budget comes in just north of $19 billion, which represents about 0.4% of the federal budget. Back in the Apollo days, it was 4%. That lean funding has meant go-slow progress on the principal hardware needed for a Mars mission  the Orion spacecraft and the heavy-lift SLS rocket  both of which have been in development since 2004. The earliest launch of even an uncrewed test version will not likely occur until 2020. If Trump wants to speed things up, he could work with Congress to open the money spigot much wider. He hasnt.

Finally, there is the matter of Trumps swipe at Hillary Clinton, in which he suggested that she was indifferent to a Mars mission. But as is often the case, Trump seems to have made this up on the fly. In an online science debate during the election in which the presidential candidates submitted written answers to questions, Clinton wrote: Today, thanks to a series of successful American robotic explorers, we know more about the Red Planet than ever before. A goal of my administration will be to expand this knowledge even further and advance our ability to make human exploration of Mars a reality. She restated that commitment in a similar forum with Space News magazine.

Trump did not mention Mars on either occasion, but he did write that a strong STEM program in schools will help bring millions of jobs and trillions of dollars in investment to this country. There was no real-time moderator to press him on the trillions.

The current president may or may not be learning an immutable truth that previous presidents have learned, which is that its extremely easy to get drunk on space, but its extremely hard to turn that intoxication into a working national space policy. The job takes discipline, vision, patience, an ability to work closely with Congress and a real understanding of the relevant science. A few of those previous presidents exhibited those qualities. If the current one wants to get anywhere near Mars, he will have to do the same.Former CIA chief John Brennan did not mince his words when taking aim at President Donald Trump on Saturday morning.

In a blistering tweet, Brennan blasted Trump for celebrating the dismissal of former FBI deputy Director Andrew McCabe.

Trump would take his rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history once the full extent of his venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption becomes known, Brennan wrote.

You may scapegoat Andy McCabe, he added. But you will not destroy America America will triumph over you.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired McCabe from his role on Friday, just two days before he was slated to retire, over his alleged conduct during a review of an investigation into the Clinton Foundation.

Brennans tweet was in direct response to an earlier post from Trump, shortly after midnight, in which the president described McCabes firing as a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI and a great day for Democracy.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

McCabe has already hit back at his dismissal via a lengthy statement.

This attack on my credibility is one part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally, but to taint the FBI, law enforcement, and intelligence professionals more generally, he wrote. It is part of this Administrations ongoing war on the FBI and the efforts of the Special Counsel investigation, which continue to this day.

Earlier this month, Brennan said there was deep, deep worry and concern about Americas safety under the Trump administration.

Related Coverage

Robert De Niro Again Tears Into 'Idiot' Donald Trump, And Vows Not To Stop

Dan Rather Subtly Zings Donald Trump With Immanuel Kant Quote About Lies

Donald Trump Hails Andrew McCabe's Firing As 'A Great Day For Democracy'

Also on HuffPost

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.By David Ingram and Peter Henderson

(Reuters) - Data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica harvested private information from more than 50 million Facebook users in developing techniques to support President Donald Trump's 2016 election campaign, the New York Times and London's Observer reported on Saturday.

The Massachusetts attorney general said her office was launching an investigation after the news reports.

"Massachusetts residents deserve answers immediately from Facebook and Cambridge Analytica," Maura Healey said on Twitter in a post that linked to a Times report.

The United Kingdom's Information Commission also announced on Saturday they are conducting an investigation of Cambridge Analytica, which also had clients in the country.

"Any criminal and civil enforcement actions arising from the investigation will be pursued vigorously," said Elizabeth Denham, Information Commissioner.

Facebook on Friday said it was suspending Cambridge Analytica after finding data privacy policies had been violated.

The move means Cambridge Analytica and its parent group Strategic Communication Laboratories (SCL) cannot buy ads or administer pages belonging to clients.

The newspapers, which cited former Cambridge Analytica employees, associates and documents, said the data breach was one of the largest in the history of Facebook Inc.

The Observer said Cambridge Analytica used the data, taken without authorization in early 2014, to build a software program to predict and influence choices at the ballot box.

It quoted whistleblower Christopher Wylie, who helped set up Cambridge Analytica and worked with an academic at Cambridge University to obtain the data, as saying the system could profile individual voters to target them with personalized political advertisements.

The more than 50 million profiles represented about a third of active North American Facebook users, and nearly a quarter of potential U.S. voters, at the time, the Observer said.

Story continues

"We exploited Facebook to harvest millions of peoples profiles. And built models to exploit what we knew about them and target their inner demons. That was the basis that the entire company was built on, Wylie told the Observer.

The New York Times said interviews with a half-dozen former Cambridge Analytica employees and contractors, and a review of the firms emails and documents, revealed it not only relied on the private Facebook data but still possesses most or all of it.

The Observer said the data was collected through an app called thisisyourdigitallife, built by academic Aleksandr Kogan, separately from his work at Cambridge University.

Through Kogan's company Global Science Research (GSR), in collaboration with Cambridge Analytica, hundreds of thousands of users were paid to take a personality test and agreed to have their data collected for academic use, the Observer said.

However, the app also collected the information of the test-takers Facebook friends, leading to the accumulation of a data pool tens of millions-strong, the Observer said. It said Facebooks platform policy allowed only collection of friends data to improve user experience in the app and barred it from being sold on or used for advertising.

Facebook said it acted against Cambridge Analytica and SCL after receiving reports they did not delete information about Facebook users that had been inappropriately shared. http://bit.ly/2FZU1Ir

A Cambridge Analytica spokesman said GSR "was contractually committed by us to only obtain data in accordance with the UK Data Protection Act and to seek the informed consent of each respondent."

"When it subsequently became clear that the data had not been obtained by GSR in line with Facebooks terms of service, Cambridge Analytica deleted all data received from GSR," he said.

"We worked with Facebook over this period to ensure that they were satisfied that we had not knowingly breached any of Facebooks terms of service and also provided a signed statement to confirm that all Facebook data and their derivatives had been deleted," the spokesman said.

He said "no data from GSR was used by Cambridge Analytica as part of the services it provided to the Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign."

$6.2 MILLION FROM TRUMP CAMPAIGN

Trumps campaign hired Cambridge Analytica in June 2016 and paid it more than $6.2 million, according to Federal Election Commission records.

A Trump campaign official said the campaign used the Republican National Committee for its voter data in 2016, not Cambridge Analytica.

"Any claims that voter data were used from another source to support the victory in 2016 are false, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

In past interviews with Reuters, Brad Parscale, who ran Trump's digital ad operation in 2016 and is his 2020 re-election campaign manager, has said Cambridge Analytica played a minor role as a contractor in the 2016 campaign.

He said the campaign used voter data from a Republican-affiliated organization rather than Cambridge Analytica. He declined to comment on Friday.

On its website, Cambridge Analytica says it "provided the Donald J. Trump for President campaign with the expertise and insights that helped win the White House."

Facebook did not mention the Trump campaign or any other campaigns in its statement.

"We will take legal action if necessary to hold them responsible and accountable for any unlawful behavior," Facebook said, adding that it was continuing to investigate the claims.

In a Twitter post, Facebook Chief Security Officer Alex Stamos called the news reports "important and powerful" but said it was "incorrect to call this a 'breach' under any reasonable definition of the term."

"We can condemn this behavior while being accurate in our description of it," he said.

Acknowledging an episode as a data breach can carry legal significance, as companies face a patchwork of state and federal requirements to notify customers and regulators when they detect that information has been compromised.

Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, said the case was "more evidence that the online political advertising market is essentially the Wild West" and showed the need for Congress to pass legislation to bring transparency and accountability to online political advertisements.

A source close to the congressional investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign said the Trump campaign likely will need to address whether it was aware of Cambridge Analyticas methods for obtaining its data or if the data was leveraged during the election.

Cambridge Analytica says it uses "behavioral microtargeting," or combining analysis of peoples personalities with demographics, to predict and influence mass behavior. It says it has data on 220 million Americans, two-thirds of the U.S. population.

It has worked on other campaigns in the United States and other countries, and is funded by Robert Mercer, a prominent supporter of politically conservative groups.

Facebook in its statement described a rocky relationship with Cambridge Analytica, Kogan and Wylie going back to 2015.

That year, Facebook said, it learned that Kogan lied to the company and violated its policies by sharing data he acquired with a so-called "research app" that used Facebook's login system.

Kogan was not immediately available for comment.

The thisisyourdigitallife app was downloaded by about 270,000 people. Facebook said Kogan gained access to profile and other information "in a legitimate way" but "did not subsequently abide by our rules" when he passed the data to SCL/Cambridge Analytica and Wylie.

Facebook said it cut ties to Kogan's app when it learned of the violation, and asked for certification from Kogan and all parties he had given data to that the information had been destroyed.

Although all certified they had destroyed the data, Facebook said it received reports in the past several days that "not all data was deleted."

(Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom, Dustin Volz, Ginger Gibson and Chris Sanders in Washington and Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Paul Simao, Bill Trott and Chris Reese)By David Ingram and Peter Henderson

(Reuters) - Data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica harvested private information from more than 50 million Facebook users in developing techniques to support President Donald Trump's 2016 election campaign, the New York Times and London's Observer reported on Saturday.

The Massachusetts attorney general said her office was launching an investigation after the news reports.

"Massachusetts residents deserve answers immediately from Facebook and Cambridge Analytica," Maura Healey said on Twitter in a post that linked to a Times report.

Facebook on Friday said it was suspending Cambridge Analytica after finding data privacy policies had been violated.

The newspapers, which cited former Cambridge Analytica employees, associates and documents, said the data breach was one of the largest in the history of Facebook Inc.

The Observer said Cambridge Analytica used the data, taken without authorization in early 2014, to build a software program to predict and influence choices at the ballot box.

The newspaper quoted whistleblower Christopher Wylie, who helped set up Cambridge Analytica and worked with an academic at Cambridge University to obtain the data, as saying the system could profile individual voters to target them with personalized political advertisements.

The more than 50 million profiles represented about a third of active North American Facebook users, and nearly a quarter of potential U.S. voters, at the time, the Observer said.

"We exploited Facebook to harvest millions of peoples profiles. And built models to exploit what we knew about them and target their inner demons. That was the basis that the entire company was built on, Wylie told the Observer.

The New York Times said interviews with a half-dozen former Cambridge Analytica employees and contractors, and a review of the firms emails and documents, revealed it not only relied on the private Facebook data but still possesses most or all of it.

Story continues

The Observer said the data was collected through an app called thisisyourdigitallife, built by academic Aleksandr Kogan, separately from his work at Cambridge University.

Through Kogan's company Global Science Research (GSR), in collaboration with Cambridge Analytica, hundreds of thousands of users were paid to take a personality test and agreed to have their data collected for academic use, the Observer said.

However, the app also collected the information of the test-takers Facebook friends, leading to the accumulation of a data pool tens of millions-strong, the newspaper said. It said Facebooks platform policy allowed only collection of friends data to improve user experience in the app and barred it from being sold on or used for advertising.

SUSPENDED FROM FACEBOOK

Facebook said on Friday it had suspended Cambridge Analytica and its parent group Strategic Communication Laboratories (SCL) after receiving reports they did not delete information about Facebook users that had been inappropriately shared. http://bit.ly/2FZU1Ir

A spokesman for Cambridge Analytica said GSR "was contractually committed by us to only obtain data in accordance with the UK Data Protection Act and to seek the informed consent of each respondent."

"When it subsequently became clear that the data had not been obtained by GSR in line with Facebooks terms of service, Cambridge Analytica deleted all data received from GSR," he said.

"We worked with Facebook over this period to ensure that they were satisfied that we had not knowingly breached any of Facebooks terms of service and also provided a signed statement to confirm that all Facebook data and their derivatives had been deleted," the spokesman said.

He said "no data from GSR was used by Cambridge Analytica as part of the services it provided to the Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign."

The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment. Facebook did not mention the Trump campaign or any other campaigns in its statement.

"We will take legal action if necessary to hold them responsible and accountable for any unlawful behavior," Facebook said, adding that it was continuing to investigate the claims.

In a Twitter post, Facebook Chief Security Officer Alex Stamos called the news reports "important and powerful" but said it was "incorrect to call this a 'breach' under any reasonable definition of the term."

"We can condemn this behavior while being accurate in our description of it," he said.

Acknowledging an episode as a data breach can carry legal significance, as companies face a patchwork of state and federal requirements to notify customers and regulators when they detect that information has been compromised.

$6.2 MILLION FROM TRUMP CAMPAIGN

Trumps campaign hired Cambridge Analytica in June 2016 and paid it more than $6.2 million, according to Federal Election Commission records.

On its website, Cambridge Analytica says it "provided the Donald J. Trump for President campaign with the expertise and insights that helped win the White House."

Brad Parscale, who ran Trump's digital ad operation in 2016 and is his 2020 re-election campaign manager, declined to comment on Friday.

In past interviews with Reuters, he has said Cambridge Analytica played a minor role as a contractor in the 2016 campaign, and that the campaign used voter data from a Republican-affiliated organization rather than Cambridge Analytica.

Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, said the case was "more evidence that the online political advertising market is essentially the Wild West" and showed the need for Congress to pass legislation to bring transparency and accountability to online political advertisements.

A source close to the congressional investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign said the Trump campaign likely will need to address whether it was aware of Cambridge Analyticas methods for obtaining its data or if the data was leveraged during the election.

The suspension means Cambridge Analytica and SCL cannot buy ads on the world's largest social media network or administer pages belonging to clients, Andrew Bosworth, a Facebook vice president, said in a Twitter post.

Cambridge Analytica says it uses "behavioral microtargeting," or combining analysis of peoples personalities with demographics, to predict and influence mass behavior. It says it has data on 220 million Americans, two-thirds of the U.S. population.

It has worked on other campaigns in the United States and other countries, and is funded by Robert Mercer, a prominent supporter of politically conservative groups.

Facebook in its statement described a rocky relationship with Cambridge Analytica, Kogan and Wylie going back to 2015.

That year, Facebook said, it learned that Kogan lied to the company and violated its policies by sharing data he acquired with a so-called "research app" that used Facebook's login system.

Kogan was not immediately available for comment.

The thisisyourdigitallife app was downloaded by about 270,000 people. Facebook said Kogan gained access to profile and other information "in a legitimate way" but "he did not subsequently abide by our rules" when he passed the data to SCL/Cambridge Analytica and Wylie.

Facebook said it cut ties to Kogan's app when it learned of the violation in 2015, and asked for certification from Kogan and all parties he had given data to that the information had been destroyed.

Although all certified they had destroyed the data, Facebook said it received reports in the past several days that "not all data was deleted," prompting the suspension announced on Friday.

(Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom and Dustin Volz in Washington and Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Paul Simao and Bill Trott)By Zachary Fagenson MIAMI (Reuters) - Engineers and state and university officials met hours before a new pedestrian bridge collapsed in southern Florida, killing six people, but concluded a crack in the structure was not a safety concern, Florida International University said on Saturday. The meeting on Thursday involved FIGG, which is the private contractor for the overall bridge design, the school, Florida Department of Transportation officials and Munilla Construction Management (MCM), which installed the $14.2 million bridge. A FIGG engineer "concluded there were no safety concerns and the crack did not compromise the structural integrity of the bridge," FIU said in a statement. About three hours after the meeting ended, the 950-ton bridge collapsed, crushing vehicles stopped at a traffic light on the eight-lane roadway below. At least six people, including three whose bodies were recovered on Saturday, were killed. Police said four vehicles are believed to be still under the collapsed bridge and more bodies may be recovered. The victims found on Saturday were identified as Rolando Fraga Hernandez, Oswald Gonzalez and Alberto Arias, the Miami-Dade Police Department said in a statement. Police identified a fourth victim who died in hospital as Navarro Brown. Police could not be reached for further comment. News of the meeting between engineers and officials followed a revelation late on Friday that the engineer overseeing the bridge, which linked the FIU campus with the city of Sweetwater, had called a state official two days before the collapse to report cracks. However, the voicemail message from FIGG's lead engineer Denney Pate, including his assertion that the cracking posed no safety issue, was not retrieved until Friday, a day after the tragedy, according to the state transportation agency. Pate did not immediately respond to email queries. In the message, Pate said his team had observed "some cracking" at one end of the bridge and that repairs were warranted, "but from a safety perspective we don't see that there's any issue there, so we're not concerned about it from that perspective." He added: "Obviously the cracking is not good and something's going to have to be, ya know, done to repair that." (Additional reporting by Bernie Woodall in Fort Lauderdale, Barbara Goldberg in New York, Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles and Rich McKay in Atlanta; Writing by Barbara Goldberg; Editing by Daniel Wallis, Bill Trott and Paul Simao)Andrew McCabe, the former deputy director of the FBI and a frequent target of President Donald Trump, was fired Friday, days before his formal retirement. The firing of McCabe, a civil servant who has been at the bureau for more than two decades, could significantly affect his pension.



Attorney General Jeff Sessions made the decision to oust McCabe after the FBIs Office of Professional Responsibility recommended he be fired for his alleged lack of candor during an internal review of how the FBI and Justice Department handled an investigation into the Clinton Foundation. McCabe and his attorney met Thursday with Scott Schools, the highest-ranking career employee of the Justice Department, in an attempt to prevent the firing or at least save his ability to begin collecting a pension estimated at $60,000 a year.

McCabe, a lifelong Republican, had officially stepped down from his post in late January but was using accrued leave to stay on the FBIs payroll until his retirement date on Sunday, his 50th birthday. Being fired before his birthday means hed have to wait several more years before he can draw a pension.

Sessions said late Friday in a statement:

After an extensive and fair investigation and according to Department of Justice procedure, the Departments Office of the Inspector General (OIG) provided its report on allegations of misconduct by Andrew McCabe to the FBIs Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR). The FBIs OPR then reviewed the report and underlying documents and issued a disciplinary proposal recommending the dismissal of Mr. McCabe. Both the OIG and FBI OPR reports concluded that Mr. McCabe had made an unauthorized disclosure to the news media and lacked candor  including under oath  on multiple occasions. The FBI expects every employee to adhere to the highest standards of honesty, integrity, and accountability. As the OPR proposal stated, all FBI employees know that lacking candor under oath results in dismissal and that our integrity is our brand. Pursuant to Department Order 1202, and based on the report of the Inspector General, the findings of the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility, and the recommendation of the Departments senior career official, I have terminated the employment of Andrew McCabe effective immediately.

Story continues

McCabe responded to the firing in a lengthy statement.

The investigation by the Justice Departments Office of Inspector General (OIG) has to be understood in the context of the attacks on my credibility, McCabe wrote.

He continued:

The investigation flows from my attempt to explain the FBIs involvement and my supervision of investigations involving Hillary Clinton. I was being portrayed in the media over and over as a political partisan, accused of closing down investigations under political pressure. The FBI was portrayed as caving under that pressure, and making decisions for political rather than law enforcement purposes. Nothing was further from the truth. In fact, this entire investigation stems from my efforts, fully authorized under FBI rules, to set the record straight on behalf of the Bureau, and to make clear that we were continuing an investigation that people in DOJ opposed.

McCabe had been with the bureau since 1996 and served a short stint as the acting FBI director after President Donald Trump fired former FBI Director James Comey last May. After the U.S. Senate confirmed Christopher Wray as the bureau chief, McCabe returned to his original role as deputy director.

McCabe abruptly announced he was leaving the bureau at the end of January while tangled in an internal investigation of his handling of the FBI investigations into Hillary Clinton. The Justice Departments inspector general has been investigating how officials handled the Clinton investigation since just before Trump took office.

While Trump has accused McCabe of having a political bias in favor of Clinton, the Justice Departments forthcoming internal review suggests he may have actually authorized the disclosure of information that was damaging to the Clinton campaign.

The report evidently says that McCabe authorized a discussion involving one of his top aides, the FBIs chief spokesman and a Wall Street Journal reporter for a story, published Oct. 30, 2016, that included details of McCabe pushing back on Obama appointees in the Justice Department to continue an FBI investigation into the Clinton Foundation.

FBI officials are barred from disclosing information about ongoing criminal investigations. The Justice Departments inspector general recommended that Sessions fire McCabe as a result of the internal review, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

McCabe has been at odds with Trump in recent months, with the president apparently trying to undermine McCabe and the FBIs credibility.

In December, Trump publicly complained about McCabes wifes political affiliations (Jill McCabe unsuccessfully ran as a Democrat for a Virginia state Senate seat in 2015), criticized his oversight of the FBI investigations into Clinton and even mocked his retirement plans.

Trump responded to the news of the firing in a tweet late on Friday. A great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI  A great day for Democracy, the president tweeted.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

In one of his tweets, Trump claimed that McCabe received a campaign donation of $700,000 from Clinton Puppets, apparently referencing a donation to Jill McCabes campaign totaling up to $675,000 from former Democratic Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffes political action committee.

The donation was made before Andrew McCabe was promoted to deputy director and headed the FBIs Clinton investigation. McAuliffe is an ally to both Hillary and Bill Clinton.

Trump also reportedly called McCabe into his office for a meeting, then asked him which candidate he voted for in the 2016 presidential election, The Washington Post reported in January.

David Bowdich, the FBIs associate deputy director, is expected to replace McCabe as deputy director, according to The Washington Post. Bowdich has been with the FBI since 1995.

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.The special forces of the United States, Great Britain and France participate secretly in the Syrian conflict, " Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said today.

"As for the proxy war, it probably takes place on the side of the opposition, because there are special forces from the US on the ground, they do not deny it anymore. The special forces of Great Britain, France and other countries also participate in the war. So it's not so much a proxy, but a direct involvement in the conflict, " he said in an interview to the Kazakhstan Radio and Television Corporation, Interfax reports.Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe was fired by Attorney General Jeff Sessions Friday night  just two days shy of his retirement.

The former high-ranking FBI official was frequently singled out by President Donald Trump on Twitter  as recently as December  for his role in the investigation into Hillary Clintons private email server during the 2016 election.

FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is racing the clock to retire with full benefits, Trump tweeted late last year.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

A 22-year veteran of the intelligence agency, McCabe has also been criticized within the agency for his role in the Clinton investigation. In particular, the inspector general found that McCabe authorized FBI officials to speak with a journalist for a story which suggested that they wanted to more actively investigate the Clinton Foundation.

McCabe was allegedly fired for authorizing leaks about the Clinton investigation and misleading internal investigators about it. But Trumps criticism has often come from the other direction, with Trump arguing even before he became president that McCabe was too soft on Clinton in part because his wife had earlier received money from a friend of the Clintons when she ran for a state Senate seat in Virginia.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

Fact checkers have rated Trumps claims on the matter as false, noting that his version of events does not quite match what happened. But the recommendation from the FBIs Office of Professional Responsibility that McCabe be fired for his role in the leak and misleading investigators about it added new fuel to the White House criticism.

On Thursday, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders criticized McCabe but stopped short of recommending he be fired, saying that decision was up to Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Thats a determination that we would leave up to Attorney General Sessions, she said. But we do think it is well documented that he has had some very troubling behavior and by most accounts a bad actor and should have some cause for concern.

Story continues

In an interview with the New York Times Friday night, McCabe disputed the stated reason for his dismissal, arguing that it was instead aimed at hurting his ability to testify in special counsel Robert Muellers investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

And in a statement released to the media, he pushed back against Trump, arguing that his tweets have amplified and exacerbated the false, defamatory and degrading allegations made against his family.

All along we have said nothing, never wanting to distract from the mission of the FBI by addressing the lie told and repeated about us, the statement read. No more.South Africas National Prosecuting Authority said its pursuing 16 charges against former President Jacob Zuma including graft and racketeering that were shelved nine years ago amid allegations of political interference.

The announcement on Friday compounded Zumas dramatic fall from power after he was forced to step down as president two months ago to be replaced by new ruling party leader, Cyril Ramaphosa. That, and a commission of inquiry into alleged undue influence by Zumas friends the Guptas over his administration, will bolster the new presidents campaign against corruption.

I am of the view that there are reasonable prospects of a successful prosecution of Mr. Zuma, Chief prosecutor Shaun Abrahams told reporters in Pretoria, the capital.

NPA officials in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province will now make the necessary arrangements for Zuma to appear in court to face 12 charges of fraud, one of racketeering, two of corruption and one of money laundering.

The NPA spent eight years investigating allegations that Zuma, 75, took 4.07 million rand ($341,000) in bribes from arms dealers and charged him with corruption, racketeering, fraud and money laundering. It abandoned the case in 2009, months before he became president, saying taped phone calls indicated that chief investigator Leonard McCarthy may have used the allegations to frustrate Zumas efforts to win control of the African National Congress from then-President Thabo Mbeki.

In October, the Supreme Court of Appeal upheld a lower court ruling that found the decision to drop the charges was irrational and that the political considerations that had tainted the investigation were irrelevant to the integrity of the case. While the order paved the way for a trial to proceed, prosecutors allowed Zuma to make representations as to why he shouldnt be indicted.

Mr. Zumas representation was unsuccessful, Abrhams said. I am of the view that a trial court will the most appropriate forum for these issues to be ventilated.

Zuma, who was also implicated in a succession of other scandals, resigned on Feb. 14 under pressure from the ANC following its election of a new leadership in December. He has denied wrongdoing.A chairlift malfunction at the Gudauri ski resort in the Caucasus mountain range in Georgia, shown in 2017, sent people flying into the air.

A chairlift at a ski resort in the country of Georgia malfunctioned on Friday, causing panic and chaos as passengers were hurled from their seats at high speeds.

Onlookers posted videos of the violent scene as the incident unfolded at the Gudauri Ski Resort, located in the south-facing area of the Greater Caucus Mountain Range.

The incident left at least 11 people injured, with eight hospitalized in stable condition, Nino Mamaladze, a Georgian ministry of health official,told ABC News.

Images of the accidents aftermathshow a pile of mangled carriers near the chairlift terminals base.

Warning: The footage and images below are graphic.

A post shared by Ivan & Co. (@iglukhov)on Mar 16, 2018 at 4:58am PDT

A post shared by ireneiadak (@ireneiadak)on Mar 16, 2018 at 1:54am PDT

During the malfunction, the chairlift traveled in reverse at a high speed, whipping carriers around the terminal and hurling skiers from their seats.

Some skiers jumped or fell before the carrier reached the terminal, while others clung on and were eventually hurled from their seats. Several carriers detached from the cable, and at least one person appeared to be trapped at the terminal under a carrier as others crashed into it.

Mountain Resorts Development Co., a state-run company, said in a statement that the Sadzele ski lift in Gudauri stopped working, chairs crashed into each other with riders suspended in the air, causing health injury of medium gravity,according to CNN.

Georgias Interior Ministry has launched an investigation.

A post shared by Yuri Leontyev (@yuri_leontyev)on Mar 16, 2018 at 4:29am PDT

Ryan Wilkinson, who was in line waiting to board when the malfunction began,told The Guardianthat the lift stopped briefly, then started slowly moving in reverse before gaining speed. He also said he saw a guy in the office smashing on a machine and shouting who seemed powerless to stop it.

The only thing that stopped it getting worse was the friction caused by the pile-up of chairs at the bottom. People would have kept flying round otherwise, Wilkinson told the newspaper.

Story continues

One woman in red was too scared to jump, he added. It looked like shed been spat out of a washing machine when she hit the bottom. It was like a scene from a Final Destination film.

Georgia Health Minister David Sergeenko said that thevictimswere of Georgian, Swedish, Ukrainian and Russian citizenship, including one pregnant Swedish woman,according to multiple reports.

One Ukrainian citizen broke his hand and has a head injury, while the pregnant woman had pain in her waist, Sergeenko said,according to the Telegraph. The woman and another person were airlifted to a hospital in Tbilisi, about 75 miles from the resort.

Mountain Resorts Development said in a statement on Facebook that the malfunction may have been caused by a rope on the chairlift, while the Economy Minister Dimitry Kumsishvili said it may have been caused by an electricity outage,according to The Guardian.

Mountain Resorts Development has contacted the chairlifts manufacturer, Doppelmayr Garaventa Group, for more information about the malfunction, according to its statement.

A spokesperson for Doppelmayr Garaventatold the Telegraphthat it has sent employees to Gudauri to investigate and do not currently know what caused the incident.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.If the US Senate has a single shred of respect left for the law, it should not confirm her appointment



The very last thing we need is a CIA chief who dutifully implements everything that this president authorizes. Photograph: AP

Were on the brink of a full-throttled return to officially sanctioned US torture. Our impulsive president has said he wants to bring back waterboarding and a hell of a lot worse and has now named Gina Haspel as the new CIA chief. Haspel personally oversaw torture at a CIA black site in Thailand, and she even seemed to relish the role.

Haspel also oversaw George W Bushs rendition to torture program and, unsurprisingly, many in the intelligence community that are connected to the US torture program are now leaping to her defense, saying that she shouldnt be penalized now for just following orders back then.



Former CIA Director John Brennan, who supported rendition to torture and famously said, we do have to take the gloves off in some areas, this week vouched for Haspels integrity and told an interviewer, dont forget that the detention-interrogation program was authorized by the president of the United States and deemed lawful by the Department of Justice.



Former CIA chief General Michael Hayden said in defense of Haspel, that she did simply everything that the agency, the agencys directors and the nation asked her to do.

While it is certainly not unusual for people whove overseen and participated in crimes against humanity like torture and genocide to be recast by their supporters as dutiful public servants, there are, in addition, two deeply disturbing trends  one old, one new  embedded both in the naming of Haspel to the position and her defenders characterizations of her.



Torture is illegal under US and international law in all circumstances, and human rights organizations like mine have been strongly pushing for those who ordered or committed torture after 9/11  including the president  to be held accountable in US and international courts.



Yet Haspels defenders are loathe to admit that the practice she participated in was concerning, much less illegal. So defending Haspel as a duty-bound functionary when it comes to torture but a vibrant leader with great integrity when it comes to everything else seeks to erase the illegality and the depravity of the practice of torture as well as the well-deserved disgrace that must always travel with those who have practiced it.



Story continues

But beyond that, there is another, more current problem, and that is the president himself. Trump, who is lining up with authoritarian rulers and tin-pot dictators around the world, has no use for the rule of law. He is impulsive, reckless, and astonishingly self-focused. A very healthy subset of high-level White House staff have been running for the exits when hes not looking, precisely because they recognize that he demands fealty to whim rather than to the national good.



He is known for firing people because they contradict his social media exhortations. Given that our nation is being run by Donald J Trump, at least for the time being, the very last thing we need is a CIA chief who dutifully implements everything that this president authorizes. In fact, we need the exact opposite. Someone who opposes torture, doesnt have running a torture program on their resume, and who will say no to the president when, as seems to be the case daily, he gets an urge to make his mark on the news cycle.

It is true that people who say no to Donald Trump dont stay in their jobs for long regardless of whether theyre seen as enablers or stabilizing forces in his administration. But when it comes to dutiful public servants in the Trump administration, history will look kindly upon those who said no and were fired and those who said no and left under their own steam.



The unsung heroes of the age will be those who said no to a Trump administration job offer in the first place. But Gina Haspel will not be in that number because of her horrific record. The Center for Constitutional Rights recently submitted a filing with the International Criminal Court that brought Haspel to their attention. We wanted to highlight her impunity for torture and the heightened risk for a return to torture given her position as deputy CIA director.



Impunity breeds repetition. We will be following up with The Hague. Meanwhile, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights has called for her arrest in connection with a German investigation into US torture under Bush.

For those who were tortured in the CIA program she oversaw, that harm is remains present today. They are still at Guantanamo and have had no justice, no care, and no redress. Gina Haspel should be arrested, not promoted, and the Senate, if it has a single shred of respect left for the law, should not confirm her.

New York State Democratic Congresswoman, 88-year-old Louise Slaughter passed away one week after falling in her home in upstate New York. Slaughter was serving her 16th term in Congress and paved the way for women on both sides of the aisle to join the ranks due to her glass ceiling-smashing career.

Slaughter was born in Kentucky, holding onto her southern accent even after her family relocated to New York when she was in her early 20s. A microbiologist by training, Slaughter first joined Congress in 1986 after more than a decade in state politics, both in her home of Monroe County and the state legislature.

Nearly everything Slaughter touched in her career became legacy making. She was the first female chair of the House Rules Committee, and dedicated to womens rights  she was a founding member of the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus.

She also co-authored the Violence Against Women Act, which was signed into law in 1994 as the first detailed law to address domestic violence and sexual assault against women, including the first federal criminal law against battering.

The Democrat was also a tireless defender of military personnel, and in 2009, she worked to recall and replace 16,000 pieces of outdated body armor from the front lines. Her effort led to improved armor testing protocols and ended the practice of outsourcing testing to private companies, her office said in a statement.

Slaughters congressional work helped push through the Affordable Care Act in 2010 (Obamacare), and her tireless work to get the law passed actually ended with the congresswoman receiving death threats. She also championed legislation that protects people from losing health insurance on account of genetic conditions, and was critical of international free trade agreements  in 1994, she broke from Democratic party ranks by voting against NAFTA, which she argued hurt US manufacturing.

Louise was a trailblazer, Slaughters longtime friend and confidant Nancy Pelosi said in a statement on Friday. Her strong example inspired countless young women to know their power, and seek their rightful place at the head of the decision-making table. She took great pride in representing the area around the historic Seneca Falls Convention, and embraced the future with her forceful engagement on social media.

Slaughter was survived by her three daughters, grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

(Photo via Alex Wong/Getty Images)Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) took aim at his own party over its unwavering support of President Donald Trump.

Never has a party abandoned and fled its principles and deeply held beliefs so quickly as my party did in the face of the nativist juggernaut, Flake said on Thursday in a speech to the National Press Club, according to the Arizona Republic. We have become strangers to ourselves.

Flake, who is not seeking re-election, said:

If we are going to cloister ourselves in the alternative truth of an erratic leader, if we are going to refuse to live in the world that everyone else lives in and reckon with the daily reality that they face, including the very real anxiety that they feel, then my party might not deserve to lead.

He called on the Republican Party to act now to mitigate and repair the damage caused by Trump.

As we are discovering and as we will discover for years to come, there is no damage like the damage a president can do, he said.

Flake has previously warned that his party could lose elections over its embrace of the president, and he donated to Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.) when he was running against Trump-endorsed Roy Moore, who was accused of sexual abusing minors when he was in his 30s.

He has also said a Republican should challenge Trump for the GOP nomination in 2020. On Thursday, Flake said that, while its not in his plans, he hasnt ruled out doing so himself, the Republic reported.

Trump, for his part, has called Flake unelectable, slammed his low approval ratings in Arizona and called him weak on crime & border.

Also on HuffPost

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana (right), pictured with President Donald Trump, says he's planning to introduce a bill to prohibit airlines from putting animals in overhead bins. He also has said America doesn't need new gun laws. (Photo: Mike Segar / Reuters)

Outraged over the death this week of a French bulldog aboard an airliner, Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said he will introduce legislation Thursday to ban airlines from putting animals in overhead bins.

People on Twitter were largely unimpressed, questioning why the lawmaker could so swiftly move to address the problem of pet deaths on aircraft while failing to push gun control in the wake of the Parkland, Florida, high school massacre and other mass shootings.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

On Wednesday, the day Kennedy announced his planned legislation, thousands of students across the country took part in walkouts to protest gun violence. The students held signs saying Enough is enough and Protect us, not guns.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

Kennedy, who has received more than $200,000 from the National Rifle Association over the course of his political career, told CNN last month he didnt believe America needed new gun laws.

I think we need more idiot control, he said.

Kennedy quickly expressed outrage on learning of a dogs death aboard an airliner. He penned a letter to the president of United Airlines on Wednesday, demanding an immediate explanation for the number of animals who have died recently in the airlines care.

According to Department of Transportation data, 24 pets died aboard airliners in 2017, and United had the most of any U.S. carrier  18.

Seventeen people were killed in the Parkland school massacre.

Also on HuffPost

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.MADRID (Reuters) - Hundreds of people held a peaceful protest in central Madrid on Friday to demand better police treatment of street vendors, a day after the death of a Senegalese man sparked clashes with riot police.

On Thursday, 35-year-old Senegal street vendor Mame Mbaye Ndiaye suffered a heart attack in the street while walking away from police. That evening protesters threw stones and set dustbins alight in Madrid's Lavapies neighbourhood, home to many migrant communities and near to where Ndiaye died.

Friday's gathering in a square in Lavapies passed without violence. Protesters held signs reading slogans such as "Enough of police harassment" and chanted "Police murderers".

Madrid's Mayor Manuela Carmena has said the council would investigate the incident. At a news conference on Friday, a spokeswoman for the council said municipal police did not chase Mbaye as reported by some of the protesters.

A police van was flagged down by Mbaye's companion and two officers tried to revive him while calling an ambulance but he died, the town hall said in a statement.

Twenty people were injured during clashes with police on Thursday evening, the town hall said.

Illegal street sellers, many of them African migrants, are a common sight in Madrid and other Spanish cities. Hawking anything from watches to handbags, they often lay out their wares on blankets which can be quickly gathered up and stowed away to avoid police scrutiny.

(Reporting By Sonya Dowsett; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)Aboard a US military aircraft (AFP) - US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis lambasted Iran on Thursday for "mucking around" in Iraq's upcoming elections in a bid to sway votes towards pro-Tehran candidates.

Speaking to reporters as he returned from a trip to Oman, Afghanistan and Bahrain, Mattis said officials he met with had expressed frequent concerns about Iranian behavior.

"One thing that came through loud and clear is the suspicion of Iran and the evidence of Iranian destabilizing efforts," said Mattis, a longtime Iran hawk.

"I heard it when I was up in Afghanistan. You know what's going on in terms of Iran's support to Assad. Now Iran is following Russia's example (and) mucking around in Iraq's elections," Mattis said, referring to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"It was just brought home to me again that they are not changing their behavior, they are continuing to be a destabilizing influence," Mattis added.

The Pentagon chief said he would not speculate as to whether Iran's efforts were having any impact on the Iraqi electorate ahead of the May parliamentary and provincial assembly elections.

"Iran is trying to influence using money the Iraqi elections. That money is being used to sway candidates, to sway votes," he said.

"Iran should leave the Iraqis to determining their own future," said Mattis.

Despite increased rhetoric from Washington about Iran's activities in the region and US President Donald Trump's continual railing against the Iran nuclear deal, Mattis noted that Iranian naval vessels in the Gulf have become less provocative toward US ships.

He said ships from both the regular Iranian navy and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps have curtailed the sorts of incidents that had become almost routine over the past few years, and are now staying away from American vessels.

"In the Gulf itself, they are not coming in as close to our ships, the provocative actions in the Gulf seem to have relented somewhat," Mattis said.

Story continues

"They are not doing as many bellicose confrontations and that sort of thing."

- 'Testing' off Yemen -

Commander Bill Urban, spokesman for the Navy's Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet, said there had been no "unsafe or unprofessional" interactions with the Iranians at sea since August 14, 2017 when an Iranian drone with no lights on flew close to US aircraft operating in the Gulf.

Urban told reporters that "a substantial period time" has passed since then, "something that we think is great."

He said there has been "an across-the-board change in behavior."

Last year and in 2016, the US Navy frequently complained about the behavior of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps vessels, which would often shadow and steer toward American ships.

In at least one incident, US sailors had to fire flares and warning shots before the Iranians turned away.

Urban said that since then, the Iranians have stopped approaching so closely.

Mattis said that off the Yemen coast around the Bab-al-Mandab strait, the Islamic Republic is testing a number of offensive capabilities.

"It's where you find (Iran's) radars, their ballistic missiles, anti-ship cruise missiles," Mattis said.

"We've found their mines, their explosive boats all being tested, increased capability being demonstrated down there."

Fifth Fleet and its associated task forces continually patrol the Gulf and inspect some of the ships passing through the region.

In 2016, sailors seized weapons apparently headed from Iran to Yemen, including machine guns and rocket launchers.

Urban said task forces this year have confiscated record amounts of heroin, much of which may have been grown in Afghanistan to fund the Taliban.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps is a paramilitary force that answers directly to the Islamic republic's supreme leader.

In January 2016, the Iranians briefly captured the crew of two small US patrol boats that strayed into Iranian waters.

The 10 US sailors were released 24 hours later.Everyone is Irish on St. Patricks Day, but for the rest of the year we can all admire a more narrow set of people from Ireland who have changed their nation and the entire world. The isle has been the birthplace and home of numerous scientists, politicians, writers, doctors, artists, lawyers and inventors. When you think of famous Irish people, there are many important figures, past and present, beyond St. Patrick, Guinness brewery founder Arthur Guinness and novelist James Joyce to consider.

John Joly

john-joly

Trinity College Dublin

This Irish scientist contributed to several fields, including geology, physics and medicine. Born in Bracknagh in 1857, John Joly built arguably the most impactful part of his legacy when he developed a new way to harness radium to treat cancer. The element had already been noted for its potential to combat the disease, but Jolys method made radiotherapy cheaper and more precise. We still use radiation treatment today.

Among his other projects, he also attempted to estimate Earths age through the measurement of the radioactive decay of elements in rock and showed that the decay rate is constant. Although we have since learned Earth is much older, he established an age of 100 million years, groundbreaking at the time.

Trending: Watch: Worlds Longest-Lasting Rainbow Smashes Previous Guinness World Record

Grace OMalley

GraceOMalley-meets-QueenElizabethI

Public domain

Sometimes known as Irelands pirate queen, Grace OMalley had a decades-long career on the sea and was active in local politics, including opposing English rule. Also known by the name Grainne Ni Mhaille, this 16th-century woman from County Mayo was a tremendous badass. As a pirate in western Ireland, she would have stopped other traveling ships, extorting levies for safe passage or plundering those foolish enough not to comply, The National Archives of the United Kingdom explained. Grace would also sail further afield either on peaceful trade missions or commanding raids against English and Irish enemies.

Story continues

And she was noted for being brave and bold.

The day after her son Theobald (known as Theobald of the Ships) was born on a return voyage from a trading mission in 1567, a Turkish corsair is said to have attacked their ship, according to The National Archives. In the midst of the battle she is said to have roused the courage of her men by firing a blunderbuss at the Turkish assailants and crying take this load from unconsecrated hands!

Ernest Shackleton

TheSouthernParty-shackleton

Public domain

Don't miss: Jessica Jones Season 2 Cliffhangers And Season 3 Predictions

One of the figures from Irish history with the greatest geographical reach is the Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton. He was born in Irelands Kilkea in 1874, though his family moved to London about a decade later.

Shackletons first experience on Earths southernmost continent was when he joined Robert Falcon Scotts 1901 expedition in an attempt to reach the South Pole. He went back seven years later to try again and, during the trip, climbed Mount Erebus, the worlds southernmost active volcano. (Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen eventually became the first to make it to the South Pole, in 1911.)

Shackleton continued his exploration, making one more Antarctica trip and then pursuing another, which was interrupted when he died of a heart attack in South Georgia, an island in the southern Atlantic Ocean.

Daniel OConnell

Daniel_O'Connell2

Public domain/Library of Congress

Thanks to his leadership in Irish nationalism, this man has often been called The Liberator or The Emancipator. Daniel OConnell was born in County Kerry in 1775 and grew up with a strong connection to his cultural roots. He became a lawyer and fought for Catholic emancipation, with an emphasis on legal and non-violent means. In his quest he earned the support of the Catholic Church and the people, and was propelled into government leadership. The emancipation came in 1829, with the ruling British Protestants easing up their restrictive laws that discriminated against Catholics. OConnell then became the first Catholic person in modern times to hold a seat in the House of Commons.

Most popular: Florida Bridge Collapse: University Officials Said They Were Aware Of Crack in Bridge

He also worked to reinstate the Irish Parliament, but died before his movement could make significant headway.

Annie Moore

ellis-island

Hulton Archive/Getty Images

More than 12 million people went through Ellis Island as they immigrated to the United States from around the world, but there had to be a first. That was Annie Moore, an Irish teenager.

Although she is most famous for leaving Ireland, her landmark passage through Ellis Island means she holds an important place in the history of both her home country and her adopted one, and in the long connection between the two.

According to The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, at age 17 she was the first passenger to be processed after the station opened on January 1, 1892. With her as she disembarked from the SS Nevadafollowing a 12-day journey from Queenstown in County Corkwere her two younger brothers. Her parents were already in New York City, and the trio joined them.

Moore lived on the citys Lower East Side for the rest of her life. She got married, had at least 10 children and died in 1924, the foundation says. She was buried in Queens under a Celtic cross made of limestone imported from Ireland.

There are statues of her both where she departed in Queenstown and at Ellis Island.

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from NewsweekThe Turkish military denied on Saturday that it had struck a hospital in Syrias Afrin region, where it is waging a nearly two-month-old offensive against Kurdish YPG forces, Reuters reported.

The YPG and Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said a Turkish air strike hit Afrin towns main hospital on Friday night, killing 16 people.

Reports that Turkish armed forces bombed a hospital in Afrin are false, the military said on Twitter, adding that it was carrying out the campaign in a way that would not hurt civilians.While Rex Tillerson has been ousted as secretary of state, Ivanka Trump will meet with South Koreas foreign minister on her upcoming visit to the United States.

Related: Turkish Broadcaster Calls Ivanka Trump And Moon Jae-in A Killer Couple, South Korea Demands Apology

South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha will sit down with Ivanka Trump, ministry spokesman Noh Kyu-duk said Thursday according to KBS World Radio, but did not specify when.

Trending: St. Patrick's Day 2018: 11 Facts About the Saint and His Holiday

The White House later confirmed to Newsweek that the talks were arranged when the pair met during the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang last month.

"Ivanka and members of the NSC are meeting with the Foreign Minister as they developed a close relationship during the Olympic Games," a White House official said. "The Foreign Minister asked for the meeting while they were at the Olympics together."

Though Noh did not disclose what would be discussed in the meeting, reports suggest it will involve planning for summits between the U.S. and North Korea, and between the North and South Korea. Last week, President Donald Trump said he would meet with North Korea leader Kim Jong Un for talks, becoming the first U.S. president to do so.

Don't miss: The Street Skirmishes, Bar Brawls and Drunken Violence of American St. Patrick's Day

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

Before Tillerson was abruptly let go on Tuesday, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported that Kang would meet with him on Friday regarding North Korea and other issues.

Kang is also scheduled to meet with Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan to talk about North Koreas nuclear weapons development in addition to other matters concerning Washington and Seoul, Noh said. The report did not state whether Kang will also speak with former CIA Director Mike Pompeo, whom President Trump has tapped to replace Tillerson.

The president said he and Pompeo are always on the same wavelength, whereas he and Tillerson were not really thinking the same.

Story continues

Tillerson would often call for diplomacy with North Korea, while Trump engaged in a war of words with Kim that sparked growing fears of nuclear warfare.

Most popular: Jeff Sessions Sacks Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, Who Hits Back at Trump Administration's 'War' on FBI

If Kang and Ivanka Trump, who holds the title of senior adviser and assistant to the president, do meet, it would not be the first time the first daughter has engaged in diplomacy over North Korea.

03_16_18_IvankaKang

Andreas Rentz/Getty Images

Before leading the U.S. delegation to the closing ceremony at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics last month, she had dinner with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and briefed him on her fathers new North Korea sanctions. Ivanka Trump had the appropriate access to the president, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said at the time when asked if she had appropriate security clearance.

According to reports, the president's eldest daughter remains on a temporary security clearance. Her husband Jared Kushner recently had his top-secret clearance downgraded.

Before becoming a senior White House adviser, Ivanka Trump had no foreign policy or government experience.

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from NewsweekIvanka Trump will meet with the South Korean foreign minister, Kang Kyung-wha (right), in place of former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. (Photo: Getty Images)

Ivanka Trump is acting as secretary of state, meeting with the South Korean foreign minister in lieu of Rex Tillerson, whom President Trump fired earlier this week.

On Friday, the White House confirmed the meeting between Ivanka and Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang Kyung-wha in a statement to Newsweek: Ivanka and members of the NSC are meeting with the foreign minister, as they developed a close relationship during the Olympic Games. The foreign minister asked for the meeting while they were at the Olympics together.

The date and agenda of the meeting are not known, but the publication reports that it centers on summits between North and South Korea and between North Korea and the U.S., as part of President Trumps intention to conduct talks with the North Korean dictator.

Many on Twitter were shocked by the notion of Ivanka conducting foreign policy.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

On March 13, Tillerson, who had served as secretary of state since February 2017, was ousted from his position after clashing with Trump over a number of policies, including the Iran nuclear deal, the Paris climate accord, and charges that Russia meddled in the U.S. presidential election. (Trump has called the claims fake news, while Tillerson directed a comment to Russia during an interview, You need to stop.) Trump plans to nominate former CIA Director Mike Pompeo to replace Tillerson.

Ivanka Trump dined with South Korean President Moon Jae-In during the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in February. (Photo: Getty Images)

Despite February reports that Ivanka lacks complete security clearance, notes Newsweek, the first daughter is very involved in government affairs. In February, she led the U.S. delegation at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, dining with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his wife, Kim Jung-sook.

Ivanka also garnered criticism for taking her fathers seat among world leaders at the G20 Summit in July, a move that Trump called very standard, and for leading Congress in a bipartisan roundtable discussion in May.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.Republican senator and frequent Donald Trump critic Jeff Flake has refused to rule out challenging the president and his partys leader in the 2020 election. Flake, who has announced he will not seek re-election for his Arizona seat in the 2018 midterms, has been one of a select few Republicans in Congress willing to challenge the presidents controversial rhetoric and policies.

Related: Will Trump Run in 2020? Kasich May Challenge President for Republican Nomination

It's not in my plan to run for president, but I am not ruling it out, Flake told the Associated Press Thursday in New Hampshire, the location of the first Republican primary in less than two years. Somebody needs to stand up for traditional Republicanism. Somebody needs to raise that, for nothing else than to give people hope that that decent party will be back. We'll get through this.

Trending: 'Clash Royale' New Cards 2018: Barbarian Barrel Releases Next Month

Flake has put his rejection of what Trump stands for into print, writing Conscience of a Conservative: A Rejection of Destructive Politics and a Return to Principle last year. When announcing his retirement last October, the 55-year-old delivered a fiery rejection of Trump and his casual undermining of our democratic norms.

Trumps continual low approval ratings and struggles to pass major legislation will provide hope to anyone looking to challenge Trump for re-election. However, the window of opportunity is far smaller on the right. For all the turmoil of the Trump administration, the president has maintained high approval ratings among Republicans.

Jeff Flake

Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Yet Flake, who did not rule out running as an independent, suggested the landscape could have changed dramatically by the time the primary season rolls around.

Story continues

Don't miss: Arm Homeless People with Shotguns and Ban TSA, Senate Candidate Says

"Not today, but two years from now, possibly, Flake said of the possibility of Trump losing a Republican primary. Things can unravel pretty fast. As soon as he's viewed as one who loses majorities in the House and the Senate, and there's no chance that someone in the 30s can win re-election, people might move on.

Whether, even if such a scenario was to play out, Flake would be the person to take Trump down is another matter. Prior to his retirement announcement, Flakes approval rating in Arizona had fallen to just 18 percent and even he conceded that he would not win a primary in his state. And, while he has gained some of the spotlight for his attacks on Trump, he arguably lacks crucial nationwide name recognition.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

Flake may also have to deal with a crowded field in 2020. He is not the only Republican that has mooted a possible challenge to Trump, with Ohio Governor John Kasich also reported to be eying a run, either as a Republican or independent.

And then there is the possibility of a celebrity, in the mold of Trump, jumping into the race. One of the possibilities in that category, Mark Cuban, told the Associated Press that he was a Jeff Flake fan.

On the Democratic side, the list of candidates will be even more numerous in what is expected to be the partys largest primary field in history.

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from NewsweekU.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has sacked former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, who has been accused of political bias by President Donald Trump.

McCabe stepped down as deputy director of the FBI in January, and the sacking comes two days before his 50th birthday, when he was expected to retire with pension rights.

07_25_Trump_Andrew_McCabe

Aaron P. Bernstein/REUTERS

Trending: Who is Melissa Stetten? Former Model Claims Donald Trump Jr. and Her Had Flirty Twitter Exchange

Trump welcomed the decision in a tweet late Friday.

Andrew McCabe FIRED, a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI - A great day for Democracy. Sanctimonious James Comey was his boss and made McCabe look like a choirboy. He knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI! he wrote.

Sessions, who has been criticized by Trump for recusing himself from matters relating to the Russia probe, said the decision had been taken "after an extensive and fair investigation" into McCabe.

He said an internal investigation report concluded that Mr McCabe had "made an unauthorized disclosure to the news media.

"Based on the report of the Inspector General, the findings of the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility, and the recommendation of the Department's senior career official, I have terminated the employment of Andrew McCabe effective immediately."

Don't miss: Mike Pompeo Leading U.S-North Korea Back-Channel Negotiations, Report Says

The Wall Street Journal article McCabe is said to have given the green light for officials to contribute to reported that McCabe had slowed the bureau's investigation into the Clinton Foundation during the 2016 presidential election. It was published in November 2016, two days after former FBI Director James Comey announced that the FBI was re-opening the investigation into Hillary Clintons email servers.

Story continues

In an interview with CNN Friday, McCabe hit back at the claims he had misled the justice department's investigators.

"I absolutely never misled the inspector general in any way," McCabe said, calling his downfall the result of "a series of attacks designed to undermine my credibility and my reputation."

McCabe said he asked other officials to speak with The Wall Street Journal to "correct factually inaccurate things."

McCabe was closely involved with the investigation into Hillary Clintons email server as well as the Russia probe into alleged collusion between Trump's officials and Russia, and had stepped down in January pending the results of the Justice Department investigation into his conduct.

Most popular: Charlize Theron Calls Trump's Plan To Arm Teachers 'Outrageous'

In a statement Friday, McCabe said his firing was part of a larger effort to discredit the U.S. intelligence community.

"I am being singled out and treated this way because of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of [FBI director] James Comey," Mr McCabe said in a statement.

Comey was fired last year by the president, who criticized his handling of the Russia probe. The sacking prompted the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller to oversee the investigation.

In testimony to the Senate in June 2017, Comey alleged that Trump had demanded his loyalty in a private dinner at the White House amid the Russia inquiry.

McCabe said in his statement that his firing had been accelerated after he indicated he would corroborate Comeys version of events.

He continued: "This attack on my credibility is one part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally, but to taint the FBI, law enforcement, and intelligence professionals more generally," McCabe said. "It is part of this Administration's ongoing war on the FBI and the efforts of the Special Counsel investigation, which continue to this day. Their persistence in this campaign only highlights the importance of the Special Counsel's work."

Trump has frequently alleged political bias in the FBI, and said that McCabe's wife, who ran as a Democrat for a Senate seat in Virginia, accepted Clinton cash.

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from NewsweekA family in Wichita, Kansas, has been reunited with their dog after United Airlines mistakenly shipped it to Japan.

Irgo, a ten-year-old German Shepherd, was reunited with the Swindle family on Thursday, March 15. Just two days earlier, Irgo was mistakenly sent over 10,000 miles away to Japan.

The family was flying with Irgo from Portland to Kansas City on March 13. When they went to pick up Irgo at Kansas City International Airport, they were given a Great Dane instead and found Irgo had been put on a flight to Japan.

According to local media, United Airlines told the Swindles that they didnt know how the mistake happened, but that the dogs kennels were similar.

United Airlines apologized for the mix-up in a statement released to local media.

An error occurred during connections in Denver for two pets sent to the wrong destinations. We have notified our customers that their pets have arrived safely and will arrange to return the pets to them as soon as possible. We apologize for this mistake and are following up with the vendor kennel where they were kept overnight to understand what happened, the statement read.

According to Kara Swindle, Irgo was flown back from Japan by private charter and was treated like a king.

A clip of the familys emotional reunion with Irgo shared to Facebook on March 15 had earned over 1,200 views at the time of writing. Credit: Kara Swindle via StoryfulKKW Beautys concealer disappoints fans for lack of inclusivity. (Photo: Getty Images )

After being blessed by Rihannas Fenty Beauty 40-shade foundation just a few months ago, people arent happy with the limited variety of shades offered in Kim Kardashians latest KKW Beauty product. Because its offering only 16 shades  with the vast majority appearing to be for light skin tones  the internet was quick to call out Mrs. West for lacking inclusivity in her makeup lines concealer kits.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

The media mogul took to her social media accounts to announce her new concealer line on Friday. The product is set to hit virtual shelves on March 23 but already has disappointed her followers on Twitter and Instagram.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

Some even suggested she should take notes from little sister and new mom Kylie Jenner  her line features 30 different shades.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

The campaign for the concealer did include a refreshing variety of models of different sizes, ages and complexions.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

But many questioned even if the models with dark skin were, in fact, using the product advertised.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

Kardashian and KKW Beauty have yet to address the comments on social media, but she did share a photo of newborn Chicago West today.

Read More from Yahoo Lifestyle:

 Why 20-year-old Kylie Jenners pregnancy is beautiful  but an exception

Heres the real problem with Kim Kardashians Bo Derek braids

 This NYC bar will kick you out if you speak like a Kardashian

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.



0:52 Listen: Engineer on Fla. bridge project called state to report 'cracking' A lead engineer on a Florida pedestrian bridge project called a state official to report "cracking" two days before the structure collapsed.

A lead engineer responsible for a pedestrian bridge that collapsed near Miami left a voicemail message for a state transportation official warning of some cracking two days before the structure crashed, state officials said Friday night.

The engineer with the private contractor FIGG Bridge Engineers did not consider it a safety issue, he said in the call. The message was not retrieved until Friday because the Florida Department of Transportation official to whom the voicemail was directed was out of the office on assignment, the state agency said. The message about the bridge being built to connect Florida International University with a neighboring city was left on a land line.

Hey Tom, this is Denney Pate with FIGG bridge engineers. Calling to, uh, share with you some information about the FIU pedestrian bridge and some cracking thats been observed on the north end of the span, the pylon end of that span we moved this weekend, the engineer said, according to a transcript of the call released by the Florida Department of Transportation.

Um, so, uh, weve taken a look at it and, uh, obviously some repairs or whatever will have to be done but from a safety perspective we dont see that theres any issue there so were not concerned about it from that perspective although obviously the cracking is not good and somethings going to have to be, ya know, done to repair that.

FIGG Bridge Engineers, which designed the span, promised in a statement Friday night it is carefully examining the steps that our team has taken in the interest of our overarching concern for public safety.

The company added  in an apparent reference to its engineers conclusion that safety was not an issue  that the evaluation was based on the best available information at that time.

The companys statement said employees are heartbroken by the loss of life, and pledged: We will pursue answers to find out what factors led to this tragic situation.

Pate did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

In its statement, the transportation agency pointed to another potential missed opportunity to identify problems.

On Thursday, shortly before the bridge collapsed, a consultant to the department met with members of the team responsible for the project. There was no mention of safety concerns regarding the structure at that meeting, the state said.

The responsibility to identify and address life-safety issues and properly communicate them is the sole responsibility of the FIU design build team, the state agency said. At no point during any of the communications above did FIGG or any member of the FIU design build team ever communicate a life-safety issue.

The transportation agency said it released the voicemail recording in the service of full transparency.

Asked what prompted the disclosure, an official pointed to a statement that accompanied the call transcript: As FDOT assists in these investigations, we will continue our internal review and release all pertinent information as quickly as possible while ensuring its accuracy.

Earlier Friday, authorities had made a grim announcement: The death toll in the bridge collapse had climbed to six  and more victims may be buried in the rubble.

Our first priority is getting to those victims, Juan Perez, director of the Miami-Dade Police Department, said Friday morning. But, he added, it is a slow and painstaking process to break the debris into smaller pieces for removal, and to reach the vehicles that were crushed when the 960-ton span collapsed Thursday afternoon.

The foot bridge was still being installed when it came crashing down. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said suspension cables on the bridge were being tightened when it collapsed.

Sweetwater Mayor Orlando Lopez said Friday that one of the victims in the accident was an FIU student. We are truly saddened to hear that, Lopez told reporters at a news conference.

An Ecuadorian official, Maria Fernanda Espinosa, announced on social media Friday that Alexa Duran, the 18-year-old daughter of an Ecuadorian father, had been killed in the collapse. A friend of Durans told the Miami Herald that the FIU student was the funniest person she knew, someone who always lit up any room.

Krista Schmidt, the president of the student government association at FIU, announced they would hold a memorial Wednesday.

Perez, the police director, said officials would not speculate about the likely number of fatalities until the recovery process is complete. Authorities want to bring closure to worried family members, he said, but cant confirm identities of who is underneath the rubble. Were caught in a bad place right now, he said.

Jorge Fraga and his family have been calling hospitals, crying, and asking everyone about his uncle, Rolando Fraga Hernandez.

We dont know anything, Fraga said. We think his car is under the bridge.

His uncle, a friendly 60-year-old originally from Cuba who had run an import-export business in Miami for many years, had been missing since 1:30 Thursday afternoon. No one could tell them anything. We dont know what to think, Fraga said.



Rolando Fraga Hernandez (Photo courtesy of Jorge Fraga.)

Our primary focus is to remove all of the cars and all of the victims in a dignified manner and not compromise the investigation in the process, Miami-Dade County Deputy Mayor Maurice Kemp said Friday. The investigation is vital, because we want to ensure that this type of accident doesnt happen again locally, or anywhere in this country.

The National Transportation Safety Board, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Federal Highway Administration are investigating, as well as the county police departments homicide detectives. A team of county prosecutors arrived at the scene Friday, as well.

The foot bridge, which had been hailed for its innovative construction method, collapsed over a busy road west of Miami, crushing numerous vehicles and leaving rescue workers racing to free victims from chunks of concrete and snapped metal. It had just been put in place across Southwest Eighth Street, on Saturday, and had not opened to pedestrians.

Vehicles were stopped at a red light when the bridge crashed down about 1:30 p.m. It had been designed to make it safer for students to cross the frenetic roadway.

It was going to be a significant project, Rubio said Thursday night. To see it on the ground and underneath it those who died and who were injured is a tragedy.

The cause of the collapse will be fully investigated, he promised: The victims and their families deserve to know what went wrong. There will be an extraordinary review into what the errors were and what led to this catastrophic collapse.

Later, Rubio posted on social media: The cables that suspend the #Miami bridge had loosened & the engineering firm ordered that they be tightened. They were being tightened when it collapsed today.

The NTSB had been told construction workers were on the bridge at the time of the collapse, said Robert Sumwalt, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board.

He said his investigative team got to the area near the bridge about 10 p.m. Thursday and stayed until 2 a.m. before returning later Friday morning. They expect to remain for about a week for a detailed probe. They had not yet been able to get close to the scene because of the recovery efforts, Sumwalt said. Our entire purpose in being here is to find out what happened so we can keep it from happening again.

By Friday, the rescue operation had become a recovery effort. Miami-Dade Fire Chief Dave Downey said that after listening, visual and canine searches, weve determined that theres no longer any survivors.

President Trump responded to the heartbreaking bridge collapse Thursday evening with prayers , plus praise for the first responders.

Alexander Concha, 36, and Ivy Polanco, 23, were about to have lunch Thursday at Panthers Boulevard Cafe, about a block away from the bridge. Suddenly, they heard wailing sirens and helicopters buzzing overhead.

Our first reaction was, we hope its not the bridge, Concha said. On the side where it collapsed, it didnt seem very secure. It seemed very unsafe.

The bridge collapsed during Florida Internationals spring break.

Its very lucky that we are on spring break and that this didnt happen during rush hour, said Polanco, an FIU student. It could have been so much worse.

Florida International University on Saturday had touted the bridges first-of-its kind construction method, and hailed the permanent installation of the bridges main span. It stretched 174 feet and weighed 960 tons, according to an FIU news release, and was built using accelerated bridge construction methods that were being worked on at the university.

This method of construction reduces potential risks to workers, commuters and pedestrians and minimizes traffic interruptions, the release said.

When the bridge was installed, crews using an automated process lifted the span from its supports, turned it 90 degrees across eight lanes and lowered it in place, the release said. The university said it was the largest pedestrian bridge moved by that method, known as self-propelled modular transportation, in U.S. history.

This project is an outstanding example of the ABC method, Atorod Azizinamini, chairman of FIUs Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, said at the time. Building the major element of the bridge  its main span superstructure  outside of the traveled way and away from busy Eighth Street is a milestone.

The university, a major state school that has experienced burgeoning enrollment in recent years, had announced Wednesday it would begin issuing fines as part of a pedestrian safety campaign to help protect students walking to campus from Sweetwater and nearby Westchester. The new bridge was scheduled to be completed in early 2019.

Just last week we were celebrating the expanse being completed  and now we are here dealing with a tragedy, Sweetwater Mayor Orlando Lopez said Thursday.

The main builder of the bridge, Munilla Construction Management (MCM), is a major South Florida construction firm that has been hired to rebuild expressways; update part of Miami International Airport; and construct a new test track for Miamis Metrorail system.

Increasingly, MCM has also successfully bid on federal contracts, winning almost $130 million in work since 2013. The largest contract is for building a school at Guantanamo Bay Naval Station.

MCM is a major contributor to politicians in Miami-Dade County and has been involved in dozens of lawsuits over the last decade, but often for much smaller issues. This month, the firm was sued for damages when a makeshift bridge collapsed under the weight of a security worker using it to access a restroom at Miami airport. The man suffered injuries to his elbow, shoulder and wrist, according to court records.

MCM has up-to-date business licenses and no recent code-enforcement violations reported to state authorities. Recent inspection reports for the site of Thursdays collapse were not immediately available.

The company could not immediately be reached for comment.

In a statement on its Facebook page, MCM said: Our familys thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by this terrible tragedy. The new UniversityCity Bridge, which was under construction, experienced a catastrophic collapse causing injuries and loss of life. MCM is a family business and we are all devastated and doing everything we can to assist. We will conduct a full investigation to determine exactly what went wrong and will cooperate with investigators on scene in every way.

According to the university, FIGG Bridge Engineers, a division of Tallahassee-based FIGG Engineering Group, designed the walkway.

The firm is behind dozens of iconic suspension, arch and beam bridges across the United States, including the Penobscot Narrows Bridge in Maine and the Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay.

FIGG said in a statement Thursday that it was stunned by todays tragic collapse of a pedestrian bridge that was under construction over Southwest Eighth Street in Miami. Our deepest sympathies are with all those affected by this accident.

We will fully cooperate with every appropriate authority in reviewing what happened and why. In our 40-year history, nothing like this has ever happened before. Our entire team mourns the loss of life and injuries associated with this devastating tragedy, and our prayers go out to all involved.

Asked if the construction methods might have factored into the collapse, Ron Sachs, a spokesman for FIGG Engineering, said he could not provide any details beyond a statement issued by the company.

Theyre in a fact-finding mode, he said of the company. Theyre stunned and certainly in mourning.

Sachs said he believed there would be a comprehensive investigation involving authorities, including the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Were going to cooperate with any and all of those, he said.

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) had touted the bridge as a creative solution for challenges to the areas transportation network in the FIU news release over the weekend. On Thursday, a statement issued through his office reflected the sudden turn of events.

I am shocked and horrified by the FIU Pedestrian Bridge collapse. I am praying for the victims and families of this tragedy, he said. As the NTSB has announced they will be conducting an investigation, I will fully review their findings so we can address how this happened and how to prevent it from ever happening again.

Experts say the Accelerated Bridge Construction method involves an integrated system of pieces designed to stand as a complete structure, but that have to be supported during construction.

Amjad Aref, a researcher at the University at Buffalos Institute of Bridge Engineering, said failures can be catastrophic.

The loss of stability is a sudden thing, it doesnt give a warning, said Aref, whose work involves designing Accelerated Bridge Construction projects.

Aref said the construction method has become popular over the past decade. He would not speculate about the cause of the collapse. In general he said, the process works this way:

You bring three pieces, three blocks, each block is really strong and [does] their job but if they are not connected properly, they might not stand, he said. The idea is in every design you want to take the load from the superstructure, the bridge surface, all the way to the ground safely.

A collapse, he said, would indicate the system was not completely connected or supported.

Before the structure is finished, Aref said, crews should ensure that each of its components is secured by cabling or other supporting mechanisms.

He said self-propelled modular transportation, the method of installing the bridge section, is common in Europe. The mechanism would typically involve loading the span onto wheeled heavy machinery that places the main span between the supports, turns and hydraulically lifts it into place.

The bridge was funded through a federal TIGER grant, according to the university, a recession-era program created under the Obama administration that pays for road, rail and other projects.

The role of FIUs Accelerated Bridge Construction University Transportation Center in its construction was unclear. The lab says on its website that it received federal funding in September 2013 after the U.S. Department of Transportation recognized a joint funding proposal submitted by FIU, Iowa State University and the University of Nevada at Reno. The funding enabled the schools to dive further into their mission of researching Accelerated Bridge construction, the site says. The center received a second round of U.S. DOT funding in December 2016, the side says.

The center lays out its mission on the site: The mission of the ABC-UTC is to reduce the societal costs of bridge construction by reducing the duration of work zones, focusing special attention on preservation, service life, construction costs, education of the profession, and development of a next-generation workforce fully equipped with ABC knowledge, it says.

Calls to a university number and an email to Azizinamini, director of the bridge center, were not returned Thursday.

Svrluga, du Lac and Siddiqui reported from Washington. Aaron C. Davis, Mark Berman, Alice Crites, Magda Jean-Louis, and Michael Laris in Washington contributed to this report.The whole of Europe has almost surrendered to terrorist organizations, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has said, condemning the European Parliaments resolution on Turkey Afrin operation, Hurriyet Daily News reports.

The European Parliaments record on this [terror] subject is not very good. Its decision is not binding anyway. We know the impetus for such decisions. It is a shame that the whole European continent has almost surrendered to the separatist terrorist organization, Yildirim told reporters travelling with him on an official visit to Baku on March 15.

Is anything like this possible? Mosques have been sabotaged, airports have been attacked, houses have been marked. We are tired of saying it dont spoil [terrorists]. Dont tolerate them. Tomorrow they will cause trouble for you. What we have been saying is becoming true, he said.

Yildirims comments came after the European Parliament passed a resolution on March 15 criticizing Turkey for its ongoing Operation Olive Branch into Afrin and calling on it to be brought to an end.

The European Parliament does such disruptive things. Are they the ones who are struggling against terror? They should acknowledge that while they were sitting in their comfortable chairs, Turkey has been preventing terror from spreading in Turkey as well as in Europe. In a sense, Turkey is protecting Europe from terror. So before giving such decisions they should have prayed for Turkey every day, he said.A missing Pennsylvania teen could be in Mexico with a man more than twice her age with whom she may be in a romantic relationship, authorities said.

Sixteen-year-old Amy Yu was last seen on March 5 after her mother dropped her off at a bus stop. School records showed that 45-year-old Kevin Esterly repeatedly signed Amy of school in the months before their disappearance. Police later said that Amy had changed her school documents to say that Esterly was her step-father.

Mexican authorities issued an Amber Alert suggested that the pair could be travelling in country. Authorities believe the teen is at risk and is the victim of a crime.

Trending: Two Trump Billboards Outside Mar-a-Lago, Florida: Impeachment Sign to Be Met By Competing Thank You President Message

The Allentown Police Department previously issued a warrant for Esterlys arrest that alledged interference in the custody of a child, the Associated Press reported.

In the original missing person notice, Allentown Police said that the two were possible travelling together in a red, two-door Honda Accord with the PA license plate KLT 0529.

Don't miss: Sheriff's Deputy Arrested for Stalking Her Ex-Boyfriend, Resigns After Charged with Abuse of Power

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

In an interview with WFMZ, Amys brother said that the family had known Esterly and his family from church. The teen's mother had found hundreds of texts between Esterly and Amy on her daughters cell phone.

Investigators claimed the two had a secretive relationship in court documents seen by the Allentown Morning Call.

Esterly was last seen by his wife on the morning of March 5. She told authorities that Esterly's personal documents were no longer at the house and $4,000 had been taken from her bank account.

Most popular: Dragon Ball FighterZ Z Unions: How Do They Work?

Related: Man Suspected of Sex Trafficking Teen Turned in to Police by His Mother

Allentown Police Department described Amy as a 411 Asian female weighing around 90 lbs, while Esterly is a 59 white male weighing 185 lbs. In the original missing persons notice, police said both could possibly be endangered.

Story continues

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from NewsweekPresident Donald Trump's businesses were served with a subpoena by special counsel Robert Mueller in the ongoing Russia probe on 15 March 2018: REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein

Special counsel Robert Mueller has subpoenaed the Trump Organization in the ongoing investigation into alleged collusion between members of President Donald Trump's 2016 US election campaign team and Russian officials.

This is the first publicly known time the investigation has been taken directly to Mr Trump's business, the New York Times reported.

The White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said: "There was no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. For specific questions about the Trump Organization I would refer you to them". The administration and Mr Trump have repeatedly denied any allegations of wrongdoing in the matter.

It is unknown what the exact scope of the subpoena is and why Mr Mueller issued it in the first place, implying that the umbrella organisation that oversees many of Mr Trump's businesses may not have cooperated with a request for the documents. The Trump Organization has cooperated in the past with the House and Senate intelligence committee investigator's when they have requested documents in the past.

Sources close to the matter told the paper, however, that the subpoena was delivered in "recent weeks" and did ask for documents related to Russia. A source told CNN that the reason for the subpoena was to "clean up" and "to ensure that all related documents are handed over to the special counsel," the outlet reported.

An attorney for the Trump Organization Alan Futerfas said in a statement that the subpoena is "old news and our assistance and cooperation with the various investigations remains the same today."

The newspaper had reported that the subpoena could relate to documents to a time period prior to Mr Trump's 2015 announcement that he would be running for President. The documents the company provided to investigators thus far have reportedly related to the time period since the announcement.

News about the order comes as Mr Mueller appears to be expanding the investigation beyond alleged collusion between Trump campaign team members and Russian officials to include what role, if any, foreign money could have played in the election and Mr Trump's campaign.

Story continues

Mr Mueller has questioned an adviser from the United Arab Emirates called George Nader who has ties to aides of Mr Trump in the last few weeks.

Recent witnesses have reported they were asked about possible real estate dealings by the company in Moscow, which could have prompted the subpoena as the company has said there were no property deals made in the country.

As the New York Times reported also: "a longtime business associate of Mr Trumps emailed Mr. Trumps lawyer, Michael Cohen" in 2015 "at his Trump Organization account claiming he had ties to" Russian President Vladimir Putin and "said that building a Trump Tower in Moscow would help Mr Trumps presidential campaign".

It was never built but Mr Trump had signed a nonbinding letter of intent.

The subpoena news also comes on the heels of a new set of US sanctions on 19 Russian nationals for alleged election meddling. The list includes Mr Putin's personal chef and the 13 individuals indicted last month by Mr Mueller for conspiracy to defraud the US".

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said in a statement that the individual financial assets sanctions were proof "the administration is confronting and countering malign Russian cyber activity, including their attempted interference in US elections, destructive cyber attacks, and intrusions targeting critical infrastructure".

Mr Trump also came out against Russia for the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury, who remain in critical condition after being exposed to a "military-grade" nerve toxin. The incident also prompted Prime Minister Theresa May to cut off high-level contact with Moscow and expel 23 Russian diplomats from the UK.NASA's Kepler spacecraft has been peering deep into the Milky Way galaxy for nearly a decade. It has spotted over 2,500 confirmed planets orbiting distant stars, and over 2,500 more possible worlds are waiting to be confirmed. Thirty of these confirmed planets live inside their host stars' habitable zones, places where liquid water could exist like it does on Earth.

But Kepler is now running low on gas.

"With nary a gas station to be found in deep space, the spacecraft is going to run out of fuel," Charlie Sobeck, the system engineer for the Kepler space telescope mission, said in a NASA statement.

"We expect to reach that moment within several months."

SEE ALSO: Thousands of SpaceX Starlink satellites could pose 'unprecedented' space junk problem

NASA placed the Kepler telescope 94 million miles away from Earth, in an orbit around the sun. This way, Earth's gravity and reflected light don't interfere with Kepler's precise measurements of distant planets.

Out there, in the void, it's extremely unlikely that Kepler will become a threatening piece of space junk that could pose collision hazards to other satellites.

An artist's conception of the Earth-sized exoplanet Kepler-186f, which orbits a star some 500 million miles away from Earth.

Image: NASA

"Deep space missions like Kepler are nowhere near Earth or sensitive environments, which means we can afford to squeeze every last drop of data from the spacecraft," said Sobeck.

It's incredible that Kepler is still working at all.

In 2013, a wheel used to keep the spacecraft pointed in the right direction broke, meaning that Kepler's entire mission  which hinged on pointing in one specific direction  had to change.

However, NASA found a way to temporarily stabilize the telescope for months at a time by using pressure from sunlight, "like a kayak steering into the current," said Sobeck.

An artist's conception of the exoplanet Kepler-22b, a planet about two and half times that of Earth orbiting in its solar system's habitable zone.

Image: nasa

Since then, Kepler has spotted hundreds more exoplanets, over 300 of which have been confirmed.

Story continues

When Kepler spots an exoplanet, however, it doesn't actually capture an image of the distant planetary body  they're much too far away. Instead, Kepler watches a star for dips in brightness as a planet occasionally transits in front of the distant star.

NASA scientists can then judge the size and possible composition of the exoplanet based upon how long it took to travel around the star and how much light the planet temporarily blocked.

In December 2017, Kepler shifted its view and caught a blast of reflected light from Earth in its extremely sensitive camera, ultimately appearing as a vertical beam of light.

Image: nasa

Although Kepler will soon be spent and left to its long, lonely orbit in space, the spacecraft will soon be replaced by another exoplanet-hunting space telescope, NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS).

TESS is set to launch into space on April 16.

"TESS will search nearly the entire sky for planets outside our solar system, focusing on the brightest stars less than 300 light-years away, and adding to Keplers treasure trove of planet discoveries," said Sobeck.North Korea's foreign minister Ri Yong Ho is visiting Sweden for high-level talks with his counterpart Margot Wallstrom, spurring speculation over the Scandinavian country's role in arranging proposed talks between the U.S. and Kim Jong Un's regime.

The diplomat departed Pyongyang on Thursday, flying to Stockholm via Beijing. He had dinner with Wallstrom upon his arrival before heading to the North Korean Embassy, but talks continued on Friday, The Associated Press reported.

The North Korean minister was due to return home on Saturday, but prolonged his stay until Sunday, according to Swedish broadcaster SVT.

Trending: Who Was Louise Slaughter? Trailblazing Democratic Congresswoman Dies Aged 88

According to the channel's foreign policy analyst Erika Bjerstrom, the meeting between Ri and Wallstrom meeting had been scheduled for months, but the agenda changed to accommodate recent diplomatic developments involving proposed talks between the North and South Korean leaders in late April and between Kim and President Donald Trump by the end of May.

03_16_Ri Yong Ho

Vilhelm Stokstad/AFP/Getty Images

During a joint press conference at the White House on March 6, Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven offered his country's help in facilitating talks between the U.S. and North Korea, highlighting his country's 45-year diplomatic presence in Pyongyang.

Don't miss: Missing 16-year-old Amy Yu May Be in Mexico with 45-year-old Kevin Esterly, Authorities Say

"We can be a channel or do whatever we can to see that the dialogue is smooth," he said, adding that "with that relation with North Korea, I believe that they trust us, We are a non-aligning country, andon military, non-aligning country."

Story continues

A Swedish government statement on this week's meeting did not provide a detailed agenda. "The talks will focus on Swedens consular responsibilities as a protecting power for the United States, Canada and Australia. They will also address the security situation on the Korean Peninsula," it read, highlighting the country's position as a non-permanent member of the U.N. Security Council in 2017-18.

In a short and vague statement reporting on Ri's trip on Thursday, North Korea's state-controlled news agency KCNA wrote the purpose of the visit was "to exchange views on the bilateral relations and issues of mutual concern." The North Korean media have yet to publish any reference to the possible U.S.-North Korea summit.

After a parliamentary session on Friday, Wallstrom highlighted the importance of talks related to security in the Korean peninsula, but said her country had a realistic expectation of the role it can play. We are not naive in believing we can solve the worlds problems. It is up to the parties to decide which way we are going, the Swedish minister said, according to the Associated Press.

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from NewsweekIndian security forces stand guard during a protest after Indian army killed two militants and four civilians in Kashmir, which both India and Pakistan claim as theirs - Anadolu

Pakistans High Commissioner to India has been called home to discuss claims of intimidation and harassment in New Delhi, as the south Asian rivals swapped accusations of mistreatment of their diplomats - including bizarre allegations of spies ringing doorbells and running away.

Sohail Mahmood has returned to Islamabad after 26 incidents were reported by Pakistani envoys in Delhi in the past eight days, including two allegations their children were approached at school.

India responded by saying its diplomats had recently been abused and vilified in Islamabad.

Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Muhammad Faisal said Islamabads pleas to Indian officials to investigate the incidents had fallen on deaf ears.

Our High Commissioner in New Delhi has been asked to come to Islamabad for consultations, he said.

The blame has on the surface been placed on hostile members of the public, but both countries implied the hand of spies - Indias Intelligence Bureau and Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) - were behind the spate of aggressive acts, using old fashioned espionage tactics, apparently now mixed with playground pranks.

Indian deputy High Commissioner to Pakistan, J P Singh, said his doorbell was rung at 3am last week, and no one was there when he answered the door.

The Indians, believing the ISI was to blame, then did the same to Pakistans Deputy High Commissioner in Delhi, Syed Haider Shah, ringing his doorbell at 3am.

Videos posted online and in news reports in Pakistan showed Mr Mahmoods car being forced to halt in Delhi, as a car pulled in front and slowed right down, after which two men got out and with cameras and took pictures of the interior.

A Pakistani diplomat in the vehicle is said to have shot the footage.

India said the current escalation in skullduggery began when a development under construction for Indian diplomats in Islamabad was raided by the ISI last month and they cut the power and water supply, the Times of India reported.

Story continues

Mr Mahmood said the latest events were harming diplomacy. He told the Indian Express: The current approach and methods only militate against such efforts, while holding no prospect of advancing any particular objective. A rethink is in order.

Nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan have a history of bitter relations, often accusing each other's diplomatic staff of spying.

They also often trade fire in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, which both countries claim in its entirety.Parkland students are criticizing lawmakers' quick action to protect animals on flights while ignoring pleas for stricter gun control laws.

Senator John Kennedy, a Republican from Louisiana, introduced a new bill on Thursday called the Welfare of Our Furry Friends Act (cleverly shortened to WOOFF) that would forbid airlines from putting animals in overhead bins.

SEE ALSO: The student walkout at Columbine High School carries a special meaning

He announced his plans for this bill only hours after an 11-month-old puppy died on a United Airlines flight after a flight attendant forced its owner to put it in an overhead bin, and on the same day as the national student walkout in remembrance of the victims who died in the Parkland school shooting a month ago.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

Kennedy was called out on social media after tweeting about his plans to propose the bill. As a staunch opponent of gun control, the senator's quick action to protect pets was seen as hypocritical to many people, including Parkland survivor Cameron Kasky.

"I don't enjoy having to legislate common decency, but by God, I'm going to do it until they take this seriously," Kennedy tweeted on Thursday.

Kasky fired back: "17 people got shot at my school and nobody's taking THAT seriously."

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

Then Kasky asked lawmakers why they didn't apply the same quick action to students who were killed by gun violence.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

Lex Michael, another Marjory Stoneman Douglas student also criticized the senator's inaction.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

Others on social media responded similarly. Twitter user Sheryl Reeder responded to a tweet by Kennedy that said "pets are family" with "If pets were being gunned down by an AR-15? Sensible gun legislation in the blink of an eye."

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

Twitter user @bonibrat criticized Kennedy's announcement, calling his lack of reaction to multiple mass shootings, compared to one incident of a dog dying, "an even bigger kick in the gut."

Story continues

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

This isn't the first time politicians have been criticized for proposing new legislation while ignoring calls for gun control. Twitter had a similar reaction in February, when New York lawmakers introduced a bill that would require Tide Pods to look less appetizing so that teenagers would be less inclined to eat them.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

The criticism, of course, doesn't mean that animals shouldn't also be protected from cruel treatment on airplanes. Kennedy's bill would impose civil fines on airlines for improperly storing animals in overhead bins. According to a report by the Department of Transportation, United Airlines has been responsible for 18 animal deaths this year alone, making it the airline with the highest pets deaths for the third year in a row.(This March 14 story corrects paragraph 15 to add dropped words "not" and "whether" to show Pennsylvania has not provided funding) By Dustin Volz WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pennsylvania's tight congressional special election underscores the need for states to replace aging voting machines and use paper ballots as backups to ensure the integrity of vote counts ahead of pivotal November U.S. midterm elections, election security advocates said on Wednesday. Democrat Conor Lamb led Republican Rick Saccone by only a few hundred votes out of nearly 230,000 cast in the closely watched U.S. House of Representatives election on Tuesday in western Pennsylvania. With many states using antiquated voting machines and with concerns about potential interference in U.S. elections by Russia or other actors, there is rising concern among experts about the need to safeguard American balloting. "At the end of the day, the winners need be assured that they won and the losers need to know that they lost," said former Pennsylvania election official Marian Schneider, president of Verified Voting, a group that advocates for auditable elections. While there have been no issues raised about the integrity of the Pennsylvania race, election security experts said the razor-thin margin highlighted the importance of protecting voting machines from tampering, failure or human error. "Whenever you are talking about computers, there are risks" of tampering or programming error, Schneider said. In the face of federal inaction on election security, nearly every state has taken steps since the 2016 election to purchase more secure equipment, expand the use of paper ballots, improve cyber training or seek federal assistance, according to groups that track election security. Voting systems that do not produce a paper backup of a ballot, which election officials can use to check electronic tabulations, are more difficult to audit for signs of tampering or error, according to experts. The four counties where voters cast ballots on Tuesday are among the 50 Pennsylvania counties, out of a total of 67, that use voting machines without an auditable paper trail, according to Verified Voting. "With paper, you can recount or audit that paper and carefully check the performance of the voting system, ensuring that the electronic result would match what a full hand count would show," said Joseph Lorenzo Hall, an election security expert with the Center for Democracy & Technology. "Without a paper audit trail, any recount is just like hitting enter on the keyboard over and over again: You get the same answer and you have no clue if that answer is correct," Hall added. PROBING BY RUSSIA The Department of Homeland Security said last year that 21 of the 50 states had experienced initial probing of their election systems from Russian hackers and that a small number of networks were compromised, but that there remains no evidence any votes were actually altered. U.S. intelligence agencies previously concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 election through a campaign of propaganda and hacking to help Trump win. Russia has denied this. Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, a Democrat, last month issued a directive requiring new voting machines in the state to have paper records of votes cast. Pennsylvania has not provided funding for counties to buy new equipment, making it unclear whether existing systems will be replaced before the November elections. President Donald Trump, who in the past has raised questions about the integrity of American elections, endorsed the paper backups in elections as useful to protect against Russian meddling. Trump said at a news conference last Thursday that "it's old-fashioned, but it's always good to have a paper back-up system of voting." But Congress, controlled by his fellow Republicans, has not provided funding to states to upgrade voting machines. Democrats have introduced election security legislation and called for congressional hearings. Congressional Republicans have not acted on warnings from senior U.S. intelligence officials who said Russia is likely to target November's midterm races in which Democrats are trying to seize control of the House of Representatives and Senate. Some experts have warned that voter confidence could be undermined if states do not install newer machines that can be audited with a paper trail. New Jersey, Delaware, Georgia, Louisiana and South Carolina have no verifiable paper ballot backup across their states, though some are looking to purchase systems that provide such audits. Eight other states, including Pennsylvania, have some electoral districts without paper backups. (Reporting by Dustin Volz; Editing by Will Dunham)MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines has notified the U.N. secretary-general of its decision to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC), but has assured the United Nations of its commitment to the rule of law. President Rodrigo Duterte is pulling the Philippines out of the ICC after a court prosecutor announced last month that a preliminary examination was underway into an accusation that the president and top officials had committed crimes against humanity during a deadly war on drugs. Duterte, known for his tough stand on crime, has repeatedly denied he ordered police to kill drug suspects. Police deny activists' accusations of murder and cover-ups and say the more than 4,000 people killed in police encounters were armed and resisted arrest. "The government affirms its commitment to fight against impunity for atrocity crimes, notwithstanding its withdrawal from the Rome Statute, especially since the Philippines has a national legislation punishing atrocity crimes," the government said in a letter dated Thursday and addressed to the U.N. secretary-general. The president of the ICC's member assembly, O-Gon Kwon of South Korea, said he regretted the Philippine decision. Kwon encouraged the Philippines to remain a member and "engage in dialogue" rather than withdrawing, which he said would hurt the court's efforts to punish war crimes and crimes against humanity. "The ICC needs the strong support of the international community to ensure its effectiveness. I encourage the Philippines to remain as a party to the Rome Statute," he said in a statement. The Rome Statute is the founding treaty of the ICC. The Philippines ratified it in 2011. The Philippines' permanent representative to the United Nations, Teodoro Locsin, published the government letter U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on his Twitter account. The decision to withdraw was a "principled stand against those who politicise and weaponize human rights", the government said. The withdrawal takes effect one year after the secretary-general receives notification, according to ICC rules. Duterte's spokesman, Harry Roque, said on Thursday the ICC examination into the killing of drug suspects "violates the very fundamental basis by which we gave our consent to be bound by the ICC", referring to a principle of complementarily. Under the principle, the ICC can step in and exercise jurisdiction if states are unable or unwilling to investigate crimes. Roque said Philippine courts were functioning well and exercise jurisdiction over any complaints. International jurist groups and activists have criticized Duterte for what they say is an attempt to evade justice. Lawyers say the withdrawal does not insulate Duterte from a possible indictment, as the ICC's jurisdiction retroactively covers the period during which a country was a member of the court. (Reporting by Enrico dela Cruz; additional reporting by Toby Sterling in AMSTERDAM; Editing by Martin Petty, Robert Birsel)HA NOI  Japan , one of the global leaders in implementing the 4.0 industrial revolution, is witnessing strong investment from Viet Nam s information technology (IT) firms.

Currently, there are some 20 IT companies in Viet Nam with branches in Japan .

The Japanese market holds tremendous potential for Viet Nam s information technology (IT) sector, said Truong Gia Binh, chairman of FPT Corporation.

He said this at the inauguration ceremony of the firms sixth representative office in Japan s Hamamatsu , Shizuoka Prefecture on Tuesday.

Viet Nam s software exports turnover to Japan is expected to increase from US$300 million to $1 billion by 2020, while the number of programmers working for the Japanese market in the future may increase from 10,000 to 300,000, Binh said.

For FPT, the Japanese market accounts for more than half of the companys global sales.

At present, FPT has more than 400 Japanese customers, including 50 companies on the list of the largest enterprises in the world. FPTs annual growth rate in Japan is consistently around 30 per cent.

The Viet Nam Software and IT Services Association is encouraging the trend, which will hopefully lay the foundation for turning Viet Nam into a software-export country, according to Binh.

Regarding Viet Nam s advantages when investing in Japan , Binh said "the two countries have similar cultures and strong political and socio-economic relations". Moreover, "Viet Nam , with its young population and low-wage human resources, can help Japan rejuvenate its work force in the software industry. Viet Nam is also the source for many Japanese companies in the latest technology fields, such as artificial intelligence, robotics and data analysis".

On November 7, 2017, the CMC Corporation opened its first office in Yokohama City , Kanagawa Prefecture . It is expected that by 2020, there will be some 1,000 Vietnamese employees working for the Japanese market.

Smaller businesses, such as NAL Viet Nam Joint Stock Company, are also planning to expand in Tokai after opening representative offices in Tokyo and Nagoya .

"Viet Nam has been the second-largest partner of Japan in software and service outsourcing since 2014", FPT Software CEO Hoang Nam Tien spoke at the recent Viet Nam IT Day 2018 in Japan .

According to statistics from the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the country lacks 100,000 technicians in the fields of information safety, cloud computing and mobile technology.

In terms of new technology, including artificial intelligence, big data, Internet of Things and robotics, the country is estimated to be short of 600,000 information technology professionals by 2030.

"It is a huge opportunity for Vietnamese enterprises to join hands with their Japanese counterparts to solve the problem of inadequate human resources in this field," Tien added.  VNSLaw enforcement officials were captured on video posing for photographs and pretending to scale a border wall prototype on Tuesday. Many called the display insensitive, given the seriousness of the immigration debate.

The footage shows three officers, who appear to be wearing San Diego Police Department uniforms, modeling in front of the prototype at Otay Mesa Port of Entry. While one officer holds a camera, the two others pose as if they are helping each other climb the wall, with one officer raising his foot and the other posing as if he's giving his friend a boost.

The moment was captured on video by Jaciel Ortega, a student at Scripps College in Claremont, California, just after President Donald Trump visited the site. The student told Telemundo 20 the incident happened at about 2:45 p.m., and that the officers noticed her but didn't appear to care.

Trending: St. Patrick's Day Parade 2018 Livestream: How to Watch

"On a day so full of protest and pain this is what the San Diego Police Department was doing," Jaciel wrote in an Instagram post. "These are the officers that are on the streets terrorizing communities of color. Seeing this was nothing new but it was a reminder to broaden how we talk about immigration policy, especially in California."

The San Diego Police Department did not immediately return Newsweek's request for comment. The department told KNSD that they had just been made aware of the incident and were looking into it.

Don't miss: Irish History: Five Important Figures From Ireland Who Are Not St. Patrick

At time of publishing, the student's post had a couple hundred comments. As many might have guessed, the remarks are as divisive as the subject matter itself. Some wrote that she was being too sensitive, while others argued that the officers actions showed an extreme lack of sympathy.

The border wall was a centerpiece of Trump's unusual presidential campaign, and it has since become an emblem of a rancorous immigration debate that he so ardently fostered. During Trump's visit to California  a state whose lawmakers have called it "ground zero" of The Resistence  the president took a swipe at his detractors, telling onlookers that Governor Jerry Brown had "done a very poor job" running the state.

Story continues

Brown took to Twitter and thanked the president for the shout-out.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from NewsweekFormer Arizona Cardinals safety Tyrann Mathieu has found a new home in Houston. The Honey Badger has signed a one-year deal worth a reported $2 million base with a $4.5 million signing bonus.

In 66 games over five seasons, Mathieu has 281 tackles and 11 interceptions. He was a first-team All-Pro player in 2015, and offers an immediate upgrade for Houstons secondary and a boost to the Texans already-strong defense. The Cardinals released Matthieu earlier in the week after the team and the Badger werent able to come to an agreement on a new deal.

Strangely, the news might have been tipped by none other than J.J. Watt himself:

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

Mathieus signing now opens up the free agent market for safeties; he was widely viewed as one of the best available, and with the market now set, more deals could come quickly.

Tyrann Mathieu is headed to Houston. (AP)

____

Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.

More coverage from Yahoo Sports:

 After upset of Arizona, Obama gets called out

 Texas Techs ferocious 360 alley-oop dunk was just silly

 Rob Gray will never buy a drink in Houston again

 Whats standing between Sooners prospect and the NBA? His dad

Rep. Mike Conaway, a Republican from Texas, has to figure out whether to write a bipartisan food stamp bill or one that gets only Republican support. (Photo: Bloomberg via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON  A Republican plan to shrink food stamp enrollment is in some serious trouble.

Earlier this week House Agriculture Committee chairman Mike Conaway (R-Texas), the Republican in charge of writing new food stamp legislation, postponed releasing his bill in order to win Democratic support first. But on Thursday Democrats abandoned the negotiation.

The Democratic members have made clear that they unanimously oppose [Conaways proposal] as it has been described to them and reported in the press, Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), the top Democrat on the committee, said Thursday evening.

Conaway has to figure out whether he wants to write a bipartisan bill or one that would pass the House with just Republicans. But since Republicans dont have a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, its hard to see how a Republican-only strategy could succeed.

Nevertheless, an influential group of hardline House conservatives has been telling Conaway and House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) that if theyre not ready to severely shrink enrollment with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, then they should wait until after midterm elections in November.

Im focused on real welfare reform, including food stamp reform, and if thats not in the legislation then Ive said before I think it should be a short-term extension, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), founder of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, told HuffPost on Thursday.

Roughly 42 million Americans receive food benefits from the program, which is one of the federal governments most important safety nets and one that experts have credited for eliminating starvation in the U.S. Monthly benefits average $125 per person.

Republicans say having extra money for food discourages people from working, though recent research shows most adults who receive SNAP benefits participate in the labor force.

The Trump administration has made a lot of noise about food stamps this year, saying it favored replacing benefits with boxes of canned goods. The administration is closely allied with the Freedom Caucus leaders, who have been badmouthing an investigation into Trumps presidential campaign.

Story continues

Peterson said in a radio interview last week that Conaways plan would deny benefits to 8 million people. A Conaway spokeswoman said the number was not accurate but declined to provide details. Enrollment in the program has been declining for years, and budget forecasters already expect improved economic conditions to result in 8 million fewer people receiving monthly benefits a decade from now.

Jordan said he hadnt seen Conaways bill, but that if it kicked an extra 8 million people off food stamps, that certainly sounds like its moving in the right direction.

The Agriculture Committee traditionally produces a farm bill every five years reauthorizing agribusiness subsidies and nutrition assistance. The previous farm bill bogged down in 2013 under similar circumstances, with hardline conservatives balking at a bipartisan measure that didnt cut benefits as much as they would have liked. So the House passed a more conservative bill that ultimately got smothered in a House-Senate conference committee.

Citing his own conversations with Senate Agriculture Committee chairman Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), Peterson said last week that the Senates not going to do any of this stuff, so this has been an exercise in futility.

Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) told HuffPost that delaying the farm bill would be good because anything trying to happen before the midterms is difficult.

The idea that Republicans could get a better deal if they wait until after November doesnt make much sense to Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.), who chaired the Agriculture Committee when hardliners blew up his farm bill five years ago. After all, if Democrats win enough seats to retake the House, theyll be in charge of the farm bill.

What happens if we are not in control then a year from now? Lucas told HuffPost. Then the document becomes totally different. Whats that old line? Cut off your nose to spite your face?

Also on HuffPost

Members of Congress are seen wearing black in the Rayburn Room of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., ahead of the State of the Union address.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), center, poses with members of Congress wearing black in support of the "Me Too" movement.

U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.), Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.), Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) and other House Democrats wear black.

Rep. Susan Davis (D-Calif.) wears black with a "Time's Up" pin and a "RECY" button.

Members of Congress pose with Rose Gunter, the niece of sexual assault survivor Recy Taylor, to show solidarity with men and women who are speaking out against sexual harassment and discrimination.

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.When Thomas Hofeller travelled across the country at the beginning of the decade to talk to lawmakers about the redistricting process, he brought a warning: Dont get cute.

Republicans were fresh off a remarkably successful effort to take control of state legislatures so they could control the redistricting process  a significant victory, because redistricting is normally only done every 10 years. Hofeller, a veteran Republican redistricting consultant and mapmaker, cautioned lawmakers against drawing stupid irregularities in boundaries obviously contorted to include voters likely to support them, The Atlantic reported.

But in 2011, Republicans were focused on maximizing every possible advantage they could squeeze out of the redistricting project, and saw an opportunity to entrench their control of at least 20 seats in the U.S. House. They took it.

Republicans have since enjoyed considerable advantage from those maps. According to an estimate by the Brennan Center for Justice, Republican gerrymandering accounts for 16 or 17 GOP seats in the current Congress that the party may not otherwise control.

But now, that gerrymandering greed of Republicans is coming back to haunt them.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court in January struck down the congressional map state Republicans drew, saying it was so partisan that it violated the state constitution. That same month, a panel of three federal judges struck down North Carolinas congressional map. In October, the U.S. Supreme Court heard argument in a Wisconsin case may set a standard for defining unconstitutional gerrymandering on partisan grounds. (The court also will consider a case challenging a Democratic gerrymander in Maryland at the end of March.)

As these legal contests settle out, its worth looking back on how the GOP got here.

The reckoning Republicans are seeing now is one that could have been avoided, lawyers and redistricting experts say, had the GOP not been so ruthless.

Story continues

Both Democrats and Republicans have gerrymandered in the past to their advantage, but Republicans took it to a new level in 2011. In an amicus brief to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, political science professors Keith Gaddie and Bernard Grofman wrote that there was as much as three times more partisan bias in congressional maps this decade than in ones drawn in 2000. Nicholas Stephanopoulos, a law professor at the University of Chicago helping challenge a Wisconsin map, said a dramatic number of the worst gerrymanders of the last half-century have occurred since 2010.

Until the courts began stepping in, Republican gerrymandering paid off. From 2012 to 2016, the GOP won 13 of Pennsylvanias 18 congressional seats, even though the partys candidates only got around half of the vote. In Ohio, the party consistently won 12 of 16 congressional seats, but 50 percent of the statewide vote. In Wisconsin, they won at least 60 of 99 state assembly seats, with about half of the popular vote.

As a lawyer, Stephanopoulos said the clear egregiousness of the Republican redistricting made it easier to show something was amiss. It would have been harder to make a case, he said, if Republicans had only been winning slim majorities.

In Wisconsin, if Republicans had been winning a narrow majority of the statehouse with roughly a tied election, Democrats would have been upset by that, but it probably wouldnt have risen to a major constitutional challenge, Stephanopoulos said.

Republican mapmakers in 2011 may have been emboldened by a 2004 U.S. Supreme Court case in which justices declined to strike down Pennsylvanias congressional plan on partisan grounds.

Republicans could have been cautious. They could have drawn maps that benefitted their party, but at the same time were fairer, compact and contiguous, said Jeffrey Wice, a Washington lawyer who has worked with Democrats on redistricting issues. The Constitution gives state lawmakers the broad responsibility of drawing electoral districts, and the GOP maps would have stood up better against judicial scrutiny had lawmakers offered public justification in their legislatures for the boundaries, Wice added.

You can draw a plan to benefit a party, but do so in a fair way through a more transparent, objective process that follows criteria, Wice said. If politicians werent as greedy and secretive, then we wouldnt be seeing as many challenges to plans for the egregious overreaching in the last round.

In many cases, Republicans didnt offer a defensible justification. In North Carolina, a Republican said his partys lawmakers drew a map that gave Republicans a 10-3 advantage because he didnt see a way to draw one that was 11-2. In Wisconsin, GOP lawmakers sought to avoid scrutiny by hiring a law firm to draw the maps, hoping the work would be hidden by attorney-client privilege.

Without a public explanation for the redrawn boundaries, its easier for those challenging the maps to claim Republicans intended to dilute Democratic votes.

Michael Li, redistricting counsel at the Brennan Center, pointed to the GOP-drawn congressional map in Pennsylvania as a good example of a brazen Republican attempt to maximize control. The districts were clearly contorted into odd-looking shapes, and there was no attempt to explain why  other than partisan advantage.

The 2011 map in Pennsylvania resulted in such contorted districts, it was hard to explain away as product of neutral decisions, such as about keeping towns or counties together. It just was so nakedly partisan, Li said in an email. Thats not to say a map that was less contorted couldnt have been challenged if it also produced durable bias in favor of a party. But at least there would be a colorable defense that a court would have to take seriously.

Such strong evidence also could make it more palatable for courts to wade into political redistricting  a topic the judiciary had long avoided.

The courts are going to police outlier cases, rather than trying to wade into each and every one, said Justin Levitt, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. The same principles true in any kind of discrimination: The more blatant, the easier it is to establish, and the more likely the courts are to call it out.

Even if the Supreme Court does decide Republicans went too far with gerrymandering, its anticipated ruling in the spring would likely come too late to affect this years congressional elections, and wouldnt have an impact on maps until at least 2020. Even if Republicans lose the ability to gerrymander in the future, their ruthlessness will have helped them for nearly an entire decade.

Ed Gillespie, the former Republican National Committee chair who oversaw the partys effort to target state legislatures, envisioned that kind of success. In 2011 talking points, obtained by journalist David Daley, Gillespie thanked donors who had given to the partys effort to make gains in state legislatures. He said Republicans hadnt waste a drop of their money on state races, and had made maximum impact.

Related Coverage

Supreme Court Once Again Strikes Down Racial Gerrymandering In North Carolina

Anthony Kennedy Doesn't Tip Hand In Landmark Redistricting Case

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Strikes Down State's Congressional Map, Saying It Illegally Benefits GOP

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary - Getty Images Europe

Boris Johnson has claimed it is overwhelmingly likely that Vladimir Putin personally ordered the Salisbury spy attack.

The Foreign Secretarys decision to formally lay the blame for the nerve agent attack at the door of the Russian President came as the war of words between Moscow and the UK escalated.

Mr Johnson said: "Our quarrel is with Putin's Kremlin, and with his decision, and we think it overwhelmingly likely that it was his decision to direct the use of a nerve agent on the streets of the UK, on the streets of Europe, for the first time since the Second World War.

That is why we are at odds with Russia."

The Kremlin moved immediately to reject Mr Johnson's claim and said it was "shocking and inexcusable".

Mr Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies that the Foreign Secretary's statement represented a "breach of diplomatic propriety".

Mr Johnsons accusation came after Sergei Lavrov, Russias foreign minister, accused Gavin Williamson, the Defence Secretary of being uneducated after he told Moscow on Thursday to shut up.

Mr Lavrov also confirmed that Moscow will expel UK diplomats in response to Theresa Mays decision to kick out 23 Russian officials.

Vladimir Putin, the Russian President Credit: Mikhail Metzel/TASS

It came as Jens Stoltenberg, Nato secretary general, warned Russia not to underestimate the resolve and the unity of the alliance.

He also reiterated Natos belief that there was no reason to doubt Britains assessment that Moscow was to blame for the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter.

Meanwhile, Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, faced growing pressure from his own frontbench over his response to the incident as Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, gave Mrs Mays approach his unqualified support.

The British Government is anticipating a tit-for-tat response from Moscow after Mrs May outlined a series of retaliatory measures on Wednesday in response to the issue.

Story continues

As well as expelling 23 diplomats, Mrs May also suspended all high-level contact with the Kremlin and set out plans to freeze Russian assets where such action is deemed necessary.

Mr Lavrov made clear that Russia will respond with its own measures when he was asked if Moscow would expel UK diplomats.

"Of course we will," he said.

Mr Lavrov also responded to the pointed remarks made by Mr Williamson when he claimed Russia should go away and shut up.

Mr Lavrov said of the Defence Secretary: Maybe he is just not educated.

The leaders of the US, France, Germany and the UK issued a joint statement on Thursday saying that there was no plausible alternative explanation to Russian responsibility for the attack.

Nato has also given the UK its full backing and Mr Stoltenberg insisted on Friday that the United Kingdom is not alone, all allies stand in solidarity with the United Kingdom.

Mr Stoltenberg also warned Moscow against questioning Natos commitment to upholding the international rule of law.

He told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: I am absolutely certain that Russia has underestimated the resolve and the unity of Nato allies when we have implemented different kinds of sanctions over the last years.

The economic sanctions have been effective and they have come from all Nato allies and many other countries.

Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister Credit: Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP Pool

Nato has implemented the biggest enforcement of collective defence since the end of the Cold War with deployment of battlegroups to the eastern part of the alliance all led by the UK in Estonia and we see now an increase in defence spending across Europe and Canada.

He said the measures announced by Mrs May on Wednesday were part of wider action taken by Nato and that it shows clearly that it has costs, it has consequences when Russia is behaving the way they are behaving.

He added: We have no reason to doubt the findings and the assessments made by the British Government not least because this takes place at the backdrop of a pattern of reckless behaviour by Russia over many years.

Mr Stoltenberg said Nato was ready to cooperate with Russia if they respect some basic norms and rules for international behaviour.

Jens Stoltenberg, the Nato secretary general Credit: Anadolu Agency

The Nato chiefs unequivocal backing of the UKs assessment of the nerve agent attack in Salisbury came as the rift between Mr Corbyn and many Labour MPs over the issue continued to grow.

Mr Corbyn has so far failed to explicitly back the Prime Ministers conclusion that Russia was culpable for the attack and sparked further fury on Thursday when he suggested mafia-like groups could have carried out the poisoning.

A number of Labour frontbenchers have put themselves at odds with Mr Corbyns response and Sir Keir was the latest to do so as he gave his full support to Mrs Mays approach and said the Prime Minister had drawn the right conclusion.

He told BBC Ones Question Time programme: "I think it is very important that we support the action the Prime Minister laid out on Wednesday as a response to this unprovoked attack.

He added: "This is not the first time, it needs to be called out with no ifs and no buts and we need strong action as set out by the Prime Minister on Wednesday."

Salisbury spy attack timelineCabinet secretaries need outside allies and early accomplishments to succeed in Washington. Outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillersons tenure may have lost the presidents confidence, but senior Washington officials can learn from his experience.

To succeed, Cabinet secretaries need to cultivate the power centers in Washington  especially if their first job there is secretary of state. The most important relationship, of course, is with the president, who is the ultimate source of authority. An alliance with a powerful and strong secretary of defense, as Tillerson had with James Mattis, is insufficient. In todays Washington, to succeed, heads of agencies must dedicate significant time and effort to cultivating relationships with Congress, the expert community, and the media.

Congress, for all its faults, is the most important institution in Washington. Its members blanket the airwaves. Hearings draw media coverage. The most successful heads of agencies view their oversight committees as boards of directors. Alone, appearing at annual budget and oversight hearings is insufficient. Instead of dreading the grandstanding, secretaries must embrace it. As a former member of Congress, former CIA Director Leon Panetta understood this innately. Panetta won over Democrats and Republicans alike by creating opportunities for meaningful interaction. On many weeknights, Panetta hosted members of Congress for dinner on the seventh floor of the CIA headquarters. The oversight committees hosted him for informal coffees, where he disarmed members with stunning frankness.

In the depths of the Iraq War, in 2007, then-President George W. Bushs national security advisor, Stephen Hadley, visited Capitol Hill dozens of times to meet with members of Congress in intimate settings. Members whose primary sources of information were media accounts were relieved to hear that there was actually a plan. Keeping Congress in the loop was important enough that Bush dedicated significant time to hosting legislators for roundtable discussions in the White House residence and chairing Roosevelt Room meetings so that members of Congress, via secure video teleconference, could pose questions directly to Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker in Iraq.

Story continues

Not least, Cabinet secretaries must have clear agendas and expend precious time and energy explaining them. A departmental press corps that travels is an asset, not freight. Tillerson was defined by reorganization, budget cuts, and the defections of senior diplomats. The State Department may be in dire need of a serious reorganization, but we would not know it from studying the public record. Tillerson caught on late to the need to explain his policy agenda to the Washington expert class. His vision for the Indo-Pacific, which he delivered at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in October 2017, was an example of a successfully executed public event. But it was an exception, and without allies, his standing eroded.

Although Attorney General Jeff Sessions may be one tweet away from the guillotine, his survival proves the rule. When President Donald Trump hinted at ousting Sessions, his allies in Congress and the conservative establishment rose up and deterred the president, at least temporarily.

Finally, Tillerson was deprived of an early diplomatic accomplishment. When Chinese fighter jets forced a U.S. surveillance plane to make an emergency landing on the Chinese island of Hainan in 2001, then-Secretary of State Colin Powell sprung into action, winning the release of the U.S. airmen. The Iraq War would come later, but it gave Powell an early victory. The dispute among Gulf allies Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar gave Tillerson a more difficult but similarly solvable crisis. Media reports suggest the White Houses early backing of Saudi Arabia undermined Tillerson. But this was a missed opportunity that could have been a foundational success.

Tillersons not-from-Washington approach would have been remarkable had it succeeded. One of his aides explained privately to me that in his early days as secretary, Tillerson emphatically rejected strategies that focused on explaining himself and cultivating allies. His approach was to quietly learn his brief, operate behind the scenes, and eventually report quarterly, as he had as CEO of ExxonMobil.

A studious, quiet secretary focused on achieving medium- to long-term gains, perhaps unfortunately, does not often work in todays Washington.Washington (AFP) - Seven US troops were killed when their helicopter crashed during a transport mission in western Iraq, a defense official told AFP Friday.

The Sikorsky HH-60 Pave Hawk chopper was on a routine troop transport operation Thursday flying from Iraq to Syria when it went down, the official said.

"There were seven people aboard -- they are all believed to be dead," the official added.

The four crewmembers were all in the Air Force, but it was not immediately known which service the other troops were from, another official said.

Investigators are probing the crash's cause. A Pentagon statement said it did not appear to be a result of enemy activity.

An accompanying US helicopter reported the crash and a quick reaction force comprised of Iraqi Security Forces and US-led coalition members secured the scene.

"This tragedy reminds us of the risks our men and women face every day in service of our nations. We are thinking of the loved ones of these service members today," Brigadier General Jonathan Braga said.

"We are grateful to the Iraqi security forces for their immediate assistance in response to this tragic incident."

The identities of those killed will be released after next of kin are notified.

First introduced in the early 1980s, the aging Pave Hawk is based on the Army's Black Hawk chopper and is used often used for medical evacuation missions.

President Donald Trump took to Twitter to share his condolences.

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and loved ones of the brave troops lost in the helicopter crash on the Iraq-Syria border yesterday. Their sacrifice in service to our country will never be forgotten," he wrote.

The US has operated helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft in Iraq during the war against the Islamic State group, which overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014.

US forces began carrying out air strikes against IS in August 2014, a campaign that was later expanded to Syria, and has provided weapons, training and other support to forces fighting the jihadists in both countries.

Baghdad declared victory over the extremists late last year, but IS still has the ability to wage deadly violence in Iraq, including a series of attacks in the country's north that left 25 dead earlier this month.JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's chief prosecutor will announce on Friday whether he is reinstating corruption charges against former president Jacob Zuma, who was forced to resign by the ruling African National Congress (ANC) last month. Zuma faces 783 counts of corruption relating to a 30 billion rand ($2.5 billion) government arms deal in the late 1990s. They were filed but then dropped by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) shortly before Zuma ran for president in 2009. The deal to buy European military kit has cast a shadow over politics in Africa's most industrialized economy for years. Zuma - then deputy president - was linked to the deal through Schabir Shaikh, his former financial adviser who was jailed for corruption. Shaikh's conviction almost torpedoed Zuma's bid for president but the charges against him were dropped on a technicality in 2009. He became president shortly afterwards, but his opponents fought a lengthy legal battle to have them reinstated. Zuma countered with his own legal challenges. Chief Prosecutor Shaun Abrahams will make his announcement at 1330 GMT, according to NPA spokesman Luvuyo Mfaku. Zuma has already been informed of what Abrahams has decided, the spokesman said. South Africa's High Court reinstated the charges in 2016 and the Supreme Court upheld that decision last year, rejecting an appeal by Zuma and describing the NPA's initial decision to set aside the charges as "irrational". It then fell to Abrahams to decide whether or not the NPA would pursue a case against Zuma, who resigned as head of state on Feb. 14 on the orders of the ANC. Zuma said in 2016 that an investigation into the arms deal he ordered five years earlier had found no evidence of corruption in the selection process of arms suppliers. Nor had it found evidence that officials were bribed in an attempt to influence the deal, he said. Zuma has also been implicated by South Africa's anti-corruption watchdog in a 2016 report that alleges the Gupta family, billionaire friends of Zuma, used links with him to win state contracts. The Guptas and Zuma have denied any wrongdoing. ($1 = 11.9015 rand) (Reporting by James Macharia; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)By Christine Kim and Steve Holland

SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - South Korea said on Friday it was seeking high-level talks this month with North Korea to prepare for a summit and that South Korean President Moon Jae-in may meet Donald Trump before the U.S. president's planned meeting with the North Korean leader.

Amid a flurry of diplomacy from Asia to Europe to Washington, Trump reaffirmed his plan to meet with North Korea's Kim Jong Un by the end of May during a phone call on Friday with Moon and both voiced "cautious optimism" about efforts to resolve the crisis over North Korea's nuclear weapons.

A White House statement said Trump and Moon discussed preparations for their upcoming engagements with Pyongyang and agreed that "concrete actions," not words, were the key to decentralization of the Korean peninsula.

They "emphasized that a brighter future is available for North Korea, if it chooses the correct path," it said.

Earlier, Moon's chief of staff, Im Jong-seok, said proposed North-South talks in late March would cover key agenda topics and other details of the pending summit between Moon and Kim.

If North Korea agrees to the talks, they would offer an opportunity for Pyongyang to break its silence on what Seoul says is Kim's desire to meet Trump and Moon and his willingness to freeze his country's nuclear and missile programs.

"We've decided to narrow down the agenda topics to denuclearising the Korean peninsula, securing permanent peace to ease military tension and new, bold ways to take inter-Korean relations forward," Im, the head of South Korea's summit preparation team, told reporters.

Im said Moon may meet Trump after an inter-Korean summit but before Trump's planned summit with Kim in May.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency said Moon pledged in the call with Trump to cooperate closely with Washington on summit diplomacy. Trump asked South Korean officials to show flexibility in trade negotiations with the United States in the call, the South Korean presidency said.

Story continues

Even amid North Korea tensions, Trump has repeatedly denounced a U.S. free trade deal with ally South Korea as "unfair" and threatened many times to scrap it.

Senior South Korean officials met Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang this month and told Washington the North Korean leader was open to giving up his nuclear weapons if North Korea's security was guaranteed.

Trump responded with a surprise announcement that he was willing to meet Kim in a bid to resolve the crisis over North Korea's development of nuclear missiles capable of hitting the United States.

TALKS IN SWEDEN

North Korea's state media has yet to comment on the content of Kim's meeting with the South Koreans, but North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho arrived in Sweden this week for talks with his Swedish counterpart Margot Wallstrom, prompting speculation he could lay the groundwork for a Trump-Kim summit.

Wallstrom's press secretary Pezhman Fivrin said the talks, which had been due to end late on Friday, would continue on Saturday. He declined to give further information.

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven told a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Friday that Sweden, whose embassy represents U.S. interests in Pyongyang, was ready to act as a facilitator to help resolve tensions.

South Korea's Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha was in Washington on Friday for talks on North Korea and trade, as was Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono, who met U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan in the morning.

The U.S. State Department said the two sides called the announcement of a meeting between Trump and Kim a "historic opportunity," while stressing that the U.S.-led campaign to press North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons through sanctions must continue until Pyongyang "takes credible, verifiable, and concrete steps toward decentralization."

Kang held talks later on Friday with Sullivan, who is standing in after Trump fired Rex Tillerson as U.S. secretary of state this week. It was not known whether the two Asian ministers would meet CIA Director Mike Pompeo, who Trump has tapped to replace Tillerson.

Kang told PBS NewsHour she was "cautiously optimistic" decentralization talks would happen between the United States and North Korea and that these would lead to "a breakthrough for a peaceful resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue."

She stressed though that full decentralization would "take a long while because the (North Korean nuclear) program is very advanced."

The Japanese and South Korean ministers were expected to meet in Washington on Saturday.

In a phone call with South Korean President Moon on Friday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed a wish for talks with North Korea following Pyongyang's planned summits with South Korea and the United States, South Korea's presidential spokesman, Kim Eui-kyeom said.

On Thursday, the head of the U.S. Pacific Command, Admiral Harry Harris, cautioned the United States could not be overly optimistic about the outcome of any summit between Trump and Kim and must go into it with "eyes wide open".

A report on Friday by intelligence analysts at Jane's by IHS Markit said satellite imagery from Feb. 25 showed gas emissions at the North's experimental light water reactor, suggesting preliminary testing had likely begun.

The reactor could be used to produce weapons-grade plutonium, but North Korea is believed to already have enough fissile material for multiple nuclear bombs, according to Joshua Pollack, a senior research associate at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.

An official at South Korea's defence ministry said authorities were aware of the Jane's report, which follows a similar one on the 38 North website this month that said a nearby reactor had also continued to show signs of operation.

The U.S. State Department declined to comment on the Jane's report, calling it an intelligence issue.

(Reporting by Christine Kim and Josh Smith in Seoul, Lesley Wroughton, David Brunnstrom and Steve Holland in Washington and Simon Johnson in Stockholm; Writing by David Brunnstrom; Editing by Mary Milliken and James Dalgleish)Viet Nams securities market has a 25 per cent chance of being upgraded to the emerging market status from its current frontier market level by 2021.  Photo ndh.vn

HA NOI  Viet Nam s securities market has a 25 per cent chance of being upgraded to the emerging market status from its current frontier market level by 2021, according to Vo Tri Thanh, senior economist at the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM).

The market status levels are regulated by Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI), the US independent provider of research-driven insights and tools for institutional investors. A review of any particular stock market and its reclassification carried out by MSCI would increase the attractiveness of that market to global investors.

However, Thanh said there were three factors that would make it difficult for Viet Nam to get upgraded by 2021 as expected by market analysts, investors and regulators.

The challenges that Viet Nam has encountered so far are information disclosure or corporate and market transparency, openness to foreign investors and capital, and opening the capital and financial market to the private sector, he said.

While information disclosure is quite costly for both market regulators and traded firms, the two others would require the Government and its agencies to make stronger efforts to make trading standards more accessible for foreign investors, according to Thanh.

Information disclosure has remained an obstacle for foreign investors if they want to make investment in Vietnamese companies as many companies have hesitated to make their business more transparent for highly-costly interpretation of financial and corporate reports.

In addition, foreign investors are allowed to own up to 100 per cent of a Vietnamese company if that firm does not operate in the sectors involved in national security and safety such as banking, property and transportation.

In such cases, foreign investors can have a maximum of 49 per cent ownership in the business. For commercial banks, the foreign ownership is limited at 30 per cent.

Thanh delivered his cautious outlook for the Vietnamese securities market at a seminar held on Wednesday by the US Embassys American Centre and the Vietnam Executive MBA Programme in Ha Noi of the University of Hawaii (VEMBA Programme) .

Can Van Luc, chief economist at the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV), said "even if Viet Nam is determined to get approval from MSCI on promoting the status of its securities market, it will be quite challenging".

He said Viet Nam would have to be admitted onto MSCIs watchlist for a market reclassification, which is expected to occur in 2019. Then it would take the Vietnamese securities market at least two more years to become an emerging market as regulated by MSCI.

An upgrade of the Vietnamese securities markets status will attract more foreign capital, encourage local firms to make their business more transparent and motivate market regulators to standardise the markets trading regulations, he said.

"It also would prove that the Vietnamese securities market is among the most attractive in the world and encourage the Government to improve the economys investment and business conditions," Luc said.

Positive 2018 ahead

Viet Nam s economy in general and its securities market in particular are showing positive signs and higher achievements are reachable in 2018.

Chief economist Luc at BIDV forecast the benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange would advance 30-40 per cent this year with trading liquidity rising 20-25 per cent and foreign capital increasing by approximately 30 per cent.

"More products will be launched this year, including covered warrants and other futures for the derivatives market," he said, adding other changes for the securities market are the revision of the Securities Law and the possible merger of the two local exchanges.

"Such potential achievements are supported by the prospective growth of the Vietnamese macroeconomic conditions," he said.

Viet Nam s gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate in 2017 was 6.8 per cent and it is forecast to reach 7 per cent at the end of this year, boosted by good performances in industrial production, exports and consumption, according to Luc.

Both direct and indirect foreign investment will also play an important role in boosting the Vietnamese economy, he said, adding that efforts will be made by the Government to improve the business and investment climate, and local companies will benefit from the recently-signed Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).  VNSFormer White House strategist Steve Bannon says he doesnt deny anything attributed to him in Michael Wolffs controversial bestseller Fire and Fury.

The book is what it is. The reader is the judge of what they read, Bannon told French media the day after a conference for the countrys far-right National Front party.

The comments appeared Wednesday in the right-wing French media outlet Valeurs Actuelles, and were first reported in English by BuzzFeed.

Bannon said then-White House communications director Hope Hicks allowed Wolff to have total access, BuzzFeed reported.

The book, having been authorized, I dont deny any of the content, Bannon said, according to a HuffPost translation of the remarks. He pointed out that not one person inside the White House had refuted anything that was in the book.

Here are some of the more outrageous Bannon quotes in Fire and Fury:

After a perceived win against Ivanka Trump over the Paris climate agreement, Bannon declared, The bitch is dead.

He called Donald Trump Jr.s meeting with Russian operatives treasonous, and suggested Trump himself had also met with foreign agents that same day.

He suggested Trump might end up getting impeached.

Bannons current stance is a far cry from statements he made in early January, when he backpedaled on many of his quotes in the book and heaped praise on Trump Jr. in a post for Axios, calling him both a patriot and a good man.

However, Bannon did tell the French outlet that he never called Trump Jr. treasonous  he said that comment was a reference to former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort.

Also on HuffPost

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.Steve Kerrs got his groove back. (Screenshot via Twitter)

Video of Steve Kerr boogieing down at Steph Currys 30th birthday party on Monday was both comforting and uncomfortable. On one hand, its great to see him moving with so much verve after spending the last two years battling nausea and debilitating back pain.

On the other, the convulsions his body made while Migos blared on the speakers induced the type of wincing typically associated with witnessing your dad performing dance moves he saw on TRL 15 years ago.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

On Friday before the Golden State Warriors faced off against the Sacramento Kings, Kerr was in good spirits despite the unfortunate results of Durants MRI, and was asked about what inspired his moves.

They were fueled by a good friend of mine named Mr. Heineken. Mr. Heineken taught me those moves.

You cant blame the guy for cuttin loose. Defending a title is difficult enough. Facing an unpredictable future with Draymond Green as their go-to player on the floor while Durant, Klay Thompson and Steph Curry nurse nagging injuries down the stretch run is going to be mighty stressful experience.





More from Yahoo Sports:

 After upset of Arizona, Obama gets called out

 ESPN announcer: Monday Night Football wasnt fun

 Texas Techs ferocious 360 alley-oop dunk was just silly

 Ex-UConn QBs gambling led to Trump dismissal



      

DJ Dunson is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at dunsnchecksin@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or Facebook.A Marine and friend shopping at a farmers market. (Photo: Getty Images)

Members of the military, veterans, and their family members will be able to scoop up deals at a private early opening Saturday, March 24, at more than 100 Costco stores nationwide, and you dont have to be a store member.

The normally membership-only stores are honoring those who have served with an exclusive shopping Military Hour event that will include a private early opening, food samples, and freebies. The first 100 people at each store will receive a special goodie bag, according to a release.

Although vets and service members do not have to be a Costco member to attend, a membership is required to purchase anything from the store. A special military membership is also being offered online.

The store announced the event on its Facebook page and is answering further questions as well as getting some nice compliments from vets and families for hosting the event.



This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

People who wish to attend the event must RSVP online and show their military ID before entering the store.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.A video grab shows North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho and his delegation arrive at the airport in Stockholm - AFP

North Koreas foreign minister has travelled to Sweden for talks, giving rise to speculation that the Scandinavian country could play host to the unprecedented summit between US President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un.

Sweden, which has an embassy in Pyongyang, has frequently been used as a communication channel between the US and North Korea. It has been cited along with Geneva, and the Demilitarised Zone on the North and South Korean border as a possible location for the historic meeting.

But Ri Yong-hos two-day trip and meeting with his Swedish counterpart, Margot Wallstrom, has also generated reports of negotiations on the possible release of three Americans detained in North Korea  Kim Dong-chul, Tony Kim and Kim Hak-song.

Sweden was the first Western European nation to establish diplomatic relations with the North in 1973, and its embassy performs consular services for the US, Australia and Canada, who have no representation there.

Last year it played a crucial role in the release of Canadian pastor Hyeon Soo Lim and US student Otto Warmbier, who had entered a coma and died shortly after returning to his family.

North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho and his delegation arrive to the Swedish Foreign Ministry Credit: Reuters

Mr Ris visit to Stockholm, accompanied by Choe Kang-il, a senior official in charge of American affairs, has been the first sign of diplomatic movement on the North Korean side since President Trump stunned the world last week by immediately agreeing to Kim Jong-uns invitation to meet.

In Washington, the state department insisted on Thursday that it was pushing ahead with preparations for the summit, the first ever between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader, despite the regimes ongoing silence on Mr Trumps offer.

Asked if the US had received a direct message from the North, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said: Not that I am aware of. I do not believe that to be the case, reported Yonhap.

Seoul, which has been driving the progress towards talks, is also in the throes of preparation. This week it dispatched Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha to Washington for three days to shore up support among congressional leaders.

Story continues

Ms Kang briefed senior legislators on the recent trip to Pyongyang by South Korean envoys, which led to the diplomatic breakthrough of Kim Jong-un agreeing to talk to both South Koreas President Moon Jae-in and the US.

South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha sits with South Korean Ambassador to the United States Ahn Ho-young prior to a meeting with the House Committee on Foreign Affairs in Washington Credit: Reuters

She is also scheduled to meet deputy secretary of state John Sullivan to thrash out details for the planned summits.

Back in Seoul, President Moon has launched a committee, headed by his chief of staff, Im Jong-seok, to lay the ground for his own one-on-one meeting with Mr Kim at the end of April.

On Friday, a presidential official told reporters that Mr Moons summit with Mr Kim would likely be a one-day affair.

The summit, only the third between the leaders of the North and South since the Korean war of the early 1950s, will be held in the tense border village of Panmunjom, which has few facilities.

But despite the Washingtons united diplomatic front with Seoul in dealing with Pyongyang, tensions remain between the two allies over trade after the US president last year threatened to scrap their bilateral trade pact.

On Wednesday, Mr Trump appeared to hint at withdrawing US troops stationed in South Korea if Seoul failed to address its trade deficit with Washington.

We have a very big trade with them, and we protect them, Mr Trump said in an audio recording obtained by the Washington Post.

We lose money on trade, and we lose money on the military. We have right now 32,000 soldiers on the border between North and South Korea. Lets see what happens.

But Admiral Harry Harris, the chief of the US Pacific Command, later cautioned that pulling troops out would be counterproductive.

I believe he [Kim Jong-un] would do a victory dance, he told the Senate Armed Services Committee. I think hed be a happy man if we abrogated our alliance with South Korea.Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president and CEO of the NRA. Trump said the NRA are 'great people': Scott Olson/Getty Images

A Republican politician argued teachers should not be armed in the wake of the Florida high school shooting - because most of them are women.

Alabama state representative Harry Shiver claimed that women "are scared of guns" and don't want to learn how to shoot.

Mr Shiver told AL.com he would probably abstain from voting on a bill that would allow trained teachers to carry guns on school campuses.

"I'm not saying all [teachers are women], but in most schools, women are (the majority) of the teachers," he said.

"Some of them just don't want to (be trained to possess firearms). If they want to, then that's good. But most of them don't want to learn how to shoot like that and carry a gun.

"Most women wouldn't like to be put in that position. I know from South Alabama, they wouldn't."

Mr Shiver added: "I want to protect our ladies and I think the best way to protect them is to go against this bill."

Three quarters of public school teachers in America are women. It is estimated that 22 per cent of American women own guns.

The US President said he was considering proposals to arm teachers after 14 students and three members of staff were shot dead at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Survivors of the massacre oppose any plan to give teachers guns and have called for stricter firearm controls.

Florida Governor Rick Scott has signed a bill allowing some teachers to carry guns and raising the minimum age for rifle purchases from 18 to 21.

Earlier this week it was reported that a teacher accidentally fired a semi-automatic weapon at the ceiling, injuring three children.Rex Tillerson was on the toilet when told he was being dumped as secretary of state by President Donald Trump, the Daily Beast reported.

Three sources told the site that during an off-record briefing Friday, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly told reporters that Tillerson was on the toilet suffering a stomach bug when he told him he would be sacked.

GettyImages-923509930 Rex Tillerson

OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP/Getty Images

Trending: Jessica Jones Season 2 Cliffhangers And Season 3 Predictions

According to the website Kelly, who is also rumored to be on the chopping block, told the reporters the conversation was acutely awkward because of the context.

Tillerson had returned from a diplomatic trip to North Africa where he had contracted a stomach illness. The following day, Trump tweeted that he was replacing Tillerson with CIA Director Mike Pompeo.

Sources told the Daily Beast they were stunned that Kelly would divulge the information even in an off-the-record briefing.

Don't miss: Florida Bridge Collapse: University Officials Said They Were Aware Of Crack in Bridge

Conflicting reports have emerged on the context of Tillerson's firing, with one State Department official telling CNN that Tillerson found out about the sacking from a tweet by the president, and was caught unaware by the announcement.

Tillerson will remain at the helm at the State Department until he is replaced at the end of the month.

During Fridays freewheeling briefing Kelly also acknowledge that President Trump may be talking to people outside the White House who are passing on information to reporters about staffing chaos, Axios reported.

Most popular: Threat of Far-Right Terrorism Is Being Ignored by the Media, Analysts Suggest

Kelly went on to say that Larry Kudlows past cocaine habit wouldnt be a problem for his security clearance, joking that the 1990s were a crazy time.

Story continues

He also denied rumors that national security adviser H.R. McMaster would be sacked, defended embattled Attorney General Jeff Sessions, as well as housing secretary Ben Carson, who is under pressure after reports emerged that he spent $31,000 on a furniture set.

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from NewsweekU.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin attends the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., January 11, 2018. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

Thomson Reuters

Apple had a high profile visitor on Friday  United States Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

Mnuchin announced the visit in a tweet Friday afternoon that included a picture of him with company CEO Tim Cook inside the iPhone maker's new headquarters in Cupertino, California. In the tweet, Mnuchin thanked Cook for Apple's "commitment" to invest in the United States.

"Glad to visit @Apple HQ with @tim_cook. Thank you for your commitment to invest 350B in USA! #TaxCutsJobsAct," said the tweet.

Tweet Embed:

//twitter.com/mims/statuses/974759628214071297?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Glad to visit @Apple HQ with @tim_cook. Thank you for your commitment to invest 350B in USA! #TaxCutsJobsAct pic.twitter.com/TasRA55smG

Representatives for Apple and the Treasury Department did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment. It wasn't clear if Mnuchin planned to visit other Silicon Valley companies while in the area, or the topic of conversation between the two.

Mnuchin's tweet refers to Apple's statement in January that it plans to spend $350 billion over the next five years. Although Mnuchin tied that commitment to the recent tax act, Apple made clear in its statement that much of that investment was already planned even before that law was passed.

Still, Apple, with hundreds of billions of dollars in overseas cash, was one of the primary beneficiaries of the new law, which reduced the tax rates companies would have to pay on their foreign stashes.

Mnuchin is a controversial figure in California. In 2008, he purchased a bank later renamed OneWest Bank, which under his leadership foreclosed on tens of thousands of homeowners. Many of those foreclosures were reportedly undertaken without following the proper procedures or paperwork.

The treasury secretary has also been controversial because of a photograph he and his wife took that showed them holding sheets of freshly printed dollar bills. To many observers, the two appeared like villains or criminals, and the photograph quickly went viral.

Story continues

NOW WATCH: How the super-wealthy hide billions using tax havens and shell companies

See Also:

SEE ALSO: Apple is now free to bring home its overseas cash  here's what it might do with itTripp Halstead, the 7-year-old boy who inspired millions when he survived a serious brain injury after being struck by a falling tree branch five years ago, has died.

His family confirmed the young boy passed away after he was taken to hospital suffering from breathing problems. Doctors believe he may have been suffering from pneumonia or mucus in the lungs.

Tripps mother, Stacey Halstead, wrote on Facebook: There are no words to express how Bill [Tripps father] and I are feeling at this moment.

Trending: Ancient Tools Discovered In New Excavation Shed Light On Human Behavior

We are beyond devastated and honestly I believe I am in shock. Our amazing, perfect, beautiful miracle of a son, Tripp Hughes Halstead passed away at 5:47p.m. today. He was our whole world. 

12472507_1090960480982170_108499596814478037_n

Facebook/Tripp Halstead Updates

In October 2012, Tripp was stuck on the head by a falling tree branch in a freak accident while he was at day care in Winder, Georgia.

Doctors at the time feared Tripp would not recover from his injuries, with the toddler spending weeks in a coma and several more months recovering in hospital before finally being allowed to go home.

Don't miss: FEMA Removes Climate Change References from Four-Year Strategic Plan

Over the next few years, the Halstead family posted updates on the boy's recovery virtually every day on social media, with the Facebook page dedicated to the ups and downs of his progress attracting more than 1.3 million likes.

Tripp became somewhat of a celebrity as a result of the sheer amount of people wishing for him to make a full recovery, with local news channels regularly asking the family to appear in front of cameras for updates on his situation.

In one Facebook post from March 15, Stacey Halstead wrote how Tripp was in more difficulty than usual when trying to get ready for school.

I went to wake Tripp up for school this morning and he was having labored breathing, she wrote. I could see his little chest going up and down and his heart rate was high. We already had oxygen on because it helps him sleep better at night so no alarms had gone off.

Story continues

Most popular: Worlds First Flu Vaccine Pill May Be Right Around the Corner

As I was driving to the pediatricians office, I could tell Tripp was getting worse and I wasnt sure I had enough oxygen in the tank I brought to make it to Atlanta especially in heavy traffic so we took a detour to Athens ER.

Halstead said that the doctors thought he could be suffering from pneumonia or a mucus plug and recommended he undergo a bronchial washing, a procedure also known as lung washing.

Anyway, not sure whats going to happen but I just feel 10000% better knowing hes in good hands at the hospital, she added.

Unfortunately, a follow up post around 10 hours later confirmed the Tripp had died.

His little body was just done fighting this last infection, a statement from Bill and Stacy Halstead confirmed. His little heart gave out. This winter was brutal for him. Im just so thankful he had the best summer ever. Jet skis, Disney World, the list is endless and thats when we got those amazing huge smiles.

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from NewsweekHA NOI  The central highland province of Kon Tum will call for investments during the forthcoming investment promotion conference to be held here on April 22.

Deputy director of Kon Tum Department of Planning and Investment Nguyen inh Bac told baodautu.vn that his province would advertise its potential to domestic and foreign investors while encouraging them to pump investments in a wide range of sectors, including hi-tech farming, urban infrastructure, and the pharmaceutical and tourism sectors.

Earlier, the provincial Peoples Committee published a list of 108 projects, calling for investments until 2020 at a total investment capital of VN84.73 trillion (US$3.71 billion).

Some 27 projects are involved in the agro-forestry sector, 26 in the industry sector and 34 to specialise in trade, services and tourism sectors, besides the 21 in urban infrastructure development.

Among the projects is a 1,000-ha Ngoc Linh ginseng growing project, expected to cost VN2trillion, in Tu Mo Rong District; a 200-ha hi-tech farm, worth VN400 billion, in Kon Tum City, and the Tan Canh solar plant, valued at VN2.3 trillion, in ak To District.

Others include the infrastructure development of Bo Y Industrial Zone, capitalised at VN7.9 trillion, and a VN-1 trillion urban and tourism complex, covering 380ha in Kon Tum City, and the ong Bac urban area, expected to cost VN3 trillion.

As of February 2018, the province has lured only eight foreign-invested projects, worth $82.3 million, ranking 55th among 64 localities nation-wide, the latest report from the Ministry of Planning and Investments Foreign Investment Agency revealed.

Local authorities have vowed to take measures to remove barriers against investors, in line with the government guidelines. -VNSPresident Donald Trump sits between Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin (L) and Boeing Chairman and CEO Dennis Muilenburg (R) during a round table at Boeing in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. March 14, 2018. Trump griped to donors in the state about a made-up bowling ball test Japan imposes on U.S. cars.

President Donald Trumphad people scratching their heads when he referred  with obvious annoyance  to an unpassable bowling ball test that Japan uses to justify excluding American cars from the market.

Trump insisted to donors in Missouri on Wednesday that a U.S. automaker had spent a fortune building a super car to beat Japanese regulatory tests  but was pounded in the bowling ball test, according to anaudiotape of his talkobtained by NBC News and The Washington Post.

Its horrible the way they treat us. Its horrible, the angry president griped.

The test, he said, involves dropping a bowling ball from 20 feet up in the air onto the hood of a car. If the hood dents, then the car doesnt qualify, he said. Well, guess what, the roof dented a little bit, and they said, nope, this car doesnt qualify.

There is no such regulatory test. The best guess on what Trump was talking about?

The Post speculated it was likely linked to a goofy Nissan ad showingbowling balls bouncing wildly down a street. The balls smash several parked cars. Only a Nissan cruises by unscathed ... urban proof.

When a smiling reporter who covered the Japanese auto industry for 25 years told White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders that no one has any idea what the president was talking about, she said Trump clearly was joking.

Obviously, hes joking about this particular test, Sanders said. Trumps reference illustrates the creative ways countries keep American goods out of their markets, she said.

The donor talk in Missouri was the same place where Trump boasted that he dressed down Canadian Prime MinisterJustin Trudeaufor having a trade surplus with the U.S. (The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative actually reports a trade deficitwith America).

I didnt even know, Trump told his audience. I had no idea.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.Big Tobacco is getting an unprecedented challenge from the Trump administration.

For the first time, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has proposed slashing nicotine  you know, that highly addictive ingredient in cigarettes  to negligible, nearly non-addictive levels. FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, whom President Trump nominated to the powerful post in 2017, announced on Thursday the start of regulatory actions he said would decrease smoking rates in the U.S. from 15 percent to 1.4 percent.

Gottlieb said previous efforts to curb smoking, though "aggressive," still result in 480,000 American deaths each year.

"In fact, cigarettes are the only legal consumer product that, when used as intended, will kill half of all long-term users," Gottlieb said in a statement.

It's a move tobacco companies will almost certainly fight, but one that public health experts believe is far overdue.

"Cigarettes have no place in society any longer," said Desmond Jenson, a senior law attorney at the Public Law Health Center, in an interview.

"If cigarettes were invented today, no country in the world would allow them to be sold."

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

The FDA, however, is still a ways away from actually ordering tobacco companies to dramatically lower nicotine levels in cigarettes. They've formally issued an "advance notice of proposed rulemaking," which is an initial effort in creating actual regulatory rules.

"It's the first step of a long process that will take years," said Jenson. "While it's important, the devil is in the details."

For instance, the final rules should include other "combustable products," said Jenson, like pipe tobacco and cigars.

"If the FDA only regulates cigarettes, the potential benefit of the rule would be diminished by some other people switching to other combustable products," he explained.

Following Gottlieb's announcement, the New England Journal of Medicine promptly published a public health report estimating the future societal effects from cutting nicotine levels in cigarettes. If nicotine levels remained as they are, researchers estimated that by 2100 around eight percent of the adult U.S. population would still smoke cigarettes, as other intervention programs and educational efforts would gradually lower the number of projected smokers.

Story continues

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

But if the FDA nicotine rules were enacted, the researchers found smoking levels would drop to less than two percent, although they note inherent uncertainty with projecting novel smoking regulations.

"Our model indicates that enacting a regulation to lower the nicotine content of cigarettes to minimally addictive levels in the United States would lead to a substantial reduction in tobacco-related mortality, despite uncertainty about the precise magnitude of the effects on smoking behaviors," the authors wrote.

Tobacco companies will likely fight any nicotine regulation in court.

"I do not expect them to roll over and accept this regulation," said Jenson. "Obviously the industry is very huge and powerful. Their ability to fight FDA regulation has been largely successful."

For instance, in 2011 the FDA attempted to institute a graphic warning label on cigarette boxes, similar to the intentionally disgusting images of tar-coated lungs on packaging in Europe. But U.S. tobacco companies successfully fought this effort in court. They cited, broadly, that such graphics impeded their First Amendment rights to communicate with their customers, said Jenson.

In 2006, a U.S. District Court judge found that U.S. tobacco companies had executed "a massive 50-year scheme to defraud the public" about the health effects of cigarettes.

"It has known the truth and has lied for decades," said Jenson. "That is the industry we're dealing with."The personal lawyer for President Donald Trump has called for the FBI probe into Russias interference in the 2016 presidential election to end, one day after Trump fired the deputy director of the FBI.

Lawyer John Dowd said Saturday morning that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein should shut down special counsel Robert Muellers investigation, The Daily Beast reports.

The lawyer also cited a Saturday morning tweet by Trump that applauded his Friday decision to fire Andrew McCabe, the former deputy director of the FBI. McCabe, a lifelong Republican, served with the FBI for 21 years. He was less than two days from his retirement, which would have guaranteed him a government pension.

I pray that Acting Attorney General Rosenstein will follow the brilliant and courageous example of the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility and Attorney General Jeff Sessions and bring an end to alleged Russia Collusion investigation manufactured by McCabes boss James Comey based upon a fraudulent and corrupt Dossier, Dowd told the The Daily Beast in an email.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

Dowds new statement basically confirms McCabes statement from last night: that McCabes 11th hour termination from the FBI was directly tied to the Russia investigation, for which McCabe is a crucial witness, Jens Ohlin, a vice dean at Cornell Law School and an expert on criminal law, told Business Insider.

The email Dowd sent to The Daily Beast also included a line from the play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

Whats that smell in this room[Bureau}? Dowd wrote. Didnt you notice it, Brick [Jim]? Didnt you notice a powerful and obnoxious odor of mendacity in this room[Bureau}?... There aint nothin more powerful than the odor of mendacity[corruption]... You can smell it. It smells like death.

Dowd first told The Daily Beast he was speaking on behalf of Trumps counsel, but later walked it back, saying in an email that he was only speaking for himself.

The New York Times also reported Saturday that Dowd made his remarks around the same time Mueller sent Trumps legal team a list of questions as part of negotiations for an interview with the president.

Story continues

Mueller intends to ask follow-up questions during an interview, but offered the initial questions as a step towards talks with Trump, sources told the Times.

Should Mueller be fired, activist groups have planned large-scale protests that would take place across the country.

Later Saturday, Trump lashed out on Twitter about the probe, saying there was no collusion and there was no crime.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

In a statement after his firing, McCabe didnt hold back:

Here is the reality: I am being singled out and treated this way because of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of James Comey, McCabe said.

Following the firing of McCabe, former CIA chief John Brennan said Trump would be remembered in history as a disgraced demagogue.

You may scapegoat Andy McCabe, Brennan added. But you will not destroy America America will triumph over you.

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.The White House is trying to downplay mounting speculation Donald Trump is set to fire his national security adviser - a move that would mark just the latest in a series of oustings and departures at the highest ranks of his administration.

For several days, there have been reports Mr Trump was considering getting rid of former general HR McMaster, who has served as national security adviser after his predecessor, Micheal Flynn, was forced to resign just days into the job in February 2017. There were also reports Mr Trump might fire his Chief of Staff, John Kelly.

On Thursday night, the Washington Post said Mr Trump had made up his mind to get rid of Mr McMaster but that the move would not happen immediately. Other reports said Mr Kelly had been told his job was safe.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

Hours afterwards, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, claimed reports about Mr McMasters imminent demise were wrong. Just spoke to @POTUS and Gen HR McMaster - contrary to reports they have a good working relationship and there are no changes at the NSC, she said on Twitter.

On Friday, speculation mounted about possible moves being afoot as Mr Trump held a lunch with Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis, and Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen.

Ms Sanders told reporters in Washington that Mr Kelly told aides earlier in the day there were no immediate personnel changes at this time and that people shouldn't be concerned.

She added: We should do exactly what we do every day and that's come to work and do the very best job we can.

If the President were to fire the 55-year-old former army general, it would be the latest shake-up involving some of the highest figures within the Trump administration. On Tuesday, Mr Trump fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and the President signalled in recent days that the changes at the top of his government were not over.

Im really at a point where were getting very close to having the cabinet and other things that I want, Mr Trump told reporters after firing Mr Tillerson and replacing him with CIA Director Mike Pompeo.

Story continues

Along with Mr Tillerson, Steve Bannon, Sally Yates and John McEntee, a personal aide to the President, have been fired. A much longer list of people, one that includes Sean Spicer, Andrew McCabe, Hope Hicks, Dina Powell, Gary Cohn and KT McFarland, resigned from the administration, as it appeared to swing from one crisis to the next.

Citing five people with knowledge of the plans, the Post said Mr Trump was considering several possible replacements for Mr McMaster, including former US Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, and Keith Kellogg, the Chief of Staff of the National Security Council.

The newspaper said Mr Trump was willing to take his time making the changes to avoid humiliating Mr McMaster and carefully choose a strong replacement.

It added that Mr Trump never personally gelled with Mr McMaster and the President recently told Mr Kelly that he wanted him replaced. It said he believed Mr McMaster was too rigid and that his briefings took too long and seemed irrelevant.By Amanda Becker WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats and other Trump administration critics on Saturday attacked the firing of No. 2 FBI official Andrew McCabe as a politically motivated and vindictive move, while some Republicans praised U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions for decisive action. Sessions fired McCabe late on Friday, just two days before the FBI official would have been eligible to retire with a full pension, saying an internal Justice Department watchdog found he leaked information and misled investigators. McCabe, who played a key role in the FBI probes of Hillary Clinton and Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election, said he believed he was fired for corroborating former FBI Director James Comey's claim that President Donald Trump had tried to pressure Comey into killing the Russian investigation. Trump described McCabe's firing as a "great day" in a post on Twitter on Friday, prompting a scathing response from John Brennan, a former head of the Central Intelligence Agency during the Obama administration. "When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history," Brennan wrote on Saturday. Senator Ben Cardin, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on MSNBC that McCabe's dismissal was "very vindictive." "It also is a reflection on the administration's disdain for the FBI itself. I just think this is outrageous. The Department of Justice, the FBI, should be independent and this type of political behavior should be unacceptable," Cardin said. Democratic Senator Kamala Harris, who serves on the judiciary and intelligence committees, called on Sessions to testify before Congress to determine whether McCabe's firing was a retaliation against those investigating Russian election interference and Moscow's alleged ties to Trump's campaign. Republican Representative Bob Goodlatte, who heads the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, said in a statement on Saturday that McCabe's actions had "tarnished" the FBI's reputation. "I applaud Attorney General Jeff Sessions for taking action and firing former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe prior to his scheduled retirement," Goodlatte said. Comey has testified that he believes his own firing by Trump in May was a move to undermine the FBI's investigation of possible collusion between the Russians and Trump campaign officials. Trump has denied such ties. After Comey's ouster, Trump said in a televised interview that he fired him over "this Russia thing." Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein tapped Special Counsel Robert Mueller to lead the Russia probe after Sessions recused himself from the investigation due to his role in Trump's campaign. Trump's personal lawyer, John Dowd, said in a statement on Saturday that Rosenstein should follow the "brilliant and courageous example" set by Sessions' firing of McCabe, urging him to "bring an end to alleged Russia Collusion investigation manufactured by McCabe's boss James Comey." (Additional reporting by Karen Freifeld, Daniel Wallis and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Paul Simao)Washington (AFP) - Donald Trump slammed the FBI as he hailed the firing of a veteran Bureau agent as a "great day for democracy," a move his attorney said he hoped would bring an end to a probe into alleged collusion between the president's campaign and Russia.

Critics described the axing of Andrew McCabe -- the deputy of former FBI director James Comey -- as a "dangerous" ploy to discredit the top US law enforcement agency as well as the work of Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating Russian influence in the 2016 election.

McCabe is a potential key witness in the Russia probe.

Trump on Saturday via Twitter blasted the alleged "tremendous leaking, lying and corruption at the highest levels of the FBI, Justice & State."

He also reiterated long-running criticism of the Mueller investigation, terming it a "witch hunt" and saying that it "should never have been started in that there was no collusion and there was no crime."

- McCabe job offer -

Earlier, Trump's personal attorney, John Dowd, told the Daily Beast that he hoped Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein would follow the lead of the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility and "bring an end to alleged Russia Collusion investigation manufactured by McCabe's boss James Comey based upon a fraudulent and corrupt Dossier."

Dowd told the Daily Beast he was speaking for the president. But in a subsequent statement he said he had been "speaking for myself, not the president."

McCabe, who has endured a year of withering attacks from Trump, was fired by the Justice Department late Friday, just two days before he was to retire after 21 years with the FBI.

Critics say the firing is a step in Trump's plan to engineer Mueller's dismissal, potentially sparking a constitutional crisis.

Mueller is also examining whether Trump might have obstructed justice, including by firing Comey last May.

Story continues

One Democratic lawmaker, Mark Pocan of Wisconsin, announced Saturday that he offered McCabe a job in his office so he can complete the time necessary to retire with full federal benefits.

"My offer of employment to Mr. McCabe is a legitimate offer to work on election security," Pocan said in a statement.

McCabe spokeswoman Melissa Schwartz was non-committal. "We are considering all options," she told the Washington Post.

- 'War' on the FBI -

"Andrew McCabe FIRED, a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI - A great day for Democracy," Trump tweeted soon after the firing.

McCabe denied any impropriety and said he was the victim of a Trump administration "war" against the FBI and the special counsel.

McCabe kept memos of his interactions with Trump, US media reported Saturday, adding that the documents could bolster his version of events.

Comey pushed back as well. "Mr President, the American people will hear my story very soon. And they can judge for themselves who is honorable and who is not," he tweeted.

The Justice Department said an internal investigation had found that McCabe made unauthorized disclosures to the media, and had not been fully honest "on multiple occasions" with the department's inspector general.

"The FBI expects every employee to adhere to the highest standards of honesty, integrity and accountability," Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement.

Lack of candor under oath is a firing offense at the FBI, but the politically-charged context of the move raised questions among McCabe's backers.

Former CIA chief John Brennan lost his patience with Trump. "When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history," he tweeted.

- 'Not political appointees' -

Trump, in an early afternoon tweet, belittled the media for its coverage of the story, saying: "The Fake News is beside themselves that McCabe was caught, called out and fired..."

In a second tweet he again denied any collusion with Russia.

Details of the inspector general's probe were not made public, but it involved the FBI's handling of the 2016 investigation into Trump's election rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Trump has repeatedly accused McCabe and Comey of protecting Clinton from prosecution, including over her misuse of a private email server while she was secretary of state.

The inspector general's probe was "part of an unprecedented effort by the administration, driven by the president himself, to remove me from my position, destroy my reputation, and possibly strip me of a pension that I worked 21 years to earn," McCabe said in a statement.

"It is part of this administration's ongoing war with the FBI and the efforts of the special counsel investigation."

But one law professor defended the Justice Department's investigators.

"These are not political appointees," Jonathan Turley of George Washington University told CNN.

"They clearly concluded that McCabe misled them -- and that he misled them on one of the core issues they were investigating."

The White House has shown mounting frustration with the collusion probe, as it focuses ever more closely on the president's inner circle.George Beebe

Politics, Europe

Members of the emergency services wearing protective clothing work near the bench where former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found poisoned in Salisbury

We can support our ally in a low-key manner and quietly carry a big stick, while looking patiently for information that will help determine what really happened with Skripal.

Here Is What Trump Should Do about the Poisoning of a Former Russian Spy

Dear Mr. President,

Theresa May is right. Her speech in Parliament cited two possible explanations for the attempted poisoning of Sergey Skripal, an obscure former Russian military intelligence officer convicted of spying for the British and exchanged for captured Russian agents nearly a decade ago:

Either this is a direct attack by the Russian State against our country. Or the Russian government lost control of this potentially catastrophically damaging nerve agent and allowed it to get into the hands of others.

Both explanations have serious implications for the security of our country and our allies. But each requires a much different response. We need to weigh the alternatives carefully, because the wrong choice will exacerbate rather than mitigate the dangers we face.

The court of public opinion both here and in the United Kingdom has already convicted Vladimir Putin of ordering the attack. Three factors are driving the rush to closure. First, a disturbingly large number of Putins opponents have been killed, including opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, and ex-FSB officer Aleksandr Litvinenko, who was poisoned in London with radioactive polonium in 2006. Second, the weapon of choicedubbed Novichok (newbie or novice) by the Soviet scientists who created it in the 1980sis a sophisticated military-grade nerve agent beyond the capacity of nonstate actors to develop or administer. Third, it is argued that Putin rules Russia with an iron fist. Who would dare conduct such an attack without his authorization?

Presently, we lack information that could confirm or disprove this consensus view. There are, however, some reasons for skepticism. If Putin was trying to show prospective Russian traitors that their Western handlers cannot protect them, he had much safer ways of sending that message. Why use an exotic nerve agent certain to traced to Russia by British scientists? Why compromise your future ability to protect Russias own agents in the West by so blatantly violating the spirit of the swap that led to Skripals release? And why disrupt fissiparous trends in Europe by picking an unnecessary fight with one of the continents military and economic heavyweights?

Story continues

The alternative explanation might be even more ominous: the attack was carried out by hardline Russian nationalists or agents of a third country hoping to provoke a confrontation between Moscow and the West. Although Novichok was developed in a secret Soviet military laboratory in central Russia, it was tested in what is now Uzbekistan. We cannot be certain that all samples of the weapon were destroyed, and expertise in how to develop and use the agent may extend beyond Russia to include scientists in other former Soviet republics.

Moreover, contrary to conventional wisdom, Putin is not captain of a tightly run ship. His country has long been plagued by factional infighting among political and business elites, and contrary to American perceptions, many Russians see him as too willing to make concessions to the West and not tough enough in defending Russian interests. Acknowledging that he does not control these factions would compromise Putins image of authority; claiming that he does would make him responsible for a long list of heinous actions at home and abroad. His studied ambiguity on these matters makes it difficult to tell the difference between things he has explicitly ordered, actions that he favors carried out by proxies and activities that he disapproves but finds difficult to squelch.

Ultimately, Putin is responsible for either directly ordering the attack or presiding over a Byzantine political system that often tolerates, and sometimes, encourages illicit activity. His failure to punish those behind the murders of Nemtsov, Politkovskaya and Litvinenko suggests either that he approved of those actions or lacked to power to prevent them. Still, there is no one-size-fits-all policy response to these contrasting explanations for the Skripal attack.

If Putin is deliberately escalating tensions with the West, we must ensure that he pays a high price, heeding the lessons of Munich in 1938. Bullies tend to back down when they realize they are in for a fight, while seeking compromise with an aggressor only encourages more aggression. The path to peace in such circumstances would be to show that we are prepared for war.

If Putin is guilty more of misrule than misdeeds in the Skripal affair, however, confronting him would risk doing more harm than good. The dangers of a World War Itype escalatory spiral would loom large, particularly if powerful interests in Moscow or other capitals want a showdown. The brakes on escalationarms control provisions, military transparency measures, and established relationships between senior officials in our respective governmentsare all in various states of disrepair. The best course of action in such circumstances would be private dialogue with Putin and other senior Kremlin officials to contain and manage the affair, making clear that they must identify and punish those responsible for the Skripal attack, while working through the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to investigate any third-country involvement.

In choosing the best course of action, you must weigh carefully these alternatives and have the courage to rise above ill-considered pressures from the media. Now is not the time for megaphone diplomacy. Russia is a hyper-sensitive power, quick to perceive slights and slow to forget grudges. The more public our dialogue with the Kremlin, the more difficult it will be to make progress, and the more likely the situation will be to escalate out of our control. Let Theresa May talk loudly. We can support our ally in a low-key manner and quietly carry a big stick, while looking patiently for information that will help determine what really happened with Skripal.

In this regard, your decision to move Mike Pompeo from CIA to State offers us an unusual opportunity to bridge the worlds of intelligence and diplomacy. He has already begun a sensitive dialog with the heads of Russias intelligence services about counterterror cooperation. Building on those relationships to discuss the Skripal affair could be a pragmatic first step in exploring the correct course of action.

George Beebe is Director of the Intelligence and National Security Program at the Center for the National Interest. He served as the CIAs chief of Russia analysis and as special advisor to Vice President Cheney on Russia.

Image: Reuters

Read full articlePresident Donald Trump claimed that he bluffed his way through a trade-related conversation with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, according to a report based on leaked remarks.

The Washington Post obtained audio of a speech Trump gave at a fundraising event for Missouri Senate hopeful Josh Hawley on Wednesday, in which the president said he strongly asserted to Trudeau that the U.S. runs a trade deficit with Canada, despite not knowing that to be the case.

Trump went on to say that an adviser subsequently told him he was right, if one were to factor in timber and energy.

This isnt the first time Trump has described the meeting when addressing supporters and potential donorshe rolled out the story at a rally back in December. However, on that occasion he said he told his people to go out and check his assertion, not that he was ignorant of the facts when he walked into the closed-door meeting.

Heres what Trump said this week, as reported by the Post (and yes, the president apparently did a Trudeau impression):

Trudeau came to see me. Hes a good guy, Justin. He said, No, no, we have no trade deficit with you, we have none. Donald, please. Nice guy, good-looking guy, comes inDonald, we have no trade deficit. Hes very proud because everybody else, you know, were getting killed.

 So, hes proud. I said, Wrong, Justin, you do. I didnt even know. I had no idea. I just said, Youre wrong. You know why? Because were so stupid. And I thought they were smart. I said, Youre wrong, Justin. He said, Nope, we have no trade deficit. I said, Well, in that case, I feel differently, I said, but I dont believe it. I sent one of our guys out, his guy, my guy, they went out, I said, Check, because I cant believe it.

Well, sir, youre actually right. We have no deficit, but that doesnt include energy and timber.  And when you do, we lose $17 billion a year. Its incredible.

But does the U.S. run a trade deficit with Canada? According to Trumps own trade representatives, the answer is nothe U.S. does run a deficit with Canada when it comes to goods, but its surplus in services far outweighs that, leaving an overall surplus of $12.5 billion for 2016.

Story continues

On the other hand, Canadas statisticians say its Canada that runs the surplusalthough Canada also counts goods passing through, such as Chinese imports that are then exported to the U.S., as its own exports. The U.S. sees the same goods as imports from China.

Either way, there is considerable debate among economists and trade experts as to whether trade deficits are always a bad thing.

Trump is in the process of pushing the U.S.s neighbors for better terms in a renegotiated NAFTA free trade agreement.

The best deal is to terminate it and make a new deal, Trump said.By Yara Bayoumy, Steve Holland and Warren Strobel

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Saudi, Emirati and Qatari leaders will beat a path to U.S. President Donald Trump's door in the next few weeks for back-to-back visits that are unlikely to solve a long-running dispute among America's Gulf allies.

Washington is keen to end the standoff between Qatar on one side and several other Arab nations on the other. The rift has divided the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) group of nations and hurt U.S.-led efforts to maintain a strong front against Iran.

The United States was hoping to host a U.S.-GCC summit later this year but the prospects of that happening appear slim given that the rival leaders are still at odds.

"They don't see eye to eye. They're not ready to solve this crisis," a senior administration official said, referring to the parties embroiled in the Gulf crisis.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut off travel and trade ties with Qatar last June, accusing it of backing their arch-rival Iran and supporting terrorism. Qatar denies the charges and says the boycott is an attempt to impinge on its sovereignty and rein in its support for reform.

Washington has strong alliances with the rival sides. Qatar hosts the largest U.S. air base in the region which has been crucial to its anti-Islamic State military campaign in Syria and Iraq.

At the same time, the Trump administration has forged even closer ties with Qatar's rivals, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

WASHINGTON MEETINGS

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will meet with Trump on Tuesday in Washington and the Qatar dispute is unlikely to be at the forefront of issues the young leader will want to discuss, diplomats say.

Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani then meets Trump on April 10 in the White House.

And, keen to have the last word with Trump, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed has sought to meet Trump after a scheduled meeting with the Qatari emir, the senior administration official said.

Story continues

Originally, the crown prince, sometimes known in the West as MbZ, was due to meet with Trump on March 27.

"MbZ in fact had asked Trump to be last," the senior administration official said. No new dates have yet been set.

The leaders are likely to talk to Trump about countering Iran, combating Islamist extremism, and deepening economic and military partnerships.

"There appears to be little to gain -- and a bit to lose -- in Gulf partners agreeing to another US-GCC Summit of leaders hosted by President Trump at Camp David," said a former senior U.S. official who worked on regional issues.

"They have more to gain prosecuting their independent agendas in the bilateral visits to Washington already scheduled," the former official said.

The Arab countries' boycott disrupted Qatar's imports and triggered the withdrawal of billions of dollars from Qatari banks by depositors from the four states.

Qatar, the world's top exporter of liquefied natural gas, developed new trade routes and deployed tens of billions of dollars from its massive sovereign wealth fund to protect its banks.

The UAE in particular bristles at alleged Qatari support for Islamists throughout the region.

The Trump administration is worried that the split among Sunni Muslim U.S. allies can benefit Iran in the tussle for influence in the Middle East.

So far, neither Saudi Arabia nor the UAE feel their demands have been met to resolve the dispute. At the start of the crisis, the four countries sent Doha a list of 13 demands, including closing the state-funded Al Jazeera television station and reducing ties to Iran.

While Qatar has increased its lobbying efforts in Washington, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi see the dispute as a "minor irritant" and "not an urgent problem, it's one that they can live with for a very long time, that it's not affecting U.S. interests," said Rob Malley, head of the International Crisis Group think tank.

"They want to treat it as part of the furniture and not as something that requires immediate attention," said Malley, who has met recently with Saudi officials.

An apparently contradictory approach from the White House is also complicating U.S. efforts to mediate in the dispute.

Trump at first swung decisively behind the Saudis and Emiratis, calling Qatar "a funder for terrorism". But under pressure from outgoing Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, he has since moderated his stance, calling for Gulf unity.

Qatar had grown more confident in support from Washington, which recently hosted joint high-level talks.

A senior U.S. official with knowledge of the U.S. mediation effort said there was still some willingness among the Gulf allies to begin a dialogue.

"Theyre beginning to realize that this only plays into the hands of the Iranians, Syrians and Russians and its time to figure out how to resolve these issues," the official said.

"Intellectually they know this has to be resolved, and it will only get worse and affect things...viscerally they would love to continue it in some way because the feelings are so strong," the official said.

(Writing by Yara Bayoumy; Editing by Alistair Bell)Washington (AFP) - In Washington, speculation is rife over who might be the next top member of President Donald Trump's cabinet to be shown the door.

Among those possibly in the line of fire are National Security Advisor HR McMaster, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Chief of Staff John Kelly.

Here are the senior members of Trump's government who have departed since the Republican leader took office on January 20, 2017:

- National Security Advisor Michael Flynn -

Michael Flynn, a retired general, entered the White House with a cloud over him -- he had been fired by Barack Obama as defense intelligence chief.

Flynn was also being investigated for his contacts with Russians and eventually pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.

Flynn lasted only 22 days as national security advisor.

He was forced out on February 13, 2017 amid concerns that he could be compromised by false statements he made over his contacts with Russian officials and his paid lobbying for Turkey during the campaign.

- Chief of Staff Reince Priebus -

Reince Priebus, the bland former chairman of the Republican National Committee, was supposed to manage the White House workflow and control the door to Trump's office.

But Priebus, who was never a member of Trump's inner circle, couldn't manage the tweeting president himself, and the West Wing sank into chaos.

Priebus made his exit on July 31, to be replaced by retired Marine Corps general Kelly, who has been credited with bringing a measure of discipline to the Oval Office -- though some say his future is also in doubt.

- Chief Strategist Steve Bannon -

The architect of Trump's nationalist-populist campaign and his election victory, White House chief strategist Steve Bannon was nicknamed the Prince of Darkness and the Shadow President.

His economic nationalism became the lynchpin of Trump policies, even as many of his other ideas were rebuffed by policy rivals.

After Kelly arrived, Bannon's constant clashes with other advisors became untenable, as did his ties to the extreme right, which drew accusations that Trump fostered racists. Bannon left on August 18.

Story continues

- Top Economic Advisor Gary Cohn -

Gary Cohn, a former president of investment bank Goldman Sachs, resigned as Trump's top economic advisor on March 6, 2018 in protest against the president's decision to levy new global trade tariffs.

A long-time Democrat, Cohn had always been an uneasy fit in an administration propelled to power by strident nationalism.

Trump's decision to impose the steep tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum was the final straw for the former Wall Street banker.

The first eruption of tensions with Trump came last year when the president balked at condemning neo-Nazis and far-right extremists who had led a violent rally in Virginia in August. Cohn, who is Jewish, said he considered resigning.

- Secretary of State Rex Tillerson -

Rex Tillerson was fired by Trump on March 13, ending a rocky tenure as the nation's top diplomat for the former chief executive of Exxon.

Tillerson was frequently at odds with the mercurial president and Trump said that while the pair got along "quite well," they "disagreed on things" -- notably the Iran nuclear deal.

During his brief stay at Foggy Bottom, Tillerson frequently found himself out of the loop and caught unawares by policy shifts announced in Trump tweets.

A top aide said Tillerson did not speak to the president before his firing was announced and was not given a reason for his dismissal.Experts have recommended amending e-commerce regulations that would allow authorities to better manage and collect tax as well as develop the sector.  Photo bizlive.vn

HCM CITY  Experts have recommended amending e-commerce regulations that would allow authorities to better manage and collect tax as well as develop the sector.

Mach Thi Tuyet Mai from the General Department of Taxations policy division, said: We have encountered difficulties in tax collection.

The issuance of business licenses for e-commerce firms remains confusing because some kinds of e-commerce are not included on the tax list. Therefore, it is hard for tax authorities to determine the appropriate tax collection form.

Most businesses in Viet Nam still use paper invoices, while some businesses have used e-invoices but do not have a system to connect with the tax agency.

As a result, tax agencies found it hard to identify the revenue of these businesses, she told the Vietnam Online Business Forum held in HCM City on March 17.

We are now conducting an electronic invoice project to submit to the Government. The project will encourage all businesses to use e-invoices connected to tax agencies. This will make management easier and we will have to avoid using fake invoices, she said.

Another issue is tax collection from cross-border service providers and organisations that have income in Viet Nam, according to the official.

The sale of products on Facebook, Zalo and websites has grown strongly, but sellers do not issue invoices and declare their revenue, leaving difficulties for tax agencies to collect tax.

Nguyen Thanh Hung, deputy chairman of the Viet Nam E-Commerce Association, said that a number of significant issues in public administration occurred last year.

He said that it was time for policy and law makers to create a more favourable macroeconomic environment for e-commerce to develop.

The challenges for policymakers are clearly very different from than those in previous years, according to Hung.

Since e-transactions are now commonly used, direct participation of most government departments in developing e-commerce policies and laws is needed.

"Along with development technology, many new and different kinds of businesses are based on cloud computing, mobile technology, big data, social networks, the Internet of Things, and blockchain technology," he said, adding that these are all available in the country.

He said Viet Nam should urgently promote research on and application of blockchain technology, and at the same time, should not manage virtual currencies simply by prohibiting and then punishing violators.

Virtual currencies should be controlled under methods that are in line with the market economy during the interim period as the business community waits for new legal documents on management of virtual assets and digital and virtual currencies, Hung added.

At the same time, accepting the experimental use of cryptocurrency in a few international transactions might be a careful but advantageous approach for the policy amendment process, he said.

If organisations and enterprises do not participate, they may become too slow in conducting research about and investing in blockchain applications, and Viet Nam could be quickly left behind if cryptocurrency becomes a significant payment method for e-commerce.

"In addition, Viet Nam needs to conduct research on the benefits of the sharing economy and make appropriate policies to encourage enterprises as well as other organisations to provide such services for the common purpose of raising socio-economic efficiency," he said.

Last year, the Ministry of Finance made public a draft of a proposal submitted to the Government to amend the Law on Tax Administration, which calls the law to be simple, clear, transparent, convenient and systematic.

The proposal, which requires the use of international standards, electronic tax administration, and a more favourable environment for taxpayers, was an important first step in tax administration for e-commerce.  VNSRyo Hinata-Yamaguchi

Politics, Asia

A North Korean soldier lifts a flag of the Workers' Party of Korea at the start of the parade celebrating the 70th anniversary of its founding in Pyongyang

North Koreas charm offensives have a track record of being diplomatic traps.

The Truth, the Trial and the North Korean Trojan Horse

The past week saw new developments on the Korean Peninsula. The meeting last week between Kim Jong-un and the South Korean delegation led by National Security Advisor Chung Eui-yong and Chief of the National Intelligence Service Suh Hoon resulted in plans for an inter-Korean summit to be held in late April and a U.S.-North Korea summit to be held by May.

The last few months reflect the strength of the U.S.-South Korea alliance (though in an unprecedented and arguably in a less than ideal way), where the combination of President Moons openness to engagement and Trump administrations hardline strategy seemed to have worked (though people will give more credit to one over the other), particularly as North Korea seems to be desperate free itself from the tough economic sanctions so that it can secure aid and concessions for economic buoyancy.

At the same time, the course of developments could have been according to North Koreas plans, where it pushed forward with the development of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) to a certain level by end of 2017 while testing the limits of the United States maximum pressure campaign, then used the conciliatory gestures by South Korea as an exit ramp.

Whether it be one or the other, or both, Pyongyang maneuvered out of the dire consequences it faced.

Over the past few months the North Koreans have put on a display of conciliatory measures for dialogues. In February, North Korea sent a delegation to the Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang led by Kim Jong-uns younger sister Kim Yo-jong and the nominal head of state Kim Yong-nam. They flashed their smiles in various events and meetings. Then, last week, North Korea hosted the South Korean envoy with a VIP treatment, during which time Kim Jong-un expressed his understanding of the U.S.-South Korea military exercises, agreed to hold the inter-Korean summit in Panmunjeom (making Kim Jong-un the first North Korean leader to step on South Korean soil, and his first trip outside of North Korea since assuming his leadership), and made clear that he was willing to sit down with President Trump.

Story continues

Of course, North Koreas charm offensives have a track record of being diplomatic Trojan horses. The fact that it was Pyongyang that was forthcoming in its calls for dialogues indicates that it has a certainly level of confidence that things will go its way. Even in domestic politics, North Koreas gestures will be propagated as Kim Jong-uns big heart and courage in reconciling with the South Koreans while diplomatically taking on the United States. North Korea is indeed an isolated socialist monarchy that belts out eccentric propaganda, but the regime is well tuned-in to whats going on, and it is carefully planning and preparing its strategies to prove that it is the master of all options on the table.

The big question is: what will the North Koreans demand in return for their flexibility? Indeed, Pyongyang hinted at possibly discussing eventual denuclearization. But North Koreas nuclear-missile program is a culmination of efforts since the 1960s to strengthen and fill the vulnerabilities in the Korean Peoples Army (KPA), and it has finally reaped the benefits in recent years under the auspices of Kim Jong-uns byungjin doctrine with the supposed ability to strike the mainland United States. Thus, for North Korea, the WMD project is not only pivotal to strengthening its military, but an achievement so great that the regime rests its political credibility on it.

Moreover, even if North Korea does refrain from conducting nuclear or missile tests during the period of dialogues, that does not translate into a slowdown in Pyongyangs WMD program. North Korea is now confident with its arsenals after conducting a series of tests over the past couple of years. Thus, a moratoriumor at least a slowing pace in testsbenefits Pyongyang because then it can save its resources (and missile assets) and focus on mass production of its arsenals to further enhance its military leverage.

Given the significance of WMDs to the North Korean regime, it would take much for Kim Jong-un to sacrifice them. For North Korea, an absolute security agreement would be the only condition under which it would even consider denuclearization. Yet such an arrangement would not just include a promise by the United States to refrain from preemptive or preventative attacks, but also a lifting of all UN and bilateral sanctions. North Korea would also seek a normalization of ties with the United States and a peace treaty that requires compensation, divorcing the alliance with South Korea, a withdrawal of U.S. forces out of the Korean Peninsula and Japan, and a toning down of the U.S. role in international security.

If at any point North Korea feels that its interests are not being met, or feels that its talking mood has been spoiled, then it would return to its modus operandi of brinkmanship diplomacy. The revival of tensions of any kind will ignite a volley of I told you so barbs, not only by the United States and North Korea, but also by the conservatives in South Korea. Pyongyang will claim that it offered an olive branch only to watch Washington throw it away. At the same time, the United States will argue that diplomacy has failed yet again, and that maximum pressure is the only plausible way. In South Korea, the conservatives along with some moderates will argue that rapprochement did nothing but make excessive compromises to the North at the expense of the South, giving less flexibility for the Moon government in engaging with Pyongyang. Japan will also chime in, largely seconding the United States claims while adopting sharper measures to deter and defend against the threat posed by North Korea.

Should the above scenario unfold, well be back to a conflict scenario but on a higher level. North Korea could dare to enter the new round of saber-rattling, but it could also consider a more cautious tactic by leaving the door open for dialogue, while creating and exploiting discords in the alliance, and soldiering on with strengthening the KPA. Any dialogues and negotiations that North Korea enters will be long, sluggish, and frustrating, not to mention the various requests for aid and concessions that Pyongyang would make along the way.

Thus, it is critical to ensure that the United States, South Korea, and Japan are in lock step, ensuring consistent communication and coordination to ensure regional security on consensual terms with a balance of both sticks and carrots. South Korea deserves much credit for bringing the North into the two summits. The diplomatic efforts could be further complemented if Japan also holds a summit with North Korea. But while dialogues are essential, they should not come at the expense of efforts to strengthen trilateral security cooperation between the United States, South Korea, and Japan to deter and defend against any threatening actions by North Korea. In addition, the United States, South Korea, and Japan should also connect with China and Russia to ensure that they play their roles in preventing misbehaviors by North Korea. Failures in trilateral coordination and cooperation would only give North Korea more opportunities for exploitation.

Although many people may have a sighed in relief that the temperature on the Korean Peninsula has cooled, nobody can afford to be complacent. The crisis is far from over, and we certainly dont want to revert to inching towards war. Dialogues are a step forward, but they are the means, not ends. Regional stakeholders should take advantage of this rare opportunity to dig into Kim Jong-uns intentions. That insight will allow them to devise better strategies and defuse the threat posed by North Korea. Letting this opportunity slip away would only lead to another cycle of provocative action-reaction with possibly more dire consequences.

Ryo Hinata-Yamaguchi is a visiting professor in the department of global studies at the College of Economics and International Trade, Pusan National University, and an Adjunct Fellow at the Pacific Forum. Follow him on Twitter: @tigerrhy.

Image: Reuters

Read full articleANKARA, March 16 (Reuters) - The Turkish army dropped leaflets on northern Syria's Afrin region on Friday, calling on Kurdish fighters to surrender and "trust the justice" of Ankara, the military said, after a night of heavy shelling against the region's biggest town.

"The Turkish Armed Forces are in Afrin to bring peace, calm and safety," the leaflets said in Arabic and Kurdish, according to the military.

"Trust the hand we extend to you. Trust the justice of Turkey! Trust the Turkish Armed Forces! Come and surrender! A future filled with calm and peace awaits you in Afrin."

Turkey's military and its rebel allies launched an offensive in the Afrin region nearly two months ago against the Syrian Kurdish YPG, which Ankara considers a terrorist organisation and extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) that has waged a three-decade insurgency against the state.

Turkish forces shelled the town of Afrin heavily overnight and killed at least 18 people, a YPG spokesman said. The YPG fighters were waging battles with Turkish and their allied forces trying to storm the town, the spokesman said.

Turkey's armed forces have been attempting to besiege the town of Afrin in recent days, and a spokesman for President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday that the town would be cleared of fighters "very soon". (Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by David Dolan)By Steve Holland and Doina Chiacu WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States slapped sanctions on Russian individuals and entities for U.S. election meddling and cyber attacks but put off targeting oligarchs and government officials close to President Vladimir Putin, prompting lawmakers in both parties to say President Donald Trump needs to do much more. With the United States under pressure to act, the steps announced by the U.S. Treasury Department represented the most significant taken against Moscow since Trump assumed office in January 2017. Along with imposing sanctions on 19 individuals and five entities including Russian intelligence services, the Trump administration publicly blamed Moscow for the first time for a campaign of cyber attacks stretching back at least two years that targeted the U.S. power grid including nuclear facilities. The United States also joined Britain, Germany and France in demanding that Russia explain a military-grade nerve toxin attack in England on a former Russian double agent, with Trump saying: "It certainly looks like the Russians were behind" the incident. But congressional critics called the administration's action a woefully inadequate retaliation for Russia interference in the 2016 U.S. election and other actions. "The sanctions today are a grievous disappointment and fall far short of what is needed to respond to that attack on our democracy let alone deter Russia's escalating aggression, which now includes a chemical weapons attack on the soil of our closest ally," said Adam Schiff, top Democrat on the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee. "Today's action, using authorities provided by Congress, is an important step by the administration. But more must be done," Republican House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce added. He later urged Trump to sanction Russia for the poisoning in Britain. EXASPERATED Trump has faced fierce criticism in the United States for doing too little to punish Russia for the election meddling and other actions, and Special Counsel Robert Mueller is looking into whether Trump's campaign colluded with the Russians, an allegation the president denies. Sixteen of the Russian individuals and entities sanctioned were indicted on Feb. 16 as part of Mueller's criminal investigation. "They didn't hit Putin's power structure and they didn't team up with Europe," Brian O'Toole, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank and a former senior adviser at the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, said of the administration's actions. A senior administration official told Reuters that Trump, who campaigned on warmer ties with Putin, had grown exasperated with Russian activity. "A classic bully," the official said of Putin. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders, asked if Russia was a friend or foe, told reporters: "Russia is going to have to make that determination. They're going to have to decide whether they want to be a good actor or a bad actor." In Moscow, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Russia was preparing retaliatory measures, as U.S.-Russian relations plunged again. The Treasury Department said the sanctions were also meant to counter cyber attacks including the NotPetya attack that cost billions of dollars in damage across Europe, Asia and the United States. The United States and Britain last month blamed the Russian military for that attack. Trump has frequently questioned a January 2017 finding by U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia interfered in the 2016 campaign using hacking and propaganda in an effort eventually aimed at tilting the race in Trump's favor. Russia denies interfering in the election. But Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was unequivocal in saying that Thursday's action by his department "counters Russia's continuing destabilizing activities, ranging from interference in the 2016 election to conducting destructive cyber-attacks." 'GET SMART' "Putin constantly attacks our friends. So, President Trump, are you going to get smart about the threat Russia poses to the United States and our allies?" Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer asked. Mnuchin said there would be additional sanctions against Russian government officials and oligarchs "for their destabilizing activities." Mnuchin did not give a time frame for those sanctions, which he said would sever the individuals' access to the U.S. financial system. Democratic Senator Robert Menendez said he was glad to see the administration act but noted that Democratic former President Barack Obama's administration had already imposed sanctions on many of the people and entities targeted on Thursday. Russian government hackers since at least March 2016 "have also targeted U.S. government entities and multiple U.S. critical infrastructure sectors, including the energy, nuclear, commercial facilities, water, aviation, and critical manufacturing sectors," a Treasury Department statement said. A senior administration told reporters on a conference call that Russian actors infiltrated parts of the U.S. energy sector. "We were able to identify where they were located within those business systems and remove them from those business systems," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Trump told reporters during a White House event with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar that "it certainly looks like the Russians were behind" the use of a nerve agent to attack Sergei Skripal, a former Russian double agent in England. Trump called it "something that should never, ever happen, and we're taking it very seriously, as I think are many others." The new sanctions include Russian intelligence services, the Federal Security Service (FSB) and Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), and six individuals working on behalf of the GRU. Thursday's action blocks all property of those targeted that is subject to U.S. jurisdiction and prohibits American citizens from engaging in transactions with them. Russian businessman Evgeny Prigozhin, one of those indicted by Mueller and hit with sanctions on Thursday, said in comments cited by RIA news agency that he already had been hit with U.S. sanctions "maybe three or four times - I'm tired of counting." "I'm not worried by this," Prigozhin was quoted as saying. "Except that now I will stop going to McDonald's." (Reporting by Steve Holland and Doina Chiacu; Additional reporting by Dustin Volz, Timothy Gardner, Lesley Wroughton, Warren Strobel and James Oliphant in Washington, Guy Faulconbridge and Estelle Shirbon in London and Polina Ivanova in Moscow; Editing by Mary Milliken, Will Dunham and Peter Cooney)A U.S. military helicopter has crashed in Iraq with initial reports saying the aircraft fell in the country's western region.

The Defense Department has confirmed that an incident has occurred involving one of its helicopters in Iraq, as reports emerged that an HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter crashed near the country's border with Syria. Details remained unclear about the incident, however, early figures placed the casualty count around seven.

Related: ISIS Tries to Take Back Iraq As U.S. Allies Switch Sides in Syria

Trending: 75 Best Biographies of All Time

"I can confirm there was an incident," a Pentagon spokesperson told Newsweek.

GettyImages-643815120

AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images

An HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter fell in the Al-Qaim region bordering Syria, an unnamed U.S. official said, according to ABC News. Stressing that early reports remained unverified, two U.S. officials told CNN they believed that a HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter carrying seven personnel had "gone down." Emergency vehicles were reportedly en route to the area.

Don't miss: U.S. Targeted by Suspected Chinese Cyber Espionage Group, FireEye Research Warns

The U.S. has been active in Iraq since invading the country in 2003 to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Soon after, a number of Sunni Muslim jihadi groups engaged in a violent insurgency, forming into Al-Qaeda in Iraq, then the Islamic State of Iraq, and finally, the Islamic State militant group (ISIS), which spread into neighboring Syria in 2013.

The U.S. has been bombing ISIS in Iraq and Syria since 2014. While the militants have largely been defeated by an alliance of a U.S-led coalition, Iraqi troops, Kurdish forces and an Iran-backed collective of militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, pockets of jihadi activity remainwith the border region being one of the last jihadi strongholds in Iraq and Syria.

Story continues

The border town of Al-Qaim was retaken from ISIS in November by the Iraqi army and Popular Mobilization Forces, who then assisted the Syrian military and its allies, including other Iran-backed militias, retake the nearby Syrian town of Al-Bukamal. On the Syrian side of the border, both the Russia-backed Syrian military and the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces were active.

Most popular: Exclusive: Another Ukraine? Russia Backs Separatist Politician's Military Buildup in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Research Shows

While Kurdish forces of the Syrian Democratic Forces have struck a deal with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to defend against a Turkish invasion, the mostly Arab faction of the U.S.-backed militia has stayed behind. Pro-Syrian government forces have clashed with Syrian Democratic Forces in the region, with U.S.-led coalition airstrikes killing up to 100 pro-Syrian government fighters, including Russians. Both sides blamed the other for the incident.

Since 2003, 4,535 members of the U.S. military personnel have been killed and another 32,310 wounded in Iraq, according to The Dayton Beach News-Journal.

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from Newsweek(WASHINGTON)  A U.S. military helicopter has crashed in western Iraq with seven service members on board, U.S. officials said Thursday.

The officials said that so far there is no indication that the Pave Hawk helicopter was shot down.

The helicopter is used by the Air Force for combat search and rescue, and was in transit from one location to another when it went down Thursday afternoon near the town of Qaim in Anbar Province

Officials said that rescuers were responding to the location, but other details were not yet available. Its not clear if there were any survivors.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the crash before it was made public.

In a short statement, U.S. Central Command said that rescue teams are responding to the scene of the downed aircraft at this time, adding that an investigation will be started to determine the cause of the incident.

The U.S.-led coalition battling Islamic State insurgents in Iraq and Syria have an outpost in Qaim, which is located near the Syrian border. The anti-IS campaign accelerated through much of last year, as coalition and Iraq forces battled to take back a string of cities and towns.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over IS in Mosul in July. In the following months Iraqi forces retook a handful of other IS-held towns including Tal Afar in August, Hawija in September and Qaim in October. In November, Iraqi forces retook the last Iraqi town held by IS  Rawah, near the border with Syria.

The U.S.-led coalition has continued to work with Iraq and Syrian Democratic Forces to shore up the border region to make sure that foreign fighters and insurgents cant move freely across the region.(BEIJING)  Members of the Uighur Muslim ethnic group held demonstrations in cities around the world to protest a sweeping Chinese surveillance and security campaign that has sent thousands of their people into detention and political indoctrination centers.

Overseas Uighur activists said they planned demonstrations Thursday in 14 countries in total, including the U.S., Australia and Turkey.

More than a hundred Uighur protesters gathered at a plaza near the United Nations in New York to call on the body to protect their culture against Chinese government efforts to assimilate the Turkic-speaking people. Elsewhere, hundreds of Uighur women on Istanbuls Istiklal Street and in front of Sydney Town Hall chanted and waved blue flags, the separatist symbol for a proposed independent state called East Turkistan.

China has rolled out one of the worlds most aggressive policing programs in the Uighurs homeland of Xinjiang, a vast region in the countrys northwest. Chinese officials say the crackdown is necessary to stamp out a decades-long separatist movement and, more recently, Islamic extremism seeping into the region. Hundreds have died in violent clashes in recent years that the government blames on separatist militants.

Growing resentment against authorities in China, and the call of Islamist Uighur militant groups, has also attracted thousands of Uighurs to travel to Syria in recent years. But Uighur activists and international rights groups say the far-reaching security campaign, which has accelerated markedly since 2016, exacerbates tensions and unfairly targets the entire Uighur population of more than 10 million.

The Chinese government is using the war against terrorism very effectively, using that to portray the Uighur as a terrorist, said Rushan Abbas, the organizer of the New York protest who showed up with her children. In actuality, the Chinese government is the one whos acting the terrorist against the Uighur.

Story continues

Many overseas Uighurs say that their relatives in China have been sent to an extrajudicial network of political indoctrination centers for months at a time without formal charges or for reasons unrelated to separatist activity  such as communicating with relatives abroad.

Can you imagine a place where millions are taken into camps without the involvement of courts? said Seyit Tumturk, who helped organize the Istanbul rally.

Read more: Xinjiang: Images of Uighur Life in Kashgar

Allegations of widespread abuse in the centers, including unexplained deaths, have been rife but are almost impossible to confirm, given the extreme level of surveillance and government obstruction of independent reporting trips by foreign media. Associated Press reporters were detained for 11 hours by police in Xinjiang in November while investigating the reported death of a 26-year-old in an indoctrination center.

Tumturk, a Turkey-based activist who is backed by some Turkish political parties, has been meeting with various governments including Japan and Australia in recent months to seek support for a new overseas Uighur political group.

His movement would call for the establishment of an independent Uighur state allied with Turkey and Central Asian states and distance itself from the World Uighur Congress, the historically dominant, U.S.-funded Uighur lobby that advocates worldwide for greater autonomy for Xinjiang but not outright independence from China.

Tumturk said he was motivated by a sense of urgency.

We have received a lot of bad news that the situation in China is getting worse and worse, he said.

China has tightened restrictions over the instruction of Islam and the Uighur language and even what Uighurs are allowed to name their babies in an effort to swiftly assimilate the minority group into the Chinese mainstream, which is dominated by the Han ethnic group.

Government officials say the assimilation process will bring economic benefits to poor parts of Xinjiang, promote secularism and reinforce a sense of patriotism among Uighurs. Uighur activists warn that the heavy-handed methods could render traditional Uighur culture practically extinct in a matter of a few decades.

Uighurs face a raft of other hurdles not imposed upon the Han: they have difficulty procuring passports and those who have them are required to leave them with the police. In Xinjiang, frequent road blocks and checkpoints enable authorities to stop people and check their mobile phones for content that might be deemed suspicious.

International groups including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have called Xinjiang, an area half the size of India, one of the most tightly policed regions in the world.By Tom Miles GENEVA (Reuters) - A quick agreement to return Rohingya refugees to Myanmar is looking less and less likely, the U.N. refugee chief said on Friday as he launched an almost $1 billion appeal to support the stateless Muslims in camps in Bangladesh for the rest of 2018. The United Nations says 671,000 Rohingya fled from Myanmar's Rakhine state after militant attacks in August sparked a crackdown led by security forces, which a U.N. investigator said bore "the hallmarks of genocide". Filippo Grandi, head of the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR, said the Rohingya must be allowed to return to their homes in Myanmar, but returns could only take place voluntarily and if their rights were guaranteed. The odds are growing against a solution, an early solution anyway, but this is not a reason for me as High Commissioner for Refugees to give up on this issue, he told a news conference. "We are very mindful of the fact that this situation may take a long time, and therefore we need to plan for this." Asked how long the Rohingya might stay in their camps in Bangladesh at the minimum, Grandi said: I wish I knew. Last year he had visited another part of Myanmar where displaced people had been stuck in camps for six or seven years. He said the Rohingya could not be subjected to the same fate on a much larger scale. Myint Thu, permanent secretary at Myanmar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Wednesday that a first batch of 374 refugees could be repatriated. He also said Myanmar now considered it was appropriate to invite UNHCR and the U.N. Development Programme into the repatriation process. Grandi said he still did not have agreement for UNHCR's involvement, which he said was "crucial, essential and indispensable". "The discussions with Myanmar have been pretty basic, not very frequent, not very advanced, but they have continued. This is the way it goes in this situation. Its very difficult, Grandi said. The government does not recognize the Rohingya as citizens, and Grandi said their rights needed to be established, including citizenship, freedom of movement and access to services. But first of all the violence had to stop. Although movements into Bangladesh have decreased massively since the flood late last year, they continue to come in smaller numbers, suggesting the situation has still not stabilized, he said. He also said that other governments should only invest in development projects in Rakhine if they ensured it supported the presence of Rohingyas and did not perpetuate the situation. (Reporting by Tom Miles; Additional reporting by Simon Lewis; Editing by Alison Williams)Photo: Getty Images

United Airlines has had yet another incident with a dog on one of its flights. No, not the one with the dog that died in the overhead bin. Or the dog that was mistakenly sent to Japan. Shockingly, the beleaguered airline had another incident with another dog.

On Thursday, a United flight from Newark, N.J., to St. Louis was diverted after the airline learned it had a dog bound for Akron, Ohio, on board, the Washington Post reports. The pup was mistakenly loaded onto the St. Louis flight, company spokeswoman Natalie Noonan told the Post on Saturday.

After realizing the dog had been put aboard the wrong flight, the airline decided to have the plane follow the dogs itinerary. It headed to Ohio after the airline chose the fastest option to reunite the dog with his family, Noonan said.

Passengers were provided compensation for the delay.

The latest embarrassment for United Airlines comes only days after a French bulldog died on a flight from Houston to New York after a United flight attendant told its owners to put the dog in an overhead bin. The dog, Kokito, suffocated.

This little guy fought hard for his life, filling our flight with his cries until he finally ran out of breath, passenger June Lara wrote on Facebook after the incident. United Airlines does not care about the safety of their furry travelers. This poor family paid $125 for their pet to be murdered in front of them.

And a woman moving from Oregon to Kansas with her family on a United Airlines flight last Tuesday was stunned when she went to collect her dog from the cargo facility and instead discovered a Great Dane waiting in its place. Their dog had become the unwitting victim of a mix-up with the other dog, which was scheduled to fly to Japan.

The dog was flown back to her on a plane after landing in Japan.

They had no idea where the dog was, Swindle said.

United was also under fire last year for the treatment of a passenger who was physically dragged off a plane the airline had overbooked, when videos posted online by other passengers showed a man screaming as officers yanked him from his seat.

Story continues

Fortunately this mix-up had a happier ending, except for the people trying to make connecting flights.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:



The United States and South Korea expressed "cautious optimism" Friday that North Korea could enjoy a "brighter future" after a planned summit between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un before the end of May.

Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who spoke by telephone, said the North must follow "the correct path" and that they would maintain "maximum pressure" on Kim before the possible talks.

"The two leaders expressed cautious optimism over recent developments and emphasized that a brighter future is available for North Korea, if it chooses the correct path," the White House said of the call.

Trump and Moon were speaking as US officials met the South Korean and Japanese foreign ministers in Washington, and North Korea's Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho met the Swedish prime minister in Stockholm.

North Korea has yet to confirm that it issued an invitation for Trump to meet Kim for nuclear disarmament talks, as South Korean officials reported to Trump during a White House meeting last week.

But Sweden has long acted as an intermediary between Pyongyang and Washington, and Trump appears determined to push ahead with talks he believes are possible because of the success of his campaign to isolate the North militarily and economically.HA NOI  The State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) has asked for the Prime Ministers approval of Vinamilks plan for an Employee Stock Ownership Programme (ESOP) in the 2018-21 period.

In a document sent to the Government Office, SCIC has proposed that Vinamilk issue ESOP shares in two phases, of which the first issuance, expected this year, will offer 14.5 million shares, equivalent to 1 per cent of its charter capital.

The second phase will also float shares worth 1 per cent capital in 2020 if the company accomplishes its revenue and profit targets in three years, from 2017 to 2019, or achieves the minimum annual growth rate of three years from 2017 to 2019, attaining the objectives of the management board.

ESOP shares are restricted to transfer within two years, with 50 per cent of the shares being cleared away every year.

The issuing price will be equal to two times the book value per share of the companys latest consolidated financial statement.

ESOP is a kind of employee benefit plan that provides a companys workforce with an ownership interest in the company.

SCIC has rationalised that the previous ESOP issuance had contributed to Vinamilks positive business performance as well as encouraged employees loyalty.

Vinamilks revenue and pre-tax profit increased by an average of 14.8 per cent and 13.4 per cent, respectively, in the 2012-16 period. These numbers in 2017 were VN51.04 trillion (US$2.24 billion) in revenue (up 9 per cent year-on-year) and VN10.28 trillion in net profit (up 10 per cent year-on-year).

Viet Nams largest dairy firm was also a generous dividend payer with an annual dividend ratio of 45-83 per cent. The company has so far spent VN32 trillion for dividend payment during 2012-27, of which SCIC has received VN13.5 trillion.

Vinamilks shares have soared over 140 per cent, from VN86,500 per share in 2012 to VN208,600 each by the end of 2017. The companys market value has also increased by 6.25 times compared to the end of 2011.

The proposal is under consideration of the Government Office, which has asked the ministries of Finance and Planning and Investment for feedback.

If approved, the State ownership ratio, represented by SCIC, will decrease by 0.71 per cent to 35.29 per cent.  VNSThe murder of Rio de Janeiro city councillor Marielle Franco this week drew thousands of mourners into city streets across Brazil, many believing the popular advocate for Brazils poorest was assassinated.

Franco, 38, and her driver, Anderson Pedro Gomes, were killed Wednesday night when two men in a car fired nine shots into her vehicle, according to the Associated Press. Francos press secretary also suffered minor injuries but survived, according to Reuters.

Rios chief of public security promised a full investigation, the Guardian reports.

Francos death came weeks after Brazils president Michel Temer gave the military sweeping security powers in Rios sprawling favela, where gang violence is rife. At least 13 political candidates were slain in the lead-up to 2016s city council polls when Franco was elected, according to Reuters.

Supporters rally following the murder of councilwoman Marielle Franco in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on March 15, 2018. Franco, a 38 year-old black politician from one of Rio's poorest and most violent communities, killed late on March 14 in a shooting that many feared to be a targeted assassination.

Franco, a popular local LGBTQ and human rights activist, grew up in one of Rios largest favelas, and rose to political prominence by denouncing economic inequality and police brutality.

She was the only black female representative and one of seven women on the 51-seat city council, according to the New York Times.

Redes da Mare, a non-profit group based in Francos neighborhood, described her death as an irreparable loss.By Barbara Goldberg

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Authorities alerted by a Walmart worker arrested a former Cornell University student accused of stockpiling a semi-automatic rifle, more than 300 rounds of ammunition, bomb-making materials and other deadly devices at his apartment near the upstate New York elite school.

Maximilien Reynolds, 20, of New Jersey, a one-time student at the Ivy League school in Ithaca, New York, now enrolled at a local community college, was federally charged with possession of an unregistered destructive device and a silencer as well as making false statements to acquire a firearm.

A Walmart employee contacted authorities after Reynolds used a gift card at the Ithaca store to buy ammunition, camping gear, drill bits, hacksaw blades, knives and other "suspicious" items, according to a criminal complaint filed on Friday.

Initially let into the apartment by Reynolds' girlfriend, authorities found a cache of high-capacity ammunition magazines, a semi-automatic MSR-15 Patrol rifle, a homemade silencer, bullet-resistant vest, gas mask, fireworks rigged with shrapnel and other explosive materials, according to the complaint.

The home itself was filled with piles of clothing, food and laboratory glassware, investigators recorded.

"What appeared to be mathematical writings were written on the west facing windows of the apartment in red ink," said an affidavit filed with the complaint.

The discovery came just over a month after a gunman killed 17 people at a high school in Parkland, Florida.

Reynolds was previously known to authorities who detained him in June 2016 under a section of New York Mental Hygiene Law that lets police take a person who appears mentally ill to a hospital, according to the affidavit.

After authorities searched his apartment on Thursday, Reynolds voluntarily agreed to be taken to Cayuga Medical Center for a psychiatric evaluation, the affidavit said.

Reynolds told investigators the rifle was bought on his behalf by a man identified only as "A.R." who he paid $1,200, the affidavit said. Reynolds said he was prohibited from buying it himself.

Story continues

Aside from the stash in his apartment, Reynolds also used two rented self-storage units to accumulate "pre-cursor chemicals frequently used in the manufacture of homemade explosives" as well as "smokeless powder, a consumer firework mortar round and pyrotechnic fuse," the affidavit said.

After Reynolds was taken into custody, Cornell Police Chief Kathy Zoner said there was no threat to the campus or to the surrounding neighborhood, known as Collegetown.

(Reporting by Barbara Goldberg in New York; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Chris Reese)A viral video depicted Fox News's hosts and guests contradictorily blasting former President Barack Obama for saying he would meet with dictators and enemies of the United States, but effusively praising current President Donald Trump for agreeing to sit down face-to-face with North Korean despot Kim Jong Un.

The video, released Thursday night by the news outlet Now This, flashed cuts of some of the network's best-known hosts, like Sean Hannity, Steve Doocy and Geraldo Rivera, pouring scorn on Obama for suggesting he could meet with leaders from Iran and North Korea without preconditions. Many of those same personalities and commentators are then shown characterizing Trumps expected talks with Kim as a win for the Republican. Some even said Trump should win the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

Trending: Dragon Ball FighterZ Broly and Bardock Dramatic Finishes Leaked

Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer, a frequent guest on Fox News, called Trumps announced meeting with Kim, a huge win for this country.

Rivera characterized the Trump-Kim showdown as breathtaking, audacious and bold, saying, It will be historic. He added, Im juiced about it.

Hannity, who has interviewed President Trump several times and received praise from the commander-in-chief for his coverage, said wow with angry disbelief when citing Obamas willingness to personally negotiate with leaders who traditionally opposed the U.S. or endorsed terrorism.

Don't miss: League of Legends Irelia Rework Trailer: Everything You Missed

Fast-forward to Trump accepting Kim's invitation, and Hannity stated: The world will probably be a little bit safer. The media should be giving President Trump credit for that.

Trump has repeatedly chastised networks like CNN and MSNBC over what he has described as negative or fake news coverage of both his campaign and first 14 months in office.

Conversely, Trump has often sung the praises of Fox News, and its morning program Fox & Friends in particular, for its coverage of his administration.

Story continues

Most popular: Women Who Work for Goldman Sachs in the U.K. Earn 56 Percent Less Than Men: Report

A week ago, North Korea, through South Korean officials, invited Trump to meet and discuss the regimes nuclear defense program. The U.S. president accepted the offer, something which is said to have surprised even North Korea's leaders. Should the meeting occur, it would be the first time a sitting U.S. president has met with the Norths top leader.

Trump has been scrutinized for the scope of any concessions he was able to extract from Kim before agreeing to the meeting. But on Twitter, the president insisted that conditions were put in place, such as no missile testing by the North, and that the talks would center around denuclearization instead of only a freeze in testing.

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! Trump tweeted March 8.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from NewsweekNearly four decades have passed since the Islamic Revolution in Iran, but many still see the Islamic republic as an unexplained phenomenon.

Follow Ynetnews on F acebook and Twitter



Internal power struggles, tensions between a revolutionary Islamic ideology and a practical policy and the gap between the ayatollah regime and a vibrant, dynamic public often create the impression that Iran is a country filled with contradictions that cannot be settled.

Iran is a key state in the Middle East, and its centrality and sphere of influence have kept growing in recent years. The establishment of its regional influence, its support for terror organizations and its nuclear armament have turned the Iranian threat into an issue that concerns not only Israel but its neighbors and the international community as well, mostly in light of the combination between a radical and subversive regime and advanced unconventional abilities.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (R) with Revolutionary Guards Commander Mohammad Ali Jafari (Photo: Reuters)

While the imminent threat posed by Iran to the Middle Easts countriesparticularly Israelshould not be taken lightly, the preoccupation with Iran has become obsessive and is inspired by sheer ignorance. Public debate in Israel in this context suffers from a simplistic view not only because of said obsessive preoccupation with the Iranian threat by some of the states leaders, but also because of problematic media coverage.

In some cases, the coverage of the Iranian issue is handed over to reporters and commentators on Arab affairs who are fed mainly by the Arab media, and in other cases, to foreign affairs correspondents who are fed mainly by the Western media. The number of Persian-speaking reporters and commentators is close to zero, and in many cases the result is biasedand sometimes completely distortedcoverage.

Headlines warn: Iran deploying its forces in the region

Occasionally, we see huge headlines in the media warnings that Iran is deploying its forces in the region, and even near Israels border, in a bid to carry out its intentions to take over the Middle East, to reestablish the Persian Empire and to destroy Israel.

This alarmist approach isnt limited to commentators affiliated with the Right. Even commentators who usually adopt a critical approach towards the government tend to intensify the Iranian threat all too frequently. They dont always make a distinction between the revolutionary ideological vision and Irans actual policy, which is largely derived from a pragmatic view of vital national interests.

Supreme leader Ali Khamenei. Against reforms in the regime (Photo: Reuters)

Haaretz military correspondent Amos Harel, for example, warned recently that Iran was using Shiite militias in Iraq to complete the threatening Shiite Crescent puzzle being deployed from Tehran to Beirut. These kinds of commentaries refer to the proxy organizations operating on behalf of Iran, like the Shiite militias in Iraq, as tools that are fully committed to Irans desires and to promoting its interests.

They ignore these proxies local affiliations and the growing difficulties Iran is facing in its efforts to expand its regional influence, such as the Israeli, Russian and Turkish restrictions on Irans freedom of action in Syria, Syrian President Bashar Assad's reservations over Irans request to establish a permanent military foothold and deepen its economic involvement in his country, or the Iraqi prime ministers objection to Tehrans blatant interference in his countrys international political affairs in light of his efforts to rebuild the Iraqi state at the end of the battle against the Islamic State (ISIS).

Some of the commentaries echo pretentious and completely baseless declarations made by Iranian politicians, mostly for propaganda purposes. In an article published in Israel Hayom on October 1, Prof. Efraim Inbar, president of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategic Studies (JISS), unquestioningly adopted the position of an Iranian parliament member who had stated several years ago that Iran controls four Arab capitals by now: Baghdad, Beirut, Damascus and Sanaa.

Dont underestimate Iranian influence

An analysis of Irans limits of power, weaknesses and failures in the Middle East is as justified and important as an analysis of its power and achievements, because ignoring its weaknesses could impair the ability to detect opportunities resulting from the limitations of its power to curb its influence.

But precisely in light of the importance to present an alternative thesis to the common thesis found in Israel, we should also beware an underestimation of the Iranian influence, which is partly based on inaccurate assertions.

Dr. Ori Goldberg published a number of articles on Ynet recently in which he argued, among other things, that the Iranians only intention is to survive in what they perceive as a complex and threatening reality. Goldberg is right in saying the Iranian presence in Syria and Lebanon cant be seen as an attempt at a Shiite takeover of the world or an effort to destroy Israel, because the idea of exporting the revolution characterized the ideological passion in the first days of the Islamic republic, and because the talk about a Shiazation of Syria is highly exaggerated.

But Goldberg goes one step too far when he presents the Iranian involvement in Syria and in the region solely as a reflection of a war of survival on Irans part.

President Hassan Rouhani. Leading changes in Iranian society with very limited latitude (Photo: Reuters)

Goldbergs claim that the Revolutionary Guards are investing more of their efforts in the entrenchment of their economic enterprises in Syria is factually incorrect. Irans effort to expand its economic influence in Syria is relatively new, stemming from a desire to compensate for the heavy economic investments that the military battle in Syria has claimed from Tehran.

The Revolutionary Guards main effort is still directed these days at continuing the fighting alongside the Syrian regimes forces and the Shiite militias operating on behalf of the Revolutionary Guards, to establish a military foothold and transfer advanced weapons to Hezbollah. His argument that the Revolutionary Guards activity isnt based on a strategy is quite puzzling too.

Senior Iranian officials, including Revolutionary Guards commanders, arent hiding Irans strategic objectives in the Arab domain. They keep emphasizing their perception that Syria is Irans strategic home front, mainly against Israel, and that Iran has a vital interest in preserving and stabilizing the Syrian regime, increasing the leverages of pressure on Israel, pushing away the United States, which is perceived by Iran as a key threat to its national security, and deepening its political, economic and religious influence in the region.

Granted, Iran isnt pursuing a direct conflict with Israel, at this stage at least. It prefers to continue the strategy of walking on the edge, and most of its activity in Syria is carried out today through proxies, led by Hezbollah and foreign Shiite militias.

But while Goldberg puts an emphasis in a different article on Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarifs speech at the Munich Security Conference about the need to avoid the use of force and intervene in other countries internal affairs. The Revolutionary Guards Quds Force, under Qasem Soleimanis command, keeps intervening in the private affairs of other countries, transferring advanced weapons to Irans proxies in Lebanon and in Yemen and increasing aid to Hamas.

Defensive or offensive perception?

We can argue whether the perception behind Irans policy is defensive, with an aim at reducing threats to its security, or offensive, with an aim to establish its status as a regional power and as a leading force in the Muslim world. We cant, however, ignore the fact that Iran has adopted an aggressive foreign policy to achieve its strategic objectives, and that it doesnt hesitate to use force against those perceived as its enemies.

An Iranian arms base bombed in Syria (Photo: Digital Globe, McKenze intelligence Services, BBC)

Goldberg isnt the only one trying to challenge the common perception regarding Iran. In an article published in Haaretz on January 21, Prof. Uri Bar-Yosef addressed a document signed by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani during a session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Istanbul, which appears to be an Iranian recognition of the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in the 1967 borders. Bar-Yosef addressed this signature, like an earlier analysis by Akiva Eldar on the Al-Monitor news website, as a revolutionary change in the Iranian position, as Iran has never before expressed support for the Arab Peace Initiative.

Rouhanis standpoint on Israel is, indeed, somewhat different from Iranian supreme leader Ali Khameneis standpoint, as he believes Iran shouldnt be more Catholic than the pope, or in this case the Palestinians, in its stance towards Israel. Having said that, Bar-Yosef should have at least mentioned that following the Istanbul meeting, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman issued a clarification stressing that the fact that Iran signed the conferences statement should in no way be interpreted as an Iranian recognition of Israel.

No revolutionary change in policy towards Israel

We should observe the changes in Irans policy towards Israel and even look into ways, although indirect, to find channels of dialogue with Tehran, as Bar-Yosef suggested in another article he published in Haaretz on February 18. But we cant talk about a revolutionary change on Irans stance towards Israel as long as the Iranian leader uses every opportunity to reiterate his countrys commitment to the ongoing battle against the Zionist regime until Israel is wiped off the map and until the establishment of Palestine from the river to the sea.

Iranian militias in Syria. Seeking an influence in the region

Coverage of the internal situation in Iran is sometimes characterized by a simplistic perception as well. The Islamic republic has been undergoing significant social and political processes of change. The Iranian top echelon is facing serious differences of opinion over the way the Islamic republic is going in, especially between supreme leader Khamenei and President Rouhani. Rouhani acknowledges the need to advance reformseven gradual oneswhich he sees as vital for improving the economic situation and reducing the growing gap between the government institutions and the public, primarily the young generation. The supreme leader, on the other hand, is adamant in his objection to any change that he perceives a threat to the regimes stability.

This is another issue Dr. Ori Goldberg is right about as he points to Rouhanis pursuit of change. In a recent article published on Ynet, Goldberg rightly argued that Rouhani was aspiring to create a country with an ideological elite ruling in an authoritarian way, but which is attentive to its citizens and gives them significant control of their lives.

But acknowledging the complexity characterizing the Iranian top echelon cannot hide the reality in which the presidents latitude remains limited by the main political centers of power, headed by the supreme leaders and the Revolutionary Guards.

Head-to-head: Rouhani vs. Khamenei

Rouhani has been trying in recent weeks to use the wave of protests that broke out in Iran in late December to advance the perception supporting a need for structural reforms in the economy and a certain expansion of individual freedom. His latitude is very limited, however. The president was recently forced to introduce significant changes to the budget proposal in light of the parliaments objection to his suggestions to implement far-reaching economic reforms to heal the economy.

The limitations on the presidents latitude are evident in the area of individual freedom as well, with the Revolutionary Guards aggravating the policy of oppression against anyone suspected of collaborating with the West, including several environmental activists who were arrested last month for serious espionage.

A protestor in Tehran in December 2017. Every protest generates claims that the regime is about to collapse

If Rouhani ever succeeds Khamenei as Irans supreme leader, he may succeed in fulfilling his goals. Its too early, however, to assess his chances of winning the future inheritance battle, especially in light of the expected opposition to his appointment by members of religious establishment and the Revolutionary Guards, who will likely favor other conservative candidates over him, like the head of the judicial system, Sadeq Larijani, or religious cleric Ebrahim Raisi, who ran against Rouhani in the last presidential election.

Commentaries based on hearts desires arent limited either to one side of the political map. On the backdrop of the wave of protests in Iran, some commentators claimed that the Iranian regime was on the brink of collapse. These assessments, which we have been hearing almost since the first days of the Islamic Revolution, are occasionally published when a protest breaks out in Iran above the surface.

Some of the commentators, like Prof. Mordechai Kedar, have even raised different suggestions for advancing to regimes collapse. Kedar, who has been advocating the encouragement of separatist trends among the ethnic-linguistic minorities in Iran for years, keeps ignoring the fact that unlike most Arab countries, Iran isnt a new artificial nation state whose borders were created by Western colonialism, and that many of the ethnic minorities in the country see themselves first and foremost as Iranians, even if they sometimes raise demands to remove discriminations against them.

Iran is a complex country with many contradictions. But precisely for that reason, it requires a sober and responsible analysis based on established assertions rather than on dogmatic thought subjecting facts and interpretations to political or ideological word views. Such an analysis cannot be based on an alarmist approach that ignores Irans weaknesses, nor on hearts desires concerning its intentions or strengths.

Iran is a complex country with many contradictions. But precisely for that reason, it requires a sober and responsible analysis based on established assertions rather than on dogmatic thought subjecting facts and interpretations to political or ideological word views. Such an analysis cannot be based on an alarmist approach that ignores Irans weaknesses, nor on hearts desires concerning its intentions or strengths.One of the heads of the Russian chemical weapons program and the individual who was considered to be the head of the Novichok projectwhich saw the development of a series of nerve agents by the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 1980s ultimately used on UK soil earlier this month against former Russian agent Sergei Skripalwas for many years in the sights of an Israeli intelligence analyst.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



Russia had already begun developing chemical weapons by the end of the Second World War, and possibly even beforehand. At the beginning of the 1970s, the countrys scientists began creating more lethal nerve agents, among them the Novichok, the production of which was overseen by General Anatoly Kuntsevicha physics and organic chemicals expert considered to be one of the foremost expert in the field in the Soviet Union.

Russian double agent Sergei Skripal (L) and his daughter Yulia were in critical condition after a nerve agent attack (Photo: AP)

In the middle of the 1980s, under General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet Union declared that it would sign the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons. In 1987 the Soviet government announced that it would unilaterally bring to a halt its production and in 1989, Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze said that his country would completely abandon its production of poison gas.

Over the next decade, after the collapse of the Soviet Union and under the rule of President Boris Yeltsin, Russia experienced an economic collapse and was in need of help from the West.

The United States demanded that it be involved in disarming of weapons of mass destruction, especially chemical weapons, and Yeltsin appointed General Kuntsevich to serve as his liaison with the West. However, Russia apparently disposed of only part of its chemical weapons arsenal and proof of the fact that it failed to relinquish control of all the materials necessary for producing them quickly became knowledge among spies and journalists in the West.

General Anatoly Kuntsevich

Will Englund, a writer for the Baltimore Sun, published testimonies by a number of scientists and exposed the existence of the Novichok. One of the scientists accidentally touched the material and died. Others followed. Those who survived were prosecuted for speaking to Englund. A Russian banker and his secretary were killed after a small quantity of the material was spread on the handset of their telephones. The Russians insisted, however, as they are doing today, that they do not possess any such weapon. We play by the rules, Kuntsevich said at the time.

In the 1990s, worrying information began arriving in Israel indicating that Russia was conducting experiments for the development of chemical weapons more advanced than the simple mustard and nerve gases that they once had.

According to the information, the knowledge to produce the advanced weapons was supplied by Kuntsevich. It would seem that his business with the Syrians was not a government initiative but rather an attempt by him to look after his own interests.

Investigators in the UK examine area where double agent was poisoned (Photo: MCT)

In July 1995, under the guise of a regular work visit as part of the positive military relations that remained between the two countries, he began to establish personal connections with leaders in Syria, and received huge sums of money in exchange for divulging his knowledge and providing some of his equipment for developing deadly chemical weapons.

Some of the details of the deals reached the Israeli Mossad at the end of the 1990s. The Israeli prime minister at the time, Ehud Barak, tried to warn leaders in Moscow about their generals clandestine scheming but it was to no avail. It was believed that Yeltsin either could not, or did not want, to intervene.

In the book The Volunteer, which was published in Canada by "Michael Ross", the author testifies that he was a Mossad agent and that when Israel realized that the pressure was not working, he was asked to pretend to be an independent researcher preparing to produce a documentary about gas warfare.

Ross claimed that he repeatedly contacted senior officials in the Kremlin and told them that according to the information in his possession, chemical weapons were being sold by Kuntsevich to the Syrians. The intention was to scare Moscow since the information was soon to be publicized. But this effort too, failed to yield results.

(Photo: Getty Images)

Israel was furious. On 29 April, 2002, in circumstances that remain unknown, Kuntsevich died during a flight from Aleppo to Moscow. The Syrians appear to be confident that the Israeli intelligence had succeeded in reaching and poisoning the general.

A top secret CIA document from the same period says that Syria managed, by the time of his death, to produce a large stockpile of particularly lethal chemical weapons. According to various other sources, during his final visit to Syria, Kuntsevich brought with him the blueprints for developing the Novichok. If Kuntsevich had not died on the way back to Moscow, the problems facing the West and particularly Israel could have been significantly more serious.

The chemical weapon that was produced as a result of Kuntsevichs activities, so the Syrians claimed, were to be disposed of at a later date as part of a deal brokered by the Russians, in order to prevent an American strike.

It as this deal that led to Russias heavy military involvement in the Syra and transforming into a major influential power in the region.SYDNEY Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc expressed his delights over the increasing role the Vietnamese Business Association in Australia (VBAA) in the host nation as well as its significant contributions to promoting bilateral economic ties

He made the statement during a meeting with the Vietnamese entrepreneurs on Saturday in Sydney, Australia, as part of his visit to the country.

The Vietnamese Government, ministries and localities always created favourable conditions for the Vietnamese expats, he said, hoping that they would educate the younger generations there to turn their hearts to the homeland.

He said that the Australian leaders all committed to facilitating conditions for the Vietnamese people there to have a stable life and business.

VBAA President Tran Ba Phuc, for his part, said that the Vietnamese businesses had proactively popularised Vietnamese agricultural products in Australia

He showed his delights over the strategic partnership between Viet Nam and Australia as it meant the Vietnamese community would grasp more interest and support from the Australian Government.

He affirmed that the Vietnamese people in Australia would continue efforts to develop the homeland.

The same day, Phuc met with representatives from the club of Vietnamese scientists living in Australias Queensland state, in which he noted that the club establishment has crucial roles in bolstering cooperation between the two countries.

He wished that the intellectuals would bring home the latest knowledge and technology to contribute to the national construction.  VNSPHOENIX - A Syrian man accused of making a key component in improvised explosive devices used in attacks against US soldiers during the Iraq War was convicted Friday on federal conspiracy charges.

Jurors deliberated over four days before delivering the verdict against Ahmed Alahmedalabdaloklah, who is accused of making circuit boards used to remotely detonate roadside bombs for the 1920 Revolution Brigades. The group claimed responsibility for 230 attacks against American soldiers in Iraq from 2005 to 2010, prosecutors have said in court papers.IDF forces from the Menashe Territorial Brigade carried out extensive operations overnight Friday in the village of Barta'a, the home of Alaa Kabha, 26, the terrorist who killed two soldiers and wounded two others in a ramming attack

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



A suspect was arrested during the operation, and troops conducted searches for hidden weapons. The following day, IDF forces put up checkpoints around the village, inspecting Palestinian vehicles traveling in the vicinity, fearing more people from the village or Kabha's extended clan will be inspired to commit similar attacks.

Footage surrounding the attack Friday (:  )

X

While the village itselfpartly on Palestinian and partly on Israeli landwas not encircled, inspects continue near its entrance and exit points, with Palestinian movement nevertheless remaining largely unrestricted in the region.

IDF troops arrest suspect in Barta'a (Photo: IDF Spokesman's Office)

Meanwhile, Shin Bet released a statement Saturday evening saying that while the terrorist initially insisted the attack was merely an accident, he confessed under interrogation to having acted under nationalistic motives.

Kabha's brother remains in custody and the degree of his potential involvement in the attack is still being investigated. Shin Bet added that no other persons involved in the attack or aware of Kabha's intentions were known at present, meaning he was a "lone wolf" terrorist acting without the guidance of a terror group.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commented on the attack Saturday evening, tweeting, "From the depths of my heart, I send condolences to the families of the IDF officer and soldier who were murdered yesterday by a reprehensible terrorist and my best wishes for a quick recovery to the wounded.

"We will work to demolish the home of the terrorist and will deal with him to the fullest extent of the law."

Terrorist Alaa Kabha admitted to nationalistic motivations Saturday evening

Similarly, President Reuven Rivlin said, "Throughout Shabbat, our prayers and thoughts were with the families of the victims of the terrible terror attack that took place as Shabbat began on Friday afternoon. I send a warm embrace of comfort and strength to the families of those killed and we pray for the speedy recovery of the wounded.

"May all the security forces be strengthened, operating in all arenasin the field and in intelligenceto investigate those who perpetrated and assisted in the attack. We will not rest until we bring all those who cooperate with terror to justice, we will not allow terror to become an accepted norm."

Troops also raided Kabha's home, questioned members of his family and arrested his brother for further interrogation. Engineering forces mapped the terrorist's home in preparation for its demolition.

IDF engineering forces mapping terrorist's home ahead of demolition (Photo: IDF Spokesman's Office)

IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot arrived at the scene of the attack early Saturday morning to conduct a situation assessment with GOC Central Command Maj.-Gen. Nadav Padan, Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Maj.-Gen. Yoav Mordechai, GOC Home Front Command Maj.-Gen. Tamir Yadai, Judea and Samaria Division Commander Brig.-Gen. Eran Niv, and others.

IDF Chief of Staff Eisenkot conducts situation assessment at scene of the attack (Photo: IDF Spokesman's Office)

Kabha rammed into a patrol of IDF soldiers with his car on Friday afternoon on route 585 between the settlements of Mevo Dotan and Hermesh, killing two of the soldiersan officer and a conscriptand wounding two others.

At the Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva, one of the soldiers wounded in the attack, who is in serious condition, underwent a series of operations throughout the night Friday and continues fighting for life at the ICU. He has been sedated and put on life support due to suffering blunt trauma to the head.

The other wounded soldier, who is in moderate condition, also underwent a series of operations overnight Friday.

IDF operations in Barta'a overnight (Photo: IDF Spokesman's Office)

An initial investigation into the incident found that when they were spotted by the terrorist, the troops were standing near a pillbox post located between the village of Ya'bad and nearby olive plantations. The two slain soldiers were standing at the front of their jeep, while the other two stood on the vehicle's other side, near the road.

IDF operations in Barta'a overnight (Photo: IDF Spokesman's Office)

Upon spotting the soldiers, the terrorist veered from the road, sped up, and hit the officer and the soldier who was standing with him first. The two were killed instantly.

Then, the terrorist sped towards the two other troops, wounding one very seriously and the other moderately. At some point, the terrorist also hit the barbed-wire fence that surrounded the pillbox post.

IDF operations in Barta'a overnight (Photo: IDF Spokesman's Office)

The IDF's assessment is that only seconds passed between the time the terrorist hit the first two soldiers to when he hit the other two, leaving the troops no time to respond and fire at him.

The terrorist's Hyundai jeep has been completely destroyed in the attack, with vehicle parts scattered to considerable distances from the spot of the attack, which is a testament to the force with which he rammed into the soldiers.

The terrorist's car at the scene of the attack (Photo: Ido Erez)

Kabha is a former security prisoner who was released from prison in April 2017.

After the attack, COGAT ordered the immediate suspension of the permits of Kabha's clan, revoking 67 permits to work in Israel, along with 26 trade permits and four employment permits applicable to the settlements.ISTANBUL - The Turkish military denied on Saturday that it had struck a hospital in Syria's Afrin region, where it is waging a nearly two-month-old offensive against Kurdish YPG forces.

The YPG and Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said a Turkish air strike hit Afrin town's main hospital on Friday night, killing 16 people.

"Reports that Turkish armed forces bombed a hospital in Afrin are false," the military said on Twitter, adding that it was carrying out the campaign in a way that would not hurt civilians.

A spokeswoman for the UN human rights office said it had had "deeply alarming reports" of civilians killed and wounded in Afrin, and of the Kurds preventing civilians from leavingMOSCOW - Russia's foreign ministry summoned Britain's ambassador to the country, Laurie Bristow, for a meeting on Saturday, Russian news agencies reported, citing an unidentified ministry source.

Russia is expected to expel British diplomats in retaliation for Prime Minister Theresa May's decision to kick out 23 Russians, as relations between the two countries crash to a post-Cold War low over an attack involving a military-grade nerve agent on English soil.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday Moscow had already decided on retaliatory measures, which she said Britain would be informed of in the near future.

Asked by a Reuters reporter in the Kazakh capital if Moscow would expel British diplomats, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov smiled and said on Friday: "We will, of course."BEIRUT - More than 150,000 people have been displaced in the last few days from Syria's Afrin town, a senior Kurdish official and a monitoring group said on Saturday.

Hevi Mustafa, a top member of the civil authority governing the Afrin region, said people were fleeing the main town to other Kurdish-held parts of the region and to government territory.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, said Turkish warplanes and artillery struck the town overnight, and at least 150,000 had fled since Wednesday.IDF officers and Defense Ministry representatives met earlier this week with their counterparts in Egypt in an effort to halt disruptions to mobile phone services in southern Israel, a result of Egyptian jamming against ISIS-affiliated terrorists in Sinai.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



Egyptian military officials reportedly told their Israeli counterparts at the Sharm El Sheikh meeting that their electronic warfare will continue as long as the fighting against the ISIS loyalists in the Peninsula continues.

Attempts to resolve the three-weeks-long crisis were also done through diplomatic channels, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Communications Minister Ayoob Kara all trying to convince Cairo to stop the disruptions  to no avail.

Egyptian military operating in Sinai against ISIS

Under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Egypt has quietly cooperated with Israel on security in the Sinai, a desert peninsula demilitarized as part of their US-sponsored 1979 peace treaty but where Cairos forces now operate freely.

Cairo launched a major sweep of Sinai jihadis loyal to Islamic State on February 9. Israeli officials said that on February 21 Egyptian forces began jamming a range of cellphone frequencies in Sinai, disrupting reception in Israel and the Gaza Strip.

Weve never seen anything this intensive or protracted. Even the Palestinians have been coming to us, appealing to make it stop, one Israeli official told Reuters. Phones had been disrupted as far away as Jerusalem and northern Israel, depending on weather, the official said.

The disruptions make it very difficult to make or receive calls on cellphones in the south, particularly in the Eshkol Regional Council, which is straddling the Gaza-Egypt-Israel border.

In addition, credit card swipe machines used in business, which make use of the cellular network, are almost entirely out of commission. Farmers who use their cellphone to turn on their irrigation systems are also suffering from the reception disruptions.

Egyptian military bombing ISIS targets in Sinai

An Egyptian official confirmed electronic warfare was being waged in the Sinai. Obviously, we want to stop terrorists from communicating, he told Reuters.

The official denied that Israel was the intended target of the jamming, but he said some Sinai insurgents were suspected of using smuggled Israeli SIM cards, close enough to the border to link up with Israeli cellphone reception, which means that we may need to work against a wide range of frequencies.

Several Palestinian residents of Gaza, the densely populated enclave on the Egyptian border, told Reuters they had been experiencing problems with phone service.

A source at one of the two Palestinian mobile phone companies said its services were disrupted for a day in the past week in southern Gaza but that the problem had been resolved.

Israeli cellphone provider Partner said several hundred of its customers had complained about reception problems, but that its 4G network was working well. Other leading Israeli providers, Cellcom and Pelephone, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Interviewed by Army Radio, Communications Minister Ayoob Kara said: Without getting into details, for the first time in the south we have been experiencing an uncomfortable situation.

Gadi Yarkoni, a mayor representing Israeli communities near Gaza, criticized the Communications Ministry and threatened to sue the phone companies, saying the failure to fix disruptions shows disrespect for the residents of the Gaza border communities.

Egypts military did not immediately comment.

The Multinational Force & Observers (MFO), an international body set up under the Israel-Egypt peace agreement to monitor the Sinai, declined to comment.President Donald Trumps announcement that the US Embassy would be moved to Jerusalem was cited as reason enough to encourage Palestinian youth to clash with the Israeli army.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



On January 20, 2018, the statement by the PLO said: We urge our nations sons and our nations working partners to increase and expand the popular resistance and turn the lives of settlers into hell. We start this coming Friday, after we pray, with big massive protests at mutual points of military barriers.

In interviewing students from various universities, most youth did not favor clashing with the IDF, citing the government using them as tools to further their political agenda, while there were a number of students who wore being in and out of Israeli jails as a badge of honor.

Most saw Israel as their enemy and occupier and that the only solution was all of Israel is Palestine. One student from Modern College University, where three students were involved in recent stabbing attacks against Israelis, was anxious to share that the only answer is to stab, shoot or kill Israelis.

Article written by Felice Friedson and Dima AbumariaIsrael exports weapons to countries across the world, with its biggest buyers being India Vietnam and Azerbaijan , according to a report released this week by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



Israel is the 7th largest exporter of weapons in the world, according to the SIPRI report. Over the past five years, the export of Israeli weapons systems climbed by 55 percent compared to the five years that preceded it, which is the biggest increase among the top 10 arms exporters.

Almost half (49%) of Israeli weapons exported from 2013 to 2017 went to India, 13% to Azerbaijan and 6.3% to Vietnam.

Prime Minister Netanyahu with Indian Prime Minister Modi (Photo: Kobi Gideon/GPO)

Over the past year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Israel , while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently made a reciprocal visit to India . During both visits, the two nations put an emphasis on massive sales of arms from Israel to India, including Barak aerial defense missiles , IAI Eitan (Heron TP) drones, airborne targeting and navigation pods, and several deals-in-the-making for IAI EL/M-2075 Phalcon , an early warning systems for aircraft, and Spike anti-tank missiles

India tests Barak 8 missile (   )

X

Indian imports from Israel increased by 285% over the past five years, compared to 2008-2012, the report found.

According to the SIPRI report, Israel provided India and Azerbaijan with, inter alia, loitering munitions (known as a suicide drone).

There have been reports the Israeli IAI Harop drone, which is said to be a suicide drone, was seen in battles between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Video footage published by the Washington Post in 2016 purports to show an IAI Harop drone crashing onto targets in Armenia.

Video purporting to show Israeli suicide drone crashing on Armenian target

X

Israel's arms sale to Azerbaijan also led to a scandal. Israeli company Aeronautics reportedly carried out a "live demonstration" of an attack of one its suicide drones on a military post in Armenia at the request of Azerbaijan's military. The Israel Police's Lahav 433 unit, in conjunction with the Defense Ministry, launched an investigation against the company "about a deal with a significant client." A gag order has been placed on all details of the investigation and the names of the suspects.

Israel is also the third-largest arms provider for South Korea, Italy and Britain.

In arms imports, Israel is 17th in the world, according to the report. Israel has increased its import of arms by 125% over the past five years. Sixty percent of this weapon came from the United States, including 50 F-35 fighter jets, only nine of which has so far been delivered.

An F-35 fighter jet (Photo: Reuters)

Germany was responsible for 30% of Israel's arms imports, including two submarines , but excluding three additional submarines that are at the center of a police corruption investigation.

Italy, which provides the Israeli Air Force with its training planes, is responsible for 10% of Israel's arms imports.

In total, there has been a 10% increase in international arms sales, with 32% of the weapons going to the Middle East. The arms import in the region has doubled over the past five years, continuing a similar trend in the five years that preceded it.

The United States, Britain and France are the largest arms suppliers to the Middle East, while Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates are the largest buyers. Britain, for example, sold almost half of its exported weapons to Saudi Arabia.

In total, Saudi Arabia has increased its arms imports by 225%, buying among other things 78 fighter jets, 72 combat helicopters and 328 tanks - used mostly in Riyadh's war against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Saudi is second largest arms importer after India, and is ahead of Egypt, UAE and China.

Saudi forces in Yemen (Photo: AFP)

Meanwhile Iran, which has been fighting for years to keep the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad in power, didn't even make it into the list of top 40 importers. According to the report, only 1% of the weapons coming into the region went to Tehran. The reasons for that, among other things, are the arms embargo on Iran and the fact it relies on its proxies (such as Hezbollah) and on terrorism to achieve its objectives. It is also possible covert arms deals were not included in the report.

The United States is the largest arms exporter in the world, selling weapons to at least 98 nations. Its weapons sale, which increased by 25%, made up one third of all international arms exports. Russia, number two on the list of exporters, saw a 7% drop in its arms sales. The American arms export from 2013 to 2017 was 58% bigger than Russian exports.

Almost half of the American arms over the past five years were sold to the Middle East, with Saudi Arabia at the top of its buyers list followed by the UAE, Australia, Taiwan, Iraq, India, Turkey, Britain and Egypt.

France, Germany, China and Britain complete the first 6 spots on the arms exporters list, followed by Israel at 7.An explosion was heard Saturday a few minutes after 4pm in the eastern portion of the Gaza Strip, in the vicinity of the area in which two explosive devices detonated Thursday morning. Saturday's incident marked the fifth time in three months a device was detonated near the Gaza fence.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



Palestinian sources reported that a short time after the explosion the IDF fired several tank shells at a target east of Shuja'iyya, which may have been an observation postconjecture later corroborated in an official IDF statement.

File photo. IDF forces near the Gaza border (Photo: AFP)

The IDF released a statement saying, "An explosive device detonated near the border fence in the northern Gaza Strip. No forces were in the vicinity at the time of the explosion. No damage or casualties were caused to our forces."

Several explosives detonated near the Gaza border fence in the northern strip Thursday, intended to target security forces. No Israeli forces were harmed. In retaliation, the IDF used tank and aircraft fire to target Hamas terror targets east of Jabalia.

The IDF's retaliatory strike Thursday

X

According to Palestinian sources, two other observation posts and an outpost in the northern strip were hit, and no Palestinian casualties were reported.

Between three and four charges were detonated in close proximity to an IDF force patrolling the region, which was nevertheless some distance away from the explosion. The military's vehicles were also unharmed.

The incident occurred near a point in the border where hundreds of Palestinians demonstrate every weekend, between the Gaza neighborhood of Shuja'iyya and the Nahal Oz kibbutz.

The region near the fence was declared a close military zone to expedite the dismantling of the devices, with the IDF now inspecting whether charges were once again placed under the cover of weekly protests.

Hamas is said to be using border protests as a cover to plant explosive charges near the fence (Photo: AFP)

4 soldiers wounded last month when device detonates near fence

In February, two soldiers were seriously wounded and two others moderately and lightly wounded when an explosive device was set off near an IDF patrol around the border fence in the southern Gaza Strip, opposite the Ein HaShlosha kibbutz.

Events surrounding last month's explosion (:  ,    )

X

Emergency services flooded the scene and the wounded were airlifted to the Soroka University Medical Center in Be'er Sheva. The IDF retaliated with aircraft fire at several Gaza targetsincluding Hamas outposts.

Among those wounded are a Combat Engineering officer who was seriously wounded and a company commander from Golani's 13th Battalion who was lightly wounded.

One of the soldiers wounded last month brought into Soroka Hospital (Photo: Haim Horenstein)

The explosive device was affixed to a Palestinian flag and appeared to have been placed near the fence under the cover of Friday's demonstrations nearby. Golani and Combat Engineering forces were inspecting several suspicions locations in the vicinity when the explosion occurred.

An initial inquiry into the incident found that trackers scoured the area, after which Combat Engineering soldiers approached the flag, under cover of the Golani soldiers, at which point the device was set off.

The IDF noted a growing trend of escalation in the protests organized by Hamas near the border fence, which have included use of weapons such as frag grenades. The demonstrations were "unacceptable manipulations," as per the army.Shir Cohen, 18, a student of the coed Aderet pre-army preparatory program in the Ella Valley south of Beit Shemesh, suffers from a rare condition that caused her face to be deformed, but insisted on fighting to enlist in the IDF despite her hardships.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



"It was important for me to enlist," she said. "There's no reason carrying on life as usual while all of my friends are contributing to the country."

A snippet of the Masa 70 march ( '' 70'')

X

Cohen was also a participant in Masa 70, a Keren Hayesod-sponsored project seeing two marches leave Tel Hai in the north and Eilat in the south simultaneously, to meet in Jerusalem's Western Wall just before Israel's 70th Independence Day.

Shir Cohen, 18, volunteered for IDF service despite suffering from a rare syndrome and joined to march in the Masa 70 project (Photo: Masa 70)

Some 300 cadets began their march Thursday from the army's officer training school, known colloquially as Bahad 1, to Mitzpe Ramon. Cohenborn to a religious family in the settlement of Efrat and later going off the derechmarched alongside her parents.

The young woman insisted on volunteering for army service, and was assigned the role of a computer system infrastructure administrator in the Computer Service Directorate. "I only have a medical condition," she explained. "There's no real reason for me not to enlist."

She considered it every woman's duty to make a significant contribution to the country. "Even if they had denied my request to volunteer, I would have asked for national service," she added. "Equal rights are very important to me and so I, as a woman, wanted to serve in a meaningful capacity."

The syndrome that Cohen suffers from, which affects her facial features, has no other medical implications.

'I have to prove I'm 'okay' more than others'

Cohen further expounded that, "This thing has impacted the way I see the world and has changed it. I need, more than others, to prove that I'm 'okay,' that my brain functions, that's I'm not stupid.

Shir and her family (Photo: Masa 70)

"It doesn't mean I can't be a happy person, or that I don't have a lot of friends and it certainly doesn't mean I can't study, enlist and start a family."

Despite no longer being religious, Cohen said she had "the utmost respect for religion and Judaism" and considered them "important values."

She explained, however, that during her life she had "many quandaries that led to the realization it was no longer my path to tread."

Speaking about her parents, she said, "They love me and have always supported me. Thanks to them, it's much easier for me to live in peace and happiness with this syndrome."

The Mitzpe Ramon contingent of Masa 70 (Photo: Masa 70)

With the split between religious and secular populations in Israel worsening, Cohen divulged her reason for signing up to the coed pre-army program. "It's important to know how to bridge everyone's gaps," she said. "Religious and secular, left-wingers and right-wingerswe all live in the program together, in peace and mutual considerationand I think that's the driving force behind all coed programs."

President Rivlin starts Masa 70: 'A birthday present to the country and its society'

President Reuven Rivlin started the Masa 70 race in Tel Hai last week. "This journey was intended for marching, speaking and connecting," he said, adding, "It's a birthday present for the country andif I may be so boldto the entire Israeli society."

"This is the correct way to get acquainted with Israel's land and its peopleto climb the mountains, cross the valleys, march shoulder to shoulder and just talk. It is in these days of splits, divisions and polarization that we should march together. See you in Jerusalem in seven weeks' time," he concluded.

The march's starting event, held at Tel Hai's historic Roaring Lion Monument, began with a photo showcasing Tel Hai's fighting men and women, reenacted by students of the Tavor pre-army program dressed in period garb and carrying ancient weapons.

The event was attended by some 1,000 participants, including students from the Tel-Hai Academic College, Givati Brigade soldiers, girls performing national service, pupils, members of youth movements and representatives from bereaved families.

President Rivlin (center) in the northern region starting off point (Photo: Tomer Ben Avi)

Rivlin gave the march's flag to descendants of soldiers who participated in the 1948 battles around Tel Hai and later started the march, with participants marching in the first portion through Kiryat Shmona and terminating at the Yiftah kibbutz.

Simultaneously with the northern region event, a similar event was held the same morning in the south. The starting event took place near Eilat's Ink Flag statue and began with a reenactment of the raising of the famed ink flag, signed by 70 soldiers who fought in Israel's War of Independencesome of whom participated in Operation Uvda to capture Eilat during the same war.

Students reenacting the raising of the ink flag over Eilat with IDF veterans (Photo: Ori Ron)

The flag arrived to the ceremony by sea from the Taba border crossingthe southernmost point in Israelcarried by two Israeli Navy Dabur-class patrol boats, and was handed over from army and veteran representatives to the younger generation.

Students of the Hatzeva pre-army program then reenacted the raising of the ink flag over Eilat.SYDNEY  The Vietnamese Government pledges to maintain the stable macro environment, continue improving the institutional quality and state government, and boosting the rule of law, for foreign businesses, especially those from Australia, to land investment and expand operation in Viet Nam, said Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

In a meeting with Australias leading enterprises in finance, banking, agriculture and construction sectors in Sydney on Saturday during his official visit to Australia, PM Phuc hoped that more Australian investors will be interested in Vietnamese seafood import as Viet Nam holds huge potential in this sector.

Representatives from the Australian groups lauded Viet Nams efforts in improving the business climate and investment promotion as well as promoting connections between enterprises from the two countries to bolster bilateral collaboration.

Christina Tonkin, Managing Director, Loans and Specialised Finance for Institutional Banking for ANZ Investment Bank, felt upbeat about the Vietnamese market thanks to the countrys political stability, growing population, large volume of foreign direct investment and an increase in bourgeois people.

Meanwhile, Mark Forber, CEO at the Akvotek seafood export group, noticed that as 80 per cent of the seafood amount in Australia is imported, there are rooms for Viet Nam and Australia to co-operate in the sector.

The same day, Phuc hosted a reception for Rohan Garnett, Executive Manager at Qantas Airways - the national flag carrier of Australia, in which he congratulated Qantas Airway on its success in regional and international markets, including Viet Nam.

He underlined that the establishment of the strategic partnership would serve as a boon to enhance co-operation between the two countries. To that end, he asked Qantas Airways to further collaboration with Vietnamese airlines in improving flight safety and reducing costs.

The Government always supports foreign firms like Qantas Airways so that they can join hands with those from Viet Nam for mutual growth.

Garnett spoke highly of Viet Nams socio-economic achievements, stressing that Viet Nam had been an attractive destination to many foreign tourists and investors and the number of passengers using Qantas services to go to Viet Nam has risen for years.

He wished to receive further support from the Vietnamese Government so that the airlines can reap further achievements in the Southeast Asian nation.

During his stay in Australia, PM Phuc had a meeting with former US Ambassador to Viet Nam Pete Peterson, who had made significant contributions to the co-operative ties between Viet Nam and the US.  VNSThe Russian Embassy in Israel published an irregular official statement over the weekend praising the Israeli governmentwhich the statement referred to as "West Jerusalem"over its "wise position" regarding the March poisoning of a Russian double agent and his daughter in southern England.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



The Israeli statement, published Thursday by Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon, read, "Israel views with gravity the event which took place in Great Britain and condemns it vigorously. We hope that the international community will cooperate in order to avoid such further events."

Sergei Skripal (R) and his daughter Yulia. Russia lauded Israel's 'wise position' regarding the pair's poisoning

joint statement by the United States, France and Germany had done.

The British Embassy in Israel released its own statement Thursday, saying, "Embassy officials have met with senior (Israeli) officials over the past few days for talks in which the topic was broached. We expect a firm show of support from all our partners, considering the gravity of the challenge Russia's actions pose to the international legal system."

British PM Theresa May's statement blaming Russia for the Skripals' poisoning (: )

X

Countering claims of Russian involvement in the attack, the Russian embassy said in its statement it "noted with concern attempts undertaken by the government of the United Kingdom and supported by some other foreign nations and a number of media outlets, to draw Israel into political and propagandistic campaign, which was unleashed by London under the false pretext of Russia's alleged involvement in the poisoning of Sergey and Yulia Skripal."

The embassy then launched a blatant attack against the UK, saying, "Such actions constitute an unprecedented, flagrant provocation that undermines foundations of normal dialogue between countries, seriously challenges the international rules-based system, including article 2(4) of the UN Charter.

The Salisbury scene of the attack (Photo: Reuters)

"Russia is extremely concerned over the incident that took place in the UK amid the fact that one of the victims is a Russian citizen (Ms. Yulia Skripal) and that toxic agents allegedly were used.

"Russia called the British government for the beginning of concrete joint work towards providing material and all possible information, as well as for the investigation of the incident in a multilateral and transparent way using established international formats and instruments, including the framework of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weaponsa specialized world body for such matters."

Footage from the Salisbury scene of the attack ()

X

The statement further appealed to the UK to allow Russia access to the spy's daughter Yulia. "Such a willingness to cooperate in order to efficiently investigate what happened was confirmed in four diplomatic notes to the British Foreign Office and several public statements made by authorized Russian officials, including the Foreign Minister, the representatives to the UN and OPCW," the statement added, but alleged that, "In response, we received zero information from the British side except for ultimatums and threats."

The embassy also touched on the alleged use of the Novichok nerve agent, attributed to Moscow, saying, "Russia has never conducted R&D on such an agent. The only nerve gas developed by the USSR is VX."

"In order to surely identify a nerve agent, British experts necessarily need to possess a control standard (reference sample) to compare it with the allegedly used gas," Russia claimed. "If Britain is trying to assure the world that alleged gas is 'Novichok,' it means that London has 'Novichok's' samples and formula of production. Thus, the UK has ability to produce the allegedly used gas."

Israel skirted outright pointing a finger at Russia for the poisoning, reportedly so as not to anger Moscow on the backdrop of Israel's sensitive security interests in Syria and tight relations between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Russia's countermeasure

Russia expelled 23 British diplomats on Saturday in a carefully calibrated retaliatory move over British accusations that the Kremlin orchestrated the nerve toxin attack.

Escalating a crisis in relations, Russia said it was also shutting down the activities of the British Council, which fosters cultural links between the two countries, and withdrawing agreement for Britain to operate a consulate-general in St. Petersburg.

British ambassador in Moscow Laurie Bristow leaving the Russian Foreign Ministry (Photo: Reuters)

The Russian Foreign Ministry said it was giving the 23 British diplomats one week to leave the country.

The move followed Britain's decision on Thursday to expel 23 Russian diplomats over the attack in the English city of Salisbury that left former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia Skripal, 33, critically ill in hospital.

The ministry said Moscow's measures were a response to what it called Britain's "provocative actions and groundless accusations." It had warned London it stood ready to take further measures in the event of more "unfriendly steps."Following the Council for Higher Education affording the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) autonomy in issuing master's degrees last week, Ynet has learned that the council will convene again this week to discuss whether to allow the IDC to also grant doctorates.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



If the motion is approved, the private academic institution will be spared receiving approval for master's degrees from the Council for Higher Education. Regarding the issuing of doctorates, it appeared the IDC will only be initially cleared to grant law doctorates.

The IDC was founded in 1994 by Prof. Uriel Reichman and today boasts a student body of some 7,000 students. It receives no public funds and is administered using students' tuitionwhich at NIS 40,200 annually is four times larger than tuition at public universitiesand private donations.

File photo. IDC students (Photo: Ido Erez)

The college hosts law, computer science, business administration, communications, psychology and economics faculties.

Sources with knowledge of the inner workings of the processspearheaded by Education Minister Naftali Bennettsaid the likelihood of its implementation was "very high."

Bennett himself spoke on the matter, saying, "Turning the Interdisciplinary Center into a university is a great step in pushing higher education forward and a better future for Israel's youngsters.

"Opening advanced degree tracks at the Interdisciplinary Center will provide more students with a broader opportunity to realize their abilities, and allow more outstanding, brilliant minds to become more professional in their fields.

Education Minister Bennett said the move will 'push education forward' (Photo: Marc Israel Sellem)

"This decision will be brought before the Council for Higher Education next week, and we'll be able to get underway. I wish to congratulate all of my partners in promoting this momentous move. The world of academia is the foundation of a stable economy, and any such step will therefore invariably lead to improving Israel's quality of life."

MK Yona: 'Road to doctorate will hinge on economic means'

Unsurprisingly, the proposed move was met with vociferous opposition. MK Yossi Yona (Zionist Union), for instance, adamantly claimed that, "Unlike many other fields, education still allows to find congruence between high costs and the quality of the 'product.'

"The more a person pays, the better the service they wish to receive, causing the quality of education to potentially drop."

MK Yona added that, "Some study programs in colleges are considered prestigious, but those admitted to them were people with the means to pay exorbitant sums."

The Zionist Union MK also voiced his concerns that Israel's higher education will undergo a process of "Americanization" and that "university lecturers will trickle to private institutionsa process that may be expedited due to the IDC decision."

MK Yona warned that economic abilities may become the standard for attaining education (Photo: Knesset spokesmanship, Hadas Parush)

"We're at the beginning of a process in which more and more private colleges will grant advanced degrees," he said, "with the path to a doctorate possibly hinging greatly on applicants' economic means."

Voices within academia were also perturbed by the decision, cautioning against a degradation in academic standards. A prominent legal professor said, "The question is whether an institution seeking to be recognized as a university meets academic criteria. If it does, there's no reason not to recognize it as a university."

"The IDC's law school is not bad," the professor added, "but it isn't as good as universities' law schools."

The Council for Higher Education provided comment, saying, "According to the council's decision from 2014, institutions for higher learning that have yet to be certified to grant doctoral degrees may petition to become so, as long as they meet the council's prerequisites.

"The IDC has submitted a request to open a law doctoral program and the council will discuss whether it has met its conditions. In any event, it should be noted the council's debate will only deal with meeting conditions to grant doctorates, rather than the institution's definition."

The Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center declined comment.Some 150 people from the "South Tel Aviv Liberation Front" and the right-wing Im Tirzu movement are protesting in favor of migrants' deportation outside the Tel Aviv home of Supreme Court Chief Justice Esther Hayut.

Protesters are decrying the temporary injunction issued by the High Court against deportation this week.

Some 25 people are also present, protesting against deportation and in favor of the court.Lieutenant Ziv Daus, 21, of Azur, and Sergeant Netanel Kahalani, 20, of Elyakim are the two soldiers murdered in the West Bank terror attack Friday, it was cleared for publication Saturday evening. Daus was a company commander with the army's search and rescue brigade, whereas Kahalani was a driver in Menashe Territorial Brigade routine security operations.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



The two received the customary posthumous promotions to higher ranks.

The attack's victims Sergeant Netanel Kahalani (L) and Lieutenant Ziv Daus

"His mother heard there was an attack, got scared and tried calling himbut he couldn't answer," his uncle recounted, adding, "Ziv was a quiet boy, loved people and was humble. He did everything to contribute to the countryupping his medical profile to serve as a combat soldier. Some people are motivated by hatred, whereas we're motivated by love. Those who are motivated by love will prevail."

"Six months ago, Ziv asked his mother to buy another soldier a watch with his own money. He said the soldier keeps receiving punishments because he didn't own a watch and was always late. That shows his values," his uncle concluded.

Neighbor Michal Sagiv also shared Daus's travails towards combat service, saying, "He fought to raise his medical profilelowered due to asthmaso he could serve in a combat role. He wanted to serve in a combat role and loved his service. His mother would say she fears for him."

Lieutenant Ziv Daus

Daus is the first IDF casualty belonging to Home Front Command's search and rescue brigade to be killed in army operations. Command's regular brigade was created five years ago, and includes the coed battalions of Kedem (whose soldiers were wounded in the attack), Ram, Shachar and Tavor.

The brigade undertakes operations in the West Bank and near the Israeli border with Egypt. In the past few years, the brigade's soldiers have sustained serious injuries in operationsincluding an officer seriously wounded by an explosion near the village of Hizma and a female soldier mortally wounded by a stabbing in Binyaminbut Daus was the first mortality.

The other soldier killed in the attack, Netanel Kahalani, is survived by his parents and four siblings. "Netanel was like a present," his mother Naomi said. "I thank God for giving that boy to me. He had a heart of gold. He was loved everywhere. I loved him so much and he'll be in my heart forever."

Netanel celebrated his 20th birthday last month in a karaoke party with his friends, his mother said, adding, "He loved it so much. They partied to the morning."

Sergeant Netanel Kahalani

Netanel's father Danny demanded a death penalty for terrorists, "or this will never stop. I have another son in the army and another one about to enlist. Who can promise me he'll return alive and well? I don't sleep at night as it is."

"Netanel was a boy who never had a chance to do anything. We sent him off to the army and got him back like that. It's a blow to the entire family. I don't know how I can carry on living," his father said ruefully.

Itzik Holvsky, the head of the Megiddo Regional Council whose son studied in the same grade as Kahalani, said, "The Kahalani family is a splendid family. The entire council bows its head in memory of a talented, wise and well-mannered soldiera wonderful son and an exemplary soldier."

One of Kahalani's family members revealed the family was distantly related to Brig.-Gen. (res.) Avigdor Kahalani. The Megiddo high school in which Netanel was a student opened its gates Saturday afternoon to graduates, Netanel's friends, who were invited in to receive support from faculty. Nearly 70 students and graduates came in.

Sergeant Netanel Kahalani's family members (Photo: Zohar Shachar)

The attack also wounded two soldiersone very seriously and one moderately. They are hospitalized at the Beilinson Hospital at the Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva.

Doctors continued fighting Saturday for the life of the soldier who was seriously wounded in the head and limbs. He underwent several operations and his condition stabilized somewhat, but his life remained in danger. The soldier who was moderately wounded also underwent an operation on his limbs overnight.

A Shin Bet interrogation of terrorist Alaa Kabha, a security prisoner released from Israeli prison in April of last year, showed that the car ramming was intentional and nationalistically motivated.

While the terrorist initially claimed it was an accident, he later changed his account and admitted he wanted to murder soldiers. His brother remained in custody as his involvement in the attack is examined.

Terrorist Alaa Kabha admitted the attack was nationalistically motivated

Shin Bet added that no other persons involved in the attack or aware of Kabha's intentions were known at present, meaning he was a "lone wolf" terrorist acting without the guidance of a terror group or any affiliation thereof.

Checkpoints set up around terrorist's village, his home mapped for demolition

IDF forces from the Menashe Territorial Brigade carried out extensive operations overnight Friday in the village of Barta'a, the home of Kabha, 26.

A suspect was arrested during the operation, and troops conducted searches for hidden weapons. The following day, IDF forces put up checkpoints around the village, inspecting Palestinian vehicles traveling in the vicinity, fearing more people from the village or Kabha's extended clan will be inspired to commit similar attacks.

IDF forces in the terrorist's village (Photo: IDF Spokesman's Office)

Troops also raided Kabha's home, questioned members of his family and arrested his brother for further interrogation. Engineering forces mapped the terrorist's home in preparation for its demolition.

An initial investigation into the incident found that when they were spotted by the terrorist, the troops were standing near a pillbox post located between the village of Ya'bad and nearby olive plantations. The two slain soldiers were standing at the front of their jeep, while the other two stood on the vehicle's other side, near the road.

Upon spotting the soldiers, the terrorist veered from the road, sped up, and hit Daus and Kahalani first. The two were killed instantly.

The terrorist then sped towards the two other troops, wounding one very seriously and the other moderately. At some point, the terrorist also hit the barbed-wire fence that surrounded the pillbox post.

The scene of the attack (Photo: Ido Erez)

The IDF's assessment is that only seconds passed between the time the terrorist hit the first two soldiers to when he hit the other two, leaving the troops no time to respond and fire at him.

The terrorist's Hyundai jeep has been completely destroyed in the attack, with vehicle parts scattered to considerable distances from the spot of the attack, which is a testament to the force with which he rammed into the soldiers.- The EU is begging Ghanaians to travel legally to Europe

- Officials from the EU say some Ghanaians are now begging for alms in shopping malls

- Thousands of Ghanaians currently migrate illegally to the EU

Officials of the European Union are expressing concern over the trend of Ghanaian immigrants in the EU begging for alms across the various shopping malls in Europe,

The head of the EU delegation to Ghana, William Hanna has described the situation as worrying stating that it is very disappointing for Ghanaians to be in such a situation.

READ ALSO: Kennedy Agyapong calls for Abeiku Santana to be jailed

Speaking at a lecture on migration at the University of Ghana, the powerful EU official revealed that the whole story of illegal migration to EU is very sad and troubling.

I have a very deep picture in my mind of walking around Romeand I see Ghanaians begging at supermarkets probably to make some money and I dont see much dignity in that, he said.

According to the EU, it is not true that the Europeans are not interested in kicking out Ghanaian immigrants just that they want them to travel very legally. Illegal migration remains one of the troubling issues government currently faces. Just recently, the United States of America deported about 80 Ghanaians living there illegally.

This represents the second time in 2017 that a mass Ghanaian contingent has been deported from the US. It would be remembered that over 108 Africans were deported from the US in January  a number which comprised of 58 Ghanaians.

The exercise is in line with a campaign promise by US President Donald Trump, who pledged to deport all foreign nationals who entered the country illegally.

The then-candidate Trump was of the view that foreign nationals had invaded the USA, taking over jobs that were meant for true Americans. He, therefore, promised to deal with the matter if voted into power in the 2016 polls.

RED ALSO: I am not a lesbian - Kumawood actress clears air

And after winning the elections, it appears the US president is bent on keeping to his words. An estimated 7,000 Ghanaians are illegally living in the US, according to the countrys ambassador to Ghana, Robert P. Jackson.

Who is going to be Ghanas next top pastor?

Send us a message via our official Facebook and/or Instagram page to get it published on YEN.com.gh

Source: Yen- Kojo Antwi says it is scary to hear the use of guns in Ghana music industry

- The Maestro says hew was alarmed when he first heard gun shot reports

Celebrated Ghanaian musician, Kojo Antwi has bemoaned the growing spate of gangsterism that is creeping into the Ghana music industry.

According to the music legend, it is scary to hear the use of guns and other offensive weapons amid fierce attacks and confrontations within the industry.

READ ALSO: Bullet breaks down in remembrance of talented Ebony

Speaking on the recent scuffle between dancehall artiste, Stonebwoy and artiste manager Bulldog, Kojo Antwi revealed that he was blown away after hearing the gun shots report.

I said, is that Ghana? Is that happening in the industry that groomed me? Its scary, he told Joy FM.

There was total chaos at the Paloma Hotel on Saturday, after some workers of Zylofon Media led by Bulldog, allegedly attacked Stonebwoy and his crew who were holding a mini concert at the venue.

Further reports say the scuffle between the two parties even became scary after Bulldog and his men attempted to seize Stonebwoys vehicle given to him by Zylofon Media as part of his record signing deal.

Stonebwoy was said to have fired warning shots as self-defense.

READ ALSO: NDC hates me to the core - Owusu Bempah speaks

However, Kojo Antwi, in his conversation said "gangsterism" is not part of the culture of the Ghanaian music industry.

I read something last week and I felt like, this is not the industry that I was introduced to. Some people going for a car from an artiste and gunshots and all that, the Maestro lamented

He also added that, what Zylofon is doing is good, but advised that they must find a way to mend differences between some of the artistes because they have a lot of great musicians [on the label].

The legendary musician lauded Zylofon Media, noting that the Ghana music industry needs support.

READ ALSO: Tourism Minister speaks on Stonebwoy, Zylofon Media fracas

Meet emerging music star Kobla Jnr on Star Gist with Yen.com.gh

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- Hundreds of Ghanaians are to demonstrate against mining at the Atewa Forest

- The government wants to mine bauxite in the reserve

- This is to get leverage of a $15 billion deal with China

Government's decision to begin mining in the Atewa Forest Reserve has angered many Ghanaians.

The virgin forest, which was established some 92 years ago, remains the mother life to thousands of species and also the headwaters for three major rivers namely Ayensu, Densu, and Birim.

READ ALSO: Kennedy Agyapong names Rawlings and wife in 'dubious' airport contract

But government has committed to mine bauxite in the Reserve "within the range" as leverage for a $15 billion joint venture deal with China to develop an integrated aluminum industry.

It is for this reason that hundreds of aggrieved Ghanaians across the country have come together for a massive protest against this move by the government. This is being led by a group called Concerned Citizens of the Atewa Landscape.

In a statement, the group explained the reason for the walk saying it is "to mobilize and rally citizen action to compel the government to rescind plans to mine bauxite within the Atewa Forest Reserve due to its vital water."

READ ALSO: I am not a lesbian - Kumawood actress clears air

The Atewa Forest is one of two such virgin forest reserves in Ghana covering a total land area of 263km2, which represents about 33 percent of the remaining closed forest in Eastern Region.

Who is going to be Ghanas next top pastor?

Send us a message via our official Facebook and/or Instagram page to get it published on YEN.com.gh

Source: YenEver thought of how our politicians looked in the late 80s or early 90's, have you ever even wondered how Ghana looked like back in the days of British rule?

These well sought out photos gives you the chance to turn back the time machine to how Ghana actually looked like years back in history.

READ ALSO: Ashanti Region records about 200 deaths from Malaria- health promoter

Ex President Jerry Rawlings and his family in that executive photo

Johnson Asiedu Nketiah taking notes as then president Rawlings gives a speech

This was the 'Accra Mall' of the early 80's (check out what the footwear was)

Kwame Nkrumah playing tennis

The Portuguese were the first Europeans to reach Ghana in 1471. They found that Ghana was rich in gold and they started trading with locals. The commodity traded at the coast was gold, thus the name Gold Coast.

The Portuguese wanted control of the Gold Coast, so they made plans and built a fortress at Elmina. They later left. In the 18th century, the commodity of trade shifted from gold to slaves. The country became a full British protectorate in 1902. This was after a very long struggle of resistance by the Ashanti kingdom that lasted more than a decade.

Nkrumah casting his votes ahead of an election

The colonial period lasted a total of fifty-five years from the year 1902-1957. The colonialists were not as violent as was the case in other states. The major problem was the exclusion of Africans in politics. The road to independence in Ghana started with World War II. Africans were enlisted in the British army to assist in their troops in fighting the war.

The veterans returned with the idea of freedom. The myth about the superiority of the white man had been erased from their minds during the world war.They saw similarities in the war they fought in Europe with the events that were happening in their country. They came up with political outlets to further their cause.

READ ALSO: Make the best out of the weekend with these 5 clever steps

Ghanas economy was blossoming after independence. After independence, the country rolled out an ambitious plan to improve the economy through expansion. The plans were overambitious since it landed the country in a lot of debt that they were unable to pay.

Watch video of top 10 most discussed Ghanaian pastors

Send us a message via our official Facebook and/or Instagram page to get it published on YEN.com.gh

Source: Yen GhanaJust recently, a local report suggested that over 40% of Ghana's university graduates are jobless. As disturbing as the development sounds you may find out that this list of moderately decent paying jobs in Ghana can best save you from unemployment as a young college graduate.

1. Project work assistant

Being a university graduate gives you the needed capacity to make a living out of assisting final year college students with their dissertations.

All you need is a clear way of making your offer known at the various colleges of education universities in the country and trust me, you could be making hundreds of cedis just before the end of a semester. As at now, dissertation writers make at least 2000 cedis per project work.

2Door-to-door cleaning

This kind of business has revolutionized the traditional dry cleaning model. All you need is a sense of quality, competitive pricing and on-time delivery guarantee just so you get your foot rooted in such a business.

This business can take the form of laundry, car-washing, ironing, dry cleaning and so on. The most amazing fact about this venture is that you tend to determine your own pricing!

3Private home tuition

Do you have any idea how parents are in search of private home tutors? Private home tuition in Ghana remain one of the lucrative jobs most Ghanaian graduate youths can ever have themselves into.

Pricing of students are often based on the discretion of the tutor so you would have much say in how much you will be making either per day or per month. Private tuition is one of the most expensive services in Ghana with some tutors even charging in dollars! All you need is to be an expert in the very field you would love to teach.

4. Blogging

The good old blogging always makes it to the list of moderately decent jobs for unemployed university graduates. Blogging is a form of entrepreneurial journalism which gives the writer (Blogger) the chance to electronically write about any issue of interest through the use of either a customized or free blog.

The interesting thing about this venture is that you get to win juicy advertisements on your blog should the content of your blog or website appeal best to a specific audience.

5Real estate agent

This job is taking much ground among young and buoyant graduates in Ghana, especially Accra where the renting of apartments remains very tedious and expensive. You would need no qualification for this this job as you remain your own boss!

Succeeding in this business means being able to swiftly figure out various vacant apartments which are up for rent and advertise them manually (through posters) or electronically (advertisements).

Per recent agent agreements, a prospective tenant would have to pay a whopping 10% of the total rent he or she is paying to their landlord - that's quiet a mouth watering payment.

Watch video of top 10 most discussed Ghanaian pastors

Send us a message via our official and Facebook and Instagram pages to get it published on YEN.com.gh

Source: YenBAC KAN  Sixty collectors of wild medicinal and aromatic plants met in the northern province of Bac Kan on Thursday to report their achievements in implementing a programme titled Enhancing Management and Benefit Flows in Viet Nams Wild Medicinal Products.

The three-year project had helped train over 1,000 local wild plant harvesters, including 460 women, in sustainable harvesting techniques and equitable trading practices based on FairWild Standard principles, an international best practices framework developed by TRAFFIC and others to help ensure that wild plants are harvested using sustainable methods and in ethical working conditions.

By following the guidelines, local co-operatives and groups reported a 20 per cent increase in their giao co lam (jiaogulan or Gynostemma pentaphyllum) harvest in the final year of the project.

Sales of medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) from collector co-operatives and groups were almost six tonnes higher than in 201718, with both harvesting and sales becoming more consistent.

The programme also succeeded in securing a trade contract with a national corporation at purchase prices 5 per cent above market rates.

We are very proud of the achievements of the collectors of Bac Kan, Nguyen Huu Thang, director of the province Forest Protection Department, said.

The fundamentals instilled by the project will go a long way in increasing the capacity of local collectors.

The wrap-up workshop crystallised the lessons learnt over the projects lifecycle and looked to how the fundamentals will be replicated by local authorities, communities, and other stakeholders in the future.

The meeting celebrated the progress made towards improving the livelihoods of participants by engaging them in sustainable harvesting of wild MAPs and enhancing their capacity to negotiate higher prices and sales by eliminating links in the trade chain.

Project partners supported the establishment of 16 formal collector groups and registered collector co-operatives and helped secure processing equipment such as herb cutting and drying machines to help improve the shelf life of the products.

Upgrades to the product packaging included vacuum-sealed bags and more attractive labelling.

Another project outcome was support to the Bac Kan Peoples Committee in the development of a One Commune One Product (OCOP) programme that will focus through 2020 on the development of sustainably sourced products from four medicinal plants: Hypericum sampsonii, Heliciopsis terminalis, Gynostemma pentaphyllum, and Fallopia multiflora.

The Bac Kan project has demonstrated successful implementation of the FairWild Standards best practices for sustainable wild plant harvesting and livelihood improvement for some of the poorest communities utilising these resources. This paves the way for further enhancements of the wild plant trade in Viet Nam, with benefits for species conservation and peoples well-being, Sarah Ferguson, head of TRAFFICs Viet Nam office, said.

An implementation plan was created to provide a framework through which local authorities can continue project objectives beyond TRAFFICs involvement.

The activities of the joint project between the forestry department, the Ha Noi University of Pharmacy, DK Natura, the Ministry of Health, and TRAFFIC, supported by UK Government funding, began in 2015 and officially ended on Thursday. -- VNSHCM CITY  HCM Citys annual Book Festival kicks off on Monday (March 19) at Le Van Tam Park in District 1.

Organised by the citys Peoples Committee, it will feature 300,000 titles this year, including hundreds of new ones, and three million copies that will be sold at discounts of up to 50 per cent at 900 stalls.

The week-long event includes more than 180 international and Vietnamese publishers, distributors, and other companies.

The major foreign names include Cambridge, Oxford University Press, National Geographic, Heuber, Kinokuniya, Mifflin Harcourt and Macmillan.

From Viet Nam, the HCM City General Publishing House, National Politics Publishing House, Tre (Youth) Publishing House, and Phuong Nam Book will be among those taking part.

Among the popular titles on display will be Nguyen ong Thucs Diem i au-Vong Tay Ban Be 1 (Wheres Diem - Friends Arms) and Cuoc Trung Phung Trong Mo - Vong Tay Ban Be II (Meeting in a Dream- Friends Arms), a collection of two books about teenagers.

Kim ong Publishing House will display 4,000 titles of books, including 300 new titles written by young authors.

Tre Publishing Houses 150 new titles are mostly literary books.

The books of authors Phan Trieu Hai, Nguyen Ngoc Thuan and Le Minh Quoc, which are about stories of urban life, will be featured.

Saigon Books will release publications about religion by famous writers, such as the Most Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh, Thich Nhat Tu and Thich Nu Nhuan Binh.

Cultural researchers, veteran and young authors, including An Chi, Pham Hoang Quan, Vien Tran, will take part in seminars and forums about reading held on the festivals sidelines.

HCM City-based Fahasa, a leading book distributor, will award the years Best Book based on readers votes on March 23.

Many books will be given away as gifts on the festivals closing day, March 25. Entrance to the event will be free.

More than one million visitors are expected at the festival.  VNS

A statue of St. Patrick at a church named after him in Northwest Washington. (Gerald Martineau/The Washington Post)

The story of Americas first known Saint Patricks Day celebration begins and ends not in an Irish-American enclave of Boston or New York but in the crumbling colonial splendor of Seville, Spain.

It was there, inside the reading room at the grand Archivo General de Indias in December, that J. Michael Francis stumbled upon something that made even him  Floridas answer to Indiana Jones  laugh out loud.

Buried among thousands of scorched pages of Spanish colonial records from the late 16th and early 17th centuries  receipts for armaments and ship supplies and construction materials and even chalices for churches in the New World  was a list of gun powder expenditures in what was then Spains northernmost colony in the Americas: St. Augustine, Florida.

Francis, a history professor at the University of South Florida at St. Petersburg, had spent two weeks poring over the documents. It was his second-to-last day , and he was eager to get home for Christmas. As he read about canons fired in 1600 in honor of the citys patron, San Augustin, his eyes almost skipped over the mention of another saint, out of place in Colonial America.

San Patricio, a.k.a. Saint Patrick.

At first, it didnt register because it was so unexpected, Francis said in an interview. Then I thought, wait a second, they had a St. Patricks Day celebration in St. Augustine in 1600?

There was another entry from a year later, on March 17, 1601, describing not just a celebration for Saint Patrick but a parade  the first known Saint Patricks Day parade in what would eventually become the United States.

They processed through the streets of St. Augustine, and the canon fired from the fort, Francis said, adding that the marchers likely would have carried an image of the saint and celebrated with food, drink and music. The document also named Saint Patrick the protector of the citys maize fields.



A Spanish colonial document listing a 1601 procession in St. Augustine honoring Saint Patrick, or San Patricio. The document describes the saint as the protector of the fields. (Archivo General de Indias)

So here you have this Irish saint who becomes the patron protector of a New World crop, corn, in a Spanish garrison settlement, Francis said. Its one of those things you encounter that doesnt change the universe, but it was  really quite striking.

The remarkable discovery also raised an intriguing question: How did Saint Patrick come to be celebrated in the colony 250 years before the Great Famine drove a million people out of Ireland, many of them to America?

Who was responsible?

The answer was also found in the fragile documents.

He was known as Padre Ricardo Artur. But his real name was Richard Arthur, and long before he was the priest in St. Augustine, hed been an Irish soldier.

Likely born in Limerick, Arthur had joined military campaigns in Malta, Italy and Flanders, probably to escape the oppressive conditions facing Catholics in Ireland at the time, Francis said. Arthur eventually became a priest, serving as the chaplain for San Juan, Puerto Rico, before coming to St. Augustine in 1597.

It fits beautifully into this kind of Irish narrative that there are Irish people everywhere, and its true, Francis said, laughing. Hes one of them. You know? Hes all over the place, and he likely spent most of his life outside Ireland.





While Arthur was likely responsible for St. Augustine celebrating Saint Patrick, he wasnt alone. There was at least one more Irishman in the city at the time, according to Francis. His name was Darby Glavin, but the Spanish often couldnt pronounce his name, so they called him David Glavid or, even simpler, Davi Glavi.

Glavins globe-trotting was even more impressive than the priests, Francis found. The Irishman was working as a merchant marine in Europe when he was captured by the British and sent to colonize Roanoke. After a year and a half in the ill-fated Virginia colony, he returned to England only to be sent back to Roanoke. This time, he escaped during a stop in Puerto Rico.

In his testimony recorded more than a decade later, Francis wrote on his blog , [Glavin] claimed that he immediately informed Puerto Ricos Spanish governor of an English plot to attack the island.

Glavin moved to St. Augustine around the same time as Arthur, splitting his days between soldiering and selling fine silk, according to Francis.

This little-known story of the first recorded Saint Patricks Day celebrations in what would become the United States is a testament not only to the adventurousness of the Irish, Francis said, but also the diversity found in colonial America.

I like to imagine these two, lone Irishmen celebrating this venerable Irish saint around a bunch of other Spaniards, Portuguese, Native Americans and people of African descent, he said. This whole community celebrating San Patricio.

His findings have upended the longstanding belief that Boston had the countrys oldest documented celebration of Saint Patrick, in 1737, and that New York City had the first parade, in 1762.

Unlike New York City, however, St. Augustines San Patricio parades did not continue. They appear to have died along with Father Arthur, before being revived only recently, Francis said.

For the professor, the importance of his find isnt which city has green-beer bragging rights. He spoke to The Post while in Washington for the launch of La Florida , an interactive digital archive of the Americas that tells the stories of forgotten figures from colonial Florida like Arthur and Glavin.

We want to get people excited again about how incredible this countrys history is, he said, long before the American Revolution and other more well-known episodes in U.S. history.

Read more Retropolis:HA NOI  Viet Nam has made great efforts and significant contributions to the general development of Francophone communities and the French language in the region in recent years, said Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Ha Kim Ngoc at the official ceremony of International Francophone Day 2018, held at the Centre of International Conference on Friday.

The ceremony was jointly held by Viet Nams Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the International Organisation of la Francophonie (OIF) and the Group of Francophone Embassies, Delegations and Institutions in Viet Nam (GADIF).

Attending the event were representatives of many ministries, departments, embassies and French lecturers who have contributed to the development of the French language in Viet Nam, including the chairwoman of the National Assemblys Committee for Social Affairs and chairwoman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophone (APF)s Vietnam-subcommittee, Nguyen Thuy Anh, as well as director of OIF, Adama Ouane, and Eric-Normand Thibeault, director for Asia- Pacific of OIF.

Addressing the ceremony, the Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister praised the achievements of the Francophonie in all fields of co-operation as well as their positive contribution to dealing with global challenges in terms of security and development.

The co-operation between Viet Nam and Francophone communities has been increasingly tightened. Viet Nam, whose role and position have been constantly reinforced and improved, will continue to actively contribute to the solidarity and co-operation within the Francophonie for a global peace and sustainable development, as well as being willing to bridge the strong development of Francophone within the Asian-Pacific region, he said.

Adama Ouane, director of OIF, expressed his delight at the continuous development of the co-operative relationship between OIF and Viet Nam. He also highly evaluated Viet Nams contributions in connecting the Francophonie with the Asian-Pacific region.

Ouane confirmed that OIF appreciated the co-operation with Viet Nam, particularly in the teaching of the language, promoting cultural diversity, launching the Economic Strategy for the International Francophonie and participating in the United Nations missions of peace keeping and dealing with climate change.

At the ceremony, Belgian Ambassador to Viet Nam Jehane Roccas, also the president of GADIF, presented two awards to two Vietnamese people who made important contributions to the promotion of the French language, to the development of the Francophonie and the friendship between Viet Nam and the International Organisation of La Francophone in 2017.

The Honour Award was given to Associate Professor Dr Trinh Van Minh of the Viet Nam National University, Ha Noi and President of the Regional Committee of Experts of lAgence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF) (Francophone Universities Association) in Asia Pacific region. The Ambassador also presented the Youth Award to Dr Tran Thi Nguyen Ny, professor at the HCM City Medicine and Pharmacy University, one of the most dynamic members of AUF.

The GADIF award is annually given to outstanding individuals with significant contributions to the development of the French language in Viet Nam and the co-operative relations between Viet Nam and the OIF.

The ceremony was followed by art performances honouring cultural and linguistic diversity by students from oan Thi iem Primary School and artists from Switzerland and Viet Nam.  VNSSYDNEY  Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc held meetings with Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Governor David Hurley of New South Wales on Friday immediately after he arrived in Sydney, continuing his official visit to Australia.

At the meetings, the PM said he was impressed by the prosperous development of Sydney and New South Wales in general, and congratulated the state on its locomotive position in Australias economy, contributing more than 30 per cent of the national gross domestic product (GDP).



"New South Wales is also an attractive destination for tourists worldwide, including those from Viet Nam," he added.



The leader hoped that with its strength in industry, agriculture, finance and services, the state will enhance co-operation with Viet Nam, especially in areas such as trade, investment, education, science-technology, and tourism, while expanding collaboration with Vietnamese localities, helping deepen the freshly-established Viet Nam-Australia strategic partnership in a more pragmatic fashion, for the sake of the two countries people.



In reply, Premier Berejiklian expressed her impression on Viet Nams development achievements, particularly in economy.



She applauded the ties between Viet Nam and New South Wales, as well as Sydney, stressing that the strategic partnership would offer more opportunities for the two sides to expand co-operation across fields, including training and vocational education.



Sydney was carrying out a four-year project worth AU$80 billion (US$62.4 billion) to upgrade its infrastructure, aiming to attract more foreign tourists and students, and seek co-operation opportunities with Southeast Asian nations, including Viet Nam, she said.



The Premier welcomed the Voice of Vietnam (VOV)s plan to open a representative office in Sydney, pledging to facilitate its operation.



For his part, Governor Hurley said as Chief of the Australian Defence Force during 2011-14, he supported the enhancement of co-operation between Australia and Viet Nam in national defence and security through diverse forms.



He told PM Phuc that Australia had sent many students to take part in exchange programmes in Viet Nam under the New Colombo Plan.



Both the Premier and Governor lauded contributions of the Vietnamese community to the state, describing them as a firm foundation for the friendship and bond between the two countries people.



Later the same day, PM Phuc met with Marie Bashir, former Premier of New South Wales, during which he highly valued the former Premiers contributions to Viet Nams socio-economic development, especially in education, health care and public health through the Forever Learning Fund sponsored by the former Premier, as well as to the Viet Nam-Australia relationship.



The leader expressed his hope that Marie Bashir, in any position, would continue to raise her voice to encourage and foster co-operation between Viet Nam and New South Wales and Australia at large.



Vietnamese people wished to welcome the former Premier to visit Viet Nam at any time, he said.



Marie Bashir promised that she would do her utmost to contribute to enhancing the friendship and strategic partnership between Viet Nam and Australia.



She believed that Viet Nam and Australia would further intensify their role and position and make constructive contributions to the Asia-Pacific region.  VNSBiography of former Prime Minister Phan Van Khai Phan Van Khai was born on December 25, 1933 in Cu Chi, HCM City. He became a member of the Communist Party of Vietnam on July 15, 1959.



He studied foreign languages and economics in Moscow, former Soviet Union (Russia now) from 1959-1965, then worked in the General Affairs Department of the State Planning Committee from 1965 to 1971 with the highest position as head of the office.



From 1972-1975, he was a researcher of the southern economy. In the period, he was sent to the southern battlefield and then served as deputy head of the Government's National Reunification Committee.



From 1976-1984, Khai was Vice Chairman and then Chairman of the Planning Committee, Vice Chairman of the Peoples Committee of HCM City, member of the citys Party Committee.



From 1985 to March 1989, he served as a member of the Party Central Committee, Vice Secretary of the HCM City Party Committee and Chairman of the city Peoples Committee.



From April 1989 to August 1991, he was a member of the Party Central Committee and Chairman of the State Planning Committee.



From July 1991 to August 1997, Khai was a Politburo member and served as Vice Chairman of the Council of Ministers, and Permanent Deputy Prime Minister.



Khai took the office of the Prime Minister from September 1997 to June 2006.



He was a National Assembly deputy of the 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th tenures, and a member of the Politburo in the 7th, 8th and 9th tenures.



He was conferred with the Gold Star Order and the 55-year Party membership badge.

Phan Van Khai was born on December 25, 1933 in Cu Chi, HCM City. He became a member of the Communist Party of Vietnam on July 15, 1959.He studied foreign languages and economics in Moscow, former Soviet Union (Russia now) from 1959-1965, then worked in the General Affairs Department of the State Planning Committee from 1965 to 1971 with the highest position as head of the office.From 1972-1975, he was a researcher of the southern economy. In the period, he was sent to the southern battlefield and then served as deputy head of the Government's National Reunification Committee.From 1976-1984, Khai was Vice Chairman and then Chairman of the Planning Committee, Vice Chairman of the Peoples Committee of HCM City, member of the citys Party Committee.From 1985 to March 1989, he served as a member of the Party Central Committee, Vice Secretary of the HCM City Party Committee and Chairman of the city Peoples Committee.From April 1989 to August 1991, he was a member of the Party Central Committee and Chairman of the State Planning Committee.From July 1991 to August 1997, Khai was a Politburo member and served as Vice Chairman of the Council of Ministers, and Permanent Deputy Prime Minister.Khai took the office of the Prime Minister from September 1997 to June 2006.He was a National Assembly deputy of the 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th tenures, and a member of the Politburo in the 7th, 8th and 9th tenures.He was conferred with the Gold Star Order and the 55-year Party membership badge.SYDNEY  Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc met with his Lao counterpart Thongloun Sisoulith on the sidelines of the ASEAN - Australia Special Summit in Sydney, Australia on Saturday morning.

The Vietnamese PM said in early February, both sides successfully held the 40th meeting of the Viet Nam-Lao Inter-Governmental Committee,during which they agreed to direct the two countries ministries, agencies and localities to successfully embark on the Viet Nam-Laos Co-operation Plan 2018, focusing on port, transport connectivity, trade, energy, electricity purchase for the effective and practical development of traditional friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive partnership between the two nations.

Phuc suggested Laos speed up the simplification of procedures; reduce fees for work permit, visas and residence cards for Vietnamese workers in Laos; and provide continued support for Vietnamese nationals and the establishment of overseas Vietnamese associations in Laos.

Sisoulith, for his part, promised to direct Lao ministries,agencies and localities to work closely with Vietnamese partners to promptly launch the Viet Nam-Laos Co-operation Plan 2018.

He said he would attend the sixth Greater Mekong Sub-region Summit and the 10th Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar-Viet Nam Co-operation Summit to be held in Ha Noi from March 29-31, as well as closely partner with Viet Nam and GMS countries to build and effectively realise economic co-operation programmes in the region.

On Friday afternoon (local time), Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh held a working session with Minister for Trade and Industry of New South Wales state Niall Blair. Both sides discussed in detail co-operation opportunities in air transport between Vietjet and airports in New Castle and Brisbane cities.  VNSHA NOI  Vietnamese leaders on Saturday sent congratulatory messages to their Chinese counterparts who were elected during the first session of the 13th National Peoples Congress.

President and Chairman of the National Defence and Security Council Tran ai Quang extended a message of congratulation to Xi Jinping, who was elected as President of China and Chairman of the Chinese Central Military Commission.

Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan congratulated Li Zhanshu, who was elected as Chairman of the 13th National Peoples Congress (NPC) Standing Committee.

Vice President ang Thi Ngoc Thinh cabled a congratulatory message to Wang Qishan on his election as Vice President of China.  VNSSYDNEY  Officials of Australia and the ASEAN member states signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on strengthening co-operation to counter international terrorism within the framework of the ASEAN  Australia Special Summit in Sydney, Australia on Saturday.

The signing ceremony took place in the presence of ASEAN leaders and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

The MoU is considered a historic breakthrough contributing to strengthening the two sides collaboration in ensuring regional security.

Via signed framework agreements, ASEAN and Australia agreed to enhance counter-terrorism co-operation in terrorist financing and violent extremism.

Australia committed to maintaining annual dialogues between its government, security and law enforcement agencies with ASEAN to seek practical measures to safeguard regional security.

The document features various initiatives and framework agreements covering engineering, anti-terrorism law building, regional dialogues and seminars on electronic evidence, financial intelligence and ways to tackle online radicalisation.

Hi-tech terror threat warned

Also yesterday, Australian Home Affair Minister Peter Dutton named use of encrypted messaging apps to plot terrorist attacks the greatest threat faced by intelligence agencies in modern times in his remarks at the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit that is underway in Sydney.

The use of the dark web by extremists and other criminals was increasing, Dutton noted, adding that they were using encrypted messaging apps to avoid detection by police and intelligence agencies.

He stressed that the only way to tackle the threat and the increasing use of the Internet by terrorist groups like Islamic State to radicalise and recruit new members was to do this together.

It would be a mistake to approach the problem from a national perspective as terrorism and violent extremism transcend national borders, the minister said. Countering the threat required a united and cohesive regional effort involving co-ordination between national security and law enforcement agencies, he added.

Australia has been helping Southeast Asian states deal with terrorist financing and counter violent extremism.

The two sides signed a memorandum of understanding at the summit, with an agreement to pool cyber intelligence and police resources across the region for the first time.

The ASEAN-Australia Special Summit, the first of its kind, opened in Sydney on Friday, in the presence of Turnbull and leaders of ten ASEAN nations including Vietnamese PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

ASEAN and Australia set up relations in 1974. Australia was the first nation establishing official dialogue partnership with ASEAN in all three fields of politics, economics and specialised co-operation.  VNSHA NOI  The press has enthusiastically supported the Government, promoted the Governments integrity and actions, served the people and contributed considerably to the countrys achievements, representatives agreed at a forum held yesterday in Ha Noi.

The forum is one of the activities of the three-day National Press Festival launched on the same day.

Themed Vietnamese press accompanies the nation in the renewal process, the festival attracted the participation of 55 news organisations, press training facilities and press equipment companies from around the country.

At the forum, Nguyen Minh uc, editor-in-chief of the Kinh te o thi (Economics and Urban) newspaper, said that in order to support the building of a facilitating and active government with probity, journalists must also possess the same virtues .

Representatives cut ribbons to launch the festival.  VNA/VNS Photo Minh Quyet

Without integrity, constructive knowledge and the will to act, we can not go along with the Government in this powerful message," said uc.

In addition to enthusiasm, journalists must devote their heart and mind to helping build such a Government, he said.

ong Manh Hung from the Voice of Viet Nam emphasised that building a facilitating and active government with probity was not only the task of the Government, ministries and agencies. It was also an important task of journalists.

Journalists must educate the public about the Governments policy of building a facilitating and active government with probity, and then ensure people support the cause, said Hung.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu uc am gives a speech at the opening ceremony of the National Press Festival.  VNA/VNS Photo Minh Quyet

Attending the opening ceremony of the National Press Festival, Deputy Prime Minister Vu uc am stated that the press contributes to the countrys innovation, helping Viet Nam to develop more sustainably.

Expressing his happiness that the events scale this year was larger than previous years with more attractive content and activities, the Deputy PM said that this was evidence of the national presss development.

It was also the proof of the presss contributions to help other sectors in completing socio-economic targets last year, ensuring security and promoting the image of Viet Nam s people and country to the world, he said.

On display at the festival are New Year press publications as well as outstanding press works published in 2017 and during the first quarter of 2018, including those published by Vietnam News Agency.

Chairman of the Viet Nam Journalists Association and member of the PCC, Thuan Huu, said that the festival would encourage the press workers to fulfill their tasks to meet higher and higher demands of the people.

It was also a good occasion to honour individuals and organisations contributions to the countrys revolutionary press cause. VNSHA NOI  Teachers are increasingly under attack across Viet Nam, requiring administrative and financial solutions from policymakers.

On February 28, at Binh Chanh Primary School in the Mekong Delta province of Long An, the parents of four students demanded a teacher kneel down in retaliation for imposing a similar punishment on the whole class.

The incident deeply shocked a nation where teaching has been long considered a prestigious and respected profession.

Education minister Phung Xuan Nha asked the provincial Peoples Committee to take action to protect the teachers dignity. They responded by expelling of the four parents from the Party.

Days later on March 2, at Ben Tre Provinces Tan Thach Secondary, an eighth grade student strangled his teacher in front of the whole class for asking his friend not to do help him do his work and seizing her notebook.

Last year witnessed several assaults on teachers, causing serious mental and physical damage.

Tran Van Phu, principal of inh Son Primary School in the Central Province of Nghe An, in October, had his face cut as he tried to stop a fight among students parents.

In September, Pham Thi H, a young teacher at Hai Phong Citys ang Cuong Primary School was ferociously attacked by a group of parents for beating a student for not wearing a uniform. She is still recovering at Viet Tiep Hospital.

To deal with the threat of being attacked by students and parents, TTH, a teacher who wished to remain anonymous in Nghe An Province, told Nong thon ngay nay (Countryside Today) newspaper that she had set a list of principles to ensure safety, including not beating students.

Tran Thi Quynh Trang, a former teacher who quit after slapping a student, said that teachers needed to remember not to beat students or use low scores as punishments.

Teachers will remain aloof by applying those principles, aiming to protect themselves, she said.

Huge pressure, low wages and indignity have driven many teachers to leave the profession.

Nguyen Thi Thanh, a teacher of Muong Lat High School in Thanh Hoa Province, resigned after seven years working in the mountainous area. With a salary of only VN5 million (US$219) a month, she found it hard to make ends meet.

I have to do different jobs to earn money, including making traditional medicine. As I see potential to develop the craft, I quit to focus on it, she said.

In the northern province of Lao Cai, 26 teachers withdrew from the payroll, according to Tran Quang Vuong, a representative of the provincial Department of Education and Training.

Policies towards teachers need to change, especially a salary increase to prevent them from quitting, he said.

However, the reform process is demanding.

Nguyen Thi Huyen Thao from Tran ai Nghia High School for the Gifted in HCM City, stressed a democratic working environment as a prerequisite for the development of every teacher.

Democracy, respect and opportunities are the most important things to any teacher. If those requirements are fulfilled, excellent teachers will wholeheartedly contribute to education despite their low wages, I think, she said.

More troubling for the sector, after 20 years the policy of tuition-free pedagogy education could be scrapped. Due to the demand of labour market, a huge number of pedagogy graduates cannot find work in education or are unemployed entirely, creating a waste for the State budget.

Therefore, pedagogy students will need to pay tuition fees. However, to attract and create favourable conditions for them, the draft Law of Pedagogy says that if they work in the educational sector for a certain period of time, they will not need to pay back their loans. The draft also regulates pedagogical credits and reimbursement policies for students of pedagogy universities, said Nha.

Meanwhile, Phan Thanh Binh, Chairman of the National Assembly Committee on Culture, Education, Youth and Children stressed the significance of a reform of training facilities and human resources.

The admission process and curriculum needs to be adjusted to attract excellent students to enroll in pedagogy schools and preserve teachers dignity, he said.  VNSHCM CITY  All districts will be expected to develop a smart urban area plan by 2020, Tran Vinh Tuyen, HCM City Peoples Committee vice chairman and head of the smart city management board, said on Friday.

The smart urban area project will be piloted in districts 1 and 12 and the Thu Thiem Urban Area in District 2.

At a meeting on the smart urban project, Tuyen said all district authorities should develop plans that would easily link with other districts once project implementation begins throughout the entire city after the end of the pilot programme.

Flooding and traffic congestion remain problems that have not been solved with traditional methods, he said, adding that agencies and district authorities should take the initiative in solving these problems with IT applications.

Under the smart urban area project, there will be four centres: one on a shared database and open database eco-system; another that will integrate all the citys information sources and databases from various departments and district committees; one used for simulations to forecast socio-economic strategy; and another on information security.

These centres are considered the four main pillars for implementation, Duong Anh uc, head of the Department of Information and Communications, said.

Tran Anh Tuan of the HCM City Institute for Development Studies said the institute would be in charge of building the simulation centre, with co-operation from universities and others.

According to Tuyen, these centres will only be able to operate effectively if they are linked with local systems to carry out the project.

This is the first time the city has created a specific roadmap for the smart urban project, with targets including sustainable development, improved quality of life, and more effective administration.

Representatives of districts 1 and 12 and the Thu Thiem Urban Area in District 2, which will pilot the project, said they have already made plans for implementation.

A representative of the Peoples Committee in District 1 said the district would develop eight smart systems related to social order, education, healthcare, urban management, information security, and online administrative services.

He said the city should have a team including experts who can give advice for more effective implementation. An IT workforce should also be added to the committee, he said.  VNSA Government delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh on Friday paid homage to Archbishop of HCM Citys Archdiocese and former President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Viet Nam Paul, Bui Van oc, who passed away in Rome on March 6 (Rome time).  VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Vu

HCM CITY  A Government delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh on Friday paid homage to Archbishop of HCM Citys Archdiocese and former President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Viet Nam Paul, Bui Van oc, who passed away in Rome on March 6 (Rome time).

Deputy PM Binh expressed his deep sorrow at the passing of Archbishop Paul Bui Van oc, who he described as an outstanding dignitary who played an important role in building and developing the Church.



The same day, President Tran ai Quang, former Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, and leaders of ministries, sectors, localities and domestic and foreign organisations also sent wreaths in tribute for the Archbishop.



Earlier, a delegation from the Party Committee, Peoples Council, Peoples Committee and Viet Nam Fatherland Front Committee of HCM City led by Secretary of the municipal Party Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan also paid tribute to Archbishop Paul Bui Van oc.



Writing in the funeral book, Nhan declared that the passing of Archbishop Paul Bui Van oc is a great loss for the Catholic Church of Viet Nam and Ho Chi Minh City.



The city loses an excellent citizen who always sacrificed for the Church and the happiness of the people, he wrote.



Also on Friday, Politburo member, Secretary of the Party Central Committee and head of Party Central Committees Commission for Mass Mobilisation, Truong Thi Mai, President of the Viet Nam Fatherland Front Central Committee, Tran Thanh Man, Minister of Home Affairs, Le Vinh Tan, and head of the Government Committee for Religious Affairs, Vu Chien Thang, and many delegations from central agencies and localities also came to see Archbishop Paul Bui Van oc for the last time.



Venerable Thich Tri Quang, head of the Executive Committee of the Viet Nam Buddhist Sanghas chapter in HCM City, and representatives from many religious organisations, parishes of HCM City Archdiocese and neighbouring localities also paid tribute to the dignitary.



Archbishop Paul Bui Van ocs funeral will take place today.  VNSMario Lamo did not reveal how or when his son died.

Adrian Lamo, the hacker who turned Chelsea Manning in to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, died on Friday, according to Facebook posts from his family.

It's unclear how Lamo died. "A bright mind and compassionate soul is gone, he was my beloved son", Mario Lamo wrote. Lamo, who was living in Wichita, Kansas, was 37. The coroner for Sedgwick County, Kansas, where Lamo lived, confirmed his death but didn't provide further details, according to CNET sister site ZDNet.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange on Friday described Lamo as a "petty conman and betrayer of basic human decency".

He'd been wanted after using public internet connections to break into corporate networks and websites, including gaining unauthorized access to The New York Times, Microsoft and LexisNexis. After Lamo turned himself in, the notorious hacker was sentenced to six months of house arrest, along with 2 years of probation and a $60,000 fine.

Lamo was more recently widely known for his involvement in passing information on WikiLeaks whistleblower Chelsea Manning, a former US Army soldier who befriended Lamo told him she had downloaded and burned classified files to a disk.

Manning was convicted of leaking classified USA documents and sentenced to 35 years in prison. Lamo said he acted out of a sense of "duty", but later expressed some regret for the decision, although he stood by it in later interviews. She was sentenced to 35 years in prison, but her sentence was commuted by President Barack Obama. The decision was not one I chose to make, but was thrust upon me, ' he said.Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 17)  The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said it will assist workers affected by the impending closure of Boracay.

While DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello prefers the world-famous tourist destination to remain open, he said he will give way to the decision of other departments.

"Kami naman kasi, kung sana huwag na magco-close pero kung [We'd rather it not close, but if] that's the decision of the three agencies then we just have to follow and attend to the needs of those who will be displaced," Bello said.

Authorities said there are more than 17,000 workers are stationed on the island.

On Thursday, the inter-agency tasked to clean up Boracay said it would recommend a total closure of the island - a move that stakeholders and businesses protested.

The Labor Department, and other agencies spearheading the rehabilitation  Departments of Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources, and Interior and Local Government  are all part of the committee.

READ: Inter-agency group recommends Boracay's total closure

Bello, however, said a new investment opportunity promises to provide at least 60,000 jobs.

He also called on the Departments of Trade and Industry and Social Welfare and Development to help provide livelihood opportunities for displaced workers and employees.

Boracay to go dark on Saturday

With the looming shutdown, Boracay United, a group of business establishments and associations, will stage a protest.

The group is asking everyone who will be affected by the shutdown to turn their lights off at exactly 8:08 p.m. on Saturday.

Residents will proceed to the beachfront and beam flashlights and phones toward the sky to show how Boracay would look like during a closure.

Malay Town officials have demolished a number of illegal beachfront structures in the past few days, including a resort operating without permits.

Boracay earned 56 billion in revenues in 2017 alone.Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 17)  The International Criminal Court (ICC) will push through with its preliminary review of the war on drugs, despite Philippines' withdrawal from the treaty.

"In the event of a withdrawal from the ICC, this decision will therefore not affect the continuation of the preliminary examination process," the ICC Office of the Prosecutor told CNN Philippines in a statement Saturday.

It said the move will have no impact on "ongoing proceedings or any matter already under consideration by the ICC" prior to the date of the withdrawal.

It added: "Nor does it affect the continuing obligation of the State concerned to cooperate with the Court in relation to an investigation initiated before the withdrawal came into effect."

The ICC announced its intention to conduct a preliminary examination on the drug killings in the country on February 8. The court has clarified the preliminary examination is not an investigation but a process to see if there is basis to proceed with an investigation.

To abide by the court's principle of complementarity, the ICC said it will "engage with the national authorities concerned with a view to discussing and assessing any relevant investigation and prosecution at the national level."

The ICC said while it expects cooperation from national authorities, preliminary examinations "can be undertaken without access to the territory."

It will also consider all submissions and views relayed to the court during the preliminary examination of the drug war.

"While some of such killings have reportedly occurred in the context of clashes between or within gangs, the Prosecutor has noted that it is alleged that many of the reported incidents involved extrajudicial killings in the course of police anti-drug operations," the ICC said.

The national police has pegged the drug killings at more than 4,000 while human rights groups said the number has gone beyond 13,000.

As an independent judicial institution, the ICC has the mandate to look into cases of genocide and crimes against humanity.

"Any act that may undermine the global movement towards greater accountability for atrocity crimes and the international rule of law is, therefore, regrettable," it added.

Meanwhile, the President of the Assembly of States Parties O-Gon Kwon on Friday expressed concern over the country's withdrawal from the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the ICC.

"I regret this development. A State Party withdrawing from the Rome Statute would negatively impact our collective efforts towards fighting impunity", Kwon said. "The ICC needs the strong support of the international community to ensure its effectiveness. I encourage the Philippines to remain as a party to the Rome Statute."

Kwon said the Philippines has in fact participated actively in the Assembly of States Parties since becoming a State Party in 2011.

The withdrawal from the Rome Statute is a turnaround from an earlier statement, when President Rodrigo Duterte said he welcomed the ICC probe and that he would speak to an ICC representative one-on-one.

The President later instructed the police force to not cooperate with the international investigators, and denounced statements by international human rights experts against the drug war.

READ: Duterte: ICC has no jurisdiction over me in drug war probepast daily news Sep 13 (1) Sep 09 (15) Sep 06 (12) Sep 04 (10) Sep 03 (10) Aug 31 (17) Aug 29 (14) Aug 26 (13) Aug 22 (11) Aug 21 (12) Aug 19 (21) Aug 14 (6) Aug 13 (10) Aug 10 (10) Aug 08 (9) Aug 07 (10) Aug 06 (10) Aug 05 (8) Aug 03 (8) Aug 02 (7) Aug 01 (7) Jul 31 (14) Jul 29 (1) Jul 27 (7) Jul 25 (5) Jul 24 (10) Jul 22 (11) Jul 19 (16) Jul 17 (6) Jul 16 (10) Jul 15 (13) Jul 12 (7) Jul 11 (5) Jul 10 (8) Jul 08 (8) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (5) Jul 05 (8) Jul 04 (11) Jul 03 (8) Jul 02 (7) Jul 01 (5) Jun 30 (8) Jun 28 (7) Jun 27 (8) Jun 26 (7) Jun 25 (8) Jun 24 (6) Jun 23 (6) Jun 22 (9) Jun 20 (5) Jun 19 (9) Jun 18 (8) Jun 15 (9) Jun 13 (13) Jun 11 (11) Jun 09 (19) Jun 06 (10) Jun 04 (10) Jun 03 (8) Jun 01 (6) May 31 (5) May 30 (5) May 29 (6) May 28 (7) May 27 (7) May 26 (6) May 25 (4) May 23 (6) May 22 (6) May 21 (4) May 20 (7) May 19 (9) May 18 (4) May 17 (6) May 16 (5) May 15 (7) May 14 (3) May 13 (3) May 12 (9) May 10 (3) May 09 (7) May 08 (4) May 07 (3) May 06 (5) May 05 (8) May 03 (9) May 02 (1) May 01 (5) Apr 30 (8) Apr 29 (5) Apr 28 (4) Apr 27 (7) Apr 26 (12) Apr 25 (4) Apr 24 (8) Apr 23 (7) Apr 22 (5) Apr 21 (3) Apr 20 (1) Apr 19 (5) Apr 18 (3) Apr 17 (6) Apr 16 (6) Apr 15 (5) Apr 14 (2) Apr 13 (4) Apr 12 (2) Apr 11 (4) Apr 10 (3) Apr 09 (3) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (5) Apr 06 (3) Apr 05 (10) Apr 04 (2) Apr 03 (3) Apr 02 (9) Apr 01 (7) Mar 31 (10) Mar 30 (6) Mar 29 (7) Mar 28 (5) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (10) Mar 25 (4) Mar 24 (5) Mar 23 (10) Mar 22 (6) Mar 21 (5) Mar 20 (11) Mar 19 (8) Mar 18 (5) Mar 17 (4) Mar 16 (11) Mar 15 (10) Mar 14 (7) Mar 13 (7) Mar 12 (5) Mar 11 (3) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (5) Mar 08 (6) Mar 07 (8) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (12) Mar 04 (6) Mar 03 (8) Mar 02 (6) Mar 01 (8) Feb 28 (7) Feb 27 (5) Feb 26 (6) Feb 25 (7) Feb 24 (3) Feb 23 (6) Feb 22 (4) Feb 21 (3) Feb 20 (1) Feb 19 (6) Feb 18 (4) Feb 17 (4) Feb 16 (2) Feb 15 (5) Feb 14 (3) Feb 13 (6) Feb 12 (6) Feb 11 (4) Feb 10 (6) Feb 09 (6) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (6) Feb 06 (4) Feb 05 (2) Feb 04 (3) Feb 03 (5) Feb 02 (1) Feb 01 (4) Jan 31 (8) Jan 30 (2) Jan 29 (4) Jan 28 (1) Jan 27 (4) Jan 26 (7) Jan 25 (4) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (8) Jan 21 (2) Jan 20 (2) Jan 19 (3) Jan 18 (4) Jan 17 (2) Jan 16 (7) Jan 15 (6) Jan 14 (4) Jan 13 (6) Jan 12 (5) Jan 11 (4) Jan 10 (5) Jan 09 (4) Jan 08 (5) Jan 07 (4) Jan 05 (5) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (2) Jan 01 (1) Dec 31 (5) Dec 29 (4) Dec 28 (5) Dec 26 (3) Dec 25 (2) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (2) Dec 22 (4) Dec 21 (4) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (3) Dec 18 (2) Dec 17 (1) Dec 16 (4) Dec 15 (2) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (7) Dec 12 (5) Dec 11 (4) Dec 10 (3) Dec 09 (2) Dec 08 (2) Dec 07 (4) Dec 06 (4) Dec 05 (1) Dec 04 (5) Dec 03 (3) Dec 02 (5) Dec 01 (6) Nov 30 (5) Nov 29 (10) Nov 28 (6) Nov 27 (2) Nov 26 (3) Nov 24 (2) Nov 23 (5) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (3) Nov 20 (6) Nov 19 (2) Nov 18 (5) Nov 17 (5) Nov 16 (3) Nov 15 (2) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (2) Nov 11 (4) Nov 10 (5) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (5) Nov 07 (5) Nov 06 (5) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (5) Nov 02 (4) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (9) Oct 30 (9) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (2) Oct 27 (6) Oct 26 (6) Oct 25 (6) Oct 24 (3) Oct 23 (6) Oct 22 (4) Oct 20 (3) Oct 19 (6) Oct 18 (5) Oct 17 (5) Oct 16 (4) Oct 15 (5) Oct 14 (2) Oct 13 (4) Oct 12 (7) Oct 11 (5) Oct 10 (4) Oct 09 (5) Oct 08 (10) Oct 07 (1) Oct 06 (10) Oct 05 (6) Oct 04 (8) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (4) Oct 01 (6) Sep 30 (5) Sep 29 (1) Sep 28 (6) Sep 27 (6) Sep 26 (5) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (6) Sep 23 (5) Sep 22 (7) Sep 21 (6) Sep 20 (6) Sep 19 (5) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (5) Sep 16 (5) Sep 15 (5) Sep 14 (6) Sep 13 (4) Sep 12 (5) Sep 11 (7) Sep 10 (6) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (3) Sep 07 (4) Sep 06 (8) Sep 05 (6) Sep 04 (7) Sep 03 (3) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (5) Aug 31 (8) Aug 30 (6) Aug 29 (6) Aug 28 (6) Aug 27 (1) Aug 26 (4) Aug 25 (3) Aug 24 (7) Aug 23 (4) Aug 22 (4) Aug 21 (4) Aug 20 (7) Aug 18 (5) Aug 17 (8) Aug 16 (8) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (6) Aug 13 (5) Aug 12 (4) Aug 11 (2) Aug 10 (5) Aug 09 (4) Aug 08 (8) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (3) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (4) Aug 03 (10) Aug 02 (9) Aug 01 (8) Jul 31 (1) Jul 30 (3) Jul 29 (2) Jul 28 (11) Jul 27 (10) Jul 26 (10) Jul 25 (7) Jul 24 (5) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (2) Jul 21 (7) Jul 20 (10) Jul 19 (8) Jul 18 (7) Jul 17 (1) Jul 16 (10) Jul 14 (7) Jul 13 (6) Jul 12 (11) Jul 11 (7) Jul 10 (5) Jul 09 (6) Jul 08 (5) Jul 07 (8) Jul 06 (4) Jul 05 (6) Jul 04 (6) Jul 03 (7) Jul 02 (6) Jul 01 (2) Jun 30 (7) Jun 29 (7) Jun 28 (5) Jun 27 (8) Jun 26 (5) Jun 25 (6) Jun 23 (4) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (8) Jun 18 (2) Jun 17 (3) Jun 16 (4) Jun 15 (3) Jun 14 (7) Jun 13 (4) Jun 12 (7) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (2) Jun 09 (8) Jun 08 (8) Jun 07 (8) Jun 06 (10) Jun 05 (14) Jun 04 (6) Jun 03 (6) Jun 02 (8) Jun 01 (6) May 31 (7) May 30 (2) May 29 (7) May 28 (7) May 27 (2) May 26 (4) May 25 (5) May 24 (4) May 23 (5) May 22 (5) May 21 (5) May 20 (3) May 19 (10) May 18 (6) May 17 (3) May 16 (6) May 15 (2) May 14 (3) May 13 (5) May 11 (1) May 10 (5) May 09 (3) May 08 (4) May 07 (2) May 06 (4) May 05 (6) May 04 (5) May 03 (5) May 02 (1) May 01 (6) Apr 30 (6) Apr 29 (7) Apr 28 (8) Apr 27 (9) Apr 26 (14) Apr 25 (6) Apr 24 (6) Apr 23 (7) Apr 22 (1) Apr 21 (8) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (6) Apr 18 (4) Apr 17 (7) Apr 16 (1) Apr 15 (8) Apr 14 (1) Apr 13 (7) Apr 12 (10) Apr 11 (7) Apr 10 (2) Apr 09 (2) Apr 08 (4) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (6) Apr 05 (6) Apr 04 (9) Apr 03 (4) Apr 02 (5) Apr 01 (2) Mar 31 (5) Mar 30 (4) Mar 29 (8) Mar 28 (5) Mar 27 (9) Mar 26 (4) Mar 25 (5) Mar 24 (11) Mar 23 (10) Mar 22 (9) Mar 21 (10) Mar 20 (11) Mar 19 (5) Mar 18 (7) Mar 17 (3) Mar 16 (7) Mar 15 (6) Mar 14 (6) Mar 13 (9) Mar 12 (6) Mar 11 (3) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (5) Mar 08 (6) Mar 07 (13) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (3) Mar 04 (7) Mar 03 (4) Mar 02 (5) Mar 01 (6) Feb 28 (6) Feb 27 (4) Feb 26 (5) Feb 25 (6) Feb 24 (6) Feb 23 (9) Feb 22 (6) Feb 21 (7) Feb 20 (8) Feb 19 (6) Feb 18 (3) Feb 17 (4) Feb 16 (6) Feb 15 (5) Feb 14 (7) Feb 13 (5) Feb 12 (3) Feb 11 (4) Feb 10 (5) Feb 09 (9) Feb 08 (8) Feb 07 (7) Feb 06 (10) Feb 05 (7) Feb 04 (2) Feb 03 (8) Feb 02 (7) Feb 01 (5) Jan 31 (4) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (7) Jan 28 (3) Jan 27 (7) Jan 26 (8) Jan 25 (6) Jan 24 (6) Jan 23 (5) Jan 22 (4) Jan 21 (6) Jan 20 (8) Jan 19 (6) Jan 18 (8) Jan 17 (12) Jan 16 (5) Jan 15 (4) Jan 14 (8) Jan 12 (6) Jan 11 (6) Jan 10 (7) Jan 09 (4) Jan 08 (6) Jan 07 (4) Jan 06 (6) Jan 05 (9) Jan 04 (9) Jan 03 (4) Jan 02 (6) Jan 01 (8) Dec 31 (2) Dec 30 (1) Dec 29 (5) Dec 28 (4) Dec 27 (8) Dec 26 (4) Dec 24 (5) Dec 23 (7) Dec 22 (12) Dec 21 (4) Dec 20 (7) Dec 19 (3) Dec 18 (5) Dec 17 (3) Dec 16 (1) Dec 15 (7) Dec 14 (10) Dec 13 (7) Dec 12 (12) Dec 10 (3) Dec 09 (6) Dec 08 (7) Dec 07 (12) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (13) Dec 04 (6) Dec 02 (8) Dec 01 (8) Nov 30 (6) Nov 29 (7) Nov 28 (7) Nov 27 (4) Nov 26 (8) Nov 24 (2) Nov 23 (5) Nov 22 (11) Nov 21 (7) Nov 20 (3) Nov 19 (10) Nov 18 (7) Nov 17 (6) Nov 16 (11) Nov 15 (10) Nov 14 (7) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (5) Nov 11 (12) Nov 10 (4) Nov 09 (14) Nov 08 (10) Nov 07 (11) Nov 06 (8) Nov 05 (5) Nov 04 (11) Nov 03 (9) Nov 02 (10) Nov 01 (8) Oct 31 (12) Oct 30 (5) Oct 29 (5) Oct 28 (5) Oct 27 (11) Oct 26 (13) Oct 25 (9) Oct 24 (10) Oct 23 (8) Oct 22 (5) Oct 21 (11) Oct 20 (8) Oct 19 (6) Oct 18 (5) Oct 17 (5) Oct 16 (6) Oct 15 (4) Oct 14 (9) Oct 13 (10) Oct 12 (11) Oct 11 (9) Oct 10 (10) Oct 09 (7) Oct 08 (5) Oct 07 (10) Oct 06 (9) Oct 05 (14) Oct 04 (9) Oct 03 (12) Oct 02 (4) Oct 01 (9) Sep 30 (5) Sep 29 (7) Sep 28 (13) Sep 27 (10) Sep 26 (11) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (9) Sep 23 (7) Sep 22 (10) Sep 21 (12) Sep 20 (12) Sep 19 (4) Sep 18 (5) Sep 17 (7) Sep 16 (11) Sep 15 (8) Sep 14 (5) Sep 13 (8) Sep 12 (8) Sep 11 (6) Sep 10 (10) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (9) Sep 07 (8) Sep 06 (11) Sep 05 (2) Sep 04 (8) Sep 03 (2) Sep 02 (6) Sep 01 (9) Aug 31 (9) Aug 30 (7) Aug 29 (9) Aug 28 (4) Aug 27 (8) Aug 26 (6) Aug 25 (5) Aug 24 (8) Aug 23 (4) Aug 22 (5) Aug 21 (2) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (6) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (4) Aug 16 (6) Aug 15 (3) Aug 14 (4) Aug 13 (7) Aug 12 (6) Aug 11 (3) Aug 10 (5) Aug 09 (8) Aug 08 (9) Aug 07 (7) Aug 06 (7) Aug 05 (7) Aug 04 (7) Aug 03 (11) Aug 02 (6) Aug 01 (9) Jul 31 (11) Jul 28 (7) Jul 27 (11) Jul 26 (5) Jul 25 (5) Jul 24 (1) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (2) Jul 20 (9) Jul 19 (8) Jul 18 (6) Jul 17 (7) Jul 15 (4) Jul 14 (2) Jul 13 (6) Jul 12 (10) Jul 11 (11) Jul 10 (2) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (5) Jul 07 (5) Jul 06 (6) Jul 05 (3) Jul 04 (6) Jul 03 (5) Jul 02 (3) Jun 30 (8) Jun 29 (5) Jun 28 (6) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (4) Jun 25 (1) Jun 24 (5) Jun 23 (11) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (5) Jun 19 (7) Jun 17 (4) Jun 16 (7) Jun 15 (4) Jun 14 (6) Jun 13 (4) Jun 12 (4) Jun 11 (6) Jun 10 (6) Jun 09 (8) Jun 08 (6) Jun 07 (8) Jun 06 (7) Jun 05 (5) Jun 04 (7) Jun 03 (1) Jun 02 (9) Jun 01 (5) May 31 (8) May 30 (7) May 29 (5) May 28 (5) May 27 (4) May 26 (4) May 25 (4) May 24 (3) May 23 (5) May 22 (2) May 21 (3) May 20 (7) May 19 (11) May 18 (1) May 17 (7) May 16 (3) May 15 (4) May 14 (3) May 13 (4) May 12 (4) May 11 (11) May 10 (2) May 09 (6) May 08 (6) May 07 (2) May 06 (3) May 05 (4) May 04 (5) May 03 (8) May 02 (4) May 01 (4) Apr 30 (6) Apr 29 (13) Apr 28 (5) Apr 27 (7) Apr 26 (5) Apr 25 (5) Apr 24 (2) Apr 23 (7) Apr 22 (9) Apr 21 (11) Apr 20 (2) Apr 19 (2) Apr 18 (5) Apr 17 (5) Apr 16 (6) Apr 14 (5) Apr 13 (2) Apr 12 (9) Apr 11 (10) Apr 10 (6) Apr 09 (5) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (10) Apr 06 (7) Apr 05 (7) Apr 04 (7) Apr 03 (9) Mar 31 (12) Mar 30 (9) Mar 29 (7) Mar 28 (4) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (6) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (8) Mar 23 (7) Mar 22 (4) Mar 21 (10) Mar 20 (6) Mar 19 (6) Mar 17 (7) Mar 16 (11) Mar 15 (6) Mar 14 (9) Mar 13 (4) Mar 12 (6) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (9) Mar 08 (10) Mar 07 (4) Mar 06 (5) Mar 05 (3) Mar 04 (2) Mar 03 (4) Mar 02 (5) Mar 01 (5) Feb 28 (3) Feb 27 (8) Feb 26 (9) Feb 24 (11) Feb 23 (8) Feb 22 (9) Feb 21 (8) Feb 20 (7) Feb 19 (4) Feb 18 (9) Feb 17 (6) Feb 16 (5) Feb 15 (7) Feb 14 (11) Feb 13 (2) Feb 12 (5) Feb 11 (5) Feb 10 (3) Feb 09 (10) Feb 08 (9) Feb 07 (9) Feb 06 (2) Feb 05 (9) Feb 03 (7) Feb 02 (5) Feb 01 (7) Jan 31 (4) Jan 30 (5) Jan 29 (6) Jan 28 (5) Jan 27 (2) Jan 26 (7) Jan 25 (7) Jan 24 (8) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (14) Jan 20 (8) Jan 19 (10) Jan 18 (11) Jan 17 (9) Jan 16 (5) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (9) Jan 13 (6) Jan 12 (7) Jan 11 (7) Jan 10 (2) Jan 09 (7) Jan 08 (6) Jan 07 (10) Jan 06 (8) Jan 05 (7) Jan 04 (9) Jan 03 (8) Jan 02 (5) Jan 01 (14) Dec 30 (13) Dec 29 (13) Dec 28 (9) Dec 27 (5) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (7) Dec 24 (4) Dec 23 (5) Dec 22 (4) Dec 21 (8) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (8) Dec 18 (9) Dec 16 (8) Dec 15 (5) Dec 14 (5) Dec 13 (8) Dec 12 (4) Dec 11 (17) Dec 09 (8) Dec 08 (5) Dec 07 (10) Dec 06 (12) Dec 05 (6) Dec 04 (8) Dec 02 (6) Dec 01 (7) Nov 30 (9) Nov 29 (6) Nov 28 (11) Nov 27 (6) Nov 26 (15) Nov 24 (7) Nov 23 (15) Nov 22 (9) Nov 21 (6) Nov 20 (11) Nov 18 (11) Nov 17 (13) Nov 16 (8) Nov 15 (13) Nov 14 (7) Nov 13 (7) Nov 12 (3) Nov 11 (13) Nov 10 (13) Nov 09 (6) Nov 08 (9) Nov 07 (6) Nov 06 (4) Nov 05 (12) Nov 04 (8) Nov 03 (9) Nov 02 (8) Nov 01 (6) Oct 31 (10) Oct 30 (8) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (8) Oct 27 (15) Oct 26 (10) Oct 25 (10) Oct 24 (13) Oct 23 (9) Oct 21 (8) Oct 20 (13) Oct 19 (6) Oct 18 (11) Oct 17 (8) Oct 16 (14) Oct 14 (9) Oct 13 (11) Oct 12 (9) Oct 11 (13) Oct 10 (7) Oct 09 (15) Oct 07 (7) Oct 06 (11) Oct 05 (18) Oct 04 (14) Oct 03 (1) Oct 02 (10) Sep 30 (11) Sep 29 (11) Sep 28 (11) Sep 27 (15) Sep 26 (7) Sep 24 (9) Sep 23 (11) Sep 22 (7) Sep 21 (17) Sep 20 (20) Sep 19 (4) Sep 18 (11) Sep 16 (10) Sep 15 (12) Sep 14 (9) Sep 13 (12) Sep 12 (14) Sep 11 (4) Sep 10 (8) Sep 09 (9) Sep 08 (5) Sep 07 (13) Sep 06 (15) Sep 05 (8) Sep 04 (11) Sep 03 (10) Sep 02 (12) Sep 01 (12) Aug 31 (14) Aug 30 (14) Aug 29 (8) Aug 28 (8) Aug 27 (9) Aug 26 (12) Aug 25 (6) Aug 24 (8) Aug 23 (12) Aug 22 (6) Aug 21 (5) Aug 20 (6) Aug 19 (9) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (7) Aug 16 (11) Aug 15 (2) Aug 14 (12) Aug 12 (15) Aug 11 (11) Aug 10 (6) Aug 09 (7) Aug 08 (3) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (5) Aug 05 (7) Aug 04 (7) Aug 03 (4) Aug 02 (5) Aug 01 (5) Jul 31 (7) Jul 30 (5) Jul 29 (9) Jul 28 (8) Jul 27 (8) Jul 26 (7) Jul 25 (6) Jul 23 (8) Jul 22 (6) Jul 21 (5) Jul 20 (9) Jul 19 (5) Jul 18 (15) Jul 15 (14) Jul 14 (5) Jul 13 (6) Jul 12 (12) Jul 11 (8) Jul 10 (3) Jul 09 (11) Jul 08 (8) Jul 07 (7) Jul 06 (10) Jul 05 (4) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (5) Jul 02 (7) Jul 01 (8) Jun 30 (7) Jun 29 (10) Jun 28 (8) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (5) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (2) Jun 23 (11) Jun 22 (5) Jun 21 (7) Jun 20 (3) Jun 19 (7) Jun 18 (10) Jun 17 (11) Jun 16 (5) Jun 15 (5) Jun 14 (7) Jun 13 (14) Jun 11 (6) Jun 10 (8) Jun 09 (9) Jun 08 (11) Jun 07 (14) Jun 06 (16) Jun 03 (8) Jun 02 (12) Jun 01 (5) May 31 (7) May 30 (15) May 28 (7) May 27 (5) May 26 (21) May 25 (14) May 24 (10) May 23 (7) May 22 (8) May 21 (11) May 20 (5) May 19 (4) May 18 (10) May 17 (11) May 16 (5) May 15 (6) May 14 (7) May 13 (12) May 12 (10) May 11 (7) May 10 (13) May 09 (4) May 08 (7) May 07 (3) May 06 (6) May 05 (9) May 04 (14) May 03 (7) May 02 (10) May 01 (10) Apr 30 (6) Apr 29 (9) Apr 28 (5) Apr 27 (9) Apr 26 (8) Apr 25 (8) Apr 24 (6) Apr 23 (14) Apr 22 (16) Apr 21 (11) Apr 20 (7) Apr 19 (16) Apr 18 (8) Apr 17 (7) Apr 16 (10) Apr 15 (8) Apr 14 (5) Apr 13 (11) Apr 12 (10) Apr 11 (8) Apr 10 (12) Apr 09 (5) Apr 08 (13) Apr 07 (9) Apr 06 (11) Apr 05 (15) Apr 04 (7) Apr 03 (15) Apr 02 (5) Apr 01 (11) Mar 31 (12) Mar 30 (10) Mar 29 (8) Mar 28 (7) Mar 27 (12) Mar 26 (8) Mar 25 (8) Mar 24 (7) Mar 23 (15) Mar 22 (17) Mar 21 (9) Mar 20 (8) Mar 19 (4) Mar 18 (16) Mar 17 (8) Mar 16 (19) Mar 15 (13) Mar 14 (7) Mar 13 (20) Mar 11 (5) Mar 10 (11) Mar 09 (13) Mar 08 (13) Mar 07 (7) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (9) Mar 04 (10) Mar 03 (16) Mar 02 (16) Mar 01 (13) Feb 29 (8) Feb 28 (6) Feb 27 (16) Feb 26 (10) Feb 25 (6) Feb 24 (12) Feb 23 (14) Feb 22 (9) Feb 21 (11) Feb 20 (8) Feb 19 (12) Feb 18 (12) Feb 17 (11) Feb 16 (8) Feb 15 (9) Feb 14 (7) Feb 13 (10) Feb 12 (11) Feb 11 (13) Feb 10 (5) Feb 09 (6) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (9) Feb 06 (13) Feb 05 (10) Feb 04 (11) Feb 03 (7) Feb 02 (19) Jan 31 (21) Jan 29 (11) Jan 28 (10) Jan 27 (13) Jan 26 (7) Jan 25 (5) Jan 24 (2) Jan 23 (8) Jan 22 (13) Jan 21 (11) Jan 20 (9) Jan 19 (13) Jan 18 (4) Jan 17 (11) Jan 15 (7) Jan 14 (13) Jan 13 (9) Jan 12 (9) Jan 11 (5) Jan 10 (8) Jan 09 (7) Jan 08 (7) Jan 07 (6) Jan 06 (11) Jan 05 (7) Jan 04 (7) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (8) Jan 01 (5) Dec 31 (10) Dec 30 (9) Dec 29 (7) Dec 28 (9) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (1) Dec 25 (5) Dec 24 (6) Dec 23 (6) Dec 22 (7) Dec 21 (6) Dec 20 (7) Dec 19 (13) Dec 18 (16) Dec 17 (10) Dec 16 (13) Dec 15 (11) Dec 14 (8) Dec 13 (4) Dec 12 (9) Dec 11 (10) Dec 10 (12) Dec 09 (10) Dec 08 (13) Dec 07 (7) Dec 06 (12) Dec 05 (8) Dec 04 (11) Dec 03 (12) Dec 02 (16) Dec 01 (14) Nov 30 (10) Nov 29 (11) Nov 28 (15) Nov 27 (16) Nov 26 (11) Nov 25 (9) Nov 24 (13) Nov 23 (10) Nov 22 (1) Nov 21 (7) Nov 20 (12) Nov 19 (10) Nov 18 (11) Nov 17 (11) Nov 16 (10) Nov 15 (3) Nov 14 (10) Nov 13 (14) Nov 12 (8) Nov 11 (13) Nov 10 (10) Nov 09 (6) Nov 08 (9) Nov 07 (11) Nov 06 (12) Nov 05 (17) Nov 04 (12) Nov 03 (11) Nov 02 (5) Nov 01 (12) Oct 31 (11) Oct 30 (11) Oct 29 (10) Oct 28 (18) Oct 27 (16) Oct 26 (11) Oct 25 (9) Oct 24 (12) Oct 23 (11) Oct 22 (14) Oct 21 (12) Oct 20 (17) Oct 19 (12) Oct 18 (13) Oct 17 (15) Oct 16 (14) Oct 15 (10) Oct 14 (16) Oct 13 (12) Oct 12 (13) Oct 11 (8) Oct 10 (12) Oct 09 (21) Oct 08 (22) Oct 07 (19) Oct 06 (18) Oct 05 (6) Oct 04 (17) Oct 03 (13) Oct 02 (14) Oct 01 (13) Sep 30 (14) Sep 29 (15) Sep 28 (12) Sep 27 (11) Sep 26 (15) Sep 25 (13) Sep 24 (9) Sep 23 (10) Sep 22 (12) Sep 21 (8) Sep 20 (4) Sep 19 (12) Sep 18 (12) Sep 17 (16) Sep 16 (21) Sep 15 (14) Sep 14 (7) Sep 13 (5) Sep 12 (10) Sep 11 (16) Sep 10 (7) Sep 09 (8) Sep 08 (10) Sep 07 (7) Sep 06 (5) Sep 05 (8) Sep 04 (9) Sep 03 (8) Sep 02 (11) Sep 01 (10) Aug 31 (4) Aug 30 (6) Aug 29 (1) Aug 28 (10) Aug 27 (8) Aug 26 (8) Aug 25 (14) Aug 24 (4) Aug 23 (3) Aug 22 (5) Aug 21 (13) Aug 20 (9) Aug 19 (13) Aug 18 (3) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (6) Aug 14 (8) Aug 13 (7) Aug 12 (12) Aug 11 (9) Aug 10 (8) Aug 09 (14) Aug 08 (6) Aug 07 (1) Aug 06 (4) Aug 05 (8) Aug 04 (6) Aug 03 (6) Aug 02 (2) Aug 01 (6) Jul 31 (6) Jul 30 (3) Jul 29 (6) Jul 28 (8) Jul 27 (7) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (6) Jul 23 (5) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (7) Jul 20 (5) Jul 18 (6) Jul 17 (5) Jul 16 (4) Jul 15 (9) Jul 14 (2) Jul 13 (8) Jul 12 (1) Jul 11 (5) Jul 10 (8) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (3) Jul 07 (13) Jul 05 (2) Jul 04 (5) Jul 03 (6) Jul 02 (6) Jul 01 (7) Jun 30 (7) Jun 29 (3) Jun 28 (1) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (7) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (6) Jun 23 (9) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (3) Jun 19 (4) Jun 18 (7) Jun 17 (7) Jun 16 (7) Jun 15 (11) Jun 12 (6) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (10) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (3) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (2) Jun 05 (9) Jun 04 (8) Jun 03 (9) Jun 02 (6) Jun 01 (4) May 30 (7) May 29 (9) May 28 (13) May 26 (8) May 25 (5) May 24 (2) May 23 (8) May 22 (9) May 21 (7) May 20 (4) May 19 (6) May 18 (7) May 17 (8) May 15 (9) May 14 (5) May 13 (8) May 12 (6) May 11 (6) May 09 (7) May 08 (6) May 07 (11) May 06 (7) May 05 (4) May 04 (11) May 03 (5) May 02 (4) May 01 (9) Apr 30 (6) Apr 29 (4) Apr 28 (9) Apr 27 (4) Apr 26 (3) Apr 25 (5) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (10) Apr 22 (8) Apr 21 (9) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (4) Apr 18 (8) Apr 17 (7) Apr 16 (4) Apr 15 (6) Apr 14 (8) Apr 13 (3) Apr 12 (6) Apr 10 (2) Apr 09 (4) Apr 08 (5) Apr 07 (5) Apr 06 (2) Apr 05 (2) Apr 04 (5) Apr 03 (7) Apr 02 (7) Apr 01 (12) Mar 31 (12) Mar 30 (3) Mar 29 (1) Mar 28 (2) Mar 27 (6) Mar 26 (2) Mar 25 (5) Mar 24 (4) Mar 23 (7) Mar 22 (4) Mar 21 (6) Mar 20 (9) Mar 19 (9) Mar 18 (8) Mar 17 (9) Mar 16 (7) Mar 15 (11) Mar 13 (5) Mar 12 (12) Mar 11 (9) Mar 10 (12) Mar 09 (4) Mar 08 (5) Mar 07 (5) Mar 06 (5) Mar 05 (5) Mar 04 (6) Mar 03 (11) Mar 02 (5) Mar 01 (8) Feb 27 (9) Feb 26 (9) Feb 25 (8) Feb 24 (6) Feb 23 (4) Feb 22 (3) Feb 21 (6) Feb 20 (3) Feb 19 (10) Feb 18 (9) Feb 17 (7) Feb 16 (5) Feb 15 (2) Feb 14 (8) Feb 13 (12) Feb 12 (8) Feb 11 (10) Feb 10 (7) Feb 09 (6) Feb 08 (3) Feb 07 (2) Feb 06 (7) Feb 05 (4) Feb 04 (11) Feb 03 (5) Feb 02 (7) Feb 01 (4) Jan 31 (5) Jan 30 (8) Jan 29 (12) Jan 28 (6) Jan 27 (8) Jan 26 (13) Jan 24 (8) Jan 23 (12) Jan 22 (8) Jan 21 (10) Jan 20 (8) Jan 19 (6) Jan 18 (9) Jan 17 (6) Jan 16 (4) Jan 15 (11) Jan 14 (4) Jan 13 (6) Jan 12 (7) Jan 11 (6) Jan 10 (2) Jan 09 (6) Jan 08 (5) Jan 07 (6) Jan 06 (4) Jan 05 (4) Jan 04 (3) Jan 03 (6) Jan 02 (2) Jan 01 (3) Dec 31 (6) Dec 30 (4) Dec 29 (6) Dec 28 (4) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (2) Dec 25 (3) Dec 24 (5) Dec 23 (7) Dec 22 (5) Dec 21 (4) Dec 20 (4) Dec 19 (5) Dec 18 (8) Dec 17 (5) Dec 16 (9) Dec 15 (7) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (10) Dec 12 (10) Dec 11 (9) Dec 10 (10) Dec 09 (11) Dec 08 (5) Dec 07 (5) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (9) Dec 04 (3) Dec 03 (8) Dec 02 (10) Dec 01 (6) Nov 30 (1) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (9) Nov 27 (3) Nov 26 (7) Nov 25 (12) Nov 24 (3) Nov 23 (8) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (3) Nov 20 (12) Nov 19 (6) Nov 18 (10) Nov 17 (12) Nov 16 (5) Nov 15 (5) Nov 14 (12) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (7) Nov 11 (8) Nov 10 (7) Nov 09 (6) Nov 08 (5) Nov 07 (5) Nov 06 (6) Nov 05 (12) Nov 04 (9) Nov 03 (6) Nov 02 (14) Nov 01 (3) Oct 31 (6) Oct 30 (7) Oct 29 (9) Oct 28 (9) Oct 27 (3) Oct 26 (6) Oct 25 (9) Oct 24 (8) Oct 23 (4) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (4) Oct 20 (2) Oct 19 (11) Oct 17 (6) Oct 16 (7) Oct 15 (7) Oct 14 (8) Oct 13 (5) Oct 12 (8) Oct 11 (6) Oct 10 (5) Oct 09 (11) Oct 08 (10) Oct 07 (8) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (7) Oct 04 (8) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (10) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (7) Sep 29 (6) Sep 28 (5) Sep 27 (8) Sep 26 (11) Sep 25 (11) Sep 24 (15) Sep 23 (8) Sep 22 (9) Sep 21 (4) Sep 20 (8) Sep 19 (9) Sep 18 (10) Sep 17 (10) Sep 16 (5) Sep 15 (5) Sep 14 (7) Sep 13 (5) Sep 12 (5) Sep 11 (8) Sep 10 (6) Sep 09 (7) Sep 08 (5) Sep 07 (2) Sep 06 (4) Sep 05 (7) Sep 04 (11) Sep 03 (7) Sep 02 (7) Sep 01 (2) Aug 31 (3) Aug 30 (1) Aug 29 (10) Aug 28 (5) Aug 27 (4) Aug 26 (10) Aug 25 (6) Aug 24 (9) Aug 22 (11) Aug 21 (8) Aug 20 (12) Aug 19 (8) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (4) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (6) Aug 14 (4) Aug 13 (7) Aug 12 (8) Aug 11 (7) Aug 10 (12) Aug 08 (5) Aug 07 (6) Aug 06 (6) Aug 05 (8) Aug 04 (5) Aug 03 (4) Aug 01 (7) Jul 31 (6) Jul 30 (12) Jul 29 (4) Jul 28 (5) Jul 27 (7) Jul 25 (7) Jul 24 (8) Jul 23 (8) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (8) Jul 20 (6) Jul 19 (3) Jul 18 (8) Jul 17 (2) Jul 16 (7) Jul 15 (6) Jul 14 (9) Jul 13 (10) Jul 11 (9) Jul 10 (8) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (7) Jul 07 (7) Jul 06 (7) Jul 05 (10) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (6) Jul 02 (6) Jul 01 (8) Jun 30 (5) Jun 29 (6) Jun 28 (1) Jun 27 (15) Jun 26 (10) Jun 25 (9) Jun 24 (16) Jun 23 (6) Jun 22 (12) Jun 20 (6) Jun 19 (8) Jun 18 (10) Jun 17 (6) Jun 16 (7) Jun 15 (5) Jun 14 (5) Jun 13 (13) Jun 12 (7) Jun 11 (14) Jun 10 (3) Jun 09 (2) Jun 08 (2) Jun 07 (7) Jun 06 (16) Jun 05 (7) Jun 04 (18) Jun 03 (12) Jun 02 (8) May 31 (3) May 30 (6) May 29 (6) May 28 (7) May 27 (4) May 26 (4) May 25 (6) May 23 (4) May 22 (8) May 21 (5) May 20 (6) May 19 (2) May 18 (9) May 17 (1) May 16 (5) May 15 (5) May 14 (7) May 13 (7) May 12 (7) May 11 (4) May 10 (4) May 09 (5) May 08 (10) May 07 (4) May 06 (13) May 05 (4) May 04 (10) May 02 (2) May 01 (5) Apr 30 (9) Apr 29 (6) Apr 28 (3) Apr 27 (4) Apr 26 (9) Apr 25 (9) Apr 24 (7) Apr 23 (11) Apr 22 (7) Apr 21 (3) Apr 20 (10) Apr 19 (6) Apr 18 (5) Apr 17 (6) Apr 16 (6) Apr 15 (7) Apr 14 (11) Apr 13 (4) Apr 12 (5) Apr 11 (9) Apr 10 (4) Apr 09 (6) Apr 08 (6) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (6) Apr 05 (10) Apr 03 (9) Apr 02 (9) Apr 01 (12) Mar 31 (4) Mar 30 (9) Mar 29 (10) Mar 28 (7) Mar 27 (8) Mar 26 (8) Mar 25 (15) Mar 24 (11) Mar 23 (8) Mar 22 (7) Mar 21 (14) Mar 20 (6) Mar 19 (11) Mar 18 (11) Mar 17 (12) Mar 16 (8) Mar 15 (8) Mar 14 (13) Mar 13 (8) Mar 12 (10) Mar 11 (8) Mar 10 (7) Mar 09 (3) Mar 08 (12) Mar 07 (15) Mar 06 (16) Mar 05 (9) Mar 04 (6) Mar 03 (12) Mar 02 (20) Feb 28 (11) Feb 27 (8) Feb 26 (11) Feb 25 (6) Feb 24 (14) Feb 23 (5) Feb 22 (6) Feb 21 (8) Feb 20 (11) Feb 19 (7) Feb 18 (4) Feb 17 (8) Feb 16 (11) Feb 15 (3) Feb 14 (10) Feb 13 (4) Feb 12 (10) Feb 11 (7) Feb 10 (7) Feb 09 (4) Feb 08 (6) Feb 07 (5) Feb 06 (4) Feb 05 (10) Feb 04 (5) Feb 03 (4) Feb 02 (4) Feb 01 (3) Jan 31 (3) Jan 30 (5) Jan 29 (2) Jan 28 (6) Jan 27 (3) Jan 26 (2) Jan 25 (5) Jan 24 (7) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (4) Jan 21 (5) Jan 20 (5) Jan 19 (6) Jan 18 (7) Jan 17 (6) Jan 16 (4) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (5) Jan 13 (4) Jan 12 (5) Jan 11 (3) Jan 10 (5) Jan 09 (6) Jan 08 (6) Jan 07 (3) Jan 06 (1) Jan 05 (4) Jan 04 (5) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (6) Jan 01 (2) Dec 31 (6) Dec 30 (1) Dec 29 (5) Dec 27 (1) Dec 26 (2) Dec 25 (4) Dec 24 (8) Dec 23 (2) Dec 22 (1) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (8) Dec 18 (3) Dec 17 (4) Dec 16 (3) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (4) Dec 11 (4) Dec 10 (7) Dec 09 (5) Dec 08 (2) Dec 07 (5) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (10) Dec 04 (9) Dec 03 (4) Dec 02 (2) Dec 01 (8) Nov 29 (5) Nov 28 (7) Nov 27 (5) Nov 26 (9) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (5) Nov 23 (6) Nov 22 (5) Nov 21 (12) Nov 20 (12) Nov 19 (10) Nov 18 (4) Nov 17 (3) Nov 16 (8) Nov 15 (7) Nov 14 (7) Nov 13 (6) Nov 12 (12) Nov 11 (6) Nov 10 (3) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (10) Nov 07 (5) Nov 06 (5) Nov 05 (9) Nov 04 (4) Nov 03 (4) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (3) Oct 31 (10) Oct 30 (4) Oct 29 (11) Oct 28 (3) Oct 27 (7) Oct 26 (7) Oct 25 (6) Oct 24 (7) Oct 23 (11) Oct 22 (2) Oct 21 (7) Oct 20 (4) Oct 19 (6) Oct 18 (7) Oct 17 (5) Oct 16 (8) Oct 15 (5) Oct 14 (5) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (7) Oct 11 (20) Oct 10 (2) Oct 09 (4) Oct 08 (21) Oct 07 (20) Oct 06 (34) Oct 04 (24) Oct 03 (21) Oct 02 (3) Oct 01 (7) Sep 30 (3) Sep 29 (5) Sep 28 (6) Sep 27 (5) Sep 26 (6) Sep 25 (5) Sep 24 (2) Sep 23 (8) Sep 22 (4) Sep 21 (3) Sep 20 (9) Sep 19 (11) Sep 18 (5) Sep 17 (7) Sep 16 (6) Sep 15 (3) Sep 14 (7) Sep 13 (8) Sep 12 (11) Sep 11 (7) Sep 10 (6) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (3) Sep 07 (6) Sep 06 (10) Sep 05 (7) Sep 04 (7) Sep 03 (5) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (8) Aug 31 (5) Aug 30 (7) Aug 29 (10) Aug 28 (7) Aug 27 (6) Aug 26 (6) Aug 25 (3) Aug 24 (8) Aug 23 (6) Aug 22 (6) Aug 21 (8) Aug 20 (8) Aug 19 (4) Aug 18 (2) Aug 17 (5) Aug 16 (7) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (4) Aug 12 (6) Aug 11 (6) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (8) Aug 08 (6) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (6) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (12) Aug 03 (3) Aug 02 (4) Aug 01 (10) Jul 31 (3) Jul 30 (7) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (6) Jul 27 (4) Jul 26 (5) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (7) Jul 23 (10) Jul 22 (8) Jul 21 (5) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (7) Jul 18 (9) Jul 17 (10) Jul 16 (11) Jul 15 (5) Jul 13 (5) Jul 12 (9) Jul 11 (11) Jul 10 (12) Jul 09 (6) Jul 08 (5) Jul 07 (8) Jul 06 (9) Jul 05 (10) Jul 04 (8) Jul 03 (10) Jul 02 (12) Jul 01 (8) Jun 30 (5) Jun 29 (6) Jun 28 (23) Jun 27 (18) Jun 26 (12) Jun 25 (14) Jun 24 (15) Jun 23 (11) Jun 22 (11) Jun 21 (15) Jun 20 (9) Jun 19 (8) Jun 18 (11) Jun 17 (7) Jun 16 (6) Jun 15 (6) Jun 14 (6) Jun 13 (5) Jun 12 (6) Jun 11 (9) Jun 10 (10) Jun 09 (9) Jun 08 (6) Jun 07 (2) Jun 06 (6) Jun 05 (4) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (4) Jun 02 (3) Jun 01 (6) May 31 (3) May 30 (5) May 29 (8) May 28 (7) May 27 (2) May 26 (2) May 25 (8) May 24 (7) May 23 (6) May 22 (9) May 21 (6) May 20 (5) May 19 (6) May 18 (9) May 17 (10) May 16 (11) May 15 (5) May 14 (11) May 13 (6) May 12 (7) May 11 (7) May 10 (5) May 09 (3) May 08 (10) May 07 (8) May 06 (11) May 05 (5) May 04 (9) May 03 (3) May 02 (2) May 01 (5) Apr 30 (5) Apr 29 (8) Apr 28 (6) Apr 27 (4) Apr 26 (9) Apr 25 (11) Apr 24 (4) Apr 23 (11) Apr 22 (7) Apr 21 (5) Apr 20 (7) Apr 19 (10) Apr 18 (8) Apr 17 (10) Apr 16 (8) Apr 15 (4) Apr 14 (5) Apr 13 (7) Apr 12 (11) Apr 11 (6) Apr 10 (7) Apr 09 (6) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (9) Apr 05 (10) Apr 04 (7) Apr 03 (2) Apr 02 (6) Apr 01 (4) Mar 31 (3) Mar 30 (4) Mar 29 (3) Mar 28 (5) Mar 27 (10) Mar 26 (5) Mar 25 (4) Mar 24 (5) Mar 23 (7) Mar 22 (6) Mar 21 (9) Mar 20 (5) Mar 19 (5) Mar 18 (9) Mar 17 (2) Mar 16 (8) Mar 15 (10) Mar 14 (9) Mar 13 (10) Mar 12 (10) Mar 11 (2) Mar 10 (1) Mar 09 (6) Mar 08 (4) Mar 07 (4) Mar 06 (3) Mar 05 (3) Mar 04 (7) Mar 03 (6) Mar 02 (8) Mar 01 (9) Feb 28 (6) Feb 27 (3) Feb 26 (8) Feb 25 (7) Feb 24 (3) Feb 23 (4) Feb 22 (4) Feb 21 (7) Feb 20 (4) Feb 19 (4) Feb 18 (2) Feb 17 (1) Feb 16 (6) Feb 15 (6) Feb 14 (5) Feb 13 (4) Feb 12 (7) Feb 11 (2) Feb 10 (2) Feb 09 (5) Feb 08 (5) Feb 07 (9) Feb 06 (4) Feb 05 (9) Feb 04 (3) Feb 03 (3) Feb 02 (10) Feb 01 (9) Jan 31 (5) Jan 30 (8) Jan 29 (5) Jan 28 (3) Jan 27 (4) Jan 26 (5) Jan 25 (6) Jan 24 (5) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (8) Jan 21 (3) Jan 20 (3) Jan 19 (7) Jan 18 (3) Jan 17 (6) Jan 16 (8) Jan 15 (7) Jan 14 (9) Jan 13 (1) Jan 12 (7) Jan 11 (1) Jan 10 (3) Jan 09 (3) Jan 08 (5) Jan 07 (4) Jan 06 (2) Jan 05 (3) Jan 04 (5) Jan 03 (4) Jan 02 (4) Jan 01 (4) Dec 31 (3) Dec 30 (4) Dec 29 (5) Dec 28 (8) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (2) Dec 24 (4) Dec 23 (4) Dec 22 (7) Dec 21 (5) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (6) Dec 17 (4) Dec 16 (5) Dec 15 (5) Dec 14 (8) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (6) Dec 11 (8) Dec 10 (5) Dec 09 (4) Dec 08 (4) Dec 07 (7) Dec 06 (7) Dec 05 (6) Dec 04 (6) Dec 03 (7) Dec 02 (1) Dec 01 (6) Nov 30 (2) Nov 29 (8) Nov 28 (16) Nov 27 (7) Nov 26 (5) Nov 25 (2) Nov 24 (6) Nov 23 (5) Nov 22 (5) Nov 21 (5) Nov 20 (15) Nov 19 (8) Nov 18 (2) Nov 17 (3) Nov 16 (5) Nov 15 (7) Nov 14 (6) Nov 13 (9) Nov 12 (7) Nov 11 (8) Nov 10 (3) Nov 09 (5) Nov 08 (8) Nov 07 (9) Nov 06 (9) Nov 05 (1) Nov 04 (4) Nov 03 (8) Nov 02 (6) Nov 01 (3) Oct 31 (6) Oct 30 (7) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (3) Oct 27 (4) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (8) Oct 24 (4) Oct 23 (1) Oct 22 (6) Oct 21 (1) Oct 20 (8) Oct 19 (6) Oct 18 (10) Oct 17 (6) Oct 16 (15) Oct 15 (4) Oct 14 (5) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (9) Oct 11 (7) Oct 10 (1) Oct 09 (5) Oct 08 (7) Oct 07 (3) Oct 06 (8) Oct 05 (5) Oct 04 (3) Oct 03 (7) Oct 02 (6) Oct 01 (6) Sep 30 (8) Sep 29 (6) Sep 28 (13) Sep 27 (10) Sep 26 (8) Sep 25 (8) Sep 24 (8) Sep 23 (3) Sep 22 (7) Sep 21 (9) Sep 20 (7) Sep 19 (8) Sep 18 (4) Sep 17 (3) Sep 16 (4) Sep 15 (8) Sep 14 (5) Sep 13 (7) Sep 12 (7) Sep 11 (9) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (10) Sep 08 (4) Sep 07 (12) Sep 06 (13) Sep 05 (15) Sep 04 (5) Sep 03 (4) Sep 02 (6) Sep 01 (9) Aug 31 (7) Aug 30 (6) Aug 29 (8) Aug 28 (11) Aug 27 (2) Aug 26 (6) Aug 25 (15) Aug 24 (6) Aug 23 (8) Aug 22 (5) Aug 21 (6) Aug 20 (7) Aug 19 (2) Aug 18 (5) Aug 17 (5) Aug 16 (11) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (6) Aug 13 (9) Aug 12 (4) Aug 11 (5) Aug 10 (6) Aug 09 (5) Aug 08 (7) Aug 07 (9) Aug 06 (4) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (4) Aug 03 (8) Aug 02 (9) Aug 01 (10) Jul 31 (11) Jul 30 (4) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (11) Jul 27 (4) Jul 26 (7) Jul 25 (7) Jul 24 (4) Jul 23 (8) Jul 22 (5) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (10) Jul 19 (6) Jul 18 (9) Jul 17 (6) Jul 16 (7) Jul 15 (6) Jul 14 (4) Jul 13 (7) Jul 12 (8) Jul 11 (6) Jul 10 (14) Jul 09 (6) Jul 08 (5) Jul 07 (4) Jul 06 (9) Jul 05 (8) Jul 04 (5) Jul 03 (8) Jul 02 (5) Jul 01 (5) Jun 30 (6) Jun 29 (3) Jun 28 (3) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (8) Jun 25 (3) Jun 24 (5) Jun 23 (14) Jun 22 (11) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (8) Jun 19 (7) Jun 18 (4) Jun 17 (3) Jun 16 (12) Jun 15 (12) Jun 14 (10) Jun 13 (10) Jun 12 (9) Jun 11 (6) Jun 10 (12) Jun 09 (4) Jun 08 (3) Jun 07 (12) Jun 06 (6) Jun 05 (7) Jun 04 (6) Jun 03 (3) Jun 02 (4) Jun 01 (8) May 31 (4) May 30 (3) May 29 (8) May 28 (7) May 27 (4) May 26 (3) May 25 (5) May 24 (9) May 23 (16) May 22 (12) May 21 (11) May 20 (7) May 19 (10) May 18 (8) May 17 (8) May 16 (10) May 15 (8) May 14 (5) May 13 (1) May 12 (6) May 11 (9) May 10 (9) May 09 (10) May 08 (9) May 07 (6) May 06 (5) May 05 (7) May 04 (10) May 03 (7) May 02 (9) May 01 (10) Apr 30 (4) Apr 29 (9) Apr 28 (12) Apr 27 (9) Apr 26 (4) Apr 25 (5) Apr 24 (9) Apr 23 (4) Apr 22 (7) Apr 21 (8) Apr 20 (9) Apr 19 (6) Apr 18 (4) Apr 17 (2) Apr 16 (4) Apr 15 (10) Apr 14 (7) Apr 13 (5) Apr 12 (7) Apr 11 (7) Apr 10 (7) Apr 09 (6) Apr 08 (7) Apr 07 (10) Apr 06 (8) Apr 05 (8) Apr 04 (9) Apr 03 (6) Apr 02 (4) Apr 01 (4) Mar 31 (11) Mar 30 (12) Mar 29 (16) Mar 28 (8) Mar 27 (10) Mar 26 (12) Mar 25 (6) Mar 24 (9) Mar 23 (3) Mar 22 (12) Mar 21 (12) Mar 20 (14) Mar 19 (8) Mar 18 (7) Mar 17 (8) Mar 16 (4) Mar 15 (10) Mar 14 (9) Mar 13 (9) Mar 12 (6) Mar 11 (5) Mar 10 (13) Mar 09 (8) Mar 08 (10) Mar 07 (12) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (4) Mar 04 (2) Mar 03 (3) Mar 02 (12) Mar 01 (8) Feb 29 (11) Feb 28 (5) Feb 27 (3) Feb 26 (13) Feb 25 (10) Feb 24 (13) Feb 23 (10) Feb 22 (9) Feb 21 (18) Feb 20 (6) Feb 19 (7) Feb 18 (9) Feb 17 (5) Feb 16 (9) Feb 15 (7) Feb 14 (6) Feb 13 (5) Feb 12 (6) Feb 11 (4) Feb 10 (8) Feb 09 (5) Feb 08 (8) Feb 07 (10) Feb 06 (7) Feb 05 (7) Feb 04 (5) Feb 03 (11) Feb 02 (4) Feb 01 (3) Jan 31 (12) Jan 30 (7) Jan 29 (7) Jan 28 (7) Jan 27 (12) Jan 26 (7) Jan 25 (11) Jan 24 (4) Jan 23 (6) Jan 22 (8) Jan 21 (12) Jan 20 (11) Jan 19 (6) Jan 18 (6) Jan 17 (11) Jan 16 (9) Jan 15 (4) Jan 14 (3) Jan 13 (6) Jan 12 (9) Jan 11 (9) Jan 10 (10) Jan 09 (5) Jan 08 (10) Jan 07 (5) Jan 06 (6) Jan 05 (8) Jan 04 (5) Jan 03 (8) Jan 02 (7) Jan 01 (7) Dec 31 (10) Dec 30 (11) Dec 29 (6) Dec 28 (5) Dec 27 (10) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (5) Dec 24 (7) Dec 23 (2) Dec 22 (9) Dec 21 (8) Dec 20 (8) Dec 19 (5) Dec 18 (1) Dec 17 (5) Dec 16 (6) Dec 15 (5) Dec 14 (13) Dec 13 (8) Dec 12 (7) Dec 11 (9) Dec 10 (12) Dec 09 (7) Dec 08 (11) Dec 07 (9) Dec 06 (11) Dec 05 (10) Dec 04 (6) Dec 03 (8) Dec 02 (6) Dec 01 (14) Nov 30 (7) Nov 29 (8) Nov 28 (8) Nov 27 (6) Nov 26 (9) Nov 25 (10) Nov 24 (12) Nov 23 (10) Nov 22 (10) Nov 21 (10) Nov 20 (4) Nov 19 (4) Nov 18 (8) Nov 17 (9) Nov 16 (9) Nov 15 (12) Nov 14 (6) Nov 13 (9) Nov 12 (3) Nov 11 (9) Nov 10 (10) Nov 09 (10) Nov 08 (7) Nov 07 (8) Nov 06 (10) Nov 05 (8) Nov 04 (7) Nov 03 (10) Nov 02 (11) Nov 01 (10) Oct 31 (5) Oct 30 (8) Oct 29 (8) Oct 28 (8) Oct 27 (11) Oct 26 (6) Oct 25 (9) Oct 24 (10) Oct 23 (5) Oct 22 (14) Oct 21 (10) Oct 20 (8) Oct 19 (11) Oct 18 (13) Oct 17 (7) Oct 16 (6) Oct 15 (9) Oct 14 (7) Oct 13 (12) Oct 12 (13) Oct 11 (9) Oct 10 (8) Oct 09 (9) Oct 08 (7) Oct 07 (12) Oct 06 (8) Oct 05 (13) Oct 04 (11) Oct 03 (7) Oct 02 (5) Oct 01 (14) Sep 30 (12) Sep 29 (12) Sep 28 (11) Sep 27 (11) Sep 26 (7) Sep 25 (10) Sep 24 (3) Sep 23 (7) Sep 22 (8) Sep 21 (8) Sep 20 (8) Sep 19 (7) Sep 18 (5) Sep 17 (14) Sep 16 (7) Sep 15 (11) Sep 14 (13) Sep 13 (11) Sep 12 (9) Sep 11 (5) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (13) Sep 08 (11) Sep 07 (11) Sep 06 (16) Sep 05 (1) Sep 04 (10) Sep 03 (8) Sep 02 (8) Sep 01 (7) Aug 31 (1) Aug 30 (6) Aug 29 (2) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (6) Aug 26 (8) Aug 25 (5) Aug 24 (5) Aug 23 (6) Aug 22 (7) Aug 21 (6) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (9) Aug 18 (7) Aug 17 (7) Aug 16 (10) Aug 15 (2) Aug 14 (5) Aug 13 (5) Aug 12 (10) Aug 11 (5) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (8) Aug 08 (3) Aug 07 (5) Aug 06 (12) Aug 05 (5) Aug 04 (7) Aug 03 (6) Aug 02 (7) Aug 01 (14) Jul 31 (7) Jul 30 (7) Jul 29 (13) Jul 28 (10) Jul 27 (6) Jul 26 (7) Jul 25 (7) Jul 24 (4) Jul 23 (12) Jul 22 (14) Jul 21 (6) Jul 20 (9) Jul 19 (12) Jul 18 (9) Jul 17 (4) Jul 16 (6) Jul 15 (8) Jul 14 (15) Jul 13 (8) Jul 12 (10) Jul 11 (6) Jul 10 (6) Jul 09 (6) Jul 08 (6) Jul 07 (9) Jul 06 (15) Jul 05 (6) Jul 04 (10) Jul 03 (6) Jul 02 (6) Jul 01 (11) Jun 30 (7) Jun 29 (4) Jun 28 (8) Jun 27 (8) Jun 26 (5) Jun 25 (11) Jun 24 (9) Jun 23 (10) Jun 22 (8) Jun 21 (8) Jun 20 (6) Jun 19 (5) Jun 18 (15) Jun 17 (8) Jun 16 (13) Jun 15 (15) Jun 14 (11) Jun 13 (6) Jun 12 (15) Jun 11 (7) Jun 10 (7) Jun 09 (18) Jun 08 (20) Jun 07 (17) Jun 06 (9) Jun 05 (9) Jun 04 (12) Jun 03 (13) Jun 02 (14) Jun 01 (8) May 31 (13) May 30 (8) May 29 (6) May 28 (8) May 27 (17) May 26 (8) May 25 (13) May 24 (12) May 23 (9) May 22 (4) May 21 (4) May 20 (11) May 19 (14) May 18 (6) May 17 (10) May 16 (4) May 15 (5) May 14 (28) May 12 (9) May 11 (17) May 10 (15) May 09 (12) May 08 (5) May 07 (4) May 06 (10) May 05 (8) May 04 (10) May 03 (5) May 02 (6) May 01 (8) Apr 30 (8) Apr 29 (12) Apr 28 (6) Apr 27 (11) Apr 26 (12) Apr 25 (6) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (5) Apr 22 (10) Apr 21 (19) Apr 20 (13) Apr 19 (11) Apr 18 (11) Apr 17 (5) Apr 16 (12) Apr 15 (11) Apr 14 (17) Apr 13 (6) Apr 12 (16) Apr 11 (10) Apr 10 (1) Apr 09 (18) Apr 08 (14) Apr 07 (6) Apr 06 (10) Apr 05 (21) Apr 04 (12) Apr 03 (4) Apr 02 (13) Apr 01 (8) Mar 31 (10) Mar 30 (11) Mar 29 (10) Mar 28 (8) Mar 27 (6) Mar 26 (12) Mar 25 (15) Mar 24 (10) Mar 23 (12) Mar 22 (12) Mar 21 (8) Mar 20 (4) Mar 19 (11) Mar 18 (7) Mar 17 (7) Mar 16 (9) Mar 15 (10) Mar 14 (4) Mar 13 (2) Mar 12 (14) Mar 11 (13) Mar 10 (7) Mar 09 (9) Mar 08 (17) Mar 07 (5) Mar 06 (7) Mar 05 (13) Mar 04 (10) Mar 03 (14) Mar 02 (12) Mar 01 (18) Feb 28 (8) Feb 27 (2) Feb 26 (9) Feb 25 (13) Feb 24 (17) Feb 23 (13) Feb 22 (12) Feb 21 (11) Feb 20 (11) Feb 19 (16) Feb 18 (17) Feb 17 (15) Feb 16 (15) Feb 15 (15) Feb 14 (10) Feb 13 (8) Feb 12 (10) Feb 11 (15) Feb 10 (11) Feb 09 (13) Feb 08 (10) Feb 07 (9) Feb 06 (6) Feb 05 (15) Feb 04 (15) Feb 03 (11) Feb 02 (14) Feb 01 (15) Jan 31 (11) Jan 30 (9) Jan 29 (19) Jan 28 (9) Jan 27 (9) Jan 26 (16) Jan 25 (19) Jan 24 (17) Jan 23 (8) Jan 22 (15) Jan 21 (9) Jan 20 (11) Jan 19 (7) Jan 18 (9) Jan 17 (6) Jan 16 (7) Jan 15 (12) Jan 14 (9) Jan 13 (14) Jan 12 (11) Jan 11 (13) Jan 10 (8) Jan 09 (8) Jan 08 (20) Jan 07 (11) Jan 06 (11) Jan 05 (8) Jan 04 (14) Jan 03 (6) Jan 02 (7) Jan 01 (7) Dec 31 (14) Dec 30 (15) Dec 29 (7) Dec 28 (10) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (3) Dec 25 (11) Dec 24 (9) Dec 23 (9) Dec 22 (15) Dec 21 (12) Dec 20 (11) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (16) Dec 17 (6) Dec 16 (12) Dec 15 (14) Dec 14 (11) Dec 13 (10) Dec 12 (6) Dec 11 (10) Dec 10 (17) Dec 09 (11) Dec 08 (12) Dec 07 (16) Dec 06 (11) Dec 05 (5) Dec 04 (12) Dec 03 (15) Dec 02 (15) Dec 01 (12) Nov 30 (16) Nov 29 (7) Nov 28 (11) Nov 27 (13) Nov 26 (13) Nov 25 (16) Nov 24 (15) Nov 23 (10) Nov 22 (10) Nov 21 (4) Nov 20 (8) Nov 19 (9) Nov 18 (16) Nov 17 (11) Nov 16 (11) Nov 15 (10) Nov 14 (9) Nov 13 (6) Nov 12 (10) Nov 11 (12) Nov 10 (15) Nov 09 (9) Nov 08 (10) Nov 07 (6) Nov 06 (7) Nov 05 (12) Nov 04 (14) Nov 03 (10) Nov 02 (13) Nov 01 (9) Oct 31 (9) Oct 30 (11) Oct 29 (18) Oct 28 (13) Oct 27 (23) Oct 26 (12) Oct 25 (14) Oct 24 (20) Oct 22 (18) Oct 21 (18) Oct 20 (19) Oct 19 (12) Oct 18 (11) Oct 17 (5) Oct 16 (18) Oct 15 (8) Oct 14 (11) Oct 13 (9) Oct 12 (13) Oct 11 (6) Oct 10 (7) Oct 09 (27) Oct 08 (14) Oct 07 (10) Oct 06 (9) Oct 05 (7) Oct 04 (10) Oct 03 (6) Oct 02 (9) Oct 01 (13) Sep 30 (12) Sep 29 (13) Sep 28 (8) Sep 27 (9) Sep 26 (8) Sep 25 (14) Sep 24 (4) Sep 23 (14) Sep 22 (20) Sep 21 (11) Sep 20 (6) Sep 19 (9) Sep 18 (14) Sep 17 (8) Sep 16 (17) Sep 15 (6) Sep 14 (11) Sep 13 (9) Sep 12 (4) Sep 11 (7) Sep 10 (14) Sep 09 (12) Sep 08 (17) Sep 07 (12) Sep 06 (13) Sep 05 (9) Sep 04 (20) Sep 03 (16) Sep 02 (16) Sep 01 (10) Aug 31 (13) Aug 30 (4) Aug 29 (9) Aug 28 (6) Aug 27 (8) Aug 26 (11) Aug 25 (10) Aug 24 (14) Aug 23 (12) Aug 22 (13) Aug 21 (10) Aug 20 (13) Aug 19 (15) Aug 18 (8) Aug 17 (10) Aug 16 (8) Aug 15 (3) Aug 14 (11) Aug 13 (12) Aug 12 (15) Aug 11 (10) Aug 10 (17) Aug 09 (6) Aug 08 (13) Aug 07 (11) Aug 06 (13) Aug 05 (11) Aug 04 (11) Aug 03 (10) Aug 02 (7) Aug 01 (6) Jul 31 (10) Jul 30 (21) Jul 29 (14) Jul 28 (13) Jul 27 (16) Jul 26 (10) Jul 25 (15) Jul 24 (17) Jul 23 (15) Jul 22 (15) Jul 21 (19) Jul 20 (17) Jul 19 (9) Jul 18 (7) Jul 17 (26) Jul 16 (18) Jul 15 (20) Jul 14 (16) Jul 13 (19) Jul 12 (11) Jul 11 (5) Jul 10 (13) Jul 09 (11) Jul 08 (8) Jul 07 (12) Jul 06 (16) Jul 05 (9) Jul 04 (5) Jul 03 (15) Jul 02 (11) Jul 01 (14) Jun 30 (13) Jun 29 (19) Jun 28 (8) Jun 27 (9) Jun 26 (16) Jun 25 (22) Jun 24 (17) Jun 23 (11) Jun 22 (15) Jun 21 (14) Jun 20 (8) Jun 19 (17) Jun 18 (10) Jun 17 (10) Jun 16 (17) Jun 15 (13) Jun 14 (14) Jun 13 (4) Jun 12 (13) Jun 11 (15) Jun 10 (25) Jun 09 (10) Jun 08 (23) Jun 07 (14) Jun 06 (20) Jun 05 (10) Jun 04 (11) Jun 03 (12) Jun 02 (21) Jun 01 (14) May 31 (10) May 30 (14) May 29 (8) May 28 (23) May 27 (20) May 26 (16) May 25 (13) May 24 (12) May 23 (10) May 22 (18) May 21 (14) May 20 (12) May 19 (18) May 18 (14) May 17 (13) May 16 (4) May 15 (7) May 14 (16) May 13 (13) May 12 (8) May 11 (18) May 10 (8) May 09 (7) May 08 (13) May 07 (11) May 06 (15) May 05 (18) May 04 (17) May 03 (7) May 02 (5) May 01 (11) Apr 30 (19) Apr 29 (21) Apr 28 (18) Apr 27 (16) Apr 26 (8) Apr 25 (11) Apr 24 (9) Apr 23 (20) Apr 22 (23) Apr 21 (5) Apr 20 (16) Apr 19 (13) Apr 18 (6) Apr 17 (6) Apr 16 (16) Apr 15 (18) Apr 14 (13) Apr 13 (14) Apr 12 (9) Apr 11 (3) Apr 10 (16) Apr 09 (14) Apr 08 (12) Apr 07 (18) Apr 06 (7) Apr 05 (11) Apr 04 (9) Apr 03 (19) Apr 02 (17) Apr 01 (16) Mar 31 (16) Mar 30 (22) Mar 29 (16) Mar 28 (16) Mar 27 (19) Mar 26 (31) Mar 25 (25) Mar 24 (26) Mar 23 (27) Mar 22 (22) Mar 21 (22) Mar 20 (13) Mar 19 (21) Mar 18 (20) Mar 17 (24) Mar 16 (18) Mar 15 (9) Mar 14 (9) Mar 13 (29) Mar 12 (15) Mar 11 (11) Mar 10 (11) Mar 09 (20) Mar 08 (12) Mar 07 (6) Mar 06 (21) Mar 05 (22) Mar 04 (19) Mar 03 (9) Mar 02 (20) Mar 01 (11) Feb 28 (11) Feb 27 (27) Feb 26 (15) Feb 25 (18) Feb 24 (17) Feb 23 (19) Feb 22 (24) Feb 21 (10) Feb 20 (14) Feb 19 (25) Feb 18 (16) Feb 17 (19) Feb 16 (23) Feb 15 (8) Feb 14 (11) Feb 13 (25) Feb 12 (16) Feb 11 (12) Feb 10 (18) Feb 09 (12) Feb 08 (14) Feb 07 (8) Feb 06 (27) Feb 05 (28) Feb 04 (24) Feb 03 (17) Feb 02 (20) Feb 01 (23) Jan 31 (16) Jan 30 (20) Jan 29 (26) Jan 28 (17) Jan 27 (21) Jan 26 (24) Jan 25 (16) Jan 24 (14) Jan 23 (16) Jan 22 (17) Jan 21 (19) Jan 20 (21) Jan 19 (17) Jan 18 (13) Jan 17 (14) Jan 16 (10) Jan 15 (21) Jan 14 (16) Jan 13 (19) Jan 12 (30) Jan 11 (14) Jan 10 (11) Jan 09 (8) Jan 08 (23) Jan 07 (13) Jan 06 (21) Jan 05 (15) Jan 04 (18) Jan 03 (9) Jan 02 (12) Jan 01 (15) Dec 31 (18) Dec 30 (7) Dec 29 (13) Dec 28 (11) Dec 27 (8) Dec 26 (6) Dec 25 (8) Dec 24 (28) Dec 23 (12) Dec 22 (12) Dec 21 (17) Dec 20 (19) Dec 19 (19) Dec 18 (22) Dec 17 (24) Dec 16 (17) Dec 15 (29) Dec 14 (22) Dec 13 (12) Dec 12 (22) Dec 11 (24) Dec 10 (25) Dec 09 (18) Dec 08 (15) Dec 07 (21) Dec 06 (24) Dec 05 (30) Dec 04 (28) Dec 03 (26) Dec 02 (22) Dec 01 (33) Nov 30 (23) Nov 29 (9) Nov 28 (18) Nov 27 (25) Nov 26 (17) Nov 25 (23) Nov 24 (27) Nov 23 (12) Nov 22 (10) Nov 21 (15) Nov 20 (23) Nov 19 (23) Nov 18 (24) Nov 17 (21) Nov 16 (20) Nov 15 (13) Nov 14 (15) Nov 13 (27) Nov 12 (23) Nov 11 (19) Nov 10 (21) Nov 09 (13) Nov 08 (16) Nov 07 (16) Nov 06 (32) Nov 05 (24) Nov 04 (20) Nov 03 (29) Nov 02 (12) Nov 01 (15) Oct 31 (20) Oct 30 (22) Oct 29 (27) Oct 28 (20) Oct 27 (23) Oct 26 (21) Oct 25 (15) Oct 24 (23) Oct 23 (26) Oct 22 (27) Oct 21 (28) Oct 20 (24) Oct 19 (13) Oct 18 (9) Oct 17 (30) Oct 16 (8) Oct 15 (20) Oct 14 (14) Oct 13 (17) Oct 12 (16) Oct 11 (8) Oct 10 (19) Oct 09 (22) Oct 08 (16) Oct 07 (18) Oct 06 (23) Oct 05 (7) Oct 04 (15) Oct 03 (21) Oct 02 (17) Oct 01 (22) Sep 30 (25) Sep 29 (20) Sep 28 (17) Sep 27 (13) Sep 26 (20) Sep 25 (15) Sep 24 (24) Sep 23 (23) Sep 22 (18) Sep 21 (20) Sep 20 (11) Sep 19 (24) Sep 18 (25) Sep 17 (25) Sep 16 (19) Sep 15 (21) Sep 14 (15) Sep 13 (10) Sep 12 (23) Sep 11 (23) Sep 10 (25) Sep 09 (25) Sep 08 (17) Sep 07 (3) Sep 06 (17) Sep 05 (14) Sep 04 (24) Sep 03 (16) Sep 02 (11) Sep 01 (19) Aug 31 (20) Aug 30 (11) Aug 29 (24) Aug 28 (24) Aug 27 (16) Aug 26 (26) Aug 25 (21) Aug 24 (15) Aug 23 (19) Aug 22 (15) Aug 21 (25) Aug 20 (27) Aug 19 (19) Aug 18 (24) Aug 17 (14) Aug 16 (10) Aug 15 (15) Aug 14 (16) Aug 13 (21) Aug 12 (30) Aug 11 (19) Aug 10 (8) Aug 09 (12) Aug 08 (17) Aug 07 (21) Aug 06 (26) Aug 05 (23) Aug 04 (21) Aug 03 (12) Aug 02 (7) Aug 01 (19) Jul 31 (21) Jul 30 (25) Jul 29 (29) Jul 28 (23) Jul 27 (17) Jul 26 (11) Jul 25 (21) Jul 24 (14) Jul 23 (15) Jul 22 (19) Jul 21 (15) Jul 20 (9) Jul 19 (10) Jul 18 (15) Jul 17 (22) Jul 16 (18) Jul 15 (21) Jul 14 (20) Jul 13 (7) Jul 12 (9) Jul 11 (29) Jul 10 (19) Jul 09 (17) Jul 08 (26) Jul 07 (21) Jul 06 (18) Jul 05 (14) Jul 04 (20) Jul 03 (17) Jul 02 (24) Jul 01 (23) Jun 30 (23) Jun 29 (18) Jun 28 (16) Jun 27 (16) Jun 26 (17) Jun 25 (23) Jun 24 (32) Jun 23 (29) Jun 22 (8) Jun 21 (17) Jun 20 (25) Jun 19 (28) Jun 18 (19) Jun 17 (25) Jun 16 (23) Jun 15 (9) Jun 14 (11) Jun 13 (14) Jun 12 (22) Jun 11 (19) Jun 10 (17) Jun 09 (15) Jun 08 (16) Jun 07 (7) Jun 06 (29) Jun 05 (27) Jun 04 (24) Jun 03 (22) Jun 02 (22) Jun 01 (13) May 31 (9) May 30 (26) May 29 (19) May 28 (15) May 27 (15) May 26 (23) May 25 (13) May 24 (12) May 23 (24) May 22 (13) May 21 (21) May 20 (18) May 19 (16) May 18 (7) May 17 (12) May 16 (25) May 15 (24) May 14 (23) May 13 (19) May 12 (17) May 11 (8) May 10 (6) May 09 (14) May 08 (21) May 07 (26) May 06 (14) May 05 (14) May 04 (3) May 03 (3) May 02 (24) May 01 (13) Apr 30 (15) Apr 29 (24) Apr 28 (24) Apr 27 (11) Apr 26 (8) Apr 25 (13) Apr 24 (27) Apr 23 (15) Apr 22 (21) Apr 21 (19) Apr 20 (17) Apr 19 (8) Apr 18 (20) Apr 17 (27) Apr 16 (27) Apr 15 (21) Apr 14 (8) Apr 13 (8) Apr 12 (7) Apr 11 (7) Apr 10 (22) Apr 09 (15) Apr 08 (15) Apr 07 (17) Apr 06 (14) Apr 05 (5) Apr 04 (12) Apr 03 (19) Apr 02 (17) Apr 01 (19) Mar 31 (25) Mar 30 (13) Mar 29 (9) Mar 28 (16) Mar 27 (23) Mar 26 (22) Mar 25 (17) Mar 24 (25) Mar 23 (16) Mar 22 (13) Mar 21 (24) Mar 20 (27) Mar 19 (20) Mar 18 (24) Mar 17 (17) Mar 16 (11) Mar 15 (6) Mar 14 (20) Mar 13 (28) Mar 12 (30) Mar 11 (20) Mar 10 (21) Mar 09 (12) Mar 08 (8) Mar 07 (17) Mar 06 (20) Mar 05 (19) Mar 04 (15) Mar 03 (17) Mar 02 (8) Mar 01 (12) Feb 28 (16) Feb 27 (17) Feb 26 (8) Feb 25 (23) Feb 24 (15) Feb 23 (8) Feb 22 (10) Feb 21 (24) Feb 20 (14) Feb 19 (24) Feb 18 (19) Feb 17 (27) Feb 16 (13) Feb 15 (11) Feb 14 (15) Feb 13 (13) Feb 12 (13) Feb 11 (21) Feb 10 (16) Feb 09 (15) Feb 08 (10) Feb 07 (17) Feb 06 (21) Feb 05 (17) Feb 04 (14) Feb 03 (23) Feb 02 (5) Feb 01 (8) Jan 31 (17) Jan 30 (22) Jan 29 (23) Jan 28 (10) Jan 27 (24) Jan 26 (12) Jan 25 (9) Jan 24 (12) Jan 23 (19) Jan 22 (19) Jan 21 (14) Jan 20 (21) Jan 19 (12) Jan 18 (8) Jan 17 (20) Jan 16 (14) Jan 15 (23) Jan 14 (8) Jan 13 (20) Jan 12 (9) Jan 11 (7) Jan 10 (18) Jan 09 (11) Jan 08 (18) Jan 07 (13) Jan 06 (12) Jan 05 (12) Jan 04 (11) Jan 03 (10) Jan 02 (9) Jan 01 (9) Dec 31 (12) Dec 30 (11) Dec 29 (6) Dec 28 (9) Dec 27 (13) Dec 26 (15) Dec 25 (8) Dec 24 (6) Dec 23 (8) Dec 22 (5) Dec 21 (6) Dec 20 (14) Dec 19 (17) Dec 18 (14) Dec 17 (14) Dec 16 (13) Dec 15 (9) Dec 14 (9) Dec 13 (11) Dec 12 (16) Dec 11 (18) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (24) Dec 08 (11) Dec 07 (19) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (26) Dec 04 (15) Dec 03 (20) Dec 02 (17) Dec 01 (11) Nov 30 (10) Nov 29 (18) Nov 28 (21) Nov 27 (10) Nov 26 (22) Nov 25 (16) Nov 24 (12) Nov 23 (8) Nov 22 (18) Nov 21 (9) Nov 20 (17) Nov 19 (16) Nov 18 (16) Nov 17 (5) Nov 16 (9) Nov 15 (21) Nov 14 (17) Nov 13 (20) Nov 12 (16) Nov 11 (13) Nov 10 (9) Nov 09 (10) Nov 08 (16) Nov 07 (15) Nov 06 (18) Nov 05 (19) Nov 04 (16) Nov 03 (11) Nov 02 (5) Nov 01 (17) Oct 31 (17) Oct 30 (21) Oct 29 (9) Oct 28 (16) Oct 27 (6) Oct 26 (6) Oct 25 (16) Oct 24 (18) Oct 23 (14) Oct 22 (17) Oct 21 (10) Oct 20 (6) Oct 19 (8) Oct 18 (11) Oct 17 (12) Oct 16 (14) Oct 15 (19) Oct 14 (15) Oct 13 (11) Oct 12 (9) Oct 11 (10) Oct 10 (23) Oct 09 (13) Oct 08 (15) Oct 07 (20) Oct 06 (13) Oct 05 (4) Oct 04 (16) Oct 03 (17) Oct 02 (17) Oct 01 (20) Sep 30 (17) Sep 29 (9) Sep 28 (8) Sep 27 (14) Sep 26 (20) Sep 25 (19) Sep 24 (13) Sep 23 (11) Sep 22 (9) Sep 21 (5) Sep 20 (8) Sep 19 (21) Sep 18 (12) Sep 17 (20) Sep 16 (16) Sep 15 (10) Sep 14 (6) Sep 13 (18) Sep 12 (14) Sep 11 (24) Sep 10 (17) Sep 09 (16) Sep 08 (16) Sep 07 (10) Sep 06 (20) Sep 05 (13) Sep 04 (23) Sep 03 (14) Sep 02 (12) Sep 01 (11) Aug 31 (11) Aug 30 (13) Aug 29 (18) Aug 28 (14) Aug 27 (21) Aug 26 (10) Aug 25 (8) Aug 24 (10) Aug 23 (17) Aug 22 (15) Aug 21 (14) Aug 20 (20) Aug 19 (20) Aug 18 (7) Aug 17 (9) Aug 16 (11) Aug 15 (12) Aug 14 (14) Aug 13 (19) Aug 12 (14) Aug 11 (6) Aug 10 (12) Aug 09 (7) Aug 08 (18) Aug 07 (16) Aug 06 (16) Aug 05 (20) Aug 04 (12) Aug 03 (8) Aug 02 (12) Aug 01 (14) Jul 31 (16) Jul 30 (16) Jul 29 (11) Jul 28 (8) Jul 27 (9) Jul 26 (17) Jul 25 (20) Jul 24 (17) Jul 23 (11) Jul 22 (18) Jul 21 (7) Jul 20 (10) Jul 19 (14) Jul 18 (11) Jul 17 (15) Jul 16 (12) Jul 15 (10) Jul 14 (8) Jul 13 (8) Jul 12 (17) Jul 11 (18) Jul 10 (16) Jul 09 (13) Jul 08 (10) Jul 07 (12) Jul 06 (8) Jul 05 (16) Jul 04 (14) Jul 03 (17) Jul 02 (13) Jul 01 (16) Jun 30 (19) Jun 29 (7) Jun 28 (19) Jun 27 (21) Jun 26 (27) Jun 25 (23) Jun 24 (23) Jun 23 (12) Jun 22 (9) Jun 21 (18) Jun 20 (15) Jun 19 (24) Jun 18 (21) Jun 17 (13) Jun 16 (9) Jun 15 (9) Jun 14 (18) Jun 13 (24) Jun 12 (18) Jun 11 (23) Jun 10 (25) Jun 09 (24) Jun 08 (27) Jun 07 (5) Jun 06 (25) Jun 05 (30) Jun 04 (23) Jun 03 (22) Jun 02 (16) Jun 01 (17) May 31 (18) May 30 (19) May 29 (17) May 28 (23) May 27 (15) May 26 (10) May 25 (19) May 24 (16) May 23 (16) May 22 (27) May 21 (20) May 20 (26) May 19 (6) May 18 (8) May 17 (20) May 16 (8) May 15 (18) May 14 (5) May 13 (21) May 12 (9) May 11 (8) May 10 (12) May 09 (18) May 08 (11) May 07 (27) May 06 (12) May 05 (16) May 04 (19) May 03 (14) May 02 (18) May 01 (18) Apr 30 (25) Apr 29 (27) Apr 28 (11) Apr 27 (10) Apr 26 (18) Apr 25 (10) Apr 24 (29) Apr 23 (29) Apr 22 (14) Apr 21 (15) Apr 20 (20) Apr 19 (22) Apr 18 (16) Apr 17 (32) Apr 16 (12) Apr 15 (21) Apr 14 (21) Apr 13 (15) Apr 12 (13) Apr 11 (14) Apr 10 (16) Apr 09 (20) Apr 08 (36) Apr 07 (22) Apr 06 (11) Apr 05 (28) Apr 04 (20) Apr 03 (29) Apr 02 (32) Apr 01 (18) Mar 31 (12) Mar 30 (9) Mar 29 (15) Mar 28 (22) Mar 27 (24) Mar 26 (17) Mar 25 (17) Mar 24 (13) Mar 23 (5) Mar 22 (12) Mar 21 (15) Mar 20 (18) Mar 19 (19) Mar 18 (16) Mar 17 (10) Mar 16 (6) Mar 15 (18) Mar 14 (24) Mar 13 (18) Mar 12 (18) Mar 11 (17) Mar 10 (13) Mar 09 (12) Mar 08 (18) Mar 07 (25) Mar 06 (16) Mar 05 (16) Mar 04 (22) Mar 03 (17) Mar 02 (6) Mar 01 (23) Feb 29 (19) Feb 28 (25) Feb 27 (26) Feb 26 (23) Feb 25 (12) Feb 24 (13) Feb 23 (15) Feb 22 (26) Feb 21 (31) Feb 20 (12) Feb 19 (21) Feb 18 (15) Feb 17 (10) Feb 16 (15) Feb 15 (19) Feb 14 (15) Feb 13 (25) Feb 12 (20) Feb 11 (9) Feb 10 (7) Feb 09 (28) Feb 08 (20) Feb 07 (22) Feb 06 (20) Feb 05 (19) Feb 04 (14) Feb 03 (16) Feb 02 (28) Feb 01 (37) Jan 31 (27) Jan 30 (31) Jan 29 (18) Jan 28 (14) Jan 27 (10) Jan 26 (18) Jan 25 (26) Jan 24 (34) Jan 23 (21) Jan 22 (21) Jan 21 (18) Jan 20 (18) Jan 19 (18) Jan 18 (26) Jan 17 (24) Jan 16 (23) Jan 15 (30) Jan 14 (20) Jan 13 (18) Jan 12 (24) Jan 11 (11) Jan 10 (23) Jan 09 (22) Jan 08 (17) Jan 07 (17) Jan 06 (9) Jan 05 (18) Jan 04 (15) Jan 03 (19) Jan 02 (14) Jan 01 (6) Dec 31 (12) Dec 30 (4) Dec 29 (15) Dec 28 (11) Dec 27 (7) Dec 26 (10) Dec 25 (16) Dec 24 (13) Dec 23 (16) Dec 22 (11) Dec 21 (26) Dec 20 (28) Dec 19 (14) Dec 18 (25) Dec 17 (23) Dec 16 (19) Dec 15 (22) Dec 14 (38) Dec 13 (26) Dec 12 (25) Dec 11 (27) Dec 10 (31) Dec 09 (15) Dec 08 (30) Dec 07 (31) Dec 06 (27) Dec 05 (38) Dec 04 (25) Dec 03 (27) Dec 02 (15) Dec 01 (36) Nov 30 (23) Nov 29 (17) Nov 28 (23) Nov 27 (13) Nov 26 (16) Nov 25 (14) Nov 24 (18) Nov 23 (21) Nov 22 (21) Nov 21 (24) Nov 20 (20) Nov 19 (23) Nov 18 (17) Nov 17 (17) Nov 16 (34) Nov 15 (25) Nov 14 (17) Nov 13 (21) Nov 12 (18) Nov 11 (9) Nov 10 (15) Nov 09 (9) Nov 08 (9) Nov 07 (12) Nov 06 (8) Nov 05 (4) Oct 29 (1) Oct 01 (1) Jul 29 (1) May 11 (1) Jul 11 (1)Dmitry Medvedev meets with Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller

Dmitry Medvedev and Alexei Miller discussed Gazproms performance during the winter season on the domestic and European markets, as well as cooperation with Naftogaz of Ukraine.

Excerpts from the transcript:

Meeting with Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller

Dmitry Medvedev: What are the results of the winter season on the domestic market and in terms of exports?

Alexei Miller: This winters natural gas supplies were affected by an unusually cold February in Russia and Europe. Nevertheless, Gazprom fully satisfied the demand of Russian consumers and consumers in the European market.

In February, Gazprom distributed 30.7 billion cubic metres of gas to consumers in Russia. This is the largest amount in the past five years.

The demand for Russian gas in Europe was growing fast. In total, in February, we set an all-time high for gas distribution to the European market in the amount of 17.4 billion cubic metres, which is up 6.8 percent compared to the historically high volume in February 2017. On March 2, we set a megarecord by delivering 713.4 million cubic metres of gas.

Gazprom has the capacity to meet peak demands for gas. On an annualised basis, our capacity totals 260 billion cubic metres of gas with an understanding that in 2017  the year of record-high distribution  we supplied 194.4 billion cubic metres to Europe.

This winter, Gazprom confirmed its status as a reliable and responsible supplier that honours its obligations in full and on time.

Underground gas storage facilities in Europe remain at about quarter volume. In some countries this level is critical at around only 10 percent. This means that in the coming gas pumping period, in the summer, the demand for Russian gas will be high as well. In circumstances where gas production in the European Union is declining and the demand for Russian gas is increasing, new export gas distribution projects for supplying Russian gas to foreign markets are becoming even more important, including Turkish Stream and Nord Stream 2.

Dmitry Medvedev: These projects are important. However, there are other factors that affect the consumption of gas in one way or another. Im referring to the Stockholm Arbitration Institute rulings, the arbitration court, regarding your dispute with the Ukrainian company. What steps is Gazprom taking, including the contract?

Alexei Miller: The Stockholm Arbitration Court handed down a one-sided ruling which violated the balance of the interests of the parties under two contracts  the contract for gas supplies to Ukraine and the transit contract. Under the Stockholm Arbitration ruling, Gazprom owes Naftogaz $2.56 billion. Almost instantly, Naftogaz released a statement that, based on the Stockholm Arbitration rulings, Naftogaz would be able to fine us for 2018 and 2019, that is, until the expiration of the contracts, and we would be forced to pay several billion dollars.

Given this, these contracts have become economically unviable for us, so Gazprom decided to initiate a procedure for the dissolution of the contracts through the Stockholm Arbitration Court. We have already filed an appeal regarding the gas supply contract to Ukraine. An appeal will be filed before the end of March for the transit contract and the procedure for the termination of the contracts under the established standards.

Dmitry Medvedev: What will happen to gas transit to Europe?

Alexei Miller: There are currently no risks for transiting gas to Europe across Ukraine, unless of course we identify unauthorised gas siphoning by Naftogaz in Ukraine. We expect that the Stockholm Arbitration Court will redress the imbalance in the interests of the parties during the new proceedings.

Dmitry Medvedev: It is critically important for all these proceedings to take place in accordance with the existing regulations, so that the disputing parties themselves are directly involved  I mean Gazprom and Ukraine. This is expressly provided for in the existing agreements. With regard to other ways of influencing these relations, I believe, it is absolutely wrong and has an obvious political connotation  Im talking about isolated comments made by EU officials and even the US State Department. Neither the European Union nor the foreign ministries of other countries have any part in bilateral relations between Gazprom and its Ukrainian counterpart.

Alexei Miller: Given the situation, Ukraine must prove the economic efficiency and viability of continuing gas transit through its territory. We are ready to hear them out and consider any proposals.

Dmitry Medvedev: Of course, all options should remain open. This is a matter of contract profitability and effectiveness.Yes, you can transfer your domain to any registrar or hosting company once you have purchased it. Since domain transfers are a manual process, it can take up to 5 days to transfer the domain.

Domains purchased with payment plans are not eligible to transfer until all payments have been made. Please remember that our 30-day money back guarantee is void once a domain has been transferred.

For transfer instructions to GoDaddy, please click here.Robert F. Worth in the New York Times:

The V.I.P. terminal of Baghdad International Airport is a clean and quiet place, about a quarter-mile removed from the noise and squalor of the main arrivals-and-departures hall. If you have the right connections and $150  American dollars only  you can wait for your flight in comfort on one of the soft white leather couches, sipping an espresso and getting a close-up view of some of the colorful people who run todays Middle East. On a typical afternoon, your fellow passengers may include Iranian-trained guerrillas and death-squad veterans who have grown rich on embezzlement. If you stay long enough, gulf oil barons may glide by with their white-robed entourages, perhaps brushing past Iranian Revolutionary Guardsmen in uniform or diplomats from Turkey or Russia, all of them hoping to bully or bribe Iraqs weak state to their own preferred shape. Everyone is welcome as long as you speak the language of money. On the wall above you are wide-screen TVs and a stylized mural of ancient Iraq, so that you can compare todays catastrophes with those of yesteryear. Before you leave, a customs official in a dark suit will take your ticket and passport and then return 10 minutes later, smiling obsequiously and extending your stamped documents with both hands.

But even here, special treatment has its limits. On April 15 last year, a Qatari man arrived in the V.I.P. terminal on an evening flight from his countrys capital city, Doha. After identifying himself as a senior government envoy, he announced that he and his 14 colleagues, all dressed in crisp white ankle-length tunics called thobes, did not want their luggage inspected. The Qataris had brought 23 identical black duffels, a small peninsula of black nylon that covered a sizable portion of the lounges hardwood floor. Each bag was so heavy  well over 100 pounds  that the porters had trouble rolling them into the room.

The Iraqis insisted, politely, that all bags must be screened, even in the V.I.P. terminal. The leader of the Qatari team was visibly shocked to hear this. He asked for time. The Qataris huddled for a quiet discussion and then made a number of phone calls. Eventually, they relented and allowed the bags to be screened. Each of them contained stacks of bricklike squares, wrapped in black tape that the scanner could not penetrate. When customs officials asked what was under the tape, the Qataris refused to say. The standoff lasted all night, and finally, near dawn, the exasperated Qataris gave in and drove to Baghdad without their luggage. It was only later that the Iraqis opened the 23 duffels and discovered a mix of dollars and euros, amounting to some $360 million. The bills alone weighed more than 2,500 pounds.

More here.Virginia Woolf to Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson, October 17, 19311

Most artistic collectives flicker out after delivering, at best, a crackling manifesto. For a group of aspiring artists and intellectuals to vow to transfigure art, then the world, is no rare thing. Yet by any measure, the Bloomsbury Groupwhose members included Virginia Woolf, John Maynard Keynes, Lytton Strachey, and, more peripherally, Bertrand Russellmade good on its ambitions. Of the countless novels, philosophical treatises, and economic theories that appeared in England in the early decades of the twentieth century, Bloomsbury claims credit for some of the most durable and dazzling.

The Bloomsbury Group, named for the London area where its members congregated, is known to us today for the work it left behind. Yet to their contemporary rivals, the Bloomsberries seemed contemptibly lazy. Caricatures pegged them as a band of snobbish rentiers who whiled away afternoons sprawled on couches murmuring about art and beauty. Even in their own work, they portrayed moneyed leisure with uneasy self-awareness. Standing on the soft carpet outside Clarissa Dalloways dressing room, the drab tutor Miss Kilman of Virginia Woolfs Mrs. Dalloway seethes, Instead of lying on a sofaMy mother is resting, Elizabeth had saidshe should have been in a factory; behind a counter; Mrs. Dalloway and all the other fine ladies!2 Miss Kilmans rage blazes more furiously with each semicolon as she condemns not just Mrs. Dalloway but all her privileged class to the servile humiliations of wage labor. Clarissa Dalloway can lie on the couch for an hour after lunch. Her daughters tutor cannot. Miss Kilman correctly sees Clarissas leisure as the result of an economic position that excuses her from paid work.

To say that the Bloomsbury Group was lazy, that its members celebrated their own idleness, and that their leisure was enabled by unjust economic arrangements would seem to be damning pronouncements, if true. But in the writings of key Bloomsbury figures, these very ideas were disputed less defensively than we might imagine and judged more frankly than we might expect.

More here.Reindeer jerky, anyone? Finland is the happiest country in the world, according to the latest World Happiness Report.

Norway, last year's winner, came in second place in the 2018 report. It's followed by Denmark, Iceland and Switzerland.

The World Happiness Report was released by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network for the United Nations on March 14, days before World Happiness Day on March 20.

The report ranks countries on six key variables that support well-being: income, freedom, trust, healthy life expectancy, social support and generosity.

"The top five countries all have almost equally high values for the six factors found to support happiness, and four of these countries -- Denmark, Switzerland, Norway and now Finland -- have been in first place in the six World Happiness Report rankings since the first report," said report co-editor John Helliwell, a professor emeritus of economics at the University of British Columbia.

"In a division with such excellent teams, changes in the top spot are to be expected," he said.

Finland also had the happiest immigrants, a special focus of this year's report.

Differences among the top five countries are small enough that jostling among the top five is expected every year.

The Netherlands came in sixth place this year, followed by Canada, New Zealand, Sweden and Australia.

In the 2018 list, the top 10 countries shifted spots compared with the 2017 report, but none dropped out of the top 10 list (which means there were no new entries this year).

Happiest immigrants in the world

The 10 happiest countries were also 10 of the top 11 spots in the rankings of immigrant happiness. (Mexico, which came in 24th place in the overall rankings, placed 10th in the immigrant happiness rankings.)

"The most striking finding of the report is the remarkable consistency between the happiness of immigrants and the locally born," said Helliwell in a news release.

"Although immigrants come from countries with very different levels of happiness, their reported life evaluations converge towards those of other residents in their new countries," said Helliwell.

"Those who move to happier countries gain, while those who move to less happy countries lose."

The United States' ranking is dropping

The United States landed in 18th place, dropping four spots from last year.

"Governments are increasingly using indicators of happiness to inform their policy-making decisions," said economics professor Jeffrey D. Sachs, director of Columbia University's Center for Sustainable Development and report co-editor.

"US policymakers should take note. The US happiness ranking is falling, in part because of the ongoing epidemics of obesity, substance abuse and untreated depression."

Other major powers didn't crack the top 10 rankings, either. Germany came in 15th place, while the United Kingdom was 19th.

Japan came in 54th place, Russia came in 59th place and China came in 86th.

People in Burundi are unhappiest with their lives, according to the survey of 156 countries, followed by Central African Republic (155), South Sudan (154), Tanzania (153) and Yemen (152).

It began with Bhutan

The tiny country of Bhutan, which came in 97th place, brought attention to happiness as a metric for its people. Its prime minister proposed a World Happiness Day to the United Nations in 2011, which created an international focus on happiness.

One year later, the U.N. General Assembly declared March 20 as World Happiness Day, recognizing "the relevance of happiness and well-being as universal goals and aspirations in the lives of human beings around the world and the importance of their recognition in public policy objectives."

This report is the sixth to come out since 2012. The rankings of the world's happiest countries came from an analysis of data from surveys in 156 countries taken from 2015 to 2017. The analysis of immigrant happiness was based on surveys of 117 countries covering the years 2005-2015.In a shabby apartment block near the center of Latvia's capital, Riga, a group of Russians is carefully watching political events unfolding at home.

This is the newsroom of Meduza, an independent Russian-language website staffed entirely by Russian nationals. Having been pushed out of Russia's media space, Meduza operates out of neighboring Latvia, whose sleepy capital has embraced them.

Barred, they say, from being able to publish independently of the Kremlin, the journalists at Meduza are now covering Russia's presidential election on Sunday from afar.

"The population here speak Russian and they have very simple, strict and transparent rules of business. We have no problem at all with the authorities," said Galina Timchenko, Meduza's executive editor.

Russia Decoded: How much do you know about Russia?

It is, Timchenko said, a stark contrast to her country, where she said she was fired from her job as the editor of the Lenta.ru news website. She believes her dismissal was on the orders of the Kremlin.

"After the annexation of Crimea there was the total cleaning of the media space in Russia," she said. "The Kremlin smashed news agencies and influential editors-in-chief were replaced by pro-Kremlin editors."

She said she was "fired in a second" after reporting on Russia's annexation of Crimea in March 2014.

The majority of her staff resigned from Lenta.ru in protest and several followed her to Riga.

Nestled in a gulf of the Baltic Sea, Riga is a city with cobbled streets, church spires and a dark past.

For some 50 years -- between 1940 and 1991 -- Latvia was under the control of the Kremlin. Dissidents were imprisoned by the Soviets and tortured and murdered by the KGB.

In Riga's center, the KGB's former headquarters stands as a memorial to those who were persecuted. Nearby, Soviet buildings and statues puncture the skyline as a reminder of how this small nation was once ruled by its giant neighbor from Moscow.

But the Baltic state is today a different place. It has shaken off its past, joined the European Union and NATO, and become a haven for journalists and campaigners seeking escape from President Vladimir Putin's Russia.

But it is not only the journalists and politically active who have fled Russia for Riga.

Pavel Pereverzev owns the Babooshka Bakery in Riga's old town, a little taste of Russia in the ex-Soviet nation. He moved to Latvia in 2011 with his wife and young daughter.

But he said he was not escaping persecution in Russia -- merely looking for a better place to raise his family. "For me, it was never about politics. It was about economics," he told CNN.

Pereverzev took advantage of a law in Latvia that saw foreigners granted residency -- and the right to travel across Europe's Schengen Area -- if they invested more than $94,000 in property in the country.

Since 2010, thousands of Russians have benefited from the concept and made a home in Latvia, according to Latvia's public broadcaster.

Latvia, with its large Russian speaking population, is close enough to their homeland to be comfortably familiar. It offers the freedoms and guarantees that they say Russia cannot yet provide.

When he arrived, Pereverzev started several small cafes and said he was surprised he did not have to bribe officials in order to get things done.

"The thing about life here is that it's more predictable," Pereverzev told CNN at his cafe. "The taxes (in Latvia) are higher, but at least you know what they are."

He hasn't decided whether to vote in Sunday's election, but he said Putin has failed Russia on several fronts.

"I can't say which one of his failures is the biggest, but definitely one thing is the lack of rule of law," Pereverzev said.

After his re-election in 2012, in his state-of-the-nation speech, Putin promised to strengthen state controls, crack down on corruption and grow the middle class. In his annual address earlier this month, he spoke broadly about growing the economy and increasing Russia's GDP per capita by half by the mid-2030s.

Pereverzev and Timchenko are part of a number of middle-class Russians who have decided to call time on their home country.

"The dynamics we see are negative," Pereverzev said. "This is not getting better."

Timchenko said she left reluctantly but felt she had no choice.

"For me, he is stealing my future," she said of Putin.

"I remember the 1990s. I remember the smell of freedom. Then something changed," she said.

"Now we have no future at all."Chico, Calif.--Earlier this week we reported how a USA today article found that Chico has seen the third largest increase in violent crime in any metro area in California.

But police chief Michael O'Brien disputed those numbers Frday during a press conference.





O'Brien said the numbers in the USA today report did not accurately reflect the city of Chico because it combined statistics from all of the law enforcement agencies in butte county.

*but* he's not disputing that crime has been on the rise in the city of chico

{"If you're going to present information to the public, I think you need to provide some context and I think it just lacked context."

Providing context is exactly why chico police chief michael o'brien held a press conference today to share the 2017 crime report.

The department had a busy year responding to more than 77,000 calls for service.

In 2017, there were a total of 415 reported violent crimes, including homicide, robbery, rape, and aggravated assault.

That's a 31-percent increase from 2015, and a 42 percent increase from 2016.

"What we don't know is if that spike in 2017 is going to be a trend or simply just that an anomly, a spike. Those numbers may, or may not go down in 2018. Certainly we want to see those numbers go down."

Property crime, including burglary, larceny, vehicle theft and arson is also on the rise.

There were 3,750 reported cases in 2017, that's a 7 percent increase from 2016.

O'brien said that since 2012, with the exception of 2016, there has been an increase in both violent and property crimes.

He thinks that new state laws passed in recent years that reduce the state's prisons population by scaling back the definition of some crimes... May be part of the problem.

"We also want people to go to jail. That is also very important. They can not commit violent crime while in custody, that is also very very critical to our sucess."

But chief michael o'brien said the department, can only do so much and they need the community's help.

"I think what's important is that we have crime we want people to report it, and I think people are doing that now. I think for awhile people were not reporting crime quite frankly, I think they were frustrated."

O'brien wants the community to know even though crime numbers have gone up, they are going to continue to work hard at keeping residents safe.

"We're in it for the long haul, we will not let up."

The chief went on to say that one of the most effective ways of preventing crime is by being pro-active

So in the coming weeks he'll announce new pro-active measures the department will be taking this summer







The Forex market is the most prominent global financial market with an average daily trade volume of over four trillion dollars. There is no one single central platform for the Forex market, to trade Forex, you need to choose a broker to assist you to execute your trade.



There are many Forex brokers in the FX market which makes choosing the right broker an overwhelming task especially if you just starting out in the market. To help you sift out the proven Forex brokers from the chaff, we have provided below three most important factors for choosing a Forex broker.



What are the three most important criteria for choosing a Forex broker?



1. Regulation and Compliance



Sign up with a regulated broker. The regulatory body needs to be a reputable and popular organization. When a broker has licensed from a legitimate regulatory agency, it shows that the company would fulfill the highest standard and always meet the stipulated fund requirement. It also shows that they manage their deposit as specified by the licensing authority.



The most popular regulatory body in the UK is the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) while in the US a reputable Forex broker must be a member of the following financial bodies: the National Futures Association (NFA) and the U. S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). To operate legally, a broker must register with CFTC as a Futures Commission Merchant and Retail FX broker.



All brokers that are regulated mentions this on their website under the about us section. Other countries apart from the UK and US have their own regulatory body, so ensure you choose a regulated Forex broker to ensure the safety of your investment.



2. Trading account features



Every Forex brokers accounts come with different trading features including the following:



 Leverage and Margin



Forex traders can access different leverage amounts. The advantage offered differs from broker to broker. A few offer 50:1, 200:1 or 400:1 leverage amounts. Leverages are extended loans given to margin account holders by their brokers. Leverages can be both profitable and risky for your deposit. You must be cautious when trading with leverage.



 Commissions and Spreads



The profits of Forex brokers either come from their commissions or spreads.



 Initial Deposit amount



What is the brokers initial deposit amount? Some brokers have a very minimal initial deposit amount like $50. Try brokers that give you investment options by opening either a mini or micro account.



 Ease of Deposits and Withdrawals



What are the brokers account withdrawal and funding policies? Does the Forex broker allow variable means of funding and withdrawing funds like through a credit card, ACH payment, PayPal, wire transfer, bank check or business or personal check? How easy can you withdraw your fund and what is the broker's charge for withdrawal?



3. Trading Platform and Customer Service



The brokers trading platform must make it easy for a trader to navigate through the site and trade. The trading platform software must be user-friendly, come with an intuitive and appealing interface, contain many technical, analytical and fundamental tools needed to execute trade successfully with ease. The platform must also have the following features:



 Clear buy' and sell' buttons

 Customization options

 Order entry types,

 Automated trading options

 Strategy builders

 Backtesting

 Trading alerts

 Free demo accounts

 24 hours availability of customer support



Conclusion: Safety and Reliability of the Forex broker



A reputable and safe Forex broker must be reliable. Security and safety of traders must be their paramount interest. A safe and secure broker must be active on the market, obtain a license from a reputable regulatory agency, make it easy for traders to withdraw fund from their account, offer comparatively low spread and only make money by attracting more customers than ripping them off with charges.



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.March 17 is celebrated throughout the world as St. Patrick's Day, in honor of the missionary who helped spread Christianity through Ireland. Here are five quick facts to help you learn about the patron saint of Ireland.

When did he live?

Details surrounding St. Patrick's life are hard to pin down, but he was likely born around 387 A.D. and died about 460 A.D.

Was he born in Ireland?

No, he was born in Britain, then part of the Roman Empire, and was captured by Irish pirates when he was 16. He was held in captivity in Ireland for six years, then escaped back to Britain.

Was he a priest?

Yes. He went to seminary in what is now France and became a priest, then returned to Ireland. He eventually became the first bishop of Armagh, primate of Ireland. In his autobiography, Confessio, also known as The Confession of St. Patrick, he said he baptized thousands. He also started many monasteries and helped spread Christianity across Ireland.

Why do we celebrate him in America?

Irish immigrants to Boston celebrated March 17, the day of St. Patrick's death, as a way of keeping alive their Irish heritage in America. That started as early as 1737, with parades starting in 1766. U.S. celebrations of St. Patrick's Day spread to big cities across the country, often being more festive than observances in Ireland, where it's a holy day. St. Patrick's Day wasn't even a public holiday in Ireland until 1904, although it had been observed with parades and churchgoing since the 1700s. The festivities in America influenced Ireland, where in the 1960s pubs began to open on the holiday. It has always been associated with beer-drinking in America, promoted by taverns and pubs, while in Ireland pubs and other businesses were closed on the holiday. "Generations of Irish immigrants were eager to celebrate their origins," writes Mike Cronin, author of "The Wearing of the Green: A History of St. Patrick's Day," and also a professor at Boston College. "The shared sense of being Irish, of wearing green and in some way marking March 17, has resulted in St. Patrick's Day being observed in a similar fashion to July Fourth or Halloween. It's the closest thing in America to National Immigrant Day."

It's also a marketing bonanza, helping sell beer and drive business at bars. Bars have been running St. Patrick's Day events and promotions throughout the weekend leading to the holiday.

Are the legends about St. Patrick true?

Did St. Patrick drive all the snakes out of Ireland? That's unlikely, since there's no evidence snakes ever lived in post-glacial Ireland. Did he teach the concept of the Holy Trinity by using the three-leafed clover, or shamrock, to demonstrate the oneness of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit? There's no way to prove or disprove that legend, but it's one of the most beloved stories about the saint.The Alabama Supreme Court will not hear an appeal in the case of a former Shelby County pastor who killed his wife with a shotgun in the bedroom of the church parsonage where they lived with their young daughters.

The Court announced Friday it will not hear Timothy Dane Tillman's request for appeal. The court offered no opinion on why Tillman's request for a higher court to review a lower court's ruling was denied.

Tillman - whose story was featured in a 2014 episode of Investigation Discovery's Handsome Devil series - was the former pastor of the Vincent Revival Center in Shelby County. The killing happened on an October 2005 Wednesday night when church members were gathering just 100 yards away for the mid-week service. Tillman and his 40-year-old wife, Janet, were unloading several guns from Tillman's car and moving them to the bedroom for safe-keeping.

"It was about 45 minutes before church was supposed to start'' Alabama Bureau of Investigation Lt. Scott Bartle told AL.com in 2014. "He waited until there were a lot of people around."

Tillman's story was that one of the guns began to slip from his arms. As it did, his wife reached out to help and a gun discharged, hitting her in the back. She died instantly. Initially, there wasn't much to debunk his tale. Janet Tillman's family members, however, didn't buy it and eventually called state investigators to get involved.

At the time of his wife's death, investigators said, Tillman was leading a double life. He was having an affair with a young lady in Washington state who later became his wife. The two initially met on the internet. Tillman's cover story with his girlfriend was that he was a Navy Seal. Molly Bizzarri Tillman thought his absences from Washington were because of his service to the country. He even bought military clothing to further the tale, Bartle said.

Back in Vincent, Janet Tillman thought her husband was on church retreats when he was actually in Washington. Just two months before Janet Tillman was killed, her husband proposed to Bizzarri in grand style at Bonefish Grille in Mississippi.

Shortly after his wife's death, Tillman officially changed his name to Timothy Patrick McNally and moved to Florida. Cell phone records initially alerted detectives to the affair with Molly Bizzarri. But it was a $5,000 loan taken out in Janet Tillman's name after her death that gave investigators what they needed to bring Tillman back to Alabama for questioning.

Investigators arrested Tillman in 2007 in Florida on the forgery charge. That same year he was indicted and charged in his wife's death. In Oct. 2009, Tillman was found guilty of murder. Two months later, Shelby County Circuit Judge Dan Reeves gave Tillman the maximum sentence of life in prison. Tillman pleaded for mercy, but his former father-in-law asked that he never be allowed to walk free again.

In 2011, however, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, in a 3-2 decision, ruled Reeves erred when he allowed Tillman to be tried on a murder charge and a charge of possession of a forged instrument during the same trial. Tillman was sentenced to 10 years after being found guilty of the forgery charge, which stemmed from an accusation that he deposited a loan solicitation check sent to Janet Tillman three months after she was killed.

Prosecutors contended the two crimes were related and showed a common plan or scheme. Later in 2011, a majority on an Alabama state appeals court ordered a new trial for Tillman.

Tillman was convicted for the second time on June 22, 2012 and sentenced to life in prison. He remains incarcerated at Limestone Correctional Facility.Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin wants term limits for the office he currently holds.

The city is advertising a bill to be introduced in the 2018 state legislative session to limit the mayor of Birmingham to only two terms of office. There is currently no term limit.

"Term limits are a topic the mayor has discussed since his campaign," said Chanda Temple, public information office for the mayor's office. "He believes fresh ideas and leadership are vital to the life of a city in order to continue progress."

The bill states that "upon taking office following the municipal election held in 2021, the mayor shall be eligible to succeed himself in office following that term but shall not be eligible to succeed himself for more than one additional term."

The legislation would only apply to a Class 1 municipality. Birmingham is the only city that falls under that classification.

Woodfin's office didn't say whether the bill has a sponsor yet.

It's unclear at this time if the bill could be passed before the end of this year's session. The bill has to be advertised through April 4 before it can be filed in the Legislature.

Woodfin touted the legislation as one of the many initiatives he plans to implement this year in the report from his citizen-led transition team. This report was presented to the public on Thursday.Smoke rising over Lake Martin near Dadeville this week was a sign of progress toward restoring the longleaf pine ecosystems that dominated once Alabama, and most of the Southeast.

Alabama Power Company has been conducting controlled burns on its property surrounding Lake Martin, helping control the undergrowth and restore habitat for the longleaf pine trees themselves and for the myriad of other plants and animals that thrive in the ecosystem.

Longleaf pine forests used to cover 90 million acres from Texas to Virginia, but now only a few isolated pockets remain. Most of the old growth forests were clear cut for logging operations or development, and the long-lived, slow-growing longleaf trees were replaced in many areas by loblolly pines or other fast-growing trees for the timber industry.

Suppression of natural forest fires also played a role in the longleaf systems' decline. The sturdy old trees depend on periodic fires to clear out the underbrush, and some of the native plants that thrive in longleaf systems need fire to germinate properly.

Chris Wyatt, a forester for Alabama Power who conducted the burns, said the only reason the property around Lake Martin has as much longleaf as it does is because some natural fires there were allowed to burn on the undeveloped land surrounding the lake.

"This has all been cut, you just were blessed right here to get a wildfire or two that came through at the right time and released all this longleaf," Wyatt said.

The land also had several years worth of pine straw, small limbs and undergrowth piled up around the trees. That duff will have to be carefully dealt with to make sure the fires don't burn too hot and kill the trees.

"This area hadn't had fire put through it in years," Wyatt said. "What we're doing is to restore this and get it back to where we can burn it.

"Right now the main thing is to get these trees conditioned to be burned again."

That involves periodic small burns to clear out undergrowth and expose seeds that have laid dormant for decades, leftover from the longleaf forests that stood before the land was clear cut.

"The seed bank is here," Wyatt said. "The seed bank will last 100 years, we just have to get the duff and the pine straw and in some places it's 18 inches deep."

The longleaf pine restoration work was requested by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which regulates hydroelectric dams and other energy projects.

Wyatt says it's working. Longleaf pines, grasses and legumes are emerging from areas where the duff has been cleared and sunlight reaches the ground, but it will take more small-scale burns that clear the duff without getting hot enough to kill the trees.

One hallmark of a longleaf forest is significant spacing between trees and sunlight reaching the ground, as opposed to the densely packed pine plantations favored for timber operations.

From a dirt road running through the Lake Martin property, the difference is easy to see.

"We are making great progress with the fire," Wyatt said. "On this [unburned] side of the road, you can't hardly see. On this [burned] side, you can see 100 yards going up the hill and just two years ago it looked like [the unburned side].

"And all the trees are still living, that's key."A Tuskegee man was killed in a single-vehicle in rural Macon County Saturday.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency reports that William Earl Howard, 55, was killed when the 2002 Cadillac Escalade he was driving left the roadway and struck a tree. Howard, who was not wearing a seat belt, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The crash occurred on Macon County 26 near Macon County 79, approximately 12 miles east of Tuskegee. No other information was available as State Troopers continue to investigate.Alabama's coastal zoo is one step closer to receiving a four-year tax break that will help it construct a new facility on the 25-acres of property it recently purchased.

The Alabama House, with a 92-0 vote on Thursday, approved HB118, which exempts the zoo from paying state, county and municipal sales and use taxes associated with capital expenditures.

The tax break will be applied to the zoo's new construction on property off Baldwin County 6, which is far enough away from flooding that occurs from the storm surges of hurricanes.

"This would allow them instead of paying taxes on capital investment, they would be able to use that money to do more things than they would have thought they would be able to," said State Rep. Steve McMillan, R-Gulf Shores, who carried the bill through the House.

The measure now moves to the Alabama Senate, with only a few days remaining in the 2018 legislative session before lawmakers are expected to leave Montgomery for the year.

But McMillan anticipates the Senate approving the measure next week.

"I'm extremely optimistic," he said.

Gulf Shores City Councilman Steven Jones, chairman of the Zoo Foundation's board, said the tax break could save the zoo about $500,000 through 2022, when the exemption expires. According to a legislative fiscal note, the exemption is estimated to decrease sales and use taxes to governing bodies by around $230,000.

"It's a significant amount of money," Jones said. He said the "building boom" occurring in Baldwin County has led to an increase in material costs.

"It will allow us to put some of it back (into the capital project)," he said.

In addition to the Gulf Shores Zoo, HB118 also grants the Birmingham Zoo the same exemption through 2022. The Birmingham Zoo received a construction-related tax exemption in 2015, which was expected to expire in 2019. The original exemption was granted as the Birmingham Zoo was proceeding with a $15 million renovation project.

The legislative analysis shows a decrease in revenues to state and local governing bodies of around $305,000.

Supporters of the Gulf Shores zoo, ahead of the House vote, argued that it was only fair that they should get the same kind of help as Birmingham's zoo.

But Jones said that aside from fairness, a tax exemption for the Gulf Shores zoo could fuel economic activity for Alabama and protect dozens of animals that are currently in a flood-prone area.

"It will help us in removing the animals out of (harm's) way," said Jones.

The Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo, founded in 1989, is situated off Alabama 59 in an area suspceptible to storm surges during hurricanes.

A year ago, the zoo suffered damage after 70 mph straight-line winds slammed into Gulf Shores. And during Hurricane Nate in October, 20 people in the zookeeping and maintenance department stayed up overnight to watch the grounds and check on animals as the Category 1 storm came ashore.

The zoo was famously highlighted in a 14-part Animal Planet TV series titled, "The Little Zoo that Could." The TV series followed zoo director Patti Hall and her staff as they evacuated nearly 300 animals before hurricanes Ivan (2004), Dennis (2005) and Katrina (2005).

The escape ahead of Ivan saved lives, as the storm which devastated Gulf Shores submerged the zoo's property in 17-foot deep waters.

Zoo supporters have spent several years trying to relocate onto higher ground. The 25-acre future zoo property was donated in 2006, shortly after the Animal Planet series aired. But fundraising lagged during regional difficulties such as the 2008-09 recession that battered property values, and the 2010 BP oil spill that crushed that summer's tourism.

The Zoo Foundation, earlier this month, spend $1.49 million for 71.69 acres adjacent to the 25 acres where the new zoo will be located. A groundbreaking was held on Tuesday.

The groundbreaking occurred about one month after the Gulf Shores City Council approved a $1 million grant to help move the project forward.

Jones said he anticipates the construction project lasting for a year, with an expected opening at the new zoo slated for January 2020.Five public "listening sessions" will kick off Tuesday at Lawson State Community College in Bessemer on how best the state can use $25.5 million in reducing diesel pollution and improving air quality.

The public hearings will be conducted by the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, and will focus on the state's portion of a $2.9 billion nationwide settlement against German automobile maker, Volkswagen.

The scheduled sessions include:

- 10 a.m. to noon on Tuesday at Lawson State Community College in Bessemer

- 10 a.m. to noon on Thursday at the Alabama Center for Commerce in Montgomery

- 10 a.m. to noon on March 27 at Calhoun Community College in Decatur

- 10 a.m. to noon at Coastal Alabama Community College in Bay Minette

- 10 a.m. to noon at Troy University's Dothan campus in Dothan

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey appointed ADECA's Energy Division to conduct the meetings, which are aimed at providing information about the settlement and feedback that can be used to develop a mitigation plan.

The 2016 settlement between Volkswagen and the U.S. Justice Department occurred after it was revealed that the German automaker had rigged its diesel cars to pass emission tests.

Alabama's portion of the settlement was announced about one year ago. At the time, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management was charged with distributing the money through grants for public and private entities to reduce diesel emissions.

The latest announcement, from ACECA, indicates that the state is planning to "create and implement a plan showing how the state can most effectively reduce nitrogen oxide emissions created by diesel engines."

Said ADECA Director Kenneth Boswell, in a news release: "Through all of our programs, ADECA always seeks to be a good steward of funding that comes into the state by ensuring that it is used for appropriate purposes. We appreciate the trust that Gov. Kay Ivey has placed in our agency to administer the VW settlement for the people of Alabama. These listening sessions are the first step in this process."A Boaz city school system employee is on administrative leave pending an investigation of alleged misconduct, the school system reports.

Superintendent Shannon Stanley, in response from local news media inquiries, confirmed Friday that a school system employee was recently placed on leave after the alleged misconduct was reported to them.

The school system is working with "other governmental agencies" on the investigation.

No further details were given. The school system said that due to "sensitive and confidential nature of the ongoing investigation," the board of education would not be releasing additional information.

Boaz City Schools consists of five schools with a total enrollment of 2,279 students. The school system, located in Marshall County in North Alabama, employs 265 full-time employees.The greatest invention in history is money.

Not the wheel.

Not the mousetrap.

Certainly not sliced bread.

Maybe you dream of what you would do if you had more money. Lots of people do. But instead, think of all the things you don't have to do because of money. Money is the reason you don't have to grow your own food or sew your own clothes. Money makes it possible for me to type for a living instead of tilling dirt to keep my family alive.

The Bible tells us that love of money is the root of all evil, but when was the last church service you attended where someone didn't pass the offering plate? Money makes it possible for that preacher in the pulpit to save your soul.

But as amazing as money is, few of us ever bother to consider how money works. In fact, it's such a perfect invention that most of us forget that it's an invention at all, or that each of us play a tiny role in its existence.

At its core, money is trust in the government.

Trust is the magic that makes money more than paper and green ink. Only because of that trust in government, do we accept the government's credit. Like Tinkerbell in "Peter Pan," money exists because we believe in it. So clap your hands, boys and girls!

When something erodes our faith in government, it's a pocketbook issue, not only because crooks are walking off with our tax dollars, but also because those criminals and con men are chipping away at the most valuable thing in the world -- the faith and credit of the United States government.

Until now, the chips were small enough and the rock big enough that corruption in our government didn't make much difference -- so little that we've begun to accept corruption as a victimless crime and a fact life, like water is wet, ice is cold, and summers in Alabama are hot and humid.

But it's not. Corruption is an existential threat. Look around the world. When governments collapse or when nations fail -- almost always, corruption is the fatal pathogen. Corruption is a greater threat to our nation than Russians, illegal immigrants or petty criminals on our streets.

If I'm going to keep typing for a living and you are going to keep doing whatever it is that you do, we must have trust in our government. Not a blind faith -- that's ridiculous. No, we must have a government that is deserving of our trust.

But what scares me, when I look around, is how untrustworthy our government has become.

In Washington, we have a president teasing and testing whether he can fire the officials in charge of investigating his affairs. Not since Nixon argued a president isn't capable of breaking the law has someone so high in our government threatened to burn the fabric of our nation.

In Birmingham, we have a United States Attorney, Jay Town, who, despite substantial evidence to the contrary, has said a scheme to protect polluters from the EPA was the work of just four men and that there's nothing else to see here, folks.

In Montgomery, we have an Alabama Attorney General, Steve Marshall, appointed by Robert Bentley, whose campaign blunders have undermined his office's investigation of State House corruption and who gave his blessing to a bill in the Legislature that would weaken Alabama's ethics law.

In the pipeline of our state judicial system, we have a former Alabama House speaker, Mike Hubbard, who, despite have been convicted on ethics charges nearly two years ago, is still walking around free, almost like the elected appellate judges are stalling until after the election for some reason.

And in the Legislature, we have a growing consensus among lawmakers that the ethics reforms of 2010 went too far. They are biding their time -- the months left until this year's elections are over -- to break those reforms down and bury them under Goat Hill.

For our governments to survive, and for our nation to outlast the living, we must hold our public officials accountable, no matter their political persuasion, no matter their strength of personality, no matter their stubborn persistence.

The folks like Matt Hart, the head of Alabama's special prosecutions division, and the folks like Robert Mueller, combing through corruption in Washington -- we need more of them, not fewer. They need greater latitude and discretion, not less.

But most of all, they need our support. We must make it clear to our elected officials that, if they touch them, or if they sit idly by while others undermine those watchdogs, come the next election, we will sweep those public officials out of office.

We must make it clear to our elected officials, before anything else -- before tax cuts or a border wall, before healthcare or gun control -- we must have a government we can trust.

Let them hear you.

Make your voice heard now. For a higher purpose and common cause if that's your thing, but if it's not, then for good old American greed.

Demand they give you your money's worth.

Kyle Whitmire is the state political columnist for the Alabama Media Group.

Want access to the best analysis and in-depth reporting about Alabama each week? Sign up for the weekly Reckon Report newsletter and follow Reckon on Facebook and Twitter.

Bonus: Want to learn more about the history of paper money? This YouTube series from Extra Credits follows the development of money from sea shells to the bills in your pocket.By Rep. Adline Clarke, D-Mobile, and Lilly Ledbetter, an Alabama native and national leader in fighting for equal pay and equal rights for women in the workplace

The wage gap is very real and its impact is enormous. It's a blatantly unfair practice that harms women from all walks of life across our state and their whole families. It's time to end this practice and send a message that equal work deserves equal pay.

In Alabama, women typically make only 75 cents for every dollar paid to men. The numbers are even more dire for Black and Latina women, who typically make only 57 and 49 cents respectively for every dollar paid to white men.

While women are those most directly impacted, this cannot be dismissed as a 'women's issue.' It's an issue of fairness and family and the consequences of allowing these wage disparities are far reaching.

Lilly Ledbetter (Courtesy)

Today, women make up over 50% of our workforce. They are also often sole providers for families or provide a significant amount of the family income. So, when employers pay women less for the same work, they are not only cheating that woman out of fair wages, they are cheating her whole family out of well-deserved income.

This is why House Bill 368, which will be heard in the State Government Committee this week, is supported by a bipartisan and diverse group of legislators and why it must be a priority for our legislature to take up and pass before the end of this session.

This legislation will prohibit employers from paying employees of the opposite sex lower wages for the same work and responsibility, allow employers to demonstrate that a wage differential is based upon valid factors, allow employees to disclose and discuss wages with others, require employers to maintain payroll records for three (3) years, and allow employees who are discharged, discriminated or retaliated against to bring civil action within one year for reinstatement and reimbursement for lost wages and benefits due to attempts to gain pay equity.

The measure will simply ensure fairness in the workplace. Nearly every state, other than Mississippi, and ours, already has such a law prohibiting employers from paying workers differently based solely on their gender.

Let's not be the last to get this right. Let's get it done this session for our Alabama families.Matt Mitchell is the creator of The Ostrich, Walker County's least trusted news source, and was the 3rd round draft pick of the Denver Nuggets. This is a work of satire.

After spending the last twelve years in hiding, the Mobile Leprechaun has returned to the spotlight.

The miniature Mobilian descended from his tree in Crichton to sign a deal with General Mills for an undisclosed amount of gold, making him the new face of Lucky Charms cereal. The contract was finalized earlier this week after the Leprechaun passed his drug test, dispelling long-standing rumors that he was a crackhead who had gotten a hold of the wrong stuff.

The leprechaun's agent, Amy McGowen, said the Lucky Charms brand was ready for a fresh, new, poorly drawn face. While the Leprechaun is expected to make numerous public appearances over the next several weeks, McGowen assured the media that he will continue to call Mobile home.

"My client isn't going anywhere. This is where his roots are," stated McGowen. "Even if a handful of residents continue to lift those roots from the ground with a backhoe in an attempt to know where the gold at."

McGowen also mentioned the Mobile Leprechaun's ongoing legal battle with a local purveyor of leprechaun flutes. The Leprechaun sued the Crichton resident last year for emotional damages, unauthorized use of his likeness, and for claiming a scaffolding pipe was an ancient leprechaun flute.

Despite the lawsuit with his next-door neighbor and constantly being harassed by local television news crews, McGowen claims the Leprechaun loves Mobile now more than ever.

"He just wants to make the people of Mobile proud. Nothing would make him happier than for Alabamians to see him on a cereal box and say 'yeeeaaah,'" explained McGowen. "But honestly, anything other than standing outside his tree and yelling while shining a flashlight in his eyes would be great."

McGowen added that her client is looking forward to another exciting St. Patrick's Day in Mobile, but kindly requests that local residents seeking gold and other fortunes look at the end of a rainbow and not under an oak tree in Crichton. Like any other ancient mythical creature, the Leprechaun has invested his gold in real estate ventures and mutual funds.

[This is a work of satire. All content is the creation of Matt Mitchell, The Ostrich.]On March 13-15 Vice Minister of National Defence of Lithuania Giedrimas Jeglinskas observed tests of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) in Bedford while on visit in the United Kingdom. Vice Minister also met with representatives of the UK Ministry of Defence and the Belgian Defense Directorate General for Material Resources and discussed challenges of adapting the JLTV for national needs and EU standards.



Oshkosh L-ATV, the winner of the JLTV program for US Army and Marines Corps (Picture source Army Recognition)

During the testing event Vice Minister G. Jeglinskas met with representatives of the JLTV program Working Group of the US Department of Defence and addressed challenges of integrating weaponry systems into the JLTV and possible solutions.

Vice Minister G. Jeglinskas proceeded to meet with his colleague Guto Bebb, Minister for Defence Procurement and Member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and discussed aspects of the JLTV procurement carried out the by the UK, the progress on the IFV Vilkas (Boxer) project, and technological potential of enterprises of Lithuanias defence industry and opportunities in the United Kingdom. The meeting officials also talked about the potential of bilateral cooperation of both countries navies in procurement.

The meeting was also attended by Deputy Head of the Diplomatic Representation Jonas Grinevicius at the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Norther Ireland.

In November 2017 decision of the Defence Material Agency under the Ministry of National Defence was approved on contacting the US Government about the possibility of buying armoured Light Combat Tactical All-terrain Vehicles (L-ATV) manufactured by Oshkosh Defence.



A total of 200 Light Combat Tactical All-terrain Vehicles is planned to be procured for armed forces of Lithuania. The Oshkosh L-ATV light combat tactical all-terrain vehicle is the winner of the US military's Army-led Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) program.



When the project was launched by Lithuania, first , information on the ATVs of the relevant type on the market was collected. Then, 9 models were selected according to such criteria as efficiency, compatibility, maintenance, etc. They were tested for capacity and functionality in practice and additional technical information was collected. When all the data was evaluated, it was decided that the U.S.-made L-ATV matched the criteria best.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Artesia City Council heard a report on the effect the U.S. Air Forces intended expansion of its military operating airspace into Southeast New Mexico could have on Artesia at Tuesdays regularly-scheduled meeting.

The USAF announced in 2017 it was considering the expansion of two military operation areas in New Mexico. One of those expansions, centered around providing Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo with additional airspace in which to train F-16 fighter pilots, would affect the Roswell, Artesia and Carlsbad area.

Residents in all three communities have expressed concern over the potential for disrupted commercial and private flights, difficulties operating air ambulance services, and other issues such as increased noise pollution.

Roswell and Carlsbad have sent many letters and had a lot of correspondence with (the USAF), said city clerk Aubrey Hobson, telling them they oppose this. Roswell seems to be more affected from the commercial flights they have coming in there.

Hobson said he and Artesia airport manager Lance Goodrich met with a USAF representative last week.

If they do what they say, its not going to affect us that much, Hobson said.

Hobson told the council the representative stated emergency medical transport would have priority, needing only to make contact by radio and any Air Force planes would vacate the area immediately. Other planes flying into or out of the Artesia airport would only see delays of around five minutes, the representative said, the time it would take for airport officials to contact the USAF about removing their planes from the airspace to accommodate the traffic.

That being said, we know if the government takes over something, sometimes they dont follow what they say theyre going to do, said Hobson.

Hobsons recommendation to the council was to direct staff to begin making contact with the USAF in efforts to set up a meeting in Artesia.

Let them know we have a voice in this also, Hobson said. Im not sure they realize how important this airport is and how many flights come in and out of it, so wed like to at least have them come talk to us.

In other business Tuesday, the council postponed once again a public hearing for the consideration of an ordinance amending Chapters 1, 2 and 11 of the Artesia City Code. The changes to Chapter 11 have been the sticking point for Community Development director Jim McGuire and the council, as they contain extensive revisions of the citys regulations regarding signage.

Theres some entire pieces in here that I have problems with, Councilor Jeff Youtsey said. I think its too restrictive.

McGuire told the council a manual from the sign industry had been consulted during the process and that city staff were more liberal than even the sign industry with what is allowable.

Part of our concern as a staff is we have too many signs in disrepair, too many signs that are just a frame with no sign in it, and its looking junky, McGuire said. So were trying to address those type of issues. Any time we pass an ordinance like this, all those that have signs up now get to keep those signs, including the electronic message signs.

But its what you want as a city.

The council ultimately elected to continue the public hearing at its March 27 meting after Community Development personnel has had more time to communicate with local businesses through the Chamber of Commerce.

The proposed changes to the portions of the city code regarding signage were detailed in Tuesdays edition of the Daily Press.

The council approved a separate ordinance amending the Existing Building Code and Property Maintenance Code portions of the municipal code.

This is just saying you adopt all conditions, provisions, limitations and terms of the latest edition of the code adopted by the state instead of having to come back to you and change every one thats adopted, said McGuire.

In the personnel portion of the meeting, the council approved the hiring of Simranjit Khurana as a police officer at a pay rate of $3,332 per month and Karl Becker as a police corporal at a rate of $4,641.

Permission to advertise and fill the positions of purchasing agent/assistant city clerk/records supervisor and detention officer was also granted.

Tuesdays meeting marked the first for Artesias new mayor, Raye Miller, and District 2 councilor George Mullen.

Its great to be up here, said Mullen. Im kind of nervous, but Ill get over that. I look forward to learning from each of you councilors, and I look forward to the community letting us know what the community needs. It should be a great four years.

In many ways, I feel thankful the election results turned out the way they did for the fact we have seven experienced councilors to help the two newbies actually improve, said Miller. The other thing I can tell you is that we have a great team of staff and supervisors below staff, and that makes the city great.

Im excited about the opportunities to learn more.

As part of its consent agenda Tuesday, the council:

 approved a Memorandum of Agreement with the Artesia Chamber of Commerce for the 2018 Washington D.C. Economic Development Trip.

 approved the reassignment of a lease for Lot 2 of Bock 3 of the Industrial Park, 2404 N. Parkland St., from LSEP, LLC, to Martha Patterson.

 approved a Helipad Landing Agreement and Living Quarters Agreement with Trans Aero, LTD.

 accepted the resignation of Joanne Jones, purchasing agent/assistant city clerk-treasurer/records supervisor, effective March 23.

 accepted the resignation of Wesley Green, detention officer, effective March 6.

 approved Millers attendance at the NMML/NMSIF Mandatory Mayor Safety Training in Albuquerque.

 approved three streets/parks employees attendance at the HollyFrontier Chip Seal Workshop in Ruidoso.

 approved two fire employees attendance at the New Mexico Firefighters Training Academy  Leadership in Supervision Training in Silver City.

 approved one facilities maintenance employees attendance at the Associated Contractors of N.M. training in Albuquerque.

 approved two recreation employees attendance at the NMRPA State Conference and Board Meeting in Santa Fe.

 approved elected officials attendance at the NMML 2018 Newly Elected Officials Institute in either Albuquerque or Las Cruces.

 approved executive, legislative and departments heads attendance at the NMML District 5 meeting in Hobbs.

 approved one wastewater employees attendance at the NMRWA Annual Conference in Albuquerque.

 approved one police employees attendance of online Foundations of Forensic Photography training.

 approved one fire employees attendance of the NMFTA Fire Officer I training in Los Alamos.

 approved one police employees attendance of online Death Investigation training.

 approved one police employees attendance of the Media Relations and Public Information Officer training in Albuquerque.

 approved one police employees attendance of the Law Enforcement Coordinators Symposium in Albuquerque.

 granted a request from First Untied Methodist Church for the use of Woodbine Cemetery from 6:15-7 a.m. Sunday, April 1, for the Easter Sunrise Service.The quack Sheikh Sarfarajuddin, who had no medical expertise, was hired on a 'doctors fee' of Rs 8,000.

The boy, Arijit Das, was being taken to a Kolkata hospital from a nursing home in Burdwam for treatment, after he complained of a prolonged bout of fever and chest pain. (Photo: File | Representational)

Kolkata: In a tragic incident, a meritorious 16-year-old Class 10 boy in West Bengals Birbhum died on Thursday night after being treated by an air-condition mechanic impersonating as a doctor in a critical care ambulance on way to hospital.

The quack Sheikh Sarfarajuddin, who had no medical expertise, was hired on a doctors fee of Rs 8,000.

The boy, Arijit Das, was being taken to a Kolkata hospital from a nursing home in Burdwan for treatment, after he complained of a prolonged bout of fever and chest pain.

The family also paid Rs 8,000 for the ambulance to rush the boy to Kolkata hospital for specialised treatment when his condition deteriorated.

The doctors in Kolkata declared him brought dead.

During the journey, the family grew suspicious seeing the driver fixing the oxygen cylinder and the doctor remaining silent. However in Kolkata, once it was found Arijit was dead, the entire scam was unearthed.

The fake doctor Sheikh Sarfarajuddin had no medical expertise and didn't know how to use the life support system in the ambulance.

Both the ambulance driver and quack tried to persuade the family for not travelling in the ambulance in fear of being caught.

The boy's family was not allowed inside the ambulance and had to hire a car to get to the hospital. "They told us that he was a big doctor and he won't allow any disturbance in the ambulance. We didn't know he wasn't a doctor," Ranjit Das said.

Based on the complaint filed by Arijits family members, the Jadavpur police (East) has arrested 25-year-old Sheikh Sarfarajuddin and the 26-year-old driver of the ambulance, Tara Babu Sha.

The police has registered a case for causing death due to negligence, impersonation and cheating. Investigations are on, the police said. The two accused were produced in court on Friday.

This is not the first such incident in West Bengal. In June, 2017, seven doctors were arrested from major hospitals in Kolkata for practicing without a legitimate degree.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is also the state's health minister, had passed the Clinical Establishments (Registration, Regulation and Transparency) Bill in 2017 after a crackdown on private hospitals in West Bengal.LIP leader Simarjeet Bains called Arvind Kejriwal 'traitor', alleging that he 'betrayed' the people of Punjab by tendering an apology.

Arvind Kejriwal tendered the apology to former minister Bikram Singh Majithia on Wednesday for levelling charges of involvement in drugs trade against the former minister. (Photo: File)

Chandigarh: Punjab's Lok Insaf Party on Thursday announced to break its alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab in the wake of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's apology to a SAD leader for accusing him of being involved in the drug trade.

Arvind Kejriwal tendered the apology to former minister Bikram Singh Majithia on Wednesday for levelling charges of involvement in drugs trade against the former minister.

"We have announced to break our alliance with the AAP. We cannot be associated with a party whose main leader meekly surrendered by tendering apology to former minister Bikram Singh Majithia," LIP leader and MLA Simarjeet Singh Bains said in Chandigarh on Friday.

Bains also called Arvind Kejriwal a "traitor", alleging that he "betrayed" the people of Punjab by tendering an apology.

"He is a fraudster. He accepted funds from Punjabis and also promised to punish Majithia. And now he tendered an apology which is a biggest fraud with Punjabis. Therefore we ended alliance with AAP," he said.

However, he said he will continue to support "at personal level" 14-15 AAP MLAs out of 20 who are working in the interest of Punjab.

The AAP and the LIP had entered into an alliance six months before the Punjab Assembly polls held in February last year.

In his apology, Kejriwal said he had now learnt that his allegations were unfounded.

Earlier in the day, Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann resigned as the AAP's Punjab chief protesting the apology.

Also Read: AAP Punjab chief terms Kejriwals apology to Majithia as letdown, resigns

Hours later, Aman Arora also tendered his resignation from the post of Punjab's AAP co-president on Friday.

Arora furnished his resignation to Delhi Deputy Chief Minister and AAP in-charge of Punjab Affairs Manish Sisodia and asked him to accept his resignation.

The Delhi chief minister's apology drew flak from his party's other leaders and MLAs in Punjab, who said they were "stunned" by the move and "disappointed" as Kejriwal had not kept them in the "loop".Sources disclosed that the TDP was also not happy with the BJPs efforts to strengthen and expand its base in the state.

New Delhi: The BJP on Friday said that Andhra Pradesh chief minister and TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidus decision to quit the NDA will have a positive outcome.

The panic decision by its old ally, the BJP said, will help it grow as a political force on its own in the southern state. The BJP has currently only two Lok Sabha MPs from the state.

Mr Naidu quit the NDA on Friday over the Central governments refusal to grant special category status to Andhra Pradesh,

The saffron party is of the view that TDPs decision to quit the BJP-led NDA was inevitable as the feedback reaching Mr Naidu was suggesting that the political graphs of TDPs arch rivals  Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy-led YSR Congress and Jana Senas Pawan Kalyan  were rising.

During the last Assembly elections, getting Andhra the special category status was the TDPs main poll plank. However, the YSR Congress was seen as taking a lead on the issue, a BJP leader said.

The TDP, he said, quit the NDA as it was under pressure for its failure to get its primary demand  special category status for Andhra  fulfilled despite being part of the ruling alliance.

It would have suited the TDP if the BJP was blamed (for the special category status), but Mr Naidu started feeling the heat when the YSR Congress started blaming the TDP for the delay, said a BJP leader.

Quitting the NDA has only sent a negative message to TDP voters as he (Naidu) has himself said that he met the PM on so many occasions and taken up the issue so many times, he said.

Sources disclosed that the TDP was also not happy with the BJPs efforts to strengthen and expand its base in the state.

The BJP top brass had been receiving numerous complaints from its state cadre that saffron party leaders and workers were being sidelined under the Naidu government.

A senior party leader said saffron cadres have on numerous occasions complained that the Andhra government was renaming many Central government schemes as state government schemes. Citing one example, he said that under the PM housing scheme only TDPs supporters got benefits.

BJP president Amit Shah is expected to meet the partys core group leaders from Andhra Pradesh on Saturday. Though this meeting was scheduled almost two weeks ago, this latest development will now be part of the agenda.The victim said, security guards at the entrance refused to conduct her security check claiming the mall didn't allow transgenders to enter.

However, an official statement from Phoenix Marketcity refuted Sonali's claims, and clarified that the concerned person was allowed to enter the mall premises within no time. (Photo: ANI)

Pune: A Pune-based transgender was allegedly barred from entering Phoenix Marketcity in Pune on Thursday evening.

The victim, identified as Sonali Dalvi, alleged that security guards at the entrance refused to proceed with her security check and claimed that the mall's policy did not allow transgenders to enter the premises.

Describing the incident, she said, "I had gone to shop at the mall around 8:00 pm on Thursday evening. As I proceeded to the ladies section for security check, the lady guard, who was visibly awkward, refused to check my belongings and proceeded to call other lady guards. One of them came up to me and said transgenders are not allowed in the mall as per the company policy, and subsequently asked me to leave."

"Later, a crowd gathered at the spot and asked the guards to let me go. However, one of them present there said I could enter, but have to refrain from going to the second and third floors. They kept me waiting for half an hour and kept giving me excuses. I have never been discriminated against in any public place so far. I will definitely file a case against the owners so that nobody from my community or any other faces this in the future," Sonali added.

However, an official statement from Phoenix Marketcity refuted Sonali's claims, and clarified that the concerned person was allowed to enter the mall premises within no time.

"We would like to state that based on the detailed report given by the security agency, the person in question was asked for verification by the security guards and directed to the desired destination in less than five minutes. We regret any inconvenience caused to the customer but security precautions are part of the process. We would also like to state, that we neither had nor have any intentions of hurting the sentiments or discriminating against anyone on the basis of their caste or gender. In fact we strongly believe in an inclusive society," the statement read.TDP, YSR Congs no trust motions on Monday; Cong-Left give support.

New Delhi: Miffed over the BJP-led Central governments refusal to grant special category status to Andhra Pradesh, the states ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) quit the ruling alliance and moved a no-confidence motion in Parliament against the NDA government.

On its own the BJP has the numbers to defeat the no-confidence motion and, together with allies, the NDA has a brute majority. After the exit of TDP, the NDA has 314 members in the Lok Sabha, way above the half-way mark of 270 in the Lower House whose current strength is 539. If admitted, this will be the first no-confidence motion against the Modi government since it came to power in 2014.

The TDP, which has 16 MPs, had on Thursday offered to back a no-confidence motion moved by Andhras Opposition party, YSR Congress, but changed its mind and moved its own motion on Friday, hours after party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu announced in Amaravati that the party was exiting the NDA.

The TDP alleged a nexus between the YSR Congress, which has 9 MPs, and the BJP. Both the TDP and YSR Congress notices for the motion are pending and are likely to come up on Monday. The notices for the motion could not be taken up on Friday as there was no order in the House.

A no-confidence motion is admitted for discussion when a minimum of 50 MPs support it. Once the motion is admitted, the House debates and votes on it. If the motion is passed with a majority, the government falls.

The no-confidence notices were moved by YSR Congress member Y.V. Subba Reddy and TDPs Thota Narasimham. The TDPs no-confidence motion has so far found support from the Congress, with 48 MPs, the CPI(M) and the CPI, with 10 MPs together, and the AIMIM, with one MP.

The Mamata Banerjee-led TMC, with 34 MPs, welcomed the TDPs decision to quit the NDA but the West Bengals ruling party is yet to officially announce whether it will support the motion. Tamil Nadus ruling AIADMK, which has 37 MPs, has said that it will support the motion only if the Centre refuses to set up the Cauvery Water Regulatory Committee (CWRC).

As TDP left the NDA fold, the Shiromani Akali Dal, the oldest member of the alliance with four MPs, said it is solidly standing with the BJP. Another ally, Shiv Sena, with 18 MPs, whose relations with the BJP have soured, is yet to officially declare its stand. Sources, however, said that if the motion is admitted and it reaches a stage where it is put to vote, the Sena could adopt a neutral stand. Telanganas ruling TRS, with 11 MPs, has decided not to support the motion.

TDP chief Mr Naidu blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his partys decision to pull out of the NDA. He said the Prime Minister was responsible for injustice to Andhra Pradesh. Two TDP ministers  Y.S. Chowdary and Ashok Gajapathi Raju  had resigned from the Modi government last week following the Centres refusal to grant special category status to Andhra Pradesh.

Mr Naidu said, I took the decision not for selfish reasons but for the interests of Andhra Pradesh. For four years I made all efforts, went to Delhi 29 times, asked many times. This was the Centres last Budget and there was no mention of Andhra Pradesh.

After quitting the NDA on Friday, the TDP wrote a letter to BJP president Amit Shah and other constituents of the NDA informing them about its decision to quit the NDA and the reasons for it, a party communique said. The government exuded confidence that it has the numbers to ride out the no-confidence motion crisis.

Countering TDPs allegations, the BJP accused its former ally of resorting to lies to cover up its inept and inert governance and said that Andhras ruling party was using the special category status issue and no-confidence motion to retrieve lost political ground.

The BJP said that its divorce with the TDP is an opportunity for it to grow and emerge as a dominant force in Andhra Pradesh. Parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar said that the House has full confidence in Mr Modi and the government has the numbers to face a no-confidence motion. We are ready to take on everything, said Mr Kumar.

A Union Cabinet minister said the no-confidence motion will only expose the Opposition parties which are lapping up any opportunity coming their way in their effort to defame the government.

TDPs arch-rival YSR Congress, led by Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy, took a jibe at the Andhras ruling party for copying his partys decision to move a no-confidence motion.

Mr Jaganmohan Reddy tweeted, Even if guided by political compulsion, the TDP had to yet again follow YSRCPs lead of moving no-confidence motion against the Central government. After 4 years of relentless struggle and fight by YSRCP with peoples support for special category status, finally the nation, including Chandrababu Naidus TDP, wakes up!People of Abhainagar village in Nadia district stop all work for 52 seconds at 10.50 am every weekday to sing the National Anthem.

A loudspeaker has been fitted around 100 feet away from the school building and those who hear the National Anthem being sung through it, join the chorus, school Headmaster Safikul Islam said. (Photo: Rajesh Jadhav | Representational)

Abhainagar: Setting a novel example, the people of Abhainagar village in Nadia district stop all work for 52 seconds at 10.50 am every weekday to sing the National Anthem.

People at home and those in moving motorbikes, auto-rickshaws, cycles and pedestrians on road stand still wherever they are and start singing.

At that particular hour, students of the state-run-Abhainagar Primary School sing the 52-second-long National Anthem and it is echoed to nearby areas through loudspeakers.

"We thought this would instil patriotism among the students and the people. We had requested the villagers, wherever they are, to sing the National Anthem along with their children at the school. They agreed and the practice continues," said the school Headmaster Safikul Islam.

A loudspeaker has been fitted around 100 feet away from the school building and those who hear the National Anthem being sung through it, join the chorus, Islam said.

"I along with two others was passing by the school with crops on our head on Wednesday. At that time we heard the National Anthem on the loudspeaker. We stopped walking and started to sing along. It felt good," said 50-year-old farmer Maijuddin Biswas.

Champa Bibi, 26, used to bring her two daughters to the school and leave at once for home.

"Now my daughters asked me to wait and leave the school only after singing the Jana Gana Mana along with them. This is a nice job done by the school," she said.

Narsina Bibi cooks mid-day meal in the school. "When the bell rings for the National Anthem, I stand up and sing it from the kitchen," she said.

The headmaster said the school has two loudspeakers and two sound boxes. He also has a plan to fit more loudspeakers and is trying to collect funds for it.

"We can make announcements using this and it will also help us make faster communication with guardians," Islam said.

The school has 115 students and most of them belong to very poor families, he said adding that it has won a few government awards including the Shishumitra Vidyalaya Purashkar in 2016 and the Nirmal Vidyalaya Purashkar in 2012.

Abdul Mannan Seikh, member of the Tehatta 2 Panchayat Samity, said he is aware of the effort.

"The people of the area are basically illiterate. If the locals respond to the appeal of the school, it is most welcome. The idea is good for instilling patriotism," he said.On February 18 this year, two policemen were killed and six others injured when Maoists ambushed a search party of the STF.

The location tracker of a CRPF party which was ambushed by a large group of armed Naxals, guerrillas of battalion one of Maoists in Kistaram forest in Chhattisgarhs south Bastar district of Sukma on March 13, had gone viral in social media barely a few minutes after the encounter. (Representational image)

Bhopal: The recent incidents of leakage of location tracker used by counterinsurgency forces in Chhattisgarhs conflict zone of Bastar in social media have caused concern for the security establishment.

The location tracker of a CRPF party which was ambushed by a large group of armed Naxals, guerrillas of battalion one of Maoists in Kistaram forest in Chhattisgarhs south Bastar district of Sukma on March 13, had gone viral in social media barely a few minutes after the encounter.

Around four hours later, a mine protected vehicle (MPV) carrying another group of CRPF jawans, was blown up by a powerful improvised explosive device (IED) triggered by Maoists in the same area, killing nine troopers and grievously wounding two others. It was yet to be known if an overenthusiastic jawan had made the location tracker of the security forces engaged in the encounter viral in the social media or a lower level cadre of security forces had done it.

Whatever may be the case, making location tracker of security forces viral in social media, knowingly or unknowingly, amounted to breach of security protocol. If the location tracker was leaked in social media to expose the security forces in the battle ground to the threat of attacks by Maoists, then it was a matter of serious concern, Kondagaon district superintendent of police (SP) in south Bastar region Abhishek Pallav told this newspaper on Friday.

This was the second time in the past one month, the location tracker of security forces engaged in encounter in Sukma district was leaked, he added.

On February 18 this year, two policemen were killed and six others injured when Maoists ambushed a search party of the STF.Gandhi has been attacking the BJP-led government over the defence deal, alleging that it has caused a huge loss to the state exchequer.

'1100 Cr per plane or 36,000 Cr i.e 10 pc of our Defence budget, in the pocket. Meanwhile, our Army begs our Govt. for money (sic),' the Congress chief said on Twitter. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday trained his guns on the government over the Rafale fighter jets deal, alleging that it had caused a loss of Rs 36,000 crore to the state exchequer even as the Army "begs" for more money.

He also alleged that Dassault Aviation, the French company that manufactured the fighter jets, had called the "lie" of "RM" (Raksha Mantri or Defence Minister) Nirmala Sitharaman by releasing the price of the aircraft.

Gandhi highlighted the price the BJP government paid for the fighter jets, the figure finalised by the erstwhile UPA regime led by Manmohan Singh for purchasing the aircraft and the amount Qatar had paid for the same.

"Dassault called RM's lie and released prices paid per RAFALE plane in report: Qatar = 1319 Cr, MODI = 1670 Cr, MMS = 570 Cr.

"1100 Cr per plane or 36,000 Cr i.e 10 pc of our Defence budget, in the pocket. Meanwhile, our Army begs our Govt. for money (sic)," the Congress chief said on Twitter.

Gandhi has been attacking the BJP-led government over the defence deal, alleging that it has caused a huge loss to the state exchequer. He has also questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's silence on the issue.Mallya was arrested by Scotland Yard on an extradition warrant in April 2017 and has been out on bail on a bond worth 650,000 pounds.

Mallya is on trial for the UK court to rule if he can be extradited to India to face charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to around Rs 9,000 crore. (Photo: AP | File)

London/New Delhi: The British judge hearing the extradition case of liquor baron Vijay Mallya on Friday said that it was blindingly obvious that rules were being broken by Indian banks which sanctioned some of the loans to the erstwhile Kingfisher Airlines.

Presiding over a hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London, Judge Emma Arbuthnot described the case as a jigsaw puzzle with different pieces of massive evidence to be put together to paint a picture, which she said she was now able to see more clearly than a few months ago.

There are clear signs that the banks seem to have gone against their own guidelines [in sanctioning some of the loans], she said, inviting the Indian authorities to explain the case against some of the bank officials involved because that relates to the conspiracy point against Mallya.

The 62-year-old businessman, who is on trial for the UK court to rule if he can be extradited to India to face charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to around Rs 9,000 crores, watched the proceedings from the dock.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), arguing on behalf of the Indian government, laid out their arguments against the defence calling into question the admissibility of some of evidence submitted by the Indian authorities.

Pointing out that Mallya had chosen not to give evidence in the case, CPS counsel Mark Summers rejected the defence claims on the evidence as nonsense.

The government of India has established by other copious evidence a prima facie case of fraud, he said.

The judge is expected to rule on the admissibility of evidence and set a timeframe for her final verdict. However, the matter could be delayed over further clarifications required on the source of some of the emails submitted as evidence by the Indian authorities.

Mallya's counsel, Clare Montgomery, argued that evidence that was claimed as a blueprint of dishonesty by the CPS was in fact privileged conversation between Mallya and his lawyer about legal advice in clear contemplation of litigation and hence should be inadmissible.

On a separate category of evidence presented by the Indian government, Mallya's team questioned the reliability of investigating officers in the case and pointed to over 150 pages of near identical material purporting to be statement of witnesses taken under Section 161 of the Indian CrPC.

"They do not appear to be in any way an account of things that witnesses would have said but rather seem to be somebody else's analysis put into the mouths of the witnesses, down to the spelling mistakes," Montgomery said, adding that the documents were "identically reproduced" with not only the same words but also the same typing errors.

The judge did not seem to be convinced by this argument and said she had found only two-three cases of mistakes but did not see a problem in the preparation of the statements.

Judge Arbuthnot had also sought further clarifications related to availability of natural light and medical assistance at Barrack 12 of Mumbai Central Prison on Arthur Road, where Mallya is to be held if he is extradited from Britain.

The CPS indicated to the judge that the government had provided all the necessary clarifications along with photographs of the two cells that comprise Barrack 12.

The extradition trial, which opened at the London court on December 4, is aimed at laying out a prima facie case of fraud against the tycoon, who has been based in the UK since he left India in March 2016. It also seeks to prove that there are no "bars to extradition" and that Mallya is assured a fair trial in India over his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines' alleged default of loans from a consortium of Indian banks.

The CPS, representing the Indian government, has argued that the evidence they have presented confirms dishonesty on the part of the businessman and that there are no bars to him being extradited from the UK to face Indian courts.

Mallya's defence team has deposed a series of expert witnesses to claim he had no fraudulent intentions and that he is unlikely to get a fair trial in India.

Mallya was arrested by Scotland Yard on an extradition warrant in April 2017 and has been out on bail on a bond worth 650,000 pounds. Chief Magistrate Arbuthnot is expected to pronounce her verdict in the case by May this year.

If she rules in favour of the Indian government, the UK home secretary will have two months to sign Mallya's extradition order. However, both sides will have the chance to appeal in higher courts in the UK against the chief magistrate's verdict.Children of Indian diplomats are not permitted by the Indian government to study in schools in Pakistan.

Pakistan had earlier issued a note verbale to India on the matter while India too had issued a note verbale to Pakistan last week.

New Delhi: Pakistan is reportedly considering the option of asking its diplomats to pull their children out of schools in India after the end of the current academic session in view of the diplomats harassment row with India. Meanwhile, Pakistans high commissioner Sohail Mahmood reached Lahore on Friday  hours after being called by his government for consultations  and is expected to meet Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi early next week, according to Pakistani media reports.

Islamabad alleges that in one instance, the children of a senior Pakistani diplomat were in a car on their way to school when it was stopped after a chase by another vehicle, following which the driver was pulled out of the car and subjected to verbal abuse. Islamabad said the children were traumatised as a result.

Children of Indian diplomats are not permitted by the Indian government to study in schools in Pakistan. India says its diplomats have been harassed for far too long there and its time Pakistani security agencies stop this harassment.

Pakistan had earlier issued a note verbale to India on the matter while India too had issued a note verbale to Pakistan last week. New Delhi had said on Thursday that the Indian high commission in Islamabad was facing a litany of issues which have not been resolved for several months.

On Thursday, the Pakistan foreign ministry said: Pakistans high commissioner to India Sohail Mahmood would be visiting Islamabad shortly for consultations on matters relating to Pakistan-India relations. Asked about these developments, MEA spokesman Raveesh Kumar had said on Thursday: It is pretty normal and routine for any country to call its envoy for consultations.The petitioner cited several instances where the farmers had to either commit suicide or face the wrath of the bank officials.

New Delhi: The Centre on Friday strongly opposed the Supreme Court ordering a probe into the Rs 11,000 crore Punjab National Scam, saying that there cannot be a parallel inquiry and parallel monitoring in the investigations being carried out.

Making this submission before a bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A.M. Kanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud, attorney-general K.K. Venugopal also asked the court as to why the CBI should file a status report on the investigation in a sealed cover to the court.

The A-G submitted that even before the investigating agencies start probing the matter, people come to courts with public interest litigations. Is there any justification for anyone to come to this court by filing a PIL and say that the court should be informed about the status of the investigation? There cant be a parallel inquiry and parallel monitoring by the courts, the A-G said.

Opposing the PILs, the A-G asked the court as to why such petitions should be entertained unless there was something wrong shown by the petitioner. If the court orders any parallel probe it would bring down the morale of the investigating agencies, he said.

Irked by the remark of the petitioner, advocate J.P. Danda, that the A-G had not read his petition, the CJI said, You withdraw your remark. We will not hear this matter today. We will hear it on April 9.

The petitioner cited several instances where the farmers had to either commit suicide or face the wrath of the bank officials over their inability to pay back the loan. It said Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Chowksi continued with the fraud for six long years and the prime accused, along with his family, easily managed to leave the country just before the bubble burst.During the clashes, the violent protesters torched a police check-post near the LoC.

A report received here said that the PoK police and other law enforcing agencies confronted a huge procession of people heading towards the de facto border and used force to disperse it. (Photo: PTI/Representational)

Srinagar: Clashes erupted between irate crowds and the police near the Line of Control (LoC) in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir on Friday, leaving several people injured.

A report received here said that the PoK police and other law enforcing agencies confronted a huge procession of people heading towards the de facto border and used force to disperse it.

During the clashes, the violent protesters torched a police check-post near the LoC.

The police baton charged the protesters and in the ensuing clashes a number of protesters and policemen were injured, said a Muzaffarabad-based journalist over the phone.

The protests against the unabated exchanges of fire between the Indian and Pakistani armies and border guards along the LoC had been called by pro-independence Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF). Reports from across the de facto border said that thousands of people mainly from Kotli and Poonch districts of the PoK turned up to begin a long march towards the de facto border.

Tauqeer Geelani, the JKLF leader in PoK said, Our protest was against the continued shelling on the LoC which has killed and maimed dozens of people and destroyed homes in recent weeks. We want an end to this animosity and ask both India and Pakistan to address the issue of Kashmir as per the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council keeping in view the overwhelming aspirations of the people living on both sides of the divide line. He also said that the purpose of holding the rally was also to impress upon the government in Muzaffarabad to compensate the sufferers of the cross-LoC firing and shelling and resolve their other problems.The External Affairs Ministry in New Delhi has described the Pakistan envoy's return to Islamabad as a routine affair.

Pak Foreign Office official said that the high commissioner would stay back for an indefinite period. (Photo: File)

Islamabad/ New Delhi: Pakistan's High Commissioner to India Sohail Mahmood is unlikely to return to New Delhi any time soon, an official of the Pakistan Foreign Office, was quoted, as saying by the Express Tribune, on condition of anonymity.

The daily further quoted the unnamed official of the Foreign Office, as saying that Islamabad has decided not to send High Commissioner Mahmood back to New Delhi until the overall situation regarding treatment of diplomatic staff and their families is resolved.

"Our high commissioner will not return to India anytime soon," the senior Foreign Office official was quoted by the Express Tribune, as saying just hours after Mahmood returned from New Delhi on Friday.

The official told the daily that the high commissioner would stay back for an indefinite period. Initially, it was thought that he would return to New Delhi after consultations with relevant authorities.

The Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi has described the Pakistan envoy's return to Islamabad as a routine affair.

Also Read: Calling back envoy routine process: India rubbishes Pak's 'harassment' allegation

It may be recalled that in 2002, high commissioners of Pakistan and India were recalled to their respective countries following the December 13, 2001 terror attack on the Indian parliament.

Tensions between both countries are already running high because of frequent cease-fire violations along the Line of Control (LoC) and the Working International Boundary.

According to the Express Tribune, the immediate fallout of ties taking a turn for the worse is reportedly not allowing about 500 Pakistani pilgrims to attend the annual Urs of revered Sufi saint Hazrat Khawaja Moinuddin Chisti in Ajmer Sharif, Rajasthan. They were supposed to travel to India on March 18, but have reportedly not been granted visas by the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.

The annual Urs is scheduled to start on March 19 and continue till March 29.Mooted by the Army headquarters, the plan is being actively looked into by the ministry of defence (MoD) and the ministry of home affairs (MHA).

The Army is under the administrative control of the defence ministry while the home ministry is the mother ministry of Indias paramilitary forces also called the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs). (Representational Image)

New Delhi: The government is actively considering an unprecedented and interesting proposal under which the Indian Army will recruit and train officers and jawans for the paramilitary forces and after utilising their services for five years before they are sent to join the paramilitary.

Mooted by the Army headquarters, the plan is being actively looked into by the ministry of defence (MoD) and the ministry of home affairs (MHA).

The Army is under the administrative control of the defence ministry while the home ministry is the mother ministry of Indias paramilitary forces also called the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs).

If approved, the policy will result in men serving their youngest and best years in the Army while ensuring an assured and regular supply of well-trained and disciplined troops for the CAPFs.

The implementation of the proposal is contingent upon both MoD and MHA evolving a system of induction acceptable to both, a parliamentary panel report on the issue has said. An earlier proposal of the Army for lateral induction of serving Army personnel into CAPFs after 7 years of colour service in the Army was turned down by the MHA.

CAPFs include Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Border Security Force (BSF), Assam Rifles, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and the National Security Guard (NSG). Indias seven CAPFs have distinct mandates ranging from combating Maoists to insurgency in Kashmir and the Northeast, to guarding the border or protecting vital installations and undertaking surgical operations.

About 38% of the CAPFs are deployed in Maoist-affected states of central India, 26% in the Northeast region, 21% in Jammu and Kashmir, and the left 15% in the rest of the states.

At present, the CAPFs face a growing manpower problem with 27,862 personnel and officers having quit service either by way of voluntary retirement or through resignations during 2014-17, including 14,587 in 2017.

During the same period, a total of 190 CAPF men have laid down their lives while on active duty. The dead include 99 from the CRPF, 45 from the BSF, 41 from the Assam Rifles, four of the SSB and one from the ITBP force.

The last major incident where the paramilitary suffered big casualties was on Tuesday when nine CRPF men killed in a powerful IED blast by triggered by Maoists in Chhattisgarhs Sukma district.

Disparity in the pay and perks of CAPFs vis-a-vis the Army has been a sore point even though both of them operate and serve under similar working conditions most of the time.Sonia Gandhi tears into dramebaaz, arrogant, power-hungry Modi govt.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi hugs his mother, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, after her speech at the 84th Plenary Session of the party in New Delhi. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Reduced to its lowest numbers in Lok Sabha, the Rahul Gandhil-led Co-ngress Party on Saturday resolved to adopt a pragmatic approach towards tie-ups with all like-minded parties to defeat the BJP-RSS in 2019, even as a combative and emotional Sonia Gandhi mounted a passionate attack on the arrogant, dramebaaz Modi government which, she said, has been tricking people to grab power.

The slogans of Sab Ka Saath, Sab Ka Vikas and Na Khaoonga, Na Khaane Doonga are only and only dramebaazi (drama) and a trick to grab power, she said at the partys 84th Plenary Session here, referring to Prime Minister Modis promises of inclusive development and corruption-free governance.

Giving credence to the logic of joining forces with other like-minded parties, the UPA chairperson recalled the Congress failure to form a government after it had decided to go alone at the 1998 Pachmarhi session, and spoke of the partys change of stance during the Shimla session in 2003, when it resolved to join hands with like-minded forces, and the resultant UPA-I government in 2004.

On the first of the two-day plenary session, Mrs Gandhi and Mr Gandhi set out the road map for reversing the partys downward electoral journey.

With eyes firmly on Lok Sabha elections 2019, they articulated the partys twin political-electoral strategy  to project the RSS-BJP combine as arrogant, dishonest and a divisive force out to create social divisions and sabotage constitutional provisions, while positioning the Congress as the only uniting force to forge strategic electoral tie-ups with like-minded parties.

The Congress has already initiated efforts to hold talks with other Opposition parties and Mrs Gandhi has chaired several meetings with Opposition leaders to discuss cooperation and cohesion in Parliament as well as forming a broad-based alliance to take on the BJP in 2019.

Addressing the first plenary session since Mr Gandhi took over as the partys president, Mrs Gandhi made a direct appeal to Congress leaders and workers to fight the challenges posed by BJP-RSS.

Asking them to be ready for any kind of sacrifice to strengthen the party and to free it of discrimination, vendetta politics and arrogance, she said that the Congress is not just a party, but an idea several years ahead of its time and the BJP-RSS combine is trying to do away with the very identity of the Congress Party.

But they do not know how much the people of the country love teh Congress, she said.

There is only one priority today and that is how to make Congress Party stronger. Congress is not just a party, but an idea several years ahead of its time, she said.

The political resolution adopted at the plenary session said, The Congress will adopt a pragmatic approach for co-operation with all like-minded parties and evolve a common workable programme to defeat the BJP-RSS in the 2019 elections.

Accusing the Modi government of using all means to stay in power, she said the Congress will never bow before the arrogance of this government which has launched vendetta against its opponents.

The resolution, while giving a clarion call to the partys rank and file to rise to the occasion and defend the foundational values of our republic and constitutional democracy, said a resurgent Congress alone shall win back the idea of India as envisioned by founding fathers of our nation.

That the Congress wants to make a strong pitch for building alliances and is ready to test regional parties as potential allies was evident in the political resolution which also spoke of giving Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh. On Friday, the Telugu Desam Party quit the NDA over Andhra Pradesh not being accorded Special Category Status.

The Congress Party strongly condemns the neglect and injustice to Andhra Pradesh by the current BJP-led government and reiterates its commitment to the complete implementation of the PMs assurances and the 9 provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act, and Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh, the resolution said.

Stung by large-scale defections that have helped the BJP form state government in many states, it said that the party will consider introducing legislative disincentives to put an end to this practice and to debar defectors from contesting any elections for six years to check the brazen misuse of money power to create political instability.

The party also strongly came out in support of reverting to the practice of paper ballots.

The resolution said there were apprehensions among political parties and voters over the misuse of EVMs to manipulate the outcome contrary to the popular verdict. To ensure the credibility of the electoral process, the Election Commission should revert to the old practice of paper ballot, as most major democracies have done.

It also opposed the governments pitch for holding simultaneous elections saying, It is incompatible with the Constitution and is also impractical. It will have serious implications, which must be thoroughly enquired into, and a national consensus built.

The resolution also spoke of the need to revive pro-poor measures that will help dalits, minorities, Adivasis and women. It accused the Modi government of diluting the provisions of social justice legislations like the Forest Rights Act and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.

It also said that the judicial system needs urgent reforms for effective and timely dispensation of justice. The huge pendency of cases in courts and a large number of people not having access to affordable justice remains a challenge which must be addressed, it said.The trial concluded that Tara has already confessed to his crime thrice before the court.

A special court in Chandigarh on Saturday awarded life imprisonment to Jagtar Singh Tara in connection with assassination of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh. (Photo: PTI | File)

Chandigarh: Jagtar Singh Tara has been awarded life sentence till death on Saturday for the assassination of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh in 1995.

A Chandigarh trial court held Jagtar Singh Tara guilty for the assassination of former Punjab CM on Friday. The court of additional district and sessions judge J.S. Sidhu pronounced the quantum of sentence in the high security Burail jail in Chandigarh where Jagtar Singh Tara is currently lodged.

The trial concluded that Tara has already confessed to his crime thrice before the court. He has also said many times that he had no regrets about what had happened. A fine of Rs 35,000 was also imposed on Tara by the court, he said.

Tara, along with two accused Jagtar Singh Hawara and Paramjit Singh Bheora, had escaped from Burail jail in 2004. They dug a 110-feet long tunnel from their barracks in January 2004 to make good their escape.

While Hawara and Bheora were arrested, Tara managed to escape. He was arrested in Thailand in 2015 and brought to India. The police had taken nine accused into their custody, out of whom the fate of eight has been already decided.

The lawyer said his client would not challenge the order in the higher court. Jagtar Singh Tara told the court that he does not regret killing Beant Singh, he also said that, I have been fighting the battle of Sikhs freedom against the govt & will continue to do so, the lawyer was quoted by a news agency.

Jagtar Singh Tara had confessed to his involvement in the assassination of Beant Singh in 1995, in a confession letter which he had submitted to the court in January this year.

The then chief minister of Punjab Beant Singh was killed in an explosion outside the civil secretariat in Chandigarh in 1995. Sixteen others also lost their lives in the incident.The RJD chief has had a history of cardiac ailments. Three major heart surgeries were performed on him in 2014.

Patna: RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav was rushed to Ranchi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) after he complained of uneasiness on Saturday.

He has been shifted to cardiology wing of the hospital. If sources are to be believed doctors who performed tests on him found an abnormal rise in his blood pressure and diabetes. Mr Yadavs elder son Tej Pratap also rushed to Ranchi on Saturday.

I have come here to visit my father who has been shifted to hospital from jail. He has been suffering from severe stomach ailments and is on medication related to various other diseases, Tej Pratap told reporters.

The RJD chief has had a history of cardiac ailments. Three major heart surgeries were performed on him in 2014.

According to RJD leaders close to the Yadavs family, a valve was replaced and his aorta was also repaired by a team of experts in Mumbai at Asian Heart Institute in Mumbai three years ago. He has been since under medication.

The doctors attending on him, however, said that besides hypertension and diabetes he is also suffering from the fistula related disease. We have asked him to take light food.

Speaking on the issue, senior RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, who was also in Ranchi, on Saturday said, Every party worker today is praying for his health. We hope that he will get well soon.

Lalus lawyer in January had submitted a petition before the CBI judge seeking leniency in awarding the quantum of punishment citing health-related issues. Lalu Yadavs consuls had informed the court about his open heart surgery, lung infection, diabetes, and hypertension, RJD supporters said.

Lalu, who has been convicted in three fodder scam cases, is expecting CBI court verdict in the fourth case related to fraudulent withdrawal of `3.31 crores from Dumka treasury case.

Lawyers said that special CBI court had earlier fixed the date for the verdict on March 15, but it was postponed till Monday after Lalu filed a petition seeking the then accountant general (AG) of Patna and two other officers to be summoned as accused in the case. Besides Lalu Yadav, former Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra and 28 0thers are accused in the case.BJPs Allahabad MP Shyama Charan Gupta said that the overconfidence of party leaders was responsible for the electoral loss.

Lucknow: Success has many fathers but failure is an orphan, and a lonely one at that. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath is learning this lesson as voices of dissent get shriller in the ruling BJP after the debacle in Lok Sabha byelections in Gorakhpur and Phulpur.

The monk-turned-politician, who was hailed as an icon and a mass leader when he took oath as chief minister exactly a year ago, is now being openly targeted by party leaders.

Criticising the chief minister, senior BJP leader and former MP Ramakant Yadav criticised the chief minister and said, Ek puja path karne wale ko mukhya mantri bana diya gaya unke bas ka nahin hai sarkar chalana (A priest has been made the chief minister, he is not competent to run the government).

He alleged that the party had alienated OBCs and dalits and this had led to its defeat in the bypolls.

BJP MP from Kaiserganj, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, said that some BJP workers actually celebrated the partys defeat in the byelections as they saw it as a lesson for seniors who had allegedly ignored workers on the ground.

The time has come for party leaders to do some serious introspection. They should find out why the workers are happy over the partys defeat, he said.

BJPs Allahabad MP Shyama Charan Gupta said that the overconfidence of party leaders was responsible for the electoral loss.

The remarks made by state minister Nand Gopal Nandi during the campaign, in which he termed Mulayam Singh Yadav as Ravana and Mayawati as Surpnakha were also a major factor in ensuring the partys defeat, he said.

Interestingly, the attack on chief minister Mr Adityanath sharpened after BJP leader Subramanian Swamy issued a statement saying that the BJP should think twice before giving important positions to those who cannot even win back their own seat for the party.

State minister Om Prakash Rajbhar, who represents BJP ally Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, blamed the saffron party for ignoring alliance partners. The BJP did not seek our help in the byelections and the results have proven their mistake, he said.

A section of BJP leaders are vociferous in their defending the chief minister.

BJP spokesman I.P. Singh said that the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat was surrounded by constituencies that had Brahmin MPs.

Gorakhpur party ticket should have been given to a Thakur or an OBC candidate, but the party ignored the advice of the Gorakhnath Mutt and nominated a Brahmin candidate and the results are there for all to see. Why blame Yogi Adityanath for the debacle?

A senior state minister, who did not wish to be named, alleged sabotage. The choice of candidate in Gorakhpur was aimed at clipping Yogi Adityanaths wings. Some people in our party were wary of his growing popularity and made sure that he failed in his own constituency, he said.The statement came after the Telugu Desam Party moved a no-confidence motion against the BJP-led government in the Lok Sabha on Friday.

'There have been no talks with Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray as yet. The seniors in our party (BJP's central leadership) will do that. However, I am confident that the 'rashtravadi' and Hindutva forces will stay together,' Fadnavis told reporters. (Photo: PTI)

Mumbai: Expressing hope that the 'rashtravadi' (nationalist) and Hindutva forces will stay together, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis exuded confidence that Shiv Sena won't support the no-confidence motion against the NDA government.

The statement came after the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) moved a no-confidence motion against the BJP-led government in the Lok Sabha on Friday, following TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu's announcement that his party was exiting the National Democratic Alliance.

"There have been no talks with Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray as yet. The seniors in our party (BJP's central leadership) will do that. However, I am confident that the 'rashtravadi' and Hindutva forces will stay together," Fadnavis told reporters.

"The Sena will remain with us. Some Sena leaders met me this morning. They had come to seek (the BJP's) support in the Mumbai municipal corporation bypoll. We are supporting them," Fadnavis had said on Friday.

However, he denied that he met the Sena leadership over the no-trust motion.

On the recent farmers' long march in Mumbai, Fadnavis said the manner in which the issue was highlighted made it seem that farmers were protesting over the disbursement of loan waiver amount.

"There were barely a few farmers in the protest. Most of the participants were adivasis, against whom injustice has been meted out over the years," he had said.Pawan Kalyan questioned as to why the TDP and YSRC were in hurry over No Confidence motion against the BJP.

Kalyan said both YSRC and TDP were playing gimmicks over the issue as they were still unclear about the dates on which they plan to move the motion. (Photo: PTI)

Vijayawada: Actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan on Friday ruled out the possibility of an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Andhra Pradesh stating that the "current image of the BJP in the state was negative".

"Currently, the image of the BJP in the state is completely negative. Nobody in his right frame of mind will partner with the BJP at this time," Kalyan was quoted as saying by NDTV.

Jana sena Chief Pawan Kalyan questioned as to why the TDP and YSRC were in hurry over No Confidence motion in the Parliament after the Chief Minister led TDP broke away from the NDA on Friday.

Also Read: Telugu Desam Party snaps ties with BJP, exits alliance with NDA

He dismissed the allegations levelled by TD Chief N Chandrababu Naidu that BJP was behind him. Instead he said that, people are behind him and not any political party.

Kalyan said both YSRC and TDP were playing gimmicks over the issue as they were still unclear about the dates on which they plan to move the motion.

Denying the allegations by the TDP that he is hand in glove with the BJP, the Jana Sena chief alleged that the TDP and YSR Congress had colluded with each other.

Earlier last week, Pawan Kalyan had charged the Chandrababu Naidu government with converting the state into a 'corrupt Andhra Pradesh' and warned it of repercussions in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

He warned TDP that the 2019 polls would not be as smooth as it was in 2014, when after the formation of his party, he supported the TDP-BJP combine in (then united) Andhra Pradesh and did not contest the elections.Naval Kishore Shakya said that he was impressed with the policies of the Samajwadi Party and had decided to join it.

Lucknow: In another jolt to the BJP in UP, Naval Kishore Shakya, son-in-law of UP minister Swami Prasad Maurya, on Saturday joined the Samajwadi Party.

Last month, Mr Mauryas nephew Pramod Maurya had joined the SP and had claimed that Mr Swami Prasad Maurya was feeling uncomfortable in the BJP and would join SP sooner or later.

Mr Naval Kishore Shakya said that he was impressed with the policies of the Samajwadi Party and had decided to join it.

Talking to reporters on the occasion, SP president Akhilesh Yadav said that people had begun to realise that the BJP was not fulfilling any of its promises and that it was the Samajwadi Party alone that was capable of ensuring development.

He said that his partys recent victory in the Lok Sabha by-elections had made UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath finally talk of development. The chief minister is now talking of digital India and is taking interest in developmental projects, he said.

Mr Yadav said that the people were angry with the BJP for not fulfilling its promises. If the by-elections had been held through ballot papers, the people would have expressed their anger by stamping hard on the ballot papers and our victory margin would have been greater, he added.

Replying to a question, Mr Akhilesh Yadav said that if the Congress joined the SP-BSP alliance, it would be a welcome move.

Mr Yadav further said that the BJP talks of checking corruption but if it was serious on this issue, it would not have fielded an additional candidate for the Rajya Sabha biennial polls.

Meanwhile, senior SP leader Mohd Azam Khan, who was also present at the press conference, said that the alliance was the need of the hour to crush the fascist forces. He said that the alliance would last longer than what people expected.Rajnath Singh says despite India wanting friendly relations, Pak not keen for it, they instead give political legitimacy to Hafiz Saeed.

New Delhi: Union home minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said that no power in the world can take Kashmir away from India and if needed Indian security forces can once again cross the Line of Control (LoC) to protect the countrys security interests.

While speaking at an event here, the home minister also launched an attack on Pakistan for giving political recognition to the mastermind of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, Hafiz Saeed.

Kashmir is, was and will be ours always. No one can take it from us, Mr Singh said as a warning to Pakistan.

Mr Singh said that the NDA government is keen to find a solution to all outstanding problems in the state for which an interlocutor has been appointed to initiate dialogue with anyone willing to help resolve the issue.

The home minister said that India wants friendly relations with Pakistan but the latter is not keen as it recently gave political legitimacy to Hafiz Saeed, who also happens to be a UN-designated terrorist, by allowing him to float his own political outfit.

Now the likes of Hafiz Saeed will be able to contest elections and have representation in Pakistan Parliament. What is also shocking is that they are protecting Haqqani network which is responsible for killing of innocent people, Mr Singh added.

The home minister said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been successful in highlighting the issue of terror at international fora and now even the US is criticising Pakistan.

The home minister said that efforts to radicalise the Kashmiri youth will fail and that he had informed chief minister Mehbooba Mufti to withdraw all cases against first-time stone pelters. The state government has so far withdrawn cases against 9,730 such offenders. These youngsters are misguided by someone else and deserve a second chance, he said

On the issue of dealing with violence in the Northeast and Naxals, Mr Singh said development and no just strong action by the security forces is the key in handling the Maoist problem. He claimed that in the last four years the government has been successful in bringing down Naxal violence and reducing clashes in the Northeast by almost 75 per cent.Union minister and SAD leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal said that Mr Kejriwals apology has exposed the low level of politics adopted by the AAP.

Talking to reporters, Mr Majithia said he was grateful that truth had won and Mr Kejriwal had realised his mistake.

New Delhi: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday came under attack from several quarters over his apology to Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia for accusing him of being involved in drug trade.

Union minister and SAD leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal said that Mr Kejri-wals apology has exposed the low level of politics adopted by the AAP.

A classic example of a smear campaign run by them (AAP) in Delhi and Punjab by spreading false propaganda. They built the entire momentum of their election campaign (in Punjab) on lies... He (Kejriwal) stands thoroughy exposed, she said.

Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken accused Mr Kejriwal of working hand-in-glove with Mr Majithia for giving him clean chit in a defamation case related to drug trade allegations.

A day after Mr Kejriwal issued an apology to Mr Majithia for having levelled unfounded allegations related to drugs trade, Mr Maken said his action clearly indicated he was helping the Punjab leader. The Special Task Force (STF) had told the court that prima facie there was sufficient evidence on record to further investigate the role of the SAD leader as regards the allegations made in the application under inquiry.

Mr Maken said that the timing of Mr Kejriwals apology raises serious questions as the STF had submitted its report in the court on the same day. He added that it was Mr Kejriwals habit to first raise allegations for political mileage and then offer apology.

He had recently apologised to Haryana leader Avtar Singh Badana and had withdrawn his case against Union minister Nitin Gadgari, he said.

Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari said Mr Kejriwals apology proves that he is a big time liar. He said that the CM was more interested in hogging headlines by indulging in mud-slinging and character assassination of his rivals than addressing pressing issues like sealing drive.

Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu said Mr Kejriwals apology amou-nted to murder of AAP in Punjab. I feel Kejriwal has murdered AAP in Punjab... With what face will they speak against drugs in Punjab now? he asked.

On Thursday, Mr Kejriwal surprised one and all by issuing an apology to Mr Majithia.

Talking to reporters, Mr Majithia said he was grateful that truth had won and Mr Kejriwal had realised his mistake.Three lakh party workers are expected to attend the rally in Mumbai on April 6, said party state chief Raosaheb Danve.

Mumbai: In a bid to motivate party workers ahead of the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections next year, the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) has organised the biggest rally in the country on April 6 in Mumbai to celebrate the 38th foundation day of the party. The party president Amit Shah will address the rally along with chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, and three lakh workers will be in attendance, said state president Raosaheb Danve. The BJP will put on a show of strength in the backdrop of Senas decision to go solo in the elections.

The BJP was founded on April 6, 1980. The party celebrates foundation day every year, but with an eye on Lok Sabha election, the party has decided to celebrate it to create a buzz among the party workers. Hence, the party has decided to organise the biggest rally in Mumbai. More than three lakh workers from across the state will attend this rally at BKC, said state president Danve. He said, We are always preparing for the elections. Out of 92,000 election booths across the state, the BJP has created a network of workers at 83,000 booths. We have initiated a program of minimum 25 workers at each booth.The dairy owners or milk distributors will have to buy the used milk bags for reuse.

For milk, plastic bags thicker than 50 micron can be used. The dairy owners or milk distributors will have to buy the used milk bags for reuse. (Representational image)

Mumbai: Use of plastic bags, thermocol and disposable articles made like plate, spoon, fork, bowl, spread sheets, pouch and straw which are made from plastic would be banned from Sunday. The ban is not only on the use but also on production, storage, distribution and carrying it. Environment minister Ramdas Kadam made the announcement on the ban in the assembly on Friday to clear ambiguity about the ban. He also gave a few concessions.

A few things which are an exception to the ban are plastic used for medicine packaging, samplings, plastic production in SEZ for export, necessary use of plastic cover in some industries. For milk, plastic bags thicker than 50 micron can be used. The dairy owners or milk distributors will have to buy the used milk bags for reuse. Around 50 paisa will be charged for use of these bags which will be given back on returning the used bags, Kadam informed the house.As per procedure laid down by the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education.

The answer papers are supposed to reach the schools within three to four days after the exams.

Mumbai: City-based teachers have complained that the answer papers of the ongoing Secondary School Certificate (SSC) exams which began on March 1 are yet to reach them for assessment. Technically, the answer papers are supposed to reach the schools within three to four days after the exams. Schools and teachers are worried that the delay might lead to delay in declaration of results.

Till now, papers of language subjects, English, Algebra, Geometry, Science and Technology (I&II) have been completed. Archi Kabir, a teacher, said, We have received the blueprints but papers of subjects such as English, Geometry and Science are yet to reach our school. If they continue to send answer papers late, our assessment process will be extended, which may then clash with our exams of other grade students.

As per procedure laid down by the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE), once the exams are over, bundles of answer papers are packed and sent to the head centres of each region. After this process, these bundles are sent to each school by post. There are 994 centres in the Mumbai region which includes Mumbai, Thane, Palghar and Raigad districts. According to board officials, sometimes, delivery of papers takes time as some centres are really far away from the school location.

Subhash Borse, in-charge secretary of MSBSHSE (Mumbai region), said, Teachers don't need to panic at all as delay by a few days is a common occurrence..

Mr Borse further said that, I visited a centre in Khopoli and there, they have received all the answer papers and the assessment process is going on smoothly.A group called Hindu Ekta Manch called for a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation, not the police in Kashmir.

The sacking of Kashmirs finance minister Haseeb Drabu by chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on March 12 will give a severe jolt to the Peoples Democratic Partys coalition with the Bharatiya Janata Party. He was its architect, in partnership with BJP general-secretary Ram Madhav (an Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh official seconded to the BJP). Madhav has declared that there is no Kashmir problem. Drabu said something very similar on March 9.

Dont see J&K as a conflict state and a political issue, he posited. It is not a political issue as far as I can see. They have been barking up the wrong tree for the last 50 or 70 years by talking about the politics of it, that the political situation has never improved. We seriously need to look at it in terms of how it is a society that is in search of itself.

He spoke thus in New Delhi, where he was expected to project Kashmirs viewpoint, at an event called Kashmir: the Way Forward. Instead, he berated Kashmiris for barking up the wrong tree by espousing their political cause. This covers not only the stooges whom New Delhi installed in power in Srinagar since August 8, 1953, when Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah was thrown out in a coup, engineered by the Indian government, but Sheikh sahib also.

It confirmed the widely held suspicion that his eyes were set on New Delhi. He is the one who had drafted the PDPs famous document Jammu & Kashmir: The Self-Rule Framework for Resolution. It envisaged not only drastic constitutional change to ensure self-rule, but also an accord between India and Pakistan. Paragraph 51 listed six methods for consideration; two were for a plebiscite; one was for elections held under international supervision; one more for an election and two others for steps based on these ideas. Six year later, he drafted with Madhav the PDP-BJP Agenda of the Alliance, which congealed the status quo of a deformed and hollowed out Article 370 (the so-called guarantee of autonomy).

Drabus boss, PDP supremo Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, desperately sought a return to power; if need be, by selling his peoples rights and his own soul. A former chief of RAW disclosed that he was in parleys with the BJP even during the elections. He justified the pact with the puerile remark that he was joining the North and South Poles.

That false partnership has come unstuck. BJP ministers in Kashmir, backed by the BJP government at the Centre, are defiant. So is Jammu. Kashmiris feel deceived. They had voted in large numbers for the PDP to keep out the BJP, whose proclaimed goal was to secure a majority in the Assembly by capturing all seats in Jammu and buying enough seats to form a majority in the Valley. Mufti opened the gates for the BJP.

On Muftis watch, pellet guns have been used by the Army. Infamously, a citizen was taken hostage by the Army, tied to the front of their jeep and paraded through the streets. Recent cases also expose both the Armys behaviour and the BJPs outlook.

On January 17, the body of a small girl from the Muslim Bakarwal nomadic community was found in Kathua in Jammu. She had been abducted, raped and killed. The police found that it was part of a conspiracy to force the nomads to quit in fear. Besides the main culprit, the police arrested SPO Deepak Khajuria and two other police officials for destroying evidence.

A group called Hindu Ekta Manch called for a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation, not the police in Kashmir. It was set up specifically for this issue; its membership comprises the BJP as well as Congress men. Meetings were held at temples before marching in procession carrying the national flag. Two BJP ministers participated. The Manch complains of a demographic invasion; Jammus communal divide has widened.

Then, on March 4, two militants and four civilians were killed in Shopian. Contradicting the Armys statement, Mufti herself called them civilians caught in the crossfire that day. By March 6 she denied this, and the fact that an FIR had been filed against Maj. Aditya Kumar  the day after the Supreme Court had forbidden its filing. The local police are sensitive to the peoples feelings. But it gets scant support from the chief minister. The Centre backs the Army.

Repression is systematic and at an all-time high. No leader commands the respect that the aged, ailing Syed Ali Shah Geelani does.

Yet he is singled out for attack. Under house arrest since October 2010, when Omar Abdullah was chief minister, neither his son nor even the vegetable vendor can enter his house. His wife needs eye surgery, for which he has no means.

It is a shame and disgrace. Why are Indias human rights activists and international rights organisations silent?

By arrangement with DawnRamesh Buchirajam Akkela aka Ramesh Bhai, 44, of Mumbai was arrested in Panama earlier this year and extradited to the US on Thursday.

Senior judge Donetta W Ambrose sentenced Ramesh for the 33-month jail term on Friday after his conviction of mail fraud and money laundering, a court statement said. (Photo: Representational | File)

Washington: An Indian man has been sentenced to 2 years 9 months of imprisonment for money laundering and smuggling misbranded drugs from India into the US.

Ramesh Buchirajam Akkela aka Ramesh Bhai, 44, of Mumbai was arrested in Panama earlier this year and extradited to the US on Thursday.

Senior judge Donetta W Ambrose sentenced Ramesh for the 33-month jail term on Friday after his conviction of mail fraud and money laundering, a court statement said.

According to information presented in the court, Ramesh shipped misbranded drugs from India to re-shippers in the US for distribution - without prescription - to American consumers.

Assistant United States Attorney Shardul S Desai prosecuted the case on behalf of the government.

Ramesh operated an online website that offered prescription drugs, without a prescription, to American consumers. He was indicted on two counts of money laundering, 10 counts of mail fraud, a report said.There are even suggestions Sayed, the toddler's father, is using the moniker to wangle asylum in the US; a charge the 28-yr-old denies.

The rosy-cheeked toddler's parents named him after the billionaire US president in the hope of replicating his success. (Photo: AP)

Kabul: Donald Trump flops over his pink and white baby walker and rolls it around his family's modest home in Kabul, blissfully unaware of the turmoil his "infidel" name is causing in the deeply conservative Muslim country.

The rosy-cheeked toddler's parents named him after the billionaire US president in the hope of replicating his success. But now he is at the centre of a social media firestorm in Afghanistan after a photo of his ID papers was posted on Facebook.

A self-confessed fan of the American tycoon turned leader of the free world, Sayed Assadullah Pooya said he and his wife have been inundated with "vulgar and insulting" comments attacking their choice of name for their third child.

Some Facebook users have gone as far as threatening to kill Sayed for giving his son an "infidel name", while others have accused him of endangering the boy's life.

There are even suggestions Sayed is using the moniker to wangle asylum in the United States  a charge the 28-year-old teacher vehemently denies.

"I didn't know at the beginning that Afghan people would be so sensitive about a name," Sayed said, as Donald played with a music app on his father's Samsung smartphone in their carpeted room.

Sayed says someone posted the picture online, sparking the controversy that forced him to close his Facebook account.

Even Sayed's neighbours in the heavily Shiite area of Kabul where they live have threatened the family and told them to leave.

"When I go out of the house I feel intimidated," he said.

Donald was born in the central province of Daikundi, a few months before the 2016 US presidential election, on the farm where Sayed's parents and grandparents grew almonds, wheat and corn.

Sayed was inspired to call his son Donald Trump after reading the Persian language versions of the businessman's books, including "How to get rich", which he borrowed from the local library.

"I did a lot of research about him and that motivated me to choose his name for my son," he explained.

He hopes his son will "be as successful", adding that photos of the older Trump already make his younger namesake "happy".

But bemusement turned to anger when Sayed's parents realised the couple were serious about the name. As relations broke down the young family moved to Kabul, and they are now estranged from their relatives.

Their life could not be more different from the one enjoyed by their son's namesake, who divides his time between the White House and his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

The family of five is squeezed into a spartan room overlooking a small courtyard and outdoor bathroom, which they rent for 2,000 Afghanis (USD30) a month.

Beyond their metal front gate is a warren of dirt lanes barely wide enough for a car, mud-brick houses and putrid open drains.

A few blocks from their house several drug addicts loll on a grassy strip in the middle of a busy road injecting themselves or sleeping off a hit.

During the interview, Sayed's wife Jamila washed the family's dirty clothes in a small machine outside while keeping an eye on the couple's daughter Fatima, nine, and eldest son Karim, eight.

Despite the controversy Donald's parents have not broken the law by giving their son an un-Islamic name, according to Rohullah Ahmadzai, a senior advisor at the Population Registration Office in Kabul.

He said they have the legal right "to name their children whatever they want"  even after American presidents.

While Sayed is worried about his family's safety, particularly Donald's, he remains stubbornly unrepentant.Russia is expected to announce the expulsion of some British diplomats in a retaliatory measure.

Moscow: Russia's Foreign Ministry summoned the British ambassador to Russia today in a deepening geopolitical dispute over a nerve agent attack on a former spy in Britain. Russia is expected to announce the expulsion of British diplomats and possibly other measures in a retaliatory move.

British Prime Minister Theresa May this week ordered 23 Russian diplomats expelled to punish Russia over the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the city of Salisbury.

British Ambassador Laurie Bristow is expected at the Russian Foreign Ministry late today morning. Britain's foreign secretary accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of personally ordering the poisoning of the Skripals, who remain hospitalised in critical condition after the March 4 attack. Putin's spokesman denounced the claim. While Russia has vigorously denied involvement in the attack, Western powers see it as the latest sign of alleged Russian meddling abroad.

The tensions threaten to overshadow Putin's expected re-election on Sunday for another six-year presidential term. Meanwhile new tensions have surfaced over the death this week of a London-based Russian businessman, Nikolai Glushkov.

British police said on Friday that he died from compression to the neck and opened a murder investigation. Russia also suspects foul play in Glushkov's death and opened its own inquiry on Friday.

British police said there is no apparent link between the attack on Glushkov and the poisoning of the Skripals, but both have raised alarm in the West at a time when Russia is increasingly assertive on the global stage and facing investigations over alleged interference in the Donald Trump's election as US president.

The source of the nerve agent, which Britain says is Soviet-made Novichok, is unclear, as is the way it was administered. Russia has demanded that Britain share samples collected by investigators.

Top EU diplomats were expected to discuss next steps at a meeting Monday, with some calling for a boycott of the upcoming World Cup in Russia. British Prime Minister Theresa May is seeking a global coalition of countries to punish Moscow.Trade ministers of over 50 nations, including the US and China, have been invited by India to discuss issues related to agriculture and services.

Apart from the row involving envoys, Islamabad cited atrocities in Kashmir and Indian firing along the Line of Control (LoC) as reasons for its withdrawal from the meeting.

Islamabad: Amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan over alleged harassment of diplomats, Pakistan has pulled out of the two-day World Trade Organisation (WTO) summit that is to begin in Delhi on Monday.

Apart from the row involving envoys, Islamabad cited atrocities in Kashmir and Indian firing along the Line of Control (LoC) as reasons for its withdrawal from the meeting.

Foreign ministry officials said on Saturday that Islamabad has conveyed its decision not to send commerce minister Pervez Malik and his delegation to India for the WTO meeting on March 19-20.

Trade ministers of over 50 nations, including the United States and China, have been invited by India to discuss issues related to agriculture and services.

Pakistan had originally accepted the WTO summits invitation that was given as part of the December 2017 channel negotiations between the two national security advisors Nasser Janjua of Pakistan and Ajit Doval of India.

Sources in the Pakistan foreign ministry said that the situation has changed now and the decision to skip the event was taken after repeated harassment of families of diplomats in Delhi.

We cannot send our commerce minister toIndia in the current situation and India has been informed about it, a ministry source said.

The ministry source said that India should also stop the alleged violations of the ceasefire on the LoC that lead to death of civilians and also stop atrocities in Kashmir.

Pakistans decision to stay away from the WTO meeting coincides with Islamabad calling its high commissioner to India Sohail Mehmood for consultations after alleged harassment of Pakistani diplomats.

Foreign office spokesperson Dr Mohammed Faisal said Pakistans deputy high commissioners vehicle carrying his children was recently stopped for 40 minutes in New Delhi.

The bullying is not confined to a single isolated event but continues unabated in a series of incidents, he said.

Dr Faisal denied New Delhis allegation that similar incidents have occurred with Indian diplomats in Pakistan.

Islamabad is now considering the option of asking its diplomats to pull their children out of schools in India after the end of the current academic session in view of the harassment.

This week, Pakistan foreign minister Khawaja Mohammed Asif said that his country does not expect improvement in ties with India as New Delhi is sticking to a hostile policy towards Islamabad.

Mr Asif said, India is violating the ceasefire agreement time and again on the LoC and working boundary. In such circumstances, we are not expecting improvement in relations between the two countries.

He said that the alleged LoC violations were an attempt to divert the attention from the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Kashmir.

The foreign minister had told the National Assembly that India committed more than 400 ceasefire violations along the LoC and the working boundary since January in which 18 civilians were killed.by Sumon Corraya

The Archbishop of Chittagong issues his message in preparation for Easter. Lent is "the right time to renew our faith" and to "perform works of mercy". "We are one body in Christ. Therefore we cannot be indifferent to others who believe in Christ ".

Chittagong (AsiaNews) - Lent is the time "to fight self-centeredness and selfishness that wanders in and out of our hearts, says Msgr. Moses M. Costa, Archbishop of Chittagong, in his message for Lent. Citing the Second Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians, he recalls that Lent is the right time to renew our faith and "to receive God's favor" (2 Corinthians 6: 2). It is also time, he adds, "to remember the infinite love of God and his care for us".

In this regard, Msgr. Costa also quotes the Gospel of John: " For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life(John 3:16) The greatest love a person can have for his friends is to give his life for them(John 15:13)

We can take three recent lessons of Pope Francis as advices to renewal our faith, says Archbishop Moses. Referring If one part of the body suffers, all the other parts suffer with it; if one part is praised, all other parts share its happiness. (1 Corinthians 12:26), Archbishop Moses mentions that we are one body of Christ as his believers. Those believe on Christ they are also part of the body. Therefore we cannot be indifferent to others who believe in Christ. If one part of our body gets pain, whole part of the body also be pained. So there is no place in the Church for indifferent to others. For our weakness as human being, sometimes we become indifference, at that time, our love also become weaker for God. Those are real believers and gracious of God and others , God bless them. This scenery will come on Holy Thursday during the Lent Jesus wash feet of his disciples he adds.

Christian church is a Holy united society. Here doesnt have place for self-centricity. Here nobody can be owner, but he/she shares his assets with others. Proper sharing of assets is essential subject for our renewal read the pastoral Letter

It also read, during the lent, should ask myself, our society, our organization what is my or our experience as Christs bodys part. Do we share as Christs bodys part to others? Do we share our assets those are needy or less important person? I call to all head of Christian organization and Christian society to love needy instead of selfishness. Pastoral responsible is to bring all to Gods love.

Archbishop Moses M. Costa who is also Secretary General of Catholic Bishops Conference of Bangladesh, says in his pastoral letter, Indifferent is now a big temptation. Now-a-days, various sad news make us upset. And at that case, we feel we cannot help. We become confused for various news of society. In these cases, what we can do? Firstly, we can pray in church as pilgrimage of this earth. One voice prayer is very powerful, should not give it less importance.

I think who is selfish he/she can be victim of indifference, says Archbishop Moses. Archbishop Moses ends his pastoral letter by asks some questions, Do I know sufferings of parts of body of Christian society? What I can do? Where is my brothers and sisters? Where my parents are? Where my children are, neighbors? And how can I care them? .He concludes: We should do work of mercy those live near and those live far. Churchs has many organizations of mercy; we can work of mercy by these organizations. Lent is a suitable time when we can help to others because we all are members of one human family. Merciful heart doesnt mean weak heart.Today Francis visits the birthplace of the saint and San Giovanni Rotondo on the centenary of the appearance of the permanent stigmata of Saint Pio and on the 50th anniversary of his death. In his native country "he was strongly tormented in his heart and he feared to fall into sin, feeling assaulted by the devil". "The devil - he added - tempts us".

Pietrelcina (AsiaNews)  May the example of Padre Pio make his fellow citizens "instruments of the love of Jesus for the weakest"; May his teaching be of help to a land "in a difficult moment like the present one, while the population progressively decreases and ages because many young people are forced to go elsewhere to look for work". These were the paryers with which Pope Francis began his vist to Pietrelcina, the birthplace of the saint with the stigmata, before moving to San Giovanni Rotondo on the centenary of the appearance of the permanent stigmata of Saint Pio and on the 50th anniversary of the death of Saint.

Arriving in the small town of Campania a few minutes before 8, Francis stopped briefly in prayer in the Saint Francis chapel in front of the elm of the stigmata and then addressed a greeting to some thousands of people gathered there.

In this community, the Pope recalled, "his humanity was molded, he learned to pray and recognize the Lord's flesh in the poor, until he grew in the following of Christ and asked to be admitted among the Capuchin Friars Minor, thus becoming Pio from Pietrelcina. Here he began to experience the motherhood of the Church, of which he was always a devoted son". "He loved the Church, with all its limitations and all its sins, the holy Church and sinners".

"We find ourselves today in the same ground on which Padre Pio lived from September 1911 to 'breathe some' healthier air 'after he had' experienced its beneficial effects on his body (Letter 44, in Epistolario I, page 233 ). At that time, in fact, he resided in his native country for health reasons. As there were no antibiotics. "

"That was not an easy time for him: he was deeply tormented in his heart and he feared falling into sin, feeling assaulted by the devil". "The devil - he added - tempts us". "He could speak with few people about it , wither by letter or in his village: to the archpriest alone, Fr Salvatore Pannullo he manifested" almost everything" in his "intent to find some clarity" (Letter 57, in Epistolario I, p.

"In those terrible moments Padre Pio drew vital sustenance from continuous prayer and trust that he placed in the Lord:" All the ugly ghosts that the devil is introducing me to my mind disappear when I trust myself to abandon myself in the arms of Jesus ". So he wrote to the Provincial Superior, Father Benedetto, in March 1911, asserting that his heart felt "as attracted by a superior force before joining him in the morning in the sacrament". "And this hunger and thirst rather than remaining satisfied", after receiving it, "grows [more] more and more" (Letter 31, in Epistolary I, page 217). Padre Pio immersed himself in prayer to adhere ever better to the divine designs. Through the celebration of the Holy Mass, which was the heart of every day, and the fullness of his spirituality, he reached a high level of union with the Lord. During this period, he received special mystical gifts from above, which preceded the manifestation in his flesh of the signs of the Passion of Christ ".

"Dear brothers and sisters of Pietrelcina and of the diocese of Benevento, you include St. Pius among the most beautiful and luminous figures of your people. This humble Capuchin friar amazed the world with his life devoted to prayer and to the patient listening of the brothers, on whose sufferings he poured out the love of Christ as a balm. Imitating his heroic example and his virtues, may you also become instruments of Jesus' love for the weakest. At the same time, considering his unconditional loyalty to the Church, you will bear witness to communion, because only the communion between us builds and builds. A country that quarrels every day does not grow, frightens people, while a country where everyone loves each other grows, grows, expands". "Please, peace between you, communion among you. And if someone wants to gossip about another with you, bite your tongue, it will do you good ".

"I hope that this territory will be able to draw new life from the teachings of the life of Padre Pio in a difficult time like the present one, while the population gradually decreases and ages because many young people are forced to go elsewhere to look for work. Internal migration of young people ". "And please do not marginalize old people, they are wisdom, they are the protagonists of your country".

"May the intercession of your Saint fellow citizen supports the intentions of unite the forces, so as to offer especially to the young generations concrete perspectives for a future of hope. May an attentive and tender attention to the elderly never be lacking, they are an incomparable heritage of our communities ". "I would really please me to see the Nobel Prize awarded once to the elderly, custodians of ourmemory".

I encourage this land to preserve the Christian and priestly testimony of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina as a precious treasure: May it be for each of you an incentive to live your life fully, in the style of the Beatitudes and with the works of mercy ".His ally Wang Qishan elected vice president with only one vote against. He was in charge of the fight against corruption and has experience in relations with the US. Xi Jinping consolidates his power.

Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) - No surprise, but a confirmation of Xi Jinping's growing and consolidated authority, from today to the second term of office with his stalwart Wang Qishan, already leader of the powerful anti-corruption commission, at his side. The news emerges from todays session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, where 2,970 people unanimously elected Xi as president and - with only one negative vote  for Wang his deputy.

Wang, 69, is known as the "fireman" for his role in the fight against corruption and internal financial problems, and also has experience in dealing with the United States - as a former deputy prime minister, at the time responsible for the annual economic discussions with Washington. In his efforts against corruption, Wang was responsible for the arrest of dozens of senior officials, including security chief Zhou Yongkang.

It is likely that his appointment will result in a change from the past and that the position takes on a different emphasis from the traditionally ceremonial one. According to some sources of the South China Morning Post, Wang should deal with the dossier concerning the ambitious Chinese global project, including difficult relations with the US - just as a new trade war hangs between the two economic giants.

Xi Jinping appears more and more like the new Mao Zedong. On 11 March, the delegates to the 13th congress - including three Catholic bishops - took the historic decision to accept 21 amendments to the Chinese constitution, including the one that abolished the two-term limit for the president and vice-president, opening to a life-time mandate for Xi.BY THE NUMBERS

32%

Rough percentage of Kern County residents who are obese.

52

Where Kern County ranks among 57 counties analyzed for health outcomes.

53

Where Kern County ranked last year.

695

Number of chlamydia cases per 100,000 in Kern County reported this year.

760

Number of chlamydia cases per 100,000 in Kern County reported last year.

2,040 vs. 1,280

Number of people per primary care physician in Kern County vs. the average number of people per primary care physician in California.A former Bay area officer was arrested and charged Tuesday after Polk County deputies discovered military-grade explosives and tactical equipment at his home in Bartow.

Military explosives, gear found at Bartow home

Joel Ryals charged with possession of explosives

Ryals a former Hillsborough County deputy

Sheriff Grady Judd said detectives executed a search warrant at Joel Ryals home after his wife called and said she found a package labeled "C-4 explosive" in the home.

A scorned woman is never a good thing," Judd said. "I know they had domestic issues and as a result of her being angry, she called us."

Detectives searched the home and said they found several firearms, including a fully automatic rifle, military-grade explosives, and firearm silencers.

In the wrong hands, we couldve had a big bomb in a location with lots of people. You cant believe this stuff. You just cant believe it, Judd said.

No indication of preparations for attack

Judd said there was no indication Ryals, 41 was preparing for an attack.

He seems to have been the kind of guy that was a doomsday prepper that was collecting this stuff, Judd said.

He has not yet displayed any proclivity to be violent, but if that changed, he would have all of the hardware to have bombs, a major, major event. Or someone break into his house and have all of this horrible equipment, Judd concluded.

The Polk County Sheriff's Office called the Bureau of Fire and Arsons Investigations (BFAI) and The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) to assist in the investigation.

The BFAI charged Ryals with 14 counts of possession of explosives requiring a license.

Ryals was taken into custody in Newton County, Mississippi, where he was conducting a K-9 training for a local law enforcement agency.

"No reason for him to have this equipment"

Officials said although Ryals has a law enforcement and military background, he does not have the required certifications to train law enforcement K9's or a license to posses military-grade explosives.

"Joel Ryals has a checkered law enforcement past; however, there is absolutely no reason for him to have this equipment. The military-grade explosives, materials to build bombs, and tactical equipment found in his possession are extremely dangerous." Judd said.

According to the arrest report, Polk County deputies found a 1.25lb block of C-4 explosive, a fully automatic rifle, and several firearm silencers. The Army Criminal Investigations Division also responded to Ryals' home and found:

Military Radio Communication equipment

A U.S. Army compass

Flashlights, headlamps, helmet lights, personal medical kit

QuikClot

Gear Bags

Weapon Optics

An electric light kit for landing zones

AR bolts

14 Explosives including: Military Time Fuse, Military Ground Burst Simulator, Booby Trap flares, C-4, and a signal flare

27 firearms including: handguns, shotguns, AR style rifles, and 1 inline muzzle loader

A "checkered" law enforcement and military career

According to the report, Ryals has been a former law enforcement officer in Florida, Mississippi, and Kentucky.

He was a deputy sheriff with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office from August 2006 - March 2013. A spokesperson for that agency said Ryals resigned on his own in order to take job elsewhere.

Ryals served as a Public Safety Officer from June 2015 - January 2017 with the Creation Museum Public Safety Department in Petersburg, Kentucky. A spokesperson for the museum told us he was let go from that position.

He was also a volunteer training officer with the Newton County Sheriff's Office in Mississippi from 2016 until his arrest. Newton County Sheriff Jackie Knight said he was unaware Ryals was not certified to conduct K-9 training for law enforcement, as he was doing at the time of his arrest.

Knight explained Ryals visited his agency quarterly to train canines, and he was helping deputies with active shooter scenarios at schools. He said Ryals and his training crew were preparing to leave town when Knight received the warrants and deputies took him into custody.

According to a news release, Ryals was released from duty as a Wyoming National Guard member on July 14, 2016, where he served as a Military Police Officer and held the rank of Major.GET OUR NEW APP Our new Spectrum News app is the most convenient way to get the stories that matter to you. Download it here.Festival of Illusions Returns to Oregon Coast for Both Spring Breaks

Published 03/17/2018 at 4:55 AM PDT

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff





(Lincoln City, Oregon)  A truly magical time is happening on the central Oregon coast for spring break as the 2018 Festival of Illusions once again pops into existence at the Lincoln City Cultural Center from March 25 through April 5. Its a week worth of waterproof fun, whatever the coastal weather brings, with nightly magic shows and art workshops at family-friendly prices. (Above: the Bubble Man).

This time around, there will be two nights of Jugglemania with Rhys Thomas, along with performances by Joe Black and his brand of hypnotism, amazing feats of mentalism with Brian Ledbetter, physical comedy by the international performer Stefano Iaboni, and the festival premiere of Dr. Delusions Illusions. The Amazing Bubble Man returns for two nights, with his famed mastery of bubbles big and small on March 26 and 27.

The Festival of Illusions syncs up with spring breaks for both Washington schools and Oregons public schools.

Dont let it rain (or snow, or wind) on your family parade, said executive director Niki Price. Infuse your vacation with magic and wonder, through the Festival of Illusions.

One highlight is March 31 with the Fools Day Cabaret, an evening of songs, dances, tricks, jokes, skits and music to raise money for the Lincoln City Warming Shelter - because homelessness is no joke. Tickets are $20, and showtime is 7 pm. Young artists are invited to enjoy the drop-in Abracadabra Art Workshop offers guided projects and free art zones, for just $5 per person. This year, the workshop will be open from 1-4 pm from Monday, March 26, through Friday, March 30.

Sunday, March 25 sees the festival kickoff, with Dr. Delusions Illusions at 7 p.m. The festival opens with Dr. Delusions' Comedy & Magic Show. The Doctor (aka Bob Whitlatch) specializes in pleasing audiences of all ages with his own blend of fun and mystery. http://drdelusion.com/

On March 26 and 27 comes The Amazing Bubble Man, where the auditorium will be afloat with the bubble magic and comedy of Louis Pearl. He combines the art, magic, science and fun of bubbles, and is a favorite at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.



Mentalist Brian Ledbetter headlines on Wednesday, March 28, with his uncanny display of mindreading: predictions come true, thoughts are read and objects are moved without anyone touching them.

On Thursday, March 29 you can catch Alexander, Master of Marvels, with classics of magic and original tricks manipulating balls, bills, coins, cards, rope, rings and everyday objects. Things will appear, multiply, transform and vanish at his fingertips, and in the hands of the audience. According to the LCCC, someone will get sawed in half.

On April 1 the center is closed for Easter, but resumes the festival again on April 2 and 3 with Jugglemania by Rhys Thomas. Magician Jeff Evans headlines April 4, specializing in gags like Sparky the Trained Chicken and his ridiculously dangerous escape stunt from ropes, chains, and padlocks.

The festivals finale brings Joe Black, a traveling magician who has is even better known as an expert hypnotist. He was also a televised finalist on Americas Got Talent.



Other attractions at the LCCC provide more means of enjoying this part of the central Oregon coast. Youll find the official Lincoln City Visitor Information Center & Gift Shop here, packed with local information and volunteers to answer your questions. Maps, hats, coloring books, handmade gifts and coastal souvenirs are among the finds. The center will be giving away mini-agates for the kids.

All evening shows begin at the same time: 7 pm, with doors open at 6:30 pm. Thanks to the festivals premier sponsors, the Historic Anchor Inn and the Lincoln City Visitor & Convention Bureau, evening show tickets are $8 for youth ages 6-18, and $15 for adults 19 and older. Tickets are on sale now at the centers website, www.lincolncityculturalcenter.org (click Buy Tickets), by calling 541-994-9994, or in person at the Lincoln City Visitor Information Center, located inside the LCCC. at 540 NE Hwy. 101 inside the historic Delake School. Lincoln City, Oregon. Lincoln City Hotels/Lodgings for this event - Where to eat - Map and Virtual Tour. More on Lincoln City below:





















More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging.....

More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining.....

Coastal Spotlight



LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles

Back to Oregon Coast

Contact Advertise on BeachConnection.net

All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright BeachConnection.net Unauthorized use or publication is not permittedThe Iraq Death Toll 15 Years After The U.S. Invasion March 19 marks 15 years since the U.S.-U.K invasion of Iraq in 2003, and the American people have no idea of the enormity of the calamity the invasion unleashed. The U.S. military has refused to keep a tally of Iraqi deaths. General Tommy Franks, the man in charge of the initial invasion, bluntly told reporters, "We don't do body counts." One survey found that most Americans thought Iraqi deaths were in the tens of thousands. But our calculations, using the best information available, show a catastrophic estimate of 2.4 million Iraqi deaths since the 2003 invasion.

Men load the bodies of people recovered from the rubble of a house in western Mosul, Iraq in 2017. More than 200 were killed in the U.S. bombing/Cengiz Yar The number of Iraqi casualties is not just a historical dispute, because the killing is still going on today. Since several major cities in Iraq and Syria fell to Islamic State in 2014, the U.S. has led the heaviest bombing campaign since the American War in Vietnam, dropping 105,000 bombs and missiles and reducing most of Mosul and other contested Iraqi and Syrian cities to rubble. An Iraqi Kurdish intelligence report estimated that at least 40,000 civilians were killed in the bombardment of Mosul alone, with many more bodies still buried in the rubble. A recent project to remove rubble and recover bodies in just one neighborhood found 3,353 more bodies, of whom only 20 percent were identified as ISIS fighters and 80 percent as civilians. Another 11,000 people in Mosul are still reported missing by their families. Of the countries where the U.S. and its allies have been waging war since 2001, Iraq is the only one where epidemiologists have actually conducted comprehensive mortality studies based on the best practices that they have developed in war zones such as Angola, Bosnia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guatemala, Kosovo, Rwanda, Sudan and Uganda. In all these countries, as in Iraq, the results of comprehensive epidemiological studies revealed 5 to 20 times more deaths than previously published figures based on "passive" reporting by journalists, NGOs or governments. Two such reports on Iraq came out in The Lancet medical journal, first in 2004 and then in 2006. The 2006 study estimated that about 600,000 Iraqis were killed in the first 40 months of war and occupation in Iraq, along with 54,000 non-violent but still war-related deaths. The U.S. and U.K. governments dismissed the report, saying that the methodology was not credible and that the numbers were hugely exaggerated. In countries where Western military forces have not been involved, however, similar studies have been accepted and widely cited without question or controversy. Based on advice from their scientific advisers, British government officials privately admitted that the 2006 Lancet report was "likely to be right," but precisely because of its legal and political implications, the U.S. and British governments led a cynical campaign to discredit it. A 2015 report by Physicians for Social Responsibility, Body Count: Casualty Figures After 10 Years of the 'War on Terror,' found the 2006 Lancet study more reliable than other mortality studies conducted in Iraq, citing its robust study design, the experience and independence of the research team, the short time elapsed since the deaths it documented and its consistency with other measures of violence in occupied Iraq. The Lancet study was conducted over 11 years ago, after only 40 months of war and occupation. Tragically, that was nowhere near the end of the deadly consequences of the Iraq invasion. In June 2007, a British polling firm, Opinion Research Business, conducted a further study and estimated that 1,033,000 Iraqis had been killed by then. While the figure of a million people killed was shocking, the Lancet study had documented steadily increasing violence in occupied Iraq between 2003 and 2006, with 328,000 deaths in the final year it covered. ORB's finding that another 430,000 Iraqis were killed in the following year was consistent with other evidence of escalating violence through late 2006 and early 2007. Just Foreign Policy's "Iraqi Death Estimator" updated the Lancet study's estimate by multiplying passively reported deaths compiled by British NGO Iraq Body Count by the same ratio found in 2006. This project was discontinued in September 2011, with its estimate of Iraqi deaths standing at 1.45 million. Taking ORB's estimate of 1.033 million killed by June 2007, then applying a variation of Just Foreign Policy's methodology from July 2007 to the present using revised figures from Iraq Body Count, we estimate that 2.4 million Iraqis have been killed since 2003 as a result of our country's illegal invasion, with a minimum of 1.5 million and a maximum of 3.4 million. These calculations cannot possibly be as accurate or reliable as a rigorous up-to-date mortality study, which is urgently needed in Iraq and in each of the countries afflicted by war since 2001. But in our judgement, it is important to make the most accurate estimate we can. Numbers are numbing, especially numbers that rise into the millions. Please remember that each person killed represents someone's loved one. These are mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, sons, daughters. One death impacts an entire community; collectively, they impact an entire nation. As we begin the 16th year of the Iraq war, the American public must come to terms with the scale of the violence and chaos we have unleashed in Iraq. Only then may we find the political will to bring this horrific cycle of violence to an end, to replace war with diplomacy and hostility with friendship, as we have begun to do with Iran and as the people of North and South Korea are trying to do to avoid meeting a similar fate to that of Iraq. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License. - Comments welcome.





Permalink

Posted on March 16, 2018





For Immediate Release, March 16, 2018 Contact: Amaroq Weiss, (707) 779-9613, aweiss@biologicaldiversity.org Washington Wolf Population Increases Only 6 Percent After 14 Wolves Killed in 2017 State, Ranchers, Automobiles, Poachers All Killed Wolves OLYMPIA, Wash. Washingtons wolf population increased by only 6 percent in the past year, according to the latest annual wolf population estimate issued today by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Thats a sharp contrast to the previous three years, when the population increased by an average of 30 percent each year. The end-of-2017 wolf count yielded 122 wolves, an increase of only seven from the 115 wolves confirmed the year before. This news follows a year of multiple human-caused wolf deaths, as well as legal actions challenging the departments wolf-killing protocols and actions. The sharp departure from wolf number increases in past years is cause for serious concern, said Amaroq Weiss, West Coast wolf advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. While population growth hasnt stopped entirely, these modest numbers clearly indicate the state should not kill any more wolves. Last summer, the department killed three wolves for conflicts with livestock, including one of only two known Sherman pack wolves. This killing eradicated the pack, making it the third pack to be wiped out for the same livestock owner and self-proclaimed wolf opponent. Two wolves  including the breeding female of the Smackout pack who had recently given birth to pups  were killed by livestock owners or their ranch hands. Earlier, the breeding female of the Sherman pack was struck and killed by a vehicle, and another wolf was euthanized after being mortally wounded in a car collision. Three Washington wolves were reported by the Confederated Tribe of the Colville Indian Reservation Fish and Wildlife Department to have been killed during a tribal-authorized hunting season on the Colville Reservation during late 2017 and early 2018. There were also two confirmed cases of poaching, plus two deaths likely from poaching that remain under investigation. Experts report that most wolf poaching goes undetected and that for every poached wolf found, one or two other wolves that have been poached will not be discovered. In September 2017, the Center for Biological Diversity and Cascadia Wildlands sued the department for violating the State Environmental Policy Act and Administrative Procedures Act in failing to conduct required environmental impact assessments of the departments protocols and orders to kill wolves. In November, the Center also filed a separate lawsuit against the department for violating the states Public Records Act in failing to turn over requested documents pertaining to its wolf kill actions. Wolf recovery in Washington is still in its infancy and the population should be continuing to grow, not stagnating, said Weiss. This new report validates our lawsuits contention that the departments killing of wolves must be scientifically evaluated for how it impacts wolves alongside other sources of wolf mortality and the overall population status. Wolf recovery in Washington has largely been driven by federal Endangered Species Act protection, which led to the reintroduction of wolves in adjacent Idaho and made it a crime to kill wolves. As wolves from Idaho and British Columbia began to disperse into Washington, the wolf population grew from zero wolves in 2007 to the estimated 122 wolves in 22 packs announced by the state Fish and Wildlife department today. While the departments annual survey indicated an increase in numbers of packs confirmed from 20 to 22, the overall population grew by only six percent.The current water crisis in the Western Cape has highlighted serious problems with South Africa's approach to water management and finding viable solutions.

Dr Kevin Gast

Drought relief

Cost of desalination

Impacts of climate change

Implementing clean technologies

In 2001, the province experienced its worst drought in a hundred years. At the time, plans, programmes and protocols were put into place and budgeted for to augment the potable water supply, specifically to the city of Cape Town. Good rains followed, and the money was reallocated to other politically expedient projects. This has resulted in an unexpected challenge from a technological and engineering perspective.Current published mathematical models on climatic change indicate that the Western Cape could lose up to 40% of its winter rainfall and specific areas of Limpopo up to 20% in years to come.The climate change models also indicate that a significant shift in the Southern African rainfall pattern will occur, resulting in the Western geographical areas below the sub-tropics to be dryer by up to 8% by 2080, while the Eastern geographical areas below the sub-tropics will experience a slight increase in rainfall.The current drought and future rainfall outlook has significant implications for farmers. Crop yields are expected to be reduced by about 50% and aquaculture by an estimated 20% in the 2018 season. This, in turn, will affect food security, leading to an increase in the occurrence and intensity of famine in Sub-Saharan Africa. In a nutshell, we can expect worsening droughts and increased flooding in different geographical regions of Southern Africa.In his budget speech, former finance minister Malusi Gigaba committed a provisional allocation of R6bn in 2018/2019 for drought relief and to augment public infrastructure investment. He also raised concerns about the potential job losses for vulnerable farming communities as a result of the drought, noting that government is exploring the option of partially mitigating losses by temporarily increasing intake into the Working for Water programme.He added that the allocation for drought response funds for water infrastructure projects and Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) will be made in the Adjustment Budget. To provide short term assistance, this budget includes disaster relief grants for provinces and municipalities worth R473m in 2018/19.It is estimated that R16.6bn is required to alleviate the drought in the Western Cape. Of this, only R639m has currently been made available. This is an untenable situation and government, on a national and provincial level, needs to sharpen its drought relief tool box, including financial and other mechanical methodologies.The estimated water loss from leaking pipes, valves and seals for South Africa is around 37% (Cape Town about 120-million litres per day). The first port of call is to plug as many holes in the system as possible as this loss is water that has ready been prepared for human consumption.Many countries run purely on desalination. The current water production cost in South Africa is about R6.90 per kilolitre (kl), while the cost of desalinated water is approximately R16.00 per kilolitre (kl). It is never too late to implement a properly engineered desalination solution, but this should not be done in haste. While it may be tempting to choose a cheaper and more expedient option in the short-term, the country will suffer the consequences of an inadequate solution in the long term. Obviously, the cost of desalinisation will come down in direct proportion to the loss of water from water reticulation systems currently used.Some additional alternatives include the construction of deeper dams with lower evaporation coefficients, provided there is water available for capture. These dams are, however, extremely expensive. In addition, the water needs to be reticulated to the end user, which is an additional cost. The construction of dams and canals using high density polyethylene does reduce the cost dramatically.To avoid a water crisis of the magnitude in the Western Cape, South Africa needs to look to its past. Previously, consulting civil engineers were allocated a geographical area of responsibility. This meant that the data was always available at the specified engineering practices fingertips, guaranteeing succession in design and implementation. This occurred along a pre-planned methodology integrated with a cash flow budget. Political intervention unfortunately usurped this internationally recognised practice and the repercussions are now highly tangible.With regards to climate change, the acidification of South Africas rivers, coupled with an increase in ambient temperature, is of great concern. We have seen a 1.4C increase in temperatures in the countrys interior over the past century, while the coastal and tropical regions have only increased by 0.2 C. The increase of CO in our water bodies dramatically impairs fish larvae production as well as that of all other aquaculture. This is further exacerbated by statistically significant increases in ambient temperatures and a decrease in rainfall.Greenhouse gases provide an average surface temperature on earth of +14C. Without these gasses the average surface temperature on earth would be -16C. The issue is obviously an over-abundance of these greenhouse gasses, which are made up mainly of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.To put this in perspective, 80% of the worlds greenhouse gasses originate in the production of energy, for example, via coal-fired power stations. Africa is only responsible for 3% of the worlds total greenhouse gasses (2008 data). Of the 3%, South Africa is responsible for 1.5%.It is unfortunate that neither the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), nor the Kyoto Protocol, define clean technology. Use of photovoltaic technology has, however, been increasing by an average of 48% since 2002, but developed and westernised countries with a strong energy infrastructure are at a disadvantage to implement this cleaner energy technology as their existing energy infrastructure creates an entry-barrier impediment for cleaner energy sources. That said, climate change will continue to affect all regions on the Western side of the continent South of the equator, rendering them more arid over a period of time.South Africa needs to commit more scientific resources to develop disruptive technology so as to soften the climatic change phenomena on our economy, especially where food security and tourism are at stake. Farmers, in particular, need to conclude proper risk assessments prior to implementing their planting strategies.A blog about life under, and resisting, a dictatorshiptristanrobin said: Boy, it's difficult to take seriously any journalist who has such a limited knowledge of English grammar and syntax.



The damn article is almost incomprehensible. Click to expand...

Yeah. This has been all over the place the last day or so but hasn't been picked up by anyone in print or substantially credible but a lot of stuff comes thru that way. About 30% of the stuff i get pans out after a day or so. Thats why i stuck in in this section for now. I found it interesting and thought other people would as Well.On a night in May 2016, Kirthi Jayakumar received 16 messages and 31 calls from a friend based in the UK. She had got married and settled there only a year ago.

The friend was a victim of extreme domestic violence. From observing her habits within the house to monitoring how long she spoke on the phone with her family in India, the husband ensured there was no freedom for her. While the woman managed to flee from the house one day when her husband was away, the incident shook Jayakumar. I felt guilty for not being able to help her when she had called, says the ...Engine maker Pratt and Whitney expressed disappointment with Indian regulator DGCA's decision of grounding 11 A320neo planes. However, the company has assured that it has resumed production of a fix late last week and will Indian airlines IndiGo and Go Air will have their planes flying by end of April.

The two airlines due to this had to cancel more than 600 flights till March 30. Of that IndiGo has decided to cancel around 480 flights while the rest are by Go Air. The announcement would mean that 14 A320neo grounded planes with have to wait for more than a month before they ...While Tata Motors currently has an assembling plant in Myanmar which has the capability to manufacture small commercial vehicles and the company currently caters to north-east India from its Indian plants, exports from Bangladesh is considered to be logistically more viable for the region and can be cheaper than exports from India. Abdul Matlub Ahmad, chairman of the Nitol-Niloy Group, which owns 60 per cent in the joint venture firm ...

Dear Reader,

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

We, however, have a request.



As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.



Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.



Digital EditorIn case you are applying for a government job either with the state or the central government, take note. Irrespective of your job profile, you might have to serve in the armed forces for the first five years.

This has been recommended to the government by the Parliamentary Standing Committee. The Committee while recommending five years compulsory military service to such aspirants wanting directly to join central and state government gazetted services have taken into account the fact that there are perennial and alarming shortages of officers and men in the Armed Forces, which needs to ...This wasnt the first time that farmers were staging a protest to draw attention to their plight. They have been trying to raise their voice for years now, protesting relentlessly across the length and breadth of the country. Yet, farmer deaths and suicides have remained mere statistics, something to be glossed over rather than felt as actual loss by people.

That changed last week. As over 40,000 farmers began the long march from Nashik, walking 170 km to Mumbai, city-dwellers were moved by their suffering. It wasnt just the blisters and the bleeding feet that ...The governments task force on has recommended that enforcement agencies and regulators identify and conduct an inquiry against Indian companies having subsidiaries in tax havens such as Delaware (US), Luxembourg, Panama, Mauritius and Ireland.

The task force, set up in July 2017, has listed 14 parameters for identification of potential and suggested launching probes against them. Primarily, Indian companies having subsidiaries in tax havens are a matter of concern, the report seen by Business Standard stated.

The task force has provided probe agencies with a list of attributes to red-flag such firms. Shell firms, according to this panel, have disproportionate investments, debt, advances or cash. Probe agencies should look into a company if its reserves and surpluses are five times or more than the turnover, or if its fixed assets are five times or more of turnover. Red flags will also be raised if any of these  cash, investments, debt, advances, or total liabilities  is more than five times the turnover.

Further, if 75 per cent of the share capital of a company is held by private limited companies, or if it has not submitted statutory annual filings for two years or more, such companies will face scrutiny. If more than 10 companies are registered at the same office and at least half of them have common directors, or if the company has changed half of its directors in last two years, such firms should also be scrutinised.

The task force was set up on the direction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a crackdown on shell companies, and comprised members of various regulatory ministries and enforcement agencies under the co-chairmanship of the revenue secretary and the corporate affairs secretary. Recently, it was also asked by the government to take into account the findings of probe agencies in the Nirav Modi-Mehul Choksi investigations, which revealed that over 200 shell firms were used for routing and receiving funds. Nirav Modi and Choksi are the prime accused in the Rs 127 billion letters of undertaking (LoU) scam.

The task force also highlighted that companies had been misused to channel unaccounted cash after the note ban of 2016. There is a strong possibility that companies have been used to place illegitimate cash belonging to others, it said, adding that the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) should look into the filings of financial statements of such companies specifically.

It also raised a red flag on abnormal increase or decrease in debts, or more than 10 per cent of bad debts written back, and increase in investment in partnership firms by 100 per cent or more.

Sources say the task force has extensively defined each attribute of a shell company in its report, which will be submitted to the government by the end of this month.

The report explained that in tax havens, there are professionals working as agents to get companies incorporated and lend addresses and other facilities. These companies are also known as post box companies as they have no physical existence in those locations but exist only on paper. These firms have legal ownership of assets and are used to mask transactions and stash ill-gotten money, maintain offshore accounts, save on taxes and so on, the report noted.

It further said just defining a shell company was not enough to identify potential shell firms from the database of the company as there was a very thin line between legitimate and illegitimate business. So, for this, probe agencies and regulators have to first collate the attributes of from the total population of registered companies and shortlist companies. Thereafter, they can probe further to identify ultimate beneficial owners.



Pakistan's High Commissioner to India Sohail Mahmood is unlikely to return to New Delhi anytime soon, an official of the Pakistan Foreign Office, was quoted, as saying by the Express Tribune, on condition of anonymity.

The daily further quoted the unnamed official of the Foreign Office, as saying that Islamabad has decided not to send High Commissioner Mahmood back to New Delhi until the overall situation regarding treatment of diplomatic staff and their families is resolved.

"Our high commissioner will not return to India anytime soon," the senior Foreign Office official was quoted by the Express Tribune, as saying just hours after Mahmood returned from New Delhi on Friday.

The official told the daily that the high commissioner would stay back for an indefinite period. Initially, it was thought that he would return to New Delhi after consultations with relevant authorities.

The External Affairs Ministry in New Delhi has described the Pakistan envoy's return to Islamabad as a routine affair.

It may be recalled that in 2002, high commissioners of Pakistan and India were recalled to their respective countries following the December 13, 2001 terror attack on the Indian parliament.

Tensions between both countries are already running high because of frequent cease-fire violations along the Line of Control (LoC) and the Working International Boundary.

According to the Express tribune, the immediate fallout of ties taking a turn for the worse is reportedly not allowing about 500 Pakistani pilgrims to attend the annual Urs of revered Sufi saint Hazrat Khawaja Moinuddin Chisti in Ajmer Sharif, Rajasthan. They were supposed to travel to India on March 18, but have reportedly not been granted visas by the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.

The annual Urs is scheduled to start on March 19 and continue till March 29.